Home Blog Page 2686

SAFETY ALERT: Traffickers and illegal harvesters are hunting for human kidney

Chikezie OMEJE
-
0
SAFETY ALERT: Traffickers and illegal harvesters are hunting for human kidney

The Federal Ministry of Health has written a letter to the Nigerian Medical Associations (NMA) to alert doctors on the increasing number of human kidney trafficking.

According to the letter, signed by Wapada Balami, Director of Hospital Services in the Ministry of Health, the presidency is alarmed by the rise in illegal harvesting and transplanting of human organs.

It specifically asked the NMA to inform all the doctors in the relevant specialities “so that Nigerians will be circumspect while embarking on medical tourism in other countries”.

The letter was in response to the arrest and prosecution of 41 suspected human kidney traffickers in Egypt.

The presidency said the office of Egypt’s Prosecutor-General had issued names of private hospitals in Giza area of Cairo involved in the trafficking of human kidneys to include:

  • Dar al-shefa in Helwan, Cairo
  • Al-Bashar Specialist Hospital in Faisal, Giza
  • Al-Amal Centre for General Surgery in Maurinteya, Giza
  • Dar Ibn Al-Nafis Hospital, Giza

Mike Ogirinma, NMA President, told Daily Trust that NMA might not have the power to stop the illegal trade of human organs but the association could investigate the issue.

“If some of our colleagues are in that trade, that is very disheartening,” he said. “For us as an association, we may not have such powers to stop it but we can investigate.”

 

 

With Hameed Ali, Buhari jets off to Turkey Wednesday for D-8 summit

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
With Hameed Ali, Buhari jets off to Turkey Wednesday for D-8 summit

President Muhammadu Buhari is billed to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday to participate in the 9th D-8 Summit beginning on Friday.

This was contained in a statement signed on Tuesday by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.

Buhari will also embark on a working to Ankara, the Turkish capital, on the invitation of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey.

“In Ankara, the President will have a tete-a-tete with his Turkish counterpart while delegations from both countries will hold discussions in various fields including defence cooperation, security, educational and migration issues,” the statement read.

“The Nigerian leader will also visit the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey in Ankara where he will meet with the Speaker, Ismail Kahraman.

“While in Istanbul, the Turkish commercial centre, President Buhari will use the occasion of the D-8 Summit to bolster warm and growing ties across a broad range of areas of cooperation with leaders of the D8-member countries, namely Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey.”

The D-8, also known as Developing-8, is an organisation for development cooperation among eight developing countries of the world, namely: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.

The theme for this year’s summit is ‘Expanding Opportunities through Cooperation’.

At the end of the summit, the Heads of State and Government would adopt a communiqué, also known as the ‘Istanbul Declaration’.

Buhari will be accompanied on the trip by some ministers and top government officials, including Hameed Ali, Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service.

It is also expected that Buhari and Ali will discuss the illegal importation of firearms into Nigeria from Turkey, with a view to putting an end to the ugly trend.

INVESTIGATION: Boko Haram members ‘are freed’ but mutinous soldiers are stuck in Kirikiri Prison

Rebecca Akinremi
-
5
INVESTIGATION: Boko Haram members ‘are freed’ but mutinous soldiers are stuck in Kirikiri Prison
Some of the soldiers accused of refusing to fight Boko Haram appear before a court-martial in Abuja on Oct. 15, 2014. Photo Credit: VOA

 

Soldiers serving jail terms at the Kirikiri Medium and Maximum Security Prisons have cried out to President Muhammadu Buhari to forgive them whatever wrongdoing they had committed and grant them pardon for the sake of their families.

The soldiers are those sentenced to death by a military court martial in 2014 for demanding weapons before going to confront Boko Haram terrorists, but whose cases were later reviewed and commuted to 10 years imprisonment by the Chief of Army Staff..

They include the 12 soldiers convicted in September 2014 and sentenced to death by a court martial for demanding for weapons when the General Officer Commanding the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army visited a military camp in Maiduguri, and the 58 others sentenced to death in December by another court martial for similar offence.

ICIR met the soldiers during an undercover visit to the prisons last week and interviewed them on how they’re faring and the conditions in the prisons.

The soldiers revealed that some Boko Haram suspects brought into the prisons had all regained freedom while they have continued languishing in jail.

