`The high level of deforestation activities through tree produce collection has become the proverbial bone in the neck of the Niger state government. The government, over the years, has complained about the indiscriminate felling of trees in Niger State. JUSTINA ASISHANA examines the illegal deforestation activities in the state and its effects.

 

DRIVING from Bida to Batati, Lanle, Panti down to Mokwa in Niger State, one is greeted with an array of white sacks filled with charcoal, these places seem to be the commercial hub for charcoal business in Niger state despite government’s claim of its fight against deforestation. Charcoal denotes the felling and burning of trees which is akin to deforestation activities.

However, charcoal is one of the drivers of deforestation as only half the wood extracted globally is used to produce energy and only 17 per cent of all the wood for fuel/energy is converted to charcoal. other drivers of deforestation include felling of trees for timber purposes which is being used for industrial activities, housing activities, furniture making and for firewood.

Large scale tree cutting can lead to deforestation, a transformation of an area from forest to terrain with little vegetation. Plants create oxygen and absorb greenhouse gases. The destruction of trees may, therefore, encourage global warming. Changing temperatures can alter which organisms can survive in an ecosystem.

According to the World Bank, forests still covers about 30 per cent of the world’s land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Data provided by World Bank reveals that between 1990 and 2016, the world lost 502,000 square miles (1.3 million square kilometres) of the forest, an area that is larger than South Africa.

According to National Geographic, “Deforestation is clearing Earth’s forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 per cent of the world’s land area, but swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year. The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.”

In terms of climate change, cutting trees both adds carbon dioxide to the air and removes the ability to absorb existing carbon dioxide. Forest loss and damage is the cause of around 10 per cent of global warming. The cutting of trees results in the depletion of the forest cover and makes the concentration of the greenhouse gases increase the rate of global warming.

In normal circumstances, trees are always significant in the absorption of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen and many others. Research by the Global Forest Research Assessment revealed that deforestation resulted in the release of approximately a billion ton of carbon dioxide in 2010. This leads to the inevitable climate change and adverse weather patterns such as severe flooding or drought

Niger State had very huge forest resources especially with its having one of the largest landmasses in the country but over time, the forest resource has been depleted due to indiscriminate felling and illicit trade by people who are taking the wood for industrial purpose, housing purpose, furniture purpose and also by people who are using it for charcoal.

Illegal charcoal business

Charcoal fetching and selling are one of the most visible deforestation activities in Niger state and despite the war declared by the state government against deforestation, it continues to thrive in the state.

Deforestation activities in Niger State are mostly concentrated in Lapai, Bida, Agaie, Katcha, Suleja and Rafi local government areas of the state. From these forests, the charcoals and firewood which comes out from these deforestation activities are brought to prospectives buyers who wait in strategic places like Batati, Lanle, Enagi, Mokwa, Lapai and Bida to receive it for onward movement to other parts of the state.

Unlike two years ago when the business of felling of trees and going into charcoal and wood business was booming, now, it is no more business as usual for those who are involved in these deforestation activities. This has also led to an increase in the price of charcoal and firewood across the state.

Majority of the traders of charcoal spoken to spoke about their brushes with the taskforce and the reason why they cannot leave the business despite the numerous raids by the team of the task force on forest protection in the state.

One of the charcoal traders in Batati, who gave his name as Abdullahi, said he has been in the business for five years after a three-year stint in tailoring; he acknowledged the determination of the state government to stop deforestation activities of which charcoal is one of them but said that there is nothing else for him to turn to as the business keeps and feeds him and his family.

“I have been doing this business for five years. I went into the business because I saw that it brings profit to me that will help me take care of my family. I was into tailoring before but ‘e no dey sure like this one’, that is why I cannot stop this charcoal business despite the challenges we have with the forest guards and government.”

For Abdul in Lapai local government area of Niger State, he is ready to continue the business despite his charcoals have been impounded several times by the Niger state Taskforce against deforestation. He explained that there was a day his goods were seized twice but added that that did not deter him from continuing in the business.

“Imagine one day, I was caught two times, my charcoal was seized, about ten bags on two occasion but I continue. This is what feeds my family, I cannot stop it because there is nothing else for me to do. I have built a small house from what I gain from this business, I will continue to do it if they catch me, no problem, I will continue to try my luck.”

Illegal Timber Business

One of the largest dealers of illegal timber activities in Niger state was discovered in October by the Niger state Taskforce force on Forest Protection, the wood production company which belonged to a Chinese was discovered hidden in a part Gulu forest in Lapai local government area of Niger state.

It was learnt that the company fell trees in the forest, turn it into refined woods and transport them to Lagos through the use of containers where it would then it is shipped outside the country. The Chinese company, which has no name, is said to be the largest syndicate involved deforestation activities in Niger state and have been in operation for over one year and has also been evading tax.

The discovery of the illegal Chinese Wood company was done after due diligence and monitoring by the Taskforce on Forest Protection which took about two days of monitoring the activities of those who work in the wood production company.

The Coordinator, Niger state Taskforce on Forestry Protection, Honorable Isah Lankpene, who confirmed the discovery of the illegal Chinese Wood production company while speaking to The Nation, said: “The factory is located in the bush in Lapai local government area and we discovered that they have been operating for over one year and nobody knew they were there until we moved in to arrest them.

“To arrest them was not easy; I had to sleep in the bush for two days because we were monitoring them. We were able to succeed in the raid and we arrested them. When we arrested them, we discovered that they do not have a licence, they do not pat any money for being in the bush, they have no evidence of tax paid, I am even sure they are in the country illegally because no one knew they were operating in that bush.”

Lankpene said the team who made the arrest discovered two standby generators, several machines used for cutting and refining the woods, containers and trucks used in conveying the containers to Lagos state, “The put the wood in the containers, transport it to Lagos and ship it out of the country through the sea.”

The Coordinator said the Agency had shut down the company as the government is deciding what to do with the company adding that because they had no power to effect an arrest, the Chinese fled before they could be prosecuted, “After shutting down the place, we apprehended the Chinese but before we could take them to court, they fled after they were released on bail.”

Lankpene said he has arrested a lot of trucks conveying timber and wood to different parts of the state adding that a lot of them escape because they create some paths in the bush which they can use as escape routes but said that the taskforce is upping its game to match their tactics.

Niger’s War Against Deforestation

In 2019, the Niger State Commissioner of Environment, Barrister Mohammed Tanko Zakari had said that the state has lost 60 per cent of its forests to deforestation, explaining that only 40 per cent of the state forest currently remains.

He said in the next years unless the state government put in drastic measures, the state would lose its forests.

This was collaborated by the Niger state Coordinator of the Taskforce on forest Protection, Isah Lankpane who said that there are no more forests in Niger state, he explained that there may be semblances of forests but when one goes inside the forests, majority of the trees have been cut.

“There is no more forest in Niger state. Which forest is here that you can call a forest? If you go to Lapai road now, you will see what looks like a forest, you will see the tall trees and green leaves but when you enter inside this forest, the back is plain like a football field, everything has been taken away. Even from Minna to Gwada, it is the same thing. The front, they left the front trees for people to think there is a forest there but everything is gone.”

To further enforce a ban against deforestation, the Niger state government in 2016 set up a task force on forestry and employed 500 forest guards to protect the forests and prevent people from cutting down commercial trees indiscriminately. The Prohibition of Indiscriminate Felling of Trees Bill came up in the House of Assembly in 2016 to stop the indiscriminate felling of trees but there have been quiet about the bill until October this year when the Legislators began the public hearing with the view to passing the bill into law.

The Niger State Coordinator of the Taskforce on Forest Protection, Isah Lankpene, who resumed the office in August 2020, declared that it is no longer business as usual for those in the business because the government is determined to win the war against deforestation.

He explained that he has arrested so many people involved in the business of charcoal, timber and wood production and the indiscriminate burning of trees saying that top officials in the Niger state civil service and security personnel are among those who have been arrested for transporting charcoals and firewood from the forests.

He explained that because of the huge success in the arrest and confiscation of charcoal, a lot of people seem to think that charcoal is the only deforestation activity in the state stressing that other activities especially use of felled trees for the production of timber.

“I have arrested a lot of people both in charcoal and timber activities, I have arrested a policeman who took a loan and was arrested in his first outing. When he was arrested, he brought the paper of the loan he took and I told him charcoal business is a bad business. They can come back to the business by the time I have left the job but as long as I am here, charcoal is a bad business, cutting our trees is bad business.

“In the past four months, I have arrested over 100 vehicles conveying charcoals and I impounded all of them and I have also arrested over 60 trucks. People commit an offence in forestry like I catch you conveying charcoal, I won’t allow you to go despite I didn’t see the tree being cut down but I know that you had to cut down trees for the charcoal, so you should be punished for the tree cut down for the charcoal you are moving.

“Smuggling charcoal in Niger state is like smuggling rice and in this business of deforestation, it is not the local people, you will find out uniform people are also engaged in this, I have arrested some of them, sometimes, military men with uniform moving charcoal from Gulu to Minna or from Gulu to Abuja.”

Outside the office of the Taskforce on forestry, one could see the seized bags of charcoals and some timber, the Coordinator said that the forest produces when caught, are seized, confiscated and auctioned to serve as a deterrent to others.

”The charcoal I have here is almost about 2000 bags. The warehouse is filled with charcoal. When I came into office, a bag of charcoal was N1700 but today, a bag of charcoal is from 2700 to 3000 so I don’t need to be told that I am working. It is because of our activities, that is what the commodity is so scarce”.

The Taskforce on Forest protection has not been having it easy in stopping the sale of charcoal in most local government as the Coordinator lamented over the obstinacy of the sellers who are adamant in selling the tree produce.

He explained his difficulty in getting them to comply saying that despite the numerous raids, the people return to their selling spot unrepentant.

He further also disclosed that because of the intensity of Taskforce, a lot of timber dealers now cut timber from the forest but go to neighbouring states to obtain a fake receipt to pass it as timber from other states, “but we usually catch them. I know wood and timber from Niger state and can identify most of them. These days, some of them bring in wood from other states through the river because we are very strict about their operations.”

