The Nation Newspaper

Tag: pursuit

  • The pursuit of self

    It  is not wisdom or courage that drives us to do the things we do; it is their absence that dwarfs our hearts from the highest deeds. Thus we evolve from a nation enfeebled by fear and greed, to become the land besotted to lust and death’s every endeavour.

    Our pursuit of self is to the detriment of the state. Despite our tiresome rant and supposed displeasure with the status quo, we remain the perfection of stagnant self-complacency.

    We do not provide a focal point to inspire progress and ultimately advance its course. The Nigerian elite today perpetuates its parasitic existence. So does the country’s working class.

    Despite our protests in the interest of the “average Nigerian,” reality proves us mostly, to be just another band of opportunists and frauds. The Nigerian working class indeed constitutes a scam. Without a doubt, this purportedly cheated class has evolved to become greater tormentors than the ruling class it despises.

    If you look closely enough, you will find that we are cut from the same stock. We possess no superior culture or refinement save our proficiency in the decadent, which explains the preoccupation of the citizenry with acquisition of material wealth, fame and a degree of influence to make an obscene show of them.

    This impacts negatively on the country’s social institutions of which many evolve like those chestnut burs which contain abortive nuts, perfect only for pricking the fingers. The downside of this abnormal situation manifests in the quality of the country’s citizenship.

    Although the pioneer ruling class emerged to serve patronising and reactionary roles in response to the agenda of the country’s British colonialists, this small band of ‘patriots’ have since evolved along rudderless and incoherent shades of citizenship.

    The Nigerian working class, on the other hand, evolved out of economic necessity, betraying conscious and desperate attempts by members of the class to align themselves with the ruling class against fellow impoverished.

    The working class has since, evolved into a crooked class, comprising struggling professionals, unemployed youth, self-styled activists and opportunists persistently milking every impasse and volatile situation to their advantage.

    With the inexorable expansion of the process of globalisation, they are bonding faster and inching together towards the absolute destruction of the nation’s populist movement.

    The scale of the current crisis is no doubt immense and reflective of the contradictions that have been piling up in 58 years of the country’s independence. Not only has the Nigerian working class been severely depleted of men of potential and substance, its capacities to make new heroes of otherwise dormant youths is ruthlessly sabotaged.

    Far removed from its limitless potentials in the pre-independence era, the country’s working class has become too handicapped to face the country’s tremendous challenges. Therefore, the citizenry’s capitulation to the country’s stringent living standards which continually manifests in the country’s leadership malaise, dying industries, unemployment, substandard education, healthcare and insecurity to mention a few.

    Caught in the vortex of these dehumanising conditions, many social commentators have advocated a Soviet-styled or Middle-Eastern sprung revolt against the country’s ruling class. However, what such advocates have failed to note are the striking peculiarities that will hinder such an uprising in this part of the globe – basically, the absence of a cohesive and a fundamentally aware working class.

    The most remarkable detail replicated in the various revolutionary actions that have taken place across the world is the reality of Freidrich Engels’ assertion that the state is nothing more than armed bodies of men, organised in the interest of the private property.

    Historical tyrants like various characters constituting Nigeria’s conscienceless leadership are just individuals, who on their own are powerless, but they maintain their influence and might by imposing themselves on the citizenry via the apparatus of coercion and violence perpetrated through their nation’s armed forces.

    But we have democracy or a semblance of it. Every segment of the citizenry is also affected by the pervasive harsh realities and inhumane conditions of our society. But our common miseries have failed to incite a rousing fearlessness to challenge and dispense of incompetent and tyrannical leaders through the ballot box at election time.

    Despite our travails, we do not reason and identify with the aspirations of the revolutionary movement. We do not see ourselves as jointly oppressed; we are a nation of individuals, where each citizen unapologetically seeks his or her selfish interests.

    What is deductible from these occurrences is that too many of us do not understand what it is to be patriotic and free. Thus Nigeria remains an independent nation constituted by citizenry who do not know yet how to be free. Despite his freedom from colonial tyranny, the average Nigerian is at present, slave to various classes of home-spawned political and economic oppression.

    The working class today lacks an authentic culture of citizenship and manhood characteristic of the free. It comprises mostly mindless folk, incapable of evolving an acceptable standard of truth and identifying with it.

    However, it’s probably due to the persistent hardship and extreme realities that they are forced to endure that the working class have become cowardly in reason and deeds. The success of any revolution is never entirely dependent on the presence of a bloodthirsty revolutionary front, but as current realities instruct, the existence of a conscientious, cohesive, patriotic, peaceful and formidable working class.

