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Anxiety as CEO of suspected Ponzi scheme, Racksterli, liquidates company

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Anxiety as CEO of suspected Ponzi scheme, Racksterli, liquidates company

NIGERIANS involved in an online affiliate marketing platform known as Racksterli have continued to express fear and doubts over the legality and genuineness of the business venture.

Many are concerned about the possibility of getting their returns on investments (ROI)  and their capital, following the decision of the chief executive officer Michael Oti to liquidate the company.

“…Even though we have glitches, nothing must happen to your capital. In order to do that (return the money), in addition to the available raw capital, we might need to start selling out some of our properties, or we start liquidating our properties to raise more funds to add to the funds we have. But we are not going to wait for that. We will start with the available funds,” he said in a viral video.

In another video found on one of the communication channels of the platform, Oti disclosed that he had stopped further registration of new investors. Described as an honourable decision, he said it was to maintain a good reputation and offset outstanding ROI.

“We were faced with an option to either continue functioning, keep some people to pay the price, but if we had continued, it would have simply been at some peoples’ expense. So we decided to take the tougher decision, which is to honourably stop registrations,” he stated in another 13: 31-second video.

On March 28, the organisation claimed it had commenced repayment, but few individuals who made comments on the post still expressed their disappointments, while others commended him for addressing the subscribers.

Racksterli CEO, Michael Oti  Source:www.browse.ng

On March 4, it became a trending issue on social media. Chris Ani, @iamchrisani was among those who shared worries about the scheme, describing it as a ‘full branded scam and Ponzi.’

In his opinion, Nigerians involved in the venture should have learned from similar mouth-watery Ponzi schemes which crashed in recent years. This was after some Nigerians had invested a huge sum in the schemes. The MMM is such a good instance.

“Hi, racksterli, I ought to withdraw last week Thursday, but my dashboard is showing me a different date,”  a former student of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, Ochaizy Ochai said, expressing his concerns on the platform’s social media account.

Mary Uduak, SEC DG
Source: ThisDay

Another subscriber, identified as Michael, a Lagosian, said he was yet to collect his money.

Khaled, who lives at Ifako-Ijaiye, also in Lagos State, was displeased he could not access the investment platform.

“Hello, I have tried everything, but it’s not working. There was a time I successfully submitted my details but when I tried to log in, it says invalid details. I must have tried over 30 times now,” Khaled stated. Other concerned subscribers were Mercy John, Edochie Princewill, Peter Oghenero, Okunola Abbey.

Checks by The ICIR showed the last posts by Racksterli through the Racksfamilyofficial were on March 23, at about 1:18 pm. The posts were to respond to scores of concerns. “Kindly note that we would no longer be attending to complaints via any of our social media platforms rather than sending your complaints to the emails below related to your issues: racksothercomplaints@gmail.com, rackspaymentissues@gmail.com, and racksprofileissues@gmail.com.”

As such, the business platform has no known address or office.

Nevertheless, the Racksterli investment platform offers a similar service to an earlier Ponzi scheme called Racksterly.

Racksterly has since shut down, after which Racksterli came on board. They are clearly synonymous in pattern, and identity, except for the ‘i’, which replaces the ‘y’ in the earlier crashed scheme.

“Racksterly before now was doing the same thing and a whole lot of people also invested in it, but it crashed and packed people’s money away,” Victor Udochukwu posted on his social media.

“Racksterly crashed months ago and now this is a new racksterli.”

By March 8, the apprehension grew to its peak as some of the subscribers realised they could no longer access the firm’s web portal , denying them access to track their investments.

As of March 12, when The ICIR examined the websites, the web portal was still not active. There was confusion about whether the portal was still maintaining its original domain extension – .com or switched to .org.

On March 27, the reporter checked www.racksterli.org ,but rather than display service information of the purported investment company, a full blank website popped up with a simple tiny inscription, stating – welcome to me.

The other domain – www.racksterli.com, was checked, but the website remained inaccessible as of the time of this report. Yet, www.racksterli.com was used in its pinned tweet.

The ICIR also realised it was being promoted by David Adeleke, a notable Nigerian musician known as Davido. The promotional footage of Racksterli uploaded since last year December has garnered almost 4, 000 views as of date. This is despite using an invalid official website promoted in the 32-second video.

 

How it works

The Ponzi-like initiative offers its subscribers different packages, which include Standard, Diamond, Premium, Ruby, Platinum, Emerald, Gold up to Topaz. They are 11 in different packages.

For the Standard package, subscribers are encouraged to invest N14, 000 and they could earn about N722 daily, while ROI for the platform was pegged at N21,600 in 30 days. This is more than 154 percent profit in a month.

Premium package attracts ROI of N44,460 after N28,000 investment, with daily earnings of N1,482 per day. Once again, the ROI is above 100 percent.

The Platinum attracts N88,960 ROI, starting from N28, 000 investment. It attracts daily earnings of N2,964.

While the Golden package offers N177,840 ROI starting with N112,000 investment, daily earnings are 5,028. Also, the Diamond bundle provides ROI of N444,600 with investment starting at N280,000, indicating a daily earning of N14,820.

Ruby and Emerald attract some of the highest ROI after an investment offer of N560,000 and N1.12 million respectively.

The Ruby package has N848, 370 ROI, while Emerald attracts N1,690, 050 return. These further imply that subscribers of each package get daily earnings of N28,279 and N56, 335 after 30 days, respectively.

