Guess who is back? In triumphant fashion, the Spiritual Director, Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, returned from the monastery after observing suspension from ministerial activities.
Mbaka was received amid cheers, and wild jubilation from teeming members of his ministry. The jamboree-like funfair re-ignited an uncontrollable euphoria from church members who apparently missed the cleric.
Now that he is back to the space, few weeks to the 2023 polls, the controversial cleric may be tempted to throw pebbles into already muddied political waters.
Founded in 1998, the Adoration Ministry led by Mbaka has a strong appeal for thousands of devotees who throng to the place for spiritual healing and special anointing.
Several attempts to rein in Mbaka’s excesses by the church authorities have failed woefully. Buoyed by the strength of his following and the financial war chest of his ministry, the priest wore the untouchable toga.
The Diocese of Enugu, to which he belongs, has often disclaimed his remarks as his personal opinion. The Catholic Bishops Conference has also always warned against the promotion of partisan politics in the context of Mass.
Last year, the Church under the fiery preacher was closed down temporarily and the Diocese banned Mbaka from commenting on political issues after activities in the ministry were suspended.
The Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Rev. Callistus Onaga, transferred him from chaplaincy to the monastery as part of the disciplinary measures against him. Consequently, Rev. Fr. Anthony Amadi was named to replace him (Mbaka) as the new chaplain of the Adoration Ministry Chaplaincy.
For the Bishop, he had a long time dealing with Mbaka’s unsavoury comments and moved to show he could bite. His argument was that Mbaka’s sermon’s and utterances were not consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
The disciplinary measures against Mbaka followed his scathing remarks against Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi. He, had in June, prophesied that Obi would not win the 2023 presidential election because he is a “stingy man.”
Last year, he was spotted in a monastery in Los Angeles, United States, where he was said to have gone in continuation of the “disciplinary measure” imposed on him by the church leadership.
Some observers argue that Mbaka, and his colleagues – men-in-collar – should stick to their “calling” and stay away from politics.
Understandably, the influence of religion in Nigeria’s democratic journey cannot be overemphasized and some believe clerics have a huge role to play in using their various pulpit to point out ills of the society.
Others argue that if every Nigerian generally has political views, and can express them through their different media – singers through their songs, writers through their writings, etc – why are pastors not allowed to express their political opinions from the pulpit?
Mbaka is one who is completely unfazed by criticism. It remains to be seen whether his recent retreat would temper his excursions into all things political.
•Why it’s important to analyse presidential candidates’ foreign policy agenda on energy transition
Harvard and Oxford-trained scholar, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, SAN, is a globally recognised professor of Energy and Environmental Law and currently a United Nations Independent Expert representing Africa on the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights. He is Global Vice Chair of the International Law Association and the director of the leading research think tank, the Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (OGEES Institute) at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD). The Deputy Vice Chancellor of the university, he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021 as a member of the Governing Board of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). Olawuyi spoke with ADEBISI ONANUGA on climatic change and the ongoing decarbonization and low carbon energy transition, among sundry issues.
NIGERIA, like many oil producing developing countries, is concerned about the implications of the ongoing emphasis on decarbonization, climate change and low carbon transition on the economy. What is the way forward for Nigeria and other African countries?
The global oil and gas industry is undergoing significant transformations due to unequivocal scientific studies that show the urgent need to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute to climate change to net zero by the year 2050. That is consistent with the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, while the need for a low-carbon economy is incontrovertible, a sudden global divestment from the oil and gas industry may have catastrophic development impacts in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.
Studies have already expressed the fear that Africa may become the sacrificial lamb for net zero and decarbonization. In countries such as Nigeria where the oil and gas sector contributes to more than 80 per cent of the country’s revenue as well as foreign exchange earnings, a sudden divestment from the sector may result in significant job loss, unemployment, and may halt the flow of financing needed to develop critical healthcare, education, water and energy infrastructure, leaving a huge dent on the realization of all aspects of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria.
I am therefore a strong advocate for a just and inclusive global decarbonization agenda that balances the interests, priorities and needs of developing countries.
So, what must be the demand of Nigeria in the decarbonization agenda as a developing country?
First, international law already emphasises the need to achieve the global net-zero goals on the basis of equity and in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty. This provides a strong basis for Nigeria and other African countries to demand that ongoing global emphasis on decarbonization and low carbon energy transition must be done in a just, inclusive and rights-based manner such that no country is left behind.
Second, apart from the climate emergency, the world also faces an energy poverty emergency, which we must never lose sight off.
This is 2023, and currently more than 1 billion people (13% of the world’s total population) still lack access to electricity, with about 600 million of those in Africa. Even in Nigeria, constant supply of electricity, reliability and affordability remain key issues.
African countries therefore need to articulate a foreign policy agenda that balances these two equally important priorities. There is a need to harness lower carbon and environmentally preferable transition fuels, such as natural gas, that will help combat the current energy poverty emergency facing our world.
Ahead of the 2023 elections, what do you think is the most important step for Nigeria in achieving such balanced foreign policy agenda?
The 2023 election provides an important and timely opportunity to analyse the foreign policy strategies of the leading presidential candidates to see to what extent they will be able to achieve a just and equitable deal for Nigeria in the ongoing decarbonization and low carbon energy transition.
One positive news is that all the leading presidential candidates have clearly identified energy security and climate change as urgent priorities for a sustainable and prosperous economic development in Nigeria, which is commendable.
What I would however like to see more of is a clear and comprehensive strategy for leveraging the global emphasis on low carbon transition as a tool for attracting climate financing into key sectors of Nigeria. For example, Article 9 of the Paris Agreement clearly provides that developed countries shall provide financial resources to assist developing countries with respect to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. A number of climate financing mechanisms have therefore been put in place, that if we key into, could provide significant inflow of international capital that could in no time establish Nigeria as a hub for climate technology entrepreneurship and clean energy development projects, such as green hydrogen projects.
For example, in addition to clean technology mechanism and climate finance funds under the United Nations climate regime, countries such as India, China, Brazil and South Africa are already leveraging climate financing options such as concessional climate infrastructure loans, green bonds, climate guarantees, and debt for climate swaps from international sources to implement green economy activities in the energy and other sectors. For example, given Nigeria’s leading role as a natural gas supplier, the net-zero transition provides significant opportunities for Nigeria to become a leading hub for blue and green hydrogen projects that can enable us to sustain progress in terms of advancing energy security, net-zero transitions, economic resilience and all the SDGs. These are all urgent foreign policy issues of our time which Nigeria cannot afford to take the back seat on.
Nigerians must therefore elect a President with the clearest agenda and the most competent team to secure the best international deal that does not make the country the sacrificial lamb for unjust global energy transition.
We cannot afford to continue to frame climate change and net-zero as some environmental issue alone. Rather, net-zero and the SDGs must underpin all aspects of Nigeria’s economic planning, infrastructure development and foreign policy.
How can you assess Nigeria’s readiness to achieve the SDGs?
In 2015, Nigeria joined other countries of the world to commit to the attainment of the UNSDGs by the year 2030. The 17 SDGs reflect global aspirations to end hunger and poverty, and accelerate progress on energy security, health, education, gender equality, economic growth, conservation of water, biodiversity, natural resources, and tackling climate change amongst others. This is 2023, so we have exactly seven years left to achieve all of these important targets and goals.
While the current administration, through the Office of the Senior Special Advisor to the President on SDGs, has made significant progress over the last years in placing the SDGs at the heart of governance and decision making, we see that we are now in a race against time. So we must double such efforts over the next four to eight years. For example, due to the fierce urgency, you see that countries such as the United Kingdom, Poland, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have established specific Ministries for Climate Change. The United Kingdom has also appointed a Minister of State for Climate Change, while Canada and Hungary have established the positions of Ombudsman for SDGs and Future Generations. These are strategies aimed at ensuring highlighting and elevating sustainability as top government priority which also enhances a country’s climate diplomacy at the international level. Such emphasis can also enhance the integrated and coordinated efforts in the pursuit of all aspects of the SDGs in Nigeria.
One of the key challenges to the SDGs in Nigeria is the tendency for various agencies, ministries, and entities to pursue sustainability projects and strategies without adequate coordination and collaboration. At the heart of the SDGs is the need for multi-stakeholder partnership and interoperability that will ensure that all government projects and planning in all sectors and ministries are underpinned by a common national SDG strategy.
The next administration will be leading Nigeria towards the final phase of the 2030 target date for the SDGs, so it is highly imperative for us to get it right. We should see very clearly at this stage the SDG strategy and framework that will be implemented by the next dispensation to place sustainability as a top government priority and foreign policy.
You became a full professor of law in 2015 at the age of 32, appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor, ABUAD at 36, and conferred with the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) rank in 2020 at the age of 37, making you the youngest academic SAN in Nigeria. What are the challenges you faced in achieving these unprecedented feats?
Well, I am indeed humbled and honoured to have been able to record these important milestones in my career. I am very fortunate to have tapped into the visions of the President and Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, OFR, LL.D, CON, who is well known to be a selfless and cerebral mentor that has trained more than 1,000 lawyers and produced 24 Senior Advocates of Nigeria. Working closely with him has greatly inspired and challenged me to be the best in my teaching, research and service to the nation.
Aare Afe Babalola’s accomplishments, from very humble beginnings, is enough motivation for everyone associated with ABUAD to push for the greatest heights, break existing records and set new ones. The university and college of law provided the right atmosphere and resources for me to achieve these milestones. Without the support and best wishes of everyone, ranging from the president and founder of the university to the senior management of the university, the Vice Chancellor, Professor E. Smaranda Olarinde, to my head of department and my students, this attainment would have been highly impossible. I faced no barrier; all I saw was motivation, encouragements and opportunities.
You are an alumnus of the Harvard and Oxford universities. Tell us more about your background and how you were able to achieve all this?
I owe these achievements to the divine grace of God. I am the last child in a family of six. My mother had no formal education while my father’s highest degree was a primary school certificate, as his parents had no funds to sponsor him any further. He became a steel welder in the process, and later managed with his little education to build a successful construction business. He was therefore very determined to do all that was humanly possible to ensure that all his children would at least graduate from the university.
His dream came true as all my siblings are now medical doctors and engineers. I am the first and only lawyer in my family and generation. I grew up reading about famous lawyers such as Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) and Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) of blessed memory, and I secretly admired their commitment to justice and societal development. These naturally developed in me a strong passion for social development issues.
I was privileged to have achieved first class honours in law from Igbinedion University, and another first class from the Nigerian Law School, which earned me a full scholarship by the Government of Alberta, Canada to obtain a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Calgary, Canada.
From Calgary, I received another full scholarship to go to Harvard University for another LL.M, and while still at Harvard, I received the Queen of England’s Overseas Research Scholarship to study for a PhD at Oxford University. After this, I was called to the bar in Canada and then practised energy law at the global law firm, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada, for a while and then to Qatar.
Having received so much support and mentoring from institutions abroad, what I hope to continue to do is to leverage my experience studying and working in Africa, North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East to contribute to national and international sustainability efforts, and to motivate and inspire the next generation.
What is your advice for students?
My advice for them is that they should not be tired of new knowledge. As a student or young lawyer, they should condition their minds like a funnel, that is, absorbing new knowledge in a wide range of areas and specialism, and then gradually narrowing down to suit their most passionate interest. Law is very wide, so one should not be in a hurry to permanently label oneself to one narrow area. Learning requires humility, patience, diligence, hard work and building professional networks and interest in diverse areas. Such mental curiosity and desire to know more is the secret of success, whether as a practising lawyer, legal academic, university administrator or even politician.
To deliver value, one must aspire at the beginning to learn something about everything and be seen as a reliable professional by colleagues and clients at all times. In the end, money flows in the direction of those that consistently bring value.
In spite of the rising cases of dog bites and the worries accompanying the trend, keeping dogs as pets remains a common phenomenon among many Nigerians, many of whom spend a lot of money to ensure that their dogs live good life. You would hardly pass a neighbourhood without hearing the barking of dogs, especially in highbrow communities. GBENGA ADERANTI writes on the fad and the challenges that come with keeping dogs.
From a distance, as you approach the gate of Mr. Adeyemo Babatunde, you are greeted by the cacophony resulting from the barking of his breed of dogs known as German Shepherd Dogs (GSD). The fierce-looking dogs charge at you as if they would devour you in a minute. The three of them struggle to get out of their yard, scratching the plastered wall as if they pull the fence down. In the circumstances, a lily-livered visitor is left with no option but to make a detour.
Oshodi, who said he had lived with dogs since he was a child, told The Nation that he ‘inherited’ the love for dogs from his father.
