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  • How to improve access to quality medicines, by Ohuabunwa

    From manufacturing to pharmacy, medicines often endure long journeys before they are consumed.

    Complex supply-chains with fluctuating storage conditions can lower the quality of medicines or open up opportunities for the infiltration of falsified products.

    According to Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) President, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, this poses a serious problem in a country like Nigeria that depends on imports for most of its essential medicine needs.

    The PSN chief, who spoke during the World Pharmacists Day, lamented that lack of quality medicines remained a big issue in the country mainly because of menace of fake drugs.

    He attributed the problem of falsified medicines to import, which he insisted is more difficult to monitor and regulate. Although Ohuabunwa admitted that the prevalence of falsified medicines is no longer high, he insisted that the majority of falsified medicines are imported. It’s easier to monitor local manufacturers, especially under a more efficient leadership being provided by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, he said.

    If local production of essential pharmaceutical products is encouraged by the government, Ohuabunwa believes the tide can change – to the betterment of patients. To achieve this, he recommended regulation and technology. He identified infrastructure, and drug control gaps as challenges hindering improvement of pharmaceutical care.

    The PSN boss said lack of support by policy makers and cooperation by other healthcare professionals is widening the gap in the quality of healthcare between Nigeria and other countries, including those in our level of development.

    He stressed on the need for improved transportation and electricity, which he said would “have a big effect on the delivery of safe and effective medicines to Nigerians through timely delivery of pharmaceutical products and adequate storage temperature, especially for cold chain products, like vaccines and other heat sensitive products.”

    He added that ethical and psychotropic drugs must be taken from the streets, stressing that this is part of what the pharmacy bill will do if passed into law.

    “The control of dangerous drugs and every day medications goes beyond forming of committees. The laws are archaic and offenders leverage this to promote the illicit circulation of these silent weapons of mass destruction. The National Drug Distribution Guidelines was conceptualised about seven years ago, which would have addressed the open drug market and reduce irresponsible access to medication and counterfeiting to tolerable level. It is unfortunate that this proposition is yet to see the light of day,” he said.

    On the regulation of pharmaceutical practice, the PSN chief said the regulation needs to wholesale to have the desired positive impact that can enhance healthcare outcomes in the country. “The regulation of medicines must be total as drugs are potential poisons and need to be handled with adequate knowledge.

    He added that the PSN is working  with regulatory bodies to ensure the pharmacy space is opened up for more  practitioners,  to guarantee access to medication for the public through the establishment of satellite pharmacies, which can only be achieved with the signing of the pharmacy bill into law.

    Instead of concentrating in urban centres alone, he said satellite pharmacies would encourage pharmacists to open up outlets in rural areas so that more Nigerians can have access to quality and safe medicines.

    On what he expected Nigerians to benefit from the World Pharmacists Day, Ohuabunwa advised the  public to stop patronising fake medicine dealers, stressing that it is only pharmacists that are trained in the handling and compositions of drugs.

    He stressed that there are five basic rights that must be followed at all times before medication safety can be assured. According to him, the five rights are ensuring the right dose of the right medication is administered to the right patient at the right time and by the right route. As simple as this may appear, he warned that such rights are personalised for each patient, since they are modified by demography, health condition, physiological status and possible allergies.

  • Female accountants seek support

    A female professional group, Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria (SWAN) has called for increased support for female chartered accountants in the country.

    Its Chairperson, Mrs Felicia Bamgbose said collective action is needed for women in the profession to thrive.

    She spoke in Lagos during this year’s Presidential Luncheon of the 55th President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Mazi Okwuadigbo, orgnaised by SWAN.

    According to Mrs Bamgbose, such support would enable women in the profession to diversify their   accounting skills to thrive in other sectors successfully.

    She said the group continue to  empower its members, adding that their well being is its priority.

    “SWAN, the female wing of ICAN is capable of meeting the expectation of the over 11000 female chartered accountants in Nigeria. Our objective is to advance the interests of female chartered accountants as well as to promote and maintain high standards of efficiency and professional conduct among members.”

    She said the SWAN has become a force to reckon with, not only at Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) but the country at large.

    She said that they  have lived up to their professional responsibility and also contributed to capacity building for female chartered accountants through the various schlorahip awards and other Coporate Social Responsibilities (CSR).

    She urged members of the group to explore and invest in other sectors they are talented in, noting that such diversification would enable them have a secured future.

    She lamented that some of the members of the group do not have jobs, but advised that they should not sit down doing nothing with their professional skills, but should venture into other areas of life.

  • Arabs as impediment to Islam

    Monologue

    Today’s article was first published in this column in 2010 albeit with a different title. Its publication at that time was warranted by an unpredictable pendulum which started to swing dangerously on the entire Arab world with what came to be known globally as Arab Spring.

    The repetition of the article here is due to its relevance at this time when a political tsunami seems to be foraging the Arab world crushingly at the expense of Islam. That tsunami can be linked to the recent diplomatic ripples in the Arabian Gulf which led to the ostracization of Qatar by the tripod of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. That fortuitous incident later became complicated by the criminal murder of a US-based Saudi Journalist, Jamal Kashogi, in cold blood, right inside the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Turkey.

    Preamble

    Today, Islam in the Arab world is like a lily by the mossy stone. And that mossy stone is nothing other than the Arabs themselves through whom Allah’s divine religion was revealed to mankind. The more turbulent the Arab world goes politically, the more fragile the Islamic lily becomes. Now, many questions are begging for answers around the world about Islam, but most of those questions are not immediately answerable.

    Islam at Inception

    When, at the inception of Islam, the Qur’an described the “pre-Islamic Arabs as a people with great penchant for recalcitrance and hypocrisy” they (the Arabs) quickly retorted by saying that the reference was to rural and not urban Arabs. Their justification for that reaction at the time was that over 80% of the Arabs were rural dwellers. But today, with more than 80% of the Arabs being urban dwellers, has it not become manifest that Arabs are Arabs irrespective of whether they are urban or rural dwellers?

    Arabs before Islam

    To those who are not quite familiar with the Arab history before the advent of Islam, it may look like an irony that the great religion of peace called Islam originated from amongst such people. But those who understand the workings of Allah will readily know that revealing Islam to mankind through the Arabs was a deliberate divine policy. If that religion had not come into existence through a stubborn fraction of the Caucasian race like theirs, the Arabs would have constituted its most impregnable impediment and, thus, the relative peace in the world today would have been a mirage.

    Social Movement

    Allah’s design for Islam as a religion was to make it a social movement springing from the very grassroots and rising gradually to the topmost echelon of human aristocracy. That Islam came to mankind through a people with such Qur’anic description, therefore, could not have been an accident or a mistake.