Other top packages include Pearl, Jasper, Sapphire, and Topaz. Investment for the Topaz package is N20 million. The company claimed that what was expected of subscribers was to share sponsored posts daily on their personal Facebook accounts through the Racksterli platform.

The firm claimed the accumulated funds were invested into real estate, forex trading, and sales of gadgets. While investments in real estate are considered one of the lucrative businesses to make good ROI, it can hardly be said of forex trading and sales of gadgets because these are unique business areas with relative risks.

Forex trading, though largely done by governments, institutions, and currency speculators, it involves trading in international currencies such as the euro, dollar, and these are also based on speculations – high risks.

According to US-based online trading academy, “when you go long on EUR/USD, for example, you are hoping that the value of the Euro will increase relative to the U.S. Dollar. As with any investment, you could guess wrong, and the trade could move against you. That’s the most obvious risk when trading the FX markets.”

Other possible risks included interest rate, liquidity risk, risk of ruin, exchange rate risk, country risk, among others.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has often expressed concerns on forex-related issues, especially purchases made through black markets.  It has also warned against several Ponzi schemes.

Besides, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also been at the forefront of urging Nigerians to guard against investments such as Racksterli. For instance, in 2019, a Ponzi scheme identified as Loom Money Nigeria emerged. It deployed similar social media technologies to amplify the venture, but SEC kicked against it due to its volatility.

At least four of the suspicious investment platforms were shut down by the commission in 2019, some of which included Money Rite, X-World, No Failure Development, and MGB Global.

By April 2020, 11 extra similar Ponzi schemes were discovered, with severe warnings from the commission to Nigerians on the need to be mindful of fraudulent investments.

However, despite the possibility of real estate producing high ROI, the sector has not performed well in recent times. In fact, for six consecutive quarters before the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020, the sector returned negative growth, showing that it was not growing.

The real estate sector returned to positive growth in Q4 of 2020, reporting 2.81 percent y/y  growth, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)

Scheme transits from racksterli to goldomc.com 

By March 13, Racksterli had switched to www.goldomc.com with 442,058 users. But findings revealed that as of March 27, the number of users on the website, which also displayed the name of the scheme – Racksterli- had reduced to 395, 019.

The website has no valid contact address except the social media – Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, and Facebook.

The ICIR attempted to contact Racksterli on official mobile lines on its website and social media accounts, but it was unsuccessful. Text message sent to the line was also not replied to.

 

Experts’ Position

Muda Yusuf Director General, Lagos Chamber of Comerce and Industry. Photo Credit: LinkedIn

An economist Muda Yusuf has warned against the business and was particular about the loss Nigerians could experience, citing instances of past Ponzi schemes.

Yusuf, who is also the director-general of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), recalled how SEC issued several warnings against similar business outfits. Because SEC plays an oversight role on investments, he advised Nigerians to steer clear of any investment venture unrecognised by the commission.

“It is the individual’s responsibility to do due diligence before investing. You may need to seek advice from financial market experts before investing your money in any venture. It is these financial experts that will determine if an investment is realistic or not,” Yusuf advised.

“Any company that is not registered by SEC can easily be fraudulent.”

A lawyer who shared his opinion on the issue Solomon Okedara said it would be inappropriate to literarily label the organisation as fraudulent. According to him, “on the face of it, it may look fraudulent, but it is an institution of government such as police or any other government authority that can investigate and say it is a fraudulent organisation.”

“There are businesses that run offices, yet they are fraudulent. But the very nature of their operations can be questioned by the people before investing in their activities. Do they have the expertise, structure and staff ?” he queried.

However, a business analyst Chidiebere Obasi noted that Nigerians must be wary of businesses that gave very high returns.

“Currently, returns in the economy are  very low, starting with fixed income to other markets. So, it is impossible for a company to promise you 50-100 percent ROI and keep it,” he said.

“Economic fundamentals do not support that. Let’s be careful and not fall victims. Always consult a financial expert if you are confused about an investment or want to invest.”

Head of corporate communications at SEC Efe Ebelo was contacted through a text message for reaction, but she did not respond to both the text message and calls put to her line.

Rising clean energy demand offers Nigeria opportunity to exploit gas resources – Buhari

Harrison EDEH
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Rising clean energy demand offers Nigeria opportunity to exploit gas resources – Buhari

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has said that rising global demand for cleaner energy sources has offered Nigeria an opportunity to exploit gas resources for the country’s good.

Buhari, who said this on Monday in Abuja at the official launch of ‘The decade of gas in Nigeria,’ explained that his administration had decided to confront the paradox of over-reliance on oil by declaring 2020 as a year of gas.

“Global developments have indeed presented us an opportunity. Gas will become the dominant fuel for generating power across the world and in Africa. The question now is: can we rise to the challenge?”

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The president emphasised that the current administration’s major objective was to transform Nigeria into an industrialised nation with gas, stressing that his government was committed to deepening gas value chain by reviewing and gazetting policies and regulations to enhance operations in the sector as contained in National Gas Policy 2017.

“Remarkable progress has been made to achieve this target through developing gas infrastructure, promoting domestic utilisation of LPG and CNG, commencing the process of commercialising gas flares, development of industrial transport gas markets and increasing gas to power.”

The president noted that the federal government had kickstarted other policies and projects, including the National Gas Expansion Programme, Autogas Policy and the contraction of the 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline.

He pointed out that Nigeria had enormous potential to diversify and uplift the economy, emphasising that its potential of about 600 trillion cubic feet of gas put it on the path to drive the economy through gas.