A corporal, who acted as their spokesman, said: “The people we risked our lives fighting in Sambisa Forest who were brought here are being released one by one while we remain in jail. This is traumatic for all of us and we are begging our commander-in-chief to grant us pardon for the sake of God and our families.”

The soldiers also disclosed that the military authorities had stopped their salaries and their families had become impoverished.

“Most of us are the breadwinners of our families but we are in jail and our families have no one to take care of them. Our children have dropped out of school and we can’t help them,” said another soldier, as the others all nodded their heads in agreement.

They pointed at a soldier whose daughter was to write WAEC this year but had to drop out of school for lack of money.

But even life in the prison has been hectic and traumatic. The soldiers all complained about the exploitation by prison officials from the security men to the top.

They alleged that food ration in the prison was pathetic and that any prisoner who wanted to eat decent food had to prepare his own food or request his family to bring food to the prison.

“Prison officials request money from people who bring us food right from the gate to inside the prison. Sometimes a visitor who brings food pays as much as N3,000 each time they bring food into the prison otherwise they would not be allowed in. For God’s sake, how can we cope with this?” a soldier asked with anger on his face.

But corruption in the prison does not end there. According to the soldiers, prison officials sell food stuffs and soup ingredients provided by government and NGOs to prisoners. The soldiers pointed at a store behind the prison entrance gate where the reporter saw onions, salt, yams and other food items being packaged.

“They will parcel the food stuffs from the store and give to the prison traders who help them sell to us,” the soldiers alleged.

When the ICIR confronted the prison officials with these allegations, they denied all. Abdulrasheed Ogundare, the prison Welfare Officer who thought he was speaking to a human rights lawyer, denied all the allegations.

On the release of Boko Haram suspects from the prison, he said there was nothing like that. “Those that were released were suspects raided from Lagos and brought to the prison, not the Boko Haram from Sambisa. Those ones are still in our custody. We don’t even allow them go out like the other prisoners.”

He called a prisoner to confirm whether Boko Haram suspects in the prison were being released, but the prisoner neither confirmed nor denied. “I don’t know; I’m not sure,” he responded, squeezing his face and walking away.

“Don’t mind the soldiers, we didn’t release any Boko Haram,” the Welfare Officer repeated to the reporter.

On prisoners’ feeding he said they were well-fed and that the caterers were graduates of catering. “If you’re in prison you cannot expect to feed as if you’re at home,” he said in response to allegation of poor meals. He however said most of the prisoners were “self-feeders”, meaning they arranged their own feeding.

He also denied that prison officials were exploit the prisoners, saying such allegations had not been brought to the notice of prison officials. “We are doing our best to take care of the prisoners and if you look at them very well you will see that they are feeding very well.”

Sani Usman, a Brigadier General and Director of Army Public Relations, refused to be drawn into any discussion on the issue, saying the case was of the soldiers was still in court.

“You’re aware that Femi Falana is in court over the case of the soldiers, so why do you want me to comment on a case that is in court?” he asked.

Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), appealed the jail terms given to the soldiers by the Chief of Army Staff.

He said although the soldiers were charged with mutiny, “the only allegation proven against them at the courts-martial was that they protested the refusal of the military authorities to provide weapons to fight insurgency”.

Falana, as well as many other Nigerians, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to grant pardon to soldiers in view of the circumstances under which they committed the alleged infractions.

They also argued that unlike many soldiers who deserted the army, the convicts were ready to defend the territorial integrity of the country, but had only made a legitimate demand for equipment to fight the insurgents who were better equipped and motivated.

QUESTION: Can Buhari, as president, be petroleum minister, legally?

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
QUESTION: Can Buhari, as president, be petroleum minister, legally?

In September 2015, months after he was sworn in as President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari told select reporters in New York, USA: “I will remain Minister of Petroleum. I will appoint a minister of State for Petroleum.”

And true to his words, two months when Buhari allotted portfolios to his cabinet members, he named himself Petroleum Minister.

Buhari said he was taking the step as part of efforts to sanitise the oil industry, notoriously characterised by opacity and corruption in monumental proportions.

This appears, on the surface at least, a good enough reason, given that Buhari was voted into power by citizens who appeared fed up with the level of corruption in the country.

