Wale Ojo, Kehinde Bankole, Layi Wasabi, and Demola Adedoyin were among the winners at the 2024 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA).

The annual event, which recognises outstanding performances in television, film, and entertainment took place on Saturday night at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos.

Bankole defeated Funke Akindele and Ireti Doyle to clinch the ‘Best Lead Actress’ category.

Ojo won the ‘Best Lead Actor’ category while Demola snagged the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ award for their roles in ‘Breath of Life’ respectively.

The award ceremony featured captivating performances from music stars such as Adekunle Gold, Chike, Seyi Sodimu, and Shaffy Bello.

‘Breath of Life’ was the biggest winner of the night, clinching six categories — including ‘Best Lead Actor’, ‘Best Supporting Actor’, ‘Best Supporting Actress’, ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Sound Design’ and ‘Best Movie’.

Below is the list of winners at the AMVCA 2024:

Best Digital Content

• National Treasure – Adebola Adeyela (Lizzy Jay)
• Medical Negligence – Isaac Ayomide Olayiwola (Layi Wasabi)
• Copyright Infringement – Isaac Ayomide Olayiwola (Layi Wasabi) — WINNER 
• Hello Neighbour – Elozonam Ogbolu, Lina Idoko and Jemima Osunde
• The Boyfriend – Maryam Apaokagi-Greene

Best Indigenous Language Film (West Africa)

• Mami Wata (CJ Fiery Obasi)
• Jagun Jagun (Femi Adebayo) — WINNER 
• Ijogbon (Kunle Afolayan)
• Orisa (Odunlade Adekola)
• Nana Akoto (Kwabena Gyansah)

Best Indigenous Language (East Africa)

• Where The River Divides
• Ormoilaa Ogol (The Strong One) — WINNER 
• Wandongwa
• Nakupenda
• Itifaki

Best Indigenous Language (South Africa)

• Service To Heart
• Uncle Limbani
• Motshameko O Kotsi — WINNER 

Best Multichoice Talent Factory Movie

• Grown
• Her Dark Past — WINNER 
• Somewhere in Kole
• Full-Time Husband
• The 11th Commandment
• Mfumukazi

Best Scripted M-Net Original

• Slum King — WINNER 
• Half Open Window
• Itura
• The Passenger
• Magic Room

Best Unscripted M-Net Original

• What Will People Say
• The Irabors’ Forever After
• Nwuyee Bekee (Foreign Wives) — WINNER 
• Date My Family Zambia
• Royal Qlique (Season 2)

Best Indigenous M-Net Original

• The Passenger
• Nana Akoto
• Apo
• Irora Iya — WINNER 
• Love Transfusion (Kiapo Cha Damu)

Best Short Film

• T’egbon T’aburo
• Broken Mask — WINNER 
• Eighteenth Year
• Man and Masquerades
• A Place Called Forward

Best Supporting Actor

• Alexx Ekubo (Afamefuna)
• Demola Adedoyin (Breath of Life) — WINNER
• Itele d Icon (Jagun Jagun: The Warrior)
• Gregory Ojefua (This is Life)
• Timini Egbuson (A Tribe Called Judah)
• Levi Chikere (Blood Vessel)
• Ropo Ewenla (Over the Bridge)

Best Supporting Actress

• Joke Silva (Over the Bridge)
• Fathia Williams (Jagun Jagun – The Warrior)
• Bimbo Akintola (The Black Book)
• Genoveva Umeh (Breath of Life) — WINNER 
• Eliane Umuhire (Omen)
• Tana Adelana (Ijogbon – Chaos)
• Ejiro Onojaife (The Origin: Madam Koi Koi)

Best Lead Actor

• Wale Ojo (Breath of Life) — WINNER ‎
• Stan Nze (Afamefuna)
• Marc Zinga (Omen)
• Gideon Okeke (Egun)
• David Ezekiel (Blood Vessel)
• Richard Mofe Damijo (The Black Book)
• Adedimeji Lateef (Jagun Jagun – The Warrior)
• Gabriel Afolayan (This is Lagos)

Best Lead Actress

• Segilola Ogidan (Over the Bridge)
• Lucie Debay (Omen)
• Omowunmi Dada (Asiri Ade)
• Ireti Doyle (The Origin: Madam Koi Koi)
• Adaobi L. Dibor (Blood Vessel)
• Evelyne Ily (Mami Wata)
• Kehinde Bankole (Adire) — WINNER 
• Funke Akindele (A Tribe Called Judah)

Best Cinematography

• MAMI WATA (Lílis Soares)
• Blood Vessel (Gideon Chukwu)
• Over The Bridge (KC Obiajulu) — WINNER 
• Breath of Life (Ola Cardoso)
• Jagun Jagun – The Warrior (Adeoluwa Owu)
• Ijogbon – Chaos (Adekunle Nodash Adejuyigbe)
• Omen (Joachim Philippe)

Best Editing

• Chuka Ejorh And Onyekachi Banjo (Over The Bridge)
• Holmes Awa (Breath of Life)
• Alex Kamau And Victor Obok (Volume)
• Dayo Nathaniel (Ogeere – Earth)
• Antonio Ribeiro (The Black Book) — WINNER 
• Nathan Delannoy (Mami Wata)

Best Sound Design

• Ava Momoh (Over the Bridge)
• Daniel Pellerin and Amin Bhatia (Kipkemboi)
• Grey Jones Ossai (Breathe of Life) — WINNER 
• Grey Jones Ossai (Blood Vessel)
• Samy Bardet (Mami Wata)

Best Art Direction

• Blood Vessel (Victor Akpan)
• Over The Bridge (Abisola Omolade) — WINNER 
• Breath of Life (Okechukwu Frost Nwankwo, Kelechi Odu)
• The Black Book (Pat Nebo and Chima Temple)
• Jagun Jagun: The Warrior (Tunji Afolayan)
• Mami Wata (C.J Fiery Obasi)
• Omen (Eve Martin)

Best Costume Design

• Demola Adeyemi (Over The Bridge)
• Bolanle Austin Peters, Ituen Basi, Folake Coker and Clement Effanga (Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti)
• Lola Awe (Jagun Jagun: The Warrior) — WINNER 
• Bunmi Demilola Fashina (Mami Wata)
• Daniel Obasi (Breath of Life)

Best Makeup

• Francesca Otaigbe (Over the Bridge)
• Campbell Precious (Mami Wata) — WINNER 
• Hadizat Gambo (Mojisola)
• Hakeem Onilogbo (Jagun Jagun – The Warrior)
• Feyisayo Oyebisi (A Tribe Called Judah)

Best Writing TV Series

• Skinny Girl in Transit (Season 7)
• Wura (Season 2)
• Visa on Arrival
• MTV Shuga Naija
•  Volume — WINNER 
• Masquerades of Aniedo
• Slum King

