The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • In third debate, candidates agree on more than you’d think

    In third debate, candidates agree on more than you’d think

    MITT ROMNEY ENTERED Monday night’s debate trailing President Obama in polls on foreign-policy aptitude and wanting to demonstrate that he could be a sober and competent commander in chief. He began by striking an elevated tone — only to encounter an aggressive and slashing opponent.

    Republicans who expected Mr. Romney to renew attacks on Mr. Obama for his handling of a terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, were disappointed. Instead the GOP candidate chose to address broadly the turmoil across the Middle East, calling for policies to “try to get the Muslim world to reject extremism” and congratulating Mr. Obama on the killing of Osama bin Laden.

    Mr. Obama responded with the first of a number of attacks, telling Mr. Romney, “Every time you’ve offered an opinion you’ve been wrong” and assailing “wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map.” “Attacking me is not an agenda,” Mr. Romney answered.

    That set the tone for a debate in which — ironically — the candidates agreed more than disagreed on substance. Mr. Romney joined Mr. Obama in swearing off U.S. military intervention in Syria; they agreed that Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak should have been pushed from power. They concurred that the United States would back Israel if it were attacked, and that China’s trade abuses should be checked.

    Both candidates promised that U.S. troops would be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and neither mentioned ongoing talks between the U.S. and Afghan governments over a residual force. Mr. Romney backed Mr. Obama’s use of drone strikes in Pakistan and added that he did not fault the administration for the deterioration of U.S.-Pakistani relations.

    On Iran, Mr. Obama sought to head off Mr. Romney’s accusations of ineffectiveness in stopping Tehran’s nuclear program by delivering one of the strongest statements he has made about his willingness to use force: “The clock is ticking,” he said. “If they do not meet the demands of the international community, then we are going to take all options necessary to ensure they don’t have a nuclear weapon.” He first denied that bilateral negotiations with Iran were planned after the election, then later thanked Mr. Romney for supporting the possibility of such talks.

    But Mr. Obama repeatedly sought to put Mr. Romney on the defensive, at one point accusing the Republican of having wanted to keep troops in Iraq while denying that the White House had supported a stay-on force. In fact, as Mr. Romney pointed out, the administration tried and failed to negotiate an agreement with the Iraqi government on such a force. When Mr. Romney offered a well-worn indictment of Mr. Obama for weakness, saying he had conducted “an apology tour” abroad, Mr. Obama called that “the biggest whopper of the campaign.”

    One significant difference emerged, on defense spending, where Mr. Obama repeated his charge that Mr. Romney was proposing $2 trillion in budget increases that the Pentagon had not asked for. Mr. Romney argued that the Navy and Air Force has been allowed to shrink too far; Mr. Obama sarcastically responded that the military also had fewer horses and bayonets than in decades past.

    At times, and despite the best efforts of moderator Bob Schieffer to keep the discussion on foreign policy, the candidates veered into domestic policy, from the merits of smaller class sizes in schools to the auto bailout to the familiar but still unanswered question of how Mr. Romney would pay for his planned reduction in tax rates. The domestic discussion broke little ground, but the emergence during the foreign policy debate of what Mr. Obama called the importance of “taking care of business here at home” underscored the degree to which the economy remains the dominant issue of the election.

    – Washington Post

  • Welcome qualification

    Welcome qualification

    •But Super Eagles road to 2013 AFCON is still long and rough

     

    Super Eagles qualified for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, in South Africa, by walloping Liberia 6-1; 8-3 on goals difference, having played a 2-2 draw away in Monrovia. This spectacular performance has redeemed the team’s image, since they failed to qualify for the 2012 edition, despite playing the last qualifying match against Guinea, also on home soil.

    Still, many observers remain unconvinced: what if they had played against the likes of Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana or Egypt, African soccer super powers? This doubt is not unfounded. Despite qualifying, Nigeria has lost its seeding privilege. Four countries: South Africa (hosts), Zambia (title holders), Ghana (semi-finalists) and Cote d’Ivoire (losing finalists) at the 2012 edition, had been seeded. What this means is that Nigeria, at the group stages, will contend with any of the four, particularly Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, eternal West African rivals. Are the Eagles prepared for this stiff test?

