The Nation Newspaper

Tag: government

  • Group praises Imo government

    Group praises Imo government

    A group under the aegis of  non-indigenes resident in Imo State has pledged its support for Imo State Governor Rochas  Okorocha and his deputy, Prince Eze Madumere over the their exemplary leadership qualities.

    The group, which paid a visit to the office of Deputy Governor, spoke through its  leader, Chief Nnadozie Udensi, commended the effort of the government in transforming the state. They noted that policies and programmes initiated by the two leaders in recent times have enhanced the economy of the state as business opportunities are springing up.

    Chief Udensi also praised the government’s ‘Rescue Mission’ in the areas of making education affordable for indigenes and reducing the tuition of non-indigenes by  50 per cent. The group, however, appealed to the governor to make education free for non-indigenes, saying they are part of Imo State by virtue of their business establishments and for having lived in the state for over 30 years with their families, which he said qualifies them as Imo citizenes.

    Chief Udensi, who extolled the virtues of Prince Madumere, described him as a man of humble disposition and transparent qualities.

    The group, which draws its members from every geo-political zone of the country, also praised Governor Okorocha for his unrivaled effort on security, which resulted in the safety of the people and economic progressive that is being experienced in the state. It promised its readiness to perform its obligations as required by law and other civic responsibilities in appreciation pledged its support for the administration.

    In response, Prince Madumere thanked the group for its visit and assured them of government’s continued partnership and dividends of democracy to all Imolites irrespective of ethnic or tribal background.

    He, therefore, called on the group to remain good citizens and join hands with the government in fighting crime with the “know your neighbour campaign” recently launched by Governor Okorocha.

  • Jelili Adesiyan undermines integrity of government

    When President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Jelili Adesiyan as Minister of Police Affairs, and Musiliu Obanikoro as Minister of Defence, perceptive Nigerians knew immediately something was afoot. The Ekiti governorship election illustrates just what a potent combination the duo has become, though that potency is unlikely to go beyond the Southwest for obvious reasons. But let us for the moment leave Mr Obanikoro alone. Let us instead focus on the more obsequious Mr Adesiyan, the minister who became lachrymose when the Senate screened him a few months ago.

    Recall that Mr Adesiyan was alleged to have been involved in the murder of the former Minister of Justice, Bola Ige. Though he admitted he had altercation with the late minister, he swore he had no hand in his murder. Few believed him; yet the Senate confirmed him. But while he was yet to live down that unsavoury image, he incredibly involved himself in another altercation with a former Governor of Osun State, Isiaka Adeleke, whom he accused of instigating a furore at a function somewhere in Osogbo, the state capital.

    The circumstances of that latest fight were muddled up, and the public was uncertain whom to believe. But at last the unperceptive and thuggish Police Affairs minister has cleared the air in a most exasperating manner. He said he did not fight the minister, but would have loved to flog him, a punishment he hoped to inflict on Chief Adeleke in the coming years. Said Mr Adesiyan: “My regret is that I did not beat him as he claimed. If I had not been a minister, I would have flogged him like a baby. You know that he could not withstand one blow. You know Adeleke is sick; maybe he would have died that day…I thought he was tough but he ran away immediately. He is lying if he says Omisore and I beat him. One upper or lower cut would have landed him in the hospital. You know me…” And for a minster who was accused of involvement in a murder case, he ended his account of what transpired in Osogbo with this boast: “Who is an elephant hunter in the presence of a hunter who kills human being? I will one day leave office as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and anytime I leave office, I will fight  Adeleke.”

    The minister’s statement is not just a reflection of his appalling humanity, or of the mire in which the country has sunk implacably; it is also a reflection of the dreadful judgement exercised by those who appointed him minister. This is the same man whom the president, in his unfathomable wisdom, has made a minister of the Federal Republic against the advice of Nigerians who know better. God help Nigeria.

  • Why government should tax cigarettes

    SIR: Cigarette taxes serve as an important source of revenue generation for governments all over the world. In jurisdictions where the revenue implications of cigarette taxes have been recognised, cigarettes rank among the most heavily taxed commodities. To appreciate the potential revenue implications of cigarette taxes, one may consider statistics put forward by RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company to the effect that various tiers of government in the United States realised over $500billion in cigarette taxes since 1998.  Indeed, the revenue generated from cigarette taxation may be employed towards more beneficial ends such as funding important developmental projects.

    Considering the fact that the increasing incidence of tobacco-related illnesses have led to strains on health expenditure, cigarette taxes may also be used to adequately fund the resultant costs of health-care. In jurisdictions where health-care is largely funded from public revenue, this is a very essential consideration.

