Home Blog Page 896

FG, States Lose N1.2 Trillion To 19 ASUU Strikes

By John Onah, Abuja

The Federal and state Governments, proprietors of public universities in the country, may have lost a whooping N1.2 trillion to the incessant strikes embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) since the nation’s return to democracy in 1999, investigation by DAILY ASSET has revealed.

The amount, according to data compiled from various sources in the course of the month-long investigation, represents the salaries paid to staff in the university system for a cumulative period of about four years during which ASUU went on strikes in the last two decades.

ASUU, which is currently on strike since March 9, had gone on strike in each year  in the last 21 years with rare exception of 2014 and 2015, when the university lecturers did not go on strike, the data showed.

The academic staff in all of the nation’s public universities went on a strike for a total of 19 times with a cumulative period of about 1, 437 days, a few days short of four cumulative years, the data showed.https://galleria.com.ng/pushgalleriaads?q=201&i=59&ho=dailyasset.ng

An analysis of the timelines of strikes by Universities in Nigeria showed that the on-going strike, which started on March 9, with a two-week warning and the indefinite strike, which commenced on March 29 is the longest in the history of ASUU strikes as it has lasted  for about 200 days as at September 30 and still counting.

Before then, the strike in 2003, which snowballed into 2004 was the longest as it lasted 180 days, the analysis showed.

It was also observed that some of the  strikes dovetailed into a new year like in 2003, which ended in 2004 and 2011, which also ended in 2012.

DAILY ASSET investigation showed that the over N1.2 trillion lost by the Federal and state governments represented total emoluments paid to the staff during the period the strikes lasted, obviously for work not done, as the Federal Government never invoked the provisions of the extant  labour Act, which has provisions for  “No work, No pay”.

 The amount covered the payment of staff in  43 Federal and 47 state universities, where the workers are unionized.

However, the staff of the nation’s 78 private universities are mostly not unionized and were not part of the numerous ASUU strikes, investigation showed.

The latest available data on payment of salaries in Nigerian Universities provided by the National Universities Commission(NUC)Statistical Digest 2018 released in April 2019, showed that the Federal and state Governments committed a total of  N308.5bilion(N308, 526,701, 478.39) to payment of salaries.

The figure did not  include Rivers State University, University of Ilorin, University of Jos and Yobe State university, which for undisclosed reasons were not covered in the

Statistical computation released by NUC.

The amount lost to the strikes was arrived at after DAILY ASSET in-house Statisticians used the  annual payment of N308.5bn as an average and multiplied by about four years of strikes by the university lecturers.

Data obtained from NUC and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation showed that the least paid university lecturer earns N1,979,640 per annum, while a Senior Lecturer earns about N3,091,505.

 Similarly, a Reader or Associate Professor earns at least N3,768,221 per annum while a full Professor earns N5,004,750 per annum.

It was found out that the Federal and state universities had a total of about 51,000 academic staff in 2017 but the figure may have risen to at least 61,000 in 2020 even though NUC statistical data is yet to formally report on the number of staff in the universities in the years after 2017.

President of ASUU, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi,  has however, justified the numerous strikes by university lecturers as he said the strike action has helped the educational sector.

 “You need to look so far over years what the strike has achieved for the Nigerian education sector and compare it to what is happening in other sub-sectors of the educational system. If not for ASUU, the public universities, in fact, public tertiary education would have collapsed totally beyond recovery.

“So you can best appreciate that when you compare and contrast what is happening as a result of ASUU struggle and what is not happening as a result of lack of struggle at the level of primary and secondary education of the country”, he told an online news platform, The Cable CamPulse.

The President said Nigerians should appreciate the lecturers for the strikes.

“They are not concerned with the plight of the poor. All you see now is how to fit their children into positions of advantage to the disadvantage of the children of the poor,” he said.

“The best way to do it is to ensure that their children receive the best of education while the children of the poor are subjected to substandard and low-quality education.

“NUT cannot do what ASUU is doing now because the government will seize their salary, they have underpaid them, they have not given them the right to ventilate their anger. And because of that, they have become disillusioned in places where they are working.

“You will even see primary school teachers who cannot see take their own children to the school they are teaching. I’m saying these just to illustrate the fact that public primary and public secondary education system have been collapsed. If not for ASUU the same would have happened.

“So Nigerians should actually be thanking ASUU, for the wake-up calls we always give the Nigerian government.

“And let me tell you as far back as 1992, each time we went for an action, we refer government to inject funds so that public universities will not go on the same place with primary and secondary schools. In 1992, it’s as a result of ASUU struggle that government introduced TETFUND.

“TETFUND today is the only source of providing infrastructural amenities in Nigerian Universities. So people who are ignorant are the ones saying we are destroying calendar,” he told The Cable CamPulse.

_________________________________

Timeline of  Strikes by ASUU since 1999:

1999 – 150 days

2001 – 90 days

2002 – 14 days.

2003 – 180 days (ended in 2004)

2005 -3 days

2006- 7 days

2007 – 90 days

2008 -7 days

2009- 120 days

2010- 157 days

2011—90 days(started in December and ended in 2012)

2013- 157

2014- None

2015-None

2016- 7 days

2017- 35 days

2018- 60 days  

2019-90 days

2020-180 days and counting as at Sept 4.

1,437=3.9YEARS (dailyasset)

Anger brews over N44 billion for federal lawmakers in 9 months; Niger Senator explains N50 million spending

0

An almost innocuous revelation by a federal lawmaker in the House of Representatives, Hon. Simon Karu, representing Kaltungo/Shongom federal constituency of Gombe State that House members take home N9.3 million monthly is eliciting behind-the-scene rage from his colleagues, while other knowledgeable Nigerians are angry that N32 billion may have been paid out to federal lawmakers in the last nine months, including the months Covid-19 ravaged the country.

Karu said the N9.3 includes monthly salary of N800, 000 and an additional N8.5m as office running costs.

At an Independence anniversary lecture, ‘Fix Nigeria @60’, in Abuja, Karu, heaped blame on constituents of lawmakers. “The official salary of a member, House of Representatives which I also receive monthly is N800, 000. I told you I was going to say it. Why don’t you wait for me to say it? The office running cost of a member of the House of Representatives is N8.5m. Those of you who know, know that I said exactly what it is. The problem is what the constituents demand and when you don’t meet, they begin to call you names.”

“Just before I walked to the stage, I received three emails from my constituents demanding for money and demanding for jobs, when you don’t respond, it becomes an issue”, Karu said.

Recall that in the last Senate, Kaduna Central lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, drew the ire of his colleagues when he went public that he and others in the Upper House of the National Assembly got N13.5 million. With an additional N900,000, it means Senators were, and still, get N14.4 million.

For 109 Senators in a month, the figure is 1,569,600,000 per month, while House of Reps member, 360 in all, get N3,348,000,000 monthly. In nine months, the lawmakers in both Houses would have got about N44 billion.

Response to Karu’s indiscretion was fast and swift. Chairman of the House Committee on Treaties, Agreements and Protocols, Ossai Nicholas Ossai, repudiated Karu’s position, putting him down at the same event.

Said he: “I have never received such a salary since I came to the National Assembly and I have been in the National Assembly before him.”

Many did not believe Ossai, but other lawmakers are quietly going after Karu’s jugular for spilling the beans on them.

Meanwhile, a former Senator from Niger State, David Umaru, has debunked a report alleging that he diverted and embezzled N50million meant for the renovation of some schools in his constituency in 2018.

Reacting, Umaru boasted that no Senator before or after has matched what he did in terms of education for his constituents, adding that the story was done to embarrass and tarnish him.

He said that the money meant for the renovation of eight blocks of three classrooms in some local government areas of Niger East Senatorial District was used judiciously beyond budgetary provisions because he was very interested education of youths in his constituency.

In addition, he says he sponsored 10 law students annually with full scholarship paid.

Moreover, he disclosed that 77 undergraduate students in Nigerian universities were on his payroll with full scholarship “I also have 66 secondary students across unity schools in the country with full scholarships and many other interventions”, he said.

He adds, “I have being struggling to ignored or to respond to this “funny journalism” with no iota of professionalism, because this publication was done without due regards to research or investigation. It is a paid Job meant to tarnish my image.

“However, I made bold to say that when it comes to constituency projects, you can hardly find a Senator in the state that has done what I did during my time as a senator.

