The Nation Newspaper

Category: Review

  • Movie review: Fast and furious 8

    Movie review: Fast and furious 8

    Shot in exotic locations like Cuba, Moscow and New York, the eighth instalment of the Fast and Furious renamed the Fate of the Furious is definitely an exciting blockbuster to be viewed more than just once.
    The movie which begins with a drag race in Cuba, where Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) emerges winner in other to save his mechanic cousin is more than enough thriller in the opening scene to sustain interest for regular on-screen action movie lover.
    The movie, which has grossed over a billion dollars in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.231 billion, against a production budget of $250 million ($350 million, including marketing costs)  is Universal Pictures’ most ambitious worldwide distribution release in the studio’s history.
    Packed with action in every scene, the Fate of the Furious is action-gripping as it is expected to make any audience jolt in their seats with new stunts, replacing the main action of cars jumping out of planes in Fast Seven.
    Based on two major plots of both family and betrayal, the movie gets a much bigger twist when Dominic Toretto is recruited by Charlize Theron (Cipher) to turn his back on his most loved asset, his family and save his unknown son conceived out of unknown circumstances.
    This is when the movie moves from the usual car heists to spy capers, fist fights, heavy rapid gunfire cum explosion of submarines.
    The duo team up of rival enemies to becoming friends (Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson) orchestrated perfectly by Mr Nobody and his little protégé wasn’t more of a shocker than it would already be with Vin Diesel’s new team-up with movie villain and widely respected hacker, Charlize Theron.
    Even though Game of Thrones is expected to premiere mid-July, the captivating appearance of Nathalie Emmanuel returning as computer whiz Ramsey, and her “Game of Thrones” co-star, Kristofer Hivju (Rhodes) joining the cast as Cipher’s enforcer,  served as a welcome surprise.
    The Movie which is without Paul Walker or a replacement of his character by his brother came with its own share of obvious disappointments too.
    The Fast 8 is filled with only fast paced action and watery dialogue without any worthy conversation attached to the hype.
    Not to mention the linear plot attached to the movie. It isn’t episodic; it is just plain and strategic from one action to the next: Cipher recruits Dom, Dom turns on his family and family takes him back. Not much intriguing action for an average movie lover.
    Most principal characters’ roles only revolve majorly in creating action buildups rather than actually passing a perfectly orchestrated thematic message. Fast 8 refuses to live up to its billion dollar revenue Return on Investment by creating little or no suspense as we already know what is going to happen in the end.
    Fast and Furious 8 is no different from a casual family betrayal plot and reunion come back; the only difference, in this case, was lacing the action with the advancement of technology (God’s eye) and nuclear nukes, one technique that has now become an overused cliché in movies emanating from the United States.
    Present day American movies aren’t without the villain attempting to steal nukes these days. And that is exactly where the Fate of the Furious fell short of its billion dollar gross. Hence, making each action very predictable.
    Like every tragicomedy would end; the Fate of the Furious which initially hung in the balance closes with a reunion after the death of Elena Neves, who looked even more beautiful as she was gunned down to death by Cipher’s right hand man, Rhodes.
  • Hitgallut: The revelation of the end

    Hitgallut: The revelation of the end

    We are,” Karen Armstrong writes in her book, The Great Transformation, “meaning-seeking creatures and, unlike other animals, fall very easily into despair if we cannot find significance and value in our lives.”

    The bible says, seek and you shall find. Fair enough. If you do not seek you cannot find, and you wallow in soul-destroying ignorance. Life is wrapped in layers of mysteries. We are all searching for that ineffable thing that would help us unwrap the mysteries of life. It is a titanic challenge.

    The question we deal with is a simple but complex one: where do we search for the true meaning of our lives? Several avenue offer tantalizing possibilities: science, religion, politics and technology. Each in its own way gives us some answers to the mysteries of life. Arguably, what we make of these answers gives meaning to our lives.

    Religion occupies a unique place in our search for meaning. We have good reasons to conclude, even if tentatively, that the search for meaning gave us religion and then drove us into the arms of religion in all its varied forms monotheism, polytheism and animism.

    Ever since the first couple, Adam and Eve, lost their enviably privileged position in the Garden of Eden, man has never felt right with God. He wants to know how he stands in his relationship with his creator. He wants an assurance that through his proper behavior, such as fully obeying His commandments, he can earn the right to be called a true child of God. Here, he hacks at the granite rock with a kitchen knife.

    There is something unique too about the search for meaning to religion it is not just about today; it is, more importantly, about tomorrow. That tomorrow is about critical questions such as these: Is there life after death? Is there paradise where those who, through grace or good works, can live in eternal bliss? Is there hell where those who fell out of favour with God would spend eternity in hellfire? Will the world end one day? Is there a judgment day for the living and the dead? Will Jesus Christ return to gather his beloved sheep to himself?

    Christianity and other big religions build their relevance on what tomorrow has in store for the faithful. Doctrinal arguments and postulations do expand the frontiers of our search for meaning. Shedding light on the mysteries of today and tomorrow or what is called the End times is a tough task. Part of the problem is that many partially informed writers offer a liberal reading and embellished interpretation of Revelation, the last book in the New Testament to make a case for the End times.

    The End times is the subject of Pastor Jide Makinde’s very readable book, HITGALLUT, The revelation of the end. I have read quite a good number of books on the End times and dismissed most of them as nothing better than half-baked views on a matter well beyond the ken of those authors.

