Nigeria Content Online

The National Food and Drug Administration and Control Agency
(NAFDAC) will today, at its Lagos office, introduce a solution meant to be the
silver bullet against the monstrous fake drug business in the country.

The data collected from a three-month trial of the Mobile
Authentication Service (MAS), an SMS-based solution implemented by Sproxil Inc,
will also be discussed at the meeting with drugs manufacturers and retailers.

The innovative technology has been described as most suitable
for checkmating fake drugs in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the counterfeit drugs
business is estimated to be worth about $75 billion, because it utilises the
ubiquitous mobile phone platform.

The model is as simple as a consumer walking into a
pharmaceutical store to buy drugs, which would have a scratch panel. The
consumer scratches the panel and sends the code on it to a well-advertised
number through SMS. A confirmation message will be sent back confirming the genuineness
or otherwise of the drug. If the drug is counterfeited, the consumer is
expected to inform NAFDAC.

Anti-counterfeit
officials

This model, which will also be effective against all forms of
counterfeited and sub-standard products, will turn consumers to an independent
army of “anti-counterfeit officials,” one as big as the entire Nigerian
populace, if implemented efficiently.

The document, which was exclusively obtained by NEXT, was
prepared by a national committee inaugurated by Paul Orhii, NAFDAC’s Director
General, in June 2009.

The committee consisted of representatives of the
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of Nigeria (PMG-MAN), Nigerian Representatives of
Overseas Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (NIROPHARM), and mPedigree, the company
marketing the product.

The committee submitted its report, Deployment of National
Electronic Anti-Counterfeiting Platform for Regulated Products in Nigeria, in
September 2009. Thereafter, Biofem agreed to use its “highly counterfeited”
product, glucophage, as a “guinea pig” and in February, NAFDAC announced a
trial project, to be implemented by Sproxil.

The feasibility of the guideline document requires several
partnership agreement and understanding among several components of the design
including telecommunication companies, drug manufacturing companies,
Information Technology Company, and NAFDAC.

However, Biofem-Spiroxil partnership has, within a shorter
period, produced an implementation platform for the technology and the trial
has received positive feedback from industry stakeholders.

For a detailed report on
this, read NEXTonSunday

The senate committee on environment have threatened to shut
down the five stone mining companies operational at Mpape, a suburb of Abuja,
for none compliance with environmental safety laws.

The threat came after the committee, led by its chairperson,
Grace Bent (PDP Adamawa state) and the National Environmental Standard and
Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) paid an unscheduled inspection visit to
the quarries.

Mrs Bent and Ngeri Benebo, the director general of NESREA,
expressed dissatisfaction with the level of compliance with environmental laws
by the various quarrying companies in the area.

Some of the five stone mining companies operational in the
suburb have been blasting and crushing rocks in Mpape for over 30 years, but
none of them have an environmental impact assessment certificate or a plan on
how to remedy the environment after mining. Neither did any of the mining
companies have a corporate social responsibility project in the community.

The worst offender, according to the inspection team, was
Julius Barger Plc. They are the longest stone blasting company in the area, but
had neither an Environmental Impact Assessment certificate nor an Environmental
Management Plan. Their site also had a lake developing from their previous
mining pit which inspectors said was untreated and breeding mosquitoes.

“Can Julius Barger do this in Germany?” Mrs Bent asked the site
manager. “This is totally unacceptable in Nigeria.”

Non compliant miner

The senate committee chairman therefore gave them an ultimatum
of two weeks to develop an environmental management plan and conduct an
environmental impact assessment on the site adjourning community.

“We are giving you two week to do this or we will come back
here and shut this place down,” she said. “We cannot tolerate this; it is
totally unacceptable to us.”

Like Julius Barger, Arab Contractors and the rest of the
Chinese companies mining stones at the suburb were blasting the rock, causing
earth tremors, polluting the air with dust, and producing unsafe lakes from old
mining pits but have never conducted and environmental impact assessment on the
site.

Their workers were also not protected with safety kits, neither were they
insured. Kamel Eljilbal, who represented the management of Arab Contractors
Ltd, argued that the company had the necessary certifications; but Ihebinike
Kevin, an official of the federal ministry of environment, countered his claims
saying the ministry had no record of such certifications and neither did they
have any post mining plans from the company. The other mining companies which
the team visited also argued they had certificates and permits but could not
present them.

The deputy Senate
president, Ike Ekweremadu, who is also the head of the Senate committee
on constitution review, has affirmed that the president need not sign
the amended constitution before it becomes binding and effective.

“I’m surprised that such an argument is coming up,” he told reporters in an interview in Abuja, earlier in the week.

He argued that the
constitution will automatically become effective once the required
two-third of the state Houses of Assembly assent to it.

