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The Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, Adamu Abdullah in this EXCLUSIVE interview with DAILY POST correspondent, Ochogwu Sunday, speaks on the continuous rise in prices of goods in the market.

He also bares his soul on the recent tariff price hike by the MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, the owners of Dstv and Gotv and some other pressing issues. Excerpts:

Due to some federal government policies, prices of goods and services have skyrocketed since last year. Consumers now find it difficult to afford even a meal. What is the Commission doing about this?

We have a deregulated economy, which means there is competition in the market among everybody, including all the suppliers and even manufacturers. So if you are operating a cement company, and there are four of you, and you produce your cement in a place where they pay band-C rate of electricity, which is lower than Band A rate, then you have power at a lesser cost, so the price of your product may not be as high as that of those paying higher.

FCCPC does not determine the prices of products because we don’t actually know the cost of the production and whatever went in. However, we are doing everything possible to ensure that there is a level playing field for both manufacturers and consumers.

When the rate of dollars started crashing down, the prices of products were still up. And that is not understandable at all. But we found out so many things that opened our eyes. For instance, when we went to Masaka market, one of the things that was going on was that every food item had an association. You will see things like association of yam sellers, association of rice sellers, and association of palm oil sellers.

What they do is beyond sitting down and discussing their interests. They determine new entries in the market. If you are a new person and come to the market from anywhere with your own produce from your farm, they have touts that will block you. They will give you two options: either to register with them or sell to them at a cheaper rate so that they can sell it out at a higher rate. So they usually fix the prices of products.

But is it allowed for individuals or groups to sit down and fix the prices of goods and services?

The practice is against the law. You don’t form an association and fix prices; that is illegal. Unfortunately, this has become a norm in this country.

If you go to a barbershop, for instance, you will discover something like the Barbers Association of Nigeria, and these persons fix prices for barbing, and it is against the law. This is because people should have different reasons for different prices. For instance, if you are operating a barbing salon in Maitama or Asokoro, which are in Band A, you will pay more for electricity, but if your salon is in Karu, it should not be the same price because you don’t pay the same Band.

And apart from electricity, the rent for the shops is different. How much you pay in Asokoro cannot be the same as how much you pay in Karu. So, the Nigerian Barbers Association cannot sit down and fix the prices for all barbers. Barbers are to fix their own prices so that the consumers can make their choices at the price which they feel they can pay.

Any solution to that?

We are now working towards disbanding these associations. For instance, we called the Masaka market management recently, and they came here along with the chairman of the local government, and we had a very educational interaction.

We discovered that they did not even know that they are not supposed to sit down and fix prices. When we began to question them, they were even proud to say, “Yes, we do.” So we educated them that it is against the law and gave them the section of the law that prohibits such action. It was really an eye-opener for them.

Most Nigerians are not aware of these laws, what are you doing to educate people?

We are planning to use our offices in all the local government areas in the country, although we need more staff. However, if we have even a youth corps member with his laptop, you can get a lot from him. You can get prices of goods from him. Complaints can also be launched straight from his laptop to our complaint portal here.

So, you will have prices of goods and services in the 774 local government areas. There is already a platform for that, and it is domiciled in the Bank of Industry. Now, if a basket of tomatoes is sold for N2000 in Kano and N5000 in Abuja, you can blame transportation. So, many factors determine the prices of goods in the market.

Talking about transportation, is there any hope that the Compressed Natural Gas, CNG-Powered vehicles promised by the government will help reduce the prices of goods and services?

The CNG that the government is now developing for our commercial vehicles will bring down costs by at least 60%, which is a plan for the future. Beyond the cost of transportation, most of the vehicles used in transporting these items are in bad shape. Look, if you transport a trailer load of tomatoes to either Port Harcourt or Lagos, and somewhere along the road, the vehicle breaks down, what will happen to the tomatoes? Of course you will lose the produce and in your next batch, who is going to pay for the loss, definitely the consumers.

So the more reliable means of transportation we have, the lower the prices of goods and services. Of course we all know what happens at checkpoints in Nigeria. All these add to the cost of products in the market. The issues of checkpoints have gone to the office of the NSA already. When this CNG comes into effect, prices will drop by 60% and we are very sure of that.

Customers are complaining about supermarkets or stores displaying lower prices on shelves and charging higher prices at the checkout; what are you doing to curb this?

