The Nation Newspaper

Category: Special Report

  • IT SMELLED LIKE DEATH: How flood disaster erased Borno’s blind elderly

    IT SMELLED LIKE DEATH: How flood disaster erased Borno’s blind elderly

    • Haunting reality of Zara Aji, others amid Maiduguri’s reptilian surge

    • As waters recede, over 150 PWDs missing, presumed dead

    • How non-inclusive laws leave disabled elderly at disadvantage

    The flood stole through the streets of Gwange like a reptilian beast. Until it got to Zara Aji’s home. By the time the 83-year-old stirred in her bed, she was soaked to the pants. The Alau Dam had collapsed hours before, spilling with nature’s pent-up rage. It was 3 a.m. when the water began its slow, fearsome crawl into her abode.

    The cold splash from her feet up to her midriff startled her fully awake. Aji could hear the roar of the water outside and its chilling hum inside her room. She sat, trapped and helpless. At 83, she was blind and her body was frail.

    As the flood rose to her waist, the house listed to the weight of the water gushing in from every crack and crevice. Aji’s room became a watery tomb. And in that critical moment, salvation came in the form of her grandson, Mohammed. Having heard the chilling hiss of the flood as it surged into their compound, the teenager was up in an instant, wading through the house in search of his granny.

    A debt of love carried through cold waters

    Mohammed found Grandma Aji shivering in bed. Promptly, he lifted her onto his back and waded through the depths of the flooded house,  against the current that sought to pull them both under.

    Tears slid down Aji’s cheeks, as she clung to her grandson, the poetic resonance of the moment sinking into her heart. In that moment, he was no longer the toddler she rocked to sleep on her back, singing soft lullabies. The roles were reversed. The grandson was now the saviour and protector, bearing his grandma to safety through dangerous waters.

    Aji could feel the water splashing against the boy’s chest. She could hear him grunt as he fought to keep them moving. And in the darkness, as the deluge splashed threateningly around them, there was a strange, haunting beauty in the way love had come full circle.

    Mohammed hastened out of the house before its walls crumbled. There was no turning back. The water seemed endless, but they moved through its depths, slowly but steadily towards London Chikki. He held tightly to his grandmother as if he understood the import of his actions. In that moment, he was carrying more than just her frail body; he was bearing a lifetime of memories, love, and shared history.

    Into the shallows, but not to safety

    They sought refuge in the London Chikki area, but the flood had not spared it either. The waters were still rising, the current still swirling to pull them both under. “We walked again,” Aji recalled, her voice frail with grief and exhaustion. “We walked until we reached the main road.”

    For three days, they stayed on that road, waiting for the waters to recede, like so many others displaced by the flood. Hungry and helpless, the cold seeped into their bones. They were far from safe, but at least they had survived.

    Eventually, they sought refuge with Aji’s brother, who took them in until the waters receded. After they deluge, they hurried back to Gwange, only to meet a shell of what used to be their home. Their house was gone, reduced to a pile of broken walls. Grandma Aji’s clothes and her few prized possessions had also been swept away in the torrent, leaving her destitute.

    “The government didn’t provide anything for us,” she said. “We heard there was support, but it never came to our community.”

    Lost in the torrent: Stories of the invisible

    Aji’s experience is one among several narratives of persons with disabilities (PWDs). And they all resonate with a deafening chill. For most elderly PWDs, the flood devastated their lives and exposed their inability to survive natural disasters. As the waters rose and people fled, visually impaired PWDs who could not see the danger approaching were left behind.

    Not all were so fortunate, like Aji. On the same night that her grandson rescued her, Safinatu Bala and her friend, Seyidatu, got lost in the waters. Both widows, the duo reportedly lived beside each other in Gamboru, their lives intertwined by friendship and a shared hardship of visual impairment.

    When the flood came, they clung to each other and wailed for their neighbours to rescue them from the rising water. But in the chaos, they got separated and swept apart. By morning, neither woman could be found. No one knows if they are still alive or if they had drowned in the surge.

    On his part, Iliyasu, an 84-year-old visually impaired and internally displaced person (IDP), told his fellow PWDs and co-squatter around the Monday Market, in Maiduguri, to leave him. “I have lived through too many floods. I will survive,” he said. “But if this is to be my end, then so be it.” His words reflected the desperation of several PWDs amid the deluge.  Like Bala and Seyidatu, Iliyasu hasn’t been seen since September 10.

    For many PWDs in Maiduguri, the flood was a cruel reminder of their vulnerability. They could not see the rising waters or gauge the danger until it was too late. Volunteers and aid workers in their rush to evacuate the able-bodied, overlooked those who could not flee on their own, noted Zulfatu Adamu, a Maiduguri-based aid worker. And so, the blind and disabled were left behind.

    The collapse of Alau Dam

    The eventual collapse of the Alau Dam was the result of years of neglect and mismanagement, warnings ignored and postponed repairs. Thus on the night of September 9, 2024, after days of torrential rain, the Alau Dam finally gave way as its weakened structure crumbled under the weight of the water.

    At the dam’s collapse, Maiduguri experienced its most severe flooding since 1994. Severe flash flooding submerged the Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC) and Jere Local Government Area (LGA), displacing hundreds of thousands of people, including PWDs, at the height of the agricultural lean season’s food and nutrition crisis.

    In a statement titled, “Flooding Alert for River Bank Residents,” the Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Prof. Usman Tar, called for the immediate evacuation of affected areas, and urged residents to follow designated evacuation routes for their safety. However, a major blindspot of Borno’s rescue plan was the safe evacuation of PWDs in the flood-prone areas.

    As the waters surged, many residents panicked and rushed to evacuate what seemed like certain death. For most, it was a panicked dash through roads slick with mud, toward whatever safety they could find. The flood ravaged villages, farmlands, and human lives alike, but hidden in the narrative of loss was the deeper anguish of several elderly PWDs like visually impaired Aji, Bala, Seyidatu and Iliyasu.

    Bitter streets, bitterer shelter

    Survivors like Fatima Yagana, 74 and visually impaired, sought refuge at emergency shelters. “Before the flood, I lived with my niece. She invited me to squat in her home after her husband died. On the night that the flood destroyed our home, I couldn’t sleep easily. I woke up and everywhere smelt like death. But it was the flood, and it almost drowned me and Rekiya (one of her niece’s kids). We fled and now have to live on the streets. We depend on alms to survive,” she said.

    The 74-year-old who has been rendered homeless and destitute by the flood, now lives on the streets with her niece, Ayisatu, and the latter’s two kids, because they couldn’t stay at the Gwange 1 emergency shelter due to the unsanitary conditions.

    The crowded shelter, like so many others, offered no sanctuary. The stench of human waste clings to the air all through the squalid and congested shelter, rendering its heated expanse even more suffocating. “The toilets smelt bad,” Yagana lamented, stressing that even though she can’t see, should at least enjoy fresh air. That was why she chose the streets, preferring the rough ground and open sky to the claustrophobia of an unsanitary refuge.

    A humanitarian void

    The Borno State Government, alongside humanitarian agencies, scrambled to provide aid. Yet, amid the efforts to register and assist the displaced, the specific plight of PWDs slipped through the cracks. In total, more than 2,500 people with disabilities in the flood-prone areas were directly affected by the flood, many of them left stranded in their homes as the waters rose, with over 150 missing or presumed dead, according to the National President of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Abdullahi Ali Usman.

    The figure quoted by Ali Usman is no doubt a conservative estimate. It would be recalled that precisely 3,127 PWDs comprising turned out in Maiduguri, to receive the N30,000 grant disbursed by Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, in 2019, as part of the social protection scheme of his administration.

    Going by the 2019 figure, the number of PWDs reportedly affected by the September flood, therefore, doesn’t represent the full picture.

    The affected PWDs were not invisible, but rather ignored, denied access to the evacuation routes and the dignity of urgent care. The numbers—37 deaths, 58 injured, 414,000 displaced—attest to the depth of the devastation. Beneath the statistics subsists issues of marginalisation and neglect. “Already PWDs are facing marginalisation due to their disabilities, this flood disaster is a double blow for them,” lamented Ali Usman.

    Corroborating him, Abiodun Tilawe, a social psychologist and emergency aid consultant stated, “Persons with disabilities are usually at greater risk in an emergency. More worrisome, she argued, is the fate of older PWDs with mental health conditions. “They are at a higher risk of death as the hardships experienced impact devastatingly on their mental health. Many become traumatised by the fear of losing their lives and being left behind. From experience, older PWDs find it difficult to adapt to the extreme conditions into which they are suddenly thrust. Before the disaster, they are not taught about what to do to adapt and keep themselves safe. Some of them, who were displaced from their communities by protracted conflict, lived on the streets without any caregivers. Since the flood happened, they have been unaccounted for, and nobody has bothered to look for them,” said Tilawe.

    The trauma after

    For PWDs who survived, each day in the aftermath of the flood has been an agonising reminder of their vulnerability. The disaster stripped them of autonomy. Their disability is a barrier to their mobility, access to provisions and dignity.

    For Jelani Aliyu, life as a PWD at the Gwange 3 temporary refuge, became extremely difficult. Confined to a wheelchair, the 81-year-old revealed that the damage done by the flood made accessing every basic necessity an impossible feat. According to him, the emergency shelters were not designed for PWDs. The aid distributions were chaotic, the strong elbowed out the weak, and the disabled were left to mope on the fringes. There were no ramps, accessible toilets, and accommodations made for people like him. He was invisible.

    The ongoing conflict in the region cast an even darker pall over the lives of PWDs. In 2014, in the town of Damasak, Mohamadou, a blind man of 53 years, fled from his home as Boko Haram laid siege to his community. Blind and defenceless, he clung to his wife and son as they swam across the Yobe River, ducking a volley of gunshots from the rampaging terrorists. “We swam like fish,” he recalled, though he could not see the river.

    For two years, Mohamadou lived in a refugee camp, dependent on the kindness of his son and strangers. But his disability marked him as a prey. His young son was frequently shoved aside by stronger, older men, and time after time, as he queued for provisions and other relief items. Thus he often returned empty-handed.

    “I would wait in line with my young son to get aid, but adult refugees would kick children away, including my son. We were too weak to fight back and would often lose our turn and return without getting anything from the distribution,” he said.

    Mohamadou, like so many PWDs displaced by flood and conflict, became a ghost, alive but uncared for.

