The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Open grazing debate

    Open grazing debate

    •Pastoralists have to move with the times and embrace modern method of doing the business

    Following the heated national debate attendant on the attempt by the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari administration to revive and legalise old cattle grazing routes across the country dating from the colonial era, the issue appeared to have been settled in favour of modern methods of animal husbandry centred on cattle ranching. The National Governors Forum (NGF) and other critical stakeholders had reached a consensus that the nation should transition from antiquated open grazing methods that saw cattle being herded through vast tracts of land across the country, with negative health implications for the herds and herders, as well as frequent bloody conflicts between sedentary farming communities and migratory cattle herders.

    Indeed, the former president’s directive to his Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), to identify and enforce the grazing routes of the First Republic proved impracticable as the extant Land Use Act had vested control of land in state governments, and most of the grazing routes now have roads, buildings, rail tracks and other infrastructural facilities built across them.

    It is thus surprising that the bill to establish the National Animal Husbandry and Ranches Commission to control and regulate cattle ranching business across the country was passed for second reading at the Senate only after a heated and acrimonious debate. Some northern senators vehemently opposed aspects of the proposed law which they saw as detrimental to the interest of pastoralists from a section of the country. In a similar vein, the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), weighing in on the discourse, advocated the establishment of a National Pastoralists Commission (NPC) as the best option to resolving the open grazing or ranching debate.

    NEF said if successive governments had thought it fit to establish structures such as the defunct Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ministry of Niger Delta and the Amnesty Programme to address specific challenges affecting communities in the south, there should also be special initiatives like its proposed NPC to act on all matters affecting the wellbeing and interests of all citizens whose livelihood depends on livestock rearing. The forum also called for the establishment of a special funding intervention initiative patterned after the Anchor Borrowers Programme and similar interventions by federal financial authorities for supporting livestock development policies as well as pastoral communities.

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    But the reference to intervention initiatives in the South-South geopolitical zone to justify the call for the creation of NPC is inappropriate. The NDDC, Ministry of Niger Delta or Amnesty Programme in the zone was in response to the massive despoliation of the environment, disruption of livelihoods and prevalence of diseases due to drilling of oil on which the vast proportion of national revenues depend for over five decades. Cattle rearing and other livestock activities are essentially private businesses which cannot be compared to oil drilling and the environmental and psychological devastation it has caused in the Niger Delta. In any case, the North East Development Commission (NEDC) has also been set up to address development challenges in that zone while bills to establish similar commissions for some other geopolitical zones are at different stages of consideration by the National Assembly.

    The Anchor Borrowers Programme cited by the NEF as an example to support its call for financial intervention to aid livestock business is not a particularly helpful or useful model. For one, it is doubtful if the initiative has had the desired beneficial effect on domestic rice production. Again, questions have been raised as regards what use those who obtained such funds put public resources entrusted to them and the reported poor rate of paying back the loans. And the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under its new leadership has charted a new course away from such interventions to focus on its core monetary regulation functions. It is therefore up to the NEF to persuade states willing to do so to offer such support to pastoralists within their terrains.

    Pastoralists who seek to establish and run ranches as businesses in any part of the country have the constitutional right to do so once they adhere strictly to stipulations of the law. However, these and other necessary adjustments to the Land Use Act for the National Animal Husbandry and Ranches Commission to become a reality are still open for the input of stakeholders at the public hearings to be held on the proposed law.

  • For the love of country

    For the love of country

    •Inimical politics around local refining of petroleum products should stop now

    The oil sector has brought prosperity to many countries endowed with deposit of the mineral in commercial quantity. Indeed, many of the countries have drawn immense benefits from exploration to marketing, refining and export. But, for Nigeria, it has been more of oil doom than boom.

    Although oil was discovered at Oloibiri, in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State almost seven decades ago, we are still dependent on foreigners for all aspects of the business. This has been brought to the fore the more in recent times, as Nigerians await completion of public and private refineries, with commissioning dates being shifted at every due date.

    Last December, the management of the sector said rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery announced with fanfare under the Buhari administration was technically completed, and oil would roll out in January. By January, it was shifted to sometime before the end of the first quarter of this year. Thereafter, by April, Mr. Mele Kyari, who is the Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, said the products would be in the market by the end of that month. Today, they are touting December. No one is even saying much of the other refineries in Warri and Kaduna that are also being rehabilitated.

    If that was limited to the public sector alone, it would probably be understood in a country where sloppiness of the public sector is the norm. But, the Dangote Refinery, on which much hope has been pinned with its 650,000 barrels per day installed capacity, is already bitten by the same bug. The full operation of the oil company inaugurated by former President Muhammadu Buhari before he stepped out of office last year is yet to start production of petroleum motor spirit more than a year after.

