The Nation Newspaper

Category: Special Report

  • Down Syndrome: Inclusiveness as a healing balm

    Down Syndrome: Inclusiveness as a healing balm

    From cradle to grave, there is always a deep craving in every person to be appreciated, valued and treated with dignity. These human expectations do not, in any way, exclude people living with down syndrome and other special needs individuals in the society, writes DUMA EDWARD-DIBIANA

    How do people feel when they are deprived or prevented from participating in certain things because of their colour, race, tribe, social status, religion or other considerations? How do you feel when you are out rightly sidelined in what you know you are qualified for due to one lame excuse? That feeling of rejection, denigration or ghosting as if one doesn’t exist, drains one of one’s self-belief and self-esteem.

    It’s a horrendous feeling. That’s apparently how most children and people living with Down syndrome and others with special needs feel most times when they are systematically denied of their fundamental human rights by society, just because of their peculiarities.

     

    What’s Down Syndrome?

    What do you know about the genetic condition referred to as Down Syndrome (DS)? A simple explanation would suffice for a better understanding. All humankind is born with 46 chromosomes. Twenty-three from the father and 23 from the mother and they come in pairs. But for people living with DS, have three (3) copies of the 21st chromosome, instead of the usual two (2) copies. So, instead of the normal 46, they have 47, which is an anomaly. And that anomaly manifests in diverse forms that impact them in ways that affect their development abilities, physically and mentally.

    Chromosomes are bundles of genes that the body relies on to function optimally. But that can only happen when the numbers are equal. With DS, this extra-chromosome present in their makeup leads to a wide range of issues, from mild to severe intellectual disability and sometimes, some medical conditions. Down syndrome is not a disease. It is a congenital condition. People live with it, but do not suffer from it as a disease. It is only a genetic disorder and it’s not contagious.

    While it’s a medical fact that DS cannot be cured, it is a lifelong condition that can be managed, with proper attention and early intervention, medically and useful therapies. Every person born with DS is different and has a different mix and severity of the condition. It affects people differently. They may take longer time to reach important milestones such as walking, talking and developing social skills. They will continue to learn and pick up new skills their whole life. Their mental abilities vary. Most people with DS have moderate issues with thinking, reasoning, and prioritising, among other things. Some of them would grow up to live almost entirely on their own; while others may need more help taking care of themselves.

    Today is World Down Syndrome Day, a day set aside to celebrate people living with DS the world over. It is a global awareness/sensitisation day officially observed by the United Nations (UN) since 2012. Why March 21? March is the third month of the year representing the three chromosomes and 21 represents the 21st chromosome where this disorder occurs. Every year this day, millions of people living with DS, their families, advocates, caregivers and friends, create awareness and bring to the fore burning issues concerning these special people.

    The theme of this year’s World Down Syndrome Day is “Inclusion Means….” What is inclusion and what does it mean to be included. What is your personal take on what inclusion means? So, what does inclusion mean to you as a person? It’s good to know so we can learn, unlearn and relearn.

     

    What does it mean to be included?

     

    Inclusion means to carry everyone along regardless of the person’s condition. If you are included, you can participate in every meaningful activity everyone else is involved in without hindrances or discrimination. You can go to school and expect to be received like any other child and have access to facilities in the school that would make learning easier and more conducive as regards your special needs.

     

    Are the above mentioned obtainable in society?

     

    In daily lives, at the work place, market, school, community, recreation parks and worship centres, subtle and/or outright discrimination of people with DS and other special needs/disabilities are witnessed. The United Nations created an agreement called “The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).”  The CRPD maintains that people with disabilities should have “full and effective participation and inclusion in the society.” So, why are many people with DS and other disabilities not fully included in everyday activities in our communities?

    So many reasons have cropped up as why these rare gems are not included in the scheme of things. Some of the reasons are that to run an inclusive system is very expensive, lack of resources, manpower and that many people do not understand what inclusion means and how to be inclusive.

    Why some of the above mentioned reasons may be true, they are not good enough to deprive fellow humans of their rights to live a more fulfilled life, like every other being. A fact it is that the opposite of inclusion is exclusion. And if the society, as a community, office, school, church or mosque, can exclude people with DS and other special needs/disabilities, then it means society knows what inclusion means; just that people don’t want to act on it for obvious reasons (their conditions).

    For inclusion to thrive, there must be a mind shift! An attitudinal change! The society must understand that it is not their fault that they are different and that it could have been anyone else. Your creed, gender, religion, tribe, social status, race notwithstanding, shouldn’t be a condition for true inclusion.

    The society is bedeviled with prejudice, stigmatisation and discrimination of people living with DS and other special needs. And all these stem from ignorance and lack of understanding. Until empathy replaces differences, and diversity, which is the ability to regard another and imagine life from a broader perspective, inclusion will remain a mirage. Inclusion is also inevitable in the education sector because it addresses and responds to the diverse needs of learners. It removes any barrier to learning. The question is: Are children living with DS and other special needs really included in schools that claim to run inclusive system?

    Do they have equal rights and access to curricular and extra-curricular activities vis-a-vis their neurotypical mates? These questions are begging for answers. There must be an attitudinal change for inclusion to gain the needed ground. So, governments at all levels and stakeholders must truly and sincerely embrace that pattern of education that modifies/adjusts classroom practices meant for the ‘normal’ child to accommodate the peculiar needs of a child with Down syndrome. That pattern of education that doesn’t discriminate, but rather makes room for people living with DS to develop and learn at their own paces and abilities as their unique conditions would allow.

    That pattern of education that teaches children from a tender age about equality, diversity and respect for others. That pattern of education that assists these people to meet their peculiarities and maximise their potential. That pattern of education is called inclusive education! Inclusive education should be harped to enable children with DS and other special needs soar and break previously seen and unseen barriers. True inclusion will always inspire hope and belief.

    For most children living with DS and special educational needs, inclusion is often experienced as a painful form of exclusion. They should learn alongside their peers and given every opportunity to form meaningful friendships devoid of adult interference.

    Inclusive education drives the much-needed enlightenment home because it allows people with DS to mingle, socialise and showcase their strength and weaknesses. Their peers see them for who they really are and make efforts to unconditionally accept or reject them as they would do to other children without these challenges. To foster inclusion, every member of the school community must make efforts to model behaviours that respect and accept individual differences. Children with DS deserve warmth and friendship. So, it is important for all hands to be on deck for increased sensitisation and awareness for a wider outreach because increased awareness and sensitisation will lead to enhanced inclusion; and a better society.

     

    • Edward-Dibina is a Down Syndrome advocate

     

  • Incessant grid collapse: Evidence of moribund power sector

    Incessant grid collapse: Evidence of moribund power sector

    Incessant collapse of the national grid and the recent blame game between electricity Generation Companies (GenCos) and other arms of the value chain are a testimony to the wobbling state of the Nigerian electricity supply industry, reports JOHN OFIKHENUA.

    Amid rising costs of diesel, the national electricity grid collapsed again and again – almost 24 hours after warning from electricity Generation Companies (GenCos). Already badly enmeshed in imbroglio, the Nigerian electricity supply industry raised a lot of dust last Sunday as GenCos brought their side of the sector’s sordid story to the fore. Not later than 24 hours after they battled to tell their tales of neglect and abandonment, the electricity market recorded another grid collapse, worsening the nationwide near darkness.

    Besides, the latest grid collapse confirmed the GenCos’ position that the Nigerian System Operator (SO), the technical wing of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), had been prevailing on the energy generating firms to switch-off and on their plants on a daily basis. Technically, the machines should not be turned off and on for more than 20 times in a year. But owing to the weakness of the grid, which cannot endure over 4,000mw, the generating plants have been switched off and on up to 365 times in a year. This practice, said the Association of Power Generation Companies (GenCos), Executive Secretary, Dr. Joy Ogaji, has worn out the generating plants.

    In that condition, she said, the GenCos are now in dire need of funds to maintain the ailing plants. In addition, over N1.6 trillion debt overhang for unused capacity over the years by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Electricity (NBET) Plc has weighed them down from optimal operation.

    Speaking during a press conference she organized in Abuja, she noted that the GenCos, which she represented, were out to counter the claims of the TCN that blamed load-shedding on the low energy generation.

    Her speech was mostly directed at the press statement of the TCN, Public Affairs General Manager, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah. On the other hand, it was a veiled rejoinder to the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, who, on March 3rd, informed State House correspondents in Abuja that the current load-shedding was due to low water level in the hydroelectric dams. “Before I conclude, I would like to discuss the increased load-shedding you may have observed in Abuja and other areas in the country. With the reduction in hydro capacity during the dry season, additional load needs to be taken up by our gas plants,” Aliyu was quoted to have said.

    The depth of the crisis

    It was pertinent for the Minister of Power to speak to the issue as the hue and cry of the manufacturers, residential customers and event dependent consumers were rife in both mainstream and social media to the embarrassment of the government. Regrettably, as the electricity market recorded less than 3,000mw last week, the TCN mouthpiece issued a press statement to reveal how the GenCos had plunged the country into outage. She said the TCN only depends on the energy it receives from the GenCos and allocates power to Distribution Companies (DisCos) based on approved percentage (formula approved by National Electricity Regulatory Commission), of the total generation available per hour or on day-ahead nomination.

    “Presently,  the cumulative generation nationwide is low and generation companies have attributed this to several factors, including poor gas supply, fault in generating units of generating companies, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, all of which have caused most power generating companies to limit their generation, and sometimes not  generate at all,” Mbah said.

    Continuing, the TCN General Manager revealed that a summary of the power generating profiles in the last two months, for instance, clearly showed that 14 gas powered generating stations were either not generating at all or had limited generation at various times within the period, further depleting the quantum of power generation available for transmission into the grid on a daily basis. “Power generating stations in this category include: Omotosho units 5 & 6, Olorunsogo units 3, 4 & 6, Omoku units 3 & 6, Omotosho NIPP units 3 & 4, Delta units 15, 17 & 18, Afam VI units 11 & 12, Olorunsogo NIPP unit 3, Ihovbor NIPP unit 2, Sapele Steam unit 3, Sapele NIPP unit 1, Odukpani NIPP units 1 & 3, and Okpai units 11, 12 & 18.”

    Also, within the same period, Jebba Hydro and Shiroro Power Generating Stations were either out or had limited generation, causing additional loss of 232MW from the grid; while other power generating plants such as Omotosho units 3 & 4, Olorunsogo units 1, Delta units 10 &20, Afam VI  unit 13, Ihovbor NIPP units 4, Geregu NIPP units 22&23 and Odukpani NIPP units 2, 4 & 5, have also been out either on fault or for scheduled maintenance, causing a further loss of about 3,180MW from the grid. A combination of the above scenarios has persisted and the total effect on the grid is persistent low generation, which TCN operators have had to strive to dispatch in a way that will not jeopardise the stability of the grid.

    More recently, from the 1st to 4th of March, 2022, there was generation shortfall due to water management in Shiroro and Jebba hydro with the loss of 307MW and 125MW respectively from both stations. Within the same period, there were fault and technical problems in Egbin, causing 514MW shortfall and in Geregu causing 230MW shortfall, while reported fault at Alaoji NIPP reduced generation from the substation by 263MW.

    Gas constraints alone in Olorunsogo gas generating plant had reduced generation from the station by 104MW. In the same vein, Omotosho gas lost 102MW and Sapele NIPP lost 263MW. In Omotosho NIPP, there was generation shortfall of 233MW and in Omoku a shortfall of 112MW. Two units in Okpai have limited generation due to technical problems, causing a 204MW drop in generation and in Afam VI 511MW drop in generation. Gas constraint and fault in Olorunsogo NIPP reduced generation by 240MW, Geregu NIPP by 435MW, and Ihovbor by 142MW.  Also, due to gas pipeline pigging, Odukpani NIPP was shut down, which caused a reduction of generation by 575MW.

    “TCN further reiterates that a combination of issues ranging from gas constraints, fault, and technical problems within generating plants caused persistent low generation and consequently low load allocation to Distribution Companies nationwide. This is based on the fact that TCN can only transmit what is being generated by GenCos and presently they are all generating below capacity.”

    Apparently, this revelation infuriated the GenCos to tell their side of the story to energy reporters on Sunday. Speaking through Ogaji, they said, “Illiquidity, caused by the huge sums owed GenCos by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), has more than ever before continued to frustrate the GenCos and kept them incapable of meeting their obligations, which are extremely necessary to keep their power plants running and make capacities available, while observing required Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) standards.”

