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Man hacks wife to death over alleged extramarital affair

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Man hacks wife to death over alleged extramarital affair

Residents of Idekan Farm Settlement in the Ijebu-Ode area of Ogun State were left shocked when a man named Matthew James killed his 55-year-old wife, Etim Mary, due to suspicions of her having an extramarital affair.

According Metro gathered that the incident took place around 8:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Our correspondent learnt from several community and police sources that the suspect, now in police custody, committed the crime after suspecting that his late wife was having an extramarital affair with another man in the community.

An eyewitness, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the police operatives from the Ijebu-Igbo Division had taken the suspect into custody.

The eyewitness further told our correspondent that the suspect claimed he and the deceased woman had a “blood covenant” not to betray each other.

The source said, “They had a blood covenant that they would not leave each other. He suspected the wife was having an extramarital affair. The woman had been married before she met James. He married her when the woman was already ageing. She had grown up with children before James married her.

“James is claiming they both had a blood covenant not to leave each other for any reason. He just returned one morning with a machete and hacked the woman to death. He didn’t run away after committing the crime. He just stood beside her after.”

The spokesperson for the state police command, Omolola Odutola, commenting on Monday’s shocking incident, stated that the wife was pronounced dead by the attending doctor after being rushed to the hospital by other residents.

She said, “She was found lying in the pool of her blood just in front of the house about 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. She had deep cuts on her forehead, shoulders, and other parts of her body. The husband was found with the blood-soaked machete he was believed to have used to commit the crime.

“The body was taken to a general hospital in Ijebu-Igbo, where she was certified dead by a doctor on duty. Her corpse has been deposited at the Alayangbe Private Mortuary in Oke-Agbo, Ijebu-Igbo, for the autopsy.

“We will move the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Abeokuta as soon as the preliminary investigation is concluded.”

According Metro reported a similar incident in April in Ekiti, where a suspect named Dare Onipede allegedly killed his wife, Arinola, during a dispute over accusations of her having an extramarital affair.

The suspect allegedly stabbed his wife, the mother of three, to death during the incident.

Tinubu’s unity rhetoric an illusion

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Tinubu’s unity rhetoric an illusion

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu told guests at the Presidential Democracy Day Dinner on June 12 that Nigeria’s unity cannot be traded. He sounded upbeat about what should be the advantage of the country’s diversity and declared that this was the best path to success.

Essentially, Tinubu was vainly regurgitating the unfeasible position of his predecessors that Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable. However, many citizens still question the basis of Nigeria’s unity if indeed it exists.

Nigeria is diverse with over 400 ethnic groups. There are deep divides across geographical, cultural, and religious lines. This formed the basis of the pre-independence constitutional conferences that the early political leaders sought to address in working out terms of Nigeria’s collective existence.

Diversity can work to the advantage of countries as it tends to aggregate the talents, skills, foresight, and other positive attributes of people of diverse backgrounds and cultures to drive national goals, create wealth, provide security, and better the lot of citizens. The United States is a good example of a country that has mined the advantages of its diversity to achieve huge success.

The problem with Nigeria is that the same leaders who swear on the altar of national unity often emphasise those elements that drive Nigerians apart in their quest for power and preach the unity mantra once entrenched in office. They tend to forget that the basis for national unity remains the articulation of national goals and aspirations driven by consensus, which the Constitution should represent, rather than a document produced by a conclave of vested interests.

The late Head of State Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi tried to legislate national unity in 1966 via a military decree to repair the divisions caused by infighting and corruption by the political elite. This backfired spectacularly and triggered a chain of events that resulted in a fratricidal civil war that has not been forgotten.

Military officers who ruled Nigeria afterward forbade any suggestions that Nigeria could fall apart, yet they played the ethnic or religious card in their coups, countercoups, resource allocation, and appointments.

Efforts at resolving the national question through the various national conferences have been wasted because the motives were largely egoistic rather than altruistic. The late military dictator Sani Abacha’s national conference of 1994 proved to be a power elongation ruse but did result in the creation of the six geopolitical regions.

Olusegun Obasanjo’s conference of 2005 ended in a fiasco because of the third-term plot. Goodluck Jonathan’s national conference of 2014 was abandoned because a resolution by delegates to adopt a single six-year tenure for the president was perceived to be to Jonathan’s advantage.

Muhammadu Buhari declared that discussions questioning the unity of Nigeria were a red line that must not be crossed during his presidency.

History has proven that national unity is not sacrosanct. Many countries have split, and citizens are just as fine. The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, Korea, Vietnam, and Sudan have all split.

Fostering national unity is not a matter of rhetoric but involves deliberate actions to ensure social justice, equity, prosperity, and security. Sixty-four years after independence, agitations for self-determination persist in Nigeria because the union is fragile and not working.