    If Islam had been revealed to mankind through the institution of monarchy or that of aristocracy, it would have been turned into a religion of masters and servants. And, in that case, the operations of Mosques would have been according to human status while the whims and caprices of the rulers and the lords would have formed the bulk of the laws guiding that religion. Thus, justice would have been according to the wishes of those monarchs and lords in a situation of cash and carry just as it was in Christianity in the primordial time. In a nutshell, justice would have been a matter of nomenclature proclaimed in the name of Allah but implemented in the style of Satan.

    Stubbornness as a Trait

    It is not strange that the Arabs of today are what the Qur’an had called their ancestors about 1500 years ago. A leopard can neither change its colour nor give birth to a lamb.

    However, stubbornness as a trait is not peculiar to the Arabs. It is a common trait of all dwellers in desert areas. Even animals like camels and donkeys share that trait with them. The divine logic in driving Islam into the world though the desert Arabs is therefore to convince mankind that even stone-hearted people like the Arabs could be tamed by the non-such sacred message called the Qur’an. Meanwhile, despite the emergence of Islam through them, the Arabs have never been able to part with their natural obduracy which was the premise from which Prophet Muhammad (SAW) began the propagation of his divine mission.

    Judo-Arab Relationship

    Arabs and Jews are brothers from the same father (Prophet Ibrahim) but different mothers (Hajarah and Sarah). They share many traits of recalcitrance and obduracy in every aspect of their lives. Just as the Jews rejected Prophet Isa (Jesus) who emerged from amongst them so did the Arabs rebuffed Prophet Muhammad (SAW) even after they had convincingly   accorded him the status of a truthful and trustworthy personality, based on his exemplary character before he became a Prophet. But for the fact that his message eventually brought fame to the Arabs and elevated their status in the comity of nations they would have totally rejected the divine message called Islam theoretically and practically.

    The only Prophet from Arabia

    Incidentally, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was the only Prophet from the Arab line. All other known Prophets after Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) came from amongst the Jews. Thus, the Jews can be said to be the world’s most luxurious race in divine prophet-hood. Yet, no Prophet was ever really accepted by them. The fact that a few of them still hold on tenaciously to Torah (now called Old Testament) which was revealed to Prophet Musa (Moses) is only due to an historical prophecy which enabled them to hope for a possible return to the land of Judea.

    Like Jews like Arabs

    The Arabs are hardly dissimilar from the Jews in their thoughts and actions. That the idea of the on-going global terrorism originated from among the Jews but became the heritage of the Arabs cannot be strange.

    Of the four rightly guided Caliphs who succeeded Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as Heads of State and leaders of the Muslim Ummah, only one (Abubakr Siddiq) was not killed in office and that was probably because he ruled for only two years. The other three: Umar Bn Khattab, Uthman Bn Affan and Ali Bn Abi Talib were all murdered gruesomely in cold blood as Heads of State by no other people than fellow Arabs. The Jews had done same to their Prophets long before the Arabs did.

    Arabs in Spain

    At least, it remains an historical fact that the Arab Muslims ruled Spain for about 500 years from 750 CE to 1258 CE. It was   during that period that countries like France, Italy, Germany as well as Britain and others had their first contact with intellectual civilisation. If propagation of Islam was genuinely the Arabs’ objective of struggling for power, what Islamic achievements did they make during their half of a millennium rule over Spain? And why were they eventually evicted with ignominy from that country?

    If the Arabs ingenuity had not been encapsulated in greed and self-centeredness, the intellectual hierarchy of the world today would have been different. In their lifestyle, even before the advent of Islam, the Arabs were notoriously known for three obnoxious engagements. These were WAR, WINE and WOMEN through which they often engaged one another with relish. But Islam came to condemn each of those primordial   engagements which can be described as the main causes of self-destruction.

    Islamic Leadership

    It is because Islam originated from the Arab domain where the two foremost Islamic sanctuaries (the Ka’abah in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah) were situated. The fact that the revelation of the Qur’an was in their language encouraged Muslims of other tongues and tribes to concede leadership of Islam to them even if   tacitly. But rather than rising to that privileged status, the Arabs placed premium on Arabism and turned Islam into a pun on the chessboard of their racial, greedy politics.

    Today, what matters most to the Arabs is Arabism rather than Islamism.

    That is why virtually all the Arab countries are more related to Arabic than Islamic names officially.

    Islamic Bodies

    Some well-known topmost Islamic bodies like Muslim World League and the likes which came into existence for the Unity of the Ummah some decades ago are now moribund because the Arab Muslim leadership that is supposed to nurture and pilot them is virtually none-existent. The only global Islamic body known to be functional today is the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and that is because the Arabs need the population of that body to checkmate certain unpalatable Western policies formulated against the Arabs at the United Nations level. Incidentally, to counter the Arab agenda, the Westerners have infiltrated that body through a surreptitious incursion into it. Many of them, including the United States, are now members of OIC even if in observer status.

    Arabs Business Mentality

    To the great delight of the West, the wealthy Arab nations and individuals of today are spending their enormous resources in purchasing and acquiring football clubs in Europe even as their brethren in non-Arab parts of the world are wallowing in abject penury, squalor and degradation. What a peculiar conundrum?

    Enemies of Islam

    The summary of all the assertions here is that the Arabs, and no other group of people, are the real enemies of Islam. They are the ones using their wealth to boost the various economic activities of the West including stock exchange, manufacturing, farming, Hotel businesses and tourism as well as sports and games at the expense of the lives of Islamic adherents. Considering all factors militating against Islam, it seems that the greatest puzzle about the Arabs is their mutual enmity in which no Arab country wants to tolerate another. Egypt and Algeria are sworn enemies just because of rivalry in soccer game. Saudi Arabia and Yemen are in perpetual warfare merely on some primordial issues which had pitched the one against the other before the advent of Islam. Iraq and Kuwait are two neighbours that can never sleep with their two eyes closed due to mutual suspicion.

    Syria and Lebanon seem to have permanently designed an indelible demarcation line between them just for the reason of material gains.

    Libya and Sudan have had to go into military conflicts a number of times, across their common border, for no reason other than material benefits. Morocco and Algeria will rather choose the gallows than settle a seeming permanent rancour between them over the questionable ownership of Western Sahara. How can there be unity? Yet, some Nigerian Muslims often blame the problems in the Arab world on Western conspiracy. If that is truly the case, what prevents the Arabs from conspiring together to resist Western conspiracy against their unity?

    Nigerian Factor

    Based on sheer religious sentiment, many Nigerian Muslims think that by pitching tent with the Arabs against the Jews on the Palestinian issue they are pitching tent with Islam. This is far from the truth.

    The problem of the homeless Palestinians is purely political and humanitarian rather than religious. And that problem is more fuelled by the Arabs who play hypocritical role in it than by the Jews who are directly benefitting from it.

