THE Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court in Jabi on Monday adjourned hearing to June 11 on the application to set aside the warrant of arrest charges against former Minister of Petroleum, Dan Etete, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke and four others implicated in the $1.2 billion Malabu oil scandal.
Justice Danlami Senchi, the presiding judge in the case had earlier ordered the arrest of Etete, Adoke, alongside four others namely Ralph Wetzels, Casula Roberto, Pujato Stefano, and Burrato Sebastiano on April 17 for evading trial since 2017.
Etete and his accomplices are facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for alleged fraudulent allocation of Oil Prospecting License, OPL 245 and OPL 214, conspiracy, money laundering to the tune of over $1.2 billion, forgery of bank documents, and bribery against Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd that belongs to Etete.
Also standing trial are Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep (SNUD), Nigeria Agip Exploration (NAE) and their officials.
The case involves the 2011 purchase by Eni and Shell of Nigeria of Nigeria’s OPL 245 offshore oilfield reported to be one of Africa’s most valuable oil blocks for about $1.2 billion.
Etete’s counsel, L.O Ikwegwe told the court that she had just been served with the EFCC’s counter-affidavit and would need time to respond to it.
Joe Gadzama, SAN, who is representing the fifth, sixth and seventh defendants told the court that he agreed with his colleagues as he was yet to see the EFCC’s counter-affidavit and therefore, would be asking for an adjournment.
He told the court that he served the EFCC the defendant’s affidavit since April 24, accompanied with the hearing notice, adding that with the new issues introduced in the counter-affidavit, he will be filing additional processes.
He urged the court to make the prosecution an undertaking not to proceed with the arrest since there was a legal challenge to it. He urged the court to put the order on hold since the matter was not heard.
Faje Opasanya, SAN, representing the fourth defendant also told the court that he was also constrained to ask for adjournment as new allegations were raised in the EFCC’s counter-affidavit.
He also told the court to restrain the EFCC from carrying out the arrest order. He stated that if by the next date his clients were arrested, the essence of the application would have been defeated.
Counsel to EFCC, Aliyu Yusuf reminded the court that the defendants’ applications were held for a stay of execution of the warrant of arrest and therefore prayed the court to reject the oral application for the stay.
Justice Senchi adjourned the matter to June 11 for hearing, noting, that the oral stay of execution submission made by the defendants’ touched on the main application and ordered a speedy hearing on the matter.
NIGERIA emerged as one of the top five arms importers in sub-Saharan Africa although the report showed a decrease in arms importation in Africa by 45 per cent from 2009- 2103 and 2014-2018.
Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2018 revealed that amongst other four sub-Saharan countries — Angola, Sudan, Cameroon and Senegal, Nigeria came first place as the largest arms importer from 2014-2018. Together, the countries accounted for 56 per cent of arms imports to the sub-region.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Research revealed that Russia is the biggest exporter of arms to Nigeria accounting for 35 per cent, 21 per cent from China and 15 per cent from the United State
“Russia accounted for 28 per cent of arms exports to sub-Saharan Africa in 2014–18, China for 24 per cent, and Ukraine for 8.3 per cent, and the USA for 7.1 per cent and France for 6.1 per cent,” read the report.
Although in 2009–2013, it was shown that Ukraine was the largest supplier to sub-Saharan Africa; however, its arms exports to the region fell by 79 per cent between 2009–13 and 2014–18.
Between 2009–13 and 2014–18 arms imports by African states decreased by 6.5 per cent. Nigeria accounted for 4.8 per cent, Morocco for 15 per cent and Algeria 56 per cent of African arms imports.
In general, Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia accounted for 75 per cent of arms imports with an increase of 20 per cent between 2009–13 and 2014–18.
Globally, Saudi Arabia became the world’s largest arms importer from 2014 to 2018, accounting for 12 per cent of the imports, an increase of 192 per cent over 2009-2013, with the United Kingdom supplying the bulk of its arms.
THE minister of labour and employment , Chris Ngige, has today inaugurated Mr. Austin Enejamo-Isire, as the board chairman of the National social insurance trust fund(NSITF) on the backing of the presidency, amid labour protest.
The is coming two years after the inauguration of the NSITF board by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to the minister, the delay in the inauguration is caused by an allegation of “monumental fraud” between 2012 and 2015 of which, the sum of N62.5 billion was contributed; N48 billion was unaccounted for and N25 billion was withdrawn without vouchers.
The minister urged the inaugurated board to execute their duties objectively with transparency while focusing on staff welfare, not self-gratification. He advised the members to resist the temptation of fixing special allowances for themselves. The organised labour, however, had rejected the development, accusing the minister of replacing the name of the recommended chairman, Frank Kokori, for another.
In a press address, after a central working committee meeting on Thursday, Ayuba Wabba, the National Labour Congress(NLC) president, stated that the minister had no justification to change the appointment made by the president on the basis that he never recommended Frank Kokori to head the NSITF board.
It would be recalled that the labour union last Wednesday, picketed the minister’s residence, on a ground of exclusion of one of their members, Kokori from the NSITF board. This, however, resulted in a clash between people suspected to be the minister’s loyalists and the affected labour officials.
The presidency, in its reaction on the rift between the minister and the labour union, in statement on Sunday by the special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, stated that the decision of the minister, concerning the NSITF has full backings of the presidency, and it is in consonance with Sec. 4(a) of the NSITF Act CAP N88 of 2004 approved by Mr. President since 23rd July, 2018 on the recommendation of the minister.
The statement noted, that Comrade Frank Kokori , on the recommendation of the minister would chair the board of Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), a diploma awarding labour institution.
However, the former General Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Frank Kokori, has rejected the stand of the Government, saying, that “it came too late”.
The NLC on Monday, May 13, took to the streets of Abuja to protest against Ngige over the attack on its members by persons suspected to be hired thugs when they picketed the residence of the Minister.
Mr. Austin Enejamo-Isire, the NSIFT board chairman is a Chartered Accountant, Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and renowned Insurance expert, Senior Member, Chartered Institute of Insurance of Nigeria (CIIN), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) was approved by Mr. President for this position.
Also approved as Non-Executive Directors are two (2) members to represent NLC, two members to represent the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) and one (1) member each to represent the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
A LIEUTENANT Commander in the Nigeria Navy, Solomon Derikoma, has died mysteriously just days before he was scheduled to travel with some of his colleagues for an African study tour.
According to a source who pleaded anonymity, Derikoma, an expert in weapon engineering, was found dead on Sunday in his room at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna state.
He was a member of the 53rd Regular Course of the Nigeria Navy and hails from Rivers State.
The source said that Derikoma’s classmates noticed that he was absent during parade so they went to check on him in his room and found that the door was locked with a padlock from outside indicating that there was no one in the room.
“However, the padlock was broken and the officer’s body was found in the room with a stone by the side and in a pool of blood, suggesting that he was possibly murdered,” the source said, adding that “the body has also started decomposing, which means it happened anytime from Friday”.
