The Nation Newspaper

Tag: abroad

  • Gari from abroad

    Gari from abroad

    •Nigerians and NAFDAC are still pondering the paradox

    It’s a wonder that gari, a Nigerian staple, is reportedly being imported into Nigeria when the country is the world’s largest producer of cassava, the crop from which gari is produced. According to reports, a Nigerian lady discovered that a shop in Ikoyi, Lagos, was selling imported gari, and sounded the alarm.
    Perhaps unsurprisingly, news of this discovery spread fast among an alarmed populace. A WhatsApp post shared by Sola Adeniyi, the Executive Director of Natural Nutrient Limited, was titled: “Attention: Indian gari being sold in Nigerian supermarkets.” A storm followed on February 20 as many Nigerians expressed their dismay on social media. A report said: “The gari is packed in a 500g bag, which has the picture of a lady and an inscription, ‘TRS’ (Asia’s Finest Foods) on it, with a price tag of N450.” Curiously, pictures of the pack showed that the product’s name was spelled as gari, instead of gari, which is the usual spelling in Nigeria.
    It is creditable that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) promptly responded with a raid on a shop located on Cameron Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. The agency’s Acting Director-General, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, said its officers seized 26 packs of the product for analysis.
    While the public awaits the agency’s findings, there are several important questions begging for answers. Oni’s response showed areas that need clarification: “Investigation is ongoing on the imported Indian gari. It does not have NAFDAC number and was not registered by NAFDAC; it is said to be a product from Ghana but packaged in the United Kingdom. We are investigating to know the source of entry into the Nigerian market. We will only promote cassava made in Nigeria; it is a staple food in Nigeria and it should earn us foreign exchange and not from anybody else.” She added: “Thorough investigation is not one we will rush into as a scientific organisation. Please exercise patience and we will speak at the appropriate time.”
    The agency’s reassurance may not be reassuring enough. The discovery of garri imported into the country is especially scandalous because cassava, which is processed to make the staple, is produced in 24 of the country’s 36 states. How a cassava-rich country became a market for imported gari is more than puzzling. The development certainly says something negative about Nigeria’s agricultural policy as well as the country’s security and regulatory agencies relevant to the developing story.
    The idea of gari from abroad is basically absurd; and it is a further reflection of how far the country is from realising the much-needed diversification of its economy through agricultural development, among other possibilities. The importance of agriculture and agricultural advancement cannot be overemphasised.
    This June 2016 statement by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, is useful as background to the country’s agricultural challenges: “Starting in 2010 – 2011, the government of Nigeria, after years of benign neglect, began to reform the agriculture sector. To refocus the sector, the government implemented a new strategy, the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). In 2011-2016, the focus was on rebuilding a sector whose relevance had shrunk dramatically. That was reflected in the lack of lending to farmers by the financial system and the dramatic levels of food imports from across the world.”
    Ogbeh added: “Today, as we evaluate the progress made under the ATA, it is apparent that additional work is still required in order to meet our objectives. Nigeria still imports a significant amount of food. Nigeria is also not earning significant foreign exchange from agriculture, meaning we are losing on both ends. Therefore, it became paramount to “refresh our strategy” to tackle these two issues head on. The Agricultural Promotion Policy (APP) is that refreshed strategy.”
    Ultimately, what the imported garri scandal further shows is that the country needs an agricultural revolution, which won’t happen by merely talking about it.

  • Falana: stop public officials from seeking treatment abroad

    Falana: stop public officials from seeking treatment abroad

    Activist-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday said public officials should be banned from seeking medical treatment abroad.

    This, he said, will force the government to fix the health system.

    He called for psychiatric tests for those seeking public offices as a way of checking “unprecedented” looting of public treasury.

    “Having regard to the unprecedented scale of looting of the public treasury by the ruling class, the mental state of contestants ought to be examined by psychiatrists,” Falana said.

    He also advocated the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to make it mandatory for medical reports of contestants to be submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    He said the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act should be amended to allow the public to obtain medical records of public officers.

    Falana spoke in Lagos while delivering the 11th Beko Ransome-kuti memorial lecture.

    The lawyer said instead of wasting precious time over the state of health of President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerians should join issue with the government over the parlous state of medical facilities.

    “In other words, the Nigerian people should take advantage of the President’s health to demand the provision of adequate funds to fix our hospitals which General Buhari and his colleagues described as consulting clinics in 1984.

    “The President should be made to know that the consulting clinics have since become mortuaries for the masses.

    “The practice of allowing poor citizens to die of preventable diseases while top public officers and rich private citizens are allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment can no longer be justified.

    “In line with the letter and spirit of the National Health Act, 2014 public officers should no longer be permitted to travel abroad for medical treatment at public expense,” Falana said.

    According to him, since Nigerian citizens have the right to health by the combined effect of section 17 of the Constitution and article 16 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights Act, it is high time medical facilities were fixed while drugs were made available and affordable.

