The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks and other financial institutions to deposit unclaimed balances and funds in dormant accounts to the apex bank accounts.

CBN also issued regulatory guidelines for account owners and beneficial owners to recover their funds dormant for up to 10 years.

The apex bank outlined the regulations in a document on Friday titled ‘Guidelines on Management of  Dormant Account, Accounts, Unclaimed Balances and Other Financial Assets In Banks And Other Financial Institutions in Nigeria’.

A dormant account is a bank account that has remained inactive for at least one year.

The apex bank said the revised guidelines are a sequel to the conclusion of the review of the guidelines on the management of dormant accounts issued in October 2015.

“The revised Guidelines, which operationalizes Section 72 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, followed engagement and consultations with relevant stakeholders, whose comments and recommendations were considered in the review process,” CBN said.

“It, amongst others, standardises the management of dormant accounts, unclaimed balances and financial assets, and outlines the procedure for the administration of these balances, funds, and assets by banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria.

“The modalities for the transfer of the relevant balances/funds/assets to the CBN, together with the revised templates for the rendition of quarterly returns to Banking Supervision Department or Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department (as the case may be) will be communicated subsequently.”

The financial regulator further said the guidelines supersede the previous guidelines, adding that they take effect immediately.

REUNITING FUNDS FOR BENEFICIAL OWNERS

In the document, CBN said the objectives of the guidelines are to “identify dormant accounts/unclaimed balances and financial assets with a view to reuniting them with their beneficial owners”.

“Hold the funds in trust for the beneficial owners; Standardize the management of dormant accounts/unclaimed balances and financial assets,” the apex bank said.

“Establish a standard procedure for reclaim of warehoused.”

10 YEARS DORMANCY 

According to the financial regulator, eligible accounts are dormant account balances that have remained with the institution for 10 years and beyond.

“Eligible dormant accounts/unclaimed balances and other financial assets shall include: Current, Savings and term deposits in local currency,” CBN added.

“Domiciliary accounts; deposits towards the purchase of shares and mutual investments; Prepaid card accounts and wallets; Government owned accounts;

“Proceeds of uncleared and unpresented financial instruments belonging to customers or non-customers of FIs.”

Furthermore, the CBN said it will open and maintain an account earmarked for the purpose of warehousing unclaimed balances in eligible accounts. 

The account shall be called the ‘Unclaimed Balances Trust Fund (UBTF) Pool Account’. 

In addition, the CBN shall establish a management committee to oversee the operation of the UBTF pool account, monitor and enforce compliance with these guidelines; and manage the funds in line with the provisions of BOFIA 2020;

Other stakeholders of the unclaimed accounts are the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and financial institutions.

REACTIVATION, UNCLAIMED FUNDS 

To reactivate a dormant account, CBN said the account owner or beneficial owner must complete a reactivation form in person.

“Obtain from the account owner evidence of ownership of the dormant account with valid means of identification, evidence of present place of residence, and affidavit on the accuracy of the information to reactivate the dormant account,” the apex bank said.

“Verify the information provided on the reactivation form; Not charge any fee for reactivation of dormant account.

“Reactivate the dormant account with the approval of two (2) authorized officers with one being at least the branch operations manager.

“Reactivate dormant accounts within a maximum of three (3) working days of receipt of a written application to that effect.

“Notify the account owner, free of charge, upon reactivation of the account.”

Also, to access the list of unclaimed balances transferred to CBN on the websites, the account owner/beneficial owner shall provide evidence of account ownership, valid means of identification, evidence of the present place of residence, and an affidavit on the accuracy of the information to reactivate the account.

“The profit and loss ratio on the unclaimed balances for non-interest banks shall be determined by the CBN from time to time;

“The FIs shall verify the claim and initiate the request with supporting documents to CBN within ten (10) working days;

“Application for reclaim shall be to the director banking services department, CBN;

“CBN shall refund unclaimed balance to the account owners/beneficial owners through their FIs within ten (10) working days from the date of the receipt of the FI’s request.

“Beneficial owners shall not make partial claims; and the right of beneficial owners to reclaim shall be indefinite.”

CBN said monitoring and enforcement of banks and financial institutions will be through off-site surveillance as well as on-site routine and target examinations.

The Cable

Top UN court says Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories illegal

The United Nations' highest court said on Friday that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there are illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible, in its strongest findings to date on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The advisory opinion by judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), known as the World Court, was not binding but carries weight under international law and may weaken support for Israel.

"Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law," President Nawaf Salam said, reading the findings of a 15-judge panel.

The court said Israel's obligations include paying restitution for harm and "the evacuation of all settlers from existing settlements".

In a swift reaction, Israel's foreign ministry rejected the opinion as "fundamentally wrong" and one-sided, and repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can only be reached by negotiations.

"The Jewish nation cannot be an occupier in its own land," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The opinion also angered West Bank settlers as well as politicians such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose nationalist religious party is close to the settler movement and who himself lives in a West Bank settlement.

"The answer to The Hague - Sovereignty now" he said in a post on the social media platform X, in an apparent appeal to formally annex the West Bank.

Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, one of the largest settler councils, said the ICJ opinion was "contrary to the Bible, morality and international law".

'NO COMPLICITY'

The ICJ opinion also found that the U.N. Security Council, the General Assembly and all states have an obligation not to recognise the occupation as legal nor "render aid or assistance" toward maintaining Israel's presence in the occupied territories.

The United States is Israel's biggest military ally and supporter.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called the opinion "historic" and urged states to adhere to it.

"No aid. No assistance. No complicity. No money, no arms, no trade...no actions of any kind to support Israel's illegal occupation," Palestinian envoy Riyad al-Maliki said outside the court in The Hague.

The case stems from a 2022 request for a legal opinion from the U.N. General Assembly, predating the war in Gaza that began in October.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem - areas of historic Palestine which the Palestinians want for a state - in the 1967 Middle East war and has since built settlements in the West Bank and steadily expanded them.

Israeli leaders argue the territories are not occupied in legal terms because they are on disputed lands, but the United Nations and most of the international community regard them as occupied territory.

In February, more than 50 states presentedtheir views before the court, with Palestinian representatives asking the court to find that Israel must withdraw from all the occupied areas and dismantle illegal settlements.

Israel did not participate in the oral hearings but filed a written statement telling the court that issuing an advisory opinion would be "harmful" to attempts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The majority of states participating asked the court to find the occupation illegal, while a handful, including Canada and Britain, argued it should refuse to give an advisory opinion.

The United States had asked the court not to order the unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories.

The U.S. position was that the court should issue no decision that could hurt negotiations toward a two-state solution on a "land for peace" principle.

In 2004 the ICJ gave an advisory ruling that an Israeli separation barrier around most of the West Bank was illegal and Israeli settlements were established in breach of international law. Israel dismissed that ruling.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian drone hits Russian monastery, kills one person, regional governor says

A Ukrainian drone struck a monastery in Russia's Kursk region on Friday, killing one person, the regional governor Alexei Smirnov said on the Telegram app.

The Mash Telegram channel said a 60-year-old male parishioner had died at around 0830 local time after a drone fired eight projectiles at the St. Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery in Gornal, a village near the Ukrainian border.

There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian authorities on the reported attacks, which Reuters could not confirm independently.

Like other Russian border regions, Kursk comes under frequent attack from Kyiv's forces. On Tuesday, a drone attack on a factory producing electrical devices in the town of Korenevo caused a fire in which no one was harmed.

The men's monastery was founded in 1671 and once hosted the writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, who immortalised his conversations with the monks in his novel "The Brothers Karamazov," according to the monastery's website.

A child was injured in a previous attack on the monastery last August, according to Mash.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

While Ukraine is currently not allowed to use American-supplied weapons for long-range strikes into Russian territory, this might change in the future, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said.

Sullivan spoke on Friday at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. Asked whether Washington was open to relaxing the “extreme limitations”on Ukraine’s use of US weapons, he would not rule anything out.

“As the war has evolved, our support has evolved,” Sullivan said. “I can’t give a definitive answer to that question for the future.”

The White House reportedly gave Kiev permission to use some of the American missiles to attack military targets across the border from Kharkov Region in late May. 

“Circumstances changed. Russia actually launched a new offensive directly across the border towards Kharkov, and common sense dictated that Ukraine had to be able to fire back against that offensive,” Sullivan explained.

However, he added, President Joe Biden’s “policy on long-range strikes into Russia has not changed thus far.”

Asked the same question earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there is an “ongoing conversation” in Washington about relaxing the restrictions on Kiev, offering no more details.

