NOT less than 80,000 of Yellow cards that are issued to Nigerians as a proof of being administered with the yellow fever vaccine before travelling out of the country are now being sold in the markets and streets, without the travellers taking the vaccine, and causing the government to lose up to N200 million.
This was revealed in a report of an investigation carried out by Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, a civil society organization working in the areas of accountability and anti-corruption.
The report revealed that some top officials of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) carted away some of the e-yellow cards printed by the Federal Government which are meant to be issued to individuals after they must have taken the vaccine at the designated clinics, airports and border posts.
The card which officially costs N2,500 is sold to prospective travellers at prices as high as N5,000 without taking the vaccine, thereby undermining the objective of the yellow fever immunization.
The government has been making efforts to recover all the stolen cards with little success.
A copy of the yellow card obtained by PRIMORG undercover reporter was marked B947006 bearing the Nigerian coat of arms and a scan code to verify the card’s authenticity while the medical detail in the card was pre-filled, indicating the type and milligram, the date and the official stamps of the “PORT HEALTH OFFICE, FMOH NIGERIA”.
Earlier in February, the federal government had approved the issuance of Yellow Card that could be read electronically to eliminate the incidents of forgery and sales of fake cards at designated locations.
Copies of the e-card obtained by Primorg reporter during the cause of the investigation. By the right is the one purchased at a black market. Photo credit: PRIMORG.
To kickstart the issuance of the new cards in April, the Health Ministry printed one million e-cards in two batches─ 500,000 copies each for the A and B categories. Government has hoped to make over N2 billion from the sales but as thousands were stolen, the projected revenue reduced and the yellow diseases increase.
“Some unscrupulous staff stole a chunk of the cards from batch B and began sales of it in the open market to travellers who do not go through the process of vaccination,” the report stated.
“We gathered that the Ports Services Unit has not exhausted the yellow cards in the Batch A category. But the containers housing batch B was violated and bulks of them stolen by some of the health officials who were mandated to keep them safe.
“It is believed that the cards at the black market will be worth more than N200 million,” said PRIMORG.
Though the government has identified those who cart away the printed cards, no serious actions have been taken against them.
An official that had stolen 11,000 cards at Kano was only removed from the issuing desk of the Port Health Services Unit of the Federal Ministry Health to another unit. That means the official carted away goods worth N27.5 million at the official price of N2,500.
“The incident in Kano has not been properly investigated as some of the indicted officials have tapped on high-level connections in government to silence the senior Ministry officials in Abuja to achieve a cover-up,” PRIMORG reported.
According to the World Health Organisation, Yellow Fever is a viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes to humans. Symptoms of yellow fever include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue.
It could become deadly for individuals not vaccinated. It could affect the liver and the kidneys. It could also cause jaundice- yellowing of the skin and eye, dark urine and abdominal pain with vomiting. Bleeding could occur from the mouth, nose, eyes or stomach.
“Half of the patients who enter the toxic phase die within 7 – 10 days,” said WHO.
Meanwhile, the disease is prevented by vaccine. The vaccine provides effective immunity within 30 days for more than 99 per cent of people vaccinated.
The cases of Yellow fever in Nigeria as of September 22, 2019. Credit: NCDC.
Nigeria has a high prevalence of yellow fever with an increase in 2019.
According to the weekly epidemiological report published by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control for the Week 38 in 2019, Nigeria has recorded 2,674 suspected cases of yellow fever, and 65 of the people have died as against one death recorded in the whole of 2018.
ON Friday, Abiy Ahmed, the prime minister of Ethiopia, was conferred the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize by the Nobel committee for his peacemaking efforts which ended twenty years of hostility between his country Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Ahmed, the first Ethiopian to be awarded a Nobel Prize was commended by the Nobel committee for his efforts in restarting the peace talks with Eritrea that ultimately resolved the crisis between the two countries.
“In Ethiopia, even if much work remains, Peace Laureate Abiy Ahmed has initiated important reforms that give many citizens hope for a better life and a brighter future. As Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed has sought to promote reconciliation, solidarity and social justice,” the Nobel committee stated in a Twitter post.
The two nations have ethnic and cultural ties, but decades of animosity between them had torn families apart and worsened Eritrea’s isolation as a repressive country.
Over 100,000 people were estimated to have been killed in cross-border attacks between the two countries in twenty years.
A peace treaty was signed by both countries at a summit that took place between July 8-9, 2018 in Eritrea, leading to a gradual and beneficial friendship between both countries.
It is the second year in a row an African is being named as winner of the prestigious prize. Ahmed will become the 100th Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, where he will receive the award in December.
The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded to Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege. Murad, a 26-year-old Yazidi woman, was honoured for her support towards women who survived sexual and domestic violence from Islamic State militants.
Mukwege is a Congolese gynaecologist, who was honoured for treating thousands of women and other victims of the violence in the Congo.
The Nobel committee said this year’s peace prize also honoured those who contributed to resolving the cross-border conflicts across East Africa.
With Nigeria’s porous borders and corrupt law enforcement officers, anyone can conveniently cross into and leave the country or smuggle in goods without having to answer questions or present relevant documents—until a border closure was announced in August.
“OKAY, let us pray,” announces the cab driver. For years, the forty-something-year-old has safely conveyed passengers through the three-hour distance between Kanga, a border town in Benin Republic, and Abeokuta, Ogun State.