    It’s a hard life for PWDs

    Nigeria was affected by the worst floods in a decade between June and November 2022, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). The floods triggered over 2.4 million displacements, the highest disaster displacement figure in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022. Half of the displacements were reported in Bayelsa State, but Anambra and Kogi were also heavily affected. Displacement camps in the northeastern state of Borno were also flooded, forcing thousands of people already displaced by conflict and violence to flee again. By comparison, floods triggered 166,000 displacements in 2023, a figure in line with the average of the past decade. By the end of 2023, 81,000 people were still living in internal displacement due to disasters, a more than ten-fold reduction compared to the end of 2022.

    Disaster displacement, whether triggered by cyclones, wildfires, floods, or other hazards, is a growing global issue with particularly harsh consequences for PWDs, who have to endure heightened risks due to discrimination and barriers to accessing essential services.

    In 2020 and 2021, the UN noted that older PWDs may encounter unique challenges during climate-related disasters, such as the Borno flood. Similarly, a 2021 report by Women in Displacement (WID) revealed that 27% of IDPs in northeast Nigeria have a disability, a figure that has increased since the insurgency. As a result, PWDs living in camps are disproportionately affected and frequently excluded from key interventions.

    According to the WHO’s 2018 World Disability Report, many PWDs in Nigeria, are disproportionately affected in disaster, emergency, and conflict situations due to inaccessible evacuation, response, and recovery efforts. The WHO notes that they are more likely to be left behind or abandoned during evacuation in disasters and conflicts due to a lack of preparation and planning, as well as inaccessible facilities, services and transportation systems.

    During floods, older PWDs would require greater assistance and additional time to evacuate, but they receive less support. Further findings revealed that most IDP camps are not accessible and people with disabilities get turned away from the emergency shelters, oftentimes, due to a perception that they need “complex medical” services. Consequently, older PWDs find themselves at greater risk as they are more likely to suffer medical conditions, such as heart or respiratory conditions, through extreme situations, according to expert opinion. Older PWDs may also take medications that cause intolerance and impair the body’s response to cold and heat. The high death rates of people with disabilities and older people during the 2021 heatwaves in British Columbia (BC), Canada, illustrate these points: 91 per cent of those who died had a chronic medical condition or a disability and 90 per cent were older people.

    Due to the lack of accurate data, it is often unclear exactly how many people with disabilities and older people are affected by a particular disaster as indicated by the Borno flood. The lack of accurate data on the number of IDPs living with a disability and their location equally poses challenges to monitoring their needs and allocating resources. It also makes it difficult to tailor support and assess the inclusivity of responses over long-term recovery and reconstruction efforts.

    About a billion people, or 15 per cent of the globe’s population, are estimated to have a disability, of whom 80 per cent live in low- and middle-income countries, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). The global number of people with disabilities is increasing, partly because of ageing populations and a rise in chronic health conditions. It is not known how many people with disabilities live in IDP camps associated with disasters. The IDMC estimates that 5.1 million people were still displaced as a result of disasters at the end of 2019, but this figure is highly conservative. This is because data on the number of people living in displacement after a disaster event is scarce.

    Accessibility issues, stigmatisation and variations in definitions tend to render IDPs with disabilities invisible during data collection. They are, as a result, often under-identified. For example, when Ambae Island in Vanuatu was evacuated in 2017 because of increased volcanic activity, there were concerns that a significant number of people with disabilities had not been identified among the evacuees. The International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (IOM-DTM) reported 37 people with disabilities out of 5,125 people located in one evacuation centre. This represented less than one per cent of the total displaced population. Sources vary on the prevalence of disability in Vanuatu, but 2019 data from the UN placed it at up to 12 per cent.

    Disability Bill as a paper tiger

    On January 23, 2019, Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, following nine years of relentless advocacy by disability rights groups and activists.

    The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and imposes sanctions including fines and prison sentences on those who contravene it. It also stipulates a five-year transitional period for modifying public buildings, structures, and automobiles to make them accessible and usable for people with disabilities.

    The law also established a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) in 2020. The NCPWD, tasked to guarantee PWDs access to housing, education, and healthcare, is also empowered to receive complaints of rights violations and support victims to seek legal redress amongst other duties.

    Yet, one thing the NCPWD hasn’t done is to ensure the protection of Nigerians with disabilities during a natural disaster, emergency or conflict.

    Lack of data accentuate social exclusion

    Quoting recent World Health Organisation (WHO) figures, the immediate past executive secretary of the NCPWD, James Lalu, disclosed that currently, there are over 35.1 million persons living with disabilities in Nigeria of which a paltry 4,000 are duly registered.

    Notwithstanding, his successor and incumbent executive secretary of the Commission, has reiterated the NCPWD’s commitment to ensuring inclusive policies for all clusters of PWDs in line with the Renewed Hope agenda of the incumbent administration of President Bola Tinubu.

    Gufwan made the assurance in Abuja during a parley with a delegation from the Pioneers of the Nigerian National and International Disability Civil Rights Movement and Policy Chapters, a disability advocacy Group.

    “We are open to partnering with National and International bodies to ensure that the rights and privileges of persons with disabilities are protected as stipulated by the Prohibition Act, 2018,” he said.

    Earlier, Gufwan affirmed that data remains a veritable tool for the proper planning and execution of all disability-inclusive projects in Nigeria.

    The NCPWD had previously emphasised the importance of accurate data gathering and processing as the fundamental aspect of inclusive social policies for PWDs. “We must prioritise facts and figures of various clusters in the disability community to get it right,” he said, insisting that the need to ascertain the actual number of persons with disabilities is pertinent. “Over the years, persons with disabilities are believed to be about 35.1 million in Nigeria which is of course, a staggering figure but, we must revisit this and ascertain the authenticity of this figure and update it if necessary,” he said.

    A 2018 estimate by the National Population Commission (NPC) states that there are about 19 million, that is, 9.6 per cent of the 198 population approximately, living in Nigeria.

    In Nigeria, social protection for PWDs remains weak, despite government claims of increased provisioning for them. The Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, passed only after years of advocacy, has done little to address the deep-rooted exclusion PWDs face in society. Discrimination persists, driven by negative perceptions and cultural stigmas that label disabled individuals as cursed, especially in communities lacking proper disability-inclusive governance.

    This exclusion often results in poverty, dependence on others, and health challenges. In the conflict-ridden northeast, PWDs, particularly women and children, suffer more acutely, being unable to pursue livelihoods or enjoy basic social rights.

    A report by the Grassroots Researchers Associations (GRA), authored by written by Timothy Ali Yohanna, revealed that PWDs in northeast Nigeria suffer frequent violations of their rights. These include opposition to marriages with non-disabled individuals, denial of medical care due to financial constraints, denial of access to decent shelter, and exclusion from social opportunities.

    More worrisome is the institutionalised disregard for their right to life as established before, during, and in the aftermath of the Borno flood. These discriminatory practices and lack of disability-inclusive policies rendered PWDs particularly vulnerable during the disaster, further deepening their already precarious situation.

    The need for inclusion

    Whether fleeing an extreme weather event or conflict, “disabled people are among the most vulnerable, and are more likely to be side-lined in every aspect of the humanitarian assistance process,” said Cheick Ba, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)’s Country Director in Nigeria, in the wake of Mohamadou’s predicament.

    “They face multiple barriers in accessing aid, information, healthcare and protection. We, humanitarians, must do much better in our work. We have to systematically identify and register displaced persons with disabilities,” said Ba.

    Article 11 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in risk and humanitarian emergencies, pays particular attention to the obligation of States and parties to undertake “all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters.”

    Environmental dangers and natural disasters like the Borno flood, can lead to the onset of many types of disabilities, and inaccessible environments prevent persons with disabilities from taking part in social and economic recovery. Rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, therefore, must not only be inclusive and responsive to the needs of all people, including PWDs, but should include the latter’s participation, to ensure that their needs and rights are respected.

    Women with disabilities, Aji, are a particularly vulnerable group whose needs should be included at all stages of recovery and reconstruction efforts.

    But that is in the long run, in the short run, their survival depends on the goodwill of neighbours and family; those who dare look their way, not to scorn their ordeal or simply talk eyes to their grief.

    As the waters recede and Maiduguri takes stock of the damage, there is a sense of loss so profound it is hard to put into words. Lives have been upended, homes have been destroyed, and communities torn apart. Amid the wreckage, there is also a sense of despair as elderly PWDs are left adrift, far from the government’s reconstruction plans.

    In the absence of government support, Zara Aji, for instance, has learnt to take each day as it comes. At her last encounter with the reporter, giant houseflies buzzed lazily in the thick air around her, their tiny, winged bodies hovering around her face as if they could perceive her grief. They perched on her eyelids, cheek, and lips. Aji did not flinch. She did not swat them away. Instead, she sat stoic, with heartbreaking inertia, allowing the flies to perch as they pleased. Their buzz filled the air with a strange, haunting hum, as though they too mourned the loss she had endured.

    For the 83-year-old, there is no going back to what was. The flood had changed everything. Every sunset, she lounges on the broken veranda of what was once her home, reliving that fateful night in September, when the skies poured over Maiduguri with a fury rarely seen, collapsing the Alau Dam and submerging several homes and lives in Borno. Gwange, the neighbourhood where she had lived for years, is now a shell of itself; a landscape of mud and sorrow.

    Aji, 83 and visually impaired, cannot see the destruction around her. But she can feel it in the cold draft of the breeze, the dampness that clings to her skin, and the hollow echo of the neighbourhood’s once-familiar sounds.

    Her frail memories remain her only witness to the horror of the reptilian flood that submerged her home, almost drowning her. Until salvation arrived in the form of her grandson, in a poignant moment that affirmed a debt long owed and finally repaid.

  • Help, scrap metal scavengers have stolen our peace!

    Help, scrap metal scavengers have stolen our peace!

    • Residents lament activities of thieving waste collectors

    The scrap metal and iron collection business appears to be booming as many unemployed youths have taken to it to keep themselves busy. As good as the development may seem, many communities are groaning under the weight of the unwholesome activities of some unscrupulous elements among these scrap metal and iron collectors. GBENGA ADERANTI writes on the burden that many of them constitute to many communities where they operate.

    It was a typical Monday morning, and Mr. Adetokunbo Johnson, a resident of Akute, Ogun State, was taking his children to school in his Honda Civic car. Suddenly, he bumped into a ditch and his car got stuck, causing two of his children to sustain slight injuries. He wondered what could have been responsible for the hitch as he walked 360 degrees around the car to see what was amiss.

