Category: Special Report

 Sanni Onogu, Abuja

THE Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, on Wednesday said only sweeping reforms can make the police work.

Basiru, who represents Osun Central in the upper chamber, in a statement, while presenting a Bill before the Senate on establishment of State Police said: “There had been a deep seated and strong resistance to the idea of police reforms in the country.”

Basiru said unless reforms generated by several high level committees spanning over 20 years are revisited and implemented, the police would remain largely ineffective.

He said as a result the public perception of the police had remained poor while it continued to be plagued with corruption, impunity, lack of accountability, gross incompetence and failure to maintain law and order.

Our present challenge, he said, is to “reverse this perception and transform the Nigeria Police into a true public service organ capable of guaranteeing security of Nigerians.”

The Senator who noted that the recent enactment of the Police Act 2020 might not meet the citizens expectation of an effective police institution that works said that only a wide range of reforms will be required to make the Police work in the interest of all.

“There is a need for a wholesale review and redefinition of the role, function and organisational structure of the Police” to demilitarise it and inject in it operation neutrality as well as autonomous organisational set up, functionality specialisation, institutional accountability and service orientation,” he said.

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The candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for senatorial bye-election in Lagos East, Mr. Tokunbo Abiru on Wednesday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for granting a five-point demand of youths that protested the extra-judicial activities of the dissolved Special Anti-Robbery Squads (SARS).

Alongside the five-point demand of the protesters, however, Abiru urged the federal government to completely implement the report of the Presidential Panel on the Reforms of SARS, which according to him, would go a long way to change the public perception of the Nigeria Police.

He canvassed outright implementation of a 2804-page report at a meeting with residents of Agbowa, Ikosi-Ejirin Local Council Development Area (LCDA) on Wednesday, canvassing the amendment of the Nigeria Police Act.

At the meeting are the APC Vice Chairman, Lagos East, Chief Kaoli Olusanya; a former Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Jokotola Pelumi and husband of Ogun State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Bode Oyedele, among others.

The panel, which submitted its report to the president in June 2019, had recommended the creation of state and local government police as a strategy to strengthen policing and make police officers more accountable nationwide.

 Tony Akowe, Abuja

THE House of Representatives, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) will collaborate on a proposed law to reform the police, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila said on Wednesday.

The speaker met with the leadership of the NBA led by its President, Olumide Akpata and the NHRC led by the Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu.

Gbajabiamila said:”I want to use this opportunity to congratulate Nigerians out there, who have been part of this struggle, and I want to appeal at the same time that we should apply the brake, perhaps, a little and see what will be done.

“In the House, before the protest, we made a statement, I made a statement on the floor of the House. We made far-reaching resolutions. We’ve been very proactive on this issue. We’re determined to pursue the resolutions of the House forcefully, for want of a better word.

“Our resolutions included that we discovered section 215 (5) almost gives absolute immunity to the police over what they do. So, for a start, we feel we should begin with amending the constitution and delete that offensive section.

“I believe it was well-intended but now it’s obnoxious. From that, we can raise any other reforms to look at the complaints from the public, from the NBA, the civil societies etc.

“We’re waiting for the IGP to send us the list of policemen that had complaints against them in the last five years. We’re also waiting for the list of the victims so that they can be compensated. We’re beginning the budget process, and we want to make sure that there’s a line item that ensures they’re compensated.

“The resolutions also talked about police reform. We already passed the Police Reform Act, but we need to do more. We need to look at the conditions of service, etc.

“Suffice it to say that this House is determined to bring this to fruition. We gave ourselves 30 days to come up with a piece of legislation. We’re working assiduously to achieve the timeline we set for ourselves.

“I think you should identify the stations where people are being held. I will be more than happy to set up a crack team of members to go with you and pursue vigorously those issues. This should be part of the collaboration. We’ll expect your response on this.”

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Akpata assured that his association would collaborate with the House.

“We at the NBA are resolute to collaborate with you on the issues. In fairness to the government, some concession has been made. The NBA has a mandate to protect the rights of the people,” he said.

Ojukwu said in 2018 the commission investigated the police, adding that those found guilty during that investigation would soon be prosecuted.

He also said that there was the need to look into the funding of the police, especially at the divisional and zonal levels, adding that money budgeted for their operations hardly get to them for their operations.

He said: “I personally reported case to the police and had to provide the money needed for the investigation. That is how bad the situation is down there. When I told them who I was, they told me that they don’t have the money for investigations.”

By Bisi Olaniyi, Mike Odiegwu, Okungbowa Aiwerie, Chinyere Okoroafor, Yinka Adeniran, Adekunle Jimoh, Toba Adedeji, Emma Elekwa, Justina Asishana, Adebisi Onanuga, Gbenga Omokhunu, Elo Edremoda

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and his Delta State counterpart, Ifeanyi Okowa, have described the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) as a testament to the people’s power.

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde said peaceful protests are a legitimate way for citizens to make their grievances known.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said the disbanding of SARS is in order.

Obaseki and Okowa spoke yesterday in statements by their media aides.

Obaseki said: “I appreciate the Nigeria Police Force for listening to the yearnings and concerns of the Nigerian people by disbanding its SARS unit, in response to the #ENDSARS protests.

“We are pleading with the youths to reciprocate the responsiveness of the police’s leadership by de-escalating the confrontations.

“As for the peaceful protesters arrested in different locations across Edo State, I have opened discussions with the state’s police command to effect their release.”

Edo governor also stated that the resolution of the face-off between the youths and the police was a step in the right direction.

Okowa said: “The Nigerian youth can take pride in the fact that they have won a major victory for the right to free movement and association without let or hindrance.”

Okowa and Obaseki commended Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu for the disbandment of the squad.

”While commending the Police for not suppressing these protests, the disbandment of SARS is a visible demonstration of how government agencies should respond to the grievances of our people and their agitations for justice and good governance in a democracy.

“Finally, let me say that the IGP should not stop at disbanding SARS. That is but one step in the multiple steps required in carrying out a comprehensive reform of the Nigeria Police Force.

“Such a reform should cover matters relating to recruitment, training and welfare of the rank and file,” Okowa said.

The End SARS protesters continued their protest in Warri, Delta State.

The youths, who tried to maintain the COVID-19 protocol of wearing face masks, protested around the oil city of Warri.

For Makinde, who spoke in a state broadcast on Monday following the violence in Ogbomoso, he ordered the men of the state Police Command to take the back seat in the effort to curtail the violence.

He said: “The past few days have been ones of grief for the people of Oyo State. I cannot imagine the pain and frustration of the parents and families of those who have died or are hospitalised as a result of the actions of the Nigeria Police Force during these #EndSARS protests.

“As I stated clearly in my earlier statement, peaceful protests are a legitimate way for citizens to make their grievances known to the government and it is totally unacceptable for anyone to be hurt during such protests.

“It is unfortunate that men of the Police who were trained to protect the citizens have now turned their guns against unarmed citizens.”

Stop shooting protesters, Falana tells police

Activist lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has urged Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu to order his men to give Nigerians seeking abolition of the SARS protection.

Falana said: “Since Nigerians are entitled to the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly guaranteed by sections 39 and 40 of the Constitution and articles 9 and 10 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, the Authorities of the Nigeria Police Force should to provide adequate security for the aggrieved members of the public who are demanding for the abolition of the SARS through peaceful marches, meetings and rallies.

The activist lawyer, in a statement yesterday, expressed solidarity with the protesters seeking abolition of SARS.

He said: “But since similar measures did not end the SARS excesses in the recent past ASCAB is convinced that the knee jerk reactions of the authorities cannot end the institutionalised atrocities perpetrated by the SARS and other security agencies.”

He said: “In view of the concern recently expressed by both President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo about the allegations of human rights violations routinely committed by the operatives of SARS the Federal Government must walk its talk by implementing the recommendations of the Presidential Panel on SARS reform. Furthermore, the Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commission should be reconstituted by the President without any further delay.”

Falana said it is the duty of the state governors to jointly exercise police powers with the president.

He regretted that state governments have failed to supervise the Police and other security agencies operating in their jurisdiction.

EndSARS protesters demand police reform

#EndSARS protesters on Monday visited the headquarters of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation in Lagos.

They came with a message for President Muhammadu Buhari and police authorities: end police brutality now.