Derikoma’s colleagues still went ahead with the study tour but the source says officers on the ground were handling the situation.
Authorities of the Nigeria Navy are yet to issue an official statement about the development.
Being a keynote address delivered Professor Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, PhD, at the opening ceremony of the biennial convention of the Nigerian Guild of Editors held on May 4th 2019 at Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
I AM excited at this kind of invitation to deliver the keynote at the 2019 edition of the Biennial Convention of the Nigerian Guild of Editors. I do not take this opportunity for granted. On this note, I commend the efforts of the leadership of the Guild in ensuring that leaders in the media industry in the country gather specifically to address concerns of the profession, set the agenda for the industry, as well as contribute towards the growth and development of our great nation, Nigeria.
Most important, I am delighted about the theme for this edition of the Convention: “Media Convergence as a strategy for survival”. No doubt, this theme embodies a whole lot of truth. Definitely, it is a clarion call for stakeholders in the media industry, hence, the title of my address becomes relevant. There is a need to tell the naked truth about the media industry. The era of living in self-denial is over and media stakeholders must begin to embrace the objective reality even as we brace up to make the best out of it.
I make bold to say that media convergence will not only keep the media surviving; it also has the potential to make the media industry thrive beyond all reasonable doubts. In Nigeria, most media houses are yet to understand this truth, hence the retrenchment of staff, poor remuneration, shallow content production as well as failure to perform its watchdog function. It is important to note that surviving media houses today are those that have found a way of ensuring that they get acquainted with the latest trends and remodelled their strategy towards making the best out of these trends.
With seven months left to hitting the 160-year-mark since the inception of Iwe Irohin fun awon Egba ati Yoruba in Abeokuta by Rev. Henry Townsend, of the Church Missionary Society, the Nigerian media industry has come of age for a new course to be set. Therefore, this keynote seeks to set the tone for that new course as well as guide the discussion during this convention. It is important to note that the topic of media convergence is not a buzzword but it’s our present day reality. Hence, there is need to stimulate conversation in this area as well as get started on making it happen in our different media establishments and in the industry in general.
First, what do we mean by media convergence?
The word convergence is synonymous with words such as: intersectional, interplay and hybridity. We conceptually mean that through convergence, the media space with the advancement in technology, culture and economy continually alters the relationship between media consumers and producers. In this day and age, former consumers (fan community, readership base, followers of news) have become powerful to the extent that they are fellow purveyors of information. Much more, these fellow producers have become participants in this media space. This practice is what Yochai Benkler, a professor of entrepreneurial studies at Harvard Law School defines as a ‘hybrid of media ecology’ in his 2006 seminal work titled: The Wealth of Networks.
To help us unpack this term better, two reputable scholars in media convergence culture field: Henry Jenkins, a professor at the Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennslyvania, USA and Mark Deuze, a professor at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in an editorial written in the 2008 edition of Convergence Culture Journal defines convergence as a:
…top-down corporate-driven process and a bottom-up consumer-driven process. Media companies are learning how to accelerate the flow of media content across delivery channels to expand revenue opportunities, broaden markets and reinforce consumer loyalties and commitments. Users are learning how to master these different media technologies to bring the flow of media more fully under their control and to interact (and co-create) with other users.
From Jenkins and Deuze’s explanation, the convergence culture puts media companies in the position to continually learn and update their capacity to navigate this large body of delivery channels provided by advancement of technology to reach its audience, make money and retain market leadership.
On the other hand, the media consumers (now producers and participants), are as well trying to understand the intricacies of being bombarded with several alluring media technologies all fighting for attention. This continuous battle is all thanks to the activities of platform capitalists such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Netflix, Youtube, LinkedIn, Amazon and the likes. These companies are altering the journalism business. In fact, they continue to reposition to ensure that every member of its community need not leave its platform to do anything. From reading of books, to consuming of news to even purchasing of household appliances, these platform capitalists are taking up the attention of the media industry’s target audience. Much more, digital advertising is the order of the day. Google alone accounts for 31.1 per cent of the total global advertising spending followed by Facebook, Alibaba and Amazon respectively (eMarketer, 2019).
In terms of engagement as at May 3, 2019, alexa.com ‘The Top 500 sites on the web’ ranked Google as the first website globally. Followed closely are: Youtube, Facebook, Baidu, Wikipedia, Yahoo (9th), Amazon (10th) and Twitter (11th).
In Nigeria, Google ranks number one. The others among top five include: Bet9ja, Youtube, Facebook, Yahoo. In fact, Nairaland (11th), a discussion forum where Nigerians converge, debate and share content ranks higher than any media company platform in the country (Punch Online ranks 12th on the ranking). This day’s technology continues to dwarf the practice of inflation of circulation figures to attract advertising. The advertisers now know the way and will continually go through a route proven with real numbers.
In other words, the rise of emergent new media should be a reason for media practitioners to strategize on how to be relevant. The world is digital. According to the 10th edition of the Measuring the Information Society Report, published by International Telecommunications Union in December 2018, it was noted that 51 per cent of the world’s population (3.9 billion) are using the Internet. Of all the continents, Africa recorded the largest growth rate. From 2.1 per cent of Internet users in 2005, ITU, a United Nations ICT agency based in Geneva, Switzerland noted that Africa has 24.4 per cent of Internet users as at 2018. Indeed, this shows the import of Internet access and usage. With this increase, there is no gainsaying that the practice of journalism has evolved, is evolving and will continue to evolve. With this surge, African media companies have no excuse, not to be intentional about ensuring optimum use of this advantage in repositioning its editorial and business models to remain relevant and profitable.
In today’s hyper-connected ecology, many are always caught in the web of looking down at their gadgets, gleaning numerous tons of information than even paying attention to the neighbour sitting next to them. Digital natives are upwardly-mobile and can only be targeted with the digital mind-set. Hence, journalists must leave the filter bubble they have built around themselves and be willing to evolve. There is a need to understand the operation of these platform capitalists who have become digital intermediaries between publishers and their target audience. This is the naked truth.Journalism in the Era of Digital Intermediaries
Illustration of media convergence CREDIT: Unimark Creative
The truth be told: the sea of companies camping at Silicon Valley are gaining mastery of the audience we once had at our finger tips. They have unique audience profiles and can alter algorithms for their own specific needs. As a profession believed to be Anglo-American, this is an on-going concern for media industries across the globe. As such, there is need for media houses to be circumspect of the workings of these technologies and so should be proactive to seek for new ways of creating tools to engage the audience.
In a study conducted in 2017 on Dealing with Digital Intermediaries by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen and Sarah Anne Ganter of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, it was observed that media houses were reactionary in their approach to the rising dominance of digital intermediaries. Hence, there is need for media houses to take the initiative, be proactive, collaborate and develop media products. There is also the need for newsrooms to gravitate towards improving its technology base for times ahead. Some argue that, with the interplay between journalism and technology, it is likely that a computer will win the Pulitzer Award very soon.
