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COVID-19: Lagos may impose new lockdown – Health Commissioner

The Lagos State Government has announced that it may impose new lockdown in the state over the reoccurrence of coronavirus cases in the state.

This was made known in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Director, Public Affairs of the Ministry of Health, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo.

The statement contains a quote from the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, which references the new lockdown in other parts of the world.

Abayomi warned that “the continuous flagrant disregard of safety guidelines by citizens heralds’ danger and may lead to a second wave of new infections in Lagos”.

The statement read in part: “The Lagos State Government has once again stressed the need for residents to strictly adhere to precautionary measures against COVID-19 infection transmission to prevent a recurrence of the situation that led to the lockdown of the economy.

“A resurgence of cases in Lagos may lead to the reversal of the strategically calculated measures put in place by the Government to open up the economy.

“The first wave of coronavirus started in December 2019 and swept through an unprepared world. The first case of COVID-19 in Nigeria was recorded in Lagos on the 27th of February 2020. Lagos has since become the epicentre of the outbreak in Nigeria with a record of 21,107 confirmed cases and 212 deaths from the virus till date.

“The containment measures put in place at the time included COVID-19 testing, isolation and treatment, surveillance, total shutdown of the State for about 12 weeks and partial shutdown of social, economic and academic activities for over four months.”

Fmr. Imo Governor, Ohakim To Be Arraigned On A 3 Count Charge November 11

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has summoned a former governor of Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, to appear before it on November 11 for his arraignment on a three-count criminal charges filed against him by the Inspector General of Police (IG).

The summons is contained in a hearing notice issued pursuant to Order 3 rule 7 of the FCT High Court and dated October 30, 2020.

According to the notice, Ohakim was commanded to appear in court number 32 for arraignment over alleged fraud.

Court 32 is under Justice S. U. Bature of the Maitama Division of the FCT High Court.

In the charge marked, FCT/HC/CR/993/2020, the police alleged that Ohakim, who was governor of Imo State from 2007 to 2011, gave false information against Lady Chinyere Amuchienwa.

The prosecuting agency further alleged that Ohakim lied that the lady threatened him with a gun, and equally made a false claim that he had a plot of land for sale in Lagos.

The three-count charge signed by Mr. Stanley Nwodo of the Force Legal Department dated September 23, 2020, of the office of the Inspector General of Police also accused Ohakim of using the name of the Minsiter of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians.

In addition, the prosecution alleged that Ohakim claimed in his statement to the police that he gave Lady Amuchienwa the sum of N100 million for his governorship in 2019, which he could not prove in the statement.

Earlier attempts by the police to arraign the former Imo State chief executive in court, over similar charge were unsuccessful.

The three-count charge read in part are: “That you Ikedi Ohakim, on or about May 23, 2019 at Asokoro, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did unlawfully gave false information against one Chinyere Amuchienwa, that she threatened you with gun knowing it to be false and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 140 of the Penal Code Law of the Northern Nigeria, 1968.

“That you Ikedi Ohakim, on or about May 23, 2019, at Asokoro, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did unlawfully gave false information against one Chinyere Amuchienwa, that you have a plot of land for sale at Lagos State, knowing it to be false and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 140 of the Penal Code Law of the Northern Nigeria, 1968.”

COVID-19: PTF To Revoke Passports, Visas Of Travellers Who Fail To Surrender Selves For Test

*Raises alarm over failure of inbound Nigerians to present selves for PCR test

The Presidential Task Force on Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on Tuesday raised alarm over failure of some Nigerians who arrived from abroad to present themselves for the in-country Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test which they signed up to and paid before arrival.

It has, therefore, resolved to revoke passports of travellers that fail to conduct the mandatory COVID-19 PCR test.

According to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and chairman of PTF, Boss Mustapha, at Tuesday’s media briefing by the Task Force, only one out of three Nigerians who arrive have complied.

Recalled that as of September 18, the Government of Nigeria had announced that it requires a negative COVID-19 PCR test within five days (120 hours) before departure.

The PTF had also in September said while Nigerians will get six- month passport suspension, foreigners face outright visa cancellation.

The PTF had said Nigeria placed travel bans as part of the global lockdown measures to contain the spread of the pandemic in March 2020.

It had stressed that it was mandatory that travellers have the PCR test done on day 7th upon arrival.

It had also said all returning travelers to Nigeria must have tested negative for COVID-19 through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in the country of departure. The PCR test must now be administered no more than 120 hours before departure.

Nigeria resumed International flights on the 5th of September and the update followed the announcement by Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA,) that the maximum number of passengers of each incoming international flight must be 200 passengers.

According to the SGF “The PTF is highlighting these issues repeatedly because we remain at risk of importation, having opened our airspace and massive spread as a result of the protests. The next week or two remain critical. The PTF has noted with sadness the failure of Nigerians who arrived from abroad to present themselves for the in-country PCR test which they signed up to and paid before arrival. Statistics emerging from our records show that only one out of three passengers have shown up for the in-country test.

