The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Two years prison term for N23 billion fraud?

    Two years prison term for N23 billion fraud?

    SIR: There is inevitably something comic about this political enterprise of ours. N23.3 billion stolen by one John Yakubu Yusuf, a former Assistant Director in the Police Pension Office, in another classic now known as the Police Pension Scam, and after months of back and forth, he gets two years imprisonment with an option of N750, 000 fine only?

    What does the country get? What do the people get? Shock perhaps mild disbelief, pain and destroyed hopes.

    Can I ask, did our Government not spend more than N750,000 to prosecute that man? Gleefully, the matter is reported as plea bargain – the arrest of justice and its subsequent trial on the altar of bargain. By the time bargain is closed, the highest bidder is throwing a party. Sounds to me more like justice auctioned to the highest bidder.

    I thought there is something referred to as the Mischief rule in the Canons of Interpretation, a rule which solemnly calls on today’s actors in the theatre of law and justice to reach out to the original intention of the parliament, to help them unearth the mind of the then makers of the law, to order their steps in doing justice. Was it the intention of lawmakers that a man guilty of stealing N23.3 billion be handed a two-year sentence that can be exchanged for a paltry sum of N750, 000?

    I think not. Some have even attempted to advance the argument that after all the man has forfeited 32 properties to the state and returned part of the loot. I am confident that position would be easily rubbished by the submission of any Undergraduate Law Student studying elementary Criminal Law. Is the administration of our Criminal Justice system not rooted in punishing both the “mens rea” i.e. Intention and the “actus reus” i.e. Act of an Offence?

    Where a man steals N23.3 billion as we have in this very ugly story and is later caught, and by reason of his being caught turns around, his return of the loot is not an escape route for him. It is incumbent on the Law to still go ahead and punish his criminal mind. The Law presupposes that his act of stealing is first and foremost anchored on the criminal intent built in his mind, which is buttressed by the fact that if he wasn’t caught, he would automatically have escaped with the loot.

    More importantly, the punishment of his criminal intent is to serve as a deterrent to the others who may want to ride on the crest of his fraudulent success. Certainly, it is one case that will stall tall in our Hall of Fame of national absurdities for a long time to come. It is the saddest judgement I have ever heard of, it is the greatest attack on our collective intelligence.

    Beneath this mess simply lies our fatal inability to live up to reasonably expected behaviour as it obtains in other climes. Every arm of government regales in the exercise of its powers ambushing the people and nailing the remnant of their hopes and aspirations of justice to the cross. Definitely those who come after now will ask painful questions of those who seek to mismanage today. Is it not said that Justice must not only be done, but must be manifestly seen to have been done?

    Congratulations to those who have brought us here, for they all will be well remembered. Today our nation is caught in a vice between justice and organised malignity, between a majority of rogues in civilian uniforms and a minority of the people in their right minds.

    Permit me to submit on this poignant notes, that it is not the virtues of a government official that restrains him from wrongdoing, neither is it the vices of the demagogue that urges him on, rather the plain, natural history of all political Institution coupled with the aggregation of the will and consent of the ordinary people written in just laws, and backed up continuously by a fearlessly independent and courageous judiciary is the safeguard of sanity and survival of every human society.

    This is a code locked in the immortal Latin maxim, “Fiat Justicia, Ruat Coelum” meaning, “Do Justice, even if Heaven will fall”. Once we lose this, we lose everything.

    • Olusola Adegbite, Esq.

    Kubwa, Abuja.

  • Rotational presidency key to peace

    Rotational presidency key to peace

    SIR: Why is it that Nigerians cannot relate rotational presidency among the six geopolitical zones to the federal character policy that seeks to ensure that no ethnic group is marginalized in governmental businesses and appointments? The argument that zoning may prevent the best candidate for the presidential position suggests that some zones have no presidential materials.

    What manner of reasoning? How can a highly mixed and pluralistic society succeed without a constitutional succession order?

    If entrenched in the constitution, rotational presidency would have outlawed the arbitrariness that engendered the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, and the opportunism of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan that made him to upturn the rotational arrangement.

    Rotational presidency among the six geopolitical zones should complement the federal character policy that is recognised in Nigeria’s statutes. Those opposing it should tell us their proposal for a better political order. If the legislators mean well, they should work for the entrenchment of rotational presidency or its better alternative in the constitution before the end of 2013. Nigeria cannot survive as an amorphous society; every ethnic group naturally bothers about the ethnic nationality of the President.

