The Nation Newspaper

Tag: emergency

  • Prison emergency

    Prison emergency

    •Nigerian prisons trapped in prolonged and sustained emergency

    It is certainly not hyperbolic to state that Nigeria’s prison system has been marooned in what can be described as a prolonged and sustained state of emergency. The latest statistics indicate that the country’s 240 prisons, with a total installed capacity of 50,153 inmates, harbour no less than 59, 121 convicted and awaiting trial prisoners.

    Indeed, about 68 percent of the country’s prison population (39, 577) have not been convicted, with a significant number of this awaiting trial, for several years. These figures might in reality mask the degree of overpopulation in the country’s prisons since prison records are hardly computerised and their reliability cannot be guaranteed.

    Several reports have over the years lamented the pathetic and utterly inhuman condition of Nigeria’s prisons. The cells are overcrowded and poorly ventilated, with inmates herded together like animals. There are severe shortages of beds, mattresses and other basic amenities for a minimal level of civilised existence. Toilets and other sanitary facilities are grossly inadequate, thus increasing the inmates’ vulnerability to a myriad of infectious diseases.

    The food served prison inmates is not only inadequate in terms of quantity; it is also of negligible nutritional value. This intolerable situation breeds a vast and complex network of corruption in which prison officials profit from inmates able to offer bribes for marginally better services and facilities than those on offer for the less privileged members of the prison community.

    As if this state of affairs is not bad enough, there have been alarming reports that prison inmates nationwide may be thrown into hunger from December because of a backlog of N6 billion debt owed the prison service ration and gas contractors by the Federal Government. The contractors have reportedly not been paid for food and gas supplies to the prisons since January this year.

    In a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, the contractors claim they have exhausted their financial resources and can no longer source money to do business. Their plight is compounded by the fact that they have had to resort to obtain bank loans to fund their business, with the attendant accumulation of huge interests.

    Urging the president to “mobilise funds from anywhere to settle our bill before it is too late”, the contractors in understandable desperation stressed that “if prisoners and inmates of the nation’s prisons are not fed for two days, they could go haywire and the consequences are not good to imagine”.

    While we call on the appropriate authorities to take urgent steps to clear the debt backlog and avert any crisis that can worsen the already dire situation in the prisons, far-reaching reforms to overhaul and thoroughly sanitise the entire system have become more imperative than ever. For instance, food supply contractors are over the years believed to have reaped fortunes from the business. Yet, the quality of food in the prisons is atrociously poor.

    As a result, it has been reported that many inmates cook their own meals within the prisons. There is thus a thriving prison black market for food stuffs allegedly run by warders and their relatives. This in turn implies the existence of hundreds of stoves in congested cells and the ever present danger of fire outbreaks in addition to other environmental and health hazards. The desperately poor who cannot afford to cook their meals have no choice but to consume the intolerable food served in the prisons.

    We call on the Federal Government to immediately declare a state of emergency in Nigerian prisons. This should be followed by radical measures to enhance funding, check corruption, accelerate the judicial process to drastically reduce the number of awaiting trial inmates and improve the quality of food and health care, among others.

    In a reformed prison system that places appropriate premium on rehabilitation, for instance, nothing precludes prison inmates from being productively engaged to grow their own food.

  • TERROR ATTACKS: France declares state of emergency

    TERROR ATTACKS: France declares state of emergency

    • Shuts borders, vows ‘merciless’ response
    • Declares three days of mourning
    • ISIS claims responsibility, says it’s first of the storm

    An angry President Francois Hollande of France yesterday declared a state of emergency and announced he was closing the country’s borders in the aftermath of Friday night’s violence in Paris that left 129 people dead.

    Metro lines shut down and streets emptied on the mild fall evening as fear spread through the city, still aching from the horrors of the Charlie Hebdo attack just 10 months ago.

    The violence is said to be worst visited on France since the Second World War when German soldiers invaded the country.

    Hollande promised a ‘merciless’ response to the attacks claimed by Islamic State.

    He called it an act of war against France.

