The Nation Newspaper

Tag: menace

  • Costly menace

    Costly menace

    • Tackling the operations of illegal miners is an urgent imperative

    There is a lot to be said about the wave of the clampdown on illegal mining activities as speaking not just to the dire security situation in the country, but on the need for the Federal Government to get a firm grip on the situation. In Kebbi State, Governor Nasir Idris ordered those engaged in illegal mining to shut their operations in the state; and in Kogi State, Governor Yahaya Bello required all legal operators to henceforth register with the ministry to enhance peaceful and criminal-free operations. The latest is from Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal who last week not only placed a ban on illegal mining in the state, but has gone on to order security operatives to take stringent action against offenders.

    Their dilemma is perhaps best summed up in the words of the Zamfara governor: “Illegal mining is undeniably one of the driving forces behind the rampant banditry plaguing Zamfara State. We must take swift, decisive action to curb this menace and restore peace and security to our communities.”

    In the three cases cited, the governors merely affirmed what is already a well-known nexus between the activities of illegal miners and rampaging banditry in their domains. How the directives will pan out remains to be seen considering that the states possess neither the constitutional power to regulate the activities of illegal miners in any real sense of it, nor the powers of enforcement.

    Of course, the governors might well be speaking for other states in the federation where illegal miners are not only on rampage but have increasingly constituted both security and ecological threats to communal peace. We recall how some four years ago, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) reported Niger State as leading states where there is illegal mining of solid minerals, with Plateau, Ebonyi, Imo, Enugu and Zamfara following – in that order. It is doubtful that much has changed; in fact, recent reports not only suggest that Osun and Oyo may have joined the league of those front-liners where illegal mining activities are in the upswing, there are increasingly, frightening but nonetheless credible reports of foreigners and big money and arms being funnelled into the illegal trade in what now portends grave dangers to national security.

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    The governors are certainly in order – at least, to the extent of their acknowledging the nexus between the activities of illegal miners and the menace of rural banditry. Interestingly, much of the discussions in the wake of their reported clampdown on illegal mining have devolved around the popular aphorism about whether those drastic measures would not amount to cutting off the head because of a nagging headache. This is precisely because the challenge of making the distinction between the millions of local artisanal miners for whom the trade constitutes legitimate means of livelihood and those powerful illegal players cannot be easy any more than a general clampdown can be expected to achieve any magical result.

    However, that should not be all that there is to it. Government needs to take a decisive action. To the extent that illegal mining activities currently constitute a grave national security threat governments at all levels must rise up to tackle the challenge. The era in which warlords and local militias would carve out vast territories for illegal mining operations must be consigned to the past.

    At the same time, much as government desires to bring every activity under the sector under control in the efforts to tame the violence and banditry, government should not lose sight of the underlying cause, which is rural poverty. It is poverty that has bred the alienation that foreign and local elements have taken advantage of. Government will need to take calibrated measures to address this particular challenge. 

    Banditry and violence aside, we know just how bad things are in monetary, quantitative terms. In 2021 for instance, the solid minerals sector contributed a mere 0.63 percent to the country’s GDP; in 2020 it was 0.45 percent, and 0.26 percent in 2019. We are here referring to a sector that contributed over 12.1 percent in the 1970s. While it is beyond debate that the future of the sector can be brighter than at the moment, that can only happen if government steps in to clean up the rot. One part is to get the illegal operators out; the other is to organise, control and monitor the activities of local artisanal miners. If the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is to be believed, the failures on both counts is said to cost the nation $9 billion every other year.  And this is aside the ecological devastation that is best described as unquantifiable. In the circumstance, there could be no better time than now to tame the monster.

  • Building collapse: Lagos Assembly to address menace with laws, regulations

    The Lagos State House of Assembly during the week held a stakeholders meeting on three bills and regulations designed to address incessant building collapse in the state.

    The bills and regulations are Urban and Regional Planning and Development Amendment Bill, 2015, Lagos State Building Control Regulations, 2018 and Building Construction and Development Regulation 2018.

    Present at the Public Hearing were members of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Nigerian Institute of Engineers, builders, academics, consultants, civil servants and concerned individuals.

    In his overview, Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, said that the amendments intended in the law and the regulations would standardise and enhance building and planning in the state “to make all ugly incidents of building collapse a thing of the past.”

    Agunbiade said that the stakeholder’s meeting was in respect of the Building Control Regulations, 2018 and Planning Permit Regulations to awaken consciousness of everybody as regards building development.

    While the speaker, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa who was represented by his deputy, Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni said that the amendment to the existing regulations were important, adding that the recent cases of building collapse in Lagos Island, where school children lost their lives is a tragedy that was  preventable if every stakeholder had been careful.

    In his contribution, the Vice Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, NITP Mr Lukman Oshodi, said that the ranking of Lagos as city is relatively low with respect to building regulations.

    Professor Martins Dada, a building expert, called for adequate planning and proper supervision of buildings in the state.

    The state Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Rotimi Ogunleye said that the executive bill was transmitted to the House in 2017, adding that “when we have a substantive law, there must be regulations to implement it.

     

  • Lagos and the menace of articulated vehicles

    The menace of articulated vehicles parked indiscriminately on Lagos roads and obstructing the free flow of traffic has now become the new identity of Lagos. Hardly can one move around Lagos without encountering the demonized vehicles causing traffic or being involved in one accident or the other. In Lagos a journey of 20 minutes can turn to three hours in the face of Lagos traffic.

