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Tag: negligence

  • Falana and tort of negligence

    Falana and tort of negligence

    FEW weeks ago, Femi Falana, SAN, foremost human rights activist and legal practitioner extraordinaire who has substantially devoted his time, talent, training and treasure to fight the cause of the downtrodden, broke his knee in a manhole in front of his Abuja office. Since the incident, he has hobbled with his knee in a Plaster of Paris (POP) and a walking stick. Narrating his ordeal, Falana recounts that the manhole which appeared as part of the normal road caved in as he stepped on it.

    Expressing surprise that a road could be constructed with such a manhole not properly secured, or a notice given, Falana decided to approach the court to ventilate his grievance and seek redress. As he pointed out, the primary motive for instituting an action and seeking remedy against the road builder and the road owner is to compel them to realise that they owe a duty of care against road users. He believes that any person affected by a negligent conduct of a public authority, owe a social duty, to hold the authority accountable, which in turn compels efficiency.

    Without prejudice to the particularity of Falana’s claim and the defence available to the defendants, I will in this piece examine the basic provisions of Law of Tort on Negligence.  As posited by learned author, Professor Ese Malami: “the purpose of the tort of negligence is to identify breach of a duty of care, and offer remedy to a person who has suffered harm. In other words, the purpose of the law of negligence is to offer remedy to a person who has suffered harm, because of a breach of a duty of care.”

    From the definition, the purpose of the tort of negligence is to hold accountable any person who has the responsibility to exercise the duty of care in his conduct. Where for instance, a person acts negligently or carelessly, and a person suffers damages as a result of such a negligent conduct, the tort of negligence provides legal opportunity for the claimant to seek damages. Of note, it is not all negligent acts that give right to damages. For the negligent act to be actionable, the defendant must owe the claimant a duty of care.

    Defining negligence, Akpata JSC, in Odinaka vs Moghalu, (1992) 4 NWLR part 233, page 1, stated: “Negligence is the omission … to do something which a reasonable man under similar circumstances would do or, the doing of something which a reasonable and prudent man would not do.” In Heaven vs Pender (1883) 11 QBD 503 at 507 CA, Brett MR, held: “Actionable negligence consists in the neglect of the use of ordinary care or skill towards a person to whom the defendant owes the duty of observing ordinary care and skill, by which neglect the plaintiff, without contributory negligence on his part, has suffered injury to his person or property.”

    It will be jurisprudentially significant, if the courts begin to award damages for the varied and rampant grievous neglect of duty of care by public authorities. Travelling on federal, state and local highways, drivers and passengers are confronted with unannounced craters on the highways which have caused the loss of several lives and properties. Until President Olusegun Obasanjo brought them down, most of those death traps were tolled.

    Interestingly, the Minister for Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola SAN, has announced that the toll gates are coming back after the roads are repaired. While many Nigerians may have reservations about the return of toll gates which were sited discriminately, those who ply the affected roads will feel more offended if bad roads are also tolled. But it will open a new chapter, if persons who suffer damages as a result of the bad roads could maintain an action against the road builders and the road owners.

    But of course, the tort of negligence is not a floodgate for every loss. To successfully maintain an action, there are basic principles which must apply before a claimant could succeed. Again, Professor Malami, in his book: Law of Tort lists the conditions thus: that the defendant owed a duty of care to the claimant, that the defendant breached the duty of care and that the defendant suffered damage as a result of the breach.

    As Lord Esher MR, stated in Le Lievre vs Gould (1893) 1 QB 491 AT 497: “a man is entitled to be as negligent as he pleases towards the whole world, if he owes no duty to them.” Many Nigerians will anxiously await the pronouncement of the court, whether the builder and owner of a highway owe a duty of care to a road user, on reasonable warranty of the safety of the road? When road signs are placed on the highways warning users approaching a bend, a bridge, a hill or sharp descent, are those acts exercise of duty of care?

    The duty of care was defined by Lord Atkin, in his famous dictum in Donoghue vs Stevenson (1932) AC 562 HL, where he said: “The rule that you are to love your neighbour became in law, you must not injure your neighbour…. Who, then in law is my neighbour? The answer seems to be persons who are so closely and directly affected by my acts that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called to questions.”

    In practice, it appears the duty of care in tort of negligence is defined more widely by courts when it has to do with private persons unlike public authorities. Perhaps that explains the higher level of negligence by public authorities. But with the conduct of public institutions causing citizens grievous damages, the time appears ripe for holding them more accountable for negligent conducts. One area the law should be vigorously explored is the criminal negligence of public utility companies like electricity providers.

    It is heart-rending when an electricity surge for instance, causes heavy damage to factory machines or even home appliances. It should be unacceptable that after paying for electricity, one has no idea when the services paid for would be available, such that perishable items stored in the freezer goes to waste. It will be interesting if customers of electricity distribution companies can successfully maintain an action in Tort, against the service provider, apart from rights arising from breach of contract.

    If Femi Falana SAN can successfully maintain an action for the negligent conduct of the road builder and road owner for the harm caused him, the case will be precedence for Nigerians suffering in silence from the negligent acts of state actors. To succeed however, the limitation imposed by the doctrine of public policy which Lord Denning referred to in Dorset Yacht Co. Ltd vs Home Office (1969) 2 QB 412 at 426 must be expounded in his favour.

  • How power outage, negligence aid suspects’ escape from police custody

    How power outage, negligence aid suspects’ escape from police custody

    Rising cases of suspects’ escape from the police custody across the country has a linkage with electricity outage and negligence, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.

    THE time was 1:50 a.m on October 18, 2016. A cacophony of voices had roused 59-year-old Lukman Abagun from his sleep. Unknown to him, some sons from hell had broken into his home on Adeola Street in Ayobo-Ipaja Local Council Development Area of Lagos State. The suspected robbers gained entrance into the house through the kitchen and grabbed one of his daughters, Aminat, who was awake at the time.

    After giving the girl the beating of her life, the gang asked Aminat to lead them to her father’s bedroom. They threatened to kill her should Abagun refuse to come out of his bedroom. After waiting for him to step out of his bedroom to no avail, the robbers forced their way into his bedroom and pounced on the retired staff of the Federal Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism with machetes, and accused him of apprehending one of them during a robbery operation in the community, before collecting two mobile phones belonging to him and his daughter. The robbers ran away when Abagun’s wife, Sofiyat, and daughter screamed for help.

    Abagun was found unconscious in a pool of blood when neighbours moved into his apartment to rescue him. The fleeing hoodlums promised to return to kill Abagun. The robbers left some materials, including a pair of canvas and clothes, in Abagun’s compound as they fled.

    Abagun, who bled profusely, was rushed to Akanbi Hospital in Ayobo, where doctors battled to stabilise him. For two days, he could not open his eyes as a result of the injury inflicted on him by the robbers.