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    Last week, Devakumar Edwin, Dangote Industries Limited Vice President, cried out that a cartel in the industry appeared sworn on frustrating local refining efforts. He alleged that the International Oil Companies (IOCs) have been reluctant to sell crude oil to the company as well as smaller refineries in the country. On a frightening note, he alleged, too, that regulatory authorities are acting in league with the foreign oil companies. He said just at a time that the Dangote Refinery, one of the largest in the world is about to come on stream, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has been indiscriminately issuing licences for importation of the commodity. Coupled with the seeming refusal of the IOCs to supply the mega refinery crude, the company is afraid that efforts are being made to frustrate it. While some have expressed the fear that Dangote Industries could become a monopoly to the detriment of consumers, frustrating it is not the way out. We should study the international best practices and provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act and apply them.

    We are surprised that the Federal Government could watch things to so degenerate without taking appropriate action, given that in addition to having overall supervisory powers, it has shares in both the refinery and IOC Joint Venture Companies. Nigerians will not find it funny if, as a result of importation of crude oil from as far as the United States, locally refined products are priced above the imported PMS. It is the duty of the government to ensure that our national interest takes precedence over any other consideration in this matter. It is not about the person of Alhaji Aliko Dangote or his business interest. If in the past he was accused of exhibiting monopolistic tendencies, snuffing life out of competition, all we have to do is lay out the rules and ensure compliance.

    The regulatory authorities should wake up and ensure that the national interest prevails in the industry. Petroleum products, especially PMS, is too important to be subjected to inimical politics. This country has a lot of savings to make on forex if we are able to stop importation of petroleum products. This should be a major consideration in the matter.

    It is gratifying that President Bola Tinubu who doubles as petroleum minister has intervened. But the intervention would amount to nothing if not followed to the letter, and all the hopes we hinged on Dangote Refinery would be dashed, to Nigeria’s detriment.

  • NIMC and data security

    NIMC and data security

    • The commission must investigate alleged leaks thoroughly before exonerating its processes

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) recently got in the eye of the storm when an organisation, Paradigm Initiative, alleged that it has encountered an unauthorised website selling sensitive personal and financial data of some Nigerians for as little as N100. This organisation demonstrated with the purchased data of the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani’s National Identification Number (NIN).

    This report, if proven to be accurate,  means a lot not just to the minister but to national security and all Nigerians, home and abroad. It is a brazen breach of the data and privacy laws of the land. This has very dire implications for the whole country’s security architecture. The NIMC quickly issued a rebuttal of the statement but we feel more still needs to be done, given the place of data in a digital world.

    Cybercrimes have global security implications and countries, individuals and organisations spend a lot to minimise access to sensitive data, given the value of data to the modern tech-savvy world. The internet and social media are human creations. So, because they are human creations, humans can still breach the processes. Data means a lot and can be used for positive and negative outcomes, depending on intentions.

    Very often, the difference between developed countries and the underdeveloped countries is in the systemic functionalities often dependent on the strict use of data. The population of each nation is determined through data collected on births and deaths, the different demographics are determined through the data of each citizen. For democracies, election campaigns are dependent on the data of voting population. In the United States, for example, there are always data on Caucasians, Jews, Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, Evangelicals, etc., which help the different political parties to plan for campaigns and governance  for the best outcomes in elections.

    National security is dependent on data. It is not for nothing that criminals are easier to be tracked down in developed than underdeveloped countries. This is because technology has made it easier to identify each person in a particular space in real time. The success of national security operatives is dependent on the functionality of the data being used. A lot of global Intel is dependent on the use of data technology in a world fast evolving technologically.

    The NIMC management was quick to issue what looks like a rebuttal of the security breach complaint of the Paradigm Initiative, alleging that it is some Nigerians who are giving their data to the fake websites. The general public seems unconvinced, given that the organisation provided evidence in their presentation of the data of the data regulator in Nigeria, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, and that of Dr. Tijani.

    Even though they continue to insist that the commission’s infrastructure meets the stringent ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management System Standard, with annual re-certification and strict compliance with the Nigerian Data Protection Law, we advise that the government and its agencies be very alert and never take the security breach issue lightly, as a lot depends on data security. The people’s trust on the security of their data must never be allowed to wane.

    Read Also: Data leak: CASER backs NIMC, demands prosecution of suspects

    Even though NIMC advises Nigerians to avoid giving their data to unauthorised and phishing sites, we know that most global hackings do not often happen due to carelessness of individuals, countries or institutions. The danger of data harvesting and compromises of data is one of the global issues that each nation fights hard to prevent through investment in preventive measures.