 

• Support for this report was provided by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) and is made possible through funding support from Ford Foundation.

 

The Nation journalists showed they are among the best by winning 22 laurels so far this year. This newspaper proved its leadership among its peers by winning the top prizes for media excellence. Deputy News Editor JOSEPH JIBUEZE reports.

It has been a year of laurels for The Nation and its journalists as they won 22 awards from 51 nominations at various award events organised to recognise media excellence.

The Nation was named the Newspaper of the Year at both the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA) and at the 29th edition of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME).

It had 10 nominations and won in five categories at DAME, beating The Punch and Vanguard to clinch the top prize.

The Nation Editor, Adeniyi Adesina, was named DAME Editor of the Year.

At the NMMA where it had 38 nominations and won 14 honours, The Nation beat The Punch and The Guardian to clinch the Newspaper of the Year prize.

Adesina was a runner-up in the Editor of the Year category, which the organisers said he lost by a point or less.

This newspaper also shone at international awards. Our reporters won two laurels at the West Africa Media Excellence Awards (WAMECA).

The Nation had a good showing at the PwC Media Excellence Awards, where our journalists were runners-up in three categories.

The Nation reporter won the maiden edition of the 2020 Migration Reporter Competition.

How The Nation shone

Associate Editor Olatunji Ololade won the maiden edition of the 2020 Migration Reporter Competition.

An initiative of International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the UN Migration, the grand finale and awards ceremony was held at the Bolton White Hotel conference hall in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on December 18.

It saw Ololade beating Jesusegun Alagbe and Olaleye Aluko, both of The Punch, to the grand prize of the Print Category.

Ololade won by his investigative series: 21st-century slaves, which mirrors the frightening plight of Nigeria’s underage girls and women sold into bonded slavery and sex servitude abroad.

For the story, Ololade scoured brothels and sex camps in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, in an undercover investigation of the West African sex trafficking network.

The same story was a finalist for the 2020 Kurt Schork International Journalism Awards and nominated for the most remunerative journalism prize, the prestigious Fetisov Journalism Awards (FJA), in the Outstanding Investigative Reporting category.

Ololade’s recent win brings his tally of local and international awards to 30.

PwC award

Deputy News Editor Joseph Jibueze was the first runner-up in the Tax and Fiscal Policy Reporting category of the PwC Media Excellence Awards.

Multi-award winner Collins Nweze was a finalist in the Capital Markets Reporting Category, while Kunle Akinrinade was nominated in the Business and Economy Reporting Category.

The organisers said: “The entries were reviewed by a panel of independent, respected and experienced judges.

“They were rated on the basis of quality of research and insight, balanced and unbiased analysis, creativity and originality of content, relevance to the Nigerian situation and, grammar and language skills.”

DAME

At DAME, which held on December 12, The Nation recorded 16 points made up of first place position in three categories, second place position in two categories and third place position in three categories.

Ololade continued his winning streak at DAME, winning the Child-Friendly Reporting category, with the entry: “Missing in Conflict” published on October 5, 2019.

Ololade also won the Lagos Reporting category, in which The Nation had two nominations.

His winning entry was entitled: “The Sinking Houses of Adeniji Adele.”

The Nation’s Taiwo Alimi was a nominee in the same category.

He was named the second runner-up with the entry: “We live in perpetual fear of land grabbers.”

The Nation won the Judiciary Reporting category, in which it had two nominations.

The first prize went to Gbenga Ogundare, who won with his entry: “The long, tortuous road to justice for rape victims”.

Jibueze, a five-time winner of the category, was the second runner-up, with his entry: “Are judges, lawyers undermining ACJA provisions?”

He had won the category back-to-back in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and again in 2018 and 2019.

Associate Editor Adekunle Yusuf was in the first runner-up in the Investigative Reporting category.

His entry was: “Horror of Nigeria’s dysfunctional emergence medical services.”

Yusuf was the grand prize winner at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism in 2017.

The Nation was named first runner-up in the Best Designed Newspaper category, won by The Punch.

This newspaper was the second runner-up in the Editorial Writing category.

The organisers said: “In emerging as the Newspaper of the Year, The Nation recorded 16 points made up of first place position in three categories, second place position in two categories and three bronze or third place position in three categories.

“The gold medals are Child-friendly Reporting, Judiciary Reporting, and Lagos Reporting.

“The two silver medals are from Investigative Reporting and Newspaper Design, whilst the bronze comes from Editorial Writing, Judiciary and Lagos Reporting.

“With this outing, The Nation narrowly edged out The Punch by one point. It is the second time in six years that The Nation is winning this category.

“It also ends the five-year record of The Punch winning the Newspaper of the Year prize.

“Established July 31, 2006, The Nation has grown in stature and influence. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, The Nation, the Newspaper of the Year.”

WAMECA

Ololade and Correspondent Innocent Duru were among five Nigerian journalists who shone at the WAMECA ceremony held on November 14 night.

Ololade was named the winner in the Environmental Reporting category.

Duru won Best Reporter in Telecommunications and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

No fewer than 740 entries received from 13 countries.

According to the organisers, the awards reward and inspire journalism excellence in West Africa and honour journalists who have produced compelling works with significant social impact.

NMMA

The Nation confirmed its leading position by clinching 14 awards at the NMMA last Friday.

Beside the Newspaper of the Year, Duru and Nweze continued their streak at the prestigious award which had President Muhammadu Buhari as the Grand Patron, winning in four categories each.

Duru, who had eight nominations, won the Olu Aboderin Prize for Entertainment Reporter of the Year with the entry: “Poisoned chalice: shocking story of how Yahoo boys infiltrated music industry.”

His story, “Homecoming agony”, won the Olusegun Mimiko Prize for Foreign News Reporter of the Year.

Duru clinched the Cecil King Memorial Prize for Print Reporter of the Year with the story: “Horrors of Asylum Seekers” and the Most Innovative Reporter of the Year with his entry: “Double jeopardy: sad tales of Nigerians who lost phones, bank savings to hackers.”

Nweze, a regular NMMA winner, clinched the Sonny Odogwu Prize for Business Reporter of the Year with his entry: “Hurdles before AMCON N5.4tr debt recovery bid (1) and (2).”

Chikodi Okereocha was a nominee in the category.

Nweze also won the Union Bank Prize for Banking and Finance Reporter of the Year, a category in which he had two nominations.

His winning entry was: “Banking with tears: our pains, by visually impaired customers.”

The Nation’s star Judiciary Correspondent Robert Egbe was the other nominee, with the story: “Banks: their customers and unending legal battles.”

Nweze also won the Access Bank Prize for Capital Market Reporter of the Year and UBA Prize for Money Market Reporter of the Year. He had two nominations each in both categories.

The winning entries were: “Taxing digital economy: noose tightens around tech giants” and “Dumping dirty banknotes, saving businesses”.

The gong for Ernest Sisei Ikoli Prize for Newspaper Reporter of the Year went to The Nation’s Oyesina Fadare, with the story: “Ponmo business sparks fear of epidemic in Lagos community.”

Duru was a nominee in the category.

Akinrinade won the Public Health Reporter of the Year, a category for which The Nation had three nominations.

The winning entry was: “The making of poisonous fufu (1) and (2).” The other nominees are Yusuf and Ololade.

Ibrahim Yusuf of The Nation won the Adamu Mu’azu Prize for Tourism Reporter of the Year, beating Ololade and Eniola Akinkuotu of The Punch.

He won the category with the story: “Lessons from Rwanda.”

The Nation’s Abiodun Williams was named the News Photographer of the Year, beating Salau Olalekan of Vanguard and Saheed Adedoyi of The Punch.

Our Foreign Affairs Editor Bola Olajuwon won the Nigerian Ports Authority Prize for Maritime Reporter of the Year, beating Salau Adebola of The Guardian, who had two nominations.

His story: “Concerns over rising crimes in gulf of Guinea” was found worthy of a win.

The Nation’s Simon Utebor won the MTN Prize for Telecommunications Reporter of the Year with a story he wrote last year while still an employee of The Punch.

Other The Nation staff members who got nominations are Damola Kola-Dare, Grace Obike, Justina Asishana, Dorcas Egede and Gbenga Ogundare.

Case for better funding

The Chairman, NMMA panel of assessors, Prof Ralph Akinfeleye, said urged media owners and managers to better fund investigations.

According to him, the entries for investigative reporting lacked depth and were fewer than last year’s.

“Some of the write-ups are left-footed, both structurally and conceptually.

“Media owners should invest and provide adequate funding for investigative reporting because it is time-consuming and of a high-risk venture,” he said.

There were no winners in seven categories because the entrants did not meet the 70 per cent cut-off point.

They are the Coca-Cola Prize for Brand Marketing Reporter of the Year; Chevron Nigeria Prize for Oil and Gas Reporter of the Year; Aviation Reporter of the Year; First Bank Prize for Business Publication of the Year; George-Bako Prize for Radio Reporter of the Year; TV Production of the Year and TV Drama of the Year.

The eminent professor of Mass Communication said many of the entries for Female Reporter of the Year lacked focus.

Prof Akinfeleye said: “Some were not even tangential to the subject matter. Our appeal to the female reporter is to wake up from their slumber,” he said.

He noted that entries for Columnist of the Year, for which no winner was declared, saying they were “highly commendable”, “relevant”, “informative as well as educative”.

“Topical and contemporary issues were treated with robust local examples,” he said.

Prof Akinfeleye said despite the pandemic and the short notice in the call for entries, the media responded positively.

By Taiwo Alimi

The Nation showed class at the weekend, winning the Newspaper of the Year at the 29th edition of Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME).

The Nation Editor, Adeniyi Adesina, was also adjudged as Editor of the Year.

This newspaper beat The Punch and Vanguard to clinch the top prizes.

The Punch Editor Ademola Oni and Vanguard Editor Eze Anaba were the other nominees.

The Punch and Vanguard were also first and second runners up in the Newspaper of the Year category.

