Home Blog Page 577

Scandal! Minister reports Foreign Affairs Perm Sec to Head of Service over alleged sexual harassment of female staff member

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has written to the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, over alleged sexual harassment of a married staff member by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry.

The complaint was contained in a letter dated 27th May, 2024, entitled; ‘RE: OFFICIAL COMPLAINT REGARDING SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF MRS SIMISOLA FAJEMIROKUN AJAYI BY AMBASSADOR IBRAHIM ADAMU LAMUWA (PERMANENT SECRETARY MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS).”

The letter signed by the Foreign Affairs Minister, reads in part; “I am compelled to write to inform you of a formal complaint against the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Ibrahim Adamu Lamuwa on allegations of sexual harassment.

“Bearing in mind the gravity of the matter, I feel it necessary to draw your attention to it and ask that you handle it accordingly.

“Please find attached a copy of the complaint I received via email. May I also assure you that I remain available to provide you with any assistance required in discharging your responsibilities.”

Read below a detailed report of the developments that led to the Minister reporting rhe Pernanent Secretary to the Head of Service:

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ibrahim Adamu Lamuwa, has been accused of sexually harassing a female staff member of the ministry.

A married employee of the ministry, Mrs Simisola Fajemirokun Ajayi, disclosed the excesses of the permanent secretary in a petition to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, through her lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), and urged the minister to investigate the permanent secretary.

She asked that disciplinary actions should be taken against Lamuwa to serve as a deterrent to others.

The petition dated May 29, 2024 and entitled: “Request For An Investigation Of Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa’s Conducts Of Sexual Harassment At The Place Of Work, Abuse Of Office Official Intimidation And Discrimination,” was signed by Adebayo A. Oniyelu LP for Falana & Falana’s.

Narrating how the Permanent Secretary has been harassing her, the counsel reminded the minister that he had intervened in the past and was assured that such atrocity and bizarre act would not happen again yet, in May, he (Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa) resumed his sexual molestation, a development that has created an unsafe and uncomfortable working environment for their client and other workers in the ministry.

The petition partly read: “Our attention has been drawn to the bizarre and continuous incidents of sexual harassment, intimidation, oppression, discrimination and conduct likely to breach the public peace within your esteemed Ministry by Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa. Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa’s conduct has created an unsafe and uncomfortable working environment for our client and other staff within your Ministry due to the disturbing experiences and ordeals from the Permanent Secretary.

“Consequent to the foregoing, we seek the intervention of your good office on the above- captioned matter based on the following facts:

“October 7, 2023 during the first policy retreat to review President Tinubu’s 4D policy, Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa approached our client to inquire as to why she did not sleep at the hotel and informed her that he would want her to come to his room after the event. Our client explained that she was a nursing mother and needed to go home to care for her baby.

“Dissatisfied with this, he reiterated his sexual advancement to our client by saying “Is it a big baby or small baby- he suspects it’s a big baby and would like to find out so he can join”.

“He, however, continued this line of inappropriate anecdotes throughout the retreat.”

It added, “On November 10, 2023: our client went to Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa’s conference room where he was working out to discuss the plans to digitize the Ministry. Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa invited her for a meeting later that afternoon with a team from Galaxy Backbone. During the conversation, Amb, Ibrahim Lamuwa requested our client take a voyage with him to Hong Kong.

“He further assured our client that our client’s life would never remain the same after the trip. Our client left the scene in utter shock and disappointment because of the awkwardness of the Permanent Secretary, Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa’s discussion.

“While our client was about to excuse herself, Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa thoughtlessly put his arms around our client’s arms and demanded a full frontal hug which she rejected. The Honourable Minister would recall that sometime in March 2024, our client discussed with you concerning her safety for fear of not being raped by Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa resulting from the consistent sexual harassment reported even as a married woman.

“Upon her unfortunate predicament with the Permanent Secretary, the Honourable Minister assured our client of a change of behavior as he had confronted him.

“Sometime in May 2024, our client went to Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa’s office under the Honourable Minister’s instruction at about 3:20 pm to inform the Permanent Secretary to contact his counterpart in the Ministry of Defence for the reports needed for the upcoming US trip.

“Upon arriving at the Permanent Secretary’s office, our client was informed that he was in his inner room. In her desperate attempt to avoid getting molested, our client returned to her office and interestingly, Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa demanded that she return to his office at about 3:41pm on the same day.

“As instructed, our client immediately returned to see the Permanent Secretary. On arriving at the Permanent Secretary’s office, he commented that our client had not been to his office since February because she had grudges against him. He then offered our client to drink tea from his cup whilst forcefully putting his arms around our client’s and referring to her as a “stubborn woman”.

“Our client again hurriedly left the Permanent Secretary’s office for fear of being molested after repeated demands of a tight hug from him as he had missed seeing her.

“It is pertinent to state that a discreet investigation conducted by our client revealed that more women are with unadorned allegations against the Permanent Secretary, particularly female directors who were almost raped in the hotel rooms and female foreign service officers who have been harassed, threatened and removed from trips, postings and other privileges because they declined to comply with Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa’s uncontrolled sexual urges.

“Given the above-stated facts, the Honourable Minister would agree with us that sexual harassment, intimidation, oppression, discrimination and abuse of office in any form are unacceptable. They violate your Ministry’s policies as well as ethical standards. It includes but is not limited to unwanted advances, inappropriate comments, and any behaviour that creates a hostile work environment.

“In the circumstances, we humbly request you to use your revered office to cause a detailed investigation to be carried out into the facts presented in this petition against Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa and if found liable, appropriate disciplinary actions should be meted against him as this will serve as a deterrent against future reoccurrence of such infractions.”

The Conclave

Court nullifies amended section of Rivers Assembly commission law

The High Court in Rivers State has scrapped section three of the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission Law amended recently by the speaker Martins Amaewhule-led Assembly.

The Assembly bypassed Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s assent to enact the section, which transferred the power to appoint the chairman and members of the commission to the speaker of the House.

Irked by the  development, the Association of Legal Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALLDAP), a non-governmental organisation, filed a suit seeking the court’s interpretation of the new section and its conformity with the Nigerian Constitution.

The NGO prayed the court to determine whether section three of the amended House of Assembly Service Commission Law No. 3 of 2024 was in line with the Constitution.

Justice Kariba Dagogo-Jack, in her judgement, averred  that the amendment violated sections 5, 176, 197, and 198 of the Nigerian Constitution.