    That explains why Adegboye Onigbinde, eminent coach and FIFA technical instructor and Nigeria’s most decorated ex-international, Kanu Nwankwo, have warned that the Eagles need to work harder. This is despite their hailing Coach Stephen Keshi’s adoption of wing play which, incidentally, Clemence Westerhoff used in 1994, when Keshi was captain of the Super Eagles, to win the Nations Cup in Tunisia, en route to a glorious debut World Cup campaign at USA ‘94.

    Keshi should put his pride in his pocket if he wants to perform at this tournament. Samson Siasia had an ego problem, which led to his sidelining of important stars like Osaze Odewingwe and a few others under the pretext of discipline. His stubborn refusal to allow such key players cost him qualification – and later his job.

    On this score, Keshi is hardly better. We remember the problem he had with Togolese star, Emmanuel Adebayor, whom he refused to field as one of Togolese players during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In the end, Keshi failed at the first round and he was sacked. The same thing happened when he took up the coaching job at Mali. He ignored the best players in Mali, like Frederick Kanoute and Sheydou Keita. By the time he swallowed his pride and allowed Kanoute and Keita to play, however, it was too late as Mali was kicked out of the 2008 Cup of Nations tournament. Once again, he was sacked.

    But soccer hubris, coaches’ ego, is not limited to Nigeria. In fact, it is a global problem. But the late Enzo Bearzot, Italy coach to the 1982 World Cup in Spain, somewhat proved a golden exception. And the result: he won the World Cup, dumping in the quarterfinal perhaps the best Brazil team ever, which nevertheless failed to win the World Cup.

    Bearzot brought in Paulo Rossi, who though just came out of a two-year illicit betting suspension sentence, the coach knew was key to his World Cup ambition. He literally came from gaol to play; and his hat trick wrecked the free-flowing Tele Santana-managed Brazil team of Socrates, Falcao, Cerezo Junior, Eder and others, which nevertheless suffered a suspect Valdir Perez in goal. Rossi’s hat-trick did the damage, as Italy threw out Cinderella Brazil in the quarters, before going on to win the cup against West Germany in the final.

    The moral? Keshi should by all means enforce discipline in the team. An undisciplined team is a heart ache to all. But he must also learn how to get the best from his star players, despite their character flaws.

    Other things being equal, superstars step in on the big stage to win laurels for their clubs and countries. This has been amply demonstrated by the likes of Lionel Messi (Argentina), Christiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Robin Van Persie (Holland).

    Nigeria has her own share of stars. It is Keshi’s job to harness their talents to the glory of motherland. We wish him well as he attempts to relive the golden era of the national team as coach; after captaining that same team during that golden era.

     

  • Sheila Mary Solarin

    Sheila Mary Solarin

    •The British-born who made more Nigerian joys than many Nigerian-born

     

    It is rare for a couple to inspire a people with each of the spouses imprinting their distinctive doings. The Solarins have endeared themselves to the Nigerian society because of the cooperative power of their spousal partnership as well as the heroism and humility of service concomitant with them.

    Usually it is the story of the man, who engraves his name in the hearts of the people, while the wife takes a traditional back step. Rarely, a woman soars, burying the hubris of the husband in the sheer charisma and accomplishments of her performance.

    But with the Solarins it was a partnership devoted to a particular cause. Tai Solarin fired the imagination of the nation with his great work before he died several years ago, survived by her widow Sheila. Last Sunday, Sheila Solarin gave up the ghost at 88, ending the sojourn of the incomparable duo.

    According to reports, Sheila died from complications from a freak accident. She fell from a chair and that led to surgery. She never really recovered from it.

    She was British-born, and met her husband Tai while both served in the military during the Second World War. In 1951, in an act of devotion to her spouse, she moved to Nigeria with Tai and they settled in today’s Ogun State. They co-founded Mayflower College in Ikenne as a statement of defiance against the ecclesiastical tenor of schools. They were atheists and they desired a school that focused on humanity against the tradition of deference to church in many missionary schools. Mayflower was the first such school in the nation.

