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Northern traders call-off strike as FG agrees to pay them N4.75b compensation

The Amalgamated Union of Foodstuffs and Cattle Dealers in Nigeria (AUFCDN) has called off its nationwide strike after the Federal Government agreed to pay them N4.75 billion to them.

President of AUFCDN, Comrade Muhammad Tahir, disclosed this after a meeting with the Federal Government presided over by Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello on Wednesday in Abuja.

The Northern traders had blocked food supply to the South to demand the payment of N4.75 billion compensation for lives of members and properties lost during the #ENDSARS protest and Shasha market chaos.

The traders had also demanded the dismantling of all road blocks on federal highways and an agreement with state governments to withdraw services anytime their members were subjected to attack.

Addressing reporters, Tahir said the government agreed to ensure protection of its members and stop all forms of multiple taxation and intimidation from security officials on the highways.

Tahir said: “All the stakeholders and members of AUFCDN in our nationwide strike are glad we achieved what we wanted to achieve.

“Since the Governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello begged us on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, we agreed to call off the nationwide strike today (Wednesday).

“They agreed to pay the compensation and call off any multiple taxation on federal highway and allow us to engage in our business activities peacefully nationwide,” sundry media quoted him to have said.

Addressing the aggrieved unionists during the reconciliatory meeting, Yahaya Bello said the nationwide strike had led to increase in hardship that a majority of Nigerians were already going through, including members of the aggrieved union.

He lamented that the collateral damage recorded nationwide during the few days of the strike was enormous and should not be allowed to multiply.

According to him, the prices of foodstuffs and cattle increased by 100 percent in the South and West, adding the North was not spared from the effects of the strike as perishable goods were getting spoilt with farmers and truck drivers unable to carry out business transactions that would enable them generate the needed finances to meet their daily needs.

Bello appealed to the aggrieved union to immediately call off the strike and allow movement of foodstuffs and cattle to all parts of the country with the assurance that no Hausa-Fulani or members of the union would be maltreated, harassed or killed.

A former Minister of Aviation, Femi-Fani Kayode, who spoke on behalf of the West and Southern regions, said the impact of the strike was too heavy to ignore.

He said the killing of any Hausa-Fulani or traders engaged in legal business activities would no longer be tolerated or accepted.

“On behalf of the so many people in the Southwest, especially Sunday Igboho, our commitment to you today that people of the Hausa-Fulani extraction cannot and will not be attacked in the South.

“It is unacceptable and he (Sunday Igboho) will be one of those to welcome you when you re-enter the South to escort you all,” the former Minister said. (Sundiatapost)

Abia, Ikpeazu and Smart Adeyemi’s “animal talk”, By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Ikechukwu Amaechi

It was the legendary Afrobeat maestro, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who, in one of his smash hits Beasts of No Nation told us about “animal talk.” The song was the first Fela wrote to critical acclaim after serving 20 months of a five-year prison sentence on dubious foreign currency smuggling charges during the military regime of Muhammadu Buhari, then a major general.

Though he regained his freedom in 1986 after Buhari had been overthrown in a palace coup on August 27, 1985, Fela did not release the album until 1989. It was a major work of art.

The music virtuoso referenced Buhari’s comment in 1984 that Nigerians lacked discipline, hence the imposition of ‘War Against Indiscipline’ (WAI).

Fela took very strong exception to what he perceived to be the central message of WAI – “My people are useless, my people are senseless, my people are indiscipline” – and concluded in pidgin English thus: “Na Nigerian government, ee-oh. Dem dey talk ee-oh. My people are us-e-less, My people are sens-i-less, My people lack discipline. Na animal talk be dat ee-oh.”

Simply put, Fela was lamenting, in his iconic way, the penchant of Nigerian leaders to make comments that induce head scratching.
Fela died on August 2, 1997, more than 23 years ago.

These days, I wonder what he would be singing about were he still alive considering the incredulous statements that are impetuous, incautious, reckless and downright irresponsible, which Nigerian leaders make every day without a care in the world.

Fela would have scoffed to no end when Defence Minister Bashir Magashi, a retired major general, called Nigerians cowards for not standing up to heavily armed bandits with bare hands.

“At times, the bandits will only come with about three rounds of ammunition, when they fire shots everybody runs …. I don’t know why people are running from minor things like that. They should stand and let these people know that even the villagers have the competency and capabilities to defend themselves,” Magashi admonished Nigerians. Animal talk!

Fela would have laughed his head off hearing Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, say that not all bandits are criminals, all in an attempt to romanticise banditry.

The governor, whose state has become the melting pot of banditry in the country, said in February that bandits take up arms due to the injustice meted to them by some members of the society.

“Not all of them (bandits) are criminals. If you investigate what is happening, and what made them to take the law into their hands, some of them, sometimes were cheated by the so-called vigilante group,” Matawalle said after a meeting with Buhari on February 18. Animal talk!

On March 1, the self-appointed emissary of Fulani bandits, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, said on the BBC that kidnapping school students is a lesser evil, in an attempt to claim that his meetings with bandits were yielding positive results. He said his clients, the bandits, are now more careful about human lives hence their resort to mass abduction of students for ransom.

“Kidnapping children from school is a lesser evil because in the end, you can negotiate and now bandits are very careful about human lives. Before, the mission of bandits was to go into a town, ransack it and kill people,” Gumi said.

“By this, I can say our preaching is working and hopefully, we are coming to an end of banditry in Zamfara and other states.” Animal talk!

Never mind that the bandits are still killing scores of people every day in the North West, particularly Southern Kaduna.

Last week, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the government cannot afford to destroy forests that bandits use as their hideouts because doing so will affect the eco-system.

He disclosed on Channels Television penultimate Monday that the government was conscious of changes in the climate and would rather dialogue with the bandits than destroying the forests trying to dislodge and smoke them out.

“The better approach is not to destroy the forests because it would affect the eco-system, but what we need is better consultation with sub national governments and security agencies on how to secure the forests to make them safe for everybody,” Mohammed said. Animal talk!

But such talks are not the exclusive preserve of those in the executive arm of government. Last week, Smart Adeyemi, an All Progressives Congress (APC) senator representing Kogi West proved that lawmakers can also hold their own when it comes to animal talk.

Contributing to a motion sponsored by Stephen Odey, a senator representing Cross River North on the urgent need for the restoration and revalidation of the Safe School Initiative in Nigeria, Adeyemi tragically digressed to the surprise of his colleagues, and, indeed, Nigerians, to say that Abia State is governed by drunkards.

Adeyemi called out Governor Okezie Ikpeazu who he described as a ‘champagne drinking man.’

Odey had used the absurd level of insecurity in the country – particularly the raid on schools and mass abduction of hapless students and the criminal neglect of public schools and their subsequent dilapidation, evidenced in the unimaginable decay at the Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State – as the plank for his motion.

Instead of using the motion to shine a light on Nigeria’s inexorable slide to a failed state if nothing is done urgently to pull it back from the brink, Adeyemi saw it as an opportunity to score cheap political points, heap praises on his state governor, Yahaya Bello, and wage a proxy war on his behalf. He resorted to “animal talk.”

“Kogi State is lucky to have a governor who has taken the issue of security as a serious priority,” Adeyemi pontificated.

“Some governors are committed to the protection of their people, in my state the governor awarded contracts for the renovation of schools and provides security services to them.

“In some states of Nigeria today, where we have highly intelligent people, highly educated people, very enterprising people like Abia, they are governed by drunkards. The governor of Abia is a champagne drinking man. Abia people are impoverished more than ever before. Abia people are unfortunate,” Adeyemi said in what is no doubt a gross abuse of parliamentary privilege.

His colleagues, regardless of party affiliation, were ashamed. It was unbecoming for a senator of the Federal Republic to be base in his contribution to a motion on the floor of the Senate.

If Fela were alive, even as inscrutable as he usually was, Adeyemi’s outburst on the floor of the hallowed Chamber would have flummoxed him.

More bizarre was the reason he gave for his infantile outburst. He was paying his colleague, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, in kind for an alleged disparaging remark the Senate Minority Leader who represents Abia South made on social media against Bello, an allegation a flabbergasted Abaribe promptly denied.

Rather than upbraiding Adeyemi for wilfully abusing parliamentary privilege by resorting to “animal talk,” and insisting that he apologises to Abians whom he disparaged by his reckless comment, Senate President Ahmad Lawan simply noted that Abaribe’s denial meant that the “air has now been cleared.”

Had Adeyemi taken the simple step of asking Abaribe if, indeed, he made the comment, he would have avoided that embarrassing gaffe.

Without holding brief for Ikpeazu who can speak for himself, and has indeed responded to Adeyemi, I am worried about the quality of discourse in the Ninth National Assembly.

Not only was Adeyemi’s language un-parliamentary, insulting and impertinent, the fact that a senator would rather settle a petty political quarrel on the floor of the Senate than proffer solution to the existential threat we all face in the bourgeoning insecurity that envelops the land speaks volumes.

Ironically, Adeyemi may be happy that he has further ingratiated himself with his political benefactor, Bello, by this ungracious act of transferred aggression, but it takes a different level of inebriation to be so reckless in parliamentary conduct. He owes both Ikpeazu and the entire Abia people an unreserved public apology.

Shooting mars reunion of freed Nigerian schoolgirls with parents

All the 279 Nigerian schoolgirls released by kidnappers this week were on Wednesday reunited with their parents, in an emotional event overshadowed by chaos and shooting by security forces, an AFP reporter saw.

Angered by officials’ insistence on a formal handover before parents could leave with their children, mobs began throwing stones at officials outside the school in the remote village of Jangebe when the girls were returned.

One person was shot in the stomach when security personnel opened fire and was carried away by others in the crowd.

“Four people have been shot dead in the confusion,” Jangebe resident Bello Gidan-Ruwa told AFP by phone after leaving the village.

The tally could not immediately be confirmed with official sources.

Pupils at Government Secondary School in the village in northwestern Zamfara state, the girls were abducted on Friday from their hostels by gunmen known locally as bandits, who released them early Tuesday.

Since their release, the students had been in government care in state capital Gusau, receiving medical treatment before being returned to the school to be handed over to their parents.

There were tears and hugs from parents and relations as the girls arrived in buses, but officials and security personnel insisted on ushering the children into the dining hall.

– ‘Infuriating’ –

Anxious parents were outraged by officials’ insistence that the girls must be handed over to the local chief of Anka district, Attahiru Ahmad Anka.

“It is infuriating for (officials) to say they had to finish their speeches before handing over our children to us. This is outrageous,” one mother told AFP as she led her daughter away.

“They know the roads are insecure but they didn’t care. If we leave late and are kidnapped with our daughters again, the girls’ rescue will make no sense.”

There was chaos in the hall as parents grabbed their children and stormed out to the consternation of the officials.

Shooting by the security forces began when the crowd began pelting a convoy carrying regional parliament speaker Nasiru Mu’azu Magarya with stones as it tried to leave the village.

Despite the chaos, the girls and parents were happy for their release.

“I’m extremely happy to have been rescued from our captors,” Aisha Jamilu, a student, told AFP.

“I thank God for saving us from them. It was a horrifying experience I will never forget.”

She added that she would leave up to her parents the question of whether to resume her studies and run the risk of a second kidnapping.

“Even if I don’t go back to the same school I can be transferred to another one,” Jamilu said.

Muhammad Sani, father to two of the girls, said he was “delighted” to see his daughters again.

“I can’t say express how happy I’m. I didn’t cry when the girls were kidnapped but I couldn’t hold my tears when I saw them today. They were tears of joy.”

– ‘Reintegration’ –

UN experts on Wednesday called for urgent rehabilitation of the traumatised students.

“Social inclusion of these children requires the provision of long-term measures aimed at restoring their physical and psychological well-being,” the UN Human Rights Special Procedures experts said in a statement.

“Sensitising families and communities to the importance of reintegration is imperative for them to be able to build renewed social relations… and to overcome stigma.”

The experts condemned the Nigerian government for the “lack of an effective investigation into the abduction of 344 students from a boys’ boarding school in Kankara, Katsina State, in December 2020 and released a few days later.”

Heavily-armed criminal gangs in northwest and central Nigeria have stepped up attacks in recent years, kidnapping for ransom, raping and pillaging. (AFP)

No glass ceiling’: Tulane doctor files discrimination lawsuit against medical school

Dr. Russell Ledet sitting at his scientific bench.

A lawsuit filed last year accuses Tulane’s medical school of discrimination and “creating a race and gender-based hostile environment.”

By Priscilla Thompson and Alicia Victoria Lozano

NEW ORLEANS — Dr. Princess Dennar of Tulane University was just a child in Southwest Philadelphia when she decided to become a doctor.

Many of the children in the predominantly Black neighborhood often rode their bikes in the street, but there were few stop signs to keep them safe. She still remembers the day one of the kids was hit by a car. It took hours before an ambulance came to help, Dennar said. If she had been a doctor, she could have helped sooner, she remembers thinking.

Decades later, Dennar became the first Black woman to head the Tulane University School of Medicine’s internal medicine-pediatrics program.

“My parents [said] there is no glass ceiling. That was the philosophy that they implanted in me,” she told NBC News.

Despite breaking well-established barriers through her position at Tulane, Dennar was suspended last month after she filed a federal lawsuit against the medical school in October. The lawsuit accuses Tulane of discrimination and “creating a race and gender-based hostile environment.”

Dennar alleges in the lawsuit that she experienced discrimination starting in 2008 when she first interviewed for a director position at the program. Dr. Lee Hamm, who is now the dean of Tulane’s School of Medicine and was the chair of the internal medicine department at the time, is alleged to have told Dennar that she could become only co-director because “white medical students wouldn’t follow or rank favorably a program with a Black program director.” The medical school “didn’t want to change the face of Tulane” with her at the helm, the lawsuit claims.

Image: Dr. Princess Dennar
Dr. Princess Dennar of the Tulane University School of Medicine’s internal medicine-pediatrics program.Courtesy Dr. Princess Dennar

In a statement, Tulane said Hamm “categorically denies the allegations of racist language” outlined in Dennar’s lawsuit. The university said it is “committed to fostering an equitable and inclusive community and discrimination, in any form, has no place and is not tolerated.”

The lawsuit claims that after Dennar filed an internal complaint with Tulane’s Office of Institutional Equity in 2018, she was offered a contract renewal with a proposed $30,000 pay cut. Her salary was restored after she complained to Tulane’s Office of Institutional Equity. Dennar said she has since filed three federal Equal Employment Opportunity complaints. She won the right to sue in two of the cases. The third complaint was filed this week.

Dennar said her experience as the school’s first Black director “came with a lot of weight.”

“It also came with what I began to see as a pattern of exclusion and a pattern of abuse,” she said.

The pattern was not specific to Dennar. In her lawsuit, she also claims that Tulane’s internal ranking system for students, called ATLAS, rated students who attended historically Black colleges and universities lower than those who did not. Residents who were female or belonged to minority groups at Tulane were given less favorable rotation schedules and deprived of earning enough hours in certain types of training needed to graduate, according to the lawsuit.

“They were burdened with not having an equitable educational experience in comparison to their white counterparts,” Dennar told NBC News.

Tulane declined to comment on pending litigation. It said that Dennar’s suspension was based on “serious concerns raised by a special review” from an independent panel and that it is “engaging an outside consultant to facilitate discussion and discovery at the School of Medicine.”

Hours before Dennar’s story aired on NBC’s “TODAY” show Tuesday morning, Hamm offered to lift Dennar’s suspension and reinstate her as program director.

“This offer is predicated on Dr. Dennar’s acceptance of several support mechanisms to help ensure issues reviewed by [the Graduate Medical Education Committee] do not reoccur,” Hamm said in a statement. “I am dedicated to fostering an environment where every member of our community can work, learn, and thrive. I am committed to our important work to end racial disparities in the health system and believe that Tulane must be part of the solution.”

Dennar told NBC News that she will consider Hamm’s offer and review the terms with her attorney but that her concerns about racism and sexism at Tulane have not been addressed.

Image: Dr. Russell Ledet sitting at his scientific bench
Dr. Russell Ledet sitting at his scientific bench.Courtesy Dr. Russell Ledet

Backlash erupted on social media shortly after Dennar was suspended. A hashtag, #DNRTulane, was created calling on medical students not to rank Tulane during the process doctors-to-be undergo when they are vying for placement in residency programs. Another hashtag, #JusticeforDrDennar, is also circulating on Twitter. Both hashtags have drawn hundreds of responses from other Black students and doctors eager to share their stories of discrimination in the medical field.

“If you don’t value someone as powerful as Dr. Dennar, how can we be convinced right now in medical school that at some point you will value us?” third-year Tulane medical student Russell Ledet said. “If you could just cancel Dr. Dennar after all she’s accomplished, after all she’s done, who are we?”

Even before Dennar sued, Ledet had organized a now-viral photo of Black medical students posing outside a Louisiana plantation. In a tweet, Ledet wrote that the students in the picture were their ancestors’ “wildest dreams.”

“In the background, an original slave quarter,” he wrote in the tweet, which has more than 20,000 likes. “In the foreground, original descendants of slaves and medical students.”

More than a year after he shared the photo, Ledet said, “we need more doctors in our city.”

“We specifically need more Black doctors in our city for our patients,” he added.

Only 5 percent of all doctors in the U.S. are Black, and only 3.6 percent of those teach in medical schools, according to a report by the American Association of Medical Colleges. Black Americans are more than 13 percent of the U.S. population, according to census data.

“We have a lot more work to do in terms of valuing … diversity and what diverse people bring to leadership positions,” said Dr. Quinn Capers, vice chair of diversity at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Dr. Aysha Khoury, a Southern California-based internist and a former founding faculty member at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine in Pasadena, is among the Black doctors who are speaking publicly about racism at medical institutions. Last summer, after a Black man was killed during a confrontation with Pasadena police, the school’s equity and diversity office asked Khoury to weave in the topic of bias in medicine during a class.

During the class, which she co-facilitated with another faculty member, Khoury shared her experiences as a Black woman in medicine. She remembers her students’ being fully engaged and the classroom’s taking on an emotional air, because “it was an emotional topic.”

That night, Khoury was suspended from teaching. On Sept. 1, the school sent a letter to Khoury saying her suspension was “prompted by a complaint about certain classroom activities that took place on Friday, August 28.” It went on the say that the decision was made by “several school leaders.”

“I remember feeling shocked and numbed, disbelief because they had made that decision without speaking to me,” she said. “I was in a lot of pain.”

The medical school, which is named after the first Black man named as CEO of the integrated managed care consortium Kaiser Permanente, has denied that Khoury was suspended because of the class.

Khoury also said she was denied a promotion for which she had been considered only months earlier. Kaiser’s medical school declined to discuss personnel matters and did not address in the statement why Khoury was not promoted.

“The school has been clear that Dr. Khoury was not placed on leave because she brought content related to anti-racism to the classroom or because she shared her experiences as a Black woman in medicine,” the school said in an emailed statement. “In fact, we encourage our faculty to share their personal experiences and observations regarding anti-racism and equity, inclusion, and diversity and weave them into class discussions.”

Asked why she decided to speak out about her experience, Khoury said she refused to be “complicit” in her trauma.

“Once I started talking about it, I realized how hostile the medical profession is for Black women,” she said. “For me, being complicit means that my silence allowed them to continue to do what they did to me with impunity. If I saw a faculty member experience this, I would not be able to sit idly. I could not participate in their playbook.”

Credit:nbcnews

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS (NDAs)

A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) also known as Confidentiality Agreement (CA), Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA), Proprietary Information Agreement (PIA) or Secrecy Agreement (SA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge or information which the parties wish to share with one another for certain purpose, but wish to restrict access to.

NDAs are important legal framework or structure used to protect sensitive and confidential information or other non-public business information from being made available to third parties or the public by the recipient of that information.

It is a contract through which parties agree not to disclose information covered by the agreement. An NDA creates a confidential relationship between the parties, typically to protect any type of confidential and proprietary (branded/novel/exclusive) information or trade secrets (such as formulas, methods, recipes or manufacturing information).

NDAs can either be written or non-written (implied). Doctor-Patient confidentiality, Lawyer-Client privilege, Banker-Client confidentiality agreements, etc. are examples of implied Non-Disclosure Agreements.

The penalties for breaking an NDA are contained in the agreement and may include damages. Some NDAs have time limits, while others are in effect indefinitely. Note however, that NDAs cannot be enforced if the contractual activities are illegal.

If you have worked hard to create an idea, you definitely do not want that idea to be stolen by anyone. The entire purpose of an NDA is to protect your ideas or work from being hijacked by another party. An NDA allows you to have conversations with business partners, investors, employees, contractors, etc. without the fear and risk of giving away your trade secrets.

For startups and entrepreneurs, using an NDA is one strategy to help manage and legally protect confidential information. NDAs are commonly signed when two companies or individuals are considering doing business and need to share some kind confidential information to evaluate the potential business relationship. They can also be used when outsourcing for work – for example, a company can ask a freelance writer to sign an NDA that states that all information gathered while writing, and the writing itself, is confidential information until the company chooses to use it; or where a company has to share passwords or other private details with a freelance social media manager.

There are many situations that require a Non-Disclosure Agreement to be put in place, some of these are:

  1. When you are discussing the sale or licensing of a product or technology.
  2. When employees have access to confidential and proprietary information.
  3. When you are presenting an offer to a potential partner or investor.
  4. When you are receiving services from a company that has access to sensitive information.
  5. When you are sharing business information with a prospective buyer.

A Non-Disclosure Agreement is essential for a business to maintain a competitive edge. if you ever need to keep information, new products, new ideas, etc. from leaking to the public or your competitors, then a non-disclosure agreement is a must-do.

HOW DO I KNOW I OR MY BUSINESS NEEDS AN NDA?

If you are developing a new product, starting a new business idea, hiring a freelancer, developing something for sale, you would need to hire people, get investors or partners. You do not want those you’re working with to steal your idea/work, do you? Imagine if the manufacturers working with a company like Apple didn’t sign an NDA, they could easily make generic products, sell those products out themselves. This would cost Apple billions of dollars in sales. The same is true for any type of business development. An NDA is a great way to keep your important business information as confidential as possible.

Hence, you or your business needs an NDA to:

  • Prevent another person from revealing specific information such as trade secrets, exclusive knowledge, client lists, product information, strategic plans, or even business proposals and plans, etc.
  • Prevent someone from using confidential information gathered from communications or conversations in a business discussion to make undue profit.
  • Specify that certain items discussed in the course of business belong to, were created by, or were developed by one of the parties.
  • Guard against the potential for an angry employee or former employee to engage in sabotage by divulging confidential information or valuable trade secrets to competitors.

If you would like to discuss with us on whether or not you need a Non-Disclosure Agreement, contact us here.

2nd floor, Rolland-Dean Plaza, Idi Iroko Rd, opp. Fowobi junction, 112226, Ota, Nigeria

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Chinese Court Rules That Homosexuality Is A Mental Disorder

Youngsters hold rainbow flags, a symbol for the homosexuals, as they march on the street during their anti-discrimination parade in Changsha, central China’s Hunan province on May 17, 2013.AFP/Getty Images

A court in China recently ruled in favour of a publisher that described homosexuality as a “psychological disorder” in a university textbook.

The Suqian Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern province of Jiangsu, held that the textbook’s description of homosexuality as “a psychological disorder” was not a factual error but merely an “academic view”, upholding a judgment made in September last year.

“I feel at a loss, because they didn’t even have a trial, they just handed down the judgment,” said the plaintiff, who uses the pseudonym XiXi.

In 2016, during her first year of study at the South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, Xixi came across a psychology textbook that described being gay as a mental disorder. In 2017, XiXi had sued Jinan University Press and a company owned by retailer JD.com for publishing and distributing factually incorrect content.

The 2013 edition of Mental Health Education for College Students, published by Jinan University Press, listed homosexuality under “common psychosexual disorders” – along with cross-dressing and fetishism. It stated that homosexuality “was believed to be a disruption of love and sex or perversion of the sex partner”.

“The teaching material classifies homosexuality as a psychological disorder, which it isn’t,” the 24-year-old NGO worker said, adding that she only found out about the ruling on her appeal through her lawyer on Feb. 22.

“I’m really disappointed, because we are seeing comments that are supporting this judgment.”

Homosexuality was de-categorised as a mental disorder by the Chinese Psychiatric Association in 2001.

“It’s quite damaging to the whole LGBT community, so we are sorely disappointed,” said Peng Yanzi, the director of LGBT Rights Advocacy China.

“I’m not the only one who is disappointed, shocked and angry – the whole LGBT community is – but we also very much admire XiXi because she’s spent years legally pursuing this.”

100 Soldiers Abscond From Duty Posts In Borno Over Lack of Weapons

About 100 officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army have deserted their duty posts around Marte in Borno state, military sources have told TheCable.

Marte, Dikwa and other neighbouring communities have come under continuous attacks from Boko Haram insurgents in the past weeks.

In February, the troops recaptured Marte from the insurgents. The victory followed a 48-hour ultimatum given by Ibrahim Attahiru, the chief of army staff.

While giving the ultimatum, the army chief promised to provide the necessary things needed by the troops in the fight.

But military sources said the troops’ requests for reinforcement and additional weapons from the authorities were turned down, and they learnt that the insurgents were planning to launch another attack.

“They deserted in protest, actually,” one of the sources said.

“When the enemies attacked earlier, the troops were dislodged because they didn’t have enough ammunition to match those of BHT. But, the troops pulled the courage, returned and cleared that area, giving the BHT a run back to the bushes.

“They were expecting that the authorities would send in reinforcement and more equipment for them to prepare against any incoming attack. But sadly, they didn’t see anything. Most of them got angry and left.”

Mohammed Yerima, army spokesperson, was not immediately available to comment on the development.

In a memo, however, from the Operation Lafiya Dole headquarters, the officers and soldiers were accused of absconding from a defensive location during the Boko Haram attack on Marte and Dikwa.

“You are requested to declare the named officers and soldiers’ deserters WEF 19 Feb 21. You are also requested to cause HQ NAFC to freeze their accounts and apprehend/bring them under military escort to this Headquarters if seen within your AOR,” a part of the memo read.

  • The Cable

The Nigeria Data Protection Regulation(2019) Explained: Obligations of Public and Private Sector Organisation, Possible Recommendations

By Kelechi Orji

Introduction

Data in the 21st century is a most sought-after asset, as its uses vary according to the aims and objectives of the various organisations and individuals who make use of it. Data can be used by organisations for numerous purposes, for instance, hospitals use data to enable them give precise medications by analyzing past records of patients and how well they reacted to certain previous medications, Logistics companies use data to track and report orders from customers, while banks and financial institutions to use it predict and prevent cyber-crime. Advertisers track consumer behaviour and transactions in order to run targeted campaigns about their products and services. The entertainment and media industry use data to identify and focus on the right content providers at the appropriate time. This foregoing  represent just a little of the enormous uses of data.

The importance of data cannot be over-emphasized, as the biggest earning  and most valuable companies in the world, such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, and others (https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-most-valuale-brands-in-the-world/)  deal with large volumes of data in the format now referred to as, “Big Data”. As a result of the indispensable nature of data, and the possible misuse or violation of rights of data subjects, nations, societies and institutions across the world, have enacted various laws and regulations, which aim at protecting individual and streams of data, from misuse. Examples of these measures include, The Genera Data Protection Regulation (G.D.P.R.) which has jurisdiction mainly within the European Union, The New York Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security (S.H.I.E.L.D) Act and The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (P.I.P.E.D.A.) of Canada.

Nigeria did not have a comprehensive law set out solely to protect individual data until the coming of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (N.D.P.R./The Regulation) of 2019,  issued by the National Information Technology Development Agency (N.I.T.D.A/The Agency) statutorily mandated by the N.I.T.D.A. Act 2007, to regulate and monitor the use of electronic data interchange and other forms of electronic communications in all fields where electronic communication may improve the exchange of data and information.

Key Terminologies Simplified

Data/Big Data

Simply put, Data refers to information, facts, figures, records: financial records, health records, academic records, etc, of natural or unnatural persons, which is identified, collected, collated and eventually stored in an electronic format in any device.

On the other hand big data refers to  large volumes of data: semi-structured, unstructured data, that can be mined or analyzed for information, which will help big corporations make better decisions and planning for future prospective profitable ventures. 

Data Subject

An individual whose identity can be identified directly or indirectly from the amount of information, facts or records freely consented to, and made available to another organisation or entity for processing.

Data Controller

An individual, singular or jointly or a statutory body, which determines how personal data is, or will be, processed.

Data Controllers include telecommunication companies, hospitals. Betting organisations, schools, etc

Processing

This means any action carried out on personal data such as recording, storage, alteration etc.

Data Protection Compliance Organisations (D.C.P.O.)/ Data Protection Officer (D.P.O.)

A Professional Service Consultancy Firm or I.T. Service Provider or Audit Firm or Law Firm,  licensed and subject to the Regulations and Directives of N.I.T.D.A, to ensure compliance of the provisions of the Regulation by Data Controllers. In ensuring compliance, can also train, guide, draft data protection policies and audit policies for respective Data Controllers. (Article 1(3) of The Regulation)

Provisions of the Regulation

This Regulation applies to Nigerians and Non-Nigerians resident in Nigeria, as well as Nigerians resident outside Nigeria. Data controllers are obligated to first seek consent (in which case consent could be freely withdrawn) from data subjects before processing, and after consent is freely given must ensure security of data and further ensure that such data is not transferred to a third party or subject to theft, breach or anything that could compromise such data. In order words a Data controller must observe reasonable care when handling data of individuals. However the Regulation makes provisions for where consent will not be needed:

  • Legal obligation,
  • Contractual obligation,
  • Protection of the interest of data subject or another natural person, and
  • Public Interest. ( Article 2.2 of the Regulation)

Privacy policy is an integral part of data protection and every data controller must have a simple and noticeable privacy policy to the understanding of the target Data Subjects. (Article 2.5 of the Regulation)

Financial Sanctions

A defaulting organisation, whether public or private, shall face monetary sanctions from N.I.T.D.A, which varies according to the amount of data the organisation processes from data subjects:

  • Organisations which process data of more than 10,000 (Ten Thousand) Data subjects, fine of N10, 000,000 (Ten Million Naira) or 2% of the annual gross revenue of the preceding year whichever is greater.
  • Organisations which process data of less than 10,000 (Ten Thousand) Data Subjects, fine of N2, 000, 000 (Two Million Naira) or 1% of the annual gross revenue of the preceding year, whichever is greater.

(Article 2.10 of the Regulation)

Powers of The Attorney General of The Federation

The Attorney General of the Federation (A.G.F.) has a wide range of supervisory powers where data is to be transferred before or after processing from Nigeria to a foreign country or an international organisation. The A.G.F. is to determine countries or international organisations with adequate data protection laws, and shall take into consideration the legal system, independent supervisory bodies and international affiliations of the Foreign country or organisation with the aim of ascertaining that any data being transferred will be adequately protected. (Article 2.11 of The Regulation)

These powers are to be co-ordinated with N.I.T.D.A and both N.I.T.D.A. and A.G.F should be notified before such transfer is done.

However where the A.G.F has not decided, the Data Controller can only transfer data to third party countries or organisations only where the following are involved:

  • Consent is given by Data Subject upon adequate information on possible risks involved.
  • Performance of a contract between both parties.
  • Performance of a contract in the interest of the Data subject.
  • Public interest
  • Defence of Legal Claim
  • Protection of vital interests of Data subject or another person

(Article 2.12 of The Regulation)

Rights of Data Subjects

The Regulation affords Data Subjects certain rights when their data is being processed. The right to freely give and withdraw consent is a fundamental right of a Data Subject except in circumstances mentioned above. Data subjects also have the right to receive such data presented to the Data Controller in a portable format and can subsequently transfer such data to another Data Controller unhindered.

Data Subjects reserve the right have access to their personal data, right to rectification of the information given, right to request the deletion of such personal data freely given  and also obtain from the Data Controller restriction of processing of such information upon certain grounds.

(Article 2.13.9 & 10 of The Regulation)

Obligations of Data Controllers

The appointment of Data Protection Officers by outsourcing to a competent Firm or person by Data Controllers, is mandatory to ensure adherence to the Regulation, relevant data privacy instruments and data protection directives of the Data Controller. (Article 312 of The Regulation)

Data Controllers are mandated to have a simple, conspicuous and readable data protection policy or privacy policy, on any medium through which data is collected and stored. Information on the identity or contact details of the Data Controller and Data Protection Officer, the purpose for which data is processed as well as legal basis for processing, the recipients of the data and the rights of Data Subjects must be made available to the Data Subject, through the medium of collection.

Training programmes should be regularly organised for staff on the Data Protection laws and privacy policy procedures to have functional and well-structured means of compliance and the appointment of a Data Protection Officer, to ensure compliance with the Regulation.

The Regulation mandates all Data Controllers to carry out an audit on its data protection policies and practices, and Data controllers who process personal data of more than 1,000 within a period of 6 months or more than 2,000 within a 12-month period, should not only audit but also submit a summary of such audit to N.I.T.D.A.

(Article316, 317 of The Regulation)

LIMITATIONS OF THE REGULATION

  • No Provision For Minors

Collection of data is not specific to adults alone, in a digital age, the personal data of minors are also collected, stored and process. However, the Regulation did not make provision for minors, putting into consideration that a minor lacks capacity to enter into a contract or give consent.

  • The Regulation puts more obligations on the Data Controller and little or no corresponding obligations on the Data Subject. For instance, where a Data Subject, knowingly provides false information to the Data Controller which results in loss occasioned by the false information, remedies or punitive measures, should be provided for to serve as a deterrent.
  • Anonymisation and Psuedonymisation

Anonymisation simply put is the total removal of personal identifiable information of the Data Subject whereby anyone who comes across such data cannot link it to the Data Subject. On the other hand psuedonymisation is the partial removal of personal identifiable information, whereby the Data Subject can only be identified through indirect or additional information.

These concepts are important in protecting the privacy of Data Subjects where their personal information albeit with consent given is used for research or as a means of ascertaining market trends for better business decision making. The N.D.P.R. does not provide for these indispensable concepts.

POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS

Data Protection itself is a wide area of law and involves a wide area of research, structure, training and enforcement. A commission or Agency should be set up to handle solely Data Protection matters.

HOW FIRMS CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE AND REGISTER AS LICENSED DATA PROTECTION COMPLIANCE ORGANISATIONS (D.P.C.O.s)

The Regulation allows for any of either of the following firms: Professional Service Consultancy Firms, I.T. Providers, Audit Firms or Law Firms, to register as D.P.C.Os, to ensure compliance and enforcement of the Regulation. Every filing by Data Controllers pursuant to this Regulation, must be accompanied by a verification statement issued by a D.P.C.O. The requirements for registration include:

  • Corporate Affairs Commission Registration (C.A.C.) Certificate
  • Evidence of Tax Clearance
  • Relevant professional or academic qualification of at least 2 listed staff
  • Valid means of identification of two directors
  • Website registration on .ng domain.
  • Evidence of payment of prescribed licensing fees by N.I.T.D.A.

(https://nitda.gov.ng/data-protection/)

Conclusion

The N.D.P.R. (2019) has come to stay, and will be the genesis of many more Regulations, or even Statutes that provide for data protection in Nigeria. Only organisations which begin in earnest to, not only comply with this Regulation but also, educate itself and staff on the provisions of this Regulation and importance of compliance, will be ahead in comparison with their contemporaries who are yet to be aware of this Regulation. The benefits of complying with this Regulation cannot be over-emphasized as it will  prevent financial sanctions from N.I.T.D.A. as well as possible litigation instigated by aggrieved Data Subjects whose data have been misused or manipulated. Data is the “oil” of the 21st century, while organisations as well as corporations digitalize their structure of business, the knowledge of data protection laws becomes paramount and critical for remaining competitive and relevant in the emerging new scenario.

COPYRIGHT: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may reproduced or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the writer.

DISCLAIMER: This publication is not intended to provide legal advice, but to provide information on the matter covered in the publication. No reader should act on the matters covered in this publication without first seeking legal advice.

Orji Kelechi Clement (Esq) is a Barrister and Solicitor of Supreme Court of Nigeria(LLB, BL) with expertise in criminal, corporate, property and Data Protection Law. He has acquired certifications from Young African Leaders Initiative on Human Rights, Personal Growth and Development Strategies, and is also a Disabilities Rights Advocate. He is a Member U.S. Embassy American Center, Abuja, Nigeria and also a United Council For Youth Empowerment Volunteer. Orji can be reached on: [email protected], +2348134284673.

Bandits Strike Again, Abduct 70 Nursing Mothers, Children, Others In Fresh Attack On Zamfara Community

Some gunmen who are suspected to be bandits have struck again in Zamfara State.

The gunmen invaded Ruwan Tofa village in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, abducting over 70 people, including nursing mothers and children.

According to SaharaReporters, it was gathered that the armed men riding motorcycles, attacked the village on Wednesday shooting sporadically.

According to a source, the bandits kidnapped at least 70 persons and carted away valuables, including foodstuffs and animals.

Houses and vehicles belonging to villagers were also destroyed and burnt.

“The attack lasted for several hours, the gunmen took at least 70 persons into the forest,” the source said.

The incident occurred few days after gunmen killed 40 persons and abducted over many others at Sabuwar Tunga, a neighbouring village in Maru LGA.

Deadly attacks have raged across Zamfara state where bandits have thrived.

Farming and herding communities in the state have long been terrorised by gangs who raid villages, stealing cattle and kidnap residents for ransom.

On Friday, 279 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in the Talata Mafara Local Government area of the state were abducted.

The gunmen were said to have arrived the school around 1am and loaded the girls in buses.

The students were released after negotiations between the government and the kidnappers.

In 2019, the state government entered a peace agreement with the gunmen.

About 15 brand new Hilux vehicles and cash gifts were also given to leaders of different ‘repentant’ gangs of bandits by the governor in 2020.

But despite all these, communities in the state are still being attacked and residents kidnapped and/or killed.

Credit:sundiatapost

ICYMI: Dangote’s blood money

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On January 23, a truck belonging to Dangote Group rammed into a shopping complex in Akungba Akoko, around Adekunle Ajasin University. Media reports state that the truck’s brakes failed as it descended a hilly approach and used the complex as a stopgap. In one fell swoop, eight persons were dead. The scale of the disaster roiled further when information filtered out that three members of a family were amongst the dead. Then, the Student Union Government of the university announced on Saturday that the Dangote Group had compensated the victims’ families with N500,000 each. The SUG president who announced the compensation also noted that “there are other ongoing plans by the Dangote Group of Companies to further compensate the victims and their families in due time.’’ We know what that means in Nigerian English.

So far, Dangote Group has not refuted the claim that they paid a mere $1000 for human life. Not N50m or even five million naira, but an ordinary N500,000. Nigeria regularly reminds you how little your life is valued; still, understanding how some seasoned executives sat down to deliberate on restitution of pain came up with such trifling sum as blood money is a head-scratcher. It is appalling enough to grapple with how traffickers manage to sell human body parts for paltry sums of money; it is maddening when corporate action officially confirms the undervaluing of human lives. Up till the time of bedding this piece, I still could not determine whether those that suggested that amount as compensation are soulless or just shameless. How did they calculate the sum? Did they factor in the pain and suffering of the victims’ families and adjust the figures for inflation? In a country that takes itself seriously, the victims’ families and survivors could file a class action suit to demand billions of naira as compensation.

I will like to quickly note two things about the ethics of recompensing losses through blood money in modern societies. First, financial compensation to victims or their families does not in any way substitute a proper atonement for heinous acts like vehicular accidents or similar disasters that might involve some degree of criminal negligence. Blood money is typically paid as a complement to justice the victims must have -or are guaranteed- to receive from the courts. That means even when financial compensation is on the table, a proper investigation still needs to be conducted, the guilty party established and punished accordingly, and then the economic and non-economic damages suffered by the victims, survivors, and their families adequately calculated and atoned. Regarding this AAU disaster, the immediate and remote causes of that unfortunate incident have not been officially ascertained. How did they then calculate the sum offered as compensation?

Second, payment of blood money must be an infrequent occurrence, and that is why the amount is usually consequential. Where, especially, there has been a loss of life, no amount of money can be sufficient compensation. Both the giver and the receiver must understand that some losses can only be acknowledged, never recompensed. Despite this prior understanding, the money must still not be too cheap otherwise, the gesture loses its meaning. The sense of loss that arises from parting with a significant sum of money should also force the party paying to resolutely commit to a higher level of responsibility in their activities so that similar unfortunate incidents do not repeat themselves. If or when the disaster recurs, it should be in spite of the reforms that have been carried since the last time, not for the same reasons as it did. That is one of the ways advanced societies have developed a heightened sense of accountability.

Unfortunately, when blood money is as meagre as $1,000, it becomes an easy substitute for actual reforms. Why would companies bother to spend substantial amounts of money maintaining their articulated vehicles and constantly retraining their drivers when they can get away with paying pitiable amounts of money to their victims? Restitution should make a society better, not disimprove it by making human life seem abysmally cheap.

Trailer accidents are a common occurrence in Nigeria. Given that the Dangote Group has hundreds of those trucks in their fleet, their name frequently comes up in vehicular disasters. The company has reportedly paid-and reportedly refused to pay-monetary compensation for the accidents involving their trucks. For instance, in 2011, they offered to pay N20m to families of 10 victims killed by their truck on March 9, 2010. Just like the January incident in Ondo State, the driver of their truck lost control in Felele Market in Ibadan. In 2019, they also reportedly offered N10m to traders affected by another accident involving one of their trucks that, once again, lost control and swerved into Afor Ibugbuhu market in Anambra State. That accident claimed three lives, seven people were reportedly injured, and traders lost their wares.

It is even telling that a company that paid an average of N2m compensation per person in Ibadan a decade ago now offers N0.5m. The same corporation, the same kind of disaster, yet vastly different sums of money. At a time the Nigerian currency has been so diminished we might soon be using it to wrap roast plantain and roast corn bought from roadside vendors, what is N500, 000? What is that dismal sum supposed to achieve for the families of the victims? That amount, juxtaposed with what was paid 10 years ago, aptly summarises the diminishing worth of Nigerian life. Nigerian lives get taken so frequently and cheaply that you can gradually drop down the price you pay for compensation.

But one cannot talk about the disasters that articulated vehicles wreak without touching on how those accidents reflect the larger disaster called Nigeria. The entire social ecosystem is a web of administrative failures and overlayered incompetence of regulatory agencies tasked with holding these road users accountable. Take the example of a 2018 “investigative report” sent by the police in Plateau State to the Head of Operations of Dangote Cement Transport Company in Benue State, absolving them of responsibility in a crash that claimed eight lives. In a mere two-page report duly signed by the Divisional Police Officer, Kaduna-Vom Division, one CSP Abubakar A. Omade, they concluded that a Toyota bus travelling in the opposite direction ran into a Dangote Howo truck, and then the truck “went and crushed a motorcycle.” When you read that, you know the officers that authored the report are clueless. How is it logical that a Toyota bus would have such an impact on a heavy-duty truck? If they lack basic deductive reasoning skills, then how do they ever hold the companies that own the trucks accountable?

One cannot talk about the frequent mechanical failures that result in truck accidents without also factoring in the poor quality of roads that reticulates the Nigerian landscape. The government builds roads but never maintains them. They hardly ever even tally the spate of disaster that occurs on the road to pinpoint engineering flaws and redesign accordingly. In Nigeria, they will inaugurate a road project, and even a mere cursory look at the sight, while the bitumen on its surface is still shining, will reveal at least a dozen flaws. We do not invest in building structures that will outlast the photo ops we take with them.

In the same place where the Dangote truck lost control in AAU, there have been several horrible accidents reported in the past one year alone. The perplexed inhabitants of that town are now reportedly considering appeasing some spirit forces that might be causing those disasters. That alone should tell us that there is a road construction problem with that location, and a redesign might need to be effected as quickly as possible. The same problem goes for the Otedola Bridge in Lagos where there have been repeated truck accidents and many fatalities due to mechanical failures. Nigeria has urgent infrastructural problems, but the government hardly takes what imperils us seriously enough. It is thus no surprise that a corporation prices human lives at $1000.

PUNCH.

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