    Revenue generated from cigarette taxes may also be channelled towards programmes and measures aimed at tobacco control. For instance, a percentage of earnings derived from this tax may be used to fund medical research on the adverse effects that cigarettes have on smokers, or legislative advocacy programmes that promote laws that seek to regulate exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

    Cigarette taxes are perhaps a good illustration of the concept of ‘sin taxes’. While not directly prohibiting the supply, demand, and consumption of cigarettes, government use ‘sin taxes’ to check the prevalence of certain behaviours, such as cigarette smoking or consumption of alcohol. The US President’s Cancer Panel’s 2007 Report, whilst recommending the increase of cigarette tax rates, acknowledged the effects of such taxes on three groups of persons – current smokers, former smokers, and potential smokers. According to the Report, by affecting the pricing of such products, cigarette taxes can lead current smokers to quit or reduce cigarette consumption, deter potential smokers, and prevent the relapse of former smokers.

    Taxation is an important instrument for regulating and restricting social behaviour. By employing increased cigarette tax rates, the ultimate objective is to influence the demand for and consumption levels of such products. Trends in other jurisdictions establish that low-income earners constitute the bulk of consumers of tobacco-related products; and that raising the tax rates for such products has often led to a remarkable decline in the demand for them. An increase in cigarette tax rates will invariably affect the pricing of cigarettes, which may in turn lead to a decline in the volume of demand for cigarettes.  In this respect, tax rates play a particularly important role in influencing social behaviour among certain groups; for instance the incidence of cigarette-smoking among low-income earners who prove to be especially vulnerable to tobacco-related illnesses.

    In the 1950s when vigorous scientific research began to expose the adverse health effects of smoking, various tiers of government in the United States responded by increasing cigarette excise taxes as a means to curb smoking. Nigeria will do well to emulate these measures.

    Available data in other jurisdictions clearly portray the alarming menace and consequences of smoking by under-age persons. In the United States, for instance, statistics provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives show that 1.5 million packs of cigarettes are illegally purchased for minors, and that 3, 900 teenagers take to smoking each day.

    While these disturbing statistics may not necessarily reflect the Nigerian situation, there are good grounds for arguing that cigarette taxes can be utilised to check the increase in the number of under-aged smokers in this country.

    The World Tobacco Day 2014, with its theme of ‘Raising taxes’ is without doubt an appropriate avenue to begin to implement and impose stiffer taxes on tobacco companies in Nigeria.

    •  Onaolapo Olatoyosi M.

    National Coordinator, Coalition Against Tobacco (CAT), Lagos

     