    The existence of such peace-loving and dependable class of citizenry becomes imperative in a country like Nigeria where the ruling class seems completely lost to reason and justice.

  • Atiku: In pursuit of a life time ambition

    Atiku: In pursuit of a life time ambition

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC). His next point of call is unknown. Will he return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or form a new party to acualise his presidential ambition? Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the struggle of the Turaki Adamawa for the presidency. 

    It was not beyond expectation. Yet, it was the most important political event of last week. The decision was predictable. The ruling party was not caught unawares. Now that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has resigned from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the question is: what next?

    The eminent politician has kept Nigerians guessing. Will he retrace his steps to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which he deserted, ahead of 2015? Will he take a refuge in one of the smaller parties? Will Atiku form a new party, nurture it and contest on its platform for the presidency in 2019?

    Although the former vice president has called it quits with the APC, many of his supporters are yet to follow suit. Some of them may not eventually go with him. But, Atiku indicated that there are many aggrieved chieftains planning to jump ship. The Turaki Adamawa was bitter. He vent his anger on the platform and the Federal Government it midwifed. He alleged that the APC has let Nigerians down, referring to a memo written to President Muhammadu Buhari by the diminutive Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who had complained earlier about the politics of exclusion in the party. The former number two citizen said he has an axe to grind over three main issues: the draconian clampdown on forces of democracy by the APC and its government, the penchant for sidelining the founding fathers and top leaders of the party and the marginalisation of youths.

    Atiku’s move appears to have polarised the polity. Mixed reactions have trailed his resignation from the APC. El-Rufai described him as a serial defector, saying that he was living to the billing of a political prostitute. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said he was driven by interest, adding that interest is a great motivation in politics. Other commentators said Atiku left because he had realised that he cannot get the party’s presidential ticket in 2019. They doubt if all his supporters will defect along with him.

    An Ekiti State politician, Wole Olujobi, said Atiku’s electoral worth may have been over-exaggerated. “Does he control Adamawa politics as people would want us to believe? If he were that powerful in Adamawa, why did he lose the state’s votes to Buhari during the presidential primary in Lagos? Why did his faction of the APC in Adamawa fail to produce the governorship candidate in the primary that produced Bindow, who eventually emerged as governor?

    “Three weeks ago, topmost politicians that control the grassroots more than Atiku in Adamawa State, including Senator Jonathan Zwingina and the Speaker of Adamawa House of Assembly, led topmost politicians  in the state to declare support for Buhari for second term to spite Atiku. Is it somebody that is suffering this home humiliation that we are dressing in borrowed robes as a colossus? Is it the man that a lowly Kwakwanso humiliated in the presidential primary that is being elevated to the height incongruous to his political relevance. I believe the man is already reaching the autumn of his political career. The twilight of his political career is on the horizon,” he added.

    However, some Nigerians are also unperturbed by the resignation. To them, Atiku has the liberty to change parties at will, if he realises that the platform cannot get him to the promised land. Defection, in their view, is not new, adding that it is typical of Nigerian politics and politicians. Others have hailed his courage, saying that he has the energy and the strong will to forge ahead, despite past disappointments.

    Between now and the next election, supporters of Atiku may be enveloped in anxiety. If he forms a new party, it will be dwarfed by the bigger parties. If he join an existing small party, its structures may still be weak to withstand the heat and rigour of presidential election. If Atiku joins the PDP, he faces two hurdles. He will apply for a waiver before he can join the presidential race. The party appears to be in turmoil over its proposed national convention. If the APC is divided as has observed, the PDP is also polarised. Also, the former vice president will meet presidential aspirants on ground. They include the Caretaker Committee Chairman and former governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and Gombe State Governor Ahmed Damkwabo. They still nurse grudges against Atiku for ditching the party twice. Will they jettison their ambitions and step down for him at the primary?

    A party source said at the weekend that, although the PDP governors will welcome Atiku to the fold, but they may not be keen about his presidential ambition. The source added: “Both PDP and APC see Atiku as an inconsistent person. If Atiku had stayed in the PDP, may be, he may not have rivals at the primary. He will need to really convince the governors to support him because they may have their own agenda too. Some people are working assiduously to reorganise and reposition the PDP now. Will they want a defector to come and reap the fruits of their labour where he did not sow?”

