The Nation Newspaper

Tag: President Muhammadu Buhari

  • As ministers take charge

    Sir: Now that President Muhammadu Buhari has assigned the ministers their portfolios, they must note that Nigerians are tired of the blame game of pointing accusing fingers to the past administrations.

    By the president’s estimation, the ministers are some of the very best hands out of the over 200 million Nigerians and must prove their worth to justify their appointments.  A ministerial appointment at this crucial time is not an opportunity for accumulation of wealth as Nigerians are expecting optimum performance. The ministers must always speak on issues of public interest that will promote development instead of issues of personal interest. As ministers, they should be ambassadors of development and not competitors with state governors.

    The ministers should settle down and work hard to deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians. Again, they must hit the ground running, set a target for performance and concentrate rather than permutations for the next elections. Appointment of staff and assistants must be capable hands that can give feedback and not what they want to hear. Any minister who cannot deliver should resign to pave way for other Nigerians.

    Government is a continuum; the ministers must resist the temptation to abandon projects initiated by their predecessors for political interest. It is imperative for the ministers to cultivate a transparent and cordial working relationship with the permanent secretaries, directors and other staff of the ministries to promote effective governance. A study of the extant rules and the public service rules is key to understanding the workings of government. For the next level agenda to be achieved in the ministries and agencies, ministers must always consult with the directors and hold brainstorming sessions to enhance good governance. A situation where only the directors of finance, administration and procurement and a few others have access to the Minister is injurious to the progress of efficient governance.

    Permanent secretaries should not have policy agendas, because the civil service exists to serve the priorities of the government. As accounting officers of the ministries, the permanent secretaries must promote good governance. In setting agenda that will meet the target, the permanent secretaries must guide and set policies that will promote efficient public service. This is to ensure contingency planning to make the public service more resilient.

    As a government that flaunts rule of law as its mantra, proper procedures must be followed in the award of contracts. The ministers must declare their assets to ensure accountability and transparency in governance. In ministries with two ministers, there must be clear schedule of duties to avoid conflicts and overlapping of functions. Senior ministers should also know that ministers of states are colleagues and not spare tyres. Every ministry should concentrate on their area of jurisdiction and core competencies. Nigerians are expecting effective performance that will take the country to the next level.

    • Mike Yawe,

     Radio Nigeria Investment Limited, Lagos.

  • Another chance

    Its honour, its glory is long gone. The labour of its heroes past has given way to weeds – stubborn grass and all sorts that would have had no space when the machines were still at full blast churning out tyres. A portion of the empire has now transformed into a bank, resplendent in white facade. Dunlop, our Dunlop, why art thou forsaken us?

    I remember Dunlop again two days ago when President Muhammadu Buhari swore-in 43 men and women as members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC). Some of these men and women are not new in the FEC. Even those who are new to the cabinet are not new to government. Most importantly, it is not lost on them that Nigerians will look up to them for things to change, I mean for things to truly change!

    Dunlop, for me, has become a metaphor of all that is wrong with our country. If a giant can fall, dwarfs stand no chance.

    One area many are looking for change is in the manufacturing sector, where Dunlop used to be a king before closing shops when running cost among others clogged its bloodstream. I am yet to see any country that is great without a strong manufacturing sector. I am also yet to see a country with a strong currency without a thriving manufacturing sector. I am still searching for a great nation which celebrates epileptic power supply and glorifies mediocrity.

    Our manufacturing sector is dead and waiting to be buried. If you are in doubt, take a trip to the once-thriving textile industries in Kano and other parts of the North. If you reside in the Southwest, Lagos offers you a glimpse of the evil that has befallen the textile and other industries. With our fashion sense and love for parties, this is one industry that should be contributing greatly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). No sight better captures our sad reality than the now-abandoned premises of Dunlop on Oba Akran Road, Ikeja. The textile factories in Aswani, Kano and other parts of the North are now relics. Many factories have become churches.

    I cry each time I have cause to pass through a once-bubbling industry that has now become a church auditorium. Sadly, we have many of them all over Lagos. I am also yet to see any great nation that prides itself as an exporter of cocoa, timber and rubber. The export of these items cannot yield us much because we export them raw — no value-added. What makes chocolate the toast of all is the value that has been added. Raw cocoa smells, and only by adding value to it can it appeal to the mass of the people. Rubber only makes sense when it has been turned to plastic and other products. The furniture we import from abroad is made with the wood from Isehin, Isaga-Orile and other remote places in Nigeria. We simply ship our almighty oil abroad. What is wrong with refining and supplying other nations?

    Our health sector makes me cry. Our primary, secondary and tertiary health institutions were world-class. The University College Hospital (UCH) was first among equals globally. Its facilities were top-notch and its members of staff could raise their heads high anywhere in the world. No thanks to brain drain, UCH and others are now shadows of their old selves. The brain drain that hit the health sector in the ‘80s started the declining standard in our teaching hospitals. We are yet to come out of the brain drain. As you read this, many doctors are on their way to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia because of the poor state of medical practice in the country. Even those who are not leaving are not committed. Many a doctor in government-owned hospitals runs private clinics and dedicates attention to their private practice than their primary employer. I find it difficult to blame doctors for seeking better lives abroad. The government is responsible for infrastructure decay, poor power supply and lack of equipment, which have made working at home a bad idea.

    The poor state of the economy has made unemployment our close friend. We have paid lip service to diversifying the economy. Our almighty oil contributes about 85 per cent of our oil revenue, but its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, which is less than 10 per cent, is abysmally low. Other sectors must contribute to the GDP if we intend going anywhere. If there is anything that has also contributed to more to our problem, it is corruption.

