The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerians

  • Saraki, Dogara to Nigerians: Be patient with Buhari

    Saraki, Dogara to Nigerians: Be patient with Buhari

    Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara have urged Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    Saraki said 2016 would witness a lot of transformational economic policies that would be beneficial to all.

    Saraki spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital during a special prayer organised to mark his 53rd birthday.

    “As I said, the general challenging situation globally, in the country, and  in the states did not allow for celebration. We have great challenges ahead as a country. So, we have to dedicate ourselves to improving the situation for the common good”, he said.

    The senate president, who called for support of all Nigerians in the task ahead, said the legislature was more committed to serve people towards realisation of collective aspirations and goals.

    He commended people of Kwara state for their unflinching supports since his emergence as the senate president, saying that he would do everything within his means to ensure that he did not disappoint them and indeed Nigerians.

    Kwara state Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, Speaker, Kwara House, Dr. Ali Ahmad, Senator Dino Melaye, and some members of National and Kwara state House of Assembly attended the event.

    The special prayer, which was led by the chief imam of Ilorin, Shaykh Mohammed Bashir, also had in attendance the popular Islamic cleric, Shaykh Al-Misklin Onikijipa.

    Dogara, who spoke while disbursing N25 million on behalf of Hon. Ahmed Ahmed Yerima at Misau,inBauchi state yesterday,  said: “We are therefore urging  Nigerians irrespective of their backgrounds to exercise patience with the government  towards the country’s re-birth and Pres. Buhari’s renewed commitment to clean the mess of PDP government. Be patient with Buhari because,IT is not a  one day job to clean the mess of 16 years of PDP regime. He needs adequate time to put everything in place.”

    He said Buhari has compensated Bauchi State with key appointments, adding that Buhari was determined to get rid of corrupt public office holders in his fight against  endemic corruption.

  • Senator: I didn’t say three million Nigerians living illegally in UK

    Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Monsurat Sunmonu at the weekend said she did not say that three million Nigerians were living illegally in the United Kingdom (UK).

    A statement by Sam Oguegbu, the media aide to Sunmonu, said the clarification became necessary following the erroneous attribution to the senator that she said during a meeting of the Senate committee with top officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) that three million Nigerians were living illegally in the UK.

    It said the Assistant Deputy Comptroller-General, Investigations, Intelligence and Enforcement of NIS, Mr. T. A. Hundeyin, who briefed the Senate committee, should have been credited with the statement.

    The statement said: “Nothing can be further from the truth than that Senator Sunmonu as chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs never said such a thing.

    “It is, therefore, fallacious, untrue and most misleading for anybody, who covered the session of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, where the Assistant Comptroller-General, Investigation, Intelligence and Enforcement of the NIS was invited, to say, infer or credit such a statement to the committee chairman.”

  • 28 Nigerians deported from three European countries

    28 Nigerians deported from three European countries

    Two weeks after 48 Nigerians were deported from United Kingdom for various immigration offences, another 28 citizens were on Thursday night deported from Italy, Switzerland and Belgium for residing in those countries illegally.

    A source close to the State Security Service, SSS, attached to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos  said that  24 of the returnees were expelled  from Italy and two each from Switzerland and Belgium.

    The deportees arrived the hajj camp area of MMIA around 7:25pm.

    About   80 per cent of the deportees are male .

    They  came in aboard   Meridiana Fly aircraft, which emanated from Rome.

    The returnees were received by various agencies such as Immigration that checked their identities to ascertain their nationalities, Police, National Agency for Protection and Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, and other relevant stakeholders.

    The SSS said told our correspondent that the deportees were returned to the country for staying beyond the time allowed them

    About two weeks ago,the United Kingdom repatriated 48 Nigerians for allegedly residing in that country unlawfully.

    The British authorities also planned to deport no fewer than 500 Nigerians in the coming months for staying in that country without valid papers.

    One of the deportees then, Success Smart, a 15-year-old teenage girl, claimed that she travelled out of the Nigeria two years ago through the tedious Libyan route.

    On why she why she did not return with the earlier batch during Libyan repatriation exercise, she said she was learning a trade to become a hairdresser and that her parents refused to sign agreement with her master as an apprentice while she was in Nigeria then.

    She, however, regretted travelling out of the country and urged other Nigerian youths against seeking any greener pasture abroad.

  • ‘Blame Nigerians for influx of substandard Chinese products’

    ‘Blame Nigerians for influx of substandard Chinese products’

    The activities of Chinese companies have grown trade volume between them and Nigeria to about $13.5 billion, with $11billion in favour of Nigeria. In spite of this, substandard products from China continues to flood Nigerian market. National Coordinator/CEO, Nigeria-China Business Council (NCBC), Chief Mathew Uwaekwe says unpatriotic Nigerians actually ask Chinese maunfacturers to lower the standard of their goods and ship same into the country. He says policy consistency and products standardisation are key to opening the country into the international space. He speaks with CHIKODI OKEREOCHA and TEMITAYO AYETOTO.

    The preponderance of substandard products from China remains a sore point in Nigeria-China trade relations. Why is this so?

