Kaduna train attack: Nigerians mourn overseas-bound doctor shot by terrorists

Nigerians have taken to social media in expressing their displeasure over the terrorist attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train, resulting in the death of an overseas-bound medical doctor, Chinelo Megafu, and several other passengers on board.

Megafu reportedly died from gunshot injuries sustained during the terror attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train late Monday. She had during the attack announced on her Twitter that she was shot and asked for prayers.

She tweeted, “I’m in the train. I have been shot. Please pray for me.”

The PUNCH had reported how terrorists on Monday night bombed the Abuja-Kaduna rail tracks and attacked a train filled with passengers.

AGONIES OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND LECTURERS' IMBROGLIOS ……A STUDENT LAMENTS ABOUT STRIKES. By Jumoke Bamiteko

Welcome to Nigeria Universities in a country where the fate has become from woes to more woes; Incessant strikes make the fate of students in the Nigerian Universities become a ping pong bounced between the Federal Government and the Academic Unions.

To this end it is essential to ask, examine or value the educational system in Nigerian Universities; the answer may not be far fetched.

Remarkably, from the bowel of history comes the fact that since 1999, Nigerian Universities have been on strike for a cumulative period of three years, spanning about 60 months; since 1999 to 2021 lecturers in public Universities have gone on strike 20 times according to the available reports.

The union  has truncated the academic progression of the hapless students and compounded the financial burden on parents who have to endure the prolonged stay of their children in the Universities due to the serial strikes. 

When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse as the saying goes, remains inevitable; the educational system which was supposed to liberate all and sundry and to be properly funded by the Federal Government has been highly underfunded, the budget for education in Nigeria is under par. Both the Federal Executive Council  and the National Assembly are aware of the  terrible conditions of the institutions but refused to do something because their children are not in public tertiary institutions.

To buttress the point above, as a student, I discovered that tertiary institutions are not properly funded by the Federal Government; all our structures and equipment are bad and still wonder why FG always allow ASUU to go on strike before trying to be responsible. If the FG can no longer fund these public institutions, they should stop creating new institutions, better than extending our courses by two or three years due to the prolonged strikes.

There is no doubt that the FG and academic Unions have contributed greatly to the students vices, immoralities and all kinds of social misadventures that are capable of tarnishing their names, the name of the parents, and the name of the country. These strikes provide destructive windows for students, which they would not have had time for if schools were in session.

Furthermore, we are calling on the FG and Academic Unions to consider the overall impact on the future of this country because what is playing out is not complementary to the development of our children in all ramifications and calls for need for declaration of state of emergency in education in Nigeria. 

Conclusively, Nigeria is becoming more of a failed state in all aspects, all Nigerian institutions are weak and the politicians are taking advantage of it; they will never do anything nor increase the budget for the public educational institutions because their chiidren are not in public schools.

  I strongly believe it is time for Nigerian Students to arise and wake up from their slumber in all public institutions, to gather their unions to protest against the poor funding of the public universities, the federal government has no options. It is left for the students and parents to take actions and help ASUU and ASUP or we  will still be in the same situation. We cannot continue to trust the Federal Government because the integrity is not there at all.

Olajumoke Bamiteko.

Dept of Mass Communication, Offa Polytechnic.

CHRISTIAN, CHURCH AND POLITICS. By Rev Victor Adeyemi

The Redeemed Christian Church of God recently announced the creation of her ‘Directorate of Politics and Governance’. It’s to assist her members in realising their political ambitions. Subsequently, the Supreme Council of Shariah has been advised by frontline presidential aspirant, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to create a similar Directorate to support Muslim political aspirations. Perhaps in what looks like a response to the perception that RCCG may have truly set up the department to give wind to the unconfirmed ambition of one of their pastors and current Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo to become Nigeria’s next president. The above scenario raised a red flag for me. That’s because one of the drawbacks of the Nigerian political evolution has been the exaltation of ethnic and religious sentiments above merit,  competence and capacity in the choice of political leaders in the country. In a nation of over 250 ethnic groups, language bias is bound to exist, but Christians must rise above such sentiments to take the higher ground at all times. After all in Christ Jesus, racial and gender differences are non existent(Galatians 3:28). The same spirit should be carried into our relationship with others as we ought to put our differences aside in order to collaborate for our common causes.

The influence of RCCG on the body of Christ at large is very enormous and I sense scores if not hundreds of churches and denominations will take a cue from them to establish similar departments. We however must think through our strategy clearly and ensure we are guided by the wisdom of God. For instance, it is very naive and unrealistic to ever think we can ever organise ourselves to ensure only Christians rule Nigeria or govern our states. The response of Tinubu asking muslims to create similar departments to support muslims already shows no religion has a monopoly of numbers or potential political influence. Anything done without synergy with people of other persuasions is bound to fail. As President Buhari failed several times to win the presidency with northern votes alone, so is it impracticable to win the presidency with people of only one faith voting for a presidential candidate. A Christian who wants to represent a constituency, govern a state or the entire country is a representative of all and not of Christians alone. Our Heavenly Father causes His sun to shine on the righteous as well as the wicked and believers must include non believers in their projections and permutations. The Lord Jesus died for all even if many do not know it and some who know do not believe it. 

