The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Students‘ test

    Students‘ test

    •We appreciate NDLEA’s concern over youth involvement in drugs, but its proposed cure appears unsustainable

    Drug abuse is one of the 21st century social epidemics. It is a global issue and impacts more on the youth population. The impact on the society is incredibly disturbing, as many social ills like rape, robberies, gang crimes, disorientation, mental health issues and even deaths often result from drug abuses. Sadly though, as governments through their various agencies try to control the menace through control of manufacturing, distribution and consumption, dealers in the illicit trade innovate new ways of beating the system.

    In a developing country like Nigeria, cases of drug abuse among the youths have reached alarming situations. Curiously though, most of the drug abusers have been discovered to be smart enough to improvise the cheapest and sometimes totally free alternatives to the orthodox drugs that get them high. There have been cases of some of them using cough syrup, cow dungs, gutter waste and other really incredible concoctions just to get high.

    It is so bad that people as young as 10 and 12 have been reported for using drugs. More often than not, these young ones are recruited by older ones into criminal gangs that coach them to tow socially disruptive lifestyles.

    The insecurity across the country is testament to the impact of substance abuse.

    According to a 2018 National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) survey, almost 15 million Nigerians aged 15-64 have been found to be abusing one form of illicit drug or the other. Given that the survey took place almost six years ago, the number would have definitely increased and that is an ill wind that blows no one any good.

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    It is therefore a welcome idea that the drug agency is proposing drug tests for new students and even older ones in tertiary institutions, as one of the measures to curtail the social menace. This is in addition to those of security agencies, couples and government appointees.

    The agency clarified that the tests for students does not imply setting them up for expulsion but that knowledge of those impacted is necessary for them to undergo therapy  and rehabilitation to facilitate re-integration to society. The agency through its spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said that the issue of drug abuse is being treated as public health issue and that the test would be helpful to those involved.

    While we commend the agency for the steps it is continually taking under the leadership of Brig.Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), to fight the drug war in the country, we hope that this particular step will not be counterproductive or end up being a waste of scarce resources. With all the higher institutions in the country, where will the agency get the resources to carry out the checks? Have they calculated the financial and personnel implications?

    Again, with this information, how would the agency preempt  those students that might play smart to avoid being detected? Given that  the timing of the drug tests would be on resumption, wouldn’t it be possible for the students to just be sober and go through the tests, then return to their drug ways after being tested? How does the agency intend to keep up the monitoring?

    We suggest that the NDLEA device more consistent strategies that are more sustainable than the proposed one. The agency can collaborate with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) for a more pervasive national campaign to mobilise families, clerics, community groups and even civil society organisations (CSOs) to help educate the populace.

    Even the developed countries, with all their infrastructure and technology, have not taken the proposed NDLEA route in their fight against drug abuse. The information about the help centres that the agency has made available for victims is a good one but how many addicts will take the initiative call for help?

    The idea that the agency has provided kits for home testing is a welcome development as it would help parents to monitor their children and possibly seek the necessary assistance.  The drug war is not one that the NDLEA alone can fight. The agency must be ready for inter-agency collaborations to win the war.

  • September

    September

    •Will it finally hold — or is it just the latest of the many failed promises on local refining?

    The umpteenth fuel queues and spiking pump prices should goad the government to quit pussyfooting over local crude oil refining, given how critical it is to the strategic health of the Nigerian economy.

    For eons now, it’s been no functional local refineries, despite millions of dollars sunk into so-called “turnaround maintenance” (TAM) for the four public refineries that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) owns.  But in the past one year, a brand new, major refinery — in Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals — has arrived; and that is apart from one or two small ones.

    Yet, it has been the same, annoying shifting of the goal post, over promised target debuts.  After a long hiatus, it was July; July turned August; August just turned September! 

    Will September hold firm?  Or become the latest yo-yo in a series of empty pledges?  The more this failure continues, the more the local economy is trapped in high costs — avoidable though — which continue to drive inflation.  Inflation is this economy’s No. 1 enemy; and local refining holds the key to moderating it, by lowering pump prices.

    Still, there appears some glimmer of sunshine in the dark clouds — as the Federal Government just set up a strong panel to implement the policy to sell crude to local refineries, by the way, a smart and wise move.

    Institutions in that implementation panel are the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (refinery regulators), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (crude oil mining regulators), Central Bank of Nigeria (government bank), and the African Export-Import Bank (link and payment clearing house between the Naira crude oil trading partners).

