The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Justice

  • Justice for sale

    Justice for sale

    I had chosen the above title, before the news broke over the grave developments of last Friday, which saw the state security services swoop on the homes of two Justices of the Supreme Court, and some High Court Judges, over allegations of corruption. Even when this column is agreeable to a transparent purge of the judiciary, and had in fact recently urged the federal executive arm to concentrate its efforts on investigating such allegations, instead of seeking to impose the next Chief Justice of Nigeria, I must confess, that the sudden, and unprecedented manner of arrest of the Judges, left yours sincerely, in deep shock, since last Saturday.

    Considering that the reasons for the arrests, are still hazy, and since this column must meet the Sunday deadline, I earnestly hope that when the reasons are presented, it will be unassailable and unimpeachable. Perhaps, it would have been tidier, if the National Judicial Council (NJC), constitutionally empowered by the 1999 constitution, as amended, to discipline judges, was petitioned, and if the allegations are true, the judges are retired, before the executive arm moves in to prosecute those culpable. But enough on that development for now.

    The issue that gave rise to the above title stem from a recent statistics, released by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), that in some states, more than 90% of persons detained in various prisons across the country, are what Nigerians call, awaiting trial men. Also, according to the NHRC, 90% of the women, awaiting trial, are pregnant, with many children born in jail, growing up as pseudo-prisoners even though they are not awaiting any trial, like their mothers.

    Of course, the men, women and children, exposed to these national absurdities and indignities, are our country’s poorest, the wretched of the Nigerian earth, who either have no money to pay for legal services, or, who have no resources to meet the unfair and unreasonable bail conditions which our malignant criminal justice system imposes. These poor people have no relations except their type that can come to their help. But above all, these are Nigerians who have never had the opportunity to help themselves from the national bazaar that governance has become in Nigeria, or perhaps who do not subscribe to the chop, make I chop, that our public service constitutes.

    Yet, our country of unimaginable absurdities has among its top lawmakers, top executives, and other very important personalities, those also awaiting trial, but who are free, like the birds, to roam the world. By another statistics from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), nearly 40 former governors who served between 1999 and 2007 have criminal cases pending against them in our various court; some since 2007. Yet, not one of them is in jail like their other poorer compatriots awaiting their trial.

    Indeed, some of them are in the Senate, and fewer of them in the House of Representatives, receiving for a mere 180 days’ work in a year, humongous wardrobe allowance, hardship allowance, sitting allowance, and other absurd allowances, not to talk of their unlawful plundering of the national resources, by way of salaries and emoluments, which they crafted for themselves, against the express provisions of the constitution, which they pretend to uphold.

    Some of them, who could not make it, to the Senate, are appointed to other juicy portfolios; or are abroad, holidaying, having convinced the courts that they need urgent medical attention to stem an untimely death. Yet, when the awaiting trial detainees, who are visibly close to death, from the state sponsored starvation, while in jail, are brought before the court for a bail application, or the perfunctory trial, the Judge or Magistrate gives some very ridiculous bail condition.

    As if our country is a cruel joke, an individual who is accused of a misdemeanour is disingenuously kept in jail for years, awaiting a trial, while his more criminally minded contemporary who has stolen billions of naira, is granted a bail, and a further opportunity, to engage in more plundering. Yet, we pretend that we are practising an egalitarian democracy because of the provisions of lame constitutional precepts which many of us barely understand.

    Come to think of it, the basic requirement of a bail, under a constitutional democracy, is just to secure the attendance of the accused person, at a place, time and date, appointed. So, why should the laxity of the Nigerian state, which is incapable of keeping a verifiable record of her citizens, their movement, residence and other sundry census requirement, turn a mere accused, into an object of ridicule and humiliation, and still expect him or her, to be patriotic. If our leaders had not squandered the billions of dollars earmarked for a proper national identity card, with basic biometrics, wouldn’t an accused be granted bail, once a bail bond is signed by a holder of such card?

    Instead, what we experience is for the court to ask the poor accused persons, to source for two sureties, who must be owners of a property, in places which the rich has already appropriated to themselves, and ‘to pay’ for the court registrar, to go and verify the residence, the working place, and other identity requirements, of the surety. And when the accused is unable ‘to pay his way’, to get the court registrar, the police, and the prison official, where he is already remanded, to go and verify the information, the negligent state, that should have provided a verifiable identity platform, further humiliates the accused, by keeping in jail for ever.

    If the Nigerian state is a person, he or she would be accused of being in-human, wicked, unreasonable, and whatever acronym that would best describe her unconscionable and malicious maltreatment of her poorer citizen, who await their own trial in jail, while those who can pay for justice, are pampered, by the same state, after committing a worse crime. But the Nigerian state and her components though artificial, have directing minds, who should take responsibility for the acts of the nation or its component parts.

    In my humble view, all state executives, owe it a moral obligation to their personal conscience and that of the state which they preside over, to demand a review of the backlog of cases of the awaiting trial men in their states, who have been in detention for more than one year; except those charged with capital offences. They should bear in mind that our criminal justice system is wretchedly ineffective, and as such, in many of the instances, some of those in detention, awaiting trial, may actually be innocent.

    As I have argued on this page, our criminal justice system is uneven, and that aides the glaring inefficiency that has put an excruciating burden on the poor. I guess Nigeria, would be one of the few countries, if any, where a person is accused of a municipal crime, is investigated by a federal police, is charged before a state judge, while he is jailed in a federal prison. If the federal police, for instance, move her personnel, the case file and the evidence may be lost, with all the consequences, especially for the poor, who are hamstrung to pay for the expensive justice on sale.

