For allegedly being discriminated against, a 23-year-old albino, Ugochukwu Ekwe on Sunday committed suicide in the Festac area of Lagos State.
The incident occurred at 311 Road, B Close, after the deceased’s parents went to church.
It was alleged that the deceased had attempted suicide last month after complaining of the discrimination he suffered from people as a result of his pigmentation.
He was said to have been rescued by a friend who arrived early enough, but he succeeded on Sunday after refusing to follow his parents to church, it was learnt.
A source in the neighbourhood told The Nation that his parents discovered his body hanging on the ceiling fan when they returned from church.
He said: “On arrival from church, his parents were shocked to discover the body of their son hanging from the ceiling fan in one of the apartments.
“One of his siblings was said to have raised alarm which attracted curious neighbours.
“I was returning from church when I saw people gathered in front of the block of flats. When I enquired, I was told that Ugochukwu had committed suicide.
“He finished his secondary school education since 2009. I also learned he had threatened to take his life, saying he was frustrated.”
“Later, we saw some policemen from Festac division who removed the body.”
When contacted, spokesperson for the police command, DSP Patricia Amadin said she was yet to get details from the Area ‘E’ Commander, Frank Mba.
Tag: discrimination
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Albino commits suicide over alleged discrimination
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Discrimination against people with disabilities
SIR: As attractive as most buildings in Nigeria are, they are discriminatory. I have had the occasion of venerating the Almighty in beautiful constructions and amazingly all of these outstanding structures do not have provisions for physically challenged people.
Have you seen any physically-challenged person wheel themselves into your local places of worship lately? How can they, without being carried?
It is ironic that the ‘establishment,’ discriminates against those who are still alive and, those coming after now – who may be physically challenged.
How many places of worship (churches/mosques), have access-ramp into their buildings for the incapacitated? The few disabled faithful who must come to seek the face of the Almighty no doubt would have to be helped-up and these persons hate to be helped. They take delight in doing things all by themselves, but the state makes them look helpless and subjects them to leaning on persons for help.
Aren’t handicapped priests and Imams also called for service of the Almighty, and how do they then negotiate the mosque and altar?
How about public buildings and our schools? Not even our university edifices take cognizance of this defect. Take a walk to the bank and conjure up how a disabled person will ever access these buildings. I do not see access-ramps provided for them. How about our residential buildings, with no access-ramps for visitors that may be disabled?
How about our hotels? No access-ramps with handrails as well. Aren’t there people on wheel chairs who may want to go to the hotel for refreshment and leisure with their kinfolks? And when they do, should they fret and see their condition as a curse or a blessing?
How many of these hotels even have raised chamber-pots for the disabled to use in their hotels?
Government needs to sensitize all stakeholders on the needful which are many: there is the need to find ways to increase the size of carriage lift in public buildings; this will help people who use the wheelchair; our transportation system, rail, road and air should have comfortable sections for people with disabilities (I am yet to see public buses designed with these people in mind); there should be special outdoor play area with good designs that will accommodate their interest (a lower basketball court etc);and even though we have sports for the disabled coordinated by government, how have we integrated these into our homes and in public areas?
Construction companies should be thoughtful enough to include an all-inclusive design concept in their designs even if they are not suggested by clients and government planners and supervisors need to supervise buildings for these defects.
On occasions when I see high-step-risers on entrances, dangerous for the elderly and children in public places I wonder which architect designed such buildings.
When I do not see bigger spaces in public places in between pews for the disabled or sections reserved for them and their wheels, I wonder which planner approved such buildings.
When I visit an eatery for rest and relaxation and do not see ramps for the disabled who are keen also of having treats, I wonder how insensitive owners of these places can be.
We need to get it right for everyone, after all; nobody knows what will happen tomorrow; young now and old tomorrow, if not handicapped.
- Simon Abah,
Port Harcourt.
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Rectors may boycott firms for discrimination against HND holders
The Committee of Heads (COHEADS) of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology are set to tackle discrimination against polytechnic graduates in the private sector.
Rector of the Lagos State Polytechnic, Dr Abdulazeez Lawal, said the Committee had resolved to withdraw businesses from organisations such as banks and insurance companies.
Reacting to the HND/BSc dichotomy during a press conference ahead of the institution’s 23rd Convocation, Lawal said: “We are looking at how to close the gap. One of the agitation of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) was the dichotomy issue. Government has set up a panel and we are expecting the report.