    After a thorough check, he discovered to his utmost shock that the makeshift iron bridge built across the drainage for easy passage of vehicles had been removed by people suspected to be scrap metal scavengers, known in street parlance as ‘condemned iron man ‘. 

    “I have been taking this route for more than three years and never suspected that anyone would remove the iron bar sustaining the bridge,” a dejected Johnson said.

    Initially thinking that it was the community’s decision to remove the iron, he threatened to sue. But his anger turned to surprise when he learnt that it was one of the scrap metal scavengers that removed the makeshift iron bridge.

    Also narrating his experience, Mr. Gbenga Adeyemi, a resident of Lambe, a suburb of Ogun State recounted how he lost his generator to scrap metal scavengers.

    Lamenting the development, he said: “I kept the generator outside my compound with the main gate of my house locked, not knowing that I was deceiving myself.

    “It was later in the night that I discovered that the generator had disappeared from my compound.”

    It was in the process of investigating how the incident occurred that one of the residents said they saw the generator with a ‘condemned iron’ man. An eyewitness said that when the scrap metal scavenger was accosted, he told the resident that it was Adeyemi who sold the generator to him because it was no longer useful.

    Unfortunately, the resident did not bother to crosscheck his claims with Adeyemi because it was not uncommon in the community for residents to sell their disused iron and metals to scavengers.

    Another resident of Lambe, Destiny Kingsley, is still lamenting his loss a year after his house was invaded by some scrap metal scavengers.

    According to him, he left his house for work on a Monday morning to return on Friday evening as usual only to find that his house had been turned upside down.

    Destiny said: “I was just too tired to take stock of things and there was no light. But the second day, I was shocked at the extent of the heist in my apartment.

    “That was when I realized that I was in big trouble. The three plasma television sets in the bedrooms and the living room had been taken away.

    “The pots and spoons in the kitchen had also all disappeared. All the window curtains had vanished and the DVD player and speakers had all gone.

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    “I suspect that it was not a job done in one day. How would a petty thief take time to pack all those things?”

    The general believe in the community was that the scrap metal scavengers and refuse collectors were responsible for the burglary. And Destiny’s suspicion that his house was burgled by either waste parkers or scrap iron scavengers was confirmed when he later saw an abandoned pair of slippers, sacks and some iron materials synonymous with ones scrap metal scavengers always carry about.

    “Many people in the community used to quarrel with me for being hostile to these undesirable elements.

    “I told them that allowing them to operate freely within the community is dangerous, but they would not listen. Am I not vindicated now?” Destiny asked.

    Most of these scrap metal scavengers are vicious and shrewd. They would damage anything to get their desired iron and metal materials. A video was recently posted on social media highlighting the activities of these iron and metal dealers in the Festac area of Lagos. In the said video, some of the materials used to build barriers on a bridge were seen to have been removed while an attempt was also made to remove some of the iron used in constructing the bridge.

    The reporter once sighted a group of these scavengers at the GRA, Ikeja, Lagos at about 11. 30 pm trying to remove some iron used to prevent plastics and other waste materials from escaping into a major drainage.

    Surprisingly, the average metal scrap dealer looks innocent and incapable of doing any harm. Beneath their facade of innocence, however, is wickedness and greed.

    While they are everywhere seemingly doing the business of buying disused metal and iron materials, those who have experienced their wicked acts would warn that you could only fall for their innocent looks at your own peril. 

    While the communities continue to suffer, losing their belongings to these scavengers, the irritating clinging of metals and irons that wake them up every morning, as a result of the activities of the metal dealers has become a source of concern to many. Resident associations appear helpless as many of their members complain bitterly about the unsolicited melody.

    “It is very irritating seeing someone wake you up as early as 6am with a cacophonic sound of metal and iron,” said Eddy Eboigbe, a resident.

    Yet the challenges are not peculiar to residents of the aforementioned Ogun and Lagos communities. Other states in Nigeria are also battling with the invasion of their communities by scrap iron and metal scavengers.

    But while people like Destiny are opposed to the activities of used metal collectors, other residents are not disposed to stopping them. This is particularly the case with housewives and children who make easy money from disposing of their unwanted metals and irons.

    The reporter also gathered that some of the children of landlords work hand in hand with the thieving scavengers. Narrating how he gets his stocks, one of the scavengers who was caught recently fingered some landlords’ children as part of the deal.

    He said: “It is the children of the landlords in the community that give us information about who and who is around and when to come.

    “And most times when we take these things during the day, we keep them in their house and come back in the night to pick them.

    “Because they know the value of what we have, they collect their share of the loot.”

    In another instance, a scrap metal scavenger arrested after stealing a burglary proof from an uncompleted building Akute, an Ogun community, confessed to buying the ‘condemned iron’ from a resident of an uncompleted building.

    The Nation learnt that the market value of the burglary proof was about N140,000 while the young man sold the material to the vendor for a paltry N10,000.

    In some communities, the fear of the scrap metal scavengers is the beginning of wisdom. The situation has become so bad that many residents have jettisoned the use of iron to cover their drainage; rather, they have resorted to concrete slabs.

    The Nation gathered that in a particular community, all the iron covers of their drainages were stolen within one week.

    A member of the Landlords’ association in one of the communities, who craved anonymity said: “We just woke up one Sunday, and we discovered that no fewer than 20 percent of the iron drainage covers had been removed.

    “Those who did the dirty job must have carried out the operation at dawn. We didn’t take it seriously until we discovered the incident had become rampant.”

    Currently, some of the houses that still have their iron drainage covers intact lock them with keys. Those who have lost theirs and cannot afford concrete slabs cover their drainages with planks.

    Communities in dilemma

    On account of the involvement of landlords’ children, many communities find it difficult to take action when thieving scavengers are caught.

    As a way of stopping the incessant burgling of houses, some landlords’ associations have restricted the number of scrap metal scavengers that could enter their communities. Others have gone a step further by registering them and giving them uniforms. But these are only possible in communities where there are gates.

    More trouble for residents

    It is also worrisome that besides the nuisance they constitute by stealing metals in the community, it is not also uncommon to see these dealers setting up shanties in open places. To worsen matters, the shanties are not accessible to outsiders except they are part of the scrap metal business.

    Only recently, the Ogun State Government demolished their shanties under the bridge being built in Akute. Unfortunately, they are gradually returning to the place.

    “I really don’t know why the government cannot do anything about these scrap metal dealers. They are a nuisance to the community.

    “To make matters worse, they set up their shanties anywhere without anyone challenging them,” said Mr Ajibola Rasheed.

    Turning waste into wealth

    One of the scavengers, Abdul Rabiu, who spoke with our correspondent, said “the business is very profitable because you don’t need money to make money. All that is needed is patience and perseverance.”

    According to him, he gets most of the scrap metals he sells from dust bins and on the road.

    “You won’t appreciate the volume of metals that I pick on the road with magnets. By the time I pack everything together and weigh them, they become money,” he said with excitement.

    He also recalled that most residents pay them to dispose of iron materials that should have been sold to them.

    The flip side is that many residents are becoming hostile because they see the average scavenger as a thief. This, Rabiu said, has really affected the business, though he told The Nation that he makes between N5,000 and N10,000 from picking disused iron materials on a daily basis.

    It was gathered that scrap metal scavengers make millions just by collecting and selling metal waste. At the rate of N800 to N1,000 per kg, a collector could make as much as N7 million from a truckload of aluminum and about N25 million from copper.

    Fortunately for these scrap metal collectors, they buy at giveaway prices and oftentimes pick freely on the road. Little wonder the number of vendors has continued to soar.

    Besides, the business is not regulated as it is an all comer affair. It is a lucrative business in Nigeria because scrap metal collectors have become a source of raw materials for companies that recycle them.  

    According to a report, Nigeria consumes almost 7 million metric tons of metal annually.  As of 2019, the global metal recycling business at large was worth $52.1 billion, and it has been projected to grow as high as $76.1 billion at a massive CAGR of 7.8% within the forecast period of 2020 and 2025.

    The USA stands tall in the metal recycling market. The country exported over 17,000 metric tons of scrap metal in 2019. The US is trailed by Japan (7,657 MT), Canada (4,369 MT), Russia (4,059 MT) and Australia (2,325 MT) in the same market year.

    On the flip side, Turkey remains the biggest importer of scrap metal, with particular attention on steel metal. The Eurasian country imported a whopping 19 million MT of scrap steel alone in 2019. This further underlines the heavy demand for scrap metal all over the world.

    The vocation has provided employment opportunities to many youths who otherwise would have remained unemployed. Irrespective of the nuisance they constitute, many Nigerians will continue to do the business as long as the status quo remains.

    According to a report, report by minesandsteel.gov.ng over 95% of the current steel production in Nigeria is from scrap metal. The scrap metals, after recycling, are a source of raw materials for manufacturing Companies that are into production of household appliances, building tools, vehicles and items as small as drinks can.

    In some communities, the fear of the scrap metal scavengers is the beginning of wisdom. The situation has become so bad that many residents have jettisoned the use of iron to cover their drainages; rather, they have resorted to concrete slabs.

  • Customers groan as banks cut ATM operations, fintechs hasten PoS services

    Customers groan as banks cut ATM operations, fintechs hasten PoS services

    In banking, convenience and security are crucial in securing customers’ trust and satisfaction. But, sadly, these key elements are eluding customers, as banks are phasing out Automated Teller Machine (ATM) services by restricting customers’ access to cash.  Fintech-led Point of Sale (PoS) terminals are fast replacing ATMs. Reason-ATMs are either out of service, or programmed to dispense less cash than needed. The 22,600 ATMs, as against 26.54 million registered PoS terminals nationwide clearly shows that cash services demand is swinging to PoS terminals. Assistant Business Editor, COLLINS NWEZE captures the paradigm shift from ATMs to PoS services and premium prices that cardholders pay to access cash.

    As 35-year-old lawyer Zainab Okosun pushed through the crowd at the popular Mile 12 Market in Lagos, she headed straight to the food and beverages section. It took her nearly two hours, to assemble yams, plantain bunches, pears, vegetables, tomatoes, pepper and other food items for the month. In the midst of her struggles, one question kept agitating her mind. Where do I get cash to pay for these items?

