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Tag: Sonnie Ekwowusi

  • Agenda for new Chief Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Agenda for new Chief Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Following the retirement of former Chief Justice Olukayode Ariwoola from the Supreme Court upon reaching the mandatory age of 70, the National Judicial Council has recommended Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun to President Tinubu as his replacement, subject however to confirmation by the Senate.

    Justice Kekere-Ekun, who was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1981, is 66 years old. She began her judicial career in December 1989 as a Senior Magistrate Grade II in the Lagos State Judiciary, eventually rising to become a High Court judge in Lagos in July 1996. She was elevated to the Court of Appeal on September 22, 2004, where she served in various Court Divisions, including as presiding Justice of the Makurdi and Akure divisions in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

    In 2023, she was elevated to the Supreme Court. As the most senior Justice in the Supreme Court following Justice Ariwoola’s retirement, Justice Kekere-Ekun has now stepped in as the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), making her the second female CJN in Nigeria’s history, after Justice Mariam Mukhtar, who served from July 2012 to November 2014.

    I salute the new CJN  and wish her a successful and impactful tenure, filled with wisdom, fairness, and dedication to upholding justice.  I  respectfully urge her to immediately initiate processes for a complete overhaul of the country’s judiciary to enhance judicial efficacy and efficiency and to bolster public confidence in the judiciary.

    Justice Kekere-Ekun assumes her role at a time when the Nigerian judiciary is ranked as the most corrupt institution in the country, with Nigerian judges identified as the biggest recipients of bribes and kickbacks. According to a recent 160-page report titled “Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends,” based on a survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Nigeria’s public officials received N721 billion in cash bribes in 2023, with Nigerian judges topping the list of bribe recipients.

    This is a severe indictment of the Nigerian judiciary and its judges, and it is deeply troubling. The new CJN must not treat this indictment lightly. What hope is there for the common man in Nigeria if the very judges who should be unbiased umpires in the adjudication of disputes are ranked as the biggest takers of bribes and receivers of kickbacks? There is no doubt that the country’s judiciary has been reduced to an object of derision by the very people who should labor to maintain its prestige. This is truly disheartening. In recent times, we have witnessed decency being discarded in open court, justice being put up for sale, frequent abuses of court processes, injustice being meted out to punish perceived enemies, and allegations of impropriety being openly leveled against members of both the Bar and the Bench. The avalanche of conflicting judgments from the Supreme Court has left Nigerian lawyers and the public uncertain about what judicial precedents actually are.

    Therefore, Chief Justice Kekere-Ekun is respectfully urged to do everything possible within her authority and capacity to restore the integrity and honor of the country’s judiciary. She should begin by addressing official corruption and moral degeneracy within the Bench. Specifically, she should return the Supreme Court to its golden era, when Justices such as Anthony Aniagolu, Kayode Eso, Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa, Andrews Otutu Obaseki, Augustine Nnamani, and others brought their intellectual versatility and philosophical clarity to bear in their respective judgments to uphold substantial justice. Our democratization experiment will fail if the judiciary, a vital third arm of government, is compromised. Therefore, the judiciary must protect its independence and impartiality with the utmost care. It should be insulated from partisan politics, and political office holders must refrain from interfering with the judiciary’s work.

    The Bench should be reserved for the best and brightest in character and learning, not for those who are unproductive or lack diligence. The appointment and elevation of judges should be based on merit, not on family connections, political patronage, or what Prof. Joseph Richard has dubbed “prebendalism.” The current process of appointing and removing judges in Nigeria is long overdue for a review. First, the process should be transparent, not shrouded in secrecy. Whenever a judicial vacancy exists, it should be widely advertised to the public so that interested lawyers can apply for consideration. The views of many practicing lawyers, who likely know the candidates better than the National Judicial Council (NJC), should be sought both before and after candidates are shortlisted.

    Disciplinary action against judges should be routinely carried out to save the Bench from moral decay. Only incorruptible and irreproachable judges can steer the judiciary out of its current troubled state. The late eminent Justice Akinola Aguda was a tireless advocate for an incorruptible judiciary. He believed that a single error in appointing unworthy individuals to the Bench could ruin the entire administration of justice. His solution for ensuring an independent, incorruptible, and courageous judiciary was to appoint worthy individuals to the Bench.

    The National Judicial Council (NJC), responsible for appointing judicial officers, is not obligated to appoint Supreme Court Justices exclusively from the pool of serving Court of Appeal Justices or to follow civil service bureaucracy in such appointments. There is nothing wrong with appointing senior lawyers with pedigree and respected academics to the Supreme Court to strengthen the Court.

    For example, in 1972, Dr. Taslim Olawale Elias was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court directly from the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, and he later rose to become the most renowned scholarly Chief Justice Nigeria has ever produced. Justice Augustine Nnamani (of blessed memory) was appointed to the Supreme Court from the Bar. Justice Okay Achike (of blessed memory), who taught us Contract law and  Commercial Law at the University of Nigeria, was appointed a High Court judge from academia and was later elevated to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. There are more bright lawyers like Dr. Elias, Justice Nnamani, and Justice Achike waiting to be appointed to the Supreme Court.

    In the same vein, seniority should not be the sole criterion for the appointment of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). Relying solely on seniority can lead to the promotion of mediocrity at the expense of meritocracy. A CJN can be appointed from academia. For example, in 1972, Dr. Taslim Olawale Elias came directly from the Faculty of Law at the University of Lagos to become the CJN, making his mark. There are more Dr. Eliases waiting in the wings to be appointed as CJN. We must discover them.

    Beyond judges, our judicial personnel—court bailiffs, court clerks and registrars, court messengers, court typists, etc.—who also play crucial roles in the dispensation of justice, should strive to live above reproach. Our court personnel often ruin a litigant’s case even before it reaches the judge. Some court bailiffs refuse to effect a court process simply because they were unable to extort money from a litigant or their counsel. Many case files go missing in our courts today. Many litigants arrive at court only to discover, to their chagrin, that their case files have either been misplaced or completely lost. These are instances of administrative injustice, which in turn, lead to legal and social injustice.

    Therefore, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) should also focus its attention on corrupt court personnel. Court registrars who indirectly extort money from litigants and lawyers should be exposed and brought to justice. Judicial personnel who extort money from litigants and lawyers before rendering the administrative services due to them should also be brought to justice. Lawyers must stop bribing court personnel or giving in to their extortionist demands.

    The new CJN should muster the courage to revamp our criminal justice delivery system. One of the most egregious issues is that many awaiting trial inmates (ATMs) languishing in our correctional centres have spent more time in custody than they would have if they had been promptly charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced. There should be a massive decongestion of our correctional centres to alleviate the inhumane suffering of prisoners. The government should stop procrastinating and urgently implement the various recommendations presented to successive Nigerian governments regarding correctional centres.

    Considering the lingering controversies surrounding the award of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) over the years, the guidelines for the conferment of SANship should be reviewed. The award of SANship should be based strictly on the quality of legal scholarship, not on the quantity of court cases a lawyer has completed at the lower and appellate courts.

    Beyond the conferment of SANship for the quantity of cases a legal practitioner has completed in law courts, the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee should consider conferring awards on legal practitioners who have excelled in other dimensions of legal practice. For example, to promote high ethical conduct and honorable behavior in the legal profession, the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee could institute yearly awards for the most ethical and honorable legal practitioners in Nigeria. Alternatively, the Committee might consider rewarding diligence and hard work among practicing lawyers by setting up a Hall of Fame for lawyers who have diligently and expeditiously prosecuted their clients’ cases each year.

    There should also be awards for legal practitioners who have excelled in securing the release of many Awaiting Trial Inmates (ATM) from unlawful detention. Additionally, there should be yearly awards for physically challenged legal practitioners in Nigeria and for the neatest and most properly robed legal practitioners. In this way, all-round excellence in the legal profession is promoted on non-discriminatory grounds.

    All in all, evidence from around the world shows that the rule of law is a critical factor in empowering individuals, ending discrimination (especially against women), and enhancing competition. In fact, one of the four pillars of economic freedom and prosperity in any country is a strong rule of law. The rule of law deserves precedence over other important objectives if Nigeria is truly committed to improving human conditions, preserving peace, respecting individual human rights, and achieving greater economic prosperity and human flourishing.

  • Nigeria should unsign the LGBT agreement – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Nigeria should unsign the LGBT agreement – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    It is nauseating that despite several meetings held with Nigerian officials and several briefs and memoranda sent to them, the Nigerian officials proceeded yesterday to sign the dreaded and devious Samoa Agreement. The Samoa Agreement, named after the Pacific Island, Samoa, where it was signed on November 15, 2023 is a celebration of perversity. Certain Articles of the Agreement especially Articles 2.5 and 29.5 legalize LGBT, transgenderism, abortion, teen sexual abuse, and perversity in African countries. The signing of the Agreement by Nigeria constitutes a threat to the sovereignty of Nigeria and Africa. It further debases our democracy. Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, disclosed yesterday at a reception organized by the European Union in Enugu that Nigeria has signed the Samoa Agreement.