    Rotational presidency was calculated to establish order and stability. Religious fanaticism and crime thrive better in a disorderly society, such as Nigeria. President Goodluck Jonathan should stop creating confusion about Boko Haram. He and his supporters should tell the international community what they did with Nigeria’s political order, as represented in rotational presidency. Moreover, they should explain what is happening with Nigeria’s wealth and mass poverty.

    Why do some people at the helm of affairs get “personal money” to donate boreholes and offer scholarships, while the overwhelming majority gets less than they deserve from the same system?

    Yes, Nigerian rulers are shouting Boko Haram as a way of distraction from their politico-economic crimes. Unless the country is orderly with political rotation and economic equity, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would remain the spoiler. Let the party keep resisting everything that can bring peace and stability, including rotational presidency among the six geopolitical zones, and an electoral commission whose principal officers are not chosen by the PDP; if one Boko Haram capitulates, another will resurge.

     

    • Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph. D,

    University of Ilorin

     

  • From the cell phone

    From the cell phone

    For Gbenga Omotoso

    I believe the dialogue on the back page of The Nation last Thursday “Obasanjo meets Tukur “was your creation? If it’s not, then, OBJ deserves a medal for telling that Tukur the truth and nothing but the truth. From B.F. Odugbemi, Osun State

    Obasanjo remains unshakeable in PDP and in politics. He said anybody that is not performing, elected or whatever, should resign. It is now clear to Tukur that, the wind of OBJ is blowing and anybody that dares him would be blown away. Tukur has forgotten that the President is a product of OBJ and the President cannot ignore him. The President and his cohort should resign honourably because the problem of PDP is the problem of Nigeria. From Hamza Ozi Momoh Dockyard Apapa Lagos.

    Your ‘truly reliable source’ didn’t give you the full gist of what OBJ did. I also know someone who knows someone who was there. He said OBJ also performed one of those famous Egba songs: ‘Ohun e ri ewi. Ohun e ri, ero. Obasanjo seun e pe ko se e e!’ My source said he did this with his legendary scintillating circling dance steps with his flowing agbada almost hitting Tukur. He said although Tukur managed a wry smile, that was enough for the PDP Chair to know the conversation was over! I dey laugh o! Regards. From Olu.

    Re-Obasanjo meeks Tukur. The meeting between the two was well covered. It was a moody and funny session. I give kudos to the coverage. From Lanre Oseni.

    Your piece was up to par as usual. But, I didn’t know when you became a comedian but your ‘cracker’ could not crack my rib. From Emeka Onwujiobi.

    The Super Eagles played well in the first-half but went to sleep in the second-half. They felt that they had won and relaxed their play. They must wake up in their remaining games or stand the risk of not qualifying to the second round. Anonymous.

    How Obama took his second oath of office, notably, is instructive – one hand on legendary Abraham Lincoln’s Bible and the other on Tita NicMartin Luther King Jr’s. It’ll be wise for Obama and other leaders not only to lean on Bibles of his/their great worlds, but LEAN on their Jesus-God for daily strength/guidance. Anonymous.

    For Dare Olatunji

    Re-Obama: Retrorpect and prospect. God destined Obama to be in his present position. He further destined him for a second term, despite all odds. I am convinced he did not disappoint Americans and I am sure he won’t, this time, too. That is democracy in action rather than the money-baggism and thuggery tendencies. May we get there. Amen! From Lanre Oseni.

    I appreciate your write up entitled Obama 2.0. You didn’t mention the killing of Osama bin Ladin as one of his achievements. May be you avoided it for security reasons. Thanks. From Dele Ajayi, Ado Ekiti.

    Your Editorial on Cash trafficking failed to tell us what the law says on limits and punishment. If people are declaring hundreds of thousands of dollars in the first instance, even when they have more, then, something must be terribly wrong. You cannot take more than $10,000 in or out of America, the richest nation on earth, without going through the ‘pressing iron’. Sanusi has a lot to tell Nigerians on why our forex market has become such a huge casino. Anonymous.

    Sir, I have just read your article. It was both fascinating and incisive. God bless you. From Adeniyi, Nasarawa.

    Your column At Home and Abroad really inspired me. The story of Obama and some American-racial extremists has the same bearing with the Nigerian situation. Here, in Nigeria, it is not racial but ethnic dominance. It’s a crime for any minority ethnic group to aspire to produce the president or governor in Nigeria; any one who tries incurs the wrath of those who think it’s their birthright to rule Nigeria. This is why there is chaos everywhere in Nigeria because of bad governance and insecurity. But, one day, our story will change for good. From Andrew Ortesegbegi, Benue State.

