Dr. Vwaere Diaso, a young medical doctor, lost her life in an elevator accident at the General Hospital in Odan, Lagos state.

The accident happened on Tuesday, August 1,

Dr. Diaso, who was set to complete her housemanship in just two weeks, was on her way to collect her meal from a dispatch ride when the unfortunate event occurred.

The elevator, which had been reportedly faulty for some time, crashed from the 10th floor to the ground floor, leading to the fatal accident.

Her colleagues and friends, shocked by the loss, revealed that Dr. Diaso had completed her medical degree at Babcock University. She was rushed to the emergency ward after the accident, but despite the medical team’s efforts, she tragically passed away.

Heartbroken friends and colleagues have alleged that the hospital management had neglected to repair the faulty elevator despite being aware of the issue, and they believe this negligence ultimately cost Dr. Vwaere Diaso her life.

As the community mourns her untimely death, questions are being raised about the importance of maintaining hospital infrastructure to ensure the safety of staff and patients alike.

Angry Nigerian workers and civil society organisations on Tuesday protested over hardships resulting from the removal of fuel subsidy the President Bola Tinubu.

The National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Joe Ajaero alongside other officials of the labour, assembled at the Unity Fountain at Abuja for a “peaceful protest”.

In Lagos, all the aviation unions joined in the nationwide protest announced by the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC.

At about 6:30 am, members of the aviation unions had gathered under the bridge leading to Oba Akran in support of the national body of the NLC to press home their demands.

The aviation unions as at the time of filing this report are preparing to march to Alausa where they intend to drop their letter of protest to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Also in Osun, members of the Academic Union of Universities (ASUU), Labour Unions – the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), Joint Action Front, and members of the Osun Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC) thronged Osogbo, the state capital with protest to call on the government to urgently address issues of economic hardship occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal.

The protesters call on the government to address the hardship facing Nigerians due to the removal of fuel of subsidy.

“We are saying enough to corruption. We are saying enough to the commercialisation of education. Nigerian workers are saying enough to abuse of power. We are saying enough to poor workers’ wages that cannot take workers home. Workers are demanding immediate stoppage of all of those policies that are culpable of incapacitating our people, that are culpable of incapacitating Nigerian workers.

“We are saying enough is enough to all policies that are bringing suffering to our people. We are saying enough to all policies that are culpable of dividing Nigeria into different factions. We are saying enough is enough.

as port operations continue

Commercial bus drivers have defied the Lagos State Government directive that all yellow transport buses should slash their fares by 25 per cent.

This is even as port operations have continued unhindered despite the ongoing strike action by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).

Recall that Governor Sanwo-Olu, while speaking to journalists during a media briefing on Monday, had said that a 50 Percent slash in transport fare on all Lagos State-controlled transport mediums (BRT Blue Line) and a 25 per cent slash in transport fare on all yellow buses will commence on Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023.

However, checks by Tribune Online on Wednesday morning revealed that while all Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses complied with the directive to slash fares by 50 per cent, yellow buses didn’t slash transport fares by 25 per cent.

Transport fares from Agege to Ikeja still stood between N300 and N400 while Ijora to Oshodi still went for N500. Apapa to Ijora was still N200 and Apapa to Contain was still being carried at N300.

Speaking with Tribune Online on why yellow bus drivers have not complied with the State government directive, a bus driver Salau Liadi explained that there was no incentive from any of their leadership that could have warranted a slash in Transportation fares.

“Mr. Governor said he has an agreement with our leadership, but we have not heard anything from anybody.

“I am on the road because I have to put food on the table for my family. The cost of petrol has not gone down, neither have we been given fuel by anybody to slash Transportation fares. So I don’t really understand this Lagos State Government directive that yellow buses should slash fares by 25 per cent.

“The BRTs can do that because the State government must have provided incentives for them. But for us yellow buses, we can’t slash fares because we still buy fuel at N585 per litre,” Liadi told Tribune Online.

The Lagos State Governor had said on Monday that it was working on rolling out these palliatives to lessen the pain that the removal of subsidy had brought on the citizens.

“We’ve had extensive conversations with all of the stakeholders in our transport system, both formal and informal modes of transportation, and we have come to a conclusion, which the state government will be supporting.