    Such obligations, according to her, include GenCos operations and maintenance (O&M) as and when due, procurement of critical capital, spare parts and accessories, payment, and servicing of existing loans from lenders and financiers, employee-obligations, etc. Ogaji recalled that recently the  GenCos cried out to the authorities and “are still looking forward to a favourable consideration of their pleas for foreign exchange (FX) support to enable them to procure critical spares for their across the country,” adding that there is  “no corresponding investment and improvement was made on this anomaly over these years, compelled GenCos to begin to question the optimal generation.

    Issues of gas volume, gas quality, gas pressure and gas recovered or added by GenCos through huge investments done by them to generating capacity depend on expected returns and costs.”

    Mbah opened up that “one of the reasons that the power plants are down was due to inefficient management of the grid.” The spokesman recalled that while the power sector was technically managed by an expert Marcel Martin, it was better off. She urged the government to swallow its pride and recall him to continue managing the plants. “Recently, you must have heard that Egbin lost several units. I pity the National Control Center (NCC), Osogbo staff. They need to be empowered. Some of you who were here when Marcel Martin was in Nigeria, both the generation companies and distribution companies, he developed tools that were used to manage the grid. The grid was not as bad as this. Let’s look for Marcel to develop more tools. Let’s stop claiming that we know it. Let’s ask for help,” Mbah said.

    The TCN always prides itself with using in-house manpower to solve technical challenges in the grid. But it was obvious from her veiled assertion that that self-help has not been good enough. Although she convened the briefing, she was ambivalent about how to make public some classified figures. As the session was degenerating to “I don’t have the figures” kind of briefing, the reporters asked why she invited them with half facts against opponents that had already nailed the GenCos with naked facts and figures. Consequently, the eloquent lawyer returned to her seat, and at best, rolled out the age-long concealed facts about the handlings of the sector.

    “The reason I don’t want to give you figure is also the lack of transparency in the market. So, if I give you this as the exact figure, it is the figure that the NBET can say no, this is not the figure.” At that point, reporters still pressed her to open up. Ogaji said: “I am going to give you some figures since you are still insisting on having some figures.”

    Following the Power Purchase Agreement in the sector, the NBET pays the GenCos for unused power, which is referred to as capacity. Thus, she rolled out the figures from 2015 to January 2022. According to her, it totalled N1.644 trillion. Her words: “Currently today, on capacity we are owed by NBET is N1.644 trillion.” Similarly, Ogaji, who could not state the shortfall in the power sector, attributed it to the opaqueness of the NBET management. She said: “In terms of the current shortfall in the market, I am afraid, I cannot give you the figure. Unlike me, I would have been able to give you that figure, but you can see, there has not been transparency in the market recently. I owe due respect to the former MD of NBET (Marylyne Amobi); every month we could go to the website of NBET, we can see what is our invoice and what has been paid. Since she left, we have not had access to that data. We have requested for it severally through NBET and it is not forthcoming.”

    Meanwhile, speaking to The Nation on phone, the NBET’s Head of Corporate Communications, Ms Henrietta Ighomrore, insisted that the GenCos must open their plants for NBET to test their acclaimed capacity. She also noted that the power sector is an integral part of the national and global economy and has been disbursing funds to the GenCos proportionally to remittance from available funds. She revealed that, recently, the NBET disbursed N32 billion to the GenCos for the month of December 2021. “There is no money in anybody’s account that has not been remitted to them. As an entity, the GenCos also have their financial records where they put what they sell and what they received. Asking you want to see the books of another person is out of place and it borders on mischief because there is a regulator in the sector.

    “What the sector requires is transparency and collaboration. So the GenCos should be able to meet NBET at the point NBET is able to provide services to them. So, we were doing capacity test toward activation of contracts you should allow us come to your plants as scheduled and check your capacity. We have to ensure that our payments are done properly. We cannot be funding inefficiencies in the sector. So, if you say you have capacity, we have to test it. So when payments are made, they are made to fund efficiencies,” Ighomrore said.

    The next day, providence was at work. This time, it was the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) that notified its customers that national grid collapsed at 10:40am.  The terse notification reads: “Dear esteemed customer, we experienced general outage across AEDC network at 10:40 am today due to a system collapse, which occurred on the national grid. Appropriate measures are now being taken to restore normal supply as quickly as possible. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.”

    Businesses groan as operating costs skyrocket

    As Nigeria’s electricity grid collapsed for the umpteenth time, it has compounded the woes of many businesses by foisting higher energy costs on businesses that are already battling skyrocketing costs of diesel. With limited electricity supply from the grid, many businesses said they are forced to embrace alternative energy that has become extremely expensive as a result of rising global prices of crude oil.

    Many business owners complained the situation is compounding the woes of the country and many Nigerians, with implications for higher production costs and living expenses. The crisis has forced the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) to plead with government for palliative as diesel price and aviation fuel now increase almost on daily basis, with stakeholders afraid that the ugly development may cripple businesses and worsen existing unfriendly living conditions in the country.

    While Small and Medium Scales Enterprises that survive mainly on the premium motor spirit are struggling with the scarcity of petrol subsidies, bigger organisations that depend on diesel generators now have to buy the product at prohibitive prices.  The price of diesel has soared by almost 170 percent in one year to N620-650 (or more depending on the location) per litre from N220-N240 in March last year. The surge in the price of diesel, which has been deregulated, is a response to global oil prices – a crisis worsened by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Brent, the global oil benchmark, is currently selling for over $100 per barrel in the global market.

    Consequently, as businesses groan over rising operating costs, many individuals are feeling despondent as a result of rising food prices. Thus, surging prices of diesel in Nigeria have brought about a fresh spike in food prices, dashing hopes of returning to a more stable market condition. This is because food producers and retailers are now facing intense pressure from rising energy costs as they have to spend more on diesel to power their factories and on logistics.

    The way forward

    Since the national grid is within the purview of the TCN and it cannot stand more than 4,000mw, the agency has to open up on how much help it needs. However, it is now evident that the power sector condition is like that of a tattered rag whose redemption is beyond quick fix.  Although the sector has been enmeshed in a blame game, the fact is that the GenCos lack the capacity to produce more than 4,000mw. The TCN, too, lacks the capacity to wheel more than the energy already produced. On the other hand, the DisCos are reluctant to absolve more load in order to control their remittance. Admittedly, the NBET has no capital to sustain payment for unutilised power. Thus, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) must wade into the situation with a holistic solution.

     

  • 2023: Osinbajo, Fayemi can’t stand against Tinubu, says Sen Abu Ibrahim

    2023: Osinbajo, Fayemi can’t stand against Tinubu, says Sen Abu Ibrahim

    No aspirant from the South can stand against the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the contest for the presidency ahead of 2023, a chieftain of the ruling party, Senator Abu Ibrahim, has said.  

    Senator Ibrahim, who is a close confidant of both President Muhammadu Buhari and the Asiwaju, told Daily Trust on Sunday in an exclusive interview that all those being taunted for the presidency in the South-West were protégés of the former Lagos governor and would not compete against him.

    Narrating how he linked Buhari with Tinubu in 2010, the Katsina-born politician, who had been in the Senate for many years before he quit, said the alleged plan by some northern governors to retain power in the North would not scale through.

    Asked if the reported presidential ambitions of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State would not affect the chances of Tinubu, Ibrahim said, “It is normal, but the issue is: Can they stand Tinubu in the South-West? They can see what is coming up. I don’t want to start discussing this issue; it is a different topic.

    “Fayemi, for example, knows very well that he is Tinubu’s boy. He was living in Ghana when Tinubu brought him. I once slept in his house in Accra.

    “Tinubu brought Fayemi back to Nigeria. Above other leading contenders, he picked him to be the governor of Ekiti State. When we met at Bourdillon (Tinubu’s residence), he told me to thank my friend for him. He said Asiwaju even mobilised funds for him after nominating him to be governor.

    “He won the election, but in the second tenure, he failed to even win his ward, and he was made a minister. When he wanted to go for this present tenure, I went to the president and I said Fayemi may not be able to win without Tinubu, so he called Asiwaju and gave him the responsibility to deliver Ekiti for him.”

    And on Osinbajo, he said, “The vice president was his commissioner for justice. He never lobbied for the office; he just picked and gave him that position. I have discussed with the vice president many times. I went to his house and office and we discussed the party and everything, including his relationship with Asiwaju. I know how he felt or how he feels about their relationship. He respects Tinubu so much that I feel he may not be able to contest against him.”

    Senator Ibrahim also said the leadership of the APC was not using internal mechanisms to make the party stronger, hence the ravaging crises threatening its existence.

    Asked whether the president would support Tinubu to actualise his dream of becoming president, Ibrahim, who said President Buhari was his house captain at secondary school in Katsina State, said he had no doubt on that because the former Lagos governor was instrumental to the emergence of Buhari in 2015 when he brought South-West votes to add to Buhari’s 12million in the North that culminated in victory after many trials.

    “If we don’t support Tinubu, North-West politicians will suffer in the future as nobody will trust us again. So we have to make sure that this understanding is for our future politics,” he said.

    Regarded as the father of merger, Senator Abu Ibrahim, in this exclusive interview with Daily Trust on Sunday, opened up on the much talked about understanding between President Muhammadu Buhari and the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on power rotation. He also spoke on the aspiration of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, saying they are Asiwaju’s boys.

     

    What have you been doing since you left the parliament in 2019?  

    I am a very good farmer; I am into poultry farming and so on in Kaduna.

     

    But most politicians find it difficult to adjust immediately after they leave elective office; how did you adjust? 

    You would find out that most of the politicians were defeated. In my case, I didn’t seek re-election, I left on my own. Most of them were not even re-nominated.

     

    Why didn’t you seek re-election when you had the opportunity to do so?

    I did not contest because of health reasons.

     

    But you look healthier now, compared to when you were in parliament.

    I was almost paralysed, I couldn’t talk and I was assisted by Tinubu. He took me to London, where I met doctors to know what was wrong with me. They found out that it was stress, too much work. So I told them about my daily life, what I did and they suggested that it was too much for me. They advised me to leave one, so I decided to leave the Senate.

     

    In 2015 you were one of the few lawmakers who stood by Senator Ahmed Lawan when he first aspired for the Senate presidency. How would you assess the parliament under him?

    He is doing very well, I have confidence in him and I know that he has experience, starting from the House of Representatives, two or three times, then he came to the Senate. In the Senate, he headed a critical committee, public accounts, and he was a very good contributor on the floor of the Senate. So looking at him, I am sure he would make a very good leader; that’s why I pitched my tent with him and I am not disappointed yet.

     

    But some are saying he is too submissive when it comes to affairs between the National Assembly and the Presidency. What is your take on that?  

    Yes, the National Assembly should check the Presidency, but there should be some understanding. There should be consultation between the two and that will bring stability in governance and even improve on the process of lawmaking.

    But if there’s no consultation there will be conflicts.

     

    Ahead of the 2023 general elections, crisis is rocking the ruling party in many states; it seems the APC has no conflict resolution mechanism, is that correct? 

    We have the mechanisms but they are not used.

     

    What are they?

    First of all, there is what we call caucus. Caucus is the meeting of the leadership of the party, and if the caucus was working; there won’t be problems. Let’s take state by state where we have these conflicts, such as Kebbi: Aliero and Bagudu are members of the caucus. Go to Kano: Shekarau and Ganduje are members of the caucus. In Osun, Aregbesola and Oyetola are members of the caucus, so if the caucus meets regularly all these conflicts would be sorted out there and then.

    But unfortunately, Buni is from a rural state, where nobody can raise his or her head against him. He brought that system into our party and never calls any organ for a meeting – no National Executive Commission (NEC), no caucus – that is why the crises are everywhere.

     

    But during his reign he was able to bring some bigwigs into the party, is that not enough success?  

    What success?

     

    The defection of some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors to the APC.

    How many governors defected?

    Three

    What has that brought to the party? Can all the governors win their states? That is not something you should praise because you brought somebody who has come to the end of his tenure and has nowhere to go; he is just looking for an organisation where he would be safe. So to me, it is not an added development to the party.

     

    What about Zamfara governor?

    That one is okay, but he was even trying to defect before we started talking to him, I knew him very well. He is safest to be in the APC because his biggest opposition is from the PDP side.

     

    The APC never had a Board of Trustees meeting, meaning it started on a shaky note. Is this correct? 

    I disagree with you because the argument then was that the Board of Trustees symbolised a business concern. People were opposed to the idea of a BoT because most members of the NEC were also there, so what use is the body? If the NEC and the caucus were working very well, you don’t need the Board of Trustees.

     

    Who should be held responsible?

