The Nation Newspaper

Tag: limits

  • Know your limits

    ANYONE can do anything with a million dollars. But it takes more than money to make something out of nothing”. This quote naturally tells us that we can do some much and execute lots of ideas when we have money. Dreams and ideas naturally translate to reality when we have money and resources to carry them out.

    Money, companionship, opportunities are usually possible when the mega bucks abounds. Without this then we are talking about a life being compared to that of the rag. Poor, ragged, empty and worthless condition. But in the midst of physical and emotional poverty you can metamorphose to another state.

    From experience many would tell you that nothing good comes easy. You really need to be put great effort into the love nest to make it work. This brings to mind the rags to riches phrase and it takes you from obscurity and emptiness to your hearts desire.

    Yes, we all agree that money is indeed a mean to certain ends but there are so many other factors that must blend together to achieve a successful outcome. If this is not done then the resources that should matter would obviously go down the drain.

    The crux of the matter here is that money on its own cannot move mountains whether for physical, emotional and other ends.

    In Dolly Partons song, ‘Coat of many colours’, the lyrics talks about a box rags in the season of her youth. A box of rags naturally suggests a collection of something useless, old, garbage, something awful and obviously something many would love to dissociate with.

    Instead of looking at the odds, the young girl and her mother decided to make the best out of nothing. Parton’s mother put the rags of many colours to use. Even though every piece was small, her mother sewed the rags together with passion and love. There was no money and her little girl needed something to keep her warm. This naturally would be a time when issues of love and romance would be at the peak.

    This led to the creation of a coat of many colours. Of course, a coat is for comfort, protection and warmth .This basically are the things required in a relationship which can make or mar the relationship.

    Even though the material used was weak and worthless, the maker of the coat reproduced something worthwhile with love. To support this show of motherly love her mother related this to the biblical Joseph’s coat of many colours. Her dream was for the coat to bring her daughter good luck and happiness and she blessed it with a kiss. On her part Little Dolly just couldn’t wait to wear it.

    Even though her friends laughed at her rags, she wore it with great pride.

    “Although we had no money

    I was rich as I could be

    In my coat of many colors

    So with patches on my britches

    Holes in both my shoes

    In my coat of many colors

    I hurried off to school

    Just to find the others laughing

    I couldn’t understand it

    For I felt I was rich

    And I told them of the love

    My momma sewed in every stitch

    But they didn’t understand it

    And I tried to make them see

    That one is only poor

    Only if they choose to be”

    Interestingly, this applies to our emotions too. Most times what we are left with are emotional rags. Things that make us cry each time we look back from here we are coming from and where we finally find ourselves. Instead of having our emotions lined with rich fabrics like lace, silk, cotton, velvet or linen that is sweet to behold, you are overwhelmed with rags that are no longer attractive. Interestingly, the most important thing you need to forge ahead is not the rags or the lace of emotions. The crucial thing that is going to see you through the affectionate lane is your attitude. You have to develop the right attitude all the time, it would be the only tonic required to make it a successful emotional journey.

    There are different steps to take in order to make your relationship wax stronger no matter the odds that comes your way. First you have to be sure that the feeling you are experiencing is love and that this feelings are mutual. Once this is ascertained then you can move on to the next stage which entails showing love to each other.

    This will help to maintain and increase the loving feelings that you have for one another. Unfortunately, it is not everyone who knows how to express such feelings properly. Sometimes, what you think is going to help project your love may just turn out to be a turn off for the person that you are desperately trying to impress.

    Conversely not expressing love can also hurt the bond you share with your partner in a terrible way. So if you are trying to work out a successful relationship, then you must be committed to your partner’s emotional well-being, even when it isn’t easy. This means sharing affection with your partner, through good times and bad, when it’s most needed and when it’s least expected.

    This task is usually easy when you are the romantic type. Romance is essential to have at least some of the time. Candles, candlelight, compliments, romantic bubble baths, and romantic dinners are good ideas. So it is wise to try to inject a romance into some of the things you do and how you relate with the one you love.

  • Limits to buck-passing

    A weird current of political discourse emerged in the last one week or so. Though the idea has been canvassed by regime supporters with varying degrees of emotion, its connotation has remained largely imprecise.

    Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs, Hameed Ali fired the first shot when he claimed more than 50 per cent of positions in Buhari’s government were handed over to members of the PDP who fought against the actualization of his regime. Hear him: “But I must confess here that we have been infused by people who were not part of this journey and these people are the ones that call the shots today. That is why we are derailing”.

    Other key personages have publicly talked along the same line. And in the heat generated by the embarrassing reinstatement of former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abulrasheed Maina, the presidency claimed loyalists of the former regime in government were responsible for that mess.

    Such is the new dimension the blame game has taken. Before now, it was a fad for the Buhari regime to blame the previous government for the mismanagement of the economy, looting of the nation’s treasury, mindboggling corruption in the land and virtually all that is bad with the country. But with two and a half years gone, people are increasingly losing patience with such drab, irritating and escapist antics.

    Those who voted in Buhari did so in the hope that he will make the needed difference. Having voted for the change which the APC promised, the social contract they entered into is for the government to take immediate steps to make the needed difference. What they have been getting instead has been a bundle of excuses, buck-passing and blame game.

    Having overstretched the limits of these excuses and sensing public cynicism to its aversion to assuming responsibility for its actions, the same government has found a new window for doing the same old thing. This time, the strategy is to blame those in Buhari’s government dubbed PDP members for the policy summersaults and scandals that cast serious slur on the integrity of the regime especially, its much touted war against corruption.

    That was the reading of the claim by his media aides that loyalists of Jonathan regime in government were responsible for Maina’s reinstatement. That was also the purport of Ali’s claim and others who spoke in the same vein.    With the leaked correspondence from the Head of Service of the federation, we now know better. It is clear the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami who issued three letters in three months to stampede the Civil Service Commission into that unwholesome action was appointed by Jonathan and works for him. What of the president himself who was reported to have been briefed on the backlash of the action on the overall credibility and success of the war against corruption but apparently chose to ignore it?

