Day: May 29, 2024

The 10th Senate, popularly tagged the ‘uncommon Senate’, was inaugurated on June 13, 2023, when Nigerians were grappling with the sudden rise in the cost of living, following the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu on his assumption of office on May 29.

The National Assembly and particularly the Senate was placed on a tight corner as so much was expected from the lawmakers toward cushioning the effects of the new government policy, which has led to high inflation and high cost of living.

As expected, the Senate began by passing executive bills that were expected to impact directly on Nigerians such as the Students’ Loan Bill, which was passed on March 14 and assented by the President on April 3.

The bill evolved as part of the strategies to ensure full implementation of the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023 as it sought to provide loans to indigent students to pay for their fees in Nigerian tertiary institutions.

At the signing of the bill, Tinubu commended the National Assembly for its ex
peditious passage, saying that the action was a pointer to the administration’s priority on education for Nigerian youths as a tool of fighting poverty.

‘We are determined to ensure that education is given the proper attention necessary for the country including skills development programmes.

‘This is to ensure that no one, no matter how poor their background, is excluded from quality education and opportunity to build their future.

‘We are here because we are all educated, and we are helped. In the past, we have seen a lot of our children drop out of colleges and give up the opportunity,’ he said.

With the signing of the bill into law by the president, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund was established to handle all loan requests, grants, and disbursement to deserving beneficiaries.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) was to be funded from multiple streams and would engage in other productive activities.

Its sources of funding as included one per cent of all profits accruing to the federal governm
ent from oil and other minerals, one per cent of taxes, levies and duties accruing to the federal government from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS),

Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).

Others were education bonds and education endowment fund schemes.

The loan would also be funded through donations, gifts, grants, endowment, and revenue accruing to the fund from any other source, according to the Act.

Another similar bill passed by the Senate was the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Trust Fund, sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Sen. Yemi Adaramodu.

The bill sought to provide a sustainable source of funds for the NYSC, skill acquisition, training and empowerment of corps members, training and retraining of the personnel of the scheme, development of camps and NYSC formations and facilities.

Another critical bill at the Senate which had passed second reading was a bill to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, 2007.

The bill was sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Sen. Adetokunbo Abiru.

The bill sought to limit the tenure of the Governor and Deputy Governors of the CBN to a single non-renewal term of six years.

Another bill that excited most Nigerians was a bill to revert to Nigeria’s old National Anthem, ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee’, which has passed second reading.

The sponsor- Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele said that it sought to make provisions for Nigeria to revert to its old national anthem that would promote a better symbol for unity, peace, and prosperity- compared to the current one.

Giving a scorecard of the achievement of the Senate, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Sen. Yemi Adaramodu, said that the 10th Senate had performed creditably well in the last one year.

He said that the upper chamber was able to come up with bills and motions that had impacted positively on the lives of ordinary Nigerians within the last o
ne year.

‘When we look at the education sector, we look at the bill and the passage into law, signed by the President, the Students Loan Bill, you will see that it is a people-centred bill.

‘The social security bill which has now culminated to be called the social security trust fund which was passed within four months of the ascendancy of the Senate, is another very important bill.

‘There are so many motions that had even scaled through, that had gone into resolutions, which had been passed to the President, which have renewed the hope of Nigerians especially in security and in the finance sector,’ he said.

Adaramodu said that the CBN (Act), 2007 amendment bill would insulate the governor and the bank’s management from partisan politics.

‘When we look at the Central Bank Bill, it is going to insulate the CBN governor and its management from partisan politics.

‘And it is going to reiterate seriously and strictly on weight and means, so that it will not weigh too much against the GDP and then the income
of the federation and then run Nigeria into internal unaccounted debt.

‘Several bills and motions like that had been passed. And within the last one year, the 10th Senate had been replete with activities apart from the legislative activities, oversight activities.

‘The NYSC Trust Fund which had already been passed in the Senate, it had gone for concurrence and then it went to the President,” he said.