    Buni should be held responsible because he is the chairman of the party.

     

    But there were some chairmen before him.

    Yes, but they were calling for meetings. At least I know that during the time of Oshiomhole, he was calling for caucus and NEC meetings every three or four months. I was a member of the NEC and I attended those meetings. But this one never called for any NEC or caucus meeting. How can you run a party like that? Leaders don’t sit down and consult with your office, and when you are tired you run to your village and stay for one or two weeks and come back.

     

    Why are you people afraid to conduct a convention; in the last one year it has been postponed thrice?

    It is the issue of the present leadership. They think they can manipulate us, but they don’t know that we are ready. They cannot manipulate us because we are people who have won elections, so we know what we want. We can stand up against anybody who thinks he can stop us from getting what we want.

     

    What role did you play in the formation of the APC?

    That’s a long history and story. I remember that in 2010 I was a senator on the platform of the Congress for progressive Change (CPC), very close to President Buhari. When we were in secondary school, he was the house captain. He was in his final year while I was in my first year.

    As for Tinubu, when I was in the Senate during the time of the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) under Babangida, he was also a senator. He was in the SDP while I was in the NRC. We were very compatible, so we decided to become friends in that Senate. That friendship continued to blossom.

    When Buhari contested elections he was failing despite all his huge support. I went to him and I said, “Excuse me sir, for you to be president of Nigeria you will need a southern input.” He asked what I meant by southern input and I said he needed a constitutional spread; and to get that he needed somebody strong in the South who would back him. He asked if I had an idea and I said yes. He said okay, let’s discuss it, but I said let me go and talk to the person.

    Sen Abu Ibrahim

    I flew to Lagos, and when I met Asiwaju, he too was concerned; that was how we started the discussion. We reflected on our relationship and decided to explore it. I said I wanted to introduce Buhari to him and he said let’s see how it would go. Fortunately, Fashola came in too and he gave an idea and support.

    I went back to Kaduna, and luckily, there was the launch of the Sardauna Foundation and I invited Tinubu. He said we should have lunch with Buhari after the launch. That was in 2010.

    We went to Buhari’s house for lunch and I told everybody around – Sarki Abba, the customs comptroller-general, Hammed Ali and others to excuse them for private discussions. They discussed for almost three hours, after which I accompanied Tinubu to the airport.

    On our way, he said Buhari was a good man and I knew we could work together and explore the possibility of bringing the desired changes to the country.

    When I returned from the airport, Buhari praised Tinubu. He said the election was approaching but let’s see what would happen. He said he wanted Tinubu.

    That was the idea, not merger or alliance. There was a CPC and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) alliance, but you know that a presidential system alliance doesn’t make sense.

    We were looking to see how the CPC could produce the president while the vice president would come from the ACN. That was what we were talking about, but somehow, because of lack of time it didn’t go through and Buhari failed to get the 25 per cent in the required states. That was the 2011 elections.

    I told him that we could start early, and reminded him that we could not win because he could not get the required spread. He said I should go ahead with my arrangement; and from there I started the second leg.

    The first leg failed because of alliance, so in the second leg we started talking of merger from the onset. Then we brought the parties to come in. At that time, Buhari insisted on only the CPC and the ACN; but Tinubu said we had to bring the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), a breakaway from the PDP, then the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

    At that time, there was this seeming understanding that Buhari should be the presidential candidate, after that, it would be Tinubu; that was subject to my understanding.

     

    Was there any formal discussion between Tinubu and Buhari on that? 

    They discussed so many things. I believe Tinubu gave a commitment and said Buhari, as his senior, could be the president, even if he wanted to come under the ACN. That confidence was given. And I know that General Buhari, Tinubu and Baba Akande had so many meetings together.

     

    Was there at any time, either a written or unwritten agreement, that Tinubu would take over from Buhari? 

    Yeah, but sometimes we make things indicative. As a politician, we know we cannot say ‘you be this’ without bringing my interest; it is not possible, usually. When I support you as governor, I will tell you what I want when you win. I know that there was this insistence that it must be Buhari, and after him, it must be Tinubu.

     

    How can you quantify the support of Tinubu to Buhari’s emergence as president?  

    The South-West voted for Buhari and helped him to get the required 25 per cent, otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten it.

     

     And you are attributing this to Tinubu?  

    Yes, I believe so because we couldn’t get it before then. It was only when he went with the ACN that he got it.

     

    Do you see President Buhari reciprocating this gesture in 2023?

    I know that Buhari is a reasonable man. He is realistic and doesn’t want anything that will spoil his work or give it a bad name. I am sure that if there was that agreement, he will conform to it support. And I know he respects Tinubu. They relate a lot and Tinubu visits regularly and discusses with him, so there’s that level of understanding and respect.

     

    But reservations are being expressed in many quarters that Tinubu is not healthy; what do you say to that?

    Tinubu is my friend, he is healthy. If I know that he cannot do it, I would have advised him to nominate somebody.

     

    But it seems that these people you mentioned are now fighting Tinubu. Osinbajo and Fayemi are now eyeing the APC presidential ticket with him, what do you think?

    It is normal now, but the issue is: Can they stand Tinubu in the South-West? They can see what is coming up. I don’t want to start discussing this issue; it is a different topic.

    Fayemi, for example, knows very well that he is Tinubu’s boy. He was living in Ghana when Tinubu brought him. I once slept in his house in Accra.

     

    When he was teaching there? 

    I don’t know whether he was teaching there, but I slept in his house in Accra, Ghana when we went for the inauguration of the then president, who he brought to Tinubu for assistance. After he brought him, he won and invited us. We were there in almost the same pavilion with former President Yar’adua. I think it was four of us from Nigeria.

    Tinubu brought Fayemi back to Nigeria. Above other leading contenders, he picked him to be the governor of Ekiti State. When we met at Bourdillon (Tinubu’s residence), he told me to thank my friend for him. He said Asiwaju even mobilised fund for him after nominating him to be governor.

    He won the election, but in the second tenure, he failed to even win his ward, and he was made a minister. When he wanted to go for this present tenure, I went to the president and I said Fayemi may not be able to win without Tinubu, so he called Asiwaju and gave him the responsibility to deliver Ekiti for him.

    I am sure the president called Tinubu and told him what to do. So he went and spent days with him and he won. You can see the relationship. So how can he stand up and fight Tinubu?

     

    What about the vice president?

    The vice president was his commissioner for justice. He never lobbied for the office; he just picked and gave him that position. I have discussed with the vice president many times. I went to his house and office and we discussed the party and everything, including his relationship with Asiwaju. I know how he felt or how he feels about their relationship. He respects Tinubu so much that I feel he may not be able to contest against him.

     

    But the campaign is everywhere now.

    We politicians have problems with supporters; sometimes they will take their feelings and say this is your mind, this is what you want.

     

    Don’t you think this is the right time for Tinubu to call his people and coalesce into a force?

    I know that when he came back from London he called the vice president. I was there when the vice president came to the house for discussion. I didn’t participate in the discussion but I know that Tinubu is insisting they work together for the South-West.

     

    Is it like a gang-up against Tinubu? 

    It is normal, any time. Look at the gang up I got in my constituency as a simple senator.

    If you say APC, you say Tinubu. That means they are admitting he is far ahead of everybody because the 12million voters who supported Buhari liked Tinubu. After all, they believe Tinubu gave Buhari the opportunity to become president.

    So he has this sympathy. All the 12million voters of Buhari were sympathetic to Tinubu, and that is a very big lead. Nobody in the APC has that kind of sympathy with Buhari’s supporters like Tinubu.

     

    Do you mean the APC would be defeated without Tinubu flying the party’s ticket? 

    For two reasons, I think if the APC is wise they should give Tinubu the presidential ticket. I told you already that he has the sympathy of the 12million voters of Buhari. I am a beneficiary of that; they call me Baba Merger and because of that, I won all my 117 wards in 2015.

    So, with this feeling of Buhari’s supporters, Tinubu has already won their sympathy, a place in their hearts, almost all of them.

     

    There is this claim that a certain group within the presidency doesn’t want Tinubu, do you think so?  

    It is a normal thing with a certain group. I have been in the inner kitchen of Buhari and we relate very well.

    Let me tell you that if the APC doesn’t give Tinubu the ticket, the 12 million supporters may not like it, and they may become disgruntled and may not come out to vote.

    Secondly, the understanding between Tinubu and Buhari is very important to the North-West because there is an understanding that if we don’t support Tinubu, politicians from this region will suffer in the future as nobody will trust them again. So it is our duty to make sure that this understanding is for our future politics.

     

    Is it beyond Buhari and Tinubu? 

    It is beyond Buhari and Tinubu. And if we don’t do it, the North-West will be isolated.

     

    If Tinubu is unable to pick the party’s ticket, do you see him breaking the table?  

    Tinubu is not such a man; he believes in God. We were discussing recently and he said that as a businessman he would go and continue his business. But I said he should not even talk about it because if he doesn’t win, the party won’t win.

    What you people are not aware of is that I am not just following Tinubu, I call him every day to ask about the issue of my constituency, security, economy, poverty. We discuss all these things and he told me what the solutions are. And I think they are doable solutions. I am not going to be the one to mention them; it is going to be his manifestos.

     

    Finally, what do you think of the so-called plot by some northern governors to retain the presidency come 2023?  

    I laugh because they are paperweight governors; they are novices. They forgot how MKO Abiola defeated Bashir Tofa in Kano as the presidential candidate of the NRC.

    We have seen history. Many of the APC governors cannot bring a half-million votes. We assess each one of them and know what they can do in their states.

     

    But the problem now, according to the governors, is: Who will be his running mate as he is a Muslim? 

    When you become a candidate it is easier for you to pick a running mate.

     

    Do you see a Muslim-Muslim ticket? 

    I have not seen anything on that. We aim to win the election, so if that will make us win, we will do it. But when the time comes, we will assess the situation and take the best bet. For example, my best is to bring Governor Zulum to be vice president. When we bring him we will know how to deal with the other positions, for unanimous reasons. The position of the president of the Senate should be unanimous, for example, which is more powerful than the vice president.

     

    What do you think Tinubu would represent in Nigeria’s polity?  

    Look at his background, including how he brought people from the South-East, North and everywhere to represent Lagos. I know of a commissioner in Lagos who is from Katsina. There are other states in the executive council of Lagos.

    He is a nationalist who knows how to work with the different tribes of the country. So I know he will look at all the angles of Nigeria and allow fair representation.

     

     

  • How climate change threatens Nigeria’s food security

    How climate change threatens Nigeria’s food security

    Climate change remains a threat multiplier for hunger and undernourishment globally. In this report, JULIANA AGBO writes on effects of warming climate on food production in Nigeria.

    Ensuring food security in the face of climate change is among the most daunting challenges facing humankind. Countries with high levels of hunger are often also highly vulnerable to climate change, and have a low capacity to adapt. This often affects food production and availability, access, quality, utilisation, and stability of food systems.

    While the world has made gradual progress in reducing hunger on a global scale since 2000, the progress has been uneven, as the number of people going to bed hungry is on the rise. According to a 2021 report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the annual occurrence of disasters is now more than three times that of the 1970s and 1980s as a result of warming climate.

    However, a 2022 first quarter report by the Cadre Harmonisé (CH) has projected that about 19.4 million people, including 416,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in 21 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are expected to be in food crisis or worse between June and August this year. The CH, which is a unified tool for consensual analysis of acute food and nutrition insecurity across 17 Sahel and West African states, including Nigeria, also revealed that about 14.4 million people, including 385,000 IDPS in 21 states and FCT, are currently in a food crisis or worse through May this year.

    The analysis facilitated by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), and other relevant stakeholders, covered 21 states, which include Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Lagos, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and the FCT.

    The report also identified the key drivers of the looming food crisis: insecurity, especially in the north east; inflation rate as evident on soaring food commodity prices, which could be associated with economic downturn; loss of employment; reduction in household income due to long term-effect of COVID-19 pandemic; high temperatures and poor rainfall distribution in the states covered.

    While there is evidence that climate is changing globally, Nigeria is not exempted as the country is still practising rain-fed agriculture, which renders her vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. The country ranks 129th in terms of vulnerability and 187 out of 192 countries overall.

    The effects of climate change on agricultural production are exacerbated by the fact that around 70 per cent of Nigerians are small-holder farmers with relatively low-level technologies.  More so, extreme climatic events such as flooding, heat, and drought have led to soil degradation, which results in low crop yields

     

    Soil degradation and climate change

     

    Soil degradation, according to an expert, John Oluwafemi, is the decline in soil condition caused by its improper use or poor management, usually for agricultural, industrial or urban purposes. Oluwafemi, who linked soil degradation to climate change, said the country is losing its soil quality and function fairly rapidly due to unsustainable management practices.

