The Nation Newspaper

Tag: True

  • True federalism, key to progress

    Sir, the issue of revenue allocation has remained contentious over the years. The struggles to resolve perceived unfairness in resource control and distribution have led to the establishment of commissions upon commissions both before independence and after independence.

    Despite the commissions and decrees, the agitation for true federalism remains popular in our discourse even after the entrenchment of the minimum 13 percent derivation rule in the 1999 constitution.

    True federalism is a system where derivation principle and transparency in given full attention. It is a system that encourages the autonomy of states, especially in the area of resource control.

    The creation of more states supposed to bring government closer to the people, give sense of belonging and speedy development but reverse is the case in Nigeria. In Nigeria, the more states are created, the more imbalance surface, the more the agitation for more states.

    However, state creation has at least spread development further to the nooks and crannies but at unequal pace. It has created more burdens and suffering for Nigerians.

    Two-thirds of the 36 states owe their worker salaries. The state governments are complaining of reduction in the allocation from the centre while the centre is complaining of   the fall in the oil price at the international market.

    This shows the level of states government dependency on the federal government and the blind sight of the nation to other sectors of the economy.

    The implementation of true federalism will reduce this dependency and fast track the struggle for economic diversification. It will create a competitive ground for state to manage its resources and create wealth instead of depending on the federal for allocation.

    With true federalism, the country will no more depend solely on oil because efforts would be made to develop other sectors like agriculture, mining and others.

    The system will resolve the persistent and recurring agitations of various nationality groups for restructuring to improve their positions in the power matrix and resource distribution.

    The consistent and persistent vandalisation of the government property under the guise of agitation by militants like Niger Delta Avengers, MEND among other will reduce.

    Also, the clamour for secession would mellow down because the feeling of marginalisation will disappear. Also, the do or die politics will reduce to the level that will no longer pose threat to our democracy because accessibility to political power at the centre will no longer be seen as means to making money.

     

    • Femi Oluwasanmi,

    Lagos

  • An attempt at the true origin of the West African peoples

    An attempt at the true origin of the West African peoples

    Title: Exposition: The Hebrew Origin of The West African Peoples
    Author:Olalekan Abiola-Kushehin
    Publisher: Liberal Consults
    No. of Pages: 109
    Year of Publication: 2014
    Reviewer: Gboyega Alaka

    Are you one of those who have been wondering about the true origin of the West African peoples? Better still, do you wonder about the amazing resemblance in languages, cultures and the possible relationship between tribes like the Ewe, Yoruba, Idoma, Akan, Igala, Edo, Igbo, Nupe, Aku, Efik, Ga, Ibibion, Urhobo, Ijaw, Kanuri, Fon, Itsekiri, Tiv and co?

    Then the book, EXPOSITION: The Hebrew Origin of The West African Peoples, written by Olalekan Abiola-Kushehin may just come handy. Abiola-Kushehin, a widely travelled pastor at the Good News Baptist Church, Surulere, Lagos who has spent a good length of time in Isreal encountered similarities in the culture and languages of West African tribes, which he found too striking to be mere coincidence, prompting a further research that finally culminated in the book, EXPOSITION.

    According to the author in the preface, EXPOSITION is a book written for one vital, though quickly forgotten reason: to create the necessary awareness amongst the people of West Africa of their Hebrew origin, and the need for all to return to God….The book is written out of the burden I have to actually search for the true origin of my people. There are three angles I have looked at in the realisation of my goal: Religious, Cultural and Linguistic geography.”

    The 12-chapter book starts with Return To God, where the author sought to establish that the fall of man is a consequence of his disobedience to God. In page 4, he pointed out that slavery is one of the ways God punished his people, talking about the Hebrews, who transgressed.

    “This same slavery is the chief reason why we lost touch with our Abrahamic origin- talking about Africans, leading us into various strange land. It also continued, when we as Africans now, were taken away to the Americas and Europe for all forms of labour.”

