TheNewsGuru

Tag: Sonnie Ekwowusi

  • Sonnie Ekwowusi appointed Human Rights Chairman

    Sonnie Ekwowusi appointed Human Rights Chairman

    Lagos lawyer, columnist, essayist and human rights advocate, Sonnie Ekwowusi, has been appointed the Chairman, Human and Constitutional Rights Committee of the African Bar Association (AFBA). Impelled by the fragrant violations of human rights in Nigeria and Africa, Sonnie Ekwowusi, for decades, has consistently been advocating that constitutional government derives its legitimacy from the consent of the governed and exists to secure the human rights of the governed.

    A former Deputy–Governorship candidate in Lagos State, Sonnie Ekwowusi is a Legal Practitioner & Notary Public. He is the Principal Partner, Sonnie Ekwowusi & Co. (Legal Practitioners & Notaries Public). He is a law graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He bags LL.M Masters in Maritime and Commercial Law.

    Sonnie Ekwowusi has mastered the strategic political communication methodologies for winning public campaigns and political support. Sonnie Ekwowusi, together with other delegates and Parliamentary lobbyists across the world, has successfully deployed these methodologies in protecting the common heritage of mankind as enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    He is a graduate of the Leadership Institute, Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A. He is an alumnus of the Lord Acton University (Acton Institute), Michigan; United States He is a recipient of the 2010 Global Leadership Award jointly awarded by the Leadership Institute, Arlington, Virginia, United States, the Howard Center and the Bow Group, United Kingdom.

  • A Call to responsible political followership – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    A Call to responsible political followership – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

     

    As we bemoan the complete collapse of the country’s security architecture as evidenced by the recent attempted hijack of a moving aircraft and the attack and bombing of the Abuja-Kaduna train by terrorists, the pertinent questions are: why is it that despite Nigeria’s flourishing human capital, kakistocracy (government by the least suitable citizens or incompetent citizens) still reigns supreme in Nigeria? Why has Nigerian democracy been churning out undisciplined rabble, men of cheap appetite, and thieves from their hideouts and entrusting them with the sacred duty of governing the affairs of their fellow men? Considering that God has richly endowed countless Nigerian men and women with sterling leadership qualities, why is Nigeria ruled by scallywags, misfits and the worst citizens? How did we get here? How did we find ourselves in the current sorry pass? Specifically, why was President Buhari returned to power in 2019 to continue to mess up things despite his disastrous outing in his first tenure?

    The answers to the above questions are crucial as Nigerians jostle to elect a new President in 2023. The mistakes of 2015 and 2019 must not be repeated. They were really and truly costly mistakes. There is nothing more monstrous, disgraceful and damaging than those mistakes. You and I are now suffering the tragedies befalling Nigeria as a result of those mistakes. Just imagine the monumental anarchy reigning supreme in virtually all parts of Nigeria at the moment. Therefore the people must exercise their sovereign power reposed in them in such a responsible way as to ensure that another incompetent, visionless or clueless President does not emerge in Nigeria in 2023. At the risk of sounding repetitive, sovereignty in our presidential democracy resides with the people. This is because political power does not derive its moral legitimacy from itself: it derives it from the people’s mandate. In fact, the value of democracy stands or falls with the fundamental values that it embodies and promotes. One of such fundamental values is respect for the will of the people. Since we need a shoe maker to make shoes, once said American philosopher cum educationist John Dewey, we equally need a shoe wearer to say where the shoe pinches. Going by this analogy, it is the Nigerian people who directly bear the full brunt of visionless leadership who should have the final say on who should be the President of Nigeria. Neither the PDP nor the APC nor Buhari nor Obasanjo should dictate to the people who should be their President in 2023. The Nigerian people are in a better position to determine who should be their President in 2023. According to Lord Acton, “the fate of every democracy, of every government based on the sovereignty of the people, depends on the choices it makes between these opposite principles, absolute power on one hand, and on the other, the restraints of legality and the authority of tradition”. The American founding fathers aptly recaptured this ageless truth when they said many years ago that, “governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”. By voluntarily entrusting a few elected people with the responsibility of governing their affairs, the people have not relinquished their power. In short, the people are the repository of political power.

    But unfortunately, the Nigerian people are not living up to their bidding as sovereigns in presidential democracy. To begin with, most Nigerian voters are not politically enlightened enough to evaluate the political issues at stake and the character of the candidates running for political posts before casting their votes on Election Day. My learned friend, Andy, strongly argues, and I agree with him, that the level of political illiteracy and stupidity is so high in Nigeria that if perchance President Buhari presents himself for re-election in 2023 some voters would still sheepishly and blindly vote for him on Election Day. So, the Nigerian people are their own enemies otherwise why should the ordinary Nigerians who gossip on WhatsApp, Face-book, Twitter and other social media platforms that Nigeria has been captured by political fraudsters, thieves and never-do-wells still be discussing the possibility of any the fraudsters, thieves or never-do-wells emerging as President of Nigeria in 2023. What is wrong with some of us in Nigeria? Having seen the monumental ruin which has overtaken Nigeria as a result of President Buhari’s misrule, why are some of us still beating the drum for the emergence of Tinubu, Rochas Okorocha, Wike, Emefiele, Orji Uzo Kalu, Fayose or Amaechi as the President of Nigeria in 2023? I repeat: what is really wrong with some of us in Nigeria? Are these drummers suffering from a kind of political spell or what? In common parlance, it is said that a people get the kind of leaders they deserve, meaning that an irresponsible political followership begets an irresponsible political leadership, or, put differently, a failed political followership begets a failed political leadership. In fact, there is a correlation between political leadership and political followership. Political leadership is a co-efficient of political followership. Quality leadership is a functional relation of a quality followership.

    Ebenebe, for instance, is comparatively an unknown town tucked away in the Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State. The town has an estimated population of about 45,897. Prior to the last Anambra Governorship Election, Ebenebe was comparatively an obscured town hardly spoken about and hardly mentioned in conversations. But the town shut into the limelight during the last-concluded Anambra Governorship Election. How? The Ebenebe women defiantly rejected the N5, 000 bribe offered to each of them by one of the political parties to vote against their consciences. The Ebenebe women voters, like most Nigerian voters, are poor, hungry and dejected. But they preferred to vote according to the consciences: they voted for Professor Chukwuma Soludo who later won the Governorship Election. Instead of accepting the N5, 000 bribe offered to each of them to vote against their consciences, the women stood their ground and voted in accordance with their consciences. A video clip clearly showing the women publicly rejecting the N5, 000 bribe was making the rounds at that time. The Ebenebe women have demonstrated that money cannot buy the consciences of voters during elections. The Nigerian voters should emulate the uncommon integrity of the Ebenebe women voters. If the Nigerian voters cannot vote out the clueless, thieves and vagabonds in power, then they should stop complaining that their leaders are making a show of their stupidity and wickedness in power. If Nigeria were a country in which the voters vote with their heads and hearts during elections, President Buhari would not have come to power in 2015 let alone be returned to power in 2019 despite his disastrous outing in his first tenure.

    So the Nigerian voters should learn to vote wisely on Election Day. Prior to casting their votes they must first sit down and ask themselves the following basic questions: Why should I vote for a candidate who is so clueless that he doesn’t have the foggiest idea that the essence of wielding power is to render service to the people? Why should I vote for a physically-derailed and mentally-exhausted old man who uses political power to convert the State into his personal fiefdom? Why should I vote for an old man who is only interested in using political power in foisting his ethnic and religious hegemony? Why should I vote for a bigot who is shamelessly interested in giving key political appointments only to people from his own part of the country in violation of the Federal Character Principle enshrined in our Constitution? Why should I vote for an old political misfit who uses political power to oppress the downtrodden?

    The choice is before us. Either we choose the path of liberating principles and vote wisely in 2023 in order to advance the truths and ideals which will strengthen our democracy or choose the path of perfidy by allowing thieves, scallywags and never-do-wells to hijack the political leadership once more to the ruin of our country.

