National

By Muhammad Sabiu

The Magistrate Court in Bauchi has granted bail to the prominent Islamic scholar, Sheikh Idris Abdul’aziz Dutsen Tanshi.
 
The court ruled on Tuesday on the request for bail requested by the lawyers of the cleric after he was arraigned.
 
On Monday, the police brought Sheikh Idris Dutsen Tanshi before the High Magistrate Court, where they charged him with incitement.
 
Dutsen Tanshi, whose lawyers told the court that the crime the cleric is accused of committing will not prevent him from being granted bail, denied all the allegations against him.
 
The judge then set today Tuesday as the day he would rule on their request and he did.
 
Recall that a religious organisation called Fityanul Islam filed a complaint against him, accusing him of uttering bad words against the Prophet Muhammad.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to reward Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State with a juicy post for his enormous contribution towards the attainment of Tinubu’s success in the 2023 presidential elections.

MURIC made this passionate plea on behalf of El-Rufa’i in a statement by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Monday.

Akintola stated that MURIC deemed it germane to remind Tinubu of the need to pay debts owed and appreciate those who made his current status a fait accompli. 

According to him, this is important in order to start sowing the seed of success for the incoming administration as well as to secure a strong foothold for 2027.

He further stated that El-Rufa’i should reap the rewards for standing between those in the corridor of power and their inglorious choices. 

The statement read, “As the days inch closer to the inauguration of the new administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Nigerian political spectrum has been inundated with power struggle intrigues and post allocation schemes. 

“This is not new to us since we know that failure is an orphan, but winners are always surrounded by all and sundry.

“However, we deem it germane to remind the President-Elect of the need to pay debts owed and appreciate those who made his current status a fait accompli. This is important in order to start sowing the seed of success for the incoming administration as well as to secure a strong foothold for 2027.

“Gratitude is a major characteristic of a good Muslim. Allah says in the Glorious Qur’an, “If you are grateful, I will increase my favours on you…” (Qur’an 14:7). If the President-Elect shows appreciation to the ‘Noble Dozen’ from the North, he will enjoy more of their solidarity.

“It is noteworthy that the ‘Noble Dozen’ (i.e. the twelve governors who insisted that power must shift to the South) was led by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State. There is no Nigerian who is unaware of the unique support and unequalled solidarity given by this Northern group to the President-Elect. El-Rufai, in particular, left his palatial office in Kaduna to spend days in Abuja.

“His contribution to our victory, the victory of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, is unquantifiable. He became the mouthpiece of the Muslim-Muslim ticket camp, moving from one media house to another. We must not allow all these to go in vain.

“In particular, we must remember the risk El-Rufai took as he stood between those in the corridor of power and their inglorious choices. We must not forget his bold confrontation of the central bank governor over the latter’s misguided, ill-fated and accursed naira discolouring.  

“It will beat all imaginations and expectations, particularly among Muslims if El-Rufai is not considered for a juicy post in the cabinet of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We have played national politics the way it should be played. But now is the time to be focused. Choice positions should not be allowed to go to political charlatans, fairweather friends, hypocrites and parasites. El-Rufai is a different cup of tea. He is tested and trusted. He is the icon of Northern dignity.

“To the President-Elect, we have this to say: guard very jealously the good relationship and the alliance between the North and the South West. It is a union steeped in historicity. Compensate the North for its dignity and integrity without being unfair to the rest of the country. 

“We bequeath you the burden of Nigeria. Your road will be rough, no doubt about that, but with prayers and your well-known administrative acumen and political sagacity, Almighty Allah will clear the bumps and roadblocks for you,” the statement added.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has proposed a 20 to 50 years development plan to help address the menacing underdevelopment issue in Nigeria.

Bisi Akande, Pioneer National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), disclosed this on Sunday in a public lecture in Ondo.

Akande, who is also a former governor of Osun State, lamented that the failure of successive governments to have a development plan for critical sectors of the economy is responsible for the country’s underdevelopment.

He stated, “We fail to plan and, yet, we are surprised that we fail in almost all sectors as we are all lapsing into generations of plan-less hypocrites.

“I can assure you that was not what we inherited. In this same country, we used to have five years capital development plans and seven years capital development plans. Now we only plan for the immediate next election.

“We thank God that this time around; Nigerians have elected a leader who has planned for a long time to be our President.

“Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a well-known person to Baba Fasoranti, and he is also an inheritor of the Awoist legacy of planning and integrity.

“Therefore, it is right and necessary to expect a 20 or 50 years master plan for Nigeria from President Tinubu which would transform this blessed country into a great one,” Akande added.

By Lawal Dahiru Mamman

Brain drain in Nigeria has lingered for some time now. In the medical profession, it is the most dominant issue occupying the mind of physicians and other health personnel. This may not be unconnected to the fact that human life is sacrosanct.

