The Nation Newspaper

Category: Special Report

  • The Buhari Years 2015-2023: Appraising security sector’s gains, pains

    The Buhari Years 2015-2023: Appraising security sector’s gains, pains

    As a retired general, President Muhammadu Buhari won many hearts when he identified the war against insecurity as one of the three key areas that his administration would focus on if voted into power in 2015. A lot has happened since then in terms of successes recorded; while many old and new challenges remain unsolved. In this special report, NICHOLAS KALU examines the security situation in the country in the last eight years

    When President Muhammadu Buhari took over the office in 2015, tackling insecurity was one of the three key areas he identified as the main thrust of his administration. The others were the economy and the war against corruption. That the Buhari administration found it necessary to ensure that insecurity formed one leg of the foundational tripod of his administration came from his background as a retired general and the then the spate of insecurity, which wreaked havoc on the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan that he succeeded.

    Since then, the government has had to deal with the problem which had grown into a monstrosity, with a new head seemingly growing whenever an old one has been cut off. Hardly any part of the country is spared of the scourge, with the crippling insurgency in the northern parts of the country and secessionist agitations in the southern parts of the country combining to heat up the polity and make life hellish for the people.

    Tackling insecurity

    The efforts of the present administration in the fight against insecurity have drawn various responses from various quarters, with a section positing that the situation has not improved from what it was during the last administration; while others feel it has recorded reasonable success. One of the main areas the current administration has prided itself on as one of its major achievements has been its ability to reclaim some of the territories seized by insurgents in the Northeastern parts of the country.

    Last week, at a Trooping and Presentation of Colours Parade 2023 by the Nigerian Army in Abuja, President Buhari commended the security agencies for their exceptional performances in the various operations across the country. According to the President, at the inception of his administration, the nation’s security situation was greatly challenged by the activities of violent non-state actors. Highlighting the efforts of his administration in the battle against insecurity, he said, “Today, I am pleased to specially note that the situation has tremendously improved and I wish to also proudly highlight that we have made remarkable progress in the fight against insurgents, militants, oil bunkers, kidnappers and other criminal elements in the country.

    “This administration has achieved a remarkable transformation of the military in the areas of fighting power, training, operations, manpower, remunerations and medical services. These are in addition to maintenance efficiency, accommodation and expansion of forces. The improvements in these areas have collectively enhanced the Army’s capacity to effectively carry out its constitutional mandate.

    “The fighting power of our Army was at a low ebb as of May 2015. However, seven years later, its fighting power has increased significantly making it fourth in ranking among African militaries as against seventh in 2015. Our interventions and yearly budgetary allocations to the Army between 2020 and 2022 alone have been able to procure hundreds of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles, Troops Carrying Vehicles, utility vehicles, tanks and Armoured Personnel Carriers to augment those earlier procured.

    “From 2017 to 2022, significant numbers of new fighting and utility vehicles along with supporting artillery guns, machine guns, rifles and corresponding ammunition were acquired and inducted into various theatres of operations. This translates to a significant increment in the Army’s equipment holding since 2015.

    “With the significant improvement in the fighting power as a result of the procurement of equipment and mission-specific training, the Army was empowered to rejig its operations. Accordingly, the Army has restructured the conduct of its operations to meet current realities. The quantum of platforms inducted into the Army since 2015 had enabled troops to take the battle to the terrorists and criminals, particularly in the North East resulting in the recapture of territories hitherto held by the insurgents.

    “The efforts of the troops leading to unprecedented successes were evident in the increased number of neutralised insurgents and those that voluntarily surrendered alongside their families for radicalization and rehabilitation through Operation SAFE CORRIDOR. This feat has continued to be replicated in other theatres of operation within the country, leading to the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons to their ancestral homes and restoration of economic activities in addition to the contribution of the Nigerian Army to global peace through Peace Support Operations.

    “Furthermore, the creation of the Army Aviation is one of the major aspects of the ongoing expansion process in the Nigerian Army. The renewed vigour for the operationalization of the Army Aviation emanated from a strong desire to effectively tackle contemporary security challenges across the country. This unit, when fully operationalized, will provide rapid deployment, close air support, casualty evacuation, and prompt delivery of logistics supply, among other roles.

    “As an administration, we have demonstrated commitment to increasing the strength of the Armed Forces in my resolve to secure the country from all challenges. It is instructive to state that from 2015 when I was sworn in as the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Federal Republic of Nigeria, I facilitated the recruitment of over 60,000 soldiers from Depot Nigerian Army aside thousands commissioned from the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna.”

    However many would disagree, arguing that despite making it one of the cardinal focuses of his government, so much is still left to be desired as the problem of insecurity continues unabated. The country’s insecurity problems range from terrorism/insurgency, armed banditry, militancy, cultism and ethnic agitations to religious fundamentalism, herder-farmer clashes, and inter-communal clashes. There are also other raging crimes as armed robbery, cultism, and electoral violence, among others. With terrorism in the North-east, banditry and terrorism in the North-west, farmers-herders clashes in the North-central, secessionist agitations and insurgency in the South-east, militancy and kidnapping in the South-south, as well as kidnapping and farmers-herders clashes in the South-west, every part of the country seems to have its fair share of the malaise.

    However, the federal government has continued to make efforts to stem the problem. Through the military and other security agencies, the federal government has conducted security operations in all the thirty-six states of the federation and established task forces specifically to deal with the raging problems. In addition, the federal government sought international collaboration through the Multinational Task Force to combat insurgency; while creating non-kinetic engagements such as humanitarian operations and Operation Safe Corridor to encourage defection within the ranks of the insurgents. The establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission, the North East Development Commission, and the Amnesty Programme were parts of the soft approaches the federal government has embarked upon to ameliorate the effects of insecurity in Nigeria. At the state level, some state governments have enacted various legislations to prescribe stiffer punishment for kidnapping and associated crimes, and open grazing as a way of stemming persistent farmers/herders’ clashes. Some state governments established security networks such as Amotekun to complement efforts of regular security forces; while others went into dialogues with armed groups to broker peace deals.

    The Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) had set up various operations across the country. These include the Joint Task Force (JTF) North East, tagged Operation HADIN KAI covering the North-east region; the JTF SS, tagged Operation DELTA SAFE covering the South-south region; the JTF NW, known as Operation HADARIN DAJI covering the North-west region; Operation SAFE HAVEN covering Plateau, parts of Kaduna and Bauchi States; Operation WHIRL STROKE covering Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States; JTF SW, referred to as Operation AWATSE and covering Lagos and Ogun States; Operation THUNDER STRIKE covering Abuja-Kaduna Highway and Operation WHIRL PUNCH covering parts of Kaduna State.

    Gains

    The procurement of modern platforms for the armed forces has also gone a long way in raising the level of their operational readiness and efficiency, in addition to boosting their capabilities. Among other efforts, the Nigerian Army, for instance in 2021, procured 160 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP), 150 trucks and 60 APCs to improve its equipment holding.

    This was in addition to the provision of accommodation for troops and the recruitment of over 10,000 personnel into the Army. The Nigerian Navy (NN), inaugurated the FALCON EYE Maritime Domain Awareness Capability, the third locally-built Seaward Defense Boat, one helicopter, 4 inshore patrol boats and 90 Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats. Over 1,500 personnel were recruited into the Navy during the year. The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) took delivery of 12 Super Tucanos and 3 JF-17 Thunder Fighter Aircraft and other platforms with which it has conducted several air interdictions, provided close air support to ground troops and destroyed several illegal structures and equipment belonging to terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements.

    Still, in the fight against insecurity, the implementation of the community policing initiative of the current administration has led to the training of 25,000 constabularies in several police colleges across the country. The successful officers who were trained on basic police duties, modern intelligence gathering techniques, rule of law, etc. were deployed to their local governments of origin to aid in intelligence gathering and improve police visibility in their communities. Also, through the Police Trust Fund, 200 Buffalo branded vehicles, bulletproof vests, protective helmets, drugs, and medical equipment as well as arms and ammunition, riot control equipment, and combat equipment were procured for the Police Special Weapon and Tactical Squad (SWAT).

    Legislative interventions    

    With the problem threatening to tear the country apart with daily incidents of terrorism, kidnappings and robberies among others, the legislature felt the need to intervene as the House of Representatives took time to organise a security summit, which came up with far-reaching recommendations. While submitting the report of the summit to President Buhari in 2021, the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the executive and legislative arms of government have been assigned specific roles to help address insecurity in the country.

    “As you are aware, we went through a painstaking effort for four-five days and the report came out and we have divided it into both legislative and executive recommendations. As we said from day one, we will bring the report to the President for action on the recommendations and he has graciously accepted and we are hopeful and believe that many of the recommendations, both the legislative and executive, once implemented, will go a long way into resolving some of the issues that pervade our society in terms of security, if not all.

    “And what led to the resolution of the summit was because we felt that it was time that we thought outside the box; that we begin to look at issues in a different way as opposed to the traditional ways and that is exactly what we did,” he said.

    He said the House of Representatives recommended the establishment of development commissions across the six geo-political zones of the country to help address problems caused by insecurity. “The legislature has about seven recommendations and the executive recommendations are about 19 in all. There are overlapping mandates for instance between the security agencies, which brings confusion on their lines of reporting and those overlapping mandates will be addressed by the House. We have already introduced bills to that effect.

    “There’re several recommendations; we’ve agreed to establish zonal commissions in all the zones like the North East Development Commission. We’ll have the South-west, we’ll have the South-South, we’ll have the Southeast, we’ll have the Northwest, and that goes a long way in resolving issues, regional and zonal issues. Everybody must be involved and that’s what Mr. President brought here today. He brought his whole security team and to me that gives me inspiration. It gives the leadership inspiration. We believe that that alone is a sign of good faith,” he had said.

    Funding challenge

    Despite a chunk of the 2023 appropriation budgeted for defence, the case has still been made that adequate funding remains a critical challenge in the fight against insecurity. The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, said the N2.74tn budgeted for security in the 2023 Appropriation Act is inadequate. Benson, who represents Ikorodu Federal Constituency in Lagos State at the House of Reps, said the capital component of the security budget, especially for the Armed Forces, should be pulled out of the current envelope budget system to enable it to deal with the exigencies of tackling the problem of insecurity.

    “As you are aware, the 2023 budget was signed yesterday. Of course, it is about N21tn and 13 per cent of it was earmarked for the defence sector, which came to about N2.74tn. Yes, the money is huge. In fairness, you must continue to spend (on security). Show me a prosperous nation, (and) you will see that security in that country is very high. The budget, though huge in naira terms, converting the money to dollars makes it a bit insignificant.

    “You must also be aware that personnel and other costs…the Armed Forces is one of the agencies in the world that takes care of you from when you join (them) till when you die. There is nothing that you buy from your pocket. Even your burial is taken over by the Nigerian Armed Forces. So, Mr President, in his kind wisdom, signed what we called the MAFA (Manual of Financial Administration), which is an enhancement of the welfare of men in service. These are our brothers and sisters who put their lives on the line to make us secure.”

    It is pertinent to point out that besides the 2023 budget, the security sector saw the highest allocation in 2022 with a total of N2.49 trillion, up from N1.86 trillion in 2021. A glance at the security budgets over the lifespan of this administration showed a steady increase. In 2015, N948.01 billion was allocated to the sector, with N375.49 billion to defence and N327.56 billion to the police. In 2016, the budget grew to N1.04 trillion. This was the first budget under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. A breakdown of the budget shows that a total of N443.07 billion was allocated to defence and N312.56 billion to the police force.

    The budget for the security sector grew further in 2017 to N1.13 trillion; N469.83 was budgeted for defence and N319.01 billion for police. In 2018, N1.28 trillion was allocated to security. The total budget for the defence was N576.39 trillion, while police were allocated N335.40 billion. In the same year, President Buhari authorised the withdrawal of $1 billion from the excess crude oil account, and $496 million was used to procure 12 Tucano fighter jets. In 2019, the security sector was allocated N1.33 trillion. Of the total budget, the federal government allocated N589.95 billion for defence and N371.08 for police.            

    The budget for the sector increased to N1.69 trillion in 2020. Of the total allocation, the defence budget rose to N899.91 billion and the police force got N410.48 billion. In 2021, N1.86 trillion was allocated to the sector, out of which N964.05 was allocated to defence and N455.13 billion to the police force. The sector also got a supplementary budget of N802 billion. In the same year, the implementation of the Police Trust Fund commenced, with a total of N11 billion approved for the fund in March and another N74 billion was approved in June. In 2022, the budget almost doubled 2022 with N2.49 trillion allocated to the sector. The allocation to defence also rose to N1.19 trillion and the police sector got N783.85 billion.

    Unfinished business

    Despite the huge sums expended on the security sector, it appears the problems have persisted, albeit to a lesser degree. This, security experts, have attributed to the lack of oversight in the security sector. Some of them who spoke with The Nation blamed the seeming deteriorating situation on poor utilisation of the defence budget in addition to lack of accountability and oversight.

    “It is not about the money. The question is, how is the money spent? So much money is given to the security sector, but how is it used? This is where the gap lies. There seems to be an absence of oversight from the President and the Minister of Defence,” a source who preferred anonymity said.