    He said the usual excuse for not equipping hospitals is that funds are not available, which he said is a matter of priority and not poverty.

    Falana said: ”The life span of an average Cuban is 79 years while ours is 52. Cuba is a very poor country but education and health are free for all citizens.

    “The greatest killer disease in Africa is malaria. Not less than a million Africans are lost to malaria fever every year.

    “But the scourge of malaria can be substantially eliminated if the leaders are prepared to muster the political will to ‘offend’ the manufacturers of anti-malaria drugs by acquiring the technology to destroy malaria.

    “As far back as 1967, Cuba developed a vaccine, called larvicides that destroys malaria parasite instead of treating it.  Cuba has also developed an anti long cancer vaccine called cimavax which is expected to arrive in the United States any moment from now.”

  • Pains at home, glory abroad

    •That is the contrasting fortune of Nigerian medical students, one of whom carted away almost all prizes at a convocation in Ghana

    It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …” Charles Dickens, in these memorable words, opened his classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, reporting the temper of London and Paris, in revolutionary France.

    Though that historical novel was written in 1859, the opening sentiments succinctly capture the mixed fortune of Nigerian medical students in Accra, Ghana, and in Lagos, Nigeria.

    At the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology School of Medical Sciences, Fathia Kehinde Kareem, a graduating medical student in that university, made a near-clean sweep of all the awards at the convocation, claiming 12 out of 15 prizes. It was a university record, dwarfing the previous record of eight out of 15 prizes.

    In Miss Kareem, the Nigerian youth never boasted a more splendid ambassador, showing how excellently our youth could perform, given the right atmosphere. Indeed, she was a worthy representative, in which her country must be immensely proud.

    However, her rare feat rudely challenges her country, which appears in perpetual decline, in about every field under the sun, even if her citizens keep on posting superlative performance elsewhere. Nigeria, therefore, must put in place basic blocks, for her nationals to excel, particularly at home. Time and time again on foreign soil, Nigerians have proved their excellence. This, however, clearly mocks the shambolic situation at home.

    So, while Miss Kareem was harvesting glory abroad, her counterparts at the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), were drenched in the rain, protesting a prolonged stay in the university, due to perennial strikes that slowed down their academic calendar; and complications arising from failed accreditation, of their Dentistry programme.

    Within 24 hours of the protest, however, the Lagos State government did well to release funds to procure critical training equipment to aid LASUCOM’s full accreditation, to avert any future recurrence of such delays. That was prompt — and good.

    Still, the point must be made: the government need not have waited until the students went out protesting. Therefore, there should be more coordination between the LASU management and the Lagos government, which owns and funds the university.

    Having promptly responded to the challenge, however, the Lagos State government should ensure LASUCOM never again suffers any accreditation glitch. LASUCOM started well, for it is one of the better medical schools in the Nigerian university system. Indeed, according to Prof. Babatunde Solagberu, it boasts the only Dentistry faculty, among state universities in the country that run medical programmes.

    The university, with the full support of the state government, should take this accreditation challenge as a starting point to re-start its medical school on a path of excellence, that its early days so much portended.

    But away from local LASUCOM challenges, the Medical and Dental Practitioners Council of Nigeria (MDCN) should be commended for mounting a robust and rigorous accreditation process that should keep medical schools nationwide on their toes, to ensure high standards.

    LASUCOM should therefore accept the challenge, and put the school on the pedestal it ought to be. It already has a teaching hospital that garners solid reputation by the day. Now, it is time to add cutting edge equipment, as well as quality faculty members. Medical training, after all, is too important to be left to chance.

    With world-class universities at home, more Nigerians would be encouraged to send their children to local universities. Nigeria can then conserve scarce foreign exchange, burnt on foreign education, but sorely needed to develop other sectors of Nigeria’s socio-economic life.0

  • Two accident victims need N27.5m for surgery abroad

    Two accident victims need N27.5m for surgery abroad

    Two road accident victims need N28 million for surgery abroad.

    They are Taofeek Alabi and Bashir Olamilekan – from Offa in Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State.

    Olamilekan is a 200-level Computer Science student of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, while Alabi is a welder.

    Olamilekan needs N25 million and Alabi, N2.5 million.

    The victims, who have been bedridden for months, are  appealing to Nigerians to come to their aid to enable them get well and return to their normal lives.

    In a save our soul (SOS) letter, the Offa Descendants Union (ODU) appealed to philanthropists, wealthy individuals and humanitarian groups to assist them.

    “Bashir Olamilekan, from Ikolaba compound, Offa is a 200-level student of Computer Science of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was involved in an accident in front of the gate of the university on May 24, last year where he suffered spinal cord injury. The total amount of money needed for his medical treatment is N25 million,” the statement signed by the Chairman and secretary, Alhaji Fasasi Balogun and Prince Raheem Amototo, stated.

    ODU added that Alabi hails from Amuyo in Offa, saying he sustained internal bleeding.