    You see people will say they placed order for  standard goods, but the Chinese shipped substandard ones to them. We travelled back to China, made investigations together with the Nigerian Embassy in Beijing and our Consul General Office in Shanghai through the Economic Department. So, through the Economic Department, we were able to meet some of the Chinese manufacturers who said your people come here and we give them prices of what they want; they say no, the price is too high, reduce it. We have in China three categories, the high, the medium and the lower category.

    So, Nigerian importers will say, oh I need this television, this is the standard we are using. They will say no, reduce the standard. This thing happens both in drugs and so many things. So, as a Council, we are not mandated to enforce or arrest, but we may advise, counsel people on what to do; let them know the rules and regulations of the federal republic in terms of doing business and then guide.

    What are you and your group doing to check this unwholesome practice?

    Recently, we are now trying to collaborate with Standard Organisations of Nigeria (SON). We are already in partnership with Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Nigeria Export Council, in order to provide information. But at the same time, we were a little bit worried over why these substandard goods flood Nigeria because when you go to places like Canada, Britain, Germany, all these European countries, 75 per cent of the products they use is from China. Even some of the cars being manufactured, all have plants in China. If you go there, even the leather chairs they use, 75 per cent of the things in their supermarkets and malls are produced in China.

    But we now tried to slow down in encouraging trade because the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and China is well over 30 years. So, what we are now focusing on is attracting investors and investment into the Nigerian economy. If we have standard, because Nigeria is a member of World Trade Organisation (WTO), and there are standards set up to produce any item or product, more investments would come in. Since Nigeria is a member of WTO, we have office in Geneva; we now try to encourage investment. If you look at this television (in his office), the Council brought the people; they started from assembling and are now manufacturing, freezers, fridges, air-conditioners, water dispensers here at the Calabar FreeTrade Zone.

    We are bringing a delegation of 25 investors. Some of them want to start manufacturing tri-cycles; others want to build a mini refinery. We brought them last time and they bought over the moribund cocoa factory in Osun State. So, they are now working there. We have about 25 Chinese, they have employed Nigerians. Those are some of the achievements of the Council. We help them to get Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to give them import clearance and port permit. They are washing the cocoa, extracting the oil and then using the seed for cocoa powder. We have a whole lot of other investors because those already established here are doing well and we use them as testimony.

    What other ways do you promote Nigeria-China trade?

    We go to China to tell others that Nigeria is friendly in terms of business and investment. We are doing that so that the issue of substandard products will be curtailed. But I know from my own experience, analysis and investigation that there is no country you can eliminate crime completely; the only way is to reduce it to the barest minimum because even in those countries that we hype, talking about the best nations, crime is there. There are people, who are fraudulent in nature, no matter what you do. So, we need the support of the media in creating proper awareness on what we are doing, what needs to be done, and activities in making it better are welcomed.

    What has been the response from the Chinese investors?

    The Chinese are willing, you know, coming from a communist background, they seem to be eager to have a relationship that will favour them. We need them to come and invest here, but we don’t want a situation where we will be enslaved or our graduates and youths would be treated as second class citizens. So, last time, we arranged for about seven youths to travel to China. It was the same Chinese group that sponsored their trip to be further trained to produce modern technology in terms of assembling and installation. So, like I said, the group is already at the Calabar Free Zone and they gave all those engineers automatic promotion and they have continued paying their salaries. What we have been going through over the years is that our leaders have not done what they ought to do. You see leaders coming into government to enrich their pockets. Our leaders have not done anything in terms of stabilising the economy, forgetting that the most important thing is to stabilise the economy because when the economy is stabilised, the political sector will immediately follow suit. If everything is okay in your village, you will prefer to work in your village because it saves money and the stress of coming to Lagos. It is because the economy of this country is centred in two cities, Lagos and Abuja, once you are out of the university, you will rather want to go to Lagos or Abuja because our infrastructure has collapsed completely. So, the only way we can move from where we are is to allow investors to come in.

    What is responsible for China’s growing business interest in Nigeria?

    The Chinese have found out that a lot of sectors have not been tapped. Our mineral resources have not been tapped. Then in terms of energy, it is nothing to write home about. So, they believe if they come in here to invest they will have good returns because they are committed and have experience. It is to our advantage to work with them so that our people can learn from them about how they better themselves.

    One of the reasons why we are not doing well here is that you cannot walk into any bank and obtain a loan. Will they agree to give you the loan looking at your proposals? There is no way in any country a company can break even at two to three digits interest rates. In China, there are some banks such as Bank of Commerce, Agricultural Bank, Construction Bank and others that give loans at about two per cent interest rate.

    So, to restructure the economy, a lot needs to be done. Our leaders need to restructure themselves; we need to have a roadmap on every sector so that not when Mr. A comes in as a governor, all the things that the former governor did are abandoned. The policies have always been there, the rules and regulations have always been there, but the problem we have is the implementation. And for change to be effective, it must start from you and your family before you take it to the society. There should be proper reorientation. As far as I’m concerned, if we want to move from where we are, we must start to implement those policies. Our constitution is quite bigger than that of America, but not as effective as that of America where laws are respected and policies being implemented. If we continue to play politics with ourselves, with people’s lives, with the development of this nation, infrastructure, no matter who comes in, there will be no change. I believe, for now, that we need investment from China, America and other parts of the world.

    Has the Council tried to determine the number of Chinese companies in Nigeria?

