Category: Hannatu Musawa

SOME days back I had the bizarre experience of reading a statement made by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman, Olisa Metuh, on the just concluded nationwide membership registration exercise by the All Progressives Congress (APC). Bizarre, because, not only did Mr Metuh accuse the APC of a plot to disrupt the 2015 general elections using its membership registration as the platform, the premise of his allegation lay on the notion that the APC would collude with INEC in order to manipulate the electoral process. PDP, through Mr Metuh, alleged that the opposition party was planning to register 28 million phantom members, which it maintained the APC was planning to use as a plot, in conjunction with INEC, to claim victory in the 2015 general election and to “truncate the current democratic process”. Mr Metuh further stated that part of the plot by the APC was to use the “fraudulent membership” registration to hype up a phantom public support, after which it would declare a particular bogus figure and create a false impression of massive public followership ahead of the 2015 general elections. Hopefully Mr Metuh, understanding the sheer hypocrisy of his claim will appreciate the irony of the black pot trying to call the teakettle black in this instance. At first glance, I suspected that the statement was a cleverly disguised satirical piece; Mr Metuh was not trying to be serious, he was trying to prove that in addition to being an eloquent and skilled orator, he is also a master of the ever-subtle art of ironic humor. For if not that, why would he speak and make suggestions to the Nigerian populace in a manner that one would address kindergarten students on their very first day in school? The allegation he made that INEC is in collusion with the APC to rig the 2015 election is indeed so absurd and incongruous that one can’t imagine how he kept a straight face when making it. While we can come up with all sorts of punch lines for such a joke, it must be said that, on the contrary, it is believed by a large number of Nigerians that it is the PDP that has, since our nascent democratic dispensation, been in connivance with the electoral body to rig elections. As proof for the purported connivance between INEC and APC, Mr Metuh went ahead to present the fact that the APC registration-exercise was being conducted in INEC election centers and buildings. In reality, the INEC buildings in question are public infrastructure and public buildings such as schools and people have the right to use these buildings legally. In fact, in various localities where the registration took place, the indigenous people recognized the right of the party to utilize these structures and, in all cases, lent their full and unwavering support to the party. Accordingly, and in a swift reaction to the allegation and claims of the PDP, INEC debunked the claims that it was aiding APC, adding that the commission has no monopoly, right or control over public structures. To accuse the APC of planning to rig the 2015 elections is one thing, but to further allege that the APC is carrying out some covert and Machiavellian scheme, together with INEC, in order to rig the 2015 elections sounds ridiculous to the average human brain. The thought of INEC working with an opposition party in order to topple a government that it has allegedly been unfairly assisting in the past three elections is an interesting and laughable notion. But it would be very difficult for anyone to be convinced that Mr. Metuh does himself believe that INEC is unfairly working with an opposition party, against the ruling party in this day, in Nigeria. Or perhaps he believes that come the 2015 election Martians will descend from Uranus down into Nigeria (INEC specifically), and blow green fairy dust into the eyes of the electoral umpires which will equip them with the super power of creating a level playing ground, of which PDP will not be given an undue advantage over every other party. Although the entirety of Mr Metuh’s statement was laced with the usual bravado expressed by the PDP, a more intense scrutiny exposes nervousness on the part of the ruling party, which most likely was triggered by the acceptance and overwhelming support the APC has been getting and generating. A great deal of what Mr Metuh described takes the form of a cleverly scripted, tried and tested strategy. Almost as if he was describing the kind of strategy that the PDP has been allegedly accused of applying in past elections. Call me sneering, but there just maybe some truth to the adage; “it takes one to know one!” If, as the ruling party described, pupils and students were being lured by the APC to get the passport photographs of their parents in order to have them secretly affixed to the APC membership forms without the knowledge of the parents, then the PDP has a responsibility to expose this fraud or face the accusation themselves that they know about this strategy because it is one that they may have used in the past. But out of the whole statement that Mr Metuh made, the most shocking was the claim that the APC is “currently using every foul means at its disposal to build a particular membership figure, running into tens of millions, which it intends to use as a justification to fault, dispute, reject and subsequently take to violence when it loses the 2015 general elections.” Forget the fact that Mr Metuh used the mandatory term ‘when’ as opposed to ‘if’, giving the impression that he’s some sort of clairvoyant with the power to see that PDP has already won the 2015 election, one would hope that accompanying such a serious claim of violence would be some evidence. Or are we supposed to accept this solely on the fluffy words of Mr Metuh? Curious however, is that despite the harsh tone and dire warning of Armageddon woven throughout his statement, Mr Metuh ignores the fact that he has raised a very serious and dire security alarm, of which he has a duty, as a Nigerian, to report to the appropriate security department and furnish them with the evidence to support such a strong claim, especially in the present volatile atmosphere in Nigeria. If Mr Metuh genuinely believes that the APC is already planning for violence should it loose the 2015 elections and he knows for a fact that APC will loose the election, then he really has a duty to step up and offer any information he knows to the state security so that they can investigate, first the threat of violence and second, the conspiracy to rig the election. Even if the party of which he speaks for is part of such a conspiracy and desperately wants to maintain this diversion tactic ruse, he has a patriotic duty to step up and do right by Nigeria. Forging ahead in his bid to discredit the gains the APC has achieved within a year of its formation using the words and method that he did, what Mr Metuh really did was expose real fear on behalf of the PDP. If anybody thought otherwise, Mr Metuh’s statement has made it very clear that the PDP is troubled by the popularity, acceptance, and alternative Nigerians have accorded the APC. After all, in just over a year of its existence as a political party in Nigeria, it currently occupies about 58 seats in the 109 seats in the Senate, 172 seats out of the 360 seats in the House of Representatives, and 16 governors out of the 36 states in the country. These commendable figures are expected to increase tremendously after next year’s elections, as the APC is poised to upstage and unseat the ruling party. Maybe that would explain the real reason why Mr Metuh is already fidgeting and representing PDP in the light of the party that cried wolf. Despite Mr Metuh’s accusation of an attempted declaration of a particular bogus membership figure running into tens of millions, creating a false impression of massive public followership by the APC, there is little doubt that he himself, surreptitiously also believes what most the rest of the world knows to be true: that the majority of PDP members are unceasingly abandoning the party and joining an alternative platform. For now, APC seems to be the biggest beneficiary. And as a result of that and the fact that the APC is a merger of different opposition parties — Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and part of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), APC is bound to be larger than any of the legacy parties were before. This would indeed automatically explain the increase of its membership figures, boosted by new and formerly undecided and disillusioned Nigerians who are merely looking for a way out of the confused quagmire the nation finds itself. Instead of praising the party for its contribution so far to the democratic process by creating an atmosphere where Nigerians are interested in participating in the political development of this nation, Mr Metuh choose to view the cup from a position where it appears to be half empty. Instead of commending the APC on its fulfillment of the requisite political plurality obtainable in other democratic climes and opening up democratic liberty so as to enable Nigerians choose whichever political party platform they so wished, PDP has resorted to cheap quibbling, crying wolf and attempting to deter optimistic Nigerians who are so desperate for change, desperate for something new. In fact, one could say that Mr Metuh’s rhetoric is a deliberate attempt by the ruling party to dissuade the enthusiastic teeming populace from coming out en masse in partaking and becoming members of an alternative and formidable party, the first of its kind since 1999, capable of wresting power from the ruling party. The intended audience of Mr Metuh’s speech was meant to be the average Nigerian but, of that audience, only those who are willing to gullibly be led down the dark alley yet again would have fully absorbed the marrow of his words. Nigerians have for too long been the naïve cheerleaders of the power brokers who have done us so wrong. But the scars from 15 years of PDP corruption and lies have left profound grooves in the minds of Nigerians who dared to hope and believe while they were so compellingly made. Nigerians have evidently had enough. When the PDP puts out a statement saying: “We wish to remind the APC that no political party has the monopoly of mischief,” one can only laugh out loud. Because, despite the fact that PDP is the party that has allegedly thrived on mischief, guile and deceitfulness over the past 15 years, they are the ones who are unashamedly crying foul loudest in the face of a formidable adversary. Thus, as the PDP continues to cry foul about election malpractices, one hopes that it fully understands the sheer hypocrisy and irony of its claim. And if one was ever to look for a case of the pot calling the kettle black, then they need look no further than the PDP’s cry wolf.

