The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • SOS to Kogi state govt

    SIR: I wish to call on Kogi State government to rehabilitate the abandoned Akpanya district roads in Igalamela/Odolu local government area of Kogi State.

    The deplorable state of these important roads linking all Akpanya villages with other parts of Nigeria not only exposes motorists to great risks of accidents, but has, by extension, led to the closure of the only existing commercial bank in the district thereby creating more hardship for the entire communities in the areas who patronize the bank.

    Akpanya District is a border area with four main access roads to other parts of Nigeria. Regrettably, all the under-mentioned linking roads are extremely bad.

    The Odolu/Akpanya road with a narrow rickety wooden bridge constructed at Alakwa over Oweh River many decades ago by our colonial masters is now a death trap to both motorists and motorcyclist who ply the road.

    The Akpanya-Alloma road was last rehabilitated in the early seventies by the Ayangba Agricultural Development Project and has not been touched again since then.

    The two access roads linking Agbedo-Akpanya with our neighbouring Enugu state at UNADU and ITCHI respectively are always un-motorable during rainy seasons to the extent that the entire district becomes landlocked throughout the period.

    I, therefore, request Governor of Kogi State Alhaji Idris Wada to come to the rescue of these communities by rehabilitating Odolu/Akpanya and Alloma-Akpanya roads respectively to enable the communities enjoy the benefits of rural banking scheme for enhanced socio-economic development of the area.

    • Jacob Osayi,

    Maitana, Abuja

  • Abia’s scourge of ghost workers

    When Abia state governor Chief Theodore Orji introduced reforms in the civil service of the state which include promotion of workers due for promotion, approval of N21,000 as minimum wage, retiring those due, transferring of service of non-indigenes to their states of origin after due consultation with their home state, and insistence on biometric data capturing of all workers and pensioners in the state civil service, some cynics who believed in business as usual criticised the reforms severely.

    All sorts of misinterpretations such as political witch-hunting, victimization and others were read into the reforms. Hatchet writers were hired to condemn the reforms and workers especially junior ones who were unaware of the rot in the service were instigated against the state government to ensure that reforms failed.

    But being a thoroughbred civil servant himself, the governor remained undaunted in his pursuit and implementation of the people-oriented reforms especially the issue of biometric data capturing of all workers in the council areas to avoid the menace of ghost workers.

    On several occasions, some workers in the council areas openly protested the non-payment of their monthly salaries and allowances without telling the world the real reason behind their rage: their opposition to the biometric data capturing exercise.

    At a stage, the question people were asking is why should genuine workers in the state civil service or any organization be opposed to biometric data capturing especially as it has become a global trend for easy identification of individuals? What were the fears if they were qualified and genuinely employed? But the resistance was a clear picture of how corrupted the civil service has become in the country over the years and the insistence by most state governments across the federation on biometric data capture of workers after the approval of the N18,000 minimum wage was to ensure accountability and transparency in the civil service.

    So why were workers in Abia state opposed to the idea? The answer is now clear to Nigerians with the recent report of the exercise in the council areas which showed that not less than 1, 727 workers were ghost workers. These were workers that did not show up during the biometric verification that lasted for months, whereas they have been receiving salaries and allowances for years from the state government.

    According to the chairman of the biometric data implementation committee, Cosmos Ndukwe, Aba South Council area with 245 ghost workers topped the list, followed by Isiala Ngwa South with 153, and Osisioma Ngwa with 138 ghost workers. Others were Ikwuano, 117; Umuahia North, 123; Umuahia South, 101; Isiala Ngwa North, 92; Umunneochi, 65; while Ugwuanagbo Local Government Area had the least with 28 ghost workers.

    The committee had consequently recommended that the 1727 workers who did not show up for verification be removed from the payrolls of the councils where they existed less those that may have genuine excuses.

