The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian Newspaper

  • El-Rufai goes to school

    It was an audacious pronouncement. In a state broadcast in December, 2017, the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, had made a pledge to the people of the state that “I will by personal example ensure that my son that will be six years old in 2019 will be enrolled in a public school in Kaduna State by God’s grace.” The governor urged other public officers in the state to do likewise to demonstrate his administration’s determination and sincere commitment “to fix public education and raise their standards so that private education will become only a luxury”.

    This week, Governor el-Rufai proved that his promise was not just the empty rhetoric often associated with politicians. In an unusual and commendable move, he has enrolled his son, Abubakar, Al-Saddique el-Rufai in primary one at the Capital School, Malali, Kaduna State. Some cynics have referred sarcastically to the fanfare that attended young Abubakar el-Rufai’s going to school with all the media hype it attracted in comparison to other less privileged children who started school across the state in relative anonymity.

    Well, the child of the first citizen of the state can surely not be registered to commence his primary education in a public school, a practice against the prevalent norm, without attracting considerable attention. This is returning to the example of statesmen like Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Alhaji Lateef Jakande, in the first and second republics, respectively, whose children attended public schools even when their fathers held high political offices.

    Read Also: El-Rufai’s son public school enrolment, deceptive game for 2023 – Shehu Sani

    Even then, that was a period when there was still a lot of confidence in public schools and they compared favourably with private ones. Given the level of gross deterioration of public education at all levels in contemporary Nigeria, el-Rufai’s example is a remarkable and refreshing one.

    The el-Rufai administration in Kaduna State has taken commendable steps to re-position education in the state and transform the sector into an efficient and effective vehicle for achieving rapid development. Sometimes it has had to take courageous but painful decisions in this regard. For instance, the administration introduced proficiency tests for primary school teachers and had no option but to weed out those who were patently ill-equipped to impart qualitative education to pupils. In their place, 25,000 new qualified teachers were recruited to raise the quality of instruction in primary schools, the foundational level of education.

    In recognition of the critical role of education in extricating the state from debilitating poverty and underdevelopment, the el-Rufai administration declared the first nine years of schooling free for boys and the whole 12 years of primary and secondary education free for girls, thus doubling school enrolment from 1.1 million to nearly 2.1 million in the state. And through the Kaduna State Universal Education Board, the government has embarked on a massive school rehabilitation programme with humongous funds committed to the provision of modern classrooms, furniture, water, and toilet facilities.

    About 1,069, 140 pupils from primary one to primary three in 3,922 primary schools are also benefitting from the state’s school feeding programme at the cost of N70/child a day. This has impacted positively both on school enrolment numbers and the healthy growth of school children who are fed daily nutritious meals. Governor el-Rufai’s enrolment of his son in a public school demonstrates that his administration’s huge investment in the sector is no fluke. After all, the governor would not want his child to receive substandard education.

    Some critics contend that el –Rufai is only playing to the gallery and seeking publicity for the sake of politics. Whatever may be his motives, this is a salutary example of leadership worth emulating. If more prominent public officers follow in this path, governments would care more both for the quality of public education and the safety of pupils who attend them.

     

  • Steady progress

    Ever since the adoption and pursuit of its cashless policy in 2012, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has recorded steady progress in its objective of reducing the volume and frequency of cash-based transactions in the Nigerian economy. The marked success recorded in the actualisation of the policy thus far is easily visible in the substantial increase in the number of Nigerians who make use of electronic means of effecting payments for services rendered at petrol stations, supermarkets, restaurants and fast food joints, hotels, hair dressing and barbers’ shops, and in sundry other transactions which were hitherto mainly cash-based.

    One immediate benefit of this development is that it has become much less tempting and attractive for criminals to attack and rob these commercial centres in search of cash, which used to be allowed to accumulate before being deposited at banks through manual processes. One previously serious source of the country’s protracted security challenge has thus been effectively checkmated. Furthermore, the culture of conducting transactions through the formal monetary system has been strengthened, thus reducing the amount of transactions operating outside the framework of the banks, even if only marginally for now.

    Read Also: CBN cashless policy’ll benefit Nigerians, says PayAttitude founder Apochi

    Against this background, it is commendable that the CBN, last week, commenced another phase of its cashless policy in Lagos, Ogun, Abia, Anambra, Rivers states, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where bank customers either depositing or withdrawing cash above stipulated thresholds will pay specified charges. Individual accounts transactions will attract processing fees of 3% for withdrawals and 3% for lodgments above N500,000.00, respectively. In a similar vein, corporate accounts will attract processing fees of 5% for withdrawals and 3% for lodgments above N3 million. These charges will go beyond the six pilot major commercial centres and become applicable nationwide from March 31, 2020.