Born into a home where dog breeding was a custom, he chose to keep foreign dogs instead of local breeds because, according to him, they are good for security purposes.
“I love dogs. I have been keeping dogs since I was a little boy,” he said excitedly as he spoke with The Nation.
Explaining why he prefers the German Shepherds, Oshodi said: “They are good for security. They alert you if there is any danger. They are easy to train and they listen to instructions.
“You can’t compare them with the Rottweiler or the Dorbarmann, which have low memories and can misbehave at any time. They are dangerous because they are not reliable.
“GSD neither misbehaves nor does any harm to my children. In fact, my children play with them and do whatever they like with them irrespective of age and size.”
He warned, however, that GSDs have the tendency to destroy clothes and other material things.
He disclosed that besides using his GSD for security purposes, he also makes some income from breeding them.
According to him, each time they give birth, he sells each puppy for a minimum of N40,000, depending on the negotiation power of the buyer.
Austin Emmanuel also kept two dogs before they were ‘killed’. The dogs were in his house for three years.
He told our correspondent how he became a regular visitor to the painter because the dogs were always scratching his car.
According to Austin, the first two that he bought, which he named Marshal-Rottweiler and Major- Boerboel, were poisoned within four days’ intervals.
Reminiscing about the good times with his dogs, Austin disclosed that “Some people probably threw something across the fence and they ate it. My fence is seven-ft high. They died in a space of four days.
“If Marshal heard my horn 100 metres away, he would run to the gate and start barking. Once the gate was opened, he would come to the driver’s side.
“Almost every two weeks, I was going to the spray painter. I got tired and I changed the strategy: I would, first of all, leech him before taking my car inside.
“The day Marshal died, we did not eat in my house. I even put it on Facebook. We wept on that day,”
Recalling that he bought the two dogs as puppies for N130,000, he agrees that dogs are good for security within their territories. But outside their territories, they are as timid as the sheep.
He believes however that dogs are expensive to maintain in terms of feeding and medication.
Like Austin, keeping dogs, for Lagos-based journalist, Sunday Ogun, is a passion. “I keep dogs for companionship and security,” he said.
“They are really good for security to the extent that they keep undesirable elements away from my premises.
“They also alert when they sense danger, keeping the neighborhood on guard.”
He said he had some Boerboel dogs which he said he had been keeping for five years.
While he struggles to feed them and play with them, he also finds it a challenge to bathe them every other month.
Ogun says he spends an average of N20,000 on feeding his dogs and on their monthly medical treatment besides other unexpected expenses, adding that keeping dogs is elitist.
“Yes, I would say so because of the costs involved in feeding and medical treatment. It is tough for an average family to cope with these expenses.”
Ogun is amused that many people who do not really appreciate the worth of dogs are keeping them; especially the young men who he said see it as mere vogue.
He said: “I think it is more of a trend. But I struggle to find how keeping these dogs defines them and what they do. For me, it is an unexpected fad that will go with time.”
While many keep dogs as pets and for security purposes, Adedeji Adeniyi, an Ibadan, Oyo State-based dog breeder, does this strictly for business.
Adeniyi who has different breeds of dogs, including Eskimo, boerboel and GSD,
said he has been in the dog business for three years. And while he does not worry much about the cost of maintaining them, disposing of their feaces and going long distances to get their food are major challenges.
He said: “I spend between N100,000 and N150,000 monthly on medication and feeding.”
He agrees that the dog-keeping business is elitist, but for those involved in it, the chance of recouping their investment is very high.
“Yes, dogs are really good for security. They alert their owners once they notice any strange thing.
“But I don’t really know why some young men keep expensive dogs. I guess it is because those breeds are cute.”
Adeniyi said his puppy boerboel goes for N150,000 while adult boerboel goes for between N180,000 and N200,000; GSD puppy costs between N50,000 and N70,000 depending on the quality; adult GSD goes between N200,000 and N300,000; the puppy of white eskimo goes for N50,000 while the adult costs between N120,000 and N150,000.
According to him, most people keep chow chow and eskimo as status symbols. “They keep them because they are expensive. But mainly, people keep boerboel because they are good as security dogs,” he said.
Burglary is a common occurrence in one of the Ogun communities where Lekan Ewe lives. Almost all the houses in the said community had been attacked at one time or the other. His house is probably one of the few that have never been ‘visited’ because his giant boerboel barks every time he notices a movement near the house.
While many in the neighbourhood have complained about the incessant barking of the dog from his compound, Ewe insists that it does not cause anybody any harm, adding that the consequence of not having his dogs around could be grievous.
A glance at his giant boerboel even from outside the gates of his house would send shivers down the spine of any stranger. Now in his 40s, he said he has been breeding dogs for the past 14 years.
“I have loved dogs since I was a kid. I have Lhassa, eskimo, German Shepherd and boerboel,” he boasted.
Ewe spends a fortune on his dog every month. The only consolation has always been, barring any health challenge, he would make his money after selling them.
“I spend a lot of money to feed them. They can’t do without fish and turkey, aside from the noodles and can foods. At times I spend between N80,000 and N150,000 in a month to feed them.”
While he makes money if they all survive at birth, it is always a tragedy in his household anytime he loses any of the dogs, especially if they are adults.
Ewe said: “Some weeks back, one of my adult boerboels died and it was a mourning period in my house. My wife and daughter cried and cried. Others who were living with me were dejected. You could feel sadness in the entire house.
“We gave the dog a proper burial. It was painful losing the dog. This was compounded by the fact that he was not sick; nothing was wrong with him.
“I went to his cage and called his name. He stood up, wagged his tail, and went down, refusing to stand up.
“We later found that the dog was dead. See where we buried him (pointing to a section of his compound).
“It was very painful. It is something I hate to remember.”
He also disclosed that it is always challenging to find that after getting a dog to cross, the dog gets pregnant but before you know it the pregnancy would come down.
“Imagine you expecting some amount of money after selling your puppies but suddenly your hope goes up in smoke because the pregnancy came down suddenly. It is always painful.
“Some will even give birth, you give them adequate medical attention, yet one by one, all the puppies will die.”
He sells a puppy of Lhassa for N120,000 while boerboel goes for between N80,000 and N100,000. The eskimo puppies go for N70,000.
He considers himself lucky that his dog has never for once bitten someone because he would not allow them out of his gate. “The only thing they do is that they kill themselves when they fight. The females fight among themselves.”
He advised that anybody who wants to go into dog breeding must be ready to spend money and have time for such dogs, especially when they want to give birth. Unlike the local dogs, he said, you have to be with them.
Dayo Adenodi inherited his love for dogs from his father. Today, he has about eight dogs of different breeds and spends a fortune on maintaining them.
“I have been reading about dogs for the past nine years. My father also liked dogs. I keep them for security purposes,” he said.
It has not all been a story of bliss for him as his dog had in the past put him in serious trouble.
According to him, his dog bit one of his neighbours and it became a big problem.
The victim was eventually treated in a private hospital in the neighbourhood.
He also explained that the boerboel dog breed attracts people because of its aggression and fierce looks. “They are good for security. Those eskimos too are parlour dogs. If someone manages to enter your room, they would start barking and attracting attention,” he noted.
He also claims spending between N40,000 and N50,000 on his dog’s feeding and medication monthly. “Right now, their canned food is N1,000. Aside from that I would buy noodles and other kinds of food,” he said.
Besides the fortune spent on food, he said he always monitors them in order not to be attacked by leeches and ticks.
According to him, both tick and leech, if care is not taken, could kill a dog before one realises it.
He, however, debunked the claims that dogs attack without provocation.
Flip side of obsession
Why there is nothing wrong in keeping dogs, the attitude of some dog owners is worrisome. Most dog owners don’t sometimes get anti-rabies vaccination for their dogs, our correspondent gathered.
Unfortunately there are many stray dogs out there unattended to, wandering on the streets and with little or no provocation attack innocent people.
While many have argued that the cases of dog bites are under-reported, the statistics of those that have been affected by dog bites are alarming.
According to a report by ResearchGate, between 2005 and 2014, a total of 1,840 dog bite cases were reported with 1123 confirmed rabies-positive cases.
A 10-year review of dog bite cases in humans from 2005 to 2014 was undertaken from archives of the rabies laboratory, National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) Vom, Nigeria to assess the magnitude of dog bites and associated risks of human exposure to rabies among bite victims. Of the 1, 840 cases reported, the highest and the lowest rates of bite occurred in 2009 and 2007 respectively.
Children constituted 31.5% of the victims, 36.0% were adults, while 32.5% had no age indications. Male victims formed 46.7% of the cases, 38.4% involved females while the genders of the remaining 14.9% were not given.
Similarly, prevalence of rabies cases were highest and lowest in 2009 and 2007 respectively while the overall prevalence of rabies-positive dog bite cases during the decade was high (61.1%).
However, rabies public campaigns by indigenous veterinary professional groups during the initial editions of world rabies day improved the level of awareness, which possibly led to the rise in reported cases of dog bites in 2009, while the considerable drop in the cases and probably in rabies in subsequent years could have been due to vaccination of a considerate number of the dog population.
Appreciable reductions in dog bite cases and in rabies nationwide in Nigeria are only achievable when stakeholders determine to tackle dog bites by supporting responsible ownership and annual mass vaccination of dogs and cats against rabies as well as quarantining or controlling their movements.
In rural Africa, where the risk of dog bites and rabies is greatest, it is important to raise public awareness of the roles of accurate laboratory diagnosis and surveillance in the national rabies control and monitoring programme.
Narrating his experience, Mr. Isiaka Akinwande said his daughter was attacked by one of the dogs of his neighbor unprovoked.
He said: “I sent my daughter to buy a bag of sachet water for me. Probably, the dog was attracted by the way my daughter was struggling to carry the water. From nowhere, the dog jumped on her and bit her.
“Though the owner said he had vaccinated his dog, I didn’t take any chances. I took my daughter to the hospital for proper treatment. This cost me a fortune, no regret doing this.”
There was also a celebrated case of a boerboel that bit the scrotum of a student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State. According to the report, a boerboel dog named Charlie was said to have attacked the student at the hostel before police were called to arrest the dog.
Unfortunately, most dog bite cases are not always reported.
‘Dogs don’t just bite’
The barking of different breeds of dogs greeted the reporter during his visit to Steve Dogs in Lambe area of Ogun State. The owner of the dog shop, Steve Ajuwon, told the reporter that he had been breeding dogs for the past 20 years. According to him, he treats, trains and breeds dogs.
Though established, he said the business involved lots of challenges.
Ajuwon said: “In the past four months now, I have lost dogs worth over N1 million. Just like human beings, one cannot predict what would happen in the next minute.
“There was this pandemic last year that claimed the lives of many dogs. Dogs are very good pets to keep at home anyway.”
Aside from the pandemic that hit the dogs last year, with proper treatment, according to him, there is no reason to be afraid that one’s dog would suddenly fall sick and die.
Ignorantly, while many think their dogs die because of poison, he said this is not always the case because if you do not give dog adequate vaccination it would surely die.
“When I hear people talk about dogs being poisoned, I laugh. It is not always the case. Dogs die when they are not properly vaccinated.”
He was also of the opinion that many people prefer German Shepherds and Eskimos because they are easier to understand than other breeds of dogs.
Contrary to the belief that dogs bite, he is of the opinion that a good dog would not just attack people.
“When you see a dog that bites easily, it is the fault of the owner. A dog that is not trained properly attacks anyhow.
“See my dogs here, I have over 12 dogs here and I always release them. They will only harass people when they are in their owner’s house.”
Ajuwon says he spends over N100,000 monthly on his dogs.
When dog fails
While many keep dogs for security and protection, sometimes these dogs fail to live up to expectations, especially GSD.
Sometime last year, the Lagos Police Command arrested a thief who broke into a house in Magodo, Lagos, and stole two television sets, and two decoders alongside the trained dog guarding the house.
The Police, who recovered the stolen items, described the situation as a mystery.
Also in Lambe, a suburb of Ogun State, the residents were shocked after returning from work to find their house burgled with no traces of their GSD security dog.
One of the neighbours said he saw the burglars going away with the dog and the household items. He didn’t challenge the burglars because he never suspected them to be thieves.
•How Nollywood actress lost pregnancy, narrowly survived death
Thespians and screen skit makers’ job is anchored on dramatic moments to entertain the audience. But their encounters with fiendish street boys at movie locations have turned their job into big risk in recent times. Bloody assaults including the destruction of vehicles, stoppage of shoot and production, loss of pregnancy and bloody face are some of the results of such ugly encounters between these entertainers and hoodlums, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.