    I can wager that neither Minister Atiku Bagudu nor the Nigerian officials or diplomats who signed the Samoa Agreement on our behalf understand the import of the Agreement to Nigeria’s sovereignty, let alone the destructive impact of the Agreement in Nigeria. This explains why many African bodies including the African Bar Association (AfBA) has condemned the Agreement and respectfully urged African countries not to sign it.

    Not infrequently, Nigerian officials in Geneva, New York, and other places sign international agreements or treaties over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine with little or no knowledge of their contents. The pertinent questions are: Why did Nigeria sign the Samoa Agreement when LGBT, abortion, and transgenderism, as well as teen sexual abuse, are illegal in Nigeria? Were the Nigerian officials who signed the offensive Samoa Agreement representing their own interests or the interests of the Nigerian people? Having refused to sign the Agreement earlier, why did Nigeria change its mind and proceed to sign the Agreement?

    You will recall that on November 15, 2023, Nigeria, to the bewilderment of the EU, refused to sign the offensive Samoa Agreement. Apart from Nigeria, 34 other ACP countries, including the Republic of Benin, Senegal, Liberia, Botswana, Burundi, Jamaica, Mali, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Namibia, Grenada, Eritrea, Malawi, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the Republic of Maldives, Mauritania, the Republic of Nauru, the Republic of Palau, Saint Lucia, the Republic of Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Kingdom of Tonga, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Tuvalu, also refused to sign the LGBT Agreement.

    In fact, on that fateful November 15, 2023, Nigeria not only refused to sign the LGBT Agreement but was conspicuously absent in Samoa on the day of the signing. Frustrated by the refusal of these 35 countries to sign the Agreement, the European Union issued a significant threat dated November 24, 2023. According to the threat, which was issued in Brussels, any African, Caribbean, or Pacific country failing to sign the LGBT Agreement by January 1, 2024, when the Agreement is scheduled to come into force, will face dire consequences. These consequences include the denial of EU funding, development assistance, and program implementation. Furthermore, the threat specifies that such countries will be treated as pariah nations and may be subject to economic sanctions. They would also be barred from participating in EU-Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) meetings and activities.

    Since the issuance of this threat, the EU has been applying increasing pressure on Nigerian ministers and African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) ministers to persuade ACP heads of government to sign the contentious LGBT Agreement. Several meetings convened for this purpose ended in deadlock as many ACP countries refused to sign the Agreement. Surprisingly, towards the end of October 2023, news emerged that the EU had scheduled November 15, 2023, for the signing of the Agreement in Samoa, a small island country in the central South Pacific Ocean composed of an archipelago of nine islands, four of which are inhabited.

    The initial refusal of Nigeria and 34 other African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries to be coerced into signing the LGBT Agreement was hailed as praiseworthy. Unfortunately, Nigeria has now gone ahead to sign the offensive Agreement. Why did Nigeria succumb to the EU’s pressure, intimidation, and coercion and proceed to sign the LGBT Agreement? Why didn’t Nigeria call the EU’s bluff and resist their intimidation, coercion, and threats? Why didn’t the Nigerian officials who signed the Agreement consult the Nigerian people before signing? I am sure that dollars exchanged hands before the Nigerian officials signed. But why? Why betray your country and compromise principles for money?

    Anyway, the signing of the Samoa Agreement is completely unacceptable. Nigeria must undo the damage: Nigeria should immediately proceed to withdraw from the LGBT Agreement. The National Assembly must invite the Nigerian officials who signed the Agreement to explain why they did so. Africans must understand that the fate of Africa lies in the hands of Africans. Only Africans can truly and really develop Africa, not foreigners. It is evident that the EU’s LGBT agenda in Africa is another form of population control. The paradox lies in the fact that the West, intent on reducing human capital in Africa, is now confronted with a serious demographic disaster. Despite wresting political independence from their erstwhile colonial masters, the economic systems and political policies of most African countries, infatuated with foreign aid, are still tied to the apron strings of the World Bank and powerful European and multinational organizations.

    Therefore, Nigeria should withdraw her signature from the offensive Samoa Agreement. If most African countries, including South Africa, have refrained from signing the Samoa Agreement, why should Nigeria, the big brother of other African countries, which is supposed to lead by example, compromise her earlier stance and proceed to sign the controversial LGBT Agreement? The truth remains that when democracies lose their constituting philosophical and legal principles—when wrongs are described as “rights,” and the tools of law are deployed to do and justify evil—democracies metamorphose into LGBT totalitarianism.

    Therefore, we must work to uphold our democracy. The surest way to be ruined by democracy is to take it for granted. If Nigerian democracy must yield the so-called democratic dividend, then it must reflect the will of the Nigerian people. After all, democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people. In our Presidential democracy, power belongs to the people. Our elected representatives must govern according to the wishes of the people. The ongoing revolution in Kenya results from the refusal of Kenyan political office holders to govern according to the will of the Kenyan people. The same thing, sadly, is happening in Nigeria. Our political office holders have refused to govern according to the will of the Nigerian people.

    We can no longer take Nigerian democracy for granted. We must envision a democracy that guarantees personal liberty. Personal liberty is more than the absence of imprisonment or deliverance from despotic rulers. Personal liberty concerns shared beliefs, shared values, and liberating principles. If there are no liberating principles to guide political activity, then political ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated or corrupted for reasons of power.

     

    Sonnie Ekwowusi is the Chairman, Human & Constitutional Rights Committee, African Bar Association

  • Celebrating hubris in Nigeria – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Celebrating hubris in Nigeria – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    I don’t know whether you have noticed that in today’s Nigeria ordinary Nigerians hardly easily mix up or socially interact with Nigerian public office holders, big men, big women, legislators, elites and those who believe they have arrived with their material wealth and  those with acquired and borrowed titles.

    Nigerian public office holders, big men and women, legislators and big politicians have serious hubris problems that constitute serious obstacles to national development.

    I have just returned from Uganda. That wasn’t my first time in Uganda. I have been to Uganda several times. I have also travelled widely to other African countries.

    I have observed as much as you do that many African countries apart from Nigeria still have intact or , better put, still easily live intact, the Kwame Nkrumah Pan-Africanist spirit of communalism, simplicity, let-the-eagle perch-and-let-the-kite perch nzogbu nzogbu co-existence, the spirit of humility, amiability and self-effacevism. For example. I am nobody. I am not a big man in the Nigerian sense but I easily interact, socialize with the  Ugandan,  Kenyan, Ethiopian etc parliamentarians, Ministers and Ambassadors and big politicians . No hubris on their part. No airs. No Nigerian bigmanity. We addressed ourselves using our first names. They simply address me as Sonnie and I simply addressed them by their first names. For example during my last trip to Uganda, I spoke with Hon. Speakers of the Ugandan Parliament and Kenyan Parliament and Ethiopian Parliament one-on-one. We ate the same meal sitting together, rode in the same bus sitting together and walked together the pathways rubbing shoulders. No policeman guarding the Hon  Speakers or shielding them from public view.

    In Uganda, we easily accessed and held conversations with the Ugandan President and First Lady without any hitches. In Uganda, I met my good friend from Zambia who used to be an Ambassador. He was the same humble creature. In Uganda, I met a former Justice in the International Court at the Hague. In Uganda, I met an  Ugandan Parliamentarian who has has been in the Ugandan Parliament for close to 23 years. No showing off on their part. No pride. No hubris.By the way, Uganda has plenty of food, vegetables and fruits. You can be unemployed in Uganda but you can never lack food, vegetables and fruits.

    In contrast, I find it difficult, if not impossible to access or interact with many Nigerian public office holders or those Nigerians who have acquired titles.

    I remember a few years ago I telephoned a Senator representing my Senatorial District to inform him about an important issue. You can’t believe what he did to me. He answered the call and quelled me: “but who gave you my phone number?”. That was the end. He dropped the phone on me. At first I felt sad but on a second thought I accepted my fate. I knew Nigeria had happened to me. May Nigeria never happen to you. One day at a  Lagos social gathering I addressed an Otunba without prefacing his name with the Otunba title. He almost killed me. Later he called me aside and said to me: “you should learn manners”. I apologized to him before he could leave hold on me.

    In Nigeria, we don’t joke with titles.  Anyone who has N1 million in his bank account wants to be regarded as a millionaire, even if the Naira currency has lost value. The moment your friend gets a public office or acquires a big title, he will stop talking to you or answering your phone calls as in the past. Big Nigerians are so full of themselves, yes, so puffed off with pride in this earthly life that is passing away.