However, people who should know say the move is illegal, judging by the provisions of the constitution.

On Monday, Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), filed an application urging the court to remove Buhari as Minister of Petroleum, saying his double portfolio is illegal.

Agbakoba quoted sections 138 and 147 of the constitution as the basis for his law suit, but what does the constitution say?

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION

Section 138 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) states: “The President shall NOT, during his tenure of office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever.”

The office of a minister is surely an executive one, since the Federal Executive Council (FEC) comprises all ministers and other key appointees of the President.

Also, Section 147 (1 and 2) of the constitution states: “There shall be such offices of Ministers of the Government of the Federation as may be established by the President. Any appointment to the office of Minister of the Government of the Federation shall, if the nomination of any person to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the President.”

Buhari did not undergo any senate confirmation before announcing himself as Petroleum Minister.

LEGAL EXPERTS’ OPINIONS

In the suit he filed before the Federal High Court in Lagos, Agbakoba insisted that it was unconstitutional for Buhari to hold two executive offices at the same time.

“I looked at Section 138 of the 1999 Constitution and I verily believe that it disqualifies the President from holding executive office, including that of the Minister of Petroleum, during his tenure of office as President,” he said.

“I also know that the President did not go through nomination process and confirmation by the Senate, before holding the office of Minister of Petroleum Resources.

“I again looked at Section 147(2) of the 1999 Constitution and I verily believe that it prohibits anybody from holding the office of a minister of the federation without confirmation by the Senate.”

Similarly, Ikechukwu Ikeji, a practising lawyer, agreed with Agbakoba that the constitution does not permit Buhari to hold another executive office while still a serving President.

For Ikeji, Buhari’s non-appearance at the Senate for confirmation as Petroleum Minister is secondary, because he is not qualified to be Minister in the first place.

Quoting section 138 of the constitution, Ikeji said it was clear that Buhari is not qualified to hold ministerial position.

“If you look at chapter six, part one of the constitution, it provides for federal executives; it is under this part that ministers are appointed,” Ikeji said on Monday during Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“And if you look at the makeup, the composition of the Federal Executive Council, you will agree with me that ministers are members of the Federal Executive Council, which means simply that ministers are members of the executive. In order words, a minister is holding an executive position.

“Having cleared that, the question is: ‘is the President holding an executive position if he is holding the position of Minister Petroleum Resources?’ I think the answer is clear and simple: yes.

“So I think that it is unconstitutional for the President to hold that executive position. It is clearly against the express position of this section 138.”

CONCLUSION

It is clear that Buhari’s dual position as President and Minister of Petroleum Resources is not in tandem with the provisions of Section 138 of the constitution. However, in the words of Ikeji, “it requires the court to so declare it”.

Abaribe, Abia senator, moves to abandon Kanu in court, but he may forfeit N100m

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
Abaribe, Abia senator, moves to abandon Kanu in court, but he may forfeit N100m

Binta Nyako, the judge in charge of Nnamdi Kanu’s treason trial, says Enyinnaya Abaribe, one of the sureties who signed Kanu’s bail bond, must produce the accused in court or forfeit the N100 million bail bond.

Abaribe, the senator representing Abia South Senatorial District at the National Assembly, is one of the three persons who stood in for Kanu when he was granted bail in April.

The bail conditions given to Kanu includes that “he must provide three sureties in the sum of N100 million each”.

The court had said: “One of the sureties must be a senior highly placed person of Igbo extraction such as a senator.

“The second surety must be a highly respected Jewish leader since Mr. Kanu said his religion is Judaism, (and) the third surety must be a highly respected person who owns landed property and is resident in Abuja.”

When trial resumed on Tuesday, Ogechi Ogunna, Abaribe’s counsel, told the court that he had filed an application requesting that his client be discharged as a surety to the accused person.

But Justice Nyako said Abaribe must choose from one of three options namely: to produce the defendant in court and then apply to be discharged as a surety; to forfeit his N100 million bail bond or to request for more time in order to produce the defendant.

Ogunna then told the court that his client was “not in a position to do any of these”, but when the presiding judge insisted, he opted to be given more time.

The other two sureties that stood in for Kanu did not appear in court on Tuesday, neither were they represented.