    Your Obama 2.0 was simply fantastic. How I wish you could see a good Nigerian leader on whom policy-based articles of this type can be replicated. You have done a good job. More ink to your pen. From Folabi Fayeun, Akure.

    Mercifully, President Obama won the election for a second term, not on emotion or sentiment but on solid and verifiable performance. Somebody once said:“Where evidence is compelling, and overwhelming, conviction is inevitable.” Nigerian politicians and the electorate should be more analytically rigorous and less emotive, henceforth, for the benefit of the country. From Adegoke O. O, Ikhin, Edo State.

     

    For Segun Gbadegesin

    Re-The national interest in education. I was moved by ‘What Nigeria fails to put into the education of her citizens, she cannot expect to get out of the economy’. One hopes the President, Vice President, Senate-President, Speaker, House of Representatives, Minister of Education and all the state Governors read the write-up and revamp their concerns on the state of public education; the decay and backwardness and reenforce the national interest in education. The nation must take interest in the education of its citizens; upon such rest national integration, development and productivity. The totality of education is of public interest; yet the totality of education needed not be funded by the public treasury.

    Government, representing the public, must regulate, mobilise and provide an enabling environment for education of the citizens. Government may subsidise, pioneer and invest in public-private partnership for education. Certainly, private enterprise on education would be encouraged and promoted to reduce the financial burden and mitigate the inflexibility and slow responses associated with decisions of governments. Government shall supervise and regulate education based on feedback data-gathering. Basic syllabus and other standards should be decided by the government, subject to negotiation and affordability by citizens and the entrepreneurs.

    It must know and share the responsibility for the standard of citizen-education. It is better to have citizens in control than finance education with taxes, royalties or booties and spoils, accruable from resources forcefully appropriated by governments. Nigerians do not have sufficient trust in governments, acclaimed to be corrupt, alienated and self serving. The problem in the present, is that government hijacked the responsibility for education as an excuse for misappropriation of public funds.

    There are opportunities in other sectors for squandering our money; education is the least attractive. Government financing of education served the few in governments and their contractors much more than the citizens. Governments are not sincerely interested and are not committed to public education. They are not representing the citizens and the claim to public representation is false and a hypocrisy. The politicians bargained for power and short-changed the citizens because of pervasive ignorance, arrogance, rudeness and crudity. Education is the panacea. Good and empowering education would upset the status quo and would liberate the exploited citizens: milked sheep, goats and cows.

    Governments are not going to embrace your sensitisation of the public on education. You need to mobilise the citizens to take their destiny into their hands and wrestle their education from the government. Let’s not look up to governments or rely on them for education that liberates and emancipates citizens. Governments and their contractors are not as stupid as we wrongly presume. They do not need your preaching. The masses need more than preaching, praying and fasting to be delivered. They need a Moses (Prophet) to lead, without the desperation, confusion and deception of Boko Haram. You may study the history of Western education from the Greek and Roman times to contemporary trends in education. Our national population and resources are sufficient to make contributions to the world. We need committed mobilisers who may not be in government as it were. Please, let us strategise. From Engr.A.I. Adewumi, Ilorin.

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    I have read through your ‘Osun: Two years on’ in The Nation on Sunday of January 27. Kindly send a copy to my mail. I believe it is a must-have document. Many thanks. From Geoffrey.

    Sir, I agree with you totally with respect to the achievements made so far by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. But I disagree that he should tone down his radicalism. You know it is good to have such radicals at home because of the radicals outside. I think it is good for Osun. Anonymous, The Polytechnic, Ibadan.

    I am an Ijesha man trying to come back home some 37 years after in another part of the country. I am very happy with Ogbeni Aregbesola. But the uniforms were brought to Osogbo in trailers. Can’t these be sewn in Osun? Please praise and criticise when necessary. This will make the man not to lose focus. From Tona.

    Re: ‘Osun: Two years on’, so far , with the ongoing two-carriage-roads in the state, I say kudos to Ogbeni Aregbesola. However, His Excellency should talk less, increase the pay of the OYES from N10,000 to N20,,, because N10,000 cannot take such workers home. That kind of pay could lead to inefficiency, low standard of living and, consequently, corrupt tendencies!. So, which problem have we solved? By the massive indebtedness of N40 billion that Ogbeni Aregbesola announced he inherited from his predecessor, how did he (Aregbesola) miraculously have a savings of N10billion? From Lanre.

    Tunji, do you honestly think that for a state like Osun, it makes sense spending N3billion annually on free lunch for pupils? Can’t this money be injected into the agricultural revolution of the state? From Chijioke Uwasomba, OAU, Ile-Ife.