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    Superintending the process is Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, while the direct driver appears Zacch Adedeji, executive chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and chairman of the Technical Sub-Committee on the crude oil Naira sales.

    Which makes this statement from him rather reassuring: “The first PMS (prime motor spirit: petrol) delivery from Dangote is expected next month [September] under existing agreements”.

    It really should, given his earlier report card on the committee: “The meeting reviewed progress on key initiatives,” he volunteered, “including the upcoming commencement of Naira payments for crude oil sales to the Dangote Refinery starting October 1, 2024.”

    That sure is cheery news — petrol from Dangote in September — if it holds: and you will pardon the virtual yawn that drives inevitable scepticism, given the earlier failed promises.  Still, it’s only fair to admit that this appears a strong build-up — stronger than any before — toward the new promise of September. 

    By the way, Dangote is supposed to be pilot for the Naira crude oil sales to local refineries.  But with further progress reports that the NNPC Ltd’s Port Harcourt refinery could finally come on

    stream in November, we cannot but project a rather positive outlook — albeit with a huge dose of caution.  Once beaten, they say, twice shy.

    Still, local refining and its clear economic gains are something to look forward to.  You don’t need to be an economy whiz to know it is the best organic move to tamp down high inflation, since lower pump prices should translate into lower shuttle costs — for humans and cargo — which should start driving down inflation.

    Again, by Adedeji’s testimonies, it should drastically reduce the US$ 3 to US$ 4 out of every US$ 10 that Nigeria spends on importing refined petroleum products.  “Monthly,” he added, “we spend roughly US$ 660 million in this exercise and if you analyse, that will give you US$ 7.2 billion annually.  This is a  total reduction.”

    Massive!  The resultant retention of forex should strengthen the Naira’s parity over time, with far less Naira exchanging for these foreign currencies. 

    Low Naira parity is again a major driver of inflation, especially costly tickets for domestic and international air travels; and costly imported industrial and agricultural machinery — steep costs that hike the prices of goods and services.

    But even more enchanting: cheaper petrol from local refineries should start re-setting the post-subsidy costs of doing business.  The final gravy, however, is moving from petrol to condensed natural gas (CNG).  The cheapest petroleum products are far costlier than CNG.  That way, crude locally refined and exported can exclusively earn forex, while CNG too exclusively powers the local economy.  That too should strengthen the Naira.

    That’s the promise of local refining.  That’s why the September debut must hold.  If it fails, we have only prolonged — and needlessly too — our days of woe.

  • UK/Nigeria BASA row

    UK/Nigeria BASA row

    •With good faith on both sides, the issue can be amicably resolved

    We are not surprised at the resurgence of animus over the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between the Nigerian government and its British counterpart. On August 1, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had, in a letter to UK Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, served notice that unless the Nigerian airline, Air Peace, was granted the landing slots at London Heathrow Airport, the two British carriers, the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, stood the risk of being denied access to the major international gateways of Lagos and Abuja. Air Peace is currently restricted to the country’s second-tier Gatwick Airport.

    Nigeria, the minister maintained, will no longer allow a situation where its local airlines are not allowed into tier one airports in the UK, in line with the BASA. 

    The issue, although historic, would seem a fairly straight-forward one. Until March 30 when Air Peace began flying the Lagos – London route, the issue of reciprocity could not have arisen. That was why the two British carriers not only enjoyed the absolute monopoly of the BASA slots but also the prime advantage of operating from its tier-one Heathrow Airport.

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    With the coming of Air Peace to the route however, we recall the minister as not only describing the Gatwick Airport as “a low-hanging fruit and a starting point”, but that he was reviewing the BASA after which some decisions would be made after the exercise. Now that the minister appears to have come to a decision, the logical expectation is that he will follow up by demanding that his UK counterpart observe the letters and  spirit of the BASA. 

    We have heard the argument that the slot system is handled by an independent slot coordinator in which the UK government has no input but is rather subject to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) guidelines. Were that to be the case, still, it remains extremely hard to see where the minister, in choosing to tackle the brazen lop-sidedness, could be said to have erred. This is because the issue at stake isn’t one that IATA could claim to be either unaware of or even unfamiliar with. Or, are there especial categorisations of which the Nigerian aviation authorities are unaware of such as would make Air Peace ineligible for the Heathrow slot?