Vladimir Zelensky has slammed the Western limitations as “crazy,”claiming Ukraine should be able to strike anywhere in Russia. 

“We have allowed Zelensky to use American weapons in the near border regions of Russia. If he had the opportunity to strike Moscow, strike the Kremlin, would that make sense? No, it wouldn’t,” Biden said last week, at a press briefing in Washington.

In late June, a US-supplied ATACMS missile dropped cluster munitions on a beach near Sevastopol in Crimea, killing at least four people, including two children, and injuring more than 150. Russia said it would hold the US directly responsible for the “premeditated terrorist” attack.

President Vladimir Putin has described Ukrainian attacks inside Russian territory using Western-supplied weapons as “close to aggression.” He has also warned that Moscow might engage in an asymmetrical response, arming states or groups hostile to the US with advanced weaponry.

Reuters/RT

We recently asked married men of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the hardest parts of marriage that no one talks about. Here's what they had to say:

1. "Twenty-five years married here. The person you marry is going to change in each season of life, and you have to abandon your own selfishness and put in an effort to fall in love with them anew each time...and to help them find new ways to fall in love with you as you change, too. It's super hard because you're going to miss the person they used to be (before kids, before menopause, etc.), but if you put in the work and keep an open mind, you'll probably like the new them a lot, too."

—axj66

2. "Remember the wonderful times because they're precious if you lose your spouse. But truth? Marriage is flat-out determined work every day; you must keep at it and not give up, only thinking about yourself. I loved my wife; some days, I'm sure she wanted to kill me, but she still loved me — only married people will understand that. But to make it work for us for the 38 years we were together, it was truly day-by-day solid effort every day."

—quizzycat72
3. "The hardest thing for me has been lack of time for myself. I'm an introvert and need time to regroup and reenergize after spending the work day around people. As we've had kids, that free time has become less and less, as we have to run to sports practices, deal with school, go to things for my wife's job, etc."

"Every once in a while, I'll get to travel for work, which turns into a much-needed time of decompression. I find moments for myself when I'm home, but they aren't much. As a dad and husband, I try to be as present as possible around my family, even if it further drains me."

—robert_dunder

4. "Twenty-one years married. The cornerstones of our marriage are communication and honesty. Communication is tough because sometimes it's hard to articulate what you mean or to be patient with trying to express yourself and to understand what your partner is trying to tell you."

"Honesty is more than not lying to your partner. It's being honest with yourself, to accept when it's your fault, or when that little thing you said doesn't bother you is going to grow into a major issue."

—moncynnes

5. "I got married at 18 to my 26-year-old wife (we're now 21 and 29). Don't get me wrong, getting married was my best decision, but there are always setbacks. We've already settled into the 'old couple' phase, where we bicker, complain, and swear at each other about little stuff, like where my wife put her shoes. Spouses will ALWAYS find a way to get on your nerves; you'll find plenty of moments where you want to take a vacation from your spouse just to have time to yourself. You'll have plenty of arguments and disagreements, but the most important thing to know is that there's a difference between PERFECT and HEALTHY in any relationship."

"There are times when I'm seething with her, but there are even more times I look at her in awe that I was ever lucky enough to find a woman who loves me unconditionally, forever and always. We tied the knot merely seven months after we met because we knew from the start that we belonged together — it's sure not a walk in the park, but that's love."

—jasonalcon23

6. "The hardest part by far is in-laws. I have been married twice, and both times my in-laws were insufferable. For the first time, the mom-in-law thought her daughters were the most talented and beautiful women on earth and could have done better than me. Unfortunately, the daughter (my wife) thought she would get by on her looks and, therefore, couldn't hold a job. She cheated on me and her second husband. With my second wife, it was the father-in-law."

"He told his daughter she was the smartest woman alive. She was smart in some ways but dumb as a box of rocks with common sense. We divorced because my job required that I travel, and she realized marriage wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and she liked being on her own better. She didn't want a divorce; she just wanted me to move out and keep paying all the bills. Needless to say, that was NO from me."

—61, USA

7. "Honestly, it's the absence of a definitive model of what constitutes a 'good husband.' Instead, those of us who desire to be good spouses, parents, and partners are on this endless treadmill, chasing a moving and invisible target because our society values wealth, fame, and athletics, and not character. I'm exhausted."

