Goodluck Jonathan: Hero or not? by Yemi Olakitan

Goodluck Jonathan: Hero or not?

While President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s meteoric rise to power still confounds many, his failure to get re-elected in the March 28 poll was not that surprising. Widely criticised for corruption, weak governance, failure to end epileptic power supply, dwindling currency, insecurity among others, Jonathan crumbled in the face of a strong opposition led by Gen Muhammadu Buhari. However, since he conceded defeat to the President-elect, accolades have poured in from different quarters both local and international including members of the opposition party who joined the bandwagon of praise singers. YEMI OLAKITAN takes a look at Jonathan’s administration from both sides of the divide.

Until November 2009, Goodluck Jonathan was just vice president to the late former president, Umar Musa Yar’dua. He however overcame political wrangling and was accepted as Acting President in February 2010 when the ailing president was too ill to rule. When President Yar’Adua died in office, Mr. Jonathan was sworn in as the new president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

President Jonathan defied the governing People’s Democratic Party’s, PDP, tradition of alternating presidential power between North and South after two terms of office by winning the party’s primaries. In 2011, claiming he wore no shoes while growing up, he won his first election for the presidency while opposition claims fraud. His election to the seat of power was symbolic, representing a major shift from the norm as he was the first president from the Niger Delta or the south-south.

Many of the critics have said President Jonathan achieved little or nothing during his administration and cannot be described as a hero.

A classic example is Chief Kola Ogunmola, APC chieftain based in Lekki, Lagos, who spoke withSunday Mirror. “The president may have done some things but he did not do the ones that are most dear to Nigerians, chief of which is electricity. Despite the huge investments in the sector, Nigerians still rely on their generators for power supply. In the area of insecurity, the Chibok girls are still missing till today. This is one of the major reasons why President Jonathan lost the election. His failure to bring back our girls. Nigerian mothers cannot vote for such a president a second time. You can be sure of that, no matter who he is. Look at all the wailings and the international outcry and yet the girls were not found. No one who has children will want Jonathan as the next president. This is a major setback for the president even if he had achieved in other areas”, he said.

Similarly, Babatunde Adisa, CEO of Bamanja Entertainment, Lagos, believes the president failed in the area of employment generation. “There is high level unemployment in this country. He may have achieved in other areas but the level of unemployment in this country is alarming and he did not even scratch the surface with all the programmes established under his administration.”

He however said the president is hero and his name will shine in the history of Nigeria because of the fact he did what Ibrahim Babangida could not do for M.K.O. Abiola in June 12, (1993). “He prevented violence and bloodshed for that he may go down in history as hero but I don’t think that Nigerians are satisfied with his achievements”.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s achievements

According to reports, one of the president’s major achievements was in agriculture, with the intervention in rice production, which resulted in the creation of more than two million new jobs among rural dwellers.  Cocoa exports reached the highest level thereby creating a new set of millionaires during his administration. At least, $900m worth of cocoa was reportedly exported for the first time in decades. He put an end to the fertiliser and tractor scam used to be the order of the day. The president also undertook massive rehabilitation of roads throughout the country via Subsidy Reinvestment Programme SURE-P.  Roads such as the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road, Benin-Ore-Sagamu dual carriageway, Onitsha-Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriageway, Kaduna-Maiduguri dual carriageway, East-West Road.  500 Primary Health Centers were reportedly built across the 36 states and FCT of the Federation, in the health sector.

Before the elections, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati had said, “One can never have an objective comment from the opposition parties because of their political interests. When President Jonathan took over, the electricity supply situation in the country was in a very bad shape. This government introduced the power sector roadmap, reactivated what it met on the ground and as at this moment and improved electricity generation and distribution in the country.

“Before the President took over, the rail sector was completely comatose. Under this President, the sector has been re-energised. Nigerians can now travel from Lagos to Kano, from one part of the country to the other. The few complaints we have heard is that people are saying that it can be further modernised. The truth is that the railway sector that used to be one of the poster agencies for the abandonment of government responsibilities has come back to life. There was a time when the aviation sector was a major centre of scams. The Jonathan administration has taken the bold step to revitalise that sector both in terms of infrastructure and the basic provision of facilities across the country. It is also this administration that allowed Nigerians to have the Freedom of Information. Nigerians have never been freer to express their views on any issues, without intimidation”, he said.

Defending Jonathan’s anti corruption record, Adekola Iyiola, a PDP chieftain in Etiosa Local government of Lagos, said, “Corruption in Nigeria is not new to President Jonathan. It is an inherited problem. It is a problem that has been with us since independence, so for people to be talking as if Jonathan imported Corruption to Nigeria is a partisan opinion. The problem is also not limited to Nigeria. The countries and individuals, who shout most about corruption, are also facing the challenge”.

Speaking in the same vein, veteran journalist, Tajudeen Olumo said, “The subsidy scam is the biggest scam in Nigeria and I praise President Jonathan for having the courage to face it.  People will collect allocation to bring in fuel, they will not own any vessel, they will not import any fuel and they will still collect government money. Over the years, previous governments have created system of legalised corruption through subsidy and Jonathan said this is economic sabotage and it must stop. The oil cabal set up propaganda machineries since they are the beneficiaries and insisted it must continue. If Nigeria is serious, we must remove subsidy for the economy to grow. True oil prices will increase but it will go reduce in the end”, he said.

Another supporter, Chief Bayode Ogunmupe said, “If I must talk about Jonathan’s achievements, I will say, free and fair elections.  The 2011 general elections were acclaimed to be free and fair. Every subsequent elections conducted under this President’s having been free and fair and so adjudged by both local and international observers. In Adamawa, Kogi, Sokoto, Edo and Ondo, there were no problems when elections were conducted in those states. Another major achievement is that he conceded defeat to the president elect. This is good because it shows that he is not desperate for power and he put the interests of this nation above personal and parochial selfish interests.”

An educator, Mrs. Gloria Ofunoye who spoke with Sunday Mirror on the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan, said, “The promotion and practice of true democracy by creating an enabling environment where people from diverse backgrounds and with divergent views and opinions can be accommodated is one of his achievements. She noted that under the watch of the Jonathan administration, the APC was registered by INEC as a mega opposition party big enough to challenge the PDP at both state and national levels. This would have been unthinkable some years back under the administration of former president Olusegun Obasanjo. Unlike in other administrations, the Goodluck Jonathan administration has given a free hand to the country’s electoral umpire, INEC, to perform its statutory duties.  He also does not interfere with electoral and judicial matters. This is evident in the number of governorship elections that have been won both at the polls and in the court by opposition parties in Anambra, Imo, Osun states, among others.”

On whether, the president was corrupt, Ofunoye said, “the truth of the matter is that Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, made it clear that last year it secured over 200 convictions. Those who say Jonathan is not fighting corruption are not speaking on the basis of facts. The only point I want to make is that during Nuhu Ribadu, there used to be a lot of media publicity on EFCC activities even when they make ordinary arrests but under this administration much attention is not given to publicising these things because they used to be headlines in those days but under Jonathan, he did not push these activities on corruption”.

Some commentators also point out that President Jonathan has been credited with the liberalisation of the press and guaranteeing the freedom of speech in a country where the stifling of the press and suppression of the citizens’ right to freedom of speech used to be the norm, a legacy of over 30 years of military rule. The existence of vocal anti-government media houses and critics would have culminated in some high-profile assassinations some years back, but today citizens are free to air their views whenever and wherever they like just like any other sane country.