    She was also a teacher, and the growth of Mayflower is a testament to not only perseverance but a methodical devotion to an idea. They began the school with a few blocks and students invested their time and energy in building the school. She with her husband devoted themselves to the concept of community school that can be defined uniquely for their style.

    The school gradually expanded and became one of the biggest. They also built a boarding house and eventually also had a primary school.

    It is a story of industry as well. But she was not a vocal person like her husband in his confrontation of the establishment. Her husband suffered contempt and harassment from authorities, especially during the military rule. But the wife stood stoutly by him, and there was no public show of friction in their relationship.

    Being white and foreign, she never felt like an outsider, at least not openly. She built a world around Nigeria, and she served Nigeria and its peoples like her own. She came to be accepted also as such. Apart from being a model of longevity in marriage, her support for Tai also was a story of interracial cooperation, and that began in an era where it was rare and even forbidden for whites to contemplate intimacies of whatever kind with blacks, let alone Africans.

    Queen Elizabeth 11 conferred on her the title of Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 2007, a show of her home country’s recognition for the services she gave to another country. It was a case of a true international breed.

    It is a pity that standards of education have plummeted across the country, and Mayflower is not immune. It is hoped that the pioneering efforts of Sheila and her husband in the field of education, which was also marked by a high sense of discipline, will be revived. Failure of such will make the lives of such great efforts as that of Sheila of no futuristic value.

     

  • Illiterate legislators

    Illiterate legislators

    •Lawmakers who cannot read and write have no place in the National Assembly

     

    Mr. Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President stunned the nation with his bombshell in Awka, Anambra State, when he said that some of his colleagues (legislators) can barely write their names. He reportedly bemoaned why the South-East “…still sends to the National Assembly some people who can barely write their names” despite its educational advancement.

    The occasion was the 2012 Zik Lecture organised by Anambra State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists where he delivered a paper titled: ‘True Federalism and the Political Ideology of the Great Zik’. Other than the fact that such a revelation came from the deputy senate president, we would have considered it to be a wild one that could not have happened in the country this century. But the revered Senate’s number two man must have considered the implication of what he said about some members of that important arm of government.

    We want to believe that he was not just frivolous or grandstanding for that may generate undue public attention to his person and office. It is sad to know from someone that ought to know that some members of the hallowed Senate chambers cannot write their names and, by extension, may rely on aides to read and properly understand the proceedings going on in the chambers. Such legislators presumably will not be able to think beyond their immediate milieu and obviously may have nothing to offer not only their people but the entire nation.

    Something must be wrong somewhere before any member of the Senate in this age would not be able to write his/her name. Contrary to Mr. Ekweremadu’s position that pointedly accused the South-East of being guilty of this, we want to state that this educational absurdity could not be peculiar to that region. Further scrutiny would have exposed the educational farce in other regions.

    Expectedly, nations are governed by laws which regulate peaceful cohabitation and bring about developmental initiatives. Thus, the rigorous business of lawmaking should not be left in the hands of dregs in the society. But to now imagine a situation where law makers cannot read or write in the Senate is preposterous. How can the desired end of lawmaking and its amendment processes be guaranteed if semi-illiterates or half-baked literates are the people making the laws?

    We are aware that the standard of education has generally fallen in the country. Otherwise, how can anybody attain the enviable height of a federal lawmaker and he would not be able to write his/her name? The 1999 Constitution (as amended) in section 65(2a) provides that ‘A person shall be qualified for election under subsection (1) of this section if; he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.’ From the rattling revelation of Mr. Ekweremadu, and the obvious descent in educational standards in the nation where even some university degree holders cannot speak or write good English, being the lingua franca of the land, then, this constitutional provision on School Certificate qualification that also applies to election seekers into executive positions has become meaningless.

    The need to embrace a more civilised approach in determining the literacy level and suitability of prospective legislators and others seeking elective office in future must be earnestly considered in the on-going constitutional review exercise. Public debate on issues and policies relating to the country’s wellbeing and the people is pertinent here. Nigeria needs men of rigour and mental alacrity to wriggle her out of the current stillness in governance. Ignorance arising from mostly uneducated men in the corridors of power may be too costly if the nation intends to get to the Promised Land.