They said the alleged extortions and harassment of youths by SARS operatives must end immediately.

The protesters, comprising mainly youths, were addressed by Online Editor Sunday Oguntola.

He said: “I appreciate you for the peaceful nature of this protest. Let me say that The Nation Newspaper is with you.

“We hear your cries, we are part of you, we are also Nigerians, and we are also affected. Many of us have been stopped by the police in the past, brutalised and extorted by the police.

“We have been covering this protest across the nation. If you go to our website, you will see that we are covering this protest.

“We need to make sure that the police operate within the ambit of the law. We will make sure that we amplify your voices.

“We will make sure that we tell the relevant authorities that the police should operate within confines of the law, that not all Nigerians youths are yahoo boys, that the facts that you are on dreadlocks doesn’t make you a yahoo boy.”

In Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, placard-wielding protesters marched through major streets of the metropolis and obstructed human and vehicular movement for some hours.

Some of the placard at yesterday’s protest read:  “End SARS now”, “Say no to reformation of SARS”, “Police protect us, police stop killing us”, “The only SARS we want is SARS on the beat”, “Stop killing our youth. Stop killing our male child”.

The protestors converged on the popular General Post Office area after meeting with Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi at the Government House on Ahmadu Bello Way.

Receiving the protesters on behalf of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Alabi assured them that their complaints had been heard.

The representative of the protesters, Olushola Olayemi, urged the state government to lend their voice to the dissolution of the police unit.

Osun: Oyetola to present protesters’ demands to Fed Govt

In Osogbo, the Osun State capital, youths stormed the entrance of Osun State Government secretariat demanding end to police brutality.

They marched from Nelson Mandela Freedom Park through Ola-Iya junction, Ogo-Oluwa, Africa, Osun State House of Assembly, and the State secretariat.

Their leader, Seyi Adelaga, said: “We are here in a peaceful protest today to tell Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, that we want an executive pronouncement of President Buhari to disband SARS. Yesterday, the IG pronounced that they are disbanded but we are not agreeing with his position until there is an Executive order to that.”

Addressing the protesters, Governor Oyetola, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prince Wole Oyebamiji, said the administration  would channel their demands to appropriate quarters.

“We are here to tell you that we are aware of your plights as youths and as Nigerians.

“We have listened to your demands and we shall do everything possible within the ambit of the law to address the issues as raised one by one.

“We will present your requests to appropriate quarters as part of efforts to strengthen peace in the State.

“As a government, we will continue to guarantee the security of lives and property of the citizens and we shall not leave anything to chance.

In Nnewi, Anambra State, traders expressed joy over the disbandment of SARS across the nation.

They described the development as long overdue, advocating for the reformation of the regular police to give them a human face.

Speaking on behalf of the traders, the Chairman of Fairly Used Motor Parts Dealers Association, Mr Chinedu Enyeribe recounted his personal encounter with the outlawed security operatives, noting that the development was a big relief to both traders and non-traders alike.

The leader of Nkwo Nnewi Butchers Association, Chief Kirian Okafor, noted that the aims and objectives backing the creation of SARS had long been defeated.

Police begin dismantling of SARS structures in Rivers

The police in Rivers State have commenced removal of all structures of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in compliance with the directives of Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar.

A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Omoni, said Commissioner of Police Joseph Mukan ordered immediate dismantling of such structures during a meeting with his management team and Commander of SARS.

Protesters block major roads in Abuja

Despite the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on Sunday, the #EndSARS protest continued in Abuja on Monday.

The protesters rallied at the Berger Bridge, Wuse blocking the road and chanting: ‘End police brutality now.’

This paralysed vehicular traffic in the area as impatient motorists made U-turn to avoid getting caught up in the resultant gridlock.

Commuters avoided the axis due to the protests.

It may sound outlandish that the visually impaired trains people in arts and crafts. That is the story of  58-year-old Madam Christiana Kehinde Akinrinmade, the proprietor of Chrisken Training Centres.  OMOLOLA AFOLABI reports

The strike embarked upon by doctors at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in 2012 is almost a decade old, but its effects on individuals and families are still up-to-the-minute. Some survived the ordeal to tell their stories.

One of such survivors is a 58-year-old visually-impaired Madam Christiana Kehinde Akinrinmade. She is the proprietor of Chrisken Training Centre; an arts and craft training centre, where she trains those who have no eye problems and the visually-impaired. She was not born with a disability. She lost her sight to glaucoma and to the strike action by doctors.

If the sight could be restored, Akinrinmade would have sacrificed all to get hers back. According to her, it was a very gruelling time for her as it was difficult to come to terms with her condition after spending some of her professional years as a top-notch practitioner in the banking sector.

Any wonder that she takes to fright any time she learns about an impending national strike, especially by doctors. Her mind would be in flux. She would begin to imagine the pains some patients would be subjected to, having had such nasty experience that led to her loss of sight.

Her visual impairment, according to her, began between 2010 and 2011. She said she was driving one day and her son drew her attention to the fact she was driving off the road. She added that but for God’s mercy, they would have been involved in a serious accident.

She thought the capacity of her eyeglass lenses was weak.  She drove to the hospital to see an ophthalmologist and she was diagnosed of glaucoma. Having lost her left eye, she was advised not to drive until correctional measures were taken.

“I was advised to go for eye surgery to save the right eye. I was booked for the surgery. Unfortunately, on getting to the hospital for the surgery on the appointed date, I discovered that the doctors were on strike,” she said.

Determined not to be weighed down by her current situation, she decided to make the best out of a seemingly useless situation. Then, an idea flashed through her mind. She thought of setting up a training centre that would enable youths to engage in wealth creation by converting wastes to wealth.

That was how Chrisken Training Centre, an arts and craft training centre was established.

She said she went into the business of waste recycling in a bid to reduce, re-use and recycle wastes which will help in cutting down the amount of waste we dispose of while maintaining a sustainable environment.

Akinrinmade also revealed that she started the training programme in order to enable the youth to maximise their time at home during the period of lockdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Seeing a lot of car tyres that people burn gets me upset. That was one of the reasons I began the art and craft centre to recycle these tyres into beautiful household tables,” she said.

In a chat with our correspondent during the graduation ceremony of the students of the arts and crafts school, three of whom are also visually impaired; Madam Akinrinmade said “the training began during the COVID-19 lockdown. It has lasted up to four months now. One of my students was able to make a huge profit from the proceeds of his sales.”

One thing is peculiarly spectacular about Madam Akinrinmade. She is visually impaired. Nevertheless, she trains those who are sighted and those who are visually impaired. She gives a vivid description of all that happens around her to people’s amazement.

For instance, welcoming this reporter when she visited the Chrisken Training Centre, she said in a heartwarming compliment. “You look very nice! Your hair is so well made. I like your dress!”

Taking the reporter round the centre to intimate her with the workings of the centre, Mrs. Akinrinmade, with a boisterous ambience that is somewhat contagious, said. “We are all sighted.”

One of her trainees, Cassandra Nwokporo, whose story was reported in The Nation in a special report, titled “Challenges Special Needs Children Face amid COVID-19”, expressed her surprise at how a visually impaired woman would be training her.

“I was wondering how she would be able to see what we were doing. But so far, it has been very interesting. It has been a successful journey,” she said gleefully.

Another visually impaired graduate, Uduak Effiong whose mother guided to the graduation ceremony mentioned how Akinrinmade always wishes that doctors do not go on strike again as the damage is too much to bear.

Examining the moral justification of doctors’ strike, Brecher in Researchgate suggested that “strike actions are only justifiable if it presents long-term benefits to the striking doctors and positive improvement to the health care industry. Yet this strike with a focus on personal and financial gains of doctors at the expense of treating patients seems difficult to justify on such grounds.”

Glaucoma, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) remains the second-largest cause of blindness after cataract. This global statistic is, however, more damning due to the peculiar nature of the public health sector in Nigeria.

The eye disease presents an even greater public health challenge than cataract because its resultant blindness is irreversible.

Experts in health matters have expressed the view that the government should show more commitment toward addressing the infrastructure deficits in the health sector, even as they maintain that the government should not wait till strikes are called for by members of staff of any critical segment of the economy.