The President has also been credited with opening up Nigeria to the global business community and making the nation Africa’s number one destination of foreign investors. Statistics show that in the first six months of 2014, a total of $9.70bn or N1.51 trillion was reported to have flowed into the national economy as foreign direct investments, FDI.  Also last year, Nigeria rebased it’s GDP for the first time in over a decade to become the largest economy in Africa, overtaking South Africa and Egypt in the process.

Proceeds from Nigeria’s non-oil exports rose to $2.97bn by the end of 2013, up from $2.3bn in 2010.

The Jonathan administration has also spearheaded the revival of the dead automotive industry in Nigeria. Global auto giants like Peugeot, Nissan and Hyundai now either assemble or wholly manufacture small cars, sports utility vehicles, trucks and buses at various locations in Nigeria.

Under President Jonathan, the Ebola outbreak was arrested. The outbreak of the deadly and highly contagious Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) was nabbed in the bud in record time, though it unfortunately claimed some lives at the onset,”

In the area of agriculture, Nigeria has reduced its food imports by over 40 per cent, moving the country closer to self sufficiency in agriculture. Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava with an output of over 45 million metric tones in 2014 according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

Under the outgoing government, Internet penetration in Nigeria increased from about 45 million in 2011 to 63 million in 2014, overtaking countries such as the United Kingdom and France in the process. As of the second quarter of 2014, the number of registered active telephone lines in Nigeria stood at 130 million out of a total of over 170 million telephone lines.

The president also introduced the Nigerian electronic identity card (e-ID card), one of the most secure in the world and the largest in Africa. The e-ID card serves as both an international identification module and an electronic payment solution.  In the banking sector, there is the introduction of the cashless system which aims to encourage the use of e-payment systems in the country and reduce the volume of physical cash in circulation.

In the power sector, the president unbundled the dysfunctional Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) into about 18 profit-driven successor companies.

In the area of sports, Nigeria won the African Cup of Nations for the first time in 19 years in South Africa in February, 2013.  Nigeria ended up with 11 gold , 11 silver and 14 bronze medals at the recently concluded 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, finishing 8th in the overall ranking. Abuja Stadium Rehabilitated, Kano International Airport Remodeled. One of 9 airports remodeled across the nation.

Women were given more prominent roles in his administration. A large number of the federal appointees of the Goodluck Jonathan administration are women. They include, , Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Miriam Aloma Mukhtar, Nigeria’s first female Chief Justice; Diezani Alison-Madueke; ex-aviation minister Stella Oduah, Joy Ogwu, Nigeria’s representatives at the United Nations; Sarah Jibril; and Viola Onwuliri.

The president also launched the NigComSat-1Rsatellite, which will help expand Internet Bandwidth, monitor the weather and provide early warning to prevent natural disasters like floods, crop monitoring and urban planning. It has the attendant benefit of reducing the over $1 billion spent in purchasing Internet Bandwidth from abroad.

Nigeria’s banking industry was rescued and stabilised by the establishment of the Asset Management Company of Nigeria. (AMCON)

What the critics say said about President Jonathan

For many critics, Jonathan’s government was nothing short of a disaster.

One of the most strident,  the All Progressives Congress, APC, described President Goodluck Jonathan’s admdidntration as having recorded as a “scorecard of failure”. The APC National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, in the run up to the elections had said the president failed to get the usual bounce from his recent declaration for a second term because Nigerians were not the least impressed by his achievements, which have not positively impacted on the lives of the citizens.

“Mr. President, Nigerians have asked themselves a simple question: Are we better off today than we were before President Jonathan assumed office, and they have unanimously answered in the negative. This is why your declaration failed to resonate, despite the hired crowds you ferried to Abuja,” he said.

The party said the areas of insecurity and job creation, which are intertwined, represent the biggest failure of the Jonathan Administration, irrespective of its claims to the contrary.

“Today, after the Jonathan Administration has spent $32bn (N6.4trn) on security and defense, Nigeria is not any safer, with thousands of deaths,”

APC said while the government claimed to have created 1.9 million jobs in all of five years, the truth is that this is a mere tokenism.

”Even if the jobs they said they have created are not phantom, which we know they are, the situation on the ground is grim: 1.8 million Nigerians enter the job market every year, 5.3 million youth are unemployed and overall 20 million Nigerians are in the job market, and these are very conservative figures. Therefore, creating 1.9 million jobs over several years cannot amount to any achievement,” the party said.

”Mr. President, under your watch, Nigeria’s rating by the global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International has fallen. In 2009, Nigeria was rated 133 out of 180 countries, while in 2013, the country was rated 144 out of 177 countries.  On electricity, the party said the statement by President Jonathan that his administration’s “bold move” in the sector has put the country “on the road to guaranteed regular power supply in the months ahead” is nothing but sheer deceit.

“Under the Jonathan Administration, Nigerians should not be in a hurry to throw away their generators. The facts on the ground show this to be true: While the FG has spent N533bn on power, at best Nigerians enjoy less than six hours of electricity per day, where they enjoy it at all, while spending over N800bn annually to fuel their generators.  Also, the 4,000MW of electricity being generated by Nigeria cannot guarantee stable power for 170 million people or propel the country towards industrialisation. By comparison, South Africa, with less than a third of Nigeria’s population, generates over 44,000MW of electricity. There is therefore no way that Nigeria can enjoy a stable power supply with a meagre 4,000MW in power generation,” it said.

The party said, with 51 per cent of Nigerians, representing 90 million people, being illiterates, the establishment of 150 Almajiri schools has not even scratched the surface of the problem.

A member of APC, Abiodun Amisu, who spoke on the president’s achievements however said, ‘‘it is laughable and a misplaced achievement to say building Almajiri schools is an achievement. The president merely built additional public schools. Almajirin are human beings, with right to education, to mix with other children in public schools. There is no need to build different schools for them and give it a new name.  Right education policy is the answer. Look at the electricity under President Goodluck Jonathan; everybody knows that it is a failure. Nigerians still groan under the weight of epileptic power supply. On the supremacy of the rule of law and respect for the constitution, Mr. President is still lacking. The Rivers State Government crisis is notable. It’s not acceptable for a commissioner of police to impede, obstruct the way and passage of a sitting sovernor. His duty is to advice and protects the governor and if necessary escort him to wherever the governor may want to go within Rivers State.”

However, after the presidential elections which saw the APC presidential candidate General Buhari wining the elections, APC sang a different tune with President Jonathan conceding victory. Lai Mohamed described him Jonathan as a hero and a statesman.

POWER SECTOR FAILS TO IMPROVE IN NIGERIA

Nigerians continue to endure epileptic power supply despite huge investments in the sector by successive governments. Even the latest privatisation of the sector by President Goodluck Jonathan has continued to defy all solutions implemented to move it forward. It has been said that only about 40 million Nigerians have access to electricity. Ag. Head of Investigations, YEMI OLAKITAN, examines why the privatisation of the power sector has not provided stable, uninterrupted electricity for Nigerians.

Electric power is the engine that drives industrialisation, improves communication, helps innovation in science and technology, provides sound healthcare delivery system and improves citizens’ standard of living. It is the key for Nigeria to become one of the most 20 developed economies in the world, but apparently, the biggest problem facing Nigeria aside from Boko Haram is a huge lack of power.