     

  • Brother seeks justice for sister ‘assaulted’ by Indian employer

    Brother seeks justice for sister ‘assaulted’ by Indian employer

    A man, who claimed his younger sister, Faith Nwaneri, was allegedly assaulted by her Indian employer in Lagos, has cried out for justice.

    The man, Ignatius Chukwuka, alleged that the Indian, Jay Keswani, one of the Aswani Brothers, hit his sister with a briefcase on August 12 at his Benefista Tower, Banana Island residence and she fainted.

    Chukwuka said his sister was Personal Assistant (PA) to the Indian’s wife and worked Fridays to Wednesday, with Thursdays being observed as her day off.

    He said Nwaneri was delayed at the gate that morning because she didn’t have the gate pass and had begged her way through in the last eight months, since her employers were yet to provide one for her.

    Chukwuka claimed that when she eventually got into the residence, the man’s wife queried her for coming late and she explained that she was delayed at the gate for lack of pass.

    Angered by her explanation, the woman was said to have confronted her husband, who then asked the young lady to give him the form he gave her to fill to commence the process.

    Afraid that the Indian will tear the form like he usually did and fire her, Nwaneri, according to her brother, lied to him that she has submitted it, adding that she was just waiting for him to give her the money to process it.

    “But when he insisted that he would follow my sister to the gate to collect the form at all cost, my sister seeing the anger in him quickly told him that she was still with the form and was waiting for him to give her the money so she could submit it for processing.

    “He got furious that she lied to him and hit her with his briefcase. My sister fainted. At first, he thought it was a joke and hit her with his leg but when he pulled her over and noticed pool of blood, he quickly called his wife and they started pouring water on her head.

    “At last, they revived her, left her at their apartment on the 19th Floor and they left for the office. After my sister regained consciousness, she struggled through the back staircase to the basement, where a Good Samaritan, helped her to Falomo Police Station, from there she was referred to Falomo Hospital, for treatment. There, my sister called me to come over and I paid the bills, then I took her home.

    “When I contacted Mr Jay Keswani, to find out what would make an elderly man like him hit a lady, young enough to be his daughter and got her injured, he (Keswani ) claimed it’s an accident.

    “The police at Falomo tried to invite him, but were refused entry into the island to serve him a letter of invitation. Security men at the tower claimed they were acting on instructions not to collect the invitation letter from the policeman who came to deliver the letter.

    “The security men there at Benefista Tower also told us that they will do everything to silent the case, as they claimed it’s their responsibility to protect their clients as assigned. Since then, Keswani has been walking freely with no action taken against him.

    “All efforts to reach him to resolve this matter by our lawyer proved abortive, as he has bluntly refused to comply.

    “My question is what will prompt Keswani to hit a woman like that and claim it was an accident? If she had died in his apartment, perhaps, Keswani would have covered up this case, and had my sister thrown into the lagoon.

    “Our lawyer wrote him for settlement and payment of compensation within seven days which ended yesterday (Saturday), but till now, there’s no response from him. It shows that this man has no regards for rule of law and Nigerian citizens,” he said.

  • Driver seeks justice for abused child

    Driver seeks justice for abused child

    A driver  has appealed to the government and human rights groups to rescue an 11-year-old boy, allegedly being brutalised by a Lagos teacher.

    The man, Michael Adesokan, a resident of Oloronisola Street in Oshodi on Monday posted a picture of a badly bruised Opeyemi alleging that his guardian was responsible for his injuries.

    Adesokan, who spoke with The Nation yesterday on telephone, said the teacher, who lives on the same street with him, was always maltreating the boy.

    Trouble, he said, started for the child last Tuesday after he used his N100 feeding allowance to buy biscuits for his playmates to mark his birthday.

    According to the angry neighbour, he saw the child on Monday looking sick, injured and malnourished.

    “Last Tuesday was the boy’s birthday and he usually came to my compound to play with children like him. So, he was very happy that Tuesday and he bought biscuits with his N100 which they all shared and were happy. But the woman got to know about it and descended on the boy like thunder,” Adesokan said.

    Asked how he knew about the incident, Adesokan said: “I was washing when I heard some women discussing that the teacher has beat up the boy again. Then later on Sunday, I saw him and I was not happy at all. I was very angry because he reminded me of the brutality I suffered as a child. I was a victim of abuse myself and I know how painful it is.

    “I asked him his relationship with the woman and I discovered that they were not even related. What happened was that his father left his mother at their house. So, the woman, who happened to be their landlady’s daughter, came to that house where they stayed and carries him.

    “He said he was in JSS1 when the teacher carried him and brought him to our street in the guise of helping his mother but instead of putting him in secondary school, he was sent back to primary school.

    “As if that was not bad enough, he was later stopped him from going to school and the woman would beat him up over trivial things. He said he used to go for free vocational training at their church but the woman also stopped him.

    “I fear for the life of that boy. I am afraid of what the woman will do to him since I posted his picture on social media. I fear she might hurt him more or even hide him to cover up her atrocities. The boy needs to leave that woman’s house as soon as possible.”

    The Nation gathered that some human rights groups have already indicated interest in the issue and were scheduled to visit the residence on Tuesday (yesterday) afternoon.

  • Family seeks justice over alleged murder of 34-yr-old technician

    Family seeks justice over alleged murder of 34-yr-old technician

     The family of a slain motor battery technician, Mutiu Edunjobi, yesterday urged the police to apprehend and prosecute his killers in the name of justice.

    The 34-year-old technician was allegedly stabbed to death penultimate Sunday during a feast by Ogun worshippers in Isheri-Berger, a Lagos suburb.He was said to have been killed by one Kehinde Lawal, now at large.