    The Buhari administration has made the fight against this monster a major issue. But, we need to go beyond that. There is a need to strengthen the anti-graft agencies for effective prosecution. As noted by this paper two days ago: “Most prosecutors carry a workload that, because of its excessive size or complexity, interferes with quality prosecution and attention to detail. It is not unusual to see prosecuting counsel shuttling from one court to another. In some instances, cases have been adjourned or stalled due to the absence of a prosecutor.”

    One grey area, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must address, is the state of our foreign missions. A report in this paper on Wednesday notes: “Many of the 110 Nigerian missions and embassies abroad are still a national embarrassment despite promises of reforms and rationalisation. They are still groaning under financial difficulties. “Some of them have reportedly not paid salaries for months and owe huge debts. As part of its cost-saving measures, the Federal Government ordered the closure of three of Nigeria’s foreign missions and down-sized one. The closed missions were in Sri Lanka, the Czech Republic and the Republic of Serbia. The one in Ukraine was downsized. Nigerian embassies and consulates do not render their duties to Nigerians abroad. To procure a common passport when one is in dire need is a problem.”

    It will be a great disservice if I leave out electricity as part of the major problems that must be addressed in this dispensation. For me, it is the main problem. Addressing it will resolve so many of our challenges. Democracy’s attempt to fix the electricity challenge has been a major flop. Since licences were given to Ikeja Electric, Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) and nine others, they have shown that they lack what is needed to make a success of the sector. It has been garbage in, garbage out. Consumers regularly express their displeasure through blockades of electricity distribution companies’ offices over poor service delivery occasioned by erratic billing and epileptic power supply. Consumers, consumer advocacy groups, regulators and legislators have shouted themselves hoarse. The courts are having hectic schedules with cases filed by short-changed consumers. For me, the investors rushed into the deal thinking it would be all rosy like the situation when GSM licences were issued.

    Many parts of the country are in darkness. Not a few have called for the withdrawal of licences of DisCos. This is one area we should be running. Instead, we are yet to start crawling, not to talk of walking and far away from running. I sense that selfish interests have been sold as national interests. The good of one is sold as the good of all.

    My final take: I see the constitution of the cabinet as another opportunity for us to get things right. I am more than convinced that Nigeria cannot remain like this. Our pace is too slow. Slow and steady do not always win the race. We must run now because we are lagging in every area of human endeavour. Let us do a marathon and even if this means many slow runners falling by the wayside, so be it. Things must change. The implication of things remaining the way they are is grave. Certainly.

  • In charge

    The administration of oath and assignment of portfolios to the 43 ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari marks the real take-off of the government. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) is a constitutional creation specifically saddled with the task of assisting the President and Vice President in running the affairs of state. The constitution mandates the President to choose his ministers in a way that each state of the federation is represented. Now, Nigerians know those who have the task of implementing the agenda of the Buhari administration and giving effect to the manifesto of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Highlights of the composition shows that there is no radical departure from the framework and philosophy of the government as may be deduced from the helmsmen assigned to the ministries. The President has reserved the petroleum ministry to himself, while appointing the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, to directly oversee activities in the ministry. This suggests that the President attaches much importance to the ministry that administers the nation’s primary source of wealth.

    The stature and capacity of Sylva who had worked with a former petroleum minister and governed an oil-rich state is expected to help in translating government policy for the sector to a positive force for development. We hope he would be able to use his influence to block attempts by any presidential aide to sideline him and drive a wedge between the minister of state and the president who for unexplained reasons has retained the office of substantive minister.

    Also significant is the split of the erstwhile ministry of power, works and housing into two, with Mr. Babatunde Fashola retaining control of the works and housing component. The newpower ministry has been assigned to Sale Mamman from Taraba State. It was predictable from the list of nominees sent to the Senate that Major-General Bashir Magashi, a retired military officer, lawyer and politician would be saddled with the task of handling the defence ministry at a time that internal security challenges continue to mount. Speculations were rife until the President unveiled the portfolios as to the nature of the former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s assignment in the administration. The energy, zeal and passion of the engineer-turned-politician might have recommended him for the Interior ministry where he would share defence responsibilities with the ministers of defence and police affairs.

    It is noteworthy that former Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio has been given the responsibility of supervising development in the Niger Delta, assisted, interestingly, by Mr. Festus Keyamo, a notable senior lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria who performed creditably at the Senate screening where he was asked his opinion on restructuring the judicial system. Abubakar Malami is returning as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice even though many are not impressed with his performance in the first tenure. Rotimi Amaechi remains transport minister and will therefore be expected to see through his move to open up the rail sector and probably the sea ports.

    Adamu Adamu as education minister, is believed to have performed below par, it remains to be seen if the Accounting graduate from Ahmadu Bello University can come up with new ideas for the very important sector. The establishment of Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons is welcome. At a time when management of humanitarian affairs has brought the country odium from the international community, the assignment of Mrs. Saddiya Farouk, a former Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migration and Displaced Persons to the office is fit and proper. Mr. Sunday Dare, the 53-year-old minister given the responsibility of overseeing the youth and sports portfolio is expected to restructure the ministry.

    We expect the ministers to take charge immediately as there is little time for them to make their marks. This administration took off in 2015 with the promise to effect fundamental changes in the security architecture, economic structure and employment generation. At best, modest achievements have been recorded. It is therefore important that the ministers work to ensure that remarkable improvements are recorded in the key sectors. They should bear in mind that the government has only two years to work assiduously towards upliftment of the infrastructural, human capital and social services sectors. The 2023 politics may degrade governance afterwards.This time calls for new thinking. We hope these men and women who have been within the system at the federal and state levels for decades will rise up to the occasion.