    I may be exaggerating. Certainly there are many exceptions. Of course, there are many big Nigerians who are very very humble

    It amazes me how someone can shun his old friends even former school mates, simply because he now holds a title which his friends do not hold. Is this not egoistic stupidity? What is a title compared to associating with old friends or old friendships?

    May I never look down on my friends. May I never hold myself aloof from my old friends and colleagues. May I never become a big man in the Nigerian sense.

    Development, real development of a country  goes beyond infrastructural development, acquisition of material things. Real development or real integral development is human development or cultural development. If we must develop in Nigeria we must begin by changing our bad attitude. We must learn to recognise the intrinsic dignity in our fellow human beings. Nobody is  a single verse. We all need our different verses and stanzas to form an exotic readable prose. We are members of the same human family. The day we treat our fellow human being with contempt we have killed our existence.

  • Journey to the depth of treasure – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Journey to the depth of treasure – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    My journey last week to the Institute for Industrial Technology (IIT) (www.iit.edu.ng), Isheri-North Residential Scheme, Kosofe Government Area, off the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, seemed like a journey to the depths of treasure. At a time when four out of every five young Nigerians you meet in the street have perfected plans to flee Nigeria to Canada, United States or United Kingdom in search of gainful employment and a new lease of life, journeying to the poor neigbourhood of Isheri-North Residential Scheme, Lagos last week and discovering IIT provided some relief. I remember visiting the IIT in company with a friend a couple of years ago when the institution was about taking off. But it was only last week that I came to appreciate the revolution ignited by IIT in the sphere of vocational training and technical education in Nigeria.

    Succinctly put, IIT provides the most sought-after high quality vocational training and requisite technical education to the Nigerian young in order to empower them and make them competent and employable in industries, company and society at large. IIT also offers multi-skilling technical programs to graduates of OND, HND, or BSc science and graduates of Engineering of our universities in order to impact relevant technical skills in a flexible and intense manner. This would enable them to improve their work productivity and in turn become relevant to the industries and companies in Nigeria. The wind blows where it wills and we can hardly tell where and when the wind will blow on us. Oftentimes most Nigerian young go abroad hunting for treasures unmindful that the most precious treasure can be found here in Nigeria. IIT stands in a world of its own at the desolate Isheri-North Residential Scheme. Most students of IIT, I gather, come from poor backgrounds. The school even offers scholarships to some deserving indigents students who cannot afford to pay the fees paid in the institution. IIT aims to empower these indigent young students, who are mostly in the age bracket of 17-21, with world class vocational training and technical education skills in order to make them employable in companies such as Nestle, Guinness, Cadbury, Nigerian Breweries, Tetra-Pak, and others. In fact, some companies partner with IIT in order to employ their students after graduation. This is not surprising. IIT is well-equipped with the latest technology and equipment for imparting technical education and vocational skills. I understand that the three-year Electro-mechanics program which IIT offers is modeled after the world renowned German Dual Training System that uses both the schools and the factory as avenues for learning. This ensures that the students appreciate the practical relevance of the concept being taught. Essentially IIT students are exposed to mechanical, electrical, electronics and automation technologies to equip them with relevant technical skills that the various industries need and crave for.

    Unarguably there is a paucity of competent and honest electricians, welders, vehicle mechanics, plumbers, tilers and others in this category in Nigeria. I don’t know about you but I must confess that several vehicle mechanics and electricians have defrauded me. For example, five years ago, an electrician I hired to repair my inverter ended up not only damaging the inverter but stealing all the batteries. Till date I am yet to encounter an honest vehicle mechanic who can competently repair my car. Most of the vehicle mechanics I come across are incompetent and dishonest. This is where IIT makes the difference. I gather that many Nigerian companies in Ikeja, Lagos compete among themselves in poaching IIT graduates. Why? Because IIT graduates can be trusted to perform their duties well, at least to a reasonable extent. IIT graduates are well remunerated. Some earn more than university graduates in industries where they are employed. The IIT Director-General was kind enough to take me round the school premises. He showed me the school’s well-equipped welding-instruction room. He explained that unlike the poor idea of welding which the average Nigerian has, IIT offers a uniquely professional welding course that actually equips the students after graduation to carry out professional welding work in any part of the world.

    Before departure, the Director-General explained that, aside from technical competence and prowess, what makes IIT graduates excel in industries is their ability to put into practice the work ethics inculcated in them. IIT was inspired by Saint Josemaria, the founder of Opus Dei, a personal prelature of the Catholic Church. Saint Josemaria, who was greatly concerned about helping the less privileged members of society, encouraged many people to set up institutions like the IIT in order to directly or indirectly improve the well-being of the poor as well as contribute to the manpower needs of society. Little wonder he penned in one of his best-selling books, Christ is Passing By, “A man or a society that does not react to suffering and injustice and makes no effort to alleviate them is still distant from the love of Christ’s heart. While Christians enjoy the fullest freedom in finding and applying various solutions to these problems, they should be united in having one and the same desire to serve mankind otherwise their Christianity will not be the word and life of Jesus: it will be a fraud, a deception of God and man”

    I left the premises of IIT feeling elated as if I had visited the depths of hidden treasure. We must invest in vocational training and technical education in Nigeria. If countries such as Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and others have invested in technical and vocational education are now reaping enormous fruits from their investments, what stops Nigeria from following suit? Here in Nigeria we still lack the technical know-how to operate new equipment imported for our manufacturing industries because they are highly-automated and contain complex technologies ranging from mechanical to electrical/electronics and information technology. A country that cannot produce competent artisans, technicians, motor mechanics, plumbers, electricians, bricklayers, welders, etc., cannot claim to be making progress. So we have no choice but to start training good technicians, electricians, artisans, electrical engineers and good motor mechanics too. Our cultural bias for white-collar and paper qualification has become a formidable obstacle to tackling the shortage of skillful manpower in Nigeria. Our 6-3-3-4 educational system originally designed to promote technical and vocational education has been perverted. Our idea of a University is completely flawed. Many of our tertiary institutions are busy churning out certificate-carrying graduates and nothing more. Our growing dependence on technology must be matched by a proportionate increase in the number of properly-trained, competent and highly-motivated technicians and engineers in order to design, install, maintain and adapt to the new technologies.

  • Pope Francis denounces LGBT, surrogacy and gender ideology – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Pope Francis denounces LGBT, surrogacy and gender ideology – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    The Vatican has recently released a declaration unequivocally denouncing, among other things, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues, surrogacy, and gender ideology as grave violations of human dignity. Entitled “Dignitas Infinita” (Infinite Dignity), the 20-page declaration, officially released by the Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, on Monday, April 8, 2024 (even though it had been in the works since 2019), denounces the aforementioned transgressions as against God’s teaching and God’s plan for human life.

    While invoking the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness,” “Dignitas Infinita” bluntly lambasts the aforementioned practices as gross violations of human dignity. “Dignitas Infinita” is rooted in the underlying principle that a human person is a unity of body and soul, and that “the dignity of the body cannot be considered inferior to that of the person as such.” The sexed body has a “natural order” that is part of the natural ordering of creation, which, as Pope Francis has emphasized, should be received as a “gift.”

    Coincidentally, I happened to be in Rome in the very week in which “Dignitas Infinita” was released. I was in Rome delivering two papers: “Surrogacy: A Tragedy for Africa” and “The Place of the International Court under the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights in Combating Surrogacy,” at an International Conference of Jurists at Lumsa University, which is a stone’s throw from the Vatican. “Dignitas Infinita” was awaited with bated breath. Prior to the release of the declaration, speculations were rife in Rome and across the world that the new declaration would send shockwaves across the world and throughout the Church.

    Specifically, many feared that it would spark an intolerable revolution in the entire Church doctrine and teaching. Why? Because the Dicastery that would issue “Dignitas Infinita” was the same Dicastery that issued “Fiducia Supplicans,” approving non-liturgical blessings for same-sex “couples,” which caused worldwide controversy in Christendom just four and a half months earlier.

    When Dignitas Infinita eventually berthed on April 8, 2024, it was the opposite of what many had feared it would contain. For me, it is impressive and fascinating that the new declaration denounced surrogacy in the same manner as the International Conference of Jurists. If you ask me, I would say that Dignitas Infinita is a compelling read. It is a rearticulation and a reaffirmation of the age-long Church’s teaching on human dignity and a timely application of those principles to some of the most controversial issues of our age. Dignitas Infinita is applauded not for being a Catholic document but for being the most natural law-friendly document grounded in human nature and the ontological dignity of the human person.

