Category: Abuja Review

Petty traders and artisans operating shops in Abuja are indifferent to the planned increase in electricity tariffs. The traders, who spoke with FRANCA OCHIGBO, said in the first place, epileptic power supply over the years has forced them to rely more on generating sets.

 

Petty traders and artisans in the Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have said that they will not lose sleep over the planned increase in electricity tariffs, as announced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Although the traders said they were shocked by the 230 to 250 per cent increase slammed on electricity consumers in the capital city, they remain unperturbed nevertheless. According to them, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has all along been supplying them darkness at exorbitant rates, through the obnoxious estimated billing system.

When told that some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have obtained a court injunction halting the planned increased, the traders simply dismissed it as a “fruitless exercise”, with some of them asking rhetorically, “how many court injunctions orders has the government obeyed?”

Many of them said they are used to what they described as the antics of the AEDC over the years and that they have always expected the worst from the distribution company. At the popular Area 1 Shopping Complex, some of the traders and artisans that spoke with our correspondent said although they hardly get electricity supply, they are being made to pay between N50,000 to N60,000 to the AEDC every month.

According to them, paying the monthly electricity bills has become a sacrifice they are being forced to make. To enable them to run their shops, all the traders and artisans have their individual generating sets. They rely more on their generating sets and consider public power supply as a mere standby source of electricity supply to the complex.

One of the artisans, Umar Isa, a tailor, said the government must be joking with the planned hike in tariffs, considering the epileptic electricity supply. He pointed to open space around the complex where this correspondent observed as a cluster of generators.

There was no electricity supply so the humming noise from the generators engulfed the entire complex as thick smoke from the units enveloped the area.

“This is just one section, there are about three of this clustered generators in the complex serving business owners when there is no power supply”, Isa said, pointing to the power generating sets.

He continued: “Electricity supply to this complex is not constant at all. We hardly have power supply yet every month they bring electricity bills. If you do not pay, they come and cut supply. The generators are clustered according to the distance from your business centre or shop. Apart from the ones you see close to my tailoring shop, there are three other clusters not far from here, all serving the complex.”

When asked if he was aware of the planned increase in electricity billing, he said increasing the tariff at this point amounted to jumping from the frying pan to fire. It is not like we get this light to use. The consumption is not commensurate with the amount we pay.

But the problem is that if the tariff is increased, you will be forced to pay. I am a tailor. Many of us are just working to keep the business going. As you can see, there are many tailoring shops in this complex, the competition is very high.

“It’s not as if increasing the tariff means customers paying more. They will not pay more than what they used to pay. Instead, they are even down pricing our services. Sometimes, clothes that ordinarily should be made for N5,000, we make for N3,000 so that the business does not close down, and to sustain our immediate needs.

“Once they increase electricity tariff, you do not have a choice than to pay since others are paying. Presently, I am not on the meter. I do the direct payment (estimated billing) monthly. They can bring a bill of N10,000 this month and bring a bill of N30,000 next month for electricity that is not constant.”

The tailor revealed that traders at the complex have learnt to play the game with officials of the electricity company to save cost. According to him, you must not offset your entire outstanding bills, otherwise, the officials will double your bills in the subsequent month.

“If you clear all your outstanding bills, they will double your bill the following month, meaning you have enough that is why you are paying the previous one. The electricity workers do not want you to clear the last bill so that you won’t be free. This is the way they see it since you are clearing your N30,000 bill, instead of the N20,000 you owed, it means you are making a lot of money.”

Isa lamented with the planned increase in electricity tariffs, it is obvious that the government does not have any consideration for the masses.

“When we meet with journalists asking for interviews, we see it as a mere fallacy, because the people in authority will read it and know that the people down there are going through some serious issues but they don’t care.

“By my understanding, the government hardly considers what the masses are facing. They don’t feel the pains of the masses, because, with all they claim they are doing, we are not seeing the effects. This is a country where anyone can do what they want to do.

Take it back to house owners, it is every month that they increase house rents. No one to assist, our government has turned a blind eye and has refused to checkmate those things. Whatever you can do to sustain yourself and your family is your own business.”

“As you see me doing this job, I am a graduate. After graduation, there was no job. I had to look for an alternative. I am a graduate of political science. If you are not cut out to be dubious, you have to find a legitimate means of survival.

Sometimes some people claim they are being sent by the federal government, they will come with forms asking us to fill as small scale businesses. We will fill, and these forms come with a promise that they will give us loans, but at the end of the day, nothing. We believe they use us to get what they want.”

Read Also: Court stops planned electricity tariff hike

 

Another artisan, Udoka Ogbozor, who repairs telephone handsets at the complex, said he does not care about any increase in electricity tariffs if it will guarantee stable supply.