     Okosun quickly called one of the PoS operators, who had been following her asking if she needed cash. “Please, come. I need to make N80, 000 withdrawal,” she beckoned. Should I add the charges? The PoS operator enquired. “Add the charges” Okosun replied. Within five seconds, Okosun’s account was debited N82, 400 through her debit card, and N80, 000 cash was successfully handed over to her to pay the food vendors.

     Okosun, who has now learnt “how not to look for cash” narrated how she spent nearly three hours in ATM queue during her previous visit to the market a year ago. She explained: “Before now, cardholders that needed cash always ask for the nearest ATM points. That has since changed. Cardholders’ first point of call when they are in need of cash is to ask for a PoS operator, usually available at nearly every one-minute drive across major cities nationwide.”

    Findings showed that a growing number of ATMs across banks’ branches have been “temporarily unable to dispense cash” or “out of service” for months. At a number of bank branches, a few ATMs with cash are disabled late in the day and during weekends.  Unfortunately, the banks and financial sector regulators- the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC)- seem not to be doing much to reverse the trend.

    Hard times for ATM users, PoS services surge

    Overall, the ATM business in Nigeria is facing its most difficult times due to the high cost of maintenance, growing adoption of other banking channels, foreign exchange crisis, galloping inflation, insecurity, and uncertainty in the ATM policy environment, all of which are driving investors away from the market.

    However, PoS terminal operators and kiosks managers are taking over the market, stepping in to make cash available to customers at premium prices. Data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) showed that the number of PoS terminals registered in Nigeria as of August 2024 reached 26.54 million, with transactions reaching N6.23 trillion in the first seven months of this year.

    Daily earnings from a PoS business vary depending on the location, the number of customers, and the services provided. Potential earnings range from N5, 000 to N50, 000 or more, depending on one’s business strategy and execution. With a well-planned and executed business model, the PoS operator can achieve significant daily earnings.

    Charges for the service is determined solely by PoS operators, depending on the cost of cash, where and when the cash is needed, time of request and sometimes, mood of the operator. Tinuke Adebola, a PoS Aggregator based in Lagos, said banks are no longer investing in ATMs because it is not only expensive but comes with a lot of stress.

    She said: “PoS terminals are taking over the financial landscape. Banks are not ready to absorb rising costs of maintaining ATM terminals that require power, security, cash movement; cash handling charges and so on. Banking is profit-driven and ATM terminals are no longer meeting the profit needs of banks.”

    She said: “We buy cash from business owners and then dispense to cardholders. This is one of the reasons why some PoS operators charge higher fees than others. It all depends on charges from the Fintechs that supply the machines and access to cash.”

    Another PoS Aggregator, based in Central Lagos, Oloye Adigun, said that network quality, availability of PoS machines and cost of the machines are crucial in the business. He disclosed that: “Outright PoS machine (smart version) purchase costs N110,000 while the button version costs N65,000; lease costs N45,000 for smart version, while the button brand costs N25,000.”

    He said bills payment, bank to bank  transfer, cash receipts and payment to third parties, among others are key transactions carried out with PoS machines. In the highly populated areas of Lagos, Ogun and Abuja, charges are usually moderate- usually N100 for N5, 000 and N200 for N10, 000 transactions given that operators rely on turnover for gains.

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    In areas like Olambe, Akute, area of Ogun State, for instance, customers pay as much as N300 for a N5,000 withdrawal and N500 for N10,000. However, in high-brow areas like Ikoyi and Victoria Garden City, people pay up to N500 for N5, 000 and N1, 000 for N10, 000.

    This thriving business empire is dominated by top three Fintech players- Moniepoint, Palmpay and O’Pay. National President, Association of Mobile Money & Bank Agents in Nigeria, Fassai Atanda, said PoS is execution of financial sector’s agenda on financial inclusion. He said that over 300 local governments in Nigeria are without bank branches, even as the largest transactions are happening in the informal sector. He said the PoS agents are meant to bridge the financial exclusion gap in the informal sector.

    For Atanda, the mobile money industry has created over two million jobs, with 40 per cent of that number being agent bankers- PoS merchants.

    According to Executive Director of Inlaks, the largest ATM operator in the country, Tope Dare, Nigeria requires about 60,000 ATMs to meet up with its growing population of 216 million people and a banking population of 106 million adults.

    In a report, he explained that given that there are only 22, 600 active ATMs, a deficit of about 37, 400 ATMs still exists in the country. Also, 17,200 ATMs representing 76 per cent of the total ATMs in Nigeria are deployed by eight banks. Access Bank has over 4,000 ATMs, First Bank has about 3,300, UBA has 2,150 ATMs, Zenith has 2,100 ATMs, GTBank has 1800 ATMs, FCMB has 1,350, Polaris has 1300, and Union has 1,200.

    Further data from Inlaks showed that Nigeria had 7,100 ATMs in 2010, which grew to 11,000 ATMs in 2011 after the CBN directed the removal of the offsite ATMs by banks. The offsite management role was given to independent ATM deployers. That move failed after ATM deployers complained about rising cost of running the business and declining profitability.

    The CBN restrictions on offsite ATM deployment were eventually lifted, allowing banks to invest more in the business. That prompted the number of ATMs to grow from 11,000 in 2011 to 16,000 in 2016 and 21,000 in 2019. It further grew to 22,600 in 2021, with the figure remaining at same level till date.

    According to Dare, the emergence of PoS terminals, mobile app transfers, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), and other alternative e-payment channels has reduced investors’ interest in ATMs.

    Understanding the PoS business

    Many of the PoS operators gave insights on the mode of operation of the enterprise. Maureen Adike-Tajudeen, a PoS operator at Eleko Market, Ibeju-Lekki Lagos, said he gave one PoS machine to each of his three employees, with each employee delivering N14, 000 on weekly basis. He described the PoS business as thriving.

    “Each of my three employees gets one PoS machine, N200, 000 credit in the machine and N200, 000 cash. Each of them delivers N14, 000 weekly profits and retains the principal cash and credit, for the next week’s transactions,” she disclosed.

    According to her, profitability in the business keeps getting higher as banks gradually abandon regular loading of cash in ATMs.

    “For most cardholders, after frequent checks and no cash to withdraw from ATMs, their next option is to look for PoS terminals. Many cardholders don’t even bother to check the ATMs anymore and that means more business for us,” Adike-Tajudeen narrated.

    According to her, many cardholders only go to the ATMs to make transfers, check account balances or rectify failed e-payment transactions, adding that one will hardly find cash in those machines.

    Another PoS operator, Munsurat Abiodun, works at PGas petrol station, in Epe Lagos. Although Abiodun is not in a market environment like Adike-Tajudeen, she has turned petrol stations where she conducts the business, to a goldmine. Abiodun said the business thrives better when there are long queues in filling stations, and the petrol attendants, working with her, usually refuse to accept bank transfers or use the official PoS machines.

    “What I do is simply to move from one car to the other, and get the drivers to use the PoS machine. The feedback is always instant and positive. I debit their accounts with the cards and hand them the cash after taking my fees,” she stated. The cash with the petrol attendants is later moved back to the PoS operator, to resume new round of transactions.

    At the LIBRA Motor, God Is Good, Intercity Travels, motor parks in Ajah, Ibeju-lekki Lagos, PoS operators were seen at almost corner making cash available to travelers to pay for their trips.

    Michael Obinna, who was traveling from Lagos to Port Harcourt, lamented his experience and how he was forced to patronise the PoS operators.

    “Despite having major banks’ branches-FirstBank, Zenith Bank, FCMB, Access Bank and Fidelity Bank, among others within the vicinity, none of the banks’ ATMs were dispensing cash. My only option was to use the PoS machine. I paid N700 for N35, 000 cash needed for my trip from Lagos to Port Harcourt,” Obinna narrated.

    Continuing, he said: “This same challenge is everywhere; whether it is from Lagos to Port Harcourt, Lagos to Abuja; Enugu to Jos among others. I will still pay another N700 or even more to get cash for my return trip to Lagos.

    Other bank customers, who spoke with The Nation, said the practice of forcing customers to buy naira with naira was disturbing. Eniola Daniel, an Abuja-based student, said: “I feel commercial banks in Nigeria intentionally refuse to load ATMs with cash so that people will go to PoS operators. The banks should close the ATMs if they don’t want to load them with cash.”

    Taking to her X (formerly Twitter) handle, she lamented that banks handing over cash transaction business to PoS operators is troubling. “No money in ATM machines but PoS operators around the banks have cash and no one is talking,” she said.

    Another bank customer based in Onitsha Main Market, Anambra State, Ikenna Ahamefuna, corroborated Obinna’s experience. He said: “At the Upper Iweka in Onitsha, PoS operators are in every corner of the market.  These agents are able to provide various services from withdrawal, deposit, money transfer, electricity bill payments to checking of account balances at a fee.”

    Ahamefuna disclosed that even business owners with large cash turnover also have banner showing they also provide PoS services.

    More views from stakeholders

     President, Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, Uju Ogubunka, said banking is fast becoming what one does and not where one goes to. “Brick/mortar banking, is giving way to digital banking where transactions are completed in seconds, saving costs and providing convenience to bank customers. Consumers are looking for simple technology-driven solutions customised to meet their everyday needs,” he said.

    Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, acknowledged the role of players in the informal space. “We can all remember during the COVID-19 lockdown and the recent currency changes, there were a lot of challenges and we saw mobile money agents come together and save the country at that point,” he said.

    Managing Director, Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, Babatunde Olofin, said operators in informal businesses show high degree of flexibility and innovation exhibited in adapting quickly to changing market conditions.

    Managing Director, PalmPay Nigeria, Chika Nwosu, emphasised the company’s commitment to financial inclusion “At PalmPay, we aim to bridge the gap in digital access. Our platform ensures seamless connectivity for our users. The company has been a key driver of financial inclusion in Nigeria, with a third of PalmPay users reporting that they opened their first-ever financial account through the platform,” he said.

    Regulatory oversight/recommendations for growth

    An Executive of the Research and Policy Department, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Kabir Katata, said, digitisation has changed financial services landscape. To him, Fintechs are latching on clear evidence that consumer behaviour and expectations of service and experience are changing.

    He said: “Multiple technologies poised to drive the next wave of financial services are converging in maturity. Fintech threatens to disrupt financial markets with the banks taking the threats like the loss of control, the emergence of a non-regulated environment, market fragmentation, and loss of revenue—very seriously.”