    In “The Sin of Idolatary: A Justification (Chapter 2), he tries to show that “It is not man that holds man captivity in all cases, but the sin of man.” he cited the captivity of Isreal in 586 BC as an example where they were severally warned through several prophets, before His wrath fell on them. In the same vein, he said Nebuchadnezzar was also fulfilling God’s plan; same for the Roman invasion led by Gen. Pompey in 63 BC; the Jewish revolt against the Roman rule, which ultimately led to a massive destruction of Jerusalem and a further plundering of the Jews; right through to the most recent in history, when 6million Jews were reportedly massacred by Hitler’s Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945. Never mind the fact that even Hitler himself was later confirmed to be a Jew through a DNA conducted on his cousin years later.

    He also debunked the theory that the enslavement of the West African people has  direct link with the Hamitic curse in the bible and the British physician, C. G. Seligman Hamitic hypothesis that the sub-Saharan Africans never developed a civilisation, citing the Nok culture that dates back to 1000BC and the Ife Bronze and Terra-cotta.

    Immigration and a Peoples’ Language (Chapter 3) tries to link the history of West Africans, citing how the Yoruba, who claim to be from Saudi Arabia and actually only passed through the Arabian peninsula in the course of their sojourn like several other Jewish tribes, leaving residues as they travelled and spread across the African continent; picking bits of languages and cultures.

    Quoting Dr. Nwankwo T. Nwaezeigwe, an eminent Historian and Igbo Scholar, he cited the similarities in vocabularies amongst the Igbo, Edo, Yoruba, Igede, Idoma, Nupe and Igbira with words like biwa nibi, bia neba, meaning ‘come here.’

    ‘Isreal to Nigeria’ (Chapter 4), traces Oduduwa’s root as a prince of Juba (Judah), who actually came to join his people who had come ahead of him and settled in Ile-Ife after the 70 AD attack on the Jews. He debunks the theory of their Mecca origin saying “the Yoruba are not Semitic Arabs but Semitic Jews, judging from the Yoruba traditional religion of Ifa, which is Judeo-Christian in practice.” He also said that if they are indeed bonafide Arabs, the story of them being driven out of the Arab peninsula would never have arisen.

    Chapter 5 talks about culture and tradition and the fact that it is a way of life of a people that is hardly dropped. He uses cases like circumcision, which is a covenant known only to Abraham and his descendants, linking it with how the Yoruba and Igbo (page 37) have religiously comply with this 8th day culture from years immemorial; same for naming, reverence for twin children, bowing as a sign of respect, animal slaughter, endogamy and talent and love for music.

    He went further in chapter 6 to debunk the autochthonous myth of Ile-Ife as the origin of creation, saying this was the outcome of the peoples falling out of favour with their God and having to regenerate themselves over centuries and settlements.

    In page 45, he said “Around a thousand years ago, Ile-Ife was a fortified city like Jerusalem,” concluding therefore that “it is my opinion that Ile-Ife is merely a cognate of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire where the people from the Northern Kingdom of Isreal were taken captive in 743 BC .

    On page 52, he also alludes that Ile-Ife was the spread out point for all the West African tribes that eventually emerged in the sub-region and that it was Oduduwa who gave the Igbos (who actually arrived Ile-Ife first before spreading out) the name Igbo (awon ara igbo, meaning people of the forest, since they resided in the deeper side of the forest).

    In chapter 7, he says “Ifa is referred to as an Oracle, the Lord Jesus Christ who has being (sic) speaking to man since creation… a divine utterance to man, usually in answer to a request for guidance.”

    In page 64, he said, Orunmila, in Ifa is the same divine person as Jesus the Christ in the Christian scripture.”

    The author also dedicates a whole chapter (9) to Obatala, saying “Obatala is one of the numerous names of Jesus in Ifa traditional religion of the West Africa peoples. Other names are Ela, Orunmila, Orisa-nla, etc.

    Chapter 10 focuses on the vocabularies and a striking resemblance between words of Yoruba and West African origin and the Hebrew language.

  • Vote for true federalism

    Vote for true federalism

    SIR: It might be a popular cliché but very apt today. Some may assume otherwise because of the seemingly vast natural resources, but it is in the best interest of every region in Nigeria to see this country work and prosper as one corporate entity.

    As the political drums beat louder, some people are threatening fire and brimstone if their candidate does not produce the next president. Others are saying it will be the end of Nigeria and all sorts of myopic, sentimental views.