There was a burst of activities at the scene. It was the filming of the third part of Wives on Strike at a location in Lagos. Work on the day had a smooth start. The cast was ready. The crew was on standby. The cameras were set to roll and film star, Omoni Oboli and other thespians were not in the least prepared for roughnecks. But the hoodlums stormed the location before the actors could put their characters to action and halted the movie production in May 2022.
The fierce-looking men demanded a lump sum from the actors before production could continue. A shouting march ensued as the cast and crew were attacked and assaulted by the thugs.
According to Oboli, the shoot was going on smoothly until the hoodlums stormed the location and demanded money for filming to continue. An altercation ensued as she and other production staff refused to pay any money to the troublesome boys.
In the footage of the confrontation posted on Instagram, Oboli complained that the thugs were preventing her from shooting her movie.
“These people make shooting so tiring! When you try to come between me and my work, I get MAD!
“This guy probably thought he could mess with a small woman. E shock am las las today! Me that I haven’t closed my eyes for almost 48 hrs wey body don dey pepper me already!”
The hoodlums later bolted following the resistance to their unlawful mission by the cast and crew at the movie location.
Earlier, like Oboli and her team, popular actress, Nkechi Blessing, had it rough with touts who invaded a movie location in Abeokuta, Ogun State in April 2022. As the story goes, the touts announced their presence by switching off the generator being used to power production equipment at the movie location.
When they realised Blessing and her team were not ready to accede to their demand for payment of a sum running into several thousands of naira, the touts assaulted Blessing and also hit a member of the cast, Olufemi Akinyemi, with stones and left him with a bloody face. They also as destroyed the production equipment, materials and vehicles.
Fuming in the footage of the attack which gained traction online, Blessing, whose car was vandalised in the attack, held out against one of the touts, saying she was as bad as him.
She said: “They do nothing but disrupt movie set all the time…Jobless street layabouts.
“You came on my set, turned off my generator and disrupted my shoot without asking for anything, and you expect me to still give you money after that? The jobless Twat said his useless wife came to wake him up from sleep that Nkechi Blessing was filming in Abeokuta, so he came on purpose. Your body go tell you sha, e sure!!!
“My car I can fix easily but your body go tell you…If you had asked for anything before turning off my gen, it is a different thing entirely. I resemble Butty for your eye? Abi dem no tell you say I be garage girl few weeks ago?”
Skit makers have also become recipients of cruel attacks during outdoor shoot. One of them, Zicsaloma, a popular online comic act, was brutally attacked on November 19, 2022 by hoodlums who ambushed him in Lagos during a video shoot. The hoodlums attacked the skitmaker and veteran Nollywood, Chinyere Wilfred, when they failed to give them an unspecified amount they demanded at the location.
Like others, some hoodlums reportedly attacked Nollywood actor, Akeem Adeyemi, in Lagos State on December 6, 2022. The encounter left Adeyemi with a bloody face. He was hospitalised for days but survived the bloody attack by a whisker.
It will be recalled that another actress, Kemi Afolabi was involved in a street fight with area boys during the shoot of the new movie Esan, in Ikorodu, Lagos on Sunday, March 13, 2017. The director, cameraman, and other crew members were brutalised and injured.
Although Afolabi cheated death after she was rushed to a hospital for treatment, she lost her pregnancy in the unfortunate encounter.
Heartrending tales of victims
Recalling the sad encounter with thugs at a movie location in Abeokuta, Akinyemi said a number of location vehicles were vandalised by them.
He said: “It was three of them (hoodlums) that came and they started ranting, saying we had to pay them before we could continue shooting. Meanwhile, this was my area too.
“This act was expected and we already prepared for them, but their approach dictates our response too. Sometimes, some of them ask for a ridiculous amount of about N700,000.
“Before we knew what was going on, they already pulled off the cable from our generating plant. This escalated the issue because everyone had to come out to check what has happened. We tried to manage the situation and we were able to continue our shoot and the guys were waiting for us to finish shooting. But there was this particular guy among them who was more stubborn.
“I don’t know if the guy had an ulterior motive that day other than coming to request money before we could continue our shoot, because when he started ranting outside, Nkechi already gave me some money to give to him but the guy was not even ready to collect the money.
“He just started ranting, saying things like ‘Nkechi is a ritualist’ and started destroying the cars’ side mirrors and all that.
“When I also came out to address the issue as the production manager on that set, the guy just picked up a stone, threw it at me and it hit me on the face, such that I was even hospitalised.”
Narrating his ordeal at the hands of the hoodlums in Lagos via his Twitter handle, Zicsaloma decried the rate at which hoodlums assault movie makers.
He noted that the urchins accosted him and actress Chinyere Wilfred while shooting a video in town.
He said they demanded money from them before they could be allowed to shoot the movie, which he declined leading to an attack.
“See what we go through in Lagos while we film. Once you bring the camera out, they scatter your shoot until you pay. Today’s own was on another level. They still came later to ambush us with weapons.
“They were hitting my car glass, broke my car handle as they were trying to take my boy who was gingering them.
“We had to beg-o. Na because of @chinyerewilfred4real begging them to hear us o. Bless God we are safe,” he wrote.
Lamenting his fate in a video posted by his colleague, Wumi Toriola, Adeyemi said: “See, see what they did to my eyes when it is not like I stole or did anything wrong but just because I came here to shoot ( a movie).”
Commenting on the attack on Adeyemi, Toriola, via her Instagram page, noted that the actor and others were attacked during a film shoot at Sawmill area of Gbagada, Lagos.
She explained that the hoodlums walked up to the actor and others while on set shooting and demanded money. She said when they refused to give out money, the men pounced on them, attacking the male actor.
”See what area boys did. To what end? Peaceful filming turned this. Help, Ifako Gbagada to be precise,” she wrote.
Fractured leg, loss of pregnancy, vandalised equipment
Actress Afolabi’s encounter with the roughnecks resulted in the loss of her pregnancy and she was hospitalised for several weeks.
She was said to have passed out and was rushed to a hospital in Victoria Island, Lagos for urgent treatment where she regained consciousness a few days later.
She was said to have been left bleeding following the brutality she received from the thugs at the movie location when she did not pay money as demanded by the hoodlums.
In like manner, the director of the movie, Azeez Ijaduade, who was also manhandled by the fiendish area boys, suffered a fracture on his left leg and had to be rushed to a hospital for treatment.
He said that apart from his leg being fractured during the attack, his colleague, Kemi Afolabi, lost her baby to the incident.
“One of the thugs who attacked us hit Kemi Afolabi on the stomach and since then she has been bleeding seriously.”
Practitioners now hire security agents, charge extra fees for safety
The rising attacks on film and skit makers have made some practitioners engage the services of personal guards and security men for protection during the outdoor shoots of movies and skits.
According to Wale Ayinde, a cinematographer, the decision to engage the police and private security men for protection at movie locations was not for personal safety alone but also for the protection of movie equipment.
“A number of my colleagues have lost multi-million naira film equipment, especially cameras and lighting devices to vandalisation by touts or hoodlums during an attack at movie shoot, hence, we have been engaging the police, soldiers and other security agents to protect our crew and equipment at a movie location, albeit, the huge cost of such engagement.”
The development, according to filmmaker Austin Ijekwueme, has led to an increment in fees charged by equipment providers and crew members.
“Equipment providers and production staff who own their equipment now demand extra fees from movie producers which they claim is necessary to guarantee the safety of their equipment during shoot in case there is an attack by touts.
“On the other hand, since the safety of actors is also important during filming, what we now do is seek the protection by requesting the presence of police or military personnel at movie locations and this comes with huge financial implications for our production budget.”
Colleagues, TAMPAN react
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Theatre Arts & Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN), and industry colleagues have expressed their disaffection with attacks on actors on movie sets.
Reacting to the latest attack on Adeyemi, veteran actor, Adebayo Salami said: ‘“This is an unacceptable experience. Though I am glad to know that the culprit has been apprehended by officers of the law, I enjoin the leadership of @tampanglobal to look into this situation as a matter of urgency.
“The safety and security of filmmakers are paramount to us. Beyond the physical assault, losing a day of production means more money has to be spent above the budgeted funds. No filmmaker wants to go through such stress. So sorry @iamakeemadeyemi and other production members.”
Salami also urged the Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria(TAMPAN) to monitor the matter and ensure adequate security for movie producers to prevent recurrence.
Other actors also joined in condemning the brutal attack on the wounded actor, including Kate Henshaw, who wrote: “This is so wrong!! Why do these area boys always harass filmmakers, demanding money and the rest?!”
In his reaction, Femi Adebayo said: “Aha! This is highly unacceptable!!”.
In her reaction to the viral video of the attack on Adeyemi, popular actress, Fausat Balogun Madam Saje described the attack as disturbing and unacceptable.
She wrote: “This is an unacceptable experience. Though it is good to know that the culprit has been apprehended by officers of the law, I enjoin the leadership of @tampanglobal to look into this situation as a matter of urgency.
“The safety and security of filmmakers is paramount to us. Beyond the physical assault, losing a day of production means more money has to be spent above the budgeted funds. No filmmaker wants to go through such stress.”
Condemning the development, veteran actor Bolaji Amusan, popularly known as Mr. Latin, who is also the president of the Theatre Arts & Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN), noted that the rising attacks on movie producers at film locations were unacceptable. He said that the leadership of the association was already interacting with the police authorities with a view to stopping the menace.
His words: “We are meeting with the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Usman Alkali Baba, and other relevant stakeholders to forestall future occurrences.”
One of the realities of life is the phenomenon of death as an inevitable end for every living being. It is a leveler; a reality that all mortals have come to accept irrespective of race, creed, or religion. The manner every mortal dies, the passage rites, and the last place of rest may differ, but the stark reality remains that every mortal will cease to breathe one day as did many prominent people around the world in the outgoing year.
Unlike 2021 when the dreaded COVID-19 virus went on a rampage and claimed lives by hundreds of thousands, however, most of the deaths recorded in the outgoing period arose from natural as well as man-made causes. Indeed, the year would seem to have ended on the sad note of a three-month pregnant lawyer, Omobolanle Raheem, who was shot dead by a police officer in the presence of her family members during the Yuletide. The brutal killing of the Lagos female lawyer would linger in the memories of many even though few knew anything about her until she was shot by ASP Drambi Vandi in Ajah, a suburb of Lagos. The unfortunate incident made her one of the individuals that trended on social media the most in 2022 with President Muhammadu Buhari describing her killing as “heinous and senseless” and directing the police authorities to take “the strongest possible action” against the culprits already in detention. Before the incident, however, many prominent people had passed on. GBENGA ADERANTI writes about other prominent celebrities that died in 2022.
January
Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji
The death of a first-class Yoruba traditional ruler, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, was announced a day after the celebration of New Year. Although the monarch died at the ripe age of 93, he would greatly be missed by his people. He was the 41st ruler of the ancient city.
According to a report, he died at the University College Hospital, Ibadan in the early hours of a Sunday morning.
Sidney Poitier
Four days after the death of Olubadan, an award-winning American actor, film director, and diplomat, Sidney Poitier, was also reported dead. He died on January 6 at the age of 93.
Reports said he was the first black actor and the first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Ernest Shonekan
The death of the former Head of the Interim National Government (ING), Chief Ernest Shonekan, brought back the memory of the June 12, 1993 election to many.
Shonekan passed on January 11, 2022, at 85.
The former head of the ING had succeeded former military President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida and piloted the affairs of the country between August 26 and November 17, 1993, when he was eased out by the military junta led by the late Gen. Sanni Abacha.
Before his eventual death in January, little was heard of him. He died of natural causes in his residence in Lekki, Lagos.
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK), the former president of Mali died on January 16 at the age of 76.
Reports said two years ago, he suffered a minor stroke but the cause of his death was not immediately clear. He died at his home in the nation’s capital city, Bamako.
Keïta led Mali for seven years before he was ousted in a coup in 2020 after huge anti-government protests over his handling of jihadist unrest.
Keïta was involved in politics for more than three decades, serving as a socialist prime minister from 1994 to 2000. February
Ashley Bryan
Ashley Bryan, American children’s illustrator and author, died on February 4 at the age of 98.
Bryan created stories centered on African and African American folktales.
He died at the home of his niece.
Reports said that after his last birthday on July 13, 2021, he “continued to recite poetry from his vast repertoire – especially Shakespeare’s sonnets – up to the very end.”
Pastor Ezekiel Atang
Known in the fold of Pentecostal churches as a family life coach, Pastor Ezekiel Atang died at the age of 49.
His death was announced on February 21, three weeks before his 50th birthday.