President Buhari further called for the collaboration of stakeholders in actualising government’s push for a gas-driven economy.

The president also noted that the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) had been the government’s arrowhead in reducing gas flaring in Nigeria, stressing that it had contributed $114 billion in revenues over the years.

“Nine billion dollars in taxes,$18bn in dividends to the federal government,$15 billion in feed gas purchase and all were achieved with 100 percent Nigerian management and 95 percent Nigerian workforce,” he noted.

Minister of state for petroleum resources Timipre Sylva said the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) would unlock market potential for Nigeria’s 203 billion tcf of gas reserves, assuring that the National Assembly had shown commitment passing the 13-year-old bill into law in April 2021.

Sylva, at the event, said the PIB was solution to the unending blame game that had surrounded the development of gas in Nigeria.


He said Nigeria had gone in the wrong direction in the oil business since the 1950s as a country but expressed optimism that a lasting solution was in sight with the PIB coming on board soon.

“As a country, we went in the wrong direction in oil business since the 1950s. But it is not too late. From what has been said, you know, as usual, we try to trade blames. Some would say it was from government side that the investors decided to focus on oil and where they found gas. They shut it in and decided to focus on oil. So, gas sector was not explored adequately. From the investors’ side, they will say the fiscal framework was not there to recoup their investment in the gas sector. From today, I will say that the solution to all these is in sight. The solution is PIB. The National Assembly has told us, and they have shown commitment that the PIB will be passed in April. And when the PIB is passed, those blame games will end,” he said.

 

My pastor told me she is a witch, woman narrates why she killed her mother in Ondo

Vincent Ufuoma
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My pastor told me she is a witch, woman narrates why she killed her mother in Ondo

A WOMAN identified as Blessing Jimoh in Ondo State has narrated how she killed her mother, Ijeoma Odo after she was told by her pastor that her mother was a witch responsible for her misfortune.

Blessing, who was paraded at the state police headquarters, Akure, on Monday, confessed that she killed her mother with a cutlass.

Punch newspaper reported that the 30-year-old mother of four from Enugu state allegedly committed the crime while she and the victim were working on a farm at Ile Oluji in the Ile Oluji Oke Igbo Local Government Area of the state.

She also claimed to have committed the act because her mother was allegedly responsible for her mental illness.

READ ALSO: Buhari’s Executive Order 06 is not political witch-hunt, says Lai Mohammed

“My pastor told me that my mother was a witch that she was the one behind my insanity,” she said.

“So, after appealing to her and there were no changes, I had to kill her. I cut her neck with a cutlass. It was like something was wrong with me that made me kill my mother. I am not happy with what I did.”

Speaking on the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Bolaji Salami, said the suspect would soon be charged after the investigation.

Experts canvass forest management, improved intelligence to curb banditry in Kaduna, others

Vincent Ufuoma
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Experts canvass forest management, improved intelligence to curb banditry in Kaduna, others

TO deal with and arrest the ugly menace of banditry in Kaduna State and other parts of the North-West, security experts have called for proper management of the nation’s forest reserves, most especially the ones in the troubled region.

They say various security agencies in the country must carry out their operations through enhanced and improved intelligence gathering.

Kaduna has, in recent times, become a major bandits’ hub in the region. Bandits appear to have left Zamfara, Kastina and Niger states for Kaduna, with series of attacks and kidnap cases in  Nasir El-Rufai’s state .

In this month alone, the criminals have launched several coordinated attacks against schools, public places and communities in the state, raising so many security concerns.

No fewer than nine persons were kidnapped by the criminals from the staff quarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the Kaduna Airport on March 6th. Those kidnapped included a family of six, and another housewife and her two children. Although the military engaged them in a gun duel for several hours, the bandits went away with their victims on motorcycles.

Three persons were killed on March 9th after bandits attacked the residents of Ganji village in  Igabi Local Government Area of the state, leaving about five persons with severe gun injuries.

On March 12th, more than 150 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Mando, Igabi Local Government Area of the state, were also kidnapped by bandits. Although some of them were rescued by security operatives, 39 of them are still being held in captivity for N500 million ransom.

In a similar vein, bandits stormed Government Science Secondary School, Ikara, Ikara local government area, in an attempt to kidnap students, but they failed after the students utilised the security warning system in place and alerted security forces.

While a failed attack was launched on a Turkish International Secondary School, another primary school in the Rema area of Kaduna State was also attacked.

Nine persons were equally shot dead by gunmen suspected to be bandits in separate attacks in Birnin Gwari and Giwa LGAs of Kaduna state on March 24th.

Commissioner for internal security and home affairs Samuel Aruwan, who confirmed the killings in a statement, said six persons were shot dead by the bandits after a barricade was mounted at Dogon Dawa-Kuyello road in Birnin Gwari LGA.

File photo: Malam Nasir El-Rufai is the governor of Kaduna State

He identified the deceased as Nura Rufai, Sanusi Gajere, Yakubu Labbo, Usman Dangiwa, Alhaji Abdulhamid, and Janaidu Tsalhatu.

Two others, Haruna Dotu and Hamisu Mohammad, were reportedly shot dead at Ungwan Maje in Birnin Gwari LGA.

He added that “armed bandits also attacked Kwama village in Giwa LGA and killed one Nasiru El-Rufai after he resisted their attempts to kidnap him.”

These renewed attacks have been attributed to the stance of Governor El-Rufai, who has publicly denounced the activities of the criminals. He has also vowed that he will not pay a dime of the state’s scarce resources to the criminals.