    I find this book refreshingly different for a good number of reasons. It was well researched and very well written. It is a serious book for serious-minded Christians, particularly those of them who are engaged in arguments or studies relating to the End times.

    The author demonstrates a rare insight into the Old Testament and the New Testament and copiously quotes the two sections of the Bible to support his argument on the Second coming of Jesus Christ. His deft handling of the various prophecies and his erudite scholarship place the book far and above what I have read so far on the End times and the Second coming of Jesus Christ.

    I am pleased to recommend it to all those who believe, as I do, that all religious communities must seek to be thoroughly informed of their doctrine. It brings sanity to such communities.

     

    • Dan Agbese

    Former Editor-in-Chief,

    Newswatch Magazine – Nigeria.

  • Law making: The politics, duels and dramas

    The book Nigeria Fourth Republic National Assembly: Politics, Policies, Challenges and Media Perspectives provides profound but incisive insights into the first eight years (1999-2007) of the Fourth Republic National Assembly. It critically appraises the eras of all the five Senate Presidents and four Speakers, focusing essentially on their leadership dexterousness and the challenges, intrigues, brinkmanship, debilitating drama, power play and nights of long knives and consensus-building approach that characterized the two Chambers during the period under focus.

    A 400-page book, it appraises the Senate and the House distinctly. In the Senate, the book examines the issues that surround the leadership instability that was the lot of the upper chamber especially between 1999 and 2005. Thus the metaphoric banana peels perceived to account for the musical chair are put in context and perspective.

    The book is indeed remarkable and profound in the manner it captures in the most chronological manner the plots, the politics, duels and dramas that dovetailed into the impeachment of Evan Enwerem and Chuba Okadigbo and resignation of Adolphous Wabara as Senate President at various times.

    Besides, the impacts of the leadership instabilities on the integrity of the nascent Senate are also provided extensive analysis in the book. But the book goes further to discuss rather robustly on how Anyim Pius Anyim and Ken Nnamani who respectively succeeded impeached Okadigbo and Wabara who resigned over N55m bribery allegation made determined efforts to restore the integrity of the Senate. The book acknowledges that the Senate under Nnamani’s watch provided more sustainable pillars towards ensuring the stability of the Senate upon which his successor, David Mark consolidated to deepen his 8-year success story.

    The book provides detailed account of how Salisu Buhari, the first Speaker in the Fourth Republic National Assembly  was forced to resign after seven weeks on the saddle over educational and date of birth certificates forgery as revealed by the media, especially The News Magazine. His successor, Ghali Umar Na’Abba’s pursuit for legislative independence which brought his leadership in sustained collision course with the Presidency culminating in the House decision to commence impeachment process against Obasanjo in 2002  is also elaborately captured in the book.

    The book establishes that budgetary process; wrong interpretation of the constitution and Presidency’s determination to influence, weaken and brawl beat the parliament to its advantage constitute key sources of the conflict. The battle Aminu Bello Masari, the third Speaker in the Fourth Republic House and Ken Nnamani embarked against Obasanjo’s third term project is extensively discussed including the fall of Patricia Etteh and the rise of Dimeji Bankole, the fourth and fifth Speakers respectively.

    In eleven chapters and several distinct segments, the book in addition critically evaluates media coverage of the National Assembly based on Social Responsibility media theoretical framework, cornerstone of media practice in democracy. It discusses the theory broadly and its application in Nigerian context. It establishes fundamentally the intrinsic partnership that should exist between the parliament and the  mass media in the promotion of democracy and nation-building using advanced democracies represented by the United States and United Kingdom as case studies.

    It puts in context and perspective the nexus between National Assembly and the media in the first eight years. The book identifies media strengths, gaps, failings and challenges in the coverage of the National Assembly, offering perspicaciously realistic suggestions on how to mitigate the challenges, in so doing, advancing media role in parliament.

    Written in simple, concise, palatable  and elevated language tinged with edifying illustrations, the book is essentially engaging and particularly scholastic;  a rich and authoritative reference material on National Assembly containing records of all lawmakers from 1999 to 2015. It is incontrovertible, the first detailed painstaking work on Fourth Republic National Assembly and accordingly relevant to lawmakers, other policy makers; students and researchers on politics, parliament and journalism.

  • Push for feministic agenda

    Push for feministic agenda

    Bongel” is a bold statement by the young author, Maryam Bobi to a society that equates the value of a girl-child to the value of a cow, a mere item of misogynist aggrandisement. An object to be owned by men, especially financially buoyant men like Alhaji Tanko, who in the story insists on possessing Bongel to bear him a male child. A machine that must work according to the dictates of its owner such as in the case of Mallam Buba who runs a slave house, where his wife Jummai bears him wears (daughters), he trade to amass wealth for himself. And they his wife and daughters must always do his bidding because he is the “man” and owner of the house. Bongel’s older sisters have been traded by their father before their thirteenth birthday and so must all his daughters. But Bongel dares to break the jinx by refusing to be married to Alhaji Tanko who is already married to three wives and has the wealth that would change the fortune of her family for the better. Bongel is twelve and the brightest pupil of the primary school she just passed out from and her one desire is to get a college education and become a woman of class and quality like her primary school Headmistress. However, Buba’s dream for his young daughter is to be married to a man old enough to be her father or grandfather. Buba’s concern is the size of his treasuries; he must collect the cows Alhaji Tanko is offering as bride price.

