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  • The Coronavirus diaries (21)

    The Coronavirus diaries (21)

    Festus ERIYE

     

    WITH over 91,000 COVID-19 infections to date, Nigeria is in a state of war with the pandemic, according to the Alliance for Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB) – a group of leading health workers’ unions.

    But they didn’t get the memo at Elegushi Beach, Lagos, where on New Year Day thousands of revellers who apparently never heard of coronavirus or how it is transmitted, gathered in their thousands to usher in 2021. One commentator described the people as massed like a colony of ants.

    Which is quite interesting because Lagos is again the epicentre in this latest wave. Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) figures for Monday showed the state with 654 new cases out of a record national daily tally of 1,204.

    The state was one of several that banned the popular crossover services which many churches had planned for December 31, 2020, ostensibly because they are usually overcrowded affairs. It shut night clubs and cracked down on event centres that hosted massive parties towards the end of last year.

    That the beaches were left out of the restrictions may yet turn out to be a costly omission. It is common knowledge that crowds flock to them during public holidays. Many countries shut them for extended periods in the first wave.

    While our 1,204 new cases might be small compared with 12,601 in South Africa, 58,784 for the UK, or 208,530 in the US for the same day, they still represent a crisis given existing resources and our ability to cope.

    In mid-December 2020, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, warned of increasing demand for oxygen in isolation facilities that were spilling over with severe COVID-19 cases.

    What is going on in government hospitals only tells part of the story. Many who can afford it are receiving care in private health facilities where the total bill for COVID-19 treatment runs to a couple of millions. It’s not clear whether NCDC numbers capture those being treated under these arrangements.

    Just to underline the severity of the current surge, the last one week has seen high profile deaths like those of Augustine Ilodibe Jr, 42, scion of the famous Ekene Dili Chukwu transport company family, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe, to name a few.

    Celebrities who have contracted the virus have also been speaking out – among them singers Paul Okoye and Elvina Ibru.

    Comedian Ali Baba took to his Instagram page to share this message: “The second wave of COVID-19 is deadlier than the one before. People are dying – pastors, doctors, professors, billionaires, poor men, less privileged… people are dying every day. Those numbers you see are not fake” he said. “COVID-19 is real, don’t let anyone deceive you. Anyone who tells you COVID-19 is scam, don’t trust the person.”

    But the real story isn’t in what he had to say about his experiences at the isolation centre; it’s in the comment thread accompanying his story. While a sprinkling of commentators acknowledged the reality of the virus, the vast majority had truly ‘interesting’ things to say!

    One Ekajuk wrote: ‘Because people died, does that make it Covid? People moving around have their respective illnesses. Not every death is Covid mbok.’

    Drea Mth Uhg said: “Ogbeni whatever you believe works for you, no come de worry us for here. There are more serious issues to take up in this Goddamn country, people are striving to get by a single day, you are there now encouraging them to lockdown everywhere again abi?…

    Obilonu Patrick was even more creative and ‘considerate’. He said: “Too much oyibo wine and food have giving you sickness in your body, or your village oracle has remembered you and given you one sickness, oga leave us alone go take care of your sickness and leave us alone.”

    And on and on the snide and cynical comments went. It does appear from this thread that fear of lockdown is pushing many into denial. But, pretending the virus doesn’t exist is no antidote to the sickness and death it spreads.

    Unfortunately, as we saw on Monday countries are forced to resort to the hated lockdown not because it is palatable but because it becomes inevitable. Boris Johnson just plunged long suffering Brits into a fresh shutdown that would last till Mid-February.

    The measure is far from universally popular. But even the opposition Labour Party was calling for it with the country consistently breaching 50,000 new cases for several days.

    Are we likely to be subjected to this bitter pill again despite all the ominous signs? It’s unlikely according to Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed. I suspect, however, that his is a political statement informed by strong pressure from private sector leaders and others who are warning of mass hunger, collapse of businesses and worsening recession if there’s another lockdown.

    The position of National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF), Dr. Sani Aliyu, is more direct. He warns that the only way to prevent a re-introduction of the restriction is by adhering to the advisories – something which many Nigerians are loath to do.

    Speaking on a television programme on Sunday, Aliyu said: “If you don’t want a lockdown, the only way is to make sure we use our facemasks, avoid mass gatherings, avoid people who have respiratory tract infections, sanitise our hands and follow those non-pharmaceutical interventions.

    “The very vaccines that we currently have are those non-pharmaceutical interventions. If numbers continue to go up, all options are on the table. There are countries in the world that have been able to control this pandemic simply by following these non-pharmaceutical interventions. They may be inconvenient, but they will not be as difficult as a lockdown.”

    That’s the bitter truth, if you ask me. If we don’t want another shut down let obey the protocols. Even the UK where shots are already going into arms is implementing a tough lockdown in the face of an alarming spike. In Nigeria, we only have a hazy promise of vaccination roll out sometime before the end of the first quarter. When will it get to the vast majority to ensure widespread immunity? Your guess!

     

  • Gov Emmanuel swears in four commissioners, five perm secs.

    Gov Emmanuel swears in four commissioners, five perm secs.

    Agency Reporter

    Governor Udom Emmanuel has sworn in four new Commissioner designates and five new permanent secretaries into Akwa Ibom State Executive Council and Akwa Ibom State Civil Service respectively.

    The Commissioner designates are Uko Udom SAN, Dr. John James Etim, Mrs Idongesit Etiebet and Pastor Umo Eno.

    The Permanent Secretaries are Mr. Ini James Ikie, Dr. Ini Jackson Etukudo, Mrs. Esther Aniekan Inyang, Mrs. Grace Paulinus Jim, and Mrs. Abasiekeme Victor Essien

    The swearing-in ceremony took place at Banquet hall, Government House, Uyo, on Monday, 4th January, 2021.

    The governor while administering the oath of allegiance to the appointees charged them on creativity, diligence and commitment to service in line with his administration’s Completion Agenda.

    “You have a major task and a critical time you joining us on the Completion Agenda and we are not joking about it, if we don’t lay a proper economic foundation for our state now once we derail we would gone a lot backwards”.

    Read Also: AbdulRazaq dissolves cabinet, retains SSG

    “You can see a whole lot of things we are doing to make sure we set up a proper economic foundation for the state, so it is a call to duty, it is a call to serve our people. God endowed you with that wisdom and gave you connections so we are all here to serve our state and make the light to shine in our state.

    The governor advised the commissioners to be committed and diligent in their service emphasizing that they should remain focused irrespective of criticism saying, “you must serve people diligently knowing fully that you are serving God, in every position and anything we are appointed to do, we must serve diligently with all amount of sincerity, forget about criticisms everybody cannot say everything good about you, people will lie against you but that doesn’t matter let your conscience bear witness to what you are doing for your people”.