“On my side of the complex, we are in a group. We have an arrangement with the AEDC where we pay between N50,000 to N60,000 into an account every month. We went on to task ourselves, every month, we bring out between N500 and N1000 because we are many.

We pay this money into the AEDC account every month, which makes it easy for us. Some days, we don’t get to see light for two to three days that is when we use generators. Although it is noisy using a generator, we have learnt to cope with the noise.”

On whether he is comfortable with the planned increase in electricity tariffs, Ogbozor said: “Whatever I will say will not change anything. If I say it is good or bad, it still does not change anything. Instead, laws in Nigeria are enforced and forced on the people. As far as the Nigerian government is concerned, the people’s opinion never matters.”

Prince Simon, who repairs laptops and IPads, said he heard about the increase in tariffs and saw newspaper headlines but did not believe Nigeria government will go that far.

“I thought it was mere news, I did not know they were serious. I applied for a meter which I am yet to get. I applied since April last year but I have not gotten it. I have even paid the N37,000 for the meter and they gave me a receipt. I was told to come back, but I still have not gotten it.

I have been paying estimated billing for a one-room apartment for a very long time. Where I live, I pay N4500 estimated billing. This is Nigeria where anything can happen. In the complex, it is a different thing altogether. Like all Nigerians, we go through the hardship of lack of electricity so we rely on generators more to do our businesses.”

Also, Chidi Nwankwo, who sells clothing materials, said the government is not being fair to Nigerians. He wondered why the government would decide to increase electricity tariffs when they cannot provide stable electricity for Nigerians.

“We all know what we are going through in this country. Electricity supply is very epileptic. If the supply is permanent, we will all understand that they are doing the right thing, probably to generate revenue for maintenance.

“In my shop here I buy electricity because I have my meter. Every month, I buy electricity for N10,000. There are clusters of generators at the corner. If there is no light, I connect to my generator. There is about 30 per cent constancy in electricity supply to this complex.

“As for the Nigerian government, I don’t think I have a voice because they do whatever they like with us in this country. They never seek the opinions of the people. They do whatever pleases them, so if they say they want to increase electricity tariff, don’t be surprised to wake up tomorrow morning and it is already increased. I am not happy with what is going on, but I cannot kill myself,” Nwankwo said.

 

With the daily influx of people into the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), there has been pressure on existing infrastructure and available land space. GRACE OBIKE reports that pressure on land has continued to mount, necessitating calls for the review of the Abuja Masterplan, which was designed some 30 years ago.

 

The sight of bulldozers pulling down illegal structures and buildings has become commonplace in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Similarly, the sight of protesting victims of such demolition exercise is also not strange in different locations within the federal capital city.

The authorities usually justify the demolition exercise as a necessary step to give way to rail lines, public facilities or for the preservation of green areas. On their part, the victims always criticise the authorities for high handedness and inconsideration.

This has continued to throw up a push and pull scenario between the authorities of the FCT and residents of the fast-expanding territory. The authorities have continued to insist that to preserve the Masterplan, demolition of illegal structures has become inevitable.

Demolition of illegal structures and revocation of land titles in Abuja city and its adjoining satellite towns got to a climax during the period 2003-2007, during the tenure of a former Minister of the FCT, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.

However, subsequent administrations after el-Rufai have not been too “combatant” in enforcing the Masterplan. Some have observed that failure on the part of the authorities to adhere to the Masterplan has resulted in overcrowding and emergence of slums in different parts of the city, particularly in the periphery of the satellite towns.

However, many others have continued to argue that there is nothing sacrosanct about the Masterplan, insisting that events have since overtaken strict implementation of the plan. Some residents even see the Masterplan as a ploy by the authorities to grab land from the poor and give the same to the rich and the influential.

A resident, Tanko Yusuf, who lives at Mpape, an outskirt of the city, said that he has never believed in any Masterplan. As far as he is concerned, the government only sticks with the Masterplan when it comes to taking land away from the ordinary people. Yusuf said, “They only start talking about Masterplan when they want to drive poor people away from Abuja, so they can take everything.”

In an intervention, an expert in the Abuja property market and Chief Executive Officer of Cosgrove Investment Limited, Umar Abdullahi said realities of the time have necessitated the urgent need to review the Masterplan.

Abdullahi recalled that the plan was drawn some 30 years ago and that events have overtaken some of the factors that necessitated the Masterplan in the first place. Calling on the authorities to strike a balance between the enforcement of the Masterplan and the reality of the ground.

According to Abdullahi, Abuja city was originally planned to accommodate a couple of thousand civil servants working at the seat of government. He said, “Nobody envisaged the influx of people or ever expected Abuja to become the second or third largest city after Lagos.

