When a leader encourages the culture of impunity, the society is lost and it makes the work harder for the rest of us (Wole Soyinka)

The powerful feed ideology to the masses like fast food while they dine on that most rarefied delicacy: impunity (Naomi Klein)
Nothing’s as dangerous as power with impunity (Isabel Allende)

But if the laws are to be so trampled upon with impunity, and a minority is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put at one stroke to republican government, and nothing but anarchy and confusion is to be expected thereafter (George Washington)

Terrorism doesn’t just blow up buildings; it blasts every other issue off the political map. The spectre of terrorism – real and exaggerated – has become a shield of impunity, protecting governments around the world from scrutiny for their human rights abuses (Naomi Klein)

The main challenge is what to do in the face of double standards. Those who should be rendered accountable under international criminal law, the Kissingers of this world, enjoy de facto impunity, while those who come from countries that have long been targets of hegemonic abuse are used as poster children of accountability (Richard A. Falk)

The ultimate enemy of Democracy is not the drug dealer or the crooked politician or the crazed skinhead. The ultimate enemy is the New King that has become so powerful that it can murder its own citizens with impunity (Gerry Spence)

There are two things. There was the moral responsibility, and that, first, is creating an atmosphere where the security forces can kill with impunity, where they can turn up at a place, shoot seven people – really at point-blank fashions – and then get away with it and be, in fact, promoted. And then there is the actual responsibility, the governmental responsibility. My aunt’s government forbade us, initially, from filing a police report – which is every Pakistani citizen’s right under the law (Fatima Bhutto)

What I fear most is power with impunity. I fear abuse of power, and the power to abuse. (Isabel Allende)

Once the law is broken with impunity, each man regains the right to any means he deems proper or necessary in order to defend himself against the new tyrant, the one who can break the law. (Allan Bloom)

In a well-governed state, there are few punishments, not because there are many pardons, but because criminals are rare; it is when a state is in decay that the multitude of crimes is a guarantee of impunity (Jean Jacques Rousseau).

The hope of impunity is the greatest inducement to do wrong (Marcus Tullius Cicero)

No nation is permitted to live in ignorance with impunity (Thomas Jefferson)

Impunity should be condemned in any corner of the world (Rigoberta Menchu)

In an Inside Stuff article on “impunity and apologies” published in The Guardian, Sunday, May 24, 2020, P.13, https://guardian.ng/opinion/buharis-5th-anniversary-apologies-and-impunity-culture/, I quoted the same words on marble above to simplify the purpose of the article then, which was to kill two birds with a stone: to mark the 5th anniversary of the Buhari administration (which came up on Friday, May 29, 2020) and to advise the official managers of Covid-19 under the aegis of Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the danger condoning lawlessness at that time too.

I had reminded Nigeria’s leader then Muhammadu Buhari who marked the fifth anniversary of his second coming into power in Nigeria that week that there was one critical factor that could prevent him from making history. And the factor I identified then was the administration’s celebration of impunity culture that was emerging then.

I had then dealt with the low hanging fruits in the culture of impunity that was becoming the signature of the Buhari administration at that time in 2020. The origin as it was written then: The head of the presidential bureaucracy, the Secretary to the Government (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha who headed the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, was constantly apologising then since April 20, 2020 for some serious lapses in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. First, he apologised for the shoddy and dangerous handling of the burial of then Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari who joined his ancestors on April 17, 2020. The burial arrangement was a classic case of celebration of impunity: The then Information Minister, (a member of the PTF on Covid -19) Alhaji Lai Mohammed had earlier told the nation that those who fell to Covid-19 power would not be buried anyhow and the remains would not be released to the family members. That rule was flagrantly flouted as Kyari’s body was flown from Lagos to his residence in Abuja where the other rule on physical (social) distancing was curiously violated up to the burial ground where undertakers and health workers were also observed to be very careless and endangered. So many senior public officers including many from the president’s office were at the burial site and they failed to observe physical distancing rule. It was quite remarkable then that the SGF indeed did the unthinkable: apologised. This was strange but noble. That calmed frayed nerves about that exhibition of impunity. But I had then asked the following rhetorical questions: “where were the queries to duty bearers whose irresponsible attitude caused the apology? Who was suspended for the mediocrity displayed on that Black Saturday?”

Again within that same week, the same SGF had to apologise on behalf of the Task Force for police authorities’ brutality on Covid-19 frontline workers including medical personnel, journalists who were detained for allegedly flouting Covid-19 curfew (order). The illegal detention of essential workers took place a day after the same SGF (on behalf of the president) paid tribute to the frontline workers and reiterated adequate protection for them.

Specifically, on Monday, May 18, the SGF and PTF Chairman said, “…specific directives had been issued to security agencies to strictly enforce the measures…I therefore admonish Nigerians to observe the restrictions in full. I however wish to assure our essential workers such as the frontline medical personnel, the media, the environmental health workers, farmers and agro-allied service providers, oil and gas services, aviation, the power sector and a host of others that they will be adequately protected. Your obligation is to always carry your valid means of identification…”

There was no ambiguity in this reiteration of an extant protocol. So, where did the police get their directive for “stricter enforcement of the curfew without exemption”, which the IGP had to reverse that same night after more than 50 essential workers were detained in Alausa, Lagos police station for allegedly violating the order? The SGF again apologised for this police strange overzealousness and gross violation of a presidential order. Yet no one was queried. No one was punished after a series of apologies. Are the police too big to be queried? Who authorised the unlawful order that SGF had to apologise for? Those acts appeared then as part of low hanging fruits at issue. Yes they are but they are fruits. The SGF’s remarkable apologies would have been more meaningful if there had been concomitant suspension of some top officials in the presidency and some senior police officers as I was saying. After all, once upon a time, President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007) one day showed that the law must rule even the Inspector General of Police when an IGP, Tafa Balogun was arrested by an officer of the law who was an Assistant Commissioner of Police and Chairman of the anti-graft commission, the EFCC then, Malam Nuhu Ribadu (now National Security Adviser), IGP Balogun was promptly prosecuted and jailed. This happened in this same Abuja.

As the question continued then: “Why has the controversial role of the police, specifically in this Covid-19 warfare not attracted the attention of authorities in Abuja? Haven’t they read reports across platforms that the police have been compromising all the rules of lockdown in the cities and along inter-state routes? Who allowed the Almajirai curious migration from the core North to even the remote parts of the Niger Delta? Who have been permitting night bus travels (daily) from even Lagos to different parts of the country during/since the so-called lockdown? Why have the police become so lawless and uncontrollable in this dispensation?”

And so I had then noted: “So, as Mr. President is warming up to cross over to his sixth year in office, he should note that a culture of impunity, which has given rise to mediocrity everywhere we go, should be deftly dealt with – beyond rhetoric. Our leader should not celebrate the fact that all the professional bodies and civil society organisations and the vibrant media that fought for this democracy that he and his people are enjoying have since dozed off. Curiously, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) could not even bark in early 2019 when Abuja powers through an Administrative Tribunal (Code of Conduct Tribunal), went on rampage, set aside constitutional provisions for removing the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon Justice Walter Onnoghen. They removed Nigeria’s CJN in a twinkling of an eye without allowing even one judicial pronouncement. To me, this was the greatest celebration of impunity culture since we returned to democracy in 1999. What was worse, even a section of the media published blatant lies against Justice Onnoghen. That section of the media published fake news items in support of ‘state terror’ that the then CJN allegedly kept $3 million dollars in a foreign account and registered 55 houses in Nigeria – all in a bid to remove him before the last election (2019). They did. Till the present, nobody has sued the media that published that damaging lead story even the Tribunal discovered was indeed fake. How can the powers that be and even the NBA and the complicit media organs seek or find peace after unleashing this jungle justice on Nigeria’s Chief Justice? Some day, when we have a nation, one hopes there will be genuine remorse and then an apology to Justice Onnoghen who is still not free to travel to even Ghana.”