    Significantly reducing the incidence of cash transactions, which is the objective of the policy, will not only reduce threats of insecurity to individual and commercial entities who will no longer have to store or convey large amounts of cash, it will also help increase the confidence level of the public in banks through increased online financial transactions. The caveat here, however, is that the banks themselves must enhance their levels of efficiency, effectiveness and integrity to win and sustain enduring public trust. Ultimately, the successful and enduring inculcation of the cashless policy will depend largely on a higher level of ethical standards by the financial institutions.

    Enhancing the culture of electronic relative to personal cash transactions will also, even if indirectly, engender greater respect for the national currency, which is subjected to gross abuse through such practices, for instance, as obscene ‘spraying‘ of the Naira at parties. Pervasive and untrammeled cash transactions also leads to frequent mishandling of the Naira resulting to large scale deterioration and mutilation of the currency, with high replacement costs. There is also the added advantage that electronic bank transactions, especially through mobile phone devices, will reduce the need for large numbers of customers to physically visit banks, thus helping to reduce pressure on transportation and road traffic facilities.

    It would appear that much of the initial negative reactions to the new initiative stems from misunderstanding of aspects of the cashless policy. The CBN has thus explained that the new charges on large deposits and withdrawals apply only to cash transactions. Those who do not want to pay such fees can make use of the various alternative electronic payment modes that attract no charges. As the CBN also explained, the deposit/withdrawal charge is only on the amount above the stipulated sums and not the entire amount. The CBN no doubt needs to intensify its public enlightenment effort on details of the new policy.

  • Is education still key to success?

    The poor economy and high level of unemployment as well as societal appreciation of wealth make many disillusioned about the value of education, particularly at tertiary level. However, regardless of the difficulties graduates face getting jobs, education is not a tradeoff. Kofoworola Belo-Osagie, Damola Kola-Dare, Adepeju Lawal and Ayodele Adedamola

    Two young men relaxed briefly after offloading a truck of consumer goods to a neighbourhood store.   They got talking about another colleague who was not present.

    “Did Ade not study Business Administration?”, one asked the other. “Yes he did”, came the reply.  “But what did he end up doing with it?  He cannot even run a business.  He just wasted his family’s money.”

    The high rate of unemployment raises question about the necessity of spending four years or more acquiring tertiary qualifications only for graduates not to get jobs in their chosen fields.

    Once upon a time, jobs were waiting before students graduated.  However, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate for third quarter of 2018 was 23.1 per cent.  Many students who are unable to find jobs after graduation go back to learn other skills so they can take blue collar jobs.

    A sales man, Mr Alfred Martins, believes that tertiary education is a big fraud.  He blamed the government for not being able to provide jobs for its teeming youth population of graduates.

    He said: “Well, generally school is a place where learning takes place. The only two educational stages that are beneficial to man in Nigeria are primary and secondary. This is because one needs basic knowledge in one’s day-to-day activities throughout one’s life.

    “But when the word ‘school’ is now narrowed down to tertiary form of education, I will confidently say it is a big scam because getting a job after graduation becomes hell for any Nigerian graduate without vocational training. Nigeria is a failed nation in the creation of job hence tertiary schooling is an irredeemable scam.”

    Though he does not agree that education is a scam, Fajuyigbe Gideon blames political leaders for making it seem like that.  According to him, school becomes a scam once a graduate goes back to learn tailoring or establishes a barbing salon upon graduation.

    “Education has brought a lot of intellectual development into the society. Our leaders made it look like a scam. No plan for the young ones; no adequate data to know our exact population and how to plan. And obviously the ultimate aim of every graduate is to get employed after being educated.

    “It becomes a scam when a graduate begins to learn tailoring after spending years in the university or when a graduate opens a barber’s shop,” he said.

    Damilola Bamigbopa, an accountant, does not however believe that if a graduate learns skills, then it is bad.

    Bamigbopa, who is a fashion designer on the side, said people should not go to school with the mindset of just gaining paid employment.

    “We always think school gives you a job in a company. Those who established companies started off from the scratch. Innovation rules the world. The jobs are few, many are qualified for it, so few gets it. We all think the government will provide job for us all. No they can’t! Even China has more entrepreneurs than those in offices,” he said.

    Adebayo Eroyalesun, who works in a sports betting shop, said the flamboyant lives of entertainers, particularly musicians, and politicians confuse young people to think they can do well in life without  education.

    He said: “It is just a saying to brainwash youths to think that school is actually useless because most people think they can make more money without going through education or with their certificates.

    “The sole reasons for this are clear: We have cases of politicians who embezzle billions with just a signature and most of them didn’t even get proper education as most of their educational flaws are being displayed for all to see.

    “It isn’t a myth the negative impact that Nigerian singers have had on today’s youths.  We have a lot of upstarts who are mostly bitter about circumstances around them, what they have passed through, government negligence and other repulsive backgrounds they had.

