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Tag: monster

  • ‘We will deal decisively with unclaimed dividend monster’

    ‘We will deal decisively with unclaimed dividend monster’

    Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has pledged to deal decisively with the recurring issue of unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian capital market.

    Acting Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, who spoke during a meeting with the executives of Institute of Capital Market Registrars (ICMR) in Abuja at the weekend, described unclaimed dividend as a monster in the capital market.

    The Securities and exchange Commission has said that it will soon issue a framework that will guide the capital market in the proposed recapitalisation exercise by banks.

    He said registrars must embrace technology as one of the ways of ensuring that the issue of unclaimed dividends in the capital market becomes a thing of the past.

    “Unclaimed dividends is a monster that we must deal with now. Whatever it will take to deal with it, we must do it. We must embrace technology as one of the ways to deal with it.

    Read Also: Coalition to Nigerians: Expect more dividends of democracy, good governance from Tinubu

    “Let us put our thoughts together and provide a workable solution, let us ensure that this becomes a thing of the past. We need to provide solution and the time is now. As custodians, we implore you to provide practicable steps to address this issue,” Agama said.

    He said the commission was on top of the issues around the banking recapitalisation exercise and would soon come up with a framework to guide the market.

    He said the commission was willing to interact with various segments of the capital market to ensure that all pending issues are resolved in the interest of the market.

    “We will hold stakeholder’s meetings where we will speak to everyone and stakeholders will also have the opportunity of interfacing with us. The idea is to interact with you all. There may be things hanging and due to the transition, we do not want to miss anything. It will still be attended to in the interest of the market,” Agama said.

    He praised the government for the opportunity to serve before formally being cleared by the Senate in order for continued activities in the capital market.

    “We see it as an opportunity to be asked to act before our confirmation, it is not normal. In this case, we needed to deal with challenges and that’s why the government thought it wise for us to come in and work in acting capacity. It shows how important the capital market is to the administration of President Bola Tinubu, and we do not take this opportunity for granted. “

    “We will come up with a framework to move the market. We are in this together and we will continue to work and do our best. This is our constituency and we will do our best. We crave your co-operation to assist us deal with major challenges,” Agama said.

    Acting Executive Commissioner, Operations, SEC, Mr. Bola Ajomale urged the registrars to embrace technology which he said is the best way to ensure timeliness and also sanitise the system.

     “You are a major central point that we have worked with over time. There is risk because technology is competing with you. It will be useful to talk to your members to embrace technology as that is the best way to make life easy for everyone is to sanitise the system,” Ajomale said.

    President, Institute of Capital Market Registrars (ICMR), Mr. Seyi Owoturo congratulated the new SEC management on their appointment and pledged that the registrars would continue to work in the interest of the capital market.

    Owoturo said registrars have a duty to ask questions when transactions happen so as to make the market safe for everyone adding that with the banking recapitalisation coming, registrars need to embrace technology as there is going to be serious demands on their capacity.

  • Taming electoral fraud monster

    Electoral offenders seem to have a way of escaping the law, no matter what the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the police do. According to the police, 128 were arrested for election-related offences during the February 23 presidential and National Assembly polls. How can they be checked? Should electoral malpractices be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), as the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) suggested? ROBERT EGBE asks.

    The policeman grabs one of the thugs by the arm. But it is a feeble grip and the big fellow shakes him off effortlessly. He bends under a low rope and walks away from the chairs, tables and upended ballot boxes – their contents on the floor – of the white canopy under which both men stood. The corporal, attempting to recapture his prisoner, comes out of the canopy too. He takes one step after him but pauses and turns around to face about six of the man’s accomplices, who are upturning more ballot boxes on the street. He tries, unarmed, to stop the chaos, but as soon as he retrieves a box from a ballot box snatcher, another thug upturns another box.

    The scene, captured in a 30-second video which went viral last week, was reported to have occurred at a polling unit in Okota,  Lagos  during the February 23 presidential and National Assembly polls.

    It is one of probably thousands of acts of electoral malpractice, which have – to varying degrees and consequences – plagued electioneering in Nigeria since independence.

    Despite massive deployment of policemen, soldiers and other security agents to guarantee free and fair elections, violations of the Electoral Act still persist.

    Not even the threat of visa bans by the United States(US) and the United Kingdom (UK) deterred electoral offenders.

    Both governments warned that politicians who instigated violence or were involved in electoral fraud, would be refused visas to enter their countries, among other measures.

    323 held for electoral malpractices

    Two days after the February 23 polls, the police said they had arrested 323 persons for suspected election-related offenses.

    Yesterday, Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu said the number had shot up to 323 persons.

    The suspects were apprehended for homicide-related crimes, vote-trading, ballot box snatching, impersonation and malicious damage.

    Additionally, authorities said they found a “cache of explosives” that included 38 “assorted weapons.”

    Deaths were also reported by human rights groups.

    According to Clement Nwankwo, convener of the Situation Room, comprising over 70 civil society organisations (CSOs), 16 people were killed in election violence across eight states, but Lagos-based consultancy, SBM Intelligence, put the figure at 35 deaths.