“As you may recall, the PTF announced the guidelines on the reopening of the airspace and the obligations of arriving passengers. The PTF similarly announced sanctions as a consequence of any infraction. Having observed serious non-compliance to the level of 65 percent, the need has arisen to activate the sanctions which includes the suspension of the passports of such defaulting individuals for a period of six months minimum. The National Coordinator will elaborate further on this.”

Mustapha said as part of the strategy of the PTF to deepen community engagement, he addressed an emergency session of the National Executive Committee of the National Council of Traditional Rulers Tuesday.

He noted that: “The contributions of our traditional rulers to the successes so far recorded in the National Response can not be overemphasized. Accordingly, I acknowledged and thanked all our traditional rulers for their support and urged them to continue to do more especially in the areas of risk communication and community engagement. Adherence to the Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions measures and the need for people to come out for testing were emphasized.

“Finally, I wish to inform you that the PTF has revised its meeting and briefing frequency to once a week, to allow members carry out other functions and activities. This does not preclude the need to call for emergency meetings and briefings when the need arises. With effect from Thursday, 5th November, 2020 therefore, the national briefing will only hold once, weekly.”

Why Numerous Road Projects Were Abandoned — FG Tells Senate

The Federal Government on Tuesday told the Senate why there are numerous abandoned road projects across the country, saying that the processes in which appropriation is made both at the executive as well as the legislative arms of governments form part of the reasons.

Disclosing this in Abuja when she appeared before the Senator Clifford Ordia, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Edo Central led Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed said that abandonment of projects across the country will be averted if it was possible for the Federal Government to take just take one or two projects at a time and complete it before going to the next one.

The Minister said, “The current Sukuk fund is N162 billion is for 45 roads cutting across the six geopolitical zones.

“I am one person that feels that we should just do this and take one major road in one geopolitical zone and finish.

”We were not able to do that because of the processes in which appropriation is made both at the executive as well as the legislative arms of government.

“But truly, of we were able to just take one or two projects at a time and complete it before going to the next one, it will be better.

“So what the contractor does is the bit that has been cut out for him to do in that particular area. Once the fund is released and it is finished, we stop again.

”That is the consequence of these numerous projects that we put in the budget. It is not related to Sukuk-funded projects alone, it cuts across all the projects.

“You will see a road that costs, may be, N5 billion, and you will see a provision for N100m, N200m or 300m. Of course the project will never finish.

”After two years, the contractor comes back and asks for variation, and the amount keeps growing.

“I wish that we get to a point when we sit down as government and agree that let us select a few projects, finish them in 2020, and then in 2021, we select the next. So that on a geopolitical basis, those selections are done as a collective process.”

Zainab Ahmed who told the Senate Committee that work on the legacy projects, Lagos-Ibadan highway, 2nd Niger Bridge, East-West road, and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road were ongoing without stop because funds were available and they are few, said: “The NSIA was assigned four major road projects to do. These projects are Lagos-Ibadan highway, 2nd Niger Bridge, East-West road, and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road.

“After the President gave approval, the appropriation for that year, 2019 was remitted to the NSIA, and then added its own fund.

“The projects are going on course because there is funding on the ground and because they are few, they are concentrating on them and work is ongoing. I wish we get to a point when we narrow down project implementation to few a projects at a time.”

Speaking on the delay in releasing Sukuk funds to contractors for executed projects, the minister said, “though the fund is protected, there are procedures put in place to verify claims that will be paid.

”There is an audit process, the first batch has been released, the second batch is being released as we speak.

“There are some checks that we have to put in place to make sure that the claim that is being made is actually valid.

There are parties that have been engaged to do a second level of verification in addition to the claims the ministry of works sends as invoices due for payment.

“The batch which is about N58 billion has been released. There is another N35 billion that is under processing.

Trump Sues In 3 States, Laying Ground For Contesting Outcome

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s campaign filed lawsuits Wednesday in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, laying the groundwork for contesting battleground states as he slipped behind Democrat Joe Biden in the hunt for the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.

The new filings, joining existing Republican legal challenges in Pennsylvania and Nevada, demand better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted, and raise absentee ballot concerns, the campaign said. However, at one Michigan location in question The Associated Press observed poll watchers from both sides monitoring on Wednesday.

The AP called Michigan for Democrat Joe Biden on Wednesday. Nevada, Pennsylvania and Georgia are undecided.

The Trump campaign also is seeking to intervene in a Pennsylvania case at the Supreme Court that deals with whether ballots received up to three days after the election can be counted, deputy campaign manager Justin Clark said.

The actions reveal an emerging legal strategy that the president had signaled for weeks, namely that he would attack the integrity of the voting process in states where the result could mean his defeat.

His campaign also announced that it would ask for a recount in Wisconsin, a state the AP called for Biden on Wednesday afternoon. Campaign manager Bill Stepien cited “irregularities in several Wisconsin counties,” without providing specifics.

Biden said Wednesday the count should continue in all states, adding, “No one’s going to take our democracy away from us — not now, not ever.”

Campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said legal challenges were not the behavior of a winning campaign.

“What makes these charades especially pathetic is that while Trump is demanding recounts in places he has already lost, he’s simultaneously engaged in fruitless attempts to halt the counting of votes in other states in which he’s on the road to defeat,” Bates said in a statement.

