The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Cabotage sabotage?

    Cabotage sabotage?

    • This is a matter for the National A

    Given the parlous state of Nigeria’s maritime sector and its inability to maximise its full potential for the benefit of the country’s economy, it is shocking that over N40 billion ($525 million) of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) is reportedly trapped in designated banks rather than being utilised for the purpose for which it was set up. Established under the Coastal and Internal Shipping Act of 2003, the CVFF is meant to assist indigenous shipping firms to acquire the capacity to compete with and overcome foreign domination of coastal and in-land trade in the country.

    The fund is derived from a deduction by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Security Agency (NIMASA) of two per cent from all contracts awarded under the cabotage regime. NIMASA reportedly deposited the funds with designated banks on the agreement that indigenous firms seeking to purchase vessels would be supported by the agency to the tune of 55 percent, the participating banks would contribute 35 percent while the respective firms would bear 15 percent of the cost at an interest rate of 5.6 percent. For some inexplicable reason, the participating banks have reportedly developed cold feet, refusing to fulfil their own part of the bargain, with the consequence that the fund lies idle as the targeted beneficiaries cannot access it.

    Thus, a critical sector of the economy continues to be grossly underdeveloped as well as remains under foreign control and dominance. The attitude of the banks and the non-utilisation of the CVFF surely defeat the key objectives of the Cabotage Act of 2004, which includes empowering Nigerians to engage in maritime enterprises carried out within the country’s coastal and inland waters. If Nigerians are to effectively participate and benefit from this potentially lucrative sector, they must be empowered to build, own and crew ships locally. Given the current foreign domination of the sector, indigenous firms cannot achieve this without the kind of support envisaged by the CVFF.

    Experts believe that if fully developed, Nigeria’s maritime resources have the potential to surpass the country’s current earnings in the oil sector. Apart from her vast coastline, over 90 percent of Nigeria’s international trade is sea borne. The country’s dependence on exports of crude oil for the bulk of her foreign exchange as well as massive importation of various goods such as raw materials for industries further underscore the importance of her maritime sector. Yet, Nigeria is yet to take maximum advantage of this huge asset.

    For instance, it has been estimated that the country’s merchant fleet hardly accounts for three per cent of the world merchant fleet. In the same vein, while an estimated 300 vessels are required to meet Nigeria’s tonnage, there are reportedly less than 20 active Nigerian registered vessels handling the country’s external trade. If the CVFF achieves its objective of boosting indigenous participation in the sector, this will enhance the country’s national finances by helping to conserve foreign exchange. This will be in addition to enabling Nigeria have greater control over her maritime security as a sovereign country.

    We call on the National Assembly, as part of its oversight function, to inquire into why the CVFF remains unutilised. Could the designated banks be trading with the funds? Why has NIMASA not been more forceful in ensuring that the banks adhere to their agreement with the agency? Indeed, the National Assembly should look into all other funds that lie idle instead of being used for their stipulated purposes. A good example is the National Automotive Council Fund. A country like ours in dire need of urgent economic transformation cannot afford to have designated development funds unutilised.

     

    ssembly to look into

  • At last, Dangote refinery

    At last, Dangote refinery

    BARRING unforeseen developments, a new refinery will be constructed in the country in the next three years. To be built by business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the 400,000-barrels-a day capacity refinery will come on stream in late 2016. Dangote, who disclosed this to Reuters said it was a matter of time, the infrastructure we now have would no longer be to able to receive the amount of fuel the country imports.

    The refinery, when operational, will be a big relief in a country that is a major producer of crude oil, but still imports about 80 percent of its domestic fuel needs. It is also a relief in that when operational, Dangote would have succeeded in the petroleum downstream sector where many companies that had got licenses to establish refineries have failed years after.

    Nigeria presently has four refineries with a combined capacity of about 450,000 barrels per day. Unfortunately, they are all operating at far below capacity, due to decades of mismanagement and corruption which successive governments have not been able to address. Rather, they have chosen the option of importation to augment local supplies, to the detriment of the country’s economy.