    As the truth is in public domain, there are attempts to harass and intimidate Oyo-Ita for the leakage of her response to the query issued her. There is an attempt to make her a scapegoat for saying all she knew about the Maina mess. And the convenient angle is to accuse her of leaking her reply. And who says the Chief of Staff Abba Kyari’s office could not have leaked the letter?  So why issue her query in the first instance when it is clear that the powers that be were privy to that development?

    It is confounding that the same president who brushed aside protocol to order the sack of Maina when the lid to the scandal was blown open is reported to be in the know of the reinstatement. Evidence of complicity by his government in the Maina scandal is not in doubt. Not with the disclosure by the family that he was lobbied by the government to return and be part of its change agenda. Not with the revelation that the DSS provided him security. The processes that smuggled the fugitive into the country and to the civil service are responsible for wherever he is hiding today. So nobody should sacrifice Oyo-Ita for doing her job very well. In a clime that rewards merit and hard work, she would have been highly rewarded for seeing the future.

    It is a sad commentary that a government which seeks to justify its legitimacy by fighting corruption is being serially ensnared in covert moves to cover the same manifestations by its functionaries. The Maina incident is one embarrassment, too many. The war against corruption has sadly lost traction. Not with the tepid handling of allegations of corruption against the former SGF, Babachir Lawal and DG of NIA, Ayo Oke. It took too long for the president to sack the two men.

    Ironically, key functionaries of this regime accused of one corruption infraction or the other increase by the day. The impression we get is that many of the current office holders are not on the page with Buhari on the war against corruption. Not only have many been entangled in one corruption allegation or the other, it strikes as a verity of corrupt people fighting corruption. It is left to be imagined what will be left in a situation where corruption is left to fight itself. Unless urgent and very credible measures are taken to reeve up the momentum and credibility of the campaign, the battle is as good as lost.

    If current office holders cannot key into the anti-corruption crusade; if attitudes, orientations and dispositions of the public still predispose them to corruption, it shows how detached and artificial the current strategy for fighting corruption is. Above all, it indicates clearly that we are yet to get at the root of the objective conditions that reinforce and sustain corruption in a plural society. That has been the missing link.

    Perhaps, having realized the wide gap between its preachments on corruption and facts on the ground, regime supporters have now invented a new technology that seeks to hold PDP members in government liable for the failures of the Buhari government.

    It is unclear what those who canvass this view want to achieve. It is also cloudy what they mean by PDP members in Buhari’s government. In the face of this definitional ambiguity, the first temptation is to assume that the reference is to former PDP members who coalesced into the APC during the 2015 elections. Amongst them were former governors some of who are serving as ministers now, former legislators and key politicians with considerable war chest et al. These were the people that made it possible for the APC to defeat an incumbent president. Could it be the group Ali is fingering for not sharing in the ideals of the party that will disappear when it comes to blame sharing for the failure of the regime? Could it be they that occupy more than 50 per cent of the positions in the current regime?

    If the reference is to this category of people, then those who canvass that idea are being very selfish and unserious. Didn’t they know they were of the PDP stock when they were lobbying them to decamp? You cannot use them to scale into power only to turn round and accuse them of capturing most of the offices. It makes no sense at all. Even then, the APC was a marriage of strange bedfellows and has largely remained so years after it secured victory. What is expected of a serious political party; a party of the future is conscious efforts to wild together the diverse orientations and tendencies to the amalgam into a cohesive body sharing in a common ideology. That is yet to happen.

    The other assumption is that the reference is to all those in government-civil and public servants. This is further reinforced in the absence of evidence that Buhari appointed members of the PDP into his government. There is no evidence of any PDP member in all his political appointments to talk of 50 per cent. So we are left with career men and women as the possible targets. If that assumption is correct, Ali and his supporters would want civil/public servants to be replaced with APC members. What a dangerous and impracticable idea!

    It is difficult to comprehend the logic of this new political language. And unless its foot soldiers come clear with facts and figures of the PDP members stalling the progress of this government, their claims add up to nothing. It is a cheap tactics in buck-passing that signposts how low the government has descended.

  • Limits of freedom

    SIR: While NASA is currently designing passenger planes that could fly London to New York in three hours, many Nigerians are given the carte blanche to say anything and act out any script, however unhealthy to the sensibilities of people?

    Can we live with the risk of a disordered society?

    Jesse Jackson snr in the 1980s once referred to New York City as a “Hymietown” – a put-down reference to Jews. Not long after that, he called an Israeli Prime Minister a terrorist. Although he apologized to Jewish leaders, it damaged his relationship with people in US/Israel and even ended his presidential ambition.,

    Glenn Hoddle once held forte as England’s national football coach. In 1999 he put out an offensive remark: “people born with disabilities were being punished for the sins of a former life”. Despite Hoddle’s apology that he was quoted out context, he was sacked by the British government.

    After 9/11 attacks in America, media mogul Ted Turner called the attackers brave but ‘a Little Nuts’, s statement he was to regret, which still haunts him even though he swiftly apologized after the solecism.

    Recently, Kathy Griffin was fired by CNN for posing with a severed-head photograph of Donald Trump. She ought to have known better. Soon after this churlish behaviour, all of these persons above and many others apologized.

    I see statements that are insensitive and hurtful in print and I wonder where the DSS officers are? Who are the publishers of the irredentist newspaper promoting hatred? How are they distributed/circulated and sold openly in public places side-by-side competing with national newspapers? Hate messages are caricatured and accepted as normal by readers.

    Not once have people been arrested at vendor stands for promoting hate speeches; folks who don’t buy papers but only read headlines. The absence of human dignity, political equality and social justice in this country is abysmal.

    Have all these trouble-shooters everywhere put together a think-tank that has conducted a thorough research on economic viability of their so-called state and region? All these questions are yet to be addressed by the agitators.