    Yes. Some of them came in without passing through the Council. The companies that are on our data base from China are more than 600, both major and minor. We also have some Nigerians, who go to China to invest. They come through the Council because the equipment we provide is better; the labour is cheaper going by their population of about 1.4 billion. So, the labour is lower than what we have here. So, some Nigerians also go to China to invest.

    How many jobs have Chinese companies created in Nigeria?

    I believe they have created between 3,000 and 4,000 jobs for Nigerian youths. This group that sent the youths to China recently has employed over 700 and has training centres around. Out of about 30 factories we visited in Nigeria, 27 showed us the records.

    How is the Council collaborating with SON and NAFDAC to fight substandard products from China?

    We are working towards a collaboration with them because we have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with virtually all stakeholders. The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, which controls trade and investment in China, is also in partnership with us. From time to time they provide information on all companies and their products so that if we see certain products that are substandard, we will take the products to them and find out because our agreement is that any company found shipping substandard goods to Nigeria or any other country will be blacklisted. Unfortunately, most of the companies that produce these substandard products are not registered because China is a very large country.

    Many people complained about the inhuman treatment of Nigerian workers by Chinese companies. Has the Council received any of such complaints? 

    We have had those complaints, but what we do advise is that before you are employed by them, ensure that there is a contractual agreement containing your entitlements, position and everything. Because no court can grant you what you don’t ask for. So, you must ask from day one, because those who want to employ you need you and you need employment. Like those people, who came back from China after the training, we told the Chinese group to give them proper employment and remumeration, and the agreement and everything were signed. So, once you report to the Council, we will take it up, but we cannot interfere where there is no contractual agreement. At a higher level, we have taken up this matter with the Embassy’s Economic Promotion Department, and we said please educate your people. There are times they pretend they don’t speak English. If you have employed somebody, who doesn’t speak the same language with you, the same system or method you use in employing him is also the same system you must use in settling the person.

    Apart from China, the U.S recently extended the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) by 10 years. The EU is also seeking to enter the Nigerian market through the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). What do you make of these growing interests of economic powers in Nigeria, and how can Nigeria benefit from them?

    They are aware that the market is there. Nigeria is the biggest market in Africa. So, it’s natural. If there are about three or four companies that are looking for you because of your potentials and the results you have recorded, you will become the beautiful bride for investors.

    So it’s the same thing. They have seen the potentials in Nigeria. Could you imagine how happy we will be if we have stable light in this country? The happiness will push you to pay your bills by the end of the month. Today, people are very reluctant to pay electricity bills because the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) don’t want to give them meter. They just like giving them outrageous bills more than what the tariff says and at the same time, there is no regular supply. People become demoralised. So, if there are people, who will come and invest so that people can have stable light, more than a quarter of people in this country will want to pay. If we have good roads and have efficient people to use speed boats to convey people from one destination to the other, then we will have efficient transportation in the country. If we have surface train, deep train, underground train etc., even if you have cars, you will love to enter them and relax. So, once the leadership has the passion to work for the benefit of the people everything will fall in place. We must guide all the investors by giving them proper information.

      Where do you think the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment should start from?

    Well, he is new, but if he is to succeed as a minister, he must focus on driving the economy, which is by attracting investors into the various sectors of our economy. This includes infrastructure and all that. All the agencies that are responsible for attracting investors into the country must be encouraged to do so. Investment is what will help the country.

    What steps should the country take to encourage more foreign investors?

    We should organise seminars and conferences to sell the potentials of the country. Let people know that there are so many other things to do apart from oil. I will suggest that we reduce our focus on oil. Countries that don’t have oil have made it. Look at Ethiopia, they are one of the biggest transportation players in terms of air lifting and one of the best. They don’t have oil. It’s determination. For the economy of this country to develop, we must reduce our focus on oil. Today, the trade volume in favour of China is above $13billion, then in favour of Nigeria is about $11 billion. So we are making progress.

    Why was Nigeria-China Business Council (NCBC) established?

    NCBC was established in 2009 by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, then Federal Ministry of Commerce. Then, we were doing it as a forum at that time when Charles Ugwuh was the Minister for Commerce and Industry. He called me and said he saw the need and my passion to further enhance the relationship between Nigeria and China. He said it would be nice to have it as a Council so that there would be continuity.

    As at that time, the late Musa Yar’Adua was the president. So, when we sent the memo or draft, noting the terms and objectives of what we were trying to put together, to the him (the President), he bought the idea and agreed that he would personally come to inaugurate the Council. So, he replied our letter and gave his blessing. But at the time the Council was to be inaugurated, he was sick. So, he delegated the immediate past president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to inaugurate and establish the Council. As a matter of fact, the NCBC was the first business council that was established with due process in Nigeria.

    So, on November 9, 2009, at Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, Dr. Jonathan, all the governors from the 36 states and the then Minister of Commerce converged and inaugurated the Nigeria-China Business Council. This was followed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria and China. Chinese Government officials  represented their president, whereas Dr. Goodluck Jonathan represented President Yar’Adua. So, they specified the role of the Council. We are to focus specifically on handling the affairs between Nigeria and China mainly to promote trade and investment.

    Has the Council fulfilled this mandate?