Ironically, the nation is said to be one of the energy rich countries in the world, rated the top oil producer in Africa, second in natural gas reserves (with an estimate of 176 trillion cubic feet) and estimated two billion metric tonnes of coal. This is apart from the huge potential for renewable energy including solar, hydro and wind. Yet, Nigeria has continued to suffer under the weight of a huge energy deficit which has remained uncertain due to massive failings by successive government’s to plan and invest in new power infrastructure, corruption and in most cases sheer cluelessness.

The electricity industry in Nigeria had a promising start in the colonial era when the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria, ECN, was established by Act of Parliament in 1951 to provide electricity to the colonial masters. In 1962, the Niger Dams Authority, NDA, was set up to develop hydro electricity which was merged with ECN to form National Electric Power Authority, NEPA.   By 2000, the problem of population explosion and low supply of electricity sent Nigeria into a crisis of electricity. This led the Federal Executive Council, FEC, to approve the National Electric Power Policy, NEPP, in 2001 which called for deep-seated changes to ownership, control and regulation of the power sector.

NEPP set the roadmap for Nigeria’s power sector privatisation. However, because of bureaucracy in government, the policy could not be signed into law until 2005.  The signed document became the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005. The 2005 Act translated NEPA into the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Plc – comprising 18 separate successor companies that took over the assets, liabilities and employees of NEPA, and responsible for the six generation companies, Gencos, the transmission company and 11 distribution companies, Discos.

The PHCN’s incorporated successors in the unbundling process are, Kainji Power Plc,  Shiroro Power Plc, Ughelli Power Plc,  Sapele Power Plc, Afam Power Plc,  Geregu Power Plc, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Eko Electricity Distribution Co. Plc, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Co. Plc, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Co. Plc and Benin Electricity Distribution Co. Plc. Others are Abuja Electricity Distribution Co. Plc, Port Harcourt Elect. Distribution Co. Plc, Enugu Electricity Distribution Co. Plc,  Kaduna Electricity Distribution Co. Plc, Kano Electricity Distribution Co. Plc, Jos Electricity Distribution Co. Plc and  Yola Electricity Distribution Co. Plc.

On assumption of office in May 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan made a solemn promise that his priority would be to tackle Nigeria’s decade-long electricity problem and ensure that the citizens enjoyed steady power supply.  The president reasoned that the erratic nature of the country’s power supply cannot guarantee any meaningful industrial development and can also not lead the country to her vision of becoming one of the top 20 industrialised nations of the world by 2020. To make good his pledge, Jonathan on August 26 of same year unveiled a detailed power sector roadmap as part of the implementation of the reform process, which legislative groundwork was laid by the Electric Power Sector Reform, EPSR, Act of 2005.

Jonathan, no doubt, set about the new task with vigour as the power sector, under his administration, witnessed unparalleled level of investment and unprecedented enthusiasm from local and international investors to invest in the Nigerian economy. Projects initiated by his predecessors, Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua were reportedly completed, while other new ones are ongoing. Government’s efforts to increase power supply paid off initially, especially in 2011 and 2012 as power supply first hit an unprecedented peak of 4,321.3 megawatts on August 31, 2012.

Power generation also continued to hover around this figure throughout the remaining part of 2012, hitting an all-time peak of 4,517mw on December 21, 2013; thus setting a new record in the country. However, a sharp drop in power supply was first noticed in January 2013 when Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, shut down the Okpai Power Plant in Delta State for repairs, reducing generation by 460mw before it rose again to 4,286mw peak for the month. Although it hit 4,350mw peak in February, by March 26, 2013, the figure had dropped to 3,670.3megawatts.

After a slight improvement, the situation worsened further to 2,866.4mw in the same month as a result of general system failure, which was very rampant during the first half of 2013. Today, power outages have metamorphosed into complete darkness in most parts of the country, while many urban cities and towns across the country hardly enjoy three to four hours of uninterrupted power supply.

Only recently, the president said he had fulfilled his campaign promise to Nigerians. According to him, he had promised Nigerians that he would make the power sector his administration’s priority. He was speaking at the inauguration of the Olorunsogo II Power Station in Ogun State; a 750MW Nigerian Integrated Power Project.

“I have lived up to my campaign pledge to make the power sector a priority, although it this is a capital intensive sector, we had been addressing it head-on,’’ he had claimed.

Jonathan said he was confident that Nigeria was moving in the right direction under his watch. He described the power plant as the second largest NIPP power station in the country and urged Nigerians to support the Federal Government in its desire to improve electricity.

But contrary to this, investigations revealed that Nigerians have continued to experience unstable power supply up till this moment.

Kate Adisa, a Chinese Nigerian, who spoke with Sunday Mirror on the subject, said, “Electricity is a struggle in Nigeria. I am married to a Nigerian and I do business here. The situation is very bad, we have to depend on diesel generators all the time and this is affecting the cost of doing business in Nigeria. In China, even the remote villages have stable power supply. We do not have that in Nigeria. The government needs to tackle the problem as a matter of urgency. If they really want Nigeria to move forward, they will tackle electricity first, no matter what it will take for them to do it because I believe that economically, it is the lack of stable electricity that is keeping Nigeria from moving forward.  The problem is affecting Nigeria negatively and this is the only country we have.’’

However, our correspondent gathered that some of the challenges faced by the electricity companies are, limited access to infrastructure, inadequate power-generating capacity, lack of capital for investment, ineffective regulation, high technical losses, vandalism, insufficient transmission and distribution facilities. This is why government has continued to receive a lot of knocks from individual citizens and stakeholder groups over the parlous power situation despite the privatisation of the sector and the hope raised for a marked improvement which have not been met.

Former President Obasanjo, while speaking on the subject of power, attributed Nigeria’s continued electricity challenge to the failure of his successors to implement his administration’s initiative of the National Independent Power Project (NIPP) aimed at improving power generation towards national growth. He noted that the country, with about 180 million population, still generated 4,000 megawatts, as against 20,000 megawatts annually if it wanted to attain the status of an industrialised nation. He identified power as one of the critical factors in developing any country socially, economically and politically, while wondering why his successors abandoned the NIPP project. The former president explained that for the country to be categorised among industrialised countries, it must generate as much as 45,000 megawatts, as it is in South Africa with a population of 55 million people.

Obasanjo stressed that Nigeria could achieve greatness in the power sector if what was achieved in the telecoms sector could be applied, but not by privatising the power sector and leaving it to cronies.  “It sounds very discouraging but that is the reality. I believe that what we have achieved in the area of telecoms can be achieved in the area of power, but privatising the power sector to friends and families who do not have the technical expertise cannot bring desired results,” he had said.

Similarly, the opposition All Progressives Congress had recently described the privatisation of the power sector under President Jonathan as a “total failure”. APC spokesman, Lai Mohammed, lamented that Nigeria had been left behind her counterparts because of its inability to tackle power challenges.’’

However, Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, said that the privatisation of the power sector has recorded huge success. Amadi said the privatisation of the power sector had increased influx of foreign capital into the country. He added that the present administration privatised the sector to enable Nigerians to have effective, adequate and reliable power supply.  He lamented that gas pipeline vandalism has been the major challenge confronting investors, pointing out that Nigeria is the highest vandalised market in the world. According to him, hydro-power supply was the only source of power generation in the country in the past but the present administration has introduced other means of power generation. “Nigeria has licensed many solar plants, wind farms in Kastina, Jos, Lagos, Abuja and for the first time she has coal energy.’’

Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Neb, also insists that the country was generating more power now than ever before. He said though the implementation of the NIPP had not been easy, there were other factors militating against adequate power supply in the country, particularly lack of gas, but they were being addressed by the present administration.

“It is not totally correct because even the NIPP projects that are done haven’t been that easy. But remember that the total of the NIPP power plants are still less than 5,000 mega watts. But right now, we don’t even have gas for all those power plants. So, it is not the implementation of the NIPP projects. There are other inputs that are involved. By the grace of God, they are getting resolved. For instance, we are generating more power now than Nigeria had ever generated in the past and it is part of the policies of this administration that is making that possible,” Nebo claimed.

Several observations and comments by observers see the cause of slow growth in generation to be due to transmission and distribution infrastructure problems, corruption, and failure of the new owners of power infrastructure to mobilise new investments even as many apparently lack the technical competence to run the firms. During the privatisation exercise, there were allegations of misdeeds in the bidding process. It was alleged that political brinkmanship was exercised; past political and military leaders were the beneficiaries. It was also alleged that the process was not transparent. Prof. Bart Nnaji – then Minister for Power lost his job in the process. The issues of transparency and political will were also raised on the contracting of transmission rights.

Another key issue is corruption discourages private investment, retards growth and inhibits poverty-reduction efforts. In the energy sector, for example, the delivery of energy moves from generation to transmission, to wholesale distribution and finally to retail distribution. Corruption can occur anywhere along the line since it had become a national issue. In generation, for example, it can occur in the licensing stage – where government officials might be tempted to ask for kickbacks in the issuance and renewal of generation licences. Also, contracting for Power Purchase Agreements with state entity including payments for power generation can attract corrupt practices. Inadequate gas supply, shortage of water in the dams, vandalism or theft of power equipment, poor funding and presence of “demons” or “mafia” as claimed by the Minister of Power, Prof. Nebo, are also major causes of the power sector woes.

Perhaps, the biggest problem facing the new investors in the sector is the suspicion if not discovery that many of the power plants they bought were overpriced. They were said to have submitted their bids without taking into cognisance the fact that the power plants have been in bad condition for decades due to poor maintenance. Their bids were more of a show of status rather than a realistic business submission. Now they are saddled with responsibility of raising funds for the business.

It was learnt that many of the foreign financial institutions are reluctant to lend money to the owners of the power plants due to what they described as unpredictability of the Nigerian economy, which is often seen as volatile. The financial institutions are mostly worried about government’s regular policy reversal, which many feel may affect the power privatisation. As a result, the new owners of the power plants are finding it difficult to raise funds for their new found projects.

Spokesman of the Chairman of Presidential Task Force on Power, PTFP, Mr. Beks Dagogo-Jack, noted recently that the trend of blackouts was due to the fact that Nigeria’s current available peak power cannot satisfy the demands of its population of 160 million people.

He had argued that “current generation, transmission and distribution capacity of the country were simply not enough for its population, hence the blackouts”.

While weak transmission network had also been identified as a major cause of frequent drop in electricity supply, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, claimed that the massive load-shedding experienced nationwide recently had been caused by vandalism of two major gas pipelines supplying gas to eight power generation stations in the country.    The power generation stations, which include the Egbin/AES Thermal Stations; Olorunsogo, Omotoso, Geregu NIPP, Afam IV and VI Thermal Power Stations as well as Rivers State Independent Power Station, had been affected, resulting in drastic reduction of power supply by 1,598 megawatts. The TCN has also complained of incessant pipelines breached by vandals, which routinely disrupts gas supply to the generation companies.

Another identified problem is that oil companies, which produce the gas that are piped to the power stations, are reluctant to invest in domestic supply because the current pricing template does not guarantee adequate return on investment. However, contrary to repeated pronouncements by the Ministry of Power that inadequate gas supply was one of the factors hampering electricity supply across the country; the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, said, it had exceeded its target for Gas-to-Power aspirations. Confirming the claim of availability of adequate gas, Group Executive Director in charge of Gas and Power at the NNPC, Dr. David Ige, insisted that gas supply had grown significantly over the last three years.

Ige disclosed that, “There is no power plant on the western axis that does not have gas pipeline currently. Our overall gas supply right now is meeting the demand. If you look at the demand on the ground, we can meet them; as we are speaking today, gas is not the restraint of power. We are basically shutting in our gas supply as we speak today.”

He however admitted that gas availability might not be adequate for all the new power generating plants brought on stream would require, but noted that additional programmes of supply are coming on.

Apart from that, the unresolved issue of gas supply to the power plants is seen as another factor that would affect the operations of the companies.

For example, when former President Obasanjo’s regime approved the construction of some plants such as the Alaoji 1,074 mega watts (MW), Egbema 338MW, Geregu 848MW and Omotosho 786MW gas turbines, the government did not factor in the issue of gas supply to those plants. As a result, the plants remained unutilised long after they were commissioned.They have been in that position till the present administration privatised them.

Nevertheless, investigations reveal that some foreign companies are coming into Nigeria as a result of the privatisation efforts of the Federal Government. One of them is a German Consortium efs-greentec, which is set to invest over $1bn (N200bn) in power plants in the country. The German group’s major activities are in renewable energies and projects that seek to protect the environment e.g. waste to energy (biomass), landfills, power plants fired with coal or gas, hydro-electric power plants, transmission power lines/cable installations, public water and waste water treatment, recycling, water purification, sea water desalination, among others.

It is clear that for the power sector to really see the required transformation, Nigeria needs help; not from emergency power firms that appear to have taken over the sector but from tested offshore partners that can help take a new look at our systems and fashion out ways to move forward. Some experts have canvassed a decentralisation of the national grid and allow each region or state to take care of its power needs in partnership with the private sector. This is the model in many developed countries.

The power companies need to look at this. However, the failure of government to bring gas, which is relatively cheap and clean securely to thermal plants continues to be the albatross of the sector. It has been frustrating for the privately-owned power generation companies to operate optimally and this does not encourage new investments except for the very brave. As it is, it is still a long way from where we want to be despite all the promises and posturing by government officials.

Why cassava bread remains elusive

YEMI OLAKITAN 

The Federal Government sometime ago introduced the cassava flour policy to encourage facilitate the blending of well-processed high quality cassava flour with wheat flour to reduce import dependency in the bakery and confectionaries sub-sector by at least by 40 per cent, yet it seems that most Nigeria are yet to taste the cassava flour. Head of Investigations, Yemi Olakitan, examines how the policy implementation has fared.  

When the Federal Government introduced the cassava bread initiative as part of its Agricultural Transformation Agenda, ATA, Nigerians received it with mixed feelings though the consensus appeared to be that this was necessary to reduce the huge wheat import bill which was close to N650bn yearly.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, headed by Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, was however able to create the necessary publicity to encourage Nigerians to embrace the introduction of the composite cassava bread into the market.  President Goodluck Jonathan in Aso Villa, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo were some of the first official consumers of the new bread, eating fresh loaves in public view.

The Federal Government’s argument was that the initiative would encourage increased cultivation of cassava on a commercial scale, drive down cost for bakers and already established user of cassava products, save foreign exchange from reduction in wheat imports with the overall effect of creating more job opportunities in the agricultural and agro-allied processing sectors.

Efforts by the Federal Government to reduce wheat flour in bread dates back to the 1960s.   The whole idea was to improve on agro-output to make Nigeria self-reliant in production of certain staple food crops and subsequently save huge foreign exchange committed to flour importation.

