When it was announced that the presidency had passed CAMA into law, a particular PDF document was being shared on social media about how this law would aid the ease of doing business in Nigeria. To my greatest surprise, after reading through the Law, it is clear that religious bodies and charity organisations that have been giving succour to the oppressed people of Nigeria (who are denied basic amenities by the huge corruption in public service) will now be strictly regulated by the whims and caprices of the Registrar General of Corporate Affairs Commission and the Supervising Minister.
By virtue of section 839 of CAMA 2020 it provides that the commission may by order, suspend the trustees of an association and appoint an interim manager or managers to manage the affairs of an association where it reasonably believes that there has been any misconduct or mismanagement of the association, or where the affairs of the association are being run fraudulently or where it is necessary or desirable for the purpose of public interest. See Section 839(1).
Subsection 2 of Section 839 provides for another procedure for the suspension of trustees.
The trustees can also be suspended by an order of court upon a petition by the commission or one-fifth of the members of the association. However, the petitioners must present reasonable evidence or such as requested by the court. A comparative perusal of subsections 1 & 2 suggests that, while the court requires evidence, following a petition to suspend trustees, the commission simply needs to believe, to desire for some other interests disguised as public interest, to suspend trustees.
It also suggests that the powers of the commission override that of our courts. The belief and desires of the Registrar General and the Minister becomes superior to the judicial powers of the court under subsection 2.
Therefore, the conclusion is that petitioners do not need the court to suspend trustees. All they need to do is appeal to the belief and desires of the Registrar General or the supervising Minister.
Section 823 (1) recognises the appointment trustees by a community of persons bound by custom, religion, kinship or nationality. How then could the commission appoint a manager, who may not have anything in common with the community to manage the affairs of the association?
Section 839(7) provides that after an enquiry into the affairs of the association, if the commission is satisfied as to the matters in subsection (1) (where you have the ambiguous and dictatorial clauses like “reasonably believes”, “deem it necessary or desirable”, “public interest.”) it may suspend and remove any trustee.
Section 842 (2) gives the commission the power to direct transfer of credits in dormant accounts of NGOs. The banks are to inform the commission of dormant accounts of NGOs in its custody and if after 15 days there is no ‘satisfactory’ response from the association of evidence of its activities, the commission may (without any judicial proceedings) dissolve an association and direct a bank to transfer monies from the association’s dormant account to another account (without a court order). Even EFCC requires a court order to forfeit accounts This is the height of dictatorship in a country where the biggest crimes are committed by public officials.
CONCLUSION
Prof. Chidi Odinkalu had raised a red flag on similar provisions two years ago. It is now clear that this is a tactical manoeuvre to entrench the NGO Regulation Bill through the backdoor.
These provisions are pushing the nation into a dangerous terrain in a country with palpable religious tension regarding the licensing of religious organisation’s. . This is a country where the tax collected are not accounted for and inquiries via the Freedom of Information Bill are usually frustrated. There are various empirical evidence to show that lives have been touched by NGOs, but there is no evidence of the utilisation of collected revenues in the lives of average Nigerians.
The freedom of association as guaranteed by the constitution is sacred and should not be tampered with in a nation like Nigeria. NGOs and religious organisations are major sources of hope for an oppressed people. The UK Charity Commission represents a responsible government that has demonstrated integrity in the implementation of its budget and provision of basic amenities to its people. The idea of copying the jurisprudence behind the regulation of NGOs from other climes and pasting same on the CAMA 2020 is counter-productive- and our legislators need to rise above copying and be creative and bespoke in the formulation of policies. We need to focus on the utilisation of revenue collected by government to better the lives of the people.
▪︎ Adeniji is senior partner at Lawracles Legal Practitioners
World bank rates Nigeria’s illiteracy level at 62.02%. So out of the estimated population of over 200 million Nigerians, more than half of us are illiterates. The National Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria, reports that 40.1% of Nigerians are poor, on the “average 4 out of 10 individuals in Nigeria has real per capita expenditures below 137,430 Naira per year.”
According to HIIL, there are over 25 million legal problems per year in Nigeria, with only 10% problems reaching lawyers and out of that, 28% are on land disputes. Legal Aid is very low and only few Nigerians can access lawyers. So, how are over 100 million Nigerian illiterates and the literate but poor Nigerians solving their legal problems and accessing justice in Nigeria?
