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Between a law enforcer and rape victim

There are so many things about a rape victim and law enforcer. As a matter of fact some things contrast them: One is male the other is female, one is a career police officer, and the other awaits her WASSCE result. One is supposed to be an agent for the maintenance of the law; the other is supposed to be a recipient of the protection by the law. One attained his status by age and experience, the other is 22, trying to arrange the bits of her life.

One word compares them – rape.

Mr. Oladipo Afolayan was until very recently, the divisional police officer in Magodo police station, Lagos. He was arrested for raping a female suspect in an ongoing investigation in his office. Few months ago, Mr. Adekunle Awe, another Divisional Police Officer at Onikan Police station was arrested for raping a woman – Idowu Akinwunmi – in his office. No information yet on the outcome of a room trial, censuring or charging Adekunle Awe to court.

Miss Ifeoma Okechukwu, a native of Mgbidi, Imo state, in her statement, admitted to killing a man who wanted to rape her in her apartment by playing along with him. She told the would-be rapist that she wanted to remove the pot she had on fire as an excuse to go out. Okechukwu said, “on getting there, I saw a digger and carried it…I hit him hard on the head with the digger and he fell down and started shouting… I didn’t know the man would die. It was God that gave me the courage and the strength to lift the digger and hit him so hard.”

While Okechukwu’s response may be open to the scrutiny of propriety or gravity, there is little doubt that the would-be rapist who was prematurely sent out of the community of the living could have been more cautious and have tamed his desire if he ever imagined the eventual outcome. It is still very possible that Oladipo Afolayan and Adekunle Awe, if the rule of law prevails, will in their flashbacks or musings wish their emotions or status did not betray them into engraving their names onto the wall of shame, making them a terror to the womenfolk and threatening their pensionable career.

Okechukwu’s fate has not yet been decided, but Afolayan, by virtue of his career and status must be aware of Section 357 of the Criminal Code Act which states that “Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl, without her consent, or with her consent, if the consent is obtained by force or by means of threats or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm, or by means of false and fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act, or, in the case of a married woman, by personating her husband, is guilty of an offence which is called rape”.

He must also be aware of section 358 which states that “Any person who commits the offence of rape is liable to imprisonment for life, with or without caning.”

A popular author, Agnostic Zetetic said this about rape; “It’s the process of being minimised, invalidated, silenced. It’s the process of being subjected to whatever someone else thinks I owe them. It’s the process of being used, examined, explored and thrown away. It’s the process of being convinced to comply with the orders of someone who does not see me as their equal, someone who sees nothing wrong with the notion that I am somehow lesser than they are. Rape isn’t about sex; it’s about all those other things. It’s about power.”

The notion that man is powerful and that woman is weak has enjoyed prevalence over millennia. From Plato to Aristotle, down to the primitive period and later the age of enlightenment in Europe, the womenfolk have been considered inferior to men. They were and are still largely seen as a gift from God ‘to please’ a man, and when possible, bear him children.

In the 21^st century, King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Swaziland and his countrymen in seeking a continuation of their culture stated that “women are unequal and inferior to their male counterparts”.

If Afolayan is charged to court, he will be tried under the Nigerian criminal code, a law that is almost 100 years old. His prosecutor(s) in seeking a conviction may battle but not defeat his defence, because court proceedings require proof beyond reasonable doubt and evidences for a crime which is more often than not, committed secretly. This condition is yet strict.

It is not yet stated that DPO Afolayan’s victim intends to pursue the abuse against her in court. If she however chooses to go to the court, she should be prepared for a possible backlash. She may need a reminder of the case of a girl who was reported to have been gang raped in Abia state with the video going viral. Some of the rapists were identified, but because she and her family were threatened, she was whisked away to safety and her parents later denied that their daughter suffered the abuse. This buttresses Liz Kelly (a London writer)’s conviction that “Rape is a unique crime, representing both a physical and psychological violation. In no other crime is the victim subject to so much scrutiny at trial, where the most likely defence is that the victim consented to the crime”. At the point of consent, it stops being rape.

Okechukwu attributes her action in self defence to God’s help, such that she has been rescued from the psychological and emotional torture of being sexually abused. Her action ‘because of necessity’ may be justifiable in the eyes of many.

Afolayan, on the other hand knows the law, but a common feature of wielding power includes trampling on the law and widening the impunity of those entrusted with power and leadership in Nigeria. Will his action also be justified?

November 15, 2014
High blood pressure puts one in four Nigerians at risk – study

High blood pressure – already a massive hidden killer in Nigeria – is set to sharply rise as the country adopts western lifestyles, a study suggests.

Researchers who conducted the first up-to-date nationwide estimate of the condition in Nigeria warn that this will strain the country’s already-stretched health system.

Increased public awareness, lifestyle changes, screening and early detection are vital to tackle the increasing threat of the disease, they say.

High blood pressure – also known as hypertension – is twice as high in Nigeria compared with other East African countries and less than 20 per cent of Nigerians are aware that they have the condition. Hypertension puts people at risk of heart disease, kidney disease and stroke.

Researchers estimated that there were more than 20 million cases of hypertension in Nigeria in 2010, affecting one in-three men and one-in-four women. This is set to rise to 39 million cases by 2030. Data from South Africa suggests that high blood pressure is treated effectively in less than 10 per cent of cases.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh, who carried out the study, say that understanding of hypertension in Nigeria and other African countries has been affected by lack of patient data.

Their findings have been published in the Journal of Hypertension.

Dr Davies Adeloye, of the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Population Health Sciences, said: “We have conducted a systematic search of high quality studies on hypertension across Nigeria and provided estimates of the prevalence and number of cases of hypertension in the country. We hope this will prompt appropriate policy response in the health sector.”

Moffat, is the Press and PR Officer of the International University of Edinburgh

November 15, 2014
Distribution bane of publishing in Nigeria –Onyenokwe

With more than a dozen magazine covers jostling with various online publications for public attention, while vendors litter the streets of Lagos, Adesuwa Onyenokwe, Publisher of TW Magazine and a Mara Mentor, says the biggest problem with publishing in Nigeria is distribution.