“I don’t know who
is engineering that because section 9 says an Act of the National
Assembly for the alteration of constitution will be conducted in a
manner provided by that section 9. Don’t forget we copied from the
American constitution. Once the American Congress passes the
Constitution Amendment and it is sent to the state, just like in our
own, and you have the requisite number, it becomes automatically
operative. No American president has ever signed a constitutional
amendment. “

Last bus stop

He further argued
that for the constitution to make provision for two-third of the
members of the National Assembly and two-third of the state Houses of
Assembly to ratify it means that that alone is the “last bus stop.” The
deputy Senate president has always argued that since Nigeria’s
constitution is modelled after that of the United States of America, it
will not require the assent of the president to alter it.

“Amendment of the
constitution, according to section 9, does not require presidential
assent,” he said in a Senate workshop in Kaduna, October last year.

He had argued
against the opinion of Tayo Oyetibo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who
lectured the Senate on steps to successfully amend the Constitution in
that workshop.

Mr. Oyetibo had
said that unlike the American Constitution, which states clearly that a
law is valid with the assent of a certain majority of their National
and State Houses of Assembly, the Nigerian Constitution is ambiguous
about it, and that that leaves the president with the power to validate
any law.

Mr. Oyetibo then
advised the senators to rephrase section 9 of the 1999 Constitution to
reflect the validity of a law, with just the assent of a certain
majority of the National and State Houses of Assembly.

The deputy Senate
president also confirmed that the National Assembly is yet to transmit
the harmonised copy of the draft amended Constitution to the State
Assembly.

“We are meeting
with the Houses of Assembly on the 15th of this month to formally hand
over the harmonised version to them,” Mr. Ekweramdu said.

“We appeal to them
to deal with it in a matter of a week or two. We intend to extend
invitation to the governors, or at least find an opportunity of meeting
with them to also seek their support at this last lap of this exercise.
So, we are not expecting any problem.”

He further defended
the Senate’s position on some key issues in the amended constitution
that pitched the lawmakers against the public. Such issues like
allowing people indicted for corruption and embezzlement by
administrative panels to run for public offices, and cross carpeting
for elected lawmakers.

“The constitution
has made sufficient provisions on things that could disqualify you. If
you have been found guilty by a court for offences regarding
disqualification, you will not contest election. But it went further in
section 66(i) and said that if you are indicted by an administrative
panel of inquiry and that indictment is accepted by the Federal
Executive Council and State Executive Council, you are disqualified.
But we said no, that those other copious provisions, regarding areas of
disqualification on criminal ground, they are enough.

“Those who will be
disqualified are those who are found guilty by a court of competent
jurisdiction, and that is what is in our constitution. A lot of people
seem to misunderstand it clearly. In America, where we copied our own
constitution, people move from party A to B and they don’t lose their
seats. It is only the Parliament that it says if you cross carpet
without a genuine reason, you will lose your seat.

“But in the Executive, there is no such thing. Why isolate the
Parliament? And meanwhile, we have a provision in the constitution for
freedom of association. How do you reconcile it? And for you to amend
that section to say you cannot cross carpet, then you have to go and
amend the constitution regarding the freedom of association and that
requires a higher threshold,” Mr. Ekweramdu added

Evidentiary hearing
into the cases of some former state executives is yet to commence,
nearly four years after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) filed criminal charges against them, the chairman of the
commission, Farida Waziri, has said.

Mrs. Farida Waziri,
who was speaking in Abuja yesterday at the public presentation of
Anti-Corruption Handbook authored by Tabi Joda, listed several
instances where the slow pace of court processes stalled the fight
against corruption.

Some of the ex-governors include Ayo Fayose, Saminu Turaki, and Joshua Dariye.

Mr. Fayose was
prosecuted on December 17, 2006 on a 51-count charge on financial
misappropriation totaling N1.2 billion; Turaki’s trial also commenced
on July 13, 2007, when he was arraigned on a 32-count charge for
laundering N36 billion; and Dariye’s was also set on the same date,
based on prima facie case of corrupt enrichment and money laundering of
N700 million.

While reiterating
her call for the establishment of special courts to try corruption
cases, Mrs. Waziri said court processes have frustrated the work of the
agency.

“I have also called
for laws that will enable us sequestrate the assets of accused persons
and convert them to government assets upon their conviction. Whereas
those are long term goals, I think the judiciary can do a lot to speed
up our trials,” she said.

She also added that
the commission has recovered $3.5 billion as proceeds of crime and over
N3 billion after investigating tax cases, which has been forwarded to
the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

Minister of Police
Affairs, Adamu Waziri, and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bell Adoke, in
their goodwill messages both agreed that fighting corruption was the
collective responsibility of Nigerians. Mr. Adoke promised that attack
on EFCC operatives would be a thing of the past.

Mrs. Waziri said the police must be reformed to execute its constitutional duty.