He warned that insecurity in the region would continue to escalate as long as the states refused to coordinate their policies in dealing with banditry.

El-Rufai, who spoke in an interview with BBC Hausa, said attempts were made at cooperation on tackling banditry among governors in the region, but it did not succeed because the governors adopted different policies in addressing the challenge.

Experts speak

Managing director of Agent-X Security Limited Timothy Avele said the escalating bandits’ attacks were a bargaining strategy. He argued that banditry and terrorism were political tools for achieving from the government what other methods could not achieve.

“In the end, as long as the security agencies and the military do not have any sustainable means to eliminate them, then the government will have only two options: negotiate with bandits (even secretly) or ‘we continue attacking and killing your people,” parts of interview with The ICIR read.

Avele expressed worry that the situation would get worse unless the government and the security agencies, especially the intelligence services, would come up with a new strategy to defeat the bandits and terrorists.

“For now, I am yet to see any of such a new tactical approach except the usual helicopter hovering and deployment of soldiers when there are new attacks,” he noted.

“Defeating bandits and terrorists is not as easy as many think. First, the political angle to it, many will read political meanings into it no matter the approach taken. Do not forget that banditry, militias and terrorists are all political means to get what other methods cannot get easily.

“However, to really end these bandits’ attacks, first, intelligence services must find and block access to the sophisticated weapons available to these non-state actors.”

He suggested that the Nigerian police should train and equip a specialised anti-banditry unit. This team, according to him, was not to be seen, but should always be in the forest for 24 hours of the week and could be monitored from a command and control centre. He added that the military could be used to support these team in joint covert operations.

He stressed that the state government should be responsible for logistics, team welfare and part or all of the equipment to be used.

“Communities and individuals who provide intelligence information must be rewarded and protected.

“The military and law-enforcement agencies must immediately start to recruit and train intelligence analysts if we are to expect any improvement in security generally in Nigeria.

“In security and intelligence, negotiations are not bad, but you must negotiate from the strongest position. Sadly, it is the bandits that have the upper hand in their current offensive.”

A retired senior officer of the Nigerian Air Force Sadeeq Shehu also agreed that the government at all levels must set up forest guards akin to the colonial eras to comb forests of criminal elements and protect economic resources.

He also called for both state and local police to address insecurity challenges in the country.

 

Exclusive: Collapsed doctor, Okorie, owed three months’ salary arrears

Marcus FATUNMOLE
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Exclusive: Collapsed doctor, Okorie, owed three months’ salary arrears

THE federal government owes the doctor who collapsed after working for 72 hours at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching  Hospital (UPTH) three months’ salary arrears, The ICIR has found.

Venatus Okorie is a houseman or house officer, meaning a doctor who is training while working in a hospital,  according to Encyclopedia. His January to March salaries have been withheld due to the feud between Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and chief medical directors (CMDs) of tertiary health institutions in Nigeria.

In an interview with The ICIR, Okorie said he had not been paid a dime as emolument since January 1, 2021 by the government.

Venatus Okorie at the UPTH
Venatus Okorie at the UPTH. He reportedly collapsed after working for uninterrupted 72 hours.
Source: Linda Ikeji

He told The ICIR that he spent two weeks at the hospital after collapsing in February, 2021. His relations bore the cost of his drugs while the hospital footed his medical bill during the treatment.

Asked why he had continued to work despite his  experience over the past weeks, Okorie said he had no choice.

“Do I have a choice? I have to keep working because I don’t have another work. Time is going. I cannot waste time anymore,” he said.

Okorie works for a minimum of 14 hours daily because the UPTH is understaffed. He is not entitled to any off-day throughout the one year period that his programme will run.

“Doctors don’t have number of working hours. We keep doing it as the work keeps coming. As you can see me now, I am in the hospital working,” he told our reporter.

Housemanship enables the interns to acquire more practical knowledge by working in hospitals and getting paid. The housemanship programme is required to enable the doctors to participate in the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. Experience garnered during the housemanship helps the practitioners to excel in places of their primary assignment.

Other doctors tell their stories

Apart from Okorie, Michael Brens is also having his housemanship at the UPTH. Unlike Okorie, he has been paid the three months’ arrears by the government, but still faces problems.

“It’s hectic. Going to work without being paid is something else. It’s strenuous,” he said while speaking with The ICIR in a telephone interview.

He said if the house officers refused to work because they were not paid, they would get punished.

Leadership of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) came to assist house officers at the hospital by giving them N30,000 each when things were very hard for them. According to Brens, house officers were supposed to work  for 12 hours per day for the whole year of their housemanship, but they often worked for more hours.

“We come to work by 8 ‘0 clock in the morning. We are supposed to close to 8 ‘0 clock in the evening, but because of shortage of manpower, we end up leaving by 10 ‘o clock or 11pm. That should be more than 13 or 14 hours. House officers don’t do off, we work for the whole day,” the doctor revealed.

Meanwhile,  a resident doctor at the UPTH Onyiye Elekwa claimed she was owed six months’ salaries.

“I have not been paid. None of the resident doctors in any centre has been paid this year, but house officers in some centres have been paid.

“I have worked for 10 months and I have earned for only four months.  Initially, we were supposed to be earning via the GIFMIS platform, but when we came in, the hospital was having some issues. They did not pay us for the first three months,” she said.

NARD reacts

President of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi told The ICIR that there were many house officers who had bitter experiences during the period.