    Mutiu’s uncle, Alhaji Wahab Edunjobi, a Muslim cleric, said: ”Mutiu had visited his wife and was returning home when he met some acquaintances at a junction where a group of people led by one Friday Ipodo was celebrating Ogun Ajobo festival.

    ”He was offered alcohol but he politely rejected the drink on the excuse that he just finished (Ramadan) fasting. His response was said to have angered Lawal, who made unfounded allegations against him and stabbed him to death.”

    Alhaji Edunjobi debunked reports that his late nephew was a member of a cult group.”Contrary to a report published by a newspaper(not The Nation), our family was not the one celebrating Ogun festival but a family compound near ours,” he said.

    ”We are majorly a Muslim family and we are of the Awori extraction. It is also not true that Mutiu was a member of a cult group and that he was killed by members of a rival cult gang as reported by the newspaper. He was unassuming and grew up under my care and I can vouch that he was not a cultist.”

    It was learnt that the late technician, whoselast child is 40-days-old,was making hectic preparations for his wedding before his gruesome death.Alhaji Edunjobi said: “Arrangements were in top gear for his wedding with the mother of his two children before he was killed. Please use your medium to tell the relevant security agencies to ensure that justice is done on this matter.”

    Another family member,who would not be identified, said: “This community (Isheri) used to be peaceful until some cult boys, who are non-indigenes came here to cause violence.Please tell the police to do their job by fishing out the culprits and ensure they face the consequences of killing innocent people.”

    Our correspondent gathered that Mutiu’s wife has since been relocated to Abeokuta, where her mother lives, and that two suspects arrested in connection with the incident are currently being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos.

  • Decolonising Nigeria’s criminal justice system

    SIR: Why is the Nigerian criminal justice system so averse to change? Why have we failed in 56 years of independence to engender a humane and human rights respecting criminal justice system regime? Why have criminal legislations imposed heavy punishment only on crimes that threaten the political class? Why is the judiciary operationally indifferent to the crisis of awaiting trial inmates in Nigerian prisons beyond the worn ritual of Chief Judges’ occasional visitation releases of inmates? Is prison congestion in Nigeria a problem of insufficient prison infrastructure or the stranded 70% awaiting trial component of the prison population? What is the economic and social cost of the current lack of alternatives to custodial sentencing? Why is police-bail only free in theory and whose friend is the police? Why is mob-justice still a recurrent social phenomenon in Nigeria?

    Is the low convicted prisoner per capita in Nigeria indicative of Nigeria’s low crime rate or asymptomatic of a non-functioning criminal justice system? These questions individually and collectively mirror the economic and political processes, stakeholders, incentives and interests that are responsible for the documented failure of the criminal justice system in Nigeria.

    As a system, every component on the criminal justice line is important, interrelated and works in sync; that is why a sectoral reform in isolation of other components will not improve systemic efficiency. The Nigerian criminal justice system lacks a coherent policy framework that states the roles and expectations of the five components of the system – the law, the community, law enforcement agencies, the court system and corrections. It is not surprising that components on Nigeria’s criminal justice team have persistently tackled themselves rather than crime, scored policy own-goals and persistently misaligned and engaged in institutional turf fight rather can cooperate. Until we as people determine our own components, their priorities and their relationships, we will never have a criminal system that serves collective end. Designing this will require the input of all stakeholders in the Nigerian project. A piecemeal isolated reform, like the new Administration of Criminal Justice Act is at best a Band-Aid Effect.

    Lack of institutional accountability is one of the hallmarks of the criminal justice system in Nigeria. The concept of accountability is critical to democracy and the rule of law and it is the expectation of citizens that all public institutions are accountable to the electorate. Accountability is critical as in the case of the judiciary, because unlike the executive and the legislature, judges are appointed through a system over which the public has no direct control and judges even in cases of proven misconduct can only be removed from office after a laborious procedure which is not easily invoked and yet judges wield tremendous powers. For the criminal justice system more importantly, institutional accountability of the judiciary is paramount, because we are left with a practice where Chief Judges visit prisons sporadically, release some prisoners and make lofty declarations on the need for efficiency, as if the road to the prison for the thousands of other victimized awaiting trial inmates did not pass through the court system that my lords superintend.

    While we blame the police for its failure to ‘decolonize’, successive governments including the current one have deliberately treated the police force disdainfully and have declined to budget adequately for its operational needs. According to the last Inspector General of Police, the sum allocated for the fuelling and maintenance of the 317,515 vehicles and motorcycles in the fleet of the Nigerian Police Force in the 2016 budget could only last for three months and yet Nigerians complain about police extortion and harassment. Are police officers expected to fuel cars from their irregular salaries?  A police that fuels it operational vehicles out of individual pockets, pay for uniforms and other operational exigencies, print bail bonds, is left to handle work-related trauma and emergencies is one that will use its guns to extract illegal security tax from the public.

    Resolving these identified blights in the Nigerian Criminal Justice architecture would involve the collaborative efforts of all tiers of governments in Nigeria as well as all stakeholders in governance in Nigeria. However, the political elites have benefited from the problems in the administration of criminal justice by exploiting weaknesses in the system to delay or frustrate their trials. Can this same group be trusted to superintend over a sectoral reform that will substantially weaken their hold?

     

    • TosinOsasona,

    Centre for Public Policy Alternatives, Lagos.

  • Will the deceased get justice?

    Will the deceased get justice?

    The planned reopening of cases of assassination of two politicians at a time Nigerians had foreclosed any headway is a renewal of hope. BUNMI OGUNMODEDE revisits some of the unresolved high profile murder cases.

    A glimmer of hope may have come for the families of those whose assassinations were politically motivated  with plans by police authorities to re-arrest some of the principal suspects in the murders of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Chief Bola Ige and ex-Deputy National Chairman (South-South) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Aminoasari Dikibo.