Now that Ejikeme, Joy Mmesoma, the 19-year-old student of Anglican Girls Secondary School, Uruagu Nnewi, Anambra State, has confirmed the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB’s) allegation and confessed that she actually manipulated her 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME result, it is a time for another introspection on our growing culture of impunity. Will she and others who committed these grievous offences be punished? Impunity means freedom from punishment or from the unpleasant results of something that has been done… It denotes exemption from punishment or loss. It means exemption, freedom – immunity from an obligation or duty.

The new administration in Nigeria needs to deal with this emerging culture that has made us to forget the fact that even the Chairman of an anti-graft agency in our country is on suspension over allegation that the institution he presides over is corrupt and so he too may not be above board. What is worse, the predecessor of the suspended EFCC Chairman too was curiously retired from office after serous alllegations that he too was corrupt and a Judicial Commission of Enquiry’s report on the Acting Chairman was never made public.

***We will continue with more examples of this terrible culture next week

Apart from the activities of bloodthirsty bandits, terrorists and other assailants causing mayhem in the country, several citizens have also lost their lives following extrajudicial killings called jungle justice.

Jungle justice, an ugly trend common in most African countries, is a form of public extrajudicial killing where an alleged criminal is publicly humiliated, beaten and subsequently executed by an angry mob.

Many of these incidents are left unreported mostly due to the fact that it occurs often in remote areas.

DAILY POST reports that despite condemnation from relevant authorities, the blameworthy act has continued in many parts of the country over different allegations ranging from blasphemy to witchcraft and robbery.

Worried by the trend, some stakeholders have asked the incumbent administration led by President Bola Tinubu to put up measures that would ensure that Nigerians no longer take laws in their hands.

Blasphemy

Jungle justice over allegations of blasphemy, an act of making a profane talk or speaking sacrilegiously against God, prophets or sacred things has led several persons particularly in the Northern part of the country to their early graves.

Recently, one Usman Buda, a popular butcher at the Sokoto Fish and Vegetable market, otherwise known as Kasuwan Dankure was lynched by a mob comprising his colleagues for alleged blasphemy.

On June 25, Usman Buda, who was in the market for his usual business was surrounded by an angry mob, bombarded with stones, and fatally wounded before he was set ablaze for allegedly speaking against Prophet Mohammed.

The horror scene was captured in a viral video, with even children participating in the gruesome act.

This ugly trend has been recorded in many other parts of the country.

DAILY POST recalls that a similar incident had occurred in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on April 4, 2022, when a victim identified as Ahmad Usman was stoned to death over an alleged blasphemous comment.

Usman, a 30-year-old resident in the Lugbe area of Abuja, was stoned to death and burnt by a mob over an alleged blasphemous comment against Prophet Muhammed and Allah, in the Lugbe area of the country’s capital city.

Similarly, on May 12, 2022, Deborah Samuel, a female student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto State was burnt alive by Islamic extremists over similar allegations.

The 200-level student was set ablaze after she reportedly advised her classmates against posting religious contents on their WhatsApp group which was reportedly created for academic purposes.

Although some persons were nabbed by the police in connection with the censurable act, they were said to have been acquitted by the court.

Witchcraft allegations

Over the years, several old men and women accused of practicing witchcraft have been killed. These abominable acts are usually carried out by community youths who ascribe their misfortunes to witchcraft.

Most of these geriatrics were often denied the privilege of defending themselves when the mob descended on them.

On April 24, 2023, youths in Ikyve community of Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State buried two aged persons alive for allegedly practising witchcraft.

The victims, according to witnesses, were buried alive following a thunder strike that killed one of the villagers identified as Henry Ihwakaa, his wife and his two-week-old child.

It was learnt that thunder struck in the village, killing Henry, his wife and their infant. The incident triggered suspicion that two elderly persons, Ihwakaa (Henry’s father) and his alleged collaborator, were wizards and responsible for the thunder.

A few days ago, one Madam Martina Okey Itagbor was burnt alive in Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River State over the same witchcraft allegation.

According to reports, on the 13th of June, 2023, some youths in the community gathered themselves in a chartered vehicle heading to the inauguration reception of the member representing Akamkpa 1 State Constituency, Hon. Okon Owuna.

Unfortunately, the youths who were suspected to be drunk had an accident and two of them lost their lives on the spot. Many others were injured.

A day after, some of the youths came and dragged Madam Martina out of her house to the main road, alleging she masterminded the accident and the death of the two youths using witchcraft.

The mob reportedly poured fuel on the woman and set her on fire. She was burnt alive despite her cry of innocence.

On Tuesday, the Cross River State Police Command said it has arrested 26 suspects in connection with the unfortunate murder.

Report of the arrest was contained in a statement by the command spokesperson, SP Irene Ugbo which he issued and made available to newsmen in Calabar.

Robbery

Just recently, on June 8, a mob burnt to death a man suspected to have stolen a motorcycle in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State.

An eyewitness Adah John, who is also a commercial motorcyclist in the area, told DAILY POST on Saturday that the suspect allegedly killed a commercial motorcyclist around Adoka Street in Otukpo after overpowering the victim, dispossessing him of a new bike.

“After some weeks, he was passing with the motorcycle to another state before luck ran out of him and he was burnt alive.

“Those who know Otukpo very well will know that we don’t support violence. The thing is, those who kill by the sword should also die by the same sword.

“Jungle justice is actually a terrible thing, I personally don’t support it but if you think very well, these bad boys are no longer scared of the police anymore. The only thing they fear now is jungle justice”, he said.

On Thursday, a suspect was apprehended by vigilant youth in Gyado Villa, Makurdi, Benue State capital and was subjected to jungle justice before the authorities intervened.

The incident unfolded when two individuals attempted to snatch a motorcycle from an unsuspecting rider at a busy intersection in Gyado Villa.

Their heinous act did not go unnoticed as the youth present at the scene quickly sprang into action, chasing down the culprit.

With the help of other passersby, the bike snatcher was caught just a few blocks away from the crime scene. Angered by the development and the rising cases of such criminal activities in the area, the enraged youth decided to take matters into their own hands.

Although the suspect was said to have sustained life-threatening injuries, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Catherine Sewuese told DAILY POST that “he is in our custody receiving treatment”.

According to the PPRO, the suspect was close to his grave when the command was informed of the development.

She said operatives of the command were sent to the area when the suspect was about to be set ablaze.

Asked what the command is doing to stop the ugly trend, the PPRO said: “on several occasions, I have been on radio stations and Television stations educating the people on the dangers of jungle justice.

“We have been sensitizing the people against taking the law into their hands and that has been going on for a very long time now. This is not the first time we are having such an incident.

“Most times, the culprits are arrested and even prosecuted to serve as a warning to others.”

She, however, lamented that sometimes, such incidents happen in very remote areas where mobility is relatively impossible.

According to Dr Christopher Ejeh, a psychologist working with the Benue State University, poverty and illiteracy are responsible for jungle justice in the country.

He explained that “the decision to tag old people as witch and wizard is largely because of poverty. When youths in a certain community are not doing well, they begin to inquire what is responsible for their problems.

