Controversy Over Use of military uniforms by Private Security Guard

The use of replica uniforms of military agencies by some private security guards is generating a lot of controversy among the people. What led to this?

Daniel, an American who was on a visit to Nigeria for the first time was surprised to see 'naval personnel' guarding one of the banks in the country instead of being by the sea shore. At first, he attributed it to the insurgency in the country especially in the northern region but on a second thought, Daniel enquired from his friend why 'naval personnel' should leave the sea and be guarding a bank. Daniel may not be the only one who mistaken private guards with any of the military or para-military outfits.

Resemblance of FRSC uniform

Investigations revealed that the uniforms of some private guard companies show similarity with the Nigerian navy, airforce or the army. They use the same belt, boot (shoes), rope and even ranks like that of the military.

Our inquiries show that the companies are using the replica of military uniforms because the outfits are owned by retired military officers. The usages of replica uniforms by private guards are in contravention of the Act establishing private guard companies in the country.

A staff of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, name withheld told our correspondent that highly connected people do not bother to follow due process in the registration of their guard companies.

According to her, with just one phone call, the deed is done, and nobody bothers to know if the laid down procedure is observed thereafter.

In the Act, given to our correspondent, No 6 section 3 of the NSCDC Corp (Amendment) Act 2007 gives the NSCDC power to register, and from time to time, inspect the premises of private guard companies, their training facilities and approve same if it is up to standard. It also empowers the agency to supervise and monitor the activities of all private guard companies and keep a register for that purpose as well as seal up any private guard company which operates without a valid licence.

Mrs. Agusta Augustine who works with one of the para-military agencies disclosed that children no longer know the difference between a private security personnel and Nigerian military or para-military.

On the other hand, Sunday Obinna, a police officer said it is high time the civil defence reviewed the registered uniforms used by private guard companies since some of them conflict with that of the federal security agencies.

Private guards with Police-look-alike uniform

A senior army officer, name withheld, at the Mogadishu Barrack complained of compromise. He described the conflict in uniform as an embarrassment to the country. “This is what you see in democratic rule; if it were military regime no private security company could try to insult the sensibilities of the federal (security) agencies,” he noted.

However, nothing seems to be done concerning the replica uniforms as more and more security outfits are adopting other security outfits. Can anybody put a stop to this abnormally?

Abuja: One city, different taxis

The colour and beauty of a taxi is supposed to be the pride of that city but cannot be said with Abuja, which is the capital and pride of Nigeria. What is responsible for this?

SURE-P cabs

When Ben Okoroafor visited Istanbul, Turkey, after disembarking from the airplane, his first contact was the taxi driver. He was not scared to board his taxi because when he search the website before going to Turkey, he saw their taxi colour which is yellow.

In every part of the country Okoroafor visited, he freely boarded the taxi because he was confident that the taxi cabs were registered hence there was no cause to be afraid. The one that surprised him most is that the vehicles are in top shape.

Okoroafor also visited Germany; he met the same thing on ground, clean and sound taxi cabs with just one colour all over the places he visited. Okoroafor spent some years in Munich before returning home to Lagos, Nigeria.

Weeks after he returned to Lagos, he was invited for the first time for a seminar in Abuja. On disembarking from the airplane, he saw unpainted taxi at the airport; he was a bit shock because he was not expecting the same thing they do in Lagos to be also in Abuja.

As if that was not enough, as he was going to Asokoro, he came across different colour of taxi cabs. Ben became nervous because even the one he boarded was not painted. He saw different green colour, some painted with yellow roof, blue roof, some with registered number, some without, some painted with blue and yellow, while some are not painted at all and yet they were carrying passengers. Okoroafor is not the first person to notice this.

Unlike what is obtainable in Abuja, some cities in the world operate with one colour of taxi just like it is in Lagos and some parts of Nigeria. For instance, in Madrid, Spain taxis are white with a diagonal red stripe on the front doors. In Barcelona, Spain taxis are black with the doors (including the trunk/boot and sometimes the hood/bonnet) painted yellow.

In New York City official taxis (called medallion cabs) are yellow while in Germany, taxis (which are usually Mercedes) are very unusual cream yellow. 