Big media corporations like the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, are continually strategizing and repositioning for the next level in journalism practice. In a report released by its President and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Thompson in March, ‘T’he New York Times’ digital revenue currently stands at $709 million (about 256 billion naira). This implies that within three years of its five-year digital revenue target of $800 million by 2020, it has grossed 87 per cent of its target. Apparently, they are bound to surpass their target before its expiration next year. This is impressive and they are not resting on their oars. Furthermore, within 2018, they added 716,000 new digital subscriptions taking their total paid digital subscriptions to 4.3 million. Additionally, the company launched The Daily, a news and opinion podcast in 2017 and broadcasts twenty minutes a day and five days a week. In 2018, its ‘smash-hit podcast’ episode on the ‘Blasey-Kavanaugh Hearing’ (a hearing which saw the accusation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh for ‘grave sexual misconduct’ by Christine Blasely Ford) became Apple’s most downloaded podcast. To sum up, NYT’s convergence culture is summed up by Thompson as thus:
“…we’re not letting up on exploring new ways of telling the most important stories of the day and meeting the needs of our audience in every form, from the written word to visual to audio to television to streaming.
With its progressive nature, Thompson, a former Director General of the BBC, (U.K) also announced NYT’s commencement of a new television programme by next month (June 2019) known as “The Weekly”. Hence, the media company has resisted the notion that journalism must be statistic and maintain the status quo.
At this juncture, it is also important to draw from lessons of the convergence culture in European newsrooms. From studies conducted recently, it is observed that newsrooms in Europe are embracing the convergence culture. Most especially, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom are at the fore of convergence culture. In other parts of Europe, the convergence culture is growing. In a study conducted by a team of researchers in 2018 within newsrooms across Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, and Portugal, it was observed that:
‘…that a shift from print to convergence culture is occurring… a hybrid newsroom culture is developing that increasingly incorporates convergence; that said, newsrooms have to be able to translate convergence from the strategic level to applicable procedures and policies within their editorial departments.
Asides from the digital wave hitting the newsrooms in US and Europe, worthy of note is the remarkable strides recorded by De Correspondent of The Netherlands led by Rob Wijinberg and Ernstg Pfauth. Through a crowd funding business model, it raised $2.6 million from 45, 888 founding members from 130 countries (including Nigeria) by December 15, 2018, to kick start its English version. This success was achieved through the pooling of resources from across the globe. Now, with the funds realised, they are set to begin publishing of what they call ‘unbreaking news’ by September 2019. This model is also recommendable. With this model, The Correspondent intends to run an ad-free kind of journalism, to click-bait and targeting, fighting stereotypes, solution journalism and collaborating with its ‘knowledgeable’ members.
In fact, with this advancement in models and designs, new titles are emerging in the news rooms. This shows how creativity brings about new dimensions to the profession, new job portfolios and leads to a robust and sustainable business model. In the digital news project conducted by Nic Newman titled: Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2019, the 200 journalists interviewed across 29 countries (including Kenya) had titles such as: Chief Data Officer; Chief Marketing Officer; Head, Audience Engagement; Head of Development/Innovation; Director of Strategy; Head of Multimedia; Director of Product, among others.
It is important to highlight here that despite the innovations and tweaking of practice to fit the digital age, traditional journalistic values must be upheld. Value must not be sacrificed on the altar of innovation and search for new and sustainable business models. According to Thompson of NYT:
…the Company’s commitment to investing in journalism and upholding traditional journalistic values and our continuing focus on sweeping digital innovation has helped us create a sustainable business model for news. Today, ‘The New York Times’ is a leading global news provider and among the world’s most successful news subscription businesses.
The Nigerian Media and the Convergence Culture
While the developed nations continue to shift from previous mode of practising journalism to a flexible, upwardly-mobile and innovative mode, we must not be left behind. With the reach, in terms of digital penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa, in general and Nigeria in particular, media convergence remains a viable option in remaining relevant. I must commend the efforts of newsrooms in Nigeria already going digital and embracing the convergence culture.
The Guardian (Nigeria) has just restructured and created a separate Digital Company from the Newspaper Publishing Company. This is part of business dynamics that NYT’s Thompson has been teaching. Ask for the details from the company.
Also, I commend the efforts of Channels Television in engagIng
a multi-dimensional technology known as the Channels Visual Interface in the reportage of the just concluded 2019 general elections in the country. Through this technology, reporters were beamed live from different studios in real time to discuss issues relating to the election. This is a welcome development.
Another example of innovation I noticed during the election coverage was the opening of the VanguardLIVE hub in Lagos by Vanguard Media in collaboration with Journalism Clinic, It is imperative for more newsrooms to gravitate towards embracing technology. It is a sure tool in restructuring and meeting with current trends and realities worldwide. Much more, some newspaper companies like The Punch, The Nation, The Guardian and Vanguard among others are beginning to make some entry into online broadcasting. This is a welcome idea and there is always room for improvement. Like Henry Jenkins mentioned in his seminal work on Convergence Culture in 2006, media companies must ‘renegotiate their relationship with their consumers’ in order to come out of the quagmire of surviving the onslaught of dwindling revenue and activities of the digital intermediaries.
I make bold to say that any journalist, or media manager who is unwilling to move with the current dispensation of the convergence culture train, is only bidding his time before journalism waves him off the coach. In a 2017 article titled: What newspapers must do to survive the new media onslaught by Lekan Otufodunrin, former Managing Editor, Online and Special Publications, The Nation newspaper, it was put succinctly that ‘days of old-school editors are numbered’. It cannot be said better than a former editor of a national newspaper who led a newspaper digital team. The earlier editors begin to understand the current realities and step up their game, the better. There are still some media practitioners that wave this trend and continue to rely on traditional means of news collection, production and dissemination. Anyone still in the cadre, can only be living in a filter bubble waiting to burst.
Much more, there is need for media houses to focus on instituting policies to guide the usage of these platforms. Drawing from big media corporations, social media policies play a major document for every journalist working under its fold. In 2017, NYT staff received a mail from its Executive Editor, Dean Baquet stating the following:
We believe that to remain the world’s best news organization, we have to maintain a vibrant presence on social media. But we also need to make sure that we are engaging responsibly on social media, in line with the values of our newsroom. That’s why we’re issuing updated and expanded social media guidelines…Please read them closely and take them to heart.
In as much as there is need for remodelling of newsroom practice, there is also the need to consider the policy aspect to ensure every journalist upholds brand integrity and dignity even on the digital street. The call to go digital is also a call to maintain couth, respect and integrity. The social media policy of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is striking. Its policy addresses three core areas of social media engagement …in fact it sums its policy as “Don’t do anything Stupid”.
