Soludo, Where Are The Coins?

 By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye  

As Central Bank Governor (2004 – 2009), Professor Charles Soludo woke up one morning with a big dream. He wanted to mint coins for the use of Nigerians as legal tender. Those with better acquaintance with the psychological and cultural disposition of Nigerians told him pointedly that the policy was dead on arrival. They explained that given the behavioral pattern of Nigerians, the policy would be viewed by the majority as a needless burden.

*Soludo

But Soludo, who often appears and sounds as if every audience before him is a class of freshmen Economics students, dismissed with characteristic arrogance and cocksureness every contrary opinion. 

He went to town marketing the great benefits of the coins, harping on their durability and how billions of naira will be saved from not having to frequently replace well-worn notes any more since the coins would last till almost eternity. Seeking to talk him out of the clearly unrealistic policy was like singing ballad to the deaf!

Corruption: Nemesis Ripens What Our Hands Have Sown

 By Emmanuel Okoroafor

Corruption has woven itself into the tapestry of the Nigeria narrative such that it has become the eternal plague of this most populous African country. For decades, this malady in its various manifestations – embezzling, backhandedness, kickbacks, internet fraud, thievery and all what not – have defined us more than our characters, capabilities and accomplishments. It is so bad that even one United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister had the cheeks to brand us “fantastically corrupt.”

For a country touted as the giant of Africa, the tragic flaw of corruption has whittled down Nigeria’s goliath stature to that of a Lilliputian. Today, it has become the gangrene eating away our corporate structure, the poison oozing from every pore of our collective body and the bile in our cup of wine. What is worse, even the younger generation has gradually bought into the corruption franchise. It is now fashionable to hear young people say, “If I get there (public position), I go chop (embezzle) my own.” Which means “if you can’t beat them, then join them.”

Why Lagos-Ibadan Should Not Become Abuja-Kaduna

 By Semiu Okanlawon

Imagine yourself having two daughters traveling along a route and you suddenly receive information that the very direction they were headed, a kidnap incident had happened some eight hours before and that vehicles from where the hapless victims were snatched away were still left on the road, with no one knowing the fate of the captives.

That was my situation early morning of Saturday October 28th. To worsen the phobia, a call put through to them to confirm how far they had gone with their journey showed they were just some 5 minutes drive to the very scene of the kidnap the night before.

Nigeria: Terror Alert And Doubting Thomases

 By Ray Ekpu

The United States and United Kingdom embassies in Nigeria have raised the alarm over possible terror attack on facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Other countries have followed suit. These include Denmark, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland and Canada. Although these countries are addressing their message to their citizens living in or visiting Nigeria, it is obvious that the message is also for the benefit of Nigerians and the federal government. 

The United States advisory says that the terrorists might target such places as government buildings, places of worship, schools, markets, shopping malls, hotels, bars, restaurants, athletic gatherings and transport terminals, facilities belonging to law enforcement agencies and international organisations. The American embassy therefore directed its non-essential staff and their family members to either leave the FCT or avoid public places. Many of the places mentioned by the embassy have been attacked by terrorists either in Abuja or elsewhere in the country so they are all potentially vulnerable. 

Why Tinubu Is Cocky

 By Ochereome Nnanna

Of the three main political parties, only the All Progressives Congress, APC, has not openly flagged off its presidential campaign. The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, was the first to go in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, while the Labour Party, LP, got going in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

*Tinubu

LP’s Peter Obi is actively and openly marketing himself and soliciting for votes; so is PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, but with much less energy. Tinubu, on the other hand, has been very dodgy. He has only appeared once at a public forum whose atmospherics his party controlled to accommodate his physical and mental failings.

Even when he invited the who-is-who in the business world, he merely read from a prepared speech and could not take questions from his audience. He left his hangers-on to answer them for him while he became part of the audience. Even before becoming president, Tinubu is already showing he will rule by proxy or cabal. He will not lead from the front. 

