The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Award against Nigeria

    The palpable fears over the $9.6 billion dollars arbitral award against Nigeria, in favour of Process and Industrial Developments Limited – a foreign company, under the New York Arbitration Convention, is not misplaced. Nigeria has every cause to be afraid that her foreign assets could be seized by the judgment creditor, in fulfilment of the award.

    Notably, the federal government has vowed to deal with the officials who entered into the dubious contract, during the regime of late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. This column also urges the government to investigate the officials who did not take appropriate steps to defend the case, timeously during the arbitration.

    In an arbitration, where the tribunal is properly constituted in accordance with the arbitration agreement, any party who in spite of appropriate notice, fails to present its case, is bound by the arbitral awards. So, President Muhammadu Buhari while investigating those who negotiated the contract, should also find out if those who were supposed to defend our cause, compromised.

    After all, an arbitration is defined by learned authors, Ojomo and Orojo, as “a procedure for the settlement of disputes, under which parties agree to be bound by the decision of an arbitrator whose decision is, in general, final and legally binding on both parties.” Importantly: “the process derives its force principally from the agreement of the parties and, in addition, from the state as supervisor and enforcer of the legal process.”

    So, for there to be an arbitration both parties must agree to submit present or future disputes to a third party (private judge – arbitrator) whose decision will be final and generally binding on the parties. Where the parties duly submitted to an arbitration, are there grounds on which the parties can legitimately challenge the award? Of course, they are grounds, but the premise for a successful challenge is very limited.

    Orojo and Ajomo noted that as far back as the 1930s, there is limitedness of the grounds, for challenge. In Attah vs Amoah (1930) 1 WACA 16, the court held: “… it is clear that the trend of modern authority is to interpret the submission to arbitration so liberally that once an arbitrator has been selected, the parties must be assumed to have taken him for better for worse.”

    Continuing, the court further noted: “an arbitrator being something more than a judge, his arbitrament will require more to upset it than would suffice in the case of an ordinary judgment, and not until this fact is duly appreciated will the time and money spent on such cases as this be saved” (emphasis mine).

    Also, in Zermalt Holdings S. A. vs Nu-Life Upholstery Repair Ltd (1985) 275 Estate Gazette 1134, Bingham J. held: “as a matter of general approach, the courts strive to uphold arbitration awards. They do not approach them with a meticulous legal eye endeavouring to pick holes, inconsistencies and faults in awards and with the objective of frustrating the process of arbitration.”

    The learned judge went further to hold: “Far from it. The approach is to read an arbitration award in a reasonable and commercial way, expecting, as is usually the case, that there will be no substantial fault that can be found with it.” While the courts are generally circumspect about setting aside an arbitral award or arbitrament, they are general grounds, upon which an award can be set aside by the courts, if the necessary application is made timeously.

    Locally, section 28(2) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, provides: “The court may set aside an arbitral award if the party making the application furnished proof that the award contains decisions on matters which are beyond the scope of the submission to arbitration….” Furthermore, Section 30(1) provides: “where an arbitrator has misconducted himself, or where the arbitral proceedings, or award, has been improperly procured, the court may, on the application of a party, set aside the award.”

    Section 48, of the Act, which relate to International Commercial Arbitration and Conciliation, contains additional grounds. Such grounds include where the applicant shows that “a party to the arbitration agreement was under some incapacity”; “that the arbitration agreement is not valid under the law which the parties have indicated should be applied, or failing such indication, that the arbitration agreement is not valid under the laws of Nigeria.”

    Other grounds include: “that he was not given proper notice of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the arbitral proceedings or was otherwise not able to present his case.” While these general principles may apply elsewhere, there is a limitation about the court with the requisite jurisdiction to set aside an arbitral award.

    In Adwork Ltd vs Nigeria Airways Ltd (2000) 2NWLR (Pt 645) 415 (CA) 422, Justice Oguntade JCA, (as he then was) held: “If the purpose of the application (by the defendants) was to determine that the judgment debt had been paid, it constituted an abuse of process since the same question could be or was being determined in the United Kingdom proceedings. If on the other hand, it was a subterfuge to use the court of Longe J as an appellate court over the decision of the arbitrator in England, which I believe it was, my simple reaction is that Longe J has no such jurisdiction.”

    The challenge facing Nigeria, on this matter is enormous, since the courts with the jurisdiction over the matter are outside our shores, just like the arbitral tribunal and the laws that guided it. Clearly, the contract in question and the mismanagement of the arbitration, is a manifestation of one of the greatest ills of our country. Unfortunately, we see persons who have no requisite competences, get appointed to positions of authority, from where they put our country into peril.

    While the federal government is entitled to stake the blame against the previous regimes, for what may amount to criminal misconduct, they must concentrate their energy to seek remedial measures where possible. As Nnaemeka-Agu J.S.C., held in Commerce Assurance Ltd vs Alhaji Buraimoh Alli (1992) 3 NWLR (Pt 232), “The underlying principle is that parties to a dispute have a choice. They may resort to the normal machinery for administration of justice by going to the regular courts of the land and have their dispute determined, both as to the fact and as to the law, by the courts.”

    The learned Justice went on, “Or, they may choose the arbitrator to be the judge between them. If they take the latter course they cannot, when the award is good on the face of it, object to the award on grounds of law or of facts.” Our country needs the best legal hands to save our common patrimony from buccaneers.

  • Ending the plastic menace

    A frenzy of scientific research is going on around the world to find lasting and contributory solution to the negative impact of plastics materials (which cause litter, choking of drainage system and marine life) on the environment. A lot of technologies are being developed for recycling of plastics while other efforts are being made on other areas including how to make plastics to be bio-degradable.

    The United Nations World Environment Day celebration in 2018 was on the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution”.

    For many stakeholders around the world including United Nations agencies,, plastics manufacturers, environmental protection agencies, concerned non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the general public, who have been worried about the negative impact of non-degradable plastic materials on the environment, solution seems to have come.

    The contributory solution, according to recent discovery, is using just 1% Oxo-Biodegradable (OBD) additive in the manufacture of plastics materials. This additive (OBD) is said to make any various plastic materials biodegrade after a short period of time.

    A number of countries in Europe, Latin America, South Asia, Middle East and Africa are already using OBD in tackling the menace of plastics that have escaped collection and therefore polluting the environment.

    According to the Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Associations (OPA), UK, website www.biodeg.org the use of ODB in plastic manufacturing can actually be a contributory solution to the global menace.

    The OPA said that the problems caused by plastic litter in the environment has compelled governments, manufacturers and brand owners to rethink the way plastic is produced, used and their end of life..

    “Many are now looking for products and technologies that are inexpensive, non-disruptive to manufacture, and can   be   re-used and re-cycled at the end of their useful life.