    Before the police decided to reopen the cases of the two leading politicians, scores of cases  on the murder remained unresolved and not a few Nigerians have lost faith in the ability of the judicial system to bring perpetrators of political assassinations to justice.

    Though, there have been calls for the reopening of other unresolved murder cases beyond the duo of the late Ige and Dikibo, some have described the decision as a good starting point and expressed the hope that the reopening of the cases will no longer be a journey to nowhere.

    In Nigeria, political killings are not limited to the democratic era as many high profile assassinations in the 60s under the military have not been resolved.

    Including the killings of the likes of first Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa; Gen. J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi, Brig Adekunle Fajuyi, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola and North’s Premier Ahmadu Bello in the crossfires of the first military coup, till date, no suspect has been conclusively prosecuted and punished to serve as deterrent to others.

    The brutal killings cut across every stratum of the society. The political circle, the judiciary, the business world, the academia – all have their shares of senseless murders.

    Not left out of the bitter pill are journalists. Since the killing of the profession’s leading light – Dele Giwa – with a parcel bomb on October 19, 1986, many other budding talents have been assassinated in strange circumstances. Thirty years after Giwa’s assassination, “Who killed Dele Giwa?” has remained a recurring stanza and catchphrase in the  polity.

    Those who were killed in similar circumstances include: Tunde Oladepo, a correspondent with The Guardian, who was killed by unknowned gunmen on February 26, 1998; Okezie Amaruben, publisher of an Enugu-based Newsservice, who was shot on the street by a trigger-happy policeman on August 28, 1998; Fidelis Ikwuebe, a freelance journalist was abducted and killed while covering violent clashes between the Aguleri and Umuleri communities in Anambra State.

    Other assassinated journalists were: Bagauda Kaltho; Nansok Sallah; Edo Sule Ugbagwu a judicial  correspondent with The Nation Bayo Ohu; Nathan Dabak; Bolade Fasasi; Modu Gubio; Enenche Akogwu; Omololu Falobi; Godwin Agbroko; Abayomi Ogundeji and Bayo Ohu, among others.

    On the political scene, the list is endless and so far, nobody has been punished because there has not been any diligent prosecution of masterminds. Below are some of the unresolved cases:

     

    Ige

     

    One of the killings that drew so much attention was that of Esa-Oke, Osun State-born Bola Ige, who was murdered in his bedroom in Ibadan a day to the Christmas Eve of 2001. For years, the murder case of Nigeria’s former chief law officer lingered in the court rooms, until the accused were discharged for want of concrete evidence.

     

    Dikibo

     

    Chief Aminasoari Dikibo, a former Peoples Democratic Party National Vice Chairman in the (Southsouth), was also killed on February 6, 2004. His killers were never apprehended. The police repotedly adopted a face-saving tactics by parading some armed robbers as suspects.

     

    Marshal Harry

     

    A chieftain of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Chief Marshal Harry was assassinated on March 5, 2003. Like Ige and Rewane, he was killed at home and nobody has been punished for his murder.

     

    Alfred Rewane

     

    Elder statesman and an avowed critic of military dictatorship, a successful businessman and National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) financier, Pa Alfred Rewane, was murdered his Ikeja GRA home on October 9, in 1994. The case was on for a very long time with the trial of suspects who pleaded not guilty to the heinous crime.

     

    Kudirat Abiola

     

    Wife of the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, was  shot near the old Toll Gate at the Ojota end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on June 4, 1994. The Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the former Head of State, the late Gen Sani Abacha, Major Hamzat Al-Mustapha and others, who were charged for the murder, have since been discharged and acquitted.

     

    Ogbonnaya Uche

     

    An ANNP senatorial candidate for Orlu zone, Ogbonnaya Uche, was murdered on February 8, 2003 in his Owerri, Imo State home.

     

    Andrew Agom

     

    A member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) and a former chief of the Nigeria Airways, Chief Andrew Agom, was killed on March 4, 2004.  He was allegedly riding in the same vehicle with Senator George Akume (then Benue State governor), when he was hit by bullets believed to have been fired by assassins.

     

    Alabi Olajokun

     

    Renowned as a leading financier of the Oronmiyan Group, a socio-political movement within the defunct Action Congress (AC), Alhaji Alabi Olajokun was shot dead by suspected assassins at Gbongan Junction in Osun State on trip from Osogbo, en route Lagos on May 15, 2005.

     

    Igwe Barnabas

     

    The Onitsha branch chairman of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Igwe Barnabas, was killed by suspected assassins’ bullets on September 10, 2002. He was killed alongside his wife, Mrs. Abigail Amaka Barnabas.

     

    Odunayo Olagbaju

     

    Odunayo Olagbaju won election in 1999 to represent Ile-Ife State Constituency in the Osun State House of Assembly. He was killed by suspected assassins on December 21, 2001.

     

    Funsho Williams

     

    A two-time governorship aspirant in Lagos, Funsho Williams, an engineer, was killed at his Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos home on July 27, 2006. The police are yet to identify his killers, almost a decade after his gruesome murder.

     

    Ayo Daramola

     

    A former World Bank consultant and PDP governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Dr. Ayo Daramola, was murdered in 2006. The police have closed investigation to the murder of the Ijan-Ekiti-born technocrat.

     

    Charles Nsiegbe

     

    Chief Charles Nsiegbe was former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s political associate. He was killed on the street of Port Harcourt on November 21, 2009.

     

    Dipo Dina

     

    Otunba Dipo Dina, a trained accountant, was the Action Congress (AC) Ogun governorship candidate in 2007. He was shot dead by suspected assassins on January 25, 2010 around Covenant University in Ota, Ogun State.

