Buhari: Phase Two

By Chuks Iloegbunam

Everyone must keep their eyes on the ball. Muham­madu Buhari has, with little drama, slipped into Phase Two of his presidency. Giv­en the texture of Phase One, this new phase could deliver somber­ness and dissemblance. For those who didn’t get it, or who pretend after the fact not to have gotten it, Buhari’s Phase One stressed one point: All that glitters is not gold. It wasn’t that people were una­ware of the possibility of stuff like clay, rubber and wood glinting on account of some polish. It was that the hoopla that attended the shimmer of the recycled “gem­stone” was unprecedented.

But, as Nigerians would say it, after the race, the calculation of the distance covered! There were scores of experts in calculus at the starting point. Strangely, what had been hyped as one joy­ous calculators’ adventure quick­ly came to grief, reason being that there was precious little to mark on the achievements’ mar­gin. Good promises, like candy bars, had of course, been made to be broken.

There had been (or hadn’t there been?) a number of warn­ing voices in those heady days of the change mantra’s eruption, Sputnik-like, raring to tear into and through outer space. One of such voices – that of Chuk­wuma Charles Soludo – wasn’t even oppositional to the touted humankind’s final hope. This was Professor Soludo a month to the presidential ballot: “The APC promises to create 20,000 jobs per state in the first year, totaling a mere 720,000 jobs. This sounds like a quota system and for a country where the new entrants into the labour market per an­num exceed two million. If it was intended as a joke, APC must please get serious…”

“Did I hear that APC prom­ises a welfare system that will pay between N5,000 and N10,000 per month to the poorest 25 million Nigerians? Just this programme alone will cost between N1.5 and N3 trillion per annum. Add to this the cost of free primary education plus free meal (to be funded by the federal budget or would it force non-APC state governments to implement the same?), plus some millions of public housing, etc. I have tried to cost some of the promises by both the APC and the PDP, given alternative scenarios for public finance and the numbers don’t add up. Nigerians would be glad to know how both parties would fund their programmes. Do they intend to accentuate the huge public debt, or raise taxes on the soon to-be-beleaguered private businesses, or massively devalue the naira to rake in bas­kets of naira from the dwindling oil revenue, or embark on huge fiscal retrenchment with the sack of labour and abandonment of projects…

“The presidential election will be won by either Buhari or Jona­than. For either, it is likely to be a pyrrhic victory. None of them will be able to deliver on the fan­tastic promises being made on the economy, and if oil prices re­main below $60, I see very diffi­cult months ahead, with possible heady collisions with labour, civil society, and indeed the citizenry.”

Is WAEC In A Comatose State?

(pix:punch)

By Issah Sulemana
Everybody’s attention has been drawn to the current leaked WASSCE examination papers and the connotative damage it has inflicted on the national psyche in terms of the calibre of students and for that matter the labour force in the country. One would have expected WAEC to as it were, act swiftly and decisively to extinguish the flame that has been kindled by ‘who knows who’ did what, when and how? that has left the nation in a bottomless abyss of confusion. Needless to say, immorally triumphanting in the hopeless light of fraud cannot be accepted in any part of the world not even within the inhabitants of utopia.

My heart weeps for the country when I see students voraciously devouring the so called leaked questions on whatsapp, neglecting their books in the process while they browse the stuff on smart phones. With a display of open glee the numbskulls are seen scampering around as late as two a.m to either receive a whatsapp message or copy the stuff on pieces of paper.

Leaking examination papers seems to be a norm in the West African sub-region and students now think it is their inalienable right to receive such information and go a step further to wonder why authorities are bent on thwarting their brazen importunity. Talking about the calibre of students churned out by this system is akin to kicking against the pricks since there is nothing good to write home about the current crop of students.

In essence, I am one of those who anathematize the use of pidgin english to cover up for the deficiencies of our own iniquities kindred to the British High Commissioner his Excellency Jon Benjamen, who had to lash out on the news caster, Nana Aba Anamoah for a tweet the latter made in pidgin english.

Of course she ought to have known that her carrier as a journalist projected her in a light that attracted people of all walks of life to emulate her way of speaking and writing and therefore she must show a pesdesstrian example and not to wallow in antiquated, incongrous enlish language. Those who think that the high commissioner’s response to the news caster’s epic fallibility was condescending badinage are making an egregious mistake.

Nigeria: Blackmail As An Act Of Corruption

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Nigeria is an interesting country. All you need do to have fun is sit back and watch the unbelievable drama in this theatre of the absurd.
Despite the very difficult times, you cannot but be amused. It is one day, one drama. The dramatis personae, the cast, are as interesting as their art.

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu

So, when the news broke on Tuesday, April 19 that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) named Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, its Anti Corruption Ambassador and went to his lair, the National Assembly (NASS), to do the investiture, I knew that a new drama was in the offing and it would be a long running series.

Ekwere who? was the first question on my mind.
I was nonplussed, not because I adjudged him unworthy of the award, but knowing the character of this administration and the belief of President Muhammadu Buhari that all Nigerian politicians are corrupt, particularly those in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the overt endorsement of his sentiment by the EFCC, my first reaction was that some smart Alecs had conned Ekweremadu.

That was even before the drama unfolded fully and the facts became clearer.
Now we know that Ekweremadu was not fleeced by con artists. The visit and investiture were carried out by the EFCC’s NASS Liaison Officer, Suleiman Bakari, who led a team of officials of the anti-graft agency.
The EFCC team officially applied to visit Ekweremadu for the sole purpose of giving him the award.