    The need for Oxo-biodegradable (OBD) plastics is indeed obvious. Thousands of tons of plastic waste is escaping collection, getting into the world’s environment every day, and unless treated with just a 1% inclusion of Oxo-biodegradable Additive will remain there for decades.

    Oxo-biodegradable plastics have been independently tested and found ultimately bio-degradable on land or in the sea.

    Perry Higgs, a Senior Scientist at Symphony Environmental Limited, UK, the leading producer of Oxo-biodegradable Additives branded d2w, says the use of Oxo-biodegradable additive creates a faster and more complete degradation which leads to bio-degradation.

    He was speaking at a one-day Symposium on the menace of plastic waste, recently held in Accra Ghana, attended by the Ghana Plastics Manufacturers Association (GPMA), the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Environmental Services Providers Association (ESPA), etc.

    The President of GMPA, Mr. Ebbo Botwe was said to have advocated for the use of Oxo-biodegradable (ODB) additives in Ghana to help reduce the menace of plastic waste in the Ghana environment – at least to serve as a mitigation measure to the concerns to many stakeholders in the country.

    In fact, he was said to have disclosed that the association has provided about 7,000 special plastic waste bins to help curb the indiscriminate dumping of waste in the environment.

    Information available, (https://www.symphonyenvironmental.com/solutions/oxo-biodegradable-plastic/) shows that UK-based Symphony Environmental Limited is a World leader in the development of additives to make ordinary plastic biodegradable and also has a range branded d2p which are protective technologies which enhance plastic products.

    Symphony’s technologies are sold into nearly 100 countries around the world, with applications in retail, medical and manufacturing industries with a focus on the protection of both the environmental and human health.

    Symphony is a member of The Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association (www.biodeg.org) (OPA), the Society for the Chemical Industry (UK), and the Pacific Basin Environmental Council.

    There are four main features of the d2w Oxo-biodegradable technology:

    • Oxo-biodegradable Plastic facilitates the ultimate biodegradation of plastics on land or in seawater by bacteria, fungi or algae, within a reasonable time, so as to cause the plastic to cease to exist as such, far sooner than ordinary plastics, without causing any toxicity;
    • Meets a number of relevant international standards;
    • Has same characteristics in terms of appearance, strength flexibility and functionality as normal plastic
    • Does not just fragment and create micro-plastics, as the treated material becomes a biodegradable food source for the microbes found in these environments.

    So far, 23 countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirate, Brazil, Argentina, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Togo, Benin, Mauritius and Pakistan have taken regulatory actions to make the production and/or importation and the use of Bio-Degradable Plastics mandatory.

    Indeed many countries around the world have realized that they cannot realistically collect all the plastic or indeed impose the restriction and or ban plastic, considering its usefulness in terms of cost, durability and economic impacts on economies.

    Furthermore legislating in favour of the use of Oxo-biodegradable additives helps to support the local plastics manufacturing industry, thus securing the jobs and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people employed in this sector worldwide.

    Oxo-biodegradable technology would certainly be an excellent solution for Nigeria, especially for the significant plastics industry we have and those Government agencies, including the Federal Ministry of Environment, which has scheduled a national workshop in Abuja on 12th September, 2019 on the need to develop a National Plastics Life Cycle Management Policy for the country.

    During the tenure of the Nigerian 8th National Assembly, a bill was introduced in the two houses on how to address the concerns of Nigerians on the issue of plastics wastes – and the best ways to handle the issue. The Plastics Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) had advocated for a win-win solution in tackling the issue.

    The Oxo-biodegradable plastics technology is an additional and very attractive option which will be proposed and recommend in Nigeria. Giving consideration to the significant importance of plastics in socio-economic life of the people, especially as over 600 plastics firms in Nigeria have 350,000 employees on their payroll, it will be difficult to dispense of such jobs.

    The best and most pragmatic option remains to increase the infrastructure  for the collection and recycling of Plastics and at the same time make it mandatory for the use of Oxo-biodegradable additives, which will then help to mitigate the menace of plastic waste that escapes collection and ends up  polluting the country.

    MAN, being a representative body of all manufacturers in Nigeria and a custodian of making Nigeria an industrialized nation in the face of lean resources, should lead the discussions with the Federal Ministry of Trade, Industry & Investments (FMTII) and Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEnv) to enact laws or regulations in line with other countries that have adopted the Oxo-degradable technology.

  • The battle for revalidation and renewal of hope in Bayelsa

    Like Yenagoa, like Dubai. Both cities were founded on nothing but products of necessity some years ago. And like the proverbial mustard seed, they have grown to become the envies of their neighbours.

    The story of Yenagoa is becoming increasingly fascinating. Its foundation stones were literally laid on its pronouncement as a state capital 23 years during the days of late Gen. Sani Abacha. Many Nigerians (not just foreigners) would still mistake its geographical identity for northern Nigeria in the first five years of its existence as a state. Its journey to fame was that tortuous.

    Bayelsa’s growth trajectory was not less tortuous. What has become a prosperous state in the name of Bayelsa was nothing better than a collection of fishing communities clustering along the seas but carved out from the old Rivers State on the basis of what many considered as ‘boyish’ expectation of the military administration. Tugging on with marks of its afflictions and hard-earned crowns, the state has become a beautiful bride. For young Nigerian professionals and artisans, the crèche is now ‘see Bayelsa and live’.

    And for Bayelsa indigenes, who have remained grateful to Abacha for seeing hope amid despair and demonstrating sufficient courage to create a state for the Ijaws, the days of solitary are well over. Indeed, its time is ticking albeit so fast that its peers in the Niger Delta region cannot but see its glowing gaiety that has showed its true essence as ‘the Glory of all Lands’.

    In the intervening years, roads have been laid. Schools have been built. Bridges have been constructed. Investments have been made across critical sectors. Those who have been to the state can confirm that construction, especially roads, is not a fanciful adventure. Without determination and purposeful leadership, nothing gets done in its geographical space. It is thus not frivolous to approximate that much of the development witnessed in the past few decades was laid on the foundation of exemplary leadership.

    With its governorship election scheduled for November 2, Bayelsans are at a crossroad again. It is not a question of whether they should stick to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), which has had an unbroken reign since the inception of this democratic era or take a new wife. It is equally important to decide whose version of PDP they will adopt. Perhaps, the second question is much more significant for four reasons: Bayelsa is a traditional homeland of the PDP; it is ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s home; the current administration is generally acclaimed to have been successful and there is a general discontent against the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The groundswell to the PDP primaries speaks eloquently of the facts that political gladiators’ perception of the nomination as the ultimate victory. The forces and political interests are so enormous that one could only pray that ‘Beyelsans’ do not become the prey. While a study into the political horse-trading may amount to an academic adventure, unpacking the personalities in the PDP ticket grand plans is vital for linking promises with realities and characterizing the next phase of Bayelsa.