In September 2007, US citizen, Amanda Knox moved to Italy to study Italian, German and creative writing. She was however, tried and convicted for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, who died from knife wounds in the apartment she shared with Knox that same year. In 2009, Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of assault, murder and simulating a burglary at the first level, receiving 26 and 25 year prison sentences, respectively. During her appeal which concluded in October, 2011, the original conviction was overturned, she was found innocent of the crime, and released from jail. However, in March 2013, Knox was ordered to stand trial again for Kercher’s murder as the appellate court overturned her acquittal. Presently, the court has sentenced Sollecito to 25 years in prison and Knox to 28 years and 6 months in jail, handing her a heavier sentence after finding her guilty of libeling a Congolese bar owner, Patrick Lumumba, by falsely accusing him of being the killer. Knox presently remains in the US, awaiting the decision of the Italian Supreme court whether it is going to uphold the conviction. If this happens, then Italy would have to ask for her extradition from the US, to serve out her prison sentence in the country where the crime was committed. Currently however, Knox’s conviction has raised questions about her possible extradition to Italy, since she has been in the US throughout the retrial and is a US citizen. Also, the mainstream media in America have consistently and sensationally portrayed Knox as innocent of the crimes she is being convicted of in Italy. The US media has constantly maintained that Knox is innocent and compared the Italian justice system to that of Iran as being unfair, cruel and highhanded. Conversely, taking a critical look at the US justice system, the system seems to treat the poor and minority much worse than the Italian justice system. Evident of this is the huge numbers of ‘blacks and Hispanic’ population (who constitute the poor and minority in the US), incarcerated in different prisons across the country. Why then should the US invariably lecture Italy or any other country about their criminal justice system? Indeed, they have no justification or moral standing to tell other countries that their system is unfair or cruel. Presumptuously in America, if Knox was not an attractive woman (as otherwise portrayed by the US media) and just an ordinary woman charged on the basis of the evidence, she will certainly be convicted and serving life imprisonment, or worse, the death penalty. Regarding her possible extradition and due to the premise that it is increasingly doubtful that the US would be willing to extradite her back to Italy because she is an American citizen and thus America would want to protect her, a salient question thus prop up; would it not be grossly hypocritical for the US to refuse to extradite Amanda Knox, since it is a well known fact that the US is one of the biggest requesters of extraditions, as exemplified in the well known extradition cases of Julian Assange, Roman Polanski, Kim Dot Kom, etc? It would certainly be egregiously hypocritical if the US were to turn around and refuse to extradite a convicted murderer (to a European country where she won’t be tortured but accorded respect) because she is seen as an “American sweetheart” by a few nationalists and most especially the US media. It is because of such cases that America is largely perceived as one of the most hypocritical nations amongst the comity of nations. The US has been known for its “double standards” in its relations with other countries. For instance, it is a well known fact that the US advocates democracy and is indeed pro-democracy. However, there have been various instances in history and hitherto, whereby the US have been seen to give support or not doing enough in condemning various regimes and anti-democratic governments, especially if it suits them. Also, during the Cold War, the US demonstrated various degrees of double standards especially amongst African countries, which has in-part contributed detrimentally to the continent’s overall development. Furthermore, the US has systematically exhibited double standards in Israel’s favour over the years; currently, with regards to the ‘illegal’ West Bank settlements. In terms of extradition, it is always ‘appropriate’ for the US to demand for an extradition of an individual, but it’s an outrage if another country dares to ask the US to extradite one of its own citizens. In the case of a German, Kim Schmitz, also known as, Kim Dot Com, is fighting an attempt to extradite him to the US in response to US alleged charges of criminal copyright infringement in relation to his Megaupload website. He was accused of costing the entertainment industry $500 million through pirated content uploaded to his file-sharing site, which had 150 million registered users. Also, Oscar-winning film director, Rowan Polanski, a naturalized French citizen, in a case which has lasted for over 30 years, will not be extradited to the US from Switzerland where he has been in Swiss custody since September of last year, when police in Zurich arrested him on his arrival in the city to accept a lifetime achievement award at the local film festival. The arrest was performed at the request of authorities in Los Angeles. Furthermore, Julian Assage, the Australian Wikileaks founder, which publishes submissions of secret information, news leaks and classified media from anonymous news sources and whistleblowers, has been in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012 under diplomatic asylum, over a European arrest warrant and subsequent extradition to the US to face charges over diplomatic cables leaks and espionage. Of uttermost importance however, is the American response to the kidnapping and torture of Abu Omar. In 2003, 23 Americans (22 CIA employees and one Air Force Colonel), were involved in the kidnapping and torture of Egyptian citizen, Abu Omar. Omar was taken from Milan, transported to Egypt, and tortured for seven months. The 23 Americans were convicted in absentia in 2009, and the Italian prosecutor wanted the Americans extradited. However, the US succinctly made it clear it would not extradite the 23 American citizens, and spent years pressuring the Italian government to back down. The current conviction of Amanda Knox is similar to the above mentioned case. Interestingly however, the US does have an extradition treaty with Italy, and the existence of this treaty seemingly obligates the US to return Knox to Italy at their request. However, the US commonly denies such requests. The American prohibition of Double Jeopardy (being tried twice for the same crime) may create an exception allowing Knox to remain in the US. However, double jeorpady is absent in Italian law and the crime committed in question was within the Italian territory. Also, Knox may not be extradited due to her popularity in America, and the American public’s belief in her innocence. However, regardless of whether the decision was correct or not, the guilty verdict has been given, again, so the right thing for the US to do is extradite her. So as America continues to focus on the innocence of Amanda Knox instead of llooking at the brutal murder of a young girl, the case ceases to be one of double jeopardy but becomes one of a double standard.