    Septuagenarian Atiku is a veteran presidential aspirant; focused and always hopeful. Early in the year, he picked up the gauntlet and started sharpening his arrows. Ahead of likely presidential contenders, he has returned to the drawing board. Atiku knows his onions. He has resources to mobilise and sponsor political battles. His pastime is building new bridges. His target is the presidency. He is wealth. He has achieved fame. But, according to observers, unless he becomes the president, self-actualisation is elusive.

    When he declares for the presidency next year, it will be his fifth attempt. In the last one year, he has been holding consultations with APC and PDP stakeholders across the six geo-political zones. Atiku has many fans. But, he also has many foes. His past battles have made him an experienced politician. In the face of odds, he is not a man to desert the battle field. On many occasions, he is the beautiful bride; often courted and later dumped. He is attractive to potent platforms. He is ready to add value to political parties. But, after his sojourn in the parties, certain circumstances often compel him to jump ship, to the consternation of compatriots.

    Atiku is sensitive to the public mood. He is always eager to threat the path of populism. In utter sensitivity to popular yearning, he has become an advocate of restructuring and devolution of powers, which the Obasanjo/Atiku administration avoided like a plague between 1999 and 2007. His aambition may have split the Buhari’s cabinet. Few months ago, his presidential bid was endorsed by the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan. Her public endorsement, according to observers, has kick-started the race for 2019.

    Also, Atiku has not relented in firing salvos at the president and the ruling party. The repeated outburst signaled the parting of ways. Noting that he contributed immensely to Buhari’s victory at the poll, he said his marginaliasation in the party was wrong. He said: “After the formation of government, I was sidelined. I have no relationship with the government. I have not been contacted even once to comment on anything and in turn, I maintained my distance. They used our money and influence to get to where they are, but three years down the lane, this is where we are.”

    Atiku also set the tone for 2019 campaigns. Beaming a searchlight on the Buhari administration, he said: “The ruling government has failed in many fronts.” He blamed the president for not completely winning the anti-terror war. Last week, he maintained that the APC-led Federal Government has failed to halt th suffering of Nigerians. Atiku intensified his criticisms of government when Buhari, who was critically ill, returned from a 103 day-medical trip in the United Kingdom. Before and immediately after he resumed work, the debate on his fitness and succession plan, if he will not run on 2019, came to the front burner. But, President Buhari may have since overcome his medical challenge, making Atiku to feel that, for the APC, a vacancy does not exist in Aso Villa.

    Since he entered politics in the Third Republic, Atiku has not looked back. He has always positioned himself as a factor that cannot be ignored. He is acknowledged a consummate politician, great mobiliser and crowd puller. The politician from Adamawa is generous. He always has good manifestos that are captivating. His mentor was the late Major General Shehu Yar’Adua, the founder of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), who brought him to politics. He was drafted into the presidential race in the Third Republic by the Tafida Katsina, following his ban by former military President Ibrahim Babangida. At the Jos convention of the proscribed Social Democratic Party (SDP), slugged it out with the late Chief Moshood Abiola and Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe. At first ballot, Abiola got 3, 617 votes; Kingibe 3, 255 and Atiku 2, 066. For the run off, Yar’Adua directed Atiku to step down for Abiola, who emerged as the flag bearer. Although he was also a vice presidential aspirant, his candidature was rejected, following pressures on Abiola by the SDP governors and state chairmen who insisted that Kingibe should pair with the SDP presidential candidate.

    In 1999, Atiku became the governor-elect of Adamawa State on the platform of the PDP. Owing to his political antecedents as a confidant and dependable ally of Yar’Adua, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, the presidential candidate, made Atiku his running mate. As the Vice President, the he was the de facto President and the Controlling Minister of the Economy. To get things done, politicians must curry Atiku’s favour. But, the Obasanjo/Atiku romance did not last. He ran into turbulence. An administrative panel inducted him. He was salvaged by the court.

    When the PDP became hot for him, Atiku sought refuge in the defunct Action Congress (AC). In 2007, he was the party’s presidential flag bearer. Unlike in 2003, when he had an opportunity to secure the PDP’s ticket, Atiku has always laboured in vain for the presidency. PDP governors and other big wigs were rooting for him at the 2003 primary. But, he failed to seize the moment. A crafty Obasanjo, an Army General and civil war hero, was said to have prostrated for Atiku to get his nod for re-nomination at that critical midnight. After assisting Obasanjo to get a second term ticket, the former president branded him a corrupt and disloyal partner, saying he no longer has confidence in him.