    Here are the major individuals that will be participating in the PDP primaries on Tuesday – Kemela Okara, Timi Alaibe, Duoye Diri, Reuben Okoya and Frederick Agbedi. These men have not only held tight to their political turfs as the days go by, they have also become entrenched. They have also come along in the state’s political affairs well enough to have seen governorship slot as the ultimate payoff.

    Every political actor is the ultimate arbiter of himself, and history is swift in documenting how this process affects the journey of man to perfection, the moral lessons therein and the overall gains for the society. This is the most probable lens through which the interests of the key contenders of the PDP tickets could be reviewed. Now, Okara comes across as a very important case study not only in this review process but also in the whole debate of Nigeria’s contemporary politics. Relatively new in the politics of Bayelsa, Okara, in 2012, contested the governorship race with Gov. Seriake Dickson on the platform of the Action Congress on Nigeria.

    Four years later after the political battle, Okara, who lost to the current governor, honoured an invitation to serve as the Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Investment, a portfolio considered as the dearest to Dickson’s heart. He moved on to become the Secretary of State Government, a promotion Dickson confirmed was a reward for the exceptional passion with which Okara marketed the Bayelsa offerings to the outside world and for successfully repositioning the state as destination of choice for investors and fun lovers. And Okara, with the backing of his former boss, has pulled through to emerge as an aspirant to beat in the coming primaries.

    The Okara storyline is unusually unique in this clime. And the rareness of this narrative seems to matter as much as the credentials, as a successful lawyer and advocate of justice of international repute, he throws into the race. The thought-provoking questions are: how was he able to swallow his pride to accept to work with his former political ‘enemy’ as a commissioner, taking into consideration the international brand he had built for himself? How did he work so closely with Dickson for upward of five years without suffering the ego bite that has become the albatross of the country’s political progression? How did he manage the crucial political party transition so seamlessly and evaded the usual upheavals?

    Every permutation could be true but not certainly any that borders on unspoken personality clash with Dickson. That he was able to subdue his personal ego for the past eight years for the love of his people is a crucial point for Okara going into this race. His choice of campaign key message, ‘for the good of all and the love of Bayelsa’, is probably the most authoritative explanation of his political philosophy. And if Dickson is going outside old political circle for a ‘new comer’, there is possibly something much more spectacular about Okara than the rest of Bayelsans already know.

    Luckily for the aspirant who hails from Yenagoa Local Government, his Central Bayelsa Senatorial District is mostly favoured by the party’s zoning arrangement. Come Tuesday, Okara will be adjudged by his performances as a commissioner and SSG. As a commissioner, Kemela Okara was able to articulate a clear vision to make Bayelsa a model of Africa’s economic success story. In collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), his ministry shepherded an industrial policy to leverage Bayelsa’s comparative advantage in oil and gas, power generation, agriculture and manufacturing.

    An obvious success story of his tenure was the hosting of the Bayelsa State Investment and Economic Forum (BSIEF) in 2014 and 2015. Whether he emerges as the PDP candidate and proceeds to win the election or not, Okara’s journey back home will be remembered for the opportunities the summit has created for Bayelsa to unveil its unique selling point to the highly-competitive global investment market.

    Still, there is no much one can say about Dickson’s Restoration Group without espousing the ingenuity of Okara. Inspired by the need to unveil a grand vision for the state and the Ijaw nation within the context of Nigeria’s yearning for a more glorious identity, Dickson has pursued the restoration agenda, for which Okara has become an intellectual caste, with vigor and almost commitment to the admiration of other nationalities. The mention of Okara thus reawakens the interest of the entire Ijaw in how their largest homeland transitions the agenda to successive administrations.

    Weighed against history and the available options, Okara’s aspiration is seen as purveyor of renewed hope.  But his option certainly rattles the old establishments who are also scheming and playing the sentiment card to sustain their relevance. Alaibe’s return to the trenches itself symbolizes the fight for the old system’s resurgence. What are the strengths of Alaibe coming into the race?

    Evolving with the politics of Bayelsa and serving as Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) under the late Umaru Yar’Adua administration when militancy became a knotty issue has endeared him to the ‘boys’. Secondly, he has a deep pocket, which matters a lot when viewed against the backdrop of the culture of cash-and-carry politics. Also, Alaibe enjoys the rare support of key members of Jonathan’s inner circle, especially George Turner. The extent to which these factors can go in delivering him is a function of the disposition of the critical stakeholders towards the old thinking.

    Of particular interest is the fact that Alaibe’s aspiration does not offer a fresh perspective to the political dynamics. Come to think of it – he has been in and out of the PDP, a trait that may have reinforced the disenchantment against his brand of politics. And if he, against all odds, wins the primaries, it is not because his camp can connect with the new aspiration of the Bayelsa but essentially because they have learnt new tricks of playing their old game differently. And this will not likely happen.

    Like Alaibe, like Reuben Okoya. Both of them are of the Jonathan political lineage with their legacies dating back to Diepreye Alamieyeseigha’s era. Interestingly, Okoya is going to the political battlefield with even more moral-bankrupt weapons.

    For one, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate saga has been a talking point as far as his aspiration is concerned. While the aspirant may have put the issue behind him, it is not particularly certain the party is ready to take over that moral burden beyond the primaries and face APC with the moral cost.

    Douye Diri, currently representing Bayelsa Central at the Senate, is definitely not a pushover. Diri shares a lot with Okara, a reason many political watchers say the interest of Dickson could be fluid in the coming days. He has the ears of the governor, having worked with him also to deliver on the Restoration Agenda. The governor may also be tempted to deliver him for envisaged political gains.

    However, there is a snag. His inability to win the 2019 senatorial election convincingly casts shadow on his personal political sagacity and strength of character. Even with the popularity of PDP in the state, Diri pooled a mere 83,978 as against APC’s 70,998 to win the Senate. Both PDP and APC have realized that this is one election neither can win from the comfort of a strategy room. They need to be on the streets to touch base with the voters, an engagement an arrogant Diri is yet to master as a politician.

    For the Bayelsa poll, the stakes are high for both political parties. It is also believed that the best will have the tickets though surprises have become an undeniable feature of the Nigeria politics.

  • Boris Johnson, Brexit, and Britain’s Constitutional Quagmire

    The authors of The Federalist Papers, that great series of essays defending the Constitution of the United States, set out to convince the public that democracy, at least in its original, ancient Athenian form, was not only impossible, but dangerous. Their preferred system of government was a republic, based on the principle of representation.

    Even some of the most radical Enlightenment thinkers of the 18th century—those who supported universal suffrage, the rights of women, and the abolition of slavery—rejected direct democracy, or “simple democracy,” as Thomas Paine called it. Direct democracy, they argued, is government without the benefit of reasoned deliberation, leaving an authoritarian executive justifying its power with populist rhetoric. That, at any rate, was how the Founding Fathers viewed Pericles of Athens.