Until his death, he was the founder and Senior Pastor of God’s House Of Refuge in Nigeria.
Lari Williams
Ojulari Williams, who many preferred to call Lari Williams, was one of the finest Nigerian actors ever. Aside from appearing in some Nigerian TV dramas, he was never a stranger to some Nollywood movies.
He died 27 February 2022 at 81.
During his lifetime, Williams earned the prestigious national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic in 2008.
He was the inaugural president of the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN) and had a career that spanned over five decades.
He featured in famous soap operas like ‘The Village Headmaster’, ‘Ripples’, and ‘Mirror in the Sun’.
He died at his home in Ikom, Cross River State.
March
Emeka Obasi
Maverick publisher, Chief Emeka Obasi, aside from being popular among the political class, was also well known in the circle of journalists in Nigeria.
Obasi was the publisher of the defunct Hallmark and Mirror newspapers before the latter was sold to Jimoh Ibrahim. He also published Business Hallmark.
Announcing his death, a family member, in a terse press statement, confirmed that he had passed on March 15.
According to a statement issued by Emeka Obasi (Jnr) on behalf of the family, the publisher died at a Lagos hospital.
“He is survived by his wife, Dr (Mrs) Betty Obasi, and Children – Emeka (Jnr), Onyedikachi, Kamsi, Miracle, siblings, aunties, and uncles.
Madeleine Albright
The 64th United States Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, died in Washington, DC on March 23 at the age of 84.
She served under Bill Clinton as an ambassador before becoming America’s first woman Secretary of State.
She was born in Prague in 1937.
April
Festus Okubule
One of Nigeria’s respected ex- referees Festus Okubule died on April 5, 2022.
He was 80.
According to her daughter, Sola Taiwo, the
former referee breathed his last at around 5:50 pm on the fateful day.
He refereed several domestic matches, as well as international matches across the length and breadth of Africa.
Osinachi Nwachukwu
The death of Osinachi Nwachukwu, a Nigerian gospel musician, devastated many, especially Christians.
Her hit song, ‘Ekwueme,’ where she featured Prospa Ochimana, had shot her into the limelight.
The news of her death was made public on April 8. She was aged 42. It was alleged that Osinachi died as a result of domestic violence. Her husband Peter Nwachukwu was arrested in connection with her death and is still facing trial at the Abuja high court.
Initial reports said she was battling throat cancer before her death, but her family has since denied it.
Many Nigerians, especially Christians, reacted with sorrow and anger to the news of her death.
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111, was until he joined his ancestors one of the most influential rulers in Yorubaland.
He joined his ancestors on April 23 at the age of 83.
Report said he passed-on at the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
He was the longest reigning Alaafin, having reigned for 51 years.
Report said he had been indisposed for a while and there was a plan to fly him abroad before he passed on.
May
Arthur Nzeribe
Francis Arthur Nzeribe Senator would be remembered for the role he played in the annulment of the June 12 1993 general election.
On June 10, 1993, Nzeribe attempted to stop the presidential election by relying on a court order ABN got from a midnight ruling from the late Justice Bassey Ikpeme of the Abuja High Court.
The ABN backed the military dictator Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s regime leading to the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, adjudged to be the fairest, freest, and most transparent in the history of Nigeria, won by MKO Abiola.
The Senator who represented the Orlu Senatorial constituency in Imo State died on May 8 at the age of 83.
He was an accomplished lawyer.
According to a report, the septuagenarian had a domestic accident affecting his hip and was hospitalised in Abuja for 10 days, undergoing surgery.
Gbenga Richards
Gbenga Richards was one of the toast of producers in Nigeria in the 1990s and 2000s. He featured in most of the Nigerian popular soap operas and Nollywood films.
Reports said he had been battling with an unknown ailment and eventually passed on May 12.
At a point, he was in limbo until he resurfaced again to appeal for money for the treatment of his ailment.
Richards’ first appearance as an actor was to represent Nigeria with Hubert Ogunde at the Second World Black and African Festival of African Culture (FESTAC) in 1977.
He also featured in blockbuster movies like ‘Sango’, ‘Mirror in the Sun’, ‘Betrayal by Love’, ‘Fighting Machine’ and a host of others.
Leo Mezie
Leo Mezie was one the glamorous faces of Nollywood. Until he died early this year, he was said to have had a kidney transplant four years ago before another one he had recently.
He died May 14 at the age of 46.
One of his colleagues, Nollywood actress, Chioma Toplis broke the news of Mezie’s death via her Instagram page.
“Actor Leo Mezie is dead. He died on Saturday in Abuja while recovering from a kidney transplant. His corpse has been moved to Umuahia, his hometown. RIP Leo,” she wrote.
Cardinal Angelo
Cardinal Angelo rose to become No 2 in the Vatican. Though not much was heard about him until he was tainted by his support for the pedophile founder of an influential religious order.
He died on May 27 at the age of 74.
Cardinal Sodano served as secretary of state, the second-highest-ranking position in the Vatican after the pope, for 16 years.
His tenure covered a good portion of the pontificate of John Paul II, who once described him as “my first and precious collaborator.” As Parkinson’s disease and other ailments debilitated John Paul II, Cardinal Sodano, along with the pope’s private secretary.
July
Akanni Aluko
The publisher of the defunct Third Eye Newspapers, Chief Akanni Aluko, died on Friday, July 1, 2022.
Aluko would have turned 79 on July 22, 2022.
He died at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State after a prolonged battle with stroke.
Aluko, a geologist, was a native of Ilesha, Osun State.
Shinzo Abe
Former Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2006 to 2007, Shinzo Abe, was assassinated on 8 July, 2022.
He was the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history.
Abe was said to have been shot twice at a political campaign event.
Reports said he was in the process of giving a speech when a gunman attacked him from behind.
He died at the age of 67.
Ivana Trump
Ivana Trump, the first wife of Donald Trump, also died July 14 at the age of 73
at her home in Manhattan.
She rose to prominence as a celebrity and real estate investor in the 1980s and was the mother of his three eldest children.
Donald Trump, former American president, announced her death in a post on Truth Social, the social media outlet he launched.
Reports said Mrs. Trump was found unconscious on a staircase in her East 64th Street home near Central Park after police received an emergency call at 12:40 p.m. and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ada Ameh
When the news of the death of Ada Ameh broke on July 17, many had thought it was an old story being recycled by bloggers. It did not take long before a close relation of the vivacious ‘Domitila’ star confirmed that Ameh had passed on.
She became prominent after she featured in Domitila, a 1996 Nigerian film about four prostitutes. Before her death, she was more prominent on ‘The Johnsons’, a TV family programme.
Some hours before she died, she was said to have shared a video on her Instagram page where she and her family went to visit one of the top shots at the NNPC.
Fidel Valdez Ramos Former Philippine President Fidel Valdez Ramos, 94, died July 31.
He was 94.
The cause of his death “was not immediately clear.”
He died on Sunday at the Makati Medical Center in metropolitan Manila, Legaspi.
Ramos won the 1992 presidential election and became the largely Roman Catholic nation’s first Protestant president.
August
Mikhail Gorbachev
Former Soviet Union leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, died at the age of 91 on August 30.
He died at Moscow Central Clinical Hospital, Russia.
He served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985-1991.
Gorbachev held many positions and eventually became the Secretary-General of the Soviet Union in 1985.
He also became the youngest ever to hold that position.
His most notable actions in this role were the Glasnost and Perestroika policies.
Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
September
Bernard Shaw
Bernard Shaw, until his retirement from the Cable News Network (CNN) February 28, 2001 served as chief anchor of the station for two decades.
He won many awards as a journalist and would be remembered for calmly reporting the beginning of the Gulf War in 1991 as missiles flew around him in Baghdad.
Shaw, died September 7 at 82.
Prior to his time at CNN, he was a reporter and anchor for WNUS, Westinghouse Broadcasting, CBS News, and ABC News.
Shaw covered some of the landmark stories of the last three decades, including the student uprising in Tiananmen Square in 1989, the 1994 California earthquake, the death of Princess Diana in 1997 and the 2000 presidential race.
Queen Elizabeth
The year 2022 will be remembered as the year that the queen of England passed on.
Before she eventually passed on, there had been rumours of her health and passage which always turned out to be a hoax.
She reigned for 70 years, making Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, and died at the age of 96 years.
The late British monarch was said to have died at 3:10 p.m. UK time (10:10 a.m. ET) on September 8 at Balmoral Castle in Ballater, Scotland.
The cause of death was listed as old age. Queen Elizabeth was buried beside her husband Prince Phillip on September 19, 2022, following a private ceremony in Windsor bringing an end to a day of events in her honour.
Her burial attracted world leaders including the Vice President of Nigeria, Professor, Yemi Osinbanjo.
Coolio
Artis Leon Ivey Jr. a.k.a. Coolio, an ex-member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle, was one of the leading rap artistes in the 1990s.
He died on September 28 at the age of 59.
The rapper was among hip-hop’s biggest names of the 1990s with hits including “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage.”
Artis Leon Ivey Jr., known professionally as Coolio, was an American rapper.
Coolio died without a Will in place.
October
Vincent Ogbulafor
Former Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor died on October 6, 2022, in Canada. He was aged 73.
He was reputed to have boasted that the PDP would rule for 40 years, a declaration truncated by the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the 2015 presidential poll.
He was the National Secretary of the PDP and assumed office as the national chairman of the party on March 8, 2008.
Rico Swavey
Patrick Fakoya a.k.a. Rico Swavey was part of Big brother Naija season 3 “Double Wahala” edition.
Reports said Rico was involved in an auto crash on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, and died on Thursday, October 13, 2022.
Though there were different stories about the cause of his death, clearing air on the incident, “Rico Swavey was not drunk! The road at Abraham Adesanya Roundabout is bad and it takes only a driver with a good knowledge of the road to drive safely on speed. Rico didn’t know the road well, and he hit his car against a bad spot on the road. If you notice, his car’s bonnet was split into two. He was not drunk please,” a family member said.
Ifeanyi Adeleke
The death of Ifeanyi Adeleke, the son of Nigeria’s pop star, David Adeleke, was probably one of the stories that trended the most in the outgoing year.
The young Adeleke died on October 31, 2022 at the age of three after he allegedly drowned in a swimming pool at his father’s home in the Banana Island Area of Lagos State.
According to reports, the parents had left town and dropped the three-year-old boy in the custody of a nanny in the house.
Following the death of Ifeanyi, the Nanny and all domestic staff in the house were detained by the police for questioning.
November
Chief Mbazulike Amechi
Chief Mbazulike Amechi, a former First Republic Minister of Aviation and elder statesman died on November 1, 2022, at the age of 93 years.
The nonagenarian who was known and respected for seeking peace in the Nigerian state led a delegation of Igbo elders to President Muhammadu Buhari to plead for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
Sam Okposo
The death of Nigerian singer and ‘welu welu’ crooner, Sam Okposo, came as a shock to many Nigerians.
Okposo, 51, died on Friday, November 25 in Lagos after he reportedly slumped while he was being treated for exhaustion.
Okposo’s last Instagram post was 22 hours before his demise. It was a video of his praise party tagged SOPP live in Lagos, which was held on Friday, November 4, 2022.
The late singer was slated to minister, alongside other gospel singers, Eben, Chuks Praise, Joy Favour, and Victor Edit, at the Outpouring Assembly International in Calabar between Friday, November 25 and Sunday, November 27.
Before his death, he made peace with his estranged wife, Ozioma, taking to his Instagram page to apologise to her after cheating on her with another woman in the United States in 2021.
December
Demola Seriki
The news of Ademola Seriki’s demise shocked many Lagosians, especially his political associates.
Since he was posted to Spain as Nigeria’s ambassador, not much was heard about him in the social circle.
According to a statement by his children, he passed away in Madrid, Spain in the early hours of Thursday, December 15 surrounded by his family.
He died at the age of 63.
Seriki served from 2008 to 2009 as the Minister of State for Defence.
He attended Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he completed a Senior Executive Education and earned a certificate in National and International Security. Seriki was the senatorial candidate for Lagos Central Senatorial District on the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) in 1992.
He was also elected as a member of the House of Representatives from the Lagos Island federal constituency on the ticket of the defunct United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) in 1998.
Bashir Manga
Max Air Vice Chairman Bashir Manga died on Friday, December 23. He was aged 65.
A statement announcing his death read in part: “This is to announce the death of our beloved brother Alhaji Bashir Barau Mangal, Vice Chairman/CEO Max Air, in the early hours of today Friday 23rd December 2022. May Allah grant him Jannatul Firdaus.”