    The Chief Security Officer of the state however frowned at the attitude of any commissioner who complains about lack of funds in his ministry, explaining that a creative and innovative Commissioner will always attract resources to execute project in his ministry.

    “I always say that when you hear a commissioner say there is no money, know that he lacks creative totally, it had nothing to do with the governor the whole world is run by ideas and creativity it is not enough to get an appointment then you sleep at home, if you keep doing the same thing others are doing you will get the same result, there is need for a paradigm shift”, he emphasised.

    Similarly, the governor congratulatulated the Permanent Secretaries who made it at the selection process, stating that the choice was based on merit. He however charged them to be selfless in their service knowing that committment and diligence will further uphold the efficacy of Civil Service adding that they will further assist in the realisation of the completion agenda.

    “You must also defend that position Permanent Secretary is not a joke that is, the highest level of that career so you must justify that position, gone are the years you sit down and get a letter to be a Permanent Secretary, I must interview you to know that you can key into the vision of the state. We can’t make a Permanent Secretary that looks like a 19th century Permanent Secretary, we must pick the best. Permanent Secretaries will work seriously towards the completion agenda”, he stated.

    Meanwhile, the allocation of ministerial portfolios by Governor Udom Emmanuel, are as follows:

    Mr. Akan Okon- Ministry of Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno- Ministry of Lands & Water Resources,  Uko Essien Udom- Ministry of Justice & Attorney General, Sir Monday Ebong Uko-Ministry of Youth & Sports, Mr. Nsikan Linus Nkan- Ministry of Finance and  Rt. Hon. Okpolupm Ikpong Etteh – Ministry of Special Duties, Sir Charles Udoh – Ministry of Environment,  Hon. Orman Esin – Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Dr. Glory Edet- Ministry of Agriculture, Prince Ukpong Akpabio- Ministry of Trade and Investment, Rt. Hon. Uno Etim Uno- Ministry of Transport and Solid Minerals, Otuekong Raphael Bassey- Ministry of Housing, Pastor ( Hon ) Sunday Ekanem Ibuot – Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning, Prof. Eno James Ibanga – Ministry of Works and Fire Service and Hon. Frank Archibong – Ministry of Local Government & Chieftaincy Affairs.

    Others are Prof. Augustine Vincent Umoh – Ministry of Health, Dr. Ini Adiakpan- Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Idongesit Iboro Etiebet- Ministry of Education,  Comrade Ini Ememobong Essien Esq- Ministry of Information & Strategy, Dr. Imoh Moffat – Ministry of Science and Technology, Mrs. Enobong Udemeabasi Mbobo – Ministry of Rural Development & Cooperatives, Dr. John James Etim Ministry of Power and Petroleum Development and Elder (Hon) Amanam Nkanga – Bureau of Political and Social Re-orientation.

  • COVID-19: ‘Learning should not be hindered’

    COVID-19: ‘Learning should not be hindered’

    By Damola Kola-Dare

    The newly-elected Chairman of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Joint Campus Committee (JCC), Lagos State, Olalere Samuel Moshood has urged government to create workable models to make academic activities continue in tertiary institutions across the country. This is as a response to shutting down schools due to the second wave of COVID-19 transmission.

    He spoke at a press briefing in Lagos recently.

    According to him, COVID-19 should not be an excuse for halting academic activities stressing that learning in other countries has been smooth despite the pandemic.

    “COVID-19 has exposed the weakness of government. We are in the age of ICT; coronavirus should not stop us from schooling. Students can even receive lectures in their hostels. There are models government can put in place to ensure smooth running of academic systems. As students, we are planning to create proper models when the time comes,” he said.

    Read Also; Don’t joke with COVID-19, Olukoya urges Nigerians

    On the incessant strikes by unions in schools, he called on stakeholders to find workable solutions to foundational problems plaguing the system.

    Olalere noted that unionism has lost its spark stressing that student-leaders are money-driven. He, therefore, emphasised the need for value-driven and service-oriented leaders.

    “Student unionism is not what it used to be. Student-leaders now believe in money. If we can eradicate materialism, union will be on the right track,” he said.

    He promised that his administration would protect the interests of students against any form of abuse on campuses.

    He thanked the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Special Assistant on Education, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab for their support and efforts towards advancing education in the state.

  • Group urges support for security agencies to battle insecurity

    Group urges support for security agencies to battle insecurity

    By Nicholas Kalu, Abuja

    A group known as the Citizens Action for Good Governance (CAGG) has urged Nigerians to support and cooperate with the security agencies at all times, in a bid to successfully battle insecurity in the country.

    National Coordinator of the group, Nazir Galadanchi, addressing reporters in Abuja, said the war against insecurity is a collective responsibility and appreciating the courage and bravery of the officers on battle fronts, fighting for the safeties of harmless Nigerians will encourage them to do more.

    “In recognition of this singular fact, we are using this medium to applaud the exceptional feats recorded by all gallant Police Officers that confronted the bandits recently in Kaduna and Katsina States, the success of the operation has proved that the Nigeria Police Force under the leadership of the Inspector General of Police – IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu is leaving no stone unturned in keeping our societies safe for all law-abiding citizens,” he said.

    He said, against all odds and negative predictions and despite the raging COVID 19 Pandemic, the country witnessed remarkably peaceful celebrations during the last festivities.

    “This is the best time for Nigerians of good intentions, especially among the downtrodden, to rally round and muster greater support for our gallant security forces in their determined efforts to subdue and eliminate crime and criminalities.

    “It’s our fervent hope and prayers that Nigeria will soon be well secured for all. The ongoing state of insecurity is but a passing phase and part of the pangs of attainment of nationhood. We also wish to reaffirm our abiding and undiminished faith in the assured future greatness of the country. We hereby call on fellow citizens to imbibe and embrace same,” Galadanchi said.

    Read Also; Insecurity: Growing calls for change of tactics

    He lauded the IGP for the entrenchment of Community Policing as a simple solution to fortify security operations across the Country.

    “The Community Policing has already gained the required traction as exemplified by the Kaduna State Governor – Mallam Nazir El-Rufai who already showed great commitment to the commencement of Community Policing in Kaduna State in line with the Federal Government Community Policing Initiative.

    “The Kaduna State Government has walked the talk already by training 272 successful Special Constables to commence the initiative in Kaduna State. Also the “Governors of Sokoto and Kebbi States have followed in the good example of Governor Nazir El-Rufai, which is highly commendable. We urge the Inspector General of Police to ensure the Special Constables are well committed to their assigned responsibilities to serve as motivation to other States of the Federation, to key into this progressive development.

    “We recognized also the joint operations of the Air Force, Army and the Police Force in bombing and destroying the Boko Haram camps in Borno State and decimating large numbers of its militias. We commend this feat and applaud the government in maintaining its agenda in securing the country and reclaiming our territories from the hands of terrorists.

