The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Lekki: Blame unknown soldiers, not PMB!

    Lekki: Blame unknown soldiers, not PMB!

    By Ayegba Israel Ebije

    SIR: Nigerians owe President Muhammadu Buhari an unreserved apology for the embarrassment caused to him over the nationwide protests against brutality by elements of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). Nigerians smashed at his chalice of pride when they demanded he address the nation on the Lekki tollgate deaths. How infantile of Nigerians to demand a national apology from Buhari who was in Abuja while “unknown” soldiers swarmed over unarmed protesters?

    Nigerians prayed, fasted, consulted their gods to prevail against any force or forces that could prevent Buhari becoming president in 2015. The gods were on their side, he gifted Buhari to them. The same gods possessed former President Goodluck Jonathan to accept defeat even before the last vote was counted. Christians, Muslims, herbalists and free thinkers celebrated his victory.

    Saddled with loads of expectations, he rode straight to the presidential villa to deliver the “goodies”. Ungrateful Nigerians soon after began to grumble. First, they lived on twitter street regretting the choice of Buhari until they summoned the courage to come out of the virtual street to protest #EndSARS. The protest continued to grow despite usual government promises. The police, army response was swift to save Buhari from embarrassment.

    Certainly, Buhari and those who believe in him were not happy with the “unruly” youths. One of them, a United Nations Ambassador for Peace and Social Justice, Hussaini Coomassie, was livid with anger that Nigerians dared the will of the gods on the Buhari led government while declaring that if the military or police fail to put down the protesters, “patriotic” Nigerians would. The very next day “patriotic urchins” were seen in buses escorted by security operatives to areas occupied by peaceful protesters. The next was the killing of youths at Lekki tollgate by “unknown” soldiers. Meanwhile hired urchins are still on the street!

    We have offended Buhari and must beg for his mercy. It is very clear his speech after the Lekki tollgate episode expresses his anger over attempt on his reputation as a task force general who believes in use of force as an alternative to dialogue. Now Nigerians are too shocked to feel the pain the speech left in their hearts. They asked for it, wasn’t that a well written speech?

    Scores of youths died across the country. Hundreds of hooligans looted and destroyed Lagos and other major cities of the southern parts of Nigeria. Some innocent peaceful protesters were felled by police, army bullets. What does that matter to our amiable president? Nothing! They simply ruffled his well-groomed ego. Trust Buhari, he combed his ego back to its flowery glory, that much we know from the first paragraph of his “speechless speech”.

    Nigerians will now fall in line after the speech. Soon people will need a government pass for interstate traveling. Gatherings for protest will be banned. Critical opinion against the government will be dealt with. Street urchins will be recruited to handle emergency support for police when their help is required. Contents of social media will be monitored for compliance to pro government posts. Platoons of Shehu Garba will be allowed to freely rail at the public.

    Buhari said change begins with you. He did not say get brain and courage to chain his change or change his change. Now police officers are smiling, especially the newly created SWAT because the president got their back. We cannot force him to apologize for what “unknown” soldiers did.

    • Ayegba Israel Ebije, Canada.
  • Now that Buhari has spoken!

    Now that Buhari has spoken!

    Akindele AbdulQayyum Olalekan

     

    SIR: Exactly two weeks ago, protests and demonstrations evoked across almost every major cities in the country. Through the days of the peaceful but later hijacked protests, the president remained hushed. Need I remind that the death of Jimoh Isiaka at Ogbomosho, Oyo State in a very coordinated and peaceful protest did not meet the teeming protesting youths in good faith? Albeit, that was the most peaceful protest the nation had ever witnessed. Subsequently, the protest began to take various kinds of magnitudes. Had the president addressed the apoplectic and fuming crowd of protesters then, we would not have been here. All he did was replace the SARS with SWAT. Emmanuel Macron of France visited the family of the young slain teacher in France recently within 24hours of the incident. What stopped our president or at least say the vice president from physically grieving with the family of Jimoh Isiaka? That gesture probably might reassure Nigerians of the presidency’s humanity.

    On Thursday, October 22, at exactly 7pm, the president addressed the nation! Did he really address what needed to be addressed? The president commiserated with the families of the police officers lost to the violence but chose to evade those of the courageous soldiers of good governance gunned down in different parts of the country, most importantly Lekki Toll Plaza, Lagos.

    The salient message from the president speech: the youth should hustle for the N-POWER job that pays just #30,000 monthly or venture into agriculture. The international community got a stern warning. Get all the fact before you talk or keep shut. On the protest, Mr. President clearly said nobody should protest against the police. Everybody knows that military men take order only from the Commander in Chief through the Chief of Army staff.

    As Senator Shehu Sani posited “you ask for speech, you got the speech and now you are speechless”. Nigerians are speechless having listened and read what our president said to us after almost every major city in the country went on fire. I read the president’s speech three times trying to convince myself that the president wisely commiserated with the families whose children were lost to the protest but then, I was disappointed.