    In fact, the real puzzle is why the Nigerian carrier would be restricted to the second-tier airport in the first place, particularly when each of the two British carriers already enjoy the advantage of operating in the two choice operational destinations. 

    Fair, as they say, is fair; in this instance, it would appear that the UK authorities have neither played fair nor acted in good faith. Interestingly, this would not be the first time the country will be subjected to such blatant breach in the rule of reciprocity.

    The UAE authorities whose Dubai-based Emirates Airline operated 21 flights per week into Nigeria’s Abuja and Lagos airports is also restricting the same Air Peace to its Sharjah International Airport, citing frivolous reasons.

    For, far from asking for any favours, the demand for reciprocity is not only legitimate, it is at the heart of the agreement. It is not about terminating the benefits hitherto enjoyed by one party in the agreement; it is about the other party, a late entrant, insisting on being accorded the same privileges as spelt out in the agreement. This is the sense in which to see the minister’s anger and perhaps frustration. To state that Nigeria’s case is compelling is to put things mildly.

    We expect the two sides and the IATA to come together to work out the issues. With good faith, it should be possible to come to a swift and amicable resolution without the resort to drastic measures. Nigerians historic relations with the UK demands that.

  • Between Daniel and Amosun

    Between Daniel and Amosun

    Both ex-govs have a case to answer on the seized presidential jets

    Within the bellies of the former governors of Ogun State, Senator Gbenga Daniel, and Senator Ibikunle Amosun, lies the arcane scarecrow that convoluted the nation over three presidential jets, last week. Like a thunderbolt, the news flashed that three presidential jets, including a new Air Force 1, had been confiscated by a Chinese company, over a judgment debt from an arbitral award.

    Later, the report came that the beneficiary of the award, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Company had released one of the jets, as a measure of goodwill to allow President Bola Tinubu fly to France.

    The former governors who share the responsibility for the national embarrassment have not put forward a convincing story about what happened. We therefore urge the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the National Assembly and relevant security agencies to probe the contract entered into by the government of former Governor Daniel, and the alleged breach while Governor Amosun held sway. It is totally repugnant for a sub-national government to enter into a binding contract that could expose the national government to liability, without the express authority of the central government.

    Nigerians need to know what happened, and who did what? They need to know, as claimed by Mr Amosun, whether the company’s claim is fraudulent. Whether before entering into the contract, the government of Daniel did legal due diligence to know the status of the company. Whether the Chinese company as required by law, registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, before it entered into the contract. Furthermore, whether the legal due diligence determined the status of the parent company in China. Most importantly, did the state government take into consideration, the limits of the powers of a sub-national, when entering into the international contract?

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    The statement by Senator Daniel is not categorical about the sanctity of the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) management contract and the benefitting party, when juxtaposed with the reaction of his successor, Senator Amosun. In a terse statement, Daniel said: “we need to establish clearly that Otunba Gbenga Daniel or his administration is not in discussion on the matter before the courts and arbitration, neither were the terms or proprietary of the agreement for the establishment of the FTZ, rather it is the termination of a Management Contract. The judgements in all the courts are very clear on this.”

    Clearly, his statement has not thrown any light on the concerns of other Nigerians.

    On his part, former Governor  Amosun claimed the company merely wanted to defraud the country. He said: “There were claims and counter-claims as to who between the two was the lawful representative of the original joint venturer, Guangdong Province, China and consequentially who had the right to manage the Zone.” In his conclusion he advised: “Nigeria should not give Zhongfu International Investment FXE any listening ear as doing so would amount to indulging and, encouraging an unlawful entity without locus standi to appropriate our common patrimony.”

    Former Governor Amosu’s advice is laughable, considering that Zhongfu has already secured warrants from several jurisdictions, to seize Nigeria’s assets across the world. And to rub salt into Nigeria’s injury, the company went for three presidential jets, symbols of our nation’s power and independence. Yet, Amosun admitted his government’s misjudgment when he said that “Zhongfu International Investment FXE, pretending to be a concerned and genuine tenant and Zone stakeholder volunteered very damaging and destructive information about the official representatives of Guangdong Province, the Joint Venturer and lawful Zone Managers, China Africa Investment FXE and subsequently requested to be appointed as Interim Zone Managers,” which his government granted.

    Undoubtedly, the dispute which gave rise to seizure of the presidential jets, arose from the actions and inaction of the Ogun State government during the tenures of the two governors. How such a contract with a sub-national became the responsibility of the national government is a cause for worry.

