Category: Special Report

Often instigated by welfare issues and the failure of governments at the state and federal levels to honour agreements, the conundrum of recurring industrial actions by the resident doctors, who form the bulk of medical workforce in the nation’s public hospitals, is compounding the crises afflicting the health sector, reports Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF

Barring any last-minute change of mind, Nigerian doctors under the aegis of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) would begin a nationwide industrial action today if the Federal Government fails to meet their demands. The litany of demands, according to NARD President, Dr Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, bordered on payment of all salaries arrears and other entitlements, among other things. The body gave the government till yesterday to live up to its promises as contained in the agreement it reached with NARD last year.

According to him, the industrial action is sequel to expiration of a 60-day ultimatum earlier given to federal government to pay the salary arrears of house officers across the country and review hazard allowance, among other demands. Unless the proposed strike is nipped in the bud, it would further cripple healthcare services in the country’s major hospitals. In a telephone chat with The Nation yesterday, Okhuaihesuyi said there is no going back on the ultimatum issued to the government, stressing that the proposed industrial action is the collective decision of resident doctors in the country to draw attention to their plight. He said the decision to embark on another round of strike, which he said is a last resort for NARD, was taken during the recent extraordinary national executive council (NEC) meeting of the association.

While lamenting that the association, since the COVID-19 pandemic sneaked into the country like a thief in the night in 2020, has lost 17 doctors whose families and loved ones are yet to benefit from the Death in Service Insurance Scheme promised by the federal government. He also decried the paltry N5,000 hazard allowance paid to its members. He stressed that resident doctors resorted to downing of tools to protest the failure of government to honour agreements reached with the association.

“The NEC unanimously agreed that NARD should proceed on a total and indefinite strike on the 1st of April 2021, by 8am if the following demands are not met. Immediate payment of all salaries owed to all house officers including March salaries (regardless of quota system) before the end of business on the 31st of March 2021.

“The NEC unanimously demanded for the sack of the Registrar of MDCN for failure to demonstrate competence in the handling of the central placement of house officers. This will give room for smooth implementation of the central placement of house officers without further delays,” Okhuaihesuyi said.

What are the bones of contention?

It’s a familiar problem, one that successive administrations have railed against without success. But Nigeria’s health system has repeatedly been engulfed in endless crisis occasioned by strike actions by resident doctors, with dissatisfaction with conditions of service always popping up as the bone of contention. While the government sometimes accuses NARD members of being insensitive employees, resident doctors often label the government of insincerity when it comes to honouring agreements freely entered into with the body. If the issues are sometimes contentious, what is clear is that incessant strikes have snowballed into a repeated kick in the groin in the nation’s already moribund health sector.

In Nigeria, resident doctors, who are undergoing training to become consultants, form the bulk of medical personnel in the country’s major public hospitals. For the proposed strike, the doctors are demanding, amongst other things, payment of all salaries arrears, review of the current hazard allowance to 50 per cent of consolidated basic salaries of all health workers, and payment of the outstanding COVID-19 inducement allowances especially in state-owned tertiary Institutions.

“Immediate payment of all salary arrears including March salaries for our members in all Federal and State Tertiary Health Institutions across the country especially ASUTH, IMSUTH and UNIMEDTH. Upward review of the current hazard allowance to 50 per cent of consolidated basic salaries of all health workers and payment of the outstanding COVID-19 inducement allowance especially in State owned-tertiary Institutions. Payment of death in service insurance for all health workers who died as a result of COVID-19 infection or other infectious diseases in the country.”

According to Okhuaihesuyi, NARD is also demanding the full implementation of September 2017 Memorandum of Terms of Settlement between the association and the government, saying this is the only way to bring lasting peace to the health sector and curb the ongoing ugly trend of brain drain from the health sector.

The NARD President, none of its members has benefited from the life insurance scheme promised by the federal government. This, considering the danger health workers are exposed to during the pandemic, is sad – despite a recent statement by Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, that the PTF has received the Life Insurance cover to the frontline workers on COVID-19 for a maximum of 5000 health workers who are employed to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In one of the PTF media briefing sessions, Mustapha disclosed that “the premium in the sum of N112,500,000 for the cover has been fully paid by the Nigerian insurance industry in line with the principle of no premium, no cover.”

Yet, complaints of poor remuneration and welfare of health workers persist, leading to industrial actions in June and September 2020 over these same issues at a time COVID-19 pandemic was raging like wildlife fire. Among other things, hazard allowance (a supplemental pay for workers who do dangerous jobs) has remained a controversial issue between doctors and their employers. It took worse dimensions with the advent of COVID-19 crisis, as health workers who are the first respondents in the frontlines have continued to lament their continued exposure to infections without being compensated as is being done in other climes.

In April 2020, the federal government disclosed that it would pay a special COVID-19 hazard and inducement allowance of 50 per cent of Consolidated Basic Salary to health workers in Nigerian Teaching Hospitals, Federal Medical Centres (FMCs), and designated COVID-19 centres. This, it stressed, would last for the first three months of COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to this, health workers were being paid N5,000 a month as hazard allowance, a sum which NARD said was too little.

Unfortunately, the promise is yet to materialize into action, NARD said. He added that some health workers are yet to receive the hazard allowances while others were paid lower than agreed. “Despite the three months window given to the Federal Government to review the hazard allowance of health workers, the hazard allowance has remained a paltry sum of five thousand (5000) naira monthly,” Okhuaihesuyi said.

This orgy of lamentations is not new, as the association went on strike twice last year over the same issues – in June and September. Last year, while shedding light into why his members embarked on an indefinite nationwide strike action, Dr. Aliyu Sokomba, immediate NARD President, said resident doctors resorted to downing of tools to protest the failure of government to honour agreements reached with the association in June last year. “We have resumed since yesterday the suspended strike, which we embarked on in June this year. We suspended the strike the strike in order to give the government time to assess our concerns. Unfortunately, they failed to do so,” he said.

He said resident doctors had to suspend the strike in June last year over the same issues when eminent Nigerians waded into the issues – a sacrifice to give the federal and state governments time to fulfil the doctors’ outstanding demands. The suspension of the strike then (in June last year) was in deference to the intervention of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the SGF, Mustapha, and other respected Nigerians.

The move compelled the doctors to resume the strike in September 2020 due to the government’s failure to meet their demands after a grace of 10 weeks. Among other things, NARD embarked on strike over lack of funding for residency programme in public hospitals, non-payment of hazard allowance, lack of life insurance for doctors, and dearth of basic medical items such as personal protective equipment (PPE) in hospitals.

But NARD’s demands dated back to 2017, as all attempts to use dialogue, including issuing ultimatums and warning strike notices to resolve lingering issues, had failed to achieve desired results.

Consequently, doctors have consistently accused government of not demonstrating sufficient commitment towards addressing their demands. To address protracted crisis foisted by irregular funding of residency programme, Nigeria enacted the Medical Residency Training Act of 2017, which was signed into law on 26 June 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Among other things, the Act seeks to relieve the public hospitals from funding residency training, which many tertiary health facilities used to pay haphazardly from their internally generated revenue, and place the burden on the shoulders of governments at the state and federal levels.

The federal government has not implemented the provisions as expected, NARD has said, despite budgetary provisions for same. This, he lamented, is a problem because government’s failure to fund residency training has brought about setback in residency training and created crisis in the medical sector.

As for life insurance, NARD has also accused government of insincerity, saying the government has treated health workers’ welfare with levity.

The Nigerian government had promised a special COVID-19 hazard and inducement allowance of 50 per cent of Consolidated Basic Salary to all health workers in tertiary hospitals and designated Covid-19 centres, with the SGF saying about 5,000 frontline health workers have been place on life insurance by the Nigerian insurance industry. However, doctors said the reality paints a contrary picture, as relatives of health workers who have died in the line of duty are yet to receive any insurance benefits.

“We have the problem of life insurance procurement for our members. We have demanded in the past that the life insurance package, which is already in existence as a government policy, be implemented. Many of our members that have died, we want their next of kin to get their deaths in service benefit. We were told that insurance companies have been given needed funds to commence payment but not a single person has been paid,” the NARD President lamented.