“It is at this moment that they start suspecting old people. So old age, which should be seen as a blessing, becomes a problem. They will continue to nurse the suspicion until it escalates and they finally put the law into their hands and kill the suspected witch.

“But the question is, does killing solve their problems? No! They have only succeeded in channeling their grievances in the wrong direction.

“People who perpetrate this evil are mostly illiterate. They are obviously living in obscurity. They are not educated so they continue to find primitive ways of solving issues.

“This government should look into this matter seriously, it should give priority to the rural dwellers; they also need a good life. They need social amenities that can aid their business and whatever sources of income they have”.

Meanwhile, on his part, a security columnist, Elder Ben Okezie pointed out that until there is a law that specifies a heavy punishment on the offenders, jungle justice may continue in the country.

He called on the Federal Government and the 10th National Assembly to quickly enact a law that would put an end to the ugly trend.

He said, “This is an issue of legislation, there should be a law that will indicate heavy punishment like life imprisonment for offenders who are found guilty.

“By the time some persons are given life imprisonment, others will see such crime as a serious matter and run away from it.

“The police also have their own role in this matter. When anyone is caught, the person or group should be prosecuted with immediate effect. This is not a lawless country where everyone will be a judge. Nigeria should have gone beyond practicing jungle justice.

“It was even the police that used to be involved in these extrajudicial killings but thank God for EndSARS. It has obviously reduced. But we still need the law to stop it entirely.

“This still goes back to what we have been saying. The country right now cannot survive without state police. When the issue of police is decentralized and the governor and the state lawmakers have power over the police, a lot of things will change.

“Many countries including Britain that brought civilization to us, dwell on this state police to tackle security problems.

“The people perpetrating these crimes are members of one community or the other. When you have state police, the operatives will be natives of where they are serving. This means that they know your name, know your grandfather. You can’t run away from them.

“But in a situation where those in Abuja are determining what should happen in Ebonyi state, there will always be problems.”

[Dailypost]

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission issued power generation licences to 21 investors in 2022, data obtained on Friday from the Federal Government agency has shown.

Findings showed the commission issued 114 registration/permits for the development of mini-grids to boost power supply across the country during the period.

The Federal Government and stakeholders in the power sector have been making efforts to increase the country’s power generation and supplies after the successor electricity generation and distribution arms of the sector were unbundled and privatised in November 2013.

Since then, Nigeria’s power generation has been hovering between 3,500 megawatts and 5,000MW, a figure which operators and experts described as too low for a population of over 200 million people. 

Data sourced from the Federal Ministry of Power on Friday showed that power generation on the national grid as of 6am that day was 4,472MW, up from an off-peak of 3,989.5MW recorded on Thursday.

In its bid to boost the power supply in Nigeria, the NERC has been issuing licences to investors to generate electricity.

In its latest report on licensing and permits in the power sector, the commission stated that in the fourth quarter of 2022, it approved two power generation licences, with a combined capacity of 56.5MW, adding that 27 mini-grid registration/permits were issued in the same quarter.

“In 2022/Q4, the commission approved the issuance of two new generation licenses with a combined capacity of 56.50MW and authorised the amendment of two on-grid embedded generation licences.

“The commission also approved 13 mini-grid permits and 14 registration certificates for mini-grids with individual capacities below 1MW.

“It also granted approval for the amendment/renewal of seven captive power generation permits with an aggregate capacity of 65.36MW,” NERC further stated.

It added that applications from seven meter installers, three meter manufacturers and two meter importers were also approved by the commission in the last quarter of 2022.

In the third quarter, six power generation licences and 23 mini-grid registration/permits were issued.

The power sector regulator said, “In 2022/Q3, the commission approved the issuance of six new generation licences and one trading licence. The commission also approved 23 mini-grid registration/permits and granted captive power generation permits to two new companies with an aggregate capacity of 14.6MW.”

It noted that four Meter Asset Provider permits, and seven Meter Service Providers were also approved by the commission in 2022/Q3.

According to NERC, two power generation licences and 23 mini-grid permits/registration were issued in the second quarter of last year to investors.

It said, “In 2022/Q2, the commission approved the issuance of two new generation licences, one trading licence, renewal of one existing licence and amendment of one on-grid generation licence.

“The commission also approved 23 mini-grid registration/permits and granted captive power generation permits to eight new companies with an aggregate capacity of 174.08MW.”

The industry regulator said 14 Meter Service Providers consisting of nine meter installers, three meter manufacturers, one meter importer and one meter vendor, were also approved by the commission in 2022/Q2.

The highest number of power generation licences and mini-grid registration/permits were issued in the first quarter of 2022. The NERC issued 11 electricity generation licences and 41 mini-grid registration/permits in Q1 2022.

“In 2022/Q1, the commission approved the issuance of 11 new generation licences, renewal of two existing licences and transfer of one on-grid generation licence.

“The commission also approved 41 mini-grid registration/permits and granted an aggregate capacity of 186.06MW captive power generation permits to seven new companies,” the regulator averred.

It mentioned that 12 Metering Service Providers, consisting of eight meter installers, three meter manufacturers and one meter importer, were also approved by the commission in 2022/Q1.

Commenting on this, the National Secretary of Nigeria Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network, Uket Obonga, told our correspondent that the challenges in the power sector were enormous, stressing that the new administration must work hard to address them.

“I held a town hall meeting in Akure about three weeks ago, and after my lecture, I found out many things. One of them is that many people have paid for meters and still don’t have them. I am aware of the problem of power generation, but there are many others.

“These people in Akure are electricity consumers who have been disconnected for some years. They bought their transformer and have spent about N14m to put up that transformer and yet they have not been connected to electricity.

“Some of them have money to pay for meters but nobody is answering them. So, the challenge in the sector is myriad, from lack of meters to distribution issues and generation problems. The new government has a lot to handle in this sector and must work hard to deliver,” Obonga stated.

[Punch]

The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto State, Bishop Matthew Kukah, will tomorrow, deliver a lecture titled, ‘The Future of Constitutional Democracy in Nigeria: Imperative of a New Constitutional Order,” at the 60th Call to Bar anniversary of Chief Afe Babalola, in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is billed to chair the event, while the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola and the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III are to be in attendance.

Also expected at the event are the immediate past Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Chief Wole Olanipekun; the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, Prince Lateef Fagbemi and other respected personalities from within and outside the country.
Babalola, a legal luminary and founder of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado-Ekiti, was admitted to the Bar of England and Wales on July 9, 1963.

According to a statement by the Chairman, Organising Committee, Mr. Kehinde Ogunwumiju, the event being put together by Aare Babalola’s mentees, admirers and beneficiaries, will hold at the Alfa Belgore Hall, ABUAD, Ado-Ekiti.

Ogunwumiju stated that the event would also feature testimonials and goodwill messages from friends, admirers and associates of Babalola.

He added that it would also feature a book launch that will have Dr. Taiwo Afolabi as Chief Launcher and Wema Bank, Fidelity Bank, Union Bank, Zenith Bank, First Bank, Polaris Bank, among others as launchers.

[Guardian]

Congratulations to Umeh Kamsiyochukwu Nkechinyere, who came tops in the 2023 JAMB UTME examinations. I was doubly delighted to see her on national television fielding questions from an interview panel. Brilliant girl! 

It is also my pleasure to celebrate Achunike Okafor, another Nigerian teenager who scored the highest among 2,649 graduates in the Class of 2023 in Newark, United States. Both teenagers are among the best of our children. Their trajectory suggests that our future is assured. 