  • Failure of government, security and legitimacy

    THE abduction of about 90 girls by Boko Haram in a boarding house in North East of Nigeria, and the decision of some of the parents to search for their daughters, in spite of the dangers inherent in that effort, is a clear sign of a lack of confidence in government ‘s actions on the search and that is that is also a potent sign of failure of government. A government, anywhere and by definition must be able to guarantee the security of lives and property in its territory and must have the confidence and trust of its citizens in carrying out this onerous and legitimate duty. If citizens usurp this major duty of any government, then they are questioning its authority and legitimacy to protect them and that again can lead to a breakdown of law and order as well as the machinery of governance. On the global scene, a similar situation to the Nigerian one is slowly but surely evolving in the stand off between pro Russia rebels in Donetsk in East Ukraine who seized government buildings and refused to vacate them, even with the presence of federal troops sent from the capital Kiev to dislodge them. The Donestk rebels are challenging the authority of the Kiev government and provoking it to attack them in the very good hope that this will make Russian strongman President Vladmir Putin fulfil his promise this week to use force to protect Russian lives in Donetsk, just as he did when he invaded an annexed Crimea very recently. On the other hand the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation- NATO – through its Secretary General was doing its own sabre rattling on Ukraine. The SG announced that NATO has more planes in the air and more ships on the high seas to deter Russia on the Ukraine crisis. The Nigerian government and the Kiev government in Ukraine have a lot in common in their handling of these two crisis and that is impotence in confronting the challenges they face on this matter. In Nigeria the government is just unable to stop Boko Haram killing innocent lives in N E Nigeria and the the terrorists struck in Abuja during the week killing 79 people and causing the president to pay a visit to the gory site and postpone his planned visit to Ibadan for an important political rally. Yet one needs to look at the available resources and strategies of these two beleaguered governments to appreciate why they seem so powerless in asserting their authority in their environment as expected of any government worth its salt. We start with Nigeria which is facing an insurgency in the NE of the nation where Boko Haram has committed some of the worst atrocities known to mankind in killing sleeping school boys in their dormitories, bombing transit passengers at bus stations and now kidnapping school girls from their dormitories. The government has created state of emergencies in the three states most affected namely Yobe, Borno and Adamawa but this has not lessened the fury and horror of Boko Haram and one can indeed expect Northerners to constantly pray like the ancient Europeans once prayed on the approach of marauding Norsemen and Vikings that – From the fury of Boko Haram good Lord deliver us. Yet Nigeria has a vibrant army with a reputation of getting its duty done according to its history and pedigree. So why the pervasive security inability to contain Boko Haram or eliminate its threat altogether? Ostensibly the tempo and success of Boko Haram bombing has increased because a high security chief boasted that Boko Haram terror should be over by April this year when the president changed his security chiefs recently. To me however the major challenge facing the military over Boko Haram is the vastness of the land mass of the North East of Nigeria from which six states had been carved out and the inaccessibility of the Cameroon Mountains spreading from Gwoza to Mubi and beyond, which Boko Haram has turned into a veritable hideout and a terrible danger zone from which the frustrated parents of the captured school girls have now gone to retrieve their daughters in the face of evident government incapacity to rescue them from their Boko Haram captors. The poor government security performance in this abduction episode has been complicated by inconsistent statement by the military on the number of girls freed leading to a retraction which has created a global credibility problem for the Nigerian military. Evidently Boko Haram is conducting a guerrilla warfare against the Nigerian army which is used to regular warfare. Admittedly it is difficult for the army to know when and where Boko Haram will strike next. But the military needs to get intelligence by penetrating Boko Haram cells and anticipating their raids. Secondly and most importantly it can ask for US aerial military support and drones to bomb the mountain forests in Gwoza and beyond to snuff Boko Haram out of its mountain hideouts. This was what the US did in the mountains of Afghanistan after 9/11 in 2001 to drive Al Quada out of its mountain hideouts when the US discovered that Al Qada leaders including Bin Laden were hiding in those mountains. The government must carry the fight to Boko Haram in its hideout and show evidence that it is capable of maintaining the territorial integrity and peace of the Nigerian nation by eliminating its threat swiftly and efficiently or be ready to carry the stigma of inability to protect the lives and properties of its citizens, which unfortunately is its global sovereign reputation at present. Indeed this is the only way this government can save face especially with a highly concerned APC, the opposition party which asked its governors not to attend a security meeting of all state governors called by the President of the republic. By their reported decision not to attend the President’s security meeting they have distanced themselves from failure of government of the day in securing the Nigerian state and that is a major challenge for the ruling PDP as the much touted 2015 elections approach, with the Boko Haram terror dangling dangerously like the famed sword of Damocles over the neck of the incumbent Jonathan presidency. The government in Kiev like that in Nigeria is also trying to redeem its security record to be worthy of that name as expected by its citizenry but it faces an uphill task in its contiguity to Russia the super power of the region trying to create a bi polar power world, long since the demise of the former Soviet Union. The diplomatic laxity of the US over the Syrian crisis and the lack of the enforcement of the red line drawn by the US in punishing the Assad regime in Syria has emboldened Russia to annex Crimea and now move towards the dismemberment of a sovereign state like Ukraine. Very soon the US and its hard working Secretary of State John Terry will realise that Russia is using democracy to buy time and secure the security of Donestk rebels in Ukraine. Although a deal was struck in Geneva, Switzerland with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier, the rebels have said they did not give their mandate to Lavrov to sign any deal for them and that they are not leaving the occupied government buildings in Donestk. John Kerry reminds me of a certain British PM Neville Chamberlain from 1937 – 1940, who flew back to Britain from Germany after a meeting with Hitler waiving a piece of paper and saying he had ‘secured peace in our time’ just before Hitler reneged and started the Second World War after signing purportedly not to invade Poland. I think the message of NATO on the readiness of its ships and planes is more relevant than the diplomatic chicanery that Russia has used to befuddle the US Secretary of State to be busy negotiating with a Russian Foreign Emissary whose principal and boss is speaking the language of war. Unless NATO goes through on its deterrent threat of military preparedness to protect Ukraine from dismemberment through Russia, any agreement with the Russian Foreign Minister will not be worth the paper on which it is written. This is because Mr Putin is ready to use force to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the Kiev government and he can only be stopped by an equal, immediate and opposite force which only NATO, if it has the stomach for it, can provide, and not any diplomatic negotiations between the US Secretary of State and his wily time buying Russian counterpart Sergey Levrov.

  • ‘What did they forget in Government House?’

    ‘What did they forget in Government House?’

    •Residents ask as Ladoja’s, Akala’s posters flood Ibadan

    Ahead of the 2015 gubernatorial election in Oyo State, the likely gladiators are beginning to test their strengths with posters and messages flooding strategic locations in Ibadan, the state capital.

    Former governors Rashidi Ladoja and Adebayo Alao-Akala were the first to hit the streets with their posters which have been generating mixed reactions from the general public since they first appeared around last Christmas and New Year festive period.

    Ladoja, whose tenure was marked by infighting with his deputy Alao Akala on one hand and his godfather, late Chief Lamidi Adedibu on the other hand was elected the governor on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before he fell out with Adedibu who reportedly masterminded his removal to pave way for Akala to become governor. He is now a member and leader of Accord Party (AP) in Oyo State while Akala remains in the PDP.