—43, Minnesota

8. "When after 25 years of marriage, you look at your life and realize you should have taken more time to pick the right person."

"My wife focuses on our adult children, I'm always last and doing mostly everything alone. This is not what I had expected."

—50, Canada
9. "A major challenge I've faced is navigating the complexities of intimacy and vulnerability in a long-term relationship. This isn't the typical story of a stoic man who holds his emotions until he is numb; instead, it is deeply wanting a connection with my wife but finding real challenges in having it reciprocated fully. First, there is the common challenge of a lack of physical intimacy in a long-term relationship. In the first few years, everything was great, but then my wife's libido faded, and that created real emotional pain in me. Physical intimacy, not just intercourse but all of its many forms, is really about making an emotional connection. It's about sharing something special with the love of your life that is unique between us and no one else. It's a way to express love, and it's a way to know that I am loved. Without it, life is anemic — a grind that funnels me to the classic stoic archetype that I never wanted to embody."

"Second, there is the issue of vulnerability. In previous long-term relationships and in my marriage, the idea of masculinity was always this balancing act to navigate with my partners. My wife wanted me to be vulnerable, but not too vulnerable. To be confident, but not too confident. Not falling into this undefined and narrow Goldilocks zone of desirable masculinity was, at times, frustrating and exhausting. It also played into the first point above about intimacy. Finding one outside of that desired zone would make intimacy even more remote. The end result is that marriage feels like an endeavor — one that can be frustratingly opaque in terms of how to live in happiness with your partner. That tension creates a painful and tragic longing for being able to just be. To be vulnerable, to express love, to be loved, and to feel like I stand on solid ground in who I am as a man and husband."

—52, Vermont

10. "Not being their child's father. Supporting my spouse's friends and families — including other parent's families — and not being appreciated for anything and feeling like the elephant in the room at every family event."

—62, New Jersey
11. "The hardest thing about being married and a father is the weight of always having to be 'strong' and 'steady.' You don't realize how everyone in your family will always look to you to be the rock for them and always to be dependable. My wife gets tired of her job; she quits because she knows I will keep mine. The kids need someone to fix a thing; you fix it. It doesn't matter if you worked all day and are sick and hungry. Their needs always come first. If your wife needs to vent about her day, friends, or kids or just needs to have a good cry, you listen. They expect you to carry on for them always."

"You don't get sick, you don't get tired, you never need to vent or be vulnerable, you don't have hobbies, and you don't take risks related to your job. I love my family, and they are my greatest pride and joy, but the weight can be a lot. I was about five years into my marriage when I realized my family would rather see me die on my white horse than dismount willingly."

—Anonymous, Florida

12. "The hardest part of marriage has been learning when to listen. It's easy to say you are listening just because you hear an audible noise and let your spouse say their piece, maybe even without interruption. The hard part is knowing when to lay your position down and actually listening to what they are saying without circling it back to you, especially when you think you have a point to prove."

"This can be very challenging. Success can be found when you learn how to take turns talking and listening."

—36, Indiana

13. "It took getting married for me to realize that marriage was not the answer to all of my relational needs. I think people also need a strong sense of community and deep, lasting friendships to thrive. My wife is a homebody, and I like to go out and be active. I'm not sure that building our entire lives around one relationship is the best way to happiness and fulfillment. We have been married 15 years, and we make it work, but sometimes it's hard when we want different things."

—42, California

14. "I married young and didn't fully understand the commitment I was making. I've been married for 17 years now, and I still continue to learn new things daily."

—38, Nebraska
15. "Feeling like once your kids get to their teens, you're always making a parenting mistake, and your kids make you feel unloved when you try to parent."

—53, South Dakota
16. "Seeing the one you love the most go through some repercussions of the actions made by others. My wife is constantly having negative self-talk because her parents raised her to believe that she would be worthless if she didn't acquiesce to their standards. What makes it hard is knowing that there isn't an exact number of compliments, gifts, acts of service, or affirmations that will ever convince her that they were wrong."

—40, Texas
And finally...

17. "1) I've been married for 32 years. One thing I've passed on to my now-adult children (in their early 20s) is that when you marry someone, you're not just marrying them but their family. Make sure it's a family you'll be OK with having as a part of your life."

"2) The times when your partner will need your love (or you will need theirs) are often when you least want to give it because you are mad or upset with one another. Long-term relationships are a lot like tuning a radio: when your frequencies match, it's clear and wonderful, but when they are out of sync, there's a lot of static. You have to work at getting back in tune."