A second critical orientation for Christians going into politics is that of respect for other people’s faiths. The probability of being a person of a different persuasion ourselves is high if we were born in other parts of Nigeria or of the world. Most people are born into their religion. On platforms that are not religious, we must learn to deemphasise the things that divide us and focus on the ones that unite us. Prof Yemi Osinbajo couldn’t have become Attorney General of Lagos state with a holier than thou attitude towards the then Governor Bola Tinubu nor become such a trusted Vice President of a Muslim principal. I remember a dear Muslim friend of mine in my teenage years. This was after one of our usual bouts of arguments that usually ended my attempts to convert him. He says to me lovingly, ‘Victor, my prayer for you is that your eyes will be opened before it is too late’. I know some Christians will scoff at this but we must come to terms with the fact that other people share a similar conviction about their faith as we do about ours and deserve our respect when we engage them in the political, business and secular space. We should find common grounds with them around shared values. Values of love, compassion, truth, integrity and selfless service are shared by Islam and Christianity.  I remember faintly, watching an engagement between a committee of the senate while interrogating the then CBN governor Sanusi L Sanusi. It was in response to a senator questioning the validity of his claims of mismanagement of oil money. He was repeatedly saying ‘I swore by the Holy Quran’. Such is his conviction about and reverence for the Muslim holy book that it is similar to ours. Conscious that many aspects of the Quran tally with the Bible Old Testament, we can respect their views and unite around shared values.

Of greater importance to this article is my desire that Christians be good ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. I remember the current PFN chairman lamenting to me how a Christian governor who had prayed fervently in his hotel room for reelection turned out a confirmed corrupt politician who had the authorities on his trail. The said child of God is sadly in jail today. I also remember a mentor of mine telling me how he rejected a gift from a then sitting governor because he heard he was corrupt. He lamented he had no knowledge he later got a new generator installed in one of their church branches in the South South. The said governor was later convicted of corruption too and he was a ‘born again Christian’. It is shameful that as believers, we would go into politics and do such damage to the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. That is certainly not how to live our lives worthy of our calling(Ephesians 4:1). It is better not to go into the murky waters of politics than to go in and get our hands soiled with mammon. We are proud of the likes of Dr Akinwumi Adesina the African Development Bank president who served  as the Minister of Agriculture under the Goodluck Jonathan administration and came out with clean hands. After being scrutinised by experts both within and outside the ADB, he was found to be stainless. He is a testimony of the fact that it is possible to participate in government and politics in Nigeria and come out with clean hands. Oby Ezekwesili can run the federal government better than most Nigerian politicians. After setting up the ‘Due Process’ office, she served as a minister of the Solid Minerals Development and Education ministries and came out unscathed. Good ambassadors of God’s kingdom. The days are coming and very soon too when corrupt politicians will no longer be voted for. Will God’s children be among the discarded or the chosen?

I commend the effort to build political consciousness among believers in Nigeria. The church is loaded with enormous potential to influence the political direction of the country but it must be handled with care. We are to handle it as sheep in the midst of wolves, wise as serpents and harmless as doves. We must also remember we are salt and light and must not allow ourselves to lose our taste and illumination. RCCG and others, including Global Harvest church, must carefully navigate the delicate balance of the probable conflicting interests of church members contesting against one another. This means churches are better off not partisan and only supportive of those who have emerged through the political process and internal systems of scrutiny to contest for offices. Such support should however not be partisan in nature to avoid politics dividing churches and opening doors for forces of evil to derail our ministries and destroy our unity. I pray the Lord grant us all, more understanding.

Victor Adeyemi

OPEN LETTER TO NAFDAC & PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY OF NIGERIA. By Rotimi Johnson -Ojasope

I write simply as a concerned Nigerian and public affairs analyst; I noticed an anomaly which I strongly think needs the urgent attention of both the NAFDAC and  Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and I believe the open letter approach will save me the stress of going through the bureaucracy of how to make the letter get to the appropriate quarters.

THE PROBLEM: Since the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown, I have had cause to notice the rather poor content of our advertisements; the messages are either over exaggerated or misinforming. I would not want to mention any brand or product but the advertisements for drugs on radio and television are very misinforming and inimical to the public.

INSTANCE: Just a few days ago, I saw an advert for a Malaria drug on one of the DSTV channels; the patient woke up from a dream, complained of being chased by masquerade and the next thing is that he was handed a Malaria drug. I think that was the peak of it; since when has the malaria drug been the cure for nightmares? The advertisements for drugs on our Televisions and Radios do more to promote"self-medications" and drug abuse. Most advertisements undermine the role of authorized prescriptions because you only see family members or friends recommending drugs for patients.

The level of drug abuse in Nigeria is already very alarming and there is a need for stricter measures for drug administrations and advertisements. Most advertisements must emphasize the role of prescription by a qualified physician. We need to be more strict with drug advertisements and hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for any misleading or misinforming adverts.

I am not particular about the company or media station that aired the advert, I just think we need a more healthy and better-informing drug advertisement in Nigeria. All these one-drug-cures-all advertisements should stop if we don't want to wipe out our next-generation or raise armies of drug addicts and perverts.

I believe the relevant agencies and Organizations can take note and act on this observation for posterity sake.

Thanks 

Adeniyi Rotimi Johnson. ANIPR, FPD-CR

PR Consultant, Public Affairs Analyst