When the management of the Deeper Life High School, Mowe, Ogun State, rolled out the drums to celebrate the 16-year-old who had brought honour to the school, her achievement attracted national attention because a totally different person, Ejikeme Mmesoma, was attempting to steal the glory of being the highest scorer. JAMB had  declared Kamsiyochukwu the top scorer with an aggregate score of 360 and the government of Anambra State, her home state, had decided to honour her as is customary every year, but one Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, a 19-year-old student of Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, Uruagu Nnewi, protested to the state government that she scored 362 and ought to have been honoured with the highest scorer’s award. 

The Anambra State government decided to seek confirmation of Mmesoma’s claim of scoring 362 from JAMB. The printout she was flaunting as proof of her scores was an old format last used in 2021. Out of the 1,5586,765 candidates who took the 2023 examination, only Mmesoma printed out the old format with a cloned QR code pinched from another person’s 2021 result. The fortuitous change in the design of the result notification in 2021 gave away the game immediately. How could only one person, out of 1.5 million candidates, be parading a different certification or proof of scores? 

It is natural that one tends to side with the underdog. That explains the outpouring of emotional support on social media for the ‘poor’ student. Anything that has to do with government evokes the basest of emotions in people who have been at the receiving end of many anti-people policies and incompetencies of government.

The errant girl’s case was further convoluted by do-gooders who did not bother to verify the facts they flaunted. Those among them who flayed JAMB for terrorising a ‘minor’ could easily have checked her real age if truth was their goal. A 19-year-old cannot be described as a minor! 

Some said JAMB had no right to parade the girl before the world as a fraudster. However, the girl was the one parading herself. I didn’t know what she looked like until she was misadvised to release a video which, ironically, confirmed her fraud rather than indict JAMB. Even the document she was parading stated her examination centre wrongly. Since 2021, the Centre’s name had been changed from Thomas Chidoka Center for Human Development to “Nkemefuna Foundation (Thomas Chidoka Center for Human Development)”. How come Mmesoma’s document reflects the centre’s former name?

Nobody would have heard of her if she had not presented herself to the Anambra State government as the highest scorer in JAMB of 2023. She had already collected a prize money of N3 million from Innoson Motors before her misadventure with the state government. It was in the process of verification by the Anambra State government that her lie was exposed. 

The truth, without any padding or frills, is that Mmesoma, having already fraudulently collected N3 million from the proprietor of  Innoson Motors heard that the Anambra State government was going to honour Kamsiyochukwu Umeh as the highest scorer in UTME 2023, and decided to waylay her by claiming to be the rightful winner. She did not reckon with the layers of verification embedded in the JAMB system.

Some critics accused JAMB of playing accuser, investigator and judge. That is untrue. JAMB merely exposed the fact that the result being paraded was fraudulent. Fraud is fraud. There is no softer name for fraud committed by a teenager. And the attempt to ethnicise the matter was so gut-wrenchingly odious. Mercifully, we now know that the authentic winner, Kamsiyochukwu, is also from the same Southeast geopolitical zone as Mmesoma. Many people did not even know that Mmesoma hails from Enugu State until the report of the investigative panel was released, showing that she is an Enugu State indigene resident in Anambra. The world loves a winner; a villain is quickly shown the road to her father’s compound!

It is instructive that Mmesoma did not confess to her fraudulent activities until she was literally confronted with the jailhouse. Had she persisted in her lies, the case would have gone to court and she would have bagged seven years imprisonment if convicted. “There is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face”, says Shakespeare. Mmesoma is a classic example. 

JAMB’s claim that its system is transparent and user-friendly can actually be verified by any interested party. One can check any result via phone by sending UTMERESULT  to 55019 or 66019 on the phone number the candidate used to register for the exam. The result will be transmitted immediately to the registered phone number.

Also, anyone interested in finding out the various tricks available to crooked candidates can google websites advertising ‘miracle centres’, ‘high JAMB scores’, ‘how to improve UTME scores’ , etc. There are all sorts of offers available and no one is more aware of their existence than innocent-looking students like Mmesoma. Something tells me that her accomplices are still at large. 

For the records, here are the champions in the 2023 UTME as announced by JAMB:

Umeh Kamsiyochukwu Nkechinyere, 360

Aguele Stephen Osezuha, 358

Ositade Oluwafemi Anthony, 358

Gbolahan Azeem Ayinde, 357

John Fulfilment Ibhanfiodon, 356,

Duruji Chimdubem Ugonna, 355

Adesanya Jermaine Oluwaiomiloiu, 355

Shittu Priscilla Adedunni, 355

Atenisumen Enoch Oluwagbemisoke 355

Adetunji Victor Adewale, 355

Ofonime Iniobon Idongesit, 355

Imoukhuede Andrew Onayeme, 355

Truth be told, we have a social problem that makes people want to pass examinations at all costs. Part of the problem is the emphasis that the society places on any kind of formal test and the certification that goes with it. Many people don’t care that there is a marked difference between an aptitude test like JAMB and an achievement test such as WAEC, even though both achievement and aptitude tests measure the strengths and abilities of the test-taker. Aptitude tests focus on the potential someone has to learn new things while achievement tests focus on what has already been learned. 

The fact that a student usually comes first in class does not necessarily mean that he/she will excel in an aptitude test like JAMB. The three-year ban handed down to Mmesoma as punishment is lenient considering that the penalty on conviction is seven years imprisonment.

Let’s light a candle rather than continue to curse the darkness. What is the secret behind the success of the 2023 UTME highest scorer, Kamsiyochukwu Umeh? 

She said the secret of her success is adequate preparation and discipline instilled by her school, the Deeper Life High School, Mowe. According to her, “We started preparation immediately after we entered SSS3. This was when we started receiving pep talks on the exam; the school organised special UTME classes for us. I also practised a lot of past questions to familiarise myself with the kind of questions JAMB could bring out. I also read my textbooks and then, I paid attention when the teachers took us through classes… I have applied to the University of Lagos, and I aspire to study Chemical Engineering.I feel very excited and grateful to all my supporters and encouragers….”

Mrs. Umeh, Kamsiyochukwu’s mother, is justifiably proud of her daughter. 

“When she is studying, I also make sure to involve her in household chores. I believe that a child’s success should be holistic, not just limited to academics.…”

Congratulations, Kamsiyochukwu! You are in good company with Achunike Okafor, another Nigerian teenager, who recently received an International Baccalaureate diploma with a record-shattering 4.625 grade-point average from the Science Park High School at Newark in New Jersey, USA. Achunike’s father, Godfrey Okafor, said his son’s achievements are also a source of family pride.

His GPA is the highest among Newark’s 2,649 graduates in the Class of 2023. It earned him more than 40 scholarship offers, many from the nation’s top universities: Spoilt for choices, the 18-year-old plans to attend Harvard University to pursue a neuroscience degree. 

To our two worthy role models, Kamsiyochukwu and Achunike, let me re-echo those old-fashioned words made popular by the inimitable football king, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, a.k.a Pele: “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”

We should congratulate the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) for proving the integrity of its result release process this week. In a country where the non-performance and self-sabotage of national institutions are an ever-present embarrassment, demonstrating the forgery of the result presented by a candidate in its last United Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is a feat!

I say that because many Nigerians, including yours truly, did not see it coming. Years of abuse of the people’s trust have turned us into sceptics who only expect the worst from our government and its agencies.

