Category Nigeria News

Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Lagos Chapter, Samuel Ayetutu, has called for urgent reforms in Nigeria’s healthcare sector to end the country’s overreliance on foreign medical facilities.

Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, on Wednesday, Ayetutu reflected on the broader implications of Nigerian leaders seeking medical treatment abroad.

He noted that the late president’s passing has highlighted the inadequacies of the country’s health infrastructure and the need for decisive action.

READ ALSO: Dying Abroad

Reflecting on Buhari’s death in a foreign hospital, he urged Nigerians and policymakers to seize the moment as an opportunity for critical reforms.

“It provides us with yet another chance to look at what is wrong with us. How come we’ve been able to throw so much energy behind ensuring we refine petroleum products in Nigeria with Dangote Refineries? Why can’t we throw that kind of energy behind developing world-class hospitals, institutions of higher learning, and research centres?” Ayetutu queried.

“When it comes to Nigerians using facilities abroad, whether in the medical area or education, regardless of whether the person is in government or a private citizen, there are reasons why that happens but the issue is As a nation, is it dignifying for us to be running helter-skelter in other countries to seek services which, in some cases, our citizens are the ones providing abroad?,” Ayetutu said questioning the dignity of such dependence, especially when Nigerian professionals are often at the forefront of providing these services overseas.

“That is not something I think many Nigerians have been happy with,” he added.

He acknowledged that citizens often hold the government accountable for such lapses, given its central role in shaping the nation’s systems.

“It is normal for people to put the blame at the doorpost of those running the system because the government controls the destiny of the people.

“I say to people, after God, the most important person is that person called the government. The only thing is that it is, to an extent, abstract,” Ayetutu observed.

Former President Buhari died at the age of 82 in a clinic based in London on Sunday, and was buried at his residence in Daura Katsina State on Tuesday.

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested four individuals over an alleged visa scam that defrauded more than 100 Nigerians of ₦500 million.

The suspects identified as Blessing Wefsutu (27), Chineye Christian (36), Archibong Udeme Ifereke (23), and Maurine Peter (25) were apprehended by operatives of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).

They are said to be staff of an educational consultancy firm based in Ago Okota, Lagos, where the fraudulent activities reportedly took place.

According to a statement by Police spokesperson, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, the suspects lured victims with false promises of securing Canadian and Australian work visas.

The case, initially reported at the Ago Okota Division, was later transferred to the SCID for further investigation.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects fraudulently obtained ₦500 million from over 100 unsuspecting victims,” Hundeyin said.

READ ALSO: Court Frees Fayose, Says EFCC Failed To Link Him To Money Laundering

The Commissioner of Police, CP Olohundare Jimoh, urged members of the public to verify the authenticity of travel and recruitment agencies before engaging in any visa-related transactions.

“Residents must exercise due diligence to avoid falling victim to such scams. The Command remains committed to pursuing justice and protecting residents from fraudsters and other criminal elements,” Jimoh stated.

Further investigations revealed that the syndicate has additional accomplices who are currently on the run.

The police assured that efforts are ongoing to apprehend them and bring all perpetrators to justice.

A grandson of Nigeria’s former President Shehu Shagari, Nura Muhammad Mahe, has commended President Bola Tinubu for his show of respect and statesmanship in honouring his predecessor, the late President Muhammadu Buhari, with a state burial.

In a statement, Mahe praised Tinubu for personally attending Buhari’s funeral and setting up a committee to organise a befitting state burial, describing the gesture as a mark of honour and national unity.

READ ALSO: Former President Muhammadu Buhari Buried In Hometown Daura

“This is in stark contrast to how the late President Shehu Shagari was treated during the administration of Muhammadu Buhari,” Mahe said.

He recalled that Buhari, despite being in the country at the time of Shagari’s death, neither attended his funeral nor accorded him a state burial.

“Instead, a government delegation led by the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who is notably a non-Muslim, was dispatched to represent him,” he said.

Mahe expressed regret over what he described as a lack of respect for Shagari, who served Nigeria with distinction as its first democratically elected Executive President.