In declaring The Nation the Newspaper of the Year, the organisers said: “In emerging as the Newspaper of the Year, The Nation recorded 16 points made up of first place position in three categories, second place position in two categories and three bronze or third place position in three categories.

“The gold medals are Child-friendly Reporting, Judiciary Reporting, and Lagos Reporting.

“The two silver medals are from Investigative Reporting and Newspaper Design, whilst the bronze comes from Editorial Writing, Judiciary and Lagos Reporting.

“With this outing, The Nation narrowly edged out The Punch by one point. It is the second time in six years that The Nation is winning this category.

“It also ends the five-year record of the Punch winning the Newspaper of the Year prize.

“Established July 31, 2006, The Nation has grown in stature and influence. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, The Nation, the Newspaper of the Year.”

At a colourful ceremony, which took place at the Oriental Hotel Lekki, The Nation recorded 16 points made up of first place position in three categories, second place position in two categories and third place position in three categories.

Multiple award winner, Olatunji Ololade, a recipient of over 27 awards for journalism excellence, continued his winning streak at DAME.

He won the Child-Friendly Reporting category, with the entry: “Missing in Conflict” published on October 5, 2019.

He beat Chioma Obinna of Vanguard and Kolapo Olapoju of The Cable.

Ololade also won the Lagos Reporting category, in which The Nation had two nominations.

His winning entry was entitled: “The Sinking Houses of Adeniji Adele.”

The Nation’s Taiwo Alimi was a nominee in the same category.

He was named the second runner-up with the entry: “We live in perpetual fear of land grabbers.”

Juliana Francis of the New Telegraph came third in the category.

The Nation won the Judiciary Reporting category, in which it had two nominations.

The first prize went to Gbenga Ogundare, who won with his entry: “The long, tortuous road to justice for rape victims”.

Deputy News Editor Joseph Jibueze, a five-time winner of the category, was the second runner-up, with his entry: “Are judges, lawyers undermining ACJA provisions?”

He won the category back-to-back in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and again in 2018 and 2019.

Oladimeji Ramon of The Punch was the first runner-up in the category.

The Nation Associate Editor Adekunle Yusuf was the first runner-up in the Investigative Reporting category.

His entry was: “Horror of Nigeria’s dysfunctional emergence medical services.”

Yusuf was the grand prize winner at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism in 2017.

The category was clichéd by Taiwo Hassan Adebayo of Premium Times with his entry: “How child labour boosts milk production at Friesland Campina in Nigeria.”

David Eleke of ThisDay was second runner-up the category.

The Nation was named first runner-up in the Best Designed Newspaper category, won by The Punch.

This newspaper was the second runner-up in the Editorial Writing category, which was also won by The Punch. BusinessDay was the first runner-up.

The Guardian won the Child-Friendly Medium, beating The Sun and Daily Trust.

Bayo Akinloye of ThisDay won the Agriculture Reporting category, beating Afeez Hanafi and Jesusegun Alagbe, both of The Punch.

Hanafi won the Sports Reporting category, with his entry: World of visually-impaired sport fans who ‘watch’, play football.”

He beat Gowon Akpondor of The Guardian and Ajibade Olusesan of Saturday Telegraph.

BusinessDay’s Ibrahim Adeyemi won the Education Reporting category, with the entry: “N—Power laments ghost teachers’ connivance with principals.”

Niyi Oyedeji of the Nigerian Tribune and Kunle Adebajo were the runners-up.

The prize for Nutrition Reporting went to Obinna of Vanguard, who had two nominations in the category. Dayo Ojerinde of The Punch was the third nominee.

Adesina dedicated his awards to God and to all members of staff.

“I’m highly excited because I’m just 16 months in the saddle and this happened,” he said, as he hoisted the award plaque.

“I’m dedicating this award The Managing Director/Editor-in-chief of The Nation Victor Ifijeh. I thank him for his leadership; to the editors, who work tirelessly, and the reporters who pound the streets for stories, because without them, this award will not come. This is a collective triumph,” he said before the large audience.

Why 13 awards

The judges recommended 13 prizes this year, down from the 18 awarded last year.

According to Lanre Idowu, Editor-in-Chief, Media Review and member of DAME board of trustees, “the organisers would not award prizes whose credibility cannot be defended.”

He added: “We regret that no prizes are recommended for the broadcast sector either because we had issues with the quality or paucity of the entries. It is a subject we will be discussing in the New Year with stakeholders.”

13 media organisations feature on the honours roll. The Nation and The Punch have seven nominations each; Guardian and Vanguard have three each, Thisday, Businessday, and the New Telegraph have two; whilst The Cable, ICIR, Premium Times, Nigerian Tribune, Daily Trust and the Sun have one each
Punch: 15 POINTS made up of 3 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze
Nation: 16 POINTS made up of 3 gold, 2 silver 3 bronze
The first place position is in child friendly, judiciary, and Lagos reporting; the two silver are from investigating reporting and newspaper design, whilst the bronze comes from editorial writing, judiciary and Lagos reporting.
Vanguard: 7 POINTS made up of 1 gold, 2 silver

Judges’ report

Idowu said the report of the DAME panel of judges indicates that much of what was reported in 2019 adequately addressed the Nigerian condition.

Journalists, he said, focused on issues of security, governance, and the search for social justice.

He said: “From the shortlisted entries, our journalists mainstreamed food security—the challenges of keeping farmers on the farm, how technology can leverage food security, and why the state needs to do more in encouraging better approaches to cultivating the land.

“The quest for justice rings loud in the call for a shortened duration of court hearings and increased deployment of technology to fast-track the court process.

“There is a palpable concern for waste in the use of state assets, the need to prepare better for retirement after service.

“There is the usual interest in corruption—material corruption, corruption of values – which weakens the foundation for good governance and social harmony.

“The concern for better service delivery and respect for human dignity resonates in the stories on medical emergencies, better treatment of detained suspects in police or prison custody, and how child labour contributes to corporate profitability.

“The plight of the Nigerian child remains concerning but worsened in an environment of strife and insecurity. In the failure to connect good nutrition in infanthood with rounded development, many are sentenced to a future of stunted growth.

“The search for meaning in our politics is reflected in the frustration with poor standards, slow pace in decision making, and the confounding decisions when they are eventually taken.”

Threat to media freedom

Idowu spared a thought for what he called a growing impatience with criticism and the resort to wanting to wield the big stick against the media.

He said: “The media may have its excesses, but it is not short of patriots who make regular positive interventions in the affairs of the country.

“The government will do well to see them as partners in progress and shun this practice of fishing for enemies where they do not exist. Propaganda is no replacement for governance, which the people are truly hungry for.”

We must keep the dream

Idowu stressed the essence of the annual award and the need to keep it going in-spite of, especially tough year occasioned by the pandemic and general economic recession.

“In the face of the trying period, it is essential to separate the wheat from the chaff by honouring our commitment and enterprising media professionals. We believe that by so doing we are renewing spirit in our society. We are encouraging hope for a greater tomorrow and we are keeping alive the zeal for a better practice. It is important to keep the award going because it brings hope, joy, fulfillment and recognition.”

While recognizing the sterling contribution to Nigeria media by John Momoh of Channels Television, with the Lifetime Achievement Award, Idowu called for sober reflection and the celebration of media personalities that died this year.

They included Ms Bose Olaniyan, programme officer with DAME, Malam Ismaila Isa, Malam Wada Maida, Mr. Gbolabo Ogunsanwo, and Prof. Dayo Alao.

According to Idowu, the event happened in an era of great concern in the land – concern about health, politics, traffic, security, living and our humanity.

He said: “These concerns are so grave that thinking about them alone can arrest one’s zeal for life; or indeed kill one’s dreams. In the preparations, these concerns featured prominently in our hearts.

“Do we have to hold the 29th DAME? If it holds at all, must it be physical? Why not just announce the winners and decorate them next year alongside winners for the 30th edition, a landmark, and an occasion for an enlarged celebration?

“These were some of the recommendations made to us. The more we thought of them, the more we asked: Who knows what will happen tomorrow that you begin to project for next year? Who thought of Covid-19 this time last year? Who anticipated the EndSARS protest? Who imagined the insecurity in the land will linger for so long?

“One of the enduring lessons of Covid-19 is that try as much as we can in this journey of life, but there is a Great Architect of the Universe whose ways we cannot always foretell.

“The more, we thought of these questions, the more convinced we were that we must not become prisoners of fear; we must not abandon our dreams because of challenges. Rather, we must face these challenges with courage, wisdom, and restraint.

“And so, we resolved to hold the 29th DAME in a managed setting, by following the advisories from the health experts, which entails pruning down the number and taking all the precautions prescribed.

“It was also important to sustain the idea of giving the media one special day of acknowledging the important role they play in society as pathfinders of meaning, and guardians of public morality.”

Idowu noted the role of professional journalists in an age of social media where most people claim to be one.

“In the face of the increasing menace of fakery in news dissemination, in the face of the technological liberalisation of access, which enables everyone to be a reporter, editor, and publisher, it is critical to continue to stress the vital role that trained journalists play in serving their publics with news that you can trust.

“It is essential to separate the wheat from the chaff by honouring our committed and enterprising media professionals.

“By so doing, we are renewing faith in a better society; we are encouraging hope in a greater tomorrow; we are keeping alive the dream for a better practice, and we are sustaining the DAME dream because it brings joy, hope, fulfilment, and recognition,” he said.

Africans always look forward to advanced democracies, especially the United States, for answers to the continent’s problematic electoral processes. President Donald Trump’s handling of this year’s election has shown that the survival of democracies on the continent needs more than outside factors, writes Foreign Editor BOLA OLAJUWON

In nearly 12 months, about 17 African countries had conducted one form of election or the other, in which millions of voters went to the polls to elect their leaders. Two more – Niger Republic (December 27) and Central African (Dec. 27) – will go to the poll before the end of the year.

This year, presidential and, in some cases, parliamentary elections have been held in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, Seychelles, Tanzania and Togo.