    How many Nigerian Muslims know that the siege on Gaza Strip which began in January 2009 was not by Israel alone? It was a clandestine connivance between Israel and Egypt with the military support of the Western countries and financial backing of some Gulf Arab countries.

    Are Egyptians and citizens of those Gulf countries not Arabs? Why should they tighten the noose of death on their fellow Arab brothers?

    But that is the Arab nature for you. If you see them in any solidarity, it is for the purpose of hatching a treachery against a fellow Arab country or Islamic interest. The recent senseless imbroglio between a mischievous tripod in the Gulf region and Qatar is a sufficient example of what the Arabs can do to contradict what Islam preaches.

    Islamic Relevance

    Arabs love power and they will do anything, including suicide bombing and cold blood murder to cling to power directly or indirectly. That is why democracy in the Arab world knows no  voting in a democratic sense. It is a mere matter of nomenclature. Once installed, an Arab Head of State will remain in power till his death. He will even want to be succeeded by his son. Syria is a typical example. And, except for the sudden insurgency that led to the infamous Arab spring, Presidents Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya would have been succeeded by their children respectively despite their claim of democracy.

    By this assertion, ‘The Message’ column is not opposed to leadership by succession if that will ventilate a peaceful atmosphere but it should not be by imposition. That will grossly contradict the position of Islam which was why the second Caliph, Umar Bn Khattab, rejected a suggestion that one of his sons be made his successor. He even cursed the man who made the suggestion and accused him of nursing an ulterior motive aimed at causing a dissension withing the Muslim Ummah. The analysis here is just to show the extent to which the Arabs have returned to the love of power, even at the expense of Islam, after the first four Caliphs.

    Today’s Muslim world is like a mighty stream in which everybody drinks water. But those who position themselves at the upper side of that stream are the ones polluting it for the others. And if something drastic is not done to change the cause of pollution in that stream, it may eventually become a poison for all its drinkers. In the interest of their future and that of Islam, the Arabs are strongly advised to do something positive about Islam before Islam does something negative to them.

  • In search of ways to eradicate rabies

    Rabies is a serious threat to livestock production. Experts under the aegis of the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) are exploring ways to eradicate the disease, DANIEL ESSIET reports

    Rabies is a global threat to human health and   livestock. A global study on canine rabies estimates that it causes 59,000 human deaths, over 3.7 million disability-adjusted life years and $8.6 billion in economic losses yearly.

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said livestock are at risk of exposure and greater efforts were needed to eradicate the disease.

    In Nigeria, rabies endemic has been  reported mainly in dogs and occasionally in livestocks from all the geo-ecological zones of the country. Approximately 55,000 people, according to studies, die yearly from  the disease. Also rabid dogs account for about 94 per cent of confirmed human infection.

    Experts said detection of rabies virus antigen in puppies between five and 10 weeks and in apparently healthy dogs shedding the virus in their saliva have been reported in some parts of the country.

    Speaking during the World Rabies Day, the  immediate Chairman, Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association, Lagos State, Dr. Alao Mobolaji  said in 2017, two human rabies deaths  were  reported at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

    He  said: “The first was  a 49-year-old man, who resided in Igbogbo area of Ikorodu was bitten by his three-month-old dog, which he bought six weeks before the incident. He died a few hours after he was admitted at the hospital.

    The second patient was a 33-year-old man from Ajara in Badagry, who came to the hospital presenting with a history of restlessness, agitation, hydrophobia and aerophobia six months after a dog bite. He was given a tetanus shot and not rabies  after the dog bite. The dogs in both cases were reportedly acting erratic when the incidences occurred.”

    Mobolaji said occurrence of the disease in puppies was of grave public health consequences.

    He said people love puppies, especially children, who are fond of carrying and playing with them, are also faced with the risk of exposure to rabies.

    He said review of the dog anti-rabies vaccination is recommended to ensure effective immunisation and for the overall safety of the vulnerable members of the public.

    On record of dogs and other domestic animals kept in Lagos State and capacity to monitor the pets, he said: “‘Unfortunately there is no coordinating action against rabies in Nigeria and that for us is heart breaking. The only one being taken is the one we are doing by enlightening the public. We have lost adults too to dog bites. There was a time two bankers died. They were attacked by dogs and they were brought to us they showed signs of being bitten by dogs and they died eventually. Of all I know we are the only one enlightening the public and we need to sensitise the public. With estimation we have about two to three million dogs in Lagos State alone. And you know they are the closest to man. They do a lot of things for us. They protect, they can lead the blind, and they are used to check for narcotics. They serve different purposes but mostly they are used to safeguard the environment and a lot of people use them for economic gains. What we actually want the public to know is that they are the main carriers of the virus and every dog needs to be properly vaccinated against rabies annually. That is the number one step to preventing dogs against rabies. Every dog owner has the responsibility of vaccinating the dog, talking about taking the dog to the veterinary clinic and gets it duly vaccinated against rabies. The bats, monkeys, raccoons are natural reservoirs of the virus. Often times, we see bats taking nocturnal flights within the cities. These are times some of them even drop into the compound and, unfortunately, our dogs may pick them as easy preys and eat them. That is how most of them get infected. One of the things we discovered in our studies of the Meiran incident was that there was regular nocturnal flights of bats in that area and often times they drop into the compounds and that is where the dogs in that community get infected. It is important to know that when people see bats especially children; they must not play with them. You would see children throwing them up and down, playing with them. It is dangerous because these bats are natural reservoirs and if the dogs get in touch with them they can get infected. When you see such bats, best thing is to destroy them by burning them and keep them away from children and dogs.”

    According to him, dog-mediated rabies disproportionately affects rural and economically disadvantaged communities. By preventing rabies at its source, he said the government can help protect those who lack access to effective rabies treatment.

    Mobolaji said the proportion of dogs vaccinated was far below the number that is necessary to control the disease across the country.

    He said the association was determined to raise awareness about the devastating impact of rabies and the importance of prevention.

    He pointed out that there have been confirmed cases of rabies in animals mostly in dogs.

    According to vaccination of pets remains critically important not only to protect animals, but also to safeguard public health.

    On the efforts of the association to carry out mass vaccination of pets against rabies? He said: “We do it annually. The last one we did was at Ikorodu then we had one at Ajegunle. We chose centres close to where there is the latest incident of dog bite. The Ikorodu one was where the five year old Odukomaiya boy was bitten by a dog. The boy eventually died. Same Ikorodu was where a young boy was attacked brutally by a dog and eventually died. We also cried out that there is the need for animal laws for those that keep animals; domestic animals and wild animals alike. There are people that keep snakes, dogs, cats, monkeys, crocodiles in their houses now and there is a need for us to have laws so that people don’t fall victims. A lot of people are actually falling victims. There was a case of a guy just going on his own in Lekki and was attacked by seven dogs brutally. Also a four year old at Igando was attacked by two Alsatian dogs. They bit his scalp open and he had to be flown to India for surgery and he is living with that scar for the rest of his life. We have made calls to have a law to control the keeping of these animals at home.