    Akala’s posters which did not indicate the office he is eyeing in the next general election were prominently displayed along Sabo, Mokola roundabout, Elizabeth road, UI/Ojoo road, Sango, Secretariat road and PDP party secretariat on Queen Elizabeth road. The poster was tagged: “2015: Alao-Akala mbo, Baba mbo” meaning, Alao-Akala is coming, father is coming, as slogan strategically placed under the PDP logo.

    While Ladoja’s own which flooded Sango via Eleyele area was tagged “Emancipation 2015, you are welcome to Oyo State Government House”.

    The sudden emergence of the posters of the two former governors has been generating reactions from the general public with some questioning the wisdom behind it, while others sees it as a welcome development.

    Alhaji Bello Nasiru, a Bureau de Change operator at Sabo area of Ibadan mused: ”I wonder what they forgot at the Government House that they are coming to pick. Both of them contributed in no small ways to our problem before Ajimobi came on board to rectify it. Even, if we are dissatisfied with the status quo, we don’t want old men in that seat again. They should either support a younger candidate or fizzle out”.

    Mr Abass Akande, a businessman who resides in Yemetu area of the state said there was nothing bad if Ladoja and Akala expressed their interests through posters.

    His words: “The duo may not contest but eventually support a neutral person that could take over from Ajimobi in 2015, Ladoja supported Ajimobi in 2011 but he betrayed him,” he said.

    In the opinion of a PDP chieftain, Alhaji Rasheed Adebisi Olopoenia, the two former governors are only advertising themselves ahead of 2015.

    “If they have pointed out that they are vying for the governorship position I would have said that it is too early” he said, “I see their posters as an advertisement of their interest in contesting for a specific position. Anyone can paste poster all around the state and that doesn’t mean he will win, to me it is not a threat”.

    Even though the development has unconsciously put the incumbent governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi and his All Progressives Congress (APC) on the alert, a chieftain of the party in the state, Mr Niyi Adeagbo agrees with Olopoenia that the posters were no threat. According to him, the actions of the former governors were not out of place.

    “It is only normal for everyone irrespective of what platform, intention or ambition to contest any of the elective posts to start showing interest publicly from now,” he said.

    Adeagbo also stated that: “The electorates are wiser now and no amount of propaganda or promises can change the mind of the people against APC and Ajimobi because it is continuity all the way till 2019”.

    But Adeagbo believes that no matter the level of perceived goodwill Ladoja enjoys, Ajimobi and the APC have nothing to fear.

    His words: “We in the APC in Oyo State are ready for 2015 election since we were sworn in 2011. It is only obvious with the high level of development and uplifting we have brought to the good people of our great state. What we have witnessed in Oyo State is real transformation.

    “The government of Senator Abiola Ajimobi has brought excellent governance to the door step of people of Oyo State and the only thing I am sure you can expect in 12 months time is a total vote of appreciation from the good people of the state, by using their votes to say thank you to Governor Ajimobi for him to do more till 2019”.

    But on the contrary, a chieftain of the Accord Party in the state, Dr Nureni Adeniran stated that the posters are a threat to Governor Abiola Ajimobi, stressing that although none of the former governors have indicated the position they are vying for in 2015, but the appearance of the posters indicate that Ajimobi will lose to any of the aspirants the way Otunba Akala did to him in 2011.

    “Anybody has the right to contest for any position in Nigeria, and what happens in the political terrain of this country now is that anybody brings out posters even when they have not been picked by their party. This is just to tell you the number of aspirants that will be contesting, and these posters are not for the electorate but their immediate party members to know that they will be contesting.  Senator Ladoja defeated an incumbent late Alhaji Lam Adesina, while Akala was also defeated by Governor Ajimobi and in 2015 someone will defeat Ajimobi too,” he said.

    However, a graphic designer Adisa Damilare, believes “it is up to the electorate to decide what they want for themselves and shun all these irresponsible politicians”.

    Damilare also dismissed Akala’s chances based on the fragmentation within the PDP.

    The Nation investigation revealed that Akala has been having series of meetings in Ibadan and his home town, Ogbomoso, in order to bring together aggrieved PDP members. At a town hall meeting held at Plaza de Aruna in Oyo in December 2013, he met with some of the members from Oyo Federal Constituency, comprising Afijio, Atiba, Oyo-East and Oyo-West.

    A teacher, who spoke in confidence, believes Akala’s step could yield fruits even though there was no decision yet as to the position he would be vying for. He, however, expressed concern that though the former governor was working according to his love for Oyo people, but “to be truthful all what people want from him is the money he doles out anyhow, bearing in mind that Akala is only spending the money he took from tax payers”.

    As for Ladoja, he said: “There is nothing bad in Senator Ladoja coming back to office, because I believe he did not complete his term in office and his mandate was stolen by the late Ibadan political gladiator, Chief Adedibu and Akala. The workers admire his style of leadership and the masses need him at this critical time when the so called progressive are mortgaging the Southwest states”.