    The United Kingdom’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, who studied classics in college, says his greatest hero is Pericles. Which explains a lot. Johnson’s populism is what secured the support of his party’s members and brought him to Downing Street. Traditionally in the U.K., the government’s legitimacy comes from its support among members of Parliament. At the core of its famously “unwritten” constitution is the principle that prime ministers can continue in office only for as long as they can maintain the confidence of the House of Commons. It’s not clear that Johnson has that support. And it’s not clear that he cares.

    Johnson bases his legitimacy on an appeal to direct democracy, delivering the result of the 2016 referendum, in which Britain voted to leave the European Union. The result did not tell us what kind of Brexit the people wanted or whether they preferred any kind of Brexit to remaining in the bloc. But Johnson—like his predecessor, Theresa May—treats the referendum as a mandate, claiming immense executive power to interpret “the will of the people.” Unlike May, however, Johnson also seems to be determined to take the U.K. out of the EU on October 31 “with or without a deal.” To reach that goal, he is giving all indications that he intends to bypass elected representatives.

    Here in Britain, enormous constitutional questions, previously believed to have been agreed on, are now up for debate again, and these are but a few of them. The British constitution has begun to seem more and more like an elaborate, high-stakes parlor game. Moves that were thought to be impossible have begun to seem merely improbable. Conventions that once looked like certainties are becoming unsettled. Issues ranging from the might of the executive, the power of MPs, and even the role of the queen are—almost all at once—being fought over.

    There was a fear, throughout the Conservative-leadership campaign, that Johnson would force through a no-deal Brexit—in which Britain would leave the EU without any withdrawal agreement, something the government’s own analysis says would cause chaos—by advising the queen to prorogue, or suspend, Parliament. He consistently refused to rule that out, although in June he did say he was “not attracted to archaic devices like proroguing.” Just this month, the government’s lawyers said the issue of prorogation was “entirely academic.”  Then, on Wednesday morning, to everyone’s surprise, Johnson made the move anyway.

    Prorogation itself is a normal part of the parliamentary process. It’s a necessary step before a Queen’s Speech, when the government sets out its legislative agenda, which Johnson has set for October 14. What’s extraordinary about this instance is its purpose and length. It’s not quite as bad as proroguing Parliament until it’s too late to stop a no-deal Brexit—or to avoid a vote of no confidence, as happened in Canada in 2008—but it’s still bad. John Bercow, the outspoken speaker of the House of Commons, called it a “constitutional outrage.” It was probably not unconstitutional for the queen to agree to the request, but it may have been unconstitutional for Johnson to make the request. It’s certainly an abuse of power, designed to make it more difficult for MPs to stop a no-deal Brexit.

    Johnson seems to believe that constraining lawmakers is a vote winner for a future People v. Parliament election in which he takes the side of the people. If he believes his supporters care so little about representative democracy, might he countenance even more egregious instances of executive power?

    The blame for this shift away from representative democracy rests not solely with Johnson. It stems from a series of decisions, taken by Parliament itself, from 2015 onward. Beginning with the legislation that set up the referendum, MPs consistently failed to put in place processes that would protect a role for Parliament in the event of a Leave vote. After the result, Parliament was thrown a lifeline by judges, who were called “enemies of the people” for ruling that the government needed parliamentary authorization to trigger the EU’s time-limited exit process. Still, MPs failed to take that lifeline, and voted overwhelmingly to allow the government to start the countdown. In the more than two years since, they have done nothing to stop it, and so most MPs have to accept their share of the blame for the breakdown in representative democracy.

    It’s equally true that the U.K.’s system of “responsible government” traditionally gives the executive enormous control over Parliament’s legislative agenda. The conventions establishing the executive’s control derive from the late 19th century, in part to stop Irish nationalists filibustering in the Commons—the rationale was that an executive with a majority in Parliament should be able to get its way. But that is less persuasive now, when Johnson’s Conservatives hold a minority of seats in the House of Commons. Other democracies don’t give the executive this power.

    It had also been assumed that one of the certainties of the British constitution, as it has developed over the past few centuries, is that the queen’s royal assent to legislation is a mere formality. But that convention, too, is being cast into doubt. If Johnson fails to stop a potential attempt by anti-no-deal MPs to force the government to seek an extension to Britain’s October 31 withdrawal date, media outlets here have reported that he may advise the queen not to give royal assent. That then comes into conflict with another well-established convention, which is that the monarch must act only on the advice of her ministers. If Johnson were to advise the queen not to give royal assent to a bill passed by Parliament, what would happen? The last monarch to refuse royal assent was Queen Anne, in 1708, when her ministers advised her, uncontroversially, not to sign the Scottish Militia Bill. For Johnson to give this advice now, however, would be enormously controversial. It’s hard to imagine any prime minister seriously putting the constitution and the monarchy in jeopardy like that.

    Yet some serious commentators and experts, such as the former first parliamentary counsel Stephen Laws, the retired law professor John Finnis, and the historian Andrew Roberts, have argued that it would be legitimate for the prime minister to advise the queen to refuse royal assent, that until the prime minister loses a vote of no confidence, his advice to the queen must be followed. They may be right that the queen must act only on the prime minister’s advice. But their proposal would not only put the queen’s political neutrality in danger. It would be authoritarian to a most odious degree. For the sake of representative democracy, the queen should not be advised to refuse assent to a bill passed by Parliament.

    One consequence of Johnson’s decision to prorogue Parliament is to make it more likely that there will be a vote of no confidence in the government. Here, too, old constitutional understandings are in doubt. Since the end of the Second World War, there has been only one instance of a government losing a vote of no confidence. That was in 1979, when Prime Minister James Callaghan lost. At that time, Callaghan effectively had a choice: He could resign immediately, or he could ask the queen to dissolve Parliament for a general election. He chose the latter. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, however, now requires a 14-day period following a vote of no confidence in which the Commons can pass a vote of confidence either in the existing government or in an alternative government led by someone whom MPs have recommended to the queen. If neither occurs, Parliament will be dissolved.

    Whichever of those options happens, there is plenty of room for more constitutional crises. Senior figures in No. 10 have given clear signals, reported in the media, that Johnson would not resign in the event of a no-confidence vote. If the Commons expresses its confidence in someone else, then for Johnson to stay would be, as former Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind put it, “the gravest constitutional crisis since the actions of Charles I led to the Civil War.” The last monarch who dismissed an administration was King William IV in 1834. It would be less controversial for Queen Elizabeth II to dismiss Johnson. Arguably, it would be her constitutional duty. But it would still politicize the monarchy.