In a bid to reduce the effects of the removal of fuel subsidies on the people of Ogun state, the Executive Governor of the state, Dapo Abiodun, is set to distribute electric-powered motorbikes to the people of the state.

The removal of the fuel subsidy, which tripled the price of petrol, has affected virtually every part of the economy, leading to an increase in the cost of transportation, prices of goods, and services, among others.

Reacting to the development in a Twitter post shared by the governor on Wednesday, he stated that his administration will continue to do everything to ensure ease of affairs for the people of the state.

According to the governor, the motorbikes, which were tested in the Republic of Benin on Wednesday, 1st of August, will be distributed to deserving transporters across the state.

He wrote, “In our efforts to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal, which has led to the rising cost of transportation in the entire nation, we made a promise to provide electric-powered motorbikes for those who rely solely on this means of transport.

“While in the Republic of Benin yesterday, we had a test drive of some of the motorbikes that our administration will soon distribute to deserving transporters and members of our society as a way of easing the financial pressure orchestrated by the increase in fuel price.”

Aggrieved protesters under the umbrella of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have pulled down the gate of the National Assembly in Abuja.

Earlier, the protesters led by the leaders of the Organised Labour, Joe Ajaero of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Festus Osifo of the Trade Union Congress asked security operatives stationed at the legislative building to open the gates to allow the angry workers to express their displeasure.

Following the failure of the security officials to adhere, angry protesters pulled down the gates and thronged into the assembly complex to vent their anger

Recall that the Organised Labour and their affiliate unions, today, kicked off a protest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and other states of the Federation, including Lagos, Abia, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Rivers, Zamfara, Katsina, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kwara, Ogun, Imo, Ondo, and Edo.

The protesters, in their hundreds, convened at the Unity Fountain, from where they marched to the NASS Complex.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio is expected to address the protesters ahead of today’s screening of ministerial nominees

Popular human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, on Wednesday addressed protesting workers in Lagos.

He said that the implementation of Neo-Liberal policies by the Federal Government would further impoverish Nigerians.

Falana who joined the protest of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) against petrol subsidy removal in Ikeja, noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank cannot help Nigeria.

Details to follow…

On July 26, 2023, Mohamed Bazoum, the elected president of the Republic of Niger was pushed aside in a coup d’etat. This is an unfortunate development. However, the coup makers are consolidating and mobilizing the populace towards an acceptance of the development.
 
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rightly called for an extraordinary summit of the ECOWAS Authority on July 30th, and a communique was issued at the end of the meeting. The ECOWAS Authority put in place a number of sanctions, including closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Niger Republic, institution of an ECOWAS no fly zone on all commercial flights to and from Niger and freezing of the country’s assets in ECOWAS states. Going further, the ECOWAS Authority issued an ultimatum seeking the restoration of the overthrown order within seven days, and threatened the probable use of force for non-compliance and in this regard, asked the ECOWAS Chiefs of Defense Staff to start meeting.
 
A number of questions need to be answered before the Nigerian government goes to war:

1. Has the necessary resolution of the UN Security Council been sought with a certainty that there will be no veto making an ECOWAS war illegal as ECOWAS got stopped over Cote d’Ivoire?

2. Has costs and benefits analysis been done by the Nigerian authorities for the short, medium, and long-term, especially under the current financial problems Nigeria is facing?

3. Given the refusal to reimburse Nigeria’s efforts in Sierra Leone and Liberia in the past, is Nigeria able to fund a possible war with the Niger Republic as others in ECOWAS cajole her to lead, and as usual carry most, if not all of the yoke?

4. How will the ECOWAS leadership close Niger's borders with Mali and Burkina Faso – countries with sympathetic military regimes to those in power in Niger and the possible availability of counter air power instruments?

5. Has Nigeria pondered on a perceived weak Niger Republic entering into wider alliance(s), including with other stronger governments, organized and unorganized terror franchises?

6. Has the Nigerian government carefully reflected on the Nigerien views, popularity, or not of the coup plotters, and the implications of this for any military action?