The Supreme Court of Nigeria, the apex court, has defined an illiterate as “… within the meaning of the Illiterate’s Protection Act is a person who is unable to read or write in any language, that is, a person who is totally illiterate; and that a person who is unable to read or write the language in which a particular document is written but can read and write in some other language, is not an illiterate within the meaning of the Illiterates’ Protection Act.” Per, UDO UDOMA, J.S.C ( Pp. 16-17, paras. E-C) in the case of LAWAL v. G.B OLLIVANT (NIG) LTD (1972) LPELR-1764(SC)
Also, the same court in defining an illiterate, further set a yardstick to determine a document made by an illiterate. “In the absence of evidence to the contrary, therefore, the fact that a person thumb-impressed a document is regarded as prima facie evidence that he was illiterate. See Jiboso v. Obadina (1962) W.R.N.L.R. 303.” Per, SUNDAY AKINOLA AKINTAN, J.S.C ( Pp. 25-26, paras. E-A), in the case of EZEIGWE v. AWUDU (2008) LPELR-1200(SC).
Unlike in customary transactions, where documentation and written agreements are not required and needed, modern transactions require written (and electronic) receipts, agreements, notices and demands. Expectedly, illiterates are not often conversant with modern transactions, consequently, illiterates need the support of literates, including lawyers. Since legal services are expensive and there are little or no lawyers, paralegals, law clinics and law firms in villages and rural areas, ordinary literate persons, friends and family members are engaged by illiterates. In a country struggling with corruption and institutional immaturity, many are the afflictions of illiterates in the hands of few literates. Even to seek legal redress and justice by illiterates, the official language of the courts is English Language (contrary to common native languages include; Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa and Efik) and all court forms, notices, documentations and procedures are too complex.
However, the laws in Nigeria have not left the illiterates without protection. In Nigeria, there is a Federal Act (the Illiterates Protection Act, the Illiterate’s Protection Act (Cap. 83) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) designed to protect illiterates across Nigeria. The said federal legislation is still in existence, although it is omitted in the latest collection of federal laws in Nigeria. The legislation has not been repealed by any law and as such it is still valid and subsisting not minding its omission in codification. States across Nigeria as well as the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, have their own Illiterates Protection Laws, also designed to protect illiterate.
By the provisions of the said Illiterates Protection Act and its equivalent in states in Nigeria, apart from lawyers, any person that writes a letter or any document for an illiterate person must also state his name as the writer as well as state that the writer was instructed by the illiterate person to write the document, that the contents are correct and that contents were read out to the illiterate, that the illiterate understood the content before the illiterate signed the document or placed his mark and that the signature/mark of the illiterate contained in the document is truly that of the illiterate. Where this is not provided in a letter or document written on behalf of an illiterate, the letter/document is invalid and a huge waste. It is an offence for a writer of such letter/document to fail to state the above issues.
Like in the states in Nigeria, in Federal Capital Territory Abuja, there is a fee regulation and a fee/price list for writers. No writer of any letter/document is allowed to charge any fee or take any reward that exceeds the maximum fee/price set by law. It is an offence, punishable with a fine of One Hundred Naira (N100.00) or in failure to pay the penalty, imprisonment for six (6) months. This does not apply to lawyers (legal practitioners) but to any other person that writes a letter or any document for an illiterate person. Lawyers in this context, are legal practitioners called to the Nigerian bar, enrolled in the Supreme Court of Nigeria and admitted to practise law in Nigeria, as barristers and solicitors of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The maximum fee for every original letter or document is fifty Kobo (50K), per hundred words or its part. The maximum fee for a copy of an original letter or document (if any) is twenty Kobo (20K), per hundred words or its part. The maximum fee for second or subsequent copies of an original letter or document (if any) is five Kobo (5K), per hundred words or its part.
Obviously, the fee/price list and the punishment/penalty in the legislation, have lost touch with reality, although it is still binding and must be respected. The legislation came into existence on 15 December 1915, while its provisions on price/fee list came into existence on 25 March 1920. There is an urgent need to amend this protective piece of legislation even as our illiteracy curve keeps climbing.
2. National Bureau of Statistics, “Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria 2019: Executive Summary” (NBS, 2019) accessed 30 July 2020 <https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary?queries[search]=poverty>
3. The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law, “Justice Needs and Satisfaction in Nigeria 2018” (HIIL, 2018) accessed 27 July 2020 <https://www.hiil.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/HiiL-Nigeria-JNS-report-web.pdf>
4. The Supreme Court’s judgement (on definition of an illiterate) in the case of LAWAL v. G.B OLLIVANT (NIG) LTD (1972) LPELR-1764(SC)
5. The Supreme Court’s judgement (on definition how to determine document made by an illiterate) in the case of EZEIGWE v. AWUDU (2008) LPELR-1200(SC)
6. Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 of the Illiterates Protection Act 1915, Laws of Nigeria (Abuja) and its equivalents in states across Nigeria.