Tinubu was once an apostle of restructuring, but now it seems he has not mentioned the word since he came into office. Restructuring the polity along the lines of federalism is the closest template to the agreements reached by national leaders before independence.

Times have changed and progress must be made but since Tinubu dared to declare that “fuel subsidy is gone,” he should be bold enough to put the restructuring question back on the front burner.

FG summons 80 private jets owners over operating papers

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FG summons 80 private jets owners over operating papers

The Federal Government through the Nigerian Customs Service has begun a fresh move to clamp down on operators of improperly imported private jets into the country, findings by The According have revealed.

Consequently, no fewer than 80 operators of private jets are expected to appear at the headquarters of the NCS in Abuja with their aircraft import documents.

The special aircraft import verification exercise, which begins on Wednesday (tomorrow), is expected to last for 30 days, according to a public notice issued by Customs.

The notice, sighted by one of our correspondents, read in part, “The Nigeria Customs Service announces a verification exercise for privately owned aircraft operating in Nigeria. This exercise aims to identify improperly imported private aircraft without documentation, ensuring proper imports and maximum revenue collection.”

According to the notice, owners and operators of private jets in the country are to come with some relevant documents.

These include aircraft Certificate of Registration, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s Flight Operation Compliance Certificate, NCAA’s Maintenance Compliance Certificate, NCAA’s Permit for Non-Commercial Flights, and Temporary Import Permit (if applicable).

The latest plan to clamp down on operators of improperly imported private jets came more than one year after the Federal Government suspended the action.

In the past three years, the government had planned to recover import duty running into billions of naira from some private jet operators who had used certain technical loopholes to evade the payment of import duty.

A few private jet owners paid the mandatory import duty after the Hameed Ali-led NCS took some significant steps to recover the revenue.  However, several owners and operators of private jets in the country have yet to pay the statutory duty.

Many private aircraft operators in the country have allegedly explored technical loopholes in the regulation to fraudulently obtain a Temporary Import Permit from the Nigeria Customs Service instead of paying the statutory import duty on their imported aircraft.

The TIP, which is valid for an initial period of 12 months, can be extended by six months twice, according to the regulations.

However, several operators of private jets in the country have continued to extend the TIP indefinitely, a development that prompted the Customs to effect past clampdowns.

According to new findings by our correspondents, no fewer than 80 private jet operators are expected to present their aircraft import documents for verification during the one-month exercise.

“Based on the data we have, we are expecting no fewer than 80 private aircraft operators for the verification exercise. These include operators of about 20 private aircraft that have been imported since the last verification exercise,” a top official close to the  verification exercise told The According on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter

The exercise is expected to lead to the payment of the mandatory import duty, while aircraft operators who fail to pay may have their jets grounded.

The TIP has been described by some stakeholders as a fraudulent means of evading the mandatory import duty. Importers of private jets, especially foreign registered private jets, are expected to pay five per cent of the value of the private jet as import duty.

However, due to the high cost of private jets, some owners often prefer not to pay the import, according to Customs officials.

Instead, the operators prefer to obtain a TIP under the guise that the aircraft is coming into the country for a temporary period, quoting the International Civil Aviation Organisation Convention Article 24 which focuses on Customs waiver for commercial aircraft operating in a country temporarily.

But the new leadership of Customs appears poised to get all operators to pay the import duty.

Unconfirmed sources said the government might get close to N100bn in unpaid import duty on imported private aircraft due to the high exchange rate.

This analysis is however dependent on whether the Customs chooses to implement the 25 per cent penalty fee such aircraft owners are meant to pay for delayed payment. The 25 per cent penalty fee is in addition to the statutory five per cent import duty.

It is unclear If the private aircraft operators will be willing to cooperate with the government to pay the duty.

Some operators had in the past gone to court to stop the government from collecting the revenue.

Meanwhile, National Public Relations Officer, NCS, Abdullahi Maiwada, on Monday, confirmed the verification exercise, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

In response to enquiries by The According on what actions the agency would take after the verification exercise, Maiwada simply said, “All we are doing is to ensure maximum revenue collection for the Federal Government. Relevant sections of our extant laws and regulations will guide our actions and inaction during and after the exercise.”

Sometime in 2021, about 17 owners of foreign-registered private jets, comprising top business moguls, leading commercial banks, and other rich Nigerians, dragged the Federal Government to court, seeking to stop the grounding of their planes over alleged import duty default.

This came after the Federal Government approved the decision of the Nigeria Customs Service to the ground about 91 private jets over their alleged refusal to pay import duties running to over N30bn.

The NCS had in a letter directed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency to ground the affected private jets with immediate effect.

However owing to issues bothering on inter-agency rivalry and disagreements, the relevant government agencies could not ground the private jets.

The jet owners who sued the government were seeking a judicial review as to whether it was lawful for them to pay the controversial import duty on their private jets or not.