He was described as “a man with a high entrepreneurial spirit, having come from a renowned Bangal family of Katsina, who are well known for their diligence in business and patriotism in nation-building.”
George Obiozor
The death of George Obiozor, one of the respected Igbo leaders, is likely to create a vacuum in the leadership of Igbo people.
He was until his death a well-respected President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex-socio-cultural organisation of Igbo people.
He died at the age of 80 years.
His death was announced in a press statement by the Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma.
“On behalf of the Government of Imo State, I, Sen. Hope Uzodimma, the Executive Governor of Imo State, sorrowfully announce the passage of a great son of Imo State and Nigeria, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Prof George Obiozor,” he said in the statement.
Uzodinma described the late Igbo leader as “an exceptional diplomat and a tenacious patriot.”
According to a report, the announcement has ended days of speculation about the death of Obiozor, who was reported to have died earlier in the week at his residence in Imo State.
Pele
Brazilian football legend, Pele, died on Thursday, December 29 at the age of 82.
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele achieved as a teenager what many could not achieve as adults.
He won the World Cup as a 17-year-old teenager; played in four World Cups and is the only player in history to win three.
Before he was admitted to a hospital in São Paulo in late November for a respiratory infection and for complications related to colon cancer last week, he had been in and out of the hospital, receiving treatment for cancer.
The hospital where he was admitted had earlier announced that his health had worsened as his cancer progressed.
He was confirmed dead on Thursday. He died from multiple organ failure due to the progression of colon cancer, according to a statement from Albert Einstein Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil.
Pelé had been receiving treatment for cancer in recent years, and he entered the hospital several weeks ago for treatment of a variety of health issues, including a respiratory infection.
January 2022 dawned with a chill. Police Superintendent Asinim Butswat, spokesperson of the Bayelsa State Command’s confirmation of the arrest of three teenagers for attempted ritual killing knelled a jarring note.
Butswat identified the suspects (surnames withheld) as Emomotimi,15 years, Perebi, 15 years, and Eke, 15 years – all boys and natives of Sagbama in Bayelsa.
The trio allegedly accosted one Comfort, 13, “hypnotized” her, and afterward led her to Emomotimi’s apartment. There, they cut her finger and sprinkled her blood on a mirror for ritual purposes. The ritual was supposed to make them rich. But for vigilant village youths, Comfort would have been history.
The youths noticed the suspicious movements of the suspects and raised alarm, said Butswat. “The suspects were subsequently arrested and some substances suspected to be charms were recovered from them. They have confessed to the crime,” he said.
A few days later, the quartet of Wariz Oladehinde, 17, Majekodunmi Soliu, 18, Abdul Gafar Lukman 19, and Mustakeem Balogun 20, were arrested in the early hours of Saturday, January 29 by men of Ogun State Police Command for allegedly killing a girlfriend of their friend for money-making ritual. The boys were arrested following a report at the Adatan divisional headquarters by a security guard, that the suspects were seen burning something suspected to be a human head in a clay pot. On interrogation, the boys confessed to killing the girl and burning her severed head in a clay pot.
The heathen dialectic of the teenagers’ ritual misadventure was sweepingly suggestive of what the year had in store. Pundits dismissed the boys as products of a culture and value system fostered by materialism, lacking in compassion and model filial ties.
Their actions aren’t accidental; from plotting to execution, a hideous smattering of bestiality manifests as the girl victims’ misfortune and society’s just desserts. Yet the boys were neither freaks nor social accidents, they were simply tools of karma coming home to roost.
On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine thus upending millions of lives; as grisly tidings of the siege rippled outward to threaten security, energy supplies, and nutrition for billions more outside the theatre of war, Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, engaged in a frantic battle to fend off Vladimir Putin-led Russia from his homeland.
Russia launched offensives at specific Ukrainian targets, military bases, and public utilities in particular; through the chaos, every bomb blast, gunshot, and destruction of lives, homes, and public utilities reverberated like a fearsome totem of Putin’s aggression.
In response, Zelensky rallied Ukrainians to spurn the Russian invaders deploying weaponry and bromides, rhetoric, and supplies from his European neighbours and United States-led NATO sympathisers.
On March 28, Nigerians were stirred by the shocking news of bandits’ attack on an Abuja-Kaduna train, in Katari, Kaduna State. Eight persons were killed, several were injured, and 62 passengers were kidnapped. The kidnapped persons – including the elderly, women, the sick, and infants – were subjected to untold hardship by the bandits. The victims were eventually released in batches, with the last batch released on Thursday, September 6.
On April 18, viral videos of Chrisland school students having sex during their participation at the World School Games which held in Dubai, in March, surfaced online sparking outrage. This was after Ubi Franklin, a music executive, raised the alarm of a possible rape of a 10-year-old girl.
On Friday, April 22, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, reportedly ‘joined his ancestors’ after almost 52 years on the throne – and as the longest-reigning Alaafin of all time. The 83-year-old reportedly passed away at the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti, after which he was laid to rest in his palace in Oyo.
On April 25, Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, for total control of the company after Twitter’s board of directors accepted his offer.
On May 27, Peter Obi, a former Anambra Governor and vice presidential candidate to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar 2019 defected to the Labour Party (LP) to become the party’s presidential candidate.
On May 28, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar clinched the PDP’s presidential ticket for a record sixth time. He garnered 371 votes to defeat his closest rival, Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, who polled 237 votes. Atiku’s emergence as PDP flag-bearer fractured the party and set him on the war path with Governor Wike who condemned the party’s disregard for a southern candidacy as informed by the party’s principle of power rotation.
On June 5, the people of Owo and its environs, stirred to a black Sunday as unidentified attackers blew up St. Francis Catholic Church in the area and subsequently gunned down at least 45 people with the highest estimates pegged around 80. Sources in the federal government suspected the Islamic State – West Africa Province of carrying out the massacre.
On June 8, Bola Tinubu, two-time governor of Lagos and the creator of the ‘Emi lokan’ slogan, defeated incumbent Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, to emerge the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Tinubu polled 1,271 votes to beat Amaechi’s 316 votes and VP Osinbajo’s 235 votes.
On June 21, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and his wife, Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, were arrested at Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom (UK). The couple and a third defendant, Obinna Obeta, a doctor, were charged with conspiracy to facilitate the travel of 21-year-old Davi Ukpo from Nigeria to the UK with a view to exploiting him and harvesting his kidney for their sick daughter. This allegedly took place between August 2021 and May 2022.
On Tuesday, July 5, the Kuje prison was attacked by suspected terrorists, paving way for the escape of over 800 prisoners. About half of the escapees are still at large including over 60 Boko Haram terrorists.
On July 16, Ademola Adeleke of the PDP defeated then-incumbent governor, APC’s Gboyega Oyetola, to become the fifth elected governor of Osun State. Adeleke polled 402,979 votes against Oyetola’s 375,077 votes.
On Sunday, July 24, Nigeria’s track and field queen, Tobi Amusan, sped a stunning 12:12 seconds thus smashing a world record in the women’s 100-meter hurdles semifinals at the World Athletic Championships in Oregon, United States. The 25-year-old bested the host nation, United States’ Kendra Harrison’s 12:20 seconds record of 2016, and repeated the feat at the Oregon’22 finals, running a shocking 12:06 seconds (which was discounted due to unacceptable wind speed) to be crowned the world champion.
On November 23, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) unveiled the newly designed notes of the three highest denominations of the Nigerian currency; N200, N500, and N1,000. The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said the introduction of the new notes will check corruption and counterfeiting of the notes.
On December 18, Argentina won the World Cup for a third time, after 36 years, and the star of the team’s sterling performance at the Doha FIFA World Cup 2022 was Lionel Messi.
On December 19, a federal high court in Abuja sentenced Doyin Okupe, director-general of the Peter Obi presidential campaign council, to two years imprisonment for breaching the money laundering act. Okupe was found guilty of 26 out of a 59-count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He was, however, given an option of N500, 000 fine on each of the 26 count charges for which he was found guilty, totalling the sum of N13 million. Okupe swiftly paid the fine and avoided going to jail.
As the year winds to a close, uncertainty persists over tertiary education in the country as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) threatens to renew its strike action over alleged non-implementation of the Memorandum of Action it signed with the Federal Government. Recall that from February 14 to October 14, 2022, public universities were shut down and academic activities were completely paralysed. If the government fails to broker peace with ASUU, there is the likelihood that students may yet suffer another protracted strike that could truncate their academic plan in 2023.
But it wasn’t all negative news – especially from the Diaspora. This year, a British politician with Nigerian roots – Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch, née Adegoke, had a good run in the race to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
Even after she lost out to eventual winner Liz Truss, she played her cards well by backing incumbent Rishi Sunak and was rewarded with influential role of Secretary of State for International Trade, President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities. She previously served in junior ministerial positions under Johnson from 2019 to 2022.
Born in Wimbledon, London, to Yoruba parents, Badenoch spent parts of her childhood in Lagos and the United States before returning to the United Kingdom at 16.
Her rise as one of the most influential politicians in the United Kingdom mirrors that of Adewale ‘Wally’ Adeyemo, the United States’ Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, who has been in that role since 2021.
The reflected glow from the exploits of these young Nigerian-born achievers did much to soften the blow of bad press for the country in the course of the year.
Still, with lingering insecurity, inflation, the after effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and much more, we realise how deeply Nigeria’s survival is dependent on good governance, social and health security, and the resiliency of humankind. The populace waits with bated breath for positive change in these areas in the new year.
Debatable extraditions and deportations may be worsening Nigeria’s human rights records and adding to the country’s $715.86m judgment debts, ROBERT EGBE reports.
These days Kenya-based businessmen Dennis Nwaokpara hardly visits international airports anymore.
Like other travellers, Nwaokpara used to pass through the check-in counter of the Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Ikeja or the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja whenever he was returning to his family and large-scale agro-allied business in Kenya, after visiting his siblings and extended family in Nigeria.
But since June 10, 2017, he has had no real reason to do so: it was on that date that his connection with international airports was severed.
‘Unlawfully’ recalled
On June 10, 2017, Nwaokpara departed Nigeria for Kenya via a Kenya Airways flight. At the airport, he was given the all-clear by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). After a six-hour flight, he disembarked at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, the East African country’s capital. But he was detained by the Kenyan Immigration Service on the ground that the NIS had sent a message demanding that he be refused entry and be returned to Nigeria at once. The Kenyans complied and deported him.
That was the last time he saw his international passport.
The businessman complained to the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos that on arrival, he was detained by the NIS and his passport was confiscated. He was later handed over to the Police Special Fraud Unit, which, according to him, detained him for months. He was later released when no allegation could be established against him.
Nwaokpara is now seeking justice against the NIS for what he described as a humiliating experience and an “extraordinary rendition”.
He said Nigerian Immigration officials, without a court order, without any charge against him, illegally arranged his deportation and confiscated his passport, rendering him unable to return to his family in Kenya or travel anywhere else abroad for the past five years.
“No court proceeding was in the offing before the extraordinary rendition of the Applicant,” Nwaokpara told the court on November 9, through his lawyer, Mr. Ademola Owolabi.
Owolabi alleged that: “At the SFU, there was a petition against the Applicant which the Police did not even investigate until they colluded with the Immigration Service to bring the Applicant back from Kenya. Upon his release from the custody of the SFU, the Applicant approached the Respondent (NIS) for his passport but the same was not given to him. He was later told at the Headquarters of the Immigration Service that the Passport was not with them.”
The lawyer argued that the “illegal extraordinary rendition” and the impounding of Nwaokpara’s international passport violated the 1999 Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, 2004.
Nwaokpara, in his fundamental rights application in suit FHC/L/ C3/895/2022, asked the court to compel the NIS to pay him N12billion as damages for its role in his removal from Kenya.
When the matter came up for hearing on November 9, 2022, the NIS prayed for an adjournment: it was unprepared to defend, itself despite being served all the court processes five months before the case began.
Mr. Owolabi, who asked for a fine of N150,000 against the NIS, described the agency’s conduct in Nwaokpara’s deportation as “a case of gross impunity and abuse of power, the type that did not happen even in colonial times.”
The judge, Justice Yellim Bogoro, ordered the NIS to pay N50,000 to the applicant for delaying proceedings and adjourned the suit.
If Nwaokpara’s case finds merit, the NIS could be punished with a N12b damages award in Nwaokpara’s favour.
As of October 2022, Nigeria was owing about $715.86million in judgment debts.
N500m damages against Fed Govt
Nwaokpara’s story is reminiscent of that of the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia, on October 26, 2022, ordered the Federal Government to pay Kanu N500 million in damages for his forcible extradition and extraordinary rendition from Kenya.