    “Faced with war, the country must take appropriate action,” Hollande said after an emergency meeting of security chiefs.

    The President also announced three days of national mourning.

    “France will be merciless towards these barbarians from Daesh,” he said, using an Arab acronym for Islamic State.

    In the worst attack, a Paris city hall official said four gunmen systematically killed at least 87 people at a rock concert by an American band at the Bataclan concert hall before anti-terrorist commandos launched an assault.

    Some 40 more people were killed in five other attacks in the Paris region, the official said, including a double suicide bombing outside the Stade de France stadium, where Hollande and

    German foreign minister were watching a soccer game.

    The assaults came as France, a founder member of the U.S.-led coalition waging air strikes against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, was on high alert for terrorist attacks, raising questions about how the attacks were able to occur.

    It was the worst such attack in Europe since the Madrid train bombings of 2004, in which 191 died.

    Hollande said the attacks were organised from abroad by Islamic State, with internal help.

    Investigators were focusing on to what extent the militants were from France or from abroad.

    Sources close to the inquiry said one of the dead gunmen was French with ties to Islamist militants.

    The holder of a Syrian passport found near the body of one gunman passed though the Greek island of Leros in October, a Greek minister said.

    A Greek police source said the passport’s owner was a man who had arrived in Leros with 69 refugees and had his fingerprints taken. Police declined to give his name.

    The Paris attacks are sure to become a factor in the debate raging in Europe about how to handle the migrants’ crisis fueled by the conflict that has emerged from the uprising in Syria.

    In a sign of potential divisions ahead, Poland said that the attacks meant it could not now take its share of migrants under a European Union plan. Many of the migrants currently flooding into Europe are refugees from Syria.

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged world leaders gathered for a summit in Turkey yesterday to prioritise the fight against terrorism, saying the Paris attacks showed the time for words was now over.

    Hollande pulled out of the meetings but told Erdogan by telephone that his foreign and finance ministers would attend.

    During a visit to Vienna, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said “we are witnessing a kind of medieval and modern fascism at the same time”.

    In its claim of responsibility, Islamic State said the attacks were a response to France’s military campaign.

    It also distributed an undated video in which a militant said France would not live peacefully as long as it took part in U.S.-led bombing raids against the Islamic State.

    “As long as you keep bombing you will not live in peace. You will even fear traveling to the market,” said a bearded Arabic-speaking militant, flanked by other fighters.

    A French government source told Reuters there were 139 dead, 67 in critical condition and 352 wounded.

    Six attackers blew themselves up and one was shot by police.

    There may have been an eighth attacker, but this was not confirmed.

    The attacks, in which automatic weapons and explosives belts were used, lasted 40 minutes.

    “The terrorists, the murderers, raked several cafe terraces with machine-gun fire before entering (the concert hall).

    “There were many victims in terrible, atrocious conditions in several places,” police prefect Michel Cadot told reporters.

    Hollande declared a national state of emergency, the first since World War Two. Border controls were temporarily reimposed to stop perpetrators escaping.

    Local sports events in Paris were suspended, stores closed, the rock band U2 canceled a concert, and schools, universities and municipal buildings were ordered to stay shut.

    Sylvestre, a young man who was at the Stade de France when bombs went off there, said he was saved by his cell phone, which he was holding to his ear when debris hit it.

    “This is the cell phone that took the hit, it’s what saved me,” he said.

    “Otherwise my head would have been blown to bits,” he said, showing the phone with its screen smashed.

    Emergency services were mobilised, police leave was canceled, 1,500 army reinforcements were drafted into the Paris region and hospitals recalled staff to cope with casualties.

    Radio stations warned Parisians to stay at home and urged residents to give shelter to anyone caught out in the street.

    France has been on high alert since Islamist gunmen attacked the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket in January, killing 18 people.

     

     

  • Assembly declares emergency on Southeast roads

    The Enugu State House of Assembly has declared a state of emergency on federal roads in the Southeast. This followed a motion by Chinedu Nwamba (Nsukka East), condemning the deplorable state of the roads.

