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DEADLINE EXTENDED: Essay contest for undergraduates to debate restructuring

iCiR
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DEADLINE EXTENDED: Essay contest for undergraduates to debate restructuring
Adekunle Adebajo, winner of the last edition of the contest (2nd L)

The Union of Campus Journalists (UCJ), University of Ibadan, has announced a one-month extension to the deadline for submitting entries for the 2017 edition of its annual inter-university essay contest.

Samuel Arowosafe, 30th President of the organisation, made the confirmation in a press statement emailed to the ICIR on Thursday.

Now in its third year, the contest requires participants to answer the question: ‘Is It Time To restructure Nigeria’?

The topic was arrived at in view of calls that have been mounting since the beginning of the year for the country to be restructured.

Entrants have the liberty to put forward all arguments possible, including whether restructuring is needed or not, or exactly what type of restructuring is needed — whether the needed alteration is in the country’s form of government or in the system.

Bearing in mind that even the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is itself unsure of what the restructuring debate represents, and recently constituted a Committee on Restructuring, participants will have no limits to which they can advance their ideas.

“The new deadline for submission is Wednesday October 10, 2017,” Arowosafe said.

“We’re not at all short of entries at this point; in fact, we have already received the record application since this contest began three years ago.

“However, we’re making this extension so that more students outside the south-west can participate, because this contest is not a UI affair but a national one.”

The inter-university essay contest is endowed by ‘Fisayo Soyombo, Editor of the ICIR, who led an executive council to stage the organisation’s first essay contest when he was UCJ President in 2007.

The winner of the contest will receive a cash prize of N100,000, while one runner-up will receive N50,000.

UCJ is the umbrella body of press organisations in halls of residence, departments, faculties and religious institutions in UI and the University College Hospital (UCH).

Founded in 1987, it has a history of producing top-class journalists, including Laolu Akande, its second President, who is now spokesman to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Full details of the guidelines for the contest are available here.

Wike: SARS policemen are the armed robbers, kidnappers in Rivers

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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Wike: SARS policemen are the armed robbers, kidnappers in Rivers

Nyesom Wike, the Rivers State Governor, says most of the crimes committed in the state, especially armed robbery and kidnapping, are by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force.

Wike said that an official police signal had indicted Akin Fakorede, the Rivers State SARS Commander, and his operatives, as having a hand in many of the crimes committed in the state.

Speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt, the State Capital, on Wednesday, Wike alleged that Fakorede was planted in the state to create an atmosphere of insecurity and fear.

“Most of the kidnappings and armed robbery taking place in this state are done by men of SARS,” Wike said.

“They use exhibit vehicles to operate. As the Chief Security Officer of the state, you complain, but they choose to play politics with crime.

“They fight crime in some state, but they refuse to fight crime in Rivers State. We are done with the elections, but they are using SARS to create insecurity in the state. As I speak with you, they will deny.

“But the SARS operative who was killed was amongst those who raided the Rivers East Senatorial District collation centre. This man can be identified in the video as one of those who invaded the collation centre with Fakorede.

“I have never seen a country where they politicise crime. It is very obvious that they want to give the impression that Rivers State is unsafe.

“They want to instill fear, preparatory to declaring during the elections that there are so much killings.

“Authorities deliberately trying to destroy a whole state and you want the people to be happy. I will no longer write. Now is the time to take my case to the public for the whole world to know what is happening.”

Wike said that his administration has invested heavily in security, more than any other state in the country but that the Police was working against the state.

FEC orders probe of ‘grand-scale looting’ at JAMB, NIMASA

YEKEEN Akinwale
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FEC orders probe of ‘grand-scale looting’ at JAMB, NIMASA

 

After Wednesday’s weekly meeting, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) ordered the investigation of past heads of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculating Board (JAMB) over massive fraud.

The council stressed that the grand scale looting that have taken place in the agencies in the past must be looked into.

“Council felt this is unacceptable. They want to know where the monies have been going in the past,” said Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance while addressing State House correspondents.

“It is not that their revenue drive is different from what they have now. So council wants to know what has been happening to the monies they have been generating. It is in line with this that council has directed that we look into the books of these agencies.”