The advocacy heightened in 2004 when former President Olusegun Obasanjo visited the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, FIIRO, Lagos.  The visit prompted government to initiate a policy towards achieving 10 per cent cassava inclusion in a short term; 20 per cent in the medium term and ultimately 40 per cent.  The ongoing cassava bread campaign aims at achieving 20 per cent cassava flour inclusion in bread, which is also considered healthier for consumption.

FIIRO claims, if fully developed, the policy has the capacity to generate over three million jobs to reduce the rate of unemployment in Nigeria. FIIRO explained that in terms of price, quality and quantity, bread has remained the only staple food affordable to all Nigerians.

The director-general of the agency, Mrs. Grace Elemo, said that before the evolution of the cassava inclusion initiative, bread was 100 per cent produced from wheat flour and as such, huge amount of hard-earned foreign exchange is used every year for its importation.

The DG said, importation of wheat flour costs the nation a whopping sum of N635bn annually. She pointed out that with the cassava bread initiative, especially the production of composite bread in commercial quantities, local farmers would have opportunities to experience high returns.

In a bid to redress the country’s undue dependence on 100 per cent wheat flour for bread-making and other confectioneries, the federal government came up with the policy of gradually increasing the substitution of high grade cassava flour from 10 per cent to 40 per cent

Prior to the introduction of this policy, FIIRO has not only perfected the technology of 10 per cent high quality cassava flour (HQCF) inclusion in wheat flour but also transferred the technology to numerous flour millers and bakers in the country.  FIIRO has also gone further to introduce baking laboratory where it produces composite (cassava/wheat) bread which it sells to staff on a daily basis, as a demonstration of the technical feasibility and economic viability of the technology.

The composite bread produced is adjudged by all those who eat them to be of very high quality and in tandem with the institute’s sensory evaluation reports on cassava bread consumption In addition to baking bread with the 10 and 20 per cent composite cassava, FIIRO has also successfully baked various acceptable confectioneries with over 20 per cent cassava flour inclusion in wheat flour.

To further drive the initiative, government rolled out some incentives and intervention schemes in cultivation of high quality cassava, cassava flour processing and training of bakers across the country on the best techniques of mixing or blending the wheat flour with the cassava flour.

As parts of efforts aimed at making the policy a success, the Bank of Industry announced a N2.2bn Cassava Bread Fund Initiative for 174 members of the Association of Master Bakers of Nigeria. The money is being disbursed to the beneficiaries in forms of loans and grants in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, BOI, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, had said the bakers would to use the money for the acquisition of bakery equipment to enable them achieve the inclusion of 20 per cent cassava flour into wheat flour.  According to him, “The members were grouped in two batches. The sum of N989m has been disbursed to the first batch of 100 beneficiaries, which represents 92 per cent of the approved sum of N1.074 billion.

He had explained that of the remaining 74 beneficiaries, only 60 have met basic conditions precedent to facilitate the disbursement of 50 per cent grant amounting to N537.93 million.

National President of Master Bakers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Simeon Abanulor, confirmed that members of the association nationwide got a total of N886m out of the N2.2bn cassava bread intervention fund.

Abanulor disclosed that members from all the geo-political zones of the country have benefitted from the amount disbursed so far. He said the BoI had promised the disbursement of the remaining fund.

On the research and development side, Head, Baking and Milling Division of Federal Institute of Industrial Research, FIIRO, Mrs. Osibanjo Adetokumbo, said the institute has made concerted efforts to mobilise bakers and millers to embrace the initiative, following its successful research on its feasibility and production of composite bread in-house.

She said, the millers were reluctant initially but gradually begun to mobilise themselves after seeing the benefits, and from a mere five per cent, they have moved to 20 per cent cassava flour inclusion in their products.

According to her, the cassava flour is available, the technology is available.

“It is practical, the bakers are not putting up any opposition and we have gone across the country training bakers and it is very positive. We have achieved 20 per cent in FIIRO and our bread was personally launched by the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, here in FIIRO. It contains 20 per cent of cassava and we bake it on a daily basis.’’

She named Honeywell among major millers in the country who have achieved a mixture of both wheat and cassava flour in their production. According to her, “In every new policy, change is usually slow and sometimes resisted until when people begin to feel the impact”.

She said that the challenge would be surmounted as such is usually the case with a new initiative pointing out that as demand grows for cassava flour, farmers would be persuaded to grow more.

The FIIRO DG however believes that legislation may need to be emplaced to help the policy succeed on large scale and appealed to the National Assembly to pass a law on compulsory use of cassava in bread-making, which she said the institute had already proposed.

According to her, the absence of a legal framework to drive the cassava bread policy constitutes a big challenge to the implementation of the policy due to poor public enlightenment.

A bill to legislate on the cassava bread has however reportedly suffered a set-back in the House of Representatives, when FIIRO first took the initiative.

The Senate Committee on Science and Technology on its part said nothing much is known about the initiative.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Robert Borofice, who led his committee to the agency, requested that FIIRO forward to it, a comprehensive report, outlining research on the cassava flour as well as the economic and health benefits to enable it take a position that would facilitate its adoption.

However, the National Association of Nigerian Traders, NANTS, which conducted a survey of the experience and challenges faced by the Federal Government’s cassava bread programme said while there was a high level of interest, the programme was still beset by several problems.

The NANTS report “showed a 94 per cent interest among Nigerians interviewed”, but found that the “cassava bread production level to date remains is domiciled largely among corporate bakers”.

While government officials acknowledged that there are “teething challenges” faced by the programme, they maintained that the government is “creating market opportunities so that those who can produce will come on board”.

The report identifies six main challenges faced in the implementation of the cassava bread programme. One of them is the shortage of cassava for industrial use as 80 per cent of cassava produced in the country is already used for direct consumption, so only 20 per cent is available for industrial use.

Another problem is technical difficulties in ensuring the required quality of cassava flour, in part due to lack of adequate training; unclear labeling requirements, so consumers are not generally aware of the use of cassava in bread production as a replacement for wheat flour; unfounded concerns over health threats arising from fears over possible fungal threats arising from the use of cassava flour;  the need to build technical capacity along the supply chain to provide quality cassava flour for use in cassava/wheat flour blends in bread production and access to funding for the initiative.

It is little wonder then that that the general public do not pear to know if cassava bread is in the market or not though the big milers claimed to have started blending cassava with what flour.

Consumers, who spoke with Sunday Mirror, however said the bread is not available, Dele Okikiola, a trader in Obalende said, I have never seen or tasted the cassava bread. I don’t even know what it looks like.”

Bakers who spoke with Sunday Mirror on the initiative however said that cassava bread in plentiful in the market though consumers may not be aware.

Managing Director, Gooday Loaves, a bakery based in Lagos, Mrs. Roseline Aburime, said her company has achieved 10 per cent cassava flour inclusion in its products. “There is plenty of cassava bread in the market. Anyone who wants cassava flour will be able to get it. It’s in the market. Bakers and consumers who are claiming ignorance are deceiving themselves. It’s possible that they do not want to change from the norm. Consumers may eat the cassava bread and may not know because it does not look different from the wheat bread which majority is used to.”

According to bread distributor, Alhaja Hasdan Ayodele from Lagos Island said, “Most of the bread we sell here has cassava flour included. In fact, I will say all of them have cassava flour included. It is the percentage that varies from company to company. Some use a lot of cassava flour, some used small but all of them use cassava flour.

