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Katsina man divorces 14-year-old wife for allowing male doctor attend to her

A man in Katsina State has reportedly divorced his 14-year-old housewife for allowing a male medical practitioner to attend to her while giving birth to his baby.

The Executive Director, Nana Women and Girls Initiative, Dr Fatima Adamu, disclosed on Thursday.

According to the activist, the teenage mother, who was divorced by her husband, was said to have had a complicated childbirth, resulting in being rushed to the hospital where there was no female medical practitioner on the ground to attend to her.

As a result, the only medical practitioner available to attend to her during labour was a male, a development that led to the crash of her marriage.

Although the lady was said to have given birth successfully, her husband’s joy was cut short when he rushed to the hospital to realise that the medical practitioner that attended to the wife during labour was a male. Peeved by the development, he subsequently divorced his wife.

Adamu who was featured as a keynote speaker at the Human Resources for Health Production Dialogue, appealed to governments, especially state governments to ensure there was equity in the recruitment and deployment of medical personnel to rural communities.

The event which was organised with a view to revolutionising the country’s healthcare system, had stakeholders calling for accountability and prudence in healthcare training institutions.

Adamu, who has over 15 years of engaging and advocating for an increase in the production of nurses and midwives in the country, insisted that governments, especially state governments need to take up the responsibility to produce their own health workers as according to her, “there is no short cut about it.”

“A 14- year old Fulani girl in Katsina State delivered and had difficulty with delivery, so we had to take her to the hospital and after the delivery, the husband divorced her because she was attended by a man. This young girl was divorced all because she was attended by a man during delivery,” she lamented.

The women’s rights activists lamented that Nigeria was producing medical doctors far below its need.

“There is a shortage of health workers despite the production. We are producing health workers far below our needs. Our average population growth is 3.2, but our annual production of nurses and midwives is 2.6, so definitely, there is a gap. That is the latest data available that could be accessed,” she added.

Credits: Dome News

For breaching your nieces’ fundamental rights on inheritance, you must pay them N20 million – Court to A’Ibom man

Years after Hon. Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, JSC made the famous pronouncement in the case of Ukeje & Anor v Ukeje  that:

“No matter the circumstances of the birth of a female child, such a child is entitled to an inheritance from her late father’s estate. Consequently, the  Igbo customary law which disentitles a female child from partaking, in the sharing of her deceased father’s estate is in breach of Section 42 (1) and (2) of the Constitution, a fundamental rights provision guaranteed to every Nigerian. The said discriminatory customary law is void as it conflicts with Section 42(1) and (2) of the Constitution,” one Sampson Udoh, an indigene of Itiam Etoi in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State sought to prevent his nieces from inheriting their late father’s property.

Justice was however served when a High Court sitting in the state’s capital city of Uyo ordered Sampson Udoh, to pay N20 million to two of his nieces for breaching their fundamental rights.

The court made the order in its judgment, on Wednesday, in a suit filed by Udoh, seeking enforcement of his application to stop his nieces from inheriting their late father’s property.

Respondents in the suit were Mrs. Bakabasi James, Miss Ndantiabasi Silas, and Mr. Williams Ubetem, Investigating Police Officer (IPO) attached to the state Police Headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia, and the State Commissioner of Police.

The court observed that the crux of the applicant’s contention was that his nieces, being female children of his late elder brother, Mr. Isaac Udoh, should not inherit their father’s property because they are women.

The court was informed by two ladies that their late father built his house between 1976 and 1980 and that they’ve lived in their father’s house from birth till date without any problem until they attempted to appropriate the inheritance and their uncle unleashed mayhem on them.

Justice Ntong Ntong in the judgment, described the applicant’s action as obnoxious and repugnant to natural justice, equity, and good conscience.

The court said: “The maltreatment is opprobrium, offensive and unconstitutional.”
The court held that it was high time paramount rulers, clan heads, village heads and community leaders in Akwa Ibom State came to terms with the facts that female children have equal stakes with their male counterparts to inherit their parent’s property…

“The first and second respondents acquired their father’s property at Isaac Silas Obot’s compound, Nung Udoetok Ibom Adia Abasi of Itiam Etoi, Uyo, a fact contained in exhibits canvassed in their counter affidavit in the minutes of the peace meeting and property sharing agreement of Udoetok Ibom Adia Abasi Family, dated January 11, 2019.

“The applicant cannot be allowed to take advantage of the vulnerability of his nieces just because they were born girls and women into their family.

