Category: Opinion

The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu has raised an alarm over potential spread of 3rd wave of COVID-19 pandemic in the state, saying the state was now experiencing a disturbing spike in the number of confirmed cases.

His full statement below:

Fellow Lagosians,

It has become imperative to once again provide you an update on the Coronavirus pandemic situation in Lagos State, and our ongoing response as a State Government.

Starting around the end of March 2021, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos State began to wind down, and we began to enjoy some reprieve from the worst effects of the virus. This allowed us to further open-up the economy to allow the start of the journey towards full normalcy in our lives and the pursuit of livelihoods, after what has been a very difficult year.

Regrettably, in spite of the hard work and dedicated efforts towards sustaining the return to normalcy, over the last three months, we are now finding ourselves at what appears to be the start of a potential 3rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Lagos State.

From the beginning of July, we started to experience a steep increase in the number of daily confirmed cases, with the test positivity rate going from 1.1% at the end of June 2021 to its current rate of 6.6% as at 8th of July 2021. The rapid increase within a week gives great cause for concern. Also, within the last two weeks, the occupancy rate at our isolation centres increased from an average of 1% to 6%. This is the new and disturbing reality that now confronts us.

But we must not be demoralized by this. We must instead resolve that we will not leave any stone unturned in our bid to effectively mitigate the third wave of this pandemic in Lagos State. As you all know, Lagos has been the epicentre of the pandemic since the start, and the way we manage it here has a significant impact and reverberating effect on the national outlook and outcomes. So, Nigeria is counting on us in Lagos State to be resolute in our stand against the virus.

We will continue to test aggressively. We will also focus on sequencing the samples we are collecting to ensure we are detecting and keeping track of the different variants in circulation. It is only by testing and sequencing comprehensively that we can collect the data required for informed decision-making.

Epidemiology Update

As at the 7th of July 2021, Lagos State had recorded a total of 60,202 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of this number, 55,135 have recovered in-community and 770 are currently being managed actively in-community. Over the course of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, about 4,382 patients have been admitted into our various COVID-19 care centres in Lagos: with 357 registered fatalities. In all we have tested 563,679 samples in Lagos State since the pandemic started. Today we have 30 accredited testing centers: 26 private and 4 public health laboratories in the State, a significant improvement in capacity over the course of the past year.

Accredited Health Facilities

Let me make it clear that outside of the health facilities accredited for the management and treatment of COVID-19, and the EKOTELEMED program, no other health facilities, whether public or private, are permitted to admit or attend to COVID-19 patients.

The Lagos State Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) is providing monitoring and surveillance and has been mandated to apply heavy fines and other punitive measures on all facilities found to be in violation of this.

Lagosians should desist from patronizing non-accredited COVID-19 treatment centers, and proprietors should also ensure that all suspected and confirmed cases are referred appropriately.

Vaccine Distribution and Access

One of the major tenets of our mitigation strategy against the 3rd wave is our vaccination campaign, similar to other parts of the world. It has been observed by various credible studies that those that have received their vaccines have demonstrated significant resistance to the effects of the virus, with fewer associated complications and deaths.

As of today, however, the percentage of residents of Lagos who have received two (2) doses of the vaccine stands at a mere 1%. We recognise that this is not adequate, and given the imminent third wave, and our priority to reduce COVID-19 related deaths, we are exploring all avenues possible to ramp up access to vaccination so as to reach our herd immunity target of at least 60% COVID-19 vaccination coverage of the population of Lagos State. We are confident that we will be getting a second batch of vaccines very soon, to kick-start the second phase of vaccinations.

Travel Protocols for in-Bound Passengers

Between 8th May 2021 and 7th July 2021, a total of 50,322 passengers of interest arrived in Lagos via the Murtala Mohammed Airport. Of the 50,322 passengers, 18 percent could not be reached by EKOTELEMED because of the provision of either wrong numbers or wrong Nigerian contact details to be reached on.