“It remains a painful memory that Shagari’s death occurred under the leadership of a man who many believe harboured political animosity toward him. Even in death, Buhari showed little public remorse or respect for his predecessor,” the statement read.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Professor Florence Obi, has appealed for calm over the non-induction of the graduating dentistry students of the institution.

Her appeal comes amid the ongoing crisis over the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria’s (MDCN) failure to induct the 2016 Dentistry students within the next few months.

The Vice Chancellor, who was a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, promised the affected students and their parents that the issue will be resolved in the next few months.

READ ALSO: ASUU Yobe State University Branch Begins Strike

She said, “I want to really appeal to the students and to parents because I have read somewhere where students are getting depressed and some of them are threatening suicide. I want to really appeal to my students to hold it, to be calm, that on my honour, we will see how, together, with MDCN (can resolve the problem).

“I am going to my minister to appeal to him to intervene because if we have some staff which is the critical issue, if we have staff and we know that the minister has given us the permission to employ, the sooner we employ them and get the dental clearance that MDCN has asked us to do, we will be able to invite them in the next one or two months and part of these problems will be resolved.”

Prof. Obi said that the issue is essentially as a result of overadmission of students, with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) saying that these students cannot be accommodated.

Instead of the approved 10 students, the institution admitted 60, which violated the MDCN’s directive.

She said the university is working hard to resolve the issue, adding that they have been networking with other programmes within the university and other universities to see where the affected students could be fixed.

“We may not be able to say conclusively that we have the solution, but I am sure that before the end of this week and getting to next week where I may travel and perhaps plead with our honourable minister to give us audience and attention and also help us in some areas largely with a solution to this.

The VC indicted some of the university’s officials, including the dean, the admission officer and the provost on the issue of overadmission, promising that all those involved would face consequences.

“We are going to invoke the university’s internal mechanism to handle that, we have to query some people. Definitely, there will be consequences.”

Asked if she as the head of the institution takes responsibility for the crisis, Prof. Obi said, “Of course I am the head, I take responsibility, even the ones I inherited, I take responsibility, I am the head.”

She said she is personally pained by the whole situation because she has given a lot to get the dentistry problem sorted.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he had struck a deal with Indonesia — without providing specifics of the agreement — a week after threatening steeper tariffs on the Southeast Asian country.

“Great deal, for everybody, just made with Indonesia,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, saying that he worked with the country’s president directly. “DETAILS TO FOLLOW!!!”

The Trump administration has been under pressure to finalize trade pacts after promising a flurry of deals, as countries have sought negotiations with Washington to avoid Trump’s tariff threats.

But the US president has so far only unveiled deals with Britain and Vietnam, alongside an agreement to temporarily lower tit-for-tat levies with China.

Last week, Trump renewed his threat of a 32 percent levy on Indonesian goods, saying in a letter to the country’s leadership that this level would take effect August 1.

It remains unclear what Indonesia’s new tariff level will be under the latest deal with Washington, Indonesia’s former vice minister for foreign affairs Dino Patti Djalal told a Foreign Policy event Tuesday.

But he added that insiders from the Indonesian government indicated they were happy with the new deal, adding that he expected further information in the coming hours.

Trump in April imposed a 10 percent tariff on almost all trading partners, while announcing plans to eventually hike this level for dozens of economies, including the European Union and Indonesia.

But days before the steeper duties were due to take effect, he pushed the deadline back from July 9 to August 1. This marked his second postponement of the elevated levies.

Instead, since the start of last week, Trump began sending out letters to partners, setting out the tariff levels they would face come August.

The levy he cited to Indonesia last week was unchanged from the figure he first unveiled in April.

To date, Trump has sent more than 20 such letters to partners including the EU, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.

READ ALSO: US Imposes 17% Duty On Most Mexican Fresh Tomatoes

Canada and Mexico, both countries that were not originally targeted in Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff push, also received similar documents outlining updated tariffs for their products.

But existing exemptions covering goods entering the United States under a North American trade pact are expected to remain in place.

Analysts have warned that without trade agreements, Americans could conclude that Trump’s strategy to reshape US trading ties with the world has not worked.

“In the public’s mind, the tariffs are the pain, and the agreements will be the gain. If there are no agreements, people will conclude his strategy was flawed,” William Reinsch, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, previously told AFP.