Spokesman of the Transport Secretariat, Ifeanyi Ughamadu disclosed that the taxi in Abuja have different licensed operators hence the different colours to differentiate them. The licensed operators are as follows: National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, have green colour with blue roof; SECDA has green leaf colour with violet roof; PAT has green leaf colour with orange roof; Printfield Nigeria Limited has green leaf colour with yellow roof while RTEIN Mass Transit has green leaf colour with black roof.

Also allowed to operate transportation business in FCT are NARTO, Abuja Urban Mass Transit Company, AUMTCO and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN.

Ughamadu however adviced passengers to always watch out for the labels on the vehicles before boarding. “We have captured all employees and drivers of the licensed companies with their numbers. You can get any information on them from their office or the website. If you forget any of your belongings in any car, just go to their office, you will get them.

Meanwhile, research has shown that Abuja is not the only city with different colour of taxi, there are some cities in the world that also operate with different colour of taxis. For instance, in London, United Kingdom, UK they are black (and a special purpose vehicle is used for all taxis). London taxi cabs aren't always black, they are occasionally seen in other colours (white or racing green for example) and 'full body' advertisements are becoming more prevalent, which obscure the original colour of the vehicle.

In the city of Toronto, different cab (taxi) companies have different colours of car. Taxis are distinguishable by markings on the car and by the taxi sign on top.

Also in Dubai, United Arab Emirate, UAE, they have color-coded Taxi logo with Red Colored-Roof Taxi. They also have National Taxi Logo with Yellow Colored-Roof Taxi. There is also Metro Taxi Logo with Orange Colored-Roof Taxi and Cars Taxi Logo with Blue Colored-Roof Taxi. There is also Arabia Taxi Logo with Green Colored-Roof Taxi.

Meanwhile, more worrisome to Okoroafor is the rickety nature of the taxi cabs that operate in Abuja, the seat of government. He claimed that majority of them are not road worthy and wondered why such should be the case especially in a city where they have men of the Police, Road Safety, Vehicle Inspection Office, VIO scattered everywhere.

On his part, a resident of Abuja, David Okonofua said some of the taxi drivers in Abuja display insanity on the road. According to him, “Whenever they are looking for passengers, they can park indiscriminately without regards to other road users. They park anywhere hence causing unnecessary traffic logjam in the area. I don’t like driving to some places because of the way taxi drivers behave. They drive recklessly without cause for other road users. I doubt if some of them have drivers’ licence.

“The annoying aspect is that they do all these in front of policemen and VIO. At Wuse Market junction, they park on the road while the policemen watch without arresting them. Even the VIO men are not helping matter. I wonder what they are inspecting if we have so many rickety taxis scattered across the city. They are more interested in flashy cars and those they think they can easily intimidate,” he noted.

Recall that at the popular Wuse Market bus-stop, a taxi driver stripped naked after he was arrested for driving recklessly and causing damage to the car belonging to a private car owner. After his plead seems to fall on deaf ears, he stripped and that led to people scrapping for safety including the owner of the car.

A typical scene when they are struggling for passengers

There is no doubt that majority of the taxi drivers in FCT are not educated hence they display their ignorant on the road. Some of them don’t even know the driving codes hence they drive without trafficking, some don’t even have side mirror let alone brake light, while some have theirs broken.

Many of those vehicles are not road worthy while some emit smoke from their engines. It is a common thing to see a taxi cab with about four different colour. If the car had accident, the owner changes the bumper to a different colour, the bonnet is different, the roof and the body and since they are not confronted, they drive the vehicle like that without spraying it. Some do half-spray and use it like that and these people operate in the FCT.

Public Relations and Enlightenment, VIO, Kalu Emetu disclosed that it is only FCT that has Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre. He said also attested that most of the vehicles in the city are not road worthy hence they have impounded many of them.

“Certificates are issued to vehicles that have been tested and certified worthy. So many vehicles don’t have road worthiness certificates and because of our enforcement, it seems our image is bad. It is impossible to arrest all vehicles at once. We are quite aware of the economy situation hence the consideration.

“The population of the city is growing on daily basis due to influx of people. Many of the rickety vehicles you talked about don’t operate in the FCT, they come from the neighbouring cities. We will continue to maintain the standard but you know some of our people find it difficult to obey the laws, it is a cultural thing.

Abuja is not only dominated with different colour of taxi, there are also unpainted taxis, which some people refer to as kabu-kabu. These are taxi owned by private car owners who pick passengers with their cars. They are visible in all parts of the city and the worrisome aspect is that security agencies not only see them but also patronise them most times.