    Where do we go now? Everyone should go back to their activities and act like nothing happened? Let me use few quotes from the many left for our consumption by Martin Luther King jr.; “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”, “in the end, we remember not the words of our enemy but the silence of our friends” and “love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend”. To every politician out there, remember “we must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools”. My fellow youths, we are still very much formidable as a force but let us use power correctly and rightly. What next after Buhari’s speech?

    • Akindele AbdulQayyum Olalekan,

    akinscoat@gmail.com

  • Nigeria’s #EndSARS protest as a revolutionary moment

    Nigeria’s #EndSARS protest as a revolutionary moment

    By Tunji Olaopa

    It’s sad that strategic intelligence option outside of force played out in the EndSARS crisis. Nigeria must learn to raise its game in national resilience and crisis management. Recent killing was avoidable with better strategic thinking and tactical intelligence. Protest is a fundamental part of any democratic experiment. Indeed, protest represents the thermometer with which the health of a democracy s gauged. In the hand of a vibrant, virile and visionary civil society, protest becomes the instrument of vigilance by which democracy is monitored. Democracy is founded on the participation of the people in their own self-government. And that participation is mediated by a regular electoral process that allow the people to choose those who will represent them in determining their well-being.

    However, election through voting is just one means by which the people demonstrate their preferences in a democracy. The other is the legitimacy of protest. While voting and election are meant to facilitate an orderly and procedural transition from one administration to another, protests constitute the regular check on the health of the democratic governance. It is a right, held by the citizens, to question the policies and decisions of any incumbent government, with regard to their capacity to make lives better and, to better engage, within a stewardship relationship under a social contract.

    It is in this light that we can see the #EndSARS protests that have engulfed Nigeria. To understand this protest is first to compare it with others in the established liberal democracies. When Stan Van Gundy says that “Peaceful protest is a hallmark of our democracy. It has been in impetus for social change throughout our history,” he was not definitely referencing Africa. He was speaking about the enshrined right to protest that has become a feature of democracies in liberal societies. This is why the #EndSARS protests reflects a long overdue mechanism by which social change ought to have been explored constantly in any healthy or even ailing democracy. That this type of protest is not common and regular in Nigeria is surprising and dangerous for the future of any nation that aspire to be great. Since independence, the Nigerian governance situation has been precarious. It led to a bloody civil war. It was also the reason for the many years of military interventions which further undermined the rights to actively protest their rights to a good and qualitative life.

    In Marxian analysis (even as I make no claim to being a Marxist), protest is inevitable. And this is because class is tied in with the type of life we live in any capitalist society. Thus, the rich and wealthy live good life while the poor and the impoverished are left at the margins of society where they have to make ends meet in agony. Poverty therefore becomes a huge motivation for social change. In Nigeria, this Marxian analysis takes on a new dimension with the entry of the youths into the revolutionary dynamics of transforming the socioeconomic and political situation of Nigeria. Karl Marx favored the workers. But it was inevitable that the youth would be at the center of this particular protest, and any other one in Africa, because the continent is presently a youthful one—a large proportion of the African population is within the age bracket of 15 to 35. As much as this youth bulge should constitute a demographic and socioeconomic advantage that advance the productivity profile of African countries, it has become a source of worries. Africa is a demographic paradox: it is not only a youthful continent; it has the highest incidence of youth unemployment of all the continents of the world. Put in other words, while the youth bulge in Nigeria could instigate a productivity drive that will transform democratic governance, the large statistics of youth unemployment remains the frightening indictment of any pretension to national development. And it is what has brought us thus far to this protest.

    In most of my public commentaries, and especially the ones about the relationship between the youths, unemployment and the dangers involved, I have warned about this moment. And yet I am no prophet or seer. I simply had the constants of history as my warrants. Throughout history, and particularly the history of revolutions and protests, certain facts have become incontrovertible. First, there is always a tipping point when suffering, injustice and inequality becomes unbearable. When the French subjects of King Louis XVI stormed the Bastille, it was a revolutionary response to a series of national events that were tied to the arbitrariness of the French monarchy. The Bastille was a prison that represented royal authority; it housed political prisoners; and storming it was the commencement of the French Revolution of 1789. The Revolution was due to a combination of political and socioeconomic issues; from royal excesses and arbitrariness to excessive and regressive taxation, as well as the conservatism of the nobility. And then everything boiled over; by 5.30pm on 14 July 1789, the Bastille had fallen and the Revolution was well on its way.

    The American Revolution of 1776 was not different in its reaction against the British. The American colonists were concerned about the practice of taxation without a corresponding representation in the British Parliament. The American colonies were a source of taxes for Britain, despite the fact that the colonies had their own autonomous legislatures. Even after the Stamp Act of 1765, which imposed the taxes on the colonies, was repealed, the promulgation of the Townshend Acts, between 1767 and 1768, further aggravated the taxation issues. The essence of the Acts was to concretize the policy that Britain had the right to tax the American colonies. by the time the Boston Massacre occurred in 1770, as a result of the reaction from the colonies against the Acts, the Revolution was just six years away.