    Yes, especially when we look at the trade relationship between Nigeria and China. As at 2009, we had about $2.9 billion in favour of China in terms of trade. Between $700 million and $750 million was in favour of Nigeria. But we now organised what we called balancing trade and investment between Nigeria and China. What led to that was that we conducted a research and found out that all over the world, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is highly supported by private entrepreneurs, like in China, the US, Germany, the UK, Italy, France, even in Spain. We also found out that in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, their GDP was highly supported by private entrepreneurs by between 30 and 40 per cent. China is about 65 per cent to 70 per cent. So, we now came to the conclusion that the private sector is what drives development and the economy of any developing nation. We now started focusing our attention on improving the business relationship between the people of China and the people of Nigeria. So, having succeeded in that, because as I speak, the trade relationship between Nigeria and China, after the establishment of this Council, has grown to about $13.5 billion and Nigeria is close to $11billion. So, we had a lot of conferences and seminars that we organised between Nigeria and China, sometimes in Nigeria, sometimes in China to educate them on the need to partner members of the private sector. But there were some challenges along the line. We have the language problem and we also have issues of substandard products, which most of the time is common.

     

  • ‘Nigerians have a lot to benefit from Dubai’

    ‘Nigerians have a lot to benefit from Dubai’

    Ms. Stella Obinwa, a Nigerian, is the Regional Director, Africa Internal Operations, Dubai Tourism Board. Obinwa led a team of Dubai Tourism Board to Nigeria ahead of the annual Dubai Shopping Festival scheduled for January and February. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf she speaks on the socio-economic benefits of Dubai tourism and how Nigerians can key into it. Excerpts:

    You came to Nigeria to promote the annual Dubai Shopping Festival. Why did you choose Nigeria?

    We chose Nigeria because they have shown a large interest in shopping and we feel we have something to offer them; and also because it is the largest populated country in Africa. We also chose Nigeria because there are a lot of local businesses here in Nigeria and Dubai that they can collaborate. This is just the first. We will take this out to other countries in future but in the short time that we have to put this together, Nigeria fits perfectly.

    For a Nigerian that has not been to Dubai, what is so special about the shopping fair?

    If you’ve never been to Dubai, the Dubai Shopping Festival puts Dubai at an advantage over all other shopping destinations in the world. At the Dubai Shopping Festivals, the retailers are offering 70 per cent or more discounts on all the merchandise on their stores. It is like an after season and urging people to come and get their best deals on anything, the Gold Souk, spice souk, Dubai Mall, every mall. Every retailer will be running a discount programme.

    Nigerians travel to Dubai a lot, what is the special thing about the festival?

    Contrary to public perception, it is a select few that have been to Dubai from Nigeria. We are finding out that they go often. Nigeria has a population of 170 million. Let us knockout 100 million as below age and not earning money, there is still 70 million. Let us knock out half of that and say for reasons of logistics 50 per cent can’t go, we are down to 35 million. The number on record of Nigerians that go to Dubai is less than 200,000. That means there is a huge potential to grow it. So we decided in Dubai Tourism that we are going to give people a free experience to Dubai. So, on this trip that I am here with my colleagues, we are running a giveaway promotion to give away travel packages to up to 200 Nigerians. We pay for the flights, pay for the hotels and all they have to do is to go there and experience the Dubai Shopping Festival which is not only about shopping, it is also about gastronomy. All the leading restaurant s will run special programmes, special eating experiences, there will be concerts and the normal activities. You would experience the desert; experience the culture, there is so much to do during the Dubai Shopping Festival.  So, we take 200 people there, they will enjoy, they will come back and spread the word that Dubai is not an alternative destination, it is the destination.

    You know Dubai is like one big bazaar venue, how does this shopping festival run?

    Every mall and every location, as long as you are a licensed retailer in Dubai, you run the discount, whether you are in the gold souk area, whether you are at the mall, whether you are at the Downtown area, the Deria, every where you are. All kinds of merchandise: phones, pillows, bags, shoes, you name it, everything would be on sale.

    So, all you need to do is be in Dubai during the festival?

    Like you say, all you need is to be there, well, we take care of your being there, you do the enjoyment.

    Talking about being there, a couple of months back, there are issues regarding Nigerians entering Dubai and who can come in, marital status and so on…?

    I am familiar with the issues you are a talking about. When I was employed in Dubai tourism, I went to them with guns blazing telling them you guys want me to drive traffic with all these restrictions? They told them, Stella, go take a look, those are guidelines that enable them screen out those that should not be there. Every country needs to do her due diligence to maintain the safety of those who come into their country and those who live in their country. It is awesome they are doing that. So, while it might seem frustrating for people when they hear these restrictions, it is for their own good that Dubai has such a wonderful screening programme that ensures that when you come in, you are going to be safe.

    Which months are the pick months for travel into Dubai for Nigerians?

    December and January are huge travel months for Nigerians as well as August and September, and even March and April depending on when the Easter season falls. Those are the biggest travel months. We see upward of 25,000 to 30,000 Nigerians those months documented. I say documented because I was one of those who probably went there in December. I live in Nigeria but I went on my United States passport, my document does not show I am a Nigerian. We are going to address all these in the coming months so that the true number will show.

    In terms of products, you know what the average Nigerian wants. In terms of our shopping culture , what do you think they are going to enjoy most about the Dubai Shopping Festival?