Due to the negligence on the part of the FCTA, some criminals use their vehicles for illicit acts especially one-chance. These people use their cars to kidnap innocent persons who must have waited endlessly for the registered ones.

A passenger told our correspondent that he would rather prefer to join private car owners and pay more to get to his destination on time than wait endlessly for BRT buses or others.

We gathered that the private car owners now capitalise on the current transportation situation to charge higher than the required transportation fare.

This type of cab also patronise Abuja road

A resident, Josephine Akpan disclosed that, “Rickety taxis are scattered across the city while the ones inaugurated recently are nowhere in the city instead they are used for long distances where BRT buses are supposed to be operating.

Transport Secretariat spokesman however said Task Force is in place to get rid of all the rickety vehicles in the city. “The more you apprehend, the more they come but we are not relenting. They are becoming problems and we are going to sanitise the system.”

He however warned the residents to stop patronizing unregistered taxis (kabu-kabu). “If you want to use your vehicle for transportation, why not register it under one of the licensed operators otherwise the law enforcement agencies will catch up with you.”

An official in the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA who confided in our correspondent disclosed that they cannot tackle the menace of the taxi drivers because they are under-staffed. He claimed that when the men of the Civil Defence were approached to assist, they were given a long list of demands hence they were left out.

The plight of Nigerian ex-Footballers

Soccer followers are getting worried over the increasing number of footballers who are living in penury after making so much money during their active days. What is responsible for it and is government supposed to be blame for neglect?

Kanu Nwankwo

I have always position myself in such a way that people will always want to have something to do with me…”

The above assertion was made by ex-Green Eagles winger, Segun Odegbami, also known as 'Mathematical'. He was responding to accusation by some ex-internationals that governments abandoned them in time of need after sacrificing everything for the country.

Minister of Sports and chairman of the National Sports Commission, NSC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi at a book presentation titled “Me, Football and More” written by former Green Eagles' striker, Segun Odegbami revealed that most of the Nigeria ex-international footballers are in financial distress because of their failure to plan for life after retirement during their heyday.

The minister said instead of the ex-players to wait on individuals and governments for help, they should begin to emulate people like Odegbami and try to transform themselves.

He said, “This is important to those who played football recently. Some of them fall sick they cannot even foot their medical bills; some of them are homeless, some are roaming around with nothing to do and each time people keep saying government has abandoned the ex-footballers.

“My argument always is that these athletes abandoned themselves long ago: in fact, if you hear the kind of money some of these footballers earn today, Odegbami will faint, yet no sooner they stop playing they end up in poverty.”

Abdullahi added, “Certainly if Segun Odegbami can survive after football for many years, I think every sportsman, every athlete has responsibility upon himself or herself to think of life outside and beyond sports.”

Daniel Amokachi

“We know that players like Victor Ikpeba did not earn the kind of money these footballers and athletes earn today, yet no sooner they stopped playing, they would ascend into poverty. But, when we see people like Ikpeba, Odegbami and couple of others, we see sportsmen that have continue to re-invest themselves again and again in the system. We will always feel encouraged. Odegbami has kept himself in the system. I was a small boy, who watched him win the Nations Cup in 1980, today I'm a minister.

He further claimed that footballers can start playing football today and break their legs, but that should not be the end of life. “It is painful that when injuries or retirement comes.”

However, some still believe that there are some ex-internationals who need government attention or assistance. They claimed that somebody like Samuel Okwaraji who died while playing for his country should be given urgent attention.

Okwaraji's mother, Mrs Jane has been lamented since the death of his son. She was reported to have accused government of making empty promises. “They promised to take care of the children when Sam died because he was the family's provider but nothing was done.”

She continued, “I am so surprised that a government could make false promises and also fail to fulfill the pledges it made. The government could not feel the death of the 24-year-old boy who died labouring to bring glory to Nigeria. That is so unfair. Nigeria has disappointed me because the government promised to help train my children to any level of education and at the same time help the family but they have failed.”

Worried by the state of ex-sportsmen, the Senate backed a Bill seeking to limit membership of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF board to ex -footballers.

The Bill for an Act to Repeal the Nigerian Football Association Act Cap. N110 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and Enact the Nigerian Football Federation Act 2013 to provide for football administration in Nigeria was passed for second reading.