Her Lordship explained that the Constitution gave the exclusive right to appoint members of boards, commissions, and institutions, including the States Assembly Service Commission, to the executive governors of the states.

She however added that the said the appointments must be confirmed by the States Houses of Assembly asserting that the court would not permit such an amendment to stand.

Dagogo-Jack maintained that the actions of the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly was an attempt by the lawmakers to take over the responsibilities of the executive in violations of the  principle of separation of powers.

Shen then struck out section three of the law and imposed a perpetual injunction preventing the enforcement of the section.

The Nation

Only Federal High Court can determine whether Martins Amaewhule and 26 others are still PDP members — Rivers AG says

  • Urges general public to disregard rumours
DAGOGO IBOROMA, SAN , AG Rivers State

Press Statement

TEXT OF PRESS BRIEFING BY DAGOGO IBOROMA, SAN, RIVERS STATE ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND COMMISSIONER FOR JUSTICE ON MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2024

Gentlemen of the pess

As Hon. Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and 3rd defendant in SUIT NO DHC/20/CS/2024, my attention has been drawn to a recent judgment. This suit did not seek to declare the seat of Martins Amaewhule and 26 others in Rivers State House of Assembly vacant.

The suit of the claimants was struck out for want of locus standi and jurisdiction and also for being an abuse of court process which robbed the trial court of jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter.

There is misleading news circulating in social media, print and electronic media that Martins Amaewhule & 26 others are members of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Rivers State House of Assembly.

As you all know, Martins Amaewhule and 26 others defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress on the 11th Day of December, 2023 and stated that much in affidavit evidence deposed to by Martins Amaewhule for himself and on behalf of 26 others in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/1681/CS/2023 before Hon. Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division. The Suit is still pending in court.

By section 272(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, it is only the Federal High Court that can determine whether Martins Amaewhule and 26 others are still members of Peoples Democratic Party and also members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. This much was held by the trial court.

However, you will recall that these is a subsisting order of interlocutory injunction in Suit No.PHC/512/CS/2024 restraining Martins Amaewhule and his co-travelers from further parading or presenting themselves as law makers in Rivers State pending the determination of the substantive suit, which has not been appealed against till date.

We urge the public to disregard the news presently making rounds in social, print and electronic media to the effect that Martins Amaewhule and 26 others have been declared as members of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Homeless kids invade South West

By Lasisi Olagunju

“A large percentage of them are from Niger Republic, Mali, and Chad.” The six South-West states are being overrun by an army of homeless young men of unknown address and of mystery background.

Some snakes have beauty; their nimbleness is their strength. But these ones in every neighbourhood are not pretty snakes; their presence is ugly. They enter in anonymity, like an invalid, their fangs invisible.

Last Thursday, The Guardian newspaper ran a front page lead story with the headline: ‘Homeless kids invade Abuja, South-West’. The quote above which points at where they come from I lifted from that report. The Guardian and its sources fingered Niger Republic, Mali and Chad as the source of the human flood. I add and implicate northern Nigeria and the choice it makes. We see it every day in trucks and in trailers loaded with human consignments. They land aimless, wild and fear-inducing. The story continues:

“Many strangers move into the (South-West) region in trucks and articulated vehicles loaded with foodstuffs, livestock, and other items, and travel through the Ogbomoso axis into Oyo and to Ibadan. Some of them disembark in Ogbomoso and Ibadan in Oyo State, while others move to Ogun State, and the rest to Lagos State. From Ogbomoso and Ibadan, some disperse into other parts of the state, including Sabo, a large concentration of Hausa/Fulani community, as well as another such community in Ojoo, Iwo Road, and another large concentration at Akinyele, which houses what appears to be the largest pepper market in Nigeria,” the newspaper report said, quoting recent concerns raised by the ‘South-West Security Stakeholders Group’.

There are people who see the influx as a deliberate efflux of scum; something akin to NEPA’s load shedding. There are people who think it is population dumping and excretion of pooh on the Yoruba south. I see it as the natural consequence of elite irresponsibility and state failure. These movements have consequences, and they cannot be pleasant.

On February 21, 2024, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, senator and ex-Ogun State governor, sent out a tweet. He said rather ominously that “21 percent of Nigerians currently live in the South-West. The region is projected to hold close to 50 percent of our (Nigeria’s) population by 2050 because of the pattern of migration which will ultimately put greater strains on existing infrastructure…”

I do not know how ex-Governor Daniel arrived at his projection, but his reference to “pattern of migration” got me thinking. He may be right. And if he is right, the West will be in trouble – if it is not in trouble already. Every day, lorries carry youths from outside Yoruba land to Yoruba land. That is the terrifyingly truthful reality. We see trucks and lorries and crammed buses of boys and men every day entering the west. Yet, the factory producing the homeless runs non-stop and at full capacity, day and night.

Migration is not inherently bad. What is abhorrent is when the quality of the migrants is bad. I was in Liberia towards the end of that country’s civil war. I saw what it meant to have more than half of a county’s entire population in a zone. The country’s total population today is 5.3 million. Before the Liberian civil war, 250,000 people lived in the capital, Monrovia; the war pushed that figure up to what it is today – 1.735 million people, causing unending disruptions that have refused to go away.

Recently, I wrote against shelling out 100 young female orphans into mass marriage in Niger State. I wrote about the danger of indiscriminate wife-buying and the production of a huge unproductive population, a mass of children that are sentenced to uneducation from the womb. A consortium in Kano came out attacking me for counting their spirit’s nine toes in his presence. They called me a hater of the North. Friends and foes forwarded their piece to me. I commend their diction but deplore their dictum. I wish I could tell them sorry for stepping beyond my ‘Yoruba’ bounds. But, I cannot. I can hear the plaintive words of Socrates “How you have felt, O men of Athens, at hearing the speeches of my accusers, I cannot tell; but I know that their persuasive words almost made me forget who I was — such was the effect of them; and yet they have hardly spoken a word of truth.” Where the northern elite stand is deplorable, quicksand of wickedness.