    The outcome of the biometric data execise is a clear indication of what has been obtainable in the civil service both at state and national levels for years. It has exposed the level of corruption in the civil service which supposed to serve as the backbone of governance. It was the same civil servants who would always accuse the government of not paying their salaries and allowances, but has at the same time made themselves a conduit to milk the government of public funds through the ghost-workers’ syndrome.

    Government is a continuity and governance is all encompassing, because everyone who is in a leadership position at any level has a role to play to ensure good governance but that has not been the case in Abia civil service as shown by the recent biometric data capture reports. It is clear now that civil servants are a stumbling block in the delivery of democracy dividends to people of the state.

    If not, how would one explain that a small state like Abia state with 17 council areas, monthly allocation of N3.3 billion and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N250 million monthly and monthly wage bill of N2.5 billion cope with such number of ghost workers and be able to embark on any capital intensive projects as being witnessed in the state today? Among these are the construction of ultra modern workers’secretariat, international conference centre and other money spinning projects.

    It takes more than prudence in the management of public resources for the state government to have been able to achieve what it has achieved so far. Now that Governor Orji and his government have been vindicated with the outcome of the reforms in the civil service, what next for those behind or responsible for the frauds in the service?

    We have had such cases in the past where perpetrators of such frauds were left off the hook to enjoy their loots. Today top civil servants are among the richest Nigerians because they loot public funds with impunity, live above their incomes and acquire material wealth through proxies.

    For these obvious reasons, Abia state government should act beyond accusing the top civil servants of aiding and abetting the menace of ghost workers in the state. It should bring all those who were directly involved in the fraud to book and retrieve from them all they have acquired with the loots over the years. Such action will serve as a deterrent to other workers with such intentions.

    Other state governments should take a clue from the Abia government’s success in that direction because the menace of ghost workers has become a tradition. Many see it as means of getting their share of the national cake.

    That is why I subscribed to the call by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi for a reduction in the over-bloated civil service because it has become more of a problem than solution to our country’s problems. Most of the civil servants like in Aba for example are more of businessmen and women than workers. They only go to offices when they like and when it is time to collect salaries and allowances. Majority of them are redundant in offices and public money which would have been used for the provision of basic amenities were being paid to them on monthly basis without them making any meaningful contributions in return.

    The Abia discovery is an addendum to the various scams that have permeated the civil service across the country. Before now, we had pension scam, subsidy scam and other forms of scams perpetrated by top civil servants entrusted with public funds. With these sordid revelations, where is the moral justification for civil servants to criticize our political leaders, where they have failed in small offices entrusted in them? It calls for soul searching and sober reflection on where our problems really come from. Is it from us as a people or from leaders as custodians of public resources?

    • Adimba, a youth corps member wrote from Abuja

  • If only slow can also be steady

    If only slow can also be steady

    President Goodluck Jonathan has once again tried to justify his government’s apparent lack of speed in enunciating and implementing policies. At a Christmas Service held at the Cathedral Church of The Advent, Life Camp, Gwarinpa, Abuja on Tuesday, the president said experience had taught him serious mistakes often accompanied hasty decisions. To him, it was better to approach matters cautiously – in other words, better to be safe than sorry. Very pretty philosophy. The president had said: “Sometimes, people say this government is slow. Yes, by human thinking, we are slow, but I can say that we are not slow. Government must think things properly before it acts. When you don’t think through things properly, or when you rush, you will make mistakes. It is more difficult to correct errors. You can ask those who build houses. Government will not, because of the perception, begin to rush. But where we are required to act very fast, we will do so, just like we did during the recent flood disasters.”

    It must be painful for Jonathan to candidly admit slowness, with all its pejorative connotations. Perhaps, he has never heard of what it means for a president to think on his feet. Perhaps, too, he assumes that slowness or cautiousness invariably implies correctness. Statesmen, diplomats and great leaders all know that of all the major components of great decisions, slowness is absolutely not one of them. But if that method makes the president happy and guarantees his subjects peaceful life than they would otherwise have if the president rushed his decisions, then perhaps we must support him, and give him a long rope to hang everybody.