    Between 1999 and 2012, more than 92 high profile political killings had been recorded. Some of the cases are still been investigated till date. Others have been discontinued with for want of proofs and dearth of diligent prosecution.

     

  • June 12: Governors, activists, others call for justice

    June 12: Governors, activists, others call for justice

    MMORTALISATION  of the acclaimed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, the late Chief Moshood Abiola and the recognisiton of June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day reverbrated in some parts of the country yesterday.

    Across the Southwest region, pro-democracy activists assembled to mark the 23rd anniversary of the election, acclaimed by local and international observers as the  freest and fairness in the country.

    The election was aborted by the President Ibrahim Babangida led-military administration when the results were being announced.

    In Oyo and Osun States, governors Abiola Ajimobi and Rauf Aregbesola decraled today public holiday and urged the Federal Government to do the needful.

    Their counterpart in Lagos, Akinwumi Ambode said the entrenehment of an enduring democracy and good governance renamed the best way to immortalise Abiola, who paid the Supreme sacrifice in the struggle for democratic rule.

     

    Holiday in Oyo, as Ajimobiwants Abiola immortalised

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi yesterday declared today a public holiday in commemoration of the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

    The Special Adviser, Communication & Strategy to the Governor, Mr. Yomi Layinka, conveyed the governor’s decision in a statement yesterday.

    The statement described June 12 as a watershed in the nation’s history, because of the significance of the day in the democratic journey, having broken all ethnic and religious barriers.

    It reads: “The annulled election is yet to be matched in terms of freeness, fairness, transparency, openness and widespread acceptability. Much as the electoral umpire that midwifed subsequent elections had tried, the annulled election remains the best in terms of organisation and no system adopted for the conduct of subsequent elections is yet to match Option A4 used to conduct the June 12 election.

    “Besides, the resolve of Nigerians to put aside their differences and troop out en masse to collectively vote for a positive change was a demonstration of the fact that Nigerians were not ready to negotiate the unity of the country even in the face of diversity.

    “That the symbol of the annulled election, Chief MKO Abiola, opted to pay the supreme price to defend his mandate has deepened democracy and the price he paid is what the comfort the political leaders are enjoying up till today.

    “I want to, once again, urge the Federal Government to immortalise and officially recognize Abiola as a former president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and to confer on him the highest honour in the land befitting of a former president.”

    He urged political leaders to be prepared to leave their comfort zones in defence democracy, warning that they should not allow parochial interests to overshadow the collective interests.

    The statement further said: “There is no doubt that the late Abiola won the election, despite failed attempts by those that contested the election with him to twist facts and re-write history.

    “We must keep the memory of Abiola alive and the least we can do is to continue to commemorate the day and bring out its fond memories as a lesson in electoral transparency and openness.

    “We should not forget him as he remains one of the greatest martyrs this country has ever produced, so that generations yet unborn will know that somebody laid down his life in defence of democracy and the rule of law. His death in custody of the then Federal Government is known to God and may his soul continue to rest in perfect peace.”

     

    How to immortalise MKO Abiola, by Ambode

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode yesterday called for the entrenchment of viable democracy in the country, saying it remained the best way immortalise what the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief M.K.O Abiola, stood for.

    This, he said can be achieved through the practice of true federalism.

    The governor, who spoke at a forum organised by the state government to mark the 23rd anniversary of June 12, said the country owes the late Abiola a duty to entrench democracy in the system and practice it the right way.

    It was at the Blue Roof, Lagos Television (LTV 8), on Lateef Kayode Jakande Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja.

    Speaking on the theme: “Democracy and inclusiveness: Basis for good governance,” Ambode, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Tunji Bello, said June 12 would continue to be remembered. He said the country must be prepared to travel through the journey of ensuring the right things are done in proper ways.

    Ambode said: “This is a day we must continue to remember because we have been practicing democracy and at the end of the day, we are not actually doing what we should be doing. If you look at the topic of today, it says democracy and its inclusiveness, what we have today, we still have a long way to go, and that is to say that we are not practicing true federalism.

    “What we owe Nigeria today is nothing but true Federalism and for us to be able to achieve true federalism, we have to work hard for it and that is the message the governor has asked me to deliver.

    “We still have a long way to go. If you want to live by Abiola’s memory, if you want to honour him, we owe him a duty to ensure that we install a viable democracy and that viable democracy can only be installed if we have true federalism which we are presently not practicing, and that is very important.”

    The governor added that the federating units of the country must be allowed to develop at their own pace, saying that it was important for the country address the very evident wrongs of the past.

    He said: “For us in Lagos here, Lagos as it is today has everything to stand by its own. We run the police, we have the most viable infrastructure in the whole country, yet we are not given what we deserve.

    “Look at the number of local governments we have, if we run true federalism, we would not be having 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and 20 local governments. We should be able to create the number of local governments that we desire.”

    In his remarks, a former military administrator, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (rtd.) painted a gloomy picture when he said: “We are at this time struggling to build and we may still have the chance to build the country but it is a dwindling chance.

    “Whatever is happening now in the country either militancy, Independent People Of Biafra and others will not stop until we go back to the Nigeria that we are expected to build; a federal Nigeria.

    “We should brace up and be prepared. Prayer will not solve the problem. We have to get back to a federal Nigeria. If not, we should be prepared because what we are seeing is just a child’s play. I have not lost faith in the country’s old anthem.”

    Also speaking, the former General Secretary of the defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and Convener of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER),  Ayo Opadokun, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently recognise late Abiola as a former President of Nigeria and name a national monument after him.

    Opadokun lamented that it was unfortunate that former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who he described as the major beneficiary of the June 12 struggle, failed to accord Abiola the due recognition throughout his eight-year tenure, but urged the Federal Government to write the wrongs to Abiola by paying his family for the crippling of his businesses during the struggle.