It is the responsibility of passengers to ensure they provide the right details for us to reach them for proper monitoring. Going forward, passengers that do not provide the right details, including a phone number they can be reached for monitoring and an address for isolation, will face serious sanctions including fines and imprisonment according to our Lagos State Coronavirus Law of 2021.

Sanctions Against Quarantine Defaulters

As dictated by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 (PSC), passengers from red-listed countries (India, South Africa, Brazil and Turkey) are required to observe mandatory isolation. So far, we have successfully isolated 2,386 passengers in Lagos State. Of this number, 15% have absconded.

The following sanctions are being recommended and have already been meted out to defaulters:

● For Foreigners: Revocation of their Permanent Residency, and deportation; and

● For Nigerians: Prosecution to the full extent of the Lagos State COVID-19 Law.

Religious Activities

Greater vigilance is required at this time in our Churches and Mosques and other places of religious worship. Even as we are pleased that religious houses are now open for worship, after the lengthy closures of 2020, we must not allow ourselves to be carried away by the illusion that all is now back to normal. This is especially critical, as Sallah approaches, in a little over a week from now.

The festivities will no doubt bring people together in large numbers and create conditions that can sadly cause the spread of the Coronavirus. We must not allow this to happen.

For this reason, we are mandating full compliance with all protective protocols. Compulsory use of masks in all public places, Social distancing, Temperature checks, Provisions for hand-washing and sanitizers, and a maximum of 50 percent occupancy in enclosed spaces.

Resisting Pandemic Fatigue

Whilst both the Federal and State Governments have a huge role to play in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the responsibility of managing the third wave ultimately belongs to all of us.

Without the cooperation of the public at large, we stand the risks of losing both lives and livelihood, on a devastating scale. Therefore, I would like to once again reiterate that this is not the time to get tired or complacent. Instead, we must be re-energized to battle this invisible and seemingly relentless enemy.

After almost 18 months of daily confronting this virus, it is understandable that many are tired and want their old, pre-pandemic lives to return. Unfortunately, we do not have a choice in this regard, and fatigue is not an option. We cannot afford to be tired, frustrated or distracted.

The enemy is formidable – and opportunistic. It will only go as far as we allow it. Having triumphed over the first and second waves of the pandemic, we must now find within ourselves new reserves of energy to quell this emerging third wave before it snowballs out of control. Let me assure us all that victory over COVID-19 is much closer today than at any other point in our recent history. But we must persevere to see this victory. We must maintain our vigilance even as we ramp up the vaccination coverage.

At this point, I would like to thank all the members of the Incident Command Structure for their resilience in the management of this never-ending pandemic, and also the Federal Government, through the Presidential Steering Committee, for all their support and collaboration.

Lagos State will continue to work with all our partners, across government and the private sector, to ensure that we permanently triumph over this virus. We will not rest until this is achieved.

Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu

Incident Commander

July 11, 2021

Egungun festival has been one of the distinctive features of Yoruba culture; a cultural display that attracts foreigners from Europe, America and other continents of the Globe. Thus, it has been a widely celebrated events amongst traditional worshippers. The festival is noted and exciting despite the risk involved. The display of individual’s magical and diabolical power has cost lives, as it was recently seen in Ibadan, Igboho and other Yoruba cities where crisis had erupted in variety. Notably, Degbo scenario at Sanngo Saki, Masquerade from Oke Moibi scenario at Isale-Abudu, Saki, Mafarakanmi scenario at Asunnara, Saki amongst others could not be forgotten in haste.

However, Saki is gradually turning to a den of criminals, hooliganism, thugery and cultism. Selling of marijuana and weed has taken over the strategic places. Secondary School students as well as Primary School students are found of possessing magical and diabolical power in the school premises, engaging in superiority contest of diabolical power amongst themselves and threatening teachers with the aforementioned. The action which has endangered the future of this community through the induction and initiation of the younger ones.