“From the totality of credible evidence before the court, the Police and other respondents did not and are not likely to encroach or infringe upon the rights of the applicant.

“Instead, it was the applicant that infringed upon the fundamental rights of his nieces, with impunity, which cannot be allowed to stand.

“The application for the enforcement of the applicant’s fundamental rights has failed woefully in its entirety and dismissed same with the cost of the total sum of N20.1 million, payable to the 1st and 2nd respondents at N10.05 million each.”

36-year-old female medical doctor makes Tinubu’s ministerial list

President Tinubu breaks record appoints a 36yrs old, the youngest minister in the fourth republic of Nigeria, Dr Betta Edu, a Medical Doctor per excellence and a humanitarian Icon

In what looks like a miracle for the Nigerian youths, who have so far been shut out of the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu has defied all odds to nominate the youngest minister in the history of Nigerian politics in the fourth republic of this country. Dr. Betta Edu a Harvard-certified, 36yr old Medical Doctor and public health specialist with a great passion for humanity

Dr. Betta Edu is a result-oriented health policy and management expert with over twelve years of professional experience building and leading teams in visioning, developing, and implementing life-saving health policies and programmes at national and state levels. She has a medical degree from the University of Calabar, Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health for Developing Countries from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, a Master of Science in Public Health in Developing Countries from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, and Doctor of Public Health from Texila American University (AC) She is a fellow of the African Institute of Public Health Professionals, Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health, United Kingdom and regularly updated her professional and leadership skills through numerous executive programmes from renown institutions including University of London UK, Harvard University, University of Washington, and University Virginia in the United States of America.

Dr. Betta Edu is a seasoned administrator and a gender expert who in the last one year has had a dynamic result-oriented leadership career in national core politics as the National Women Leader of the ruling party and the largest political party in Africa; All Progressive Congress; providing vision, strategy and operational execution to the women’s wing of the party, addressing gender issues, women empowerment, women affirmative action, welfarism, healthcare programs and operations geared towards female gender mainstreaming in politics, leadership and governance.

Dr. Edu was very instrumental in the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of Nigeria through the mobilization of women all across the country in their millions to vote for President Bola Tinubu.

Dr. Edu was the immediate past Commissioner for Health of Cross River State where she has revolutionized the health care system through innovation, purposeful leadership, and integrity. Her energetic and quintessential leadership resulted in significant improvements in key health indices in Cross River state. Some of these include the best child survival rate in Nigeria; a 63% reduction in maternal mortality rate (MMR) in public health facilities in the last 5 years; a 44% reduction in new-born death at health facilities in the last 5 years; decline in HIV prevalence from 6.6% (2015) to 1.8% (2020).

The National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP) of the Federal Ministry of Health ranked Cross River State as the 2nd best-performing state in 2020. These remarkable achievements were made possible by her strategic investment and re-organisation of the Cross River state health system founded on a robust primary health care system as the fulcrum of its universal health coverage (UHC) agenda. She started the operationalization of the Cross River state Health insurance scheme covering over 80,000 Cross Riverians in both Public and private sectors within 6 months driving the state towards the attainment of universal health coverage.

Dr Edu as Commissioner for Health in Cross River state managed the COVID-19 pandemic in her state as the chairman of the COVID-19 Response Taskforce, where she performed exceptionally well as the state recorded almost the lowest number of cases and mortality in the country. Her outstanding public health response preparedness and innovation brought about the introduction of face masks as a preventive measure against COVID-19 long before it was recommended by World Health Organization and the country’s Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19.

Her unique leadership qualities saw her emerge the Chairman of the Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum from 2020 to 2022. In this capacity, she has reformed the organisation, giving it a legal status, and is formally affiliated with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. She organized the first-ever health summit by the Forum which facilitated strategic engagement of the health commissioners with development partners, the private sector, academia, and civil society to bridge the information gap that existed between them, review progress towards UHC, identify opportunities for improvement and foster strategic partnerships to serve Nigerians better through policy actions and optimization of investments. Dr. Betta Edu was also appointed by President Buhari to represent the National Council on Health as a member of the Presidential Health Reform Committee chaired by Vice President Prof. Yemi Osibanjo.