    “They obviously have succeeded in winning over a larger part of the youth into believing that education is practically useless which is untrue.  Their derogatory remarks, use of urban languages, and most importantly their extravagant lifestyle which obviously did not come from working in a firm or being a civil servant is enough to entice youths into believing they could ignore education, thread on the same path and succeed.”

    Eroyalesun also said illicit gains from cybercrime also mislead youths into thinking education is not worth it.

    “Cybercrime is a very delicate aspect that has to do with instant wealth.   Youths can now open mails, clone accounts, set up identity under false pretext to defraud people.

    “Someone who makes millions off this route won’t think of going to an institution for over four years or settle for a meagre amount of money called a salary. This issue is very complex and can’t be discussed with levity.  Certificates are important for who knows what it really is but in this modern day world, particularly in Nigeria, our leaders have only shown us that ‘School Na Scam’”.

    To reduce the disappointment of what formal education can achieve, some respondents said young people need to understand that education is not synonymous with wealth.

    Olabisi Akande said many are oblivious to the essence of education and go to school because of the craze for certificates.

    On the contrary, she said education should be seen as an avenue for the development of the total man and not a money-making venture.

    “People have the wrong notion about school, hence, they tag it as scam,” she said.

    Alex Raphael also said: “The thing is to know the true meaning of education; education does not equate to wealth, neither is it financial incapacity.Education is about enlightening the mind – to redefine how you see things.

    “Education can lead to wealth but it is not primarily about wealth.  It is about creating wealth through creative reasoning.”

    Older people want education

    For older people who were not opportune to go to school, education remains important.

    Madam Bimpe Oyebade, a trader, said she would stop financing her children’s education if she finds they think school is not important.

    She said: “If I should find any of my children saying that rubbish, he/she will just stop going to school because I see no reason why I would be suffering to send a child to school and he will think the school is a scam; I should just keep my money for myself.”

    Madam Oyebade regrets not going to school so she ensured her children got educated to tertiary level.

    “I am not educated and it has really affected me in a lot of areas in life. My business is doing well but I know if I were to be educated, it will  bloom more because I will add the knowledge I learned in school to it.

    “All my children learnt one skill or the other before going to higher institutions and I did it so that they could be self-employed and not live on salary for the rest of their lives. Education is not equivalent to wealth but they will be able to speak without being waved aside among their peers in the future,” she said.

    A middle-aged butcher, who pleaded anonymity, also regretted not being educated.

    He said though not equivalent to wealth, education is essential.

    “I do not honour my educated friends’ invitation to events because I do not want to be the only different person among them.  I am doing better than some of them but their education qualification makes them stand out. I wish I had the opportunity to go to school but I have vowed to make sure my children are educated. Education is not a scam,” he said.

  • The crisis of values

    I once participated in a project: “The impact of communication on values.” I was in a sub-committee that looked at the impact of integrity, honesty, tolerance and cohesion on society, and the role that communication can play in instilling these values in our youth. Part of the strategy was to arrange focus groups meetings in tertiary institutions.

    In the groups I coordinated, I asked them one simple question: “what will you do if you find a missing N500, 000.00 in a bag in your institution?” I was shocked that only about five percent of the over 200 undergraduates I engaged said they would return the money to the owner, if they know who he is, or to the authorities to find the rightful owner. The responses I got were; “I’d be a big fool to return the money.” “God must have provided the money to pay my school fees.” “I’ll be a ‘happening’ guy on campus.” ”With that kind of money, I can pay for a room for myself in the hostel.” Etc. The project was about exploring the glue that holds society together thus it focused on nationalism, patriotism, tolerance, honesty and integrity, citizenship, development, cohesion etc.

    I was glad that at the end of each day’s deliberation, some of those who affirmed that they would keep the money eventually agreed it was the wrong thing to do. I recollect one of those on the side of integrity raising an important question: “if you succeed in keeping and spending the money then what next?” That question really got home and provided the opportunity for us to look at honesty and integrity dispassionately.

    Basic values are traditional and historic, reflecting aspects of the experience of a society. These values like right and wrong, tolerance, empathy, dedication etc. are oftentimes extracted from the main religious teachings of the society. In fact, a value system is based on averaging the total human experiences and producing a compromised version for all to follow. Religion is often present at the heart of a human value system.

    But our society is today at a values crossroad. The rate at which our youth engage in criminal enterprise has spiked in recent times. The most common is cybercrime and kidnapping. Cybercrime is ‘justified’ – by those who engage in it – on the ground that it does not ‘hurt anyone.’ Kidnapping is getting ‘dues’ from the ‘oppressors.’ This warped reasoning predominates among our youth today.