It is their view that the welfare of doctors should be given priority attention since they constitute first responders in any emergency such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Bound by the duty of care, Nigeria’s healthcare givers on the COVID-19 frontlines are taking on enormous personal risks and too often working under precarious conditions in their bid to save others. This is turning the frontline foot soldiers into an endangered species, reports Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF

•Continued from Monday

Abdrafiu Adeniji, President of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), believes the frequent scarcity of medical consumables in hospitals and COVID-19 treatment facilities is more fundamental than they appear.

“We have the issue of treatment that cuts across federal health establishments and state health institutions. The situation we are having is that most of the people that are working in the health sector lack adequate infrastructure. Now the government is trying to grapple with the issue of PPE. But it is not only PPE that we need in the treatment of COVID-19 patients; we need monitors, equipment, etc., to detect the appropriateness of the PPE that we wear.

“Whereas in (more) advanced countries, machines will assess your application of the PPE. If there is any tendency for you to contract an infection, the machine will tell you whether you are 95 per cent compliance or more. It will also show you the areas where it is not properly applied. But you don’t even have anything to monitor because this is Nigeria where even the PPE we are wearing is just nylon. And there is also the issue of the quality of all these things that the PPEs are made of. The people that are working in the isolation centres are supposed to use grade one, which is supposed to prevent infection.

“The situation now is that we need the government to look into areas whereby people working in those areas will be motivated and will be taken care of in terms of the policy. As we are talking, no person has ever filled the insurance premium form as health insurance for the health workers. And there is no way an insurance scheme will be in place for the person that is being covered not to know – you have to sign the paper with the insurance brokers. All these things are not in place. Hazard and inducement allowance are not paid and insurance is not there,” he said.

Knocks galore for state and federal governments on welfare package

Across Nigeria’s 36 states, including FCT, health workers on the frontlines said there is no cause for them to smile as far as their welfare is concerned. They said both the federal and state governments have failed to honour promises, especially in the payment of allowances, which they said are either slashed arbitrarily at some point or always late in coming. Besides strike actions in states called by local chapters of professional unions that abound in the health sector in the last six months, NARD has instigated nationwide downing of tools in June and August during COVID-19 emergency.

According to Dr. Aliyu Sokomba, NARD President, health workers were compelled to abandon their duty post as a result of the government’s failure to honour agreements reached with resident doctors. He disclosed that at the heart of the issues that necessitated recent strike actions: non-payment of health workers’ hazard allowance, lack of life insurance for doctors, and the dearth of PPE in hospitals, among other reasons. “They have not made PPE available in various institutions across the country; we don’t have life insurance and our residency programme has not been funded since last year. We have the problem of life insurance procurement for our members.

“We have demanded in the past that the life insurance package, which is already in existence as a government policy, be implemented. Most of our members that have died, we want their next of kin to get their deaths in service benefit. We were told that insurance companies have been given needed funds to commence payment but not a single person has been paid,” Sokomba lamented before government eventually acceded to health workers’ demands on Wednesday 9th of September.

Immediately the striking health workers returned to work, the federal government, which said N30.5 billion was spent on COVID-19 in the first four months, disclosed that additional N8.9 billion had been approved to settle welfare issues raised by frontline workers. On September 11, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, who doubles as Chairman of PTF on Covid-19, said the additional N8.9 billion was meant for Covid-19 hazard allowances for all health workers in Nigeria. He added that the procurement of PPE for hospitals and isolation centres would also be prioritised moving forward. “I am pleased to announce that Mr. President has graciously approved additional N8.9bn for COVID-19 hazard allowance to all medical health workers. Besides, the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for hospitals and isolation centres will be given priority,” he said.

At the beginning of the fight against the pandemic, the federal government had promised a special COVID-19 hazard and inducement allowance of 50 per cent of Consolidated Basic Salary to health workers in the federal health institutions and designated Covid-19 centres. But professional associations in the healthcare industry said the government did not fulfil its promises. Before this, health workers received N5,000 as hazard pay across the board – though health unions said they are optimistic that a new allowance is being worked out.

Just like Nigeria, South Africa, despite being one of the worst-hit countries in the world, was recently rocked by protests by healthcare workers over poor working conditions and corruption in the procurement of PPE. On September 3, protesters gathered in Pretoria and Cape Town, charging that the lives of healthcare workers are endangered as a result of inadequate supplies of protective equipment like surgical masks. The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union threatened that its 200,000 public workers would go on strike if their issues were not addressed. They also demanded danger pay for workers on the frontlines.

It is even worse in Egypt where some 60,000 doctors are employed, with remunerations ranging between EGP 3,000 ($190) and 10,000 ($635) a month. Egyptian medical professionals said they were disappointed by a new pay rise ordered in March by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to support health workers battling the outbreak of Covid-19. A 75 per cent increase in monthly allowances for medical personnel was ratified as a gesture of appreciation, a move that would cost the government EGP 2.25 billion ($142m). The new salary increase ranges between EGP 700-1225 ($44-$78) for various medical professions, but doctors complained that the net raise would be equal to just $15-$25 after tax deductions.

This has culminated in a campaign of intimidation, harassment, and detention against medical professionals who have spoken out against the government’s inadequate response to the pandemic. As of August, Egypt’s National Security Agency has detained at least 10 health care workers for voicing concerns over insufficient personal protective equipment, a lack of testing and infection control measures, overcrowded hospitals, and other criticisms of the government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis. The Egyptian state has accused these health workers of “spreading false news,” “misusing social media,” and “membership in a terrorist group.”

But Ghana is busy setting the pace in how to fete essential service workers. While medics in Nigeria earn N5,000 ($12.95) as monthly hazard allowance, healthcare workers in Ghana are not only paid hazard allowances but have access to other motivation packages for being exposed to hazards that put them at risk. In a nationwide broadcast on 5 April, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo announced incentives for frontline health workers as well as for the general public. Incentives for the frontline health workers include exemption from the payment of tax on their employment emoluments for three months commencing from April 2020; daily allowance of GHS150 (approximately $26) payable to those undertaking contact tracing; additional allowance of 50 per cent of their basic salary per month for four months commencing from March; insurance package with an assured sum of GHS350,000 (approximately $60,345). To enable the populace to wash their hands frequently, the Ghanaian government also promised to absorb the water bill of every resident for three months commencing from April.

Frontline health workers as endangered species

As at 29th August, NARD, which contributes the bulk of doctors drafted into Covid-19 response team in the country, said 321 out of its 1,031 members have tested positive, 68 have recovered and 14 doctors have died. It was a similar sad story among laboratory experts. As at the same date, the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) said 150 out of its own 800 members engaged in fighting the spread of the virus have tested positive for Covid-19; while 28 have died.

Also, Nigerian pharmacists under the aegis of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria (AHAPN) announced in June that six of their 359 frontline workers had tested positive to Covid-19. The PSN President, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, said besides 359 pharmacists directly involved in the war against Covid-19 in hospitals and isolation centres, thousands of community pharmacists are out there being daily exposed to preclinical or asymptomatic patients who see pharmacies as their first port of call any time they need healthcare service.

Casualties on the frontlines are however not limited to Nigeria, as infection and fatality rates among healthcare givers deployed into COVID-19 war in more advanced countries also appear more disturbing. In South Africa, one of the worst-hit countries in the world with 671,000 cases and 16,398 deaths as of September 28, more than 27,000 health workers were reported to have tested positive in the line of duty. As of August 12, a staggering 240 health personnel have died due to COVID-19-related complications. Out of the total number of the infected medical personnel, 1,644 were doctors, 14,143 were nurses, while 28 were port health workers and 11, 545 belonged to other miscellaneous categories in the healthcare system.

In July, WHO said health workers account for 10 per cent of all infections in the world (representing 1.4 million cases out of 13.8 million total global infections then); while also warning of the threat Covid-19 poses to health workers across Africa after more than 10 000 health workers in the continent have been infected. “The growth we are seeing in COVID-19 cases in Africa is placing an ever-greater strain on health services across the continent. This has very real consequences for the individuals who work in them, and there is no more sobering example of this than the rising number of health worker infections,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

According to a shocking report issued on September 3 by Amnesty International (AI), a United Kingdom-based non-governmental organisation that focuses on human rights, more than 7,000 health workers have died globally after contracting Covid-19 – a direct consequence of failure to protect those on the frontlines in the fight against the raging pandemic. This humongous death toll represented “a crisis on a staggering scale” and renewed an urgent call for governments in all countries to provide healthcare professionals with the necessary equipment so they can continue their vital work, said Steve Cockburn, AI’s head of economic and social justice.