He accused some heads of public tertiary hospitals of refusing to submit the list of interns in their facilities to the MDCN for vetting and onward transfer to appropriate authorities for payment of their emolument – an attitude he alleged spanned three months. NARD is an umbrella body of medical practitioners that cater to the welfare and other needs of the interns in Nigeria.

His allegation was confirmed to The ICIR by chairman of House Committee on Health Care Service Yusuf Sununu, who chaired the meeting of stakeholders where a directive on immediate payment for the interns was issued.

Hospitals that have paid the house officers

House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila had convened a meeting of stakeholders which eventually made some resolutions on the crisis. The meeting took place between Tuesday, March 9 and Wednesday, March 10, 2021, at the National Assembly Complex.  It was headed by Sununu.

A major resolution made at the meeting was immediate payment of the trainee doctors.

The list of the hospitals that have complied with the directive are: Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi; University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City; Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria; Federal Medical Center Lokoja, Kogi State; LUTH Idi Araba, Lagos State; and FMC Makurdi, Benue State.

Others are: National Hospital Abuja; FMC Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State; FMC Jabi, FCT; FMC Gombe;  FMC Bida; University of Port Harcourt, Teaching Hospital; FMC Asaba.

The list also includes: Jos University Teaching Hospital; FMC Gusau; Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano; University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital; FMC Ido Ekiti, Ekiti State; and Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua. List of all Federal Teaching Hospitals in Nigeria docx

Ministry of Health responds

Director of hospital services in the Federal Ministry of Health Adebimpe Adebiyi  responded to the claim of non-payment of house officers.

She said, “there has been much pressure on tertiary hospitals in the country and that many people are eager to work there. Where are the state hospitals? In some states, it is virtually the federal hospitals that are sustaining the health sector there. There is so much pressure that everybody wants to enter into the federal tertiary hospitals.”

Following the pressure, many of the hospitals employed people who were not captured on the IPPIS, Adebiyi said, adding that the doctors were eventually not paid because the platform on which hospitals could pay them had been suspended by the government.

The real issue

The ICIR had, on March 14, reported how rift between the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and chief medical directors of public tertiary hospitals in the country denied house officers undergoing housemanship programme at the hospitals of their three months’ salaries.

Investigation by The ICIR revealed that the house officers had been engaged and paid by the hospitals until recently when the federal government took over the posting and payment of the doctors to avert alleged abuse.

Government’s decision did not go down well with the CMDs who then refused to forward the list of the interns to MDCN for vetting and onward salary payment.

According to Okhuaihesuyi,  there was a shortage of house officers which he said stemmed from the feud between the MDCN and the CMDs.

The rift “is more like a rift between the chief medical directors and the MDCN. Because of that, they have not paid the house officers for over three months. We have written to federal ministries of health and labour, speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate president,” he said.

After parrying questions from our reporter during a telephone interview, MDCN registrar Tajudeen Sanusi  said his organisation had no issue with anybody. He insisted he would not respond to our reporter’s question which sought his reaction on the issues.

After much prevarication, he said, “Do not force words into my mouth. MDCN did not say ‘transfer this to us.’ There were problems and government wanted to resolve these problems. That was why they said MDCN should take over. MDCN taking over is not that they give us money. No, our own is to scrutinise the list and forward to the Accountant-General Office where further action would be taken on the interns’ payment.”

“There are quotas allotted to these people. You see, if you have a quota of 40 and you go and employ 80, what do you want me to do? That is the situation. You have a quota.”

Okorie’s experience shows that the end of the matter is not yet in sight.

Strike enters

Barring a change in the current frosty relationship between Nigerian doctors and the federal government, medical practitioners under the aegis of National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) will proceed on strike on April, 1, 2021, to protest failure of federal government to pay house officers working in federal tertiary institutions across the nation.

Notice of the impending strike was contained in a communique issued at the end of extraordinary national executive council (NEC)  meeting of NARD on Saturday, March 28, 2021.

The NEC observed that its earlier ultimatum given to the federal government during a January meeting would expire by midnight on the 31st of March, 2021, “with no significant achievement.”

Nigerian doctors begin strike April 1 over delayed salaries, others

Marcus FATUNMOLE
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Nigerian doctors begin strike April 1 over delayed salaries, others

BARRING a change in the current frosty relationship between Nigerian doctors and the federal government, medical practitioners under the aegis of National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) will proceed on strike on April, 1, 2021, to protest failure of federal government to pay house officers working in federal tertiary institutions across the nation.

Notice of the impending strike was contained in a communique issued at the end of extraordinary national executive council (NEC)  meeting of NARD on Saturday, March 28, 2021.

The NEC observed that its earlier ultimatum given to the federal government during a January meeting would expire by midnight on the 31st of March, 2021, “with no significant achievement.”

It said though it supported the central placement of house officers by the federal government, failure of the government to pay house officers for three months had made them pass through pains.

The ICIR had on March 14 reported how rift between the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and chief medical directors of public tertiary hospitals in the country denied house officers undergoing housemanship programme in the hospitals of their three months’ salaries.

Okorie Venatus, the doctor who collapsed after reportedly working for 72 hours at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital early this month, is among the doctors who are being owned by the government. He told The ICIR that he had not been paid a dime as emolument since January 1, 2021 by the government.

Okorie Venatus
Venatus Okorie at the UPTH. He reportedly collapsed after working for uninterrupted 72 hours.
Source: Linda Ikeji

Further findings by our reporter revealed that only 19 out of 42 tertiary hospitals have paid house officers working for them, despite directive by a committee set up by the Speaker of the House of Representative Femi Gbajabiamila that all the doctors be paid without delay – at a meeting that took place at the House of Representatives between March 10 and March 12, 2021.