There are countless reasons to justify our cynicism. As recently as the 2023 general elections, scandalous images were sighted on the Independent Electoral Commission’s (INEC) portal. That is not to speak of non-existent names on the voters’ list or thousands of voters’ cards discovered in the forests by hunters in Anambra State.

Nigeria cannot conduct a credible census amidst so many other scandalous incapacities. I laughed when JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, painted the quick response (QR) code as the magic bullet to unravelling the truth in the Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme result controversy.

I recalled the experience of many Nigerians with the QR code on the COVID-19 vaccination card between 2020 and 2021. Many people got to the places where they needed to use these cards to discover that their names, dates of birth, and other vital statistics had been muddled up. Some Nigerians still have sour stories to tell about their national identification numbers (NIN). We are a country that makes a mess of producing travel documents for its people, guarding its people properly, securing the borders effectively and even correctly educating its children. It has been a lifetime of sub-optimal service delivery for a significant number of our population, they are used to it, and it is the only way they know!

JAMB is not exempt from the logistical disorder that has become our albatross. It is doubtful that any Nigerian family exists without some story about JAMB’s tackiness. For instance, the board has for some years insisted that candidates take exclusive computer-based tests. But even as recent as its last examination, there were complaints of logistics issues where candidates to far-flung centres other than their choice, even though they were meant to start examinations as early 6:30am.

There are also problems with students at public schools who do not have access to computers before the exams. We heard stories about the failure of biometrics, login details and outright postponement of examinations. In some cases, the facilities did not even have the capacity to take the number of candidates they had. That is not to speak about the exploitative levels of expenditure to which parents are exposed.

So, if you wondered where the attack poured out against JAMB this week came from, it is from the groundswell of disappointment that Nigerians have endured from national institutions over the years. Stemming from these inefficiencies, when a Nigerian conflicts with an institution of the state, the tendency is for many people to take sides with the citizen without even thinking about it!

Why is this so?

The country and its institutions work for only a few people who have captured the state. We have a criminally run society where the commonwealth is in the custody of a few, such that every other person is left in a rat race to survive. It is a country where almost nothing works, everyone is on his own, and only God is for us all. This is why JAMB’s success in justifying its position on the Mmesoma case warms the heart.

Yet the entire event raises a few questions about the operations of JAMB. One wonders why the board has yet to find a permanent solution to the unceasing attempts to manipulate its process over the years. This failure is one of the reasons stakeholders, including higher institutions of learning, don’t trust JAMB. Otherwise, why do the institutions organise post-UTME examinations? Shouldn’t the UMTE just be enough?

There are also speculations about collusions between JAMB staffers on the one hand, and candidates and their parents on the other, to compromise processes. These opportunities were usually for the highest bidders and out of the reach of many poor people who desired higher education for their children.

Not to be left out, many parents have also learnt to do whatever they can for their children to pass examinations and gain admission. So, we have heard of special centres where invigilators and schoolteachers are paid to “assist” candidates during examinations. Apparently, the fake app revealed a few days ago is another attempt on how to beat the system and cheat other Nigerians. It is a country where the end justifies the means, where success by any means possible is the deal.

And while it is convenient to blame candidates and their parents for the desperation that precipitates these compromises, we must consider society’s role in the frustration of families.

First off, Nigeria suggests to its people that life can only be meaningful with formal education leading to a degree. Even though most progressive societies show that this is a fallacy. People only need a measure of basic education, after which society should avail them of options which fit their natural endowments. But Nigeria has tuned its people to believe that educational certificates are their only tickets to livelihood. Now, that probably wouldn’t be such a terrible proposition, except that the country cannot even live up to the idea.

This is so because the country only has placements for some of those who sit for the UTME examination annually. For instance, JAMB says that 1.6 million candidates wrote the examination this year; but there is space for less than 50% of these numbers. So, you make everyone in your country aspire for higher education but do not provide enough opportunities.

To make things worse, merit and hard work count for little or nothing here. The result is that citizens throw their best effort into surviving since the country cares for no one. It is like a jungle where only the fittest survive. Unwitting you bring your children up in this environment, making them believe it is the right way to do things.

This is why it is a shame that people reduce these incidents to ethnic or religious levels. The country has been grossly unfair to majority of citizens and in essence, it has lost the loyalty of the average man and woman. The reality is that we all find ways to get the better of Nigeria. Regardless of tribe and tongue, we position ourselves and our families to exploit the country and other citizens. the average Nigerian only cares about himself and his family.

We do this in so many ways that we may not take cognisance of. The civil servants who will not move files without a greased palm; the director who would not approve payment for a contract unless ten per cent is added; the company director who marks up a project budget by 30 per cent; the clergy whose God is money; the doctor in a public facility who demands money for appointments and diverts resources to his private clinic; the immigration officer who manipulates procedures for procurement of passports; the customs officer who allows contrabands into the country; the teacher who awards marks after “obtaining” the student; the parent who purchases questions for his child; the student who cheats in examinations; the reporter who pushes his conscience out of the way and sells his newspaper space to the highest bidder in betrayal of public trust; the traditional ruler who scarifies the interest of his people for a bowl of pottage and so on, all contribute to the sorry state of our country. It is sheer hypocrisy for anyone to suggest that only a group of people are the trouble with the country. And we should stop such parochialism in the interest of our children.

The JAMB/Ejikeme debacle tells us that we are building a country without values. Rather than tear us apart and cause us to take sides one way or the other, citizens should demand leadership that works for and restores the people’s confidence in their country. Government, parents, schools, and religious establishments should be concerned about the values we instil in our children. It is the only way this country will not crash on us all, as it surely will if we go on this way.

Nigerians are in for a few surprises as President Bola Tinubu unveils his new cabinet in a few days. Both in composition, size and structure, the next federal executive council would far different from what we’ve always known.

A Lagos banker and politician, Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru will likely emerge as the new finance minister when President Bola Tinubu unveils his cabinet in a few days. The president has only 20 days left out of the 60 allowed by the constitution for him to send his list of ministers to the senate.

Senator Abiru currently represents Lagos East senatorial district in the senate. Born March 25, 1964, he was also the group managing director & chief executive of Polaris Bank. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Lagos State University and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). In addition, Senator Abiru had also attended several courses at Harvard Business School and Lagos Business School. He was executive director at First Bank (2013-2016) and commissioner of finance in Lagos state (2011-2013) under the Babatunde Fashola administration. He resigned as the bank CEO in 2020 to run for the senatorial seat.

Contrary to expectations, the new cabinet would be a large one, consisting of 42 ministers and 20 special advisers. But unlike in the past administrations, there will be no minister of state in the Tinubu government. Special advisers will contribute to discussions of FEC, unlike in the past when they were only silent participants.

Some large ministries would be broken into two and some into three to create enough portfolios for the cabinet members. Those to be split include works & housing; agriculture & rural development; humanitarian affairs, disaster management & social development; sports & youth; health; education; transport; finance, national planning & budget; petroleum and a few others.

Dele Alake, currently special adviser on special duties, communication & strategy will move up as minister of public communication, a new name for the information ministry. He will also double as the presidential spokesman and may continue to work out of the presidential villa or split his time between the villa and the ministry at Radio House. So far, Alake is one of the closest persons to the president and a very influential member of the administration. In a way, renaming the information ministry and combining it with the function of the presidential spokesperson is akin to what obtains in many advanced democracies where the press secretary is the only official responsible for the public communication of the government.