In Nigeria, I doubt if most media houses have instituted such policies. This is a call to consider instituting such policies to strengthen the media’s integrity. Beyond having the policy, there is need to put it to effective work. Taking a cursory look at how some Nigerian journalists engage on these digital platforms, there is need to ensure the defining of boundaries. These boundaries also have a power to influence the survival strategy of the media industry.
Lest we forget, the strategy in this age should involve knowledge development of the managers too. As a mass communication teacher, I can tell you, we are disrupting our journalism curriculum to include management skills. This is what Martins Oloja, a columnist, former Editor of The Guardian and Executive Head of The Editorial Board of The Guardian told Heads of Departments of Mass Communication and Journalism of Universities and Polytechnics at the Bayero University, School of Communication in August last year in a seminal paper he delivered at the Quarterly lecture on ‘Data and investigative Journalism as a Tool for Fighting Corruption…’
Oloja noted in his conclusion:
..The suggestion about business education in journalism curriculum should not have been so germane if we managers of the newsroom have been familiar with some aspects of modern management studies including “organizational learning” or if we were familiar with the concept of “learning organizations” designed by some scholars for ‘dynamic capabilities’ of firms. We have been trained to report, write and analyse. We can do well in investigative reports, make and waste the money for lack of knowledge of how to manage finances. We are today fantastic reporters and editorialists. And as a result of our writing skills and efficiency in manipulating words we are always promoted from the newsroom to the boardroom but quite often without concomitant training in managing human resources of our organizations. The immediate effect of this gap is that the manager of the newsroom resorts to running newsroom operations & operatives by intuition…
What is in it for us here is that for us to benefit from this media convergence model, we need to learn some aspects of business dynamics of the media at this time. This is what NYT’s Thompson was saying. Journalism education should go beyond writing skills now – so that we can fit into the Boardroom from the Newsroom with confidence. We need to learn, unlearn and relearn as Alvin Toffler, an American futurist, writer, businessman and digital revolution expert, has advised, in this regard. We need digital revolution education, now.
Conclusion:
No one envisaged that a time will come when a president of the free world can speak to the world through a touch of the button on his phone while using the popular micro-blogging website, Twitter. Indeed, this was never predicted. Hence, the need for editors and managers to be innovative, proactive and dynamic in their approach. There is no end to learning. There is room for learning of these tools as well as the inclusion of technology-savvy digital natives in handling how the Nigerian media works. Drawing from NYT’s model, there is always the need to uphold traditional news values without compromise. This distinguishes us from non-professionals marauding within the journalism field in our country.
In the main, I am confident that this convention will help in opening the vista of new ideas and refreshing strategies to take the media industry in the country to the next height it deserves. With the world now digital, any journalism model that seeks to strive and excel beyond bounds must consider the right way to harness digital elements for a greater good. From this convention, I look forward to seeing a Nigerian media industry repositioned to embrace the convergence culture with both arms. Beyond releasing of a communique and media reports about this convention, I propose a more holistic approach towards retooling our strategies and being innovative to remain relevant in this technologically-defined age.
Let the conversation continue.
Long live the Nigerian Guild of Editors,
Long live the Nigerian Media Industry,
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, PhD, MNIPR, arpa Professor of Communication and Gender Studies, University of Lagos, Nigeria.
GIDAN Drama is a Hausa local theatre where plays or other dramatic acts are performed. It is also a setting where local audiences are entertained and a place where upcoming actors nurture their dream to become a movie star. But in the name of entertainment, the place has turned out to be a ground that breeds drug addicts and prostitutes, some sort of jungle and brothel where cheap sex is procured and young girls are devalued and their self-esteem destroyed. In the end, the promising youths grow to become a menace to society. Radio Nigeria examines the activities in Gidan drama and the peculiar intrigues that characterize the entertainment industry.
GIDAN Drama is an old entertainment hub found in almost every urban city in northern Nigeria. Gidan became prominent and known due to the success recorded by Kannywood, Hausa-speaking branch of the Nigerian film industry headquartered in Kano.
The ‘House’ is to train prospective actors who are mostly youths for a chance in Kannywood. It is supposedly a stepping-stone to stardom.
But, with the creation of Solo and Yansolo(solo artists) by a man called Lilisco in 1999 at Tarauni Gidan Drama in Kano city, the stage drama begins to lose prominence and evolves into the new establishment that deprives many females of their dignity and self-esteem.
Hausa Artistes perform at Bakin Dogo Gidan Drama, Kaduna.
The business of this new establishment is medieval in nature, miming and dancing of Hausa soundtrack from Kannywood.
Even though professionals see it as another means of violating the copyright law because it copies the artistic work of other producers, some houses combine the stage Drama and Solo together.
It starts with the promise of a better life for teenagers, especially girls. Good job and steady income. But investigation reveals that is not how it works out.
Little is known of the true extents of the quirks of the so-called “House or Solo (Entertainment)”, that has managed to stay under the radar for many years.
However, allegations are mounting against the establishment for running a highly organised and lucrative forced labour, human trafficking, drugs, and sexual slavery ring.
Unlike drama artist, Solo artistes or Yansolo as a popular name, camp within the theatre premises and thus give room for accommodations of underage girls and thugs that make the environment ever busy more especially during the show.
Investigations reveal that activities of this establishment have ruined so many young girls’ lives and led to the deaths of many men in some areas.
Nigeria, like most African countries, is faced with so many problems such as poverty, unemployment, insecurity and natural disaster, and the problem of forced labour and human trafficking have added to the problem.
In addition to that, attitude toward education in northern Nigeria is persistently low. According to Rachel Hatch in his article, “Schooling in northern Nigeria: Challenge for girl’s education,” in many northern states, more than 50 per cent of young women age 15-24 have no formal education.
This situation has confined many young people, especially women exclusively to households with no source of livelihood, leaving many, especially teenage girls, to be susceptible to manipulation. and lured them into the Gidan-Drama / Yansolo ring as many interviewed claimed.
With the assistance of truck drivers, agents, and owners of Gidan, many teenage girls from the country and beyond have been trafficked from state to state and from the North to the southern part of the country to find abode in the Gidan Drama/Yansolo to keep the empire sustained and the business interest active.
Once at Gidan, the girls are subjected to all manners of abuse.
In the actual entertainment industry, the relationship between a director and actors is mostly professional, but the relationship between the girls and owners of Gidan Drama is of total control, a pimp–prostituting type of relationship.
Also, cameras are friendly kits in the real entertainment industry, but Gidan Drama prohibits the use of the camera, more especially during the show, in order to keep the secret activities within the four walls of Gidan.
At Usman Aroke Gidan Drama in Ogere Remo, a border town on Lagos-Ibadan road, many of the girls came from the northern part of Nigeria and permanently stay there.
Usman Aroke and another female actress.
A 20-year-old Khadija TJ is one of such girls, though not displaced by insurgency; she came from Kamba, a small impoverished town on the border of Nigeria and Niger Republic.