  • Deteriorating living condition in Nigeria – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Deteriorating living condition in Nigeria – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Something struck me yesterday as I was leaving my office. Owing to the intense heat and high humidity most residents in my area- men, women, adults, children and babies- were seated outside their respective houses in a bid to receive some fresh air. The residents were completely soaked in their own sweat. Some residents removed their shirts and were using them to fan their bodies. Time was 6.15 pm. Darkness was setting in. As usual, there was no electricity supply in my area. Like most neighborhoods in Lagos my neighborhood has been without electricity supply for months. The deafening and jarring noises and the thick black smoke oozing out from the electricity generators continue to pollute our environment.

    You may be well aware that in 2017 Nigeria was named the second country in the world with the worst electricity supply. These days you cannot do any meaningful work in your office owing to the intense heat. At home you cannot sleep at night for the same reason. Out of frustration you take to the street the next day in search of petrol to power your electricity generator. You are held up in an intractable vehicular traffic jam for three hours. After three hours you finally arrive at the filling station completely exhausted. On alighting from your car, you notice a seemingly endless queue of cars waiting to be refueled. Since you have no other option, you join the fuel queue. After four hours in the queue precisely when it is your turn to buy fuel, a petrol attendant stands up from nowhere and announces that the filling station has suspended selling fuel due to some circumstances beyond its control. You go home tired and depressed. No food. No drinkable water to quench your thirst. No peace of mind. You spend a whole day trying to refuel your car without success. Obviously you cannot boast of having good health.

    Besides, you are a poor man. Your disposable income is very low. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria is now acknowledged as the poverty capital of the world with about 87 million “extremely poor people” thus overtaking India in extreme poverty ranking. In 2018, the African Development Bank (AfDB) revealed that the World Poverty Clock named Nigeria as the poverty capital of the world. In 2017, Nigeria was ranked as the third most-terrorized country in the world. In the same 2017 Nigeria Police was ranked as the worst Police in the world. In the same 2017 Nigeria was ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a country with the 3rd highest infant mortality rate in the world. In the same 2017 Northern Nigeria was ranked as the worst region in the world with the highest number of illiterates.

    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 “Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index” of the OXFAM and Development Finance International (DFI), Nigeria was ranked 157 out of 157 countries. In the same 2018, Nigeria overtook India as the country with the highest number of under-5 deaths in the world. In the same 2018 Nigeria was ranked as one of the most dangerous places in the world to give birth to and the 4th country in the world with the worst maternal mortality death rate. In the same 2018 Nigeria was ranked among the worst malaria hit countries in the world. In the same 2018 Nigerian was ranked by the World Bank among the seven worst countries on the World Bank Human Capital Index. In the 2018 Global Hunger Index (GHI), Nigeria was ranked as the 103rd hungriest country in the world out of 119 qualifying countries. In the same 2018, Nigeria was ranked among the worst malaria hit countries in the world. In the same 2018 Nigerian was ranked by the World Bank among the seven worst countries on the World Bank Human Capital Index.

    I am sure you know that about 152 million Nigerians live on less than 1 US Dollar a day, representing about 70 per cent of the country’s estimated population of 200 million. This might have prompted Oxfam to raise the fresh alarm. According to Mr. Constant Tchona, a representative of OXFAM in Nigeria: “The number of people that live below extreme poverty as at April 2018 was 91,501,377 thus reaffirming that Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world. As if that was not bad enough, six months later, the number jumped to 94, 470, 533 people meaning that 2,969, 158 Nigerians have been added into Nigeria’s extreme poverty rate. By comparison, this number is more than the population of Gambia and Cape Verde combined. At the current rate, Nigeria is not only off track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but many now believe that up to 25 per cent of the world’s extreme poor will live in Nigeria by 2030”. Perhaps the achievement of the Buhari government in the last seven years is to drag Nigeria into the membership of failed States. Imagine the most populous and most richly endowed African country joining insignificant countries such as Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Somalia, South Sudan and Myanmar as a full-fledged failed State. The Buhari government came to power on the mantra of fighting corruption. Now, seven years on, it is obvious to all and sundry that the Buhari government is corruption personified.

    Frankly speaking, the current deteriorating living condition in Nigeria is worrisome. We cannot get tired of re-echoing ad nauseam that the real crisis afflicting Nigeria (which is more pervasive than the crisis of political leadership), is the human development crisis. Therefore the elimination of avoidable human miseries is a goal which constantly challenges our government. The goal should be to satisfy basic human needs such as ordinary electricity supply, drinking water, shelter, ordinary hygiene, primary health and so forth. Article 25 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right and security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”. Thus human development is the ultimate focus of all types of development-economic, social, cultural and political. In other words, the people are the wealth of the nation. The basic objective of development is defeated if the human condition under which the live and work is left to deteriorate.

    Agreed, infrastructural developments such as construction of highways, flyovers, skyscrapers and railway lines are crucial to sustainable development. But priority should be given to human capital formation which is the epicenter of all developments. Our greatest challenge is the challenge of being human. We dedicate ourselves to so many unnecessary things forgetting that satisfying the basic human necessities is the most important thing. The basic questions to ask in assessing the performance of any government are: Can the people eat food to keep body and soul together? Can they drink ordinary water? Do they have shelter over their heads? Do they enjoy ordinary electricity supply? Can they buy fuel to power their air-conditioners and electric fans? Can they go to bed and wake up in the morning without any stress caused by lack of sleep? Are their basic human rights guaranteed? Can they escape avoidable diseases? If you take away all that the word “human” and all that the belief in our humanity has given to man, you can finally view man as no more than an extremely clever, adaptable, and extremely mischievous little animal. In the same vein, by failing to provide the basic necessities of life such as electricity supply which is crucial to eking out a simple living the government has reduced man to a clever, adaptable, and extremely mischievous little animal.

    Unfortunately Nigerians, as they say in local parlance, are the architects of their own destruction. The Nigerian crisis is a crisis of failed followership. And failed followership begets failed political leadership. For example, at the threshold to the 2015 presidential election campaigns we were warned that candidate Mohammadu Buhari would make a disaster President, yet many of us ignored the warning and voted for candidate Buhari. After the effusion of four years, President Buhari returned as a disaster President, yet some people still paved the way for him to return to power in 2019 despite his waning intellect and his overbearing old age and ill-health. In his response to the clamour for Buhari by some Nigerians after he (Buhari) had failed, Prof Wole Soyinka said: “It is astonishing to find that the same former slaves, now free of their chains, should clamour to be ruled by one who not only turned their nation into a slave plantation, but forbade them any discussion of their condition.”

    I agree with Prof. Soyinka. Nigerians are their own enemies. Even as we prepare for the 2023 presidential election, some are campaigning for the physically-and-intellectually-drained political Godfather to be our next President. What is wrong with these people? Are they mentally okay? We are still suffering from the calamitous misrule of President Buhari and they are conspiring to bring the tired political Godfather to be our next President. They want us to move from the flying pan to fire. God forbid bad thing. Therefore we must vote wisely in 2023. We must vote for a candidate who will improve the current worsening living condition in Nigeria. Twice beaten thrice shy.

  • Generation against generation – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Generation against generation – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Political philosophers, historians and political scientists continue to assert ad nauseam that constitutional democracy cannot lead to true human development and human flourishing unless it transcends political experiment. This is because constitutional democracy is more than a political experiment: it is also a moral enterprise which largely depends on the ethics and virtues of the political leaders and citizenry for its success. Agreeing with Plato, Cicero, James Madison and Alexis De Tocqueville, Prof Rocco Buttiglione persuasively argues, and I completely agree with him, that democracy not run by highly-principled political leaders is bound to collapse. For instance, the Nigerian democracy has been stormed-tossed or shipwrecked or imperiled because it has been bringing out thieves, murderers, pant-pissing wicked men, mad men and undisciplined rabble from their hideouts and entrusting them with such a sacred duty of managing the affairs of their fellow men and women.