SOME weeks ago, I went to meet and speak to a brave 2-year-old girl in Abuja. As I walked into the building, where she was standing with her parents, she became startled at the sight of what she must have identified to be a stranger and quickly grabbed her mother’s wrapper to hide behind. I took out a bag of sweets from my bag and upon reaching the mother, bent down and offered them to the frightened little girl. With my hands full of sweets outstretched, the little girl failed to recognize my gesture as an act of goodwill. After some encouragement from her mother and after my numerous failed impressions of Disney characters, the little girl eventually came out from hiding behind her mother’s wrapper and accepted one of the sweets from my hand. After some time, and after some more impressions by me, she slowly relaxed and finally looked at me. As she raised her head to look at me, I saw that she had the most beautiful big brown eyes. Just as quickly as I smiled at her, my smile became a frown; because within those beautiful eyes, I saw sadness; I saw pain; I saw agony. Within her eyes I saw a girl that had been through torture; because standing before me was a two-year-old little girl who had just been brutally raped by a police corporal, a man whose duty it was to protect her. While, in this particular case, legislators in both houses of the National Assembly, have taken an interest in making sure that this abused little two year old girl gets justice, the reality is that the crime of rape in Nigeria, especially of minors, is on the increase at an alarming rate. As so many disquieting issues in our social and political life dominate the front burner and the covers of our national dailies – the various corruption scandals, crude oil theft, religious and sectarian violence, kidnappings, elections saga, etc – most people tend to forget or ignore this horrendous issue that has and is still ruining many lives and devastating many families. Rape cases have been on a steady increase in contemporary Nigeria and the rising incidents of rape have become very alarming and worrying. All over the country, there is a new kind of unheralded harvest of rapes and rapists. The prevalent upsurge of rape and sexual abuse in Nigeria is unfathomable, especially now that children are not exempted. There has however, been various subtle media and dailies reports on rape cases with headlines such as, “4 men gang-rape 15-yearold to a coma, 14-year-old boy rapes girl to death, 20-year-old boy brutally rapes a nineyear- old girl, a 27-year-old man rapes mother, 15-year-old boy rapes three kids; including 10-month-old baby”. Then there is the infamous rape and murder of Cynthia Osokogwu by “friends” she met on Facebook that happened in 2012. The list is sadly endless. Rape is one of the most awful and brutal gender-based forms of violence, ‘predominantly’ carried out against women and the girl-child, in Nigeria. And while cases of rape are mostly talked about with shock, scorn and disgust, it mostly ends there. As one blogger succinctly states; “Perhaps, it may be worth protesting against when it happens to a daughter, niece, sister or relative of a prominent figure.” Hence, this salient question needs to be asked; why is rape on the increase in Nigeria and what is being done to curb this social anomaly? Contextually, rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person’s consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or against a person who is incapable of valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, or below the legal age of consent. People who have been raped can be severely traumatized and may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition to psychological harm resulting from the act, rape may cause physical injury, or have additional effects on the victim, such as acquiring of a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or becoming pregnant. Furthermore, following a rape, a victim may face violence or threats from the rapist and, in some cultures, from the victims own family and relatives. The main reason rape cases are hardly reported to the appropriate authorities in Nigeria is because the victims fear being ostracized and most victims of rape have lost faith in the judiciary’s securing justice for them. Rapists walk the streets free while their victims remain traumatized for life. Since very little is done about the spate of rape in our society, this inaction inadvertently allows for other rapes by would be or already established rapist. In Nigeria, a rapist could get a life sentence according to the law, but more often than not, high profile offenders walk the streets free. There is no doubt that the institutions that are meant to protect women from rape have failed in their duty. Particularly, a major way the Nigerian government is failing in achieving a rape free nation or curbing this terrible abnormality, which involuntarily allows for further indulgence of this menace, is in the several federal, state, sharia, and customary laws definition given to rape, which makes it rather ambiguous. One would have hoped that the definition of rape should have an allinclusive and nationwide accepted definition, effectively purging any form of intricacy, vagueness and misconception. There is no doubt that the institutions that are meant to protect women from rape have failed in their duty. Particularly, a major way the Nigerian government is failing curbing this terrible abnormality is in the several federal, state, Sharia, and customary law definitions given to rape, which makes it rather ambiguous. Section 292-285 of the Penal Code pertinent to the northern states focuses on the prosecution of cases dealing with “Rape and unnatural and indecent offences against the person.” Section 282 specifically defines rape as “A man is said to commit rape who, save in the case referred to in subsection (2) has sexual intercourse with a woman in any of the following circumstances: (a) against her will; (b) without her consent; (c) with her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or of hurt; (d) with her consent when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that she is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married; (e) with or without her consent, when she is under fourteen years of age or of unsound mind.” The Penal Code goes further to state, “Sexual Intercourse by a man with his wife is not rape if she has attained puberty.” The Criminal Code Act, which deals with criminal matters in all the Southern states in Nigeria, does not specifically mention the word ‘rape’. Chapter 21, Section 214 to 231 of the Act deal with offences such as unnatural offences, indecent treatment of boys under fourteen, defilement of girls under thirteen, defilement of girls under sixteen and above thirteen and of Householder permitting defilement of young girls on his premises, causing or encouraging the seduction or prostitution of a girl under sixteen, allowing persons under sixteen to be in brothels etc. From the above, it can be observed that the Penal Code and the Criminal Code are proportionately dissimilar. The former appears to be more specific in its definition and the component needed to be proved to sustain a charge of rape, while the latter appears to be more intricate in its definitions and posturing on sexually related offences, but it’s not specific on the issue of rape. Essentially, with the worrisome spate of rape cases and the somewhat bleak situation as a result of this scourge, combating this social ill has become a necessity. For the beautiful two-year-old little girl that I met, a horrendous crime has been committed against her. And as I, some of the legislatures and some other interest group work to ensure this little girl gets justice, as a society, we must mount constant pressure on the Nigerian government to revise and reamend the existing anti-rape laws and its penalties. For, as long as proper justice is not given to the victims of rape, together with all the other tragedies that define our nation, in addition, we will also eventually be defined by the tragedy of rape