    Some people are called ‘cows’ and others ‘goats’, in Nigeria. Spoken and printed, nothing happens.

    We need to do beyond noise-making, spewing abusive words and calling for civil disobedience. This country needs a revolution to change the mind-set for the growth of country not one for anarchy.

    I remember a story someone once told me about the holocaust. Her parents of course told her. She said it was planned systematically for years. They were in Holland when Germany invaded. The Germans started low-key – inviting Jewish teenagers to a holiday camp in Germany. They painted a picture of virtual utopia. We know better now. Like those Germans, we delude ourselves by painting a picture of virtual utopia in our regions that are non-existent.

    We need to root for reform to change the policies of government for the benefit of all. But we can’t achieve that with people who repent but don’t convert. We envy Singapore for being a very orderly society. But they don’t give room for protest even peaceful ones in Singapore because they know that farouche men would turn that country into a gangster’s haven. * It is not for nothing that Mexico has an extradition policy with US to send people such as  Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán a Mexican to tough US jails. Bad people shouldn’t roam the streets.

    When politicians allow the public to mess up the country, they call the army to clean up the mess. I wish security agencies and these classes of politicians have a nationalistic view of the future.

     

    • Simon Abah,

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • LASTMA and the limits of civility

    The administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode deserves the commendation of Lagos residents, particularly the motorists for injecting order and decorum in the style of enforcement currently adopted by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA). There is no gainsaying the fact that there is now strong emphasis on civil approach and voluntary compliance in the administration of Road Traffic Management. This is a departure and paradigm shift from the military-style enforcement of the past, which must have been a throwback to our past experience under military rule.

    Any keen observer must have noticed a conspicuous change in the present conduct of LASTMA operatives, particularly the concentration of efforts on traffic control and removal of broken down vehicles from the road without impoundment and imposition of fines, which was more often the practice in the past.

    The position of the present administration is that enforcement of the traffic rules and laws must be carried out with human face, without discountenance of the imperativeness of enforcement when some individuals choose to be recalcitrant.

    Law and order are features of a civilised society, as upheld in Hobbesian theory on state of nature when he posited that man’s life will be solitary, short, nasty and brutish without law and its enforcement. It is the compelling need to prevent man from trampling on the rights of others that makes it imperative for law enforcement agents to intervene and ensure compliance with the law. One of the areas that always demand for the attention of road traffic or law enforcement agents is indiscriminate parking on the right of way of other law-abiding motorists.

    The Lagos State Government, in a bold attempt to ensure free flow of traffic and safety on Lagos Roads, promote disciplined driving culture and reduce traffic congestion and gridlock, as well as to enthrone road users behavioural modification, enacted the Lagos Road Traffic Law 2012. LASTMA happens to be one of the agencies of government saddled with the responsibility of ensuring compliance to standard.

    We cannot but agree that the Agency has been doing a yeoman’s job in traffic management and swift intervention whenever there is any incident that could create congestion and gridlock before it escalates.

    The new marching order by Governor Ambode to LASTMA men and officers to observe civility while discharging their statutory duties is being internalised and appreciated by the operatives, to remodel the operational style to reposition the Agency as machinery of government to ameliorable problems and render humanitarian service.

    However, some recent happenings seem to suggest that the doctrine of civility espoused by the present administration is being abused by some Lagos motorists, most of whom cannot but flout the law.

    The persistent violent attacks on LASTMA officials across the length and breadth of the state are making a mockery of the Governor Ambode administration’s appeal for civility by LASTMA officials. The gruesome murder of the Zonal Head of LASTMA Zone 13, Apapa, on December 15, 2016, is one of such sad incidents. Also, on February 9, 2017, a commercial bus driver knocked down a LASTMA official, Mr. Nwangi Peter, dragged him on the road from MRS Filling Station/R.Jolad Hospital to Tantalizers junction at Gbagada. Thereafter, other bus drivers and conductors pounced on and ruthlessly dealt with him

    Similarly, a tricycle operator, Mr Godfrey Fekoma, violently attacked a LASTMA official, Mr. Rasak Oyekan at Acme Road. The result was a deep cut on the head of the LASTMA official. We recall the recent experience of the General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olawale Musa, when he escaped death by a whisker in the process of making an errant driver,   Mr. David Agiribehave, behave like a sane person. Unknown to him that the man sitting behind the steering wheel was mentally-deranged, he tried to apply civility to discourage the flagrant violation of Road Traffic Law. But it seems the Nigerian society is not ripe for civil approach to correcting recklessness and deviant dispositions on the highways.

    Perhaps the most disturbing and worrisome setback to the State Government’s Policy on enforcement with civility happened on Monday, March 6, 2017, on ASSBIFI Road, Alausa Central Business District (CBD). Indiscriminate parking of vehicles on the road by workers who have their offices in the area and other individuals was the prevailing situation before LASTMA officials decided to go and dislodge the vehicles that had made life so unbearable for others. While trying to carry out their statutory duties, which were as a result of complaints by members of the public, some owners of the illegally parked vehicles came to the scene with different types of lethal weapons to attack LASTMA officials.

    In the ensuing melee two LASTMA officials were beaten, while others had their uniforms torn to shreds. Is civility not at a crossroads? Incidentally, a newspaper report presented a biased, jaundiced and skewed account of what actually transpired at the scene. A subjective report like this is a sad commentary on our craving for a civilised and egalitarian society.

    While we are not advocating indecent approach to the enforcement of the law, it is expected that if law enforcement agents are applying civility in the discharge of their statutory duties, the people they are paid to serve should appreciate same by demonstrating decorum when they have an encounter with law enforcement agents, rather than resort to self-help that could lead to anarchy.

    Considering the spate of these unwarranted violent attacks on law enforcement officials of the State Government, it behoves  the government itself to evaluate and rejig the new policy on enforcement of traffic law and regulations by embarking on mass enlightenment campaign to re-orientate the motoring public before the great achievements and improvements in the traffic management system become eroded by uncivil mentality of some disgruntled motorists, especially the pathologically lawless commercial bus drivers.