    It turned out that the leader of the gang, John Solomon Olugbemi, had been arrested about two months earlier by Abagun and handed over to the Ayobo Police Division, but he was said to have mysteriously escaped from custody while the police promised to re-arrest him.

    As the story goes, Olugbemi had attempted to scale a perimeter fence when he was being chased by residents for leading his gang to rob a house in the neighbourhood on August 26, 2016

    The suspect was handed over to the police but he allegedly escaped from the police custody the following day. Bent on making Abagun pay for apprehending him, he led his gang to attack Abagun.

    In November 2016, Olugbemi again led his gang to rob residents of Itele, a community in Ogun State, which shares boundary with Ayobo area of Lagos State. He was however arrested by the operatives of the Itele Police Division.

    Like Olugbemi, a suspect, Sunday Olawale, who allegedly attacked a 72-year-old, Olufemi Oladipo Fayiga, in the Ikotun area of Lagos State, was said to have escaped from the police custody shortly after he was arrested by men of the Rapid Responsible Squad (RRS).

    Olawale was said to have attacked Pa Fayiga at his residence on 3, Lawal Street, Ikotun, following a controversial disconnection of electricity supply to his father’s house on the same street. The suspect was taken to Ikotun Police Division by RRS operatives and handed over to the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) of the station.

    But men of the station claimed the suspect escaped through the station’s back door, shortly after he was interrogated on Wednesday December 7, 2016.

    A senior officer at the station, who spoke anonymously to The Nation, said the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) handling the case committed professional blunder leading to the suspect’s escape.

    Pa Fayiga said: “He struggled with the RRS operatives and even injured himself in the process. However, he was taken to Ikotun Police Station and we were at the station for about four hours during which he was taken into a room for interrogation at nightfall. Then there was a blackout and while we were waiting at the front desk of the station, one Sergeant Osahon told us that the suspect had escaped through the back of the station into the nearby secretariat of Igando/ Ikotun Local Council Development Area and could not be re-arrested.”

    The mysterious escape of suspects from police custody is not limited to Lagos. In Akwa Ibom State, a suspected robber identified simply as Frank, was said to have escaped from Oruk Anam Police Division on August 28, 2017, where he was detained shortly after he was reportedly arrested during a robbery at St. Patrick Quasi Catholic Parish, Obio Ndot, in the Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. He allegedly bolted through the roof of the police cell.

    The suspect and his boys who had been terrorising Oruk Anam and other communities had earlier allegedly attacked the church and carted away the money realised during its harvest service.

    After the initial attack, the church beefed up its security leading to the arrest of the suspect when he again attacked the church at midnight while his boys escaped.  He was almost lynched by a mob, but the church leaders intervened and handed him over to the police. However, he allegedly mysteriously escaped from police custody.

    A few weeks ago, the police in Rivers State declared a manhunt for 23-year-old Ifeanyi Dike, who escaped from the custody of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) on Saturday August 19, 2017, few hours after he was arrested for the alleged ritual killing of an eight-year-old girl in Port Harcourt.

    Dike was arrested by members of a vigilance group with a bag containing the mutilated body of the little girl, Chikamso Victory, while he was attempting to dispose of it after he allegedly cut off the vagina, fingers, breasts, and tongue.

    He was said to have raped the girl before killing her. His escape led to the sack and arraignment of a police sergeant investigating the ritual murder, Johnbosco Okoroeze.

    The suspect was however re-arrested 19 days after he escaped from the police custody in Jos, Plateau State.

     

    Power outage, negligence aid suspects’ escape

    Nearly all the cases share the same line of suspects’ escape occasioned by sudden power outage and negligence on the part of police interrogators. In the case of Olugbemi, it was reported that he seized the moment to bolt out of the station after a blackout occurred midway into his interrogation. With the blackout, the officer handling his interrogation was said to have left him in an unsecure dingy room to fetch a lamp. His exit provided opportunity for Olugbemi to run out of the station, jump over the fence and escape.

    Worse still, the development was not brought to the attention of the state police command until The Nation called the then police spokesperson, Ms Dolapo Badmus, following which the DPO of the station was removed.

    It was the same story in the case of Olawale, who also bolted into thin air after electricity supply to the station went off. The darkness provided a shield for him to escape through a fence bordering the Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area, while the Investigating Police Officer identified simply as Seargent Osahon left him to look for a rechargeable lamp at the front desk and could not be rearrested.

    When The Nation visited the station, the then new DCO who refused to disclose his name said he had just been redeployed to the station, adding that the incident happened before his redeployment.

    The then police spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, however said the case was that of malicious damage and that efforts were being made to re-arrest the suspect.

    Following the national outrage which trailed Dike’s escape from the custody of SCID in Port Harcourt, the bereaved father of his victim, Ernest Nmezuwuba, reportedly said that the darkness which pervaded the police formation after a power outage led to the suspect’s escape.

    “We were there with the suspect in handcuffs. When we got to the state CID, there was no light in the entire State CID. I wrote my statement with candle; imagine a whole state CID without light. Then Johnbosco removed the handcuffs from the suspect’s hands for him (suspect) to write his statement.

    “At a point, the boy (Dike) said he was thirsty and Johnbosco said I should buy pure water for him and I asked him (‘John, are you crazy? Is something wrong with you? Why would you ask me to buy water for a person that killed my daughter? Why would I buy water for a ritualist?’ And I told Johnbosco that it was none of my business,” Nmezuwuba said.

    “Some policemen were at the gate with guns while we were at the charge room writing statement. After we finished writing our statements, the IPO was asked to go and put the suspect in the cell. The suspect was not handcuffed at that time.

    “They did not walk up to a pole when I heard ‘hold am, hold am; he has escaped’. Whether he jumped the fence or not, I cannot say because the entire place was dark; it was between 7.30 and 8 p.m. (Saturday night). I now told Johnbosco that you know what you are doing.

    “They (policemen) came out with torchlight and checked under the cars parked there. Then, I saw the DCP, I mean the Deputy Commissioner of Police and he said; what nonsense is this? He then asked after Johnbosco and he was told he (Johnbosco) was inside. The DCP then said that they should handcuff both his hands and legs,” he added.

    Speaking shortly after he was rearrested, Dike reportedly said he took advantage of the blackout and darkness in the premises of SCID to bolt away, adding that nobody knew when he sneaked out.

    “I escaped to Jos. Having stayed for several days without food and due to the injuries I sustained, I was unable to get food to eat. So due to the hunger, I decided to source for food and that was where I was caught and handed over to the Police.”

     

    Poor funding

    The Nigeria Police Force is grossly underfunded with personnel lacking basic working tools to effectively checkmate criminals and combat crimes. The result of this is poor result in containing crimes and the use of dysfunctional equipment in crime combat. Only recently, the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris revealed that a sum of N1.13 trillion was needed annually for the Police to function effectively.

    Idris gave the figures on July 11, 2017 at a public hearing by the House of Representatives on a “Bill for an Act to establish the Nigeria Police Reform Trust Fund and for other related matters.” He noted that poor funding has negatively affected the turnout of police personnel.