    Age upon age, Emmet John Hughes wrote on October 20, 1958, the city of Rome “has affected the destiny and trial of the Church in profound and ever new ways. No matter who sits on the throne of St. Peter in Rome,” continued Hughes, “he can know but one heritage, one purpose and, in G. K. Chesterton’s words, ‘one scheme…bestriding lands and ages with gigantic arches, and carrying everywhere the high river of baptism upon an aqueduct of Rome.’

    These seemingly prophetic words of Hughes have somehow come to fulfilment in Dignitas Infinita. The new declaration merely affirms the longstanding Church’s teaching on LGBT, surrogacy, and gender ideology as a grave violation of human dignity. For example, in the 2008 document “Dignitatus Personae” on bioethical questions, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reaffirmed the Church’s opposition to the use of surrogate mothers. It confirmed what “Donum Vitae” had stated some 20 years earlier.

    In that document, the Church explained that any birth technique involving people other than the married couple is unacceptable as it is “contrary to the unity of marriage and to the dignity of the procreation of the human person.” It also stated that it is a denial of “the child’s right to be conceived and brought into the world in marriage and from marriage.” The nature of the bond between a husband and a wife means that they have “the exclusive right to become father and mother solely through each other,” it added.

    In law and ethics, surrogacy is denounced for bringing together both the objectification of women’s bodies and the commercialization of childbirth. Such practice takes away the humanity of the woman who bore the child, and it also denies the intense bond between a mother and her child that develops during pregnancy. Even if a woman is paid, as most U.S. surrogates are, what she did is a great commercialization of childbirth that takes away her dignity and diminishes her intrinsic worth. Given the predominantly commercial nature of many surrogacy arrangements, children born through surrogacy are at risk of being sold and/or exploited.

    Surprisingly, surrogacy has gained ground in Nigeria. I remember last year, a man and a young girl walked into our law firm. They wanted me to draw up a surrogacy agreement whereby the girl would rent out her womb for the man so that the girl would bear a surrogate baby for the man. Of course, without a second thought, I rejected the legal brief. I told them that even though I was desperately in need of money at that time, I would not facilitate an illegal agreement to carry out an illegal action. Surrogacy is illegal in Nigeria. Sections 30 of the Child Rights Act, sections 13 and 21 and 82 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act (TIPPEA Act), and articles 8 and 31 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights denounce all forms of surrogacy.

    As regards transgenderism, I consider it as the new madness of the 21st Century. It is considered a phenomenal madness because it challenges the natural law and human nature, which are fundamental to every human civilization. Human nature is an unchanging reality that transcends time and history. No amount of surgical procedures or hormonal treatments can change a person’s biological sex. Transgenderism undermines the traditional socialization of boys into men and girls into women by denying the biological basis of manhood and womanhood. It teaches that gender is a social construct rather than a natural or biological one, suggesting that individuals are free to choose any gender that suits their preference, regardless of their natural and biological gender. We now live in a new era where being homosexual, lesbian, or transgender is synonymous with international civility.

    A few years ago, I attended a United Nations Session at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States. During the session, a young man was caught by some ladies in a female toilet. When questioned, he claimed that although he appeared outwardly as a man, he felt like a woman inside. This incident reflects the new challenges we face. However, the fact remains that transgenderism is not innate; it is not determined by genes. It is an acquired madness. No matter the efforts, one cannot change one’s chromosomes. One may succeed in altering one’s appearance through makeup, but one cannot change one’s biological sex. This is why Dignitas Infinita teaches that any attempts, whether medical or non-medical, to alter one’s sexual appearance are inconsistent with human dignity. Additionally, the use of language that obscures the reality of sexual difference is also considered inconsistent with human dignity.

    Perhaps the most remarkable paragraph of Dignitas Infinita, in my humble view, is the paragraph denouncing modern-day gender ideology. The paragraph draws a clear distinction between “sex” and “gender.” It states that God created man and woman as biologically different, separate beings, yet some people are denying their sex, essentially playing God. Pope Francis fervently believes that the idea that gender is fluid “rather than helping to recognize dignity, impoverishes the vision” of man and woman coming together to create new life. He denounces “gender theory” as the “worst danger,” an “ugly ideology” facing humanity today.

    Pope Francis is correct. The notion of “gender” has become a Trojan horse. “Gender” no longer simply means two sexes—male and female—as traditionally understood. It has become a social construct instead of a biological one, encompassing homosexuality, lesbianism, transgenderism, and abortion. The phrase “gender equality” no longer signifies the ontological and radical equality between man and woman that we cherish and subscribe to. Instead, it has become another euphemism for the legalization of homosexuality, lesbianism, transgenderism, and abortion. “Gender equality” seeks to mainstream homosexuality and lesbianism into all spheres of society, including schools, businesses, churches, and beyond. Currently, there are at least seven different genders recognized at United Nations proceedings and deliberations: male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender female, transgender male, and bisexual.

    The list is endless, which is why the phrase “gender equality” raises a red flag at United Nations negotiations. Many countries’ delegates oppose the phrase because they know it connotes LGBT, trans, and gender-diverse people. Attempts to pass the Gender Equality Bill into law in Nigeria and other countries have failed for the same reason.

    So, the appropriate word to use is “sex,” not “gender.” For example, section 42(1) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, which provides for equality between male and female in Nigeria, uses the word “sex,” not “gender.” “Sex” means “male” or “female,” whereas “gender” connotes LGBT, trans, and gender-diverse people and so forth. Section 42 (1) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution stipulates that no citizen of Nigeria should be discriminated against on the grounds of his or her sex, ethnic group, place of origin, religion, or political opinion.

    On the contrary, South Africa, the first and only African country and fifth country in the world to legalize LGBT, has retained “gender” in the South African Constitution. So, for a country that does not want to legalize LGBT, the appropriate word to use is “sex,” not “gender,” because “sex” simply means “male” or “female,” whereas “gender” connotes LGBT, trans, gender-diverse, and all sorts of nonsense.

    As expected, the liberal and ultra-liberal media – CNN, BBC, Washington Post, New York Times, and others – have rejected Dignatas Infinita. For example, the Washington Post has dubbed Dignatas Infinita as “something of an olive branch to church conservatives.” In the same vein, the LGBT community worldwide has rejected Dignatas Infinita.

    They argue that the declaration is a big setback and a big disappointment because they thought Pope Francis was in support of LGBT and gender theory. They criticize the new declaration as outdated, harmful, and contrary to the stated goal of recognizing the “infinite dignity” of all of God’s children. They complain that the Vatican is again supporting and propagating anti-LGBT ideas that lead to real physical harm to transgender, nonbinary, and other LGBTQ+ people. They warn that it could have real-world effects on trans people, fueling anti-trans violence and discrimination.

    Studies on the rise and fall of human civilizations show that most have collapsed due to a combination of factors, including the collapse of objective moral standards, which serve as the superstructure for constructing societal ethos. For example, empires such as Greece under Pericles, Rome under Caesar, France under Napoleon, and Germany under Hitler collapsed due to a combination of political and moral corruption. The West has experienced two world wars and has seen the rise of ideologies such as Communism, Fascism, and Socialism, as well as leaders like Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler. Now, it is facing challenges from movements like LGBT and gender activism, which some argue threaten the very foundation of human society. History shows that societies that go against natural law often face consequences, as nature has a way of reasserting and rebalancing itself.

    For this reason, the gender hypothesis is seen as a potential catalyst for anthropological cataclysm. The LGBT movement, proponents argue, will eventually face strong natural resistance that will lead to its demise. Every society derives its meaning and purpose from some unchanging, self-evident natural truths, which form the superstructure for building societal ethos. By seeking to abolish this truth and promote an absurd taxonomy of LGBT and gender ideologies, the West is not only tearing itself apart but also potentially hastening its final collapse. The Roman Empire, for instance, collapsed under the weight of moral corruption. Similarly, some argue that Western civilization is crumbling under the influence of LGBT and gender ideologies.

  • The revenge of the poor – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    The revenge of the poor – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    A few days ago on my street, I gave a woman, an indigenous beggar I think, N200 currency note. She snatched it from me, looked at the money disgustingly, and demanded for more. All entreaties for her to go away were in vain. She refused to go away, insisting I must top up the money. If she had had a gun or a knife at that moment she probably would have used it to her advantage.

    We must be careful these days. The dawn of the revenge of the poor

  • Surviving the Tinubu hardship – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Surviving the Tinubu hardship – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Please, make it a habit to check in on your family, friends, acquaintances and colleagues. You never know who might have passed away or who might be struggling with thoughts of suicide. Nigeria has unfortunately seen a rise in suicide rates in recent times. Many are also suffering greatly due to the current economic hardships and widespread poverty. Kakistocracy, a term for a government run by the worst people, seems to be prevailing more than ever in Nigeria’s political history. We live in a time where death seems to triumph over life, darkness over light, and lawlessness in cities with kidnapping becoming rampant.