“Specifically I have taken constituency projects quite seriously during my time as a Senator and in fact in most cases I go beyond the budgetary provision to ensure that such projects are completed”.

“Usually when provisions are made in the budget, it is not the whole amount that is released to the supervisory agency, usually it is 70 percent but in this particular case 70 percent was released but the work I did was 95 percent completed.

“That is why I found this publication so funny. The projects are there and very visible across the seven local government areas for everybody to see.

“it is funny for someone to allege that I embezzled N50 million meant for the renovation of schools in my constituency when I have in several instances gone beyond budgetary provision to get these projects done.

“I didn’t go to the Senate to be rich, that was not my intention, I went there to serve my people which I did to the best of my ability. I can say it boldly that I did credible well as a Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, so I see this publication as a paid job to rubbish me”. (everyday)

Independence Anniversary Speech: Remembering Ubulu-Uku’s Obi Ofulue III

With the uncountable problems facing Nigeria at present, one would have expected President Muhammadu Buhari to address all the problematic areas of our polity and assuage the fears of Nigerians. 

He is the President for goodness sake, and so he should have used the once-in-a-year opportunity presented by the nation’s Independence Anniversary, to present his best speech for that given year that was rolling away. Also, he should have used the podium to showcase what he, the nation’s chief servant, would do for the populace so that Nigeria would occupy a better position among nations. 

Whether or not it is clear to us, Nigeria does not exist in a vacuum; she is locked in a do or die contest with other nations for the control of the world’s resources. And so far, we are in the gutter. Given the way nations function, a nation’s leader leads … and he either leads aright or the nation suffers. 

So, which problems did Buhari address in his speech? Which solutions did he proffer? What exactly did he tell Nigerians that he would do? I have searched for such tangibles and came away with nothing – virtually nothing. 

Now, may we please interrogate the speech, all the 2,425 words in that speech, from the “Dear Compatriots” opening to the “May God bless you all, and may He continue to bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria” conclusion. 

The areas over which the achievement of the government should be judged was not lost on President Buhari. He actually mentioned the issues immediately after his preambles: “In the past four years, the majority of Nigerians have committed to Change for the Better. Indeed, this administration was re-elected by Nigerians on a mandate to deliver positive and enduring Change – through maintaining our National Security; restoring sustainable and inclusive Economic Growth and Development; and fighting Corruption against all internal and external threats.” 

So, how well did Buhari score himself on National Security? He said next: “This Change can only be delivered if we are united in purpose, as individuals and as a nation. We must all remain committed to achieving this positive and enduring Change. As I stated four years ago, “Change does not just happen… We must change our lawless habits, our attitude to public office and public trust… simply put, to bring about change, we must change ourselves by being law-abiding citizens.” 

What would anyone make of the above paragraph please? Did Mr. President score himself on the topics he, himself listed? No, is the obvious answer. If all it would require to bring about national security is a change in our lawless habits, I am sure that Buhari himself would not have bothered to contest election to become Nigeria’s President. Or have we forgotten that he and his party, made specific promises to end the national insecurity that had become a national shame when former President Goodluck Jonathan in Aso Rock Presidential office? Now that shame has been accentuated. Now, the matter of national insecurity has become a national disaster, not just a national shame. 

What is the nature of this wanton insecurity in the land? Buhari’s answer: “In the last four years, we have combatted the terrorist scourge of Boko Haram.” He added: “This clearly demonstrates our commitment to arrest the incidence of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes across our nation. 

We remain equally resolute in our efforts to combat militant attacks on our oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta and accelerate the Ogoni Clean-up to address long-standing environmental challenges in that region.” 

My point is this, if Buhari had the presence of mind to list the “combat militant attacks on our oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta” as he usually does, why did he refuse to mention the killer herdsmen that have reduced a large swart of Nigeria (the South-South, South-West, South- East and North-Central) into a vast killing field? Why, please someone, tell Nigerians why. 

Well, as a Nigerian, I feel duty bound to bring this to Mr. President’s attention: It is a report in THISDAY newspaper of June 7, 2020; “Between 2017 and May 2, 2020, Fulani herdsmen conducted 654 attacks, killed 2,539 and kidnapped 253 people in Nigeria, a report obtained by ThisDay has shown. The report titled, ‘Working Document — Fulani Militias’ Terror: Compilation of News (2017-2020),’ revealed blood-curdling statistics of vicious attacks, deaths and kidnappings by the herdsmen.

It stated that the herdsmen assaults against farmers in Nigeria were “regular, systematic, targeted attacks.” 

The author of the report José Luis Bazán, an independent researcher and analyst, based in Brussels, Belgium, said, “Nigerians are suffering widespread and systematic terrorist attacks by, mainly, Boko Haram, the ISIL-aligned Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), Fulani militias and Ansaru.” 

Bazán, however, pointed out: “The Global Terrorist Index 2019 published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, indicates that the primary driver of the increase in terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa was a rise in terrorist activity in Nigeria attributed to Fulani extremists: in 2018, Fulani extremists were responsible for the majority of terror-related deaths in Nigeria (1,158 fatalities), with an increase by 261 and 308 percent respectively from the prior year.” 

The report noted that most of the “Fulani attacks were armed assaults” (200 out of 297 attacks) against civilians (84 percent of the attacks).

So, when will Mr. President recognise this as a special threat that needs a special focus from the security agencies? When? 

One major topic that angered Nigerian like nothing before was the so-called Home-Feeding of school children…even when schools had been shut down owing to the Covid-10 pandemic. Huge sums of money have been said to have been spent on it. Yet, incredulous Nigerians have been wondering how on earth could whatever government agency had identified the families of out of school children to benefit from the exercise. 

Instead of looking into the grievances of Nigerians that belong to that school of thought, or instead of explaining how such a scheme could have been pulled off when Nigeria has no social and population data that could be useful in anyway, Mr. President, in his Independence speech, gave his imprimatur to the project. Pray, how were the children to benefit from the programme identified? And did he, who spoke very much about anti-corruption in that same speech, determine that all the monies the officials claimed to have been handed out to the needy, actually got to the intended segment of the society? 

On this, here is Buhari’s stance and stand: “Our ongoing N500 billion Special Intervention Programme continues to target these vulnerable groups, through the Home-grown School Feeding Programme, Government Economic Empowerment Programme, N-Power Job Creation Programme, loans for traders and artisans, Conditional Cash Transfers to the poorest families and social housing scheme. 

“To institutionalize these impactful programmes, we created the Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development which shall consolidate and build on our achievements to date. To the beneficiaries of these programmes, I want to reassure you that our commitment to social inclusion will only increase”. 

Poor Nigeria!!! If President Buhari is actually satisfied that government officials were handing out cash instead of making the needed payments through the banks (e-payment). It means he will not even bother to wonder how on earth it will be possible to offer any meaningful evidence of actual disbursement. Beyond all else, he has actually announced in his speech that the outcry over the conduct of the officials involved is neither here nor there. 

I wanted to ask why the government has not seen the need to set down a template that should make it very difficult for people to be able to steal government funds, because it is better to make it difficult for people to steal than to keep crying to EFCC and ICPC after the milk has already been spilled. Or has the saying that there is no use crying over spilled milk no longer tenable? I actually wanted to dwell seriously on it but then I saw in the speech what comes next: “We must commit to installing a culture of Good Governance in all we do. This administration has fought against corruption, by investigating and prosecuting those accused of embezzlement and the misuse of public resources. We have empowered teams of prosecutors, assembled detailed databases of evidence, traced the proceeds of crimes and accelerated the recovery of stolen funds.” 

Sincerely, nothing about corruption has changed in Nigeria. Corruption will stop when it is difficult for people to steal; that is when impunity has been checked. But how do you check corruption when government officials would come to a place, and begin, in this day and age, to hand out fist full of Naira notes to individuals? How would any meaningful account be ever rendered? And yet, Buhari commended such a Stone Age practice in his Independence Anniversary speech. 

And what did Mr. President say about the calls for restructuring the polity, especially by introducing COMMUNITY POLICING? By his deep silence, he could have as well spat on the idea. Instead he spoke about increasing the numerical strength of the Police Force. Hear him: “The Ministry of Police Affairs has been resuscitated to oversee the development and implementation of strategies to enhance internal security. My recent assent to the Nigerian Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act has created a legal framework to support our Police with increased fiscal resources to enhance their law enforcement capabilities. 