On the appointed date, Bakari and his team went to his office clutching a plaque with a picture of Buhari bearing the inscription: “If we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”
Conferring the award, Bakari said to Ekweremadu: “It is, therefore, my honour, your excellency, to, on behalf of my acting Chairman, Ibrahim Mustafa Magu, and the entire management and staff of the EFCC, decorate you as an Anti Corruption Ambassador and formally present this frame as a token of our appreciation to your person and office, and as a symbol of institutional partnership between the EFCC and the National Assembly.”

The EFCC, thereafter, solicited the support of the NASS in the anti-corruption crusade of the Buhari administration.

An elated Ekweremadu responded in kind, calling for the establishment of Special Anti Corruption Courts to reduce the burden on regular courts and fast-track trial of corruption cases.
He thanked the EFCC for the honour and promised that the bills before the NASS aimed at strengthening the fight against corruption would get speedy attention.

But 24 hours later, all hell was let loose at the EFCC. It issued a statement rejecting Ekweremadu as its ambassador and disowned Bakari.
A statement issued on Wednesday, April 20 by EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, said: “The EFCC totally dissociates itself from the purported action of Bakari as he acted entirely on his own and clearly outside his liaison officer brief as he was never instructed by [Magu] nor mandated by the management and staff of the Commission to decorate Ekweremadu or any officer of the National Assembly as ‘Anti Corruption Ambassador.”

The investiture and the disclaimer are interesting scenes in the EFCC-Ekweremadu drama series.

Budget Stalemate And National Woes

By Dan Amor

For all you may care to know, the 2016 Appro­priation Bill, like its pre­decessors, has continued to generate heat between the Ex­ecutive and the Legislature one month into the second quarter of the year. Some analysts have ascribed the feud between the Presidency and the National As­sembly over the 2016 Budget to the trial of the Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki by the Code of Conduct Tribunal over the al­leged false declaration of assets by Saraki.

They believe that the Na­tional Assembly is trying to use the budget as a bargaining chip to cut a deal with the Presidency in order to give the Senate Presi­dent a soft-landing. And, as they say, when two elephants fight, the grass suffers, Nigerians are facing untold hardship as a result of the protracted delay in the passage of the budget. Yet, unnecessary Executive/Legislative conflicts have come to characterise the annual budget making process in the country and, to a large ex­tent, undermine the effectiveness of budgets in delivering to Nige­rians the so-called dividends of democracy. These conflicts have arisen in spite of the actual deline­ation of roles and responsibilities of the Executive vis-a-vis the Leg­islature particularly the extent of authority regarding variations to key assumptions incorporated in the Appropriation Bill by the Ex­ecutive that should be allowed the Legislature. In the particular case of the 2016 Appropriation Bill, the National Assembly went too far.

Section 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nige­ria 1999 (as amended) is unam­biguously clear about the role of the National Assembly and its responsibilities as the Podium of the elected representatives of the people. Also, Sections 80-83 publish the role of the Legislature with specific respect to the man­agement of the nation’s finances. Whereas, in exercising its over­sight functions, the Legislature is empowered by the Constitution to either add to or subtract from the allocation forwarded to it by the Executive, it can always do that in consultation with the lat­ter. The Constitution does not empower the National Assembly to create new clauses or remove in its entirety an item already budg­eted for by the Executive without the consent of the latter. The cur­rent unbridled legislative rascality being displayed by our lawmak­ers is nothing but the hangover of irascible corruption which was the stock-in-trade of previous leg­islatures since 1999.

No doubt, the received wisdom and the practice of the presidential system of de­mocracy indubitably accords the Legislature unfettered authority to vary any aspect of the budget proposal preferably in consulta­tion with the Executive, as noted above, as an integral part of the approval process. To ensure that the decision to alter the content of the Appropriation Bill prior to approval is not whimsical or driven by selfish considerations, it is recommended that exclusive and far-reaching consultations and collaboration between the Executive and Legislature should characterise the budget prepara­tion process.

But in the context of the pre­vailing situation, the Legislature is yet to establish a full-fledged, appropriately staffed Legislative Research and Budget Office and, to that extent, is handicapped by the lack of a robust basis upon which to perform its approval and oversight functions. In the United States of America from where we borrowed our Executive Presidential system, internation­ally celebrated economists and reputable experts such as Profes­sor John Kenneth Galbraith, are constantly hired by the Legislature to think for them and give them direction in the budgetary proce­dure.

It is therefore suggested that this power to vary budgetary pro­posals from the Executive should be exercised with a great deal of circumspection as the Execu­tive could be operating from the standpoint of a relatively superior understanding of the workings of the economy given the institu­tional capacity of its proposal. For instance, in 2004, while Nigerians were expecting words regarding the approval of the budget which President Olusegun Obasanjo presented to the joint sitting of the National Assembly on October 12, 2004, it filtered out that there was move to increase the bench­mark price of crude of 27 dollars used for the preparation of the budget and that the Executive had sent in a letter cautioning against such a move.