It goes without saying that the incessant brain drain of medical personnel in Nigeria will slow the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), that all people have access to the full range of quality health services, they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship, in this part of the world.

Mainly, the mass exodus of doctors out of the country is caused by poor welfare of medical practitioners, lack of or insufficient working equipment, and poor working environment leading to the need for seeking a more sumptuous alternative – greener pasture as it is called.

This is purely a reflection of the theory which argued that “…… if wages rose above subsistence, the number of workers would increase ….” By implication, wherever our medical brains are sprinting to have a more luscious wage or salary for the profession. This would increase the country’s workforce while wearing out our dear nation.

Discussions have sprung over time on how to salvage the situation. Experts have suggested an increment in the welfare of doctors. In contrast, others have voted for ending medical tourism, especially public officeholders, to enable them to pay more attention to funding health facilities at home.

The most recent attempt to curb the mortal exodus of medical practitioners is to shackle them with the power of the law. This is through a bill sponsored by Ganiyu Johnson, a lawmaker from Lagos. The bill seeks to amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 2004 to address the brain drain in the health sector. According to the lawmaker, it is only fair for medical doctors who enjoy taxpayer subsidies on their training to give back to society.

The legislation is titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act, Cap. M379, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to Mandate Any Nigeria Trained Medical or Dental Practitioner to Practice in Nigeria for a Minimum of Five Years Before being Granted a Full License by the Council to Make Quality Health Services Available to Nigeria; and for Related Matters.’

While the above is more restricted to medical and dental practitioners, the same lawmaker said on Friday, April 14, 2023, that he would be presenting a similar bill on nurses and pharmacists; when he intends to do that, time will tell.

With different medical associations reacting in negation by stating that the bill has the propensity to trample on the rights of doctors, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said the bill is in order especially looking at the fees paid by the government to subsidise their training at universities, and the service which they render before travelling overseas. However, the minister said the service does not make up for the cost of training.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has said the bill will not see the light of the day because it impedes the constitutional right to freedom of movement of doctors and violates international labour law, chiefly since the government has subsidised students from all other professions.

The Nigerian Medical Students Association (NiMSA) and the World Medical Association (WMA) have vehemently disapproved of it, too, because the bill, according to the latter, is “not only outlandish but totally retrogressive, unresearched and very ill-informed.”

The bill that intends to give health workers full license only after five years of working in Nigeria has passed the second reading in the House of Representatives. While this may have come out of benevolence, it may not be the piece we search for to solve the puzzle of brain drain in the health sector.

If the bill sees the light of day, after five years, doctors will still have the freedom to travel out, in my opinion even more experienced. So, could this be the solution we yawn for? Instead, a more lasting solution should involve doctors and government officials meeting halfway to save Nigeria’s crumbling health sector.

I want to firmly believe that Nigeria has what it takes to cultivate the soil for growing ‘greener pasture’ our medical professionals continue to voyage foreign lands for. But only leaders fuelled with altruism can summon the political will to do the needful.

Lawal Dahiru Mamman writes from Abuja and can be reached via dahirulawal90@gmail.com.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 
 
President Muhammadu Buhari asked the Senate on Wednesday to approve a $800 million loan to fund the National Social Safety Network Programme.
 
During the Senate’s Wednesday plenary session, Ahmed Lawan, who is the President of the Senate, read a letter from Buhari that contained the request.
 
The money, according to the President, will be distributed to 10.2 million low-income and destitute households for a period of six months, with a predicted multiplier effect of 60 million people.
 
To ensure proper implementation, the president therefore asked the lawmakers to take action quickly.

By Uzair Adam Imam

There was a gun battle between the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and drug traffickers in Lagos that lasted for about thirty minutes on Thursday.

The NDLEA spokesperson, Mr Femi Babafemi, stated this in a statement he issued to journalists on Sunday.

Babafemi added that acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives had laid an ambush on the traffickers along the Eleko Beach road in Lekki and at 4:51 am on Thursday.

He further stated that two long trucks conveying the illicit consignments were flagged down, but rather than stopped, the trucks escorted by armed men sped off, as a result of which there was an exchange of gunfire that lasted 30 minutes

He stated that “After they were overpowered by the NDLEA operatives, the truck drivers and their armed escorts escaped into the bush, abandoning the trucks and the drug consignments.

“While one of the trucks painted red has 149 jumbo bags weighing 6,548kgs, the second one with blue colour has 53 big bags with a weight of 2,304kgd, bringing the total number of bags to 202 and gross weight of both to 8,852kgs.

“Meanwhile, operatives are already on the trail of the drug lord who shipped the illicit consignment into the country,” Babafemi said.