    Another resident who wants to remain unanimous said: “What we are about witnessing in Oyo State politically is what can be referred to as Political Comedy Season 2.

    “Both Akala and Ladoja are expired and tired legs. May Oyo State never witness the setback which the duo stands for,” he added.

    Taking a different stance, the President of Federation of Oyo State Student Union (FOSSU), Ahmad Olansile described perceived interest of Ladoja and Akala in the gubernatorial contest next year as a welcome development and a challenge to Governor Abiola Ajimobi, stressing that the two are political gladiators with support that could win them election again.

    “It is normal and expected of anybody to do that at a time like this, because everybody will want to advertise his own product. The two of them are strong stakeholders in Oyo Sate politics if not Southwest as a whole. However, so much is in the hand of the electorate; so long as the two of them have been tested in the past including the presiding governor, so if any one of them is worth coming back, it will be decided by the good people of the state”.

    Another trader at Sango market, Mrs Juliana Amope, where one of Ladoja’s posters was pasted on the wall behind her, wondered what the two former governors are looking for, she noted that they have ruled the people in the past and if they think the present administration is not performing they should bring in another candidate instead of contesting.

    According to Amope, the people of the state are tired of past governors and godfathers who intend to contest and strongly believe that they should give the younger ones the opportunity to rule the state.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • The economy

    The economy

    • In spite of grim prospects, window of rescue beckons

    Just as it is natural for citizens to entertain illusions about the coming of a new year and its promises of a new beginning, it is understandable that Nigerians are expectant about the 2014 economic outlook. Beyond the atmosphere of expectations, the natural question is whether the Jonathan administration can claim to have put in place the fundamental structures for hope in the current year.

    Of course, Nigerians know what the indications are. Nothing in the economic firmament projects any cheery outlook. Rather, what is presented as cold comfort is the bizarre rate of growth said to have averaged 7.5 percent over a decade; and if it comes to anything, part of the scorecard of the administration is supposed to be the off-shore investment of $1 billion in the Sovereign Wealth Fund. Lost, perhaps, on the government is the paradox of increasing impoverishment of Nigerians and the criminal under-investment in infrastructure and other critical enablers of development at a time of sustained oil earnings.

    The above is merely the background. The outlook would seem worse. The budget instrument of course remains a statement of grand intentions – which going by experience, may not be implemented. Like those before it, the recurrent trump the capital estimates in Budget 2014 by a ratio of 72.71 to 27.29 percent. If that is any threat to the well-being of the citizenry, it comes nowhere close to the menace of oil theft. Last year, the menace reached industrial scale, leading to an unprecedented shut-in of some 400,000 barrels of daily crude output. While it seems utterly unimaginable that the administration would surrender the artery of the economy to a cabal said to be responsible for denying the federation account of 20 percent of its revenue, worse is that the administration is even now unable to convince anyone of its readiness to do battle with the cabal.

    The Main Street is of course where the depressing reality is firmly etched. Presently, unemployment stands at a frightening level of 23.9 per cent, with youth unemployment put at 50 per cent. With poverty rate also standing tall at 67 per cent, the situation is akin to a time-bomb waiting to explode.

    Against the background, if we had expectation for 2014, it is for the Jonathan administration to lay out an ambitious programme to confront the terrible monster of non-inclusive growth –the phenomenon of growth without jobs. With the limited employment-generating potential of the enclave economy of oil now obvious to all, the challenge is to promote aggressively, rapid industrialisation and modernisation of agriculture, both to deliver value to Nigerians and to create jobs for the army of the unemployed.

    We expect the Federal Government to focus on the medium and small scale industries sector not just for the reason of their proven potential to deliver on jobs, but also as a strategy to curb the humongous import bill. The same applies to agriculture. It is time to unlock the proven potential of the two sectors for national development.

    Key to the realisation of the objective is massive investment in infrastructure to narrow the existing deficit; this is even more urgent in the energy, transportation and logistics sectors.  We also expect renewed focus on the problem of cost and access to funds which continues to pose stifling challenge to the small and medium scale business, rendering the prospects of competitiveness a daunting one. Rather than the current obsession with foreign portfolio investors, the Federal Government would do a far better job of paying attention to these issues which, aside offering far brighter prospects for the diversification of the economy, would go a long way to reduce the risk of its vulnerability.

     

  • ‘Why we provided free medical care for grassroots residents’

    ‘Why we provided free medical care for grassroots residents’

    From December 16 to 21, the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe and her husband took free medical outreach to Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State. In this interview with FRANK IKPEFAN, Mrs Ochekpe discusses her driving force and desire to care for people at the grassroots. Excerpts:

    How did the mission begin?