Best Writing in a Movie

• Breath of Life (BB Sasore)
• Over The Bridge (Tosin Otudeko)
• Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (Tunde Babalola) — WINNER 
• Jagun Jagun: The Warrior (Adebayo Tijani)
• Afamefuna (Anyanwu Sandra Adaora)
• A Tribe Called Judah (Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele, Collins Okoh and Akinlabi Ishola)
• Mami Wata (CJ Fiery Obasi)

Best Documentary

• Ormoilaa Ogol (The Strong One)
• Lobola, A Bride’s True Price? — WINNER 
• Empalikino (Forgiveness)
• The Water Manifesto: Osun (Water for Gold)
• Sowing Hope

Best Scripted Series

• Volume
• Wura (Season 2) — WINNER 
• Slum King
• Itura
• Chronicles

Best Unscripted Series

• Lol Naija (Season 1)
• Nightlife In Lasgidi
• The Real Housewives Of Lagos (Season 2)
• Gh Queens (Season 2) — WINNER 
• Mutale Mwanza Unscripted (Season 1)

Best Director

• Moses Inwang (Blood Vessel)
• Adebayo Tijani And Tope Adebayo (Jagun Jagun – The Warrior)
• Bb Sasore (Breath of Life) — WINNER 
• Johnscott Enah (Half Heaven)
• C.J Fiery Obasi (MAMI WATA)
• Kayode Kasum (Afamefuna)
• Tolu Ajayi (Over The Bridge)

Best Movie

• Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti
• Breath of Life — WINNER 
• Over The Bridge
• Blood Vessel
• A Tribe Called Judah
• The Black Book
• MAMI WATA

Trailblazer of the Year

• Chimezie Imo

Industry Merit 

• Idowu Philips (Iya Rainbow)
• Richard Mofe Damijo

 [TheCable]

Ever since Sir Isaac Newton, the English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist discovered the law of gravitation and established for the ages that, “any particle of matter in the universe attracts any other with a force varying directly as the product of the masses and inversely as the square of the distance between them”, the larger society has taken a cue from scientists that “what goes up must come down”.

In the same vein, man’s peregrinations in life are philosophically explained as “comings and goings”, or Departures which foreshadow imminent Arrivals. Thus, you have the name, “Enílolóbò” in Yoruba meaning “the person who went is the one who returned”, a testament to the cyclical nature of human existence as conceived by our forebears: Birth-Death-Return.

I was ruminating over that concept as I tried to unravel the link between the novel phenomenon, ‘Japa’, and its sibling, ‘Japada’. Japa is a Nigerian slang derived from the Yoruba language used to describe the act of escaping or fleeing from an unsavoury situation. The word, ‘Japa’, has now been adopted by Nigerians, especially the large youthful population, as the slang for the fad of relocating to a foreign country for greener pastures.

Manpower Loss
While the motive is usually economic, the trend has created gaps in manpower requirements, particularly in critical areas such as the medical profession. Frustrated by what they described as poor working conditions and low remuneration, Nigerian medical doctors have been emigrating to nations with better working conditions such as the UK, US and Canada.

In 2017, a polling agency, NOI Polls, in conjunction with Nigerian Health Watch, found that 88 percent of doctors were considering work opportunities abroad and that an average of 12 doctors per week secured employment in the UK. The trend has become a free for all as there is no calling that is insulated from what has now been dubbed the brain drain scourge.

Africa’s loss has been the gain of the host countries employing our professionals. According to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, it costs an African country such as Nigeria between $21,000 and $51,000 to train a single medical doctor. Because 10% of doctors working in the UK come from African nations, the UK is saving about $2.7 billion by recruiting these doctors. A similar scenario plays out in other countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia where Nigerian doctors and other professionals can be found in huge numbers. One of the fallouts is that there is now a thriving medical tourism market involving wealthy Nigerians who travel abroad to seek specialist medical care. Ironically, in many cases, they are attended to by their compatriots, Nigerian doctors who had relocated abroad.

Even cultural exponents such as artists, musicians, actors and the like have also succumbed to the brain drain bug.

Nigerian immigrants typically take advantage of the merit-driven system to improve themselves educationally at every opportunity. It is not surprising therefore that the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) of Washington confirms that Nigerians in the United States are the most educated immigrant group, with 61 percent holding at least a bachelor’s degree, “Compared with 31 percent of the total foreign-born population and 32 percent of the US-born population.”

Annual remittances to Nigeria from the Diaspora is estimated at $22 billion. The Japa phenomenon cannot therefore be described as totally hurtful to Nigeria. It has helped a good number of our nationals who have emigrated to those countries to widen their professional coast and become a better version of themselves. Eventually, after a couple of decades, the relatively young Japa immigrant longs to return home. And he does so with all his newly acquired knowledge and international best practices, especially in corporate governance.

Reverse Brain Drain
That is the new ‘Japada’ or ‘Enílolóbò’ phase. It is called the “Reverse Brain Drain”, or the return of the professional pilgrims to give back to the original source whence they had emerged. Many countries have well designed programmes to encourage their professionals in the Diaspora to return home. In those days, African immigrants preferred to work and spend the rest of their lives abroad but these days, with the various improvements in many areas of public and communal life at home, and the rise of racism in some Western countries, many Africans are returning home after a few years or, at the latest, after retirement.

China took a giant leap in massive investment in the education of its young people with generous scholarships to reputable universities in Europe and America. Many of them were enrolled in science and technology courses. The local government of each student was involved in the system of rewarding the returnees with large bonuses from their home unit.

Universities and research centres competing for breakthroughs drew up a programme of juicy incentives for the returnees who, in turn, were quite happy to dedicate the rest of their lives to the intellectual pursuit for which their institution, and by extension the nation, was compensating them so handsomely.
Another ‘developing’ country, India, has also done well for itself in this regard. Actually, India can be said to have pioneered the reverse brain drain trend. Indian immigrants to the West used to be prepared to be culturally assimilated by their host country. Tens of thousands of them held highly valued information technology and engineering jobs in Silicon Valley.

It all looked so attractive until the dot-com bubble torpedoed the prices of stocks in the technology industry. Many high-skilled Indian workers were forced to return to their country especially because of security concerns after the 9/11 attacks when Indians were often discriminated against because they looked like Arabs. The Seattle Times estimates that there are more than two million Indians in Software Development who are now permanent residents of the US.

Pakistan and Mexico also have their own success stories in terms of return migration. Of particular significance is the media boom in Pakistan which prompted many overseas Pakistani journalism professionals to return to the country. Today, there are over 47,000 British nationals in Pakistan, many of whom are of Pakistani origin, who have returned to contribute to the economic development of the country.