    With the Arab Spring, we arrive at a massive protest that was both transnational and modern in its deployment of media technologies. Again, the narrative remained the same: bad governance and injustices on a large scale. And the massive protest began in Tunisia, a third world country in Africa. And Tunisia shared a lot with Nigeria. The Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt was instigated by an insensitive leadership and an astronomical youth unemployment. Mohamed Bouazizi is the archetype of many African youth. He had visions and dreams of becoming someone useful, not only to himself but also to his family and his country. But his country disappointed him. He quit school and started working various jobs at 10. Bouazizi had to swim against Tunisia’s 30% youth unemployment rate in his various attempts at getting a job to support his family—an ageing mother, an invalid uncle, a sister attending university and other younger siblings.

    That the Arab Spring took off from Africa speaks a lot to the continent and its dynamics of poverty, inequality, unemployment and bad governance. It speaks to the restlessness of a youthful population whose abundant energies could not be converted into an enormous human capital that could drive national productivity. Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) states that unemployment at the second quarter of 2020 stands at 27.1% (27.7million Nigerians). The combination of unemployment and underemployment (28.6%) is at 55.7%. the worst hit of the unemployment statistics are the Nigerian youths, 13.9 million of whom are currently unemployed. And like Mohamed Bouazizi, when these hapless youths are then continually harassed, and their entrepreneurial creativity rubbed in their faces, like Bouazizi’s was, the #EndSARS protests should not be a surprise to anybody.

    To the extent that every democracy deserves its vigilance mechanism, to that extent we must put the current protest in its proper perspective as a legitimate reaction by a large body of the population which is only asking that its interests be put in the front burner of good governance. In my reckoning, the protest—and all such protests—is an attempt at forcing the politicians and the political elites to confront the significance of the social contract between the government and the governed. Why is any government in place if not to accede to the legitimate interests and preferences of the citizens? Every protest requires a negotiation. That is one other lesson that the study of revolutions in history teaches. The failure to negotiate the genuine and legitimate concerns of protesters always escalate. It escalated in the cases of the American and French Revolutions.

    And this is where the #EndSARS falls short of a critical lesson of history. There is always a need for leadership. On the part of the protesters, a leader or a group of leaders provides the strategies and the minimum sets of demands that the government can consider. Indeed, such a leadership is needed to discern when the protest had reached that critical point before it is hijacked by unscrupulous elements that will inevitably undermine the focus of the protest. And on the part of government, there is the need for a genuine and sensitive leadership that immediately sees the provenance and significance of any protest. The stewards of the commonwealth must always listen to what the owners of that commonwealth is saying, either through voting or through protests. That is the essence of what we call democracy. The #EndSARS protest is the accumulation of sixty years of unending suffering. No political leadership should think that such a protest will suddenly end, or can be mollified with palliatives or quenched by force. In the final analysis, the protest is adamant about making Nigeria better. No government can be deaf to such a patriotic objective.

     

    • Olaopa is a Retired Federal Permanent Secretary and Professor of Public Administration, National Institute For Policy and Strategic Studies

    (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos

    tolaopa2003@gmail.com

    tolaopa@isgpp.com.ng

  • Greater impetus for young technophiles

    Greater impetus for young technophiles

    By Tayo Adebola

     

    Today, nations across the globe have seen technology in action.  Defined simply as “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes;” it is better demonstrated than merely defining it.

    Popularly referred to as ICT- information and communication technology- virtually, there is no entity that has not been impacted by technology and nations have appreciated the transformative, effective and efficient values that come with this applied field of human activity.

    Before we advance into the future that technology offers to countries that take it seriously; let us look at why embrace of technology is so important to nations and their people, particularly the young ones?

     

    Job creation

    The burden of job creation for nations has been hugely relieved by the ICT sector. And the impact is increasing. In the US, ICT is to contribute about 22 percent of jobs in this very year 2020. This might remain the largest labour contribution for the country. Australia, India, China and a host of other countries with huge populations are benefitting from direct jobs that ICT has and is still creating.

     

    Economic growth

    Research shows that GDP of some economies have appreciated by the adoption of ICT. Back in the year2013, China GDP growth of 1.4 percent was attributed to a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration. In other emerging and developed economies, technological growth has reflected in their economic performance. And it is significant.

     

    Emerging industries

    The transition to cloud computing, the app industry, etc., are examples of new services and industries that have emerged due to technology. This development comes with innovation and attendant economic benefits like job creation. A look at mobile launch or e-services would reveal hundreds of thousands of jobs created from entirely new industries.

     

    Workforce transformation

    A lot has been made easier for nations and people who embrace technologies through transformation of the workforce. Task has been broken down into bits by technologies of companies like Amazon and Samasource. Costs have been significantly reduced; processes have been simplified; resources have been better mobilised and greater access to services and information has been made possible by leveraging on technologies.

     

    Business innovation

    A lot has changed with advances in technologies. With online presence, businesses are reaching out to new customers thereby increasing their market share. Given the unprecedented number of connected devices world over, there are new ways businesses are reaching out to their clients.

    Against this background, every serious nation, developing and developed, must approach technology with all the attention it deserves. Granted that what we have seen with technological impact is already very encouraging, a more compelling case is that of the future. By future, we mean how a country needs to position itself to harness the glaring advantages the technology-inclined entity would enjoy. This calls for developing young technophiles. I mean a way forward is to launch a campaign that focuses her young generation on “technology for tomorrow”.

