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Nigeria In Need Of Better Leadership

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The unexpected happened on Wednesday this week. Our dear President, Muhammadu Buhari, left his comfort zone to visit a terrorists’ attack scene – Kuje Custodial Center, Federal Capital Territory. Who can remember when last the president showed this level of concern to  the numerous terror attacks the nation has witnessed since the coming of the current administration?
Our ears were opened to hear the usual, familiar script being read by the presidency, “the president condoles with the people of Nigeria over the sad incident. He has given a matching order to the security agencies to smoke out the culprits and deal decisively”, and so on and so forth. But suddenly, the news broke that the president was on ground at the correctional center, inspecting the extent of damage.
Some immediately described the visit as an afterthought, saying he wouldn’t have bothered to be there if not for the pressure from the citizens. But, irrespective of whatever propelled him to make the visit, it is commendable that he was there to see things for himself and get firsthand information from those in-charge of the facility. However, Nigerians had expected more from the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of Nigeria than him just going around the facility and the next thing, he was jetting out to Darkar, Senegal, leaving the citizens he swore to protect at the mercy of the escaped terrorists, bandits and other criminals.
Dozens are being kidnapped every day. In what appears to be a targeted attack on the catholic church, the priests are daily being abducted by criminals. Penultimate weekend, in a space of a few hours two Catholic priests were killed. Rev Fr Vitus Borogo, 50 years, was reportedly killed at a prison farm in Kujama along Kaduna-Kachia Road, Kaduna State by terrorists on Saturday. In the early hours of the following day, Sunday, Rev. Fr. Christopher Odia, of St. Michael Catholic Church Ikabigbo, Uzairue, Edo State, was abducted from his church and subsequently gruesomely murdered. Before the dust raised by those could settle, two other priests from Edo and another from Southern Kaduna were reportedly kidnapped.
These happened barely three weeks after the massacre of dozens of worshippers at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State. And the questions many have asked are, why all these? Which man of God, which citizen is the next in the senseless killings? Which church is the next to be attacked by the terrorist or rather Jihadists as some people call them?
These are the questions we expected Buhari to use the rare opportunity of his visit to the attack scene on Wednesday to address. We wanted our dear president, those in-charge of the correctional facility to disabuse the minds of Nigerians on the story making the rounds that there was something fishy about the Kuje attack, that it was a planned attack to free Boko Haram members in detention, a condition given by the Kaduna- bound train attackers to the government for the release of the remaining abductors.
Most importantly, Nigerians would have been delighted to see the president heed the call of the citizens to forego the trip to Senegal because of what is happening in the country. Let it be on record that the president cancelled his trip because of the blood shed of innocent Nigerians. We saw the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Wednesday, shelving all official engagements to attend the funeral of 21 teenagers who died in a mysterious tragedy at a nightclub about two weeks ago. If that is not an example of selfless and caring leadership, I don’t know what you will call it.