“For over seven thousand people to die while trying to save others is a crisis on a staggering scale. Every health worker has the right to be safe at work, and it is a scandal that so many are paying the ultimate price. Throughout the pandemic, governments have hailed health workers as heroes, but this rings hollow when so many workers are dying from a lack of basic protection,” said Cockburn.

‘We are very grateful for our health workers’ efforts and sacrifices’

Having presided over the federal institution that has played a leading role in prosecuting the war against Covid-19, NCDC Director-General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, was asked to provide information about how many health workers are on the frontlines in Nigeria, among other things. He said it is a difficult thing to do. His reason: it is impossible to quantify the actual number of health workers in the fight against Covid-19 in the country because the personnel are scattered across various facilities in 36 states and the FCT.

“It is difficult to quantify the number of health workers involved in Nigeria’s Covid-19 response, as we have personnel working across various capacities. There are health workers providing care to Covid-19 patients; there are others who are involved in the public health response such as risk communications, patient counselling, surveillance, outbreak investigation, sample collection and testing among other activities. Most of the human resources in Nigeria’s health sector have been involved in the response to Covid-19,” Ihekweazu said.

The NCDC boss was, however, forthcoming with the number of healthcare givers that have tested positive so far: Nigeria has so far recorded 2,282 infections among her health workers. “So far, we have recorded 2,282 infections among health workers. However, it is important to note that health workers are also part of our community. They travel home and interact with people in situations where the virus can be transmitted. While most infections may be from health care settings, some have been infected outside of health care settings.

“Notwithstanding, we continue to urge all health workers to practice standard care precautions. Health workers should maintain the required distance where possible and wear appropriate PPE while attending to any patient, irrespective of the condition of the patient. We will continue to provide adequate training, medical supplies and other resources needed by health workers to protect themselves when managing COVID-19 cases,” he said.

Ihekweazu was also full of praises for Nigeria’s health workers, saying their sacrifices would never be forgotten. “We are very grateful for the efforts and sacrifices by our health workers involved in the clinical management and public health response to Covid-19 in Nigeria. For most of us, our lives have changed since the first case was recorded in Nigeria in February. Health workers have to ensure laboratories are running 24-7 to meet the huge demand for testing, work long hours to ensure patients are well cared for and several other response activities. In most cases, we are at higher risk and have to take extra measures to protect ourselves while providing critical service to the country.”

But Prof Innocent Ujah, President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), said it is pointless to talk about how many doctors or other categories of health workers are affected by the virus. Because every life means so much that it cannot be quantified, Ujah stressed that it is presumptuous to say a certain number of doctors or other health workers have died. He believes that all Nigerian doctors – whether in the frontline or not – are affected by the global pandemic because they all tend to patients in hospitals, which may expose them to danger.

“We shouldn’t even be talking about the number of doctors affected. Every doctor in Nigeria is in the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic – even those in the administration like directors in the ministry also come in contact with patients when they go around. When we are talking about fatalities, we’re not talking about just numbers but we’re talking about human beings. Even one person that dies is very significant – whether a doctor or not, or even patient.

“So the issue of numbers in my opinion is not important. The mere fact that Nigerian doctors and other healthcare workers are dying in the process of protecting Nigerians is something that is unfortunate. It is presumptuous to say a certain number of doctors have died or health workers have died. This is because it is not just a number but a human being. Because if a person (say a doctor) dies, he has a wife, children, mother, brother; and those are the collaterals that come as a result of the death of one person. The whole family is devastated by the death of just one person,” Ujah said. His is a valid point, especially for any country that wants to show that the life of every citizen or resident matters – whether in peacetime or during an emergency.

• Concluded

This report was facilitated by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under its COVID-19 Reality Check project

Nigeria on Monday joined the rest of the world to mark World Teachers Day. Teachers used the occasion to seek the plugging of the hole in teacher-student ratio, write Kofoworola Belo-Osagie, Adekunle Jimoh, Ahmed Rufa’i, Bassey Anthony, James Azania, Rasaq Ibrahim, Gbenga Omokhunu and Toba Adedeji.

GOVERNORS on Monday said without teachers development would be a mirage. They spoke during activities to mark Teachers Day in their states. The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) called for better conditions of service in states and the recruitment of more teachers to fill gaps.

Kwara

In Kwara State, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq hailed teachers for their contributions to the human race.

“I salute our teachers on this day of the World Teachers’ Day. Our administration is convinced that the future of our society is closely tied to the quality and welfare of our teachers who are in charge of moulding our children and preparing them for the future. This explains the importance the administration attaches to the education sector, including ongoing efforts to secure brighter prospects for the teachers,” the governor said in a statement by his spokesman, Rafiu Ajakaye.

He added: “As our teachers join their contemporaries to commemorate the World Teachers’ Day, the administration urges them to reflect on the challenges that COVID-19 has brought to the global economy and the need for everyone to adapt to the new normal. This is particularly true in the education sector where virtual class is becoming increasingly important along with a need for every teacher to key into virtual teaching techniques.

“On our part, we will continue to cherish and honour our teachers while working hard to improve their welfare and working environment within available resources.”

Oyo

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde commended teachers for their dedication and support to his administration.

A statement by Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology Olasunkanmi Olaleye saluted Oyo teachers for being partners in the drive to promote qualitative education in the State.

He urged them not to relent in working towards returning Oyo State to its rightful position in academic excellence among other States in Nigeria.

“We felicitate with teachers in Oyo State as they join others in the world to mark this year’s World Teachers’ Day, they have proved beyond doubt that they are partners in progress with the support given the present administration to take our State back to its rightful place in academic excellence among others in Nigeria.

“They have supported this government in its drive to make education available to all and bring back the out-of-school children to class with our free and qualitative education to our pupils in public primary and secondary schools across the State.

“They have shown their gallantry in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic as they gave the required support to combat and contain the dreaded disease from spreading to our schools, we urge them not to relent in these efforts so that we can achieve the standard of education that we crave to bequeath to the coming generation,” he appealed.

The Executive Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Nureni Adeniran, said the government would not rest on its oars to provide incentives to teachers, especially in the rural areas to encourage young talents to join the teaching profession.

“Teachers are one of the most influential forces for equity, access and quality in education. Engr. Seyi Makinde’s administration places much emphasis on human capital development.

“We will give more attention to training and re-training of teachers to enhance their capacities for effective service delivery,” he said.

Jigawa

In Jigawa, the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) rejected Governor Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar’s plan to establish N-Teach in the state

The NUT chairman, Comrade Abdulkadir Yunusa Jigawa, spoke with reporters in his office as part of the World Teachers Day celebration.

He said: “There are about 700 primary schools that have limited teachers despite enough enrolment of pupils in the school. School enrolment has seriously improved in the state as a result of the Federal Government’s school feeding programme.”

He called on the state government to massively recruit permanent and pensionable teachers who would be committed.

Akwa Ibom

The NUT in Akwa Ibom lamented the rapidly dwindling number of teachers in classrooms in the state.

Its chairman, Comrade Etim Ukpong, appealed to the state government to employ more qualified teachers to fill the void in the state.

“We have also witnessed during the year; the dearth of attention on retired and families of teachers who died in active service, delays in payment of monthly pensions to veterans of the teaching profession, lack of gratuity, thereby increasing the fears in the hearts of serving teachers,” he said.

The NUT boss also raised concerns on over-bloated sources of inspection, monitoring and supervision by agents of the government, with attendant unfriendliness and fault -findings “on the few, overloaded teachers left in the system, thereby creating confusion”.

The teachers also reminded the government on the pending issues of 7.5percent contributory pension refunds, arrears and present Leave Grants and the need for Teachers in the state to be made to feel a sense of belonging, to boost their morale to serve the state better.

The Head of Civil Service, Elder Effiong Essien, applauded the teachers in the state for their sacrifices to build generations of sound future leaders.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Head of Service, Mrs Ekaette Ekanem, Essien noted the demands of the teachers and pledged to take prompt steps to address them.

Lagos

In Lagos, the NUT called on the Lagos State government to employ more teachers to fill the vacuum created by retired teachers in public schools.