“In the name of Jesus… Thank you, father, that you have made this journey hassle-free for us,” he continues passionately, at the same time steering his old-model Mazda 626 through the untarred road.
“If we have committed any sins that may hinder our prayers from getting answered, father, holy spirit, forgive us. Make us holy. If there are forces, seen or unseen, that may want to sabotage today’s journey, forces of witches and ritualists, blood-spilling forces, in the name of Jesus, nip them in the bud. All enemies of progress on this path, go into oblivion! All spirits must bow in the name of Jesus!”
After four minutes of praying and mumbles of ‘amen’ from the passengers, the driver, whom many—including himself—simply prefer to call ‘pastor’, soon stops to receive one bag of rice, which he places in the trunk. “It is so I can have something to buy fuel with,” he explains with a smirk.
In 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari stated that rice importation has been cut by about 90 per cent and praised improvements in the local agricultural sector for this. The figures from the Thai Rice Exporters Association showed that while in 2015 the Asian country exported 644,131 metric tons (MT) of parboiled rice to Nigeria, this dropped to 58,260MT in 2016 and then 23,192MT in 2017.
Rice exports to Benin Republic, however, skyrocketed by an even greater measure within the same period.
Benin imported 805,765MT of rice in 2015, but this figure grew to 1,811,164MT as of 2017. This is in spite of the 2013 Benin Coarse Grains and Rice Report stating that the country only requires 385,000MT for local consumption. The bulk of the rice received into the francophone country—as admitted also by former agriculture minister Audu Ogbeh—is therefore smuggled into Nigeria.
‘Pastor’ struggles to move 50kg of rice to his trunk.
Rice smuggling is quite profitable and is done by many taxi drivers operating at the Ilara-Kanga park to make extra cash. According to one of the drivers, a bag of rice in Benin costs N9,700 while the selling price in Nigeria is as high as N17,000. The driver who smuggles it in from Ilara has an average cut of N2500 per bag.
But it is not only rice that is smuggled into Nigeria. Bringing in migrants without papers is another lucrative practice; and, usually, all goes well as long as the palms of border patrol officials are well greased. While a Nigerian coming into the country is asked to pay a fare of N1500, Beninese are charged as high as double that amount.
This reporter travelled to Bohicon, Benin Republic, on Thursday, August 8, and returned to Nigeria on Saturday, August 10, via the border at Ilara without an international travel passport. Yet, he was not queried anywhere along the road—despite the presence of numerous security checkpoints every few kilometres.
‘Pastor’ gripes that across the stretch of road there are six checkpoints manned by operatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and nine belong to the Nigeria Customs Service. There are a few other checkpoints too where we have officers of the Nigerian Army and Nigeria Police. In all, this reporter counted no less than 26.
N200 note: the new travel passport
In February 2018, Nigeria’s ambassador to Benin, Kayode Oguntuase, pointed out that there are 42 illegal checkpoints between the border at Seme and Mile 2, Lagos, and that security personnel at these places extort money from travellers. Transporters who ply the route have also complained of losing between N9,000 and N10,000 to extortion in trying to cross the border. But this problem is evidently not limited to the Seme cross-border route.
There seems to be a long-standing tradition between the smugglers and security operatives regulating how much the charge is per bag of rice or illegal immigrant. But this is subject to negotiation. ‘Pastor’ who picked up only a bag of rice has to pay officials of the NIS and Customs N200 at every stop.
On the other hand, policemen, whose checkpoints are closer to the Abeokuta end of the stretch, could be offered N100. One of them, at a checkpoint about 15 kilometres from Ogun State’s capital, had on a blue uniform with a name tag ‘Otu Rasheed’.
During the trip, while the driver always states correctly that he has only one bag of rice in the car, he is not as honest about the number of Beninese passengers. “I only have two Egun people [used generally to refer to migrants from Benin Republic],” he says at the third checkpoint. “The rest are Yoruba.” Whereas, a headcount he conducted at the start of the trip had established that there are two Yoruba passengers and four from the neighbouring country.
At another security checkpoint where a relative of his is on duty, the driver escapes paying by declaring he has only Yoruba passengers.
In many cases, the illegal exchange of money is not done under the table but so openly that passers-by also witness it. In one instance, a law enforcement agent, in fact, asks if there’s still room in the car for another bag of rice.
“Give me N300,” says the driver as he hands over a N500 note.
A law enforcement officer accepts bribe to overlook smuggling.
A law enforcement officer accepts bribe to overlook smuggling.
* * *
“Collect N200 from him,” an NIS official donning black tee-shirt and jeans cries at the fourth checkpoint. “Sefiu, I said collect N200 from him. He doesn’t have a choice.”
“I am not fighting with you, we are only doing our work,” he adds. “If you carry one bag of rice here, we’ll collect our money. The same thing if you carry 10.”
‘Pastor’ explains as he starts the engine that he recently conveyed the officer and insisted on charging him N2,000, the same fare paid by everyone else. The officer had since vowed to make all the money back through extortion.
“In smuggling rice, to enter Ilara there is simple. To move from Ilara to Abeokuta is where the problem is,” the driver says, to no one in particular.
Halfway into the journey, a few kilometres before we get to Obada Idi-Emi, the driver is lucky to be stopped by a generous official who has on a black long sleeve shirt with a blue collar.
“Don’t be angry sir, I was able to carry only Yoruba people today. I have one bag of rice too. Please, oga mi; this is what I have left. I still have to settle immigration,” the driver pleads.