    “The rabies vaccines are available in every vet clinic and so affordable. It is about N3, 000 and with that you get your pet immunised for a whole year. I don’t know anything more economical than that.

    “We have been liaising with the Lagos State Government on law reforms. At the national level there are different laws. The issue of Animal Disease Control Act it is at the top level of discussion at the National Assembly. It is all encompassing. It will regulate a lot of things. There are diseases animals moving within states carry from states to states especially Avian Influenza that is transmittable from birds to humans. It has been there for some years at the national level. But for Lagos State we have been discussing on the need to have a law to control the keeping of domestic animals. We have had advocacy in different places.”

    The Chairman, Lagos Chapter, Nigerian Veterinary Association, Dr. Balogun Stephen warned: “As long as we keep dogs in our environment we are actually playing with rabies. If the dog is not duly vaccinated the pet owner is not safe. He is playing with death because if the dog has rabies and if there is any situation that warrants the dog biting someone and once the clinical signs start manifesting in the victim, death is inevitable if appropriate preventive care is not taken. Certainly the person should just be waiting for death.”

    On what should be done, he outlined: “There should be no time wasting. Once there is a dog bite, take necessary action. Every bite should be taken seriously. This is how we advise people. My advice for dog owners is that they vaccinate their dogs against rabies, they should patronise vet doctors not those that call themselves dog doctors. There is nothing like dog doctors. These people go around. They don’t use the right vaccines. They go around and start injecting dogs and the dogs still come down with rabies infections. Dogs are of the most public health importance because they maintain very close relationship with man. They have access to the bush and to our homes.

    So if per chance any infected animal in the bush bites them they get infected. These carriers are what we call reservoirs. They include bats, wolves etc. because some people use dogs for hunting. Once they are bitten by these wild animals the dog comes home with the virus and it may take a long time for the dog to show signs. It may take up to 21 days and the owners may not know it is incubating the virus. Then at a time it gets to a furious state and the dog begin to bite, the owner may not think it has rabies. Another advice is that pet owners should not disregard any dog bite. Every bite is important. Once there is a bite, wash the surface of the spot with soap to disinfect the place, call your family doctor or health provider then call your vet doctor to examine the dog. If the dog is aggressive after ten days or if the aggression is progressing, it may be an infected dog. This happens also in the rural areas. In the city you can hear that someone has given an injection, how effective is the injection? First of all, like I mentioned earlier, wash the area thoroughly to disinfect it, wash vigorously with soap. There would be need for antibiotics as well so you call your doctor. A total of 44 dogs were vaccinated at the Iyaiye  Ojokoro Local Government Area.”

  • Rise of backyard farming

    Along with fresh fruits and vegetables, mini livestock, backyard farms are providing jobs, start-up programmes, knowledge and social connections, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Mrs Ngozi Chineze lives in Lafenwa, an Ogun State suburb. She is far from Shoprite or Spar, two major retail chains.

    This means, she is unable to source some of the family needs from either of these two supermarkets. But she is not complaining. A civil servant, she has joined a growing number of urban dwellers growing backyard farms. Like other urban farmers, she benefits from fresh veggies and increases her vitamin intake. A combination of raised beds is used to grow the produce. The urban farming model puts fresh, locally-grown fruit and vegetables on the table.

    She is happy to start a farm at her backyard, which provides her high-quality fresh, local produce.

    With urban farms, she believes a lot of young people who have the capacity, can make a living from growing crops and raising mini livestock.

    According to her, backyard farming helps to address a number of serious challenges, including public health and well-being concerns.

    She encourages people to take advantage of their gardens and growing things.

    Backyard farming – a term used to encompass everything from independent vegetable gardens – to  home beehives, chickens and more – is on the rise.

    And while backyard farming is on the rise, it is nothing new.

    Backyard farming seems to be an activity that many homes are really interested in.

    What started as a backyard gardening project has blossomed into a viable commercial farming.

    Founder, Jovana Integrated Farms, Prince Arinze Onebunne, has been raising mini-livestock in his backyard.

    Seen as the rabbit king, Onebunne is one of the leading rabbit farmers in the country and has built an extensive business, selling meat to hotels and local shops. He described backyard farms as vital resource for Nigerians living in areas with high levels of food insecurity.

    Agriculture and livestock farming, he said, could solve Nigeria’s food problems.

    His philosophy is to raise animals that can be eaten.

    He has had successes and costly failures.

    He has read and reviewed websites, articles, and blogs and watched videos on farming. His success has come from much trial and error.

    According to him, a growing industry is that producing small animals. These range from rabbits and squirrels raised for meat to animals such as mice rose for pets.

    He said: “Animals, such as guinea pigs and albino, are raised for research. These animals are used to test everything from drugs to toothpaste.”

    Onebunne is encouraging people to start backyard mini-livestock farms raising chickens, rabbit and guinea fowl.

    Some of his clients have built backyard pens and cages cobbled with discarded wood and corrugated iron.

    From backyard vegetable gardens to community spaces, front yard orchards, and window boxes, the National President of Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr. Victor Iyama said people should be encouraged to grow food where ever they are.

    Iyama said food security is important, adding that it is vital to support every effort to produce more food.

    He said backyard   farmers play in a role in fostering healthy, local food within the community.

    For him, the government needs to realise the inherent potential of urban agriculture in creating jobs and supporting food supply.

    Former Dean of Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof Babafunso Sonaiya  said backyard farmers need to develop some concrete skills to be successful.

    He said backyard poultry is an excellent way to enhance the availability of and access to micronutrients and protein-rich foods.

    According to him, this is enabling families to produce eggs for home consumption and enhance their protein intake, while surplus production can be sold in the market or bartered.

    He emphasised the need for the government and the private sector to ensure poultry enterprises are encouraged.

    He said backyard poultry farmers must obtain the basic training  useful for rearing chicks, feeding, housing and disease management.

  • True federalism is the answer, says Bewaji

    The Executive Director of Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER), Dr. Wunmi Bewaji, spoke with reporters in Lagos on state of the nation. Musa Odoshimokhe was there.

    How can Nigeria work as a true federation?

    We are truly a federation and I can also tell you that the state of our democracy is also fine, even though  it is not perfect. We have problems here and there. For example, almost six months after election, we are still in court over it. No other country in Africa past through it. At the end of the day, I think being in court is better than being on the war front fighting for the so called mandate. There is also need for us to move away from judicialisation of the electoral process. The court should have very limited role to play in the entire electoral system. Election petition can be decided within two   months. If only we review the law and they streamline the groups upon which the election result can be challenged.