7. Is Nigeria prepared to lead a process towards a truncated ECOWAS?

8. Is Nigeria acting swiftly to please external interests, without a thoughtful consideration of the all-round implications for ECOWAS, Nigeria, and its people, if a Libya type internationalised war starts next door?
 
Diplomacy is superior to threats of the use of force that may be difficult or impossible to implement. Preventing coups in West Africa, is not by sanctions and threats but by addressing leadership deficit and corruption, curtailing negative external pressures, as well as the building of credible institutions to provide for the needs of the people.
 

The “honeymoon” enjoyed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is over – two months into the life of his administration, which has a lifespan of four years (48 months) in the first instance. While he is yet to fully form his government, Tinubu is already fighting fires on many fronts; his problems, unfortunately, are majorly self-inflicted. His “subsidy is gone” bombshell is one while the floating of the Naira is another, two nagging issues that the president tried to address in his nationwide broadcast last Monday. While only a few misguided elements - the major beneficiaries of the bottomless pit of corruption called fuel subsidy and political partisans still sulking and bellyaching about Tinubu’s emergence as president - will fail to reason with the superior argument for the removal of subsidy as it was operated by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, Tinubu erred in the way he went about the removal. The understanding of Nigerians was that the subsidy had been budgeted for up to the end of June but Tinubu announced its removal in his inauguration speech on May 29th, thereby denying Nigerians the enjoyment of an already-paid-for or already-budgeted-for subsidy of one month. Let him tell us if this is not the case! Was the subsidy not budgeted for up to the end of June 2023? Yes or no?

We have heard that subsidy removal was not even in Tinubu’s prepared inauguration speech but that he veered off course to blurt out the “subsidy is gone” three-word syllable of trouble that threw the whole country, including Tinubu’s die-hard supporters, off balance. Victory, which many were bracing up to celebrate, immediately turned into ashes in the mouth of millions. Mournful! The price of petrol immediately shot through the roof, which the people were not prepared for. But for the fact that Nigeria is not a country where “People Power” is potent, that alone was enough to have driven millions of protesters into the street to shorten Tinubu’s reign. Tinubu himself was not prepared for the consequences of his speech. It was obvious he leaped before he looked; he spoke before putting on his thinking cap and, in so doing, he placed the cart before the horse. The one-month period of grace (June) that Buhari gifted him before subsidy is removed would have enabled him to adequately explain to Nigerians his plans for our comatose refineries, map out strategies to cushion the effects of subsidy removal and arrange the so-called palliatives but, inexplicably, he threw the opportunity away. He was hasty in his approach to a very sensitive issue; perhaps, feeling or sensing that procrastination may give room to influence-peddlers, beneficiaries of padded subsidy payments and political foes to pile pressure on him to keep subsidy going, he reportedly summoned the courage to bell the cat right from Day One. Very well! He must now summon the same courage to face up to the consequences. Newton’s third law of motion says action and reaction are equal and opposite!

Floating of the Naira is the other action of the president that has caused Nigerians a lot of pain; in plain language, the president devalued the Naira by demanding that both the official exchange rate and the black market exchange rate be merged. Allowing market forces an unfettered reign, the black market rate will only climb down for the Naira to appreciate in value when our productive capacity is enhanced; in the absence of that, it is the official foreign exchange rate that will travel upstairs to sojourn with the black market rate, which is why the official market rate has been chasing the black market rate since the float-the-Naira order was given. Like the hike in fuel price, the effect of floating the Naira is felt directly in people’s pockets: While prices are skyrocketing everywhere, the value of the Naira in their pocket depreciates on a daily basis and their income, where they have any, remains the same. This is double or triple whammy! Here again, Tinubu acted hastily. He had not gathered the levers of power in his hand; he had not availed himself of the opportunity of listening to the critical operators in the sectors concerned; and, from what we can see, he had no immediate response to the consequences, intended and or unintended, of his action. Hence, he is fighting fires when prevention would have been better than cure.