After he is signalled to proceed, he goes on to brag about the importance of being cunning.
“My people, it takes wisdom,” he says with self-satisfaction.
“The bible says we should combine wisdom with faith and combine faith with knowledge. The operatives are ready to collect all you have with you. They don’t give any considerations. Don’t they know how many checkpoints we pass through before getting to their place?”
A motorcyclist tranporting several bags of rice crosses the border into the Nigerian territory at Ilara.
A border where business booms
A new arrival at Ilara, a border town between Nigeria and Benin, is likely to first notice two things aside that signposts are written in French language: huge trucks and warehouses at every turn. It is a goldrush and everyone is struggling to have a share, but this time the trending commodity is not a hoard of gold. It is rice.
The trucks are used to transport rice from the coastal city of Cotonou to the border communities, where warehouses of various sizes abound. The bags are then loaded on top of motorcycles and taken into smaller stores in Nigeria, from where the cabbie-smugglers take over.
Traders and drivers in the town are reluctant to share insights into how the business is run because of the fear of unknowingly implicating themselves. One of the big warehouse owners recently ran into trouble with law enforcement agents and had to pay in respect of eight truckloads of rice, narrates one of them.
A sales boy at a smaller shop, trying to wriggle out of the conversation, says the shop was just recently established and he doesn’t know much about the business.
“But if you check this route here,” he adds dramatically while pointing to his left, “there are a lot of magazines [trucks]. A lot!”
“If you go to the other end of the road too,” he says, now pointing to his right, “there are a lot of them. This untarred road leads directly into Nigeria.”
Bags of rice are offloaded from a huge truck and stored at a warehouse at Ilara-Kanga.
Nigerian govt. intervenes
In August, Nigeria partially closed its western border with Benin, triggering protests from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Though statistics from the World Agricultural Supply and Demand estimates suggest the country hardly produces half of its local consumption need, President Buhari has said the closure is meant to curb the “alarming” rate of rice-smuggling.
The recent reinforcement of border security, codenamed Exercise Swift Response, has according to the NIS led to many arrests of people attempting to come in through unlawful routes.
“The border is tight now,” remarks NIS spokesperson Sunday James in an interview with The ICIR. “Nobody enters into this country without a valid document and nobody exits the country without valid documents.”
He also explains that the agency has put in place standardised machinery to check excesses at the border. One of them is the migrant e-registration.
“We are registering all migrants residing in Nigeria whether regular or irregular,” he says.
“That is another way of controlling the entrance and exit of people into the country. And if within the country we are controlling non-Nigerians by virtue of registration, you should know definitely that anybody that is going to come from outside the country must go through clearance and checks.”
He says the project, flagged off on July 12, has documented a total of 4,733 of migrants as of Friday, September 6.
Foreigners generally have to get a visa before they can come into Nigeria, James explains, and then citizens of the ECOWAS member-countries “must come with valid travel documents: ECOWAS travel certificate and ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card”.
That was, however, not the reality at the border weeks ago.
‘Pastor’, during a later phone conversation with this reporter, confirms it is now very difficult to smuggle in either bags of rice or foreigners.
“Rice can be transported from Cotonou to Ilara but getting it into Nigeria is very difficult. As a matter of fact, they don’t allow us to bring even one bag,” he laments.
He says there are however drivers who still smuggle in items. But they do this at great risk through the forest routes. If caught, the smuggled commodities would be confiscated. He tells this reporter that travel documents are also checked under present circumstances.
In his words, “If you are going to bring in anyone without a passport, it’ll have to be fayawo [through secret detours].”
‘Pastor’ is hopeful though that the borders will be re-opened soon and it will be business as usual.
“Even if it is one trailer-load of rice you need from Cotonou or half… We know how to do it without a problem,” he says confidently. “But I will advise we exercise some patience.”
* This investigation is supported by the Institute of War and Peace Reporting and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.
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AKIN Fadeyi Foundation and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Thursday held the public and media launch of an anti-corruption application called FLAG IT on Thursday.
The launch which was held at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre in Abuja was attended by dignitaries from civil society, government agencies and the press.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo represented by the special adviser on rule of law, Rasheedat Waziri, said the initiative aligns with the vision of the Federal Government on the fight against corruption. Corruption, the VP said, slows down development goals in Africa.
The Corp Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Boboye Omoyemi during his address said corruption has occupied a large space in the country and that FRSC has been working on plans to ensure that the agency is rid of corruption.
“In terms of rescue services, this is one of the places that the FRSC has been receiving commendations, we have recovered millions of naira, pounds sterling and dollars from road accidents and no one has ever complained.
“Since my appointment, we have terminated the appointment of 72 staffs 52 are under trial and by the next meeting of FRSC board of directors, the board will confirm the disengagement of another 42,” he said.
He said the FRSC has a functional establishment unit, Servicom and desk office to work with the anti-corruption agencies like ICPC and EFCC.
A welcome address was delivered by the founder of the Cable, Chairman Board of Trustees, Akin Fadeyi Foundation, Simon Kolawole, who read the speech of Akin Fadeyi, the founder of Akin Fadeyi Foundation.
According to him, the Flag-It initiative is a measure to enhance accountability and report corrupt practices as well as excellent services.
