By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

There is anxiety over the number of international carriers that will resume flights into Nigeria on August 29, 2020 as the affected airlines were yet to meet officials of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid -19 and respective health and aeronautical agencies on the guidelines they are to comply with on the announced date.

Besides not knowing the number of airlines to operate, relevant aviation agencies are expected to communicate guidelines and safety protocols that will be in force at the Lagos and Abuja Airports when flights resume.

A source close to the regulatory agency said the Ministry of Aviation will work with the PTF on the template of operations and communicate the timeline for implementation to carriers cleared to operate flights before the flag – off date.

Towards this end, the source said meetings will begin this weekend among the concerned parties on how to achieve seamless operations.

The source also hinted that it is after the meeting that the foreign carriers could specifically set dates for resumption of flights.

It is unclear if FAAN had put in place necessary facilities required for post COVID -19 operations at Lagos and Abuja Airports slated as pilot aerodromes for re- opening of international flights.

Investigations by The Nation revealed that some foreign carriers may have concluded plans to operate scheduled flights effective September 1, 2020.

Sources however hinted that some carriers have pushed their resumption to October as they want to observe the situation before embarking on operations.

In an interview with newsmen at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Terminal 2, Lagos, Chairman Corporate Social Responsibility, National Association of Travel Agencies in Nigeria (NANTA), Mrs. Ime Victor-Ekpo said Lufthansa, British Airways, Emirates and few others were ready to flag – off flights September 1, 2020.

She noted that the restart of foreign flights would be gradual as the airlines do not want to restart and later shut down.

“Lufthansa said they are starting on September 1, 2020. British Airways same September 1, 2020; other airlines are starting the same day but others are pushing for October because they have to be ready.

“ So, whenever they are all around, you know the situation is a gradual process; we don’t want a part to have the same COVID -19 we are running from for us to come the second time so we are taking our time; so it is going to be a gradual process and in time everything will be fine”.

For countries that have not yet opened airspace to Nigeria, Mrs. Victor-Ekpo said, only countries ready to receive Nigerians will have their airspace open, adding that NANTA members were ready to start work.

“Like the webinar we had with the UAE, they are not saying we shouldn’t come; they have opened up, so we are opened up to countries that have opened up that allow us.

“We are already prepared, we have been on zoom, educating our people on the way forward, we have been in touch with all the airlines, nearly all the airlines, we have been in webinars with them and they have told us that they are prepared; definitely, if they are prepared, we will not be left out, we are also prepared because one on one we have a meeting with them.

“We have assurance now that the airport will be opened on August 29, 2020; we don’t expect all the airlines to resume immediately, it will be phased depending on their schedule.

After a five-month hiatus, Virgin Atlantic Airways said yesterday that it will be welcoming customers’ back-on-board as it makes a return to Lagos on September 10, 2020.

A statement from the carrier said to ensure the health and safety of customers and crew, Virgin Atlantic is implementing additional measures to offer peace of mind in the airport and when taking to the skies.

These include enhanced and thorough cleaning practices at check in, boarding gates and on-board including the use of electrostatic spraying of high-grade disinfectant in all cabins and lavatories before every flight, ensuring no surface is left untouched.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has revised quarantine protocol for arriving international passengers to Nigeria requiring that they must have tested negative for COVID-19 twice within two weeks pre- boarding PCR test in country of departure. Government said any test carried out less than two weeks before any travel is unacceptable.

A document obtained emanating from the Nigeria High Commission sensitizing travelers of the development reads: “The Nigeria High Commission wishes to bring to the attention of the general public that the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has issued the following Revised Quarantine Protocols for persons arriving Nigeria from abroad, including returnees and stranded Nigerians.

The notifications on pre departure and on arrival in Nigeria were specific on what needs to be done at every instance.

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*Condemns rising rape cases, banditry, killings

The Diocese of Evo, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to freeze all the accounts of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) because of monumental corruption going on there.