    Also, to increase food productivity and avoid disaster, the President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Soil Science (NISS), Professor Ayoade Oginkunle, warned that Nigeria’s soil resources, which have been badly degraded, must stop. Oginkunle said soil degradation is tantamount to human life degradation. “When the soil can’t replenish and ultimately degrades, it leads to a release of carbon into the atmosphere. This leads to low crop yields, poor food nutrition and change in livelihood,” Oginkunle said.

     

    A recent report by the Concern Worldwide US, a global humanitarian organisation, said by 2050, an estimated additional 175 million people could have zinc deficiencies which can, among other things, make them more susceptible to illnesses. It also noted that an additional 122 million people could be protein deficient due to climate change.

    Speaking on the possibility of prolonged food crisis in Nigeria, an agricultural economist, Jide Mike, said the horrors of huge losses on investment and the battle to break even have discouraged many farmers from venturing into different crop cultivation. This has resulted in making Nigeria one of the net importers of produce in Africa. He said Nigerian farmers continue to face the challenge of traditionally low yield factors due to drought and attacks by pests and diseases on crops. “The country still depends largely on imports to meet up with local consumption due to farmers’ inability to control the effect of climate change,” he said.

    Explaining how climate affects food nutrition and security, a Professor of Science and Technology, Simon Otu, said climate change impacts affect food security across its four dimensions: availability, access, utilisation and stability, directly and indirectly. He said climate change affects food production, which also affects food access. According to him, forces of supply and demand have big impacts. Climate change and weather disasters, such as floods or drought, can lead to inflated prices for the food that is available. These price spikes leave the poorest households both urban poor and rural food-buyers most vulnerable, with the urban poor spending up to 75 per cent of their total budget on food alone.

    “Because our food systems are increasingly dependent on one another, this means that more frequent and more extreme events in one region could disrupt clusters of food systems – even the global food system as a whole. The areas least likely to adjust to a sudden event or shock, however, continue to be the ones disproportionately affected.”

    He noted that the projections of increased pests and diseases due to climate change have an important implication for nutrition. “New risks will affect crops, livestock, fish and humans. When human health is compromised, particularly that of women who prepare foods for household members, the capacity to utilise food effectively is dramatically lowered.

    “Food safety may also be compromised with degraded hygiene in preparing food under limited fresh­water availability or food-storage ability due to warmer climate. Mal­nutrition may also increase, due to shrinking food biodiversity and excessive dependence on a few staple foods,” he added.

     

    Climate change impact on smallholder farmers

     

    Higher temperatures, water scarcity, extreme events like droughts and floods, and greater carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have already begun to impact staple crops around the world, which Nigerian smallholder farmers are not exempted from.

    A maize and wheat farmer in Kano State, Abdul Othman, who spoke to The Nation in a telephone interview said maize and wheat production has declined in recent years due to extreme weather events, plant diseases, and an overall increase in water scarcity. Othman, who lamented that he has been struggling to keep his crops alive for years, said he is not planning to invest much in the crop this year as he is yet to get a permanent solution to drought.

    He said the decline in agricultural productivity has discouraged many farmers, which has led to change in livelihood and massive rural-urban migration. Another farmer in Kaduna, Zainab Bala, lamented that smallholder farmers in Nigeria, especially women are overlooked in climate talks. “Smallholder farmers in Africa, particularly Nigeria, produce up to 80 per cent of the food consumed by the regional populations, but they are disproportionately affected by climate change and extreme poverty. While there are a lot of clever ideas about how food systems can change in the context of climate, they are not involving farmers in this. A lot needs to be done to keep our agriculture running smoothly so as to avoid huge imports.”

     

    What needs to be done

     

    While some of the problems associated with climate change are emerging gradually, action is urgently needed in order to allow enough time to build resilience into agricultural production systems. Recently, the Federal government expressed worry that the country remained highly exposed to the negative impacts of climate change and called for united efforts to mitigate its effects especially on food security.

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, pointed out that over the last decade, nearly four billion people suffered climate – related disasters, and everyone must work hard to protect vulnerable communities from extinction and prevent dangers of it. A food security expert, Professor Jack  Adi, said appropriate policies and institutions are needed to integrate climate change concerns in food and agricultural policies and institutions, particularly in support of farmer adaptation and collective implementation.

    According to him, some medium- and long-term responses will need immediate enabling action and planning, and immediate implementation of investments, especially those investments that require longer time frames to be developed and arrive in the field. These, he said, include: forestry, livestock breeding, seed multiplication, research and development, innovation and knowledge transfer to enable adaptation.

     

    QUOTE

  • Attaining a resilient Lagos through efficient waste management

    Attaining a resilient Lagos through efficient waste management

    About 13,000 metric tonnes of solid waste is generated daily in Lagos State. Sadly, these find their way into drains and canals, and cause untold hardships. The government is however working to end the menace and achieve an environmentally-resilient state, writes OYEBOLA OWOLABI

    Because of its coastal nature, Lagos State is naturally prone to flooding. However, detrimental human activities also contribute to ensuring that drains are clogged, canals do not flow, and so roads retain water, causing untold hardships. It is a multi-faceted challenge with a ripple effect on virtually every facet of human life.

    However, the government says it is evolving systems and processes towards effective waste management; and to create an environmentally-resilient state. Focus areas include keeping the state flood-free, especially during the rainy season; sorting of waste from source, and of course waste-to-wealth initiatives (reduce, reuse, recycle), which would ultimately ensure a more healthy and prosperous citizenry.

    At a stakeholders’ engagement on achieving a circular economy and an environmentally-resilient state, General Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Dolapo Fasawe, and the Chief Resilience Officer of the State Resilience Office (LASRO), Folayinka Dania, said efforts are on to ensure the about 13,000 tonnes of waste generated daily are put to good use.

    According to Fasawe, Nigeria operates a linear economy, ‘but a circular economy would allow everyone put everything to good use by ensuring that waste is not wasted.’ “It is an economy where, from conception, you’re already thinking sustainability because you want to know what your end product would be. Plastic is not a totally bad thing, but when not properly disposed, it clogs our drainage system and causes flooding. So, we are saying when you use plastic, reuse it and recycle it. A single plastic can be used for up to 10 times before off takers come for it.”

    Dania, on her part, noted that circular economy is about reducing waste to the barest minimum. “What we are trying to do is tilted towards ensuring that no waste gets to the dumpsite,” she noted. Other efforts to achieve this objective, according to Dania, are launching of an Eko Circular podcast to educate people on circular economy and what they can do. “We have equally launched a Lagos circular challenge, which is supposed to help people think about how they can help Lagos become more environmentally-friendly in terms of reducing waste.”

    Eco-friendly Christmas trees, made from used pet bottles and old tyres, were a sight to behold last December. These decorations, courtesy of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK), were parts of efforts to encourage recycling and beautify the environment. They were strategically positioned at the Johnson-Jakande-Tinubu (JJT) Park; Alausa Secretariat setback; LAWMA Head Office garden, Ijora; Lagos-Ibadan Expressway (opposite 7up) and Allen Avenue Traffic Intersection, Ikeja.

    Managing Director/CEO of LAWMA, Ibrahim Odumboni said: “We partnered LASPARK on the initiative to practice what we preach, by creating Christmas trees whose main materials were sourced from recyclables and, by so doing, teach residents the importance of recycling, especially during this festive season. Over 12,000 plastic bottles and 60 tyres of various sizes were used to make the trees. They were created by the Foundation for a Better Environment (F.A.B.E), on behalf of LAWMA and LASPARK.”

    Also in 2021, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu unveiled 102 compactor trucks and 100 double-dino bins acquired by LAWMA.  The governor, at the unveiling, said his administration had invested over N2 billion towards rehabilitating dumpsites, with another N1 billion being invested in the construction of three new transfer loading stations to provide the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the effective delivery of solid waste management services.

    This, according to him, was to fulfil his administration’s determination to secure the public and environmental health of the state, as well as improve the environment’s aesthetic value. “Today, we take delivery of 102 waste collection vehicles comprising thirty 12 cubic meter compactor trucks; sixty 24 cubic meter compactor trucks; 12 hook loaders and 100 double dino bins. This represents one of the largest singular investments ever in the waste management sector in the state. We are confident that the addition of these assets to our existing ones will quickly bring about very visible improvements in waste evacuation and reduce the incidence of black spots that blight our roads and clog our drains.

    “But this is only the beginning; we are thinking well beyond the basics of waste collection and disposal. We are focused on permanently changing the habits and mind-sets of Lagosians regarding the management of waste; inculcating a culture of responsible usage, and of sorting and recycling. We are also fully aware of the potential of the waste economy. Our waste-to-wealth plan is taking shape, as we are rehabilitating the compost facility in Odogunyan, and will be unveiling more projects/programs in the coming months.

    “I urge Lagosians to act responsibly always. We cannot continue to litter our roads, dump waste on the roadside or in illegal dumpsites, or patronise cart-pushers for waste disposal. We cannot be irresponsible in our waste handling and disposal behaviour, and somehow expect that we will be spared the consequences of irresponsibility. The quality of our environment directly impacts the quality of the lives we live.”

    Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tunji Bello, noted that the intervention would help to address challenges faced by LAWMA in the management of solid waste. “Most importantly, it will help to end bulk moving operations and waste management intervention programmes in the waste management budgetary allocation. This major intervention is not a stop-gap measure; it is more about investing in people and social development. It is an indirect investment in healthcare, and this is ultimately towards the goal of improving the quality of life of the people in the most complete manner possible,” he said.

    Odumboni stressed that the trucks were designed, fabricated and assembled in the LAWMA yard in Ijora, in partnership with Dangote and Sino Trucks. “They are purpose-built to fit the peculiarities of the Lagos terrain, with special features such as sitting space for gangmen, bed for drivers to relax, leakage container and retriever. Four trucks would be dedicated to the evacuation of medical waste in public hospitals, and another four to waste separation from the source,” he added.

    While waste disposal was perhaps the focus last year, attention has shifted to desilting of drains and recycling this year. Governor Sanwo-Olu, in February, again unveiled 19 high capacity drainage clearing and maintenance equipment, once again reiterating the government’s commitment to keeping Lagos flood-free and ensuring the environment is healthy enough for people to prosper. The equipment comprised two-loader black hoe model, one low-loader trailer, one track loader, four wheel pick-up, five tipper truck, two light cargo truck, one low bed horse, one crane truck and two floodlights. They were unveiled at the Emergency Flood Abatement Gang (EFAG) yard in Oregun, Ikeja.

    Governor Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by Bello, said never again will Lagos be branded a flood-ravaged city. He reiterated that the government will always be a step ahead in preparing for the aftermath of the rainy season because of the nature of Lagos as a coastal city. “Complaints about non-removal of silts from drains will be addressed with the new tipping trucks. We don’t have enough equipment to fight the menace so acquiring these ones is a big step in the fight. It’s an ongoing process and we hope to see changes as we move along.”

    The Special Adviser to the governor on Drainage and Water Resources, Joe Igbokwe, said the government is aware of its responsibility to evolve strategic methods that will improve the environment, and guarantee that the state is flood-free and beautiful for residents. He added that this feat can only be achieved through sustainable cleaning of all drainage channels.

    Also, the Permanent Secretary (Office of Drainage Services) in the Ministry of Environment, Lekan Shodeinde, was confident that the new equipment would improve efficiency in providing all-year-round drainage maintenance for effective and efficient flood management. According to him, the first batch of equipment was procured in 2019 and plans are on to get more.

    The governor, again in February, rolled out 40,000 smart bins under LAWMA’s ‘Adopt a Bin’ initiative, as part of efforts to promote recycling, clean and healthy environment. The initiative is particularly designed to promote effective waste management, with emphasis on waste sorting from source.

    Governor Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by Bello, urged residents, markets, schools, hospitals, among others, to play their part towards achieving a constantly clean city scape and sustainable environment. He also appealed to corporate bodies to adopt low-income communities so the initiative can spread across the metropolis. “These are not ordinary bins, but smart ones built to last and in accordance with internationally recognised quality standards. They are fitted with intelligent devices that enable tracking and identification. These unique devices also make it possible to register every single bin to individual addresses, for easy communication on issues relating to them,” he added.