    Since the administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a lot of efforts were made to rid the state of this menace but they have consistently defied solution, with the administration of Akinwunmi Ambode receiving the most bashing in managing the crises.

    The question usually on my mind is how did Lagos get this negative social status? I perceive that there are several factors responsible, with the actions and inactions of the various stakeholders sharing part of the causal factors. Each stakeholder role must be examined thoroughly with a view to finding a lasting solution to this simple problem that has turned complex and has become one of the biggest causes of financial loss to the economy of Lagos.

    Government seems to be the major culprit in the traffic crisis, its role range from bad federal roads to non-functional petroleum assets, to inefficient port management.  The failure of government over the years (not PDP or APC) in maintaining and upgrading the nation’s four refineries is a major factor to the crises. As the nation turned towards importation of refined production to meet its daily demand for products consumption, farm tanks suddenly became a worthy investment with lucrative returns in Nigeria.

    The rate at which petroleum farm tanks are springing up in Lagos is a cause for concern as the number of tanker fire incident is on the rise across the country. It is clear that the farm tank owners and product marketers are not convinced in the government’s ability to stop the importation of petroleum product by fixing the refineries and as such, they are prepared to reap the maximum gain/profit possible with increased investment of farm tanks and associated assets.

    Lagos accommodates most of the farm tanks in Nigeria; many are located in Apapa and Satellite town areas, leading to a lot of tankers parked along the Apapa end of the Lagos Apapa Expressway and the Lagos Badagry expressway causing agonizing traffic for road users and increasing traffic robbery incidents along these routes. The inner roads are not spared; the entire stretch of Old Ojo road in Kuje Amuwo area which is off the Lagos Badagry expressway as well as Satellite town roads are lined with tankers and containers carrying vehicles.

    Petroleum assets consisting of government depots and pipelines are wasting across the country. Many of them have not seen products in several years as pipeline vandals disrupt the pumping of products across the country. I am sure the personnel managing such assets still receive monthly salaries, promotion and exit benefits for doing probably nothing.

    A friend told me that even with the coming up of Dangote refinery, the tank farms will still be relevant in the scheme of things as long as government refineries are in a comatose state.

    Inefficient port operations can also be linked to this crisis. Over the years, port congestion has been a major crisis facing the maritime sector. It seems that the port infrastructure can no longer sustain the maritime traffic and as such bonded warehouses has become the succor to the inefficiency caused by government inability to expand the ports to meet modern demands. The long queue of container laden vehicles on Eko Bridge extending backward to Coastain and National Stadium, inner Apapa down to Boundary area of the notoriously popular Ajegunle can attest to this. Nigeria is largely an importing nation with huge demand for consumption goods, therefore this compounds the situation as Lagos is a desired port of destination. This is the case because Lagos is the state housing two ports capable of handling Roll on Roll off (RoRo) activities.

    Farm tanks owners, truck owners and regulators like DPR, NPA and Customs have equal responsibilities in the issue at hand. Most Nigerian tank farm owners build businesses without giving considerations to other services capable of giving conveniences to customers and general public. Only in Nigeria will a man buy trucks and park them on the roads whilst his personal car is kept safely in his garage. A man builds a N500m tank farm yet cannot provide waiting bays for his customers who are forced to inconvenience other road users. Any attempt by government agencies to arrest these traffic offenders is usually met with stiff opposition from their respective unions who in their sense of entitlement believes they are doing the nation a national service. Most times I wonder if it is that difficult for a business concern to think through his business processes.

    Regulators on their part seem not to give full consideration to the totality of the process, or how else can you explain the siting of over seven farm tanks of mega capacities in a densely populated residential area like Ijegun Egba in Satellite Town? To further compound it all the farms tanks have zero provisions for waiting bays for their customers the least of which are 33,000 litres trucks.

    Another notorious group are truck drivers, this group have very little regard for other road users. They park indiscriminately along the road, using any available space as packing lot to wait for their “loading turn”. And if for any reason a truck breaks down on the road, the whole day is wasted until the truck is repaired usually on the same road.

    Uniform personnel have been reported to be part of the traffic menace. Many are accused of collecting a little “title” from the drivers of articulated vehicles in order to allow them pass through the roads leading to the ports or the farm tanks. Except we want to deny the obvious, the accusation is actually founded, it is sometimes done with collaboration of union officials who for lack of decent office enjoy harassing truck drivers on the road in order to collect their dues before loading. Other lighter factors like the attitude of commercial vehicles who specialise in driving against traffic at the slightest opportunity cannot be underemphasized.

    Attempt should be made to find a lasting solution to the articulated vehicles induced traffic. The immediate expansion of the ports should be considered by the Nigerian Port Authority and the federal government. This will ensure that the maritime traffic is met with adequate port infrastructure capable of decongesting the port and reducing the time spent on entry queues into the port complex. With the ongoing expansion of the Apapa road and Lagos Apapa expressway under the public private sector arrangement, an efficient port operation will better free the gridlock around the port area.

    Government should also consider imposing the duty of building of waiting/parking bay or points on the farm tank operators. It is absurd that a business will exist without providing a reception area for its customers. Operators of farm tanks owe the citizens a duty of making the roads available for all to use and should not consider their private gains over public good. DPR should no longer issue licenses for farm tanks which cannot provide parking areas capable of accommodating at least 50% of their expected daily traffic.

    The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing should embark on immediate repairs and maintenance of all strategic roads that are capable of boosting business and invariably enhancing our GDP. Many of such roads are located in Lagos, thus giving priority attention to Lagos is sacrosanct to the economic development of Nigeria.  More incentives should be offered to private businesses in order to encourage them to partake in the Public Private Partnership arrangement in Infrastructure developments particularly on roads.