For her, the policy is working, although some consumers prefer the wheat bread. Nonetheless, I believe it’s a success because all the bakers are using cassava flour as far as I can see.’’

A Lagos-based beautician, Mrs. Shola Abimbola, said, “Cassava bread is available in the market. The wheat bread is also available. It depends on what you want. Cassava flour is available for bakers. They are selling it in the market. I prefer wheat bread to cassava bread though. Maybe, it’s because I am not used to it yet, I just don’t like the taste of the cassava bread. It’s not the same.” she said.

Nonetheless government remains optimistic the cassava sector is s sure growth driver as estimates suggest that about N16bn worth of cassava flour would be needed this year alone to produce the estimated 550 million (950g) loaves of bread valued at about N117bn currently produced annually in the country.

Apart from bread, there are several other industrial applications backed by new investments already being seen.

According to Adesina,  “As we speak, there are at least 10 new large scale factories, two for starch, two for  sweeteners, three for ethanol and three for dried chips that are being planned for commissioning in 2015. Such dynamism of private sector investment in cassava processing has never happened before in Nigeria’s history. Mechanised and highly productive cassava production is a magnet for industrial scale processing, which we are now seeing in Nigeria. The industry is responding to the positive development in the cassava sector”.

Group Managing Director, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Mr. Paul Gbededo, stated recently that a draft policy, which is designed to actively promote the inclusion of locally cultivated cassava and sorghum in bread flour is one which his company welcomes and supports because of the positive impact it will have on the economy of Nigeria by way of huge savings in foreign exchange, wealth creation for farmers, direct farm jobs for nearly 500,000 persons and an income generation of about N24bn going to farmers.

He said the policy is expected to create additional 1,500 jobs and is also expected to create a value of over N800bn in 10 years.

Some public commentators insist that the issue of cassava bread needs to be addressed more seriously as a matter of strategic national interest.

According to Barrister Olabode Shittu, “Nigeria is a nation with the capacity to feed the whole of Africa, to become import dependent, due to our high taste for foreign foods. As we import food, we are making our economy weaker. We are exporting jobs, instead of creating jobs at home.

“We are making the farmers of food exporting countries richer, while our own farmers are poorer for lack of markets. While food exporting countries create jobs, Nigerian young graduates roam the streets. As the economy of Europe and the US continues to struggle, demand for our oil is dwindling. Times are different now. While we could afford to lavish our foreign exchange on food imports before, today we cannot, because we must create jobs at home”, he said.

Islam is a religion of peace

by YEMI OLAKITAN on Feb 22, 2015 | 

Saadula Bello is the Chief Imam Oluwole Ogba Central Mosque in Lagos. He is also the Secretary General of the Council of Imams, Lagos Division. He spoke with Yemi Olakitan on the subject of female suicide bombing, the position of Islam on violence and other issues. Excerpts:

What is your reaction to the use of female suicide bombers by insurgents in the North?

As you all know, Islam is a religion of peace, in all its characteristics and nature. There are two definitions to Islam. Islam is a religion of peace. Islam is also submission in totality to the will of God. Inside and outside, Islam is a religion of peace and tranquility. If you look at our fasting and prayers, the Hajj, alms giving, they are all about peace.  When people see a certain Muslim doing something wrong, they then generalise and say that all Muslims are bad. It is not so.  Female suicide bombing or male suicide bombing, none is condoned in Islam.

If a Muslim is not good, he is not good by himself.  It does not imply that Islam is bad and every other Muslim is bad. There are rules and laws to living a righteous life in Islam.  Nobody can spoil Islam. One can only spoil himself and no one can break the rules of God and go free. There is no religion that preaches that people should kill one another. The rules of God will break you. Killing is not allowed in Islam and even suicide bombing is not allowed as well. Islam does not preach suicide bombing. The Holy Quran said, we should not kill and we should not commit suicide, no matter the circumstances. You cannot say your condition is terrible and then decide to end your life. Islam forbids it, no matter your situation in life. You cannot commit suicide.  So if Islam forbids suicide, where is the ground for using young girls as suicide bombers?

What would you say is the cause of the violence and the reasons for using underage girls?

They are using politics to deceive people; some people want to rule by force and they are using religion as a pretext. All these have political undertone. They have brought deceit into religion and they brainwashed some people. Look at the fasting period, Islam said during the festivities, Muslims should look out for those in need and give to them from the abundance that they have. Islam does not preach violence at all. At other period, beggars beg for food but after the fasting, Islam instructs us to look out for the poor and give to them from whatever we have. Islam teaches us to consider others. It is a religion that puts others into consideration. If you have something to eat, think about those who do not have. Suicide is not allowed in Islam. Anyone who kills himself will inherit fire and will not make paradise. Anyone who kills another will also be killed according to Islam. They are using politics to deceive people. Islam forbids killings of any kind.

What is the meaning of Jihad?

Jihad means to strive for something. Whoever goes to school and succeeds has done Jihad. If you go out to care for your family and look for what they will eat, you have striven for something good. Anything that you can strive to attain that is good is called Jihad. It does not mean war alone. The Holy Prophet did not kill. If you look at all the wars that the prophet fought, they were defensive. War is in two fold, defensive and offensive. How did Jihad start? The pagans pursued the Holy prophet from his house. They also pursued him to where he ran to, and then Allah instructed him to defend himself.  The Holy Prophet said that all the defensive wars are even small jihads. The Prophet said that the greatest Jihad is the Jihad of the soul, elevating oneself to be closer to God from the animalistic stage to the higher level.  The greatest Jihad is the discipline of the soul. Those who commit suicide bombings are not following the tenets of Islam. A person says he wants to make paradise and then he goes to the market to denote a bomb which kills many people, both Muslims and Christians.  That is complete madness and not religion. If we want to kill a chicken, the Holy Prophet said we should look for a very sharp knife, consider the animals and not subject the animal to cruelty.

Medical tourism, another drain on the economy

by  YEMI OLAKITAN on Mar 15, 2015 | 

It has now become common place for Nigerians who can afford it especially public officials in Nigeria to seek medical care abroad even for ailments that could be handled at home. It is said that Nigerians spend about $500m (N78bn) yearly for medical treatment abroad. The most popular destinations are India, Germany, UK, and the United States. This is despite the fact that Nigeria has many trained medical practitioners and numerous medical centers. Ag. Head of Investigations, YEMI OLAKITAN, examines the reasons for this medical exodus abroad and what could be done to address it.

Health is wealth so the saying goes, which is why people go to great lengths to ensure proper medical care for sundry ailments. However, the rising spate of chronic illnesses such cancer, renal failure and cardiovascular diseases has raised demand for specialist and sophisticated medical care, which is in short supply in Nigeria. Even though some of the nation’s tertiary institutions still have requisite personnel and equipment to manage chronic cases, many Nigerian prefer to fly abroad to treat both chronic and not-so-chronic conditions believing that the level of care available in-country is not up to scratch.

Indeed, people fly to London for mere check medical ups and common colds and many even end up in the hands of Nigerian doctors in the United States, where about 20,000 Nigerian are estimated to be practicing medicine and in other countries such as the UK and Saudi Arabia.

Expectedly, the overall bill is high since this come in dollars, a situation that has not gone down well with Nigerian doctors, who wonder why people are ready to pay so much abroad while they often hold the short end of the stick at home often going on strike to get decent wages and allowances. Private clinics hardly fare better with many struggling to cope with patients’ debts and unremitted fees from Healthcare Maintenance Organisations, which is threatening the entire National Health Insurance Scheme.