    With fuel subsidy running into the trillion naira mark, importation of the commodity and subsequent subsidy payments on it have become an industry from which some people are feeding fat and are therefore unwilling to let go of the subsidy regime that has sustained them for decades.

    Yet, the present arrangement is unsustainable, especially as fuel subsidy is about the single biggest item on the country’s budget. Successive governments have realised this and their response, rather than address the problems of corruption in the existing refineries, and encouraging the establishment of new ones, has been to resort to incessant fuel price increases, the latest being the one of January last year which Nigerians fiercely resisted.

    The course of the fuel price increase protests of January 2012 has revealed a can of worms that the country has been grappling with since then. Even the government that promised to build Greenfield refineries at the time seems to have jettisoned the idea.

    It is against this sordid background that we welcome Dangote’s decision to set up the refinery with a capacity to refine more fuel than the country’s four aged refineries combined. In the first place, he has the financial muscle to do the business. He also has a track record as a great industrialist.

    As Dangote rightly noted, “In five years, when our population is over 200 million, we won’t have the infrastructure to receive the amount of fuel we use. It has to be done.” The refinery has to be built not only for this reason but also for the fact that a refinery of that size in the country will come with a lot of jobs for the teeming Nigerians out there who are roaming the streets in search of nonexistent jobs. Other things being equal, Nigeria and Nigerians have much to gain if Dangote goes ahead with his plan to build the refinery.

    Of course we cannot but note the fears in some quarters about Dangote becoming a monopolist, with its attendant consequences. These could be genuine, especially in our country where there is no Anti-Trust law to regulate the conduct and organisation of business corporations. But then, we should give Dangote the benefit of the doubt. This is much more so that he has said that a new refinery would still work profitably in the country even if the government maintained the subsidised fuel price, a thing that others have used as alibi to run away from establishing refineries here, preferring, instead, the lazy way out – importation.

    All said, the buck still stops at the government’s desk. It is its irresponsibility that led to Nigeria importing fuel all these years, despite the fact that she is a major producer of crude oil; so it is its responsibility to ensure that an Anti-Trust law is made in the country, not just for Dangote but to protect consumers generally from oligopolistic tendencies. The time is ripe for such legislation.

  • What manner of bankers?

    What manner of bankers?

    IF banks cheated customers to the tune of between N6 billion and N8 billion in one year alone, it would appear that there are too many cheats in our banking halls. It is just as well that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the banking regulator, has checkmated them.

    CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, at the 2013 Isaac Moghalu Foundation (IMOF) Lecture and Symposium in Abuja, disclosed that in 2012 alone, Nigerian banks had cheated their customers to the tune of N6 billion, although the actual amount was found later to be N8 billion. But thanks to Hajia Umma Aminu Dutse, the CBN’s director of consumer protection, who ensured that the apex bank forced the erring banks to refund the money to the affected accounts.

    In tandem with the lecture’s 2013 theme, “Women in leadership, the education pipeline”, Mallam Sanusi was all praise for Hajiya Dutse: “The director of consumer protection has recovered over N6 billion in the last one year for customers that were cheated by banks. She takes sides with banks’ customers. Even when I plead with her to be gentle with the banks, she is very ruthless”. That is the way it should be. Banking is essentially a trust business. A situation in which banking halls are populated by smart alecs scheming on how to rip off unsuspecting customers, is unacceptable.

    So, thumbs up for the CBN for detecting this unwholesome practice and ensuring that cheated depositors got back their money. But which banks are involved in such sharp practices? Or is it that every bank operating in Nigeria has been stealing from their customers?

    Inasmuch as guilty banks deserve all the knocks, just announcing the foiling of a scam without announcing the guilty gives the impression that everyone in the industry could have been involved. That is not fair to the innocent banks; and certainly, it does not reinforce good banking behaviour.