Parliamentary elections also took place in Chad, Mali, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Comoros, Egypt, Somalia, Liberia and Gabon.

A majority of the elections in 2020 were held in countries confronting or emerging from conflicts, including Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Niger and Somalia. These countries face crises sparked from previous exclusive power structures, militant Islamist insurgencies and the challenges of building inclusive national visions from polarised polities. Consequently, the link between governance and security in Africa was displayed in most of the 2020 elections.

The elections were clustered in West Africa (with six elections), the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia and Somalia) and the Great Lakes (Burundi and Tanzania).

Election outcomes in few African countries in 2020

Cameroon elections: A vote marked by violence and abstention

Cameroon voted on February 9 in elections, which were postponed twice. With opposition boycotts, separatist intimidation and fears of violence, enthusiasm to vote were lacking.

Political analyst Stephane Akoa was surprised by the pre-election atmosphere in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde. “When I look around, I see people on cafe terraces eating and drinking — but no posters and no campaigners with honking cars. It’s all very quiet,” he said.

Before the vote, Erick Essousee, the director of Cameroon’s electoral board, Elecam, insisted that elections could take place across the country. But in Cameroon’s two conflict-ridden English-speaking Southwest and Northwest regions, it was not calm when people went to vote in municipal and parliamentary elections.

At the end of 2019, when President Paul Biya began the election process, separatists who want an independent state for Cameroon’s generally marginalised English-speaking population called for a complete boycott of the polls and openly threatened those who wished to take part. But, to enforce an atmosphere of stability, security agents pounced on people and the opposition.

Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire’s presidential elections election was held on October 31 and at the end of an electoral campaign boycotted by the opposition, the outgoing President Alassane Ouattara was re-elected to a third term with 94.27%, according to provisional official results announced by the Independent Electoral Commission.

After a very long wait, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) finally announced the provisional official results of the election at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, November 3.

While the election was marked by the “active boycott” of the opposition, it was not surprising that Ouattara was re-elected for a third term.

Amnesty International reported that policemen in Abidjan, the Ivorian capital, allowed groups of men, some armed with machetes and heavy sticks, to attack protesters demonstrating against Ouattara’s third term bid reminiscent of the crisis that led to the ouster of his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo.

Ghana

After Ghana’s Dec 7 elections, opposition  National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader John Mahama, 62, rejected the officiate results of presidential and parliamentary exercise, citing “litany of irregularities and blatant rigging,” in favour of incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). It was the eighth presidential and parliamentary election since Ghana’s Fourth Republic was born in 1992, putting an end to military coups that truncated the First Republic on February 24, 1966, the Second Republic on January 13, 1972 and the Third Republic on December 31, 1981.

The Electoral Commission (EC) declared Akufo-Addo, 76, re-elected with 51.59% of the votes against Mahama’s 47.36%. The commission later revised the figure of valid votes cast but insisted the revision and the unincluded results of Techiman South constituency, where balloting was marred by violence, would not alter the declared results.

The NDC is contesting the EC’s figures and calling for a re-run, because, from the party’s calculations, none of the 12 candidates had met the constitutional requirements to be declared a winner.

The party also claimed that it had won 140 of the 275 parliamentary seats contested, against the 136 declared by the EC for it and 137 for the ruling NPP.

The police confirmed that at least five people were killed and 60 injured in the electoral violence, with two polling officials also arrested for vote tampering.

Burundi

Also in Burundi, the ruling party candidate won the presidential election, securing 68.72% of the vote.

Evariste Ndayishimiye, a retired general, took over from President Pierre Nkurunziza, after he beat the main opposition candidate, Agathon Rwasa, and five others, avoiding a runoff by securing more than 50% of the vote. Nkurunziza, who had been in power since 2005, decided not to stand for a fourth term and had dubbed Ndayishimiye his “heir.

Rwasa, president of the National Council for Liberty (CNL), described the results as “fanciful” and accused the government of “cheating” and “pure manipulation”. Burundi also shut the door to record a peaceful transition between two governments.

Burkina Faso

However, on November 26, Roch Kabore won a second term as Burkina Faso’s president, securing a solid mandate for himself and his party in an election deemed by international observers to be mostly free and fair. Kabore’s re-election in the conflict-hit country came despite poor approval ratings for the government’s performance on tackling spiralling violence that has caused a snowballing displacement crisis involving more than one million people and prevented hundreds of thousands of citizens from casting ballots last month. The biggest challenge in his second five-year term will be tackling the insecurity, which hampered the ambitious development goals he set out on coming to power and continues to tear at the social fabric of the country.

Since 2015, armed groups linked to banditry, al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) have overrun large portions of the country’s north and east. More than 2,000 people have been killed due to the conflict this year alone.

Commentators said Burkina Faso has become the epicentre of the wider war against armed groups in the western Sahel. One of Kabore’s crucial political and military strategies has been the creation of a security “bubble” around the country’s major cities. The military has fortified Burkina Faso’s central plateau region, a natural bulwark between the capital, Ouagadougou, and the conflict raging in the north.

Tanzania

On Thursday, November 5, Tanzania swore in incumbent President John Magufuli for a second term. The inauguration took place amid a background of continuing challenges from the opposition party, which alleges voting irregularities during the October 28 vote. Several other nations, including the United States, supported the claim. Pre-election claims of both media suppression and social media blackouts were also widespread, though the election itself was conducted peacefully.

The country’s electoral commission announced that Magufuli won the contentious race with 84 per cent of the vote. Not long after the results were announced, the leaders of the opposition parties -CHADEMA’s Tundu Lissu and ACT Wazalendo’s leader Zitto Kabwe, among others – were arrested. Magufuli’s CCM party also won a significant majority in the country’s parliament, raising concerns from critics that he would use this overwhelming majority to try to extend his time in power past the current two-term limit, although the incumbent has stated that he did not plan to pursue such a path.

Is it yet Uhuru with African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance?

But, as was seen in the elections in Africa, it’s never quite that straightforward even as some progress has been made despite the countries appending their signatures and domesticating the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) and the African Governance Architecture (AGA) adopted by the Eighth Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on January 30, 2007.

The charter seeks to promote adherence, by each state party, to the universal values and principles of democracy and respect for human rights; promote and enhance adherence to the principle of the rule of law; premised upon the respect for, and the supremacy of, the Constitution and constitutional order in the political arrangements of the State Parties; promote the holding of regular free and fair elections to institutionalise legitimate authority of representative government as well as a democratic change of governments.

It prohibits, rejects and condemns unconstitutional change of government in any member state as a serious threat to stability, peace, security and development; promotes and protects the independence of the judiciary; nurture, support and consolidate good governance by promoting democratic culture and practice, building and strengthening governance institutions and inculcating political pluralism and tolerance; among others.

The essence of the ACDEG, according to political scientists, is that African countries had mostly halted the trend of violent coups, which was rampant between the 1960s and the early 1990s. But, sadly too, military dictators have since been replaced by imperial presidents with their version of democracy designed to keep them perpetually in power.

Unsurprisingly, Africa is home to six of the world’s 10 longest-ruling non-royal national leaders with Cameroon’s Biya leading the pack. Other sit-tight leaders who violate human rights like President Teodoro Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, Alpha Condé of Guinea and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda (since 1986) are some of the African leaders, who need to be eased out of power. Another sit-tight leader, Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was declared incapable of carrying out his duties and forced out of power after suffering stroke for a while.

An international affairs expert and consultant to international organisations on corporate communications and elections, Paul Ejime, in an interview with The Nation, said: “Political experts and analysts have noted that elections have become a source of political conflicts in Africa because of the characters and attitudes of politicians. When presidential candidates concede defeat, it is celebrated. President Goodluck Jonathan did that in Nigeria in 2015. Remember also Ghana in 2012, when John Mahama and Nana Akufo-Addo first ran against each other, Mahama won.

“In 2016, Akufo-Addo won. Also remember Malawi when opposition leader, Lazarus Chakwera, won the country’s rerun presidential vote. He defeated incumbent Peter Mutharika with 58.57% of the vote, according to the electoral commission. But in many African countries, some election cases ended at the Supreme Courts.

“Political analysts and watchers have questioned how open the political space was and still is in each African country. During the electoral period, African leaders have taken to shutting down the social media as seen in Uganda, Chad, Gabon, Burundi and Togo and most North African countries.

“Beyond the usual mix of ethnic and religious debates and rivalry in African national elections, other factors have had an impact on both the outcome and perception of the outcome of elections.

“You mentioned the African Charter on Good Governance. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also has Supplementary Protocol on Good Governance, which also spells out zero-tolerance for taking power through unconstitutional means. If it is through coups, it would not be recognised. Despite that, we saw that in Mali, there was a coup in August. Therefore, it is not yet Uhuru; African countries till have a long way to go.”

Trump refusal to concede: A bad example for Africa?

Former American President Barack Obama, in a powerful speech he delivered to Ghana’s parliament in 2009, said: “Africa does not need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.” It was, therefore, inconceivable that despite his apparent defeat, President Donald Trump sought to leverage the power of the Oval Office in an extraordinary attempt to block President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. He summoned a delegation of a battleground state’s Republican leadership, including the Senate majority leader and House Speaker, in an apparent extension of his efforts to persuade judges and election officials to set aside Biden’s 154,000-vote margin of victory and grant Trump the state’s electors. It came amid mounting criticism that Trump’s futile efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election could do long-lasting damage to democratic traditions.

Trump’s efforts extended to other states that Biden carried as well, amounting to an unprecedented attempt by a sitting U.S. President to maintain his grasp on power to delegitimise his opponent’s victory in the eyes of his army of supporters.

The Supreme Court final repudiation of Trump’s desperate bid for a second term not only shredded his effort to overturn the will of voters: It also was a blunt rebuke to Republican leaders in Congress and the states that were willing to damage American democracy by embracing a partisan power grab over a free and fair election.

Like the rest of the world, Africa has been paying close attention to the U.S. election, since the U.S. still wields significant influence on what happens there. It’s the global policeman of democracy!