We, as a commission, have been addressing that. One of the biggest supermarkets in Abuja was recently sealed because of misleading or deceptive practices. Once we can deal with the bigger supermarkets, the smaller ones will also fall in place. There are some supermarkets not only in Abuja but across the country where product prices are not displayed on the shelves. In such places, it is at the point of payment that even the buyers get to know the cost of the product they are buying.

This is against the Nigerian law. You are supposed to display the prices so that people can make informed choices of what to buy. It is also deceptive for you to display the price and indicate that it is N1000, and then by the time I come to pay, I will discover it is N1500. That is against the law. Most of the time, we discover these things by ourselves. We conduct investigations in supermarkets across the country from time to time. We discovered the Abuja supermarket, and when we asked them to come and defend themselves, they refused to come, so we went on our raid and proved to them that what they were doing was wrong.

We picked three pieces of the same brand of ‘kpli kpli’, and when we went to the counter, we discovered that one was N700, another one was N900, and another one was N100. Meanwhile, they are both the same products in the same supermarket and the same shelf. With that, we were able to prove to them that this is what they are doing. We had to bring them here, and we discussed the matter and told them that they had to comply with the law.

I was at the same supermarket at the weekend and discovered that they now have about six points where they display the prices of their products. I tried it with about two or three products and found out that the prices at the supermarket are the same as what they have at the point of payment. We can now confirm that they are about 95 percent compliant now.

It even went beyond that; we had a rigorous exercise in several markets where we asked the people what prices were at the farm and the local market. We were in places like Benue, Taraba and some others to ask what price is a tuber of yam in the farm and what price it is sold in the local market. We also discovered that some supermarkets have expired products and even products that they are not supposed to sell.

MultiChoice Nigeria Limited recently increased the prices of its services on DSTV and Gotv, but there has been an outcry from Nigerians, what effort is the commission making to resolve this?

As I said earlier, we are not a price regulatory agency. We don’t regulate prices. What we do is ensure that there is a level playing field so that companies can compete. Of course, there are many claims against DSTV, and these claims are being investigated. Whatever we find, we will do what we are supposed to do.

DSTV wrote a four-page letter explaining why their prices had to go up. They cited issues like the hike in electricity tariffs and the cost of diesel. They also complained about the forex. So, we sat down with them, looked at the complaints, and checked whether people were still getting the service they desired.

Customers have long demanded a pay-per-view. We followed up, and they agreed that people will be allowed to suspend their accounts at least four times a year. For instance, when you are traveling, you can suspend your DSTV account until you return and you are allowed to do that four times a year.

The problem was that they did not make it public. Meanwhile, that was the agreement we had with them. We told them that they should go to the public and tell them their entitlements. So they are wrong for not doing that. If we can get the pay-per-view and the suspension of account and the issue of paying for channels that you don’t even need, if DSTV can address these issues, then the increase in prices can be justified. This is the discussion that is currently ongoing between the commission and DSTV.

Any updates on the Chinese Supermarket that was recently shut down for allegedly refusing to sell to Nigerians?

What we have confirmed is that this issue of discrimination is not something that is happening there. The estate has a chamber of commerce, the estate has a management at the gate, they control who comes into the estate. If you don’t have any business there, they won’t allow you in. The supermarket in question is inside the chamber of commerce and all the residents of the estate, as well as their visitors are allowed to use the supermarket.

The said supermarket is at the gate of the estate. Security at the gate controls those coming. It is not about discrimination. They didn’t tell anybody not to come into their supermarket, but like I said, not everybody is allowed into the estate where the supermarket is.

But then, the issue of selling and displaying prices in Yuan is still there. We told them that this is Nigeria and we have our own currency. It is against the CBN act to come into Nigeria and be selling things in your own currency. We have been meeting with the Chinese embassy and even the management of the chamber of commerce has been here several times. We are working together to resolve the issue.

Building materials, especially cement, skyrocketed recently. Any hope for Nigerians?

Last week, all the cement companies in Nigeria were here. We sat with them for over 12 hours and what we were discussing was the issue of what went into production. We brought in experts as our advisers so that when these people are talking, we can speak the same language.

The thing is, if you don’t understand what they are going through, you will not be able to make informed decisions. What the government needs from us is informed decisions. One of the mandates of the committee is to advise the government on the nation’s economy and cement is a major issue.

Another investigation that is ongoing is about the iron rod market. We received several complaints and we have seen it with our own eyes through building collapse that some iron rods have issues. Instead of bending, it breaks. Even the thickness is something we have to look at. In this case, we have to work with the Standard Organization of Nigeria.