    As the outcome of the project I mentioned earlier stressed, communication has an important role to play in moving society in the right direction. World leaders realised this following the massive devastation of the World War II period. One of the disruptions that took place was in the area of communication.

    That disruption led to the evolution of communication for development (C4D) which mirrored broader shifts in theories and models of economic and social development. The basic assumption is that there are no countries or communities that function completely autonomously and that are completely self-sufficient, nor are there any nations whose development is exclusively determined by external factors. Every society is dependent in one way or another, both in form and in degree.

    Consequently, communication initiatives adopted a diffusion approach, which uses communication to carry out a transfer of information. This includes large-scale media campaigns, social marketing, dissemination of printed materials, ‘education-entertainment’ and other forms of one-way transmission of information from the sender to the receiver.

    With time, proponents of diffusion theory recognised the limitations of mass media – the way it was being run – in promoting sustained behavioural change. The new thinking thus incorporated interpersonal communication: face-to-face communication that can either be one-on-one or in small groups. The objectives are to share information, respond to questions, and motivate specific behavioural practices. The belief is that while mass media allows for the learning of new ideas, interpersonal networks encourage the shift from knowledge to continued practice. That was why the project I mentioned earlier engaged in focus group discussions.

    Communication for development has thus come to be seen as a way to amplify voice, facilitate meaningful participation, and foster social change. The 2006 World Congress on C4D defined it as “a social process based on dialogue using a broad range of tools and methods. It is also about seeking change at different levels including listening, building trust, sharing knowledge and skills, building policies, debating and learning for sustained and meaningful change.” Such two-way, horizontal approaches to communication include public hearings, debates, deliberations and stakeholder consultations, participatory radio and video, community-based theatre and story-telling, and web forums.

    While the west had known this for long, we only started imbibing them about two decades ago with the establishment of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), a parastatal in the federal Ministry of Information and Culture. If an opinion poll is conducted today, I believe most Nigerians would be shocked that an agency like NOA still exists; one can practically conclude that it is “irrelevant” because of its non-impact and the way it has been run.

    The NOA – because of its spread and network – is supposed to be a game changer in propagating our value system. I will advocate a disruption to professionalise the NOA by engaging professionals with vast knowledge of integrated marketing communication – who know what strategic communication is all about to assist.

    The NOA was established by Decree 100 on 23rd August, 1993. The Decree merged the Public Enlightenment (PE), War Against Indiscipline (WAI), and National Orientation Movement (NOM) Divisions of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture with the Directorate for Social Mobilization, Self-Reliance and Economic Recovery (MAMSER).

    The rationale for the merger was to harmonise and consolidate efforts and resources of the government in the fields of public enlightenment, social mobilization and value re-orientation. The main objectives are: to ensure that government programmes and policies are better understood by the general public; mobilize favourable public opinion for such programmes and policies; encourage informal education through public enlightenment activities and publications.

    Others include establishing feedback channels to government on all aspects of Nigerian national life; establish appropriate national framework for educating, orientating and indoctrinating Nigerians towards attitudes, values and culture which project individual’s national pride and positive national image for Nigeria; awaken the consciousness of Nigerians to their responsibilities to the promotion of national unity, citizens commitment to their human rights to build a free, just and progressive society; develop among Nigerians of all ages and sex, social and cultural values and awareness which will inculcate the spirit of patriotism, nationalism, self-discipline and self-reliance.

    The final set of objectives include encouraging the people to actively and freely participate in discussions and decisions on matters affecting their general welfare; promote new sets of attitudes and culture for the attainment of the goals and objectives of a united Nigeria State; ensure and uphold leadership by example; foster respect for constituted authority; and instill in the citizens a sense of loyalty to the fatherland.

    I doubt if there’s anyone out there who would disagree that these are not a fantastic set of objectives. The question to ask is why have they not been achieved? Why didn’t we make progress and why were Nigerians not better informed about the workings of government? The simple answer is professional incapacity and strategy.

    The United Nations (UN) realises the critical importance of capacity this is why it employs the services of key and knowledgeable professionals to manage its interaction with people of diverse cultures and nationalities. Managing information is fundamental toward progress because it a delicate balance between progress and anarchy; It is not “job for the boys.” One of the major reasons for the Rwanda genocide was the poor management of information.

    It is amazing that when the world is moving forward, we are either static or moving backward. I see this happening daily. One of the ways to address this is for the NOA to explore ways of partnering with institutions and schools – tertiary, secondary and basic – to use their platforms to communicate with the students. They already have offices in all the local government areas in the country. So what is holding the agency back? Could it be dearth of capacity and strategy?

  • Panasonic holds training in Lagos, Enugu

    To boost its after-sales support capacity, Panasonic Middle East & Africa Division and Panaserv Nigeria Limited, promoters of the Panasonic brand of electronics, have organised a special training in Lagos and Enugu for its key technical staff members, channel partners and freelance technicians and engineers on air conditioners installation and repairs.