    It is also important that all road users have a culture of good road usage. The habits of driving against traffic, indiscriminate parking of vehicles on the roads and careless loading and offloading at various bus-stops by commercial drivers and conductors should be discouraged. Uniform personnel’s should be advised to thoroughly discharge their duties either as traffic management officers or law enforcement officers, this will increase the flow of traffic. Union executives should be asked to keep their union revenue activities off Lagos roads as the revenue generation can be done in more sophisticated manner without obstructing traffic.

    To improve the ease of moving around in Lagos and also stop economic losses arising from the terrible situation in Lagos, all stakeholders must live up to their responsibilities. We are all but guilty but a departure from our old attitude can save more time and money on Lagos roads.

     

    • Odewale ACA resides in Lagos.

  • Menace of drugs resistance

    Sir: Drug-resistant infections are on the rise in the country, adversely affecting human and animal health and also compromising the effective treatment of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. The failure or reduced efficacy of antimicrobial drugs (antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) to effectively combat infections certainly will make treatment of infections expensive, difficult or even impossible and ultimately leading to death. The economy is also not spared in this Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) menace bedeviling humanity thereby creating a source of worry and concern for all.

    Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) is the ability of microbes to grow or resist the effect of drugs. When micro-organisms or some diseases become resistant to a drug that was originally effective for the treatment of infections caused by the micro-organisms, it is termed AMR. This has become a global threat as countries world over have been responding to this health challenge by deploying various AMR action plans.

    A press statement released by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) sometime ago on antimicrobial resistance reads: “The incidence of AMR leads to treatment failure or infections that cannot be easily treated, death and economic loss. This is a real problem in Nigeria because we tend to not finish antibiotic medication or buy only what can be afforded. In a local hospital in Nigeria, it was reported that many neonates or newborn acquire AMR from the mothers during childbirth. The child’s infection ended up not responding to treatment with the usual antibiotics. Many children have died as a result. This is not unique to the hospital; the situation at the particular hospital was just documented through scientific evidence.”

    Our actions as humans increase the development and spread of AMR. For instance, antibiotics are only indicated for treating infections caused by bacteria but we take antibiotics for most infectious diseases, and this causes AMR.

    It is a sad reality that AMR may not be totally eliminated but can be beaten down to large extent with improved technology and continued research on microbial reactions in different environments. An American public servant, Tom Frieden nailed it when he said, “Vaccines and antibiotics have made many infectious diseases a thing of the past; we’ve come to expect that public health and modern science can conquer all microbes. But nature is a formidable adversary!”

    For Nigeria to make a quantum leap in the fight against AMR, the following are required; increased awareness and mass education on AMR, reduction in the excessive use of antimicrobial drugs, surveillance of AMR, placing a ban on the sale of antimicrobial prescription medicines as Over-the-Counter (OTC) drugs, proper legislation by putting agricultural laws in place for farmers and animal feeds producers to stop the use of antibiotics as feed additives except on recommendation by veterinary doctors followed by close monitoring, regulations that limit the discharge of antimicrobial residues into the environment, increased research and development in drugs, reduction of availability and ease of access to antibiotics.

    The federal ministries of health, environment and agriculture, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and NAFDAC all have huge roles to play in ensuring compliance to these requirements.

    We as the citizens must not fold our arms and remain frozen in the ice of the moment forgetting the coming heat. Rather we should lead the fight against this AMR scourge in our body and food. This way, we can boast of a healthy society and bolstered economy.

    Let’s all take action today so that we can have a guaranteed cure tomorrow!

     

    • Kayode Ojewale,

    Idimu, Lagos.

  • Behind the growing menace of political Thugs (1)

    How secret cults, transport unions, others act as breeding grounds for thuggery

    Armed youths, including street urchins, motor park touts, ex-militants, members of transport unions and cultists recruited by unscrupulous politicians as thugs to harass opponents and commit electoral fraud are metamorphosing into armed robbers, kidnappers and other forms of anti-social elements, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.

    It was a few minutes past 1 pm on January 23, 2015. High-spirited members of an independent campaign team of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) converged on Mosan-Okunola Local Council Development Area in Lagos. With a band and a convoy of cars, they moved round the neighbourhoods of the council area, canvassing votes for the party’s governorship candidate, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.

    But the carnival-like rally was soon turned into a scary adventure at Boys Town axis of Ipaja-Ayobo Road as the campaigners were attacked by thugs who were driving past in some vehicles with the inscription of People’s Democratic Party (PDP). They did not only confront the campaigners, they started shooting sporadically, killing one person, injuring five others and vandalising no fewer than 10 vehicles.

    Panic-stricken residents of the neighbourhood scampered into safety as the deceased person was shot for displaying APC sourvenirs. Even the incumbent Lagos State Commissioner for Employment and Wealth Creation, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, only escaped death by a whisker as the thugs chased after her car.

    An eyewitness of the incident had said: “The APC members were holding a peaceful rally to solicit support for their candidates in the impending elections when they were attacked by PDP supporters who were also passing by. As a matter of fact, the PDP supporters were heading towards Iyana Ipaja in their vehicles when they suddenly turned back and ran after the APC supporters.

    “Before we knew what was happening, the PDP thugs had opened fire on the APC campaigners, resulting in the death of an innocent resident, while about five persons were injured. Two of the victims are now in critical conditions. Ten vehicles were vandalised while the people injured have been taken to a hospital.”