    For the guilty parties to quietly refund money they had attempted to steal amounts to no more than punishment in the closet. Future culprits are bound to take their chances, sure that such misdemeanours would hardly be public knowledge – so will the attendant odium and possible loss of business.

    However, only customers who felt cheated and wrote petitions got their cases investigated; and their monies refunded. That, of course, simply means that hundreds, perhaps thousands of others who never complained could still have got their monies creamed off. That is not good enough. The CBN should somehow devise very effective means of independent verification that would routinely take care of such abuses.

    It is important to note that prevention is always better than cure. These incidences of fraud and allied cheating are only a result of lowered professional standards, especially in banking ethics and integrity.

    By all means, those involved must be punished. But that can only do in the short run. In the long run, the country’s banking industry must get a moral rebirth, if it must be deepened to capture funds from the huge informal economy. That way, more and more Nigerians would have enough trust in the banks to deposit their monies therein, as well as do other banking transactions.

    Two bodies are crucial to this banking rebirth: the regulator, CBN and the professional body, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN). To make CBN’s job easier, it should continue to preach the gospel of banking integrity; and the imperative of restoring in Nigerian banking system the pristine trust on which banking was founded.

    But nothing would appear more effective – and dignifying – than self-and peer-correction. That is where the CIBN comes in. It owes it a duty to its members and to the survival of the only industry from which they earn their living to ensure ethical reorientation and revival.

  • U.S. should focus on helping Egyptians protect their freedoms

    U.S. should focus on helping Egyptians protect their freedoms

    IN EGYPT’S secular society, conventional wisdom holds that the United States is backing the Islamist government of Mohamed Morsi and reconstructing with his Muslim Brotherhood the corrupt relationship it once had with strongman Hosni Mubarak. For the most part, it’s an untrue and unfair story. But the fact that so many prominent and well-educated Egyptians believe it is an indication of how the Obama administration is failing to conduct or even articulate a coherent policy for post-revolutionary Egypt.

    Egyptians who believe in the Morsi-as-American-client theory point to his close cooperation with President Obama during last year’s fighting between Israel and Hamas, the announcement of $250 million in fresh economic aid by Secretary of State John F. Kerry during a visit to Cairo last month, and Washington’s low-key response to Mr. Morsi’s violations of democratic order. Mr. Morsi, like Mr. Mubarak before him, seems to be allowed a free hand to repress opponents and concentrate power in exchange for keeping peace with Israel and cooperating in hot spots such as the Gaza Strip.

    The reality is that the United States is not so much propping up Mr. Morsi’s government as it is flailing in its attempts to build a working relationship with it and exert influence. While U.S. cooperation with the Egyptian military, which has walled itself off from the civilian government, remains strong, there has been little in the way of strategic cooperation between the administration and Mr. Morsi in recent months. A proposed visit by the president to Washington was twice postponed and is now on hold.

    Mr. Kerry’s aid announcement was aimed at coaxing Mr. Morsi into finalizing a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bail out Egypt’s crumbling economy. U.S. officials hoped the pact would serve the political purpose of forcing the Islamists to compromise with the secular opposition to win public toleration of IMF-mandated austerity measures. But Mr. Morsi short-circuited that strategy by seeking, and quickly winning, $5 billion in aid from Qatar and Libya — funds that should allow the government to avoid both an IMF deal and a financial collapse before October, when new parliamentary elections are now expected.

    With the Arab money in hand, Mr. Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders appear increasingly disinclined to heed advice, appeals or even criticism from Washington. A proposed law that would eviscerate civil society groups and ban congressionally funded organizations such as the National Democratic Institute from operating in Egypt is moving forward. Senior leaders have been spewing anti-American rhetoric. An expression of concern by the State Department about a criminal case brought against a television satirist prompted an angry response from the ruling party.