Prior to her appointment as Commissioner for Health, she served as the pioneer Director General/CEO of CRSPHCDA where she established the Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency (CRSPHCDA) in 2016 and successfully created at least one functional primary healthcare center (PHC) in every ward in Cross River state (built 60 new PHCs and revitalized 200). In line with her UHC policy agenda, she established the Cross River State Health Insurance Scheme which has over 80,000 enrollees accessing quality healthcare, and fully protected from financial risk. She established partnerships with local and international development partners and mobilized over USD 10 million into the state health system to support strategic investments in resilient systems for sustainable health (RSSH) and quality healthcare service coverage.

She revolutionized the primary healthcare system in the state through policies and programmes that promoted innovation, quality of care, and efficiency. Under her leadership, the Agency developed the first-ever minimum PHC service package for the state and established a framework for Traditional Birth Attendant Regulation in Cross River State. She reorganized the PHC system to promote access, equity, quality of care, and efficiency. These policy actions resulted in a reduction in maternal mortality rate, infant mortality rate, and improved child survival rate. Working with her team she initiated the Vaccine Push System in Cross River State which strengthened the immunization program improving access to vaccines by 30%.

As a result of these innovative policies and strategic investments, Cross River State was ranked by UNICEF as the state with the highest child survival rate in Nigeria. Her dynamic leadership qualities and sterling achievements earned her recognition among her peers who elected her the Vice Chairman of Forum of CEOs of Primary Health Care Agencies and Boards in Nigeria (March 2018 – May 2019).

Dr. Edu serves the country and her state in numerous capacities including:
• National Women Leader, All Progressive Congress (APC) (March 2022- date)
• Special Adviser, women Affairs, Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Committee (August 2022- February 2023)
• Member, Renewed Hope Initiative; Governing Board, (June2023)
• Member, National Advisory Council (Board of Trustee) APC (03/2022- date)
• Commissioner for Health: Cross River State Ministry of Health. Cross River Nigeria (2019-2022)
• Chairman, Nigeria Health Commissioner’s Forum (July 2020 – March 2022)
• Member, Presidential Health Reform Committee (September 2021- Date)
• Member, All Progressive Congress National Reconciliation Committee (September 2021- Feb 2022)
• Member; Nigeria Country coordinating mechanism for Global fund. (2021-2022)
• Member, Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 on Special Task Team on Covid-19 for Niger Delta and Maritime Sector Response (September 2020- Date)
• Member, National Council of Health
• Chairman, Cross River State COVID-19 Response Taskforce (March 2020- March 2022)
• Chairman, Cross River State Oversight Committee on Basic Health Care Provision Fund
• Member, Board of Governors of College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar (December 2019 – Date)
• Member, National Health Insurance Scheme Drugs Supply and Implementation Board (August 2020 – Date)
• Member, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent, Elderly Health +Nutrition National Taskforce Board
• Member, National Oversight Steering Committee, Basic Health Care Provision Fund (January 2021-date)
• Special Technical Adviser, Cross River State Privatization Council (2021 – March 2022)
• Member, Cross River State Debt Management and Project Implementation Commission (April 2019 – February 2020)
• Member, Cross River State Debt Review and Project Management Commission (July 2019 – December 2019)
•Vice President Student Union Government University of Calabar(2007-2008)
•Chairman House committee on Health and HIV SUG parliament UNICAL(2006-2007)
•Treasurer Cross River State Medical Student Association (2005-2006)

Credits: 9News Nigeria

Super Falcons’ Alozie balancing medicine and football

One of the leading ladies who stunned co-host —Australia, with the 3:2 win in the ongoing Women’s World Cup is 25 years old Michelle Alozie, a medical researcher and Super Falcons midfielder.

Alozie who spoke to FIFA about her dual passions of medicine and football, made her senior debut for Nigeria on 10 June 2021 as a 65th-minute substitute.

Being a professional athlete is tough. It involves long days, large amounts of travel, and the physical toll that comes with pushing your body to the limit.

Strenuous, too, is medical research. Spending long hours poring over papers. Conducting countless trials that may or may not yield useful results. Keeping up-to-date with the ever-changing world of medicine.

Now imagine doing both.

That is the reality for Super Falcons defender Michelle Alozie, who spends her morning training with Houston Dash in the NWSL and her afternoons at Texas Children’s Hospital as a research technician studying acute leukemia and cancer.

“I’ll probably be done with training around 1 pm,” she explained to FIFA. “I’ll head straight to the children’s hospital, get there around 1.30 pm, probably have our team meetings, and then just go about my day until about 5 pm.”

A dual passion

Alozie’s genuine love of both football and medicine shone throughout the interview. Passion is the reason that she is able to sustain two careers at once.