In Africa,”There is a disconnect between Africans in the diaspora and on the continent”, says Ade Olufeko, a technologist, speaking about reverse brain drain challenges in 2017.

Nidcom’s Role
In order to prevent the permanent loss of the experts, Africa must design its own home-grown incentives to encourage those who have japa-ed to Japada. It is gratifying that the Nigerians In Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has mapped out some programmes that have the potential of encouraging immigrants to cast a favourable glance back home. One of such is the National Housing Programme (NHP) which NIDCOM has keyed into. Currently, the NHP has housing schemes comprising 1 to 3-bedroom bungalows and blocks of flats in 34 states in Nigeria. The application process is facilitated through an online Expression of Interest Form (EOI).

NIDCOM also assists Nigerians in the Diaspora with data capturing and registration under the National Identity Management Scheme, pension matters, medical and educational missions, establishment of businesses and link with the Bank of Industry and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). Nigerians who are stranded abroad have also benefited from NIDCOM’s intervention.

Considering how invaluable the contributions of our returnees will be across various professions and businesses, every government department ought to have its own package of incentives in partnership with NIDCOM to attract immigrants who may want to return to help uplift the country. You never know, the package of incentives you dangle may be the difference between a Nigerian spending the rest of his years abroad or returning home to give back to society.

Putin is nearby. Precisely, Russia’s ambitious global influencer of  illiberal  order has docked next door. In Niger Republic to be exact. At the end of April, the military junta in Niger kicked out the American military advisers and tiny troop contingent from their country. Earlier, they had forced the U.S drone and surveillance base in Agadez to shut down. As part of a half-hearted diplomatic move to repair military relations with Niger, an American delegation went to hold talks with the regime in Niamey.

Almost on the same day, officials of the junta were reportedly showing a Russian military advance party around what used to be the American military base. The intent was obvious. The Russians were in the process of being handed the keys of what used to be a US base or at least preparing the grounds for an active security relationship with Moscow. Though the janitors are yet to hand over the keys of the former US base to the Russians, the signals are clear.

Earlier on, the military junta in Niger had chased away the French ambassador to the country, thus ending centuries of French influence in the country. Of course, the military dictators were towing the same line as their colleagues in Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea. A rushed end to French presence and influence in these former French colonies has since become the central foreign policy doctrine of the new autocrats in what used to be Francophone West Africa.

Official Moscow is still predictably silent on its intentions. But what is clear is Moscow’s preparations to replace the West, specifically the United State and France as the strategic influence in Niger Republic and its environs. And with the exit of both French and American military presence in Niger, the door has been thrown wide open for their replacement by Russia. Of course Russia’s interest in Africa especially West and Central Africa has never been disguised in recent times.

Prior to the demise of the bullish Yevgeny Prigozyn and the decline of his Wagner mercenary force, Russian commercial and security presence in these parts of Africa had been quite pronounced but diplomatically muted. Now what began as an expeditionary mercenary commercial interest is about to graduate into a full blown strategic military and security presence and interest from Moscow. 

The presence of US troops and the drone base coupled with the presence of a French protection force in West Africa remained  for a long time part of the international arrangement to keep jihadist terrorists from drifting towards the south of West Africa. Countries like Nigeria were prime beneficiaries of the US presence in Niger. It was more importantly part of an international strategic engagement to barricade the region from a rampaging Jihadist onslaught from the Sahel.

This logic of containment and protection remained the major plank of Western influence remained valid until the rapid  reduction of French presence and influence in the region by new military regimes. It all began with Mali which had earlier evicted French diplomats from Bamako. This was followed by the withdrawal of French protection troops from Mali and subsequently the other major West African former French territories now under military dictatorship: Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger and possibly Chad.

There a historical context to Russia’s residual appeal in parts  of Africa. Instructively, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the world was gripped by anxiety. On March 2nd, the UN General Assembly voted on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Of the 54 African member states, 28 voted against Russia while 17 abstained and 8 refused to show up. Towards Russia or more precisely the old Soviet Union, some nostalgia among an ageing generation of elite.

Many of these older African elite  recall the days of the Cold War and the old USSR’s identification with Africa’s causes especially anti colonialism and anti Apartheid. Ideological nostalgia towards the Red Empire is strongest in places like Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa where political parties that pioneered the independence and anti racist struggles were backed by the old Soviet Union.

At the present time, Russian influence in Africa remains sporadic and uncoordinated but cannot be ignored as a significant part of the strategic future of the continent. In 2019, the inaugural Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi was attended by 43 African countries. It was a forum for Mr. Putin to critique the West’s policies towards Africa.

Nonetheless, Russia’s  trade with Africa is only 2% of Africa’s goods trade with the rest of the world. A Russian bank VEB now under Western sanctions is a shareholder in the African Development Bank. Even then, Russia’s economic and military interest and roles in some African fragile states remains considerable. Russia is the largest arms supplier to African countries, a net extractor of mineral and other resources and a prop for fragile even if unpopular regimes. But with all its noisy presence in world affairs, Russia remains an unlikely agent of economic benefit for African countries.

The Russian economy is about the size of that of Italy. So, Russia is not in a position to act as an attractive agent of development in Africa. Russia is still a relatively poor country. Its companies playing in the African economic theatre are most extractive industry interlopers and state sponsored thieving entities. Russian infrastructure companies are still not interested in contracts in African countries. African tourist and business travel interests in Russia is next to zero. So, by and large any renewed Russian interest in parts of Africa will remain a matter of limited mutual convenience. Security assistance in return for opportunities for Russian rogue companies to come in and make some quick cash while the Russian state increases its foothold  and authoritarian leverage against the Western liberal order.

For Nigeria, the implications of the exit of two major Western powers from our immediate northern frontier are many and far reaching. Nigeria’s exposure in this regard are threefold. First, the security safe corridor  against jihadist terrorist expansion from the Sahel is instantly closed. Without American drones, intelligence and French troops on the ground, Nigeria is exposed. Our national security is further compromised. The jihadists are now free to roam free from centres in Niger into the troubled northern parts of Nigeria.

Secondly, the military presence of Russia in Niger and other parts of what used to be French West Africa immediately signals a decline of Western influence in the region and its replacement with an antithetical Russian influence. Russian security presence and strategic influence in an area now under military dictatorship effectively means the shrinking of the frontiers of freedom and democratic rule and its replacement with an authoritarian influence. Russian is not known to be a patron of democracy and freedom anywhere in the world. It cannot possibly export what it does not have at home.

Hidden under the above two meanings is a clear and present threat to Western influence in West Africa. The timing of this development in world history is fortuitous. We are in an era where the Cold War has been replaced by an increasing hemispheric war of nerves and rhetoric between Western democracies as we have come to know them and a rising authoritarian counter force. The counter force  is being guaranteed by the growing influence and fortunes of China.  Russia, North Korea, Iran and other client states of the same ilk are taking shelter under China’s bloated bank accounts to keep the West uncomfortable.

