Tag: Undue haste

•The culture of commissioning uncompleted projects must stop

The rate at which state and federal governments in Nigeria rush to commission projects at various stages of completion has become alarming. This is more noticeable towards the end of a chief executive’s tenure. It is a testimony to the vainglorious tendencies in political leaders. They are not men ready to share the stage with any other. It is not enough that there is already a plaque showing that the said project was flagged off during their administration, it must bear an announcement that it was completed even when that is palpably false.

In the run-up to the change of baton at the state and federal levels last year, this tendency played out again. In some states, projects that had witnessed abandonment for years were swiftly dusted up, contractors mobilised to site and instructed to ensure they were somehow made ready for inauguration before May 29. Many of them being houses, bridges and roads, the integrity of the construction is subject of agitation among the people.

Besides, in a country where successors are unwilling to complete uncompleted projects hurriedly commissioned by their predecessors, there are fears that the money expended on such projects could have been wasted.

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We call for a stop to such nefarious activities. As it has been said many times, governance is a continuum. No single person or government is in position to meet all the social, political and economic needs of the people. Even in the highly industrialised societies, there are so many things that are not yet in place and could engage the attention of succeeding administrations..

It is unfortunate that many of those who find themselves in leadership positions in Nigeria lack decency and integrity, which is the only explanation for such vanity. Henceforth, any government that fails to keep to the design and quality template for any project should be subject to prosecution. This may sound harsh, but has become inevitable in the interest of the country.

Last year, as reality of departure from office dawned, many state governments, in total disregard for decorum, rushed to put their names on uncompleted projects. In Cross River State, where Professor Ben Ayade held sway, a signature project, the super highway that cuts across about three-quarters of the local government areas of the state, was one of those hurriedly and prematurely inaugurated projects. While, as the people, especially motorists attested, work had already gone a long way, it still had some way to go. But, the governor was in a haste to put his name on the project as the one who conceived and inaugurated it. The new government still has work to do to complete it.

The situation in Kano State where Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was being succeeded by Governor Kabir Yusuf of New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), was even more evident owing to the political disputation in the state. The Toga Hydro Power Project was one of those projects.

The situation in Benue and Niger states was not different. In Taraba, former Governor Darius Ishaku would not be left out of the trend. A housing project located on Mutum Biyu Road in Jalingo had to be commissioned even though it still had a long way to go. The estate was named after the outgoing governor who is an architect. He did the same for a number of other projects in various parts of the state.

The private sector was bitten by the same bug as the gigantic Dangote Refinery was commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari at the tail end of his administration. Yet, it took it months to start production. As a matter of fact, the refinery is still struggling to produce the premium motor spirit, more than a year after.

This culture must stop in the country’s interest, and the media owes it to the society to dig out the full facts about any major project being commissioned towards the end of any government. If the government is embarrassed by the factual reports, others would think twice before indulging in such fanfare.

• Government should listen to pharmacists on ban of imported needles and syringes

Nigerians with an insatiable appetite for anything foreign will soon miss one of the items on their list: foreign syringes and needles. This is because the Federal Government has mandated chief medical directors (CMDs) and medical directors (MDs)of  federal tertiary hospitals to stop using imported needles and syringes. They are henceforth to source such items locally from manufacturers approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

A directive to this effect was issued by the Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa, on Friday. As with previous such proscriptions, the reason adduced by government for the decision was the need to boost domestic production of the items as well as protect the local manufacturers from the influx of imported ones. Alausa added in the circular that NAFDAC should stop issuing licenses for the importation of foreign manufactured needles and syringes.

The minister tried to allay the fears of those who believe the country was not ready for such an action by saying that the health sector had identified local pharmaceutical industries that produce needles. He said they were hitherto in serious trouble because of the importation and that, in fact, six of the nine local pharmaceutical companies that used to produce needles and syringes in Nigeria about eight years ago have closed shop as a result of the dumping of substandard goods into the country.

“Mr President has directed that this must stop. We all agreed to take the necessary steps to immediately remedy this sad situation.

“Pursuant to this, NAFDAC has been mandated to stop issuing licenses for the importation of foreign manufactured needles and syringes.

“It is also to de-list companies involved in the importation of these products going forward,” he said.

We perfectly understand government’s position even beyond the reasons adduced by it. We not only have to check the dumping of all manner of goods, in our markets, we also must encourage local producers by ensuring that they are not suffocated by foreign manufacturers, especially against the backdrop of the fact that their products are usually cheaper than local ones. Moreover, when local manufacturers are encouraged, jobs are created and sustained, unlike when we keep sustaining others that are working in foreign lands.

Of course, we also know that some unscrupulous Nigerian importers encourage foreign manufacturers, especially those in the health sector, to produce medicaments and other medical items below required standards, a thing that has rendered many such drugs ineffective while administered on patients. Then there is the need to conserve foreign exchange by ensuring that we import only things that are not locally available.

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But then, our immediate worry is whether the local producers have the capacity to meet the country’s needs for needles and syringes. It would seem the government is convinced that the three listed local manufacturers  —  EL-Salmat Pharmaceuticals Company Ltd (Brand Name: Salmaject), HMA Medical Ltd. (Brand Name: Deleject), and Afrimedical Manufacturing and Supplies Ltd – do.

But pharmacists, under the aegis of Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) feel otherwise and have consequently advised the Federal Government to tread softly on the matter. According to them, they had urged the minister to exercise caution on the matter. They cited, among others, procedural errors that have led to the ‘’climax of the absurd’’.   

Absurd and germane as the procedural errors may be, if any, that is not our primary fear on government’s banning of imported needles and syringes. Our main concern is whether the three local companies that now have the full mandate to produce the items can meet the demand. This also formed a major component of the pharmacists’ worry about the decision.

We are here talking about the health sector, a very crucial sector involving life and death. We urge the federal government to provide the enabling environment for them to succeed. We want to avoid a situation where the hospitals would run into supply problems and therefore resort to reusing needles and syringes, contrary to medical practice, with the concomitant consequences for the people.