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When chicanery becomes a governance tool

Ikechukwu Amaechi

Ikechukwu Amaechi

Once again, President Muhammadu Buhari is in London, primarily on medical tourism, but also to attend a Summit on Financing Global Partnership for Education (GPE) 2021-2025

Aso Rock says the summit will bring together Heads of State and Government, as well as stakeholders and youth leaders, and provide a platform to chart a course for transforming education systems in partner countries through exchange of best practices.

Deliberations will focus on issues such as the power of education, transforming education for girls, priorities for transforming education in the next five years, and also offer opportunity to make five-year pledges to support GPE’s work in transforming education in at least 90 countries and territories across the globe.

Taking at face value, the one-day education summit is cheering news, but hyping a meeting, scheduled to be virtual, as the reason for the president’s trip is deceitful. But that should not surprise anyone. Buhari’s government is a study in deception.

Buhari’s Media Adviser, Femi Adesina, on Tuesday rationalised on Channels Television’s Politics Today his principal’s incessant medical trips to the United Kingdom on the grounds that he has been with the same doctors and medical team for decades.

“It is advisable that he continues with those who know his medical history and that is why he comes to London to see them. He has used the same medical team for over 40 years. Once you can afford it, then stay with the team that has your history.” 

I agree with him that anyone who can afford it should not hesitate to seek medical attention from anywhere. But Buhari is not just anyone. Aside being the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, leadership is about integrity. A leader’s word must be his bond. Uprightness means doing what one has promised to do because as the saying goes, “My Word is My Bond … and it is all I have of worth.”

In a speech to the Nigeria Medical Association in April 2016, Buhari, just one year into his presidency, vowed that the government’s hard-earned cash would not be spent on treating officials overseas, especially in cases where Nigeria had the requisite expertise.

When the President flew to London in June 2016 to be treated for what his office described as a ‘persistent” ear infection, Dr Osahon Enabulele, the then Vice-President of the Commonwealth Medical Association, said it was a “national shame” that he not only reneged on his promise to end “medical tourism” but actually went to the UK for treatment when Nigeria had more than 250 ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists, as well as a National Ear Centre.

That is the essential Buhari. But that is no longer an issue. If the only place the president feels comfortable seeking medical help is London, so be it since Nigeria can afford to pay the bills, as ironic as that may be.

But there is something hypocritical in the noise being made on the education summit.

Buhari is expected to make a presentation on Thursday. In the Channels Television interview, Adesina claimed, without providing any statistics, that there was a reduction in the number of out-of-school children in the country, promising that Buhari would brief participants at the summit, which would be co-hosted by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, on that.

That claim is spurious. What possibly could have led to the reduction in the embarrassing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria?

On the eve of Buhari’s departure to London on Tuesday, July 27, Kaduna State government suspended, indefinitely, the resumption of schools across the state.

Governor Nasir el-Rufai told stakeholders that he took the decision due to an “ongoing aggressive military operation against bandits in most parts of the state.”

While the jury is still out on why el-Rufai decided to launch “aggressive military operation” against “businessmen” – alias bandits – it is curious that no arrests are ever made by the same security personnel that have the expertise to smoke out the likes of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), and Sunday Igboho, Yoruba Nation agitator, from foreign countries.

On July 6, el-Rufai ordered the closure of 13 schools he considered vulnerable to attacks by terrorists following the mass abduction of students at the Bethel Baptist Secondary School, Kajuma.

Before then, he had quietly withdrawn his son from a public school in a desperate bid to escape the snare of kidnappers.

Two days before Buhari jetted out of the country, terrorists who abducted 121 students of the Bethel Baptist Secondary School on July 5, 2021 released just 28 of them after their parents reportedly paid N60 million ransom, leaving behind 93 others.

While these lucky 28 spent 20 days in captivity without the government lifting a finger, only God knows how long the remaining 93 will spend and whether they will all come out alive considering how bad the lucky 28 were upon their release.

As at the time Adesina was boasting in London that the Buhari government has reduced the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, 136 pupils of the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School, Tegina, Niger State, kidnapped by terrorists since May 30 were still in captivity.

On the day Buhari hopped into the presidential jet and flew to London to discuss education, the man, Kasimu Barangana, who went alongside six others to deliver N30 million ransom to the evil souls but was seized over an alleged shortfall of N4.6 million, finally regained his freedom.

And it was a tale of woes. Barangana said the pupils, some as young as six years, were in very poor health conditions in the 25 different camps they are kept. Why won’t they be in poor health conditions having been left at the mercy of the elements in the forests for almost 60 days?

Yet, none of the children was released even after the terrorists collected the N30 million. Instead, they, according to Barangana, are now demanding five new motorcycles as further ransom, even when they had reportedly collected N25 million earlier from the beleaguered parents as disclosed by one of the school’s teachers, Yakubu Idris, to PREMIUM TIMES.

Where did the ransom money come from? The school head, Abubakar Alhassan, disclosed that some parents sold their landed properties and his school sold a portion of its land to raise the N30 million. Two of the parents who could no longer take it have reportedly died of shock after waiting endlessly for the return of their children.

And some people still insult national sensibilities by claiming that Nigeria has a government anyone can be proud of right now. This can only happen in a Nigeria under Buhari’s watch. It takes an extreme measure of shamelessness and impertinence for a regime that is posting this level of depressing records to be walking around with the swagger of accomplishments.  

All over Northern Nigeria, schools are being shut down and parents are withdrawing their children from schools. Who will blame them if the all-mighty el-Rufai with all the security paraphernalia around him could withdraw his own son? Those who don’t have enough resources like el-Rufai to hire private teachers would prefer that their wards stay with them alive at home without any education than being in school without any guaranty that they would return home at the end of the day. This has only made an already bad situation worse.

Yet, Adesina is claiming that the number of out-of-school children is reducing under Buhari’s watch. That is, perhaps, part of the presentation Buhari will make at the education summit in London tomorrow. He will conjure how his administration’s nebulous school feeding programme has orchestrated a miracle in school enrolment figures.

Going to London for an education summit when Nigerian children, in their hundreds, are languishing in kidnappers’ dungeons, is tantamount to one having a good laugh with the carcass of a hen in his mouth. Ndigbo frown at such idiocy.

The worst tragedy of the Buhari misadventure in power is not necessarily the incompetence and lack of capacity, but the wholesale adoption of chicanery as a governance tool.      

Effect of Power of Attorney Not Executed Before a Notary Public

This article written by Onyekachi Umah discusses the functions of a Notary Public of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which though not clearly stated in the Notaries Public Act, includes the certification of documents and administration of oaths, accentuating the fact that there’s a presumption of validity when a power of attorney is executed before, and authenticated by a Notary Public

Introduction

Any person in Nigeria can make an agreement for himself, or for another person for free. Agreement can be made in almost any place, apart from a place that may suggest that a party made an agreement under force or fraud. However, according to the Nigerian law of evidence, there is a special position for a power of attorney executed before and authenticated by a Notary Public for Nigeria.

Notaries Public and their Functions

The Notary Public for Nigeria, is an office reserved only for fit and proper senior legal practitioners. Such legal practitioners are appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, and sworn-in by Chief Judges of the States where the legal practitioners practice. A Notary Public in Nigeria performs all the duties of a Notary Public in England, and is an officer of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The duties here, include; certification of documents and administration of oaths.

Unfortunately, the Notaries Public Act in Nigeria, failed to specifically list the functions of Notary Public, but merely states that a Notary Public in Nigeria will perform the work that a Notary Public in England performs. Justice Niki Tobi, captures this gap in his judgement at the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the case BUHARI v INEC & ORS (2008) LPELR-814(SC), where he held; “Although the Notaries Public Act does not specifically state the duties or functions of a Notary, as Section 2(2) of the Act vaguely and lazily provides that a Notary appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria shall perform the same duties and exercise the same functions as a Notary in England, a Notary in England performs the function of administering oaths and attest and certify by his hand and official seal, some categories or classes of documents. As a matter of practice, Notaries in Nigeria perform such functions”.

Power of Attorney and a Notary Public

Generally, an agreement can be oral or written, and there is no special paper or font size for agreements in Nigeria. Also, there is no need for an agreement to be registered in a court, for the agreement to be valid. A power of attorney is an authority/consent given by any person to anyone, to do or not to do anything on behalf of the giver of such consent. However, a Federal law in Nigeria (the Evidence Act 2011), has a special interest on an agreement that is a Power of Attorney.

The Evidence Act assumes that a power of attorney that is executed (signed) before a Notary Public and authenticated by the Notary Public, is truly a power of attorney made by the donor (maker) or parties that their names and signatures appear as the makers of the power of attorney. This is one of the few circumstances where the courts in Nigeria allow presumptions. The presumption is valid and conclusive, unless and until there is a rebuttal (contrary) evidence to dislodge such presumption.