    Child marriage is a predominant social and cultural anomaly in northern Nigeria and other parts of Nigeria. It continues to be a serious cause for concern especially in the north, in spite of the encroaching fangs of modernity catching up everywhere. While the girl-child is encouraged and educated in other parts of the country, many parts of northern Nigeria is still witnessing the rather alarming practice of girl-child marriage. The evil of girl-child marriage is perpetuated under the guise of often misinformed religious teachings or traditional beliefs. This evil to an extent is a preserve of the poor folks with mal-nutritional sense of judgement and misplaced priorities when it comes to determining what is most appropriate for their female children. The practice is very rare among the rich and educated folks, who ensure that their female children acquire education just as their male ones. This bizarre indulgence by the society is what Maryam Bobi’s novella; “Bongel” is condemning via the graphical portrayal of the negative consequences or afflictions of such actions on the victims, who are helpless children who cannot defend themselves because the society has seized their voice. The fact that Bobi finds this thematic occupation still relevant for discussion underscore the fact that the subject is still prevalent and perhaps may not be abated any time soon, in spite of the prominence of Western education in the region.

    The story of Bongel is told in the third person point of view in ten chapters and set in “Bobi Village” but sometimes the narration shifts to Tegina and Rijau respectively. The characters are up and doing. The narration is smooth and engaging. The narrator recounts events that sum up Bongel’s life with rich descriptive strength and special affection for details. There are also beautiful metaphors for those who admire elegant collocation. “Bongel” is also a tale of love between Bongel and Abdul, Kauthar’s elder brother who returns from the UK after his Master’s Degree programme and falls in love with Bongel. Kauthar is Bongel’s best friend and roommate at the El-khamar School for Medical Sciences. But a serious problem breaks out when Kauther’s family finds out about the past that Bongel has been concealing. Abdul seeks Bongel’s hands in marriage but Bongel fears that her past might prevent her from possessing a future she so much craves with him. It is the discovery of her previous marriage that breaks up the once beautiful union between Bongel and Abdu and Kauther, who are disappointed at Bongel’s ugly past of having being married to Alhaji Tanko, her giving birth to a still-birth and eventual divorce.

    This unfortunate incursion into Bongel’s past which brings back the ugly memories of her childhood life as told by the narrator who takes us back on a journey into the past and the events that eventually defines Bongel’s present. Through the flashback technique the reader watches the breakdown of Bongel’s life story in quite significant details. The narrator does a nice job by supplying the reader with personal knowledge of the happenings. The crux of the storyline is that a present romantic affair between Bongel and her Romeo, Abdu risks extermination because of a past that was not her making. Bongel is therefore victimised by her erstwhile best friends.

    The story is soul stirring and inspiring especially as little Bongel continues to plead and insist on going to school. The boldness with which she confronts her father is rare of children of her age especially that none of her older siblings had dared to challenge their father. Her father trying to convince Bongel to reason with him takes to the cattle ranch behind their hut and shows her the new herds of cattle given to him by Alhaji Tanko as her dowry, but she is not impressed by it. See the ensuing conversation between them,

    They are all ours, Bongel. Your dowry paid in full by your generous husband. Can you now see that that Headmistress of yours and your mother are naïve? The path you and I have chosen is one that has ensured the continual survival of the family.

    “I don’t want this; you do!” She cried out and yanked her hand away from his hold. She scampered away from him, no longer able to stand his insensitivity. “I want to go to school, just as Juma has done. Her father let her go to school,” (p.56)

    Bongel is not alone in the struggle and humiliation, her mother Jummai shares her daughter’s aspirations and tries endlessly to convince her husband Buba to reconsider his marriage stand. But she too becomes an object of abuse and derision by her husband who accuses her of being a bad wife and mother to their daughter. Even the Headmistress’s intervention would not dissuade Buba from carrying out his plan of enslaving his daughter. Bongel eventually is forced into marriage and according to the narrator this is what Bongel considers her first night with Alhaji Tanko to be,

    The moment his wrinkly skin touched her, she felt like shrivelling away into the earth. His sandpaper palms first found her head before frisking their ways down to her hips in search of the knot of her wrapper. When she resisted and tried to push him away, he became so furious he tore the wrapper off her body and pinned her on the bed. Bongel felt her executioner grunting like a pig, breathing hot tepid air down her face, and burying her in an envelope of acrid smells. The tearing pain that hit her brain was worse than any pain she had ever felt in her life.  (p.68)

    Bongel’s saving grace according to the story is when she miscarries a pregnancy which Alhaji Tanko labour for with all his might by visiting her three times or more in a day so she would conceive him a male child. According to a friend of his the more frequent conjugal visits to the twelve years old bride would certainly culminate into the conception of a male child. All the huge dowry of cows given to her father is to secure the prospects of a male child. Bongel gets infected with Vesico Vaginal Fistula and on top of that; Alhaji Tanko divorces her for miscarrying his pregnancy. Her mother too is divorced by Buba who accuses Bongel of deliberately mismanaging the pregnancy with the support of her mother thereby ruining his chances with Alhaji Tanko. Both mother and daughter are divorced on the same day by their husbands. Although, Bongel’s quest to be educated is met with several challenges as shown in the story, she however, eventually graduates from medical school against all odds.

    The story is a struggle for the liberation of the women folks and a clarion call on the need for the education of female gender. The feminist approach to the story is very conspicuous. The portrayal of the male characters as insensitive beasts is an obvious point to be easily picked out by the reader. The women in the story are presented as being the only sane beings alive throughout the story.  The story succeeds in a strange way in the sense that it makes the reader despise the insensitivity of the men and their greed for material possession. Buba is shown as a man who cares more for the size of his cows than his daughters’ life, the arguments in the story help to send home this point. One of the most important points that the book is poised to make is that: the girl-child and her education are of paramount importance and that parents must pay attention to the needs and aspirations of the girl-child.

