The Nation Newspaper

Tag: scourge

  • Scourge of domestic violence

    Sir: Globally, domestic violence has become a worrying blight.  According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, nearly 2.5 million cases of sexual violence were reported globally in 2014, with many countries reporting more than 100 instances of rape or sexual assault per 100,000 people.

    In Nigeria it is a problem as in many parts of Africa. In Nigeria, especially, there is a deep cultural belief that it is socially acceptable for a woman to be ‘disciplined’ by a man.  According to Amnesty International, a third of women in Nigeria have been subjected to physical, sexual and psychological violence through husbands, partners and fathers.

    In Nigeria, many victims of domestic violence usually lack the courage to seek legal redress on the violations of their rights due to lack of positive response from the society. Domestic violence is so entrenched in our society that even the victims condone such violations of their rights as some perceive it as sign of love and the socio-religious belief that a broken marriage or relationship is a mark of failure in life. Due to poverty and economic dependence on men, many female victims may also choose to suffer in silence for fear of losing the economic support of the male perpetrator. This trend is evident in several of the reported cases where victims prefer to withdraw their complaints where it becomes apparent that punitive measures will be meted out to the abusive spouse. Their usual objective is for the authorities to appease rather punish the abusive partner for fear of backlash.

    Where the victim is courageous enough to seek legal redress, the legal system is more adversarial than reconciliatory.  The outcome of most judicial proceedings is usually the termination or straining of the relationship of the litigants, and this is true of a domestic violence victim who takes the perpetrator to the police station or the court for redress under the present law. The police also operate from the prejudices and stereotypes of the male dominated customs and traditions of the society. Many victims of domestic violence, who lay complaints at police stations,  are usually taunted, humiliated, and their complaints  trivialized, probably because the complaints desk officer often engage in wife battery himself.

    There is, therefore, need for a spirited public enlightenment campaign on the evil of domestic violence. The populace must be sensitized on what constitutes domestic violence, stipulated punishments for perpetrators and other such related issues. It is also essential that a special complaints desk is made available in all police stations to address all issues relating to violence against women. This, of course, leads to the issue of training for special officers who are to handle the beat. It is also necessary to organize constant training for legal officials, law enforcement agents, legal practitioners and others who are critical stakeholders in the matter. Similarly, law enforcement and court mechanisms also have to be made friendly and accessible to women.

     

    • Blessing Vandefan,

    Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja. 

     

  • Scourge of human trafficking and slavery

    Recently, I was in Italy for few days where I participated in a conference specifically convened by the President of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, Her Excellency, Ms Laura Bodrini, to discuss a very topical issue -”Women Empowerment and the Fight against Trafficking in Persons. The Partnership between Nigeria & Italy”.

    The conference was convened in the aftermath of the very tragic event of November 5 at the shores of Italy which resulted in the death of some 26 mostly Nigerian girls having embarked on what has now become the riskiest journey on earth, attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

    It could be recalled that the House of Representatives passed a Resolution (HR. 151/2017) on November 9, to investigate this tragedy. And also on November 29, another Resolution on a related subject matter was passed.

    If you thought the horrific events that led to the deaths of our girls were appalling just as we prepared to leave Italy, we received the terrifying news that another set of 30 migrants had died in the Mediterranean Sea while 200 were rescued.  To our collective shame, these kinds of deaths have become a recurring decimal on account of which the Mediterranean Sea has become the cemetery where Africa’s future which our young represent, is buried. Our findings reveal that the deaths are under-reported as the figures more often than not do not take into account those deaths for which the corpses are not recovered. It must be noted that in most cases some of the immigrants are deliberately dumped into the sea like bags of weed.

    To add salt to injury, humanity’s conscience was recently jolted by the CNN report of auctioning of black African migrants as slaves in Libya where these migrants are normally held in servitude in human cargo holding facilities. I believe most of us have seen the atrocious pictures of black Africans in such overcrowded holding facilities were they are packed like sardines and often mercilessly beaten and terrorized by their captors in order to keep them subjugated. These pictures which the social media is replete with have moved even the brute and the cruel to tears.

    For those who wonder why a fellow human being would strip another of his dignity in this beastly manner, the answer is money. They do it for the money. Slavery is so lucrative especially now that it involves human organ harvesting. It was and it is still a money spinner. In the past, it was so lucrative that a part of the sweet Land of Liberty fought a vicious civil war to keep slavery until the abolitionists won.

    It is significant to underpin the historical difficulties in dealing with slavery. The author of the finest line ever written by man, “we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal”, himself a slave owner, was once forced into deep introspection about the ideals he had lifted to cosmic heights and the fact that he himself own slaves. Because slave trade and slave labour brought him so much wealth and influence, he couldn’t himself live up to the eternally truthful ideals he had so brilliantly espoused. He wrote to the effect that keeping a slave is like holding the wolf by the ears, it’s a job you hate to do but you dare not let it go. He placed justice and self-preservation on a scale but pathetically self-preservation won over consideration of justice. This is the case with modern slave masters; justice and life have no meaning to them; all they care for is self-preservation. It’s a trade the mafia and their local collaborators dare not leave because of the money involved.