The church made the call in a in a communique issued yesterday at the end of the second session of the fourth Synod of the Diocese which held at St. Matthias Anglican Church, Atali in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State with theme: Stronger and Better Together.

The church also called on Buhari to immediately intervene to bring sanity to the commission.

It also frowned at the rising incidence of cases of rape and sexual assault in the country and called on government at all levels to take steps to check the menace.

The church expressed concern over the extreme poverty and the environmental pollution in the Niger Delta region despite the resources at the disposal of states in the region and the NDDC.

The communique was signed by the Bishop of the Diocese, Rt. Rev. Innocent Ordu; the Chancellor, Nlerum Amadi and the Clerical Synod Secretary, Rev. Can. Gospel Onuchukwu,

In its communique, the church expressed disappointment that the NDDC, which was supposed to be an interventionist agency, had turned out to work against the people.

The diocese, therefore, called on Buhari to freeze the accounts of the NDDC, and carry out a total overhaul of the commission and the Niger Delta Ministry.

The church said the steps had become necessary because of the alleged monumental corruption in the commission and key officers of the National Assembly who were supposed to carry out oversight functions on the interventionist agency.

It said, “Synod condemns the level of alleged corruption involving members of the board and management of the NDDC and key officers of the National Assembly in the finances of the commission and there calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately freeze the accounts of NDDC and carry out a total overhaul of both the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the NDDC.”

It also expressed concern over the spate of insecurity in country, particularly “the unwarranted killings in the Christian-dominated Southern Kaduna in Kaduna State; armed banditry and activities of Boko Haram in the Northern parts of Nigeria; the menace of herdsmen, armed robbery and kidnappings in the entire country”.

It therefore called on the “Federal Government to wake up from its deep slumber and end the bloodbath and restore the sanctity of life, and also the international community not to keep quiet over the security situation in Nigeria”.

On COVID-19 pandemic, the Diocese of Evo noted that it had exposed the extent of neglect and decay of the healthcare delivery system and facilities in Nigeria and the urgent need to overhaul the health sector.

It, therefore, called on everybody to observe the recommended preventive measures by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Federal Ministry of Health against the pandemic.

The World Health Organization has recommended that children aged 12 and over now use masks in the same situations as adults, as the use of face coverings helps stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The health agency made the recommendation in a COVID-19 guidance document it published via its website on Friday.

It said children aged five years and under should not be required to wear masks, while children aged 6-11 should only wear masks under certain conditions, including the presence of widespread transmission in the area where the child resides and the child’s ability to safely and appropriately use a mask.

However, children aged 12 and over are required to wear a mask under the same conditions as adults, “in particular when they cannot guarantee at least a 1-metre distance from others and there is widespread transmission in the area.”

The WHO has said the world should be able to rein in the coronavirus pandemic in less than two years, even as the world’s death toll hit 800,000 and the number of confirmed cases continues to rise.

“We have a disadvantage of globalisation, closeness, connectedness, but an advantage of better technology, so we hope to finish this pandemic before less than two years,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Friday.

The Kaduna State Government has dragged an Anglican Bishop, Rt. Rev. Abiodun Ogunyemi, to court on August 4, 2020 for alleged criminal defamation, injurious falsehood and criminal intimidation.

The Bishop of Zaria Diocese of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion was arraigned before a Chief Magistrate Court in Kaduna.

Ogunyemi’s arraignment arose from a letter of appeal he sent to Governor Nasir el-Rufai on September 18, 2019 following a government directive that the Cathedral Church of St George in Zaria should be demolished.

Copies of the letter were forwarded to the Commissioner of Police and Director of the Department of State Services.

Following other protests from Church members and stakeholders, the government in a newspaper publication rescinded its order to demolish the Cathedral.

It was alleged that the governor was not happy with one of the Bishop’s correspondences he sighted elsewhere, which he believed was offensive and directed the Commissioner of Police for discreet investigation.

As a result, the police invited the bishop for interrogation several times at its headquarters in Kaduna.

However on August 3, 2020, after a long lull, he was again invited to the Police Headquarters.

The next day, August 4, 2020, he was arraigned on the advice of the Ministry of Justice.

He pleaded not guilty and was granted bail.

A member of the Kaduna Synod and Canon of the Cathedral Church of St Michael Kaduna stood in as surety.

The Magistrate adjourned the case to August 17, 2020 for hearing of witnesses.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, who led the legal team of the State, announced in court that there were consultations going on which could lead to peaceful resolution of the case and requested for an adjournment.

The Chancellor of Zaria and counsel for the Bishop, Dr. John Omughele, conceded to this and the court adjourned the case to October 28, 2020 for repor, or hearing or report and hearing.

Culled from theeagleonline

THE American Bar Association withdrew the invitation extended to the former President of South Africa, Mr. FW De Klerk over his poor human rights record.

It was reported that it came “after the Pan African Bar Association of South Africa described the invitation as an insult to families of people murdered in state-sanctioned killings during the apartheid regime, according to South African online news site.

“Presenting the programme would not help the association advance our Goal III priority,” it stated, in reference to its aim to “eliminate bias and enhance diversity” by promoting “full and equal participation in the association, our profession, and the justice system by all persons” and eliminating “bias in the legal profession and the justice system”.

De Klerk’s spokesperson Dave Steward did not respond to requests for comment.

Fort Calata’s son Lukhanyo – who was the first person to write to the ABA and ask it to reconsider its De Klerk invitation – told News24 that the association’s decision to cancel De Klerk’s address was “courageous… and we applaud them for their sensitivity to our cause”.

“Our wish is that organisations around the world will follow the ABA’s lead and give careful consideration before extending an invite to De Klerk to speak on matters that he’s wholly unqualified to opine on.

“We just wish that the National Prosecuting Authority could act as swiftly as the ABA in taking decisions to act against those implicated in the murders of the Cradock Four. For now at least we can mark the 35th commemoration of their murders next week Saturday, knowing that we had stopped De Klerk from taking a public platform where he would no doubt have dishonoured their lives and legacies.

“Instead, we should ensure that it is De Klerk’s legacy that is unveiled to the rest of the world, for them to see him in the same way we do, as a criminal that perpetrated crimes against our humanity. Hopefully the NPA will charge De Klerk soon, so that we can write to the Nobel Prize International Award to request them to reconsider their decision to award him a Peace Prize that he remains completely undeserving of.”

Calata maintains De Klerk was complicit in the 27 June 1985 state-sanctioned murders of his father Fort and his fellow teachers, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli and Sparrow Mkhonto. The men became known as the Cradock Four.

In a detailed email to the ABA sent on Thursday, Lukhanyo Calata recounted why he believes that “De Klerk’s hands are dripping with my father’s blood, and the blood of his comrades”.

‘Never aware’

He refers to evidence that the order to assassinate the men, via “a Military signal, which called for their permanent removal from society on 7 June 1985” was “approved by highest echelons of the Apartheid State, these being the State Security Council and Cabinet of Ministers”.

“In 1985, De Klerk was a member of both the SSC and Cabinet. As the Minister of Basic Education and Training, he was often called upon for input in these meetings, with regard to the revolutionary activities of teachers Calata and Goniwe in the Eastern Cape. (There is evidence of this in Government notated minutes of record).

“The ‘signal’ appeared as an agenda item for a meeting held in Tuynhuys (the president’s official residence in the parliamentary precinct) on 12 June 1985. Record of attendance shows that De Klerk was present at this meeting.”

De Klerk’s spokesperson Dave Steward has previously strongly denied that his boss had played any part in the murders of the Cradock Four.

“Mr De Klerk was never aware of any instruction at any meeting of the State Security Council (SSC), or any other body, to murder anyone.”

The decision taken by the ABA International Law Section to cancel De Klerk’s address came after a number of local and international “concerned lawyers and academics” wrote a letter expressing their support for Lukhanyo Calata’s stance. They further vocalised deep disquiet over the planned speech and appealed to ABA members to reconsider the invitation.

“In academic settings, we do not generally support attempts to silence speakers with whom we disagree; we prefer instead to engage with them in a process of argument and counter-argument,” it stated.

“But this situation is different: an organisation like the ABA, which represents the ethos of a profession has no obvious justification to offer a platform to Mr De Klerk. We assume that De Klerk is not being asked to engage in a dialogue, but merely to express his views. The invitation seems particularly insensitive, coming as it does in the wake of weeks of renewed protests against America’s long history of racial oppression and injustice, at a time of reckoning with the past and reimagining the future.”

‘Unrepenant apartheid apologist’

The Pan African Bar Association (PABASA) on Saturday also formally objected to De Klerk’s speech in a five-page letter, in which it described the former president as a “unrepentant apartheid apologist”.

“Recently, De Klerk said that apartheid cannot be described as a crime against humanity because it cannot be equated with the holocaust genocide of Jewish people in Germany,” PABASA wrote.

“Such a statement, though unsurprising, betrays a sad disregard for black lives. An apology for this statement was issued, not by him, but by the De Klerk Foundation on his behalf. He remains in denial of the fact that apartheid was declared a crime against humanity by the United Nations Organisation. He remains in denial that the recorded brutal killing of the black majority constitutes a crime against humanity. He is unapologetically oblivious to the pain his apartheid machinery caused to the black majority in South Africa.”

Seattle University Law Professor Ronald Slye was one of a number of American academics who also wrote to the ABA to express “dismay at the decision by the ABA to highlight a talk by FW De Klerk as part of an annual meeting”.

In 1996, Slye organised a group of international law professors to make a submission to the TRC that apartheid was a crime against humanity – a submission which the Commission cited in its final report.

Like PABASA, Slye expressed concern over De Klerk’s apparent refusal to acknowledge that apartheid qualified to be defined as a crime against humanity.

In February this year, in an interview with SABC, De Klerk said he was “not fully agreeing” with the presenter who asked him to confirm that apartheid was a crime against humanity.

His foundation later said he expressed regret for “the confusion, anger, and hurt” his remarks might have caused.

“While one might view some of this — is apartheid a crime against humanity — as mere technical legal ‘quibbling’ (a word recently used by De Klerk), the impact of such denial is more far reaching,” Slye wrote to the ABA.

This shows that the Nigerian Bar Association is not the first Association to dis-invite and delist a high profile personality from the list of the panelist of its conference.

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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says synergy among the three arms of government including representatives of the legal profession will be a useful approach to the required reform of Nigeria’s administration of justice system.

Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement in Abuja, said the vice president made the submission on Saturday at the virtual edition of the Wole Olanipekun and Co (WOC) Justice Summit.

The theme of the summit is “Developing an Institutional Concept of Justice in Nigeria”.

The event featured prominent speakers including the convener, Olanipekun, Prof. Fidelis Oditah, Mr Yemi Candide-Johnson, notable economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, a prominent lawyer from the UK, Brie Stevens-Hoare, among others.

“Working together, the sub-nationals and the federal government and their judiciaries, we can make a fundamental change.

“This is obviously a matter that we must take seriously and address, not just as professionals but we must involve all the arms of government.

“Because of the kind of system that we run, the reform of the Justice System is many-sided; it can’t be done by one segment; it cannot be done by the executive alone, it cannot be done by the judiciary alone, and it certainly cannot be done by the legislature alone.

“There is a need for us to appreciate that it is a many-sided thing, complicated, and we have to simply look for ways to work together. I am seeing that critical mass of individuals in the legal profession, in the executive and also in the judiciary who are willing to reform.

“We are working quite hard to see how we can all come together to make a real change.”

Osinbajo said that the big question was also the relevance of Nigeria’s paradigms of justice to the major socio-economic circumstances that confronted it.

He said that the law was a social construct and made sense only within a social context.

“To treat the law as something apart from society, or as a body of technical abstractions is to strip it of meaning and to alienate the legal order from the very people it is meant to serve.

“Consequently, a definition of justice that focuses on the social and economic rights of the people is not only more meaningful, it is more just.

“These rights include the right to food, shelter, employment, education and a reasonable national standard of living, care for the elderly, pensions, unemployment benefits and welfare for the physically challenged.”

Osinbajo said that socio-economic rights even where wholly justiciable meant nothing unless there was a fiscal commitment to enforcement.

He said the opposition in Nigeria was prepared to abolish Nigeria’s social investment programme if it won, while the ruling party’s understanding of the imperative of delivering social justice was the provision of a massive social safety net.

“This was a fundamental feature of our manifesto.

“So, our Social Investment Programme, which is the most ambitious welfare programme on the continent, and our effort to expand universal health insurance all aim at ensuring that our most vulnerable citizens are not abandoned to the vicissitudes of fate.”

On the appointment of judges as an important area of reform in the system, Osinbajo said that judicial appointments should follow a merit-based system.

According to the vice president, stakeholders need to clearly look more carefully at how judges are selected.

“There has to be an objective process of selecting judges; we cannot insist that the only way to become a judge is to be a (judicial) career person or move from the high court to the Court of Appeal, to the Supreme Court.

“ We must be able to bring in practicing lawyers, academics to be justices of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court; if it requires rewriting the rules, then let us rewrite the rules,” he said.

In his contribution, the keynote speaker, Oditah said pertinent issues that required urgent reform in the administration of justice system included the reform of dispute resolution mechanisms.

He also listed the overhaul of the current system that focused more on technicalities rather than the substance of cases brought before the courts, among others.

Oditah regretted instances where appellate courts overturned decisions merely based on technicalities, without addressing the public interest implications.

He said that such judicial behavior was not desirable, should be avoided and possibly prevented as much as possible through the reforms.

The summit was moderated by Mr Bode Olanipekun, the Managing Partner of Wole Olanipekun Chambers.

Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, the minister of state for education, says tertiary institutions in-country will reopen “very soon”.

Speaking during a programme that aired on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) on Saturday, Nwajiuba said the federal government is also working to end the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) before schools reopen.

Tertiary institutions in the country have been shut since March after the government ordered their closure to slow the speed of the coronavirus.

Nwajiuba said while private universities have requested to be allowed to reopen, vice-chancellors want those in exit classes to resume in earnest.

“Tertiary institutions across the country will open very soon,” he said.

“Private universities have written us, requesting that they are allowed to reopen ahead of public institutions. Vice-chancellors have also requested that we allow them to reopen for their students in exit classes.

“We have also a lot of calls from bodies who want us to resolve the industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities before reopening because some public schools which are not ASUU-prone want to take the advantage of the strike to move ahead, but that would destroy our public schools. So, we are working on all these calls.”

The minister said the National Universities Commission (NUC) would have to do an appraisal of the state of tertiary institutions ahead of the reopening.

“We are waiting for the same from other tertiary institutions bodies so I can situate them and present the PTF on COVID-19,” he said.

“I can’t give the NUC a deadline on this because our job at the ministry is to wait for their inputs. This is not a political decision alone.

“If you open the university system, you have opened the country.”

Nwajiuba urged ASUU to call off their strike because their grievances “have more or less been resolved”.

“The body is making efforts to situate the visitation panel, though, that has to be gazetted and we are on it,” he said.

The First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, spoken on the controversy trailing her journey from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) back home.

Some online media on Saturday raised tempers by claiming the First Lady’s plane nearly crashed while returning home on Friday.

There were also reports of her health conditions earlier in the month, alleging she had been flown to Dubai for urgent medical care.

However, in a statement she signed, the First Lady said she flew home on Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft, contrary to claims it was a private jet, belonging to her in-law, Alhaji Mohammed Indimi that bought her back.

She also confirmed the flight ran into turbulence but did not say if the crew on board lost control as the media reports claimed.

“I want to use this opportunity to thank all Nigerians for their prayers and well wishes while I was away for medical treatment in the United Arabs Emirates (UAE). I am well now and fully recovered and had since returned back home, Nigeria.

“On our way back, the Nigerian Airforce Flight encountered a violent clear air turbulence which was navigated safely and professionally by the Captain and crew of the Flight.

“I want to commend and appreciate the courage and professionalism of the Captain and his crew, the wonderful gallant service men and women of the entire Nigerian Airforce for their dedication to duty and the quality of maintainance of its Fleet,” she said.

The First Lady also called on healthcare services providers in Nigeria to take advantage of the N100 billion credit support for the sector by the Federal Government.

“I recall hosting the private healthcare providers earlier in the year and we had a very productive engagement where the issue of building the capacity of Nigeria health sector was the major focus, and funding was discovered to be the major challenge.

“I, therefore, call on the healthcare providers to take the advantage of the Federal Government’s initiative through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines for the operation of NGN100 Billion Credit Support for the Healthcare Sector as was released recently contained in a circular dated March 25, 2020 to the Commercial Banks.

“This will no doubt help in building and expanding the capacity of the Nigerian health sector and ultimately reduce medical trips and tourism outside the Country.

“Once again, I thank our frontline workers, and all Nigerians for their steadfast as we navigate the challenges facing the entire world,” she said.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has commended the President and Visitor to the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Muhammadu Buhari, for recognising the role of the institution’s Senate in its governance.

In an interview, the Chairman, ASUU-UNILAG, Dr. Dele Ashiru said it was praiseworthy that Buhari allowed due process by respecting the legal role of the Senate – a role that the suspended Governing Council chairman, Dr. Wale Babalakin failed to recognise.

He said: “It is a right step in the right direction. Worth gratifying is the recognition of the position of the Senate as a critical organ in the governance structure of the University.

“The same Senate which Wale Babalakin treated with disdain, with contempt, with absolute lack of respect, the Visitor of the University through the Honourable Minister should be commended for standing firm in defense of the rule of law – particularly by asking Senate to reconvene with a view to selecting an Acting Vice-chancellor in compliance with the law.”

Ashiru added that with the Visitation panel all accused would be given fair hearing.

“An accused is deemed innocent until he or she is proven guilty. This visitation panel will afford each party the opportunity to give their own side of the story,” he said.

Regarding the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Theophilus Soyombo’s statement that he had step aside, Ashiru said he was not recognized by the law in the first place.

“And for the so-called vice-chancellor – the surrogate vice-chancellor, he need not step down because he never existed in the face of the law,” he said.

When asked to react to the backing out of the Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) from the joint resolution of workers’ congress to protest Prof. Toyin Ogundipe’s sack, Ashiru said: “That question should be better answered by SSANU and NASU. But I feel sorry for them. I feel very sorry for them,” he said.

On his part, NASU-UNILAG chairman, Comrade Kehinde Ajibade, said: “It is a good welcome and good development.”

Commenting on the matter, SSANU Chairman, Sola Sowunmi, said the union is calling for calm among it’s members and prayers for the University for the bad publicity.

“I don’t have any comment. My only side of it is that we are just urging our members to be prayerful, be calm and peaceful and we just believe that God’s counsel would prevail.

“It is a development that is not too pleasant for us because the university name has been dented one way or the other,” he said.

In a press release announcing his stepping down, Prof. Soyombo said he accepted the role for to restore peace in the university.

“As I noted in my address to a cross-section of staff on 19th August, 2020, I accepted the offer to serve as a call to service, with the objective of restoring peace and stability in the university. It is my prayer that the peace and stability that we so much need and desire at this time be restored very quickly, so that the University of Lagos can continue to march on as the University of First Choice and the Nation’s Pride. I urge all our staff and students to continue to go about their lawful activities in a peaceful manner,” he said.