Opabunmi with Beckham

It provides that only footballers who have been actually involved in competitive football can be members of the federation and not just organisations and establishment as it is contained in the extant act.

Femi Opabunmi

Some analysts however believe that those who are accusing the federal government are not sincere. They questioned if the sportsmen always forgot that the messenger who works in the government office for 30 to 35 years also work very hard to serve Nigeria.

Former President of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Sani Lulu simply said everybody including the civil servants, journalists also need government attention. He however advised everybody including sports men to always remember that they must plan for future, while they are active in their chosen endeavours.

A soccer fan, Gbenga Akande argued that the players owe the nation gratitude for identifying them and bringing them to limelight. “When the messenger, driver, others fall ill, nobody knows or goes around crying that government has abandoned him, why must the ex-internationals do that after, where they not paid their allowances and other entitlements. Apart from Okwaraji, who amongst them played for the country without demanding for their money? Some of them on several occasions even held the country to ransom.”

Our findings revealed that some players who made it big while playing football later lived in penury. Etim Esin was a star during his days but the rape case against him forced him to leave his base in Belgium for the fear of being jailed. He later retired prematurely and he was reported to be eating from hand to mouth.

Super Eagles prolific striker, Rashidi Yekini, was said to have died in his village because of the family's inability to raise money for hospital bill. Yekini, who scored Nigerian first World Cup goal was said to have been mentally derailed before he passed on.

Yekini who played for some of the big clubs in Africa and Europe, notable amongst them is Victoria Setubal of Greece, died in penury after so many years of living in affluent.

Recently, Thompson Oliha passed on after a brief illness. Source close to him said the ex-international was living from hand to mouth. He was said to have died of malaria. Some analysts claimed that if he was still playing active football, he would have gone for medical check-up in some of the best hospitals in the world.

There were speculations in some quarters that former Chelsea left-full back, Celestine Babayaro was bankrupt after making so much money even before Chelsea billionaire; Roman Abrahimovich took over the club. Despite starting football at a tender age where he made so much money, he was bankrupt. It took the recent appointment by Chelsea for him to bounce back to life.

Also not forgetting Daniel 'Da Bull' Amokachi, who was making money from football and modeling at the same time in Fenerbache, Turkey. He was alleged to have made so much money that he acquired a private plane.

Segun Odegbami

The Hunters Weekly gathered that it took the quick intervention of former Nasarawa state governor, Adamu Abdullahi, for Amokachi to escape penury as he was alleged to have sold all his properties except the one in Kaduna which was also put on sale then.

The governor gave him appointment as assistant coach before being given a job as Super Eagles assistant coach. Opabunmi recently lost his sight due to his inability to raise money for medication.

Not happy with the way he was treated during his ordeal, Etim Esin said he would not stick his neck out for his son to play Nigeria. According to him, “My son was born in Paris. The mother is Malian. He has options to play for France and Mali if he chooses to play football. But for him to play for Nigeria, I won't stick out my neck for it. You see what I have been through.”

He claimed that his former teammates are not allowing their children to take after football because of what they went through and not rewarded. “How many ex-internationals kids are playing football? It's because of what we laid down that is affecting us. Look at Abedi Pele from Ghana. Two of his sons play for Ghana. People that should change things are not doing anything,” Esin complained.

Why some ex-internationals and sportsmen and women were battling to keep afloat, others are doing very well. Former Super Eagles winger, Finidi George was recently appointed coach of a youth team in his former club, Real Betis. The same with Sunday Oliseh before he became a television analyst. Peter Rufai is a master degree holder and handles an academy, Samson Siasia own an academy, apart from being a coach, likewise Austin Eguavoen. Stephen Keshi owns chains of businesses in the United States of America, USA, apart from being the Super Eagles coach.

Kanu Nwankwo remains one of the most successful footballers of all time with different investments scattered around the United Kingdom, UK; Holland, and some parts of Nigeria in hospitality business, medical, estate developments, amongst others. He was spotted training some young lads during his last visit to Abuja.

Bolaji declared that government has the responsibility to take care of every citizen,  not only ex-internationals and advised the upcoming ones to start doing something for themselves and think of life after profession or career when they are still active. “This is the most important lesson we have to learn from Segun Odegbami authoring a book.”

Akande also believe that ex-internationals are not supposed to be burden on government; instead, they should emulate Kanu Nwankwo, who is creating employment for millions of people out there. “A word is enough for the wise,” he concluded.