    “The patient was later operated on January 30, 2016 with history of severe abdominal pain. He is now referred to UCH, Ibadan for proper medical attention that requires N2.5 million,” the statement read.

    The organisation said all donations should be sent to the Offa Descendants Union (ODU) home branch with First Bank account number: 3103386741. Other account numbers are Diamond Bank: Account Name, Afolabi Sikiru: Account no: 0024142738 and GTBank Asimiyu Oyewale: Account no is 0036487733.

    Life is no longer the same for Alabi, a bread winner before he had the accident, that injured his genitals. He and his family have spent their fortunes to get him back on his feet to no avail. He is now at home and awaiting help from kind hearted people.

    The Management of Fadoks Hospital, Iseyin, Oyo State where Alabi was initially admitted, said he would need a reconstructive abdominal surgery on referral to India.

    The Medical Director (MD) of the hospital, Dr. O. D. Fatukasi said Alabi had undergone surgery twice in his facility.

    In a referral letter to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Dr Fatukasi urged UCH to take over the management of the patient.

    The letter reads: “Kindly take over the management of the above named patient who presented in our hospital on December 10, 2015, having been involved in road traffic accident (RTSA) and sustained ruptured spleen with attendant internal bleeding. He was admitted and repair carried out on the ruptured spleen. He got well and was discharged on December 22, 2015 when the condition improved.

    “Subsequently, he represented on  January 30, 2016 with history of severe abdominal pains with associated abdominal distension. He was readmitted and an impression of intestinal obstruction secondary to adhesion was made. Exploratory laparatomy revealed a 30cm gangrenous volvolus of the ascending colon from the ileo-cocecal junction short of transverse colon. We could not do a right hemicolectomy because the rest of the bowel was completely unhealthy and the condition of the patient was not conducive and not clinically stable, we therefore opted for colostomy on part of the gangrenous segment after releasing the volvolus.”

    Also, Mr Mbamalu Chibuike (PT) of Optimal Health Centre, Abuja where Olamilekan is being treated said that he “was presented in our facility on the June 16, 2015 with a-three month history of neck injury due to a road traffic accident in front of his school gate at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

    “This resulted in the weakness of both lower limbs. He is currently having bed sores due to prolonged lying which has been causing series of infections to him. He has been on regular physiotherapy due to financial constraints and this will not help him to achieve desirable functions.

    “He requires specialised management at Saket City Hospital for general body evacuation and examination; infection control; pressure sores management and stem cell surgery to improve his chances of recovery.”

  • National Assembly made abroad

    Our National Assembly is like Janus, the Roman god that has two faces, facing in opposite directions. How? Of recent, the upper chamber has engaged in a new fad, the rhetoric of promoting made-in-Nigeria goods as their contribution to buoy our sagging national economy. Yet, the same National Assembly, has unabashedly and unlawfully budgeted for over N120 billion this fiscal year for its exclusive use, in clear violation of the provisions of the 1999 constitution. Again, the same made-in-Nigeria promoters, ostensibly in pursuit of a new national culture of prudence, has appropriated humongous car loans to all members; even as they also illegally plan, to buyexotic,foreign-made SUVs, for all members, for their so-called committee work.

    To successfully champion a new made-in-Nigeria culture, members of the 8th National Assembly must first purge themselves of a life style that is completely alien to our local economic reality. They cannot be selling to Nigerians the need to cut their coat according to their clothes by making do with what we produce locally, and at the same time, work to approve a budget deficit of nearly N2 trillion to be funded from borrowed funds; a portion of which will be used to fund their taste for big cars and bloated lifestyle. In case our Janus at the National Assembly do not know, the joke is on them, on their new found fad.

    If, for whatever reason, our legislators however wish to change to become honest, made-in-Nigeria, patriotic-nation-serving, lawmakers, they must first acquiesce to live within the contemplation of the 1999 constitution with respect to their remuneration. Here, I refer to the mandatory order of the Third Schedule, Part 1, Paragraph 32(d), of the constitution, which provides: The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission shall have power to “determine the remuneration appropriate for political office holders, including the President, Vice President, Governors, Deputy Governors, Ministers, Commissioners, Special Advisers, Legislators and the holders of the offices mentioned in section 84 and 124of this constitution”. Currently, the National Assembly run an opaque welfare state, exclusively for their members.

    To help our country start on the part of sustainable development, the National Assembly owes our country enormous responsibility. Like I did in this column some time ago, for President Muhammadu Buhari, I earnestly recommend to members of the National Assembly, a reading of Lee Kuan Yew: From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965 – 2000. My favourite quote from the book, comes from chapter 15, aptly sub-titled: Conductor of an Orchestra. There at page 199, Lee, wrote: “Running a government is not unlike conducting an orchestra. No prime minister can achieve much without an able team. While he himself need not be a great player, he has to know enough of the principal instruments from the violin to the cello to the French horn and the flute, or he will not know what he can expect from each of them”.