    The right way for the administration to regain its footing in Egypt is neither to pivot toward backing the secular opposition nor to seek accommodation with the government. Instead, the United States should have a policy centered on widening and preserving the democratic opening that followed the 2011 revolution. The administration should speak more, including from the White House, when free speech, free assembly or free elections are threatened; it should find ways to continue and increase its support for Egypt’s civil society. It should reach out more to opposition leaders, while making clear to them and to the military that non-peaceful means for challenging Mr. Morsi’s government are unacceptable.

    In short, the United States should worry less about influencing or cooperating with Mr. Morsi’s government and more about helping Egyptians defend liberal values.

    Washington Post

     

  • Social inequality in the North

    Social inequality in the North

    Mass illiteracy in the region is a drag on national development

    Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, threw a bombshell on April 11 when he addressed the Isaac Moghalu Foundation Leadership Lecture and Symposium in Abuja. Dwelling on Women in Leadership: the Education Pipeline, the CBN governor lamented the status of girls and women in the North, a region that has relentlessly come under fire in recent times, as insurgents have made the zone unattractive for foreign and domestic investors.

    The statistics he reeled out were frightening. He disclosed that more than 90 per cent of women and girls in the North West are unable to complete their secondary school education. He pointed out that, contrasted with figures from the South West where less than 10 per cent of girls stay out of schools, the inequality underlying such indices could be responsible for the restlessness, poverty and consequent insecurity in the North.

    The 51-year-old CBN governor said: “We are only treating the symptoms, not the ailment. We are spending so much on security, compared to education and healthcare services. We cannot succeed in security without fixing the original problems.”

    Questions have been asked about the performance of governments of the northern states in the past 52 years. Culturally, girls and women have been suppressed over the years, thus widening the inequality gap, not only between men and women in the region, but also dragging down the rate of development in the country. A survey by the British Council last year indicated that 80 per cent of women aged between 20 and 29 in eight states of the North were unable to read and write, the corresponding figure for the South was 54 per cent. The British Council’s Gender in Nigeria report further indicated that 94 per cent of women in Jigawa State and 42 per cent of the men in the state were illiterates.

    The document also brought up the shameful fact that two-thirds of girls between 15 and 19 years in the North are unable to read an English sentence, while, in the South, the figure is 10 per cent. Consequently, given the population of women and girls in the North and the poor literacy level in the region, Nigeria has been unable to advance towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal on education, especially of the female folk. Nigeria ranks 111th of 134 countries on the Gender Equality Index.

    The rate of poverty, too, is growing very fast. While the national poverty rate in 1980 was put at 28 per cent, it has now almost doubled.

    The goal of education for all by 2015 is now a mirage as the token steps being taken by the federal and Northern states are not yielding results. At a point, the Babangida administration came up with the nomadic education plan to attract children of the Fulani herdsmen to the classrooms. It did not succeed. Currently, the Jonathan government is setting up almajiri model schools. This may go the same way as those hungrier for education could find their way to the schools and take over, thereby defeating the aims for which they were established.

    As Mallam Sanusi pointed out last year in a speech directed at entrepreneurs in the North, the region has remained poor, partly because of cultural practices that limit the education and productive engagement of women. This must be tackled by all in the public and private sectors. The disaster in the North should not be of concern to the region alone, but the whole country. As the country is thinking of ways to confront the security challenges, attention must be paid to the large army of illiterates and unemployed in the North. Education would reduce the pool from which arsonists and terrorists draw, and motivate the young to dispel rumours and false information.

    In tackling the menace, early marriage and child bearing must be confronted headlong through mass education and campaign. The British Council survey indicated that more than 50 per cent of women in the North get married before they attain the age of 16 and are expected to give birth within the first year of marriage. This is a major reason for the high percentage of illiteracy and ignorance in the region. So, governments at all levels should come up with incentives to encourage the girl child to embrace education. As a first step, all governments, especially in the North, should abolish the payment of levies and fees by girls and young women.