     

    • Bili Apena sent this piece from Onigbongbo Maryland, Lagos
  • Banks set limits on PoS, online transactions abroad

    Banks set limits on PoS, online transactions abroad

    Banks have set limits on overseas Point of Sale (PoS) and online card transactions, The Nation has learnt.

    Many of the lenders, which are battling a tough dollar scarcity, have pegged monthly transactions on PoS and online transactions using cards at $100, British Pounds Sterling 90, Euro 130 and Canadian Dollars 360.

    The ban on cash withdrawals with Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards while abroad still stands. Travellers are now finding it difficult to pay their hotel bills, make reservations and other transactions using their debit cards after the policy took effect.

    Industry sources said had the lenders not restricted the use of ATM cards abroad, some of them would have been facing hitches meeting the dollar demands of their overseas’ customers. Such would have exposed the lenders to huge liabilities’ shocks and operational challenges as dollar scarcity persists.

    Stanbic IBTC Bank, United Bank for Africa, Access Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria (StanChart) and GTBank last week announced the suspension of their overseas ATM card services. Also suspended by the banks were all foreign currency-denominated transactions, including those conducted on PoS machines and online.

    But in a move to ease the pains of customers, some of the lenders are now allowing transactions on PoS and online deals, under a marginally set limit.

    In an emailed note to customers, GTBank said it had reviewed international spending limit on ATM cards downwards but restricted such transactions to cards used on PoS and online transactions.

    As a way out of the crisis, banks are now encouraging travellers to open dollar accounts, which have no spending limit. Such cards are issued by the banks on domiciliary accounts funded directly by customers, but the ongoing dollar scarcity and pains of sourcing the greenback makes funding such accounts a herculean task and at cut-throat rates.

    The naira closed last week at 310 to dollar in the official market and 450 to dollar in the parallel market.

    Chief Economist at Renaissance Capital (RenCap) Charles Robertson, predicted that the naira would end the year at N390 to dollar in the official market, even though it has become undervalued, according to the Forex rate implied by this economist’s 13-year average real effective exchange rate (REER) of N286/ to dollar.

    RenCap is a leading frontier market research and investment firm, based in many countries, including Nigeria.

    “We expect the interbank forex rate to fall further, despite the naira being undervalued, partly due to low market confidence. The widening gap between the parallel forex rate of N450 to dollar and the interbank rate of N310 to dollar implies the market thinks the interbank rate should be lower. However, we do not think the ‘market-clearing rate’ is as low as the parallel rate suggests, because that market is illiquid,” he said.

    “Moreover, the improvement in the current account (CA) to a surplus of 0.3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in June this year against a deficit of 1.6 per cent in June last year, on our estimates, suggests the fall in the parallel forex rate may be overdone. We see the authorities succumbing to mounting pressure – possibly as soon as the November 22 meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) – and moving towards a transparent, liquidity-enhancing forex market. Until then, we expect the policy rate to be flat at 14 per cent,” Robertson said in an emailed report.

    Naira forwards have soared to records, suggesting foreign investors see another devaluation coming. Contracts maturing in six months trade at N384 per dollar, their highest-ever level. Those due in a year have climbed to N422 from N325 since the end of June. The naira’s spot price climbed 1.7 per cent to about N310 to dollar.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) started tightening capital controls in late 2014 to defend the naira as crashing crude prices crimped export revenues. It then imposed a 16-month peg of N197 to N199 per dollar from February 2015 until June 20 when the flexible foreign exchange policy was unveiled to allow naira float freely in the market.

  • Scope and limits of investigative, procedural agencies

    Scope and limits of investigative, procedural agencies

    In this analysis on the ongoing discourse on the raid on the homes of some jurists across the hand by security operatives, WAHAB SHITTU, a law teacher at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), says the Department of State Services (DSS) has not stepped out of bounds once it acted in accordance with the extant laws.  

    My reluctance to comment on the propriety or otherwise of recent arrests of judges is strategic. Being a private public prosecutor for EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission), I have a duty not to prejudice the process. Secondly, I am aware that investigations are ongoing and I do not want to preempt the process.  Thirdly, I am conscious of the fundamental rights of parties involved in the process including suspects and so careful not to make prejudicial comments. Fourthly, the judiciary, the constituency to which I belong, appears to be on trial reflecting a period of sober reflections.

    Notwithstanding the above, the diversity of reactions that have greeted recent mass arrests of judges is understandable. This is the first time such an unprecedented development will take place, at least, in Nigeria.  Secondly, while many are agreed on the need to fight corruption there is still a controversy on the means and methods of actualising that objective. Thirdly, while there appears to be a general consensus on the need to move against corruption, the elephant in the room, there is still the incontrovertible fact that such crusade must be carried out within the ambit of the rule of law.  Fourthly, what constitute infraction of the rule of law is far from being settled.  There are those who contend that infractions of legal rules and processes are against the rule of law and this is eminently the popular view.  There are also others who subscribe to the theory that corruption manifested in the deprivation and appropriation of public resources, constituting common wealth by anyone is also an invasion of the rule of law and a breach of the fundamental rights of those whose assets are so misappropriated.

    These reactions stem from either a commendation or condemnation of the actions of the security agencies depending on where the commentator stands in the equation. Those who condemn the DSS (Department of State Services) alluded to alleged non-compliance with due process and rule of law prescriptions in carrying out the operations. The opposing views disagree.  The Attorney-General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami SAN, is quoted to have said: “Corruption is a crime and nobody, regardless of how highly placed, is exempted”, Prof. Sagay said: “what has happened…is a rapid descent into the world of mammon, where cash dictates justice”, Prof. Akin Oyebode also said: “Judges that are caught, let them be burnt at the stake or fall at the guillotine. No tears should be shed…” Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, however, said: “Any act of anti-corruption action that goes against the rule of law does not help the corruption fight”. These eminently expressed views are correct depending on the perspectives and the circumstances.