    Just like the United States of America, the United Arab Emirates and Great Britain, the 36 states of Nigeria need each other to thrive and excel as a big economy. This present system of government is tailored solely for survival, which breeds under-development, corruption, nepotism, parochial, ethnic and chauvinistic tendencies.

    More so, just like the USA, the UAE and Great Britain, we can have a new country that will be called GREAT NIGERIA with a new constitution based on true federalism to the letter.

    As all the past leaders are Nigerians, yet we are not there yet and we are not expecting aliens to come and govern us someday, then we need a better system of true federalism more than we need better persons. The default settings of most humans is to do things wrongly, but a system in place can effectively help them to do things right. More than any other country in the world, Nigeria is the perfect fit for true federalism due to our unrivalled diversity. True federalism is the system that will make this unrivalled diversity a great strength rather than a great weakness as presently manifesting.

    Another name for true federalism is ‘live and let live’. A good system like a car or computer does not need a genius to operate it. Why do we practice democracy if we cannot apply it to the letter like those we copy are doing it? Why do we go the journey half way when we can go full way? Why is it that Nigerians travel abroad and obey all the laws but come back home and flout all the laws? Likewise expatriates in Nigeria? I believe the answers to these questions are the answers to a better Nigeria.

    With this present system, our strengths have become weaknesses. Rather than stand on 36 strong pillars, we are standing on just one weak pillar. Therefore, we need to reverse this tide as a nation by restructuring and practising true fiscal federalism in all ramifications. This should be the agenda of priority for the next political dispensation because it will go a long way in effectively addressing corruption and the mindset of the people and government of Nigeria.

     

    • Ikponmwosa Eriamiantoe,

    W.I.S.E Group, Maitama, Abuja.

  • Nigeria: True independence approaching

    Every country has its inner, intrinsic, structure. A country that is made up of one nationality (a people with their own homeland, culture, language, etc) is different from another country in which many different nationalities are combined. To exist in reasonable harmony, a country’s man-made structure (that is, its constitutional structure) must harmonize as much as possible with its intrinsic structure. When the leaders and rulers of a country organize their country in ways that are manifestly and defiantly disharmonious with their country’s intrinsic structure, they condemn their country to instability, discord, conflicts, and probably disintegration.

    The refusal of most Black African countries to follow this wisdom is the reason why almost all Black African countries have experienced instability, conflicts and violence since independence. European empire builders came in about 1900, each grabbed some expanses of African territory, ignored the African nationalities that inhabited each such territory, and called it a new country – with one name and one government. For the next 40 years or so, the colonial rulers were so busy trying to make profit from their venture, and they were so distracted by big troubles (two World Wars and a Great Depression) in their own continent, that they could not pay serious attention to issues such as appropriate constitutional structure for their African territories. In the course of the 1960s, under pressure from Africans who wanted colonialism to end, and from a world that was becoming hostile to imperialism, the European colonialists hurriedly cooked up some sort of leadership for their African possessions and left. That is the basic story of every Black African country until independence.

    At that point of independence, a great task fell on the shoulders of the new African leaders of each of these countries – the task to organize their country properly and give it a chance to be stable and peaceful, and to develop. The core of this task was that the new rulers should ensure that each nationality in their new country (no matter how small) would be respected in the country. In every country made up of many different nationalities and given only one central government by the colonialists, it was necessary to restructure by creating constitutions allowing the various nationalities to have some freedom to manage some important parts of their own affairs. That means we Black Africans should have chosen some sort of federal structures for most of our countries.

    Unfortunately, in not a single one of our Black African countries did the leaders even ask what needed to be done in this all-important matter of living together as one country. Just a few examples will do. In Black Africa’s first independent country, Ghana, the various nationalities asked at independence to be allowed to manage some of their own affairs locally; but their first ruler and great African hero, Dr. Nkrumah, thought that their requests were dangerous to the unity of Ghana, and he launched a political fight aimed at stamping them down. That led to crises and big trouble – all of which could have been avoided. The troubles destabilized Ghana and ultimately destroyed the great hero.  In nearly every one of our other countries, the leaders simply assumed too that their countries were already finished products, and that all they needed to do was to make their governments strong and capable of stamping down any show of freedom by any of the component nationalities. And the results since then in country after country have been conflicts, military coups and barbaric military dictatorships, mind-boggling corruption, pogroms, efforts at ethnic cleansing, or even genocide.

