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Adaora Umeoji becomes first female GMD/CEO of Zenith Bank

In what appears to be part of the International Women’s Day/Month celebration, the Board Directors of Zenith Bank Plc has announced the appointment of Dr. Adaora Umeoji as the Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive (GMD/CEO) of Zenith Bank Plc.

She will be the first female to hold this position in the bank where she currently serves as the deputy GMD.

The cheery news was contained in the Bank’s notice to the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investment public.

According to the statement which revealed that her appointment is with effect from June 1, 2024, and subject to approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), she will take over from Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, whose tenure expires on May 31, 2024. 

 Zenith Bank prefers to appoint insiders as Group Managing Directors/Chief Executives.

The Board of Zenith Bank Plc recently announced the reappointment of Dame (Dr) Adaora Umeoji as the Deputy Managing Director of the bank after she was initially affected by the ban director tenure limitation under Godwin Emefiele.

According to the statement signed by Micheal Osilama Otu, the Company Secretary the appointment is consistent with the bank’s tradition and succession strategy of grooming leaders from within. 
Profile of Adaora Umeoji.

Prior to this appointment, Dr. Umeoji has been the Deputy Managing Director of the bank since October 28, 2016, and has close to 30 years of cognate banking experience of which 26 years has been with Zenith Bank. 

She is an alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School where she attended the Advanced Management Program (AMP) and an alumnus of Columbia Business School with a Certificate in the Global Banking Programme.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Jos, a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, and a First-Class honors  in Law from Baze University, Abuja.

She holds a Master of Laws from the University of Salford, United Kingdom, a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Calabar, and also has a doctorate in business administration from Apollos University, USA. 

Umeoji holds a Certificate in Economics for Business from the prestigious MIT Sloan School of Management, USA, and has attended various management programmes in renowned Universities around the world including the strategic thinking and Management programme at Wharton Business School, USA.

She also attended the executive program in Strategic Management and has a Certificate in Leading Global Business all from Harvard Business School, USA.

The top banker is a fellow of notable professional bodies including the Chartered Banker Institute, UK, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Nigerian Institute of Management, Institute of Credit Administration, Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria, Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators, and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria among others.

In 2022, the Federal Government of Nigeria honored Dr. Umeoji with Officer of the Order of the Niger, as a recognition of her contributions to nation-building. She is a Peace Advocate of the United Nations (UN-POLAC). 

She has impacted many lives through her philanthropic and humanitarian activities through her NGOs; Pink Breathe Cancer Foundation and the Adorable Foundation which educates and caters to Cancer patients and indigent children education especially the Girl- Child.

Her contribution to humanity was recognized by the Sun Newspaper which recently bestowed on her the Humanitarian Service Icon Award for 2023. 

As a result of her passion for promoting professionalism in the banking industry and improving the well-being of the less privileged, Dr. Adaora Umeoji, OON founded the Catholic Bankers Association of Nigeria (CBAN), a platform she uses to promote ethical banking and service to humanity.

She is a Lady of the Order of Knights of St. John International (KSJI) and was awarded a Papal Knight of the Order of St. Sylvester by His Holiness Pope Francis. 

Botched Butt Lift: Woman calls for ban on ‘liquid BBLs’ after bungled procedure left leaking black holes in her buttocks (Photos)

A 30-year-old mother of one in the United Kingdom has called for a ban on ‘liquid BBLs’ after a botched procedure left her buttocks with leaking black holes and in pain ‘worse than childbirth’.

Monique Sofroniou from London, reportedly booked an appointment to enlarge her bottom after undergoing a ‘Brazilian Butt Lift’ in 2021. The aesthetician spent £3,000 on the non-surgical procedure to have one litre of filler injected into each bum cheek to have her dream look.

Woman calls for ban on
But when Monique turned up for the appointment in September 2022, she felt ‘weird’ about being directed to a nearby hotel where she underwent the hour-long filler procedure. Later that evening,  she discovered her bum was ‘swollen’ and ‘very red’, and had reached a temperature of 41C.

Monique was immediately rushed to A&E where she was given the news that she had sepsis.

Woman calls for ban on

She recalled: ‘After the procedure, I was really lightheaded, then that night I woke up and was being sick everywhere.

‘I felt so ill. I had a temperature of 41 but I was shivering, freezing cold. I was being sick all night.

‘My bum was swollen and very red around the area where you could see where the filler was. It was just getting redder and redder.

Woman calls for ban on

‘I went to the hospital and stayed in for a week on an antibiotic drip, but after I just went home with oral antibiotics.