    Katata said while many banks have been able to retain their customers through traditional channels and digital service offerings, recent shifts are threatening the customer base of banks yet to key into it. Even long-term banking relationship at traditional banks, he added, is susceptible to disruption.

    But the CBN under its Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, says it has taken steps to increase the regulation of Fintechs and will not in any way, stifle innovation.

    The apex bank says that digital innovations ranging from self-service technologies like cell phones, online and mobile banking, Artificial Intelligence, big data, blockchain technology, distributed ledgers, among others, have greatly challenged orthodox systems and helped improve the operational efficiency of financial institutions as they respond to customer demands for more innovative services.

    Recognising the growing importance of consumer protection in an increasingly digital financial landscape, Cardoso embarked on a comprehensive review of consumer protection regulations in February 2024. This review sought to upgrade the regulatory framework to address emerging risks posed by the rapid growth of Fintech and digital banking solutions.

    The goal was to enhance customer service standards and increasing engagement with formal financial institutions, ensuring that consumers have access to reliable, efficient, and secure financial services.

    For analysts, there was need to foster greater trust between the banking sector and the Nigerian public to ensure business and economic growth.

    They believe that by strengthening the regulatory framework, the CBN is supposed to provide a more secure environment for consumers, while encouraging more Nigerians to engage with formal financial institutions, thereby promoting financial inclusion.

    For instance, the Pilot Consumer Protection Risk-Based Examination, designed to proactively identify policy gaps and improve conduct among financial institutions (FIs) should be implemented to the letter.

    This risk-based approach, unlike traditional compliance checks, will further help the CBN to highlight urgent risks that could compromise consumer protection. It will also encourage financial institutions to adopt higher standards of conduct, thereby enhancing consumer confidence.

    To reinforce these efforts, the CBN should rigorously enforce sanctions for regulatory breaches, ensuring that financial institutions adhere to ethical practices and uphold transparency. By holding institutions accountable, the CBN would underscore its commitment to protecting consumer rights and fostering trust in the banking system.

  • Leveraging tax reforms to overhaul Nigeria’s revenue system

    Leveraging tax reforms to overhaul Nigeria’s revenue system

    President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday transmitted four Bills to both chambers of the National Assembly. The Bills are part of his administration’s broader effort to reshape Nigeria’s fiscal landscape and boost government revenue in an economy that has long been heavily reliant on oil. Already, deliberations on the proposed reforms have started after Senate President Godswill Akpabio read Tinubu’s letter of request on the floor of the Red Chamber. However, the proposed changes have sparked a national conversation among various stakeholders about their potential impact on businesses, consumers, and the overall economy. Assistant Editor NDUKA CHIEJINA looks at the four Bills, exploring their objectives, key provisions, and the reactions they have generated.

    The President Bola Tinubu-led administration is leaving nothing to chance in its quest to reform Nigeria’s tax regime. With the transmission of four Bills to both chambers of the National Assembly on Thursday, the President left no one in doubt of his resolve to leverage reforms to modernize the nation’s tax administration, broaden the tax base, and ensure a more equitable distribution of the tax burden among Nigerians.

    The four Bills, which are part of his administration’s broader effort to reshape Nigeria’s fiscal landscape and boost government revenue in an economy that has long been heavily reliant on oil, come as the Federal Government seeks to address a widening fiscal deficit, rising debt levels, and the need for funding critical infrastructure and social services.

    The game-changing Bills include Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) Establishment Bill, Nigeria Tax Bill, Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill. The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) Establishment Bill proposed a rebranding of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), renaming it as the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).

    According to a former staff member of the FIRS, the word “Federal” in the FIRS name gives the impression that the Service only handles federal tax and revenue matters. However, with “Nigeria” in its name, the NRS would be positioned to handle taxes and revenue collection across all tiers of government—federal, state, and local—creating a unified tax administration system across the country.

    The Bill renames the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), symbolizing a broader scope of responsibility. The NRS would be responsible for assessing, collecting, and accounting for all revenues accruing to the Nigerian Government, at both the federal and sub-national levels. This includes taxes that were previously the purview of state and local governments.

    The Service is expected to create a centralized system that integrates tax collection from multiple levels of government, reducing administrative overlap and creating more transparency in revenue management. The NRS will likely leverage modern technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, to streamline tax collection, enhance compliance, and combat tax evasion more effectively.

    The Nigeria Tax Bill, on the other hand, is a sweeping piece of legislation that seeks to provide a consolidated fiscal framework for taxation in Nigeria. This Bill aims to streamline tax collection by centralizing the process under a single agency, thus reducing the fragmentation that has characterized Nigeria’s tax system for years.

    Under this framework, various revenue-generating agencies, such as the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and others, would focus on their primary functions while relinquishing their revenue collection duties to a specialized agency equipped for this role.

    The goal is to create a more coordinated, efficient, and transparent system for revenue collection across the country. By consolidating tax administration and removing the revenue collection functions from multiple agencies, the government hopes to eliminate redundancies, minimize leakages, and improve accountability in the management of public funds.

    The third Bill in the series of President Tinubu’s tax reform proposals is the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill. This Bill is pivotal in establishing a clear and concise legal framework to ensure the fair, consistent, and efficient administration of all tax laws across the country.

    The overarching objective of this Bill is to enhance the ease of tax compliance for individuals and businesses, reduce the incidence of tax disputes, and optimize revenue collection for the government. The Bill addresses one of the long-standing issues in Nigeria’s tax system: the complexity and lack of coherence in the administration of tax laws.

    Over the years, taxpayers—especially businesses operating across different regions of the country—have often faced inconsistent enforcement of tax laws, leading to confusion, compliance challenges, and a significant number of disputes between tax authorities and taxpayers.

    The Nigeria Tax Administration Bill will remedy these problems by providing a well-defined and uniform legal framework for the administration of taxes at all levels. It proposes a standardized approach to administering all tax laws in Nigeria, including those governing corporate income tax, personal income tax, value-added tax (VAT), excise duties, and other taxes.

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    The fourth and final Bill, the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, aims to establish critical institutions for the effective harmonization, coordination, and dispute resolution in Nigeria’s revenue administration system.

    This Bill is one of the most strategic in the tax reform agenda, as it seeks to address the structural issues that have long impeded the efficiency and fairness of revenue collection and tax dispute settlement in Nigeria.

    The Bill seeks to establish three pivotal bodies: The Joint Revenue Board; The Tax Appeal Tribunal and The Office of the Tax Ombudsman. Together, these institutions will play a crucial role in streamlining the processes for revenue collection, addressing disputes, and ensuring taxpayers’ grievances are heard and resolved in a timely and equitable manner.

    At the heart of this Bill is the establishment of the Joint Revenue Board (JRB), a coordinating body tasked with harmonizing tax administration across all tiers of government—federal, state, and local.

    One of the persistent challenges in Nigeria’s tax system has been the lack of synergy between the various revenue collection agencies at different levels of government. The JRB is designed to bridge this gap and foster cooperation among these entities to improve revenue mobilisation.

    The Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT), another key institution to be established under this Bill, will serve as the primary forum for resolving tax disputes in Nigeria. Tax disputes have been a significant challenge in Nigeria’s revenue system, often leading to protracted legal battles and delayed revenue collection.

    The establishment of the TAT is intended to provide a specialized mechanism for addressing such disputes in a fair and timely manner. This will not only speed up the dispute resolution process but also ensure that taxpayers and tax authorities have a clear avenue for addressing grievances. The Tribunal will be staffed with tax experts who have a deep understanding of Nigeria’s tax laws and the complexities of tax administration.

    This specialised knowledge will allow the TAT to handle complex tax cases with greater efficiency and accuracy. The TAT will operate as an independent body, ensuring that disputes are resolved fairly and impartially. This is especially important in building trust between taxpayers and tax authorities, as the Tribunal’s rulings will be seen as objective and unbiased.

    The Office of the Tax Ombudsman is another significant innovation introduced in this Bill. The Tax Ombudsman will act as an independent intermediary between taxpayers and tax authorities. It will serve as a voice for taxpayers, ensuring that their concerns and complaints are heard and addressed by the relevant authorities.

    This office will be empowered to investigate complaints related to tax administration, such as unfair treatment by tax officials, delays in processing tax refunds, and other administrative challenges.

    In cases where disputes arise between taxpayers and tax authorities, the Ombudsman will act as a mediator, helping to resolve conflicts before they escalate into formal disputes. This mediation role is seen as a way to reduce the number of cases that end up in the Tax Appeal Tribunal or regular courts.

    The Office of the Tax Ombudsman will also play a key role in promoting transparency and accountability in the tax administration process. By providing an independent oversight mechanism, the Ombudsman will ensure that tax authorities are held accountable for their actions and that taxpayers are treated fairly.

    The Ombudsman will be required to submit an annual report to the National Assembly, outlining the nature of complaints received and how they were resolved. This report will provide valuable insights into the performance of Nigeria’s tax system and highlight areas where improvements are needed. The creation of the Office of the Tax Ombudsman is expected to build trust between taxpayers and tax authorities, as it provides an independent avenue for addressing grievances and ensuring that tax administration is carried out in a transparent and accountable manner.

    Initial reactions to the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill have been largely positive, with many stakeholders viewing the Bill as a necessary step in improving Nigeria’s tax administration system. Tax professionals, in particular, have praised the Bill for its focus on creating specialized institutions for dispute resolution and taxpayer advocacy, which they believe will lead to a more transparent and efficient tax system.

    However, some concerns have been raised about the capacity of the proposed institutions to carry out their mandates effectively. There are questions about the funding and staffing of the JRB, TAT, and the Office of the Tax Ombudsman, as well as the need for extensive training to ensure that these bodies are able to fulfill their roles effectively.

    In transmitting the Tax Reform Bills to the National Assembly, President Tinubu emphasised their importance in reshaping Nigeria’s fiscal framework, particularly in relation to tax administration, revenue collection, and dispute resolution.

    He reiterated that the proposed reforms are not just about renaming institutions or tweaking policies, but about creating a comprehensive and efficient tax system that can drive the nation’s economic growth.

    Tinubu explained that the reform Bills would help achieve several critical objectives: improving taxpayer compliance, strengthening Nigeria’s fiscal institutions, and fostering a more transparent and equitable fiscal regime. He noted that a well-structured tax system is the backbone of any thriving economy and is essential to unlocking Nigeria’s full economic potential.