    Nwamba said: “Residents of Enugu and its environs, for over a decade now, are faced with myriads of problems because of the deplorable condition of federal roads.

    “It seems the state is forgotten in the construction of new roads, rehabilitation and maintenance of federal roads. Incidentally, this trend has persisted despite promises by successive governments.

    “Of the roads in question, the Port-Harcourt/Enugu and Onitsha/Enugu highways are the most pitiable. Whereas, the Enugu/Onitsha road, which usually takes about 40 minutes when the road was good, now takes three hours. The road is so bad that almost every vehicle that plies it breaks down before completing a full journey. The story is the same for the Enugu/Port-Harcourt highway as a journey of two hours now lasts five hours.”

    After deliberations, the House declared a state of emergency on federal roads and urged the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Works/Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), to begin work immediately to avoid more mishaps.

  • Insurgency: FCTA to establish emergency committees

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has announced a plan to set up an emergency management committee in each of the six area councils to immediately cater for vistims of insurgency.

    Director Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Emergency Agency, Alhaji Abbas Idriss explained that officials of the local emergency would be the first responders.

    Public Relations Officer, FCT Emergency Agency Josephine Mudasiru revealed this in a statement.

    The statement quoted Idriss as saying that the first responders at the recent bomb blasts would have been officials of the local emergency agency if they had been set up by then.

    She also stated,”Referring to the recent bomb blast in Kuje Area Council, the Director said that if the LEMCs had been in place they would have been the first people on the scene before the arrival of FEMA and other stakeholders.

    “Alhaji Abbas Idris reiterated the importance of the local Emergency Committee in risk reduction; pointing out the fact that LEMCs are resident at the scene of disasters, they respond promptly thereby reducing the number of casualties against waiting for assistance from the city.

  • NCAA designs emergency plan for airports

    NCAA designs emergency plan for airports

    THE Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA)  has designed a national aviation public emergency preparedness plan for airports.

    Its Director-General, Captain Usman Mukhtar, said the document was produced to handle issues arising from medical emergencies at the airports.

    Mukhtar said the document was  drawn mainly from the template provided by the International Civil Aviation Organisation ( ICAO).

    It would serve as a guiding material for aviation stakeholders in the handling of the suspected cases of communicable diseases within the Nigeria airspace.

    He disclosed this  last week, during the Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA) Assistance visit to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos by members of ICAO and the World Health Organisation ( WHO).

    He described the visit by the two bodies as part of efforts to checkmate the spread of communicable diseases through air travel .

    He said aviation stakeholders last year rose to the challenge of containing the Ebola Virus Disease, praising stakeholders for playing the pivotal role in the containment of the virus.

    Mukhtar said: “I want to appreciate stakeholders in the Nigeria aviation for the professionalism and containment of Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in 2014.

    “Some of you risked your lives and that of your families for the general good of the country.

    “This inter-agencies collaboration, coordination, cooperation and communication displayed during the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak, must be sustained to enable us effectively handle any suspected case of communicable disease in our airports.

    Dr Morenike Alex-Okoh, Director, Airport Health and Medical Services, Federal Ministry of Health, sued for sustained inter-agency cooperation in the implementation of the aviation act point of entry in Nigeria.

    She said the ministry was delighted with the visit given the fact that such previous visits had contributed in no small measure to the successful implementation of public heath emergencies at Nigeria’s points of entry.

    According to her, the successful containment of Ebola in Nigeria was achieved through collaboration at the global, national and state levels.

    Mr Michiel  Vreedenburgh, who is Programme Global  Coordinator, ICAO  headquarters in charge  of collaborative arrangement for the prevention and management of public health events in civil aviation ( CAPSCA )  said the visit to Nigeria was to assess the preparedness of the aviation sector, taking into account the priorities established by the WHO in containing outbreak of communicable diseases.

     

     

  • ICAO, WHO to assess MMIA for emergency preparedness

    The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) will today carry out an “assistance visit” to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

    The team will be evaluating the level of emergency medical preparedness by the agencies operating at the airport.

    The visit, according to the General Manager, Public Affairs of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Fan Ndubuoke, is part of global efforts by the two United Nations (UN) bodies to assess and improve the airport’s preparedness, planning and response to public health issues.