    Reaffirming its commitment to upholding ethical standards in data protection in line with the Federal Government’s directives and data privacy regulations might not just be enough. The commission must face the realities of a modern world and be alert, and invest in the best technology to protect its data.

    Data protection is the heart of modern tech-saturated world. A slip by any of the ancillary agencies can be the difference between life and death of citizens. If the allegation is proved to be true, it then means a lot for the security of a country that has been suffering from lack of correct and functional data management.

    The elusive kidnappers, suicide bombers, bandits, unknown gunmen and other social miscreants can only end when Nigeria adopts the global best practices where data functionality keeps every individual accounted for. NIMC must move from defensive mode to more digitally functional mode to save the country from disaster because even foreign investors and other global institutions cannot trust a system with poor data management.

  • Trapped

    Trapped

    • SEC must take urgent steps to free N130bn investors’ funds from delisted firms

    Where is the N130 billion investors’ trove: with stock registrars?  Or with the industry regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)? 

    If SEC has it, what is the supervising Federal Ministry of Finance doing to stop it from dithering with the cash and right away pay the shareholders — the rightful owners, to do as they wish with their capital, more so when banks are now in the market to meet new capitalisation thresholds?

    That would appear the question agitating the stock market, in a season when bank recapitalisation should be giving it a boon and a boom.

    The trapped pool involves the delisting of three companies: Dangote Flour, First Aluminium (both in 2019) and Coronation Insurance (2023).  Gross defray liability differs from firm to firm, with the bulk coming from Dangote Flour: N120 billion; First Aluminium: N284.5 million; and Coronation Insurance: N4.53 billion. 

    Mostly hit, by this lack of prompt refund, are the pool of minority shareholders, being allegedly held to ransom by alleged sharp practices by majority shareholders — the few bulk investors, according to a report in ‘The Guardian’ of June 25.

    Of the trio, though Dangote Flour had the heaviest liability at N120 billion, the report showed that it had indeed cleared the liabilities from its end.  Many of its minority shareholders had been paid.  But, for a lack of clear and detailed identification,  a chunk of the fund is still trapped between the SEC and stock registrars, who keep the transaction records; and are the organic link between SEC, the regulators, and the shareholding investor public. 

    The registrars cannot act unless as SEC directs, since often there are allegations of sharp practices. 

    Take the case of Coronation Insurance. It traded as high as 92 kobo but offered to pay its minority shareholders 67 kobo, contrary to Exchange regulations that a voluntarily delisting firm should pay the highest price of its stocks on the trading floor, within six months preceding the delisting. 

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    Had that deal been allowed, the company would have short-paid its exiting investors by 25 kobo per share.  That would have been an abuse.  So, SEC acted rightly to deny approval.

    First Aluminum too, though it delisted in 2019, has reportedly not paid any of its minority shareholders a dime.  That is because SEC has not approved what it offers.  But the SEC demur could have been a result of investor grumbling over the firm’s exit procedures, which not a few insist should have been more open. 

    Whatever the differences among the three firms, SEC should move fast to sort out the problems.  It should regularise the details of former shareholders of Dangote Flour, so that they can access their funds.  The new Board of SEC should walk its talk by, post-haste, resolving this problem — also push the two other companies to pay up.

    Still, all the noise about trapped capital is the symptom.  The real disease is poor corporate governance, the bane of Nigerian business universe.  That is why the few majority shareholders throw their weight to squeeze the multitude that pass for minority shareholders.  SEC must ensure that stops, though it might not be easy because it’s fast morphing into a systemic problem.

    Yet, such practices can only result in low confidence level in the bourse, which is very bad for the economy.  That gradual loss of confidence is already affecting the volume of deals.

    For instance, trading at the Exchange dipped by 35 per cent from N538 billion on March 5, to N346.23 million on April 6.  If you think this was just a dip in the peak-and-trough pattern of trading, long term stats between 2007 and 2023 followed the same pattern: domestic transactions fell from N3.6 trillion in 2007 to N3.2 million in 2023; while foreign deals fell from N616 billion in 2007 to NN411 billion in 2023. 

    If you factor in the current inflationary

    pull, you can imagine the weight the bourse has shed in real terms.

    While it’s true a bullish or bearish bourse is a function of many factors — the general economic policy and its perception — SEC has the onerous duty to tweak corporate governance at the stock sub-sector to the highest ethical standard possible.  That way, the Stock Exchange can effectively mop up investible funds for the good of the economy.