The courts in Nigeria presume that a power of attorney executed before a Notary Public and authenticated by the Notary Public, is truly made by the person or persons who signed as the makers of the power of attorney. This is understandable, since a Notary Public is licensed to administer oath to persons in Nigeria, and as such, where persons come to Notary Public to sign a power of attorney, the court is safe to presume that the persons truly signed the power of attorney. After all, a Notary Public is expected to be centuries away from lies, deceit and fraud. As a matter of fact, in authentication of documents, a Notary Public is placed on the same position with a Court Judge, Magistrate, Consul, Representative of Nigeria or the President of Nigeria.

Well, since there is a saying that “assumption/presumption is the mother of all mistakes”, the courts in Nigeria are also given powers to reject and refuse the presumption that a power of attorney made before a Notary Public was genuinely made by the parties. So, by this, a court will allow disputants to prove that a power of attorney was genuinely executed (signed) by the purported makers.

In a judgement of the Court of Appeal, in the case of CHIEF G.N. OKOYE v MR NONSO DUMEBI (2014) LPELR-24155(CA), Agim JCA stated that; “The Supreme Court in MELWANI v FIVE STAR INDUSTRIES LTD (2002) 1 SC 120 held that a Power of Attorney that is not executed before the Notary Public and authenticated by him, will not be presumed to have been made by the donor, and the donor’s signature will then have to be proved if it is alleged that the document was not made by the donor”.

Conclusion

A power of attorney, can be written or oral. Where a power of attorney is written and executed before a Notary Public for Nigeria and authenticated by the Notary Public, the power of attorney will be presumed by all courts in Nigeria to have been genuinely signed and made by its makers. The presence and authentication by a Notary Public, adds this presumption to a power of attorney. Also, note that the same presumption is enjoyed, where a power of attorney is executed (signed) before and authenticated by any Court Judge, Magistrate, Consul, Representative of Nigeria or the President of Nigeria. So, the effect of a power of attorney not executed before and authenticated by a Notary Public, is that no court in Nigeria will presume that the power of attorney was genuinely made by the maker, and as such, the signature of the maker has to be proved, where the makers claim that power of attorney was not made by him/her.

Authorities

Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

Sections 1, 2, 6 of the Notaries Public Act, 1936.

Sections 150 and 259 of the Evidence Act, 2011.

Judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (on the functions of Notary Public for Nigeria) in the case of Buhari v INEC & ORS (2008) LPELR-814(SC).

Judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (on the effect of Power of Attorney not Executed before a Notary Public) in the case of MELWANI v FIVE STAR INDUSTRIES LTD (2002) 1 SC 120.

Judgement of the Court of Appeal (on the effect of Power of Attorney not Executed before a Notary Public) in the case of CHIEF G.N. OKOYE v MR. NONSO DUMEBI (2014) LPELR-24155(CA).

Judgment of the Court of Appeal (that agreements need no court or Notary Public stamping to be valid) in the case of Okafor vTitilope & Ors (2018) LPELR-44385 (CA).

Onyekachi Umah, LL.M, ACIArb(UK)

Nigeria Under Buhari At Mercy Of Bandits, Terrorists – UK Parliament

The United Kingdom Parliament has said Nigerians under President Muhammadu Buhari administration are at the mercy of non-state actors who unleash attacks on individuals and communities at will.

Members of the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the parliament; Caroline Cox, Rowan Williams, David Alton, Mervyn Thomas and Ayo Adedoyin; expressed their fears in a protest letter to the UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab.

The parliamentarians cited a recent event where bandits shot down a Nigerian Air Force fighter jet, as they expressed worry that the country was now under the control of non-state actors unleashing terror at will, particularly in the North-East and North-West.

“An intense gunfire from bandits caused an aircraft returning to base from a mission on the Zamfara-Kaduna border to crash.

“We fear that Nigerian citizens are now at the mercy of non-state actors who have been allowed to evolve and now have the capacity to shoot down a fighter jet, as has recently occurred in Kaduna.

“These non-state actors are currently unleashing terror at will, particularly in the North-East and North-West,” the letter said.

Meanwhile, Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State had raised an alarm over the displacement of many residents by the insurgents around Munya and Shiroro, adding that the terrorists hoisted their flag in Kauri.

Also, there have been several media reports of bandits’ attacks on soldiers particularly in the Northern region.

Credit: Thepleadge

Women in communication, a brief primer; By Ngozi Bell

Someone said to me “actions speak louder than words, what you say and how you say it does not matter, all that matters is what you do”. I listened to the rhetoric of a disappointed heart, where communication had dwindled and become divorced from its power and relevance. I finally replied “communication is critically important, in many situations it precedes actions. If we listen closely and well, we will see that what was eventually demonstrated in action had many times been exposed in communication”.

Now, imagine particularly, the communication of women, where has it led and where could it lead? What we say matters because we can say it like women and translate it to life. In this brief primer we will look at some tenets of communication and women and the substantive outcomes from communication.

The dictionary defines communication as – the imparting or exchanging of information or news or a means of sending or receiving information, such as phone lines or computer lines “satellite communications”.

Communication can contain both verbal and non-verbal cues, it conveys a message that seeks a place of deposit and outcome. Communication can enable, deter, uphold, release. It can sustain and discard, it can build and destroy. Communication endears and empowers; it creates wedges and unbridgeable chasms. There are methods and pathways, tunnels and lines, ways and means of communication. We all do it, we all need it, we all benefit from it, and we have all lost from it. Communication is vital and comes in varying operating styles. In this piece we will foray into a few benefits of women in communication.

Three Core Competencies of Communication for Women

Communication by women is an anchor for support:

Women have an innate ability to be candid, to relate beyond the superficial. They can get to the “meaningful bottom line” where the real stuff, the real issue resides. Women can do this quickly. The benefit of this type of communication is that the support that a woman brings is therefore not superficial and gets at the heart of the need – if she lends this support, it has a high probability of yielding success with lasting dividends. Likewise, if she withholds support, it can have a grand negative effect.

Communication by women broadens community:

When women engage in communication, it clarifies a purpose that broadens community and grows the demographic of engagement – we all know that for any major impact or movement, whether political, social, academic, or global – most big wins come out of the support of communities or large demographics. So, when communication is extensive and deep and serious, it translates to large swathes of support that broadens our community and consolidates power that can be harnessed to super charge activities of the present and the future. Examples are women’s suffrages, voting rights, global violence against women movements, 1929 Aba women’s riot, Girls Code movement, Family Medical Leave Act etc. All these where championed through communication that translated to support and then to a power-fueled broad community action.

Communication by women enthrones posterity:

When women communicate a shared understanding surfaces to create unity. The energy that unity generates enthrones posterity; posterity that calls in future generations in the calculus of today. Effective unity no matter how rudimentary is like an anchor; it ensures that the beneficiary is steadied, secured so they can thrive. The beneficiary of such unity might thrive because they live to fight another day or because of an outright win or even a loss; because a loss that is shared, dampens its impact and hence does not yield as devastating an outcome! When thriving is the norm for women and girls, then future generations will come to expect that their female counterparts have the power or gravitas to fulfill their portion of any shared responsibility. When this is the expected outcome, the partnerships that are borne out of engagement are then assured of future success. Success is not the absence of failure but the presence of the will and wherewithal to continue to a compelling destiny! You see unity that generates partnership acknowledges that each member brings relevant adequacy to the “engagement table”

A story in the journey of Communication:

I remember the day I learned my leadership style. I am a restorer, I fix things, organisations, people, businesses, lives, situations, dishwashers, electronics, math, science, art, projects, puzzles and more.

I used my restoration skill extensively without always identifying it, until I met my team. They were bright, smart, hardworking, and ready to work, and ready to please. Some were cocky, some were kind, some had been applauded for minor accomplishments. There were the superstars, and the thinkers, the actors and the doers. A mixed bag of extremes, many supremely confident and yet others had been abused, by managers, disrespected by leaders and dishonored by comrades. I will focus on three of these– Got, Lot, Rot. Got was an avid engineer, smart from Asia pacific, the region from which “smart” was nearly assumed and deployed as a birthright. Got loved to be regarded as technical and business savvy all at once. Lot was the best researcher you could ever have; Lot is European and could find you any information you craved. Lot would study, dig, retain and release. Lot was super smart when the stakes were truly high. Rot had come to us from California, a superficial star. I had voted against Rot at the interview stage but lost the bid, it really did not matter because at that time Rot was not mine to worry about. Yet now, for not so happy reasons Rot had eventually landed with me.


My group was a high pressure, high performance group and the expectation was the work had to be done, we had a direct impact to our share price and shareholder value, if you could not cut it you were cut.

What was interesting is Got, Lot and Rot all came to me indirectly not even remotely by my choice, but amongst the rest of the robust and large team, they stood out. They carried some characteristic that was distinguishably relevant to my ability to have effective encounters with each of them.

In that experience, I realised two things about leadership, which are that people constantly want to succeed and people constantly want success regardless of whose back the brunt of the ambition is laid on. So, problems and challenges will continue to arrive your way, as long as you present a back that will hold the burdens.

The place of leadership affords a right in the flexibility to discard and explain away what or who you the leader did not choose. This single handedly allows leaders commoditise people. Leadership accumulates and consolidates power and power allows you latitude in choice.