    According to him, the figure excludes funds for major capital projects such as arms and ammunition, purchase of new vehicles and other technological needs of the force, while N26.9 billion is needed to fuel and maintain 14,306 police vehicles and motorcycles and N14.5billion is required annually to provide adequate and appropriate uniforms and accoutrements for the personnel.

    He said: “N700 billion is needed to rehabilitate barracks, police stations and build new ones. For the Force to also do proper investigation and prosecution of law offenders, over N200 billion is required. What is required  to run the force, excluding major capital projects like arms and ammunition, purchase of new vehicles, gun boats, helicopters and other technological needs is conservatively put at N14.132,532,142,242.

    “In 2017 budget, only N36.1billion was allocated to the Police for both capital and overhead costs. This is a far cry from the N1.13 trillion conservatively estimated. This difference is alarming and has sounded the loud trumpet that the regular budgetary allocation to run the Police is sharply inadequate and requires urgent measure to address, if the Force must be effective and responsive to the security needs of Nigerians in a complex and dynamic policing space. The Police Trust Fund is the answer because it would provide alternative and regular funding for the police.”

     

    Experts speak

    A security consultant and retired police officer, Adewale Adegbite, said cases of suspects’ escape from police custody are a sad commentary on policing in the country.

    “We have always been speaking about the bleeding infrastructure and lack of basic amenities across the police formations in the country. The effect of incessant power outage has robbed Nigerian of adequate policing and police authorities should do something about it.

    “As a remedy, there should be provision of alternative source of power supply and the only solution is the provision of power generators to light up police divisions and operational premises of special police outfits in the country. This would enable officers to monitor movement of visitors and suspects at the stations.”

    Adegbite also noted that negligence responsible for the escape of suspects from police custody was a result of unprofessional conduct of policemen handling the cases.

    “How can a policeman leave suspects uncuffed at nightfall when there is power outage? This shows that professional tact was missing and such officers should be appropriately punished. The suspects should have been cuffed and moved to a safer and fortified room to forestall their escape. Not doing so amounts to negligence on the part of officers in charge of the cases.”

    While calling on the authorities to ensure adequate funding of the Force, the Managing Director of Admark Security Ltd, Ikeja, Nicholas Aniekwe, urged the Federal Government to retrain police operatives on modern investigative tools and techniques.

    He said constant training on emerging trends in policing would fortify officers in handling sensitive cases and interrogation of suspects in police custody and prevent suspects from bolting from custody.

    “The rising cases of suspects escaping from police custody underscore the importance of adequate funding of the Force. Electricity is as important to crime combat as it is to the wellbeing of people in the society and economic growth of the nation. It is appalling to note that a lot of police stations rely on candle sticks with all its dangerous consequences to light up stations in the night whenever there is power outage.

    “The consequence of this is what we are witnessing in terms of embarrassing escape of suspects from police custody. Darkness offers a veritable platform for criminals and suspects to hatch their illegal freedom or escape, hence, the Federal Government and police authorities should provide alternative sources of power for police divisions spread across the country either through generators or electricity inverters.

    “Police personnel should also apply circumspection when interrogating criminals at nightfall. The interrogation room should be well protected and in the event that there is absence of a well secured room, suspects should be guarded by two or more officers pending the time improvised light such as lantern or candle would be put in place.”

  • Benzoic acid in Fanta: negligence or nonchalance?

    SIR: In the May 25, 2008 edition of The Daily Mail in the United Kingdom (UK), it was reported that the soft drink giant, Coca-Cola is phasing out a controversial additive that has been linked to hyperactivity and causing damage to DNA. The chemical, Sodium Benzoate is used in stopping drinks from becoming mouldy.

    By the end of 2006, several supermarket chains in the UK, including Asda, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer’s would have acted on their decision to remove almost all artificial colourings, flavourings and Benzoate preservative from in-house brands of drinks and food products. This decision was motivated by concerns about the health of consumers given empirical evidence in published scientific literature.

    In the United States, there is published evidence that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of which National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is the Nigerian equivalence is aware of the danger of mixing Ascorbic Acid, also known as Vitamin C with Benzoic Acid (or its salt, sodium benzoate). The mixture produces Benzene, a known carcinogen. The argument in its defense has always been that the quantity produced is very small, sometime measured in part per billion.

    Between 2005 and 2007, the FDA discovered that some soft drinks contained Benzene above allowable level; many manufacturers of soft drinks since then have reformulated their products to reduce the amount of Benzoic acid.

    Benzoic acid (referred to as Benzoate as a salt) is a white, crystalline powder with faint, non-offensive odour. It is used in fizzy drinks, pancake syrup, lemon juice, mouth washes cosmetics and several other food and drink products as preservative. It occurs naturally in apples and cranberries. It is also used in industrial settings to manufacture a variety of products including perfumes, dyes, topical medications and insect repellants. In general, benzoic acid and benzoates are considered safe when used in small quantities, however there are some situations in which they may be harmful.

    Benzene which is carcinogenic, can be formed at very low levels (part per billion) in soft and fruit drinks containing both benzoic acid/benzoate and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). This reaction is catalyzed by heat, light and metal ions. Therefore, the environmental conditions of storage influence the quantity of Benzene produced. The amount of poisoning caused depends on the amount, route and length of time of exposure as well as age and pre-existing medical conditions of the consumers.

    It is becoming obvious that, in the West, and even within Coca-Cola as an institution, there are concerns about the use of Benzoic acid /Benzoate as preservative in drinks. The climatic situation in Nigeria with high ambient temperature conduces to the formation of Benzene, when Vitamin C is present. The question is, if Coca-Cola is worried about Benzoate in its drinks in the west, why would it not give a thought to reformulating its products without, OR with much less Benzoates in Nigeria.

    The continued use of Benzoates as preservative in drinks and other consumable is difficult to justify in light of the existence of other feasible alternatives and the concerns new knowledge have thrown up. This case begs the question, is NBC negligent or is NAFDAC just plain nonchalant?

     

    • Sola Solarin & Uyi Ekhator,

    London.

  • Fashola queries Ekiti Works controller for negligence

    Fashola queries Ekiti Works controller for negligence

    Power, Works and Housing Minister Babatunde Fashola yesterday queried the Federal Controller of Works in Ekiti State, Hezekiah Olawale Kehinde, for locating the National Housing Estate project inside a jungle on the outskirts of Ado-Ekiti.

    Fashola, who visited the site with Governor Ayo Fayose, decried the location of the estate.

    Besides the location in a  jungle, off Ado-Iworoko Road, there are security concerns for would-be residents.

    Explanations by Kehinde did not satisfy the minister with Fayose saying he was not consulted before the site was chosen.

    Fashola said: “How will you feel if I relocate your office from Ado-Ekiti to this place, will you still function?