    The visit is part of WHO’s determination to offer training sessions to airports in Africa as contained in the International Health Regulations (2005).

    The Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Capt. Muhtar Usman has called on all stakeholders to cooperate with the ICAO CAPSCA Assistance visit team during the exercise.

  • Poly gets emergency and trauma complex

    The Federal Polytechnic in Bida (BIDA POLY), Niger State has inaugurated a multi-million naira Emergency and Trauma Complex built by the institution  with National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to improve medical service on the campus.

    The NHIS Executive Secretary, Dr Femi Thomas, the Chairman of the institution’s Governing Council, Chief Theophilus Bamigboye, Rector, Mr Abdullahi Sule, and representative of the Etsu Nupe, were among those who attended the event.

    The complex, which was also funded by Tiship and Drug, is equipped with a digital X-ray and ultra-sound facilities to handle severe emergency cases.

    Other facilities in the complex include a cardiovascular monitoring gadget and a digitally-equipped conference unit with Internet facility to download medical information.

    Dr Thomas, represented by the NHIS Director Programmes, Mr Jonathan Eke, praised the institution’s management for its stride in quality healthcare delivery, noting that the commissioning of the complex showed a mark of good leadership.

    The NHIS official said the project was a bold initiative by the management, urging the polytechnic authorities to spend unutilised funds to further equip the centre.

    Thomas pledged to co-operate with the school to ensure the centre delivered quality healthcare services to students.

    Bamigboye hailed the NHIS for supporting the project. He challenged the polytechnic’s Medical Director and staff to ensure maintenance of the complex. He said his vision was to ensure the transformation of the polytechnic better than he met it, stressing that the management would continue to train its staff on service delivery.

    Sule described the trauma centre as gift to the polytechnic and its host community. He praised the Governing Council for giving him support and free hand to embark on the project.

    The Medical Director, Dr Abdulmalik Mustapha, said: “The mission of the trauma centre is to provide excellent healthcare services to the staff, families, students and members of the school community.”

    He added that the medical centre received commendation letters from the council for judicious management of resources and improvement of healthcare services.

    Mustapha said the medical centre had been improved from a single room with a nurse in 1978 to a 21 bed centre in 2014 equipped with sophisticated medical equipment.

     

  • Ojudu: Jonathan should declare emergency on economy

    All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Babafemi Ojudu has advised President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a state of emergency in the economic sector, stressing that the serious economic crisis may worsen the political situation of the country in the New Year.

    Ojudu, who represents the Ekiti Central District in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, lamented the drop in oil earnings, which he said, may spell further doom for budget implementation.

    Ojudu spoke yesterday in Lagos at the yearly review of the socio-political economy by the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), led by Third Republic House of Representatives Chief Whip, Olawale Oshun.

    At the parley, the group released its report on the economic and political administration entitled: “Nigeria Democratic Governance Report: Curbing Political Instability and Extravagance.”

    Accompanied by other ARG members, including Mr. Ayo Afolabi, Gen. Sam Odunsi, Mr. Segun Odegbami and Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, the former legislator alerted Nigerians to the reality of state fragility, warning that it could herald total collapse of the country.

    Oshun said: “We crave for stability and economic progress. But, we have voodoo economists managing our economy. They are dedicated to the cause of the free market and global economic market. Local industries are not protected. China has led the way in protecting its producers. India, with a population of 1.2 billion, has protected its economy. It does not import clothes. Nigeria imports everything, including tooth picks.”

    The ARG leader also warned about the consequence of the imbalance between recurrent and capital expenditure. He said the drop in capital expenditure and rise in recurrent expenses could spell doom for the country in its drive for development.

    Ojudu said the conspiracy between the United States (US) and the Saudi Arabia to punish the Soviet Union is affecting Nigeria, urging the Federal Government to pay more attention to the global economic trend.

    HIS words: “The Nigerian oil cargo is being rejected in the oil market. The oil is being offered at a discount. We must begin to tighten our belts and reduce wastages. This is not the time to buy private jets for the President. The Head of the British Government travels in the British Airways.