    In the past, the traditional Nigerian society had an in-built mechanism for ejecting scoundrels, thieves and corrupt community leaders from its midst. If you had a neigbour who was a notorious thief he was naturally singled out for ejection and punishment notwithstanding the fact that he was a rich politician or a thief or “419” person donating money to the church or to the town. No longer the case today. In the absence of a national character that defines democracy and establishes the parameters and moral high ground in which democracy should operate in order to promote the wellbeing of the people, the politics and political activities of the current Nigerian political class, are, in the words of Federic Bastiat, French political economist and philosopher, legalized plunders. And this is serious. You see, when a government turns against those whom it is meant to protect then the whole country inevitably is imperiled. Our country Nigeria has always had some scoundrels in public office, but never before had such great number of scoundrels crowded our public offices as now. In fact, there is a huge national character deficit in our body politics at the moment. Our future ought to be built on the triumph of youthful potentials but unfortunately our future is ruined because our youthful potentials are ruined. Consequently we seem to be headed to a future in which, seeing themselves pitted against the old, the present young generation develops a resentment that leads to a great cultural upheaval.

    Penultimate Saturday I was one of the guest speakers on the GX Show anchored by Onyinyechi Ekumankama on Nigeria Info 99.3 FM Radio Station. The theme of our discussion was: Character, Nigeria Youth and Nation-Building. It was a discussion that centered around the character deficit of the present Nigerian young culminating in the upsurge of youth ritual killing, yahoo boys eating human excreta in public, rapist-murder, barbaric and grotesque murder of girlfriends by boyfriends and so forth. Every society derives meaning and purpose from cherishing certain perennial self-evident natural truths which in fact form the superstructure for the building of societal ethos. Viewed from historical and cultural context, the traditional family essentially doubles in Africa (Nigeria inclusive) as the provider of those character traits which a person needs to imbibe in order to grow up to become a responsible member of the society. There is an adage that states that if you lose your material wealth, you have lost nothing; if you lose your health, you have lost something, but if you lose your character, you’ve lost everything. High premium is placed on character in the traditional Nigerian society. For example, growing up in those days, attempts were made both in school and at home to inculcate in us pristine values such as self-restraint, hard work, respect for elders, respect for truth, decency, moderation and so forth which augur well for strong family ties and community ethos. At that time the family provided the bridge that allowed the youngsters to graduate from childhood to adulthood with a certain sense of security. At that time, it would not have occurred to any boyfriend to murder his girlfriend in order to use her body parts for a juju ritual or a boyfriend digging a 6-feet grave in his bedroom in order to bury his girlfriend alive in the grave for the same purpose.

    Unfortunately today we have lost our humanity even though many of us go about clutching our cell phones on one hand and pretending to be civilized. A new totalitarianism now looms large writ in the horizon. To begin with, the government is a never-do-well. The oldies are failing in inculcating in the youngsters those fundamental principles which will make the youngsters become matured and responsible leaders of tomorrow. Most families have become dysfunctional families. What used to be regarded as family values are now being reinvented today if not completely eroded. When families fail to function properly, Prof. Robert P George argues, the effective transmission of the virtues of honesty, civility, self-restraint, concern for others etc is jeopardized. Sadly, this is what we are witnessing in Nigeria at the moment. Most parents are no longer role models to their children. Instead of giving good examples to their children, many parents now give bad examples to their children. I am sure you watched the video clip that circulated on WhatsApp about three weeks ago. It was a video clip showing a drunk-Mum with her drunk-little (probably aged 4 or 5) during a party. While the drunk-Mum danced in the fashion of an irresponsible mother, her impressionable drunk-son in front of her who was clutching a bottle of beer with his two hands and sipping it intermittently was shown shaking his body sideward in response to the sound of the music. So, as it is said, like mother like son. Obviously that drunk-Mum damaging the character of her drunk-son is a failed mother of a failed generation. Philip Pilkington regrets that the worst aspect of the “intergenerational rests in the fact that the “young” in the abstract will not be turning on the “old” in the abstract. Rather, it will be a family drama that disrupts our most intimate relations”. “A society, he exults, that cannot reproduce itself is disordered, and such a society creates powerful conflicts of interest between the generations, motivating children to turn on their parents in battles for economic resources. In such a world, the disorder is truly, unspeakably perverse”. We may be only at the beginning of adult delinquency which is now rendering the younger generation useless.

    So the Nigerian crisis is also a crisis of failed parenting. The foundational pillar of society called the family has disintegrated resulting in disastrous social consequences such as youth ritual killing, yahoo boys eating human excreta in public, rapist-murder, barbaric and grotesque murder of girlfriends by boyfriends, drug overdoses, alcohol-related diseases, youth rebelliousness, breakdown in extended family system, breakdown in economic solidarity, abandonment of the elderly, inability to differentiate right and wrong, lack of sense of value of human life and so forth. A member of the House of Representatives, Abuja had moved a motion for the castration of rapists in Nigeria. I laugh, laugh and laugh. Why? Because we are just wasting our time fighting symptoms instead of the problem. Rape is not the problem: it is a symptom of deep-seated myriads of problems. Ditto for the barbarism of the yahoo boys in the streets. As I keep on suggesting, if we are really determined to remedy the problems of our time, we need to uproot the problems from their roots rather than just fighting symptoms. Therefore exerting energies fighting symptoms is sheer waste of time. We need to tackle the problems from their roots in order to uproot them. If the Nigerian families are fast disintegrating, why are we surprised that families are now producing rapists, young drug addicts, young ritual killers and yahoo boys eating human excreta in public? So, first things first. We must first of all fix the family which is the fundamental unit of society.

    Sad to say, none of these politicians gallivanting about in town trying to grab political power in 2023 is concerned about the enthronement of a culture and those communally-binding ideals which make democracy thick. This affirms again that most of these people trying to grab political power in Nigeria lack proper political ideological motivation. There is no doubt that Nigeria will continue to gravitate from bad to worse until the country is re-ordered to a higher culture and a higher loyalty. The separation of culture and those communally-binding ideals from politics or from public life in Nigeria has led to a palpable moral bankruptcy that has been hindering progress in Nigeria over the years. For Nigeria to function effectively there ought to be a fine blend or a happy convergence have between culture, those communally-binding ideals and politics.

  • Ending the Russia-Ukraine war – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Ending the Russia-Ukraine war – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    This is the zero hour. This is the time. We are in a time of war. Russia invades Ukraine in 2022 (The first was in 2014). Could this current war spill over to a long term war? Is World War 111 on the horizon? These are the most feared questions on the lips of many people across the world today that are begging for an answer. Don’t forget that war, every war is unpredictable. In any war everybody is a loser. Nobody triumphs in any war. For instance, the 1st World War negatively changed Europe and the rest of the world beyond recognition. Ditto for the 2nd World War. Although Adolf Hitler died many years ago, he lives today: He lived in so many ideological contraptions tearing the world apart. He lives in the war mongers of the 21st Century. Coming nearer home, since the end of the Nigeria-Biafra War in 1970, Nigeria has known no peace. The ghost of Biafra is still hovering and haunting everybody in Nigeria. So, the conduct and cost of war cannot always be controlled or anticipated. The words of General Sherman must not be forgotten: “It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of war of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell”.

    I agree with Sherman. War is hell. The Russia-Ukraine war is only one and half weeks old yet we have witnessed more human casualties, more vengeance and more desolation as if the war had lasted for many years. At the time of writing, not less than three million Ukrainians were already in need of humanitarian assistance. Even though FIFA had refused to yield to pressure to ban Russia from participating in the next World Cup, the world highest football body had ruled that no FIFA sporting event would be held in Russia under the Russian flag. Meanwhile Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic had sworn not to play Russia in the 2022 World Cup play-off matches. Nearly 300 people including civilians and children had been killed in the Russia-Ukraine war. More than 100,000 Ukrainians had fled their country in search of escape at the Polish-Ukrainian borders, metro and bus stations. People of other nationalities including Nigerian students studying in Ukraine had similarly fled Ukraine for their safety. The war propaganda machinery of the two countries was very strong. While Russia claimed that it had completely decapitated Ukraine, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zalensky had claimed that his army had crushed the Russian soldiers. Meanwhile a Nigerian mother in Lagos cries inconsolably for her son who is one of the 5,600 Nigerian students studying in Ukraine. She wants to know the fate of her son. Is her son dead or among the uncountable Nigerians heading for the borders in order to try to escape to Poland?