    The National Assembly must come to terms with the fact that running a nation needs synchronization between words and action. They should know that the way and manner they run their affairs is more important than mere sloganeering. They cannot behave like the Biblical Scribes and Pharisees, whom Jesus Christ chastised thus: “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers” (Matthew 23:4, KJV). For a fair and just society, Lee, on page 212, also admonished: “Law and order provide the framework for stability and development. Trained in the law, I had imbibed the principle of equality of all before the law for the functioning of a society”.

    In making unlawful and unconscionable appropriation for themselves, the National Assembly break the law, and in turn undermine the society. As posited by Lord Alfred Denning MR, in Gouriet v Union of Post Office Workers: “To every subject in this land, no matter how powerful, I would use Thomas Fuller’s words over 300 years ago: ‘Be you never so high, the law is above you.’” As the Supreme Court of the United States, also held: “If the government becomes a law breaker; it breeds contempt for the law; it invites everyman to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy”. The National Assembly which preaches that Nigerians should patronize made-in-Nigeria goods, while billions of taxpayers’ money are budgeted to fete their appetite for foreign goods and exotic life styles, invites anarchy, not development.

    Instead of spending valuable legislative time pursuing the passage of a frivolous bill on anti-social media practice, the National Assembly, if it is sincere about promoting made-in-Nigeria goods, should concentrate its efforts on making the business environment a lot friendlier. A sincere effort on making laws and providing other legislative support, for the development of a robust infrastructure for the country, should be their priority. Their concern should be, for instance, what the National Assembly can do to increase electricity infrastructure in the country.They can start by conducting a public debate, on the performance of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, of 2005? Have they considered regionalising electricity production and distribution, to supplement the inadequate and burdened national grid?

    On road infrastructure, what national legislative model are they working on, considering the paucity of funds and the national emergency in that sector? They should brainstorm on how legislation can be used to attract international funding, to develop major superhighways to link the six regions of the country. Are members of our National Assembly not aware that if there are efficient and fair legislations in place, for a profitable public-private-partnership, private capital will be attracted to begin to develop the needed infrastructure for the production of made-in-Nigeria goods? With the present road infrastructure, can made-in-Nigeria goods, truly compete with cheap imports from Asia?

    To honestly promote made-in-Nigeria goods, shouldn’t the National Assembly show more interest in our railways? If they are sincere, they can use legislation to help the executive find the needed capital to modernise our rail lines. Has the National Assembly thought of the need to encourage the states and regional clusters, through legislation, to consider developing intra-state and inter-state rail lines? With the inland waterways under the control of the federal government, can’t the National Assembly use legislation to enforce the dredging of Rivers Niger and Benue to make movement of people and goods more affordable?

    With the national economy in dire straits, our country could do with substantial direct foreign investment, to achieve a quantum leap, in infrastructural development. For that to happen, the federal and state legislatures have to first put their houses in order. As stated by Lee Kuan Yew, in his book: “The government played a key role in attracting foreign investment; we built the infrastructure and provided well-planned industrial estates, equity participation in industries, fiscal incentives, and export promotion. Most important, we established good labour relations and sound macroeconomic policies, the fundamentals that enable private enterprise to operate successfully”.

    Sloganeering, by our National Assembly on the need to patronize made-in-Nigeria goods, without backing it up with appropriate legislation and leadership by example, is nothing, but institutional deceit. The National Assembly should truly enhance national productivity, using legislation.

  • Jigawa’s N900m for 60 medical students abroad

    The Jigawa state government has set aside the sum of N900 million to sponsor 60 students for the study of medicine in the Republic of China.

    This was disclosed by the state’s commissioner of Health, Dr Abba Zakar, yesterday while fielding question from newsmen on the level of preparation for and departure of the students.

    Dr Abba Zakari Umar explained that Governor Badaru’s administration had promised to sponsor 200 students from the state to study medicine and nursing in China in its bid to produce enough manpower required to achieve its policy on health for all.

     

  • Going abroad to obtain justice

    Going abroad to obtain justice

    The people of Gbaramatu are in high spirits. On January 18, an English court upheld the N99.9billion judgment they obtained against the government at a Federal High Court in Asaba, Delta State. They took their case abroad following their inability to enforce justice at home. Is the government lawless? Whose duty is it to ensure that the government obeys court orders? To lawyers, Attorney-General of the Federation and his counterparts in the states must ensure that all judgments are obeyed. Eric Ikhilae writes.

    Last January 18, an English court upheld a N99.9 billion  judgment obtained against the Presidency, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Commander of the Delta Joint Task Force, Maj-Gen Sarkin Yarkin Bello (rtd) by the people of Gbaramatu communities of Delta State.

    The Queen’s Bench Division of the Royal High Court of Justice England and Wales ordered that the judgment delivered in December 2013 by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court in Asaba, the Delta State capital, be registered in England solely against Maj.-Gen. Bello.

    The court refused to register the judgment against the Federal Government, citing the principle of state’s sovereignty. With  the verdict, the judgment-creditors – the people of Gbaramatu communities of Delta State – can apply for an order freezing Maj. Gen. Bello’s accounts wherever they could be traced globally.