    Two of such deaths occurred at Ajetachi polling unit in Anyigba, Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State and at Abonnema, Rivers State.

    In the Anyigba incident, a 19-year-old first-time voter, Daniel Usman, was hit by a stray bullet. “He (Daniel) was standing on his own at the polling unit when some political thugs came and started shooting sporadically into the air. At this point, we all took to our heels as the shooting heightened. Unfortunately, he died as a result of a stray bullet that hit him while he was about escaping the scene of the incident. The security operatives on guard could not even help the matter as everyone left the poor boy helpless for hours. It was really an eyesore,” a source told The Nation.

    In Abonnema, an ad-hoc electoral officer with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ibisaki Amachree, was shot dead during election violence in the area.

    Her father, Daperi Trumperi Amachree, mourned his daughter on a Facebook post last Tuesday.

    He wrote: “Here lies my beautiful daughter Ibisaki, a post graduate degree holder, full of cheer, love and kindness and mother of two. She was shot dead yesterday by a trigger happy and jittery soldier while she was on a national assignment with INEC. I have never arranged for the death of any youth. I hate violence and thuggery. If law enforcement agents have to kill an enemy, should it be my responsible and peaceful daughter? It is well. Only God knows why it happened. He will surely repay the wicked.”

    But, like after previous elections, analysts are not optimistic that many of the perpetrators of electoral violence will be brought to book.

    Who should prosecute electoral offenders?

    Section 150 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) confers power on INEC to prosecute electoral offenders at the Magistrates Court or the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    By virtue of Section 150(2) of the Electoral Act, the duty of prosecuting Election Offences is conferred on INEC legal officers or any other private legal practitioners appointed by the Commission.

    Falana urges INEC to take over election offenders’ prosecution

    National Chairman, People’s Alternative Front (PAF), Femi Falana (SAN), asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to take over the prosecution of electoral offenders from the 2019 elections.

    Falana, in a letter dated February 22 and addressed to INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, said this would help prevent official impunity.

    According to him, members of the political class rejected the popular call for the establishment of Electoral offences Commission/Tribunal in an attempt to shield electoral offenders from prosecution.

    He said the request was sequel to confirmation that “hundreds of criminal elements were arrested by the police and other security agencies while attempting to disrupt the Presidential/National Assembly elections held throughout the country on Saturday, February 23, 2019”.

    He also noted that prior to that Saturday’s elections, “scores of other criminal suspects had been arrested during political campaigns of political parties for breaching the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010 as amended.

    “Going by past experience, the prosecution of the electoral offenders will be taken over by state attorneys-general who will turn round to file nolle prosequi for the termination of the cases due to political pressure from the ruling party in each of the affected states”, he noted.

    Falana argued that the suggestion by PAF to INEC to take over the prosecution of electoral offender was backed by Section 150 of the Electoral Act, 2010 which vested the commission with the powers to prosecute any person who violates the provisions of the Electoral Act.

    “Like other prosecutorial agencies of the Federal Government the INEC should request the Inspector-General of Police to deploy some trained police investigators to the Legal Department for the purpose of coordinating the investigation of the cases.

    “Upon the conclusion of the investigation of the cases INEC will proceed to file charges against the indicted electoral offenders in the appropriate courts”, he stated.

    He reminded the commission that a number of young lawyers were mobilised to assist the INEC in the prosecution of the electoral offenders who were arrested during the 2011 general election.

    Although majority of the electoral offenders were successfully prosecuted the policy did not continue due to the change in the leadership of the INEC.

    Falana therefore suggested that the policy be revived by the INEC without any delay.

    “Otherwise, the detained armed thugs who engaged in the cold murder of unarmed voters, ballot snatching, burning of ballot papers etc during the election will soon be freed and allowed to continue to sabotage the inchoate democratic process in the country”, he warned.

    Can INEC do the job?

    But, can the electoral umpire do the job?

    By its own admission, at least three major factors hinder it from carrying out its duties.

    According to INEC National Commissioner and Chairperson, Legal Services, Mrs May Agbamuche-Mbu, the factors include political interference, lack of human and material resources.

    She stated this last August in Nasarawa at the opening of a two-day training on prosecution of election offences for the commission’s legal personnel and police officers.

    “Our capacity in terms of resources and personnel is simply not large enough to prosecute offences in 120,000 polling units; 8,809 wards, 360 federal constituencies, 109 senatorial districts and 774 local government areas.”

    Also, Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empowers the Attorney-General of the Federation to institute, undertake, take over and continue criminal proceedings against any person in any Court of Law in Nigeria other than a Court Martial in respect of any offence created by an act of the National Assembly.

    This, Agbamuche-Mbu noted, could pose a problem.

    “Political interference is also a factor such as instances where Attorneys-General file Nolle Prosequi for such cases, rendering the Commission powerless.

    “Prosecution of offences is fraught with many difficulties. Traditionally, the police are charged with the duty of investigating these offences, yet we find that the officers who witnessed the offence and made the arrest are moved out of location after the election,” she said.

    Role of the police

    The Police Act also empowers the Police to prosecute offenders.