    We wonder whether the government of Ogun State, past or present, was served with the arbitration proceedings, and if they were, as they ought to, what action did they take to defend the interest of the country? If they were served, did they ignore the summons, knowing that the hammer would fall on the national government?

    We hope there are no similar booby traps arising from comparable contracts made by other sub-nationals or even the central government that can embarrass the country the way the recent saga did? We urge the federal

    attorney-general and state attorneys- general to review any similar agreement in their custody, and take proactive steps to avert any untoward embarrassment.

    Meanwhile, Ogun State government which has been enjoying the benefits of the FTZ, should be responsible for any obligations arising from the alleged breach.

  • From Mushin to glory

    From Mushin to glory

    • Akintola’s rise to fame from Mushin is testament that stars abound everywhere

    “Looking at a king’s mouth, one would think he never sucked at his mother’s breast”. This proverb is true of Daniel Akintola,  the Nigerian entrepreneur who has emerged the first African to win the Entrepreneur of the Year of IAMBCU Award 2024 at Birmingham City University, England.

    Akintola is co-founder of Oh Prime TV, an online television  bouquet which is available on all smart TV, smart boxes and mobile platforms. The journey to its founding by Akintola, along with the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), began in some cyber cafes in Mushin, Lagos State, about 17 years ago. It boasts about 2.7 million users.

    “The Entrepreneur of the Year Award category recognises budding and seasoned entrepreneurs, who are making waves in the business world”, Akintola said.

    Akintola lost his father when he was six years old. The responsibility of nurturing him thus fell on his mother, who, rather than resigning to fate, courageously faced the challenges as a single parent.

    “In order to give me an academic edge over my classmates in public schools, my mother gladly wore rags, so as to afford the tuition of after-school tutorial classes of Ifelodun Group of Schools at Papa-Ajao, Mushin (an Ivy League school in Mushin rating of those days),” he said. He added that he lived essentially on ‘Ewa Otili’ (pigeon peas), a type of beans that take about six hours to cook, and ‘’Lebbu’ (ground cassava).

    “My life is nothing but an amazing grace story of a man cruising on the covenant highways of his divine destiny fulfilment,” he said.

    Akintola acquired his National Diploma in Accounting from Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta, and later a B.Sc in Accounting from the Lagos State University (LASU).

    His internship at Precise Financial Systems (PFS), where he started his corporate career prepared him for the job in the accounting industry. His impressive performance there made Philip Ayeni, deputy managing director, to retain him.

    Despite his remarkable achievements in the company, he bowed out in 2007 to, in his words, “experiment with the findings of my two years of research on video streaming technology by founding Danny Brooks Technologies.” His aim was to provide a full suite of end-to-end online broadcasting and streaming solutions. This was how several cyber cafes in Mushin became his second home, so to speak.

    “How can I forget those nights when some of those cafe managers who go to the toilet to invite the police over, telling them food was ready (police raiding cafe in those days was corruptly lucrative).”

    However, it was the corona virus that brought his invention’s activities into limelight. Danny Brooks Technologies’ collaboration with RCCG was a huge success as it brought freedom to “African media consumers by liberating them from their Pay TV slave masters through the launch of Africa’s 1st zero subscription online TV platform named Oh Prime (Open Heavens Prime).”

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    From then, the awards started coming in. First was the ‘BusinessDay’ Top 100 SMEs CEO award in January, last year; followed in September by the “West African Winner of the Global Start-up Award: Diversity Role Model.” And now the Birmingham City University honour.

    We salute Akintola’s determination to succeed in spite of his very poor background. Not a few people see Mushin, where he did his research to stardom, as an area dominated by bad boys. That he could achieve his ambition there is a pointer to the fact that computers and cyber cafes, by extension, could be used for functional and dysfunctional purposes. That he chose the former is what has made the remarkable difference between him and many others who sleep in cyber cafes for the wrong reasons.

    Akintola has, by this UK achievement joined the growing list of Nigerians who are helping in rewriting the Nigerian narrative abroad. The main difference being that he cut his teeth at home, meaning that there are still opportunities in the country for people who want to excel, in spite of the shambolic state of affairs

    We congratulate Akintola and wish him more successes even as we call on governments and  well-to-do Nigerians to continue to expand the frontiers of opportunities for people like Akintola who are in search of self actualisation.