These initiatives are being complemented by the ongoing recruitment of 10,000 constables into the Nigeria Police Force. This clearly demonstrates our commitment to arrest the incidence of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes across our nation.” 

Resuscitated? From slumber? And in what ways has the Police Force been resuscitated? Killings and killings, the like of which has never been heard of in Nigeria until the inception of Buhari’s administration, now takes place almost on a daily basis. 

A recent report on the insecurity in Nigeria contained this: “In October 2018, President Buhari promised – on a visit to Southern Kaduna, which has seen endless violence over the past decade or more – the Federal Government’s resolve to prosecute the perpetrators. However, locals continue to plead for central government to respond.” 

On September 29, the Catholic News Agency reported the release of a Catholic Church Priest who was kidnapped in his farm near Issele-Uku, Delta State. That was the second time the humble priest was kidnapped. Those who kidnapped him the first time were never apprehended. So, should I be confident that those who kidnapped him a second time would be caught and punished? That would be hoping against hope. As you read this, those who met a woman, Wenhana Shaku in her farm, cut off her palm, and left her in a pool of her own blood, have not been apprehended. She is still alive and she said her attackers were Fulani herdsmen. But will she ever get justice? 

What about the abductors and killers of the late Obi of Ubulu, HRM Obi Ofulue III? Some persons were paraded as having something to do with the death. A name was mentioned but the faces of those paraded were not shown. I am from Ubulu-Uku town and we are still waiting for justice for the very amiable and gentlemanly Obi Akaeze Edward Ofulue. His blood is still crying for justice. The faith of the town’s folks in Nigeria is still shaky; if the Police can’t solve the murder of a king, who is safe? 

The killer herdsmen are the greatest security challenge facing Nigeria today simply because they are everywhere across the nation. Hey, we started with the killer herdsmen, and we have returned to them. Even if the President did not show that he is aware of this particular criminal behaviour of a certain group of persons, this should be the right place to stop this article. This I believe. 

“They Always Forget Dr Manuwa And Abuja”, By Martins Oloja

Inside Stuff With MARTINS OLOJA

Our President’s Nigeria-@-60 speech should have taken care of the concern raised here if the presidency’s deep had launched unto the deep for that speech to be robust beyond the not-so-significant issues contained therein. With due respect, so many frivolous items curiously crept into that speech from the throne last Thursday. Truth must be told that our presidency is still struggling with the scourge of mediocrity despite the preponderance of brilliant writers and scholars in and outside the Buhari’s presidency. It is unfortunate that this government that has been living by the riverside has continued to wash its hands with spittle. Whoever wrote that speech for our President to mark Nigeria@ 60 has done some disservice to (t)his country. How can a speech to mark freedom day of such an important African country be filled with trivialities and poor constructions such as: ‘Fellow Nigerians, in addition to public health challenges of working to contain the spread of the Coronavirus, we have suffered a significant drop in our foreign exchange earnings and internal revenues due to 40 per cent drop in oil prices and a steep drop in economic activities, leading to a 60 per cent drop in government revenue. Our government is grappling with the dual challenge of saving lives and livelihoods in the face of drastically reduced resources. In this regard, sustaining the level of petroleum prices is no longer possible. The government, since coming into office has recognized the economic argument for adjusting the price of petroleum. But the social argument about the knock-on effect of any adjustment weighed heavily with the government. Accordingly, in the last 3 years, we have introduced unprecedented measures in support of the economy and to the weakest members of our society in the shape of; a. Tradermoni b. Farmermoni c. School Feeding Programme; d. Job creation efforts; e. Agricultural intervention programmes…No government in the past did what we are doing with such scarce resources. We have managed to keep things going in spite of the disproportionate spending on security. Those in the previous Governments from 1999 – 2015 who presided over the near destruction of the country have now the impudence to attempt to criticize our efforts.

In the circumstances, a responsible government must face realities and take tough decisions…’

A speech marking Nigeria’s 60th independence anniversary should have been made of sterner and better stuffs – with sound philosophies on colonisation and freedom, historical contexts, ‘polititricks’ ‘mili-tricks’ and consequences of General Chris Ali’s construct of the ‘Federal Republic of the Nigerian Army’ – since 1966, deconstruction of our endowments and strategic status in Africa and indeed the black race.

Anyway, our leader should henceforth strive to deal with the spirit of mediocrity in this administration. We are more vibrant and brilliant than our leaders have been exhibiting. They should recruit the right people to work and write for them even from their villages. Our tertiary institutions still parade a lot of brilliant scholars who can help at such a time as this. Let’s ban mediocrity at all levels and court excellence spirit. There is indeed power in the words used on such occasions!

▪︎‘REMEMBERING DR. SAMUEL MANUWA’

As I was saying on May 14, 2017 on this page in an article entitled: “Dr. Samuel Manuwa, UCH rebirth and ailing president”, the authorities hardly dig deep when compiling names of heroes of our struggles. They always remember only the prominent and ones without caring a hoot about the significant achievers. I had noted then that it was curious that the authorities that planned the Centenary Celebration (100 years of Amalgamation, 1914-2014: The House Lugard Built’,) in 2014 under President Goodluck Jonathan failed to recognise Nigeria’s first Medical practitioner, Dr. Samuel Manuwa. When I raised the 2014 oversight in 2017, it was within the context of the nexus I found between the neglect of the health sector in the country and poor funding of the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan Dr. Manuwa was also instrumental in founding. I mean here that given the right atmosphere, a President’s speech should have included iconic figures such as Dr. Manuwa who died of frustration only in 1976 after serving his country meritoriously. President Jonathan’s men didn’t remember him. Who would have told Buhari about the Ilaje man?

It was in the course of studying the poor attitude of our leaders to our icons, that I stumbled on an interesting story of a pioneer medical icon whose efforts at establishing the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan would have been celebrated if the pioneering advantage of the UCH too had been sustained by successive administrations. As I was saying, I had then detected a correlation between the neglect of Dr. Samuel Ayodeji Manuwa, one of the brains behind the successful takeoff of the UCH in 1956 and the neglect of the health sector in Nigeria since 1966 when the wasters called “military governments” imposed a unitary system on this unique country. I have read a great deal of the exploits of the late Sir Manuwa, an Ilaje man from Itebu Manuwain the old Okitipupa Province in Ondo state now in the riverine area of Ogun state.

That is why it was curious that the great man’s name was not listed among top 100 men that were honoured when Nigeria did its centenary celebration in 2014.

No one from Ondo state where he (Manuwa) had his roots to Ogun state where his children and grand children now hail from, fought to get him listed. The organisers of the centenary celebration too did not dig deep to honour the great man who was markedly instrumental in the efforts to establish the UCH, Ibadan, once listed among the best five Teaching Hospitals in the old Commonwealth. They always forget him (Manuwa) as they always forget the importance of the simple saying that the health of the people is the wealth of the people. As I had written then, they always forget the role of Dr. Manuwa in the establishment of health-care delivery system by the colonial administration.

This is just as they always forget to equip the hospitals they commission in the states and federal levels. They always forget to budget for training and retraining of medical experts who can cope with the 21st century medical challenges. Besides, do we always remember too the noble role of another Samuel, Sir Ladoke Akintola in the politics and policy that accelerated the setting up of UCH? Do the young ones know that Sir Akintola was the Minister of Health at that critical moment when substantial amount of money was needed for a critical stage of building of UCH? Akintola too has never been well documented as a critical success factor in this age when we honour most morons as barons.

Can this great negligence be attributed too to the neglect of history as a subject? And so did we know that:

The forgotten quiet operator, Dr. Manuwa (1903-1976), was the 1st surgeon in Nigeria? He rose from humble roots as the son of a clergyman from Ilaje then in Ondo Province. Born in 1903, after a brilliant scholastic career through the Church Missionary School and Kings College Lagos, he proceeded to the University of Edinburgh Medical School where he qualified as a Medical Doctor in 1926. At the time, the fashion was to get a basic professional qualification in whatever field you studied and return home. This is the summary of his profile: Samuel Layinka Ayodeji Manuwa, CMG, OBE,(1903–1976) was the pioneer Nigerian surgeon, Inspector General of Medical Services and former Chief Medical Adviser to the Federal Government of Nigeria. He was the first Nigerian to pass the FRCS and he graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1926. In 1966, he was elected president of the World Federation for Mental Health.