    Those who think they are doing their duty in waging a war may be oblivious of the reasons that justify going to war or how a just war may be conducted. In his speech, Vladimir Putin explains that amid the danger posed to Russian territory by the advancement of the U.S. led-North Atlantic Alliance “pumped up with the most modern weapons”; Russia had no other option but to invade Ukraine. It is obvious that the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia is another way devised by Putin to get at the U.S., the perennial enemy of Russia. In other words, what is at play in the Russia-Ukraine war is the miscalculation of personal pride and ego which was one of the causes of the 1st and 2nd World Wars.

    But according to the Editors of the First Things Magazine, there are two criteria for a just war. The first is the doctrine of ius ad bellum which deals with the cause of war. And the second ius in bello deals with conduct of war. The first one says that a just war must be defensive, aimed at protecting the innocent against unjust aggressors. War must be a last resort. It must have been initiated with the right intention, and a reasonable expectation that the means employed in prosecuting the war must be proportionate to the ends sought. Ius in bello dictates that no unnecessary force should be used in prosecuting the war and there should be no intentional killing of civilians.

    Now, in the light of the foregoing, is President Vladimir Putin justified in invading Ukraine? I do not think so.? Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is a violation of the doctrines of ius ad bellum and ius in bello. Above all, Russia’s invasion of territorial integrity of Ukraine is a fragrant violation of article 2(4) of the UN Charter which has been recognized as customary international law. The said article prohibits Russia from using force to assault the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine. Agreed, the Russia-Ukraine affairs that led to the present war are intrinsically super-complicated. Since 2014 Russia has been controlling the eastern part of Ukraine. For more than 10 years Ukraine had been complaining about the danger of the unipolar world order wherein the U.S. feels that it can do whatever it likes with NATO allies and even unilaterally change governments. Besides, for about 8 years Russia had been enmeshed in a civil war in eastern Ukraine trying to destroy the blockage of the Kiev-controlled government. People were starving and groaning to death. There were mass casualties from the bombings from the Ukraine army and western-funded rogue militia. Even the Pope at that time was raising funds to alleviate the suffering of the eastern Ukrainians. Eventually Russia and other countries notably France and Germany tried to broker a peace deal/ceasefire which culminated in drawing up the Minsk agreement in 2014. This agreement was aimed at giving regional autonomy to the regions of Luhansk and Donetz. But unfortunately the Kiev government not only reneged from the Minsk accord or agreement but allowed the CIA-backed militia to continue fighting in eastern Ukraine.

    Having said this, the latest invasion of Ukraine by Russia is completely uncalled for. There was no immediate provocation or aggression from Ukraine justifying the invasion. Putin boasts that even though the U.S. and other NATO allies could have great financial, scientific, technological and military capabilities surpassing that of Russia, modern Russia ruled by Putin is one of “the most powerful nuclear powers in the world and, moreover, has certain advantages in a number of the latest types of weapon. So, Putin is convinced that Russia is invincible on land, air and sea and therefore no direct attack on Russia will lead to its defeat. But as I said earlier, war can be unpredictable. Right now things are not working in the way Putin had planned. Receiving sophisticated weapons from the U.S, United Kingdom, Germany and other NATO allies, Ukraine is putting up stiffer resistance than envisaged and contemplated by Putin. This is why Putin has ordered his nuclear forces on his alert which has tensions of the possibility of nuclear weapons being used in the on-going war and the dangers such action portends for mankind. Putin probably took this line action to further intimidate Ukraine into submission or surrender. But the Ukraine foreign Minister has said that Ukraine will not surrender or retreat to give up a single inch of its territory.

    President Putin should humbly accede to the efforts towards the amicable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine crisis in order to bring the on-going war to an end. He should bury his thought of using a nuclear weapon in the war. The whole world is against the use of nuclear weapons in any war. Therefore Putin should bow to the collective voices calling for a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Nothing is gained in spilling innocent human blood. There is a popular adage that goes like this: one person cannot be greater or wiser than everybody. You cannot clap with one hand. Nobody is a single verse. So Putin should re-think. If the comity of nations is openly sending weapons to Ukraine for its successful prosecution of the war it means that equity is on the side of Ukraine. Putin must understand that war has become unpopular in this age. Many nations want to give peace a chance. In any case, unlike the Ukraine army whose morale is so high, the Russian soldiers are not so enthusiastic about violating the territorial sovereignty of an independent nation. Besides, in Russia thousands upon thousands of Russians are protesting against the invasion. This is a subtle way of telling Putin that his invasion of Ukraine is uncalled for. More importantly, the people of Russia and Ukraine have the same cultural and historical affinity. Ukraine used to be a part of Russia. There are many Russians in Ukraine and vice-versa. The people from both countries see themselves as brothers and sisters. They even inter-marry among themselves. They share common religious and cultural beliefs.

    Therefore world leaders and men and women of goodwill should broker peace between the two warring countries in order to bring the war to an end. Pope Francis has called for an immediate end to the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday February 2022. The Next day, Friday February 25 2022, Pope Francis broke all diplomatic protocols in order to visit the Russian Embassy being and situate on Via della Conciliazione in Rome to express his personal concern about the outbreak of the war. The Pope has appealed for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Pope Francis said: I have great pain in my heart because of the worsening of the situation in Ukraine….I appeal to all sides to abstain from any action that could provoke more suffering to the populations, destabilising coexistence among nations and discrediting international law…Jesus taught us that the diabolical senselessness of violence is answered with God’s weapons, with prayer and fasting. I invite everyone to make next 2 March, Ash Wednesday, a Day of Fasting for Peace. I encourage believers in a special way to dedicate themselves intensely to prayer and fasting on that day”, the Pontiff said,

    Other heads of nations are urged to join Pope Francis in brokering peace between Russia and Ukraine. Humanity needs now more than ever to rediscover the part of true concord. Peace and international law are closely linked to each other. Law favours peace. Peace thrives in the crannies of law and justice.

  • Incompetence cause of the failure of the Buhari government not over-population – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Incompetence cause of the failure of the Buhari government not over-population – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    There is nothing we will not hear in this Buhari government. Having monumentally failed in the last seven years, the Buhari government now seeks alibi in over-population. It ascribes poverty, unemployment and food starvation plaguing the country to over-population. It says that we are too many in Nigeria and therefore we should kill our babies through abortion, infanticide, sterilization of women and abortificient in order to decrease our population in order to improve the “quality of life” and “standards of living of all Nigerians”. Consequently President Buhari has recently created what has been dubbed the Revised National Policy on Population. He has equally recently inaugurated the National Council on Population Management (NCPM) principally chaired by the Vice-President of Nigeria Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) to implement the Policy.

    The Buhari National Population reduction Policy is already dead on arrival. Why? Because it doesn’t make sense at all. Boko Haram, ISWAP, murderous Fulani herdsmen, bandits, abductors, unknown gunmen, kidnappers, hunger, malnutrition, poverty, illness, migration have been reducing Nigeria’s population day by day in the last 7 seven years. The government had been failing in its constitutional responsibility of protecting the lives and property of the citizenry. No day passes in Nigeria without any of the aforesaid merchants of death hacking at any least 5 Nigerians to death. Nigerian medical doctors and other Nigerian professionals are continuously fleeing Nigeria unabated resulting in decrease in the population of Nigeria’s working capital. Our borders are porous. Young men and women from Chad, Niger Republic, Sudan and other neigbouring countries are daily trooping into Nigeria and swelling up the Nigerian population. About 70% of Okada riders in Lagos, for instance, are non-Nigerians without any papers. In 2015 and 2019 many of them voted in the election. Come 2023 election they will still vote. Now, the same Buhari government which cannot protect lives and property of the citizenry and which cannot halt the constant influx of non-Nigerians into the country let alone halt the exodus of the country’s finest working human capital is asking Nigerian families to reduce the number of their children. Haba! I don’t know how many children President Buhari has. I would suggest we start with his family. Let him first reduce the number of his children and his household so that we will follow suit. Ditto for Vice-President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN). Let him also reduce the number of his children and his household so that learn from him. Also the members of the National Assembly should equally reduce the number of their children and their expansive households.