    National menace

    In a similar incident, armed thugs on October 25, 2017 attacked members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who had converged on the presidential campaign office of the former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido. Lamido had gone to the campaign office to inspect ongoing work at the building located on Rabbah Road and was welcomed by a crowd of supporters. The attack came shortly after Lamido addressed his supporters at the occasion.

    In Ebonyi State, no fewer than five persons were injured at Ugwulangwu area of Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state by suspected political thugs working for the PDP on February 5, 2018. The victims included Paul Okorie, Nnachi Okoro, John Ogbonnaya, and two other members of the party. The gun-wielding thugs numbering more than 30 were said to have brutalised the victims who ended up with varying degrees of injuries.

    Speaking to newsmen on the incident, Okorie recalled that the attackers invaded the venue where party members were holding a meeting preparatory to the visit of the APC State Working Committee members scheduled for February 9.

    He said: “We had scheduled a meeting of a section of Ohaozara Local Government Area of APC for the three wards in Ugwulangwu, preparatory to the visit of the SWC of our party for the continuous voter registration sensitisation exercise.

    “The meeting commenced peacefully at about 5 pm and was going on smoothly when midway, some hoodlums came in and disrupted it.

    “At a point, they went back and we thought they had gone and continued with our meeting. But suddenly, they came in with more than 30 men in three branded buses, all armed with different kinds of dangerous weapons.

    “They shot sporadically and we were thoroughly clubbed and beaten. You can see the cuts and bruises all over my body. They escaped in their vehicles and also took our mobile phones, money and other valuables.”

    Destruction of democratic institutions

    Like the attack in Lagos, politicians all over the country are in the habit of using thugs to intimidate the opposition during party primaries or electioneering campaigns. But their activities are not restricted to violent attacks on the opposition to their principals. Events in the recent past have shown that thugs are also hired to snatch ballot boxes, aid stuffing of ballot boxes, seize the mace and disrupt proceedings during plenary sessions in legislative houses.

    In 2005, chaos took over Ibadan, Oyo State capital, when thugs, led by one Lateef Eleweomo, a loyalist of the deceased strong man of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, invaded the Oyo State House of Assembly in broad daylight, chased out majority of the lawmakers and aided renegade lawmakers who were clearly in the minority to preside over the adoption of impeachment motion of the then governor of the state, Senator Rasheed Ladoja. Policemen drafted to the scene could not salvage the situation as the armed thugs who had gained control of the assembly complex exchanged fire with the minions of law.

    In a gestapo manner during the 2015 general elections in Ebonyi State, suspected thugs invaded many polling booths, carting away ballot boxes and other electoral materials. At Onuwakpu Market Square in Ikwo Local Government Area, hoodlums wielding AK-47 rifles, shot into the air to scare voters and officials away before snatching the materials.

    Similar incidents were witnessed at Nsokara in Ezza South Local Government Area and in other parts of the state. The member representing Ikwo/Ezza South Constituency, Tob Okwuru, said the attacks were perpetrated by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    In a similar vein, armed men suspected to be political thugs reportedly snatched ballot boxes during the 2015 re-run election for governorship and House of Assembly in Ogbor Uvuru, Aboh Mbaise, LGA and Omuma Oru East Council area of Imo State.

    In another instance, suspected thugs recently invaded the Senate chamber of the National Assembly on April 18, 2018, forcibly carting away the mace, the parliamentary instrument of authority, during plenary. The incident, which coincided with the unexpected entry of the then suspended Senator Ovie Omo- Agege, caused a temporary suspension of plenary as senators went into executive session.

    Deadly assignments

    While political thugs are usually well mobilised with money and ammunition, not a few of them have met their waterloo in the course of executing their benefactors’ assignments.

    For instance, the crisis rocking the Oyo State chapter of PDP ended on a fatal note on December 30, 2010 after a former Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Oyo State, Alhaji Lateef Salako a.k.a. Eleweomo,  and two others loyal to some warring chieftains of the party were killed during the local government congress of the party. On the same day, an ex-Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin, escaped death when some gun-wielding hoodlums ambushed him during the conduct of the election. Two of his supporters were however shot dead by thugs while about 20 vehicles were reported burnt.

    It was the same scenario in Lagos last year during the councillorship primaries of the ruling APC when suspected thugs shot dead a chieftain of NURTW, Rasaq Bello, vaka Hamburger, in the Shogunle area of Oshodi. A fight was said to have broken out at the venue of the poll between two rival groups- Saka/Oposun led by the deceased and Golden Boys led by a youth called Samson. The two groups were allegedly recruited by the party’s aspirants to intimidate each other’s supporters when a brawl ensued and Hamburger was gruesomely killed.

    In Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Lagos State, suspected thugs also set ablaze the council secretariat in Festac Town in protest against the election while parts of Mushin Local Government Area witnessed chaos as thugs disrupted the exercise.

    How they are recruited

    Misguided unemployed youths, motor park touts, street urchins, members of Leader, Teslim Folarin, escaped death when some gun-wielding hoodlums ambushed him during the conduct of the election. Two of his supporters were however shot dead by thugs while about 20 vehicles were reported burnt.

    It was the same scenario in Lagos last year during the councillorship primaries of the ruling APC when suspected thugs shot dead a chieftain of NURTW, Rasaq Bello, vaka Hamburger, in the Shogunle area of Oshodi. A fight was said to have broken out at the venue of the poll between two rival groups- Saka/Oposun led by the deceased and Golden Boys led by a youth called Samson. The two groups were allegedly recruited by the party’s aspirants to intimidate each other’s supporters when a brawl ensued and Hamburger was gruesomely killed.