    The training, which took place this week, was facilitated by delegates and engineers from Panasonic Japan, Malaysia Factory & UAE as major resource persons, in conjunction with the best of the company’s core technical staff members at all Panaserv service centres in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu.

    On the reason for the training, one of the two chief trainers from Panasonic, Mr. Premsankar Vijayan, said delivering the skill enhancement for technical partners was an activity ingrained in the culture of the organisation, noting that the company would continue to empower more technicians with requisite skills.

    Read Also: Panasonic India mulls hike in phones, consumer appliances prices

    Vijayan explained: “These training sessions offer participants the opportunity to update their skills in residential air conditioner installation and the use of ultra-modern tools for accurate diagnoses and repairs of air conditioners. This is why among the equipment being deployed for practical demonstrations here includes the latest models of gas leakage detectors, digital temperature thermometers, and vacuum machines, automated gas refilling machines, portable welding machines, clamp meters and several others.”

    Vijayan further explained that the training would deepen the pool of well-trained technicians that would not only assist the company in offering after-sale services to its customers but also help to bridge the technical skills gap in Nigeria.

  • AOCOED: Parents, mgt discuss students’ well-being

    Management of AOCOED has praised the Lagos State government for playing a leading role in the educational development of the state through prompt payment of salaries of teachers/ lecturers, improved infrastructure and modest tuition for students in the state-owned tertiary institutions.

    Management, therefore, vows to reciprocate the gesture by providing quality teacher education in the 61year-old institution.

    Bursar of AOCOED Mr Adebisi Adeyanju announced a new tuition in the college during a management/parents forum that held at the school premises.

    According to him, as against N28,000.00 (including Acceptance Fee) charged Year 1 students, they will henceforth  pay N20,000. 00, while Year 2 and Year 3 which formerly paid N20,000.00 would now part with N15,000. 00.

    Adeyanju told the excited parents that the review became necessary following students’ rejection of the initial fees two years ago.

    He said: “Remember that we last held this forum two years ago, “Adeyanju began.

    “That was when we introduced N28,000 for new intakes while Year 2 and Year 3 students paid N20,000 respectively; but our students appealed that the fee should be reviewed downward.

    “We then notified government of their (students) complaint and they (government) allowed us to review the fee s downward.

    “Here, we usually do not charge tuition but administrative fees. However, we realised that some students will collect money from their parents yet failed to remit it to the school account.  Therefore, management has decided to henceforth slam a N5000 as punishment for students who fail to remit their fees within the first two month of resumption of every semester.

    Registrar of the college Mr Shehu Muhideen, urged parents to ensure bio-data of their wards are correctly included in the Students Files and designated portions signed by them and their wards before being returned to the office of the Dean of Students’ Affairs, for keeps.

    He said Students File accommodates documents of academic performances of each students, adding that it could also be used for referral, for issuance of academic profiles and most importantly a proof that a particular individual was once a student of the college.

    He said the school’s ID card is valid for students of the institution for three years only, and additional two years for students with references after which such individuals ceased to be students of AOCOED.

    Shehu noted that parents have a duty to inform management officially when their wards take ill while at home, noting that defaulting students risk carry over (CO)

    “When students are indisposed, they can forward their position or send someone to notify the school. If any students misses exam, that is summary CO; but if such matter is genuine and duly reported, management will not treat the matter as CO. We have other provision where such students will be allowed to rewrite the papers after enough findings are made.”

    The Provost, Dr Aina Ladele, and her deputy Dr Deborah Dele-Giwa, urged parents to bond with the school authority by keeping  some of the hotlines provided by management with which they could reach any of the college top principals for enquiry.

    Ladele said the college discovered that many of the children left their various homes pretending to be godly or innocent but turn out wayward and heady once they get to school.

    “Some of them no longer listen in class preferring to play with their phones during lectures. Some will not even come to class or do their assignments. Some will litter the classrooms with their jotters after lecture.

    “Some females cannot close their laps. Some will even sit carelessly on the laps of their male friends. Some males and female students now co-habit at their various hostels.

    “We have mothers to blame for this. Most of us no longer teach our children the values. When you duly perform your role to the children, you help the society and through that you help the nation.”

    Dele-Giwa said she is a living testimony of some of the best products of the institution who, as an alumnus, rose through the ranks to become deputy provost of the institution.

    Chief Security Office of the College Olajide Sanyaolu, said management has illuminated the entire campus to make it is safe and students can study unhindered.

    Guest Speaker Mr Akolade Lapite who spoke on ‘improving students’ welfare’ urged parents to provide enough resources for their wards’ books and accommodation since students live off campus.