So, since these three fell to me, I had the choice between receiving them with joy or trampling them, and proceeding to let them out the door. Afterall, part of their being sent to me also gave me the latitude to send them away cleverly. There was a unique diplomacy that a serious and beloved leader could easily deploy, with no unlikely hint of an adverse backlash.

What followed was astonishing! I saw three things in this situation, my own journey, theirs, and our collective opportunity. I decided to welcome them with joy!

Our ability to empathise, and harness our emotions, when taken together and layered generously on a foundation of honest and respectful communication is transformative. Good communication teases out the best of honest skills, and depending on the situation, good communication can create a delectable sandwich of our skills and our labour, our vulnerabilities and capabilities, our truth and our acts. It makes us able to face reality, see the places of improvement, work for what is real and discard all the superficial airs, exchanging them wholesale for an outcome that is tangible and real! This was such with Got, Lot and Rot – the most fabulous situation was created and a success that had so many facets was realised, and we all saw that when we communicate what we hid from, was never so tough after all!!

Below is a bonus for you, the reader!

How to achieve a conversational style public speaking communication in an era of technology behind screens and tools and why women can totally own this space

Public speaking has many contributing facets; including emotional elocution, physical appearance, on-stage presence and of course your cache or credibility. When you were in person, speaking and communicating, everything seemed easier to predict. All you had to do was show up strong and ready. So, what do we do today, as media tools are engaged and many of the in-person physical and material props disappear?

An expert in media history and technology Brent Malin PhD, of University of Pittsburgh, did a study that concluded that technology more than any other thing has influenced public speaking and the more technology is involved the more conversational the communication needed to be to reach people more effectively. Radio announcers in the 1920’s were regarded the epitome of public speaking and as other media like televisions, computers, webinars, PowerPoints YouTube showed up, the need to reach people through these media accelerated astronomically and the effectiveness of reach continues to metamorphosise.

What is clear is that an evolution to the use of more of a conversational tone influenced by technology is now king or better still “queen”.

The emergence of the COVID zoom era, accelerated this more than any other time, your stage is gone, your clothing brand and fit unidentifiable, your stance and presence undefinable. You might be speaking from a home office, a kitchen, some room, you might only be top professional with pajama in tow. You, the communicator is left to create your virtual or imaginary stage, redefine your presence and set your stance.

If conversational type public speaking is critical to success in the age of hyper-tech media, shouldn’t women be queen of public speaking? Women have since time immemorial been superior at conversational communication. Now that it is more commonplace and necessary, women have a distinguished advantage here. Let us recap some key attributes

Key attributes to an effective conversational style public speaking in the age of Zoom

Be authentic and sincere – no need to overcompensate or oversell – technology exaggerates overages and makes them worse, zoom will show you out;
Minimisation of technology fatigue for the audience – Taking a natural and truthful stance, leaning in, smiling, engaging the audience;
Focus on the audience – now you have names in front of you, faces, with this view, you could even predict personalities, use it, call it out, it gets attention all the time;
Imagine yourself as the audience – You can transition from speaking to talking, speaking allows you lecture a bit, talking allows your engagement to feel more empathetic.
A conversation means you are with the audience – speak and talk to the people as though you want their success as much as you want to help and/or engage them, make the technology fade away so you can virtually touch them.

Effective hyper-technology enabled public speaking is about engagement, presence and delivering a message, women are good at this!

Always remember that communication creates a bridge to transition from me to us!

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 work

experience 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

Police Interrogation Of The Nine-Year-Old Suspected Arsonist: A Violation Of The Rights Of A Child

By Oliver Omoredia

Introduction

Recently, the Nigerian social media space witnessed a barrage of comments when a CCTV footage surfaced online showing an unidentified lady setting in motion a fire in a branch of the Ebeano Supermarket in Abuja which led to the destruction of goods worth several millions of naira. In the days that followed, the suspected arsonist was apprehended and interrogated by persons reported to be officers of the Nigerian Police Force. More interestingly, the suspect was established to be a Nine-year-old girl, and the video of the child’s interrogation has generated significant attention on social media.

One point that however seems to be lost in all the conversations on the story is the apparent violation of the right of the child by the publication of the video interrogation. In this social-media age we live in, it is not uncommon that an attempt to correct a wrong could lead to a wrong in itself. Therefore, this article seeks to draw attention to the violation of the right of the child suspect by the video publication of her interrogation by the officers of the Nigerian Police Force, while also addressing the questions relating to the procedural issues arising from the facts.

AN OFFENCE UNDER LAW

As a pre-liminary point, the facts of the case, if true as we know them to be, present the establishment of an offence. Since the offence in question was committed in Abuja, recourse must be made to the provisions of the Penal Code, which is the applicable substantive criminal law in the FCT, Abuja.

Section 336 and Section 337 of the Penal Code provides that

“Whoever commits mischief by fire or an explosive substance intending to cause or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby cause damage to any property shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.

“Whoever commits mischief by fire or an explosive substance intending to cause or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby cause the destruction of any building which is ordinarily used as a place of worship or as a human dwelling or as a place for the custody of property, shall be punished with imprisonment for life or for any less term and shall also be liable to fine.”

It is clear from the above provisions, without need for a voyage of interpretation, that the above law imputes criminal liability to the suspect from the facts as we know them to be.

However, the Penal Code in itself admits the possibility of criminal offences being committed by children, and thus provides under Section 50:

“No act is an offence which is done (a) by a child under seven years of age; or (b) by a child above seven years of age but under twelve years of age who has not attained sufficient maturity of understanding to judge the nature and consequence of that act.”

By the above provision, the Penal Code is simply saying that if a Child under the age of 12 years who does not understand the nature and consequences of an Act commits an offence, that child has not committed an offence. Therefore, the Child will not be held criminally liable.

Admittedly, the above requirement of the Penal Code may apply to the suspect who has been established to be Nine years old, but it will become a subject of argument whether or not she understood the nature and consequences of the act. Hence, the matter will first need to be tried in Court, and to do this the Child will need to be investigated; a matter which comes within the procedural requirement of criminal justice administration!

What I have labored to say above is that, when a Child commits an offence, before establishing that the Child committed the substantive offence, the procedure for investigation must comply with the procedural requirements of the law! This aspect is where the Police interrogation video falls short of the legal standards expected under law.

A MATTER OF PROCEDURAL IRREGULARITY

The procedural requirements in the administration of criminal justice in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, is set forth under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015. The Act provides on Child offenders as follows:

Section 452. (1) Where a child is alleged to have committed an offence, the provisions of the Child Rights Act shall apply.

Now turning to the Child’s Rights Act 2003, the Act provides under Section 204 that:

No child shall be subjected to the criminal justice process or to criminal sanctions, but a child alleged to have committed an act which would constitute a criminal offence if he were an adult shall be subjected only to the child justice system and processes set out in this Act.

Particularly Section 205 of the Child’s Rights Act provides for the protection of the privacy of a Child and states that:

(1) The right of the child to privacy specified in section 8 of this Act shall be respected at all stages of child justice administration in order to avoid harm being caused to the child by undue publicity or by the process of labeling. (2) Accordingly, no information that may lead to the identification of a child offender shall be published. (3) Records of a child offender shall‐ (a) be kept strictly confidential and closed to third parties; (b) made accessible only to persons directly concerned with the disposition of the case at hand or other duly authorised persons; and (c) not be used in adult proceedings subsequent cases involving the same child offender.

Furthermore, the Act requires under its Section 207 provides for a specialisation within the Nigeria Police Force for the investigation of offences committed by Children. The Section states that:

(1) There shall be established, in the Nigeria Police Force, a specialised unit of the Force, to be known as the Specialised Children Police Unit (in this Act referred to as the “Unit”) which shall consist of police officers who‐ (a) frequently or exclusively deal with children; or (b) are primarily engaged in the prevention of child offences, (2) The Unit shall be charged with the following functions, that is‐ (a) the prevention and control of child offences; (b) the apprehension of child offenders; (c) the investigation of child offences; and (d) such other functions as may be referred to the Unit by this Act or by regulations made under this Act or by any other enactment. (3) Members of the Unit shall be continually trained and instructed specially for the functions conferred on the Unit under subsection (2) of this section.

A LIMITED RECOURSE AGAINST THE PARENTS

Finally, from the facts of the case as we know them, and with the protection afforded to the child under law, one would wonder the recourse that the Supermarket may have, considering that the offender in question is incapable of paying the financial cost of her actions. On this point is is necessary to note that the Child’s Rights Acts gives a Judge the power to, upon conviction of the child, impose fine or damages against the parents of a Child offender. Particularly Section 223 provides several methods of dealing with Child offenders including:

dismissing the charge;
placing the child under care order, guidance order and supervision order, including‐
discharging the child offender and placing him under the supervision of a supervision officer; or
committing the child offender by means of a corrective order to the care of a guardian and supervision of a relative or any other fit person; or
sending the child offender by means of a corrective order to an approved accommodation or approved institution; or
ordering the child offender to participate in group counseling and similar activities;
or ordering the parent or guardian of the child offender to (i) pay a fine, damages, compensation or costs; or (ii) give security of his good behaviour; or (iii) enter into a recognisance to take proper care of him and exercise proper control over him;
IN CONCLUSION

It is necessary to note always that the offences by Children and the treatment of Child offenders are matters which are of legal concern and cannot be treated as a matter by the way. It is for the protection of the Child’s rights that these provisions have been enacted and it is necessary for law enforcement officers to be trained on the need to comply with these laws rather than breach them.