    Commissioner of Police (CP) in Lagos State, Mr Zubairu Muazu, stated on February 12, that the police had joined forces with the judiciary to ensure persons arrested for offences on election days were tried immediately.

    Muazu spoke at a stakeholders meeting organised by the INEC in Lagos.

    According to him, judicial proceedings would commence immediately an arrest is made and the security agencies have a patrol in place to enforce the restriction of movement.

    There is scant evidence that this was implemented.

    But on March 1, Muazu disclosed that the suspected leader of the thugs that invaded polling units in Okota, simply identified as Demola, would face trial, after he fully recuperates from jungle justice attack.

    He was beaten to coma but resuscitated at and discharged from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), after being apprehended by angry voters at Baba Ewe bus-stop in Ago, Okota, on suspicion of setting election materials and ballot papers on fire.

    N100m fine for electoral fraud?

    The Oyo State Police Command on January 25 introduced a novel way of checking electoral malpractice. It reached an agreement with INEC, political parties and other stakeholders in the state for a N100million fine to be imposed on any erring political party whose members foment trouble.

    Former Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Mr Abiodun Odude, who facilitated the peace accord, said it was to ensure safety of lives and property before, during and after the 2019 general elections.

    Nevertheless, the command on March 2, said it arrested 38 people for election-related offences in the state.

    It vowed to unravel those behind the killings which took place in Ibadan South-East Local Government Area of the state and said it received four petitions from political parties over the polls.

    Clearly, the threat of a hefty fine did not work.

    SERAP’s solution

    Dissatisfied with the lack of progress in prosecuting offenders, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), asked President Muhammadu Buhari to refer all allegations of election-related violence, intimidation and killings between 1999 and 2019 to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation and prosecution.

    According to it, this would “send a powerful message that election-related violence, intimidation and killings will not be tolerated under your watch.”

    The organisation said its suggestion was pursuant to article 13 of the Rome Statute to which Nigeria is a signatory.

    In a letter dated February 25 and signed by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “Referral of the cases of election-related violence, intimidation and killings to the ICC would serve as a deterrent and ensure that Nigerians, particularly victims in the states that have repeatedly witnessed violence and whose human rights have been violated are not denied justice and effective remedies.”

    SERAP argued that the level of violence, intimidation and killings in some states during the just concluded general elections suggest that the electoral law and criminal laws have over the years not been adequately enforced, and deterrence, through criminal sanctions, is failing.

    It stated that electoral violence, a species of political violence, is not only a criminal act but crimes under international law, given its widespread and systematic nature over many years.

    SERAP also urged President Buhari to consider setting up a commission of inquiry to investigate election-related violence, intimidation and killings between 1999 and 2019 in order to gather evidence relating to allegations of serious violations of human rights and crimes under international law and ensure the effective prosecution of politicians and others responsible for arming political thugs to commit these atrocities.

    “Establishing a commission of inquiry to investigate election-related violence, intimidation and killings since May 29, 1999 would help Nigerians to know exactly those behind these egregious violations of human rights and to bring suspected perpetrators and their sponsors to justice as well as contribute to preventing and deterring such incidents in future elections.

    “The proposed commission should be led by a retired justice of the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The activities of the commission must be open to the public and all the governors of states that have repeatedly witnessed election-related violence, intimidation and killings should be summoned to give a public account of the number of abuses that have been recorded in their states over the years.

    “The commission should make recommendations including on the prosecution of those found to have perpetrated directly or indirectly or are complicit in committing these criminal acts and serious violations of human rights”, it stated.

    Why the ICC’s intervention may not work

    As lofty as SERAP’s suggestion is, there seems to be a problem with referring electoral malpractices to the ICC.

    This is because the jurisdiction of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 1998, does not apply (directly) to basic electoral offences.

    Article 5 of the Rome Statute outlines crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.

    It states: “1. The jurisdiction of the Court shall be limited to the most serious crimes of concern to the   international community as a whole. The court has jurisdiction in accordance with this Statute with respect to the following crimes:

    The crime of genocide; (b)Crimes against humanity; (c)War crimes; (d)The crime of aggression.

    “The Court shall exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression once a provision is adopted in accordance with articles 121 and 123 defining the crime and setting out the conditions under which the Court shall exercise jurisdiction with respect to this crime. Such a provision shall be consistent with the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.”

    Article 13, which is referenced by SERAP, deals with ICC’s exercise of jurisdiction.

    It says: “The  Court  may  exercise  its  jurisdiction  with  respect  to  a  crime  referred  to  in  article  5  in accordance with the provisions of this Statute if:

    “A  situation  in  which  one  or  more  of  such  crimes  appears  to  have  been committed is referred to the Prosecutor by a State Party in accordance with article 14;

    “A  situation  in  which  one  or  more  of  such  crimes  appears  to  have  been committed  is  referred  to  the  Prosecutor  by  the  Security  Council  acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations; or

    “The Prosecutor has initiated an investigation in respect of such a crime in accordance with article 15.”

    Reform, strengthen INEC

    So, what should be done?