They had sued the government using the foreign shell companies and trustees through which the foreign-registered jets were purchased.

Oftentimes, Nigerians and corporate bodies buy their foreign-registered private jets through foreign shell companies and trustees.  Experts believe Nigerians prefer to register their jets in foreign countries like the United States, United Kingdom, and Isle of Man, among others, to preserve the value of the aircraft in the event they want to sell it. This also helps them to pay cheaper insurance premiums.

According to the court document, the 17 applicants, which are mostly foreign companies of the Nigerian jet owners are Aircraft Trust and Financing Corp Trustee, UAML Corp, Bank of Utah Trustee, Masterjet AVIACAO Executive SA, and Cloud Services Limited.

Others are MHS Aviation GmbH, Murano Trust Company Limited, Panther Jets, SAIB LLC, Empire Aviation Group, and Osa Aviation Limited.

The list also includes BUA Delaware Inc., Flying Bull Corporation Limited, Air Charter Inc., Sparfell Luftahrt GmbH, WAT Aviation Limited, and ATT Aviation Limited.

The NCAA and Customs were listed as respondents to the suit.

However, in a written address in support of the first respondent’s objector notice of preliminary objection, the court paper had read in part, “The brief facts of this case are that the first respondents, having discovered that some operators of aircraft imported them under the guise of Temporary Importation Permit, were permanently imported into Nigeria and given TIP status to evade payment of lawful customs.”

The NCS had in 2021 embarked on a review of import duties paid on private jets brought into the country since 2006.

Following the alleged discovery that several private jet owners, under the guise of Temporary Import Permit, had failed to pay the statutory import duty to the coffers of the government, the then CG of Customs, Hameed Ali, set up a verification panel to review all TIPs and the relevant aircraft import documents of all private jets in the country.

At the end of the 60-day exercise, 57 private jets, which had licences for commercial charter operations, were cleared and issued Aircraft Operators Certificates by the Customs.

However, 29 private jets, whose owners came for the verification, were found to be liable to pay the import duty.

The Customs also compiled a list of another 62 private jets whose owners failed to appear for the verification exercise but were found liable for import duty payment.

However, other private jet owners seeking to pay their import duty were given a 14-day ultimatum to clear the debts.

The number of jet owners who later paid the duty is still unclear. It is still unclear to what extent the new management of Customs is willing to get the powerful private jet owners to pay their import duty.

It’s time to redefine a man

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It’s time to redefine a man

Early last year, just before the 2023 general elections, a video went viral on social media amid the hardship caused by the cash crunch. It showed a middle-aged man who initially struggled with English but quickly switched to Yoruba, angrily shouting, “Pressure ti wa” (there is pressure) during a live interview. This video generated various reactions among internet users.

Since then, “Pressure ti wa” has become a famous Nigerian slang acknowledging the daily struggles, challenges and hardships. Pressure is a force that pushes us beyond acceptable limits, leading to stress, anxiety, or a sense of burden. People face pressure in relationships, work, society, and personal goals, impacting their mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

Everyone strives for excellence and greatness but this drive often takes a different form for men. Men are constantly pressured to perform, conform, and achieve. From sexual prowess to social status, physical strength to family provision, the need to perform weighs heavily on the male gender in most societies.

Men are often expected to be the primary breadwinners, providers and protectors. If not well managed, the responsibility leads to stress, burnout, and a sense of inadequacy. The need to perform as a good father, husband, and son creates a sense of duty over desire, sometimes suffocating personal aspirations and passions.

The cult of masculinity idolises physical strength, speed and agility. Men feel pressured to maintain a certain physique, pushing themselves to extreme limits in the gym and on the playing field, pursuing physical perfection that results in injuries, burnout, and an unhealthy obsession with appearance.

The need to perform extends into social status and success. Men are often measured by their professional achievements, wealth and influence. The pressure to impress leads to an unrelenting work ethic, sacrificing time with loved ones and personal fulfillment for prestige.

Albert Einstein once said, “Every man is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb trees, it will spend the rest of its life believing it is stupid.” The constant pressure to perform leads to emotional numbing and disconnection, substance abuse and addiction, strained relationships and isolation, and a never-ending cycle of self-doubt and inadequacy.

The need to perform exacts a heavy toll on men’s mental and emotional health. Anxiety, depression, and suicide rates are alarming indicators of the crushing weight of expectations on them.

The belief that “men don’t cry” teaches boys to suppress their emotions instead of expressing them openly. This harmful stereotype perpetuates the idea that men must be tough and stoic, leading to a culture of toxic masculinity where boys and men are discouraged from showing vulnerability or weakness. As a result, men are often left to suffer in silence, struggling to cope with their emotions and mental health in isolation.