  • CBN and IMTOs

    CBN and IMTOs

    •The apex bank’s directive ought to have come a long time ago

    If anything, the directive by the apex bank allowing eligible International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to sell foreign exchange (forex) on official window with immediate effect, has been long overdue. The measure, principally, seeks to widen access by the IMTOs to local currency liquidity for the timely settlement of diaspora remittances.

    Under the guidelines, eligible IMTO operators could access the CBN window directly or through their banks, to execute their forex transactions and on such prices to be based on prevailing Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) rates, to ensure transparency and adherence to a market benchmark.

    The new measure, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is expected to enhance the supply of foreign exchange in the official market, reduce pressure on the parallel market and, in the course of time, help stabilise exchange rates.

    To ensure smooth and seamless operations, the IMTOs are expected to confirm their partner banks and to advise on settlement instructions.

    The measure, to be sure, goes beyond a mere signalling of the CBN’s resolve to leave no stone unturned in its ongoing efforts to boost diaspora remittances and stabilise the naira. What it does is address a major lacuna that has remained a recurring feature of the forex management system – the problem of foreign remittances – a problem so destructive and malignant that Nigerians cannot but wonder is

    why those players have literally been handed free licence to commit murder.

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    Although the problem has been with us for a while, it took a reminder in January by the chairman, Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, to see the rape for what it is. 

    Here is how he put it: “The World Bank said for 2023, our diaspora remittance was about $20 billion. We estimate that more than 90 percent of that did not get to Nigeria, they are being externalised. We have spoken to loads of Nigerians almost everywhere, in the US, UK, etc. They told us how they send remittance. They use Apps, and we have tried some of those Apps, they use parallel market rates. So, you take $1,000 in New York, and tap on your phone that you are sending $1,000 to someone, a Fintech, they pay the Naira equivalent in Nigeria without bringing the dollars, unless of course if the source of the money is illicit.”

    Yes, the process was that seamless and easy: all that is required for a Diaspora Nigerian to transfer funds is a mere touch of buttons on an App, for the recipient to receive instant credit in the specified account. And, with the CBN at a time routinely printing notes like one would do as in office stationery, there was more than sufficient naira to keep the inequitable system running!

    Howbeit; if it seems tragic that the quantum of hard currency that could have helped to boost our foreign reserves and perhaps stabilise the economy never left the source; perhaps the only thing worse is that the past CBN leadership either saw nothing wrong with the arrangement or pretended that the problem did not exist. Little wonder that it soon became a case of the savvy Fintech carts dragging the CBN horse, while the rest of the world gaped in wonder.

    The directive by the CBN is only the starting point. Next is to see that every operator is made to comply as directed by the apex bank. As much as we expect its capacity as regulator will be sorely tested on this; Nigerians expect nothing short of performance in the onerous task.

  • ASUU’s strike threat

    ASUU’s strike threat

    •All parties must work towards avoiding it

    The threat to shut down public universities by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and the Joint Action Committee of Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and

    Associated Institutions (NASU) and the  Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), is a multiple

    whammy that all stakeholders must take necessary steps to avoid. We therefore urge the Labour unions to withdraw their threats, and the federal and state governments to dialogue with each union over its demands, to avoid another strike in our public tertiary institutions.

    We note that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration had promised to do all that is necessary to avoid the rampant strike in our universities, and so far the government has substantially kept to its promise. The most recent action was the quick response of the Federal Government to the controversies surrounding the constitution of the universities’ governing councils. But, for state universities, ASUU alleges that they have ignored their demand to reconstitute their governing councils, and that forms one of the grievances of the union, for which they have threatened strike.

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    According to the Zonal Coordinator, ASUU, Benin Zone, Prof Monday Igbafen, “while the Federal Government has hastily reconstituted controversial governing councils of federal universities after 11 months of their illegal dissolution, some state governments have remained adamant to the contrary. The absence of governing councils in the universities has led to unthinkable aberrations, with the introduction of obnoxious policies that are antithetical to university culture.”

    We urge the state governments to reconstitute the governing councils where they don’t exist.

    On their own part, the NASU and SSANU, in a letter to the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, also threatened industrial action. The unions said: “The deafening silence of government and failure to pay the withheld salaries is creating a high level of agitation and contentions among our members in the universities and inter-university centres such that we can no longer guarantee industrial peace and harmony on university campuses”.

    While we cannot hold court for the federal and state governments or the ASUU, NASU and SSANU over the threat to industrial peace, we appeal to the Labour unions, on behalf of the Nigerian

    students, to sheath their swords. We note that the minister has met with the leadership of ASUU, led by Prof Emmanuel Osodoke, over the pending issues. The ASUU President confirmed that “we had discussions on all the issues that we previously presented to the government, and we have received some responses from the government officials”.