Who is a resident doctor?

In Nigeria, a resident doctor is a fully registered medical practitioner undergoing further training in an institution accredited by either the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN) and/or the West African Postgraduate Medical College (WAPMC). In both Colleges (NPMCN and WAPMC), fellowship is awarded after passing a 3-stage examination (Primary, Part I and Part II) programmes during the training. Candidates for the residency programme are expected to possess a registrable qualification by the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council (NMDC). Out of a total of about 42,000 doctors practising in the country, resident doctors are not less than 16,000, according to Okhuaihesuyi. He said resident doctors are medical school graduates training as specialists and they are pivotal to healthcare delivery in the country’s major hospitals.

Timeline of health workers’ strike

Bound by the duty of care, Nigeria’s healthcare givers are supposed to be in their duty posts all the times. With this, hospitals are supposed to be open to the public at all times for those in need of healthcare service. However, this is not the case in the country where services at public health facilities are often brought to a grinding halt by industrial actions various professional unions in the crisis-ridden sector.

In the last twenty years, health workers have gone on nationwide strikes for close to a year, if the days and weeks spent in the incessant strikes are summed up. Apart from NARD, other bodies that usually have an axe to grind with the governments at the state and federal levels include Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), Association of Medical Laboratory Scientist of Nigeria (AMLSN) and National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM).

While issues triggering the strikes have not changed substantially over the years, they range from salary structures to payment of arrears, welfare packages, quality of hospital equipment, and funding for training programmes. Despite the fact that public attention is always focused mainly on nationwide industrial actions, health facilities in many states across the country have also never hesitated to shut down at various times because of grievances over welfare issues.

A review of industrial actions between April 2016 and April 2017 showed that there were at least 17 across the country, out of which six were primary within the healthcare system. Many of the strikes have been recorded to have caused the deaths of patients who could not afford services at private hospitals.

By Gbade Ogunwale, Jide Orintunsin, Bolaji Ogundele, Tony Akowe and Fanen Ihyongo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called for a new set of Nigerians committed to a country operated on high values, integrity, justice, love, among others.

Osinbajo spoke on Monday while participating virtually in the 12th Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Colloquium held in Kano.

Osinbajo, who hailed the choice of Kano as the venue for this year’s edition of the colloquium, also reminded advocates of Nigeria’s breakup of the dislocation this development would inflict on all Nigerians.

The vice-president said: “We believe that we now have an opportunity to increase the numbers of a new tribe of Nigerians; a tribe of men and women of all faiths, tribes and ethnicities committed to a country run on high values of integrity, hard work, justice, and love of country.

“A tribe of men and women who are prepared to make the sacrifices and self-constraints that are crucial to building a strong society; who are prepared to stick together, fight for equity, and justice side by side.

“A tribe consisting of professionals, businessmen, politicians, religious leaders, and all others who believe that this new Nigeria is possible and already we have built and are building the building blocks for this new Nigeria.”

He added that Nigeria’s breakup would lead to segregation, making citizens need permits before being able to visit other parts of today’s Nigeria.

While enumerating the merits in Kano hosting the colloquium, he said: “By this gesture, Governor (Abdullahi) Ganduje has helped us to tell two stories; this is the first time that the colloquium is being hosted outside Lagos and Abuja, the capital city.

“And it is befitting that Kano should be that place, this city of radical and progressive ideas and ideologies, a city whose leading political lights have been left of centre, which is the dominant tendency within our great party the APC.

“Second, it helps us to underscore the point that this country and its people are stronger and more powerful together than apart. For the purveyors of breaking up into small components/countries, perhaps they should be reminded that we would not have been able to accept Governor Ganduje’s offer to come to Kano at short notice since we would all have needed visas to come to Kano.”

House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, who spoke virtually at the colloquium, said Tinubu’s suggestions on how to tackle some national issues be “practicalised”, adding: “Today, we have listened to him and picked from what we have learned and what we have heard. I want to say let’s practicalise those things and get to our Eldorado in Nigeria.

He said the former Lagos State governor allowed himself to be used by God to change the lives of many Nigerians for good.

Gbajabiamila added that God used Tinubu to change the lives of so many people.

Ganduje: national integration low at the moment

Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has observed that national integration was very low in Nigeria at the moment.

Tasking leaders and the people to do more in promoting unity and oneness, the governor explained that the low level of national cohesion was responsible for the challenges facing the country.

Ganduje spoke while delivering an opening speech at the 12th colloquium marking the 69th birthday of the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

The event was held at the Coronation Hall of Government House, Kano, with the theme: “Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth: The Imperative Of National Cohesion for Growth and Prosperity.”

Ganduje challenged Nigerians and the leaders to work more towards bridging the gap created by issues of tribalism, nepotism, religious intolerance and suspicion among the elite, among others.

“The colloquium offers a rare opportunity for those present to discuss the above issues and other vexing challenges affecting the unity, peace, progress and oneness of Nigeria.

“The communique expected at the end of deliberation would be of immense benefit to the development of the country,” he said.

Ganduje expressed delight and appreciation that Kano State was chosen to host the main events marking the 69th birthday and 12th colloquium of the eminent politician.

The governor commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his efforts in solving the many problems faced by the county. “But President Buhari, when left alone, cannot win this war; he needs the support of all well-meaning Nigerians,” he said.

He congratulated Tinubu as he clocked 69 years and extolled his leadership qualities while he served as governor of Lagos State.

Experts canvass constant engagement with youths to curb violent extremism

Development experts and scholars, who participated virtually at the colloquium, identified lack of communication between leaders and the led as one of the major causes of violent extremism in Nigeria and other African nations.

The Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mohamed Yahya, said violent extremism is driven by a high prevalence of poverty, exclusion, low-level education and other factors.

These, he said, usually get to a tipping point typified by violence and abuse, stressing, however, that it takes commitment on the part of the leadership to inspire and curb the various extreme tendencies among the youth and deprived population.

“Poverty is not only when one lacks resources. It also stops people from pursuing their aspirations and realising their ambitions in life,” Yahya said.

A Professor of Leadership, Peace and Conflict at the King’s College, London, Professor Funmi Olonisakin, said sustainable peace and stability are crucial to finding a national identity in any African nation.

She cautioned that the quest for national identity must not be allowed to conflict with the regional identities of the people, even as leaders continue to create opportunity for those she described as “dispossessed” and those whose voices are not being heard.

Prof Olonisakin cautioned that bottled up grievances among the downtrodden have been given vent to through violence and extreme reactions.

Also speaking at the event, the Practice Head, Africa-Eurasia Team, Dr Amaka Anku who also contributed virtually, urged leaders to work hard towards fostering ideals that bond their people.

She also called for the raising of domestic confidence through the justice system and maintaining constant communication between the leaders and the governed.

The Executive Director of HoP Africa, Dr Nimdir Nansoh, harped on the need for discussions to start from the grassroots, with the family as the first point of contact.

She urged the Federal Government to leverage the strength of each of the component units in the country and to ensure that government policies do not have punitive effects on the people.

Dr Nansoh cited the recent ban by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin trading as a punitive one, saying that the CBN ought to have engaged the various stakeholders before deciding on the matter.

“Leadership should evolve policies that could meet the demands of the youth population by engaging them in constant communication,” Nansoh said.

Oyetola extols Tinubu’s virtues

Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, while speaking at the colloquium,  described  Tinubu as a man of strong political convictions who would not mind standing alone when it matters.

“We deeply appreciate him for  being our strong pillar and a stabilising factor in the party’s journey to power and prominence.

“He is also a strong voice and supporter of our effort to re-engineer and revitalise our great party. I pray Allah continues to watch over him and grant him the good health,  wisdom and strength to continue to render stellar service to the nation in particular and humanity in general. ”

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said the present crop of politicians and public office holders have a lot of leadership values and wisdom to draw from Tinubu’s wealth of experience.