We’re in a sex toy revolution. Here’s how you can join.

A beginner's guide to the golden age of vibrators Credit: Mashable Art Team / Bob Al-Greene

Sexual pleasure is a human right.

This is the first story in a four-part series on sex hacks for the digital age.

The world of sex toys has never been more inviting, inclusive, and destigmatized than right now, offering new possibilities for women and other marginalized identities to explore their sexualities.

Or at least, that’s what should be happening in theory.

Over the past several years, a wave of feminist sex tech companies has revolutionized the male-dominated industry by redefining toys as part of sexual health rather than an illicit perversity. With groundbreaking products engineered for a wider variety of bodies, shame-free messaging, gorgeously empowering design, and anti-male gaze marketing, companies like Dame, Maude, Crave, and Unbound ushered us into a new era of pleasure tech.

“We’re living through a golden age of sex toys, a kind of a renaissance where we have access to such incredibly well-constructed and innovative products,” said Ian Kerner, a sex counselor, psychotherapist, and author of She Comes First. “We’re living through a golden age of sex toys.”

The trend shows no sign of stopping, either. A 2018 global market report projected the industry would reach $35.5 billion by 2023, tracing its growth to this repositioning and rebranding, and the public’s overall “increase in openness, drive for excitement and adventure, passion for quirky products and heightened desire for experimentation.”

Culturally speaking, the sex toy stigma grows more extinct by the day. But it hasn’t wholly disappeared.

“The shame has lessened, but for some women buying a tool exclusively for their own sexual pleasure is still a big leap,” said Hallie Lieberman, author of Buzz: A Stimulating History of the Sex Toy. “A lot of women still don’t think that they deserve that or that it will reflect poorly on who they are as a woman.”

To be fair to us, counteracting centuries if not millennia of internalized shame from heteronormative patriarchal society is tough. Many of us might not even fully realize where our hesitation to experiment with sex toys really comes from.

When sex toy company TENGA’s 2019 Self-Pleasure Report survey asked participants why they didn’t, 49 percent answered with a variety of expected anxieties and shame. But an overwhelming 54 percent simply said it was because they didn’t think they “needed” one.

Judging from the well-documented gender disparity in orgasms in heterosexual intercourse, though, it’s clear our notions of who “needs” to (or gets to) feel satisfied in the bedroom is not equal.

“One of the most common reactions to the thought of using sex toys if you haven’t before is, ‘Oh, those aren’t for me.’ At least, that’s the initial thought I had before I owned a vibrator and lubricant,” said Polly Rodriguez, now CEO and co-founder of her own sex toy company, Unbound.

(Note: We’re mostly focusing on heterosexual women and couples here because TENGA’s survey and the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior conducted by Indiana University both suggest LGBTQ folks — especially those with labias — are way ahead of the curve, disproportionately making up the demographic already participating in the sex toy revolution. In this rare case, the straights need more help getting past a heteronormative shame. For LGBTQ folks looking for advice, both Unbound‘s and Dame’s blogs publish fantastic LGBTQ-focused guides.)The Crescendo is designed to fit a variety of bodies and sexual orientations. Scroll to the end for a full review. Credit: Mashable Composite: Mystery Vibe / Bob Al-Greene / Mashable

As it turns out, despite years of slut walks and the anti-slut-shaming movement, the fear of being categorized as a hypersexual woman still rears its head. But not wanting to be one of “those” women who “needs” a sex toy goes even deeper than that.

It comes back to the historied, outdated (not to mention heteronormative) belief that women’s pleasure should only come from a man, and that her sexual awakening should happen with him during intercourse.

“It’s like, if I have to use this technology to get off, it feels like I’ve failed as a woman,” Lieberman explained. The focus on the phallus as a more “natural” form of female pleasure is why dildos that mimic the male anatomy were such a central focus of the sex toy industry for so long, despite the fact that many other types of toys — like those for clitoral stimulation — were found to be more satisfying to more women.

Some of women’s sex toy shame can be blamed on Freud, Kerner said. He incorrectly theorized that clitoral orgasms were an immature state of a woman’s sexual development, with properly functioning females eventually maturing into vaginal orgasms.

“He never described how this would happen,” said Kerner. “But there’s still this idea that somehow clitoral orgasms aren’t ‘real’ orgasms.” “If I have to use this technology to get off, it feels like I’ve failed as a woman.”

Meanwhile, research suggests 37 percent of people with vaginas need clitoral stimulation to achieve orgasm, while only 18 percent said penetration alone was enough. Yet the unrealistic ideals of what women’s pleasure should look like persists, despite being incompatible with how most people with vaginas reach climax.

“What I hear from some women is that introducing a vibrator into sex is an indirect admission that something is wrong, that the intercourse isn’t working. And rather than thinking, ‘Well, there’s probably a good reason for why it isn’t working for me,’ they instead internalize that as feeling sort of broken or defective,” said Kerner. “So you have a lot of women coming in and asking, ‘What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I get off the normal way?”

This unconscious fear is closely tied to another common myth around sex toys: that they’ll replace human (presumably male) partners who can’t satisfy women as well as the technology.SEE ALSO:Why did Tinder make a show about the apocalypse? We drank margaritas and found out. 

Who can forget the Sex in the City episode when Charlotte needs a “Rabbit intervention” so she can stop getting off so much to her vibrator and go back to being in a real relationship. Lieberman even pointed to this trope being in one of the earliest Greek plays, Lysistrata, where women threaten to replace the men at war with dildos.

In the modern age, the fear that women will become so addicted to toys manifests in memes comparing sex toys to partners, or even Cardi B in Hustlers boasting that her pink vibrator is the best and only boyfriend she will ever need.The Fin is a life-changing partnered sex vibrator. Scroll to the end for a full review. Credit: Mashable Composite: Dame /  Bob Al-Greene / Mashable

Women in heterosexual relationships still often worry that asking to introduce a vibrator or toy into the bedroom will make their partner feel emasculated. In his work with couples, though, Kerner has never found this to be the case, with “most men seeming very receptive to wanting to create experiences that are mutually pleasurable.”

If that’s a particular worry, though, partnered sex toys can alleviate the stress of making it about your pleasure alone.

The highly-rated (and also woman co-founded) Crescendo from MysteryVibe is ideal for beginners looking for versatility, designed for solo or partnered play, various positions, and various bodies and sexual orientations, too. For me, something as ingeniously simple, unintimidating, and Intuitive as Dame’s Fin was nothing short of revolutionary, leading to my first simultaneous orgasm with a partner ever.

“The new wave of sex toys have opened people up to the idea that toys and masturbation are not in opposition to a relationship. It’s not one or the other. Women don’t have a limited amount of sexual energy,” said Lieberman.

Still, the myth of sex toy “addiction” or that vibrators cause permanent desensitization or make it impossible to cum any other way persists. Luckily, there is zero empirical evidence to support these concerns. “Women don’t have a limited amount of sexual energy.”

What’s funny, Lieberman noted, is that concerns over vibrators being addictive only started in the 1930s, once sex toys began being openly sold in markets rather than controlled by doctors. That’s when the concept of “dildo attachment” came into the conversation, which claimed to make women stop wanting sex with their husbands.

At worst, Kerner said, vigorous habitual use of a sex toy can simply cause over-familiarity with that specific intense sensation that can’t be replicated by a person. But that’s no different than men who develop difficulty climaxing during intercourse because they masturbate with a very tight grip that can’t be replicated during penetration.

Both are easily fixed with a simple break.

“Just stop using it for a few days. It’s not heroin. You can put it to the side, and use your hand or go manual with your partner, and it will return to being just as pleasurable,” said Lieberman.

One legitimate health concern, however, relates to the type of material used for sex toys. Rodriguez emphasized the importance of medical-grade rather than food-grade silicone, since they often go inside the most absorbent parts of your body. Be very wary of buying anything on Amazon, which often sells knock offs.

On the other hand (pun intended), what more masturbation can do is actually improve your capacity to orgasm in general, and give you the space to learn exactly what kind of touch and sensations you like, which you can then communicate to your partner.

But outside of its benefits in partnered sex, the power of sex toys is about rediscovering what pleasure means and feels like to you alone.Vibe is one of the cheapest, most beloved beginner toys. Scroll to the end for a full review. Credit: Mashable Composite: Maude / Bob Al-Greene / MASHABLE 

“I think masturbation is one of the healthiest things we can do when it comes to understanding and appreciating our bodies. For me, and for many in our community, self-pleasure helps us reclaim our bodies for ourselves,” said Rodriguez.