    South Sudan is our youngest country in Black Africa. After decades of brutal sacrifices in bush wars, South Sudan, comprising about 40 different nationalities, wrenched itself free from Arab-controlled Sudan and became an independent country in July 2011. Even before the day of independence, many leaders of the different nationalities had started to ask that the nationalities should be given some freedom to manage much of their affairs locally.  We were all very happy when the leader of the independence war, our brother Salva Kiir, as president of the new country, said during the independence celebrations that South Sudan would be a country “where cultural and ethnic diversity will be a source of pride”. Very many Black Africans (including this writer) rushed letters to the leaders of South Sudan congratulating them and begging them to be mindful of the fact that their country was a county of many different nationalities – and to avoid the mistake that other Black African countries had been making. Sadly, it has not worked. President Kiir soon rejected all advice about a federal structure of decentralization. His Vice-President and many others (belonging to nationalities different from his) accused him of aspiring to a dictatorship. The nationalities plunged into conflicts – and have been engrossed in mutual killings since then. International observers on the spot are now reporting that more than 50,000 (some say close to 100,000) have been killed – and the killings are still continuing.

    It is the same pattern as this in all our countries – with all sorts of variations of detail. The Nigerian story is easily the most bizarre and most painful of all. Nigeria is the Black African country with the greatest promise of prosperity and greatness – the home of one-fourth of all Black Africans, the most literate population at independence, and the land of enormous natural resources (including some of the richest crude oil and gas deposits on earth). To protect their economic interests in this naturally rich country after it would have become independent, the British colonialists sought to hand Nigeria, at independence, to “a friendly people”. Fearing the highly educated Yoruba and Igbo of the South, they manoeuvred the constitution, the population census, the politics and the elections, placed Nigeria’s federal power in the hands of the much weaker Hausa-Fulani Muslim elite of the North, and established the direction by which they would be able to use their control of federal power to keep controlling the country indefinitely.

    But all of those were the acts of British foreigners fending for their Britain’s interests. The duty of Nigerians was obvious and different – it was to make Nigeria successful. Unhappily, the enthroned group chose not to work for the success and greatness of Nigeria. They chose to use their federal power to entrench their sectional control eternally – in the Nigerian military, in the Nigerian federal civil service, over the states of the federation, to convert federal agencies (courts, electoral commission, police, etc) into their tools, to use federal money to corrupt, emasculate, and enslave prominent citizens, and to resist any attempt at evolving a true federal system. Even when some southerners (Obasanjo and Jonathan) have been allowed to sit on top of the system, they have been too enticed by it to make any decisive change.

    However, judging from the way Nigeria is now tottering fearfully, the rejection of the system has now gathered irresistible power. This could turn the coming election into a chaotic brawl. And, if any candidate does manage to win, he must tackle this overriding problem convincingly immediately or find most of Nigeria unwilling to accept him. The time for true independence has come – one way or other.

  • ‘Be true ambassadors’

    As they depart for their International Baccalaureate Diploma in some of the United World Colleges scattered across the world, 11 students have been counselled to be good ambassadors of Nigeria.

    At the orientation for the students who won scholarships to attend the colleges at the St Nicholas House, Lagos Island, the Information and Welfare Officer of the United World Congress, Mrs. Comfort Coleman, told them they could be true ambassadors by showcasing Nigeria’s rich  culture.

    “Although we have our problems, but there are many positive things, stories opportunities and potentials to share about Nigeria to the rest of the world without undermining your academic performance,” she said.

    She, however, cautioned the students to shun bad behaviour and ungodly associations that could truncate their ambitions.

    She lamented that many promising children have lost focus of their dreams in life because they ignore wise counsel from their parents, guardian and mentors.

    “We all make choices in life but we must always remember that we will all bear the consequences of our choices and actions whether it is a good choice or a bad one,” she said.

    Speaking on the UWC scholarship programe, Mrs Coleman said it is aimed at making education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and sustainable future.