INTERVIEW: Nigerian supermarkets engaging in deceptive practices – FCCPC Ag EVC, Abdullahi

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The presiding pastor of Calvary Bible Church, Ikotun, Lagos, Olumide Emmanuel, has said that considering the level of social, political, economic and security problems bedeviling Nigeria currently, only the church could salvage it.

He noted that President Bola Tinubu, though said to have done well as Lagos Governor, cannot handle the country’s problems because the state is different from the federal level. He also noted that neither the candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, nor that of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has the answers to the country’s problems.

He insisted that only the church has the answers to the country’s myriad of problems.

In this interview with the DAILY POST, he spoke on a wide range of issues, ranging from politics to business and the church, among others.

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the religious leaders were divided among the presidential candidates. In your opinion, at that time, who did you expect to win the election?

When you look at the politics of Nigeria, you will see that we are still very far from where we are supposed to be. That election was supposed to be a game changer because the understanding of direct transmission we had was unfortunately different from what INEC had. I already knew from my own perspective that Atiku could not win the election. So, he was not in my reckoning of who would win the election. I was looking at Tinubu or Obi. Atiku has been trying again and again, just like Buhari had been trying, but nothing had come out of it for him. He comes during the election, and after the election, he disappears. It was the Obi people that were a surprise to everybody. It was like a movement. I was asking myself if the Obi movement had coverage throughout the whole country? It is not just about being popular in the south. Also, all the people shouting, INEC does not count Instagram likes. INEC does not count Twitter comments. INEC counts only the PVC. Some of them are also abroad and I know you cannot vote from abroad. All these noise makers, do they have PVC? People were abusing each other, husbands fighting wives, brothers fighting each other such that it became so toxic; even up till now, it is still toxic. I know Obi one-on-one. The man is a peaceful person. Well, everything went the way it went and Tinubu is the president.

As for Tinubu, we knew what he did in Lagos. But, we also know that Lagos and the federal level are two different things. But, people say he did well in Lagos, and those who came after him are also doing well. And here we are; Tinubu is not the answer. Atiku is not the answer. Obi is not the answer. The church is the answer. Unfortunately, the church is also part of the problems. If you like, get all the presidents in the world, until what needs to be done is done, we will continue in the circle.

In one of your sermons, you said your church choir members, unlike others, are not paid a salary. Why?

I think you must be referring to paying the church music instrumentalists. One of the things I’ve tried to do in my life is to give people understanding because, most of the time, what people don’t understand, they criticize. We live in a world of social media, where people make decisions based on clickbait. They see a one-minute clip, or three-minute clip, and they make judgments without getting the whole picture. You see, the church is both an organism and an organization. Now, in every organization, there are organizational policies, systems of structures, and frameworks within that organization. I personally believe that if you want to be part of an organization, you should align with the principles of that organization. So, it doesn’t mean I don’t pay staff. You’ve seen a lot of people working, but most people have come into the church to say they want to play instruments. You are coming to church on a Sunday morning to play instruments just like every other person in church to worship God. So, if I have to pay you for playing the keyboard, the drum, or the saxophone, does that mean I have to pay the children’s church teacher too? Do I have to pay the security man at the gate? Do I have to pay the cleaner? Many times, people think there’s money, but I believe they are joking. Most of the time, people say they are professionals; are the people teaching in the children’s church not professionals? They are professional teachers. So, what I’m saying is when you come into a church, you are a son and a daughter in a kingdom. And you’re supposed to bring your own part to the table. If you know you’re looking for a job, let us know you’re looking for a job. But, I cannot pay people for coming to serve God. So, if you know you want a job, you will have to resume full-time. That means you will resume in the office Monday to Friday like every other normal person. And then you can play an instrument on Sunday. Then, Monday to Friday, I will give you other assignments to do. For instance, the music director of this church right now is a full-time staff member on salary, but he’s not being paid as a music director. He’s an accountant. He teaches accounting. He’s a teacher. He was teaching in school and being an accountant. Now that we needed an accountant, we employed him. So, now he’s a full-time staff earning salary as an accountant, not as a musician. So, what I’m saying is a lot of people don’t know what many churches and pastors go through. Even the pastor is not collecting money. The offering and the income are not enough. Diesel has gone up. Light has gone up. All kinds of things are going up. But, you will now gather our money and hire instrumentalists, keyboardists from outside, maybe four or five people, and their salary alone has taken all the church’s money off. For me, I’m not against people being paid for working. So, if you know you want to work, come and work, we will pay you. And that’s what we have done. So, this church will be 29 years old by the end of this year, and we have never paid any instrumentalists not because we don’t want to pay workers, but because they are not ready to become full-time staff. They want us to pay them. So, they will just come on Sunday, play an instrument and I’ll be paying them. I’m sorry. Our church does not have that kind of money. Churches that are doing it, that’s their choice. For me, if you don’t want to come and be a full-time staff member, so that Monday to Friday, that same instrument you’re playing on Sunday, we will allow you to do music school. People will be learning how to play instruments. You’ll be teaching other people. They will pay for the form. They will pay for school, they will be making money, and then we will share the money.