Speaking during the colloquium, Sanwo-Olu, who joined the event virtually from Abuja airport, applauded Tinubu’s stance on true federalism, noting that the APC National Leader had remained unshaken in his commitment to peaceful coexistence among ethnic nationalities making up the country.

Sanwo-Olu spoke on behalf of governors and APC chieftains who could not physically attend the colloquium because of bad weather. He and his colleague Governors from Ekiti (Kayode Fayemi), Osun (Gboyega Oyetola), Ogun (Dapo Abiodun) and other eminent personalities – Senators Kashim Shettima, Tokunbo Abiru, Olamilekan Solomon and Bamidele Opeyemi, among others, could not travel by air to Kano for the colloquium due to bad weather; they joined the event virtually from the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport, Abuja.

Sanwo-Olu hails ex-Lagos governor

Sanwo-Olu said: “I want to say how truly delighted I am with my brother Governors. We would have all wished that we were all in Kano with you but like you said during your speech, this is the reality of our time. This is what climate change is teaching and has taught each and every one of us but indeed we can still celebrate you and we all can still come together even in this large numbers.

“We have listened to all the great speakers today but your comments still resonate and I am sure it will resonate with all of us for a very long time. Very classic Asiwaju and you have explained to us in three to five minutes, what true federalism is. You reiterated to us what it means with peaceful coexistence among ourselves.

“You explained and you have shown us the importance of job creation for the youth and abilities for us to care for our aged. These are what you stand for. This is classic Asiwaju. We can’t but continue to thank God for your life. We can’t but continue to thank God for giving you to us at this point in time.”

The recent release of 50,000 metric tonnes of maize by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its Anchor Borrower scheme is aimed at discouraging the importation of maize, reports SINA FADARE.

Maize farmers are unable to meet the required local consumption capacity. The price of the commodity has thus jumped up, a situation that made the Poultry Farmers Association (PAN) agitate for importation of maize into the country to augment local production. However, maize farmers and processors under the auspices of Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) Maize Growers, Farmers and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAGFAMAN) opposed this move on the basis that it would be counter-productive to maize value chain.

MAAN National President Dr. Bello Abubakar explained that the agitation was a calculated attempt to further hinder maize production in Nigeria, adding that the high price of maize grains in the country was occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic that struck and disrupted supply chains and increased the cost of inputs for many farming activities. He explained that the increase in the price of the commodity was also traceable to hoarding by some individuals, which resulted in artificial scarcity.

“The agitation by some associations including the Poultry Association of Nigeria seeking authorised dealers and the general public to import maize grain from the official foreign exchange market is seen as a calculated attempt to further hinder maize production in Nigeria.”

To bridge the gap, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) released 50,000MT of maize grains from the Strategic Grains Reserve to cushion the effect.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said: “The CBN facilitated the release of the 50,000 metric tonnes of maize in the second week of February has made an impact as the maize market has recorded a reduction in price from N200, 000 per metric tonnes to about N180,000 per metric tonnes. It is still anticipated that the current will further reduce.”

He listed major beneficiaries of the February release to include Premier Flour Mills, Crown–Olam, Grand Cereals, Animal Care, Amobyn and Hybrid Feeds.

Others are Zartech, Wacot, Sayeed Farms, Pandagri Novum and Premium Farms as well as the Southwest, Southsouth, Northwest and Northcentral chapters of the PAN.

He explained that the CBN was working on mitigating the effect of the shortfall, which was also attributed to banditry, drought, hoarding and insecurity around the major maize producing belt of Niger, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Kano states.

The apex bank explained that as part of the bank’s financing framework, “the CBN facilitates the funding of maize farmers and processors through the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) Commodity Association, Private/Prime Anchors, State Governments, Maize Aggregation Scheme (MAS), and the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS).”

Abubakar said: “We believe that not acceding to maize importation will aid not just attaining food security as a nation but also in creating job opportunities and fostering economic development as well. “Finally, the action will increase local production, stimulate a rapid economic recovery, increase job opportunities and safeguard rural livelihoods.”

The National President, Maize Growers, Farmers, and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, (MAGFAMAN), Dr. Edwin Uche, said demand would be met with 25 million metric tonnes of maize before the end of 2021.

Uche said: “The associations have the capacity to grow maize for both industrial use and local consumption. We are going beyond two seasons of farming and we are looking at a situation we grow maize all year round.

“We have strategically developed capacity for maize production in Nigeria to bridge the gap in the maize value chain, existing in the maize production circle. Today we would not be discussing this; if not for the advent of COVID-19 that affected food chain, production globally we will not be talking about the price increase in maize per bag, or increase in feed, flour and all the derivatives from maize.”

He explained that most of the interventions by the CBN take time to mature, noting that within a short time the price of maize would stabilise in the market.

“We are also doing our best to block individuals who are making maize availability difficult for our people. We have maize stored by those who are driving maize merchants in our system. And we are developing the strategic framework, implementation strategies to be able to block these people from buying from our smallholder farmers and hoarding them to cause unnecessary scarcity,” Uche said.

The Chief Executive Officer, AFEX Company, Mr. Ayodeji Balogun, said “by facilitating the release of the 300,000MT maize, leveraging support from credible players in the ecosystem, including our team at AFEX, the CBN will offer over 35,000 farmers and agro-processors a channel through which they can trade maize at a subsidised rate, and thereby reduce the adverse effect of the maize price hike, increase local demand, and improve farmers’ livelihoods”.

According to him with maize being a core food basket, the allocation of the commodity to smallholder farmers and prime anchors would create a sustainable availability and pricing structure in the market, reducing maize prices and bridging the supply gap and scarcity in the national and local market regions.

An agronomist, Dr. Wumi Adelaja, said the CBN acted at the right time, adding that importation of maize should be discouraged because of the survival of the home grown industry and for the farmers to have good sales locally.

Adelaja said the step taken by the apex bank was similar to the one usually taken in other climes to assist the farmers and stabilise the price of the goods in the market.

“In some cases some of the agricultural products are bought at reasonable price by government so that farmers can be able to produce all the year round without any glut in market price of the product. Agriculture is the backbone of most of the advance countries and if the country can also key in into some of these laudable programmes, it is a matter of time that the country will have food security,” he said.

Dr. Opeyemi Agbato, Executive Director, Animal Care and the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ogun State chapter of PAN, said the CBN intervention was a much-needed intervention.

Agbato said: “It was unfortunate that the release coincided with a time when the prices of Soy Beans Seeds (whose by-product a critical source of protein in poultry feed) experienced an astronomical increase mostly due to rapid exportation. Even though there is a dire need for foreign exchange in the country, Soya is insufficient for local use, current exportation is at the detriment of local livestock farmers, particularly poultry farmers.”

He said in the future, more strategic holding and release facilities for maize would be made available in all regions for the ease of accessibility and reduction in the cost of transportation.

“With the current state of food security in the nation (skyrocketing prices of eggs and other essential foods), we hope that the price of subsequent maize release, if at all, would be further reduced to as low as N135-145/ MT or about 30-35% lower than prevailing prices landed to the consumers to force the drop in prices of maize and cost of producing Animal Feed and food. Nevertheless, we deeply commend the initiative as it kept many afloat,” Agbato said.

A commercial maize farmer, Mr. John Olaore, said though the intervention came at the right time, the crusade should be duplicated in the six geo-political zones to give room for more accessibility.

Olaore, who is a farmer in Oke-Ogun, Oyo State, said the government should give consistent and timely intervention to agricultural activities .

“Agriculture is a critical sector that time is very important due to the nature of our weather and climate change in general, therefore all hands must be on deck to make these policies work and like a circle when it touches each other, food security is guaranteed.

The Group Managing Director, Premier Feeds limited, Mr.Austin Daylop, said: “We are encouraged with this intervention effort by the CBN and have witnessed how it has helped to ameliorate rising market prices for maize. This is a positive start in finding lasting solutions to critical national concern.”

According to him if the challenge of food prices would really be solved, “we have to all come to the table and work for sustainable solutions.”