    His words: “I am confident that the Bills, when passed, will encourage investment, boost consumer spending, and stimulate Nigeria’s economic growth.” Tinubu further pointed out that the consolidation of tax laws, simplification of tax administration, and enhanced dispute resolution mechanisms embedded in these Bills would make it easier for individuals and businesses to comply with tax obligations, which in turn would enhance revenue generation for the government.

    The President also highlighted how the Bills align with his administration’s broader goal of economic reform, particularly in light of the current challenges facing Nigeria, such as inflation, unemployment, and the need for sustainable revenue streams outside of oil.

    He described the Bills as part of a more extensive strategy to create an enabling environment for investment and reduce the burden of taxation on individuals and businesses.

    Other government officials have echoed the President’s optimism regarding the potential impact of these reforms. Finance experts within the administration, as well as the FIRS leadership, are in agreement that the harmonization of tax laws and the establishment of new institutions will not only improve efficiency in revenue collection but also significantly reduce tax evasion and corruption.

    The President’s team has described the Bills as a “game-changer” for Nigeria’s fiscal policy, offering long-term benefits that could transform Nigeria’s economy by ensuring that revenue flows are more predictable, transparent, and capable of meeting the country’s development needs.

    The reaction from the public, business community and economic experts to the proposed Tax Reform Bills has been largely positive. Many see the reforms as a much-needed intervention to streamline Nigeria’s tax system and enhance revenue generation.

    Key stakeholders have noted that for too long, Nigeria’s tax collection system has been burdened with inefficiencies, multiple taxations, and a lack of coordination between different agencies. These Bills, they argue, offer a path toward resolving these issues.

    Despite the overwhelming support, some concerns have been raised. A few critics argue that the success of these reforms will depend heavily on the government’s ability to implement them effectively. They warn that unless the new institutions are well-funded, well-staffed, and given the necessary independence to carry out their mandates, the benefits of the reforms may not be fully realised.

  • AfCFTA reignites push for stronger Nigeria-South Africa cooperation

    AfCFTA reignites push for stronger Nigeria-South Africa cooperation

    In recent times, the socioeconomic relationship between Nigeria and South Africa has been everything but rosy, especially at the citizens-to-citizens level. The two continental giants have been at each other’s jugular over the rising spate of social media and xenophobic attacks, which hurts economic and business relations between them. This has prompted renewed push by experts in international relations and diplomacy, including government officials and the academia for closer and deeper collaboration and cooperation between the two countries in order to fully harness the bountiful opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. This was the kernel of discussion at a reception organised for MTN Media Innovation Programme (MIP) Fellows at the Thabo Mbeki Foundation Office, Johannesburg, South Africa. LUCAS AJANAKU, who was there, reports.

    It’s an idea whose time has come. More than three years after trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement kicked off, creating the largest free trade area in the world, a conversation around strengthening the collaboration between Nigeria and South Africa could not have come at a better time.

    Indeed, the consensus of experts in international relations and diplomacy is that the benefits embedded in the AfCFTA, which seeks to connect 1.3 billion people across 54 African countries with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) valued at over $3.5 trillion, may not be fully harnessed if cooperation and collaboration between Nigeria and South Africa, two of the continental giants, is not strengthened.

    At present, the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa is everything but rosy. While the state-to-state relationship between the two continental giants remains strong, the same cannot be said of the citizens-to-citizens relationship.

    Yet, in the context of the continental trading bloc, whose practical implementation officially commenced on January 1, 2021, committing African countries to removing tariffs on 90 per cent of goods and incrementally applies same to services, the huge and passionate youthful population of Nigeria and South Africa is considered an asset and the envy of others whose population are largely dominated by the ageing.

    The Deputy Director-General, Public Diplomacy at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Clayson Monxela, put the urgent need to foster stronger collaboration and cooperation between Nigeria and South Africa in perspective. Without mincing words, he said the African continent will move forward when Nigeria and South Africa collaborate, pointing out that the voices of the two countries are louder on the global stage.

    “Those who think we are competing need mental treatment. Africa’s agenda will not make progress if the two countries don’t collaborate,” Monxela stated. He was among government officials and the academia who spoke during an interactive session with MTN MIP Fellows in South Africa, recently.

    hosted by the Deputy Minister in the Presidency of the Republic of South Africa with SANEF and MIP Fellows at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Pretoria, South Africa, Monxela stressed the need for Nigeria and South Africa to come together and harness the opportunities thrown on their path by their youthful populations.

    While noting that the state-to-state relationship between the two continental giants remains strong, the renowned South African diplomat lamented that the relationship between people is not cordial and needs to be mended.

    Former South African President Thabo Mbeki could not agree less. “The relationship between Nigeria and South Africa need sorting,” he declared during a visit to the Thabo Mbeki Foundation Office in Johannesburg, recalling the rosy relationship between the two countries that gave birth to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), an economic development programme of the African Union (AU), and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an instrument for AU member states to voluntarily self-monitor their governance performance.

    While NEPAD was adopted by the AU at the 37th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia, APRM was established in 2003 by NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC).

    However, the impact and influence of these two pan-Africanist development instruments of the AU appear to have waned, partly due to the frosty relationship between the two continental giants and the comatose state of the AU Commission. Mbeki, however, said a stronger cooperation between the two countries has become a compelling proposition if the continent must make meaningful impact on the global stage.

    The octogenarian, while pointing out that the dream of NEPAD and APRM remains alive, lamented that the waning spirit of pan-Africanism among the leaders on the continent, saying: “If you talk to people about this, you are talking to people who don’t have pan-Africanism in their blood.” This, according to him, is contrary to the spirit behind the formation of the AU.

    Justifying his position that stronger cooperation between the two countries has become inevitable, the 82-year-old elder statesman emphasised the importance of the free movement of goods and services in the spirit of AfCFTA which negotiations and implementation are overseen by a permanent secretariat based in Accra, Ghana.

    He noted, for instance, that free movement of people across the continent is a vital element in the successful implementation of the AfCFTA, adding that the trade liberalisation pact, if fully implemented, will enhance the well-being of people on the Continent.

    Mbeki sure hit the bull’s eye. Sometime last year, the Acting Director of the Private Sector Development and Finance Division at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Dr Robert Lisinge, said African citizens need to maximise the benefits from their land and its resources by taking advantage of enhanced trade under the AfCFTA to boost sustainable development.

    As Lisinge put it “AfCFTA holds the potential to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty and boost Africa’s income by $450 billion while connecting 1.3 billion people.”

    Interestingly, Nigeria is not averse to deepening her socio-economic relationship with the Rainbow Nation, as South Africa is popularly called. At the Nigeria House in Pretoria, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency, Ambassador Alexander Ajayi, recounted what he termed as “The long-standing relationship between both countries, especially during the apartheid era”, stressing that it must be strengthened.

    He said Nigeria was the first to establish full-fledged diplomatic relations with South Africa after the collapse of the apartheid regime, a campaign for which Nigeria became a frontline state because of her stance on the emancipation of the continent.

    Ambassador Ajayi restated Nigeria’s position that Africa shall remain the centrepiece of Nigeria’s foreign policy. Like Mbeki, he said there is more work to be done to fix the generational disconnect between the youth of both countries, particularly that of South Africa.

    According to him, the youth are ignorant of the role Nigeria played in the emancipation of South Africa during the apartheid era. The envoy, however, said the Bi-National Commission (BNC) formed between the two countries would change the dynamics and deepen the socio-economic relationship between the two countries.

    According to him, there are lessons to take from the South African economy which is heavy on mining while Nigeria largely relies on oil to propel her economy.

    He has an ally in the Deputy Minister in the South African Presidency, His Excellency, Kenneth Morolong, who said South Africa and Nigeria will continue to work together to achieve a peaceful and prosperous continent, adding that the two giants must forge deeper ties. He said both countries are strategic partners in pushing the development of the Continent.

    Morolong, who spoke at a roundtable on “Media’s Influence in Shaping Africa’s Indispensable Relationship: Nigeria and South Africa,” said the two countries remain committed to the AU agenda. He also emphasised the need to silence the divisive narrative of the contest between the two countries, stating: “This narrative is divisive and should be silenced. We must forge ahead together to achieve the Africa we want.”

    He also highlighted the significance of the BNC, established in 1999, which has led to the signing of 34 agreements and memoranda of understanding between the two countries. Morolong further stated that without a cordial relationship between South Africa and Nigeria at the social, economic and political level, it will be a huge problem for pan-Africanism.

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    “Africa is diverse with different communal living, but a joint Africa is crucial. However, ensuring that South Africa-Nigeria relations thrive is as important to the rest of the continent,” the Deputy Minister in the South African Presidency said.

    Caging the monster of social media/xenophobic attacks

    One thing that sticks out like a sour thumb in Nigeria-South Africa relations is the embarrassing spate of social media and xenophobic attacks believed to be perpetrated mostly by Generation Z, or Gen Zs, who are unaware of the history of the two countries.

    The Gen Z identity has been particularly shaped largely by the digital age, climate anxiety, a shifting financial landscape and COVID-19. These are the generation who are permanently glued to the internet, especially social media where all manner of trolls exist.

    Ambassador Ajayi, however, said everything is being done to ensure cohesion and synergy between the two countries, including a social cohesion dialogue. He said, for instance, that the mischievous viral video that was circulated during the visit of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to South Africa for the inauguration of President Cyril Ramaphosa was malicious and calculated to embarrass the two countries.

    Dismissing the insinuation that Tinubu was buried in the crowd, he clarified that in South Africa’s new protocol, the front row is usually reserved for traditional chiefs, adding that Ramaphosa sort of breached protocol by going to shake hands with dignitaries while he had not finished the swearing-in formalities and had to be hurriedly invited by the compere to complete the exercise.

    “President Ramaphosa came to meet our President in his hotel the following day and the two leaders had fruitful discussions,” Ajayi said. His counterpart, South Africa’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, His Excellency, Mr. Thami Mseleku, said the video was doctored by President Tinubu’s detractors, insisting that the relationship between the two countries remained cordial.

    On his part, the Chairman of MTN Group Limited, Mr. Mcebisi Jonas, spoke about what he described as ‘demographic anxiety’ that arose from the widening gap between the rich and the poor which has bred inequality in the polity, making the rich richer and the poor poorer. He also spoke about the rise of social media which has given vent to the dissemination of fake news. He said demographic anxiety could find expression in xenophobic attacks.