    The minister should also dialogue with NASU and SSANU, to find solutions to the issues they have raised. But the unions in our universities must also understand that the answers to the many problems confronting the universities cannot be solved by resort to incessant strike. Strike should only be the last resort. The penchant to resort to strike to force the government to accept conditions it cannot fulfil in the long run, does not help any party in the dispute.

    We urge all stakeholders to isolate the universities from incessant industrial actions, as they affect the quality of the graduates they produce. In a highly competitive global environment, our university products must be able to compete with their peers across the world. We cannot be producing mediocre graduates and hope to compete with the best across the world.

    The university stakeholders know that it is ‘garbage in, garbage out’. If the students and teachers are at home instead of in the classes and at their research tables, they can only produce mediocre products. And this is not good for the country.

  • Kenya as mirror

    Kenya as mirror

    African leaders have a lot to learn from President Ruto’s volte-face on taxes

    Widespread violent protests in Kenya last week, instigated by attempts by the government to pass a new finance bill that would entail tax increases on some basic items illustrate vividly the delicate relationship among democratic governance, economic crisis, perceived corruption, deepening poverty and political stability in several African countries. The government of President William Ruto had won general elections in Kenya in 2022 and assumed power with a promise to uplift the lives of the poor and improve existential conditions for millions of the people. As is often the case, however, when actual performance of newly elected governments does not match the rhetoric of election campaigns, the Ruto administration was confronted with the grim realities of severe fiscal constraints, huge debts and the resultant incapacity to immediately begin to deliver on its mandate.

    Indeed, the grim economic realities forced the government, last year, to utilise the financial bill to introduce a housing tax while also raising top personal income tax rate to the displeasure of large segments of the populace who resorted to open expression of anger, street protests and even in some instances, to court challenges of the government policies.

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    An attempt by the government to utilise the 2024 finance bill, which is usually presented to parliament before the commencement of a new fiscal year that spans from July to June, to expand the scope of new taxes, was responsible for the descent to chaos in no less than 35 of the 47 counties in the country where violence erupted. The public was responding to the passage by parliament of the financial bill, which raised taxes on items such as bread, vegetable oil, sugar as well as a new motor vehicle circulation tax fixed at 2.5 per cent of the value of a car to be paid annually. Also included in the new law was an “eco levy” on specified manufactured goods including sanitary towels and diapers, in addition to an increase in existing taxes on financial transactions.

    Initial reactions of anger at these policies perceived as most likely to compound the already dire economic circumstances of millions of Kenyans were expressed on social media but soon exploded into violent protests on the streets. The angry citizens were apparently not persuaded by the government’s rationalisation that it had to raise $2.7 billion in additional taxes to reduce the budget deficit and state borrowing. Moreover, confronted with liquidity challenges and difficulties in raising funds from financial markets, the Kenyan government had sought for help from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with the latter insisting that the government raise more revenue through taxes before it could offer more funding.

    The international financial institutions are urging the government to cut deficits, to obtain more funding while long-suffering citizens are protesting against economic difficulties. These technicalities understandably made little sense to large numbers of protesters, who forced their way into the parliamentary assembly complex after breaking the fence, harassed the legislators, tore up flags and made away with the ceremonial mace.

    Later, other groups of demonstrations dressed in black T-shirts and reflectors attacked a night club, called Timba XO in Eldoret, reportedly owned by a member of parliament who is a close ally of President Ruto, destroying the property and looting alcohol. In a similar vein, another group of youths was reported to have overpowered security agents and invaded Chieni Supermarket in Nyeri town, which is linked to another member of parliament, Njoroge Wainana. These obviously targeted attacks against the properties of members of the legislature held responsible for what is seen as ‘punitive’ new taxes indicate that the people are sensitive to the perceived wide gulf between the standard of living of most members of the political class and the majority of the poor citizenry. Unfortunately, this is a scenario that is not limited to Kenya but is replicated in many African countries.

    A 2023 report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), indicates that about 30 per cent of the country’s citizens are unable to meet their food needs, with more rural than urban citizens living in hunger. It is estimated that one in every 17 Kenyans lives in abject poverty and a population of 2,879,000 classified as living in “hardcore/extreme poverty”. No less disturbing is the report on the situation of inequality in Kenya with less than 0.1 per cent of the population (8,300 people) owning more wealth than 99.9 per cent (44 million people). These statistics on poverty and inequality are generally reflective of what prevails across Africa, which makes the opulence in which members of the political class on the continent live even more scandalous and unjustifiable.