    But when the president gave the example of his response to the flood disaster that wreaked havoc on many states recently as very fast, it was impossible to indulge his philosophy further. He said the federal government’s response to the floods was fast. That is certainly not true. It was neither fast nor even satisfactory. The floods began to paralyse parts of the country some three weeks before he travelled to the United States to address the 67th General Assembly of the United Nations in late September. When he returned, it took him nearly two weeks before he announced a relief fund of about N17.6bn for the affected states and the setting up of a fundraising committee, and two more weeks to begin his tour of affected states.

    In addition, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) had warned in July that flooding was imminent in the country. The government did little to prepare for the looming disaster, and when catastrophe struck, little still was done. Even the president himself acknowledged in his October 9 broadcast that “Over the past few weeks, unprecedented floods have ravaged many parts of our country, rendering tens of thousands of fellow Nigerians homeless and causing massive destruction of properties, farmlands and infrastructure across the country.” How these responses translate to “very fast” is difficult to understand. What is clear is that President Jonathan has conjured philosophical justification for his lack of speed or what he describes as public perception of his slowness. That style soothes him; and though we can see through it, we must live with it. After all, we voted him into office.

  • Kaduna abduction indicates underlying morass

    Kaduna abduction indicates underlying morass

    It should qualify as one of the craziest abductions in recent memory. Armed men numbering about 20, according to eyewitnesses, stormed two houses in Kaduna in the wee hours of Sunday and whisked away the editor of a Kaduna-based Hausa newspaper, Al-Mizan, Mallam Mohammed Awwal, and his reporter, Mallam Aliyu Saleh. The current edition of the paper has a story on the alleged atrocities perpetrated by men of the Military Joint Task Force (JTF) in Potiskum in which 84 persons were said to have been abducted and whisked away to unknown destinations. On account of the controversial JTF story, the abducted editors’ families suspect that the invaders were probably agents of the State Secret Service (SSS) or the JTF itself. Spokesmen of the police and the military have denied involvement in the abduction of the editors. But few people are convinced, in spite of the abductors dressing up in United States-style military fatigues.

    If it is eventually proved that a government security agency carried out the abduction of the editors, it will represent a new low in law enforcement in Nigeria. The act will not only exacerbate insecurity, it will also unfortunately lend credence to the allegation that security organisations such as the JTF indeed subscribe to very unusual tactics in fighting terrorism in the Northeast. The editors, their families told the media, were abducted without warrant, and were brutalised together with their families during the arrest. It will be recalled that a few weeks ago, some news agencies carried reports indicating that 84 people were arrested by the JTF and taken to unknown destinations. The reports, which the military authorities have vigorously denied, also insinuated that murder, torture and other forms of atrocities were committed by security agencies in the Northeast town of Potiskum.

    Whatever the merit of the case against the editors, the methods employed in arresting them are evidently unlawful and showed how clearly law and order can no longer be guaranteed in the country. Even for the most inciting and mendacious media reports, there are established modalities for tackling them and dealing with media professionals who break the law. With the country swamped by robbers, kidnappers, impersonators, and security agents who have embraced extra-judicial killing, it is a disservice to the government and people of Nigeria for any law enforcement body to adopt the style of the underworld. The Kaduna abductions indicate the gradual and steady decline of the country into jungle justice.

    If any security agency is complicit in the unlawful arrest of the editors, it is not enough that the editors should be released and the proper procedures followed in bringing them to justice for any wrongdoing; the abduction itself must also be investigated and all the law enforcement agents involved in the unlawful act punished. The danger in glossing over this obnoxious method of law enforcement is that the gangland style of arresting citizens will be successfully imitated by criminal organisations, as in fact they are already doing, encouraged by the culture of impunity that is pervasive among security agencies.