Globally, increased competition with digital media has seen print media forced to supplement their platforms with websites as technological innovations threaten to silence hardcopy newspapers completely.

According to the 2013 The State of the News Media Report, the total traffic to the top 25 news sites increased 7.2% in 2012. And according to Pew Research data, 39% of respondents got news online or from a mobile device, up from 34% in 2010, when the survey was last conducted, indicating patterns of audience growth on digital platforms.

Onyenokwe, who was recently discussing the dynamics of media enterprise on the Mara Mentor Talk Show, however voiced optimism towards Nigeria’s publishing industry, stating the need to break the cycle of traditional distribution and recognise the need to supplement print media with the innovations of new media as important to business success.

Addressing issues surrounding the business of publishing in Nigeria, Onyenokwe said prospective media entrepreneurs should adopt creative ways to deal with the challenges that come their way. According to her, TW Magazine launched a website and app to supplement its print version, thus aligning with the proliferation of digital devices in peoples’ lives.

She also implored young entrepreneurs to take time to learn and understand industries completely before going into business. “If you live in a neighbourhood and something about it bothers you, then maybe that’s where your business lies,” says Onyenokwe.

But as more Nigerians get access to the web, new media is increasingly gaining ground with citizen journalism on social media and mobile apps, while blogs and websites continue to gain traction and amass a significant size of advertising budgets. Newspapers and magazines, on the other hand, are seemingly stuck on the wrong side of the McLuhan’s famous Theory of Technological Determinism, which predicts more emphasis on digital media as the world advances.

However, Onyenokwe believes the key to transforming the fortunes of print media businesses in Nigeria perhaps lies with changing the sector’s distribution mechanism, which is still largely characterised by road-side hawking and the ubiquitous free readers association.

November 13, 2014
Victims of wrong course choice

Tolu George narrates the stories of some students in the University of Lagos (UNILAG) who are dispassionate about their course of study and how they are trudging on.

When Uche Ohafia was admitted into UNILAG in 2011, his joy knew no bounds. He had gained admission to study computer science and was of the mindset that computer science was just about Microsoft word, power point and other routine packages.

He was however shocked when he found out that computer science involved programming, web designing and much tougher things. Now in his third year Uche has lost all interest in being a computer scientist, he is so eager to finish his university education so that he can focus on music, his new found love. ‘’I love music so much. I remember when I was a child, my sisters used to listen to Back street boys, West life, Tony Braxton, and I used to sing along passionately, ’’ he told the Nation.

Uche’s foray into music may however have met a brick wall as his father doesn’t want him to do music. ‘’When I was in secondary school, we had this group called cloud nine, we were involved in music and I remember singing a song which my dad got to know about. He told me that I should concentrate on my studies and ignore music. He said people that do music are always restless and carefree, that I should get into the University and concentrate on my studies,’’ Uche narrated.

However, despite his father’s stern warning regarding music, Uche still dreams of having a live band to entertain people someday. To him making so much money from music is not as important as being able to pass good messages through music. ‘‘I’m not trying to become a big musician, I just want to sing. I don’t want to do music because I want to make so much money from it, but for the passion,’’ he said.

Similarly, the story of Busola Omosipe may not be too different from Uche’s. His choice of civil engineering as a course of study seemed to have been as a result of improper research.

He said; ‘’the day I decided to study civil engineering, I was in my Jamb tutorial center and the teacher was asking us for our future ambition. Right there and then I started thinking about studying Civil Engineering, since some people had told me that it was close to architecture (a course Busola had originally planned to study, but for lack of the required subjects). When it got to my turn, I just said I wanted to study civil engineering.’’

Busola interestingly lived up to expectations as he made a first class result in his first year, but as semesters went by, his grades began to fall like a pack of cards. However, a programming course he took in his second year made him develop interest in programming. ‘’When I went to my first programming class, I had the mindset that it would be a very boring class, but when I got to the class and I saw what we were doing, I started developing interest. I began to find programming enjoyable, it wasn’t like solving. You just had to think and then make something out of some numbers and alphabets and if it works congratulations. It’s just like you are building your own man. Although I might not be good academically, programming has made me see that I can still do something useful with my life,’’ he said.

Busola said that he would have come in to study a course related to programming, if he was more enlightened about courses to study right from secondary school.

For Omolade Epebiyi, another student, though studying Finance, she has her eyes on interior decorating; she spoke of interior decorating as her dream career. ‘’I realized, as a child that I loved colours. When it came to beatifying the house, I could do that perfectly well. As at age 12, I could rearrange my room, make it look beautiful and also change curtains,” she said.

Omolade however could not pursue a career in interior decorating because according to her, there were no proper schools which thought interior decorating in Nigeria; ‘’I realized that there was no tertiary institution that would afford me that opportunity to learn and get a certificate like a B.SC degree in interior Decorating. Even schools that claimed to study art didn’t offer courses in interior decorating. I also looked at my options outside the country and I knew it was going to cost me so much, and for someone that was young at that time and that just finished secondary school, travelling out of the country didn’t seem like the best thing to do,’’ she explained.

But unlike Busola and Uche, studying finance is not a waste of time to Omolade; she believes that it would prove useful when setting up her business in interior decorating. She hopes to go on to be a big time interior decorator and also plans to set up good and well equipped schools where prospective interior decorators can attend.

A graduate speaks

Olayinka Oluseyi, a recent graduate of Accountancy turned musician partly blames his parents for making him study Accountancy.

He said, ‘‘I won’t say my parents forced me to study Accountancy, but they conditioned me to having no other option. They suggested it to me, forced me to go to commercial class, and preached it into my subconscious which made me eventually go to study the course.”

Seyi added; ‘‘I was in secondary school when I developed a passion for music and the passion has kept rising since then. In fact it was my way out of the bad feeling I was getting from doing accounting.’’

On how he was able to balance his love for music with a course he didn’t like, Seyi said; ‘’I think the first thing is that God does not start a thing and not finish it, so if you start something you must finish. I took time out to do music. For me, music was something like a therapy for the sadness I felt studying Accountancy. A few times when I was down, I just sang the situation in music. It reminded me of the fact that there was a goal I was chasing.’’