  • Grave robbers

    Grave robbers

    • It is high time desecrators were severely dealt with to deter others

    A case of corpse desecration in Ibadan, Oyo State, yet again drew attention to the crime and further underscored the need to deter grave robbers. The confessions of the two suspects at the centre of the disturbing incident, Mustapha Bello and Damilare Oladele, showed the importance of vigilance, the erosion of moral values and the imperative of law enforcement.

     Bello, a 32-year-old carpenter, was reported saying, “It is true that I went with my partner to exhume a dead body and remove the head in the Amuloko area.

    “After cutting the head, I was the one carrying it in a sack on our way back home when I was arrested by a local vigilante. My partner escaped, and I was handed over to Amotekun.”

    The second suspect, Oladele, a 25-year-old barber, said he was arrested for “exhuming a buried corpse and severing its head.”  According to him, the two of them “started working together in February this year.

    He gave a history of their evil collaboration: “Mustapha was the one who really knew about the operation and invited me. He was the one who would take the head to the buyer. After he had been paid, he would give me N5,000 as my share, except once when he gave me N10,000 because we went for a fresh head. I have worked with him five times.”

    He said they “did the last one” at Amuloko in Ona Ara Local Government Area in the early hours of August 12, adding that a Muslim cleric had told them about a place where a corpse was recently buried in the area. “We went to work, removed the head and went to sleep in a nearby school until 5am when we left,” he narrated. “Unfortunately for us, we met a night guard who sought to know what Mustapha was carrying. As they were dragging the issue with each other, I quickly took to my heels.” He was later apprehended.

    Under Section 242 of the Criminal Code Act in Nigeria, which deals with misconduct with regard to corpses, any person who, without lawful justification or excuse, improperly or indecently interferes with, or offers any indignity to, any dead human body or human remains, whether buried or not, is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable to imprisonment for two years.

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    It is commendable that the suspects were caught as a result of the alertness of a vigilante. The state command of the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), called Amotekun, was said to be investigating the incident. The suspects should be prosecuted without delay. Punishment will help send a strong message that corpse desecration is unacceptable and punishable.  

    It is shocking that they said about N5,000 or N10,000 was all they usually got as their share individually, depending on whether they sold a skull or a so-called fresh head. It says a lot about their moral standards that they perpetrate such a crime in the first place, not to mention the ridiculously low payment.

    It is concerning that grave robbers and their patrons continue to make the headlines.  For instance, some years ago, the police in Lagos notably arrested a 54-year-old grandmother, Sukuratu Salami, a cemetery guard and two others in connection with human parts allegedly obtained from a graveyard. Salami said a man who worked in a cemetery “sold a skull for N10,000 and I sold it in return for N20,000.” She also said she bought “pieces of bones for N2,000, liver and intestines for N1,000 each and resell for N5,000 or more depending on the buyer’s bargaining power.”

     It is believed that human heads are used for mystical purposes, particularly to acquire wealth or power mystically. Other human parts are also believed to be used mystically. There should be no room for such practices.

    Ultimately, vigilance and law enforcement are key in ensuring that those who are involved in the buying and selling of human parts, obtained from graves or elsewhere, are put out of business.

  • Make it open

    Make it open

    • Lawmakers owe Nigerians a duty to make their pay open to public scrutiny.

    It took Senator Sumaila Kawu to bring to the fore once again the controversy over what federal lawmakers actually earn. According to him, he is paid a monthly salary of about N1 million, but a running cost of N21 million, which is meant to ensure that he adequately represents his constituency.

    It is not a new debate.

    The lawmakers are either afraid of declaring what they take from the national coffers because it is out of tune with the pay structure, or because they know it is an illegality. It has continually been brought up since the return to civil rule in 1999.

    The closest we got to knowing the truth was when Senator Shehu Sani who represented Kaduna Central in the eighth Senate disclosed that he was being paid N13 million monthly. He was pilloried by his colleagues for exposing their well guarded secret, but escaped suspension. However, they came out one after the other to deny the story. He has again come out after the Kawu declaration to claim he has been vindicated.

    The latest disclosure has been similarly disclaimed by Senator Kawu’s colleagues, using subterfuge and sophistry.