Nigeria’s political response to the developments in Niger have shown little of an enlightened national self-interest. At the time the coupists toppled Niger’s democratic government, Nigeria was in a position to  prevent the coup and its nasty consequences. Former president Buhari had a close personal relationship with the democratic leadership in Niger.

Even after Buhari’s tenure, his successor Mr. Tinubu woefully failed to use his position as the new Chairman of ECOWAS to neutralize the coup in Niger. Nigeria was in an eminent position to use its economic and military preponderance in the region to stifle the Niger coupists. We failed.

A few tepid diplomatic threats and fickle sanctions failed to deter the dictatorship in Niamey. The junta got stronger, compared notes with those in Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea. They got stronger together and became a threat to ECOWAS from which they threatened a pullout. ECOWAS’s solidarity was broken. The bloc buckled. Its military weakness was on open display as they could neither effect an ultimatum to use force if necessary. Individual member nations reached out to the Niger and other dictators and made individual deals.

Nigeria’s resolve was broken. We shamefully restored electricity supply to Niger, lifted our limited and effete sanctions. And now the Niger junta has dug in and  has admitted a potential destabilizing force  into our immediate northern frontier. By creating room for the exit of the West from Niger and the tacit admission of Russian influence into the region, Nigeria has shot itself in the foot.

There is something more frightening in our political response to this development. The possibility that the United States and France could decide to pitch tent in Nigeria by negotiating military basing footholds here is far fetched. But even then, it is being opposed vehemently by some politicians instead of being welcomed enthusiastically.

In Nigerian political circles, the debate has been as to whether Nigeria should allow France and the United States to establish military bases in its territory. As is typical in our lazy politics of sectarianism, regionalism and divisiveness, the most eloquent voices of opposition to possible Western military bases in Nigeria have come from northern political voices. This is not only sad but also not backed by any iota of strategic insight and knowledge of basic national interests.

Ironically, the  North is the region immediately exposed to the  consequences of the withdrawal of Western forces from Niger. It has become the epicenter of national insecurity and instability of the kind associated with increasing jihadist activities. It is the home base of banditry. It is a free market for the spread of small and medium arms from the theatres of trouble in the Sahel, Northern Africa and the Middle East. It is the area where schools are being sacked and farming disrupted. It is the source of herdsmen turned into killers, armed robbers and kidnappers.

More pointedly, there is nothing that says that should Nigeria consider it strategically wise, Western military bases in the country must be located in any particular zone of the country.

Such bases can be located anywhere in the country. And they often have collateral economic benefits to the host communities as in places like Djibouti, South Korea and Germany where US military bases are part of the local economic life.

In the world of modern technology, possible Western military bases can be located anywhere in the country. Advanced intelligence gathering and surveillance systems now allow major world powers to gather intelligence, order operations and manage military outcomes from virtually anywhere. The drones that decimated Al Queda in Afghanistan and Pakistan emanated from drone command bases in the deserts of far away Nevada. Donald Trump ordered the drone assassination of Iran’s General Soliman at Baghdad airport from the comfort of the Oval Office in far away Washington.

The long term strategic and overall national interest of Nigeria are better served if we rise above petty regional narrow views of the developments unfolding in our Northern frontier. First, we need to protect the nation from the spread of jihadist insurgency and terrorism. We need to remain enlisted in the international effort to defeat Jihadist terrorism  decisively. We need to protect freedom and democratic rule as a heritage after more than four decades of military dictatorship in our history. Consequentially, we need to act in concert with the rest of the free world to discourage Russia’s active promotion and tacit marketing of authoritarianism and anti democratic ideas around the world.

Incidentally, among the salesmen of authoritarianism in the world, Russia is handicapped. Unlike China, Russia is neither an agent of economic development nor a model of cultural inclusiveness and universalism. Few free and happy people want to make Moscow their preferred holiday or business travel destination.

Segun Olatunji, the General Editor of an online publication whose abduction and detention by men in uniform, acting Gestapo-style, raised a lot of dust, has resigned his appointment. Olatunji resigned because he disagrees with the decision of his employers - the owners/management of First Media Network Limited, publishers of FirstNews newspaper - to retract the story that had led to his travail as well as offer public apology to Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, now Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Gbajabiamila had kicked against FirstNews’ story, demanding its retraction as well as public apology from the online newspaper. I need not repeat the FirstNews story here since it has been retracted by its publishers. Restating allegations already retracted by its original source is unprofessional and unethical, though the uninformed and vendors of “yellow journalism” can still tactically, even if mischievously, hide under the cover of reportage to do so . It amounts, however, to committing the same infraction afresh and anew.

FirstNews newspaper was not an online publication that I had come across before the Segun Olatunji abduction saga. I am not sure the massive story it published also got as much traction before the abduction of Olatunji as it got after his arrest and detention. In other words, the abduction and detention of Olatunji advertised the story and made Olatunji himself more popular than he ordinarily was before the event. So many people who, ordinarily, would not have been aware of the story or of the newspaper itself and its editor got to know of their existence because of the clampdown on Olatunji.

Sometimes one wonders what kind of professional media advice those in sensitive government positions get before deciding to dance naked in public. Whether true or false, I can vouchsafe that those who will believe the story in question will be far numerous than those who will disbelieve it, the retraction and public apology by the publishers notwithstanding. Any harm done, which the abduction and detention further accentuated, cannot now be adequately redressed.

FirstNews at first talked tough; it sided with its editor and stood by its story, as we say in this profession. The publisher of FirstNews newspaper, one Daniel Iworiso-Markson, minced no words as he insisted that the Gbajabiamila story was based on facts. Said he: “The management of FirstNews is using this opportunity to call on the military high command and the security agencies to let us know (Olatunji’s) whereabouts and the reason why he was arrested. FirstNews (online and print) is a reputable independent digital news network that prides itself on being a front line media outfit committed to engaging its world-class audience with factual, authentic, and credible information.

“We conduct our journalism activities with strict observance of the high standards of ethics, accountability, professionalism, and legality while exercising our rights to freedom of expression and information, all in a bid to ensure credible reporting of the news behind the news in politics, business, education, sport, health, entertainment, and many more. If there was any infraction that bothers on national security, Olatunji should have first been formally invited rather than this Gestapo style of arrest that reminds (us) of the dark days of the military era, where press freedom was stifled”

Strong words from someone sure of his onions! Buoyed by this, I suppose, all the professional journalism bodies - NUJ, NGE, NPAN, name it - Labour and civil society organizations packed themselves full behind FirstNews and Olatunji. Disgruntled politicians and all manner of elements with an axe to grind wasted no time in joining the fray. The military did not help matters with their serial denial that they knew nothing of the abduction and detention of Olatunji. Eventually, they buckled under pressure and not only admitted that Olatunji was with them but also released him from illegal detention after 14 gruesome days. The detainee’s detention diary described his experience as harrowing.

