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 Politics / Controversy Trails Sale Of Billion Naira Worth Radio Nigeria Building For N100M by Shehuyinka: 4:07pm On Sep 06, 2021 |
The six-storey building at 45, Martins Street, Lagos, flaunts a rich history. The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) acquired the property after the country’s Independence in 1960 and structured it into a broadcasting station. The first Frequency Modulated (FM) station in the country, Radio Nigeria 2 (RN2) began broadcasting from there, infusing entertainment into radio broadcast, a role it admiringly played for many years, spewing sonorous music, and producing exciting plays and short stories. That exemplary narration has, however, changed. The building housing Radio Nigeria 2 (RN2), as the station was widely known, is today a burnt edifice enmeshed in sale and management controversy. Invariably, the property was sold without the owner (FRCN) knowing about it. What is even more curious is that it was sold over 10 years ago with no one coming forward to claim ownership – until recently. But that is not the only curious thing about the sale of the property. Investigations by The ICIR shows that the building was sold (in actual fact, leased for 99 years) in 2010 by the Presidential Implementation on the Sale of Government Property to Seamen Traders Nigeria Limited without the knowledge of FRCN. Further investigations revealed that Seamen Traders was issued a Certificate of Occupancy by the Federal government on May 17, 2010. A search at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) showed that Seamen Traders is owned by Orji Uzor Kalu, businessman, newspaper publisher and senator representing Abia North. The company, which was incorporated in February 1988, has Christiana Orji and Obinna Moore as the other directors. Also curious is the fact that the property was sold for N100 million, whereas independent evaluation puts its worth at least one billion naira. What is more, there is no evidence that the pittance for which it was sold was ever paid into government coffers. Property’s chequered history On November 6, 2019, fire razed the imposing building, which Adebowale Stores Limited (ASL) had managed as lessee for some 19 years on behalf of the FRCN. That would be the second major fire damage to the building. ASL had been a tenant in the building for about 20 years when fire first gutted the building on November 15, 1997, wreaking extensive damage. As the property remained unrepaired two years after the fire incident, the founder and chairman of ASL, Hamza Beyioku Adebowale, wrote to the FRCN in December 1999, indicating his company’s desire to repair the uninsured building and acquire a leasehold on it. The FRCN management agreed and, on May 29, 2000, both parties signed a five-year lease agreement. FRCN kept us in the dark on sale – Adebowale ASL had since then been the manager of the property until the 2019 fire tragedy and, as the company’s Head, Corporate Services/Company Secretary, Yishau Habeeb, put it, was hoping its long tenancy and lease relationship with the FRCN would put it in a position of advantage if and when the federal government eventually decided to sell it. That hope would turn out forlorn, for, as the ASL just recently discovered, the building had actually been sold in 2010 for N100 million. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/controversy-trails-sale-of-billion-naira-worth-radio-nigeria-building-for-n100-million/
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| Politics / Multi-billion Asaba Int. Airport Remains Inoperative 13 Years After Launch by Shehuyinka: 11:59am On Sep 03, 2021 |
Failed promise ON May 7, 2008, a year after the assumption of office by former governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, laid the foundation stone of the Asaba International Airport. One of the key promises the former governor made was that the airport project would not be abandoned. The Okpanam community, where it was sited, and other neighbouring communities, would not regret giving their land for this project. Also promising to build a world-class facility, Uduaghan said that Deltans would never have to go to neighbouring states to travel to other parts of the country and beyond. The construction of Asaba International Airport project was approved at an executive council meeting of the state cabinet on February 12, 2008, at the cost of N6.4 billion. The cost was reviewed up to N21.2 billion in 2014. READ ALSO: Shady deal that marred sale of Delta Line Counting cost: Families in tears as oil spillage destroys life, livelihoods in Delta community BLOOD ON UNIFORMS (4): Policewoman killed by policeman in Rivers; man gunned down by soldier in Delta The contract was awarded to an indigenous contractor, U.L.O. Consultants Ltd. ULO consultants Ltd, owned by Late Ogbueshi Uche Luke Okpuno, an Asaba indigene, who was regarded in several quarters as a key business player in James Ibori and Uduaghan administration. Uduaghan served as secretary to the state government under Ibori and succeeded Ibori to be governor. At an inspection tour of the airport in September 2010, two years after the foundation laying ceremony and in the presence of former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonji Iwela and others, Uduaghan was quoted as saying that: “Asaba has been suffering the problem of no airport for a very long time. This will not be an abandoned project where Asaba people would regret giving their arable land. The airport is located in Asaba because of the strategic position of Asaba itself. Asaba is the quickest link to the East. The Asaba will be an aero-hub if successive administrations stay focused with the standard airport it would become when functional.” However, years after, Uduaghan’s plan and the hopes of host communities of Asaba Airport of attracting economic benefits and development to the area have been dashed, following the poor state of the facility, with wild brushes taking over the airport; the buildings, carrier vans, parking lots provide a conducive atmosphere for open defecation for passers-by, while gully erosion also ravages parts of the complex each time it rains. Residents of Okpanam and Ibusa communities in Oshimili South Local Government Area are already counting their losses due to the perennial flooding that render them homeless each time it rains. Joseph Akwuanu, married with three kids and resident in Airport View Estate, opposite the Asaba International Airport and other residents, are on the verge of being sacked from their homes due to the persistent flooding in the area. The 47-year-old taxi driver said life has become unbearable for his family and other estate residents, as their houses are always flooded whenever it rains. How Asaba Airport was downgraded The Asaba airport became operational in 2014 until it was downgraded in 2015 by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) over the failure by Delta State Government to put in place safety and security measures and the poor state of facilities, a development that would make it impossible for big aircraft to land, Assistant Director, Press & Public Affairs, Ministry of Aviation, James Odaudu, said in May 2015. He stressed that the airport was allowed to accommodate Dash 8-Q 400 aircraft operation or its equivalent until all the safety issues were addressed. Amid cries that the contractor did a shoddy job, Governor Okowa embarked on the facility upgrade, including constructing a new runway, instrument landing system and field lighting to have the airport return to 24-hour operations in 2019. While the upgrade was in progress, the governor started scouting for private investors to take over the facility and transform it into a regional hub. Weeks later, the governor said that the state settled for a consortium of concessionaire operators/investors “with the technical and financial capabilities to redevelop, finance, design, operate, maintain and manage the Asaba International Airport for the benefit of Deltans”. [b]Asaba Concession signing [/b]Group photograph of Gov. Okowa, Govt officials and the concessionaire This announcement heralded a new twist in fate for the project. Halcrow Infrastructure Nigeria Limited was appointed as the transaction adviser for the concession. Bids for the Asaba International Airport concession were opened in May 2019 with two consortia – First Investment Development Company Menzies consortium (the preferred bidder) and AI-MS Aviation Infrastructure consortium (reserved bidder) as favourites. The two groups were led by Adanwimo Ezeife and Onome Onokpasa, respectively, and both commended the transparency of the bidding process, adding that they look forward to the announcement of the results of the technical evaluation. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/multi-billion-asaba-international-airport-remains-inoperative-13-years-after-launch/ 1 Share
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| Politics / Out Of 17, Only Seven Southern States Meet Open Grazing Ban Deadline by Shehuyinka: 6:40pm On Sep 01, 2021 |
THE Southern Governors Forum (SGF)’s deadline is due and out of the 17 member states, only seven have completed the process of banning open grazing of cattle in their domains. When the southern governors met on July 5, part of their agreement was that by Wednesday, September 1, the anti-open grazing law would have taken effect in all member states. The ban is in place in seven states: Ebonyi, Abia, Bayelsa, Rivers, Oyo, Ekiti and Ondo states. It is still in the legislative process in four states: Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Lagos states. In Cross River, Osun and Ogun states, the law already exists or has been passed by the state assembly but awaiting their governors’ assent. However, in Anambra, Imo and Edo states, nothing seems to be happening regarding the anti-open grazing bill. Breakdown For Ebonyi, Abia, Oyo and Ekiti states, the ban had already been existing in their states before the southern governors’ resolution. For Bayelsa State, the ban was in effect on March 10, 2021, and for Rivers, the ban came into being on August 19, 2021. Ondo State joined the list on August 31, 2021, becoming the seventh state to effect the ban. For Enugu and Delta states, the anti-grazing bill is still in the second reading stage at the houses of assembly. In Lagos State, the bill is also in the state house of assembly, but the progress is yet to be known. In Cross River, it was agreed that the state would pass the anti-open grazing law back in 2017, but it was reported that the sitting Governor Ben Ayade refused to assent to it. In Osun State, the bill has been passed by the house of assembly, but it is yet to be assented to by Governor Adegboyega Oyetola. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/out-of-17-only-seven-southern-states-meet-open-grazing-ban-deadline/