    In a suit filed on June 22, 2009, the communities alleged that the task force led by Bello descended on them on May 5, 2009 killing and maiming and also destroyed properties worth billions of naira.

    Justice Buba (who now sits in the Lagos division of the Federal High Court) upheld the plaintiffs’ claims.

    He held: “The bombardment of the plaintiffs’ communities in the Gbaramatu Kingdom of Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta by the defendants resulting in the demolition/destruction of houses, household furniture/wares, boats, canoes, domestic animals and displacement of members of the communities is in violation of Section 217 (2)(c) of the 1999 constitution and is therefore unconstitutional.

    “That the sum of N49 billion is awarded in favour of the plaintiffs as special damages against the defendants jointly severally.

    “That the sum of N50 billion is also awarded as aggravated and punitive damages against the defendants jointly and severally for the unlawful bombardment and sacking of the plaintiffs’ communities which resulted in wanton destruction of their houses, household furniture and other wares, their domestic animals, canoes, boats, sacred places, artefacts, etc and which resulted in total displacement of members of the communities for minimum of three months from 15th May 2009, the effect of which was that members of the communities were living in the swampy mangrove forests in subhuman conditions while others were in a concentration camp and suffered loss of income, disease, and mental torture and the education of their children of school age was disrupted.”

    The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Selekeowei Larry (SAN), told The Nation that his clients resorted to a foreign court because the government, during the Goodluck Jonathan era, was unwilling to obey the judgment.

    “We waited for about three months for them to decide on what to do before we took this step. They neither appealed nor did they respond to our demand letters.  Before applying to the Queen Bench Division  High Court of Justice in London to register the judgment, we wrote twice to the then Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), asking the Federal Government to comply with the judgment.

    “Two years after the judgment was delivered, the government neither complied with it nor challenged it on appeal. We know what to do next after we have successfully got the judgment registered in London.

    “We have only decided to allow this government to settle down. You know the new AGF is just settling down. And we believe this government will not be willing to ignore court’s decisions, as we witnessed before now. So, we will wait for this government, and if it fails to act, we know what to do next,” Larry said.

     

    Tales of disregard for court orders

    This is not the first time a community would secure monetary judgment against the Federal Government but got nothing until a foreign court intervened.

    There were the cases of the Odi (Bayelsa) and Zaki-Biam (Benue) who got judgment against the government for the destruction of lives and property in their communities, following troops’ invasion.

    By seeking the intervention of a foreign court, the Gbaramatu communities are toeing the path trodden by their counterparts. It took foreign intervention for the President Goodluck Jonathan administration to negotiate with both communities.

    According to the Chairman,  Odi Destruction Case Prosecution Committee (ODCPC), Prof. Kobina Imananagha, the Federal Government used delay tactics, including litigations, to avoid payment of the N37.6billion compensation which the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, ordered it to pay the community on February 19, 2014.

    Imananagha said rather than obey the court judgment, the Federal Government went to the Court of Appeal six times to overturn the initial verdict, only to fail on each occasion.

    He said the saving grace was a London court, which the community approached and which issued an October 21, 2014 deadline to government to negotiate settlement and pay the agreed compensation to Odi people.

    “The London court issued threats that it was going to enforce the full judgment of the court (payment of N37.6billion) if by October 21, 2014, the government fails to negotiate settlement and pay agreed compensation to Odi.

    “It was this seeming threat that compelled the Federal Ministry of Justice and the leadership of the legal team, ODCPC and the king of Odi to the negotiation table on May 26, 2014 where N15billion (as the only and final payment) offer as compensation to Odi was made by the Federal Government”.

    The Nigerian government has gradually assumed the image of a government that hardly respects court’s decisions. Cases abound in this regard. In October last year, some pensioners of the New Nigerian Newspapers (NNN) appealed to the Federal Government to obey a judgment given in their favour in 2013. The pensioners served the company between 1975 and 2006 when the company was still a parastatal.

    About 10 years after the government’s continuous default in the payment of their pensions and gratuity, the pensioners instituted a civil action against the Federal Government and the NNN to recover the arrears of pension and gratuity.

    “Judgment was given in the suit on October 28, 2013 compelling the Federal Government and the New Nigerian Newspapers to pay all the accrued and outstanding arrears of pension and gratuity. The computed judgment debt from January, 2000 to March, 2015 amount to about N8billion.

    “But up till the expiration of the Jonathan administration, the defendants failed to comply with the court judgment. They also did not appeal the judgment,” Chairman and Secretary, Nigerian Union of Pensioners, NNN Branch, Kaduna, Malam Idi Sule, and Albert B. Iweka, a lawyer, said in a recent letter.

    Also on January 13, 2014 Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in a judgment on the suit by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), upheld the financial autonomy of the Judiciary.

    Justice Ademola held, among others, that it was unconstitutional for the executive to withhold or release in piece-meal, funds standing to the credit of the judiciary in the Federation Account and Consolidated Revenue Fund.