    According to Odumboni, Lagos can no longer afford to manage landfills so it was expedient to adopt cost effective and environmentally-resilient methods of waste management. He reiterated that the essence of the ‘Adopt a Bin’ initiative was to ensure that ‘we all do the right thing the first time by ensuring that we separate our waste at source and containerise them.

    Odumboni added: “The reason you see many people dumping waste indiscriminately is because less than 20 per cent of households in Lagos own a bin. We want to promote the idea of owning a bin because once we all own a bin, we will containerise our waste.

    “A 240-litre bin will serve a family of four for two weeks and this will give our PSP operators the operational time to react and serve you well. So we are sensitising people on the importance of owning a bin and separating recyclables from general waste.

    “We are rolling out 40,000 bins now, but in the next months and before the end of the year, we are hoping to get to 500,000. It is very important that our people adopt this program because there is need to recycle a large percentage of our waste because they are raw materials. Waste is not waste until we waste it.

    “The bins are colour-coded because there are different forms of waste. There is a green one for general waste; blue for the recyclables; yellow for clinical or pathological waste and brown for garden waste. What we’ve done now is to improvise and find ways to start colour-coding our waste for easy separation, treatment and proper use.”

    Odumboni added: “The bins are smart and equipped with intelligent devices that enable tracking and identification. Among the several benefits of the standard bins are safe containerisation of waste; easy evacuation, reduction in the harmful activities of pests, as well as reduced city flooding, among others.”

  • Depression after childbirth: A silent killer

    Depression after childbirth: A silent killer

    Many women experience unexplainable emotional changes after childbirth, one of which is post-partum depression. However, depression after childbirth often worsens because some live in denial while others cannot seek help because of the fear of stigmatisation. OYEBOLA OWOLABI reports that conversations about mood swings after childbirth, and the need to ensure access to help, are scaling up.

    Omotola Uti, a mother of one, knew nothing about postpartum depression (PPD) till a few weeks to her delivery date. It was mentioned briefly during one of the ante-natal lectures, and this prompted her to further research into depression after childbirth – an illness that affects nothing less than 20 per cent of mothers in developing countries, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

    This, however, did not exclude her from the experience. “I did not know about postpartum depression until few weeks to my delivery date, and that was because it was mentioned briefly during ante-natal. I then read further to get more understanding. And yes I experienced it after delivery. I was lost; I could not come to the reality of having just delivered my baby. I felt so strange that I avoided my baby sometimes. However my husband and mum gave the needed support, and because I had read about it, I was able to work on myself,” she said.

    Praise Agboola is a mother of two who also experienced PPD after giving birth to her first child. She wept profusely during her christening, though she couldn’t explain the reason for her sadness. “I couldn’t eat well, I couldn’t sleep well, I was sad for no reason, I always felt like crying and, some days, I just wanted to walk away because I didn’t want to see anybody come visit me or the baby. But I had a very supportive husband and mother who helped me in all ways and I gradually snapped out of it.”

    While Uti and Agboola were lucky and are now sharing their stories to help others, some others are not. One of such is Bola Olorunyomi (pseudonym) who had one child before she died. This only child she could not even nurse because she died due to postpartum depression. Perhaps, her condition worsened because she was married to a cleric and they were too ashamed to seek medical help. They maybe lived in denial, or thought the world would say they didn’t pray enough.

    Dolapo Olaoye didn’t experience any of this, but she lost someone to the condition. “Is postpartum depression real? Yes, most definitely! I know someone who had it; so I know it is real. She is late now following some complications. And even if she was alive, she won’t be willing to talk about it because she lived in denial.”

    According to medical experts, PPD can occur during pregnancy or after the birth of a baby. Postpartum depression is usually diagnosed within a year after the woman has given birth, but can extend beyond that. Postpartum depression suffered by a mother following childbirth, typically arising from the combination of hormonal changes, psychological adjustment to motherhood, and fatigue; postnatal depression.

    It is estimated that 10 to 15 per cent of new adult mothers develop PPD within the first year after giving birth, and the percentage increases up to 26 per cent in adolescent mothers, according to monsenso.com, an online health magazine. However, it often remains undiagnosed.

    Postpartum depression and its causes explained

    According to medical practitioners, depression after childbirth falls under types of mental illnesses which affect human beings, especially women. Mental illnesses are disorders, illnesses, conditions and challenges that affect the way we think, act and behave, says Dr. Maymunah Kadiri, a mental health advocate, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, who is also the Medical Director of Pinnacle Medical Services, Lekki, Lagos.

    Dr. Kadiri, however, laments that women are generally twice prone to developing mental illnesses, one of which is depression. “Women generally are twice more depressed than men and there are some types of mental illnesses that are common in women than men, the most common being postpartum depression and this is because of our hormones.

    “Studies will tell you that one out of every 10 women suffer postpartum depression. What most women experience is postpartum blues within the first three days of delivery, and over 80 per cent of women experience blues. But if a woman is still repulsive of her child after one week, then it grows into postpartum depression, and if not managed well, can lead to psychosis even after the baby has grown older,” she said.

    Dr. Adebayo Awoniyi, a gynecologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, explains the diversity in the moods experienced by new mothers. “The spectrum starts with baby pink, baby blues, depression and the extreme, which is psychosis. Postpartum pink occurs few days after a woman gives birth and this happens to all women. The new mother has elevated hormones, excitement, happiness, hyperactive, and sometimes unable to sleep.

    “Postpartum blues occurs in almost 80 per cent of women, especially after returning from the hospital and has no help. Symptoms could include inability to sleep because of the baby and the pressure is on. This, if not taken care of properly, depreciates into depression, which could present as low mood, lack of interest in what you enjoy, low energy. Psychosis is the extreme leg of the spectrum. You know it has gotten to this level when the woman hallucinates; some have delusion; while some might even talk of killing the baby.”

    Causes of depression after childbirth could vary according to realities, but one generally-accepted cause remains life stressors. According to Mrs. Khadijat Hameed, a traditional health attendant of over 15 years, PPD could be hereditary when it is in the blood line. “When a pregnant woman breaks certain taboos, either in her family or husband’s, she could suffer postpartum depression. For instance, some women are not allowed to eat anything with salt, pepper and other condiments until seven days after delivery. If she does otherwise, it could result in postpartum depression, and sometimes death. There are also indications of spiritual undertones to it, especially those ones that refuse all forms of treatment. However, this condition is mostly caused by life stressors.”

    Prophetess Mary Famojuro, who runs a government-approved maternity home at Igando-Egan, Lagos State adds her voice to the reasons why women develop PPD. She said depression after childbirth can be acquired in three major ways: spiritual attack, hereditary factors and stress. “The spiritual attack is not very common, but sufferers will take treatment for life because the condition never really leaves them, it comes and goes seasonally. The woman will become pregnant while experiencing the condition, be delivered of her baby, get sane for a while, and become pregnant again in the condition.

    “Sometimes, it is hereditary like normal illnesses which affect the bloodline; meaning it could be in the third or fourth generation. I had a patient whose elder sister experienced it for all her pregnancies and they had to always visit Yaba or Abeokuta for treatment. The husband also explained that the condition lasts for the first six months after delivery. His wife was however having it for the first time. If this is traced through their blood line – paternal or maternal line – it could be discovered that one of their mothers had the problem. If it doesn’t happen in the first to the third generation, it would in the fourth generation.

    “Some develop it suddenly perhaps after experiencing life stressors, perhaps following a fight with the husband while pregnant. Women who are maltreated by their husbands during pregnancies are especially prone to developing this condition. However, it takes a lot of spiritual searching to know the source and cause, whether hereditary or otherwise, to be able to understand how to tackle it.”

    Dr. Kadiri agrees that PPD could be hereditary, but lists other risk factors that could cause the condition.  She said PPD can be the result of exposure to certain environmental hazards – exhaust, toxins, alcohol. Others are life stressors – traumatic experiences, which could be relationship driven, economic or financial challenges, sickness, as well as school or work challenges. Blood chemistry can also cause it, she added.

    “There are certain mirror transmitters that cannot be seen in the brain, but when they malfunction, they cause chemical imbalances which trigger maladaptive behavioural issues. They could also be underlying medical conditions such as depression, diabetes, pre-menstrual disorder (which happens during our menstrual cycle) and some others.

    “Other major causes of post-partum depression are the physiological changes that happen during and after pregnancy, such as the fluctuation of the hormones which cause very profound chemical changes in women. These changes get regulated with time but could also wreak havoc, especially the estrogen, which is significantly elevated during pregnancy, and then rapidly returns to normal within 24 hours of child birth.

    “The estrogen moves from one to 10 during pregnancy, but within 24 hours of having a baby, it goes back to one, that is a rapid return to normal. It is huge for a woman’s brain chemistry to process and that is a primary contributor. Not all women will experience it, but some do and because they cannot cope, they start to behave abnormally.

    “Another all important factor is our lifestyle. In reality, women need more sleep than men, but we don’t sleep. Lack of sleep and the stress associated with it (market runs, child care, school runs and others) force most women not to be intentional and deliberate about their wellbeing, and this can trigger a breakdown. There is also of course the social factor. Poverty is higher in women because most are not gainfully employed; women are not as empowered and employable as men. For example, some establishments do not readily employ a pregnant woman because of the fear of maternity leave. These factors can make women develop mental illness.”

    Postpartum depression: Myth or reality

    Is PPD real, or is it a social construct following modernisation and technological advancement? Traditional medicine attendants argue that PPD is definitely not new to the Nigerian, nay Yoruba tradition. According to Mrs. Hameed, depression after childbirth is not a new phenomenon. Conversations about it are however not common because the society see it as an abnormality which should not be discussed in the open.

    “Postpartum depression, in the Yoruba tradition, is called abisiwin, a condition which forces a woman to temporarily lose her sense of self after childbirth and so she is unwilling or unable to care for her herself or the child. Such a woman misbehaves and speaks incoherently. She could say she wants to throw the baby away. Some could start praying unnecessarily, maybe she was a prayer warrior, but she does it abnormally now. Some could also start cursing.

    “Women who suffer it do so in silence, having to lick their wounds in private because they don’t want to be seen as lazy or otherwise. Another reason people keep quiet is because of stigmatisation, cultural beliefs and societal attitudes. Someone close to me was a victim but before she died, she opened up that her husband and siblings were always fighting and, in the process, the one who usually helps them died, and she was pregnant at the time. This caused her a lot of pains and she developed abisiwin which later led to her death.”

    Prophetess Famojuro provides a spiritual/religious perspective to it. “I am a midwife with the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) and I can tell for sure that abisiwin is not new, it has been with us for ages but we usually don’t talk about it because it was viewed as a disease and so should not be discussed. But as we get more knowledge in this job, we realise it is not a disease, but a disorder, the outcome of a particular situation/experience.

    “A woman can develop ‘abisiwin’ after child birth if her husband’s attitude toward her changes during pregnancy, or the woman couldn’t get some baby items; these things could make her moody and destabilise her thoughts. The woman might begin to nag a lot; she reacts excessively to everything and her actions negate the reality of conversations.

    “The child might cry and instead of petting the baby, the mother shouts on it as if dealing with a three-year-old. She might even handle the baby anyhow and dress the baby in about six clothes. When we have such people, we pray for them and follow up medically. Some misbehave to the extent their baby is taken from them, and some women won’t experience it until the second or third or even last child.”

    Fear of stigmatisation breeds silence

    Because of the fear of stigmatisation, and sometimes self-denial, many women who suffer postpartum depression in Nigeria cannot speak out so they are not perceived as lazy or not woman enough. This is perhaps why there is no readily available data to measure its prevalence statistically, and so it is under reported. According to Dr. Awoniyi, the data available is under reported even in the world.

    “People who have depression are about 15 to 20 per cent; almost all women experience postpartum blues, while it is about 0.1 to 0.2 per cent for psychosis. However, we might not have the actual figure here in Nigeria because people are not confident enough to share their experiences for the fear of stigmatisation. But, as a gynecologist, we try to address these issues from when the woman starts attending ante-natal clinic. We ask if there is any family history of mental disorders, is she having enough rest, is there domestic abuse, etc. It is after these questions that we know how to help the woman. We try as much as possible to work towards prevention.”

    Treatment and management of postpartum depression

    Just like any other medical condition, PPD can be remedied, according to Mrs. Hammed. “The condition can be remedied with herbs and roots. Some they boil and drink, bath with, while some are used to prepare meals and they sleep off after eating. However, most young ones like me in this profession don’t handle it because it is believed the condition could affect the caregiver if payment is taken for service. But the very elderly in age and experience, who understand the way and nature of the spiritual, have their methods of handling such cases.”