The signing of the Same-sex Prohibition Act by President Jonathan on January 7 2014, elicited negative reactions from Western countries such as the US, member countries of the European Union and Canada. They have consistently mounted pressure on the federal government over the president’s signing of the Same-Sex Prohibition Act 2014, claiming that the law is a violation of the fundamental human rights of Nigerians with same sex orientation.

Notably, the law does not only criminalize same-sex marriage, it also makes public displays of affection and even socializing in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and inter-sex community illegal. The US ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle threatened that his country would scale down its support for HIV/AIDS and anti-malaria programs in response to government’s position on the gay rights issue. The Vanguard also reported that they learnt the US is committing “substantial” resources to fund the emergence of gay clubs and advocacy groups in Nigeria. The Canadian government cancelled a planned state visit by President Jonathan scheduled for next month. The Canadian government’s action is believed to be that country’s reaction to the president’s assenting to the bill, which has so far enjoyed popular support in Nigeria.

Since 2011, certain Western countries have been onsidering and implementing laws that limit or prohibit general budget support to countries that restrict the rights of homosexuals.

Regardless of this, many African countries have continued to refuse pressure to legalize homosexual practices. Many African leaders feel that gay rights are against Africa’s culture and religious value systems and believe that they have the sovereign right to reject what is seen as an imposition by Western nations that attempts to affect national sentiments via aid. While I vehemently disagree with the laws that impose the death penalty on

those who come out as homosexuals, the reality is that same sex acts are illegal in about 38 African countries and actual enforcement varies widely and punishment ranges from prison sentences to the draconian sentence of the death penalty.

In Mauritania, Sudan and Nigeria, homosexuality is a serious punishable crime. In Uganda, Tanzania and Sierra Leone, offenders can receive life imprisonment for homosexual acts.

South Africa’s constitution is the most liberal towards gays and lesbians within the continent, with a constitution that guarantees gay and lesbian rights and legal same sex marriage. However, even there, gay rights have been described as an “exclusive privilege of the whites and well-heeled, a small but high-profile subset.” The raucousness from Western nations that has been accompanying the banning of same sex unions in some parts of Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia has risen to a crescendo. And in their bid to ram the freedom of same sex unions down the throat of more traditional and conservative nations, the west hasdiscarded high-minded rhetoric for bullying tactics dressed in the guise of human rights mantras. The result? Hypocrisy has taken center stage as the preferred response of the west in their bid toredefine the limits of marriage, privacy and religious freedom in some African, Eastern European and Asian countries.

The hypocrisy of the west regarding their stance on the banning of same sex unions is most apparent when considered next to the position taken on polygamy under western laws. In most western nations, the practice of polygamy is not only frowned upon but has been criminalized. The hypocrisy and bully politics of the west in regards to the banning of same sex unions occurs when Western countries pass laws that limits the boundaries

of marriage, privacy and religious freedom in line with their value system whilethey employ strategies and tactics to intimidate, harass, undermine, threaten and abuse other countries for doing the same.

In the case of Reynolds vs. United States, the American courtsdeclinedaccepting polygamy as a legitimate religious practice, dismissing it as “almost exclusively a feature of the life of Asiatic and African people.” While that particular case is very old, in later decisions, Americancourts have declared polygamy to be “a blot on our civilization” and compared it to human sacrifice and “a return to barbarism.”

In all the countries that have banned homosexual unions, traditions and religion defines the issue and because most countries have varying values of which they adhere to and are guided by, none should have a right to impose their value system on another. Not only is the practice of polygamy one of the common threads between Christians, Jews and Muslims,

studies have found polygamy present in 78% of the world’s cultures. In the same way that countries that accept polygamy have no right to force western nations to legalize polygamy, western nations have no right to impose same sex unions on the countries that ban it.

As a sovereign nation, Nigeria has a right to ban same sex unions in the same way the west has banned polygamy.

Indeed the anti-gay legislation is a reaffirmation of core Nigerian values, as the Nigerian society is, to a great extent,based on respect for traditions and religion. The leadership in Nigeria has taken a position on a practice that isalien to its culture and its religious and traditional institutions. The public relations officer of the northern Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) stated that Christians and their counterparts in other religions have unanimously expressed gratitude to the president and National Assembly for passing the Anti Same-Sex Marriage law, despite opposition from Europe and the US.