     

  • Budget bickering

    Budget bickering

    •This is no time for intransigence and grandstanding between President Jonathan and lawmakers

     

    President Goodluck Jonathan may have sought to inter the ghost of tardiness that had plagued previous budgets when on October 10, he presented the 2013 budget outlay to the National Assembly for early consideration and passage; but he seemed to have underrated the resolve of the National Assembly to deal with the other half of the budget equation – the question of non-implementation of budget.

    The issue, unfortunately, seems set to dog the consideration of the 2013 budget. Earlier in July, the House of Representatives threatened to serve impeachment notice to the President over his alleged failure to implement the 2012 budget. Three months after, the Senate has equally given hint of possible withholding of the passage of budget 2013 until the issue of 2012 budget implementation is settled.

    Speaking on the matter last week, Ahmed Maccido, the Senate committee chairman on appropriation contested the claim by the executive that it has implemented the budget appreciably when he disclosed that the figures collated from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation actually indicated that the 2012 budget “has not reached more than 30 percent implementation”.

    The Senate, he said “will not touch the budget again until such a time when we have finished our oversight functions”. The House report on its oversight is currently being awaited.

    Away from implementation, another sore point in the 2013 budget process is the issue of the benchmark price adopted in the computation of the revenue estimates. Whereas the executive branch projected $75 per barrel (the 2012 benchmark price was $72), the House settled for $80 and the Senate $78. Whereas the executive maintains that its benchmark price reflected pragmatism given the volatility in crude oil prices, the National Assembly argues with equal forcefulness that the higher benchmark was realistic; it says that the higher price made better sense, particularly for a budget with an in-built deficit of nearly N1.5 trillion.

    If it seems disappointing that the two arms of government could not reconcile the basis of the budget despite the so-called pre-budget consultations, more worrisome however is that the basis of their disagreement actually reflects little that could be described as substance.

    Instructively, the 2013 budget retains the profile which has recurrent expenditure retaining a whopping 68.7 percent and the capital component a paltry 31.3 percent – sadly in a nation said to hunger for infrastructure renewal.

    Between an all-knowing executive branch and a grandstanding National Assembly, where is the one to choose from? Where is the substance in the ritual of hair-splitting over a so-called benchmark price which may or may not be realisable? Is that really the problem with the budget?

    Does the budget pretend to address the challenge of inclusive growth, the need to create millions of jobs for the army of unemployed youths which have remained elusive in previous budget cycles? What happens should oil prices suddenly dip?

    Presently, the nation’s budget process is in a mess mainly because of indiscipline and corruption. Unfortunately, both the lawmakers and the executive appear to believe that it is possible to build the nation’s budget process on this foundation of filth.

    The National Assembly will do better to focus on curbing the wastes in government, particularly the countless holes in the bureaucracy through which public funds are siphoned. Better still, it will do well to help put in place the mechanisms to ensure that Nigerians get value for every kobo appropriated in the budget. Here, we are mindful of the fact that the problem with our budget isn’t so much about the quantum of money spent but the value delivered.

    For far too long, the National Assembly has tended to fight shy when issues come to cleaning the budget process. The current scrutiny of the status of Budget 2012 implementation offers the best chance to begin the process.

  • Planning without facts

    Planning without facts

    •This is the main problem with fuel subsidy in the country

    NOTHING illustrates better the penchant for planning without facts in Nigeria than the utter chaos that reigns in the country’s oil and gas sector. Right now, there is widespread scarcity of petroleum products in different parts of the country despite a reported increase in the importation of the commodity.

    In the first place, there is sheer confusion on such an elementary issue as the actual consumption rate of petrol in the country. Going by the template of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Nigeria currently consumes 40.32 million litres of petrol per day. Accordingly, for the first, second and third quarters of 2012 which comprise approximately 279 days, the PPPRA allocated 3.5 million, 3.153 million and 3.150 million metric tonnes of petrol, respectively, for consumption. The petrol allocation for the fourth quarter of 2011 was carried over to the first quarter of 2012 because of the investigation into the management of the fuel subsidy scheme.