The fertiliser arm of the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical yesterday began production. Other multi-billion dollar investments in the Lekki axis of Lagos, such as the Lekki Deep Seaport, Pinnacle Oil, Longrich Factory, Tolaram Industries Factory, among others, are also taking shape, writes OYEBOLA OWOLABI

 

It will be inaugurated next month, but yesterday, Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Plant churned out its first tranche of fertiliser. Other investments in the Lekki Free Trade Zone and Lagos Free Zone in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos State are also getting over the setback caused by COVID-19. Lagos and Nigeria stand to reap a great deal from these investments.

The zones are home to major concessions such as the Lekki Deep Seaport, Dangote Refinery and Fertiliser Plant, Dangote Jetty and Port, Pinnacle Oil, Longrich Factory, Tolaram Industries Factory, among others.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and some members of the State Executive Council (SEC) toured these facilities at the weekend. He expressed satisfaction at the level of work already achieved compared to the last time he visited.

The two-day work visit afforded the governor the opportunity to see the level of work and give befitting and encouraging feedbacks to the people. He promised that his administration would support the investments to ensure they are delivered on schedule. Sanwo-Olu also said the government would ensure critical road infrastructure is built so the area does not become another Apapa.

 

Lagos Free Zone

 

According to the governor, investments in the Lagos Free Zone alone will quadruple the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The zone sits on an expanse of 830 hectares; it covers the Lekki Deep Seaport which sits on 90 hectares, and other business concessions.

Tolaram Group, the frontline investor handling the project, assured the governor that commercial operations at the port will begin in the first quarter of 2023. The port, which is being built by China Habour Engineering firm, was created in 2012 to enhance the economic position of Lagos as the manufacturing and logistics hub in West Africa.

The first phase of the project is being financed by a $629 million facility from China Development Bank (CDB), and is 48 per cent completed.

Sanwo-Olu  said: “I can say that Lagos Free Zone has made tremendous improvement. We have seen the level of partnership Tolaram Group is bringing in terms of international investment and local brands in this corridor.

“The kind of investments happening in this corridor can indeed triple and quadruple the GDP of Lagos in the next 10 to 20 years. I laud all stakeholders that are with us on this journey. With the level of work we have seen, I’m truly excited. It is more gratifying that we are taking up this assignment with all energy required and we all can see what we can achieve when we work together.

“Since we signed a loan agreement less than 18 months ago, we have demonstrated strong capability in bringing the project to reality. This is the first quarter of 2021 and we have seen the project about 48 per cent completed. The investors have given us the commitment of first quarter of 2023 completion date. We will fulfill all our parts to make sure this date becomes reality.”

According to Sanwo-Olu, the size of the deep seaport will allow 18,000 TEU capacity vessels, which are four times bigger than the ones berthing at Apapa seaports, thereby scaling down the cost of container transportation from any part of the world.

“The interesting part is that our youths and young women will be the beneficiaries of this project.

“For us a government, this is the strongest point we have made with the project. I am fully convinced that the delivery of this project will transform commercial architecture of West Africa and bring about quick turnaround time in maritime sector,” he added.

The governor, who recalled that he was a commissioner when the first concession agreement was signed, hailed the investors for believing in the project and working tirelessly to ensure it is completed as planned. He hailed them for remaining committed despite obvious challenges.

Lagos Free Zone Chief Executive Officer Dinesh Rathi said Tolaram Group, a Singaporean company, initiated a $2 billion investment in the zone, of which the investor committed $950 million to developing a manufacturing hub in the zone.

Rathi said the project was expected to generate more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for Lagos residents, and would serve as alternative in an effort to decongest the Federal Government-owned seaports in Apapa.

Lagos Free Zone Development Company Chairman Biodun Dabiri hailed the government for its commitment towards changing the face of commerce in Africa. He stressed that all statutory permits, licenses and endorsement for the Lekki port project were already secured.

“There is strong guarantee that the port will be delivered before time, going by the inflow of capital investment and technical services,” Dabiri said.

 

 Lekki Free Zone

 

The Lekki Free Trade Development Authority, also known as the Southwest Quadrant, sits on 3,000 hectares of land. It has witnessed massive infrastructure growth owing to the over $1.5 billion investment which has gone into developing it. There are about 44 companies operating in the zone.

Sanwo-Olu said: “I have been briefed before now but I had to come see things for myself. This is a 3,000 hectare free trade zone. Pinnacle Oil and Gas, which is the major anchor tenant here, is about the biggest oil storage facility in the country.

“This storage facility has a capacity of about 230 million litres, and the firm is planning to get to 1 billion litres in about one and half year. This complements a refinery which would have modern vessels as well that have either come to take products or bring them in.

“So we have come to see the level of investment that the government, Lekki Free Trade Zone, our Chinese partners and Nigerian companies are bringing to this side. Pinnacle is wholly Nigerian and it will be employing over 10,000 people when operation starts fully. There are 22 discharge points to serve 22 tankers at once; the size of the pumps can serve in 30 minutes, meaning that about 500 tankers can be served in a day.

So, our journey is not just to listen, but we would tie it to our development agenda as a government, and bringing solutions to the Apapa gridlock. We will build road infrastructure to ensure this place does not become another Apapa in another five or 10 years. The Eleko Junction to Epe Road is being built, and we plan to make it a dual carriageway from the Eleko Road to this place.”

Pinnacle Oil Chief Executive Officer Peter Mba said it took seven years to get the investment to its current level.

He added: “We believe this will optimise operations in the supply and distribution chain in the oil and gas sector. We also believe it will be a game changer in a way not witnessed before because it will save cost by ending the ship to ship transfer, which is the current norm in the industry, and takes 15 to 30 days to discharge a vessel.

“This facility will ensure that modern vessels are discharged in 24 hours because the CBM is at a water depth of 17.5 metres, and is able to take vessel sizes of 60,000 metric tonnes. The SPM, which will become operational in July, sits at a water depth of 23 metres, and is able to take vessel sizes of 150,000 tonnes. The storage will help to optimise the value of those offshore intake facilities.

“We expect that by the end of 2022, we should have up to a billion storage capacity to efficiently handle petroleum products in the country.”

Dangote Refinery Petrochemical Zone

The biggest of all the zones is perhaps the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Zone, which operates the Dangote Refinery, Port, Jetty and Fertiliser Plant.

Sanwo-Olu said the Dangote Refinery is the biggest single refinery in the world, and the fertiliser plant the second largest in the world. The refinery can take up to five billion litres of products.

He said: “We have taken about five hours’ drive round the Dangote refinery, the biggest single refinery in the world, and the fertiliser plant, the second largest in the world. We visited the port and jetty, and the SBM platform for oil export and import.

“We won’t fold our arms as a government and just inspect and say all is well. We are here to encourage the investors and assure them of government support. We are here to serve them and ensure they enjoy the ease of doing business which is critical to us. We are also here to ensure that jobs are created, especially for our youths, the local economy and for Nigerians in general.

“We will also clear issues around approval, right of way, and roads that should be built to improve the quality of life and businesses here. We don’t want another Apapa gridlock, so we have agreed on what to do. By the time we come here again, you will see the amount of road infrastructure that would have been built.

“Infrastructure is critical to take out pressure from the port, refinery and feritliser plant. We have agreed and given ourselves a timeline. This is a very exciting time for the government, the people, and the world at large. Fuel shortage and scarcity would be a thing of the past. Issues around Apapa gridlock would be past.

“We will deploy additional arms of government here – environment, physical planning, commerce, water front – to respond to their needs so we can move faster. We would also bring tourism here because we want people to live, work and play around here.

“Plans are also underway to bring the green rail to light. The green rail, which comes from Lekki, is in the master plan. We have done the expression of interest, and people have staked in. We are also considering the airport because there is a layout for a small airport, and this is receiving consideration as we speak.”

Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote said the refinery would be ready by the end of 2021 and start production first quarter of 2022. The fertiliser plant, he added, would start churning out products this week, though the official opening would be done by Sanwo-Olu in one month.

