It’s an illness that fills our news pages on an almost daily basis. Juliette Jowit asks what causes depression, who is susceptible and what the best treatment is
What is depression?
Depressed people don’t all shuffle around with a long face, or cry at any provocation. MentalHealth.gov, a US government website, defines it as “losing interest in important parts of life”. Symptoms include eating or …………………………Continue from this link
In April 2016, I moved in to my current apartment. The apartment was still connected to an old meter and there was an outstanding payment of about N385,000.00 to be paid.
This wasn’t revealed to me before I made payment for the rent, as usual (that’s how they all do)
This became a worry and an absolute headache.
I asked the landlord why it was so and she made me understand that the apartment was not in use for 5years.
I asked how come it wasn’t reported to NEPA so they’d stop the billing, she gave me a copy of the letter she wrote to them
So I took the matter up, wrote several mails to Eko electricity company and the matter was on for 11months, note that in the space of this 11 months, I never got a monthly bill lesser than 24,000.00
You want to ask if I have a factory in my apartment? No I don’t.
So it extended from wanting the company to zerorize the ridiculous outstanding balance in the billing account to fighting and contesting the outrageous billing system which do not in any way represent my true electricity consumption and wanting a Prepaid Meter
The battle began.
After several exchange of mails between myself and Eko Electric and no solution was forthcoming, I moved the matter to NERC, the regulatory body for all electricity distribution companies in Nigeria.
I filed a petition against Ekedp and the undertaking in charge of my area.
Lo and behold, after three days from the petition submission to NERC, I got a call from the marketing manager for my area pleading for me to make myself available to allow them come to my house and take inventory of the electrical appliances I use.
NERC is working yeah? Right.
A staff of the Ekedp came to take the inventory and at the end of the computations, we calculated and multiplied each appliance by the estimated units they consume per day and multiplied by 31days.
Recall I said I never got a bill less than 24k in a month?
Then we arrived at a figure that even the Eko electric staff who came to take the inventory opened his mouth and couldn’t close it.
What I should be billed based on having 24hour light per day(which is not even possible) in 31 days was 4,800.00
I almost ran mad.
I took a copy of the report, scanned it and attached it to my next petition to NERC.
At this point, the marketing manager attached to my undertaking had started calling and begging me to stop the petitions.
That they could all get sacked if matters gets escalated further.
Then in September 2017, after all the troubles and how I never got tired if pursuing the issue, I got a mail from Eko electricity to come with some required documents in order to fill a form for a PREPAID METER.
I went there and did as they requested
At Last.
On 27 November 2017, I was on leave.
I was at my gate then this Alfa looking guy was parading and trying to see house number on the fence. My instinct told me to ask if he was asking for Ayo, then he said yes
He was the prepaid meter installer, he was with my new prepaid meter
I also recall that before the whole issue started, I was discouraged severally that I can never be given prepaid meter due to the outstanding balance on the billing account, I paid no mind to all the people that said that and went ahead with my case.
I got the Prepaid meter for FREE. After a week, bill was brought and boom, outstanding balance has been cleared from 385,000.00 to zero balance.
How did I achieve this?
I mean I didn’t pay a dime to anyone and I never for once bribed my way in all my dealings.
I achieved this simply because;
Now imagine how many people are out there who don’t even know how to go about such tedious and draining process.
I learnt that a lot of people even paid as much as 40k to get the prepaid meter. Something that’s supposed to be free.
Since the prepaid meter was installed in November 27 2017, I have not exhausted the 303 units that came with it which is calculated to be 7,200.00
And I still have 140units left to use.
That’s over four (4) months now
Do you now see why these people will never allow dream of every homes having a prepaid meter become a reality?
Because such development will block all holes where the electricity distribution corrupt members of staff perpetrate their fraudulent activities and corruption from.
They know that they will be forced to give light more in order to generate revenue and will not be able to charge people outrageously as they are currently doing and remitting the proceeds of their criminal act to their pockets.
Stand up and Fight for what is your right.
Prepaid meter is your right, fight for it to the letter.
If you believe that your monthly electricity bill do not represent your consumption, make a case.
If you’re in Lagos, Ikeja Electricity company and Eko electricity company are there for you.
If they fail, involve NERC.
That will be all, for now.
Due to popular demand, these are the email addresses you can forward your complaints to –
Ikeja Electricity Distribution – [email protected]
Eko Electricity Distribution – [email protected]
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission – [email protected]
#Copied
I remember very proudly when I finally gained admission after several attempts of writing JAMB. Almost 3 years prior to gaining admission, I had my WASSCE grades but I could not seem to get through with JAMB. I recall my grandmother walking up to me one night, while I was reading, and telling me that she believed in me and when the time was just right, I was going to get into the university. I did, one year after she passed on. My journey of preparing and waiting for admission, as was my family tradition, was communal. Everyone was a part of everything, except going with you for examinations. They prayed with you, hoped with you and were for some reason assured that you will breakthrough soon. It was a taboo to suggest that you wanted to do a diploma or needed help with “PROCESSING” your admission. That precious day, after printing my JAMB Result from a cybercafé, at the bottom there was a place written “ADMISSION STATUS: ADMITTED”. This meant that I finally got in. So, we waited a few more days and went to check if my name was on the list. Yes, it was. I scored 219 and was getting in on the indigene 210 cut off point. I can remember the joy in my home that week.
Amidst the celebration, my uncle, Bobby reached out to me and said “I want you to know, that if you decide that you want to graduate with a first class, it is very possible. I hear the stories about lecturers victimizing students, but I want you to know that you can go through school without being victimized. Whatever you do, do not miss classes, do not forget to submit your assignments on time or miss a test. Do not, have reason to go to a lecturer to ask for a favour or consideration. You have to work hard. We do not have the money to sort. Read and you will make the grades you work for.” Those words of advice stuck with me, through trying times. Everyone needs an Uncle Bobby.
From March 12th to 23rd 2018, thousands of women from every corner of the globe, braved the blizzards and cold in New York to be part of big decisions about rights of women and girls in rural areas. For two weeks, representatives of United Nations Member States, civil society organisations and United Nations agencies partook in the 62nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at United Nations Headquarters, with the priority theme: “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls’.
CSW is a Commission of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established in 1946 and dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. While progress are discussed, gaps are highlighted in the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Platform For Action( BPFA) as well as emerging issues that affects gender equality and empowerment of women and girls all over the globe . It is the largest gathering of all UN Member State and other stakeholders that is focused on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The President Muhammadu Buhari (APC)-led Federal Government on Friday published the names of persons who under the Goodluck Jonathan (PDP)-led administration had allegedly looted the treasury of the country. The list which contained six names of high-profile members of the Peoples Democractic Party (PDP) was published in response to the taunting of the Federal Government by the PDP that it makes true allegations of “looting” by publishing the names of persons it claims have looted.
While some have criticized the list for containing only six names despite the high premium the Buhari-led administration claims to be placing on the anti-corruption war, others have criticized the list for containing no names of members of the present APC administration. The PDP has in response to the list debunked the allegations and named its own “list of looters” containing names of high profile members of the APC. This write-up, while trying as best as possible to avoid the politics of the issue, considers the list published by the federal government and advises on the need for caution in commentaries on matters pending before the courts.
It is an elementary point that under law and our constitution, a person charged with a criminal offence is presumed innocent until his guilt is proven. This is the essential theme of our criminal prosecution enshrined in Section 36(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended). It is therefore only a competent court that can pronounce the guilt of a person accused of an offence, and the courts in so doing must be allowed to reach a just conclusion independent of public sentiments from the court of public opinion.
Our criminal procedural laws, as imported from England, seem to slightly permit “suspects” or names of persons alleged to have committed offences to be published and the fact of the allegation may be subject to “fair comment” before the person is charged to court. Indeed, in DANIEL v. FRN (2013) LPELR-22148(CA), the court disagreed that extensive media publication before the trial of a case infringed on a Defendant’s right to fair hearing and a fair trial. However, when the matter becomes pending before the courts, continued commentary on the culpability or otherwise of a party in the case offends the subjudice rule and may, under some circumstances, be contempt of the proceedings of the court.
Looting of the national treasury is a serious offence which cannot be established save by a court of law.Whena matter has proceeded to and is before the courts, parties must refrain from commentary on the matter. In the UK case of R v. Socialist Worker (1975) QB 637, the attempts at publication of names of an accused when the courts had warned against same earned the publisher terms of imprisonment for contempt.