He added: ‘That bill is seeking to rejig the NYSC scheme to ensure that Nigerian young adults are given the benefits to have something to do immediately after graduation from the NYSC scheme.”

The lawmaker said that the Senate had done very well within the past one year, considering the scope where it operated.

‘And then the issues that are bedevilling Nigeria especially security issues and then the economic issue.

‘Several times, the senate had come with even the big stick at times for the security of Nigeria to be taken seriously and then for the security chiefs to work seriously for the security issues
of Nigeria. And we have been reaping the results,’ Adaramodu said.

But analysts have rated the 10th Senate otherwise.

Mr Cletus Uwakina, a right activist and the President, Crusaders’ Advocacy Initiative, said that the performance of the10th senate had most often fallen below expectations.

”In spite of some minor legislative successes, the national assembly has often fallen short in fulfilling its duties effectively as representatives of the people, particularly in areas of legislative oversight and accountability.

‘One of the most glaring failures of the NASS is the significant delay in passing essential bills.

‘The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), aimed at reforming the oil and gas sector, is a prime example, in spite of its importance, the PIA faced nearly two decades of delays and debates before being enacted in 2021.

‘Such delays are not isolated incidents, many other crucial bills, including those addressing health, education, and economic reforms, often languish in committees for extended periods,
undermining the legislative process and stalling necessary reforms.

‘The national assembly role in overseeing the executive branch is critical for ensuring accountability and good governance,” he said.

He added: ‘However, its effectiveness in this area has been frequently questioned, investigations into corruption and misconduct within the executive often result in minimal substantive action.

‘For instance, the probe into the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) over allegations of mismanagement involving billions of naira generated significant media attention but ultimately led to little or no accountability or reform.

‘Similarly, its investigations into the alleged mismanagement of COVID-19 relief funds lacked thoroughness and failed to lead to significant changes.

‘In spite of initial efforts to scrutinise how funds were utilised, the outcomes of these investigations did not meet public expectations for transparency and accountability.”

‘Suspected corruption within the national assembly itself
undermines its credibility and effectiveness, reports of budget padding, where legislators inflate the budget for personal gain, and accusations of accepting bribes to influence legislative decisions are not uncommon.

‘Such practices not only eroded public trust but also compromised the national assembly’s ability to hold others accountable for similar offenses.

‘The high salaries, allowances, and acquisition of very costly exotic official cars for legislators, particularly in a country facing economic hardships portray the National Assembly as an institution that is insensitive to the pains of citizens’.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Nigeria has been operating a monocultural economy for decades since the discovery of oil in 1956, relying on it to fund its development.

The result is that other sectors of the economy would not receive the needed attention for their growth, posing a worrying obstacle to economic diversification.

While various administrations in the past years struggled to change the trend, observers say the impact is yet to be reflected in the economy, and more political will is needed to achieve the feat.

The country is faced with the reality of building its resilience for the future, especially as the demand for oil is expected to decline, resulting in a loss in its value.

In building this resilience, it must leverage on opportunities in other sectors to generate revenue to drive the process of sustainable development.

One of such is taking advantage of the global upsurge of energy transition to develop its solid minerals sector.

A German company, Geoscan, conducted a preliminary survey which revealed Nigeria has a d
eposit of an estimate of N750 billion dollars worth of solid minerals underground, of which a quarter had not been harnessed.

To tow the path of exploring opportunities of these solid minerals, when President Bola took over the helm of the country on May 29, 2923, he promised to revamp the sector to improve the economic profile of the country.

His Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, said the sector targets contributing 50 per cent to Nigeria`s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), through its repositioning.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the mining and quarrying sector contributed 4.47 per cent to the overall GDP in the fourth quarter of 2023 during the period Tinubu took over.

One of the eight key presidential priority areas is `to unlock energy and natural resources for sustainable development`, but achieving the feat requires attracting foreign direct investment and sanitising the sector.