It is not just about refining oil and producing fertilisers for the firm; it is also keen on empowering its host community and ensuring its people are carried along in the journey.

Dangote said: “We have developed many local skills, especially fishing, because this is a fishing community so we buy boats for the locals. We have employed over 36,000 workers here on site, and over 20,000 are Nigerians. We are building schools and giving scholarships to the locals.

“This is our largest investment when compared to the entire group worldwide so we can’t joke with the locals. The only benefit is for us to have a win-win situation – give them jobs and ensure it is worth their while to receive us here, which they did well.

“We are also ready to build the road network under the tax-deductible regime, which is the Presidential Order 7. As soon as we get the green light to do so, we will begin to build in the next two months. I am sure the community and all stakeholders will be happy.”

Fear, anguish and loss of valuables were the challenges facing some residents of Iba Estate in Iba Local Council Development Area (LCDA) for years until respite came their way through the council chairman, reports TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO.

For years, residents of some parts of Iba Estate in Iba Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Lagos, battled with sleepless nights.

Their days were not peaceful either, as they suffered incessant harassments and molestations from some young men, who wrongly exerted their youthful exuberance.

Some of the youth constituted themselves into miscreants and cultists, unleashing untold hardships on the residents.

Unfortunately for the community, this set of youths made a place of learning, Estate Primary School, their abode.

The school with an unoccupied expanse of land and dilapidated structure became a safe haven for their nefarious activities.

They started by smoking all sorts of substances and attacking anyone that dared them to vacate the school.

Soon, the cultists among them graduated to initiating new members on the school premises and the crime rate increased.

From robbing the residents to raping girls and even engaging in kidnapping, the residents watched helplessly.

Soon, some of them started moving out of the troubled part of the estate since their cries were not given adequate attention by those in authority.

Apostle Moses Fashola, the former chief security officer of Iba Housing Estate, said the criminal activities of the gang went on for years until a new Chairman, Princess Ramat-Rachael Oseni, emerged in Iba LCDA.

Apostle Fashola, the founder of C&S Church in the area, said he never expected a positive response when he approached Princess Oseni, but he  was surprised that the new LCDA chairperson gave him attention and promised to find a lasting solution to the menace.

He said: “As the Parent-Teacher Association chairman, I suggested that a new block of classroom be built to also cater for the growing pupils in the school. She sent someone to carry out the feasibility study of the area. Thereafter, they started bringing the building materials to build another block of classroom and in no time, the project was completed in 2018. She came to inspect the project and ordered that the whole expanse of land be fenced. This was done with a new big gate. Since then, the miscreants and cultists have relocated from the school and since they have no hiding place, they have moved away from this vicinity. It took that bravery effort from Princess Oseni to end our long years of suffering. It’s a pity that her tenure is coming to an end, otherwise we could have appealed to her to give us another block of six or eight classrooms, because of the growing population. We cannot thank her enough.”

A civil servant, Sola Adewole, said the community heaved a sigh of relief when the council erected a big fence around the school.

“Our children can now move freely in the community because the cultists and miscreants have relocated to another area. The reported frequent cases of rape have since stopped. We thank the chairman for the bold step in stemming the tide of criminal activities in our area,” Adewole said.

According to him, the council boss also provided computers, chairs and tables for the school.

He, however, urged the Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Local Government and Community Affairs to resolve their disagreement with the council chairman on some of the projects executed.

“The assembly people need to see how we live in fear in this community for years before Princess Oseni came on board and decided to find a lasting solution to insecurity in this area. We know there will always be room for improvement. The council chairman has indeed helped the community in a big way. Let them sit on a round table and resolve their disagreement,” he said.

Likewise, the people of Ijeagemo are happy for the renovation of the Primary Health Centre.

A nursing mother, Fatimah Adebayo, who lives at 15, Alhaji Habeeb Street, said they went to far places to access health care due to the dilapidated state of the centre, “but since the renovation has taken place, everyone has been coming here.”

According to Abiodun Sunmonu, “there was a time you couldn’t even take somebody to the health centre.

“Then, there was no equipment; you won’t even know it’s a health centre until now that the renovation has been done. We usually travelled to Oto-Awori LCDA or Ojo Local Government to receive treatment. You can imagine the stress. When I went there, I saw the changes. The council chairman has really tried. People are coming here for treatment,” he said.

Sunmonu appealed to the council boss to expand the centre and employ more doctors and nurses.

The Officer-in-Charge of the centre, Ganiyat Ambali, said residents don’t feel comfortable coming to the centre.

She said: “The state of this place then was an eyesore when I got here. Nothing was working and whenever it rains, the place will be flooded. Since the renovation was completed last December, the turnout has been impressive. For now, all of us feel comfortable working here.”

Like Oliver Twist, the Officer-in-Charge appealed to the Chairman to still assist in some areas needing improvement.

A tenant, Alhaja Rashida Bello, who lives at Jimoh Street, Okokomaiko, said they had to battle flood during the rainy season due to the state of the road.

“I have been living here since 2003. At a point, people started relocating from the area. It was worst to the extent that the day we brought Ramota (Council Chairman) to this area, it was flooded and we wanted her to follow another route, but she rejected the idea. She pulled up her skirt and walked through the water to the end of the street to feel our pains. It was that bad that vehicles could not pass, let alone tricycles or motorcycles. She immediately ordered the re-construction of the road and today, we are happy for it. Though, as a tenant, we now pay higher rents.

“Ramota deserves accolades because if she refused to come with us the day we asked her to come, she wouldn’t know the nature of the problem the residents faced,” she said.

The residents of Iba Estate too had a similar issue concerning flooding and bad road until the council worked on the road.

Tajudeen Muhammad, who lives at Kemberi Aka, also said: “Miscreants are always at Agoju-Aka School, destroying properties and smoking  Indian hemp in the school. Since it has been repaired by the chairman, the boys have relocated from this area. She also worked on the drainage for easy passage of flood. The development has assisted us a lot because parents didn’t allow their children to attend that school, but now everything has changed. Children are attending the school now and the community is peaceful.”

Some of the residents told The Nation that Princess Oseni carried out projects in all wards to ensure even distribution of democratic dividends.

The projects include the construction of 252 perimeter fencing and renovation of a block of 10 rooms’ toilet at Ijeagemo Primary School; sand filling of Obawole Street, Iba new site; distribution of benches/desk at various schools; construction of Iba Art/Culture (Igbale) in Iba town; construction of road at Oba Goriola Street; spreading hard-core and rubbles at Okokomaiko on Badagry Expressway; construction of culvert box at Alafia Street, Okokomaiko; sand filling and spreading of jubilee road, Mebamu; construction of area office, Okokomaiko; construction of drainage with a cover slap at Jimoh Street, Okokomaiko; sand filling and grading of Rasheed Babatunde Street, Abule Aka and from Mechanic bus stop to Orelope Mebamu; renovation of Afromedia Town Hall, Ajangbadi; desilting and carting away refuse on Ishasi Road; grading and sand filling of Bakare Street, Ishasi; construction of culvert at Ajisebutu Street, Kemberi; provision of hard-core and rubbles and sand filling at Akoberu and Aka Kemberi; renovation of a block of six classrooms and staff rooms with toilets at Abule Aka, Kemberi; provision of 750 pairs of desk and benches to primary schools; purchase of JAMB and GCE forms for students; provision of 40-leave exercise books to pupils in 14 primary schools; provision of 100KVA generator at Iba LCDA Secretariat; distribution of poverty alleviation items to the widows on soap making, insecticide, toiletries, and cream making; sponsoring the unemployed for vocational training and paying of cash to the less privilege on a monthly basis, among others.

 

The management of the Nigeria Maritime University (NMU) in Delta State says its student Okpeku Emmanuel Uhiosanobua died in Benin, days after displaying Covid-19-like symptoms on campus. But Okpeku’s family and some of his schoolmates insist the varsity has not come clean about the tragedy, writes ROBERT EGBE.