At a gathering in New York, USA, Abaribe had expressed fears that signing Kanu’s bail bond had put him in trouble.

“We are now in trouble, because we do not know where he is and how to contact him,” he said, adding that “those who support Kanu’s agitation should think twice”.

Nnamdi Kanu is in FG’s custody, claims lawyer

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
Nnamdi Kanu is in FG’s custody, claims lawyer

Kingsley Ejiofor, counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that his client is still in the custody of the federal government.

Ejiofor said this on Tuesday while announcing his presence in court for the continuation of Kanu’s treason trial.

Three of the co-defendants in the trial — Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi — were present in court

They were brought to court by prison officials at about 10am on Tuesday, but Bright Chimezie, who became a co-accused person in the case following an amendment of the charges, was also absent.

Ejiofor had filed an application in court seeking to compel the Chief of Army Staff to produce Kanu in court as he was last seen on September 14, when his home was invaded by soldiers.

But Orji Uzor-Kalu, former Governor of Abia State, told newsmen that Kanu had fled to the United Kingdom through Malaysia.

200 human rights organisations seek expulsion of tobacco companies from ILO

Chikezie OMEJE
-
0
200 human rights organisations seek expulsion of tobacco companies from ILO

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and nearly 200 other public health and human rights organisations have asked the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to drop tobacco companies from its membership.

A letter from the organisations to the members of the ILO governing body described how tobacco companies victimise farmers and other workers through practices that include unfair pricing strategies, abusive contracts and child labour.

The group told the ILO that companies employing these predatory tactics have no place in a United Nations agency concerned with fair labour practices and human rights.

The governing board of ILO will meet on October 26 in Geneva to decide whether to bar tobacco companies from participating in the activities of the agency.

A statement by Mark Hurley, International Director of Tobacco Industry Campaigns of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, urged the governing board to delist tobacco companies from participating in ILO.

“If the ILO is to live up to its promise of promoting rights at work, encouraging decent employment opportunities and enhancing social protection, the decision should be an easy one: The governing body must prohibit all members of the tobacco industry from participation in the ILO,” Hurley said.

He pointed out that tobacco companies use membership in respected organizations like the ILO to portray themselves as responsible corporate citizens when in fact they are the root cause of a global tobacco epidemic that is projected to kill one billion people worldwide this century.

According to Hurley, tobacco companies continue to aggressively market their deadly products to children and other vulnerable populations around the world, to mislead the public about the health risks of their products and to attack every effort to reduce tobacco use and save lives.

He insisted that tobacco companies that spread death and disease across the globe should have no place in a UN agency or any responsible organization.

He urged the ILO to join other international organizations and agencies acting to cut ties with tobacco companies.

Last month, United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) delisted tobacco companies from participating in its initiative of involving corporate leadership to achieving the UN development goals.

UNGC had explained that the exclusion of tobacco companies was to align with the policies of the broader UN system.

The World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control states that the tobacco industry’s interests are in clear conflict with public health goals and recommended that countries should implement proven strategies to reduce tobacco use.

Agbakoba asks Abuja court to sack Buhari as petroleum minister

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
Agbakoba asks Abuja court to sack Buhari as petroleum minister

Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN) has filed an application before the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to restrain President Muhammadu Buhari from continuing in his dual capacity as President and Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Agbakoba said sections of the Constitution forbid the President from “holding any other executive office or paid employment”.

Among his prayers, Agbakoba wants the court to determine “whether, by virtue of Section 147(2) of the 1999 Constitution, the President can hold the office of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, without confirmation by the Senate of the National Assembly”.

“I looked at Section 138 of the 1999 Constitution and I verily believe it disqualifies the President from holding executive office including that of the Minister of Petroleum, during his tenure of office as President,” Agbakoba stated in a 14-page affidavit he deposed to.

“I also know that the President did not go through nomination process and confirmation by the Senate, before holding the office of Minister of Petroleum Resources.

“I again looked at Section 147(2) of the 1999 Constitution and I verily believe it prohibits anybody from holding the office of a Minister of the Federation, without confirmation by the Senate.”

Agbakoba also said that the recent management crisis between Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, and Maikanti Baru, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, “could not have occurred if the President was not also the Minister of Petroleum Resources”.