‘It just continued to get worse and worse to the point where I woke up and there were bumps of blisters with fluid inside them.

‘I didn’t want to look at it, it made me feel sick. It was really burning to the point where I had to have ice packs on it, but even to put the ice pack on it where it was touching was agony. It was burning and stinging.

‘It was the worst pain I’ve ever been through in my life, and I’ve had childbirth’.

The surgery requires a person to have fat taken from their abdomen and moved into their hips and bottom to create an hourglass shape.

Monique booked the procedure on the recommendation of a friend, assuming it would be at a clinic and not knowing it was going to be done at a local hotel.

She revealed: ‘I didn’t know it wasn’t going to be done in a clinic.

Woman calls for ban on

‘When I got there they met me [at the address] and walked me to an opposite hotel, I thought, “Oh this is a bit weird”.

‘I do think I probably should have walked out at that point and been like “no” but because I knew quite a few people who had been there before I just thought it’d be fine.

‘I thought filler would be a less invasive procedure, it’s not supposed to be dangerous’.

The morning after the injections, she was rushed to Stoke Mandeville Hospital A&E in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

The mum-of-one was told she had developed sepsis and that the practitioner had used non-dissolvable silicone, rather than hyaluronic acid which is typically used for fillers.

Sepsis occurs when the body reacts to an infection by attacking its own organs and tissues. 

Woman calls for ban on

After a week in the hospital, the mother returned home but the respite was short-lived,

To her dismay, the skin on her bum had turned black and was oozing out the injected filler.

A surgeon syringed some of the stuff out to see what it was’ explained Monique.

‘I was crying in agony while he was doing it, I said “It’s too painful, you’ve got to stop”.

‘I went home with a plaster on it where he’d put a tiny little hole in one of the blisters – it was filler mixed with blood.

‘The next morning when I woke up, where he’d put the hole into syringe some stuff out, the skin had collapsed in on itself and [the whole area] had gone nearly black.

‘It was awful, I didn’t even want to look, I felt sick. It was so abnormal, I thought “Oh my God, what is going on?”.

‘The surgeon said he thinks it was likely down to the fact that a high volume of this filler was put in and there was no room for it to go.

‘That filler just needed to come out somewhere to the point it caused my skin to die, there was too much pressure on the skin.

‘They didn’t tell me it wasn’t dissolvable. If they did, I’d never have had it done.

Following the gruesome ordeal, Monique has been left with permanent scarring around her buttocks.

Now the mum is sharing her story in a bid to get the ‘high risk’ procedure ‘banned’ or at the very least to encourage tighter regulations.

She said: “I’m quite a strong person, even though I’m fuming I know there are other people going through a lot worse.

“I’m not after sympathy but I just want to spread awareness because I think it needs to be more regulated. I don’t think it will be banned but personally in my opinion I think it should be banned.”

“Please tell the military to release our son”, family of abducted journalist, Segun Olatunji writes Tinubu

  • Plans peaceful protest to military headquarters in Abuja

Four days after the abduction of Mr. Segun Olatunji, the editor of FirstNews, members of his family has written a strongly worded Save Our Soul (SOS) letter to the President Bola Tinubu, requesting him to order the military to immediately release him.

In the letter signed by Mr. Tosin Olatunji, elder brother of the abducted journalist, the family, said since his abduction last Friday, there has been no word or official statement from his abductors.

They said short of giving up hope, and as one of the only options for them, they feel constrained to write an SOS letter to the President for his intervention.

According to them, they fear for the life of their son, disclosing that they have since reported the incident to the police, hoping that they would be given some form of closure regarding his whereabout and his current health condition.

“We have decided to write an SOS letter to the President and Commnder in Chief of the armed forces to order the military high command to immediately release our son, who we believe is in their custody. This is one of the only options we have.

“We are optimistic that the President will intervene. It is a trying moment for us all.
Since his abduction, the only help we have received so far by way of care and show of concern has only come from First Media Network Limited publishers of First News, who are his employers. “

Tosin also disclosed that the family has consented to the plan by friends and close associates of the abducted journalist to stage a peaceful protest in Lagos and Abuja to draw the attention of the military and other constituted authorities to push for his immediate release.

In an interview with journalists, publisher of First News, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, also lend his voice to support the peaceful protest, noting that “at this stage we must all rally round and support every initiative that will spur the government to take action.

“As an organization, we are fully in support of whatever initiative that will get the government to act and ensure the immediate release of Segun Olatunji. We can not afford to fold our hands and do nothing. We are in a democracy and we believe this kind of lawless act by agents of government funded by taxpayers’ money should not be allowed to stand.”