In Nigeria, while the publication of names of “alleged looters” may not particularly offend our laws or be complete grounds for action in defamation, the publication of names of those who have been charged to court, including statement of how much they allegedly stole, is no doubt an act which impedes the duty of the court in independently reaching a conclusion on the guilt of a person whose case pends before it and whose guilt is yet to be determined. There is therefore a serious need for caution, particularly as more comments may continue to generate on the said list. Such persons as Olisa Metuh and the former National Security Adviser who are already before competent courts should not have been published on a list that indirectly confirms them as “looters” when the court is yet exercising jurisdiction to determine the issue.
Indeed, this action by the Federal Government could greatly prejudice the right of the named persons to justice and was exactly what the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, cautioned against in his press briefing on 11th of January this year when he said, and I quote:
“The CJN wishes to remind the public that it is Contempt of Court for anyone to discuss any matter pending in any Court of Law in the country. The punishment for Contempt may include a term of imprisonment,”.
“In respect of criminal proceedings, it is forbidden for parties, their counsel or newspaper commentators to freely offer opinions in respect of matters pending in court, including any situation where a conviction has been entered but the convict’s appeal is pending at the appellate court.
‘We must not allow ‘trial by newspaper’ or ‘trial by television or trial by any medium other than the courts of law.’ I think that anything in the nature of prejudgment of a case or of specific issues in it is objectionable not only because of its possible effect on that particular case but, also, because of its side effects which may be far reaching.
“Responsible ‘mass media’ will do their best to be fair, but there will also be ill-informed, slapdash or prejudiced attempts to influence the public.
“If people are led to think that it is easy to find the truth, disrespect for the processes of the law could follow and, if mass media are allowed to judge, unpopular people and unpopular causes will fare very badly.
“Most cases of prejudging of issues fall within the existing authorities on contempt. I do not think that the freedom of the press would suffer, and I think that the law would be clearer and easier to apply in practice if it is made a general rule that it is not permissible to prejudge issues in pending cases.”See. http://sunnewsonline.com/cjn-warns-against-comments-on-pending-court-cases/
The CJN’s admonition is clear and incisive of this issue. The Federal Government is no doubt a party in all criminal trials it has initiated in courts against some named in the “alleged looters list” and the publication of the list has no effect other than to taking the cases already pending before courts to the court of public opinion for adjudication. Even though some may argue it was the opposition who “asked for it”, there is need for caution to intervene to avoid further and more full-blown commentaries on the issue.
IN CONCLUSION
It is the duty of the Government and all in society to preserve the machinery for the determination of rights and the preservation of justice: the courts. Judges do not possess adjudicatory authority because they are muscular men of strength, rather possess this authority because the society abides by their direction and respect their determination of rights and obligations as conferred upon them by our laws. The rule against subjudice acts or comments seeks to preserve this authority and if the other arms of government who should aid in ensuring the respect for the judiciary continue to recklessly engage in acts that derogate from its respect, the role of judiciary in ensuring of justice may become an illusionary concept and the rule of law; a theory we only read in law books. The Federal Government must therefore exercise caution and restraint in leading discuss on matters already under the adjudicatory authority of its own courts.
Oliver Omoredia Esq.
Associate Obiagwu & Obiagwu LLP
08100193573, [email protected]
To be clear, President Muhammadu Buhari has the inalienable right to gun for a second term if he so wishes but he must run on his records, not emotional blackmail and banalities. It is left for Nigerians to decide his fate at the ballot.
But to say that there is no alternative is not only a fallacy but an egregious insult to Nigerians.
Unless, of course, our idea of the president Nigeria deserves in 2019 is someone who is clueless and incapable of the mental rigours that 21st century governance demands, someone who is aloof and whose idea of leadership is to enjoy the accouterments of office without corresponding responsibility, a man adept at using state power in settling old scores. I stand to be corrected, no Nigerian leader can do better than President Buhari on these scores.
We die, literally, the day we stop dreaming. If Nigeria is to progress, there must be a shift in leadership paradigm. We don’t need messiahs. We need men who have the grit, intellect and emotional integrity to excel.
We must change the narrative by overhauling the defective leadership recruitment process with an alternative to a possible Buhari candidacy.
Read more: http://www.thenicheng.com/2019-no-alternative-president-buhari/
How many killings do we discuss everyday? Can you imagine the unfeeling country we operate where on Wednesday the killing of 23 in Taraba by herdsmen never made the big news list. Yes, that’s how base we have got that 23 persons killed in cold blood is no longer news.