In addition to restructuring the government, the president has also been busy trying to sift his preferred nominees from a long list of interested party officials, some of whom were recommended by party bigwigs in different states. Former Ekiti governor Kayode Fayemi is being considered as the new foreign affairs minister. It is a portfolio he’s always craved even in the Buhari administration in which he served as minister of mines and steel. But he lost out to Geoffrey Onyema, who came highly recommended by the late chief of staff to the President. Both Onyeama and the late Abba Kyari were childhood friends, dating back to their school days in the UK.

Bayo Onanuga, who also worked hard for the president’s election, is also being considered for a job in the government. Onanuga was one of the spokesmen of the Tinubu campaign, but Nigerians will readily remember him by the inflammatory statements and ethnically insensitive outburst that he made in the immediate aftermath of the elections in Lagos. A versatile journalist, he was the managing director of NAN in the early days of the Buhari administration. “Although Bayo embarrassed himself and the president with his incendiary outbursts, he may not be left behind,” a political leader from Oyo state told me in the course of researching this article.

Festus Keyamo, SAN, has been fighting tooth and nail to be the new minister of justice & attorney-general. He wanted that position badly in the Buhari government, but he stood no chance against the all-powerful Abubakar Malami, another SAN. At his senate confirmation hearing in July 2019, Keyamo told the lawmakers that his priority would be to decentralise the supreme court into six, one for each geopolitical zone. It is not clear if Keyamo would be lucky this time.

Another new face to look out for in the Tinubu cabinet is Tunji Bello, a veteran journalist of impressive track record, who is also a longtime associate of the president’s. Like Dele Alake, Bello was also editor of the National Concord, the defunct newspaper owned by the late MKO Abiola. Bello later served as a commissioner under Tinubu and Fashola, and SSG under Ambode and returned as a commissioner under Sanwo-Olu. He has been in the government of Lagos state since May 1999. His wife was appointed the VC of Lagos State University in 2021. Don’t mess with some Lagosians!

What will also surprise many Nigerians would be the emergence of some very senior politicians, who had held almost all leadership positions in the past, in the cabinet. Two former governors of Kano, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso and Abdullai Umar Ganduje, are fighting hard to join the cabinet. The former was the presidential candidate of NNPP in the February elections. He was minister of internal affairs (now interior) in the first term of President Obasanjo. Of course, former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, is also interested in returning as a minister. He served President Jonathan as minister of state, education. Nigerians usually scoff at the “recycling” of old politicians into government. But their experience could also be useful. “These people are not looking for a job in that sense of the word. They just cannot shake off the urge to be in public office all the time, for whatever reasons,” a senior government official told me last night.

I have also been told that the president may rationalise some agencies and parastatals to achieve optimum functionality. For instance, three important revenue earners – FIRS, NIMASA and Customs – could be consolidated under one big group to be headed by the special adviser on revenue, Zacchaeus Adedeji. “This is essentially to block leakages and tighten fiscal control,” one of the highbrow members of the administrations said this morning.

Journalists will be pleased with the preponderance of their colleagues in the new administration: Alake, Bello, Onanuga and Tunde Rahman. Rahman is a former editor of Thisday newspaper who has served Bola Tinubu as a media staff for a long time. He has since assumed duties as the president’s principal private secretary. Certainly, a good journalist can fit into any role. But in which other administration have journalists been this plenty, and how will this help the profession?

Remember my article a few weeks ago on the appointment of Wale Edun as the special adviser on monetary matters? I had argued that the rather unusual designation could be a pointer to his eventual elevation as the new CBN Governor. I have nothing more to add.

In the life of a nation, especially in the third world, some strange occurrences occasionally take the centre stage to the anxiety of the people. No one is usually able to dissuade everyone from superstition during such periods especially because the occurrences are felt across board in the relevant community.

From history, we know for example, that a short period after the annulment of the famous June 12, 1993 presidential elections in Nigeria, two major leaders associated with the development died suddenly. The two leaders, General Sani Abacha who was then Head of State and Chief Moshood Abiola from whom the electoral victory was snatched reportedly died within the space of one-month in 1998. Their dissimilar deaths were attributed to what was called cardiac arrest. 

Not many believed the story. Indeed, there were people who imagined that those in government who announced the cause of the death of both leaders did not themselves believe in what they told the rest of us. This was worsened by a report credited to Hamza Al-Mustapha, who served as Chief Security Officer to late General Abacha that it was what killed his late boss that killed Chief Abiola.

The sad conclusion till today is that it was an era of cardiac arrest which health sector workers see as a normal and critical health challenge.But to the layman in Nigeria cardiac arrest was the era’s way of explaining something off. This happens quite often in the country in several service areas where some inexplicable occurrences are attributed to what the rest of us cannot verify. The unending ‘due operational reasons’ in our air transportation system which is hardly ever at play in other climes is a good example.

An important narrative of the cardiac arrest stories is that they quite often concern notable political leaders. When foremost governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha died in 2015, the explanation that it was due to cardiac arrest was doubted by some of our common friends. Perhaps there is ample sense after all in discouraging the use of terms that the ordinary person impulsively disbelieves. It is in fact more critical when it concerns technology that works like magic.

The 2019 presidential election in Nigeria for instance, was believed in several circles to have been won by Atiku Abubakar,the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). All efforts to technically verify the results failed because it was not in the interest of the ruling party to continue the search beyond the official statement by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.

Many Nigerians still believe that the INEC server would have given a better record of the transactions but lawyers of the ruling party held on to a claim that INEC did not have a server. As is usual when explaining things off, no one was able to convince many that INEC truly had no server. In any case, there were reports that the electoral body’s budget which was approved and fully released included the procurement of a server. References were made to the fact that INEC did not only acquire a server, it appointed and trained operators on it. There was even an official plan that the commission would have two collation officers, one for manual and the other for digital thereby suggesting that there was indeed, a server. 

As in the cardiac arrest story, several versions would suddenly emerge to completely confuse human understanding of the issues at stake. The ruling party at a point accused the PDP of having hacked the INEC server without recognising the irrationality of hacking a server that it had claimed to be non-existent.  So, some analysts came to the conclusion that there was a server which was probably yet to be put in use. The implication of the narrative is that except utmost care is taken, it would be very easy for Nigeria to fall into the era of fake technology. Against the backdrop of an exceedingly desperate political class, new technologies which have become the redeeming feature of society; helping developed nations to attain global heights may only be used for mischief in Nigeria  

Unfortunately, this has just happened during the recently concluded presidential election of February 25, 2023 in which an inexplicable technical hitch divided Nigeria into two. Incidentally, there were other elections held simultaneously with that of the presidential but which escaped the smart edgesof technical failure. With the results of the senatorial as well as that of house of representatives elections remaining technically clean, people are left to suspect that the glitches which occurred during the general electionsmay have been directional to only the presidential election.  However, INEC appears certain that its failure to upload the results was due to technical glitches and not any form of sabotage or cyber attack.

According to its official spokesperson, Festus Okoye, INEC’s system especially its result viewing portal more technically called the IReV portal ‘remained well-secured with no evidence of intrusions.’ For some time to come, the term technical glitches would be used to explain things off because of the complication introduced to it by Lai Mohammed, the immediate past Nigerian Information Minister.

While in Washington to engage with international media organizations in the United States, Lai reportedly said that INEC’s decision to withhold the upload of results during the election was because of a suspected cyberattack. Although he as usual claimed to have been misquoted, delving into the subject of technical glitches was uncalled for because the electoral body is an independent entity that could better speak for itself.