Abuja was planned to be a quiet city for civil servants and seat of government. But presently, six to seven people who come into Abuja for their National Youth Service Corps or job search hardly return to where they came from. Many people still consider Abuja to be relatively better in terms of security, infrastructure and climate.

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This has caused the demand for certain kind of structures in places that were not allocated for in the Masterplan. For instance, some areas in Abuja that are meant for residential purposes have been turned into commercial areas and the owners they pay levies to the government every year for contravening the Land Use Act.”

Despite the pressure on land and infrastructure, Abdullahi said the growth of slum within and outside the city is still tolerable, compared with what obtained in other countries and cities around the world, including some advanced countries.

“El-Rufai did a wonderful job by defining how Abuja slums should be in terms of logistics, transportation and residency. If the situation was not nipped in the bud then, it would have been out of control by now. That is why the security situation in Abuja is relatively fair and now the value of the land on the increase every day,” he added.

Acting Director, Department of Development Control at the FCT, Mukhtar Galadima, explained that the Masterplan is meant to be reviewed every five years as a standard practice. Galadima, however, admitted that no review of the plan has been carried out in the last five years.

He added that some efforts were also made during the tenure of el-Rufai where development along the highbrow Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent was looked at because of the changes taking place there.

He also said, “So it is not like the plan has not been reviewed completely, there has been some review done. That is why when you look at Aminu Kano Crescent and Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, some of the properties there were planned, designed and built for residential purposes.

But somewhere along the line, the uses changed, so this is supposed to have been reviewed formally. So it will be known if a place is a mixed-use corridor or commercial corridor. But it has not been officially done.”

Inmates of the correctional centre in Kuje in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are being trained in a wide range of agricultural ventures that will prepare them for life after leaving jail. BLESSING OLAIFA reports.

 

Dukpa correctional farm centre is located in the Gwagwalada area council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It is one of the 17 farm centres owned and managed by the authorities of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) in different locations across the country.

During a visit by this correspondent to Dukpa farm centre, the inmates working on the farm, in the age bracket of 25-35, looked vibrant and enthusiastic as they went about their various tasks. They were about 75 in number and some of them were seen grazing herds of cattle around the farm and nearby open fields.

This correspondent observed the excitement in the inmates as they carried out different roles on the farm. The NCS authorities have decided to train them in productive ventures that would prepare them for challenges they would face in the larger society when they are eventually released after their terms.

The NCS has continued to maintain that regardless of the crimes that brought them into confinement, hopes of better and decent life still lie ahead for the inmates and that they can still make positive contributions to the society when they regain their freedom.

Many believe that if the inmates had been exposed to the productive ventures they are presently engaged in at Dukpa farm centre in the first place, perhaps some of them would not have found themselves in correctional centres.

At Dukpa farm, there is the livestock section, fishery section, poultry section, and maize and rice farms. In poultry, for instance, the inmates are trained in how to mix the feeds and feed the chickens. They are also trained to observe sudden changes in the health of the birds and call for medical support if need be.

They know how to clean up the stalls and also pick the eggs. A bakery and confectionery building had just been completed on the farmland. The authorities of the NCS are only awaiting NAFDAC certification to commence production of bread and other consumables. But the inmates are already receiving training ahead of NAFDAC certification.

For sure, the NCS has found a way to keep these young men busy. It is heart-warming that the agency has also been reformed to provide legal cover against stigmatisation, especially after they have served their terms. The Public Relations Officer of NCS, Francis Enobore, said under the new law, it is a criminal offence for anyone to refer to them in derogatory or despicable language following their transition back to normal life and restoration to the society.

According to Enobore, the NCS has 17 of such farm centres across the country, with several vocational and skill acquisition centres managed by the institution. The idea is to train the inmates and prepare them for life after they have served their prison terms. Enobore said there are 76,000 inmates all over Nigeria, with 52,000 awaiting trial and 2,750 on death roll. Enobore said those on death roll are the most difficult to control or counsel.

According to him, their number keeps growing because state governors who should sign their death warrants are not willing to do so. The spokesman added that although inmates on death roll must be fed, the law does not allow the NCS to deploy them on the farm or train them in any form of vocational activity.

Asked if the farm has met the expectations of the correctional authorities, Enobore said, “When the present Controller General, Ja’afaru Ahmed, came on board, one of the key areas he vowed to tackle was rejuvenating our farm centres across the country.

And to start that process, he identified three farm centres; we have one in Kujama in Kaduna State, the second is Lakushi in Plateau State and the third one is Osala farm centre in Edo State. These farm centres are isolated to enable us to go into large production of crops that are relevant to what we need first because he was also looking at the possibility of generating the bulk of the food we use in feeding the inmates from our farms.