    Briefly, when we talk of technophiles, we mean a person who is enthusiastic about new technology: a kind of passion for technological innovation. “Technology for tomorrow” on the other hand refers to those set of technology that defines tangibly the approach to future human activities and that will drive human endeavours for a long time to come; especially in industrial sense: artificial intelligence (AI), Robotics, Drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (DUAV) internet of things (IoT), Space Technology, Software Engineering, Smart Devices Evolution, etc.

    It is expected that proactive and futuristic nations should galvanise their people to bring the future to the present by active involvement in technological evolution. A nation can do this by doing at least some of the following:

     

    Defined objective

    A nation should first of all define where they want to be in the technological space in their national goals and global tech dimension. Such a nation, whether developed or developing, must understand where it is and envision where it wants to be technologically. It needs to understand quantitatively the dividends of being in technological leadership.

     

    Assign resources

    Since the future belongs to the young ones, nations must rise up and mobilise its young population to effectively appreciate and be engaged in the evolution of “technology for tomorrow”. Focusing this segment of the population in this process will see that nation writing its own beautiful future of innovation and relevance.

     

    Support programme

    Deliberate policy and programmes are also required to be put in place to inspire and encourage the younger generation to embrace the path of technology. And with the support in place, this could mark the beginning of a great and thriving nation.

    In conclusion, the way forward for a nation that wants a front seat in the technology arena is to start early and purposely by engaging her young generation to be tech adherents, innovators and problem solvers in a technologically inclined manner.

     

     

    • Adebola is a reviewer and writer on evolving technologies.

     

  • If Nigeria dies, hatred killed her, by Femi Adesina

    If Nigeria dies, hatred killed her, by Femi Adesina

    By Femi Adesina

    What a week it has been for our own dear native land! Just at the beginning of the month, as the country turned 60 as an independent entity, President Muhammadu Buhari had charged us to “begin sincere process of national healing, eliminate old and outworn perceptions that are always put to test in the lie they are.”

    What began about a fortnight ago as “genuine concerns and agitations” by Nigerian youths against the excesses of the Special Anti-robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police (SARS), has suddenly transmogrified into expressions of hate against the land, leading to murder, mayhem and arson. My sympathy and condolence to family and loved ones of the dead, irrespective of how they came to their unfortunate ends.

    How can what began as peaceful protests suddenly turn to incipient anarchy as seen in killings, torching of public buildings and properties, storming of the Bastille and wanton release of hardened criminals, and many others. Hatred. Nigeria is one country passionately hated by some of those who live in it, and it had always been so.

    Some people call it ‘the mistake of 1914,’ in which what used to be the Northern and Southern Protectorates were forcefully cobbled together by the colonial masters, leading to the emergence of Nigeria. Since then, it has been one uneasy relationship among the people that make up the Union. Suspicion of domination, ethnic rivalry, fear of being given the shorter end of the stick, gaining unfair advantage, and the like, have characterized the relationship. And the overriding sentiment is hatred, fueled and justified by many factors and tendencies.

    If Nigeria dies, whether now or in the future, hatred killed her. How can a people go about, bearing giant-sized grudges against their country, its leadership, against one another, and expect that country to live in peace and prosperity? It won’t happen. “When we don’t know who to hate, we hate ourselves,” observed a writer.

    The EndSARS campaign began as an agitation against police brutality, in which there was unanimity of purpose. And suddenly, it became a vehicle of hate. Against leadership, against national cohesion, an opportunity to settle political scores, and equally prepare for power grab in 2023. Hatred came into the mix.

    The agitation by youths against injustice and oppression suddenly took on a variegated nature. Separatists came under the umbrella, and began to advance their cause, working for the dismemberment of the country. Those beaten black and blue in 2015 and 2019 elections also crept in, and asked for pound of flesh, while also plotting for a return to power in 2023.

    Read Also: #ENDSARS protests hijacked – Buhari

    The venom, which peaceful protests eventually became, can only be summed up by one word. Hatred. How can you begin to club people to death, in different parts of the country? How can you set fire to national assets and institutions, storm prisons and release prisoners into society, all in the name of peaceful protests? No, peace had fled through the window, and hatred was fully in control.

    There are many factors and agencies of hatred in Nigeria, and until we learn to purge ourselves, the country may never move beyond where it has been pirouetting and gyrating for six decades. Like the macabre dance, it has been one step forward and two steps backwards.

    Hatred is evinced from many quarters for Nigeria, and for its government and people at any given time. It comes from churches, mosques, professional activists and agitators, interest groups, some elements in the media, so-called analysts who never see anything good, and so on and so forth.