It is high time the President of Nigeria showed that he is on the side of the citizens and not to be having a “dinner of blood” at the presidential villa on the night dozens of his citizens were massacred at a worship place or to be feigning ignorance about the poor state of the nation.  It is high time Buhari took the leadership of this country seriously. The country is at the verge of collapsing and we do not see true leadership from the persons elected to pilot the affairs of the states and the nation.
Terrorists and criminals have taken over the land, For two days, Monday and Tuesday last week, there was no movement in the whole of the South East Region. People were denied their freedom of movement by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) because their leader, Nnamdi Kanu had a court appearance. Yet, there are governors in the zone.
The energy sector is another big headache. It is indisputable that the energy sector is the engine room of Nigeria. Whatever happens in this sector affects virtually every other sector of the economy. Painfully, this all-important sector seems to lack proper coordination. For several months now, the nation’s capital, Abuja and some other cities have suffered fuel scarcity.  People spend hours on the queue just to get fuel for their vehicles. In fact, it is now common to see people, especially women, fanning themselves with hand fans right inside their posh cars under the scorching sun of Abuja because they cannot afford the luxury of putting on their car air conditioners not knowing where to get the next fuel. It is that bad.
Painfully, nobody is telling us the real cause of the fuel scarcity. The Minister of State for Petroleum will say one thing, the independent marketers will say another. The prices of aviation fuel, diesel, kerosene, and cooking gas have hit the roof, yet nobody seems to be looking for solutions to the problem. Other oil producing countries are benefiting from the increasing price of crude oil due the on-going Russian/Ukraine war but the opposite is the case in Nigeria because of our dependence on fuel importation for our local use.
A few days back, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian Petroleum Company (NNPC), Mele Kyari, appearing before the National Assembly, told the law makers that none of Nigeria’s refineries was working and that efforts were underway to bring them to life. That is despite the billions of naira that had been sunk into them for the so-called turn -around maintenance for several years.
We certainly cannot continue like this. Our leaders must wake up to their responsibilities. We want to see our leaders, particularly the president make people pay for their incompetency in carrying  out their duties. Somebody is in-charge of Kuje Correctional Center, some people were on duty on the night of the incident just like somebody was responsible for the importation of bad fuel into the country some months ago that damaged people’s vehicles and other engines, let Nigerians see them brought to book. Let it be on record that someone got sacked under Buhari’s government for incompetency.  If it requires that the president who is the Minister of Petroleum Resource should also pay for all the anomalies and corruption in the sector, so be it.
Of course, no society has a monopoly of crime, terrorism, corruption and other vices. We have seen religious fanatics and terrorists shoot and kill some people in other countries in recent times. But the difference between those countries and Nigeria is that when such things happen, you don’t hear their leaders merely coming out to condemn that act. You see them take action. You see the culprits being apprehended and brought to book.  That is the only way to deter others from engaging in crime. As long as we continue to pamper terrorists calling them all kinds of nice names and rewarding them with enrollment into the Nigerian Army all in the name of “repentant Boko Haram members”, the situation will continue to get worse.