According to her, she was introduced to the business by a friend. Khadija’s parents do not know her exact location because associating with Gidan Drama is not a proud occupation to share with one’s family.
She dresses lustfully to the satisfaction of male customers, jam-packed in a loud music Arena (theatre).
Khadija TJ and the other girls at the beginning of the show were made to go round the arena in a more respectful, submissive manner and welcome the spectators.
As the girls were dancing on stage, the Master of Ceremony, MC stopped the music and challenged them to go and find N300.
For the girls and spectators, it is normal and part of the activities of Gidan Drama/ Yansolo.
The girls submissively move to the spectators and forcefully find a friend, tender their helplessness to get money as instructed by the master of ceremony.
One of the actresses at Gidan Drama.
The girls will continue to go back for more money, as the MC continues to pester them until each and every one of the girls realises a significant amount of money, or sometimes, until when a deal is reached for an all-night sex romp with a customer who is willing to ‘drop’ more currency.
Those who couldn’t make enough money, they would be made to sit or lay flat on the ground and wait for punishment that would be determined by the girls who get the most money, or by the MC.
The submission to the state of vulnerabilities makes spectators and visitors to Gidan attractive, one can be sure of getting a girl who must come to ask.
According to investigations, some of the punishments include drenching the unsuccessful ladies with water, or with waste engine oil, or asking them to roll on the ground, and in some cases confining them in a room (cell) until a bailout.
The girls are programmed to kowtow before their guests, subdued and liberty-tamed.
According to the Secretary of Arola Gidan Drama, Gali, the girls are cunning and street-wise, always finding ways to beat negotiators. They play over the intelligence of men; reap the profit without rendering the services, if possible.
Usman Aroke at Aroke Gidan Drama Ogere Rheno, Ogun State.
It’s also very risky on the part of the ladies as there are other smart guys, indeed very dangerous, who would not tolerate excuses or disappointment. In most cases, this clash of interest creates a serious problem at Gidan Drama.
Chairman of Ogun state Gidan drama, Mr Usman Aroke who started his career in 1999 as a local boxer before joining cultural troop’s dance in Gombe, said he married out seven girls from his Gidan Drama. He claimed that most of his artists voluntarily join his troupe and that they are much more disciplined.
Aroke prevents his girls from being interviewed and disguises the activities at his Gidan Drama as Hausa Cultural Dance Troupe.
One of the male artists Iliyasu Alhassan from Gombe, started dancing at his secondary school days, though, a mechanic by profession said he came to Ogere based on Aroke’s invitation.
And one of the spectators who simply mentioned his name as Abdullahi said he always attended Gidan Drama for entertainment sake.
Also at the Apapa Gidan Drama and Yansolo, the girls are matured, experienced and expensive.
But some of the girls express their displeasure and depression. In fact, some of them want to go back home because they are no longer happy.
Though most of the girls attribute crises and security problem as leading factors of being in Gidan drama, they also crave for divine intervention to enable them leave the business and start a new life.
Among those ones who said they have had enough of Gidan Drama are Grace Musa (not real name) from Michika Local Government of Adamawa, Asabe Iliya from Daddare in Lafia Local Government of Nasarawa state and Aisha Musa from Maiduguri, Borno state.
But others such as Hadiza Mammadu from Dosou, in the Niger Republic and Maryam from Plateau state said they enjoy the business since according to them, it is lucrative.
Grace Musa said she left home with her parents because of the insurgency. Looking so weak and sad, she said: “I am not happy staying in the Gidan Drama because here you are on your own, nobody to advise you”.
Maryam, a divorcee from Plateau State said she started the business way back in Jabi Daki Biyu, in the FCT, and got to Lagos through a former chairman (owner of Gidan Drama) who took them to Apapa for performances’.
She hopes that one day she would leave Gidan Drama in pursuit of a better dream.
Asabe Iliya from Daddari in Lafia Local Government of Nasarawa state said she left home with her parent because of farmers/herdsmen clash after their home was burnt down during the crisis.
She called on governments to come to their aid. She said Gidan Drama was a temporary transit before something better comes along.
Hadiza Mammadu from Dosou in the Niger Republic said she’s orphan as a result of Boko Haram crisis that killed both her parents, husband and left her with five younger ones, and her children.
Hadiza was a bit older, explained that she’s more or less Nigerian because of Gidan Drama business which took her around the country, adding that she married three of her sisters out with proceeds from her performances.
Aisha Musa from Borno State left Maiduguri for Port Harcourt and later Lagos because of Boko Haram insurgency that renders many homeless.
She said her prayer always was for the opportunity to leave the business and get married.
The Sarkin Hausawa of Idi Araba and Mushin, Lagos, Hassan Auyo describes trafficking, forced labour and commercial sex as a global phenomenon, but blames the girls’ situation on the government for not being proactive on the cases of orphans and the IDPs.
Sarkin Hausawa of Idi Araba and Mushin, Alhaji Hassan Auyo at his palace in Lagos.
He called on the state and federal government to borrow a leaf from developed countries, and use the social security budget to sponsor the education of orphans and the IDPs.
The traditional ruler added that the six Hausa traditional rulers in the southwestern state are ready to collaborate with the relevant stakeholders in the fight against girls trafficking.
Ogere Remo hosted three Gidan Dramas, while investigations revealed that Oyo State and Ogun state have over 12 Gidan Dramas and about twenty -five Gidan Drama/ Yansolo is estimated to be in existence in the whole of the southwest.
It is interesting to note that as the industry seems to flourish; the authorities in Southwest seem unaware of its existence, and therefore has not done anything about it.
Truck drivers as agents of Gidan Drama
The investigation by Radio Nigeria revealed that tanker drivers are the best customers for Gidan Drama. The nature of their job allows them to visit towns and villages in every state.
The girls are usually packed under the trucks and brought en-masse to their destination. As such they services the industry not only in terms of patronage but also serves as a traffic link.
A truck driver, Akilu Mohammed says the drivers are contributing largely in conveying the young girls to various Gidan Drama in the country, he said.
Akilu popularly called Baban Jummai, said apart from transporting; they feed the girls and give them money when departing.
He said truck drivers usually patronise all manner of joints, adding that some have girlfriends in the joints visited.
He advises parents to always do their best in training their children. He also urges the government, securities and relevant agencies to as a matter of urgency step-up their duties and reduce trafficking of young girls.
Though, not an artist of Gidan drama, Hauwa a 21- year- old from Kano state, says she is in Ogere with her tanker driver lover. She says her boyfriend brought her from Abuja and rented a room for her so that anytime he is going to Lagos he will have a stopover at Ogere.
Another Gidan Drama actress.
According to Hauwa, she was forcefully married to a cousin she did not love and asked the husband for a divorce and he refused. She later filed a case in a court demanding for a divorce, which the husband also rejected, she said.
Being a beautiful Fulani woman, Hauwa says a judge who earlier made sexual advances at her, helped nullify the marriage.