    Honestly, people in Osun have now truly seen the difference between Oyinlola and Aregbesola. If there were to be a contest between the two, there may be surprises. Anonymous.

    Re:’Thank you, Deacon Ositelu’ and ‘Well done, worthy cops’ (The Nation on Sunday of January 13). I appreciate you for showing gratitude to the late Deacon Ayo Ositelu. His name rang a bell in my secondary and tertiary education years (1974-1986). He was a popular, simple man. May his soul rest in peace (Amen). In your first paragraph, you mentioned 70 years on April 6 and in the second-to-the-last paragraph, you said it was March, please correct as appropriate. Secondly, sometimes, some of those policemen impress. I agree. From Lanre Oseni.

    Sir, you too should help groom journalists that would speak truth to power and change Nigeria; and thanks for recognising those cops. From Feyi Akeeb Kareem.

    Ayo Ositelu passed on on January 9, 2013, not December 9. Printer’s devil? From Ayo Ojeniyi.

     

  • Maku lectures Ezekwesili on brickbats

    Maku lectures Ezekwesili on brickbats

    A few days ago, a former World Bank vice president (African Region) and also onetime Education minister, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, knowingly decided to step on the tail of an adder. While delivering the convocation lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), she blamed the late Umaru Yar’Adua government and the present Dr Goodluck Jonathan administration for squandering about $67 billion or N10.619 trillion left in the national coffers by the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo presidency. She was truly unsparing in her assessment of the two administrations’ financial prudence. Said she: “They squandered the significant sum of $45billion in foreign reserve account and another $22billion in Excess Crude Account, being direct savings from increased earnings from oil that the Obasanjo administration handed over to the successor government in 2007… Six years after the administration I served handed over such humongous national wealth to another one, most Nigerians, but especially the poor, continue to suffer the effects of failing public health and education systems as well as decrepit infrastructure and battered institutions.”

    Not one to leave bad enough alone, Ezekwesili continued even more forcefully: “One cannot but ask what exactly does this level of brazen misappropriation of public resources symbolise? Where did all that money go? Where is the accountability for the use of these resources and the additional several hundred million dollars realised from oil sale by the two administrations that have governed our nation in the last five years? How were these resources applied or more appropriately misapplied? Tragic choices.”

    Well, the adder struck back almost instantaneously on Sunday through a press conference addressed by the Information minister, Mr labaran Maku, who was flanked by the Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe; Economic Adviser, Prof. Nwanze Okedigbo; and Special Adviser on Performance Monitoring, Prof. Sylvester Monye. (By the way, the revenge mission would have been more colourfully undertaken by Dr Okupe directly, with or without assistance, for that is his forte). But since the position of chief traducer was conceded to Maku, how did he perform? According to the minister, “The statement by the former World Bank vice president that the governments of Presidents Musa Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan have squandered $67 billion (including $45 billion in foreign reserve and $22 billion in the Excess Crude Account) left by the Obasanjo Administration at the end of May 2007 is factually incorrect.” And he continued: “At the end of May 2007, Nigeria’s gross reserves stood at $43.13 billion – comprising the CBN’s external reserves of $31.5 billion, $9.43 billion in the Excess Crude Account, and $2.18 billion in the Federal Government’s savings. These figures can be independently verified from the CBN’s records. The figure of $67 billion alleged in her statement is therefore clearly fictitious.”

    But this was as far as civility would carry the vengeful quartet. Soon they would soar to incredible level of cynical dismissiveness. Said the clearly incensed Maku: “We also found Mrs. Ezekwesili’s interrogation of the educational system somewhat disingenuous and borderline hypocritical. During her tenure as Minister of Education between 2006 and 2007, she collected total sum of N352.3 billion from direct budgetary releases. In addition, she received about N65.8 billion under the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Fund, and over N40 billion from the Education Trust Fund (ETF) during her time as Minister of Education. In view of these humongous allocations, few legitimate questions arise. What did she do with all these allocations? What impact did it have on the education sector? One wonders if our educational system would have been better today if these allocations were properly applied.” Oh, so, it must be tit for tat. Ezekwesili had questioned what the Yar’Adua and Jonathan governments did with the ‘humongous’ foreign reserve left by Obasanjo; and in turn Maku and his men are now questioning what the former Education minister did with the ‘humongous’ allocation to the education sector under her watch.