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“The farm centre in Kujama has been dedicated to the production of maize, the one in Lakushi is dedicated to the production of rice while the third one in Edo state is dedicated to the production of palm oil. And to hit the ground running, we procured 22 tractors and their relevant implements that have been deployed to these farm centres for massive production.”

But have these investments paid off. The NCS spokesman said; “I may not be able to put figures to that right now because I don’t have the record readily at hand. But the new trend that has brought the procurement of modern equipment to enhance productivity in the farm is yielding positive results.

“Like you know, the farm centres are not established essentially to generate revenue. The focus is to train the inmates and I can tell you what we also train the inmates in these vocational centres across the country.

“It is difficult to close the moral gaps in an adult offender whose character had already been formed. We are tasked with a duty to bring him back to the path of the society where he can now derive pleasure from eating from his sweat.

A lot of efforts would have been put into it and it means a lot to the social and economic stability of the country. The efforts must also be seen to engender peace in the land, providing something for the inmate to fall back to when he leaves, and many other gains.”

Does this method really work on the inmates and improve their economic status? Enobore said some inmates leverage the little freedom they have to build economic status for themselves. Their experiences allowed them to be focused and prepare them for a better future.

“We have custodian camps. It has no wall, it is almost similar to the one we have in some states. The inmates go there, those that committed offences outside sexual offences are taken to that place irrespective of the number of years. When they have served one-quarter of their sentences in various locations of their primary detention, they are transferred to such location based on the recommendation of officers in charge of their primary locations.

“They are taken to those borderless environments to be given monitored freedom. Monitored freedom in the sense that they are not entirely free but to a very large extent you don’t see them go about with wardens by their side.

They are given relative freedom to see how they can gradually transit to society. Most of them have their families around, they rent houses for their wives and children, they pay their children’s school fees and all that.

“Two years back when I was in Kaduna, which is the place we have one of such locations, there was an inmate who was making two million naira from the sale of vegetables from his garden.

He confessed to us that he was training two of his children in the university and we have so many of them. There was another person from the east, though he has left that place, he had commercial buses and bought household properties. So we are impacting on them.”

Enobore, however, said one of the major challenges faced by the NCS is the growing number of awaiting trial inmates in correctional centres across the country.

 

Opportunities to access free healthcare keep growing for poor Nigerians, particularly women and children as another group of women offers humanitarian medical outreach at no cost to beneficiaries. ERIC IKHILAE reports.

 

Barring any unintended shift in position, more Nigerians will soon be able to access free medical care in view of the decision by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social to work with a group that engages in the provision of free services to indigent citizens.

Miteda Wellness Initiative (MWI) – founded by a Nigerian physician formerly based in Canada, Dr. (Mrs) Adefunmilola Williams-Daudu, has joined the growing number of public spirited Nigerians in service to humanity.

A delegation of the group recently paid a visit to the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Pauline Tallen to assure Nigerians of the group’s willingness to give succour to the poor and needy.

Besides Dr. Williams-Daudu other members of the delegation were the group’s spokesperson, Olatutu Oladunni Bilesanmi; Head of Evaluation and Monitoring Unit, Mrs. Yemisi Otitoju; and a member, who is a surgeon, Dr. A. Alohan.

During a presentation, Bilesanmi said the MWI has been around for a while and has collaborated with reputable health institutions in Canada, the United States and other countries to carry out health outreach in the Nigeria.

Bilesanmi said, “We have done about six reach out editions in recent time where we attended to people with medical needs, free of charge.

We believe this is our way of giving back to the society. We believe that when we impact medically in people’s lives, we are impacting in the nation. This is in line with the saying that a healthy nation is a great nation.

“We collaborate with stakeholders in our outreach activities. We have worked with state governments across the country.

One of our recent projects was the collaboration we had with the Benue State Government last year. Earlier, we have collaborated with Ondo State, Lagos State and the Niger-Delta Ministry, among others, who were impressed with what we are doing.”

She explained that the group’s decision to visit the Minister and seek the collaboration of the Ministry was that “we realised, from your antecedents, the zeal to improve the condition of the vulnerable ones, particularly the women and children.

You share our passion and we have decided to work with you. That is one of the reasons why we are here.”

Leader of the team, Williams-Daudu explained what the creation of her group was all about and why they chose to work with the Minister.

She said the idea of the initiative came when she wanted to celebrate her 40th birthday, but chose to visit the village to celebrate by providing health services for the poor rather than gathering friends for drinks and food.