    It is surprising that a section of public officers would want to keep their income, the whole salaries and emoluments, from the public. The hoopla invited intervention of the Revenue Allocation, Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) that said each senator receives N1.06m statutory salaries and allowances monthly, with other irregular pays that now seem to be indeterminate. Who fixes the irregular pay? Do they have the right to just allocate public funds to themselves? Why is the executive doing nothing about this? This is one matter that should be settled by the judiciary.

    On the basis of logistics and ethics, no group of public officers has the right to go outside the constitution in allocating money to itself. It is true that the lawmakers are vested with the power of appropriation, but that is because drafters of the law assumed that they would be decent enough to do so in the open and allow other agencies of government to play their roles in the process. The RMAFC is constitutionally empowered to fix all salaries and emoluments of all public officers. The argument that the lawmakers need money to run their offices falls flat in the face of current realities and the fact that details of the allowances incorporated into the remuneration has already factored it in. Is it too meager? Are the demands on them by impoverished constituents so much that they require much more? Perhaps, but that would not justify them taking the law into their own hands. What is expected of them is to hold a public hearing at which different segments of the society would participate in scaling up the pay package. After all, when a new minimum wage is due, that is the process, and the lawmakers have to pass whatever the negotiators arrive at into law.

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    We expect the legislators to come up with the whole truth regarding their pay, liaise with the RMAFC to realistically review it downwards as this economy cannot bear the load imposed on it. What Nigeria needs now are patriotic lawmakers ready to make sacrifice, not parasitic elements with a sense of entitlement.

    There was a time when the job was done on part-time basis. In the First Republic, the federal lawmakers held on to their personal jobs and only converged on Lagos for a short time to deliberate on developments. They were therefore only paid sitting allowances. Perhaps the time has come to revisit that model. The suggestion of limiting the federal legislature to a unicameral system should now be revisited, too, as is the very loud suggestion on what model of federalism to adopt. Is the American model truly too expensive for Nigeria at this point?

    As the constitution is now being reviewed for amendment, we suggest that everything regarding structure and cost of governance be brought up. Nigeria is bleeding and all Nigerians should get involved in stopping the haemorrhage.

  • A CNG-powered future

    A CNG-powered future

    • It is an initiative that all tiers of government must give momentum

    Just in July, it was seen by some as mere initiative. But months after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) launched the compressed natural gas (CNG) as driver of transportation, it received its first boost of reality with the unveiling of 60 buses alive with the new technology.

    It is a big step, although today it can be called a baby step, towards turning our backs on petrol as the only means of powering our cars and other vehicles.

    Thirty buses may seem little, but they are for the country’s capital. Sixty have been delivered to Lagos. In all, the 90 buses are blazing the trail of CNG-powered mobility in the country.

    First, it signifies the importance of innovation this day and age in tackling modern challenges, especially in urban areas and an increasingly interconnected world. When the NNPCL with its chief executive Mele Kyari launched the initiative, the idea looked puny and even artificial. But it is obvious we can make it more than just a cosmetic dress-over but an essential revolution in modern transportation for a country like us with burgeoning population and increasing pressure on rural-urban movement.

    President Tinubu praises it as a tonic for public transportation. Statistics bear him out since 80 percent of our commute as a people involves commercial transportation.

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    We are not the first.

    “Countries like India have mandated CNG for all commercial vehicles since 2004,” noted President Tinubu.

    “In Nigeria, commercial vehicles make up about 80 per cent of our petrol demand, costing us trillions of naira each month.

    “The solution is here. We have it and we will work on it. We promise you things will definitely get better and prosperity will be achieved.”

    India is no different from Nigeria in terms of its large population, urban sprawl and the urgency for affordable means of moving around.

    The removal of oil subsidies shot the cost of transportation not only within towns and cities but across the country. The spinoff has been benumbing. Costs of goods and services have jumped up, putting pressures on families and corporate concerns and the strains on the entire social fabric with political reverberations have made an alternative imperative.

    It is hoped that more of these buses are rolled in good time so that reliance of petrol will be minimised and import of motor spirit will take backstage in our scale of preference, while we call for the refineries to be urgently put to work.

    It is worthy of note that Depot and Petroleum Product Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) worked with Innoson to make the buses available. It is a testament to home-grown methods.

    They are hybrid buses that will run on CNG. Many Nigerians may still be scared how this works, and so more enlightenment is required. Each of these buses is capable of transporting 100 people and they also have alternative use of diesel. When the NNPCL began the launch, it opened CNG stations in Lagos and Abuja.