Today, the relative peace and security enjoy in Saki is fragile and should not be jeopardize for any reason. Any act of violence can lead to crisis between groups . Many people are escorting and accompanying the masquerades with different intentions. Some are for the fun of the tradition. While Some are to take revenge and we also have those that are to prove the superiority of their diabolical power amongst the co-escort as we have seen such cases in our community.

Yesterday, 20th of June, 2021, Igboro roundabout, Baba Elese junction at Oke-elefun experienced fight which was perpetrated by the hoodlums who hide under the cloak of Egungun festival opportunism to launch an attack on their opponents. More so, at Igboro roundabout axis, the adherents of Egungun festival attacked themselves with bottles and cutlasses. Many of them sustained injury, only God knows how deadly the reprisal attack would look like. On the 19th of June, 2021, a fight happened at Igboro area where those with a masquerade took part of the oil on fire and attempted to pour it on the other party who are either escort or event viewers.

Yes, we both have equal right; the residents and the celebrants but ones right should not pose threat to the right of others. If Muslims want to celebrate any of their festivals, they go to Eid prayer ground and perform the prayers within a short period of time. If Christians want to celebrate any of their festivals, they will go to Church or Orioke without posing threat to the rights of others. So also the Egungun worshippers should equally make use of their shrine (Igbale) to celebrate their festivals, perhaps, if the place is not spacious enough, the authority should give them a site that is spacious for their magic and wonders. With the overwhelming figure of hoodlums in our society today, celebrating Egungun festival by roaming the street is a potential source of future crises in the community: crises that can claim lives and properties.

May I appeal to the Local Government Chairman and Okere Palace to take a look at what roaming the street by the masquerades can cause in our community, considering the population of hoodlums in our community today.

Egungun Festival is part and parcel of our culture. It cannot be erased and must not be condemned. But there is need to reorganize its celebration in accordance with the current situation of our country.

I said the aforementioned in the interest of the community and in the interest of the celebrants as well.

God bless you and I

There is no gainsaying in the fact that the land is filled with bad news virtually everyday as no day comes to rest without the news of killing of Nigerian citizens by either unknown gunmen or known gunmen (security agencies) whose primary constitutional duty is to protect Nigerian citizens.

The ugly trend whereby the Customs officers take delight in pulling the trigger at any slight provocative argument calls for serious concerns among the populace.

While Nigeria is battling with twin evils of economic hardship and insecurity; one will come to term that the latter is no longer caused solely by men of the underworld but statutory security agencies.

Iseyin, a peaceful city that rarely comes to the news on brigandage, kidnapping, and other vices recently had its garment of peace torn by murderers in uniform.

Just recently, the media space was agog by gruesome murder of innocent souls by the men of Nigerian Customs Services NCS whose nefarious act has been a national issues in the past few days. It was learnt that the Customs officers while trying to checkmate some alleged smugglers jumped into an innocent shop and carted away some bags of rice and in the process shot sporadically which led to the death of four souls.

What should perturb sensible minds is the fact that these men in uniform usually flex muscle and discharge their firing prowess whenever they engage armless civilians.

We cannot continue to be fourth class citizens in our country, a situation where innocent lives are being cutshot like this calls for sober reflection.

As William Shakespeare opined “there is no sure foundation set on blood, no certain life achieved by other’s death.

Nigeria tethers on the brink of total collapse and the foundation of our hard earned democracy may be tattered if the blood of innocent souls continually taken at prime by men of Customs and other security operatives.

Well meaning Nigerians must rise against this ugly trend as the monsters the SARS recently made out of Nigeria are still much alive.

Ismael Taiwo T-COOL
writes from Ado-Awaye

It’s been a tough and hectic scene for weeks now as it comes and goes so quickly, especially when one is busy with GOVERNANCE!

In the last few weeks, Gov Seyi Makinde has been dealing with issues bordering on Oyo State’s security, and some have criticized his stand in many parts for nebulous reasons. Some people even labelled him “AN AFONJA INCARNATE”, a reference to the perception that he is a betrayer of his people despite their loyalty, trust, labour, commitment, and sacrifices towards seeing his ambition becoming a reality.