Nigeria prides itself in possessing the critical minerals required for energy tr
ansition in commercial quantities across its states, which it must leverage upon to facilitate local development of its economy, especially in creating job opportunities and infrastructure development.

To attract big players in harnessing these minerals, the government need to put in place friendly policies and initiatives.

But while the Tinubu`s administration is removing impediments to the ease of doing business and strives to attract foreign direct investment to its minerals, it must deal with one of the major challenges bedevilling the sector, which is illegal mining.

Illegal mining is the extraction of minerals or other geological materials without following the proper procedures which includes the necessary permits, licences or regulatory approvals to participate in the activity.

Stakeholders say illegal mining is fuelled by insecurity in the mining environment, and is an act of economic sabotage depriving Nigeria of improved revenue.

Similarly, Alake described illegal mining as a hydra headed mons
ter, which scourge violates the legal restrictions against mining in public institutions such as national parks and educational institutions, religious centres or community properties.

He further explained that illegal mining is not just unlicenced mining, but it covers licenced miners operating with invalid licences or licenced miners operating outside their coordinates or mining minerals not approved in their licences.

When he appeared before the House of Representatives committee on Solid Minerals to defend the ministry`s 2024 budget estimate, he decried the rate of insecurity in the mining industry.

He said that the situation was impeding the sector from generating the requisite revenue, and also alleged that illegal miners are the sponsors of banditry and terrorism in the country, which must be addressed for the sector to thrive.

He said that the Nigerian economy is in dire need of rapid economic growth through the solid minerals sector given the limitless value the sector can provide, but the activi
ties of illegal miners have made the mining environment insecure for investors.

To check the menace, the ministry adopted a dual -pronged approach comprising of both coercive and persuasive measures being concurrently implemented to get the desired result to combat illegal mining.

The persuasive method involves formalising artisanal and illegal miners into cooperatives, and since the policy, more than 150 cooperatives have been established so far.

‘Recall that on the occasion of the declaration of the Seven Point Agenda, I gave illegal miners 30-day deadline to join co-operatives.

‘This was later extended to 60 days. It is gratifying to note that between September 2023 and March, 2024, the Ministry registered 152 new cooperatives, ‘ the minister said.

The move is aimed at easily identifying the miners through the cooperative to check illegality, and also enhance their business.

For the coercive approach, a Presidential Inter-Ministerial Committee was established on Jan.17, to produce a blue print for se
curing Nigeria`s natural resources, which comprised of mineral sites, marine economy and forests.

The committee was expanded to include security agencies aimed at producing comprehensive strategies to address illegal mining, which led to the establishment of the Mining Marshal Corp, an inter-agency security outfit to secure the mining environment.

The agency has 2, 220 personnel, who have been specially trained as a rapid response squad and deployed across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Alake at the recent Ministerial Sectoral Update on the performance of the Tinubu`s administration, said the corp has brought instant succour to investors, who, hitherto, watched helplessly while their cadastral units were pillaged by bandits and illegal miners.

‘Many investors are besieging the ministry with desperate requests for intervention and we are responding with appropriate rapidity.

‘Efforts to improve the kit and armoury of the Mining Marshals will enable us to increase the fleet, expand
the field of operations and combat effectively the rarely restricted operations of illegal miners.

‘The expected impact is that more miners will resume legal operations, increase mineral exploitation, pay appropriate royalty and encourage more investors to come, convinced of the security of the mining environment and the establishment of Law and order,’ he said.

He said that plans are ongoing for other security sister agencies to integrate their officers in to the outfit structure across the country for robust output.

Alake said that the establishment of the Marshals has enabled the Mines Surveillance teams to concentrate on intelligence gathering to track and monitor illegal miners for apprehension and prosecution.

According to him, the development is a major achievement as records show that no fewer than 133 persons are currently being prosecuted for illegal mining notably in Cross River, Kogi, Oyo, Gombe, Taraba and Niger.