    In Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Lagos State, suspected thugs also set ablaze the council secretariat in Festac Town in protest against the election while parts of Mushin Local Government Area witnessed chaos as thugs disrupted the exercise.

    How they are recruited

    Misguided unemployed youths, motor park touts, street urchins, members of transport unions, land grabbers, ex-militants and cult members in tertiary institutions are usually recruited by politicians into their standing ‘army’. They are contracted as mercenaries or personal security aides and are provided with arms or weapons to brutally attack or intimidate perceived opponents.

    Indeed, street urchins and members of transport unions often openly display their loyalty to certain politicians and the political party they belong to. At the snap of their principals’ fingers, political thugs unleash terror on rival politicians, some of which result in fatality.

    At times, in order to shield them from public suspicion, leading political thugs, including ‘repentant’ militants, are offered appointments as aides to governors, commissioners, ministers or high ranking politicians.

    For instance, a dreaded militant leader in Benue State, Terwase Akwaza, popular known as Gana, became a security aide to the state’s governor, Samuel Ortom, after he embraced an amnesty programme of the state governor for militant youths. The Tiv militant was saddled with the responsibility of convincing other armed youths to embrace the amnesty programme and return their weapons. The governor also ensured that he was provided with adequate security, a car and other financial perks so that he would not be tempted to go back to crime.

    It however turned out that Gana was later fingered for his alleged complicity in the killing of the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Governor Ortom on Special Security, Igbana Denen, a retired police sergeant, and has since bolted without a trace.

    Another trick by politicians is to register their mercenaries into an amorphous organisation through which they operate and fight their battles at all times. A typical example is the recent revelation by Ayoade Akinnibosun, one of the suspects arrested in connection with the robbery of some banks in Offa, Kwara State recently, who claimed to be the leader of a group of thugs allegedly working for the Senate President under the name, Liberation Youth Movement Kwara South.

    Akinnibosun had said: ”I am the chairman of Liberation Youth Movement Kwara South. My involvement with the Senate President, we are his boys! We work for him at Kwara South. We are the ones that hold Kwara South for him. We have been working for him since we were in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); it has been long, when he was governor of Kwara State.

    “We are the ones that do political arrangement for him. For example, where we can’t win, we make ‘dabaru’ arrangement there…we scatter elections if we don’t win.” Saraki has however denied links with the suspects, alleging that they were being linked with him because of his tiff with the Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Idris.

     

  • Tackling public health menace of flavoured cigarettes

    Tackling public health menace of flavoured cigarettes

    There are clear pointers to the resurgence of illicit trading in tobacco. For stakeholders, the resurgence represents a major setback given the huge successes recorded in reducing the volume of illicit cigarettes to less than 20 percent in Nigeria in the last few decades, through multilateral collaboration and consistent clampdown on the trade by regulatory bodies. Prior to this period, the average volume of illicit cigarettes smuggled into the Nigerian market averaged 80 percent of the product consumed in the country. However, the success recorded in stemming the trade is being rolled back as flavoured cigarettes flood the Nigerian market.

    The sale and spread of flavoured cigarettes is, no doubt, an alarming dimension to the problem. They are outlawed in Nigeria and declared as contraband by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON). Flavoured cigarettes give off a pleasant aroma when lit and have a strong appeal, especially for children, and may seem a safer alternative to conventional cigarette. However, the flavouring masks the pungent taste of the tobacco, which is manufactured in flavours such as strawberry, vanilla, orange, cherry, chocolate, etc. that are particularly attractive to the target demographic. For this reason, the health consequences for the youth and children can be very grave.

    In different parts of the world, concerted efforts have been made through new regulatory provisions to discourage underage people from smoking. In the United States, for example, as part of a national effort to reduce smoking in the country, on September 22, 2009, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed a ban on cigarettes containing certain flavours. The ban was authorised by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA).

    This special rule for cigarettes prohibits cigarettes or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter, or paper) from containing, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavour or a herb or spice, which is attractive to children.

    FDA’s ban on certain flavoured cigarettes highlights the importance of reducing the number of children who start to smoke and who become addicted to dangerous tobacco products and should serve as a model for other countries where this menace is prevalent.

    It is important to note that flavoured cigarettes are clearly outlawed via Nigeria’s National Tobacco Control Act (TCA). It is clearly outlined in Sections E and G of Part 1 of the TCA. Some of the major objectives of the Act include “discouraging smoking initiation” and ensuring that “tobacco or tobacco products are not designed in any way that make them more addictive, especially to persons who are below 18 years of age.” However, implementation of this regulatory provision is yet to gain weight.

    Despite an alert by SON to the general public on the proliferation of the variants, sometime last year, importers of the brand have continued to trade the products. Quite worrisome is the extent to which some unscrupulous importers are willing to go in misleading SON and the general public by circumventing the law in a bid to hide the fact that their products are flavoured.

    In the past, these importers had breached this provision through devious means by not properly declaring the products for which license is procured; for instance, by using a licence for a non-flavoured brand to import a flavoured product. SON has repeatedly confirmed that the constituents of these brands of cigarettes are not in conformity with the regulatory requirements.