  • El-Zakzaky’s return heats up Abuja

    There are security concerns in the nation’s capital following the abrupt return of Sheikh Ibraheem el-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) from a medical trip to India. GBENGA OMOKHUNU reports

    The return of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) Sheikh Ibraheem el-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat to Abuja, the nation’s capital, after the alleged lack of breakthrough in the impasse that ensued in his medical treatment in New Delhi, India, has been a source of worry to Abuja residents.

    Until Saturday, December 12, 2015, barely six months after President Muhammadu Buhari took over the helm of affairs, not many in Nigeria outside the North knew about the activities of the Shiites otherwise known as the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.

    El-Zakzaky and his religious group which has its administrative headquarters in Zaria, Kaduna State, were well known by residents of Kaduna State. Only travellers to Kaduna and Kano states who encountered its members during processions that usually take over large portions of the major highway knew the group before 2015. The movement began with a Shia Muslim university activist, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, who is said to have become so impressed with the 1979 Iranian Revolution that he wanted one at home. Later, Zakzaky went to Iran, ultimately becoming a Shia cleric. At home he became the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and turned it into a vehicle for proselytising and gaining followers in the 1990s. As a result of his activities, millions have converted to Shia Islam in a country where they were rarely known before.

    There have been many processions by the sect in Abuja. The most recent were the ones at the National Assembly and at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja. During the protest at the National Assembly, the protesters clashed with security operatives while trying to gain access to the parliament. Two policemen were shot while several cars were damaged during the clash. Also, in the July 22, 2019 protest within the Central Business District of Abuja, many lives were lost on both sides. One of them was Deputy Commissioner of Police in Charge of Operations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command, DCP Usman Umar and a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Precious Owolabi, who was deployed to Channels Television, for his primary assignment. Two Assistant Superintendents of Police were seriously wounded while 13 members of the IMN also died. The development drew national outrage.

    Abuja residents had thought that this last experience will put an end to the group’s daily protest and coupled with the fact that El-Zakzaky and his wife were meant to receive adequate treatment in India. But this turned out to be the opposite as he complained that security operatives did not allow him and his wife to see their doctors and that the Nigerian government was forcing him to accept to be treated as a criminal.

    There was a drama at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja last Friday as operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) sneaked in the embattled leader, El-Zakzaky and his wife when they arrived aboard an Ethiopian Airline by noon last Friday.

    He was taken through the Presidential Wing by the operatives, preventing journalists to have any contacts with the couple.

    Journalists present at the airport were asked to set their cameras at the arrival lounge of the International Wing but were not allowed to see him.

    The development led to the IMN issuing a statement condemning the circumstance, vowing to resume their suspended protest until El-Zakzaky and his wife are given proper treatment and freed.

    IMN refuted the claims by the Federal Government that the Shi’ite leaders rejected medical attention in India.

    In a statement, the President Media Forum of IMN, Ibrahim Musa said the  government “had an ulterior motive it was nursing using its connections in India when it violated court order and interfered with the procedures of the Sheikh’s treatment. This can also be deduced from the way the security agents whisked him away to unknown destination after arrival at Abuja International airport, without allowing him to have audience with the journalists that were waiting for his arrival.”

    The Federal Government said El-Zakzaky raised false alarm, alleging that the IMN leader planned to seek asylum while on medical treatment in India.

    El-Zakzaky’s other plan, according to the government, was to get an Indian court to grant him leave to relocate to another country. To achieve this plan, he was said to have engaged lawyers and some human right groups to help execute his agenda.

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Culture, Mrs. Grace Isu Gekpe, said El-Zakzaky’s actions in India demonstrated malicious intents capable of embarrassing the Governments of Nigeria and India.

    Gekpe said the IMN leader also tried to violate an order of the Nigerian court by approaching an Indian court to seek asylum or leave to travel to another country.

    Part of the statement reads: “The Government notes with dismay the acts of misconduct exhibited by El-Zakzaky that necessitated his repatriation.

    “While in India, he initiated contacts with a team of lawyers led by Ali Zia Kabir Chaudary and Gunjan Singh in that country.

    “He also contacted some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), such as the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) and other Shiite groups.

    “His aim was to seek asylum and eventually relocate to another country.

    “The earlier statement of 14th August 2019 by the Government addressed the issues that would have raised some questions with the latest occurrences and particularly the uncelebrated return of El-Zakzaky from India.

    “The public may note that El-Zakzaky’s actions in India demonstrated malicious intents that were capable of embarrassing the Governments of Nigeria and India.

    “With total disrespect and complete loss of decorum for international procedures while in India, he initiated contacts with a team of lawyers led by Ali Zia Kabir Chaudary and Gunjan Singh in that country.

    “He also contacted some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), such as the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) and other Shiite groups. His aim was to seek asylum and eventually relocate to another country.

    “It is important to note that if an Indian court had granted El-Zakzaky asylum or leave to travel to another country, it would have violated the Nigerian court order that granted him permission to travel for medical treatment.

    “However, he used the opportunity of being in India to attempt to internationalise his cause by mobilising the Rights groups.

    “Even most unfortunate and rather embarrassing as earlier stated, was his quest to be relocated to a 5-Star hotel to receive visitors instead of being admitted in the hospital as a sick person he claimed to be.

    “In spite of his misconduct, El-Zakzaky’s spouse went further to antagonise the Indian and Nigerian security agents and accused the latter of killing her children.

    “These acts were aimed at winning international sympathy as well as disparaging the Nigerian Government.

    “Having subordinated the quest for medical treatment to other ulterior motives, it became obvious that El-Zakzaky was focused on realising some sinister motives thus the decision to return him to Nigeria”.