While these efforts have been acknowledged by stakeholders in the sector, exper
ts recommend digitisation of informal or illegal miners, where they would have identity cards that government can use for their identification.

Other stakeholders observe that while the Marshal Corp has been established to tackle insecurity and illegal activities at mining sites, there is a need for the government to make provisions for their back up in dealing with violators.

This they say is crucial, as most illegal miners are linked to banditry where sophisticated weaponry is used.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Some administrators in the healthcare sector have called for strategic reforms that would improve healthcare service delivery in the country.

They spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, while proposing areas of improvement during their appraisal of President Bola Tinubu’s One Year performance in the health sector.

Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, the Chief Medical Director of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), lamented the low uptake of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), attributing its low uptake to the limited scope of the insurance cover.

‘For example, if you take a basic insurance plan, you can get free consultation, free medication and few free tests.

‘You won’t be able to access surgery and other treatments, unless you pay out-of-pocket.

‘To make it attractive to citizens, the premium can be raised. As we speak, the premium is low, about N850 per month. If you raise the premium and increase the coverage, people would be more interested,’ he said.

The CMD also appe
aled to the Federal Government to revitalise moribund medical research institutions across the country, noting that robust and functional medical research institutions would stimulate opportunities to solve health challenges locally.

He emphasised that medical researchers producing their research results would increase medical knowledge, improve patient care, develop new medicines or procedures, and help in formulating policies.

Commenting, the Chief Medical Director, Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital Yaba, Dr Olugbenga Owoeye, said there was need for more support to further enhance performance of the hospital, calling on the Federal Government for subsequent financial supports.

According to him, some buildings in the hospitals are old and need to either be renovated or rebuilt, saying that the Federal Government stepping forward to rebuild the structures will be a welcome development.

Owoeye said that the existing 90-bed drug rehabilitation centre of the hospital was grossly inadequate and needed to be
expanded.

‘To sustain development of the hospital and further enhance its operations, there is need for more support.

‘Some of the buildings are old and there is need to either remove them and rebuild or renovate. This will also improve on the hospital’s mental health care services

‘There is also need for expansion of our drug rehabilitation centre; we have 90 bed drug rehabilitation center for both male and female, and as at now, the facility is overstretched.

‘So, a purpose built drug rehabilitation centre by the government, will be a welcome development,’ Owoeye told NAN.

Also, Dr Livinus Abonyi, a Medical Imaging Scientist, decried the level of hardship and high cost of living in the country, calling on the government to intensify efforts to address the situation and stabilise the economy.

Abonyi said that leaders of governments at all levels need to win the trust of their citizens through their actions and not mere talks.

Abonyi, Head of Department, Medical Radiography at the University of Lagos,
College of Medicine, said that most political leaders were disconnected from the led, such that government policies were antithetical to the welfare of citizens.

‘The needs of the citizens appear to be at variance with that of the government. This has created a wide gap in the general acceptance of government policies and programmes.

‘These adverse characteristics of leadership invokes disloyalty, lack of trust or patriotism to the Nigerian state.

‘Leaders should be transparently exemplary in all their dealings, thereby, leading by example.

‘Governments at all levels should address the issue of trust deficit. The current investment in infrastructure is not more important than in investing in the mindset of Nigerians.

‘Corruption in government should be fought to a stand still,’ he said.

Abonyi, therefore, called on the government to tackle all forms of poverty and hunger with greater vigour, in order to reduce the burden of ill health which adversely affects the country’s health indices.

‘It is now app
roximately one year from the last inauguration and a very germane question to ask is ‘how far, so far’?

‘The cost of living is so high with prices of goods and services, particularly drugs, skyrocketing out of the reach of an average Nigerian.

‘Nigerians are suffering and the end is not in sight.

‘The adverse effects of the current Nigerian government policies are excruciatingly painful to the citizens. Life is becoming more unbearable for the citizens.