Tinubu removed the CBN governor; applause! But now they are having problems prosecuting him! Putting facts and figures together to present foolproof evidence in court if you must have a good case does not come easy; it takes time and a lot of hard and diligent work. It cannot be approached flimsily. An American-styled special investigator has now been named to probe the CBN; perfect! But that should have come first and evidence unearthed would have been handy for speedy and diligent prosecution of whosoever. I have it on good authority, however, that Tinubu may soon embark on unannounced visits to the comatose refineries to see, firsthand, how fast work there is progressing. Great! That will fire the confidence of the people that their president is actually holding the bull by the horns. If Tinubu, like Buhari before him, awards himself the Petroleum ministry portfolio, I will expect him to take a cue from his Chief of Army Staff and lead from the front. He will have to relocate his office and shuttle between Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna where the refineries are located. Getting the refineries functioning again is the greatest task of the moment that will make or mar Tinubu and his government.

Tinubu’s nationwide broadcast is great PR; well done! The president spoke directly to Nigerians over and above the head of Labour leaders preparing for a so-called nationwide strike. Did he take the wind off their sail? Time, as they say, will tell! Do I have confidence in our Labour leaders? No, I don’t! Time and again, they have used us to negotiate for their own selfish ends. Once their pockets are stuffed, they back down and break our heart! They have to find their lost mojo! They must rededicate themselves to the cause of workers! The struggle or death!

I like the way Tinubu begs and pleads with us – unlike what operated under Buhari. Tinubu’s style is more agreeable to me than Buhari’s but when you ask us to persevere and be patient, the question we must ask you is, for how long? And how are we sure you are on the right track of solving our problems? Grandma taught me that when you know for how long you are required to persevere and be patient, it makes the task easier to accomplish. Scripture says expectations that drag before they are fulfilled cause the heart to become weary and despondent. So, tell us how long it will take for us to enter the glorious dawn you talk about; when shall we see the light at the end of the tunnel? Six months? One year? Two years? Tell us!

Again, people are worried that instead of holding the bull by the horns and tackling problems head-on, we run away from them and, in so doing, inflict needless pain on hapless Nigerians. From available evidence, fuel subsidies became untenable and unsustainable because of the massive corruption weaved into it: Round-tripping, smuggling of the product across our borders; falsification of records, etc. If these criminal activities are curtailed – and diligent effort is made to make our refineries work at whatever capacity – the cost of subsidy would not have become as prohibitive as it did.

But here, we run away from problems and the problems, rather than leave us alone, follow us to wherever we bury our head in the sand like the ostrich! So, running away from corruption in the police force, we created the EFCC and others like it but what do we have today? Be it EFCC, ICPC, CCB, CCT, NDIC, the hunter has become the hunted! What we greatly feared, like biblical Job moaned, has come upon us big time. Are our land borders the longest in the world? What about China or America? Everywhere, nations make efforts to secure their borders; China built its famous Great Wall; President Donald Trump mulled the idea of building a wall along the US – Mexico borders but the best Buhari could do was assign God the task of securing Nigeria’s borders! Visit my hometown, Owo, you will still find relics of the walls and moats that my ancestors constructed to secure the ancient town’s borders.

Tinubu’s nationwide broadcast is timely not only because it comes ahead of the threatened nationwide strike by a politically-compromised Labour but because there is silence like that of the graveyard out there right now. Many Nigerians are perplexed and nonplussed at the turn of events. Their pocket –and not necessarily Labour - tells them that all is not well. They cannot see any hope anywhere, not to talk of one that is renewed. Like the biblical Jews of old, Nigerians stand facing their own Red Sea, with Pharaoh and his Egyptian army in hot pursuit. The Israelites murmured against their leader, Moses, just like Nigerians today murmur against Tinubu. Such is the burden of leadership! Suddenly, the Buhari years – which, without doubt, were years of the locusts – appear tempting, just like a return to slavery in Egypt was to the perplexed and distraught Israelites. But should Nigerians contemplate going back to Egypt, as it were? (TO BE CONTINUED).