“Whoever is in charge in Washington and the policies they pursue have direct and indirect consequences for the continent,” Achille Mbembe, a Cameroonian political analyst, said.

“Many Africans look at the U.S. elections in a very cynical way — cynical in the sense that they know what stolen elections are all about,” Mbembe said.

Why African elections still have a long way to go

Looking at election outlook in Africa, Ejime said it is not yet Uhuru, insisting that African elections still has a long way to go.

He said: “There are triggers and drivers of conflicts in Africa. It is unfortunate that poverty, economic deprivations and lack of social safety net, intolerance by politicians and cronyism are affecting good governance in Africa.

“Ghana used to be a shining light, we saw what happened in the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections, where violence was recorded. Five to six people were killed, according to the police. It is also likely that the matter will end up at Supreme Court. I once wrote an article on whether the judiciary is a facilitator or hindrance to democratic governance in Africa. There is also the syndrome of the third term by sit-tight leaders in Africa, who tinker with the constitution in a way it would favour them through getting their parliamentary majority to rubber-stamp changes in constitutions. In their desperation to cling on to power, you will realise that the changes they made are not even effective and sometimes half-baked, leaving lacunas for the incumbent to perpetuate himself in power.”

Ejime is right since the hallmark of democracy is the successful transfer of leadership from one government to the other through the conduct of credible elections and the understanding that the continued survival of a nation is not dependent on any single individual but the will of the people. But, “many African leaders have failed to imbibe the democratic culture as they continue to devise means to hold on to power, usually by playing with their nation’s constitutions through the connivance and acquiescence of weak, rubber-stamp parliaments, as well as a complicit judicial arm,” a report indicated.

This is noticeable in countries like Togo, Rwanda, Congo, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Cameroon and lately, Guinea and Cote D’Ivoire. It is not surprising that in Eritrea, where no presidential election has taken place since independence in 1993, President Isaias Afwerki has remained the first and only president.

President Muhammadu Buhari (retd), while looking at the trend, warned: “It is important that as leaders of our individual member-states of ECOWAS, we need to adhere to the constitutional provisions of our countries, particularly on term limits. This is one area that generates crisis and political tension in our sub-region.”

A former Director-General, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, while reacting to the sit-tight syndrome of African leaders, said the leaders’ penchant for remaining in power was an abuse and exploitation of democratic freedom and a major dynamic of development setback for Africans.

Akinterinwa said: “Sit-tight politics must be set aside by all means. Election rigging in all its ramifications, and particularly the issue of ill-defined citizenship, must be resisted by all means. These are three major dynamics of development setbacks that must be removed before a people-driven democracy can be truly established in Africa and before the prevalent democracy of injustice and unfairness, which have come to characterise intra and inter-African politics, can be stopped.”

Late Ghanaian President Jerry John Rawlings, once told a delegation of a civil society group, the African Forum on Religion and Government (AFREG): “Some people say I could have abused the constitutional order and stayed on, but I tell them I couldn’t because I had empowered the people. When you empower people you make them positively defiant so they will stand up to you when you try to misbehave. But in some parts of Africa, we don’t empower; we disempower, so we can stay as long as we want and they can’t stand up to us.”

Therefore, former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela and Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan, who resisted the urge to hold on to power, are worth emulating and celebrated.

However, Niger Republic holds presidential polls on December 27 and the Central African Republic conducting presidential and legislative polls on the same day. Niger’s Mahamadou Issoufou is leaving office after two terms. The ruling party has nominated former Defence Minister Mohammed Bazoum as its candidate. In CAR, President Faustin Archange Touadera is also seeking re-election. One hope that the two elections will fare better and meet AU Charter and other regional protocols on good governance, free and fair elections. This can only be achieved through building of strong institutions and not strong men.

Life is gradually returning to the rail tracks leading from Lagos to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. PAUL ADE-ADELEYE shares his experience

After much talk, some animosity and a burst of determination, the Lagos to Ibadan rail line finally kicked off activities low-key on December 7. Although its maiden trip was mocked for recording generally low patronage, the fault did not lie with the quality of service on offer; neither did it lie, contrary to popular opinion, with the fare of commuting. A return journey to and from Ibadan last week Wednesday, turned out to be exhilarating.

Everyone has said it, so it is no secret that none of the train stations on the 156km route is complete at the moment. The closest to completion is the Lagos terminal at Ebute Metta in Lagos Mainland. When completed, the terminal has been touted to match international standards. A cursory glance at the level of work ongoing at the station seems to point to the absence of any fib on the part of those who believe that the new terminal will be of high quality. Awaiting the comfort of the new terminal, however, Lagos District Manager of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), Jerry Oche, took it upon himself to ensure that travellers were well treated.

Inviting the first five travellers to arrive at the Lagos Station to the conference room of the old terminal last Wednesday, the manager fielded questions and even served drinks, apologising that the waiting area and ticketing booth were not ready. One traveller wondered aloud why there was little publicity concerning how the train would work, especially as most travellers simply had to grope their way through the procedure leading up to boarding the train. Mr Oche, an engineer, however, revealed that the absence of fanfare and advertorial that would serve as official publicity for the commencement of the train service was deliberate.

Officially, the train service has not been commissioned. This will be done by President Buhari sometime in January by which time it is hoped the project would have been completed. Meanwhile, the bit-part launching of the train service means that with current operations, the train can sit as many as 580 people. At the moment, especially since the station is not completely ready and there is no secure waiting area, it may be difficult to manage such a number. Oche is reluctant to kick-start operations at full capacity when the facilities to manage such numbers are not yet completely available. For now, he appears content to let the train service announce itself, a strategy that appears to be yielding dividends.

The district manager is additionally confident that this can be a successful strategy because the train service had conducted a free trial from Iju to Ibadan and only the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the service. When the trial started, they recorded low turnout but soon the numbers skyrocketed and maximum patronage was recorded at every journey.

Facilities

The reporter arrived at the train station with the intent of travelling humbly. Humility must be understood to mean economy class. However, when the booking clerk would ask what class of commuting the reporter wanted, a strange whim caused the reporter to opt for first class.

The first-class coach, which seats 24 passengers, costs N6,000; the business class coach, which seats 56 passengers, costs N5,000; while the economy coaches cost N3,000 for the 68-seater coach and N2, 000 for the 88-seater coach.

Luxury is an addictive spirit, so let it suffice to say that the return journey was first class also. Whatever the financial effects of this deluxe treatment of self, the devil may care but the reporter does not. To purchase a train ticket, the prospective commuter must present some form of identification – no doubt for security purposes.

Despite the incompleteness of the rail station, the manager was keen on security. He mandated that only travellers were to be on the ramp leading up to the train during boarding hours. There are also contracted security personnel belonging to several paramilitary bodies who embark on every train ride for the safety of the passengers. No staffer without business on the train was to be in the vicinity. At the entrance of the train, courteous staff (a welcome improvement in Nigeria) greeted the passengers, and the train not to be outdone, also breathed a cheeky draught of cold air. The trip, this implied, would be fully air-conditioned. The train was not complaining, the employees were not, and the passengers certainly were not. That consensus being reached, the reporter did not begrudge the train hostess leading him to the first class session – he paid for it anyway. There were sinks on the train, restrooms and a mini-bar from which nourishment was to be served for the pleasure of travellers.

Cross-checking this array of amenities with a contact in the United Kingdom confirmed that the regular metro trains do not offer this luxury. Only the long-distance trains, which operate between counties, do. While the economy and business class carriages looked comfortable enough, the reporter cannot say much for them, having only passed through. The first-class coach, however, was what it promised. The seats had trays, which could be summoned or neatly tucked away according to the traveller’s preference. The seats could also be rotated a full 360 degrees should the traveller not enjoy the sensation of being in reverse as the train rolls along. Trains, you see, hardly turn. There are engines at both ends, which propel the train depending on the train’s direction, and so the traveller is either travelling backward or forward.

At exactly 4 pm, the train departed the station. The passengers had been warned that the trip would last 2:41 hours. There are stations in Agege, Alagbado, Kajola, Abeokuta, Papalanto, Olodo, Omi Adio and finally Moniya, Ibadan, but for now, only the Abeokuta station is a stopping station. The stop was for only five minutes, and, as promised, at exactly 6:41, the train rolled into the Ibadan station. Similarly, the next morning, the train departed Ibadan by exactly 8 am and was in Ebute Metta at exactly 10:41 am. At maximum speed, the train is expected to eat up the distance at the rate of 150km/hr. The precision was encouraging for it meant a fellow could work his schedule around the train schedule. Mr Oche noted that when the train service became fully operational, it could make as many as 16 trips daily with a train departing and arriving every other hour. The journey could have been shorter, but people trading on the rail lines have forced the train to virtually crawl through Lagos, picking up speed from Alagbado station.

Verdict

For the current prices, the Lagos-Ibadan rail service is worth the expenditure. As noted by many analysts, the advantages floor whatever financial inconvenience the traveller may experience. For N2,500, the commuter who has chosen economy class will get more than double the comfort that a traveller by road would hope to enjoy in public transport. The traveller again enjoys additional guarantee that they will arrive at their destination in one piece and at a pre-arranged time. The business class traveller, for only N5,000, will enjoy more exclusivity and can make use of a laptop or other such device as may be reasonably sized for their work. It is presumed that the first-class passenger has called congress in his mind and deliberated on what premium can be placed on comfort and luxury in travelling. Honeymooners or those who do not like crowded spaces are advised to travel first class. It offers comforts that even luxurious private vehicles struggle to match.

The fear, as with many other things in Nigeria, is the maintenance culture. It was lack of proper maintenance and farsightedness that led to the decline of the railway system which the British bequeathed. The NRC must be careful not to rest on its oars but seek new and better ways to innovate rail travel, for only by so doing can the current pace be sustained and evenly matched. The District Manager predicts that by February, the stations will be completed. It is difficult to see how that is possible.