I have read sympathetic reports that described the daily arrivals as security and economic migrants. That fact itself is problematic – especially when the receivers are challenged too by existential problems. We say tèmi tó mi l’érù má dìkun (what I carry is enough load, do not add to it). Yoruba land already has more than enough of its homelessness to contend with. In shanties and under bridges, adults – male and female – with street children compete for space at night. Even those with roofs over their heads are ‘internally’ displaced in their homes by hunger and want. Now, combine anger inherent in all these with the troubles of unwanted guests. What we have is a volcano humming and rearing to go.

Mass migration like we are discussing potentially ties forehead hairs to occipital strands. Check how ‘foreign’ and ‘indigenous’ okada riders structure their presence across the South. The home boys and the ‘invaders’ hardly mix. Their relationship is forever fanned with the heat of tension. It can’t be different and better. Between popcorn and our molars, there is no enduring friendship; there has never been. Gúgúrú pèlú enu, won kìí s’òré títí d’alé.

Myron Weiner, American author and professor of Political Science, in his ‘A Security Perspective on International Migration’ published in 1992 stressed that “conflicts create refugees but refugees can also create conflicts.” That is the fear that is discussed in hushed tones in every neighborhood in south-west Nigeria now.

What does it mean for the South-West to carry half of Nigeria’s population? ‘The World Population Prospects’, published in 2017 by the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said by 2050, the world would have 9.8 billion people. It said Nigeria, with eight other countries, would account for half of that figure. “Among the ten largest countries worldwide, Nigeria is growing the most rapidly. Consequently, the population of Nigeria, currently the world’s 7th largest, is projected to surpass that of the United States and become the third largest country in the world shortly before 2050,” the UN report predicted.

The United Nations Population Fund Country programme document for Nigeria, published on 3 February, 2023, indicated that our population would reach 400 million by 2050. “The estimated population of Nigeria of 216 million and its annual growth rate of 3.2 percent is driven by a total fertility rate of 5.3. This rate is higher among rural households (5.9) and uneducated and poorest households (6.7). The population is expected to reach 400 million by 2050, making Nigeria the third most populous country globally,” the UNFPA report said.

Now, imagine half of 400 million Nigerians permanently living in Yoruba land as a result of migration from everywhere. Think of the cultural conflagration and the demographic disaster that will ensue. Think of the socio-political fissures, the tension and the permanent threat to peace and stability that will be the lot of the host. If 400 million live in western Nigeria with its present economic problems unsolved, you can be sure that more than half that figure will qualify to be described as homeless.

And, what does it mean to be homeless? The best definition of a situation always comes from those who are in it or have experienced it. “I used to think that the hardest thing about being homeless was not having a bed to sleep in – having to find a doorway, or a derelict building or the back of an abandoned car to lay your head. But I learnt from the young people that I am working with that that is not the hardest part of being homeless. Then I thought it was being hungry or cold. But that too is not the hardest part of being homeless. So I thought it was the boredom, having nothing to do, all day, every day, walking up and down trying to pass the time. But that is not the hardest part. Now I believe that the hardest part of being homeless is to live with the knowledge that if you disappeared from the face of the earth, no-one would even notice. That defines the value of your life. You are of no value to anyone; there is no one to whom you are important, no one who really cares. Your life is virtually meaningless. The message you receive from society, every minute of every day, is that you are not worth the trouble or effort or expense of providing you with even a small bedsit that you can call home.” Jesuit priest, Peter McVerry, wrote the above in his 2001 article, ‘Homelessness’.

“On 6 March, 1986, ten-year-old David Bright testified before the (United States) House Select Committee on Hunger and became an emblem of the homeless children of America in the 1980s. David lived in New York City’s Hotel Martinique, a festering behemoth that was home to 1,500 homeless children and their families.

“‘When I grow up,’ David said, ‘I will be the president of the United States. Then everyone will have a little money in their pockets.’

‘”And,’ David added, ‘no little boy like me will have to put his head down on his desk at school because it hurts to be hungry.’”

The above is part of the introductory paragraphs of a 1989 piece written by Robert M. Hayes for the American Academy of Political Science. Hayes entitled his piece ‘Homeless Children.’ It is a study in societal rejection and abandonment.

Like that 10-year-old American boy, millions of children are on the street of Nigeria dying slowly and quietly in unremitting hunger and rejection. However, unlike the American boy, our own millions without homes do not have desks to put their hunger on. They rummage the dirt of gutters and sewages in search of the ever elusive hope of survival. If they are lucky or smart enough to live and their bones grow big enough, they migrate to the South without skills, compounding their suffering and homelessness. Rescuing them and saving ourselves is why we speak and write and refuse to be silenced. Yet, we are abused and called names.

Fortunately, those who read hatred in every criticism are a fading clan of clowns. There are great people in the North who are as concerned as any patriot could be. An old friend and Senior Advocate from one of the far northern states forwarded my column on mass wedding to me and thanked me. Another old friend, a retired General from the North-East, thumbed up my position and wrote to me: “Thank you. You people are keeping us busy.” This last Saturday, a very knowledgeable Imam from northern Nigeria, Sheikh Muhammad Nuru Khalid, granted a newspaper interview where he spoke against choices that encourage irresponsible child hatching and warned of the threat it poses to societal stability and cohesion. Khalid was the Chief Imam of Apo Legislative Quarters’ mosque in Abuja who was sacked in 2022 for preaching against the ills of General Muhammadu Buhari’s government. I am quoting his Saturday Tribune interview here, copiously:

“A child that was brought up on the streets does not know the affection of the family and he cannot have that love for anybody and therefore he can kill anybody. A child that is being prevented from having education with no justification, the envy in his heart will make him dislike any educated person, the system and the country itself.

“Those potential terrorists that we are seeing on the streets, children begging, children sleeping on the streets, children without clothes, without education, they are potential criminals. And criminals will get access to them to recruit them and become bandits. We have to work towards fairness and justice in governance so that there will be equity in economic opportunities. That will reduce the tendency of having more bandits.”

But it is not easy and won’t be easy. Sheikh Khalid said “If you remove all the Almajiris on the streets today, just give it some time, you will find more of them there again if you do not remove the root of the problem.” He was right. Some plants have to be rooted out for the field to be luxurious. Sheikh Khalid added: “And the root of the problem is the family. The problem of family is how marriage is being conducted and kept. Why is it that the North produces Almajiris? Why is the South not producing Almajiris? If Islam is the problem, why is it that Yoruba Muslims are not producing Almajiris?