Similarly, the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Lagos State, commended the president for signing the bill into law. The group applauded the president for standing his ground, despite pressure to reject the anti-gay bill by some international organizations and foreign countries.

In line with traditions that don’t prohibit same sex unions,neither of the two dominant religions of the world supports homosexuality. In the scriptures, marriage is a sacred contract between a man and a woman that cannot be redefined and it is the cornerstone of family life. In the Bible, passages in the book of Leviticus prohibit homosexuality. Chapter 18:22 states, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” Similarly, chapter 20:13 also states, “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” Jews and christians have historically interpreted these two verses as the clear prohibition of homosexual acts. Furthermore, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah has historically been interpreted as condemning homosexual acts.

In Islam, the traditional schools of Islamic law based on Qur’anic verses and hadith consider homosexual acts a punishable crime and a sin. The Qur’an cites the story of the “people of Lot” (also known as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah), destroyed by the wrath of God, because they engaged in “lustful” carnal acts between men. The Qur’an contains seven references to the people of Lot; 7:80-84, 11:77-83, 21:74, 22:43, 26:165-175, 27:56-59 and 29:27-33, and their destruction by Allah is associated explicitly with their sexual practices.

In 2012, the Nigerian parliament approved a bill banning same sex marriage despite threats from the US and UK that they would consider withholding aid if the country didn’t recognize gay rights. Curiously though in the US, 17 states out of 50 (less than half) have endorsed same-sex practices and others reject its legality. This means that even in the US, not all its citizens are in support of same-sex practices.

Nigeria and the countries that have banned same sex unions have cultures that are clear and intact and they have a right to rededicate themselves to their traditional values. Same-sex marriage is inconsistent with Nigerian values of procreation and the belief in the continuity of family and clan. And in that vein, Nigeria has a right to fashion its laws in accordance with its values and traditions.

It increasingly seems that the Western countries’ mandate is to coerce African states to institutionalizebehavior systems that they frown upon or deem illegal. There is the urgent need for these African states and the Nigerian leadership not to be dependent on foreign assistance for governance. Nigeria and the continent should use its net worth to dismantle the entrenched dependence syndrome and to also say no, no matter how many times they are accused of not adhering to the value system of the West. Aid given with strings attached is not worth it. Nigeria should not lose its moral and spiritual integrity for the sake of aid.

Just like with polygamists in Western countries, a day of social acceptance is unlikely to come for homosexuals in Nigeria and most African and Asian countries. It is unlikely that any law will be passed in Nigeria where the act of same sex marriage will be legalized. No matter, the rights of every nation to infuse its value system into its laws should not be based on the views of other nations, but on each nations individual principle.

Despite one’s view on the subject matter, there is no doubt that Nigeria has a right to enact laws that are reflective of its traditions and religious values and norms. No country has a right to dictate another countries laws that defines the boundaries of marriage, privacy and religious freedom. Thus, just as Nigeria has no right to harass America, Canada or any other nation to enforce and adopt polygamy and other traditional practices into

their statutes, these nations also have no right to harass Nigeria to adopt laws that legalize homosexuality. The more the West continues to malign Nigeria for passing laws that prohibit certain modern western value systems,while they hold onto laws that disallow traditional practices acceptable in Nigeria, theirhue and cry over human rights becomes a little more than hype and they become much more than hypocrites. May each country be free to preserve the value systems they wish to be defined by and adopt the laws of which they wish to be governed.

It is a prevalent belief that the fates of all human beings are interconnected; whatever affects one of us affects us all. And if that is the case it follows that the actions and inactions of those privileged by virtue of providence amongst us influences the lives of each and every person in the community.

The community in Northern Nigeria is an entity encompassing over half the population of this country; with widespread water resources, vast land, the most fertile agricultural soil in the nation, abundant natural endowments awaiting development, amongst so many other virtues. An entity I am so proud of, one which, once upon a time, yielded much power and produced the most selfless, patriotic leaders this country has ever witnessed, but today it is an entity in disarray. Today Arewa is but a ghost of her former self crying out for redirection; desperate for salvation. As disparate as the performance of the founding fathers, our leadership now almost seem at odds with the spirit of building a strong, united and virile Arewa. Our standing is ebbed further because we are no longer perceived with the same pride, humility, unity and integrity we were once known for.

It is a pity that, despite the camaraderie and unity we were once known for as Northerners, we continue to kill ourselves in the name of religion; undermine our brothers in the name of politics. It is a pity that half a century since our independence, the north is forced to continuously refer to the person of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto whenever asked to produce a northern leader of selflessness, courage, distinction, dedication and detribalised sentiment.

The Sardauna of Sokoto did for Arewa what Chief Obafemi Awolowo did for the Yorubas. But unlike the south west where the majority of the population are Yoruba, Sir Ahmadu Bello was able to unify the various diverse tribes found in the north. Although a Hausa/Fulani, the Sardauna regarded every northerner as one and the same. Never did he discriminate based on tribe and always, he would encourage people to practise their religion regardless of what it was.

He appreciated the fact that the people of the north needed each other and needed a common identity as “yan Arewa” in order to function successfully and completely as an entity. So he taught the north to understand and value its differences and look upon them as its strength by accommodating every “dan Arewa” who shared his vision to fortify and modernise the north. The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers; leaders are not born, they are made, and they are made just like anything else, through hard work. That’s the price one would have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.

The spirit of such a notion became a driving force for the Sultan as he went out of his way to scroll school results and observe common interactions in the hope of finding a promising, intelligent and hardworking “dan Arewa”, albeit Christian or Muslim, Nupe or Idoma, Fulani or Birom, Gwari or Ibira to groom for the future of the north.