“I am aware that the NNPC provides up to 90 percent of the revenue accruing to Nigeria,” he stated.

“I am worried that the crisis in the NNPC will greatly reduce Nigeria’s revenue-generating capacity and will affect the revenue distributable to federal, state and local governments in Nigeria.

“This will gravely affect development nationwide and drastically impact one and all Nigerians, including those in Anambra State (my state of origin) and Lagos State (my state of residence).”

‘God save us from gullible citizens’ — Ezekwesili slams those applauding Kachikwu-Baru truce

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
‘God save us from gullible citizens’ — Ezekwesili slams those applauding Kachikwu-Baru truce

Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education, is miffed by the “gullibility” of the Nigerians who have been applauding the reunion of Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum resources, with Maikantu Baru, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Ezekwesili also said the anti-corruption agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari will suffer a huge blow if he fails to investigate the issues raised by kachikwu in his memo.

She said despite the fact that Kachikwu and Maikanti Baru, the NNPC Group Managing Director, have “reconciled”, Buhari must now probe the allegations of breach of due process raised in the memo.

“As I did my weekend reading, I saw pictures of Nigerians applauding that the NNPC GMD and his minister, Ibe Kachikwu ‘have reconciled’,” Ezekwesili wrote in a series of tweets on Monday.

“I turned to my husband and said, ‘God save us from gullible citizens’! What does ‘reconcile’ mean to citizens who’re victims of Bad Governance?

“I hope the Muhammadu Buhari government does not plan on ‘moving on’. Governance is not about ‘personal beefs’ & ‘reconciliation’.

“The weighty Breach of procurement law raised by Ibe Kachikwu against the NNPC GMD is not the kind of issue a serious FG glosses over.

“Good that Ibe Kachikwu and his GMD at the NNPC have become friends again. Now let the breach raised be probed swiftly.”

Ezekwesili called for independent review of the  allegations raised by Kachikwu, adding that “the credibility of President Buhari’s anti-corruption agenda suffers deeper lethal blow if this gets buried like the #GrassCutterAllegations.

“So, here is my counsel to President Buhari, hasten probe of the NNPC breach, publish report and act swiftly on its recommendations. Do it.”

The #GrassCutterAllegations refers to the allegations of corruption and abuse of office made against Babachir Lawal, the suspended Secretary to the Government of the federation.

In May, Buhari set up a probe panel headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to investigate the allegations and file a report within two weeks. But months after, nothing has been heard of the report, which was presented to Buhari in August.

Zahra and Aisha Buhari as fashionable Aso Rock Clinic critics

'Fisayo Soyombo
-
0
Zahra and Aisha Buhari as fashionable Aso Rock Clinic critics

There are the Buharis who are not Buharists. Credit to Nasir el-Rufai, the most recent and most persistent proponent of the term ‘Buharism’, ‘Buharists’ can be used loosely without guilt — in this case to mean the political heavyweights or followers in whose eyes Buhari can do no wrong and must, therefore, never be criticised. As there is still no proof of any ideological struggle underpinning ‘Buharism’, we will have to fall back on el-Rufai to precisely explain the concept. As the former FCT minister said last month, there is “a group of Buharists among governors, ministers…” that “wants to ensure that President Buhari runs in 2019”. But it seems some members of the first family are, knowingly or unknowingly, ‘un-Buharistic’.

Zahra Buhari, President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter, unsettled the presidency with a late-September Instagram post implicitly accusing the management of Aso Rock clinic of corruption. To be honest, Zahra’s questions, asked with the hashtag StateHousePerSecPlsAnswer, are valid.

“More than N3billion budgeted for the State House clinic and workers there don’t have the equipment to work with? Why?” read the post.

“Where is the money going to? Medication only stocked once since the beginning of the year? Why? State House Permanent Secretary please answer.

“Why isn’t there simple Paracetamol, gloves, syringes… Why do patients/staff have to buy what they need in the state house clinic?”

THE SUPPOSED GROUSE

With the benefit of hindsight, there is real possibility that Zahra was merely providing the voice-over to mother Aisha Buhari’s thoughts, because roughly 10 days after her Instagram outburst, Aisha fell just short of embarrassing Husain Munir, Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Aso Villa Clinic.