 

The news of Emmanuel Uhiosanobua Okpeku’s death on March 7 in Benin, Edo State hit the Okerenkoko, Delta State-based Nigeria Maritime University (NMU) community hard.

Okpeku, popularly called Uhi, was a 20-year-old 100 level student of the department of Civil Engineering. He was said to have taken ill on campus, received some medical care at the NMU Health Centre, was referred to and departed for Warri, and later Benin, where he died.

But the school and Uhi’s family have disagreed on details of the events leading to his death, with the family questioning the quality of healthcare he was administered while in the school’s custody. A statement by NMU management has also raised fresh questions. Aggrieved students protested the death on March 7 and 8, accusing the NMU of negligence. According to them, the varsity failed in its duty of care to Okpeku, adding that the medical facilities on campus were below par.

They also flooded social media, especially Instagram and Facebook, with their tearful tributes and claims. Videos of the protests showed some students alleging that Okpeku was administered expired drugs, but no proof was provided for the claim.

 

NMU management’s story

 

The statement by NMU Registrar Dr Alfred Mulade expressed concern over the unrest. It expressed reluctance to “join issues on account of reasonable emotions and trauma associated with the death of a loved one, to which the university shares personal pains and sadness”, but that it needed to set the records straight, in the light of the weighty “misconceptions and misrepresentations being peddled in some sections of the media, capable of misleading the unsuspecting public.”

It said the school’s records showed that Okpeku visited the University Health Centre on March 4, 2021, and was diagnosed with COVID-19-like symptoms.

Mulade said: “He was diagnosed with and had the suspicion of issues relating to COVID-19 symptoms, to which the University Health Centre deployed the necessary COVID-19 protocols, as set by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) until proven by COVID-19 test.

“When the University Health Centre discovered these symptoms, the Community Focal Person for infectious diseases was notified immediately, who in turn notified the Local Government Focal Person, where the State Epidemiologist was informed promptly;

“i. The State Epidemiologist contacted the Ag. Director of the University Health Centre and directed that the student be referred to the Central Hospital, Warri COVID-19 Testing Centre, accordingly;

“ii. The student was given COVID-19 drugs and Paracetamol injection that brought down the temperature to a manageable level and was made to proceed to Warri, into the waiting hands of the Local Government Focal Person;

“iii. The University medical team monitored the situation and found that the student and his friend that accompanied him had their samples taken on Friday 5, 2021, and thereafter proceeded to Benin, where he was admitted at Stella Obasanjo Hospital, and transfusion was reportedly carried out, where he eventually passed on; and

“iv. The result of the Covid-19 test was being monitored and awaited with the State Epidemiologist when news of his death filtered into the University.”

Protest fuelled by ‘rumours’, says school

Mulade said: “Since this incident broke, all efforts made by the University Management towards ensuring that the students and some others saw the reason why the deceased could not have been attended to, beyond the permissible limits allowed by extant regulations, seem to be lost within the vicissitudes of hazy misinformation.

“The gullible students riding on the uneven tide of ignorance, inadequate information, have been rash, brash, irreverence, in their reluctance, and new-found anomie, capable of being hijacked by enemies of the system.

“The University Management reasonably believes that certain persons, for reasons best known to such person(s), might be at work in the ignoble corridors of the rumour factory, not minding the peaceful disposition of our beloved departed student, whose memory would continue to be cherished.”

 

He denied the claim of expired drugs.

 

The Registrar added: “It must be succinctly put on record that, at no time was inadequate treatment or expired drugs ever administered on this student at the University Health Centre, contrary to reports in sections of the media. Neither was there any telephone conversation supposedly emanating from the University allegedly denigrating the character and person of the deceased student.

“Alleged uncomplimentary remarks purportedly attributed to certain persons from the university community, are completely false and orchestrated to cause disaffection, arouse emotional trauma and chaos in the University, which have become subject of an investigation by a panel set up by Management.

“However, University Management, as demonstrated in the dispatch of official Delegation in Commiseration with the family, and to attend the funeral ceremony, on Wednesday, 10th March 2021, and Friday 12th March 2021, respectively.

“We bid the departed student peaceful repose. We shall continue to uphold the family in prayers and the LORD’s fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”

 

Our story, by the Okpeku family

 

But the varsity’s explanation provoked a response from Okpeku’s family, which claimed that the university embellished the events to make itself look good and avoid responsibility.

It pooh-poohed the NMU’s claims linking Okpeku’s death with the novel coronavirus without first obtaining a medical report. According to the family, a medical report had since shown that Okpeku never had COVID-19.

A statement by Aigbe Okpeku on the family’s behalf accused the NMU management of playing games to avoid the consequences of their negligence and breach of duty of care.

Referencing Mulade’s statement, it said it was designed to sway an unsuspecting reader that the NMU acted properly, but that the facts show otherwise.

The family said: “Uhi fell ill on 28th February 2021 and visited the MNU health centre on the 1st of March. He returned on the 2nd of March as he was not feeling any better and was in very bad shape. He was therein admitted.

“His family was not aware until 3rd of March 2021 when his uncle, Ose Okpeku who is resident in Lagos, made a random call to him during which he informed his uncle that he was at the health centre and in very bad shape as he has been unable to eat and with attendant pains and fever.

“Questions posed by his uncle as to the symptoms he had and the treatment he had received and the answers by Uhi were alarming such as compelled Ose Okpeku to request to speak with the medical personnel on duty at the said time.”

 

Abandoned for a two-hour boat ride?

 

According to the family, the said medical hand was unable to provide “any sense of direction” as to what exactly was wrong with Okpeku and the treatment required.

It added: “He however mentioned to Ose Okpeku that Uhi displayed some symptoms of Covid -19 and that they were sending him to Central Hospital Warri for Covid-19 test.

“Realising that he was being sent unaccompanied on a two-hour boat ride his uncle insisted that he ought to be accompanied by medical personnel from the health centre.

“When the health centre was not forthcoming, his friend volunteered to go with him. If his friend had not so volunteered, Uhi would have had to make that two-hour boat journey alone and in a very bad condition both physically and psychologically. This we dare say is against all known patient care protocol.”

The family said contrary to the NMU’s claim that arrangement was made for Uhi to go to Warri and “land in the waiting hands of the Local Government Focal Person,” it was a family member who provided the funds required to transport Uhi and his friend from the university health centre to Warri.

“Upon arriving Warri on 3rd March 2021, the same Uhi that was supposedly expected by the Local Government Focal Person could not be attended to at the Warri Central Hospital as he was told that the unit had closed for the day and so he and his friend had to stay at a hotel.

“A family member funded the bill as well as we have the proof of transfer of funds. Uhi’s sample and that of his friend were taken on 4th March and they were asked to leave,” the family said.

It explained that more worrying was that “the NMU asserted that Uhi and his friend abandoned the drugs that Uhi was given at the jetty. This is not only ridiculous but beggars’ common sense as NMU had none of its medical personnel in attendance.

“The absence of medical personnel on this medical trip is even more disturbing considering the state Uhi was in physically and otherwise having been seriously unwell and unable to eat for three days.

“When the family assessed the way things were looking, considering the little or no care he had received thus far, and his overall physical condition, an arrangement was made for Uhi to be taken to Stella Obasanjo Hospital, Benin where he was admitted and another Covid-19 test was conducted. The result had not come out as of 7th March 2021 when Uhi passed on.

“Contrary to the assertion of MNU, the family arranged for Uhi to be transferred to Benin and paid all the medical bills at Stella Obasanjo Hospital.”

 

Dispute over COVID

 

The family said it requested for a post mortem examination to determine the cause of death “while the MNU made a press release on 12th March 2021, the same date Okpeku was buried, claiming that he died from COVID-19 complications.

“As at the time the NMU released the aforementioned press statement, the COVID-19 test results were not out. The family is shocked and deeply saddened that such a conclusion can be reached and broadcasted in the absence of any medical support.

“Thankfully, the COVID test result from Benin is now out and it shows that Uhi did not contact COVID-19 as alleged by the NMU. The family has since been requesting for the result of the test from Central Hospital Warri and against all known protocols was informed that the test result had been sent directly to a doctor at the NMU.”