However our problems in Arewa do not only lie solely with the leadership but the masses as well. Take, for example, the indifference of the business men we have in the north to the plight of our people. Having benefited from their communities, Northern businessmen lack in their responsibility to their societies. It is a far cry from the actions of their counterparts in the south where it is common to see successful business men set up scholarships, health care initiatives and build schools. When I was in law school I witnessed with a sense of self disappointment how every single legal scholarship offered was from Nigerians of southern extraction, not even one was offered from anyone from the north. It is an ignominy to wealthy Northerners who display their wealth by donating hundreds of millions to ersatz presidential libraries, superfluous cancer centers, and tens of millions for legislative, presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. How many non relatives have they educated in their neighbourhood? How much farm lands have they donated to the local community? How many wells have they built in their neighbourhoods? How many schools have they erected in the vicinity they grew up? How many scholarships have they funded in their villages? How many youths and young entrepreneurs have they inspired and empowered in their states?

Since education is the major vehicle for development we must educate our youth because they are the future of the north. In the south almost all the advancement in education we witness is because of their personal and communal commitment. Southern parents strive for money in order to educate their children while we strive for money so that our children can drive the best cars in town. Each of us Northerners have an utmost social responsibility, Christain or Muslim, to help revolutionise our people, wean our youth in the rural areas off drugs, develop our societies and pass the beacon of hope to the next generation.

Among the areas crippling the north are education, lack of regional identity, agriculture and commerce. These sectors need to be addressed in order for the north to get back on course. As concerned people, we in the north must literally go back to our roots and come up with innovative ways of amending our agricultural methods so that we can get the best from farming. The bulk of our population in the north are farming families and this is where our strength lies. We must expand and experiment with new crops and also improve the productivity of our farmers and their income. With our great population and our vast, fertile land, Arewa can become the centre-point of farming and agricultural export in Africa. With this initiative our people will again serve as the apparatus of development, without this especially, our people will remain poor and unmotivated.

Today the vast population of the north are unaware and unemployed, snowed under by the countless number of Almajirai that don’t know any better. Our leaders need to stop using these uninspired youth as tools and instead steer them in the direction that will see Arewa thrive by educating them and empowering them. The north needs leaders with foresight and selfless service; we have no other choice but to unite and represent our people wholeheartedly.

There is a popular expression I have always found quite interesting that goes, “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be”. If this is the case, then it is a given that Arewa is desperate for great leaders. We are desperate to be taken from where we are on the periphery of rupture and impoverishment to where we should be at the hub of harmony and progress. We cannot play an effective role in our own development unless we have such great leaders who are willing to deal and correct our deficiencies; great leaders who can encourage us to develop education, industries, communications and agriculture.

Arewa, the former powerhouse of Nigerian politics, an entity, once proud of its leaders and history is crumbling and struggling to stand as one unified entity. We have allowed religious sentiment and tribal bigotry to create the kind of dichotomy that never existed before. It is imperative at this sensitive and crucial stage for the north to come together and speak with one voice as we once did. Rebuilding and revisiting the legacy created to us by Sardauna is the only way we as a people can benefit in a country where unity is everything and diversity is nothing.

The north, can regain its credibility once those privileged by fate comprehend that the fates of all human beings are interconnected; whatever affects one of us affects us all. And although they may not be amongst the tens of thousands of Northerners reeling from the loss of Sir Ahmadu Bellos’ legacy because they are living comfortably in the present, they must recognise that affluence and power is not a right but a gift from God. So if our leaders disregard the foundation the Sardauna set for them and abandon the north, then they also abandon their children’s future.

I once read a prose which left an impression on me and confirmed to me that every action taken by mankind is never taken in isolation and whatever way we behave as ‘yen Arewa, will invariably be the testament of the way the North will develop, it said; “All mankind is of one author, one volume …As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all….No man is an island, entire of itself…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

“My name is TJ and I am a 46 year old man dying from full blown AIDS. I have a wife and two small children, who are, till this day, unaware of the disease eating away at them and, probably, me as well.

I have been aware of my HIV status for the past 2 years, 7 months and 3 days. My diagnosis was made during one of those routine checkups conducted abroad. Every year, during the World AIDS day, I watch many victims of this disease speak about how they have come to terms with their condition and learnt to live productively with the disease. I admire them and I wish I was one of them, but I’m afraid, I am not! Unlike them, I never came to terms with AIDS and I never told anyone I have it. I have been to a few classes organized for HIV and AIDS sufferers abroad, but I made sure that no one in the classes knew me or where I came from.

I know that I am a coward and cruel because I live with a wonderful wife, who has cared for me throughout my illness. At the time we got married, we were the talk of the town. She was a beautiful young girl from a prestigious family and I was a dashing young man aiming for the skies. Our wedding was splashed all over the tabloids and people spoke about how perfect and lucky we were. Even though I have always known that there was noting like perfection in our relationship, I never believed that there would come a time our whole life would be submerged under the shadow of AIDS.

While I believe that I have infected this beautiful wife of mine, I have not had the courage or decency to tell her that I have repaid her dedication with this ailments. I think, but for the fact she may be in denial, deep down in her mind she may have suspected we have the disease.

I never came to terms with the fact I have AIDS and I may never will. Even with the body aches, the constant diarrhea, the never-ending catarrh, the scores of lesions on my body and the torture going on in my psyche, I want to forget that I have AIDS, but I cant.

As I narrate my story, I remember quite vividly that gloomy, dark Wednesday when the doctor took the joy away from my life, when he handed me the death certificate, when he told me I was HIV positive.

The diagnosis shouldn’t have come to me as a shock really, because the prospect of HIV had been lingering at the back of my mind. It had worried me a couple of times in the past, but I had always convinced myself that AIDS could never happen to me. But as I lay on my bed, in this dark room alone, I know that nobody; I mean nobody is immune from contracting HIV and AIDS.

For the last two and a half years, I have often found myself trying to pinpoint the moment I contracted this disease. Could it have been the time the barber cut me while trying to do a close shave on my head? What about the time my foot was sliced with a razor during a pedicure in an illustrious ladies saloon? Then I also think it maybe the time I had a minor surgery to remove hemorrhoids. During the surgery, I lost a lot of blood and had to be given a blood transfusion.