    Finally, there are some issues that might have been better handled in the story. Chiefly is that, the story is fast paced, the events are not properly demarcated or put into perspective. In many instances the events seem to be running into each other. Perhaps the writer deliberately ignores the use of time sequence to effect proper segregation of the events. The events could have been better proportioned as everything could not have happened so fast in one breathe. Again, how is it that there is no single man in the story who could have been sane enough to put in words in favour of Bongel’s education? How could all the men in Bobi Village be unconcerned about the fate of a little girl? Even when Adama’s father allows her to go to school, very little is said of him. The Headmistress is portrayed as the symbol of intelligence and class against the backdrop of illiterate men such as Bongel’s father, in Bobi. Of course, this style of narration is created to deliberately malign the male gender, but it also could have been otherwise in Bongel. A balanced narration would have been advised. We also do not really know how Bongel managed to enrol at El-khamar School of Medical Sciences; we are only told that she secured government scholarship, just like that? Did she go to college after all that happened to her? How and when? Writing fiction is different from scripting where viewers are made or expected to assume what is or could have been by the director. Fiction works with logic, it is concerned with when, how and where it happened. Most importantly fiction is time conscious. No doubt, Maryam Bobi is a fine writer and her debut collection “Bongel” is an attestation to that finesse. Her prose beams with much succour for the women folks, another voice has been added to the struggle for the liberation of the female gender, from the mundane and irrational traditional or religious confinement. Maryam Bobi is the North’s new Zainab Alkali. Bongel deserves to be read.

  • Unstable emotions

    Unstable emotions

    When you are a king anywhere in the world, you are feared and respected by the people you rule. You are seen as a lion amongst your people; you are believed not to show any form of emotions or weakness even towards the queen who also fears and respects you but the book tells the love story of a king.

    Known as King Ido, he is the king of Ozolua who after losing his wife refused to remarry until he fell in love with an outcast, Esewi (a woman who has had sexual relationship with almost all the men in the village and whom the king saved from being killed by the angry villagers).

    His was a mad love, a love that seem not to find any fault with the outcast even as almost all the men in the village had had carnal knowledge of her.

    To the king she was his perfect queen. He was blind to all her faults. She was like a god to him. He felt as if if he punished her for her sins (prostitution) he would die. She was to him the only one that could bring him out of his loneliness.

    In page 21, the king in a conversation with Esewi said; “lust will close its eyes for a beauty sheltered in scandal, for its sake, lust will run away, and only love would dare to stay. You can help me up, yet a thousand times I would fall in love.”

    Even with all the persuasion from his palace chiefs and Esewi herself, he went ahead to marry her. Like a dog that goes back to its vomit, she went back to her old ways as the queen again began to have sexual relationship with men in the village but yet the king again forgives her.

    In page 40 she told the king: “I warned you, didn’t I? I am a queen but with no pride. A dog running to its vomit, of what worth am I to thee? If not to give you away in grief even when I intend not to do this I end up submitting to its will. Let me be my love, that again you might not be hurt. For the man beaten once more is only a fool who did not learn his lesson. Sadly, you are many things but foolish.

    “Let not the foolishness of love make you mine. Of this incident people will hear. In the palace none would expect me, but against their will you may act and they will call you a foolish man. A farmer caressing a rotten tuber, a hunter holding unto a decayed animal; a lion dragging a feast with the vultures. Please leave now my lord for I can always find my way abroad.”

    The king again refuses and takes his queen home. She didn’t stop, she did it again and again until the king became sick but yet didn’t send her away.

    In page 55 the king said: “She is my life when I fall, the fine moon in my dark night. Yet she is my nightmare, when to rest I lay my head. A big tree under the scorch of the sun, gives me shade that I may not burn, yet all around her are thorns, all painted in my blood.”

    The queen later fell into the hands of the king Ediae of Uzebu kingdom, a sworn enemy of his king. King Ediae sleeps with her and makes her his slave. This infuriated King Ido who went into war to get back his queen. He defeated Uzebu kingdom and rescued his queen but is pierced by an arrow and dies.

  • Tame environment, save life

    Tame environment, save life

    The book, Saving Lives and Securing the Environment: Chronicle of Federal Government’s Ecological Intervention, is a painstaking effort by the Ecological Fund Office to document some of the life saving efforts and activities at taming our environment and ecosystem as well as the appreciable level of success recorded by the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration which could have escaped public notice by a mere straight news of media reportage.

    The book is chaptered one to six and is written in a simple language and clear expressions. The book is also generously adorned with a lot of pictorial illustrations and diagrams that show some of the testimonials of the ecological interventions across the country by the Federal Government through the Ecological Fund Office within the last few years.

    While the first and preceding chapters of the book dwelled on identifying Nigeria’s serious ecological problems which include soil erosion, floods, oil pollution, water and air pollutions, waste mismanagement, drought, desertification and afforestation, and the consequent establishment of Ecological Fund Office under the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and supervised by the National Committee on Ecological Problems (NCEP), the main thrust of the book kicks up at the third chapter when it notes that the Fund had over the years been battling with series of irregularities, mismanagement and money been diverted to private use. And even “when the funds are used for intended ecological problems, it would eventually emerge that the contracts are either ridiculously inflated, awarded to fictitious companies or poorly executed.” P21

    However, chapter four, Transformation Agenda Transforms Ecological Fund, discusses the timely intervention of President Jonathan through his historic Transformation Agenda, to reinvigorate the leadership of Ecological Fund Office and National Committee on Ecological Problems (NCEP) to fight and restore order in the system that was once riddled with irregularities. This breath of ‘fresh air’ has been witnessed and been yielding positive results.