By: Calista Ezeaku

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Opinion

NDDC, A Regional Commission?

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The Niger Delta Development Commission was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria to mitigate the effects of oil exploration and exploitation activities on the oil bearing communities or States. It is worthy to clarify that some of the  NDDC states are not from South-South geographical zone. NDDC is about oil producing States, irrespective of the geographical location. South – South geographical zone is made up of six states namely; Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers State. As it is today, there is no regional commission called South-South Commission. Rather, what is well-known, is Niger Delta Development Commission to aid development in the oil-bearing States. NDDC is a distinct interventionist agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria to douse down tension or agitation of the people of Niger Delta region.
Agitation by the bearing community led to the establishment of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, despite being scrapped by the present administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu. For instance, Abia State is in South-East region and it is part of NDDC, and it will benefit from South-East Commission established by the present Federal Government of Nigeria, to fast track development of South-East Zone. So, Abia State would benefit from NDDC and South-East Commission. Abia is an oil producing state in Nigeria. In the same position, Imo State is a South-East State and also an oil producing state; which automatically makes it a member of NDDC State.  And would benefit from both commissions; and no doubt, because of being an oil producing State and by location, South-East State. Automatically, by virtue of oil activities going on in the two Eastern States, they are members of Niger Delta Development Commission.
In the line of operation, Ondo State is in South-West region and by virtue of being an oil producing State, is a member of NDDC. This no doubt, makes Ondo State a beneficiary of NDDC creation. There is no question to ask why Ondo should be member of NDDC? And Ondo State is a member of South-West Development Commission, because of its geographical location as a State in that region. So, the argument that NDDC is a regional commission is out of place. Thus, NDDC is not only for States in the Niger Delta. Another question is: is there an established commission known as South-South Development Commission, that Rivers State, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Cross River should benefit from? The answer is capital No! So NDDC is not a regional commission because it is not only for the six states that make up the South- South. Hence, there is need for the present Federal Government of Nigeria, to urgently address the inequality and disparity created already.
This is because the six geographical zones have zonal commissions. The Federal Government should correct the equation. The misconception that NDDC is regional is not in order and is not correct. As it is today, there is no South-South Commission to help fast track development in the region. The political representatives from the South-South zone, should unite themselves and demand for South-South Development Commission as other zones have theirs. The Federal Government should put modalities in place to establish South-South Development Commission. The status quo should not be allowed to remain as it is now. Thank God, the daily quota of oil production has increased to about 2.5m barrel per day. And that is the reason why South-South should also benefit from the increase of oil activities in Nigeria.
Observationally, every region is bracing up to gain from the oil revenue of the country. And South South Zone which seems to be the hub of oil and gas is lagging behind in terms of purposeful development. NDDC should embark on an aggressive development of the member states. The Federal Government of Nigeria, should correct the negative believe that NDDC is a regional commission. Politicians of the zone should sheathe their swords of discrepancies and work together for the development of the zone. There should be a united front to convince the Federal Government to create or establish South-South Development Commission. Therefore State of the South-South zone in the Niger Delta Development Commission should be made to benefit like their counter parts from South- East and South- West in the NDDC. Thus, NDDC goes beyond regional vision. And that is why the Federal Government should establish South- South Development Commission to balance the equation of regional commission springing up in the country.