Seyi advised students who find themselves studying courses they don’t like, not to feel bad about the situation they find themselves. ‘‘My advice to them is just for them to enjoy themselves, they shouldn’t feel bad about what they are studying right now and whatever their grade is, they should just keep pushing. They shouldn’t feel like their life depends on what they are doing, their lecturers make it look that way, but that’s because sometimes most of these lecturers don’t know that much. The moment you start feeling good about yourself despite how bad things may be for you, everything will just follow in its default and you would feel at ease in spite of the fact that you are reading a course that you don’t like.”

A parent’s advice

Mrs. Olanrenwaju Adeoye, who has twin children playing active basketball in the United States, encouraged parents to allow their children follow their dream careers.

She said; ‘’I allowed my two sons play basketball because I did sports back in my university days. I competed and won laurels and scholarship up to my PhD level, so I already knew the benefits of participating in sports. I made sure my children participated in sports.’’

Continuing she said, ‘’It is a novice of a parent that would not encourage his/her child to study whatever course he or she wants to study. It is not the parent that would study the course for the child, it is the child. The child is the center, so why must a parent stop a child from doing what he or she likes. My parents didn’t deny me of my own liberty. When I wanted to go in for sport they allowed me and I encourage parents to please allow children to go into their careers of their choice.”

Advice from counselor

Mrs. Ronke Asiwaju, the school’s counselor believes that students should not feel bad when they find themselves studying courses they don’t like. She encouraged students who find themselves studying courses they don’t like to muster all the interest and energy they have and finish their degree. This, according to her, is because the first degree is just a foundation, after which a student can graduate and then train themselves in their first love. Asiwaju also advised parents to stop influencing their children in terms of career choices.

‘‘Parents should allow their children to live their lives. They shouldn’t allow their children lie in their shadows. Whatever dreams they couldn’t accomplish in their lives they should allow it rest, they shouldn’t push their children to fill that vacuum. They can educate and encourage their children to making right choices, but when it comes to choice making they should leave it between the child and their counselors for realistic assessment,’’ she advised.

For parents who want their children to show interest in particular areas, Asiwaju advised that they should track the children from when they are young and get them interested in such areas.

She spoke further, ‘‘May be you want your child to become a computer programmer, you can get computer related toys for him or her to play with. You should also ensure you encourage your child to do well in subjects that would qualify them for whatever he or she wants to become.’’

She advised students who were forced by their parents to study particular courses to forgive their parents. ‘‘I would encourage them to forgive their parents because sometimes it is the anger that makes them not to cope. When you finish reading that course of study for your parents, you can go back to the university and do whatever you feel like doing. By that time you would not be under any body. What is important is that you deserve to have a good life,’’ she said.

November 8, 2014
‘Why I’m taking animal campaign to schools’

Chiemeka Chiedozie, the Project Director Human Global Concept, Nigeria and Africa is one man that is passionate about caring for animals, reports Justice Ilevbare
Chiemeka Chiedozie is passionate about animals. For many years, he has been involved in caring for animals and that passion has led to the establishment of Human Global Concept, a non-governmental organization (NGO) about four years ago.

Through his non-governmental organization, Chiedozie promotes animal welfare in Africa specifically for children below the ages of 19 years – His mission is impact knowledge on the children to have relevant information about animal kingdom and how to care for them.

Chiedozie who had been running this project for the past four years has taken the campaign to different primary and secondary schools; “I have been to over 200 primary and secondary schools to educate young people about animal kingdom. I showed them documentary and take them to zoos to see animal life to let the children have good relationship with animals so that they won’t develop the passion of killing the animals,” he said.

He explained further that an average Nigerian doesn’t have passion for an animal, all they know is how to kill animals and this is a project to educate them; “I said to myself that this destructive attitude must be stopped because every Nigerian is an animal killer,” he said.

According to Chiedozie, the project is first of its kind in Africa, “Nobody has done this in Africa, I just took the challenge upon myself to start the project,” he said.

On how he gets the project funded, Chiedozie who has travelled to Ghana to address people on animal rights said he gets only material donations from United Kingdom and United State of America to run the project. “I have done animal conferences and exhibitions which had over 300 people attended. I finance it myself and also task people to donate to the project. Finance is the major challenge rocking the project,” he explained.

He wants the government at all levels to partner with the non-governmental organisation to be able to fund the project. He has also gotten support from a non-government organization, People for Ethical Treatment of Animal (PETA), in United Kingdom.

Chiedozie who had been featured in Animal Times Magazine in United Kingdom had just been made world animal ambassador for Nigeria.

He wants Nigerians to care for animals “animals have feelings and emotions just as people have because they can’t talk people take advantage of them, if every Nigerian has feelings for animals’ people will not be killing their neighbours and families for rituals,” he advised

November 8, 2014
Residents lament collapsed road

Residents of Abeokuta Street, under the aegis of Abeokuta Street Residents Association (ASRA), have lamented the collapse of a major road in their community.

Shafe Ewuola, the public relations officer, ARSA, in a statement said the affected road is a major access road through Abeokuta Street, which connects the entire Owode-Onirin in Agboyi-Ketu Local Council Development Area (LCDA) and Ketu-Ikorodu road axis has completely collapsed.

He said many vehicle owners among them can no longer drive in and out of the street, ADDINH; “the activities of other private and commercial motorists who ply the road to avoid or escape traffic gridlock on Ikorodu highway have been halted.”

According to Ewuola, “the daily deterioration of the road has crumbled normal business activities in the area. Even commercial motorcyclists can no longer take passengers through the road to their desired destinations as they are dropped off, a great distance from the street entrance to trek home, thus exposing residents to dangers of being waylaid or robbed outright.”

He said operators of various businesses in the area have continued to lament the state of the road relative to their daily experiences of poor sales and inability of the suppliers of their various wares to access the road for their usual transactions.

Ewuola, explained that several attempts have been made to draw the attention of both the local and state government to the deplorable condition of the road with a view to fixing it, “the attention of the Local Government Chairman, Hon. Obafemi Durosinmi, has been called to the deplorable condition of the road and he has led a team of his officials on inspection to the area with the promise that the LCDA would assist with palliative measures since complete rehabilitation of the road is a project beyond the financial capabilities of the Council.