For Effective Change To Evolve In Nigeria

By Dan Amor

There is a lamentable and disturbing magnitude of violence in Nigeria. So is crime. The country is constantly on the boil. The at­mosphere in the country has been nothing but a tawny volcano. The situation conveys at once the chief features of the Nigerian spirit: it is vertical, spontaneous, immaterial, upward. It is ardent. And even as tongues of fire do, it turns into fire everything it touches. What we are experiencing today is induced by poverty, hunger, frustration, apa­thy and desperation. There is no more thermometer to measure the degree of frustration and des­peration in the land than the spate of student unrest in our tertiary institutions. As we write, not less than five universities have been shut down by their authorities as a result of protests by students. These protests are precipitated by absence of amenities and utilities that would make life comfortable for learning on our campuses. In some of the campuses, water is now a very scarce commodity. In the midst of the misery and lack that is the lot of our youth and other Nigerians, a few Nigerians are still swimming in affluence and under the best security system and protection one can think of. It hardly seems a time for timidity and restraint.

In fact, unbridled activities of fraudsters, narcotics couriers, swindlers and the emergence of a class of billionaire idle politicians, have diminished our international stature to an embarrassing level. The net effect of this has been the sorry spectacle we have cut for Ni­geria and Nigerians in the international arena. The reality is that the corporate image of the country is almost irretrievably steeped in cri­ses. It is therefore no more news that the high rate of criminality in the country is traceable to the endemic corruption which has enveloped the land. Nigeria’s name is synonymous with corruption and crime all over the world. It is agreed that with the emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari as President since May 29, 2015, given his much vaunted integrity and principled stance against cor­ruption, the international image of the country would be redeemed. But it seems, from the reality on ground, that the change mantra of the APC-led Federal Govern­ment is fraught with contradic­tions and ironies. Ten months into the regime, Nigerians are gasping for relief. There is discontent in the country as hunger and lack rule the land. And one can sense the fear of the unknown. The signs are not difficult to see. They are the signs of internal decay; the dry rot of apathy and indifference within the ruling party. Nigerians have mistaken a baboon for a monkey.

The whole scenario is unwhole­some: the decadent social institu­tions, the comatose and despond­ent state of the once vibrant economy, the decaying infra­structure, and the unnerving bout of fuel scarcity in the six largest producer of crude in the world. All this could not have been mere speculation by whatever standards. Indeed, it was speculated recently that more than 80 per cent of Ni­gerians are living below the pov­erty line. Economically, there can never be anything more humiliat­ing and even frustrating than the current exchange rate of the Naira. Anyone who had witnessed the strength of the Nigerian currency against the dollar in the late 1970’s would realise that the slightest tinkering with the economy spins off a frantic palpitation which may lead to a cardiac arrest. This is why wiser nations often fix their gaze on the enigmatic ups and downs in the stock market. They are wise and experienced enough to know that an ostensibly inconsequential drop in the currency rate of a na­tion may precipitate a phenomenal fall of any government. How does President Buhari feel when he sees the Naira exchanging for 350 to the US Dollar? Does he ever remem­ber his campaign promise to Nige­rians when even the Dollar was ex­changing for N165, that he would make the Naira at par with the Dollar within his first six months in office? This is not all. Hundreds of thousands of our graduates and school leavers still trudge the streets of our cities in search of jobs that are not in sight, and the com­munal bonds that once held our various nationalities together have been rendered taut by the forces of annihilating and devastating pov­erty and inter-tribal wars.

Danger Signals In Nigeria

By Chijioke Egbo 

Tension is building up across Nigeria. At the forefront of the heightening tension are two groups: the Fulani herdsmen and the Biafran agitators. Boko Haram which seriously threatened the territorial integrity of Nigeria is now at the mercy of the country’s military might. They are feeling the heat now; they are boasting less these days. Their defeat is as good as done.

 

*Buhari 

We must commend our gallant soldiers and the govern­ment for their sacrifice which is giving us this victory. However, Fulani herdsmen ap­pear to be determined to continue from where Boko Haram is stopping. In fact, they have started even before we finish with BH. And in their own case, they are spreading their violence across the entire country. The herdsmen are about the biggest headache Nigeria has now. They are spreading hate and attracting same to themselves. Almost every ethnic group in the North Central zone of the country who are the Fulani tra­ditional neighbours, have had or are still having serious issues with them. The climax is the recent Ag­atu crisis which some dub massa­cre, while others say it is a case of genocide.

Over 500 Idoma people of Benue State were said to have been killed in their own village by the invading herdsmen. The Yorubas in the Southwest are clashing with the herdsmen. Olu Falae, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation may eventually abandon his farm, having suffered many attacks in the hands of the herdsmen. The Chief was once kidnapped by these men and only got back his freedom af­ter paying ransom to them. Some Odua People’s Congress (OPC) men employed by Falae to guard his farm have reportedly lost their lives in the hands of the herdsmen. If Falae is not spared by the men, then tell me who is safe!

In the Southeastern Nigeria, the story is not different. Farmers dai­ly complain of destruction of their farms, raping of women in their farms and even killing of farm­ers who dare protest the activities of these men. The herdsmen, who are accused of grazing their cattle in the farms of their host commu­nities which is said to be the real genesis of all the crises, don’t seem to see anything wrong with that. There are reports that the herds­men move about openly with sophisticated weapons such as AK47 assault guns. Why the Fulani herdsmen have decided to take on Nigeria beats my imagination. I see collabora­tion between them and the Biafra separatist agitators. Those of us in the Southeast who see the Biafra project as unattractive are now be­ing mocked as unrealistic because of the activities of the herdsmen. The “Biafrans” point at that as a clear sign that Nigeria can never be one. Those sitting on the fence eas­ily fall for such argument. And so, the message of Biafra is spreading. Okada riders and other not-well-informed people, who are not few in number, are daily being recruited into the “Biafran strug­gle.” They are brainwashed into believing that the name “Biafra” is a magic wand that will turn around their lives. The present econom­ic depression in the country is not helping matters. The agitators eas­ily blame the woes on the Feder­al Government. And because their propaganda is not being effective­ly matched by the government, the gullible downtrodden fall for them.