    For example, INEC conducted an election and it should be expected that INEC certificate should enjoy the highest presumption of regularity. Once INEC issued its Certificate of Returns to an individual, then it will require a huge rock to fall down that individual to lose the certificate. If you are a Ph.D holder and someone who has only primary school certificate holders has defeated you, that means there is something unique that the electorate found to ensure that the primary school certificate holders to defeat you. After the election, that should not be a ground for you to approach a court of the land that he does not qualify to contest. Also I will advocate that as a nation, we must move away from certificated qualification for elections.  Nothing should stop anyone who has not seen the four walls of a school, so called for running for political office in the country. If I did not have a Secondary School Certificate and under the law, and my vote is good enough to elect me, that should be good under the law, couple with my votes by the electorate, I should be able tho enjoy the votes of others even if they were professors.

    Also, if I can vote for those who went to school, those wo have also gone to school should also be allowed to vote for me. That is the liberty for us to say those who had not have a particularly certificate can’t be voted for, that’s anti democracy and we must shift emphasis from that. Those who put that in the constitution were only focusing on power and not on democracy which is about choice which can be limited.

    Why do you think we need to restructure this country?

    We need to restructure in the sense that you know we talk about unity in diversity. Nigeria is a federation and you know at Independence, we were familiar with the Lancaster Conference, the Independence Conference in London. The founding fathers of Nigeria, made it known that their solution to the diversity was to be able to use that diversity as raw material for unity. You can’t deny the fact that Nigeria is diversed, there are many ethnic nationalities in the country and all over the world, you have such diversity. The solution has always been a federal structure.

    Now, at Independence, what we had if you look at the 1960 Constitution, was a federal constitution. The 1963 Constitution was purely a federal constitution in which the component units of the federation were allowed to develop at their pace. Look at the 1960 Constitution, we had 22 items in the Exclusive List. So the areas where the federal government had exclusive jurisdiction were limited.

    But under the 1979 Constitution, they grew to 68 and that trend started since 1966 when (General) Aguiyi Ironsi came in and he thought that the solution to Nigeria’s problems was to have a Unitary System and that consumed Aguiyi Ironsi. Aguiyi-Ironsi was consumed by that and then we reverted back to Decree 1 which was federal in structure.

    Now, from that 1966 to 1979, we had that federal structure in place, but there was a problem. I had the opportunity of meeting the late Dr. Ajayi. He was one of the drafters of Decree 1 and he said the problem they had was that because in the Army, the structure they have there is command and obey structure. And that when they were drafting Decree 1, that they had a problem about what to do with a situation whereby if you now have a Head of State at the federal level, then in those regions, the military governors were presiding.

    Of course, there were very senior military governors then. The military governors at the regions or states would be junior to the Head of State and so, the Supreme Military Council (SMC) headed by the Head of State is now the highest organ. It is now the parliament. So the idea was that there is no way the Head of State would sign onto a law, and then a junior officer in his region or state would alter it and that was how the inconsistency clause was introduced.

    Niger Delta people believe the restructuring should be about fiscal federalism and that each region should be made to take possession of mineral resources…

    Yes, that is the Resource Control argument. The Resource Control argument of course also derives from the idea of having True Federalism. Of course, at Independence, what we had was each region controlling its resources, every region was controlling its own resources and you are then going to be paying tax to the federal government, that was what we had. It was only under the military the arrangement was changed to a situation whereby the federal government now controls everything. And was how the idea to placate the people who were arguing for True Federalism came, that was how the idea of the 13per cent Derivation was introduced but surely it is like scratching the problem on the surface because continually, people are going to continue to agitate for restructuring.

    So, this restructuring we are talking about, you know Keyamo appeared before the National Assembly, he said something about restructuring the Supreme Court and letting each state have its own Supreme Court. This is something that would not go away until we address it, the problem will not go away, we must restructure. The diversity is enormous and then, unity in diversity does not mean that we are not a country. Yes, we are Nigerians. Recall that Chief Obafemi Awolowo said: “I am first and foremost a Yoruba man before am a Nigerian’ and that is the thinking of everybody and that is what sustains this idea of rotation, of one region waiting for its own turn. So we cannot pretend that our Nigeria is one, yes. We are working towards attaining unity but unity must not be blind to diversity. It must be unity in diversity and not otherwise.

  • IDPs, drug war…Worst nightmares

    The humanitarian community is renewing support for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and waging a fierce battle against drug abuse, writes UCHE BIBILARI

    They need help. But these over 800,000 helpless people in Borno State are in areas that are inaccessible to humanitarian organisations. Their state is the epicentre of the crisis, but they live in communities hard to access.

    Humanitarian challenge, such as the one in Borno, human and drug trafficking and related crimes are major sources of worries for the humanitarian community globally.

    Following Nigeria’s attainment of independence on October 1, 1960, the country’s foreign policy has been focused on becoming a regional power in Africa.

    Its leaders at the time decided that the country would be able to achieve that by imbibing several fundamental principles.

    Such principles ranged from African unity and independence, capability to exercise hegemonic influence in the region through peaceful settlement of disputes, non-alignment and non-intentional interference in the internal affairs of other nations, as well as regional economic cooperation and development.

    To be able to carry out these principles, Nigeria made a decision to be an active participant in the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the United Nations (UN).

    Since becoming a member of the UN, the humanitarian community has continued to renew its commitment toward fighting against human and drug trafficking and related crimes as well as providing humanitarian support to refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) banished by insurgency.

    Aids provided by the humanitarian community, such as UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Nigeria and West Africa as a whole in the past ten years and in spite of the acts of terror in the area without doubt, constitute a paradigm shift from what obtained in the past.

    Now in its ninth year, the humanitarian crisis in Northeast Nigeria remains one of the most severe in the world.

    In its report titled, “Nigeria: 2019 Humanitarian Overview’’, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said that across the three affected states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, 7.1 million people are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2019 out of the total population of 13.4 million.

    More than 80 per cent of internally displaced people were in Borno State, the epicentre of the crisis, and more than 60 per cent were living in host communities, making it harder to access them with assistance and putting additional pressure on the already stretched resources of these communities, it said.

    According to the report, however, some 1.6 million people have returned home since Aug. 2015, indicating that conditions in some locations have improved.

    Humanitarian organisations are not able to meet all needs in the north-east; more than 800,000 people in Borno State are estimated to be in areas that are inaccessible to the organisations.

    In April 2018, humanitarian organisations developed a multi-sector Rainy Season Contingency Plan with concrete preparedness and response measures to address the expected rise in humanitarian needs resulting from: flooding of camps and towns, the damage and destruction to shelters and houses as well education and health facilities.

    The plan was also to respond to the heightened risk of waterborne disease transmission, including cholera and hepatitis E as well as the pre-positioning of life-saving items such as food, seeds, medicines, emergency shelter, non-food items and hygiene kits.