    In 2010, he went back to the PDP. That was the genesis of the suspicion between him and former AC leaders. They were taken aback. Yet, his ambition hit the rock in 2011 as he was stopped by former President Goodluck Jonathan, who wielded the power of incumbency, although he defeated former military President Ibrahim Bababgida at the unofficial Northern regional shadow poll.

    Ahead of the 2011 poll, Atiku ran to Abeokuta to make peace with Obasanjo. But, it was counter-productive. The journey did not lead to reconciliation and renewal of ties. When he later unfolded his plan to contest for the Presidency, Obasanjo objected to it, saying: “I dey laugh o.” Obasanjo teamed up with Dr. Jonathan to plot Atiku’s electoral failure at the primary.

    However, the defeat did not dampen the spirit of the colourful politician. He tried to review his strategy by weighing some options. Atiku braced up for the tempestuous journey to 2015.  He realised that the road was laced with thorns. His supporters thought about floating a new party. When the PDP crisis reached the peak, Atiku exhumed the carcass of the PDM. But, it could not fly.  The former PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Anenih, a founding member of the PDM, cried foul, saying that Atiku could not single handedly transform the political group into a political party without wide consultations and the collective endorsement of the surviving members. Later, he defected from the PDP to the APC.

    As Atiku was gathering his armies, Obasanjo, his tormentor, dropped another bombshell. At a lecture in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, the former president said he refused to hand over to him in 2007 because he could not vouch for him.  Atiku has developed a thick skin. Predictably, he unfolded is presidential ambition on the platform of the APC. Justifying his eligibility for the highest office, he said: “I have always fought against military rule. I have also fought for internal democracy. I have always fought against one-party state because it leads to dictatorship.” Besides, ego was also at work. Atiku’s supporters believe that those who succeeded Obasanjo-Yar’Adua and Jonathan-were not better than him in terms of experience and competence.

    Atiku chided critics who raised some issues bothering on his credibility. He said no allegation of corruption has been proved against him, adding that detractors were fueling the wrong perception. He added: “I am not a corrupt politician. Have I been indicted in any way for corruption? I served under an administration that has waged war against corruption,” he stressed.

    Atiku projected himself as a time-tested democrat, promising to preside over an all-inclusive government. He sought to profit from zoning to the North, like other gladiators in the race, including Gen. Buhari, Kwankwaso and Publisher Nda Isaiah. But, he was demystified at the primary. He emerged a distant second runners up, trailing Kwankwaso, who came second.

    Atiku contested for the presidency in 1993, 2007, 2011 and 2015. Will 2019 be different? Will the long distance runner triumph this time around? If he defects to the PDP, what is the assurance that he will get the ticket? If the PDP fields Atiku for the presidency, can he spring a surprise? Can the PDP defeat the APC at the poll?

  • In pursuit of better health for students

    In pursuit of better health for students

    Students’ health issues have caused crises in many tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The crises usually follow avoidable deaths of students in ill-equipped medical centres or poor response time at health care institutions.  The Tertiary Institutions Social Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP) was initiated to help post-secondary students to access medical services with ease.  PRECIOUS DIKEWOHA reports on how the scheme is faring in tertiary institutions in Rivers State. 

    The Tertiary Institutions Social Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP) has been in existence since 2009.  It is part of programmes by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to insure the health of all Nigerians by the year 2020.

    If it works the way it was designed, the TISHIP would transform institutions’ clinics from mere consulting centres to patient centres with requisite manpower and infrastructure for qualitative health services. Expectedly, this would reduce the number of students who die as a result of lack of access to care when needed, and ease the burden on their families to foot medical bills.

    According to the Operational Guidelines for Implementation of the TISHIP, the administration of funds for the programme should be done as follows: “The strategy is to operate the TISHIP as a sickness fund with a Committee responsible for its administration.  It will operate with maximum pooling, strategic purchasing by the Committee and  Health Maintenance Organisations  (HMOs)  at  the  core  of  its  operation,  with  high  level  monitoring  to  ensure  transparency, accountability and value addition in the whole process. The programme will include a sustainable system of funds mobilization, collection, management and disbursement for financing a defined standard TISHIP benefit package.  It will also provide the platform for the implementation of supplementary packages as demanded by students, but at an additional cost to them. Scope of cover is for the contributing student, and baby delivered by a married female student is entitled to care for 12 weeks post-natal for a maximun of two (2) livebirths.”