    What is consistent with the lessons of history is that unless slave masters are forced to stop, they won’t on their own put a stop to the criminal enterprise. We have a duty to stop them and we must begin by accepting responsibility for what is happening now. The question is, what have been done either as individuals or corporately to force these forces of evil to stop this trade in humans? Where is our conscience? Are we not troubled by the unfolding scenario where human beings are bought and sold for any amount much more for as low as US$400 barely the cost of a local cow or horse?

    It is my considered opinion that we are all involved in this crime either as perpetrators or those who are aiding and abetting human trafficking by standing aloof for we are ultimately responsible for what we allow or permit. There is a place for Nigeria in all these. As the most populous black nation on earth, we must accept the fact that if any black man or woman falls, it would be because Nigeria lacks strength. Until the last modern slave is freed, we would have done nothing and our generation will bear this shame forever.

    The legal framework to combat human trafficking is fairly well developed. What is required is the political will and the muscle to execute the laws and policies already in place. As parliamentarians, we have a responsibility to use our legislative tools of oversight to ensure that all agencies empowered by law to fight this scourge are made to account to our people. This we must ensure it’s done with dispatch.

    It is in this regard that I directed that the Public Hearing on House Resolution (HR. 151/2017) which ordered an investigation into the death of the 26 girls recently in the Mediterranean Sea and the Resolution passed mandating relevant committees of the House to investigate the slave trade going on in Libya be consolidated and immediately scheduled for hearing in spite of the pending work on the 2018 Budget. The relevant committees should make sure that all relevant parties and stakeholders are invited to dig out the facts and proffer workable solutions to this heinous crime against humanity.

    Furthermore, the House of Representatives would soon convene a major conference on human trafficking and modern slavery as part of our intervention to help put an end to this evil. This would afford experts the opportunity to make recommendations on possible legislative and executive actions required to tame this evil trade. We must also sensitise and activate, as soon as possible, the ECOWAS parliament and other inter-parliamentary bodies such as IPU, CPU and other affiliated bodies to wade into this matter.

    I therefore call on the President and Commander-in-Chief to lead this struggle for total and unconditional emancipation of the unfortunate victims of this scourge. History beckons on our President with a gold pen and a page reserved for only Africa’s great statesmen if he successfully leads the campaign to eradicate modern slavery. The President should, if necessary, deploy Nigeria’s diplomatic and military clout on this matter. We would like to see an immediate convening of emergency session of the ECOWAS and African Union (AU) to launch a rescue operation as soon as possible. As it is, the voices of ECOWAS and AU are unacceptably too feeble on this devastating issue.  We commend the French President, Emmanuel Macron for taking a principled position on this matter and applying pressure on the UN to take urgent steps in dealing with this scourge. We expect other nations who value freedom and the dignity of the human person to join France in working out a permanent solution to this resurgent evil.

    Finally, let me once again commend the forceful words of His Holiness, Pope Francis who said: “Human trafficking is a scourge, a crime against the whole of humanity. It is time to join forces and work together to free its victims and to eradicate this crime that affects all of us, from individual families to the worldwide community”.

    Now and not tomorrow is the time to act, the world must not shrink from this responsibility.

     

    • Barrister Dogara is Speaker, House of Representatives.

     

  • Tackling the unemployment scourge

    More than 25 per cent of Nigerian youths are unemployed. This is believed to be responsible for the various vices plaguing the country. From political instability to civil unrest, rising crime wave, and reduced wages for the employed, among others, Nigeria appears sitting on a keg of gun powder. But a private sector-led push to rein in the monster and unleash the youths’ potential to contribute to economic growth has taken the centre stage. At a “CEOs Summit on Youth Employment in Nigeria”, experts proffered far-reaching, practical solutions to the problem. CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

    They came from diverse professional backgrounds, but they were united in their resolve to stamp out youth unemployment in Nigeria. To the experts, which included Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of multinational firms and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs); personnel and recruitment consultants; civil society organisations in the employment space, donor and development partners, Nigeria’s current 25 per cent youth unemployment rate was unacceptable.

    According to them, the rising spate of unemployment, particularly among the youths, partly being caused by the huge skills gap in the labour market, was responsible for the various vices plaguing the country. They include political instability, civil unrest, rising crime wave (kidnapping, robbery, cultism, prostitution, advanced fee fraud, otherwise called ‘419’) and reduced wages for the employed, among others.

    The experts, who also expressed fears that the situation was capable of stalling the achievement of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth target of 2.4 per cent by 2018, were determined to nip it in the bud.

    At a day CEOs Summit on Youth Employment in Nigeria, with the theme: “The Challenge of Skills-Mismatch & the Roles of CEOS in Tackling Youth Unemployment’’, the experts discussed the challenge of youth unemployment extensively and proffered practical solutions.

    The Summit, which recently held in Lagos, was organised by Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL). It’s Founder/CEO Prof Pat. Utomi, explained that it was aimed at addressing the problem of skills mismatch on youth employment by bringing together high-profile CEOs and youth representatives to discuss the challenge and come out with solutions.

    He also said it was aimed at assisting participants from diverse sectors in the private sector to deliberate, understand and appreciate the dynamics, implications and future impact of youth unemployment on their businesses and growth and development of the economy.

    Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) President, Mr. Udom Inoyo, set the ball rolling when he said to address the skills mismatch in the labour market and halt the unemployment scourge, the nation’s educational institutions must keep up with technological advancements.