The state Union Chairman, Mr Adedoyin Adesina, said the union recommended that the state government should employ new teachers-on-subjects basis.

He acknowledged that the government had employed some teachers in both the secondary and primary schools earlier this year but “the number is still short of expectation’’.

“Many teachers have retired this year and the vacuum has to be filled in the various subjects,’’ he said.

Adesina also spoke on the need for additional classrooms to space students and prevent the over-crowded situation.

“This is the ideal, to implement the UNESCO’s standard of one teacher to 25 learners in a classroom. Low-cost buildings can be built as an emergency across the state,’’ he said.

The union leader remarked that teachers were the central figures and players in educational development.

“UNESCO recommends 26 per cent budget provision for education but no federal, state or local government has ever met this recommendation. The resultant effect is the poor standard in education.

“Therefore, we have to re-image and re-invent this situation,’’ he said.

Adesina commended Governor Babjide Sanwo-Olu on the proactive and pragmatic measures put in place to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“Our visionary and the highly ingenious governor had long before the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic introduced digital training and learning into our primary school education.

“We gave our utmost support for that innovative idea by encouraging our teachers, who successfully drive such the idealistic and imaginative concept.

Delta

Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa commended Nigerian teachers for their role in nation-building.

The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, in Asaba, described teachers as the bedrock of the nation’s development.

According to him, no other profession can metamorphose without the input of teachers.

He commended teachers in Delta for their commitment to teaching and learning in all public and private schools in the state.

The governor said his administration placed a high premium on the welfare of teachers and other workers in the public service.

Okowa said the state government had continued to ensure that the salaries of teachers were paid regularly as and when due.

He said as a government, Delta was committed to improving the environment for teaching and learning, which had resulted in the construction and rehabilitation of school buildings and the provision of furniture for teachers and students.

“It gives me great pleasure to celebrate with teachers in Nigeria and particularly in Delta as they join their counterparts all over the world to mark World Teachers’ Day 2020.

“I thank teachers in Delta for their contributions to nation-building and the intellectual development of our children.

“As an administration, we place a very high premium on the welfare of teachers and other workers in the state hence the regular payment of their salaries as and when due.

“We have also ensured that we improved on the teaching and learning environment for our teachers and students through the provision and necessary infrastructure and materials.

“For these efforts, we have made in rejuvenating our public schools, our people now have confidence in patronising public schools in Delta.

“As you celebrate this day, I congratulate you all our dear teachers and look forward to a more rewarding engagement between the government and teachers in Delta,” Okowa said.

Kogi

The NUT in Kogi State rued the condition in which members have found themselves in the state.

Speaking in Lokoja, the capital, on the occasion, NUT Chairman Ayodele Thomas said: “It is not well with teachers in the state.”

He said the sad lot of the teachers has continued to adversely affect not only the teaching profession but also those being impacted on.

He lamented that the regime of percentage salary to teachers in the state has affected the teaching profession negatively.

He called on the state government to commence the payment of their full salaries forthwith and save teachers from the harrowing experience they daily endure.

“The non-cash backing of promotions and non-payment of other allowances that would have motivated the teachers in the state has contributed to the low performance, and not even giving their best in the discharge of their duties,” he said.

He called on the Head of Service (HoS), Kogi State for the release of the names of teachers yet to be “cleared” during the workers’ screening, explaining that if such were done, it would help boost manpower in the teaching profession.

Ekiti

Ekiti State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi described teachers as major stakeholders in the drive towards nation building, adding that government policies in the education sector cannot succeed without the unflinching support and cooperation of teachers.

Dr Fayemi urged teachers to brace up for the tasks of rebuilding the school system which had been under lockdown in the last six months.

The Chairman of the NUT, Mr Samuel Olugbesan and Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), Mr Sola Adigun, in separate presentations, commended the governor for his giant strides in the education sector.

They cited introduction of free and compulsory education; renovation of schools; appointment of three tutors general among the secondary school principals; establishment of four new secondary schools to address the challenge of overcrowding in some schools and implementation of 2015 promotion with financial benefits, car and housing loans for secondary school teachers as part of the goodies the teachers had received from the government.

Fayemi enjoined teachers to maintain the hard work for which they were known to improve on the remarkable performance of students in their external examinations and other related academic activities as they are gradually returning to school.

He applauded the steadfastness and dedication of the entire teachers in the State, both in the public and private schools many of whom could not attend the ceremony which was held in line with Covid-19 safety protocols that disallow large gatherings.

“We are not unmindful of the importance of quality education to manage the socio-political and economic challenges being encountered by society. A good and dutiful teacher is not just a person who teaches academic lessons, rather, he is the one who mentors and helps the learner in each sphere of his life,” Fayemi said.

Abuja

Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Malam Muhammad Bello said Nigeria cannot afford to ignore education.

Bello hailed teachers in the FCT.

According to a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Anthony Ogunleye, the minister said: “Education is the bedrock of society and no nation desirous of progress and development can afford to ignore the education sector.

“We remain committed to the development of education in all its ramifications in the FCT and we will continue to commit time and resources to ensure that the sector meets up with the expectations of residents of the FCT.”

Osun

The Osun State government applauded teachers’ sense of commitment and dedication to duty.

In a statement by Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation Mrs. Funke Egbemode, the government acknowledged the critical roles played by teachers in the state and praised them for joining in the onerous task to raise responsible and knowledgeable citizenry for the future of the State.

Mrs. Egbemode, who noted that teaching was a noble profession, lauded teachers in Osun for their patriotism, sacrifice and commitment to human capital development.

She also appreciated the teachers for identifying with the administration of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and for their understanding and patience, especially during this challenging period occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The statement read: “The government of Osun felicitates with teachers in the State on the occasion of the 2020 World Teachers Day. We wish to use this opportunity to applaud the sense of commitment and dedication to duty by teachers in our State. No doubt, teachers play critical roles in society and we are glad in Osun that we are blessed with worthy and dependable educators.

“Teaching is indeed a noble profession, as teachers contribute to preparing and shaping the future through imparting knowledge and morals in the children. We commend teachers in Osun for their patriotism, sacrifice and commitment to human capital development. Such commitment has earned Osun State laurels won by students from public schools at both regional and national levels.

“We also appreciate teachers for identifying with the administration of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and for their understanding and patience, especially during this challenging period occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic.

“The administration of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola will continue to prioritise the welfare and professional development of teachers and other workers in the State. We will always support teachers to further impact on students those values that will transform the future of our State positively and build capacities relevant to the needs of the state to reduce the level of unemployment.

“We urge our teachers to remain dedicated to their duties and avoid conduct that can cause disrepute to the teaching profession.”

Ogun

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun announced the donation of a two-bedroom bungalow to Mr Odegbola Ayodele, a Junior Secondary School (JSS) teacher in Abeokuta Grammar School.

The house, located at the state-owned Princes Court, Abeokuta, was given to Ayodele for emerging as the overall best teacher in the state.

Abiodun announced this while addressing executive members of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Academic Staff Union Secondary Schools (ASUSS) and the All-Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), in Abeokuta.

Aside from Ayodele, Mr Adewale Abayomi from Odua Comprehensive High School, Imoru, Ijebu-Ode, who was the best teacher in the senior secondary school category, was given the sum of N2.5 million by the governor.

Abiodun also gave Mrs Mary Adeyemi from St. Paul’s School II, Sagamu, who emerged as the best primary school teacher, the sum of N2 million.

He said the government had instituted a yearly best teachers’ awards scheme in different categories to appreciate outstanding teachers in the state and those who had distinguished themselves in the course of carrying out their duties.

“We will continue to celebrate innovation. We will encourage consistency. Our administration will continue to make the welfare of our teachers our priority. Our teachers’ reward will not be in heaven, but here on earth,” he said.

Bound by the duty of care, Nigeria’s healthcare givers on the COVID-19 frontlines are taking on enormous personal risks and too often working under precarious conditions in their bid to save others. This is turning the frontline foot soldiers into an endangered species, reports Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF

In Lagos, Nigeria’s epicentre of Coronavirus infections, the announcement was music to the ears of over 20 million residents. That was Saturday, August 29, when an elated Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu declared that “Lagos has started flattening the COVID-19 curve.” After six months of a grinding lockdown imposed to halt the community transmission of the virus that crept into Nigeria on February 27, the announcement delighted Lagosians to no end, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief.