Election officials continued to count votes across the country, the normal process on the day following voting. Unlike in previous years, states were contending with an avalanche of mail ballots driven by fears of voting in person during a pandemic. At least 103 million people voted early, either by mail or in-person, representing 74% of the total votes cast in the 2016 presidential election.

Every election, results reported on election night are unofficial and the counting of ballots extends past Election Day. Mail ballots normally take more time to verify and count. This year, because of the large numbers of mail ballots and a close race, results were expected to take longer.

The Trump campaign said it is calling for a temporary halt in the counting in Michigan and Pennsylvania until it is given “meaningful” access in numerous locations and allowed to review ballots that already have been opened and processed.

The AP’s Michigan call for Biden came after the suit was filed. The president is ahead in Pennsylvania but his margin is shrinking as more mailed ballots are counted.

There have been no reports of fraud or any type of ballot concerns out of Pennsylvania. The state had 3.1 million mail-in ballots that take time to count and an order allows them to be received and counted up until Friday if they are postmarked by Nov. 3.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a CNN interview the lawsuit was “more a political document than a legal document.”

“There is transparency in this process. The counting has been going on. There are observers observing this counting, and the counting will continue,” he said.

The Michigan lawsuit claims Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, was allowing absentee ballots to be counted without teams of bipartisan observers as well as challengers. She’s accused of undermining the “constitutional right of all Michigan voters … to participate in fair and lawful elections.” Michigan Democrats said the suit was a longshot.

Poll watchers from both sides were plentiful Wednesday at one major polling place in question — the TCF Center in Detroit, The Associated Press observed. They checked in at a table near the entrance to the convention center’s Hall E and strolled among the tables where ballot processing was taking place. In some cases, they arrived en masse and huddled together for a group discussion before fanning out to the floor. Uniformed Detroit police officers were on hand to make sure everyone was behaving.

Mark Brewer, a former state Democratic chairman who said he was observing the Detroit vote counting as a volunteer lawyer, said he had been at the TCF arena all day and had talked with others who had been there the past couple of days. He said Republicans had not been denied access.

“This is the best absentee ballot counting operation that Detroit has ever had. They are counting ballots very efficiently, despite the obstructing tactics of the Republicans.”

GOP lawyers had already launched legal challenges involving absentee votes in Pennsylvania and Nevada, contesting local decisions that could take on national significance in the close election.

In one appeal to a Pennsylvania appellate court, the Trump campaign complained that one of its representatives was prevented from seeing the writing on mail-in ballots that were being opened and processed in Philadelphia. A judge in Philadelphia dismissed it, saying that poll observers are directed to observe, not audit.

The Georgia lawsuit filed in Chatham County essentially asks a judge to ensure the state laws are being followed on absentee ballots. Campaign officials said they were considering peppering a dozen other counties around the state with similar claims around absentee ballots.

Trump, addressing supporters at the White House early Wednesday, talked about taking the undecided race to the Supreme Court. Though it was unclear what he meant, his comments evoked a reprise of the court’s intervention in the 2000 presidential election that ended with a decision effectively handing the presidency to George W. Bush.

But there are important differences from 2000 and they already were on display. In 2000, Republican-controlled Florida was the critical state and Bush clung to a small lead. Democrat Al Gore asked for a recount and the Supreme Court stopped it.

To some election law experts, calling for the Supreme Court to intervene now seemed premature, if not rash.

A case would have to come to the court from a state in which the outcome would determine the election’s winner, Richard Hasen, a University of California, Irvine, law professor, wrote on the Election Law blog. The difference between the candidates’ vote totals would have to be smaller than the ballots at stake in the lawsuit

“As of this moment (though things can change) it does not appear that either condition will be met,” Hasen wrote.

Ohio State University election law professor Edward Foley wrote on Twitter Wednesday: “The valid votes will be counted. (The Supreme Court) would be involved only if there were votes of questionable validity that would make a difference, which might not be the case. The rule of law will determine the official winner of the popular vote in each state. Let the rule of law work.”

Biden campaign attorney Bob Bauer said if Trump goes to the high court, “he will be in for one of the most embarrassing defeats a president has ever suffered by the highest court in the land.”

The justices could decide to step into the dispute over the three-day extension for absentee ballots if they prove crucial to the outcome in Pennsylvania.

Even a small number of contested votes could matter if a state determines the winner of the election and the gap between Trump and Biden is small.

FG Set to Borrow Another $1.2b from Brazil

The Federal Government has said that it is seeking a loan of $1.2bn from Brazil to finance agricultural programmes in the 2021 budget.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, made this known during a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Finance in Abuja on Tuesday.

Ahmed said that a request has been sent to the National Assembly to approve the loan from the Brazilian government.

She said the loan will be used to address issues in agriculture, adding that 100,000 hectares of land will be acquired in each state for food production.