Unfortunately, the recent state­ment by the Department for State Security (DSS), accusing IPOB of killing some 50 Fulani herdsmen and burying them in a mass grave was a serious infraction on peace and security. The statement was to­tally at variance with professional conduct on the part of DSS. The department which is sup­posed to be discreet in its opera­tions went public with such sen­sitive statement. Whether or not the statement is true is not the is­sue here. The issue is the implica­tion of such statement on nation­al peace and security which is the primary duty of the department. Why it chose to aggravate the al­ready high tension in the land is confusing well-meaning citizens. It is more confusing because the DSS has not been quick at mak­ing such statements all the while that there have been reports of the menace of the herdsmen across the land. The department has never re­ally been known to take interest in the growing threat to peace and corporate existence of the country by the herdsmen. Why it sudden­ly woke up from its slumber and quick to go public with a statement even before concluding investiga­tion calls for concern.

Budget Politics In The Midst Of Hunger

By Onuoha Ukeh

WHEN the National Assembly passed the N6 trillion budget for 2016 and submitted same to President Muhammadu Buhari, many Nigerians had heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that the end of waiting for the legal instrument on spending money had ended. Those who thought so were wrong, as this turned out to be the beginning of a drama, which has held the country to ransom. First, President Buhari said he would not assent to the budget until he got details therein. And when the details were presented, he said he would study them before signing the budget into law. After studying the details submitted, the president declined to sign on the grounds that what the National Assembly approved was different from what he proposed. Now at the end of the first quarter of the year and close to the end of the first month in the second quarter, there is no budget.

*President Buhari presenting the 2016
Budget to the National Assembly 

Ordinarily, the budget for a coming year ought to be passed and, perhaps, signed into law before the end of the outgoing year or at best the first day or first week of the new year. If the budget, for instance, is submitted in October of the out-going year and the two houses of the National Assembly do their due diligence, by deliberating on the document and passing it into law before the year ends, this target would be on the verge of being met. And if the president receives the details of the budget so passed, examines it and then assents, say before the year ends or the first day/first week of the new year, the budget would be in place in the new year. Had this happened, by now the 2016 budget would be running and the economy would be a beehive of activities.

It is, indeed, sad that both the Presidency and the National Assembly are playing politics with the budget while Nigerians are suffering. Indeed, as the Executive and the Legislature are standing up to each other, flexing muscle and trying to prove who is right, Nigerians are in pain. At present, there is hunger in the land. Industries are comatose. Foreign airlines are relocating their ticketing offices to neighbouring Ghana. Cash is not flowing, as they say in local parlance. These are challenges of a country without budget. If the budget had been passed/signed into law and government begins to release full allocations, there will not be cash crunch, as currently being experienced.

Of course, if, for instance, funds for road construction are released to contractors, they would mobilise staff to sites and get cracking with the jobs at optimal capacity. Materials for construction would be bought and paid for. Workers at sites will receive their daily pay and they will, in turn, finance their personal needs. And the economy will bubble back to life. This may sound simplistic, but it underlines the fact that little things matter. And from little things, greater ones happen or are achieved.

To say the least, the impasse between the Executive and the Legislature regarding the 2016 budget should not have arisen in the first place if the two arms of government understand that they are there to complement each other and not as rivals. It’s the duty of the Executive to project income, propose expenditure and implement the budget. It is the duty of the legislature to approve the proposal so submitted and give it a legal backing. In doing this, there ought not to be an element of ego and selfishness. This should be done with all sense of patriotism and nationalism.

The National Grazing Bill

By Clement Udegbe

A NATIONAL Grazing Bill which the leadership of Senate has said is not with it continues to generate heated debate. And for good reason. This bill should be questioned because of its ethno-religious implications. It is important that we know this bill, even if in a general way, so as to make useful discourse of it. The bill known as A Bill for An Act for the Establishment of the National Grazing Reserve (Establishment And Development) Commission for The Preservation And Control of National Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes And for Other Matters Connected Therewith,  was sponsored by Senator Zainab Kure.

Hajiya Zainab Abdulkadir Kure is a Senator, whose political career at the Upper legislative house started in 2007 elected for the Niger South constituency of Niger State on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). She represents Niger South Senatorial District alongside Senators Dahiru Awaisu Kuta (PDP) Niger East and Senator Ibrahim Musa (APC) of Niger North respectively. She has a BSc in Political Science from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1984, and is the wife of former Governor of Niger State between 1999 and May 2007. According to This Day Newspaper reports, she had sponsored the National Grazing Reserves Establishment and Development Commission Bill, 2008 and the National Poverty Eradication Commission Bill, 2008.

Born on November 24, 1959, Senator Kure’s dream as a youth was to become a top Customs or Immigration officer. This was however, not to be, no thanks to her father-in-law who put an end to that ambition. Today, she is making waves at the National Assembly in Abuja, with robust contributions. The National Grazing Bill has Seven Parts. Part 1, deals with the establishment of the national Grazing Reserve Commission, and it’s powers, to be should  controlled by a Governing Council whose membership tenure shall be four years, comprising a Chairman, one representative each from Federal Ministries of Agriculture Rural Development and Water Resources, Health, Environment Housing and Urban Development, and  National Commission for Nomadic Education.