    He said it was unthinkable that Nigeria, as the eightth largest exporter of oil, still has the poorest population in the world, adding that the country may not get out of the wood until the restructuring of the skewed and lopsided structure.

    Opadokun also called for urgent address of injustice in the system, saying the federation must be reconfigured for equality and total removal of the traces of injustice and unfairness.

    He said: “For instance, in 1960, there were four political divisions in Lagos and two in Kano. As we speak, Jigawa State has been created out of Kano with 27 local government areas, while Kano itself has 44, making a total of 71. Lagos, on the other hand, has just 20 local government areas. This is injustice.

    “Something must be wrong with us. Something wonderful is wrong with Nigeria. Let me say here that Nigeria will never get out of the wood until we restructure this skewed, warped and lopsided national structure. We will continue to grope in the dark. We will never find our bearing until we restructure the country.”

     

    Aregbesola insists June 12 most suitable for Democracy Day

    IF Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has his way; June 12 would be declared Nigeria’s Democracy Day.

    Declaring today a s a public holiday in the Living Spring state, the governor described June 12 as the most suitable and proper day as the anniversary of democracy. He spoke in an address delivered to mark the 23rd anniversary of June 12 1993 presidential election, the result of which was annulled by former President Ibrahim Babangida.

    According to him, it was the date Nigerians freely elected a candidate of their choice and a day they unequivocally affirmed the unity of the country.

    He maintained that lovers of democracy would remain committed to June 12 as a political watershed in the annals of the nation, saying May 29 only symbolises the day the military handed over the affairs of the country to a democratically elected government.

    According to him, Nigerians united 23 years ago to vote the acclaimed winner of the annulled presidential election, the late MKO Abiola without recourse to religion, ethnicity or ideology.

    Also yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital, pro-democracy activists staged a rally in commemoration of the 23rd anniversary of the annulled election.

    Led by some activists, the activists staged a walk from Ayetoro junction to the Freedom Park, where their leaders addressed a rally.

    At the rally were: Chief Amitolu Shitu, Waheed Lawal, Dr. Olowogboyega Oyebade, Waheed Saka, Toyin Eweje, Rahamon Shenge, Wale Balogun and Wale Adebisi.

    The activist took their turns to address the people and spoke on the significance of June 12 election to the nation’s democracy.

    Proposing to the Federal Government to recognise June 12 as Democracy Day instead of May 29, they commended Aregbesola for declaring today as public holiday in Osun State to mark the annulment of June 12, 1993 election and for remembrance of late Moshood Kasimawo Olawale Abiola believed to have won the election that was adjudged as the freest and fairest election in the country.

    They urged other governors to emulate Aregbesola by giving due recognition to June 12, lamenting that Nigerians have not enjoyed adequate dividends of democracy.

     

    Lagos State House Assembly

    Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, has described the June 12, 1993 presidential election as the fountain from which the present democratic dispensation derived its source.

    Obasa made the remarks in a statement by his spokesman Musbau Rasak on the 23rd celebration of the historic election.

    He said: “It was an historic election which was adjudged the freest, fairest and most peaceful election not only in Nigeria but also in the continent of Africa. It is indeed a watershed in Nigeria’s political history and a moment of joy for the people. The ultimate triumph of the people’s will over brute force”.

    According to Obasa, perhaps without June 12 election and the struggle to actualise it, the country might still be wallowing under military dictatorship.

    “June 12 opened our eyes to the beauty of democracy and the need to achieve it. It was the foundation on which the present political dispensation is built. Thus, all of us in the present political class are beneficiaries of its essence”, he said.

    The Speaker urged appropriate authorities to recognise the heroes and heroines, who sacrificed their lives for the enthronement of democracy, naming the late Chief MKO Abiola, his wife, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola as parts of such heroes and heroines, deserving national recognition.

    “They paid the supreme price for all of us to enjoy this particular democracy hence they deserved to be honoured by the Federal Government and that is why I am in support of those calling for making June 12 our Democracy Day,”  he said.

    According to him, marking June 12 has become an annual ritual for the progressives because its advent gave birth to the present democracy and “we must continue to celebrate it and remind ourselves of its significance in our political history”.

     

    Mimiko pledges commitment to June 12 ideals

    In Akure, the Ondo State capital, Governor Olusegun Mimiko said a noted that the late Chief Moshood Abiola’s foray into politics was informed by his desire to upgrade the living standard of the underprivileged.

    In a statement by his Information and Orientation Commissioner Kayode Akinmade, the governor said his administration has been marking the anniversaries of the freest election won by the late politician but annulled by the military in the Sunshine State with lectures and symposia and celebration of life-changing projects dedicated to MKO’s memory.

    He noted that the free shuttle buses were inaugurated for school children on June 12, 2012 with 39 vehicles and increased the fleet to 90 a year later.

    Akinmade quoted the governor as speaking at the Adegbemile Cultural Centre during this year’s anniversary of June 12, 1993.

    The statement reads: “Mimiko had promised that we shall continue to honour these patriots, not just in rhetorics but by the actualization of  the noble values of good governance and democracy which many of them lived and died for.

    “We shall continue to consolidate on our numerous programmes targeted at improving the lives of the people and residents of our state, and focus on the governance content of June 12.

    “As we remember June 12, we, as critical stakeholders in the project Nigeria, must continually play the game with the sole aim of deepening the country’s democratic culture and peaceful co-existence among the various political, religious, ethnic and socio-economic entities.”

    Akeredolu tasks leaders

    Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) former president Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), commended the resilience and sacrifice of Nigerians which culminated in the enthronement of democratic governance.