This is why he said, “he is open to constructive criticisms and not destructive, instead of crucifying our administration based on interest, ethnicity or religion colouration, call me to order where I have made any mistake for immediate adjustment”

But, far be it from GSM betraying the trust given to him by the good people of Oyo State. With all sense of humility, this is one occasion where he had to take various stands to protect the good people of Oyo State. And that is why today, His Excellency had decided to remind us all of our responsibility in humanity.

He said and I quote, “When I was younger, my peers gave me the alias “Makinson” or “Mankind.” I earned this title because I was quite liberal with my resources and also very accommodating. I see people first as humanbeings and will not make enemies of anyone by association.”

Even as He grew older, He was very consistent in maintaining His excellent disposition towards people. From the horse’s mouth, Makinde says: “I do not treat anyone differently because of their race, gender, religion, social standing or political affiliation”.

Interestingly, I remembered when Gov Seyi Makinde gave out a contract in the first few months of assuming His Office as the Executive Governor of Oyo State, some party members were upset because the people who got the job were from another political party.

But that wasn’t an issue for him. As far as he is concerned, people should be judged by the content of their characters. Competence is more important to me than political affiliation he said.

MAKINSON as fondly called then confessed that if he was not known for being tolerant, he could not have become the Executive Governor of Oyo State. It would have been almost unthinkable to aspire to govern a Muslim-dominated state like Oyo if the people thought of him as a religious bigot. And this is why He cannot suddenly change who he is just because he wants to please everyone/anyone.

To crown it all, as quoted from the horse’s mouth, “I have taken time to go down memory lane to help us understand that humanity comes above all else. We should not be found among those who stoke up ethnic tensions or seek to punish some people because of where they come from or what they do for a living.”

On a final note, Gov. Seyi Makinde enjoins all to join him in always putting humanity above everything else.

By Moyosoreoluwa Olamilekan Eedriz

The recent catastrophy brought about by impermissible cum unprofessional activities of the Nigerian Customs Service in Iseyin as a major focus has been mindbogglingly and very preposterous.

It is no news that the security of the citizens is what defines a state and that government exists for the state and not the state for the government.

In recent times, without being economical with the truth, officers of Nigerian Customs Service (NCS)’s raiding around different communities and towns in Oyo state has been projecting the image of the organization as that which is created basically to oppress, terrorise and raide the innocent persons all in the name of extorting money from them in the guise of discharging their constitutional duties as enshrined in the law.

It is disheartening that, these uniform men are terrorising and causing mayhem and unrest amidst the Oke Ogun and Oyo State as a whole, the level at which shooting and raiding of shops and carting away of goods by this so-called officers in Oyo State all in the name of putting an end to smuggling is so mindbogglingly and calamitous, needed to put an end to in order to avert another violence and crisis in the state.

It is very obvious that, Oyo state as a state and the people residing there have been battling with multifarious threats to peace by this same Uniform men that supposed to be maintaining peace and orderliness.

Today, the situation and event that unfolded in Iseyin town has clearly shown that no commuter is safe and that anything can happen to anybody at any material time, because the so-called officers have turned themselves to law and continually shooting and terrorising the commuters and those engaged in rice business.

A typical example of their negative impact and their unprofessional activities is what they did in Iseyin town by shooting and killing the commuters in search for contraband goods. It is so saddening as, i watched helplessly how these uniform men sporadically shot at fellow citizens.

The Oke Ogun elder statemen need to stand up against this inhumane act and put all measure and necessary plans in place to check the exceesses of this so-called officers who are terrorising the people because, if the people were push to wall, nothing would be done by then than for them to resolve to violence and this will put the entire region in a state of unrest, looking at what happened during the EndSars protest.

Action needs to be taken before things go out of hand. As this can come with re appraisal attack.