At 21, she underwent menopause after a cancer diagnosis and dealt with feeling estranged from her body. “For many who experience trauma, it can be a truly healing process to redefine your sexuality for yourself.”

Another more practical concern for first-time sex toy buyers, found in both the TENGA survey and Unbound’s own community survey, was price. Quality toys can be an investment, and the sheer variety of different types, sensations, and textures can feel paralyzing when you have no reference point for what you like.

That’s why the best first toys are reasonably priced, straightforward, and versatile (scroll to the bottom for our best recommendations). People with labias often find the most success when starting with clitoral stimulators like bullets or lipstick vibes. Unbound has a quarterly, affordable subscription box designed for newbies trying to expand their erotic repertoire.

One revolutionary policy Dame made in order to help get over this barrier to entry goes radically against a key industry-standard: They accept returns. (Unbound accepts partial returns for used toys). “First of all, be proud of yourself for buying the toy.”

Their policy changed after CEO Alexandra Fine and her co-founder reevaluated the reasons behind this industry standard, which claims that returns are unhygienic. But the more they thought about it, it became clear that other companies accepted returns despite their product being unhygienic to resell, like Casper mattresses and Thinx panties.

“What that kind of policy is almost saying is, ‘Hey, your vagina is disgusting. Obviously, we can’t take returns.’ That in itself has shame built into it, and is counter to us creating a shame-free experience,” said Fine. “We want you to feel comfortable letting us know that something didn’t work for you. Then, we can help you find something that does.”

Still, even when we can get over all those initial walls of shame and finally buy a sex toy, it’s very normal to then face a whole other wave of shame while actually using it. But there are lots of ways to get past that, too.

“First of all, be proud of yourself for buying the toy,” said Lieberman. “Then, accept that your first few experiences may be awkward. I mean, what was your first experience of sex with another person like? You don’t know what you’re doing. It’s a new technology that you’re learning. It could even feel weird at first if you’ve never had something vibrating on your genitals. That’s OK, too.”

Try everything alone first, and on the lowest power setting first — possibly even over your panties or even a towel for clitoral stimulators. People vary on level of sensitivity.Vesper’s a gorgeous necklace/vibrator confronts the sex toy taboo head-on. Scroll to end for a full review. Credit: Mashable Composite: Crave  / Bob Al-Greene / MASHABLE

Overall, one of the best pieces of advice I ever got while joining the sex toy revolution is to treat each new toy like a new sexual partner. Give yourself time to learn how it fits your body, or whether it’s a good match at all. View your early experiences as exploratory rather than setting the expectation to cum, which puts undue pressure on you and your new friend.

And honestly, unless you’ve purchased from one of these new women, femme, and non-binary-led sex toy makers, do your best to ignore the marketing and promises on the packaging. Often, you’ll find images of scantily clad women that project a false picture of what masturbation looks like. In reality, it looks more like you in pajamas and a face mask.

Even more importantly, do not believe in the promises of an instantaneous, guaranteed, melt-your-face off orgasm. Again, every body is different, and it’s normal for something that works for most to not work for you. If you’re confused about how to use it (since many manuals are woefully lacking), educate yourself online with reviews that paint more vivid pictures. Many of the companies that are revolutionizing sex toys also provide well-written blogs and step-by-step guides for their toys. “Me Too let people — especially women — feel more comfortable expressing their need, their demand for sexual pleasure.”

Underlying the new sex toy revolution is a movement that believes pleasure and satisfaction should be a human right. Closely tied to that movement is another one that started in 2017, which finally allowed women to start talking about the ways sex made them feel ashamed, traumatized, and silenced.

“The rise of talking about sexual assault from Me Too let people — especially women — feel more comfortable expressing their need, their demand for sexual pleasure,” said Lieberman.

It’s deeply unsettling (perhaps even related) that, in the midst of this sexual wellness revolution, we’re seeing a vicious legal backlash trying to strip women of basic rights over their own bodies. Whether it’s challenges to Roe v. Wade, other increasingly restrictive abortion laws, or less access to birth control, “at the bottom of it all is people preventing women from having sex without consequence. It’s the belief that sexual pleasure isn’t good in and of itself for women unless it’s to procreate,” said Lieberman.

While it might seem silly (and obviously, different forms of activism are needed to counteract these serious threats), there is power in reclaiming at least one form of control over your body by exercising your right to pleasure with a toy.

“My suggestion is to just give it a try,” said Rodriguez. “I have yet to hear from someone who, after trying a vibrator, regrets it. It’s all about just giving yourself permission to explore — and you are the only one who needs to grant yourself permission, to say ‘yes’ to pleasure. Trust me, you deserve it. We all do.”

GREAT SEX TOYS FOR BEGINNERS

Credit:  MASHABLE Composite: MAUDE /  MASHABLE / BOB AL-GREENE

Vibe

Maude

Minimalist, inexpensive, yet powerful, the Vibe’s exquisitely accessible design made it an instant hit for a reason. Its simplicity doesn’t sacrifice function, with a reputation for getting the job done fast. Able to be used externally or internally, it’s the most bang for your buck (and boy, does that buck go).Credit: MASHABLE Composite: MYSTERY VIBE / BOB AL-GREENE / Mashable

Crescendo

Mystery Vibe

A Swiss Army Knife of toys, this bendable, inclusive powerhouse justifies its price by letting you experiment in countless ways (their Playbook has some ideas). One con is its overwhelming app with a paralyzing amount of customization options. Like all Bluetooth-enabled toys, it drops connection often, so just preset your favorite patterns onto the vibe. Though I didn’t try it, Unbound’s Bender might be a cheaper, simpler alternative for a similar concept.Credit: Mashable Composite: CRAVE  / BOB AL-GREENE / MASHABLE

Vesper

Crave

Break the sex toy taboo with a gorgeous necklace that’s also a pinpoint clitoral stimulator designed to get you off wherever and whenever you want. Wearing the Vesper turns your shame into an unapologetic pride. While not the most powerful, it’s perfect for those nervous about introducing toys into partnered sex since unscrewing it from your necklace is sexier than fumbling for one in your bedside table.Credit: Mashable Composite: Dame  / BOB AL-GREENE / 

Fin

Dame

In a word: life-changing. The simple genius of the Fin is that it puts the power of a bullet between your fingers, making it seamless to use in any position during penetrative sex and one of the best toys for closing the orgasm gap. Despite access to countless other vibrators 4 times more expensive, I dubbed Fin “old faithful,” cause I could always count on it like clockwork to deliver a geyser-level explosion.Credit: Mashable Composite: We-Vibe  / BOB AL-GREENE / MASHABLE

Tango

We-Vibe

A personal favorite as my first vibe ever, the Tango’s been a classic, powerful, beloved bullet for years that’s simple and gets the job done. If you’re more sensitive to vibration, prefer the soft silicone feel, more fluttering sensation, or an adjustable tip, try Dame’s equally great Kip.Credit: Mashable Composite: Womanizer / Bob Al-Greene / MASHABLE 

Womanizer Premium

Womanizer

Worst name for one of the greatest gifts to clitorises, this legend uses suction instead of vibration. Lining it up is tricky at first, but once I did, the orgasm ripped forth from my body in seconds along with an involuntary scream. No toy is a guarantee for all, but this is the closest and an alternative for those not jiving with vibing. Premium includes a quiet motor and autopilot mode perfect for newbies. But cheaper models don’t disappoint.
Credit: Mashable Composite: WE-VIBE  / BOB AL-GREENE / MASHABLE

Nova

We-Vibe

Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend rabbits for beginners because they look intimidating, are a bit unwieldy to figure out at first, and often not all they’re cracked up to be. But since it’s one of the most popular and well-known types, I suggest one of the only ones I found with enough bend, power, and adjustability to provide the amount of clitoral stimulation needed for a variety of bodies. 

Credit: Mashable

Nigerians are at the mercy of non State actors: Urgent Letter to Dominic Raab from Baroness (Caroline) Cox, Lord (Rowan) Williams, Lord (David) Alton, Mervyn Thomas CMG, Ayo Adedoyin

Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
26 July 2021

Dear Dominic,

The recent FCDO Report on Human Rights and Democracy does not list Nigeria as a priority country,
despite daily reports of terrorist violence, mass forced displacement, the rise in abductions for ransom
and a general backsliding on democratic practices.

Nigerian citizens are currently at the mercy of non-state actors who have been allowed to evolve and now have the capacity to shoot down a fighter jet, as has recently occurred in Kaduna state. Given the scale and depth of suffering, we would be very grateful if you could respond to each of the following urgent concerns.