    The essence of this intervention is not to join issues on the merits or otherwise of this conflicting positions because views expressed will differ, depending on perspectives and the divide upon which you stand in respect of the controversy. More importantly, it may be premature at this stage to take positions since investigations are ongoing, the rights of persons and organisations are involved and details are yet to fully emerge. It is however useful to deepen popular consciousness by examining the scope, powers, and limits of investigative and prosecutorial agencies, so that members of the larger public could be guided with a view to contributing to the debate.

     

    Powers of the attorney-general

    We begin our analysis by examining the powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation. Section 174(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) state as follows:

    “(1)    The Attorney-General of the Federation shall have power –

    • To institute and undertake criminal proceedings against any person before any court of law in Nigeria, other than a court-martial, in respect of any offence created by or under any Act of the National Assembly;
    • To take over and continue any such criminal proceedings that may have been instituted by any other authority or persons; and
    • To discontinue at any stage before judgment is delivered any such criminal proceedings instituted or undertaken by him or any other authority or person.
    • The powers conferred upon the Attorney-General of the Federation under subsection (1) of this section may be exercised by him in person or through officers of his department.
    • In exercising his powers under this section, the Attorney-General of the Federation shall have regard to the public interest, the interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process.”

    Clearly from the above, the attorney-general is the chief law officer of the federation, the legal adviser to the federal government and the custodian of the observance of the rule of law as far as Federal Government agencies are concerned. Importantly, agencies of the Federal Government and statutory bodies of all categories must defer to his office in terms of quality legal advisory services, guidance and directives. This is however without prejudice to recognition by the office of the powers conferred on other agencies and statutory bodies by statute.

     

    The police

    The functions of the police are regulated by Section 4 of the Police Act which provides as follows:

    “The police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property, and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged, and shall perform such military duties within or outside Nigeria as may be required of them by, or under the authority of this or any other Act.”

    It seems from the above that investigation of all crimes without exception is within the purview of the Nigerian Police Force.

    The DSS

    This body is established pursuant to National Security Agency Act No. 19 of 1986 as “An Act to disband the Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO) and to create three security agencies, charging each with the conduct of the relevant aspect of the national security, and other related matters.”

    The scope of what constitutes national security and other related matter is a matter of interpretation. However, Section 2 (3) of the National Security Agencies Act, specifying the duties of the DSS states as follows:

    “The State Security Service shall be charged with responsibility for –

    • The prevention and detection within Nigeria of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria;
    • The protection and preservation of all non-military classified matters concerning the internal security of Nigeria; and
    • Such other responsibilities affecting internal security within Nigeria as the National Assembly or the President, as the case may be, may deem necessary.”

    Comments

    What constitutes internal security and what crimes can be said to endanger internal security of any country including Nigeria?

    The Black Law Dictionary 8th Edition defines internal security as “the field of law dealing with measures taken to protect a country from subversive activities”.

    Eminent professor of law, Queens Counsel and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is reported to have said:

    “The DSS has the mandate to maintain internal security.  There are many things that impact on national security, and I don’t think it is necessarily and narrowly focused on insurrection or civil disobedience and the like.

    Anything that affects the institutions of the nation and which strikes at the heart of the institutions of the nation, must be a matter which affects national security.  On that analysis, I will say that they (DSS) have the power, provided they follow due process, and the due process that I mean is that if an offence was not committed in your presence and you want to see whether you will find any evidence of the commission of the offence, the most appropriate thing is to obtain a search warrant and then execute it in a responsible and respectful manner.”

    Prof Sagay also argued that corruption was threatening our internal security. According to him, the allegations of bribe-taking leveled against some judges, especially when they have to do with election cases, can cause of breach of security which falls within the mandate of the DSS. Speaking further, the eminent professor posits: “That is a very puerile interpretation of the mandate of the DSS. The DSS is established to maintain internal security through intelligence operations. I think it’s got to a stage where judicial corruption was beginning to threaten internal security in the sense that if you look at the case of elections, for example, taking bribes and declaring somebody, who lost an election or who did not win an election, as the winner, particularly, those who first bribed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), then engaged in killing people and destroying properties in order to get there. If such people’s elections are upheld, that threatens internal security because the other party, knowing that the party that was declared winner did not win the election, or that there was no election, and that the party got there by a combination of bloody combat and bribery of the judiciary, will also tend to resort to force of arms and then you can have a disintegration of the society…”

    Indeed, the categories of offences capable of threatening internal security are not closed. Terrorism, as manifested in the increasing wave of violations of criminal laws of a state to wit: massive destruction of lives and property, infractions of fundamental rights of the people, pollution of the environment and environmental degradation, cultural heritage and other violent acts has become a permanent feature in contemporary international system.

    Corruption is another crime capable of threatening national security. According to Koffi Anan, a former Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), “Corruption hurts the poor, disproportionately by diverting funds intended for development, undermining a government’s ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice and discouraging foreign aid and investments, corruption is a key element in economic under performance and a major obstacle to  poverty alleviation and development.”

    Human rights violations may also violate internal security; so is political thuggery during elections. Clearly, national security is one of the greatest concerns of every nation of the world. In the words of a commentator ‘conceptually, national security appears ambiguous and bogus. It is a concept that emphasizes the overall and holistic security of a nation politically, economically, socially, environmentally and what have you.”

    The scope of powers vested in the State Security Service (SSS) by the National Security Agencies Act is so wide as to “cover the prevention  and detection of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria” including “such other responsibilities affecting internal security within Nigeria as the National Assembly or the President, as the case may be may deem necessary.”

    The relevant question to ask is whether the present action of DSS was authorised by the President? The President has not come out to deny authorising the DSS to carry out the raids and so, authority may be deemed given by the President to DSS. Little wonder why DSS is claiming to have acted within its mandate. It is safe to assume this position as correct until the contrary is proved.