By Ibrahim Uba Yusuf

The Centre for Media, Policy and Accountability (CMPA) has continued its advocacy to seek collaboration with sister agencies on the successful implementation of the Nigeria Anti-Corruption Performance Public Reporting (NAPPR) project. 

The Executive Director of the Centre and project lead, Dr Suleiman Amu Suleiman, who led the project team to Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch, explained that the project has four components: research, advocacy, training and developing a harmonised template for anti-corruption reporting.

He lamented the differences in the pattern of reporting corruption by Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACAs) as a result of the different indicators used and hope that the project will fill this gap by developing a harmonized template that the ACAs will use in reporting corruption in Nigeria.

Also speaking, the Deputy Project Manager, Naziru Mikailu, said at the onset of the project, ‘the Centre faced difficulties in convincing the ACAs to key into this project’. 

‘We hope that the Centre will help us in the implementation of this project and development of the template in view of your field experiences’, Naziru noted.

The Executive Director Center for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch, Mallam Umar, described the NAPPR project as brilliant which will give civil society organizations, the media and members of the public an opportunity to check those who check others. 

‘We will support CMPA Implement this project’, Umar assures.

Also speaking, Chairman of the Centre Abdulrahman A. Mustapha expressed the hope that the template, when developed, will give the required result of unifying various variables of measuring corruption which will facilitate development.

‘The centre is ready to provide CMPA with all the technical support needed to ensure that the template is accepted by the ACAs in Nigeria’, he added. 

By Ishaka Mohammed

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has announced an online test for recruitment to its superintendent cadre, including professional and general duties. 

According to the statement by the agency’s director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the recruitment test will be held between May 8 and 10, 2023 (Monday and Wednesday).

The statement further urges those with successful applications for the superintendent cadre to start checking their email inbox and spam folder from Wednesday, May 3, for notification and further instructions.

The agency has also scheduled a Twitter space for Friday, May 5, between 3 and 5 p.m. to guide applicants on the online test. The session will also be “streamed live on our Facebook, YouTube and Instagram accounts”, part of the statement reads.

Applicants can also make enquiries by visiting www.ndlea.gov.ng or the following social media handles: @NDLEA01 on Facebook and @ndlea_nigeria on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Recall that the recruitment applications were submitted between March 12 and April 17, 2023.

Ibrahim Mukhtar and Dubai Ado

The fierce war between the Sudanese soldiers and some rebels has already scattered and shattered the country, and now almost all of the foreigners staying in Sudan have looked for their ways out of the war-torn country.

Many countries, as reported, have already evacuated their citizens, but Nigerians have been stranded for nearly a week. However, an evacuation effort has already started since yesterday, were most of the stranded Nigerian students are now on their way back to Nigeria.

According to Hamid Alhassan, one of the popular Nigerian students in Sudan who kept on calling the attention of the authorities concerned about the situation on the ground, he confirmed that buses were provided for the Nigerian students to be taken out of the war zone. He posted that “We are now in Atbara, 6hrs and 287km away from Khartoum. We still have another 7hrs and 492km to go to Port Sudan, the final extraction point.

TDR confirmed that Hamid has been reporting the development right from the beginning through live streaming and telling the Nigerian authorities and the whole world about the situation. Sometimes heavy gunfire from the anti-aircraft gun was heard while he was explaining the situation on the ground. According to him, the Nigerian students suffered traumatic experiences during their waiting period while all other nationals were evacuated.

Another student who sent viral videos online, Fauziyya, also sent another video praising the Nigerian government and thanking all those who have shared their stories with the world. She said that they are now very happy and are about to return to Nigeria. She also appealed to all to continue for their safe return to Nigeria as they are right now on their way.

initially, there were reports of some corrupt practices and dubious transactions which were said to have crept in between the Nigerian embassy in Sudan, the bus drivers and the neglect by the Nigerian authorities on the evacuation. However, the students are now confirmed to be out of Khartoum, and they will hopefully reach Nigeria on Monday.

By Umar Ardo, PhD

Again, having won this hard earned victory against all odds, it is critical for the sake of the country that the regime succeeds. And this success is largely dependent on four key elements; 1. The sincerity of purpose and commitment of the president in carrying out the functions of the office he contested for and which Nigerians entrusted him with; 2. Coordinated consultations and taking of advice; 3. Careful consideration of those to be appointed into key offices of government, i.e. ministers, advisers, chief executives, etc.; and 4. Learning to avoid mistakes of predecessors.

Given the underlining nationwide political variables of his coming to power, these four elements will essentially be the bedrock of determining the success or otherwise of his administration. The first point is actually an issue of intention, which entirely rests on the personal disposition of the President-elect. Once he is sincere in his intentions towards the nation in the use of state power then the rest is easy. All that will be required is to bring his noble intentions to bear in the exercise of the state power now in his control.