7. Sections 2 and 4 of the Legal Practitioners Act,1975.
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Rule of Law is the sanity in exercise of power. It is the minimum standard that brings all human beings and corporate beings below the law. It is simply, a strict adherence to laws. Without rule of law, power becomes destructive, discretionary, discriminatory and greatly left to rule of man and rule by law.
However, it is not impossible to have circumstances, where rule of law (in this sense, adherence to law) may do injustice. In such circumstances, adherence to law will beget an abuse of rule of law. Below, are the words of the court on this issue.
“To this extent, the reference made by learned counsel to the dictum of Aboki JCA in MOTOH V. MOTOH @ 532, PARAS. B-D is most apt: “Courts in the exercise of their interpretative jurisdiction are enjoined to lean where the justice of the case demands. The proper role of the Court is to do justice between the parties before it. If there is any rule of law which impairs the doing of justice, then it is the province of the Court to do all it legitimately can to avoid that rule so as to do justice in the case before it. The Courts in Nigeria exercise the dual role of being Courts of law and of equity. A Judge in such system has a duty to ameliorate the harsh content of the law, where it is equitable to do so.” Per CHINWE EUGENIA IYIZOBA ,J.C.A ( Pp. 9-20, paras. C-F )
My authorities are:
1. The judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case of OBIDIEGWU v. OBIDIEGWU (2019)LPELR-47236(CA)
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On 7 August 2020, a new company legislation was signed into law. The federal law, has amended the thirty (30) years old, Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990, that came into existence since 2 January 1990.
By the new Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990, a single person can now start, promote, register and own a private company, by being the sole shareholder and director of his/her private company. Before now, a company must have at least 2 persons as shareholders and directors.
This change is believed to positively affect the ease of doing business in Nigeria. Hopefully, it will move up Nigeria’s ranks 131 out of 190 countries on the World Bank Doing Business Index.
My authorities are:
1. Sections 18(2) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.
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*Remedy of a Suspect Detained for More Than 24 Hours.* Daily Law Tips (Tip 630) by Onyekachi Umah, Esq., LL.M, ACIArb(UK)
In Nigeria, every person is assumed to be innocent until a court of law declares a person guilty (not innocent). What the media, law enforcement agencies, government, colleagues, employer, political party or neighbours think about a suspect does not matter. Also the amount of evidence (including videos and eye witnesses) concerning a suspect and an alleged offence does not make a suspect automatically guilty.
It is only a court of law that can declare a person guilty. So, every suspect in any law enforcement agency in Nigeria or any defendant in any court in Nigeria, is innocent and not guilty, until a court says otherwise. It is important that such persons are not punished rather pampered and respected with the budget allocated to the concerned law enforcement agency.
Under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and similar state laws in states across Nigeria, a suspect must be released within 24 hours of being arrested, especially where the alleged crime is not punishable with death.
Where this is not done, any person can go to court/institute a case against the concerned law enforcement agency (and its agents) on behalf of the suspect. The court will order the suspect to be produced (brought to) court and inquire into the circumstances of the detention and where the court desires, the court will grant bail to the suspect. An application for bail in a court, can be written or oral, even if the court is a High Court/Federal High Court/National Industrial Court, where applications are often written and rarely oral.
Note that, the court to be approached to grant bail to a suspect that has been detained for more than 24 hours, must be a court that has jurisdiction (power) to entertain the crime that the suspect is detained for. For example, since a crime of fake passport can only be handled by the Federal High Court, the court that can be approached to release a suspect detained for more than 24 hours over issues of fake passport must be the Federal High Court and not a Magistrate Court or High Court.
By the way, the above does not affect the rights of a suspect to sue a law enforcement agency and its agents for breach of his fundamental human rights. In this, a suspect can seek huge monetary damages running into millions of Naira.
My authorities are:
1. Sections 32, 494 and 495 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and its equivalent in states across Nigeria.