    Hardball is not in a position to determine what Dr. Wale Babalakin did or didn’t do with former Delta State governor, Chief James Onanafe (the same Onanafe) Ibori, for the case is still in court. But it is interesting that when he had disagreement with the government on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway concession, it was time for the government to take him to the EFCC showers. Had Ezekwesili considered the delicate temperament of the Jonathan government, especially its bilious intolerance of dissent, she would have measured her criticism of its profligacy. Now that she is even challenging Maku and other government champions to a public debate, a gauntlet the voluble duo will not take up, let her beware of the acrid smell of vengeance wafting in the air as the empire strikes back.

     

     

  • Orji’s Abuja jamboree

    Orji’s Abuja jamboree

    SIR: Abia state is endowed with many eminent citizens who have made their mark in both national and international levels. Quite unfortunately, the state ranks last on the list of most underdeveloped state in the South-east. There is no remarkable federal government presence in the state, and the state government is not doing enough to better the lots of its indigenes.

    It is therefore abominable and shameful that our governor, Chief T.A Orji recently led a team of elected PDP politicians and hangers-on from the state to meet with the PDP national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur in their futile bid to stop an individual, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu from returning to PDP.

    Instead of the Governor going to Abuja to discuss on how to attract basic infrastructure like industries, good roads etc to the state, he and his entourage decided to waste tax-payers money on the jamboree trip. Back home, staff in the local government system and teachers are owed several months arrears of salary and none of them is saying anything about it. Why is it that our elite have refused to speak out in the face of this maladministration and oppression?

    Where are the Ebitu Ukiwes, Joe Irukwus, Ndubuisi Kanus et al? It is now time to speak out or never!!

    • Amanze Obi

    Aba, Abia State.

  • Floating bodies and our identification system

    Floating bodies and our identification system

    SIR: In what looked like prolific actor Kunle Afolayan’s water acrobatic display in the multiple award winning movie,”Figurine”, 40 bodies were found floating in Amansea community, along the border of Anambra and Enugu State. Though surrounding villages in Anambra and Enugu have claimed none of their members are missing, one irrefutable fact is that, the Nigeria government lacks grounded mechanism to identify her citizens either living or dead. The records are not just there. Those bodies are sons, brothers and fathers of Nigerians. And if they are immigrants, do we have their details? Our borders are so porous that you can ship a 20 truck loads of human beings in if you know the right Custom and Immigration officers to pay.

    I do hope this would be the last of such shameless lack of responsibility on the part of government and security agencies. Government needs to step up the ante of surveillance through a bio-metric data base with central and state control boards. This data base would be a panacea to planning, an aid to government policy plan, a means to identify fraud, combat terrorism, create a leverage to citizen’s entitlement and to access public services. Inasmuch as I don’t like comparing Nigeria with the United States of America, there is nothing stopping a responsible government from running a Social Security Number (SSN) system for permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents. These security numbers can further be used to manage tax collection and social welfare.

    In 2007, the National Assembly passed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act. It has the mandate to establish, own, operate, maintain and manage the National Identity Database in Nigeria, register persons covered by the Act, assign a Unique National Identification Number (NIN) and issue General Multi-Purpose Cards (GMPC) to those registered individuals, and to harmonize and integrate existing identification databases in Nigeria.

    The NIMC must understand that the ability to properly identify a person to their true identity is central to their operation, with wider implications for operations against crime and terrorism. These can’t be done by a shabbily put together team. Comprehensive training has to be carried out with a broad based campaign orientation that would reach the hinterlands and all those staying outside the shores of the country. In recent times, illegal immigration has become one of the key political issues for the country, because of unending menace of Boko haram whose buck base of suicide bombers are from neighboring countries like Niger and Mali. To get anywhere, we must be ready to adequately manage the borders!

    Aside the collation of the bio metric data and ID card now, a sustainable upgrading mechanism needs to be devised. Nigeria is one of the few countries, you can enter without adequate documentation and nobody cares. You don’t even have to state when you would be leaving the country. NIMC needs to work out collation strategies for births and deaths, liaise with the High courts, Prisons, and Police to get updates on criminal records. With National Emergency Management Authority to get details during disasters, Immigration agencies( Airport authority, sea ports, borders), etc. Again and most importantly, NIMC must be conscious that the ID card bring about socio-economic and political integration as against segregation that might be caused by nepotism, ethnic bigotry and religious fanaticism. The horrible scenarios of Rwanda Tutsi and Hutus must not be allowed to replicate itself here.

    • Sulaimon Mojeed-Sanni

    Lagos

     

  • The point missed by supporters of same sex marraige

    The point missed by supporters of same sex marraige

    SIR: I have been following the reports on the National Assembly’s plan to enact law to prohibit same-sex marriage in The Nation. I have read a copy of the bill passed in the Senate and that currently being debated in the House.