“You maltreated me”; “we did not maltreat you” was the exchange of fireworks between captive and captors before the latest bombshell of Olatunji’s resignation as the General Editor of FirstNews. His resignation was instigated by the decision of his newspaper’s management to eat the humble pie by recanting, retracting the story which they had earlier stoutly defended, and tendering an unreserved apology to Gbajabiamila.

I do not envy FirstNews! Doing what the newspaper has done is what newspapers and editors detest most. It’s a nightmare. It rubbishes the professional integrity of the editor and tarnishes the image of the newspaper. It reduces the standing of both in the estimation of every right-thinking member of the public. Professionalism and credibility are called into question. Who, again, will believe another “exclusive” story broken by such a publication?

FirstNews’ apology was abject in every material particular; it said the story on Gbajabiamila, “was handed over to us as facts by a misleading source, which was highly negligent on our part and for which we deeply tender an unreserved apology to the Chief of Staff to the President (as well as) publish a retraction of the said story”

If journalism is still what it used to be in my own days, the day FirstNews published its “unreserved apology” to Gbajabiamila would be a sad day in the history of that newspaper organization. The mood in the entire newspaper, the newsroom especially, would be mournful. It would be as if someone very important has just died. Lawyers to complainants have found a way of making retractions doubly unpalatable in the way they couch the wordings of the retraction they hand over to cornered newspapers to publish, with some of such mean lawyers insisting that not a word of it must be altered, thus forcing the bitter pill down the throat in a pitiless and remorseless manner.

Now, the more painful aspect of retractions is that the story being retracted may be correct substantially (if not in full) and the person being apologized to may not in the least deserve it. The Gbajabiamila story as published by FirstNews was massive. It is the type you publish only after you have safely deposited all supporting documents in the vaults of the World Bank! As we say in this profession, there is no smoke without a fire. I think that may be the point Olatunji was trying to make when he broke ranks with the Management of his newspaper and chose resignation as a noble option. But does he have impeccable documents to support the allegations against Gbajabiamila?

A maxim of the journalism profession is that a reporter is as good as his source. So, we usually talk of “competent sources”, ”impeccable sources”, ”usually reliable sources”, etc. Once your source of information is none of the above, it means he or she "has fallen your hand", as they say. You are done for! Stories can be planted by enemies to draw you out for the kill. As editor of The PUNCH/Saturday PUNCH, especially during the struggle for the revalidation of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election won fair and square by MKO Abiola, we experienced a lot of that. The military junta and its apologists sent classified documents and outright fabrications our way, waiting for us to publish so they could pounce!

Going by the retraction published by FirstNews, a “misleading source” and “negligence on their own part” were the twin-evils their story on Gbajabiamila suffered. Now, as stated earlier, there are dishonest and interested sources angling to grind an axe with this or that person for this or that reason or purpose, but there are also sources who, meaning well originally, may become “misleading” for reasons beyond their control. As a senior reporter with the now defunct Ibadan-based Sketch newspapers, I wrote a story on a parcel of land at Milverton, Ikoyi, Lagos belonging to my native state, Ondo, but which a retired military officer had partially alienated for his personal use.

A highly-placed Ondo State Government official gave me the story, with a pledge to make all relevant documents available. Their intention was that the intruder would cut and run once the matter became public knowledge. I wrote the story; my newspaper published it. The intruder, rather than run, dug in! His lawyers wrote to us, demanding that we retract the story, publish an apology and pay damages! I ran to Akure to collect the documents they had promised. Sorry, they told me: the retired officer had got in touch with the military president who had ordered the military governor to back off! Order from above!

I was stranded! My job was on the line but thank God for native intelligence! I called the man’s lawyer and told him I had a follow-up to my earlier story and I wanted their own side of the story before going to press. I recounted what happened at Akure and told him I had everyone on tape, including the governor and the attorney-general. Everyone would be embarrassed - the military president, the military governor, and the retired military officer himself! It was now their turn to sue for peace!

As editor at the PUNCH newspapers, I encountered similar incidents on a number of occasions: saving my reporters, myself and the newspaper from unpleasant circumstances required God’s benevolence and native intelligence. The “madness” or temporary insanity that grips reporters and editors alike once they think they have a “world exclusive” in their grip and the daily rush to beat deadlines could, once in a while, lead to the “high negligence” which the FirstNews management blamed itself for in this Gbajabiamila saga.

Was it right for Olatunji to have resigned? His letter gave “the stance of the company’s Management” and “the safety of my person and (of) my family” as reasons for his resignation before waxing prophetic: “In no distant time, the truth will come out and, then, it will be my word against theirs…” I salute Olatunji’s courage and sense of professionalism. For a man being owed a whole year’s salary to resign in these harsh economic times takes uncommon courage. When a team loses a critical match, the coach resigns. Brave sailors and pilots prefer to go down with their ship or craft rather than bail out. When the PUNCH newspapers were invaded by military goons during the June 12 struggle, I as the editor walked into the premises to be arrested and detained even though I had the opportunity, like the others, to run away.

In 1984, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor of The Guardian newspaper chose to go to jail rather than disclose their source of information. In 1993, Bayo Onanuga, Dapo Olorunyomi, Babafemi Ojudu, Kunle Ajibade, Seye Kehinde and others founded TheNews. Onanuga, as editor of African Concord magazine, had rejected the promptings of their Publisher, Chief MKO Abiola, to apologize to military president Ibrahim Babangida over the magazine’s story titled “Has Babangida given up?”

For choosing to toe the same line as his illustrious senior colleagues mentioned above, Olatunji may also have etched his own name in gold. As for the authenticity or otherwise of the Gbajabiamila story, “In no distant time”, to quote Olatunji's words, “the truth will come out”!

City FM is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Programme: CITY TALKS WITH REUBEN ABATI

Time: 12:00pm

Guest: Mr Johnson Chukwu
(Founder and Managing Director, Cowry Asset Management Limited)

Topic: "Cyber Security Levy: Matters Arising"

Date: 11th May, 2024

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/92877141732?pwd=VEJWb29OL2VVekZUTHRpdWYxK0xxZz09

Meeting ID: 928 7714 1732
Passcode: 600206

....as Dean of Agric Urges Pursuit of Excellence

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Banku Obi has stated that the University is open to collaborations with the William Anam's Farm.

The Vice-Chancellor stated this when representatives of the late William Awak Anam's family paid her a courtesy visit recently.

Represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Linkages and Collaborations, Prof. Peter C. Okafor, the Vice Chancellor while interfacing with the Anams at the University's Council Chambers said that the institution was ready to collaborate with them in areas of mutual benefits.