“Earlier this year EFCC boss Ibrahim Magu said between 2015 and this year about 1.3 trillion naira has been stolen by 32 individuals and one third of the amount using world bank rate and cost can construct 500kilometer road, build close to 200 school, educate about 4000 child from primary to tertiary institution at 25 million per child, 20000 unit of 2 bedroom flat across the country.
“The culture of corruption that has been created over the years have become very difficult to fight, we must start by talking to the man in the mirror by asking what is my role in fighting corruption and building a Nigerian nation of our dream,” he reiterated.
He added that with this initiative, the fear of Flag-It will become the beginning of wisdom.
Kole Shettima, Director, Africa Office, MacArthur foundation appreciated the Akin Fadeyi Foundation and FRSC for the event. He mentioned how he read an article on Thisday that brought his attention to Akin Fadeyi Foundation, then he said they must look out for them to see whether they can support the work that they do. “I was inspired by the fact that they are challenging all Nigerians that they also have a responsibility for ourselves, our children and the nation.
“They are not just pointing fingers at the government but also at ourselves by saying that we as citizens have a responsibility to make this country what we want, its not just enough to look up to the president, governor or local government chairmen for their actions but we have a responsibility to do all we can to ensure a better nation.”
Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Corruption, Itse Sagey represented by Kelechi Amadi, said people are compelled to pay for the services they ought to get for free but this has not been possible because of corruption. The political economy of the nation has been producing overnight billionaires who are called leaders by the day, said Sagay.
Nigeria Representative of United Nations on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), Oliver Stolpe lamented about how corruption is eating up Nigeria.
“In 2016, the UN and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) carried out a survey on bribery and it was found out that bribery is on high level in the country especially among traffic management agencies”.
Flag-it, therefore, is an important tool in the arsenal of the anti-corruption war he said.
During the Panel discussion which consisted of Ademola Henry Adigun, an oil governance consultant , Ramotu Umar Bako, head of influencing and public engagement at Oxfam, Auwal Rafsanjani, Executive Director, civil society legislative advocacy centre, Ajuri Nagale, Special Assistant to the president on public affairs and Chido Omonuah who was the moderator of the discussion, the panel opined that there is need for partnership between the government agencies, the civil societies, the media and as well as the private sectors.
Auwal Rafsanjani added that the fight against corruption should be institutionalized and should not be a personal thing so that when a government leaves, the anti-graft fight will not leave with it.
Dapo Olorunyomi, the publisher of PREMIUM TIMES spoke about furthering the role of investigative media in Nigeria’s search for accountability.
He stressed the need to nurture investigative journalism and how technology can help to drive it.
LAI Mohammed, minister of information and culture, in Abuja on Thursday, said online news platform will soon be regulated.
During the inauguration of a seven-man committee set up charged with the implementation of reforms in the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the minister said the committee is to implement recommendations supposedly approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mohammed said the president has approved an amendment to the NBC act which would enable the committee license WebTv and radio stations, including foreign broadcasters beaming with wide reach or coverage that extends to the country.
“The terms of reference of the committee are as follows; To establish and publish a new regulation for the licensing of web and internet broadcasters/international broadcasters in Nigeria.
“To immediately commence work on all statutory, legal and regulatory framework for further legislative action on the review of the NBC act by the national assembly.
“To work out the modalities for a competitive and reasonable salary, wages and other welfare needs of the staff of the commission.
“To establish necessary protocols for the establishment or appointment of professionals or technocrats (non-partisan personality) to run the agency, and appointment into the board of the NBC.”
The minister said the president also approved the upward review of fines from N500,000 to N5 million for breaches relating to hate speeches and the upgrade of political comments as ”Class A” offence in the broadcasting code.
“I do not doubt that this committee, which comprises highly-experienced professionals and administrators, will carry out a thorough job that will reposition the NBC as an effective and efficient regulator,” he said.
The committee is comprised of Armstrong Idachaba, NBC director of monitoring (chairman); Godfrey Ohuabunwa, acting chairman of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON); J.K. Ehicheoya, director, legal services, ministry of information and Culture; Binta Adamu Bello, secretary, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON); Ibrahim Jimoh, director of administration, FRCN; Agbo Kingsley Ndubuisi, NBC board member and Joe Mutah, chief press secretary, ministry of information and culture (secretary).
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday ordered the final forfeiture of N550 million and N51 million, identified as being proceeds of fraudulent practices belonging to Titus Okunrinboye.
The presiding judge, Justice Giwa Ogunbanjo granted the prayer of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to make a final forfeiture of the monies to the Federal Government.
The trio of Titus Okunrinboye, Vincent Odafen and Muara Muhammed Gambo are being prosecuted by the EFCC for allegedly operating companies, which were alleged to have been used to siphon public funds under the façade of contracts and consultancy.
In June, the EFCC had applied for interim forfeiture before Justice Giwa, who granted the application and stipulated that the Commission should place the application in a national newspaper.
Prosecution counsel, M.S. Abubakar, told the court that the Commission had complied with the judge’s stipulation by advertising the interim forfeiture application.
“We have complied and we’re now back to apply for final forfeiture and the affidavit in support of the motion on notice, as the defendant has not filed any counter,” he said.
Justice Giwa asked the prosecution counsel to serve the defendant the notice on the motion. He urged Abubakar to make sure that the account number filed by the prosecution for the forfeiture is thoroughly verified to be a Central Bank account number and must be supported with documents to ensure that where the funds would be transferred is a genuine federal government’s account before adjourning to October 10, 2019, for ruling on the final forfeiture application.