    With the elections done and dusted, it is apparent the nation’s security challenges remain an ever-present malady. As noted earlier, a section of society is of the opinion that not much has been achieved in the bid by the present administration to stem the ever-present challenge. However, others believe that although it is not yet Uhuru, the country has made significant progress for instance by reclaiming some territories that were under the control of insurgents in the Northeast, as well as whittling down cases of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes.

    According to a security expert, while procuring weaponry to continually boost a state of battle readiness is essential, more attention should be paid to non-kinetic attempts to deal with the situation. “There should be a softer approach, which principally should aim at improving the lives of the people. This would automatically reduce insecurity across the country. Security agencies should be defunded not in the sense that money should not be given to them again, but they should be in the sense that the less money goes to them and more goes to improving the quality of life for the people, the less likely we would have problems with insecurity. The problem is still ravaging the country. Though the tempo seems to have dropped, it is not time for the country to drop the ball. As a new administration takes over the helm of affairs in the country, my advice is that more attention be paid to this. It is a much surer way of ensuring a secure country for all in the long run,” a security expert, Effiong Bassey, opined.

  • Tracking NDE’s novel job creation, poverty eradication model

    Tracking NDE’s novel job creation, poverty eradication model

    In Nigeria, tackling unemployment and reducing rising poverty has remained a major challenge all tiers have been grappling with over the years. Yet, unemployment crisis appears to be getting worse. Determined to arrest the poverty level in the country, the federal government has introduced the Special Public Works Programme (SPW). In this report, CHINYERE OKOROAFOR takes a look at this ad hoc programme designed to provide stop-gap jobs to mainly artisans to earn money doing public works

    Every minute, more than six Nigerians enter the extreme poverty bracket as the number of poor persons in the country races towards the 95.1 million projected by the World Bank in 2022. According to the World Bank, in its latest 2022 Poverty and Prosperity Report, Nigeria contributed three million people to global extreme poverty; while the country is “home to a large share of the global extreme poor.”

     Also, in 2022, Nigeria was ranked 103 out of 121 countries in the 2022 Global Hunger Index (GHI), a position that signifies the nation has a level of hunger that is serious. The Global Hunger Index was jointly published by the German-based Welthungerhilfe and Dublin-based Concern Worldwide in October, 2022 to mark the World Food Day. The report, which ranks countries by ‘severity,’ gave Nigeria a score of 27.3 – a hunger level falling under the ‘serious’ category.

     Last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), owned by Nigeria, presented its Multidimensional Poverty Index, which showed that 63 per cent of Nigerians are affected by multi-dimensional poverty. This represents 133 million Nigerians that are pummelled by unemployment and poverty. Furthermore, the report stated that 65 per cent of the poor, or 86 million people, live in the North; while 35 per cent, or nearly 47 million, live in the South. According to NBS, the crisis of poverty being faced by 63 per cent of Nigerians was caused by a lack of access to health, education, and living standards, alongside unemployment and shocks.

     In order to reduce the level of poverty in the country, the federal government introduced the Special Public Works Programme (SPW). The SPW is an ad hoc programme designed by the federal government to provide stop-gap jobs to mainly artisans to earn money doing public works. The programme is a dry season/off season transient jobs and rehabilitation/maintenance of social infrastructure. It is being implemented by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.

    SPW will lift the poverty status of Nigeria

     The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN), explained how Nigeria can stop being the poverty capital of the world. The minister explained that the empowerment of people in rural areas under the SPW programme would help lift the poverty status of the country. Keyamo said countries such as India, China and Bangladesh adopted the programme to lift their countries out of the league of poor nations.

     “The programme is also expected to provide modest stipends for itinerant workers to undertake road rehabilitation and social housing construction, urban and rural sanitation, health extension and other critical services. Hence, the directive of Mr. President for the NDE to collaborate with other ministries with rural components in their mandates,” Keyamo said.

     According to the NDE, the SPW was designed to address the problem of unemployment among youths. The agency said the programme was designed to achieve its purpose through the provision of transient jobs and technical skills acquisition training that will promote skilled, semi-skilled and professional manpower/labour for self-employment and self-reliance. Serving as a part of the vehicle through which NDE is currently delivering its mandate of employment provision for Nigeria’s teeming unemployed persons, the SPW schemes components are: Graduate Attachment Programme (GAP), Graduate Special Training Programme (GSTP), Environmental Beautification Training Scheme (EBTS), Graduate Coaching Scheme (GCS), Solar Energy Training Scheme (SETS) Artisans in Collaborative Construction Employment  Scheme (ACCES), Enviroprenuership Development Scheme (EDS), Labour Based and Infrastructural Development Scheme (CDS), Community Based Business Training Scheme (CBBTS).

     With the full support of President Muhammadu Buhari, under the supervision of Keyamo, and implementing directorship of the NDE’s Director-General, Mallam Abubakar Fikpo, the SPW schemes have become an effective job creation tool and a decent job module. Not surprisingly, the schemes have been judged one of the most sustainable job provision solutions to arrest the swelling unemployment rate in Nigeria and many other countries, especially in Africa.

     Although the NDE was recently described by Keyamo as the hub of  blue collar jobs in Nigeria, the relentless trajectory of the Directorate in providing self and wage employment for millions of Nigerians indicates the NDE is ingeniously proffering solutions to the country’s unemployment challenge.

    We’re committed to reducing high rate of unemployment, says Fikpo

    According to the NDE DG, Mallam Fikpo, the result-oriented job provision schemes and continued support of the President and its Supervising Minister, NDE is geared to crash the high rate of unemployment menace in Nigeria. While testimonies of many beneficiaries of the schemes and programmes attest to the fact that SPW is a success story that should be sustained in the efforts to combat unemployment and its ripple effects, official records have also shown that the Directorate, through the SPW schemes and other job creation programmes, has provided about 4,261,308 self-employments and wage employments within a short period of time.

     The figures further showed that about 2,545,102 are male; while 1,716,206 are female beneficiaries, across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja (FCT). For the records, the NDE DG gave a brief insight into the nine different SPW schemes and explained what Nigerians need to know about them. Speaking on the Graduate Attachment Programme (GAP), Fikpo said: “The scheme is designed to provide transient employment to unemployed graduates of tertiary institutions. The unemployed graduates are recruited and attached to willing corporate organisations for a period of three (3) to twelve (12) months to gain needed practical experience that would facilitate their employability by the organisation on or before the expiration of the internship period.”

     Speaking further on the Environmental Beautification Training Scheme (EBTS), he said: “This scheme is for the training of unemployed persons in soft/hard landscaping and Plaster of Paris (POP) for a period of three months. Participants are attached to master trainers to ensure that they acquire professional skills in environmental beautification, sanitation and protection/control of the environment. At the end of the training period, the participants are empowered with working tools and equipment to start their own business. The scheme is targeted at school leavers, the unschooled and any other interested persons, graduates inclusive.”

     On the Graduate Coaching Scheme (GCS), the NDE boss said: “GCS creates transient and permanent/sustainable employment for the unemployed graduates of tertiary institutions, especially those with educational training (professional teachers) background. The graduates are recruited as instructors to prepare students who may be deficient in some subjects for various external examinations such as Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), West African Examinations Council (WAEC)/ National Examination Council (NECO), National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB), General Certificate of Education (GCE), etc. for a period of 3 months. This will enable the students to make up for their deficiency in various subjects and also qualify them for admission into higher institutions of learning.”

     Also, on the Solar Energy Training Scheme (SETS), the NDE boss said: “The scheme is one of the renewable energy training schemes employed by the Special Public Works Department for employment generation. Under the scheme, unemployed graduates of tertiary institutions (especially those with engineering/technical knowledge) are trained to acquire skills in solar energy design, procurement, installation and maintenance of solar facilities. The scheme is targeted at graduates of training institutions and other interested persons with technical background.”

     On the Graduate Special Training Programme (GSTP), he said: “GSTP is for graduates of tertiary institutions. It involves a 2-week digital skills training on specialised applications relevant to skills needed in specific careers or professional practices. The skill sets include Autodesk, project management, hardware installations (e.g. dish and satellite installations, V–Sat and internet installations and networking. At the end of the training, participants are attached to well-managed small and medium enterprises for a period of 3–6 months to develop competence in the learnt skills.

     “The training prepares participants to possess skills relevant to meet demands for the job, function effectively and succeed in the technology-based millennium workplace. Competence in these skills confers on the holder a competitive edge in securing employment and/or starting a business. Artisans in Collaborative Construction Employment Scheme (ACCES); ACCES is a scheme designed to collaborate with relevant stakeholders and organisations in the construction sector where standards of various professions are imbibed. The scheme is also targeted at imparting industry-led competency skills as well as providing required certification to artisans under appropriate professional bodies.”

     On Enviroprenuership Development Scheme (EDS), he said: “The scheme is designed to combat unemployment among youths by bringing market principles to resolve environmental problems. It is aimed at improving environmental sustainability and social contribution to the society. Business initiatives are applied to turn waste into wealth to improve the standard of living of both the end consumers and the participants.”

     On the Labour-based and Infrastructural Development Scheme, the NDE DG said: “The Labour Based and Infrastructural Development Scheme is designed to facilitate the engagement and training categories of unemployed persons in the construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of varieties of infrastructure. This is archived by adopting the labour based method of infrastructural development, thus making optimal use of labour supported by compactable light equipment. The scheme offers participants the opportunity to develop their skills and work experience. Additional job creation, wealth creation, and infrastructure development is archived within the benefiting communities.”

     On the Community Based Business Training Scheme (CBBTS), Fikpo said:  “This scheme is designed to train unemployed persons in businesses that have comparative advantage in selected communities. It focuses on social, structural and physical environmental inequalities through active involvement of community members, organisational representatives and employers of labour. Partners/members of community-based businesses contribute their expertise to enhance understanding of a given business phenomenon and to translate knowledge into action. Community-based businesses are socially and environmentally responsible where they are driven by the desire to re-invest in the community as a way to strengthen it, where collaboration, partnership, advocacy and co- creation are top values.”

  • The Buhari Years 2015-2023: How Buhari bailed out state governments from bankruptcy

    The Buhari Years 2015-2023: How Buhari bailed out state governments from bankruptcy

    By rolling out several bailouts to save the states from financial ruins, the administration of Muhammadu Buhari has saved the state governments from insolvency more times than any other administration. Assistant Editor NDUKA CHIEJINA reports

    For the eight years of Muhammadu Buhari administration, the government has provided several bailout funds to state governments to help them overcome and address financial difficulties. For example, in 2015, the Federal Government provided a bailout package of N338 billion to state governments to help them pay salaries and offset other debts. In 2016, another tranche of N90 billion was given to the states as budget support.

     In addition to the bailout funds, the government also implemented other measures to help the states, such as the Paris Club refund, which was a refund of over-deductions from states’ accounts for the repayment of the Paris Club debt. The refunds were made in tranches, with the first tranche of N516.38 billion released in December 2016. It’s worth noting that these bailout funds and refunds were provided to state governments as a one-time solution to their financial challenges, and the Buhari government also encouraged the states to implement measures to improve their revenue generation abilities and improve on fiscal responsibility.

    COVID-19 bailout

    The Buhari government provided financial support to the states during the COVID-19 pandemic to help them respond to the economic impact of the scourge. Some of the support includes:

     Presidential taskforce: The Buhari government established a Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to coordinate the national response to the pandemic. The task force worked with the states to provide guidance and support for their COVID-19 response efforts.

     Economic sustainability plan: The administration launched an Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) in 2020 to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the Nigerian economy. The ESP included a number of measures to support state governments, such as the creation of a N500 billion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund to support the states in their response efforts.

     Budget support: The government provided budget support to the states as part of its COVID-19 response. In May 2020, the Federal Government approved a N614 billion loan facility for the states to help them address the economic challenges posed by the pandemic.

     Conditional grants: The Federal Government also provided conditional grants to the states to support their COVID-19 response efforts. For example, in June 2020, the government announced a N2.3 trillion stimulus package, which included a N100 billion grant to states to support their healthcare and education systems.

     Tax relief: The government also provided tax relief to businesses and individuals to help them cope with the economic impact of the pandemic. The tax relief measures included a reduction of the import duty on medical supplies and equipment, as well as a 50 percent reduction in the minimum tax rate for small and medium-sized enterprises.

     The Buhari government provided significant financial support to state governments in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic to help them address the economic challenges posed by the pandemic.

     Recession bailouts: The administration faced two recessions, the first in 2016 and the second in 2020, both caused by external shocks to the Nigerian economy. During these recessions, the government implemented several measures to help the states survive the economic downturns. These include bailout funds to state governments to help them address financial difficulties during the 2016 recession. The government also provided budget support and conditional grants during the 2020 recession.

     There was the infrastructure spending assistance. The government increased spending on infrastructure projects to stimulate economic activity and create jobs. For example, the government launched the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) in 2018 to fund critical infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, and power plants. There was a tax relief package the Buhari government provided to businesses and individuals during the recession to encourage spending and boost economic activity. The tax relief measures included a reduction in the import duty on food items and critical medical supplies.

     The government launched several agricultural support initiatives like the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme to provide financing to smallholder farmers, and the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative to increase access to affordable fertilizer. There was also the economic diversification programme in which the government implemented policies aimed at diversifying the Nigerian economy away from oil, which is vulnerable to external shocks. The government launched the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) in 2017, with the aim of diversifying the economy and promote private sector-led growth.

