The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Long overdue

  • Long overdue

    Nigeria deserves a truly modern national library

    Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has indicated that approval is being sought for N50billion to complete the National Library headquarters in Abuja. In his own words: “Efforts are on to complete the National Library headquarters. You may have been aware that the project was awarded in 2006 at a total cost of N8billion. By 2013, the project cost reviewed upward to N18billion. Work was, however, stopped by the end of 2013 due to poor funding.”

    Although this announcement by the minister came in the middle of electioneering, it is still welcomed. However, some of the efforts to complete the library ought to have been made earlier, especially as soon as Nigeria recovered officially from recession in 2017. But, it is better late than never.

    The headquarters of the National Library moved to Abuja in 1995. For almost one quarter of a century, the library has been functioning in a rented facility. The constraints of operating in a rented facility not designed for the varied functions of a national library must have affected the effectiveness of the library in the last 23 years. It is, therefore, not surprising that the minister sounded sanguine in giving progress report, even at a time of high-wattage electioneering, on a matter that should have been of great concern to citizens.

    Like the minister, we are enthusiastic about hearing an irrevocable verdict on government’s commitment to complete the library building.

    Although it may sound fastidious to complain now about failure to complete the building while costs were less prohibitive between 1995 and now, we still welcome the decision of the Federal Ministry of Education to return to this important national assignment. A fully-formed and well-functioning national library is no longer a luxury for any nation in an ethos that is now globally referred to as the knowledge society. So, the contractor that is hired to complete the building should be made to know how urgent the project has become.

    Government’s insistence on adherence to deadlines for delivery of the building by the contractor will save the country a lot of direly needed public funds, such as must have been lost on account of indecisiveness on the parts of governments between 2006 and 2019, during which the cost of completing the building rose from N8billion in 2006 to N18billion in 2013, and to N50billion at the beginning of 2019. To avoid further increase in cost, there should be no further delay on completion of the building.

    National libraries are major cultural institutions in all societies that value generation and distribution of knowledge for empowerment of the state and citizens. Given the importance of Nigeria in Africa, the national library must not only be aesthetically pleasing to users and visitors as a fitting reflection of the country’s commitment to culture and knowledge, government must also commit to stocking and equipping the library to serve the purpose for which it is built.

    Beyond completion of the physical part of the library, there should be adequate provision to stock the library with analog and digital collections to reflect the changes that technology has brought to improvement of library operations and promotion of literacy in other countries. Sincere efforts need to be made to employ well qualified staff for all areas of modern library operations and management, ranging from capacious reading section for citizens interested in research and reading, inter-library loans to other libraries in the country, professional curating of archives for rare collections to well-coordinated promotion of reading culture and literacy. Further, for the purpose of safety and protection of the high investment in the national library, the building ought to be fire proof.

    It is also good for each state to have a functioning branch of the national library, to stimulate and sustain reading and research culture across the country.

     

  • Long overdue

    •Nigeria deserves a truly modern national library

    Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has indicated that approval is being sought for N50billion to complete the National Library headquarters in Abuja. In his own words: “Efforts are on to complete the National Library headquarters. You may have been aware that the project was awarded in 2006 at a total cost of N8billion. By 2013, the project cost reviewed upward to N18billion. Work was, however, stopped by the end of 2013 due to poor funding.”

    Although this announcement by the minister came in the middle of electioneering, it is still welcomed. However, some of the efforts to complete the library ought to have been made earlier, especially as soon as Nigeria recovered officially from recession in 2017. But, it is better late than never.

    The headquarters of the National Library moved to Abuja in 1995. For almost one quarter of a century, the library has been functioning in a rented facility. The constraints of operating in a rented facility not designed for the varied functions of a national library must have affected the effectiveness of the library in the last 23 years. It is, therefore, not surprising that the minister sounded sanguine in giving progress report, even at a time of high-wattage electioneering, on a matter that should have been of great concern to citizens.

    Like the minister, we are enthusiastic about hearing an irrevocable verdict on government’s commitment to complete the library building.