Frank Ogwuonuonu
Ogwuonuonu  is a free lancer in PortHarcourt.

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Opinion

That NANS’ Induction Of Former Tai LG Boss

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Last week, precisely Thursday, February 20, 2025,  students in Nigeria and the diaspora, under the umbrella of  the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) inducted the former Chairman of Tai Local Government Council, Chief Matthew NenuBari Dike into its Hall of Fame and gave him a certificate of recognition for what they described as his  “outstanding contributions to the development of education and students in Nigeria”. Presenting the award at Saakpenwan, headquarters of Tai Local Government Area, the National Vice President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Mohammed Sabo,  said unequivocally that the induction into the Hall of Fame and conferment of the award on Chief Dike was essentially  by merit; a product of his endeavor in building the education sector and human capital in Nigeria.
According to the National Vice President of the National Association of Nigerian Students in Nigeria and the Diaspora, the students body does not have a history of conferring frivolous and financially induced awards on people. Chief Matthew NenuBari Dike is one of fewest local government area chairmen  of Nigeria that have been so recognised and honoured by students in Nigeria and the diaspora. This is a welcome development given the fact that Tai Local Government Area has not been one of the local government areas in Nigeria that has attained the social,  economic and infrastructural sophistication to come to national limelight because of its rural and seeming obscure nature. However , good works and success like light cannot be suppressed, not even by enemies. Success is contagious, a force and voice that speak louder than arm-chair and callous criticism.
Looking at the antecedents of the awardee and recipient of the Nigerian students goodwill, Chief Matthew NenuBari Dike, it is not saying a new thing that he deserves the honour. Within 100 days in the saddle as chairman of Tai Local Government Area, Chief Dike  had made significant achievements in  driving the development of the education sector and students in Tai Local Government Area, and of course, Nigeria, a feat that marked him out for honour by the National Association of Nigerian Students. Aside recruiting 250 adhoc teachers to improve teaching and learning in Basic and Senior Secondary Schools in the Local Government Area, the former chairman has also established a Special Science School to develop manpower overtime in critical areas in the Local Government Area having noticed that in the last ten years no student of Tai Local Government Area had gained admission to read, Medicine, Engineering, Medical/Health Sciences and many other science based courses.
Chief Dike’s initiative is therefore to address a felt  and critical need of the people. Through a rigorous screening process, 104 students emerged as the first set of students to begin the Special Science School at its take-off facility, Model Primary School 2, Uedume, under Mr. Tete Baridamue Osih as the Director. Speaking during the Inauguration of the School, two weeks ago, the former Chairman of Tai Local Government Area, Chief Dike affirmed his administration’s commitment to deliver a new building for the Special Science School . No doubt, the Chief Dike’s adventures in the Education sector is a novel, and capital intensive project. It is a road less taken; only Local Government Area chairmen who are selfless, sacrificial and committed to human capital development of their people can take up such gigantic project, considering the cost-implications. Establishing a fully-furnished Science School for the Local Government Area requires a modern laboratory, provision of science books, a state-of-art science library and adequate funding.
Recurrent expenditures such as payment of salaries of staff, political appointees, councillors, overhead, and other entitlements of workers combined with ongoing capital projects and empowerment programmes that the chairman of the Local Government Area is embarking on, amidst limited income source, make Chief Dike a celebrity in governance, after the like of his principal, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, the “Rivers First” Governor. Students in Nigeria and the diaspora therefore, were objective, sound in judgement and devoid of primordial sentiment when they adjuged the former chairman of Tai Local Government Area worthy to be inducted into their Hall of Fame and honoured for his contributions. The adage that the “aroma of the Fart determines the substance of the poo” finds expression in the person of Chief Dike whose exploits in the education sector aimed at developing the capacity of students to meet critical needs of the Local Government Area, is a testament that  Chief Matthew Dike will do more when given higher responsibility or another term.
John C. Mason, in one of his best sellers, “Leadership Gold”, said every human organisation rises and falls on leadership. A good leader will inevitably midwife development in his sphere of influence. This corresponds with the wise saying of the Biblican King Solomon that ‘when the righteous rules, the people rejoice but when the wicked rules, the people groan”. The socio-economic situation of a people to a great extent shows who a leader really is. The works or activities of a leader in relation to the people speak volumes of leadership stuff. Chief Matthew NenuBari Dike  made significant impacts in the education sector and human capital development for a greater development in Tai Local Government Area. He is determined to leave a legacy in the sands of time of that Local Government Areas by raising millionaires through his economic empowerment programme to drive self reliance and reduce the level of abject poverty the people wallow in.
If Chief Dike had to achieve such commendable feat within only 100days  of 1,095 days term of office, with availability of funds or sustained financial resources, a stable economy and peace, he had the capacity to achieve ten times what he had done for the people of Tai Local Government Area. While this is the beginning of a long and tortuous journey in governance, it is necessary to join students in Nigeria and the diaspora to commend Chief Dike for his impacts in the critical areas of education, human capital development, economic development, etc. To act contrary is to live out the saying of Decimus Magnus Ausonius that “The earth produces nothing worse than an ungrateful man”.