    There are reports of walking corpses on the streets, protests, riots, and the poor seeking revenge. In Lagos, even those who used to rig elections are now seen begging for food and money. The traders they once harassed have found new means of livelihood, while the riggers themselves are left without jobs or a future, becoming a burden to society.

    Meanwhile, electricity supply is practically non-existent. It’s astonishing that a country as richly endowed as Nigeria still struggles with providing basic electricity in the 21st century. The high humidity worsened by global warming is unbearable. At a time when people need electricity for fans, air-conditioners, and work tools, it’s unfortunate that Nigeria is facing a collapse in electricity supply. Most Nigerians are experiencing sleepless nights, with rats and mosquitoes adding to their discomfort. The unemployed, who rely on electricity for their work, are unable to make a living due to the prohibitive cost of fuel for generators. Despite this, the government is considering increasing fuel prices once again. What a country !

    In the horizon, the prominent lawyer and human rights activist Femi Falana, SAN, calls for a social uprising. If the fiery fighter Gani Fawehinmi were alive and kicking today, he would have, among other things, staged a one-man revolution to register his protest. Anyway, if care is not taken, the hungry and angry Nigerian youth will stage another social uprising in Nigeria.

    The most tragic aspect is the simmering soaring prices of foodstuffs in Nigeria under this Tinubu government. Go to the market and see for yourself. Prices of foodstuffs such as garri, rice, tomatoes, tubers of yam, egusi, pepper, egg, and so forth have skyrocketed. Spiral inflation is on the prowl. The free fall of the Naira currency is unabated. The foreign exchange crisis has worsened. The US dollar, at the time of writing this, exchanged for N1,600 at the parallel market. It may hit N2,000 very soon. Our leaders hear nothing and say nothing. Ordinary shoe polish now sells for between N1,500 to N2,500. A mudu of yellow garri sells for N280, while a bag of yellow garri goes for N22,000. A mudu of beans now sells for N1,300. The price of sachet water, popularly known as pure water, is now N300 per bag. Meat is unaffordable. Ditto for fish. A long loaf of bread sells for N1,200. Bakers are about to go on strike. Primary health delivery has been jeopardized. Ordinary drugs and medications are so scarce and exorbitant now. A bag of cement goes for N10,000. Some hospitals have shut down as most medical doctors are continuously fleeing the country in search of a livable medical practice abroad. A bag of rice now sells for N88,000. As usual, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is confused. Meanwhile, President Tinubu and his Ministers have no inkling on how to recover the economy. President Tinubu, like Buhari, is busy junketing the world, feigning ignorance of the killing and kidnapping holding the Nigerian people hostage.

    In its defense, the Tinubu government blames the Buhari administration for the current economic woes afflicting Nigeria. This defense, in my humble view, is fundamentally flawed. These politicians should cease these blame games. The Buhari government blamed the Jonathan administration for its failures. Now, the current Tinubu government is blaming the Buhari administration for its failures. Haba! How can one APC federal government blame another APC federal government for its failures? Governance is a continuum. A government comes to power to govern, not to apportion blame. Therefore, the Tinubu APC government cannot blame the Buhari APC government for its failures. How can one Beelzebub blame another Beelzebub? Assuming the Buhari government was responsible for the current economic hardships, why go after Godwin Emefiele and leave Mr. Buhari untouched, who probably aided and abetted Emefiele? It is noteworthy that despite all the allegations of stealing in Nigeria linked to former President Buhari, the Tinubu government has not deemed it fit to invite Buhari for questioning. Is Buhari above the law of the land?

    We knew from the onset that Bola Tinubu would be a disastrous President. The man’s rising baggage points in that direction. The Presidency is the central focus of power and responsibility in a presidential democracy. Therefore, it is essential that the Presidency functions effectively in a presidential democracy. If the President is incapacitated both intellectually and physically, the presidential democracy will be incapacitated. This is why we were warned not to let Mr. Tinubu take over power as President because he would make a mess of it. In his characteristic charismatic manner, Olusegun Obasanjo penned down some articles urging us to make a clean break from our ruinous past. But we did not listen to him. Now we are suffering the consequences.

    The man virtually all Nigerians are blaming for Nigeria’s current calamities is the chairman of the so-called Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu. This man truncated the will of the Nigerian voters in the last presidential election. Prof. Yakubu had the opportunity to become a hero of a free and fair Nigerian election, but he bungled it. If Prof. Yakubu had allowed the will of the Nigerian people to prevail in the last presidential election, the whole world would by now have been honoring him for his integrity. But Prof. Yakubu lacks character. This is why Nigerians are heaping all sorts of abuses on him. For example, the bolt driver who drove me in Abuja two weeks ago was cursing Prof. Yakubu and saying in Pidgin English, “E no go better for him, e no go better for his children and grand, grand children.”

    Armed with their respective PVCs, an uncountable number of young voters who longed for the betterment of Nigeria for the benefit of their generation and generations yet unborn left everything and trooped out en masse on February 25 to vote for progress, innovation, and production in Nigeria. Even many Nigerian voters residing abroad flew into Nigeria a few days before the presidential election to vote for a new dawn in Nigeria. But Prof Yakubu simply refused their votes to reflect in the presidential election. Unsurprisingly, Prof. Yakubu has not been sacked as the INEC chairman. Why should President Tinubu sack Yakubu when he (Yakubu) announced him as the purported winner of the February 25 presidential election? Amid the monumental rigging and cheating complaints trailing the February 25, 2023, Presidential election, shameless Prof Yakubu stole out in the mid-morning when Nigerians were still asleep and announced Mr. Tinubu as the purported winner of the February 25 Presidential election.

    Picture Prof Yakubu alongside his professional colleague, Prof Nnenna Oti. Whereas INEC’s Returning Officer in the Abia State governorship election, Prof. Nnenna Oti, maintained her integrity and refused to accept the financial incentives offered to her from Abuja to manipulate the Abia State governorship election, Prof. Yakubu sold out and scuttled the will of the Nigerian people. Today, Abia State is excelling more than any state in Nigeria because Prof Nnenna Oti refused to accept the financial incentives from Abuja to refrain from announcing Dr. Alex Oti as the true winner of the Abia State governorship election. Whereas Prof Oti acted rightly and caused Abia State to be put on the excelling world map, Prof Yakubu compromised integrity and honor and brought rot and ruin to the country. Prof Yakubu and his paymasters do not want an Igbo to be President of Nigeria, but ironically they want an Igbo to play for the Super Eagles and bring glory to Nigeria. In other words, a Stanley Nwabali can be allowed to become the goalkeeper of the Super Eagles and bring glory to Nigeria, but a Stanley Nwabali cannot be allowed to emerge as the President of Nigeria and positively reset Nigeria. Because of this, you and I are now gnashing our teeth in suffering. Serves us right. Until the ghost of ethnic irredentism is exorcized from us, Nigeria is doomed forever.

    Despite the Oronsaye Report and public outcry against the high cost of governance, the Tinubu government continues to indulge in over-borrowing and wasteful expenditure. It has refused to cut down on the cost of governance at all levels in order to save Nigeria from financial collapse and to promote the welfare of the people. Unnecessary allowances such as travel allowances, travel estacodes, wardrobe allowances, housing benefits, and other benefits should be eliminated. For instance, in the proposed 2024 budget, a scandalous sum of N15.961 billion has been allocated for international and domestic travel expenses for President Bola Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, and their respective hordes of aides at the Presidential Villa. A breakdown of the amount shows that Tinubu’s personal travel budget amounts to N7.630 billion, predominantly earmarked for foreign trips, with N6.992 billion specifically set aside for international travels and N638.535 million set aside for domestic travel. In the same vein, Vice-President Shettima’s travel allowance amounts to N1.847 billion, split between N1.229 billion for foreign trips and N618.399 million for local travel expenditure. Also, the 2024 Budget has allocated N40.616 billion to the Villa Headquarters, with a substantial portion of N6.484 billion allocated to Villa Headquarters for international and local travel. The sum of N3 billion has also been allocated in the budget for the construction of offices for Special Advisers and Senior Special Advisers. Another N3 billion has been set aside for the acquisition, renovation, rehabilitation, and furnishing of the State House Annex. Notably, an extra N6 billion has been allocated for operational vehicles, with an additional N4 billion for operational vehicles and an extra N2 billion specifically earmarked for Special Utility Vehicles (SUV). For President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, he is expected to get a total of N21 billion in the budget. A breakdown of the proposed amount shows that he would get N10 billion for the renovation of his official residence, N104 million for the purchase of computers and printers for local travel and transportation, N290 million for the purchase of vehicles, N10.1 billion for the purchase of computer software, and N103 million for miscellaneous expenses.