    The newly commissioned stations in Abuja are located at Airport Road, Kubwa, Gaduwa, Olusegun Obasanjo Way Zone 1, Dei-Dei Junction, Duste-Bwari Road, and Gwagwalada.

    In Lagos State, the stations are located at Lateef Jakande, Agidingbi, Agege Motor Road, Mushin, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Sangotedo, Eti-Osa LGA and Mobil Road, Apapa.

    “There is simply no way to turn back on delivering CNG for all Nigerians,” Kyari said in July.

    One of the expected triumphs is its benefit for the environment  as it will help reduce fossil fuel footprints and redound to a healthier atmosphere.

    What is important now is to make sure we not only get more buses but also ensure that more state governments tap into this beneficial idea.

  • No mettle, no medal

    No mettle, no medal

    • That was the lesson from Nigeria’s worst Olympic outing

    Nigerians were almost in a mourning mood as the curtains came down on the Paris’24 Olympics. Nigeria did not win a single medal despite the high hopes in track and field, female basketball and boxing. So, the reverse of the joy and enthusiasm that victory in sports brings was the lot of Nigerians. It is on record that no human event brings the unity that comes with sports, especially in Nigeria, a country so divided by political shenanigans.

    While the general belief is that mere participation in the Olympics is an honour and a privilege, victory bestows honour and glory to both athlete and country. Since the modern Olympics began over a century ago, it has brought the best in human feats, testing the limits of physical and mental prowess, and establishing heroics of the kind that can only be watched with amazements without the accompaniments of bloodsheds as in war or stunts as in Hollywood movies. It is reality on steroids. Hence, the Olympic games with its breath and variety give us the greatest game on the face of the earth, which comes every four years. Humanity watches itself in a daze. This implies that both athletes and countries have ample time to prepare for victory in the various sports.

    Nigeria has not always had a zero medal Olympics. Historically, the country has won 27 Olympic medals consisting of three gold medals, two of which came in the 1996 Los Angeles Olympics with policewoman Chioma Ajunwa leaping for gold in long jump and the Super Eagles defeating football superpowers, Brazil and Argentina, to clinch the historic football Olympic gold. With the poor performance of the Nigerian contingent to Paris’24, Nigerian sports cascaded to its nadir.

    Japan’20 was a sign that Nigeria’s sports was slowly and surely going downhill despite billions always allocated to the sports ministry. The Athletics Integrity Unit announced that Nigeria had failed to meet the minimum drug testing requirement as per, “Rule 15”, which requires at least three no-notice outside of competition blood and urine drug tests no less than three weeks apart for 10 of their athletes. This resulted in their disqualification. Annette Nneka Echikunwoke, a Nigerian-American hammer-thrower who was a victim decided to go back and compete for America and won silver for America, setting a record as the first female American to win a medal in the sport at the Olympics.

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    The story of Annette and female track cyclist, Ese Ukpeseraye, who had to borrow a bicycle from the German contingent because the Nigerian Cycling Federation had none for her tells the terrible story of sports organization in Nigeria. These and other acts of sloppiness by the sports ministry and the different sports federations had always cost Nigeria very dearly. One of the most heartbreaking testimonies came from a basketball player, who lamented that they individually sponsored their training while their mates in the United States got about $6,000 each, while those in Canada got about $4,000 monthly for training for the Olympics.

    Shockingly, Nigerian sports minister, John Enoh, was excitedly announcing to the world during the Paris’24 that they had paid both the local and foreign-based athletes their training grants and allowances. This, according to the minister was, “a testament to the ministry’s concerns for the welfare of the country’s athletes”. On his ‘X’ handle, he had tweeted to the world that, “this will be the first time ever’ that home-based athletes representing the country would receive training grants”.

    This statement, during the games, was the summation of the rot that the sports ministry had been over the years. There is no respect for athletes, whether they are home or foreign-based. How does a minister assume that paying training grants to athletes during an Olympic is an achievement worth tweeting about? The greatest scandal is the fact that there are allegations that between N9- N12billion was earmarked for the games, yet, not a single medal was won. The ineptitude of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) led to the second omission of Favour Ofilli’s name for the 100 metres race she had spent four years preparing for. The first was in Tokyo’20.

    Nigeria keeps stumbling on the global sports stage because of systemic dysfunction. What punishment was meted to the AFN personnel that messed up at the Tokyo’20 Olympics? This same ineptitude runs through most of the sporting federations in the country, including football. There is always some negligence and incompetence that go unpunished. There is no grassroots sports and infrastructural development. The Tigress basketball team that set a record at the games is predominantly made up of Nigerian-Americans with a Rena Wakama coach that has shown exceptional grit and courage.