“We understand that he has written to the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, to get assistance from the state to fix the road.

“ASRA has also written to the office of the Lagos state governor, appealing for intervention to save the infrastructure and affected lives from further danger. While the state government and the LCDA have pledged urgent action, residents are still waiting for the redemption of their promises,” he natrrated

He disclosed that communal efforts to salvage the situation through house to house levy have not yielded much result because of the dimension and depth of degradation the road has suffered. Irate residents have continued to express their dissatisfaction over the poor maintenance of the road which, in the first place, was constructed by concerned residents.

November 8, 2014
Energy and the Carbon economy: Global Environmental challenges

The seven critical issues that were brought up at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development included managing cities to ensure welfare of society without putting unnecessary demand on land and resources. Creation of jobs in the aftermath of the global recession, keeping environmental health in mind; “Green jobs,” was highlighted and natural disasters are also on the list.

A gutter on a street in Lekki halfway through development is littered with rubbish leading to the usual environmental issues of blocked drained, putrid odours and the associated ill health.

Throughout the world, 25 per cent of the land has suffered extensive degradation with enhancement of 10 per cent. Companies like Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd address Social & Environmental issues by implementing a systematic land restoration policy which repairs the environment they operate on to eco-friendly conditions.
The Chinese whose ancient wisdom is respected worldwide have healing methods and techniques which are also known throughout the world. The Chinese have proven that items of waste such as a piece of paper lying on the floor of a room can cause ill health. This is part of a wider picture of corruption, degradation and pollution that follows West African nations in every sphere of society. We focus on the important issues and how they are all interlinked in resolving the desperate situation in which Nigeria finds herself.

A flooded street on a Lekki road asks the question of which way Nigeria is headed; further development or further degradation?

It is clear that safety with regards to certainty of returns is a key issue affecting investment of public finance. This is why major financial institutions in Nigeria are choosing to stick with the trusted oil (and now gas) economy.

Carbon from an exhaust pipe from a 15KV generator

‘What you don’t know will not hurt you?’ goes the saying. Unfortunately, the preoccupation of the nation with oil and gas as well as solid fuels is an unhealthy one. CO2 (Carbon dioxide), CO (Carbon Monoxide), Methane (CH4), PAH’s (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) amongst other emissions are detrimental to human health (cancer, respiratory tract disease), destroy ecosystems and reduce atmospheric quality (air and Ozone).
This is aside from the fact that we are depleting our non-renewable sources of energy without persistently pursuing development of more environmentally friendly and renewable sources of energy. ‘Optimizing use of limited resources is one of the biggest challenges facing any decision-maker’ according to the Health and Environment Linkages Initiative (HELI) of the World Health Organisation.
As far back as June 6, 2007 The Ghanaian Minister of Local Government and Rural Development & Environment, Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, repeated a call on Ghanaians to take up ‘sound environmental practices’. Brazil and Ghana have partnered towards developing a bio-fuel energy economy in Ghana as exists in Brazil. Nigeria has plans to embark on a similar route particularly if it proves economically and environmentally worthwhile.
During the “Indabas” (Zulu for important meeting) in Durban which followed the Kyoto Climate Conference it was generally agreed that the Kyoto Protocol did not do enough to control the level of pollution from developing economies. Countries such as Barbados made pleas for “language instructing all parties to dig deeper into their carbon emissions to speed up the process, arguing that the survival of their countries and millions of climate-stressed people were at risk.” More recently the Climate Change Summit once again addressed these issues.

Aftermath – residual carbon being pumped out into the atmosphere from a 15KV generator. Generators used for hotels and larger businesses and organisations are much larger and operated for much longer hours.

Below is analysis from the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland: The organization claims that ‘evidence from epidemiological studies have shown that exposure to smoke from incomplete combustion of solid fuels is linked with a range of conditions including acute and chronic respiratory diseases’.

Figures for Water, Health and Sanitation show that 61% of the Nigerian population had access to improved sources of drinking water up from 55% in 2005. Sanitation continued a downward trend in the 21 years from 1990 till 2011 down to 31% from 34%. These conditions resulted in a total of 177,806 deaths in 2004. The deaths account for years of life lost due to premature deaths as well as those lost to disease.
The total number of deaths attributable to environmental health factors in 2004 reached 669,665. According to the WHO Global Health Observatory Data Repository 74% of the Nigerian population used solid fuels whilst 58% used non-solid cooking fuels as at 2007. Indoor air pollution related deaths in Nigeria in 2004 amounted to 95,255. Outdoor air pollution exposure was at 124 PM10 ug/m3 (Particulate Matter in micrograms per metres cube), in 2006. The number of deaths resulting from outdoor air pollution was 2,547 in 2008. 57 deaths in ‘low-and middle-income countries of the African Region’ (WHO figures) were attributable to climate change.
Information from the Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion Department, WHO reports 235 million asthma sufferers as at 2011. 3 million deaths in 2005 resulted from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) of which 2.7 million occurred in low to middle income economies.
The hurdle is a requirement for a quantitative measure of the cost of environmental pollution which will help propel any proposed measures to address the issue. The bind is that majority of the costs can only be measured in terms of health due to ignorance and poverty in many of the affected nations.
‘Economic assessment is a vital tool that can enumerate potential costs and value the anticipated benefits of a proposed programme, policy or regulatory initiative, and reflect trade-offs inherent in alternatives’, says HELI.

The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) report concerning ‘Research for Universal Health Coverage’ which includes ‘Investigations ranging from clinical trials to health policy studies can help chart the course to improved health outcomes and reduced poverty, but research needs national and international backing to succeed,’.

Maria E. Amezaga, Global Strategy Manager – Brand, Social Media and Innovation at Shell asks if ‘taxing carbon emissions is a viable solution for reducing the carbon footprint and improving sustainability?’ In light of the pressures for energy efficiency, carbon trading would help the developing countries’ need to drive economic growth. It would also promote development of alternative energy such as solar power and wind energy.