“At COHEADS level, we also deliberated on this and noted that the discrimination is not peculiar to public service. Some private institutions also discriminate.
“We have decided to take a number of steps. Where we see such clear discrimination, like in the banks or insurance sector, we may not patronise them again. We will withdraw our funds.”
Lawal said though polytechnics have been scrapped in many developed countries they can still function effectively in Nigeria without discrimination.
“As we are moving in line with theory, the university will conduct research, give us the outcome and then we translate them into innovation. And that is why polytechnics will remain. All we need is for government to remove the discrimination,” he said.
At today’s convocation, 7,022 full-time and part-time students who have undergone National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes would graduate from the polytechnic.
The Rector said they would be presented with their certificates same day – a first in the history of the 37-year old institution. The convocation would serve as the last to be convened by the rector, whose four-year tenure ends in June.
Lawal said the polytechnic expanded in terms of programmes, facilities and improved on welfare and manpower development. Regarding facilities, the rector said a lot of renovations and constructions have been done on the three campuses of the institution in Ikorodu, Isolo and Surulere.
He added that with the increment in the number of lecturers sponsored for their PhDs locally and internationally, the academic culture of the polytechnic is set to further improve.
Activities to mark the convocation included: prayer sessions for the graduands, convocation lecture, and variety show.
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Ezea vows to end discrimination
The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Mr. Okechukwu Ezea, has promised to end discrimination against non- indigenes, if elected.
He spoke at the weekend in an interaction with Anambra indigenes.
The APC governorship candidate hailed the people for their dynamism, saying Igbo land would have been better if other Ndigbo had the enterprise and industry of Anambra people.
Ezea said it was unfortunate that some people, instead of learning from Anambra indigenes, out of ignorance and jealousy, neglected them.
Said he: “I’m ready for competition. Eighty per cent of the houses in the state are owned by Anambra people. They did not build them by force, but through hard work.
“I will like Anambra people to bring their entrepreneurial prowess to Enugu. Anambra people should come and invest in the state. APC government will partner the people to move Enugu State forward.
“I am an academic. I’m a businessman. An academic is not afraid of competition. It will end on examination day. I am a businessman. For Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi and Abia, Enugu is the melting point. Every Igboman has equal rights in Enugu.”
Ezea recalled that during the military era, they sacked people in Enugu and as a postgraduate student, he wrote a military administrator, asking why somebody, who was born and grew up in Enugu, should be subjected to discrimination, whereas the Igbo living in Sokoto were not maltreated.
He assured that if elected, Enugu would become a place for all Igbo men and women, adding that irrespective of the state of origin, they would have equal right to own houses in the New G.R.A.
Ezea promised to build an international market in Enugu, with 5,000 lock-up shops, to accommodate the apprentices graduating from Ogbete and Kenyetta markets in the Enugu metropolis.
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Lawyer alleges discrimination in Ondo teachers’ recruitment
A lawyer, Femi Emodamori, has threatened to sue Ondo State government over alleged discrimination against non-indigenes in the on-going teachers’ recruitment exercise.
He alleged that most of the applications submitted by non-indigenes were not treated.
He has already sent a protest letter to the state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, to register his displeasure.
However, the Chairman, Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Dr Bakitta Bello, has denied the allegation, saying that it was far from the truth.
Emodamori noted that the constitution of the country does not allow discrimination against non indigenes in any state, noting that such action violates Section 42 sub-section 1 of the 1999 Constitution.
He argued that since the applicant’s parents pay taxes into the coffers of the state, they should be given equal rights as indigenes.
He threatened to institute legal action against the state if necessary quotas are not given to non indigenes who applied for the job.
However, Dr Bello said there was no iota of truth in the allegation, saying the exercise was thrown open to residents in the state irrespective of their state of origin. He assured that qualified applicants would be employed, adding that the results of the exercise would soon be released and those qualified would be offered employment.
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‘Stop discrimination in online transactions’
PayPal’s Regional Director for Africa and Israel, EfiDahan has called on stakeholders in the e-payment market to address discrimination against Nigeria in the e-commerce market.
Speaking at a partnership forum with FirstBank, he said many merchants were refusing to approve transactions with Nigeria Internet Protocol (IP) address, noting that there is need to instill confidence in the global e-commerce market.