Igbiki Benibo

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Opinion

Dealing With Fake Drugs In Nigeria

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Since late Prof. Dora Akunyili’s tenure as the Director General of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the fight against fake, illegal and expired drugs seemed to be in limbo until the current raid by the agency. For over one-week NAFDAC has been in the news as it has taken the war to the door post of fake, unauthorised, expired medicine dealers across the country. From Ariaria Market, Aba to Bridgehead, Onitsha, Anambra State, to Idumota drug market, Lagos, the stories are the same. Warehouses are being raided, medicine shops are being closed, counterfeit and expired drugs are being destroyed and so on. The current Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, must be commended for the reinvigorated effort towards ridding our society of poisons in the name of drugs.
Some of these drugs according to NAFDAC are expired, imported drugs which are repackaged and pushed into the markets. Some of the seized drugs were vaccines stored in dilapidated, unventilated rooms, sealed with iron sheets in highly unsanitary conditions. It is doubtful if there is any adult Nigerian that is not aware of the damage caused to the citizens and the country by fake and substandard drugs. How many times have we or someone we know taken malaria drugs, antibiotics or other medicines for a cure of an ailment and they were ineffective? How many people in the country have died because fake or relabelled expired drugs were administered to them? Experts have posited that fake, adulterated, substandard drugs fuel antimicrobial resistance, as substandard antibiotics fail to properly treat infections, leading to stronger and more resilient bacteria.
The proliferation of these harmful substances is indeed a crisis of national significance. It threatens public health, weakens trust in the healthcare system, and exacerbates Nigeria’s already fragile health sector. Local drug manufacturers who invest millions of Naira to produce genuine, quality drugs for the citizens are denied the fruits of their labour by criminal syndicates who take advantage of regulatory loopholes and weak enforcement to flood the market with dangerous substances, putting millions of lives at risk. So, by all means, they should not be spared. But the question that begs for an answer is, where were the government agencies when these fake and expired drugs entered the country and travelled to the states? Why were they not intercepted at the point of entry either via the ports or the land borders and the importers arrested and prosecuted?
According to Adeyeye, most of these poisonous drugs are brought into the country through the ports and the porous borders. Is there nothing that can be done to beef up security and checks against illegal drugs at the borders? Or is it a case of the personnel at the borders looking the other way when they must have been settled thereby allowing unhindered entry of fake and unauthorised products into the country? It is also worrisome why we have allowed drugs to be sold in the open markets in the country. For many years, the federal government has been coming up with policies to address the uncontrolled and undefined buying and selling of medicine with or without approval, all to no avail. Open drug markets continue to thrive, leading to abuse and counterfeiting.
A former National Chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists, Mr Samuel Adekola, in a recent interview bared his mind on the issue of open drug market. He said, “We know that open drug markets are not the best for Nigeria because of how the drugs are sourced. The government has been coming up with policies to address it, but you know that nature abhors vacuum, so once there is no alternative, these markets crop up because people must use drugs. Policies of the government must support alternatives which will make the drug distribution process/system in Nigeria a regulated and sanitised one. The whole essence of this is to save society from fake and adulterated drugs because the burden of fake drugs on citizen’s health and the economy is huge. Today, 70 percent of deaths in the hospitals arise from drug misuse or fake drugs.”
Early in the week, the NAFDAC DG during a television interview announced that the Kano Coordinated Wholesale Centre for drug marketers has taken off and that that of Lagos, Aba, Onitsha and other places are in the pipeline. Hastened efforts in actualising this will go a long way in checking the menace of fake drugs. Also, in addition to Adeyeye’s request for more funding and more staff for the agency to help in manning the borders and prevent the infiltration of poisonous drugs into the country, there is the need for technology-driven solutions to the challenge. The adoption of digital tools, such as mobile verification codes on drug packaging, can help consumers verify the authenticity of their medications. Blockchain technology can also be explored to track and trace pharmaceutical products from manufacturers to end-users.
NAFDAC and other regulatory bodies should be empowered with adequate resources to crack down on counterfeiters. Policies that improve oversight, enhance drug registration processes, and promote stricter penalties for offenders are essential. The nation’s drug distribution policy which stipulates penalties for defaulters must be implemented. While Adeyeye’s proposed death penalty for fake drug peddlers may be too harsh, many years imprisonment without an option of fine will not be out of place. While commenting on the recent raids, the National Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria – Young Pharmacists Group, Tekena George showered some encomium on the NAFDAC DG, saying that beyond enforcement, her transformational policies promote local production of high-quality medicines in Nigeria, noting that by encouraging domestic manufacturing, she is not only reducing the country’s reliance on imported drugs but also strengthening the nation’s medicine security and economic resilience.
Indeed, over-reliance on imported drugs increases vulnerability to counterfeit products. Both federal and state governments should therefore encourage domestic pharmaceutical production, backed by strong quality control measures. This will ensure a safer drug supply chain. Nigeria should work closely with international agencies such as INTERPOL and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to dismantle transnational drug counterfeiting networks. Sharing intelligence and coordinating enforcement efforts will help disrupt the supply chain of fake drugs. Awareness campaigns are inevitable in dealing with the menace of fake drugs in our society. Many Nigerians remain unaware of the dangers of fake drugs. Government agencies, civil society groups, and healthcare professionals must therefore collaborate to educate the public on how to identify counterfeit drugs and report suspicious products.
Most importantly, the National Orientation Agency, religious and traditional leaders, parents, schools and other organisations must join hands in changing the “get rich at all cost” mentality of some Nigerians. As some people say, corruption, greed and selfishness are the root of all the problems in Nigeria. And unless these vices are dealt with all efforts at stemming fake drug distribution and other menace in the country will bear no positive result.

Calista Ezeaku

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