Democracy is a symbiotic relationship between a good leader that is answerable to his her followers and followers showing their support to the leader when they see the good leader positively affecting their daily lives. We as Nigerians castigated our leaders all the time for their ineptitude and sometimes gross negligence but have we ever checked ourselves to see if we we doing our duties to the community too as a Stake Holders in the success or failure of our Nation?. How many of us can answer the above question firmly?, Community Development Service (CDS) is a major theme and cardinal point of NYSC, l believe it was designed to cultivate the habit of selfless service to our immediate community not only during the service year but throughout our life time. But we have limited the CDS to just one year spent in serving our father’s land. We need to change our orientation on this.

Selfless service to our community is one of the social obligations we must observe religiously, and as we demand for accountability and stewardship from our leaders every now and then, we should also present our score card if not to the community, at least to ourselves. We need to assess ourselves and ask ourselves some rhetorical questions. Like what have I done for the past few years for the betterment and development of my community,? How can I help my community?, How can I help the government?. Gone are those good old days when members of our communities trooped out every weekend to engage in one community service or the other.

Though most of them have little or no formal education and neither are they really financially buoyant but through this selfless routine, bridges were constructed, blocked drainages were freed of debris, electric poles were erected, bushes were cleared, people were informed of the happening through community meeting that holds every week. There was love and unity.

It’s quite incredible that though there are more elites, more educated, more rich, more agile and strong people in our midst, it has not resulted into a more serene, organized, developed and progressive community.

The reason for this is not far fetched as these sets of supposed learned and educated fellows channel their resources to blaming and nagging elected and constituted leaders alone instead of realizing that they could also help their various communities.

These people can call for the head of the leader if there is a cob Web in their room, they do nothing that could benefit the community, many tarred road got washed by erosion due to their nonchalant and environmental negligence. They have turned drainages to waste bin and refuse dump sites, which subsequently prevent easy flow of erosion.

It baffles though unsurprising to find a dead animal roting and smelling around a community or an electric pole fell and nobody cares to take up the responsibility of the sanitation or calling the appropriate authority (PHCN for the pole) because is a community assignment which someone thinks is somebody job, and everybody thinks somebody will get the job done but at the end of day nobody did the job

As a stake Holders we need to set some pace, and maintain some degree of social standard which our leaders will be contesting and striving to attain such standard. As Ira Chaleff observed “Leaders rarely use their power wisely or effectively over long periods unless they are supported by followers who have the stature to help them do so.

Conclusively society/community are successful or not partly on the basis of how well their leaders lead, but also in great part on the basis of how well their followers follow. Surely improving the performance of followers should be worthwhile.

Adesina Julius Prestige write from Igbeti.

As a fallout of the legitimate #ENDSARSNOW protests and their subsequent degeneration into disturbances, anarchy (leading to arsons and jungle justice acts of murder), and then the unfortunate state-violence leading to murder of citizens by security agents in different places, we have also seen a sudden rise in the alarming discoveries of “food banks” leading to spate of looting of public warehouses and stores across different States in the South of Nigeria. The unfortunate events of the past weeks, particularly the latest criminal acts of looting of food items and other supplies carefully stockpiled in different public warehouses, have helped to further expose the fragility of the Nigerian State and the tensed situation between the few haves and the multitudes of have-nots in the society. Put differently, these events have removed all doubts about the level of discontents in the land from the poverty stricken masses who are in the majority and against the few elites feeding fat on the commonwealth.

To be sure, the spate of looting of the supposed COVID-19 palliatives from different public warehouses and stores across different States in Nigeria is nothing but acts of criminality that could well earn the perpetrators some terms of imprisonment under the criminal laws of the affected States. However, the kind of “public” support and applause that the acts of criminality (looting of public warehouses) have enjoyed appear to have overwhelmed the States to submission, thereby frustrating the capacity of the States to either resist the crimes or apprehend the perpetrators. In fact, the States have become helpless.