“So, I took along about seven doctors, 12 nurses and laboratory scientists, including what I could afford. We went to the villageand attended to many, who needed medical attention. We also attended to some emergency cases.

“I returned to my base in Canada. But, two weeks after, a prominent member of the community, whose relative benefited from our medical outreach, called me and suggested that we should not let this thing die just like that.

We should make it an annual event. And that was how Miteda started and till date, we have sustained it.

“Our areas of activities include screening for diabetes, cervical cancer and some other forms of cancer. We treat sight problems, and engage in health advocacy activities.

We also build capacities in the area of health management services.

“Over the years, I have brought some of my former colleagues, who are health experts from Canada to train doctors and nurses in Ondo State government’s institutions.

We also support children from poor homes with school materials under the programme we call Operation Kit the Child”, Williams-Daudu said.

She revealed that over 5,000 persons have benefited from the group’s activities, in collaboration with Lagos and Ondo state governments in providing free screening for diabetes, hypertension, cervical and breast cancer.

Williams-Daudu said her group was planning another outreach for Nasarawa and Abuja, which will be extended to Plateau State (the Minister’s home state), during which MWI’s members and volunteers will attend to cases of diabetes, hypertension, cervical cancer; engage in eye examination, oral surgery, and provide glasses and treatment for all sorts of ailments.

“By 2020, we are going to bring in some renowned eye experts to do some rare eye surgeries and to also build the capacity of some local eye experts.

We have collaborated with Lagos State and the experts will be coming from March 8 to 15. We have over 200 volunteers.

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“Among the volunteers, we had many who were screened and were positive. Breast and cervical issues are not like fever that ou can feel through someone’s temperature.

We are not leaving anybody out of it. When you are screened, you get to know your status,” she said.

At the end of the presentations, the group inducted Mrs Tallen as its life matron and presented her with a certificate, the group’s uniform (a T-shirt) and proceeded to decorate her with a ribbon.

The Minister, while responding, hailed the visitors for the good work they have been doing for women and children across the country, by giving them hope where there seems to be no hope, by conducting screening and engaging in other forms of health outreach, in the areas of cancer, eye, among others and, by so doing, giving hope to the hopeless within the society.

Continuing, Tallen said, “I commend you and your organisation for the good work you are doing. And I call on other well-meaning Nigerians to engage in similar activities of reaching out and paying back to the larger society, from what the society has given us.

“The Ministry of Women Affairs is always very excited to work and collaborate with people who reach out to give hope to women and children.

This Ministry is ready to support any initiative that will give hope to humanity. And I want to assure you that we will partner together to reach out to more people.

“I commend your effort and I thank you for finding me worthy to be appointed as a life matron of this organisation.

It is also my hope that those you have touched will also extend the benefit of your services to others, so that we can have a healthier and happier society, because a healthy society is a productive society.

“I want to express my sincere appreciation to all your partners and members of your team from Canada and within for the good work you are doing and I pray that God will continue to empower you, strengthen you and give you the inspiration to do more”.

The Minister assured the group of government’s support and urged its members not to relent in their commitment to bringing succour to the poor and vulnerable.

During a walk against irregular migration, stakeholders cautioned intending migrants as they spared a thought for fellow Nigerians who lost their lives while embarking on irregular migration through unconventional routes. GBENGA OMOKHUNU, who participated in the walk, reports

 

Every December 18, the world marks International Migration Day, (IMD). Nigerians, including, government officials, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and major stakeholders in the migration sector trooped to the street of Abuja to walk against irregular migration.

According to findings, there is no universally accepted definition of irregular migration. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) defines it as “movement that takes place outside the regulatory norms of the sending, transit and receiving country”.

Reports have it that a migrant in an irregular situation may fall within one or more of the following circumstances: He or she may enter the country irregularly, for instance with false documents or without crossing at an official border crossing point; he or she may reside in the country irregularly, for instance, in violation of the terms of an entry visa/residence permit; or he or she may be employed in the country irregularly, for instance, he or she may have the right to reside but not to take up paid employment in the country.

It is important to note that the phenomenon of irregular migration refers to both the movement of people in an undocumented fashion, or irregular migration flows, and the number of migrants whose status may, at any point, be undocumented, or irregular migrant stocks.

Changes in irregular migrant stocks in a country can occur not only due to undocumented migrants entering or leaving the country (irregular migration “inflows” and “outflows”, respectively), but also due to changes in status for migrants already in the country, from undocumented to documented or vice-versa.

Irregularity refers to the status of a person at a certain point in time or during a certain period, not to the person. Migrants can go “in and out” of irregularity as laws and policies change.