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| Politics / Buhari’s Govt Pays Ex-militants N2.63bn As Stipends In Two Months, Data Reveal by Shehuyinka: 11:44am On Sep 01, 2021 |
THE President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, through the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, paid the sum of N2.63 billion to 10 different personal accounts between March and May 2021, daily payment data from the Open Treasury Portal (OTP) have revealed. Data obtained from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation through Govspend.ng reveal that the monies were stipends to delegates who were mostly ex-militants in the Niger Delta region. Govspend.ng is a new visual platform launched by BudgIT to provide daily government spending in a simplified way. According to data curated from the platform, N1.6 billion was paid in March, N452.2 million in April, and N574.8 million in May, of which most payments were described as ‘bulk payment of stipends to camp leaders…’ and ‘bulk payment of stipends to ex-agitators for the month…’ Names of individuals whose accounts were credited with these payments included: Awotongha Princewill B – N99 million, Cyril Harry- N79.2 million, Dasimaka Adokiye Sami- N914.9 million, Ebikabowei Victor Ben- N716.9 million, and Harry Tonye Ikemenjeme- N197.4 million. Others were: Joseph Evah- N110.4 million, Odiki Jacob- N241.3 million, Reuben C. Wilson- N130.6 million, Sylvester A. Tambo- N10 million, and Torughedi Selky- N128.3 million. To identify those behind the names listed, The ICIR searched each of the names on social media platforms. While it was difficult to connect some of the names on the list to the results on our query, some names appeared to be the real receivers of these monies. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/buharis-govt-pays-ex-militants-n2-63-bn-as-stipends-in-two-months-data-reveal/
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| Business / Nigerian Fintech Companies Shame, Threaten Customers For Late Payment Of Loans by Shehuyinka: 12:01pm On Aug 30, 2021 |
YETUNDE Adewole lost her phone in June. She got a replacement weeks later, including a new SIM card and everything went back to normal. She didn’t give a thought to the missing phone or the SIM card until rumours started flying around in July. Yetunde owed money. An online loan fintech company was sending WhatsApp and text messages to everyone in Yetunde’s inner circle that she was a debtor and fraudster. Her close friends, former schoolmates, and work colleagues received these messages, three or four times daily. Read also NITDA imposes N10 million fine on Soko Loan for data privacy invasion SPECIAL REPORT: How inefficiency, lack of transparency flaw CBN’s N50bn COVID-19 loan to small businesses Over 40 countries are demanding Nigeria’s sickle cell drug – NIPRD DG “I tried explaining to everyone on my contact list, whom I could get in touch with, that I didn’t take any loan from the online loan company and it has not been easy trying to clear my name for something I didn’t do. “It was a really traumatic experience. My biggest regret was failing to block the line when my phone went missing,” she told The ICIR. Yetunde had never taken a loan from an online loan app, but she failed to block her SIM card after her phone went missing. A WhatsApp message from one of the fintech companies, with Yetunde’s picture alongside. If a missing phone fell into the hands of a scammer, transaction could be done on the account of the phone owner without his or her knowledge. All the scammer who picked up Yetunde’s SIM card needed to do was, download the online loan app, enter a fictitious financial detail, and let the algorithm generate a credit rating. The fintech creditor usually asks for permission to access the contacts on the SIM card before the loan is approved, a process that takes barely an hour. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/nigerian-lending-apps-that-shames-threatens-customers-for-late-payment-of-loans/
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| Politics / Courts Take Centre Stage In PDP Leadership Crisis by Shehuyinka: 11:52am On Aug 30, 2021 |
AT the last count, three different courts in three different states have handed out three different orders on Uche Secondus’ position as national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).https://www.icirnigeria.org/courts-take-center-stage-in-pdp-leadership-crisis/ 2 Likes
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| Health / Abuja Communities Battle For WASH As COVID-19, Cholera Surge In Nigeria by Shehuyinka: 4:47pm On Aug 28, 2021 |
In ABUJA, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) many communities, particularly the ones sited at the outskirt of the city does not have access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), The ICIR findings revealed. As COVID-19 and Cholera surge in Nigeria, keeping safe is becoming difficult for these communities, who have continued to struggle with safe water, toilets and good hygiene. Many of the residents who spoke with The ICIR allay the fear of contracting any of the infectious diseases. Read also: Why Bauchi State Government fails to hold off Cholera outbreak Cholera kills 816 in Nigeria in seven months Over 40 countries are demanding Nigeria’s sickle cell drug – NIPRD DG Inside Gosa Kpai Kpai community where residents lack potable water, practice open defecation According to the World Health organization (WHO) proper hand washing is one of the significant measures that prevent coronavirus, Lassa fever, Cholera and a host of other infectious diseases. For people in Gosa Kpai Kpai, hand washing is a challenge many find difficult to observe. The residents’ problem could not be far-fetched from the fact that they lack potable water. In October 2020, the people of Gosa Kpai Kpai were full of high spirit, when the Riders for Health Nigeria borehole water project funded by the Ford Foundation was commissioned in the community. However, barely a year after the project was birthed, the people’s hope was cut short, as the borehole suddenly stopped working. Obadiah Ado, a resident of the community said the people had no choice but to retire to the traditional way of fetching water from the stream. “Our children and wives always wake up very early in the morning, trek a few kilometers before they could fetch from the stream.” READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/abuja-communities-battle-for-wash-as-covid-19-cholera-surge-in-nigeria/
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| Health / Hundreds Of Doctors Throng Sheraton For Saudi Interview, But Only 7 Are Needed by Shehuyinka: 6:12pm On Aug 26, 2021 |
HUNDREDS of doctors thronged Sheraton Hotel Abuja on Tuesday and Wednesday for a recruitment exercise that would enable them to jet out of Nigeria and work in Saudi Arabia, but only seven are needed, The ICIR understands. An official familiar with the exercise said recruiters wanted only seven doctors and the recruitment had been a recurring event at the hotel. The official, who pleaded anonymity because he did not want to be sanctioned by his organisation, said what made the just-concluded exercise unique was the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) strike. “The interview was for only seven persons. This is not the first time the man has been doing it, sometimes for 10 or 20, which is the maximum number I have seen. “This week, he thought it was going to be the usual way. Doctors are on strike. The Minister (of Health) and his labour counterpart are not helping issues. That’s what triggered the whole issue,” the official said. Meed Consultants, an Abuja-based firm, conducted the interview tagged ‘Saudi Ministry of Health Doctors Recruitment August 2021.’ The programme sought practitioners from different specialities, and it is expected to provide better working conditions and remunerations for beneficiaries. Our reporter saw about 20 doctors at the hotel on Thursday who hoped the exercise would continue, but it did not. Some of them who spoke with our reporter expressed sadness over their discontinuation of the exercise. They claimed they had been there a day earlier and could not receive recruiters’ attention. NARD members, comprising resident doctors and house officers, constitute most doctors who work in public hospitals in Nigeria. They have scald down services since August 2 following unmet demands from the federal and state governments. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/hundreds-of-doctors-throng-sheraton-hotel-for-saudi-interview-but-only-seven-are-needed/
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| Politics / Omo-agege Repeats False Claim About Buhari’s Records by Shehuyinka: 11:56am On Aug 24, 2021 |
ON Saturday, Deputy President of the Senate Ovie Omo-Agege repeated the APC cliché about ‘Buhari change’ which Nigerians’ reality and credible data have contradicted. At a lecture held in Lagos during the weekend, the deputy Senate president declared that Nigerians were worse off six years ago before Buhari came to power. “Buhari promised change, and he brought change, introducing new policies that encouraged domestic production of what we consume and cutting down imports of goods that we can produce locally. “Under his watch, we now consume made-in-Nigeria rice and other locally produced commodities, and today Nigeria is on course to self-sufficiency in food production. In the process, millions of jobs have been created in the agricultural sector. He also changed our politics, and once more, the people’s priorities have become the government’s priorities,” he said. Omo-Agege, represented by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Yomi Odunuga at the eighth annual lecture organised by the Afrikanwatch Network Communications at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, said that Buhari administration had prepared Nigeria for a more sustainable and inclusive economy as well as a prosperous nation. But this claim is contradicted by hard facts and data. For instance, according to the World Bank Data, Nigeria’s productivity level under President Buhari has dropped by 11.2 per cent between 2015 and 2020. Six years ago, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product was $486 billion, and by 2020, the GDP has come down to $432 billion, despite Buhari’s promised change. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/omo-agege-repeats-false-claim-about-buharis-records/
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| TV/Movies / I Want To Play God’s Role In A Movie- RMD by Shehuyinka: 6:36pm On Aug 19, 2021 |