    “It’s equally important to remind the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Yusuf Tukur Buratai, of his commitment that the Nigeria Military is committed to the fight against terrorism and banditry, particularly his assurances that the Military will end the reign of terrorism and banditry in 2021. We hope and pray that he will make good his words,” he said.

  • Okowa lauds FG’s Special Public Works Programme

    Okowa lauds FG’s Special Public Works Programme

    Agency Reporter

    Delta Governor, Sen. (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa on Tuesday commended the Federal Government on the commencement of the Expanded Special Public Works Programme in the country.

    Okowa gave the commendation at the official flag-off of the Special Public Works Programme (the 774,000 jobs) for the South-South Geopolitical zone held at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Asaba.

    Represented by the State Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, Governor Okowa expressed excitement on the commencement of the Programme adding that the program will help curb unemployment in the country.

    He advised the beneficiaries to see the opportunity as their little beginning while looking to the unveiling of similar projects to engage more Nigerians out of poverty.

    He enjoined the 25,000 beneficiaries in Delta to see this as an opportunity to grow the economy of the state and nation.

    “Here in Delta we have also engaged several youths into our various jobs creation platforms. We have scaled this up by engaging over five ministries in this regard.

    “We look forward to much more collaborative efforts between the Federal Government and the State Government.

    Read Also; 774,000 artisans hired for public works

    “Let me appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari for not making this project and program a political one because hunger and poverty do not know political party.

    “When you check the economic effects of this programme, you will appreciate the fact that in Delta alone, 25, 000 indigenes are benefiting from the programme.

    “When you also look at the multiplier effect of N20,000 per 1,000 beneficiaries across the 774 local government areas bringing the number to the 774,000 persons you’re talking about N15 billion naira being put into the Nigerian economy currently in the hands of the poorest of the poor,” Governor Okowa stated.

    In a keynote address, Honourable Minister of State, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Chief Festus Keyamo, SAN said the Extended Special Public Works Programme is an outcome of the Pilot Special Public Works Programme in the rural areas approved by President Muhammadu Buhari and implemented by the NDE in early part of the year 2020.

    Keyamo who was represented by the Executive Director, Cabotage Services, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, said the programme was aimed at shielding the most vulnerable from the ravaging effects of COVID-19 pandemic which include pervasive hunger, poverty, environmental degradation and joblessness.

    “Although the Expanded Special Public Works (ESPW) is an ephemeral strategy to last for three months, 5th January-4th April 2021.

    “I am convinced that it will provide the necessary economic palliatives to these 774,000 unemployed youths.

    “Let me emphasise that the youth who diligently participate in this project implementation may then deploy the knowledge and skills acquired to become self-employed while government and the organised private sector may in due course create or provide exit options,” he stated.

    Earlier in his welcome address, Acting Director General, National Directorate of Employment (NDE) Mallam Abubakar Fikpo ,said the programme was a significant step in Nigeria’s quest to win the war against mass unemployment as well as to ameliorate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic.

    Represented by the Delta State Coordinator of the NDE, Mr Anthony Olu said the Extended Special Public Works (SPW) programme was designed as a veritable tool through which the lives of 774,000 unemployed Nigerians will be positively touched in the next three months.

    He said beyond the monetary compensation to the beneficiaries, the communities will receive a facelift through the activities of the participants as they will engage in various community and environment specific works activities ranging from, drainage clearing and maintenance, vegetation control, feeder roads maintenance, irrigation, great green wall and orchard maintenance among others.

    In his goodwill message, Chairman Delta State Selection Committee, Professor Kelly Ejumudo, congratulated the participants for being selected and urged them to save from the little earnings to make life better for themselves.

    He said the programme was geared towards benefiting the public adding that no government can totally eliminate poverty but every government must take concrete actions to reduce cycle of poverty.

  • Foluso Gbadamosi appointed as JA Nigeria ED

    Foluso Gbadamosi appointed as JA Nigeria ED

    Agency Reporter

    The Board of Junior Achievement Nigeria has appointed Foluso Gbadamosi as the new Executive Director of the organization effective from January, 2021.

    Foluso joins JA Nigeria bringing on board many years of technology experience spanning across various sectors to accelerate JAN’s impact.

    This appointment is coming at a time when leveraging digital strategy to advance JA Nigeria’s cause has become inevitable. It would be recalled that JAN hit the One million reach milestone this year and the organization is determined to reach the next million in five years.

    Foluso will be responsible for providing the strategic direction and leadership necessary to drive developmental change and building on existing successes in furtherance of the mission and vision of JA Nigeria.

    She will be at the helm of executing JA Nigeria’s transformational programs as well as charting a way for preserving existing partnerships and breaking new grounds all in a bid to raise more conscientious business leaders capable of leading a vibrant economy.

    Read Also: Onyeali-Ikpe takes office as Fidelity Bank MD/CEO

    Speaking on her appointment, Mrs. Gbadamosi, expressed her excitement about the appointment, adding that it’s a call to empower more young people in Nigeria.

    “I am excited to join JA Nigeria in this new role where I will be responsible for expanding the organizations’ impact by leveraging technology to empower and improve the lives of young people across the country, preparing them to own their economic future.

    “With a focus on digital transformation, my objective is to build on existing successes, using technology to provide solutions to impending challenges, particularly that of youth unemployment. In line with JAN’s goal of reaching our next One Million students over the next five years, we also hope to raise 10,000 digital entrepreneurs my attention will be focused on devising strategic methods and partnerships through which JAN can significantly support young people to become conscientious business leaders”

    JA Nigeria Board Chair, Niyi Yusuf, said “Foluso’s appointment as ED of JAN after a painstaking process is appropriate given her background in technology, digital skills, leadership experience and ecosystem relationships which should enable a new phase of growth for JAN as we work to develop the next generation of digital entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Foluso is very familiar with JAN having been a volunteer and she embodies the values of JAN and the passion we have for growing young conscientious leaders in a digital world.”

  • Cases that ‘ll shape 2021

    Cases that ‘ll shape 2021

    Nigerians were held spellbound by incredible courtroom drama involving Orji Uzor Kalu, Olisa Metuh, Abdulrasheed Maina, among others. 2021 promises to be no different. ERIC IKHILAE, ADEBISI ONANUGA and ROBERT EGBE highlight landmark cases that will leave Nigerians on the edge of their seats this year.

     

    ONE of the immediate consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic was the widespread court shutdowns following near-nationwide lockdowns. Shortly after movement restriction was lifted, the judiciary in most states began its annual vacation. Upon resumption, the sector in some states suffered major infrastructural damage caused by hijackers of the #EndSARS protests. In Igbosere, Lagos, for instance, the country’s oldest surviving judicial complex was burnt down. The combined effect of all of these foisted long or indefinite adjournments on court cases.