    The National Gender Policy, informed by the Beijing Plan of Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, formulated in 2006, is yet to be faithfully implemented. The policy should now be given fillip and closely monitored by the media and civil society groups.

  • Emeka Anyaoku estate

    Emeka Anyaoku estate

    By naming an estate after a non-indigene, Lagos has set a worthy example

    Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State is demonstrating admirable sense of national outlook in a country riven by ethnic distrust. The governor set the commendable tone in the ‘Centre of Excellence’ at the flag-off of newly-constructed Ikeja Millennium Housing Estate. He named the estate after Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and distinguished Nigerian of Igbo extraction. The 76-unit four-bedroom duplexes estate, located on Muiz Banire Street, GRA, Ikeja, is a masterpiece.

    Governor Fashola was highly convincing on the rationale behind his administration’s decision to name the estate after Anyaoku when he said: “After we completed this project, a new challenge arose. And it was who the estate should be named after. I think that events made that decision very easy…We resolved that if we have to dedicate any public service and building after anyone, whether living or dead, it will be those who have contributed to the development of our nation, especially Lagos State.” And the mantle of this rare high honour fell on elder statesman Anyaoku.

    What a good sign that the beneficiary, Anyaoku, was physically present to cut the ribbon, signifying the formal opening of the estate. He showed great élan when he described the gesture as a kind one from a Lagos State “performing governor’’ and a greater honour to be called upon to ‘cut the ribbon’ of the new estate. Anyaoku equally describes his relationship with Lagos as “deep and longstanding’’ despite coming from across the Niger. He reportedly claimed to have started his career in Lagos and even married a native of Lagos, from Egba precisely, for over 50 years running.

    We cannot but commend Fashola for providing this housing estate as a form of democratic dividend to Lagosians. Housing is one of the fundamental problems facing inhabitants of the state. And it is good to note that the Fashola administration is giving this important problem the attention it deserves, through simultaneous development of housing schemes across the state.

    The good gesture bestowed on Anyaoku has only gone further to confirm the truly integrated style of governance in Lagos. Since the advent of democratic rule in 1999, successive administrations in the state have shown that Lagos is not only cosmopolitan on paper by amplifying this virtue through an inclusive style of running its public affairs. Unlike in other states of the federation where the ‘aborigines’ take all at the expense of people considered as settlers, Lagos, through this Fashola government’s conduct, has become an exemplar that others must emulate in this regard.

    There are several other Nigerians who, like Anyaoku, have lived in states other than that of their origin for decades; they pay tax and contribute meaningfully there but would never be accorded worthy recognition in the scheme of affairs in such states. For instance, the Anyaoku recognition is just an addition to previous ones in Lagos. We recollect and appreciate the fact that Fashola’s government has always been in the forefront of promoting national unity in the state.

    In his government, non-indigenes such as Messrs Ben Akabueze and Joe Igbokwe have been appointed into cabinet and headship of agency positions, respectively. There are several other non-indigenes of Lagos that occupy elective positions at the local and state levels. This underscores the virtue of tolerance of the present leadership of the state that deserves appreciation from all quarters.

    These are rare worthy gestures in the prevalently multi-ethnic and cultural settings of most states in the federation. Apart from the need for other states to emulate Lagos, we believe that more can still be done if only to further engender national unity among the state’s multi-ethnic inhabitants.

  • The Nigerian spirit

    The Nigerian spirit

    Favour Odozor, 20-year-old Nigerian becomes youngest licensed commercial pilot

    Any cheery piece of news about the Nigerian youth now must be in order. What with nearly all the news channels suffused with so much vice and violent crimes such as terrorism, cultism, gangsterism, armed robbery, to name a few. This is why we celebrate the modest feat of a young Nigerian, Favour Odozor, who is reported to currently hold the honour of being the youngest licensed commercial pilot, both in Nigeria and South Africa.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported Monday that 20-year-old Odozor was among the 15 commercial pilots graduated from the Afrika Union Aviation Academy, AUAA in Mafikeng, South Africa, last Saturday. The director of the academy, Captain Allan Roebuck, was full of praise for Odozor, noting that the feat was two years of rigorous training comprising 37 flying procedures, which required a lot of hard work, focus, punctuality and discipline.