    Jonas said demographic anxiety fuels xenophobia. His words: “Demographic anxiety could find expression in xenophobia. Recall that one of the political parties in the last election used border closure as a campaign, saying the country will be closed to foreigners taking their jobs.” He, therefore, said among other things, that the government must create a centre at the political level and call for a national dialogue, champion inclusiveness, create jobs in the digital economy, and grow the economy in all spheres.

    The MTN Group Chairman also called for major structural reform programmes while training the youth and creating new jobs to keep them engaged. He said: “We need to have structural reform programmes. We have to take growth seriously in transformation. We are a grossly unequal society, so the focus should be on how to grow the economy and end inequality.”

    While pointed out that the current South African structure thrives on capitalised wealth distribution, he insisted that the continent must satisfy the poor and unemployed as well.

    The Head of Programme of African Governance and Diplomacy, South African Institute of International Affairs, (SANIIA), at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Steven Gruzd, could not agree less with the MTN chair. He said the triple evils bedeviling the country are unemployment, poverty and inequality, adding that the country is currently reeling under skills deficit even as it is equally a herculean task getting work permit for foreign skilled workers.

    The Programme Director said about 50 per cent of the graduates in the country have no jobs. He said after living in denial, the South African government is finally coming to terms with xenophobia, which is spurred by misinformation and the rise of social media. Gruzd noted, however, that some arrests have been made in the past of criminals and the culprits turned out to be Nigerians. This, he quickly added, is not to say that all Nigerians living in South Africa are criminals.

    Gruzd said efforts should be made to get people into paid employment while those who want to do private jobs should be spared of corruption and red tape that have characterised the approval process.

    On ethnic stalking in African politics, Jonas said it does not serve any national interest; rather it is divisive and selfish, adding that it’s being used by people and political parties to chase agenda during elections.

    He said: “There is a lot of ethnic stalking going on in African politics. It is only selfish and does not serve the national interest. Ethnic stalking must be stopped because it is divisive. There must be a renaissance and a deliberate policy to promote national interest far ahead of regional interest.”

    Role of media

    Mbeki acknowledged the role of the media in reporting issues in the Continent. He said African media needed to know Africa, both the good and the bad, noting that it is a tool for the continent’s rebirth. “Media is an important tool to raise the consciousness about unity in diversity among countries. Free movement of the people; better cooperation, the media has the strength to put the people on the common peaceful platform,” he said.

    Continuing, the former South African helmsman said: “It is not to reinvent the wheel but to reinforce what the African continent needs to do. The media, as the fourth estate of the realm, has a huge responsibility in shaping views and narratives about Africa.”

    Morolong also acknowledged the power and role of the media in shaping the narrative of Africa’s indispensable relationship, quoting Malcolm X who said “The media is the most powerful entity on earth… it has the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power.” He, therefore, urged media practitioners to utilise their power effectively to enhance relations between South Africa and Nigeria, promoting collaboration that benefits the entire continent.

    Jonas, who was a former South Africa Deputy Finance Minister, recalled that it was pan-Africanism that birthed the support being given to the media by MTN Nigeria to tell the all-important stories and improve the quality and flow of information. “The quality of dissemination of information in the continent has become an important dimension. In a democracy, when there is no flow of information, it doesn’t only affect the economy of the continent but the democracy too,” he said.

    For the media, Jonas said business owners must think of how to make the media attractive to investors, just as he charged journalists, including the MIP cohort, not to be bendable and easily influenced by ‘envelopes’ but by ethics. He also posited that the growth of digital media and shrinking operational assets can be averted if the media makes itself bankable and attracts the right kind of investments.

    Since social media appeared to be the battle turf for xenophobic attacks, representatives of the two countries agreed on the need to also maintain a formidable social media presence to counter the negative narratives being pushed by elements within the two countries hell bent on causing division.

  • Battle for Edo: who succeeds Obaseki?

    Battle for Edo: who succeeds Obaseki?

    Many factors will shape Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State. These include the strength of the political parties and their candidates, performance of Governor Godwin Obaseki and people’s perception, zoning or rotation of the slot and other local issues. Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the battle for the Osadebey House.

    It is decision time in Edo State. On Saturday, voters are expected to troop out to choose among three candidates: Asue Ighodalo (Peoples Democratic Party), Monday Okpebholo (All Progressives Congress (APC) and Olumide Akpata (Labour Party).

    Eighteen parties are participating at the exercise. But the candidates of the remaining 15 platforms are spectators. Also, local issues will determine how far the candidates can garner votes from the constituencies and local governments. This is ctitical because the expectations of the various ethnic groups,  councils, constituences and senatorial districts differ.

    Ahead of the poll, there have been defections. These may alter, to an extent, the voting pattern of the environment. The perception of many stakeholders about the current administration in the state will be a major factor. Infrastructual deficits have raised complaints about insensitivity to public welfare. Unfulfilled yearnings may spur some protest votes. There would also be pressure on stalwarts to package last minute interventions, reassure on broken promises and make new pledges to swing the votes.

    The pressure would be more felt by the governor whose succession plan may hit the rocks, if he sleeps on guard. Yet, other parties are threatening a showdown.

    Prediction should be with caution because of intervening variables not planned for. The two bigger parties, APC and PDP, are on a familiar terrain, having won and lost power in the state. The chieftains on both sides are not new to one another, having collaborated at one point or the other before the parting of ways. They are also conversant with their strengths and weaknesses.

    Four years ago, there was division in the APC. Today, the party is more united. Unlike APC, PDP has not remained the same. It is polarised, with the section of the chapter, led by Dan Orbih, spoiling for a pound of fresh. There are many actors in Edo who believe that the election provides a veritable opportunity for political vengeance.

    The three flagbearers are household names in the state. Ighodalo, a financial expert and lawyer, is a topflight technocrat. He is not a core politician, but he has been identified with the Godwin Obaseki administration in the last seven years the same way Obaseki was closely linked with Adams Oshiomhole, when he was governor.

    Okpebholo, a grassroots politician, is very popular in his party and the Central District, which voted him as senator during last year’s election. He is not flamboyant. But, party insiders described him as an aggressive mobiliser with knack for results.

    Akpata is from the illustrious Akpata family in Benin city, which is his main base. The family has produced eminent Nigerians in many field of endeavours, including Chief Tayo Akpata, an excellent administrator, and Justice Ephraim Akpata, jurist and former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    A lawyer, the younger Akpata rose to national prominence when he became the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (APC), defeating legal giants and Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) who bidded for the position.

    He is generally perceived as an accidental politician on the borrowed platform of LP. For months, Akpata’s media campaigns have been on, but there is nothing to suggest that he is wooing more converts to complement the meagre voting strength of the scattered and noisy Obedients, who are perpetually full of bravado.

    Akpata is copying Oshiomhole’s style in his bid to rise to political stardom. Oshiomhole was a man of national stature as president of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC). He was able to ride on that profile to the Osadebey Government House.

    In the same vein, Akpata wants to take Edo by storm, leaning on his credentials as NBA president. Like Oshiomhole, he is articulate. He is also sensitive to the fact that youths are clamouring for paradigm shift and rejection of the old order represented by APC, an offshoot of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and the PDP, which was displaced in 2007, only to bounce back four years ago due to the split in the APC. Akpata exhibits the behavour of youths in his choice of dress code, dancing and invoking anger against the entrenched forces. He seems to be up and doing. But, his albatross is his weak platform.

    However, the poll appears partly to be a hot contest between two rival godfathers, Oshiomhole and Obaseki. Both are the chief campaigners and their candidates are under their shadows.

    Oshiomhole had fallen from the olympian height of national chairman, following a plot orchestrated by Obaseki. The governor defected to PDP and still retained power, assisted by some APC elements who were disposed to undermining their party.

    Saturday is the return match. Will the forces that teamed up with the governor in solidarity resurface to repeat their support for his candidate, Ighodalo?

    Security is a bone of contention. The PDP has declined to sign the peace accord, to the consternation of the National Peace Committee headed by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, former military Head of State. While Obaseki has doubted police neutrality, APC has also rejected the Edo State Security Network, alleging that it is a tool for witch-hunting political opponents.

    There have been arguments about the lamguage of communication by the candidates. According to analysts, Ighodalo is speaking a corporate English meant for the corporate world while Okpebolo is speaking the language undrestood by the grassroots.

    It is gratifying that the three political parties are not basing their calculations on the prospects of vote buying, which is not likely to be a serious factor that would shape the poll.

    How the parties stand

    PDP

    In the beginning, Edo was a PDP state. Its rivals were the defunct All Nigera Progressive Party (ANPP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD). But, they could not match the PDP, which prided the state as its stronghold, particularly between 1999 and 2007 when Lucky Igbinedion was governor. He was succeeded by Prof. Sunday Osunbor, who was booted out by the court, following a protracted post-election litigation.

    Power slipped from PDP in 2007. But the stolen mandate was finally restored to Oshiomhole in 2008. 

    In 2018, PDP bounced back when Obaseki defected to the fold. The governor was relected on the platform. As the ruling party, PDP enjoys power of incumbency. Key functionaries of government-commissioners, lawmakers, heads of boards and parastatals and council chairmen and councillors-belong to the party. The party has tentacles across the three senatorial districts.

    It is well known at the grassroots.

    However, the PDP is battling with a diminishing strength. Indeed, PDP of past years is not the PDP of today. Obaseki’s defection to the party sparked crisis. Those he met in the party raised eyebrow over harmonisation of the party structures. The question arose over whether the defectors from rhe APC should claim the governorship and deputy governorship tickets. Obaseki insisted that his now estranged deputy from APC, Phillip Shaibu, should be his running mate. The house was divided. Reconciliation, since then, failed. Former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who is the pillar of support for the Orbih group, cried foul, saying that the tax collectors could not redeem their promise on equitable power sharing.

    Desirous of taking back the state from the APC, the party gave its ticket to Obaseki after a protracted negotiation brokered by Wike, who prevailed on the PDP leaders to accept the governor. The collaboration made the PDP chapter stronger. Backed by the Federal Govement of President Muhammadu Buhari and most APC governors who were not happy with Oshiomhole for denying Obaseki the givernorship ticket, PDP won the 2020 election.

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    But the picture of PDP now contrasts sharply with its 2020 stamina. The party is a shadow of itself. The opposition in the state now sarcastically refer to the PDP as Obaseki Democratic Party ( ODP). They point to the aloofness of its erstwhile dynamic chairman, Orbih and other chieftains as proof of the dwindling fortunes for the once virile party.