    Prof Fidelis Oditah SAN suggested that a careful, well planned reform of INEC’s operations would be desirable, but that ultimately, INEC’s capacity needs to be strengthened.

    Speaking during a TV intervew, he said: “I’m all for reform which will improve the electoral process and create more confidence in the electoral process and the outcome, but I think we have to be careful about what we accept as reform.

    “It’s the same way in Nigeria that often when there is a problem, people call for legislation, but the problem in Nigeria as far as I see, is not the absence of a legal framework or indeed an adequate legal framework, it’s a lack of capacity to implement the existing framework.”

    For Chief Emeka Okpoko (SAN), electoral malpractices are local in nature.

    “Electoral malpractices are national offences which can only be handled by courts within this country,” he told The Nation.

    Okpoko added: “I share the view that INEC should be given additional powers or rather given directive to, on its own, take up this criminal prosecution through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, of course, the Attorney-General is the chief law officer, the chief prosecutor.”

  • Sokoto and monster of water scarcity

    SIR: Water is much more than just a basic human need. It is an essential, irreplaceable element to ensuring the continuance of life. It is intrinsically linked to fundamental human rights such as the right to life, to food and to health. Access to clean drinking water as described by the United Nations General Assembly is a necessity and a basic human right.

    Sokoto is richly blessed with abundant water resources but largely untapped. In spite of the abundant resources, both the state and local governments have failed to successfully harness these resources to ensure a sustainable and equitable access to safe, adequate, improved and affordable water supply to the common man. Many people living in the state particularly in the rural communities are currently facing enormous hardship because water supplies are neither sufficient nor safe. For several people living in state, water scarcity is rapidly becoming an issue crucial for life and, in the broad sense of the concept, a right to life issue.

    In the absence of water from piped supplies and protected wells, millions of people living in the state are forced to consume what is available – unhygienic and contaminated waters largely from local vendors, wells, streams and ponds, thus directly endangering the social well-being of the people and giving life to several forms of waterborne diseases as well as adding another burden on the state public health service since water remains one of the major primary drivers of public health.

    While the state capital city is facing a decline in supply, the rural areas are even not in the picture. The state government is giving less or no priority to rural water supply; local government councils often do not have the funds to make necessary improvements and hence compelled to use short-term solutions which cannot be maintained by the communities who need them.

    The gospel truth is that the water infrastructure currently available in Sokoto State is suffering from severe neglect. Successive regimes did very little in this regard while the present administration has totally failed to maintain the existing infrastructure not to mention of establishing new ones. In essence, Sokoto state today neither has a standard water plan nor policy despite the huge resources allocated to the sector annually. Billions enough to provide adequate drinking water for the entire North-West region have been spent so far on the state water sector since the return of democracy in 1999, yet, the problem continue to escalate, forcing millions to live with the monster of water scarcity as their lifetime companion.

    What the foregoing denotes most eloquently is that the problem of water scarcity currently ravaging Sokoto state is a serious issue that must be tackled. Provision of standard water infrastructure, upgrading existing ones and proper water management is therefore perhaps the most important requirement for solving water scarcity in the state. More attention must be given to coordination and cooperation between all actors in the water industry at all levels.

    Public private partnership can also play an important role in providing access to clean drinking water, provided that the state government has the political will and stakeholders work together for a common goal: that of guaranteeing access to safe and clean drinking water for all. This does not undermine the role of the state in fostering the realization of the right to access to safe and clean drinking water.

     

    • Usama A. Dandare,

    Sokoto.

  • Taming the monster called domestic violence

    Misunderstanding is a natural phenomenon that occurs between two or more people who live together either as husband and wife or as live-in lovers.

    In a family setting, quarrels between husband and wife may turn violent; with the man having the upper hand during the fray. The man may become violent during the dispute and mistreats the wife. In such situation, it becomes domestic violence or domestic abuse, battering, or family violence.

    Domestic violence can take a number of forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, and sexual abuse, which can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and to violent physical abuse.

    Globally, victims of domestic violence are overwhelmingly women. Unfortunately, women who are majorly victims of domestic violence do not speak out either because they are ashamed or they want to save the image of the family.

    Worried by this trend, the Sole Administrator, Yaba Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Hon Bayo Adefuye, has urged women to “speak out” on issues of domestic violence in their matrimonial homes.

    He spoke during a sensitisation workshop organised for women by Women of Rubies (WOR) (an online platform), in collaboration with Yaba LCDA.

    At the programme, Power Oil gave the participants groundnut oil had their blood pressure checked. Also, Access Bank gave out ballpoints and key holders to the participants.

    Adefuye, who was the keynote speaker, identified causes of domestic violence as jealousy, lack of trust, frustration, recession and either of the spouses being richer than the other, especially the husband.

    He said women are the ones that suffer domestic violence, urging them to talk to their husbands and find out the cause of the violent behaviours.

    According to him, men are not violent from the first day of marriage. Women must therefore know how to engage their husband.

    “Pray for him, understand him, make him happy, be watchful and do everything to calm him down,” he said.