It’s time to challenge this outdated notion and create a place where men feel safe to express themselves without fear of judgment or rejection. We need to break down traditional masculinity and foster a healthier, more empathetic understanding of being a man.

The question, “What makes a man” is answered by the quality of his life. A man is defined not by how or where he was born but by what he makes of it, not how he started but how he decides to end.

Ultimately, love, decency, dignity, honesty, integrity, humility, respect, contentment, and gratitude are the values that help him withstand the pressures of performance, and they are best inculcated during his formative years.

Nothing matures a man like responsibilities. Nothing humbles him like missed opportunities. What makes him are his choices, and nothing changes him like love. Nothing defines a man like his character. Nothing teaches him like his experience. What drives him is his vision, and nothing weakens him like betrayal.

A man is pulled by his mission, pushed by his urge, devastated by heartbreak, and confident in his faith. He is elated by respect and guards nothing like his territory. What you don’t want to lose is his trust, and there is nothing he tells better than his story.

Nothing scares a man like losing his self-esteem; nothing pursues him like his passion; what interests him is his game, and nothing intoxicates him like his desires. Above all, nothing favours a man like finding a good woman. Forces govern the world, and the need to perform drives a man.

The need to perform is a complex, profoundly ingrained issue affecting men across the spectrum of life. By recognising the far-reaching implications of this pressure, we can work towards a more inclusive, compassionate understanding of masculinity, breaking free from the shackles of expectation and embracing a more authentic, vulnerable, and human experience.

Beyond Father’s Day and International Men’s Day celebrations, it’s time to redefine what it means to be a man. We can dismantle the need to perform by acknowledging and challenging societal expectations. Men can find freedom from the weight of expectation when they embrace vulnerability, empathy, and authenticity. Let’s celebrate diverse expressions of man and his masculinity, prioritise emotional intelligence and intimacy, redefine success and worth beyond material possessions and create spaces for them to share their struggles and fears.

Olaotan Fawehinmi can be reached via [email protected]

Experts canvass tech-driven solution to address climate challenges

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Experts canvass tech-driven solution to address climate challenges

Experts have called for the development of Afrocentric artificial intelligence to address climate challenges in the continent.

This appeal was made during a webinar hosted by the African Technology and Innovation Institute to commemorate Africa Day 2024.

The founder of African Technology and Innovation Institute, Prof. Rose Ekeng-Itua, emphasised the urgent need for Africa to equip its human talent with the skills necessary to leverage AI for addressing African challenges, particularly climate action.

Citing recent severe flooding in Kenya, she remarked, “The far-reaching effects of climate action are real, and they are here in Africa. It is high time we acted on it, and Africa should be at the forefront of this leadership.”

The annual Africa Day event, celebrated globally, marks the founding of the African Union, originally established as the Organization of African Unity on the same date in 1963.

This year’s theme “Education Fit for the 21st Century” underscored the importance of equipping Africa’s next generation for responsible AI use.

On the panel were the Dean of the Quality Assurance and Planning Office of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science, and Technology (KNUST), Ghana; Prof. Jerry Kponyo and the Co-Founder/CEO of LEGA.C Capital; Mrs Nela Ekpeyong,

Kponyo advocated for Africa to invest in research and development to lead the global conversation on climate action.

“We must invest in research and development to lead the conversation on climate action, ensuring that policies we put together address where we want to be as opposed to a global policy or protectionist agenda,” he said.

He also highlighted the importance of building capacity among users of new technologies, suggesting that training should start at the secondary school level.

Africa is disproportionately affected by climate change, despite contributing less than 10 per cent to global greenhouse gas emissions. The continent faces significant challenges due to its high exposure, fragility, and low adaptive capacity.

According to the Africa Development Bank, to address these challenges, African countries need significant investments in mitigation and adaptation efforts, estimated to be over $3tn by 2030.

Has Tinubu abandoned restructuring and true federalism?

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Has Tinubu abandoned restructuring and true federalism?

Since the Alliance for Democracy was founded in 1998, under which President Bola Tinubu became the governor of Lagos State in 1999, the key ideologies he and the party have pushed have been “restructuring” and “true federalism.” The two principles followed the AD when it became the Action Congress and then the Action Congress of Nigeria and eventually when it merged with other parties to form the All Progressives Congress.

The most enduring legacy of Dr Goodluck Jonathan as president of Nigeria would have been implementing the report of the 2014 National Conference. But he took the wrong step of not implementing it and using it as bait for re-election in 2015. He and the key figures of his re-election bid made the ridiculous argument that Jonathan should be re-elected so that he could implement the National Conference report. But he lost the election.