    You will recall that on December 9, 2023, Senate President Godswill Akpabio threw an extravagant public birthday jamboree to mark his 61st birthday. Apart from the N150 million donated by different Senators at the jamboree, a whopping sum of N800 million was allegedly withdrawn from the Senate Account to foot the birthday expenses. The National Assembly has made a fresh proposal for an increase in constituency projects, which currently stand at N100 billion per year. In fact, the National Assembly wants 20% of the National Budget to be set aside for constituency projects. It is on record that from 2003 to date, a staggering sum of N2 trillion has been spent on constituency projects. As you know very well, constituency projects allowance is a conduit pipe to siphon the national treasury. Unsurprisingly, Senate President Godswill Akpabio endorses an increased constituency projects budget. It is high time the constituency allowance was abolished. It is preposterous, unconscionable, and a grave betrayal of public trust that a country in debt, running a deficit, should allocate the aforementioned scandalous sums of money for the benefit and comfort of President Tinubu, Vice-President Shettima, Godswill Akpabio, and Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, and for the so-called constituency projects.

    Anyway, hope is the spice of life. Hope is the inseparable companion of hardship and oppressive suffering. Hope banishes fear. Life without hope is repugnant to good judgment. So, hope remains our greatest asset in this Tinubu hardship. With our hope, we can endure the present Tinubu suffering, except that hope that is not anchored on future joy is a blistered hope that leads to destruction. Unfortunately, the Tinubu political-appointee tree is an accursed tree that cannot bear fruits. In their humble acknowledgment of their respective personal shortcomings and deficiencies, IBB, Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan, and even Abacha surrounded themselves with the best and the brightest to help them run the country during their respective stints in power. But President Tinubu has surrounded himself with all sorts of Jannes and Jambres who are only keen on embarrassing themselves and embarrassing the Tinubu government that appointed them. The other day, a Minister in the Tinubu government was threatening to take the United Nations to court. Birds of the same feathers, it is said, flock together.

    As I said earlier, we must remain hopeful. Be watchful. Be prayerful. Darkness cannot last forever. We must always be hopeful, I repeat. We cease to live when we cease to hope. With our hope, we can drive from our hearts the specter of Tinubu melancholy and hardship.

    Sonnie Ekwowusi is the Chairman, Human & Constitutional Rights Committee, African Bar Association

  • New Year, New Redemption Song – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    New Year, New Redemption Song – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    I am sure that, like this poor scribbler, you are being bombarded with New Year wishes and messages on your mobile phone. How is it said again? If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. If wishes were horses, Nigeria would have been the most politically and economically resilient country in the world by now. Our ingenuity in crafting sanctimonious New Year messages is unmatchable and unparalleled. For example, check out this beautiful New Year message which a bosom friend sent to me yesterday: “10 good wishes in this New Year 2024: joy unspeakable, love, affection, peace now and always, favor, promotion, good health, breakthrough, victory, anointing for excellence.

    In principle, there is nothing wrong with the exchange of good New Year wishes and messages like the above. In fact, we should have an optimistic and cheerful attitude toward life. We must look at the bright side of things. No defeatist attitude to life. No surrendering to failure. We are not melancholies and sadists who always see the dark aspects of life. We are full of faith. We are full of hope. We are full of love. Therefore, it is proper and fitting that we wish ourselves all the goodies in 2024.

    Having said this, it is also good to predicate our faith and hope on stark realities. We must not be naive. One does not reap where one has not sown. If we have sowed a whirlwind in the last eight years, why should we expect to reap a bounteous material harvest in 2024? If the APC government had failed to create jobs for our hapless young graduates in the last eight years (even though they are now telling lies and claiming the contrary), on what basis are you expecting better employment opportunities in 2024? If there had been unsteady electricity in 2023, why expect uninterrupted electricity supply in 2024? As I scribble this, there is a power failure in my area. And you are telling me that we are in a new year. What is new about 2024, if I may ask you?

    If Nigeria was ruined in 2023 by monumental election rigging, a corruptible judiciary, and looting of the public treasury by the Presidency and National Assembly, why would anyone expect instant economic prosperity in 2024? If INEC chair Prof Yakubu Mamoud rigged the 2023 Presidency election in favor of the APC and is still being retained as the INEC chair, why should we expect to reap any democratic dividends in 2024 and beyond? If voters obtained their PVCs and voted in 2023, yet their votes did not count, why anticipate peace in Nigeria in 2024? I am asking you. Please answer my questions. If the standard of living condition of the average Nigerian deteriorated beyond belief in 2023, why expect a sudden improvement at the dawn of 2024? According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria is now acknowledged as the poverty capital of the world with 87 million “extremely poor people,” thus overtaking India in extreme poverty ranking. Nigeria has been ranked as the third most-terrorized country in the world. Nigeria has been ranked as the second-worst electricity supply in the world. The Nigeria Police have been ranked as the worst Police in the world. Nigeria has been ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a country with the 3rd highest infant mortality rate in the world. Northern Nigeria has been ranked as the worst region in the world with the highest number of illiterates. And you are comfortably sitting down in your house, chorusing “Happy New Year.”

    On July 25, 2018, the BBC reported that “Nigeria has the largest number of out-of-school children, totaling 13 million, in the world.” In the 2018 Global Rankings of the “Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index” of OXFAM and Development Finance International (DFI), Nigeria was ranked 157 out of 157 countries. In the same year, Nigeria overtook India as the country with the highest number of under-5 deaths. In the same year, Nigeria was ranked as one of the most dangerous places in the world to give birth and the 4th country with the worst maternal mortality rate globally. In the same year, Nigeria was ranked among the worst malaria-hit countries in the world. In the same year, Nigeria was ranked by the World Bank among the seven worst countries on the World Bank Human Capital Index. Meanwhile, in the 2018 Global Hunger Index (GHI), Nigeria ranks 103rd out of 119 qualifying countries. The latest World Bank Report on Nigeria says that more than 100 million Nigerians will be felled by extreme poverty in the next 10 years. Given the human rights violations in Nigeria in the last eight years, it is not unlikely that Nigeria will experience full-blown totalitarian democracy in 2024. The killings in Plateau State are most painful to me. You see, nothing damages a country’s reputation more than human rights violations, scuttling of the rule of law, and killing of innocent citizens. No country in which its narcissist leaders keep quiet in the face of the killings of innocent citizens, as we are now experiencing on the Plateau. This is why Nigeria under the APC government will never make progress. In the last eight years, foreign investors have steadily and unceasingly been fleeing Nigeria and going to invest in other African countries such as Ghana and now Rwanda. Can you imagine the erstwhile war-torn country Rwanda, now the pride of Africa?

    Now , after reflecting on the foregoing, what should we expect in 2024? Should we anticipate economic prosperity? Unfortunately, Nigerians revel in high superstitious beliefs. Christianity may be flourishing in the land, but it is only a superficial Christianity that lacks depth. For instance, now that 2023 has come to an end, many Nigerians are already reveling in all sorts of superstitious beliefs about the goodness or badness of the New Year. There are many Christian worshippers who are now sleeping in churches, believing that new blessings would be showered on them inside the churches. To make matters worse, new paganism now thrives in Nigeria. Most Nigerian youngsters have gone back to worshipping the old abandoned idols. The old pagan oracles and shrines of our pagan ancestors may have disappeared in some places in Nigeria, but they have been replaced by the new paganism, which always harps on material prosperity, financial breakthroughs, and good health as evidence of success in life. This is why any small boy who manages to erect a signboard with the inscriptions: “Church of instant miracles, financial breakthroughs, fruits of the womb” is sure to attract dozens of gullible people, especially women who will start following him and calling him their “pastor” and all that.

    Our miracle and prosperity mongers must not forget that happiness and sorrows are inseparable in this life. Nothing good here below lasts forever. Hardly has any pleasure started than it has ended. We are only wayfarers on earth. Our pathway as wayfarers on earth is strewn and intertwined with sadness and joy. No cross, no crown. As St. Josemaria Escriva vividly recaptures it, “On this earth, love and suffering are inseparable; in this life, we have to expect the Cross. Whoever does not expect the Cross is not a Christian. Whoever does not look for the Cross will encounter it anyway, and further will find that it brings him despair. If you look for the Cross, with Jesus on the Cross, you can be sure that at the hardest moments, if they come, you will be in the best company, happy, strong, and secure…”

    If you ask me, I think the miracle we need in Nigeria urgently at the moment is the miracle of putting our human intelligence to work to improve the well-being of our fellow human beings. No New Year is intrinsically a good year. No New Year is intrinsically a bad year either. You have to work out your New Year to be what you want it to be. If you are a hard-working person, the New Year probably may be good for you. And if you are the lazy type, the New Year probably may be bad for you. We must stop deluding ourselves into believing that once we denounce Satan and all his works with the air of hubristic self-righteousness inside a church on the New Year eve, then all troubles and sufferings will vanish in 2024. It is not enough to renounce the evils plaguing our society at the dawn of 2024, as if that renouncing alone would negate their powers. We should try to work hard for the good of our families and the society. After all, God who created us has given us intelligence and expects us to put our intelligence to good use to improve the well-being of our fellow men and women. Therefore, God has no reason to work miracles to solve small human problems in Nigeria, which we can use our human intelligence to solve.