    “If you really know that  this is not good, why are you building these here for Nigerians? Are you not aware that you are working for Nigerians?

    “We will have to discuss possible relocation of this place when I get to Abuja. You said you were given this site, even if this is where the government had allocated for it, I expect you to give professional advice that this place is not suitable.”

    Fayose described the controller as incapable of supervising such a highly technical department.

    He said: “You (Controller) said you came to my office and you didn’t see me, why couldn’t you send a message? I was not even aware that such project was ongoing in that far area.

    “My impression about some of the federal civil servants was that, they are overzealous. Some of them will come to Ekiti and they will not even notify the government.

    “I expect that I should have been told if such project is happening in my domain. This is about Nigerians and not an issue that should be politicised,” Fayose said.

    Fashola also inspected the dualisation of Ado-Akure highway in Ikere Ekiti by the state, expressing satisfaction with the pace of work

    The governor described the minister’s visit as very timely, saying it came when massive construction was being undertaken on Ado-Aramoko -Itawure and Ado-Ikere-Akure roads.

  • ‘Constitute board to check medical negligence’

    The Federal Government has been  urged to constitute the governing board of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to address medical negligence.

    A Professor of Public Health, Oladele Kale, made this call at the weekend at  the annual faculty lecture organised by Faculty of Public Health, National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, with the theme:” Medicine, Law and The Bolam Test”.

    He said: “The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria is a regulatory body that regulates the practice of medicine and dentistry in the country, and if it is not formed there cannot be any activity. If doctors falls foul of the law on me now, there is nobody I can report to because the board is not there.

    “There are many cases of medical negligence that have not been visited by the council because the board has not been constituted. Most times the doctors can find excuses for what they did. For instance, the man that claimed to have discovered cure for HIV, Abalaka’s case is still there pending, and many more.”

    A medical-legal consultant, who was the guest lecturer at the event, Prof Paul Osuhor, said the Bolam test has made it difficult for plaintiffs to successfully make claim against a defendant doctor in cases of medical negligence.

    He added that the success rate by patient is under 40 per cent compared with a much higher percentage in non-medical cases.

  • Money transfer: Bank to pay N10m damages for negligence

    Money transfer: Bank to pay N10m damages for negligence

    A Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere has ordered Skye Bank Plc to pay a writer, Odafe Atogun, N10 million as damages for the six thousand Euros (€6,000) Western Union Money Transfer it wrongfully paid to an impostor.

    Justice Mobolanle Okikiolu-Ighile in her judgment held that the bank was negligent when it paid the 6,000 Euros Western Union Money Transfer to an impostor.

    The claimant had in his statement of claim dated July 31, 2009 filed by his lawyer; Pascal Ememonu, accused the bank of negligence in its handling of 6,000 Euros sent to him by one Hudson Killeen from Ireland to establish a printing press in Nigeria.

    But, the bank in its counter affidavit, contended that the High Court of Lagos State lacks the jurisdiction and competence to adjudicate on the suit being a claim arising from money transfer agreement between one Kevin Fuller and Western Union in the Republic of Ireland.

    But Justice Okikiolu-Ighile held that Skye Bank admitted under cross-examination that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) investigated the matter and found that it was negligent in the course of the transaction.

    The court held that the defendant’s witness was not in the banking hall on the November 3, 2008 when the Benin City branch of the defendant wrongfully paid out the 6,000 Euros meant for the claimant to an impostor.

    Besides, the court observed that the bank neither produced the Close Circuit Television (CCTV) recording of the banking hall of its Benin City branch on that day nor did it produce the alleged report of its own investigation.

    Justice Okikiolu-Ighile stated that she found the claimant as a truthful witness after watching his demeanour.

    Consequently, the court awarded the sum of N10 million as general damages and addition N250,000 in favour of the claimant.

  • Negligence, vandalism turn fuel depots to sludge tanks

    Negligence, vandalism turn fuel depots to sludge tanks

    The Products and Pipelines Marketing Company (PPMC) was established in 1988 as a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to ensure that Nigerians irrespective of where they live, have access to uninterrupted fuel supply. But the pipes that should make the flow seamless have gone dry and abandoned.  The storage depots, which the pipes were meant to feed, have also become tanks for waste materials. The distribution of products to filling stations in tankers has been the saving grace and the Southwest, especially Lagos State, where these facilities work, now bears the burden. EMEKA UGWUANYI takes a critical look at invasion of fuel-laden trucks on the roads. 

    With over 5,120 kilometres of pipeline network, 21 depots and a couple of booster pump stations and jetties, petroleum products should be available and accessible to Nigerians across the country.

    But, this has not been the case as negligence and vandalism have taken a toll on these legacy assets built by the Federal Government to take fuel from the 445,000 barrels per day capacity refineries.

    Besides, many of the depots have become storage facilities for waste, owing to disuse.

    Apart from depots in the Southwest, most of the depots belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have gone moribund.  The development led to the use of trucks for the bridging of products to other states of the federation from the few functional depots.

    There has been influx of fuel tankers into Apapa, Lagos, where most of the private sector-owned depots are located. The tank farms are concentrated in the axis because of the Sea Ports at Apapa.

    Indiscriminate parking of the trucks as they await their turns to load products often creates unimaginable gridlock, causes  man-hour losses, stalls socio-economic activities and endangers the lives of others.

    Many, who have property in  Apapa, no longer have value for their investments as the perennial traffic has forced businesses out of the area, even as not a few residents have abandoned their apartments for more serene and quiet neighbourhoods.

    The reactivation of the refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, has exposed the integrity of some of the pipelines. Many of them could no longer withstand pressure as the facilities resume production in an effort to cut importation of refined products. They lost integrity due to age, and lack of maintenance.  But, the major problem has been the menace of vandalism.

    Oil thieves and economic saboteurs have been frustrating the efforts of the Pipelines Products and Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and owners of the pipelines. The vandals return to rupture the pipes to scoop fuel, almost after their repair by the authorities.

    As at last month, the Federal Government said no fewer than 16 of the 21 depots were in working condition but that there were no pipes to supply products to them. Hence, they have been idle.

    The immediate past Managing Director, Prince Haruna Momoh, confirmed this at a forum in Lagos. He said 80 per cent of the pipeline network for petroleum products distribution had been vandalised.

    According to him, the damaged pipelines have been the bane of the chaotic traffic situation and unending gridlock on Apapa road, as thousands of tankers have no option than to besiege the depots at Apapa to load petroleum products en route other parts of the country.

    Last week, the NNPC said it has shut down its refineries in Port Harcourt and Kaduna due to crude supply problems related to recent attacks on pipelines in the Niger Delta by militants.

    “The plants were shut simultaneously on Sunday (penultimate) after the Bonny-Okrika crude supply line to the Port Harcourt refinery and the Escravos in Warri. The crude supply line to the Kaduna refinery suffered breaches,” the NNPC said.

    The Nation learnt that before the Kaduna pipeline was fixed, all  refined products from the facility were either trucked out, or transported to the depots on barges.