    Example is better than precept. The other day the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives Alhassan Ado-Doguwa boasted on the floor of the House that he had 28 children at the moment and plans to have up to 30 children before the end of the current 9th National Assembly. He jokingly said that he was considering the allocation of a polling unit to his private home, as part of the amendments to the Electoral Act 2020. Go and tell him to reduce the number of children and you will see what he would do to you. And he is not alone in this matter. For example, Muhammadu Bello Abubarkar Masaba Bida married 120 wives and fathered 203 children before his death in 2017. Alhaji Adamu Loddo, a Jalingo-based 68-year-old man has 30 surviving children. He said he has done yet. Not to talk about the Amajiri parents and their uncountable numerous children scattered all over the place. When the last Obasanjo administration threatened to enforce the one-man-four-children population policy in Nigeria, an angry Muslim retorted: “Obasanjo has plenty of children. Who is he to tell us the number of children Allah wants us to have?”. Similarly after former President Good luck Jonathan appointed Festus Odimegwu and 22 others to reduce the population of Nigeria, some Nigerians were heard querying at that time: “Who is Festus Odimegwu to dictate to us the number of children we should have?”

    The unassailable deductions from the foregoing are: If the efforts to implement the population reduction policy in Nigeria in the past were met with vehement resistance it is unlikely that the policy would be embraced in the last days of the Buhari government. If the policy cannot be implemented in one part of the country because the people there are opposed to it, why implement it in other parts of the country to the disadvantage of the people living there?

    More importantly, it is only a bad carpenter who quarrels with his tools. By analogy, it is only a bad leader who quarrels with the population of his country. The vibrant young people that constitute the bulk of the population are indeed a vibrant work force that should be used to fast-track economic growth as we are currently witnessing in China, Singapore, Bangladesh, India and many Asia countries. With its enormous population China is now ruling the world. You will recall that China embraced the one-child-per-couple policy in 1978. But the policy backfired on China and consequently China had no option but to quickly scrap it. It resulted in sex imbalance and gendercide (the practice of killing unwanted Chinese females before they were born) in China. Because of this killing of unwanted females, the Chinese boys outnumbered the Chinese girls. This has created a “Wild-West” sex industry in China today, an entire generation of Chinese girls missing because they were being killed in the womb.

    Today China is reaping enormous demographic dividends from its huge population. Why is the Buhari government not reaping demographic dividends from Nigeria’s population?. Having squandered the confidence and trust reposed in it and having failed to live up to its bidding, the Buhari government is now passing the buck to the population. This is dishonesty and propaganda at their peak. It is a fraud. The average Nigerian knows very well that our problem in Nigeria is not over-population: our myriads of problems in Nigeria are incompetence, corruption, wooden-headedness, incestuous narcissism, stupidity, dementia, foolishness, cluelessness and ignorance in governance. Wooden-headedness, in particular, can ruin governance. Remember the rice pyramid propaganda in Abuja last month? The amount of money spent in borrowing the bags of rice from neighbouring African countries, transporting them to and fro Abuja and erecting a pyramid with them would have been enough to fix about five major federal highways in Nigeria. Standing in front of the rice pyramid, government show-lady Lauretta Onochie was shouting: “Everyone should come and see this, this is marvellous, this is wonderful. I have been hearing about it over the last few weeks and today I am so delighted to be here.. Look at this, they are all rice. God bless Nigerian farmers, God bless Baba Buhari, sai Baba, Sai Baba Buhari. This is made in Nigeria rice, it is not foreign, it is not from China or Thailand, this is original rice from Naija with flavour and good taste”. This is what you get with the triumph of wooden-headedness in governance. .

    As I keep saying, it is difficult to pinpoint one singular achievement of the Buhari government in the last seven years. The government came to power on the mantra of fighting corruption. Now, seven years on, the government itself is defined and personified as corruption writ large. Perhaps one achievement of this Buhari government is to drag Nigeria into the membership of failed States. Imagine the most populous and most richly endowed African country joining insignificant countries such as Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Somalia, South Sudan and Myanmar as a full-fledged failed State. But Minister for Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola (SAN) says the federal government has been brazing a trail in infrastructural development in the last six years. In fairness to Fashola, he has proved his mettle at least in railway project and road construction as evident from some of the railway projects and roads projects in the country. But the lingering face-off between the Federal Ministry of Works and the NNPC and NUPENG is worrisome. NUPENG alleges that a whopping sum of N621 billion has been misappropriated in Federal Roads rehabilitation.

  • Making Igbo president – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Making Igbo president – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Never in the political history of Nigeria has there been so much agreeableness or concurrence of views on the imperative that Ndigbo should produce the next President for Nigeria’s survival than now. This unanimity of views is not borne out of any misguided Igbo irredentism or narrow-mindedness: It is borne out of fair-mindedness and equity principle to give vent to inclusiveness, sense of belonging and balanced participation in our pluralist and heterogeneous society. This is probably why the PDP, APC and other political parties have not stopped musing over fielding Igbo presidential candidates in 2023. Since Nigeria’s independence no Igbo has functioned as the civilian executive President of Nigeria. Igbo has been playing second fiddle. In contrast, the North has been ruling Nigeria since independence and has not left till date. It is obvious that Nigerians are tired of this one-sided ethnic dominance of power. Nigerians want a power shift to the South. This is why any political party that fields a Northern presidential candidate risks losing the 2023 Presidential election.

    So the South holds all the aces in the 2023 Presidential election. And among the 2023 Southern presidential candidates, the presidential scale of justice tilts in favour of the South-East presidential candidate. Why? Because the South-South and South-West had had their respective shots at the Presidency and the South-East has not. Truth is that justice is like the vital thread that knits human society together. Without justice it will be impossible to build a nation. Small wonder Aristotle praises justice to high heavens by stating that “neither the morning star nor the evening star is as glorious as justice”. The cardinal virtue and ethical conduct upon which Islam is built is justice. “Stand firm for justice…even if it is against yourselves, your parents or relatives…(Surat An-Nisa 4: 135) and “let not the hatred of others make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just for that is nearer to piety” (Surat Al-Maidah 5: 8)

    Therefore if we want unity and peace to reign in Nigeria we must apriori allow communal justice to reign because unity and peace reside in the crannies of justice. This is why the Pan-Igbo socio- cultural organization Ohaneze Ndigbo tirelessly advocates for Igbo Presidency in 2023. Only last week the prominent Pan-Yoruba socio-political group Afenifere, pursuant to the idea of rotational presidency, power sharing in Nigeria and the Constitutional provision which stipulates that the composition of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner and section as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and need to promote national cohesion, unity and loyalty in Nigeria, canvassed for the emergence of an Igbo President in 2023. According to Afenifere leader and statesman Pa Ayo Adebanjo, the major ethnic groups in the country have had respective their turns in the Presidency and justice and equity demands that it should be the turn of the Igbos in 2023. Pa Adebanjo speaks about a gang-up of other tribes in Nigeria against the Igbos. Says he, “If there is anything like a power-shift in Nigeria, it should go to the South-East. There is no doubt about that, any other thing is just a gang-up…there should not be any argument about that because the South-West has gotten it, the North has gotten it, South-South has gotten it. You want the Igbo to remain in Nigeria but you want to discriminate against them”