    The danger of flavoured cigarettes becomes clearer when viewed through the prism of illicit trade in cigarettes. Like illicit trade in conventional cigarettes, flavoured cigarettes are not licensed by regulatory authority and are usually trafficked illegally. The cigarettes have either been smuggled, counterfeited or have evaded duties after being legitimately manufactured in another country. They are priced much cheaper than approved cigarettes, and are not subjected to stringent regulation in the form of health warnings, product checks, or age verification before purchase. The greatest consequence is the fact that it robs government of its much-needed revenue as importers of flavoured cigarettes usually evade taxes.

    Moreover, compliance with prevailing industrial hygiene and safety standards is usually low. It is also important to note that proceeds from illicit trade in tobacco are used by criminal organisations to fund criminal activities such as global terrorism, human trafficking and money laundering. A 2012 Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum further affirmed that “illicit trade is a big source of revenue for transnational criminal networks.”

    Nigeria is losing grip on the battle against illicit trade in tobacco products as its porous land borders, poor intelligence network and corruption of due process have conspired to strengthen the sale of such tobacco products.

    The problem requires concerted efforts by government, civil society groups and the private sector to tackle. There is a need for greater collaboration between agencies and stakeholders in the law enforcement business, which include the Nigerian Customs Service, the Nigerian Police, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), in ensuring that smugglers and dealers trading banned tobacco products do not compromise health standards. Lately, there has been a noticeable relaxation of the strategy adopted by a special task force set up by SON and CPC in the past, which includes constant raids on dealers in illicit tobacco products in some parts of the country as well as distribution of flyers with visuals for semi-literate and literate consumers for public enlightenment on flavoured cigarettes. No doubt, through this approach huge mileage was gained in curbing the proliferation and consumption of the product as it served as a deterrent to other offenders.

    The increasing call for the implementation of the NTCA 2015 should not be limited to only the restriction of public smoking, but should also take into consideration this critical element of the regulation, which protects children from the allure of cigarettes.

     

    • Nwadike sent this piece from Lagos.
  • Global child labourers hit 152m as ILO lists path to tackle menace

    Global child labourers hit 152m as ILO lists path to tackle menace

    Child labourers across the world have grown to 152 million, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said.

    A new report by the global job watch body noted that child labour declined in 2000, but the pace slowed down between 2012 and 2016. On current trends, 121 million children would still be engaged in child labour in 2025.

    However, the report stressed the need for improving legal protections, labour market governance, social protections, access to quality education and social dialogue between governments, the social partners and other stakeholders are critical aspects in battling child labour.

    The report was published as delegates gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina for an international conference on the eradication of child labour.

    The ILO has called for stepped-up efforts to “consign child labour to the dustbin of history,” in a report released to coincide with the IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour, held in Buenos Aires recently.

    “We are moving in the right direction, but we have to do so at a much faster rate,” the ILO said in its report Ending child labour by 2015: A review of policies and programmes.

    The report lists four key policy ‘pillars’ in the fight against child labour: Boosting legal protections, improving the governance of labour markets and family enterprises, strengthening social protection and investing in free, quality education.

    The report insisted that legislation alone cannot eradicate child labour, but at the same time, it won’t be possible to eradicate child labour without effective legislation.

    More than 99.9 per cent of the world’s children aged 5-17 years are covered by the ILO’s Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No..182), which 181 countries have ratified. Also widely ratified is the Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, 1973 (No. 138), which 170 countries have ratified.

    ILO observed that turning the standards into national laws remains a major challenge, as is ensuring effective monitoring and enforcement of existing child labour laws.

    “There is also a need for stronger labour inspection systems as it rarely reaches workplaces in the informal economy, where most child labour is found.”

  • Erosion menace

    • Time to use Ecology Fund specifically for ecological purposes

    Erosion menace in the South-east and South-south is assuming a frightening dimension, and governments at the federal, state and local levels must rekindle their efforts to arrest the situation. Also, community-based associations must show interest. Part of the challenge in the past was the abuse of the Ecological Fund. Indeed, the departed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) treated it as a slush fund. We bet that many of the states which have communities in the throes of extinction as a result of erosion joined in the reverie of merriment while tragedy loomed. That must stop.

    The recent effort by Igbo Improvement Union (Oganiru Ndigbo) to sensitise the people of the South-east on the menace of erosion is a step in the right direction. Other community-based associations should show interest, and partner with governments to solve the problem. The call for tree planting and strict monitoring of erosion control projects is right. Also, the call to monitor road construction with respect to providing water channels should be followed by communities. Erosion has wiped out private homes, schools, churches and public buildings and climate change can only make it worse.

    The government of Muhammadu Buhari after redressing the injustice of the past, in the distribution of the Ecological Fund, must now return the funds to its original purpose. The fund should only be used for restitution where ecological tragedy beckons or strikes. The era of public officials shamelessly dipping their filthy fingers into the fund to satiate greed, instead of filling gorges created by erosion should end. Those who unlawfully took from the fund in the past should be made to account.

    The ministries of environment at the federal and state levels must work in synergy, to stem the tide. Part of the challenge is that instead of being proactive, the relevant agencies have been reactive. They only act when communities are threatened or gone under, instead of stopping the advance. We believe that a detailed mapping of the affected areas and a study of the pattern of movement of erosion will help stem it. Where a likely partway is detected, some reinforcement could save lives and property.

    Such studies will also warn communities likely to be affected by erosion to work to change the causes. Where there are contributory factors, like channelling of storm water, over-cultivation of land or similar manmade causes, the community could be counselled to stop them. Also, where reinforcement of gorges could save the situation, or relocation is the only solution, necessary steps could be taken before tragedy strikes. The present instances of sudden and severe danger confronting communities, show lack of organisation.