    If there’s to be an election, Johnson could play fast and loose with the constitution in other ways. He might, for example, choose an election date after the October 31 deadline for Britain to leave the EU, allowing Brexit to happen by default during an election campaign. That would be reckless in the extreme—including for Johnson’s chances of securing an overall majority. Would it also be unconstitutional? During election campaigns, there are so-called caretaker conventions, according to which the government should not make any controversial decisions that would bind a future government. The government would be right to insist that a no-deal Brexit is the legal default, but that does not necessarily mean there would be no duty on the government to change it. If Johnson loses a vote of no confidence, it would be because MPs had rejected a no-deal Brexit. Whatever the conventions of the constitution require, it would be a gross violation of representative democracy to ignore MPs’ wishes.

    The fact that all of this is up for debate is truly astonishing. To some scholars, such as Vernon Bogdanor, a politics professor at King’s College London, Brexit has demonstrated the need for the U.K. to adopt a codified constitution. The breakdown in parliamentary government—the triumph of populism over pluralism brought about by Brexit—strengthens the case for a codified constitution that would place more obstacles in the way of political power. But a codified constitution is not a panacea. As other countries have discovered, it would not be a guarantee against populist excess, and could even create more problems than it solves. That’s not to say there’s no need for reform. Britain’s constitution is hardly in rude health; in fact, it’s never been more vulnerable.

    For now, can anything be done to stop a determined prime minister who cares so little about the constitution and its protection of representative democracy? There are calls for mass civil disobedience, and we can expect such calls to get louder the further down this road Johnson goes. Others opposed to the means by which Johnson is pursuing Brexit are heading to the courts, though their legal challenges will be difficult to win. Their best hope is that MPs will find a way to legislate or bring down the government.

    Yet that still might not be enough. In the end, for all the talk of high principle, we are relying, to a large extent, on Johnson believing it to be in his self-interest to allow MPs to have their say and abide by any decisions they make. He probably will. At the very least, though, he and his team believe it to be in his self-interest to earn a reputation as a revolutionary rather than a conservative, replacing parliamentary democracy with authoritarian populism.

    • This article was first published in www.theatlantic.com

  • Aremo Segun Osoba @ 80 – recollections of a reporter

    Aremo Segun Osoba, two-time governor of Ogun state and quintessential journalist  is currently enjoying  political renaissance  and limelight, making him a comeback kid at age 80.  Journalism gave him name recognition, an important factor in seeking political office while political instinct to back a winning candidate in the Ogun state governorship  election, that saw the triumph of Prince Dapo Abiodun, has revived the swagger of his journalism days. But even in victory, Aremo Osoba remains locked in combat on many fronts  –   intra-party in All Progressives Congress,  intra-ethnic in Afenifere, and inter-personal in legal tussle with fellow Egba man, Dr. Femi Okurounmu – apparently revving up his adrenalin for the last showdown.

    In the days preceding  Aremo Osoba’s  July 15th, 2019  celebration of his 80th  birthday, the media had been  awash with his reminisces  as well as excepts from his memoir, Battlelines : Adventures  in  Journalism and Politics.  The book title captures his battles in the Newsroom and much later, on the political turf. His battle lines on the political front remains unending. But this reporter is here interested in recalling memories of  Aremo  Segun Osoba’s  Newsroom battles in the Daily Times. My first encounter with Mr. Segun Osoba. as he was then,  was in the summer of 1973 when, as a mass communication student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, I had a vacation job  with the  Daily Times newspaper, before subsequent full time employment between 1976 and 1977.  He was the Deputy Editor, Daily Times. What strikes you on first meeting  the dashing Segun Osoba of those days was his panache – trim build, stylishly dressed, gregarious  and of course, the swagger. He walks jauntily into the Newsroom, carrying an aura with him. He was simply a charmer.  And I think that contributed to his battles at the Daily Times.  The Editorship of the Daily Times was a coveted prize which pitted him in battle  against the graduate class.  At the time, Alhaji Babatunde Jose who ruled at the Daily Times with imperial authority as executive chairman, had brought university graduates into the Daily Times, a very bold move then, when the main qualification for journalists was the secondary school certificate.  But that innovation led to battle lines being drawn between Town and Gown –  the non graduates versus the graduates. I remember  the pioneer graduates in media practice of that era to include Prince Tony Momoh, Areoye Oyebola, Idowu Shobowale and Femi  Sonaike, both of whom later became  Professors  of Mass  Communication, Dr. Hezy Idowu, wordsmith Gbolabo Ogunsanwo, Martins Iroabuchi and Doyin Aboaba, later Dr. (Mrs.) Doyin Abiola.

    On the non graduates corner were Alhaji Jose himself,  Segun Osoba, Alhaji Odunewu, a celebrated Columnist,  Peter Osugo, Pa Alabi, a master sub-editor  and production guru, and irrepressible Chief Ola , the News Editor, with his permanent company of a big bottle of stout. They were all thorough, on-the-job trained professionals. So, the battle lines were not so much about competence but more of ego – the educated versus the ‘illiterates’, the arrogance of the graduate class and its putdown of others. I want to believe that Segun Osoba was in the eye of that storm largely due to his persona  – his confident carriage was offensive to many of the graduates. The attitude was like :  Who does he think he is ?  Osoba was a field man, go-getter journalist who assiduously cultivated the power elite, raking in exclusive stories and scoops. He flaunted  his journalistic exploits to counter and blunt the arrogance  of the graduates who were not  field men, but mostly on the sub editing desk or features unit. The battle lines were also a clash of style. While Osoba, the crack reporter,  was a man about town, virtually all the graduates were rather subdued in persona – no boisterousness about them, which was the Newsroom culture. You won’t find them at the journalists’ watering hole, the New Can Can, opposite Times office at Kakawa Street in Lagos island.  Oyebola, who was a teacher before Alhaji Jose drafted him, could not shed his  provincialism of the village teacher, Dr. Idowu (PhD)  exhibited  professorial aloofness, Prince Tony Momoh, though friendly,  projected a royal distance from the crowd.  Doyin Aboaba, still single then, seemed to carry a burden  and generally looked distracted.  The one who came closest to matching Segun Osoba  in terms of vibrant presence was Gbolabo Ogunsanwo, handsome, with an engaging smile, an eminent columnist, unarguably Nigeria’s  most successful editor to date who took the Sunday Times, of which he was editor, to an unprecedented  circulation of 500,000 copies weekly. But, sadly, Gbolabo Ogunsanwo’s brilliant career crashed at the battle lines in the Daily Times  as he became, perhaps, the biggest fall guy in the tsunami that swept away many of the graduates in the epic battle for control of the Daily Times in the late 1970s and eventual takeover of the newspaper by the federal government.  Segun  Osoba, an establishment loyalist, was properly aligned in the battle line formation and survived the tsunami to later become Editor and Group Managing Director of the Daily Times. Thus, in his adventures in journalism, Aremo Segun Osoba  broke through the battle lines  to victory.