     The Buhari government implemented a range of measures to help the states survive the recessions. These measures were designed to stimulate economic activity, create jobs, and support the states during the economic downturns. During the Buhari administration, some state governments received bailout facilities from the federal government to help them offset their salary arrears and meet other financial obligations. The bailout funds were expected to be repaid by the states over a period of time.

     The repayment of the bailout facilities by the states has been mixed. Some states made significant progress in repaying the funds, while others struggled to meet their repayment obligations. Some states have fully repaid their bailout facilities, while others have made partial payments. However, there were still some states that are yet to make any significant repayment. It is worth noting that the federal government has been putting pressure on the states to repay the bailout facilities, and has also been withholding some of their monthly allocations to ensure compliance. The success of the repayment efforts by the state governments has been mixed, and there is still work to be done to ensure that all the funds are repaid as required.

    States’ Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability

      There was the popular States’ Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme of the World Bank and Federal Government of Nigeria under which a total of N351,650,867,450 was disbursed to state governments since the beginning of the programme in 2018. The Sustainability (SFTAS) programme, which was designed to strengthen the fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainability in Nigerian states as a way of improving their revenue base, increasing fiscal efficiency in public expenditure and reducing debt overhang.

     Under the programme, there were two disbursements of $750 million grant to the state governments that successfully met the Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs), bringing the total SFTAS disbursements to $1.5 billion. From the first $750 million grant, SFTAS disbursed N262 billion to the state governments to encourage transparency and accountability in the state governments budgeting processes and financial management. Before leaving the position, the National Programme Coordinator of SFTAS, Mr. Stephen Okon, said “no clear position has been taken on its extension but because of the impact on the states and public finance management, it’s not impossible that such considerations may be explored moving forward.” The programme, he said, “achieved so much in building transparency, accountability and sustainability amongst the states particularly in terms of accountability.”

     The SFTAS programme, he added, has now made “all the states publish their budget and their end of year account on a timely basis and we also have had all the states improve their internally generated revenue.” He went on to say that “in terms of building a basis for comparison among the states, we have all the states currently on the same page in terms of matters that relate to the TSA, matters that relate to procurement law, matters that relate to audit law, almost all the states in the federation now have all these in place and it has really promoted accountability and transparency amongst the states of the federation.”

     Mr. Okon noted further that “as part of its strategies to ensure the sustainability of fiscal reforms, the SFTAS Programme Coordination Unit, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning is engaging stakeholders on the demand side like the CSOs who can ensure that fiscal transparency and accountability are sustained in state PFM activities.” To access the SFTAS facility, the federal government reeled out conditions state governments must meet before they can benefit from the two US$750 million International Development Association (IDA) credit facilities extended to the Nigerian Government by the World Bank.

     The 36 states of the federation bought into the programme with some states eagerly drawing from the facility. To qualify for the facility in 2022, state governments were expected to first achieve Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) in 2021. For the states to meet the DLI II in 2021, the federal government demanded that “citizens’ inputs from formal public consultations are published online, along with the proposed FY22 budget and citizens’ budget based on approved FY21 state budget published online by end April 2021 with functional online feedback mechanisms.”

     The state governments were also required to create the Citizens Accountability Report (CAR) based on audited financial statements/reports published online for FY20 no later than end September 2021”.

     To assist the state governments meet these requirements, the federal government through the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and the World Bank organised a workshop for state governments to learn how to develop their individual state’s Citizens’ Accountability Report (CAR).” The state governments were allowed to use “the template developed by the OGP Secretariat in collaboration with FCDO/PERL, and the various processes involved in achieving the Disbursement Linked Results (DLRs) as well as collect information from the participants on how to make the template more user-friendly.”

     Mr. Okon the National Programme Coordinator of SFTAS advised the state governments to learn how to develop their states’ Citizens’ Accountability Report (CAR), and be able to publish the report on the their websites. “The CAR is designed as a SFTAS DLI with incentives to enable the government to report the utilization of public funds in the last completed fiscal year in a manner that could be digested by the citizens and used to engage the government for improved results. The idea behind the CAR is to present the audited financial statement and fiscal performance, in a way that is understandable to the public by condensing the information contained in the ‘Auditor General’s Report, highlighting the key issues that the citizens would be interested in, and seamlessly creating an opportunity for informed engagement and participation,” Okon advised.

  • The Buhari Years 2015-2023: Worries over debt overhang for incoming administration

    The Buhari Years 2015-2023: Worries over debt overhang for incoming administration

    By the time the life of Muhammadu Buhari government comes to an end on May 29, it will be leaving behind a huge quantum of public debts for the incoming Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu government. In this special report, Assistant Editor NDUKA CHIEJINA looks at Nigeria’s debt situation

    Nigeria’s debt profile has been a subject of concern in recent years. With less than a month to the end of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, it has been estimated that the incoming administration will inherit around N77 trillion in public debt.

     As of December 2015, Nigeria’s total debt stock stood at $65.42 billion, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO) of Nigeria. Of this amount, $10.7 billion was external debt; while $53.1 billion was domestic debt (N12.6 trillion). By December 2016, Nigeria’s total debt was $57.39 billion, with external debt accounting for $11.41 billion and domestic debt accounting for $45.98 billion. In 2017, Nigeria’s total debt stock rose to $70 billion, with external debt accounting for $18.9 billion and domestic debt accounting for $51.1 billion; while in 2018, the total debt rose to $73.2 billion, with external debt accounting for $22.1 billion and domestic debt accounting for $51.1 billion.

     By December 2019, Nigeria’s total debt was $84.57 billion, with external debt accounting for $27.67 billion and domestic debt accounting for $56.9 billion. In 2020, Nigeria’s total debt rose to $87.24 billion, with external debt accounting for $31.98 billion and domestic debt accounting for $55.26 billion. As of June 2021, Nigeria’s total debt had risen to $95.77 billion, with external debt accounting for $38.3 billion and domestic debt accounting for $57.38 billion or N35 trillion. The story was the same in 2022 as the year ended with a cumulative debt portfolio of N46.25 trillion comprising of N18.70 trillion external component and N27.54 trillion domestic debts.

     By May 29, 2023, it has been estimated that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will be leaving behind a debt of N77 trillion. Already, the administration has secured an $800 million fuel subsidy palliative loan from the World Bank and if the National Assembly approves the securitization of the Ways and Means from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country would be moving closer to the N77 trillion mark.

     Speaking on the estimated N77 trillion debt by May, 2023, Director General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms Patience Oniha said, “This will be made up of N44.06 trillion total debt stock as of the third quarter of 2022, N22.7 trillion Ways and Means borrowed from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), projected new borrowings of N10.57 trillion captured in the 2023 budget and issuance of Promissory notes.”

     The DMO boss made the disclosure at the “Public Presentation and Breakdown of the Highlights of the 2023 Appropriation Act” in Abuja. She argued that if the National Assembly approves the securitisation of the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means debt secured from the CBN, “it means we will be seeing that figure included in the public debt, you will see significant increase in public debt to N77 trillion; that is if you add the new borrowing depending on market conditions of N5 trillion.”

     It is important to note that Nigeria’s increasing debt profile has been a cause for concern, as it raises questions about the country’s ability to service its debts and invest in critical infrastructure and social services. The Buhari government has stated that it is taking steps to address the country’s debt challenges, including increasing revenue generation and reducing the cost of governance.

     Nigeria’s debt over the years has been used for various purposes, including financing infrastructure projects, funding the budget deficit and servicing existing debts. Here are some specific examples:

     Infrastructure development: A significant portion of Nigeria’s debt has been used to finance infrastructure projects such as road construction, rail projects, and power generation. For instance, the government secured a $500 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China in 2018 to finance the construction of the Abuja Light Rail project.

     Budget deficit financing: Nigeria has often relied on borrowing to finance its budget deficits, which occur when the government’s expenditures exceed its revenue. Loans are usually obtained from domestic and international sources to cover the shortfall. For instance, in 2020, the government borrowed N2.3 trillion ($6.2 billion) to finance the budget deficit.

     Debt servicing: Another significant use of Nigeria’s debt has been to service existing debts. The government has had to borrow to pay off interest on existing loans and to refinance maturing debt. In 2020, Nigeria spent about 32.5 percent of its revenue on debt servicing.

     It is worth noting that while borrowing can be a useful tool for financing development, excessive borrowing can lead to debt distress, which can have adverse effects on the economy. Therefore, it is important for the Nigerian government to strike a balance between borrowing to finance development and ensuring that the country’s debt levels remain sustainable.

     In specific terms, Nigeria’s debt has been used to finance various infrastructure projects across the country. Here are some examples of key infrastructure projects that have been financed with Nigeria’s debt:

     Railways: Nigeria has invested heavily in its railway system in recent years, with a significant portion of the funding coming from Chinese loans. The country has completed several railway projects, including the Abuja-Kaduna rail line, the Lagos-Ibadan rail line, and the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri rail line.

     Roads: Nigeria has also invested in road infrastructure, with a focus on improving connectivity between major cities and ports. Some notable road projects that have been financed with debt include the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the Second Niger Bridge, and the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road.

     Power: Nigeria has been working to improve its electricity infrastructure, with a focus on expanding access to power and reducing the cost of electricity. The country has financed several power projects with debt, including the Azura-Edo power plant, the Zungeru hydroelectric power project, and the Mambilla hydroelectric power project.

     Airports: Nigeria has also invested in upgrading its airport infrastructure, with a focus on improving safety and security and expanding capacity. Some notable airport projects that have been financed with debt include the rehabilitation of the runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja and the construction of a new terminal at the Port Harcourt International Airport.

     Overall, Nigeria’s debt has been used to finance a range of infrastructure projects that are aimed at improving the country’s economic productivity, enhancing social welfare, and promoting regional integration. The Buhari administration has faced criticisms for its handling of Nigeria’s public debt.

     While the administration has made efforts to diversify the country’s revenue sources and reduce borrowing, Nigeria’s debt profile has continued to rise over the years. Here are some specific points to consider:

     Increase in debt stock: Under the Buhari administration, Nigeria’s debt stock has increased significantly. For instance, between 2015 and 2022, Nigeria’s debt stock rose from N12,60 trillion to N46,25 trillion.

     Increase in debt servicing: The Buhari administration has also had to spend a significant portion of Nigeria’s revenue on servicing the country’s debts. In 2020, Nigeria spent about 32.5 percent of its revenue on debt servicing and by 2022 it spent over 96 percent of its revenue servicing debts. This has limited the government’s ability to invest in critical infrastructure and social services.

     Borrowing for recurrent expenditure: There have been concerns that the Buhari administration has borrowed excessively to finance recurrent expenditure, such as salaries and overheads, rather than investing in capital projects that can generate revenue and boost the economy.

     Efforts to reduce borrowing: The Buhari administration has made efforts to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on borrowing. For instance, the government has increased efforts to diversify the economy, boost revenue generation by plugging leakages, and cut down on wasteful spending. Additionally, the government has taken steps to increase non-oil revenue, such as increasing tax collection and improving the ease of doing business.

     To a large extent, while the Buhari administration has made efforts to address Nigeria’s debt challenges, the country’s debt profile has continued to rise. Ms Patience Oniha, Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), has made several statements about Nigeria’s debt in recent years. In March 2021, she stated that Nigeria’s debt was sustainable, despite the country’s rising debt profile. She noted that the debt to GDP ratio was still within the threshold of 40 percent, which is the limit set by the government, and that the government was committed to borrowing for productive purposes. In October 2020, she noted that Nigeria had borrowed a total of N2.1trillion ($5.5billion) from the domestic market to finance the 2020 budget deficit, and that the country’s debt level was still manageable.

     In June 2019, she stated that Nigeria’s debt was not too high, and that the government was borrowing to finance capital projects that would help to grow the economy. Overall, Ms Oniha has emphasised that Nigeria’s debt is being managed responsibly, and that the government is borrowing for productive purposes that will help to stimulate economic growth and development.

     When Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is sworn in as President of Nigeria on May 29, one of the key challenges he would face is managing the country’s debt profile. Nigeria’s debt has been rising in recent years. Here are some general principles that could guide the incoming administration in managing Nigeria’s debt profile:

     Focus on sustainable borrowing: The government should be careful to borrow only for productive purposes and ensure that the borrowing is sustainable over the long term. This means balancing the need to invest in infrastructure and other productive sectors with the need to avoid excessive debt accumulation that could undermine the country’s economic stability.

     Enhance revenue generation: One way to reduce the pressure on Nigeria’s debt profile is to increase revenue generation. This could be done by broadening the tax base, reducing wasteful spending, and improving the efficiency of revenue collection.

     Improve debt management: The government should strengthen its debt management framework to ensure that debt is contracted at the lowest possible cost and that debt servicing is manageable. This could involve developing a debt sustainability framework, improving debt monitoring and reporting, and enhancing debt transparency.

     Pursue structural reforms: To address the root causes of Nigeria’s debt accumulation, the government should pursue structural reforms that promote economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction. This could involve improving the business environment, promoting private sector investment, and investing in human capital development.

     Overall, managing Nigeria’s debt profile will require a comprehensive and coordinated approach that balances the need for investment and growth with the need for fiscal prudence and debt sustainability.

  • Suicide weapons in your refrigerator

    Suicide weapons in your refrigerator

    With the upsurge in non-communicable diseases (NCD) deaths in Nigeria linked to alleged increase in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), TAIWO ALIMI evaluates the health problem and the way out.