    Reacting to the arrival and detention of El-Zakzaky and his wife by the DSS, Abuja residents now live in fear of the unknown.

    Ibrahim Shittu said: “The return of El-Zakzaky to Abuja and his arrest is not a welcome development at all. Now that the security agencies have rearrested him, his followers will resume protests thereby pandemonium will continue to be the order of the day in Abuja. Government should find a lasting solution to this sad development. Now that his followers have vowed to resume protests, Abuja people are not safe on the street. We all remember what happened weeks back where people were killed just because of their protest. This should not be allowed to continue.”

    A security expert, Segun Olododo said: “These El-Zakzaky followers may not be holding any weapon but they are most times violent. Government should prevent the resumption of their protests which I know will be violent.

    “We all live in constant fear of violence, with mayhem and carnage reigning supreme. Several things about Nigeria shock the international community. The consequence is that global media giants now give the country a bad mention in their news bulletins due to the earthshaking story. We take in our stride stories that in other climes will elicit global shockwave. The world is moving on without Nigeria, the self-acclaimed giant of Africa, which has been reduced to a mere footnote in global affairs. We need to find s lasting solution to this sad development.”

    Others are appealing government to by all means ensure that this lingering issue is resolved to avoid more killings in the land.

    Security has been beefed-up within the capital city to forestall any breakdown of law and other especially when the IMN vowed to resume protest.

  • Restructuring: Before unforeseen circumstances force Buhari’s hands

    He must not allow men whose names will not even grace the footnotes of Nigerian history to mess up all he has done for Nigeria

    It is now most likely that only some terrible, unforeseen circumstances, would make President Muhammadu Buhari shift an inch from his ramrod stand against restructuring despite his recent panegyrics to true federalism. This will be sad given the dire circumstances Nigeria is in and the fact that there is no dearth of advice from respected elders whose patriotism is beyond doubt.

    So serious is the Nigerian condition today that elders like Emeka Anyaoku, Wole Soyinka, and some clerics, especially Catholic Bishops, can  no longer remain silent but had to talk. We must, however, quickly make a distinction between these patriots and those who simply want to hear their own sound bites; crass opportunists to whom Nigerians no longer pay attention. Without a doubt, the President’s non action, and seeming rigidity, after publicly announcing that the time for true federalism is now, a whole three months ago, is more than baffling.

    Let us recap that occasion as presented by the Leadership newspaper’s very analytical editorial  of  22 May, 2019. Wrote the paper, mutatis mutandis: Since he won the February 23, 2019 presidential election, President Muhammadu Buhari has been commenting on some topical national issues hitherto considered  no go areas. Considering his party’s criticism of those Nigerians clamouring for restructuring, not many  expected him  to endorse  true federalism. But that was what  he did  when he broke his silence on the issue  by declaring that true federalism is now a necessity. The fact that he chose the occasion of the APC Governors Forum’s presentation of an appreciation award  to him for his  outstanding performance in his first  term to make the unambiguous statement was taken as a sign of utmost  seriousness.  Said the President:

    “Your Excellences, it will be belabouring the point to say that true federalism is necessary at this juncture of our political and democratic evolution. At a time when some few privileged individuals and groups have chosen to exploit and manipulate the ethnic and religious fault lines for seeking personal and partisan advantage, we need to build bridges across the different divides and instill faith in the unity and indivisibility of one Nigeria”,

    If he had made that statement during the campaigns, many would have concluded that he was merely playing politics.

    Last year, APC had set up  the Nasir el-Rufai committee to study the issue of Power Devolution and make recommendations but the report, despite being approved by the party’s National Executive committee, has been gathering moth at the technical committee  to which it was cleverly remitted. Suffice  it to say that the recommendations were  supported by  even the likes of Bayelsa state governor, Seriake Dickson, as it recommended resource management, internal security, and merger of states

    Continued the paper:” With the  increasing security challenges, which have obviously  overwhelmed  the armed forces, and the police, the first step towards true federalism should be the creation of state police. It should also include state participation in enterprises hitherto monopolised by the Federal government. It should include fiscal federalism which will enable the states to fully  develop, and strengthen, their internal sources for  revenue generation. The federal government should, therefore, move fast and  review the revenue sharing formula in favour of the states to shore up their resources.

    The National Assembly, it said, should work harmoniously with the Executive and do the needful with regards to the amendment of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). President Buhari must march words with action by promptly setting up a committee to harmonise the reports of all previous national conferences and constituent assemblies, including the recommendations of the 2014 national confab to evolve a working model of true federalism for the country. Members of the committee should be knowledgeable, visionary and patriotic Nigerians drawn from all strata of the society.

    Considering the daunting economic challenges and dwindling resources facing the country, the president is admonished not to constitute another national conference because it will be wasteful. Although the editorial says that recommendations should go to the National Assembly for ratification, I think it should go to a national referendum  for that purpose as the National Assembly should have cured the lacuna of absence of referendum in the constitution. .Finally, says the paper, the President must demonstrate the political will to return Nigeria to the path of good governance where the social, economic and political rights of all Nigerians are well protected.

    Given the parameters laid out in that very lucid editorial, 3 months is absolutely too much to have wasted doing nothing in respect of  the President’s professed new love for true federalism. So we ask: what happened? For a certainty, the President wasn’t taking Nigerians on  a jolly  ride. Or has he since come under pressure as happened when he was constituting his new cabinet?