     

    EFCC

    Sections 6 and 7 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 provide as follows:

    Functions of the Commission

    The Commission shall be responsible for-

    • The enforcement and the due administration of the provisions of this Act;
    • The investigation of all financial crimes including advance fee fraud, money laundering, counterfeiting, illegal charge transfers, futures market fraud, fraudulent encashment of negotiable instruments, computer credit card fraud, contract scam, etc;
    • The co-ordination and enforcement of all economic and financial crimes laws and enforcement functions conferred on any other person or authority;
    • The adoption of measures to identify, trace, freeze, confiscate or seize proceeds derived from terrorist activities, economic and financial crime related offences or the properties the value of which corresponds to such proceeds;
    • The adoption of measures to eradicate the commission of economic and financial crimes;
    • The adoption of measures which include co-ordinated preventive and regulatory actions, introduction and maintenance of investigative and control techniques on the prevention of economic and financial related crimes;
    • The facilitation of rapid exchange of scientific and technical information and the conduct of joint operations geared towards the eradication of economic and financial crimes;
    • The examination and investigation of all reported cases of economic and financial crimes with a view to identifying individuals, corporate bodies or groups involved;
    • The determination of the extent of financial loss and such other losses by government, private individuals or organisations;
    • Collaborating with government bodies both within and outside Nigeria carrying on functions wholly or in part analogous with those of the Commission concerning-
    • The identification, determination of the whereabouts and activities of persons suspected of being involved in economic and financial crimes;
    • The movement of proceeds or properties derived from the commission of economic and financial and other related crimes;
    • The exchange of personal or other experts;
    • The establishment and maintenance of a system for monitoring international economic and financial crimes in order to identify suspicious transactions and persons involved;
    • Maintaining data, statistics, records and reports on persons, organisations, proceeds, properties, documents or other items or assets involved in economic and financial crimes;
    • Undertaking research and similar works with a view to determining the manifestation, extent, magnitude and effects of economic and financial crimes and advising government on appropriate intervention measures for combating same;
    • Dealing with matters connected with extradition, deportation and mutual legal or other assistance between Nigeria and any other country involving economic and financial crimes;
    • The collection of all reports relating to suspicious financial transactions, analyse and disseminate to all relevant government agencies;
    • Taking charge of, supervising, controlling, co-ordinating all the responsibilities, functions and activities relating to the current investigation and prosecution of all offences connected with or relating to economic and financial crimes;
    • The co-ordination of all existing, economic and financial crimes investigating units in Nigeria;
    • Maintaining a liaison with the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Nigerian Customs Service, the Nigerian Immigration Service and Nigerians Prison Service Board, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), all government security and law enforcement agencies and such other financial supervisory institutions involved in the eradication of economic and financial crimes;
    • Carrying out and sustaining rigorous public enlightenment campaign against economic and financial crimes within and outside Nigeria; and
    • Carrying out such other activities as are necessary or expedient for the full discharge of all or any of the functions conferred on it under this Act.

    7(1)    The Commission has power to –

    • Cause investigations to be conducted as to whether any person, corporate body or organisation has committed an offence under this Act or other law relating to economic and financial crimes;
    • Cause investigations to be conducted into the properties of any person if it appears to the Commission that the person’s life style and extent of the properties are not justified by his source of income.
    • In addition to the powers conferred on the Commission by this Act, it shall be the co-ordinating agency for the enforcement of the provisions of –
    • The Money Laundering Act 2004; 2003 No. 7 1995 No. 13;
    • The Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 1995;
    • The failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act, as amended;
    • The Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 1991, as amended;
    • Miscellaneous Offences Act; and
    • Any other law or regulation relating to economic and financial crimes; including the Criminal Code and Penal Code.”

  • Africa’s leaders and term limits

    On April 30, on a street of Musaga, an outskirt of Bujumbura, two men held up a pair of placards reading: “Peace we need” and “We say no to the 3rd term”. The duo were among the tens of thousands Burundians, who poured to the street in a perennial protest asking President Pierre Nkurunziza to jettison his controversial third term bid for good.

    In neighbouring Rwanda, President Paul Kagame, has made no secret of similar bid. The body language of president of Benin and that of his counterpart in Democratic Republic of Congo reveals the same intention to remain in power despite attaining their constitutional term limit. In Zimbabwe, the continent’s oldest head of state, Robert Mugabe, is enjoying limitless tenure since the nation achieved independence in 1980. In the same vein, the Gambia’s long-serving President Yahya Jammeh, is not looking forward to extend his tenure for a handful of years or so. He told the BBC in 2011, that he would rule for “one billion years… if Allah says so”.

    These and many more African leaders, who are unwilling to relinquish power, have been on a collision course with ordinary Africans’ strong support of presidential term limits.

    David Shinn, the former United States Ambassador to Burkina Faso and Ethiopia was said to have referred term limits for a country’s most important political leader as an essential component of building democracy.  He advocated for a gold standard of maximum of two terms, each of which does not exceed five years (seven years at most). Term limits, he explained, “are usually thought to apply to the office of president. But for countries like Ethiopia, where the prime minister holds most of the power, it is more important that the constitution designates term limits for that position, not the office of the president which is ceremonial.”

    Perhaps term limits can be a major hindrance to policy sustainability and sometime frustrate institution, especially for incumbent leaders but even occasionally for the led. As a result of these, some have expressed preference for leadership continuity rather than rotation because of the stability that comes with the former. Besides, many heads of government, Africans or otherwise, can serve their people effectively in a third or even fourth term. For instance, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, who governed for more than three decades – from 1959 to 1990. Yet he oversaw the transformation of Singapore from a third world country into one of the world’s richest and most civilized nations, and into a new type of political entity.

    However, we have a host of other cases where prolonged stay in power leads to “syndrome of power in perpetuity” especially in Africa and the Middle East. A potent viewpoint on persistent leaders holds that they can be a biggest roadblock to transformation and fresh ideas. Multiple terms in office provides breeding ground for corruption, nepotism, tyranny, impunity and so on.