    “The academy is proud of this young Nigerian, with the award of the licence and certificate to him. Today, I can say he is the youngest commercial licensed pilot in both Nigeria and South Africa,” Roebuck noted, stating further that Odozor equalled the record set by a Briton, Ed Gardner, who obtained his commercial licence in 2008.

    It is not so much the record supposedly set by this young man said to have had early education at a rather obscure Uchenna Secondary School, Owerri, Imo State, in 2009, but the spirit behind the feat, the zeal of this fledgling boy and all the lessons therein for every Nigerian youth out there. For instance, Odozor said he had always dreamt of becoming a pilot: “Flying planes had always been my childhood dream and I am happy today that I am a licensed commercial pilot at the age of 20; I never expected myself to be the youngest Nigerian to get the commercial pilot licence, not to talk about in an advanced country like South Africa. I was just pursuing my childhood dream of being a pilot.”

    And he is not done yet; he thinks aviation training is wide, therefore, his next move is to enroll for the instrument type rating and Boeing 737 training courses.

    Odozor’s ambitious spirit is not strange to the Nigerian youth; indeed it seems to be an inherent attribute as young Nigerians from across the country and even in the colonial days, have always exhibited the spirit to excel and of upwards mobility. Properly nurtured, Nigerian youths had in the past, moved in their droves to institutions in Europe, America and even Asia in search of the golden fleece and academic glory.

    And Nigeria’s history is rich in stories of home-bred youths who travelled abroad, wrested the White man’s knowledge, beating him in his game notwithstanding that he studied in foreign tongues, he excelled and returned with bagful of academic laurels. However, with the advent of oil boom and Nigeria seemingly awash with petro-dollars, many youths became disoriented having been attuned to the fact that one could be rich and influential without the rigour of study and disciplined effort.

    Odozor is a veritable reminder to Nigerian youths that every man or woman must grow up nurturing a dream and eventually achieving such an honourable dream with excellence. Odozor is a proof that the essence of life, quality life, is not to be a billionaire at 20, but to hoist a flag at the very summit of one’s noble dream which one conceived, pursued and eventually achieved, preferably, in brilliant colours. This is the attitude that grows a people, a culture and a great nation. We believe that with a modicum of effort and inspiration from Nigeria’s leaders, the Nigerian spirit of excellence is sure to unfurl over a glorious landscape.

  • What now on gun control?

    What now on gun control?

    Despite the mounting casualties of gun violence and a brutal massacre that left 20 children dead in Newtown, Conn., the Senate on Wednesday failed to pass a bipartisan compromise to widen background checks for potential purchasers of guns as well as several other relatively modest gun-related measures. That shameful failure is yet another powerful reminder of how difficult it is to make progress on gun control at the federal level.

    As is so often the case, Wednesday’s votes neither reflected the will of most Americans — who, in poll after poll, favor measures to control the proliferation of guns — nor even most members of the Senate, 54 of whom voted for the proposal to widen background checks. Although that represents a majority, nothing of consequence clears the Senate these days without a supermajority of 60 votes, the number needed to overcome a filibuster.

    It’s a bitter disappointment for those who thought that the nation’s collective outrage might at last bring sense to Congress. Still, even as federal legislation runs into the brick wall of the gun lobby, some states and local jurisdictions are forging ahead. For tactical as well as strategic reasons, that’s a promising development.