    Nevertheless, several notable cases were heard during the year 2020 and several others will continue to attract attention this year.

    A Dane and a double murder

    The sensational over two-year trial of a Dane, Peter Nielsen, accused of killing his wife and daughter, promises to again hug the headlines this year.

    Nielsen is fighting the battle of his life to prove he didn’t smother to death singer Zainab and their daughter, Petra.

    For now, he has a bit of time to marshall his arguments: the Lagos High Court in Igbosere where his trial was being heard was razed to the ground in October by hoodlums who hijacked the #EndSARS protest.

    However, the Lagos State Government is proposing to convert a property in the highbrow Ikoyi area of Lagos for Igbosere High Court services.

    In the charge, the government accused the Dane of smothering Zainab and Petra to death at about 3:45am at No. 4, Flat 17, Bella Vista Tower, Banana Island, Ikoyi.

    Nielsen was arraigned on June 13, 2018 on two counts of murder contrary to Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    He denied the charge.

    Naira Marley

    The trial of embattled musician Azeez Fashola A.kA Naira Marley will continue this year.

    Naira Marley popular for his “Am I a Yahoo Boy” and “Soapy” tracks, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an 11-count charge of conspiracy, possession of counterfeit cards and fraud.

    He was arraigned on May 20, 2019 and pleaded not guilty to all 11 counts.

    According to the charge, the defendant committed the offences on different dates, November 26, 2018, December 11, 2018, and May 10.

    Naira Marley and his accomplices allegedly conspired to use different Access Bank ATM Cards to defraud their victims.

    They allegedly used Access Card number 5264711020433662 issued to other persons, in a bid to obtain fraudulent financial gains.

    Naira Marley was said to have possessed the counterfeit credit cards, belonging to different cardholders, with intent to defraud, and which also constituted theft.

    The offences contravene the provisions of Section 1 23 (1) (b), 27 (1}, 33, 33(9) Cyber Crime (Prohibition) Prevention Act, 2015.

    Sowore

    Journalist Omoyele Sowore is certain to make more headlines in 2021.

    The former presidential candidate and founder of the news site Sahara Reporters was first detained in August 2019 after he called for revolution.

    He was granted bail in October 2019, but the authorities declined to release him, sparking an outcry from his supporters.

    He was, however, subsequently released.

    Sowore was re-arrested again last week.

    His co-defendant Olawale Bakare is out on bail.

     Female lawyer accused of killing lawyer husband

    The case of a a female lawyer, Udeme Otike-Odibi accused of killing her lawyer husband, Symphorosa Otike-Odibi, will also continue to make headlines.

    Otike-Odibi was arraigned on June 13, 2018, on a two-count charge of murder and misconduct with regard to a corpse.

    The Lagos State Government accused her of stabbing Symphorosa Otike-Odibi to death and mutilating his corpse by severing his manhood on May 3, 2018, at their Diamond Estate, Sangotedo, Lekki, Lagos home.

    She pleaded not guilty.

    Orji Kalu, others’ conviction voided

    On May 8, 2020 a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court voided the proceedings leading to the conviction and sentencing of former Abia State Governor, Orji Kalu, former Director, Finance and Accounts, Abia State Government House, Ude Udeogu and Kalu’s firm, Slok Nigeria Limited.

    The Supreme Court, in a lead judgment by Justice Ejembi Eko, held that the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Idris no longer had the power to sit as a judge of the Federal High Court when he conducted the proceedings and gave his judgment on December 5, 2019, having earlier been elevated to the Court of Appeal.

    The apex court voided the fiat issued to Justice Idris by the Court of Appeal’s President to return to the Federal High Court to conclude Kalu and others’ trial, on the grounds that such a fiat was unconstitutional as a Justice of the Court of Appeal cannot, at the same time, serve as a judge of a High Court.

    In view of the retrial ordered by the Supreme Court, the case will start afresh this year.

    Diezani $70m in 12 padlocked bags

    A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on July 9 heard that a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke in 2015 ordered the removal of $70million from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in 12 padlocked bags.

    A former NNPC group general manager Gbenga Olu Komolafe told Justice Muslim Hassan that he delivered the bags to an Abuja-based banker on Mrs Alison-Madueke’s instructions.

    He testified that he and others “had a command-and-obey relationship and also took an oath of office to obey directives and authority.”

    Two lawyers arraigned for allegedly rigging NBA election

    The trial of two legal practitioners, Sarah Ajibola and John Demide, alleged to have rigged the August 2018 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) national elections will commence on April 14,2021

    The EFCC alleged that Ajibola, and Demide manipulated the election in favour of Mr Paul Usoro SAN, who was elected 29th NBA President in 2018.

    Mr Usoro polled 4,509 votes to defeat his other contenders, Okafor Obi, and Ernest Ojukwu, who got 4,423 as well as 3,313 votes in the election.

    The two lawyers were alleged to have conspired together and altered personal details including email addresses and phone numbers of about 1004 eligible voters for the elections, with the intention that such inauthentic data will be acted upon as genuine during the said election

    The two lawyers were alleged to have used a smoke model on IP address 169.159.65.190 to commit the electoral fraud. They pleaded not guilty to the charge.

    Nollywood filmmaker Egbegbe to open defence Jan 12

    Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court in Lagos on November 18, 2020 dismissed the no-case submission application filed by a former Lagos socialite and Nollywood film-maker, Olajide Kareem, alias Seun Egbegbe, seeking to stop his trial for fraud.

    Egbegbe and his co-defendants, Oyekan Ayomide, Lawal Kareem, Olalekan Yusuf and Muyideen Shoyombo were arraigned before the court by the police on a 40-count charge of conspiracy and fraud.

    They were specifically accused of defrauding no fewer than 30 Bureau De Change operators in Lagos of various sums, both in local and foreign currencies, between 2015 and 2017.

    According to the police prosecutor, Innocent Anyigor, Egbegbe and his gang swindled the BDC operators of total sums of N39, 098,100, $90,000 and £12,550 over a period of two years.The judge, therefore, adjourned till January 12, 2021 for the defendants to open their defence.

    Nwankwo Kanu’s hotel case for hearing January 16

    On December 2, the Federal High Court in Lagos adjourned till January 16, a suit by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) seeking to recover an alleged N924million debt owed by Hardley Apartments, owned by former Nigeria international, Nwankwo Kanu.

    Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke fixed the date for hearing of all pending applications.

    AMCON filed the suit in 2015 with Hardley Apartments and its Director, Ayoola Gam-Ikon as first and second defendants.

    The case was assigned to Justice Okon Abang, but, following his transfer to another jurisdiction, it was reassigned to Justice Aneke.