In some cases, the classification of movements as “irregular” is more nuanced. For example, the Free Movement Protocol of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) allows people to move freely among the 15 member states and stay for up to 90 days provided they are in possession of valid travel documents.

Honorable Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migration and Internally Displaced Persons, Senator Garuba Mohammed led the road walk from the Old Parade Ground, Area 10, through to Area 1.

Mohammed, who was pleased with the crowd that participated during the walk said all forms of irregular migration should be discouraged.

He urged those planning to move out of the country through illegal means to desist to avoid regrets.

His words: “As you all know, today, December 18, marks International Migration Day. I think it is fitting to reflect on this day, what migration means for our world.

In the words of the former President of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak, we have never lived in a world without planet earth, but one thing we can agree on, however, is that we have always moved. We are all migrants.

Migration is a part of our humanity. It would not be possible to make it disappear. Therefore, we are advocating safe, regular and dignified migration.

“This walk is a symbol of solidarity with our brothers and sisters who have lost their lives or have gone missing during these journeys through the desert or by the sea in search of better life.

We remember many who have drowned at sea. The uncountable migrants sold as slaves and confined in detention centres.

We remember also, the unknown or the faceless that were left behind during the journey and those that have been forgotten.

“We walk in solidarity with those who have been uprooted, expelled, forced into emigration and driven out of their homes. I talk about people who have been uprooted regardless of whether they are black or white, young or old, male or female, Christian or Muslim and who have the same painful experiences etched in their souls.

Hundreds of thousands of these people perished because of acts of war, disease, hunger, rape as well as exhaustion and forced labour.

“We are also here in solidarity with people whom, in their thousands and millions, fled their homes and lost their relatives during their flight.

I mean those looking for a country where they can be free and safe; a country in which they can live to determine their own lives in freedom.

“I would also like to remind those at home that are planning on doing the same, that your lives are more valuable and there are options for them at home.

Even if you choose to travel, there are safer and more humane channels of doing so. To all of you who are here today, I want to ask you to be kind to migrants. I also urge you to become advocates and educators of the dangers of irregular migration”.

A non-governmental organisation (NGO) Mothers of Earth International Foundation, called on the Federal Government (FG) to put in place a well thought out policy on Voluntary Return Assisted Programme not only to assist Nigerians stranded abroad to return home, but to also be well integrated back into the society.

The founder of the NGO, Hajia Hafsatu Bello lamented in a chat with The Nation that attempts to seek green pasture outside the country have only yielded bitter experiences for many Nigerians.

She also called for the establishment of displacement tracking mechanism, especially in the North East and other flash points in Nigeria, rejig of the Social Intervention Programme to ensure the inclusion of the most vulnerable and development of a communication line between Diaspora commission, Foreign Affairs Ministry and Nigerian embassies abroad to tackle the problems of illegal migration and facilitate voluntary return and integration of Nigerian migrants.

Hajia Bello said the maltreatment of Nigerians outside the country, especially in countries like South-Africa, Libya, Italy, Spain among others should be a thing of serious concern to government.

Her words: “As a significant number of Nigerians in their thousands may have gone out of the country, in an attempt to get a better life, which severally turned out to be a bitter life, as many get caught up with traffickers, this is reportedly too rampant.

“We are here to mark the International Day for Migration. We are here to work with the relevant authorities. It is not as if migration is a bad idea completely but only legal migration is good.

If you must migrate then do it properly with relevant documents. Know where you are going to. We also in a way, encourage migration because it creates rooms for development, economic improvement and expansion.

We need to sensitise people and have one-on-one with parents, neighbors on how to discourage this illegal migration and how to identify smugglers of human beings.

“I can say that within the last two years over 8000 people have migrated illegally to other parts of the world while about 5000 people have been repatriated back to the country.

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This season is also one that our people should be careful about. They should be mindful of whoever will come to them to assist them travel abroad with their loved ones. What you are going there to do can also be done here.

“Government is trying to tackle this situation but there is nothing wrong is asking them to try more, because if we have the enabling environment, this will change for the better.

We should not fall into wrong hands. Governments are not listening to us and they see us as an NGO that is coming to either expose what should not be taken out to the public.

That is not the case. This migration saga is a kind of load that you cannot carry with one hand. We need as many hands and many heads as possible to channel this cause.”

The situation, according to many of the participants of the road walk, could get better if all hands are on deck to tackle irregular migration. They also urged government to play a critical role geared towards ending the menace.

 

Inadequate health care facilities have remained issue of discussion over the years. However, there seems to be hope for the better as the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), a body that oversees primary health care centres in the country, seems set to change the narrative, writes ONYEDI OJIABOR

 

Primary health care centres are regarded as important arm of the health care delivery system in the country.