    It is also unacceptable that with faculties of soil science and other related disciplines in many of our universities, we are unable to develop some sturdy weeds or other scientific breakthroughs to stem the menace of erosion. Even as federal and state agencies take measures to control erosion, universities and other research institutes should devote resources to understudy and find scientific ways to deal with the problem. Part of the Ecological Fund can be used to fund universities and research institutes in that respect.

    The immediate step however is to return Ecological Fund to its constitutional purpose. It should no longer be a slush fund for party politics. It should be strictly for ecologically challenged states, and specifically to address ecology problems. The notion of giving it to party faithful or as a presidential largesse to governors who are in good standing with the president should seize.

    President Buhari has the moral character to stop the abuse and restore the fund to its pristine purpose.

  • Tackling the menace of building collapse

    Tackling the menace of building collapse

    Worried by the resurgence of building collapse across the country, stakeholders in the construction industry are canvassing appropriate standards in the sector. They are also proffering training, retraining and certification of personnel in construction to stem the tide, writes MUYIWA LUCAS.

    Building collapse has remained a source of concern to many stakeholders and the government. This is mainly because of the  lives lost in some instances and the financial setback as well as the psychological impact on the citizenry.

    This is why states, especially Lagos, have provided guidelines on land use designation to guarantee orderliness in development. It is believed in some quarters that the state’s Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development (MPP&UD)’s rapid response to requests for planning information ensures that the public is adequately informed on land use zoning, permissible use, plot size, building coverage and height, setback, airspace and parking requirements, in addition to other sundry standards for potential developments. These have helped in curtailing ibuilding collapse in the state.

    This position was re-echoed by the state’s Commissioner for physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Abiola Anifowoshe, who, in April, this year, at a ministerial briefing to commemorate Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration’s second anniversary, rejoiced that “there was no single case of building collapse in the state in the last one year.”

    Although Anifowoshe’s submission went unchallenged, not many agreed with his position. In a twist of fate, barely 24 hours after his submission, a building under construction in Lekki area partially collapsed. The building is at NICON Town Estate, off Admiralty Way, Lekki.

    Again, on May 29, 2017, a three-storey building at 24, Daddy Aladja Street, Oke Arin on Lagos Island, undergoing renovation collapsed. Similarly, on July 22, 2017, another building went down at 7, Saidu Okeleji Street, Meiran in Agbado Oke -Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of the state. Also, on July 25, 2017, another building at No 3, Massey Street, Lagos Island, collapsed in the morning, during a rainstorm. The structure was initially planned for a three-storey building before another floor was added to make it four.  Another three-storey building on August 28, 2017, at Saka Oloro Street, Ilufe Road, Alaba International Market, Ojoo, collapsed.

    The seeming resurgence of building collapse in the state, according to the second Vice- President of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr. Kunle Awobodu,  was not unexpected. He explained that going by the trend, only the unconcerned, who are not monitoring construction activities in the state, would be deceived by the temporary respite in building collapse.

    He warned that barring any shoring or stability mechanism, sub-standard buildings constructed in the past would eventually fail, leading to collapse, adding that what boggled built environment observers’ minds was that building collapse resumed after the Lagos State Government recruited 395 construction professionals, mostly young graduates, to improve on the monitoring capacity of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LABSCA).

    “The irony is compounded by the fact that the buildings that have been falling lately were those under construction. From the Building Collapse and Prevention Guild record, 81 buildings collapsed in Nigeria in the past five years,” he noted.

    Awobodu, who is also the president of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), blamed the recurring menace on challenges of enforcingf building laws. He said the absence of a building code, which ought to guide building construction in the country has been an encumbrance.

    He added that nations with effective building codes hardly have cases of building collapse. The NIOB chief is convinced that if the National Building Code could be passed into law and abided by, the frequency of substandard construction would be very low.

    He, however, explained that it was pertinent to understand the significant difference between monitoring of building development and supervision or management of building production process. The latter, he said, is the appropriate approach to ascertaining constant quality control on site, which unfortunately has been stifled by quackery and flagrant non-compliance to due process.

    Monitoring of sites by government officials, he said, is at intervals and mainly to verify the conformity of building construction with the approved building plan.

    According to him, the frequent failure of pile foundations in recent time aroused the interest of BCPG Kosofe Cell which covers an expanse of weak soil terrain. The cell, he further said, organised a well-publicised forum where deep foundation practitioners, drillers, rig operators and other stakeholders revealed some sharp practices in the geo-technical and foundation sector. The consensus was a clarion call to the government to sanitise that sector.

    Also identified is the lack of maintenance. To tackle this, the BCPG Ikeja Cell, according to Awobodu, organised a seminar, which attracted estate managers, landlords, landladies, building professionals and other stakeholders. The need for building owners and managers to allocate or reserve a percentage of the rent for maintenance of their buildings was also emphasised.

    To Awobodu, the use of sub-standard sandcrete blocks for building also causes building collapse. “The prevalence of sub-standard blocks in the building market due to rising cost of block production, especially cement price prompted the BCPG Igando- Ikotun Cell to organise a workshop for block moulders or manufacturers on the importance of quality.

    “It, therefore, recommended the institution of block production monitoring mechanism by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and other relevant agencies,”he said.

    Awobodu further disclosed that in July, the BCPG Ikorodu Cell addressed the issue of quality in steel reinforcement bars. “Some of the reinforcement bars being used for construction are produced from scraps. Steel manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, construction professionals and iron benders were in attendance to educate the people more,”he said.