    The bill is good because it commands bi-partisan and pan-Nigerian support. Twenty six senators and 49 members on the House signed on to the bill. Those who proposed the bill cut across party, religion and regional lines. The bill defines marriage to be between a man and a woman; it denies recognition to same-sex contraptions contracted in other nations and spells out punishments for those who attempt to conduct same-sex marriages. This is where I have a problem with the bill.

    It specifies a punishment of three years as punishment for the same-sex partners. For those who attend or abet the practice it spells out a five-year punishment or a N2000 fine for an individual or for a maximum fine of N50,000 for a group of persons. Considering the billions available to the gay lobby, the fine is not a deterrent. The amount should be raised to N200,000 for any individual with no option for a group. Additionally, I would like to highlight two other issues. Firstly, when this bill was passed in the Senate, the BBC, CNN, Sahara Reporters and several online commentators claimed that the bill proposed a 14-year jail sentence for participating in a same-sex marriage and draconian penalty for those running NGOs for homosexuals. After reading the bill, I now know this is a lie. I am not surprised because the entire gay-rights issue is built on lies. Homosexual activists are simply using this human-rights lie to force their unhealthy habits on the rest of society.

    Secondly, in your report on Tuesday January 15, you quoted some human rights activists who claimed that the proposed law violates sections 37 and 42 of the Nigerian constitution, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights of the United Nations and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. After reading your article, I downloaded the three documents and read them for myself. My comments are as follows;

    The Universal Declaration on Human Rights (Article 2) and the African (Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (chapter 1, Article 2); both rejects discrimination based race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune and birth. There was no mention of homosexuality and homosexuality does not fit into any of the criteria. Neither of these documents talk about marriage.

    Section 42 of the Nigerian Constitution is too long to be stated here but it guarantees citizens of Nigeria the right to freedom from discrimination based on ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion. Homosexual marriage does not meet any of the criteria listed in section 42, because the constitution does not give freedom from discrimination based on sexual practices/orientation.

    I am convinced that the critics who were quoted on this issue have not read the proposed bill or the laws and charters they claim the new bill violates. It appears the critics of this bill do not realize that the National Assembly is taking a pro-active step to protect the institution of marriage. It is also clear that the critics do not realize that homosexuals are looking for marriage because they will be able to adopt children or use surrogacy to raise children. These will provide them easy access to new homosexual recruits.

    How can anyone say our culture should not influence our laws? Laws are always influenced by culture. The only reason European and North Americans have permitted homosexuality is because these nations have embraced neo-pagan cultures.

    For supporters of the bill, I will say that it is too early to celebrate because a bill only becomes law when it is signed by the President. Today our political elite depends on the West for cheap loans, economic advice, security and family health care, so the question is will President Jonathan sign this bill?

     

    • Nehemiah Sokponba

    Uselu, Benin-City

  • Jonathan’s CNN interview

    Jonathan’s CNN interview

    Last Wednesday, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour interviewed President Goodluck Jonathan on sundry issues affecting Nigeria. As usual, the president’s responses, which many commentators felt were neither guarded nor reflective, nor even accurate, drew much flak. Many of the answers indeed are examples of how not to engage the international media. However, on account of the increasingly visible role Nigeria seems prepared to play in international conflict, Jonathan must cultivate the habit of reassessing his rather distracted performances on the international stage in order to guide his future interactions with the sometimes scabrous and relentless international media.

    The question that elicited the most controversy was the one on the homegrown terror group, Boko Haram. Amanpour had asked Jonathan whether the terror group didn’t pose existential threat to Nigeria. It did, replied the president. But he went further very controversially to offer what seems to him to be the sect’s driving force. Said he: “The sect was not borne out of misrule, definitely not; sometimes people feel it is a result of poverty; but no. Boko Haram is a local terror group and that’s why we call on the rest of the world to work with us, and that is why we are talking about Algeria, we are talking about northern Mali, and our belief is that if you allow terror to exist in any part of the world, it will not just affect that country or that state, it will affect the rest of the globe and we should not play politics with Boko Haram.”

    The president gives the impression that the international media are unaware of how he had dithered on the violent sect, how he had unwisely tried to mollify its rage, how he virtually begged for rapprochement with it, and at a point how he even seemed willing to concede that it smelled of roses in spite of murdering thousands of innocent people. Does Jonathan think Amanpour and the international media could not see through his answers? The value of the Amanpour interview, we must console ourselves, is that finally, and with the world as a witness, Jonathan has made up his mind to fight Boko Haram. Let us hope he can walk the talk better than he answered Amanpour’s questions.