Violations of freedom of religion or belief
• We are encouraged by your broad commitment to reduce levels of violence in Nigeria. We also share your deep concern over the continuation of terrorist attacks against Muslims and Christians in the north-east.
• We are disappointed, however, by your characterisation of violence in the Middle Belt, which is among the country’s gravest security challenges and deserving of a robust response. We urge the UK to allocate humanitarian aid to the Middle Belt, in addition to UK aid to the north-east.
• While you commit to “continue to look at ways to address” the complex drivers of violence in the Middle Belt, it remains unclear whether this includes addressing the religious dimension – particularly as religious affiliation is instrumentalised increasingly to recruit or inspire violent acts,1 and predominantly-Christian communities are attacked for reasons connected with their faith.
• The FCDO report refers to violence by the same non-state actors in the north-east and the Middle Belt, with no mention of targeted attacks largely against Hausa Muslim communities in the north-west, Igbo communities in the south-east and Yoruba communities in the southwest.
The report also fails to cite the seminal two-year-long inquiry by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on International FoRB, published in June 2020, which describes in detail violations of Freedom of Religion or Belief, and which poses the question whether genocide is unfolding in Nigeria.

Case study: #ENDSARS protests
• There are now widespread concerns that human rights violations take place with a degree of official complicity and that the Nigerian Government only occasionally investigate or prosecute those responsible for such crimes. The Government give the unfortunate impression of being as quick to pardon, rehabilitate and release ‘repentant’ terrorists as to harass and shoot protestors who make legitimate calls for justice and reform in a peaceful manner.
• The FCDO report claims that, as the #ENDSARS protests grew in number, “there were some clashes between protesters and the Nigerian security services, including the police and army.”
There were no clashes between #ENDSARS protestors and security services. Rather, thugs appear to have been sent to attack the protestors,3 while the security forces consistently used excessive force,4 even prior to the killings at the Lekki Toll Gate.
• Footage showed these thugs damaging property and attacking civilians. There is also video evidence of police shooting at individuals in Sabon Gari, the Christian district of Kano City, to terrorise residents at night.
• You will be aware of efforts within Nigeria to give #ENDSARS protest in the north a religious coloration so as to rally Muslim communities against the protests, who would otherwise have taken part.5 Northern governors later attempted to rebrand the legitimate protests as insurrections aimed at toppling President Buhari,6 which he himself recently stated on film.7
Other notable omissions
We understand that the FCDO’s annual report can only provide a snapshot of the most grievous violations of human rights, but it is a serious concern that it does not refer to any of the following
cases:
• The beheading of eleven Christian hostages by ISWAP on Christmas Day 2019.
• The execution of the chair of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Adamawa state, Reverend Lawan Andimi, by the Abubakar Shekau faction of Boko Haram on 20 January 2020.
• The profiling by ISWAP of travellers who are intercepted in the north-east, targeting Christians, people from Plateau State, members of the security services and humanitarian aid workers.
• The case of Leah Sharibu, who remains in captivity.
• The arbitrary arrest and detention of Professor Richard Solomon Musa Tarfa, co-founder of orphanages for vulnerable children in Kano and Kaduna states, and the removal of these children to a Government-run home in Kano with no access to education or to establishments of the religion or belief of their choice.
• The sentencing of a 13-year-old boy to ten years imprisonment and menial labour on blasphemy charges by a Sharia court in Kano state; and the death sentence handed to a musician who was deemed to commit blasphemy for a song he circulated via WhatsApp.
• The harassment of Dr Obadiah Mailafia, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who faced a six-hour interrogation session for sounding the alarm about the violence in Nigeria in general and southern Kaduna in particular, which is evolving in line with his warnings.
We and others have raised many of these urgent concerns with you, Nigel Adams and Catriona Laing on numerous occasions, especially since 2015. Yet we have received no assurance of a shift in UK foreign policy to reflect the urgency of the crisis, while successive FCDO reports have failed to reflect
the critical decline in security that is causing seasoned observers increasingly to refer to Nigeria as a failing or failed state.8
We therefore urge you to re-consider how the FCDO could shine a light on the erosion of human rights and democracy in Nigeria. We urge you to list Nigeria as a priority country.

We would be very grateful for the opportunity to discuss these matters with you in more detail.

Yours sincerely,

Baroness Cox, Founder and CEO, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART)
Lord Alton of Liverpool
Dr Rowan Williams
Mervyn Thomas CMG, Founder President, CSW
Ayo Adedoyin, CEO, International Organisation for Peace & Social Justice (PSJ-UK)

1 As emphasised by US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, on 8 December,
following the US State Department’s decision to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern because of FoRB
violations and escalating ‘religious-tinged violence’.
2 As emphasised in the Bishop of Truro’s review, whose recommendations the UK Government have agreed to
implement in full

3https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/421724-endsars-how-thugs-attacked-us-at-cbn-headquartersprotesters.
html; https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/-armed-thugs-attack-protesters-in-nigeria-s-capital/2006685;
https://twitter.com/bertram_hill1/status/1318616370318368771?s=20; https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/countrychapters/nigeria
4 https://punchng.com/hrw-seeks-prosecution-of-police-officers-harassing-endsars-protesters/
5 https://dailypost.ng/2020/10/20/end-sars-thugs-attack-christian-procession-in-kogi-beat-up-pastors-abduct-three/;
https://mbasic.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10222692754284231&id=1134900901&refid=17&ft=mf_story_ke
y.10222692754284231%3Atop_level_post_id.10222692754284231%3Atl_objid.10222692754284231%3Acontent_own
er_id_new.1134900901%3Athrowback_story_fbid.10222692754284231%3Aphoto_id.10222692750004124%3Astory_l
ocation.4%3Astory_attachment_style.photo%3Athid.1134900901%3A306061129499414%3A2%3A0%3A1604213999
%3A6955209647237518218&tn=%2As-R
6 https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/422613-endsars-northern-governors-sue-for-peace-condemnviolence.
html
7 https://punchng.com/endsars-protest-was-to-remove-me-from-office-buhari/

8 https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/05/27/nigeria-is-a-failed-state/; https://www.ft.com/content/9abc218d-3881-4bfd-8951-
e76336cde94f; https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-with-nigeria-verging-on-failed-state-status-west-africaarrives-
at-a/

Obi Cubana’s lavish burial of his mother, By Onyeka Onwenu

•Obi Cubana

“Ndigbo are therefore accused of not being good citizens of Nigeria, of seeking to dismember it. But others are allowed to openly advocate for bandits, killers, kidnappers, terrorists and rampaging herdsmen from neighbouring countries. We even pay them huge sums of our money to be a little nicer while destroying our country.”

I told a friend just days before the most outrageous burial of Iyom Ezinne Uche Iyiegbu in Oba, Anambra State in July that I had given my family instructions as to how to bury me when my time comes. Do it quickly, quietly and privately. Celebrate me with prayers, lunch or dinner afterwards. Share some jokes about me and laugh. Mourn, yes but not excessively. Make merriment and then go about your business. If my friends want to celebrate me, they should do so while I am alive so that I can enjoy it with them, not when I am gone and have no idea. That is me Onyeka Onwenu.

My mother on the other hand wanted a different burial and I promised to give her what she wanted. On her hospital bed, just three days before she passed away, I reinforced that promise – it was important to her and she died knowing that I would keep my word. Hope Onwenu’s burial was nothing like what took place in Oba recently but it was elaborate and pretty expensive. Still I had the satisfaction that I kept my promise.

The point I make here is that there are different strokes for different folks, even within a family. I do not condemn anyone for how they mourn, with their own hard-earned money but I am very uncomfortable with the lavish display of wealth on any occasion, especially in a time of hardship and lack for most others. The burial of Obi Cubana’s mother was not only lavish, it was obscene and insensitive. It sent all the wrong signals at a time when Nigeria is wracked with widespread poverty and lack.

But so long as he and his supportive friends stole nobody’s money to do what they did my outrage has abated. I will not call for them to be hanged on the stake as some have done. These reactions have been extreme and just as mindless as the conspicuous display of wealth we witnessed at the burial ceremony. Obi Cubana and his friends did not invent the art of spraying, neither are they the first to show off stupendous wealth in a wild celebration of any kind. But in an age of invasive social media, our senses are instantly bombarded with images of sheer madness where caution is thrown to the wind and we are regaled with images of sheer debauchery. We ask: is this all necessary?

I condemn it all. It does not reflect the Igbo culture that I grew up in. Ndigbo would not condone the conspicuous display of wealth. If you were found doing that, your close and extended family, your community would send a delegation to you, to ask about your source of the wealth you are throwing about. You would be ostracised if you had no convincing evidence of legitimate work. All that changed at the end of the Nigeria/Biafra conflict. Ndigbo were deprived of their money, their oil wells and towns exercised from Imo and Abia States, their property termed abandoned and taken from them. They were forced to rebuild with no help and no compensation. It therefore became every person to themselves. Having money meant that you could get things done and like every other Nigerian society, our priorities were turned upside down. People no longer asked how and where you got your money. The point was that you had it. Our values may have been eroded but we have to fight back to regain them, to ensure our survival as the decent and hardworking people that we truly are.

However, what I find equally deplorable in this whole debate, is the strenuous effort to tag the people of the Southeast, Ndigbo, with all manner of negative attributes because Obi Cubana is Igbo. This is not surprising. It has always been the case. When there is unexplainable hatred, some people are bound to give a dog a bad name so that they can justify hanging it.