    To make the TISHIP successful, the document also spells out specific roles the NHIS, tertiary institutions, HMOs, Students’ Union, and regulatory bodies, among others, are to play.

    Four years shy of that deadline, the scheme is yet to have a firm foothold in many tertiary institutions. Awareness is still poor, remission of contributions (N2,000 per student per session) is irregular, and difficulties in accessing the funds contributed, among other challenges.

    Of the six tertiary institutions in Rivers State, which are: the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST); Federal College of Education Technology (FCET), Omoku; Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE); Rivers State College of Health Technology, and the Ken Saro Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori; only FCET and the polytechnic are yet to key into the TISHIP.

    For those that have, it has not been a smooth sail. Last August, Kelechi Precious, a 200-Level student of Theatre Arts and Film Study, UNIPORT, died after collapsing in the bathroom, despite the school subscribing to TISHIP.  She could not access healthcare at the University of Port Harcourt (UPTH) because of lack of bed space.  Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Prof Aaron Ajule, said at a recent forum that the situation could not be helped.

    However, Dr Olubumi Oyagbodo, who monitors the TISHIP programme at UPTH, said Precious would have been attended to if there was greater awareness about TISHIP, and the students who brought her knew what to do.

    Oyagbodo said:  “The death of Miss Precious was a very big mistake on the side of the personnel of the UPTH; most of them are not aware of the TISHIP. So they attended to her as an individual and I believe such mistake would not repeat again. When we started the programme in 2014, the rate of payment for TISHIP was very poor but later, there was an improvement in UNIPORT and the students are not only paying, but have accepted TISHIP.”

    Despite the progress the programme has recorded, Oyagbodo said the NHIS need to do more to increase the faith of hospital managers in the scheme.

    “The interaction with NHIS is very important because there are areas where we need their help to speak with our management to guide. Despite the progress we are making, there are still areas we want the management to bend a little so that the scheme would be speedy,” he said.

    Dr. Nwala Romanus, who oversees the medical centre of the Rivers State College of Health Technology, said the school faces challenges in the area of remittance of TISHIP fund from the bursary account.  She said it was easier to get students to pay as part of tuition fees.  However, getting the TISHIP contribution from the fees is another matter.

    “It was very difficult for us because students found it difficult to pay TISHIP when it was separated from the school fees; and the best way to make them pay is to build it inside the school fees. But, the bursary department finds it difficult to pull out the fund at the end of the day. Of course, if you want to know how powerful a man is, give him power and money. So, as soon as the fund enters their hand it becomes a big problem. Another issue is that in a situation where students pay for TISHIP this semester and they failed to pay in the next semester, how would the bursar reconcile the account?” Romanus queried.

    Mr. Chioma Onwugbuta of IAUE said the institution was in the process of signing up for the programme because of its benefits.

    “We want to accept it because the programme is a welcome development.  If the management will cut off the medical fee and convert it to TISHIP account, it would work. Since the SU has been carried along, it would be easy to talk to students over the new payment,” he said.

    Dean of Students Affairs, (FCET) Omoku, Mr Matthew Gimba, said his institution was just learning about the programme and would embrace it to ensure that every student had access to health care service.

    “We just received letter from NHIS over TISHIP. Before now, we have been suffering so much trying to save the lives of students when they are sick. Recently one student fell ill at midnight. Without considering the insecurity in Omuku, I took the risk to take her to one of the hospitals in the area. The worst thing is that we don’t have good health centre at the institution so if we are keying into the TISHIP, is government going to upgrade the existing health centre or they are going to recommend a centre outside the institution?” he said.

    HMOs are to pay some percentage of the contribution they receive to institutions to improve their health centres.

    Dr.  Chinwe Anyanwu of Regenix Healthcare Service Limited, one of the HMOs, said this has helped to improve many health centres.

    “Most of the health centres being used for TISHIP before now were death  centres but today, I can beat my chest to say health centres have improved a lot. At least, the most important thing  is that we are ensuring that they enjoy what Federal government is offering them,” she said.

    Though compliance to regulations has improved, Dr Anyanwu said HMO managers needed to get best practice training from other countries to improve their performance.

    “Before now the payment was very difficult because HMOs were very greedy to pay fees for services but now, a lot of HMOs are beginning to see that our regulatory body is serious. And that if they don’t pay their charges, they would be delisted. We need to go to training and see how its work in other countries. I can tell you that the issue of none remittance has actually reduced,” she said.