    No matter the provocation, security agencies must have the discipline to uphold the law unquestioningly. Nothing excuses security agencies acting like gangsters. And we must hope that the Kaduna editors were not abducted by real criminal gangs, for that would compound the distress the country is experiencing and the incompetence of the government in guaranteeing security.

     

     

     

     

  • Judgment day for oil companies

    Judgment day for oil companies

    SIR: Last week something momentous happened – and those of us who campaign for justice for the victims of oil spills in the Niger Delta had good cause to feel Christmas had come early.

    The event was a judgment (obtained by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project) in which ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) court ordered the Nigerian government to punish oil companies over pollution.

    The Court ruled that the Nigerian Federal Government and six oil companies – Shell, Chevron, Elf Petroleum, Exxon Mobil, Agip Nigeria and Total Nigeria – have violated various human rights.

    These include the right to a general satisfactory environment and the right to natural wealth and resources, as guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights ratified by Nigeria in 1983.

    The Court ruled that the government must now quickly implement the judgment and hold the oil companies to account.

    But while there was a pause for celebration the fight goes on because pressure is needed to make sure that the government adheres to this judgment.

    Oil companies, particularly Shell, have managed to evade responsibility for far too long. And the Nigerian government has allowed them to do so, putting profits before people.

    As a result, communities in Bodo, an area badly affected by oil spills, are sinking further into poverty, unable to eat the contaminated fish or drink the water, stained black from the pollution.

    Oil spills have occurred since production began over 50 years ago and that’s what makes the ECOWAS judgment so significant.

    It’s clear that oil companies wield tremendous influence over the regulatory regime that governs their operations.

    In fact, the investigation process into oil spills in the Niger Delta is a travesty. There is very limited information publicly available regarding the state of Shell’s infrastructure in the Delta. But it is widely known that the company has failed to adequately maintain it over the years, with tragic consequences.

    The government has to exert its authority over Shell as, with the ECOWAS judgment and court cases pending in the UK and the Netherlands next year, the clock is ticking against such negligence.

    It is due to the total failure of the Nigerian system for regulating oil companies and ensuring that spills are properly addressed that the Bodo community decided to take Shell to court in the UK.

    And with countries across Africa, such as Ghana, Sierra Leone and Cameroon, starting to exploit oil, these judgments have implications beyond Nigeria.

    The Nigerian government and the oil companies operating in Nigeria have to set a good example and make sure that the industry brings development to the people, rather than allow a string of needless tragedies to continue.

     

    • Dr Kolawole Olaniyan,

    Amnesty International, International Secretariat, London

  • Need for constitutional role for traditional rulers

    Need for constitutional role for traditional rulers

    SIR: Now that the National Assembly is in the process of amending the constitution, a defined role needs to be enshrined in the new constitution for traditional rulers considering the contributions of the institution to community mobilisation, conf1ict resolution and in safe-guarding the cultural values and traditional heritage of their respective communities.

    Before the conquest of Nigeria by the British, traditional method of administration and governance is what was obtainable and practiced in most of African nations. Traditional system or method of governance was built upon the history, heritage, cultural values and religion of the people.

    During the colonial period, the colonialists saw the loyalties enjoyed by the traditional rulers among their subjects hence capitalized on it for their administration. Post independent constitutions of Nigeria gave some level of recognition to the traditional institution as representatives of their people in the House of Chiefs which later transformed to native and local authorities with executive power over issues such as community policing, immigration, prison service, Customary/Sharia Laws well as tax administration.

    The 1979 Constitutional reform which gave birth to the local government system of administration confiscated and transferred to the local government, the responsibilities performed by the traditional institutions in the post independence constitutions.

    From 1979 to date, both civil and military administrations continued to undermine the institution by using them as mere advisers and instruments of managing crises and conflicts resolutions.