    In December 2015, following AMCON’s application, Justice Abang granted an order freezing the accounts of the former Super Eagles’ captain and Hardley Apartments.

    The order, which was to subsist pending the determination of the suit, followed AMCON’s bid to recover the debt.

    Appeal Court upholds death sentence for Maryam Sanda over husband’s murder

    On December 4, the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the January 27, 2019 judgment by Justice Halilu Yusuf of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which convicted and sentenced to death by hanging Maryam Sanda, who murdered her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, cousin of former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Haliru Bello.

    A three-man panel of the court, led by Justice Stephen Adah, was unanimous in holding that there was no reason for the appellate court to depart from the reasoning of the trial court to the effect that the appellant killed her husband.

    It dismissed Sanda’s appeal for lacking in merit. She has since filed an appeal at the Supreme Court.

    Appeal Court voids Metuh’s conviction, orders retrial

    The Court of Appeal, in Abuja, on December 16, 2020 voided the conviction and the seven-year sentence handed a former spokesman of the PDP, Olisa Metuh upon his conviction by a Federal High Court in Abuja on money laundering offences.

    In setting aside, the February 25, 2020 judgment of the Federal High Court, a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Stephen Adah, held that the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang exhibited bias against the defendants in his handling of the case.

    The appellate court ordered a retrial in the case involving Metuh and his firm, Dextra Investment Limited.

    Abdulrasheed Maina and son, Faisal

    A Federal High Court in Abuja will on January 25, 2021 deliver ruling on whether or not a House of Representatives member, Sani Dan Galadima, who stood surety for the fleeing Faisal, son of former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdrasheed Maina, would forfeit the N60million bond he signed, which he guaranteed with a property in Abuja.

    Faisal, who is being tried on offences of money laundering, has been found by the court to have jumped bail and ordered the surety to show cause why he should not forfeit his bail bond to the Federal Government.

    Also, Maina is expected to open defence in his trial on January 26, 2021 before the same court. Justice Okon Abang chose the date on December 21, 2020 after foreclosing the defendants’ right to enter a no-case submission.

    Maina and his firm, Common Input Ltd are being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on money laundering related offences.

    Ex-AGF Mohammed Adoke, Senator Shehu Sani

    Proceedings are expected to resume on January 11, 2021 in the money laundering trial of former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohamed Adoke.

    Adoke and a businessman, Aliyu Abubakar are being tried by the EFCC on a 14-count charge of money laundering.

    The last proceedings held in the case was on December 11, 2020 when Justice Inyang Ekwo granted the ex-AGF’s application for leave to travel to the United Arab Emirates on medical grounds. The judge ordered him to return by January10, 2021.

    Also, the trial of Senator Shehu Sani is expected to resume before the same court on January 27, 2021, during which the prosecution is expected to return to the 10th witness, who had commenced giving evidence.

    Sani is being tried by the EFCC for allegedly obtaining $25,000 under false pretense from a businessman, Alhaji Sani Dauda of ASD Motors Limited.

    SERAP, others ask court to declare electricity tariff, fuel price hike illegal

    Hearing will commence this year in a suit filed by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 302 concerned Nigerians have sued President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the National Assembly over the recent increase in electricity tariff and pump price of fuel.

    In the suit,  SERAP and other applicants are asking the court to “declare illegal, unconstitutional and unfair the recent hike in electricity tariff and fuel price because top level public officers cannot continue to receive the same salaries and allowances and spend public money to finance a life of luxury for themselves while asking poor Nigerians to make sacrifices.

    Joined in the suit as co-defendants are: Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

    Though the suit was filed October 18, 2020, the court was yet to fix a date for hearing.

    Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike a.k.a Evans

    The trial of billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike a.k.a Evans which commenced in 2017 will continue his year.

    Evans is standing trial in about five kidnap cases before three justices of the Lagos High court.

    He is standing trial alongside Uche Amadi, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu and Victor Aduba over the alleged kidnap of of the Chief Executive Officer of Maydon Pharmaceutical Limited, Mr Donatius Dunu.

    They were arraigned on August 30, 2017 on two counts of conspiracy and kidnapping before Justice Hakeem Oshodi.

    Evans is also facing trial alongside Victor Aduba on a four-count bordering on kidnapping and unlawful possession of firearms before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo.

    They were accused of kidnapping Mr. Sylvanus Ahamonu, holding him hostage for at least nine weeks and collecting a ransom of 420,000 dollars from his family.

    Furthermore, Evans is facing two separate charges, bordering on conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping and attempted murder, before Justice Adedayo Akintoye of Lagos High Court Igbosere.

    In the first charge, Evans is standing trial alongside Joseph Emeka, Ugochukwu Nwachukwu, and Victor Aduba. In the second charge, he is standing trial alongside Joseph Emeka, Linus Okpara and Victor Aduba.

    Lagos State has closed its case in all the five criminal trial brought against Evans and his henchmen.

    Evans on the other hand is yet to open defence in any of the five cases owing to frequent change of counsels.

    School supervisor jailed 60 years for child defilement loses appeal

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos on Monday July 27 affirmed the 60 year jail term imposed  on Adegboyega Adenekan, a former Supervisor of the Chrisland School, VGC,  Lekki, Lagos convicted of defiling a two-year and 11-month old pupil (names withheld) of the school.

    Justice Sybil Nwaka of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic  Violence  Court,  had on October 24, 2019 convicted and sentenced Adenekan to 60-years imprisonment for defiling the pupil of Chrisland school.

    The court had found Adenekan guilty and convicted him of a one count charge of child defilement.

    Not satisfied with his conviction, Adenekan  had filed  an appeal challenging his conviction and prayed the upper court to set aside his conviction by the lower court.

    Delivering judgment on his appeal, the three-man panel  led by Justice Mohammad Garba unanimously affirmed the judgment of the lower court.

    The panel of judges held that Adenekan’s appeal lacked merit and consequently dismissed the appeal.

    #EndSARS panels

    Following the violence precipitated by hijackers of the near-nationwide #EndSARS protests states set up panels to investigate and provide restitution for victims of SARS related abuses. More revelations are expected as the panel resumes sitting this month.

    Uzodinma declared as Imo State Governor

    On January 14, 2020 a seven-man panel of the Supreme Court, in a judgment lead by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad declared Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the governorship election held in Imo State on March 8, 2019.

    In the lead judgement by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the court voided the victory earlier handed Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a fresh certificate of return to Uzodinma.

    Bayelsa’s Lyon sacked

    On February 13, 2020, a day before his planned inauguration, the Supreme Court reversed the victory earlier handed to David Lyon of the APC by INEC as winner of the governorship election held in Bayelsa State in November 16, 2019.