The second point rests on the familiar standard of the universal norm of leading through consultations and advice, which are foundational elements of successful leadership.

This third point is the institutional offices of Ministers and Special Advisers, with their functions, which are vital in the due discharge of governance. Those appointed to these offices constitute the first line of official teams for advice and execution of public policies. The success or failure of his regime rests as much on his ability as a leader as on the competence or otherwise of his ministers and advisers. This point needs further explanation.

In underscoring the point, the 1999 Constitution of our country (as amended) creates at the federal level the Council of Ministers and offices of Special Advisers for the good purpose of executing the powers and functions due to the Office of the President. This invariably means that the stability and good governance of the country are dependent on the sound character, right practice and good judgment of the President; while the well-being and quality judgment of the President depend on the knowledge, skill and honesty of his official advisers. Blessed therefore, is the President with truthful, knowledgeable, intelligent and right-doing advisers. Advising a leader, therefore, is an onerous task that necessarily requires very special proficiency to perform.

Great political thinkers agreed that ministers and advisers need five basic attributes, if their works are to be fruitful and satisfactory; i. Wisdom, whereby they will perceive clearly the outcome of everything into which the Principal may enter; ii. Knowledge, where by implications of actions of the Principal will be open to them; iii. Courage, to act as and when appropriate on the Principal; iv. Honesty, so that they will treat all things and men truthfully without exception; and v. Discipline, to keep official secrets as secret at all times. If the President is able to appoint suitable men, then he is most likely going to succeed, for “a good minister/adviser is like the ornament of the King”; but if he is unable and appoints unsuitable men, then his regime is most likely going to fail. Aristotle, that great Greekphilosopher, said that when a ‘king’ has an unsuitable [ignorant] minister/adviser, his reign will be like a cloud which passes on without dropping rain.

Instructively, in our presidential system of government, all ministers/advisers are solely appointed by the President. This means that the quality of advice and execution of public policy are also solely dependent on the kind of ministers/advisers the President-elect assembles to himself. In appointing ministers/advisers, the president’s skill or lack of it to distinguish the great disparity that exists between men who are suitable and men who are not, in itself can decide the ultimate destiny of his regime. The President-elect may well need to heed to Aristotle’s admonition; “good advisers are needed to help the King spare his reign”. The fourth point is to learn from past historical trends, especially the mistakes of his predecessors and avoid them all. I will expatiate few examples on this point.

First, is the inauguration of the National Assembly (NASS). The President-elect needs the NASS

on his side to perform optimally. To this end, the President-elect should avoid the mistakes of his predecessor and personally inaugurate the NASS so as to create an interpersonal relationship with members. This would not only forestall the crises which the Buhari’s presidency faced with the NASS in its first term, it would instead create a strong bond of goodwill and confidence-building between the two arms of government, thereby earning the executive full cooperation of the legislature. He will be able to also influence the type of leadership he needs in the legislative houses.

Second, unlike his predecessor, he must compose his governing team quickly. It is important to carefully and decisively take charge of all the levers of state power and immediately create effective authority to drive government policy thrusts, create a good first impression of the President’s leadership style, trigger people’s confidence in his government’s policy initiatives, and substantially muster public faith in his personal capacity to provide effective leadership to the country.

Third, in resolving the intractable debilitating problems of the country, especially the security issues, the President-elect should also avoid the mistakes of his predecessor. For example, in deciding the policy thrusts of his administration, he initiates the appropriate wide range consultations with necessary stakeholders; thereby appreciating the fact that the problem is more of a sociopolitical than a military one. It is therefore advisable that before the President- elect takes any decision and makes any pronouncements on any critical issue, wide ranging coordinated consultations are made with critical stakeholders so as to arrive at the best form and method of handling the issue at hand.

These consultations are important on two aspects – first, they will help formulate alternative devises that are locally initiated, people-owned, people-friendly and practically effective in the resolution of the issue at hand; second, it will be politically beneficial to the President-elect because he will be seen to be carrying the people along in his policy formulation and implementation processes. This way the people will feel part of it and therefore support it. But failure to do so will alienate the people and distance them from such policy initiatives, thus further create a poor impression of government’s policy directives with its debilitating loss of peoples’ confidence in the president’s method of governance; leading to policy implementation failure.

Fourth, is recognition and careful consideration of those who contributed to the success of the president, especially the competent and qualified amongst them. The biggest political problem of President Buhari is the outright neglect of those who contributed to his political success. The President-elect must identify, recognize and patronize those who sincerely supported and contributed to his political aspirations. This way he will retain their support and be guaranteed of their loyalty. If these points are taken into account, it is my humble submission that the Tinubu regime will succeed where others have failed.