    But on the brief Algerian standoff shortly after France went into Mali, Jonathan was simply unprepared. He had been asked if Nigeria, which is also in Mali, was prepared to contain terror attacks like the one that happened in an Algerian gas plant on January 16 leading to the killing of about 38 workers. “Yes, what happened in Algeria was unfortunate. That is why the government has been working day and night to make sure that we prevent such excesses,” Jonathan replied evasively. It was obvious that after two failed hostage rescue attempts, Nigeria is apparently not ready to confront similar massive terror attack with anything superior to Algeria’s. Amanpour’s question on Nigeria’s preparedness was probably perfunctory anyway.

    But by far the most amusing of Jonathan’s replies to Amanpour’s questions is the one on crude oil theft. Against the background of the Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s estimation last April that 400,000 barrels of oil a day were looted from the country in just one month, and the International Energy Agency’s calculation that $7 billion dollars was lost annually to oil theft, Amanpour sought to know how Jonathan was tackling the issue. “Frankly speaking,” began the president incredulously, “I want the international community to support Nigeria because this stolen crude is being bought by refineries abroad and they know the crude oil was stolen…The world must condemn what is wrong.”

    Jonathan assumes the world cares. More, he assumes the world is not irritated by our helplessness and sloppiness. How does he expect the international community to help those who don’t help themselves? And in any case, it is not true that all the stolen crude is taken to refineries abroad. With the discovery of hundreds of makeshift refineries in the Niger Delta creeks by the military Joint Task Force (JTF), enterprising Nigerians are apparently also participating in the refining bazaar, even as a significant part of what is left is stolen directly and brazenly from vandalised pipelines.

    Hardball rates the Jonathan interview below average.

  • What to do about LASSA fever

    What to do about LASSA fever

    SIR: Lassa fever is an extremely fatal, viral hemorrhagic illness named after Lassa town (in the Yedseram River Valley) in Borno State where it originated in the year 1969. It then spread through West African countries. The virus enters through the bloodstream of the human body, lymph vessels, respiratory tract, and/or digestive tract and can be transmitted to human beings following contamination of broken skin or with the urine droppings of rats that live around homes in rural areas of endemic countries.

    Its symptoms are nausea, bloody vomit, bloody diarrhoea, stomach ache, constipation, hearing deficit, seizures, swallowing difficulty, cough, chest pain, and meningitis, among others. Usually patients who will survive begin to defervesce two to three weeks after onset of disease but patients who have greatest risk of dying usually develop shock, agitation and sometimes grand seizures.

    This kind of disease usually occurs more in the dry season than in the rainy season and it becomes dangerous when the fever is delayed and the symptoms are ignored, hence, the need for immediate check-up and treatment when any of these symptoms are noticed. It is also advised that environments are kept clean this season especially as the heat wave has started to resurface.

    As of January 16, a case of this dreadful disease, Lassa fever, causing three deaths, was confirmed in Benue State. Acting on this, the Federal Ministry of Health donated 4,500 doses of both Ribavirin and Virazole tablets including intravenous drugs to the Benue State government to control the spread of the fever in the state. The warning given by the National Emergency Management Agency in 2012 against possible outbreak of diseases such as cholera, Lassa fever, measles and other skin diseases as a result of the recent flooding that ravaged most states of the federation, readily comes to mind. With the agency’s constant awareness of Lassa fever on its social media platforms, it is really up to everyone to decide whether or not Lassa fever should continually be a threat or not.

    Lassa virus affects approximately 100,000 to 300,000 people in West Africa so we need to be more vigilant and precautious when it comes to the surroundings and littering of the environment. Even if it’s not close to your home, the mindset of “It’s not mine, it’s yours, so why should I care?” should be stopped; we should help each other fight this disease. Keep rodents out of homes and food supplies so that they do not leave droppings on the food; maintain personal hygiene, cover food properly, trap the rats/rodents and keep the home clean. The advantage of sterilizing equipments cannot be over-emphasized in this case and most importantly, for everyone, especially doctors, when in contact with an infected person, wear gloves, masks, laboratory coats, and goggles. Besides, cleanliness is next to Godliness.

     

    • Ojo Adetola

    National Emergency Management Agency, Abuja.

     

  • Kano and the inevitable pill of ‘Okada’ ban

    Kano and the inevitable pill of ‘Okada’ ban

    While working on the official data released last year by the police on the serial killings taking place in Kano State, which stated that between March and June 2012, a total number of 45 people were killed by bike-riding gunmen, another sad news filtered in.

    Gunmen, the news report stated, riding motorcycles, stormed Dakata area of Kano and shot dead five people. This January alone, a conservative estimate shows at least 21 people were killed by gunmen on motor bikes.