    In his paper titled: “The Challenge of Skills Mismatch in Nigeria Labour Market: Implications of Youth Unemployment for Sustainable Economic and Industrial Growth,” Inoyo, who was represented by CIPM’s Registrar/CEO, Ajibola Ponle, observed that: “We are not keeping up with technological advancements. Our institutions are still teaching the same subjects.”

    Inoyo’s observation necessitated calls by participants for a re-jig of the curricula of the nation’s tertiary institutions. The Summit noted that tertiary education curricula in most cases were antiquated and behind technological developments and therefore, not properly aligned to the needs of the modern labour market particularly private sector enterprises.

    Even before the summit, Director General, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Mr. Segun Oshinowo, had argued that time has come to completely overhaul the programmes and courses being run by Nigerian universities if the country must tackle the unemployment menace head on. This, according to him, will bring the universities up to speed with current realities in the labour market and the economy generally.

    Oshinowo observed that courses being offered in Nigerian universities were designed over a century ago by the colonial masters to advance their own economic gains and set up trading businesses under royal charters within their territories.

    The NECA DG, who spoke at recent forum in Lagos, also advocated for a change of mindset by youths from white collar jobs to vocational and skill-oriented jobs relevant to Nigeria of today.

    He reminded youths that though they require academic certificates, such certificates are not meal tickets, but a preparation for how they would behave, interact, and reason well in the nearest future.

    Oshinowo enjoined youths to stop waiting for automatic white collar jobs, but to think outside the box for new options to exit the unemployment market.

    But experts at the CVL observed that absence of entrepreneurship studies at secondary and tertiary levels of the education system had blinded youths to potential opportunities available in self-employment in the economy.

    They, therefore, recommended that all secondary and tertiary institutions be compelled to establish Career Development Units to provide guidance and counselling to youths.

    The talk shop also harped on the need to shift emphasis to theoretical teachings to practical transfer of skills in order to prepare youths for the workplace environment.

    It urged youths to embrace self-employment through entrepreneurship opportunities available in agriculture and services sectors.

    The experts also canvassed the need to increase support to vocational schools and also implement the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recommendation that Nigeria dedicates 26 per cent of her national budget to education.

    According to them, implementing UNESCO’s recommended 26 per cent budgetary allocation to education sector will cater for the nation’s rising educational demands, and support entrepreneurial development.

    To Co-Founder/CEO, West Africa Vocational Education (WAVE), Ms. Misan Rewane, CEOs must change the paradigm from the emphasis on credentials and certificates to competence. According to her, there are many youths who, despite not having university degrees, are competent in their various vocations.

    She also called for collaboration amongst Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the area of training. Besides, CEOs, she said, must be clear on what they want from prospective employees rather than insisting on degree certificates and 5-10 years experience from job applicants.

    Researcher & Training Consultant, Prof. Franca Ovadje, said CEOs must scale up their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in education and health in order to drive economic growth. She said youth unemployment was not all about skills, but values.

    Ovadje, who was one of the lead presenters, also called on the CEOs to help influence the educational curriculum from primary to tertiary level. According to her, it will help them get the right skills set and values from the youths.

    A representative of Ford Foundation, Mr. Dabesaki Mac Ikemenjima, warned that Nigeria’s bulging youth population, which leaves 25 per cent unemployed, could spell doom for the country, if nothing was done. He, however, said addressing the challenge requires input by international and local partners.

    Ikemenjima said Ford Foundation was working with a number of partners and stakeholders to solve the unemployment problem. While pointing out that there are two sides to Nigeria’s unemployment problem, the demand and supply side, he regretted that the two sides are not talking to each other.

    This, he said, was why the Summit mandated the CVL to organise a fresh Summit that would provide a platform for interface between businesses and the academia, adding that a partnership with National University Commission (NUC) should be explored in this regard.

    The experts also unanimously submitted that government should institute a ‘Ranking System’ to rate Nigerian tertiary institutions in terms of quality of teaching staff and associated resources. They noted that this will engender competition and self-improvement similar to the practice in the United States.

    They, however, described the industrial training scheme of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) as novel and should be sustained and improved. The experts, however, advised government to improve its financial administration in order to ensure release of funds as at when due to ITF, noting that this will enable it meet its obligations to students on industrial attachment.

    Participants at the summit also advised the CEOs to form closer alliance and establish advocacy group to contribute to policy articulation, with the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA) providing immediate platform to implement the recommendation.

    The CEOs and other employers of labour were also advised to design human capital development programmes for current and future employees as part of their strategic growth plan and drop the thinking that trained staff have the tendency to quit employment after training.

    NACCIMA, LCCI wade in

    As part of efforts to rein in the unemployment monster, the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) said it has concluded arrangements to inaugurate its Youth Forum.

    NACCIMA President, Iyalode Alaba Lawson, who made this known at the inaugural meeting of the Youth Forum in Lagos, said through the Youth Forum, NACCIMA will advocate for necessary reforms that will revolutionise the socio-economic environment and encourage the Chamber’s job creation efforts.

    The Youth Forum, she said, will focus on training and developing young entrepreneurs to meet the demand in identified gaps in the existing value chains, while equipping and supporting them to overcome the challenges faced by entrepreneurs such as access to finance, lack of business knowledge, and lack of market access, among others.

    While noting that youths’ critical role in supporting entrepreneurship and development cannot be ignored, the NACCIMA president emphasised that the initiative was in line with the Chamber’s mission to ensure an enabling business environment through policy advocacy.