    For instance, New York expanded the types of assault weapons banned by that state and limited the size of ammunition magazines that may be sold. It also required the recertification of gun licenses and created new provisions for identifying mentally ill people who seek to buy weapons — the latter being a rare point of agreement between gun enthusiasts and advocates of stronger controls. Elsewhere, Colorado and Connecticut, both scenes of recent mass shootings, have responded by enacting tougher restrictions on guns.

    Plenty of states continue to protect the rights of gun owners at the glaring expense of public safety. Some in fact are moving in the opposite direction of New York and Connecticut and are actually encouraging residents to carry weapons.

    But there are merits to taking this struggle to the state and local level. For one thing, it forces organizations like the National Rifle Assn. to fight back in multiple jurisdictions, spreading out its resources rather than concentrating them in Washington. For another, it allows states, cities and counties to create restrictions that are tailored to their populations and politics.

    Finally, it takes advantage of a little-discussed aspect of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in District of Columbia vs. Heller. When the court ruled in that case that the 2nd Amendment confers an individual right to bear arms, it specifically made clear that the right was subject to regulation: Laws prohibiting felons or the mentally ill from buying guns, for instance, were cited as permissible. Indeed, even strict constructionists and originalists such as Justice Antonin Scalia recognize that America’s history of gun ownership also has been one of gun regulation.

    Although the court has yet to define the scope of those rules, it is up to others to test them. The best solution would be strong, federal control of guns, but if the federal government is to be paralyzed in this area — as it appears to be, at least for now — it is incumbent on states to act.

    – Los Angeles Times

  • Imo conundrum

    Imo conundrum

    •The deputy governor’s impeachment raises moral questions

    In the Imo State impeachment saga just ended, the nation tasted again the flavour of politics of the powerful as ticket for legitimacy. The ritual played out with all the semblance of seriousness. The ousted deputy governor was accused, the state house of assembly conducted an investigation, a panel was set up, and eventually the charges were presented for vote on the floor of the legislature.

    Those who watched the proceedings purely as a technicality would not fault its fidelity to law and process. But from the facts of the story, law may have taken its course in the legislative house. But for those who want the law to match the demands of morality, questions linger.

    It is not the law and integrity alone that bother the average person. We also wonder at the contradiction of a state governor and government that rattled a deputy governor for wasting public funds on bribery while the government has shown an alleged public contempt for prudence in the management of taxpayers’ patrimony.

    On the impeachment, a clear gap happens when the taker of an alleged bribe is punished while the giver does not suffer any moral or legal retribution. The nation still expresses moral horror at the Farouk Lawan-Otedola bribery saga in which the alleged taker – Lawan- has suffered prosecutions and opprobrium while the self-confessed giver seems to enjoy an air of a moral superior.

    According to the reports, Jude Agbaso obtained a bribe of N458million from the hands of a Lebanese contractor, Joseph Dina of JPROS International Nigeria Limited. This is a grave matter as the money was meant to construct roads in Imo State. It is doubly important because it shows how persons in position of trust abuse their privileges to pauperise the ordinary people who should have enjoyed the services if the contracts were executed faithfully. The sum involved allegedly amounted to 46 percent of the full contract sum. It is not only corrupt but it is close to an act of official delirium.

    Agbaso has raised some questions. One, was it true that the said bribe sum was traced to two accounts in Dubai and London? Did the accounts belong to Three Brother Concept Nig. Ltd and IHSAN Bureau De Change Limited? Does Agbaso have any links to the accounts?

    From the points advanced by Agbaso, it was not a case of bribery but an orchestrated malfeasance by the Rochas Okorocha administration to entrap the deputy governor for impeachment. We need to investigate these matters because what is at stake is not Agbaso’s position but integrity and fairness in society.

    Agbaso may have thrown these assertions to defrock himself of the grave allegations over which he was flushed out of power. He will be doing himself and this democracy deep disservice if he fabricates stories in order to tarnish the governor’s image and that of his cronies.