To make our economies stronger and protect the environment, energy, which plays a role in every aspect of our everyday lives, must be used efficiently and sustainably. ‘United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon leads a Sustainable Energy for All initiative to ensure universal access to modern energy services, improve efficiency and increase use of renewable sources’.

www.linkedin.com/groups/Future-Energy-Shell

www.uncsd2012.org/7issues

http://www.who.int/evidence/bod

http://apps.who.int/gho/indicatorregistry/App_Main/view_indicator.aspx?iid=2256

22A Adebisi Popoola Crescent Lekki Peninsula Scheme 1, Lekki, Lagos

Tel: 08158433577

Email: mideogungbemi@gmail.com

November 7, 2014
Boko Haram: Nigeria needs global support now -Atiku

Text of a World Press Conference by H.E. Atiku Abubakar, GCON, former Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Gentlemen of the Press:

It is with deep regret that I came to learn that Mubi, which is one the largest towns in Adamawa State of northeast Nigeria, has been taken by the terrorist group commonly known as Boko Haram. As you may know, in recent weeks and months, Mubi has been a town to which displaced persons from further north have fled for safety after their communities fell to Boko Haram. As I speak, the inhabitants of Mubi, together with those who went there for safety, find themselves at the mercy of this terrorist group.

I am Nigerian. I believe in the integrity of Nigeria as a whole, and every part of this country matters to me. But I was born and bred in the northeast. So, please, excuse me if I should say a few words about the part of the country where I am from, about what the people from the northeast of Nigeria have had to suffer for far, far too long.

Things should never have got to this stage. Thousands of Nigerians have had to flee their homes. Their houses and farms have been destroyed. They do not know where to go or how to restart their lives. That is the degree to which we have come in this country. I say this with reluctance and with shame. The situation in which we find ourselves today is grave. Much of Borno, and the north of Adamawa and Yobe states is already at the mercy of the terrorists. It started a few months ago with Bama, which is nearly 400 kilometres from Yola, capital of Adamawa State.

The next major town to be taken by terrorists was Gwoza, where a terrorist caliphate flag has long been hoisted. Smaller towns near Gwoza such as Pulka and Limankra are equally not free. Next was Madagali. The town is still being occupied. Then fell Gulak. Next was Michika, then Bazza. Next was the twin town of Uba which is half Adamawa and half Bornu. Its neighboring town of Lassa was also overrun. Uba was the latest town captured before the terrorists trampled on Mubi. People from these troubled areas are now pouring into Yola for safety.

As somebody who hails from Adamawa State, you can appreciate why I feel such emotion at the fate of my people.   For whatever reason, our defence forces are unable to cope and unable to defend. My sympathies go out to the soldiers who find themselves in a situation not of their making. This is a crisis of leadership.

We were told that the budget for security was going to be enlarged so that the security agencies and military would be in a better position to tackle the insurgency. How is it possible that a great nation like Nigeria should find itself in a situation where a handful of terrorists is able to invade a town as large as Mubi with a population of about 300,000? How were the insurgents able to so easily take a town of this size, and the people find themselves defenseless and undefended? How is it that the people have been made to suffer as they have?

I have previously spoken about the deteriorating security situation in this country on a number of occasions. On those occasions I deliberately restrained myself from speaking in a manner that might be construed as distracting the government and the security forces as they grappled with the dire security situation. But the scale of injustice the people of Nigeria are suffering has reached a stage where I am obliged to amplify my concerns.

Many of our citizens, unable to come to terms with why a so-called “Africa’s best army” has been unable to confront this horrendous situation, are increasingly assuming that this whole thing is about electoral politics. They suspect that the seeming inability of the government to end the crisis is a ploy to weaken some parts of the country ahead of the 2015 elections. Can we, in all honesty, blame them for having those suspicions?

I call upon the international community to help us. I am making a special appeal to countries with sufficient know how and experience in tackling terrorism to increase their assistance to us.

The relief agencies that are already working here should please double their efforts. And all people of goodwill should help in any way they can and to do more than they have been doing to alleviate the pain and suffering that we Nigerians face through this insurgency.  At a time when we are constantly bombarded with horror stories of ugly events elsewhere in the world – here in West Africa, we are faced with the Ebola epidemic and other trouble spots – I draw your attention to a humanitarian crisis which is also a matter of international security.

This Boko Haram insurgency has been with us now for several years but has, in these last few days, taken a step further towards being a disaster of unimaginable proportions. Hundreds of thousands of people are at risk. Nigeria needs the world’s support. The world must not abandon Nigerians in our time of need.

November 3, 2014
Death on the highway
Between 2001 and 2011, an estimated 64,084 Nigerians died in road traffic incidents and several more hundred thousand sustained injuries. In this special report, Seun Akioye investigates the state of emergency rescue services for victims on the nation’s highways.

The accident that almost crippled Udeze Edozie, a journalist, happened at the Ogere end of the Lagos/ Ibadan expressway. The journey had commenced early that morning from Lagos and the commercial bus he was travelling in seemed to be making good progress towards their eventual destination in Ibadan or so he thought.

Then the accident happened in a flash with the vehicle somersaulting and passengers getting thrown out of the vehicle with many sustaining serious wound.

Edozie made it out, he was thrown through the window of the 13-seater bus from his vantage front row seat. Other passengers crawled out all with varying degrees of injuries, blood flowed and bones were broken. He had fractured his leg, a big gush stood where shrapnel had cut through his skin, muscles and flesh.

The first responders to the accident scene were the local residents, the street traders and other drivers. Then they called the police. The victims were made to sit on the ground while they await the arrival of the officials of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) who would provide the essential first aid for the accident victims.

There had been two accidents that day which occurred not far from one another. The FRSC had only one vehicle so it divided the time between the two incidents. While the agency attended to one of the two accidents scenes, Edozie and others sat down on the floor, waiting and bleeding.

“When the FRSC finally came they took us to their office for a first aid. I could not move my legs, it was horrible and they gave me anti-tetanus injection,” Edozie said. But unknown to him, that was the beginning of the nightmare.