    There was a young man who had a case of appendicitis that when he went for examination, was told he needed to be operated upon. He did not believe it. The doctors assured him of the success of the operation. He was offered free surgery in the end and he went home telling people about it.

    At the end of the programme of last year, we had drugs worth more than a million naira. We had to give it to them so that they can extend. My joy with this process is the spirit of volunteerism that it has rekindled in the minds of our professionals especially doctors and paramedics. We used to hear of doctors without borders; most of them white people. But this is something we can do within here among us. All we need to do is encourage one another. We are not equally endowed in the society. Some are better off than others and also government cannot provide everything for our citizens. We have to look for other ways of doing that. The services that the doctors volunteered if we are to quantify that in monetary terms, if you think of how much you pay in a private clinic or even in a government clinic for consultation, how much you pay for drugs or how much you pay if you are admitted, you will discover that it is so much money.

    When our people are well, they will be able to contribute positively to the economic development of the country.

    What informed your decision to reach out?

    I discovered that there are people in the rural community that need access to free medical care but they don’t have the wherewithal. What actually motivated me was an activity my sister in-law was involved in. She is a medical doctor. She is a consultant at the Abuja teaching hospital and she participated in a similar project. She came to me soliciting for support and I asked what exactly were they going to do and she explained the kind of services they rendered to rural communities and initially they would go for about five days. One of her colleagues was doing that in memory of her husband who was a medical doctor but has passed on. So I asked if it was possible to also replicate it in other places and what the requirement will be. She explained to me that what was needed was some form of transportation, accommodation and some form of assistance to acquire the medical items and equipment that will be needed for the mission.

    How do you get volunteers?

    Well, through these different organisations including Sotaria Afrique, Urban Frontiers, Afrique Foundation and the Association Resident Doctors. For this year we had 130 volunteers on the mission comprising doctors, nurses, paramedics. The initial idea came in through the Sotaria Afrique. Some of them also have doctors working with them and those doctors have their friends that they can easily mobilise to come on board. Like the exercise that we just completed, some of the volunteers had to mobilise through the local government. On the first day of the exercise when they started the operation, they discovered that they did not have enough nurses. They only had about two or three nurses and that was not going to be enough to run shifts and attend to those who have been operated. So I spoke to the Barki Ladin Local Government Chairman for assistance.

    Did you offer specialist or general treatment?

    It was general medicine and when they have complications, they refer them to tertiary health care facilities but we didn’t have complications because we had specialists with us so there was no need for referral.

    Did the team follow up on surgery patients?

    For men it was mostly hernia related surgeries. For women it was fibroids, appendicitis. Those were the kinds of surgeries that were carried out. For those who had surgeries, what the medical team did was to make sure that they provided adequate drugs for the period that such a person who had undergone to recover. They also referred them to nearby clinics for removal of stitches. For this year 91 surgeries were performed while 3,784 people where treated. In 2012, they treated 5000 and performed 45 surgeries. On the last day, over 10 surgeries were conducted. The doctors had to explain to them that they were no longer to be available. Did they have alternatives? Most of them opted for the operations and called on their relatives to take them to some other clinic where they will be followed up till they got better. The team made sure they got enough supply of drugs till their time of recovery. So all they needed was a bed till the period of their recovery.

    How do you source funds for the mission drugs?

    Well, we all go to some friends who can easily support with either a little cash or drugs. So where we did not have drugs the little cash provided was enough.

    What inspires you?

    I am inspired by the spirit of volunteerism which is not very strong in Nigeria. Sometimes people will want to know what is in it for us. They are not looking at it from the point of saving lives. For me, our experiences of 2012 and 2013 are sufficient for us to begin to build a core of volunteers to make Nigerians aware that our brothers and sisters have no reason to suffer if we all put our expertise into use. We might not be able to reach everybody at once but if a small group of professionals decides to pay one community and work with them over time, that community will not remain the same.

    Are you are working on any other project?

    I have been working with a different group of widows. For this year one of the groups trained 30 widows. Most of them were trained in tailoring and we have been able to support them with 10 sewing machines.

    Are you going to extend the medical outreach to other local governments?

    We are looking at senatorial zones. In April 2014, we hope to move to Pankshin Local Government. We are looking at moving to each senatorial zone.  In July we will go on to Kwampan Local Government which is in the southern senatorial zone.

  • ‘Govt committed to rights promotion’

    ‘Govt committed to rights promotion’

    Today is International Human Rights Day. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is leading the country to join the world in celebrating this day that is of great international importance to humanity. In this interview with Legal Editor JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU, NHRC’s Executive Secretary Prof. Bem Angwe, who  also  chairs the Network of Human Rights Institutions in West Africa, speaks of the commission’s programme for the day, investigations into the allegations against Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime by his wife Clara. 

    Today is International Human Rights Day, what is the significant of this day and what is the Commission doing to celebrate it?