The judge, Justice Evelyn Anyadike held that the government and its agencies grossly violated Kanu’s fundamental human rights by illegally renditioning him back to Nigeria without due process.
The court ordered the government to return the IPOB Leader to Kenya where he was before the June 19 2021 forceful disappearance from the East African country.
The judgment followed that of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which almost two weeks earlier on October 13, held that Kanu’s extradition from Kenya to Nigeria without following the extradition rules was a flagrant violation of Nigeria’s extradition treaty and a breach of the IPOB leader’s fundamental human rights.
The Federal Government has appealed the decision.
Denial of right to appeal?
In “Cases and Materials on Extradition in Nigeria” published in 2016 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Country Office Nigeria, rendition is described as a general term for all procedures, including extradition, for returning wanted persons or aliens generally, from a country. According to the authors, “Unlawful or irregular forms of returning persons wanted for trial or punishment include abduction and the so-called ‘extraordinary rendition’. Extraordinary rendition is a government-sponsored arrest, kidnap and abduction of persons wanted, accused or convicted of a criminal offence either to the state who sponsored the arrest, kidnap or abduction or to a willing third party state. Extraordinary rendition denies a person the right to challenge his transfer to the requesting or receiving state. It involves the violation of the principles of international law.”
While Nwaokpara was struggling to get his passport to return to Kenya, Adedunmola Gbadegesin, 33, was battling to fend off a travel “offer” from Lagos to the United States as a guest of the American government. He was wanted by the US Department of Justice on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiring to commit money laundering, stemming from the financial exploitation of elderly victims in America.
On April 27, 2022, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced that the Federal Government had extradited Gbadegesin to America.
This followed a February 11, 2022 Order by Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/765/21.
Gbadegesin’s extradition was coordinated by the EFCC, following a request from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).
But on April 28, documents emerged suggesting that Gbadegesin was handed over to America without the Federal Government allowing him to exhaust his right to appeal in Nigeria.
The documents suggested that Gbadegesin had challenged the lower court extradition order at the Court of Appeal before the extradition and the Nigerian government was aware of this fact.
The documents seen by The Nation suggested that the AGF and EFCC were informed of Gbadegesin’s appeal.
Gbadegesin’s counsel, Mr. Victor Opara SAN, had in a letter dated April 25, 2022, to AGF Abubakar Malami, SAN, and copied to the EFCC, Presiding Justice Court of Appeal Lagos Division, reminded them of the pending proceedings.
Opara’s letter notified them of the appeal filed by Gbadegesin’s former lawyer Mr. Olumide Babalola that represented him at the lower court, and which stated that the matter came up for hearing at the Federal High Court, Lagos on March 25, 2022, (33 days before Justice Osiagor’s deportation order) and was adjourned till July 13, 2022.
The letter stated In part that since the AGF’s office “is now aware of the pendency of the motion for stay of execution which has not been struck out and the motion for stay of execution filed by the Appellant at the Court of Appeal by reason of transmission of Record of Appeal as well as knowledge of pending appeal, it will be improper and unprofessional for the AGF to take steps towards the execution of the said Ruling of the Federal High Court of Nigeria already subject of Appeal.”
The documents suggested that Nigeria ignored the pending appeal, thereby breaching Gbadegesin’s right of appeal to the Court of Appeal under Section 243 of the 1999 Constitution, possibly undermining judicial procedure and foisting a fait accompli on the court.
In the extradition case of Attorney-General of the Federation v Princewill Anuebunwa, the defendant was wanted in the United States for alleged complicity in criminal activities but was not extradited by the Federal Government until after he had exhausted his appeal up to the Supreme Court in April 2022, two years after the Federal High Court in Abuja on June 1, 2020, granted the extradition order.
Responding to Opara’s claim, EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren told The Nation that he could not address the allegation.
“I don’t have those documents that you speak of,” Mr. Uwujaren said.
Why Gbadegesin may not have a remedy – Expert
But a Lagos-based lawyer and author of ‘Extradition process in Nigeria” Mr. Samuel Okolie, stated that Gbadegesin’s chances at getting relief are slim, arguing that the Federal Government seemed to have complied with the law in this case.
Okolie said the first issue to determine is whether the extradition proceeding of Mr Gbadegesin falls under section 3 of the extradition Act 2004.
“The said section places restrictions on extradition and enumerated circumstances where an Attorney-General can refuse extradition. If the extradition of Mr Gbadegesin does not fall under any of the circumstances, then the attorney General acted within his powers,” Okolie said.
He further noted that the powers conferred on the AGF by Section 14 of the Extradition Act “is almost absolute as regards the extradition of any fugitive. In one of the locus classicus on extradition cases in Nigeria, the court in George Udeozor vs Federal Republic of Nigeria (2007)LPELR- CA/L/376/05, stated that: “Nothing in the Act gives the court the power to question the discretion of the Honourable Attorney General in those matters, that the discretion to accede to the extradition request is that of the honourable Attorney General and not that of the court. The role of the court is to issue a warrant and undertake such other adjudicatory functions as are required to enhance the statutory powers of the Attorney General.
“Thirdly, Nigeria has an extradition agreement with the United States of America, so legally there is nothing that contravenes the extradition of Mr Gbadegesin. See Section 2 of the Extradition Act for countries that Nigeria has extradition treaties with.
“Fourthly, the issue which is silent in the poser is that was the appeal filed within 15 days of the committal of Mr Gbadegesin? If it was filed outside the 15 days of committal, then he has no remedy as section 10 of the Extradition Act was clear on that, and if it was filed outside the 15 days stipulated date, has the court given its decision?
“In summation, the remedies available to Mr Gbadegesin are little, as Section 14 of the Extradition Act gave total discretionary powers to the Attorney General, and such powers have their provenance in the immutable provisions of Section 174 of the 1999 constitution.”
Okolie also noted that “Moreso on appeal, the hands of the appellate court will already be tied as Mr Gbadegesin had already been extradited as the issues before the court will be merely academic and completely overtaken by event.
Our courts in a plethora of decided cases have stated that they don’t litigate on academic issues, as such academic issues are confined to the classroom
“The only option available to Mr Gbadegesin is to appeal to the appointer of the Attorney General who is the President to sanction the attorney General for any perceived error in judgment.”
Extradition
The Extradition Act 2004, defines extradition as a treaty or other arrangement made by Nigeria with any other country for the surrender, by each country to the other, of a person wanted for prosecution or punishment.
The main legal instruments generally relevant to extradition are: The 1999 Constitution; Extradition Act, 1966; Extradition Act (Modification) Order, 2014 and Federal High Court (Extradition Proceedings) Rules 2015. Other relevant laws are the Evidence Act, 2011; Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015; Federal High Court Act, 1973; and criminal or penal laws including the Criminal Code, Penal Code and penal provisions of other laws relating to criminal justice.
Extradition despite existing or imminent proceedings
Sections 3(5) & (6)(a) of the Extradition Act provides that where criminal proceedings are pending in any court in Nigeria for the same offence for which extradition is sought, the fugitive suspect shall not be surrendered. Similarly, where the suspect has been charged with an offence under federal, state or local government legislation, s/he shall not be surrendered until such time as s/he has been discharged. If s/he is convicted or was a convict at the time the extradition request was made, s/he shall not be surrendered until such time that the sentence has expired or otherwise terminated.
In “Cases and Materials on Extradition In Nigeria” published in 2016, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Country Office Nigeria explained that extradition proceedings are “a peculiar kind of criminal proceedings” in that they do not result in a determination of whether the alleged fugitive is guilty or innocent, nor do they end in a post-conviction sentence. It added that where the person sought to be extradited files a Fundamental Human Rights enforcement case, the case will be a civil matter even though it arises from, or is linked to, extradition proceedings.
The consequences of the Nigerian government’s violation of human rights through illegal extradition without exhausting judicial processes were highlighted in the 2000 case involving Lanre Shittu, the chairman of Lanre Shittu Motors.
Shittu was in December 2002 whisked from the country to the U.S. and arraigned after he was declared wanted by the US Drug Enforcement Agency, despite a pending civil suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja challenging the extradition.
Filing a suit before Justice Okechukwu Okeke of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Shittu argued that the New York court “lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter because both countries violated the treaty on extradition which they agreed to be binding on them.”
Shittu was eventually freed on the ground among others that the District Court of New York lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter because both countries violated the treaty on extradition which they agreed to be binding on them.
Unlawful extradition of asylum seekers
Nigeria’s problem of questionable extraditions or deportations by the government has also affected foreigners who were in Nigeria.
Justice Anwuli Chikere of a Federal High Court in Abuja in January 2018 declared illegal and unconstitutional, the deportation of 47 Cameroonians from Nigeria on January 26, 2018.
The judge also granted all the reliefs as prayed for by the key Cameroonian separatist leader, Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, president of the self-declared “Republic of Ambazonia”, who was arrested along with his supporters on January 9 by Nigerian Security Agency (NSA) agents at their hotels in Abuja on January 7, 2018, while they were assembled for a meeting.
They were subsequently detained at an underground detention centre in Abuja without access to their families, lawyers and doctors.
The group was deported to Cameroon on January 26, and Tabe was put on trial for “terrorism” in December at a military court in Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital.
The judge agreed with their lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) that the expulsion of the group was in “utter violation” of legal obligations which ban Nigeria “from expelling or deporting refugees” from the country.
She ordered the government to ensure they were brought back to Nigeria, and that their fundamental rights be respected.
The judge, however, granted all the reliefs sought in both suits and awarded N5 million to each of the 51 applicants in the first suit, totalling N255million, while in the second suit granted N200,000 to each of the 11 applicants, totalling N2,200,000.
The suits are marked FHC/ABJ/CS/147/2018 by Wilfred Tassang and 50 others against the NSA and FHC/ABJ/CS/85/2018 by Mr. Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and 10 others against the NSA.
All the awards were against the Federal Government.
The Nigerian government’s move was denounced by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), the UN refugee agency, which said most of them had filed asylum claims and accused Nigeria of breaching international agreements.
No fewer than 1,800 people are reported to have been killed in the Ambazonian crisis with 530,000 others said to be displaced.
On August 20, 2019, Tabe, alongside nine others, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a military court in Yaoundé.
On October 20, 2022, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention highlighted the injustice surrounding the arrest and detention of Tabe and some of his collaborators in Nigeria.
Following its 94th session held from August 29 to September 2, 2022, the Working Group in its opinions cited the separatist leaders’ arrest and extradition to Cameroon as a case that violates some of the statutes of international law.
After reaching out to both Nigeria and Cameroon on the issue, “neither of the governments replied to the communication,” the Working Group stated.
Activist lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mr. Femi Falana noted that refugees and asylum seekers are guaranteed legal protections under the 1999 Constitution, the National Commission for Refugees (Establishment Etc) Act, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations on Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees Commission.
What should be done
Lagos-based lawyer Estine Okolo noted that extradition does not entail or envisage state-sponsored abduction of wanted persons, “which is a clear violation of the principles of International laws.”
She reasoned that the process of extradition “usually throws up serious legal battles which is understandable because persons whom an extradition request has been made against usually do not give up without a fight and without attempting to take advantage of the loopholes in the legal systems and the laws.”
Her advice? Review extradition laws.
Okolo said: “It is on this basis, that it is recommended, that the laws on extradition should be reviewed with a view to closing the loopholes associated with its implementation for a comprehensive, up-to-date and encompassing law on the subject matter.
“Certainly, criminals who hope to escape justice by absconding from a state where they committed a crime to another, with the hope that justice will be far from them will be disappointed.”
Cross River-based constitutional lawyer, Anthony Obi Oyoyo, advised the Federal Government and its officials to conduct their business in keeping with the letters and spirit of the law, whether local or international, particularly as regards fundamental human rights.
“This way, they would be able to carry out their duties without the risk of incurring further financial liabilities for the government in the form of damages for violation of human rights,” Mr. Obi said.
For the Labour Party, the political atmosphere appears not to be cheery. When news of the conviction of former Director-General of its Presidential Campaign Organisation, Doyin Okupe, broke it raised a moral burden for the party.
Okupe’s conviction for money laundering was a setback for the Peter Obi campaign, which had made probity and accountability one of its pillars. A day after the legal setback, Okupe announced his withdrawal from the campaign, thereby throwing his position to another person to fill.
Rising from a meeting of the party which had Obi, members of the National Working Committee and several political candidates in attendance, LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, announced that Akin Osuntokun was the anointed one to replace Okupe.