    • Dr. Olawunmi, a Public Affairs Analyst and Daily Times Alumnus, is former Washington Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Email : olawunmibisi@yahoo.com Phone :SMS ONLY : 0803 364 7571

  • Can’t some people be thankful for small mercies?

    “Ex-governors in political wilderness after 2019 elections”. That was the screaming headline of a feature write-up on Page 2 of this newspaper last Saturday. The piece is alluding to some frustration for those of them who failed to secure second term ticket to return as governors or those who served their two terms as governors but failed to step up as Senators. But, why should they be frustrated?

    I see no reason for any frustration, if those being referred to are truly in moaning or whining mood, as imputed in the article under reference. If not for the insatiable nature of man, people who had been fortunate among many, to gain leadership positions in the life of state and nation, ought to content themselves with such privileges and relax after their tours of duty for a while, and reflect on their tenures and plot for the future, taking stock of where they excelled and where they fell short of expectations so that they could do better when other opportunities beckon in future.

    Some are lucky to move so progressively without any break. But not all are so endowed; and the earlier people learn to recognise the limits of ambition, the better.

    If I were in their shoes, I would move into sanctuaries of God, to offer thanksgiving for the opportunity of service and sit back to be availed of unbiased assessment of people, who being largely appreciative of good deeds, could be in the vanguard of a clamour for their return to the lights. That is more endearing and worthy. They should ponder the advice.

  • The semiotics of discontent

    THE multiple ways in which Nigerians express their dissatisfaction with the situation of the country today are better understood when analyzed within a semiotic framework. As demonstrated below, semiotics allows us to analyze the totality of symbolic, iconic, symptomatic and other signs used to communicate discontent in contemporary Nigeria.

    Beyond newspaper reports, columns, statements, and images on social media, indicating disaffecting with the current situation in the country, there are placard-displaying protests, violent acts, militant agitations, and even secessionist movements seeking one kind of change or the other.

    However, before discussing the various signs, it is important to identify the different sources of discontent in order to better appreciate the various ways in which Nigerians express dissatisfaction.

    Perhaps the greatest source of discontent in the country today is the poor state of the economy, typified by ravaging poverty and a high youth unemployment rate. That Nigeria has become the poverty capital of the world now sounds like a remote cliche. We have lived with that badge of dishonour for quite some time now. In reality, however, we cannot but encounter poverty in various forms everywhere, because nearly 70 percent of the population lives on about N70 ($2) a day or lower.

    This is followed by high unemployment and under-employment. The youth unemployment rate reached an all time high of 38 percent in 2018 but it recently came down to about 35 percent, probably due to the N-Power programme of the present government. Many observers, including international organizations, have expressed concern about the rising youth unemployment trend, viewing it as a ticking time bomb. It is an oblique reference to the uprisings we have come to know as the Arab Spring

    When under-employment is factored into Nigeria’s youth unemployment statistics, the figure rises to over 40 per cent. Most university graduates today are either unemployed, under-employed, or unemployable. Typical cases of under-employment abound in private schools, especially Nursery and Primary Schools, and the hospitality industry. The wage range in the schools is between N6,000 and N15,000, while the range in the hotels is between N8,000 and N25,000 a month. In a high brow hotel in Abuja, where I expected higher wages, I was shocked to discover that most workers were paid only N22,000 a month, which translates to N733 a day. I was even more shocked to discover that most of them were university graduates.

    Yet another source of disaffection in the country is insecurity. Beyond the Boko Haram insurgency are kidnapping for ransom and armed robbery. these vices have a direct effect on the economy. Not only are people afraid to engage in their normal activities, foreign investors are deterred from investing in Nigeria.

    One dimension of kidnapping that is particularly worrisome is self-kidnapping, which now involves not just men but also women and even teenagers. As indicated in my earlier analysis (Self-kidnapping as tragicomedy, The Nation, July 31, 2019), the practice is a response to poor economic conditions. This is evident in the confessions of indicted self-kidnappers.

    A final source of disaffection in the country is endemic corruption and its effects on national development. There is a correlation between corruption, broadly defined, and poor infrastructure, the downward trend in education quality, and inadequate healthcare system.

    These various sources of disaffection are behind the cynicism with which Nigerians today view the government’s appointments, programmes, and projects. For example, they did not see the radical break with the past in the recent appointment of Ministers, forgetting that ministerial appointments all over the world are often based on party loyalty; contribution to the President’s or Prime Minister’s electoral victory; past experience; and political connections.

    If resentment, especially as expressed in Social Media, is viewed as a mild form of protest, then the Boko Haram insurgency represents the other extreme. In between are the botched street protest mounted by Omoyele Sowore’s #Revolution Now and the aggressive protest mounted by the Indigenous People of Biafra. The attack on the former Deputy President of Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, came as an extension of IPOB’s protest beyond national borders.

    Beyond these more recognizable expressions of disaffection are negative newspaper reports and critical commentaries by armchair columnists, who revel in what the government has done wrong rather than in what it has done right.

    On the political level, the various calls for restructuring the country to promote fiscal federalism and relative state autonomy are also indications of discontent with the present arrangement.

    Whichever way disaffection is expressed today, one thing is clear: The people are not happy with the situation of the country. Yet, there are no indications that things will be better soon. With the government paying various subsidies and heavily in debt, the future is bleak indeed.

    It is high time the government realized that unbearable economic conditions, marked by youth unemployment and rising food costs, have been at the root of major revolts throughout history just as ideological differences have given rise to wars and memorable battles.

    It is high time the government began to respond to the various fault lines and started patching various holes in the economy, security, and governance. It is the plain truth that we cannot continue like this. Otherwise, the signs of discontent may get unbearable.

     

     

     

  • Aviation industry: Next-level deliverables

    All over the world, air travel by far, remains the preferred option for extensive mobility. Both for business and leisure, the speed, the comfort and the safety are incomparable. Added to these parameters are the ambience and panache attached to air travel.

    Interestingly, the differentiating parameters highlighted above are fast being obliterated by advancement in other modes of transportation, such as the urban train system, the rapid bus transit system, the cable car system, to mention just a few.

    However, air transport still stands out, based on the volume, the reach, the cross-border capacities and the prestige associated with it.

    The challenge with air transportation globally, is basically the cost of operation and the technical input. The level of precision required for safe operations also necessitates high level manpower with its attendant cost of training and re-training, certification and motivation. The only mitigating factor to these high costs is the level of operational efficiency dictated by favourable fleet performance indices in addition to high passenger throughput value. Where the volume of passengers handled is high, the airlines can afford to charge more user-friendly fees for the tickets which will in turn result in higher patronage.