NIGERIAN Movie Star Richard Mofe-Damijo has expressed his desire to play the role of God in a movie. He disclosed this in an interview on Arise Television while speaking on his career, which has lasted over 30 years, on Wednesday. “I must play God; I missed the chance to play God. I want to play God, either his voice or play God in a movie,” he said. READ ALSO: Atiku, Fayemi harp on nation-building as book on Nigeria at 60 launches in Abuja A former commissioner for culture and tourism in Delta State, Mofe- Damijo, said during the interview that he put extra effort into creating believable characters that would resonate with his audience. “I usually like my characters to be relatable because the whole point of a movie or play is empathy. It is for people to be able to connect to it. And for you to have a connection, it has to be something that humanity or people can relate to,” he said. While the actor desires to play God in a fantasy world, his sentiments seem to be shared by some others who have taken advantage of religion to assume the role of God in reality rather than wait for a movie script. The need to lord over followers has often resulted in outright exploitation of worshippers in Nigeria under the guise of prophecies, signs and wonders. Beyond exploitation of followers in the name of God, some pass judgment on errant worshippers as the consequence of their sins. In 2007, a Christian religious leader Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, popularly known as Reverend King, was sentenced to death for the murder of one of his followers, Ann Uzoh. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/i-want-to-play-gods-role-in-a-movie-rmd/
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| Business / Scammers Fleece Access Bank Of N871m In Five Years by Shehuyinka: 6:10pm On Aug 19, 2021 |
EVERY year, thousands of Nigerians collectively lose millions of naira to online banking fraud. A suspected fraudster recently arrested by the Nigerian Police revealed that Access Bank and First Bank were the easiest banks to hack. The 46-year-old suspect Zakarriyah Yahaya, paraded by the Police, alongside thirty-eight other suspects, disclosed how his gang emptied the bank accounts of Nigerians using their missing or stolen SIM cards. “I used to reset any SIM that receives bank alerts. I do reset it with the victim’s bank account number through bank code from the first to the last number. “Any bank that we get, we first use it to buy a recharge card. From there, they will send us the alert. From the alert, we will now get the account number,” he said. He also explained that the most vulnerable banks for his eleven-member gang were Access Bank and First Bank, revealing that the highest amount they had stolen from a single bank account was N800,000. Yahaya’s story confirms the rising cases of online banking fraud and cyberattacks perpetrated by fraudsters in the country. However, corporate organisations in Nigeria rarely disclose to the public when being attacked. Huge losses The ICIR checked the audited financial records of Access Bank and First Bank to ascertain the losses incurred by both banks from fraudulent activities or cyberattacks over the past four years. After examining the financial statements, First Bank records did not provide details on its financial losses from fraudulent activities on any of its electronic banking channels, either through USSD codes or ATM cards. Also, there was no section specifically meant to show losses from electronic transactions by First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Plc, rather the financial records of all the subsidiaries of First Bank Holdings, which includes FBN, were merged together. In comparison, Access Bank displayed its annual financial statements which revealed that between 2016 to 2020, the bank lost a total of N871.4 million to fraudulent transfer/withdrawal transactions, which included transactions on its electronic channels. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/scammers-fleece-access-bank-n871m-in-five-years/ 1 Like
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| Politics / Constituents Tackle Two Abia Senators For Sabotaging Electronic Transmission by Shehuyinka: 2:22pm On Aug 19, 2021 |
TWO former governors of Abia State who are currently members of the Senate have been confronted by their constituents over their role in rejecting a provision for electronic transmission of election results in proposed amendments to the Electoral Act passed by the Senate. The constituents, under the aegis of Abia League of Professional Initiatives (ALPI), have queried the two former governors – Orji Uzor Kalu and Theodore Orji. The Senate on July 15 passed the Electoral Act amendment bill with a controversial Section 52(3), which stated that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), with the approval of the National Assembly, would determine whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could transmit results electronically or not. Initially, Section 52(3), in the report submitted by the Senate Committee on INEC, had read: “The commission (INEC) may transmit results of elections by electronic means where and when practicable.” But after 52 senators – comprising 50 from the APC and two from the PDP – voted to give NCC and the National Assembly the powers to determine whether INEC can transmit election results electronically, Section 52(3) in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill passed by the Senate read: “INEC may consider electronic collation of results provided the national network coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secured by the Nigerian Communications Commission and approved by the National Assembly.” Two former Abia State governors – Orji Uzor Kalu and Theodore Orji – are currently serving as senators. Both men played significant roles in the outcome of the vote conducted by the Senate to decide on the inclusion of electronic transmission in the Electoral Act. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/constituents-tackle-two-abia-senators-for-sabotaging-electronic-transmission/
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| Crime / Terrorism: Why Nigeria Should Be On ‘red Alert’ As Taliban Grabs Power In Afghan by Shehuyinka: 12:26pm On Aug 19, 2021 |
Terrorism: Why Nigeria should be on ‘red alert’ as Taliban grabs power in Afghanistan After the takeover of Afghanistan by an Islamic militant group, the Taliban, security experts have advised the Nigerian government to tighten its belt and be on a red alert. On August 15, the Taliban took over the capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul, where it once controlled some 20 years ago. The Afghanistan government led by Ashraf Ghani collapsed when the United States (US) government withdrew its military forces from the country after several years of presence. According to the latest Global Terrorism Index (GTI) ranking, Afghanistan is the most terrorised country globally. Afghanistan is closely followed by Iraq and Nigeria, both of which have been facing incessant killings attributed to Islamist terrorist groups. There are indications that the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban group poses security implications for Nigeria and other West African countries that are battling with terrorism activities poised by Islamic terrorist groups. For more than a decade, Nigeria and other West African countries have been caught in the fight against Boko Haram, a terrorist group that opposes western education and ideologies. A faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), has also carried out several attacks in West Africa. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/terrorism-why-nigeria-should-be-on-red-alert-as-taliban-grabs-power-in-afghanistan/
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| Crime / Police, Judiciary Failures Increase Number Of Awaiting Trial Suspects In Prison by Shehuyinka: 9:28am On Aug 16, 2021 |
How police, judiciary failures increase number of awaiting trial suspects in prison POOR oversight and negligence of the Nigerian Police have led to an increasing population of awaiting trial suspects in custody of the country’s correctional service. The judiciary and other prosecuting agencies are also not left out of the blame for the surging number of awaiting trial inmates in Nigerian correctional centres/prisons. Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola had disclosed that out of the 68,747 inmates in Nigerian prisons, 50,992 of them were awaiting trial. Aregbesola said this on Friday, July 23, during the inauguration of Osun State headquarters of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) in Osogbo. “It should also be noted that 50,992 inmates, representing 74 per cent of the total population of inmates in our custodial centres, are awaiting-trial inmates while only 17,755 inmates, which is mere 26 per cent, are actual convicts,” Aregbesola said. Findings by The ICIR showed that the police and other prosecuting agencies, including the State Security Services (SSS), have been the major causes of the increasing population of awaiting trial suspects. How police file wrong charges to wrong courts The Nigeria Police is the government agency saddled with policing and maintenance of law and order in society. In discharging their duties, the police make arrests and sometimes prosecute suspects in court. In Nigeria, there are federal and state courts that sit on varying degrees of criminal offences. The magistrate courts, otherwise known as district courts, fall under the jurisdiction of a state established by the House of Assembly to hear cases that do not attract capital offences. Capital offences are serious offences such as rape, murder, and treason, attracting death sentence, otherwise known as capital punishment. However, the Nigerian Police file cases that attract capital punishment at the magistrate court, which lacks jurisdiction to hear it. The police have their own lawyers attached to the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) domiciled in the Ministry of Justice of every state that can directly file cases at the state high court, which can hear cases of capital offences. Yet, they file the cases at the wrong courts, lawyers say. Five days ago, the Lagos State Police Command arrested Emeka Orisakwe, a businessman, for allegedly defiling his three daughters. When prosecuted, he was arraigned before the Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in the state on August 11 before Magistrate Ejiro Kubeinje. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-police-judiciary-failures-increase-number-of-awaiting-trial-suspects-in-prison/
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| Politics / IBB, The General Who Lost His Last Battle by Shehuyinka: 4:32pm On Aug 11, 2021 |