Olatunji was abducted last Friday at his Lagos home by ten fully armed men, with two of them dressed in military uniform in the presence of his wife and children.

How do you treat your subordinates?

Master in Heaven


Masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them. Don’t forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master—God in heaven. Colossians 4:1

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower announced in 2022 that all migrant domestic workers must be given at least one rest day a month that employers couldn’t compensate them for instead of giving them the day off. Employers, however, were concerned they wouldn’t have someone to care for their loved ones on those days. While the logistics of caregiving could be solved by making alternative arrangements, their attitude in not seeing the need for rest wasn’t as easy to solve.

Treating others considerately isn’t a new issue. The apostle Paul lived in a time where servants were seen as the property of their masters. Yet, in the last line of his instructions to the church on how Christlike households should operate, he says that masters are to treat their servants “justly” (Colossians 4:1 esv). Another translation says, “Be fair with them” (the message).

Just as Paul tells the servants to work “for the Lord, not for human masters” (3:23), he reminds the masters also of Jesus’ authority over them: “you also have a Master in heaven” (4:1). His purpose was to encourage the Colossian believers to live as those whose ultimate authority is Christ. In our interaction with others—whether as an employer, employee, in our homes or communities—we can ask God to help us do what’s “right and fair” (v. 1).

By: Jasmine Goh

Reflect & Pray
When haven’t you treated someone fairly? In your work or home, what changes will you make to treat others considerately?

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for times when I don’t treat others fairly. Help me to submit to You as the Master of my life.

Read:

Colossians 3:22-4:1
Joshua 1–3 Mark 16

https://odb.org/2024/03/19/who-is-your-master

Erisco Boss and the Senate: A Tale of Two Bullies

By Onikepo Braithwaite


“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” – George Orwell

The two issues that piqued my interest last week, were the Erisco/Chioma Okoli saga, and the suspension of the Senator representing Bauchi Central, Senator Abdul Ningi, from the Senate for a period of three months. In both cases, the Police and the Senate may not want to hear what I have to say, but I will air my views anyway, in accordance with the provisions of the law.

The Erisco/Chioma Okoli Imbroglio 

Must we all like Erisco Nagiko Tomato Paste (Erisco Purée)? No! At least, not according to Section 38(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended in 2023)(the Constitution) which guarantees our right to freedom of thought (Choice). Are we allowed to hold opinions and express them on Facebook or wherever we choose to, even if what we are expressing is our distaste for Erisco Purée or any other product? Yes! According to Section 39(1) of the Constitution that guarantees our right to freedom of expression, including our right to hold opinions. I do however, concede that with the advent of social media, there are many irresponsible people who post nonsense and outright falsehoods about others that amount to libel and criminal defamation, who need to be sanctioned by the law – see the case of Oruwari v Osler 2013 5 N.W.L.R. Part 1348 Page 535 at 556 per Chukwuma-Eneh, JSC. 

But, how does posting your personal opinion about a product, translate to being a criminal offence, as alleged by the founder of Erisco? I saw a video in which the Erisco Founder said Chioma was trying to bully him and destroy the reputation of a company he had spent 40 years building! Really? Talk about being intolerant and melodramatic! Just because Chioma said Erisco Purée had too much sugar in it? Or was the Erisco Founder peeved and his ego bruised, because Chioma had stated in her post that she was constrained to buy Erisco Purée after she couldn’t find Gino and Sonia, meaning that she  wouldn’t have considered Erisco Purée had either of the other two brands been available? After all, the Erisco advertisement on television done by the famous and well-loved Songstress, Onyeka Onwenu, testifies to the sweetness of Erisco Purée, as Madam Onyeka declares: ‘…and when you put am inside mouth, e sweet, and e dey gidigba for body’. Besides, Chioma is only one person, in a country that is alleged to have a population of over 200 million. What is so special about Chioma’s opinion? ‘Se Chioma f’ogun sè nu ni?’ (Did Chioma put black magic in her mouth?) So that, with her one statement, the whole of Nigeria would boycott Erisco Purée? 

I submit that Chioma simply expressed her opinion, and this cannot be said to be cyberstalking or cyberbullying. Not only has Chioma not committed any crime, unless of course, there’s much more to the incident that we are unaware of, the expression of her opinion doesn’t even qualify as defamation which is a tort, a civil wrong. 