As Inspector General of Medical Services, he contributed immensely to the establishment of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, the first medical school in Nigeria. He was in charge of the pioneering Adeoyo Hospital, Ibadan, which was used as a preparatory ground before transferring medical students to London University College Hospital – before UCH was ready in 1957. He later became a Pro-chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council at the University of Ibadan. Throughout his career, he sought and worked for the improvement of basic health services in the rural areas of Nigeria. Sir Manuwa was born to the family of Reverend Benjamin Manuwa. A Grammar School in Iju Odo, Okitipupa, Ondo state, (Manuwa Memorial Grammar School) was named after him (Manuwa’s father). After his secondary education in 1921, he then proceeded to study at the University of Edinburgh where he received a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Medicine in 1926. He graduated with a several awards: the Robert Wilson Memorial Prize in Chemistry and the Wellcome Prize in Medicine. He later went to study in Liverpool University and completed a course on Tropical Medicine in 1934.

He returned to Nigeria after finishing his studies on tropical medicine and joined the colonial medical services as a medical officer. He subsequently became a senior surgeon, specialist in the service, where he gained acclaim as a skilled surgeon. Though, he received various offers for administrative positions earlier on, he continued his surgical work for 18 years. While practicing as a surgeon, he reportedly invented an “excision knife” to treat tropical ulcers.

In 1948, he lifted his embargo on administrative positions when he became the deputy director of medical services. In 1951, he was made the first Nigerian director of medical services and subsequently the Inspector General of medical services. He became fully involved with the Nigerian public service in 1954, when he was appointed the Chief Medical Adviser to the Federal Government of Nigeria. He later went on to become a member of the Privy Council of the Federation of Nigeria, President of the Association of Surgeons and Physicians in West Africa. He was recorded too as the first Nigerian Commissioner of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC). He later humbly served as the Deputy Chief under Alhaji Sule Katagum (who was junior anyway) when Nigeria became Independent, despite being the first Nigerian Commissioner on the Commission. Does that ring a familiar bell?

▪︎‘ABUJA, OUR ABUJA TOO’

In the epilogue of a note I wrote as editor-in-chief of ‘The Guardian’ on October 1, 2020 (last Thursday), I said: ‘There is something worth celebrating: Something that gives me a flicker of hope that we will make it too. Hold your peace! It was within the last 60 years that we built a brand new capital Abuja, a Centre and Symbol of Unity our leaders are threatening to violate as a Centre of Unity. That too will experience a time of restoration. Let’s celebrate, please! It is 60 hearty cheers to our Dear Country, Nigeria…’

**We will continue next week on the forgotten Dr. Manuwa and why President Buhari should have celebrated Abuja, our remarkable 44-year-old nation’s capital, Abuja as one of our major achievements in the last 60 years. Wait for Abuja where they live and work but they always forget to honour.

▪︎Published in THE GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2020

A royal ruse – In Touch,

GOODLUCK Jonathan has always counted himself a lucky man. He became deputy governor, governor, vice president and president without ambition or prayer, without a campaign or mass appeal, without money or structure. He rode nature’s express. He floated on the wind of fate. He washed up ashore to a feast of kings. He was even better than the character in Jerzy Kosinski’s immortal novel Being There, about a fellow without quality. From tending a garden, he suddenly was, by popular acclaim, going to be the president of the United States. A nondescript soul morphed into the sole monk of the enclave.

Only the paths of royals are so oiled. So, Jonathan must thrill to the moves of Buhari loyalists who are plotting to make him a royal again. They want him to be president and succeed President Muhammadu Buhari. They want him to be not Nigeria’s royal, but theirs. They want to make him a president after the northern heart. It is not because they love Jonathan. It is because he can be their boy and buoy; their sweet heart and southern beau. In a headline report from ThisDay newspaper on October 4, they are saying that Jonathan is a good man and that qualifies him to be president again.

They said, “He handed power peacefully and nursed no bitterness against anyone and therefore will not be a threat to the interest of the north.” It is not only a machination of a hegemon, it is also naïve. When did Jonathan, in the eyes of this same group, become a saint? They are trying to canonise a man who, they told us, had supped with the devil. “Saints preserve us,” noted French writer Balzac. But how do you radicalise a devil into the holy one for Nigeria? Was he the one they campaigned against? The target of their adjectival invectives: They described him as clueless, incompetent, and corrupt?

They rode on his back to the presidency. He was the bogeyman and also the victim. Jonathan fell to them. The clueless man became humbled. I was there at the Eagle Square at the handover. Jonathan put up a brave and sunny front on the day he expected to begin his second act as president. He waved his hand feebly, smiled often and benignly, spoke less, but his body language was subdued. Melancholy draped him.

Buhari gave a hint of embrace. He said Jonathan had nothing to fear about him. He was right. Jonathan has not fallen under his radar, if his minions sometimes have. Recently, he has been a darling of the presidency. He became an ambassador of peace and democracy on its behalf and embarked on a shuttle diplomacy over a coup in a West African neighbour.

Maybe they see him as a pliant soul, a man they could cudgel about. Hence they are seeing him as a better person than an unknown figure who may erupt from the south to give them a headache. They may look at their tenure without pleasure and torpedo any effort by the north to reroute its way to power after another Jonathan term, since he will not be able to run the country for more than four years. He fulfilled a mandatory four-year term in his first coming.

The Buhari loyalists have been out of their depth over who succeeds him in 2023. The clamour has been it should come to the south. The north has had its share of eight years. They also have seen the futility in the mathematics about how many years the north has had the seat since 1999. It is a mischief of numbers. They also are not at peace with the appeal to the northeast. They are therefore in a geopolitical trap. They have to come south, and if they do it must be a person of their choice. Jonathan they think they know. So Jonathan should have it. They think by doing so, they can coalesce the Jonathan followers, the Azikiwes in the southeast, the militants and their kin in the south-south and the southwesterners who saw a shoeless hero.

The move is a patriarchal pandering to zoning. It is zoning without zoning. They want to put Jonathan there, so he may keep watch for them until they return. They want to come like a thief in the night. But we don’t have to watch and pray because we already know the day and the hour. We have seen the signs of the times, and we know that they want to make Jonathan the Judas of the south to betray his people. They want him to be the Uncle Tom of Nigerian politics. By making Jonathan their point man, they believe they are giving the devil his due. That is, if it’s the South’s turn, we will give you but on our terms.

There were two main objections to the Jonathan era, and they account for why he lost in 2015. One, he ran a corrupt government. Two, he ran the war on terror with a supine hand. Today, are the Buhari loyalists saying they want to hand over power to a man who did not run this country with clean hands? Are they saying they have given up on the war on corruption? Many have accused the administration of looking the other way on major issues of corruption. Is it the NDDC probe that seems to have gone into abeyance? Or the series of allegations against mainstays of the administration that now slide into memory? Even it was because of the Jonathan mess that Buhari noted that if we don’t kill corruption, it will kill us. Was it mere opportunistic rhetoric? Is it a surrender of the war on corruption? Are we saying Jonathan should continue where he left off in that department? So, did we vote him out in 2015 then?

The war on terror had initial hope in 2015, and even the administration’s glib spokesman said it would end that year. It is worse today, threatening to make a martyr of a dauntless governor. The chief of army staff has become a sort of buffoon in the fight, with his men dying and mocking him on social media and deserting the force. Billions of Naira flow into it but blood buckets gush out. Jonathan had famously said that Boko haram could be in his kitchen. We are not winning the battles, so the campaign now seems out of reach. To give the Otuoke man another chance is to imply we fell into a “one chance” in 2015 and 2019.

The root of this is to say that it is not about vision, but about power. So, if the Buhari loyalists see power as the only dividend of democracy, so why make such grandiose claims about ending terror and killing corruption? They may even be mistaken about Jonathan. Jonathan does not bow to godfathers. Remember the story of Obj, who turned against Jonathan and made a public show of tearing his PDP card. The Owu chief is too ashamed to queue for another card. He did not de-register from the party. He only tore it as an act of a geriatric impresario. Jonathan did it to Obj, who can he not do it to? If it works out for the Buharists, they will be surprised how the Otuoke man will execute an about-face. They say he has learned his lessons. They may be surprised what lessons he has learnt after he smacks them in the face.