    • How soft, energy drinks are killing more Nigerians than malaria
    • Experts blame surge in obesity, cardiovascular diseases on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)
    • Nigeria is world’s fourth, Africa’s highest consumer of SSBs

    Lagos resident Philip Akwe has been battling with diabetes for two and a half decades. He had joined a private  company as a driver when he was in his early 20s, and his job entailed lots of travels across the country.

    Akwe soon became addicted to energy drinks and soda, popularly called soft drinks, to keep him ‘on the go.’ The first sustained him whenever he embarked on any of the long journeys  across states, while the other kept him stable in between meals. 

    Consumption of the sugar-sweetened beverages  thus became a daily routine. By the time he got to his 40s, his drinking habit had begun to take a toll on his health.

    The first symptoms were dizziness and tiredness. A visit to the hospital and the series of medical tests that followed confirmed that he had diabetes; a condition that forced him into early retirement.

    “I did not know I had any condition until I began to feel weak a lot of the time and could not function well at work,” he said.

    “When I was eventually told I had diabetes, it was too late. I was told I would  have to live with it for the rest of my life.

    “My sugar level was high and I developed high blood pressure (HBP) too. They said I would  have to manage it.”

    With him out of job and his source of income gone, Akwe became dependent on his nucleus family, and that compounded his ordeal.

    He said: “I became a liability to my family. My wife and two children stood by me and cared for me as no income was forthcoming.

    “I sold my bus and some property to be able to afford medicine and medical care, but the money was gone in no time.

    “My wife used to be a petty trader. As a result of my illness, we started dipping hands into her business capital, and soon that was gone too.

    “I lost a lot of weight and became a shadow of myself. Instead of using the little money we had to eat, we would be thinking about hospital bills and how to buy tester kits and insulin.

    “I was building a family house but had to stop midway due to the expenses. We had to move into the half-finished building.”

    When the  financial challenge kept mounting, Akwe and his small family had to relocate to his village home in Delta State three years ago.

    “I am still living with the illness, but it is more bearable because village life is not as expensive as the city. I also use local herbs in my treatment and there is access to natural and fresh food like vegetables and fruits,” he said. 

    For all the trouble, Akwe seems luckier than Edo State-born Godfrey Imaseun, 65.

    Imaseun did not live to tell his own story after succumbing to a prolonged cardiovascular disease that triggered a mix of HBP, stomach disorder and diabetes.

    His widow, Christy, said Imaseun lived a healthy life for much of his working life. He was neither  a heavy consumer of alcohol nor a smoker.

    But  he loved to take sugary things, according to the widow.

    She added: “He said he had a sugary mouth. It was in his early 50s that he developed HBP and within some years it became worse and his weight started dropping.

    “It got to a point where he could not retain any food in his stomach. He would either  throw up or visit the toilet immediately. He began to fall sick and spent the last 10 years of his life more on hospital beds than  his own bed.

    “He passed away in 2022.

    “The night before he passed, he said he was tired and needed to go home to rest. My husband was dead tired from the illness.”

    Akwe and Imaseun are two of the hundreds of patients done in by their addiction to sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), blamed  for many non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, diabetes, overweight, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases.

    What are NCDs?

    NCDs are enduring diseases, draining and sometimes incurable. They potentially drain sufferers and their families of funds and, often, run them into  debts.

    According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), NCDs accounted for an estimated 29 per cent of all deaths in Nigeria in 2018. This is approximately 617,300 deaths in one year and more than three times the number of malaria fatalities in the country, which stood at 200,000 in 2021.    

    Sadly, SSBs are all around us. They are the sugar and colour  bottles and plastic drinks  in our fridges, department stores, mega supermarkets, and in the nooks and crannies of our streets.

    “Examples of SSBs are carbonated drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, sweetened tea and coffee, fruit flavoured drinks, flavoured water among others. These beverages are known to have little or no nutritional value.”

    For years, Akwe lived with the impression that energy drinks were  safe for him to consume.

    “I knew soft drinks had a lot of sugar and felt energy drinks were okay,” he said.

    WHO has categorised energy drinks and fruit juices under SSBs, to prove they are not free of sugar. They are as injurious to health as soft drinks.  

    WHO says while 100% fruit juices may not contain added sugars, they have been classified with SSBs because they contain a significant amount of ‘free sugar.’

    Free sugar includes monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods and beverages by the manufacturer, cook, or consumer, and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.

    Experts’ opinions

    Dr. Adeniyi Samuel Oginni, a public health expert, minces no word about the threat posed to consumers’ health  by SSBs.

     “Many studies have connected excessive sugar and SSBs consumption to NCDs as obesity, diabetes, overweight, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases,” he said.

    The pioneer chairman, the Forum of CEOs of State Social Health Insurance Agencies in Nigeria added: “NCDs account for 70 per cent of annual global mortality of all deaths worldwide, which is about 40 million individuals.

    “Over 40 per cent of these fatalities involve adults between the ages of 30 and 69, and 80 per cent of these premature deaths take place in low-and middle-income nations.

    “Of these figures, cardiovascular disease is more pronounced and fatal. It accounts for 40 per cent of all NCD-related fatalities each year, followed by cancers (22%), respiratory illnesses (10%), and diabetes (4%), respectively.”

    WHO warns that  Nigerians have 20 per cent chance of dying prematurely from NCDs.

    Connection between SSBs and NCDs

    Dr. Francis Fagbule, a periodontology and community dentistry, shares Oginni’s view  on the strong connection between SSBs consumption and NCDs, saying: “We have people who think SSBs are cool and even convey status on consumers.

    “It is stable in our diet. Instead of drinking water after a meal, we order a soft drink to show we are of higher status.”

    According to Statista, in 2014, Nigerians consumed 6 billion litres of carbonated drinks otherwise called soft drinks, and about 5 billion litres of bottled water.

    By 2020, the amount of Soda consumed had nearly doubled to 10 billion litres while water consumption increased slightly to 6.5 billion litres.

    By 2022, the trend had risen to about 13 billion litres of Soda ingested and 6.4 billion litres of bottled water consumed in the same year.

    There was a drop in the amount of water consumed by Nigerians and an overwhelming rise in Soda.

    It is projected that by 2027, over 18 billion litres of Soda will be consumed as against less than 6 billion water taken.

    Statista also pointed to the fact that medium-income Nigerians indulged more in SSBs consumption.

    In 2022, 68.3 per cent of people in low and medium-income classes consumed SSBs while 31.7 per cent in the high-income bracket ingested these high risks drinks.

    The result was an increased prevalence of NCD sufferers among Nigerians less than 20 years old.

    Significantly, more Nigerians became hypertensive according to data obtained from Statista. It shows that in 1995, 4.3 million (8.6%) were hypertensive patients, and it rose to 27.5 million (32.5%) in 2022.

    Of this number, over 70 per cent of the cases were not aware of their hypertension and only 12 per cent were on treatment. This is the cause of the upsurge in NCD deaths in recent times.

    The result for type 2 diabetes is similar. There has been an astronomical increase among Nigerians.

    “In 1990, two (2) per cent cases of Nigerians between the ages 20 and 79 were recorded representing 874,000 Nigerians. By 2015, the figure jumped to 4.7 million (5.7 per cent). 

    Juxtaposing SSBs consumption and NCD prevalence, Fagbule concluded that an increase in SSBs consumption coincides with the increase in NCD burden in Nigeria.

    Dr. Oginni agrees with him: “Nigerians are consuming an increasing amount of sugary beverages and obesity is increasing at the same time.

    “NCDs like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and stroke are all recognized to be at increased risk due to obesity.”

    According to WHO, those who frequently drink sugar-sweetened beverages (one to two cans a day or more) have a 26% higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes than those who do not.

    Obesity as the new killer

    The matter is made worse because there is no end in sight going by the growing number of children and young people at the risk of NCDs through childhood and adolescent obesity.

    Sadly, it is parents that fueled the latest trend, owing to their choice of foods for their wards from infancy.

    Dr. Oginni explains. “Rather than encourage our kids to take more of water, which has zero sugar, we put soft drinks and other SSBs in their lunch box. And when they begin to gain excess weight, people say it is a sign of affluence and healthy living. This is far from the truth.”

    A popular 35CL bottle of soft drink in Nigeria contains 13 cubes of sugar and calories taken, which exceed the usual calorie intake. It promotes weight accumulation and obesity development.

    “Higher sugar and fructose consumption in adolescents has been associated with insulin resistance and increased type 2 diabetes risk,” he added.

    Such adolescent also stands the risk of HBP and a greater risk of hypertension in life.

    The picture thus painted is that of a bleak future with millions of sick adults putting more burden on the already overstretched resources of the country. 

    It is a burden Nigeria cannot bear given the economic indexes and other health challenges cum disappearing budgets given to the health sector every year.

    Today, obesity and overweight are the most common disorders connected to sugar and they are linked to other health issues including diabetes, heart disease, certain forms of cancer and stroke.

    Obesity-related disorders are now among the top three deaths worldwide, according to World Bank 2020 research.

    In reality, obesity and overweight are regarded as modern epidemics. These are said to be the greatest public health issues now affecting the whole globe.

    Dejectedly, Nigeria is the largest consumer of SSBs in Africa and the fourth-largest consumer of SSBs in the world, according to Statista.

    The 2020 survey revealed that obesity (6.5%) was among the population’s significant cardiovascular risk factors, including smoking and alcohol intake, with a generally male majority.

    It means that almost 12 million people are  estimated to be obese in Nigeria, with children, teenagers and women experiencing the condition at significantly greater rates. It is a burden Nigeria’s lean resources and poor economy cannot afford.

     The way out

    The above figures and opinions of experts have shown that education and enlightenment are not having the desired impact. The popular opinion is for government to legislate measures that can help in reducing SSBs consumption.  

    Austin Iraoya of Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (SCEA) seeks  the immediate implementation of the passed SSB tax to discourage the sale and purchase of SSBs.

    The SSB tax was signed into law in Nigeria as part of the 2021 Finance Act. It adds 10 naira to the cost of each litre of all non-alcoholic and SSBs.

    The Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health published a study in 2019 on how nations might reduce the prevalence of NCDs by pricing unhealthy goods, including SSBs, alcohol and tobacco.

    The task committee estimated that if countries enacted tax increases big enough to boost prices of cigarettes, alcohol, and sweet beverages by 50% over the next 50 years, more than 50 million premature deaths may be avoided.

    Dr. Iraoya says:  “The tax will increase the retail price of SSBs and reduce their purchase and consumption thereby reducing free sugar intake in the population, particularly among low-income consumers, youth and children.

    “Such legislation will also raise public awareness while giving incentives to industries to formulate sugar-free products.

    “Through it, the government can also generate significant revenue, which may be earmarked for financing the health sector, improving public health and wellbeing.”

    Dr. Oginni stresses: “The economic  case for higher tax for SSB is that when the price of a commodity suddenly rises, the demand reduces and the need for consumption of this commodity reduces.

    “Hence, the higher the tax per litre of SSBs the higher the increase in the price of the commodities and the less available it will be to persons in the lower income bracket and a disincentive to even those in the higher income bracket.

    “This in turn reduces the consumption of SSBs and the risk factor of the prevalence of obesity and diabetes reduces significantly and also lowers healthcare costs.”

    He said the current National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Law, 2022, seeks to provide health care to 83 million vulnerable Nigerians living in poverty.

    The SSBs tax can form part of the revenue sources for the funding of this, which if well implemented will push Nigeria forward in her quest to achieve UHC for her citizens.

     How Mexico, others are confronting the challenge

    Nigeria will not be the first to use this law to fight SSBs. Some countries of the world have practised it with success.

    Mexico has long been one of the world’s top users of sweetened beverages. It had the highest prevalence of adult obesity among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s members, according to a 2013 research.

    The government imposed a tax on SSBs in 2014, and two years later, the poorest families were purchasing 11.7% fewer sugary drinks than the average Mexican population as a whole.

    South African also imposed a 10% sugar tax in 2018 that immediately reduced the amount of sugar people consumed from sweetened beverages. According to a recent report, the amount per person per day decreased from 16.25 g before the tax to 14.26g instantly and then to 10.63g the next year.

    Saudi Arabia experienced a 58 per cent reduction in consumption of taxed SSBs.

    More than 50 additional countries have imposed taxes on SSBs.They include  Chile,  UK, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Morocco, Mauritius, Seychelles, Norway, Finland Belgium, France, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bermuda, and the USA.

    A communiqué released at the end of a regional stakeholders’ forum for Southwest zone on SSBs tax, held in Lagos recently, asked  the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, increase taxation on SSBs towards achieving 20% of the retail price as recommended by WHO.

    The stakeholders meeting was attended by prominent individuals and organisations including the Nigeria Customs Service, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), media representatives, nutrition-focused and public health civil society organisations, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) as well as state agencies such as the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service; Ministry of Health, Oyo State; Ministry of Health, Osun State; and the Osun State Health Insurance Agency.

    It enjoined government and policymakers to engage and collaborate with relevant stakeholders, including civil society organisations, media institutions, and healthcare professionals to create public awareness of the health risks associated with SSB consumption and the benefits of the SSBs tax policy, among other measures to checkmate surge in SSBs consumption. 