    I think Nigerians will enjoy the night life. I think that now that Dubai has launched great African fine dining experience, Nigerians are going enjoy that. There is also the great shopping experience. I think Nigerians enjoy relationship, the banter; they will get all of that in Dubai. They will get the relaxation, the cold weather, all of these make for a complete experience.

    How do Nigerians queue into this?

    If you go to any travel agency that has an online platform, you will see packages to Dubai. What the travel agencies do is that they contact the airlines directly …I think you can get that on any platform and Dubai Tourism is here to support every travel agency.

    I know that there are a few travel agencies that you are working with, how about the others?

    No, I am working with all. I am developing a relationship with the umbrella agency for Nigerian travel agencies, NANTA; everybody who is a member of NANTA will have access to Dubai Tourism. We are not favouring one agency over the other. Of course for different promotions, it is impossible to run a promotion with 2000 agencies, so we look at the statistics of what the agencies are producing and if we think you produce very strong number in the month of March for example, if I have promotion running, I will give it to you. I will spread the love equally. I don’t want to single out favour for any particular agency.

    I know the shopping festival starts in January, what is the duration?

    The Shopping Festival is from January 1st to February 1st. Nigerians are invited and some of them, I will pay for them.  Let me qualify it. If someone sends you on a trip by yourself, you might not really enjoy it. what we are doing is a 100 packages  but each person who wins a package can bring a friend or anybody who has a Nigerian passport. You will travel on your Nigerian passport even if you have another country’s passport for this particular trip.

     

  • HIV&AIDS: Infected Nigerians raise voice against new payment regime

    HIV&AIDS: Infected Nigerians raise voice against new payment regime

    Working with the theme ‘Getting to Zero,’ the world penultimate week commemorated this year’s World  AIDS Day with a lot of fanfare. The weeklong event however leaves a sour taste in the mouth of people living with the virus in Nigeria, as they continue to battle the newly introduced charges. Gboyega Alaka x-rays the situation.

    No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched.” – George Jean Nathan

    The above quote by the late George Jean Nathan, one-time leading American critic and publisher, best describes Tina Nnamdi (not real name), a Nigerian HIV positive patient’s recent resolve to go haywire and grant as many men as ask her for sex, free express sex without recourse to condom. Put more directly, Tina has resolved to spread the deadly virus in her bloodstream to as many men as make overtures to her, and her reason is frustration; basic animal frustration. Tina can no longer access her regular dosage of anti-retroviral drugs (ARV), with which she keeps the virus at bay, and by implication she is staring death in the face. Her frustration has grown increasingly since October 2014, when the Nigerian health authorities unilaterally took the damning decision to compel HIV positive patients to pay a certain amount of money for their regular bi-annual tests, known among patients as ‘bleeding’.

    Patients say the test is crucial to accessing the drugs, which they admit are still free, but conditioned upon paying for and first going through the test. Tina’s situation is further aggravated by the fact that she has no helper – no husband, no job, and she literally survives on society’s benevolence. Meeting up with the compulsory pittance fee of N12,000 a year is therefore an uphill task, the concession that she can pay twice notwithstanding.

    Hers is a typical case of an angry being, desperate to survive, who has lost all sense of clear reasoning. In her angst, she can be likened to a boko haram suicide bomber, willing to take as many people as cross her way down the abyss with her.

    Threat to the Zero target.

    The theme for this year’s World AIDS Day commemoration, which was observed globally, penultimate week, was: Getting to Zero. It was marked with all seriousness and fervour by the relevant government agencies, various networking associations of people living with HIV and civil society organisations in Nigeria. With all intents and purposes, this target may not be an impossible one afterall, considering the level of success recorded against the virus across the world in recent years. The reality of attaining the zero target is further underlined by the declaration by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) last week, that Nigeria has been able to reduce the spread of the virus by up to 35 per cent. Even as many stakeholders have disputed this statistics long before it came out as a deception, the truth is that people like Tina, who probably run into tens of thousands, if not millions, stand as a threat to this target, and to any level of progress being recorded against the spread of the virus.

    For a country sincere and willing to tackle the spread of the virus head-long, many have argued that rather than introduce any kind of fees whatsoever, the government should have endeavoured to get rid of other existing encumbrances in the way of the patients and their drugs. For years, most HIV-positive patients accessed the ARV drugs free of any kind of charge, and this was responsible for stemming the astronomical rise in the number of infections and a seeming demystification of the virus, as it seems to have taken off its toga of a death sentence in the eye of the people.

    Grimmer than NACA

    In July 2015, the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) declared in a report that the global spread of HIV/AIDS has reduced. The report coincided with the organisation’s Nigerian Country Director, Bilali Camara’s statement that Nigeria is amongst the countries that have been able to reverse their HIV trend. Exactly a year before, the organisation had painted a grim picture of the state of affairs in the country, sending jitters through the spine. That report presented Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda as the countries with the highest rate of infection/spread in sub-Saharan Africa, with cumulative growth rate put at about 48%. That report also showed Nigeria as the country with the highest HIV/AIDS mortality rate, as well as the country with the unenviable burden of one third of all new infections amongst children in the 20 worst hit countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

    While it may also appear that Nigeria does not lead from the rear, since South Africa is the unwilling occupant of that unenviable saddle, with a whopping 12.2% portion of its population to Nigeria’s 3.2 percent, the huge difference in population strength (S.A is 52.98 million, while Nigeria is over 170 million), means that Nigeria and not South Africa, has more to worry about.