    “We inspire our alumni to become leaders in social responsibility and achieve change personally, locally, nationally and internationally. We value our strong academic achievement but also work more broadly on developing the knowledge, values and skills that will shape our students as well rounded people,” she said.

    After completing the IB programme, Mrs Coleman said many of the students often get admissions and scholarships into the best universities around the world.

    To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must be between 16 and 19; get an endorsement from their principal, write an essay, examination and do an interview.

    The UWC  are in the United States South Africa, Canada, Italy, whales, Scotland, Lesotho, among others.

    One of the students who got a full scholarship, Marvelous John said:  “I promise to be a true ambassador of Nigeria. I will not let Nigeria down but I would ensure that I put Nigeria on the map by showcasing our rich values, culture and tradition.”

     

  • ‘It’s a dream come true’

    I grew up appreciating the value of hard work, and that through hard work, perseverance and determination you can accomplish anything you set your heart to do. I am very passionate about what I do in the bank, which is very demanding, am also passionate about art. I discovered a few years ago that out of my busy scheduled I needed to create time to paint. And what I am doing today is a product of passion, determination and tenacity.”

    There was the response of Mrs Ronke Aina-Scott on how she manages her busy job schedule at Fidelity Bank and studio practice to produce paintings for her debut solo art exhibition, Colours on my mind’ holding at MyDrim Gallery on Norman Williams Street, Ikoyi Lagos on June 22.

    For Mrs Aina-Scott, a graduate of Fine Arts at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, the solo exhibition featuring 50 paintings is a big deal. She said: “It is for me a like a dream come true.” Since her childhood days being an artist was what appealed to her. Spoke to art writers at a preview session last week in Lagos.

    She said her choice of theme for the exhibition, Colour on my mind, is a reflection of her mood and fascination by colours and a way to encourage other women to show their talent and admiration for couor. She said although she had participated in two other group exhibitions her solo was a way of serving as a touchstone for other women to come out of their ‘self-imposed limitations’ and show their creativity. According to Aina-Scott, “As a little girl, my colour pencils were the most prized of my earthly possessions and whenever they got missing, which was very often, I was usually reduced to tears.

    ‘’Painting fills me with a sense of accomplishment and I am most at peace with myself when I am at work on my canvas. Art for me has proven a most amenable vehicle for translating inner vision to outer reality.”

    Asked how she copes as a banker, she said: “I feel joy working on canvas. It is not as if I am not fulfilled working in the banking hall. However, I feel my other side as a creative artist should not be sacrificed. I work long hours in the office and get back home and still get to my pastel and paint. That is the level of my devotion and commitment to painting and my canvas. “

    She confessed that it has not been easy to cope with her family (she is married with a set of twins- a boy and girl), playing a mother, wife and bank worker and artist, at the same time. Among the exhibits for display include Where are the trees? And there are none… Iya ni Wura & Iya mi, Aje o! Aje ni ya Amokoko, “ Egwu Umu-agbohor, Ariya, Agogoro Eyo, African Masks, Mo yo fun e, and mo yo fun ra mi,

    Mrs Aina-Scott said she struggled to divide her time well to manage all the “stakeholders” that she has to take care of. “I give credit to God and the understanding of my employers (Fidelity Bank) for the understanding to cope with my job.” My art is to emphasise the contribution of women to building the society.

    The Special Guest of Honour and Chairman of the event is Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi. Other dignitaries expected at the opening ceremony are IK Mbagwu; Onome Olaolu; John Obi; Chijioke Ugochukwu; Nnamdi Okonkwo and Mohammed Balarabe, the Executive Directors of Fidelity Bank.

    On the event, the Group Head, Marketing and Communication, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr Emma Esinnah, said: “I have had the privilege of seeing some of Ronke’s works and can confidently attest that her strokes are as strong as her character and the diligence she shows in the office is carried over to her paintings. The colours are vibrant and the images speak to issues of our time”.

    The collection of art works are rendered in various arts forms of pointillism, acrylic, pastel and pen and ink, mostly abstracts, is an expression of various aspects of African culture.