2. Sections 34, 35, 36, 318 and 319 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
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In a reportage, titled: “Nigerians plotting to colonize Kenya through banks, marriages – Kenyan professor,” by Bernice Eke, and published online on July 24, 2020; it was stated that: “with Access Bank’s acquisition of Kenya’s Transnational Bank,” one professor XN Iraki of the University of Nairobi, “. . . said Nigerians are not only coming but “have already arrived” to take over his country.” The report went on to state that Professor Iraki “made the remark in an alarming article published in The Standard, one of Kenya’s largest newspapers, lamenting how Nigerian banks like UBA and GTB have gained “a foothold” in the country.
Professor Iraki based his claim of Nigerians grand strategy to “colonize” Kenya using three mechanisms: (1) Churches and Movies; (2) the Banking Industry and (3) Marrying Kenyan women. If it sounds uncomfortably like a warmed over version of South African xenophobia and peevish histrionics targeting Nigerians and other Africans, that’s only because it is. But let me not get ahead of myself.
Prof. Emeka Aniagolu
One of the major ways through which propagandists ply their nefarious trade is to avoid abiding with facts. Or, if they are unable to completely circumvent facts, to distort them. Facts, understandably, are their worst enemies, because the whole purpose of propaganda and propagandists, is to create a perception in the mind of their target(s), such that the individual or individuals, react emotionally to the waving of their red flags, without thinking, and certainly, without abiding with facts and figures. Let me, therefore, share with the ‘not-so-good professor’ and the Kenyan public a few HARD FACTS.
The Central Bank of Kenya oversees the entire banking industry of Kenya. No local or foreign bank can establish, let alone, operate in Kenya, without the express permission and oversight of the Central Bank of Kenya. Therefore, no matter how smart, skilled, educated or business savvy Nigerians, or anyone else, for that matter, may be, they do not have the power nor the authority to participate in the banking industry of Kenya, without the express authorization/licensing of the Central Bank of Kenya. The same applies to all the other independent African countries and the world, writ large.
Second, as at last count, there were a total of 44 main banking institutions in Kenya, 31 of which, are locally owned; while 13 are foreign-owned. Of those thirteen foreign-owned banks, only three are Nigerian-owned; and based on the shortlist below of the biggest banks in Kenya, along with the national origins of their owners; not one of the three Nigerian banks operating in Kenya made the shortlist of those ten!
UBA Kenya, Ltd., is comparatively, actually a small commercial bank in Kenya. It is a subsidiary of the Nigerian financial conglomerate—United Bank for Africa—which has subsidiaries in 20 African countries, the United States, the UK and France. Established in Kenya in 2009, with a capital investment of KES 2.5 billion (approx. U.S. $25 million), the bank accumulated losses of KES 1.4 billion (approx. U.S. $14 million) in the seven years that followed its establishment in Kenya. UBA Kenya, Ltd., made a profit for the first time during the first half of 2016. As of 2016, it employs 70 people in Kenya.
Finally, Access Bank, which just established its Kenyan subsidiary in February 2020, after acquiring 100% shareholding of the Kenyan bank—Transnational Bank Plc.—with the approval of the Central Bank of Kenya; is the third Nigerian bank doing business in Kenya. Prior to its acquisition in Kenya, Access Bank, which is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, merged with another Nigerian bank, called: Diamond Bank, in April, 2019, which made it the largest bank in Africa; with over 27 million customers.
Two things are noteworthy. First, Kenya is not the first African country Nigerian banks have opened subsidiaries, and not one of those African countries has ever suggested that Nigeria is becoming a “colonial power” in their country as a result of doing banking business in their country! Access Bank and GTB, also do business in another East African country, albeit, a much smaller country than Kenya, namely: Rwanda; through their subsidiaries in that country, with absolutely no problems.
GTB has subsidiaries in eight other African countries, besides Kenya, as well as in the UK. Those African countries are as follows: Cote D’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Sierra Leone. Similarly, Access Bank, which just established a subsidiary in Kenya, has subsidiaries in seven other African countries, in addition to the UK; and those African countries are as follows: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Rwanda, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Zambia. As noted earlier on, UBA, for its part, has subsidiaries in 20 African countries. In other words, there is nothing unique or exceptional about the subsidiaries of those three Nigerian banks in Kenya.
Second, it might interest readers both in Kenya, Nigeria and the rest of Africa, to know that Kenya’s second largest bank, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), has a subsidiary in Rwanda, a country of only 12.3 million people, compared to Kenya’s 51.39 million people; which makes it over four times the size of Rwanda! Additionally, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), has subsidiaries not only in Rwanda but in Tanzania, Uganda and Cote D’Ivoire. And it plans to expand into the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Mozambique. Should Rwandans and the other countries in which KCB has subsidiaries, worry that Kenya is “plotting” to colonize them because they have one of their major banks doing business in their respective countries?