She noted that the investigation of the agencies is in furtherance of the government’s new realities of accountability and transparency.

Adeosun said the decision to probe the agencies became evident when JAMB remitted a paltry N3 million to the Federal Government’s coffers in 2015 and that in 2017 alone, the agency, without prompting, remitted a staggering N5 billion with a pledge to remit an additional N3 billion.

She maintained that the “grand scale looting in the past in these agencies” must be looked into, adding that following the fraudulent discoveries, the council has also mandated the investigation of other revenue generating agencies in the country to ascertain their level of transparency and accountability.

UN initiative bans tobacco companies from rendering help on SDGs

Chikezie OMEJE
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UN initiative bans tobacco companies from rendering help on SDGs

The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) has delisted tobacco companies from participating in its initiative of involving corporate leadership to achieving the UN development goals.

UNGC, which involves the participation of over 8,000 companies and 4,000 non-business participants, disclosed in a statement on Tuesday that the exclusion of cigarette companies is to align with the policies of the broader UN system.

The statement announced that companies in certain high-risk sectors, such as the production and manufacture of tobacco products, nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons will be excluded from the initiative.

Part of the statement reads: “Participating companies whose business involves manufacturing or producing tobacco products will be delisted effective 15 October 2017.

“Likewise, companies involved in the sale, production, manufacturing, possession, distribution and/or transport of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons will be delisted.”

Companies involved in the production of landmines and cluster bombs were previously excluded.

Some of the affected tobacco companies are Philip Morris International and British America Tobacco.

Reacting to this development, Matthew Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said: “The announcement from the UNGC is a positive step for global public health because it prevents tobacco companies from burnishing their public image through association with credible organizations like the United Nations.”

Myers, who applauded the new measures, said the tobacco companies should be ashamed for undermining public health.

“The announcement properly places the tobacco industry in shameful company,” he said. “The only businesses in the world now banned from UNGC participation are those associated with the production of landmines, chemical, nuclear and biological weapons.”

He pointed out that Tobacco use is the world’s leading cause of preventable death and is projected to claim one billion lives this century unless countries take strong action to prevent it.

Myers urged UNGC to take any necessary additional steps to remove all associations or organizations representing the tobacco industry from the initiative – including from its board of directors.

“Along with the UNGC, institutions throughout the United Nations system should adopt policies to insulate themselves from the influence of the tobacco industry,” he added.

“Such policies would be in line with the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a public health treaty that obligates its 181 parties to implement strong tobacco control measures and ensure that public health policies are free from the interference of tobacco companies.

He said the UNGC announcement should serve as an example to governments, other businesses, and public-private partnerships currently engaged with tobacco companies as tobacco companies deceptively use a wide range of tactics to legitimize themselves to build goodwill to sell their deadly products.

“Unless more organisations act to isolate tobacco companies by refusing their membership or participation, the tobacco industry will continue to wield enormous influence around the world, undermine life-saving public health policies and recruit new smokers into a lifetime of addiction,” Myers said.

 

‘Proceeds of crime’…EFCC asks court to strip Patience Jonathan of N8bn property

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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‘Proceeds of crime’…EFCC asks court to strip Patience Jonathan of N8bn property

 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed a court application asking for the interim forfeiture of two property allegedly belonging to Patience Jonathan, wife of Goodluck Jonathan, former President.

One of the property, which the EFCC described as a “magnificent architectural edifice”, is an uncompleted eight-storeyed building located at the central business district in the heart of Abuja.

Though the commission said it hadn’t obtained the appropriate value of the property, it is estimated that the amount should be in the neighbourhood of N6billion.

According to court documents, the building was acquired by Patience through Aribawa Aurera Reach-Out Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that she allegedly owns.

The EFCC said chances are high that the building was constructed using proceeds of crime, as the suspected owner, Patience, was a mere Permanent Secretary and could not have afforded such a building.

“Inference may be drawn from investigation that the suspect’s (Patience) last known official position was Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State. Hence, there is no way such magnificent architectural edifices could have been built within a short space of time,” the documents read.