“I request for the approval for loan for the Green Imperative Programme which is for loan of $1.2bn from the Brazilian government.

rptv

Social media regulation, waste of time

On Monday, the Northern States’ Governors’ Forum expressed unqualified support for Aso Rock’s scheme to cudgel Nigeria’s social media ecosystem. This time, their ruse is “the devastating effect of the uncontrolled social media in spreading fake news.” They called “for major control mechanism and censorship of the social media practice in Nigeria.” The Northern governors’ scaremongering is not the first time social media would be demonised by Nigerian politicians seeking its ban. In the last five years, Nigeria’s lawmakers and the All Progressives Congress stalwarts have consistently expressed their myopias about social media.

However, two fundamentals have consistently been absent in their intervention. First, not a single one of those braying about the potentially damaging effect of social media has convincingly demonstrated how their ill-defined ‘fake news’ has directly caused any unrest or deaths. What they keep railing about is the harm it could do, not what it has actually done. They have not shown us people that have died because of social media mischief, enough to warrant regulation. However, we can show them thousands of people imperilled by their theocentric populism, extreme tribalism, unbridled corruption, and startling incompetence. Rather than confront their collective failure, ‘lazy’ politicians turned social media into an alibi.

Let us start with Simon Lalong, Governor of Plateau State and chairman of the forum, who signed Monday’s communiqué. This year alone, dozens of people have been killed in his state in a series of murderous hits. A marauding force, seemingly working from a hit-list, slaughtered many in villages. They also burnt animals, farms, and houses. Did social media fuel cause that pogrom too? Rather than confront the problems at home, Lalong joined a hegemonic bandwagon to rant about an abstract social media’s power to unleash evil. Is the actual evil that people are committing right under his nose not worse?

Then, there is Kaduna, where violence is not only a recurring event, but Nigerian soldiers also massacred hundreds of Shiites with impunity. Were those murders a consequence of what someone posted on social media? Have the herdsmen been killing and raiding villages in southern Kaduna because they read fake news on social media? In Zamfara, hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced this year alone. While the #EndSARS protests were ongoing, bandits stormed a village in Tungar Kwana in northern Zamfara and killed 20 people. Did they do all of these because of social media? I could go on and on, listing all the cases of violence that regularly happen in northern Nigeria.

The way our politicians have been crying about the power of social media and what it purports for Nigeria, one would think that we are a peaceful and prosperous country dealing with a looming threat. In reality, we are a poorly-run country with rapidly escalating poverty rates amid concomitant issues of insecurity and restlessness. For our sanctimonious politicians to be screaming about the threat social media portends while grievous evil occurs on their watch, shows their blatant disingenuity.

 Such wilful blindness, Yoruba people would say, is the character of the person that sees a road path but still insists on trampling through the jungle. I am amused by the number of the northern elites, including traditional rulers with big names, who sat in that meeting to bellyache social media. These are people who drove their Rolls Royce past the millions of almajiri children in their region, out-of-school children whose lack of preparedness for the 21st century makes them a ready tool in the hands tinpot politicians. Yet, they are obsessed with social media?

They have not even defined “fake news” and how existing laws run short of managing false statements. What is fake news, and who defines it? Before the advent of the social media phenomenon, were there not “fake news” such as rumours, conspiracy theories, and campaign promises? What exactly is new that these people keep bumping around in their starched agabada pretending they love the country enough to want to save her from dissolution? Look at the northern governors saying they want to protect Nigeria’s unity at all costs. If you care about this country that much, you would be tackling the many problems of multi-generational and multi-dimensional poverty, illiteracy, and diseases bedevilling your states. In a country where a fanatical lawyer could successfully ask the police to arrest an atheist otherwise, they would unleash violence, why wail about social media?

The second thing missing in their intervention is how they intend to regulate social media. The northern governors said they want a “major control mechanism” and “censorship of the social media practice.” Social media is not a faucet that can be turned on and off at the whim of some bureaucrats invested with power to tell us when we have had enough; its strength is the democratisation of opinion-mongering. They cannot pre-empt its mischief; they can only punish people after any damage has been done. Meanwhile, there are already laws to that effect.

How precisely can they control thought flows and on which of the social media apps? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, or YouTube? How does a supposedly democratic country like Nigeria pull off that stunt? Countries like North Korea, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and Bangladesh that ban or regulate social media are not democracies. Even if Nigeria takes the China route by erecting a firewall that can block IPs, filter searches, erase content, and swamp people with pro-government propaganda, they are too inefficient to sustain it.

 Besides, people can still set up a pirate radio station and achieve the same effect. Have they heard of Radio Kudirat, and how its irrepressibility drove Sani Abacha crazy? Is that not how IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, bypasses regulators and broadcasts his rants into Nigeria? These fellows running around, saying they want to regulate social media, do not appear to understand the technology that powers social media before asking for a “major control mechanism.”

The incendiary post(s) on social media does not have an entry or exit point, so how can it be regulated? You only need to look at how a single article that linked COVID-19 in China with 5G technology posted on a nondescript blog last year generated a global phenomenon this year to see that regulating what people do on social media is a sheer waste of time. Meanwhile, I am not worried that the Nigerian government can efficiently regulate social media. They lack the capacity, and the best they will achieve is set up another bureaucracy and pump it with money. At the same time, we should be concerned about the number of initiatives in the country they will ruin in the process of trying.