At a stakeholder meeting on Reproductive, Maternal, Nutrition, Child Advocacy and Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH), which held at the banquet hall of the presidential villa in Abuja exactly a week ago, Aisha said: “The Nigerian health sector is in very poor state, sorry to say the least. I am happy the CMD of Aso Clinic is here, is here around? Dr. Munir or his representative? Okay, he is around…

“If the budget is N100 million, we need to know how the budget is spent… I’m sure Dr. Munir will not like me saying this but I have to say it out. As the Chief Medical Director, there are lots of construction works going on in this hospital but there is no single syringe there, what does that mean? Who will use the building? We have to be good in reasoning. You are building new structures but there is no equipment, no consumables in the hospital and the construction is still going on.”

On the surface, Aisha appears to be primarily concerned about the “poor state” of the health sector, and secondarily about the clinic’s frivolous spending or possible corruption and misappropriation of funds. The latter will be discussed later but analysing the real motives of the twin outbursts can’t be deferred for a further second.

THE REAL GROUSE

Although buried in the equipment-versus-drugs criticism, Aisha’s real anger is that she couldn’t access the State House clinic during her illness. Elsewhere in her speech that same day, she gave herself out: “…as you are all aware, Nigeria wasn’t stable because of my husband’s ill health. We thank God he is fully recovered now.

“If somebody like Mr President can spend several months outside Nigeria, then you wonder what will happen to a common man on the street?

“Few weeks ago I was sick as well, they advised me to take the first flight out to London, I refused to go. I said I must be treated in Nigeria because there is a budget for an assigned clinic to take care of us.

“I insisted they call Aso Clinic to find out if the X-ray machine was working, they said it was not working. They didn’t know I was the one who was supposed to be in that hospital at that very time.

“I had to go to an hospital that was established by foreigners in and out 100 percent. What does that mean? If something like this can happen to me, no need for me to ask the governors’ wives what is happening in their states.”

It is obviously fashionable to criticise a government, but lest we’re carried away, Aisha Buhari is fighting for herself, for her “husband”, for the “governors’ wives”. Zahra and Aisha are both fighting for the political elites, not for the masses, some of who are now hailing them for speaking out.

AISHA AND ZAHRA ARE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT

Had the two women been fighting the cause of the hoi polloi, they wouldn’t have waited for the first family’s unsavoury encounters with the State House clinic before speaking out against a government that they’re part of. Since their outbursts, neither Aisha nor Zahra has, for example, visited some of the public health facilities in Abuja, personally or through a proxy, to see how the poor are being shortchanged daily by their government. Neither woman has told us what efforts she made behind the scenes to get the President to investigate the Aso Rock clinic.

Zahra may have tried to explain away her post and why she would rather call out the Permanent Secretary than “ask my father”, but it is still inconceivable that she cannot see the damage to her father’s image. Zahra argues that “the President can’t be at every point… can’t be monitoring everyone’s post”, but it’s the clinic inside the President’s abode we’re talking about here. If Buhari cannot fix the Aso Rock clinic, how on earth will Zahra or Aisha convince the people that he can fix the larger health sector, or even the country itself? Their public upbraid of the clinic is self-indictive, unless they can prove that they tried, but failed, to privately get the presidency to address their complaints, which is itself a dent on the plot of the Buharists to return Buhari to power in 2019.

NOW THAT WE’RE HERE

A previous investigation by TheCable on the difficulty of getting paracetamol or cotton wool at the clinic did not seem to pique the interest of the presidency. But now that Aisha and Zahra have spoken, what will be the President’s excuse for silence?

The combined N3.1billion budgetary allocation to the clinic in 2016 and 2017 is higher than the combined allocation to all the tertiary healthcare centres in the country! A State House clinic richer than all of the country’s tertiary centres cannot be struggling with drugs. Who knows, Buhari may soon set up a probe committee on the clinic. Never mind that the committee’s report may be binned, eventually. If Dr. Munir and Jalal Arabi, the State House Permanent Secretary who oversees the clinic, were worried about the outbursts from Zahra and Aisha, somebody must have told them: “Keep calm, ‘baba’ will do a Babachir again!”

 

Soyombo, Editor of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), tweets @fisayosoyombo

 

1...2,6852,6862,687...3,441Page 2,686 of 3,441