The family accused the NMU of playing games and “orchestrating a grand plot to cover-up the circumstances that led to the avoidable death of Uhi in a bid to avoid the legal consequences of their negligence and breach of duty of care in the way and manner Uhi’s illness was managed by the MNU.

“From the foregoing, we are forced to ask the NMU the following questions: What is the purpose of the many untruths in their press release. Why is there an attempt to cover up sacred facts? How much of regard do they have for Uhi’s memory given the propensity with which they have lied and attempted to cover up their negligent handling of the young man’s medical complaint? Why were they in a hurry to conveniently blame the avoidable death of Uhi on Covid-19 in the absence of confirmed test result or medical report in that regard and lastly, why are they hoarding the medical report in their custody?”

The failure of Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority to harness water resources for domestic and agricultural use is spiking hunger and business collapse in the Southwest region, GBENGA OGUNDARE reports.

In their rustic state, Aba Alusekere and Aba Aluwaya — tucked deep inside the agrarian settlements of Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo State — make for a painful paradox: thirst in the midst of running brooks. It is somewhat difficult even for the villagers to understand. Flanked by two mega-billion water projects and a vast farmland measuring 680 hectares on one side and another 520 hectares on the other, old Ashiru Seriki and his family, for instance, have no water to drink or farm.

This wilderness experience was the last thing Seriki had on his mind when he fantasised about life more than 30 years ago. He and his kinsmen then happily signed away their landed inheritance to the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority (OORBDA) in order to make way for the Middle Ogun Irrigation Project.

The gleeful rural folks took photographs with the OORBDA officials after the signing ceremony at its headquarters in Abeokuta, Ogun State. They then headed back to Iseyin with a long list of expectations: power supply to the villages, large-scale farming all-year-round through the technology of irrigation, and clean drinking water as soon as the project took off.

But today, “we don’t have water to drink yet,” Seriki lamented to the reporter. “We mostly resort to self-help by digging shallow holes on the ground every now and then and pray for omi abata (muddy spring) which we scoop and treat with alum to make it drinkable.” That comes with constant bouts of water-borne diseases, he added.

Lamidi Adelabu, another villager, would have worried less if an attack of hunger and harassment from shylock money lenders instigated by poor harvest are not added to the water woes the farmers suffer already. “Since government didn’t give us the irrigation they promised us, we only rely on the coming of the rains to wet our farms,” Adelabu explained, adding: “But since last year up till now, it hardly rains, so we didn’t harvest anything to sell or feed ourselves.”

As the OORBDA and federal lawmakers keep splashing funds on empowering commercial motorcycles riders, installing transformers and building primary schools for rural communities, it has neglected the momentous Ikere Gorge Dam and Middle Ogun irrigation projects which will improve water access and ensure sustainable farming for the inhabitants of Iseyin. So the rural dwellers, farmers and fishers who forfeited their lands have lost their livelihoods too, and they have a lot more to lose as corruption pervades the agency and the elements become more unfriendly.

Climate Change

Extreme weather fluctuations in the sowing seasons are enough auguries of how yields will look like when it is time to reap. There is no data yet confirming food insecurity in Oyo or the Southwest, but large hectares of farms blighted by lack of water and extreme climate, and years of woeful harvests farmers recount, tell it all.

In the pre-rain scorching sun, planted seeds die and dry up in the ridges, thanks to heat and the lack of water to nourish them. The worn-out farmers have an alternative though: to trek several kilometres from their settlements in Aba Alusekere and Aba Aluwaya to a distant Ogun river where they can fetch water in their kegs and travel back to their farms to begin the round of watering.

“It is always a tortuous experience for both the old and the young anytime we dare to go to the river,” Seriki said. “That is why our children will not stay with us on the farm again. They would rather come on weekends only to help us fetch water at the river and then go back to the town where they can at least get water from the well.”

“This is our fatherland where we were born, and we have been here before the water project came to Iseyin. So please help tell the government we need a borehole to access the water supply they promised us,’ Seriki appealed.’

At his 100-hectare cassava plantation located somewhere on the Ibadan-Iseyin Road, Bola Olalere also recounted the story of his dying dreams—the Oke-Ogun Green Revolution. When he conceived the project a few years ago, Olalere’s concern was to empower the crowd of unemployed youths in the whole of Oke-Ogun using large-scale mechanised farming as a launch pad.

Few years down the line, however, “we only rely on rainwater for now,” a perplexed Olalere explained, “and this comes with a lot of limitation because we do not have control over the rains. Without irrigation, the work is not easy”.

Competing profitably in the agric value chain process has been everything but easy for Akanmu Olasunkanmi too. After losing an entire 80 acres of maize plantation to lack of water and drought in 2020, in addition to labour cost running into N1.5 million, Olasunkanmi could not agree any less with Olalere.

“I didn’t take away a single cob of corn from the 80 acres despite the huge money I invested. You can imagine the frustration and depression if I begin to add the cost of tractors and other labour expenses,” the owner of LASFUN Integrated Farms Ltd at Olodo Village in Egbeda Local Government Area of Ibadan, Oyo State griped.

Like Olalere and his Oke-Ogun Green Revolution project, Olasunkanmi also had a dream of making Ibadan the food basket of the entire Southwest. But reality has forced the disillusioned farmer to abandon this dream.

“Ordinarily, I should have gone ahead to plant pepper and sweet potatoes by now, but where do I get the water to make them yield and not dry up like the maize plantation?”

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink

The irrigation system Olalere, Seriki and Olasunkanmi urgently desire to drive their farming is actually available, except that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and the OORBDA will not make it work for the poor peasants. Located at Ikere Gorge, some 28km North-East of Iseyin,  is the Ikere gorge dam – an earth fill multipurpose dam with a reservoir capacity of 690 million cubic metres and a total land area of 47km capable of generating 6 megawatts of hydroelectricity.

In addition, it could also provide irrigation water for the 3,000 hectares of arable farmland now known as the middle Ogun irrigation project. The irrigation scheme itself is located at the bank of River Ogun, one of the four impounded rivers that make up the Ikere Gorge Dam.

Suppose it is fully operative, the Ikere Gorge Dam could supply 82 million cubic metres raw water through the spill way to Ogun and Lagos states, especially the Iju Water Works, according to a report by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC). The ICRC is a federal government agency mandated to regulate Public Private Partnership (PPP) endeavours aimed at addressing Nigeria’s physical infrastructure deficit.

The dam could also provide water supply to the disenchanted farmers, the poor rural folks of Iseyin, Okeho, Iganna and the neighbouring towns whose livelihoods largely depend on farming. The potentials are endless and mutually exclusive actually. For instance, with steady release of water from the Ikere Gorge Dam, the irrigation scheme could also provide 17,325 tons of maize, 954 tons of sorghum and 3,630 tons of cassava tubers annually, OYEDEMI OYELEKAN ADEYEMO cited in his research work: Operational Performance of Ikere-Gorge Dam in Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo State, South Western Nigeria.

But the snaky pipes wired across the irrigation scheme are rusty and worn out now from lack of use more than three decades after Messrs Niko Engineering Ltd was awarded the contract to build the Middle Ogun Irrigation Project in 1990. Our reporter discovered upon visiting the vast facility that the three massive generating sets installed to power the irrigation scheme are also in disuse.

“Lack of power supply is the reason the irrigation system can’t work,’ Ahmed Madaki, Project Manager of the scheme, explains.

Madaki’s excuse sounds plausible in Nigeria where electricity supply remains a riddle the federal government seems unable to decipher and the pump price of diesel needed to power the three massive generators meant for the irrigation project keeps soaring on escape velocity.

According to Samuel Adewoyin, a project staff at the Middle Ogun Irrigation Project, the generators gulp some six drums of diesel (an equivalent of 205 litres) per hour on a good day.

“If we need to power the irrigation system on a single day, then we will need to put on the generators for 10 hours. That is, six hours in the morning, and four hours at night,’ Adewoyin explained.