What else would we expect when the army guarding the Dapchischool said they handed over the security of the area to the police and left, and after that Boko Haram invaded and took away 110 school kids without a trace? Who was it that informed Boko Haram when to attack when the guard was lowered? Police swiftly counter that they never got any mandate or met with the army because the entire state is still under high security alert with the army in charge. The rattled Governor Geidam of Yobe State has joined the fray in the blame game. While we do this, the abductors of our kids go farther away…
Today, those kids who escaped the abduction in the school vow not to return to the school, and this is a part of the country that had always suffered low school enrolment and worst of all for the girl child.
The story about Benue and Taraba is that up to 500,000 kids who were forced out of their schools to live as IDps due to incessant Fulani herdsmen attacks and killings are stranded and part of the change the APC planned to hand over to us. This same government that nags and riles us with talks of hate speech is continuously unleashing on all of us hate acts which are worse
Their hate acts escalate everyday with unspoken and unwritten mandate of allowing crises fester. There seems to be a deliberate ploy to cause bedlam in Nigeria and create a chance for what would make 2019 not a reality any longer. For real, if such plans are followed through by the planners, they would hasten a lot of things, including possibly the wrong ones. But no one prays for the wrong ones.
Read more: http://sunnewsonline.com/with-dapchi-things-really-get-worse/
It is cheering however that the Jama’atuNasril Islam (JNI), the Muslim umbrella body, had expressed deep concern over the abduction of the Dapchi school girls, insisting that the continuous abduction of school girls is a potent attempt to frustrate girl child education in Northern Nigeria.
The organisation in a statement lamented that despite the many enrolment campaign efforts for female education in the north, parents, particularly in the North East are worried about allowing their daughters go to school.
Well said. But the pertinent rhetoric is: It was Chibok; then Dapchi, where next? The reality of the manner of women being brazenly denigrated in the North East came to the fore on Tuesday 27th of February, 2018 when Hon. Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, from Pilachiroma in Hawul Local Government of Borno State retired as a justice of the Supreme Court having attained the constitutional retirement age of 70. It was AbubakarMahmuod (SAN), President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) who raised the heavy question? He asked thetorically: how many Justice Ogunbiyis were among those girls that have been taken over time?
Read more: http://authorityngr.com/2018/03/04/from-chibok-to-dapchi-an-end-to-this-madness/
Countless people in our hospitals have died of medical negligence. Unfortunately Nigerians are so ‘saintly’ that they prefer to leave everything to God.
People will regale you with sordid tales of what they or their friends/ relations went through in the hands of medical personnel in our hospitals; most of them notable ones. How they managed to survive. Yet, nobody is willing to do the needful. I’m talking about bringing them to book. Speaking to the relevant authorities or at least to people who will ensure that justice is done. Evil thrives in secrecy and until people begin to speak out, a lot more will die. Several others will leave with various kinds of health challenges.
Do you know that in the United States –
• 440,000 patients die every year from preventable medical errors. [Journal of Patient Safety]
• Preventable medical errors cost our country tens of billions of dollars a year. [Institute of Medicine]
• One in three patients who are admitted to the hospital will experience a medical error. [Health Affairs]
• Studies of wrong site, wrong surgery, wrong patient procedures show that “never events” are happening at an alarming rate of up to 40 times per week in U.S. hospitals. [Archives of Surgery]
• In 2014, the total spent defending claims and compensating victims of medical negligence accounted for just 0.2 percent of health care costs.
• Medical negligence cases represent approximately 0.2 percent of the overall civil caseload in state courts. [National Center for State Courts]
• Researchers at Harvard University found that 97 percent of cases were meritorious, concluding, “Portraits of a malpractice system that is stricken with frivolous litigation are overblown.” [New England Journal of Medicine]
Now what happens when preventable medical errors go unreported? How many more deaths and or life damaging errors are you going to keep quiet about? How many preventable medical errors occur in your local hospital not to talk about the major ones though it is not spoken about?
When Sandra David, a 29-year-old staff of the Bank of Agriculture, was in March diagnosed with gall bladder complications requiring surgical correction, she asked for only a few days off work and headed for the Federal Staff Hospital, FSH, Abuja. That was the beginning of a journey…
www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/219289-investigation-nigerian-hospital-medical-negligence-causes-death-women-babies.html
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