Let us go backward. After all, which instrumentalist did Jesus use? Who was the keyboardist for Jesus? Just give me a proposal, let’s start a music school, you become a full-time staff member and I will pay you a salary. You do your music on Sunday in church, do yours on Saturday, Monday to Friday, we’ll start a music school, we employ people to join, you will be teaching them to play the musical instruments. We’ll do all kinds of fun stuff, people will pay. And then whatever money comes in, we’ll divide it into three: the church will take two because we own the tools, we are the owners of the equipment. We are the owner of the school. Other people will go to work Monday to Friday, they will still come to church and labor, do ushering, do church hospital, do cleaning, do everything. You want to use Monday to Friday to do whatever you like and still come to church on Sunday to get paid. I am sorry.

Offering and tithes have become contentious in the body of Christ. You are a successful businessman. Some have said that religious leaders should be engaged so that they will depend less on tithes and offerings, do you agree with them?

People are entitled to their opinions because they don’t know how an organization is run. I remember there was a time when a journalist met us in a particular meeting and said we were starting churches because people are paying tithes and offering, and that we were making money from people. I told him, you must be stupid and a fool. As we go looking at you now, you must be a poor man. If there is money in church, why haven’t you left your journalism to focus on the church? Why haven’t you brought your whole family into the church business if there’s money in it? So, many times people just talk but they don’t have understanding. A church is a public organization, and every pastor earns a salary from their personal jobs. Before you leave, I will show you around the department and you will see that everyone in the department earns a salary. If you’re a pastor relying on salary, you won’t go far. I’m a businessman, and I’ve written over 100 books and published 58 of them. Some people have written only 15 books and you expect such a person to be poor? I’m a consultant, I do publishing, I do ghostwriting. I’m a scriptwriter. I am a public speaker. I’m a coach. I’m a mentor. I have a media house, I have estates. What are we talking about? So, most of the time, people just talk about what they don’t understand. So, you don’t expect people like us, who have been in the ministry going to 35 years to be poor. If your father works for 35 years, you don’t expect him to be poor. But, people like us don’t care since we know the truth. We just try to educate the wise ones that are ready to learn and those who are not ready to learn should stay in their foolishness.

Calvary Bible Church appears to be one church, with just a branch. Why is that so?

We have branches all over the world, but the uniqueness of us, and which is one of the reasons you people probably don’t know about us, is that this ministry is called the Truth of Calvary Ministries. That’s the name of the ministry. The Calvary Bible Church is the name of one of the churches. So, we have a lot of churches that bear different names. They don’t even bear the Calvary Bible Church name. So, we have an Empowerment Assembly. We have the Kingdom Tribe, we have the Nest Church, and we have the Common Sense Assembly. This is our headquarters. And we have branches scattered all over the world. We live in Lekki, Johannesburg, New York, and so on.

You write books, and at the same time preach the gospel. Which one do you prefer?

The way you’re looking at it, you’re thinking they are two different things. Being a minister of the gospel means to serve with your gifts and potential. So, as a minister of the gospel, I am serving my generation with the gifts and the grace that God has given to me. I serve through preaching, I serve through writing, I serve through mentorship. In fact, everything I’m doing is ministry; I’m using my gifts to serve my generation.

You are an established name in real estate, what would be your advice to those who have an interest in it?

I’m into real estate development and entrepreneurship in the real estate business. So, I do real estate business and real estate investment on a global scale. A realtor is somebody that sells, so I have a lot of realtors that work with me. I’m primarily a businessman in the real estate industry, and an investor in the real estate industry. So, anyone that wants to play in the real estate industry, there are four ways to play. You can either be a realtor, which is the lowest level, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s the easiest way. If I were to start all over again, I’d probably go through that route because there is no stress. A realtor gets a customer, gets a good deal, you connect them together, you make your money, you move on. You don’t have the problem of looking for land, developing the house, getting approval, and so on. You can be an investor where you invest your money in real estate, you can be a developer, or you can be a regulator where you’re involved in the legalities and the regulation aspect. There are different platforms where you can mentor and use as your guide.