    “Last year’s budget harboured 45 per cent wastage. In the budget, civil servants were asking for old type writers. Under the military, we had a four-year development plans. That stopped in 1989. We prepared budgets for the benefit of civil servants, who spend more funds on tours, generators, computers, research and development. The money goes to the departments that do not even conduct research.”

    Noting that civil servants hide under the rot in the system to perpetrate evil, the senator said: “In my own opinion, civil servants have become more corrupt than politicians.”

    In his own remark, Ojudu said: “The President should declare an emergency in the economic sector. We must also stop the wastage. Few people will come from abroad, change the pound sterling and dollar, get more naira and buy the electorate.”

    The senator lamented that parliamentary reprimand for the executive because of budget failure has become difficult because the majority of lawmakers respond to issues along party lines.

  • Emergency, insurgency and presidency 

    I  saw  a picture  of  local  hunters    armed  with  dane  guns  on a truck  going  to fight  Boko  Haram  in  a town  in  Adamawa  state alongside a  report  in the news media  saying  that Nigeria  is one of the five nations with the highest  fatalities  in the world  for terrorism  and  I  felt  real  pity  for both  the hunters  and the  Nigerian  army in the fight  against  Boko  Haram  here  in Nigeria. This  was the same week  that  the  Nigerian  President and  Commander  in  Chief  of the Armed  Forces  sent  a bill  to the  National  Assembly seeking  extension  of the  State  of  Emergency  in three states  in the North  East  of  Nigera  where  Boko  Haram  has been  conquering and  losing our  towns  and cities  with bloody  fanfare and impunity  whilst  joint  task forces  with  local  hunters and dane guns have become  heroes  in  towns  where  well  armed soldiers  took  to their heels before. Really  it is difficult  to know when
    to cry  or when to laugh  on getting news  from  the  War  front  in this carnage  of insurgency by  Boko  Haram which  has made  the  Commander  in  Chief  to ask  for  another  six  month  extension  because  the security challenges  in these areas  are  far from over,  contained  or ameliorated  in any way. Remarkably  the legislators  in the House  of  Representatives  have  rejected  the renewal  after  they  themselves  were subjected  to  some insurgency  by the Police  who tear  gassed  them  and almost  prevented  them  from  sitting to debate  the matter.
    In  line with  the spirit and  perhaps  the humour of hunters with dane guns facing a  Boko  Haram well  armed  with sophisticated weapons and winning, the Emir  of  Kano  His  Royal  Highness  Lamido  Sanusi  reportedly  waded  into  the foray by asking the people  of Kano  not to run away from terrorists but to take whatever steps were  necessary  to protect  their  lives  and property. Which  really  is the  attitude    or  spirit  I want to discuss today  and  that  is the spirit  of survival  ,  self  defence , and  protection  of life and property at  a period when  State  of  Emergency seems  inevitable  but    ineffective, against a  festering insurgency  that has turned  our vast  North East  into  killing fields . This  is  happening  even as  our President  prepares  for the  security  of his presidency  by seeking legitimacy in his  quest  to contest the coming  2015  Presidential  elections. Ominously  and    tragically  again AFP   reports  on the internet  on  Thursday    revealed  that  Boko  Haram  raided  the town of Azaya  Kura  40  kilometres  from Maiduguri  and  left 45  people  dead  after  the raid.
    Surely  the  Emir’s call  is bold, timely  and  relevant  and  is indeed in tune with  the  mood in  Kano where the  Governor  of the state Engineer  Rabiu  Kwankwanso is  one of the  Presidential  candidates  for the APC Presidential  primaries    due  on  December  10. Both  the Emir  of  Kano  and  the state  governor  have  become a  morale  boosting  arrow  head  in  the entire  North  to confront the terror  of Boko  Haram  in spite  of a bombing this last  Sunday  in  Kano .  It  is such  courage , such boldness, that confronts  bastardisation  of religion  with violence  and destruction  and takes  that  on with  steely  defiance  and  the  formation  of a force  of resistance  that fuses  modernity with  tradition,  that  I  want  to draw the attention  of other  leaders  in the North  and indeed Nigeria to today  in  confronting  the terror  of  Boko  Haram, conquering it  and moving  our nation  far beyond it.
    Even  on the  global  scene  we had examples  this  week  to show  that even  well  respected leaders  and  their nations  can be called  to order  if they misbehave. Russia’s  President  Vladmir  Putin  was  this  week given a cold  shoulder  and  isolated by the leaders  of the G20  Meeting  in  Brisbane  Australia  and  when  he  could  not  bear  the ostracism,  he left  the Meeting abruptly and  unexpectedly.  But  he got the message – You  can not violate international law by invading Ukraine a sovereign nation  and support  rebellion there and expect diplomatic rapport  with  fellow  leaders  of  the  leading nations  of the world.