“It’s crazy to think about,” she explained. “It’s not necessarily a field that I thought I was going to find myself in but it is so amazing to be able to have an impact on children’s lives. Childhood cancer isn’t something that’s researched that much. Being able to be a part of that and be a part of that research is just such a blessing.

“I have a passion for helping people. Thankfully biology was something that I was really good at in school and so medicine just seemed like the correct option there. Again, it’s just amazing to meet these young kids that I’m helping find a cure for their cancer. It means everything to me.”

The defender explained that she was born to play football, but grew to love medicine.

Alozie Photo Credit: FIFA

“I have been playing soccer since I was four or something like that and, being Nigerian, soccer, or football, is really just in our blood,” she said, smiling. “But I just have this fascination with medicine and I know it’s a career path that I would love to be in when I can’t run on the field anymore.”

Balancing act

Needing to find time for more than one career is a situation familiar to so many female athletes. Doubt does creep in on occasion for Alozie, but she never forgets her ‘why.’

“I think sometimes I might feel like I’m not doing enough for either soccer or in my research lab,” she reflected, “but I think I’m overall just really grateful. I know that it’s two of my passions and what makes it really worthwhile is that I just love doing both of them. So being able to do them simultaneously, thankfully with both of my jobs, it’s amazing and really just a blessing to be able to live my passion and my childhood dream.”

Of course, it has not always been easy for the Nigerian international, who is determined not to let down her coaches or Dr Alex, her boss at Texas Children’s Hospital.

“I think at first it was definitely a little bit difficult to balance the two,” she admitted. “But honestly, just growing up being an athlete, we learn to balance pretty young in life. It was kind of easy after a while.”

Will there come a point where the defender has to choose?

“In the next few years I’m not really sure – the role isn’t something you’re in for a long time – but I just know that I want to be in medicine and continue that career once I’m done with my soccer career.”

Don’t call me doctor!

Michelle Alozie obtained a Bachelors Degree in Molecular Biology from Yale University. Her degree has given her the skills to conduct her work as a researcher, but it doesn’t give her the right to be called a doctor… yet.

Not that it stops her team-mates from coming to her with their medical issues.

“I feel like any time something happens, if there’s a little injury, if someone gets knocked, if their stomach hurts, they come to me!” she laughed. “I’m like, ‘Guys, I’m not a doctor, I actually don’t know what’s going on internally with you!’”

That doesn’t mean that studying medicine and obtaining the title of doctor is off the table. On the contrary, it is very much in her long-term plans.

“I’m definitely going to play soccer until I literally cannot run anymore! I know medical school will always be there and it will definitely be there when my bones are brittle,” she grinned.

“Hopefully in a few years they can actually call me Dr Alozie. But now I just need to be Michelle.”

Credits: FIFA.com 25 Jul 2023

Women in ministerial list: Meet Ohanaye, APC aspirant who stepped down for Tinubu; Edu, Musawa, others

By Biodun Busari

The only female presidential aspirant in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Uju Kennedy Ohaneye, who stepped down for President Bola Tinubu at the party’s primaries in June last year, was included in the ministerial list.

Ohaneye was among the seven women who made the first batch of the list submitted to the Senate on Thursday.

The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila delivered the letter which had 28 nominees to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

Among the seven women are Betta Edu, the APC national women leader and former Commissioner of Health in Cross River state.

Hannatu Musawa, a lawyer and the current Special Adviser to Tinubu on Culture and Entertainment Economy also made the ministerial list.

Another female appointed by Tinubu is Stella Okotete, the Executive Director (Business Development) at the Nigeria Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank.

Furthermore, Doris Uzoka-Anite, a former Commissioner for Finance and Coordinating Economy in Imo State made the list.

The same list had Nkeiruka Onyejocha, who was a member of the House of Representatives representing the Isuikwuato/Umunneochi federal constituency of Abia State.

The President also included Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim who was the Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) from December 1, 2020, till May 27, 2021.

Credits: Vanguard

Again NDLEA Officers’ stray bullets strike, kills two this time

Barely two weeks after a two-year-old boy, Ivan Omorhiakogbe, was killed by a stray bullet from officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Delta State, two persons have been reportedly shot dead by men of the agency in Idioro, Mushin local government area of Lagos State.

The late two-year-old Ivan’s, one-year-old sibling, Eromonsele was hit by a stray bullet in his left eye. Thankfully he survived it. Eromonsele is currently receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, in Asaba, the Delta State capital.

The latest victims who have not been identified were shot dead by the drug law enforcement officers during a raid in the area at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday, July 26, 2023.

Eyewitness reports claim that the victims were hit by stray bullets as a result of sporadic shooting in the area by the NDLEA operatives.

The officers were said to have shot sporadically to frighten hoodlums who attempted to botch their operation in at Idioro, Mushin.

One Olasunkanmi, a resident of the area, revlaed that the stray bullets hit the victims on the head and chest.

The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, has yet to speak on the incident as of press time.

How Nigerian prison officials arrange for young people to serve jail terms for criminals, convicts— Falana

Published by Sahara Reporters on 8 April 2022

A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has alleged that some officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) allow criminals to escape court verdicts by getting young men who will serve jail terms for criminals.

Speaking on Thursday at a media session titled, “Forget the past, forfeit the future: A nation seceding from humanity”, Falana said the country is at war and the level of criminality is on the rise.

He noted that solving the country’s security challenges goes beyond hiring mercenaries.

Falana revealed that criminals that have been convicted of a crime are allowed to walk freely on the streets after warders connive with convicts to pay youths willing to serve jail terms on behalf of criminals.

According to him, some of them who have been condemned to prison terms in Kirikiri hardly get there as the exchange is made at Mile 2, a few kilometres to the prison.

He also said that there were some convicts who don’t seek a replacement or representation in prison but simply pay court officials after which he goes from the court to his house.

He noted, “This will surprise you, when a judge pronounces a jail term, sir, before getting to Kirikiri, at Mile 2, warders have an arrangement whereby some prepared young persons will replace the convict. That is the person that will enter the prison, he’s paid.

“The second one, in the court premises, there’s a syndicate by the defence counsel, prosecutors, warders and court clerks. Once the judge turns his back, the convict will arrange and pay them and the convict will walk back home.

“There’s a study in Lagos, I think 2005/2006, 199 people sentenced for drug trafficking, none of them made it to the prison. It’s a very serious crisis we are facing. If you want to discuss the security of our country, it goes beyond calling for mercenaries.”

Falana added that the country is at war but those in power, for reasons best known to them, have refused to acknowledge this.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari has disobeyed Section 305 of the constitution which requires him to declare a state of emergency in war-torn areas. He said Buhari has failed to take measures to restore law and order in troubled states.

Falana further noted that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami has refused to name the 400 financiers of terrorists that the AGF announced in May 2021. He also said the 800 suspected terrorists Malami mentioned two weeks after that must be put on trial.

He said, “Our country is at war, but whether the people in government are aware of this, the enormity of the crisis is another. For instance, the president has refused, for some inexplicable reason, to declare a state of emergency in those states. That’s what the law says; Section 305, the President shall declare a state of emergency.

“He is supposed to go to the National Assembly for endorsement so that extraordinary measures can be taken to restore law and order. For reasons best known to the President, he has not done that, even to rebrand bandits as terrorists, was a problem.

“In May last year, the AGF, Malami announced that they have arrested 400 sponsors of Boko Haram but because the staff of judiciary are on strike, once the strike is over, they will be on trial. Two weeks later, he also announced the arrest of 800 Boko Haram suspects who were to be put on trial, that was about a year ago.

“None of them has been put on trial. So if the sponsors of Boko Haram are walking free, perhaps to continue to fund terrorism, we must know the 400 sponsors of terrorism, they must be put on trial. Money has been appropriated by the National Assembly to try arrested terror suspects, but the regime for reasons best known to the people in government is not doing this.

“It is about what has happened to the money budgeted for the defence of our country, what has happened to the arrested Boko Haram sponsors? Those are the kind of questions the likes of (Nasir) El-Rufai (Kaduna State governor) should be asking, not diverting our attention.

“Lagos is the largest city in the world without CCTV cameras, if we had CCTV cameras all over the place, what happened to that lady inside the BRT bus wouldn’t have happened.

“Crime happens everywhere because we don’t have gadgets. At our airports, these guys (bandits) can launch attacks and no one knows who they are. If there is a killing anywhere, people are moving there to touch whatever they can lay hands on, whereas what is done is to remove everyone from there so that taking fingerprints will be enough for investigation.”

Originally published by Sahara Reporters on 8 April 2022

Incredible! The Fight Between DSS and Prison Officers Over Emefiele: Something you didn’t know

By Emeka Ugwuonye

One of the good things out of spending time in Nigerian prison was that I learnt some secrets about how the prison and the Nigerian criminal justice system work.

Yes, I was detained in Kuje prison. I was never convicted. No court ever found me guilty of any crime. And I did not commit a crime. Yet, I spent time in prison. I used my time in prison to study the prison and the system so well. If Nigerian prison were to be a university, I would have gotten double PhDs. In Nigeria, not everybody goes to prison just because he committed a crime. You can go to prison because you annoyed someone who has money to pay someone for you to be charged.

Now, about the fight you read about between DSS and prison officers, there are questions to ask. First, why was the Officer-in-Charge of Ikoyi Prison in court at that time? The Officer-in-Charge is the equivalent of Deputy Commissioner of Police. He does not go to court unless ordered to appear. The Officer-in-Charge of the correctional center does not normally go to court

But this Officer-in-Charge was in court as Emefiele was ordered to be remanded in Ikoyi Prison. Why?

The prison staff, especially the Officer-in-Charge and above make a lot of money when a big man is detained in their prison. They go out of their way to curry favor from such big men. A man like Emefiele has a lot of money. He will need a lot of favors while in prison. He will need access to phones. He will want to have air-conditioned cell, specially fitted cell. He will want to have access to visitors and many other things.

He is not entitled to any of these. But with the support of the Officer-in-Charge, he will have them and more. That will cost him a lot of money, like money in millions. So, everybody in the prison hierarchy would have been lined up to benefit from Emefiele. That effort starts right from the moment he leaves the court and heads to prison. He would be taken in special vehicle.

I saw this a few times in Kuje. I will never forget the day Abdulrasheed Maina arrived in Kuje prison. All the top officials went wild. They were falling over themselves in order to please Maina. I happened to be taken to the court the same day Maina was being taken to court for the first time from the prison, and they placed me in the same van with Maina. Oh my God! It was like the President’s motorcade. The entire prison top guys went to court that day in support of Maina. There were sirens and escort vehicles ahead of our van. They said they were providing security. I was laughing silently as I watched all the prison officers falling over themselves to please Maina. So, I could imagine what was going on in their camp when they guessed that Emefiele was to be arraigned in court for firearm-related offences. They knew that the court would grant Emefiele bail and that he would likely not meet the terms of bail the same day. So, he would spend at least one night in prison.

Again, I have double PhD on the Nigerian criminal justice system. I saw a part of it that lawyers do not see and which is never taught in any law school. The prison officers are at the bottom of the food chain. By the time an inmate gets to the prison, the police have taken all his money. He has paid his lawyer and may have bribed the court officials. By the time he finally gets to the prison, he is out of money. So, the prison officers do not have the opportunity to make money from their inmates as the police do from suspects.

Compared to other players in the chain, prison officers are the poorest. So, they could be quite desperate and when opportunities like Emefiele comes, they grab them with both hands. They could go out of their way to please such a man, as you saw in the free-for-all fight between DSS and prison officers. Thank God they didn’t shoot themselves.

Back to Maina’s case, Maina is quite a character. The first day he was taken to court from the prison and I went in the same van. By the way, all the time that I had been going to court from prison, they would put me in some rickety and dilapidated iron monger, a sort of gwongworo. The ride to court was so agonizing because the poorly constructed contraption they call vehicle was dangerous for even inmates to travel in them. But that day I went in the same van with Maina, the prison authority suddenly brought a van with air-conditioner in it. Immediately I saw Maina in the van, I chatted him up. We became friends there and then. He is an American citizen (I am sure many people did not know that). And knowing I was from America, Maina became close to me. But I knew instantly that associating with Maina could be tricky. He is a funny character.

That first day, the Officer-in-Charge went to court. He ordered even the prison doctor to go to court. The prison officials took an hospital bed and stretcher to court so that when we got to court, Maina would pretend to be sick and they would wheel him in. This was calculated to increase the chances that the judge would grant him bail on health ground. I was laughing. Maina was okay when we left the prison, but he was suddenly sick by the time we got to the court. All that trick was organized by the prison officials to help the big man.

Nigerian justice system is so weird that sometimes you don’t know who to blame. Various agencies don’t trust each other. DSS does not trust the court. They believe that the judge might take bribe and compromise the case. That is why sometimes, the police, the DSS, the EFCC are reluctant to take suspects to court. They don’t trust that the judge would act without influence. But at the same time, DSS is not any better than the court. The DSS people knew that if Emefiele was allowed to go to Ikoyi Prison, he would have access to phones and would have visitors and he would probably obstruct any further investigation. DSS could not trust the court and could not trust the prison with Emefiele.

In fact, DSS only charged Emefiele because the court ordered them to charge him or release him. To frustrate the court, the DSS obtained a warrant of arrest on another offense from another court to justify their continued detention of Emefiele. They kept the warrant in their back pocket, knowing that the court would order Emefiele detained at the prisons. So, DSS took Emefiele to court but with weapons they planned to use to frustrate whatever the court ruled. That is the danger in this country. None of these agencies is acting honestly. Each has its own agenda depending on who heads it, and each is suspecting other agencies. The EFCC does not trust the police, the court, DSS or the prisons or anybody outside EFCC.

DSS does not trust the court, the police, EFCC, the prisons. In an ideal setting, each of these agencies is supposed to trust the sister agencies. The only institution that should not trust anyone is the court.

But surprisingly, our courts trust the police, the EFCC and DSS. And that is why the courts fail the citizens. The constitution designed it in such a way for the courts to be suspicious of these agencies and to protect citizens against them. But our courts are timid and they trust the people they supposed to be skeptical about.

I was not surprised to see that the distrust between these agencies (that are supposed to be coordinated and cooperating) would get to the point of DSS manhandling the Officer-in-Charge of the prison.

Though embarrassing for the country, it was also funny. Why would the Officer-in-Charge get so personally involved to the point of being beaten up and bundled into the DSS van. It was as if DSS were going to detain him and Emefiele. Why didn’t he just contact his boss who would contact the boss of DSS and possibly the president? Why fight like school children?

That was because they were all fighting for their pockets. On many occasions, the police refuse to take suspects to prison as ordered by court, the police actually run their own illegal prisons. Why didn’t the Officer-in-Charge go to fight the police for the poor guys they abuse all the time? No, the poor guys have no money to give the prison officers. Only the Emefieles of this country would cause such a fight.

Just know one thing: all these people had their own agenda. The court knew this could happen. The court deliberately remanded him in prison. It was not a coincidence. The Officer-in-Charge of prison, instead of doing his work, personally came to the court to receive Emefiele. The DSS knew that all that would happen and they came with another warrant in their pocket, which they obtained from another judge, who also knew the game. It is a funny country. I would have asked you to pray. But if all the prayers our parents have been praying since the days of Lord Lugard did not help, how will your prayer today make any difference.?

Lady convicted of harassment after calls to husband during football

Joanne Healey rang the landline at his friends’ house 59 times in two hours

A woman has been convicted of harassment after plaguing her husband with requests to come home from watching football and hounding her friends about his whereabouts.

When her husband stopped picking up the phone, Healey began calling the landline at his friends’ house CAVENDISH PRESS

Joanne Healey, 59, repeatedly called her spouse of 37 years, Steve, on his mobile as he was watching Chelsea play Manchester United on television, a court was told.

When the former aerospace worker, 60, eventually refused to take her calls, Healey rang his friends John and Debbie Ashworth, leading to an argument during which she called them “paedophiles.”

He went home when the match finished but his wife was later interviewed by police over the calls to the Ashworths’ home in Merseyside. It emerged that she had been drinking heavily at the time of the incident.

In the days leading up to the football match, she was said to have been abusive to Mrs Ashworth over text messages, social media and calls. Mrs Ashworth blocked her but she began to receive numerous unwanted phone calls to her landline. On one occasion Mrs Healey was said to have phoned the house phone 59 times in the space of two hours.

At Wirral magistrates’ court Healey pleaded guilty to harassment and was sentenced to a 12-month community order and fined £80. She must attend 20 days of rehabilitative activity with the probation service and pay £234 in costs and victim surcharge. A request for a restraining order made on behalf of Mrs Ashworth was rejected.

Healey, from Rock Ferry, had no previous convictions. Her lawyer Rebecca Boswell said: “Although she likes a drink she is not dependent on alcohol. But she accepts that maybe when she has had a drink, maybe what she has bottled up comes out.

“She has gone her whole life without coming before the court. I do not think this is where she envisaged herself being. She is currently undergoing further assessment in relation to arthritis, she is having X-rays on her hips and back and also blood tests.

”This is one occasion of telephone calls. This is someone who has come to court for the first time and is never to come back.”

Sentencing, JP Mary Garvey told Healey: “It is unfortunate that you are in court today. The calls were persistent and prolonged but we are not going to place a restraining order on you because of the passage of time. It is over eight months and there have been no further incidents.

“But it is a warning to you and a lesson to you and we hope that we do not see you before these courts again.”

Credits: The Times UK

Dr. Roseline Okosun pioneers Edo State Directorate of Quality Assurance

The Governor of Edo State Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki has appointed Dr. Roseline Osemetiti Okosun, a seasoned educationist and administrator, to head the newly created Directorate for Quality Assurance in Edo State.

Dr. Okosun has a wealth of experience in classroom management, students and teachers assessment and evaluation, and a remarkable teaching and leadership track record of over three decades.

The newly formed Directorate of Quality Assurance was established in Edo State to enhance education standards and Okosun is expected to employ her repository of experience in turning around the fortune of schools in the state.

The newly formed Directorate will play a crucial role in monitoring and overseeing all levels of non-tertiary education, with a specific focus on supervising private basic, secondary, and technical schools in Edo State.

According to Hon. Commissioner of Education, Dr. Joan Osa Oviawe, the establishment of the Directorate of Quality Assurance stems from the government’s commitment to ensure that every child in Edo State receives a high-quality education. The Directorate will be responsible for assessing and maintaining the standard of education across various levels, including Early Childhood Education, Special Education, Adult Education, Basic Education, Secondary Education, and Technical and Vocational Education.

Over the years, she said, the Ministry of Education’s attention had been inadvertently diverted to peripheral issues, causing the core responsibilities related to policy formulation, oversight, and regulation to be sidelined.

While the government has made significant efforts to reform schools, improve teacher training, remuneration, and infrastructure, it is now time to prioritize the establishment of a robust system that ensures the effective delivery of quality education Dr Oviawe added. 

The Directorate of Quality Assurance will, consequently, play a pivotal role in addressing crucial questions such as the presence of teachers in schools, the quality of teaching, the attendance of learners, and their level of learning.

By creating the Directorate, the government aims to optimize available resources and foster better synergy among the three boards responsible for managing education (SUBEB, SSEB, and BTVET). This strategic approach will ensure that all levels of non-tertiary education receive the necessary attention and support they require.

The newly appointed Dr. Okosun is a seasoned educationist and administrator with an impressive track record spanning over three decades. She holds a Ph.D. in Education from The Flinders University of South Australia, as well as B.Ed and M.Ed degrees from the University of Missouri, Columbia, USA. Dr. Okosun’s diverse teaching experiences across Nigeria, USA, Australia, and Canada, coupled with her previous role as the Special Adviser to the Governor on Secondary Education, make her a valuable asset in this pivotal position.

Throughout her career, Dr. Okosun has been actively involved in classroom management, student and teacher assessment, and evaluation. She has also been a key figure in literacy programs and has contributed significantly to the personal growth and achievements of her students, promoting global citizenship, activism, and service.

With Dr. Okosun’s expertise and dedication, combined with the establishment of the Directorate of Quality Assurance, Edo State is taking a decisive step towards transforming its education system and ensuring a brighter future for its youth.  

Dr. Okosun holds a Ph. D degree in Education from The Flinders University of South Australia. She holds a B. Ed and M. Ed degrees from the University of Missouri, Columbia, USA. She has teaching experiences from Nigeria, USA, Australia and Canada. She was a staff of the Federal Ministry of Education, Lagos State, Nigeria.

She was the pioneer principal of the Federal Government College Staff School, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria. She also lectured at the Delta State University Abraka, Nigeria and the Brescia University College (University of Western Ontario, Canada).

Dr Okosun was gainfully employed in 2000 by the Thames Valley District Board, London Ontario, Canada. For several years, she was also involved in the literacy program with the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) (Toronto, Ontario) as an examiner and evaluator.

She took a leave of absence in 2020 and returned to Nigeria where she served as a Special Adviser on Education to the Edo State Governor. She retired on 31st August 2021 from the Thames Valley Education Board after twenty-four years of meritorious teaching service. She is also the President and Founder of the Non-Governmental Organisation for the eradication of exploitation of girls and women named Association Against Women Exploitation.

Dr. Okosun has supported many of her students on the path of personal growth and achievement, whilst encouraging a stance of global citizenship, activism and service. Through her teaching and counseling, she encourages and provides invaluable information to youths to assist them realise their potentials. She is currently an education consultant with focus on training teachers and administrators. 

Dr. Rosaline Okosun is an active member of St. Paul Catholic Church, Benin City, Edo State.

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