ON August 17, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, IBB, will join the ranks of the Octogenarians. And even among that lucky species in Nigeria, a few elder statesmen stand out; that’s the group that should welcome IBB into their fold. Interestingly, in a nation where sycophants are two for a kobo, a few of them may want to keep their distance from him. Why? They would regard him as a heroic failure because of the tragic loss of his last battle. That war was fought on the political landscape between 1985 and 1993. Yet, this is a well-decorated General, a civil war hero, who singlehandedly thwarted the bloody coup of February 1976 in which General Murtala Muhammed, then head of state, lost his life. Nine years later, in August 1985, Babangida staged his own palace coup from the vantage position of chief of army staff. The man he toppled, General Muhammadu Buhari, had been in power for just 20 months. But it was 20 months of unbridled terror. Though not a few thought Buhari meant well, what with his war against indiscipline, which later metamorphosed into tyranny. He was simply draconian in the manner his regime went about their self-given mandate. He set up tribunals that jailed politicians from a part of the country hundreds of years for corruption which details were very opaque; he used the Nigerian Security Organisation to detain all manner of people without trial, and the icing on the cake on Buhari’s excesses was the execution of two drug couriers with a retroactive decree. That was the atmosphere of despair from which IBB’s coup rescued Nigerians. Thankfully, the coup was bloodless. As he settled down in the office, IBB’s style immediately set him apart from his predecessor. While Buhari was taciturn, Babangida is a smooth talker who expresses himself with candour. Against the backdrop of his predecessor’s draconian style, Nigerians initially regarded him as a humane leader. However, time later unravelled the real IBB. He spent eight years in office, during which he embarked on an endless transition programme, which finally ended in a cul-de-sac. Thus when he exited power on August 25, 1993, according to him, by “stepping aside“, his tail between his legs. It was a sad day for a man “trained to dominate my(his) environment.” For once, he was thoroughly dominated. Babangida recently granted an interview to ARISE TV. It was, in the main, a good interview. The only hiccups being the many follow-up questions that the interviewer spared him. Had those questions been put to him, IBB would perhaps have faltered at what he knows best to do, his pontifications. The interview succeeded, though, in burnishing the image of a General who was not only outsmarted but disgraced in his final battle. Despite numerous rumours on social media of late about his poor health, at the interview, IBB looked good. That interview would remain in the public domain for a while. On why he annulled the results of June 12, 1993, presidential election, Babangida claimed if he had not annulled it, there would have been a coup, which would have been bloody and destabilising for the nation. The General is free to continue in his daydreams in his twilight years. He is entitled to them. Discerning Nigerians knew for sure there was a coup in 1993. The first leg of the coup shooed him out of power on 25 August 1993. Babangida’s so-called stepping aside was a face-saving strategy. The man who toppled IBB was General Sani Abacha, the then chief of army staff, his alter-ego, long regarded in their circle as the Calipha. To fool Nigerians, Ernest Shonekan, a respected businessman, was made an interim head of state with a directive to organise another presidential election in 1994. However, there was a provision in the decree setting up the ING, that in the case at any point, if Shonekan was unable to continue as head of state, the “most senior minister” should take over from him. A cursory glance through the cabinet list showed that Sani Abacha was the one to whom the document referred. And exactly 83 days after Babangida’s exit, Abacha shooed Shonekan out of Aso Rock and became head of state. Before sending Shonekan packing, Abacha, in private discussions with Moshood Abiola, the June 12 presidential election winner, allegedly hinted the latter about the coup. The main purpose of which was to quash the annulment of Abiola’s mandate and swear him in. It was all a fool’s paradise. Abiola believed Abacha so much that he was said to have recommended some names for Abacha’s cabinet. Late human rights lawyer and the scourge of dictators, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, was offered attorney general and minister of justice’s post. He turned down the offer. He argued that if the coup was about swearing in Abiola, there was no need for a new attorney general of the federation. A few days later, Olu Onagoruwa, another human rights and constitutional lawyer, accepted the position. Back to IBB. His transition programme was largely a smokescreen. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was one of the first few people to see through that smokescreen. Early in 1986, a few months into his tenure, Babangida set up the Samuel Cookey Commission, otherwise known as the Political Bureau. Its mandate was to design a new political and social order for Nigeria. Awolowo declined the invitation to him by Cookey to be a member of the Commission. Part of his letter read thus, “Something within me tells me, loud and clear, that we have embarked on a fruitless search. At the end of the day, when we imagine that the new order is here, we would be terribly disappointed.” And that was exactly what happened in 1993, seven years after the sage’s prediction. By which time the political colossus had transited to glory. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/ibb-the-general-who-lost-his-last-battle/
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| Politics / How Plunder Continues In Nigerian Immigration Service, Despite Court Rulings by Shehuyinka: 5:55pm On Aug 09, 2021 |
ENTRENCHED interests, from top to bottom, have turned border control into a money-making machine for those at the head of the Nigerian Immigration Service. Partnerships with a number of private companies siphon off monies paid to them by the state as well as by visa and passport applicants. Court judgements, a parliamentary probe and even petitions by the agencies’ own former senior officers have not been able to dent the scheme. With honest civil servants having left in frustration, and a former director attacked, smeared, and sacked, the scheme has persisted at the agency that controls one hundred and fifty Nigerian borders. At the parking lot of the huge headquarters of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport road in Abuja, smart-looking young men in dandy pastel shirts and khaki trousers eagerly await the visitors who seek the country’s international passport, or alternatively visa extension, residence permits, and the like. One look at the disordered and lost-looking crowds at the entrance to the building immediately hammers home the need for what they have to offer: fixing services to navigate what follows. The extra 10 000 Naira (US$ 26) they demand on top of the official passport fee of N25,000 is a small price to pay to avoid what would otherwise be a torturous and time-consuming, often ill-fated hassle. One also pays because the consequence for applicants unwilling to pay is instant cessation of services. Remarkably, Nigeria officially does not even produce the expensive documents: these functions have been outsourced to private companies in so-called public-private partnerships (PPP’s). The country’s e-passport booklets are produced in Malaysia by the Iris Corporation and its Nigerian subsidiary, Iris Smart Technology Nigeria Limited; NIS only activates the booklets through biometric data transfer. In 2019, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, reportedly worried that the country’s international passports were being produced abroad, directed the Immigration Service to terminate the contract, but the action still has to be carried out, probably because of anti-cancellation clauses in the agreement. 1 The contracts cannot be cancelled Commenting on the partnership with Iris, former deputy Comptroller of Immigration (DCI) at NIS and anti-corruption whistleblower, Iwe Unaowo Nta, said that ‘Iris Smart Technology was meant to ‘Build, Operate and Transfer’ the production of international passports to Nigeria,’ but that, ‘in actual fact, the staff of Iris Smart Technologies operate from the NIS facilities and supervise the job, while the staff of NIS carry out supportive activities’. He added that ‘NIS staff have the capacity to do this, but NIS cannot revoke the agreement for fear of being dragged to the International Arbitration Court for breach of contract’. A twenty-million-dollar market The IRIS story does not stand alone. Resident permits, visas, and other travel documents have been outsourced to other private companies2, too, and, ever since, these papers have also become much more expensive. Until 2018, the official cost of the residence permit, (known as the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Alien Card Fee, CERPAC, to be paid annually,) was the Naira equivalent of US$ 1 000. However, in 2018, the Ministry of Interior increased the fee to US$ 2 000 per residence permit per year, essentially because of the controversial concession of the printing of residence permit booklets to Continental Transfert Technique Limited, CTTL or simply CONTEC, a Nigerian subsidiary of the multinational security group CONTEC Global. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/the-border-control-syndicate-how-plunder-continues-in-nigerian-immigration-service-despite-court-rulings/
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| Politics / How Families, Friends Force Nigerian Women, Youths On The Journey Of No Return 1 by Shehuyinka: 12:54pm On Aug 09, 2021 |