    Mrs Aina-Scott was born in the 70s and encouraged by her mother to take interest in art. She began drawing with colour pencils and crayon as a young girl at home. Her talent blossomed in primary school and while in secondary school, she won many awards in Art.

    She participated in other exhibitions such as Best of Ife ’95, MinajTV Exhibition (1997) and Naija Woman Exhibition by Tourshop (2007).

    Before she joined the corporate world, Aina-Scott was one of the founding graphic artists at the Daily Independent Newspaper, from where she moved to FSB International Bank. She heads the Design and Production Unit of the Marketing and Communication Group, Fidelity Bank.

    She is a prolific artist whose works, inspired by the role of the African woman in society, tend to be simple, yet diversified. As an artist, Aina-Scott is very versatile, she is able to exhibit dexterity in the use of oil paints, pastel, acrylic, gouache and even pen and ink as a medium and her technique leans towards the abstract.

    On why she is coming up with a solo after years of leaving school, she said: “I have actually been painting. Back then, shortly after leaving school, as a struggling artist needing to make ends meet, I ended having to sell my paintings.

    “I was never really able to have a large collection of works to exhibit, so having a solo exhibition back then seemed a daunting task. I participated in a few group exhibitions and I have quite a large number of paintings in private collections both here in Nigeria and abroad. I have actually been able to sell quite a lot of my artworks online.”

    Continuing she said: “The demand on my time got more intense when I got married in 2005 and had a lot on my hands; I had the home front to take care- off coupled with the demands of a banking job. I had my hands full to the brim when I had my twin babies! I had lots of things battling for my attention and I had to put off the idea of going back to the canvas. My passion had always being in the creative industry and I knew it was just a matter of time before return to the canvas.”

  • ‘A true jurist leaves the Bench’

    ‘A true jurist leaves the Bench’

    It was not a church service, but for a moment, the valedictory court session held in honour of former judge of the Federal High Court, Lagos, Justice Okechukwu Okeke, seemed like one.

    Like a priest, the judge interrupted his speech with a song, and his audience joined in a rousing chorus.

    He sang from the Hymn Book (Ancient and Modern 301 by John Bunyan): He that is down needs fear no fall; He that is low no pride; He that is humble ever shall Have God to be his Guide. I am content with what I have, Little be it or much; And Lord’s contentment still I crave, Because thou savest such…

    Justice Okeke said he found solace in the words of the hymn. He retired having served as judge of the Federal High Court, first in Lagos (January to December 1993), Kaduna as pioneer judge (1994-1997), Lagos again (1997-2000), Abuja (2000-2002), Yenogoa, Bayelsa State capital as pioneer judge (2003-2008) and finally Lagos (April 2008 till May 18 this year).

    “I give thanks to the Almighty God for his Grace and guidance that sustained me from birth till now, more particularly through the vicissitudes of my judicial life in Nigeria.

    “If not for his love, care and protection, some powerful elements in Nigeria who blocked my progress in the judiciary would have succeeded in their evil plot to disgrace me out of the judiciary,” he said.

    He thanked past and present judges, lawyers and friends who he said stood by him during his tough times, and praised his wife Lady Uche Okeke and children for appreciating his “predicament as a judge who was subject to normal and punitive transfers.”

    “They missed my company, but their comfort was never compromised,” he said of his family.

    “Even when some mischief makers carried wicked stories that I abandoned my family at Onitsha, my wife and children dismissed the story, and encouraged me to continue my Herculean judicial duties,” Justice Okeke said with emotion.

    The former judge said he would not say all he “saw” while on the bench. He spoke an Igbo proverb about the palm wine tapper who said he would not announce all he saw in his village while on the palm tree.

    Federal High Court Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, described Okeke as a man of integrity who did not forget his roots.

    “Hon. Justice Okeke, above all, is a true Igbo man, one of those Igbo men who truly believe that a true African man and an Igbo man for that matter should be able to use proverbs as oil with which they eat words.

    “We are going to miss O. J. and his proverbs. He is a kind man, a loving husband, an admirable friend, an accommodating brother and a doting father. Perhaps only a few of us know how very religious he is, how very considerate he can be,” Justice Auta said.

    Lagos Attorney-General, Ade Ipaye, who represented Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), said judges deserve praise as they are expected to function under the same stress and strains which society places on its “ordinary members.”