    The big question activist, Steve Borishade therefore asked in his essay, ‘A Tale Of Anguish: The True Story Of The HIV/AIDS Situation In Nigeria’ is, “what measures (that) were put in place that could and had ensured that Nigeria is able to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS in just one year like Bilali asserted? And when Nigerian officials go to town claiming that the country has met some MDG goals, especially pointing at successes in HIV/AIDS, should we not ask how and what those are?”

    If the country recorded marginal success when all People Living with HIV/AIDs (PLWHAs) had access to free treatment in all government facilities in the country, does it not then defeat logic that it would record significant success in just one year after fees were introduced?

    Evelyn, one of the attendants at a press conference organised by the Lagos Network Forum on HIV And AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to intimate the public about the predicament of people living with HIV said the whole 35% reduction success rate being bandied is a ploy to douse the noise the networks have been making and make mincemeat of their complaints.

    Others have also argued that it is to justify the huge funds and investment that the government have expended on the project till date.

    A long way to go

    Fred Adegboye, a journalist with The Nation newspaper, argued that as insignificant as the amount being charged may seem, the reality is that many of the people living with HIV are not able to afford the fees. “In my centre at the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, they say the drugs remain free, but we have to pay N6,000 for each chemistry test before we get them. We do two chemistry tests per year, so the fee amounts to N12,000; but the reality is that many people cannot afford it and that is our agitation. To make matters worse, some people always have to travel long distance to access their drugs, because they fear that they could be stigmatised if they chose a dispensing centre near their homes. So we have lots of people who travel from Lagos to University College Hospital UCH, Ibadan, where I access my drugs on a regular basis to collect their drugs; and by the time you add their transport fare to it, you find that it becomes way too high for most of us. I for one can afford it because I have a job, but many do not have a job and rely on goodwill of people around them, which is not guaranteed. In fact the last time I went for my bleeding, even I could not afford the N6,000 but I went anyway and gave them the N5,000 that I had on me. To tell the truth, I was ready to raise all hell should they reject it, but thankfully they collected it. So, if I who has a job could run into such difficulty, then you may begin to understand the problem other people are facing.

    Azeez Aladeyelu, an HIV/AIDS activist, state co-ordinator of CISHAN (Civil Society Consultative Network on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CiSHAN) said although the authorities have explained that the fees is a running cost, he said the networks have been protesting the decision, going as far as South Africa to embarrass the then health minister last year, in order to force the government to rescind the decision. He said the donor agencies are still supplying the drugs and have only pulled out partly in the area of funding of running costs, and wondered why the Nigerian government cannot shoulder that responsibility for her people. He said those having problems accessing their drugs should endeavour to reach-out to their support groups, so they could know their problems and how to help them.

    He carpeted a situation whereby the private sector is standing aloof, while things are going wrong, forgetting that when the population is depleted the labour force that it depends on will also be affected. “Even if these corporations pull their meagre donations together or commit a part of their CSR budget to the service of our people, it would go a long way. But if you approach them, their excuses have always been ‘we have our workplace policy; we can only attend to people in our organization.’ They may even tell you that you should have approached them before and that they have mapped out their spending for the year. Meanwhile, when Ebola came, nobody prepared for it yet, we saw how everybody, the government and private sectors, pulled their resources together. Nobody made excuses.”

    Aladeyelu however said the network has resolved to continue crying out about their predicament until somebody listens. He also expressed optimism that the new government would be a listening one that would help ameliorate their problem.

    A spurning government

    One of the panellists at the press conference and a representative of NEPHWAN said it is amazing that the government is no longer serious about HIV/AIDS issues, suggesting that the networks look the way of the private organizations. He said NEPHWAN has taken it upon itself to encourage strict adherence to the drug, adding that sometimes, the organization goes as far as raising money for those who cannot afford the charges. He said the organization and other networks are not relenting in their efforts to draw attention to their situation and that they’ve organised rallies and demonstrations at major city centres and offices to draw government and public attention to the new problem. He said it is just unfortunate that the government doesn’t seem to want to hear anything about HIV/AIDS anymore.

    He said, “There was a place we went to last year to create awareness on the newly introduced fee; but while we were at it, somebody from the government office came out and started shouting us down and asking, ‘Is HIV the only disease we have in the country? What about tuberculosis? What about malaria? Why are they not coming out to make so much noise?’ She said there are thousands of people who suffer from cancer and who are not making as much noise as we’re making. But we replied her that that may be because they don’t have organisations articulating and channelling their case like ours. Now that we have come out, we need help, please help us.”

    He said former President Obasanjo helped people living with HIV/AIDS by providing free treatment for them, but the current situation spells danger as the country may be retrogressing to the pre-Obasanjo years.

    Evelyn said it is a shame that Nigeria still records high rate of infection and AIDS-related deaths. Citing how Kenya was able to turn around a precarious situation, she said it is a sign of unseriousness on the part of the nation’s policymakers. “The authorities there realised that the infection rate was rising because their men were not using condoms at brothels, so they made a law that any man who goes to a brothel and refuses to use a condom should be penalised. From that moment, they started adhering to the new rule and the rate dropped from 12% to 4%.