    But across Africa, the number of sit-tight leaders has been soaring over the years following the full-on metamorphosis of heads of government from transient leaders to presidents for life. In this context the old cliché, that children of today are the leaders of tomorrow has lost its currency, as far as democratic power transition from one generation to the next is concerned.

    Despite the paucity of smooth power transition across the continent, some African leaders have willingly turned over power in compliance with constitutional provisions. They include: former leaders of Botswana, Benin, Cape Verde, Mali, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and Tanzania. A truly extraordinary late Nelson Mandela had earned a peerless reputation for stepping down after his one term in office. But Jerry Rawlings of Ghana and Daniel arap Moi of Kenya complied with constitutional term limits under duress.

    Several African leaders tried in vain to change the term limit provision of their constitution so that they could run again. Zambia’s Frederick Chiluba, Malawi’s Bakili Muluzi and our own Olusegun Obasanjo ultimately bowed to the will of the political system and accepted term limits.

    Unfortunately, an attempt by West African leaders in May this year to adopt a common ground in favour of a maximum of two terms for all presidents in the region failed following disputations from the presidents of Togo (which abolished term limits in 2002) and Gambia.

    Based on an extensive and highly revered report published by AFRO Barometer recently, the following key findings were revealed. In 34 African countries, about three-quarters of citizens favour limiting presidential mandates to two terms. Support of term limits has been consistently high over time and is the majority view even in countries that have never had term limits or that have removed term limits from their constitutions. More-educated citizens tend to express greater support for term limits, as do citizens with greater exposure to the news media.

    It is obvious that Africans generally see the merit in term limits. Thus, it is time for more African governments to add term limits in the constitution and for incumbent leaders like President Nkurunziza it’s time to abide by the existing ones.

     

    • Rayyan wrote from Abuja

  • 11 PFAs exceed investment limits, others

    Eleven Pension Fund Administrators  (PFAs) overshot their investment limits in the second quarter of last year, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said.

    It said Section 7 of the Pension Reform Act 2014 on ‘Regulations on Investment of Pension Fund Assets’ stipulates that not more than 10 per cent of the total pension assets under management shall be invested in all instruments/securities, which include equity, money market and debt issued by a corporate entity.

    It said: “PFAs shall ensure that not more than 45 per cent of pension assets under its management are directly or indirectly invested in any one sector of the economy.’’

    PenCom’s Director-General, Mrs Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, said in its Second Quarter Report made available to journalists that during a routine examination of 11 PFAs in the period under review,  the PFAs were found guilty of delays in the payment of retirement benefits; receipt of pension contributions without appropriate schedules; unresolved customer complaints; failure to fill certain vacant management positions; and non-implementation of disaster recovery plans.

    She said the examination, which was risk-based, covered 11 areas of the PFAs’ operations.They included company, board and management operations; information and communication technology; pension administration; benefits administration and payment arrangements; and fund management.

    She said: “Other areas included risk management and compliance, service delivery as well as internal control systems.The draft report of the routine examination had since been communicated to the boards of some of the PFAs.

    “The examination report had since been discussed with concerned PFAs’ management and commitments were obtained for remedial actions to be carried out by the operators examined.”

    The PenCom chief added that evaluation of risk management reports forwarded by the operators showed that some operators faced operational risks associated with receipt of contributions without appropriate schedules. She said they also faced litigations, concentration of portfolio investment, and non-funding of RSAs by employers, adding that the affected operators were advised by the Commission to strengthen their mitigating measures to avert the identified risks.

    She further said the Commission received and reviewed the actuarial valuation reports of 10 Defined Benefit Schemes for the year ended 31 December, 2013.

    “The reports revealed that some of the schemes had some funding gaps as at the end of the reporting period.

     

    Consequently, the affected scheme sponsors were directed to come up with funding arrangements with a view to clear the identified shortfalls.

    “During the quarter, the Commission received and reviewed 28 corporate governance reports from licensed operators. The reports indicated some violations of the Code of Corporate Governance by the operators.

    “The review further showed that some operators did not evaluate the performance of their Boards, Board Committees and Directors; and did not hold inadequate number of Board meetings as stipulated by the Code.

    “In addition, some Board members did not attend Board and Committee meetings regularly. Subsequently, the affected operators were asked to address the issues of non-compliance with the Code of Corporate Governance.

    On the Returns Rendition System of the operators, Mrs Anohu-Amazu said 30 operators rendered returns on the funds under their management and their company accounts to the Commission through the Pension Returns Rendition System (PenRRS).

    “The Commission scaled up its compliance and enforcement strategies to enhance compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004. Consequently, sanctions were applied in line with the Compliance Framework.

    “In addition, the Commission had participated in public enlightenment programmes as well as collaborated with various stakeholders to enhance compliance,” she added.

  • CPC, Coca-Cola and limits of reason

    I have a strong fascination for Nigerian proverbs, and it increases every time I have had cause to explore the deeper meaning and the life lessons encoded in each one of those wise, witty sayings. But, as the full weight of a proverb is better felt in its native language, much of the impact of these proverbs often get lost in translation.

    Have you heard this one: “You have pulled the trigger, why chase after the bullet?” I heard it long ago from an elderly manwho was admonishing a younger groom. The latter, obviously a conceited bully, was adamant on sending his wife packing for allegedly challenging his authority in public, even after the poor lady and his own parents had tired of explaining her action and begging for forgiveness.

    That proverb is a subtle admonition usually to an aggrieved person who has begun to react beyond the limits of reason or is unwilling to let go, even after his point is made. In other words, it says “You’ve made your point, don’t insist on a needless or foolish course to assuage your ego”.

    This wise counsel comes to my mind each time I read another of the unending twist in the unnecessary and unfortunate media blitz on the court case involving the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and Coca-Cola and its bottling partner, NBC over “two short-filled cans of Sprite”. I normally do not like soap operas or anything resembling them. However, I have followed these obviously orchestrated media reports on CPC and Coca-Cola/NBCbecause it involves big business and a regulator.