    Therefore, as we cruise into yet another New Year, let us remind ourselves that no New Year comes with already-made bounties or a new lease on life. No New Year comes with already-made miracles. You have to work out your New Year. You have to resolve to do your ordinary work with a sense of responsibility. The Presidency should be more responsible. No wasteful expenditure in 2024. Ditto for the National Assembly. Ditto for the judiciary, that veritable third arm of government entrusted with the sacred duty of dispensation of justice. 2023 was a disastrous year for the judiciary in Nigeria. Our judiciary has been constituted into an object of derision by the very people who should labor to maintain its prestige. The level of official corruption and moral degeneracy in the Bar and the Bench was alarming in 2024. In Nigeria, the power of the judiciary has been whittled down by the ambitious tendency of some members of the executive to disobey the court. Nothing destroys the confidence of the public in the judiciary more than this kind of abuse. Our judges should adorn the breastplate of integrity, transparency, discipline, impartiality, and honor in the discharge of their sacred duty. Practicing lawyers must recognize that they are officers in the temple of justice and stop offering bribes to judges. Practicing lawyers must practice the ethics of the Bar. I am eagerly and earnestly looking forward to the redemption of the Nigerian judiciary in 2024. I am looking forward to seeing an incorruptible judiciary in 2024.

    It was Lyman Bryson who once said that great citizens are built upon greatness when their leaders dare to let them use their minds, when the state helps them to know the competing choices open to them, preserving for them the essential democratic spirit which seeks the truths by its own efforts. However, the opposite of what Bryson said is happening in Nigeria at the moment. To begin with, many Nigerians have stopped thinking properly. Why? Because they can hardly sleep well at night owing to the suffocating heat caused by electricity failure. When you hit the road to ward off the frustration, a uniformed road merchant dashes out from nowhere and signals you to an abrupt stop. He may end up extorting money from you under one flimsy excuse or another. This is Nigeria for you.

    Certainly, we cannot continue to live in this mess. This is not life. Please don’t misunderstand me. I am an optimist. I do not expect a big transformation of Nigeria overnight. We know that the problems are overwhelming. We also know that many of our political office holders are not so gifted to tackle the problems. But there is one thing all of us can do for ourselves: We can sing the redemption song. We should drown our melancholy with laugher for laughter is medicinal We should not wish anybody evil. We should love our fellow human beings. We should use our God-given intelligence to work out our salvation. We must remain focused on solving little problems that improve the lives of members of our respective families and the ordinary man in the street. This is the much-vaunted redemption.

    Happy New Year, my friend.

  • Joy to the world – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Joy to the world – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    It’s another Christmas, the dies natalis (birthday) of Jesus Christ. At Christmas, we are invited to relive that deepest mystery that took place more than 2000 years ago. As the Psalmist puts it: “A child shall be born for us, and he will be called God, the Almighty; every tribe of the earth shall be blessed by him”. Prophet Malachi unhesitatingly joins in re-echoing the urgency, immediacy, and the eschatological underpinning of his coming. “But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears” (Mal. 3.1-4)? When peaceful silence enveloped the earth, and the night had run half of its swift course, God, who had taken flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, chose to be born in the relatively humble city of David called Bethlehem. St. Josemaria Escriva recaptured it in these words: “When the fullness of time came, no philosophical genius, no Plato or Socrates, appears to fulfill the mission of redemption. Nor does a powerful conqueror, another Alexander, take over the earth. Instead, a child is born in Bethlehem.” Meanwhile, Pope Francis invites us to speak to and listen to the newborn child Jesus. “Let us turn our eyes to Bethlehem and listen to the first faint cries of the Prince of Peace. For truly, Jesus is our peace,” he says.

    The events leading up to the birth of Christ are a salutary lesson in humility, self-abnegation, love, and self-sacrificing service. Presidents, Emperors, and Kings of this world are born in special hospitals, but Christ chose to be born in an animal pen. He came to serve, not to be served. Even as a newborn baby, he allowed himself to experience suffering, want, and deprivation. He was laid in a manger, not in a golden bed. Animals were the first to witness his birth. He was the light. He cared for both the spiritually and materially poor. He condemned injustice. He fed the hungry. Seeing the widow of Naim, who lost her only son, He wept. Later, he allowed himself to be crucified on the cross and, by doing so, redeemed mankind and made the cross the pathway to salvation.

    Therefore, following the exemplary life of Christ, world leaders should bring light to the dark land, hope to the hopeless, justice to the oppressed, and integrity to the wasteland. This Christmas affords an opportunity for Russian and Ukrainian leaders to humbly return to the roundtable and re-negotiate a peaceful settlement and ceasefire to the war between the two countries. Equally, we call on Israel and Palestine to end the latest war, strife, and hostilities that have engulfed the Middle East and have claimed uncountable precious human lives, especially the lives of innocent children. In particular, let us pray for peace in Bethlehem, located about 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) south of Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ was born more than 2,000 years ago. We continue to pray for peace in war-torn Southern Sudan. We pray for an end to the bloody conflicts and instability in Libya, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mali, and the Central African Republic (CAR).

    Back home in Nigeria, we pray for an end to the Boko Haram insurgency, kidnapping, banditry, abduction, arson, and political hired assassination. We pray for a responsible and incorruptible judiciary in Nigeria. We pray that our political leaders should learn from Christ the lesson of altruistic dedicated service to the people. Nigerian political office holders should be ashamed that, while they live in a spendthrift, pompous exhibition of their ill-gotten wealth, many Nigerians are dying in agony in penury. Many federal highways are in bad shape. Many Nigerians will be celebrating this Christmas in darkness due to electricity supply failure that has paralyzed social and communal life across the country. The worst part is that Nigerians who have money in their bank accounts cannot collect them to purchase Christmas goodies owing to the scarcity of the Naira currency. Many illegally detained prisoners will be celebrating Christmas in various prisons across the country. Many sick people will be celebrating it in their sick beds in hospitals. The security of lives and property is not even guaranteed. By now, kidnappers must be sharpening their hands in readiness for the great kidnapping, which will be unleashed in different parts of the country at Christmas. Of course, in this Christmastime, commercial bus drivers drive recklessly; traders swindle hapless customers; workers embezzle their employer’s money; kidnappers and armed robbers lay siege to the country’s highways to kidnap Christmas travelers and rob them of their belongings.

    Therefore, this Christmas calls for a deeper reflection and repentance. In general, we need a new humanism in Nigeria. We must learn to see our neighbors as human beings, not just mere instruments to be used to satisfy our selfish interests. The self-sacrificing service of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph at the first Christmas is a spur to us to be less self-centered and attend to the needs of our fellow men and women.

    Christmas underlines the importance of the family in nation-building. Jesus was born into a family of Joseph and Mary. Everything in the Holy family of Jesus, Joseph, and Mary bespeaks the family values of concern, service, dedication, and altruism. The family is the nucleus of society. The family plays a vital role in the upbringing of a person. All the things that shape the life of an adult are what he/she learned from his family or from his parents in childhood. Any wonder the family has been dubbed as “the shaper of values.” The values that the family institution imparts into the child eventually form the superstructure around which the child’s future behavior will revolve. And for us in Africa and Nigeria, the family, viewed from a historical and cultural context, essentially doubles as the provider of those “social safety-nets” that a person needs to grow up to become a responsible member of society.

    Finally, Christmastime is a time to regain our laughter and sense of humor. Everything may be collapsing; politics may become synonymous with hypocrisy, but with our laughter, we can challenge the sad world to look at us and be hopeful.

    Thanks for your company in clothing the naked public square in 2023.

    A joyful Christmas.

  • European Union’s LGBT threat – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    European Union’s LGBT threat – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Ostensibly peeved by the refusal of 35 African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries including Nigeria, to sign the controversial European Union’s LGBT Agreement, the EU-ACP Treaty, or the Samoa Agreement on November 15, 2023, the European Union issued a significant threat dated November 24, 2023. According to the threat, which was issued in Brussels on November 24, 2023, any African, Caribbean, or Pacific country failing to sign the LGBT Agreement by January 1, 2024, when the Agreement is scheduled to come into force, will face dire consequences. These consequences include the denial of EU funding, development assistance, and program implementation. Furthermore, the threat specifies that such countries will be treated as pariah nations and may be subject to economic sanctions. They would also be barred from participating in EU-Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) meetings and activities.