Nigeria: The Victims Of APC And PDP Reign

 By Promise Adiele 

Isidore Okpewho’s novel The Victims conveys all the soul-wrenching, tragic trappings of conquered people under the scorching atmosphere of polygamy. It would not have mattered much if the tragedy in the novel descended on the reprobate harbingers of flame and furnace, namely  – Obanua and his mother Ma Nwojide. But the knowledge that the tragic whirlwind consumed innocent children continuously pulls at the strings of the heart.

Why is it that sometimes the perpetrators of tragedy are always spared while innocent people bear the brunt of truculent fate? Why should Obanua and his mother Ma Nwojide remain alive in the novel after releasing hailstones which decimate innocent children whose death breaks the barriers of our emotions? It just was not Okpewho’s creation. It is a typical reflection of Nigeria where wicked people write tragic scripts and choose innocent populace as characters. 

Understanding Flooding In Nigeria And Finding Solutions

 By Femi D. Ogunnigbo and Taiwo Ogunwumi

As of October 24, 2022, the situation report reveals that 612 people have been killed, and 2,776 persons injured by this year’s flood, Nigeria Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiyya Farouq, stated. 

Finding a solution to flooding remains understanding the root causes first which can either be natural or human factors or both, Dr. Josiah Omirin, a lecturer at the Urban and Regional Planning Department at the University of Ibadan stated in a phone interview in gathering information for this report.

Natural factors can be classified into two. First, primary factors include excessive rainfall resulting in pluvial flooding (caused by climate change); and sea level rise which causes coastal flooding. Second is the secondary factor such as dams breaking, blockage of culverts; and narrow drainage channels.

That U.S. Terror Alert And A Headstrong FG

 By Charles Okoh

On October 23,  the U.S. Mission in Nigeria issued what it tagged elevated risk of terror attacks in Abuja, the federal capital territory. In the advisory, the US government said there is an elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria, specifically in Abuja.

It said targets may include, but are not limited to, government buildings, places of worship, schools, markets, shopping malls, hotels, bars, restaurants, athletic gatherings, transport terminals, law enforcement facilities, and international organizations.

Some Western nations including the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland and others swiftly issued similar advisories to their citizens.

Buharism: As The Naira Collapses, So Does Nigeria

 By Tony Eluemunor  

I may not be an Economist but I don’t need an Economist to tell me that as the Naira tumbles in the foreign exchange (of curren­cies) market, thus Nigeria collapses. Or to put it in a proper perspective, thus the quality of the livelihood of Nigerians collapses, degrades, van­ishes, disappears, is tarnished, is destroyed. I added that really need­less second sentence because there could be some people out there that could claim that the country Nigeria is totally different from the citizens.

As strange as that may sound, some people actually think that the coun­try Nigeria is different from her cit­izens, or that the health of her econ­omy does not really impact on the lives of the citizenry. If not, the cost of necessities such as petrol, cement, electricity tariff, food, transportation, books, newsprint, even sachet water and bread, should not be rising ev­ery day and our leaders would be congratulating themselves for a job well done. Also, no government offi­cial has seen it fit to resign. Yes, they also tag themselves as “progressives”!

The Buffeted Naira

 By Luke Onyekakeyah

The recent announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the introduction of newly redesigned N200, N500 and N1, 000 banknotes, has political and economic implications. Like a thunderbolt, the move has jolted many people, particularly, politicians who promote money politics. Those who have amassed naira and dollar waiting for the forthcoming elections are biting their fingers.

The move is a masterstroke against corrupt politicians, who have hoarded huge sums of money for vote buying during the 2023 general elections. By redesigning the naira and releasing it barely a month to the elections, the CBN may have played the trump card to frustrate all the permutations by politicians who banked on the hoarded naira. That way, the CBN may have contributed to the country having a more credible election in 2023.