VIDEO: Lagos to Ibadan rail journey

Ibadan by train: journey never more agreeable

By Adekunle Ade-Adeleye

Two days after the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) restarted train services to Ibadan, this time on standard gauge and diesel engines and coaches built by China, the reporter took a return trip from Lagos last Wednesday. The first two days reportedly witnessed low patronage, with one passenger travelling to Ibadan on Monday, and five on Tuesday. The return trips on both days were also dispiriting, said NRC officials. Many reasons have been suggested for the scantiness of passenger traffic. Publicity was thought to be inadequate; the fare was believed to be unreasonably high; and who could tell how reliable the train ride would be, seeing how the Abuja-Kaduna trains were beginning to pack up in the bush, plagued by ticketing racketeering? But this welter of excuses was not enough to dissuade Wednesday’s exploratory return trip, especially for a reporter who regularly patronised train services in the 1970s from Kaduna, Kano and Zaria to Ilorin and Lagos. Train rides used to be hellish back in the day; how would it be now?

The Lagos to Ibadan train also held another special attraction. The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway had become a nightmare on at least four sections of the road: Berger, Long Bridge, Ogere, and Iwo Road. If the new train service could do the journey, as officials promised, in 2hrs 40min, why, that would be a revolution. On a bad day on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, a traveller could chalk up anything between five to 10 hours, with all the risks and attendant health implications. An uninterrupted journey of a little over two hours, with all the legroom, comfort, scenic beauty of a beguiling Nigerian countryside, would thus be the tonic for the rediscovery of the adventurous spirit and travel culture for which Nigeria was known and which this reporter prided himself in. Last Wednesday was not without its trepidations, for anything could go wrong, particularly being stranded in the hills and valleys that dot the route; but the reporter quickly overcame his fears and booked a seat. To him, nothing could be worse than the gridlock and flaring temper on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

By the time the eight-coach, two-engine train rolled out from where it was watered to the uncompleted but very modern boarding platform of the Lagos Train Terminal, its form rising and glistening in the setting sun, and its nose shaped like a curved ballistic missile, whatever misgivings which plagued the reporter were dissipated. Building the Lagos-Ibadan section of the Nigerian railway system may have cost a tidy $1.5 billion, and the project delivery itself a little bit slower than anticipated, but the enthusiasm of the railway staff chaperoning not more than 10 passengers to their coaches and seats on that Wednesday evening was boundless and infectious. For years, the staff had wilted and ossified in a vacuum in which train services collapsed altogether or were reduced to only occasional intra-city train rides that spoke volumes about Nigeria’s mediocre achievements; now they were being sprung to life in an unexpected vivification that seems to hold far more sanguine expectations for the future than the country was ever used to.

Railway staff cautioned that the ride was not yet the return of full, modern services; but there was a semblance of what to expect: the ornate, gleaming interiors of the train coaches, the glittering exteriors and engine nose cones seemingly set to split an atom or break the sound barrier, the bedecked hostesses akin to airline crew, and the boarding announcements. Well, almost. The Chinese train drivers donned their nondescript and unassuming tee-shirts, cleaners chattered loudly and extravagantly as they mopped the floors of the coaches, in stark and embarrassing contrast to the modern facility they were tending, and the announcers struggled with their enunciations. But the full return of services or not, once the train departed Ebute-Metta, Yaba Terminal at 4 pm, it was business-like, the air conditioning in the full ambient blast, speed picking up gradually as it coursed through the dense urban jungle of Lagos. Once in the clear some 30 or 40 minutes later, near Kajola Station where coaches will be assembled in the future, the train began to glide, seemingly levitating, vibrations almost eliminated, at a speed that was only punctuated by bridges and stopping stations, and at a rate that kept the traveller animated and exhilarated.

Decades of enduring the nightmare the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway had dulled the aesthetic sense of a traveller to the gentle pleasures of adventures and travelling through the nation’s vast countryside. Last Wednesday, however, the reporter regained his eager élan as the train sped through the bushes and brushes, over bridges and rail crossings, unencumbered by the risks and gridlocks associated with road travel, not to say the general unpredictability of Customs, Road Safety, Police harassments and interruptions. The legroom in the first-class coach was extraordinary, and going to the lavatory as the train sped on was easy. There were only three passengers in the first-class coach, two men and a woman. All three exuberantly streamed their trips back to their families, remarked the revolution afoot in rail travel, basked in the euphoria of travelling unburdened by any anxieties, perhaps for the first time in decades, and fixed their gazes on Nigeria’s scenically and naturally manicured forests of the Southwest. The return trip from Ibadan early in the morning was even more dashing and spectacular.

There is some controversy that train tickets are overpriced and unreasonable. It is hard to understand the logic of the complainants. Perhaps they use the first-class ticket, which is N6,000, to extrapolate the expensiveness of the fare in general. However, there is also the economy class fare of N2,000 or less depending on the destination, which competes favourably with antiquated road transport fares. The NRC is, therefore, unlikely to heed the complaints. Patronage will pick up when the trains begin to operate full services; and at the existing ticket prices, with services not attenuated by age, misuse or poor maintenance, train travels are likely to become more popular and entrenched. It is unlikely too that debates about the expensiveness of rail modernisation, not to talk of the government’s bingeing on loans, will be assuaged by the popularity of the new trains with the public. But when the president finally commissions the project in January, as anticipated, and more than a dozen trips are scheduled daily, it may finally be possible for workers to live in one city and work in another. At that time, the cost of the project and the unreasonableness of the loans may pale into insignificance.

Standard gauge railway should have berthed in Nigeria decades ago, especially when the country was choking with petrodollars. But better late than never. Apprehensions that the completion of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway will hurt the new train services may also be exaggerated. The problem with the Ibadan Expressway is not just one of resurfacing; it is also one of congestion, frequent accidents, and interferences by law enforcement agencies. These won’t stop anytime soon. Not only will ticket prices not be sufficient to underwrite the expenses of running the train services, thereby presenting a terrible dilemma to the NRC management, officials may be stupefied that their anticipated scheduling of more than a dozen train trips per day may also prove difficult to attain in the short to medium run. Overall, however, the new trains are safe, pleasant, reliable and certain to have positive spinoffs on estate development and the economies of Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, and other stopping stations along the route.

The pains and cries of port users and other stakeholders in the maritime sector have remained loud over the gridlock, extortion by security officials at the ports. At several fora, stakeholders have not failed to highlight the economic haemorrhage the unscrupulous activities of these officials is causing the country. But last week, members of the House of Representatives took a bold step towards restoring sanity to the port access roads in Lagos. The House not only called for the disbandment of the Presidential Task Team on port access roads, saying it has outlived its usefulness for its role in extortion and congestion of the ports. Will this bring the much-needed sanity to the ports? MUYIWA LUCAS reports

The Nigerian economy now in recession needs every sector to be on its toes to ensure the economy does not collapse. If there is any sector managers of the economy are hopeful of playing a prominent role in bailing the country out with revenue injection, then it is the maritime sector. And rightly so. With the crude oil sector remaining largely unpredictable, the maritime sector, referred to as “The Blue Economy” is expected to step up to this revenue challenge.

But hopes of the country generating greater revenue from the maritime sector faces a huge challenge. This is because of the lingering hydra headed gridlock that has continued unabated, defying all solutions at the port access roads in Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports, both in Lagos. This situation has further been compounded with the extortion at the Tin Can Island Port (TCIP) and its surrounding access roads leading to the vehicular spillage spilled into the port access roads on daily basis. This, it is believed, now account for higher cost of freighting cargoes into the country.

But the problems in the Nigerian ports has made international shipping lines to take advantage of importers who are now charged heavily for freighting, especially from the Far East. For instance, checks have revealed that shipping companies now charge between $5, 000 and $6,000 to bring in a container to the country. This represents a sharp increase over what obtained in the first half of the year, when shipping lines charged $1,000 to freight a 20-foot container to the country from places like the Asian continent.

The increase in cost, experts say, is not unconnected with the difficulties encountered in cargo discharge, leading to greater dwell time of vessels in the major ports in Apapa and TCIP, both in Lagos.

Last week, the SIFAX Group, owners of Port and Cargo Handling Services (PCHS) Limited, raised the alarm over 40 vessels are currently  trapped at the Lagos anchorage due to the deplorable state of the port access road linking Tin can Island Port.

According to the PCHS Managing Director, Mr. John Jerkins, the terminal records 8,000 Twenty-feet Equivalent Unit (TEUs) monthly despite the deplorable state of the road. However, the inability for vessels to discharge containers and allow others berth poses serious threat to port business.

“I don’t know the number of vessels that are currently at the anchorage now but I know it is well above 40 vessels right there at sea. At least for Ports and Cargo we have about six to seven  of our vessels stranded at the Lagos anchorage due to the state of the roads,” Jerkins lamented.

Indeed, the parlous state of the port access roads, especially around TCIP, has not helped matters, as the continued blockage of the roads has left several containers trapped in the ports complex. In this instance, vessels have had to remain at anchorage for months, due to lack of space to discharge their cargoes, thereby incurring several surcharges in the process.

Jerkins admitted that there were more containers to be moved outside the terminal due to the congestion but lamented that the firm is handicapped to address the situation of the road. While expressing frustration of the roads on port business, Jerkins explained that PCHS does six to eight barging operations daily, adding that it takes two hours to move 20 containers out of the terminal through barging. Jerkins urged government to provide palliative along the second gate round about axis, where a 35meter stretch portion needs urgent attention to allow free flow of vehicles out of the port.

Now, officials and security personnel of various agencies are taking advantage of the situation to illegally enrich themselves while inflicting pains on port users and other stakeholders in the industry.

These personnel, mainly drawn from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Security Department, police and the Presidential Task Team on Apapa gridlock, who were deployed to manage traffic in the area, are now at the behest of extortion, especially from truck drivers trying to access or exit from the TCIP.