    Momoh admitted that pipeline vandalism and rupture was hampering seamless distributing of products through existing pipelines.

    He said the twin-challenge of pipeline vandalism and rupture due to age, coupled with the limited number of jetties, account for the high number of vessels on the high sea, waiting to berth. According to him, the inadequate berthing space prevents timely receipts of products and this leads to increasing costs incurred on demurrage and other charges.

     

    The depots

    Apart from private depots and jetties, the Federal Government owns and manages storage depot system  with mainline and booster pump stations. All these help the pipelines to enhance consumers’ access to products. These facilities, managed by the PPMC, are administered under five zones known as operations areas.

    Each operation area has an administrative office under its control and such area is headed by an area manager. The five area offices are: Port Harcourt, Warri, Mosimi, Kaduna and Gombe.

    The Port Harcourt area has under its jurisdiction: Port Harcourt depot; Okirika jetty; Aba, Enugu, Markudi and Calabar depots as well as Bonny export terminal. The Warri area office has under it, Warri depot, Warri Jetty, Benin depot, Abudu, Auchi and Lokoja pump stations, and Escravos terminal. The Mosimi area office has Mosimi depot, Atlas Cove Jetty and depot, Satellite (Ejigbo Lagos), Ibadan depot, Ore, and Ilorin depots.

    Under the Kaduna area office are Kaduna depot, Abaji, Izom pump stations, Minna, Suleja depots and Sarkin Pawa, and Zaria pump stations, Kano and Gusau depots.  The Gombe area office has Jos, Gombe, Yola depots, Biu pump station and Maiduguri depot.

    The Managing Director of PPMC, Mrs. Esther Nnamdi Ogbue said the government has carried out an impact assessment on the depots with a view to determining their level of viability and how to resuscitate them.

    Mrs. Ogbue, who was on an official visit to the depot at Mosimi, noted that efforts were being made to reactivate the depots. The strategic locations of the depots and the huge volumes of fuel they were pumping before they went moribund, informed government’s resolve to fix them.

    She said: “In places like Makurdi and Yola, petroleum products have not been pumped from depots in those areas in the last 10 years, and that means the government has to move products with trucks from Calabar to Enugu to Aba to Yola.”

    Mrs. Ogbue also stated that the government is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure that the pipelines are effectively managed and further benefit the operators, especially marketers, who have the duty  selling fuel to consumers.

    Besides the economic and social impacts these dysfunctional pipes and depots have on the populace, the Federal Government loses huge money yearly on their repair.

    Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former minister of Petroleum Resources, said about $5.7 billion was being spent yearly to fix the pipelines, damaged by vandals and oil thieves.

     

    Restoration measures

    In the past two years, the Federal Government has been exploring the use of Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) and use of modern technologies such as digital mechanism that will connect the pipelines with sensors to alert whenever any part of the pipeline is being vandalised, as well as mounting intense surveillance and pigging. The government has started replacing ageing pipes.

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, who doubles as NNPC   Group Managing Director, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said a plan to unbundle the PPMC has concluded plans to create a sustainable solution. One unit, which he said, will focus solely on pipelines, will ensure the timely repair and replacement of faulty pipes. The unit will ensure that refined products get to the depots across the country.

    “The PPMC would be split into a pipelines company that would focus primarily on the maintenance of the over 5,000 kilometres of pipelines of the company; a storage company that would maintain all the over 23 depots and a products marketing company that would market and sell petroleum products,” he said.

    After the unbundling, the government will contemplate the privatisation of pipelines to minimize perennial vandalism and ensure availability of products across the country at the right price.

    In the short-term, all the fuel trucks must be tagged and tracked, warning that any untagged trucks and those not fixed with trackers, will not be allowed to load products at the depots. The measure, if implemented, will check diversion of products.

    The minister said that the government would consider refinery models to determine how best to tackle the problems of the nation’s four refineries currently working below optimal levels.

    According to him, when the refineries work at installed capacities, and their products get to the depots, it will take away many off the roads and drastically reduce pressure on the depots in Lagos.

    He said: “We are going to be looking seriously at the refinery models. How do we deal with it? How do we bring people to assist us on technical and investment basis to get these refineries in much more consistent and permanent basis?”

    Kachikwu also spoke of a plan  to considere community surveillance, saying his ministry and the NNPC may engage the communities where the pipelines have right of way, to monitor and secure them.

    NNPC spokesman Ohi Alegbe also told The Nation that the Corporation has kicked-off the repair and replacement of old pipes.

    According to him, the Kaduna pipeline has been fixed and supplying crude to the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC).

    Other pipeline projects, he said,  are ongoing. He, however,  declined to list them. “The NNPC doesn’t want to make noise about them, so that vandals don’t go to damage them.”

  • SAHCOL chief accuses NCAA of negligence

    SAHCOL chief accuses NCAA of negligence

    Managing Director of Skyways Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL), Dr Olu Owolabi has accused the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) of negligence in the performance of its regulatory oversight functions.

    Speaking in an interview in Lagos against the backdrop of unauthorised use of equipment to disembark passengers by Aero Airlines last week, he said such unsafe practices happened because the regulatory authority is not carrying out its oversight functions on airports and airlines effectively.

    Owolabi said the ugly development had become a wake-up call for the NCAA to insist that before any airport could be certified for any operations, either for passenger or cargo, requisite operational equipment that is serviceable and calibrated must be provided.

    He also slammed domestic carriers engaging in self-handling for ground and passengers operations of taking unsafe decisions that could jeopardise safe flight operations at airports nationwide.

    Owolabi said airlines that engage in such unsafe practices as a means to save costs are carrying out operations which are at variance with global internationally prescribed standards and practices.

    He said there is need for government and domestic carriers to interface with ground handling companies to come out with the minimum operational equipment that would be required for any airport or certain category of flights and aircraft type to fly into any airport.

    The SAHCOL chief insisted that before airports are built, ground handling operators should be engaged at the design and construction stage to ensure that global requirements in terms of ancillary support equipment for passenger and cargo handling are put in place.

    He said though it may be impossible for ground handling firms to be engaged at every airport by domestic carriers, the managers of such airport must ensure that ground handling facilities and equipment are procured to be professionally managed by certified players in the sector.

    Owolabi said: “It is very unprofessionally, if not barbaric, for any airline to disembark passengers using unauthorized equipment be it a ladder or whatever. Any airline that does such should be adequately sanctioned by the regulatory authority.

    “What this has exposed is the underbelly of safety and security at our airports. Why should any airline do self handling, because they do not want to patronize any of the ground handling companies? How much do they even pay for our services, which require us to buy expensive equipment?

    While insisting that it is the height of unprofessional practice, Owolabi said what this means is that NCAA should step up its oversight duties.

    He said some state governments that manage airports have engaged SAHCOL to assist in providing ground handling to keep in line with global practices. “Any state government that wants to build an airport must be mandated to ensure that minimum ground handling equipment are put in place,” he said.