Moreover, the Kenyan economy is fairly developed and resilient enough to accommodate investment from other African countries, even as Kenyan companies—whether in the banking industry or in other sectors of the economy—engage in investment in other African countries. As of 2020, Kenya is considered the third largest economy in sub-Sahara Africa, behind Nigeria and the Republic of South Africa. I see nothing stopping Kenyan banks from trying to compete in the Nigerian economy, the same way Nigerian banks are trying to compete in the Kenyan economy; just as banks in both countries—Kenya and Nigeria—are trying to do in a number of other African countries—in East and West Africa!
The same thing applies to Kenyans watching Nollywood movies. One solution is for Kenyans, such as Prof. Iraki, who feel “colonially” threatened by such movies, to simply change the television channel from the Nigerian movie to something less “colonial,” like Western or Indian films! For many years, African Americans and Africans labored under the weight of white “blackout” of Blacks on TV and on the silver screen. There were little or no films showcasing the richness, complexity as well as complications of the sociocultural lives and histories, never mind, acting talents of blacks on TV and on the silver screen.
Then, about three decades ago, precocious, creative and talented Nigerians, took up the hand-held camera, and went to work telling their own stories, based on their experiences and imaginations; not waiting for the imprimatur or funding from the West, and, like magic, the Nollywood film industry was born! It has since grown internationally to become the second largest film industry in the world, with India’s Bollywood leading, and Hollywood, picking up the rear! You would think that would make any red-blooded African proud, rather than make him make the absurd claim that his fellow African country, that happens to be the harbinger of that film industry revolution, is trying to “colonize” his country!
For Prof. Iraki’s information, and hopefully, enlightenment, one source noted that: “One of India’s biggest cultural exports to Africa has been Bollywood, and it’s popular not just among the Indian diaspora. One unlikely place where Bollywood has long enjoyed immense popularity is Nigeria, particularly in the Muslim-majority north – which does not have any significant Indian immigrant community whatsoever. According to the High Commission of India in Nigeria, only about 35,000 Indians live in the country of 170 million, primarily in Lagos. But Lebanese businessmen began importing Bollywood movies a few decades ago as they were cheaper than American movies – to roaring success. According to South Asian Magazine for Action and Reflection (Samar), one of the most popular of all Indian films in Nigeria remains the three-hour classic Mother India, a 1957 epic melodrama starring the legendary actress Nargis. Attending a viewing of the film at an open-air cinema in Kano, in northern Nigeria, Samar’s correspondent in 2013 noted that some people in the audience had already seen the movie 15 times and sang along to all the Hindi songs (although their native language is Hausa).” (www.weforum.org) According to Prof. Iraki’s theory, Nigerians must be in grave danger of being “colonized” by Indians!
The third point Professor Iraki proffered as “evidence” of Nigerians trying to “colonize” Kenya, is that Nigerians are marrying Kenyan women. Instead of going to find out from Kenyan women why they like marrying Nigerian men, as surely as they do marrying other foreign men, which would, at least, have constituted an empirical study; Prof. Iraki simply asserted that it is part of the “plot” of Nigerians to “colonize” Kenya. Are Nigerian men the only non-Kenyan men marrying Kenyan women? Why does Nigerian men marrying Kenyan women seem to especially rankle Prof. Iraki? A study of interracial marriages in Kenya, notes that: “The number of interracial marriages is increasing rapidly in Kenya. Between 1998 and 2010, records at the marriage registry indicate that the number of interracial marriages grew by 85 per cent. This trend reflects the changes in attitudes and declining social barriers between different racial groups.”
The same article goes on to observe that: “In Kenya, there are often mixed reactions to these unions. Some people are clearly not for them, while others approve highly. Whichever way one looks at it, when cupid’s arrow strikes, it does not matter or care about the colour of the skin. Love does not discriminate. It is common knowledge that marriages between certain races are most likely to succeed as compared to others. This is true of White/black marriages. The society [meaning, Kenya] seems to tolerate them more than Afro-Asian marriages . . . The largest numbers of white men who marry African women are Europeans from Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. There are a good number of marriages with men from the UK and France.” (https://www.nation.co.ke) Do the interracial marriages on the increase in Kenya, with mostly European men marrying Kenyan women, bother Professor Iraki as much as Nigerian men marrying Kenya women, seems to? Or, does he suffer, like many Africans, from an inferiority complex towards whites, whereby, marriage of Kenyan women to white men is tolerable, even where Europeans were historically, actually the former colonizers of Kenya and the rest of sub-Sahara Africa?