    She also said NACCIMA aimed at promoting the growth and competitiveness of businesses through proper and prompt information dissemination, using modern technology comparable to the best universal standard of Chambers of Commerce and Industry anywhere in the world.

    The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) is no less worried by the rising unemployment situation in the country, which it said was one of the highest in the world. Its Director-General, Mr. Muda Yusuf, advocated, among others, increased support for SMEs and business start-ups through capacity building and funding.

    He listed some of the challenges holding SMEs down to include lack of finance, inadequate infrastructural facilities, shortage of skilled manpower, poor entrepreneurial skills and lack of enabling operating environment, among others

    While pointing out that there was need to address the challenges in order to unleash SMEs’ potentials, Yusuf noted that all over the world, SMEs are key to real sector growth. He said SMEs boasts huge potentials for employment generation and wealth creation, if adequately encouraged.

    Yusuf said by helping to create more jobs, SMEs reduce unemployment and its associated high crime rate in the country. He also stressed the need for the establishment of small-scale enterprises as a way of developing and providing a training ground for indigenous entrepreneurs.

    This, he said, would help reduce rural urban migration, particularly when they are cited in the rural areas. He argued that rural-urban migration is caused by lack of job opportunities in the rural areas.

    Although, the Federal and state governments have initiated various programmes on job creation, which are yet to cage the unemployment monster, the belief is that current push by the private sector would do the tricks if experts’ far-reaching recommendations are implemented.

  • Nigeria and the scourge of meningitis

    At least 282 people aged between 5and 14 have lost their lives in Nigeria due to the outbreak of meningitis, mostly in the North Western States of Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, Niger and the Federal capital, Abuja. With close to 2,000 suspected cases across the country, the current outbreak is purported to be the worst in the history of the country since 2009 when at least 156 people died.

    Meningitis is an inflammation (swelling) of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord known as the meninges. This inflammation is usually caused by bacterial or viral infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis can also result from injury, cancer, or certain drugs. Bacterial meningitis is spread from person to person. The bacteria are spread by exchanging respiratory and throat secretions (saliva or spit) during close or lengthy contact, in form of kissing or coughing, especially if living in the same household.

    On the other hand, if you have close contact with a person who has viral meningitis, you may become infected with the virus that made the person sick, but you are probably not likely to develop meningitis from the illness. This is because only a small number of people who get infected with the viruses that cause meningitis will actually develop meningitis.

    Other rare forms of meningitis are as results of fungi, parasites or amoebic infections. Fungal meningitis is rare and usually caused by fungus spreading through blood to the spinal cord. Although anyone can get fungal meningitis, people with weakened immune systems, like those with an HIV infection or cancer, are at increased risk. Also, various parasites can cause meningitis or can affect the brain or nervous system in other ways. Primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) is a very rare form of parasitic meningitis that causes a brain infection that is usually fatal. PAM is caused by the microscopic ameba (a single-celled living organism) Naegleria fowleri when water containing the ameba enters the body through the nose.

    The first symptoms of meningitis are usually fever, vomiting, headache and generally feeling unwell, but as time goes on, the victim presents with symptoms peculiar to the disease. These are limb pain, pale skin, and cold hands and feet which often appear earlier than the rash that can be all over the body. Other specific symptoms include, neck stiffness, dislike of bright lights, confusion and seizures.

    To diagnose meningitis blood culture is necessary, that is blood sample from the patient is tested for bacterial meningitis. Computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) scans of the head can also be done. This may show swelling or inflammation. X-rays or CT scans of the chest or sinuses may also show infection in other areas that may be associated with meningitis.

    However, for a definitive diagnosis of meningitis, a spinal tap to collect cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is needed. In people with meningitis, the CSF often shows a low sugar (glucose) level along with an increased white blood cell count and increased protein. CSF analysis also help in identifying which bacterium caused the meningitis. But if viral meningitis is suspected, a DNA-based test, known as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification or a test to check for antibodies against certain viruses to determine the specific cause and determine proper treatment is needed.

    Also, if an individual is ill and develops rashes or spots, the tumbler test can be used. In this case, a clear glass tumbler is placed firmly against the rash. If the rashes can be seen clearly through the glass, then urgent medical help should be sought.

    In treating meningitis, it is important to know the specific cause of meningitis because the treatment differs depending on the cause and the age of the individual involved. Most people with viral meningitis usually start getting better within 3 days of feeling sick, and they recover within 2 weeks. With mild cases of viral meningitis, only home treatment may be needed including drinking extra fluids and taking medicine for pain and fever.

    On the other hand, in treating bacterial or severe viral meningitis, treatment in a hospital may be required. In this case, medicines such as antibiotics, corticosteroids, and medicines to reduce fever are prescribed. And despite the availability of effective anti-microbial therapy, bacterial meningitis results in substantial morbidity and mortality, particularly in children. Although, most healthy adults who have recovered from meningitis don’t need follow-up care, but babies and children always need follow up care after recovery; therefore, they need to be checked for long term complications such as hearing loss, memory or concentration problems and learning difficulties which can be temporary or permanent among others.

    Although Nigeria has witnessed outbreaks of meningitis in the past, but the current one is caused by new strain of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis, purportedly imported from Niger Republic. Therefore, new vaccines are required in its prevention. Hence, preventive measures should as a matter of urgency be put in place to combat the spread.

    Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Health has deployed epidemiologists to the affected States to minimize the impact of the disease among the people but the States that are free from the illness should take precautions. Since meningitis is spread by contact with the infected individual, overcrowding should be avoided. It is important that windows are left open to avoid stuffiness.

    And because children are more susceptible to meningitis, suspected cases of unusual fever should be reported at a health facility. Immunizing children against the disease which remains the main method of preventing the disease should be prioritized by all parents. It is of utmost importance that these five groups of people considered at risk should get a meningitis vaccine: college freshmen who live in dorms and haven’t been vaccinated, adolescents who are 11 to 12 years old, new high school students who haven’t been vaccinated, people traveling to countries or areas where meningococcal disease is common, children who are ages 2 or older and who have a compromised immune system.

     

    • Bakare is of the Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos

  • Curtailing the tomato scourge

    SIR; Making a pot of stew has become a very expensive venture for many Nigerians due to the escalating prices of tomatoes, a critical and ubiquitous part of Nigerian cuisine.  A ravaging insect pest, Tuta absoluta, has destroyed an estimated 40 per cent of anticipated harvest, causing prices to shoot up by 105 per cent, from N17,000 to N35,000 per basket. As a result, many fresh tomato sellers have resorted to purchasing the produce from neighbouring countries, especially the Republic of Benin and Cameroun, in order to keep up with supply.

    In the face of dwindling oil revenue, diversification of the local economy cannot be by lip service. The most populated country in Africa has several agricultural commodities which could be developed into huge export earners through concrete and deliberate concerted efforts. These include but not limited to cassava, cocoa, tomato, cotton, maize, oil palm, soya bean, onion, rice, sorghum, livestock and fisheries. Some of the challenges facing the agricultural sector have been youth apathy for farming, infrastructure problems like poor road networks for distribution of farm produce, lack of storage facilities and power supply, lack of capital, land policy, absence of data and political will.

    There is an urgent need for the local, state and federal governments to collaborate and develop a comprehensive database of rural and urban farmers nationwide and provide effective disease control measures. Otherwise, government would pursue objectives of agricultural policies in isolation and achieve very minimal results. The Central Bank of Nigeria should drive the process of ensuring that farmers get access to small scale loans at single-digit interest rates. The Commissioner of Agriculture in Kaduna State, Daniel Manzo Maigar said, 200 farmers together lost at least N1billion over the past month. This can be investigated and the farmers compensated. To further avert production losses of tomatoes, the total dependence on tomato supplies from Northern Nigeria should be looked into as tomatoes can grow on most soil types in Nigeria.  Furthermore, since the universities of agriculture in Nigeria have the tripodal mandate of teaching, research and extension, the government needs to liase with renowned researchers in the country.

    Nigeria imports tonnes of processed tomato worth over N10 billion yearly in addition to the massive tonnes produced in Northern Nigeria.  Nigeria’s huge population and the consistent demand for agricultural products offers wonderful opportunities to investors. A question we need to ask ourselves is what are we doing that such whooping amount of money has to go to other countries economy? We have got to the point where we need young, savvy entrepreneurs to break into this sector and start producing, processing and delivering quality, hygienic tomatoes at very affordable prices.

    Today, agriculture contributes 42.62 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides employment for about 70 per cent of the country’s 167 million people. The Alliance For Green Revolution in Africa forecasts that production in Nigeria’s agriculture sector could grow up significantly by 2030, increasing from the $99 billion of 2010 to $256 billion by 2030. That will not only ensure food security, it will also foster peace and security of lives and property as several idle minds can be taken off the streets. Agriculture remains the future of Nigeria. It is high time we converted our backyards into lovely vegetable farms. The new mantra should now be, Operation Feed Our Households!

     

    • Dr. Bukola Adenubi

    University of Pretoria, South Africa.

  • Cancer scourge…MicCom Foundation to the rescue

    Cancer scourge…MicCom Foundation to the rescue

    Statistics from the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) show that cancer accounts for more deaths worldwide than malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. It has killed many Nigerians this year. In 2012, it killed a leading light and wife of the founder of MicCom Cables and Wires, Prince Tunde Ponnle, who has now started a foundation to rescue people from the scourge, writes WALE AJETUNMOBI

    For decades, they were partners. They helped the poor, contributed to education and were active in church development. But on October 29, 2012, death parted them. Olufunke, an engineer and Princess, left Tunde, also an engineer, to face the challenges of life alone. No thanks to endometrial cancer, the Prince Tunde Ponnle, founder MicCom Cables and Wires and MicCom Gold and Resort, has had to live painfully in the last two years without a woman who contributed to making him what he is.

    The good news, however, is that Mrs Ponnle’s death made her husband learn more about cancer. He has realised that cancer kills more people worldwide than malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. He also found out that when detected early, cancer could be beaten. He equally discovered that the prevalence rate of cancer was on the increase among Nigerians. Worse still, he got to know that 10 people die from cancer ever hour and yet only a few African countries were sufficiently funding cancer control programmes. It also became known to him that no fewer than 80,000 Nigerians die from various types of cancer annually and this may increase given the World Health Organisation (WHO) projection that about 84 million people may die worldwide as a result of one form of cancer or the other in 2015.