    It said: “Government should establish a monitoring and evaluation and accountability framework to track the implementation and impact of the current SSB tax policy and implement complementary regulatory instruments like Front-of-Pack Labeling, restricting availability and marketing of SSBs in school environments, among others.”

  • Dumpsite turns into nightmare for residents of Lagos community

    Dumpsite turns into nightmare for residents of Lagos community

    • Robbers adopt site as hideout
    • Epidemic looms as residents lament pollution of water sources
    • Landlords flee communities as bush cats, snakes other deadly animals terrorise residents 

    The health of many residents of LASU/Isheri area of Alimosho Local Government Area, Lagos State is at risk over the pollution of their water sources by the dumpsite located in the area. Their predicament is compounded by the invasion of their homes by robbers and deadly animals that use the refuse dumps as hideouts, INNOCENT DURU reports.

    Mr Godwin Akhagbokhai was elated with the completion of his residential building at Lanre Bus stop in LASU/ Isheri area of Alimosho Local Government area of Lagos State. The location is one that any estate agent would easily use to convince would be tenants to secure accommodation or acquire property there. 

    Less than an hour drive to the Murtala Mohammed Airport and less than 15 minutes’ drive from Lagos State University (LASU), the area, a stone’s throw to the capital city, Ikeja, is paved with well tarred road and enjoys regular power supply among other advantages.

    So, for Mr Akhagbokhai and many others, the area was a very good place to live in. And it proved to be so until the state government converted an expanse of empty land in the area to a refuse dump.

    The refuse dump  started with small drops of garbage that grew gradually into a mountainous heap polluting the area and causing serious environmental cum health challenges for residents.  

    Akhagbokhai said: “I have been a landlord here for over 15 years. When I moved into this area, the dumpsite was not there. I dug a well and we were drinking from the water.  

    “The same applied to other people who built houses in the area. We were all drinking the water from the wells and boreholes we made in our various houses. 

    “Suddenly, they created the dumpsite and after a while, it started polluting our waters.

    “The dump site is causing a lot of environmental problems for us, especially the kids.  

    “Rashes, cough and respiratory problems, among other health challenges, are widespread. 

    “Personally, the challenges occasioned by the dumpsite have affected my health condition. At times, my breath would cease. My legs are the most affected. I cannot do my work again because of ill health.

    “There was a time I went to the General Hospital here at Igando and doctors had to admit me. They asked me to do 21 laboratory tests. 

    “After the tests were done, nothing was found. Somebody merely said it was the environment that was responsible for the challenges.

    “I have a son who is in Part Four in the university and is about to be asked to leave because I couldn’t pay. My health condition stopped me from working.”

    The Chairman of Zone 6, Owodunni Community Development Association, Mr Ige John, corroborated Akhagbokhai’s claims. A visit to his compound reveals how the polluted water has corroded the water storage tanks and everything it touches.  John said: “I have been living here since 2009. It has been challenging living here. Our environment has grievously suffered from the challenges posed by the dumpsite.  

    “The dump site has polluted our water.  We cannot drink the water, cook or do anything meaningful with it.  

    “The water in my house is a borehole and not a well, yet it is polluted. Whenever one uses polluted water of this nature to bathe, it causes infections. 

    “I suffer from typhoid from time to time, and it is a common sickness in this neighbourhood.”

    He recalled that “there was a time some Lagos State Government officials came here and later people from a department in Lagos State University (LASU). 

    “They said that they learnt that our water is polluted. After all said and done, they took samples of the water. But since they came three years ago, we have not set our eyes on them again. 

    “Most often, I buy water from truck pushers. A truck costs between N1,000 and N1,200 and it doesn’t take time before we exhaust it. ”  

    He added that fire outbreaks are often recorded at the dump site and the experience is better imagined. “Whenever there is a fire outbreak, nobody will be able to pass through our road. In fact, the fire can burn for a week.  

    “There was a time the fire from the dumpsite burnt three cars parked in a mechanic workshop.  

    “The cars were brought for repairs but they got burnt by the fire from the dumpsite. 

    “A cobbler also had his shop and all the shoes, including the sum of N36,000 he left in the shop, were burnt by the same fire from the dumpsite.”

    The ugly development, it was learnt, has forced some landlords to sell their houses.

    According to John, “a landlord who built one of the most beautiful houses in the community had to sell it when she came from abroad and found that it was in front of a messy dumpsite. 

    “The naval officer who bought the building also had to sell it off after robbers came from the dumpsite to rob him and his household of their valuables. 

    “There is hardly a building in the neighborhood that has not been robbed by criminals mostly operating from the dumpsite. Aside from dumping refuse on the dumpsite, people dump dead bodies of both old and young there. At times, new born babies are abandoned there.”

    The expression on the face of a petty trader, who gave her name simply as Bose, tells all about the ugly experience she is having in the area.

    Reliving her experience in an interview with our correspondent, she said: “Each time we come to the shop in the morning, we are confronted with the sight of nylon bags filled with different colours and shapes of human faeces.  

    “Aside from faeces, we also find bags of refuse carelessly dropped all over the place every morning. I spend personal money to throw them away.

    “I have a scavenger who I give money to help me pack and throw those rubbish away because I cannot touch them with my hands. It comes at a huge cost to me, but if I don’t do that, I will not be able to open my shop and do business.”

    Robbers, deadly animals torment residents 

    Added to the environmental and health challenges the residents are suffering is the menace of armed robbery and invassion of their homes by deadly animals living f8 the dumpsite. 

    According to the Owodunni Zone 6 CDA chairman, John Ige, “bush cats disturb the area a lot. Their cries at night are scary and disturbing.  

    “They came to my compound two weeks ago and left bloodstains of birds and chickens that they killed. 

    “I don’t know where they got the  birds and chickens from because I don’t rear them in my house.  

    “We have also killed snakes in my compound. They come from the dumpsite which has become a breeding ground for all manners of dangerous human beings and animals.

    “Hoodlums are using the dumpsite as   hideouts. 

    “Some years ago, some armed robbers came from there to attack the community. When our security guards confronted them, they fled through the same place.”

    He noted that during former Governor Babatunde Fashola’s tenure, there was an arrangement made to ease the community of the inconveniences.  Owodunni added: “They used to fumigate the dumpsite in the midnight, but that stopped even before Fashola left office.  

    “Cockroaches, mosquitoes, snakes and other dangerous animals now invade our community at will.”

    Also expressing concern over the invassion of the community by deadly animals, Bose, the petty trader, said: “A boy was walking around recently at about 6:30 pm when suddenly, his leg kicked something. 

    “When he looked at it, it was a snake. He screamed and alerted us. I quickly went with a stick and killed the snake.  

    “Aside from the shop, I have also killed snakes in my house.  

    “My daughter was walking in the compound at night when footwear inexplicably slipped off her legs.  

    “When we pointed a torch at the place, we saw a snake rolled up near the spot where the slippers were. I immediately fetched a stick and killed it. 

    “It has been a very unpleasant experience having this dumpsite in the neighbourhood.”

    Akhagbokhai also told of how he killed a snake in his house, saying: “The stench from the dumpsite is horrible, especially when it rains and snakes come from the refuse site.

    “I recently saw a snake in my kitchen. I killed the snake. We were lucky that it did not harm anybody in the house.”

    An artisan, who gave his name simply as Mutiu, decried the deplorable state of the community and the activities of hoodlums who use the dumpsite as hideout.

     “Hoodlums have continued to terrorise the community at will,” he said. 

    “They broke into one of the houses and stole six generators in one night.  

    “When you look into the dumpsite, you will see over 200 people there. All manner of shaddy activities occur at the place.”

    Residents decry unfulfilled promises 

    Sequel to the myraid of challenges confronting them, the residents said they had reached out to the state government on occasions but got no fruitful response.

    Akhagbokhai said when he noticed that his water source had been polluted, he reached out to the state government with hope that the challenge would be addressed.

    He said: “When this happened, I personally reported to the Lagos State government during the tenure of Governor Babatunde Fashola. They responded by sending some engineers to take samples of my water. But up until this time we are talking, nothing has been done.

    “At some point, engineers from the water corporation suggested that I should dig the well again. I called people to clear it but nothing changed.  

    “On the surface, the water looks clean, but it is actually polluted.” 

    After his efforts yielded no fruits, he said, “I later connected my house with the public tap but it stopped  working for no reason. 

    “We  have water in our houses but we spend a lot of money buying water because the one we have in the house has been  contaminated.”

    John, the Chairman of the Zone 6 CDA, recalled that “the management of LAWMA came around as well and held meetings with the members of the community and the executive. Subsequently, they came and dug two boreholes for the community but they never worked for a day.

    “There was a time they told us that the dumpsite was not ripe to be shut down and that when the time comes for them to  do that, they would come with certain equipment that they would use to press the whole rubbish down. 

    “They said that when this is done, we would not know that the place was ever a dumpsite.  

    “They said they would turn the place into a recreational centre where children and adults would be able to relax and enjoy themselves.  

    “We have yet to hear from them since then.”

    Given all the challenges thrown at them by the refuse dump, John said, “the  state government is supposed to put measures in place to help us. 

    “In developed climes, this kind of dumpsite will be used  to generate electricity which would be beneficial to the people. 

    “If that is done here,  power supply will not be a problem for us and the entire Igando area and beyond.  We seriously need urgent government assistance  now more than ever because the troubles created by the dumpsite are becoming unbearable daily.”

    More residents groan

    While the dumpsite at Lanre was said to have been officially shut down, the one beside the General Hospital at Igando was a beehive of activities when our correspondent visited. 

    The heap of refuse was monstrous while the smell in the area was odious. The unbearable stench leaves one to wonder how the residents survive in the midst of the environmental pollution bedeviling the area.

    Even the reporter experienced some stomach discomfort during the visit to the dumpsite. It took hours after he had left the area to experience a relief.

    A resident of Afenifere community, who gave her name as Comfort,  said the dumpsite was making it difficult for them to access good water. 

    “Our water is worse than the one that is flowing inside a gutter. All the houses in this area don’t have good water. We always go to other communities to buy water,” she said. 

    One of the community leaders, Deacon John Gbologe, said that life had not been the same since the dumpsite was moved to the area. 

    He said: “At times, to eat in your house is a problem except you close your windows. 

    “We have written about three letters to the state government and even to the general hospital. They promised that they would come and pour chemicals on it but they are yet to do so. 

    “Unfortunately, this pollution causes diseases. The dumpsite attracts a legion of mosquitoes and other insects to our area. It causes malaria, typhoid and even cholera. 

    “Some people who live close to the site complain of stomach challenges. The stench is always horrible during the rainy season or whenever they are turning the garbage. 

    “Most of the time, you will have to lock the windows and other places. It is a serious matter.” 

    It was also a tale of pains and frustration for the people residing around Oko-Filling, another community facing the imposing refuse dump. 

    Not only are some of the wells polluted, the air around the community is also compromised by the unhealthy smell from the garbage. 

    One of the residents, Omosuzi Obeto, said her family had been having running battles with malaria and typhoid since they moved to the area. 

    Obeto said: “We weren’t falling sick the way we are doing here where we were before. 

    “There is hardly a month we don’t take medication for malaria and typhoid since we came here because the water is not so good. 

    “At times, it produces a foul smell. We have stopped using it to brush or wash things like fruits without boiling, just to avoid infection and other attendant health problems.”

    Israel, a resident of Itoko Avenue, said: “The refuse dump affected our water to the extent that it changed the colours of our toilet seats, buckets and other things we use in the house. It was when we dug it further that the water became better. 

    “So many other buildings have similar problem and that makes it challenging for them to have water for domestic use.” 

    Residents susceptible to skin cancer, says health expert 

     A medical and environmental expert, Dr Fasipe Olumuyiwa, had told the reporter that the residents are susceptible to skin problems now and skin cancer later in life if they are continuously exposed to the polluted water.

    Explaining the implication of what the people are going through, he said: “The implication can be divided into environmental and biological\medical.

    “The environmental implications are as a result of pollutants that are being released from the breakdown of the degradable wastes that is in the component of the refuse. 

    “This involves the release of green house gases which is mainly Co2 into the atmosphere and lead to green house effect. 

    “This is a sensitive issue in the whole world as we speak. Co2 leads to the accumulation of heat and raises the temperature of the environment. 

    “This  is capable of causing physical hazard in the environment.

    “Medically, there are some of the wastes of the broken down materials that are not being released as gas into the air. This produces toxic chemicals that are capable of polluting the underground water. 

    “For example, we have not made use of the water in the well in my house for the past three to four years because the underground water has been polluted totally. It can cause a lot of skin diseases. 

    “Over a period of time, exposure to that kind of water can cause skin cancer.”

    He added: “With the pollution, there is a release of noxious gas into the environment. This is very dangerous to human health, because when you breathe it in, it can cause serious damage to the lung and other vital parts of the body. 

    “Some people would be prone to all manner of ailments because they go ahead to consume this water as they don’t have the means of getting supply from water tankers. The consumption will automatically cause diarrhea and other skin diseases.

    “Some of the children can also suffer from pneumonia as a result of the noxious gases that are being released into the environment.  

    “Pneumonia is associated with cold to some extent, but there has to be a pathogenic organism, a bacteria or a viral agent which this refuse dump can serve as a breeding ground for.  They can propagate the spread of infections to the environment. 