    He urged men to stop being violent on their wives, saying women are meant to be nurtured and well taken care of.

    “Domestic violence affects women psychologically and it could make them raise children in the wrong way,” he said.

    He urged parents not to indulge in beating their children often, adding that when beating becomes much; it could lead to the children becoming rebellious.

    Founder/Editor-in-Chief, Women of Rubies, Esther Ijewere said the programme was designed to encourage, educate, empower and sensitise women to the need to “speak up” when they are abused.

    “We have also trained them on the need to embrace the savings culture. A lot of women are being empowered but they do not know how to save. We have also encouraged them to learn more skills beyond what they have already,” she said.

    Urging women to be financially independent, she advised men to learn to control and discipline themselves. They should learn the rule of “walking away” when they are angry so that they would not lose their level-headedness that will make them mishandle their wives.

    “Real men don’t beat women, because there is nothing to gain from it,” she said.

    Ijewere said Women of Rubies (WOR) is a reputable capacity-building and inspirational online magazine for the celebration of women of substance in the society. She said her passion for humanity, women and the girl-child motivated her to organise the programme.

    Founder, Self-Worth Organisation, Chinyere Anokwuru, who spoke on “Do Something”, shared her life experience which lifted her out of poverty to wealth.

    According to her, the only thing needed to break out of poverty is an idea.

    “When a woman has money, she has an edge. All women must have something doing. You need to talk to yourself and discover your God-given skills. There is no age in education, learning a trade, or starting a business. Change your mindset and be willing to change your situation.”

    To break out of poverty, Anokwuru said women must know what they want; what is needed to achieve; what they want and then go for it.

    “You need information and you will need to acquire more skills.”

    She told the women that the future of their family is in their hands, even as she urged them to wake up and not watch the future get destroyed when they can still do something about it.

    A human right activist, Bukola Ogunyeye said women must report cases of domestic violence, saying it is a criminal offence which has taken a lot of lives.

    “Women must speak out on domestic violence for safety. It is not something to be ashamed of; rather it should be the man that should be ashamed of beating his wife.

    “Domestic violence affects children. It makes them behave the same way when they grow up. It can lead to psychological trauma and make children hate their parents. It also makes women unhappy,” she said.

    A representative from Access Bank, Sandra Orgah, urged participants to save money in the bank for the purpose of interest and a secure future.

    A Nollywood Actor, Doris Simeon, who spoke on “Help is Near”, told the women never to bear domestic violence.

    “You can call 08102678442 or 08085753932 for assistance. You can also report to a police station or share your experience on social media to seek help,” she said.

  • Dogara, Reps move to tackle pension monster

    Dogara, Reps move to tackle pension monster

    Senior citizens last week took their worsening situation to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and left with smiles on their faces.

    Dogara did not offer them money, neither did he offer them a loan but he assured that the case will not only be tackled with the instrumentality of law but promised to take it personally to President Muhammadu Buhari, who he said has zero tolerance for workers’ suffering arising from unpaid dues.

    The visit was initiated by the Speaker with the adoption of a motion by the House on the urgent need to address the N285b owed pensioners in Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as well as another N174b owed those on Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) arising from non-payment of 33 percent arrears.

    The House had resolved that Buhari should approve a bailout to offset the arrears or provide the required funds in the 2017 Budget. The Senate, on the prompting of the House, followed suit with the adoption of the same prayers. Determined to have a firsthand feel of what the senior citizens are going through, Dogara arranged for the meeting and got more than he bargained for.

    Afolayan, accompanied by over 30 senior citizens broke it down and Dogara resolved that the Buhari everybody knows could not have been aware of the sordid picture painted by Afolayan. The 78 year old Afolayan said: “Pensioners have become endangered species and prone to all kind of diseases which are age related and need money for treatment. This is a very important reason why government needs to ensure that pensioners are paid as at when due, especially considering the fact that these old people have used their youthful days to serve this country meritoriously. Now that it is the payback time, the country should not fail them.

    After listing the challenges confronting them, he said “it is in view of the above that I want to use this medium to appeal to the Hon. Speaker to use his God given position to plead with the Federal Government on behalf of the vulnerable Nigerian pensioners to provide sufficient funds in 2017 Budget Appropriation Bill to offset all the pension liabilities.

    “We share the feelings of the federal government as far as the ongoing economic recession is concerned, but as we have mentioned earlier, we have to reiterate that pension should be placed on FIRST LINE CHARGE so that pension payment will not go through the traditional rigorous budgetary allocation process. Our prayers are not many, what we are asking for is provision of sufficient funds in the 2017 Appropriation Bill towards offsetting the outstanding liabilities both under the DBS and CPS Mr. Speaker Sir, your name will be written in gold when the history of the Union is re-written, if this feet is achieved during your time; Needless to remind you that our members are dying daily in pain, penury, frustration and abject poverty without enjoying the fruits of their labour”.

    Moved, Dogara looked at the position of law on the issue with  emphasis that all pensions due to retired public service workers must be paid because it is a constitutionally provided right to be paid their pension. Citing section 173 (1 & 2) of the 1999 Constitution, he stressed that it is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that pensions earned by the pensioners are paid as and when due, as failure to do this could be a breach of the laws of the country.