His appointment brought a climax to speculations that had attended the choice for days. Some analysts saw the choice of Osuntokun as a good fit, considering his calm mien which is supposedly the polar opposite of the combative approach of his predecessor.
For some of his admirers, Osuntokun speaks softly and carefully chooses his words. But beneath his quiet demeanour, he is said to be a steely and dogged operator who does more work underground than on the surface.
Since his emergence there’s been much talk about the implications, given that until recently he was a senatorial candidate for the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in Ekiti State. Some stakeholders within the party are also said not to be comfortable with his appointment.
Of course, this development did not come as a surprise to keen watchers and followers of events within the Labour Party. The party has continuously struggled with so many inconsistencies.
Some commentators jokingly said ‘even LP Presidential candidate is on loan, when the season is over, he will return to his party.’ The appointment of Osuntokun gave room for observers to question Obi’s much-talked about competence, and due diligence in selection of associates devoid of baggage.
The man at the centre of the controversy said he had jettisoned his ZLP ambition for the LP job. Osuntokun asserted he had “abandoned” his senatorial aspiration, but he failed to publicly announce it. This has generated questions as to where his loyalty lay between the parties.
When quizzed about the moral burden hanging on his neck, his showing loyalty to another party and remaining a candidate under ZLP, he felt uncomfortable and was dismissive in his reaction.
But critics faulted Osuntokun’s reaction. It is unclear if he officially defected to Labour Party but the party’s spokesperson, Yinusa Tanko, said despite being a candidate of ZLP, the new DG had been working with LP.
Some Obi supporters argued that their presidential candidate is bringing the best heads together regardless of their political parties as part of showing his hallmark of progressive politics.
Meanwhile, the controversial and suspended national publicity secretary of the party, Comrade Arabambi Abayomi, had issued five days ultimatum to the Labour Party and Osuntokun demanding he resigns or faces court action.
Arabambi wondered how a member and candidate of another political party could become the Director General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council and drive the campaign while pursuing his aspiration for the Senate on a different platform.
Meanwhile, ZLP National Chairman Dan Nwanyanwu, cleared the air on the party’s affiliation with Osuntokun. He stated that Osuntokun resigned from the party in August 2022, and was, therefore, free to associate with other parties. He further stated that the party held no grudges against him.
But the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insists that Osuntokun remains the candidate for Ekiti Central Senatorial Zone under ZLP. INEC Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, maintained that no individual or political party can at this point withdraw, submit or substitute the name of any candidate taking part in the 2023 general elections.
According to INEC’s timetable for the 2023 elections, July 15 was the last day for the withdrawal and substitution of candidates by political parties for presidential and National Assembly elections.
For INEC to amend the names of candidates already submitted at this point, Okoye said, it must be through the order of a court of law. He added that the legality or otherwise of Osuntokun’s appointment as LP’s presidential campaign DG wasn’t within INEC’s purview as it was an internal party matter.
Osuntokun’s action reflects the reality of the nature of political parties in Nigeria and their various ideologies. They are in the main vehicles, which politicians use to realise their ends – that is – the acquisition of power and positions.
On Sunday, the first day of the year 2023, honor is being conferred on one of the best brains in intelligence circles on the African continent, Ambassador Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar, CFR as the Emir, Abdulmuminu Kabir Usman turbans him the third Sardaunan Katsina. The Sardauna is revered title made famous by the late Premier of Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, himself the Sardauna of Sokoto.
Before him, Katsina, his birth place had conferred the first Sardauna title on Ahmadu Coomassie, a former Inspector General of Police and a role model for the entire Force and lately, upon Senator Ibrahim Ida, an accomplished bureaucrat, businessman and politician who got promoted to the title of the Waziri, Prime Minister of Katsina.
Before they got to do this honor for him at home, Ambassador Rufa’i had received accolades and wide acceptance beyond the shores of Nigeria, most notably in the West African subregion where his intelligence capabilities are known and much respected, in continental Africa where he just finished serving as the Chairperson of the Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA) and in the global intelligence community in which he has become a veritable reference person on matters of counterterrorism and counter insurgency. He is well known to our European and Middle Eastern partners for providing deep insights about the threats faced by the country, West Africa and indeed the entire continent from within and from outside.
The Golden Fish, as the reference goes, has no hiding place.
Ambassador Rufa’i didn’t start this illustrious journey to the top by accident.
The polyglot (he speaks Hausa, Kanuri, a bit of Fulfulde, English, French and Arabic) was headhunted into the secret service from Katsina State civil service, which itself snatched him from the Bayero University, Kano where he taught French language and literature.
He had the distinction of being a product of an Arabic school who later joined the modern school system and proved his mettle at every level.
According to his official biography, the DG and the soon-to-turbaned Sardauna was born in Kofar Durbi area of Katsina into a respected family of Quranic scholars. “As was the tradition in Northern Nigeria and indeed, West Africa, Quranic scholarship took his uncle to Republic of Chad and he took the young Abubakar with him.
On his return to Nigeria, Abubakar attended Arabic Teacher’s College, Katsina where he obtained his Grade II Certificate. He later went to Bayero University Kano where he obtained a B.A degree in French Language and Literature, and an M.A degree in Francophone Maghrebian Literature. He worked as a Lecturer at Bayero University before taking up appointment with Katsina State Government. Later he transferred his services to the National Intelligence Agency, NIA in the 90s.”
At the NIA, he worked as an intelligence officer for many years during which he had served at the Nigerian Embassy Rabat, Morocco, before he quit on his own volition to join the African Union, AU Peace Mission in Darfur, Sudan.
After a meritorious service at the AU, he later joined United Nations as Director in Peace Support Operations, Mediation Process, Preventive Diplomacy and Good Governance office. He also worked as the political director of the UN Mission in West Africa in the course of which he, Ibn-Chambas and others supervised Nigeria’s successful election and transfer of power from an incumbent administration to an opposition winner, Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
The published biography went on to state how, as a top official of the UN the new Sardauna “acquired extensive experience in peace support operations of the UN, mediation process, preventive diplomacy and good offices, while all along helping to promote good governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights.”
Shortly after leaving the UN, to come home and settle down in retirement, he was appointed as a Senior Advisor with the Multinational Joint Task Force, MNJTF formed by Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin Republics with headquarters in Djamena.
Not long after this appointment, President Buhari recalled him and placed him in the Office of the Chief of Staff as Senior Special Assistant to the President on International Relations where he supervised diplomatically and politically sensitive matters of the country’s foreign affairs.
Amid heightened tensions and fears within the intelligence service and in the West African subregion, President Buhari named him as the successor to the equally cerebral Ambassador Ayo Oke.
Ambassador Rufa’i hit the spotlight upon this appointment following succession battles launched by some in the organization who believed it was their turn. In appointments to top jobs like these, succession battles are not new but in the case of this one, it was very nasty.
But governments take the final call, the Head of Government decides who to appoint to the joy of some and disappointment of some; and to others, surprises. But it stays.
As the dust settled on the fire-and-brimstone succession in the NIA, Ambassador Rufa’i steeped himself in the job, introducing policies and measures that continue to change the nation’s intelligence landscape for good.
He sought and obtained the support of most of his predecessors in office, some of whom had left very aggrieved and in a few cases in court against the organization that had nurtured their careers. Many of such cases have been discontinued.
Among the large turnout of ex-Ambassador this and ex-Ambassador that at the Polo event in Abuja to honor the DG on the attainment of the Sardauna title were men and women who in the past had sworn never to have anything with the intelligence agency. He has brought nearly everyone, serving and retired from the diverse sections of the country under the tent.
Internal staff matters concerning delayed promotions, lack of care and perceptions of unfair overseas postings were addressed and are still being paid attention to in a manner transparent and honest.
A lot is going on to have the field staff and those in headquarters updated through training on the current challenges facing the nation and our neighboring countries. Technology is being updated and made available and so are funds to carry out essential duties.
As the Boko Haram receive a battering, nearly 100,000 of them dropping their arms and accepting peace, the Islamic State-inspired terrorists have come knocking at the nation’s doorstep and NIA’s well trained spymasters, through effective coordination and collaboration with their domestic equivalent, the DSS and the armed forces and the police continue steer the country’s strategic and counter-intelligence efforts towards a safe direction.
With a style of management as put in practice by President Buhari, the nation’s security and intelligence agencies are achieving more with the little that is available.
Although essentially a secret service organization, the NIA was transformed into a veritable health hub when the nation fell into the grip of COVID-19 pandemic. They hosted the most qualitative and the most efficient testing laboratory in the Federal Capital Territory that became the choice laboratory/clinic to leaders in the country including the Presidency on coronavirus testing and treatment.
The agency, in collaboration with other partners is currently making a historic investment in health. Building is at an advanced state of a new mega hospital in Abuja that will house dedicated centers of excellence in cancer, renal sciences, orthopedics, trauma, mother and child care, and a hi-tech, fully-automated centralised laboratory.
A charming personality and highly popular in his network, the Sardaunan Katsina is destined to bring progress and development to his native state as well.
To commemorate this turbaning, he didn’t call praise singers to trumpet his ego and invite people to dance parties. Yes, there were Polo games, the signature sport of the royalty in Katsina played in Abuja and Katsina.
But the most notable thing he and the committee of friends who put together all the money through donations for the event are doing is a two-day seminar themed: Tradition and Modernity: Trends and Issues in the History of Katsina. The seminar brought together scholars and practitioners from several institutions to jaw-jaw on the traditional system of rulership and to suggest ways the institution will enhance national development. Whatever is left of the donated money will go into building a quality primary school that will serve only the children of the poor.
Many a prophet, goes the saying, ends up without an honor at home. For Sardauna (Ambassador) Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar there is honor abroad and honor at home.
· Shehu is Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity)
See Quidah’s temple of pythons and quake! Perhaps, that is one caveat that is most apt for every first-time visitor to the cultural sanctuary luxuriating deep in the bowels of one of Benin Republic’s most famous towns. In the sacred temple, many things are never in short supply – from numbing fear mixed with palpitating nervousness to gushing excitement that meshes with jolting revelations about the enthralling wonders of African culture and religion, ADEKUNLE YUSUF, ASSOCIATE EDITOR reports.
In many cultures, snakes – those limbless, scaled reptiles with a long tapering body and salivary glands that are often modified to produce venoms that can lethally ‘handle’ preys or aggressors – are generally not a sight to behold. Yes, in the large family of reptiles, snakes are the species mostly perceived to portend the biggest dangers, thus evoking instant fear or disgust – almost simultaneously – in human beings.
However, the hypothesis above does not hold water in Quidah, a small but historic town in the coast of Benin Republic. The serene town houses the Temple des Pythons (or the temple of pythons), which symbolises a blend of Africa’s historical and modern spiritual practice; it is also a place that also acts as a basilica for Vodun (or voodoo) worshippers in West Africa and all over the world. Here at the temple, pythons are never seen as threatening stimuli that can result in salient negative emotional and behavioural responses. Rather, in the Vodun temple nestling in this sparkling clean town of about 100,000 people, pythons are worshipped and revered like mini gods; not feared like the plague by those beneath it.
This sacred temple is compartmentalised into different sections — some accessible to the public and some not. Its most conspicuous section has a small room of about twelve square meters where dozens of adult royal pythons are housed. Here, pythons are housed and worshipped as deities within the walls of the temple. In other words, immediately after gaining entrance into inner parts of the temple, what greets every visitor is a snarl of snakes forming a knot in the corner of an indoor pit, with many other serpents slithering around. Though it’s an intimidating sight for anyone with phobia for snakes, in this African temple, the royal pythons are feted with majestic treatment.
Ouidah’s temple of pythons is a concrete building topped with a clay roof. Inside, there’s a small building with cyclical pit filled with dozens of snakes from a species known as the royal pythons, which the tour guide insisted are notable for their docility and mildness. The snakes are either slinking around or tangled together, with pythons numbering close to sixty having made this temple their permanent home. The snakes aren’t fed, though they are let out about once a week to prey upon chickens and mice, said the tour guide, Marcellin Sakpo Degnon. The locals added that the snakes occasionally make their way into people’s homes, where they’re treated as important guests. Rather than kill the pythons, people venerate their presence and make supplications to the deities before returning the reptiles to the temple.