    “These pollutants are common causes of what we sometimes call unknown illness.  

    “Here in Nigeria, we don’t have the facilities to carry out some tests. Some of the toxics being released are organic toxic substances that require special tests.”

    Developed countries turning refuse to power 

    While management of refuse dumps  has remained a huge problem in this part of the world, countries in the developed world have identified it as veritable means of generating power.

    In fact, a country like Sweden is said to be importing garbage from Europe to boost its power generation.

    According to a report by Al Jazeera, every day, some 300 trucks arrive at a plant outside the city of Göteborg on the west coast of Sweden. They carry garbage, but they are not there to dump the cargo. Instead, they deliver it to the plant’s special ovens, which burn it, providing heat to thousands of local homes.

    “The only fuel we use is waste,” says Christian Löwhagen, a spokesman for Renova, the local government-owned energy company operating the plant. “It provides one-third of heat for households in this region.” Across Sweden, 950,000 homes are heated by trash; this lowly resource also provides electricity for 260,000 homes across the country, according to statistics from Avfall Sverige, Sweden’s national waste-management association.

    Swedes (as well as Germans, Danes, the Dutch and Belgians) have become so good at recycling that there’s no longer enough garbage to meet the heating plants’ needs. Sweden now has to import the trash that most other countries are trying to dispose of — some 800,000 tons in 2014, up from 550,000 tons in 2010, according to Avfall Sverige.

    Last year Renova brought in 100,000 tons of foreign garbage, mostly from Britain, in addition to the 435,000 tons supplied by Swedish municipalities. In Stockholm, energy provider Fortum also imports garbage, and in the southern city of Malmö, the Sysav energy company brought in 135,000 tons of waste from Norway and Britain last year, according to the company’s communications director, Gunilla Carlsson. That’s an almost 100 percent leap from the year before. 

    “We try to stay up to date on where well-sorted garbage is available,” says Löwhagen. “We only use waste where all recyclable bits have been taken out. In Europe, enormous amounts of garbage are put in landfill, so we’re doing other countries a favor by taking care of it for them.” 

  • Extraordinary spiritual moments at Ikorodu Praise Encounter

    Extraordinary spiritual moments at Ikorodu Praise Encounter

    The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Region 26 recently organised a Praise Encounter, an Easter programme in commemoration of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. During the programme, some gospel artistes were invited to perform at the event. DAVID ADEJO reports

    Meemingly, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Region 26 in Ikorodu has become synonymous with organising soul-lifting praises. At the event, gospel artistes were invited to enliven the event with strong renditions of songs of praises performed to the delight of many. The event was encapsulated in a programme called Praise Encounter. Yearly, the annual ritual holds in Ikorodu every Easter Sunday. This year’s Praise Encounter was held at the Federal Radio Corporation Ground, Ijede, Ikorodu Lagos.

     The annual event is a showcase not only for praise singing but also for appraisal of some of the societal contradictions. Any wonder, the Continental Overseer for Southwest and United Arab Emirates, Pastor Johnson Funso Odesola, condemned clerics whose preaching promotes disunity and ethnic bigotry. The criticism was the fallout of the 2023 general elections during which some clerics were alleged to have taken sides and harped on issues that apparently divide instead of uniting the already fractured Nigerian society

     Pastor Odesola, at the fourth edition of the event said no right-thinking Man-of-God would preach along ethno-religious lines and hatred. In his Easter message titled “He’s Alive,” Odesola said it was unfortunate that some clerics were found preaching religious and ethnic bigotry which has the tendency to cause disunity among Nigerians. “The Risen Christ is alive. He urged us to go everywhere doing good. His promises sustain us in life,” he said.

     Continuing, Odesola said: “The last time, we recorded over 10, 000 worshipers and today, the crowd is massive. So, we have a promise of God in Psalms 91:1-2 that says ‘He that dwells in the secret place of God shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’ So, we don’t need to be afraid.” Odesola said Ikorodu used to be a volatile area known for such crimes as kidnapping, secret cults, robbery and other forms of criminalities. When God is about to do something, no one can stop Him.” Odesola said.

     The Assignments Coordinator 111 and Regional Coordinator 111 of RCCG Ikorodu, Pastor Dale Olowookere, said God harkens to the praises of his people. “When you praise God, He will bless the land, the power of God has come upon the land and it will yield its increase. We are recording over 14,000 worshipers and some are still on their way coming. We have over 12 guest artistes and some are on their way coming. We are not going to lower the bar but set more standards for growth and development since God and man regard praises as something they love in common,” Olowookere said.

     One of the gospel artistes, Sola Allyson, said she was excited to be speaking to youth in an environment that is conducive to them so as to focus on God and would not make the mistake that young ones used to do. “I am not disappointed to be in the midst of these wonderful youths again. The last time I came to minister to them, I know many of them are going to leave here changed people,” she said.

    Allyson prayed that the Spirit of God should grow among them and be fruitful. She maintained that grace is not cheap and that someone paid for it. “I pray for them so that they can see the love of God for them. It is not cheap to have the grace of God. I ask the Holy Spirit to fill their hearts with the substances of God’s word so that when the challenges of the world come, they will be able to withstand it,” she said.

     Chuks Uche’s electrifying performance ignited the over 20,000 people present. Most of his songs were rendered in Igbo. His expectation for the congregation was for them to receive miracles through his songs, saying: “I am working on my album. Soon this year, it will be a source of blessing to my fans and to the glory of God. As I minister to the people and they receive miracles, I am also blessed,” Chuks said.

     Adejumobi Oluwatosin, another gospel minister, popularly known as Tosin Bee, has become a force to reckon with as he has warmed himself into the hearts of Christians and non-Christians with his brand. His performance at this year’s Praise Encounter was awesome and spectacular with much energy and youthfulness was much loved by the congregation when he stepped on the stage. Bee said: “God has been so kind to me and I give Him the glory tonight. He took control and that is why you saw the Holy Spirit move among the congregation.”

     One of the organisers and Provincial Pastors of RCCG, General Assembly, Lagos Province 58, Ginti Ikorodu Lagos Pastor Godwin Obadan promised to bring more artistes in subsequent editions. “We have more popular artistes who promised to perform at “Praise Encounter” next year. The space challenge has been well taken care of and we also provided more spaces for cars this year. We will intensify our efforts in crowd control. Our medical team is fantastic. We have over 20, 000 participants, especially youth this year,” Obadan said.

     Other artistes at the all-night event were Sax Boy, Provincial Choir Group, Regional 26 Mass Choir Group, RCCG Orchestra Mass Choir, Taiwo Wemimo, Famakin Famzy, Yinka Alaseyori, and Wisdom Chigozie. Also in attendance were His Royal Majesty, Oba Adeoriyomi  Oluwasesan Abdul-Akeem Oyebo (Ademoyebo lll) Obateru of Egbin Kingdom and other fathers of Ikorodu land.

  • Trouble in Osun’s rusting ‘goldmine’

    Trouble in Osun’s rusting ‘goldmine’

    • Farmers in high cocoa-producing Eti-Oni community lament rip-off by merchants

    While the end products of cocoa have continued to attract lots of attention all over the world, Atakumosa East Local Government Area, Osun State, the birthplace of cocoa in the Southwest, continues to beg for attention, GBENGA ADERANTI, fresh from interactions with farmers in the affected communities, reports.

    Eti-Oni, a cosmopolitan community in Osun State, is populated by farmers from different parts of Nigeria, all bonded by cocoa, the golden seed. But while produce merchants and end users of cocoa are smiling to the bank, the farmers in this Osun community are lamenting the absence of the basic amenities their activities require to flourish.

    After peaking at about 3,122 U.S. dollars per metric ton in mid-2016, the monthly price of cocoa has fluctuated between 1,900 U.S. dollars and 2,700 U.S. dollars per metric ton.

    Globally, it is estimated that over 4.5 million tonnes of cocoa beans are consumed yearly, with prospects of the figure increasing; a fact acknowledged by the World Cocoa Foundation. But the price of cocoa has been fluctuating, causing farmers to record heavy losses in West Africa.

    Today, a tonne of cocoa sells for between N1,150, 000 and N1,300, 000 depending on the purchase location. But the farmers at Eti-Oni sell theirs far below the standard price due to forces they have no control over.

    Besides, the farmers in this community are literally cut off from the rest of the city as a result of bad roads. The medical facility available in the community is not commensurate with the wealth being generated from it. But for the annual cocoa festival which draws attention to the community, it would qualify for a ghost town.

    While virtually all the ethnic groups in Nigeria are represented in the community, this has not attracted any meaningful attention from the government.

    When our correspondent visited the community, the number of youths was few. “The absence of basic infrastructure is discouraging most of them from staying in Eti-Oni.

    “If you were not a farmer, what would you be doing here? How many of them are interested in cocoa farming?

    “Until government provides basic facilities, the youth will continue to run away from here,” one of the farmers lamented.

    Indeed, there are fears in some quarters that if nothing is done urgently, it could mean the end of the cocoa community that has been in existence for more than 127 years.

    The roads leading to the community are rough and bumpy, and whenever it rains, it is always a big challenge to get into the community.

     “It used to be worse before now as there was no way you could access the community. An improvement came during the 2017 Cocoa Festival when kabiyesi (the traditional ruler) facilitated the grading of the road through the state festival,” a commercial motorcyclist told our correspondent during a visit to the community.

    But it is not only the Eti-Oni farmers that are losing money from the neglect it suffers. The state government, it was gathered, is also losing a lot of revenue that would have accrued from it.

    Citing 2022 as an instance, the traditional ruler of Eti-Oni, Oba Dokun Thompson, said: “In 2022, Osun State cocoa production figure was less than 25,000 tons, the graded figure is less than 50 percent of that. This is a result of good access to Osun State and our proximity to Ondo State.

    “So, a good number of the aggregators for the farmers along that belt will rather take their produce to Ondo State for grading, which gives Ondo State, not Osun, the tax revenues.

    “At the Federal level, I can safely say that the country loses an estimated $2 billion for the lack of commitment to the cocoa industry.”

    Lamenting the plights of cocoa farmers in Eti-Oni, one of the leading female farmers in the community, Mrs Taiwo Adenike, said she ventured into the cocoa business by happenstance.

    According to her, she was a trader in Zamfara State when a crisis occurred and she had to relocate to Eti-Oni and had been in the cocoa business for more than 25 years. She also deals in palm oil, bitter kola, kola nuts and other tree crops.

    She recalled that with her earnings from cocoa, she had been able to send all her children to different institutions. She said, however, that the business is not without its own challenges. She is particularly not happy that cocoa farmers are at the mercy of merchants.

    According to her, the produce dealers dictate how much they pay for the products. But while this could be explained away in terms of demand and supply factors, the total abandonment of the community by the government is worrisome.

    She said: “The community lacks some equipment that could make farming easy. Getting good insecticide for cocoa is like the camel passing through the eye of a needle.

    “The buyers determine how much they want to pay for our cocoa. We don’t have any other option but to accede to the price because there is a glut.

    “As long as it is the same price in other villages, we would agree to sell on their terms. Because of the way we preserve our cocoa at Eti-Oni, it is always better in quality and weight.”

    She called on the government to make its presence felt at Eti-Oni, the birthplace of cocoa.  “We are not benefitting anything from the government in Eti-Oni. We are only profiting from our sweat.

    “We are hereby calling on the government to help the cocoa farmers in Eti-Oni, especially the women cocoa farmers.

    “Our roads are bad. There is no clinic here. If you have any medical challenge, you have to run to the main town to seek medical attention.”

    Another female cocoa farmer, Madam Fowowe  Yinka, is also not happy with the neglect of the community by the government. According to her, the state government had made promises in the past to uplift life in the community, but that is yet to come to fruition.

    She is also not happy that while the rest of Nigerians enjoy uninterrupted telecommunication services, MTN, the largest service provider, is not functioning well in Eti-Oni. According to her, subscribers using MTN in the community are finding it difficult to reach out to others.

    “Let the government know that the services of the MTN here are epileptic,” she said.According to Fowowe, experts from outside occasionally come to the community to organise workshops for the farmers, teaching them how to manage their farms and get good yields. But she is not happy that farmers do not have control over the price of their products as they are always at the mercy of produce merchants.

    She said: “It is the produce merchants that determine how much we sell to them. It is the amount they want to pay that we take from them.

    “It is not only that. At times when we need money to pay school fees, we approach these produce merchants. After getting cocoa from us, they deduct their money and they give us the remaining.”

    To worsen the plight of farmers, while cocoa farmers are based in Eti-Oni, their family members are scattered in different towns because of lack of basic amenities.

    “My family members are not in Eti-Oni, they live in Ilesha where they are schooling,” Fowowe said.

    She said her children cannot school in Eti-Oni because of the low standard of the community school. “My children are attending private schools in the main town,” she said.

    The absence of good clinics is also a source of worry for the farmers. Most of them have to go to Ilesha to get good medical care whenever they are indisposed. “There is a small clinic at Eti-Oni with one nurse who attends to us,” she said.

    She is therefore calling on the government to help the community by providing things that would make life better.

    “I was happy when I heard the news that they were going to reopen the secondary school in the community which was shut many years ago. That would put paid to the two pots we have been keeping; one in Eti-Oni and another in Ilesha. We would be able to enrol our children in this school and would have peace.