    He assured the delegation that the House will ensure that it “speaks and speak with a loud and clear voice” on the need to make this aspect a priority, while casting doubts that President Muhammadu Buhari is aware of the huge debts owed them. “The President is a pensioner himself; he is and I know that he has always been concerned about issues related to salaries and pensions. He has been so concerned that he has extended assistance to state governments to bail them out with funds to pay salaries and pensions at state levels and I believe having taken such steps, he won’t be so unconcerned about his own responsibility to pensioners of the Federal Republic. So, I believe there is a disconnect somewhere and that is what we have to connect now and to see that even if the last person in the state gets his salary and pension, if we don’t address our pensioners at the federal level, we have failed and that message will be delivered by God’s grace”.

  • Who will save us from this monster?

    SIR: It is becoming alarmingly glaring how divided Nigeria is. Whenever you scan through the social media, and see how Nigerians respond to issues ofnational importance, you will be shocked to learn that Nigeria is in total disarray; Nigerians are strongly divided by religious and tribal sentiments. Nobody cares about what is at stake. As long as the person talking is not from my tribe or religion, he/ she is talking trash. The concerns of the average Nigerian is religious and tribal interest.

    But did this ugly trend start yesterday? No. in fact history books tell us much about religious and tribal sentiments since the first republic. I have at least read few things about the emergence of the political parties in the first and second republics. How they were formed along tribal and religious lines.

    What about the military coups, and the counter coups? The trend of killing in the first and reprisal coup all suggest that tribalism has been the bane of the Nigerian society. But sir, worrisome, to say the least, is the dimension it has taken since the advent of the social media. The social media has aggravated this aged-long social malaise to a perilous dimension.

    Before now tribal and religious discrimination was only a news stories you could decide to either believe or jettison; before now majority of these wild violation of the other person’s right due to tribal or religious considerations were only available to the mass media owners and their employees who then decide what is good for the public. But now everything is in the public domain, and most times, available to those who lack the capacity or education to manage such news; now you don’t need the mass media to tell you if the Ibos truly hate the Hausas and vice versa; now nobody needs to hide under gate keeping media technique to tell the Hausas how an Ibo man mean well for him and vice versa. Every hidden, and age-long animosity is open and glaring now due to the rising influence of the social media. Now religious and tribal bigots readily sell their bigotry and poison the minds of the simple through the social media. Every dick and harry is a religious commentator.

    Few days ago we learnt how an Ibo woman was murdered by some heartless Hausa religious extremists for the allegation of blasphemy. Now people who live outside their states are daily being murdered because of the unsavory remarks about other tribes made by their kinsmen on social media. Or why is it that Mrs. Bridget Agbahve suddenly lost favour with the same people she had lived with for years in Kano that resulted to her gruesome murder by the mob? Who raised the alarm for her alleged blasphemy? Shouldn’t Mrs. Bridget know the implication of speaking against the Prophet Mohammed if she had lived in Kano over the period? These are very important questions we must endeavor to give answers to as a nation.

    I think Nigerians should reconsider their stands on the recent Social Media Bill. It is good to weigh the merits and demerits of the bill before casting it to the dustbin.

     

    • Ohimai Daniel,

    Lagos.

  • Time to kill this monster is now- waziri

    Time to kill this monster is now- waziri

    Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, said yesterday in Lagos that Nigerians must not miss the current opportunity provided by the Muhammadu Buhari administration to kill the monster of corruption.

    Responding to questions at an event in Victoria Island on the import of this year’s anti-corruption day, Mrs Waziri said: “the right atmosphere and body language, so to say, so far provided by the administration of President Buhari on the issue of anti-corruption have made this year’s anti-corruption day unique. I really mean that this is a great opportunity for all Nigerians to put their ethnic, religious and political differences aside and join hands with the federal government to end this menace or at least bring it to the barest minimum level in our body polity.”

    The former anti-graft agency’s boss said on-going efforts to tackle the menace must be seen by all as a national duty that must be done “in the interest of the nation and posterity, so that our unborn generation can have a nation called Nigeria to call their own country.”

    She specifically appealed to the judiciary not to see the war as that of the executive arm of the government alone, but one that all arms of government must support and see to its success.

    “No matter what is done by the prosecution, if a corruption case does not end in conviction, it’s like an effort in futility and the deterrence effect would have been lost,” she said.

    She also called for the amendment of the nation’s laws “to put the burden of proof on suspects in money laundering and corruption cases. If someone claims ownership of a mansion, he or she should be able to provide evidence of how he got the money to acquire such and not for the prosecution to start proving and not just proving but proving beyond reasonable doubt. That way, primitive accumulation of wealth will be discouraged and on the long run, corruption would be minimized if not totally eradicated.”

  • ‘Boko Haram ‘s a monster that must be tamed’

    ‘Boko Haram ‘s a monster that must be tamed’

    Comrade Babatunde MacAlabi was the Convener, Professionals for Change. In this interview with SINA FADARE, he says Nigerians must close ranks to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency. 