ALMOST half of identified human trafficking cases began with a family member’s or love one’s involvement, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – a United Nations migration agency. Nigerian investigative journalist TOBORE OVUORIE, motivated by years of research into irregular migration such as trafficking of women, children and youths in her country; Nigeria, as well as the initial loss of a friend and subsequently many others, decides to dig deeper in the multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise often involving family members or close associates of affected persons. Traveling around Nigeria, in this three-part series, she documents rape experiences, beatings, bruises, abductions, embassy officials, police and other security agencies’ aiding and abetting the criminal enterprise, murder and deaths. Here are her findings. THE GENESIS 2015 The youngsters – over 25 of them – had left Agadez chatty after spending four days there and were so happy that the journey to seeking greener pastures had begun. They were super excited that the first check point was around the corner; an indication of completely leaving their frustrations behind in Nigeria and getting closer to making big bucks in Europe. Boom! Then, they heard a very loud noise. Their hearts started pumping so fast. Loudly at that, too and not in unison. Their eyes popped out of the sockets housing them; hunting for the source of the noise. It was a corpse. Few minutes old. A young man. Few minutes before the sad occurrence, he was like them. Hanging onto a stick at the back of a Hilux truck. On his way to Libya, but to make a stopover at Qatroun, too. And, lo and behold, he fell from the truck. And, died immediately. The driver of the Hilux from which he fell, continued as if legions of demons were in hot pursuit of the truck. Stopping, even in such situation, is against the unwritten rules on that route. The youngsters arrived at the first checkpoint all baptized with fear and sorrow. They didn’t believe what they had witnessed and the callousness of the driver of that truck from which the young man’s life was cut short. They were never told people fall off trucks on the journey and did not expect to see corpses. All efforts to cheer themselves failed woefully. All very young Nigerians, crammed into the truck like sardines in a can, the driver made the ladies to sit beside him, while males sat at the back – an open space – but held onto sticks to support themselves. A salad of fear, anxiety, panic, sorrow and ‘what-next?’ overshadowed them. Deafening silence, too. They all became moodier for every fresh corpses, skeletons and dried bones they saw. These were countless. When almost at Qatroun, heavily armed rebels launched attacks on them. The driver moved the truck as if he was in sport car on a racing track. He then hid the youngsters. Though drenched in fear, not a single person changed his or her mind about continuing with the trip. They kept going and spent four days in the desert amidst vast land filled with sand. Hope Yakub: Of greener pastures and risky journeys My eyes locked with Hopes’ and sitting opposite her in the dead of the night; sometime in the third week of March 2020, I painted images in my mind; of the horrors she was narrating to me. Hope was one of the over 25 young Nigerians sitting in the truck on the trip to Qatroun, but Libya was her final destination. She was not lucky to get a seat beside the driver, so had to sit at the back of the truck and joined the males, holding onto a stick like the rest to support herself from falling off the truck. She never bargained for the horrors she witnessed alongside the youngsters, although she knew before departing Nigeria that Libya was the destination. And, by road too. Her reason for travelling by road to Libya? “Every youth wants to seek greener pasture; so, that is what prompted me to go to Libya to help myself and my family,” she told me, believing she was not trafficked. It was 2015. Her desire for greener pasture overseas was an open secret. Ozzy; a friend, came to the rescue by introducing Hope to her sister who lived in Libya. The lines seemed to be falling in pleasant places for Hope. Ozzy’s sister offered her an all-expenses-paid trip to Libya! She left Nigeria almost immediately. She spent four days in Agadez and from there, the Hilux truck came to convey her and the other young Nigerians to Qatroun, in Libya. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/deadly-migration-how-families-friends-force-nigerian-women-youths-on-the-journey-of-no-return-part-1/
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| Business / Down! Down! Down! Goes Naira At N522/$ by Shehuyinka: 10:44am On Aug 09, 2021 |
NAIRA weakened by 3.4 per cent at Lagos parallel markets on Wednesday afternoon, a day after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced a ban on sale of foreign exchange to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators. The market began with N505 to a dollar on Wednesday morning, but moved to N522/$ three to four hours later, according to Abokifx, which provides information on foreign exchange market rates. The CBN website advertises the official dollar rate at N410.16, but access to FX at that rate it is limited. Most FX users in the country rely on BDCs or the parallel market for foreign transactions. The demand for dollars is high in Nigeria as it is the commonest currency used in FX transactions. “The CBN needs to give the market a chance. Its current approach would continue to deepen distortions in the economy, perpetuate round-tripping, fuel speculation, suppress forex supply and boost underground economy,” an economist and former Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commercce and Industry Muda Yusuf told The ICIR. READ ALSO: CBN bans forex sales to BDCs Why manufacturers are not getting enough dollars despite rising oil price CBN damning verdict forces panic withdrawals at First Bank On Tuesday, the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele halted dollar sales to BDCs in the country amid growing concerns for illicit financial transactions, dollar racketeering and other issues relating to economic sabotage. Emefiele expressed worry that some stakeholders in the banking sub-sector were not helping the government in maintaining foreign exchange reserves through violation of some laid outlaws. The market has reacted to the news, weakening naira, Africa’s largest economy’s currency. Analysts have faulted the apex bank’s exchange rate regime, maintaining that it has created a huge enterprise around foreign exchange-round tripping, speculation,over-invoicing, and capital flights. “What is happening in the foreign exchange market is a consequence of the CBN policy choice of a fixed exchange rate regime and administrative allocation of forex,” Yusuf said. He explained that the action of the apex bank amounted to tackling the symptoms rather than dealing with the causative factors, regretting that the bank did not believe in the market mechanism. He noted that market systems were time-tested instruments of efficient resource allocation in leading economies around the world, even though exceptions were recognised in economics and could be dealt with. “Suppressing the market is like swimming against the tide. It is a difficult battle to win. Moving retail forex transactions from BDCs to the banks is like kicking the can down the road. The same issues would manifest even with the banks. Managing a subsidy regime is typically a herculean task. We have seen this happen with fertiliser subsidy and petrol subsidy. The story cannot be different with foreign exchange,” he said. He said the way out of the foreign exchange conundrum was for the CBN to allow the market to function. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/down-down-down-goes-naira-at-n522/
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| Politics / How Cross River Transporters Were Denied Of Fg’s COVID-19 Fund Support by Shehuyinka: 9:58am On Aug 09, 2021 |
The initiative of the Federal Government through its Ministry of Trade and Investments to empower Nigerian transporters with Survival funds in 2020 to cushion the negative impacts of the COVID19 pandemic was widely applauded. But Correspondent, SUNDAY ELOM N in this exclusive investigation reports that it is a different tale of woes, about eight months after for beneficiaries in Cross River State as many only received fake bank alerts after losing money to the Abuja team that handled the so-called empowerment programme. The grant, the purpose, the procedures IN December 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari-led government launched the Transport Track of the Transport and Artisans scheme under its Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Survival Fund as part of its Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) to cushion the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic in the country. Specifically, the Transport Track, which covers rideshare drivers, such as Uber and Bolt, taxi drivers, bus drivers, ‘KekeNapep riders, okada riders and cart pushers is expected to provide a one-off grant of N30,000 to 4,505 qualified beneficiaries operating in the transport sector in each state, including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja. The Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Maryam Katagum in March this year (2021), said that as of January 17, a total of 155,920 beneficiaries in the Transport Track had been approved for payment, while 9,109 pending cases were being processed for payment. Going by the Minister’s pronouncements, it, therefore, implies that N4, 677,600,000 billion has been paid to the qualified beneficiaries under the transport track across the country. According to the application guidelines as contained in a press release by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, on December 6, 2020, registration for the grant was on a first come first serve basis while beneficiaries were to apply through their registered associations such as the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Keke Riders’ Association, Okada Riders’ Associations/Unions, among others to be enumerated. Also, state focal persons, project field officers and enumerators were to work with the federal government’s MSMEs Survival Fund Project Delivery Office to accurately identify and ensure that members of the respective associations/unions who applied for the grant are paid. However, there was further provision for individuals who are members of associations/unions but would prefer to apply directly with the enumerators. Such individual applicants must show proof of membership of an association in order to qualify for enumeration. Also, Application or registration for the grant was absolutely free, and the grant was to be paid directly into the beneficiaries’ accounts. The fraud, the tales of woes, the losses Mr. Ubong Clement looked this reporter straight in the face and said, “Oga journalist, we would have gotten angry at you because your coming here only reminded us of what that woman did to many of us but it is not your fault; you are only doing your job.” Clement, 32 is an Okada rider in Obudu, Cross River State. He was among the few transporters in the state who registered for the one-off N30,000 grant of Transport Track under the federal government’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Survival Fund approved in 2020 by President Muhammadu Buhari as part of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) to cushion the effect of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country. Clement who refused his comments to be recorded said he applied for the grant when a team led by a woman who he said refused to disclose her identity, including her name, visited Obudu early this year but he received a fake bank alert. This, therefore, means that the money was not in their bank accounts even though they received credit notifications. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-cross-river-transporters-were-denied-of-fgs-covid-19-fund-support/