The moment Muhammadu Buhari took over in 2015 as president, he revealed his true character as a strong opponent of “restructuring” and “true federalism.” He had kept quiet about that view all through the formation of the APC in 2013 and the campaign for the 2015 election. Even though his stand on such issues was well-known, before the formation of the APC, many of those who aligned with him were more concerned about getting power than aligning with people with the same ideologies. It was, therefore, not surprising that Buhari chose to ignore the report of the 2014 National Conference.

First, if Buhari reviewed the report and implemented its decisions, it would make Jonathan popular. Nigerian politicians, as champions of pettiness, can cut their nose to spite their face in their bid to ensure that they don’t take any action that will give their opponents any iota of goodwill.  Secondly, Buhari had never taken any action or made a comment that portrayed him as a Progressive interested in seeing any structural changes in Nigeria.

Now let us get something straight: being a Conservative is not a pejorative or an insult.  It is just a political leaning. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party is in power, while the Labour Party is the opposition. In the United States, the Democratic Party, which is progressive, is in power, while the Republican Party, which is conservative, is trying to wrest power from the Democrats. The Conservatives usually like to maintain the status quo while the Progressives like to make radical changes.  For example, in the US, the Progressives are pushing for gay rights, pro-choice (freedom to choose if to abort or not depending on the circumstances of the conception), pro-gun control, relaxed immigration laws etc; while the Conservatives are pushing for marriage as a union of man and woman, pro-life (no abortion no matter the circumstances), anti-gun control, tougher immigration laws, etc. Other terms for them are right (Conservative) and left (Progressive). In this grouping, there are those who are far right or far left, as well as those who are moderate and those who are in the middle.

But in the Nigeria of today, the political parties have no ideological leanings irrespective of the names they bear. Each party is just concerned about the acquisition of power. Individuals have some form of political leanings, but because of political expediency, they jump from party to party to achieve their desire to hold political office.

Before and during his tenure, Buhari never pushed for the restructuring of the country or for fiscal federalism. His belief was that once corruption was conquered, the problem of Nigeria would be solved. No doubt, corruption is a terrible cankerworm that has eaten deep into the soul of the nation, but it is obvious that something is watering the ground upon which corruption is wreaking its havoc. Therefore, fighting corruption is like fighting the headache suffered by a malaria patient: the headache may subside for a while but the patient’s condition will not improve. Predictably, after eight years in office, Buhari did not defeat corruption, neither did he make Nigeria better.

The convocation of a national conference has been more of the desire of the South. Most Northerners have seen it as a move that will not benefit them because it is believed that it will advocate a change to the current Nigeria’s structure. And the wrong assumption of most Northern politicians is that a change in the structure of Nigeria will not benefit the North. There is also the unfounded fear that a national conference will cause the disintegration of Nigeria.

Currently, the system that makes states fold their arms and wait for monthly allocations promotes laziness, mediocrity and corruption. States receive money they did not work for and, therefore, care little about how it is spent because it is free money that will continue to flow in. That has made all forms of production less lucrative and increased the poverty in the land. The different violent agitations from parts of Nigeria are issues caused by an asphyxiating system.

After one year in office, Tinubu has not paid any attention to these critical issues of restructuring and true federalism that he has championed all through his years as a politician. If Buhari could be overlooked for never promising “restructuring” and “true federalism” himself, even though his party promised them, what excuse will Tinubu give if he does not pursue them? His political career has been hinged on these two concepts.

The sundry decisions taken at the 2014 National Conference proffered solutions to many of Nigeria’s key problems. Before the conference, many of us had feared that given the divide between the North and the South on many national issues as well as the 75 per cent needed to pass any resolution that it would be difficult to agree on any issue at the national conference. But to our utmost surprise, most of the seemingly intractable issues were agreed upon beyond the scene and passed smoothly with little or no dissension. It was like a miracle. Many never believed that Nigerians from across ethnic, religious, gender, and age divides could agree on issues so easily.

Therefore, anybody who opposes the implementation of the decisions of the national conference does not mean well for Nigeria. Anybody who thinks that implementing the report of that conference will work against his or her ethnic group, religion, age, gender or profession is not farsighted.

Nigeria’s age-long problems will not disappear once corruption, insurgency or unemployment is eradicated (if it is possible to do so). The problems that have made Nigeria regress over the last 50 years will continue until we get to the root of the problem and destroy it. The fight against corruption and insurgency must be intensified as a short-term tactic, but the long-term plan should be to dismantle the faulty foundation that creates these monsters.

It will be sad if Tinubu pursues the issues he thinks are critical in his administration, only to realise that he has added his name to the list of Nigerian leaders who left the substance and pursued the shadow, and ended up working so hard without achieving their much-desired result.

Once Nigeria’s foundation is rectified, all parts of Nigeria of all socioeconomic classes will benefit from it and the rancour and anger will abate. Whether North or South, East or West, the implementation of the National Conference will be a blessing. This should go beyond politics.