    BOKO Haram activities have become a national shame. Where did we go wrong on the issue?

    The genesis of insecurity in the North goes back in time. The root can be traced to failure of leadership in that region, absence of good governance and the general level of poverty and deprivation in the North.

    It is a good thing that honest northern leaders have acknowledged their failure to develop their region. As a result, massive pauperisation is the order of the day. Governor Babangida Aliyu was honest to accept that northern leaders have failed to develop their society.

    That is why they have thousands of unemployed youths that have been used and dumped by politicians. These hoodlums are empowered by politician and after election they have nothing to fall back on; hence they eventually become a nuisance in the society.That is the genesis of the Boko Haram.

    Basically, the so-called Boko Haram insurgents are  Muslims who have turned coat and do not propagate  any Islamic cause, but  are mere terrorists who have turned against the Nigerian state. Against this backdrop, Nigeria is at war and the Boko Haram tendency has attained international dimension and support.

    Unfortunately the country failed to nip the crisis in the bud and it degenerated to what we are witnessing today. It is like a wound that was allowed to fester and it is now being infected by tetanus and is about to kill Nigeria. The international community has realised that if concerted efforts are not put together to arrest the situation, it may snowball into a monster that can no longer be tamed.

    Therefore, the joint task force by West African countries provided the leeway to go.  Cameroun and Chad are now part of the crusade and hopefully the combined efforts of all these nations can give us a respite. There are two battles that we are fighting; there is the physical battle that would attempt to take out Boko Haram on the battle field. There is the greater battle that is harder to win, the battle of the mind and the soul of the people. That one has spread to the towns and villages where kids are being used as suicide bombers. That war will be difficult to win, but not difficult to overcome.

    Are we making progress in checkmating the insurgency?

    The military have initially confessed that they did not have the hardware to tackle the terrorists, but gladly they have what it takes in terms of weaponry and the battle is being taken to their domain. The whole world is battling terrorism, because they can strike in Syria, Libya or New York. That is why the whole world has to stand up as one to face the challenge. In order to succeed, education and enlightenment is key. An aggressive enlightenment campaign should be embarked upon,  led by Islamic leaders who have a duty to design a programme and strategy to deconstruct the minds of millions of their followers who had been fed with the wrong information and knowledge about Islam. Islam is a religion of peace that does not in any way encourage violence.

    But, some people are reading religious meaning to it. Do  you share this viewpoint?

    No, I do not believe it. If they were real Muslims, they will not kill in the name of Islam; no matter the provocation. They are just terrorists who have an agenda beyond comprehension. Boko Haram is against anything that is development, civilization and progress. It would drag us back to the dark ages. As far as l am concern, Boko Haram does not represent any political party or any religion, but a group of people who are ignorant of what development and progress is all about and are only propagating evil for their own selfish ends.

    Where do we go from here?

    Nigerian political leaders have to come together and make concerted efforts to condemn and attack the evil and atrocious Boko Haram tendency. They have to speak in one voice and send a signal to the terrorists that Nigeria has no place for any form of extremism. My group, ‘Professionals for Change’ is championing a project titled ‘Nigerian Against all Terrorism’. The battle is not only for soldiers on the battlefield, but all of us should unite and strongly go against the sect.

    Every Nigerian has a responsibility and a duty to stand up through continuous condemnation of Boko Haram. Political and religious leaders in the North are faced with the challenge of re-orientating the youths toward a new thinking and a new way of life and the evil effect of extremist propaganda they have been exposed to.

    There should be a deliberate programme of re-education and re-orientation of youths, which should start from when they are very young at the primary school level. There should also be a compulsory Universal Primary Education for all the youths wherever they are. The education should be targeted towards how they can serve Nigeria not how to destroy it.

    What is your take on the notion that it has a political undertone?

    I refuse to see a political colouration.  l see  a group that is determined to establish some ideology that does not exist in any book and in trying to do so, they are  committing all forms of monumental destruction against the Nigerian state. The destruction and violence is being committed by a group of bandits and suicide bombers trying to create mayhem.  There is nothing political in their satanic action. Rather, they are a group of people who have  been brainwashed not to see reality.

  • Feeding the monster

    Feeding the monster

    The recent news of uproar in the creeks of Delta State reminds me of my days in secondary school. I often looked forward to my holidays with my grandmother in my village in the Niger Delta. I preferred it to Lagos. We had no light, no cars, no pipe-borne water, no paved roads. I thrived on the predictable staple of eba and starch and yam. Lagos offered the glitzy contrast. I bustled with what Americans call jungle fever. My only trepidation as a teenage boy was the prospect of wild beasts, especially snakes. Against them, I had no skill. But I loved the enchantment of the terrain: the arboreal beauty of the forest, the limpid glow of the rivers and the mysterious destiny of streams. They deleted any phobia. In vain, I craved the naïve facility of the country bumpkin. But I shivered with the joy of what South African novelist Peter Abraham called a dumb townie, a city boy out of sync with the primitive sweetness and sensuous peace of the village.