    “That our hospital is too small. It is just a small dispensary. Let it be stocked with drugs. The primary school too, if they do it very well, we would bring our children back to Eti-Oni. They would be with us and we would be able to monitor them.”

    Although the community is plagued with challenges, the annual Cocoa Festival has been a source of relief for residents. Mrs Fowowe told our correspondent that the community is always a beehive of activities when people come from all over the world to celebrate the festival.

    She commended the traditional ruler of the community for the initiative. “During the festival, the economy of the community always picks up,” she said.

    But for fate, Tunde Olowe would probably not have thought about cocoa farming, though as a student, he had been frequenting the community to help his father on his cocoa farm.

    Narrating how he started cocoa farming, he said. “It was when I lost my father in 2001 that I decided to go into cocoa farming. I just resolved to stay in Eti-Oni to continue to manage my father’s farm.”

     He also said the fear of unemployment after graduation made him continue as a cocoa farmer.

    “Cocoa business is sweet with lots of profits if the farm is well maintained,” he said, adding however that the business has its own flip side.”

    In trying to combat the challenges, Oba Thompson built a dryer for the community, “but because some of us are not used to the way they do cocoa in the developed world, the covered fermented building, where we were supposed to be drying our cocoa, collapsed because we were not use to it.”

    He also acknowledged that the produce merchants determine the price of cocoa in the community.

    Oba Thompson had made efforts to stop this by discouraging the farmers from selling their commodities at very cheap prices, but during the period, farmers did not have the cash they rushed to the produce buyers for support in the form of soft loans. “By the time the cocoa dries, we sell them to produce buyers and they make more money than we farmers.”

    Olowe called on the government to help the farmers by making chemicals and funds available for them. Since the community is the source of raw materials for the end users of cocoa, Olowe also said it makes more economic sense for them to come and site their factories in Eti-Oni. To him, it is going to be a win-win for both the farmers and the end users who would be able to monitor the cocoa from inception while the farmers would make more money.

    Just like other residents of the community, none of his children goes to school in Eti- Oni. “There is no standard school here,” he said.

    The only secondary school in the cocoa community, The Nation gathered, was closed down in 1998 due to what a source described as politics. The fear now is that since most farmers have sent their children out of the community, cocoa farming, which has been in existence since 1896, will one day come to an end.

    Olowe, however, disagreed with this position, saying that the community will find a way around it. “I have a brother abroad. I still send his own share of the proceeds of cocoa to him. If eventually I grow old and pass on, somebody will still be here giving my children returns.”

    He lamented the state of the road leading to the community. It was gathered that the state government has started the construction of a major road leading to Eti-Oni, and in no time, the cocoa community will also benefit from the project.”If the government can maintain that and make sure it reaches Eti-Oni, the farmers here will benefit from it,” Olowe said, noting that bad roads and lack of good hospitals had led to the death of many in the past.

    Lamenting, Olowe said: “In 2019, the traditional ruler of Eti-Oni built a provisional health centre. Then he brought the deputy governor, in order for the government to assist us with the road and the hospital. I don’t know what happened that they could not do it.”

    He appealed to the government to renovate the health centre at Eti-Oni, bring in doctors and equip the clinic.

    Clamour for Cocoa Producing Communities Development Company

    With huge cocoa coming from the rural community, one would have thought that the government would replicate what is being done for oil-producing companies for cocoa- producing communities in Nigeria, but Oba Thompson said it is doubtful.

    According to him, going that route would probably not change anything because if an agency like the Niger Delta Development Commission had done very well, there would not be cries of neglect by the oil-producing communities in the region.

    He said before a similar organisation can be achieved, it means almost total regulation of the cocoa sector, and from the experience in Ivory Coast or Ghana, the cocoa-producing communities and cocoa farmers are worse off.

    Oba Thompson said: “The regulation framework there and the regime were created to benefit only the multinationals, and that has been the case since the 1950s after the farmers’ revolt in the 1940s in Ghana and Nigeria.

     “What the Nigerian cocoa industry requires is not regulation in the form practised in West Africa but a commercialization structure that will do Three things – work towards building the culture for local consumption to unlock the value locally, encourage investment and also incentivise increased production capacity with capacity development and proper quality monitoring and control in place, and create easy access to investments in the value add for industrial and finished products with a ready market that we are not at their mercy.”

    Like every other person that had been to the community, Oba Thompson also lamented the state of roads in the community.

    He said there are two routes into Eti-Oni, the main one which is a Federal road that links Osogbo – Ilesa – Eti-Oni – Oke-Igbo and Ondo both in Ondo States and was last paved in 1984.

    “Out of the 23km from Ilesa to Eti-Oni, only about 5km of the road was paved about nine years ago and the rest is left in a state of disrepair with gullies and literally unmotorable.

    “The other route which goes from Iwara – Igangan – Eti-Oni had part of it paved with about 9km to Eti-Oni left also in a sorry state and a daunting task to drive on with vehicles having to go for repairs each time they pass the road.”

    In addition to bad roads, the Oba said, the community also lacks all the social amenities you can think of. “From housing to the state of the schools or the health centres, Eti-Oni is not left out in this misery that faces the communities,” he said.

    Not waiting for the government, the traditional rulers with other organisations have come up with a development plan that can transform the community into a sustainable model smart town.

     “What we need to achieve this is through an economic model that will fund those development activities. We have been working to create awareness, look for investments and identify partners that can collaborate with us for this purpose. Though things are tough, we are on course,” the traditional ruler said.

    In getting cocoa to buyers, Oba Thompson said that in an extractive industry, the exporters or wholesalers have their buying agents or aggregators and they buy at the lowest possible price from the farmers, which always leaves the farmers with the short end.

    He said the merchants are the ones who move the produce from the farms to warehouses outside the region, in which case the farmers will only collect what they are offered.

    He said: “I cannot say whether they get value for their work or not. But if they had reason to travel for some of the social amenities you mentioned earlier, then we can say the value is already being lost.

    “On the other hand, if the social amenities were close by within the community, then we can say their requirement for more cash will be reduced as their cost of providing or accessing a reasonable level of the decent living standard will be heavily reduced.”

    Unfortunately, the challenges farmers face, according to Oba Thompson, are compounded by the fact that Eti-Oni being situated along the rainforest belt, is tucked in and quite remote, which leaves the farmers to almost think they have been abandoned and this definitely has a very negative effect on their psyche.

    “The other challenges which have to do with lack of social amenities also fuel rural to urban migration with the average age of a farmer almost at 45 to 50 years when they are already getting weak with the younger generation not interested because they see only poverty, and this should not be the case.

    “So cocoa farming is fast becoming a retirement vocation or something to return to after all has failed in the search for a better life in an urban community,” the monarch lamented.

    He described as sad and unusable, the state health facility in the community.

    Not all a tale of woes

    However, the story of the community is not all about woes. While many communities are living in fear, life at Eti-Oni is peaceful.

    “In truth, we are in a safe and fine environment that would be a beautiful place for those who love nature, because we are actually an agroforest.

    “We have natural and wildly growing vegetables and even food crops and fruits.

    “River Oni provides fish. So eating healthy, which can be expensive in the Western world, is available to us at a minimal cost. The people are generally easy-going, very pleasant, and hopeful that things will eventually turn around for the good of all,” said the monarch.

    In his own little way, the monarch has made efforts to develop the community. He has succeeded in creating awareness and letting people know what the community is all about.

    “This we did through defining ourselves for the purpose of creating value. We have our land, we have our people and we have cocoa.

    “We created the Cocoa Festival which is now in its 9th edition for this purpose, and since we started the Cocoa Festival, we have also added several others – Eko Chocolate Show in its 4th edition, Nigerian Cocoa Awards, Royal Cocoa International Film Festivals, Royal Cocoa Festival Dinner London.

    “We have also showcased Eti-Oni in different parts of the world, speaking and participating in several conferences on cocoa and chocolate.

     “Secondly, we put together our development plan, defining where we are, where we want to be, and how to get there, and at the same time identifying what we need and who can help us achieve our objectives, which as I said earlier, is to transform into a sustainable model smart town.

    “Ten years ago, if you asked anyone about Eti-Oni, no one would be able to say anything. But today, most will tell you about our history in cocoa being the oldest cocoa community in the country producing cocoa since 1896.

    Funding has been hampering the plan to develop the community, but the Oba is optimistic that things will begin to take shape soon.

    “Also, do not forget that we can say we lost almost two years to the COVID-19 pandemic and the world is yet to fully recover from it,” he said.

    He is therefore calling on companies and industries to come to Eti-Oni in order to take advantage of the serene and beautiful environment which offers several produce and resources with opportunities for the establishment of several small-size factories.

    “Although we have a public power supply, part of our development plan includes the establishment of a renewable energy plan as part of our strategy to protect our environment.

    “The main strategy for our smart town is to deploy the internet for things that can create a living lab concept for companies who are willing to partner and ready to deploy and showcase how their solutions work,” he said.

  • Human traffickers go wild as UK-based madam writes Nigerian shrine, vows to destroy victim

    Human traffickers go wild as UK-based madam writes Nigerian shrine, vows to destroy victim

    • Another sends cultist to threaten pregnant sex worker battling with womb complications over N2m balance

    • Manchester based trafficker declines comment, removes picture from WhatsApp contact

    Dubai is fast becoming a new destination for Nigerian human traffickers following the clampdown on their activities along the Sahara Desert by security operatives. Many of the innocent young victims are daily hounded and psychologically tortured by the traffickers who make outrageous monetary demands from them. One of the victims, who is currently battling with a serious womb complication, is being persecuted by a cultist who is working for her trafficker while another has been reported at an Ondo State shrine, which has summouned her to appear before the gods or face dire consequences including suffering mental ill health and death, INNOCENT DURU reports.

    Osakahare, a Nigerian migrant, is miserable in Dubai where she had gone to in searching of greener pastures. She left the country on October 15, 2021, upbeat that life would turn around and begin to have a positive meaning for her and her family members after some time in the Arab country.

    The trip didn’t come with much stress as she already had everything perfectly worked out for her.

    She said: “I was working in a PoS store before I was approached by one lady called Madam Margret, who happens to be my aunt. The madam paid for my flight down here in Dubai, but I paid for the passport.

    “By the time I arrived,  she had arranged with someone who came to pick me at the airport. She told the person that I would pay for the rent before the week would run out.”

    She said before she left for Dubai, “Madam had said I would pay her N5 million when I get here. I told her the money was too much but she told me that when I get here and find out that the other girls here are not paying up to that I should let her know, but that it is N5 million that all the girls in Dubai are paying.”

    On getting to Dubai, Nosakhare found that all the girls were paying N3 mllion back to their madams at the end of the day.

    Alarmed by what she discovered, the embattled girl said: “When I told her that nobody was paying up to N5 million, she said it is a lie and that since I had agreed to pay her N5 million before leaving Nigeria, that was what I was going to pay her.

    “I reluctantly agreed and started paying her the money.”

    Later, the aunt started complaining that the N100,000 that Nosakahare was paying weekly was too small.

    “She said that I should increase it to N200,000 or N300,000 every week, but I refused, telling her that the quoted sums were too much.

    “Nigerians have problems with the Dubai authorities. Once they see you and ask if you are a Nigerian and you reply in the affirmative, they will start harassing you.

    “As a result of all the challenges we are facing here, I told her it would not be possible for me to be paying her N200, 000 or N300, 000 weekly.

    “It is a problem for us to work on the street these days. I made her to understand that I will be paying her every week based on how much work I am able to do.”

    The embattled lady’s explanation apparently fell on deaf ears as the aunt subsequently returned to persuade her  to pay the outrageous money.

    “Two weeks ago, she said that since I don’t want to be giving her the amount she requested for, she had summoned me at the ‘Ayelala’ Shrine in Ondo State. She said that she took me to America for the past two years and that I have not been giving her any money. 

    “She threatened that if I don’t pay up the N5 million she asked for, by the end of this month (April) that she will swear for me at the shrine. She started threatening my life.”

    The letter of summon was written on an Adeleron and Ayelala Association letter head.

    The letter reads (unedited): “I, Madam Jenet give money to Margerti  to send …. To America since two years. She said before the two years she would pay. She has been paying  for a while but she has not been paying as usual now. I gave her April ending to everything remain with her or I will swear Ayelala for her,  I  summon her to Ayelala with 100 thousand. By Princess Dorothy.”

    Asked if the father has in any way intervened in the matter since the trafficker is his younger sister, Nosakare  said: “It was my father that they gave the Ayelala letter to. My dad does not have anything to say about what is happening. He just said that I should leave the matter for God. 

    “The woman told me that since she has my picture and details, she wants to kill me before this year comes to an end. She also said among other threats that I will run mad.”

    Worried  by the magnitude of the threat, Nosakhare subsequently sent her brother to go and arrest the aunt’s sister so that she will write an undertaking that “if anything happens to me she will be held responsible.”

    When they got to the police station, she said “the officers said if I pay her money that nothing will happen to me and that I should try and pay her.

    “I said that was not how I wanted the case to be handled. I told them that what I wanted was for her to write an undertaking that she would be held responsible in case anything happens to me.”  

    Following the ceaseless pressure and threat by the aunt, she said: “I am finding my stay here in Dubai very difficult because my aunt (Madam) is giving me too much pressure about the payment.