How exactly is the African Continental Free Trade Areas Agreement (AfCTA) supposed to work with Africans burdened with the mentality and worldview of Professor Iraki?
Professor Emeka Aniagolu is a Political Scientist and taught African and African American Studies for 36 years at Ohio Wesleyan University, Ohio state.
Director-General of Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Mr. John O. Asein has said that Online service providers, including hosts of e-libraries, would be held responsible for any copyright infractions on their platforms.
Asein, who declared this recently during deliberations with the newly elected executive of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) at the Commission’s Head Office in Abuja, said that the Commission was paying more attention to online activities with a view to curbing the sale of pirated books through online stores.
Addressing a seven-man delegation led by the new ANA President, Mr. Camillus Ukah, accompanied by its immediate past President, Mr. Denja Abdullahi, the Director-General called on ANA to constitute an anti-piracy committee to interface with the Commission for proactive, sustained and effective anti-piracy campaign.
He decried contract gaps between authors and publishers in the country and indicated that the Commission would collaborate with ANA to develop model contracts to ensure proper rights clearance and adequate remuneration for authors in the book industry.
Noting that the absence of proper contractual agreements between authors and publishers has left many authors with unpleasant experiences, the Director-General also observed the necessity for new business models to ensure adequate recompense for authors, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stressing the importance of the literary field, Mr. Asein noted that creative writing was the bedrock of the wider creative industry, including Nollywood. In his words: “The movie industry could not have been where it is today without the literary talents turning out excellent film scripts. The author of the film script is often unsung, but they set the tone for good films and, like the faces of Nollywood, these scriptwriters also deserve to be celebrated,” he stated.
The Director-General gave special commendation to the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka for recently demonstrating his unalloyed commitment to copyright values and lending his voice to denounce copyright infringement and abuses. He said the Commission would be pleased to adopt the Nobel Laurette as a Copyright Champion to help fight book piracy in the country. He called on other notable authors to also step up support for the campaign against copyright piracy.
The Director-General urged ANA members to take advantage of the Commission’s copyright e-registration system and avail themselves of the whistleblowing policy of the NCC by alerting the Commission on suspected pirates for effective enforcement. “We should not allow rogues to take over the copyright space. ANA should intensify its copyright enlightenment campaign and encourage its members to sound an alarm wherever they find pirates at work. The Commission, on its part, pledges to always respond promptly to any alarm,” he stated.
While calling on the new executive to upscale the association’s reading campaign, the Director-General urged ANA to support the efforts of the Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB) to make more books available in accessible formats for the benefit of blind and visually impaired persons.
He further thanked ANA for helping to sustain the Reproduction Rights Society of Nigeria (REPRONIG) and expressed hope that REPRONIG would be assisted further to become a viable collective management organisation (CMO) for the benefit of Nigerian authors. “When CMOs are threatened with extinction, we owe them a lifeline to keep afloat”, he said.
Mr. Asein commended the enviable legacy of visionary leadership in ANA, adding that the Association has demonstrated quality leadership, worthy of emulation in the creative industry.
The newly elected President of ANA, Mr. Camillus Ukah, stated that the Association was committed to reforms and strengthening of the copyright regime to address gaps in a bid to promote the economic interests of authors and advance the literary industry.
He expressed appreciation for the Commission’s proactive measures towards checking piracy, citing its recent timely intervention to curb the online piracy of books belonging to the literary icon, Professor Wole Soyinka.
Mr. Ukah lauded the Commission’s long-standing cooperation that the Association has enjoyed, particularly during the reform of the copyright system and assured of its continued collaboration with NCC.
The ANA President further assured the Commission that the new executive would work closely with the NCC to promote copyright knowledge among authors and ensure that literary authors continued to use the copyright system optimally.
Representatives of the Commission and ANA were constituted into a working group to identify areas of immediate interest and facilitate collaboration.
Other newly elected ANA executives in attendance were Mrs. Farida Mohammed, Vice President; Mr. Mark Ortserga, General Secretary; Mr. Freeman Okosun, Assistant General Secretary; Mr. Torlafia Benjamin Terhile, Legal Adviser and Mr. Umar Yogizaj, Publicity Secretary, North.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has fixed Oct. 31 for the conduct of the 12 pending constituencies by-elections in the country.