    A panel, led by Justice Mary Odili was unanimous in holding that the disqualification of APC’s candidate for the post of Deputy Governor, Degi Eremienyo, on the grounds that he presented false information about his academic qualifications to INEC, voided his joint ticket with Lyon.

    Justice Ejembi Eko, in the lead judgment, held that the Form CF001 submitted to INEC by Eremienyo contained false information of a fundamental nature. He proceeded to reinstate the November 12, 2019 judgment by Justice Intyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja and set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal, Abuja.

    Supreme Court declines to reverse itself

    On February 26, 2020 the Supreme Court rejected the application filed by Lyon and the APC seeking the reversal of its February 13, 2020 judgment. A seven-man panel of the court, led by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta was unanimous in holding that the Supreme Court cannot reverse itself on any decision.

    Justice Amina Augie, in the lead judgment, was of the view that the Supreme Court was without jurisdiction to review its judgment, except in rare cases to correct clerical slip or vary an order to give effect to the spirit and intention of the judgment.

    On March 3, 2020, the Supreme Court also held its ground in rejecting a similar application by Ihedioha and the PDP, seeking the reversal of the judgment given by the court on January 14, 2020 affirming Uzodinma as the winner of the Imo State Governorship election.

    Unlike the Bayelsa case, the seven-man panel of the court, led by the CJN, was divided, with Justice Centus Nweze holing a dissenting option, to the effect that the Supreme Court could reverse itself in deserving cases.

    Supreme Court imposes highest ever cost on Babalola, Olanipekun

    On February 26, 2020, the Supreme Court, in a ruling, imposed the highest cost in the history of the nation’s Judiciary, on two senior lawyers – Afe Babalola and Wole Olanipekun (both Senior Advocates of Nigeria) – who had represented the APC and Lyon in their applications in which they prayed the court to reverse itself on the February 13, 2020 judgment in the Bayelsa governorship election dispute.

    The apex court awarded N30million as cost against each of the lawyers, a decision they later protested in their letters to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), arguing among others, that they were only carrying out their professional responsibilities to their clients and ought not to be so penalised.

    First ever virtual court sitting

    The country’s first ever virtual court sitting held on 27 April 2020 in Borno State. It featured the case of State V. Ali Mohammed with Suit No: BOHC/MG/CR/115/19. The defendant was found not guilty of murder at Court 13 (presided over by Justice Fadawu Umar) of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri. In an interview with The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Kashim Zannah, stated that it was born out of the desire to boost access to justice.

    The second virtual sitting held in Lagos on 4 May 2020 in the case of State vs Olalekan Hammeed. Justice Mojisola Dada of the Ikeja High Court sentenced Hameed, a driver, to death by hanging for the December 1, 2018 murder of Mrs Jolasun Okunsanya, 76, the mother of his employer.

    Appeal Court sacks Oshiomhole as APC’s N/Chairman

    On June 16, 2020 the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the suspension of Adams Oshiomhole as the National Chairman of the APC.

    A three-man panel of the court dismissed the appeal Oshiomhole filed against an earlier decision by a High Court of the Federal Capital territory (FCT), restraining him from further acting in that capacity following his suspension as member of the party by the executive of the APC in his home ward – Ward 10 in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.

    In the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Lamido restrained Oshiomhole from exercising any right and privileges as the party’s National Chairman, including being entitled to security details.

    Court strikes out charges against 47 alleged homosexuals

    A Federal High Court on October 27 struck out charges of homosexuality filed against 47 persons in November 2019.

    Justice Rilwan Aikawa, the judge, said the charges against the defendants lacked “diligent prosecution” by the police.

    According to the judge, J.I Ebhoremen, the prosecuting counsel, was, for the umpteenth time, absent from court and gave no reasonable explanation.

    The defence counsel, Israel Usman, had noted that it was the ninth time Mr Ebhoremen did not show up in court since the case started in 2019.

    Mr  Usman pointed the judge’s attention to Section 356(5) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 which provided a maximum of five adjournments at the instance of the prosecution in a criminal trial.

    In his ruling, Mr Aikawa held, “I agree entirely with defendants’ counsel that the prosecution’s attitude to this case is not satisfactory. In my view, this should not be. If the prosecution has a cogent reason not to be in court, he should have communicated in writing to the court and copy the defence counsel.

    “For whatever reason, the prosecution is no more capable or not willing to prosecute this case. Consequently, this case is struck out due to lack of diligent prosecution.”

    Court strikes out suit challenging DPR’s power to stop oil firms’ sack of workers

    A Federal High Court in Lagos last December 14 struck out a suit challenging the constitutionality of the Regulation and Guidelines issued by the Minister of Petroleum Resources on the Release of Staff in the oil and gas industry.

    The suit, filed by a lawyer, Temilolu Ademolekun had prayed the court to, among others, invalidate the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) power to regulate how oil and gas firms can disengage their workers.

    But Justice Nicholas Oweibo held that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit, and struck it out for lacking in merit.

    Ruling on the matter, the judge held that the subject-matter of the plaintiff’s claim related to labour and employment, “hence, it robs the Federal High Court of jurisdiction.”

    Court declines to compel Fed Govt to pay ex-CJN Onnoghen N130m

    A Federal High Court in Abuja on October 15, 2020 dismissed a suit seeking N130million as damages from the Federal Government and Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) for violation of the rights of ex-Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen.

    Justice Taiwo Taiwo held, among others that the applicant, Dr. N.S. Nwawka, filed the suit without Justice Onnoghen’s permission, thus he had no locus standi.

    In his October 12, 2020 ruling, the judge held: “I have looked at the originating processes filed by the applicant herein, with due respect to him, I do not see any nexus between him and the respondents jointly or severally.

    “I do not see his remote or immediate interest in the matter in which he has not been instructed to file by the former Chief Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “I pose a question to him and this is whether the Former CJN has told him that he is incapable of fighting his own battle or that he is even ready for any battle against anybody?”

    The judge also declined to grant Nwawka leave to apply for a referral of some “constitutional questions to the Court of Appeal” for determination.

    He held: “The applicant’s motion is incompetent as it is and I, therefore, dismiss same.

    Toke Makinwa fined N1m for defaming ex-husband

    A Lagos High Court at the Tafawa Balewa Square on November 13, 2020 fined On Air Personality (OAP) Omotoke ‘Toke’ Makinwa N1 million for defaming ex-husband and fitness entrepreneur Maje Ayida.

    Justice Olukayode Ogunjobi held that Makinwa made the defamatory statements in her 2016 book “On Becoming” published by Kachifo Ltd.

    Justice Ogunjobi held that “after a careful consideration of the evidence before the court,” it found only the contents of page 54 line 11-16 and page 83, Line 1 of the 1st defendants book as defamatory.

