And Four Other Things…
In a country where a serving minister is accused of forging an NYSC exemption certificate, you would expect the police to be investigating the allegation and briefing the public. But, no, not in my dearly beloved country. What the police would really love to investigate is the source of a reporter’s story. The letter over which the police are harassing Samuel Ogundipe, Premium Times journalist, was widely circulated on WhatsApp almost as soon as the inspector-general, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, signed it. May I remind the IG yet again: the Nigerian media will see your end. We have survived the most brutal of regimes, led by Gen. Sani Abacha. Idris, you are but a small fry. Rethink.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recently froze the accounts of Benue state government. I’m sorry, but I don’t understand where we are headed as a country. The federal government may have an axe to grind with the governor, Chief Samuel Ortom — who recently defected from APC to PDP — but freezing the accounts of a state and paralysing its activities is completely out of order. If there is suspicion of corruption, there are a million ways of dealing with the governor and other officials rather than blocking government accounts. Grounding the entire activities of any state government for any reason is extremely draconian. Unacceptable.
Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, remains one of the most focussed public administrators Nigeria has ever had. On Thursday, he became the first governor to present his 2019 budget, giving priority attention to education and health. He pledged that his administration would complete all the projects it started and pay up all its contractual obligations before the end of the year. I also remember that he was the first to nominate commissioners in 2015 — even attaching their CVs and portfolios to the list he sent to the house of assembly. You may not be a fan of his politics but you cannot deny that he understands how government should run. Kudos!
The New York University has made tuition free for all its current and future medical students. The scholarship is worth over $55,018 this session. All students are eligible, no matter their financial need or academic performance. Meanwhile, my dearly beloved Nigeria is desperately in need of doctors but it is not only prohibitive to train them, most of those who want to study medicine cannot even get admission. Instead of expanding training facilities and capability, Nigerian universities even boast about how they reject applicants every year, as if there is a prize to be won. Do we really think in this country? Absurd.