    It is beyond me to suggest that the President  didn’t quite  get  what he was setting Nigerians up for when he sang panegyrics to true federalism. Our conditions are more dire today than they were 3 months ago. As Jide Oluwajuyitan put it in The Nation of Thursday, 8 August, 2019: ”Today nearly all Nigeria’s major ethnic groups-the Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani, Ijaw, Tiv, Birom, Ogoni, and Munshi etc. are at war with the state. Last Saturday, a coalition of 406 indigenous youth groups in Nigeria and the Diaspora, under the aegis of the Nigerian Ethnic Nationality Youth Leaders Forum (NENYLF), also raised an alarm about the creeping anarchy in the country admonishing “no responsible government and its leadership could continue to fold their arms pretending that all is well.”

    We are today; encircled by sundry enemy forces- bandits in the Northwest, Boko Haram in the Northeast, kidnappers absolutely  dominant everywhere in the South, together  with armed robbers and ritualists. Therefore, Nigerians are asking: what exactly  is happening? Why the unnecessary delay after whetting our appetite and why has he not moved  an inch beyond the status quo since he uttered those beautiful words in May? Our circumstances today demand much faster speed than Husain Bolt, the  multi- Olympics sprint star was ever able to offer at those meets .

    President Buhari has more than demonstrated his love for the country. He had, in fact, put his life on the line, on battlefields,  so that Nigeria  can remain a united, and prosperous, country . What has suddenly happened to cause this non movement on an agenda that is guaranteed to return Nigeria to a state of  peace,  and harmony,  in contrast to our current parlous circumstances?

    Have some faceless advisers changed his mind? Is he torn between loyalty to country and loyalty to his ethnic nationality?  Does he think the North has too much to lose in a restructured Nigeria? Even if yes, won’t he prefer to have his name written on the right side of  history and be the Buhari of Nigeria, like Zik of Africa, rather than be the Buhari of an ethnic redoubt?

    Wont

    I am a committed Buharist, and I love, and support him, but I feel honour bound to ask these questions even if top party chieftains, and his senior advisers cannot, because they are consumed with daily reading his body language. I am more than eager to see his name etched on the right side of Nigerian history. He has earned it, as a man of incandescent incorruptibility and high integrity, but  he has to be extremely careful not to lose it all. He must not allow men whose names will not even grace the footnotes of Nigerian history to mess up all he has done for Nigeria. These are tough times and he must rise up to it as it is as sure as day follows  the night that post- restructuring peace, harmony, concord and development in Nigeria  will lift him very high amongst the pantheons of  Nigerian leaders, past and present. And that will be a duly earned legacy for a man who has so meritoriously served his fatherland.

    In concluding this piece may I, respectfully, draw the President’s attention to the following portion of Professor Jide Osuntokun’s article in The Nation of Thursday, 8 August, 2019 wherein he wrote:

    “What President Buhari should do is bring up constitutional proposals to prune down the size of government. This should involve the idea of a unicameral parliament and doing away with the present wasteful,  and expensive senate,  while radically reducing the number of the members of the House of Representatives, as well as cutting down by half,  the wasteful do-nothing 774 local governments. The present states should be the unit of effective administration in a much decentralized government with power and financial resources transferred to the periphery where the people live. This will not only reduce tension in the land, it will also enhance security because the states and the much stronger local governments will be able to design appropriate security architecture, as desired, and determined by the peculiarities of each state and local governments, away from the current lumbering homogeneity and the inefficiency of the present”.

    I wish President Buhari well.

  • Consider Kogi for substantive ministerial slot

    President Muhammadu Buhari would be remembered by the good people of Lokoja, Kogi State, and the entire women folks for appointing Hajiya Ramatu Tijani Aliyu as a minister of federal republic of Nigeria in his cabinet.

    Hajiya Ramatu Tijani Aliyu’s experience, as women leader, a pragmatic and purposeful woman, with proven integrity would add value to the newly constituted federal executive council.

    We would like to call on President Buhari to consider giving Kogi State a substantive ministerial portfolio considering the vast experiences of Hajiya Ramatu Tijani Aliyu.

    She is woman mobilising personal resources, whose role during the 2015 election ensured that women came out in large number to vote massively for President Buhari.

    Her appearance during the screening of ministerial nominees at the red chamber of the national assembly and her eloquent presentation on various national issues was a delight to behold.

    We believe any ministry assigned to her is to help achieve the objective of PMB next level agenda, and would greatly enhance her level of dedication, hard work and commitment to duty.

    We believe with the like of hajiya Ramatu Tijani Aliyu being in the saddle with full ministerial slot, it would ensure she delivers optimally to that ministry for the benefit of the entire country.

    She has been tested in past assignments and should be trusted to make impact to her country this time around.

    • By Bala Nayashi

      Sarki Noma area, Lokoja

  • Between Adewole and his critics

    Many Nigerians perceive  political office holders with deep-seated cynicism. This negative judgmental attitude may not be unconnected with a multiple of socio-economic challenges in the country which has understandably turned many Nigerians into irredeemable paranoiac. Millions, who are badly affected by unemployment, under-employment, crime and terrorism among other social vices have become so frustrated and sarcastic with almost all the systems, including governance and its operators. Perhaps, the best place to evaluate Nigerians’ frustrations is on social media, where everybody is connected and nobody is in control!

    From various social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn among others, Nigerians, openly and discreetly express their minds without restraints. They blame and  insult political leaders to no end. They probably believe that anyone in a public office is responsible for their needless woes. A case in study is the evaluation of Ministers’ performance in the first tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari administration and the cabinet nomination for the second term in office. No Minister escaped Nigerians’ condemnation! Going through many tweets, one is confronted with avalanche of negative assessment such as “this Minister is a failure, the other one  is a disaster, and this one did not achieve anything” . In fact, I can’t remember any of the Ministers who was generally commended for good performances!