    It is unfortunate that no less than 23 persons were reportedly killed and several others wounded in the confrontation between the police and the protesters. Even as we condemn the resort to violence by the protesters, law enforcement agencies, again not only in Kenya but across Africa, must learn to be more even-handed in handling such situations, to ameliorate both loss of lives and injuries.

    Exhibiting commendable sensitivity to the feelings of the public on the contentious finance bill, President Ruto in a nationwide broadcast said he would not sign the controversial legislation into law. According to him, “Listening keenly to the people of Kenya who have said that they want nothing to do with the finance bill 2024, I concede. And therefore, I will not sign the 2024 finance bill, and it shall subsequently be withdrawn”.

    Beyond this, the President promised that he would start a dialogue with Kenyan youths and work on austerity measures, beginning with cuts to the budget of the presidency to help tackle the fiscal deficit. This surely is the way to go. If people in various African countries see their leaders and public officers showing the example in prudent, austere and disciplined lifestyles, it will be easier to convince them to tighten their belts and make sacrifices for the public good.

    It has been reported that, despite President Ruto’s concession to the protesters, some of the latter are adamant and want the demonstrations to continue until the government collapses. This would be a most unwise course of action. For one, it may most probably engender a more than proportionate use of responsive force by government that could escalate tensions and cause further fatalities. Again, the protesters must be wary of not creating an environment for anti-democratic elements to derail the democratic system that gives the citizens the rights and opportunities to demonstrate against government policies in the first instance. Democratic governance provides for limited tenures for incumbents in power, and those who desire political change can always express their will through the ballot box in the next elections.

  • Justice truly ‘blind’

    Justice truly ‘blind’

    • Swiss court teaches a lesson in how not to apply the ‘big man’ syndrome

    Four members of United Kingdom’s richest family were last weekend handed jail sentences for exploiting their domestic staff brought in from India to work at their Geneva mansion. Prakash Hinduja (78) and his wife, Kamal Hinduja (75) each got four years, six months in prison while their son, Ajay (56) and his wife, Namrata (50) received four-year terms. They were convicted by a Swiss court for having taken advantage of their vulnerable immigrant staff to pay them a pittance.

    Prakash is the chairman of the Hinduja Group, a transnational conglomerate with interests in oil and gas, banking and health care operating in 38 countries, and having a workforce of some 200,000 people. He is estimated to be worth £37billion. The family has had a presence in Britain since the 1970s, with roots in India and business operations in Switzerland. They also own the Raffles Hotel in London.

    The case in point stemmed from the family’s practice of bringing servants from their native India, and included accusations of confiscating the staff’s passports once they had arrived in Switzerland. Three workers said they were paid a salary of between 220 and 400 Swiss francs a month – far below what they could otherwise expect to earn in Switzerland, and less than one-tenth of the Swiss minimum wage. Prosecutors also alleged that the servants were rarely able to leave the mansion, and that the Hindujas spent more on their dogs than on the care of the domestic employees. The defendants were acquitted of the more serious charge of human trafficking, but the court held them guilty of human rights abuse and exploitation.

    Prosecutors accused the family of abusing the “asymmetrical situation” between powerful employer and vulnerable employee to save money. “They’re profiting from the misery of the world,” the lead prosecutor told the court. Defence lawyers, however, argued that the three plaintiffs received ample benefits, were not kept in isolation and were free to leave the villa. “We are not dealing with mistreated slaves,” one of the lawyers told the court. Another lawyer argued that the employees were indeed “grateful to the Hindujas for offering them a better life.” He said prosecutors had failed to mention extra payments made to the staff on top of their cash salaries, and that they (the prosecution) merely wanted to scapegoat the Hindujas. The family reportedly struck a confidential out-of-court settlement with the three employees who had made the accusations against them, but the prosecution insisted on pursuing the case owing to the gravity of the charges.

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    In her verdict, the Swiss court judge held that the Hindujas exploited the employees’ inexperience. “They had little education or none at all and had no knowledge of their rights. The defendants’ motives were selfish,” she said, adding that they were motivated “by the desire for gain.” She, however, cleared the family of the charge of human trafficking on the ground that the workers had travelled to Switzerland willingly. The Hindujas were reported saying they would appeal the verdict. “The family has full faith in the judicial process and remains confident that the truth will prevail,” one of the defence lawyers said.