    However, the House of Representatives has recommended a daily petrol consumption rate of 33 million litres for the 2013 budget, after its investigation of the 2011 petrol subsidy scheme. The committee of the House, which probed the fuel subsidy management, found that “…the consumption level for 2011 was estimated at 31.5 million litres per day. However, in 2012, a marginal increase of 1.5 million litres per day is recommended in order to take care of unforeseen circumstances, bringing it to 33 million litres”. There is hardly any scientific basis for arriving at the various figures estimated as the country’s petrol consumption rate. For instance, there is no accurate record of the number of cars and other vehicles on Nigerian roads. Ordinarily, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) ought to be the repository of reliable data on all aspects of our national life. It is embarrassing, for instance, that we do not have an accurate record of such basic facts as the number of civil servants, students or pensioners in the country. In the absence of precise statistics, it is impossible for any meaningful planning to be done and the goal of development is thus jeopardised.

    The lack of reliable data is the prime source of the absence of transparency and accountability that has enabled massive fraud to be perpetrated in the name of fuel subsidy. During the House of Representatives investigation of the fuel subsidy regime, it was embarrassing to see various agencies of government – the Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), PPPRA – give conflicting figures on the actual cost of the purported fuel subsidy.

    Right now, some fraudulent oil marketers are being prosecuted for allegedly defrauding the country of billions of Naira by claiming subsidy payments on fuel not imported and utter confusion continues to reign on the actual component of this so-called subsidy. While the pump price of petrol is N97 per litre, government claims that the landing cost of a litre of petrol is N152.44, necessitating a payment of N55.44 on every litre of petrol as subsidy – a total of N55.4 billion monthly. The Federal Government has paid the sums of N338.24 billion and N56.7 billion to top marketers for August and September, 2012. Yet, the CBN governor, Mr Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has said that the N656.3 billion allocation for fuel subsidy in the 2012 budget will run out before the end of the year.

    Meanwhile, another clear evidence that the entire fuel subsidy scheme has gone totally out of control, is the provision by the Federal Government of N231.8 billion in the budget for the payment of the 2011 budget arrears, adding up to N888.1 billion. Yet, it remains a mystery why the country cannot have functional refineries to mitigate the need to import refined fuel.

     

  • Flood commission?

    Flood commission?

    •It is unnecessary duplication of bureaucracy

    THE decision to put in place a flood control commission, which is now a bill before the National Assembly is a knee jerk reaction to the devastation caused recently by flood in Nigeria. No doubt the impact of the flood across many of the states has been unprecedented, and considering that our country is ill equipped for serious emergencies, the impact was overwhelming in many of the states. This is despite the existence of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Federal Ministry of Environment and similar agencies in most states of the federation. We believe that the answer to the crisis of inefficiency is not to create a new bureaucracy, but rather to empower those already in existence.

    The bill for the creation of the commission before the National Assembly has already passed the second reading. As Nigerians learn more about the calamity visited on our unprepared nation, the pressure will be on our politicians to act, and more of this type of measure that is not thought through will be proposed. If this commission is needed, then we are likely to have new commissions put in place for every natural disaster. Unfortunately, the likelihood of a very inclement and unprecedented flooding was foretold by the relevant agencies responsible for weather forecasts, yet there was no coordinated plan in place as the calamity still caught us unprepared. Most of the states that received special funding from the federation account on ecology and environmental disasters over the years diverted the money to other uses, instead of spending on preventive measures like clearing the drains well in advance.

    Over the years, Nigerians were told that the Federal Government had budgeted for and awarded multi-billion naira contracts to dredge the River Niger; obviously nothing was ever done as our recent calamity has shown. For, if the major inland waterways were genuinely dredged, the banks would not have overflowed to wreak unprecedented havoc on innocent Nigerians living at the banks of the major rivers. It is important that those who were paid to dredge the River Niger are held accountable for their neglect, and states that have received funds under the ecological funds are made to account for the funds.

    Indeed, what may be needed is a commission of enquiry to examine what was responsible for the national tragedy. This enquiry will also seek to understand how the underfunding or mismanagement of funds over the years, by our river-basin authorities has affected our own dams. The enquiry will seek to know what has happened to the ecology funds, the money released to NEMA over the years, and the Federal Ministry of Environment, among other related Federal Government agencies. While flood is a natural disaster, man has, through science, set in place measures to temper it. It is also important to find out through the Nigerian-Cameroun joint Commission, what role the water released from the dams in Cameroun contributed to this crisis.