    Recall that before the Samoa Agreement, the EU had been applying increasing pressure on African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Ministers to persuade ACP heads of governments to sign the contentious LGBT Agreement. Several meetings convened for this purpose ended in deadlock as many ACP countries refused to sign the Agreement. Surprisingly, towards the end of October 2023, news emerged that the EU had scheduled November 15, 2023, for the signing of the Agreement in Samoa, a small island country in the central South Pacific Ocean composed of an archipelago of nine islands, four of which are inhabited.

    To the surprise of the EU, on November 15, 2023, 35 ACP countries, including Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, Senegal, Liberia, Botswana, Burundi, Jamaica, Mali, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Namibia, Grenada, Eritrea, Malawi, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Antigua and Barbuda, The Commonwealth of the Bahamas, The Central African Republic, The Republic of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, The Kingdom of Eswatini, The Cooperative Republic of Guyana, The Republic of Maldives, Mauritania, The Republic of Nauru, The Republic of Palau, Saint Lucia, The Republic of Kitts and Nevis, The Kingdom of Tonga, The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Tuvalu, refused to sign the LGBT Agreement.

    In fact, on that fateful November 15, 2023, Nigeria not only refused to sign the LGBT Agreement but was conspicuously absent in Samoa on the day of the signing. Frustrated by the refusal of these 35 countries to sign the Agreement and fearing that those who signed might withdraw their support, the EU is now issuing the aforementioned threat dated November 24, 2023. This threat stipulates that countries refusing to sign the Samoa LGBT Agreement would face economic sanctions and lose EU funding and development aid.

    The refusal of Nigeria and 34 other African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries to be bullied into signing the LGBT Agreement is praiseworthy. When the history of Africa is rewritten, this courageous act will be remembered with great admiration. By refusing to succumb to the intimidation and coercion of the EU, the 35 ACP countries have sent a strong message to the EU and the entire world that ACP countries have come of age and will no longer bow to international threats, blackmail, or intimidation. I am pleased that Nigeria has called the bluff of the EU’s intimidation, coercion, and threats—a significant victory for Nigeria in refusing to sign the Agreement. To begin with, LGBT is outlawed in Nigeria by virtue of the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2014. Therefore, it makes no sense for Nigeria to append her signature to the EU’s LGBT Agreement. If the EU does not want to provide funds or enter into a trade or economic alliance with us simply because we have refused to legalize LGBT, it should go to hell with its funds and trade relationships.

    The leaders of ACP countries should reconsider their position. They should stop deluding themselves into believing that Europe and America have their economic interests at heart and are keen on seeing human flourishing and economic prosperity take root in ACP countries. There is no free lunch anywhere. So much fuss about foreign aids and poverty reduction in Africa, yet so much impoverishment of Africans. Africans must understand that the fate of Africa lies in the hands of Africans. Only Africans can truly and really develop Africa, not foreigners. Despite wresting political independence from their erstwhile colonial masters, the economic systems and political policies of most African countries infatuated with foreign aids are still tied to the apron strings of the World Bank and powerful European and multinational organizations.

    In his book, “Emerging Africa,” former Central Bank of Nigeria Deputy Governor and presidential aspirant Prof. Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu brilliantly enunciates how foreign aids have underdeveloped Africa and why foreign aids are not the panacea to Africa’s myriad socio-economic and political problems. Prof. Moghalu wonders why African leaders have not woken up to the reality that the so-called billions of dollars doled out to many African countries by their so-called Western development partners “have failed to produce any significant development leaps in Africa, and many aid-dependent African countries are poorer today than they were a half-century ago.” He regrets that foreign aids in Africa have many strings attached to them. “Much of the foreign aids, then, is about giving with the right hand and taking back with the left what is presumed to have been given,” he writes.

    The refusal of Nigeria and the other 34 ACP countries to sign the Samoa Agreement will strengthen their national sovereignty. It will erase the wrong impression that the ACP countries are inferior to other European countries. Above all, it will act as a bulwark against the bullying, intimidation, and coercion of ACP countries by the EU. For years, African countries, Nigeria included, have been victims of organized deception, coercion, bullying, blackmail, manipulation, and abuse of power at the United Nations. For example, under the guise of promoting egregious women’s rights, some United Nations agencies such as the United Nations Population Activities (UNFPA) have overrun Africa with radical, strange ideas that violate the cultural backgrounds and philosophical convictions of the African people. The scramble for Africa, which began in the 1880s and the Berlin Conference of 1884 for the partition of Africa, may have come and gone, but the forms of scramble and partition are still ongoing in Africa today. The enslavement of Africans has not ended either. Open your eyes. The erstwhile colonial masters in Africa have not left; they have merely changed their tactics. Their goal is to pillage the raw materials in Africa and to destroy or reduce the human capital in Africa.

    As we mourn the passing of Alfred Henry Kissinger, we can revisit the Kissinger Report of 1974, which explains why America and Europe are underdeveloping Africa. On December 10, 1974, the United States National Security Council promulgated a top-secret document entitled National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM-200), also called The Kissinger Report. It was subtitled “Implications of Worldwide Population Growth For U.S. Security and Overseas Interests.”

    This hitherto classified document was declassified in 1989. It laid out a detailed strategy by which the United States would aggressively promote population control in developing nations to regulate (or have better access to) the natural resources of these countries. In order to protect U.S. commercial interests, NSSM-200 cited a number of factors that could interrupt the smooth flow of materials from lesser-developed countries, as it referred to them, to the United States. These factors included a large population of anti-imperialist youth, who, according to NSSM-200, must be limited by population control. The document identified 13 nations by name that would be primary targets of U.S.-funded population control efforts. The named countries were India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, the Philippines, Thailand, Egypt, Turkey, Ethiopia, and Colombia. According to NSSM-200, elements of the implementation of population control programs could include: a) the legalization of abortion; b) financial incentives for countries to increase their abortion, sterilization, and contraception-use rates; c) indoctrination of children; and d) mandatory population control, and coercion in other forms, such as withholding disaster and food aid unless developing countries implement population control programs.

    NSSM-200 also specifically declared that the United States was to cover up its population control activities and avoid possible charges of imperialism by recruiting some United Nations agencies, such as the UNFPA, to do its dirty work. Section 30(a) of NSSM-200 states: “Concentration on Key Countries. … Assistance for population moderation should give primary emphasis to the largest and fastest-growing developing countries where there is special U.S. political and strategic interest. Those countries are: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, the Philippines, Thailand, Egypt, Turkey, Ethiopia, and Colombia. Together, they account for 47 percent of the world’s current population increase.” NSSM-200 also states, “No country has reduced its population growth without resorting to abortion…since abortion is still repugnant to the peoples of Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and parts of Asia and Oceania, we must mask our desire to legalize abortion by pretending to care about the state of women’s health. We do this by saying that we want to eliminate “unsafe abortion.”

    Since 1991, the “developed” nations of the world have spent $4.91 billion trying to reduce the population of Nigeria. In 1991, the population controllers spent about $31 million in Nigeria, but this has increased by a factor of more than 30 to more than half a billion dollars a year. This is because Nigeria is becoming too strong and must be kept weak by suppressing its population. Dr. Alan Guttmacher, who did more than anyone else in the history of the world to spread abortion and population control everywhere, said that “If you’re going to curb population, it’s extremely important not to have it done by the dammed Yankees, but by the UN. Because the thing is, then it’s not considered genocide. If the United States goes to the Black man or the yellow man and says slow down your reproduction rate, we’re immediately suspected of having ulterior motives to keep the white man dominant in the world. If you can send in a colorful UN force, you’ve got much better leverage.”

    It is evident that the EU’s LGBT agenda in Africa is another form of population control. The paradox lies in the fact that the West, intent on reducing human capital in Africa, is now confronted with a serious demographic disaster. For instance, Europe has transitioned from the peak of its baby boom to the depths of a baby bust. The UK is gradually being populated by Asians, Nigerians, and other immigrants. In fact, it is forecasted that the UK’s population will irreversibly shrink below replacement level by 2030. If the populations of these Western countries are dwindling to their detriment, why advocate for Africa to suffer the same fate?

    Therefore, Nigeria and the 34 ACP countries should maintain their resolve not to sign the Agreement. Other ACP countries that signed the Agreement in Samoa on November 15 2023 should retract their respective signatures. The ACP countries should dismiss the EU’s cheap threats and stand firm. Instead of succumbing to EU intimidation, they should assert their sovereignty and break ties with the EU. They are no longer under the tutelage of their former colonial masters.

    If the EU decides to cease financial assistance to ACP countries for refusing to sign the LGBT agreement, so be it. What the ACP countries must not do is bow to the EU’s cheap threats and blackmail by signing the LGBT Agreement.