In the worst-case projections announced during a news briefing on Friday, May 8, the Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, said Lagos was expected to reach between 90,000 and 120,000 cases of Covid-19 by July or August. It was a prediction that never came to pass, but it indeed sent a wave of fear into residents. At the time, total infections in the state had just hit 1,854 out of the total 4,399 cases confirmed by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) then. Now, confirmed cases in Lagos have just reached 19,215 by September 26, forcing the state government to close down one of its isolation centres due to under-utilisation.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, who has drawn plaudits from far and wide for providing leadership in the heat of the global pandemic crisis, has since authorised the phased resumption of economic and social activities in the state. Other states have also re-opened their states so that the process of rebuilding the economy could begin in full drive. After all, despite the much-hyped predictions that Covid-19 crisis would usher in the Apocalypse, Nigeria has only recorded 58, 324 cases, with 49,794 recoveries and 1,108 fatalities as of September 27 – a score sheet many local and international public health experts have described as not too bad for a country burdened with one of the most shambolic healthcare systems.

Heroes turned villains on Covid-19 frontlines

Contrary to dire predictions that COVID-19 could lead to dead bodies lining the streets of Africa, there have been fewer cases/deaths in the continent than other parts of the world – though there is a low level of testing across Africa compared to the rest of the world. In Nigeria, one of the gallant troops that made the relative success possible is Kazeem Amusan, 36, a nurse. He was among the first set of over 1000 health workers hurriedly drafted into the frontline of COVID-19 intervention team in Lagos, after a short training in how best to manage infectious diseases. The father of one, who resides in Magboro area of Ogun State, spent over 3 months delivering care at the 100-bed capacity Onikan isolation centre, which has now been closed down as a result of a drop in patients.

Amusan, who has since returned to his normal duty post in one of the public health facilities in Lagos, said he volunteered for COVID-19 response because of the “special pay we were promised.” Like many volunteers working in different areas of COVID-19 response across Nigeria’s 36 states, he was initially shunned by relatives and friends who feared he could pass on the infection to them. Throughout his three and a half months he spent on the frontline, he said “I did not come home” to see his child and pregnant wife.

The nurse was one of the health workers housed in a hotel in Ikeja, with free meals and free transport to and fro work. “I could not come home to see my family throughout the time we were being asked to stay in a hotel in Ikeja. This left me with the only option of communicating on phone with my family. I have to move my family to my uncle’s house nearby so that they would not miss me too much,” he said.

Matters, however, got to a head when Amusan sneaked out of his hotel room one day to see his family. On reaching Magboro, his uncle bluntly prevented him from moving near his family, forcing him to stay outside to exchange pleasantries with his kith and kin. This moved him to tears. “That day, my pregnant wife did not find it palatable at all. Everybody asked me to call it quits. Please come home; tell them you are no longer interested. I almost broke down. I was in tears, but I had to go back to my duty,” he said.

If Amusan ‘escaped’ without being infected, his other colleagues at Gbagada General Hospital (GGH) were not that lucky. At the hospital, which houses at least 15 health workers reportedly contracted the virus while attending to regular patients – doctors, nurses and a pharmacist. They all survived, with one of them who just got married last week, openly expressing his worst fears at the time that he might succumb to the illness a few weeks to his wedding. However, one case that attracted everyone’s attention in the hospital was the pathetic instance of a lady doctor, her nanny and kid, who all fell ill at the same time.

According to a nurse who works in GGH, the doctor was the first to come down with the viral infection before her child and nanny also tested positive – all having to spend time on admission beds till they recovered from their illness. In Lagos, no fewer than 400 health workers were reported to have contracted the infection, a crisis that compelled the state government to announce in May that it had dedicated the 118-bed isolation facility in Gbagada to the management of health workers who fell ill in the line of duty.

Just two months after joining the frontlines as a volunteer at a COVID-19 treatment facility in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Hauwa Ibrahim, also a nurse, was enveloped with panic – unsure whether she would see her family again. Because the 29-year-old nurse was worried she might put her family at risk of catching the virus, she opted to stay at the isolation centre, working up to 12 hours a day when it gets busy. Ms Ibrahim, who opted to volunteer fulltime when Asokoro hospital in Abuja was turned into a Covid-19 treatment centre, said few were willing to be on the frontlines of the pandemic response. “Sometimes one has to inconvenience themselves to make things right. I am happy with what I am doing. I have no regrets. I haven’t seen any of my family members for the past two months. But that’s the price you pay for trying to make a difference,” Ibrahim said in June.

Many health workers lending a hand to the country’s battle against the pandemic have forgone time with family – a huge sacrifice. According to Dr. Ola Nene Okike, who heads the volunteer team at Karu General Hospital in the outskirts of Abuja, caring for COVID-19 patients “involves such sacrifice that one has to voluntarily and consciously decide on his own without persuasion.”

Apart from sacrificing for fellow human beings in time of need, many healthcare volunteers see their service as a way to give back to their society. One of them is Dr. Cyril Chukwuemeka Ekwebelam, who supervises the team volunteering to care for COVID-19 patients at Asokoro hospital. He also ensures compliance with infection prevention and control measures to keep health workers and patients safe. Like his many colleagues, he has not been home for weeks.

“Sometimes my wife drives to the isolation centre and parks by the gate. I peep through the window and have a glance at her and the kids. That’s the closest we can see each other. I have always believed in giving back and I see this as an avenue to do so,” the father of two said.

Another frontline nurse, Julius Emasalome, said he has not seen his wife and months-old baby since May when he left home to join a team of health workers at an isolation centre in Abuja. To avoid stigma, he did not let his family know about the nature of the job; afraid of the fear the public attaches to the virus. Unfortunately for him, weeks after regular contact with COVID-19 patients, he too was infected. He spent almost two weeks at the isolation centre before he recovered.

“My case was very critical in the sense that I presented with almost all the symptoms except that I didn’t lose my sense of smell. I had fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing, diarrhoea. I had a loss of appetite; I could not eat for close to two weeks. By the time I was discharged, and I checked my weight, I had shed over 15 kilograms,” Emasalome said.

Like Emasalome, a COVID-19 frontline volunteer currently working in DSL 2 laboratory in Rivers State, also had a close shave with death. Speaking under anonymity condition, he was infected on the line of duty – only for him to also transmit the virus to his wife. Luckily for him, he and his wife survived the infection, though some of his colleagues lost the battle.

“First of all, I am a COVID-19 survivor. The virus attacked me and I recovered from it; my wife was also infected. I also know of at least six of my colleagues that came down with the ailment. Theirs were so serious that they had to move into isolation centres. But my wife and I were lucky; because I have already known the treatment protocol; so when I saw the signs, I quickly placed myself on the treatment. Later, my wife caught it through me; she is not a medical officer, so I have to place her on the medication also. And by the grace of God, we survived it. Then some medical officers I knew in the state were, however, not as lucky as we were; they died of the disease,” he said.

Dr. Collins Elumelu, who works in the emergency department, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, enjoys pouring out his love to his patients. Suddenly, he started to feel ill but failed to realise he was infected.

He told Devex, US-based publication: “It took me a while before suspecting it was COVID-19 because, normally, I don’t fall sick. Until the body pains now increased and it became severe, the headache became very bad, even to get up from bed became a problem. I couldn’t eat again. I lost my appetite. My taste disappeared.”

When it got more critical, Elumelu became a patient in the same emergency unit where he works, receiving drugs to treat his symptoms. Before he left the ward for isolation, a number of his colleagues had also tested positive. “While I’m not sure of how I got it, I’m so sure that those that came in contact with me, all of them tested positive. For my group members, out of six of them, four became positive,” he said.

Inside the dreaded walls of isolation centres

While sharing his experience, Amusan disclosed that behind the glossy façades of isolation facilities, many of which were hurriedly constructed to accommodate the COVID-19 exigency, are minds perpetually riding the wave of fear. According to him, as caregivers battle to save lives, fear of the unknown is real in the wards – fears over perpetual feelings of being inadequate in the face of a novel virus that is tormenting the world.