Prof. Obi while extending Management's condolences over the demise of their father, celebrated the faculty for making the effort to reach out.

She said collaborating with the faculty in real-time will not only improve their knowledge but also make them more active in agriculture.

The University Administrator apologized for not including the family's award in the last convocation Brochure, promising that the award will be included in the next convocation which is going to be the 50th and a milestone convocation.

She appreciated the family for the award stating that it will no doubt motivate others to be focused, especially the practical year students.

In a related development, the Dean of, the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Susan Ohen has urged students of the Faculty of Agriculture to continue to pursue excellence in all their academic endeavours.

The Dean stated that the William Anam Award which was initially planned to be presented at the just concluded 36th Convocation, was hindered due to unforeseen circumstances. Speaking during the formal presentation of the Late William Anam's maiden award for the Best Practical Year Student of the 2020/2021 graduating class held at the Faculty of Agriculture Post- Graduate Hall, Prof. Ohen said that Mr. Anam, an alumnus of the faculty, was very passionate about agriculture.

The Dean used the occasion to commend the wife and family of the Late alumnus for making his desire come true by sustaining the initiative of conferring an award on the best practical student in the faculty.

This is even as she admonished the award recipient to see it as a motivation to do more academically.

In a presentation titled; "Striving for Excellence in Academics", Prof. Ausaji A. Ayuk said to strive is to struggle, push or fight vigorously, and to make great efforts to achieve or obtain something, while excellence is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good, and academic is relating to education.

The one-time Dean of Agric thus, challenged the students to see beyond where they presently are and make sure they achieve their desired goals.

The wife of the Late William Anam thanked the University and the Faculty of Agriculture for allowing her family to confer the maiden William Awak Anam Award for the Best Practical Student.

Mrs. Maryanne William Anam stated that her late husband, the initiator of the award who unfortunately passed on in 2023 at the age of 58 was a passionate alumnus of the Faculty of Agriculture, a successful farmer with an uncanny zeal for nurturing and seeing other people grow.

To this end, she pledged on behalf of the WILLIAM ANAM FARMS that the William Awak Anam award will be sustained as an annual event for deserving students as a way of motivating them.

The high point of the event was the presentation of the award which has a cash backing of a hundred thousand naira, to the Best Graduating Student in Practicals for the 2020/2021 session by the VC'S representative, DVC, Research, Linkages and Collaborations, Prof. Peter C. Okafor to the award recipient Mr. Emmanuel John Amadi.

Public Relations Unit

University of Calabar

Air travel can be a thrilling experience, filled with excitement and anticipation as you embark on a new adventure or reunite with loved ones. However, the thrill of flying can quickly turn into a nightmare if you find yourself detained at the airport. Whether you are a seasoned traveler or embarking on your first flight, it’s essential to know what can land you in hot water with airport authorities. From seemingly innocuous mistakes to serious offenses, there are several things that can get you detained at the airport, causing frustration, delay, and even legal consequences.

In today’s security-conscious world, airports have strict rules and regulations in place to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff. While these measures are necessary, they can also lead to unintentional violations. As a traveler, it is important to be aware of the dos and don’ts of air travel to avoid any unnecessary delays or complications on your journey. By knowing what to avoid, you can ensure a smooth and stress-free travel experience, and make the most of your time in the air.

Here are 8 of such things that can get you detained at the airport

Prohibited items

When packing for your next trip, it is essential to know what items are allowed in your luggage. While it isobvious that illegal substances are a no-go, many travelers are unaware of the other prohibited items that can land them in trouble. For instance, India prohibits books and maps that incorrectly displays their external boundaries, while Japan prioritizes public safety and morals by prohibiting books, drawings and carvings . Dubai, on the other hand, has strict rules around food and wildlife products. To avoid any issues, always check the customs websites of your destination country and familiarize yourself with their specific rules and regulations.

Invalid or damaged travel documents

Airline and country-specific regulations govern travel document requirements, ensuring hassle-free boarding. These documents must not be expired and often need to remain valid for a certain period beyond the travel date. This precaution ensures flexibility in case of flight delays, enabling travelers to board alternative return flights. Before heading to the airport, meticulously review passport and visa validity guidelines. For instance, countries like Thailand, Nepal, and Turkey mandate six months of passport validity upon entry, while most European Union nations require three months, and New Zealand stipulates one month beyond the intended departure date.

Additionally, ensure the visibility and clarity of your photo and bio data. Any damage, such as rips, tears, or water damage, could result in travel disruptions until replacement documents are obtained. It is important to note that travel documents extend beyond passports; some countries necessitate supplementary documents, such as prior travel history, parental consent for minors, vaccination records, or proof of accommodation during the stay.

Prescriptions and medications

When traveling with medications, it is important to research the regulations of your destination country. While some medicines may be allowed with a doctor’s note, others are strictly prohibited. The International Narcotics Control Board provides some guidance, but it is essential to verify the specific rules for each country on your travel route, including transit countries.

Some medications, like Sudafed, are considered controlled substances that are banned in certain countries, like Mexico. Violating these laws can have severe consequences. To ensure a smooth journey, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends checking with the embassies of each country to confirm that your medications are permitted. If you are taking restricted medications, especially life-sustaining, psychiatric, or psychotropic drugs, consult your doctor about alternative options or equivalent substitutions available in your destination country. This will help you avoid any potential issues and ensure your health and safety while traveling.

Large sums of cash or undeclared items

When traveling, especially in countries like the US, it is important to notify authorities if you are carrying large sums of money or valuables exceeding a certain threshold, typically around $10,000. This could include items like jewelry, expensive clothing, or electronics. In places like South Africa and Canada, completing declaration forms before your trip can help avoid potential fines and delays at the airport.

Flammable and explosive materials

Traveling with flammable or explosive items can lead to flight disruptions. Fireworks, including small sparklers, are strictly prohibited on airplanes due to safety concerns. Even friction during the flight can trigger their ignition, posing a risk to passengers and crew. In the US, violating these rules can result in civil penalties of up to $75,000 per offense, with potential criminal charges for those importing them for sale. What ever your reason for travelling, it is essential to refrain from carrying any items intended for ignition.

Unreported plants, pets or exotic animals

Transporting living organisms across borders, including plants, pets, and animals, is subject to strict regulations. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) advises travelers to check the Don’t Pack a Pest website for plant-related declarations. The US Fish and Wildlife Service provides guidance on avoiding prohibited live animals and products. Regulations vary by airline and country; for instance, Jamaica restricts certain dog breeds. Transporting exotic animals may require specialized pet transporters to ensure compliance with vaccination and quarantine measures. Check with your airline and embassy for the latest guidelines.