According to Degnon, the place where the temple is sited used to be a forest until the 14th century. The temple guide, who speaks a smattering of English, explained that the pythons represent the deity in whom the people believe for prayers and supplications; almost the way Christians and Muslims do when they commune with the Almighty God. The temple, now dubbed a site of historical and modern symbolism and spiritual practice in Ouidah, houses the sacred snakes that are a major totem for followers of Vodun, a religion practised by groups of people within West and Central African nations such as Ghana, Togo, and Benin, especially among the Aja, Ewe and Fon peoples. Historians believe elements of the West African religion, after surviving the pangs of slavery, is what has evolved into many variants of the religion that became somewhat widespread in southern regions of the New World as a result of the African diaspora. Vodun is said to have served as a source of inspiration for other religions such as Louisiana Voodoo and Haitian Vodou, with snakes serving as important religious symbols that must be respected and worshipped. According to the local theological account, a rainbow serpent named Dan is an important deity that serves as a middleman between the living and the spirits. The serpents play a large role in the spirituality of Ouidah.
Legends have it that the first king and paramount ruler of Ouidah took refuge in a forest from those seeking to kill him during a war in the 1700s. Where he was in hiding, the locals said pythons mysteriously emerged from the forest and prevented him from being captured. To commemorate their role in his protection, he ordered the creation of three monuments for pythons, which evolved into deity worshipping, which generation and generation now pay obeisance to.
In Quidah, the tour guide said people believe till today that the pythons give protection to them as the reptiles protected the founder of the ancient kingdom and delivered him from the jaws of his enemies in the days of yore. “That is why people respect and worship the pythons as a deity because they represent the spirit of people of Quidah. Because the pythons represent the deity, people of Quidah ask for peace, protection, blessing and anything that they want and they often receive it. It is a kind of belief system. When they receive the blessing or anything they asked for, people always come to the pythons for thanksgiving,” Degnon said.
During the thanksgiving, people offer goats, sheep to the deity as a sacrifice under that tree (pointing towards a tree surrounded by libation objects). According to him, the sacred tree is over four hundred years old. The pythons represent purity and what this means is that anyone who wishes to worship the deities must worship them in a state of purity or in a positive sense. That is why the king gives the sheep to the pythons during ceremonies. Not only that. Every three days, the people pour palm oil as a libation in a section that looks like a shrine. The palm oil, according to the guide, “represents the symbol of blood because it is not every day that they kill goat here. Killing of goats is done during ceremonies or when someone is blessed and he or she comes to the deity for thanksgiving.”
The tour guide also explained that certain characteristics differentiate the pythons: why the longer ones are said to be the female pythons; the shorter ones are the males. In the temple, there are stones symbolizing the divinities because the spirit of the deity lives there, the guide explained. There are categories small shrines ball-like structures that are turned upside down; the stones are under the pot-like structures that are made of clay. According to the guide, nobody can open the ball-like objects, which he called the sacred jars, unless the initiated. There are also small shrines that none one can enter except those that have been initiated. The sacred jars are used for purification every seven years, he said. The jars are only turned into their normal position during the purification ceremony by the priestess who is assisted by 41 virgin girls. He said each of them will go the sacred river to fetch water with the sacred jar with which all devotees will use to wash their hands to purify the people of Quidah.
As part of regulations, everyone that attends the purification ceremony must not wear shoes; it is attended barefooted. For male, there should be no clothes on; they have to appear naked. For a woman or girl, there should be no menstruation as at the time the person is performing her purification rites. And if any of the rules is broken unconsciously, it is bidding on the person to perform another series of purification; otherwise, all the wishes of the worshipper will never materialise (at this stage, two apparently senior officials of the temple intervened to chastise the tour guide for revealing too much).
During the day, the pythons do more of sleeping and relaxing; while they roam freely about in the night in search of things like rats, eggs and ants, which they eat as food. The guide said the temple’s gate is always flung open in the night to allow the pythons enjoy free movement as they desire. Besides seeking food at night, the pythons do visit homes of people where they are accorded the highest level of royal welcome and courtesies. He added that in cases where the pythons miss their way to the temple, people do help in bringing them back to the sacred abode. Apart from the great temple, he said some people also have smaller versions of the temple near their homes where they keep pythons, but it is in the temple that worshipping takes place.
The many dos and don’ts while at Quidah’s python temple
Many surprises await every visitor, especially those who already have an over-bloated mental picture of the temple and what happens within its bowels. Because the historic temple is a relatively small place in a walled expanse of land, it is possible to visit the place and be acquainted with every knowable fact in less than one hour. There is also not much to see and touch, especially for anyone expecting a massive expanse of land festooned with countless historical, cultural and spiritual artefacts that may take a whole day to explore. However, one may never understand the spiritual/cultural significance of objects in the temple except a guide is on hand to provide historical context and meanings. This may breed a tinge of feelings of disappointment for tourists after paying the mandatory entrance fee (1,000CFA to enter and see only or 2,000CFA if the tourist wants to take pictures) as they walk in to savour in the cultural and spiritual splendour in the famous site.
However, as the guide takes visitors around the very small complex, one thing is the main attraction: a circular hut where the pythons are housed. One thing also goes well for the temple: because it is along the “Route Des Esclaves” (or Slave Route) and close to the ‘Door of No Return,’ which often attract tourists in large numbers to the town like bees to a honeypot, it makes visiting the place of worship a common practice for holidaymakers. The guide and other temple attendants said no fewer than 200 visitors – from academics to vacationers to journalists to cultural impresarios – come in daily to have a glimpse of the pythons and ask questions about cultural practices that make the ancient town tick
According to Degnon, visitors are permitted to hold or touch the pythons and take pictures with the snakes. However, the first caveat: visitors need to be mentally prepared to see and probably touch snakes before embarking on a trip to the temple. Anyway, the guides often come in handy at easing people’s tension, as they are always seen doing their best to assure that the snakes in the temple are a breed that does not bite. Indeed, the pythons are harmless, as this reporter was made to put one of the pythons around his neck during one of his visits, despite having phobia for all reptiles generally.
It is also a taboo for anyone to kill the pythons – either wittingly or unwittingly. Anyone that inadvertently kills a python is under obligation to bring the corpse back to the temple where series of cultural cleansing ceremonies are mandatorily performed before the python is accorded a befitting burial in the temple graveyard. The temple officials warned that anyone that flouts this sacred rule by killing a python, even if unintentionally, without the prescribed rites is doomed for life.
The shrines that abound in the temple are also not be touched or entered into, except by the initiated, Degnon said. Despite being hundreds of years old, the shrines are said to be accessible only to the priests and devotees. Finally, there is also a graveyard in the temple that is completely forbidden for visitors, with only devotees and priests are the only ones allowed the right of access. And for lovers of artefacts, a lot of cash is needed for one to be able to buy some of the beautiful artefacts and African souvenirs in the shop at the end of the temple, for these items don’t come cheap!
Other monuments that make Quidah tick
But Quidah, an ancient town on the Atlantic coast, is not only about the temple of pythons. The town is reputed to be the principal precolonial commercial centre of its region and the second most-important town of the Dahomey kingdom. It served as a major outlet for the transatlantic slave trade. Between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries, Ouidah was the most important embarkation point for slaves in the region of West Africa, known to outsiders as the Slave Coast.
La Porte Du Non Retour (or the Door of No Return), a monument built in the design of a gate, is the symbolism of the departure of captured slaves leaving for the Western world from Benin Republic. Records have it that the Door of No Return was the last place slaves walked before they were taken to the slave ship; the slaves knew from that point that they wouldn’t be able to ever see their families. The Route des Esclaves, by which slaves were taken to the beach, has numerous statues and monuments, including the Door of No Return, a memorial arch. The Market Center of Ouidah, which was established by Scouts more than 20 years ago, trains young people in agricultural skills, thus helping to reverse the exodus towards the cities.
As many western cities see statues of slaveholders and colonialists toppled, the coastal town of Ouidah is restoring its own monuments of the painful era of the slave trade. That was why history was made in August 2020, when Benin Republic restored slavery monuments, as the renovation of Ouidah’s history museum was dubbed as part of the country’s drive to ensure future generations know their ancestors’ suffering.
Ouidah, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Benin’s economic hub of Cotonou, was one of the main slave staging posts to the Americas, according to Yale University research. During the 17th and 18th centuries, European slavers held more than one million African men, women, and children in Ouidah’s Portuguese Fort before shipping them across the Atlantic in abominable conditions. It ranked alongside “slave coast” ports in modern-day Ghana and the swathe of Central Africa that today encompasses Angola, the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Benin, coveted for slave trade by Portugal, Britain, and France, villagers were captured in surprise raids orchestrated by powerful local chiefs. The renovation of the Ouidah fort and the history museum inside it is part of Benin’s drive to ensure that future generations of Africans know their ancestors’ suffering.
Over the course of two centuries, more than one million enslaved Africans were deported from the town of Ouidah on the coast of Benin. They were marched in chains from the town’s slave market to the nearby port, where they would board ships to unknown destinations, the majority of them never to return. They were often blindfolded, and marched in circles around the few trees or few obstacles along the way, to make them forget where they came from, surely physically so they wouldn’t try to escape, as well as symbolically. Today, a memorial arch, known as La Porte du Non-Retour (The Door of No Return), stands on the beach, a monument to the horrors of slavery.
The massive slave trade in Benin was a cooperative effort between African rulers and private merchants. From the 1580s to the 1720s, the coastal Kingdom of Whydah exported around 1,000 slaves a month, many of them taken captive during tribal wars in the interior. These enslaved men were then taken to Ouidah, where they were sold to European and Arab merchants. This practice continued with the Kingdom of Dahomey, which conquered Ouidah in 1727, up until the end of the slave trade in the 1860s.
From the slave market in Ouidah, the enslaved Africans had to walk a few miles to the coastline, where ships waited to take them away, to Jamaica or Brazil or some other unknown destination. Small rowboats would take them out to the larger ships, and some would jump overboard in the rough water rather than face the uncertainty of the voyage or the life ahead. For most, the beach at Ouidah was the last sight of Africa they would ever see.
In the early 1990s, the Beninese government, with help from UNESCO, began a project to commemorate the victims of the slave trade. The Slave Route Project, as it was known, led to the creation of a series of statues, monuments, and installations beginning in the town and continuing along the dirt road to the beach—the final journey for so many enslaved Africans before they were deported. The largest and most impactful memorial stands at the end of the Slave Route. This is the Door of No Return, a memorial arch, or gateway, built in 1995. Both sides of the arch are covered in images of enslaved men and women. The main mural on the inland-facing side depicts enchained men walking toward the sea, a ship waiting for them in the distance. On the sea-facing side, the mural shows them walking away from their homeland, a single tree in the distance representing the land that most of them would never see again.
But Quidah and the rest of the country are also home to multi-religious practices. Although always a misunderstood religion, Vodun (Vodoo) feels completely normal in the small West African country. Here, it is recognised as an official religion, followed by about 40 per cent of the population. Vodun Day is a public holiday and there is a national Vodun museum. In 1993, the country’s President at that time, Nicephore Soglo, proclaimed a Vodun Day a national holiday, which holds on the 10th of January. Here, cultural enthusiasts say the religion has none of the negative connotations it suffers in the West, with many of those who are officially Christians or Muslims also seeing nothing wrong in incorporating some Voodoo elements into their beliefs, especially in times of crisis. To the locals, Voodoo is more than a belief system; it is a complete way of life, including culture, philosophy, language, art, dance, music and medicine.
In Quidah and the rest of the country, Voodoo spiritual world revolves around divinities, which represent different phenomena. The deities also sometimes ask for offerings, such as a chicken or a sheep, which is then sacrificed to the divinity, or some alcohol is poured onto the floor. This can happen when asking for help or when people’s wish has been granted. Voodoo priests ask these gods to intervene on behalf of ordinary people who never get tired of seeking help on a variety of issues: cured for mysterious diseases, finding a job, succeeding in a business deal, finding the right spouse or having a child, among other things.
Since 16th century, Christianity and Islam have loomed large in the country, but they have not exterminated the traditionalists. Records showed that about one-fourth of the population adheres to traditional beliefs, including Vodun (Vodou or Voodoo), which originated in Quidah and was brought to the Caribbean and the Americas by Africans enslaved during the Atlantic slave trade in the 17th–19th centuries. In addition, many adherents of Christianity and Islam also include some elements of traditional beliefs in their practices, animist religions, which include fetishes (objects regarded with awe as the embodiment of a powerful spirit) for which Benin is renowned, retain their traditional strength.
While Porto-Novo and Cotonou are known to the outside world as Benin Republic’s economic and political capital, respectively, Ouidah is recognised as the country’s spiritual capital. And, perhaps, to underscore the cultural, historical and tourism attractiveness value of the ancient town, many locals do boast regularly – albeit jokingly – that anyone who visits Benin Republic without having a time in Quidah’s temple of royal pythons cannot really be said to have made a meaningful trip to the tiny West African country. This may sound like good music, especially in the ears of cultural aficionados!