These people need to give up social distancing from this nonsense called social media regulation. It is pointless and distracting. Rather than regulate social media, they should focus on inquiring why fake news thrives in Nigeria at all. They will see that part of the problem is how the Nigeria social contract has broken down, and people no longer trust their government. What they call “fake news” is one of the ways people make up for the lack of trust in official narratives.

You cannot have a society where the Lekki massacre happened, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), refused to talk about it, the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, contradicted himself, the army lied and then later confessed their role, a federal minister serendipitously found a camera no one was missing at the scene of the carnage, the Attorney General of the Federation jumped in later and added another lie about hoodlums in army uniform perpetrating violence, and not have regular folks supplying their own version of fake news. Now, the latest news is that the CCTV camera at the Lekki tollgate plaza they told us was intact, for some funny reason, stopped recording just before the moment we needed it to capture. Take a look at the official reports with which we have been insulted on the Lekki massacre matter alone and ask who -between the government that uses official governing mechanisms to muddle serious national issues and the people armed with only social media- is the worse purveyor of fake news?

PUNCH.

Seizure of Odele’s international passport is intimidation, infringement of rights –NigerianWomenArise

  • Calls on the government to be alive to its responsibilities to protect citizens

Condemnations continue to trail the continued harassment of #ENDSARS movement activists by agents of government, with NigerianWomenArise a group of Nigerian feminists, calling for the immediate return of Ms Modupe Odele’s international passport.

On the 3rd November 2020, Odele a US-trained Nigerian attorney and co-lead of ENDSARSLegal, an initiative which provided free legal aid to peaceful #ENDSARS  protesters had her International passport confiscated by a member of the Nigerian Immigration Service.

The action has attracted a lot of outcry internationally and from a wide spectrum of Nigerians including civil society groups.

The NigerianWomenArise in a statement titled: “Feminist Womanifesto Group (#NigeranWomenArise) Condemns the Continued Harassment on Leaders of the #Endsars Protesters and Demands the Immediate Return of the International Passport of Ms Modupe Odele (MOE)” called on the Nigerian government to protect the freedom and rights of all citizens, including Ms. Odele.

The statement which was copied to the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chairmen of Governors’ Forum, the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, the British High Commissioner to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, German Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, United States Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Swiss Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and signed by the group’s lead Dr. Abiola Akiyode Afolabi along with about 159 other women reads:

“We, the undersigned, (#NigerianWomenArise) of the Feminist Womanifesto Group, condemn in strong terms the continued harassment on the #ENDSARS movement leaders. We, note with alarm that on 3rd November 2020, Modupe Chizoba Odele, a US-trained Nigerian attorney and the co-lead of ENDSARSLegal, an initiative which provided free legal to peaceful #ENDSARS protesters had her International passport confiscated by a member of the Nigerian Immigration Service.

“We strongly condemn the actions of the Immigration service, the Nigerian State Security Service (SSS) and by extension the Nigeria government in confiscating Ms. Odele’s passport.

“We urge the Nigerian government to protect the freedom and rights of all citizens, including Ms. Odele. As a Nigerian citizen, Section 41 of the Constitution guarantees Ms. Odele the right to move in and out of Nigeria; therefore, any restriction of her movement is illegal and wholly unconstitutional. In addition, although Section 5 of the Passport Act 1985 gives the Minister of Interior the power to cancel or withdraw a passport, the section also states clearly, the conditions for such a withdrawal. Unless the Minister has been furnished with confidential information duly communicated to Ms. Odele, we see no legal reason(s) why Ms. Odele’s passport should be confiscated. Suffice it to say, that such an act, is tantamount to intimidation and infringement of her rights, both of which not only contravene the provisions of the Constitution and could cause reputational damage to Nigeria, both at home and on the international gaze. 

“We deplore, in the strongest terms, all acts of mental, emotional or physical intimidation towards the peaceful protesters, service providers for the protests, and members of the Feminist Coalition for exercising their right to peaceful protest, as accorded to every Nigerian, under Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution. We strongly believe that Ms.  Odele and others are being targeted for the role they played during the #ENDSARS protest, and take this time to remind Nigerians that we are in a democracy and citizens’ rights to express themselves through protest are guaranteed by the Constitution. 

“We also use this opportunity to applaud the valorous actions of DJ Switch on that dreaded night now known as “Black Tuesday” and all the other young men and women for their courage and resilience.  Our growing solicitude is further exacerbated by news that DJ Switch – Obianuju Catherine Udeh – is now believed to have been forced into hiding like a fugitive, and call on the government to be alive to its responsibilities to protect citizens.

“We demand that the Nigerian government put a stop to the harassment of the members of the Feminist Coalition, DJ Switch, and the peaceful #ENDSARS protesters and ensure their safety and protection of their rights as bestowed upon them as citizens of a democratic society by virtue of our constitution.