    These discoveries made Ponnle to consult with his children and the result is the MicCom Cancer Foundation (MCCF). The Ibokun Road, Ada, Osun State-based foundation is out to help women fight breast cancer and also help men who may have prostate cancer. The foundation chose these two types of cancer because statistics show that they are the most prevalent among Nigerians.

    The centre has solid professional either as technical experts or full-time members of staff. One of the technical experts behind it is Professor A. Akinsola, a Professor of Internal Medicine & Consultant Nephrologist, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, who has wide based skills and capacity in programme coordination and administration.

    Also supporting the centre technically is Dr K.T. Ijadunola, who is an Associate Professor/Consultant Public Health Physician at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He has proven expertise in communication, health education, promotion and programme management and execution.

    There is also Dr. A.A Salako, who is an Associate Professor/Consultant Urologist at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.  A urologist with special interest in screening and management of benign prostatic enlargement and prostate cancers, he has also been involved in community surveys.

    The centre also has the technical backing of Dr. K.O Ajenifuja, a Senior Lecturer/Consultant Obstetrics & Gynecologist at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, who has ample experience in community screening and treatment of cervical cancer. He has been part of a similar programme in India

    Last but not the least is Dr O.A Esimai, an Associate Professor/Consultant Public Health Physician Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, who coordinates the well women clinic which provides awareness and screening services for breast and cervical cancer.

    The foundation runs a Cancer Preventive and Treatment Centre at its secretariat. The centre focuses on providing screening, counseling services and other support for treatment of early stage of cancer. The centre has the capacity to ensure adequate information management that will enable academic institutions conduct research into these cancers.

    “The data being generated will also be made available to the concerned government parastals either for evaluation and/or research purpose. The programme managers assisted by assistant programme manager and programmes assistant provide services. The foundation links up with secondary and tertiary health institutions in identified target communities in Nigeria (the OAUTHC Ile-Ife at inception) to facilitate access to management and quality care of patients with established lesions. There is a plan to support and invest in the capacity development of the institution will be in the form of equipment (Laboratory, Radiology) and capacity building in diagnosis and treatment and facilitation of treatment of early lesions through a cost sharing strategy between stakeholders,” the centre said.

     

     

  • Harbinger of death

    Where is the Sawyer?

    Call him back not to die

    Let his death come after this war

    Sawyer, come wage a true war

    Fight the Boko Haram with your talent

    Your urine was poisonous

    So was your sputum

    Your venom was not found in your teeth

    Your buca cavity was a container

    That offloaded a pint of Ebola

    Come back Sawyer and berth

    In our lush forest of Sambisa

    Where figs are armoured tanks

    Dreaded by our decorated combatants of war

    Come back Sawyer

    Fight a gallant war

    Waged against us by your incarnates

    Sawyer find your ilk in Sambisa

    With your buca cavity the war is won

    Slither your way into Sambisa

    Kiss the dreaded forest

    With your 21 days agonising silencer

    BUT Skip out our girls

    Your spurting venom travels in lightning speed

    From Liberia to Nigeria

    A haven surfeit of scourge.

  • Ending the corruption scourge

    The scourge of corruption did not start with ‘Oduahgate’, Jonathan presidency or indeed PDP, a ‘new breed’ political party that emerged after 15 years of military social engineering. It started with the NPC/NCNC coalition partners’ declaration of state of emergency in the Western Region, invalidation of the unfavourable British Privy Council judgment through a retroactive amendment of the constitution of the West and rigging of the 1965 regional election, all in an attempt to impose their ‘chop I chop’ vision to replace that of ‘the greatest good for the greatest number of people’ espoused by the ruling elite of the West. But for that fraud, we would not have had an Obasanjo, a great Nigerian who celebrates his ‘Nigerianess’ by insisting he is a Nigerian leader and not a Yoruba leader, being imposed from outside as president of Nigeria to fill Yoruba slot in the presidency; and but for that destruction of the structure of Nigeria, as distinguished as President Jonathan is, I am not sure whether he would have emerged to fill the Ijaw slot in the presidency.

    Other symptoms of that initial fraud such as the ‘cement armada’ of Gowon era, when bureaucrats colluded with soldiers to clog the Apapa port with a capacity for 1million metric tons with 20 million metric tons of cement, Umaru Dikko’s rice scandal of Shagari era and NPN gluttonous consumption that wiped out our foreign reserve in four years, confiscation of the nation’s common wealth by Babangida and Abacha and their ‘army of anything is possible’. All happened before PDP emerged in 1998

    If PDP is guilty of anything, it is that of creativity and openness. For instance they came up with an ingenious policy of ‘monetisation’ to enable privileged members of the party buy freshly built government properties in Abuja and other GRAs around the country. Similarly, some of their members and fronts forged papers to share part of N1.7trillion fuel subsidy. And in their intra-class gang wars, no weapon is forbidden. Presidents, vice president, governors, senate president, Speakers of the Lower House, and lawmakers have openly exchanged brick bats. In fact, today the war between new PDP and the original PDP is an open sore.