    The fact remains that the deep-seated political, economic, social and cultural imbalances plaguing the Nigerian enterprise or, poignantly, the crisis of federalism plaguing Nigeria since her independence stem from the inability to manage Nigeria’s diversity well. For example, all the Constitutional Conferences that were held in Nigeria, from the 1957 Conference, 1994/1995 Constitutional Conference, 2005 National Political Reform, 214 Constitutional Conference to the Oputa Panel Report were all geared towards addressing and remedying Nigerian diversity. Historically, the 1914 amalgamation wrought by the British was to further accentuate her selfish interests in the colony. The amalgamation was a potpourri or assemblage of seemingly irreconcilable ethno-religiously and culturally diverse native kingdoms and nationalities. That was why the concocted amalgamation failed on arrival. It was a forced marriage that was, at the outset, bound to wobble. Owing to the clear absence of esprit de corps and cohesion amongst the nationalities which were forcefully amalgamated, Chief Obafemi Awolowo had referred to Nigeria as a “mere geographical expression”. With all the natural resources and minerals at the disposal of different regions at independence everything was working well for Nigeria. But it was short-lived. Under the pretext that it was a corrective and cleansing regime, the military (during the military interregnum) so much institutionalized official corruption in Nigeria that the country still bleeds from it till date. Apart from institutionalizing official corruption in Nigeria, the military destroyed the hitherto viable national institutions and systems in Nigeria, especially the educational system. The current 1999 Constitution (which is substantially similar to the 1979 Constitution) is General Abdulsalam Abubakar’s military Constitution not the much-vaunted people’s Constitution. It is not an autochthonous Constitution. No inputs from the people who are supposed to be the sovereign in presidential democracy. Simply put, the 1999 Constitution is an inconvenient inequitable constitutional contraption being used to perpetuate injustices in Nigeria. The Constitution over-concentrates enormous power (as could be gleaned from the long list of federal powers in the Exclusive List of the Constitution) in the hands of the Federal government thus leaving the Federating units at the mercy of the Federal government or as appendages to the Federal government.

    There is no doubt that the discordant political tones in Nigeria are attributable to the foregoing. But discordant tones are no obstacle to nation building. For example, as complex and diversified as the United States is, it remains an exemplar of political unity, human solidarity and cooperation in tackling common problems. Unfortunately our greatest undoing in Nigeria, as I earlier said, is our inability to manage our diversity well. All the efforts in cultivating that esprit de corps and sincerity of purpose, or, whatever you may choose to call it, that is indispensable for nation building have come to naught. If Nigeria is a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic and multi-national society, one would have thought that power sharing must reflect the shared visions and aspirations of the variegated interest groups and nationalities that constitute Nigeria. For example, former Ohaneze Ndigbo President Chief John Nnia Nwodo says that “under the current Federal government Igbo representation is abysmal and falls extremely short of the constitutional provisions for the reflection of federal character in the appointment into important government positions…”. Nwodo is not alone in this lamentation. Until his death, fiery-fighter and conscientious objector the late Gani Fawehinmi SAN unceasingly bemoaned Igbo marginalization. Prof Wole Soyinka has also said that “the Igbo have been wronged desperately”. Igbos, according to him, “ have been brutalized in a way that justifies their feeling that they were not part of the nation”

    Well said, but we must add that Igbo Presidency will not be delivered on a platter of gold. Neither will an Igbo President emerge from mere media sensationalism or media advertising blitz. Also an Igbo President will not emerge from appealing to popular sanctimonious sentiments. An Igbo President will not emerge from bragging in the media that Igbo are a force to be reckoned with in the scheme of things in Nigeria. Action not words. “A tiger does not proclaim his tigritude, he pounces”(Wole Soyinka). A river in turbulence is the fisherman’s gain. In other words, amid adverse circumstances, Igbos should re-strategize and re-prioritize to attain their destiny in Nigeria. Needless complaining about Igbo marginalization. “The challenge of disadvantages should be the Igbo man’s gold mine”, said Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu many years ago. The first disadvantage to overcome is to elect Igbo as President in 2023. Power is not given: it is taken. Igbo presidency will not materialize in 2023 simply because Igbo are clamouring for it: it may materialize after consultation, discussions, agreements and horse-trading or handshakes with other presidential aspirants from other geo-political zones. No free lunch anywhere. The Presidency will not be handed to the Igbos free of charge. Elder statesman Alhaji Tanko Yakassai says that the Presidency will not be handed over to the Igbos in 2023 free of charge. It will be on terms. He advises that the APC should come up with a “gentleman’s agreement that the nation’s highest office should rotate to the South-East after Buhari’s tenure” . Therefore now is the time for Igbo to regain their rightful place in Nigeria. Igbo should seize the present moment and work out their salvation in Nigeria. Igbo presidential aspirants should reach out to other political blocks and or geo-political zones in order to probably enter into mutual understanding, agreement, or accord or terms with them for ceding Presidency to the South-East.

  • A visit to the prison – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    A visit to the prison – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Last week I volunteered to accompany the Zarephath Aid on a prison visit. We cannot stop repeating ad nauseam that given the uncommon hellish condition under which Nigerian prisoners live and the animalistic punishment meted out to them, the Nigerian prisons cannot, by stretch of imagination, be re-baptized as correctional centres. There is nothing correctional about the Nigerian prisons let alone police detention dungeons. If anything, the Nigerian prisons are punitive centres or punishment centres. This is why people go into Nigerian prisons as normal human beings but come out as tattered, disfigured, de-moralized and depraved human beings. So, needless labeling Nigerian prisons as correctional centres.

    Anyway, Zarephath Aid is a dynamic Lagos-based Non-governmental organization (NGO) committed over the last 17 years to tackling the multiple woes befalling the Awaiting Trial Inmates (ATM) in the various Nigerian prisons through a three-pronged action point namely-pro bono legal Aid aimed at securing the liberty of the unjustly detained ATM, improving their worsening living condition (including their welfare and medication) and prison rehabilitation in Nigeria. Prior to the visit last week, my learned friend Ben Abraham Esquire who is the founder and Executive Director, Zarephath Aid, had been telling me that rather than sit down and complain that Nigeria is not good or complain that one man has been misleading Nigeria in the last 7 years, he and his colleagues had erected a veritable framework under Zarephath Aid in order to chart a veritable course towards enthroning the much-vaunted criminal justice system reform in Nigeria. For example, since inception, Zarephath Aid has been instrumental in the release of over 1,000 indigent prisoners who had been languishing in the Kirikiri Maximum prison, Medium prison, Ikoyi Prison, Shagamu prison and other prisons across Nigeria. In fact Zarephath Aid had sponsored the construction of a skill Centre for the benefit of the prisoners in Shagamu prison.

    Swayed by the foregoing remarkable achievements and track records of Zarephath Aid, I had no choice last week but to volunteer to accompany the NGO on a visit to the prison (name withheld). The purpose of the visit was clear to all of us. We were not visiting the prison to give food and drinks to the hungry and visibly-emaciated prisoners. Neither were we visiting the prison to cast and bind demons out of the prisoners. We visited to render pro bono legal services to the prisoners aimed at securing their freedom as well as explore the possibility of helping the sick prisoners to regain their health.

    The prison warder heartily welcomed us. Having spent seven grueling years at an orthopedic hospital receiving painful medical treatment after he and his son fell off a cruising okada commercial bike, he has acquired compassion for the suffering members of our humanity. He is a good man. He went out his way to take us round the prison premises. Out of the 3,012 prisoners sheltered in the old dilapidating prison, only 163 had been convicted by a court of law, 285 have been charged to court while the rest have been languishing in prison without trial and without bail. He showed us the blocked prison soakaway oozing out with stinking human faeces. There are two churches and a mosque in the prison for religious worship. Out of curiosity, I entered into a sizable Catholic Church situate there in the prison. I saw some prisoners lying on the floor and on the benches of the church sleeping away unto the Lord. As I was leaving the church, a prisoner who introduced himself as the Catechist of the Catholic Chaplaincy, ran up to me and said, “Sir, there two prisoners here who are now spending their eight years in this prison because they don’t have N20,000 to perfect their bail granted them”. I felt sad. I turned, looked at him with pity and told him to write their names and hand them over to us.