I heard in one of your teachings where you talked about your marriage and how it collapsed. So, for someone who is going down the same route in marriage, what is your advice to the person? What are the things to watch out for?

I’m a pastor, and everything I do is based on the scriptures. As a result, my belief system is going to be different from those of other people. You need to decide what kind of marriage you’re going into. Are you doing a traditional marriage, which is a cultural and traditional kind of marriage, or are you doing a contemporary marriage? Or are you doing a kingdom marriage? So, my advice would be for people who want to do a kingdom marriage, number one, be sure that whosoever you are going into a marriage with, God is part of it. Be sure that you are led by God, inspired by God, and directed by God. Number two, engage in courtship. Courtship is a period of time that you use to ascertain your conviction and to be sure if what God is telling you is clear to you. You can do all that needs to be done to prepare yourself for that marriage because a lot of people prepare for the wedding, but they don’t prepare for the marriage. A wedding is for a day; marriage is for a lifetime. When you’re not prepared, and you move in there, you also move out. Now, the fact that God has brought the two of you together does not mean that everything will work. God brought us together, yet we had marriage issues. Why? Because a good marriage takes two people. Only one person cannot make a marriage work. The two people involved in the marriage must be willing to do everything they can to make it work. If only one person is working to make it work, and the other person is not, it will not work. That’s why many people become victims of divorce. This is because one or both of the parties involved were not willing to make it work, and that’s why we hear of irreconcilable differences. There’s no problem that cannot be solved, only a problem that you’re not ready to discuss.

Tinubu, Atiku, Peter Obi cannot handle Nigeria’s problems – Pastor Olumide Emmanuel

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Following the recent outbreak of cholera in Nigeria and the upsurge of its confirmed cases and fatalities in many states of the federation, a pharmacist, Umeh Camillus Chibueze, MD/CEO of Camillus Pharmaceuticals, says most people are unaware they have been infected. He adds that the government is not doing enough to stem the tide. In this interview with DAILY POST, he x-rays the dangers of the epidemic, causes, symptoms, mode of transmission and the preventive measures to curb its spread. Excerpts:

What is the cholera epidemic all about?

Cholera is an epidemic or infectious disease that causes severe watery diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if left untreated. It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae.

The disease is most common in places with poor sanitation, crowding, war, and famine and where there are poor latrines and no proper mode of defecation like using a pit toilet. Contaminated hands, eating contaminated vegetables, fruits and drinking from well or tap water are major spreads of cholera.

So, in other words, cholera is an epidemic that spreads very fast and the common symptoms have to do with diarrhea and vomiting and the person that suffers cholera will have what we call dehydration; that is lack of water in the body.

Is cholera currently driven by climate change?

The answer is no. As a scientist, I don’t believe that climate change has to do with cholera. Cholera has no business with climate change whatsoever. Climate change could be as a result of solar radiations which are quite different. Climate change is caused as a result of depletion of ozone layers which is caused by deforestation; that is the reduction of the number of trees that absorbed carbon monoxide and because of the absorption of carbon monoxide, they now go to the ozone layer and cause depletion.

So if you watch, there is no connection whatsoever between cholera and climate change. Though both of them are environmental hazards, cholera is caused by microorganisms while climate change is caused by an inanimate object which is carbon monoxide. Major causes of climate change is carbon monoxide as a result of deforestation. So there is no relationship between the two.

What are the root causes of cholera?

Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera, is usually found in food or water contaminated by faeces (excreta) from a person with the infection. However, common sources include: municipal water supplies, ice made from municipal water, foods and drinks sold by street vendors, vegetables grown with water containing human wastes and raw or undercooked fish and seafood caught in waters polluted with sewage.

When a person consumes the contaminated food or water, the bacteria release a toxin in the intestines that produces severe diarrhea.

What are the common symptoms of cholera?

Most people exposed to the cholera bacterium (Vibrio cholerae) don’t become ill and don’t know they’ve been infected. But because they shed cholera bacteria in their stool for seven to 14 days, they can still infect others through contaminated water.

Most cases of cholera that cause symptoms cause mild or moderate diarrhea that’s often hard to tell apart from diarrhea caused by other problems. Others develop more-serious signs and symptoms of cholera, usually within a few days of infection.

Diarrhea is one of the common symptoms of cholera. Cholera-related diarrhea comes on suddenly and can quickly cause dangerous fluid loss. Diarrhea due to cholera often has a pale, milky appearance that resembles water in which rice has been rinsed.