The commission disclosed this in a statement by Mr Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said that the commission would have long conducted the by-elections but for the current COVID-19 pandemic. “Since then, the commission has developed a policy on the conduct of elections in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It also revised its regulations and guidelines and engaged with health authorities and stakeholders on conducting elections in an environment that guarantees both credibility and public safety.
“The commission has also successfully conducted the bye-election to fill the vacancy in the Nasarawa Central State Constituency and is going ahead with the conduct of governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states on the 19th Sept. 19 and Oct. 10, respectively,” he said.
The pending by-elections are Bayelsa Central Senatorial District; Bayelsa West Senatorial District; Nganzai and Bayo Constituencies in Borno State; Cross River North Senatorial District; Obudu Constituency in Cross River.
Others are Imo North Senatorial District; Lagos East Senatorial District; Kosofe II Constituency in Lagos State; Plateau South Senatorial District; Bakura Constituency in Zamfara; and Ibaji Constituency in Kogi.
Okoye said that the decision was taken after reviewing preparations for Edo and Ondo states’ governorship elections as well as all outstanding by-elections.
Okoye said that the by-elections in the federal and state legislative houses were due to resignation or death of members in eight states of the federation.
“By the harmonized timetable, the commission will give the notice of election on Aug. 17 while political parties will conduct their primaries to nominate candidates between Aug. 24 and Sept. 8.
Submission of forms and personal particulars of candidates will commence on Sept. 9 and close at 6p.m. on Sept. 13,” he said.
Okoye added that the timetable and schedule of activities for the by-elections had been uploaded on the commission’s website and social media platforms. He added that INEC’s attention had also been drawn to the existence of vacancies in Isi-Uzo Constituency in Enugu State and Bakori Constituency in Katsina State.
He, however, said vacancies had not been formally declared by the Speakers of the affected state assemblies. He implored concerned stakeholders, particularly political parties, to take note of the timelines in the schedule and strictly adhere to them. (NAN
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) and three other agencies under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy have stepped up implementation of people-oriented projects in view of the digital economy agenda of President Muhammad Buhari.
Other agencies in the league include the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), Galaxy Backbone and the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST).
Their commitment in this direction was, once again, demonstrated during the virtual commissioning of 11 new Information and Communications Technology (ICT) projects implemented by the agencies under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy by the Minister, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, in Abuja at the Digital Economy Complex on Tuesday, August 11, 2020.
The projects, which were commissioned virtually across the country by the Minister include the Emergency Communication Centres (ECC’s) in Ilorin, Kwara State and Calabar, Cross River. Other projects commissioned include the e-Health/Data Sharing Centre, Medical College, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; and Virtual Examination Centre, University of Maiduguri, Borno State, all implemented by the NCC.
Two projects executed by the USPF were also commissioned; they include, the Tertiary Institution Knowledge Centre (TIKC), Delta State and School Knowledge Centre (SKC) located at Government Day Secondary School, Hassan Central, Gombe State. NITDA implemented three projects: the Information Technology (IT) and Incubation Park, University of Ayangba, Kogi State, ICT Capacity Building Centres at the College of Education, Gumel, Jigawa State and Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State.
Also commissioned were the new Neighborhood Post Office/NIRSAL Microfinance bank branch, Delta State and the Remodeled National Mail Exchange Centre (Mbiama), Ahoada West Local Government Area of River State executed by NIPOST.
Speaking at the commissioning, Pantami, who noted that over 500 projects have been executed by agencies under the ministry in the past five years, said the projects are connected to the tripartite agenda of the President focusing on enhancing national security, diversification of the economy and curbing corruption.
Pantami stated that the 11 projects are in sync with seven of the eight pillars of the country’s National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) unveiled by the President last year. He thanked the President for being supportive of the Ministry’s initiative towards addressing extant challenges of vandalism of telecom infrastructure, Right of Way (RoW) issues, among others in order to accelerate broadband penetration to 70 per cent as envisaged by the National Broadband Plan (2020-2025).
The event was well attended by governors and ministers, who were special guests among whom were the Governor of Imo, who was Chairman of the occasion, Governor of Gombe State, Minister of Interior, Minister of State for Education, Minister of State for Mines and Power, as well as the staff of the Ministry, board members and heads of agencies under the ministry, among others. The special guests commended the Minister for commissioning the important projects and for enhancing synergy between the Ministry and its agencies.
Suddenly, Nigerians have started noticing a sharp decline in the figures of daily occurrence of the COVID-19 infections across the country.