—Anonymous, USA

Buzzfeed

A Chinese man reportedly caught his wife cheating with her boss during work hours by using a remote-controlled drone to spy on them from afar.

The resourceful man known only as Jing began suspecting that his wife was having an affair after she became increasingly distant and changed her routine significantly, including visiting her parents more frequently than ever and coming up with excuses whenever he offered to accompany her, and spending more time at work. Eager to get to the bottom of things, but afraid of having to explain himself to his wife in case his suspicions ended up being unfounded, Jing decided to use a commercially available drone to spy on his spouse from a distance. He would drive to her workplace and then fly the drone to survey the area without risking to be spotted by his wife or her colleagues.

One day, while monitoring his wife, he spotted her exiting her office with a mystery man and getting into a car with him. They drove away to a remote mountainous area where the drone caught them holding hands and walking to a secluded dilapidated-looking house. About 20 minutes later, the pair left the house and drove back to their workplace.

Jing later took to social media to report that the man caught on video by his drone was actually his wife’s boss, who had recently given her a promotion. The man’s wife also worked in the same building, so they had to keep their affair a secret, hence the visits to that remote love nest.

“Her other man is her employer,” the cheated husband wrote on Weibo. “He also works in the same factory, so it was inconvenient for them to have an affair there, so my wife was forced to meet him in the wild.”

Jing also posted photos of his wife and his lover holding hands and said that he planned to use the drone footage as evidence to secure a divorce.

Oddity Central

President Bola Tinubu has approved N70,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the country.

Tinubu announced the minimum wage during a meeting with leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) at the presidential villa on Thursday.

Joe Ajaero, NLC president and Festus Osifo, president of the TUC, were at the meeting.

Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Nkiru Onyejeocha, minister of state for labour, said Tinubu and the labour leaders agreed that the time limit for the review of the minimum wage should be reduced to three years.

Onyejeocha added that the parties agreed that the time limit of five years for review is too long.

On his part, Ajaero said the N70,000 offer was accepted because of the provision that the minimum wage will be reviewed every three years.

“We are taking this with mixed feelings because of the situation of the economy,” the NLC president said.

Osifo said the president promised that the minimum wage bill would be transmitted to the national assembly next week.

The TUC president said the labour leaders appealed to the president to intervene in the withheld salaries controversy of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU).

BACKGROUND

Over the past few months, the federal and state governments, organised labour, and the private sector have been negotiating a new minimum wage.

Initially, organised labour proposed N615,500 and N494,000 as the new national minimum wage, citing inflation and the prevailing economic hardship.

The federal government proposed N62,000, which was rejected by organised labour.

The labour unions had insisted on N250,000 as the living wage.

The federal government asked the labour unions to demand a more realistic and sustainable minimum wage.

On June 7, governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) said the N60,000 minimum wage for workers is not sustainable.

On June 10, the tripartite committee submitted its report to George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF).

The Cable

On Thursday, the House of Representatives pledged support for the federal government with N648 million for six months by cutting down their salaries by 50 percent.

The move, according to them, is aimed at supporting food sufficiency in the country and also addressing the soaring prices of foodstuffs.

The lawmakers also appealed to citizens to be patient with President Bola Tinubu in his efforts to tackle to current economic crisis bedevilling Nigeria.

The Committee on Appropriation, Humanitarian Affairs, Finance and Budget was mandated by the House to ensure compliance.

The decision came after the adoption of a motion moved on the floor of the House by Gboyega Isiaka (APC- Ogun State) during plenary in Abuja.

Sun

In a move that can only be described as political theater, members of Nigeria's House of Representatives have offered to slash their basic salaries by 50 percent for six months. This gesture, ostensibly aimed at alleviating the hardship faced by ordinary Nigerians, is nothing more than a smokescreen that fails to address the real issues at hand.

Let's be clear: the basic salary of these lawmakers represents a mere fraction—reportedly around 5 percent—of their total compensation package. The real wealth accumulated by these representatives lies not in their official salaries, but in the myriad of allowances, constituency projects, and other perks approved by themselves for themselves.

The proposed salary cut, amounting to N648 million over six months, is a drop in the ocean compared to the billions of Naira allocated for constituency projects, luxury vehicles, and other extravagant expenses. It's akin to trimming a toenail while ignoring a gaping wound.