    One moral of this case is the injustice of slave labour to which many people, including people here in Nigeria, subject their domestic staff. The Swiss court came down hard on the trend, and that should be a pointer to the odium of such practice everywhere else. In Nigeria, the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) has been in the vanguard of advocacy against sourcing domestic staff from persons trafficked – oftentimes from neighbouring countries – all because such labour comes at a cheap cost. Now we know that Nigerians too get trafficked to other countries as the recent case of teenage girls rescued in Ghana showed, and most Nigerians were not in the least humoured by the discovery. The ‘golden rule’ says do unto others as you want them to do unto you. Engaging domestic staff in slave labour is gross abuse of human rights that the law frowns on, and which is punishable if it gets taken before the courts. It should thus be avoided.

    The Swiss court also profoundly demonstrated that the law is no respecter of persons; this should be emulated in our clime. The social standing of the Hindujas compared with the domestic employees did not deter the court from serving the cause of justice in full measure. The Nigerian judiciary should see a lesson to learn here.

  • Salary fraud

    Salary fraud

    • Japa thieves and their collaborators must refund the entitlements they illegally collected

    President Bola Tinubu’s intervention in the scandalous salary fraud in the Federal Civil Service was necessary.  “During my recent visit to South Africa,” he said, “I kept abreast of the week’s activities and was particularly struck by the revelations shared by the Head of the Civil Service regarding employees who had relocated abroad while drawing salaries without formally resigning.”

    Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF) Folasade Yemi-Esan told journalists that the fraud was discovered following a verification exercise that required everybody on the nominal roll who was receiving salaries to appear physically. The objective of the exercise was to stop the salaries of those who had left the service without proper documentation but were still earning remuneration.

    The physical headcount in the federal ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) exposed the fraud. “From what I saw, the number of people that have gone out of the country and are still earning salaries, is more in the parastatals than in the core ministries,” she said.

    The question is not about where there was a greater number of such cases. The issue is that such fraud should not have been allowed to happen in the first place. This raises serious systemic questions, particularly about accounting operations in the MDAs. 

    Shockingly, she learnt that some of those benefiting from the fraud had rushed back to the country from the UK, with the intention of participating in the verification exercise. She said some of them were forced to resign when they could not participate in the exercise. It is immoral that those who had left the country for perceived greener pastures abroad wanted to continue receiving salaries from the civil service, and made fraudulent arrangements to make that happen. That is corruption.

    Read Also: We’ll pay salary arrears in tranches – Abia Govt

    There is also the disturbing possibility that there may be people who had left the civil service but were unaware that they were still on the payroll, and whose salaries were being received by fraudulent insiders.

    It is unclear how long the discovered fraud had existed, and how many people were involved, directly or indirectly. But it was striking enough to attract the President’s attention. Obviously, it could not have existed without collusion between those who fraudulently received salaries they never worked for and those who were supposed to ensure that such payments did not occur.

     The President’s position on the issue highlighted the circle of collusion. He said: “The culprits must be made to refund the money they have fraudulently collected. Their supervisors and department heads must also be punished for aiding and abetting the fraud.” Both consequences should send a strong signal that fraud is unacceptable.

    This discovery of fraud in the middle of reforms under Yemi-Esan shows that there is a need for more reforms in the MDAs. She has been credited with reforms towards improving civil service welfare. She must also introduce urgent reforms to ensure the prevention of fraud. Apart from losing money by paying ghost workers, having them on the payroll blocks the employment of many Nigerians waiting to be employed.

    It is commendable that the civil service leadership discovered this fraud. Considering the ongoing efforts to review the national minimum wage, the country would have had to pay the ghost workers based on the outcome of the review, thereby losing more money. It is bad enough that they also benefited from the N35,000 provisional wage award for all treasury-paid Federal Government workers, to improve the welfare of the workforce, pending the new minimum wage.

    As the President said, the authorities “must ensure those responsible are held accountable and restitution is made.” It is equally important to institute reforms to prevent fraud in the civil service.

  • Exit, Finidi George

    Exit, Finidi George

    •It is sad that NFF has not learnt the appropriate lessons on appointment of coaches for the national team

    Nothing illustrates better the utter confusion and seeming anarchy into which the country’s senior national team, the Super Eagles, have sunk than the sudden resignation of her last coach, Finidi George, barely a month after his appointment.

    The coach and his employers, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), had come under intense criticism, following the Eagles’ lackluster performance in the ongoing African zonal qualifying games for the 2026 World Cup, to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

    Under Finidi’s watch, the Eagles held South Africa’s Bafana-Bafana, to a 1-1 draw — a match played at home, in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.  The Eagles, not in any way Super, then suffered a scandalous 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Republic of Benin, in an away game played in Cote d’Ivoire.  That was the first time ever Benin would best Nigeria in a competitive match.