    He directed that such funds be paid directly to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for onward disbursement to heads of courts in the case of federal judiciary and heads of courts in the case of states’ judiciary as required under sections 81(3), 121(3) and 162(9) of the constitution.

    The judgment has not been effectively complied with by both the Federal and state governments. JUSUN is still in court, trying to prosecute garnishee proceedings against erring governments in a bid to compel them to obey the judgment.

    The practice of government’s disobedience of court decisions was rampant under the Olusegun Obasnajo-government  (1999-12007), where court’s judgment were, in most instances, subjected to political interpretations.

    In April, 2004, the Lagos State government, being led by the opposition Alliance for Democracy (AD), increased the number of local government councils from 20 to 57. The then Lagos government, headed by Bola Tinubu, had argued that Lagos’ population size justified the increase.

    But, in retaliation, the Obasanjo-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Federal Government, on April 8, 2004 directed the Minister of Finance to stop further release of council funds from the federation account to all states, which created new local governments. While the other states, which were mainly PDP-controlled states, reversed their actions and got their allocations paid, the Lagos government insisted on its position.

    Lagos challenged the Federal Government’s decision at the Supreme Court. The apex court, in its judgment on December 10, 2004 faulted the Federal Government’s decision to withhold allocation to Lagos State’s existing 20 Local Government Councils.

    The Supreme Court, per Niki Tobi (JSC, retired) held: “Has the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria the legal right to stop the release of the statutory allocation to the local government councils…? I think not. If the Federal Government felt aggrieved by Lagos State creating more local governments, the best solution is to seek redress in a court of law without resorting to self-help.

    “In a society where the rule of law prevails, self-help is not available to the executive or any arm of government. In view of the fact that such a conduct could breed anarchy and totalitarianism and since anarchy and totalitarianism are anti-thesis to democracy, courts operating the rule of law, the life-blood of democracy, are under a constitutional duty to stand against such action.”

    The judgment was only complied with by the succeeding government of Umaru Yar’Adua, after the expiration of the Obasanjo era.

    Also, it took the pressure of all – opposition parties, civil society organisations, right advocates and international communities – for the Obasanjo government to obey the Supreme Court judgment reversing the impeachment of Rashidi Ladoja as the governor of Oyo State.

    Some 18 members of the Oyo State House of Assembly on January 12, 2006 sat in a hotel in Ibadan and claimed to have impeached Ladoja. The Obasanjo-led Federal Government was not concerned about the legitimacy of the action, it promptly ensured that Ladoja’s deputy, Adebayo Alao-Akala took over.  But about 10 months after, the Suprme Court, in a judgment on December 7, 2006, voided the impeachment and ordered Ladoja’s reinstatement. The same Obasanjo-led Federal Government became lethargic in implementing the apex court’s decision.

    Although the then  Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Sunday Ehindero, restored the security details of Ladoja in compliance with the appellate  court’s verdict, he,  however, advised Ladoja  not to resume office until the legal opinion of the then Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Bayo Ojo (SAN)  was sought.

    Apparently speaking the mind of the Federal Government, Ojo said the judgment could not be executed because it was declaratory, meaning that Alao-Akala remained the governor. He said the government would deal with anybody or group of people that might want to take laws into its own hands.

     

    Lawyers’ views

    Although some lawyers said though it was too early to assess the government, they stated that it has started exhibiting some traits of disrespect to the court. They cited the cases of former National Security Adviser, Col Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and Pro-Biafran agitator, Nnamdi Kanu, who were reportedly granted bail, but were not allowed to enjoy the bail.

    Femi Falana (SAN), Dr. Paul Adesina, Ahmed Mustafa (of the Centre for Accountability in Governance) and Jude Nwankwo said it takes a strong-willed attorney-general, who believes in the supremacy of the rule of law in a democracy, to ensure that the state and its agencies comply with court’s decisions.

    Falana, while commenting on the cases of Dasuki and Kanu, noted that “for 16 years that the Peoples Democratic Party was in power, the federal government exhibited contempt for the Rule of Law. The Constitution and other laws were breached with impunity while court orders were disobeyed regularly.

    “In the famous case of Attorney-General of Lagos State v Attorney-General of the Federation (2005) 2 WRN 1 at 150, the Supreme Court held that ‘in our democracy all the governments of this country as well as organisations and individuals must kowtow to the due process and this they can vindicate by resorting to the courts for redress in the event of any grievance.’

    “One of the reasons Nigerians voted for the candidate of the All Progressive Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) during the last general election was his promise to fight corruption and end impunity in the country. Upon winning the election, President Buhari further pledged to abide by the Rule of Law.

    “To that extent, he has a duty to ensure that all organs and officials of the Government operate within the ambit of the law. In particular, he should not allow overzealous security personnel to engage in any form of impunity and thereby expose the Government to unwarranted embarrassment,” Falana said.