More troubling is the fact that these same lawmakers have consistently rubber-stamped policies that have contributed to the economic crisis they now claim to address. Their oversight of government agencies has too often been an exercise in extortion rather than accountability.

The irony is palpable. The very individuals who have been complicit in creating and exacerbating Nigeria's economic woes now position themselves as sacrificial lambs, urging patience from a populace they have consistently failed.

If the people’s ‘representatives’ in the National Assembly truly wish to make a difference, they should start by addressing the systemic issues that plague the country’s governance. These include tackling corruption, reducing the bloated costs of running the legislature, and exercising genuine oversight over the executive branch.

The Nigerian people deserve more than tokenism and empty gestures. They deserve a government that works tirelessly to improve their lives, not one that offers superficial solutions while continuing to benefit from a broken system.

As we move forward, it's crucial that we, as citizens, demand real change and accountability from our elected officials. The path to economic recovery and prosperity for all Nigerians will not be paved with half-measures and publicity stunts, but with genuine reform and responsible governance.

The lawmakers' appeal for patience rings hollow when their actions continue to prioritize self-interest over public service. It's time for our representatives to make real sacrifices and implement meaningful changes that will truly benefit the Nigerian people. Anything less is an insult to the intelligence and resilience of the citizens they claim to serve.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Taiwo Obindo, the president of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN), says more than 100 psychiatrists have left the country to practise abroad in one year.

Obindo said the psychiatric profession is the worst hit by the brain drain syndrome ongoing in the Nigerian medical sector.

He said for every five psychiatric doctors trained in Nigeria, three of them leave the country to practise abroad.

He said healthcare institutions abroad are looking for individuals with psychiatric qualifications and are ready to offer them good and enticing remuneration.

Obindo added that while Nigeria can train medical personnel, it cannot maintain, retain and sustain them.

“Many practitioners in the psychiatric field have left the country to practise abroad, though the exact figure may not be there,” NAN quoted Obindo as saying.

“But I can categorically state that more than 100 trained psychiatric doctors have left to practise abroad in the last one year.

“In fact, for every five psychiatric doctors trained in Nigeria, three of them leave the country to practise abroad.

“As I am talking to you now, one psychiatric practitioner somewhere is leaving or planning to leave the country to practise abroad, and it is as rampant and bad as that.”

Also speaking, Olugbenga Owoeye, the chief medical director (CMD) of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, said the brain drain in the hospital has resulted in a drastic reduction in manpower.

He said the hospital has resolved to train more doctors to close the vacuum created by the constant migration of psychiatric practitioners overseas.

He expressed optimism that the migration of health workers to other countries to practise would eventually stop someday.

“One thing to note is that with time, this movement will become saturated, and it will stop,” he said.

“I can recall that sometimes in the 80s, a lot of people were migrating to Saudi Arabia in search of greener pastures; now most of them are back home; they are old and are retiring.”

The Cable

PRESS RELEASE

Afenifere has stated that President Bola Tinubu administration's push for Local Government Autonomy has a hidden agenda to use it for taxation and state capture purposes, which clouds the decision to take the right steps as suggested by Afenifere to resolve the fundamental issues affecting the non-performance of local governments.

Afenifere is cautioning the public who have fallen for various gimmicks used to provoke mass hysteria for a treatment that is always worse than the symptoms, from politically motivated anti-subsidy removal protests to corruption killing Nigeria under Jonathan to ethnic baiting in Lagos elections. This current attack on governors is a two pronged attack on democracy, the first being financial autonomy, and the second being political autonomy which must now be fiercely resisted through state assemblies for the following reasons:

1. President Tinubu's repeat of local government manipulation: Anti-people laws are usually pushed using valid reasons to bamboozle the people, one of which was Lagos State Governor Tinubu's fight for local government with the Obasanjo-led Federal Government, which ultimately led to the Lagos State government using the excuse to takeover local government tenements, levies and other income sources.

In Lagos, Tinubu appointed operators to manage waste management, markets and transport sectors, and used the operators to build and finance local political structures which in turn are utilized to capture the state for the last 25yrs, with the local governments ending up being far worse off. All successive governors have been blackmailed into submission, as ex-Governor Ambode realized when he tried to reset the waste management used to subsist Tinubu's local political apparatus.  