“He gave me divorce papers as against my parents and husband wishes, as a result of that my ex-husband slumped at the court, and was consequently hospitalised and still receiving treatment, she said.
As a result, Hauwa said her family rejected her which forced her to relocate.
She said that “the whole of my family was not happy with the circumstance, so I left Kano for my uncle place in Abuja and met the same situation.
Hauwa added that there are so many girls from the north, who are in Ogere with their tanker driver lovers.
Gidan Drama/ Yansolo is also associated with the purchase and consumption of illicit drugs: Heroin, Indian hemp, codeine, sheesha, tramadol and many others.
The investigation also revealed that there is a significant link between sex work and drug use. Sometimes sex traffickers use drugs to keep young girls under their control and at times men share drugs with sex workers as a way to enhance the pleasure.
According to a regular attendant of Gidan in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Sarki Hassan, due to the nature of Gidan and its activities, most of the girls involved are associated with drugs.
He said the girls cannot yield to the command of their masters publicly without being high.
According to Sarki, most of the girls are introduced into the business were innocent before they were introduced to drugs.
Investigations also revealed that other people in the chain are the big madams, who go to villages and towns to lure girls to join the business.
It further revealed that the big madams connect and receive payments from patrons who seek the girls for their pleasure.
A cross-dresser and also agent called Aljan said the work of an agent has been reduced drastically due to the involvement of a high number of girls in the activities of Gidan Drama and YanSolo.
He said various tribes are involved adding that it cuts across religious, tribes and regions, citing an example of one Igbo girl called ba-Hausa.
According to Aljan, some of the girls initially resisted compliance with activities at Gidan, but later succumbed and joined the rest.
This Investigative Report is supported by the Ford Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.
THE Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) and the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) have launched a public health communication video to pressure the leadership and members of the National Assembly to approve the draft National Tobacco Control Regulations.
The 35-second video opens with a startling revelation that 16,100 Nigerians die annually due to tobacco use and emphasizes that the effective enforcement of the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act as key to reversing the deaths. It ends with the demand for strong tobacco control regulations.
It also stressed that to implement of the NTC Act, members of the current National Assembly must approve the Draft Tobacco Control Regulations and make it an indelible public health legacy to Nigerians.
The video appeals to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to ensure the approval of the regulations before leaving office in June.
One of the key demands by ERA/FoEN and NTCA to the lawmakers is: “Save Lives, Don’t Wait…Regulate”.
“This public health communication is intended to educate Nigerians and reach our lawmakers who are key in ensuring that strong regulations are approved before the end of their tenure in June 2019,”ERA/FoEN Deputy Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said.
“The House of Representatives has approved the regulations, the onus is on the Senate to follow suit,” Oluwafemi added.
He also said the video would be broadcast on major television channels in the country.
THE four new individuals that were appointed emirs of the new emirates created by the Kano State Government have assumed office despite an injunction of a Kano State High Court restricting Governor Ganduje from going ahead with the establishment of new emirates or appointing any new emir.
This was revealed in a statement by Abba Anwar, Ganduje’s Chief Press Secretary, on Saturday, which explained that the Governor had already appointed the four emirs and they had turned in their acceptance letters before the court issued the restraining order.
According to Anwar, while the court order was issued around 5 pm on Friday, May 10, “letters of the notification of appointment (of the new emirs) were written from the office of the secretary to the state government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, since Thursday, May 9, 2019, and were dispatched to the concerned emirs the following day Friday, May 10, 2019, in the very early hours of the day”.
He stated further that the new emir of Karaye,Ibrahim Abubakar II, forwarded his acceptance letter at about 12 noon on Friday, while Tafida Abubakar II, who was appointed emir of, sent in his acceptance letter earlier, around 10:15 am.
The Emir of Bichi, Aminu Ado Bayero, accepted his appointment at 10 amand, his Gaya counterpart, Ibrahim Abdulkadir, wrote in his acceptance letter by 10:30 am.
Anwar’s statement was in reaction to allegations of contempt of court against Ganduje who was reported to have gone ahead with the appointments in spite of the restraining order given by Justice Nasiru Saminu of the Kano High Court.
A copy of the restraining order.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus of the Kano State Assembly had filed the suit seeking to restrain Governor Ganduje from going ahead with the establishment of four new emirate councils in Kano State following a hurried amendment of the State’s Chieftaincy Act.
The lawmakers claim they are not fighting on behalf of the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi, but rather to ensure that due process was followed in all the activities of the Assembly.
The letter seeking to amend the Kano Chieftaincy Act and make room for the creation of more first-class emirates was first read on the floor of the State’s Assembly on Monday, May 6, by Wednesday, it had been passed and signed into law and new emirs were appointed on Thursday.
Birth registration is the first step towards recognising a child’s inalienable right as a human being, but unfortunately, statistics have shown that Nigeria is still grappling with achieving universal registration of births. In this part two of the series on Birth Registration, Adetola BADEMOSI investigates how officials of the National Population Commission (NPC) have contributed to low birth registration in the country, particularly in Abuja and Lagos.
“MADAM, you will pay o. Is there anything that comes free in Nigeria?” a receptionist at a popular hospital at Ogba, Ojodu Local Government Area of Lagos State, told Sunday Tribune during an undercover investigation on registration of new births in Lagos.
Although the receptionist, a lady, claimed not to be directly in charge of birth registration, she said: “A government official from the local government office comes to the hospital periodically, especially during immunisation days to register babies. You can come with N1000 when you are ready; come very early.”
Birth registration is supposed to be free in Nigeria. But in most parts of the country, this most important task of documenting the birth of precious new citizens of Nigeria has been taking over by touts and profiteers who collect dubious fees from unsuspecting parents.
Though the National Population Commission (NPC), apart from conducting periodic census exercises, is mandated to record births and deaths, as data obtained from these records are used to update the census figures on an annual basis for national planning purposes, public records show that birth registration data are still relatively low in the country and observers have blamed this on limited financial support for birth registration processes, illegal fees collection by registrars, insecurity, shortage of manpower, lack of awareness, illiteracy and decline in women’s access to maternity centres because of increased poverty and high medical costs.
Although the commission had repeatedly declared that the registration of newborns and under 18-year-old children is free, investigations by Sunday Tribune revealed that registration is still being paid for in health centres, hospitals and birth registration centres across the country. For this reason, the registration rate has continued to dwindle.
PHC Maryland, Onigbongbo LGA, Lagos.
However, owing to the importance of birth registration and consistent default of Nigeria in the registration of new births, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), took up the issue with lawmakers at the National Assembly (NASS) urging them to address the issue before it gets worse.
In a report entitled ‘Good practices: Working towards free and universal birth registration’ presented to the Senate Committee Chairman on Population, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi by UNICEF, which was obtained by Sunday Tribune, the United Nations agency adduced that costs related to fees have always been a barrier to increased birth registration. The report, therefore, recommended the prohibition of payment for birth registration in some countries such as Nigeria, Senegal, and Rwanda, among others.