Let who succeeds Buhari be about virtue, not clique; about democracy, not calculating roguery. We are not running a democracy in the guise of feudalism. It is consensus, not caste, that makes a modern state. Jonathan may try his luck if he wants. It is his right as a Nigerian. No one should foist him on us. Not least the same people who disgraced him. If they think Jonathan is the right man, let them not do it in the shadows. Let them come out openly and explain and also answer the questions I have posed here.

To try to foist Jonathan is to see the south and the country as a plaything for a hegemon’s ego. To see democracy as a ruse to use for narrow goals.

Succession goes through a long process. Let the country go through it, not by fiat but by agreement. If they want somebody from the south-south, they can work the process and there are quite a few who can do it from the region. But to stick to one man, and say it is their royal choice makes us feel used. As a writer said, “crowns tumble hourly.” Let no one take the people’s will for granted. (The Nation newspaper)

ZAMFARA GOV, MATAWALLE, RESCUES 11 VICTIMS OF KIDNAP WITHOUT PAYING RANSOM

0

By Mohammed Munirat Nasir

Zamfara state governor, Dr Bello Mohammed Matawalle, has, again, facilitated the rescue of 11 victims of kidnap without paying any ransom as a result of the carrot and stick initiative of his administration.

A statement by his Special Adviser on Public Enlightenment, Media and Communications, Alhaji Zailani Bappa, said governor Matawalle received the 11 rescued victims of kidnap at the Government House, Gusau, in furtherance to his carrot and stick approach to lasting peace in Zamfara State.

The governor assured that his administration will not rest on its oars until total peace is achieved in the state. He directed that the victims be taken to the hospital to ascertain their health status before they will be finally released to their respective families.

The 11 rescued victims expressed total delight and boundless gratitude to governor Matawalle whom they described as the “Ark of Noah”.

The victims, 8 males and 3 females, are from various states which included Bauchi, Niger, Sokoto and Zamfara states.

The rescue of the 11 victims is coming at a time when governor Matawalle summoned a stakeholders’ meeting on 3rd October, to further discuss avenues of achieving peace without blood shed in the state. NNL. (nigeriannewsleader)

BEHOLD! THE WORLD’S OLDEST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (PARLIAMENT) CALLED ALTHING

By Mike Agunwa (NewsLeader Editor-at-Large)

AlThing parliament in Iceland is the first parliament in history. The parliament was created in the year 930, making it the world’s first legislative body.

The Althing was a general assembly of the Icelandic Commonwealth, where the country’s most powerful Leaders (goðar) met to decide on legislation and dispense justice. A goði was a local chieftain with specific legal and administrative responsibilities.

The parliament currently has a legislative capacity of 63 seats. The political groups that formed the coalition government in AlThing parliament is 34 and opposition parties is 29. They includes: Independent Party (16), Left Green Party (10) and the Progressive Party (8). The opposition Centre Party is (9), Social Democratic Alliance (7), Pirate Party (6), Reform Party (4), People’s Party (2) and Independent (1). The voting system is by Party-list Proportional representation. The last election was held on October 28, 2017, while the next election to the parliament will be held on or before October 23, 2021.

Three Icelanders were given credit for the founding of the AlThing in Iceland: Ulfljotr, Goat hair, and Thorsteinn Ingolfsson who was the son of the first settler in Iceland. A major feature of the Althing was the meeting of the legislative or law council, called the lögrétta. Only chieftains (Gothar) had the right to vote in the Lögrétta, and each brought two advisers into council meetings. When two or more shared a chieftaincy, only one at a time attended the lögrétta and performed the chieftain’s official duties at the Althing. The lögrétta was also empowered to grant exemptions from the law and make treaties with foreign countries.

The first AlThing was held at Thingvellir in the year 1180 Runic Era, and was believed to be a continuation of the Norwegian Thing presided over by Law Speaker, Thorleif the Wise. The judicial body that composed the first AlThing was the Gothar of Iceland who sent 36 of their number to form the first law body. The first order of business at the first Icelandic AlThing, was to choose a Law Speaker. Of special note was the first law passed, which prohibited warships from scaring the Land Spirits with their dragon head prows.

The Speaker of the AlThing, Steingrimur J. Sigfusson, literally the President of the Althing, is the presiding officer (speaker) of that legislature. For centuries, Iceland’s Alþing met every summer at Þingvellir (Assembly Plain), a magnificent rift valley shown to the left. This site is spectacular not only for its historical significance, but also for its beauty. It’s dotted with canyons, caves, rivers, springs, waterfalls, and lakes. The law-council (Lögretta) was the legislative body of the Alþing. The voting members were the goðar. They reviewed and amended existing laws, made new laws, and granted exemptions from the law. They also had the power to make treaties in the few cases that Iceland had dealings with foreign lands.

Iceland was divided into four administrative regions, called quarters (fjórðungar). Each quarter have nine chieftains, called goði (plural goðar). In the middle of the 10th century, three more goðar were added. The goði was the “first among equals”. The original goðar were probably the leaders of the ships carrying settlers to Iceland, and who claimed the land and divided it up among their followers. The goði is believed to have a special relationship with the gods, and he probably was responsible for the pagan religious rites for his followers.

After the conversion of Iceland to Christianity, the goðar maintained a special relationship with the new church, but his secular responsibilities remained intact. The office of goði (called the goðorð) was normally hereditary, but the goðorð could be transferred between individuals. The office of goðorð could be shared. However, only one goði from each goðorð could participate in the official business at the Alþing. The goðorð had no fixed boundaries. Allegiance to the goði from the people was voluntary. A person could chose to support any goði in his district and can change support from one goði to another with only minor formalities. The allegiance was a two way street: the goði looked after the interests of his men, and the men provided armed support to him in times of dispute.

The goðar met in regional þing in the spring, called várþing. Each várþing was presided over by three goðar, and all the supporters of each goði (called þingmenn) were required to attend. All goðar (thirty nine in number) attended each bing, accompanied by at least two advisors. Any other person could choose to attend, but only one supporter can each goði into the Alþing. Þingmenn who could not attend were required to pay a tax to the goði. These funds helped offset travel expenses for those who did attend. In order to be legally fit to attend the þing, a man must be able to ride a full-day’s journey, and bring in his own hobbled horse after baiting, and find his way by himself. Three legal functions were performed at the Alþing: the laws were recited by the law speaker; the laws were made by the law council; and the laws were judged by the quarter courts.

In the years before a written culture developed in Iceland, the law-speaker literally spoke the law, reciting out loud one third of the laws at each annual meeting of the Alþing. Thus, over the course of his three year term, the law speaker would have recited the entire law code. The written law code (Grágás) contains oaths and other formulae composed with rhythmic elements and alliterative patterns, making the laws easier to remember when the laws existed only in oral form. The law speaker was the only official who received a regular payment.

The lawspeaker stands on the Lögberg (in the center of the sketch) and recites the laws, while goðar and other interested parties listen. In the foreground are booths (búðir), temporary stone structures covered with a tent-like tarp that served as both dwellings and meeting places while the Alþing was in session. The law speaker could exert influence, but did not “rule” the country. The power remained in the hands of the goðar. The law speaker was the repository of legal knowledge in the era before the laws were written down. He was consulted on any disputed points of law.

Even after Iceland’s union with Norway in 1262, the Althing still held its sessions at Þingvellir until 1799, when it was discontinued for 45 years. It was restored in 1844 and moved to Reykjavík, where it has resided ever since. The present parliament building, the Alþingishús, was built in 1881, of hewn Icelandic stone.

From the time that the Alþing was established until Christianity was adopted, Iceland was completely pagan. Icelandic law and the heathen religion were tightly connected during this time, as evidenced by the fact that the leaders of the religion and the leaders of the government were one and the same. It’s worth pointing out that the swearing of these oaths probably precluded Christians from participating in court cases until Iceland adopted Christianity in the year 1000

After losing its independence in the 13th century, Iceland eventually won back its autonomy, and the modern Alþingi moved into this current basalt building in 1881; a stylish glass-and-stone annex was completed in 2002. Visitors were allowed to attend sessions (four times weekly October to May) when parliament is sitting.