2. Flawed foundations: the financial and political autonomy sought by Tinubu for local governments in their current form is reinforcing deceit and misgovernance. Afenifere acknowledges that local governments are currently not run properly, but the fundamental issue is that local governments should be administrative units of State governments, that should have been created by states themselves, but were created by a biased central military government that overcompensated the North with our national resources.

Military constitutions, due to their unitary and command structure, introduced the anomaly of local governments funded from the federation account, despite not being federating but administrative units. This became a basis of revenue allocation, delineation of electoral wards, census enumeration areas, employment in federal ministries and parastatals and above all, delegates to political party conventions for selecting presidential and other candidates.

When local councils/governments were not collecting federal allocations, the North had 147 while the South had 215, but once the anti-federalism act of federal allocations to local governments was put into the constitution, the North increased to 413 as against 355 for the South. In 1979, the present South East had 44, while the North West was 53, but now, the South East stands at 95 while the North West has 187. Local Government Autonomy reinforces this unfair gerrymandering and socioeconomic injustice.

Afenifere believes all local governments should be scrapped to allow states create their administrative units as they deem fit, since the responsibility of managing the state is solely that of the states. It is up to the states whether or not to divide their territories into local councils to help in delivering their state objectives, and should not be part of the national agreement of states coming together to invest part of their power in a federal government in order to act on their behalf for common state interests.

3. National deprivations: Federal government allocations to local governments are to assist the State government in their statutory duties towards the local government, so if the allocations fall short of the local government needs, it is the state that is responsible for filling the gap. Now with this development, as we have seen Governors welcome the lifting of the responsibility, local governments will be at the mercy of the federal government to fill the shortfalls, therefore will have to conform to Tinubu's known Internally Generated Revenue Drive of taxing the poor for the rich.

Tinubu's increased IGR drive is based on increased taxation drive targeting the agricultural sector that contributes about 30% of income and employment. There is already a heavy tax burden exacted by existing local government officials that extort passing food transporters, thereby increasing food prices by up to 300% from the farms to the markets. It will be excruciating for the federal government to now compound the overtaxation of the agricultural, retail and transport sectors. And like Lagos where majority of the tax comes from the poor SMEs of the informal sector, nationwide this sector will be taxed with no social benefits since the monies will be shared among the political class.

4. Localizing INECs federal imperfections: To complete the strangulating of our political economy, there are moves to push for local government political autonomy by letting INEC take over state electoral bodies. This is unacceptable until INEC is truly independent to be the unbiased arbitrator of local government elections. With its present structure, the president can select and deselect political office holders as he wishes, choosing only those that would do the bidding of the party at the center.

For INEC to be truly independent, we must either adopt the Uwais Report for retired judges and academia to be in control of INEC, even though some observers point to the recent corrupt practices of Professors in election issues. Whatever the case, INEC needs to be truly independent of the President before being allowed to handle all election issues, or we will end up as a one party state as witnessed in Lagos State.

5. State capture for 2027 and Internal colonization - the drive for financial local government autonomy is a guise for state/national capture by APC and Tinubu, especially in opposition held states. We have already witnessed even political appointees threatening elected senators with deselection. Local governments and their chairpersons would be open to electoral and financial blackmail to adopt policies already rejected by states and regions.

Although Tinubu might be using it for his normal IGR drive through increased taxation and selfish political reasons, it is a dangerous tool that could be adopted by future governments for internal colonization. Local governments could be forced to accept different civilizational practices and immigration. For example, local governments could be made to accept RUGA and cow colonies, or foreign imposed LGTBQ laws, for more or less funding and electoral success. States are supposed to be a tool of ethnic self determination and devolution of power, but the principle of representative democracy could be usurped through their local government by the central government.

Through history especially in the West Africa subregion, going back to ancient Ghana and Mali Empires, external civilizational usurpers usually back a member of the local elite to implement policies that weather down their traditional institutions and identity, which would ordinarily be rejected if proposed by them. After he leaves, the laws will be exploited for total annihilation of traditional beliefs, identity and institutions.

Afenifere and well meaning Nigerians won't stand aside while for the purpose of increasing IGR from local governments, we risk turning Nigeria into a one party or internally colonized state. Local governments don't have enough collective power to act as Federating units in Nigeria.

Signed:

Ayo Adebanjo, Leader of Afenifere

Justice Faloye, Afenifere Publicity Secretary