Evidence that public perception of technical glitches had already turned the term into an explicable phenomenon emerged when the office of the Accountant General of the federation (OAGF) used the same term to explain its inability to pay salaries of several workers for the month of June 2023. The OAGF’s director of press, Bawa Mokwa was reported to have said that the problem was caused by technical issues with the government’s Integrated Financial Management System. To the workers who have become stranded over no salary, technical terms may neither be believed nor useful. Rather, many will continue to see it as an extension of the INEC technical glitches to them, notwithstanding the absence of any links between them and the election portal.

It is not only workers without pay that may have embraced a fixated mindset that Nigerian organizations cherish the use of technology to explain off issues; many students, parents and other groups interested in the work of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board were already warming up. The controversy concerned a young Nigerian student Joy Mmesoma Ejikeme whose Jamb score had been declared to be fake by the foremost exam body. Many critics who never get details of issues before jumping to conclusion on them were already condemning JAMB. But those who have followed the outstanding transformation of JAMB since Professor Ishaq Oloyede became its Chief Executive in 2016 must have had no doubt that JAMB’s integrity is not easy to successfully attack.

On May 10, 2019, this column’s article of the week titled “INEC should emulate Jamb’s Ishaq Oloyede” was perhaps seen as mere praise singing. But through investigative journalism it was easy to see that Oloyede had his eyes on the verdict of history. As at that time, he had built up JAMB’s technical integrity to know the following as they happen: a) when a centre registers a candidate, b) the exact time the candidate was registered, c) who registered the candidate, d) the computer system used and e) the correct and exact location of the registration centre.  Without repeating the details of Ejikeme’s case because of the age of the girl, Jamb’s transparent handling instructively establishes that the only solution to irregularities in human affairs is the adoption of technology that is subjected to constant updating.

The stories of the last 6 months in Nigeria show clearly that the country has entered the era of technicalities. Organizations which do not fall in line will suddenly find that whereas technical glitches can be used to explain off their challenges, nothing would wipe off their basic failures from the immutable record in human memories. The National Population Commission (NPC) that is gearing up for the coming national population and housing census would have no excuse if like othersin the past, fail to heed caution.

My uncle recently asked me to help guide and counsel his son, who is at that discouraging state which many young Nigerians find themselves in after graduating from the university, doing the national youth service and trying their hands on a few endeavours without success. What many of them tend to do is “japa” — believing that being a toilet cleaner in “the abroad” is better than being an employer in Nigeria. I invited my cousin for lunch and had a heart-to-heart chat with him. I was almost in tears at the end. This boy plainly told me he believes in Nigeria, does not fancy “japa” as an option, and would love to stay back in the country, put his skills to use and make a decent living.

Regrettably, the country would not let him be. He told me that after his national service, he had set up a logistics business in Lagos state. He had two motorbikes he was using for the business. “I was doing quite well,” he said. “But Lagos state government officials killed the business. There were so many levies and fees and regulatory demands I just couldn’t cope with. Thugs were seizing the bikes every day. It was always one problem or the other. It was so frustrating. As you are renewing one paper, another is expiring. It was impossible to keep up. I decided to pack everything up. I had had enough. I wanted to work with my hands and create value with my ideas but they wouldn’t let me.”

This is the story of many Nigerians who want to go into business. They are not applying for CBN or NNPC jobs. They are not interested in working for Shell or MTN. They don’t want to do yahoo-yahoo. They want to work honestly and with dignity, using their hands and business acumen to create jobs and value not just for themselves but for others too. But what do they get in return? Harassment, extortion and the sledge hammer from bloodthirsty state agencies. It shows the quality of thinking among those in authority in Nigeria. In any country where the leaders truly understand how development works, they would help, not hurt, the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

All over the world, including the most developed countries, MSMEs are recognised as the engine of the economy. When aggregated, they are the biggest employers of labour. Logically, governments desirous of tackling unemployment, poverty and crime would provide incentives to make doing business less stressful for them. MSMEs can help expand the economy and create more jobs. Sensible governments would design policies to help them thrive. But in our dearly beloved Nigeria, the opposite is the case. It is as if you have killed somebody by opening a shop. The way ministries, agencies and departments (MDAs) descend on you makes you feel you are an enemy of the state.

I told my cousin I have been a victim myself. In 2014, I started a publishing company from my sweat. We did not get any incentive as a small business from either federal or state government. What we started getting were visits from tax officials, most of whom were not genuinely interested in looking into our books but how to fill their own pockets. In 2019, we got a demand notice over PAYE. It listed employees we only engaged in 2017 as having been on our payroll from 2011 when the company was registered (we started operations exactly in April 2014). They made up salaries for them and calculated their imagined PAYE in arrears, complete with penalties and compound interest.

We once got a letter from FIRS seeking to audit our accounts over a five-year period to determine our compliance with payments and remittances, including VAT. We were so sure we were compliant and had nothing to hide, but we were only being stupid. By the time they were done, the auditors slammed a liability of almost N15 million on us for “overstated expenses”. They said we did not show evidence that our reporters actually bought the internet data for which we gave them monthly allowances. They also said the weekly transport fare we gave our journalists for reportorial duties were not receipted. Imagine asking a danfo driver for receipt for a trip from Ikeja to Ketu!

To be sure, I have no issues with tax audits. I am an advocate of ethical business practices. I hate cutting corners. But Nigeria will humble you. Nigeria will make you question your values as well as your sanity. We were so frustrated one day that we asked the tax collectors why they were doing this to us. One confessed that they had targets to meet and would not go back to their bosses and say they didn’t find anything wrong with our accounts. More so, they get bonuses for meeting their targets, so the system has created a perverse incentive which works for the tax collectors but against businesses. What he did not confess was that they were also using audits to extort businesses.

I was so incensed after one of those endless audits that I asked our tax consultant to sternly dispute the assessment and let the matter end up at the tribunal. I was so sure we did not commit any infractions. It was driving me nuts. But our tax consultant said while he was not opposed to us going to the tax appeal tribunal, it would be a waste of time and money. We would have to engage subject-matter lawyers, pay legal fees and, at the end of it all, there is no guarantee that the tribunal, a government body, will not take sides with a fellow public agency. Only the big corporates have the war chest for a robust legal battle. They also have the clout to survive the warped system. 

Common sense tells you to allow a seed grow first before you start harvesting. It appears government is committed to killing the seed instead, as my cousin can testify. If small businesses are allowed to grow and flourish, there will be millions of jobs created and an endless value chain unleashed. There will be plenty revenue to follow: VAT, PAYE, withholding tax and other taxes. But the starting point is to let them breathe. Is this too complicated to understand? In truth, government agents have become terrorists to small businesses. They gleefully give business owners anxiety and high blood pressure. They derive pleasure from using state power to inflict pains on Nigerians.

The most notorious government agencies operate in the FCT. I once wrote about a friend who owns a bakery in Abuja. All manner of government officials come to the bakery almost every day from all manner of agencies. Three units from the Abuja Municipal Council Area (AMAC) do “health inspection”. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSTIF) and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) also do “health inspection”. Believe me, one agency can do all the health checks — but this is Nigeria. There is an annual licence fee for “operating in FCT”. There is a fee for “using a car to distribute bread”.