    The court found that Toke’s claim in those portions of the book that she gave Ayida N2,000 to give to a woman and that she got an infection through him, were unproven.

    Page 54, line 11-16 reads: “He dropped me off but asked if I had two thousand naira, he wanted to leave it at the gate for his cousin who was visiting. I gave him the money. I stupidly paid for Anita’s transport and I couldn’t speak up. I was in shock.”

    Page 83, line 1 reads: “He had given me an STI (sexually transmitted infection) in the past.”

    Court discharges $140,000 fraud allegation against Atiku’s son-in-law

    A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on December 22, discharged Abdullahi Babalele, a son-in-law to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar of a two-count allegation of alleged laundering of $140,000.

    Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke threw out the charge file by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the ground of wrong venue.

    He held that the charge against the defendant ought not to have been filed in Lagos when the alleged offence was said to have been committed in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    Babalele was arraigned in 2018 and then re-arraigned on October 8, 2019.

    The EFFC accused Babalele of giving former President Olusegun Obasanjo $140,000 on the instruction of Abubakar, who was vying for the office of president in 2019.

    He pleaded not guilty on each occasion.

    Court upholds landmark $1.7bn arbitral award in favour of NPDC

    The Federal High Court in Lagos on December 7 upheld a landmark $1.7billion arbitral award in favour of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Co. (NPDC) Ltd against the Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nig. Ltd and Atlantic Energy Brass Development Ltd.

    Justice A. Faji dismissed Atlantic Energy’s application to set aside the Arbitral Award of March 5, 2020.

    He upheld the submissions of NPDC lead counsel Prof Fabian Ajogwu SAN and granted orders recognising the $1.7bn Arbitral Award as well as for leave to enforce same as a judgment of the Federal High Court.

    This landmark decision upholds one of the single largest Awards ever in a Nigerian Arbitration. It also settled the question of the impact of non-payment of signature fees on lifted crude oil as well as the principles of Unjust Enrichment in Crude oil lifting and recovery.

    Court jails televangelist, Genesis, two years over N17m fraud

    Isreal Ogundipe, a popular televangelist and the head Genesis Parish of the Celestial Church of Christ, Alagbado, Lagos  was on December 19  jailed for a year by an Ikeja High Court for unlawfully converting a woman’s property valued N17 million and stealing.

    Ogundipe, who has been on trial since 2011, was charged with seven counts of obtaining by stealing, inducing delivery of money by false pretenses, unlawful conversion of property and forgery.

    Justice Olabisi Akinlade, in her judgment, found the prophet not guilty of five counts of stealing, inducing delivery of money by false pretences, giving false information to a public officer forgery.

    She, however, found him guilty of two-count of stealing and unlawful conversion of property not delivered and sentenced him to a year in prison on each count.

    The judge ordered that he should make reparation to the complainant, a London-based architect, Mrs Oladele Williams-Oni the sum of N11 million which he illegally obtained from her.

    Ogundipe will however spend one year in prison as both sentences are to run concurrently.

  • ‘Goodbye to bad rubbish’

    ‘Goodbye to bad rubbish’

    By Olatunji Dare

     

    That seems to be the dominant verdict cross the world on the year gone by.

    By any reckoning, the year was horrible, and much more so than any in recent memory.

    It was the year of Covid-19, the tenacious pandemic that has claimed more than one million lives worldwide, upended the rhythms of life and propagated death and misery and suffering on a biblical scale.

    It was the year U. S President Donald Trump, “the leader of the Free World,” confirmed beyond a shadow of doubt that there was nothing so debauched, so malignant, so repugnant, and so bereft of the human graces that you would not find him engaging it and championing it.

    In Nigeria, it was the year the marauders of no nation (thank you, Fela) determined that Nigeria was ripe for the taking and upped their creeping encroachment on Nigerian territory to a level that has the markings of an occupation and raised its assaults on residents of communities in their path to levels of savagery almost beyond belief.

    Goodbye indeed, to bad rubbish.

    But “bad rubbish” is no respecter of our desires or wishes, however fervent. It has a way of ramifying, of morphing into other forms that are even deadlier than the original rubbish, confounding efforts to contain, tame, or eliminate it.  It has a way of spreading, and spreading, and spreading.

    Take the coronavirus as an example.

    From Wuhan, China, it spread rapidly across the world, its dismal harvest to reap.  It has spared no part of the globe, no human population.

    That is what makes it so juvenile, and alas so dangerous, that the mimic napoleon who lords over Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, insists with supine stubbornness, against logic, against evidence, and against commonsense, that not a single case of Covid-19 has occurred in his domain.

    What is so special about Kogi that it alone, wedged though it is amidst Nigeria’s 36 states stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Sahel, has been spared a visitation by the scourge?  What incantations did he chant over the terrain to make it a no-go area for the virus?  What oblations has he made to the evil forces animating it?

    Or can it be that Yahaya Bello had secretly built a huge, invisible, antiseptic bubble and inserted Kogi State securely in it, thus rendering it impregnable to the most insidious pathogens, so much so that conducting the usual diagnostic tests would amount to a waste of time and resources?

    Time will tell.  But he should know that, when the reckoning comes, the blood of those who could have been saved by a forthright response will be upon his stubborn and uncomprehending head.

    Pardon the detour, but it has to be acknowledged that, despite its general wretchedness, 2020 was also the year in which vaccines to tame the ravaging virus were developed in an astounding feat of ingenuity and global cooperation.

    Finally, the world can breathe easier that the coronavirus will be subjugated sooner rather than later, and not by voodoo and quackery in their virus guises and disguises, but by science, the same platform from which HIV/AIDS, the avian flu, the Ebola virus, and other plagues were conquered.

    Developing the vaccines, it would now seem, was the easy part, however.

    Distribution has proved much more intractable.  False starts, botched manufacturing and delivery schedules, petty rivalries (“vaccine nationalism,” they call it), poor coordination of actual vaccine administration, not forgetting the weather, have combined to dampen popular enthusiasm for the vaccines, which was only slightly above average in the United States anyway.

    Among Blacks and the indigenous peoples, it was decidedly cool, given the sordid history                       of vaccine abuse perpetrated on them by the establishment.  In perhaps the most unconscionable of such abuses, poor Black folk in Tuskegee, Alabama, suffering from latent syphilis, were recruited by U. S. Army doctors into a program offering treatment.

    Instead of giving them the new antibiotic, penicillin’ which had proved an effective remedy, the army doctors gave them placebos. Then, they sat back and watched and took copious notes as the syphilis wasted their hapless subjects.  Many of them became blind or lapsed into mental illness.  Most died slow, agonizing deaths.

    Memories of such premeditated cruelty linger still and rankle still in the African American community.

    In most parts of Europe, vaccine distribution is running smoothly, and there is growing confidence that a vaccination rate will be attained that will render the coronavirus an irritation rather than a death sentence.