    To Adesina, “What happened under former President Obasanjo, where court’s decisions were treated with levity, could not have happened where you have AGF, who believe in the law they professed. How can you sit in office and call yourself the Minister of Justice and AGF, when the government you represent, does not believe in the rule of law.

    “How can you claim to be the chief law officer when your government does not respect the laws of the land? I just hope the AGF, Abubakar Malami (SAN), a fine gentleman, will understand this and tell the government the hard truth before it becomes too late,” Adesina said.

    Mustafa argued that it is wrong for any government to ignore court’s decisions. “I think very democratic government, who believe in accountability, should learn to always obey court’s decisions, no matter how unfavourable it is to those in authority,” he said.

    Nwankwo said: “It is so shameful that democratic government in our country find it difficult to obey court’s decisions, when it goes against their interests. They should learn that the rule of law, the foundation of every democracy, does not exist to protect, solely the interest of those in government. Court orders/judgments must always be obeyed.

    “To me, the task is with the Justice Minister, to always advise the government on the best option, which is, to always obey the court. The most you can do is to appeal a court’s decision, if you are not comfortable, but not to ignore it,” Nwankwo said.

     

     

  • ‘Nigerian lawyers can match the best abroad’

    African Bar Association (AFBA) president, Mr. Hannibal Uwaifo has faulted the idea that foreign lawyers are better than their African counterparts.

    According to him, it is wrong to give important briefs to foreign firms when local ones can do better, saying  very good Nigerian lawyers can match the best abroad.

    Uwaifo, who noted the excellent performance of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at the International Bar Association (IBA) conference which held in Vienna, Austria, said: “I want to thank our hardworking President Mr. Augustine Alegeh (SAN) for the beautiful admonitions he gave at the breakfast meeting of the African regional forum in Vienna.

    “He touched on the need not only to upgrade our skills,  but to join forces in order to benefit from the huge investments we make into IBA conferences without corresponding benefits.

    “It is obvious that most of the sessions at each succeeding conferences are not relevant to our practice in Nigeria and Africa.

    “I, however, do not believe that our skills are poor in Nigeria. I do not also agree that we can only fit into global legal practice by sharpening skills whatever that means.

    “Nigeria has always played at the world stage. In the World Court, in the International Criminal Justice system and practice. “

    All  jurisdictions, Uwaifo said,  have their peculiarities, culture and style. “However, successful legal practice is tied to good governance, the rule of law, economic wizardry and technology breakthrough and unfortunately, these are mostly lacking in Africa. “Lawyers join politicians to break the law and shop for judges to help validate these shameful conducts. They take advice from clients instead of offering them advice advice professionally,” he said.

    He continued: “Lawyers collect huge sums of money from political clients not in any way commensurate with the regime of legal charges, knowing that these funds were drawn from public funds meant for the commonwealth to tare roads, fix hospitals, schools, electricity and fund technological advances.

    “The Economy remain stagnant, unemployment becomes rife. There are serious security problems, the entire society is dysfunctional. The prosperity of the profession is blocked.

    “Everybody is  accusing each other and the profession is now  Thomas Hobbes’ contraception of nasty, short and brutish. You cannot meet global skills when you take bribes and promote corruption.”

    According to Uwaifo, AFBA will work towards improving lawyers’ fortune.

    His words: “We intend to  bring about some of these changes by encouraging individual lawyers and national associations to imbibe attitudinal changes by organising frequent interactions and acting as watchdog.

    “The present NBA executive has done excellently. They have shown that things can be done right. They are  bringing about orderliness transparency and professional etiquette.”

    The next Exco, he said, has to fight corruption, influence peddling, compromising judicial officers, accepting monies stolen from public coffers to pay professional bills for personal political cases.

    “Be bold to take on judges who ridicule our profession and our country by making ridiculous orders and granting bogus injunctions that will make even the market women reel with laughter.

    “Injunctions stopping security agencies from investigating corruption and other crimes against the Nigerian people should not be granted,” adding: “The bar and the bench must know that the average Nigerian, whose public funds is misappropriated daily is also entitled to injunctions against these mindless crooks and deserves the protection offered by the rule of law.”

     

     

  • Ekiti teaching hospital staff trained abroad on patient management

    Ekiti teaching hospital staff trained abroad on patient management

    Thirty-four members of staff of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) have undergone a five-day training to equip them for better service delivery.

    The training, which was organised by JFC Training College, London, United Kingdom, was aimed at making the workers imbibe new techniques in handling patients and conforming with the basic international health and safety regulations.

    In most of the health institutions in Nigeria, nurses, physiotherapists and doctors move patients in bed, wards and around the hospital manually, which poses problems to the staff and the patients.

    Moving and handling patients requires techniques which would also reduce the rate at which doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and other caregivers complain of backache while health workers should also be protected against infections.

    A team of resource persons who are experts in the fields of health and social care, first aid health and safety among others took the EKSUTH workers through practical and theoretical aspects of handling patients in line with modern practices.