Afenifere: All’s Well That Ends Well

 By Sola Ebiseni 

It takes discerning spirit to see the unequalled blessings to the Afenifere from what ordinary folks see as crisis from the recent gathering in Akure. To start  with, it is apposite to say and as revealed in his interview with the Sunday Punch of November 6, that the meeting was conveyed by Dare Babarinsa and Otunba Kole Omololu through the ‘Conscience of the Yoruba Nation’,  a WhatsApp Group administered by the latter who incidentally is the National Organising Secretary of Afenifere.

Chief Ebiseni 

The invitation which was on the letterhead of the group and now in circulation on social media, was said to be a meeting with the leadership of the Yoruba nation “to discuss the historic 2023 General election and take a definite and wise decision” and also with “one of the leading candidates,  Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu”, within a specified two hours duration of 11 am to 1.pm. 

2023 Poll And Lessons From The Masters Of Journalism

 By Banji Ojewale

I have in front of me the 396-page book, SEGUN OSOBA: The Newspaper Years. It is the 2011 work by the pair of Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe on former newspaperman Osoba who went on to become the elected governor of Ogun State in Nigeria’s southwest. Osoba himself is silent in the biography.

But he is present everywhere, garlanded chapter after chapter by those who knew him as a friend, professional colleague, community figure, politician etc. Both those who mentored him and the young ones he trained are allowed to straddle the pages to say a word. That the eponymous personality of the work isn’t brought in to say something about himself doesn’t enfeeble the book. The writers’ approach, somehow, glamorizes their delivery.

We can also count on the relative objectivity of the witnesses summoned by the duo of Igwe and Awoyinfa to tell Osoba’s story on account of their proven candour.

Nigerians Can’t Breathe!

 By Owei Lakemfa

Bayelsa State was for weeks submerged by floods which damaged or washed away bridges and roads, homes and farms, power transformers, and hospitals, and displaced 99 percent of its over 2.5 million people. Some deaths were recorded with the living clinging to life while the buried could not safely remain in their abode as the floods covered or washed away graves. The only means of reaching the state was either by air or water.

State Governor Douye Diri, a fortnight ago, cried out that despite international concerns and desperate pleas, neither the Federal Government nor its agencies had sent relief materials. He was specific that although the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouk claimed to have sent relief materials, these had not been received.

Nigerian Media Must Reject Political Intimidation

 By Tonnie Iredia

This year’s convocation lecture of the fast growing Edo State University, Uzairue, the 4th since its inception has been held at the university campus in Uzairue, Etsako local government area of Edo State. The topic was ‘Rethinking the role of mainstream and social media in national development’- a topic which aptly suited the times coming some 48 hours after this year’s International day to end impunity for crimes against journalists.

The occasion gave me the opportunity as the convocation lecturer to make the point that in spite of hostility towards the media by politicians using the law enforcement agencies, Nigerian journalists must continue to push for more development in their country. They must reject political intimidation while remaining steadfast in meeting the obligation of their chosen profession.  They did it before under a more severe and tense atmosphere and can do it better now if they are strategic and organized.

Flood Prevention Is The Beginning Of Wisdom!

 By Ayo Oyoze Baje

“The time to start taking concrete, pro-active measures is now. Not tomorrow. Not when the dams have overflowed their capacity and the rivers have swelled their banks, swallowing up the pothole-riddled roads, homes, offices and shops. Not when casualty figures have risen to thousands before half-hearted, panicky measures are embarked upon by top government officials” – Ayo Oyoze Baje (‘The Rage of floods’, opinion essay published in 2013)

Nowhere To Run is the title of the mind-riveting, thought-provoking and multiple-award-winning film, as part of the noble and patriotic efforts of the Shehu Musa Yar’Ardua Foundation.

Meant to sensitize the public on the deleterious effects of global warming, it was screened to a jam-packed audience, made up of the management, staff and students, at the multi-purpose hall of Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun state, on 24th November 2016. That was some six years ago.

How apt! How timely and thematically relevant the film by the Foundation has proved, more so considered against the dark background of the current devastating floods in the country. For instance, more than 600 Nigerians have been confirmed to have died as a result of the floods in two months.