    Similarly  US  President  Barak  Obama    first  threatened  to by pass the US  Congress  if it did not consider  his  pet  project  on Immigration granting full  citizenship  to  about  5m  immigrants who have been  in the US  for  some time with ad  hoc  papers.  Obama  went  on this week  to use  executive  powers  to pass  the  law  thus bypassing  Congress  This  of course  will  tax  the check  and  balance  of  power    inherent  in  the US  presidential  system  of separation  of powers especially  as the Republicans have gained  control  of the Senate from the last Mid term  elections results. But  it is Obama’s  way  of saying that desperate  diseases  require  desperate  cures  and  that while the  Republicans are  putting spanner in the  works against  his pet  project,  he can  find his way  through  to show them that his mandate was from the entire US  and  he will  not  allow a project that he feels is in the public good to be castrated  on the altar  of blind partisanship  and  stubborn brinksmanship  from  the Republicans.
    It  is in this light  that one should see the  call  to arms  against  terrorism  by  the  Emir  of  Kano  and  the elaborate women  and  girls  education programme  of the APC  government  of Governor Rabiu Kwankwanso  in  Kano. Someone  once said  if you  educate a boy  you  educate  a person , but if you  educate a girl  you  educate  a  nation  .This  is what Boko  Haram is fighting  against  by opposing western education  and  rubbing salt  into  our insurgency  wounds  by seizing over 200  Chibok  girls  and taunting  our  sense  of decency  by declaring that they  have  been  married  off. The  Emir  of  Kano’s  call  for massive self  defence  is one that should  be copied  by other rulers  in the entire  North  East  if not the entire  North. Such  a move will  suffocate Boko  Haram  and  show it that even  though it had killed Emirs in places  like  Gwoza  before,  it  can not be business  as usual  as it cannot  find refuge  in the   North  where, now,  even local  hunters with dane  guns are prepared  to take them on with  their  sophisticated  machine guns.
    It  was  this spirit of  constructive  and  salutary  defiance  that  saw  people  like  APC  presidential  candidate and  former  Head  of State  ex-General  Muhammadu  Buhari, APC  Chairman John  Oyegun  and Rivers  State  Governor Rotimi  Amaechi  take  to the streets  in Abuja  in  a Salvation March  demanding  to know why the  Presidency in Abuja must  be enjoying  in the capital  while    Nigerians are  being killed  by the Boko  Haram insurgency with  impunity. Of  course  ex  General Buhari knew  he was taking a  personal risk in  Abuja as  his  entourage  was  bombed  in Kaduna recently.  But  that showed  his bravery and commitment  to the Nigerian  nation and should  galvanize  his  presidential  candidacy in the APC  Presidential  primaries. To  me  that Salvation March  is a bold  statement  against  Boko  Haram and  against  the incumbent  in the  Nigerian  presidency  that Buhari  and of  course  Rabiu  Kwankwanso  of Kano seek  to unseat  in the coming 2015  presidential  elections. Those  who  must  lead  Nigeria must be those bold enough to say and do what has to  be done  to put fear  into Boko  Haram  in word  and deed. Indeed  the Presidency itself  and the President  must  know that  the coming 2015  elections are about  the defeat  of the  Boko  Haram  insurgency  and the security  of life and property in  Nigeria. It  is  only  those who can guarantee the safety  of life and property of  Nigerians who  deserve  to be elected and re elected as  President of the Republic  and  Commander in  Chief  of the Armed  Forces. These  are people who  can tell  off  and  kill  off  Boko  Haram with a clear  conscience,  a loud  voice  and  effective,  efficient use  of  the executive  powers  inherent  in  our  presidency  and  President,  as  the Commander  in  Chief  of our armed  forces. That  is the  sure sign  of  a  successful  president  in these days  of bloody  insurgency and  proposed  extended state  of emergencies.  Not  tear  gassing lawmakers  as they meet  to debate  renewal  of  the state  of emergency  which  they  have  rejected  anyway  while    the presidency  spokesman  bizarrely  claimed  that the  police was  just  maintaining  law  and  order. Again it is  difficult  to know whether    to  laugh  or  cry. But  really  one can  point  out  to  the presidency spokesman that  on some occasions  such  as  the spectacle  of law  makers turning  to emergency high  jumpers  just to enter  the legislature  to do their  work  because  police had  locked the gate, silence can be golden.