The crisis that has arisen in the West African community as a result of the overthrow by presidential guards of the civilian government of President Mohamed Bazoum in Niger could provoke an extended regional crisis. If the ECOWAS Commission’s seven-day ultimatum to the military officers is not heeded by them then ECOWAS will be confronted with the need to decide how best to enforce its resolution to reverse the consequences of the coup. In its communique on the issue the Commission has already declared that force could be utilised in order to find a solution. This declaration coming at a time when almost the entire geographic area of West Africa known as the Sahelian region is embroiled in a maelstrom of critical humanitarian disorder means that the circumstances for the restoration of political peace and good governance are clearly not the best. The members of the Commission are faced with a historical dilemma as they confront the emergence of military dissidents in various member countries presenting themselves as the alternative to unpopular or incompetent leaders the credibility of whose elections have often been questioned. As a result, the argument raised by military insurgents in respect of justification for their intervention has been that the population of their countries want change. For this reason, it is imperative that any action embarked upon by ECOWAS should be likely to attract popular support but military action is unlikely to achieve this.

It is an absolute requirement for success in the eventual outcome of the Commission’s resolutions that the decisions taken should reflect the best interests of the citizens of the member countries. In recent years there have been discussions raised in the meetings of the organisation to consider how best to improve the effectiveness of its decisions on the lives of the people. Those who propose this path of action have suggested that ECOWAS should be transformed from a union of leaders to a union of peoples, However the events of recent times appear to indicate that this might be wishful rather than realistic thinking as the problems arising in the domestic political realities of many member nations, especially in the former French colonies in the Sahelian territory appear to reflect popular disenchantment with the corporate credibility of their political authorities. It is therefore important that the sitting leaders of ECOWAS should consider the reality of the situation as they tailor their own corporate response to these realities and that they should acknowledge the fact that the popular will in those countries where the military forces have stepped in is often sympathetic to the insurgent emotions. In realizing this ECOWAS must consider that tolerance might be necessary in order to bring about popular attachment to regional aspirations.

In order to determine the extent to which resolutions of the regional body represent the profound interests of the people it is necessary for the leaders to reflect seriously on the founding principles of the organisation. At the time when the decision was taken to establish the body some of the major founding member nations were led by military leaders, and the sentiment that guided their objective was the wish for unity of purpose in development and harmonious co-existence in post-colonial relationships. Over the decades since then these objectives have been consolidated and developed at differing rates among the member nations. However, in the main Anglophone nations of Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone as well as in some Francophone countries such as Benin (Dahomey) and Togo military interventions arose as part of the historical process of post-colonial nation building and can be said to have given rise to their extant representative governments. It is imperative that the current leaders should consider the process of nation building as a continuous element of the decolonization process in which they are engaged. If ECOWAS regards this as the core of its mandate, then its duty must be to avoid any action that could escalate military confrontation among its members.

It should instead encourage negotiation among the dominant political forces including the military in each member nation for social transformation of the competing forces into a unified whole. It is therefore advisable that instead of seeking to enforce reinstatement of a compromised civilian leader whenever the spectre of military rule rears its head ECOWAS should position itself as a mediator armed with tactics of both tolerance and determination rather than as an enforcer who is likely to aggravate the original quarrel.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has announced that its planned nationwide protest slated for August 2 (today) would commence at 7:30 am across the federation’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Naija News reports that the planned protest expresses the labour union’s displeasure over what it described as the unfavorable policies of the President Bola Tinubu-led government, especially the removal of fuel subsidy.

The NLC Head of Information, Comrade Benson Upah, told journalists that workers and civil society organisations would converge at the Unity Fountain Abuja to start the protest while the state chapters will equally commence protest at the same time.

Upah disclosed that NLC’s affiliate unions, through their state branches, have mobilised their members and are already for the protest.

He noted that appropriate security agencies have also been notified and are expected to provide security for Nigerians during the protest, adding that the eyes of the international community are on the federal government to see how it genuinely treats its citizens.

“We have consolidated on our arrangement, and the fillers we are getting is that Nigerians are ready to be on the street to express their feelings and outrage over the harsh economic situation in the country,” Upah submitted.

However, the NLC took to its Twitter handle on Tuesday to reiterate its readiness for the street action, saying, “Tomorrow End, Nationwide our voice must be heard. Other posts of the Congress reads, “So there is no plan to revive our refineries or to build a new one? That means the poor would be left to suffocate with a monopolized refinery and ever increasing price of petrol.

“Saved one trillion naira from the two times increase in the price of petrol, which was inflicted on the poor. Nothing was saved from any reduction in the cost of governance and jumbo allowances by politicians.”