PayPal entered 10 countries last week, including Nigeria, to provide online payment alternatives for consumers via mobile phones or personal computers in markets often blighted by financial fraud.
PayPal Executive in charge of Emerging Market, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region said the payments unit of eBay Inc, told Bloomberg the expansion would bring the number of countries it serves to 203.
He said consumers in Nigeria, which has 60 million users and Africa’s largest population, along with nine other markets in sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America, would be able to make payments through PayPal.
“PayPal has been going through a period of reinvention, refreshing many of its services to make them easier to use on mobile (phones), allowing us to expand into fast-developing markets,” Keeley said.
Once the services go live, customers in the 10 countries with access to the Web and a bank card authorized for Internet transactions will be able to register for a PayPal account and make payments to millions of sites worldwide.
Initially, PayPal is only offering “send money” services for consumers to pay for goods and services at PayPal-enabled merchant sites while safeguarding their financial details. This is free to consumers and covered by fees it charges merchants.
“We think we can give our sellers selling into this market a great deal of reassurance,” said Keeley, a former regional banking executive with Standard Chartered Plc and senior executive with payment card company Visa Inc.
PayPal does not yet cover peer-to-peer transactions, which allow consumers to send money to other consumers. It has not yet enabled local merchants in the new markets to receive payments, nor is it offering other forms of banking services, he said.
A 2013 survey of 200 UK ecommerce sites by Visa’s CyberSource unit estimated that 1.26 percent of online orders are fraudulent and that 85 percent of merchants expected fraud to increase or remain static last year.
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Nigerians told to eschew discrimination
Nigerians have been told to eschew any acts of discrimination and pursue oneness, peaceful coexistence and cooperation.
Gombe State Secretary of the Jama’atu Naril Islam JNI, Alhaji Saleh Danburam made the call at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) seventh Ramadan Lecture, organised by JNI and the Gombe State government.
He also called on journalists to always crosscheck their facts in order to avoid misinforming the public and scuttling the peace.
He said the biggest task ahead of us is that our leaders should pursue justice while those being led should be obedient to the laws of the land and Allah.”
The JNI scribe urged Islamic adherents to pursue knowledge in order to equip themselves with the ability to decipher good from bad, saying this underscores why the state government is intervening in tsnagaya schools (Islamic schools) with a view to harmonising orthodox and Islamic education.
Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo also urged Muslims to pursue Western education because in it lies the understanding of what is right or wrong.
Represented by the Commissioner of Higher Education, Dr. Muhammad Isa Wade, Dankwambo emphasised the need for a total dedication to the will of Allah because of the life after now.
“The most important thing is to look for is the period between life and death because we shall all give account of our activities,” he said.
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Stop discrimination against women
SIR: Discriminatory practices against women takes various forms and all these have tendency to affect the economic prowess and social status of the woman in the community. According to a learned author, the society and its legal system in developing countries such as Nigeria condones domestic violence to a certain extent. Women are seen as properties, which are expected to be in total submission to their husbands. One cannot but agree with the writer in view of certain statutory provisions in our customary legal systems which tend to support domestic violence and discriminatory practices against women.
The provision of Section 55 of the Penal code which allows a man to beat his married wife under native law and custom “in so far as it does not amount to grievous hurt” is a classical example.
It provides that “Nothing is an offence which does not amount to the infliction of grievous hurt upon any person and which is done by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife, such husband and wife being subject to any native law or custom in which such correction is recognized as lawful.”
Thus as long as the grievous hurt on a woman falls short of the acts defined in the section 241 of the penal code, a husband may correct his wife by beating her. It is submitted that this provision runs contrary to the right to dignity of human person constitutionally guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. To subject a married wife to battery and assault in the guise of correcting her is barbarous and unreasonable.
Discriminatory practices manifest itself in the employment sector and this affects the socio economic profile of women in no small measure. Notorious in this area of discrimination is the Nigeria Police Force. For instance, Section 122 of the Police Act stipulates that policewomen recruited to the general duties branch of the force may, in order to relieve male officer from those duties” be employed in clerical, telephone and office orderly duties.