“When you have irresponsible parents producing many children, you will have Almajiris or worse than Almajiris. Therefore, we have to regulate marriage in Nigeria. The government must come into it, enact laws that will prevent people from just getting married anyhow. That is how to tackle the issue… Let’s not give it a dimension of Islam and think that this is just for the Muslims. Let the other faiths and other geographical locations understand that the issue of Almajiri is a security issue. Insecurity in any part of Nigeria is also a menace to the entire country. It will affect our economy, it affects our social structure; it affects everything.” Sheikh Khalid was right. May his type be mass-produced in the North.

The problem of millions of the homeless migrating “from Niger Republic”, from “Mali, and Chad” – from everywhere – into the South-West has just started. The flood won’t stop unless the state is mended, and the elite shows genuine care and the leaky dam is repaired. Danger tottering on the brink of disaster should scare and worry everyone. A hurricane is coming.

Boni Madubunyi (1933-2024), MFR: Embodiment of Success and Humility

By C. Don Adinuba

Despite founding Nigeria’s most successful hydrocarbon geophysical consulting firm and contributing significantly to the development of the oil and gas sector, Boniface Madubunyi, who died at 90 on May 13th in London, was practically unknown to the Nigerian public. That’s the way he wanted it. Very few persons anywhere can be so successful and yet so self-effacing, almost monastic in their lifestyle.

Madubunyi, an engineer trained at the University of Manchester in the early 1960s who was given the Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) national honour under the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, set up a geophysical firm, Mabon Geophysical Surveys Ltd, that competes effectively with Western ones. Statoil of Norway, now Equinor, Shell, and Chevron to name and some others invested in Nigeria’s offshore in 1992 based on data and analyses from Mabon. Madubunyi was the first Nigerian person to own oil blocks in both the United States and Europe.

He invested across various sectors, from power generation to real estate to oil exploration and production, yet he shunned labels like a ‘wealthy man’ or ‘entrepreneur.’ He preferred to be seen as a professional consultant. He embodied humility and professionalism.

An indigene of Ihiala in Anambra State, Madubunyi was cosmopolitan through and through. He accepted the challenge from the Federal Government to build and operate a 40-megawatt hydropower plant in Gombe State in the most difficult period in the country’s history. Since January 2020, this plant has supplied uninterrupted electricity to the national grid, with six states benefitting directly from it.

Soft-spoken, strikingly good-looking, and reserved, Madubunyi worked extremely hard. Researchers in applied psychology and management science can use him as an example of success brought about by deliberate practice, or the 10,000 hours principle, the concept that most people who have attained global excellence, whether in sports, music, or business, have put in about 10,000 hours of practice. He was still working even in his last days, though his son, Richard Kenechukwu Madubunyi who trained at Imperial College in London and the University of Leeds, had assumed control of much of the Mabon group in the last couple of years.

His style is reminiscent of that of Warren Buffet, founder of Berkshire Hathaway and one of the world’s richest investors who at 93 is still immersed in work. A devout Catholic and son of a catechist and teacher, Madubunyi would retort anytime I inquired when he would retire: “The pope, who has the world as his constituency, still works!” He and I would discuss at 2 am on the phone, say, on Sunday, and before 7 am he would call again even when he was in his 80s, dead busy at work

In Madubunyi I saw the personification of the elegant statement popularised by Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder and chairman: simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. There was nothing flamboyant or extravagant about him or his style, but his houses, and his dress sense, for instance, reveal a man imbued with taste, class, and sophistication.

His wife, Nkiru, though born into a wealthy family, is equally modest and adapts easily to any environment. She and the husband always felt at home in my regular Mercedes Benz cars in the 1990s and early 2000s even they had specially crafted vehicles. Mrs Madubunyi’s father, Chief GE Okeke, built the Abbott group of schools in the 1950s in Sapele in today’s Delta State and in Ihiala, Anambra State.

He became the Minister of Education and later of Economic Planning in the old Eastern Nigerian Region. The Great Zik of Africa trusted him and and gave him a free hand to lead the team that built the University of Nigeria at Nsukka. Chief Okeke later conceived and built the Enugu campus of the UNN as well as Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, in Imo State. Proprietor of the Nigerian Starch Company who was to serve on a bank board, Okeke contributed to the development of Ihiala, his hometown, more than any other individual, dead or alive.

Though much of his life was spent abroad, Madubunyi was quite home-conscious. He was the first person to construct a major road in Ihiala, after Victor Okafor who built Ezego Road. Madubunyi singlehanded rebuilt the famous St. Martin’s Catholic Church with strict instructions to the church authorities not to reveal the person behind it. He donated generously to the iconic Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Ihiala, also with an instruction to the owners and managers not to disclose his role. He bought a large swath of land to build an industry in Ihiala, but, owing to market headwinds, donated it to the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi. He also bought a large parcel of land to build a private university in Ihiala, but the project didn’t take off for some reason.

In appreciation of his generosity to the church, the ecclesiastical authorities offered to reward him with a knighthood, which he turned down with a customary smile. His Ihiala people did their best to bestow honorific traditional titles on him, but he rejected the offers politely; I used to call him Ugochinyere Ihiala, a “greeting” name given him informally by my cousin, Nick Mbaezue, on December 31, 2000, in the residence of Chief Charles Madubunyi, his lifelong friend who retired from the Customs Service as number three man without a house anywhere.

Unlike many men carried away by the riches of the world and pleasures of life and so became Epicureans, Madubunyi was ever conscious of what the English poet described as the inevitable hour. For about two decades, he prepared for the final hour, attending the mass daily and participating regularly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Days before his departure, priests were visiting him in the hospital to administer the viaticum, the Eucharist given to a person about to leave this world.

Yet, we must pray for the repose of the noble soul of Boniface Madubunyi and the souls of all the faithful departed. To Boniface Madubunyi, MFR, a most uncommon Nigerian, we say Requiescat in pace.

Adinuba was Anambra State Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment (2018-22).

Steve Emelieze, others to be sworn-in Monday as NBA Abuja new EXCO members

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Abuja, Unity Bar will at Monday 10 June 2024 swear-in its new executive committee members.