To this end, importers, clearing agents and truck owners are now screaming to the roof top over worsening gridlock along the port access road at the TCIP Complex, accusing officials of the various security outfits of complacence. It is a strongly held belief that in addition to the poor condition of the port access roads, extortion by security and traffic control officials remain the major cause of the unending gridlock along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

Some truck drivers who expressed frustration over the development accused officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Security Department, the police and the Presidential Task Team on Apapa gridlock of demanding huge sums of money as bribes from them before their trucks are granted access into the port. The development has negatively affected port operations by slowing down cargo delivery. It has also led to a sudden rise in haulage and shipping cost. For instance, haulage cost from TCIP to any other part of Lagos state now cost between N100, 000 to about N1.2 million- representing over 1, 000 percent rise.

This sharp increase, investigation revealed, is to make up for the extortion of truck drivers by the security personnel, who have put in place a well-structured racket system, which ensures that no truck leaves the port or enters without greasing the palms of the security personnel, parting with between N70,000 and N200,000 per truck.

A truck owner and an executive member of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Mr. Sanni Bala, said the security agents would not grant them access to the ports unless they pay between N70, 000 and N200, 000 depending on the “bargaining power” of the truck driver. As a result, many truckers have been left with nothing to take home and maintain their trucks.

AMATO is further miffed that the Lagos State government keeps complaining of rickety trucks on the roads, forgetting that the extortion they are being subjected to by the police and others is taking a toll on their income.

“The issue of unlawful extortion by NPA security officials, police and the Presidential Task Team along Apapa and Tin Can Port road axis has become a daily occurrence and an institutionalised phenomenon that is taking a serious toll on the income of truck owners and exacerbating the plight of motorists on that axis. The issue of traffic on the access road is artificial and caused by human factor because without the traffic, there is no how they can extort people; so they have to create the traffic by delaying truckers,” he added.

The Chairman of AMATO, Chief Remi Ogungbemi, agreed with Bala. According to him, “What is happening at Tin Can is a situation of the more you look, the less you see. Business is still going on as usual and the task team has refused to leave because they are benefiting from the chaos. They have formed a cartel and if you are not in that group, they will not pass your truck no matter who you are.”

The Nation’s findings reveal that the modus operandi deployed by the security personnel on is more like an undercover. Security personnel employ the services of miscreants, known as “Kelebe” or “Camp Boys” for the collection of the illegal money; they also hand over monies collected themselves to their respective kelebe. With this, at no point in time will cash of questionable amount be found on any of them. Sharing of the day’s proceed is then done later at night when the personnel would have closed for the day.

A clearing agent at the TCIP, Mr. Chudi Nwankwo, identified more than four roadblocks set up by the Presidential Task Team, the police and NPA Security officials all between TCIP First and Second Gates, as spots where each truck is expected to part with money before being allowed passage into the port.

“The extortion by NPA and other security agencies who claim to be controlling traffic on the road is the cause of the impediment we are experiencing daily along the port access road. From First Gate to Second Gate, we have about four roadblocks mounted by the security agents and the trucks must part with money before they can move. As we speak, we pay between N1.1 million and N1.2 million per truck as against N100,000 to move our containers out of the port. The cheapest truck you can get to hire is N1 million. We have never experienced it this way before,” Nwankwo said.

Further capturing the loss of agents in better perspective, the National Vice President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Kayode Farinto, revealed that an average of N300 million is lost weekly to illegal collections by NPA security officials, the police and members of the Presidential Task Team.

Farinto also lamented the absence of an electronic call-up system, saying that the manual call up system being used by the NPA is fuelling corruption.

“It is high time the NPA began the electronic call-up system. The manual call-up system is full of anomalies and it is encouraging corruption and it looks as if the government is not even ready to stop corruption,” he stated.

But with more troubles for freight forwarders outside the bad roads and the likely seizure of their cargoes by Nigeria Customs units on the highways such as the Federal Operations Units (FOU), StrikeForce, et al, importers and agents at the TCIP have now opted to strip their cargoes right inside the port complex.

Yet, this practice is not in sync with global practice in port operations. It has further compounded the woes there in TCIP, leading to its immediate suspension by the NPA. Before the stripping ban, it cost between N600, 000 to N700, 000 to strip a cargo, and on an average day, about 100 trucks are usually lined up for the exercise.

“The amount for stripping in the Tin Can Island port area is exorbitant but it is simply a factor determined by market forces. The demand for stripping in this area is so high and there is no space for such activity. Therefore, those with the facility hiked the prices but importers don’t care because it saves them from the possible dangers with the multiple Customs units on the highways,” an official at Tin Can Island Port said.

According to the source, stripping, until the NPA banned it, was the norm at TCIP due to the type of consignment received there. He further explained that while Apapa port deals more with cargoes for multinational companies and government project cargoes, TCIP handles cargoes owned by individuals. This feature is said to encourage stripping at the port.

In February, the House of Representatives had resolved to investigate the extortion of truck drivers in Apapa by security operatives.

The resolution was made after lawmakers identified extortion by security officials as being a major factor responsible for the traffic challenges as operatives delayed the movement of trucks drivers who refused to cooperate with them.

The House took the resolution following a motion titled “Urgent Need to Investigate the unwarranted Extortion of Truck Operators and other Port users by Law Enforcement Agents at Apapa Port,” moved by Hon. Olusola Fatoba from Ekiti State.

Moving the motion, Fatoba had said truck operators pay as high as N300,000 to gain access into the port. He said the House was worried that law enforcement agents that are supposed to maintain law and order at the port had formed a “cartel” in cahoots with port officials, extorting money from the transporters.

He said the House was also worried that as a result of the activities of law enforcement agents in Apapa “a truck may spend up to two months before gaining access into the terminal, which is causing a lot of hardships and a huge increase in the cost of doing business which may inevitably lead to unrest and breakdown of law and order by the frustrated and oppressed truck operators.”

He noted that although the “ugly trend” had been going on unabated for years, yet, it was not this bad in terms of the level of extortion. “When the naval officers were there in charge of the operation to ensure smooth movement, the extortion was usually between N60, 000 to N100, 000. But now that they have been removed, the extortion has become worse,” Fatoba said.

On April 20, the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), asked the Federal Government to mandate the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to take over traffic management on the port access roads, “so as to clear the chaos created by the task team”.

STOAN had maintained back then that the NPA “has a robust security department that had done a good job of managing the traffic on the port access roads in the past and it is the consensus of stakeholders that they should return to that role.” But sadly, the same outfit has become an albatross for truck drivers and port efficiency.

Some relief, however, came from the National Assembly last week. A lawmaker, Leke Abejide, moved a motion that the “House specifically asked that a greater part of two months revenue generated by the Apapa Port, Tin Can Island Port, Kirikiri Lighter Terminal and PTML be committed to the construction of all the access roads for optimal revenue for the country, while the Nigerian Ports Authority and relevant security agencies should halt extortion activities going on at the ports and the access roads.

Abejide expressed surprise that notwithstanding the challenges of the access roads, the Nigeria Customs Service in four commands within the port viz the Apapa, Tin Can lsIand, PTML, and Kirikiri Lighter Terminal, rake in an average of N100 billion in one month. He said if the port access roads were in tip-top condition, perhaps over N500 billion would have been generated.

“If two months of Nigeria Customs revenue from these commands be dedicated to facilitating these access roads and needed infrastructure, the revenue would be recovered in full in less than a month and this will in effect sharply increasing our revenue. Ultimately, this would help stem the frequency of loans from China and other sources, of which we cannot predict the future ramification of the debts for the country,” Abejide submitted.

But for now, the question remains: When will sanity return to the ports roads?

The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown instituted by the Federal Government at the end of March was hard-hitting on all sectors and small-scale farmers and processors in Nigeria; it was and still is a catalogue of problems. In this report, JUSTINA ASISHANA focuses on those who deal in the agricultural value chain and analyses the COVID-19 impacts on these businesses in the integrated agricultural supply chain.

 

RALIAT Namallam lost over 20 bags of okro which she would have milled and sold in the market. In Bosso Local Government Area of Niger State, where she also processes shea butter, Raliat also lost over 1000 tonnes of kuli kuli (a snack made from groundnut) which she could not sell due to the lockdown imposed by the government.

Raliat had processed the kuli kuli the day before the lockdown was announced in Niger State and would ordinarily have sold them off right after processing. But with the lockdown, it was stuck with her for weeks and got spoilt; she had to dispose of them.

She said: “We had finished processing our kuli kuli and okro on March 23rd when the lockdown was announced. We were to take them to the market but now couldn’t and had to leave them at home. All of my goods got spoiled and I had to throw them away.

“The restriction of movement and observance of the social distancing affected me a great deal because the majority of our customers come from outside the state or local government. But this time, we could not even go to the market, let alone customers coming to the market.”

For Asabe Katcha from Katcha Local Government Area, her only saving grace is that shea butter does not easily go bad. It was a period she described as “very terrible” saying that after all the processing, there was no market for them to sell their product.

She lamented that even after the open up, they still have not finished selling the produce made during the lockdown.

 Rice value chain

The challenge for Annatasia Musa, who sells finished products from cassava in Bida Local Government Area, was the lack of produce to process into garri (a staple food across Nigeria) or flour.

She said the farmers could not get inputs for their farm produce and there was no transportation for those who had the cassava on the ground.

While the lockdown was a spanner in the works for those in the cassava, groundnut and shea butter value chain, it was a different stroke for some of the women in the rice value chain, especially those of them who process paddy rice into finished products.

Some women, who spoke to the reporter in Kontagora and Bida, explained that they had patronage from government and private individuals who wanted to supply these grains as palliatives to the masses during the lockdown.

Rukayat Musa said that they bought the paddy rice from farmers who were most willing to sell it to them because of the lockdown and they, in turn, processed the grains into polished rice.

She said: “We didn’t do anything special to attract buyers. Most times people call us to ask if we have rice because there are some interested in buying. We sell to them as long as we are not the ones to transport them.”

Although she does not think all rice farmers had such offers, she said: “Me and some of my friends had high demands this period.”

Comfort Joseph in Edati Local Government Area in Niger State, said she got orders for her processed local rice during the lockdown. Online banking portals also made transacting with customers from as far as eastern and western Nigeria very easy. Money was into her account and their orders were sent to them via commercial vehicles carrying essential commodities.