It stated that waiver of fees collection was made in Nigeria due to low birth registration, adding that children from poor and uneducated parents living in urban slums and far-flung rural communities may not pay to register.
Interestingly, statistics has shown that new births are on the rise in the country. In a survey of 10 countries carried out by UNICEF, Nigeria ranks the highest in the number of births among countries like Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Niger, Kenya, Sudan, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Egypt. But little is being done in the area of documenting these births.
The UNICEF also took the Nigerian situation further by predicting an astronomical rise in the children population. The organisation in its Generation 2030 Africa Report, projected that by 2021, Nigeria›s child population would be 109 million, and by 2030, no fewer than 136 million births would have taken place, adding to its already bursting population figure as the highest in Africa and one of the fastest growing in the world. According to the report, Nigeria will contribute more than a fifth of the total growth of the African population between 2015 and 2050 while its population will be 2.5 times its current size, reaching 440 million.
However, out of 32 million under-five children population in Nigeria, only 2.8 million are believed to be registered. This implies that the rest, legally, do not exist, a population that is nearly the entire population of Ghana in 2018.
This record shows poor compliance of the Federal Government›s Decree No. 69 of 1992 on vital registration, which states that registration shall be carried out free of charge, within a period of 60 days from the date of birth of a child. The decree presupposes that every child born in Nigeria has the right to be registered.
A process under the cloud of suspicion
Part of the defence of NPC on why Nigerians must pay to register newborns and under-18s is the need to quicken and digitise the process of registering births. This need, the commission claimed, informed its decision to go into a Private Public Partnership (PPP) with a firm, Socket Works Ltd, to get the job done. But this innovation came at a huge cost to poor citizens, as interested parents are expected to pay between N500 and N5,000, a good part of which goes into the company’s account.
However, investigations conducted by Sunday Tribune in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Lagos State, revealed that despite the intervention of the NASS that the fees be discontinued, they are still being collected by some individuals. Though these charges for birth registration indeed are not uniform in all accredited public hospitals including primary healthcare centres (PHCs) and private hospitals, parents pay between N500 and N5,000 to NPC officials in the hospitals visited.
Interestingly, however, NPC has denied none of its staff members was asked to collect such money.
At a popular private hospital in the Central Business District, Abuja, an official of the NPC who visits the hospital only on immunisation days to register the new births charges N1,000 before a certificate is issued. A bio form (B1) is also given out to the baby’s parents to fill. The form provides space for details of parents such as names, occupation, and date of birth, among others.
At the Gwarinpa General Hospital, between N500 and N4,500 is charged depending on the age. The money is paid to the NPC official attached to the hospital.
The birth registration official was not on seat when Sunday Tribune visited but a nurse on duty at the immunisation section disclosed that initially a sum of N4, 000 to N5,000 was being charged for the certificate, but that stopped earlier this year. “The hospital now charges N500,” she said.
A new mother, Mrs Amara George, who spoke with Sunday Tribune said: “I registered my baby about two to three weeks after her birth and the man (registrar) collected N500. I was unaware that it was free. I was sceptical at first when my friend asked me to do it, but I felt that N500 is small money that someone can sacrifice. It is even now that I came to realise its importance,”
Another nursing mother at the hospital, who refused to give her name, also said that her six months old baby is still unregistered because she was asked to pay N500, which she, then, could not afford.
“Not that it is too much but you know at that time, I had nothing on me. Since then, I have not had the chance to do it. Maybe one of these days,” she said resignedly.
Mrs. Oluwole, a mother of three children on her own part, said she parted with N2,000 to register each of her children earlier in the year.
Also, at AMAC Primary Health Centre located at Lugbe, Abuja, mothers were also required to pay N500 but, unlike other instances, the official filled the form via a handheld device.
Although some mothers at the centre were seen paying for the registration, several others look unperturbed. “I don›t have that money now, maybe later,” one of them told Sunday Tribune.
A youth corps member, also a nursing mother who simply gave her name as Mojisola, said she has not registered her baby.”They said if you had your baby here and you did not register him that same day, you would have to pay N3,000 afterwards. There is no need to rush. Moreover, I will not need it now, so it can wait,” she said.
At the Kuchingoro PHC, the NPC official on ground, who refused to disclose his identity, said the price is determined by the age of the applicant. He confirmed that the least amount being collected is N500.
But further findings by Sunday Tribune revealed that the fees charged differ from hospitals to hospitals. A civil servant who simply gave her name as Mrs. Abdulsalam confirmed this much when she told Sunday Tribune that the reason she had not registered her baby who is now six months old was that she was asked to pay N5,000 rather N500.
“Something I don’t see as important and I want to do it to fulfil my obligation and somebody is telling me to pay N5,000. That is why I have not done it but maybe now that you have said it, I will go and do it for her. It is the money that discouraged me at the time,” she lamented.
In Lagos, all the hospitals visited by Sunday Tribune requested for fees starting from N1000. At Ifako Ijaiye General Hospital, at College Road, the registration official demanded a sum of N500 from Sunday Tribune, even assuring that the certificate will be issued the same day.
Mrs. Akpabio a teacher in a private school was stunned when she was told the registration was free. She said she was not aware that the registration could be free. According to her, she paid to register her new-born.
“…Is it free? I didn’t know because when I had my son in 2015, I paid and they registered him and gave me a certificate. But I cannot exactly remember how much I paid, but I certainly paid. The inscription at the entrances of the health centre says that birth registration is free but all is a lie; they collect money,” she added.
Madam Adenekan, who sells groceries in a small makeshift shop, had no idea of the registration in question. She said when she was delivered of her last baby in 2018, she was told to pay a sum of N1,000 for birth registration but she was confused. She eventually did not pay.
At the Maryland PHC, a female NPC official who was asked if the exercise was free told Sunday Tribune that it would cost N1,000, adding that the certificate would be available after two days.
“How old is your baby?” the officer asked. “You will pay N1,000 and collect it (certificate) latest Friday,” she assured. Asked whether a receipt would be issued for the payment, she said «no».
County hospital, Lagos
Who collects the fee?
But who collects this money since the process has been declared illegal and stopped after the intervention by UNICEF? Where does the money so collected go?
Sunday Tribune sought the attention of top NPC officials in Lagos to know how the payment came into being and why the fee is still being collected despite the directive to stop. Mrs Semiat Lawal, NPC Deputy Director, Public Affairs in Lagos State, explained that in the first instance, Lagos State did not subscribe to the Socket Works’ proposition that applicants should pay for birth registration since most hospitals in the state are still grappling with low turnout. According to her, the exercise is free, as asking parents to pay for birth registration might worsen the setback.