    In addition, the humanitarian community is exploring alternative transport options for humanitarian cargo movements between Ngala town and Rann, such as the use of canoes.

    The counter-insurgency measures carried out by the Nigerian military and their regional partners have improved access to new areas.

    The government also announced plans to relocate tens of thousands of IDPs from Maiduguri to Bama where rehabilitation of public and private infrastructure is underway. On April 2, 3,070 women, children and men were relocated.

    The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and Heartland Alliance International (HAI) also provided support services in the form of training of 75 protection actors from government agencies, civil society organisations, and humanitarian organisations working in the Northeast Nigeria in a bid to tackle trafficking in persons in crisis situations.

    The actors reaffirmed their commitment to not only promote the fight against drug trafficking and other related crimes, but to make them become things of the past.

    According to them, such commitments have become necessary given the “horrific dimensions’’ of the rising cases of human trafficking, with sexual exploitation of victims being the main driver.

    Available data indicate that children account for 30 per cent of those being trafficked, and far more girls are detected than boys globally.

    Stabilisation, provision of aid to refugees, and victims of insurgency especially in the Northeast are some of the other humanitarian assistance provided by the actors as relief.

    The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Representative in Nigeria, Mr Oliver Stolpe, at a humanitarian project steering and coordination committee meeting in Abuja, pledged that the office would redouble efforts aimed at tackling drug trafficking and crime in the sub-region.

    The meeting was a European Union (EU)-funded project, with the theme, “Support to ECOWAS regional action plan on illicit drug trafficking, related organised crime and drug Abuse.”

    Stolpe said: “This is not the end of the road only the closing of a chapter and the opening of a new one.

    “UNODC will remain at the service of Nigeria and other ECOWAS member states in the implementation of their respective National Drug Control Master Plans, to address the multiple threats posed by illicit drugs trafficking.”

    Also, the Head of Co-operation of EU, Mr Kurt Cornelis, promised to ensure that humanitarian projects were sustained to achieve targets over transnational border crime in the sub-region.

    According to him, the fight against transnational organised crime remains a priority and of mutual interest to Nigeria, Africa, and EU.

    Dr. Siga Fatima Jagne, the Commissioner for Social Affairs and Gender at the ECOWAS Commission, reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to carrying out action plans against drug trafficking and related crimes.

    Jagne, who was represented by Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, Head of ECOWAS Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Risk Destruction at a humanitarian project meeting in Abuja, assured of the sub-regional body’s commitment to dealing with organised crime.

    She said that the Commission had received 90 per cent of the total grant money amounting 2.929 million euros, adding that out of the sum 2.455 million euros, representing 84 per cent, was spent on humanitarian projects.

    She also said that the remaining balance of about 16 per cent had been earmarked for auditing and other activities that would last until Nov. 16.

    According to her, ECOWAS remains committed to building on what it has achieved so.

    Meanwhile, the UNDP in Nigeria had, in a bid to assist Nigeria, inaugurated the Regional Stabilisation Facility which was anchored within the Regional Stabilisation Strategy (RSS) for Lake Chad, a ground-breaking initiative led by the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and adopted by its member states in August 2018.

    This initiative, an ambitious multi-million dollar fund to scale up the range of stabilisation intervention in areas of Lake Chad Basin, was inaugurated in July 2019 in Niamey, Niger at the second Governors Forum.

    The Facility, which began operating on September 1 is expected to run for two years in the eight affected regions of the 4 riparian countries (Cameroun, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria) and will serve as a rapid response mechanism to help the local authorities curtail the ability of Boko Haram insurgency by restoring and extending effective civilian security. It is also to help improve the delivery of basic services and livelihoods.

    Accordingly, the UNDP, Resident Representative in Nigeria, Mr Mohamed Yahaya during the first inaugural meeting of the ‘Nigerian window’, said Nigeria would receive more than 30 million dollars from a total of 100 million dollars set aside for the facility in the four countries facing insurgency.

    For Nigeria, the Facility is expected to facilitate recovery and stabilisation interventions including livelihood support for communities, massive civil engineering works, and strengthening of local security structure in the North eastern states affected. It is expected to run for two years.

    • Bibilari is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

     

  • Teenage girls reject early marriage for education

    The issue of early marriage for the girl child has become a contentious one. In a time and age when education plays crucial role in societal development as an aftermath of the education of its citizens, it is a misnomer to urge the girl child not to be educated. FRANK IKPEFAN writes on some brave teenagers who preferred education to early marriage.

    In a region where child marriage is prevalent, 12-year-old Aisha Muhammed’s quest for education draws some courage that other girls can follow. The Primary 5 pupil of Warure Special Primary School, Gwale LGEA, Kano State, has an ambition to become a doctor. That ambition cannot be thwarted even by the money of a rich politician or parental influence for early marriage.

    She has a goal to help her community, particularly girls after she might have finished her education. According to her, she wants to do something about women in her community.

    “I want to get married after I become a doctor. If any man comes, politician or any rich man comes, I will not agree. I will not marry him. I will not agree because I want to finish my studies. I want to become a doctor and help my community, particularly the females. I want to do something about women.

    “No, I want to finish my secondary school first before I will love any man. My parents will not give me away to any man. My father is a businessman but he has some basic education. My mother is a housewife, but she went to school too,” Aisha said.

    That future is being moulded at Warure Special Primary School, Gwale LGEA, Kano State. The school is one of the few selected by the state government to be part of a federal government effort of getting more children in school.

    It is a government primary school established in 1959 with two classrooms, 30 pupils and five teaching staff, including the headteacher. The school currently has a population of 2,728 pupils: 1,459 males, and 1,269 females. It also has more classrooms and teachers.

    Like Miss Muhammed, thirteen-year old Suraya Abdulrazak, also has an ambition to become a doctor in future. She said, “I want to be a doctor when I grow up.”

    According to the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, Nigeria has 10.2 million out-of-school children, even though government had made primary education free and compulsory. Kano and eleven other states, share about eight million of this figure, according to a survey by United Nations’ Children Education Fund (UNICEF).

    UNICEF said that the estimate included children attending non-formal education.

    In its sectoral situation report in Nigeria, it said only 61 per cent of 6-11 years old children regularly attended primary school, while only 35.6 per cent of children aged 36-59 months received Early Childhood Education.

    To close this gap and give children in the state the benefit of education, the Kano State government is partnering agencies like the UNICEF and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (UKDID) in order to increase enrollment in schools, especially girls enrollment.

    In 2012, the state government established a School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) in Warure, to ensure completion of basic education for all school-age children. The school is fast becoming a choice destination for parents wishing to enrol their kids.

    The UN agency said that it plans to enroll one million out-of-school girls in schools by 2020 in Zamfara, Bauchi, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto and Kano states. According to UNICEF, the enrolment goal would be done under its Girls Education Project 3 (GEP3) in these six northern states using the SBMC.