Take IPOB for another example. If you are Igbo you are automatically one of them. It is worse if you dare believe that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB have a right to ask for a referendum as given in the constitution, that they have a right to protest or complain about the violation of their rights as equal stakeholders in Nigeria.


We say in Igbo: a naghi e ti nwata ihe ma napu ya i bee akwa’. You do not beat a child and then prevent him from crying. It is inhuman, an extremely cruel and unusual punishment.

Ndigbo are therefore accused of not being good citizens of Nigeria, of seeking to dismember it. But others are allowed to openly advocate for bandits, killers, kidnappers, terrorists and rampaging herdsmen from neighbouring countries. We even pay them huge sums of our money to be a little nicer while destroying our country.

It may be a defensive reflex but some people see nothing wrong with the opulent burial in the Oba Kingdom of Anambra State, the famed land of Igbo billionaires. In fact, Obinna Iyiegbu did them proud by showing what a young man from the ‘Dot’ nation could do, himself and his crop of young Igbo billionaires. Obi CUBANA is a testimony of what hard work and a charitable heart can do, they say. Recall that the President of Nigeria, the father of the nation, President Muhammadu Buhari, had recently and derisively referred to the people of the Southeast as a dot in a circle, who have no means of escaping what was coming to them, being treated in the manner they are accustomed to.

The arguments of Obi Cubana’s supporters make sense on some level but I disagree on one major point. The incredibly lavish and outrageously expensive burial of the century sent all the wrong signals to the world, including the young people of Nigeria. For me, it did nothing in it’s garish display but besmirch the essence of a dignified burial for a woman well deserving of it.

Throwing bundles of freshly minted money at people on the streets, and inside the Church is not my idea of showing respect for the dead. Neither is the report that young ladies from schools far and near left their academic pursuits to present themselves to the rich friends of Obi Cubana and their entourage a palatable one to hear.

As a performing artiste, I am familiar with ‘spraying’, the practice of pasting money on or around a singer, to show appreciation for their performance. I also know that when singing in church we ask anyone who is moved by the performance to give money to the Lord for ministry. When things are done in moderation they are more acceptable and their meaning understood. The reverse is true when excessive displays are made and a good gesture is obscured by garishness and thoughtless exhibitionism.

There are however, a few takeaways from this obscene exercise that played itself out in Oba. Let us give some credit to Obinna Iyiegbu for some of the positive things about his success story that have now come to light. We hardly knew him before his mother’s burial. It turns out that he has raised and continued to raise up so many others, even as he himself made it up the rungs of success. Such reckless generosity is rare but I can draw comparisons with people like MKO Abiola of blessed memory. We need more philanthropy in every part of Nigeria. Let those who can afford it, go round and lift others up from poverty and lack. Nigeria is blessed, her people have no business with hunger and depravity.

To Nigerians for whom Igbo hating has become a sport, I say this: Stop wasting your time tagging and castigating Ndigbo for whatever reasons. The dislike and hatred of Ndigbo seems to be a uniting factor for the rest of the country, we know. But let us be fair to one another. As we see the bad, let us also see the good. They both reside side by side in any group of people in Nigeria.

Recently, Harvard University and others around the world have begun the study and teaching of the Apprenticeship programme of Ndigbo, describing it as the largest business incubation programme in the world. A successful trader, dealer, importer, distributor or manufacturer takes on young people who serve, work for them, learning the trade as they go along. At the end of their training, the ‘master’ settles the ex-trainee by helping to finance their new business venture. This way they guided to independence and hopefully prosperity. Did Nigeria take note of this recognition? Mba nu! It took the outside world to spot and highlight this very positive quality in the Igbo culture which has benefitted the economy of Nigeria to no end.

Ndigbo are found mainly in the Southeast of Nigeria, comprising Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Abia State. Also in the South South, and Middlebelt – in Kogi, Benue, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Delta State. They are also found in counties such as Haiti, Zambia and Equitorial Guinea. They are known for their industry and resilience, demonstrated by their ability to recover and thrive in the midst of evident marginalization and discrimination. Igbos survived a brutal genocidal war in 1967 which lasted for three bloody years. They withstood the onslaught with the recognition of a handful of other developing countries, against a combination of superpowers like the UK, US, Soviet Union and China on the other hand. Over three million people were piped out in the process. The Nigerian civil war or Biafran war as some choose to call it has been described as the worse since the Jewish Holocaust. Ndigbo remind me of the beetle which cannot be destroyed.

•Onyeka Onwenu is a singer/songwriter, actor, politician and public administrator. She is a social critic and the author of the highly acclaimed memoir, My Father’s Daughter. Her Book can be found in major bookstores and on Amazon.

“If A BBNaija Winner Can Get N90m Why Can’t A Best Graduating Student” – Lecturer & Twitter User, Dipo Awojide Questions Nigerians’ Priorities

Popular Twitter user and lecturer Dipo Awojide has thrown a query on the possibility of a best graduating student getting a cash prize of N90m like the BBNaija winner.

This year’s BBNAIJA winner goes home with N90M after the 90 days reality show.

According to him, universities give 10k and a useless handshake to the best brains.

He wrote;

“If a #BBNajia winner can get N9OM in cash price there is no reason why best graduating students across our prestigious federal and state universities should be getting N5K, N1OK or a useless handshake. We must do better. Academic excellence should be celebrated!

I am trying to save all of us the embarrassment of begging other countries. I am advocating for ways for us to become a true African giant.

I am not criticizing entertainment. Enjoy but don’t lose focus☺️🤷🏽‍♂️.

Until we prioritize the education sector and invest in our youth, it is likely we will continue begging for ‘ventilators and vaccines’ from countries that see education and research as priorities.”

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hO8MDNnSVyQ%3Fautoplay%3D1%26controls%3D1

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Meanwhile, one of the new housemates Yerin, a few hours into the show, was called out over an unpaid debt.

It looks like it’s going to be a very interesting season ahead as it didn’t take minutes before stories about the just-announced housemates began popping out.

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OneTwitter user, @Miss_Ameenah made series of tweets narrating how the housemate refused to pay one of her friends before heading into the Big Brother House.

She had tweeted;

“This Yerins guy borrowed money from my friend and has refused to pay for the past 1 year, uncle don carry am go BBN.

“Me I am sha saying it now. I don’t care if the money is no biggy, he should better pay her her hard-earned money. He has been lying he doesn’t have it, but he can go for bbn.

“He should sha win the one he will pay her back.

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The Bishop and the businessman:why modern christianity will not save Nigeria

by Moses Oludele Idowu

” Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”
– Blaise Pascal

INTRODUCTION

The sacking of scores of “pastors” by the Living Faith Church a.k.a Winners Chapel is currently generating heat on the internet. The matter has been trending for the past one week.
I’m usually not bothered about this kind of stuff because I know the modern church too well. However, the responses of some to the sack and the distortion of Scripture in the process angered me and has provoked this comment from me.
Let me say this from the onset: most Nigerians are ignorant. And I am not talking of those who were deprived of the benefits of formal education; rather I am talking of those who passed through the four walls of university. The reasons for this are many and not far fetched. A mediocre education, an illiterate self- serving press, I’ll- informed media organs and persons who take upon themselves the task of public information dissemination – and more have conspired over the years to make Nigerians a special breed.
It is therefore not surprising that Nigerians even end up supporting and fighting for their oppressors because they don’t know.
Most of the comments I read on Facebook were even supportive of Winners Chapel for sacking the “unfruitful pastors.”
The most shocking of all was the comment posted by Reno Omokri, a former spokesman of the terribly corrupt President Jonathan and a pastor to boot. Hear him:

“I read the letter from Winners Chapel and it did not mention anything about money. Rather it used the word ‘church growth’. Christ called us to engage in evangelism – Matthew 28:18-20
” Any pastor that fails at that core duty should be sacked. This is what Christ told us in Matthew 25: 14 -29″

That was Omokri. The distortion of the words of Christ from another context is annoying.
You can see he was equating evangelism with soul winning/ church growth whereas the two are not the same. Also he conveniently fails to mention the timing and the terrain. How much growth do you expect from someone in a place after only 1 year and in a terrain already suffused with churches?
Omokri should have read this passage in his Bible: “I have planted, Apollo watered but God gave the increase”. Can a human being caused a church to grow without the help of the Holy Spirit? This is why I have said that our pastors are not building churches but franchises.
That is why they are always after numbers, growth, money, remittances etc. Winners, RCCG etc are mostly involved in this. The method used to bring the people whether orthodox or not, is immaterial.
We have left the New Testament Template long ago and it would take several generations and even judgment to bring the Church back on line. Because a whole generation of pastors, entire seminaries, an assortment of books and battery of preachers have been released and unhinged, let loose with these false methods into the world to produce after their own image. It would take a long time to wean the Church from these heresies and the damages they have done.
Both Apostle Paul and many early missionaries would be branded failures by the standard of our mega churches today.