Nausea and vomiting are other symptoms of cholera. Vomiting occurs especially in the early stages of cholera and can last for hours.

Another symptom of cholera is dehydration. Dehydration can develop within hours after cholera symptoms start and range from mild to severe. A loss of 10% or more of body weight indicates severe dehydration.

Signs and symptoms of cholera dehydration include irritability, fatigue, sunken eyes, a dry mouth, extreme thirst, dry and shriveled skin that’s slow to bounce back when pinched into a fold, little or no urinating, low blood pressure, and an irregular heartbeat.

Dehydration can lead to a rapid loss of minerals in your blood that maintain the balance of fluids in your body. This is called an electrolyte imbalance.

How long does cholera symptoms take to manifest?

If an individual is infected with vibrio cholerae; that is the organism that causes cholera or the bacterium that causes cholera, it stays within 12 hours to five days before the symptoms manifest themselves. That is the duration. And as a scientist, we call this an incubation period.

How can someone take care of a cholera patient without being infected?

First of all, you cannot share the same food with a person suffering from cholera. You have to put on gloves while taking care of someone infected with cholera because there may be a drop of faeces from the body of the infected person. So you trying to clean him up can contract it and you have to avoid sharing raw food with him.

It is not that you are trying to avoid him completely, but be aware of safeguarding yourself. So you have to protect yourself by wearing hand gloves and possibly, face masks because it is not air-borne. Avoid drinking from the same cup until the person gets well. So these are the precautions you as a caregiver have to observe while taking care of a cholera-infected person.

What are the preventive measures of cholera disease?

Cholera can be prevented. There are so many measures you will use to prevent cholera. One of the measures is you have to avoid tap water, well water, raw food or undercooked seafood. People contract cholera from food like fresh fish. These are the measures you can use to avoid a cholera outbreak.

Another measure to prevent cholera is drinking bottled water that is treated with chlorine, then eating prepackaged food. Foods that are well packaged, well sanitized by a standard restaurant. Then consider disinfecting your water. Boil it, disinfect your water for at least one minute before you eat any food. Wash your fruits and vegetables with clean water. If possible, add salt. If you are to use vegetables to cook, you have to wash it with clean water.

The reason for the outbreak of cholera, I will tell you that the government policy has not been effective. Primary healthcare has not been effective. The necessary awareness is not there. Because ignorance is a disease, most of the people that suffer cholera, if you watch very closely they don’t even know what the mode of transmission is. Some people today still defecate in an open place. They still drink well water and some people still eat raw food without washing it. Some people feed on raw vegetables. Some people today still use all kinds of contaminated or poorly prepared food as their meal.

So these are the reasons that the epidemic of cholera disease is quickly spreading. One factor is ignorance and the second one is government policy. The government is not doing much about it. In advanced countries like the US, there is what we call the Center for Disease Control, CDC. What these people do is to create much awareness. They provide people with the most basic awareness they need.

When there is an outbreak of cholera, there is always bottled water but in this part of the world, how many people can afford bottled water? How many Nigerians can prepare a very good dish for their breakfast, lunch and dinner? How many Nigerians can live in a decent environment that has a good toilet? Because we know that the mode of transmission of cholera is mainly through poorly prepared food, vegetables, raw fruits and drinking from well water.

In a nutshell, cholera can be prevented when you wash your hands with soap and water frequently, especially after using the toilet and before handling food. Rub soapy, wet hands together for at least 15 seconds before rinsing. If soap and water aren’t available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Also, drink only safe water, including bottled water or water you’ve boiled or disinfected by yourself. Use bottled water even to brush your teeth.

Similarly, hot beverages are generally safe, as are canned or bottled drinks, but wipe the outside before you open them. Don’t add ice to your drinks unless you made it yourself using safe water.

Eat food that’s completely cooked and hot and avoid street vendor food, if possible. If you do buy a meal from a street vendor, make sure it’s cooked in your presence and served hot.

Avoid raw or improperly cooked fish and seafood of any kind. Stick to fruits and vegetables that you can peel yourself, such as bananas, oranges and avocados. Stay away from salads and fruits that can’t be peeled, such as grapes and berries.

INTERVIEW: Cholera: Many people don’t know they have been infected – Scientist, Umeh

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The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun has explained why the introduction of Compress Natural Gas is a game changer in Ogun State and across the country.

The Governor, in this interview with journalists also explained that the conversion of the state’s buses to CNG buses was helping greatly to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy and also positively projecting the renewed hope agender of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Excerpts!