    “I have a lot going in my mind every time about paying back the money. Most of the time, I regret coming to this Dubai because of her.

    “She’s not giving me peace. My passport is with one man but my aunt has refused to give me his contact. She said I have nothing to do with the man.

    “I still want to remain here in Dubai but I don’t want her to harass me anymore.”

    Trafficker declines comment

    Efforts to get the reaction of Nosakhare’s aunt who is based in Manchester, England was unsuccessful as she declined response to a WhatsApp message sent to her line. She instantly removed  her picture from the DP of her WhatsApp immediately our correspondent introduced himself in a post. The woman was seen standing beside a man with both dressed in pink traditional attire in the deleted DP. 

    Victim with womb complications  relives traumatic experience

    It has also been a traumatic experience  for  Ivy who has been battling with womb related challenges shortly after arriving in Dubai. Her plight was compounded when she got pregnant in the course of carrying out her trade as a sex worker.

    Explaining how it happened, she said: “The condom that the client was using mistakenly burst in my body and that resulted in pregnancy. But that was not what caused the challenges that I am facing with my womb. My womb has been disturbing me since I came to this country.

    “A doctor came to check and said that my womb is too close. The doctor comes to position my womb for me and also gives me the medication to take. 

    “If the doctor positions it, after some months, it will come down again. I am still using it to work as it is.”

    Aside from the pregnancy and the challenge she has with her womb, Ivy said: “The guy that facilitated my coming here went and reported me to another guy who has been threatening me.

    “When the guy asked me to come and  see him I told him I would not be able to come because I was not feeling fine. When Solomon Okoduwa of Initiative for Youth Awareness on Migration Development and Reintegration (IYAMIDR) chatted up Emmanuel who is my boss,  he complained that I went to report him to  the NGOs fighting against human trafficking and wondered why I had to do such.”

    Seeking a way out of her predicament, she said: “What I want now is that since Emmanuel who is my boss has said that he doesn’t want the money anymore, his friend who he went to report me to should stop disturbing me. 

    “The guy said that he would not look for me but that he would one day come in contact with me  and he will ‘cast ‘ me.  The guy threatening me is in Dubai but Emmanuel is the one with my passport.

    “I was the only one they brought to Dubai on that trip. At the moment, we are 12. Some others  went back to Nigeria voluntarily because they said they wouldn’t  be able to pay back the money  requested by the madams.”

    NAPTIP asks victims to write officially

    Contacted, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) spokesman Adekoye Vincent, said the embattled victims should write officially to info@naptip.gov.ng for action.

    When told that the victims may not be in the right frame of mind to do such, he suggested that our correspondent or an NGO could do so on their behalf.  “Address the letter of complaint to the DG,” he said in a response to our correspondent’s inquiry.

    Activist knocks NAPTIP, calls for proactive approach to distress calls

    A migration activist and Executive Director of Initiative for Youth Awareness on Migration Development and Reintegration (IYAMIDR),

    Solomon Okoduwa, was bitter about NAPTIP’s approach to the plight of the girls when  our correspondent called to find out his level of intervention in their condition.  Fuming, Okoduwa said: “The present director general of NAPTIP is not on top of her game at all. Human trafficking,  which is supposed to be of utmost concern to the woman, is being swept under the carpet.

    “I sent her a message when one of these ladies cried to me. She read the message I sent to her on her personal Whatsapp page but didn’t reply. I tried calling her but got no response.

    “This is not the NAPTIP we used to know. During the days of Donli Okar,  when you send her a message, she would ask you to give her the girl’s contact. She would speak with the victim and action would be taken immediately. 

    “She was always responding promptly, but the people that they are redeploying to NAPTIP now are just there to fill political slots.

    “If you don’t know the job, quit the job.  The agency is a total humanitarian aspect of our society.”

    Continuing,  he said: “As a woman, you are supposed to be very concerned when womanhood is being debased.

    “Somebody said her womb has fallen three times and she is calling for help, the DG of NAPTIP read the message, I sent a voice note of the victim with her strained voice, sent the girl’s contact, but nobody reached out to the girl from NAPTIP headquarters.

    “What agency are you then representing? Is it when the girl comes to Nigeria that you want to rescue her, you want to activate your power as NAPTIP? It can’t work in that regard.

    “NAPTIP must wake up to their responsibility. They have jurisdiction over every case of sexual exploitation and trafficking all over the world. Once a case is reported, they must take it up to serve as a deterrent to others.

    “Even if it doesn’t give the victim immediate leverage, let a signal be sent to the traffickers that NAPTIP is on their trail. That will make the hoodlums to be cautious. 

    “Just imagine that that girl was to be killed and we sent a message to you and nobody activated anything. What role are you now playing as NAPTIP? Presiding over meetings that are not productive? It is uncalled for.

    “The NAPTIP DG must be reported to NACTAL for appropriate action.”

    Before reaching out to NAPTIP, Okoduwa said: “I sent the same message to Abike Dabiri. She was concerned, and  immediately she got it, she responded and asked me to report the matter to NAPTIP.  That is Abike Dabiri in her capacity.

    “Tomorrow , NAPTIP will start reeling out their achievements. If you don’t know the job, leave that place.”

    As an activist, he said: “We have been advocating for this for a long time. This is not our first time. 

    “If you are a politician, go and face politics and leave the seat. The right seat must be given to the right person and not people who will leave victims in distress. It is uncalled for and we frown at it.

     “When I called the PRO, he said the DG was in a conference. Was she in a conference for almost one week without even answering calls, and my phone showed that she had read through the message but failed to respond.

    “Unfortunately, the victim is in a dilemma but the woman that is supposed to feel the pains of other women is not responding.

    “Later, she will say she is superintending over an agency that is addressing the menace. You are doing nothing.”

     On his intervention in the ladies’ cases , he said: “I intervened when one of the girls was threatened. She didn’t say she would not pay the guy again. Her womb had fallen three times.

    “As we speak now, she has an unwanted pregnancy because of the nature of her job. She said that a condom burst in her body and she consequently became pregnant.

    “She is presently on home treatment and can’t do anything. All she asked for was that the guy should allow her to get well and when she is well she will pay. 

    “The guy kept insisting that the girl must pay the said amount of money. After my intervention, the guy has left the scene and allowed the girl to be.

    “We have the picture, address and phone number of the guy. This is what NAPTIP is supposed to be doing for trafficking. They are supposed to be working with joint border task force.

    “All that NAPTIP supposed to do is to ask them to follow up on the matter. If the guys know that they are following them up, would they threaten the girl again?  They would not. 

    “When you do this, that girl becomes your success story tomorrow.”

    The girl, Okoduwa said, is longing to come back to Nigeria, “but it is just that she doesn’t want to come empty handed. If NAPTIP promises to support her when she comes, she will come to Nigeria the next day and every collaborator in this matter will be arrested. Because the girl’s confidence has been built, she will now open up more.  

  • 2023 presidential election: separating fact from fiction

    2023 presidential election: separating fact from fiction

    Text of the parley held with the international media at the National Press Center, Washington D.C, United States yesterday by representatives of the President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu. They are Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN) (Chief Spokesperson and Minister of State, Labour); Mr. Sunday Dare (Minister Of Youth and Sports) and Mr. Ajuri Ngelale (Assistant Principal Spokesperson).

    It is our pleasure and privilege to welcome you to the National Press Center in Washington D.C. for this interactive session on Nigeria’s Presidential Election, 2023.

     We do not intend to make this a long-winding and boring session, so we shall go straight to the points we intend to make to clear some of the fallacies that have been peddled around the world by the sore losers at the said election.

    Level playing field

    The country’s outgoing President, Muhammadu Buhari, signed into law a Bill that seeks to improve our electoral process by introducing technology as a means of accrediting voters at the polling units. This is known as the Electoral Act of 2022. The opposition and international observers hailed him on this.

     There was also complete non-interference in the political process by State institutions. There were no reports of the deployment of security agents or state apparati in support of the candidate of the ruling party.

     In fact, in some instances, the opposition celebrated the fact that our candidate had no support from the government.

     These led to well-published reports (albeit false) that the President was not in support of the candidate of his own party.

    State of the leading parties 

    The ruling party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) controlled 21 out of the 36 States of the country and the FCT before the elections with elected Governors; whilst the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had 14 Governors and the All Progressives Grand Alliance had one Governor. The Labour Party had no single Governor or elected official at any level of Government.

    About eight months before the elections, the main opposition, the PDP, suffered some major setbacks. Its Vice-Presidential Candidate in 2019, Mr Peter Obi moved to the Labour Party with his supporters, mainly from his region of origin, the Southeast.

     Another of the party’s main pillar of support in the North-West, Alhaji Musa Kwakwanso moved to the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), taking with him a chunk of the party’s supporters in that region.

     Five out of the 14 governors of the PDP, publicly announced they would not be campaigning for or supporting its Presidential Candidate (Alhaji Atiku Abubakar).

    Meanwhile, the ruling party remained one huge, indivisible entity with no departure of any of its elected officials or public dissent from them. It was in this state of affairs that all the parties went into the elections.

    The election of February 25

       Contrary to the false outcry by the opposition, the main technological device, Bi-modal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) did not fail on election day. All the local and international observers scored the use of BVAS very high, with one local body called YIAGA, working in coalition with the EU and other International Observers, saying it recorded 88 per cent success in all the polling units it monitored.

     The Nigerian Bar Association also issued its report saying only eight per cent of voters were not satisfied with the process on that day.

     The portal that the opposition made so much noise about, IREV, is just a viewing portal, which has nothing to do with accreditation or verification of voters or even the counting or recording of votes.

     Whilst we hold no brief for the Electoral Commission, it sufficiently explained to Nigerians the next day that the delay in uploading the results to the viewing portal was a result of a technical glitch.

     And since the results have since been uploaded eventually, none of the parties has produced their own copies of the result sheets obtained at various polling units that substantially contradict the results released and announced by the Electoral Commission.

     Even in their election petitions presently before the court, no such alternative figures have been provided. So, what is all the fuss about?

     It is significant to note that some other elections into the Senate and House of Representatives were held on the same day, at the same time and with the same personnel.

    The opposition candidates have since gleefully gone to collect their Certificates of Return for the various seats they won.

     Why did they not reject the outcome of those elections too and reject their Certificate of Return? This is hypocrisy taken too far.

    Result of the election

    On Wednesday, the 1st of March, 2023, the Electoral Commission announced the results as follows: APC – 8,794,726 (36.61 per cent); PDP – 6,984,520 (29.07 per cent); LP – 6,101,533 (25.40 per cent); NNPP – 1,496,687(6.23 per cent); other smaller parties scored some negligible figures.

     The winner, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has since collected his Certificate of Return and the transition committees are working hard towards a smooth transition.

    Credibility of the results

     Our Constitution requires a Presidential candidate to secure the highest number of votes and score at least one-quarter of the votes in two-thirds of the States of the Federation which includes the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

     Only Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu met these requirements especially that of the spread (he scored 25 per cent and above in 29 States), even though all three top candidates won 12 states each.

     The candidate of the PDP scored 25 per cent and above in just 21 states, falling short of the 24 states required and the candidate of the Labour Party scored 25 per cent and above in 15 states plus the Federal Capital Territory, making it 16 states.

     There was just no pathway to victory for these candidates who did not have the requisite national acceptability. So, how tenable is the claim of rigging the elections? We see none.

    It is significant to note that the elections were so credible that it threw up some upsets in our otherwise settled demography.

     For the first time, 20 sitting Governors lost their States, mostly those of the ruling party. Seven Governors who sought elections into the Senate failed to scale through.

     This has never happened in the history of Nigeria.

     In addition, the President-Elect lost his home state (Lagos); the sitting President lost his home state (Katsina); the Director-General of the Campaign lost his home State (Plateau State); the ruling Party Chairman lost his home state (Nassarawa); the Chairman of the ruling Party’s Governor Forum lost his home state (Kebbi) and the ruling party lost some of its traditional strongholds like Yobe, Kaduna and Kano states. All these go to show that it was a keenly contested election and one of the most credible in our history.

     The reports of some irregularities and violence in some polling units could not have affected the overall outcome of the elections too. 

    There are 176,974 polling units in Nigeria and infractions and violence were recorded in less than one per cent of these units. How could these have affected the overall results of the elections?

     Whilst we look forward to an era when there would be no single casualty during elections in Nigeria, however, the statistics show that 2023 recorded the lowest casualty rates ever.

     During the 1964/65 elections about 200 deaths were recorded as a result of election violence; the 1993 election recorded 100 deaths; the 1999 election recorded 80 deaths; the 2003 polls recorded 100 deaths and the 2007 polls recorded 300 deaths.

     The 2011 polls recorded 800 deaths, the 2015 polls recorded 100 deaths and the 2019 polls recorded 150 deaths. However, the 2023 polls recorded no more than 28 deaths as a result of election violence.

     So, the claim that this is the “worst” election so far is totally unfounded.

     In conclusion, our laws have provided for settled means by which election disputes are resolved.

      The aggrieved parties have taken advantage of this remedy by filing their cases in court.

     We urge them to have faith in our judicial system and desist from spreading false tales about our election across the world.

     Meanwhile, arrangements for the handover ceremonies are in full gear.

     The President-Elect will take his Oath of Office as President of Nigeria on May 29th, 2023. You are all invited.