    And to the credit of the party, members have been very frank and open about this national corruption, our national scourge. President Jonathan once ordered the arrest of the son of his party chairman for alleged fraud , a move Dr. Doyin Okupe , his special adviser, described as a ‘ courageous action of a politician still eyeing an elective office’ which Nigerians should applaud. Only two weeks back, before his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he had set up a panel to probe the ‘Oduahgate’. And as if to further confirm our rating, as the eight most corrupt nation in the world, our own minister of agriculture Dr Akinwunmi Adesina recently confirmed during “Agbeloba’ AgroBusiness forum 2013 organised by Ekiti State government that Nigerian leaders stole N776 billion out of N873 billion released for fertilizer subsidy between 1980 and 2010 (PDP was in government for 11 of those 30 years).

    The Task Team Leader of the World Bank in Nigeria, Dr. Tunde Adekola followed this up by confirming that Nigeria cannot benefit from World Bank financial assistance because of ‘profound level of corruption embedded within most of the institutions applying for aid in the country. To further drive the point home, Walter Omowale Carrington, our American adopted son recently reminded us that “corruption is the most terrible monster that confronts Nigeria, and that “virtually all the problems associated with governance would be removed if we can summon the courage to tackle corruption and banish it from our activities.” And From a man who should know better, the President of Nigerian Bar Association, Okey Wali came a sombre admission that “corruption is the number one problem of the country, whether by embezzlement of public funds, appointments in public and private sector or by selective justice (prosecution and conviction)”. His fear, he said is “not just the impunity with which corruption is practiced or that it is attaining the status of our way of life in the country, but that a “corrupt legislature may endure; a corrupt executive may thrive; but a corrupt judiciary will die”.

    Like Wali who recommended “a strong political will and commitment on the part of the executive”, Sanusi Lamido, the CBN governor in a BBC programme last Saturday also insisted what is needed to fight corruption is the political will of the executive claiming that of the 164 fraud cases arising from his own war against banking sector frauds, only one indictment has been secured two years down the line.

    But I think both Wali and Sanusi are wrong. They are not fair to the president. It will be expecting too much from a president who was not the source of corruption to demonstrate a political will that his godfather, President Obasanjo could not exhibit in the midst of vicious PDP hawks. I think if we are serious about fighting corruption, the first step is to change the structure that sustains corruption. This is because the forces in our society that insist they own society and must determine the fate of the less privileged are as desperate in Nigeria as they are in other nations. It was perhaps this reason, Awo who spent the greater part of his life studying Nigerian problems and proffering solution, came to the conclusion after a failed life-long struggle to sell his own vision of how Nigerian should be run, likened successive Nigeria governments since independence to “a cow held by some and milked by powerful, and ‘cunniest’ few”.

    It has become clear to all the conflicting forces in our nation, including those who want sovereign national dialogue through the back door, that the only way forward is to revert back to our old structure jettisoned by ‘chop I chop’ politicians and legitimised by bungling military, with some modifications to replace the current one that oils corruption. With 30 million unemployed graduates and symptoms of deformed structure like fuel subsidy fraud, pension scheme scam and the recent ‘Oduahgate’, we don’t need an impersonal, all powerful federal Leviathan in Abuja that confiscates over 50% of our resources, unilaterally decides the education our children receive, the road we pass to our farms, the airline we fly, the support our local farmers need, the water we drink and the God we worship.

    We don’t need a parasitic wasteful federal structure with 36 ministers, 105 senators and 360 lower house members earning, depending on whose figure we accept, Itse Sagay’s between N204 million and N250 million per annum, or the CBN governor’s 25% of the nation’s budget, or even the lawmakers’ N190 billion, in a situation where a US senator earns $174,000 and a British parliamentarian, $64,000.

    We don’t need unwieldy 36 states where governors operate like emperors, with state owned or leased aircrafts, fleet of armoured cars, 720 commissioners and an estimated 700 lawmakers for all the 36 states houses of assemblies.

    Of course it amounts to gross irresponsibility to sustain 774 Local Government Areas, whose creations were based on no known objective criteria, collecting handouts from Abuja every month to undermine the activities of the state governments with whom they have shared responsibilities to the people.

    I am sure changing the political architecture, will allay the fears of the CBN governor about importation of dollars by politicians to fight the 2013 election as he had averred during his BBC ‘Hard Talk’ last Saturday. There is no doubt our award -winning CBN governor, who claimed with his knowledge of what goes on in government , he will not survive a year in Abuja as president, knows that the sources of the money politicians are using to import dollars in preparation for 2015 ‘do or die’ contest can be traced to governors security votes, or proceeds of contract deals by ministers such as the current ‘Oduahgate’ in which the minister of aviation was alleged to have approved an expenditure of $800,000 for a BMW armoured car whose market going price is $200,000.

  • The scourge of corruption

    The scourge of corruption

    SIR: Nigeria is in the prison of corruption. Corruption is Nigeria’s Achilles heels, its bane. It has eaten off the moral fabric of Nigeria, and it is asphyxiating the country, too. Corruption rears its ugly head in all facets of our national life.

    A Nigerian who is not corrupt is considered to be an abnormal human being. He is called a “mugu” – a sucker. We have a culture of corruption into which teenage youths are socialized. When parents hire surrogate candidates to write such examinations as UTME, SSCE and NECO for their children, they have unwittingly initiated and socialized their children into the culture of corruption.

    It is sad that our educational system has become dysfunctional owing to corruption. Rich parents send their children to Ghana and Europe for schooling as our cult-infested schools have become grounds for staging beauty pageant competitions and propagation of religious bigotry. Our economy is ailing and hemorrhaging from deleterious corrupt practices that are deftly perpetrated by those minding our financial chests and collective wealth. As Nigerians perceive occupying positions of power as opportunity to amass wealth by fair or foul means, our political leaders are helping themselves to our collective wealth.