    “The hours are long. The physical and intellectual exertions are never ending and the moral responsibility exceedingly heavy. Yet, our judges are equipped with no extra features that would make them super human.

    “It is, therefore, a true achievement to the society at large when a judge completes his tenure with a high reputation for fairness, hardwork and professionalism,” Ipaye said.

    Anambra State Attorney-General, Peter Afuba, who did his pupilage under Okeke while he was still a practising lawyer in Onitsha, recalled the “touching kindness” with which the former judge treated him, saying he had “a rewarding career on the bench.”

    “I found most beneficial, his advice at that time on how to charge and collect proper fees from clients.

    “I wish to state without equivocation that His Lordship has clearly proved himself a worthy son of Anambra State whom we are proud to call and claim as our own,” Afuba said.

    Representative of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), Kemi Pinhero, noted that most of Okeke’s decisions are upheld on appeal.

    He said legal practice would be made easier if technology is better applied. According to him, Order 58 of the Federal High Court Rules mentions a Communications and Service Centre for e-filing, which does not exists, adding that lawyers should be able to file cases, and matters assigned, electronically.

    Pinhero said jovially that God must be looking down on Okeke and saying, “My Pikin, My Pikin, well done.”

    He was indirectly referring to the last major judgment Justice Okeke delivered, involving manufacturers of killer syrup, My Pikin Baby Teething Mixture.

    Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos Branch, Taiwo O. Taiwo, urged lawyers to stand up in defence of judges.

    “Many lawyers are rude and insolent to the court. The judiciary must be restored to its lost glory,” Taiwo said.

    His Ikeja counterpart, Onyekachi Ubani, said Justice Okeke was leaving the bench to a well-deserved rest. “Nigeria will certainly look for him in his village – Adazi-Ani,” he added.

     

  • No true democracy in Nigeria, says Belgore

    Former Chief Justice of Nigeria Alfa Belgore has decried the infrastructural decay in the country.

    The problem, he said, was responsible for lack of true democracy in the country.

    The retired jurist spoke yesterday at the fourth Justice Bola Babalakin annual lecture organised by the Osogbo branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

    He said it would take some time before Nigeria gets true democracy where people’s wishes and what is good for the country prevail.

    In the lecture, titled: “Nigeria Constitution. What is the future?” Justice Belgore, who is the chairman of the constitution review committee, berated the political class for the nation’s infrastructural decay.

    He said it is preferable that Nigeria is called a federation rather than federal republic.

    “I will like our country to be called a federation of Nigeria rather than the Federal Republic of Nigeria, because we are not a true republic as our culture do not reflect the republican tendency.

    “What type of republic is this that has traditional rulers – the Obas, the Obis, the Emirs and others?

    “The truth is that we are a federation and not a republic.

    “Whenever there is a crisis in this country, these rulers mobilise their subjects for peaceful settlement. We cannot do without them.

    “I believe entirely in the united, peaceful and economically vibrant nation of Nigeria, but we have to have a rethink of the constitution without the interference of the military,” he said.

    He noted that from 1979 till date the country has only had constitutions that are irrelevant, difficult to practise and expensive.

    He said: “We do not have to be like the United States, because our history, our cultures and our ambitions are different.”

    Represented by his deputy, Mrs. Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, Governor Rauf Aregbesola faulted the 1999 Constitution.

    He called for the review of the constitution which he said did not provide for the present democratic system.

    Aregbesola urged the National Assembly to expedite action on the process that would lead to a review of the constitution which will be devoid of the deficiencies inherent in the current one.

  • Obi gets Legend of True Leadership award

    Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has been conferred with the Legend of True Leadership Award by the National Association of Nigerian Student Nurses and Midwives.

    At a ceremony at Our Lady of Lourdes School of Nursing and Midwifery in Ihiala, the National President of the association, Comrade Dauda Ahmed said the award was in recognition of the governor’s contributions to infrastructural development in Schools of Nursing and Midwifery, either government-owned or missionary.

    He noted that besides his support to rebuild hospitals and a new teaching hospital, Obi had also built or is building over 25 structures in various Schools of Nursing and Midwifery.