About 1.3 million people have been displaced. And more than 200,000 homes have been destroyed in the worst flooding the country has witnessed in over a decade. So, as the film rightly noted, hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have currently nowhere to run!

The painful aspect of it all is that the earlier warning signals given by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) were dismissed with a wave of the hand by many citizens as well as their state governments. All because we have refused to learn from the hands of history, the ugly decimal keeps recurring, and worsening by the day from 2008, through 2012, 2018 till the moment.

How terribly sad!
As previously highlighted by yours truly, the menace of flood has become a global phenomenon and challenge. From China through India to Indonesia, Malaysia, European countries and the United States, flooding shoots its ugly head in the twinkle of an eye. The difference, however, is that in those listed countries there are more proactive, prompt and practical mechanisms for stemming the tide of flood on the part of their Emergency Management teams, to assist the victims. But it is a far cry from that here in Nigeria. Now, a scary scenario of food insecurity caused by the floods looms at our doorstep.

For instance, it would be recalled that in November 2008 the United Nation’s sponsored Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa gave the warning that within a few years Nigeria would be amongst the 14 countries listed as vulnerable to food insecurity courtesy of climate change, including the flood menace. But our political helmsmen took it with a pinch of salt.

In fact, during the 2021 flood outlook presentation, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) made public the vital information that 28 states, including the FCT, were most likely to experience flooding in the year.

In a similar vein, the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NMA) stated that the signals monitored by the agency in the last seven years show that things are changing on the climate front and that Nigeria was expected to experience unprecedented heavy downpours. That came in its 2021 Seasonal Climate Forecast.

But it was not taken seriously.

So, on 20th October 2020, the Nigeria Red Cross had to meet the emergency needs of 12,000 people (2,000 households) affected by floods in the five states namely Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Sokoto and Zamfara. According to Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) the food security emergency worsened in areas of the Northeastern part of Nigeria as access to food was further constrained.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 20,000 were displaced between late July and mid-August 2018, in the Northwest and North-Central States. The death toll rose to 52, with 90 houses destroyed, over 260 livestock confirmed dead and several people declared missing. Property worth millions of naira was destroyed as flood wreaked havoc in 10 communities of Jibia Local Government area of Katsina state.

Before then the sweeping tide of the devastating flood claimed 12 lives and overwhelmed 3,800 houses in Ogun State. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo promised then that the Federal Government, along with the two states will look into the root causes of the flash flood with a view to providing a lasting solution so that such an incident does not happen again! But as usual, we must have heard this swansong years before, haven’t we? That is Nigeria for you.

That was in 2018. As usual, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NMA) warned that many parts of the country were likely to experience flooding. According to the Director-General, Prof. Sani Mashi, this was due to a shift in rainfall patterns caused by climate change. Back then, yours truly advised that the main political actors should put their 2019 ambitions on the back burner and prepare for the climatic onslaught. But did they?

Currently, in 2022, as another pre-election year, some 27 out of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) are affected by the flood disaster. These include Adamawa, Anambra, Gombe, Jigawa, parts of Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, Delta, Benue, Nasarawa and Bayelsa, to name but a few. There, farmers suffered huge losses, of plantations and livestock while some even lost their precious lives.

Unfortunately, we – both the leaders and the led majority- have refused to learn from history. So, we keep grappling with the sweeping floods. But the questions remain: What have some state governors done with the huge ecological funds collected? Why do we, as Nigerians turn deaf ears to the warning signals given by NiMeT, NIHSA and NMA every blessed year? How prepared are members of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to deal with flood-related emergency situations in the country? Why do some political leaders refuse to take responsibility for their gross failures but exhibit great pleasure in blaming others, including God for not taking preventive measures when due?

As the Vice Chancellor of Bells University of Technology, Ota, Prof. Jeremiah Ojediran rightly noted back in 2016, Nigerians need to key into the Climate Change-themed film project of the Yar’Ardua Foundation, with a commitment to environmental protection, good governance and a democratic society for all Nigerians.