  • ‘My husband died of pure negligence’

    ‘My husband died of pure negligence’

    Saturday November 21, 2014 started like every other day for the Chaz B Chukuma family-bright, beautiful and full of hopes. But by evening, it had turned bleak, and by dawn the following morning, it was complete darkness. Arrowhead of the family and popular radio presenter, Charles Bruce Chukuyenum Ayibatonye Chukuma, popularly known as Chaz B on account of his highly inspirational radio show, ‘Sharing Life issues with Chaz B,’ on Inspiration FM shut his eyes never to open them  again. One year after, his beloved wife,  and pillar of support, Roseline is up asking questions on the circumstances surrounding his death – especially the part played by the family hospital. She spoke with Gboyega Alaka.

    You recently came out with an allegation bordering on negligence and dereliction of duties against St. Nicholas Hospital regarding the death of your husband, Chaz B Chukuma. Tell us about it.

    It was Friday night, November 21 2015. The day started like every other day. No complaints. I went to my daughter’s school; I was her Class Mummy and we had to do decorations in preparation for the Christmas season; while my husband, Chaz B went to work. At about five in the evening, the show started and I was as usual listening to it in the living room. Then in the middle of the shop, he called to say that he wasn’t feeling too good and that I should come and pick him. Meanwhile his friend, Abiona was in the studio with him and actually offered to take him to the hospital or the house, but he told him “No, my wife is coming to pick me.” And that is expected because we’ve done everything together from day one, 11 years ago. He was my best friend. I don’t have any other best friend order than him. So I went down with the driver, and found that he wasn’t looking too good. I asked, ‘What is the problem?’ and he said his stomach. Meanwhile, he had had incisional hernia the August before. Let me state here that he never had kidney problems like was widely reported and the surgery he had was not about kidney failure or replacement. My husband died with his kidneys intact. The incisional hernia was done at St Nicholas; a doctor there and another who came from India carried out the procedure. And he was fine after that.

    So we arrived the studio and he told me to take him home, but when I saw that he was in pains and very uncomfortable, I said ‘No, let’s go to the hospital.’ We got to St Nicholas and saw Judith, at the reception. Soon after, we met a doctor, Dr Kewe; he asked for my husband’s file, and they said it was in Dr Bamgboye’s office and he wasn’t in town. So Dr Kewe opened an emergency file right there and started asking questions because he practically knew nothing about his medical history. I was the one answering him because my husband was in pains. At a time, he left us, went out and was like ‘I’m trying to reach Dr Balogun, but his lines are not going.’ I called him on my husband’s line and it went through, so I handed him the phone. Eventually, I think Dr Balogun told him to be careful with my husband because he was a post-transplant patient. He also suggested this injection – I don’t know the name; and he was given two shots.

    Meanwhile Balogun said to observe him till the next day, so they sent the nurse to go and prepare for his admission. But before then, I think I heard her say something like ‘I think there’s no room, but let me go and check.’ So my husband told me to go get him his stuff. He took his high blood pressure medication at 10pm; he told me to get him that as well. Then along the way, as we approached Bonny Camp, I got a call from Dr. Kewe asking me to come back. He said ‘Your husband is feeling much better,’ and that I should come and take him home and bring him back in the morning.

    Wasn’t that rather sudden?

    Well, I turned round anyway and went back to the hospital. Meanwhile, they checked his temperature and found that it was high, probably because of the pain and all that; so Kewe sent me to the pharmacist to get Exforge. The pharmacist looked at the prescription and was like ‘Who wrote this? I told her the doctor in Consulting Room 2. She moved to a corner and called him on the intercom. Whatever they were discussing, I do not know, but eventually, he gave me one, which was given to him. But when my husband got up as we made to go, he staggered. And then I asked, ‘Are you sure he’s okay or is it because you guys don’t have a room, because I heard the official expressing doubts about the availability of a room? And before God and man, Dr Kewe looked me in the eyes and said, ‘We don’t have a room, bring him back in the morning.’ He said the injections given to him would sustain him till the morning, and I said okay. Meanwhile right from the moment we got to the hospital, all my husband kept saying was that something was disturbing him around the chest and that if only he could throw up. He obviously needed some kind of medical aid because it wasn’t coming out. But when we got home, I got him a bowl and he was able to vomit something, and looked a bit relieved, so I fell into a slumber and dozed off. Suddenly he woke up at about 6am; he was in this terrible pain. I jumped into my clothes, called Dr Balogun and told him my husband was in a very bad state and that I was driving him down. I also told him that I would like an experienced doctor to be on ground when I got there, to which he said ‘no problem.’

    He said a senior surgeon by name Dr Fadiran would be waiting for me. I lived in Lekki Phase One and it was on a Saturday; so I got to the hospital at Onikan in less than 20 minutes. My husband came down from the vehicle and walked into the hospital all by himself – which I found a bit disappointing, considering that I’d called ahead that it was an emergency. Of course they later brought in the wheelchair and wheeled him into the Emergency Room, but for a hospital like St. Nicholas, that was a minus. And then I still I saw the same doctor from last night. I asked after the Dr Fadiran and he said he was on his way. I asked where he was coming from, and he said Ikoyi. I made a mental note that he should be with us in about 15minutes. Inside the ER, Dr Kewe was struggling to locate my husband’s vein to pass in the drip. I asked, ‘Where is your Anaestasiologist?’ He said he or she was on his way. ‘Where is your radiologist?’ He said that too was on his way. And the doctor too! Virtually everybody that could help my husband was not on ground. At the end of the day, he couldn’t locate his vein on the right hand or so, and he had to switch to the other hand, which was the fistula hand that was used for dialysis before the hernia procedure. Ordinarily, that hand should not be tampered with. He turned to the fistula hand and at a point thought he had got the vein, but of course the drip wasn’t going at the end of the day. By this time Dr Kewe had become confused.

    Meanwhile, my husband kept saying ‘I just want to throw up.’ And Dr Kewe was busy taking instructions on the phone to treat my husband! He may deny it now, but I was right there and saw it all. And then he put him on oxygen. And I found that appalling because it was choking him the more. This person wants to throw up! Even as a non-medical person, I would think that the appropriate thing would have been to help him get whatever it was that was troubling him out. And then he said he wanted to give him an injection. I asked what the injection was for and he said it would stop him from vomiting! He was also given four adrenaline injections. I don’t know what those were for.  To make matters worse, 7.30, 8, 8.30, no doctor arrived. 9’o’clock, no doctor! And then my husband became more uncomfortable. Meanwhile before then, a doctor – not Fadiran came with a suction tube. He inserted the tube. You could tell that he was more experienced, but he obviously came in late. This was what they should have done immediately I came in or even the night before.  Meanwhile my husband continued to struggle and struggle. And at a time some liquid came out of his mouth and nose; and after all of that came out, I knew he had passed because I was holding and massaging his legs. They brought in the shock machine, but alas all that was formality. What should have been done wasn’t done at the appropriate time. My husband passed at exactly 9.30 am. He died because the doctor on ground didn’t know what to do. I still didn’t see the senior consultant doctor until I left. If he was there when he was called that there was an emergency, my husband would still have been here.