    At present, according to the expositions of the book, a culture of corruption, red tapism, and official indifference has clearly given way for transparency, accountability and the Fund has become like never before more proactive in terms of ecological interventions.

    Ecological Fund Office, borrowing from the book, has been nudged from the slumbering giant it used to be, into the fleet-footing, proactive and responsive outfit.

    More so, the work process of the Office has not only been automated, but periodic capacity building of its staff through training and retraining is now a recurring decimal.

    Chapter five, which is the second to the last chapter of the book, overviewed some of the ecological interventions undertaken by the Federal Government through the Ecological Fund Office. This chapter generously makes use of beautiful pictorial illustrations presenting how Ecological Fund Office has come to the rescue of a large number of communities under varying degrees of environmental threats across the nooks and crannies of the country.

    These pictorial presentations clearly show how the men of the Ecological Fund Office dull out instructions to the contractors, ensuring that standards are being followed. This, according to the book has been the constant practice.

    Finally, in the last chapter, chapter six, the book took time to appreciate the varying degrees of Nigeria’s complex and pervasive ecological problems that exist in different shapes and sizes across the country and the corresponding efforts of the Ecological Fund Office in taming these challenges.

    The chapter however states that we are not there yet as a lot needs to be done to improve the environmental conditions of the rural dwellers because they are mostly the worst hit by these environmental hazards.

    “City dwellers hardly appreciate ecological problems beyond the occasional floods they experience during rainy season when many houses built in flood plains and gutters filled with refuse dumps, causes flooding. They hardly appreciate that many villagers in the countryside are almost regularly cut off from the main communities when their link roads and make-shift bridges get washed away, their crops and farmlands submerged and even their residence lost to erosions.” P.212

    The book will not only be an interesting reading, it will also be a veritable document for researchers and other government agencies and policy makers, especially as there is dearth of literatures on ecology.

  • The measures of my days

    The measures of my days

    Maj Gen. Geoffrey Obiaje Ejiga has written his autobiography which readers and researchers of Nigeria history will find to be profoundly interesting, provoking and rewarding. Gen. Ejiga was born the only son of his mother Ohigana and the 12th and last of his father Ede Ejeh.

    Ede named his Obiaje which translates to “holder or lord of the land” while Ejiga the man who played the role of a father of him named him Ogbole which translates to “watcher of Home or he who has come to take care of home”.

    The dominant trait early his life, when as a young student of Katsina Ala m Middle and Secondary School, was such a shinning light, that he played a leadership roles through his life in the college, culminating he becoming a house prefect in his two years of 1959 and 1960. Going to Katsina Ala wasn’t quite easy for then timid boy who had had his early years in the villages of Ipole and Okpafio and in the Methodist Central School, Adoka, Otukpo Local Government Area. Travelling from Adoka to Otukpo on his first journey to Katsina Ala, he had to be carried on a bicycle over a distance of some 36 miles. At Katsina Ala, he would have to cross River Katsina Ala in canoes and walked the last ten miles to reach the school. Life here was harsh. At a stage he toiled with running away back to his village. However, he persevered through the school before ending up in the military in 1961. At age of 39, was already a Maj. General in the Nigerian Army.

    The Army the Author joined was an army in the British tradition. The author also covered thoroughly the military in governance from Gen. Ironsi to Gen. Abubakar vividly analyzing all coups. This is one of the reasons the book must be read by anyone who wants to go though basic military drills discipline and the story of the Nigerian Army after the British had left up to end of military governance in 1999.

    Through the entire period of military coups from Ironsi to Gen. Abubakar, the author held to a principle that the career of a military officer should not be in politics but service to the nation as required by the oath of service on enlistment. Hence although he had the bitter experience of witnessing all the coups that occurred in the nation, he never shared in any spoils of successful coups. He remained on pure military postings throughout his career period.

    There was an irony. The first coup led by Nzeogwu passed through his nose without  knowing it. As the General Staff Officer 3 in the Brigade Headquarters commanded by Brigadier Ademolegun, the author has responsibility to receive requests for us of troops from units. Nzeogwu as the chief instructor Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) requested for troops to use for exercise Damisa. The author assessed the request and recommended to Brigadier Ademologun who approved Nzeogwu used the troops for operation Damisa on the coup day to eliminate political and senior military commanders in Kaduna. The author covered the entire coup from the counter coup of 1966 which removed and killed Ironsi. The 1975 coup led by Col. Taiwo which out stead Gen. Gowon, the failed Dimka coup, the Buhari/Babangida coup of 1983 which outstead President Shagari. The Babangida coup of 1985 which outstead Gen. Buhari which the author described as the most relaxed coup he ever witnessed.