“Initially, everybody was afraid. We were under the fear that the tragedy befalling our colleagues in China, the United States and other countries could happen here. We feared then that similar level of fatality being reported abroad would happen here. But we were lucky. Ninety-five to ninety-six per cent of cases that presented in our isolation centres were normal-mild levels, which was responsible for the low fatalities recorded in the country compared to other countries,” Amusan said.

Also narrating his experience, a medical doctor still engaged in COVID-19 duties in Lagos corroborated Amusan, saying panic in Nigeria’s isolation wards is as contagious as the virus itself. The medic, who simply identified himself as Dr. Oguns, works in one of the state’s general hospitals. He said the fact that news now travels at the speed of light means that frontline workers are constantly abreast of happenings in COVID-19 frontlines in other climes with better healthcare infrastructure, especially in more advanced countries with massive infections and death casualties among healthcare givers.

“The news from abroad always sends jitters down our spine. Are we going to be dying like our colleagues abroad? What will happen to our families? These are some of the questions that occupy our minds. Don’t forget we mistrust the political leadership to deliver on promises they made to us. Remember, we did not sign any agreement form when we started. We just rely on what government officials said. You know it is dangerous and risky to believe in what the government says in this country. All this also contributes to why we are always in the panic mode while managing patients in isolation centres,” Oguns said.

All Covid-19 workers who spoke with The Nation said Lagos provides free meals for over 1,000 health workers in all its isolation centres: Onikan Stadium Center, Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Idi-Araba, Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Landmark Centre, Lekki Center, Agidingbi Center, and First Cardiology (for critical care) – all with a combined 547-bed space. In addition to free meals, there is free accommodation for all medical volunteers in hotels scattered around the state, with dedicated buses conveying Covid-19 workers to and fro their places of assignment.

This, however, does not seem to assuage the psychological pain many healthcare volunteers contend with. Among the sacrifices of COVID-19 workers is they have to embrace unpredictable work schedules to work for longer hours, sometimes, in overstretched facilities to defeat a virus that is not fully understood. Time to treat a COVID-19 patient is not the best of time, Amusan said. Unlike soldiers who wage war against an enemy they know or probably see, he said what exerts enormous pressure on caregivers is fighting an invisible adversary through treatment protocols that make close interaction with patients difficult without wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). This, he said, is a huge sacrifice because PPE reduces access to “normal oxygen” by creating a barrier that somehow tampers with the natural process of “breathing in and out” from the usual atmospheric oxygen.

“We must put on PPE. We call it SP02. I can tell you that the minutes or hours spent under PPE are always not a good experience because we have to cover almost all our body. The nose mask is also not the normal surgical face mask. We call it N97. Breathing becomes difficult because it has been tampered with. It feels like something is sharing oxygen with you. If care is not taken, you can collapse anytime. That is why one person is not allowed to go alone into the isolation facility to treat a patient; it must be in the company of other medical practitioners – at least three or more. In case one falls, others will be able to attend to him or her,” he said.

Paucity of consumables ‘doing us in’

As of April, Nigeria was yet to come to terms with the enormity of the crisis in its hands in terms of best to curb the rising infections. However, it was already tales of woes among healthcare givers. At the time, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said more than 40 among 5,000 health workers on the frontlines had tested positive. He disclosed at the time during one of the daily briefings of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, in Abuja. He also reeled out precautionary advice to all health workers, asking them to be watchful when treating any patient. “This warning has become necessary due to the number of health workers who have tested positive for COVID-19. They are over 40 now. Apart from the over 40 health workers, others have been quarantined in the last two weeks due to exposure and have not been able to contribute to efforts of the health sector,” he said.

While applauding the frontline health workers, Ehanire promised that government would continue to provide them with PPE and other things they need to discharge their duties. “Frontline health workers must undertake refresher courses on infection prevention and control at intervals… Remain vigilant in the line of duty and maintain a high index of suspicion for COVID-19,” he cautioned.

Sadly, doctors, pharmacists, psychiatrists, nurses, and other health personnel working extra time to help curb the spread of the raging virus have incessantly complained about the paucity of PPE in the hospitals and isolation wards. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), PPE items needed in healthcare and home settings during the global pandemic consists of garments placed to protect the health care workers or any other persons from getting infected, including face protection, goggles, mask or face shield, gloves, gown or coverall, head cover, and rubber boots. The global health body also acknowledged disruptions to the global supply chains of PPE, thus recommending rational use in the context of severe shortages.

But Dr. Julian Ojebo, vice president of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), who works as a critical care physician at Irrua Specialist Hospital (ISH) in Edo State, insisted that many federal and state health facilities expose workers to dangers by not having enough PPE to use. He was part of COVID-19 team in ISH, a facility regarded as the home of excellence for the treatment of Lassa fever and other infectious diseases in the country.

He explained that, because the nature of treatment protocols for COVID-19 patients makes it mandatory that PPE is discarded immediately after use, hospitals always quickly go out of stock – with supplies always not meeting up with the pace of need. “The things that are majorly our problems are that most of our federal and state health institutions do not have a lot of PPE. These are consumables. So if you provide them today, they are going to be used up such that you cannot say that you do a one-time provision and then it lasts forever.

“The rate at which we use our PPEs cannot be said to be in an arithmetic progression; it is geometric because it depends on the influx of the patients per time. Hospitals per day, in the emergency room (ER), you can have up to 40 patients for those that are very small. For those that are very big, you can have up to 100 patients per day in the ER because they come in from both medical to surgical to gynaecological to paediatrics etc. So there are different cadres of patients.

“So if you provide 5,000 PPE to say Irrua Specialist Hospital, just for the emergency room alone, they use over a hundred of it per day. For example, in our hospital, we have the Covid-19 ward and the Lassa fever ward. During the time of Lassa fever rise, you can have as many as 70 patients in your ward because they are coming from all over the country to our hospital. So each time you enter to attend to a patient and come out, you change your PPE. Therefore, for one patient you can use up to three PPE for one day. These are the issues that abound when it comes to the use of personal protective equipment. According to the presentation of each patient, the PPEs are not sufficient,” Ojebo said.

• This report was facilitated by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under its COVID-19 Reality Check project

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has been without a board or substantive head since April 2017. But President Muhammadu Buhari’s quest to get the Senate to confirm the acting Director-General (DG) has brought back old matters, forcing the upper chamber’s leadership to seek its committee’s advice, writes ROBERT EGBE.

THE problem took root in April 2017 when President Muhammadu Buhari ended Chinelo Anohu-Amazu’s tenure as the Director-General (DG) of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

Anohu-Amazu, a pioneer member of the London Stock Exchange Africa Advisory group, was removed along with 22 other heads of federal agencies.

She was appointed in 2014 by the then President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan. Anohu-Amazu had served in the committee that birthed the agency and is seen by some observers as sound in pension matters.

According to the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014, the commission’s DG is entitled to a five-year tenure of office subject to renewal for another term.

But Anohu-Amazu, from the Southeast, had only gone half-way into her service when President Buhari exercised his prerogative and terminated her appointment.

The President nominated Mrs Aisha Dahiru-Umar from the Northwest to act as DG. But the agency has been without a board or substantive head since April 2017.

Dahiru-Umar has now been presented for confirmation as substantive DG after completing Anohu-Amazu’s tenure.

But some observers have argued that the development contravenes the PRA 2014. They insisted that a nominee from the Southeast should have been appointed to complete Anohu-Amazu’s term.

But government sources countered that position by arguing that replacing a “PenCom DG removed from office from the same region as the former occupant of the position only applies to occasional vacancies and not when the whole Board is dissolved by the President as was done in 2017.”

Therefore, “the President reserves the right to reconstitute the Board from competent people across the country.”

If confirmed, Mrs. Dahiru-Umar would set the record of being DG for about eight years and if her tenure is renewed, she would have been DG for about 13 years.

Geo-political debates

Shortly after Anohu-Amazu was removed, Buhari presented Aliyu Abdurahman Dikko to the Senate for confirmation as PenCom DG along with five others as chairman and executive commissioners.

But this was opposed by many senators on the ground that Dikko’s choice was “an absolute breach” of 21 (1) of the PRA 2014, which states that: “In the event of a vacancy (for the chairman, DG or other members of the board), the President shall appoint a replacement from the geo-political zone of the immediate past member that vacated office to complete the remaining tenure.”