    For Prophetess Famojuro, handling a case of PPD requires both the spiritual and medical approaches. “In as much as we believe in the power and efficacy of prayers, we do not take the medical perspective for granted. One has to move with modern trends to remain relevant. We have had about five patients here and they all got well, even having more children without experiencing the condition. Some women would willingly open up to you during discussion, though not stating it outright. And when we hear such, we encourage them to return for the medications after delivery while we support with prayers.”

    Dr. Awoniyi, however, breaks the treatment plan into three steps. The first being identifying those who are at risk; second is breaking them into help groups – education, medication, rehabilitation, support, and level three is for the government to seeks ways to deal with the problem, a major one being to encourage women empowerment.

    “We identify those who are at risk and then decide how to help them. If they are smokers, we try to dissuade them from smoking. Do we need to collaborate with a psychiatrist, psychologist, or involve community and religious leaders? After this we educate, give medication, rehabilitate and give support where needed.

    “The third level is where the government should come in. There is a great need to establish special clinics where specialised services would be offered to these categories of women. There is also need for rehabilitation centres. But, above all, we need to encourage women empowerment. Women should be cared for because they are the backbone of every society; they need to be empowered financially because social status also plays a big role in why women suffer postpartum depression.”

    • This article was produced with the support of the Africa Women’s Journalism Project (AWJP) in partnership with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and through the support of the Ford Foundation.
  • Optimism as Nigeria’s $450m cloud service market gets a boost

    Optimism as Nigeria’s $450m cloud service market gets a boost

    Nigeria’s booming cloud services market is about to witness further revolution through a partnership that seeks to bring the cloud closer to private businesses and public institutions, thus eliminating data sovereignty issues in the business environment, reports Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA

    The journey to strengthen the capacity of the African business environment, Nigeria’s inclusive, to deliver cloud services that will be beneficial to the unique needs of public and private sector organisations is on course. This time around, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG Plc.), an integrated Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions provider, is leading the charge to champion the ‘New Africa’ by bringing the cloud services closer.

    Already, CWG Plc., which is one of Africa’s fastest growing ICT companies, is in partnership with two other information technology giants to help drive the increased adoption of cloud computing. They are Zadara, a United States-based global cloud computing infrastructure provider in any location, and Africa Data Centres (ADC), a pan-African data centre services provider. On the strength of their partnership, the trio organised a Zoom conference on Thursday Feb 17, 2022, to address data sovereignty and data domestication issues in Africa. The virtual meeting with the topic, ‘Bringing You to the Future: The Journey towards a Cloud Lifestyle,’ was aimed at eliminating data sovereignty issues and bringing the cloud closer to private businesses and public institutions in Africa, particularly Nigeria.

    The meeting brought together a pool of experts with vast practical experience from different spheres who shared knowledgeable insights on the journey towards a cloud lifestyle and Africa’s preparedness for it. And a common thread that ran through their presentations was the need for private and public enterprises to adopt the local cloud approach because of its obvious advantages.

    The Chairman, Board of Directors, Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd. (NIGCOMSAT), Mr. Yusuf Kazaure, set the ball rolling by putting the discussion in perspective, first, by pointing out that cloud computing, in simple terms, was all about the ability to have access to computing services without necessarily making an upfront investment. Kazaure, who is a seasoned professional with over 30 years of experience spanning architecture, construction, banking, government, and IT, said companies do not need to purchase or set up their own infrastructure locally, but can have access through the internet to resources they can use to deploy their applications and their data bases – and institutions can do that for the whole of their IT requirements.

    According to him, the advantages of adopting cloud computing are obvious. He said, for instance, that companies or enterprises can pay for their services on the go rather than making an upfront investment. This, he said, is one of the key drivers. He also said under the arrangement, companies have software as a service in which their business applications are delivered over the internet and they pay for the service.

    Kazaure, while pointing out that this trend is not abating anytime soon, recalled, for instance, that it was cloud computing that helped companies weather the COVID-19 pandemic storm. “When this journey (cloud computing) started from the 1950s, I don’t think anybody ever fathomed the extent to which this technology will evolve and have such an impact. It has come in a way and manner that is so irreversible.

    “Customers have adopted and engineered their lifestyles to expect what can be offered by an all-prevalent cloud platform. So, it’s now being driven from both ends of the scale, from customers at the extreme and also from companies who require the ability to meet that demand,” he said.

    The Nation learnt that the partnership amongst CWG, Zadara and ADC will enable enterprises in Africa the ability to spin up dedicated servers on demand (without buying the physical hardware), while also allowing enterprises to build, deploy, and manage their infrastructure on an entirely Operating Expenditure (OpEx) model, which in turn, allows for manageable and predictable costs.

    By utilizing CWG hybrid environment, for instance, organisations can lower both Capital Expenditures (CapEx) and the fees associated with increased public cloud utilisation. In addition to reducing total expenses, this yields increased financial flexibility and more predictable costs that are easier to control and forecast.

    The Managing Director/CEO of Unitellas International Limited, the official distributor of Zadara data solution in Nigeria, Mr. Smith Osemeke, underscored the cost advantage that come with increased adoption of cloud computing. For instance, he stated that under the latest partnership, what CWG Plc. is bringing to the table in terms of cost makes a lot of sense because, in this case, customers are empowered to pay in naira – not in dollar as it’s usually the case. “You could be in public cloud today and you are paying $400 per month, and tomorrow, there is an increase in dollar, and now you are paying $550, which means the cost is not stable. But in this case, CWG is billing their customers in naira. And the platform that CWG is also bringing can be deployed into two different organisations,” Osemeke explained.

    The Unitellas boss, who doubled as one of the hosts of the Zoom meeting, also said many organisations already patronizing cloud computing giant Amazon Web Services (AWS), for instance, who want security and wish to bring their server home, but could not do so, can now bring their server home as a service. “This is what Zadara is bringing with its partnership with CWG,” he said.

    In other words, the partnership will help liberalise a customer’s choice of location for his or her cloud. “It can be in any location. So, either in ADC or in CWG data centre or in the customer’s data centre (i.e. on-premises), CWG has the capability to offer cloud service on-premises by bringing full infrastructure to the customer,” Osemeke said.

    He added that, irrespective of the size of the organisation or the customer, there is no need to buy server or any hardware. “If, as a big organisation, you want it to be deployed in your own premises, CWG has the capability to do that, and you just consume it as a service; you are not buying the hardware, you are paying for the service,” Osemeke emphasised.

    Cloud market and its many benefits

    The current discussion around the need to increase the adoption of cloud computing is particularly important for Nigeria. The Chief Technology Officer (CTO), ADC, Dr. Krish Ranganath, brought this reality nearer home when he valued Nigeria’s cloud market at approximately $400-450million. Aligning with Osemeke and indeed, other experts, Dr. Ranganath said because of currency fluctuations, local cloud approach is the way to go to tap into the huge market. “It is local cloud hosting that makes things easier for the customer. It also creates more employment opportunities for the young generation of these countries.

    “Considering Nigeria’s population which is approximately 170-180 million, you can imagine the quantum of data it supposed to store and we need to bring it back (localise it) . And to bring it back, it is better that we go with the local cloud approach so that the cost can be shared across multiple people,” he said.

    Dr. Ranganath, who has a sound mix of experience in various aspects of management cutting across several sectors, notably in ICT, said: “If you look at the Nigerian cloud hosting market, which is approximately $400-450 million, which is really very huge, I sincerely think that this kind of partnership needs to grow more so that we can really get into the Nigerian market.”

    To underscore his company’s appreciation of Nigeria’s huge cloud market, Ranganath said ADC, which is a pan-African data centre, and a part of the Cassava Group, with presence across 13 countries primarily in Eastern, Southern and South Africa, already has a Nigerian data centre located in the Eko Atlantic City, Lagos.

    Located in Lagos, in the Special Economic Zone called Eko Atlantic City, the 1.2 megawatt Lagos facility, The Nation learnt, marked a significant step forward in ADC’s ambitious long-term strategy to digitise Africa. Its Nigerian data centre will form ADC’s West African hub. By combining its expertise with cloud partners, it means that ADC is equipped to provide the best technical solution for customers’ cloud connectivity needs.

    An IT expert with CWG, Alexander Baba-Jonah, confirmed that the cloud market is indeed, huge and that the adoption of cloud is capable of reducing overheads by up to 25 per cent on the average, while also optimizing IT assets usage. He also said it can reduce IT incidents because it is very proactive.

    Interestingly, Baba-Jonah said Nigeria’s public sector space already has policies that indicate that government is working to increase its stake in cloud computing. “We are looking at government’s ability to have up to 30 per cent adoption by 2024. We have the public institutions really picking this up. We have Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) working with federal institutions to enable cloud computing.

    “We expect that our policies are targeted at about 35 per cent growth in cloud computing in terms of investment. This is the new boom. We have the likes of PwC telling us a lot more about changes in the landscape and enabling new businesses pick up based on the advent of cloud and cloud technology.”

    Recall that the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) had, in August 2019, built on the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (EGRP) objectives by issuing the Nigeria Cloud Computing Policy (NCCP). The policy’s goal was to ensure 30 per cent increase in adoption of cloud computing by 2024 among Federal Public Institutions (FPI) and SMEs that provide digital-enabled services to the government; and 35 per cent growth in cloud computing investment.

    In doing so, government was encouraged by the numerous benefits of the adoption of cloud services, which include reduced IT cost, scalability, flexibility, and better security, among others. The latest partnership is expected to help halt capital flights and provide data sovereignty, as well as data domestication for customers in a secure and efficient manner.

    It must have been in this sense that the founder, Ausso Leadership Academy and also a Non-Executive Director, CWG, Mr. Austin Okere, described cloud is ‘a catalyst.’ According to him, “Technology has become part and parcel of the business. Therefore, for business to accelerate in growth, technology has to become more available, more seamless and cheaper.”

    The challenges ahead

    But as booming and exciting as cloud computing is, it is not without some challenges. “It’s not to say it’s all rosy,” Baba-Jonah admitted, pointing out that one of the challenges is cyber security. He said, for instance, that Microsoft tackles up to seven (7) trillion cyber threats a day. Baba-Jonah, however, said service providers are working hard and continuously fending off threats. “If you look at what has happened last year and look at the last quarter of last year and early this year, you realise that there has been a lot less outages based on cyber security. It’s not to say that it’s not there; it’s there, but we will continuously look at fixing that problem,” he said.

    He added that one of CWG’s key solutions to cyber threats was to look at CWG as a focal point and partner with Zadara in bringing together architectural framework and infrastructure for information devices for closing that gap. “With our partnership with Zadara, we will be able to give you better insight into how your business will grow and should grow and in what direction. We help you manage your computer challenges. I am not saying they won’t be there; they will be there, but we are there to help you sleep well at night, keep your business up and running and to make sure that you remain profitable and your customers remain satisfied,” he assured.

    While also admitting that security is a big issue, Okere said getting round it required investing in security. “We have to invest in security, and we have to adopt the global standards of security. Let’s not say that nothing has happened and therefore nothing will happen; we should always be prepared,” he said. The ICT expert also said there is need to look at the issue of personalisation “because a company doesn’t want to go into the cloud and it doesn’t feel as if it is its own. It’s like renting a house from the landlord but the deco and feel of the house is the landlord’s. No. it has to feel like you. So, personalisation in the cloud is extremely important so that when I put my stuff there in the cloud with CWG, I should see that it represents me.”

    Okere listed other issues to include response time and customer service. “The customer service has to be better than what I would have had on my own premises,” he said. With regards to response time, he said: “In today’s world, you cannot afford to slack. The Chinese use the same word or the same expression for challenge and opportunity.

    “They say that crisis is made up of danger and opportunity. So, opportunity and challenge are the same sides of the coin. And you may lose the opportunity if you are not prepared. It is only when preparation meets opportunity that you have success. Leadership in business is leadership in technology. Invest in that technology, don’t lose your opportunity.”

  • How Kwara resolved its minimum wage conundrum

    How Kwara resolved its minimum wage conundrum

    Organised Labour and the Kwara State Government recently resolved the lingering crisis surrounding the payment of N30, 000 minimum wage and consequential adjustment for civil servants. Many, however, see the salary adjustment as Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s re-election trump card, reports ADEKUNLE JIMOH

    It was a long-drawn battle – one laced with intrigues and crisis of confidence. But, after months of mutual suspicion and antagonism, the voice of reason ultimately prevailed. Thanks to perseverance on all sides, the truce recorded over the minimum wage conundrum in Kwara State seemed to have finally resolved the crisis generated by the initial failure of the state government to approve the full implementation of the new minimum wage for its employees.