The Alþing provided the judicial functions through the Quarter Courts and the legislative functions through the Law Council. But no executive functions were provided. Once the court had decided that someone was guilty of breaking the law, the Alþing had no power to execute a sentence. That was up to the injured party, or his or her family or supporters. In addition to the participants in politics and law, the Alþing attracted all sorts of merchants, craftsmen, and peddlers. The annual meeting was the time for marriages to be arranged, alliances to be made, broken friendships to be renewed, gossip and news exchanged. Perhaps one thousand people routinely attended the Alþing, although many more attended important or contentious sessions. Despite the sparseness of the Icelandic population, the Alþing made it possible for Icelanders to know one another to a greater degree and to meet each other more often than any other European country of this time.

As from 1881, Iceland began to practices representative democracy, a principle which holds that power originates with the people who delegate this power to their elected representatives. Every four year, the electors choose, by secret ballot, 63 representatives to sit in parliament. These members of parliament jointly hold legislative powers, and also have fiscal powers, i.e. the power to make decisions on public spending and taxation.

The constitution of Iceland provides for six electoral constituencies with the possibility of an increase to seven. The constituency boundaries are fixed by legislation. Each constituency elects nine members. In addition, each party is allocated seats based on its proportion of the overall national vote in order that the number of members in parliament for each political party should be more or less proportional to its overall electoral support. A party must have won at least five per cent of the national vote in order to be eligible for these proportionally distributed seats. Political participation in Iceland is very high.

Over 80 per cent of the electorate casts a ballot (81.4% in 2013). The current speaker of the Althing parliament is Steingrimur J. Sigfusson, from the Left Green Party. He was elected Speaker since December 14, 2017. NNL. (nigeriannewsleader)

POLITICAL FOES, FRIENDS GATHER FOR ATIKU, RIBADU’S SON AND DAUGHTER’S WEDDING

By Rukayatu Abubakar (Society Matters Reporter)

Political friends and foes, including society’s eminent dignitaries, gathered at the weekend to grace the highbrow wedding of Aliyu Atiku Abubakar, son of Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and Fatima Nuhu Ribadu, daughter of former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Alhaji Nuhu Ribadu, as they become husband and wife.

The colourful wedding was held on Saturday in Abuja at the residence of the bride’s father, Nuhu Ribadu. Dignitaries exchanged warm pleasantries at the occasion and rejoiced with the families of the newly wed.

The occasion which began at exactly 1130am, was chaired by Sheikh Ibrahim Ali Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

Former governor of Kano State governor and a serving federal lawmaker, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, arrived the venue of the occasion amidst cheers from his ubiquitous political supporters and in company of the father of the groom, Atiku Abubakar, shortly after the wedding kicked off.

As the ceremony progressed, the bride’s hand was formally asked in marriage, on behalf of the Atiku Abubakar family by retired General Aliyu Gusau, a former National Security Adviser and Defence Minister. A dowry of N250,000 had already been paid by the groom’s family.

Nigerians from diverse works of life from across the country were fully present at the event which includes both Atiku and Ribadu. Among them, were the national leader of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan.

Others are the former Osun state governor and interim chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande; former secretaries to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Ambassador Babagana Kingibe and Mahmud Yahyale Ahmed; some state governors, top officials of government and close friends of the groom and bride’s families. NNL.

Law, Morality And National Service: The Justices Chukwudifu Oputa and Adolphus Karibi – Whyte Connection

By Amb. Godknows Igali, Ph.D

The closing days of the month of September each year will, for a long time to come, be moments of perpetual memorial for the Nigerian Supreme Court as an institution and its members, past and present.

This is understandably so, as the lives and times of two of Nigeria’s most eminent jurists, moralists and pathfinders, the late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa (1924-2014), and his younger colleague and brother, Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte (1932-2020), will for related reasons be remembered and celebrated. For Justice Oputa, this time of the year particularly the 24th of September marks his birthday and on this occasion, it was the 96th Posthumous celebration. Relatedly, the series of passage-rites leading to the final resting of Justice Karibi-Whyte were held on Saturday, 26th September 2020 in the coastal town of Abonema, Rivers State.

SHARED PURSUIT OF PERFECTION

Expectedly, these two events attracted audiences of family, friends, and professional colleagues from Nigeria and around the world. They came in numbers and as it is the norm these days of Covid-19, on Zoom Virtual platforms; all saluting the scholarship, erudition, and idealism of both men. Like many of the Judges of the nation’s appellate judicial system of their time which some writers regard as “a golden era”, both were men of great moral fibre and sterner human refinement. They had both found themselves in the highest judicial echelon during an era when the calling to serve in the apex court in Nigeria or any country for that matter, was understood as the “tour de force” of any mortal activity. To them, the judiciary was more than a vocation but rather to be seen as the most sacred human calling before God Almighty Himself.

The common emotional thrust of most judges of their time, rather ambitiously, was the pursuit of some form of self-imposed perfectionist credo. Their outlook to life and standards in all areas were excessively self-tasking even against all known psychological and philosophical disinclinations towards perfectionism. Despite the fact that one writer puts it that, “the problem of being a perfectionist is that everything has to be perfect. The problem with being human is that nothing is perfect,” yet Justice Oputa and Justice Karibi-Whyte held unrepentantly to the belief that the object of rewarding judicial demeanour is not just the pursuit of some form of sinlessness, but to become somewhat angelic. So, in their shared character traits, they were unassailable with almost a dutiful account of nearly every daily activity of their often-lengthy years. In actual living, they were stoic, spartan and conservative. In particular, they were never found wanting in several matters of morals and dealings with the temptation of money, which the scriptures describe as the “root of all evil.” Indeed, one of their peers Justice Victor Ovie Whiskey, few years ago was remembered to have exclaimed, “I will faint if I ever saw N1m in front of me.”

On matters of learning, that is the study of Law and mastery of the canons, precepts, statutes and constitution of the land, they were simply profound and outstanding. The depth of scholarship was formed as a result of their simple brilliance and unbeaten record of high-level performance in places of study during their formative years.

ABRIDGED HALL OF FAME

In their ranks were many other great Nigerians who came to the limelight from 1954 when the Federal Supreme Court was established, up to the actual take-off of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Oct 1st, 1963. It is difficult to capture all here, but some of the great Justices whose names are in this vaunted hall of fame include; Olumoyiwa Jibowu, Louis Mbanefo, Charles Onyeama, Chukwuwike Idibe, Joseph Adefarasin, Ademola Adetokunbo, Taslim Elias, Egbert Udo Udoma, Dr. Nabo Graham-Douglas. Others are; Akinola Aguda, Patrick Acholonu, Anthony Aniagolu, Atanda Fatai Williams, Sir Darley Alexander, Dan Ibekwe. There were also such great names as; Justices Kayode Esho, Idris Kutigi, Mohammed Bello, Katsina Alu, Chief George Sowemimo, Niki Tobi, Mohammed Akanbi, Ayo Irekife, Andrew Obaseki, Mamman Nasir, Dahiru Mustapha, etc.

More exciting is the fact that despite the rather sweeping aspersions nowadays, there are so many other eminent judges still alive in retirement, now reservoirs of moral rectitude of the realm. Equally, are no few of their successors still in active service who continue to thrive above the unassailing challenges of moral decadence and rather desperate political ecology. They are heirs of the near-perfectionist mantra of the founding fathers of their profession. Far away from the bright lights of the media and public acclaim, their impact on society and succeeding generations on the practice of law, public good and state-building have been based on the singular record of the highest levels of professional accomplishment and pursuit of truth.

THE OGUTA – ABONEMA ECONOMIC CORRIDOR

Although the lives of no two persons follow exactly the same trajectory, there exists an intriguing casual connection and wide overlap between Justices Oputa and Karibi-Whyte on several fronts.

Justice Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa continues to stand tall even now, six years after his death, perhaps, as the most prominent son of the lakeside town of Oguta – Ameshi, in Imo state. Apart from being one of the most picturesque locations in Nigeria, for a town that is on Nigeria’s biggest inland natural lake after Lake Chad, its waters are connected to the Njaba River, Orashi River, and ultimately the River Niger. Oguta therefore became a natural inland entry port for British Colonial rule into much of the Igbo country. The fact that Oguta provided a unique confluence between its blue waters and the waters of the Orashi River, the major tributary of the River Niger, made it a great point of touristic attraction to which was added its lush tropical forest. These also provided one of the best locations for the growth of palm oil trade, a product much needed in Europe at the time. Accordingly, Oguta became, arguably, the main centre of what the Europeans came to call the “centre of trade” with the hinterland. Very soon, such companies as Royal Niger Company and United Africa Company (UAC) moved in to set up in the area. It also became the early seat of the colonial and missionary incursion into several parts of Nigeria’s South East from the late 19th Century. Through the lake’s waterways connecting all the 27 villages in Oguta and such major Igbo towns as Owerri, Orlu, Amigbo, Okigwe Nkwerre, Mgbidi and covering various locations in Rivers State.