 Part II, of the Bill deals with Functions of the Commission which includes, designating, acquiring, controlling, managing, maintaining, the National Grazing Reserves and Stocks Routes; Constructing of dams, roads, bridges, fences and infrastructure considered necessary; Identification, retracing, demarcating, monumenting, and surveying of primary, secondary, and tertiary stock routes; Conserving and preserving in its natural state the National Grazing  Reserves and Stock Routes; Ensuring the preservation and protection of any objects of geological archaeological historical aesthetic or scientific interests in the National Grazing Reserves and Stocks Routes; the development of facilities and amenities within the national Grazing Reserves; Fostering in the mind the general public, particularly the pastoral and transhumance population the necessity for the establishment and development of the National Grazing Reserves and Stocks Routes with the object of developing a greater appreciation of the value of livestock and environmental conservation; And doing all such things which the commission may calculate and consider incidental to the foregoing functions.

Part III deals with appointment of the Reserve Controller and other Staff of the commission some of which may be seconded from other government offices; their functions, and structure of the commission. Part IV deals with financial provisions for the commission including that the commission may, subject to the Land Use Act, acquire any land for the purpose of discharging its functions. Part V, is the source of concern, its states in part; “The following lands may subject to this Act be constituted as National Grazing Reserve and Stock Routes- Any land at the disposal of the Federal Government; Any land in respect of which it appears to the commission that Grazing on such land should be practiced, and any land acquired by the commission through purchase, assignment, gift, or otherwise howsoever; Any land in respect of which it appears to the commission that primary, secondary, or tertiary routes be established.

IMF: Nigeria Opts For Self-Medication

By Abidemi Gbolahan 

The message delivered by the IMF Managing Director, Ms. Christine Lagarde when she visited Nigeria earlier in the year was that only Nigeria can help herself out of her economic quagmire. I also re­membered her advising Nigeria to address some structural defects ob­served in the economy if Naira de­valuation was not an option.

President Muhammadu Buhari has also been using every opportu­nity of any of his foreign trips to ex­plain that Naira cannot be devalued further. Even when the local neo-co­lonialists sharks in concert with their foreign partners went the whole hug campaigning for further devaluation of the Naira, they got the snub of the President. Consequently, they em­barked on destructive campaign - ‘Emefiele Must Be Sacked’. Yet, the President stood solidly behind the CBN governor.

 

*President Buhari and IMF Boss, Christine Lagarde

A bold and reassuring statement ever made by any official of govern­ment in Nigeria, even in the con­tinent to any neo-colonialist in­stitution, is the one credited to the Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, at the just conclud­ed annual Spring Meetings of the two multilateral institutions – IMF and the World Bank in Washington D.C. where she was quoted to have told the IMF boldly that “IMF could be a doctor, but for Nigeria our mes­sage is not sick, and even if we are, we have our own local remedy”. In medical science at times there can be a critical choice between going with a doctor that will worsen your case or seek self-help. In the context of the current economic situation, it’s obvious that Nigeria has rightly set­tled for the later.

Similar stance taken by Nigeria’s apex bank – the Central Bank of Ni­geria - few months back incurred the ire of agents of these devaluation and neo-colonialists. It will be noted that, shortly after the Bank’s initial de­valuation of the local currency, and subsequent withdrawal of 41 items from accessing its FOREX. This was a decision apparently taken by the CBN management to rescue the cur­rency from its free fall, these ‘hawks’ took up arms against the CBN.

Despair, Nigerian Style

By Paul Onomuakpokpo  

Whether or not our current leaders consider it a cruel fate that threw them up in these times that contrast with the heady days of oil boom, they must not keep on ruing their arrival on the political scene only when the party is over. For, great leaders, with redoubtable transformational savvy, have often emerged in the times of depressing national crises like war and economic collapse. The times of crises are not when leaders who have been weaned on a diet of ease and are imbued with the delusive notion that public office is a voyage into uncharted territories of splurging should remain in the cocoon of comfort, untouched by the afflictions of their people. Thus before our leaders is placed the uncommon opportunity of demonstrating their capability for navigating the nation through the treacherous trajectory of a myriad of emergencies.

But even if they were willing, our leaders cannot make a headway until they really appreciate the character of the tragedy that has befallen the citizens. In our nation’s case, it may only be in the period of the civil war that the people suffered more than they are doing now. Every other crisis with its attendant immiseration may pale into insignificance before the one the citizens are currently confronted with. The economic crisis has thrown many  people out of jobs and they can no longer  pay their rents. But just recently in Lagos, for instance, such people could still have found shelter if they were thrown out by their landlords or landladies.  Those whose pallid economic condition  rendered them homeless would have had the bridges  to save them from the elements. But urban development in contemporary times has made these bridges inaccessible to them. And even if they were still available, ritual killers  and rapists would have made them danger zones for the homeless to shelter under. And in the past, the hungry citizens ate from dustbins. But such culinary havens are fast disappearing.