House officers are graduates of medical schools who are employed to be further trained for a period of one year. The process, known as housemanship, enables the interns to acquire more practical knowledge by working in hospitals and getting paid. The housemanship programme is required to enable the doctors to participate in the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. Experience garnered during the housemanship helps the practitioners to excel in places of their primary assignment.

Speaking with The ICIR on failure of the government to pay the doctors after the directive of the Gbajabiamila’s committee, chairman of House Committee on Health Care Service Yusuf Sununu, said he had not got an update from government and the doctors on what had transpired so far.

He said he would reach out to the leadership of NARD and MDCN. “I don’t have report on current situation. Our agreement is that NARD and MDCN should update us. If I haven’t seen update, I can’t comment.

“I’ve been trying my best. When I came, I met a lot of problems. Even the arrears, we fought it out. This one, we had a meeting and we agreed that they would update us. I’ve not heard from them,” the lawmaker added.

He noted that if the update showed that the issue had not been resolved, the parties would be summoned and the agreement would be reviewed.

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Delay in payment caused by change in operation – Health Ministry

Director of hospital services at the Federal Ministry Health Adebimpe Adebiyi told The ICIR that the issue of non-payment “is just a teething problem” caused by transition from one system to another.

She said the delay was caused by central placement of the house officers, which was approved in 2017 and 2018. The first fund was released for the programme this year, after it was taken over by the federal government from chief executives of federal hospitals, she stated.

Empty ward in Nigerian hospital during a strike by doctors.
Source: Vanguard newspaper

“There is a transition. It has been worked out between MDCN and the hospitals. The Ministry of Finance removed the money from the GITMIS platform of the hospitals. It is being worked out. As I speak, they are working over the weekend,” Adebiyi, a doctor, said.

When told how painful it was for workers not to receive salaries for three months, she said, “nobody likes it. I was with NARD (leadership) in my office on Thursday till about almost 9pm. We were in Ministry of Labour together, with the Committee of CMDs and the MDCN, Budget Office, Accountant-General and others. Some things will just happen without you planning for it. It is because of the transition.”

Efforts to reach registrar of MDCN Tajudeen Sanusi proved abortive, as his phone number was not reachable all through Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28 when this report was being filed. He did not also respond to a text message sent to him, seeking his reaction to the new development.

The ICIR had reported him parrying questions over the issue in an earlier report published on the matter on March 14, 2021. After much prevarication, he had said: “Don’t force words into my mouth. MDCN did not say ‘transfer this to us.’ There were problems, government wanted to resolve these problems; that was why they said MDCN should take over. MDCN taking over is not that they give us money. No, our own is to scrutinise the list and forward to the Accountant-General Office” where he said further action would be taken on the interns’ payment.

Sanusi’s response was with regard to how the federal government took over the placement and payment of the house officers from hospitals managements in the country – the major reason for the current face-off.

“There are quotas allotted to these people. You see, if you have a quota of 40 and you go and employ 80, what do you want me to do? That is the situation. You have a quota of 40, you’re employing 80. The quotas were allotted based on available human and material resources, and they have no right to adjust the quota themselves, unless they invite Council for re-accreditation. Let us get things right in our society. People should not indulge themselves in acts of illegality, trying to legitimize the act of illegality. No. our Council will never allow that. That is just it. “

He had argued that the hospitals were taking more house officers than quotas allocated to them by the MDCN.

NARD had warned the government of impending strike early March

NARD had, on 7th March, 2021, informed health minister Osagie Ehanire, in a letter with reference number NARD/8G/2020-2021/070321/366, of the ‘unjust delay’ of salaries of its members on the GIFMIS platform for over three months, which it said had left them in agony.

In the letter titled “RE-NOTICE OF IMPENDING DANGER IN THE HEALTH SECTOR” and signed by president and secretary-general of the group Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi and Jerry Isogun  respectively, NARD listed some of its grievances to include non-payment of minimum wage and other salary arrears to its members nationwide, and nonpayment of medical residency funding for 2019, 2020 and 2021.

NARD said in the letter that 50 percent hazard allowance for all health workers was not implemented by the government, while it called for abolition of bench fee payment, which it said had brought untold hardship for the training of resident doctors.

The group posited that the federal government had failed to meet all the agreements in the Memorandum of Terms of Settlement signed with it on 21 April, 2020.

President Buhari receives COVID-19 vaccine.
Source: Guardian newspaper

“We wish to remind you that some of these issues have lingered on for so long and had culminated in a nationwide industrial action on 14th September, 2020 which was later suspended to give room to further negotiations and possible settlement. In furtherance to the above, the NEC unanimously resolved to proceed on a recess to reappraise the outcomes of meetings on Tuesday 9th March 2021, following which industrial harmony cannot be guaranteed,” part of the letter reads.

Why April 1 strike may be unavoidable

The doctors lamented the ‘suffering’ of their members in GIFMIS platform whom they said had not been paid for four months due to delay in biometric capturing by IPPIS.

The group also said that despite efforts to review hazard allowance of health workers in the country, it had remained N5,000 monthly.

“The NEC also observed that despite the efforts of NARD, the erroneously paid 2020 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) to non-resident doctors is yet to be addressed. Alos, the 2019 and some of 2020 and 2021 MRTF are yet to be paid.