    The NHIS Coordinator for Rivers State, Mr Ebiokobo Williams, said efforts were on to ensure all institutions signed up for TISHIP.

    “The NUC is coming to Port Harcourt because two years before now, we sent out letters to all the universities in Nigeria to key into the pragramme. So, the NUC has been waiting for us to give feedback, which we have been doing; telling them that there has been some resistance. One thing we must know is that TISHIP fund is different from the fund that goes into the bursary. Ordinarily, once a fund gets to bursary, it became a problem to separate and give to the hospital in the school. That is why the NUC is coming to see how it is being done. The report they have in the headquarters shows that we have three schools already running the programme.  UNIPORT, RSUST and Rivers State College of Health and Technology and they have chosen UNIPORT and RSUST to visit for now,” he said.

    Williams also refuted claims that TISHIP contributions are diverted for other purposes.

    “I would say people do not have the right information about how funds are being disbursed. The truth is that we pay capitation fee for service and others, but for now, we operate under the system of fee for service and capitation. And when the money comes in, the HMO will ensure that payment is made to the hospital; that money covers the service when the students come; and part of that money is meant for the purchase of drugs, equip the hospital and to empower the personnel. So nobody is diverting any fund. We have heard the cases of UNIPORT and RSUST and in the case of UNIPORT, it is an excellent report. Although there are still pockets of challenges but it is working well,” he said.

     

  • Pursuit of happiness

    •Nigeria’s ranking in the World Happiness Report gives cause for concern

    It is a sad coincidence that Nigeria’s latest ranking on the Global Happiness list was publicised at a time another report highlighted increasing cases of stroke in the country.

    This year’s World Happiness Report, released ahead of UN World Happiness Day on March 20, ranks Nigeria 103rd in the world and 6th in Africa. The report, an initiative of the UN, surveys the state of global happiness with a view to influencing government policy. Significantly, it reflects the widespread thinking that the pursuit of the happiness of the greatest number should be an important foundation for government policy. The first world happiness assessment was published in 2012.

    It is a cause for concern that the World Happiness Report 2016, which ranked 157 countries by their happiness levels, suggested rising unhappiness in Nigeria as the country dropped from its 78th position in the world and 2nd in Africa in the 2015 happiness ranking. Denmark was listed as the world’s happiest place, while Algeria, 38th at the global level, remained the happiest place in Africa.  At the bottom of the list were:  Madagascar, Tanzania, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi.

    Interestingly, the criteria for the assessment include: Healthy years of life expectancy, GDP per capita, social support, perceived absence of corruption in government and business, freedom to make life decisions and generosity.

    It is noteworthy that although this report lacks scientific objectivity, top experts in various fields, including economics, psychology, survey analysis, national statistics, health and public policy, have described how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations.

    Talking of objectivity, it would appear that Nigerians generally agree that there is no objective reason Nigeria should be ranked high on the happiness index. Of course, it is easy to point at serious stress, harsh economy, unstable power supply, perennial fuel crisis, massive unemployment and immense poverty, among the factors that hamper happiness across the country. The truth is that too many Nigerians are experiencing hell on earth at this time. The situation calls for a decisive intervention by the authorities.

    It is disturbing that the rising cases of stroke in the country have been attributed to the prevailing hellish conditions. According to a report quoting medical experts, the reasons more Nigerians are struck by stroke these days include: “Most Nigerians are not sleeping well by not having up to six hours of sleep daily as disturbed sleep is linked to higher risk of stroke; more Nigerians are shift- workers and shift work is associated with a higher risk for vascular events, such as heart attack and ischemic stroke; more people have taken to heavy drinking due to the harsh economic realities and heavy drinkers have a higher risk of having a stroke earlier in life than others.”

    Other reasons are: “increasing cases of air pollution from electric generating sets as new research shows that climate change and overall air quality – including higher pollution levels – are linked to a higher number of strokes; oral bacteria are linked to higher risk of stroke; and more Nigerian women are getting married at an older age and studies have shown that older mothers may face increased risk of stroke and heart attack.”

    Importantly, researchers from the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Kwara State, led by Emmanuel Olatunde Sanya, advocate an intensification of public enlightenment. Following a study, the research team said: “There is need to educate the community on the risk associated with modifiable risk factors for stroke, most especially systemic hypertension.” This is a call to duty for the authorities. The causative factors should be addressed more holistically, meaning that there should be an emphasis on correcting the enabling socio-economic conditions.