    Victoria Mba also echoed the efforts being put in to impress on the government to take off the new charges and said there has been no positive response yet.  But when asked if indeed casualties are being recorded in the case of people who are not able to afford the charges and access the drugs, she said, “Though we have always had AIDS-related deaths, we have not been able to gather information to that effect in Lagos, although we hear of such cases outside Lagos.

     

  • Black Friday: what Nigerians have to say?

    The media blitz that heralded the Black Friday, a day that gained popularity from an American tradition in which people are urged to give to the less-privileged for the sake of humanity, was monumental in Nigeria. TONIA ‘DIYAN reports

    In Nigeria, most of the online retail shops offered mouth watering offers to attract buyers to their platform.

    Among the platforms that offered so much promise was Jumia, arguably Nigeria’s largest online retail outlet, which offered up to 90 percent slash on all its products as a gift to buyers who wanted to enjoy the Black Friday.

    With the promise of up to 90 percent slash in prices, Nigerians had, before the date, compiled a list of products to buy, even as the online shop sustained the media blitz, declaring that the market would open midnight of Thursday, to end in the early hours of Saturday.

    But, many who thought they could make some purchases were disappointed as none of the shops offered up to 90 percent slash on any product on offer on their platforms.

    From Jumia, to Konga, to Kaymu and Yudala, all online platforms, checks in the early hours of Friday up to 3am showed that most shops had between 50 and 70 percent slash on their products, while some items retained their prices.

    One of such disappointed buyers was Mr Friday Austin (not real name), who had listed several items, especially electronics, he wanted to buy in the price slash bonanza. “My brother, I couldn’t even buy one single product. I had been dreaming of buying a television set, but when I saw the price, I merely went back to sleep, it was a rip-off,” he said.

    Another, Yinka Aderibigbe said he was disappointed that none of the online shops slashed their products’ prices by 90 percent. It was as if they were telling us, ‘take what we have or nothing.’

    He said he bought a few things not because their prices were slashed, but because he needed them.

    He called on regulatory authorities to ensure that online traders do not take Nigerians for a ride any more as they did not keep the promise they made that Black Friday.

    “When I saw that none of the four online shops I visited in the early hours of Friday abided with the 90 percent slash they had offered, I finally decided to patronise one of them, just because I had decided to buy somethings, irrespective of the poor price slash they had offered. I hope something would be done and the Federal Government would put a stop to this that goes on unabated by operators. It is time we sanitised this country, and people realised that they can no longer promise without fulfilling the obligations that go with that promise.”

    Tajudeen Adebanjo also narrated his ordeal while trying to make cheap purchases on Black Friday. His words: “My experience on Black Friday was not palatable. I found that the 90 percent discount the stores promised was not real. They all did not give out more than 40, 50 or 30 percent on items displayed. When I thought I was lucky to find an item with 50 percent, shortly after I clicked on it, I was told it was  out of stock. I think the whole Black Friday idea was not real; it is a way of ripping off Nigerians. Also, I think it is just a way of luring people to their website to convince them to buy.”

    He added that ‘’what is being practised here is not Black Friday as it is done in the western world. In the UK, for instance, on Black Fridays, people are sure to buy items at very cheap rates, at the percentage advertised. In Nigeria, the reverse is the case. So, why deceive poor Nigerians who are managing to make ends meet because of our very poor economy.”

    Another shopper Fuad Adelaja said: ”When I heard of Black Friday, I was delighted that I wouldn’t miss it like I did last year. I had saved the date on my phone diary to enable me stay in touch. But I refused to fall victim to tricks; I therefore, headed to The Blue Roof at Ikeja, where I bought men’s briefs and shirts I always wanted but couldn’t afford because they were expensive. I saw the day as an avenue to have my wishes come through and bought six at a cheap rate,  got a designer shirt for N2,500 instead of N10,000 or N15,000 .”

    Solomon Odeniyi had anticipated that he would buy all he needed for Christmas on Black Friday; but he was disappointed when he couldn’t buy an item because of the exorbitant rates placed on them. “I anticipated that items worth N20,000 would be reduced to N5,000, because that was what all online stores made us believe. I only noticed 40 to 60 percent discount on few ladies wears, mainly underwears.  Even discount on mobile phones were not more than 10, 15 and 20 per cent.

    Chinonso Onu complained of waking up very early to purchase but was disappointed with the poor turnout. ”I woke up very early so I would be able to purchase some things at the so-called discounted prices they were claiming to give, but found that the 90 per cent discount they had been making noise about wasn’t true after all.”

    Susan Eric also spoke of how she had planned for the Black Friday, thinking it would be fun as she would stock her house this Christmas with some new electronic gadgets. But she couldn’t buy anything.

    ”I told my husband that I wanted to make the Black Friday an opportunity to buy some things and he laughed at me. I wondered why he laughed, so I asked. He said they were deceiving me and I wanted to be a victim, I just pretended not to listen.

    ‘’Lo, the day came and, at first, it was the network and I was consoling myself on that. I finally logged on to the website and the 90 percent turned to 10 per cent or even less. I got very angry that I could not even tell my husband about it when, I finally got home. I do not believe that there is anything like Black Friday at all. Experience, they say, is the best teacher. I won’t even try it next year.”