    Defections have taken their tolls on the chapter.  Observers cite the exit of  Senator Matthew Urhoghide, Ogbeide Ihama, Phillip Shaibu, among many other prominent politicians from the party, as proof of the downward slide. Although the governor’s media handlers say the claim that the PDP is not as formidable as it was in 2020 as exaggerated, the reality is that many of its key members of that era are either working openly or discreetly for the APC.

    Obaseki is being deserted by experienced hands whose strategies contributed to victory in the past. No appropriate replacement is filling the void.

    LP:

    Until 2023, the LP was a fringe party in Edo. A feature of the party is its availability for emergency suitors. Oshiomhole wanted to fly its ticket in 2007, but jettisoned the idea when it dawned on him that the party did not resonate with the grassroots. Although it is projected as the party for workers, civil servants and private workers have never gravitated towards its direction. It is ironic that members of NLC do not relate with LP beyond the claim by the political institue of the union that it founded the party.

     But during last year’s elections, things changed remarkably for the party. The Peter Obi factor changed the dynamics. When the former Anambra State governor called it quits with the PDP, LP offered him a refuge. Youths embraced the party in the state and campaigned for the rejection of what they called the old order ; the old order being the PDP and the PDP.

    In a dramatic manner, LP sprang surprise, winning not only won the presidential election in the state, but was also victorious in  the senatorial election in Edo South.

    In the presidential election, Obi polled a total of 331,163; APC’s Bola Tinubu scored 144,471, Peoples Atiku Abubakar of PDP had 89,585, Rabiu Kwakwanso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) scored 2,743 while the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) scored 4082.

    But the bane of LP is its lack of capacity to manage the achievement, build on it and expand its coast. Its main problem is lack of formidable leadership, and the absence of unity, party discipline and supremacy.

    Between last year and now, a lot has happened. LP’s primary was hotly contested and its outcome rejected by some key figures. The party’s popularity started to wane. LP has demonstrated a colossal lack of experience. It is indifferent to zoning or principle of rotation that guarantees equity and a sense of belonging. The party is being derided for being insensitive to certain factors that normally shape governorship election in Edo. Acording to observers, the choice of its flag bearer who is from Edo South like Obaseki is faulty. Edo is a heterogeneous state and the popular sentiment in the state is that the next governor should come from the Central Zone. As things stand today in the state, the party may be regarded as a third force, but it is doubtful if it can replicate the feat it recorded in 2023.

    APC:

    APC is waxing stronger. But, it lacks the power of incumbency in the state. However, the factors that aided PDP to retain power four years ago are now to APC’s advantage. Party leaders are exuding confidence, but there is much work to be done.

    APC is popular across the three districts. It is a minus that it is the opposition party in Edo. But, it is a plus that it is the ruling party at the national level where the real power resides.

    Oshiomhole has boasted that the power of incumbency at the state level will crumble because APC forces in the state are determibed to achieve power shift. So far, APC has been the major beneficiary of defections in this season. Many see the defection of Omosede Igbinedion as a plus for the APC.  She is eyeing the seat of Denis Idahosa in the House of Representatives, if he is elected as deputy governor on Saturday.

    Other parties:

    Other smaller parties that will not make impressive showing are Accord Party, Action Alliance, African Democratic Congress,  All Progressives Grand Alliance, and the Allied Peoples Movement.

    Others are Action Peoples Party, Boot Party, Labour Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, National Rescue Movement, Peoples Democratic Party, Peoples Redemption Party, Social Democratic Party, Young Progressives Party, and Zenith Labour Party.

    Where lies the strength of the Big Three?

    Edo South:

    The senatorial district has 58 per cent of the total voting strength of the state and seven out of the 18 local government areas.

     Benin City, the state capital, is a cosmopolitan city and has three local government areas: Oredo, Ikpoba Okha and Egor. They are heavily populated. In 2020, Obaseki won the three local governments massively and that made the difference. As the son of the soil, his candidature was appealing.

    Now, the governor is not on the ballot and some of those who backed him then are  no longer with him. The APC is stronger today. If ethnicity is a consideration, the LP candidate is another “ a son of the soil,” who will get more attention in the district more than the PDP candidate.

    The three LGAs will be decisive.

    Orhionwon:

    It is a big council and highly populated.  The main issue here is alleged appropriation of community lands by some private investors brought by the state government. Land is a big issue in Edo State. If the locals take their anger to the polls,  PDP is doomed.

    Uhunmwonde:

    This LGA is on the outskirt of Benin on the way to Auchi. It is a rural setting where local sentiments and the influence of local leaders count.

    Ovia Northeast and Ovia Southwest:

    The APC running mate hails from here. He is their representative in the House of Representatives, which means that he is popular. He won the seat in 2019 and 2023 against  a  formidable opponent, Omorede, daughter of respected traditional chief, Esama of Benin, Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion. Omorede is now teaming up with APC.

    Forecast: The three parties will do well in Edo South Senatorial District.

    Edo Central:

    The district has five local governments. It used to be the bastion of PDP. However, things have changed, with many leaders of the party now rooting for the APC candidate whom they regard as one of them.

     Forecast: The APC and PDP will do very well in the zone. Labour will be a distant third.

    Edo North:

    The zone has seven local governments. Oshiomhole is the incumbent Senator. Phillip Shaibu, Dan Orbih,  Senator Alimikhena, Niger Delta Minister Momoh, and House of Representatives Leader Professor Julius Ihonvbere are from this district. The APC is well entrenched in the district.

    The PDP has the deputy governor Godwin Omobayo, and  Speaker of the House of Assembly Blessing Agbebaku as its points men. But they cannot match the APC henchmen.  LP is non-existent here.

    Forecst: APC highly favoured to win the senatorial zone.

  • NSCDC’s boss to officers: Be professional in your duties

    NSCDC’s boss to officers: Be professional in your duties

    The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Dr. Ahmed Audi has charged his men to behave professionally in their duties in this Saturday governorship election in Edo State.

    Audi, who noted that he had ordered the deployment of 6,433 of his men, said its

    personnel have responsibilities to ensure law and order before, during and after the elections, charging them to be impartial while discharging their responsibilities.

    In addition, Audi, who also warned his men, urged them to remain apolitical, professional and disciplined while on election duties.

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    The NSCDC boss in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Corps, Babawale Afolabi said NSCDC has a vital role to play in the protection of critical national assets and Infrastructure.

    He said they should work alongside other security agencies to ensure the security of election materials, both sensitive and otherwise, during the exercise.

    Audi said the NSCDC would deploy over 300 operatives each from Ondo, Delta, Kogi, Osun, Imo and Enugu, stating that Edo State Command have about 3,626 officers on the ground for the election while Rivers and Bayelsa State Commands would draft in 400 and 350 personnel respectively.

  • ‘I’m fully in the race’

    ‘I’m fully in the race’

    The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for this Saturday election, Derek Izedonmwen, has maintained that he is fully in the crucial race to win.

    He also raised the alarm over a plot by some individuals, who were parading themselves as leaders and members of ADC in Edo, to announce that his campaign structure had been collapsed to support an unnamed candidate of another political party.

    Izedonmwen, an engineer, on Wednesday in Benin, described the attempt as the height of desperation and deceit, as well as being an insult to the intelligence of the discerning residents of Edo state.

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    He said: “I am still very much in the governorship race. I have no intention of either stepping down or endorsing any candidate. Please, ignore the political merchants, who have made it their stock in trade to sell the will of the people for personal gains.

    “I, Osarenren Derek Izedonmwen, Edo State gubernatorial candidate of the ADC, remain firmly in this race. Neither I nor the ADC has collapsed our party structure in favour of any other political party.

    ADC’s standard bearer in Edo also urged his teeming supporters to shun the “gutter” politics and focus on delivering a better future for the Southsouth state.

  • Obi urges credible poll

    Obi urges credible poll

    The, candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi has tasked INEC and security agencies to ensure a free, fair and credible governorship election.

    Obi made the call at the grand finale rally for Olumide Akpata, LP candidate on Wednesday in Benin.

    Obi noted that the people of the state would resist any attempt by political parties to rig the election.

    He said that LP would deliver the needed change in Edo for the benefit of the masses.

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    “If elected, the Labour Party’s candidate will address federal roads connected to the state without waiting for the federal government to act”.

    He criticized state governors who often defer responsibilities to the Federal Government at the expense of their citizens, assuring that Olumide Akpata would not follow that path.

  • Former Deputy Speaker dumps PDP

    Former Deputy Speaker dumps PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suffered a fatal blow in Owan as a three-time member and former Deputy Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Omon Ezomon, dumped the party.

    Ezomon, represented Owan West Constituency between 1999 and 2007, blamed internal crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for his decision.

    Ezomon’s action is expected to weaken the party’s already sliding grip in the area where the Speaker of the State Assembly, Rt Hon Blessing Agbebaku claims to hold sway.

    He announced his departure from the PDP in a bombshell letter dated 16th September 2024 as addressed to the PDP Chairman of Ward 5, Avbiosi, Iuleha, Owan West LGA.

    Ezomon’s resignation which takes immediate effect, comes after what he describes as “considerable reflection” and consultations over the alienation he has faced from the decision-making process at the ward, local government, and state levels of the party.

    According to the former lawmaker, the leadership of the party has deliberately sidelined him, ignoring his immense contributions to the growth and development of the party.

    Ezomon lamented the actions of “neophytes” who, despite his status as a foundation member and two-term elected representative, now control the PDP at the local level. He expressed pain over the disrespect shown to his political legacy, which includes his rise to the position of Deputy Speaker during his tenure.

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    Raising concerns about the ongoing internal strife plaguing the party, he highlighted the unresolved conflicts and infighting that have weakened the PDP as it heads into the Saturday’s gubernatorial elections.

    He criticized the party leadership’s inability to foster unity and cohesion, a failure he says could have dire consequences for the party’s future electoral prospects.

    “I am deeply saddened by the glaring disunity and lack of leadership that have foisted division within the ranks of the party. For my own peace of mind and mental health, I have made the painful decision to leave,” Ezomon stated in the letter.

    Ezomon, however, was diplomatic in his parting words, expressing gratitude for the opportunities the PDP had provided him and wishing the leadership of Ward 5 well in their future endeavors.

    The defection has sent shockwaves through the political landscape of Edo State, even as analysts speculate on what Ezomon’s next move might be, with some hinting at a possible realignment with the All Progressives Congress (APC).