    Happiness is intangible but there are tangible factors that promote it, which cannot be divorced from socio-economic conditions. In the final analysis, a country’s happiness level is a function of the level of the governmental pursuit of the happiness of the greatest number. Nigeria deserves more happiness.

  • In pursuit of public order

    Motorists, I have discovered, respond differently to sirens.  If the siren comes from vehicles driven by any of the law enforcement agencies like the police, army, navy escorting government officials, expatriates or bullion vans, motorists quickly make way for them to avoid being ‘dealt’ with.  But if it is an ambulance conveying a critically ill patient to the hospital, motorists are slower in responding.  They are so slow that some ambulances are now fitted with public address system with which the driver announces that the vehicles should make way because there is an emergency.

    I witnessed such scenario on Tuesday along the Abeokuta Expressway.  Road repair along the route caused traffic to slow to a crawl, a pace the ambulance could ill afford if whoever was inside the van was to survive.  However, the vehicles were slow in making way.  The driver of bus I boarded wondered why it was so.  I have wondered why too many times.  And I think it is because many motorists are ignorant of the need to give preference to such vehicles on the road.  I also think is because they fail to empathise with the patients, or imagine that they could ever be in such situation.

    There is need for the government to put in place enlightenment campaigns to educate Nigerians on various aspect of societal living.  It is not only about sirens.  There are many other areas where many Nigerians handle issues wrongly.  For instance, since the uncovering of the Soka Forest den, there have been many reported cases of lynching of suspected kidnappers and ritualists by members of the public, especially in the Southwest.

    While the public anger against the Soka forest saga is understandable, it gives no license for suspects to be killed without facing the judicial system.  Some of them may be innocent and unable to prove it to an impatient mob hungry to draw blood.  A case in point is a sad story of a lecturer who was admitted at a hospital for Cerebral Malaria somewhere in north.  He disappeared from his bed while his younger brother went to get him food.  The man wandered into the town and soon followed a young boy home, asking for water.  His mother raised alarm because she took him for a kidnapper.  The man was beaten to the point of coma before he was rescued by the police.  It was too late; he died.

    The police recently raised alarm that many mentally-ill have been killed in similar fashion under the guise of seeking jungle justice against kidnappers.  Even if the suspects accosted are truly criminals, killing them automatically closes the opportunity that the police would have had to investigate the case and get others arrested.

    The police have repeatedly warned that those caught meting out jungle justice would be arrested and charged.  However, I do not think it is enough for the police to threaten arrest.  They must do more to re-orientate Nigerians about not taking laws into their hands.  They must also do more to be trustworthy. Many suspects are mobbed because people believe that the police will let them off the hook easily to continue perpetrating their wicked acts.  If the public has greater confidence in the police, they will not take laws into their own hands.

    While adults may be difficult to change, the police can work with the National Orientation Agency to carry their campaigns to primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.  Whatever our young ones learn in school, they will take to their homes and can succeed in changing the mindset of their parents and other members of their families and communities.  This is another route the government can take to prepare the youth for the future while influencing the adults to change their ways.

  • Death in pursuit of survival

    Death in pursuit of survival

    ‘Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labour laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history’ – Dwight D. Eisenhower

    The contemporary melancholy in today’s Nigeria is the naked joblessness of the general run of her people. And quite sadly, the government seems bereft of ideas on how to arrest the grim menace. In all frankness, of all aspects of social misery, nothing is as heart-breaking as unemployment in the life of especially an educated able-bodied adult. Unemployment diminishes a living being since a man is fun to live with until he loses his job. This might have led to the saying – an idle mind is an un-enjoyed mind. Hunger and idleness arising from unemployment kill easily. Unfortunately, the nation is witnessing a record high unemployment. More worrisome is her anaemic economic recovery strategies which are rooted in bad planning and corruption.

    What the country is currently undergoing is the foisting of compelling idleness on the educated youths which indisputably is one of the worst evils of poverty. The best social program any serious nation can avail her citizenry is a good job prospect but such unfortunately, is currently a scarce commodity in the land, which is why people who wallow in joblessness-induced hunger still pay to seek elusive employment that in most cases, have been shared out by the ruling class.