    In Nigeria, we have not made a start.  Shipments of the vaccines are being awaited, with no plans for distribution or administration.  Such plans are useless anyway; the political and bureaucratic elite will as insinuate themselves at the top the receiving line; those, who can, will buy, bribe bully or muscle their way their way to the next line and national priorities, equity, etc, be damned.

    The rest have the assurance of the evangelicals and Pentecostals that their faith will give them divine protection, the kind that no human contrivance can provide.  They are going to need it.

    That kind of protection is at least to be preferred to Trump’s formula of sustained denial, defiance deception, and disinformation in the face of a ravaging pandemic – a lethal cocktail     that his gullible followers and his obsequious courtiers, many of them otherwise sensible people, have embraced to their grief.

    Although the United States has less than one-fourth of the world’s population, it has the dubious distinction of recording more than one-fourth the global total of Covid-19 deaths and an even greater fraction of hospitalizations from the disease.  That is Donald Trump’s baleful legacy as he leaves or is dragged out of office two weeks from now discredited and disgraced, a standing rebuke to the enablers of his ruinous reign.

    American graveyards are littered with thousands of those he led to believe that the virus was fake, that it was no more bothersome than the seasonal ‘flu, and that real men (and women) don’t wear facial masks.  As the grim tally mounts, a society that has been conditioned to regard health as a commodity rather than a right belonging to all persons in society, and to privilege entertainment over health, is ruing the consequences of its false choices.

    Vaccine or no vaccine, this situation is unlikely to get better very soon, as the best authorities have warned. Trump will be gone, but a great deal of bad rubbish from 2020 is still going to be around in the United States.

    A cursory review of the front pages and the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on any day will show that the bad rubbish constituted by Boko Haram and the aforementioned marauders of no nation who are now in effective occupation of about one-third of the nation’s territory are, if anything, consolidating even as we wish them goodbye.

    Each passing day drives it home that bulletins first issued four years agoand updated every so often proclaiming that these nihilist outfits have been degraded, overwhelmed, neutralized, technically defeated or otherwise contained, are more than slightly exaggerated.

    A weary and besieged population led by the National Assembly, has been crying out for a change of strategy, which should start with the dismissal of the military High Command.   President Muhammadu Buhari is not about to allow the legislature and civil society to usurp his constitutional mandate of Commander-in-Chief of the nation’s Armed Forces.

    But that mandate goes with the duty and responsibility of protecting the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians and ensuring as far possible their safety at home, at work, at play, at worship, and on the streets.

    Only a minority of Nigerians will vouch that he has discharged that responsibility to their satisfaction.

    “The persistence of various forms of violence” in the most affected parts of the country, the president acknowledged in his New Year Broadcast, “has meant that the fabric of inter-communal harmony woven through years of investment and building trust, mutual respect and harmony(sic) has been under threat.”

    It is worse, Mr President.  The whole edifice faces existential threat, and so does the myth of “national unity” you are forever swearing by. Whatever the strategy, it is no working

    It is heartening indeed that the president evinced a new determination and outlined a new strategy in his New Year broadcast.  It consists in “reorganizing and re-energizing” the apparatus and personnel of the armed forces and the police so as the “enhance” their capacity to “engage, push back and dismantle” the operations of “internal and external extremist and criminal groups” warring against various peaceful communities across Nigeria.

    You have to ask:  What was the mission of the armed forces at their deployment?

  • Anambra commissioner resigns

    Anambra commissioner resigns

    Nwanosike Onu Awka 

     

    ANAMBRA State Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Commerce Christian Madubuko has resigned.

    Madubuko, in his resignation letter, alleged that Obiano had not shown enough leadership qualities

    He also alleged endemic corruption in the system, and since he had integrity, he could no longer endure it.

    Madubuko was at different times Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Commerce; Road, Rail and Water Transportation, and Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Indigenous Artworks, Culture and Tourism.

    The resignation letter reads: “It is my pleasure to thank all of you for the time we spent together in the service of our state. Indeed, it was three years of action-packed lessons, both positive and negative.

    “In the cause of fighting corrupt individuals, all manner of frivolous petitions against me were written to the governor, accusing me of several misdeeds, particularly destabilising our party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and advising the governor to remove me before I do more harm to the party.

    “Agents of darkness also tried to bribe me with millions but I arrested them to the applause of the governor. Within these three years, I have been redeployed to three key ministries.

    “With these happenings, it became clear that when you fight corruption, it fights back in several forms. I now understand clearly why Nigeria (nay Africa) can never develop like Europe.

    “I came down from Australia to help in developing our state. I worked tirelessly to actualise that dream. In working to meet the target, we set up mobile courts and jailed revenue thieves and significantly raised the state revenue.

    “I fought parasitic interests and jailed many of them. I stepped on toes, risking my own life for the survival of the state. Those toes are now on the prowl for my life. I am no longer safe as I speak. Three different times, I received baptism of fire from unknown persons.

    “I was attacked several times at the Onitsha Main Market by agents of the revenue criminals.

    “I advise Governor Willie Obiano to rise up to the challenges of leadership and take charge of his government. This is because at the end of it all, the governor alone takes all the glory for things done right and blames for things done wrong.

    “I have balanced all and brought all to mind and decided to leave.”

    One of the commissioners, who pleaded for anonymity, said there was nothing wrong with resigning from a political post. “If you are not comfortable with the government you are serving, you can quit, there is no big deal about that,” he said.

    The Nation further gathered that two other commissioners will resign soon.

     

  • UNIBEN to resume 2019/2020, 2020/2021 sessions

    UNIBEN to resume 2019/2020, 2020/2021 sessions

    Bisi Olaniyi, Benin

     

    THE University of Benin (UNIBEN) will resume for the 2019/2020 academic session on January 30 and the 2020/2021 session in April, it has been learnt.

    Spokesperson Dr. Benedicta Ehanire, in a statement yesterday, said: “At the end of the University’s Senate meeting yesterday, it was resolved that old students should come into residence on January 30 for the continuation of first semester lectures. The semester is expected to run until the April 1, while second semester is billed to start on April 5.

    “For the 2020/2021 amended calendar, new students are to undergo online clearance from April 5 to April 30, and start orientation on May 3.

    Read Also: UNIBEN at 50: We have cause to celebrate – VC

    “All returning students (old and new) are required to fill an online questionnaire and submit the printout to the Dean of Students before resumption. Adhere strictly to the non-medical protocols of compulsory use of face masks, hand sanitisers and physical distancing. Possession of an android/smartphone or device is advised, as e-learning has become inevitable.

    “They are expected to comply with acceptable dress codes, as determined by the university, in line with societal norms and values. Returning students with any ailment are to ensure that they are properly treated before resumption.”