    The states mostly affected by the calamity must individually and collectively begin to examine what needs to be put in place to either avoid or ameliorate the impact of such flood now and in the future. Those living along the major tragedy areas must also help themselves by relocating to a better and more environment-friendly areas.

    While emergency measures are put in place, part of the resources should be channelled to permanent solutions for those involved. Across the board, there is need for the country to be more prepared for natural emergencies. Between and across the states, there is need for collaboration. In our view, there is enough bureaucracy in place; what we need are better hands-on measures to tackle the challenges well in advance.

     

  • True face of postgraduate medical training

    True face of postgraduate medical training

    SIR: The West Africa College of Physicians concluded the second diet of exams recently. The faculty of psychiatry declared a pass rate of 13.8% at its part one membership exams (8 of 58 candidates). The faculty of public and community health recorded a 32% pass rate (23 of 70 candidates)
    Twice every year, candidates from all over the country converge in Ibadan and Lagos for the West Africa College of Physician and National Post Graduate Medical College exams respectively, each diet of examinations consisting of written, objective structured clinical exams, picture tests and oral/long case exams as the case may be. It is usually a very grueling and trying time for any candidate with psychological, emotional, financial and sometimes physical consequences.
    A minimum of N60,000 is paid for each exam attended without consideration of transportation, feeding, and other ancillary expenses incurred. It is funded by the candidate after an initial one time sponsorship by the training hospital.
    A candidate may repeat the exams as many as seven (7) times.  There are records of up to 10 times and over at one stage. Usually, candidates do not scale the first stage, and even then, meeting hurdles in each subsequent stages of the OSCE, Picture test and long case stages. Each must be passed independently, usually under stifling time constraints.
    It is pertinent to shed some light on the long case examination, already phased out by certain faculties of the college owing to its largely subjective nature. A candidate is assigned a patient for the purposes of the exam, and is to conduct an interview, physical examination and prescribe a course of management under harrowing time conditions. The candidate is to make an oral submission of his findings to two or more examiners who are usually less than dispassionate in their assessments. Mark you, less than 10% of these examiners have any degree in education, evaluation, assessing or any pedagogic training for that matter.
    It is under this long case that a lot of examiners excise their “pound of flesh” as a candidate may be faulted in practically any and everything! Thus, a candidate who manages to scale through the first, second and third stages, is truncated at the last stage by an examiner who chooses to sleep during proceedings!
    A lot of candidates have been maimed as a result of the activities of these colleges with the active connivance of some training hospitals. Failing to pass these exams, a doctor is unable to make any professional advancement; he is stuck and sooner or later shown the way out of the residency program with no lifeline. He is unemployable as a specialist, and cannot proceed as a general practitioner.
     Medicine is touted to be an apprenticeship; so, if a candidate has to repeat a particular exam so many times, has he been properly mentored? Small wonder the high morbidity and mortality rates; the capital flight in medical tourism and the total loss of faith in the healthcare system. Such candidates who are frustrated out of the system for their inability to scales these exams, where do they go? Where do they start from with families and other dependants? What about the psychological toll on him? Something to which he has committed a lifetime of effort and suffered untold deprivation?
    A number of questions beg for answers;
    Does this “high” standard that candidates are held up to translate to favorable health indices for the country- reduced morbidity, mortality and medical tourism to India and other nations? Capital flight? Is the nation any better off from the efforts of the Postgraduate medical college?
    What does a failure rate of 87% connote? The trainers are not doing their jobs? The trainers do not understand what is required of them? That candidates are so dull?  Or is it simply a case of unregulated and misguided leadership?
    What role does national interest play in the determination of proceedings, procedures, modus operandi and outcomes of the college? The national postgraduate medical college of Nigeria prides itself in having produced 4,000 plus specialists in over 30 years of existence and in a country of about 160 million people. Whose interest do they really serve?
    What is the role of international best practice in the regulation of the colleges? Any peer review mechanism? Any validity and reliability studies on the mechanisms of these colleges?
    Should each region or state not regulate its own postgraduate education, require and needs? Who oversees the activities of these colleges?
    It is high time the House committee on health, the federal ministry of health, policy makers and other interest groups gave some scrutiny into the workings of these colleges in the interest of all stake holders, and the nation as a whole bearing in mind the various ramifications, dimensions and implications of the activity of these colleges on all and sundry. It is no longer acceptable that things remain the way they’ve always been. Indeed, the mark of humanity is the ability to adapt; to evolve; to meet challenges and peculiarities of the day, a peculiarity that once again challenges our resourcefulness.
    • Timi Babatunde MD
    Lagos.