According to the selected food price watch in September 2020 by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the average price of 1kg of rice (local rice sold by measure) increased month-on-month by 4.16 per cent.

While rice medium grain increased by 1.83 per cent month on month in September, according to NBS, the highest price recorded to be sold was in Bayelsa for N613.98 and the lowest sold in Kogi state for N301.

A market survey conducted by the reporter at the Kure ultra-modern market in Minna, the State capital and information she received from some rice processors did not quite reveal these low selling prices.

A measure (mudu) of rice in Niger State sells for N750 to N900 depending on the quality and fineness of the rice. This was an increase from N600 to N800 which was the price sold before the lockdown.

Getting raw materials

Majority of the food processors claim they have not been able to access raw materials needed for production and they attribute it to the effect of COVID-19.

Since the pandemic and the lockdown that followed, there has been a steady rise in the price of foodstuff. A bucket of onions that usually sold for N700 now sells for N2,500. A measure of garri, which sells for N250 now sells for N450.

Going by this trend, it is evident that the constant demand for foodstuff, yet the reduced supply of raw materials has automatically caused an increase in prices of food; something the farmers further buttress.

Annatasia said getting raw materials after the lockdown has been lifted, is still difficult as the prices of the raw materials have soared despite the unavailability.

“It has been a great challenge getting our hands on cassava tubers that we need for processing. Now, the farmers are talking about N75,000 for a Pick-up truckload of cassava instead of N30,000 or N40,000 which we paid for the same amount before.”

Annatasia lamented that there is a high demand for her produce but the lack of raw materials has made it difficult for her to meet up with the demands.

The National President of Farm Management Association of Nigeria (FAMAN), Dr. Damian Agom, explained that the people, including agro-processors, were caught unawares by the pandemic adding that the lock-down that followed gave them no time to adjust to the situation but pointed out that with limited resources, some agro-processors were able to continue production.

Interventions 

Elizabeth Yisa is the Business and Marketing Development Officer in the Niger State International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Value Chain Development Programme.

She acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown affected the processors especially in the area of scarcity of agro-inputs.

She said IFAD VCDP created a lot of forums to sensitise the processors and farmers about the importance of social distancing and distributed hand washing buckets, hand washing liquid and other safety kits.

“During the lock-down, we helped our processors and farmers with COVID-19 safety kits to help them keep safe. We also sensitised them on COVID-19 safety protocols which led them to be able to organise themselves in keeping safe. We gave them health talks at every period.”

The Niger State Ministry of Agriculture confessed that it did not do anything to alleviate the sufferings of farmers and those in the agricultural value chain in the state during the lockdown period.

The Director of Planning and Research (DPRS) in the Ministry, Mallam Umar Alhassan, said the government made provisions for palliatives for the people in the State which the farmers and processors were supposed to benefit from.

Asabe and Annatasia confirmed that they did not receive any palliative meant for farmers from the federal government adding that they neither got any of the general palliatives.

Alhassan, however, said the ministry is making plans towards engaging the farmers and processors to look at ways it can help them overcome the adverse effect the lockdown may have had on them and their businesses.

A call to action

Some of the impacts of the pandemic, which include an increase in food prices, unavailability of raw materials for processing and lack of funds, may not be fully realised immediately but the recent developments have shown that the agricultural sector will be adversely affected shortly.

To Agom, the National President of FAMAN and an Agro-Economist, the COVID-19 pandemic made the people engrossed in survival, rather than consider the processing of any products. He also said this resulted in the rate of supply of food items falling and this has further increased the prices of these food items.

Agom said the solutions to the hardship to the impact of COVID-19 on agro-processing is for individual farmers to know how to keep a buffet stock and take advantage of situations like the lockdown in the future.

On his call to action to the government, Agom said the government needs to look at ways of maintaining a strategic grain reserve which would become tools to address impact during times of pandemics.

The impact of the COVID-19 on farmers and processors include the inability to sell their harvests and processed goods, the ban on markets also strongly affected the distribution and supply systems for local agricultural products and threat to the security of food supply.

 

• This report was supported by the Africa Women Journalism Project (AWJP) in partnership with the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ).

The recent agricultural intervention fund by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) if carefully monitored could reduce the unemployment crisis in the country, writes SINA FADARE

Agriculture is important to the development of any nation; this development includes fostering the participation of youth in the agricultural sector. Youths are the successor farming generation and the future of food security in Nigeria. The government is thinking about this.

According to a recent UN World Health Organisation prediction, “by 2030, 6 out of every 10 people will live in a city, and by 2050, this proportion will increase to 7 out of 10 people” meaning that more young people than ever before are moving to cities in search of green pasture which is not there, leaving few behind to work in rural areas said a socio commentator.

According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, over 70 per cent of the national unemployment rates of 23.9 per cent are youths. This alarming figure has encouraged the Federal government to stimulate youth interest in agriculture and special incentives such as credit facilities for youths who are involved in agricultural chain production.

Twenty-four-year-old Richmond Azillah’s venture into agriculture is interesting. According to him, he used to serve a rabbit keeper by feeding the rabbits and also cleaning their cages. He did this because he had no money to buy some for breeding.

He said: “One day, two females and one male rabbit were not in good health so the owner gave them to me to slaughter for food as part of his reward. On my way home, I thought of saving the animals rather than killing them. With this, I gave them Paracetamol and provided feeds as well. Gradually, the trick worked even though the male couldn’t survive. I later constructed a cage and after two months, I sent the two females for crossing and here I am today with over 100 matured rabbits.”

Richmond’s  voyage into agriculture is a testimony that other youths can make a success out of the opportunity available. “It is like gaining something from nothing,” he pointed out.

Against this backdrop, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said companies, individuals, and agro-processors of agricultural commodities are to access up to a maximum of N2 billion per obligor under the Private sector-led Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (P-AADS).

The Director, Development Finance Department of the bank Mr. Yusuf Yila who disclosed this recently explained that ” P-AADS is designed to complement the Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (AADS), earlier introduced by the apex bank to engage 370,000 youths in agricultural production, in collaboration with state governments as well as address the food security and youth unemployment challenges across the country.”

The apex bank pointed out that the maximum loan accessible under the scheme at N2 billion per obligor- would be repaid from the Economics of Production (EOP) for cultivating on the cleared farmland.

According to the CBN, the interest rate under the intervention shall be five per cent per annum (all-inclusive) up to February 28, 2021.

The CBN explained further that it will bear 50 per cent of the credit risk in the event of default by the participants while the repayment of the facility shall be made on instalment through the participating banks and spread over the EOP of the cultivated commodities.

The participating banks shall remit repayments received to the CBN on a quarterly or annual basis depending on the commodity financed.

The apex bank listed the focal agricultural commodities eligible for consideration under the scheme to include rice, maize, cassava, cotton, wheat, tomato and poultry.

Others include fish, sorghum, oil palm, cocoa, livestock/dairy and any other commodities as may be listed by the CBN from time to time.

On the eligibility criteria, the apex bank stated that prospective P-AADS participants must be existing or new firms engaged in agricultural production with proven capacity and bankable proposal; possess the acceptable title for contiguous lands of not less than 20 hectares; have good credit record and be able to provide collateral for participation.

Speaking to The Nation on tackling unemployment of youths through agriculture by the CBN, a consultant Agronomist, Dr. Henry Okafor, noted that agriculture is a recipe to mop unemployment of the youths in the country.

Okafor pointed out that the agricultural value chain in totality is a good pedestal which any country can climb to the peak of food security. ”It will mop up a lot of teeming youths roaming about on the street, most of the food produced will be exported thereby earning dollars and it will also give peace to the country because all those youths who were frustrated and later become a ready-made material for thuggery and vandalism will be gainfully engaged and will not have energy and time for destructive tendencies

According to him, in the recent past, a lot of intervention funds for agriculture have been embarked upon by the CBN which has improved the economy such as Anchor Borrower Scheme (ABP), AGSMEIS loan for SME’S and Agricultural Businesses without collateral and Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS).

He explained that if the current intervention can be monitored and let it get to the deserving youths scattered all over the country, it will boost food production and most youths will permanently become commercial farmers who will also engage a lot of people on their farms.

Okafor noted that “agriculture as a sector that can absorb a large number of unemployed youth, there is a need for value-chain exploration in a bid to outline areas for job creation which include – marketing of agro-produce, agricultural extension services covering rural areas, logistics and transportation, technical and mechanical skills development for repairs of farming equipment and digital technology training to facilitate the modernisation of the agricultural sector”.

Speaking in the same vein, Prof. Adetunji Ogunyemi of the department of History, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) noted that the CBN programme will be laudable if it is not hijacked by saboteurs along the line.

He explained that agriculture revolution should be the watchword of the country at this critical period, adding that intervention fund channelled into agriculture and if properly monitored will not be in vain. “The so call intervention fund should go directly to the farmers without any hindrances and there should be proper monitoring so that at the end of the day the objective will not be defeated,” he said.

The monetary economist said the problem of Nigeria is not good policy, “it has always been there, and the major problem is how to translate this policy into a reality that will benefit the society that is where the problem lies. In the past funds designated for farmers have been diverted with impunity with little done to apprehend and punish offenders.”

Though Yila the Director in CBN was very assertive that all the commercial banks that would be saddled with the responsibility of getting the P-AADS to the youth farmers would be monitored and even sanctioned if the money is dormant in their banks, yet Ibrahim Dangiwa a farmer in Malumfashi, Kastina State expressed fear that the end-user of the money may not be able to access the fund.

Dangiwa lamented that when such gesture was extended to cotton farmers, it came with a lot of bottlenecks and most farmers were unable to access the fund.

He explained that any intervention fund that would be giving to the farmers should be done in a way that only those who are targeted for the fund should get it no matter where they are in the country adding that the youths who are coming in as new farmers may not have anything as collateral to access such a loan.

He added that if the fund can get to the targeted farmers, the multiplier effect in the agricultural value chain would be enormous and guarantee food security.