    How devastating were you, watching your husband pass like that; at a time when you least expected it?

    My goodness! I almost went mad. If not for the grace of God, I would not be sitting here. At a time, I wasn’t talking to nobody and people were afraid for me. Chaz B and I were so close, like stew on rice. So it’s not been easy at all. But again, looking at my daughter, Monalisa, I get encouraged. I see a lot of her dad in her. Sometimes, she talks and I think that I’m hearing my husband’s voice. It’s one year on Sunday (today), but it still feels like it’s not real. Like I would wake up someday and find that it never happened and Chaz B is still with us. Monalisa’s birthday was approaching and I asked, ‘Mama what would you like for your birthday?’ And she said, ‘I wish my daddy is here.’ And she started crying.

    Why are you coming out to talk about this now? It’s been one year.

    Well I was going to talk about it, but not immediately after his death. I needed time to regain my sanity and be able to talk. He died of pure negligence and I wasn’t going to sweep it under the carpet. I mean this was part of the things he was against and spoke against while he was alive! And I promise him that I would talk. He cannot just die like that. Here was a man I never in my wildest dream thought would leave me in a long time, and then in one week I was being asked to write his tribute. Everybody had submitted their tributes and they were waiting for me. And I was like ‘Whose tribute?’ I certainly didn’t expect him to die from a mere stomach ache, not after he had successfully passed through a more complex procedure like incisional hernia. And you know what? The hospital at the end of the day said he died of dehydration.

    Are you considering legal actions?

    His death needs to be investigated. Professionals should be made accountable for their actions. We should stop managing. If this kind of negligence should be happening in a hospital as ‘big’ as St. Nicholas, then where else is there to go? And then you want to blame people that travel out for medical attention? No. Even my little Monalisa was like, ‘Mummy, I thought hospitals are supposed to take care of sick people?’ I said yes. And she said ‘So why did they allow my daddy to die?’ She’s only seven and she’s already considering not staying in this country. She said ‘Maybe we should just go and stay in America; because she’s been there and as young as she is, she has spotted the difference. I was somewhere in Los Angeles the other day and they were chasing just one man, but you need to see the number of helicopters and personnel that were on the streets. And I was like ‘What! When are we ever going to get here?’ And Dr Kewe in his reply to my petition said that my husband told me he wanted to go home, that he couldn’t share a room with any patient. Here was a sick man, even if he said that while I was away, why didn’t you tell me, his wife? He never said that. Chaz B Chukuma would sleep in a marketplace if he knew I would be there with him. Besides, he didn’t make him sign anything. He should at least have told me ‘By the way your husband opted to leave on his own against medical advice.’

    How have you coped in the last one year?

    Cope? I’m still trying to get used to the fact that he’s gone.

    What kind of a man was Chaz B?

    Chaz B Chukuma was a wonderful man. A man with a heart of gold; very humble. If you knew him, you’ll know what I’m talking about. He was one in a million, down to earth. If you didn’t know him and saw him chatting with security men and drivers, you’d never believe it was him. He was the type that would ply a keke or bike just to get to the studio on time if there is traffic. He’s that kind of a person. Humble to a fault.

    How often did you listen to his show?

    I was his number one fan. Every day, I listened to his show and sometimes when he answered a particular person in a way that I thought wasn’t right, I’d tell him, ‘You have to apologise to that person.’ And the next day he’d apologise. So I was his number one fan, as well as his number one critic.

    What were his plans? He sure had reached a height with his show, where he must have been thinking of the next level.

    This whole office place we got because he was going to go into television. And he was working towards it seriously; had started buying equipment and all of that. We got this place in early October and he passed in November. Not even up to two months. That’s his office right opposite mine.

    What do you remember most about him?

    Everything. We’ve done everything together from day one. Everything around me reminds me of him, especially his sense of humour. Here was a man who’d be on his way home, yet he’d call me countless number of times. He tells me ‘I love you’ God knows how many times a day. And Monalisa does the same. So when Monalisa is telling me that, I see Chaz B. I see him in my dreams. He talks to me in my dream, even though some pastors have said ‘No, no, he’s dead, you shouldn’t have anything to do with him anymore.’ But excuse me, this was my husband!

    I mean, we started from Abuja. This was before he even became the Chaz B that is a household name. We were living in an uncompleted building, a school building in one rough area. At night there were gunshots here and there. He was with Hot FM. But I met him when he wasn’t really doing anything. I was a business woman, but I didn’t have a shop. So I’d gather my goods and take to my buyers and of course they’d owe. We stayed in a room that didn’t have a door, and we used a big plank to create a door for ourselves. Even the floor of our room was just sand. We tiled it ourselves. I got broken tiles from my uncle who sells tiles in Abuja. We called the tiler who charged us three thousand, but we didn’t have three thousand. So we ended up doing it ourselves, which was how I got the mark on my face (pointing to the upper part of her brow). We weren’t tilers; so we ended up having rough and sharp edges here and there. I fell on the tile on my birthday, which was how I got the mark. And he felt so so bad. I mean, we’ve been through thick and thin together! Sometimes, to eat was a problem, and I’d walk down the road to the malams there and speak Hausa to them to get stuffs on credit.

    And having to now lose him at the peak of things…

    Yeah. When we were really settling down; when he should be enjoying the fruits of his labour. I cry every day. I cry at night. Even though I know it’s affecting me, I really can’t help it. Chaz B Chukuma would do anything for me.

    How do you see the future without him?

    What can I say? It’s only going to be by His grace, because the truth is that a future without Chaz B, I never imagined. So I don’t know what it would look like. Of course He that has kept me up till this day will continue to keep me.

    And the dream, are you going to keep it going?

    Well the sad thing is that we’re no longer going to be going into the television aspect of it, because it was going to be a live thing, Chaz B Live. So it was going to be his face. But all that is gone now. All thanks to St. Nicholas. As regards the radio, like you may well know, we’ve been trying, even though we’ve had some ups and downs; don’t forget when the original owner of a brand is no longer there, you can’t expect everything to go as expected. Mr Chike and Mr Stephen have been holding forth. There was a misunderstanding at a point and Stephen left, but he’s back now. The show was an independent programme wholly produced by him. We buy airtime.

    Anniversary plans for Chaz B?