‘A good example is the strangulation of civil servants with an obsolete minimum wage of over several years ago when a 50 kilograms bag of rice was N7,500 compared to now when the same bag of rice is going for N75,000.

‘Should a responsive leadership continue to dribble her citizens without coming up with a reasonable wage that may assuage the suffering of the workers?’ he asked.

Abonyi, emphasised the need for transparency of governance and involvement of experts to professionally proffer solutions to the nation’s challenges across sectors.

Similarly, T
aiwo Obindo, President, Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN), urged the government to address the insecurity challenge of the country.

Obindo, ascribed terrorism and banditry as key threatening factors to achieving food security in the country.

According to him, there is no justification for government’s intervention in the form of loans, fertiliser provision or inputs to agriculture when security of life and properties of those that would work on the farms cannot be assured.

He lamented that the high cost of transportation was responsible for the hike in the prices of food commodities across the country.

The psychiatrist emphasised that the solution to hunger and other challenges depended on restoring security of the country.

Obindo also highlighted that more Nigerians were distressed now more than before, resulting to quite a number of mental health conditions.

He listed the social factors to include high cost of living, insecurity, kidnapping, financial problems, inflation, child abuse, rape
, broken homes and broken marriages, traumatic experiences and degrees of violence among others.

Obindo explained that people who were predisposed to the social factors were more likely to develop mental health issues particularly this period the country was faced with lots of economic challenges.

He decried the rate of multiple taxations on small scale businesses and individuals, stressing the need to streamline the taxes.

According to him, an average Nigerian is disposed to more pressure and distress now than before.

He called for intensified efforts by the Federal Government to release people of these pressures in order to safeguard mental health of its citizens.

‘I cannot say I have seen any major shift when it comes to policies, when it comes to decisions and when it comes to the health and mental health of Nigerians.

‘Looking at the pressure on an average Nigerian; with the increasing inflation, with the challenges that are happening around and pressure from overtaxing on them.

‘One can say that
an average Nigerian is put under pressure; more Nigerians are more distressed now than before. And this may predispose more Nigerians to develop mental health conditions,’ Obindo said.

The APN President, therefore, called for swift implementation of the Nigeria’s National Mental Health Act, to pave the way for adequate protection of Nigerians mental health.

He explained that the National Mental Health Act 2021 was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 2023, saying that up till now, the Federal Government was yet to implement that Act.

‘Before Buhari left, an Act was assented to by the President in 2023 and since the Tinubu led Administration came; the Federal Ministry of Health is yet to implement that Act.

‘Every push for its implementation is meeting with a major hindrance from the Federal Ministry. The beginning would have been the establishment of a department in the Federal Ministry of Health and up till now, nothing has been done.

‘The department is meant to be in the forefront of s
eeing to the rights of people with mental health conditions; setting up a review committee, an assessment committee and mental health fund, but, up till now, we have not seen much.

‘But, if we look at the effort of the mental health programme in the Federal Ministry; we can see a dilemma of hope; we have the Suicide Prevention Strategic Framework on ground, which is meant to decriminalised attempted suicide – giving those who attempt to take their lives a rebrief, sending them for treatment rather than prosecuting them.

‘So, on that front, maybe we say we made a tentative step,’ Obindo said.

Obindo said there was need for the integration of mental health services into the Primary Health Care system in Nigeria.

According to him, the integration has become imperative to create room for more and easy access to mental health services at grassroot as majority of the nation’s population dwell in the rural areas.

He said: ‘Over 60 per cent of the population dwell in the rural areas, but mental health services/f
acilities are hardly available in those areas.

‘If the services for mental health can be integrated into primary healthcare; it means that even from primary health centres people can now access these services and it can bring protection to people working in that space.

‘Similarly, it will create room for not only easy access to the services, but also for its readily availability, promote awareness and equally reduce mental health stigmatisation to a great extend.'(

Source: News Agency of Nigeria