    With the agreement on the new minimum wage in place, many of the labour leaders, who hitherto pacified their union members, said they can now heave a sigh of relief. The state government commenced the implementation of the new minimum wage and consequential adjustment in January this year. This signalled the end of the crisis generated by the state government’s excuse that it did not have the financial muscle to implement the consequential adjustment of workers from levels seven and above – an explanation rejected by the organised labour.

    Before the agreement for the full implementation of the new minimum wage was reached mid-January between the state government, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had consistently maintained that it would fully implement the new minimum wage of workers from levels one to six.

    But, with the commencement of full implementation of the new minimum wage, everyone seems to be happy now. One of them is TUC Secretary-General in the state, Comrade Tunde Joseph. The labour leader now walks with a bounce in his steps on account of the full implementation of the new minimum wages for workers. With this development, no government worker in the state now earns below N30, 000 per month. Among other things, the good news has eased the pressure on Joseph and other labour leaders in the state. With last month’s salary alerts confirming their new wage status, labour unions under JNC have inundated the media and public space with gratitude to the state government in the last one and half months.

    While commending Governor AbdulRasaq, Joseph also acknowledged government workers’ perseverance in the matter. The social media space in Ilorin, the state capital has been awash with viral videos of jubilant civil servants, too. In one of the videos, a Principal of Okelele Senior Secondary School, Ilorin, Mr Albarika Akanbi, was seen tearfully thanking the state government. It was emotion and drama-laden as the principal directed pupils to clap for the state governor. “I want you to clap for the Kwara State Governor; he has done very well for the civil servants in Kwara State. We need to appreciate him. It has never been good like this in Kwara State where a governor promises and fulfils it in this way,” the principal said.

    To unwary observers, there might not be anything spectacular in the salary increment for workers in the state. One, careful analysis and comparison of workers’ salaries in the North-central and South-west states revealed that Kwara civil servants have over the years been earning low pay. It was gathered that until the recent implementation of the new minimum wage, the civil servants in Kwara were the lowest-paid workers across the two geopolitical zones.

    Two, many critics insist workers’ promotions have remained stagnated, especially before 2019, when salaries of workers were paid in percentages.

    “I can say that this administration from inception brought a permanent end to salaries being paid on percentages. On the account of salaries being paid on percentages, we have salaries arrears of about three months and 43 per cent dating back to before 2019.

    “We plead with His Excellency to further look at our direction and clear the outstanding salaries arrears of about three months and 43 per cent,” Chairman Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB), Prof Shehu Adaramaja, explained.

    Added to the wage increment is the promotion exercise. Last month, Governor Abdulrasaq approved the implementation of promotion arrears for teachers and members of staff of the KWSUBEB. The move ended years of career stagnation that brought workers’ morale to an all-time low. Public basic school teachers in Kwara State were last promoted in 2017.

    “Conduct of years 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 promotion examination and oral interview has been approved by His Excellency. The beauty of this is that these promotion exercises (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020), going by the good understanding we have with the government, will come with cash backing. Outstanding salary arrears of staff are also not left out as the process is at its peak,” the state SUBEB boss said.

    Former Vice-National President of NLC and now Director-General, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Comrade Isa Aremu, also applauded the state government for implementing the N30, 000 new minimum wage and consequential adjustment for the state workers. The frontline labour leader added that process of arriving at the agreement between organised labour and government had been rigorous and painstaking.

    “It is highly commendable for organised labour and the Kwara State Government to amicably resolve the issue of the new minimum wage. I think the Kwara example should be recommended to other states that are yet to conclude the negotiation and implementation of the new minimum wage as well as the consequential adjustments attached to it.

    “It also shows that if there is the will among the stakeholders, there will also be a way for amicable resolution on issues dealing with wages and salaries of the workers. The negotiation has been quite protracted. It is also commendable that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration had an amicable resolution which led to the review of then subsisting N18, 000 minimum wages to N30, 000. It was borne out of a genuine collaboration between the executive and the legislature. Don’t forget that a new minimum wage is an act of parliament signed into law by the President.

    “I want to say that it is commendable that Kwara state has applied the same spirit of dialogue, negotiation and compromises. When I looked at the content of the agreement, it is divided into two. They are quantitative and qualitative. The qualitative aspect of the agreement says no worker will lose his her job as a result of the new minimum wage and consequential adjustment.”

    In spite of this, organised labour has urged Governor AbdulRazaq to review the pension of retirees in the state in line with the dictates of the N30, 000 minimum wages. In spite of all these plaudits, NLC Chairman in the state, Comrade Issa Ore, had drawn the attention of the state government to a letter sent to the labour house by the pensioners’ union in the state on the minimum wage consequential adjustments for the retirees.

    “It is an established protocol that each time there is adjustment/upward review in the salaries and wages of workers, there shall be an upward review of pension of pensioners.  We hereby request the governor to direct the negotiation committee to expedite actions on the review of pensioners’ monthly stipends to reflect the new minimum wage signed into law by you,” Ore said.

    But critics of the administration appear unmoved by the gesture, asking why has the governor waited for 31 out of his 48-month mandate before hurrying to implement the payment scheme? They added he has chosen to adjust the salary at a time when he thought it was useful for his political survival, dubbing the salary adjustment based on the minimum wage as his re-election trump card.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state has also viewed Governor AbdulRazaq’s sudden U-turn from his hitherto hardline posture as political.

    Former Senate President Bukola Saraki’s media aide on local matters, Abdulqadir Abdulganiyu, specifically accused the governor of playing politics with the workers’ welfare by approving the minimum wage and consequential adjustment months to the general election. He described the wage approval as a Greek Gift that should be welcomed with utmost caution.

    He said the implementation is suspicious coming three years after his assumption of office and at a time when political activities had already commenced.

    “One wonders why Governor AbdulRazaq did not implement the consequential minimum wage a few months after he got to office according to his campaign promises in 2019. Having vowed to implement the new minimum wage once he assumes office, one would have expected him to do so in the first 100 days or even three months in office. But alas, the AbdulRazaq administration is doing so three years after he got to power when he saw the handwriting on the wall that his administration is sinking.

    “As you can see, the state government has the financial capacity to pay all these years, but he refused. His decision to even pay now contrary to his earlier claim that the state has no financial capacity to do so vindicates our earlier claim that the governor was lying. The consequential adjustment is at the moment inconsequential at a time when inflation, occasioned by the directionlessness of the All Progressives Congress-led government is rising at an astronomical pace.

    “Come to think of it, the adjustment being celebrated by the APC government and its sycophants is insignificant considering the prices of goods and commodities in the market. While the AbdulRazaq government and its cronies are busy making a mountain out of a molehill, many workers are lamenting the high cost of things in the market which the so-called consequential adjustment won’t have enough on their earnings because of the market values,” Abdulganiyu said..

    The PDP also alleged that the governor is politicising the payment of gratuity to pensioners in the state. The PDP Secretary in the state, Alhaji Razaq Lawal, equally accused the state local government staff pension board of not following due process in the payment of gratuity to retired workers in the state. He added that special considerations are given to supporters of the ruling APC and associates of the governor’s political appointees in the payment of gratuity in the state. The party also rubbished the claim by the state government that it is releasing N100 million monthly for payment of gratuity, noting that the impact is not being felt by the pensioners.

     

  • Requiem for Delta’s moribund AT&P firm

    Requiem for Delta’s moribund AT&P firm

    Even before a recent fire incident destroyed its machinery worth several millions of naira, the once booming African Timber and Plywood Company had fallen on hard times. In this report, ELO EDREMODA traces the past glory and resuscitation prospects of a company once reputed to be the largest timber manufacturing complex in the world

    The African Timber and Plywood Company (AT&P), Sapele, Delta State, was engulfed in flames recently. The AT&P yard in Sapele was once a booming economic venture before the company went moribund. All efforts to resuscitate it had proved abortive.

    However, a midnight fire that pierced through the heart of the premier timber production company seemed to have finally buried the carcass of the moribund firm. The fire, which started at the main factory, totally consumed that heart of the factory, destroying machines worth millions of naira. The fire had wreaked havoc before fire fighters came to the rescue, and prevented it from spreading further.

     

    In the beginning

     

    In the past, Sapele town in the old Midwestern region presented the milieu of a European Quarters, or at least, a Government Reservation Area (GRA). In 1891, Captain H. L. Gallwey, a British explorer, described Sapele as ‘one mass of forest’ which, in no time, he would turn into ‘a little English town.’ He may not have succeeded, given the limited infrastructure in the town, but the well-laid and serene atmosphere of the city centre put Sapele in the league of a few Nigerian structured towns. The presence of a notable population of white men, who constituted employees of the popular AT&P, elevated the town to a status of a suitable abode for living.

     

    AT&P’s positive impact on Sapele town

     

    As a result of its almost unblemished administrative structure, AT&P gave the then Sapele town a distinctive mode of lifestyle. For the reason that it operated shift type of operation for the lower cadre; each shift has a reminder of the beginning of the day’s routine. This was in the form of a bell whose lurid sound didn’t only awaken workers “residing in the precinct of AT&P, it also awoke those indigenous to Sapele who you then notice would mount their ‘White Horse’ bicycles riding to their different places of work while some also trudged to the company to begin the day’s work.

     

    9,000 in AT&P’s employ

     

    The AT&P, a Sapele factory from a division of the United Africa Company (UAC), was once reputed to be the largest timber manufacturing complex in the world. In its prime, notably during the 1960s and 1970s, it was the town’s greatest employer with an estimated 9,000, many of them working in tropical forestry regions supplying the Sapele factory via rafts on the abundant river systems.

     

    AT&P’s gradual plunge

     

    The decline started in the early 1980s. Since its inception in 1947, the company’s general manager was a white man seconded from UAC. But this changed in the 1980s when an Akwa Ibom top senior manager at UAC became the first Nigerian to head the company as general manager.

    Some say decline set in from this period but prior to this time, it was evident other factors may have played out: the civil war, indigenisation decree, local vendetta politics, economic factors, migration to neighbouring Warri, the oil city, among others. But one fact was clear, mismanagement and fraud were observed everywhere in the running of the company. Suddenly, Sapele, which was almost enjoying stable power and potable water supplied by the AT&P, was now at the mercy of stuttering ECN and a wobbling water board. With the decline of the company, Sapele had a tenuous hold on its livelihood as its fortunes were mostly tied to AT&P. Many lost their jobs, living standards depleted and household income became lost.

    Suffice to say that when the death knell finally sounded for the AT&P in the late 1990s, equipment worth millions of naira were allowed to lay inoperable for decades. Unfortunately, the AT&P yard in Sapele has been consumed by a tiny blade of midnight fire that was said to have started at the main functional factory.

    Although it had become moribund for years, the Delta State government had, two years ago, set up a committee to assess the state of AT&P, to determine how the land that it occupied could be effectively utilised for economic ventures that will be beneficial to the people of the state.

     

    Any prospect after the ruins

     

    Now that the moribund AT&P has been ravaged by fire, should the curtains to one of the mainstays of Nigeria’s economy about 70 years ago, be dropped finally? Or is there hope for a revamp and rehabilitation? Would the Delta State government that had moved to revamp the facility two years ago, go ahead to redecorate the facility, at least, for the economic advantage of the people or become downhearted and abandon its earlier plan?

    Sapele, one of the commercial hubs of Delta State came to the limelight as a result of its fine timber produce at the AT&P, a subsidiary of the United African Company (UAC).

     

    Sapele’s desolate mien

     

    Sadly, the once-boisterous and bustling town is becoming or has become a shadow of itself, as, one after the other, companies, such as the Eternity, Cenico Rubber Factory, Flour Mills, Pontu, the Sapele seaport, as well as the AT&P, went into oblivion due to maladministration and/or “dirty” politicking, among other factors.

    Located on Miller Road in the Sapele Local Government Area of the state, the one-time gigantic facility was engulfed in flames about 8 p.m. on, Tuesday, February 22, 2022. The fire, it was gathered, lasted for several hours, destroying major equipment worth millions of naira before arrival of firefighters.

    Prior to the incident, the facility, which was a pride to those indigenous to Sapele, including its equipment, had been abandoned and left to rot, like many other industries that boomed until the early 90s, across the state and Nigeria.

    Established around 1947, reports described the AT&P as “the largest industrial plant in West Africa,” housing a Timber Research Laboratory, showrooms, and several local facilities, such as a plywood cinema and a clubhouse.