But will Tinubu be nationalistic and bold enough to solve this age-long Nigerian problem and make Nigeria start blossoming? That is the question whose answer is not certain.

– X: @BrandAzuka

Tinubu’s unity rhetoric an illusion

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Tinubu’s unity rhetoric an illusion

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu told guests at the Presidential Democracy Day Dinner on June 12 that Nigeria’s unity cannot be traded. He sounded upbeat about what should be the advantage of the country’s diversity and declared that this was the best path to success.

Essentially, Tinubu was vainly regurgitating the unfeasible position of his predecessors that Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable. However, many citizens still question the basis of Nigeria’s unity if indeed it exists.

Nigeria is diverse with over 400 ethnic groups. There are deep divides across geographical, cultural, and religious lines. This formed the basis of the pre-independence constitutional conferences that the early political leaders sought to address in working out terms of Nigeria’s collective existence.

Diversity can work to the advantage of countries as it tends to aggregate the talents, skills, foresight, and other positive attributes of people of diverse backgrounds and cultures to drive national goals, create wealth, provide security, and better the lot of citizens. The United States is a good example of a country that has mined the advantages of its diversity to achieve huge success.

The problem with Nigeria is that the same leaders who swear on the altar of national unity often emphasise those elements that drive Nigerians apart in their quest for power and preach the unity mantra once entrenched in office. They tend to forget that the basis for national unity remains the articulation of national goals and aspirations driven by consensus, which the Constitution should represent, rather than a document produced by a conclave of vested interests.

The late Head of State Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi tried to legislate national unity in 1966 via a military decree to repair the divisions caused by infighting and corruption by the political elite. This backfired spectacularly and triggered a chain of events that resulted in a fratricidal civil war that has not been forgotten.

Military officers who ruled Nigeria afterward forbade any suggestions that Nigeria could fall apart, yet they played the ethnic or religious card in their coups, countercoups, resource allocation, and appointments.

Efforts at resolving the national question through the various national conferences have been wasted because the motives were largely egoistic rather than altruistic. The late military dictator Sani Abacha’s national conference of 1994 proved to be a power elongation ruse but did result in the creation of the six geopolitical regions.

Olusegun Obasanjo’s conference of 2005 ended in a fiasco because of the third-term plot. Goodluck Jonathan’s national conference of 2014 was abandoned because a resolution by delegates to adopt a single six-year tenure for the president was perceived to be to Jonathan’s advantage.

Muhammadu Buhari declared that discussions questioning the unity of Nigeria were a red line that must not be crossed during his presidency.

History has proven that national unity is not sacrosanct. Many countries have split, and citizens are just as fine. The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, Korea, Vietnam, and Sudan have all split.

Fostering national unity is not a matter of rhetoric but involves deliberate actions to ensure social justice, equity, prosperity, and security. Sixty-four years after independence, agitations for self-determination persist in Nigeria because the union is fragile and not working.

Tinubu was once an apostle of restructuring, but now it seems he has not mentioned the word since he came into office. Restructuring the polity along the lines of federalism is the closest template to the agreements reached by national leaders before independence.

Times have changed and progress must be made but since Tinubu dared to declare that “fuel subsidy is gone,” he should be bold enough to put the restructuring question back on the front burner.

UNILAG pharmacy students proffer solutions to persistent drug hikes

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UNILAG pharmacy students proffer solutions to persistent drug hikes

Pharmacists have identified innovation as a way out of the current challenges confronting the nation’s pharmaceutical industry, which has led to persistent hikes in the prices of drugs.

The experts proffered the solution during a symposium themed, ‘Turning Innovation into Impactful Pharma-solutions’, organised by the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigeria Students, University of Lagos chapter.

The Annual Health Week Symposium was conveyed by the pharmacy students to deliberate on measures to improve the pharmaceutical sector.

The keynote speaker and  Lead Consultant of Pharmalliance,  Adeshina Opanubi, said innovation locally will go a long way in finding solutions to the problems facing the pharmaceutical industry.

Opanubi said, “Now that the exchange rate is getting out of hand, we need to look inward and see what we can do locally. What products are Indigenous to us – Nigeria and Africa, that we can begin to explore?

“What import substitution can we begin to do because that is the only way we can build a sustainable and robust local industry?

“More companies should begin to look into Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients because the less of that we import, the more it strengthens our local industry. Yes, innovation is the way out.”

The pharmacist also stressed the need for young people to leverage innovations in creating values and ideas that can transform existing policies and bring about sustainable change

“The drivers of innovation include financial pressure to reduce costs, increase efficiency, increased competition, shorter product life cycles, value migration, demographic, social and market changes,

“Rising customer expectations regarding service and quality, and changing economy”, he said.

Innovation, according to Opanubi, is anything that proposes an alternative to something that is done in a certain way, brings economic and behavioural benefits, solves problems, or makes people’s daily lives more practical.