Let us now go into the issues:

THE 10,000 CHURCH’ MANDATE

According to the sacked pastor, Peter Godwin he was employed with others to execute the “Mandate given to their bishop by the Lord for the establishing of 10,000 churches.”
Let us start from here. I want to contest this. Christ will never give anybody a mandate to build a number of churches. He never will.
Why?
Because He cannot contradict Himself. He won’t ask you to go to the farm without first providing the hoe and the cutlass. He created the grass before He created cattle. That is His method. He is a very orderly Person.
He won’t ask you to build 10,000 churches without first calling 10, 000 pastors to man the churches.
Pastors are not simply employed, they are called.
This is the confusion that churches are now perpetrating in our land today leading to numerous atrocities by uncalled, ill- equipped, ill- prepared pastors.
God is not going to tell anyone to build 10,000 churches or build a church at every 50 meters. That is not God, that is human ambition fueled by human ego merely responding to the age of success in which we now live where everything is judged by size and by profit.
A RCCG Area pastor recently resigned because he could no longer generate the required sum demanded by the headquarters. His story is on YouTube.
It is the same story because these churches or franchises are motivated by the same religious philosophy and marketing principles. They have brought the methods of Babylon to the Land of Zion. That is why they are always talking of Performance review appraisal, growth index, financial projections… Just like any franchise.
These are not the churches that will save Nigeria. Mark my words: the more churches of these kinds you have in Nigeria the more Nigeria will fall from one crisis to another. Do you see why evil is compounding as churches are multiplying? Because they are not really churches but franchises.

THE “UNFRUITFUL” PASTOR AND THE TERRAIN

Most of the Facebook comments quoted in the Punch newspaper including Reno Omokri supported Winners Chapel because they do not know the issues involved. They were commenting in ignorance, a common characteristics of Nigerians.
The said pastor Godwin was posted to Ekiti State on 28th August 2020. How much of the religious history and background of Ekiti do these people know. Not all terrains are the same even in marketing.
I know something about Ekiti State and planting churches in Ekiti because I have been involved. In 1988 I was one of those who in cooperation with a pastor successfully planted a church in Ado- Ekiti which today have become a fruitful church ministry. It was not a one- year project.
I know others who came to the same town at the same time to plant a church but failed and left after few years. Ekiti is a difficult terrain.
Why?
Because Ekiti people are not strangers to CHRISTIANITY. Most of the earliest apostles who spread the Gospel for CMS were from Ekiti and buried there. The Babamubonis, Shadrach Moguns, etc. The earliest apostles of Apostolic Movement in Nigeria also operated and lived in Ekiti and were buried there. The Joseph Babalolas, Emmanuel Omotundes, Michael Obisesan etc. These were messengers of power who demonstrated the Gospel of power.
So Ekiti people are not strangers to CHRISTIANITY, they may not live like Christians but they know what CHRISTIANITY is or what it should look like. That is not the kind of place you will attract crowd in just 1 year. It is not possible. Even with juju it won’t work with Ekiti people because they are naturally stubborn and resistant; until you can prove that you know what you are doing and you are sincere.
Especially when it is the rural areas of Ekiti. Don’t also forget that there are existing churches who have been there and on ground. They too are doing evangelism and everywhere is suffocated with churches. So what chance does a greenhorn, a new pastor have who is stranger to the terrain and ignorant of the history within only 1 year?

From the remarks given by the Winners’ Zonal headquarters in Ekiti and the bishop of the church at Ota you can see some alignment although attempts are now been made to deny that it was about money.

According to the Church at Ekiti Godwin was told that “the church does not operate at a loss…total income generated from a station should be able to cater for welfare…”

This shows what the whole performance appraisal is all about: to square or balance the budget. True, the Church is a spiritual organ but it is also an institution that runs on.money.
As the Church should however be aware even in stock investments few, very few will yield any substantial profit in just 1 year. That is even in the world of business. How much more in a spiritual field and terrain.

However the bishop’s response throws up another issue. He said Winners have enough money, so much money in fact that they never took overdraft. And the pastors were sacked for failure.

“Money? Nonsense. We have never lacked it and yet we have never prayed for it.”

Really? So why do Winners Church still emphasize it if she has so much? Why do they hand out tithe and pledge cards to members and even newcomers? Why charge so much in your schools if you have so much money? It is self- indictment.

The bishop said they were sacked for failure. This introduces another complex elements into the equation.
What is failure and how do you define failure? How are you so sure that what is called failure today may not in fact be the greatest success tomorrow?
Heaven has a different scale of measurements different from the earth.
Jesus died actually as s failure from the natural or earthly standpoint. Yet out of that failure came the greatest success ever witnessed on planet earth.
Stephen died a failure. But his “failure” produced one Saul of Tarsus who became Paul and the rest as they say is history.
When bishop Oyedepo himself started in 1983 how many years did it take him to gather
100 and this with the support of several dedicated friends who supported him, many of who I personally know?
Our churches has been completely taken up with the tyranny of figures. We want numbers by all means even if there is no sign of conversion and no fruits of the Spirit following their lives as long as we have many people in the Church we are okay. Our goal is about figures not spirituality or Heaven. That is what makes modern church very similar, in some respects, to a cult except that even cults have discrimination and discretion in accepting people.
It is a serious thing when a person could be fired who have not been caught in any wrongdoing or ungodly acts and not found wanting in anything simply because the figures do not balance. In a true Church it is God who brings the increase; all a pastor could do is to offer his best. To punish a man or throw him away just like a spanner does not show the love of God and a misrepresentation of the Gospel of historic CHRISTIANITY.
I would not have said anything but since the Name of Christ has been mentioned and attempt being made by some to use the words of Christ to rubber stamp a system of injustice, I feel duty bound to make this comment.
Our churches should be careful that they do not push young people into occultism or witchcraft all for the sake of getting results. We have departed from the patterns of the New Testament and it is sad.
However, in a sense Bishop Oyedepo may be right. Churches today are run like business enterprises not as spiritual entities. But even as business model one year in a difficult terrain is too short a time to judge.
What this also shows is that the secular world is even more just than the church both in their methods and their compassion.

THE BISHOP AND THE BUSINESSMAN

I want to close the essay. At the same time when this controversy over the sack of 40 pastors from Winners Chapel was trending I saw a statement released by a business man who just buried his mother named Obi Cubana and when I compared the statement with that of the bishop of Winners Chapel I was sad.
Soon I will quote the two men and you too will see why I was sad and why the modern church, of the type that we now have won’t save Nigeria.

First let us hear the bishop of Winners Chapel from his own video and in his own words:

“Nonsense, money, we don’t pray for money. We have never lacked it and yet we have never prayed for it.
“(We) have no patience with failure, sacked because of failure.
“We asked you to go because you are unfruitful. Unfruitful! Blatant failure. Doing what there? We have no patience with failure here.”

That was David Oyedepo on why he sacked pastors after just one year for not bringing results.

Now let us hear Obi Cubana, a business man:

“In 2013, I pushed 53 uneducated Oba boys into the market to learn trading.
In 2017, I withdrew all of them from their Ogas and settled all of them with 3 million naira each and paid for their shops.

” I linked 40 of them into importation and made them use my name and platform to import goods into the country. After two years, I checked on them how they were doing and find out SOME HAD ISSUES AND I SUPPORTED THEM AGAIN TO STAND.” [ My emphasis]

In their own words. The trouble is Nigerians don’t know how to think. God is speaking to us every day but we cannot perceive it because we have no eyes to see and no ears to hear.

Now read the two comments again and see the following:

  • Both were billionaires.
  • One a bishop of the Church, the other a “bishop” of the world of business.
  • One sent out pastors and after 1 year discovered they failed.
  • The other sent out trainee business men empowered with his own money and checked on them after two years.He discover some didn’t do well.

Now watch the different reactions:

The bishop of the Church sacked his own trainee pastors for failure.
The business man after two years gave another money to recapitalize their businesses that were failing and gave them a second chance.

But pastors and bishops who preach about the “God of second chance” could not give their own that second chance to try.

Now I ask you these questions:

Which of these two methods show the love of Christ and the way of God?
If you were God or Christ which of these methods would you bless? Do you see why God is blessing Igbo people in spite of their manifest flaws and shortcomings?
People are talking rubbish comparing the sacked pastors to Jesus Parable of the Talent. This is rubbish.
A more appropriate Parable is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. So between Obi Cubana the business man and the Oyedepo the bishop, which of them from their own statement above, has been a good neighbor?
Do you see why the Church cannot convert the world because the way of the world seems even more just than the way of the Church. That is why our nation is not been converted in spite of the numerous franchises everywhere that we call churches.

Someone has served a church for years and in his old age he is asked to go just like that. No retirement benefits, nothing. Which work is he going to start again at his age having used the major portion of his life for the Church?
But the government still pays pensions and gratuity to its retired staff. Which, then is more just than the other?
That is why the spirit of modern Christianity won’t save the world. There must be a new spirit, another spirit – the spirit of Apostolic CHRISTIANITY.

  • I welcome rebuttals from any angle over the views expressed here which I am willing to defend.

For.more from this author visit:
www.apostolicchristianity.net
www.Africangenerals.com
www.academia.edu./moses Idowu

©️ Moses Oludele Idowu
July 24, 2021
All Rights Reserved

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