Any wonder discussions on efficient health care delivery system in Nigeria have, more often than not, revolved around dilapidated primary health care facilities.

It is believed that the overarching significance of primary health care centres stem from their grassroots nature, as they are closest to the people, especially rural dwellers.

That health care facilities have remained issue of discussion over the years may be due to the fact that most of them are really in bad shape.

While some stakeholders look at primary health care centres as drain pipe to siphon funds, others prefer to call them the sick baby of the health care delivery value chain.

It is the view of some stakeholders that if primary health care centres perform beneficially, the general and teaching hospitals will have fewer patients to attend to.

It is also true that due to the near comatose state of most primary health care centres, anybody with a little illness-fever, cough, catarrh and diarrhea rush to the general hospital or even the teaching hospital for medical attention.

The result is that most general and teaching hospitals have many patients which they are unable to cope with.

That may be why a health facility as strategically located as the National Hospital; Abuja could give a patient in dire need of medical attention up to six months’ appointment.

The Eighth Senate conducted a series of public hearings on ways to reposition the health care centres.

A former Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewale, was at a point, invited to discuss how to breathe life into the primary health care centres in parts of the country.

Senate votes and proceedings contained some of the suggestions made by the minister about how to move the primary health care centres forward.

It appears not much was achieved from the parliamentary intervention.

However, there seems to be a silver lining in the horizon for the beleaguered primary health care centres across the country.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), a body that oversees primary health care centres in the country, seems set to turn things around with its refrain of “enough is enough.”

Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, stated the readiness of the agency to tackle the problems of primary health care centres head on.

For Shuaib, it’s no longer business as usual in the country’s primary health care centres.

Giving what could pass as the score card of the agency in Abuja, the Executive Director harped on transparency and accountability as the agency moves to reposition primary health care centres across the country.

With what seemed a mark of fulfilment, Shuaib declared that Nigeria is steadily progressing towards certification as a free-polio country by June, 2020, especially as the country is approaching three years without any case of wild polio virus.

The agency, Shuaib said, is currently rethinking the way primary health care programmes are managed while setting accountability along four visions.

The visions, he listed, include sustaining the tempo for the country to be declared polio-free, driving routine immunisation rate up to 84 per cent, providing direction on primary health care revitalisation and improving image, strengthening governance and accountability.

“The programme has been successful in interrupting the transmission of wild polio virus but we are not relenting, until Nigeria is certified polio-free,” he said.

On the vision to drive immunisation up to 84 per cent by 2028, Shuaib said the agency was making progress on vaccine supply chain and R1 service delivery, “and we are beginning to see gradual improvement in immunisation coverage”.

As part of the agency’s effort to prevent polio, Shuaib said Nigeria has aggressively responded to circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type2 (cVDPV2) transmission-based on evolving epidemiology.

With support from the Global Task Force on Cholera Control, the agency said it has vaccinated a total of 1,296,721 people in hotspot local government areas in Yobe, Borno, Adamawa and Kebbi states between September 1 and 16, 2019.

Shuaib put the maternal mortality rate in the country at 576/100.000 live births while neonatal mortality rate is 38/1,000, eight per cent of the global total.

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Stating that an estimated 70 per cent of the deaths are preventable, he lamented the 132/1000 under-five mortality rate, which adds up to about one million deaths per year.

Shuaib admitted that despite some progress made by his agency, the health system in the country is beset with numerous challenges with resultant poor health indices.

He promised to change the unsavoury narrative by working to ensure that Nigerians get the best in primary health care delivery.

Obviously, it has become imperative for stakeholders to rethink and retool the primary health care delivery system to ensure better management and accountability.

 

Facts and Figures

• Maternal mortality rate is 576/100,000 live births= 52,000 women each year. 1 in 9 maternal deaths worldwide which gives about one million deaths
• Neonatal mortality rate is 38/1,000; 8% of the global total, an estimated 70% of these deaths are preventable.
• Under 5 mortality rate is 132/1,000 = 1 million deaths per year; 10% of the global total
• 40,000 health facilities but with different levels of functionality
• Shortage of critical human resources

 

The four-point vision enunciated by the agency would involve scaling up a comprehensive approach to addressing health issues and prioritisation of high impact pragmatic interventions.

The agency would also need to scale up input and processes to focus on system outputs and outcomes. It must move from poor data management, monitoring and evaluation to performance management and accountability mechanisms.

The NPHCDA has indicated its desire to move away from fragmented approach within departments, agencies and across partners, to cross-cutting and pragmatic approach aligned under one agenda.

It is, however, worrisome that Nigeria makes up about two per cent of the world’s population but accounts for 14 per cent of the global maternal death ratio.