Also, woman police officer who is desirous of marrying must first apply in writing to the Commissioner of Police of the State Command in which she is serving requesting permission to marry and giving the name, address and occupation of the person she intends to marry. Permission will be granted if the person is of good character and the woman police officer has served the force for a period of not less than three years.” Upon marriage, a woman police officer shall not be granted any special privilege by reason of the fact that she is married, and shall be subject to posting and transfer as if she were unmarried.”
It is submitted that section 122 of the Police Act has tendency to relegate women police to the background by not exposing them to challenges where they can be professionally fulfilled. This may account probably for non-production of a woman police as Inspector General. It is further submitted that section 124 and 125 out-rightly affect the reproductive rights of women and their choice of partner. The fact that a male police officer does not need to undergo any procedure nor he is required to obtain any permission prior to marriage shows that the law is gender biased.
• Barrister O . A Abiodun
Ikorodu, Lagos State
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Yero pledges to administer Kaduna without any form of discrimination
Kaduna State Governor Mukhtar Yero has promised to administer the state without any form of discrimination.
Yero spoke at the funeral ceremony of his former boss, the late Governor Patrick Yakowa, in Fadan Kagoma, Jema’a Local Government.
He said: “It is pertinent for me to declare in unequivocal terms that I will be governor for all and sundry irrespective of religion, ethnicity or geo-political consideration.
“Let me in particular, assure the Christian community in the state that my government will do everything possible to protect their rights and privileges as guaranteed by the constitution.”
He also reiterated his commitment toward completing the projects started by the former governor.
“I wish to reiterate my commitment to complete all projects initiated by my predecessor across the state.
“They were all conceived after very careful consideration and in order to keep alive his aspiration of improving the quality of lives of the citizenry.”
Yero said his office would remain open to constructive criticisms and initiatives on strategies to move the state affairs forward.
He said despite the security challenges bedeviling the state, his predecessor were able to achieve so much in terms of projects.
“While we mourn the painful loss, we should strive to keep alive his aspiration of uniting the people of the state into a formidable force of development.
“This is the only way we can remember him.”
The Kpop Gwom, retired Col. Zakkah Wyom, said the late Yakowa’s administration never showed any disparity, rather he laboured to unite the people and develop the state.
Wyom commended Yero’s plans to build on the foundation laid by his predecessor, explaining that it was the beginning of a modern and advanced administration.
He urged the new governor to employ the services of people with sound knowledge that would aid in pursuing the programmes initiated by late Yakowa to achieve transformational change.
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Jonathan pledges to end discrimination
President Goodluck Jonathan has said he would ensure that the nation’s social challenges, particularly the indigene/settler issue responsible for the growing spate of conflicts among Nigerians, are resolved through the ongoing constitution review.
He spoke in Lagos yesterday at an event where former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’adu Abubakar and former Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumratunga, noted that the nation must confront its socio-economic challenges if it wishes to grow.
It was at the 13th Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Lecture Series with the theme: “Synthesis for nationhood: Ethnic policy and national integration: from indigenes to citizens.”
Represented by the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, President Jonathan assured that his administration would end the policies and practices encumbering the citizens’ access to all rights guaranteed in the constitution.
Jonathan, who said “the time for a change is now,” decried the current practice where Nigerians are denied access to privileges and rights on the grounds that they are not indigenes of certain communities, even when they are qualified.
He said: “There is a dangerous concept of indigene/settler that is growing like a wild fire in the harmatan, unsettling our togetherness. This threat is the effect of illiteracy, poverty, unemployment and discrimination on the grounds of sex, age or religion. They are enemies of our nation that we must not tolerate.
“The Nigerian Constitution grants all citizens of this country several fundamental rights, including the right to full expression of themselves everywhere in the country. As the President, I will do all within my power to defend these rights. Where these rights are inadequate, the process the constitution has set in motion for amendment will be followed.
“As the constitution undergoes a review at the National Assembly, it is my hope that all ambiguities regarding the legal rights of Nigerians living outside their traditional communities will be addressed.
“I believe that every Nigerian, whoever they might be, wherever they might be, whatever they might be engaged in, should enjoy the fundamental rights granted them by the constitution of our country. My administration is determined to ensure that these rights are not denied any of our citizens. We should glory in our diversity for it is a source of strength.”
President Jonathan assured that the government would ensure the protection of the cultural riches of the communities, where settlers were integrated, for future generation “because every culture is an irresistible part of our culture and heritage, without which we are left incomplete.”