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| Politics / Buhari’s Govt Ignores Warning, Mobilises Nearly $3bn For Badly-managed Refinerie by Shehuyinka: 5:25pm On Aug 06, 2021 |
THE government of Muhammadu Buhari has refused to allow the private sector to take over Nigeria’s badly-managed refineries, mobilising nearly $3 billion instead for the companies it cannot run. On Wednesday, the government approved $1.4 billion for the rehabilitation of Warri and Kaduna refineries, dedicating $897 million for the former and $586 million for the latter. Earlier in the year, the government had mobilised $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery, putting the two investments at $2.9 billion. Analysts believe that the government of Buhari and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are wasting money on rehabilitation when it should easily have explored concession and other forms of privatisation. They say a core investor should have been mobilising funds for the refineries, and not the government, stressing that the Federal Government is being clever by half by refusing to disclose who will run the refineries after the humongous rehabilitation expenditure. Economist and Senior Lecturer at Lagos Business School (LBS) Bongo Adi told The ICIR that any government with competent people thinking for it would not embark on such a wasteful project at this point in Nigeria’s material existence. “What Nigerians would have expected from the government was to unbundle the petroleum assets and sell them to the private sector who could take them up for a revamp,” Adi said, noting that the government had proved to be incapable of running the business of refineries. According to The ICIR analysis, Port Harcourt refinery did not record any revenue in 2019, yet it reported N25.19 billion in expenses. Six directors collected N59.65 million in fees, including the Group Managing Director of NNPC Malam Mele Kyari. Total salaries and pays received by 675 staff of Port Harcourt refinery between 2017 and 2019 were estimated at N80.57 billion, but revenues received by the company within the period were estimated at only N6.27 billion – implying that the NNPC sought N74.3 billion from outside the refinery to pay staff salaries. Similarly, Warri refinery generated revenue of N4.429 billion between 2017 and 2019, but it incurred N178.315 billion cumulative loss within the period. On its part, Kaduna refinery made revenue of N2.278 billion but incurred a loss of N241.527 billion in the same period, exposing the ineptitude of the Federal Government and the NNPC in managing public oil sector assets. Chairman of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) told The ICIR that whoever sat down to look at the humongous investments in the refineries in the last 10-15 years would marvel at the amount of money being pumped into them at the moment. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/buharis-govt-ignores-warning-mobilises-nearly-3bn-for-badly-managed-refineries/
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| Health / Debunking The Claim That Heat Kills COVID-19 In Nigeria by Shehuyinka: 4:24pm On Aug 05, 2021 |
WHEN the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NDCD) reported new COVID-19 cases for June 13, 2021, to be seven, the majority of the feedback on the agency’s Facebook page where the announcement was made, mocked the number. Many falsely claim that COVID-19 in Nigeria is not real. Incidentally, Nigeria has barely tested one per cent of its population. The NCDC director-general, Chikwe Ihekweazu, has also lamented that many states have not been testing enough, in a report published by the Premium Times of December 11, 2020. The false claims The negative responses of Nigerians to the recent NCDC infectious data are consistent with a survey carried out by NOI Poll, a polling services firm in March 2020. The result of the poll showed that 26 per cent of Nigerians believe that they were immune to COVID-19. Among the group feeling immune to COVID-19 are 40 per cent who say God is the source of their immunity. Another 30 per cent think being black confers on them a strong gene against COVID-19. At least 17 per cent believe that the country’s weather makes it impossible for COVID-19 to affect them. Eight per cent say they have taken strong herbs that won’t allow COVID-19 thrive in their body. Narrowing on hot weather The claim that hot weather kills COVID-19 is widespread in Nigeria, a reason facemasks and social distancing are considered unnecessary preventive measures against the pandemic. The pandemic has caused the deaths of at least 3.8 million people in the world as of June 13, 2020. Nigeria’s share of the global death is about 2,000 people, a tiny fraction of the global mortality count. This may yet be another reason many citizens are feeling immune to the virus. Some even insist that no Nigerian has died of the COVID-19. A Nollywood actor and comedian, John Okafor, popularly known as Mr Ibu, makes this claim in The Nation Newspaper of July 15, 2020. Many other news websites and blogs have amplified it, making it go viral. “My brother, COVID-19 or 20 is not here, I don’t care. COVID whatever is not in Nigeria. We have hot weather here; the disease is scared of us just as we are scared of it so it can’t come here,” he said. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/debunking-the-claim-that-heat-kills-covid-19-in-nigeria/
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| Politics / United States: Twitter's Suspension In Nigeria Is A Violation Of Human Rights by Shehuyinka: 2:31pm On Aug 05, 2021 |
US consul-general, Claire Pierangelo, described the ban as “worrisome” at the “Conversation on Press Freedom, Freedom of Expression and Civic Space in Nigeria” which was held in Lagos. https://www.icirnigeria.org/two-months-after-twitter-blackout-nigerians-lose-n150bn/ Speaking on the right to freedom of expression for the press, she said journalists must be vigilant as they are the mouthpiece of the people.https://www.thecable.ng/us-twitters-suspension-in-nigeria-worrisome-media-must-remain-vigilant 18 Likes 3 Shares
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| Business / FX Market: Experts Urge CBN To Deepen Market Reforms by Shehuyinka: 2:05pm On Aug 05, 2021 |
FINANCIAL analysts have told the Central Bank of Nigeria to move beyond the stoppage of sales of dollars to the Bureau De Change Operators, BDCs and sustain reforms that address price distortions in the Nigerian foreign exchange market. They further called on the Central Bank to ensure a market-driven price that ensures a stable exchange rate regime and encourages investments into the Nigerian economy. The Central Bank of Nigerian governor Godwin Emefiele has at the last Monetary Policy meeting directed suspension of dollar sales to the BDCs in the country citing concerns of the graft and illegal transactions in their operations, as a key reason. READ ALSO: Alleged CBN N3bn agric loan diversion: Absence of defense counsel stalls trial of ‘whistleblower’ FX supply: CBN directs commercial banks to set up teller points CBN policies contributing to Nigeria’s rising poverty, food inflation, FX scarcity The directive from the apex bank has seen the naira adjust firmly against the dollar, which analysts attributed to the policy on forex restrictions to the BDCS, but insisted it is not a long term solution to the FX crisis in the country. “The gains were largely an adjustment for the initial shocks from policy forex restrictions to the BDCs.But rates are likely to remain above the pre restriction levels. It may not be appropriate to describe the correction as progress,’ An economist and former director-general of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry Muda Yusuf told THE ICIR. He said: “For normalcy to be restored, the pricing driven distortions must be corrected. The huge premium between the official retail exchange rate and the open market rates would continue to perpetuate roundtripping and other forms of distortions. He noted that there would be enormous demand pressure on the banks which will ultimately pose a profound corruption risk, stressing that a market solution appears to be the sustainable solution. Recall, the World Bank had in June in its report on economic development raised exchange rate management as the first of six policy areas where it was advising the Nigerian authorities to take action within three to six months. The global bank in the report called on the authorities to provide a clearer and more predictable foreign exchange management system suggesting that its response to Abuja’s request for a $1.5 billion loan would be linked to how the issue was handled. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-cbn-can-sustain-fx-gains-experts/
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| Politics / Poor Execution Thwarts Success Of FG Survival Funds For Transporters In A'ibom by Shehuyinka: 12:48pm On Aug 05, 2021 |
MANY transporters in Akwa Ibom state though benefits from the Federal Government’s N30,000 survival funds, the majority were excluded due to inadequate information, time constraints, and the state government’s exclusion in the entire process. Ekemini SIMON reports. THE Federal Government, in late 2020, as part of its Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), launched a scheme tagged “Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Survival Fund”, which was designed to assist 330,000 artisans and 4,505 transporters with a one-time payment of N30,000 each. According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice-President, Laolu Akande, confirmed the beneficiaries of the transport scheme in each state would be 4,505 transporters. The scheme is managed by the office of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo. Nigerians operating in the transport business – including Rideshare drivers (Uber, Bolt, etc.), taxi drivers, bus drivers, Keke NAPEP riders, Okada riders, cart pushers, among others, are those mentioned by the office of the Vice President as being eligible for the fund. Few payments made in Capital City Investigation revealed that not all the 4,505 transporters eligible beneficiaries of the scheme in Akwa Ibom State actually received the payment. This reporter visited seven urban local government areas of Akwa Ibom State; Uyo, Itu, Eket, Oron, Ikot Ekpene, Abak and Ikono (Nung Udoe Itak). Most of the commercial transporters interviewed said they did not receive the funds. However, a few of them, whom this reporter spoke with in Uyo and Itu local government areas, acknowledged receiving the funds. In Itu Local Government Area, this reporter could only find four commercial drivers who benefitted