    Lapite said the school has a robust Guidance/Counselling Unit where worried or anxious students could visit, for counsel.

    “Here, we provide academic support for our students especially those ones below average. We also monitor our students off campus through the Students Affairs Division. We take time to visit the various communities particularly across Oto and Ijanikin axis where majority of our students stay, so we can get feelers from our community leaders about our students’ activities.

    Lapite also advised the students to be of good conduct and make positive use of the social media.

  • ‘Intensify fight against building LPG skids at filling stations’

    The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has called on the federal and state governments to heighten the fight against indiscriminate deployment of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) skids at filling stations without considering the safety element. To them, the merging of LPG and petrol is a time bomb waiting to explode. They say the earlier stakeholders stood up against this deadly practice, the better, writes EMEKA UGWUANYI

    The fight against building liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) skids at petrol stations has been on in the past few years. However, owing to the increasing indiscriminate deployment of such skids at fuel retail outlets, it has become a great concern to players in the industry.

    The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has taken the fight to states. They had written almost all state governments and are partnering some, such as Ondo, Ekiti, Nasarawa and Ogun, to ensure that LPG, also known as cooking gas, is not sold in the same place with petrol.

    After their latest council meeting in Lagos, NALPGAM urged stakeholders, including federal and state governments, regulatory organisations and industry players to fight the menace.

    Its Executive Secretary, Mr. Bassey Essien, said: “The LPG industry is growing in an exponential manner with increasingly being embraced by Nigerians. Currently, the number of households that have embraced LPG has risen significantly compared to the last five years.

    “The governing council of the association has met and, having risen from an emergency council meeting, has resolved to commend the Federal Government on the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on domestic LPG and to draw the attention of the Federal and state governments to the increasingly indiscriminate deployment of LPG skids in petrol stations and refill outlets without taking into consideration the risk element involved in this.

    “We also resolved to align our association’s position with all relevant government agencies, particularly the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to curb this increasing menace. We want to appeal to the government that in as much as the association is doing so much to complement the deepening of LPG consumption in Nigeria, we are asking the government to create the enabling environment for players, so that we can actually go further to encourage more embrace and usage of LPG in many households in the country.

    “We want to appeal to the government in terms of representation that have been made on behalf of the industry as we have we noticed that such representations have not been inclusive because the industry is not well represented when issues  are being discussed with the government . There are several facets of the value chain and we are requesting that in subsequent dialogues, discussions and workshops, every facet of the value chain must be well represented so that issues and conclusions taken will be all embracing.”

    Read Also: NIPCO to extend gas facility to 25 off-takers

    Buttressing what Essein said, a council member, John Yakubu, noted: “What we have across the world is LPG bottling plants and not filling stations and what that entails is that for LPG bottling plant to exist anywhere, there are certain standards that must be met by the operators – either you have a mini-LPG bottling plant or standard LPG bottling plant.

    “There is nowhere fire and petrol co-habit; that is, what the association is saying; and that is the standard we adopt in building our plants. We are appealing to those deploying the skids either by their filling stations or their eateries to, please, adhere strictly to standard operating procedures as laid down by the DPR. You don’t have your own standard procedure, so that Nigeria will be safe and we will be safe as a people. We should not because of profit or what we want to benefit set this nation on fire. There is nowhere LPG is sold alongside petrol in the world.”

    The association’s National Deputy President, Oladapo Olatunbosun, said the removal of VAT has brought down the cost of LPG considerably. He noted that LPG value chain includes the terminals, engineers and the plant owners, but the key factor in the chain is the plant owners.

    “They are closest to the end-users. They serve as intermediaries between the terminal owners and the end users and if anything goes wrong, they answer for it.

    “They have ample investment. Our association’s membership is over 600 and their investment is in billions of naira, far more than you can imagine. Without plant owners, there will be no effective distribution of cooking gas anywhere in the world. The bottling plant companies are the ones that bottle the gas to make accessible to end-users or households. So, the plant owners cannot be left out in any decision-making process because it touches other facets.

    “The other facets of the value chain, such as the engineers and importers, don’t work directly in distribution and deepening of us-age of gas. As a very important part of the value chain, our interest has to be properly and fully represented. We don’t want to be represented by proxy in important decision making processes in the LPG industry. We (plant owners) are the key stakeholder in the LPG industry because we invested huge resources to ensure that the product gets to every part of the country. Therefore, decision-making in the industry must be inclusive of all players in the LPG value chain. Making portfolio investors represent the entire value chain in decision-making is not progressive because they don’t know the industry inside out in terms of operation and safety requirements.

    “DPR has given a deadline to all skid owners to move their skids from petrol stations because it agreed that marriage of LPG and petrol is a time bomb waiting to explode. DPR has directed them to migrate to mini plants if they couldn’t afford big plants before the expiration of the deadline next year. The regulator noted that such mini plants must be built away from petrol retail outlets. Adherence to that directive will ensure that necessary safety infrastructure and facilities are built in the mini or standard plants but because of the gain, some people are not adhering to the regulatory directive.