“There is a high probability that it could have been built with the proceeds of crime. It is evidently clear that it is a case of money laundering but there is a need to do more investigation.”

The EFCC said it had written to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), asking for the identities of the directors of the foundation. Another letter was written to the Abuja Geographical Information System to ascertain how and when the property was bought.

Yet another letter was written to eight banks: Skye Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, Union Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa and Unity Bank to provide relevant information on the investigation.

The second property, which the EFCC wants forfeited to the Federal Government, is a luxury hotel located at the Mabushi area of Abuja.

Valued at about N2bn, the property was once marked for investigation by the EFCC, but the inscription was wiped off.

“In view of the foregoing, I request for an interim forfeiture order on the two properties amongst others linked to the suspect and believed to have been acquired from the proceeds of crime,” the EFCC stated.

“This is particularly very important because attempts to mark the property were resisted and even the portion that was successfully marked was later cleaned off by the agents of the suspect.”

The EFCC also said it had traced three other property in the Karsana, Wasa and Idogwari areas of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to Patience.

Documents from the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS) show that the property were bought in the names Finchley Top Homes Ltd. and AM-PM Network Limited.

Already, the bank accounts of Finchley Top Homes Limited, a company that was also traced to Patience, had been frozen by the EFCC months ago.

However, Ifedayo Adedipe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and counsel to Patience, said he was unaware of the fresh application filed by the EFCC, adding that his client was being witch-hunted.

He said that if the reports were true, then the EFCC was violating court processes as it has a pending case at the Court Appeal challenging the interim forfeiture of Patience’s assets.

“I am not aware of any of these but we are in court over the freezing of her accounts and that case is at the Court of Appeal level and we have a fundamental human rights’ charge against them in court,” Adedipe said.

“My thinking is that the EFCC, which says nobody is above the law, should have waited for the judiciary to finish its process. In my humble opinion, it appears they are abusing judicial powers.

“When you file something today, tomorrow you file another. Why not put everything in one pot? That is why they lose cases.

“Why are they focusing on Mrs. Jonathan who was neither a minister nor a government official? I’m not saying people should steal but it may seem she is being persecuted for her active role in the last election.”

In April this year, a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered a temporal forfeiture of $5.8 million also belonging to Patience Jonathan, after the EFCC said the money was suspected to proceeds of crime.

The case is now at the Court of Appeal.

Health workers declare strike action ‘worse than Operation Python Dance’

YEKEEN Akinwale
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Health workers declare strike action ‘worse than Operation Python Dance’

 

As the Federal Government struggles to negotiate with members of National Association Resident Doctors (NARD) who are currently on strike, the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) has directed its members to commence their own industrial action from Wednesday September 20.

The union said its members would embark on ‘Operation Alligator Bite’ if the Federal Government fails to attend to their grievances.

It said the strike would be more dangerous than the Python Dance declared by the army in the south-east.

Meanwhile, Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, and the Association of Senior Servants of Nigeria have agreed to temporarily put off their strike notice until next Wednesday.

In a statement issued Tuesday night by Samuel Olowokere, Deputy Director (Press), Ministry of Labour and Employment,  Ngige said the action is to enable the government commence the payment of pending promotion arrears.

He said: “Among others, the meeting agreed that 30 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) that the office of the Accountant General of the Federation reported having cleared their allowances, amounting to N1.165 billion should start to receive credit of payment to their account by September 20, 2017.

“It also agreed the office of the Accountant General of the Federation should also provide the list of the 30 MDAs in reference to the office of the Minister of Labour and Employment by September 13, 2017.”

Ngige said the conciliation meeting further set up a seven-man committee to be chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Labour, with three members each drawn from the government negotiating team and the labour association respectively to oversee the implementation of the decisions.

 

Trees, animals dying, as spill from Shell’s oil field devastates Bayelsa community

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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Trees, animals dying, as spill from Shell’s oil field devastates Bayelsa community

Residents of Tambiri I and II in Tein community, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, are demanding that Shell should clean up their community after a leak from one of the oil fields operated by the company.