“The #NigerianWomenArise assures Nigerian youths of our absolute support and solidarity with their ENDSARS agitation and will do all that is necessary to help safeguard their right to peaceful protests. Nigerian Women will continue to closely monitor the events as they develop and will take appropriate measures to protect and defend our democracy for peace and justice to reign.  May the souls of those who lost their lives due to law enforcement brutality before and during this protest rest in peace…”

Members of the Feminist Womanifesto Group are:

Abimbola Junaid      Abiodun Essiet   Abiola Akiyode Afolabi

Adaobi Egboka   Adekemi Ndieli    Adenike Grange

Adeola Awogbemi   Aderonke Adesanya   Aderonke Bello

Aderonke Ige   Aderonke Imana   Adetoun Ilumoka

Adiya Ode   Agatha Osieke   Aisha Haliru

Aishatu Ibrahim Kilishi    Akinola Christiana    Allisa Mimi

Amina Aliyu    Amina Aliyu Adamu  Amina Salihu

Amy Oyekunle  Angela Odah Anne Adidu

Anne Ikpeme     Anthonia Duru   Anthonia Ojenagbon 

Añuli Ola-Olaniyi    Anuoluwapo Agbaje      Ashley Dauda

Asmau Benzies Leo     Ayisha Osori   Ayisha Oyebode

Ayo Atsenuwa     Ayodeji Osowobi      Ayodele Olofintuade

Azeezat Olaoluwa       Basirat Adesina       Bella Anne Ndubuisi

Betty Abah      Bimbo Oloyede      Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi 

Bisi Aina     Blessing Digha       Bola Akanji

Bose Ironsi    Bukky Williams       Bukola Onyishi 

Bunmi Oyinsan      Celine Okoro     Chiedo Nwankwor 

Chinelo Njemanze         Chineme Ezekwenna   Chinwe Onyeukwu

Chioma Agwuegbo      Christiana Abayomi-Oluwole  Constance Ogadimma Okeke 

Constance Okeke   Cynthia Mbamalu     Daisy Funke 

Debra Ode       Doose Didi       Dorcas Iorkusa

Dorcas Kwamande     Dorothy Njemanze    Dudu Manuga

Ebere Ifendu      Ebi Emezue     Ejiro Otive-Igbuzor

Ekaete Umoh    Elizabeth Jeiyol       Emem Otuoke

Ene Ede    Enitan Okediji      Esosa Edobor

Esther Eghobamen    Esther Hindi      Esther Olufunke

Evelyn Oti        Evelyn Ugbe    Ezinwa Okoroafor

Felicia Onibon    Foluke Ademokun        Fakhrriyah Hashim

Funke Akiyode      Funke Ijayekunle       Funke Oladipo 

Funmi Para Mallam    Funmilola Oyefusi    Georgeleen Ekon

Geraldyn Debbie   Gracy Mbah      Hajara Adamu

Halima Abubakar       Hansatu Adegbite      Helen Tegtegh

Helen William      Hellen Netugu William       Ife Sarumi 

Ifeyinwa Achike      Iheoma obibi      Ijeoma Jessica Uzoeshi 

Ijeoma Thomas-Odia     Inim Ufon Etuk    Irene Ugbah

Irene Ugbah    Ireti Disu      Ireti Bakare-Yusuf

Itoro Anaba        Ivy Odia Basil-Ofili   Jite Phido

Joan Jummai Idonije    Josephine Effah-Chukwuma    Josephine Obinyan

Joy Lydia      Joy Onyesoh      Juliana Oyegun

Kadaria Ahmed         Kate Banjoko     Kate Omolola Banjoko

Kehinde Afolabi    Kemi Akinremi     Kemi Okeyondo

Kyauta Giwa      Laila St. Daniels   Lesley Agams 

Ler Jonathan       Lillian Okenwa      Limota Goroso

Lois Auta     Lois Chinedu     Loretta Ofure Enofe-Laurel

Louisa Eikhomun-Agbonkhese       Mabel Onwuemele      Mabel. A. Ade

Mairo Mandara      Mandy Asagba     Manre Chirtau

Mariam Oyiza       Mary Afan         Mary Ekpere Eta

Mary Ikoku       Mfon Usoro        Mikang Longjan

Mirabel Edozie      Miriam Menkiti     Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome

Moremi Ojudu        Motunrayo Mustapha  Mufuliat Fijabi

Mutiat Oladejo     Nana Tanko    Ndodeye Bassey-Obongha

Ngozi Iwere       Ngozi Juba    Ngukwase Surma

Niri Goyit      Nkechi Ilochi-Omekedo  Nkechi Obiagbaoso-Udegbunam

Nnenna Anozie      Oby Ezekwesili    Ogechi Hepzibah Ikeh

Ogechi Ikeh   Oguadimma ijeoma joy   Ojobo Atuluku

Okiemute Olori      Olakitan Wellington    Olanike Shobajo

Olayinka Babalola     Oluchi Okpechi  Olufunke Baruwa

Oluwafunmilayo Para-Mallam   Oluwatobi Ayodele   Oluwatoni Adeleke

Omekedo Oby    Omolayo Ojo    Onyema Afulukwe

Onyinyechi Ogadinma Nwachukwu Oredola Kayode-Sanni   Osai Ojigho

Osasumwen Edobor   Pamela Osakwe      Patricia Donli

Peyi S Soyinka-Airewele   Princess Hamman-Obels      Princess Olufemi-Kayode

Priscilla M Achakpa   Priscilla Usibaifo      Queency Patrick

Rahmat Abisola Abdullahi   Ramat Abdullahi   Ramatu Bako

Rhoda Prevail Tyoden     Roibito Ekpiken-Ekanem       Rose Gyar

Sola Folayan    Subomi Chuku       Sumbo Odebode

Suwaiba Yakubu Jibrin      Temilola George     Terfa Suswam

Theopile Madu        Titilayo Owolabi Akerele        Titilola V Adeniyi 

Toni Adeleke      Uche Hilary-Ogbonna      Uche Nwokedi

Vicky Sylvester         Victoria Bassey        Victoria Emah-Emah

Violet Ochekwu      Vivian Efem-Bassey    Wumi Asubiaro Dada

Yemi Adamolekun    Yinka Omorogbe      Yinka Shokunbi”

Zarah Ahmad                    

Being A Policeman Is The Easiest Way To Make Heaven, Says DPO Who Saved Station From Being Burnt

Heaven is a place of uncommon bliss, a paradise. And, the journey to that ultimate heavenly abode is not just a walkover! So says the Holy Scriptures in Mathew 7:14: “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto heaven”. 

DPO, Fegge Police Station, CSP Rabiu Garba

Based on the foregoing, not many would want to easily agree with the assertion of one of the rare distinct achievers within the Nigeria Police Force, CSP Rabiu Garba, that being a policeman is the easiest route to making heaven and reaping eternal life in the hereafter.

Garba, a multiple award winner, celebrated many times for rare display of bravery and uncommon human relations skills, is the Divisional Police Officer of Fegge Police Division, Onitsha.

The officer was recently in the news during the EndSARS Protests which culminated in the burning of several police stations as well as the gruesome killing of many policemen across the country.

The moment an irate mob of hoodlums besieged the Fegge Police Station, armed with deadly weapons, in attempt to set it ablaze, Garba, was the last man standing.

He was reported in the news as having braced up courage to walk up to the rioters and calming down their anger. And, in a twist of fate, the protesters, in their hundreds, turned around and started hailing the DPO.

This is ostensibly on account of his dexterity in deploying human relations skills and approaches to community policing with evident dividends in reduced crime rate.

Garba who is also a lawyer, was enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force in 2002 as a Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police, after studying Anthropology and Sociology at the university.

His first posting was to Rivers State and later Town Bauchi State for training. He has also had the privilege of an overseas training. 

He hails from Bauchi State and is married, with children.He served at Mopol 54, Onitsha, in 2009, and in 2014, he became the DPO, Fegge Police Division, where he is serving till date.

Garba spoke during an interview with newsmen recently on his magic wand to attaining wide public acceptation, despite his being a northerner in a core Igbo territory.

Here is what he had to say: “From discussions we had during our Aluta days in the university, people see police as a negative organization. But, for me, there is a need to intervene where there is a shortfall. 

“I took it as a challenge. We used to tell ourselves that why a particular organisation is considered bad is because the right people have not entered it. All on my own, I became a policeman. No one forced me, rather, I am here to make the change that I can.

“If you think a particular organisation is bad, why not go into it and try to effect the change that you can? Let me tell you, Police is the easiest way to make heaven. This is an organisation where you are saddled with the responsibility of protecting the lives of people. 

“It is one organisation where people appreciate you, even for routine duties, which is even something that is the basic duty of every policeman, they appreciate you for it.

“By the trainings I had received as a policeman and the study of Sociology, I know that knowledge is power, and each of my training has helped me to be able to function in the position I found myself. 

“This has helped me to associate and feel the pulse of the people. My training teaches me to know that the community you are serving, you should be able to feel free with them, if you are really serving them. You have to be able to understudy them and also be able to know the service to give them. It is the duty of the state to render them service and definitely, for you to be able to render service, you must be humble. Humility must be there for you to be able to serve them.

“In fact, I usually tell my men, if you want to shoot someone, why not put the gun in your leg first and fire it and test the bullet before you fire at other people?”

MAY THEY NOT DIE IN VAIN (2)

By Sonnie Ekwowusi

The pertinent question: can social justice reign under our present lopsided federal structure? The answer is No. Something must give way before social justice begins to reign in Nigeria. We have to rearrange, repackage, retool, re-adjust or call it whatever you like our present imbalanced federal structure that prompted the #EndSARS uprising in reminiscent of the French Revolution of 1789 and other revolutions. For example, if we had had true federalism which allowed State policing, our unarmed youth protesters probably would not have been murdered at the Lekki Toll Gate by the Federal army, which, funny enough, is now denying that it committed the heinous crime. So, we cannot shy away from re-packaging or retooling Nigeria.