The Nigeria Labour
Congress has described the task ahead of elections’ boss, Attahiru
Jega, as enormous, stating that the electoral commission presently
lacks the operating environment that is required for him to succeed in
the office

“The question of
financial autonomy of INEC is highly imperative at this time so that
the new INEC chair would hit the ground running given the enormous
responsibilities awaiting him especially in cleaning up the messed-up
electoral register and other critical logistics that will ensure a
smooth general election in 2011,” said Abdulwahed Omar, NLC president.

Meanwhile, the Mega
Party Movement, applauded the nomination of Mr Jega. In a statement
signed by its secretary, Wale Okuniyi, yesterday, the party said Mr.
Jega’s appointment was a major victory for Nigerians who have been
agitating for an electoral umpire with high pedigree and integrity. The
party described Mr Jega as an icon of the democratic struggle, adding
that his nomination has restored hope and opened a new vista of faith
in Nigeria’s electoral system ahead of the 2011 general elections.

The way forward

It also hailed the
selection of Lai Olurode and other members on the new board of INEC,
and advised them not to allow themselves to be tainted. The party also
advised the federal government to fully observe the process of
electoral reforms recommended by the Muhammadu Uwais-led panel.

Another group,
Human Rights’ Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has challenged Mr
Jega to put in place a credible voters’ register for Nigerians.

Born in Jega on 11
Jan., 1957, Attahiru Jega attended Sabon Gari Primary School between
1963 and 1969 and Government Secondary School, Birnin Kebbi. He went to
Bayero University, Kano (BUK) in 1974 and graduated in 1978 with second
class upper division B.Sc. in Political Science. He started his career
as a graduate assistant with BUK and rose to become a professor, and
then vice chancellor of the university in 2005. His tenure as vice
chancellor is expected to end in October.

Resident doctors in
the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) resumed duties
today after calling off a one week strike action yesterday.

The Lagos branch of
the Association of Resident Doctors (LASUTH-ARD) called of the strike
after a meeting it held at the hospital premises on Wednesday. The
strike, which lasted seven days, was observed to press for the payment
of the deducted 12 days’ pay from their salaries by the state
government, for participating in a nationwide strike called by the
National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) in April.

”We have just
called off the strike, so we will resume work 8 am tomorrow morning;
they (state government) have answered us,” said the association
president, Saliu Oseni, who described the state government’s action as
an insult to the medical profession. Dr. Oseni also said the
association had forwarded a memo stating its other demands to the state
government for consideration, prominent among which is the
implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS), an
improved salary structure.

Getting back to business

The withholding of
the salaries to punish the doctors had, however, met with criticisms
from some quarters, including the Democratic Peoples’ Alliance (DPA),
an opposition party, and NARD, which have pushed for the immediate
payment of the deducted salary.

In its protest, the
NARD gave the Lagos state government seven days to pay the deducted
money, threatening a nationwide strike of resident doctors if the
demand was not met by then; the ultimatum expired yesterday.

While the strike
lasted, various wards of the hospital were empty, except for the
emergency ward, where consultants were on hand to attend to the
patients. With the return of the doctors, patients will be relieved of
their suffering.

A patient, Kabiru
Mohammed described the news of the doctor’s strike call-off as “a
welcome development.” “I think it’s a good thing that both of them have
resolved their issues, because it’s we people that will suffer, not the
doctors, not the government,” he said.

The Oyo State governor, Alao Akala on Wednesday said that individual Nigerians need reform.

Mr. Akala, reacting

to the appointment of Attahiru Jega as new INEC boss, told aviation

correspondents at the Murtala Mohammed Airport 2 on Wednesday that

Nigerians although the clamour for political reforms is right,

Nigerians should reform their ways.

“Everyone is

talking about political reforms, but it is we in Nigeria that have to

reform ourselves,” he said. “What Nigerian people don’t know is this,

the chairman will not be everywhere in every election.”

The governor also lauded the appointment of Mr. Jega, and stated that the new INEC boss is worthy of the position.

“He has good track

records and he has integrity,” he said. “With the man there now, there

will be a lot of transparency. You know he doesn’t take nonsense and he

is a nice man. I know he will not disappoint Nigerians.”

The National

Council of States, on Tuesday approved the appointment of Mr. Jega,

vice chancellor of Bayero University, Kano as the new chairman of

Nigeria’s electoral commission. Also approved by the council are ten

other electoral commissioners and 18 resident electoral commissioners.

Commenting on his political future, Mr. Akala, expressed his

confidence ahead of the 2011 general polls. “I have been doing that for

the past how many years now,” he said. “For when you have been on a

particular job for a very long time, the more time you spend, the more

you master the game.”

Constitutional
lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, has decried the ongoing process to amend the
1999 constitution, saying the process falls short of what the original
document stipulates.