    However, condemnation without investigation, according to Albert Einstein, is the highest form of ignorance. Again, conventional wisdom informs us that he who listens to only one side of a story and draws conclusions is culpable of murder. This is probably what compelled me to investigate the alleged “non-performance” of one of the Ministers, the immediate past Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Folorunso Adewole, whom I have always seen as an achiever extraordinaire, at least , going by his smashing successes as the 11th Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan. Did Prof. Adewole actually fail to deliver in a field he is well familiar or he simply couldn’t turn water to wine because he was and still not Jesus Christ?

    Investigations showed that before he was appointed in 2015 as Health Minister, health sector was suffering from chronic underfunding and delivery was at its lowest ebb with limited access by Nigerians. The primary and secondary healthcare systems were moribund. Medical tourism was the order of the day and health workers were leaving as they were not engaged and where engaged, but the remunerations were at best,  inferior to what obtained at the federal level.

    Much sadder  was the recurrence of the world poliovirus and malnutrition among children under five. More poignantly, the total budgetary percentage of health care to national budget was just slightly above four percent, in addition to the fact that the number of Nigerians covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was significantly low. These and many other challenges were the burden inherited by Prof. Adewole. Being a medical doctor himself who is not a stranger to some of these problems, he didn’t waste a single minute before beginning to lead the way to recovery immediately he was appointed.

    He took a critical look at the National Health Policy. National Health Policy 2016 came after the first National Policy(1988) and the Second Policy which was launched in 2004.The NSHDPII took into consideration lessons learnt from the the NSDHPI.There was widespread consultation by the team that midwifed the preparation of the document to ensure country wide onwership .Both documents provided the underpinnings for Nigeria to achieve Universal Health Coverage and provide an opportunity to shape the direction of the health sector

    A Rapid Result Initiative was quickly launched in 2016 to bring hope to Nigerians yearning for dividends of democracy. About 10,000 Nigerians benefted from free surgery across the country. These include Nigeriand with goitre,fibroids,hernias. hydroceles as well as cleft lip and palate among others. In 2018,over 9,000 Nigerians benefited from free cataract under the President Muhhamadu Buhari (PMB) Restores Vision. Initiative.

    Prof . Adewole with his team soon rolled out the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), with the formal launch in Osun,Niger and Abia States. With this laudable initiative, an estimated 100 million Nigerians would have access to basic health care at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) closer to their homes, as one PHC in each political ward across the country will deliver the BHCPF. Nigerians seeking care and medical attention on issues such as malaria treatment, ante-natal care delivery including Caesarean sections, under five childhood illnesses, immunisation and screening and referral of hypertensive and diabetic cases will all be offered at the PHC level and paid for by the federal government. The idea was replicated in every state of the federation.At last count, over 30 states have registered for the programme .The Programme has benefitted from N27.0 billion released by the government with support of $20milion and $2.0million from World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

    More importantly, the fight against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has shifted from passive to active one from case-finding in key affected populations, including people living with HIV/AIDS, children, urban slum dwellers, prisoners, migrants, internally displaced persons and facility-based health care workers, to target those most at risk for TB. There has been an increase in GeneXpert sites from seven health facilities in 2011 to 390 facilities as at the end of 2017  in order to detect accurately and respond to TB cases.

    The former Minister equally expanded screening for TB, with two  Million people screened and 204,000 treated in 2017 and 2018. His Ministry conducted with funding support from the US Government and Global Fund,  the National HIV and AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey so as to address the lingering challenge facing HIV and AIDS data in Nigeria. The results of the survey indicated that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS has dropped from 3% in 2014 to 1.4% . He also led the initiative that expanded HIV/AIDS treatment to additional 78,000 Nigerians since 2017.

    To ensure effective and efficient coordination of immunization activities, the then Minister, with the Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency and his team through the Inter Agency Coordinating Committee approved the establishment of, Emergency Routine Immunization Coordination Centres at the National, States, and Local Government Area levels known as NERICC, SERICC and LERICC respectively to coordinate routine immunization activities and quickly improve immunization coverage at these levels in the low performing states. There has been remarkable improvement in immunization coverage over the last 18months.

    Prof. Adewole’s leadership upgraded tertiary health institutions to enable them to treat cancer cases. The National Hospital in Abuja now has two high-end Linear Accelerator (LINAC) with capacity to treat up to 200 patients per day. The ultra-mordern NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre was commissioned   by President Muhammadu Buhari in February 2019. Upgrading activities are still on-going at UCH, Ibadan, ABUTH Zaria,UNTH Enugu, UBTH Benin City, UMTH Maiduguri as well as UDUTH Sokoto on account of the initiative of the former Minister.

    The provision of free surgical and laboratory services to all fistula patients in all Federal Teaching Hospitals and Federal Medical Centres (FMCs) in the country came under Professor Adewole’s watch while the capacity of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to keep Nigeria safe from public health harzards received significant attention.

    .    It is therefore not true to say Prof. Adewole performed poorly while in office. We know what a man can do by what he has done. Those who know him will forever testify to the fact that he always uses every ounce of energy in his body to positively affect the world around him. With his winsome smiles, he remains a workaholic leader whose source of extraordinary strength remains a mystery.

    Interestingly,  the World Health Organization (WHO) speaking through its representative in Nigeria, Dr. Clement Peters expressed similar sentiments in a tribute,  describing Prof. Adewole as an “emotionally intelligent leader who is detailed, hardworking, trust worthy, dependable, result-oriented and a good negotiator” Paradoxically, this is the same man some twitter journalists painted in colours that bear no semblance with this highly intelligent leader! Well, it is a matter of perception.

    In his own tribute, the Country Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), Dr. Erasmus Morah couldn’t have been wrong when paying tribute to the former Minister, saying, “Prof. Adewole was always a visionary, data-driven leader. Perhaps as his biggest contributions to the HIV response is the time, energy and first rate leadership he provided, which was instrumental to the success of the Nigeria’s AIDS indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS). Considered the single largest HIV survey of its kind globally, NIIA allowed Nigeria for the first time in 20 years of the response to smartly invest government and significant donor HIV resources, based on populations and locations at greater risk” Dr. Morah asserted that Prof. Adewole would be remembered for his people-centredness, because he cared for the health of the nation and people living with HIV including key and vulnerable populations in conflict with the law.

    Without doubt, Prof. Adewole has contributed his quota to national development by serving his fatherland patriotically. History will certainly be kind to him. We are delighted to welcome the teacher of teachers back to his turf and wish him well as he settles down to begin another journey in the academic terrain.

     

         Saanu(08059436919 is Media Assistant to Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan. E mail: sundaysaanu@yahoo.com

  • COREN act empowers body to prosecute offenders

    President Muhammadu’s Buhari’s assent to the engineering registration Amendment Act 2018 into law has broadened the powers of the Council to prosecute members who commit any form of infraction.

    The President, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, Ali Rabiu dropped this hint last Thursday during a press briefing to herald the COREN Engineering Assembly scheduled to commence on the 19th August 2019 in Abuja, with the theme, ‘Strategic Alliance Amongst Engineering Professionals for Enhanced Opportunities.’

    According to him, apart from powers to prosecution of infraction, it also has the powers to ensure capacity building and monitor local content in the Nigerian engineering sector.

    Specifically, Rabiu said the amendment of the Act 2018 into law enhanced prosecutorial powers, expanding the quality and scope of its regulations, increasing the number of council members and also improving the sources of funds.

    He added that it will strengthen its administration, strengthening the practice and professional development of engineering profession, as well as help enforce professional discipline. Establishing and engineering regulation and monitoring department within the council and strengthening the definition and concept of the practice of engineering.

    “It has become a tradition of the council for the regulation of engineering in Nigeria to hold the annual engineering assembly to update the knowledge of members of the engineering family and share ideas on emerging issues on the practice of the engineering profession.

    “With the theme of the event, strategic alliance is generally cooperation and coordination of designated responsibility amongst engineering and even allied professional guided by codes, ethics and standards and supported by laws to deliver quality and cost effective services, products, processes etc to the satisfaction of the clients.”

    Among the expected guests is President Muhammadu Buhari as the special guest of honour at the opening ceremony with the governor of Katsina state, Aminu Bello Masari as chairman while the keynote address will be delivered by the immediate past President of COREN Engr. Kashim Ali.

  • President signs three bills into law

    President Muhammadu Buhari has signed three bills into law.

    The new laws are: The Federal Capital Territory Appropriation Act, 2019, Federal Polytechnic Kaltungo, Gombe State (Establishment) Act, 2019 and the Federal Polytechnic, Daura Katsina State (Establishment) Act, 2019.

    The Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, disclosed this to State House correspondents on Friday.

    He said the Federal Capital Territory Appropriation Act, 2019 appropriates a total sum of N243, 374,511.077 for the 2019 financial year out of which N130.7 billion is for capital expenditure while the balance is for recurrent.

    Read Also: Buhari attends AU summit in Niger Republic

    He said: “This amount is from the Statutory Revenue Allocation due to the Federal Capital Territory.
    This is in addition to the budgetary provision of N23, 023, 593, 146 for Capital Expenditure made in the 2019 National Budget earlier assented to by Mr. President on May 27, 2019.”

    As part of his desire to improve and expand admission opportunities for children in tertiary institutions in the country, he said that the President assented to bills for the establishment of two Federal polytechnics in Nigeria.

    The Laws establishing the named Polytechnics, he said, are standard with the Laws establishing all other Federal Polytechnics in Nigeria.

  • Apapa gridlock: End to a nightmare

    Before now, travelling from Oshodi to Apapa area of Lagos State and vice versa was nightmarish for residents, motorists and commuters. Several factors contributed to the horrid experience, which included indiscriminate parking by drivers of articulated vehicles and bad road. OZIEGBE OKOEKI reports that, with the Presidential directive on making Apapa gridlock-free, life is fast returning to the “once-abandoned” area, as the road is becoming free again.

    For some time now, motorists and commuters who reside or ply the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway axis of Lagos State have had sore tales to tell. No thanks to the daily suffocating gridlock that they experience in that part of Lagos on daily basis.

    The long hours people spend in traffic as a result of the incessant and illegal parking of articulated vehicles that virtually take over all the roads, leaving no space for motorists to pass through is not cheery.

    In the face of this, most motorists and road users resort to trekking to their offices in Apapa or to their homes in Oshodi.

    The unsavoury situation had continued unabated, so much so that President Muhammadu Buhari had to give an order to the effect that the vehicles that cause the gridlock should be evacuated.

    Investigations have revealed that three major problems could be identified as reason for the perennial traffic gridlock in Apapa, which had almost shut down one of the thriving commercial axis in Lagos that houses two of the biggest seaports in the country.

    The three issues the area is contending with are the high volume of traffic on the road, which is a general problem in Lagos State but worsened by a large number of trucks and trailers that go there to either carry goods from the port to other parts of the country and fuel tankers that go to the tank farms in Apapa to load petroleum products for distribution to other parts of the country.

    The second issue is the parking of these tankers and trailers on roads and bridges within and around Apapa pending their turn to load goods, while the third problem is the terrible state of the road as obtains in so many parts of the state.