“The NEC noted the non-payment of the arrears of salary shortfall dating back to 2014 to our members across the country, including state-owned tertiary institutions. The NEC observed that up till now, none of our members have benefitted from the death-in-service insurance scheme, despite our constant engagement with the relevant stakeholders, with the data of our colleagues who died in service in the nation…”

NARD also lamented the rate of brain drain of medical practitioners in the country, as it blamed it on lack of employment in hospitals, poor remuneration and poor conditions of service.

National Hospital, Abuja

The NEC resolved that NARD should proceed on a total and indefinite strike on the 1st of April, 2020 by 8am, if the government failed to pay all salaries owned the doctors, including March salaries before the end of work on March 31, 2021. It also demanded an upward review of the current hazard allowance to 50 percent of consolidated basic salaries of all health workers and payment of the outstanding COVID-19 inducement allowance, especially in public tertiary health institutions.

Others demands included: payment of death-in-service insurance for all health worker who died as a result of COVID-19 infection or other infectious in the country; immediate payment of 2019, the balance of 2020 and 2021 Medical Residency Training Funds to the doctors, including those under state government payroll; and immediate review of the act regulating post-graduate medical training in the country.

NARD had embarked on strike in June 2020 over lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and poor welfare for its members in the midst of the nation’s fight against COVID-19. The group also proceeded on a similar action in September 2020 over unpaid allowances.

President of NARD Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi said there were about 15,000 resident doctors in Nigeria as at March 2021. Resident doctors are medical practitioners who have finished their housemanship, National Youth Service Corps and are working to specialise in a specific area of medicine.

The MDCN regulates the activities of medical profession in the country but does not have data on the professionals on its website. However, NMA said on its website that it had over 40,000 members from 36 states in the country and the federal capital territory – with about 19,000 in the diaspora.

However, an official of government in a report in 2020 said there were 74,543 registered medical doctors in the country. The population of doctors in Nigeria serves over 200 million people in the country. Doctor-to-patient ratio is 1: 2753, which translates to 36.6 medical doctors per 100,000 persons in Nigeria.

In January 2020, the federal government said the country needed about 300,000 doctors to meet the doctor-patient ratio of 1:600 recommended by the World Health Organization.

In 2018, The ICIR reported how an average of 12 Nigerian medical doctors got registered in the United Kingdom weekly, a development that highlighted brain drain of the practitioners in the country.

NMA had, in May 2019, said 2,000 medical doctors left Nigeria annually for greener pastures.

New wave of COVID-19 in Africa linked to relaxed public health measures

Editorial
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New wave of COVID-19 in Africa linked to relaxed public health measures

By Lisa VIVES 

AFRICA is experiencing a second coronavirus wave more severe than the first, according to a worrying new study published on March 24 by the medical journal The Lancet.

The Lancet said one reason for the rise was that some countries were implementing fewer public health measures such as mask wearing and social distancing, probably from adherence fatigue and economic necessity.

The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic progressed more slowly in Africa than the rest of the world, but by December 2020, the second wave appeared to be much more aggressive with many more cases, the medical journal found.

To date, the pandemic situation in all 55 African Union (AU) member states has not been comprehensively reviewed, the panels of doctors said. “With further waves of COVID-19 infections expected in Africa,” the authors wrote, “we are calling for continued monitoring of COVID-19 data, improvements to testing capacity, and renewed efforts to adhere to public health measures.”

The report is the first-ever continent-wide analysis.

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“These insights also reveal a need to improve testing capacity and reinvigorate public health campaigns, to re-emphasise the importance of abiding by measures that aim to strike a fine balance between controlling the spread of COVID-19 and sustaining economies and people’s livelihoods,” said John Nkengasong, from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

Out of the 55 African Union countries, the most coronavirus-related deaths occurred in South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.

Meanwhile, more African countries have received the long-awaited first deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines, with Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Lesotho benefiting from a global initiative called COVAX that aims to ensure doses for the world’s low-and middle-income nations.

African and other health officials have been frustrated by the sight of a handful of rich countries rolling out vaccines after snapping up large amounts for themselves.

“We will be known as the continent of COVID if Africa doesn’t quickly reach its target of vaccinating 60 percent of its population of 1.3 billion people,”Nkengasong, a doctor, said.

So far Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Angola, Gambia and Congo have received their first vaccine doses via COVAX, with several other countries including Mali, Senegal, Malawi and Uganda set to receive them this week.

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The numbers are still disappointing as the World Health Organization this week called the African continent ‘lagging’ in the race to vaccinate its people against the deadly coronavirus. Africa needs far greater access to COVID-19 vaccines to reach its goal of vaccinating 60 percent of the population by June 2022, the world health body said.

Thousands without shelter, food after fire rips through Sierra Leone capital

Editorial
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Thousands without shelter, food after fire rips through Sierra Leone capital

By Lisa VIVES

A scorching blaze that turned a crowded neighborhood of Sierra Leone’s capital city into rubble and ashes has left an estimated 4,500 residents homeless, with many searching for missing family.

The inferno, which broke out on Mar. 24 between 7 and 10 p.m. in Susan’s Bay, devastated a community of struggling families, mostly fishermen and petty traders, according to Save the Children in a report.

“I have lost all my uniforms – all was burnt in the fire. Right now we are taking exams and I didn’t go to school today because I have nothing,” said 16-year-old Musa (not his real name), who needs a uniform to be allowed to attend school. “My shoes, everything got lost,” he told Save the Children.