At the resumed hearing today, the prosecution counsel urged the court to grant EFCC’s prayers since there was no counter-affidavit against the application.
The motion on notice filed by the EFCC for the final forfeiture reads “A final order of this honourable court for forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria of funds lying in the Zenith Bank Account No:208383581 (Okunrinboye Tomsin Titus).
“A final order of this honourable court for final forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria of the funds lying in the Zenith bank account No. 1004702420(Okunrinboye Tomsin Titus). An order of this honourable court directing Zenith Bank to forthwith transfer the forfeited funds to the Central bank of Nigeria,” it reads.
Justice Giwa granted the request of the prosecution and placed an order, directing Zenith Bank to transfer the forfeited funds into the Cash Assets Final Forfeiture of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
MENTAL health advocates have claimed that the prevalence of depression, substance abuse, molestation and sexual harassment —all which sometimes drive the victim to commit suicide— in Nigerian societies (especially campuses) may be due, partly, to the loss of the culture of counselling and proper guidance in secondary and tertiary institutions.
Oluwakemi Omole, a doctor of psychology and coordinator of the Counseling and Human Development Centre in Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) and Taiwo Alao who is the founder of Gifted Foundation that advocates women’s sexual and reproductive health rights noted that counselling helped in combating mental and sexual related challenges in Nigerian institutions.
While speaking to The ICIR on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day, Omole said the counselling department plays a major role in any institution or organisation to address the mental health challenges.
Omole noted that there is an unduly huge rate of female students being sexually abused.
But the culture of silence among students continues to foster a fertile ground for this crime to germinate and grow.
“The roles of the counsellor are many. Counsellors help people to deal with and overcome difficult situations,” she said.
However, Omole said people are not speaking up is a major challenge to addressing mental and sexual related issues.
“What does a counsellor do when victims don’t turn up or speak up? This is the big question and usually the challenge for many counsellors,” she wondered.
To break the barrier of silence, Omole said counsellors should not wait till victims open up. She noted that they could now rely on hints from fellow students and colleagues of affected students.
She added that sometimes by monitoring WhatsApp status among other posts, one could deduce that a student isn’t in a perfect state of mind and with that exposition, they devise ways to reach out to the person without explicitly revealing how they got the information.
Omole who is a staff of FUOYE counselling unit added that she normally offer virtual counselling to students.
“I organised a walk to raise awareness and remind the FUOYE community that the counselling department exists,” she also recounted her activity of August 23 while speaking to The ICIR.
“With the walk, we are bringing counselling to the forefront” for people to know that “there is what is called counselling,” she said.
An increase in interpersonal relationships and physical communications were also described to be a good way to improve mental health among people instead of people resulting in social media communications.
She said parents have a crucial part to play in ensuring the mental health of their wards.
“Parents need to change and not be static,” she said. “We need to go beyond stereotypic judgement; we need to change rigid beliefs; enough of handing over outdated information”.
Taiwo who advocates women’s health also noted that secondary school students in Ekiti State, particularly the rural areas, were not enlightened on the role of counsellors in guiding them through whatever challenges they were facing.
An awareness based on women’s health in Ekiti Secondary School.
She said her foundation outreaches to secondary schools in rural communities in Ekiti made her realise that the students have poor knowledge on the impact of counsellors to them.
Rape, sexual harassment and molestation, although often underreported, are also common phenomena in Nigerian institutions. Some lecturers take undue advantage of their students and often request sex for marks or upgrades.
BBC Africa Eye through a ‘sex-for-grades’ undercover documentary exposed the reality in the University of Lagos, Nigeria and the University of Ghana, Accra where lecturers sexually abused female students. The video narrated the experience of a female student of UNILAG that attempted suicide four times because she was sexually abused.
A report by Daily Trust found that 42 persons committed suicide within the first and second quarters of the year. Out of that 42, 11 were deaths of students. It also found that many of the suicide was through the use of an agrochemical product named sniper.
One of the students who committed suicide was Chukwuemeka Akachi, a final year student of English and Literary Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Akachi took his life after taking Sniper in an uncompleted building.
He was said to have posted on Facebook before he committed the act. Here is his post: Forgive me. In case you are the one who found the body, I am really sorry. It had to be someone you know. I have chosen Jo Nketaih’s poem as my suicide note: “They said you came looking for me. I don’t drown, I was the water. Where do atheists go when they die? Lol. Amen”.
Punch Newspaper has also reported the case of Samuel Elias, a student of Religion and Culture from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka who also took sniper in order to terminate his life. These are two of the several cases reported this year.
IN a bid to increase its oil revenues, the Federal Government is set to reclaim $62 billion from five major international oil companies working in Nigeria through a Supreme Court ruling that allows it lay claim to income from the production-sharing contracts.
A Bloomberg report referenced a document from the attorney general’s office and the Ministry of Justice stating that the oil companies failed to comply with a 1993 contract requirement that the state should receive a balanced share of revenue earned by the oil firms when the oil price exceeds $20 per barrel.
Currently, oil companies take 80 per cent of the profit from these deep-offshore fields, while the Federal Government receives 20 per cent according to the document.
“The 1993 law required that its provisions be reviewed after 15 years and subsequently every five years. The attorney general’s office insists that the provision for a higher share of revenue doesn’t require legislative action to take effect,” the document affirms.