    On return of democracy in 1999, the situation remained unchanged. Part one of the third schedule and Section 140 of the 1999 Constitution clearly spelt out that the traditional institutions can only play advisory roles through the Council of State.

    In Nigeria especially the North it is a popular belief that the wish of an Emir is the will of his subjects. Programmes and polices of government can be better achieved through community mobilization and active participation at the grassroots. Looking at the decentralised nature and the extraordinary pattern of ascending throne in the traditional institutions, which require no ballot or nomination congresses, the traditional institution are in better position to provide answer to some of the security challenges, social and economic problems facing our society, if protected constitutionally.

    It is important to draw the attention of our esteemed senators and members of the House of Representatives that in democratic settings people are always conscious of their rights. Without legal backing, the traditional leaders might not be able to enforce the law; therefore, defined constitutional responsibilities for traditional institutions must be included in the coming amendments process.

    • Malam Ibrahim Saddo Wusasa

    Kaduna

     

  • FROM THE CELL PHONE

    For Olatunji Dare

     

    Re: Omoruyi: A scholar‘s lament. The piece was precise, full of facts and comprehensive. Please, l would have loved to read Professor Omoruyi‘s book in reference. How can l get the book? Anonymous

    If you come across him, tell Omoruyi that those who ride on the back of a tiger normaly end up in the belly of a tiger. He may not know, despite his erudition. From Kola Olawuni.

    Your discourse on Prof Omoruyi’s lamentation was a master piece. I am still puzzled by the inability of the likes of the Prof who did not learn from the experience of what the junta did in Latin America. Symptomatic failed state of today’s Nigeria is the outcome! Anonymous

    Your write-up on Omoruyi has shown your objectivity. You are unpredictable, unlike some other columunists in your stable, whose articles show passionate prejudice, and the holding of inflexible positions, no matter the subject they write about. Keep it up, the doyen of colummists and master of satire. Anonymous

    Re: Omoruyi: A scholar’s lament. Omoruyi meant well for democracy in Nigeria, but he walked with Maradona who called himself President without people’s mandate. From Wale Ojo

    Prof Omoruyi’s reconciliation with his former course mate at NIPSS and boss is classic. The country is in dire need of people like Omoruyi and his virtues. From David Polang, Jos

    Professor Omo Omoruyi should have been helped with state fund. What I mean by that is that he served a public institution. It was not IBB’s CDS. Anonymous

    Omoruyi: that he found the courage to denounce what he knew or did not know is a hallmark of dignity and decency. Your writing is very instructive. Thanks for your uprightness. Anonymous

    I am an ex-flagship. I just read your piece. The sin of Azazi was his indictment of PDP in Asaba. Fajuyi died wth his friend in Ibadan July 29, 1966. What of Abiola? What of Bola Ige? Yakowa was advised to follow another Chopper but insisted to follow his friend…they killed Azazi. Anonymous

    Re: Omoruyi: A scholar’s lament. May God not put us in a situation that may lead us to seeking aid and assistance from our detractors. Local people call them, Enemies! That was the situation Professor Omo Omoruyi has found himself. Notwithstanding our situation, we must imbibe the ideology of firmness in life. Prof had ridiculed the professorial position, by thinking of aid from IBB. May God Almighty miraculously heal him – Omo Omoruyi. From Lanre Oseni

    Omoruyi used and dumped himself. He knew the truth but took sides with falsehood. After June 12, the attack he suffered, the books he wrote, he still went to falsehood. He had no choice having trained 400,000 agents of destruction and releasing them on Nigeria. The country is ruined, Omoruyi is ruined, naturally ruined by cancer. Babangida cannot save Nigeria. He lacks the moral right to give him money to treat cancer. Anonymous

    I was amused to read in your column of 18th December a reference to me squirming in my seat as IBB delivered his diatribe against campus-based Marxist/Socialists at an annual lecture of The Guardian newspaper in VI Lagos. Let me be clear: I have never attended any lecture or event organised by that publication. Consequently I could not understand why you could not compose your drama of Omoruyi’s sycophancy and IBB’s psychopathy without dragging me in as a fictive prop. I did not know until now that professional journalists were at liberty to mix fact with fiction in their formal presentations! From Segun Osoba

    Thanks for your brief of 21st December. There is a typographical error in the poem. It should read ‘Ma fowuro sere…’ but not ‘Ma fowuro sise…’ God bless you. From Ayo Fakunmoju.