    We are not unaware, too, of the impotence of deputy governors and how they are at the mercy of their bosses. The governor can act arbitrarily in cahoots with the rubberstamp legislature to oust a deputy governor whose ways are no longer compatible with his. Impeachment has been “legitimised” as instruments of revenge. We hope this was not the case in the Agbaso ouster.

    But also important is that while the Okorocha government expresses indignation at the bribe story, he has been accused of lack of prudence that contradicts. It has not answered, for instance, the allegations from his predecessor, Ikedi Ohakim. Rather, he said he met an empty purse.

    His predecessor alleged that he left N13.2 billion as the sum left after projects executed on an N18.2 billion bond obtained from the banks. He also said he left another sum of N12.9 billion. He also alleged that the governor has asked for another loan, which he denied. He needs to address with transparency Ohakim’s allegations to prevent a charge of hypocrisy and imprudence.

  • Titillating Five

    Titillating Five

    Quintuplets and two health facilities dramatise a cheer for Nigeria

    Five kids, one year and four months old, born of the same parents at the same time. The uncommon story of the Shofunlayo quintuplets –Eyitayo, Eyitope, Eyitomini, Eyimofe and Eyidayo- is the stuff of news, and they are likely to stay in the spotlight because of the circumstances of their birth. Against all odds, they survived at birth in 2011, which has earned them the titillating tag, “Five Alive.”

    The two boys and three girls made history as the first quintuplets born at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, although they were conceived through Assisted Reproduction at Nordica Fertility Centre, Lagos, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. It is fascinating that the fifth in the line was not expected as their mother’s last scan had shown she was, in her own words, “carrying four babies.” Equally remarkable is the fact that during the Caesarian Section (CS) on her, it took the expertise of the medical team headed by Prof. Godwin Ajayi to locate and bring out the unexpected baby.

    “We can do a lot of things in Nigeria, if we believe,” said the kids’ father, Wale Shofunlayo, a lawyer, who had been reportedly advised to fly his wife to India for safe delivery. His faith in Nigerian doctors eventually paid off, and he deserves kudos for his patriotic spirit. This impressive belief in the country’s health care system, despite its often publicised shortcomings, it should be observed, happened in the context of a 17-year wait for a child. It can only be imagined what level of courage and confidence made him to defy the alleged risks connected with having the children in the country. He was, after all, to go by reports, perhaps in a position to afford overseas medical attention for his wife. “For about seven months, my wife was admitted at LUTH for bed rest and I was able to pay,” he said. Also, it is a matter for conjecture the financial cost he had to bear by using the Nordica Fertility Centre, which is a private medical facility.

    The collaboration of LUTH and the centre in the delivery of the quintuplets is a positive example of partnership between a public health institution and a private organisation, and such cooperation should be encouraged for the synergy it achieves. Shofunlayo’s experience gives an instructive insight into the benefits of such public-private relationship. He said: “I will say kudos to the doctors and nurses for their efforts and consistency. They have really shown that Nigeria is not lagging behind in the preservation of human lives. I am satisfied with the services rendered before and after delivery. “

    Shofunlayo’s good words didn’t end there. According to him, “The only thing the doctors did was to get their hand gloves and get going. None of them requested for any gratification. This is my first experience in a public hospital and it is the best place for anybody to come for treatment.”

    His testimony is certainly heart-warming; it calls for greater belief in the country’s health care system, and, indeed, greater faith in the country. It is interesting that the quintuplets were conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) at a local fertility centre and born in a local hospital. It shows, without doubt, that the country is not lacking either in equipment or expertise in this area. This is a picture of possibilities that should be inspiring across various sectors.

    It is a noteworthy coincidence that the Nordica Fertility Centre, which recorded its first birth through Assisted Reproduction nine years ago, and has been central to the birth of 1,200 babies by the same method, marked its 10th anniversary just a few days after the passage of Robert Edwards, the co-founder of the 35-year-old IVF technique and British Nobel laureate who died on April 10 at age 87.