    Although it may sound fastidious to complain now about failure to complete the building while costs were less prohibitive between 1995 and now, we still welcome the decision of the Federal Ministry of Education to return to this important national assignment. A fully-formed and well-functioning national library is no longer a luxury for any nation in an ethos that is now globally referred to as the knowledge society. So, the contractor that is hired to complete the building should be made to know how urgent the project has become.

    Government’s insistence on adherence to deadlines for delivery of the building by the contractor will save the country a lot of direly needed public funds, such as must have been lost on account of indecisiveness on the parts of governments between 2006 and 2019, during which the cost of completing the building rose from N8billion in 2006 to N18billion in 2013, and to N50billion at the beginning of 2019. To avoid further increase in cost, there should be no further delay on completion of the building.

    National libraries are major cultural institutions in all societies that value generation and distribution of knowledge for empowerment of the state and citizens. Given the importance of Nigeria in Africa, the national library must not only be aesthetically pleasing to users and visitors as a fitting reflection of the country’s commitment to culture and knowledge, government must also commit to stocking and equipping the library to serve the purpose for which it is built.

    Beyond completion of the physical part of the library, there should be adequate provision to stock the library with analog and digital collections to reflect the changes that technology has brought to improvement of library operations and promotion of literacy in other countries. Sincere efforts need to be made to employ well qualified staff for all areas of modern library operations and management, ranging from capacious reading section for citizens interested in research and reading, inter-library loans to other libraries in the country, professional curating of archives for rare collections to well-coordinated promotion of reading culture and literacy. Further, for the purpose of safety and protection of the high investment in the national library, the building ought to be fire proof.

    It is also good for each state to have a functioning branch of the national library, to stimulate and sustain reading and research culture across the country.

     

  • Long overdue

    Long overdue

    •Judges giving judgments against higher courts’ precedents deserve to be punished

    We welcome the report from the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mahmud Mohammed, that judges who gave conflicting judgments from precedents set by higher courts are under probe. By the doctrine of stare decisis, a lower court is bound by the decision of a superior court on any issue, when a similar point arises for decision. In the words of the CJN: “I am of the firm conviction that every court in Nigeria is bound by the decisions of the Supreme Court and shall not graft a different outcome from those expressly laid down by the Supreme Court”. To disregard this standard is an abuse of the judicial process.

    Speaking at a special Supreme Court session to mark the opening of the 2016/2017 legal year, the CJN further observed: “such departures from precedent therefore risk creating the type of confusion which is inimical to the trust reposed in us by the people and we risk our reputations, our integrity and even our existence by such indiscipline”. The words of the CJN are apt, and considering that judges are well versed in these judicial standards, it is strange that some judges wantonly disregarded this general rule.

    To probe the reason for such fragrant abuse of a fundamental principle of our judicial system is therefore in order. Indeed, with corruption besmirching all aspects of our national life, it is in the interest of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to quickly exorcise judges who engage in such bad practice, before the general public ascribes such travesty to the festering corruption in the country. Even more intriguing is that judges of the Court of Appeal were also involved in the disregard of precedents emanating from the Supreme Court.

    According to the CJN, “several conflicting decisions were recklessly dished out by the Court of Appeal last year in appeals arising from various decisions of the Election Petition Tribunals.” He expatiated: “such decisions were made as a result of flagrant refusal of the panels of the Court of Appeal involved to be bound not only by its own decision but also by the decisions of this court”. We agree with the CJN that a panel of judges or indeed a court that fails to follow its own rule is reckless, and it is the duty of the NJC to find out why the judges engaged in such anomaly.

    Also recently the country’s judiciary was ridiculed with the conflicting judgments, over the same subject matter, emanating from the high courts, particularly the Federal High Court. Particularly embarrassing was the opportunity granted litigants to choose and pick which of the courts to approach, and which decision of the courts to obey. This was made possible because the judges were willing tools. Indeed, it got so bad that it appeared the judges were monitoring each other, extending their sitting time, and making references to each other, all in other to be seen as superior and to counter the decision made by the opposing other court.