Grim statistic

Globally, road traffic accidents account for 1.24million deaths according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Another 20-50 million people sustained injuries; some are permanent while others require long and tedious health care management. About 80 percent of this casualty occurred in middle and lower income countries which are motorizing rapidly.

According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013 released by the WHO, 27 percent of the fatality of road traffic accidents is among pedestrians and cyclists. According to the world health body, there are five risk factors associated with road traffic accidents including: Speed, Drink-driving, Helmets, Seatbelts and Child restraints. But only 28 countries-representing 669 million people and seven percent of the world have adequate laws that address these five risk factors thereby saving more lives.

In developing countries where 80 percent of the fatalities occur, less than 35 percent of the countries have adequate laws against road rage.  Presently, road traffic accident is the eight leading cause of death while it is estimated to become the fifth leading cause by 2030. In Africa, the risk of dying as a result of road traffic accident is 24.1 to 100,000 populations, a huge percentage compared to 10.3 per 100,000 obtainable in the European Union (EU).

In Nigeria, the numbers of road traffic fatalities remain unacceptably high. In 2011, the FRSC reported that there were 4,765 road traffic crashes nationwide in which a total of 4,372 people were killed and 17,464 people sustained injuries.

Over a 10-year period from 2001 to 2011, the number of deaths through road crashes has remained high. An estimated 64,083 people lost their lives due to road traffic accident with several thousand sustaining injuries.

The high rate of fatality on Nigerian roads is said to be due to a number of factors including the parlous state of emergency service stations on Nigeria’s highways.

When there are no doctors

The Lagos- Ibadan expressway is reputed to be one of the busiest in Nigeria. It also serves as a link from Lagos to other Southwestern states in Nigeria. It is also the gateway to the Southeast and Northern part of Nigeria from the Southwest.  Until last year, successive governments have neglected regular maintenance of the road. The result has been dire consequences for the regular road user.

The highway has since assumed the frightening appellation as one of the deadliest expressways in Nigeria. “There must be accident on this road at least once every two day and many of them would involve somebody dying,” Olufemi Onanuga, an insurance agent who is a regular user on the road told The Nation. The Lagos-Ibadan expressway may be notorious for the number of road accidents that occur on it every week; it also lacks adequate emergency response service points.

According to investigation conducted by The Nation on the expressway, there are five emergency operations points from Lagos to Ibadan. Three of these emergency points are actually FRSC operation centers, while one was established by the Lagos state government, another accident clinic was a donation from a private foundation.

There is only one accident clinic on the 110km expressway; it is the Sagamu FRSC operations unit which was equipped with the requisite medical team to deal with accidents on the road.

This dearth of adequate response on the highway when disaster happens has dire consequences for accident victims.  According to regular users of the road, the number of accident fatality should have been lower if expert help had reached the victims early. The space created by lack of adequate Medicare on the expressway has been filled by road side sellers and members of the local population.

“When accident happens here, we are the doctors. As we are here selling our goods, we have also saved many lives because it may take some time for the police to come and carry the victims,” a vehicle mechanic at Ogere end of the express way told The Nation.

Edozie’s experience was as unpleasant as it was dangerous. At the FRSC center in Sagamu where some of the victims were finally taken to, operations were allegedly performed without anesthetics or any pain reliever. According to Edozie, stitches were made with the most crude and cruel instrument. But the worst was when the medical officials allegedly asked the victims to pay for their treatment.

“I got three stitches and it was without anesthetics, in the state that we were, they asked us to pay N3, 000 for our treatment. When they stitched my leg, I was shouting and blood was coming out the more. It was a crude form of operation and it was worse than the accident itself,” Edozie said.

According to him, nurses at the centre seem to be private practitioners working in collaboration with the FRSC. Their attitude pointed to the fact that they were not trained in managing emergency situations. There were allegations that they were contracted to work at the center and they made their money from accident victims.

But his ordeal was far from over.  When he returned to Lagos he had to undergo a series of treatment from a private hospital in order to correct the abnormal treatment he received at the FRSC centre.

“My doctor told me the stitches they gave me have been banned for over 30 years by the WHO and the treatment was even wrong. I had to spend so much to correct what they did to my leg. It took several months before it could heal and if I didn’t have the means to take care of myself, I would have lost my leg,” he said.

Nigeria continues to lose human lives and resources to the inadequate emergency response on the expressway. Even on Lagos- Ibadan expressway, apart from the FRSC emergency clinic in Sagamu there are no other medical facilities available until one gets to Ibadan.

What this means is that the chances for survival for any accident victim between Sagamu and Ibadan is slim. “Many people have died on that road because help came a little too late, I cannot imagine having an accident along any stretch of that road because the possibility of dying is real,” says Onanuga.

This scenario is replicated all over the country.  In 2007, Stella Iwuagwu, an Assistant Professor at Cleveland State University, Ohio USA, was travelling from Abuja to Kano when the crash that broke her C1 and C2 vertebrae, occurred.  After the impact, she fell into a ravine and remained there until passersby and sympathizers transported her in a commercial bus (Danfo) to the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) where doctors were on strike before moving her to a maternity home.

An ambulance came the next day and moved her to the National Hospital Abuja. “ I was taken straight to the emergency room and seen by a medical officer who immediately put a collar on my neck. Even though I was screaming that my back was broken, they just kept lifting me  from one stretcher to another, I tried hard to make them realize the greater injury was to my back not my neck but they just continued to do what they were doing without regard to my cries,” Iwuagwu told The Nation.

The medical team at the National Hospital ignored Iwuagwu’s broken back until it was too late. She was eventually moved to Ghana and the United States of America where she has since remained albeit on a wheelchair.

Inside government’s accident clinic

When The Nation visited the accident and emergency clinic where Edozie was attended to, a large signpost by the side of the expressway announces to the traveler: “The Federal Road Safety Corps, Accident & Emergency Clinic.”  Inside the expansive compound, the operations department inhabited the extreme back while the offices and department are to the left. In the center of the compound is the clinic.

Commissioned on February 1^st 2006, by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, the accident and emergency clinic is the only emergency centre for accident victim on the Lagos- Ibadan expressway belonging to the FRSC. The clinic covers the Sagamu operations of the FRSC and its scope is from Mallo filling station to Catholic junction, a distance of about 30 kilometers.