  1. OKECHUKWU STEVE EMELIEZE, BRANCH CHAIRMAN, YEAR OF CALL— JAN.2001
  2. ANTHONY IDOKO, BRANCH VICE CHAIRMAN, YEAR OF CALL— MAY.2004
  3. ONYEKA STANLEY OBIAJULU, BRANCH SECRETARY, YEAR OF CALL—NOV. 2007
  4. ZACCHAEUS AKUBO,PUBLICITY SECRETARY, YEAR OF CALL— FEB. 2012
  5. MUSA DANLADI, FINANCIAL SECRETARY, YEAR OF CALL — DEC. 2015
  6. EKENE GERALD ARUBALEZE, SOCIAL SECRETARY, YEAR OF CALL— JULY. 2016
  7. JUNE IDANG ETIM, WELFARE SECRETARY, YEAR OF CALL— OCT.2015
  8. FARUK KEMIEL KHAMAGAM, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, YEAR OF CALL— NOV. 2013
  9. EMMANUEL IFEANYI UTOMI, BRANCH TREASURER, YEAR OF CALL— SEPT.2011

A statement signed by Moses Ebute, SAN, Chair of the electoral committee explained that “there is only one candidate for each/every position or office being vied for. Therefore, by necessary implication, there shall be no elections as the candidates are all unopposed. They will be sworn on the 10th day of June 2024 being the terminal date of the current executive committee.”

Awomolo queries Secretary Body of Benchers as Justice Odili denies appointing Alegeh Committee Chair

  • Secretary clarifies position, insists Odili made the appointment and more
  • Appointments as BoB Committee Chair is a privilege not a right — Awomolo tells Federal High Court

The controversy between the Chair of Nigeria’s Body of Benchers (BoB) Asiwaju A.S. Awomolo, SAN and and a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Augustine Alegeh, SAN has taken a new dimension with retired Supreme Court Justice Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili , the immediate past Chair of BoB denying ever appointing Alegeh as Chairman, Appointment Committee.

Following her denial, Chief Awomolo issued a 3 June 2024 query to the Secretary of the BoB, Mr. Daniel Tela. The letter reads: “Find herewith  Ietter dated 3rd June  2024 from the Immediate  past chairman,  Hon. Justice  Mary Ukaego  Peter-Odlll,  ]SC (Rtd) on  the above matter.

“I May I request for your response.

“You  may   forward to  me the memo approved by the  former chairman where he instructed you I  write the letter of appointment, please. May  I  request  for  your response  by Tuesday  the  4  day ,of  June 2024, please…”

Part of Justice Odili’s her letter reads: “It is with great  shock to read the contents of the letter which in effect  means that I, as outgoing chairman  of the Body of Benchers, authorilzed the said appointment. I  could not have embarked on such an appointment of Augustine Alegeh SAN as Chairman of Appointment Committee for the following reasons:

1. I  had made it known to the administration that I had no interest in reconfiguring the Appointment  Committee during my tenure.

2. I could not have embarked on such a process on the day I chaired the last meeting of my tenure, which meant that the appointment would not be presented to the House for approval before the letter to the candidate.

3. I would not have entered into the restructuring of the Appointments Committee  without reference to the Vice Chairman with whom I  worked as a team…

BoB-Chairmans-Query-to-Daniel-Tela1

In his defence however, Tela insisted that al the instructions he received from the five  different  Chairmen he had served as Secretary of the Body were mostly oral. Asserting that it was the secretariat which always raised letters based on the verbal, SMS or WhatsApp instructions of the Chairmen as that of Justice Odili appointing Alegeh Chair of Appointments Committee, Tela said: “It is rare to see a written  instruction.”

Below is a part of Tela’s story:

“Regarding   the  appointment   of Committee  members,    I  wish   to  clarify  that  the Secretariat  acts only on the directives  of the Chairman   issued  orally or in writing. I  say this  on my honour.  The Secretariat   sometimes  makes  suggestions  to the Chairman who is the final authority. In the instant  case, I suggested to the  then Chairman,  Hon. Justice   Mary  U. Peter-Odili,  CFR,  JSC  (Rtd),  DSSRS,  that the  Chairman  of the  Benchers  Appointment  Committee should  come  from the Bar,  given that  the previous  Chairman  had served  two consecutive terms from  the Bench.  Mr.  Augustine   Alegeh,  SAN, being  a Life Bencher and  past President  of the  Nigerian   Bar  Association  was  subsequently  appointed  as Chairman,  based  on the verbal  approval of the Chairman.

“May I state for the record that the above appointment  is not the first to be done based  on  verbal communication or via  SMS. There  are  other Chairmen  and members  of Committee  whose appointments  were  made  on the  basis  of such verbal  communication.  That is why the steps taken on the appointment of Mr. Alegeh,  SAN and other members of the Committee was not strange.

“Prior  to this, I verbally  drew  the attention  of the immediate  past  Chairman to  the  expiration of the  tenure of the  Chairman,  Benchers   Appointment Committee,  Hon. Justice  Umaru  Abdullahi,  CON and some of the members wherein  it was agreed  that  they be notified  of the expiration of their tenure, some  having   served   beyond   the  stipulated  tenure.   Letters   were   issued notifying  the following  of the expiration of their  tenure  as members of the Benchers Appointment Committee   having  been  appointed  on  the  8th  of February,  2018:   Hon.   Justice   Umaru    Abdullahi,  CON,   Chief  Albert Akpomudje, SAN,  lchie  L.M.E.  Ezeofor,  Hon.  Justice  Oyebola  Ojo.  This means their  tenure  ought to have expired  on the 5th  of February,  2024 having served two (2) consecutive  terms.

“I further  suggested  to the Chairman the need to replace the Benchers  whose tenure have  expired.  I specifically  suggested that  the  nominees  to serve  on the Committee  should  be Life  Benchers in view of the peculiar function  of the Committee.

“Following   the  above  suggestion,  the  Chairman  requested  for  the  list  of members  of the Body of Benchers  which  I forwarded   through   her  PA via WhatsApp. The  Chairman,  through  her  PA nominated   Hon.  Justice   K.  B. Akaahs,  OFR,  Hon. Justice  P.A.  Galumje, Hon. Justice  A. N. Nwankwo  and Mr.  D. D. Dodo,  OFR,  SAN. The  list was sent  to me via WhatsApp. 

“I drew the attention of the Chairman through her PA on WhatsApp that  Mr.  Dodo, SAN was already  a member of two (2) Standing Committees of the Body, and based  on the Body of Benchers Regulations   (as amended), no Bencher shall serve on more  than  two (2) Standing Committees of the Body which the PA responded that  she will get  back  to me.  Subsequently,  the  PA sent  me the name of Hon. Justice  Uzo Anyanwu as replacement for Mr.  Dodo,  SAN.