    When things boil over in graphic demonstration of hatred, it is a culmination of negative sentiments and tendencies. They come in persistent negative postings on social media, which generate and stimulate hate. From hateful messages from the pulpit, as if that was the message of love Jesus Christ handed over to his followers. From unduly critical messages during jumat services. From radio and television programs, in which bile is spewed. From talkshows which become a harangue of government, newspaper articles and columns tailored to instigate and generate dissent, and the like.
    Eventually, all cumulate in hatred, which finds expression in genuine causes like the EndSARS campaign. When things boil over, they leave sorrow, tears and blood in their wake, as we have seen. And who suffers? The whole country. Who bleeds? Nigeria. And one day, if Nigeria ever dies, despite years of attempting to build and nurture it, hatred would have killed it. A knife in the guts. A bullet to the head. An arrow to the heart of Nigeria, is hatred. Animus against anything that does not directly lead to personal aggrandizement, that does not promote selfish narrow interests.

    Many times, President Buhari had said it was the right of protesters to indicate their displeasure, as long as it was done within the limits of decency and the law. Disbandment of SARS, he said was only the first step in what would be comprehensive police reforms.

    Talking of reform of the police, I know the mind of the President on that issue. Sometime in the early days of the first term of the administration, I had dropped into the house one night, as I do once in a while. And it was a few days to the exit of the then Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, who was going into retirement.

    The President told me how much he had been impressed with Arase, and how he regretted that the man spent just about a year with him. He then told me of the police of his dreams, and how he wished he got someone who would translate the dream into reality. So, when the President said in a speech to the protesters last week that comprehensive police reform was coming, I knew what he had in mind. If only we would be patient and let him implement the five points demand of the protesters, which he had accepted. But alas, the protest took another hue and nature, different from the original concept and focus. Hatred crept in, nurtured by all sorts of tendencies.

    “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear,” said Martin Luther King, Jr. But not for some Nigerians who have decided to hate their own country. They perpetually stoke the embers of malice, discord and discontent. They bear a heavy burden, which they carry around everywhere, being grumpy, caustic and perpetually driven by ill will.

    Hatred is a poor prop for anyone to lean on. But to those malicious souls, the more malice they generate for their country, the better they feel. They may carry fancy religious titles, or parade as activists, analysts or newspaper columnists, but what they are is really simple. Hate mongers, and one day, they may ensure that Nigeria dies. Not of old age or other natural causes, but of hatred.

    *Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity

  • Women, leadership and EndSARS movement

    Women, leadership and EndSARS movement

    By Chinemerem Onuorah

    SIR: In the past two weeks, Nigerian youths have relentlessly protested and asked for an end to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS. Well-meaning Nigerians have continued to lend their voices in support of what has been described as wanton and arbitrary harassment and in some cases, killing of young men and women by officers of the Nigerian Police Force. While victims of SARS cut across gender, tribe and religion, it is believed that young men constitute a good percentage of the assault by officers that should be protecting citizens.  It is therefore interesting that a lot of women have been at the frontline of this EndSARS movement. This no doubt goes a long way in emphasizing the unity in purpose of the movement to end police brutality and by extension reform the entire police in Nigeria.

    While the EndSARS movement has been described as a “leaderless”, some women are on the frontline. Prominent among them is Aisha Yesufu; the renowned “iron lady” who has always defied all odds to speak against injustice. In what is now seen as the symbol of the movement, the early hours of October 12 had pictures of Aisha Yesufu circulating the internet. The picture had been taken at the protest ground in Abuja. Like a statue of liberty, Aisha was fully clothed in her hijab, and her right fist was raised high.

    Another important stakeholder of the ongoing EndSARS movement Feyikemi Abudu, known better as FKAbudu, an entrepreneur who is also among the founders of the Feminist Coalition group. She most notably at the start of the protest collated the names of arrested and detained protesters and provided legal support to get them free. On every occasion, she succeeded in freeing these people, and it became common to send her names and locations of arrested protesters. There was a video of an elderly woman who was slapped by a policeman, because she came out to protest; there was also one about two young girls who were beaten and dragged across dusty roads, into a police station. However, with the help of FK Abudu, they were released – hurt, but free.

    Another early motivator of an offline protest to end police of this movement is Rinu Oduala, a social media influencer and a human rights activist. She used her huge social media platform to publicise the protests, and she was among the first people out in the street protesting.

    Similarly, a notable organisation known as the Feminist Coalition Group formed by young, Nigerian feminists to champion equality for women in Nigeria has continued to source and managed funds to ensure law abiding protesters get all needed support. So far, this organisation has catered to the legal, financial and healthcare needs of the protesters. They set up Flutterwave, a donation link which Nigerians both home and abroad have used to raise money to aid the protests. The transparency and accountability this organization operates with is something the government should aim to achieve.

    One would think that women would not care enough to champion this movement, because men have mostly always been the ones directly affected, and so it is quite touching to see women actively participating. The active participation of women in this movement is an encouraging thing. It is a morale-booster showing that women see the pain and are empathetic enough to want to put an end to it. There was a protest by mothers who wanted to march against the woman who was slapped; it goes further to prove that a mother who has seen the terror that is SARS and is willing to march against it, has sensitized her household.

    There are also powerful women like Chioma Agwuebo; Executive Director of Tech Her, who provided both moral and material support to the movement. There are definitely unnamed and unknown women who are doing their best in their circle.  All their efforts come together and make a huge impact because all of it is toward one goal – to end police brutality and restore good governance in Nigeria.