    There are no quick fixes in merit-based sports; the work must go on for success to be achieved.  Nigeria has the talents and resources but is systemically dysfunctional. We were left to cheer, like voyeurs, athletes of Nigerian origin gliding high for other countries. The loss of many young sportsmen and women to other countries is the loudest evidence that something is wrong with a system that wastes its talents. There must be a total overhaul of institutions, both socio-culturally and politically, for the value to be gotten from sports. It is a soft power source that elevates individuals and countries. We expect a total investigation into this shambolic outing in Paris’24 and culprits punished accordingly. Other countries are already getting ready for

  • We wait 

    We wait 

    • A three-month buffer to start enforcing the Supreme Court judgment on LGs shows the difference between a judicial victory and stark political realities

    It’s no open sesame — instant payment of local government funds into sole accounts of the 774 local government areas listed in the 1999 Constitution, even if the Supreme Court’s July 11 verdict so ordered: a departure from paying the funds into joint state-local government accounts.

    Still why, in the first instance, did Section 162 (6) of that Constitution create the State Joint Local Government Account System (SJLGAS)?  It was perhaps a cold reality check that Abuja was too far away to closely monitor the share of funds accruing to the local governments from the Federation Account.  That was conceptual federalism in practice, though the Constitution touted a three-tier union.

    The goal of SJLGAS — hardly ignoble — was clear: to drive the sustainable development of local communities, urban or rural.  This goal would have been accomplished, had the states been effective in the supervision and management of council cash.   From grassroots complaints, however, the reverse is clearly the case.  

    Indeed, the Constitution would appear to have appointed the states “trustees” to ensure those funds are efficiently and effectively managed, since Abuja is too far away. But the states have reportedly turned leeches, leaving the local governments in the lurch.

    That was why the Supreme Court read the riot act on July 11: telling the Federal Government to jettison SJLGAS; and pay directly into each council’s account, despite Section 162 (6), though the verdict explained it did a creative interpretation of that section.

    Still, a month after the verdict, it is clear that the old situation could not just be flipped, without great damage to the local governments themselves.

    Aside from state governors accused of fleecing the councils under them, and diverting money belonging to the councils under the law to non-local government matters, many governors waywardly sack duly elected local government chair(wo)men and councillors; and replace them with so-called caretaker committees — a power they clearly lack under the law. 

    As these councillors are elected as the governors — and no elected official has the legal right to sack another — the governors breach a fundament entrenched in the 1999 Constitution, as amended: the guarantee of elected local governments.

    So, disbanding elected councils, distributing their money among appointed, non-elected politicians and diverting the money to non-council matters, is a three-leg violation of the law, which powered the radical verdict by the apex court. In truth, you can’t in law or even common sense share legal money among illegal assemblies and claim you have not breached the law.

    But even with many so-called “elected” councils in place, it’s near-universal that the governors might have manipulated the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) to subvert the vote and fill the councils with the ruling.

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    party hacks.  These skewed councils differ, from blatant caretaker councils, only in brazen and veiled manipulations.  Both are a travesty.

    So, with these levels of arrant constitutional breaches, why would putting the court order into practice take three long months?  It’s a simple reality check.  For starters, you can’t just snap your fingers and think a human setting — procedures in practice for eons — will just change.  That’s well-neigh impossible. 

    For another, it’s easy to destroy than to build.  Though many federalism purists continue to argue that a three-tier system is a misnomer — and it may well be — that would not have been so glaring had the state authorities not abused their guardian angel duty over local government funding.  Had they acted in the spirit of SJLGAS, the system would have worked just fine.

    So, if a three-month buffer would help to fix the broken system, and help to channel funds to restore municipal functions and rural council services nationwide, so be it.

    The important thing is that after the buffer period, local government administration should earn a rebirth — a rebirth that should improve the lives of denizens of our local communities. 

    That way, the most basic benefits of governance must be felt — better roads, good sanitation, sound primary health services, improved facilities in public primary schools, improved primary health care systems and even recharged councils promoting farms, poultries and sundry animal husbandry to provide jobs for citizens.

    If that happens it would be a worthy rebirth indeed.  A good Federal Government should begin with a good local government.