“It is for the foregoing  reason  that  Hon. Justice  P. A. Galumje attended  the meeting  of the  Benchers  Appointment  Committee held  on 22nd May,  2024 and today  he remains  a member  of the Committee.

“I wish to emphasize that I have always acted in good faith and in accordance  with the directives of the Chairman. I have never unilaterally appointed  any Bencher to serve in any Committee, and I cannot do so. My loyalty to the Body and its leadership  remains  unwavering,  even  in  the  face  of  differing opinions  or challenges.

“Sir, you may recall that by a letter dated 16th April, 2024, I forwarded the list of members of the Committees of the Body indicating the date of appointment  of each  Committee  member  as  requested.  The  names  of  the  aforementioned Benchers were included on the list, particularly at page 5. (Copy attached for ease of reference). Sir, if l  was not directed, how could I have included their names on the list of the Benchers Appointment Committee which I forwarded?

“Sir,  you may further recall my observations  to you on the 26th of April,  2024 regarding the reconstitution  of the Committees  of the Body where  I expressed some concerns  and reservations  and  also  mentioned  the  appointment of  the Chairman of the Benchers Appointment  Committee.

“However,  I still followed your directives being the Chairman and knowing you have the final say and issued appointment  letter to Prof. Yusuf  0.  Ali,  SAN  as Chairman  of the Benchers Appointment Committee as well as other Benchers appointed into various Committees  as  reconstituted.   God  forbid  that  a  day  will  come  when   the Secretariat will refuse to carry out the directives of the Chairman of the Body on account of the manner in which the directives was issued.

“I must state that most instructions  given to the Secretariat to act are done orally. It is rare to see a written  instruction. As a matter of fact, it is the Secretariat  that usually raises a Memo for the Chairman’s  approval not the other way round. There are several instances  where such memos have been raised or letters written to a Chairman for his information  and further  directives  or necessary action  and the response comes either orally or via SMS or WhatsApp messages. Out of respect and in line with the usual practice, the Secretariat  carries out the directives.  With the recent development, should  the Secretariat only act upon written  directives given to it for the records? To my mind, the answer should be yes. This way, the records will speak for itself.

“I have received  oral  directives  from  various  Chairmen   on several  occasions which were duly carried  out. This include  the issuance  of appointment letters to Hon.  Justice  Ejembi  Eko  and  Hon.  Justice  Sidi Bage as members  of the Body of Benchers  in October,  2023 under  the chairmanship   of the immediate past  Chairman,  the circulation  of the list of reconstituted  Committees  to all members  on 29th April,  2024, the directive  that  appointment  should  be for a period  of two (2) years  and  issuance  of letters  to Benchers  who objected  to their  removal  from  Committees  informing  them  of  their    continued membership  of the particular Committee.  I have also received  oral directives regarding   changes to meeting dates,  Call to Bar ceremonies  and  Traditional Law Dinners.

“Permit me to state for the record that after the incidence that took place on the on the  22nd of  May,  2024  during  the  meeting  of  the  Benchers   Appointment Committee  wherein both Prof. Yusuf 0.  Ali, SAN and Mr. Augustine  Alegeh, CON,  SAN claimed to be the rightful chairman of the Committee,  I thought  it wise to mention to the immediate past Chairman about the embarrassing  situation for two (2) reasons; first because the list of nominees for appointment as Benchers which My Lord the then Chairman recommended  for appointment  was brought up in  the course of the meeting and adjourned  for consideration  on the 26th of June,  2024.

“Secondly, to draw My Lord’s  attention to the fact that Mr. Alegeh, SAN who was appointed during her tenure and Prof. Ali, SAN appointed  under the leadership of the current  Chairman  were  laying  claim  to  the  position  of Chairman of the Committee and expressed my worries about the effect of such incident on the image of the Body. I made this call on the 23rd of May,  2024.  In response,  My Lord thanked me for the information and also told me not to allow anything disturb me, stating that they will sort themselves out.

“To my mind, after the report of the incident, the question as to how Mr. Alegeh, SAN and Prof. Ali, SAN were both appointed to chair the Committee would have risen. But none. On the contrary I  was told not to allow anything disturb me and that they would sort themselves out.

“I was shocked that by a letter dated 3rd  June,  2024 I was issued a query alongside the letter written by the immediate past Chairman dated the same 3rd  June,  2024 denying knowledge of the appointment  of Mr. Alegeh,  SAN. I placed a call to My Lord to find out if the letter actually emanated  from her and I was surprised to receive a response to the effect that she tried reaching out to me earlier but I was not picking and she had to put together the letter and does not want anything to do with the issue of the Appointment Committee as it was not her position. I reminded   my   Lord  of  our  discussion   on  the   issue and the subsequent correspondence but my Lord maintained her position. The conversion ended with a plea that I should ‘find a way to help Awomolo’.

“I said I have been doing so, but with the content of the letter, I kept wondering how? At the detriment of my integrity, reputation and career, because the content of the letter is damaging to my person. I have been pondering on the import of the statement. I have never and will never work against the interest of any Chairman nor betray the trust reposed on me.

“I have been inundated with calls on the fact that that the immediate past Chairman did not authorized nor approved the appointment and that I have been queried. I am still wondering how the letter got to the public space.

“May I further  state that since my assumption of office, this is the first  time I am receiving  a query  from  any  Chairman of the Body  regarding actions  I took in good faith and based on approval given by the Chairman.

“I  am concerned about the negative impact of recent events on the Body’s image and integrity, it has been a major distraction for me in the smooth operation of the Secretariat. I pray that these events wiII soon come to an end, and I remain committed to advising and guiding the Chairman with honesty and integrity.

“I have  always   ensured   that  the  image  of the  Body  and  that  of the  leadership is always  protected by not making certain comments and actions  public  even  when it  sometimes  portrays  me and the Secretariat   in bad light.  My loyalty  to the Body and its  leadership at all levels remains intact.

“In my  humble view, what  is  most  important   at this  stage  is  finding a solution rather  than  blame  game.  It is never  too  late to make  things  right   for the  good  of the Body.

In the meantime, Chief Awomolo has asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss the suit filed by Alegeh challenging his removal as as Chair Appointment Committee on the basis that he has no legal right over the affairs of the BoB and that appointments are not rights but privileges.

Awomolo-SANs-Motion-on-Notice-to-Dismiss

Click here to download Chief Awomolo’s Motion on Notice.

Let’s Talk STD – Sexually Transmitted Distinction

By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

In a country and a season in which candour is not always seen as a virtue, those who make it the currency of their daily lives are either idolized, endangered or idolized into endangerment. On the Nigerian streets, a person who addresses issues of public significance with candour can be described as having “broken the table”. As a figure of speech, this usage is back-handed compliment for bucking a national habit of dressing up reality in a bodyguard of avoidance.

Tables, however, can be useless without a chair or a bench. When the table gets scattered, the bench that accompanies it can suddenly become of limited utility. To default to a Nigerianism, lawyers and benches are like five and six. Judges and magistrates are referred to as members of “the Bench”. When lawyers have to discuss a matter confidentially in court with the judge in some countries, they “approach the bench.”

Even before that, upon becoming eligible to enroll as into the vocation, their admission into the profession is overseen by a “Body of Benchers”, comprised as required by the Legal Practitioners Act of  “legal practitioners of the highest distinction in the legal profession in Nigeria.” The self-designated “vission” (sic) of the Body is “to be the beacon of legal professionalism, setting the standard for legal education, qualification, and conduct worldwide.”

To accomplish this, the least the Body of Benchers must do is to embody the highest standards of the profession themselves. Many years ago, that could have been said of them.

These days, it seems, benchers are the ones at war with tables. In Nigeria’s Body of Benchers currently, tables are being scattered in a manner that exposes how the standards of the legal profession have become hostage to a capricious entitlement mentality of its leadership. Amidst the daily dose of drama that defines Nigerian life, the spectacle unfolding in the Body of Benchers has been largely shielded from public attention. It is time to redress that neglect.

There is one other reason why this matter deserves attention. Over the course of several weeks now, the current leadership of the Body of Benchers has sought to intimidate journalists, reporters and platform providers, threatening them with unspoken consequences if they much as dared to publish material on the current crisis in the Body. For those who had already published, instructions to take down the material were transmitted, accompanied similarly with threats of malign consequences if they failed to comply. This degree of investment in suppressing and attacking the legitimate pursuit of a lawful vocation is both intolerable and unlawful. It could even be criminal. It would not be charitable to believe that this has anything to do with the fact that the current Chairman of the Body of Benchers is said to be someone who departed the Police in yet unascertained circumstances before becoming a lawyer.

The Body of Benchers is a statutory body. Any status enjoyed by its members is conferred by law. As a result, citizens have a duty to hold the feet of the Body and its members to fire.

Since the current crisis in the Body of Benchers has its origins ultimately in issues of membership, it is essential to dwell a little on the matter of its membership. The Body comprises two categories of members. Life Benchers enjoy membership for life. They can attain that status either by virtue of office or from dutiful longevity in membership after a minimum of five years. There are also ordinary members of the Body whose membership is not for life. Members include both lawyers and judges. For equity, leadership rotates on an annual schedule between the judges and the lawyers such that if a judge chairs the Body in one year, then a lawyer chairs it the following year.

Membership of the Body of Benchers used to truly hew closely to the requirement of the law limiting it to persons of “the highest distinction.” Today, aspects of the Body have degenerated somewhat into influence-peddling. For instance, they have extended automatic membership to senior federal legislators who are lawyers, such as the presiding officers of the two chambers of the National Assembly; and some significant committee chairs too. Indeed, a former Governor and current Minister with a reputation for “generosity” is one of the best known Life Benchers. At the instigation of the Body, success in the bloody art of election rigging in Nigeria now counts as attainment of “the highest distinction” in the legal profession.

We digress though. Among the committees established within the Body, an Appointments Committee vets nominees for membership, presumably to ensure that they comply with the threshold requirement of the law. That Committee is headed by a Chair whose tenure lasts for three years. In the last week of March 2024, Augustine Alegeh, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and one of the most consequential presidents of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in the last three decades, formally accepted the nomination to lead the Appointments Committee.

The week thereafter, the Body elected a new Chair, one of whose first acts was to issue an edict dissolving the existing committees and re-constituting them. The problem is that under its own Regulations, the power to constitute committees belongs not to the Chair but to the Body of Benchers as a whole. The Body, for the avoidance of doubt, is constituted for this purpose by a quorum of at least 50 of its members. Many of the members of the Body rightfully saw this claim of a unilateral power by the current Chair as descent into rule-free autocratization. The decision of the new chair to ignore their protests strengthened this fear.

The matter is now in court in a suit instituted by Mr. Alegeh against the Chair and the Body of Benchers as defendants. The real issue before the court is one of high significance. According to a letter by one member of the Body, “the Chairman took umbrage at the Appointments Committee because his wife’s name was on the list that we did not approve.” The member feared that the chairman’s action in claiming non-existent powers to dissolve and re-constitute the Appointments Committee was “fuelling suspicion” that all he wanted to achieve was to ensure that he made his wife a Bencher during his tenure.

In this case, the claim is that the Chairman of the Body of Benchers has sought to ransack the governance of the Body generally and the composition in particular of its Appointments Committee in order to secure by any means necessary membership of the Body for his wife. This may make him a truly doting husband but the Body is not a connubial resort. The resistance from within the Body protests not merely the evident breach of rules by its Chair but even more viscerally also the suggestion that “highest distinction” in the legal profession can be attained through pillow-talk or connubial propinquity between husband and wife.

The logical fear must be that if qualification for membership of the Body can be transmitted in this way, then, surely, eligibility for its membership would become an STD (sexually transmitted distinction). This question as to how far attainment within the legal profession in Nigeria can be reduced to an STD is ultimately what confronts the Federal High Court in the case now pending concerning the actions of the current chairman of the Body of Benchers. It is an important question and, for the sake of the profession, one that merits the keen attentions of all persons affected by institutions of the law in Nigeria.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at [email protected]

NBA Abuja branch swears in new officers Monday

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Abuja, Unity Bar will on Monday swear in its new executive committee members.