The law cited in a post that I saw on social media, one said to be relied upon by Erisco, that is, Section 24 of the Nigeria Cybercrime Act 2015, does not exist. Erisco possibly may have wanted to rely on Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act 2015 (CA) which prohibits knowingly or intentionally sending a message that the sender ‘knows to be false’, via computer systems or network to cause annoyance, insult, injury etc, and carries a punishment of 3 years imprisonment or a fine not exceeding N7 million or both, upon conviction. This law is patently inapplicable, to this issue. 

A combination of the aforementioned non-existent law (or the correct version) and the allusion by the Erisco Founder in a videoclip which was aired on our Arise TV, to a place in prison for ladies who have babies (Chioma is said to be pregnant), leads one to the irresistible conclusion that they must have had Section 24(1)(b) of the CA in mind as the offence they concocted to frame Chioma for (hoping she would be convicted and imprisoned), for letting the world know that she thinks Erisco Purée has too much sugar in it. Interestingly, the wordings at the beginning of the statute “he knows to be false” were not-so-cleverly omitted from the incorrect version of the law that was circulated, in order to make the trumped-up allegations against Chioma stick in the court of public opinion, because Chioma’s opinion, even if it is uncomplimentary, cannot be said to be a falsehood! It is her opinion, which she is entitled to, and not a twisting of any facts. Assuming, without conceding that Chioma had actually committed a crime, the element of falsehood which is required to establish this offence of cyberstalking or cyberbullying, is unproven. 

It appears that if anyone is being bullied, it is Chioma, and this is unlawful. The Erisco Founder and the Police must be sanctioned, as a deterrent to ‘Big Men’ who have a penchant for using law enforcement agencies to further their unlawful activities, like the intimidation of people. The actions of Erisco and the Police for starters, smacks of false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and a gross abuse of powers by the Police. See the case of Ogbonna v Ogbonna (2014) LPELR-22308(CA). It is sad that our Police are complicit in this illegality, and have easily allowed themselves to be used to achieve this purpose. Section 8(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 prohibits the arrest of an individual merely on a civil wrong or breach of contract, let alone the arrest of an individual like Chioma, who hasn’t committed any wrong. Also see Sections 4 & 32(2) of the Police Act 2020. See the case of Skye Bank Plc v Emerson Njoku (2016) LPELR-40447(CA) where the Court of Appeal held inter alia that Complainants who wrongly use agencies such as EFCC and the Police to violate the rights of people, must be made to pay for their actions. 

To get round these provisions, simply to feed the ego of an intolerant ‘Big Man’ and satisfy his bidding, the Erisco Founder and the Police connived, going beyond the stretch of a vivid imagination, to fabricate a false allegation against Chioma, in order to try to punish her for her negative opinion of Erisco Purée, which she dared to disseminate on social media.This is unacceptable.

Senate v Senator Abdul Ningi

I am quite indifferent in the issue of Senate v Senator Ningi, I do not support either of the two parties, or rather, I’m partial solely to the rule of law in this matter. While the allegations of ‘Padding’ of the 2024 Budget made by Senator Ningi against  the Senate, must have been seen as some form of contempt of the Senate by the Senators, and indeed, may have sought to bring this legislative arm of government into disrepute (we also remember the Padding allegation of Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin against the House of Representatives in 2016) (see Sections 21, 22 & 24(1)(a) of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act 2018)(LHPPA), the suspension of the Senator or any other Legislator for that matter, for a period of three months appears to be unconstitutional. See Sections 42(1)(a), 48, 49, 90 & 91 of the Constitution. 

Section 14(2)(a) & (c) provides that sovereignty belongs to the Nigerian people, from whom government through the Constitution derives all its powers and authority, and the people have a right to participate in their Government. How is this achieved? By voting in elections, and through elected representatives that form the various levels of government. Every constituency in Nigeria is entitled to representation whether at the Senate, House of Representatives or State House of Assembly. And, even if Sections 60 & 101 of the Constitution allow these legislative Houses to regulate their own procedures, their regulations, are subject to the provisions of the Constitution, and any inconsistency in them vis-à-vis the provisions of the Constitution, makes such regulations void to the extent of their inconsistency – see Section 1(1) & (3) of the Constitution. 

In some countries, Parliament can suspend or even expel its members. In the case of US Rep George Santos who was expelled from Congress in December 2023, Article 1 Section 5 Clause 2 of the United States Constitution authorises the Legislature to determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, or even expel them with the concurrence of two-thirds of that House. It goes beyond Sections 60 & 101 of our Constitution, as we do not have this kind of punishment provision in ours. 