    We have the Ajegunle Project coming up to commemorate one year of his passing. November ordinarily is our month of giving and the Ajegunle Project was something we came up with on the show to help the needy before he passed. Our motto is Strangers, Orphans and Widows. We were going to pay them a visit but he passed before we could do that. So we’re reviving the project and it’s going to happen on the November 28. A lot of people have agreed to be part of it because it’s Chaz B, including musicians and comedians. We’re not really doing much after church; we’ve shifted everything the 28th. So, we’d be cooking right there and distributing to the people. We’ve also asked people to bring out clothes they don’t need. Not necessarily rags. If you have clothes that you haven’t worn for up to six months, that probably means that they’re no longer in vogue with you. You can bring them out for us to give out to those who need them.

  • On Gov. Ibikunle Amosun’s negligence and the usual scapegoats

    All is certainly not well with Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s government. The tanker that exploded at the junction of Owode-Titun, destroying property and killing people, still lies carelessly flung by the road side, straddling the crater where several lives have been lost and maimed in previous accidents, on the township tract’s bad roads. There is still mayhem at Toll gate junction, Oju Ore, Ijoko, Iju and  Ope-Ilu Ijoko among others. The natives are dying slowly even as Governor Amosun enjoys a good life off their taxes.

    The Ogun State government suffers the affliction of a hideous cancer no doubt but what a greater section of the citizenry consider appalling is the governor’s apparent disregard for their safety. Governor Amosun by ignoring the deadly state of the state’s township roads, substantiates speculation that he could not be bothered even if more natives of Ogun State are violently crushed and mangled to death in bloody road accidents on the Gateway State’s famished roads.

    Is the governor waiting for that moment when the junctions at Owode-Titun, Oju Ore, Ijoko among others would erupt into bloody volcanoes of blood and garbled torsos in multiple road accidents? Is Governor Amosun waiting patiently for that auspicious or politically expedient minute, when breadwinners would be killed and households would be cast in everlasting sorrow as they lose their loved ones to Ogun townships’ bad roads? Is he waiting to delightfully emerge with a bereaved mien and overzealous aides to misappropriate anguish where he feels none?

    This writer and this page earnestly awaits the hour when Governor Amosun will summon the courage to meet the demands of his office and rise to his full measure as a man; that defining moment when he would scorn pride and unearned greatness to rehabilitate Ogun townships’ perilous paths and thus assert his mettle, whatever its worth, as a public administrator and a man.

    In few days perhaps, Governor Amosun will shun the deception and unearned plaudits heaped upon him by sycophantic underlings, aides and political associates, to repair the townships badly damaged roads. An aide of the governor said the roads would be done by December, in few days to be precise. Let’s see Governor Amosun become the change that he preached to get our votes.

     Usual scapegoats

    The journalistic cult of poverty has a supreme theme; the morally-deficient journalist. This theme is pitifully projected by journalism’s highly celebrated ambassadors in the corridors of power and the public space. Rather than evolve as heroic shiners of light and purveyors of truth, speaking to keep all savagery in straits, in the true tradition of modern, high-cultivated men of letters, they choose to manifest  like accidents to society.

    As you read many more newspaper editors and their reporters are manifesting at the ruling class’ bidding and your bidding, into the stamen that lets down the azalea, the comforters that bring grief, the emissaries of needless hate orchestrated in the interest of the ruling class. Today, tyranny attains ultimate refinement in the news columns; this brings to mind that memorable jest by Norman Mailer that “Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists.” Journalists are still the butt of the most demeaning jokes and premeditated put-downs in the social arena. Nobody thinks much of a journalist; in the eyes of big business and the ruling class, the journalist whatever his designation or job title, is the manipulable pawn and necessary evil that has to be courted and tolerated. The descent and humiliation of the journalist still persists in the hands of his employer; salaries still range from N15, 000 per month at entry level to N70, 000 per month at managerial level in most media organisations. Just three media houses endeavour to pay fairly and this has led to the metamorphosis of the journalist into an aberration of the watchdog he ought to be to society.

    This resonates badly for the Nigerian mob; the nation’s critical mob to be precise. Mob culture requires that he who would adorn the cloak of defender of the masses’ rights should be upright and flawless in character, work and personal ethics. Such admirable traits are rarely attributable to the Nigerian journalist manager and the press in general.

    The Nigerian mob, like every other rabble, seeks fulfillment of tyrant fantasies; such fantasies often vary between the destruction of an unpopular government, despot or worn-out civilization. Reality however, affirms the impotence of the Nigerian mob. The latter is continually tamed and kept on a leash by a ruling class that capitalizes on its obvious handicaps: its impulsiveness, insensibility to reason and judgment and overt sentimentality.

    Despites it handicaps, the Nigerian mob conveniently picks on a scapegoat for its infinite timidity and cluelessness: the press. The journalist is expected to serve as the conscience and moral compass of the society, challenging the government and checking the excesses of the ruling class, uncompromisingly and selflessly.

    As Utopian fantasies go, these are noble expectations of the journalist but the Nigerian mob ignores the cultural shift of the society from conventional morality to unbridled hedonism. It assumes, hypocritically, that the press will continually give it honest and progressive news even as every segment of the society strive to unmoor the journalist from his role as a crucial appendage of the nation’s critical mob. The public, comprising big business, the government, and civil societies among other mob segments, vilify any journalist or news medium that seeks to educate and engage rather than entertain and perpetuate their biased definitions of reality.

    Contemporary Nigeria embraces the emotional pageant that has turned news into paid publicity and mindless entertainment and the journalist in response kowtows to lusts and vanities of modern society. Beneath the mindless glamour and cultural decline however, an insidious reality festers in the death of hope and incandescence of tragedy. Prevalent socioeconomic tragedies necessitate the emergence and elevation among the citizenry of the bungling and sadistic, and the beginning of a differentiation cum tyranny of social grades.

    At the centre of the turmoil is the journalist whose fate is so critically bound with the country’s but he obviously does not know that hence the cluelessness, treachery and brazen recklessness that characterizes his work. Consequently, the Nigerian journalist manifests as an accident to society. He perpetually loses his grasp of the issues at stake; fundamentally hollow and benumbed to valor, he shamelessly resigns to the powers that be, blaming the tyranny of the ruling class and the proverbial ‘system’ for his inability to fulfill his professional and moral obligations to the society.

    Rather than pose a challenge to the system that domesticates and enslaves him, he chooses the easiest way out and plays junkyard dog to tyrant cabals and the predatory bunch constituting the nation’s ruling class. He assumes the role of a poseur and pretends to fight for the interest of the public. This sad charade is continually perpetuated across esteemed leader-writers’ polemics in foremost newspapers’ columns.

    If Nigeria chooses to exist as a land of savages, it’s our responsibility to nudge her back on to the path of humanity and progress – for only in such clime can we positively evolve and prosper.

    It’s about time we stopped narrowing the debates and spotlight to the shenanigans and petty differences of the ruling class and instead aspire to serve as a true voice to the voiceless.

    Real progress will manifest in the country when we start demanding that the ruling class march in virtual lockstep with promises they make. Whatever the tone and dialect of intellectualization that characterizes our news culture, posterity will judge us by how truthfully we fulfill our roles as conscience and watchdog of the society.