Investigations at the clinic revealed that it was grossly understaffed and underequipped. According to an operations officer who does not want to be named, the clinic currently has no functional ambulance and whenever there is emergency, a patrol vehicle would be converted to an ambulance by fitting a stretcher inside the open roof booth.

Inside the clinic, there is the emergency room with four beds where first aid is administered on accident victims. There is an oxygen tank, a functional blood bank, a UCG which tests the heartbeats of patients. By the side is a small medical laboratory where blood can be tested. The next room is a ward which can hold about 10 patients at the same time and the last room is an operations theatre.

The operations theater has minimal equipment. There is the operation bed which creaks when moved about, anesthetic equipments, standing light and sucking machine. Akinjobi Beyioku is the pharmacist in charge of the clinic when The Nation visited. He is a soft spoken lanky fellow who seemed dedicated to his work. But he has largely been idle for the better part of the year having attended to only 136 patients from January to September 2014.

“We have had a low accident year and many of them are not serious cases. Here we can handle laceration, bruises and apply bandages. There is a theater but we still need more equipment and we have a ward where we can admit patients. When a case is beyond us, we usually refer to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) or the Federal Medical Center, (FMC) in Abeokuta or the hospital that is closer to the home of the patient,” Beyioku said.

He denied that the clinic charges for treatment and uses unauthorized medical personnel.  “Here we have doctors and nurses even a midwife. Our treatments are free and there is no way anybody would charge for treating an accident victim,” he said.

Another official told The Nation how the emergency operations work: “We have our emergency number which is 122, when there is an accident and the people call this number, it goes to ourAbuja call center and they direct the nearest emergency centre to the rescue.”

It was learnt that the usual response time is 10 minutes after the emergency centre must have received the distress call. But the clinic was not designed to handle serious injury and would usually refer such to the nearest hospital. “We have first aid equipments, stretcher and oxygen. When we bring victims here for treatment and they needed to be referred, we take them to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu or Fakoya hospital which is a private clinic,” the official said.

The Ogere FRSC operations centre, on the expressway has no ambulances or medical team on ground. According to some officials at the centre, which controls Ogere to Oluyole in Ibadan –a distance of about 47kilometers- accident victims are generally referred to the General Hospital in Iperu because “it is closer than the FRSC Sagamu clinic.”

However, it was learnt that the leadership at the FRSC is planning to open another accident clinic on the Lagos Ibadan expressway to fully accomplish its corporate strategy for 2014 which is to reduce road traffic crash by 15 percent and fatality by 25 percent.

States step up campaign

Meanwhile, Lagos and Oyo states at the two end of the expressway seem to have taken pro active measures in the prevention of deaths on the roads. In 2010, the Lagos state government established an accident response clinic at the toll-gate end of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. It is a modern and well equipped clinic designed to provide “first class basic emergency health care,” before accident victims are taken to hospital.

The Lagos state commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris  said the 20-bed center consists of a reception, wards, treatment room and operating theater among others and would help to reduce the response time and distance usually involved from the point the ambulance services takes the accident victims to the hospital.

When The Nation visited the centre, the medical team appeared ready for emergencies services. The centre has a laboratory for blood check and a chemistry department. There is a social welfare department which links up accident victims with their relatives after treatment.

The state has also acquired 26 mobile clinics to facilitate the transfer of accident victims to hospitals. The new mobile clinics boast of  twin cross main stretcher, belts and floor fastener; two oxygen cylinders of 100 liters each; scoop stretcher; twice foldable reserve stretcher; extrication device; Collar Cerviflex; Ventilator Spencer 170; Emergency Case Circulation; vacuum Suction Pump; and Sphygmomanometer.

Oyo state has replicated the design from Lagos with the purchase of 20 mobile clinics to respond to emergencies on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Ibadan-Ife expressway, Ibadan-Ojoo expressway as well as the Eleyele-Ologuneru areas.

The commissioner for Health, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin said the ambulances are of global standard and designed to handle treatments. “They are not just to convey corpses or casualties to hospital. The patients receive treatment and are taken to the nearest hospital for continuation of treatment where necessary. Each ambulance has a telephone, drugs and medical equipment. There is a driver, a stretcher and a midwife, who most times handles childbirth in the ambulance if the need arises. So deliveries can be safely taken in the ambulances.” Gbadegesin said.

In addition, the state has acquired a mobile phone toll-free number by which the public can call the ambulance.  The number is 08139858585. “No fewer than 30 major cases have been handled with the highest number coming from accidents on Lagos-Ibadan expressway and Ibadan-Ife expressway,”  Gbadegeshin  said.

Apart from the state emergency numbers, Lagos state emergency center also has numbers for complaint, service improvement and medical director. But when the emergency numbers of Ogun and Oyo state were called, none went through. Some officials at the states attributed this to “network problem” which also indicated the need for a dedicated toll-free line instead of the usual mobile telephone line as in the case in the states.

A death so cruel

It is not just the government that is concerned about road traffic fatalities, private organizations do too. That was the case of Dan Akujobi . For about nine years, he battled with the pain of the death of his son Daniel, who was born after eight years of childlessness. It was not just the loss that grieves the father but the manner and the constant thought that tugged at his mind that his son might have lived if he had received the needed medical attention.

In 2005, Daniel Akujobi had a fatal accident while returning from school at Mowe. He did not die immediately and his father insisted if he had received medical assistance at the first hospital he was taken to after the accident. After repeated visits to Nigerian hospitals without any improvement, Daniel was eventually flown to South Africa but died a few minutes before landing in the country.

In order to keep his memories alive, his parents established the Daniel Ogechi Akujobi Memorial Foundation (DOAMF).  The Foundation has been involved in charitable events especially saving lives on Nigeria’s expressway.

In 2010, DOAMF built an accident and emergency clinic at Mowe near the scene of Daniel’s accident, donating it to Ogun State Government. “He was rejected at the first hospital they rushed him to. So, I felt there is need to address this by setting up this center to save others that might be in similar situation. For this purpose, the facility is located very close to the scene of the accident that claimed the life of the young lad,” his father said.