But no matter how much I try to convince myself that I contracted HIV through a syringe, blood transfusion or blade, I know that I am lying to myself. If I really and truly want to be honest with myself, I know that; no haircut, injection or transfusion was responsible. I know that I got infected with HIV and AIDS through the lifestyle I lead.

For many years leading up to my diagnosis, I did whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and with whomever I wanted. I had a great job and was making plenty of money. I was young, handsome, confidant and charming. I have always had the ability to attract members of the female gender. In-fact, way back when we were in school, my friends used to call me the ‘babe magnet’ or ‘Alexander’ (as in Alexander the great), because I had a reputation as a ladies man who could conquer and convince any woman to go out with me. I cannot put into words how hard I tried to keep that reputation. Sometimes, even when I didn’t desire a woman, I would chase her, just to fuel my skirt-chasing reputation and just to show off.

Lord knows I loved women, I saw the beauty in each and every one of them and I relished the attention I got from them. I remember a time in school when a group of us used to play a game where we would bet money on the one, amongst us, who was able to chase the most women in a twenty-four hour period. It was a known fact within our group that I was almost always the winner.

From my secondary school days, to my time in University, through to the conclusion of my NYSC, I treated women like a token chattel you could buy in the market, use and discard. I enjoyed the feeling I got from knowing I had such power over women. As a young boy, my mother used to tell me how much all her friends loved me and thought I was cute. “You have presence and a special aura my son”, she would say. “I know that it will get you very far in life”. Now as I remember her words, as I look upon my worn frame, I am scared to admit that the, so-called, charisma and aura got me AIDS.

I regret many things in my life… I regret using women the way I did, I regret the fact that I will not be able to grow old with my family and I regret not taking responsibility for my disease. But my biggest regret of all, is the fact that I didn’t come to terms with the disease. Just like the people on the Television programs for World AIDS day, I could have lived a productive life as a person living with HIV and AIDS. All the other people living with the disease are human beings just like me, but unlike me, they have valor, grace and dignity in the face of adversity. They didn’t let AIDS kill them… Like I am doing.

I wish I had the courage to come out publicly and tell the world what has happened to me. I want to be able to apologize to my family and to my wife. I want to be an example for all the young men and women who may feel as invincible as I did and warn them that a few moments of pleasure can not be worth the death sentence imposed by it’s consequence.

HIV and AIDS are real and it has no distinct face, yet it resembles every face. Every person has to be aware of AIDS and take upon himself or herself to be cautious. If they do contract the disease, they must not treat it the way I did. They must try to live and tell others about it. They must learn from stories like mine.

Taking into consideration, the advance of my disease and the agony I am in every day, I very much doubt that I will witness another World AIDS day.

If I do, it will be a miracle! If I am gone, I hope for the best for my family, my wife and I pray for her forgiveness. I also pray that the spread of HIV and AIDS will stop. But for it to stop, each and every one of us has to be aware of HIV and AIDS.

As I relate my story to you, I would like to use this opportunity, without shame or fear, to do what I should have done 2 and a half years ago and say that …My name is TJ and I am a 46 year old man living with full blown AIDS.”

It is an incontrovertible fact that massive corruption pervades all levels of government in Nigeria and has become a threat to the nation’s economy and a danger to our democracy. As the scathing “US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012” on Nigeria estimates, the country lost about $6.8 billion (N1.067 trillion) to what it calls “endemic corruption and entrenched inefficiency.” Corruption has become an endemic disease, malaise and hydra-headed monster that is gorging every facet of the Nigerian society, and is indeed a crime against development. According to the 2012 Transparency International CPI index, Nigeria is ranked 139th out of 176 countries globally. Noteworthy however, there has always been a salient yet silent form of corruption, insidiously contributing to the under-development of Nigeria, known as Quiet Corruption. The World Bank defines quiet corruption “as the failure of public servants to deliver goods and services paid for by governments.” This form of corruption does not make sensational headlines in the way bribery scandals do or other infamous corrupt practices, but it is just as corrosive and detrimental to the development of the country. It focuses on the inability and inefficiency of public officials in delivering goods and services to the majority of the populace, which have been made available and paid for by government, due to petty bribes, nepotism, greed, theft, cronyism, etc.  For instance: when people pay bribes to access public services that should ordinarily have been freely available; when a child is denied proper education, due to the reason that the teacher supposed to be teaching full time as stipulated by the government budget, is instead non-existent because salaries to pay the teacher have been fraudulently diverted to corrupt officials, and so on, are constituted as quiet corruption, inhibiting Nigeria’s long-term development; inevitably leading to distrust, lack of confidence and negative expectation of service delivery system of government services and public facilities.

Another major form of quiet corruption prevalent in Nigeria is what is known as ‘tenderpreneurs.’ These are individuals who enrich themselves through government tender contracts, primarily based on personal connections, cronyism, family ties and corrupt relationships. They largely consist of friends with personal connections and ties to those in power, nuclear and extended family members, non-re-elected politicians, etc. In most cases of tenderpreneur, outright bribery takes place involving an elected or politically appointed official holding simultaneous business bidding for a particular contract. The end result of this is often accompanied by overcharging and tawdry workmanship. Evident of this are the lacking in quality, half-finished and abandoned projects which as at October last year, amounted to a stack of some 12,000 abandoned public projects scattered across the country, worth an estimated $50 billion, and have sat idle for various, often indiscernible reasons. Another group of tenderprenuers are heads and top officials of government agencies/public institutions, who scheme and award government contract to themselves, without due procurement processes such as open advertising and bidding; by setting up companies fronted by close relatives and associates.

Inevitably unaddressed, quiet corruption fosters poverty and exploitation, due to the total reliance of majority of the populace on the skeletal and non-existent government services and public systems as a result of monies and revenue embezzled and siphoned off by government officials. Unaddressed, it erodes institutional capacity of government, when procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. Unaddressed, it increases the cost of doing business especially in the private sector through the price of illicit payments, the management cost of negotiating with officials, and the risk of breached agreements of detection. Unaddressed, it lowers compliance and enforcement, contributes to the violation of laws or regulations, as it is mostly ignored by people and cannot be enforced efficiently since enforcement officials can easily be cajoled, coaxed or bribed.