    The implication of this inexplicable situation is that Nigeria sits at an uncomfortable fifth position in her group, with three draws and one loss; and stands the possibility of not qualifying for the  World Cup, if she does not achieve exemplary results in her remaining six matches in the group.

    Since Nigeria also missed out in the last World Cup which held in Qatar in 2022, soccer-loving Nigerians would consider it a tragedy if the country, considered to be a soccer power in Africa, is absent for the second consecutive time at the elite soccer competition.

    Of course, hardly anyone doubts that George is one of the legends of the soccer game in Nigeria, who is well qualified to coach the national team.

    Read Also: Super Eagles know AFCON 2025 opponents July 4

    In a career that spanned from 1989 to 2004, he played and won laurels with top teams, both in the domestic league and later on the international arena. These teams include Calabar Rovers, Iwuanyanwu Nationale and Sharks of Port Harcourt in the Nigerian domestic league, as well as Ajax Amsterdam in Holland; Real Betis and Mallorca in Spain; and Ipswich Town in the English Premier League.

    In his international career, he featured for Nigeria over 62 times, during which he was part of the country’s most successful team in history — the side that won the 1994 African Nations Cup, and also performed impressively in the 1994 (though then a debutant); and 1998 editions of the World Cup.

    As a coach, George led the Enyimba Football Club to win the Nigerian Premier League at Onikan Stadium, Lagos, on June 11, 2023. Prior to his appointment as the Head Coach of the Super Eagles, he had been assistant coach to the immediate past Technical Adviser of the team, Jose Peseiro, whose tenure was not renewed after the 2024 AFCON competition, despite the Eagles reaching the final, before losing to hosts Cote d’Ivoire, who they had earlier beaten at the group stage.

    It is unfortunate that George has joined the league of former star players of the national team, such as Samson Siasia, Shuaibu Amodu, Augustine Eguavoen, Sunday Oliseh and Salisu Yusuf, who achieved little success as coaches of the Super Eagles and had short-lived tenures.

    The most successful indigenous coach of the senior national team, so far, has been Stephen Keshi, who led the Eagles to victory at the 2013 AFCON in South Africa.

    The Super Eagles had their most successful international outings under such expatriate technical advisers as Otto Gloria and Clemens Westerhof.  The Brazilian, Otto Gloria, won Nigeria’s first AFCON title with the then Green Eagles in 1980; while the Dutch, Clemens Westerhof, won AFCON with the Super Eagles in 1994, aside from qualifying for the World Cup for the first time. 

    It was also under another Dutch man, Jo Bonfrere, that the men’s soccer team won the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

    But can the precarious situation in which the Super Eagles find themselves in their ongoing bid to qualify for the next World Cup, be blamed entirely on George? That would hardly be fair.

    Had the team not performed dismally in the previous World Cup qualifying matches with the Portuguese Peseiro as head coach, George would not have inherited the delicate situation he was trying to manage.

    The debate on whether the Super Eagles should be managed by an indigenous or expatriate coach is, in our view, distracting and unhelpful. What is needed is a coach who, through a rigorous competitive process, is found to possess the requisite technical knowledge, experience, emotional intelligence and managerial acumen to handle the team with maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

    It is the responsibility of the NFF to ensure camp sanity, through the enunciation and strict application of a code of conduct binding on all players and members of the staff, which compels mutual respect on the part of all.

    A situation in which, for instance, some players stroll into camp at their convenience before critical games, with absolutely no respect for stipulated timelines should no longer be tolerated.

    In the same vein, the team’s scouts must look for the best players no matter where they ply their trade, to play for the national team — and this must not exclude players from the domestic league.

    Indeed, the prospects under Finidi was his rich experience in the local league, now exploding back into life, after decades in the doldrums — but all that is gone now.

    The tendency for coaches of the national team to focus exclusively on players in foreign leagues should be halted; and the NFF should ensure that those playing their soccer locally are also given a fair chance to compete; and that the domestic league continues to be developed and to flourish as a breeder of talents for the national team.

    No player must be indulged to believe that he has a monopoly of entitlement to any position in the team as competitive merit must be accorded its rightful place in choosing players for the team.

    The soccer authorities must realise that time is not on their side as they must quickly decide on a technical adviser or head coach for the national team. This should be done with despatch and without compromising merit.

    The unfortunate media tirade against George on social media by Victor Osimhen must be investigated and resolved in the interest of discipline and harmony in the team.

    If the right things are done promptly, Nigeria’s qualification for the World Cup is not beyond salvation.