    At the certificates presentation to the participants, Programme Facilitator, Prince Bisi Oyedele, described the performance of  workers during the training as “fantastic.”

    He said having undergone the training, EKSUTH workers are now competent to practise what they have learnt and urged the hospital management to provide them with equipment.

    The class governor of the participants, Dr. Taye Ige, thanked the management for organising the training, describing EKSUTH Chief Medical Director, Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe, as a “man of vision who stands by his words and a man who wants results.”

    Ige also extolled the virtues of the facilitator whom he described as “a good teacher and a man dedicated to knowledge.”

    Some staff said the training has empowered them and opened their eyes to the best new practices in handling patients.

    Dr. Emmanuel Toyin Adeleye of the Department of Internal Medicine said the training was all-encompassing and timely, noting that it has enriched their knowledge to add value to healthcare delivery.

    He continued: “The training was all-encompassing; it’s like meeting the needs of the time, getting the participants abreast of what’s needed on patient management.

    “This type of training is bringing us on the front page like other centres of excellence on patient management. It is beneficial to the community, to the hospital and to the workers.”

    Mrs. Abimbola Aladete of the Department of Paediatrics said training was very interesting.

    She said it was packed with various teachings on health and support, legal implications on injuries that can be sustained by patients, moving and handling of patients by means of instruments not common in the country.

    Mrs. Aladete said: “We have been here between Monday and Friday mornings and evenings. They are things we have known before but taking new shape makes us to see the programme as not tiring.

    “We learnt new techniques about first aid, essential treatment that can be given to people, even neighbours when faced with emergencies. We are privileged to be part of this programme.”

    Programme Facilitator, Prince Oyedele, in a chat with The Nation said the skills and knowledge gained at the training would positively rub off on EKSUTH as participants are expected to share knowledge with co-workers.

    Oyedele said further: “It is not just about moving and handling patients around, we have international best practices on health and safety, first and both theory and practical aspects.

    “This week has been so fantastic; you can see that they really need this in terms of their cooperation and patience in this class.

    “We have doctors, consultants, pharmacists, physiotherapists, laboratory technicians and virtually every department has been touched including security of environment of themselves and that of patients.”

    EKSUTH CMD, Dr. Ogundipe, said training and retraining of staff occupy a front burner in his development agenda for the health institution even though little resources are available in the state at present.

    He said: “We appreciate the fact that we don’t have so much resources in Ekiti State but we admit that in terms of healthcare delivery, Ekiti State is better than many of these states that have resources.

    “That is why we have put up this training, in some places, they have equipment but no manpower while in others they have manpower but no equipment.

    “We are discussing with the governor and he is excited to make this hospital comply with the latest trends. We have also made calls to philanthropists home and abroad.

    “Our aim is to ensure that all the staff are trained towards handling patients and those trained now will also help train others.

    “We are able to ask for  more people to be trained to so that the rest can benefit.”

  • Women protest delisting of Amnesty students abroad

    Women protest delisting of Amnesty students abroad

    •Protesting women urge Buhari to pay fees

    Scores of women protested yesterday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, the delisting of Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) beneficiaries by their various institutions abroad.

    It was gathered that former militants studying abroad were being sent packing, following the inability of the Federal Government to pay their fees.

    The women were reportedly jolted by a report that 13 ex-militants undergoing training as pilots at the Lufthansa Airline Training School in Frankfurt, Germany, had been sent back to Nigeria.

    Other scholarship students from the Niger Delta were said to have been sent home by their institutions in other African countries, Russia, Germany, Ukraine and Europe for non-payment of fees.

    The protesting women were said to have besieged the office of the umbrella body of ex-militant leaders, the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI), in the state capital.

    They said President Muhammadu Buhari should be held responsible, if the tension in the region over the matter snowballed into insurgency.

    The protesters noted that as mothers, they were feeling the heat and observing tension from the gathering of youths in their communities.

    One of the protesting women, Ebiere Ankiomete, said Buhari’s action had restored the hope in the region.

    She said: “The President’s refusal to appoint a substantive chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Committee to liaise with Federal Ministry of Finance to pay the Amnesty Training fund is a problem.

    “If the appointment is delayed till September, the amnesty beneficiaries in institutions abroad would have been denied approved trainings.”

    LPCDI’s President and former ex-militant leader Pastor Reuben Wilson urged the protesting women to remain calm.

    He reminded the President that the Amnesty Programme was meant to enhance peace and smoothen production of crude oil in the region and should not be allowed to suffer.

    Welson said: “The passionate appeal comes on the heels of an avalanche of complaints received by the indigent parents of the amnesty’s beneficiaries in Nigeria and abroad, whose children and wards are experiencing hardship because of a lack of funds to the programme.

    “Mr. President should not to lose sight on the germane issue that brought about the PAP and save it from collapse. The peace we are enjoying in the Niger Delta today is because of the Amnesty Programme initiated by your predecessor, President Umaru Ya’Adua. This is because he had the interest of the Niger Delta people at heart.”