    The city like Lagos where my parents domiciled belonged to the wild impulses of civilisation: armed robbers, political corruption, teenage delinquency, the pull of filthy lucre. In the village, wild meant simple: honesty, unadorned clothing, innocence of lucre. The other wild of the village belonged to the animals that imposed a rhythm of noise and silence to the forests, the pops and serenities of streams, the stir and stillness of the foliage.

    When I taught journalism in the United States, critics of editors often cited a naivety among newspapers that stereotyped rural residents as innocents and the city dwellers as the poison tree of modernity. The rumble of Delta State between the Itsekiri and Ijaw spilled blood on the quiet streams and statuesque beauty of the forests in the region at the time. I cited the far-flung example to my students to show the other side of prejudice. Innocence does not always drape the simple.

    That thought came to me when the news broke of the fight between the two ethnic groups around the Warri North Local Government in Delta State. I must state, as it is obvious from my name, that I am an Itsekiri man, and if that betrays any bias, I take responsibility. But I will state my point as my conscience propels me.

    The reports show that a group known as Egbema Radical Group had been jockeying for some elective positions in the local government, and that matter brewed even as advertisement in newspapers. In the midst of this, some radicals first launched an attack on the house of an Ijaw man. The culprits did not secure the attention they desired. They stepped up the ante, and attacked Itsekiri villages. This gave the incident the flavour of inter-ethnic feud. Newspaper reports also fed this motif, and all over the region and the country, men and women in high and low places worried. They saw the return of the incubus of the old conflict. The mermaid of blood and death had risen out of the waters.

    This writer imbibed that impression until I probed. It became clear from some more critical reporting like the one from our Southsouth regional editor, Shola O’Neil, and conversations with some insiders. It became clear that this was conflict as intimidation. Some boys who had been left out of the amnesty largesse had fought back with a vengeance. These young men wanted to take advantage of the flimsy agitations of the Egbema Radical Group’s call for representation by stoking up a conflict. The ERG wanted to feed off that tragedy to advance its positions.

    Shola O’Neil’s report showed how brutal the killings defaced the villages that had enjoyed peace for close to a decade when the crisis ended. Whole families were wiped out, and ironically the Itsekiri were not the only victims. Some Ijaw also fell. Bullets spill blood but recognise no kin.

    The perpetrators attacked for intimidation. They wanted to railroad the state government and the Federal Government for attention. Hence Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan warned that he would not concede to them and would not act under duress. He noted that the positions the ERG wanted were elective positions and if an Itsekiri won, it was not his doing. The Governor noted he was an Itsekiri man and he understood the sensitivity of the issue. Sources say the boys want to have their own opportunity to bunker oil. They are learning from the futility of the amnesty programme, and they are trying to take advantage of a subdued tension between the two ethnic groups. They betray envy of the big boys fattening on contracts from the president.

    The perpetrators want to follow an old script: levitate selfish and parochial interest by exploiting familiar grudges. This is dangerous, and Governor Uduaghan understands this and he has shown why caving in would amount to feeding a monster. The irony is not lost for most of the beneficiaries of the amnesty programme are Ijaw. We have seen how the Jonathan administration has lifted these former brigands to be caretakers of our patrimony. Now, he should see that the same ethnic group is insatiable. It is a parable of the failure of the amnesty programme. It is the President’s action that made a group to call for an Ijaw region to cover other ethnic groups like Urhobo, Itsekiri, Isoko, etc. This is because, increasingly, Jonathan cannot distinguish his role as an Ijaw man and his position as President of Nigeria.

    He has not addressed why the problem of violence persists. Bayelsa State has witnessed bursts of violence and Governor Seriake Dickson, his son governor, has been weeping impotently in public over the menace. The same groups are terrorising Rivers State to the extent of lobbing teargas into the Government House.

    We all know the bloodletting that the Itsekiri-Ijaw conflict wrought in the region. It changed the landscape, wiped out the ambition of some of the youths for a generation, decimated families, destroyed businesses, and the state, in spite of the long spell of peace, still bears scars of that sanguinary era. Governor Uduaghan ensured peace in the state even before the so-called amnesty. In his new book Transatlantic, Irish author Colum McCann noted that peace is harder than war. Those who want to rekindle the inter-ethnic war are obsessed with “half-remembered fragments of some enormous receding and impossible dream,” apologies to Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. But the Federal Government owes it a task to the country to address the source of the problem. We must replace greed with work and opportunities. We cannot continue to feed the monster, or the Niger Delta will default to its old theatre of blood thirsty goons with flamboyant lifestyles.

     

     

     

    Mimiko: Whitlow of west

    Newspaper correspondents and labour leaders in Ondo State must love Governor Segun Mimiko very much, so much so that they would not report that the man they so gleefully serenaded in the last election has been owing salaries of the civil servants and local government workers for months. Where is the people’s money? In the five fingers that represent five state governors, Mimiko has earned his place as the whitlow of the west. He cannot say his master Jonathan is not paying him allocations, because good lackeys and lapdogs deserve sweet bones. The Iroko should not fatten at the expense of those who give it nutrients.