The senators contended that because of this provision, a replacement for the Anambra State-born Anohu-Amazu should have been nominated from the Southeast, not from the Northwest. Making no headway, the president was forced to withdraw Dikko. But he retained Dahiru-Umar as acting DG.

The board’s tenure has now lapsed and the president seems convinced that Dahiru-Umar should get the substantive job.

When, last Wednesday, Senate President Ahmed Lawan read the president’s letter on the floor of the upper chamber, it again met opposition.

Senate Minority Leader Enyinnaya Abaribe kicked against the nomination, saying it was in breach of the PenCom Act.

Abaribe reiterated that the Commission’s Act 2014 stipulates that “in the event of a vacancy, the president shall appoint a replacement from the geo-political zone of the immediate past member that vacated office to complete the remaining tenure.

“I recall that the tenure of the incumbent was truncated, therefore, the new letter from the president that has now moved the chairman of the Commission to another zone may not be correct because it is against the law setting up the National Pension Commission.

“Before you send it to the appropriate committee tomorrow, I wish to draw the attention of the committee to it.”

‘President’s action backed by law’

But a senior official in the pension industry, who spoke with The Nation, shed a different light on the matter.

The official said Buhari’s nomination was backed by the PRA.

The source said: “The nomination is in furtherance to Section 20(1) and Section 21 (1) and (2) of the Act, Section 106(4) of the PRA 2014 provides that notwithstanding section 19(2)(a) and 26(2)&(4) of the Act, where a Board of the Commission is yet to be reconstituted after six months of the dissolution of the last board, the President of Nigeria may appoint fit and proper persons with pension cognate experience to constitute the board at the first instance, subject to confirmation by the Senate.

“Also, Section 171 of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) vests in Mr President the power to appoint persons to hold or act in certain offices and to remove such persons. These offices include heads of all Federal Government extra-ministerial departments, howsoever designated.

“However, it will appear from the context that the subsection contemplates the cessation of membership of the board through any of the scenarios listed in Section 21(1)(a) -(h) of the PRA 2014, which include resignation, death, bankruptcy, conviction of a felony, removal by the President, among others.

“The argument, therefore, is that Mrs Amazu’s replacement as DG of PenCom must come from the Southeast zone to complete her remaining term.”

The source contended that contrary to this submission, a careful review of the relevant provisions of the PRA 2014 would lead to the following conclusions:

“A reading of both subsections (1) & (2) of Section 21 of the PRA 2014 indicates that they consistently use singular phrases such as ‘a member’; ‘a vacancy’; ‘a replacement’; ‘immediate past member that vacated office’ etc. Accordingly, it is submitted that the correct interpretation of Section 21(2) of the PRA 2014 is to hold that it addresses only cases of occasional vacancies created by the exit of individual members of the board of PenCom as enumerated in subsection (1) of the same section, rather than where the whole board is dissolved or all executive management are removed by Mr President. Section 21(2) of the PRA 2014 seeks to ensure compliance with the provision of Section 19(4) of the Act, which requires that at all times, the Chairman, Director General and four Commissioners of PenCom shall each represent each of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

“There had been a precedent which illustrates the application of a similar provision under the defunct PRA 2004. Thus, in 2006 when the then President Obasanjo removed only the Chairman of PenCom, Mr. Fola Adeola, who was from the Southwest, his replacement came from the Southwest when late Chief Wole Adeosun was appointed to complete the term started by Mr Fola Adeola. The provision of Section 21(2) of the PRA 2014 applies not only to the office of the Director General but also the Chairman and other four Commissioners of PenCom where the respective individuals vacate office leaving others in office.”

Nevertheless and “Without prejudice to the foregoing submissions,” the source drew attention to the “overarching provision of Section 171(2) of the 1999 Constitution…which gives theP unfettered powers to appoint or remove head of any Federal Government the extra-ministerial department, howsoever called.

“This includes appointments to the office of the Director General of PenCom. This constitutional power cannot be eroded by any Act of parliament in the light of the provision ofection. 1(3) of the Constitution which provides that ‘if any other law is inconsistent with the provision of this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall to the extent of the inconsistency be void.’

Lawan has sent the request to the relevant committee. “That is (the Act) for me to interpret because I interpret the laws here. If there is any petition to that effect, it should be sent to the committee,” he said .

The House of Reps angle

In late 2018, a motion by Hon. Benjamin Wayo (APC, Benue), on the floor of the House of Representatives, alleged that “The Acting Director-General, Mrs Dahir-Umar has unilaterally, without a backing of the law, increased her terminal benefits and those of other Senior Staff of the Commission by an outrageous 300 percent… and jacked up the number of PenCom General Managers from 10 to 17.”

The House set up the Ad Hoc Committee to investigate PenCom with Hon. Johnson Agbonayinma (APC, Edo) as Chairman. A motion urging the House to end the probe did not fly.

The committee, whose chairman eventually resigned in controversial circumstances, directed PenCom to submit documents concerning appointments, handover notes, staff composition, and financial records of all bank accounts operated by PenCom by January 7, 2019.

PenCom, in its January 3, 2019 reply, requested a later date in January on the excuse that “the relevant staff responsible for generating and collating the requisite information have been on their respective leaves”.

The Committee obliged and extended the date till January 14, 2019. There were several back and forth letters after this, but nothing concrete was achieved.

“The Ad-Hoc Committee observes with dismay your claims of not understanding the content of its communication, which is seen to be simple and unambiguous, requiring no further interpretation.

“In this regards, the Ad-hoc Committee and the entire House of Representatives will like to view your stand on this matter as being economical with the truth”, said the panel in a January 24, 2019 letter to PenCom. It further extended submission deadline of all required documents till February 4, 2019.

The N33b question

The probe took a funny turn when the daughter of the panel Chairman was sacked from PenCom on allegations of securing employment with fake certificates. The commission thereafter said it had lost confidence in Agbonayima’s leadership of the panel.

Speaking on a Raypower Radio programme, Agbonayinma said: “It is unfortunate that when you fight corruption, corruption fights back at you. When we started this investigation, from the first day, people have been trying to stop this investigation. I don’t know why. And, even a motion was moved at the floor of the House to rescind the resolution already passed to investigate PENCOM.

“I must say that I am very disappointed at one of our colleagues, who is now working in the interest of PenCom. He brought this same Acting DG to my office. I told her, madam, I am not witch-hunting you. Submit what we are requesting for. As a matter of fact, we have written several letters to PENCOM, for them to submit documents relating to our investigation.

“The problem is that they (PenCom) gave an instruction to withdraw N33 billion from Central Bank. So, it is for them to tell us where the money is. Was the money disbursed to PFAs or the Custodians? Tell us how this money was authorised, how it was expended.

“We started this probe back in December. My daughter was sacked in February (2019), that is, after we had started the investigation; so, if they are saying it is because of my interest that I am investigating them, it should be the other way round because in the course of my investigating them, I don’t know what happened to my daughter. My daughter never told me anything.

“But, as a matter of fact, my daughter is an adult, married, over 30 years of age. So, she should be responsible for her actions. I won’t condone that.

“Whether I step down or not, the investigation will still go on. They must tell us what happened to the N33billion of pensioner’s money. Nigerians deserve to know.”

In the beginning

Pension administration in Nigeria before PenCom degenerated into a cesspool of corruption. Unpaid arrears were staggering. The Olusegun Obasanjo administration sought an end to the malaise, which led to the Pension Reform Act (2004). It introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), with PenCom as the regulatory body.

Obasanjo chose Muhammad Ahmad as pioneer DG of the commission. The reform was also sustained beyond Obasanjo with a major review in 2014.

During the 10th anniversary of PenCom, Obasanjo said: “None of us could imagine that within a space of 10 years the fund would have built up to $27 billion of cool money, not hot money. And we also heard that in the last 10 years, there has not been a single case of fraud.”

When Ahmad was leaving in 2014, Jonathan asked him to hand over to Anohu-Amazu amid concerns that she ought to have retired having spent 10 years as pioneer secretary/legal adviser. But the Jonathan administration amended the law reducing the required years of experience for the DG in a way many felt was to favour Anohu-Amazu.

As acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo pushed the nomination of Funso Doherty from the Southwest but this was defeated.

Waiting for the Senate

All eyes are now on the Senate, whose committee is looking into the controversy over the president’s choice for the PenCom job. Who will carry the day? Time will tell.