    The project, funded by the DFID and being implemented by UNICEF, is an eight year project (2012 to 2020) aimed at contributing to improving the social and economic opportunity for girls in northern Nigeria.

    At a recent two-day media dialogue on the project in Kano state, UNICEF GEP 3 Kano state Coordinator, Richard Akanet, said that 42,000 primary and Islamic school teachers had so far been trained and mentored in child-friendly pedagogy under the programme.

    He noted that 1,900,000 boys had also benefitted from the programme through investments in “improvements to teacher quality and school governance”.

    Akanet said: “Socio-economic status has been the main reason behind not being enrolled in school. Since May 2012, UNICEF has been implementing the eight year GEP3 (2012-2020) funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development, which aims at contributing to improved social and economic opportunity for girls in northern Nigeria.

    “The major focus is to get school-age girls to school, without neglecting boys’ enrollment. The main reasons given for girls dropout from school are; direct cost which represents 29 per cent, those who are with no interest in education represent 25 per cent, while opportunity cost stands at 23 per cent.

    “Our target is one million additional girls in school and our outputs are; increased enrolment and retention for girls in basic education, improved capacity for teachers to deliver effective learning for girls and improved governance to strengthen girls’ education.

    “The expected results by 2020 are; approximately one million girls in school, primary and integrated Qur’anic schools; 1.6million girls reached by improved teaching and learning environments.

    “Also, 15,300 head teachers have been trained in school effectiveness and curriculum management, and approximately 1.9million boys have benefited from GEP 3 interventions”.

    He said the goal of the SBMC is to improve in school enrolment, especially for girls, as well as a remarkable reduction in schoolgirls’ dropout.

    Director of Social Mobilisation, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Bello Kagara, said that the SBMC was the closest structure to engage in addressing the problem of out-of-school children and that the community, and if properly supported, will deliver.

    He said the commission would spend N2.7 billion on the rehabilitation of 2,505 selected primary schools across the country.

    He added that each of the benefiting schools would receive a first disbursement of 75 per cent payment of the total amount allocated to it, while the remaining 25 per cent would be paid after the commission confirms its satisfaction with the utilisation of monies released earlier.

    “Already, the Federal Government has said it will inject the sum of N2.7billion in the SBMC Intervention scheme in 2,505 basic schools across the country.

    “For the pilot phase, under the macro project, we are supporting 15 schools per state, including the FCT. For the micro project, we are supporting 50 schools per state. In special projects, we are supporting 120 of such,” he said.

    Kagara said each of the benefiting schools would receive the first disbursement of 75 per cent payment of the total amount allocated to it, while the remaining 25 per cent would be after the commission confirms its satisfaction with the utilisation of monies released earlier.

    The Director however said the SBMC committee must pay 10 per cent of the total amount for project execution before they can access the 75 per cent.

    He identified poor funding and non-participation of key actors as some of the major challenges bedeviling the quality and increased access to education in the country.

    Also, the Kano State SBMC Chairman, Tijjani Baraya, explained that before, nobody cared about public schools within their communities, adding that: “those days people felt any school within their area, they simply say they were government property but today, our people now realise the schools located in their communities belong to them and not the government”.

    He said the concept of SBMC is to give communities the chance to support school programmes within their community.

    Baraya added: “The SBMC committee for instance, in Kano State, comprises 17 members drawn from traditional, religious institutions, artisans, school pupils, teachers, community-based organisations, and women organisations.

    ”The role of SBMC and that of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) are different. The PTA charges levies while the SBMC is an intervention. SBMC does not charge any member of the community or requests money from the pupils. This plan is what the school uses within a period, it consists of the school needs and costs”.

  • ‘Nigeria can earn over N10b from coconut yearly’

    Nigeria has the potential to earn over N10 billion yearly from farmers and agro- business entrepreneurs from the coconut subsector, a group, the National Coconut Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NACOPPMAN),  said on Thursday in Abuja.

    Its President, Mrs. Nma Okoroji, who spoke with our reporter said the necessity to promote coconut production, processing and marketing is due to the fact that coconut is one of the viable and valuable cash crops in the agricultural sector.

    She said the product is endowed with the potential of improving the economy  through the establishment of coconut plantations and value addition for agro-entrepreneurship.

    She said coconut would also boost the nation’s foreign exchange (forex) earnings through export potential.

    “Coconut is grown in 32 states in Nigeria and it is most viable plant of choice in the much-Needed Environmental Remediation (NER) and forestation. Every viable states have the potential for the production 10 million coconut trees with annual production of over one billion husked nuts, worth over N45 billion.

    “Statistics has shown that the price of coconut oil cannot be compared to the price of crude oil as a barrel of coconut oil keep appreciating more than the barrel of crude oil.

    “It is also one of the very few plants that even peasant farmers with small holdings are ready to protect and nurture because it accommodates mixed cropping and can grow the GDP of Nigeria exponentially, creating jobs to the timing youth and women, crime reduction and mitigation of social vices in Nigeria,” she added.

    Mrs. Okoroji further highlighted the challenges which hinders coconut production such as poor technology know-how and lack of good hybrids to assist farmers.

    She however called on state governments to collaborate with the association in assisting them with lands for coconut plantation across states.

    In a separate interview, the Project Coordinator, Federation of Agricultural Association of Nigeria (FACAN), Isaac Ojonugwa, said the association will be linking the smallholder farmers to major off takers to create income.

    He said the association intends to get the database of farmers that are involved which will guarantee price at the prevailing market that will be beneficial to the farmers and off takers.

    He said: “NACOPPMAN will be collaborating with FACAN to fill in the gaps in supplying raw materials which the processors will lead them to the market.

  • Residents groan over poor state of Kuje-Gwagwalada road

    Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, is said to be one of the fasted growing capital cities in the world. With this description, one would have thought that residents of the city would have experienced an Eldorado. But, GBENGA OMOKHUNU writes that contrary to expectations, residents of this ‘flourishing’ city complain of experiencing the worst of times, especially in the areas of infrastructure.

    Good road is one of the most important basic amenities any government, federal, state or local, should be proud of and cherish. Abuja city, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) since its creation in 1976, has grown tremendously in all dimensions, possessing one of the best infrastructure in the world. Yet, most of its satellite towns seem to be abandoned.

    According to the United Nations (UN), Abuja is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and the fastest growing city on the African continent.

    The city is divided into six area councils, namely, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Gwagwalada, Abaji, Kuje, Bwari and Kwali. There are also areas designated as satellite towns. These include Kusaki/Yanga, Kuje, Rubochi, Anagada, Dobi, Gwagwalada, Zuba, Dei-Dei, Karshi, Gosa, Karu, Nyanya, Kubwa, Bwari, Abaji, Kwali, among others. The six area councils are linked to one another by a road network that has been crying for maintenance as population in the settlements keeps growing by the day.