    The cheering news also is that women are also being called to the negotiation table as stakeholders make efforts to find lasting solutions to police brutality in Nigeria. An interesting appointment into the judicial the panel in Akwa Ibom state is that of Mmanti Umoh, a young woman who participated in the #EndSARS protests in Uyo with her two sons.

    • Chinemerem Onuorah, onuorahchinemerem@gmail.com
  • #ENDSARS: Time to talk to the youths, Mr. President

    #ENDSARS: Time to talk to the youths, Mr. President

    By Basheer Luqman Olarewaju-Unique

    SIR: The recent killings of protesters in Nigeria as a result of showdown between the security forces and the citizen activists calling for the total end for a unit of Nigeria Police – Special Anti-Robery Squad (SARS) has cast a dark cloud on what many had hoped would serve as a model for democratic transition in countries swept by the corrupt leaders and bad governance.

    The country is at the verge of crossroad, again. There are clear indications that Nigeria is now in the triumvirate of a colour revolution and hybrid warfare, and agent agitators are now trying to force the hand of the government towards employing violent suppression of the protests so as to delegitimize the government for a sinister motive.

    As a people, it is important to understand that, one should leave the stage when the ovation is at the loudest. The demands of the protesters are well appreciated and the leadership lacks quick response mechanics to show responsiveness which gives more opportunities for new adventure of calamities across the breath and width of the country.

    This pattern has been used in various arenas where people’s liberation movements have been used as a Trojan horse to infiltrate and destroy a nation, if care is not taken at the right time in proper quantity, the civil war is looming as it shows in our collective faces.

    Unarguably, citizens are a powerful force for change. That is why more and more governments are doing what they can to silence them — from Russia to China to Venezuela and more. Citizenship gives us sense of belonging on why oneness of voice in our society is so essential. When people are free to speak their minds and hold their leaders accountable, governments are more responsive and more effective. When entrepreneurs are free to create and develop new ideas, then economies are more innovative, and attract more trade and investment, and ultimately become more prosperous.

    Dear President Muhammadu Buhari, it is high time you summoned the courage and present error-free speech that would be televised to your children – Nigerian youths. It is now a good time to avert the unknown calamities ahead of us all as a country for if the protesters continue this way, the end result is uncertain. It is important for you to know and realize that the most important and significant title is not ‘President or Prime Minister’; the most important and significant title is ‘Citizen’.

    As a result of grievances shown by Nigerians, some families had lost their breadwinners, Nigeria has lost youths who seemed having bright future, economy is cracking down spontaneously, society is not at peace and the blockage of roads across the nooks and crannies of the country inflicted untold hardship on workers and other commuters, many of whom walked for hours to get to their destinations.

    I strongly urge the government and the protest leaders (that’s if there are) at this point to move to dialogue with each other if both parties don’t want to regret that they have been exploited to unleash the destruction of Nigeria.

    No investor, local or foreign will put money in any country where its youths are in a long-drawn protest with the government. As the economic cost of the protests for the last few days continues to mount, the negative effects could be more dire than a deeper recession.

    #ENDSARS does not just represent a protest against rogue police officers; it is a symptom of the poor state of the economy, which for months has only gotten worse. Fortunately, the agitation can still be managed but time is running out.

    The National Assembly also needs to introduce laws that protect young Nigerians from police brutality, status profiling and wrongful arrest. Investments in mega tech hubs across the country, establishment of recreation zones in major cities must be carried out by state governments, to keep them engaged in activities that can better their lives.

     

    • Basheer Luqman Olarewaju-Unique, Ilorin, Kwara State.
  • The SARS in the rest of us

    The SARS in the rest of us

    By Waheed Shotonwa

    SIR: When the youths of our dear country, Nigeria, took to the streets calling for an end to the brutality of the men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police Force which had countless number of times brought an end to the lives of innocent citizens, it indirectly brought out so many inherent potentials of the leaders of tomorrow, as claimed since primary school days.

    Whether the call was to #EndSARS, #ReformSARS or even #ReformNigeriaPolice, it has exposed the abnormalities of that section of the country which in some persons’ opinions has done more bad than good.

    As the protests kept going round the nation, it is very obvious that everyone carries in them an element of SARS. We are standing against the Nigerian Police because they had made theirs visible and audible to even the blind and deaf. How about the SARS in you?

    To the politicians, who sees representing their people at various political seats as a source of income less service to their people, obviously they are a free-moving SARS even amidst security coverage. How did the allocation meant for the public make its way into their pockets if not owing to the innate SARS character in them?

    Examination malpractice, blocking and sorting, extortion from the students and lecturers/teachers is clearly a way of exhibiting SARS. Even the management of the learning institutions and the administrators of the educational sector who refused to do the needful to ease learning are same as the men of the SARS in black.

    A glance at the ‘bloody protest’ going on in some parts of Benin, the Edo State capital. Civilians, in the name of protesting, have taken advantage and turned broad day SARS blocking roads, extorting money from commuting civilians, daylight robbery, burning of police stations and operation vehicles, according to some reports, raping innocent ladies and doing more than the atrocities of the men in black.