  • Education emergency

    The recent demand for the declaration of an education emergency in Nigeria was unique for the unified vision of those who made it. It was jointly made by the four foremost unions in the tertiary education sector – the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Associated Institutions (NASU), and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU).

    Claiming that education in the country was riddled with poor funding, inadequate leadership, and infrastructural decay, the four unions said that a non-negotiable public good had been perverted by a socio-economic system in which the maximisation of profit and the primacy of personal interest had become dominant.

    The unions obviously have a point. Nigeria’s education sector, especially its tertiary component, has been badly hit by a multi-dimensional crisis of gargantuan proportions. The country has an adult literacy rate of only 51.1 per cent; the gross enrollment ratio of the population of tertiary school age is just 10 per cent; an average of 5.25 years is spent by Nigerians in school. About 10.5 million of its children are out of school, the highest number in the world. As if that is not bad enough, young Nigerians seeking education have been directly targeted by insurgent groups like Boko Haram, resulting in repeated atrocities, such as those of Buni Yadi and Potiskum, in which dozens of students have died or suffered severe injury.

    Well-intentioned though the demands of ASSU, NAAT, NASU and SSANU may be, however, there is the question of whether such an emergency will actually achieve anything substantial. Nigeria is no stranger to education summits of varying levels of depth and comprehensiveness. In 2006, former President Olusegun Obasanjo convened an education summit in Abuja, bringing together senior government officials, policy makers and other concerned stakeholders. In November 2012, the BRACED Commission comprising Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta states organised an education summit for the region. In May 2013, Lagos State held the third in its series of education summits.

    At all of these gatherings, many of the issues confronting the sector were identified and exhaustively analysed. Impassioned declarations were given. Targets were set. Promises were made. Timelines were drawn up. In the end, not much changed, as the main drivers for education reform actually came from the individual efforts of the states, especially Lagos, Rivers, Anambra, Akwa Ibom and Kano. In these states, successive administrations have taken it upon themselves to implement comprehensive rehabilitation and expansion of their educational systems, especially at the primary and secondary levels. New classrooms have been built, more teachers trained and recruited, and greater rewards and incentives provided.

    But they can only do so much. The education crisis is a national one, and must be addressed at that level. The declaration of an education emergency could provide the vital national scope which would help ensure that any reform is evenly spread across the country.

    However, if it is to work, it must be divorced from the political grandstanding that has disfigured similar strategies in the past. A viable education emergency cannot be an arena for point-scoring, propaganda, or blame games. It cannot be aimed at furthering the agenda of any one group, be it government, union or corporate, to the detriment of the others and the country as a whole.

    The issues have been identified, the action steps are ready, and the solutions are known. What is required is the strength of will and determination to follow through on the undertakings that will inevitably be made. Perhaps the best way of achieving this could be to distill the successes of specific states into a template for the nation as a whole; by focusing on what works, it will be that much easier to move from speech to action.