In response to the uprising, the government has set up Judicial Panels of Inquiry across the various States of the federation to investigate cases of brutality and submit reports to the government. This again testifies that the government is not serious. Can you name one report of a Judicial Panel of Inquiry or Commission of Inquiry that hadn’t been aborted in Nigeria? None. So, why set up Judicial Panels of Inquiry that would not yield anything? The worrisome aspect is that State security operatives are rounding off hundreds upon hundreds of alleged young looters and brutalizing them in the glare of the public without granting them bail or charging them to court as enshrined in our Constitution. Government should have itself to blame if its illegality sparks off another spate of protests across Nigeria. Sincerely speaking, I am yet to fathom how Nigerian government operates. If the immediate cause of the last protests was police brutality, why provoke the youths by brutalizing alleged young looters?. It is obvious that the government hasn’t leant any lessons from the last uprising. Before now, the government was begging the protesting youths to end the #EndSARS protests. The youths did. Now, the same government is provoking the restive youths to start another round of peaceful protests by arresting and brutalizing alleged young looters. The government should understand that it is dealing with recalcitrant, unswerving, intelligent and sophisticated Nigerian youth freedom fighters, who, unlike the current cowardly and pliable Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), will never accept tokens, cosmetics, palliatives, white-washed tombs, monetary bribes or Greek gifts in exchange to freeing Nigerian citizens from the stranglehold or iron grip of incompetent and corrupt totalitarian government. Already a group of young protesters have given President Buhari and Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai fifteen days (with effect from 29 October 2020) to fish out the soldiers who murdered the peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate failure for which the group will organize the mothers of all protests in order to prove to the world that Nigeria is not a banana republic ruled by power-thirsty tyrants. So, the government cannot afford to play its dirty politics with the embattled young millennial whose ideals and potential have been emboldened by social media.

Nolly-wood actor-turned-politician Desmond Elliot fears that Nigeria may cease to exist in five years if the strength of the Nigeria youths on social media is not whittled down in earnest. The Buhari government has also spoken in the same fashion. Sorry. It is no longer feasible for any government to regulate the activities of the young on social media and online. And, if I may ask Desmond, which comes first in terms of priority; the survival of the Nigerian youths or the survival of the contraption called Nigeria? Obviously the former comes first because without the former the latter cannot exist: without the survival of the youths to replenish the dead or dying oldies Nigeria as an entity cannot survive: it will become extinct. So, instead of worrying about the future of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s geographical expression, Desmond and the Buhari government should worry about the well-being and future of the Nigerian youths who are not only the leaders of tomorrow, but the potential replacers of dead or dying Nigerian oldies.

Talks about re-building/renovating/repairing the public infrastructure and public utilities which were destroyed during the last protests have begun. For example, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu says it will cost his government about N1 trillion to re-build/renovate/repair the damaged public infrastructure and property in Lagos which include the damaged Lagos State High Court building, Police Stations, BRT Bus stations and buses and others. Prima facie, this is laudable and praise-worthy. I really sympathize with the Lagos State government. Why, for God’s sake, should any group of protesters set ablaze the BRT buses?. But the government needs to tackle first things first. The first thing is to remedy the grievances of the protesting youths otherwise the rebuilt/renovated/repaired infrastructure and property will be destroyed again during other youth protests. An eye witness who lives on Igbosere Street, Lagos narrates that the protesters did not just set the High Court of Lagos, Igbosere, ablaze but took their time to desecrate the temple of justice and to humiliate lawyers and judges as well. How? By disparagingly mimicking what they believe transpires in Nigerian courts. First, one of the protesters chosen to play the role of a “judge” adorned the wig and gown looted from one of the Judge’s Chambers. Thereafter, he sat down to “preside” over the day’s “proceedings”. “Registrar,!, call the next case”, he bellows out. The case is called. The “judge” collects the case file from the bystander, opens it, quickly flips through the file, looks up and delivers his ruling, “case struck out”. Thereafter he lifts up the file and throws it into a waiting fire to the cheering and hailing of other protesters. In this theatric uncountable court files were burnt to ashes. My deduction from the above is that the protesters were simply venting their spleen against the collapse of the justice system in Nigeria especially the criminal justice system.

So, beyond rebuilding the damaged Lagos High Court it is imperative to rebuild confidence in the judiciary. Let the dispensation of justice be fast-tracked. A court case cannot be pending in court for 10, 12, 14 or 15 years. Hardest hit is the criminal justice system. I visit some prisons (correctional centres) from time to time. Not less than 75% of our prison inmates are in the category of what is termed the awaiting trial inmates (ATM). The other day Osaro Eghobamien SAN and I shared some thoughts on this and came up with the idea of a Mobile Criminal Court (An air-conditioned bus occupied by the presiding judge, court personnel and prosecutor and defence attorney) that could sit in prisons and hear the cases of the ATM. By the way, Eghobamien is one of the exemplary Senior Advocates of Nigeria. Presently he is executing a personal project aimed at fast-tracking the dispensation of justice in our courts. This is the spirit. It is doable. You see, let’s not be afraid of doing what has not been done before. Fixation in doing the same old things or cosmetic treatment of serious matters is a sign of failure. In my view, the cosmetic change of the name of SARS, setting up of Judicial Panels of Inquiry, arresting and brutalization of alleged looters and plan to re-build/renovate/repair the destroyed public infrastructure have not addressed the serious issue-uprising of the Nigerian youths in demand for justice, equity and fair-play in Nigeria. To achieve this, we must first rearrange the federal structure in order to make it work otherwise we should be prepared to witness another tragic uprising of the Nigerian young.

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