  • Meet Ajegunle’s best teacher

    Working in the teaching profession is not easy in Nigeria. However despite the poor remuneration and incentives, some educators still give their best. SAMPSON UNAMKA met some of them in Ajegunle.

    Teachers matter in many different ways. They are the reason why there are engineers, doctors, pilots, and many other professionals all over the world.

    But in this part of the world, appreciating them seems not common.

    A group in Ajegunle community in Lagos, recently organised an award tagged: Ajegunle Education Award, to appreciate teachers in the area.

    The award, the first of its kind in the area, was organised by Transforming Ajegunle Initiative. It was designed to celebrate teachers who despite scarce resources, have been exceptional in the community.

    The award was not only focused on teachers, as it also had categories that recognised non-teaching members of staff as well as schools that had transformed the community.

    During the colourful event attended by-who-is who in the community, Mr Salami Adekola of ACF Comprehensive College, Ojo Road, Lagos, got the Best Teacher Award, which had the prize sum of N50,000.

    Salami who studied Mathematics Education, at Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, has been teaching in the community for 13 years.

    Read Also: Best teacher lauds award as Maltina opens entries for 2019

    He said he is driven by passion to see others improve.

    “I derive passion from teaching; I love to teach not only in the classroom but also outside the classroom. I love to teach people and see them do better even if they do better than me,” he said.

    The 31-year-old Mathematics teacher said getting the award was not easy.

    “I had an interview session and it was not easy.  It took a lot of effort because so many questions were asked. It is a pleasure I came out the best. It is an honour; a privilege for me.  It is also another task ahead for me to keep doing more of what I have been doing before,” he said.

    Salami thanked the organisers for the initiative, saying that sometimes teachers need a little motivation to encourage them to continue to give their best.

    The Non-Teaching Staff of the Year Community Education Award went to Mrs Iju Eze of JOMAB Premium School.  She went home with a prize of N15,000.

    Convener of the Transforming Ajegunle Initiative, Grace Nkwocha, said she topped the criteria for the award

    On criteria for selecting the best non-teaching staff, Ms Nwocha said the panel considered the person who went the extra mile; who despite pay cut or delay did not transfer aggression to pupils.

    Ms Nwocha said she was inspired to organise the award to motivate teachers to be more productive.

    “I know there are two ways to get the best out of people, first you have to engage them by giving them the right tools and then you have to reward them because to me reward is a form of motivation,” she said.

    Winners were selected through vote and interview session.

    “We also had people vote because they all have the right to be the overall best in the community after being picked as the best in their schools, based on what they wrote”, she said.

    Other categories of the award include: Community Education Award for the Most Innovative School in Ajegunle – Helifest High School; Most Disciplined School – Tos Fadun School; Most Environmentally Responsible School – Morits International School; Ajegunle, Education-Friendly Chairman – Hon. Fatai Ajidagba, Chairman Ifelodun LCDA; TAP outstanding staff of the Year – Linda Obidiegwu (who got a smart phone courtesy of Golden Eagle, Ajegunle).

  • Edo to invest N2.1b Azura power proceeds in industrial park

    The Edo State Government said it plans to invest the N2.1 billion that will accrue from its divestment of 50 per cent of its equity in the Edo-Azura Power Project into the Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park.

    A statement by the Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said the cash would go a long way in building the needed infrastructure for the park to come on stream.

    He said: “The state government is going to divest 50 per cent of its equity in Edo Azura Power project. We will be investing the proceeds in the Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park project as we prepare to have the anchor investor settle down to business.

    Read Also: Edo okays N2.1b power proceeds for Benin Industrial Park

    “The state government will be providing the needed infrastructure for the project, including access roads and other needed structures to ensure the smooth take-off of the facility. We disclosed earlier that we have an anchor investor for the park.

    “With the funds we now have, we have all that is needed to effectively kick-off. Nothing is going to be left to chance. As is characteristic of the governor, this is a masterstroke as we now have funds to begin the project. We expect other investors to cash-in on the opportunities in the new industrial corridor.”

    Osagie noted that the money would be instrumental in ensuring that the state government meets its obligations to investors, by deploying the fund in constructing the access roads, clearing the environment as well as other physical structures, to drive investment.

  • Herbal drugs: Between tradition and academia

    Nature itself is the best physician
    – Hippocrates (460 – 370 BC) Greek Physician

    It is believed that herbal medicine is one of the oldest forms of medicines available to mankind which has seen improved development over the years. However, here in Nigeria, a wrong perception by some elites in our society today that all herbal medicines are toxic concoctions with adverse reactions which should not be consumed has created some setbacks for the expected development and breakthrough of traditional medicine in the health sector. Most people are of the belief that the use of herbs to treat, improve or maintain medical conditions is old-fashioned or archaic. The fear of the safety and effectiveness of herbal medicine in treating or preventing human ailments has pulled many away from accepting and patronizing herbal practitioners and their drug preparations.