    The Apapa perennial traffic crisis had defied every solution before now, resulting in many businesses and residents moving out of the area because of hardship occasioned by the traffic situation.

    But it seems the narrative is changing in the last two months since the Federal Task Force team led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in collaboration with the Lagos State government took up the task of making the area traffic-free.

    Investigation showed that the traffic situation is improving since the task force came on board, with some businesses and residents who had left Apapa returning.

    The bridge from Ijora end into Apapa has been cleared of trucks and tankers that used to cause gridlock. The same thing can be said of the Mile 2  to Apapa axis. But on this axis, one cannot talk of free flow of traffic, not necessarily because of parked trucks but because the road has failed completely and it is almost impassable.

    The consensus among residents, traders and those who live and work in Apapa is that the situation has improved tremendously in the past two months since the task force began work.

    The Chairman, Amalgamated Containers Truck Owners Association and Chief Executive Officer of Thom-Lee Global Services Limited Mr. Olaleye Thompson said the traffic situation has improved wonderfully.

    The member representing Apapa Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives and former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly who represented Apapa State Constituency 1, Hon. Mufutau Egberongbe, said there is improvement, even as he added that more still needed to be done.

    A roadside petty trader who identified herself as Amaka, two okada riders, Shehu Musa and Innocent Oparadike, and another resident Akinwale Oladeji all agreed that the traffic situation is better now than before.

    However, they all added that there is still a minor problem with the Apapa Tin Can-Mile 2 axis not necessarily because of indiscriminate parking of trucks which has been cleared but because of the terrible state of the road.

    What, therefore, is the task force doing differently that has brought some relief and improvement to the traffic situation in Apapa?

    According to Thompson, residents and those who do business in Apapa are experiencing relief as the traffic situation has improved. This, he said was because of the activities of the federal task team that has been working tirelessly in the past two months to solve the long-standing problem. He is so happy with the work of the task team that he appealed to the Federal Government to give members of the task team national awards.

    “Everybody can see that the federal task team has done perfectly well.  Since they began work, nobody would accuse them of any form of extortion as was the case during the time of the  task force before it,” he said.

    He said the horrible traffic being experienced at the Tin Can-Oshodi axis of Apapa is because of the horrible state of the road. He blamed the contractor handling the road for lack of seriousness. But from Ijora to Apapa, there is free flow of traffic as the trucks have been cleared.

    On the reasons for the success of the task force team, Secretary of the Amalgamated Containers Truck Owners Association, Gbade Amodu who said he has been in the business for two decades has this to say:

    “In conjunction with the task force team, we have developed a sustainable way to call-up trucks to the ports. That is, we are doing manual call-up now by NPA. But now, it is going to be electronic call-up that will be transparent and which will reduce human contact because that is what results in corruption.

    “Graciously, NPA has taken over Lilipond as a transit park where trucks will be called from the 35 nominated parks to the transit park to control the flow of trucks into the port. It is a way of regulating how trucks enter the port and free the roads of trucks,” Amodu said.

    According to Thompson, Apapa is coming back to life. Many people that were already contemplating moving out of Apapa are changing their minds now. Before, there was no week you don’t see residents complaining in the newspapers about the traffic situation; some even get robbed in traffic when coming back from work at night. All that is not happening again.

    “Even residents who had left Apapa because of the traffic situation have started returning and businesses that relocated to elsewhere are gradually coming back as well,” Thompson said.

    What is the task force team doing differently that is responsible for successes recorded so far? Thompson said it is total commitment and shunning extortion.

    “When you are assigned a new duty, the first thing you do is to interface with the people on ground and that was the first thing they did when they got here and that made the difference.

    “What they also did differently was that, unlike before when the containers, flatbed, river containers and all sorts of other trucks move at the same time, now different trucks have their times of movement.

    “Dangote and all manufacturing companies that have their factories in the port are allowed to move between 12 midnight and 3:00 a.m. This is yielding positive result for everybody”, the Haulager said.

    He assured that if the government can fix the Tin Can-Oshodi Road, gridlock will be a thing of the past in Apapa “and that will increase the country’s GDP and also bring down inflation.

    “For example, before importers were paying N600,000 to load 40ft container from Apapa to Ikeja because of traffic,  currently they pay N300,000 or less because they know they can access the port and this will increase business and also bring down prices of goods and services.

    Egberongbe also stressed the urgent need to clear major drains such as the system five travelling from Aguda to Onilegogoro through Gaikiya Road in Apapa Iganmu to Coca-Cola in Ajeromi Local Government Area, adding that “this will mitigate flooding not just on Apapa Road but on major parts of Lagos”, which will further ease the problem of bad roads.

    Thompson advised truck owners and drivers to respect the law. “They shouldn’t be in a hurry because this also leads to corruption as they seek to bribe their way through even when nobody is demanding bribe from them “because they want to make more trips in a week”.

    He praised the head of the enforcement unit, Commissioner of Police (CP) Odumosu assisted by Assistant Commissioner Police (ACP) Bayo Suleiman, Head of the operation team, CSP Olubunmi Otito and Vice-Chairman of the task force team Comrade Kayode Opeifa, who he described as no-nonsense people.

    Egberongbe also said: “I commend the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo who is the Chairman of the Committee and Comrade Kayode Opeifa the Vice-Chairman for their resilience and dedication to duties”, adding that they need to do more.

    However, a member of the task force team who spoke to our reporter in confidence because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, frowned at the activities of those he said had benefited from the corruption of the old system who he said are fighting back and trying to frustrate the work of the task force team.

    “You see them complaining and writing all sorts of nonsense. Genuine truckers are not complaining because they can see the difference.”