Indeed quiet corruption has pervasively permeated government Ministries, Department and Agencies, and other public institutions, significantly reducing the quality of government services and infrastructure. Though laws in Nigeria provide criminal penalties for official corruption, government has done little or nothing to effectively implement these laws, as it is a well-known fact that public officials in Nigeria frequently engage in corrupt practices with impunity. It has also become especially harmful to the nation’s poor, which according to the Bureau of Statistics constitute about 112 million Nigerians living below the poverty line. Similarly, the World Bank also states that more than 67% of the entire population lives in poverty, particularly in rural areas. This huge numbers/percentage of people is primarily dependent and relies on government services and public systems to satisfy and provide for their basic needs and amenities.

Hence, tackling this scourge would require: a strong and committed leadership with genuine political will, policies and institutions; the increased accountability and participation by citizens; the protection of whistle-blowers from harassment, intimidation or persecution by the authorities, so as to encourage prospective whistle-blowers in exposing future corrupt practices of public officers; a free and vibrant press that is informative, authoritative and responsible, especially via reports on government budgets and pending projects, enabling citizens to have adequate information and can further question leaders on the status of on-going and finished project, and the use of funds for the project; and lastly a truly independent judiciary, devoid of favouritism, bias and partial judgments, persecuting culpable public officials accordingly, under the law.

The most inequitable behaviour any leader can exhibit in a country that faces the kind of challenges Nigeria has is

the behaviour of being corrupt or supporting officials who engage in embezzlement, nepotism, bribery, extortion, influence peddling, and fraud. The Jonathan administration, or at least some members of the administration, have not only asserted exactly that behaviour in theory but seems, exercised it in practice.

When accounts of Minister’s purchase of hundred million naira bullet proof cars, reports of extortion in courts where requests by judicial officers for bribes in exchange for favorable rulings are allegedly made and the embezzlement of billions of dollars in Malabu oil deals are exposed, it is difficult for the president’s underlings to compile a defence for him and his administration that could even remotely be considered as credible. While the president quietly watches and muses over the corruption that continues to thrive under his administration, even in the face of national and international outrage, without taking any concrete action, there is little doubt in people’s minds that he is  giving corrupt officials a free passage, pass and reign to do what the freak they want.

The current deplorable case of the minister of aviation’s shady practices is just the most recent reveal of what can only be termed as a blatant disregard for the massive, widespread, and pervasive corrupt practices with impunity that everyone, including the president, is aware of. But beyond the alleged actions of the Minister of aviation, the most damning indictment of this most recent corruption report on the Jonathan administration is the absolute ignorance and deliberate inaction with which the president has draped all of it.

Since the scandal broke, in-fact it seems like, whenever the expose of the corruption of one of the officers in his administration breaks, the president seems to clam up. The least one could expect from him in the instances would be some effort to penalize wrongdoing in light of their exposure. Instead we get silence. And woe betide he or she who interprets President Jonathan’s silence amidst so much corruption as an endorsement of the corrupt actions! But, for a commander in chief to run a government that has zero transparency and zero accountability and continuously watch in silence while officials representing his administration have a jolly good soirée with the public funds of 149.99 million impoverished and poverty-stricken people, it is a crying shame.

In other better run countries, there would be a bellowing for the removal and prosecution of those who embezzle government coffers, but in Nigeria there is a stony silence on the part of those meant to checkmate such incongruity and those who are supposed to look after the interest of the nation, especially the president.

Honestly, there is so much wrong with the manner in which President Jonathan has navigated his war against corruption. By responding to queries either with an apology and a promise to set up a committee, or with basic silence as if to say to the public that it is none of your business, by not giving a damn about declaring his assets, by appearing to protect bad behavior, it is a small wonder that there is so much fraud in government and a total disregard for the law.

If the primary theory embraced by the Jonathan administration to show his commitment on the war on corruption and his encouragement of transparency in the nation’s government has been his purported exposure of the scam in Nigeria’s downstream sector or EFCC’s assumed 200 convictions as a result of the subsidy report, and the set up of the umpteenth committee this year, they could have fooled us.

No matter how much the administration remixes the few anticorruption accolades achieved, despite the spin put on the glaring cases of grand larceny and brazen venality by the representatives of this government, the deliberate inactions of the president to some of the more palpable cases of government transgressions, alas implicates him.

But beyond his inactions lies a labyrinth of misactions and utterances also. As the number one citizen of Nigeria and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, when President Jonathan discloses to his citizens that he personally knows some of the people involved in corruption, but would not reveal their identity and would prefer to remain silent over it, it is a shock to the system for, even the most gullible within us. When the president goes out of his way to willy-nilly grant a state pardon to a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who had been convicted on charges of corruption, one can only wonder whether our leader has truly grasped the 101 on the basic tenants of fighting a war on corruption. When select members of his cabinet and other officials that are meant to be representative of the government continue to blatantly undermine any progress that his government may have made in the face of his deafening silence, then it is time for the likes of myself to get the pen and paper out and remind the president that he has a duty to wake up, speak up, govern and take action in the interest of the nation, even if that action is not what he would personally choose to take.

By the time President Jonathan comes back from his trip to Israel, one can bet that the dust from the Minister of Aviation’s scandal would still not have settled.  Whether he likes it or not, he will have to take a position. Regardless of whatever he chooses to do, the President must be reminded that his deliberate inaction to the corruption of the urchins within his cabinet has got to stop. He can remain silent no longer and watch while some of his ministers spend government funds in so cavalier a manner. The government officials should be made to account for their indiscretion at every cost.

No matter what this administration will be remembered for, one doubts that the president would want historians to label his leadership as one with a blatant disregard for the purported war against corruption and utter disrespect for the people of Nigeria. There has to be an end to Nigeria relying on people of questionable integrity to run her affairs and the President’s silence to the corruption speaks volumes. One hopes that President Jonathan can find his voice in order to expunge some of the cretins from his cabinet, because when he remains silent to their corruption, he effectively creates the corruption of that silence.