Impact on healthcare

The WHO estimates that about 60 percent of road traffic fatalities occur to people between the ages of 15-44 years. In Nigeria, while a number of state governments have put in some measures to ensure adequate response in road traffic crash, many of the Nigerian highways especially in the Northern part of the country continue to record increased fatality. For instance travelling from Abuja to Taraba through Nassarawa and Markudi, there is not a single accident emergency clinic on the highway.

Statistics from the FRSC indicate that Nigeria has one of the highest road traffic crash records in the world with the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja having the highest road crash.

There are more bad news for Nigeria and her health system. In 2013, Minister for Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu said out of a survey involving 193 countries, Nigeria recorded the second highest rate of road accident fatality. He said in road traffic crash, Nigeria records 162 deaths per 100,000, population.  This has had adverse effects on the country’s health system and may hinder the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

Also the country focal person for the UN Decade of Action, Dr. Sydney Ibeanusi revealed that about 80 percent of all injuries in Nigeria are traffic related putting a strain on Nigeria’s fragile health care system.

The Head, Policy, research and Statistics of the FRSC, Kayode Olagunju said: “In 2012 alone, there was a report of a total of 4,260 deaths on Nigerian roads; an average of 12 persons died daily and with 20,752 injured. Hence, on the average, 69 persons were either injured or killed on our roads daily; 48,114 persons were involved in 6,269 documented cases. This means, on the average of one hour, 0.7, that is an approximated one crash occurred on the road.”

Apart from the high fatality, it is estimated that 29.1 percent of road traffic victims suffer disability while 13.5 percent are unable to return to work. Nigeria is also estimated to lose N80billion annually due to loss in properties and healthcare costs.

But more importantly is the dearth of trauma experts in Nigeria’s healthcare system to care for the  road traffic crash victims. Recently President Goodluck Jonathan commissioned a N1billion Trauma center in Abuja which he described as “being equipped with world-class equipment which is the first of its kind in Nigeria.” Lagos has been the only state with a functional trauma center.

An orthopaedic surgeon, Michael Ugbeye said the concept of a trauma team is absent in most Nigerian hospitals while he also said a major hindrance is the lack of funding.

“Some hospitals have the policy of free emergency services for the first day of admission for trauma victims, but this is more often not the case. There is also the challenge of inadequate intra-hospital transfer services for specialist care. Patients and their relatives are made to bear the cost of treatment in the emergency room.

“Most trauma care funding is by the federal government, which is usually limited to teaching hospitals and tertiary institutions in urban centers. Annually, more Nigerians die as a result of failure of emergency response system. Though there are flashes of intervention at both federal and state levels, these efforts are often under resourced and not sustained long enough to provide sufficient care for victims,” Ugbeye said.

A decade of action

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 64/255 thereby proclaiming the UN Decade of Action on Road Safety, (2011-2020), with the campaign slogan: “ Wear. Believe. Act.” The UN also launched the World Day for Remembrance of Road Traffic Victims in 2005, which is celebrated every third Sunday in the month of November.

The world body estimated that if necessary actions are put in place, the world would save at least five million people from road traffic crash. At the current global rate road traffic deaths accounts for more than the deaths from some major diseases and epidemic. This is what the UN intends to eradicate.

Some of the measures which the WHO is asking countries to adopt include having a single universal national access emergency number; a functioning ambulance service that can rapidly transfer patients to the hospital, reduction of speed, use of motorcycle helmets, use of child restraints and seats-belts and general measures to prevent and reduce road traffic crash.

Meanwhile, when The Nation called the national emergency numbers, all of them appeared to be working twenty four hours.  Both the National Emergency and the FRSC number are routed through a control room which would then inform the nearest operation center to the emergency.

In November, Nigeria will join the rest of the world in celebrating the World Day for Remembrance of Road Traffic Victims. But the question would remain; will Nigeria be able to stem the tide of its road crash fatalities?

National Emergency numbers in Nigeria

National Toll Free Number:                Call 112 from any network

FRSC Emergency number:                 Call 122 from any network

Oyo state emergency number:            Call 08139858585

LAGOS STATE EMERGENCY NUMBERS
- Call toll-free: 767
- Grievance officer: 0802226225
- Service improvement office: 08023112856
- Charter complaint officer: 08052030249
- Medical director: 08157992930
Ogun State Accident emergency numbers
- Call toll-free: 08037470101, 08037470102
November 3, 2014
Boko Haram: Lamentation of a Nigerian solider

We recently received an anonymous message from a supposed Nigerian solider presently among the troops battling the Boko Haram insurgents.

In this slightly edited message of despair, he gives an insight on the why Nigerian soldiers may not win the battle against the terrorists in North East.

It is time the pen pushers pick up their pens bcos the corruption in the system. More to self and less for National interest.

Who is behind book haram? how come helicopters will come to Nigeria airspace to supply book haram equipment and nobody is saying anything? People are dying every day. Money that is supposed to be used for development we are using it for war. Let those who love this nation pick up their pen, like the Journalists who fought for our independence in the 60s.

My eyes have seen a lot. We still need to pray for Nigeria.

All members of book haram use anti-aircraft to fight. Let all who love Nigeria forget about religion and put National interest first.

If you are in the field you will cry because the more you see the less you understand this battle.

Things will come to light if my ogas ontop tell the truth. Everybody is after money.

A day after sallah we took over Bazza, our own Airforce refuse to come for support and our commanding officer Lt Col Jones Emem called them but they did not come until this helicopters came to drop snappers and weapons for Bokoharam. Who is behind them? Why the army still using unserviceable equipment is when we were told new equipment were bought to fight insurgent.

When you come to the field you will see the soldiers doing their best, but no support weapons. How do expect somebody with A47 to face somebody with anti-aircraft.

All our soldiers presently shot. Some of them are in 44 military hospital Kaduna. Find out they were shot on the hand and legs with the snappers guns.

Those APCs they claim they bought are old ones painted in Jaji APC wing. We need more investigative Journalists to investigate this war and the equipment use.

November 2, 2014