    How about the intentional price hike without economic reasons but for selfish interests by marketers, producers, traders et al? It obviously the SARS in us.

    What we seek to end with the protest actually resides in us. These uniform men of the SARS unit and the entirety of the police force were citizens like us before making their way to their present duty line.

    No matter how much we clamour for reformation of the force, it still won’t do. If the police vow to stop collecting bribes from commuters, will the people stop giving them when they go against the law and charged with applicable offences?

    So, as we seek for an immediate end to the SARS unit, it is equally pertinent upon us to end the SARS in us. Remember, “Our situations will not change until we transform and reform ourselves”.

     

    • Waheed Shotonwa, shotonwa.waheed@gmail.com
  • Beyond #EndSARS

    Beyond #EndSARS

    By Gabriel Amulu

    The ongoing street rage, against the infernal torture and criminality that is the hallmark of the proscribed Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), calls for immediate restructuring of the Nigerian Police Force, not the infantile change of name to SWAT. As the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu, must have realised, the Nigerian youths are tired of double-dealing, with respect to the debilitating insecurity that is threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria.

    Meanwhile, this column commends Nigerian youths responsible for the ongoing campaign to end police brutality across the country, tagged #EndSARS. They deserve praise for galvanising and channelling youth energy to a worthwhile venture. Their few days in the street have shown that if Nigerian youths can mobilise to demand change in the way we are governed, many of the shenanigans that pass off as governance at various levels of government will stop.

    But while police brutality and insensate corruption is endemic, it is just a bit of the challenges faced by our dear country. One of such other challenge is captured in one campaign poster, in the social media. It says: “what about the other SARS killing us too? Senators And Reps’ Salaries (SARS).” In my view, that second SARS is more virulent than the first SARS. So, if the campaigners can force a change of that second SARS, the vices in the police force can be dealt with through the promulgation of efficient laws and regulation.

    This column believes that the gross inefficiency at the various branches of the executive arm, including the police, is because, fundamentally the legislative arm which is constitutionally empowered to checkmate inefficiencies in the executive arm, is itself weighed down by corrupt practices. By disregarding the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in determining its emoluments, the legislative arm, especially the National Assembly, surrendered its moral authority to checkmate the executive arm.

    To make matters worse, the National Assembly has become populated substantially by the fantastically corrupt, and it continues to attract characters, who go there not to make laws, but merely to enrich themselves. With such characters in the majority, what you have are extortionists who would rather extort than “make laws for the peace, order and good government of the federation”, as enjoined by section 4(2) of 1999 constitution.

    So, when public hearings are set up to examine the laws or the committees go for oversight functions, what you have is a jamboree. The most recent of such scandalous outings was between a House of Representative Committee, set up to probe allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Niger Delta and the Niger Delta Development Commission.

    At the height of the inglorious affair, when accusations and counter accusations were flying about, the committee chair begged the Niger Delta Minister Godswill Akpabio, to stop exposing them to the world. Such is the tragedy that has befallen the National Assembly that no person takes them seriously. This column therefore supports the call for downsizing the senators and representatives salaries (#EndtheotherSARS).

    If President Muhammadu Buhari and members of the National Assembly have a sense of history, they would seize the opportunity of the ongoing agitation to start restructuring of Nigeria, so they can be remembered well. Even without the ongoing #EndSARS agitation, anyone who thinks that Nigeria, as presently configured and governed, is sustainable in the long run, must either be an ignoramus or a fraud.

    As I have argued here severally, the core-northern part of Nigeria, which is seen as advantaged by the present status quo is in worse shape than the south, which feels oppressed and marginalised. Just like in the 1950s, in the match towards Nigeria’s independence, while the south is getting impatient with the state of affairs and want an immediate change, the north which is lagging behind, also needs the change.

    The northern governors who are resisting the #EndSARS campaign, are doing so, to safeguard their plum positions, not because their people are benefiting from the failing state. It is common knowledge that large swaths of the northwest and the northeast remain some of the most dangerous places on earth. And if there are no economic and political restructuring to allow states earn more income, and develop the police to provide basic security, how on earth can those states survive the crisis bedevilling them?

    Common sense dictates that with about 30% of youth unemployment, arising from lack of economic activity in most states of the country, the criminality and banditry that has overwhelmed the north, will not go away. With war addling the banditry, how sustainable is it for Nigeria to keep borrowing to prosecute the war, and save it from its internal contradictions?

    That is why President Buhari and those mouthing threats on his behalf, must wake-up from their slumber and realise that though the ongoing agitation may have been triggered by instances of police brutality, the malaise agitating the youths go much deeper than that. The National Assembly, without more prompting, can come clean of its past mistakes, call itself to order, and mend its ways.

    It will be foolish for the government to fall to the temptation to send the army against the people. If they have a sense of self-preservation, they should weigh the possibility that that army may instead chose to storm the Bastille. Should that happen, the price to pay, by both the currently oppressed and the oppressors may be too steep. So, why don’t the authorities wake up and save everybody from the bloodletting and uncertainties that may follow.