Most worrisome if the fact that public officials in middle to senior cadre travel aboard at the drop of a hat for medical care and the bills are picked by the government, which is accused of failing to properly address the needs of the health sector in terms of staffing, equipment and facilities.

Some of the high profile cases of top government officials and family members seeking medical treatment abroad including late President Umaru Yar’Adua, First lady Patience Jonathan, prominent, state governors and ministers drive home the point most poignantly.

The Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, estimates that Nigerians spend over N120bn annually, on medical tourism while about 5,000 patients travel to India monthly for treatment in line which a rising phenomenon called medical tourism.

Medical tourism’ is originally a term used to qualify a patient’s movement from highly developed nations to other areas of the world to get medical treatment, usually at a lower cost.

More recently, however, the term is being generally used to mean every form of travel from one country to another in search of medical help, which can also simply be called ‘medical travel’. It also includes traveling to countries where treatments for particular conditions are better understood.

NMA President, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, says the organisation had been encouraging public office holders to patronise Nigerian hospitals rather than going overseas for minor ailments that could be handled locally.

“In fact, things have gone so bad in the country that Nigerians travel abroad to conduct medical check-up on simple matters such as blood pressure,” he said.

According to the NMA, Nigeria has the resources and manpower to tackle most ailments ravaging citizens within the country.

It says the country is suffering in the midst of plenty and needs laws to address issues of medical tourism. A medical board that would screen public office holders to ascertain their eligibility for medical treatment abroad is necessary particularly where public funds are involved.

The association warns about the staggering amount of money Nigeria is losing to foreign countries (especially India) on medical tourism.

According to reports, U.S and Great Britain used to have greater share of Nigerians seeking foreign healthcare; Indian has outperformed these countries in recent years. It is estimated that 95 per cent of Nigerians traveling abroad for medical treatment go to India.

The NMA said India rakes in well over N40bn, which is about 50 per cent of the bill. (Over 5000 Nigerians travel to India, with each of them spending between $20,000 and $40,000 on the average a year.) India was also projected to have raked in a whopping $2bn from a global medical tourism valued at $20billion a year.

Reports reveal that the phenomenon called medical tourism is not limited to Nigeria alone. It is a subject of global concern. This is because many surgical procedures performed in medical tourism destinations cost a fraction of the price they do in the Europe of the US

Investigations reveal that a liver transplant that costs $300,000 in America costs about $91,000 in Taiwan. Another problem is that countries that operate public health-care systems often have long wait times for certain operations. In Canada, for an example, an estimated 782,936 Canadians spent time on medical waiting lists in 2005, waiting an average of 9.4 weeks. This prompted Canada to set waiting-time benchmarks, such as 26 weeks for a hip replacement and 16 weeks for cataract surgery, for non-urgent medical procedures. This is one of the reasons why people seek medical care abroad.

Medical tourists come from a variety of locations including Europe, the Middle East, Japan, the United States, and Canada. Factors that drive demand for medical services abroad in First World countries include: large populations, comparatively high wealth, the high expense of health care or lack of health care options locally, and increasingly high expectations of their populations with respect to health care.

In countries, like the United States, medical tourism has large growth prospects and potentially destabilising implications. It is projected that medical tourism originating in the US could jump by a factor of 10 over the next decade.

An estimated 750,000 Americans went abroad for health care in 2007, and a report estimated that 1.5 million would seek health care outside the US in 2008. The growth in medical tourism has the potential to cost US health care providers billions of dollars in lost revenue.  Popular medical travel worldwide destinations include: Costa Rica, India, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United states.

Investigations reveal that India is placed among the top three medical tourism destinations in Asia, mainly due to the low cost of treatment, quality healthcare infrastructure and availability of highly-skilled doctors.

In Nigeria, India has become the doyen of medical tourism and the preferred location. India, Thailand and Singapore are the three countries that receive maximum medical tourists owing to low cost of treatment, quality healthcare infrastructure, and availability of highly-skilled doctors within Asia itself.

Why have Nigeria chosen India over other countries of the world? It is said that in Indian, medical tourism is one of the largest sectors and is poised to grow at an annual rate of 15 per cent to reach about $158.2 billion by 2017. India and other Asian countries have introduced various marketing strategies to attract medical tourists, and they have succeeded immensely and Nigeria is just one of the countries going there.

Patients are attracted to low priced treatment options, availability of variety of treatments, improved infrastructure in terms of healthcare facilities and attractive locations for spending time after treatment.

A nation such as Thailand positions itself as a dual purpose destination for both medical and economic holiday with attractive locations; Singapore promotes itself as a destination for fine quality in medical treatment. India is known mostly for its cost-effective medical treatments along with high standards in cardiology, orthopedics, nephrology, oncology and neuro-surgery.

Another reason why Indian is reportedly a popular destination for medical tourists is that she is known for its alternative treatment options such as yoga and ayurveda. India’s medical travel industry is clipping along at a 30 per cent growth rate annually. India welcomes most of its cross-border travelers from the immediate region (e.g. Bangladesh, the Middle East and Africa). However, some of those gains have arisen from increasing numbers of Americans, Canadians, and Europeans seeking treatment, particularly the more expensive cardiac and orthopedic surgeries, for which health travelers can save tens of thousands of dollars compared to the cost of treatment at home.

India’s official national health policy encourages medical travel as part of its economy’s “export” activities, although the services are performed within India. The government uses revenues generated from medical travel to increase its holdings in foreign currency. With government and corporate investment solidly behind its healthcare system, more international hospitals and super-specialty centers are opening every year.

Heart care has become a specialty in India, with centers such as Fortis Wockhardt (Mumbai) and Apollo (New Delhi and Chennai) leading the way. Success and morbidity rates are on par with those found in the US and Europe, with major surgeries at up to 15 per cent of the cost.

Factors that have led to the increasing popularity of medical travel include the high cost of health care, the ease and affordability of international travel, and improvements in both technology and standards of care in many countries. The avoidance of waiting times is the leading factor for medical tourism from the UK, whereas in the US, the main reason is cheaper prices abroad.

Biodun Ogungbo, a consultant neurosurgeon, said there are huge risks for Nigerians in medical tourism. There are dangers in going to places such as India, South Africa, United Kingdom and Egypt for medical treatment, without proper information about the doctors working there, their qualifications and experience.

“Many patients and their relatives have no clue about the doctors treating them and whether they are truly qualified to carry out the prescribed treatment. A few patients have returned from these countries with much more than they bargained for. Some have had the wrong operation, unnecessary procedures and treatments and others have significant, lingering and life-long complications. Some hospitals also perform totally useless and experimental procedures on patients at huge costs”, he said.

“When the treatments have gone well, who will continue the necessary follow-up care here in Nigeria? When you receive treatment in a foreign country; it becomes expensive to travel back for follow up in order to consult with whoever provided you with primary care. When you shop around for a hospital in Nigeria, you can easily visit them in person and meet with the staff.  But, this type of in-person inspection becomes harder if the hospital is in another country. These hospitals are not vetted by the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, the Health Ministries or the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN, so you don’t know what you are involved in. We do have good hospitals here and doctors who are credible and well trained.’’

Chief Medical Director, the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja, Prof. Olawale Oke, said some of these treatments can be obtained in Nigeria.  According to him, some Nigerians who seek medical help abroad die in the process based on wrong diagnosis and treatment.  “Anyone who goes on medical tourism should be sure of where they are going to because some of the ailments they go for can be treated here. They could fall into wrong hands”, he said.