In the last three or four days, there has been a steady receding of the figures posted by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and of course, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 with a record lowest figure reeled out for Monday, August 3, 2020. Monday’s figure was 288 infections across Nigeria.
While this development is giving many people hope of a gradual disappearance of the deadly virus on the shores of Nigeria, many others are uncomfortable with this situation primarily because, juxtaposed with other countries of the world where the figures out there are spiking with daily occurrences breaking records and fatalities showing no respite, the Nigerian case is sheer wonder.
Nigerians are torn between two contrasting possibilities; either the figures are going down because people are no longer contracting the virus and so, the virus is in its final phase of exit from the country or Nigerians are not coming forward for testing even when they find themselves experiencing any of the notable COVID-19 symptoms.
Going by what medical experts have postulated, the coronavirus is not expected to suddenly vanish from the face of the earth, humanity is sadly, fated to live with the virus for a long time to come. At best, a vaccine or vaccines will be developed to eliminate the virus’ potential to destroy people’s immunity and cause death. At the moment, there is no known vaccine and several touted medications used to treat patients of the infection have remained subjects of controversies.
One thing must be agreed among Nigerians; the country has not been conducting testing of citizens to any appreciable level. At the last count, the country, has managed to test about 200,000 after about five months since the first infection was recorded in Nigeria. This is about 0.1% of the country’s 200 million population. One could be justified to say that the country has not been conducting any testing of its citizens.
Most countries that have recorded very high figures of infections are said to have conducted extensive testing of its citizens. Some countries have tested more than 50% of its population. South Africa for instance, is reported to have conducted testing running into millions of its population and so, presently has the highest infection figures in Africa. Same thing applies to many other African countries. Lagos and Kano States purported to have populations of over 20 million each are still hovering around less than 30,000 testing for Lagos and far less for Kano. Nigeria with the largest population in Africa, is recording very low testing and accompanying low infections figures in comparison to its population.
The other factors one may ponder to consider whether the infection is actually dying out in Nigeria will be the enforcement and compliance with the COVID-19 protocols; including social distancing, wearing of face mask, and hygienic practices such as regular washing of hands, use of hand sanitisers and disinfection of contaminated surfaces.
In terms of propaganda and publicity of the COVID-19 protocols, the NCDC and the PTF could be said to have carried out a sizable publicity, thanks to the huge sum made available for that purpose which, by the way, needs accounting for. But propaganda and publicity alone cannot, on their own, do the miracle of winning the coronavirus war. This could have gone a long way to alert Nigerians of the presence and dangers of the virus. The truth, however, is that after money has done the publicity, the personnel employed or deployed for the enforcement of the protocol must be mobilized to enforce and ensure that the citizens do not flout the rules. In other words, after the publicity was carried out the enforcers did not do their jobs. They went to sleep expecting the citizens who had seen and heard the publicity to naturally fall in line.
It would be recalled that the government imposed a one-month lockdown during which they were expected to provide palliatives, both in kind and cash to the citizenry in order to cushion the effect of the lockdown in a country where majority of the citizens are wallowing in abject poverty. The funds were made available but were they deployed to address the needs of the people?
It is a general perception that people decided to take their destiny in their hands after they waited for the government’s palliatives which did not come. They hit the roads looking for their livelihood and in the process, broke all the lockdown rules. The various markets were brimming with people who were busy buying and selling in clear defiance of the lockdown rules. At the various markets, wearing of mask became the exception rather than the rules.
After the first phase of the lockdown, the figures spiked and the government’s agencies handling the pandemic admitted that the people had not strictly complied with the lockdown regulations. Notwithstanding this, however, the federal government eased the lockdown and ordered partial reopening of worship centers. Non compliance of the COVID-19 protocol became so pronounced as more people jettisoned the face mask thereby increasing the chances of further spread of the coronavirus.
The fault of lack of compliance with the COVID-19 protocols falls squarely on the desk of the NCDC, the PTF and the government of the day. There is an urgent need to probe the use of the funds raised for enforcement and mobilization. As it is now Nigerians may be seeing the declining figures of the infections and assuming that the virus is finding its way out of the country. Nigerians must, however, know that those tasked with the responsibility of monitoring closely the pandemic in Nigeria, never released any graph or chart showing when the country will reach its peak in occurrence and when the country is expected to begin to see a decline in the infection. The publicity has not stopped but the enforcement seems to have faded. The coming days and weeks will give the country a clearer picture of the actual situation.
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