     

    For Segun Gbadegesin

     

    Mr Segun, be reminded that The Nation is a national newspaper, you should restrict this crap to native journals circulating in Oyo. I am sure your kids school in UK and cannot speak your so-called rich Yoruba language. Everyone in China sends the kids to learn English and now bear English names. Anonymous

    Ise ni ogun ise. Mu ara si ise ore e mi. Ise ni a fi i di eni giga. Bi a ko ba ri eni fi eyin ti, bi ole la a ri. Bi a ko ba ri eni gbekele a te ara mo ise eni…… Mordern Yoruba orthography, sir. Anonymous

    I really enjoyed the write-up, culture is really something we all must think about. Thanks. Anonymous

    I am not against borrowing for genuine reasons of development. But not into the bags of the few rich at the expense of poor masses. It is quite unfortunate that our own elites will connive with the lender to divert the loans into private uses and in a bid to impoverish this nation. From Mr. Ogosu, Onne, Rivers State

    Re: The responsibility of citizenship. The movers of THINKOyo are commended. However we hope some will not go back and become thievery leaders when such youths are opportuned to lead. The culture, religions and the Yorubas we hope, will be made and mixed to become a produced ‘item’ that will be used to engender growth, development and progress of Yorubaland specifically and Nigeria, generally. From Lanre Oseni

    I am one of your teeming fans who have made it an article of faith to unfailingly read you every week. I have just given your newest piece “The responsibility…” a ‘second’ reading, and already yearning for more. Baba, Agba o nii tan lorile o. E bami ki awon oree yin Baba Opalaba ati eegun nla ti n je Tatalo Alamu. From Azeez Kehinde, (Akure)

    Re: Youth in Focus(1): THINKOyo is laudable if it goes beyond being a forum for intellectual masturbation and actually makes a difference. Secondly, our leaders give a lot of thought to the chance of getting caught and, most likely, they will not get caught. Also, Yoruba language, like the culture itself, is losing relevance because it is not evolving (I said “evolve” not “change”) It is not nimble enough for modern communication. By the way, I do not know any “young” person (25 – 50) who has banned the speaking of Yoruba in his or her home. Very suspicious statement. From Ade

    Dear sir, the N9,000,000,000 proposed expenditure on a new banquet hall and VP residence is nothing more than the criminally reckless way of this goverment spending. If that money alone is given as loan to jobless graduates roaming our streets to engage in agric ventures at N1,000,000 per graduate, it will gainfully employ 250 graduates in each of the 36 states of the nation. We can now think of the number of hands these ones will employ and the effects it will have on the economic activities on each local government, state and the nation. God will surely visit His judgement on all of them, their children and generation unborn in the looting spree that we are witnessing this time around. They cannot escape it. From Nathaniel Abiodun

     

  • Fayemi’s public apology

    Fayemi’s public apology

    SIR: It takes real civility for a governor to come down from the gubernatorial height to say sorry to the governed anywhere in the world, and it is a very rare feature in Africa.

    But this was what the amiable, disciplined and pragmatic governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, did publicly during the recent Christmas Carol Service organized by his government in Ado Ekiti.