    Findings revealed that one of the reasons for the creation of the satellite towns was to facilitate development in the various satellite towns with the territory. However, while development is concentrated mainly in the city centre such as Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse, Garki and others, the satellite towns are left with decayed infrastructure.

    While government is busy focusing on the city centre, there is no gainsaying the fact that majority of Abuja residents live in these satellite towns, with next to nothing in terms of infrastructure.

    Major roads leading to most of the local councils, which form the headquarters of the satellite towns, are deplorable, while most of the roads in the various settlements are not motorable. The rainy season has made the conditions of the roads practically impassable, even for motorcycles.

    One of such councils is Kuje, which is the headquarters of the Kuje Area Council. Located about 40 kilometres southwest of the main city, it has an area of 1,644 km² and a population of 97,367 at the 2006 census. Currently, Kuchiyako is the most developed area in Kuje.

    Without mincing words, the Kuje-Gwagwalada Road has become death trap for motorists. Almost all the segments of the roads are in deplorable state at present.

    Findings also revealed that no major repairs have been carried out on the major road since it was constructed during the Shehu Shagari administration, over 30-years ago.

    Some Kuje residents, especially those that own cars who spoke with Abuja Review lamented bitterly over the deplorable state of the road.

    According to them, the dilapidated roads had hindered the growth and development of economic and social activities in the area.

    It is also a known fact that no week passes without fatal accidents occurring on the road, due mainly to several potholes and gullies spread across different patches of the fast-deteriorating road.

    Mr. Odili Okoli, a resident of Low Cost Housing Estate at Kuje, said for decades, residents have been battling the bad state of the roads among other basic amenities.

    His words: “This is the major road linking Kuje to the town and we have approached the council severally on the need to get it rehabilitated to ease movement. The entire road is always flooded when it rains and we find it difficult to use the road during rainy season because potholes are covered with water thereby making it even difficult to manage your vehicle.

    “We are appealing to the authorities to come to our aid; they should get the roads rehabilitated to ease our sufferings”.

    Another resident of the area, Mr. Ibrahim Shittu said if the roads were rehabilitated, it would ease movements and enhance rapid development in the area.

    He said: “We have approached government on the need to either grade the road or get it rehabilitated to ease movements and yet nothing has been done. The most painful part is that this road we are talking about also leads to the area council secretariat and yet the roads have been abandoned. We are appealing to government through the area council to come to our aid and get the road rehabilitated in the interest of fairness.

    “It is sad that almost on a regular basis, especially now that the rains are here; several people are always seen on the road patching some parts of the road with sand and use that as a yardstick to beg motorists for money.

    “The fear now is that some of the bad eggs in the society may start leveraging on that to rob motorists, especially at night”.

    Also, another resident, Mrs. Omolola Adeola decried the lack of basic social amenities in the area, adding that government has totally forgotten about their welfare.

    She said the road linking the area has been in a terrible condition for long, despite efforts to make it motorable, noting that the situation gets worse once it rains. She called on the government to expedite actions to tar the road for the benefit of the residents who are mostly low income earners.

    “Our problems here are many. We have no good road. When it rains, the road becomes a mess with portholes as death traps and when it dries, everywhere becomes dusty”, Mrs. Adeola added.

    A commuter, Samuel Ode told our correspondent that though the government ought to provide basic social amenities for its citizens, the reverse is the case as residents struggle and sometimes pay extra to fix some bad patches of the road.

    He lamented that the worse is the hike in transport fare by commuter vehicles plying the various locations leading to Kuje town, including the ones plying the city centre from Kuje.

    Ode said the residents have to trek some distance due to the refusal of commercial motorcyclists to ply the road once it rains.

    He said: “We in Kuje are suffering, we do not have good road network and this is not a good development. There is not one day that goes by without us hearing about an accident somewhere. When I get into my car in the morning, I actually feel anxious and I pray that I reach my destination safely. The roads have become a death trap that we all face on a daily basis.

    “Just last week, there were two horrific accidents within a 20 kilometre radius of where I live and these are only the ones I know of. I would bet there were more.

    One of the accidents I am referring to was caused by a commercial driver who made a turn to avoid a pothole. The other was the accident that tragically claimed the life of a passenger.

    “I think the government and law enforcement agencies need to be more proactive in solving this problem. People are so frustrated with the potholes and traffic congestion that they become inconsiderate on the road because they are rushing to get to where they want to be”.

    What went wrong with the rehabilitation or reconstruction of the road? Has government abandoned the Kuje-Gwagwalada road to continue to depreciate and claim more lives?

    When contacted, the Director of Satellite Towns Development Department, (STDD), Mr. Felix Nwanko, explained that it is the Engineering Department of the Federal Capital Development Authority, (FCDA) that is responsible for the maintenance of the road.

    Nwanko, whose department is only responsible for road network with the area councils, said: “The road is what we call FCT 105, and it is FCDA Department of Engineering Services that is handling it. It is a primary highway. I know they are doing procurement on it. I know they have done the technical bid, remaining the financial bid. The design is there, it is just to make sure that it is captured in the budget”.

    Findings also revealed that government is planning to convert the Kuje-Gwagwalada Road to a dual carriage way.

    All efforts to speak with the Director of Engineering Services, on the budget proposal for the dualisation the road were futile as he was said to be busy with official engagements.

    But the FCDA Senior Media Officer, Mr. Richard Ndu, told Abuja Review that funding has been the reason the road is in a bad state.

    Ndu, who did not reveal the proposed budget, said the dualisation of the road will commence immediately the 2019 Budget is passed.

    His words: “I can confirm to you that the road is in the 2019 Budget as a dual carriage way. As soon as the budget is approved, the contract will be awarded and work will commence. It was one of those roads that STDA constructed around the 80s. So, it is going to be full scope dual carriage way. You know we are constructing this Wasa to Gwagwalada Road and it is also going to go as far as that. But in this contract, it will terminate at Kuje.

    “You know because of funding, which has been the problem because we know that with the dualisation of that road, it will open up Kuje, so that, more people can live there. It is even very close to the airport. So, that is the essence of the dual carriage way that we want to do.

    “We would have done the repairs and also the dual carriage way before now but because of funding constraints. Since that time, may be there have been some repairs but now we are sure we are going to turn the road to a dual carriage way. You know the process will also involve the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and once that is done, the contract will be awarded. I will not be able to say how much has been budgeted for the road for now”.

    Findings also revealed that this is not the first time budgetary provision is being made to turn the road to a dual carriage way. It was included in the 2016, 2017 and 2018 budgets but was not approved by the National Assembly.

    It is the hope of the generality of Kuje residents that this time around, the construction and rehabilitation of the road will be approved by the authorities concerned.