  • Benue monarchs should shun partisan politics

    SIR: Before the advent of colonial rule, traditional rulers performed legislative, judicial, executive and social cultural functions. In this wise, traditional rulers guide, protect, defend and provide for the needs of the society which they superintend as they were the de facto de jure governors of their domains

    The imposition of colonial rule on Nigeria fundamentally changed the nature of the indigenous governing system. Traditional rulers were no longer sovereign as they were beholden to the new alien officials; the central role of the traditional rulers was transformed from serving the people to enduring colonial exploitation.

    Traditional rulers also do not farewell in the post colonial Nigeria as governments see them as rival political power and therefore alternate to their authority.

    However, today traditional rulers has no judicial functions or executive power as well as that of legislative, they nevertheless remained very relevant in the scheme of things in Nigeria’

    Traditional rulers are still most effective channel by which government at all level reach the people.

    The institution elicits greater confidence and legitimacy in the eyes of many Nigerians; they are still revered today despite the glaring limitation.

    The institution will continue to gain public acceptance and respect if it shun acts that tended to diminish its status in the eyes of the people.

    In Benue State today, traditional rulers expose themselves to public humiliation because of their involvement in partisan politics. As symbols of unity, traditional rulers should stay away from partisan politics as such involvement will expose them to unwarranted attacks.

    In 2011 general election, some traditional rulers compromise their revered position by openly canvassing support for particular candidate of their choice. By so doing, they became open enemies of the opposing group and unnecessary put themselves up for attacks, this is dangerous.

    Now that the local government election is around the corner, traditional rulers in Benue State should emulate the legacy of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Sir, Ahmadu Bello, a one time aspirant for the Sultan’s throne, who once said if “ he was asked to make a choice between the position of the presidency and the sultanate, he would most willingly and gladly settle for the sultanate seat”.

    Such was the pedestal that traditional ruler’s ship is placed.

    • John Akevi,

    Nitel Qtrs. Bauchi

  • The truth about Abuja demolition

    SIR: It is rather unfortunate that there has been a lot of fallacies, deceptions and sentiments peddled about the recent removal of illegal structures in Kyami District, along the Airport Road, Abuja.

    Allocation of land in Abuja is the exclusive preserve of the FCT Administration as enshrined in our constitution. Most of the developers that committed this illegality just encroached and commenced construction/building on land that was never at any point allocated to them, hence the back-dated allocation papers on un-approved layouts, inconsistent title documents and forged building plan approvals supposedly originating from Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

    It is understandable that we have a serious housing deficit in Nigeria. But this is no licence for estate developers to illegally acquire land for housing estates. Based on the impunity shown by most of the developers to the markings by the Development Control Department, removal exercises were carried out after relevant notices were served. In spite of the removals, illegal developments still went on in flagrant disobedience of appropriate notices and warnings served for them to discontinue.

    In February 2012, officials of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), concerned about the removal exercises of these illegal developments sought audience with the Development Control Department with a view to enabling obedience with existing regulations and thus stop further demolitions. In furtherance to this, a joint site inspection of all the sites of illegal development was conducted in company of REDAN officials, after which they promised to prevail on their members to henceforth stop additional illegal developments. Defiantly the developers continued to develop illegal structures in an unabated manner to the consternation of the Development Control Department.

    It is on record that AMAC and indeed all Area Councils stopped issuing title documents and building plan approvals for any development within the FCT as far back as 2004, and where legal approvals were issued and not applied for approved development, a revalidation becomes necessary after the stipulated 2 years in accordance with the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning laws.

    • Mohammed Awwalu Ibro

    Adisa Estate

    Abuja