The firms involved include Royal Dutch Shell Plc, ExxonMobil Corp, Chevron Corp, Total SA and Eni SpA which were signatories to the production-sharing contract that funds the exploration and production of deep-offshore oil fields on the basis that they would share profit with the government after recovering their costs.
A bulk of deep offshore crude oil being pumped from Nigeria is carried out by the five oil firms operating joint ventures and partnerships with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
A Supreme Court ruling followed a lawsuit by states in the oil-producing region seeking the interpretation of the nation’s production-sharing law. The states argued that they weren’t receiving their full due.
The court ruled in their favour and asked the Attorney General and justice minister, Malami Abubakar to take steps to recover the outstanding revenue.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, proceeded to the Federal High Court to dispute the Federal government’s claim that they owe the state any money, arguing that the Supreme Court judgment doesn’t allow the government to collect arrears.
Shell’s head of upstream Andy Brown in an interview hinted that the company wasn’t party to the court ruling in 2018 and shouldn’t be subject to the ruling.
“It is something that has gone through the courts in Nigeria which relates to an original clause within the original PSCs (production sharing contracts). We will have to take it seriously but we think it has no merits,” he said.
Several multinational firms have been fined by the Federal Government in recent times. In 2019, MTN Group Ltd paid an estimated $1 billion for failing to disconnect undocumented SIM-card users, while JPMorgan Chase & Co were also sued by the Nigerian government in a corruption scandal.
CHIKAODINAKA Nwankpa, a former Drexel University professor and of Nigerian origin blew nearly $200,000 of federal grant money in strip clubs and on other ‘improper purchases’, United States Department of Justice revealed Monday.
For more than a decade, Nwankpa aged 56, reportedly misappropriated funds issued by the Navy, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation, to pay off hefty tabs at ‘gentlemen’s clubs’ and sports bars in the Philadelphia area while he worked as head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
The University discovered the alleged fraud in 2017 during an internal audit and blew the whistle on the improper charges to eight federal grants.
“This is an example of flagrant and audacious fraud and a shameful misuse of public funds. The agencies providing these grants expect them to be used towards advancements in energy and naval technology for public benefit, not for personal entertainment,” said US Attorney William McSwain.
When investigators opened their probe later the same year, they’re said to have found that Nwankpa had been less than subtle about his extracurricular escapades and had other charges made against his federal grants billed at strip clubs, Cheerleaders, and the Tacony Club, spanning from 2007 until 2017.
Findings also revealed he had been misspending government-issued funds in sports bars and on iTunes.
In total, Nwankpa was found to have misspent a total of $189,062, which had been intended for energy, science, and naval research.
The culprit admitted to making unauthorized expenses and resigned from his post when confronted by officials and have agreed to pay back $53,328 — less than a third of the overall sum he had squandered.
Drexel has agreed to pay $189,000 to resolve its potential civil liability in the case. The university said it fully cooperated with the government investigation and since then it has improved its auditing controls.
“Drexel takes allegations of unethical or unlawful business conduct on the part of many members of the university community very seriously and remains committed to being in full compliance with all billing regulations and requirements,” the statement reads.
McSwain praised the university for reporting the matter but expressed disappointment that the professor’s misconduct ‘went unnoticed for so long.’
Nwankpa who worked for 27 years before his resignation has been barred from federal contracting for six months, persecutors say, but he has not been charged with a crime.
He was considered among the university’s top contractors of research grant funds, boasting in his faculty bio that he landed more than $10 million in research money across his career.
An online profile for Nwankpa says he is now self-employed as an engineering consultant.
Though Nigeria’s economy is yet to fully recover from the 2015 recession, young Beninese immigrants seem not to mind. For them, any life away from the extreme hardship back at home has to be good enough. ‘Kunle ADEBAJO reports.
GYAUME Gohoundgi had to drop out of primary school after his father passed away in 2003. One in 10 Beninese children reportedly has lost one or both parents, thus orphans are found almost everywhere, especially in impoverished towns such as Zakpota where Gohoundgi lived. And, like others, the 12-year-old had no one to help with his school fees or even daily upkeep. Then he saw a path that held the promise of survival and financial stability. That path led to Nigeria.
Despite his young age, Gohoundgi travelled to Nigeria the following year, hoping to acquire skills that could help him earn a living. He spent the next four years at a tailoring shop in Ibara-Orile, Abeokuta, learning all there was to know about the trade. Then, when he discovered that he needed capital to establish his own business, he got a motorcycle on hire-purchase and ventured into okada-riding to raise money.
Fortunately, he had two elder brothers already in Nigeria working as commercial motorcyclists as well as manual labourers on farms and quarries. Finally, in 2017, he returned to Zakpota and set up his own tailoring business, Goodness Couture.
Today, 28-year-old Gohoundgi has four young apprentices. Not only is he transferring his skills, he also has to feed three of them who otherwise have no means of fending for themselves.
Seeing someone like Gohoundgi return from Nigeria with good clothes, a motorcycle, and sizeable amount of money, many children in Zakpota also long for a chance to try their luck in Nigeria.
“We are trying to get some of my juniors in school, but they say they want to go to Nigeria,” Gohoundgi says, sitting cross-legged under a tree shade somewhere in Zakpota as three of his apprentices and other children stand around him.
“I tell them our people in Nigeria are working really hard; they are suffering. A brother of mine spent numerous years in Nigeria, but when he got back, he didn’t come with anything. If I didn’t learn a skill in Nigeria and I’d ventured in farm work or quarry work, I would have had to start afresh.”