    It seems to me that on this particular issue, someone pulled the trigger and has been chasing after the bullet to guide it aright.I do not wish to be a bore by rehashing the background details; there is already enough online.  Just in case you are late to the party, here is a summary: CPC investigated a consumer complaint in late 2013 involving two short-filled cans of Sprite during which it claimed to have found that Coca-Cola and its bottling partner, NBC did not have processes for quality assurance, product traceability and consumer complaints resolution.

    Consequently, the council directed the two companies to, among other measures, subject their production processes to its inspection for 12 months and to pay within seven days a sum of N100,050,000 broken down as follows: N40 million as civil penalties, N60 million as cost of CPC’s investigations and N50,000 as compensation to the consumer/complainant. The two companies disagreed with the CPC’s investigation report and the attendant orders and therefore applied to the courts for judicial review of the orders. But CPC reported the matter to the Attorney General of the Federation, who slammed criminal charges on the two companies and their CEOs, alleging failure to comply with the CPC orders.

    So, which party pulled the trigger and is nowchasing after the bullet? Every right thinking person in our society ought to be glad that the CPC is standing up for our orphaned consumers and is taking big business to task in defense of the consumer. If, indeed, Coca-Cola and NBC have a poorer quality standard in our country and are deliberately short-changing consumers through “short-filling” their packages as the CPC seems to have alleged, then the full weight of the law must be brought to bear on both companies. But, more importantly, the processes for arriving at this very weighty conclusion and its consequence management must be such that would in the end portray CPC and the Nigerian government as acting within both the law and the limits of reason.

    In my view, this does not seem to be the case and the CPC is unwittingly pulling the rug from its own feet through its ill-advised chase of the bullet, as its actions in almost every angle of this case appears excessive, if not precipitate. In the first instance, I hope that the agency has adequate technical capacity to investigate a food production facility and, if not, that it collaborated with sister agencies like NAFDAC and Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) to arrive at the conclusion that Coca-Cola’s production processes lacked effective quality assurance, as this is not a mean indictment for a company of Coca-Cola’s pedigree.

    No less a commentator than Simon Kolawole in his back page piece in the November 31, 2014 edition of Thisday on Sunday described the whopping sum of N100,050,000 that CPC imposed on Coca-Cola and NBC as “daylight robbery”. It cannot be better said. Also interesting is that CPC apportioned the lion’s share of N60million to itself as cost of the investigation and another N40 million as civil penalties, whereas the poor consumer/complainant whose cause CPC is supposed to be fighting gets a paltry N50,000 or 0.05% of the booty. Truly a “daylight robbery”!

    CPC also appears to have been less tactful with the profuse manner it has used the media on the issue. From the press conference it hurried convened in Lagos in February where it showcased its investigation report hot from the press, to the clearly orchestrated same-day media blitz in October across print and online channels advertising the criminal charges and, of course, the sustained and sensational media coverage of subsequent court hearings in the matter.

    This approach is tactless and the agency should rather be focusing its mind and resources on winning the case in court, so that it can hopefully gain a judicial precedent that will establish the expansive scope to which it seems to have stretched its powers in the Coca-Cola/NBC matter. What if, after all of this media blitz, the court decides that CPC had acted out of order?

    The agency’s media goal in this case seems to be to amplify the nuisance factor, and this may be anchored on the perception that multinational corporations become vulnerable whenever their reputation is threatened. The ultimate aim is possibly to weaken the companies’ resolve to press on with the judicial review and thereby force them to pay the outrageous sum or to some form of settlement arrangement in order to have peace.

    How else does one explain the criminalization of the companies’ decision to seek judicial review of the orders, the orchestrated media blitz on the criminal case and the latest twist, i.e. the unleashing of activist NGOs and lawyers, all of whom are accusing the companies of impunity?

    It is noteworthy that impunity or reverse impunity is more grievous when it is committed by a government or its agency, as there is no further recourse for the victim and such act encourages everyone else to follow suit and it sends wrong signals about our country.

    My piece of honest advice to the Director-General of CPC is four-fold: first, the media is an unpredictable and often dangerous wave to ride to fame. Secondly, regulation is serious business and cannot be effectively and sustainably carried out with melodramatic approach. Thirdly, the fixation onthe Coca-Cola/NBC case seems to have blinded the agency to the entrenched abuses that consumers suffer in many sectors across our land. Finally, you have pulled the trigger, do not chase after the bullet. Let the courts finish the job!

    • Oluwo, an analyst, writes from Lagos.
  • The limits of foreign intervention

    The limits of foreign intervention

    The offers of help flooding in from the United States, France, China, Britain and others are a rare serving of positive news in a period of unrelenting gloom hanging over the country because of the atrocities of Boko Haram.

    Available evidence shows that beyond the bluster, Nigeria lacks the knowhow and technology to bring the insurgents to heel. So you could almost hear a collective national sigh of relief when news broke that the government had accepted offers of foreign assistance.

    Now that we’ve acceded to outsiders coming in to help sort out the mess we have made, it is necessary to rein in expectations. This isn’t going to be like a Hollywood movie where some American Rambo character swaggers into the Sambisa forest and takes out Abubakar Shekau before his awestruck followers.

    The Americans and others have made it clear that they are not putting boots on the ground. The much-hyped help will remain in the realm of using tremendous US intelligence assets and expertise built up from many years of fighting these sorts of criminals. It was that kind of intelligence gathering that helped them track down Osama bin Ladin to an anonymous building in rural Pakistan.

    While the renewed global focus on Boko Haram is a positive thing as it will limit their room for manouver henceforth, we should not forget that a similar US effort to track down the brutal Ugandan warlord, Joseph Kony of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), has not yet resulted in his capture. Just this March, the Barack Obama administration announced it was sending in more troops to assist in the operation.

    We must all hope and pray that the intervention by the Americans and others yields better results in the North East. Anything short of the success of this multinational initiative would only further boost the mystique of a band of killers who have survived everything thrown at them so far.