Similarly, Nigerians should shift focus to finding lasting solutions to the worsening environmental disaster. With Nigeria’s population expected to rise to 250 million by 2050, the awareness created by the film should be extended right to the grassroots. Their activities such as tree felling, over-cultivation and bush burning, come out of extreme poverty which needs to be addressed

No effort should, therefore, be spared by various governments, their related Agencies, the private sector and concerned individuals to enlighten the public and more so, put in motion pragmatic measures to mitigate the scourge of climate change on man. A stitch in time would save nine.

*Baje, President of Guild of Public Affairs Analysts (GPAN), is a commentator on public issues 

 

 

What Does Psychiatry Say To Nigerians?

 By Tunji Olaopa

Psychiatry as a discipline and a metaphor might, indeed, be more relevant to the understanding of some psycho-social dimensions and being-ness of the postcolonial context we call Nigeria than might be obvious. Indeed, the Nigerian post-colony is filled with lots of terrible pathologies occasioned by a state that is existing in denial of its significant responsibilities. 

And in that denial lies the emergence of all the tragic symptoms of poverty, unemployment, infrastructural decay, underdevelopment, impunity, criminality, religiosity without spirituality and humanity, and bad governance, that have together turned Nigerians into angry and bitter citizens always demanding for better quality of life without getting it. 

The Girl Child: Our Future And Hope

 By Ifeyinwa Chime

International Day of the Girl 2022 has come and gone. Should we simply tick done and move on? I say no. Let’s us continue celebrating and working for the good of our female children. 

This year the International day of the girl child was celebrated on Tuesday 11th October 2022. Its theme was “Our time is now- our rights, our future.” 2022 commemorates the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl (IDG).

The Girl-child is a biological human female offspring from birth to eighteen years of age. Recently, we have seen a surge of Girl-child education debates surrounding the primary, secondary, tertiary and health/safety education in particular for girls and young women.

2nd Niger Bridge: Boon, Bait And Boondoggle

 By Isidore Emeka Uzoatu

Amidst prevailing weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, news of the ‘completion’ of the 2nd Niger Bridge was received with elation nationwide; nay the Southeast. As announced by the works and housing minister Babatunde Fashola, the edifice lately equipped with lighting will soon be released to the public for use.

According to him, the only factor delaying its commissioning remains the construction of the 4-kilometre link road on the Asaba end of the bridge. Part of this delay has been blamed on the latest incidents of flooding in the general area housing the bridge. Already, a 7-kilometre road links the Onitsha end of the bridge and the awe-inspiring Onitsha-Owerri interchange.

The Politics Of Naira Redesign

 By Robert Obioha

The plan to redesign the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has, like any other issue in Nigeria, been riddled with controversy and even politics. Ordinarily, the redesign of the naira for the envisaged benefits, which many Nigerians are interrogating, would not have generated the needless acrimony if adequate consultations were made and major stakeholders carried along. 

The differing opinions on the issue from those serving in this government is unnecessary. It is an avoidable distraction. It also shows the level of incoherence among ministers and officials of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. It is unthinkable that such a change in redesign of the naira is being contemplated without the knowledge of the minister of finance even if the law establishing the CBN did not expressly stipulate so.

The Value Of Peter Obi

 By Abiodun Awolaja

As I begin these lines, I remember 1998 like yesterday. An old man on the street where I lived in Ondo town, exasperated by General Sani Abacha’s bloodthirsty rule, shrugged and said the following: “Well, at least he will leave the position in his old age.” Those were the days when it was almost an anathema to think of democracy. 

*Peter Obi 

Had God Almighty not taken Abacha out of the way just a few days after the man I have just referenced made his doleful comment, there would have been no democracy in 1999. The way Abacha and his colleagues carried on, it was as if they owned this world. They could kill and jail people at will. They looted the country dry and, in the words of the poet Tanure Ojaide, “threw questioners to hyenas.”