With flourishing trade, Oguta also became one of the central points of Igbo civilization, scholarship and knowledge from the late 19th century. The rich demographic admixture with the geo-cultural and geo-strategic location of the town, made it a centre of all sorts for the generation of a micro-civilization that was peculiar to it. Today, Oguta has become a signpost also for the modern Crude Oil and Gas industry; which along with few other communities, also gives Imo State a seat on the pantheon of oil producing states in Nigeria. So, international oil companies such as Shell Petroleum Development Company, Chevron Texaco Overseas, and few other local oil producers have operations around the area. Going down south, Justice Karibi-Whyte came from the Kalabari stock of the Ijaw ethnic nationality. The Kalabaris, for various reasons, are one of the most educationally advanced sub-groups in all of Nigeria. They boast amongst the first Nigerians to have received western education and therefore have a line-up of some of the nation’s first educated people such as; Dr. G.K.J. Amachree, (first Solicitor General of Nigeria and first black man to be United Nations Deputy Secretary General), Dr. Aroloye Ajumogobia (first Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education), Amb. Joe Iyalla (pioneer diplomatic patriarch), Dr. Nabo Graham Douglas, (first Queen’s Council along with Chief Rotimi Williams), Prof. Kelsy Harrison (leading global Gynaecologist) amongst many others. Yet still, Karibi-Whyte emerged as one of the greatest sons of Rivers State.

Just like Oputa, Karibi-Whyte grew up along the shores of the Abonema River, which has for centuries created the pathway for Europe’s penetration into the Nigerian hinterland, also in search of goods they called legitimate. This was after abolishing the ignominious slave trade which had gone on for about 400 years. With the founding of Abonema in 1882 when the Kalabari kingdom split into 3 main towns – Buguma, Bakana and Abonema and over 55 other smaller communities, this town became known as “York City” due to its modernist outlook. It also emerged as the nerve centre of Europe’s thriving trade in agricultural produce with the area that was given the name “Oil Rivers Protectorate” in 1886. This was later changed to “Niger Coast Protectorate” in 1893. Abonema, like its other counterparts, soon ended up with prominent Merchant-Warriors, many of whom took on European names such as; Chief Young-Jack, Boy-White, Black-Duke, Bobmanuel, Horsefall, Briggs, etc.

To this day, the town is adorned with historical monuments such as warehouses and quarters of European companies. Again, by dint of nature’s underpinning, Abonema, like Oguta is also one of the main nerve centres of Nigeria’s present crude oil and gas industry which provides the entry into the famous oil-rich Cawthorn Channel and OML 18 on-shore swamps, covering an area of over 1,000 square kilometres.

Interesting enough, between Oguta and Abonema grew a flourishing economic corridor in course of history, as the forbearers of both jurists were central figures. Oputa’s father Uzoukwu Oputa, was a Chief and strongman with 10 wives, and controlled all manner of affairs at about when colonial incursion made its way into the area. With tens of children, the less aggressive but bookish Chukwudifu was the last. Down in the creeks on the Atlantic shores, young Adolphus was also born into two strong families of commercial warlords of the late 19th Century – Boto (Boy-Whyte) and the Iju-Jack group.

FAITH, CULTURE AND MUSCIAL HERITAGE

Besides their love for law and order, and the straddling recurrence of family antecedents, both Oputa and Karibi-Whyte shared a lot of similarities going back to their very formative years. As a result of the socio-cultural ambience in which they both grew, though belonging to one of the most conservative professions, and rising to the highest appellate court, they were men of great religious piety and cultural appreciation. For this, they attracted to themselves, custodial rights and duties over the inherited traditions of their people. Hence Oputa held several traditional titles in Oguta and was one of the highest grades of traditional aristocracy. Also, Karibi-Whyte was the traditional head of Iju-Jack and Boto-Whyte group of houses in Abonema.

These, in no way, impinged on their Christian traditions as they performed life-time service to God’s work in their churches respectively. Both grew up in the Church and in course of life, rose to become high-graded Knights and defenders of the faith. Oputa was Knight-Commander of Saint Mulumba and St.

Gregory, one of the highest Orders within the Catholic Church. Karibi-Whyte, a Knight in the Anglican Church, and was once the Chancellor (Head Legal Counsel) of the entire Church of Nigeria. This again in itself formed their austere outlook to life.

They were great lovers of Classical Music, which they both acquired from their law training in universities and ancient “Inns” of law study in the United Kingdom and growing up in the church. This love for music is imprinted in their progeny with Justice Oputa producing one of Nigeria’s most vivacious entertainers and high-minded pundits, Charles Oputa, better known as “Charlie boy” or in these latter days “Area Father.” Similarly, all of Karibi-Whyte’s children are great patrons of the best performing choral groups, both in Lagos where most of them have their professional practices, and their home town of Port Harcourt.

OBSESSION WITH KNOWLEDGE AND “BOOKISHNESS”

As it was a tradition for most young people of that generation both Christians and Muslims around Nigeria, missionary schools were always the beginning. Oputa began his primary education at the Sacred Heart School, Onitsha before proceeding to Christ the King School, Onitsha. From there, he continued to Yaba High College, Lagos and finally to Achimota College Ghana, where he obtained his first degree in Economics. Achimota College was where other Africans such as the Great Kwame Nkrumah, Edward Akufo-Addo, Jerry Rawlings and John Evan Atta-Mills, all former Presidents of Ghana, as well as Sir Dawada Jawara of Gambia and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, attended. On return from Ghana, he taught briefly at African College along with Prof. Chike Obi and Dr. Pius Okigbo, before becoming the Principal of Kalabari National College, in Abonema. Endlessly searching for knowledge, he read studiously and obtained another Bachelor’s Degree in History from the University of London. Yet still, untired and unfettered, he “crossed the oceans,” as was commonly said in those days, to the United Kingdom to read Law and obtained a degree in 1953. He was also called in same year into the coveted Gray’s Inn as a Barrister.

In a similar vein, Karibi-Whyte had left laurels almost everywhere he had his public education. Having completed his primary education in Abonema in a missionary school as well, he proceeded to attend the Kalabari National College which trained almost all the famous persons from this area that have served Nigeria. In an interesting twist of destinies, Oputa was Karibi-Whyte’s Principal at Kalabari Native College along with his erstwhile classmate Prof. Tam David-West and many others. He went on to work as a Court Clerk for some years before proceeding to the United Kingdom to study, obtaining his degree in 1960 from the University of Hull. Established in 1927, one that has been a training ground for many British statesmen. A year later in September 1961, he was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple Inn. Like Justice Oputa’s Gray’s Inn, this British Bar training had since the 12th-13th century, been vested in many such ancient “Inns” or societies. Still not satisfied, he went on to the University of London to obtain a Master’s degree in Law (LLM) and finally earned for himself a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Lagos where he was already teaching Law.

A TOP LADDER OF PROFESSIONAL APOGEE

Justice Oputa had a very successful practice in law on his return to Nigeria, handling a number of high-profile cases in which it was almost as if he was destined to win always. This continued till 1966 when he was appointed a High Court Judge in Eastern Nigeria. Ten years later, he was elevated to become the first Chief Judge of Imo State and moved on higher to the Nigerian Supreme Court in 1984, until his retirement in 1989. During the period, he left behind some of the most quoted judgements till date. He also earned for himself a name from the former Chief Justice Mohammed Bello as the “Socrates of the Nigerian Supreme Court.” Justice Oputa was practically known for his very studious, philosophical and almost unassailable judgements, which were a great metaphor for wisdom, theology and philosophy. As if to confirm this, Ambassador Godknows Boladei Igali was particularly privileged to encounter Justice Oputa closely in October 2002, shortly after the World Court judgement on Nigeria and Cameroun’s border dispute. While serving as Nigeria’s Consul-General, he was requested by the Cameroun Bar Association to be invited as the Guest Speaker for their Bi-Annual Bar Dinner in 2003 when he came visiting. In an audience that included the Chief Judge of Cameroun, many senior Judges, senior members of the Bar, and senior teachers of the Law, in the coastal town of Limbe (formerly Victoria), Justice Oputa expounded on what he termed the “Raison-d’etre of Judgements.” His conclusion was that a judgement at the appellate level only makes meaning if it could be implemented and not left in doubt. He alluded that it was like “communicating the voice of God.” In this, he used Julius Caesar’s sixteenth century play “Merchant of Venice” as text. Shocking to his audience, he quoted without text, almost all the dialogues between the main protagonist, that is Antonio and the supposed Jewish money lender, Sherlock. In the same manner, he quoted about four pages from Mark Anthony’s “Funeral Oration for Julius Caesar,” in the landmark novel named after that Roman Emperor. And last, he was able to recite off-head the “Beatitudes” listed in “Sermon on the Mount,” as contained in the three long chapters of the Holy Bible in Matthew Chapters 5-7. The impact of this on Cameroun’s top judicial authority is better left to conjecture at a time when they were in conflict in Nigeria as his emphasis were on such virtues as forbearance.