“In Lagos, we didn’t start the Socket Project because we were recording low response when the firm approached us. Our commissioner, Mrs Abimbola refused to implement it in Lagos because she is aware that we are having challenges with people coming out to register their births and if we now have to put a price tag on it, that means they will not even come out at all. So she refused to embrace that project,” she said.
She, however, implied that some individuals, who she called “mercenaries” could be carrying out unethical practices but she refuted the claim that staffers of the NPC in the various hospitals were involved in the scam. According to her, no staff member of NPC would participate in such act, insisting that applicants were not supposed to pay for birth registration and certificate issuance.
“We have touting challenge in Lagos, third party issues, mercenaries; they are the ones that charge. If you actually want to collect your birth certificate and you get to our office, they will demand your ID card. UNICEF has trained them and they know that birth registration is free,” she told Sunday Tribune.
Mrs Lawal further stressed that efforts are being made to clamp down on erring NPC officials and sanction them.
Why we initially introduced fees – NPC
Explaining why the issue of fee payment arose, Director of Public Affairs, National Population Commission, Mr. Mohammed Isah, told Sunday Tribune that the NPC had a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with an IT firm, Socket Works, which was contracted to digitise the birth registration process. The process, he said, led to the N4,000/N5,000 charges placed on registration and issuance of certificates.
Explaining what the private company was contracted to do, Isah said unlike the previous analogue arrangement the firm would collect the information of prospective persons and process it in a database after payment of N1000 for registration, adding that applicants who are afterwards interested in the certificate are required to pay an additional fee of N3, 000 to N3,500.
“The information gathered through the forms are normally taken to the centre and filled into the system. It means that the child has been registered and has to pay more money for the certificate,” he said.
In the past, the form B1, he stated, would be given to parents of the child. This form, he explained, takes information about the child as well as the parents adding that, “instantly we transfer the information into our register and we issue the certificate.” He lamented that halting the automated process is a setback on the part of the commission.
According to him, the charges by the IT firm, he said did not go to the coffers of the government as revenue. They were meant for the IT firm to cover the administrative cost of the digitisation process, adding that this has since been stopped by the National Assembly as it was apparently causing a setback to achieving total registration of all births in the country.
“Initially we had a private-public partnership with a private company, Socket Works. Because of the fact that they use a lot of modern gadgets to register, they were permitted to charge more, but we discover that Nigeria as a country has not got to a situation where the commission or private firm should be collecting money from individuals who want to register their children.
“We are fortunate that the National Assembly listened to the complaints of parents and resolved that issuance of birth certificate to every prospective child under 18 should be free and this is what the commission is doing now in the 774 LGAs of the federation and in the over 4000 birth registration centres in the country,” he said.
On why the commission has been unable to achieve its given targets or automate the process by itself, he listed funding as one of the stumbling blocks.
“Of course the commission is interested in automating the issuance of birth certificates but not at the expense of the parents. We want a situation where the government will make available adequate funds for the commission so that we can migrate from analogue to automated issuance of birth certificate,” he stated.
PHC Oregun, Onigbongbo LGA, Lagos State.
What NPC must do to staff who extort … UNICEF
But UNICEF which directly oversees issues relating to children and their general wellbeing was not impressed when Sunday Tribune contacted it over the issue, saying such charges are illegal. Sharon Oladiji, UNICEF’s Child Protection Specialist disclosed that the body had raised concerns over fees attached to birth registration in the country. She maintained that UNICEF was unaware of the public-private partnership with the firm until it became a cause for concern. She also stressed the need for Nigerians to report such cases as this may continue to persist.
“We had opportunity to meet the Senate Chairman on Population and were able to raise issues of privatisation with him and informed him about the best practices across other countries. We believed this contributed to the House stepping in to speak against collecting money for birth registration.
“We also had the opportunity to meet with the vital registration committee of the NPC and Socket where we raised the issues that when they were planning the PPP, UNICEF was not consulted. For us, we are working with the policy and decision makers, those that can influence decisions at the lower level to practically deal with the current issues. This is the much we can do,” she said.
She, however, commended Socket Works for introducing the digital process, adding that the UNICEF had always advocated such, just as she argued that the cost should not be levied on poor Nigerians while advising the commission to strategise on how to fund its digitisation process.
Speaking on sustaining the war on paying for registration of birth, the UNICEF chief said: “We are working with the population commission management itself to use more sanctions against their staff taking money. We will keep shouting to NPC and the media that this issue of collecting money is affecting birth registration data and dragging it down, as we are missing on many children not registered.”
As a result of the projected population explosion in Africa especially Nigeria, it became imperative for the government to prepare for these demographic shifts by planning for the increasing populace.
This, however, can only be achieved through the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems which will strengthen development planning at all levels. Without accurate demographic data and analysis, it is difficult for a country to plan adequately for the required increases in essential services that Africa’s burgeoning child population will require.
This report was written with support from Ford Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.
THE Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the release of the result of 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) withholding scores of 34,120 candidates for various examination malpractices.
Registrar of JAMB, Ishaq Oloyede who made the announcement on Saturday in Abuja disclosed that a total of 1,792,719 results were released, noting that a total of 15,145 results of candidates who were found to have identical data were among those withheld while 59,667 candidates were absent from the examination.
Oloyede said a total of 1,886, 508 candidates registered for the matriculation examination in Nigeria and eight other countries.
Speaking on the delay in the release of the results, he explained that the efforts of the board at stemming the tide of examination malpractice were worsened in 2019 examination by multiple registrations by candidates.
He further stated that the board had informed the public that the results of the 2019 UTME would not be immediately released like it was done in previous years in order to subject the results to internal scrutiny.
Oloyede who broke down in tears during the press conference lamented the extent to which some parents were aiding and abetting examination malpractice.
He disclosed that the board was incapacitated by the level of multiple registrations by candidates which he said was done with the connivance of Computer-Based Centres (CBT) operators.
The JAMB Registrar listed Aminu Saleh College of Education, Bauchi State University, Delta State College of Education and Ekiti State College of Education among centres where multiple registrations took place.
He said with the help of biometrics, the board was able to detect all the multiple registration which according to him distorts data of actual registered candidates.
“We have multiple registrations where one single candidate registered 23 times or 60 times,” Oloyede said.
“Ekwueme Chibuzor registered 22 times with different names, location and pictures. Nabilla Abdullahi registered 42 times while Mohammed Nafisa contributed her finger prints to 64 other candidates at Bauchi State University and in Borno one candidate registered 233 times.”
On the CBT centres who aided the wanton examination malpractice, he disclosed that 116 CBT centres have been delisted or suspended noting that 18 of them were previously sanctioned.
As a result of the multiple registrations, Oloyede said the board generated over N200million from candidates who applied for correction of names which he described as premeditated errors.
Giving the breakdown of the performance of candidates, 15 year -old Ekene Franklin from Imo State scored 347 to emerge the candidate with the highest grade, followed by 16-year-old Emmanuel Chidiebube from Abia State who scored 346 and Oluwo Isaac who scored 345.