Unsettled legal matters

Legal matters left unresolved can disrupt your travel plans, as airport authorities worldwide have access to databases containing information on individuals with criminal records or outstanding warrants.For instance, individuals with unpaid fines attempting to enter or leave New Zealand may face interception by police at the airport, according to the Ministry of Justice website. Similarly, in the US, those owing over $2,500 in child support are ineligible for a US passport.

Ensure compliance with the law before embarking on air travel. If you have pending civil or criminal issues, consult legal counsel to confirm travel eligibility. Prioritize resolving any warrants or fines before your flight, and carry documentation of resolution to prevent potential airport complications.

Traveling while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs

If ground or cabin crew suspect you have had too much to drink and pose a risk to yourself and others, it could lead to delays. Keep in mind that alcohol consumption is prohibited in certain countries. Being under the influence or carrying alcohol in luggage can lead to detention or imprisonment.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has berated opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly over its perceived silence on the controversial cybersecurity levy.

Naija News reports that on May 6, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed banks and other financial institutions to implement a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on electronic transfers.

Many Nigerians and groups have expressed their dissatisfaction, highlighting that banking transactions are becoming increasingly costly due to numerous charges.

Speaking on the the situation during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the TUC President, Festus Usifo, questioned the silence of the opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly.

He lamented that the lawmakers have refused to take a stance on the situation.

Usifo accused the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), of making life more difficult for the Nigerian people.

He said, “Where are the opposition parties in the National Assembly? Where are the PDP, Labour Party, and NNPP members?”

“Even if the ruling party today wants to suffocate Nigerians and the opposition, you hear nothing from them. It is really that bad. This kind of attitude where we don’t see bills like this in the newspapers that there is going to be public hearings, and we don’t hear any advertisement on major television channels that there is going to be a public hearing. What are they doing with the budget of the National Assembly?”

According to him, the organised labour was not carried along by the lawmakers in the passage of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (Amendment) Act 2024.

[NaijaNews]

Which one of you started this new campaign of ‘women enslaving men’ again? I have been seeing the articles on different platforms about how women have a playbook on how they will make men become their slaves. And their text is taken from a book called The Manipulated Man written by Esther Vilar in 1971. Yes 1971. Originally written in German and later translated to English. Guys, are we still on this matter? Why are you like this, seriously? 

How are we enslaving you and why do you need a 53 year-old book as reference in the year of our Lord 2024? 

Come on, it is your world and you have run things the way you designed them for centuries.  These are things you have enjoyed tremendously and rubbed women’s faces in. You wanted us in the kitchen, we stayed there.  You wanted us in za ozza room, we stayed there.  You wanted us to be seen and not heard, we obeyed. You wanted many wives and concubines, we bore it all. Did women stop men from doing anything? What exactly are we being blamed for, please?

There is a way men want the world to work and that is the way they have skewed it since the Garden of Eden. They have socialized us poor girls to accept a certain way and we have accepted our lot over the year. For centuries, we have been blamed for everything from how Adam ate the forbidden fruit and why it is Eve’s fault. There is also the unsaid implied thought behind that saying: “behind a successful man is a woman”. Is someone saying Adam had no free will, something that God installed in every human male and female? Adam could have turned down Eve’s offer and gone to the other side of the garden. But nope, he gobbled down the apple, probably stepped it down with very cold water and then blamed Eve for his pleasure.

Why do you guys blame us for your pleasure? Why? You made love to a woman very deeply and passionately for 12 straight months, refusing to wear condom each time, and then it’s the woman’s fault that she’s pregnant. 

A modern man in this age and tech century fills a woman up with millions of his seeds for 52 weeks and then announces like a dumdum: “I’m not ready to be a Father”. “You want to trap me with this pregnancy.”

What did the ‘efulefu’ think he was doing when he was pumping the chick up? Did he think you can delete sperm like you can delete your WhatsApp storage when the phone announces it is dangerously low on space?

Mean men and their pumping skills that they crown with shameless irresponsibility, isn’t that how  they filled the world with single mothers? Please who is enslaving who here? The man who wants skin-to-skin, unhindered access to the woman’s womb but refuses to accept the fruits of his labour when they germinate? Who is the slave? The man who moves on to the next open womb or the depressed woman who has to face the shit and shame of being an unwed mother?

Let’s look at the unsuccessful man and what is behind him. He has a university degree. His wife has one too. They both lose their jobs. She goes to learn cake-making and how to tie gele. He continues to apply for a Nine-to-Five job. She tells him to go learn photography. His eye almost pops out of his socket. His veins threatened to pop. How can you? She faces her new hustles and add event planning. Soon, she has a staff of 10 plus a personal assistant to monitor her commitments. She invites her husband to join in the business. He accuses her of wanting to turn him into her apprentice. Ten years later, she has a clentele list that has First Ladies and blue-chip companies and Oga is still a struggling nine-to-five manager. 

‘She has used his head.’

‘She did not help him.’

‘See what she wears and see the car he drives.’

It’s her fault again. She’s the woman behind the unsuccessful man. Men, why are you like this? She’s now picking bills a man should and would prefer to pick, making her the slave. Yes, yet, we are the ones manipulating you. Please, what’s the colour of your problem?

I just finished reading a story of how men do and undo themselves. Two children had decided to take their mother to a shopping mall in Ibadan on her birthday. Nice kids just wanted to do something for their mother. 

Imagine their shock and pain when they saw their father in the food court buying a meal for another woman on his wife’s birthday? Thank God for level-headed girls. They took their mother elsewhere. Of course, the he-goat Daddy has ruined their mum’s birthday. Would it have killed the man if he had given the wife a treat on her birthday and postpone the side-chick’s outing till the following day? No. He had to hurt her. Do you know any woman who will forget that slight? And what did my friend, Dr. Lasisi Olagunju have to say in defence of his fellow man? He said women like to monitor their husbands like monitoring spirits! I’m yet to recover from his mischievous logic. Anyways, let’s fast forward to 15 years from now. Picture those children in Canada with their mother. They decide to keep her with them so they could take care of her hypertension. 

Daddy of side-chick fame is now in his 70, dodging Okada and goats while he tries to cross the road to buy ‘Ewa Aganyin’. His girlfriend has moved on, he now lives alone. Someone like my friend, Dr. Laz will accuse the children of being mean and their mother of witchcraft.

‘Those children he trained have now abandoned him.’

‘Only his wife is enjoying the fruits of his labour. ‘

So unfair, they want the man to die alone’

Someone rescue me. E gbami o. Did Daddy not know that there’s more to Daddyhood than paying school fees, assuming he actually paid and paid in full? Did nobody tell Daddy that the children were taking judicial notice of how he was maltreating their mother?  Did Daddy Wa not read what I wrote about ‘Amen Junction’ and how men always have the consequences of their actions waiting for them later in life?