But why have the people been so emboldened to commit these crimes of looting the public warehouses of food items? Why have the people been so brazen to cart away food items and other supplies as we have seen in different videos? Why have those in governments decided to keep and failed to share the palliatives weeks after they received and warehoused them? Why have the bureaucracies of distribution of the palliatives taken so long even as the targeted or supposed beneficiaries were/are dying of hunger? Are the people justified to commit the crimes of looting of the food items? Clearly, there are more questions as there are answers.

One of the immediate answers to the above last question on whether or not the people are justified to commit the crimes, is to attribute the acts of criminality here to the unpardonable level of poverty in the land. Yes, poverty in the land is a plausible explanation here, but this explanation itself poses another question of whether or not poverty is enough to justify the acts of criminality or any criminality at all. The answer to this latter question requires a value judgement that is neither here nor there. This value judgement criminologists have tried to explain by their classification and explanation of crimes.

Therefore, in the sociological study of crimes and acts of defiance in the society, certain social structural factors such as poverty and social disorganisation can validly explain, if not justify, the incidences of some crimes called consensus crimes. These are crimes that almost everyone is defiant to their legal consequences. People simply deviate from the norm almost spontaneously. They are the sort of crimes which evoke near-unanimous public agreement. Such crimes are so classified because of their perceived non-severe harmfulness, the degree of consensus concerning the norms violated or deviated from, and the severity of the response to them. For example, does the Nigerian populace of the common folks see the looting of the warehouses of food supplies as something reprehensible or severe or harmful to anyone or the public? No. Does that make the looting non-criminal acts? No.

So, given the level of support and seeming consensus from the public, can the ongoing looting spree across different public warehouses in some States be regarded as consensus crimes? I think YES! For clarity, arson, murders and like crimes that we have equally seen in the recent time DO NOT fit into the ball of what sociologists and criminologists call consensus crimes. Crimes such as arson, murders, and the likes are generally regarded as morally intolerable, injurious, severe, and subject to harsh penalties. Looting of public warehouses for foods by hungry or desperate or angry members of the public, on the other hands, will definitely be viewed as more tolerable and less harmful – if harmful at all, than destruction of public properties by the same people.

This then brings me to my last question. Will the States at some auspicious time in the nearest future go after the perpetrators of the acts of criminality (looting of public warehouses) in order to serve as a deterrence to others in the future? I don’t think so. While it is necessary that States take steps to enforce their laws and punish acts of criminality to deter others, I do not think the States will be justified at this time and in the present circumstances to take that routes with respect to the looting of the public warehouses of food items by hungry and justifiably angry people.

Why do I think so? Because I am convinced that the looting of those public warehouses are consensus crimes as I have explained above. I am not in the least justifying the acts of criminality. I am simply explaining them. The States should just move on and learn lessons to prevent future occurrences that could be worse than we have witnessed at this time. How many people can the States prosecute in the circumstances of the consensus crimes that we are seeing now?

Going forward, the States should just take definite steps to bridge the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. The States should make efforts to pull down every factors of DELAY in the bureaucracies of supporting the poor and the needy. As a matter of fact, I do not think any public support that is worthy of being called palliatives should take more than 78hrs between the time of receipt and distribution to the rightful beneficiaries.

Why stockpiling food items and allowing the bureaucracies of delay in their distribution to the beneficiaries, in the midst of palpable poverty side by side with opulence in the land? Why????

The Looting of Public Food Warehouses and Consensus Crimes!

As a fallout of the legitimate #ENDSARSNOW protests and their subsequent degeneration into disturbances, anarchy (leading to arsons and jungle justice acts of murder), and then the unfortunate state-violence leading to murder of citizens by security agents in different places, we have also seen a sudden rise in the alarming discoveries of “food banks” leading to spate of looting of public warehouses and stores across different States in the South of Nigeria. The unfortunate events of the past weeks, particularly the latest criminal acts of looting of food items and other supplies carefully stockpiled in different public warehouses, have helped to further expose the fragility of the Nigerian State and the tensed situation between the few haves and the multitudes of have-nots in the society. Put differently, these events have removed all doubts about the level of discontents in the land from the poverty stricken masses who are in the majority and against the few elites feeding fat on the commonwealth.