That is not all. The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and AMAC charge the bakery separately for “fumigation”. You cannot engage your own fumigator — you have to use their consultants. There is also the AMAC “sanitary inspection” fee. AMAC’s department of environment collects fees yearly to inspect — you guessed it — the environment. There is also the AMAC fee for “food and water-related handling”. The list is endless. I am not suggesting that small businesses should not be regulated, inspected or asked to pay taxes. These are the functions of the state. But, for Pete’s sake, how many taxes and levies should an MSME pay? How many regulators should an MSME face?

You can now imagine my delight that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has set up a committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms. Since he has shown clearly that he is pro-business, I would be equally delighted if he would champion the cause of MSMEs. He should take it as a personal mission and rally the 36 governors to do everything to enhance the success and growth of these businesses. I understand that states and the FCT are driven by the singular motive of improving internally generated revenue (IGR). But this drive has become a toxic tonic for their agents to go totally out of control, forgetting that you need these businesses to survive and thrive first before you tax them.

My agenda for Tinubu in this regard is fairly simple: he should use his presidential power and moral authority to set the tone for all tiers of government on the need to make Nigeria business-friendly. We need to spread, not suffocate, businesses. First, I propose that there should be a one-stop centre to offer support to MSMEs in matters of registration, documentation, levies and taxes to end this hostile and suffocating system. Many agencies perform similar functions and make similar demands of businesses. Some businesses are targeted for frequent audit while many are outside the tax net. Through a robust support system, some of these complications can be streamlined and simplified.

Second, there should be a dispute resolution mechanism that is fair to all. The government is usually the accuser and the judge. If an agency inspects your factory, unfairly decides there is an infraction and shuts it down, you cannot ask for independent assessment. That is why extortion is normalised. The word of the agencies is law. And they are using this to the maximum. Some agencies engage thugs for enforcement. I would never forget when FIRS was using armed policemen to enforce tax collection in 2016. It was the height of official rascality at a time the economy was under enormous strain as a result of a recession. I pray that commonsense will reign in government someday. Amen.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

JAMB BITE

Mmesoma Ejimeke, a 19-year-old Anambra student, claimed to have scored 362 in UTME, attracting accolades and cash rewards for being the “best” candidate in 2023. As it turned out after all the brouhaha, she did not come first as claimed despite the massive support for her on Twitter. She actually scored 249, as she herself finally confessed. The QR code on the result slip she paraded to the media was superimposed. Yet, the saga became a source of ethnic strife and a vicious #NotMyJAMB campaign. Ironically, the highest scorer as named by JAMB is Kamsiyochukwu Umeh, also a student from Anambra. All those involved in the crime must now face the music. Justice.

OIL-POOR COUNTRY

In my previous article, I said our share of oil export is less than 400,000 bpd. Obviously, not many Nigerians know this fact. When it is reported that we export 1.4mbpd, most of it is not ours. Under joint ventures (JVs) with the oil majors, which are onshore, Nigeria used to get the lion’s share because it owned 55-60%. Under the production sharing contract (PSC), which governs offshore, the oil companies invest all the capital and recover their costs from oil production before Nigeria gets its own share. The sad part: the JVs, which favour Nigeria, are dying because of underinvestment, theft and high costs of operation while offshore, which favours the companies, is thriving. Damned.

STONE HEARTS

Mr Olukayode Egbetokun, the acting inspector-general of police (IGP), has disbanded the police team that ran over a cuffed man with a car in Edo state. The officers are reportedly undergoing disciplinary hearing. This is heartwarming. I testify that the Nigeria Police Force is always quick to discipline erring officers and this is usually in the public domain. What I still don’t understand is why these guys still behave the way they do. Is it that the punishment is not severe enough to serve as a deterrent or they are so hardened they cannot be bothered by the consequences of their actions? I sincerely would like to know. It may help the authorities take a step ahead of them. Frustrating.

AND FINALLY…

Do you remember Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa who said on video that his wife, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, used her position to influence judgments in the favour of his senate colleagues? Although his wife, who is former president of the Court of Appeal, later denied the claim, we may not have heard the last yet. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) invited the former senator for questioning but he did not show up. Instead, he headed for the court for an injunction to stop the anti-graft agency from questioning him and declaring the invitation as “ultra vires, illegal, arbitrary, oppressive and unconstitutional”. Nigeria!

Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, has declared that the state was winning the war against sit-at-home enforcers and would never take orders from people he described as murderers and enemies of Igbo land.

Mbah said there was no way Enugu could become the premier destination for investment, living, and tourism or its economy grown from $4.4 billion to $30 billion when the people were still talking about or taking orders from faceless persons outside our state, insisting “we cannot be defeated by evil and we must not allow that to happen”. 

The governor urged concerted efforts by the media community and Enugu people against scaremongering and fake news, which he described as the latest resort by the sit-at-home promoters, having lost their capacity to inflict havoc on lives and property as was previously the case due to reenergised security measures applied by the government and security agencies since the ban on Monday sit-at-home in the state. 

The governor urged the newsmen to be professional in their duty by seizing the opportunity presented by investigative and modern journalism to fact-check and verify the authenticity of information before feeding them to the public.

“The truth is that we have won the actual war against sit-at-home enforcers and murderers out to destroy Enugu State and Igboland. We have unleashed the security resources on them and they have been thoroughly defeated and discomfited.

“Because they no longer have the capacity to unleash terror on lives and property of Ndi Enugu, that is why they have now resorted to scaremongering, peddling fake news, and all manner of dramas to instill fear in our people and control their minds and actions.

“We practice democracy. We can never allow murderers and terrorists to dictate to us. We must not allow those who do not have the mandate of the people to dictate for us how to live our lives; when to go out; when to close our businesses and when to sit at home.

“What we are facing now are media terrorists using social media to instigate fear and peddle fake news. We must not allow them to succeed. It is totally unacceptable. Nobody can make you inferior without your consent. These hoodlums are very few compared to our numbers. We cannot be taking instructions from hooligans.

“We must not allow those without our mandate tell us how to live our lives. We have a duty to ensure that we flush them out in all directions. They have no stake in the affairs of our state.

“It is, therefore, our responsibility to re-orientate our people to start coming out and going about their normal businesses. We have a duty to kill fake news and counter it with our superior pen and media. 

“Therefore, as we are leaving here, we must begin to tell our people the right thing; that nobody can make them inferior without their consent; that we can’t be cowed by the cowardly acts of a few people,” the governor declared.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mbah urged the people not to be deceived by those who use the name of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as a cover for their criminalities, noting that Mazi Kanu had since expressed his displeasure at the enforcement of sit-at-home and consequent havocs on Igbo land.

Mbah said the state was equally exploring the option of dragging both the instigators and enforcers of violence and illegal sit-at-home order in the State before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague to answer to the crimes against humanity, noting that in the 21st Century, nobody should be allowed to stay in one part of the world to enjoy life while causing deaths and pains in other parts.

“As media people, it is important you educate our people for them to know that these sit-at-home enforcers are not after Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s welfare or freedom. We must be able to separate the two.

“Ndigbo are on one page in demanding for the release of Nnamdi Kanu. I have also seen the President over this matter. Other Igbo leaders have made the same demand and we are not relenting.

“However, the so-called sit-at-home enforcers are mere criminals and our people must face them frontally.”

The governor also disclosed that technology had already been deployed to guarantee safety of residents, saying  there were no longer hideouts for criminals in the state. 

While responding, members of the media community lauded the efforts of the government in stamping out insecurity, offering suggestions on how to bring lasting peace and security to the state.

They expressed their readiness to collaborate with and support the government to achieve its plans for the people, promising that they would play a pivotal role to ensure the people return back to work through their reports.

[Tribune]