    We met two nurses on duty at the Prison Sick Bay. The head nurse confided in us that there was an outbreak of hyena ailment in the prison resulting in 27 prisoners being afflicted with hyena. N80, 000 needed to treat each prisoner-patient. The second nurse on duty raised an alarm that a prisoner was dying and needed to stay alive with the sum of N25, 000 required to purchase his essential drugs. Filled with pity for the dying prisoner, one of us instantly donated the said sum of N25, 000 to the prisoner. Before departing the Sick Bay, the nurses gave us a long list (41 on the whole) of essential drugs and medicals urgently needed by the prisoners such as Amoxicillin, cough syrup, priton, cotton wool, face mask, inhaler, chloroquine, liquid paraffin, Multivitamin (1 x 1000), Buscopan, medicated soap, Izal, sulphur ointment, vitamin C 100 mg (1×1000), septrin, Amiclox 500 mg, scalp vein and so forth. The nurses told us that soya beans, corn and sugar are urgently needed in the prison. After leaving the Sick Bay and heading out, I looked backward and saw some sickly prisoners following us from behind and shouting; “Master, give us money to buy food”, “We are hungry”, “Give us food”.

    On returning to the warder’s office located near the entrance door of the prison, we requested for ATM who had spent up to 10 years in prison without trial and without bail. First to show up was a prisoner supposedly in his late 60s who has been in prison since 2010 on alleged armed robbery. “Oga mi, I don’t suffer here. I am innocent. The only thing sustaining me here is prayer”, he said to us. We gathered that the suit against him had since been struck out by the court yet the poor man remains dumped in prison. We saw another ATM who had spent 12 years in prison without trial and without bail. He was a victim of SARS’ lawlessness. He was dumped in prison precisely on 9th March 2012 and has been in detention from that 2012 to date without trial and without bail even after the DPP report testifies that he is innocent. He told us that they are 17 prisoners cramped together in his tiny suffocating cell. Mosquitoes feast on their bodies at night. His wife and children have abandoned him. Nobody visits him. He has no money to hire a lawyer to plead his innocence. He pities his last son (15 years) who once visited him in prison and went back home in tears. He told us that he is confident that God who created him will not allow him to die in prison. As the prisoners were talking to us two of us were busy taking down notes so that afterwards we would render them pro-bono legal services. We met other ATM. Lest I forget we met one 19-year old young man who has lost his senses in prison. He was just moping at us, unable to utter a word. We met other ATM who were arrested and dumped in prison for years without trial and without bail for wandering or for affray (fighting). Before we finally departed the prison, the prison warden complained that the prison premises are always dark at night because most of the electric bulbs had burnt out and needed urgent replacement.

    We left the prison world exasperated but with a resolution to do all within our capacity to secure the liberty of the prisoners we encountered in prison. We also resolved to get some paramedical companies and individuals to donate drugs and medicals to the prisoners. Relying on a survey conducted by Travesty of Justice, an advocacy and human rights group in Nigeria, 70% (if not more) of prisoners languishing in the various Nigerian prisons are ATM. For 40 years or even more, we have been living on the empty promise of the government that it is committed to reform the prisons and revamp Nigeria’s appalling criminal justice system. Successive governments and Attorneys-General have made stronger commitments in this direction only to woefully fail to do anything afterwards. Monies being budgeted for prison reforms and welfare of prisoners sadly end up in private pockets.

    How long will we continue to be in this mess? As at last week Zarephath had filed the court processes to enforce the fundamental human rights of those prisoners we met during our visit. This is the seriousness we are waiting for. Away with empty rhetoric. We need concrete action. Like Zarephath Aids, public-spirited individuals, NGOs, Corporate organizations, Churches, Mosques, Office of Public Defenders in Lagos, NBA Human Rights Committees and others should rally to the assistance of the Nigerian prisoners. Let’s stop waiting for a government that may never come. Happily, Duty Solicitors Network (DSN), an initiative of the Human Rights Committee, NBA, Lagos Branch, has recently been visiting Lagos Police Stations and Magistrates to ensure that criminal suspects do not suffer unnecessary injustices. Other branches of the NBA across the country should imbibe this sterling example of the Human Rights Committee of the NBA, Lagos Branch. All hands must now be on deck towards decongesting the Nigerian prisons and securing the freedom of ATM across Nigerian prisons.

  • Why killer Fulani herdsmen are terrorists – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Why killer Fulani herdsmen are terrorists – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Recently the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) invoked the law and declared the bandits operating in Nigeria are terrorists. Because President Buhari has been running a totalitarian Fulani hegemonic regime that provides cover for killer Fulani herdsmen, he and Malami are turning a blind eye to the unspeakable acts of terrorism being committed in Nigeria by the killer Fulani herdsmen in violation of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011, Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment Act) 2013, Criminal Code Act Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and the international anti-terrorism instruments. Why shield criminals?. Sad. Last Sunday about five villagers were killed in a fight between the Fulani herders and local farmers in Idofa area of Imeko-Afon Local Council, Ondo State. The farmers accused the herders of destroying their farm lands through open grazing of their cows.

    It is noteworthy that much of the international law of terrorism are in the form of multilateral treaties. These multilateral treaties include the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents. Now, the aforesaid treaties other treaties on terrorism contain several important provisions in combating terrorism. These provisions which include articles that define particular acts of terrorism as criminal offenses for the purposes of the treaties oblige states parties to make the offenses punishable by appropriate penalties under their domestic laws. In Nigeria, the extant domestic laws under which terrorism is defined and punishable are the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011, Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment Act) 2013), the Criminal Code Act Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. Section 1 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 states that— “A person who knowingly— (a) does, attempts or threatens to do an act preparatory to or in furtherance of an act of terrorism; (b) commits to do anything that is reasonably necessary to promote an act of terrorism; or (c) assists or facilitates the activities of persons engaged in an act of terrorism,, commits an offence under this Act.

    Section 2 of the Act defines “act of terrorism” to mean as act which is deliberately done with malice, aforethought and which : (a) may seriously harm or damage a country or an international organization ; (b) is intended or can reasonably be regarded as having been intended to— i (unduly compel a government or international organization to perform or abstain from performing any act; (ii) seriously intimidate a population ; (iii) seriously destabilize, or destroy the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or an international organization ; or, (iv) otherwise influence such government or international organization by intimidation or coercion; and (c) involves or causes, as the case may be—, (i) an attack upon a person’s life which may cause serious bodily harm or death: (ii) kidnapping of a person ; . (iii) destruction to a Government or public facility, a transport system, an infrastructure facility, including an information system, a fixed platform located on the continental shelf, a public place or private property, likely to endanger human life or result in major economic loss; (iv) the seizure of an aircraft, ship or other means of public or good transport and diversion or the use of such means of transportation for any of the purposes in paragraph (b ) (iv) of this subsection; (v) the manufacture, possession, acquisition, transport, supply of weapons, explosives or of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons as well as research into, and development of biological and chemical weapons without lawful authority; (vi) the release of dangerous substance or causing of fire, explosions or floods, the effect of which is to endanger human life ; (vii) interference with or disruption of the supply of water, power or any other fundamental natural resource, the effect of which is to endanger human life

    Under the watch of the Buhari government the killer Fulani herdsmen have been committing unspeakable acts of terrorism in Nigeria and getting away with them. Apart from killing, maiming, kidnapping and raping their victims to death, the killer herders, in conspiracy with their cohorts from Niger Republic, have been aiding and abetting mutinous acts, threatening to levy war against Nigeria, forcing and compelling President Buhari and the National Assembly to change their measures and policies, destroying, encumbering and confiscating farmlands across Nigeria (resulting in the scarcity of foodstuffs and soaring prices of foodstuffs in Nigeria) in violation of Nigeria’s territorial sovereignty which is contrary to section 2 (a) (b) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) and c (i), (ii) (iv) (vii) of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 (as amended). Nnamdi Kanu is being charged under sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 (as amended) and sections 41, 44, 45 and 375 the Criminal Code Act for alleged acts of terrorism. Just last week they slammed terrorism charges against the Oyo traditional ruler Oba Solomon Akintola and 10 of his High Chiefs for allegedly invading Aagba Community in Oyo State and kidnapping three persons and injuring others. The pertinent question remains: Why is this Buhari government charging Nnamdi Kanu, Oyo Chiefs and others to court for alleged acts of terrorism while exonerating the Fulani herdsmen who have inciting the public in order to destabilize, or destroy the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of our country?