    This year’s human rights day celebration is significant and symbolic. It symbolic in the sense that it is also going to commemorate the 20th year of the establishment of the office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights. It is also going to be the 20th year that the Paris Principles came into being. You will recall that in 1993, all the nations of the world, that form the international community converged in Paris, France to establish what we refer today as the Paris Principles which also evolved through a resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly. So, this year will mark the 20th year since the coming into place of the Paris Principles which in itself signifies the birth of national institutions that have the mandate for the promotion and protection of human rights around the world.

    Is that all that makes today symbolic?

    This year’s celebration is very symbolic and the National Human Rights of Nigeria will lead the country in celebrating this day and collaborate with the rest countries of international community to celebrate this wonderful, memorable and significant day.

    How do you do this?

    We have lined up a chain of activities in celebrating this day. Apart from the normal walk that we are going to walk around Abuja, the NHRC will, through its branches all over the country, do similar walks across the States of the Federation. In addition to that, we will hold a press conference and we are also going to have a national dialogue today. This year’s theme will be cantered around the need to have peace and stability. In this case, we will be seeking to balance security with human rights. If you balance security with human rights, the consequences will be that you are going to have peace and stability. Today, also, we will inaugurate Human Rights Ambassadors that will assist the commission to propagate and promote human rights in this country. So, this day is going to be a very significant day in the history of human rights protection in Nigeria and in the history of the Human Rights Commission.

    Recently, your Commission received commendations for excellent performance at the United Nations Universal Peer Review (UPR) session for Nigeria, what exactly happened at the review?

    We are happy to state here that the NHRC triggered the chain of activities that led to the successful UPR review session for Nigeria, we drew the attention of the government, reminded government of the urgent and imperative need to prepare the country for the review and we also played an oversight role in overseeing all the processes and steps that were put in place by the Federal Government of Nigeria to prepare the country to come up and submit this report. The country followed all the processes required by the United Nations Human Rights Consul and we are happy to say that Nigeria did everything that was expected of the Federal Government to have a report that we can truly say, was a peoples-oriented report. The Federal Government involved all the requisite stakeholders in preparing this report and in validating the report. We are happy to report that Nigeria performed creditably well in terms of the commitment of the Federal Government towards the promotion and protection of human rights in this country.

    Why do you do say this?

    I say so because notably, we can say that there have not been any conscious government policy to violate human rights in this country. Sadly, the activities of unknown and unidentified individuals in this country have brought great challenges or serious violations of human rights in this country. However, we do commend the efforts of the Federal Government to bring this to an end despite the challenges, the country’s record in respect of human rights is very good, we are also very happy with the performance of the country during the UN UPR review session.

    The National Human Rights Commission has engaged in public hearings for some time, what are the results of this exercise?

    Specifically, the Council of the Commission, upon the recommendation of the Secretariat, resolved that this commission do carry out public inquiries on alleged demolitions and forced evictions taking place across the country. Following the resolution of the Council, the commission has embarked on the public inquiries which commenced with a public hearing in Lagos on November 18.

    Before the end of the week, the panel of the commission held public sittings, received, heard and considered petitions from aggrieved persons within the Southwest zone of the country which comprises about six states. A lot of petitions came before the commission against the government of Lagos State, the Federal Government and against the Ogun State Government where there were alleged violations relating to demolitions and violation of the right to shelter of the petitioners.

    So, what was the outcome?

    Well, I am glad to let you know that the petitioners appeared personally and through their counsel and the various states governments were equally represented. The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice sent a team of lawyers to represent the Federal Government and the agencies that were involved. The Attorney-General of Ogun State appeared before us personally, a team of lawyers also appeared to represent the government of Lagos State.

    What happened at the panel?

    After listening to the petitioners, their witnesses and received submissions from counsel representing the respondents, the panel, together with the parties inspected the sites where the alleged demolitions took place. We also observed that the hearings could not be concluded at that first sitting, so the commission now adjourned further hearings at the South West Zone to January 2014. In January, the panel will continue further hearings and then conclude its sittings and before March, full decisions will be taken by the council with a view to enforcing the rights of the aggrieved persons who came before the commission in line with the law establishing the commission and due processes provided by the Rules and Procedures of the commission.

    We recently read in the national dailies that you were in Enugu State to investigate allegations against Governor Sullivan Chime by his wife Clara. What actually happened and what is the result of your investigation?

    Well, the Commission received a petition from the petitioner, the Commission’s power was invoked and we led a team of investigators of the Commission, we went to Enugu State Government House, we met all the parties, the investigation is still continuing and by the time we finish with the investigations, the Commission will take appropriate decision and the decision will be made public for every interested party to know the outcome of the investigation but for now, the investigation continues.

    As the chairman of the Network for Human Rights Institutions in West Africa, what are you doing to improve the promotion and protection of human rights in the sub-region?