Investigations by Sunday Mirror reveal that, medical tourism is facilitated through companies who openly advertise here in Nigeria while Nigerian hospitals and doctors are not allowed to advertise. Yet, many of these hospitals and businesses in India, Egypt and South Africa do not subscribe to the same ideals and openly advertise their services in Nigeria.

This development has prompted the Federal Government through the Minister of state for Health, Alhaji Suleiman Bello to issue a statement saying, the “Federal Government will no longer be interested in funding medical trips for its officials abroad. President Jonathan said the funds used for such trips have led to loss of the nation’s scarce resources.’’

The House of Representatives also decried the culture of affluent Nigerians seeking medical services overseas. It says the trend was detrimental to the improvement of health care services locally and a drain on the nation’s scarce resources. It therefore tasked the Federal Ministry of Health to set in motion all necessary machineries that would enhance the full implementation of the budget in the health sector so as to elevate the quality of medical services available in the local health institutions and discourage what has now become medical tourism.

Sunday Mirror investigations reveal that even poor Nigerians seek treatment abroad. There have been cases of poor and sick people campaigning for funds to travel abroad to secure medical care for ailments that could be treated in Nigeria.

There are also cases for which the Nigerian medical system is incapable of treating- or is believed to be incapable of treating, due to lack of standard equipments or perceived lack of qualified and experienced personnel.

Popular music producer, Babatunde Okungbuwa aka OJB Jezreel, had a kidney transplant in India although he was not a government official or political office holder. He could not afford to go but well meaning Nigerians picked up the bill. He was quoted to have quarreled with the expression, medical tourism, saying “How can a life-saving trip be compared in any way to tourism! Really, trips like this are motivated by lack of medical commitment ‎to saving lives and poor facilities in our country,” he said.

Indian national policy continued to be directed at positioning the country as a medical destination of choice in global medical/health care delivery. India is achieving this because of the competitive costs, seamless facilitation through pre-diagnostics in Nigeria itself and smoother visa issuance procedure, wide choice of good hospitals and the better patient-doctor interface leading to higher mutual comfort and trust.

Mr. Babatunde Adisa, a Lagos businessman who spoke to Sunday Mirror on the subject said, ‘‘Medical tourism is a global issue. It is not just a Nigeria problem alone. The world is fast becoming a global village and we must sink or rise to compete favourably with rest of the world, not only in medicine but in other sectors. There is no reason why Nigeria cannot and should not achieve what India has achieved. They are not better economically. These things are simply based on preferred priorities. If Nigeria decides to position herself as a medical center of choice for the global community and invest in that sector, the world will come to us. We have the resources, instead of lamenting we should simply go to the drawing board”.

Reports reveal that there is a National Health Bill on the floor of the National Assembly that seeks to curb medical tourism although some have argued that patients are free to seek medical care from wherever and whoever they deem fit, and with the globalization of the world, things are continually changing and the options for where to seek care from are increasing. It will not be right to force people to get treatment from where they have no confidence.

Another problem affecting the medical sector in Nigeria is that Nigerian doctors and hospitals are not allowed to advertise while their counterparts abroad advertise regularly on the internet and other media platforms.

Reports reveal that physicians were once not allowed to advertise by the American Medical Association, AMA. This situation has changed after the AMA was sued by doctors and the US Supreme Court declared that it was an unfair restriction. The Court ruled that it was also unfair to patients, who need access to information on doctors, so they can select the best for themselves.

Several other countries have also followed the pattern of regulated advertisements and have made information about their services and professionals available to the world, attracting seekers of medical care worldwide including Nigerians.

By allowing this kind of outdated policies to continue, Nigerians limit the growth of medical care in the country and build up those of other countries.

Ola Ayodeji, a kidney specialist with the Peninsula Kidney Associates in Hampton, Virginia while speaking on whether banning overseas medical treatment for senior government officials would help improve Nigeria’s health system, said, “I would not advocate restricting access to highly needed care, because when you have a medical problem, it becomes a personal thing, you want to survive, whatever it takes, wherever you can get the care, whatever you have to pay”.

However, some experts see the need to encourage private sector investments in the medical sector as most of the hospitals being patronised abroad are in any case privately-owned facilities.

Chairman Life Bridge Medical and Diagnostic Centre, Senator Ikechukwu Godson Abana, said, high import duties, multiple taxations and exorbitant fees by various government agencies are responsible for low patronage of private investment in Medicare in Nigeria.

He noted that the various taxes are often transferred into the costs of providing services to Nigerians. The reason why Nigeria loses huge sums in capital flight to medical tourism is because of citizens’ lack of confidence as Nigerians often complain that most of the nation’s hospitals lack the modern equipment needed for effective diagnosis and treatment.

It appears however that government is waking up to this reality.

President Goodluck Jonathan, whose wife had made some medical trips to Germany in recent years, had recently expressed his determination to curb medical tourism by involving private investors in the health sector reforms.

The president made the declaration during the inauguration of the Nigeria-Turkish Nizamiye Hospital in Abuja.  The president said that the state-of-the-art hospital demonstrated a pragmatic response to the government’s policy aimed at enhancing private-sector participation in healthcare delivery in Nigeria.

“A lot of Nigerians go out almost on a daily basis to seek medical help abroad and almost all the hospitals that attend to them outside this country are privately owned.  If we encourage the private sector to take the lead; that would save the amount of money Nigerians pay outside.  The determination of our government is to ensure that our citizens have access to quality and affordable healthcare services. In this regard, the role of the private sector in complementing government efforts is very crucial. private-sector initiatives such as this hospital will aid government’s efforts to halt the enormous capital flight arising from increased medical tourism and the avoidable stress experienced by Nigerians”, he had said.

The president said that the Federal Government had constituted a committee to develop a network of improved modern healthcare infrastructure to further stimulate investments in the health sector.  Jonathan stressed that a number of world-class diagnostic and treatment facilities were being developed in Abuja, Lagos and other locations across the country.

Dr Mustafa Ahsen, the hospital’s Medical Director, said that the hospital offered Nigerians the opportunity of staying in their country and receiving world-class medical treatment which they hitherto sought abroad.

According to him, the hospital aims to encourage Nigerians to receive medical treatment in Nigeria where their friends and relatives are readily available.

“The crux of the hospital’s operational mode centered on the treatment of patients with compassion, respect and utmost care, we will never lose our compassion and concern; we will never fall into the wrong delusion of viewing our patients as file numbers.  We want to approach people who are suffering, distressed, frightened and on the verge of despair with empathy to end their pain.  Our goal is to be a friend to someone who seeks a friend and a symbol of hope to the needy”, he added.

Observers stress that Nigeria is blessed with a lot of qualified, seasoned and proficient medical personnel, and doctors, who can manage any medical condition or disease. However, serious improvements in state of Nigerian hospitals in terms of equipment and funding will go a long way in curtailing medical tourism.

A veteran nurse and midwife, Mrs. Olayinka Adeyemo, who spoke with Sunday Mirror on the subject, said, Nigeria must first of all solve the problem of electricity. “This is a major problem in medical practice. A private hospital in Nigeria that is running on diesel on a daily basis cannot perform a surgical operation at the same cost as an Indian hospital would. It will be cheaper. Our epileptic power supply is a major obstacle to curbing medical tourism”, she stressed.