    Explaining why the bandits were declared as terrorists, Malami, said, inter alia, “our assessment took into consideration that they are causing a major threat to territorial peaceful co-existence and causing a major threat to lives with weapons.” Are the murderous Fulani herdsmen not causing a major threat to Nigeria’s territorial peaceful co-existence? If the answer is in the affirmative, why are President Buhari and Malami conspiring to exonerate them from the heinous act of terrorism? Why have the duo acquiesced in the endless massacre of the innocent Nigerian citizens by the AK-47-carrying Fulani pastoralists and Miyetti Allah their sponsors? For example, in the aftermath of the massacre of about 200 villagers in Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Jos South local government areas of Plateau State in June 2018, Miyetti Allah quickly issued a statement accepting responsibility for the massacre. It admitted that it carried out the massacre in retaliation for alleged Fulani herdsmen who had been killed in the area. According to the then Chairman of the North Central zone of Miyetti Allah Danladi Ciroma, “These attacks are retaliatory Fulani herdsmen have lost about 300 cows in the last few weeks — 94 cows were rustled by armed Berom youth in Fan village, another 36 cows were killed by Berom youth. In addition to that, 174 cattle were rustled and the criminals disappeared with them to Mangu [Local Government]…Since these cows were not found, no one should expect peace in the areas”. Why didn’t the most excellent Abubakar Malami SAN and most righteous President Buhari dispatch the DSS to arrest or interrogate Ciroma for uttering the aforesaid inflammable terrorist statement in violation of sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 (as amended) and sections 41,44, 45 and 375 the Criminal Code Act?.

    Anyway, whether Buhari and Malami like it or not, the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) rates the Fulani herdsmen militia as the fourth deadliest terrorist organization in the world. The GTI has ranked Nigeria, for the sixth consecutive time since 2015, as the third country with the most impactful deadliest terrorist organization. The GTI says that in 2018 the killer Fulani herdsmen killed more Nigerians than Boko Haram. So why is the Buhari government refusing to tag the killer Fulani herdsmen as terrorists and treat them as such?

  • Living in perilous times, By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Living in perilous times, By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    The madman says that there is nothing wrong with him except that whenever he wants to say one thing another thing comes out of his mouth. We must resist the temptation of mirroring our country with the madman’s mirror and concluding that nothing is wrong with Nigeria. Of course something serious is wrong with Nigeria. Those who think that Nigeria is still on the road to Somalia are mistaken. Nigeria had already reached Somalia. In the last six years Nigerians have been witnessing a steady and progressive deterioration of those cherished values which form the superstructures for the building of our national ethos. The old image of Nigeria as a citadel of peacefulness, fraternity, cultural and moral renaissance seems blurred. Amid the country’s abundant human and natural resources, there is poverty, fear, suspicion, disorderliness, hatred and chaos. On social media, on the pulpit, lecture rooms, market places, stadia and other fora, Nigerians soberly ask the following question: What does the future hold for us and our children?

    This is a painful reality. But we must come to terms with it. The most significant achievement of the Buhari government in the last six years is to drag Nigeria into the membership of failed states. This is not surprising. A country reapeth what it soweth. In the last six years President Buhari has been sowing Fulanism, divisionism, nepotism and tyranny. This is why we are harvesting chaos, anarchy and failure today. Imagine the most populous and most richly endowed African country joining countries such as Somalia, Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Myanmar as a full-fledged failed state.

    Amid the complete collapse of state machinery for protection of lives and property, anarchy has been let loose upon Nigeria. The Hobbesian bellum omnium contra omnes (war of all against all) characterized by barbaric abductions, assassinations, arsons, bloodletting, communal bloody feud, kidnaps, banditry, gun running and so forth now reign supreme in different parts of Nigeria including, for the first time, the hitherto peaceful Anambra State. Amid the reign of mayhem in different parts of Nigeria, aggrieved ordinary citizens masquerading as “unknown gunmen” are now laying siege to different corners of the town and assassinating their perceived enemies or offenders. We now live in a country bereft of the rule of law. No law. No Justice. No peace either in men’s hearts because peace grows in the crannies of justice. Uncertainty, confusion, fear and apprehension rule the lives of many. We now live in a free-for-all country where nobody seems to be in charge of anything or anybody. We go to bed and wake up itching to hear the sad news of another abduction or assassination. If the abductors are not on prowl trying to abduct their victims, some hired assassins are lurking in the corner to capture their next victims and assassinate them. One analyst believes that the assassination of Dr. Chike Akunyili may not be unconnected with family feud over property. If this is true it means that families, friends, relatives, townsfolk and other citizens are now resorting to violence, self-help and use of force in settling personal disputes and disagreements. And as you and I know very well, recourse to self-help in settling personal disputes is a recipe for anarchy.

    I read somewhere that given the heightened insecurity of lives and property in Anambra State at the moment some Anambrarians are now fleeing Anambra State and seeking refuge in Lagos. I hope this is untrue otherwise we are really in trouble in Nigeria. Oh! Lord, we raise up our shackled hands and beseech thee to take revenge on our behalf. Lord hearken to the assistance of your children drowning in the rivers of human blood, flowing down the streets and alleyways of our cities, towns and villages. Sit no longer blind, Oh! Lord. Let not our cries sink in silence at midnight. This is our land and the land of our ancestors. Protect us in it. Dislodge their plots and concoctions. They lay siege to the country expressways to kill us, we who are innocent, we who have committed no crime. Yet they want us to love Nigeria; they want us to dream of no other country except Nigeria. They want us to sing Nigeria’s National Anthem and recite her Pledge in order to feel proud that we are Nigerians. Yet they make Nigeria unlivable for us. In the last six years the Buhari government has been sowing the wind and today it is reaping whirlwinds. In the last seven years the government has been vilifying and persecuting the oppressed. Yet this is our country. And they want us to love our country. But how can we love a country that derives joy in spilling the blood of her innocent citizens? It is no longer news that Nigeria’s finest human capital, especially the medical doctors, nurses and other medical personnel are fleeing the shores of Nigeria day by day. Foreigners make mockery of us. They laugh at us and say that ours is a country of terrorists ruled by terrorists for terrorists. How do they say it again? When one finger touches oil it soils the rest. The political sins and misdeeds of a handful of our never-do-well political leaders are being visited on ordinary citizens. Poverty, hunger, and terminal illness continue to afflict many Nigerians. These days many Nigerians are finding it difficult to eke out a living or eat two meals a day. Many parents can no longer pay the school fees of their children and wards. Many patients in many Nigerian hospitals are just waiting to die either from their illness or out of neglect owing to their inability to pay their accumulated medical bills. Of course the prices of foodstuff and the prices of practically everything in Nigeria keep soaring.

    The most tragic, in my view, is that the Buhari government is unwilling to disclose the identities of Nigerians incriminated in financing Boko Haram and terrorism in Nigeria despite the assistance given to the government by the United Arab Emirates and other countries to that effect. Reacting to public criticism on the refusal of the government to name the terror sponsors, the Federal Attorney-General said that revealing their identities will jeopardize investigation. This is an indirect way of informing the public that the names of the sponsors, for obvious reasons, will never be revealed by the government. I have just finished reading the essay entitled: Cornflakes For Jihad: The Boko Haram Origin Story by David Hundeyin. It is a must read. In this classical essay, David unearths the historical roots facilitating the financing of terrorism in Nigeria dating back to pre-independence era.

    No man, no woman of good conscience can be at ease after reading the aforesaid essay. Equally no street, no broadway, no village path can remain silent amid the stillness of death lying everywhere in different parts of Nigeria. With torn and bleeding hearts we may be smiling but we may not know peace until Nigeria goes the way she had been fated to go.