    The major sources of the tropical hardwoods were Iroko and Mahogany trees with one specie known as Sapele mahogany. Initially, the products of the mills were mostly for foreign markets, specifically the United Kingdom. But an expanding local market caused an inward focus to increase sales. The booming trade led to the building of a plywood factory in Sapele.

    The timber operations witnessed the felling of hundreds of thousands of logs every year. This, no doubt, left a devastating impact on the natural environment – a subject for another day.

     

    Between Sapele and Ghana’s Samreboi

     

    It would interest Nigerians to know that a similar company was established in Ghana’s Samreboi (then Gold Coast) at about the same period. But faced with mismanagement and imminent collapse, it was taken over by Samartex Timber and Plywood Company in 1995. According to information available on the net, the company, which has grown over the years and established other branches, has over 2,000 people in its employ. If only the same could be said for Sapele’s AT&P!

     

    Officials react

     

    Chairman of Sapele Local Government Eugene Inoaghan, who was on  on the scene, made the distress call to men of the Delta State Fire Service, as well as the nearby fire service of oil and gas company, Seplat Energy. He expressed shock at the magnitude of destruction.

    In a chat with reporters in Sapele on what could be the cause of the fire, he said: “People are working there. So, we guess that maybe there was light and they forgot to put it off or something of that nature.”

    Eyewitnesses said the fire was noticed about 8.05 p.m., from a neighbouring company at the end of the facility; an area directly opposite the wood yard and spreading to the sawmill department of the old timber firm.

    Continuing, the chairman said: “… we called firefighters from Seplat and Delta State Fire Service, one came and left. It said it was going to refuel and come back to finish off the fire.”

    Efforts to speak with the council chief days after the incident were futile. When contacted on the telephone a week after the incident, his secretary, Felix Ayemidejor, said the section, which was razed by fire, “housed heavy equipment,” leaving a “major damage.”

    According to him, the cause of the fire had not been ascertained. “The damage was very enormous. The full warehouse burnt down and every other thing inside were burnt down. We have not sat to take the financial estimate of the damage,” Ayemidejor said.

    However, a source who spoke in confidence, said saboteurs were suspected to have set the place on fire. But he was optimistic the authorities would quicken the revival of the plant, if not for woodworks, then perhaps other industrial purposes.

    “If that place was operational, there wouldn’t have been any chance for those vandals to break in and set that place ablaze. With what we saw there, we suspect that it was sabotage. And if there are workers on the ground, it would have been difficult for anybody to sneak into the place and set a section of it on fire.

    “This fire incident will go a long way in telling the state government that it is time we started thinking of putting that place into use. I pray that the state government would do something with that vast land that is lying fallow,” the source said.

    Also, contrary to the chairman’s claim that some people were working in the facility, Ayemidejor said “there has been no work going on there since AT&P left. The place has been left fallow, except for some vigilantes that were ordered to look after the place, security-wise.”

    On the effect of the AT&P going moribund, he noted that the economic effect was enormous on the once-famous timber town.

    “The whole of Sapele felt the impact of that company leaving. You can imagine a company that employed so many individuals and they were all dropped; you know what it means. The whole activities of that company have just been swept off.”

    It was also learnt that a committee was reportedly set up by the state  government two years ago, to assess the condition of the AT&P, to determine how the land that it occupies could be effectively used for economic purposes to benefit the people of the state.

    The Delta State Police Command, through its spokesman, Bright Edafe, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said in a WhatsApp text message that the cause of the fire “is not yet known,” adding that “no casualty” was recorded.

    Efforts to get comments from the state government on the incident and future plans for the place were unsuccessful.

    The Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, directed this reporter to speak with the Commissioner for Bureau for Special Duties, Mr Johnbull Edema, who is in charge of such matters.

    However, Edemacould not be reached as of the time of filing this report.

  • ‘We’re on right track towards universal healthcare coverage’

    ‘We’re on right track towards universal healthcare coverage’

    As Nigeria struggles to achieve universal healthcare coverage, Prof Mohammed Sambo, Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), reflects on the journey so far and exudes confidence that the country is on a success course. He spoke with Moses Emorinken

    Unveiling my three-point rebranding agenda

     

    By July 15 2019, we assumed duty in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), and we unveiled a three-point rebranding agenda. If I can recall vividly, one of them is restoring the value system that will make NHIS to be a credible, result-oriented organisation. Second is general transparency and accountability in the entire operation of the NHIS. Thirdly, to accelerate the drive towards attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and if you remember vividly we have constructed the element of each and every of these agendas.

    For the first one, which has to do with restoring value system, the reason why we would put it as the first agenda that we would pursue is because NHIS has been bedevilled by so many problems, and there was internal cohesion and externally; there was a lot of loss of confidence in the system. The organisation that is supposed to attain universal health coverage with over 200 million population had no credible roadmap to achieve that, and there was a lot of scrambles within the organisation. I was the 12th Chief Executive Officer in the 20 years of the existence of the organisation. If you do a simple calculation, you would realise that in every less than two years, one CEO would leave. So it has become a fairy tale in the NHIS that a CEO can’t pass two years in office. That was why when I celebrated my two years in office, unknown to me that it was two years, people came to me and they were celebrating and I asked ‘what was the cause of the celebration?’ and they said ‘oga, you are two years in the organisation and the last time we saw a CEO serve beyond two years was a very long one.’

    So, one thing we can say we have been able to achieve is that stability. The organisation wasn’t stable before, and through the implementation of the value-orientation element, we have been able to stabilise the organisation, we have been able to create a clearly defined roadmap that will help us attain robust health coverage. The scramble whereby tear gas was being thrown into the organisation is no longer in the organisation, and you now see people working assiduously towards meeting the objective of the organisation.

    We met a health insurance whereby most of the activities that were taking place were largely driven at the level of headquarters. We have about nine zonal offices, thirty eight state offices and FCT; by 38, we mean that Lagos state has two different states as designated. Those state offices were there, but they were not functioning because most of the activities were driven at the level of headquarters. Also, more than 40 per cent of their staff, that is, about 1,400, were within the headquarters. The state offices were in a situation whereby you would go and see only six staff in some of the states; most states had a staff workforce of less than ten. You now have a situation where you would pay rent, pay security, and pay everything for only five or six staff. If you look at the real operation of health insurance, you can technically say that, with the coverage of almost 100 per cent of the formal section at the federal level, except for some few MDAs, we could say that Abuja is almost to universal health coverage because it is a city of Federal Government workers, and they have been enrolled into the formal sector health insurance programme, but at the level of state, there was a lot to be done.

    So, if we have a concentration of staff in the headquarters then it means that those people residing in the states will have no one to cater for them. So we employed the principle of decentralisation of governance to strengthen our state offices and made them very credible to be able to perform a decentralised function, and to that extent we have achieved quite a lot. We haven’t only decentralised, we have ensured that we have injected relevant, critical human resources that will drive activities at that level. In the previous interview I made mention of the fact of the 1,400 staffing in the National Health Insurance Scheme, only 46 are health care workers. By healthcare workers I mean the doctors, nurses, the lab scientist and the pharmacist, all other professions; social scientists and people from humanity, and this is a health sector driven organisation.

     

    The state of health insurance coverage in Nigeria

     

    I have said several times that I don’t want to use numbers, numbers are very crucial. Health insurance first is a decentralised system. Before I came in, states were not performing health insurance. There was a law that was passed that states should have their own social health insurance system. As at 2019 when I came, there was no state that had technically commenced social health insurance, but because there is a provision under the national health act to bring about states to come to deliver the basic healthcare provision fund, which is a Federal Government fund that is supposed to cover the vulnerable population, we have been able, through the Honourable Minister of Health and other stakeholders, bring about that programme in line now.

    We now have 37 states that have started implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), and based on the resources that we have delivered to them, they have been able to cover a lot of ground in terms of numbers. So if you want to get the actual number (of Nigerians coverage) it requires aggregation. All this coverage that has been done at the state level; some are basic healthcare provision funds that we have given them, of which some have covered about 70,000 people; some have covered 50,000 people; some have covered 20,000 people. This is the basic healthcare provision fund.

    Some states under our guidance of health insurance under one roof have started their formal sector. For you to get the totality of the number of people under health insurance you need to do that mathematics, and it is not only those people that have been covered since my coming. Last week, we launched the NYSC programme where we are going to have about 360,000 youth members that are registered. If you have been following us critically, you will see that the National Assembly has put in a lot of money in their constituencies which they call constituency projects and we have been visiting those communities and we are getting them enrolled into the social health insurance. Then we have also launched what we call GIFSHIP. NHIS is driving the formal sector social health insurance programme and the informal sector social health insurance programme which is through the GIFSHIP programme – Group Individual Family Social Health Insurance Programme, which is an attempt to bring informal sector into the scheme of things and through this programmes, thousands of Nigerians are coming in to register and we are expecting to see more coming – even people at the level of diaspora. Maybe in absolute numbers, we can say we have covered over 15 million Nigerians, but it is a continuous process.

     

    Health insurance and catastrophic health fund

     

    Tell us about the established catastrophic fund for diseases, especially terminal illnesses. Also, how about the partnership with Roach, a big pharmaceutical company to produce cancer drugs for Nigerians at a subsidised cost?

    NHIS came up with the idea of establishing a catastrophic fund, and before I came, there was a budget that was appropriated for cancer for NHIS. Unfortunately, that money was sent to the Ministry of Health and you know once money gets into a system, it is very difficult to move to another system. But I know that the ministry has aggregated stakeholders and they are trying to drive that process. However, at the level of health insurance, you might have known about NHIS drug initiative, which is a very noble programme that we have introduced to ensure that we have drugs available in our system and cost also subsidised. We had a very good interaction with drug manufacturers association of Nigeria and they have agreed to collaborate with NHIS and all the stakeholders so we can start branding drugs with health insurance prescription, and by doing so, we will be able to have availability of the drug and we will be able to have the cost of the drug coming down.

    In fact, we have a Memorandum of Understanding with Roach that they are going to subsidise the cancer drugs by 70 per cent. So it means that the enrolees of NHIS will only pay 30 per cent of the cost. Last week, Roach informed us that they have secured the approval of NAFDAC to start branding these anti-cancer drugs with NHIS branding. This is how far we have gone. We are determined to make cancer drugs available through this kind of collaboration that will bring down the cost of the drugs.

     

    What NHIS needs to provide universal health insurance coverage

     

    It is a simple arithmetic; assuming no Nigerian has access to healthcare services globally and you want to bring all of them into the health insurance system at the cost we are currently using, which is N15,000 per head per annum. So, if you multiply N15,000 by 200 million people, you are talking about N3 trillion – this is just a projection. We are not saying you have to give NHIS N3 trillion to get healthcare delivery service, this is the cost that is required, and this is the effort we need to do. But you already know that the formal sector is on the national health insurance scheme. Then we have a basic healthcare provision fund already. We also have state health insurance that is coming.

    We have a private sector which has a role in health insurance. So for those ones and their family, we have to deduct them because they already have access to healthcare delivery. The self-employed are divided into two; those that have the capacity to pay and those that can’t pay, who are now within the vulnerable segment. So if you want to make a case for people that are not covered under the health insurance, you have to do all these subtractions and now get the real number of vulnerable, and it is those vulnerable that you would want to create some innovative financing mechanism that will enable NHIS as an Agency to generate funds to cover them.

     

    Why health insurance should be compulsory

     

    That is if the law of the national health insurance scheme is mandatory. But as we speak, the law of the national health insurance scheme is not mandatory. No country will dream of attaining universal healthcare coverage if the law of health insurance is not mandatory. The reason being that the rich who has capacity to have access to every big healthcare service will not want to join healthcare insurance scheme, but if you make it mandatory, the Director in Shell will contribute to the fund and the passenger in Lafia Local Government will contribute to the same pool, then you now have a big pool. When you have a pool, you will be able to extend services to the vulnerable even from the contribution of the existing contributors.

    Every country where you see universal health coverage ascertained, there are those vulnerable groups and there are mechanisms which the government put in place to pay for them. There is a popular innovative financing mechanism that is moving across sub-saharan countries which has to do with telecommunication funds.

    How do you get one kobo per second to be accumulated for the coverage of social health insurance? Assuming that initiative, let’s say will bring about N600 billion into health insurance, how many vulnerable people will we cover with it? Health insurance is a very dynamic system whereby there is a need for a lot of thinking and brainwave to be able to harness resources in an innovative manner to bring about funds that will cover the vulnerable.

    Anytime soon, I think Mr. President by the Grace of God will sign (the reviewed NHIS Act) because this mandatory social insurance is very critical to turn around the healthcare delivery system, and I think there is no contention on whether to sign.