    Apart from being antithetical to ideal city transport system, the environmental hazards and dangers the trade poses to the health of the rider and the passenger, the bike is now used by hoodlums — given its runaway pliability — to kill innocent people.

    But Nigerians seem to be at home with the country’s underdevelopment. We loathe changes but love development. We seem so averse to progressive changes, yet we always yearn for changes. We are good at making comparison with advanced countries on issues of development or sanity, yet any attempt by leaders to bring sanity into the system is criticized by the same critics of underdevelopment.

    Any leader who is not progressive in his approach in this age, he is, obviously, doomed for failure. Our social system is ailing. It is the responsibility of a leader to provide the antidote or required pills needed to relieve the indisposed system — however bitter the pills may taste.

    While some people wrongly argue that Kano State government is alienating the people’s “rights to movement” (as if government has banned motorcycles completely) as ‘guaranteed’ by the constitution, they blink over the fact that the right to life is also guaranteed under section 33 (1) of the 1999 constitution. “Every person,” says the 1999 constitution, “has a right to life and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life save in the execution of a sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria”.

    That aside, the responsibility of securing the life and welfare of the citizenry rests squarely on the government. This truism is boldly highlighted by section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 constitution which states: “The security and welfare of the people shall be the PRIMARY purpose of government”. (Emphasis mine). Now, how will you score a leader who makes no effort to discharge his PRIMARY purpose? In a serious clime, failure to do this can spark impeachment sessions in the legislative chambers.

    Until the late 80s (some say early 90s), Nigerians never knew achaba/okada, and the transport system was less chaotic as it is today. We boarded taxis and buses in those days and nothing happened to us. Where, in any advanced society, is achaba/okada operating? It is a sign of chronic underdevelopment.

    Statistics at the emergency units of our hospitals however shows that most of their patients are either the commercial motorcyclists or their passengers. In just Murtala Mohammed Hospital Kano alone, a total of 8,428 cases of male accident victims related to motorcycles were recorded from January to December 2012. Within the same period, 2,367 female sustained injuries through motorcycle-related accidents. And now the sad story: a total of 2,018 people lost their lives last year through road accidents —90 percent related to motorcycles— in just one hospital!

    Given this ugly record, any right-thinking person should applaud a leader who is making efforts to reverse the trend and discharge his PRIMARY constitutional responsibility.

    I hear varied arguments from the sophistry commentariat, with some people arguing that government should have taken some palliative measures before taking the decision in order to forestall the domino effect. Let us first look at what the present administration so far put in place. An abridged overview of government’s empowerment policies reveals not just mollifying measures but a solid empowerment bedrock.

    As part of sanitizing the transport system and empowering the teeming youths, Kano State government established Kano Road Transport and Traffic Authority (KAROTTA). So far KAROTTA employs nearly 1,000 personnel, and soon it’s manpower strength would hit 1,500. A total of 4,004 people have been employed in the civil service. Government has procured 1,000 ordinary taxis, 1,000 luxury taxis (brand new Toyota Corollas under the Graduate Drivers Scheme), about 700 buses in order to sanitize, ease and provide employment opportunities to people.

    The present administration, in terms of providing micro credits is second to none. The CBN stated this when the governor of the bank pronounced Kano highest in terms of provision of micro-credits last year. In terms of empowerment initiatives, Kano also tops the index as the administration received various local and international awards. Toward building a solid empowerment bedrock, the present administration has established 44 craft schools and 44 micro-finance banks in each of the 44 local governments of the state. These craft schools are open for interested indigenes of Kano to enroll as no qualification criteria is emphasized. There are also 21 training institutes established by Governor Kwankwaso on assumption into office. In terms of education, one can boldly say Kano steals the limelight. Now, what better palliative than government’s commitment to education and vocational trainings?

    A grotesque elevation of commercial bike business also gives government worries as findings show that most of them are coming from other states. Take a tour to our major motor parks and see how motorcycles and their owners are transported in trucks into Kano in the morning. Take a detour in the evening and see how they are transported back to their abodes. They come from neighboring states in trucks in the morning and return to their base at night. Ban on motorcycles in Jos, Abuja, Lagos and four other states, has brought about the influx of motorcycles into Kano State, further bringing chaos into the system.

    No doubt there is good intention in government’s decision to bring sanity into the system and safeguard the lives of the citizens.

    I just hope the critics now see the merit —and the merit— of Kwankwaso’s decision.

     

    • Jaafar is Special Assistant to Kano State governor on Media & Public Relations