    Due to easier affordability and availability of herbal medicines when compared with the conventional ones, most rural dwellers opt for the former. Also, with fewer side-effects of herbal medicine and its natural healing actions, others prefer herbal remedies to orthodox medicines. It is observed that even with the advent of technology which brought in civilization and modernization in the medical sector, the consumption of herbal medicines has steadily increased over the years. Apart from some risks posed by preparation and packaging methods, herbal medicines come with more benefits that far outweigh their risks. In fact, some researchers and natural health experts argue that the human body can only be totally cured of any sickness by administering natural substances, not by the use of inorganic chemical drugs.

    According to the World Health Organization (WHO), traditional herbal medicines are regarded as “finished, labelled medicinal products that contain active ingredients, aerial or underground parts of plants, or other plant material or combinations thereof, whether in the crude state or as plant preparations. Plant materials include juices, gums, fatty oils, alkaloids, glycosides, essential oils and any other substance of this nature. Herbal medicines may also contain excipients in addition to the active ingredients.”

    Read Also: Nigeria develops herbal drugs for treatment of Ebola, Malaria

    Generally, the medicinal parts of a plant which include roots, stem, leaves, fruits, seeds and flower are used as the active ingredients in herbal preparations. These plant parts carry the chemical compounds with medicinal properties that are found naturally in plants. Traditional herbal medicines, when introduced into the body can perform either curative or preventive function depending on the preparation of the composition of that herbal mixture. The medicinal property of herbs has also been proven to boost the human immune system. Hence, it is the reason why these plant-based herbal products are used as medicinal supplement too as seen in some herbal teas. Herbs are of natural source and are regarded as the best and most effective form of natural medicine.

    In August this year, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, stated in her keynote speech, titled ‘The role of NAFDAC in traditional herbal medicine development and approval in Nigeria’, that the regulation and development of herbal medicine in Nigeria is being hampered by some challenges. Some of those listed challenges, according to the NAFDAC boss, include poor documentation, lack of standardization and validation of methods and practices, lack of clinical trial of existing herbal medicines, lack of scientific proof of claims, inadequate number of standards for raw materials and lacing of herbal preparations with orthodox medicines among others. The D.G of NAFDAC added that, “this snail pace of development of the sector underscores the need to harness, document, research, standardize and regulate traditional herbal medicines in line with international best practices. In order to enhance the development of traditional herbal medicines and facilitate its contribution to the national healthcare delivery system in Nigeria, there is need for strict regulation and control of the products by NAFDAC.”

    Professor Adeyeye, in a bid to encourage herbal medicine practitioners to duly register and get approval for their products, further said, “To ensure the development of quality and safety standards for traditional herbal medicines, NAFDAC has established regulations and appropriate guidelines for the listing and/or registration of traditional herbal medicine products in Nigeria.” It was reiterated by NAFDAC that before any herbal product is approved by the agency, there is need for mandatory toxicology and safety evaluation report.

    Apart from listing and registration of herbal products as one of the ways by which the food and drug control agency regulates traditional medicines in Nigeria, conduct of Good Manufacturing Practice through facility inspection, laboratory analysis of herbal medicines, product advertisement control and Post-Marketing Surveillance have as well been deployed. The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) is also collaborating with NAFDAC on herbal medicine research.

    It will be recalled that sometime last year, the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a herbal clinic in order to increase research and development in herbal medicine. We salute this courageous move by FIIRO as a good step in the right direction towards improving and promoting locally inspired herbal medicare. Other government Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and related institutions are urged to encourage herbal health researchers and practitioners to come out with their various contributions to this popular sector in the system. Maybe some day soon, the government may establish a parastatal for this increasingly growing exploration into nature’s resources, seeing the prospects and benefits ahead.

    With the guiding regulatory and research supports from NAFDAC and NIPRD, herbal medicine practitioners and manufacturers are well positioned to champion the coming together of tradition and academia in Nigeria for the delivery of a scientific herbal medicare alternative. Consequently, the health of the general public is safeguarded when duly approved traditional medications are used. Not only will the fear of taking herbal drugs, which is being nursed by many, be allayed, but also patronage will boost our economy. This way, herbal medicine becomes a viable alternative to modern orthodox medicine.

    After all, the man regarded as the founder of modern medicine, Hippocrates, said many centuries ago that we must go back to nature to get lasting remedy for our ailments.

     

    • Ojewale writes via kayodeojewale@gmail.com