Indeed, signposting their attainment of apotheosis, the dustbins and dumping grounds have increasingly become the dining tables of the poor . The scramble cannot go unnoticed as those who ought to throw the remnants of their food in those dustbins do not even have what to eat.  These are workers whose companies have collapsed because of their inability to procure the foreign exchange they needed for their operations. Others are workers who, though are engaged in their jobs, are being owed for months by their private or public employers. These hobbled employees are even looking for who to borrow from. Some of them who never went to religious places of worship like churches before now frequent there with the hope that help could come from there. But from who do they beg or borrow when all the workers are suffering the same fate? Those that may be in a position to be borrowed or begged from should be the members of the political class who are invulnerable to the crushing  economic crisis . Even the little the salary-starved worker has cannot buy so much since the prices of goods have tripled due to the widening disparity between the naira and the dollar.

Are The Fulani Herdsmen Above The Law?

By Julius Oweh

A lot of things have been said and written about the menace of the Fula­ni herdsmen sowing destruction and death throughout the length and breadth of the country under the bizarre veneer of cattle rear­ing. They are all over the country destroying the crops and farms of people yet the government is giv­ing the unfortunate impression that these criminals are above the law. Growing up in the village, my image of the average Fulani herds­man was that of the magical stick and the myth then was that should he touch you with the stick, he could transform you to a cow. 

They were peace-loving and eas­ily mingled with the natives and havoc was not in their DNA. But today, the image has changed into a criminal carrying dangerous weapon like AK47 whereas other Nigerians with double barrel gun are chased by the police and oth­er security agents for not getting the license to bear arms. The ques­tion that staggers the imagination is who is issuing license to those Fulani herdsmen that are bearing sophisticated weapons and using same to attack and even kill their hosts.

No week passes without one form of attack by these Fula­ni herdsmen in the media. Re­cently, a legislator in Delta State bemoaned the attack of Fulani herdsmen that led to the death of two people in Abraka. There was also the case of the attack in Enu­gu that led to the death of some women and when the men pro­tested, they were arrested by sol­diers and locked up and they had to bail themselves for demon­strating against an evil ravaging the land. In Benue state, it had to take the intervention of a foreign body for the state government to acknowledge the menace of the Fulani herdsmen that resulted in the death of three hundred peo­ple. For how long will this men­ace continue to ravage the land and the federal government and some state governments pretend that all is well?

That is why the cries of the Na­tional Christian Elders Forum should be taken seriously by the federal government – the execu­tive arm and the legislative arm. The chairman of the forum, Mr Solomon Asemota expressed dis­pleasure over the federal govern­ment inability to stem the on-go­ing carnage and destruction by Fulani herdsmen. He lamented thus on this security challenge: `It is shocking that till today, there had been no prosecution of any of these marauders. For years, the Fulani herdsmen have been murdering innocent Nige­rians with impunity. It is sad to note that Boko Haram which is presently regarded as the world number one most dangerous ter­ror organization and the Fulani herdsmen considered the fourth are both operating in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the response of gov­ernment to the menace of these individuals has to date, been tepid and indifferent. Can a southerner go to the core north and attack a prominent figure in the stature of Chief Olu Falae? The impression the federal government is giving by its lukewarm responses is that there are two classes of people in the country – the citizens and the subjects. The citizen can commit a crime and go scoff free and he is above the law. The subject who is the victim of the citizen`s lawless­ness can be clamped into deten­tion for protesting the brigandry of the citizen as demonstrated in the Enugu example. This is clear­ly a recipe for chaos and anarchy.

Avian Influenza: Not Again

By Comr Fred Doc Nwaozor 

It’s only a-day old kid that is yet to realize that Nigeria is current­ly bewildered by the re-emer­gence of Avian Influenza, popular­ly known as ‘bird flu’. When Ebola virus was on board in the country some months ago, as an analyst and activist, in most of my commentar­ies, I categorically stated that Nigeria would surely overcome the scourge if we could employ severe and sus­tainable measures just as we did dur­ing the era of avian influenza.

To have used avian influenza as an instance as regards severe ap­proach towards containing an ep­idemic signified that undoubtedly every needed step was taken when the country firstly experienced the disease (bird flu) in 2006. To this end, the capital question that needs to be asked at this point is: why the re-emergence, or why is the coun­try experiencing the outbreak for a second time barely after nine years of its initial occurrence?

The country was able to over­come the said pandemic infection during its previous outbreak, spe­cifically in 2006, owing to the tacti­cal and drastic approach employed by the government and other con­cerned bodies. This implies that the re-emergence of the menace might not be unconnected with the fact that we went to sleep or on a recess; that is, apathy on the part of the con­cerned authorities and personnel re­garding sustenance of the measure initially utilized. In view of this as­sertion, it’s high time we are awoke.

Presently, survey indicates that seven outbreaks of highly patho­genic Avian Influenza have been discovered in Nigeria. Six of the A(H5N1) outbreaks were report­ed in the central and northern re­gions of the country, which affect­ed states like Kano, Plateau, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); over 21 thousand birds were re­portedly killed in the six outbreaks. Another outbreak occurred in the southern region of Bayelsa, affect­ing 8-week old pullets; 850 poultry died whereas 2150 were destroyed in this very outbreak. Officials said that farm workers visited other farms in the affected areas, which has great implications for possible infection routes and biosecurity.

Avian influenza is an infectious viral disease of birds particular­ly wild water fowls like ducks and geese among other such animals as pigs, whales and horses. Most avi­an influenza viruses don’t infect humans; however, some includ­ing A(H5N1) and A(H7N9) have caused serious infections in peo­ple. It is noted that outbreaks of A1 in poultry may raise global public health concerns as a result of their effect on poultry populations, their potential to cause serious disease in people, and their pandemic po­tential.