    At page 86 the author recalled the incident how he called off Lt. Col. Ojukwu’s bluff when Brigadier Ademulegun visited his 5th Battalion in Kano. About Gen. Murtala the author recalled that his command of 2 Division during the civil war was disastrous but yet he was not called to question. He vividly gave account of Onitsha River crossing, which turned out to be a disaster because of failure of the GOC and Division Staff Officers. The author was the Battalion Commander that first landed at Onitsha at 3am of the day. He corrected the misconceived stories spread in the Army that troops entered Onitsha and were engaged in looting hence the failure. The author at page 124 to 126 give reasons for the failure of the crossing which should be entirely placed on the GOC and his staff. About Gen. Obasanjo the author said he was often too lucky to the extent that some officers regarded him as an opportunist. For example, he came into the civil war at its tail and only for him to claim victory of federal forces in his book ‘My command’ similarly the ways and means he became head of state after Murtala’s death and his presidency in 1999 were opportunistic. About Gen. Gowon, the author said his administration was easily the best in the military era. About Gen. Danjuma, the author praised him and said he was the best chief of army staff (COAS) that the army has ever produced.

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    About his late wife, he said she was a wonderful wife. He reproduced his goodbye message to his wife at the funeral. The author indeed underscored the sorrow that tore through his heart. He is still devastated till today.

    In chapters thirteen, fourteen and fifteen the author described his roles in pioneering commands he established i.e. the Command and Staff College (CSC) and Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). He also spoke on his sojourns in retirement and politics. These are also a must read for military officers and civilians in public.

    The author talked about his great passion for the game of golf. He had built golf courses where ever he went. He built the Bagauda Lake Hotel, golf course for Audu Bako, the Jaji golf course when he was the Commandant of the College, the G.O.C of TRADOC and a personal one in Adoka in his village.

    In chapter sixteen the author reflected on life in the army and out. He noted the gradual rot, decadence and indiscipline that came into the army after the British had left. He said all these were brought about by rapid Nigerianization, first republic politicians, coups and military in governance.

  • How to get results from oil industry via the law

    Indeed, I feel highly honoured by the invitation to review this reference book ‘Nigerian Laws, Cases and materials on Oil and Gas’ written by my friend and colleague Niyi Ayoola-Daniels  Esq.

    Perhaps before I delve into my primary assignment, I will start by sharing with you what motivated the author to embark on the publication of this book. In my discussion with Niyi sometime in 2005, he told me of an indirect challenge thrown at him by two American Investment attorneys whom he met at Columbia University Law Library on a visit to New York. These New York Attorneys requested to know if there was a one-source publication where they could obtain up-to-date information on the complete laws and regulations governing Nigeria’s oil and gas industry (upstream, midstream and downstream).

    They claimed to have contacted the Nigeria Consulate in New York and the Embassy in Washington but without any useful and positive outcome. It was upon his return to Nigeria and after our discussion during which he got to know that I was the author of the book “Petroleum Development Contracts between Nigeria and the Multinational Firms” that he decided to respond to this challenge of producing this unique book that is being  publicly presented to you here  today.

    You will all agree with me that Nigeria’s oil and gas legal regime is a specialised area of law, regulating the exploration, production and transportation of crude oil and natural gas, the supply, distribution, storage and marketing of petroleum products, as well as liquefied natural gas. As diverse as the area of coverage, so diverse is the legal regime governing same in the form of statutes, cases, subsidiary legislations and regulations.

    In other words, there has been no one one-stop compendium containing all these laws and cases until now. This is what makes this book unique. The book is unique in the sense that unlike those written by earlier scholars and experts in the field, it goes one step further. It is a one-stop digest of Nigeria ’s oil and gas laws, regulations, relevant cases, materials and commentary and is therefore a welcome addition to the existing works on the subject. Indeed, the book covers laws governing the entire legal regime regulating the upstream, midstream and downstream operators of Nigeria ’s petroleum and natural gas industry.

    In content and form, the book is broadly divided into two volumes. Volume One is composed of five parts whereas volume 2 comprises 11 parts. The work is published in loose leaf form which covers the 16 parts and gives complete outline, comments and indexes to all the laws, statutory instruments and judicial decisions. Almost all oil and gas cases decided by Nigerian courts are adumbrated in this work and their relevance highlighted. One great advantage of this loose leaf format adopted by the author is that new changes or amendments in the laws or statutory instruments affecting Nigeria ’s oil and gas industry can easily be incorporated into the pertinent sections of this work by the user. I understand the author will periodically publish updates of the new laws, amendments of statutes, cases and other materials and make them available to subscribers. These updates will then be periodically inserted into this work by the user and the old or outdated ones removed.

     

    Legal framework for Fed. Govt ownership of oil and gas resources, including exploration and production rights available to investors

     

    Part 1 deals with laws and regulations governing Federal Government ownership of oil and gas resources in Nigeria . This part also captures the judicial interpretation of Federal ownership of oil and gas resources including the extent and size of such ownership in the well known “Resource Control” case involving the A.G Federation V A.G Abia State (N0. 2) (2002) 6 N.W.L.R Part 764 pages 542-905, ET this case, the Supreme Court interpreted many oil and gas issues including the determination of the seaward boundary of a littoral state within the federation of Nigeria for the purpose of computing the revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from oil and gas resources in those littoral states

     

    Legal framework for evacuation and transportation of Nigerian crude from oil fields, including shipment (export/domestic)

     

    The focus of this part  is on the laws, regulations, cases and materials governing evacuation, transportation including shipping of crude oil in Nigeria from oil fields to storage tanks via Pipelines and Oil Terminals. Also covered here are the laws and regulations on transportation of crude oil by Ocean Tankers as well as Domestic Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) of crude oil and other ancillary services. The author is of a strong view that the scope and applicability of the “Cabotage” Act in Nigeria covers both upstream (domestic carriage of crude oil) and downstream (domestic carriage of  petroleum products).