The UK doesn’t have a written constitution. But, in certain circumstances, in the UK Parliament, a by-election is triggered by a Recall Petition after the suspension of an MP for 14 calendar days, to recall and replace the erring member; suspension, obviously after a thorough investigation by an independent Panel that investigates allegations, and recommends the suspension. This is unlike what obtains here in Nigeria, where once you make any allegation of financial impropriety against the Legislature, you are automatically guilty without thorough investigation. The Nigerian Legislature is the judge, jury and executioner (forget about the principle of ‘Nemo judex in causa sua’ – no one is judge in their own case) – breach of fair hearing contrary to Section 36(1) of the Constitution. We also do not have such a triggering provision in the case of a suspended member, to call for a by-election in our Constitution. See the UK Recall of MPs Act 2015. It may be just as well that we don’t have the American and UK provisions in our Constitution and laws, as I see them being subject to abuse. 

However, in the unreported case of Dino Melaye & 4 Ors v The Speaker of the House of Representatives & Ors FHC/ABJ/CS/460/2010, the Federal High Court held that the suspension of the Plaintiffs for a legislative session of one year was illegal and unconstitutional, on the ground that a Legislator cannot be suspended for more than 14 days in accordance to the Standing Orders of the House. Recall that sometime in 2010,  Dino Melaye and other Representatives were suspended from the House of Representatives, for disrupting the proceedings with unruly behaviour.  

My problem with aforementioned LHPPA provisions and the Melaye judgement is that, even if it is a one-day suspension of a Legislator, the people of his/her constituency are excluded and denied their participation in that Chamber. Why should they be punished for the infractions of their representative? For instance, if law–s are debated or passed during the suspension period, the suspended constituency (suspending the representative, is tantamount to suspending the constituency) will be denied any input into the laws that will affect them. It is the Senate that confirms certain appointments; the suspended Senator’s constituents are also denied of any input in the confirmation process, hence, if the confirmation process occurs during the suspension period, and they have a legitimate concern about an appointee, they will be unable to voice it. 

Additionally, Section 42(1)(a) of the Constitution provides for freedom from discrimination, and suspending Senator Ningi for three months means that his constituents will remain unrepresented in the Senate for that period of time, thereby excluding them and subjecting them to a disability that other Nigerians are not subjected to, amounting to discrimination. I therefore, submit that any rule of the Legislature that purports to deprive  constituents of their participation in government, albeit through their elected Legislative representatives, is unfair, discriminatory and repugnant. 

Why can’t the erring member be punished in other ways, that will affect only such an individual personally, and not the constituents? Suspend salaries, allowances and perquisites (which is what Section 21(3) of the LHPPA provides); remove the member from their Committee, fine him/her.

Conclusion 

These two scenarios that I have discussed, again, affirm the penchant of government agencies or arms, to either observe the law in its breach, outrightly ignore the law, place themselves above the law or manipulate it to serve their own selfish ends. While it is basic that Section 4 of the Constitution, a document whose bedrock is said to be equity and fairness, mandates the Legislature to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of Nigeria, the law makers appear to have exalted their indignation over the welfare of the people of Bauchi Central, by suspending the Senator representing them. The habit of ‘Big Men’ being able to use law enforcement agencies to oppress those who they perceive to be helpless or less connected to power than they are, is also prevalent. It is for the same reason, that Erisco has been able to unlawfully use the Police to intimidate Chioma for no reason, that some are totally against the introduction of State Police, so that this type of abuse is as minimised as possible, if there’s only the Federal Police, instead of becoming the common place order of the day all over the country, in every State Police formation. 

Additionally 

I commiserate with the Nigerian Army and the families of the 16 slain soldiers, who were brutally murdered in very cold blood in Okuoma, Ughelli South, Delta State last Thursday, while responding to a distress call following community clashes between Okuoma and Okoloba. One really wonders, what goes through the minds of the people who commit these heinous and horrific crimes. While the murder of these gallant soldiers and fallen heroes is unacceptable, and we look forward to the capture of their killers and their prosecution to the fullest extent of the law, we plead for restraint in this matter, as it will be unfair for the innocent members of these communities to be punished for crimes they did not commit, with reprisal attacks. Instead. let us allow the rule of law to prevail.

[email protected]

If I were CEO of NNPC, I would wait for the refinery to start production before rushing to the media — Joy Ezeilo, SAN

Regarding the breaking news about the Port Harcourt Refinery starting production in two weeks, by March 28th, 2024, if I were Mele Kyari, CEO of NNPC, I wouldn’t announce when the refineries will resume operations. Instead, I would wait until they start and bring in the media to show live that the refinery is now refining crude oil, and trucks are loading in real-time. This will convince Nigerians with a lot of mistrust in the state of affairs at the NNPC.

Nowadays, it is not difficult to refine crude oil, especially when nations have successfully sent missions to the moon and beyond by utilising advanced technologies. Even during the Nigerian civil war, it was said that Biafrans were able to refine crude oil and produce “nuclear weapons”, yet today, we seem to be stuck in the past as a nation.

The problem persists because of a lack of patriotism, failure to act in the national best interest, lack of meritocracy, weak followership divided along ethnic and religious faultiness, pervasive hydra-headed corruption, and inefficiency in the public sector, among others that have become Nigeria’s bane. I pray that the March 28 promise will be kept and that I may have something good to celebrate for my birthday (27 March) about Nigeria and being a Nigerian.

Prof. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo (OON, SAN)

International Women’s Day: Pad-A-Girl-Today Project takes menstrual hygiene health to FCT School

One in ten girls in Sub-Saharan Africa misses school during their menstrual cycle. By some estimates, this equals as much as twenty percent of a given school year. Many girls drop out of school altogether once they begin menstruating — UNESCO

As activities continue around the world to celebrate the International Women’s Day, Pad-A-Girl-Today Project, a project under Citizen Participation Advancement and Awareness Initiative, took its campaign to the Government Junior Secondary School, Ketti in Abuja Municipal Area Council.

The project was borne out of the desire to raise awareness and educate women and girls on menstrual hygiene and health management and provision of free menstrual products.

At the event which included adolescent girls and boys from Basic 7 – 9, the Executive Director of CPAAI, Ms Fumi Olorunmola explained that the workshop was convened to avail girls valuable knowledge and skills to prepare them to manage their menstruation hygienically once they start.

Introducing the organization and project to the the exited students and staff members of the school, Ms. Olorunmola presented the event facilitators — Dr. Chioma Ebong and Dr. George Ebong, doctors who are affiliated with the Days for Girls, a charitable organization based in the United States that produces Washable/Reusable menstrual kits. Drs. Ebong are collaborating with CPAAI to provide adolescent girls access to menstrual education and sanitary products.

Although the workshop was primarily for girls, boys were included so as to build male support for menstruation, overcome taboos and engender a generation of male menstrual champions.

The participants were divided into groups: menstruators and those yet to experience the onset of menstruation. Thereafter,

  1. I50 (one hundred and fifty) menstruators were each given a unit of the “Days for Girls Kit”. Each kit contained the following items:
  2. 1 Drawstring bag to hold the components
  3.  2 Moisture Waterproof Barrier Shields
  4. 8 Absorbent Tri-fold Liners
  5. 2 Ziploc® Freezer Bags
  6. 1 Washcloth
  7. 2 Pairs of Panties
  8. 1 Travel-Size Soap
  9. 1 Care and Use Instruction Sheet

Participants were informed the washable and reusable menstrual kits can be used for up to three years. However, they must be washed and dried appropriately.

  • Participating 118 (one hundred and eighteen) adolescent girls who were yet start menstruation were given disposable sanitary pads to keep them safely in wait for menarche or the onset of menstruation.

Amongst the number of changes the organization sought on behalf menstruating and would-be menstruators were as follows:

  • School management should make it a matter of policy that MHM is a living component of the learning experience of students.
  • A functional Pad Bank should be established in the school.
  • Male-teacher-sensitivity and empathy towards the menstrual situation and needs of women and adolescent girls. To this end, male teachers should update their knowledge and understanding of menstruation and its related challenges including but limited to period poverty, taboos, and impact of menstruation on learning experience, attendance and participation in other school activities. It was highlighted that due to mood swings and discomforts associated with menstruation, girls might be acting in ways that appear to teachers to be abnormal during classes and other activities. Some of the times these changes in the attitude and behaviour by these girls are labelled as lack of seriousness or the desire to learn. In some cases, these girls are having their periods with discomforts but due to the silence and stigma associated with menstruation cannot open up to their teachers, especially, male teachers.
  • Male teachers should therefore to break the ice by openly talking about menstruation in their lessons to embolden adolescent to open up and receive support, particularly, understanding.
  • Male teachers as men in families and communities need to support women and girls through the purchase of menstrual sanitary products.
  • As change agents in local communities with some advantage of knowledge, male teachers should from time to time educate boys and other men in their communities make material contribution to ending period poverty without seeking to exploit a menstruating woman or girl in need.

Intimate Affairs: When marriage becomes life threatening

By Funke Egbemode

Emem woke up suddenly. She didn’t know what startled her out of sleep. She sat up and could hear movements. Was there a rat in the house? Then she listened again. It was water falling on a hard surface. But it was not raining. She pushed aside the window blind and saw the most traumatic, strange and confusing sight of her life. Her husband of 20 years, the father of her twin boys who were undergraduates, was there bathing naked, chanting something.

Incarnations? Prayers? Well, the covered calabash he was scooping soap, black soap, from told the rest of the story.

When we say or hear that a wife should step back from a marriage that has become life-threatening, what most of us think is that it is about physical abuse, wife battering or husband battering. Well, there are more things than kicking in the teeth of a spouse that can be life-threatening. One of them is resorting to diabolical or fetish ways to manipulate or even eliminate your spouse, for whatever reasons.

Like Emem found out to her shock and dismay that night. She was too scared to confront Emeka when he finished his ‘black bath’. Indeed, she dived right back under the duvet and pretended to be fast asleep. Of course, she didn’t sleep a wink the rest of the night. Who would? She didn’t know if the sight she just beheld would be followed by beheading. She didn’t know if her husband was going to continue the diabolical session in some other way in their room.

Emem couldn’t look her husband in the eyes the following morning. She became afraid generally around Emeka. She couldn’t eat if the food was bought by Emeka. The usual suya and barbecue chicken he bought every Friday on his way home suddenly became suspicious, dreaded and some sort of sacrifice in her imagination, even without tasting it. She simply couldn’t leave her drink with Emeka.

‘I became extremely cautious around him. I searched through his wardrobe and found a lot of fetish stuff. I noticed he had fresh incisions just above his buttocks. I started paying more attention to his conversations, movements and habits.

‘I found out a lot of things I never thought possible in my marriage. But the camel’s back broke the day I saw him shaking hands with two of his friends with his left hand. I was born and bred in Ibadan and I know what that meant. They didn’t know I saw them and I pretended all was well, but after that I knew my marriage was in trouble. The children were in school most of the time, leaving me alone with the domestic staff. I was afraid to let my husband make love to me. What if he has incisions on his dick? I was afraid in my own bed, in my kitchen, everywhere. The only place I felt safe was in my office.

‘Emeka started making strange demands that coincided with the few times we had sex. Right after, he would ask me for huge sums of money or to see my will or to be made Chairman of my company. If I refused, I fell ill, got hospitalised.’

Emem described a very evil pattern that left her without much choice but to step back.

‘I kept asking myself why it was only Lagos that I fell ill. Never in Abuja or Port-Harcourt.’

So was Emeka trying to harm or even kill his wife to take over her wealth and business? Do men do it too? Of course, women adapt to things like that. We are witches, wealth grabbers, gold diggers who marry for money, trade sex for money, kill our husbands to inherit their wealth. Which is why there are more widows than widowers. Isn’t that the evil brush the society and little-minded people use to tag women? Or have you heard of widowers being subjected to head-shaving and drinking water used to bathe their wives’ corpses? Do you hear of widowers being thrown out of their homes so their late wives’ families could strip and pillage and generally make the widower miserable?

If you do not have at least 10 examples of husbands who are wizards or widowers as victims, begin to believe when I say men, still just a handful of them, do juju to inherit or to dispossess their wives. They connive and conjure. They charm and chant. They consult evil diviners to harm and disarm their wives so they can take over their wealth and lives. These few evil men put things on their tongues to command their wives to hand over their hard earned money or businesses to them. They blow ‘dark powder’ over their sleeping wives to turn her into ‘mumu’.

You don’t believe me? Well, may it never happen to your daughter. You think I’m exaggerating? Ask victims! And in any case would you still believe me if your sister has three cars but hops on okada to work so her husband could pick and choose which of the cars to drive to work and return to take which one to take to the club to hang out with his friends? Yet, he has no business address.

My point? Marriage does not just become life-threatening when a man starts slapping his wife around and beating her till she goes into premature labour. Marriage does not only become life-threatening when a husband verbally abuses his wife until she does not know whether she’s going or coming, lazy or hard working and loses herself, her self-esteem and self confidence.

There is physical abuse, emotional abuse and spiritual abuse. The last one, if not acted upon quickly, is usually fatal and irreversible if the victim and her family realise it too late or explain it away with stuff like ‘juju is not real’. ‘juju is bullshit,’ and ‘I don’t believe in such rubbish’. This is a different clime, and as one of my friends, an ambassador’s wife would say, ‘our spiritual environment can be very toxic.’

Think about these things.

The author could be reached on [email protected].

Finance Minister’s Chapel Hill lands juicy contract to secure $1 billion Eurobond for Tinubu’s government

By Adefemola Akintade 

Chapel Hill Denham Group, an investment bank founded by Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has been tapped to advise the Bola Tinubu-led administration to secure a $1 billion Eurobond issuance.

A report by Bloomberg, a UK-based business newspaper, on Thursday said that President Tinubu plans to make the Nigerian economy attractive to investors and has hired Chapel Hill and Standard Chartered Bank to advise his administration on the best strategies to deploy to acquire the billion-dollar Eurobond, which had been paused since 2022 under former president Muhammadu Buhari.

Tinubu, who inherited a declining economy that was heavily indebted from his predecessor, has been finding ways to bolster investors’ confidence to put their money in Nigeria. He has implemented policies such as naira devaluation, naira float, fuel subsidy removal and other reforms at the Central Bank, all of which were intended to entice foreign investors.

In 2022, Chapel Hill Denham became the first domestic lead manager and joint bookrunner to Nigeria’s government, playing a major role in the issuance of a $5.25 billion Eurobond.

It appears the federal government continues to favour the investment bank even after Buhari’s exit from office, particularly because its founder, Edun, holds a ministerial appointment in the incumbent Tinubu’s administration.

Embattled Prof. Ndifon accuses ICPC of engaging fake lawyer & Professor

  • Seeks to dismiss charges

The Suspended Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Prof. Cyril Ndifon who is standing trial alongside his lawyer Sunny Anyanwu on amended four counts of alleged sexual harassment and an attempt to perverse the cause of justice has accused the the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) of prosecuting him with a fake lawyer and a phoney professor.

Ndifon in a Motion on Notice obtained by City Lawyer has asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to strike out the amended charge against him, alleging that it was brought by a fake lawyer and prosecutor.

The embattled Professor in the application filed by his team of lawyers led by Chief Joe Agi SAN, contends that he has since discovered that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is using a fake PhD holder and professor as its lawyers. The motion is slated for hearing today.

A preliminary search by City Lawyer on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) “Find a Lawyer” portal however indicated that one “OSUOBENI, EKOI AKPONIMISINGHA” with Supreme Court Number 079644 is registered on the database of licensed lawyers.

The motion is brought pursuant to Section 106 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, Section 2(1) and 24 of the Legal Practitioners 2023, Section 6(6)(a)&(b) and 36 of Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as Amended and under the inherent Jurisdiction of the Honorable Court.

Among the prayers sought by the defendant are: “An order of court striking out the amended charge in this case same being incompetent and preferred by a person whose name is not on the roll of legal Practitioners in Nigeria Pursuant to section 2 of the legal Practitioner Acts and thus robbing this Court of its jurisdiction,”

“An order of Court striking out all the appearance of Joshua E. Alobo from the prosecution Counsel for appearing as a private Legal Practitioner in a criminal case without the fiat of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation,” and

“An order of Court referring both Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha and Joshua E. Alobo to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for answering and caused to printed on their process the title “Dr.” “Professor” when they do not have the academic qualifications to show for the titles thereby misrepresenting themselves to the public and bringing legal profession to ridicule and shame”.

The grounds upon which the application is brought are that: “The amended charge in this case is incompetent and preferred by a person whose name is not on the roll of Legal practitioner in Nigeria Pursuant to Section 2 of the Legal Practitioner Act and thus robbing this court of its jurisdiction.

“The amended charge was referred by one Dr. Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha, a person whose name is not on the roll of Legal Practitioners in Nigeria Pursuant to Section 2 of the Legal Practitioners Act.

“That Joshua E. Alobo who appears for the prosecution as Counsel as a private Legal Practitioner in a criminal case does not have the fiat of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation.

“That both Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha and Joshua E. Alobo answer in this court and cause to printed on their processes the title “Dr.” “Professor” when they do not have the academic qualifications to show for the titles thereby misrepresenting themselves to the public and bringing legal profession to ridicule and shame.

“That a grant or allowance of this application will aid the cause of justice and also aid the mandate of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission established to fight corruption in all sphere of our nation.”

The matter has been slated for hearing on the 19th day of March, 2024 before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

ICPC is prosecuting Ndifon on four (4) counts charge bordering on sexual harassment, official corruption and abuse of office contrary to sections 8, 18 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

It would be recalled that the court had earlier thrown out a “No case to answer” motion Ndifon filed and directed him to enter his defence.

Credits: City Lawyer

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