The 50 Most Dangerous Drugs

 While overdose deaths from prescription opioids have nearly quadrupled since 1999, some of the most dangerous drugs don’t require a prescription.

Using data from the Food and Drug Administration for 2004 through 2015, Health Grove looked at the 150 drugs that are involved in the highest number of adverse reactions and ranked them by the percent of these reactions classified as serious. For many of these reactions, the FDA database uses medical terminology, such as pyrexia and dyspnoea for fever and labored breathing, respectively.

The top 50 drugs with the most serious adverse reactions are considered the most dangerous. Though most on the list require a prescription and treat serious diseases, those like Advil and acetaminophen don’t.

It’s important to note that these medicines may not be inherently dangerous, but improper dosage, combining medicines or taking them with substances like alcohol can dramatically increase risk.

One-third of Americans say they “combine medications when treating multiple symptoms,” according to the National Council on Patient Information, cited in a New York Times report on over-the-counter medicines. The same source also claims that only one in ten people read the labels entirely and one in five admits to using medication more than the label indicates. This creates an environment primed for unintended drug interactions and overdoses.

Additionally, people over 65 years old — those most likely to take multiple drugs for chronic health issues — account for approximately 40 percent of over-the-counter drug usage. This puts this group at greater risk for trouble with these drugs by way of adverse side effects and interactions.

Despite the potential for negative consequences of drug use and misuse, modern pharmaceuticals have greatly contributed to the health and longevity of people around the world. Though many are regarded as safe, as more drugs become available over the counter and prescriptions of others rise, consumer awareness becomes increasingly important.

Note: In the case of ties, the drug with the highest number of total reported reactions is ranked higher.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE DRUGS AS YOU GO THROUGH THE IMAGES 

Terror Nomads

By Louis Odion, FNGE
With the Boko Haram cauldron still smoldering in a corner, it does appear Nigeria is already choking on a much quicker poison: the cocktail of beef and bullet. Or, how else can one describe the apparition of a trigger-happy herdsman now at the national door.
The weapon his forebears carried never used to be more than a stick, to whip the herd into line. And maybe a dagger tucked in a scabbard, to scare potential marauder in the jungle. But the new cattle-rearer has added gleaming AK-47 to his cache. 

The fact that he is migrant makes his own franchise of terror more diffuse, more intimate in savagery. As he wanders day and night from his native dry land up north to greener pasture down south, he has scant regard for the territorial integrity of farm camps he finds on his way.

From the north-central down to communities across the entire south, the siege is complete. The rampaging Ak-47-wielding herdsman leaves a trail of plunder, rape, kidnap and bloodbath. The kind you find in a Grade-A horror movie. Consider a slew of reports in just the past few days. On Wednesday, the Taraba State Government confirmed no fewer than 40 persons were slaughtered allegedly by Fulani herdsmen (20 in Angai village, nine in Maisuma, eight in Dorei and seven in Fali). This time, the fight was not even over farmland. Trouble reportedly started after armed herdsmen were prevented from raping a lady somewhere which angered them and they responded with violence. 

Tuesday came a rather grotesque report from Delta State. A local vigilante comprising a member representing Ethiope East constituency in the state assembly (Evan Ivwurie), security agents and some volunteers simply resorted to self-help by turning the heat on the herdsmen who had formed the habit of attacking farmers in the locality. Dubbed "Operation Arrest, Meet and Engage Their Sponsor", the mission reportedly led to the sacking of herdsmen's camp and their flight deep into the Oria-Abraka forest, in so much panic and haste that they forgot their precious herd behind. 

Ivwurie shared his experience: "I had embarked on a preventive approach to this matter which is identifying the source and taking the battle to the enemy in their domain." (However, the lawmaker was silent on what becomes of the cows: booties or prisoners of war?)
On Monday, in Oyo State, Fulani herdsmen under the auspices of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria spent the better part of the day defending themselves against allegations of vandalizing crops of farmers in Ogbomoso and some parts of Oke Ogun. Rather, they claimed two of their members (Abdu Chika and Buba Kajere) were gruesomely murdered by the farmers. 

*Louis Odion 

A day earlier in Akure, a security guard at a farm settlement owned by a Yoruba leader, Olu Falae, was brutally murdered by suspected herdsmen as usual. This came when some other herdsmen are still standing trial for allegedly kidnapping and torturing the same Falae for several days in September last year.

Abia and Imo entered the radar last weekend following a statement by the Department of State Security that five Fulani herdsmen were killed in a forest along the border of the two states. They were allegedly buried in a shallow grave. Condemning the action at a joint press conference Monday, governors of the two states blamed it on "miscreants".

Few weeks earlier in Enugu, ethnic tension had mounted following the arrest and detention of 76 Agwu villagers who decided to carry arms against Fulani herdsmen who allegedly destroyed not only their farmland but also abducted two of their women. No sooner had the irate villagers formed a barricade than a team of soldiers (said to be of northern extraction) stormed the community and whisked some 76 men in army trucks to neighbouring Abia State.

Embarrassed by the reports, the Army high command later described the perpetrators as "fake soldiers". The puzzle then: how did they acquire military uniforms, officially issued FN 7.62mm military rifles and green-colour military trucks deployed in the "invasion"? So bold, the "fake soldiers" also had the temerity to head straight to the police command to hand over their 76 captives for proper custody!
It eventually took a court pronouncement in Abia before the Agwu 76 were set free after wallowing in detention for days.