Both arms of
national assembly, last week, agreed to forward the amended document to
the 36 states house of assembly for concurrence. But Mr Aturu said the
legislators “ought to have passed a resolution before passing the bill
and sending it to the states house of assembly.” He quoted section 9 of
the constitution, which stipulates that the “National Assembly can only
pass an act to amend the constitution when its proposal to amend the
constitution has been supported by two-thirds majority of all the
members of each chamber and the proposal is approved by the resolution
of at least 24 Houses of Assembly of the States.”

This section of the
constitution, which states the procedure to be adopted in amending the
constitution, according to the lawyer, has “simply been ignored or
deliberately trampled upon by the legislators. The implication of which
is that the whole exercise…is an exercise in futility, an unnecessary
waste of taxpayers’ money and an indefensible trivialisation of
legislative time.”

Mr Aturu said the
National Assembly has violated the 1999 constitution in the process of
trying to amend the constitution because in law, one cannot build
something on nothing and expect it to stand.

“The illegal process which the national assembly has embarked on will soon collapse,” he said.

Harmonised illegality

Mr Aturu expressed
shock at the pronouncement of the National Assembly that it has passed
a bill to amend the constitution, saying the lawmakers has only passed
a “harmonised illegality.”

“When a procedure
has been laid down in a statute for the doing of a thing, to do that
thing in a different way is an illegality,” he said. “If they go ahead
with the proceedings, anybody can challenge them to court to nullify
the whole process. It is better for the National Assembly to halt the
illegal process, recommence constitutional review by merely passing a
resolution and then take the resolution to the states for approval. If
they secure the resolution of 24 Houses, then they can pass the bill
for the amendment of the constitution. If not, then that is the end of
the attempt.”

The lawyer also warned against claims that the bill to amend the
constitution, once passed by the National Assembly, does not require
the assent of the president. Quoting Section 58 of the constitution, he
said: “the section makes it clear that a bill does not become law until
it has been assented to by the president; unless after a period of one
month, the National Assembly passes the bill by two thirds majority and
overrides as it were the president’s veto.”

The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)
has called on the nominated INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega to create a
“re-branded INEC by flushing out all bad eggs” in the commission, as
soon as the National Assembly ratifies his appointment.

Sabo Muhammed, the party’s National
Director of Publicity, made the call in an interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Wednesday.

Mr. Muhammed, a former Public Relations Officer of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities when Mr Jega was its national president,
said, “notwithstanding Jega’s credibility and pedigree, government must
create an enabling environment for him to conduct a free, fair and
credible elections in 2011”.</

The National
Council of States yesterday approved the nomination of Attahiru Jega as
the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission by
President Goodluck Jonathan.

The ratification
came during the council’s first meeting under Mr Jonathan’s
administration. An influential advisory body, members of the council
include state governors, all former heads of state, former chief
justices of the federation and the current one, the attorney-general
and minister of justice, Senate President and Speaker of the House of
Representatives.

Yesterday’s meeting
had, for the first time in a very long while, all former living
Nigerian heads of state in attendance, including Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun
Obasanjo, Shehu Shagari, Ibrahim Babangida, Ernest Shonekan,
Abdulsalami Abubakar, and Muhammadu Buhari who consistently shunned the
council’s meetings during the administration of Mr Obasanjo.

The full attendance by the former leaders signifies their confidence in the leadership of Mr. Jonathan, a presidency aide said.

The council also
approved 10 national commissioners and 18 resident commissioners for
the electoral commission, alongside Mr. Jega who was a former national
president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, and the Vice
Chancellor of the Bayero University, Kano. All the names will be
forwarded to the National Assembly for confirmation.

Unanimous approval

The Edo State
governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who made the announcement after the closed
door meeting which lasted for about six hours, said,

“The council
considered the recommendation of Professor Atahiru Jega for appointment
as chairman of INEC and the council unanimously approved of it,” he
said, flanked by the governors of Niger, Jigawa, and Enugu States.

“We believe the
president demonstrated courage and statesmanship in appointing someone
who is not known to have any partisan political affiliation and a
Nigerian that has distinguished himself in his present and past
callings,” he said, adding, “The council also commended the president
for the quality of people nominated as national electoral
commissioners, about 10 of them as well as 18 other resident electoral
commissioners.

“The good thing
about it is that council was unanimous about these appointments because
the people concerned were considered to be men and women of integrity.
The fact is that we all accept that the president has exercised his
power quite judiciously in appointing someone that most Nigerians will
respect and appreciate, and it will be a major push on the electoral
reform line. The president also agreed that any of the existing
electoral commissioners whose tenure has not expired, but who might
have been found wanting of any particular wrong; where proven, will be
promptly removed and replaced.

“I think with council decision today, the recommendation will now go to the Senate for scrutiny and approval.”

Although the
council is essentially an advisory body, it is usually consulted on
significant national issues. Its meeting yesterday was essentially to
endorse the appointment of a new chairman for the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC).