Along with 71 other legal practitioners of distinction, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Simon Lough was on Wednesday sworn in as the first Nigerian Police Officer and first of all uniform agencies in Nigeria to be elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
He was appointed as a cadet officer (ASP) in 2000.
The elevation of the highly decorated senior cop to the coveted rank was communicated by the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC). The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali has since congratulated Lough, on his elevation as well as on being the first policeman in Nigeria’s history to attain the enviable position.
Lough and representative of the service chiefs
Police spokesman Frank Mba in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday disclosed that Simon Lough, a prosecutor, is the head of chambers of the legal section of the force.
The statement said the elevation of Lough was on the heels of his outstanding contribution to the development of law in Nigeria and his enviable feats in the legal profession.
With former Benue State Governor, Senator Gabriel Suswam, Attorney General of Benue state, Gusha Gush and Barr. Targema Takema, Secretary to the Benue State Government
Part of the statement reads: “Lough has served in various departments of the force, including the legal section, and held national positions on implementing legal policies for the country in his 21 years in service. Notable amongst his contributions and achievements is his record of securing over one hundred convictions of cases of armed robbery, murder, rape, financial crimes, amongst others.”
The statement added that he had also successfully defended several high-profile cases and got 33 judgments at the Court of Appeal and seven at the Supreme Court.
“His investiture as a SAN, Simon Lough is the first serving member of the NPF and any other uniform agency in Nigeria to attain the feat in the legal profession. The achievement is a testament to hard work, dedication, tenacity, and affirmation to the age-long maxim that ‘hard work truly pays,” the statement further said.
The new Silk and selected members of course 20
A close friend of the new Silk, CSP James Tersugh Vandefan (rtd.) who described him as “easy-going and well-committed man to service of humanity said they met in Police Staff college Jos as cadet ASPs in 2001.
“We became close when I discovered that he is also from Benue State and a strong member of the Catholic community in the college. He is very homely and occasionally we will go to his quarters to eat and take off the stress.
James Tersugh Vandefanand Simon Lough
“On passing out in 2002 he was posted to FCT Police Command while I was sent to Niger State Command. We kept in touch and compered notes on cases and he assisted with his legal knowledge. He is easygoing and a well-committed man to the service of humanity. He is one officer that hates crime and injustice. His elevation to SAN didn’t come as a surprise to all his course 20 mates.”
“Violation of human rights is the trademark of terrorists. Women and girls bear the brunt of the dehumanisation that accompanies terrorism, but are mostly ignored as mere collateral damage.” – Ozioma Izuora
This year, 2021, is the 30th anniversary of the 16 Days of Activism on no Violence Against Women, having been launched by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) at its leadership institute in 1991. The Campaign has been employed globally to call for the elimination of gender-based violence (GBV). It holds annually from November 25 (International Day Against Violence Against Women) to December 10 (International Human Rights Day). In 2018, a multi-year theme focusing on ending GBV and harassment in the world of work was announced by CWGL to coincide with the adoption of a new ILO Convention on the same objective. The momentum increased in 2020, to amplify the voices of women workers in the informal economy, while continuing to call for the ratification of ILO Convention 190 to end all forms of GBV in private and public spaces. The 2021 Campaign focuses on Domestic Violence in the world of work, in addition to the crime of femicide.
The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW) contained the first official definition of gender-based violence in Article 1. Article 2 of the Declaration states that the definition should encompass, acts of physical, sexual, and psychological violence in the family, community, or perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs. These acts include: spousal battery; sexual abuse, including of female children; dowry-related violence; rape, including marital rape; female genital mutilation/cutting and other traditional practices harmful to women; non-spousal violence; sexual violence related to exploitation; sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in school and elsewhere; trafficking in women; and forced prostitution.
The Vice-Chairperson of FIDA (Nig) Abuja Chibuzo Maureen Nwosu and some members represented the branch recently at the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs for an Advocacy Walk to commemorate the 16 days activism.
16 Days Activism is proactive as it takes on developing issues that affect SGBV, from HIV/AIDS to Covid-19 pandemic. Raising awareness on the global exacerbation of incidences of SGBV due to Covid-19 lockdowns, for instance, it reported that in 2020, over 243 million women and girls were abused by an intimate partner with less than 40% of women reporting the violence or seeking help. The Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) described by the ILO as “the first international treaty on violence and harassment in the world of work”, came into force on June 25, 2021. To date, seven countries have ratified the Convention, including Mauritius, Argentina, Ecuador, Fiji, Namibia, Somalia, and Uruguay.’ Most importantly, C190 contains a broad definition of ‘world of work’ which includes both ‘private and ‘public’ spaces and applies to workers ‘irrespective of their contract status. Among its other highlights, C190 acknowledges domestic violence as a workplace issue, which impacts women’s employment, health, safety, and productivity.
SGBV has long been acknowledged as a global concern, counterpoised to prevailing patriarchy, which from the beginning of time, has sustained the imbalance in power relations between the female and male genders. The current successes being recorded through the 16 Days Activism have their genesis in actions taken by the world to incrementally battle inequity and denial of rights against women, a phenomenon which in turn, breeds violence. Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948 many instruments have been devoted to combatting the menace.
FIDA Abuja members during the Advocacy walk
The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) and its Protocol the Maputo Protocol, 1981, have been adopted, in acknowledgement that violence against women is an impediment which must be eliminated in its totality through legislation and multi-sectoral reforms, in accordance with the international obligations of countries. Nigeria has many legislations that reflect best practice to reform its erstwhile outdated laws to address SGBV, ranging from the Child’s Right Act, to the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, among others. Legislations regulating specialised agencies such as the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) have been made to penalize SGBV crimes.
But the dual system of criminal justice delivery obtainable in Nigeria and lack of capacity of prosecution agencies impede smooth transition and implementation of these proactive reforms. Besides, even though the above legislations have been hailed as progressive, because they are federal laws, states are either slow in passing them in their assemblies or whittle down or abandon some of the provisions to conform with religious and patriarchal dictates. In Northern Nigeria, for instance, the concurrent application of Western and Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia Law) is a stumbling block in the way of convicting perpetrators of SGBV crimes.
A convicted rapist, for instance, may file counter claims on grounds of “character defamation” to avoid punishment, while putting the victim on defence, under the Bauchi State Penal Code. Another example is section 77 of the Penal Code which prescribes that ‘a sentence of caning not exceeding twelve strokes may be passed by any court whether trying a case summarily or otherwise on any male offender in lieu of or in addition to any other punishment to which he might be sentenced for any offence not punishable with death’. There is also section 55 Penal Code which still allows for chastisement of wives by their husbands which women NGOs have battled in vain to reform for the longest time, among other provisions.
Photo Credit:USAID 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence | U.S. Agency for International Development
The data from the sexual assault referral centres in Kano, between January 2017 to March 2020 shows that 73% of the 2158 patients were girls and victims of domestic violence and rape. Since the tenure of its current governor in 2019, a total of 10,007 cases of SGBV have been recorded by the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT). Meanwhile, on 18 September 2020, the governor of Kaduna State signed into law, the Kaduna State Penal code (Amendment) Law which prescribes the punishment of surgical castration as a punishment for convicts of rape against victims of below 14 years. In her address on the commencement of 16 Days Activism, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development was reported to have echoed the Kaduna position, suggesting that the federal government should consider making that the law in Nigeria, a panacea against the menace of SGBV.
The Kaduna law is a dangerous one which hopefully will be struck down soon. There is no evidence that castration will curb the crime; it could in fact, lead to more fatal attacks on victims as perpetrators may seek to obliterate evidence of their crimes. And what if even one person convicted of rape and thus punished is subsequently discovered to be innocent? Castration, just like death sentence, is inhumane. Reorientation and reconceptualization of deeply held religious and cultural norms will, in the opinion of this writer, be more efficacious in stemming SGBV crimes. Many perpetrators find ready excuses for the crimes within the prevailing state of things. This is not peculiar to Nigeria, nor to Africa either.
The most recent legislation passed by the Parliament in Nigeria is the Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions Bill, 2019 (now Act, 2021), came about as a result of an upsurge in sex-for-grade scandals that have blackened tertiary institutions in Nigeria for some time. The widely publicised case of Prof Richard Iyiola Akindele, of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, was, on 17 December 2018, convicted and sentenced to six-years imprisonment by the Federal High Court, Osogbo, Osun State for demanding sex to pass his student, Monica Osagie. His appeal against the sentence was struck out by the Court of Appeal. That matter had been brought under the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) Act. It is hoped that with the passage of the new law, such cases will come under it.
But for femicide and marital rape, Nigeria’s laws have adequately provided for SGBV crimes. The other dimension that currently fuels SGBV crimes in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, is terrorism. Violation of human rights is the trademark of terrorists. Women and girls bear the brunt of the dehumanisation that accompanies terrorism, but are mostly ignored as mere collateral damage. The Chibok Girls are still not home! Policy and strategic frameworks have been in place since the country has had to deal with HIV/AIDS and Ebola. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is right on top of developments on Covid-19. The increase in SGBV crimes are daily reported by both government and NGO operatives.
The judiciary has recently given two remarkable judgments to reflect a proactive stance to dealing with gender-based violence in Ukatu v FRN and Mesara Ayuba v The State. In Ukatu’s case, the Court of Appeal ruled that performing household chores for their aunt was not child labour under the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act (TPPEAA), 2015. However, withdrawing them from school, subjecting them to servitude by restricting them to the flat, and being inflicted with punishments of chaining, tying, beating and starvation denied the children of their freedom and right to be children that should be cared for and loved. These, the Court of Appeal held, amounted to slavery. While dealing with SGBV crimes, this judgment is a warning not to overlook women perpetrators of SGBV crimes too.
In Mesara’s case, one of the men who was found guilty of rape of a 12–year-old girl, contrary to section 282 (1)(e) of the Penal Code, Laws of Jigawa State, 2012, and was sentenced by the high court to 7-years imprisonment with ten (10) strokes of the cane for ten (10) market days went on appeal against the sentence. Upholding the judgement of the high court, Justice Abiru, JCA, however, held that the sentence for rape of a girl under the age of 14 under the extant law was a mandatory life imprisonment. He, therefore, imposed the life sentence on the accused, correcting the error made in that respect by the lower court. It is hoped that with more awareness, prosecution agencies and the courts will apply the current laws and not exercise ‘discretion’ to minimise the heinous crimes that SGBV really are.
The Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN) stated that 30% of women and girls aged 15 – 49 have experienced sexual abuse, but with the advent of the full lockdown enforced by the Federal Government in three states of Lagos, Ogun, and FCT in 2020, the increase was astronomical. Domestic violence cases rose from 60 in March, 2020 to 238 in April and showed 149% increase for the 36 states in Nigeria due to lockdown. Yet it is common knowledge that many cases never would be reported.
The situation of SGBV crimes in Nigeria, Africa and the world will continue to receive the stern stare of activism. With more training for prosecuting agencies and proactive decisions by the courts, as well as multi-sectoral engagement in the public space, the gains of 16 Days Activism will march on until the world attains daily activism. It should be a way of life not to tolerate violence against any gender at all.
“Let Sylvester’s name not be used for another hashtag that will be forgotten as soon as the uproar quietens as it is usually the case.
Serving whoever is culpable in this murder a just dessert will serve as strong deterrent to other juvenile delinquents in Nigerian schools.
Beyond that, this incident should be seen as an inflection point for all schools in the country – private and public. A lot has gone wrong even in primary schools.Time was when cult groups were the exclusive preserve of the universities. Not anyone!
Today, even primary school pupils have been initiated into cults, a vice they apparently cultivated from their parents and other adult members of the society.
Initiation into these cult groups bends the mind. There have been reports of secondary school girls being encouraged to have sex with as many male members as possible, in a ritual called “bamming.”
The belief is that the voyeuristic experience will harden them.
No society progresses that way.
But if #JusticeForSylvester will halt that dangerous drift, then, it can be said that he did not die in vain.”
Please click on the link below to read the full article.
“Let Sylvester’s name not be used for another hashtag that will be forgotten as soon as the uproar quietens as it is usually the case.
Serving whoever is culpable in this murder a just dessert will serve as strong deterrent to other juvenile delinquents in Nigerian schools.
Beyond that, this incident should be seen as an inflection point for all schools in the country – private and public. A lot has gone wrong even in primary schools.Time was when cult groups were the exclusive preserve of the universities. Not anyone!
Today, even primary school pupils have been initiated into cults, a vice they apparently cultivated from their parents and other adult members of the society.
Initiation into these cult groups bends the mind. There have been reports of secondary school girls being encouraged to have sex with as many male members as possible, in a ritual called “bamming.”
The belief is that the voyeuristic experience will harden them.
No society progresses that way.
But if #JusticeForSylvester will halt that dangerous drift, then, it can be said that he did not die in vain.”
Please click on the link below to read the full article.
The World Health Organisation, WHO, revealed that fewer than 4% of adults have been fully vaccinated in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.
About one million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were estimated to have expired in Nigeria last month without being used.
This has contributed to the loss of doses, despite the difficulty of African countries in getting vaccination for much of their populations.
According to Reuters, African governments have been pushing for more vaccine deliveries as the Omicron coronavirus now spreads across South Africa.
The World Health Organisation, WHO, revealed that fewer than 4% of adults have been fully vaccinated in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.
It was further learnt that the expired doses were made by AstraZeneca and delivered from Europe.
A sources with direct knowledge of vaccine delivery told journalists.
They were supplied via COVAX, the dose-sharing facility led by the GAVI vaccine alliance and the WHO which is increasingly reliant on donations.
Another source with knowledge of the delivery added that some of the doses arrived within four to six weeks of expiry and could not be used in time, despite efforts by health authorities.
The sources said a count of the expired doses was still underway and an official number was yet to be finalised.
“Nigeria is doing everything it can. But it’s struggling with short shelf life vaccines. Now (supply is) unpredictable and they’re sending too much,” a source stated.
The spokesperson for the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, the body responsible for vaccinations in Nigeria, said the number of vaccines received and used was still being tallied and it would share its findings in the coming days.
The WHO said doses had expired, but declined to give a figure.
It said 800,000 additional doses that had been at risk of expiry in October were all used in time.
“Vaccine wastage is to be expected in any immunization programme, and in the context of COVID-19 deployment is a global phenomenon,” the WHO said in a statement.
Nigeria’s vaccine loss appears to be one of the largest of its kind over such a short time period, even outstripping the total number of vaccines that some other countries in the region have received.
The Executive Director of the NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaib once told journalists at a press briefing in Abuja that some doses of Astrazeneca vaccine donated by the UK government would expire in September and October.
Faisal had also assured that the government would make use of the vaccines before the expiration.
A revolutionary Resolution is about to be adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in New York City next week. The Resolution is to establish for the first time in the history of the United Nations that “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”, that is, Lesbianism, Gay, Bi-sexualism, Trangenderism, Queer behaviour, Intersex and others (LGBTQ1+) are UN consensus terms. Unless Nigeria, perceived and respected as a big African player in diplomatic circles and at the United Nations, calls for a vote on the Resolution next week in order to strike down the offensive “sexual orientation and gender identity” the terms will become UN consensus terms. So history beckons Nigeria to call for a vote at the UN next week in order to strike down the vexed LGBTQ1+ terms. The human race at the moment is engaged in a race against time, a race to rescue humanity from complete ruin. It is not just the quality of life that is being threatened in this age but life itself. The saddest aspect is that the dreams of many are empty. So where do we go from here? As this turbulent 21st Century comes to an end, mankind is poised at a crossroads: in one direction lies the possibility of unprecedented prosperity for all, but, in another direction lies self-annihilation in the face of conscious efforts, or, if you like, the diabolic efforts, to obliterate the natural and biological differences between a man and a woman in the name of so-called “sexual orientation and gender identity”. So winning the human race is the challenge facing men and women of our contemporary society. It is either we get it right and continue to live in this world or get it wrong and perish. This is the dilemma faced by modern man today.
You may be aware that the aforesaid offensive UN Resolution was adopted by the Third Committee of the UN Economic and Social Council on November 18, 2021 under the euphemistic or dodgy title: “Strengthening the role of the United Nations in the promotion of democratization and enhancing periodic and genuine elections” (A/C.3/76/L.45/Rev.1). Sponsored by Joe Biden’s United States, this Resolution was used by the U.S. to force or impose LGBTQ1+ on all delegations. Despite repeated requests by multiple UN delegations to remove the references to LGBTQ1+ and “women in all their diversity” from the text, the U.S. refused to remove the references knowing fully well that it would be politically difficult for any country to call for a vote on the Resolution, since that would be susceptible to false claims that the country is against free and fair elections. You can see how the United States is craftily or deviously forcing LGBTQ1+ down the throats of unwilling nations under the pretext of promoting democratization process and “enhancing periodic and genuine elections”. What is LGBTQ1+ doing in election resolution? one may ask. This is why Nigeria must call for a vote on the Resolution in order to remove the strange term from the Resolution
Although the Nigerian delegation had proposed two amendments on behalf of many other delegations to remove the LGBTQ1+ terms from the elections resolution as they are unacceptable concepts that violate Nigeria’s laws and represent an assault on women, marriage, and the Nigerian family, but, unfortunately, however, the votes on these amendments were both lost, and the controversial references to LGBTQ1+ still remain intact in the Resolution. One would have thought that subsequently, the Nigerian delegation should have called for a vote on the entire Resolution. Indeed, many less powerful nations were relying on Nigeria to call for a vote on the Resolution, yet Nigeria was silent during the adoption and only made a statement after it was adopted. It is feared that the U.S. is pressuring Nigeria not to call for a vote on the Resolution. You will recall that the U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken was in Nigeria during the critical time when this election’s resolution was proposed for adoption at the UN, and it is believed that he came to Nigeria to put undue pressure on our Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to stop Nigeria from calling for a vote on the Resolution. This interference of the U.S. government in Nigeria’s affairs is an assault on Nigeria’s sovereignty and religious and cultural values. Nigeria is a sovereign nation. We have a right as a sovereign nation to decide for ourselves the ideologies we need to embrace for our own good
Nigeria should reject anything which compromises Nigeria’s territorial sovereignty. No foreign country has a right to dictate to us the way we should run our country. The attitude of the United States in imposing LGTBQI+ on African countries Nigeria inclusive is sadly reminiscent of the sentiments of superiority that led to centuries-old slavery and the emasculation of black people world over. It is a sentiment of white supremacy based on the idea that since the black man is not capable of rational, positive, value driven thinking, the U.S. and other countries should think for him. This narrative is confirmed in the words of Nafiz Sadik, the former executive director of the United Nations Fund for Population activities (UNFPA) who once said; “If culture and tradition are invoked to block change, and we hear this all the time, then culture and tradition must give way.” But the pertinent question remains: whose culture and tradition? And most importantly, who gets to define and make a value judgment on such cultures and traditions. Is the U.S.? I don’t think so.
Therefore Nigeria must reject the pressure from the United States and do the right thing by calling for a vote on the entire election Resolution next week (even if there is only one vote against the Resolution it will substantially weaken it). UN Resolutions bind upon consensus. Only one vote is capable of defeating a Resolution. Therefore the Nigerian delegation is respectfully urged to call for a vote on the Resolution at the United Nations General Assembly next week so that the aforesaid offensive terms: “women in all their diversity” and “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” (that is, LGBTQ1+ terms) do not achieve consensus at the UN. After all, Nigeria and some other African countries have outlawed LGBTQ1+ within their respective territorial sovereignties. Besides, the term “women in all their diversity” has never been adopted in a United Nations General Assembly Resolution. While the term “sexual orientation and gender identity” did appear previously in a United Nations Resolution in the context of extrajudicial killings in contrast to this elections resolution, that Resolution was voted and therefore it cannot be considered consensual. To be sure, if this Third Committee Resolution that was adopted by consensus on November 18, 2021 is not challenged next week when it is presented to the UN General Assembly, then the terms “women in all their diversity” and “sexual orientation and gender identity” will become UN consensus languages, and, by extension could gain acceptance as an international law.
While it is appreciated that Nigeria made a strong statement after the adoption of the Resolution by the Third Committee on November 18, 2021 and disassociated herself from that reference to LGBTQ1+ terms that singular action does stop the LGBTQ1+ from becoming UN consensus language. Happily it is too late for Nigeria to remedy things. Come next week Nigeria must call for a vote on the entire Resolution in order to prevent these LGBTQ1+ terms from being mainstreamed throughout UN policies and programs and used to pressure Nigeria again and again to capitulate to the LGBT agenda in subsequent UN Resolutions. We therefore call upon our government to stand up to the cultural imperialism of the West and specifically of the U.S., which is constantly trying to impose a harmful LGBT agenda on our people. In fact, mainstreaming an LGBT agenda in all African countries is a top foreign policy priority of the U.S. Nigeria must do the right thing and call for a vote on the elections resolution next week and not be afraid of potential negative press that will falsely claim that Nigeria called for a vote on the resolution because it does not want to conduct fair and free elections.
This is a poem from Dike Chukwuemerije A MUST READ
FIX THE POLITICS
A broken road does not understand Igbo It will not maim the Fulani and let the rest of us go The accidents it will cause will take all lives For when a vehicle somersaults it breaks all bones
So, you can speak Nupe till morning comes It will not build libraries in our public schools And when a woman, a young woman, lies dying in childbirth Your fluency in Ijaw will not save her life
For Christian or Muslim, it makes no difference When you’re being driven around in an ambulance From hospital to hospital in search of oxygen Northerner or Southerner, you will die suffocating
You will die of causes easily preventable Like no fuel for police to respond to your distress call No water, no light, no nurses, no jobs Nothing kills as efficiently as bad governance
As Politicians in Office who do not pay salaries Whose response to bad roads is bigger SUVs Who set up committees, and publish white papers Presiding over affairs that never improve
Politicians in Jeeps, with minds in London Perpetual latecomers to every meeting Irritated by anyone with a different opinion Who see ‘The People’ as a throne to sit on
Politicians in Power, who personalize the State Who criminalize criticism, and terrorize dissent Nothing in society kills as efficiently As a Politician in High Office with low mentality
For you see? Boko Haram will burn down a classroom But a Politician can swallow the entire school system Can fold our Power Stations and put in his briefcase Can roll up the Railways and keep in her house
Politicians can file our sea ports away in a drawer Can cripple all our farms with no fertilizer No matter the passion you bring to your start-up Government can kill it with just one pronouncement
And no degree you hold, no grammar you speak No decision you make to just face your work No protest you stage can save you from those Elected to make and enforce our laws
The way they see things is a wall around you For you cannot drive faster than the person driving you No matter your wealth, education or achievement You are subject to the mentality of those in Government
Politicians in Office hold the yam and the knife For to elect is to give the elected power over life Which child will remain almajiri or become someone better? These things are in the hands of the people in Power
Politicians in Office hold the farm and the seed For to elect is to give the elected the power to decide Whether Security operatives can murder citizens and walk away free? These things are in the hands of those who run the country
So, if you are tired of it all, then strike at its roots… If you are tired of needing a letter from a Senator to get a job If you are tired of seeing your hustle frustrated by public policies If you are tired of insecurity, then fix the politics
If you’re tired of the hunger, the anger, in our streets If you’re tired of the number of children who die before age 5 If you’re tired of the dreams suffocated in our youths If you are tired of this shame, then fix the politics
For until they are there in Public Office Men and women with a heart for public service No tribe, no tongue – just a commitment to build A functional nation that fills us all with pride
Until they are there in the highest Office Men and women with a heart for selfless service No region, no religion – just commitment to Nation…
I read about a 15-year-old in Nigeria who builds mechanical and motorised vehicles using locally derived materials and it thrilled me, filling me with this incredible delight. I love creatives but I am even more fascinated by the ability of a person to sit down and work from ideation to product and display an outcome that is visible, tangible, intangible, palpable, excitable etc.
It is ironic that Nigeria’s refinery in Kaduna was built by a Japanese company. The Dangote refinery will be built by many foreign teams, yet during the civil war, Biafra refined its own oil, built its own ammo, and literally supported itself via local ingenuity. All capabilities in the bowels of Nigeria. We have all seen that the most successful healthcare systems in the world are the ones that care for the whole population, what we know as social medicine. What if as a nation Nigeria went totally away from the norm. Choosing to build a true health care system versus adopting its own version of a sick care system, where only the sick participate. Imagine what it would do for the natural habitat; intentionally cultivating Ori (shea butter) pods, harnessing moringa trees, finding those medicinal herbs that freely grow and using them in their most potent state with our ingenuity focused on formats that make them easily accessible. Then the Nigerian agriculture would take advantage of the terrain and leverage the seasons to tools developed with the landscape in mind. Nigeria would educate itself continuously generations after generations to the vision of the evergreen future desired.
Suddenly the architecture of the nation will become mainstream to the natural resources, enhanced by the nuanced notes of its lush and generous organic environment and embraced by the unity of an ecosystem that is at once robust and intimate, chanting the praises of its genesis. Nigeria could educate and inform with the nation in mind and the world in view; creating its jobs that address its needs and wants first and then setting its surplus to service others. Then its children would roam the streets, exploring their God-given laboratory and more will like the 15-year-old build and create and dream to their hearts desire!
This is not fantasy but a reality to be exposed. Much like the curtains that obscure the vibrant cast on the stage just behind it. In the hardest of times, in a time before now, some Nigerians cut off from everything; acquired, created, developed and built theirs from scratch. From the bounty of scraps many young and mature have framed products from ideas, emulation and the imposition of acquired knowledge. This is happening every where every day in every way, regular Nigerians doing irregular things just because they can!
I used to wonder why things don’t work in Nigeria when they should; why people can do only little to foster progressive systems, when more should be done, why while there are strides made in contained environments, an overall horror looms so high and fosters confusion, when it can be easier. Then it became crystal clear that perhaps that is not the point at all. Because regardless of it all, the following stands true.
•Charlatans overrun experts when platforms for excellence are demeaned;
•Fools are those who really believe through their actions that there is no recompense, no God;
•Slackers will always see the fierce lion that roams the public square;
•Laziness has a lot of cravings with no actualisation, but the diligent experiences their desires;
•The mind can endure much, overcome much, remake much and reset much, it is the seat of reform.
So, then what do we do? Find the problem? Rehearse the good pieces to ad nauseum, till we can perform them flawlessly? Rehash the good that in the old into something new? What if all this is not enough? Because every day, the loyalist sing Nigeria’s praise. The reformers speak its hope. The diligent work at its change and the hopeless despairs at its rot!
Enugu also pronounced Enugwu literally means “on top of the hill”, or “the mountain top”. On the mountain top, the air is rarefied, sometimes it’s all peace and sometimes imaginations are duly elevated. There is a saying that we must rise above the place of a problem to solve it effectively. This is because from above, you see wholistically and you have new perspective. I recall watching a football game from a president box at a football stadium. In there I learned about a game, I had previously no regard for. I was shown what to look out for, I was introduced to the game’s artistry and the science of its benevolence. I saw the players as deeply clever trying to make a play that would outsmart, or advantage themselves. It was thrilling to be ensconced in a high and lovely place, not a sweat to break. The food was delectable, the wine exquisite, the people rich, smart and charming. I thoroughly got the game, all of it and for the first time after years of exposure I had new perspective on football, the people who play it, the people it benefits and those that give it life. It fueled in me understanding and appreciation. Such is the capability of the mountaintop. Now, the mountaintop while charming can also be isolating and even challenging to navigate requiring you to be conscious and aware.
Jalingo means superior place – implying higher in rank, a promoted place capable of the uncommon. With superiority comes the responsibility of leadership and preservation. The need to encounter all engagements with wisdom and without haste so that all that is superior is properly harnessed, maintained and well preserved. We know that all too well, when we advance to superior office and suddenly the expectations are drastically removed from what was allowed, just the day before. Again superior can also encapsulate seniority that can deter the new.
The point is that in Enugu, Nigeria can erect an innovation mountain that encrusts and uplifts the ingenuity represented by the larger region, building an ecosystem that is robust in people, process and product brave enough to build and create products and services that will serve itself nation, the continent and eventually by choice the globe.
In Jalingo, Nigeria can erect a living labyrinth of culture, that encapsulates the regional nature, aquatic excellence and the lush of the superior Mambila region.
You see God gives His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain to the just and the unjust. This tells us that the resources to ignite Nigeria’s resources are already given, in the same measure to everyone, with the same provision and flexibility to retain, repurpose, redeem. We also learn from it, that doing the right thing universally is key. God Renders to each region regardless of location, tribe, language, people the essentials of all His natural provisions however, outcomes are subject to what they combine it with or bind it to.
So perhaps for Nigeria, there is a chance to FUBU the needs, BATA the gaps, and INON the opportunity.
How about – Capital Funds that are For Us By Us. Businesses that Build Africa Through Africans. Systems that Involve Nigerians On Nigeria Soil
Many have done this, many are doing this, many will do this. We need now to collectively enhance it, embrace it and make it the big thing.
As I said, I read about a 15-year-old in Nigeria who builds mechanical and motorised vehicles using locally derived materials and it thrilled me, filling me with this incredible delight. I love creatives but I am even more fascinated by the ability of a person to sit down and work from ideation to product and display an outcome that is visible, tangible, intangible, palpable, excitable etc. Let us together connect all these dots and make it the norm all the way to a finish line that marks the beginning of a new horizon, again and again!
About Ngozi Bell
Inspiration, Hard Work, Innovation. These three foundational elements anchor Ngozi’s core belief that manifesting the extraordinary is always within reach. Inspired by her mother A.C.Obikwere, a scientist and author, she learned the privilege of living at the edge of important encounters and dedicating herself to robust and perpetual learning. Ngozi’s background is a combination of Physics, Engineering, Venture Capital/Private Equity, regulations, and business where she has managed over $1B in cumulative revenue. Ngozi is a speaker, storyteller, and writer on a diverse set of topics including AI, iDLT, ML, Signal Processing, iOT, women, entrepreneurship and more. She contributes regularly to VOA, has been a TEDx speaker and is published on tech and non-tech platforms. She is a champion of STEM, women, youth, art and the Africa we must engage. Ngozi is an adjunct professor of Physics and management with workexperience in Asia, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and North America. She is a founder of a number of a number of enterprises and host of the podcast Stem, Stocks and Stews (https://anchor.fm/stemstocksstews-podcast).Https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/ngozibell/
Credit: This article was originally published by Sundiata Post
The death of Sylvester Oromoni, a JSS 2 Student of Dowen College in Lekki, Lagos under controversial circumstances, has understandably sparked outrage – with both parents and other concerned citizens expressing shock and anger. Sylvester Oromoni Jr’s death speaks to the failure of the Nigerian school system, the collapse of morals and the evil that has overtaken not just the education sector but virtually every segment of society. Many parents toil day and night to be able to give their children the benefit of a good education. With the Nigerian public system having failed – many public schools do not even have blackboards, or chalk or duster, many do not have decent classrooms, the children sit in decrepit buildings threatening to collapse, the teachers are poorly paid or they do not even get their salaries, the learning environment in many schools would seem fit only for goats and poultry, certainly not for those we describe as leaders of tomorrow. Faced with such a harum-sacrum public education system and demoralized teachers, many families opt to send their children to private schools. These schools vary in terms of structures, facilities and standards, depending on location and ownership. But what has been seen is the failure of the entire system, both public and private.
The standards of old have disappeared. Nigeria’s places of learning have become environments of strife and chaos. The moral turpitude which has turned Nigeria into a land of failure – failure of ethos, governance and leadership – has crept into the schools. In the Northern part of the country, terrorists routinely kidnap students for ransom, for conversion to the Islamic religion, for recruitment as child brides or soldiers, or as pawns in a sustained assault against the Nigerian state. Over 600 schools were shut down in 2021 alone due to terrorist attacks. In the South, patterns of violence have also been observed in schools. The students are on drugs, they form cult gangs, they bully one another; they join armed robbery gangs. Each time, there is a report of kidnap or disruption in any Nigerian school, there are loud ooohs and aaahs, and soon the noise dies down and we all wait until the next crisis occurs.
The latest is the death of Sylvester Oromoni Jr. He was said to have been bullied by four of his colleagues at Dowen College. They beat him up. They gave him a substance to drink. Every effort by his family to rescue him failed. He died in the hospital. Before he gave up the ghost, he reportedly mentioned the names of his assailants. The school had tried to cover up the incident by insisting that he was only injured during a football session and that he was not bullied by anyone. His father, who celebrated his 12th birthday, post-humously, on December 4th (what a way to handle grief!) insists that he wants the truth. He wants justice. And he would not bury his son until justice is done. He has the support of the Delta State government and community where he hails from and concerned parents across the country. Every family is united in condemning the death of the innocent 12-year-old. Master Oromoni could have been the child of any other family. Many testimonies have been given by other parents about how their own children were bullied too and the cost of the negligence of school authorities. But one question: why did it take so long before the deceased was taken to hospital for help?
The Lagos State Government has shut down and sealed off Dowen College indefinitely. The Government and the Nigeria Police have also commenced investigations into the incident. The school authorities finally managed to issue a statement on December 2. The school denied flatly that Sylvester Oromoni was ever beaten, bullied or assaulted, by any student and that any other story is at best “wild social media tales.” Dowen College authorities also disclosed that the school has a “very cordial relationship” with the Oromoni family as Sylvester Jr. was “the fifth child of the family Dowen College had the privilege to train…” We are further told that the school is “built on core values of Godliness and Excellence and will not tolerate any acts of cultism…” Thus, there are two sides to the story of the painful death of Sylvester Oromoni, and it is the more reason an investigation is important: to establish the truth and to ensure that justice is done. I have heard some concerned parents threatening that if Sylvester had been their child, they would have gone to the school to burn it down and demonstrate “serious madness.” No parent ever wants a child to die. Parents send their children to school to prepare them for the future and help them achieve their dreams. Sylvester Oromoni wanted to be a pilot. That dream is dead, a whole future has been buried. It is indeed painful.
It is even the reason that both the Lagos state government and the police must do a thorough investigation. There have been similar promises of investigations in the past which yielded no results. This particular case must not be swept under the carpet. This has come to public attention because it was reported by a whistleblower. The question is: How widespread are cases of this nature within the school system? Lagos State has over 20, 000 private schools from primary to the tertiary level. Can the state boast of a strong inspectorate division to enforce standards in both the public and private schools? How many personnel work in the Inspectorate Division of the state’s Ministry of Education and how well equipped are they? How many times do they visit the schools? Once upon a time in this country, school inspectors were an important part of the education sector. They even inspected teachers’ notes, school facilities and engaged with students. I recall they used to time their visits to coincide with lunch time. They tasted the food too! During school hours, there was a task force that patrolled the streets. If you were of school age and you were found loitering around during school hours, you could be arrested! We now have a Universal Basic Education (UBEC) Law with strict provisions about school enrolment including penalties for parents but nobody enforces any law anymore. Is it possible that the school inspectors of today collude with school proprietors and simply look the other way?
There has been a reference to the existence of a cult or a gang in Dowen College, as in many other schools. Is it possible that the school authorities do not know this? The school claims that there was no bullying or assault. Does the school have House Masters? And how diligent are those House Masters? There have been allegations that the owners of the school are opposed to the idea of a Parents Teachers’ Association (PTA), and so the school does not have one. Is that true? It would be most strange indeed if it were to be true. What kind of school would not have a forum for regular interaction between the school authorities and parents. And what kind of parent would patronize such a school? Even universities these days set up PTAs. The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has a vibrant PTA that gets involved in everything from students’ registration to hostel allocation and the welfare of students! Parents should be the most important stakeholders in the school system. The Dowen College investigating panel should look into this and other issues. By the way, has anyone set up a panel yet? What is the composition of the panel? What are its terms of reference? Who are the members? Who is the Chairperson? The public needs to know. An investigating panel of civil servants will not pass the trust test, Mr. Governor. And by the way, Dowen College has issued another statement dated December 4, which seems to have been written by a wiser person.
Now, let me return to our preliminary comment about how the school system in Nigeria has failed. What has happened to our schools is frightening. Reported cases are frightening enough but imagine the number of cases that have been swept under the carpet. The Oromoni case has resulted in a prodding of public memory in this regard. One, people have again remembered the case of Don Davis Archibong, a JSS 1 student of Deeper Life High School, Uyo whose mother, Deborah Okezie, cried out to the High Heavens, early 2021, that her son was emaciated and had been a target of sodomy in a Christian school. Months later, the school principal, and four others, including the vice principal and housemasters, have now been charged for involvement in the starvation and sexual abuse of Don Archibong. They have been remanded in prison custody pending when they meet their bail conditions.
In January, when the story became public knowledge, Okezie alleged that her son contemplated suicide. She said her son was bullied by a teacher and some senior students in his school. The case has only now shown up in December! Two, there is also the case of Karen Aondoo Akpager, a JSS 2, 12-year-old boarding student of Premier Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, who died on June 22, 2021. She took ill in school and was unable to walk. When she was eventually rushed to the hospital by her mother, doctors observed a discharge from her vagina, and this was found to be from a condom in her private part. Her urine also revealed dead spermatozoa. She died. Who on earth slept with a 12-year-old student in a boarding school and left a condom in her body? Her parents have been asking for justice since June. Of course, Premier Academy also blamed the social media for misinforming the public and peddling “unfounded statements.”
Three, in Delta state this year, an SS3 student, Michael Ogbeise, was reported to have beaten a teacher at Erimu Secondary School in Abraka to death for flogging his sister who was also a student in the same school. The teacher, Ezeugo Joseph was beaten black and blue, he slipped into unconsciousness. He never recovered. This is a classic case of how even teachers in Nigerian schools are no longer safe. Four, before the Abraka incident, a final year student at the University of Ilorin, one Salaudeen Waliu Anuoluwa, was reportedly expelled by the university, for having the temerity to beat up a lecturer, one Mrs Rahmat Zakariyau of the Department of Microbiology. And five, in the last week of November, in the Asero area of Abeokuta, students of two secondary schools engaged themselves in a bloody fight. When the police from Obantoko moved in to ensure peace, the DPO was attacked and drenched in blood. And six, only yesterday, December 6, students of Idogbo Secondary School, Benin City, Edo State, disrupted school activities as they went on a rampage. The school principal was said to have called in the Police. The students (secondary school students!) overpowered the police men, gave them a thorough beating and seized their uniforms. There are probably many more examples out there, but the aforementioned must be shocking enough. What kind of country runs a school system that breeds cultists and hooligans who readily overpower teachers, the system and the rule of law? A straightforward answer is that the Nigerian school system is a reflection of the entire society itself.
The government bullies the people, assaults their sensibilities daily, beats the people, cheats them, deceives them and so the younger generation simply reproduces the same patterns. The real danger is that Nigeria’s youth society is proving to be worse than the adult society. There are no innocent children anymore, no safe havens either. A few years ago, a Pentecostal Church in Nigeria established a University and came up with the idea that any female students seeking admission into that Christian University must undergo a virginity test. We railed at the time against what looked like a discriminatory idea. The university stood its ground. But it didn’t take long before the idea died a natural death, as the university itself discovered the ugly truth that there was no point looking for a virgin in a thriving abortion clinic! A few years later, one University Vice Chancellor in Ghana protested that foreign students from Nigeria were introducing cultism to universities in Ghana. Children have a way of imitating their parents.
What must we do? Parents need to be vigilant. Many parents think of the education of their children in terms of cost and class. There are many useless schools across the country with fanciful names, and strong snob appeal. Parents send their children there just so they can be seen to belong to a certain class – the nouveaux riche. My son is in so, so and so school… the snobs know themselves and how much some of these schools cost per term… even if many of them are relying on bank loans and borrowings to maintain their fake lives. A school should be chosen for a different set of reasons: standards, values, quality. State authorities must also be awake to their responsibilities in the areas of policy and regulation. There are policies, rules and laws in the books, but they are invoked only when there is a crisis. For the most part, nobody would remember that there are laws in Lagos State against cultism in schools or that the state has a Child Rights Law. It took the Don Davis Archibong incident in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State for the Magistrate Court to throw the law at the defendants.
The state must be more vigilant. The laws relating to violence, cultism, and child rights, are strong enough. It is just that nobody enforces them, because the will to do so is absent. Everybody knows everybody in Nigeria and so the right thing never gets done. In France, there are about 700,000 cases of bullying per annum in schools, resulting in social media humiliation and increased cases of suicide among adolescents. Last week, the French parliament decided to introduce stiffer legislation. The proposed law imposes a 3-year jail term, and a maximum fine of 150, 000 Euros in most serious cases, on anyone that is found guilty of school bullying. The law was proposed by Education Minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer. It has been approved by the lower house. If it is adopted by the Senate in February 2022, it would be one of the harshest laws against school bullying in the world. Combatting bullying is also part of Brigitte Macron, a school teacher, and the French President’s wife’s area of focus. Jean-Michel Blanquer says the law is “a way of enforcing the values of the Republic.” What are the values of the Nigerian Republic? Do we know or agree on what those values are? How do we begin to enforce them? We can start with our troubled school system by confronting the ugly truths. Sylvester Oromoni, the father, has taken a useful step in that direction, by engaging Femi Falana, SAN, to sue the school and demand a coroner’s inquest.
1️⃣ Loretta Onochie comes on Twitter announcing that the “amendment” of the RPC 2007. She rejoices that NBA’s wings has been cut.
2️⃣NBA Members fume over purported “amendment” of RPC without due process, saying “how come smoke came without fire”?
3️⃣ NBA President says Ignore the “amendment” because NBA is not aware of any process for such amendment. Besides, says NBA, our reps at GCB have told us that no meeting of the GCB has held to amend the RPC.NBA President adds that he’d take up the matter with the hon AGF and revert to Nigerian lawyers
4️⃣. DLSS Okutepa says “I am not aware of it, even as a member of the GCB; how come?” Anyway, he says, Nigerian lawyers are estopped from denying that RPC has been amended by the Hon AGF because the AGF in 2007 had singlehandedly made the RPC and we accepted it. Volenti non fit injuria is the summary of his argument.
5️⃣. Teacher Prof Ojukwu, SAN and and Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, COME out to say RPC of 2007 was duly enacted, not by the Hon AGF acting alone, but by the GCB at a meeting duly convened for this purpose.
6️⃣. Respected Adeniyi Akintola, SAN declares that he as a member of the GCB was duly “consulted with” by the Hon AGF before the 2020 “amendment”.
7️⃣. Mazi Afam Osuigwe, erudite SAN comes out to say, “Look, I am a member of the GCB; I was not invited to any meeting of that body for purposes of RPC amendment. I tell truth, no meeting ever held”
8️⃣ GCB Members cry foul, accusing the Hon AGF of single-handedly “amending” the RPC without due process.
9️⃣. Kayode Ajulo, PhD declares RPC was validly “amended” in 2020. In a series of published rejoinders, one Udems tells Kayode Ajulo that RPC couldn’t have been amended otherwise than at a meeting of the GCB duly convened, and invitation to which was served on all GCB members. Udems dishes more and more commentaries in support of his position that you can’t place something on nothing. Meanwhile, a learned friend and consistent writer, Hameed Ajibola Jimoh Esq., comes out to say presumption of gazette is relevant; meaning that only an order of a competent Court can undo what has been done. The controversy is huge, heavy and rages, even drawing the attention of the NBA NEC and other writers, analysts and commentators.
🔟The Hon AGF suddenly comes out after 15 months to announce on national television that it’s some people, not himself, that mischeviously purported to have amended the RPC and that the purported “amendment” didn’t comply with preconditions set by law for validity of the process. According to the Hon AGF, a Great learned silk, investigations are already ongoing, instituted by himself, to bring culprits to book for the dirty act.
1️⃣1️⃣. After the Hon AGF’s disclaimer, some members of the NBA are still insisting that, notwithstanding the denials and published disclaimer by the Hon AGF, RPC stands amended in 2020, until the purported amendment is set aside by a court.
◼️Fellow Nigerians, and learned colleagues, I am confused. Although I have expressed my own opinions on this, which position the Hon AGF has by his disclaimer confirmed, I still am confused, seeing the comments of my colleagues who still insist RPC stands amended. The question are: what’s the apt citation for RPC? Is it RPC 2007? Or RPC 2007 as amended in 2020? Or is it RPC 2020? In summary, was RPC amended❓ What’s the legal effect of AGF’s disclaimer on the purported 2020 amendment of the RPC.
I am your fellow Nigerian and lawyer from the other room, Sylvester Udemezue (udems).
Our site uses cookies. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you direct Law and Society Magazine to store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Statement: cookie policyACCEPTREJECT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