But such counsel fails to discourage many young people in Zakpota.
Life is tough for the average Beninese child. Despite making primary education free in 2007 and recording improvements in enrolment, nearly half a million (39 per cent of) children are still excluded from primary education, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Especially in low-income communities like Zakpota, engaging children in hard labour is a norm. Provisions of Benin’s Labour and Child Codes stipulating 14 years as the minimum age for work nonetheless, 21 per cent of children aged between five and 14 have been found to work as adults while 16.3 per cent are combining work with schooling.
Every year, hundreds of children are trafficked to Nigeria. Unlike Gohoundgi, most of them are used as domestic helps, street vendors, or are forced to work on remote farmlands and quarries. The trend has continued even though working in Nigeria is not as profitable as it was in the past.
In 2015, according to exchange rate figures provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria, one could exchange N3,260 for 10,000 CFA. But today, to get that same amount, you’ll need over N6,000.
The circumstances of travel vary from child to child: some are forced to travel by their parents, some have no parents, some move to Nigeria while school is on vacation to raise fees for the next academic year, and there are those who even sneak away without their parents’ approval. But one factor that connects nearly every one of them is abject poverty.
Asides having the world’s 26th worst human development index, the World Poverty Clock notes that over 5.1 million people in Benin live in extreme poverty. This is nearly half of a population of 11.2 million. The United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, also stated in a 2019 report that 41 per cent of people living in the country are suffering from severe multidimensional poverty while 14.7 per cent are vulnerable to the condition.
Young children attached to various artisans to pick up skills in Zakpota.
Why trafficking remains an option
In many agrarian African communities, children are seen as a blessing. The traditions strongly encourage a family to have multiple children —especially because more hands are available to work on vast farmlands. But having more hands to work also means having more mouths to feed; and with dwindling resources, the duty of raising children properly is becoming increasingly difficult.
Stakeholders in development circles agree that the source of many of Zakpota’s troubles is the lack of family planning. With each woman giving birth to an average of five children, Benin is ranked as having the 12th highest population growth rate in the world.
“The first problem is that our parents are having too many kids,” admits Victorin Adekoute, President of the Union of Beninese in Nigeria, Ogun State chapter. “Ah! Some men may marry up to five wives. Some wives can give birth to up to ten or eight children. Or more than that even.”
The chapter’s vice president, Hounmenoun Jean, notes that parents who sired many children have themselves not fed satisfactorily.
“If, for instance, someone gives birth to 16 children, for that family to sit down to eat in the morning, afternoon, and night will be difficult,” he explains to The ICIR.
“So, they start thinking perhaps some of the children should go and become house helps. If it’s three that are left, at least those ones will go to school. The money from those serving as house helps will be used to cater for the remaining children at least to some extent.
“Our own problem is that when our men marry, they make sure they deliver the woman of all the children in her body till she reaches menopause. There is nothing like family planning.”
Though Gabriel Azagbe, 15, still has both of his parents alive, his life is no different from that of an orphan. His mother has remarried. His father, a returnee from Nigeria, married five wives and has given birth to 20 children. Two are dead because of inadequate care, the teenager says.
To survive the hardship, he decided to learn photography. During the week, he goes to Zakpota-based Adis Photography Studio to improve his skill, and during weekends he engages in manual labour on farmlands to make some money. With this, he buys garri to eat for the following week at work.
Local laws and customs that frown at abortion and the use of contraceptives encourage Benin’s high fertility rate. The country has the 10th lowest contraceptive prevalence rate in the world. Though abortion is legal in cases of risk to the woman’s life, rape, incest, even in these cases, legal or medical authorisation is required.
Ministry of Health, Sanitary Zone of Bohicon-Zakpota.
Another factor driving many Beninese to neighbouring countries is the loss of arable land for farming. Soil infertility is a gnawing problem especially in the rural communities where most depend on farming for food and income. This is as a result of monocropping, frequent flooding incidents since 1970 according to the World Bank and, some suspect, excessive use of fertilisers.
Adekoute estimates that a piece of land capable of yielding up to three bags of cassava in Nigeria cannot produce more than one in many places in Benin. The crops have also been observed to have significantly smaller sizes.
“People farm on the same spot for several years and do not have any other place to go. Whereas, children are increasing in number. That is the problem,” Jean notes.
Having no reliable means to earn money, many families are unable to enrol their children in school. As a result, the country has the seventh worst literacy rate in the world. Children are also reluctant to work as apprentices, having no money to buy food for sustenance.
And for the few who did attend and graduate from school, they are prevented by high unemployment rates from getting decent jobs. Ganguisou Vinceur, a photographer and resident of Zakpota, who himself spent his youthful days labouring in Nigerian quarries, laments that there are not enough factories around. There is, in fact, none in the local government, he says—“It is only schools we have.”
His son, Fadele, got a degree in German Language over three years ago but has since found no place to work, despite promises from the government.
Vinceur is grateful to Nigeria where he learnt photography. “Nigeria is taking care of us o!” he exclaims. He notes that if not for interventions by international non-governmental organisations such as Terres des Hommes and Bonne Fontaine, the population of Zakpota would have taken a greater hit.
“As they are chasing us from Nigeria, we are going back there because wherever there is corn, you’ll find chickens. There is no food in this place [Zakpota]. We are suffering a lot,” he says.