    In Nigeria, the major challenges of air travel, aside from the global experience, include unpredictable cost and availability of aviation fuel; safety concerns due to breaches of established standards and norms; inadequate spread of standard aviation infrastructure across the regions; inadequate number of qualified local manpower (e.g. ATCs); financial capacities of airlines to compete with foreign counterparts, among a host of other sporadic issues.

    The key regulators and players, especially the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has been grappling with these operational issues towards developing optimal solutions for all stakeholders. For instance, it is of interest you to note that only about four airports out of the more than 16 national airports are operating profitably. The rest are being sustained by the revenue generated from the profitable ones.

    Similar trends avail for the local airline operators. Surprisingly, the foreign airlines are smiling to the banks with their business sustained mostly from their Nigerian operations. Recently, there has been an outcry against the commencement of about four daily “sorties” by the Emirates DreamLiner Aircraft.

    The above phenomenon suggests the viability of air transportation in Nigeria with operational challenges limiting the viability of the local operators. With over 220 million potential passengers, there is room for better profitability in air transport. The relevant questions to ask include why most of the incidents in recent times relate to local operators. Why are the international players such as Kenyan Airlines, South African Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Emirates Airlines etc. faring better in the same environment? Why did the CBN package meant to lift the Nigerian aviation industry not achieve the desired results? Why did the “Nigerianized” Virgin Atlantic fail to perform unlike its British progenitor? The fault, dear Nigerians, is in ourselves and not in our stars.

    This is where the mandate of FAAN as encapsulated in its establishing act since 1935 becomes relevant in driving the immediate aviation next level imperatives. As a major industry player mandated to develop, provide, and maintain the nation’s airports, FAAN also optimizes necessary services and facilities for safe, expeditious and economic operations of Nigerian air transport.

    The new management of FAAN, in delivering the next-level promise needs to aggressively pursue ease of doing business at all Nigerian airports. The agency also needs to focus on improvement in infrastructure development with the possibility of private sector involvement in direct ownership and concession arrangement; coordinate campaigns to develop patronage of aviation services in partnership with established travel agencies; coordinate efforts to develop all forms of tourism that will attract immigrant traffic and or limit emigration relating to such areas as the arts, music, nature, sports, medical and business. These are the key drivers of aviation traffic outside the existing box of organic traffic.

    FAAN should as well consider the engagement of Aviation Business Development Consultants with specific mandates to grow air passenger traffic at each region currently experiencing under-patronage. Such consultants may explore development of cargo business as an option or addition to passenger traffic. Where the revenue is high enough, there will be adequate resources to shore up facility development and safety infrastructure.

    We have observed with keen interest the strides taken by FAAN in the last few years which have yielded CAT One certification of the prime airports, a feat which won the acclaim of Nigerians and the international community. Other definite positives include the centralized screening, powered by the automated digital machines currently easing commuting for travellers and curbing activities of drug barons and smugglers; increased number of international airports; a record time upgrade of the runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; modernization of the Port Harcourt International Airport terminal; completion of the perimeter fencing at major airports and a host of other quiet advancements resulting in improved safety, quality of service delivery and efficient travel experience.

    The new imperatives, if religiously pursued, will boost prosperity and further developmental advancement. This is necessary to correctly position the Nigerian aviation in its rightful place among the top echelon of world aviation industry.

    The youthful energy of the new FAAN administration will be handy in manifesting the promise of a Next-Level Nigerian Aviation.

    • Aibangbe is a media and public relations expert.

  • Nigeria and the followership question

    There are two sides to every issue and that includes the problems confronting Nigeria. Over the years, the leadership factor has been consistently blamed for the seemingly insurmountable obstacles to the expected steady development of the country. Leaders of various governments also formed the habit of harping on the failures and inadequacies of predecessors akin to the “bring him down” syndrome of rival military juntas.

    Nigerians generally welcome leaders with euphoria and high expectations but rarely consider themselves as essential factors in the success or failure of governments, impatiently turning into “wailers”, even though their attitudes and conduct too often militate against the desired national progress and development. The prevailing situation in the country whereby undeniably strenuous efforts of the federal government are seen to be yielding positive outcomes, especially in the anti-corruption fight and the critical sectors of infrastructural development, agricultural development, economic diversification, youth empowerment and poverty alleviation, contrasts sharply with the public pre-occupation with crisis-mongering and armchair criticism. The notoriously unpatriotic “Nigerian Factor” is obviously alive and kicking!

    It was US President John F. Kennedy who famously took the citizenry to task over their presumption of entitlement to the benefits of citizenship from government without responsibility, when he counselled “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”. This exhortation is even more warranted in Nigeria where the tendency is for citizens to look up to government for their every need without the slightest consideration for their own contribution in support of government’s omnibus duty. Not even tax!

    President Muhammadu Buhari was even more forthright when, in his first emergence as military Head of State, he identified indiscipline as the national malady against which he launched a highly impactful corrective War Against Indiscipline (WAI) targeting social maladjustment and rampant corruption with emphasis on engendering personal and moral discipline to check indolence and corrupt practices. It is instructive that in his second coming, three decades later, President Buhari had to start from where he was stopped by the IBB palace coup in 1985, this time going all out against corruption in government which was threatening to “kill Nigeria”.

    President Buhari has marvellously demonstrated the critical role of responsible and patriotic leadership in charting a course of moral and institutional integrity as a necessary pre-requisite for political and economic progress. However, it is disheartening that the generality of Nigerians are quick to “hail” his exemplary record but reluctant to play their own part in support of his national crusade which they purport to endorse. Yet they know that without their buy-in and self-motivated adoption of the Buhari corrective crusade against corruption in government and indiscipline in the society, they are merely paying lip-service to the legacy. Ask not what more Buhari can do; ask what you can do in support of his crusade against personal and social indiscipline.

    Among the trending acts of gross indiscipline that Nigerians, especially urban elite, brazenly indulge in is ignoring traffic lights. This malady was rightly diagnosed as psychiatric by the FRSC which appropriately introduced compulsory psychiatric examination for culprits but it seems to be spreading like an epidemic across the nation today. Such a life-endangering act of indiscipline is perpetrated in broad daylight by supposedly civilized urban elite!

    Another outrageous case of indiscipline frequently unleashed on innocent road users with reckless abandon hit the headlines recently when irate commercial drivers deliberately blocked the ever-busy Kaduna-Abuja highway for more than 12 hours in a protest against the killing of a bus driver by a  policeman   on the road after he allegedly refused to part with a N2,000 bribe. The Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai who eventually pacified the protesting drivers did not spare them for such misguided protest.  ”However, grief and a sense of loss do not justify imposing such pains on other citizens as the protesting drivers have done by blocking a very busy highway. They have left many people stranded for several hours and caused considerable distress.”