    The above scenarios were the prevailing circumstances under which 693,000 applicants paid N1, 000 each to designated banks by a greedy consultant, Rexel Technical Global Nigeria Limited, which was selfishly employed by Internal Affairs Minister Abba Moro before prospective job seekers could be registered for the last disastrous Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment exercise. Where is that serious country in the world, except Nigeria’s egregious example, that would compel cash-strapped job seekers to pay before being allowed to write recruitment tests? Moreover, should employment opportunities in public service be seen as an avenue for making ill-gotten wealth by public officers – just as Moro did? This is callously reaping from other people’s misery. Welcome to a new level of corruption without humanity or human face!

    Nigerian jobseekers in Benin, Edo State; Port-Harcourt, Rivers State; Minna, Niger State, Calabar, Cross Rivers State, Lagos State and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), saw hell in their bid to bring dignity into their lives by seeking for placements at the NIS. More disdainful is the fact that the NIS has just 4,556 vacancies that 693,000 job seekers angled for. The entire recruitment process ab initio, was a ruse because there was no justifiable ways by which the essence of justice would have been served at the end of the day, even if the exercise had been hitch-free. The stampede that followed led to the death of 19 applicants (humans, not animals!) across the states. So heart-rending is the fact that four of them were pregnant women! Pitiably, unemployment diminishes people especially in a country like ours where no social safety net exists. In such circumstances, people would be ready to do anything just to eke out a living. This is why they could absorb the indignity of sitting on bare grass in an open field to write recruitment examination by these job seekers.

    The lack of systemic compassion in the land was underscored by the blame game deployed by Abba Moro when he heaped all blames on the victims of the tragedy when he declared after the incident: “The applicants lost their lives due to impatience. They did not follow the laid-down procedure spelt out to them before the exercise. Many of them jumped through the fences of the affected centres and did not conduct themselves in an orderly manner to make the exercise a smooth one. This caused the stampede and made the environment unsecured.” Ye God! Let this man say this to the marines. He should come out and tell Nigerians if applicants ought to be responsible for the provision of security at the recruitment venues.

    From the over N6 billion that was made by Moro and his business surrogates, shouldn’t they have made provision for adequate security with the police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps at the venues? Afterall, security agencies “uncovered” evidence that a staggering N7 billion was collected from 734, 000 applicants by the consultancy firm purportedly employed by Moro for NIS. This column firmly believes that Moro is still in office today after the gory incident simply because he is a true reflection of the administration that he is serving.

    No government that has respect for human dignity and that is abreast of the rights of the people to life as enshrined in the constitution will still be keeping a minister that caused such a monumental national disaster out of avarice and inordinate love for money. What else than to further rein it in on President Goodluck Jonathan that the minister should not escape sanction for high-handedness since he also ignored the Board of Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence, Prisons and Fire Service that advised him against saddling, for personal game, a consultancy firm with the sensitive recruitment exercise. Even more shameful is the executive impunity displayed by Moro when it was reported that David Parradang, Comptroller-General of the NIS was not involved. This same greedy minister equally fought with Mrs Chinyere Uzoma, removed former NIS Comptroller-General simply because she refused to surrender the recruitment process to him. The way and manner the woman was set up reportedly moderated the Parradang’s relationship with Moro.

    This last NIS recruitment calamity is enough to show the president and the ruling People’s Democratic Party that in their 15 years of misrule over the country, unemployment has astronomically ballooned to a level never witnessed in the annals of the land. William Shakespeare in ‘The Merchant of Venice’ aphorised about unemployment thus: ‘You take my life when you take the means whereby I live.’ Most Nigerians walking in the streets are living corpses because they are either unemployed or that the avoidable harsh economic reality has denied them of their means of livelihood. Moreover, a situation whereby unemployed job seekers in the country died in legal pursuits of survival is enough damnation for the current administration.

    That this kind of thing is happening less than 12 months to a general election and the ruling party still believes that it would win is serious affront and contempt for Nigerian electorate. Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States once said: ‘Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labour laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history.’ The PDP and the current president, rather than ensuring social security, have inflicted fuel/kerosene subsidy fraud/removal on the masses; rather than employment, have foisted recruitment mercantilism on the system and rather than farming programmes, have deployed agricultural rhetorics that dwell on the celebration of phantom job creations in the agricultural sector of the economy.

    Avoidable deaths in pursuits of survival can only stop if Nigerians do not only insist that Moro must go, but by their using their votes in February next year to make the vehement statement: ‘This mess must stop; this clueless president must vacate Aso Rock Presidential Villa for us to have our peace.’