    He did apologize to “those who might have been hurt, one way or the other, by the policies of this government”, and pleaded with them to take solace in the fact that “such policies were meant to do the greatest good to the greater number of the Ekiti people”,

    Loaded was the message of the governor’s apology; calculated was it too and very suitable as a key in fathoming the character of this governor who had chosen to be a human rights activist long before he dreamt of becoming governor; who had once demonstrated his sense and love of justice, most resoundingly, as the brain behind the famous Radio Kudirat during the struggle against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

    The simple implication of Governor Fayemi’s public apology is that the Ekiti State has got a large-hearted, strong-willed governor who would go to any length, including hurting some Ekiti indigenes, in the pursuance of the greatest good for the greater number of the Ekiti people.

    It implies that the governor would correct anomalies or reform bastardized systems, whatever the hue and cry against such policies, while his determination to right the wrongs would not necessarily make him inhuman or daring. It implies that he knew and felt the pains of the offended even as he had no option other than to be on the side of the greater number of his people.

    Those whose properties were demolished for dualization of roads or beautification can now know that he expected and felt their anguish. The teachers too can now know that he understood their feelings at being re-examined for teaching. So would the LG workers now realize that the governor fore-saw their shock before embarking on restructuring.

    The governor was only enlisting their cooperation with determination in his task of doing the greatest good to all Ekiti; not even only “to the greater number of Ekiti people”, as he enunciated but to all!

    Come to think of it, the beauty of that public apology is that it was, in itself, committal to redress, unlike in a situation where the pains of the victims of government policies are ignored or overlooked.

    In other words, the Fayemi that we knew from the years of yore would have prepared himself to proceed from his calculated public apology, not only to applying needed healing balms to the injuries of the injured but also to putting smiles on their faces and winning them back as friends and admirers.

    Of course, if he would do otherwise, he would not have chosen to be a human rights activist in the first place because governance, essentially, is a function of human rights protection.

    You and I can therefore watch out henceforth for better days ahead for the aggrieved in Ekiti State whose grouses had been what they suffered as a result of government policies; the public apology so adequately implied this.

    • Jide Oguntoye

    Oye-Ekiti.

  • Stop discrimination against women

    Stop discrimination against women

    SIR: Discriminatory practices against women takes various forms and all these have tendency to affect the economic prowess and social status of the woman in the community. According to a learned author, the society and its legal system in developing countries such as Nigeria condones domestic violence to a certain extent. Women are seen as properties, which are expected to be in total submission to their husbands. One cannot but agree with the writer in view of certain statutory provisions in our customary legal systems which tend to support domestic violence and discriminatory practices against women.

    The provision of Section 55 of the Penal code which allows a man to beat his married wife under native law and custom “in so far as it does not amount to grievous hurt” is a classical example.

    It provides that “Nothing is an offence which does not amount to the infliction of grievous hurt upon any person and which is done by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife, such husband and wife being subject to any native law or custom in which such correction is recognized as lawful.”

    Thus as long as the grievous hurt on a woman falls short of the acts defined in the section 241 of the penal code, a husband may correct his wife by beating her. It is submitted that this provision runs contrary to the right to dignity of human person constitutionally guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. To subject a married wife to battery and assault in the guise of correcting her is barbarous and unreasonable.

    Discriminatory practices manifest itself in the employment sector and this affects the socio economic profile of women in no small measure. Notorious in this area of discrimination is the Nigeria Police Force. For instance, Section 122 of the Police Act stipulates that policewomen recruited to the general duties branch of the force may, in order to relieve male officer from those duties” be employed in clerical, telephone and office orderly duties.

    Also, woman police officer who is desirous of marrying must first apply in writing to the Commissioner of Police of the State Command in which she is serving requesting permission to marry and giving the name, address and occupation of the person she intends to marry. Permission will be granted if the person is of good character and the woman police officer has served the force for a period of not less than three years.” Upon marriage, a woman police officer shall not be granted any special privilege by reason of the fact that she is married, and shall be subject to posting and transfer as if she were unmarried.”