A notice shared by Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Moses A. Ebute, SAN reads:

NOTICE OF NBA, ABUJA BRANCH SWEARING IN CEREMONY OF NEW OFFICERS

Dear Esteemed Members,

This is to give you NOTICE that the swearing in ceremony of the new officers of Nigerian Bar Association, Abuja Branch (Unity Bar), will hold as follows:

DATE : Monday 10-06-2024
TIME : 04:00 PM (West Central African)
VENUE : Hybrid (Physical and Virtual)
Physical – Auditorium, NBA National Secretariat, Central Business District, Abuja

Virtual Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86451137099?pwd=a3NKNkhNeCsxV0JqQlhmLytQSVNLdz09
Meeting ID: 864 5113 7099
Passcode: ABUJANBA

HOST : Branch Election Committee

Thank you.
Yours faithfully,

Moses A. Ebute, SAN
Chairman

Intimate Affairs: My wife can’t wear push-up bra

By Funke Egbemode

A younger friend of mine gave me a ride the other day and I learnt a lot from the experience. Trust Lagos traffic jam to show up like an unwanted pregnancy all the time. We had only had about seven minutes smooth drive when we found ourselves at a minor accident scene. A young lady and a man were having a shouting match right in the middle of the road. The man had ‘brushed’ her car while impatiently trying to move from one lane to the other. Lagos drivers, by some logic, have all concluded that not all lanes will take them home. So, they move from one lane to another per minute until they get into trouble. Like this gentleman and his Lexus car. 

The young lady was really angry, throwing her arms round and speaking real ‘fone.’ She must have lived abroad for a while.

Somehow, I noticed that while I was angry and hissing about the inconsiderate attitude of both the offender and the offended right in the middle of Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way, my friend had a smile and sneer on his face. Then he blurted his lustful thought in ‘Waffi tone’ – “Come, see as this girl set. See wetin she pack for front and back.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or smack the sneer off his face.

“Really? We are stuck in traffic not knowing when these two selfish people will end their drama, and all you can see is a woman’s curves!”

“Aunty, we are already stuck, I’m just making the best of a bad situation.”

“Guy, you are not okay o. When did you become this unserious being?”

“I’m serious too many hours of the day and you know what they say about all work and no play? Let me just enjoy what’s in front of me.” He was laughing now. 

“Sorry o Aunty, how are you women able to breathe when you wear the kind of bra this woman is wearing? Look at how she packed her body.”

“Well, there’s something called body shaper, push-up bra, corset waist trainer. Doesn’t your wife wear them too?”

Both husband and wife are like my little brother and sister.

Bobo told me he didn’t know. How can a man not know if his wife wears or doesn’t wear body shaper? I didn’t understand. 

“You want me to ask Mobola myself? You know I will?”

Then he confessed. 

“Let me tell you the truth, I don’t like her wearing those things. I don’t like other men ogling her. She’s my own. So I do not encourage her to wear those hard things.”

“But you were ogling another man’s property just now,” I pointed out, still trying to process how the mind of my friend works. But didn’t the Bible establish it that the heart of man is desperately wicked, no one can know it? I guess that was an instance. 

Seriously, men are like tough puzzles when it comes to the women in their lives. See my friend here, he wants his wife to let all of her ‘stuff’ hang natural and loose but he drools when he sees women wearing corsets and half-cups. Doesn’t he know that what’s hanging unpacked is more accessible and naturally attractive to some men? I have heard colleagues in the newsroom say curious things about full-breasted women.

“Who needs a pillow when you have those big things in your bed? Me I prefer to rest ‘in between’ them. You should try it sometime. There’s no better anti-stress therapy.”

And this:

“The baby and I won’t have a serious quarrel when Mama is that endowed. The baby grabs one. I grab the other.”

Look, that your wife is not packing and cinching guarantees nothing. There are men who love them unpacked. They like the fact they don’t have to imagine what’s behind the masquerade masks. All they have to do is get to work if they really want to ‘work your wife’. 

I’m not trying to make men feel bad, just reminding them of the taste of their own medicine.

Men like varieties, right? They insist variety is the spice of life. Good, I agree with them. But when men steal, they steal from other men, yes? We poor women just get caught in the middle. So dearie, enjoy what the good Lord has given you. (If you asked her of the Lord, that is). Stop the double face, like what you like and stop pretending. How did you intend to stop other men from leering when you leer too? Stop making rules that make your woman uncomfortable and less of herself. Stop making yourself miserable by imagining nonexistent monster in every corner. 

If you say she shouldn’t wear makeup because it’s ungodly. Oga, are you sure that’s the only reason your wife should not use a little foundation and brown powder or you are scared to death it will make her more attractive to other men? Poor you. Do you know how many men out there are exactly like you? Yeah, they also love makeup-less face. So, if you are so possessive you can’t see that, there is not much we can do to help you but pray for your deliverance from the spirit of whatever .

Years ago, I met a guy who I thought was one of the most sophisticated dudes I’d met. He spoke with a British accent because his parents went to the United Kingdom when he was only five. Great job, power dresser and well above-average income but I was shocked when out of the blue he told me he liked women who wore their hair natural and wove them. My jaw dropped right on the floor. Twenty years abroad and he wanted an all back weave and “Shuku” (Yoruba woven ponytail). Oyinbo guy? Imagine. Could that not be the reason why men after paying for expensive Brazilian and bone-straight wigs want their women in bed with the all back weave Wig off? They want unfettered access to the scalps of their women. They want to run their fingers up and down her head. We all understand what I’m talking about and the extra kick it gives men.

If a man, so invested in this possessive nature, concludes that because he doesn’t want another man to look at his wife, she should keep her hair virgin, what will he do with men who share his taste for ‘shuku ologede’ (the special Yoruba woven ponytail)? A thief is always suspicious of his fellow thieves. That is the problem, and the fact that an executioner doesn’t want anyone swinging a sword even playfully around his head.

If you love your woman, don’t cage her because you are a thief wary of fellow thieves. The consequences are never nice. The caged woman is always looking for a way out of her cage, and if and when she does find it, you can’t put the leash back on her or a new lid on the cage. Once she’s the one who releases herself, she’s like spilled wine. Done and gone.

Summary of today’s sermon. You need not cut your nose to spite your face. Don’t abbreviate your our own pleasure by hiding your wife’s curves. If you are not a thief, what are you afraid of? Trust her, trust yourself. Enjoy your things.

Egbemode can be reached on [email protected].

1...576577578...1,466Page 577 of 1,466

TIPS

Load more