    Akeredolu, a governorship aspirant in Ondo State on the platform of the All Progressives Party (APC), praised Nigerians for consolidating on the enthronement of democracy by voting into power the progressives at the federal level and in many states in last year’s general elections.

    According to him, the journey to last year’s victory began with the June 12, 1993 presidential election, believed to have been won by the late Chief Moshood Kashinmawo Abiola. He said the annulled results of the June 12, 1993 presidention election, remained the indisputable foundation and the offshoot for free and fair elections.

    In statement released by the Aketi Media Group (AMG) to mark the 23rd anniversary of the June 1993 presidential poll, Akeredolu urged President Muhammadu Buhari to take urgent and realistic decision to honour the late Abiola and others who paid the supreme price for the enthronement of democracy.

    He argued that honouring the late Abiola and others is perfectly in agreement with the National Anthem that the labour of our heroes shall not be in vain.

    Akeredolu said “I want to plead with President Muhhamadu Buhari to use his good offices to honour MKO Abiola and the others who contributed in no small measures to the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria.

    “Such gesture, I am sure will give birth to a new generation of Nigerians who will be will to sacrifice for their fatherland, knowing that such sacrifice would not be in vain.”

    The former NBA chief, while commending the resilience and dedication of the National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other leaders of the party to the ethos of democracy, hailed some states in the Southwest for declaring June 12 a public holiday in honour of Abiola and all the heroes of democracy in Nigeria.

    “As Nigerians commemorate this great milestone, we must continue to hold our leaders accountable and ensure zero tolerance for impunity and subversion of popular will of the people. No society thrives in an atmosphere of arbitrariness. We must defend the ideals of democracy and put the interest of the people far above personal, egocentric and hegemonic desires of a privileged few”, Akeredolu declared.

     

    Kinsmen demand presidential benefits

    MEMBERS of the family of the winner of the botched June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, yesterday called on the Federal Government to declare him a “slain president” and pay his presidential entitlements to them, even as they rued the golden opportunity denied him to govern Nigeria.

    They said the harrowing experience buffeting Nigerians today due to economic downturn, would have not arisen had MKO Abiola been allowed to lead the country and placed it on the path of wealth and greatness.

    The head of the Abiola family, Chief Muritala Abiola, a younger brother of the late business magnate, made the disclosure in a chat with reporters in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, shortly after receiving the train of the Democracy Day rally.

    The rally was organised by the Ogun State Government at the Oja – Agbo, the ancestral home of the Abiolas in the ancient town in commemoration of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, presumed to have been won by late M.K.O Abiola.

    The Democracy Walk, was led by Deputy Governor Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga in the company of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Taiwo Adeoluwa, Ogun State House of Assembly Speaker Suraju Ishola and the Head of Service (HoS), Elder Sola Adeyemi, among others.

    Muritala said the “poverty” in the land which is biting Abiola’s family members harder, has also not spared the rest of Nigerians.

    According to him, had his brother and bread winner of the family, been allowed to use the mandate freely given by Nigerians to lead, he would surely have turned the country into another Kuwait in this part of the world.

    He said: “We feel the impact of his death because he is the breadwinner of the family. Every one of us, up to the aged, and since he died everything is going down. It was affecting the family before but now also the whole Nigerians.

    “The poverty now is much; about 90 percent of Nigerians, which I feel if MKO had become president, Nigeria would have just been like Kuwait. Kuwait is small, but it is one of the richest countries. Today, things have not been easy not for the Abiola family alone but the whole country.”

    The family head lamented that despite the huge sacrificed made, including the supreme sacrifice paid by Abiola, successive governments have not deemed it fit to bestow on the late politician, the honour he deserved.

    He urged the Federal Government to accord the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential poll, the right honour and also declare him the “slained President of Nigeria.”

    Muritala said: “For example, Ken Saro Wiwa died on this Ogoni oil spillage; they are cleaning the oil splillage now. MKO was killed because of the election he won. Maybe you journalists, or the government should stop calling him acclaimed winner.

    “He’s not an acclaimed winner; they should confirm him as slain President of Nigeria. After all, somebody ruled for about six months, they said Interim National Government (ING), he is still enjoying presidential privileges. So, MKO should be declared President although slain, so, all the entitlements should go to the family.

    “I don’t want to raise eyebrow because as of today, I am aggrieved and that is my own opinion. People are telling us rule of law, June 12, but Ogun state House of Assembly enacted a law, declaring June 12 every year a Public holiday.

    “Just before yesterday when we went to Oke-Mosan, we heard that before, if it falls on Sunday there is no public holiday, it means the Ogun state government broke the law because if it October 1st falls on Sunday, there will be a Public holiday on Monday, it is just the same thing but I believe we don’t have leaders, we have opportunists.”

    In his goodwill message, Governor Ibikunle Amosun, who was represented by his deputy, Princess Onanuga, pledged to continue to sustain the spirit of the June 12, 1993 presidential election as a way of paying tribute to the illustrious son of the state, late M.K.O Abiola.

    Also speaking, one of the sons of the late politician, Lekan Abiola, rued that what the Abiola family, particularly the children lost to Abiola’s death and his wife, Kudirat, could neither be quantified nor regained till eternity.

    According to Lekan, while Abiola’s business empire suffered grave setbacks during Sani Abacha’s regime, the present crop of elected office holders in the country and direct beneficiaries of their parents’ death are not doing anything to immortalise him.

  • Justice delayed

    •That Dana Air crash victims’ relatives are yet to get full compensation is disheartening

    It is shocking and difficult to believe that families of the 153 dead victims of the Dana Airlines flight from Abuja which crashed in Lagos on June 3, 2012, are yet to receive full compensation, four years after the tragedy. They have reportedly been paid only 30 percent of the compensation while they are still in a quandary on when the balance of 70 percent will be redeemed by the airline.