    What is happening is that the Network is carrying out a training and capacity building programmes for all the countries in West Africa. We carried out the training programmes in Cot D’ Ivoire, in Ghana, in Liberia, We are going to Mali on December 16 and after that, we are going to go to Togo. We will come to Nigeria and the rest of the countries in West Africa. What is happening is that the Network is determined to bring about a platform whereby all the human rights institutions in West Africa will have their capacities developed and should be able to carry out uniform processes with regards to the protection of rights of aggrieved persons within the sub-region.

    What is the essence of this?

    The essence is for us to be able to comply with the Paris Principles and to take all such actions and processes that will ensure the protection and enforcement of the rights of all persons within the ECOWAS community, that is what the Network is doing now. By next year, the Network will embark on other activities that will ensure that the West African countries focus towards achieving the singular goal of ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights within the sub-region. But most importantly, we are trying to come up with an international conference within the sub-region to deal specifically with the strategies that can be adopted in bringing to an end this issue of terrorism that has become a cross border challenge in the region. It does not only happen here in Nigeria, but it is going round the whole of West African coast and there is a need for the West African countries to come together, to brainstorm and take appropriate steps would be taken to ensure that terrorism is brought to an end within the sub- region. It is not something that countries will need to take individual actions on alone, it requires international co-operation, it requires most African countries coming together to adopt appropriate strategies that will address this problem that is today challenging the enjoyment of human rights in the sub-region.

     

     

  • Don’t shy away from funding tertiary education, don urges Fed Govt

    Government’s continuous shifting of funding of the educational sector to the schools makes the institutions lose focus, a Professor of educational management at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Noah Oyedeji has said

    Oyedeji spoke this at the weekend in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital at 140th  inaugural lecture entitled “Education Anomaly and the Educational Administrator” he delivered at the university.

    Prof Oyedeji also recommended that “all educational administrators such as head teachers, principals, provost, rectors and vice chancellors should acquire post graduate diploma in educational management so that they can be familiar with theories and principles guiding educational administration.”

    He said that the government’s directive that the institutions should source funds through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has made the institutions to abandon their major role of human capital development to seeking fund for sustenance.

    The don said though the idea of the IGR is good because it in a way, through production of goods, help in training students in entrepreneurship, it should not replace government’s subversion as the major means of funding the institutions so that the institutions do not abandon their role.

    He said that the federal government allocation to education in the past two years were grossly inadequate and called on the government to increased its funding of the sector.

    He stated: “The government has abandoned its traditional role of substantially funding education which is a social institution.

    “The government directs the institutions to source funds through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to the extent that many tertiary institutions abandoned their major role of human capital development (training) to the establishment of organs for the production of goods that can be sold to generate funds for sustenance.”

    “The government should go back to the good old days when institutions obtained substantial finance from government subventions while their IGR should be pegged to 20 per cent of their budget in order not to abandon their major role to the pursuit of Internally Generated Revenue.

    “The United Nation’s (1976) recommendation of 26 per cent budgetary allocation to education may be difficult to achieve due to the economic meltdown and other competing sectors. However, allocations of 8.43 per cent and 8.7 per cent in the past two years are grossly inadequate.”

    Oyedeji advised that educational administrators should work with government to prevent strike so that stable academic calendar and standard are maintained.

    He said that when strike occurs school activities are disturbed leading to such problems as lowered students’ academic performance, social menace by idle students and National Youth Service Corps programme dislocation.

    The lecturer said to avoid this anomaly there is the need for constant dialogues between government and teachers.

    He added: “There is the need for the educational administrators to work with government to prevent strikes in institutions of learning because of the future consequences such strikes are most likely to have on the nation.”

     

  • Fed Govt hailed on solar power in councils

    The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) has commended the Federal Ministry of Power for installing a set of new Photovoltaic Solar Power Systems for generating electricity in some villages of the Area Council.

    This is part of the Light-Up Nigeria, Access-to-Power for rural areas of Nigeria.

    In a letter of appreciation to the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, the Chairman of the Council, Hon. Micah Jiba described as amazing, the execution of the prototype Lighting technology in Durumi community recently.

    He said the people of the area were grateful to the Federal Government for efforts to provide access to electricity to all Nigerians.

    Jiba promised to support the Ministry of Power with necessary logistics to enhance the smooth running of the ‘Light Up-Nigeria Project in the Area Council, just as he assured that his administration will support other means of alternative energy to complement the national grid.

    It will be recalled that the Hon. Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo had last two weeks, flagged off a special Federal Government Rural Electricity Project tagged ‘Light-Up Nigeria – for villages without access to the national grid, with the inauguration of the solar-powered electricity facility in the FCT.

    The Durumi pilot project is expected to cover at least 1050 households, while also providing refrigeration for delicate hospital supplies and other ancillary points for charging of phones and street lights for the village square.

    Also the major inlet roads and the roads leading to the Chief’s palace and the community school will be provided with street lights.