He added, “It also involves the whole process from opportunity identification, ideation or invention, development, prototyping, production, marketing, and sales.”

According to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Nigeria currently imports all its APIs with the bulk of the imported ingredients coming from China and India.

In her remarks, the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, UNILAG, Prof. Gloria Ayoola, said the theme was apt and timely while congratulating the pharmacy students for a successful symposium that centred on innovation.

Ayoola said, “Innovation is core to what we do as pharmacists. We aren’t just innovative, we produce drugs for treatment.

“We also innovate to improve patients’ outcomes, enhance healthcare delivery, and ultimately save lives. It is one thing to innovate, it is another to turn our innovation into practical and actionable pharma solutions.”

The don identified finance as one of the major challenges they are facing in the pharma sector.

“We need finance to be able to take some of these innovations and turn them into pharma solutions, especially for the young ones who are coming into the profession. We just need to think out of the box to overcome our challenges”, the dean said.

Also speaking, the Sub-Dean, Dr Foluke Ayeni said, “So, for our students to be able to turn the current challenges we have in the pharmaceutical space into innovations that can better the pharmaceutical industry, is the reason why we are here today.

“One of the things that I think we need to do to get us out of the challenges of hikes in the cost of drugs is to get supportive roles played by the government and policymakers.

“This will enable the pharmaceutical industry ( drug manufacturers) to have access to the raw materials that they need in the manufacture of drugs so that they can keep prices down to the barest minimum for the patients.

“If we can have access to our raw materials and we can manufacture the majority of the medicines that we use,  we will be able to keep prices down to the barest minimum. A very good case is what is happening now because of the increase in the exchange rate.”

According to her, the prices of the majority of our medications have gone over the roof and many people are not able to afford their medicines.

Ayeni further suggested, “But if we can manufacture our drugs locally, patients will have access to drugs at the right price.”

President of PANS, UNILAG chapter, Oluwanifesimi Agbede, in her remarks, said the symposium is an annual event that is held in pharmacy schools in the country where they come together to talk about a particular topic to encourage pharmacy students to do better.

She said, “We want to encourage pharmacy students that they can be very innovative and can come up with ideas that can improve the pharmaceutical industry.

“They can come up with any ideas that can improve existing policies. When it comes to emerging solutions, there are no bad ideas. So they should be innovative and come up with ideas that can solve the problem in the pharmaceutical sector.

“We have a lot of challenges in the health sector and so we are encouraging the pharmacy students to bring innovative solutions to these problems.”

Agbede called on the Federal Government to invest in local drug manufacturing to check hikes in the prices of drugs.

“The challenge that we have in the cost of drugs is usually because we import most of our drugs and then, those producing locally import the raw materials.

“So, the FG should invest in local manufacturing of both drugs and also Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients.

“We should have our APIs produced here because we knew that when there was a COVID-19 outbreak, there was a hike in the prices of drugs. After all, we were importing everything.

“So, we need to have a complete system of manufacturing from the raw materials to packaging materials. That way, we can have drugs at affordable prices and we aren’t affected by the fluctuation of the naira to the dollar”, she said.

Physicians advocate better inclusion, support for special needs children

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Physicians advocate better inclusion, support for special needs children

Medical professionals and child development experts have called for a concerted effort to enhance support for children with special needs.

The experts emphasized the need for a unified approach to the growing concerns lapses in the current support systems and the need for comprehensive solutions.

The experts, who were speakers at the YBC reunion event organised by the 2002 alumni of the University of Lagos College of Medicine, lamented that there is discrimination against children with special needs.

During the one-week-long event, the alumni unveiled kitchen and ceiling refurbishment donated to the Children’s Development Centre, Surulere, Lagos.

The alumni also organised a free medical outreach for residents of Idi-Araba, and mentorship and coaching sessions for medical students at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

Speaking in separate interviews with our correspondent on the sideline, the experts called for targeted interventions to ensure equitable support for all children irrespective of their health challenges.

The Chief Operating Officer of the Children’s Developmental Centre, Ebele Oputa emphasised the need for continuous public education and engagement to foster inclusivity.

She lamented the scarcity of specialised centres outside Lagos for children with developmental challenges and underscored the critical need for more widespread support and awareness.

Oputa elaborated on the centre’s advocacy work, including extensive roadshows across 22 states to promote understanding and acceptance of children with disabilities.

The operating officer, however, described the alumni’s initiative as a significant and rare gesture.

“When you see people who remember children and young adults with developmental disabilities, it’s incredibly welcoming. This is part of the advocacy we desperately need,” she remarked.

On his part, the chairman of the 2002 alumni association, Dr Olasode Akinmokun, harped on the moral duty to assist those in need, particularly children with special needs, who are often marginalised.