Going full throttle at 205 litres of diesel an hour, the irrigation system will invariably require 2,050 litres of diesel in a day to irrigate the 680 hectares of already cultivated farmlands. Both for the managers and the poor farmers who operate on the rented lands, crunching the figures further will do nothing but dispirit any would-be entrepreneur.

For one, pump price of diesel at the moment stands at N220 per litre. So, for an irrigation system that gulps 2,050 litres of diesel in a day, that will be some N451,000 needed in a day, and N13,530,000 in a month.  To make the dream of an all year round farming a reality, therefore, the farmers might then have to break the banks to get the N162,360,000 needed to power the generators for twelve months.

“Obviously the farmers can’t finance that and that is why we are hoping the irrigation project will be connected to the national power grid very soon,” Madaki said.

And that is like waiting for Godot. When he visited Iseyin in 2017 to inspect the irrigation project, Suleiman Adamu, the Minister of Water Resources merely gave the usual rhetorics of regrets and promises many public office holders in Nigeria are known for.

“I am very sad about the state of the project. However, in line with the ministry’s roadmap for completing ongoing projects, the project will be resuscitated by the Federal Government through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP). Also, government will get the project connected to the national grid for easy access to power supply,” the minister told reporters.

When a river forgets its course

Three years of budget appropriation have come and gone since Adamu made this promise, but the Middle Ogun Irrigation Project is yet to take off. The OORBDA would rather double down on frivolities like supplying Bajaj motorcycles, transformers, solar panels, and others. Nigerians owe all these to a combination of crooked procurement processes backed by legislative impunity.

The 12 River Basin Development Authorities across the nation have their five functions spelled out in the RBDA Act, Section 4. These functions are tied to the 2007 Public Procurement Act (PPA) whose overall goals, as stated in Sections 4e and 4f of the PPA are to ensure value for money, efficiency, economy, and transparency. The PPA expressly states in Section 18 that a procuring entity shall plan its procurement by (a) preparing the needs assessment and evaluation (b) identifying the goods, works or services required.

But an analysis of BudgITTracka, a budget watchdog in Nigeria, reveals that the RBDAs across the nation are annually featuring projects like building of primary school classrooms (common in the east), supplying and installing transformers and solar systems for many communities, and purchasing motorcycles for the youth. These belong in ministries of education (UBE), power (Rural Electrification Agency), and trade and commerce (SMEDAN). These agencies budget and execute similar projects annually.

It is true Section 4(d) of the RBDA allows the agency, under the ministry of water resources, to plan and execute infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, and others that can facilitate their core mandate of managing water resources for domestic, industrial, and agricultural purposes, and for flood control as in dams and reservoirs. However, it remains unclear how these Bajaj motorcycles, solar street lights, community primary school buildings, and electrification of rural areas, relate to the RBDAs core mandate.

Right in the picture are federal lawmakers

These members of the legislature carry out executive functions under the guise of constituency projects, which they bury in several agencies willing to “play ball”.  This is why many agencies award contracts for projects outside their mandates, a practice that has been condemned by informed Nigerians.

This procurement corruption in the water sector is enhanced by willing RBDAs the federal lawmakers (sponsors) have used to corner appropriation with any project. The project sponsors most times also have entrenched interests even in the bidders, as confirmed by an exhaustive investigation of constituency projects across the nation carried out by the Independent Corrupt Practice and other related offences Commission (ICPC), and contained in its Constituency Project Tracking Group report released in 2019.

It states in part that “The findings of the 1st Phase of the tracking exercise contained in this report corroborate the perception of average Nigerians that ZIPs have become a conduit for corruption…’

Between 2015 and 2017, in Oyo and Ogun, where studies confirm less than 20 per cent have access to public water utilities, for instance, the OORBDA, in conjunction with nine federal lawmakers (three senators and six members of the house of representatives) appropriated N420 million for empowerment and rural electrification projects unrelated to the RBDA mandate, in violation of the RBDA Act and Public Procurement Act.

The agency claimed to have supplied Bajaj motorcycles every year to farmers in Ogo Oluwa, Surulere LGA (between 2015 – 2016) and youth in Ibadan Southwest/Northwest, Oyo State, at N6 million, N10 million and N19 million respectively. The OORBDA also claimed to have installed two units of 33kva and two units of 11kva transformers in EgbedaOnaAra LGA at N20 million.

It also claimed it installed 100kva transformer at Aladota Agunpopo, Atiba LGA; a 200 kva transformer at Oko Oba, Oyo East LGA; a 200kva transformer at Akosobo, Oyo East; a 300kva transformer at Ajobele, Afijio LGA, and 200kva at Ajiwunmi, Oyo West, all of these at N16.8 million. The agency also installed 80 units of transformers at Oyo Central for N150 million; six units of solar street light in Ibadan Northeast and Ibadan Northwest in Oyo South Senatorial District for N4.2 million; and 2 units of 500kva transformers in various LGAs in Oyo for N9 million.

In Ogun, the pattern also sticks out like a sore thumb. In 2017, across Abeokuta North, Obafemi Owode, Ewekoro, Abeokuta South, and Odeda LGAs, the OORBDA and the senator representing Ogun Central claimed to have installed solar power, transformers, and boreholes in 500 homes in each of the five LGAs. The projects gulped N37 million each, and all the project sites, according to Tracka, cannot be traced.

Combing the streets and highways of Ibadan and Oyo town to ascertain the location of solar-powered street light and transformers turned out to be a chase after shadow experience for the reporter. In fact, majority of the youths interviewed claimed they did not know the lawmakers representing them in Abuja, neither have they received an empowerment of Bajaj motorcycle from any lawmaker.

Some former senators behind these fraudulent projects include: Olanrewaju Tejuoso from Ogun Central who also had oversight function over the OORBDA; Adesoji Akanbi from Oyo South and Monsurat Sumonu from Oyo Central. From the House of Representatives, they include Saheed Akande Fijabi from Egbeda OnaAra in Oyo State, AkintolaTaiwoMichaael from Ibadan North, Abiosun Dada Awoleye from Ibadan North, Adedapo Lam-Adeshina respresenting Ibadan North-East/South-East, AkeemAdeniyi Adeyemi representing Afijio, Oyo West, Oyo East, Atiba West. All these lawmakers either misappropriated the funds for these projects, unrelated as they were, or connived with the OORBDA.

Unfortunately, none of these witnesses or collaborators with the agency has been held to account. Chinelo Ogugua, spokesperson for the ICPC, when contacted by our reporter on the efforts of the Commission to track the massive fraud at the OORBDA, responded through a text message on March 8, saying: “Good afternoon. ICPC does not disclose the status of its investigation pls.”

However, Olufemi Olayemi, Managing Director of the OORBDA is currently standing trial before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts after an initial arrest warrant issued against him by the House Committee on Public Accounts. The committee is investigating the deliberate refusal by non-treasury and partially funded agencies to render their audited accounts from the period 2014 – 2018 to the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF).

Wole Oke, Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, says the OORBDA Managing Director has failed to provide any proof of submission of OORBDA accounts to the Auditor-General of the federation between 2014 and 2018. An analysis of the AuGF’s report between 2014 and 2018 had nothing on OORBDA. In fact, the report had little on the Federal Ministry of Water Resources itself.

Sacred cows

Sections 3, 4, 15, 58, 60 and 61 of the Public Procurement Act 2007 stipulate severe sanctions for this kind of fraud. Any public official so convicted will serve five years in jail after his dismissal. And if he is not a public office holder, the jail term is 10 years. Neither has an option of fines. In fact, if found guilty, the entire directors of the procuring agency are automatically convicted.

But for now, the lawmakers who helped the OORBDA aggravate food insecurity in the entire Southwest are still shielded from the wrath of law, while the Oke-Ogun farmers and villagers battle the long-term effect of their abuse of office – scant harvest – which aggravates the food insecurity and poverty brewing in the Southwest.

•  This report was done with support from the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR)