By Philip Agbese

Amnesty International, the all-knowing international non-governmental organisation, is apparently experiencing the human equivalent of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) going by the way it is suffering an increase in hallucinating things that do not exist. It suddenly struck on the idea of accusing the Nigerian Army of sponsoring other NGOs against it instead of addressing the real issue, which is the sustained war of attrition it has been waging against the Nigerian state while posing as a partner.

The NGO broke even its own record for boldface lying as it claimed, in its trademark manner, that 78 people were “massacred” at Lekki Toll Gate on Tuesday, October 20, 2020. The Oxford Learner Dictionary defined massacre as “the killing of a large number of people especially in a cruel way.” Amnesty International deployed all its assets in Nigeria to perpetuate the lie of a massacre. Contractors and consultants on Amnesty International’s payroll amplified that lie.

But the joke was on Amnesty International, its posse of chorus singers, commercial activists and the large following of clueless victims of groupthink, automaton components of the hivemind that Amnesty International is exploiting to trouble the peace of Nigeria. The staffers of the NGO are aware that not even hard facts will make these captive followers of its rouse from the deep intellectual and mental slumber into which they have fallen.

It is no wonder that Amnesty International believed in its own lies to the extent that it thought repeating these lies will elevate them into becoming the truth. Thus, the day after it crowed that over 78 people have been killed, it was unable to show any evidence. No bodies. No bloodstains. No families declaring loved ones missing. No grave to show secret burials like it always claims in other instances. The only proof Amnesty International has of its well-advertised Lekki Toll Gate massacre was to rehash its lie that the Nigerian military has a tradition of being complicit of the things Amnesty International accuses it of.

Interestingly, it is not a first for this NGO, which has the notoriety of once hiring a movie director to coach its witnesses in order to indict a targeted government. `It apparently has similar designs on Nigeria but for some of us, that did not allow it the wriggle room as we kept on demanding that it backs its allegations up with facts, which it has never succeeded in doing till date.

Its insistence on being vested in Nigeria’s affairs is akin to a spouse that persistently expresses frustration in marriage but is not willing to do the logical thing, which is to leave the marriage and find fulfilment under a different arrangement.

The marriage of convenience between Nigeria and Amnesty International broke down since the Goodluck Jonathan era when the organization authored a deadly report against Nigeria to the US government about human rights abuses that never took place. They had informed the US authorities that Nigeria and its Armed Forces had committed war crimes against humanity and will use arms sold to her to kill innocent Nigerians instead of fighting Boko Haram. That lie led to Nigeria being denied access to buy sorely needed military hardware to fight terrorism. The impact was that Boko Haram terrorists were able to carry out deadly attacks without being challenged, a situation that resulted in more civilian deaths than necessary, for which Amnesty International should accept responsibility but never does.

That embargo was in place before the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari came on board. The implication was that Amnesty International’s report left at least 10,000 men, women and children dead between 2014 and 2015 when the current government came into power. For every single day that the misleading Amnesty International’s lies prevented Nigeria from buying weapons, people died. So, who will hold this nefarious NGO accountable for this murder of Nigerians by proxy?

The organization has remained above the law and openly in bed with terrorists through the falsehood it usually publishes as reports and the media appearances of its operatives. To counter its lies is immediately branded as “government-sponsored” while those critical of its anti-Nigerian stance are hounded and vilified on social media and other spaces of public engagement. But this has not stopped those that have conscience from asking that this aberration leaves the land and allow Nigerians to rebuild their country in peace.

The call for Amnesty International to leave Nigeria has been on for over a decade, well before the present dispensation came to office. The only thing that has changed is that more individuals and groups have sprung up across the length and breadth of the country making the same demand. That is what an organization gets when its motive in any country is not clear enough. It is what becomes of an entity like Amnesty International, which has been caught flat out on too many instances engaging in lies, manipulating respondents and interviewees and supporting terrorism under the guise of observing adherence to human rights requirements.

It is really simple. All Amnesty International has to do is to leave Nigeria and relocate to one of those countries it considers as perfect, likely one of those sponsoring it to destabilize Nigeria so that it can become a conquered territory. After all, these countries are in need of being monitored so that they do not descend to the level of Nigeria.

I am therefore at a loss as to why Amnesty International is behaving like a partner who wants to remain with their spouse at all cost, even when they gripe daily about not being satisfied with the state of affairs. Something simply has to give. My position is that the recent calls by some Nigerians for citizens to engage Amnesty International until it leaves is the equivalent of a couple becoming verbally abusive of each other; that Nigeria and Amnesty International have reached this point is an indication that it is time for them to amicably divorce. Amnesty International should up and go.

You cannot force anyone to love you. Amnesty International cannot force Nigerians to appreciate what it is doing in the country. No matter how useful it claims its work in Nigeria is at the moment, the citizens are simply saying that it is time for Amnesty International to quit. This is not too much for any nation to ask. This is my two cents.

• Agbese is a human rights activist and wrote from the United Kingdom.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Federal Government of manipulation as both parties fail to reach a compromise over the lingering industrial action by the lecturers.

ASUU National President, Professor Abiodun Ogunyemi, who was a guest on Sunrise Daily on Monday also blamed the government for the inability of union members to return to class since March.

While both parties are at loggerheads over the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), he insisted that the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) was the way to go for the lecturers.

Professor Ogunyemi noted that while progress was being made, the government has insisted that there was a transition period within which ASUU members would first be captured in the IPPIS before migrating to UTAS.

Game Of Deception?

He, however, accused the government of playing a game of deception, saying it has failed to show commitment to resolving the impasse.

“What we need is a commitment; there is nothing like transition and what we are saying, in essence, is that government should just go ahead and pay what government has withheld – the salaries of our members; people have not been paid for eight or nine months on account of not registering on IPPIS,” the ASUU president said on the Newspot breakfast show.

He added, “Government should stop this arm-twisting and manipulation, going back to universities to ask them to go and enroll in IPPIS so that they will go and migrate to UTAS; people see it as a game of deception and we cannot trust them.”

According to Professor Ogunyemi, it is not the place of the union to tell the government where to get the fund to address its challenges.

He stressed the need for the government to show more commitment to the ongoing negotiations in order to ensure lecturers and students return to the classroom.

The ASUU president also highlighted some of the vital roles the union has played in ensuring public universities do not become a history in the country.

He stated that if not for the union’s effort, the fate of public universities in Nigeria would have been just like that of the primary and secondary schools.

“Each time people talk about this problem has been there for long, they don’t also appreciate the solution we have brought to the system to keep the system going.

“But for ASUU’s intervention, we would no longer have public universities today. Do we still have public primary schools? Do we still have public secondary schools? That is what will happen to public universities,” Professor Ogunyemi said.

The government, on its part, has since insisted that it was working hard to ensure the students return to class and address the various challenges in the nation’s education sector.

A Nigerian youth identified as Eromosele Adene has allegedly been arrested for reportedlybeing part of the #EndSARS protest in Lagos.  

UK-based Nigerian lecturer, Dipo Awojide a.k.a OgbeniDipo who raised the alarm of Twitter, called on everyone to discourage and pressurize the Nigerian government from targeting peaceful protesters.

He tweeted; 

eromz was arrested yesterday for being part of the #endsars protest in lagos. please pressurise and discourage the nigerian government from targeting peaceful protesters.

Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, today November 8, made his first appearance after his palace was vandalized by hoodlums who hijacked the #EndSARS protest on Wednesday, October 21.

The monarch is pictured at a Peace Dialogue organized by leaders of thought in the South West to address the issues that led to the recent nationwide protest, which ended in violence that shook the region to its foundation.

See another photo below

AyoAROWOJOLU8h

Tracking the life story of Oba Olufemi Ogunleye, the 76-year old traditional ruler of Akinale, an Egba community, near Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, is a story radiating the beauty of ambition.

Oba Olufemi Ogunleye, Towulade of Akinale after his Master’s Graduation ceremony

For him, reading, schooling and education generally, are lifelong pleasurable activities, for which many people, the world over, particularly youths of today, can learn copious lessons.

According to the Oxford English Bible, the word, AMBITION, is defined as “a strong desire to do or achieve something” Elucidating further, Oxford sees ambition as desire and determination to achieve success.

There are words that can fit as Synonyms for ambition. These are; aspiration, intention, goal, aim, objective, object, purpose, intent, plan, scheme, mission, calling, vocation, desire, wish, design, target, end, dream, hope.

View pictures in App save up to 80% data.

In the light of the foregoing, having an ambition in life is the idea that one has something he or she really wants to go after. This could be one’s dream(s) or goal(s) in life .

Ambition is something you really want to achieve. It’s often something that means something to you in a way that is hard to define in words.

Any progressive-minded individual ought to have life goals which simply translate to the things the individual in question targets to accomplish in life. Life goals are the big things to work for and accomplish.

View pictures in App save up to 80% data.

To many people, whether it is ambition or goal, there is only a thin line of difference. Both represent a strong desire. 

Goal is viewed as the target set by a person, while ambition is a desire to reach that goal with personal satisfaction. A goal is something that is reachable and should be achieved. An ambition is something viewed more difficult to achieve. Yet, it is a desire that one looks forward to and work for to achieve it.

With only four years to attain the Octogenarian age status, Oba Ogunleye, the Towulade of Akinale, in Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state, has his gaze and focus firmly on his goals and ambition.

View pictures in App save up to 80% data.

Oba Ogunleye with his former Boss, Chief Segun Osoba, former Daily Times MD

From his early childhood, the young Femi Ogunleye was not so privileged. He had little formal education. Even, when he had chance to go further from the initial primary education, somehow, it was at a late hour.

Significantly, his school life has been through rigours, combined with work all through. At some point in life, he had learnt apprenticeship as a battery charger and has also been a typist and shorthand reporter.

However, courtesy of continuous education, schooling and learning, Oba Ogunleye, today, is difficult to categorise into just one line of career.

View pictures in App save up to 80% data.

Born on September 23, 1944, he is a veteran journalist of the defunct Daily Times fame, when he was a celebrated Aviation Reporter in the 70’s. He also was Public Relations Manager of the defunct Nigeria Airways and later became General Manager, Corporate Affairs in that Airline. He also established his own private firm and tried his hands in a few other things, before kingship came calling for him in 2003.

Between then and this present moment, the traditional ruler who is an Owu by Egba classification and also a cousin to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, now has an avalanche of certificates in his kitty.

View pictures in App save up to 80% data.

Oba Ogunleye… Playing golf

Sometime during his working career, he had studied Mass Communication at the University of Lagos where he bagged a B.Sc.

The hunger for continuous learning made him to Enrol for a Diploma in Law at the Crescent University, Abeokuta, a course which he graduated with an Upper Credit.

View pictures in App save up to 80% data.

Oba Ogunleye with other Law School students on internship and Mrs Akinlawon(SAN) at a Court session

Thereafter, in 2011, the monarch pushed further and enrolled for a degree programme in Law and graduated in 2017, following which he proceeded to the Nigerian Law School.

After qualifying as a Barrister, he was not done yet as his ambition kept firing him on. He wasted no time to pursue an LL.M at Babcock University, Ilishan in Ogun State.

Meanwhile, the royal father was also, at the same time, running a second Master’s Degree in Mass Communication at Crescent University, Abeokuta, the purpose being to be able to qualify as a lecturer in any Law Faculty later in life.

View pictures in App save up to 80% data.

Interviewed recently, Oba Ogunleye told this Reporter: “I have recently completed my Master’s Degree programme in Babcock University and I am delighted to let you know that I have commenced my Doctorate programme in Babcock University.”

The monarch went further: “we are just seven in number as PhD students , one practising lawyer, three lecturers and one High Court Judge. The seven of us have resolved to resume PhD classes immediately and we shall all do that, God willing.

“I can tell you what I learn in this academic part of Law programme has sufficiently equipped me now to know how to handle issues the people may bring before me, most especially in the area of Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution.”

View pictures in App save up to 80% data.

Oba Ogunleye was asked how long it would take him to become a Doctor of Law vis-à-vis the challenges being faced. 

His response was swift. Hear him: “This course is for a minimum of three years, and I will strife to complete it within this period.

“There are plenty challenges here, particularly with inconsistencies of network in participating in virtual classes. Besides, the study in PhD is deeper than in the Master’s level and that of Law School scenarios. 

“What we do here are Advanced Research Methodologies, etc But with seriousness of mind, dedication and focus, one will scale through”

Oba Ogunleye who will be 15 years on the throne next year, is always quick to share his success tips so that others can learn.

View pictures in App save up to 80% data.

Oba Ogunleye presenting COVID materials to NSCDC Commandant

This is the way he captures his life lessons: “Age has nothing to do with life. Age is just a matter of calendar. On the occasion of my 70th birthday some years ago, I told people that 70 is a number. The bottom line is that I love to read and write. I don’t go to bed until 9pm and I wake at 1am to resume at the study room.

“My attitude when I get to school is this. I do not go to school as a monarch. I am in school as student. The crown is in the palace, and the traditional ruler is in the palace‎. There is difference between Femi Ogunleye as traditional ruler and Femi Ogunleye as a student. I am in the school as Femi Ogunleye and not traditional ruler.

“By this, I have thrown a challenge to the youths and to all senior citizens that there is no age barrier to educational advancement.”

A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Mike Aondoakaa (SAN), has denied being briefed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to specifically freeze accounts of #EndSARS promoters.

An online platform, Sahara Reporters had in a report, which went viral claimed that some lawyers representing the CBN, led by Aondoakaa, had allegedly obtained the Court order freezing the accounts of 20 #EndSARS promoters for 90 days.

The order was said to have been obtained pursuant to a motion ex- parte filed by the CBN before a Federal High Court in Abuja.

But a statement at the weekend by Aondoakaa’s Head of Chambers, Abdul Ter Kohol Esq, said the CBN did not brief the former AGF to specifically freeze the accounts of #EndSARS members as published by Sahara Reporters.

“He (Aondoakaa) is not in a position to know the membership of #EndSARS because he never received any instructions from CBN relating to #EndSARS members.https://galleria.com.ng/pushgalleriaads?q=201&i=56&ho=dailyasset.ngAll the Documents filed at Federal High Court Abuja in respect of the case are public documents, which can be verified or obtained. CBN cannot engage Aondoakaa verbally,” the statement said.

The statement challenged the online publication that accused Aondoakaa of being hired by the CBN to freeze the #EndSARS supporters’ accounts to produce a copy of such instruction by the CBN, adding, “launching such unfair attack on the person of Chief Michael Aondoakaa appears to be pursuing long perceived personal vendetta and blackmail.”

In an exclusive chat with DAILY ASSET yesterday to shed light on the issue, Aondoakaa alleged that the online medium had for long held him in contempt and had published reports he claimed were not only misleading against him but also targeted at denting his reputation.

“In 2010, the same news medium reported  exclusively  that they have uncovered  a $44million bank account opened by me in South Africa. I denied the story  and reported  to both the Metropolitan Police, UK and the Nigeria Police to investigate.The investigation was carried out but nothing was found against me.

“Since  I was born till now, I have not visited South Africa in both my official and private engagement,” he said about his earlier encounter with the medium.

In the instant case, Aondoakaa explained that he had been offering legal services to the CBN on a wide variety of issues adding, the latest brief was in line with CBN’s statutory and routine activities.

He said there was nothing in the brief to suggest that it was targeted at the promoters of #EndSAR protests, which rocked the country recently, saying he was carrying his professional duties as a lawayer.

“In Law, even an alleged Murderer is entitled to legal representation, no matter what offence you are accused of, you are still entitled to enjoy services of a Lawyer,” he explained.

The said suit to freeze the accounts listed the 20 defendants as Bolatito Oduala, Chima Ibebunjoh, Mary Kpengwa, Gatefield Nigeria Limited, Saadat Bibi, Bassey Israel, Wisdom Obi, Nicholas Osazele, Ebere Idibie, Akintomide Yusuf, Uhuo Promise, Mosopefoluwa Odeseye and Adegoke Emmanuel.

Others include Umoh Ekanem, Babatunde Segun, Mulu Teghenan, Mary Oshifowora, Winifred Jacob, Victor Solomon, and Idunu Williams.