For Justice Karibi-Whyte, it was after his sojourns that he took up an employment with the Rivers State Judiciary as a draftsman in 1973, and rose to become Solicitor General of the State. From there, he moved to the Federal Revenue Court as a Judge, and in the course of time, proceeded to become Judge at the Court of Appeal in 1980. He later joined Justice Oputa, his erstwhile “master” in the Supreme Court in 1984 where he served for 18 odd years.

CHRONICLES OF TIRELESS NATIONAL SERVICE

Besides sitting on the bench and passing out judgements, the Nigerian Judiciary has particularly shown great versatility in its service to the country in other aspects. They have often adapted to varied assignments and functions as the occasion demands, especially in chairing some administrative and pseudo-judicial assignments. Some have served as Chairmen of National Electoral Commissions and Panels of Enquiries, others have been Ambassadors and High Commissioners, while some others have risen up to the occasion in other critical assignments. In these two latter areas, few have performed the multiple roles that both Oputa and Karibi-Whyte played.

In Justice Oputa’s post-retirement life, he was called out by then President Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) to take a periscopic back review of human rights abuses during the chequered years of military rule in Nigeria. This came against the backdrop that OBJ himself had been a victim of grave human rights abuses, having been sentenced to death under circumstances that were rather obscure. President Obasanjo who took the reins of power after nearly 31 years of disjointed military rule, insisted on a Human Rights Investigation Commission, in what was similar to South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee, then Chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. With such eminent persons as Nigeria’s “Liberation Theologists” and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah by his side, the Commission was intended to help heal the pains of military atrocities.

Like Bishop Tutu who collapsed at some revelations, Oputa and his commission members had their breaking points along the line of the work of the panel. In his dying days at the National Hospital Abuja in 2014, Justice Oputa soliloquized that the report of his panel has been “oputarized”, a sobriquet for putting away a good work to accumulate dust on government shelves, as it is with many other good studies on many national issues.

Outside this relatively recent high-profile function, throughout Oputa’s public career, he performed many other ad-hoc responsibilities including being on Eastern-Central Nigeria Marketing Board and chairing East-Central States’ Commission on Revenue Collection. He also chaired Federal Government Enquiry into Scarcity and Petroleum Products in Nigeria, which led to the establishment of three more refineries – Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt II. He was also Chancellor of Imo State University, President Nigeria Red Cross Society, and President Nigeria Society for Prevention of Accidents.

On his part, Karibi-Whyte also had a robust stint in his teaching of Law, rising to the level of an Associate Professor. It was therefore easy for him to fit in to other duties as Chairman of the Nigeria Constitution Conference 1994-1995, which prepared the main backbone for some of the contents of the 1999 Constitution. He was also Chairman, Currency Counterfeit Tribunal; Chairman, Enquiry into Nigeria Agricultural and Cooperative Bank, and Chairman, Civil Disturbances Tribunal. Still at the federal level, he was also Chairman of Unification and Reform of Criminal Code, Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Act and Criminal Procedure Code.

He was also Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and served as Pro-Chancellor of the Rivers State University and Committee of Pro-Chancellors in Nigeria. At the international level, he was also appointed Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal of Yugoslavia, a role in which he stood out among the best in a clime where there were several international jurists.

In the annals of law report in Nigeria, Justice Karibi-Whyte remains one of the most quoted justices in Law references. His Judgements were penetrating, legally incontrovertible and lucid with sterling clarity. He combined academics and practice of Law and therefore it was almost impossible to question his thoughts on the main tenets of his decisions, leaving for posterity, precepts and precedents which are almost cast in iron. To this, they both had the highest national honours and several honorary academic awards.

EPILOGUE

It was once said that, “justice is the constant and perpetual way to allot to every man his due.” But how true this is remains rather debatable, as each man seems to have his own perception of what is right and wrong. While even our senior practitioners of law both on the bar and bench are wont to idolize others such as; Lord Tom Denning, a Baron and Jurist of the English Judicial System, and United States’ legal luminary and civil rights activist, Justice Thurgood Marshall, due to their footprints on the Common Law tradition, it is intrusive to note that “what we search for in Sokoto is often in our shokoto.” The Nigerian Judiciary since the mid-20th Century when it started to come of age, has left for us great legacies of worthy service, not only while wearing their hallowed wigs and gowns and on the exalted bench, but on lessons they have left for the society as a whole.

Oputa left this world at the age 90 (even though Area Father thinks “the old man pass 100”) and Karibi-Whyte followed suit at 88 years. Their legacies are emblematic of a generation that appeared holier than even the angels, in a manner that all of society will always remember them. As it was with Oputa’s final resting moments when Owerri and Oguta had week-long celebrations of carnival mood, Port Harcourt and Abonema had their own unique experience. Legal processions, choral concerts and outings of some of Kalabari’s most revered masquerades, with thundering bellows of canons heralding the exit of a great hero. It remains to say “Adieu Opu dau” as you join your elder brother and other friends gone before, to your final rest.

As we remember these two great Nigerians, it is apt to reflect that a viable Justice system as another famous jurist once said “requires rule of law and justice in a judicial system in which the rights of some are not secured by the denial of rights to others.” Our collective challenge as Nigerians is to recognize as a people, our collective humanity and the price we owe each other and be fair and just to one another as citizens of our country. We must therefore, fight inequality and fight injustice together, and hoping that all Nigerians will hold the need for us to build the country, where justice is at the doorstep of all unfeigned.

…Amb. Godknows Boladei Igali is a former Ambassador and Federal Permanent Secretary. NNL.

Restructuring: Buhari Replies Adeboye, Others, Says Won’t ‘Succumb to Threats, Undue Pressure’

0

By Ismaila Chafe

The Presidency has reacted to the calls by some individuals and socio-ethnic groups calling for the immediate restructuring of Nigeria, saying the Buhari administration will not succumb to threats and undue pressure over the matter.

One of the individuals, METROWATCH recalls, is the General Overseer,Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Pastor Enoch Adeboye, who two days ago urged the President to restructure to forestall possible break up of the country.

Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, stated this in a statement on Monday morning when he responded to the renewed agitation in some quarters for the restructuring of the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the leadership of some socio-cultural groups including Ohaneze Ndigbo and Afenifere as well as Niger Delta agitators and individuals have reiterated the call for restructuring of Nigeria.

According to them, the country needs a home-grown constitution that will usher in new political and economic arrangements based on regional structures or ”the country will break up”.

The presidential aide, however, dismissed the recurring threats as unpatriotic outbursts, saying the Buhari administration would not take any decision against the interest of 200 million Nigerians.

The statement read in part: ”The Presidency responds to the recurring threats to the corporate existence of the country with factions giving specific timelines for the President to to do one thing or another or else, in their language, “the nation will break up.”

”This is to warn that such unpatriotic outbursts are both unhelpful and unwarranted as this government will not succumb to threats and take any decision out of pressure at a time when the nation’s full attention is needed to deal with the security challenges facing it at a time of the Covid-19 health crisis.

”Repeat: this administration will not take any decision against the the interests of 200 million Nigerians, who are the President’s first responsibility under the constitution, out of fear or threats especially in this hour of health crisis.

”The President as an elected leader under this constitution will continue to work with patriotic Nigerians, through and in line with the Parliamentary processes to finding solutions to structural and other impediments to the growth and wellbeing of the nation and its people.”

(NAN)