Guys, my point is, do not turn things on their heads. Stop quoting from books to manipulate facts. What you buy is what you get. You said you wanted a man’s world, women agreed and all we are doing is living in it with you. Where then is the slavery there?

Emergency healthcare in Nigeria faces critical challenges due to inadequate infrastructure, limited ambulance availability, and a missing emergency fund of N26.3 billion, impacting frontline hospitals’ ability to provide essential care.

LEADERSHIP checks reveal that a N26.3 billion fund for medical emergency care cannot be tapped by most frontline hospitals confronted with patients who need it the most.

The fund, the equivalent of five percent of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), is missing in action years after the National Health Act established it to cover essential medical services during emergencies.

Between 2020 and 2024, N526.9 billion was approved for the BHCPF, five per cent of which is over N26.3 billion.

This is as the cost of treating emergency cases in Nigeria has accrued to N200 billion in the past 10 years, even as the Nigerian private medical practitioners have called on the government to release the 2.5 per cent of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) for emergency medical treatment.

Emergency incidents, no doubt, present a huge medical burden on the healthcare system in Nigeria. According to a 2019 Emergency Response Africa (ERA) survey, three out of four Nigerians had experienced at least one medical emergency in the last five years, with over a quarter of Nigerians having more than four emergencies.

Medical conditions (acute and chronic) and road traffic accidents contributed significantly to the number of emergencies. For instance, a total number of road traffic crashes in Q4 2022 was 3,617, indicating an increase of 6.01 per cent from the previous quarter which recorded 3,412 and a 6.16 per cent rise from 3,407 in Q4 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed.

Statista report revealed that over 11,800 road traffic accidents were reported in Nigeria between October and December of 2021; of those, approximately 10,200 were injuries and about 1,700 were registered deaths.

A study titled: “Mortality patterns in the accident and emergency department of an urban hospital in Nigeria”, averred that some of the deaths occurred within six hours of arrival at the emergency department of a major urban hospital in Nigeria.

To reverse this trend, the former president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari launched the BHCPF appropriated by the National Assembly for the first time in the 2018 budget since the National Health Act (NHAct) was enacted in 2014.

In accordance with the NHAct 2014, the BHCPF is derived from an annual grant from the federal government of Nigeria of not less than one percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF); grants by international donor partners and funds from any other source, inclusive of the private sector.

The NHAct sets out the important drivers to guide disbursement of the BHCPF. These “Payment Gateways” are in three-fold and the Act states that 50 per cent (one half) of the Fund shall be disbursed through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and deployed towards the provision of the Basic Minimum Package Health Scheme (BMPHS) in eligible primary or secondary health care facilities.

Forty-five per cent of the Fund is meant to be disbursed through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and deployed to strengthening Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in eligible PHC facilities for the provision of essential drugs, vaccines and consumables; provision and maintenance of facilities, equipment and transport; and development of human resources: 2.5 per cent shall be disbursed through a committee appointed by the National Council on Health (NCH) and deployed towards emergency medical treatment and 2.5 per cent goes to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).

Current contributions into the basket fund of the BHCPF includes N88,993,570,146.91of which N59,203,966,455.42 has been disbursed to states as at June 2022, (with balance of N30,120,321,166.18), according to document obtained by LEADERSHIP Weekend.

National president, Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners (ANPMP) Dr. Kayode Adesola told LEADERSHIP Weekend that section 20(1) of the NHAct (2014) provides that “a health care provider, health worker or health establishment shall not refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason.

“Since 2014, we, the private medical practitioners, have been treating emergency cases, as stipulated by the law, without being paid a dime. From our calculation, the cost of treating emergency cases across the over 11,000 private health facilities in Nigeria, has surpassed N200 billion from 2014 till date,” Adesola revealed.

Speaking on the efforts to recoup their money, the national president said, “We know that 2.5 per cent of the BHCPF is meant for emergency medical treatment. We have confronted the National Assembly appealing to them to investigate where the money is. Private hospitals across Nigeria are receiving emergency cases, without being paid. Anybody can be a victim of any form of emergency.”

If government refuses to pay the money, Adesola posited that they will not continue this charity care forever, as they set up their clinics to make money, adding that it does not make sense if government decided to enforce the penalty for not adhering to section 20(1) of the NHAct (2014).

He called on Nigerians to appeal to the government to release the fund. “We need the senate to help us look for that money. Any of us can be a victim,” Adesola affirmed.

Country director, PharmAccess Nigeria, Njide Ndili, told LEADERSHIP Weekend at the sideline of the 2024 Medic West Africa Conference, that a lot of Nigerians are being turned away, adding that, “When you get to the hospital, in an emergency, you may be turned away. The first thing they will ask you is who is going to pay. The private hospitals don’t want to admit that, that is why they are turning people away, because they provide services and at the end of the day, nobody pays for the treatment. We need to find the 2.5 per cent of the PHCPF. Government needs to provide that fund for private hospitals to be able to fully enforce the NHAct 2024.”

The medical director, Head of Emergency Care, R-Jolad Hospital, Dr. Abiola Fasina Ayoola, explained that most of the public health engagements are focused on malaria, HIV and achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). However, there is need to flesh out these engagements/discussions in terms of incorporating emergency, critical and operative care, she said, adding that, “We don’t give attention to acute emergency care, yet, trauma and emergency affect almost all Nigerians, surpassing malaria, TB and HIV combined.

“For instance, road accident kills more Nigerians than anything. R-Jolad is right on the highway and we are getting young victims all the time. We are spending like N7 million in a month, with zero chance of recouping these funds. While we try to treat as many survivors that come to the hospital, we should not forget that we established the hospital to make money. We can’t give charity care 100 per cent all the time. We cannot continue this charity care for ever, without some sort of financing mechanism. To achieve equity in emergency care services, we must tackle the issue of healthcare financing. Someone has to foot the emergency bill,” she asserted.

The deputy chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Sen. Samaila Kaila, affirmed that the health system in Nigeria is not working and as such, one should not expect a component of the system to work.

Speaking on the emergency fund, Kaila said that National Council on Health approved a committee in the ministry of health, headed by a director to administer the fund.

On the need to formulate a law to improve emergency funding, Kaila stated that there are only two medical personnel in the Senate Committee on Health, adding that it is not easy to convince the rest of the committee members when it comes to critical matters like this. He therefore called on Nigerians to take the issue of politics seriously. “If we really want to change the way we are doing things, we have to get the right people to man critical positions,” he stated.

The chief medical director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Emem Bassey, further affirmed that the 2.5 per cent for emergency treatment is with the Ministry of Health. “Sadly, the money is what is being used for the national emergency medical service and ambulance system. That is where your 2.5 per cent is. So, I am afraid it may not be given to private medical practitioners, unless they fight for it,” he stated.

[Leadership]