Your Excellency, you were one of the governors who led the private sector to meet with President Bola Tinubu after the fuel subsidy removal last year, where the president spoke about the introduction of the CNG alternative. On Wednesday, we saw you riding a CNG bike. Was that for pleasure, or is the CNG initiative here with us?

Yes, you saw me riding the CNG bike, but let us take some steps back. Sometime last year, we launched our CNG Mass Transit Programme, which was basically the conversion of some of our state-owned buses to become CNG powered. This was because we knew that the president was going to deregulate, and this was the posture of all the presidential candidates before the elections. Hence, the state government, as a responsible entity, had to move in that direction; Thus, we started that programme, knowing full well that as soon as the vision became a reality, it would affect the cost of transportation of people, goods, and services.

So, what we did last October was to actualize and domesticate the Renewed Hope Initiative to begin to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal. That was our Phase 1, and Wednesday was Phase II, which was our E-Mobility Launch, showcasing electric motorbikes, electric tricycles, CNG tricycles, and electric vehicles.

Yes, you saw me riding a bike; I used to ride one back in the day when I was much younger. More importantly, what we are trying to achieve is to drastically reduce the cost of transportation because when you deregulate, particularly at this period when our people are agitating about food prices, one of the major elements that contribute to inflation is the cost of transportation.

I recall today, Thursday, someone called to say he bought yam in Lagos at a particular price, which was quite higher than what it was at Ikire. You find that the difference between the price in Lagos and that of Ikire was because of the cost of transportation. This is what we set out to achieve, and I can see that we have been very successful in that objective. When we launched our CNG buses, it crashed the cost of transportation for our people within Abeokuta and between Ogun State and Lagos and actually forced down fares from the Mowe-Ibafo corridor to Lagos.

Now, let me give you a practical example so you can properly understand the impact. On Wednesday, we launched the e-bike, and those e-bikes have no engines. All they have is a battery that makes them practically noiseless. The emissions are zero, which means that we are not polluting the environment in terms of environmental impact.

We are now going to reduce the cost of transportation by around 45 per cent. All that these e-bikes need is to have their batteries charged. Once charged, they will power the bikes for about 75 kilometers on a single charge. We have charging stations located around the state where riders can charge within two to three minutes, thereby creating another small economy for those at the sub-stations. In one breath, we are reducing the cost of transportation; in another breath, we are reducing pollution and building a small economy for those who would be managing the substations.

Let me give you another example. We also launched on Wednesday a particular CNG-powered tricycle that previously travelled about 120 kilometres on fuel that would cost about N14,000. The one we launched will travel the same distance on CNG that will cost about N2,000 to power. As I said, all we do in Ogun State is to domesticate the Asiwaju solution, which means that regardless of the level of inflation, this will provide the cushioning effect that will reduce the cost of transportation.

Why is it that it is only Ogun State doing this? It is supposed to be done by all 36 governors and the FCT to ameliorate the effect of the subsidy removal?

Well, for us, we occupy a strategic position in the country. We are the closest to the financial capital of Nigeria. I also enjoy an advantage: I have a large number of gas stations in my state. The gas pipeline that goes all the way to Ibese, passes through my state, leading to the proliferation of industries in Ogun State because of access to power. So, for me, I took advantage of that.

It is not because of any special funding; we have not been given any special funding by the Federal Government. It is just because of the strategic location of my state and proximity to Lagos. I realized that it was important for me to immediately cash in on this initiative and provide an alternative means of transportation that will cushion the effect of the deregulation that was brought to a stop; the monster that consumed N500 billion to N600 billion a month in fuel subsidy as of then.

As far back as about two months ago, there was a report that the Federal Government was going to give N10 billion to each state for CNG mass transit to reduce transportation costs. Are you saying that the money has not been disbursed?

You see, the problem with the average Nigerian is that we are very impatient. From the announcement of a policy to its implementation, it takes a period of time. They are working assiduously to ensure that what we are doing in the state is replicated across the country. But let me tell you something: the CNG case is not like the COVID case, where one size fits all. It takes some time to identify the type, make, and model of vehicles, so it is taking that much time to put a system in place. I know they are working on it, such that they log onto their site and indicate the model of vehicle and where you are. At the appropriate time, they will allocate a time for you to bring your vehicle for conversion to CNG. So, as time goes by, it will become commonplace in Nigeria.