     

     Legal framework for Nigeria – Sao Tome and Principe joint development of petroleum resources including exploration and production rights available to investors in the joint development zone

     

    This part focuses on the laws and regulations governing Joint Development of

    Petroleum and Natural Gas between Nigeria and Sao-Tome and Principe in areas of Exclusive Economic Zones of the two countries. Covered here are the principles of Joint Development Zone (JDZ) including the legal status of JDZ Treaty in Nigeria as well as guidelines for bidding for petroleum blocks in the JDZ and petroleum exploration and production rights available to JDZ investors.

     

    Legal framework for National participation in petroleum operations including the role of NNPC

     

    The focus of this part  is on the law governing Federal Government’s direct participation in Petroleum and Natural Gas operation in Nigeria especially the role of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Here the Laws that brought about the acquisition by NNPC of all shares, rights including petroleum exploration rights formerly held by Shell British Petroleum Company Limited

     

     

    Legal framework for petrolem profits taxation and other taxation in Nigeria including royalties and fiscal incentives

     

    This part   covers the law on taxation of companies engaged in upstream petroleum operations (Petroleum Profits Tax Act). This Act contrast sharply with Companies Income Tax Act as amended, which is a law regulating taxation of companies engaged in downstream oil and gas operations (marketing, distribution and sales of petroleum products and natural gas). This part highlights more than 30 headings regarding petroleum profits tax issues including their judicial interpretation. Of special note here are the decisions of the Supreme court of Nigeria in Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited V. Federal Board of Inland Revenue (1996) 8 N.W.L.R Part 466 page 256 on meaning of ‘Petr0leum Profits Tax’ and ‘Petroleum operations’ and Gulf Oil Company Limited V. Federal Board of Inland Revenue (1997) 7 N.W.L.R Part 514 page 535 on

    computation of‘ chargeable tax payable under Petroleum Profits Tax Act. Also discussed in this part is the Court of Appeal decision in Texaco Overseas Nigeria Petroleum Company V. F.B.I.R (1997) 4 N.W.L.R Part 501 pages 511.

     

    Legal framework for natural gas development and utilisation in Nigeria, including the West African gas pipeline project.

     

    The theme of part six is Natural Gas Development and Utilisation (upstream). And since the proposed law on downstream gas operations in Nigeria is still a bill awaiting passage in the National Assembly, downstream gas operations is not discussed in this work. It is in this part that the West African Gas Pipeline Project Act and Regulations are covered including the legal status of West African Gas Pipeline Project.

     

    Legal framework for downstream petroleum sector covering supply, distribution, storage and

    marketing of petroleum products

     

    The focus of part seven is on the laws and regulations governing downstream petroleum sector in Nigeria , (excluding gas). This part covers the legal framework for the supply, distribution, storage, marketing and sales of petroleum products including the laws governing the construction of Refineries, Pipelines as well as importation and exportation of petroleum products. Covered in this part also are the activities of Petroleum Products

    Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), uniform rate/prices of petroleum products including activities of Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) and the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF).

     

    Legal framework for managing environmental pollution and

    spillage in Nigeria

     

    The concern of Part Eight is with the laws and regulations affecting environmental pollution and spillage in the oil and gas industry. This part covers the laws on Federal Government’s policy on National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. Also covered in this part are the laws regulating the obligation of holders of OPL and OML to adopt measures to prevent pollution of inland waters, rivers, water courses and the Territorial Waters of Nigeria, the Continental Shelf as well as the Exclusive Economic Zone.

     

    Legal framework for transparency and accountability initiative in the oil and gas industry

     

    The theme of this part is Transparency and Accountability Initiative in Oil and Gas Revenue in Nigeria including the powers of Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions (EFCC) to investigate and punish fraudulent manipulation of statement of accounts resulting in wider payment of oil and gas revenue accruable to the Federal Government.

     

    Legal framework for due process and fundamental a principles of public procurement and contract award in Nigeria ’s oil and gas industry

     

    In this part, the work here centers around the laws governing Due Process and Fundamental Principles of Public Procurement in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry especially the application of Public Procurement Act 2007 to all NNPC’s procurement contracts. Also highlighted here is the applicability of Public Procurement Act of 2007 to non-government owned oil and gas enterprises which derive at least 35 per cent of funds appropriated or proposed to be appropriated for any procurement contract from the Federation share of Consolidated Revenue Fund.

     

    Legal framework for oil and gas export free zone scheme in Nigeria

     

    Here the laws and regulations governing oil and gas export free zone scheme in Nigeria is (the focus including the legal procedure for obtaining oil and gas free zone license. A covered under this part are the laws regulating health, safety and environmental matters within the oil and gas free zones.

     

    Legal framework for investment protection and guarantees

    in Nigeria ’s oil and gas industry

     

    The theme of part 12 is Investment Protection, Assurances and Guarantees for companies engaged in oil and gas activities in Nigeria . Also covered here are the laws regulating the activities and operations of Nigeria LNG. This part examines the recent decision of the Federal High Court ( Port Harcourt ) in a case involving Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) V. Nigeria LNG (unreported Suit No. FHC/P/CS/361/2007) over

    whether or not NDDC is entitled to receive from Nigeria LNG, 3% of the latter’s total annual budget for the years 2001, 2002, 2003 & 2004 and thereafter.

     

    Legal framework for oil and gas communities in the Niger Delta

    Part 13 focuses on Niger Delta Development Commission Act, the law regulating oil and gas community issues in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria , including its purpose, funding as well as method of rotation of the office of Chairman of the Commission.