from the survival fund at Central Motor Park, Itam (Intra-state shuttle) out of 32 that were met in the park and subsequently interviewed. Although this park is in Itu council area, it is located within the area marked as the capital city of Uyo. Those who acknowledged receipt of the funds are Daniel Ned, Godswill Edward, Eshiet Essien and Timothy Udoh. They noted that they received the fund in April after one or about two months of registration and biometric capturing. Although they could not be specific about the number of beneficiaries among them, they estimated the number to stand in the range of 20 within the park. The chairman of the Central Motor Park who also serves as chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Itu branch, Timothy Udoh, said they could record beneficiaries owing to the guidance they received from the national hierarchy of NURTW. ” We received instructions from the national union through the state chairman of the council that the federal government will give out such money. We registered and were invited for capturing to make sure those registered are bona fide members of the Union. After one or two months, we were paid. But we were told it would run for six months”. Udoh said out of about 400 persons within his chapter, about 90 per cent of his members took part in the exercise, but he is, however, uncertain about the number of those eventually paid. He assured that those who emerged as beneficiaries had no connection with the officials; rather, they saw the money paid into their bank account. The chairman explained that as instructed by the national leadership of NURTW, those who did not receive their palliative but passed through the biometric screening have had their data sent to the national headquarters for processing. Though many drivers came for the registration, officials failed to return for biometric screening, hence, no one received the funds in the park. Otobong Inyang, one of the officials at the park, said he registered but got nothing. “They came and registered us, but we can’t find the money. However, there was no data capturing. We have heard that they have given the money in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt. Whosoever that is holding that money should give it to us. I am a Nigerian, Akwa Ibomite and a transporter.” In Uyo Local Government Area, this reporter could see only two persons who admitted to have received this fund. They are Matthew Asuquo, chairman of Minibus Operators in Akwa Ibom State, who also serves as Assistant Secretary in the NURTW and Godwin Edem, who also serves as chairman, Road Transport Employer’s Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Akwa Ibom State. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/poor-execution-thwarts-success-of-fg-survival-funds-for-transporters-in-akwa-ibom/
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| Health / Recovered N5.4 B: Nhis Still Has Over N100bn Trapped In Banks – Ex-nhis Boss by Shehuyinka: 8:21am On Aug 03, 2021 |
FORMER Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance scheme, NHIS, Usman Yusuf, has said that the N5.4 billion recently recovered by the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for the Scheme is a tip of the iceberg, as there is still over N100 billion of similar funds trapped in Nigerian banks. In a statement released on Sunday night in reaction to the recovered funds, Yusuf, a Professor of Haematology/Oncology who headed the Scheme from July 2016 to July 2019, said the recent recoveries were as a result of the work done by him and his team years ago. “The reported recovery of N5.4b by the EFCC, though commendable, is just a tip of the iceberg. There are billions more unaccounted for,” he said in the statement. “NHIS money, still held illegally in the vaults of commercial banks six years after the FGN directive to the contrary, is money that can make an impactful difference in the lives of our people and in mitigating the daunting challenges in our healthcare system,” he stated further. When The ICIR called to confirm if he, indeed issued the statement, Yusuf answered in the affirmative. He said although he had refrained from speaking or writing about the NHIS after his exit in 2019, he was forced to issue a statement after the news of the funds recovery broke because he had “been inundated with a lot of inquiries from the Press, some mischievously insinuating that I was complicit in this supposedly ‘trapped funds of NHIS’ recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)”. He said that he found out that several banks were illegally holding over N100 billion of NHIS funds shortly after he resumed as the Scheme’s Executive Secretary in 2016 and that he told several senior government officials who were either not interested in listening to him or would do nothing about it. He found out about the trapped funds through a forensic audit, which he ordered when nobody in the NHIS could provide information about the Schemes financial status, Yusuf stated. “When I assumed office as the Executive Secretary of the NHIS in July 2016, no one in the Scheme could tell me the exact amount of money the NHIS had and where it was lodged. I, therefore, employed the services of an independent accounting firm to do a forensic audit of all NHIS accounts. “They presented the final report to me in the last quarter of 2017. The report showed that thirteen (13) commercial banks had outrightly refused to remit over one hundred billion Naira of NHIS funds to its TSA Account in the CBN in direct violation of FGN’s directive”. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/recovered-n5-4-b-nhis-still-has-over-n100-billion-trapped-in-banks-former-nhis-boss/
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| Crime / Chigozie Nebo: 14-Year-Old Boy, 8 Others Detained By Enugu Police Over Murder by Shehuyinka: 11:45am On Aug 02, 2021 |
How Enugu police illegally arrested, detained 14-year-old boy, 8 others on allegation of murder IN this report, Arinze Chijioke tells the story of how the Police in Enugu arrested nine innocent people and charged them with murder, including a 14-year-old boy whose age was changed to 18 so he could be tried and incarcerated. https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-enugu-police-illegally-arrested-detained-14-year-old-boy-8-others-on-allegation-of-murder/ 2 Likes 1 Share
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| Politics / Olu of Warri: 'Suspended Ologbotsere may accept Prince Tsola’s candidature' by Shehuyinka: 9:41am On Aug 02, 2021 |
Olu of Warri: Suspended Ologbotsere may accept Prince Tsola’s candidature – Spokesperson SUSPENDED Ologbotsere (Prime Minister) of Warri Kingdom Ayirimi Emami may accept the nomination of Olu of Warri designate Prince Utieyinoritsola (Tsola) Emiko before his coronation scheduled for August 21. A spokesperson for Ologbotsere’s Descendants, Alex Eyengho, stated this on Thursday while featuring on Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show.’ He said Ologbotsere went to court to ensure the emergence and coronation of the new Ogiame (king) follow the edict. The “Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Edict 1979” was signed by the military government of the defund Bendel State. The genesis of kingship tussle Trouble started in the oil-rich community when Tsola’s father, Godwin Toritseju Emiko, Ogiame Atuwatse II, passed away in 2015. Some influential people in the town thwarted Tsola’s effort to succeed his father as the new Olu in 2015. They claimed his mother was Yoruba and that the Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Edict provides that the mother of a successor to the Olu throne must hail from either Edo or Delta states. The kingmakers consequently disqualified him. The kingmakers then picked his uncle Ogiame Ikenwoli as the 20th Olu of Warri. The monarch spent five years and eight days on the throne when he joined his ancestors on December 21, 2015. Following the Olu’s passage, the Olori-Ebi (administrative head) of Ginuwa I Ruling House, the only ruling house in the town, Prince Emmanuel Okotie-Eboh, took over the throne as a regent. Another opportunity then came for Tsola to contest for the Oluship. Luckily, the Ginuwa 1 ruling house presented his name to Ologbotsere for approval and pre-coronation activities. Ologbotsere allegedly tore the letter containing the ruling house decision in public and returned the shreds to the palace. The action culminated in his suspension, and the palace appointed the Iyatsere of Warri Johnson Amatserunleghe as the new Ologbotsere. The new Ologbotsere has since been leading the processes for Tsola’s coronation. The Olu-designate enjoys growing popularity and massive youth support in the Warri Kingdom. Tsola’s high exposure, education and youthfulness are his pluses, which draw more Itsekiris to him. Tsola’s biography Born on April 2, 1984. Tsola attended Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Primary School between 1995 and 2001. He had his secondary education at Adesoye College in Offa, Kwara State between 2002 and 2006, before proceeding to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Political Science; with minors in History and Economics. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/olu-of-warri-suspended-ologbotsere-may-accept-prince-tsolas-candidature-spokesperson/
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| Business / Lagos Micro Businesses In The Grip Of ‘area Boys’ by Shehuyinka: 1:32pm On Jul 31, 2021 |