He said, “I am passionate about people with special needs. And we know that a lot of us in this country still don’t want to accept them, but they are part of us and we will continue to accept them for who they are in our society.

“I would advise everyone, there is no need to discriminate against anyone. There are people with special needs and there are things that they can do to help the community, society and even Nigeria at large.

“So, we will say everyone should accept them for who they are and then continue to allow them to get integrated into society and live their life in full. This is because we still need some of the skills and knowledge that they have to also help build this country up.”

Akinmokun, who is also a Consultant Orthopedic at LUTH, explained that the alumni association organised the medical outreach and also donated to the children’s centre as a way to give back to a society that made them.

He stressed that the alumni’s efforts is not aimed only at providing immediate medical care but also to advocate for long-term societal changes.

Similarly, a Consultant Oncologist, Dr Kehinde Ololade urged Nigerians to intensify efforts to integrate children with special needs.

The cancer specialist, who doubles as chairman, local planning committee for the reunion, also said the event was organized to give back to the community and support vulnerable groups.

He stressed the importance of continuous awareness and acceptance for children with developmental challenges.

Ololade added, “One of the things we’ve realized as medical doctors and dental surgeons are that no matter how great an individual is, giving back to society is greater than that. So, we found out that as part of our reunion activities, apart from the festivities of the dinner, of the celebration, dancing and making merry, we should find a way to give back to the society. So in giving back to society, we looked at two or three places where we give back, and one is to the future of medicine.

“We started with ensuring that we have a mentorship programme for medical students that are currently in the school. That was done on Wednesday. Then after that, we looked at one of the areas that have been involved in our growth, which is the children’s development centre in Surulere.

“One of the things is that we have to continue to identify with them. We have to continue to raise awareness because, you know, it is not far-fetched, the fact that we’re still struggling with a lot of stigma when it comes to children with special needs; children that are autistic, or that are finding it difficult either to move and all that, or they have any growth, deformity or the other.

“So to prevent that and to ensure that they are easily integrated into the society, we must continue to do a lot of awareness.

“We must continue to make sure that they identify with them through ventures like carrying out projects with them, interacting and visiting them in their various centres. In that way, we can raise awareness and help to reduce as much as possible, the discrimination that they are suffering as children with special needs.”

AfDB to match Italy’s $150m concessional loans for Africa

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AfDB to match Italy’s $150m concessional loans for Africa

The African Development Bank has announced that it will match the $150m in concessional loans and grants from Italy, intended to fund projects on the continent

This was revealed in a statement by the AfDB on its website, as the operationalisation of Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa gets underway.

Earlier in the year, the Italian government unveiled a project aimed at boosting development in Africa, to spark economic growth that would curb irregular immigration to Europe.

The plan was unveiled as migrant arrival in Italy jumped 50 per cent in 2023, according to data from Italy’s Interior Ministry.

AfDB, which has had a bilateral agreement with Italy, including a cofinancing arrangement and trust fund to finance joint projects, stated, “Italy has committed approximately $150m in highly concessional loans and grants and the African Development Bank Group will at least match this amount. The objective is to pursue Italian and African Development Bank Group priorities as set out by the Mattei Plan for Africa and by the Italian Development Cooperation strategy, to foster economic and strategic partnerships with African nations and institutions by building common business opportunities and scaling up investment flows.

“The priority areas are energy, water, agriculture, health, education and training and infrastructure, both physical and digital.”

Also, a Multi-donor Special Fund has been established to serve the Mattei Plan for Africa and the Rome Process on Migration and Development.

AfDB said the fund would be targeting high-impact and climate-aligned investments in key strategic sectors in support of sovereign entities in Africa.

“Thanks to its multi-donor nature, it will be able to attract other international partners to combine forces and leverage funding. An initial pledge of around $130m in highly concessional loans and grants has been announced by Italy, together with an additional commitment by the United Arab Emirates. The African Development Bank Group has committed to at least match the Fund’s contributions on each project with its resources,” AfDB declared.

The Prime Minister of Italy, Ms Giorgia Meloni, and the President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, met on the sidelines of the G7 Heads of State and Government Summit in Puglia on Saturday.

On the project, Adesina noted, “I applaud Prime Minister Meloni for her launch of the Mattei plan and for selecting the African Development Bank Group as its strategic partner to deliver it for Africa. Our partnership will deliver impactful development impacts across African countries, expand access to energy, tackle climate change, support food security, boost health services, and expand skills and jobs for the youth. This will help create more economic opportunities in Africa and help stem drivers of migration.

“Italy’s ‘Piano Mattei’ will foster economic and strategic partnerships with African nations and institutions, and the African Development Bank Group is our main strategic financial partner for its implementation. Our collaboration will sustain the development of initiatives with Africa’s public and private sectors, with additional opportunities for Italian businesses”, Prime Minister Meloni said.

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