     

      Legal framework for human resources development and capacity development in oil and gas industry

     

    The theme of Part I4 is on Human Resource Development and Capacity Building in the oil and gas industry. Here the law establishing the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) as well as the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) is covered in this part.

     

    Legal framework for strategic planning and survellan of oil and gas policies in Nigeria

     

    The theme on part 15 is on strategic planning, surveillance and co-ordination of National policies in oil and gas and other energy sources in Nigeria . Here the law establishing the Energy Commission of Nigeria is covered.

     

     Legal framework for the control and management of oil and gas development funds in Nigeria

     

    This is the concluding part of this work and it focuses on the Finance (Control and Management) Act which is designed to provide legal framework for the control and management of public finances and funding in Nigeria as it affects the control and management of Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), especially the mechanism for funding, budgeting and disbursement of PTDF including the oversight constitutional powers of the National Assembly as contained in sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution over PTDF.

  • In search for grassroot Heroes

    Chinyere Ogbukagu, who heads Plateau-based Havilla Timeless Production, is a culture advocate with a clear-cut mission. She is out to raise culture gladiators.

    After several years of bursting with the thought of using television to engender the cultural values of the various ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, Ogbukagu, arrived at a unique concept, which she christened Heroes: Back To The Roots, a reality TV show which aims at promoting peace and inter-ethnic understanding.

    According to her, what began as a thought became reality when she met up with a film’s director. “After meeting, Ifeanyi Onyeabor, a renowned Nollywood director, the idea took flight, and metamorphosed into what is today known as Heroes: Back To The Roots, a reality show which sets culture-based tasks for housemates who are in contest from all the states of Nigeria and FCT, with the sole motive of letting ethnic nationalities in Nigeria to better understand one another. This has proven to be the required panacea for peaceful co-existence urgently needed in Nigeria today,” she said.

    Heroes: Back To The Roots, she asserts, is out to do more in the promotion of Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage. She said: “Apart from re-awakening the interest in our culture, the show also highlights the various tourism potential abundant in the various states and some places of interest where the cast and crew of the show are visiting, such as Imo, Bayelsa, Kaduna, Niger etc. The states and the federal governments should begin to latch onto the richness of culture and tourism because it is the next alternative source of income, especially oil prices continue to fluctuate,” she said

    The show, produced by Ogbukagu, has produced culture “heroes” that smiled home with mouth-watering gifts: the first prize winner, Happiness Udodang got a car, N2million; Luther Emmanuel Ikyobo and Chelsea Chinenye Oguejio got N1.5million and N1million. The three winners, according to organisers, would feature in a film to be shot soon along with 10 finalists of the show.

    However, Ogbukagu said the road to Heroes: Back To The Roots, Season I, was not an easy one. Recounting rigour that went into the reality show, she said: “It took us a painstaking 104 days, navigating many states for the first batch of contestants, who were admitted for a 10-day orientation exercise in Kaduna, to emerge. From there the contestants moved to Plateau, where they spent another 10 days in which they were pruned down to 37. The final 37 later moved into a camp in Niger State where after 60 days, the activities produced the three winners. It was aired on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

    “The show’s first edition of the TV culminated in an award’s event last month in Niger State to recognise individuals and institutions that have contributed in no small measure to a better understanding of our cultural legacies in Nigeria, with great emphasis on cultural tolerance. Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu was honoured as the “Best Supporting Governor”; Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio as “Best Governor”; Cross River State got the “Cleanest State” award and Niger State was “Most Culture-Friendly State” Various degrees of support were gotten by individuals and organisations and governments for this project to come to fruition. We would specially thank Niger State for being a great host, IMO state for seeing the vision, among others.”

    She added: “Entry for the show starts with obtaining the form, and followed shortly by nationwide auditions in the six geo-political zones, where applicants are first screened for eligibility. Eligibility is strictly determined by the panel constituted for auditions that are drawn from the arts community. After auditions, five persons are selected from each of the states and FCT for the final screening to arrive at the 37 finalists-one from each state and FCT- to compete in the house where they would co-habit for 60 days. Contestants who have great understanding of their culture are usually on an advantageous pedestal to emerge victorious.”

  • Swipes and Strictures: Call for entries

    Coordinators of a new publication dedicated to elder literary critic and statesman, Prof Ben Obumselu have called for poems, drawings and cartoons on political arrogance and bad governance from young poets and artists in the new work titled Swipes and Strictures: Poems, Drawings and Cartoons Nigeria’s Political Experience. It will be edited by Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi and Ifii Mojekwu. The book will be presented in Awka, Anambra State in November.

    According to a statement by the coordinators, interested contributor is to submit a maximum of two poems and/or drawings or cartoons (pen and ink only) on the above theme. All submissions should be sent to chukrydz@gmail.com or panafrika@gmail.com before June 30, 2015. “Drawings and cartoons are expected to be of high resolution to enhance reproduction. Contributors will be notified of the acceptance or otherwise of their works by July 30, 2015.  There are no publication fees/charges for authors. Each contributor will receive two complimentary copies of the book. Contributors will be encouraged to attend the book presentation in Awka,” it added.

    Within the broad theme of bad governance, poets and artists are invited to engage such related issues as: rigging, political violence, thuggery, corruption, bribery, the rich-poor divide, mass impoverishment, personality cult in politics, so-called democracy dividends, selfish leadership, underdevelopment, and the decentralization of violence and corruption in the name of democracy. Any other relevant subthemes in the form of drawings or poems are welcome for consideration. All submissions are to be accompanied by a brief bio of the poet or artist not exceeding 30 words.