Rest assured that even though I am not trying to speak for them, I have knowledge of what they are working on. You can imagine what we have done in Ogun State, which is a state of about 5,000,000 people, compared to the whole of Nigeria, where we have a population of over 200 million. I am sure that in a few months, we will begin to appreciate the progress in many states. They are working on this CNG conversion, and the president is particularly keen on ensuring that this scheme is successful.

Apart from the CNG buses, we understand that some transport organizations and unions are supposed to receive some subsidy also for CNG-enabled vehicles to help them with their transport businesses, and about three million households are supposed to receive about N50,000 each. What are you doing to reduce the pressure on private individuals? Give us a sense of what is going on, especially with the hunger and the protests today?

What I will say to Nigerians today, boldly, is that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has only been in office for a year and perhaps three months. It takes more than 15 months to reverse a trend that has permeated for a few years before his assumption of office. He has declared his principles and policies, and as soon as he was inaugurated and assumed office, he began implementing these audacious policies. These are policies that previous administrations were perhaps not bold enough to implement.

These policies have been applauded by development banks and organizations all over the world. It will take time for their impacts to begin to be felt by the common man. He has promised, and on Wednesday, the Minister (of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy) told all Nigerians that the President is aware of the current realities and is working assiduously to ensure that he lives up to the expectations of our people.

When he assumed office and declared that there was no going back to deregulation, he immediately began giving wage awards to all public servants. Only recently, he signed the Minimum Wage Act. That is a serious commitment. He has begun implementing the Students’ Loan Scheme. When last in the history of Nigeria did we see the disbursement of students’ loans to students of tertiary institutions? The FG is also implementing schemes for the elderly across the entire country and wards, and these schemes are ongoing. The president is giving out food palliatives through us governors, knowing that the impacts of the policies are being felt. Now, the FG is removing import restrictions on certain food items, and as of this week, rice should begin to be sold to people at N40,000 per bag. He has provided agricultural inputs, fertilizers, maize, corn, sorghum, all within one year! What more do we expect from a man who has a proven track record? He was governor of Lagos State for eight years. Lagos is the size of many African countries put together.

You will agree that the current issue of inflation is not applicable to Nigeria alone. Yesterday, there was a protest in Ghana, a protest in the UK, and not long ago, in Kenya. Inflation is rising all over the world. As much as I appreciate that elected officials must look out for the well-being and welfare of our people, our President is doing his very best and is committed. I believe that what we must do is allow him time so that we can see the impact of these policies.

The Naira has stabilized, and with the recent intervention of Mr. President in the Dangote/NNPC issue, which was made to appear like a controversy, that crude must be sold to Dangote Refinery and other refineries in Naira, you will see the reduction of pressure on the Naira and Dollar, and I am sure that you will see instant relief. That will reduce the exchange rate, and over time, you will see the multiplier effect on the economy.

The truth is that what we are going through now is like the pain of a woman who is trying to give birth. She will go through a lot of pain, but at the end of the day, when she gives birth, everyone is happy. So, I want to plead with Nigerians to give Mr. President and all of us time as well. He is doing everything he can, knowing that his number one role is to put food on our table. They are the ones who brought him into office, and he has said it so many times that, ‘Look, don’t pity me. I asked for this job. I campaigned for it. I invested to be President, and this is the only job I have.’

There are those who would be asking whether the cost of governance is one of the areas where the people would know that the government is listening to the agitation of the poor. There is this belief that we spend far too much on those who are in power while poverty is high in the country. Is there anything the government of the day will be doing in that respect?

Well, without a doubt, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration is a considerate one. This is the first time, and I am glad that my brother, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, who spoke with you earlier, alluded to such things, even though I do not agree with everything. He said that this government is a responsive one.

This is the first time there would be protests or civil disobedience, and the government would go all out to ensure that they engage with diverse groups, explaining to them what the government is doing, what it has done, and what it intends to do. By doing so, they are providing moral suasion, and different groups came out, dissociating themselves from the protests. That clearly indicated that this administration is responsive to the needs of the people. So, I don’t think I need to say anything other than that.

The voices and cries of our people are being heard from the local governments to the state governments and to the Federal Government, and we are all working together. Last week, we met with Mr. President; we hold the National Economic Council meeting once a month to discuss the economy of the country and review our activities. I can tell you that the Nigeria of our dreams is just on the horizon. So, regarding the cost of governance, we have heard that you, and Mr. President has directed that public servants should buy locally made vehicles, and such vehicles must be powered by CNG. Look, this is the first time we have a president who has his fingers on the button.

INTERVIEW: Why Ogun’s CNG initiative is such a game changer – Gov. Abiodun