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It is not clear what could have started the fire, wrote Abdul Rashid Thomas, reporter for the Sierra Leone Telegraph, but such an outbreak is not unusual in densely populated and overcrowded communities where houses are made of pieces of timber and metal sheets. Many households use kerosene lamps to light up their homes, he said. The community covers an area of 24 acres or 10 hectares.

“Devastating to witness yet another fire disaster in the wake of six others in recent weeks,” Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr was reported to say. “Once again, there was no access for the fire service. A six-storey building under construction at the Guinea Store entrance to Susan’s Bay blocked what access there would previously have been from that end.”

“Disaster risk reduction cannot happen without effective urban planning and a building permit regime which is focused on reducing environmental and man-made risks,” she continued, adding: “Please join us in praying for the victims”.

In the global ranking of natural hazard risks, Sierra Leone is ranked as the third most vulnerable country due to climate change, un-planned development and urbanization.

Last November, at the launch of the African country’s National Disaster Management Agency, World Bank country manager Gayle Martin stressed the importance of accountability, prudence and transparency in managing funding and other resources.This comes as investigative reporters at the Africanist Press say they have uncovered bank wire transfers showing that over three million leones, the local currency, was withdrawn by President Julius Bio and his wife Fatima Jabbe Bio for travel expenses in 2020 despite bans on international travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. The President and his wife could not be reached for comment. 

Sani appeals to Gumi to help secure release of 39 kidnapped students

Lukman ABOLADE
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Sani appeals to Gumi to help secure release of 39 kidnapped students

A former Senator who represented Kaduna Central Shehu Sani has visited an Islamic cleric Ahmad Gumi, asking him to  help secure the release of students and  members of Redeemed Christian Church separately kidnapped by bandits in the state.

Sani made this known via his Twitter handle @ShehuSani on Monday evening.

The Twitter post accompanied by a video showed the former Senator and Gumi having a discussion at the latter’s residence. They later shook hands and departed.

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“Earlier today in Kaduna, I visited the home of Sheikh Dr Ahmad Gumi where I appealed to him to help to secure the release of the 39 Afaka students and members of the RCCG (Redeemed Christian Church of God) and their Pastor who are still in the hands of bandits,” Sani wrote on his Twitter page.

This is coming days after gunmen kidnapped about eight pastors and members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Kaduna State.

The church members were kidnapped on Friday evening while on transit along the Kachia Road in the southern part of the Kaduna State by unknown gunmen.

Public relations officer of the RCGG Kaduna Province Alao Joseph had said the abductors had established contact and demanded N50 million ransom from the church.

“The church has contacted security agencies over the incident with the hope that they will help in securing the immediate rescue of the members,” Joseph said.

For over 17 days, 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State, have remained in the kidnappers’ den.

The kidnappers of the students demanded N500 million from the government for the release of the students.

One of the fathers of the kidnapped students Ibrahim Shamaki was reported to have died from the anguish of his missing child.

Shamaki’s daughter was identified as Fatima Shamaki, one of the victims kidnapped by the armed gunmen now seeking ransom.

Parents and colleagues of the kidnapped students have also protested what they called ‘silence’ of the government over the release of the students.

Gumi is a controversial Islamic cleric who has called for support for bandits. He is severely criticised for his comments that seem empathetic with the bandits.

 

‘Senseless’ attacks by extremist groups targeting civilians in Niger

Editorial
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‘Senseless’ attacks by extremist groups targeting civilians in Niger

By Lisa VIVES

‘MULTIPLE senseless attacks’ on civilian populations by armed groups in the Tahoua and Tilabery regions of Niger were condemned by world leaders and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) which noted the recent killings of some 200 civilians, including children in the violence.

In the last 10 days alone, three attacks in Banibangou, Tahoua and Abala, near the West African nation of Mali also destroyed productive infrastructure such as granaries, jeopardising livelihoods in some of the most vulnerable regions of the country, the humanitarian group reported.

Chair of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed outrage at the attacks targeting civilians. United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres also strongly condemned the March 20 attack by unidentified gunmen against civilians, according to his spokesperson.

ECOWAS lifts sanctions on Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso

The security situation in the region is rapidly deteriorating. Terror attacks targeting civilians, as well as soldiers, have particularly risen in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger despite the presence of peacekeeping forces from France, the EU and the UN.

Teams have been mobilised by the IRC in the so-called jihadi-plagued zone where the porous borders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso converge. Some 4,000 people across the three nations died in 2019 in violence and ethnic bloodshed stirred by Islamists, according to the U.N.

“We are appalled at the continuous attack on civilians who were just going about their business, fetching water,” said  IRC Niger senior emergency coordinator Aboubakar Pefoura. “Not only were civilians killed in this latest attack, 22 of them were children. Civilians should never be a target, especially children, and this fundamental principle must be upheld in conflict situations by all parties.”

The attackers arrived in the villages on motorbikes on Wednesday, March 24, and set classrooms on fire, looted a health center and stole livestock. They reportedly surrounded the villages and those who tried to escape were chased and killed, according to an official who wished to remain anonymous.

One of the most insecure regions in the Sahel, Niger has been reeling from years of food insecurity, weather shocks, violence and extremism. In 2019, civilian deaths in the Niger region rose by a staggering 2400 percent compared to 2016, the IRC coordinator said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Recently, members of the U.S. Africa Command met with regional leaders during a brief trip to Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Niger’s commander-in-charge Mamane Sani Rafini has promised justice. “This situation is simply horrible. Investigations will be conducted so that this crime does not go unpunished.”

The killings underscore the massive security challenges facing Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected in February. w/map of Sahel, the “jihadi-plagued” zone

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