    It is submitted that section 122 of the Police Act has tendency to relegate women police to the background by not exposing them to challenges where they can be professionally fulfilled. This may account probably for non-production of a woman police as Inspector General. It is further submitted that section 124 and 125 out-rightly affect the reproductive rights of women and their choice of partner. The fact that a male police officer does not need to undergo any procedure nor he is required to obtain any permission prior to marriage shows that the law is gender biased.

    • Barrister O . A Abiodun

    Ikorodu, Lagos State

  • In the spirit of Christmas

    In the spirit of Christmas

    One of the core principles of Christianity is the concept of giving. Indeed, giving is the bedrock of Christianity, as exemplified by the incomparable sacrifice of himself Jesus Christ made for salvation. Somehow, over the centuries, giving has become an integral part of Christmas celebration, with many Christmases incomplete without the exchange of gifts. In many parts of Nigeria, the concept of giving has been transmuted from exchange of exotic gift items, like jewellery, gadgets and toys, into exchange of food items, often cooked delicacies, like fried rice and jollof rice. Who is anybody to say gourmet delicacies are not acceptable? This transmutation – indeed some say transmogrification – is perhaps a reflection of the worsening hard times Nigerians have been facing over the decades. The worse the economy, the more food-oriented the Christmas gifts. In these parts too, even the concept of hampers is largely food-oriented, with items like corn flakes, corned beef, sugar, milk etc. enclosed in baskets.

    In the spirit of Christmas, however, Hardball would like to draw Christians into a re-examination of the concept of giving. What gifts are doctrinally sound? Is there indeed anything that circumscribes the kind of gifts to exchange? Would a hungry man or family not appreciate food more than gadgets in their hour of need? These questions lead to a polemical minefield that will not be resolved with a wave of a list of permissible gifts. There will probably never be such a list. Christians will from time to time, often within the ambit of their countries’ cultures and the shifting values of the times, determine what gifts to exchange. But more critically, they must now have to determine whether the exchange of gifts has not moved unwholesomely from the personal to the impersonal, from a reflection of sacrificial love that comes from the depth of the soul to a mere external expression of perfunctory love.

    Christians recognise Jesus Christ as God’s gift to mankind; the Canonical gospels indicate that three Wise Men came from the East bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh; and Pentecostals have had all sorts of troubles stressing tithes, regular offerings and prophet offerings, particularly because of the attendant abuses. Given the general decline in morals everywhere, it does seem as if the exchange of gifts has a bearing only on the conviviality of the festive period itself, not on the essential doctrine of Christmas. Perhaps it is time Christians took a fresh look at what should drive their giving, not what their giving should consist of. If love is not at the heart of it, it is hard to defend it. If love is not given copiously, it is never given at all.

    Givers, it is said, never lack. Many foreign countries have accepted this lesson, and have given copiously and received unquantifiable benefits in return. It is not clear whether, in spite of our economic stress, Nigeria has made a habit of giving and giving and giving. As the table in this piece shows, none of the countries listed in Official Development Assistance (ODA) donors is African. If we are going to wait until we are economically prosperous and stable, we will have to wait for much longer. The time to climb that table is now, when we do not have enough to spare. Individuals have imbibed the culture of giving, and have had great stories to tell. Let Nigeria begin to tell great stories too, even as Christians are invited in a Nigeria festering with hate and bloodshed to recognise that love is at the core of their faith and they must give it uncomplainingly in order to help build a stable nation.

    Aid Statistics by Region (2012)

    1 United States $7 763bn 16%

    2 EU institutions $5 443bn 11%

    3 IDA $5 196bn 11%

    4 France $4 187bn 9%

    5 United Kingdom $3 075bn 6%

    6 Germany $1 948bn 4%

    7 Global Fund $1 914bn 4%

    8 Japan $1 888bn 4%

    9 AfDF $1 760bn 4%

    10 Canada $1 532bn 3%

    Other donors $13 226bn 28%

    Total $47 932bn 100%

     

    Source: OECD (2012)