    Addressing the media in Abuja last week, the leader of the families, Mr. Paul Okwulehie, demanded not only the prompt payment of the outstanding amount but also the immediate release of the final report of the accident investigation. This is certainly a case of justice delayed and thus denied.

    According to Mr Okwulehie, who lost his wife and two other relatives to the disaster, “ Some of them (families of victims) are not speaking about what they pass through because the whole issue of compensation is adding insult to injury, an injury that is so deep. What you have heard reflects the case in all the situations. The issue of compensation for nearly all of them that are not here has been a very frustrating experience. They are asking for tax clearance, bank statements and all kinds of multiple configurations of demands”.

    Mr Okechukwu Obi, who also lost his wife, Chinwe, a staff of the National Universities Commission (NUC) in the incident, also told a tale of pains and frustrations as a result of ceaseless demands and what the affected families understandably see as time wasting tactics by the management and lawyers of Dana Air. In his words “I have gone through so many demands with my lawyer on documents I have to present them. I have been doing that since 2012. The last request the lawyers of Dana Airline are requesting for is tax clearance certificate from a civil servant, which is not an issue to civil servants except business people”. The Dana Airline management is also reportedly requesting the families to present bank statements for three years since the death of the accident victims.

    While the presentation of relevant documents for the processing of compensation by the airline is in order, this should be handled within a reasonable time frame that will not further compound the trauma of the families. An inexplicable delay of four years before the full payment of compensation is clearly indefensible. The relevant regulatory agencies and authorities in the aviation sector have certainly not lived up to their responsibilities in this respect to ensure that the airline protects the interests and rights of the affected families. We urge that urgent steps be taken to ensure full payment of the requisite compensation. There should be speedy closure on this matter.

    We are also of the view that the release of the report of the investigation of the Dana Airline and other air mishaps should be released for public consumption without sacrificing the need for the thoroughness such investigations demand. Such reports should not be treated as confidential documents for the knowledge only of aviation officials. Transparency in such a sensitive matter is a necessary condition for continually improving air safety standards by helping to ensure all critical sectors in the industry live up to their professional and statutory responsibilities.

    The relatives of victims as well as the general public need to know the causes of air mishaps so that requisite remedies are effected to enhance safety of passengers and the level of confidence in the country’s aviation industry.

  • Community seeks justice for slain youth

    • Police deny killing him

    The Odogwu community in Ibaji, Kogi State, has urged the Inspector-General of Police Solomon Arase to order an investigation on the alleged killing of their son, Julius Ilemuda, on March 12.

    The community, in a petition, said officers from the Idah Area Command, killed their son. But the police have denied the allegation.

    An eye witness, Daniel Chidokwe, said his son Omachonu was amongst those arrested and bundled away by the police.

    “The deceased Julius IIemula was dragged from his room and shot at the back of the house by policemen in broad day light,” he alleged.

    Another resident, Gabriel Omale, said the problem began with a land dispute.

    He said nine other persons arrested by the police were detained for four days before being released after allegedly paying for their freedom.

    An indigene of the community, Monday Ilemuda, said they have, through their lawyer Mr F. Ojefu, lodged a petition at the Force Headquarters, Abuja for necessary action against the officers.

    A fundamental rights suit, he said, has also been filed at the Federal High Court in Lokoja.

  • Ex-Supreme Court justice seeks stronger criminal justice system

    FORMER Supreme Court Justice George Oguntade has called for a stronger criminal justice system.

    He spoke at the Founders Day Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS).

    The theme was: The value of the international criminal justice to Africa.

    Oguntade said the rule of law is an indispensable and fundamental building block for a modern democratic society and economic development.

    A society governed by law, he said, will likely have better quality of life.

    “Rule of Law is our compass, our gravity. It ensures predictability, stability and fairness. Without it, we cannot function. Individuals cannot flourish, businesses cannot thrive, and society cannot grow,” he said.

    NIALS Director-General Prof Deji Adekunle stated that with the growing level of crimes against humanity across the globe, coupled with terrorism, it becomes imperative to understand and appreciate the jurisdictions of the International Criminal Court.

    Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), represented by Solicitor-General of the Federation, Mr. Taiwo Abidogun, praised NIALS for filling a critical gap in advanced legal education.

    Quoiting a former University of Lagos Vice-Chancellor, Prof Kwaku Adedevoh, Abidogun said: “There is an outstanding need for … research into the problems of African Law and it is our firm belief that most of this research cannot be done properly except in Africa. In other words, the needful research into Nigerian Law should be undertaken primarily in Nigeria and not in London, New York, Chicago or Canberra.

    “Hence, the Nigerian Universities must establish as soon as possible facilities for legal research at PhD level and above.

    “If each of the universities is left to act entirely independently in seeking to acquire such a collection, a calamitous result is inevitable; each will spend a vast sum of money and the end product will be four incomplete collections with such needless duplication and many deplorable gaps.

    “The logic of the situation demands that a single institute should be established and charged with the primary responsibility of building up the library and other facilities needed for advanced legal research.

    “These facilities should then be made available to the staff and research students of all the universities.”

    The AGF said NIALS was established in fulfilment of that vision.

    The lecture was delivered by a Judge of the international Criminal Court (ICC), Chile Eboe-Osuji.

    Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed was represented by Justice Clara Ogunbiyi.

    Also present were former NIALS DG Prof. Ayo Ajomo, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, Prof. Peter Akper, Prof. Paul Idornigie, Lagos State University (LASU) Vice-Chancellor Prof. Lanre Fagbohun and Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dr. AbdulHakeem Abdul Lateef, among others.