“It’s not our desire to take the children to Nigeria but… I am suffering, children too are suffering; we all sleep on empty stomachs. Is it good? … Are we going to die here?”
Ganguisou Vinceur (R) sits with other artisans in Zakpota.
Though Zakpota is notorious as a home to victims of trafficking, the problem cuts across all regions of the country. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported there is also a high prevalence of child trafficking in Zogbodomey and Glazoué. And, in the south, Zou, Mono-Couffo, and Ouémé-Plateau have been found to be high recruitment zones.
Government making matters worse
As a child, Didie Kloue had no support, no one to enrol him in school or guarantee him adequate feeding. He had to engage in manual labour to raise money for food and learn tailoring. Now, president of the association of artisans in Zakpota Local Government, he has vowed to uplift as many children as possible who find themselves in similar circumstances.
For years, he has been operating a vocational training centre for young people: the Centre D’appui a la Formation Professionnelle des Artisans de Zakpota (CAFPAZ). Presently, it has 22 people enrolled: 18 girls and four boys. Out of this number, 10 have parents who relatively cater to them. He gives food and shelter to the others, many of whom are orphans, using his personal resources.
“I can’t help as much as the government or well-to-do parents would. But I try to make sure they don’t sleep hungry and are learning,” Kloue says.
His centre has, however, been facing several challenges since Beninese President, Patrice Talon, came into office in April 2016. Educational materials which the previous administration distributed to the children for free were no longer shared. These materials, he states, made it easy for the students who had received some formal education to grasp the lessons.
A government-run training centre in the community was closed down too and a programme, where teachers commissioned by the government taught the children how to read and write, was stopped. Another programme that sponsored artisanal leaders to travel, give talks, and train people in various communities was also discontinued.
He says the change in policy is affecting all of Zakpota.
“We have many children who are willing to learn a skill but have no support, no person to give them food, and it is the lack of this support system that makes them go to Nigeria to do what they are not supposed to do,” he adds.
“When this government came on board, all assistances rendered were stopped. If people go to the government for help, they would reply that it is the people who are supposed to help the government, not the other way round.”
Kloue’s Support Centre for Vocational Training of Craftsmen in Zakpota (CAFPAZ)
Kloue’s Support Centre for Vocational Training of Craftsmen in Zakpota (CAFPAZ)
Kloue’s Support Centre for Vocational Training of Craftsmen in Zakpota (CAFPAZ)
Kloue’s Support Centre for Vocational Training of Craftsmen in Zakpota (CAFPAZ)
Kloue’s Support Centre for Vocational Training of Craftsmen in Zakpota (CAFPAZ)
Kloue’s Support Centre for Vocational Training of Craftsmen in Zakpota (CAFPAZ)
Benin is ranked as a tier-2 country by the 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report. This means its government does not fully meet minimum standards in protecting victims of trafficking but is making significant efforts to comply.
More help needed
Neither the Beninese government nor people are shy about admitting their inadequacy. Benin already has the 32nd highest foreign aid per capita in Africa. It is receiving more development assistance by the year—and this trend is not likely to change soon.
Speaking to The ICIR, Vigan Olivia, Assistante Sociale at the Centre de Promotion Sociale (Centre for Social Promotion) in Zakpota, appreciates the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for supplying needed materials to children enrolled in schools.
The government-run centre, established in 1987, receives returnees from neighbouring countries and assists some children in schooling and getting technical skills. But its activities are heavily dependent on humanitarian support.
“We still need help from other NGOs,” Olivia pleads. “We are trying but the help from NGOs is reducing. Those who have heard are benefitting us, but there are some who have no idea what is happening here. We need further assistance so the work can continue.”
She says the centre is willing to monitor grants or loans given to families in the community by NGOs to ensure that they are properly utilised. If the families are empowered financially, she explains, children will not have to go hungry.
“We just pray that NGOs come to assist the children so that those already in school don’t end up dropping out. During this holiday especially, we’ve been praying about this.”
Adagbe Oussou Celestin, General Secretary of the Zakpota City Council, believes that NGOs can also intervene in the area of the richness of farmlands. He says this is because some of them have the expertise to test the soil and determine what it is suitable for growing or how to replenish it.
“If there is a means of fertilising the soil without spoiling it or taking so much time before results are seen, that’ll be great,” he says.
Asked what steps the Benin government is presently taken to curb the problems, Celestin said that the government’s revenue is limited and cannot all be spent on child development. The government builds schools while expecting help from non-governmental organisations in providing necessary materials, he says. It also repairs roads, he adds, and funds other infrastructures meant for the betterment of everyone.
Adekoute submits that the government needs to do more in promoting family planning in the communities. He would also like to see more NGOs coming around to support the children with opportunities for quality education and skills acquisition, as well as financial empowerment.
26-year-old Elize Azandjo beams as he shares his success story.
This model has worked in the past. For instance, after his apprenticeship in 2013, Elize Azandjo, 26, who is from a poor family background received two sewing machines from Terres des Hommes. Today, six years on, he has bought two additional machines for his workshop, built a house, and bought a piece of land as well as a motorcycle. He also has under his care, six young apprentices.
“I am happy with what Terres des Hommes did for me,” he says, grinning.
“Today, it is they who have made me somebody. And I want them to continue. That is why I am doing what I’m doing with the children so they too can gain in the future.”
* This investigation is supported by the Institute of War and Peace Reporting and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.
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