    These two incidents capture the negative attitudinal and behavioural traits that Nigerians exhibit frequently that not only underscore the inherent character challenges that have to be overcome but also demonstrate the impact that such undesirable tendencies have on the prospects for developing a supportive mind-set among citizens for success of good governance policies and programmes. Such behavioural patterns indicate high potential for citizens to deliberately act in conflict with laws and policies intended for the overall interest of the nation. This calls for vigorous sensitization on the need for citizens to contribute their quota to the success of meaningful public policies towards national progress by regarding the task of governance as the joint responsibility of citizen and government.

    So indeed there are two sides to the problem with Nigeria. The leadership aspect has been identified and is being subjected to corrective measures by the democratic opportunities for periodic review, recall and replacement. But the followership fiasco is getting worse on virtually all fronts. Gross indiscipline is complicated by orchestrated incitement against democratic institutions and processes, exploiting the widespread political ignorance of the masses.

    Now that we have a purposeful president with a mass followership and a corrective agenda, the next four years could be our best chance to bring the masses back from the wailing wall. If only our crisis-mongering, blame –gaming and empire-building political elite would put long-term national interest above all else and stop running down the best efforts of a principled and patriotic leader to stop the rot.

    • Akanbi, politician, wrote from Ibadan.

  • The bigger walls of prisons

    As the Nigerian Correctional Service Bill was signed into Law by President Muhammadu Buhari, repealing the Nigerian Prisons Service Acts of 1972, the walls around the convicts shall be called correctional facilities, not prisons anymore.

    Nice as it sounds, it took 11 years for the bill to scale through to become law, a primary indication of the reflections of a system that sees those behind the walls as the only prisoners in our society. But that apart, it’s good news that one of the biggest crime-breeding plants in our system has been demolished. But this also depends largely on whether the law exists on paper alone or its provisions will be attended to by the concerned departments.

    In as much as the law is expected to put in place a framework for the rehabilitation and transformation of inmates and address inadequate funding for the prisons, full implementation of its provisions will help the society overcome crime recycles in the society through the outdated prisons system.

    Most notorious criminals who mastermind biggest crimes are often ex-convicts. It is then smart for a government that is doing everything to curb crimes to also move our prisons from its current state of being a breeding ground for hardened criminals to the actual correctional confinements which the new law proposes. In the past, our society threw accused and convicted persons into prisons like we never expected them back in the free society, and when they come out, they unleash mayhem on the rest. The society needs to stand up and charge towards implementation of this new law for it to be effective because it is a victory for all, not just the prisoners.

    The prison is part of the society. In some countries with better prison systems, the correctional system is helping them to reduce crime rates by discouraging its multiplier effects which characterised the old terrible prisons system in the country. All prisoners should have access to counsellors who check on them fortnightly to admonish them and check their correctional progress to prepare their come-back to the free society.

    Correctional facilities are meant to be affiliated to academic institutions to enable inmates continue or start fresh educational programmes as normal persons. Convicted inmates can continue with their lives, even to the point of earning degrees, mastering vocational skills or industrial trainings that prepare them for a sustainable living after their prison terms. They must be enrolled in a standardised correction training programme and take e-courses that reconnects them to a free society. Prisoners are meant to be better in character and knowledge when they come out of incarcerations.

    The new law provides for welfare of inmates and workers; it also empowers the state Comptroller of Prisons Service to reject new intakes where the prison in question is already filled to capacity. The provisions of the law are as well the biggest challenges our prison system has faced over time. While the erstwhile budgetary provisions went down the drain due to corrupt practices, a visit to our prisons will leave one with goose pimples and tears over the deplorable states the inmates were kept. It is better imagined talking about the size and healthcare facilities; predictably, no one is expected to come out of such incarceration as a friend of the free society but frustrated, wrecked and condemned.

    A national institute that will develop correctional programmes for inmates and monitor their progress should be established as an independent agency away from the prison service administration. It should be a policy-oriented agency for learning, innovations and leadership centre that shapes and advances effective correctional practice for inmates across the nation.

    One major crisis rocking the prisons management is our judicial system. People who commit lesser offences tend to stay long in prisons without trials, thereby turning them to become hardened criminals they were not meant to be; and this is how exactly our prisons have been converted to a breeding ground for hardened criminals who found their ways back into the society only to spread the virus far and wide particularly among the youths.

    There are thousands of suspects awaiting trials but languishing in the prisons. There are other thousands who are still undergoing trials but already started prison terms; some have their trials inconclusive and serving limitless prison terms without sentence. The injustice against people wrongly and barbarically incarcerated in our prisons are enough a curse to impede progress of the nation. Their souls cry for justice every day in agony! It is pathetic and utterly inhuman to allow someone spend half his lifetime behind bars as mere suspect. It is absurd!

    The national institute will also help on public advocacy to ensure re-orientation concerning inmates, making people to accept that prisons are part of the society, and that it is a correctional facility not just for punitive purpose but a place designed to shape offenders and return them back to the society with skills and attitudes that will help them to be useful and productive citizens.

    To have better products from the correctional facilities, inmates’ limited rights to communication, good health care facilities and access to growth programme should be fully respected. Abusive and inhuman conditions at correctional facility violate prisoners’ rights against cruel and unusual punishment. Programmes on substance abuse, anger management, leisure management, volunteer services, chaplaincy, sex offender programmes and others are integral part of correctional facilities schemes.

    Rights NGOs are usually incorporated into the correctional facility system and should function with the correctional federal institute. The word prisons or prisoners are utterly derogatory to the correctional objectives for which incarcerations are meant to fulfil. Great men have come out of prisons to be masters of industries and celebrities.

    Kevin Mitnick was a former hacker who was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list before launching his own security firm; Frank William Abagnale was a world-famous con man by age 21 but now runs his own private fraud consulting company. Former Nixon aide, Charles Colson spent a year in federal prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandal and then started Prison Fellowship and Larry Jay Levine was sentenced to 10 years in prison but later used his prison experience to start his company, ‘Wall Street Prison Consultants’. What about Stephen Richards who spent nine years in prison for selling marijuana but later became professor of criminal justice in life?

    The list of people who have been incarcerated and come out of prisons to become influential persons in the society is unlimited. It is arguable that where they served their prison terms is a significant factor on what they have become. It is often said jokingly that if Akon had served prison terms in Nigeria, his story would have been different entirely.

    The new Minister for Interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola,  former governor of Osun State is a seasoned administrator and that experience is expected to serve as a big instrument at driving implementation of the new correctional service law which just came alive  as he takes the mantle of leadership in that sector.

    What we make out of convicts have larger impacts on our society. In the end, the bigger walls of prisons are not the ones cast around people kept in national incarceration facilities, but the fears of insecurity our hearts are shrouded in when we remember that the danger posed by justice melted at other fellows in the society has grown to become a monster that terrorises everyone by the day.

     

    • Daini is the chairman of Igbogbo/Bayeku LCDA, Lagos State.