    True! Many a Nigerian shopper had thought to grab great deals for the festive season. They looked forward to the annual shopping bonanza that has been a huge hit in America for years, in which huge discounts are promised and fulfilled. But their hopes were dashed. There was nothing of the sort. Like the online retailers will always say ‘Crazy Discounts’ indeed.

    He had moved more towards digital and online shopping on Black Friday. He anticipated that online shopping will be bigger than ever as the biggest discounts ever will be ongoing to benefit him.

    For retailers, particularly those who are online, the concept of Black Friday has opened up a whole new avenue for marketing in Nigeria. In the last two years, they say they have recorded tremendous traffic on Black Friday.They said  more Nigerians are getting aware of the significant shopping event, and the expectations of shoppers are heightened with many waiting till Black Friday to make strategic purchases.

    During Black Friday, businesses are to  reward shoppers who are loyalty to their brands. Feedback is positive and the level of engagement continues to be on the increase. The last two years of Black Friday  in this part of the world has facilitated the adoption of e-commerce processes and encouraged the expansion of trade systems for indigenous businesses.

    According to  an online merchant who has imported all the western method of shopping into the country in the last three years, “Black Friday boosts the country’s economy by connecting more customers to great businesses. They say it helps consumers get more value for their money and actually save towards enjoying a product they may not have tried otherwise.”

    These merchants said they witnessed slight increase at the beginning of the Black Friday week, adding that it is because people are searching for great prices on the internet. They said that with the success of e-commerce and tech businesses in the country, Nigerians are more comfortable shopping online and more open to enjoying the benefits of the Black Friday trend .

  • Nigerians should not panic—Abiara

    Nigerians should not panic—Abiara

    The General Evangelist of the Christ Apostolic Church (Agbara Itura), Prophet Samuel Kayode Abiara has urged Nigerians not to panic about the current challenges facing the country.

    Speaking during the 30th anniversary of the church in Lagos, Abiara said the current challenges in the country was not particular to Nigeria.

    “The world at large is in chaos we need to be more prayerful and guard against anything that can cause Third World War. People are panicking, but I want to assure Nigerians that we have a living God, and that Nigerians must not panic.”

    While acknowledging  that challenge is a global issue, he assured that the country would come out of it better.

    According to him, the current stability being enjoyed in the country is as a result of the prayers of the ministers of God, saying the  situation would have been worse.

    He urged Nigerians to support the anti-corruption war of the Buhari administration. “Let Nigerians cooperate with the present government to fight corruption as well as terrorism. God that fought Israelites battle for Jehoshaphat will fight our battle,” he assured.

    While appreciating the efforts of the joint armed forces combating the insurgents, he advised the citizens to continue to pray for God to restore peace in Nigeria.

    Abiara observed that fuel scarcity and power outage increase the rate of unemployment and crime. “Many of our youths are wandering about while some of them who lack fear of God have gone into nefarious activities due to fuel and power problems. I want to advice the Federal Government on this issue which is presently affecting the economy negatively. The government should proffer solution to fuel scarcity which presently has its negative toll on the economy. In western world there is consistency in power supply which contributes to their healthy economy. Non availability of constant power supply and fuel pose threat to economic stability.”

  • 2018 World Cup: Nigerians will watch opening match 8pm

    2018 World Cup: Nigerians will watch opening match 8pm

    The FIFA Executive Committee has approved the kick-off times for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 during the first of two days of meetings in Zurich.

    The opening match of both tournaments, as well as the FIFA World Cup Final, will be played at 18.00 Moscow time (UTC + 3).

    Taking into account time zone considerations, the FIFA Executive Committee also amended the 2018 FIFA World Cup match schedule accordingly by swapping the following matches between Kaliningrad and Ekaterinburg: Match #21 and #26, #32 and #36, #44 and #45.

    The next step in the development of the match schedules will be the assignment of kick-off times to matches, factoring in such considerations as daily temperatures and local time zones. Updated versions of the match schedules should be approved in March 2016, during the meeting of the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup.

    The final match schedules, which will include the participating teams, will be unveiled after the FIFA Confederations Cup Draw, in November 2016, and after the FIFA World Cup Final Draw, in December 2017.

  • 50 Nigerians deported from UK arrive in Lagos

    50 Nigerians deported from UK arrive in Lagos

    FIFTY Nigerian deportees alleged to have committed offences in the United Kingdom (UK) arrived in Lagos yesterday.

    The 44 men and six women were flown into Nigeria about 6.30am in a chartered B767 aircraft belonging to PITAN Airways.

    They were screened at the cargo terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport by officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

    A source at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said some of them were deported for immigration-related offences.

    Those alleged to have committed criminal offences were handed over to officers from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    Others were directed by airport security agents to find their way to their homes.

    Some of the deportees called their friends and relations to pick them up. Others hired cars to take them home.

    One of the deportees, who pleaded not to be named, said he had a dual citizenship of Nigeria and Netherlands and that he was picked up on his way to the studio.

    He claimed that he was stranded as he did not have any relation in Lagos.

    But a source noted that FAAN was expecting 500 deportees, adding that this was the first batch.

    The Acting Nigerian High Commissioner in the UK, Mr. Olukunle Bamgbose, had said the UK government planned to deport 29,000 Nigerians.