    Instead of mouthing platitudes, the youths have asked the government to initiate actions that would convince Nigerians that the government mean business. People like the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, should be given new assignments, instead of allowing him to further heat up the charged atmosphere. If the government which he speaks for, has the ability to rein in anarchists and trouble makers, it should concentrate energy in the northeast and northwest.

    What the government must do, is to initiate concrete changes, which will give the youths the encouragement to enter into dialogue with them. If by their action or omission, the government allows the ongoing public agitation to morph into a revolution, the monumental tragedy that would befall our country can be better imagined than experienced. As they say, a stitch in time saves nine.

    Clearly, the demand for police reform championed by the youths, is a wake-up call for all those abusing the privilege they have to govern, to mend their ways while they can. Let none of the abusers be fooled, unless they change, there would be no country to govern, in no distant time. That is if the apocalypse is not already at the gate, with the rage raging out there in our cities.

     

  • ‘Illegality of judicial officers participating in workshops sponsored by likely parties before them’

    ‘Illegality of judicial officers participating in workshops sponsored by likely parties before them’

    Can a judicial officers’independence be guaranteed if his event is bankrolled by parties likely to appear before him? Douglas Ogbankwa examines the issue.

     

    A JUDICIAL Officer by definition is a not a civil servant. A judicial officer is an official of the Judiciary that does Justice to either private individuals or public and private institutions.

    So, it is against the Code of Conduct for Judicial officers, the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended) and against Public Morality for Judicial officers to attend workshops, seminars and symposia organised and  sponsored by public institutions that are likely to be Parties before the same Judicial officers.

    Article 13.4 of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states:

    “Business and financial activities the

    (i) A Judicial officer may own investments and real property, provided  that in the management of his investments, he shall not serve as an officer, director, manager, general partner, adviser or employee of any business entity.

    (ii) Otherwise permissible investment or business activities will be seen  see prohibited if they:

    (a) Tend to reflect adversely on judicial impartiality,

    (b) Interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties,

    (c) Exploit the judicial position; or

    (d) Involve the Judicial Officer in frequent transactions with legal practitioners or with people likely to come before the Judicial officer’s court.”

    So, what this Article of the Revised Code of Conduct presupposes is that a Judicial officer is not supposed to carry out activities that will involve the officer in frequent transaction with legal practitioners or with people who are likely to come before their courts.

    Let us take a hypothetical scenario. Some judicial officers from all across the country attend a workshop organised by “ABC”, An institution of the Federal Government.The “ABC” pays their flight tickets, hotel accommodation, takes care of their feeding and gives payments for attending the seminar. How can we guarantee the Independence of such Judicial officers when cases that concern The “ABC” comes before them or how do we preclude ex parte communications between the Judicial officers and officials of the “ABC”, that may compromise the fair Administration of Justice.

    Such transactions are quite untidy and leave much to be desired and it is against the extant provisions of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    • This is as provided for by Article 13.5. of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ,which provides thus: “Acceptance of gifts

    A Judicial officer and members of his family shall neither ask for nor accept any gift, bequest, favour or loan on account of anything done or omitted to be done by him in the discharge of his duties.

    A Judicial officer is, however, permitted to accept:

    (i) Personal gifts or benefits from relatives or personal friends to such extent and on such occasions as are recognised by custom.

    (ii) Books supplied by publishers on a complementary basis.

    (iii) A loan from lending institution in its regular course of business on the same terms generally available to people who are not Judicial officers;

    (iv) A scholarship or fellowship awarded on the same terms applied to other applicants.”

    So, from the provisions above, can it be said that any payments made to a Judicial officer, for  attending a seminar organised by  an Institution of the Federal Government  is not a “gift, bequest, favour … on account of anything done or omitted to be done by him in discharge of his duties” ?

    The Judiciary like Caesar’s Wife must be above board. Such acts or omissions, which give right-thinking members of the public any impression to the contrary must be avoided at all times.

    The National Judicial Institute (NJI) is a creation of statute, established specifically for the Training and Retraining of Judicial officers and staff of the Judiciary. The institute should be properly funded to do so. The specialised training now illegally organised by these Federal Government institutions, should be organised and conducted by the NJI, which is statutorily mandated to do so.

    Any training carried out by an institution of government for judicial officers who will end up adjudicating over Matters ,where such Institutions of Government will end up being Parties ,before the same judicial officers who have received payments of any kind ,  from them, is an illegality ab initio and it even offends Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999 (As Amended,), which states that a court shall be constituted in a manner that guarantees its independence. Such ex- parte transactions by Judicial officers with institutions of the government in the guise of training does not guarantee the independence of the Judiciary. This practice must stop.

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) should enforce it own Rules and issue a circular to the effect, that such ex-parte transactions are now prohibited. The NBA at the local and national levels, should tackle this issue head on and call the attention of the relevant authorities to this abnormality.

    A Judicial officer by his oath of office is obligated to perform his duties, “without any affection or ill will”.

    This must be put into practice. The truth is bitter, but it should be said as it is.

     

    • Ogbankwa is immediate past Publicity Secretary, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Benin Branch.