AT the heart of Bolade in Oshodi market on May 26, an area boy in a yellow apron with thick black stripes stopped to harass a micro-business owner en route to another part of the market in Lagos. The micro-business owner had bought clothes and singlets in retail to resell in a nearby mini-market. And he had packed them in two nylon sack bags and put them in a wheelbarrow. Like a bee to the honey, the area boy rushed to the wheelbarrow, standing in front of it to ensure that he was in charge. ‘Owo mi da” he demanded. In Yoruba, one of the three major languages in Nigeria, the expression loosely means “where is my money?” “I paid someone not too long ago,” the business owner protested. “That one no concern me, make you give me my money,” the now agitated area boy barked in pidgin English. After eight minutes of haggling, the reporter observed that the micro-business owner parted with N100 before the area boy could allow him to go. His co-area boys were around, watching closely at the scene. By definition, micro-businesses are enterprises with one to nine employees and is started with a small amount of money. They are big sources of employment and economic growth in Lagos, Nigeria’s richest state, but they are constantly harassed and exploited by non-state actors known as area boys, Lagos boasts of 3.329 million micro-business and is the state with the highest number of this class of business, according to the 2019 survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) covering 2013 to 2017. Micro-business owners range from ice cream sellers moving in bicycles to food vendors in make-shift stalls. Their start-up capital is usually N50,000, according to a report by the NBS/SMEDAN report. “These kinds of business create a lot of jobs. One of them can create one, two, three jobs and the multiplier effect on the economy can be very strong,” former Acting Managing Director of the Bank of Industry Waheed Olagunju (now retired), who also headed the small business segment of the bank, once said at an event attended by the reporter. By Olagunju’s estimates, these businesses could have created 6.66 million jobs or more in Lagos State with a record unemployment rate of 37.14 per cent –higher than the national average of 33.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the NBS. They are the smallest among the acronym, MSMEs, others being small and medium enterprises, but they create 95 per cent of jobs, according to the 2019 NBS/ SMEDAN survey. Because they cannot afford to rent standard shops, they operate in make-shift shops, open spaces, kiosks and sometimes move around with their products. However, areas boys are on the streets, major markets, open places in Lagos lying in wait for these micro-businesses which operate in the informal sector of the economy. In simple terms, area boys, also known as agberos or touts, are non-state actors who harrass businesses and collect mostly illegal taxes from them. Profiting from illegality: Lagos govt watches as local councils, touts exploit proscribed cyclists Money for the boys: How ‘agberos’ pocket billions of Lagos transport revenue Inside Lagos local government councils where officials divert taxes to personal bank accounts Shops are expensive According to The ICIR findings, rents for shops in Oshodi and its environment go as high as N2 million (nearly $4900) for a year. Cheapest shops are rented at N800,000 (nearly $2,000) per annum, findings show. Many micro-businesses in Lagos cannot afford them as the majority operate with capital base of N50,000. In Isolo LCDA, half a shop goes as high as N300,000 while full shops are rented out at N600,000 per year. “That is if you will even see one in places like Ajao Estate or Aswani. I cannot afford to pay N300,000 or N400,000,” Angela, who sells confectionery in retail, said. She told The ICIR that her capital base was N80,000 and she could not even afford quarter of a standard shop in Isolo. The situation is same in other parts of Lagos, where high cost of rents has driven micro businesses into the streets and open places. In Ikeja, particularly at Otigba Cluster, shops go as high as N1.2 million-N3 million, depending on their sizes. according to findings. “This is why you see a lot of people outside the shops, because they can’t afford to rent them here,” Stella, who sells phone accessories at Oguniyi Community Development Association in Computer Village, said. “Getting a space in open places here is not easy. You have to pay three groups of area boys, local government, and market leaders to give you a portion. If you do not have more than N100,000, don’t even start. “However, as you can see, there is even no more space for any new person,” she further said. She noted that many micro traders were now being allocated shops at the edges of the roads and around Medical Road in Ikeja, contrary to the Computer Village master plan. Similarly, shops at Lagos Island areas are also expensive for micro traders. At CMS, Lagos Island East, shops go as high as N500,000 to N700,000, forcing many micro businesses to display their wares indiscriminately, The ICIR found. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/lagos-micro-businesses-in-the-grip-of-area-boys/
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| Politics / Who Owns Biafra? by Shehuyinka: 1:21pm On Jul 31, 2021 |
Asari Dokubo says it belongs to Ijaw; IPOB, MASSOB, says origin and ownership of the name not important LEADER of the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Force Asari Dokubo has said that the people of the Ijaw ethnic nationality are the owners of the name ‘Biafra’ and as a result, are the original Biafrans. Dokubo also advanced the Ijaw claim to ownership of the territory known in history as the Bight of Biafra. Dokubo, an Ijaw man, spoke in an interview aired on Arise News Television on July 28. The interview was monitored by The ICIR. The former militant leader, in the interview, suggested that Biafra as being championed by the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has a pro-Igbo outlook which, according to him, does not accommodate other ethnic nationalities that made up the old Eastern Region which broke away from Nigeria to form Biafra in 1967. The breakaway region was forcefully reabsorbed into Nigeria after the federal army defeated the rebel troops in a bloody civil war that lasted three years. About 44 years after the civil war, a campaign for the actualisation of an independent Biafran state is still raging on with IPOB currently at the vanguard of the struggle. Dokubo had earlier fallen out with IPOB leader, Kanu, who is currently detained by the Nigerian government after he was arrested and brought back to Nigeria from Kenya. In the Arise News Television interview, Dokubo attacked IPOB for allegedly alienating the non-Igbo nationalities that were part of the defunct Republic of Biafra. But he also used the opportunity to advance the claims of the Ijaw over the name ‘Biafra’. “Ijaw is Biafra. Ijaws are divided between the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra, we are the owners of Biafra. Biafra is an Ijaw name, we own it. The territory identified as Biafra is Ijaw, maybe with a little Ibibios towards the end and Oron people. “The real Biafra – the name Biafra – the geographical location known as Biafra is Ijaw and a little bit Oron and a little bit Ibibio. Some few Ibibios are in that territory known as the Bight of Biafra,” Dokubo said. He buttressed his claims with a historical account of the role played by an Ijaw man, Frank Opigo, in the declaration of the defunct Republic of Biafra from Nigeria by rebel leader Odumegwu Ojukwu in 1967. In 1967, the eastern Ijaws were part of the old Eastern Region and when the Eastern Consultative Assembly was convened in Enugu, capital of the region, in 1967, it was Opigo that suggested the name ‘Biafra’ for the new breakaway country formed out of the Eastern Region. Some historical accounts state that the word ‘Biafra’ came from the name of the geographical location known as ‘Bight of Biafra’. The Nigerian government changed the name ‘Bight of Biafra’ to ‘Bight of Bonny’ after the civil war. Opigo was to become the administrator of the Yenagoa Province of Biafra and commissioner for rural development after the declaration of the Republic of Biafra in 1967. He reportedly died in 2010 at the age of 84. Dokubo pointed to Opigo’s role in the formation of the defunct Republic of Biafra to justify his claim that ‘Biafra is Ijaw’ and as such has nothing to do with the Igbos. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/who-owns-biafra/
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| Politics / Nigerian Soldiers Accused Of Destroying Ohafia Communities In Abia by Shehuyinka: 11:57am On Jul 31, 2021 |
IN June 2021, there were media reports about abuse of human rights, burning of homes, loss of properties and other atrocities allegedly carried out by Nigerian Army personnel in Ohafia, Abia state. The ICIR’s Olanrewaju Oyedeji visited Ohafia in Abia state to investigate the root cause of the crisis. https://www.icirnigeria.org/nigerian-soldiers-accused-of-destroying-ohafia-communities-in-abia/ 2 Likes 1 Share
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| Health / How Misinformation Drives Low Uptake Of COVID-19 Vaccine In Nigeria by Shehuyinka: 1:42pm On Jul 30, 2021 |
CHIAMAKA Ani was at the Uruan Local Government Secretariat of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Akwa Ibom State in South-South Nigeria when health workers from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) arrived to administer coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine on corps members. Upon seeing the health workers, Ani, who is a member of NYSC, a programme established by the Federal Government to involve Nigerian graduates in nation-building and the development of Nigeria, became afraid. “I did not take [the vaccine] because I was confused,” the 23-year-old said. “I never had anyone explain to me what the vaccine was all about and if there were any side effects after receiving it,” she said, stressing that some of the COVID-19 vaccine misinformation she received on social media discouraged her. “I saw some conspiracy theories on WhatsApp status, Facebook and Instagram about the vaccine.” COVID-19 is caused by acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which was first identified in the city of Wuhan, China, and reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) in December 2019. Nigeria confirmed its first case on February 27, 2020. The virus was later declared a pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020, as the number of cases and deaths continued to increase globally. Scientists began to team up with pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines that would reduce the spread of the virus. Vaccines have been identified as the best method of preventing and controlling viral diseases. According to the WHO, there are vaccines developed to protect people from at least 20 diseases. There was, however, a breakthrough in the development of vaccines, which were distributed to countries, including Nigeria, to vaccinate their population. But Nigerians, especially those in rural communities, are not willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine due to misinformation, leaving them susceptible to the virus. More than 170 million people have been infected with the virus globally as at June 4, according to the WHO, of which three million people have been confirmed dead as at June 2. In Nigeria, about 166, 000 people have been infected with the virus and 2, 000 people have died, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). In March 2021, Nigeria received 3.94 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and aimed at vaccinating 20 per cent of the population. The Nigerian government said it planned to vaccinate 40 per cent of its total population in 2021, with an additional 30 per cent in 2022 and aimed to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of the country’s population. READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-misinformation-drives-low-uptake-of-covid-19-vaccine-in-nigeria/
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