To be sure, the spate of looting of the supposed COVID-19 palliatives from different public warehouses and stores across different States in Nigeria is nothing but acts of criminality that could well earn the perpetrators some terms of imprisonment under the criminal laws of the affected States. However, the kind of “public” support and applause that the acts of criminality (looting of public warehouses) have enjoyed appear to have overwhelmed the States to submission, thereby frustrating the capacity of the States to either resist the crimes or apprehend the perpetrators. In fact, the States have become helpless.

But why have the people been so emboldened to commit these crimes of looting the public warehouses of food items? Why have the people been so brazen to cart away food items and other supplies as we have seen in different videos? Why have those in governments decided to keep and failed to share the palliatives weeks after they received and warehoused them? Why have the bureaucracies of distribution of the palliatives taken so long even as the targeted or supposed beneficiaries were/are dying of hunger? Are the people justified to commit the crimes of looting of the food items? Clearly, there are more questions as there are answers.

One of the immediate answers to the above last question on whether or not the people are justified to commit the crimes, is to attribute the acts of criminality here to the unpardonable level of poverty in the land. Yes, poverty in the land is a plausible explanation here, but this explanation itself poses another question of whether or not poverty is enough to justify the acts of criminality or any criminality at all. The answer to this latter question requires a value judgement that is neither here nor there. This value judgement criminologists have tried to explain by their classification and explanation of crimes.

Therefore, in the sociological study of crimes and acts of defiance in the society, certain social structural factors such as poverty and social disorganisation can validly explain, if not justify, the incidences of some crimes called consensus crimes. These are crimes that almost everyone is defiant to their legal consequences. People simply deviate from the norm almost spontaneously. They are the sort of crimes which evoke near-unanimous public agreement. Such crimes are so classified because of their perceived non-severe harmfulness, the degree of consensus concerning the norms violated or deviated from, and the severity of the response to them. For example, does the Nigerian populace of the common folks see the looting of the warehouses of food supplies as something reprehensible or severe or harmful to anyone or the public? No. Does that make the looting non-criminal acts? No.

So, given the level of support and seeming consensus from the public, can the ongoing looting spree across different public warehouses in some States be regarded as consensus crimes? I think YES! For clarity, arson, murders and like crimes that we have equally seen in the recent time DO NOT fit into the ball of what sociologists and criminologists call consensus crimes. Crimes such as arson, murders, and the likes are generally regarded as morally intolerable, injurious, severe, and subject to harsh penalties. Looting of public warehouses for foods by hungry or desperate or angry members of the public, on the other hands, will definitely be viewed as more tolerable and less harmful – if harmful at all, than destruction of public properties by the same people.

This then brings me to my last question. Will the States at some auspicious time in the nearest future go after the perpetrators of the acts of criminality (looting of public warehouses) in order to serve as a deterrence to others in the future? I don’t think so. While it is necessary that States take steps to enforce their laws and punish acts of criminality to deter others, I do not think the States will be justified at this time and in the present circumstances to take that routes with respect to the looting of the public warehouses of food items by hungry and justifiably angry people.

Why do I think so? Because I am convinced that the looting of those public warehouses are consensus crimes as I have explained above. I am not in the least justifying the acts of criminality. I am simply explaining them. The States should just move on and learn lessons to prevent future occurrences that could be worse than we have witnessed at this time. How many people can the States prosecute in the circumstances of the consensus crimes that we are seeing now?

Going forward, the States should just take definite steps to bridge the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. The States should make efforts to pull down every factors of DELAY in the bureaucracies of supporting the poor and the needy. As a matter of fact, I do not think any public support that is worthy of being called palliatives should take more than 78hrs between the time of receipt and distribution to the rightful beneficiaries.

Why stockpiling food items and allowing the bureaucracies of delay in their distribution to the beneficiaries, in the midst of palpable poverty side by side with opulence in the land? Why????

Misbau Alamu LATEEF, Ph.D.