It should also be a matter of concern that one in every eight Nigerian children dies before their fifth birthday while nearly 10 per cent of new born deaths occur in the country.

Nigeria should equally work to drastically reduce the average daily loss of about 2,300 under-five children and 145 women of child bearing age.

Measures should be taken to scale up demand for critical services, which are considered very low and largely driven by a loss of confidence in the system.

Only about 38 per cent of women are said to have accomplished births while 58 per cent have ANC.

Time may be running out for the country to catch up with the rest of the world in its primary health care delivery value chain.

The maternal mortality rate of 576/100,000 live birth, neonatal mortality rate of 38/1,000 and under five mortality rate of 132/1,000, do not depict a country serious with its health care delivery system.

Again, with 40,000 health facilities dotted all over the country, although with different levels of functionality, Nigerians, especially those living in the rural communities, should be able to access quality health care delivery.

The NPHCDA may have declared its resolve to tackle the problems of the primary health care centres to make them functional and efficient, what Nigerians want are health facilities that work.

 

Our Reporter

 

The Niger State correspondent of The Nation Newspapers, Miss Justina Asishana, was last Friday honoured with an award of excellence at a fact check fellowship Award in Abuja.

Asishana was among the five journalists in the six months Dubawa Fact Checking Fellowship 2019 which ran from June to November 2019.

Announcing the award during the end of Fellowship dinner held in Abuja, the Dubawa Project Officer, Ebele Oputa, said Asishana went over and beyond fact checking to promoting regional based fact checking and training for other state correspondents.

Oputa noted that though every participant was a winner, Asishana distinguished herself by carrying out trainings and other media literacy advocacy regarding fact checking.

The Editor in Chief and Chief Operating Officer of Premium Times, Mr. Musikilu Mojeed, while presenting the award to Asishana, urged her to maintain the tempo and continue in promoting fact checking among her colleagues.

Mojeed told the Fellows not to relent in their bid to fight misinformation just because the Fellowship event is over.

He added that as pioneer trained Nigerian Fact-Checkers, they have more work to do to enable other journalists and individuals join in combating misinformation.

Speaking after the award, Asishana dedicated the award to God and her media organization, The Nation Newspapers while appreciating Dubawa and PTCIJ for giving her the platform to share with her colleagues what she learnt during the period of her fellowship.

Asishana said, “The fight against misinformation involves all of us. I just felt it will not help me much if I just engage in fact checking claims. I saw the need and the desire for my colleagues to acquire this information but the opportunity was just for few. But I was privileged to be among the few. So I felt if I share what I learnt with them, they will also join in the fight against misinformation and I will keep reminding myself of what I had learnt.

“The award means a lot to me, it also means more work in carrying out more media literacy advocacy on misinformation and disinformation.”

Project Officer for Dubawa, Oputa disclosed that over 65 fact checked reports had been published in five media organisations across Nigeria during the six months fact checking fellowship by Dubawa.

The partner newsrooms, according to Oputa, include, The Nation, The Guardian, Business Day, Nigeria Tribune Newspapers and News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

She stated that the project has successfully increased the availability of reliable information to more Nigerians and made newsrooms open to the rudiments of fact checking.

Mojeed called for the involvement of more media organisations in fact checking, adding that it is the way journalism can be saved in Nigeria.

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“The problem with this country is so huge that no one organisation can solve it alone. The solution lies in collaboration. I know it used to be competition but now collaboration is key,” Mojeed said.

He commended the Fellows for using the period of the Fellowship to amplify truth and urged them not to relent in their efforts in carrying out verification and amplifying the truth.

The Editor-in-Chief further said that Dubawa and Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) is working out ways to involve more newsrooms and fashion out ways of setting up fact check news desks in media organisations.

The Communication Officer of Heinrich Boll in Nigeria, Chibueze Ebii, said the Foundation is happy with the activities and reports produced by the Fellows during the Fellowship.

He said that Heinrich Boll foundation will continue to partner with Dubawa fact check for future Fact Check projects.

The Editor of The Nation Newspapers, Mr. Adeniyi Adesina who commended Dubawa for its effort in fighting misinformation in Nigeria, pledged the support of The Nation in amplifying truth in the media space.

Adesina, who was represented by the Abuja Bureau Chief, Mr Onyedi Ojiabor, said plans were underway to set up fact check news desk in The Nation and to train its correspondents on fact checking.

It was generally agreed that in these days of fake news and misinformation, fact checking becomes imperative as a means to save the journalism profession.

The Managing Director of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the online Editor for Tribune, the Editor of The Guardian Newspapers and the representative of the Editor of Business Day Newspapers were also in attendance.