    As the CJN noted in his address, it is in the overall interest of the judiciary that those who engage in the abuses we witnessed recently are made to account. While a failed judiciary may hamper the practice of lawyers and judges, as he noted, it may even in some cases, result in national crisis. When parties approach the courts, they reasonably know what to expect, particularly where the superior courts have made pronouncements on the same subject matter. So, any judge that will allow his emotions to becloud the established standard of judicial precedence needs to be checkmated.

    With corruption ravaging our country, the judiciary must do all in its powers to give the public the benefit of the doubt about its integrity. It is better imagined if Nigerians are given good reasons to doubt the integrity of judgments of the courts. So, to allow judges to also disregard clear judicial standards in arriving at their judgments is to compound an already dangerous development and that is an invitation to anarchy. The CJN must have borne that possibility in mind when he admonished thus: “I therefore call on our judicial officers to have due respect for the law and strive to adjudicate in a manner that is premised upon the principles of justice”.

    The common saying that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man, must be appreciated in its very essence. It will be foolish to believe that the person referred to as the common man is always the poorest of the earth. Well, not at all times. For, as our nation’s trajectory has shown severally, many of those whose very life depended on the integrity of the judiciary at the critical junctures of their life, cannot be classified as commoners. So, it is in our common interest that standards are maintained in the judiciary.

  • Long overdue

    Long overdue

    INEC ‘s decision to insure its staff is belated but welcome all the same

    THE aphorism, ‘better late than never’, aptly captures the revelation from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), that its officials and adhoc-staff that participated in the last general elections were given life insurance worth N1.99m each. The policy, reportedly shared out amongst several reputable insurance companies, was meant to ensure commitment from personnel deployed during the elections. It is good that the firms were paid their premium before commencement of the elections.

    Noteworthy also is the report that these underwriting companies had, upon request by INEC, developed political insurance policies to cover losses likely to emanate from violence, accidents and other losses during the just concluded elections. This is the first time the electoral body is embarking on such policy, or rather making it a public issue.

    The idea, in our view, should have been introduced earlier by INEC, having regards to the reality that elections in the country have been prone to violence. What a shame that less endowed African countries have since innovated special insurance covers to mitigate the impact of terrorism and violence during elections. Sadly, Nigeria that is so blessed is just following suit when it ought to be the first to introduce such initiative.

    Prof. Lai Olurode, INEC commissioner-in-charge of the South West confirmed the scope of the cover: “INEC employees have insurance and we have cover in place for the ad-hoc staff, especially the youth corps members who are serving as presiding and assisting officers during the 2015 elections.’ Bose Aderibigbe, Director of Press and Public Relations of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), attested to this, to wit: “We are in partnership with INEC and there is an insurance cover for the corps members in the MoU we signed with INEC.”

    A breakdown of the compensation shows that in the case of outright death in the course of election duties, N1.99million is payable to the relatives of a victim; in situations of injuries, the affected will get compensation worth N108, 000. We hope that victims of various shades of losses in the just concluded polls would be justly compensated. We have in mind reports that three ad-hoc employees of INEC died in Benue State during the presidential election. The three purportedly died in different road accidents while on election duty.

    This insurance move is a good, responsive start to protecting the lives of electoral staff; but we still ponder over why otherwise noble election duties should become death trap for volunteers in this country. Even some unscrupulous INEC officials are alleged to have criminally promoted or induced violence through corrupt/compromised stance at election venues. No wonder the parents of many corps members are always wary about their wards’ involvement in the exercise.

    Until elections in the country become a routine exercise under which exposure to danger has been eliminated as is the case in better managed climes, or drastically reduced considering Africa’s peculiar situation, it should henceforth, be a compelling necessity for INEC to increase the value of life insurance cover for this class of people. It sounds ridiculous to note the meagre value placed on human life in this last cover despite the fact that no compensation can sufficiently atone for a lost life or one that is badly injured in the course of election duties.

    We understand the sanctity of human lives not only during elections but at all times. This is one salient reason why those who kill during elections should be apprehended, arraigned and sentenced appropriately if found guilty. All said, the insurance cover, though belated, should be encouraged because the nation must start from somewhere.