However, the Abia/Imo killings are a child's play compared to the genocide perpetrated in the last two months by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Benue communities like Agatu, Buruku, Guma, Gwer-west, Logo, Kwande, Gwer- East and Katsina- Ala. At the last count, more than 1,500 had been butchered so far this year. On a single day in February alone, about 300 were murdered in Okokolo, Akwu, Ugboka and Aila villages (all in Agatu LGA). Entire villages were razed. On March 19, another 500 were butchered in 10 communities of the same LGA. 

Clearly, the nation is now under a siege of sorts. This writer has a personal experience to share. Two or three year ago in Benin, we woke up at my private home to find that the flower garden outside which had taken a fortune to plant and pains and years to cultivate had been completely destroyed by some cows that stomped past overnight. But should everyone resort to the Ethiope formula, there certainly would be no nation again.

Moving forward, I believe a more sustainable panacea to this festering crisis is to first recognize and appreciate the cultural issues involved. Beside immediate economic benefits, farming communities have emotional attachment to their land considered ancestral legacy. Just the same way the Fulani herdsman views his herd as his only store of value and the national landscape as his legitimate pasture. Lasting resolution lies in both parties understanding each other and the boundaries clearly demarcated.

Therefore, what is required at this hour is a leadership that is not only creative but also courageous. President Buhari's dilemma is understandable. Before the last election, the charter of demand by the Fulani included a request for the grazing reserves to hold and nourish their cattle and other animals. But the challenge of statesmanship is to pursue a course of action that also accommodates the interests of others.

To start with, the specter of the herdsman brandishing at all an unlicensed rifle - much less a weapon of mass destruction like AK-47 - constitutes clear and grave assault on public decency. Rushing to deploy such lethal weaponry without inhibition in otherwise civil dispute over right of way on farmland is, to say the least, taking the culture of impunity to a treasonable bend. 

Now is the time for President Buhari, himself a cattle farmer, to go beyond the normal call of duty to stave the dangerously growing perception that seeming official lethargy - if not indifference - to the continued killings is dictated by the spirit of kinship he shares with the rampaging herdsman or that the nomad's renewed audacity, this genocidal reflex, feeds on the opium of expected solidarity from the top. 

Stories have told that the rampaging Fulani herdsmen are not Nigerian. Given their ferocity and that similar incidents were reported even in core northern states, they are suspected to be migrants from Niger, Mali and so on. That being the case, why is the Nigerian nation still shy of responding more strongly? Such attacks ought to be viewed properly then as direct assault on our sovereignty as a nation.

A sure way to start is urgently enunciating a disarmament programme. The wandering herdsman first needs to be engaged to turn in his AK-47 as the minimum pre-condition. Relevant security agencies should be directed to enforce this. The mass killings cannot continue. 

It is commendable that President Buhari, by some policy steps already taken, has the clarity of mind to, at least, appreciate the real existential point at issue: the most sustainable source of pasture for the cattle. This had led Abuja to consult with states with a view to finding lasting solution. Borrowing from modern practices elsewhere, most stakeholders were said to have agreed that the option of ranch is the most feasible and sustainable. But the optimism that a workable solution was finally in sight seems vitiated with a statement credited few days ago to the Agriculture Minister, Audu Ogbeh (himself a successful farmer), that the Federal Government would rather set up grazing reserve. 

In fact, Ogbeh disclosed that based on Buhari's directive, arrangement had been concluded to import improved grass seeds to cultivate the proposed 50,000 hectares of grazing reserves within six months. Bold as the step may appear, the devil is in the details. While Ogbeh's enthusiasm is welcome, it remains to be seen how he hopes to secure the land to start with. The idea of grazing reserves runs counter to ranch which the states are understandably comfortable with. For the extant Land Use Act vests allocation and control of the land resource in state authorities. Besides that, the concurrence of affected communities and landowners also matters. Ogbeh's grazing reserve will, therefore, require a constitutional amendment to begin with. 

Really, we do not have to reinvent the wheel. Ranching provides more decency not only for the cattle-rearer themselves but also their herd. It enables the application of modern techniques in the animal husbandry. It provides clean water, hospital, schools and other facilities for the convenience of the dwellers. Studies have shown that the Nigerian cow suffers stunted growth partly because of the exceedingly harsh condition it is bred. For instance, it is estimated that the average Nigerian cow travels some 25 kilometers per day under scorching sun and is left to quaff polluted water.
If properly harnessed, livestock has potential to raise our national GDP, especially now that there is a renewed clamour to diversify the economy from oil as mono product. According to a 2008 survey, Nigeria's population of cattle was put at 14.7m, out of which 10 percent were classified as milking cows.

Today, no thanks to the herdsman's primitive rearing technique, less than one percent of the cattle population is managed commercially. It explains why the country still spends an average of N50b importing milk and other dairy products annually simply because the full potentials of cattle farming are left untapped. But a relatively smaller country like Uruguay today owes the bulk of its national wealth to livestock. In 2014, it exported $1.4b worth of beef, $800m of dairy products and $400m of leather goods. At 3.3 million population, its per capital income is a whopping $22,000.
Changing the Nigerian narratives for the better means rethinking the way we work and live.

*Odion is a former Commissioner for Information, Edo State