    To him, the solutions to building collapse should be derived from its causes. “If competent professionals are backed by the law to handle construction, from design through to post construction stages, there would be less crisis in the building construction sphere of Nigeria. The responsibility of appropriate designs should rest on qualified architects and engineers while that of the building production management should be borne by the professional resident builders,” Awobodu said.

    The BCPG Technical Committees, he said, investigated the collapsed Synagogue Church building and that of Lekki Gardens. “The BCPG reports, which unravelled the actual causes of the two collapses, are currently being used by the government in the prosecution of the two cases in court,” he said.

    This is a departure from the past where developers of collapsed buildings were left un-prosecuted.

    The National Board of Technical Education, he said, has evolved a system of assessing the competence of building artisans towards skills and knowledge upgrade, through its National Vocational Qualifications Framework. “The NIOB is saddled with the responsibility of awarding the certificates, which naturally will help overcome the challenges of poor workmanship in the Nigerian building construction industry,” he said.

    According to Awobodu, the BCPG, a non-government organisation, with special interest in construction, has a philosophy which focuses on prevention rather than solution after collapse, adding that being proactive is better than a reactive approach.

    This, to him, is why the organisation has been embarking on activities, which promote standard construction in Nigeria. “For instance, builders and carpenters identified some faults in the timber products being used for roofing. Sizes of woods have been reduced below the recommended standards. Moreover, immature trees were being logged  and sold to the market. These shortcomings have undermined the resistance of some roof to severe wind pressure, leading to collapse,”he said.

    Attempts by The Nation to speak with Anifowoshe in the last three months have met brick walls, as questionnaire sent to him by email through the Ministry’s public affairs department and subsequent reminders have remained unanswered up till the time of going to press. The public affairs department was also several times contacted on phone but was told Anifowoshe was on Umrah (less hajj). Calls after his return from the trip also yielded no positive response.

    However, going by LABSCA’s recent activities, a respite might be in the offing. Last month, the Agency began the first phase of demolition of distressed houses across the state. The agency has identified 114 buildings to be demolished in the state, with approval for 57 to be demolished in the first phase of the exercise.

    According to LASBCA’s General Manager Lekan Shodeinde, the demolition will be done in phases immediately funding is available to the agency. “We have approval to pull down 57 houses, but we are starting with 13 out of the 34 buildings we have identified on the Lagos Island and which we have fund for. So, as we get more funds we will continue with the exercise,” he said.

  • The Badoo menace

    •Police and other agencies must re-jig the security system in Lagos State

    Their reported criminal acts seem like some surreal scene from the fantasy world of horror fiction. But the blood-chilling activities of a strange cult group known as Badoo, operating largely in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State is a sad reality. Members of this murderous confraternity are not content simply to kill innocent citizens or dispossess them of their property. Rather, they smash the heads of   their victims with heavy stones and soak up their blood and brain substances in handkerchiefs that are reportedly sold to those who use them for ritual purposes.

    The satanic gang has been wreaking havoc and has taken no less than 26 lives at will in isolated communities within and around Ikorodu since 2016, but their barbarity has grown in intensity and impunity over the last few weeks.

    About three weeks ago, the Badoo cult members reportedly murdered a pastor by smashing his head in the Lasuwon area of First Gate in Ikorodu while also killing a woman and her children in the Adamo area of the community. In a disturbing development, the cult demonstrated that its savagery may not be limited to Ikorodu alone as they attacked two churches in Owode Onirin area of the state, killing a woman, Iya Dabira, her nine-month old baby, Dabira, and a one year-old boy, Ayomide, utilising their beastly methods.

    Feeling vulnerable and apparently losing faith in the capacity of the security agencies to adequately protect them, residents in the affected and neighbouring communities have taken their fate in their hands by resorting to self-help. During the week, two suspected members of the group were caught and set ablaze by angry mobs in Igbo-Oluwo Estate, Ikorodu, and Ogijo, a border town in Ogun State. They were reportedly caught naked by vigilante groups in the dead of night with liquid substances believed to be engine oil rubbed on their bodies and armed with heavy stones. It is estimated that over the last week, no less than six persons suspected to be Badoo members have been lynched in Ikorodu.

    Unfortunately, the resort to mob justice has its own deleterious drawbacks. For one, it is so easy for innocent citizens to be killed on the basis of mere suspicion. This was probably the case with one Paul Chinedu, alias Mc Think Twice, who was reportedly killed along with two of his friends, as suspected Badoo members, on Oju-Emuren Street at Odogunyan in Ikorodu. Again, if those lynched by enraged mobs are indeed members of the cult, the security agencies are denied the opportunity of extracting useful information from them that could help in exterminating the cult. Even more dangerously, the practice of jungle justice draws the entire community down to the beastly level of the cultists, further devaluing the worth of human life.

    Given the level of funding and equipping of the police and other security agencies by the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode administration, there is no excuse for the rampant cases of kidnapping and murderous cultism, particularly in the Epe/Ikorodu axis of the state. It is time for the security agencies to be more proactive as well as work with better synergy to curb crime in the state.

    We equally urge the newly established Neighbourhood Safety Corps in Lagos State to quickly settle down and make its protective presence felt across communities in the state. While we commend the arrest of 138 Badoo suspects in a joint operation by security agencies in the state, we caution that each case be meticulously investigated so that the innocent can be set free and only those adjudged as having genuine cases to answer are brought before the law.

    The Badoo menace is another manifestation of the excessive materialism of our society and the readiness of the youth in particular to accumulate wealth by all means, no matter how devilish. It must be nipped in the bud now.