    Monies that should be channeled into fixing our infrastructure are stolen by people holding positions of influence and power. So, our hospitals have morphed from consulting clinics to mortuaries. Poor people go to our hospital to die, and not to recover from their ailments. Our roads that are filled with craters are death-traps that cause the deaths of Nigerians daily. The dilapidated East-west road has remained an open sore in the psyche of our leaders. In spite of the humongous money injected into the power sector in the country, electricity supply has not improved. Electricity supply in Nigeria is like a maudlin lady with personality disorder, whose mood swings from being hilarious to being cantankerous. Manufacturing industries have relocated to Ghana where regular supply of electricity is guaranteed and assured. Their relocation of their industries to places outside Nigeria further compounds our unemployment problems. So, who is not unconscious of the fact that corruption is the polio that has crippled Nigeria?

    Until corruption is rooted out of Nigeria, Nigeria can’t achieve its potential in spite of its natural and human resources. Can Nigeria develop and become a great country when recruitments into the federal civil service, the Nigerian Army, FRSC, Immigration Services and others are characterized by bribery and corruption? People who are unsuited for jobs in some establishments have got jobs owing to the Nigerian factors of corruption, cronyism and nepotism.

    Sadly, the judiciary has become the cemetery of our hope for a better Nigeria with their questionable judgments. Last week, a High Court sentenced one John Yakubu Yusufu to two years imprisonment with an option of fine in the sum of N750, 000.00, for stealing N32.8 billion pension funds.

    Is it enough comeuppance for the crime he committed, which pauperized many retired police officers? People with Kleptomaniac tendencies will loot the treasury while in power knowing that the judiciary will give them a very light sentence when they leave power. The National Judicial Council and other regulatory bodies should address and tackle the rot in our judicial system. A corrupt judiciary spells doom and trouble for us. A stitch in time saves nine.

    • Chiedu Uche Okoye

    Uruowulu – Obosi, Anambra State

  • The kidnap scourge

    The kidnap scourge

    •Perhaps the FG would do something now, with recent high profile abductions

     

    IS  it possible that the kidnappers who have been terrorising some parts of the country for some years now have over-reached themselves? Will their heinous but lucrative enterprise receive the requisite attention of the Nigerian authorities now? These and many more questions played up with the abduction of Professor Kamene Okonjo, the 82-year- old mother of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, on December 9. Mercifully, Prof Okonjo was released on December 14.

    Apart from her high profile daughter, Prof. Okonjo is also in her own right, an influential queen of the Ogwuashi-Uku kingdom in the oil-rich Delta State; her husband, HRH (Professor) Chukuka Okonjo being the traditional ruler of the town. Mama Okonjo was abducted by dare-devil kidnappers from her palace in the afternoon on December 9. The operation was such an easy walk-in for her abductors that the news hit the nation with both shock and bemusement. The Presidency, smarting from an apparent humiliation ordered the police to find the hoodlums immediately. And the police top-notch on its part, also barked down a similar order to subordinates.

    As if the message of Prof. Okonjo’s incident did not sink in well enough, another hijack of an eminent personality occurred the day after in Ibadan, Oyo State, Southwest of Nigeria. This time, it was Mrs.Titilayo Rotimi, wife of the former military governor of the defunct Western State, General Oluwole Rotimi (Rtd). Mrs Rotimi was reportedly accosted in front of her business premises and forcibly taken away as she drove home after the day’s work. The kidnappers of both grand old ladies, as if working in cahoots, reportedly made ransom demands of N200 million each. Mrs Rotimi was still being held by her abductors as at the weekend.

    Though kidnapping started in Nigeria about 10 years ago in the Niger Delta when the youths agitated over perceived marginalisation in the face of abundant crude oil exploitation. Their victims were mainly expatriate oil workers from whose companies huge ransom was extracted. However, since the uprising was quelled following an amnesty scheme initiated by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the militants have moved on to other things, but kidnapping has blossomed into a deadly but lucrative enterprise which has taken root in the South-south and Southeast of Nigeria. Lately, it seems to be creeping into the Southwest, with rising incidents of abduction in the last two years.

    This criminal activity has flourished in Nigeria to the point that she was rated the kidnap capital of the world. Hardly any day passed in the last couple of years without a victim of criminal abduction being recorded. While huge ransom is paid, often surreptitiously, many families sometimes suffer double jeopardy as deaths are also recorded but notified only after huge ransom had been extracted. While the security agencies have been ineffective, if not frustrated, the vice has seeped deep into the system that even the police are fingered as sometimes being in collusion with the criminals.

    Poor leadership, weak governance and the resultant economic stagnation in the last decade have resulted in all manner of crippling social vices. Kidnapping just happens to be the most notorious for obvious reasons. Of course there is armed robbery and sundry criminality, chief among which is embezzlement and diversion of public funds.

    All of these are at the root of this scourge that currently assails the country. While security and intelligence measures may be devised to combat the crimes, we urge government at all levels to rebuild Nigeria’s crumbling institutions and ensure that systems are working so as to engender rapid growth in the economy. Kidnapping is only a symptom of Nigeria’s deep social malaise.