Large volumes of crude were discharged into the environment from the Shell-operated oil field on August 11, and the community alleged that the oil spill and subsequent pollution of the surrounding area was caused by equipment failure.

But Precious Okolobo, Shell’s Media Relations Manager, released a brief statement claiming that the said well “has not been producing oil”.

However, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), a Non-Governmental Organisation, said it conducted an impact analysis on the oil field and released a report that confirmed Shell’s culpability.

Alagoa Morris, Head of Field Operation of the organisation, advised the oil company to first pay a visit to the oil site rather than dismiss the report.

“The shrubs and immediate environment of the wellhead (about 10 meters away) tells the tale that a toxic substance sprayed into the air and they bear testimony,” Morris stated in his report.

“No aquatic life, including other animals, would remain in such a heavily-polluted environment,.

“They will die or migrate to other places. A visit to this environment in three months may present an environment with dead trees and shrubs.”

The ERA/FoEN also condemned a “purported” joint investigation that was said to have been carried out on the sight by without any representative from the community.

It called on the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment, National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and other oil and gas industry regulators to ensure a transparent resolution of the oil spillage issues.

The group also recommended that Shell should carry out recovery of spilled crude, clean up the impacted site “in the interest of the environment”.

It also advised residents of the community to remain peaceful while they take all necessary steps to get the oil spillage resolved.

I inherited an ICPC without identity, says Nta as he bows out

YEKEEN Akinwale
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I inherited an ICPC without identity, says Nta as he bows out

Ekpo Nta, immediate past Chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), says he took over the reins of the anti-corruption commission when it had a crisis of identity.

He said the ICPC was floating between being a law enforcement and civil service organisation, which was worsened by the commission’s dilapidated physical structure.

Nta stated this during his handover ceremony after serving six years as ICPC Chairman.

He handed over to Abdullahi Bako, a board member of the commission, who would be acting pending Bolaji Owasanoye’s assumption of duty subject to confirmation by the Senate.

While noting that the situation dampened his enthusiasm, he added that it spurred him into picking up the challenge of not leaving the commission the way he met it.

He disclosed that the first task before him and his board members was to rightfully place ICPC where it belonged, based on the commission’s enabling law,

He highlighted his achievements to include a high rate of investigation and prosecution of corruption cases, the introduction of preventive measures to check corruption in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and the spike in publicity for the commission’s activities on its website and in the media.

Other achievements were listed as publishing of three volumes of ICPC law reports, improving the staff clinic to cater to the health of suspects in the commission’s custody, as well as the intervention and support by UNODC for the Commission’s work.

He commended the management committee and staff of the commission for “a wonderful working period”, stating that the commission’s staff were intellectuals who usually stood out at trainings and workshops featuring participants from other organisations.

Abdullahi Bako, the Acting Chairman, acknowledged that Nta had done a lot to project a positive image for the Commission.

He noted that the achievements made Nta, as ICPC Chairman, to be the first African to be appointed a board member of the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA), Vienna, Austria.

Bako pleaded for the support of the management within the period he would act as Chairman while urging all staff to continue to be disciplined, and build on what they had learnt from the out-gone Chairman by striving for excellence.

Ekpo Nta was appointed Acting Chairman of ICPC by former President Goodluck Jonathan at the swearing-in ceremony of the Commission’s Board Members in November 2011, before he became the substantive Chairman in 2012 for a period of five years.

Bako, the Acting Chairman, is a current two-term member of the ICPC Board.

He is a lawyer, Notary Public and Fellow of Charted Institute of Arbitration, who represents the north-east geopolitical zone and was first appointed an ICPC board member in 2009.

The silence of the world in Myanmar

Editorial
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The silence of the world in Myanmar
Ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees during a protest in Kuala Lumpur against the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Photo credit: AFP/MANAN VATSYAYANA

By Musa Toyyib Olaniyi

In southeast Asia is a country called Myanmar, otherwise known as Burma, that shares borders with Bangladesh. It is an heterogeneous country with about 135 ethnic groups and a diverse population comprising Muslims and Buddhists. The Muslims are in the minority. They live in Rohingya in Northern Rhakine state and speak Rohingya dialect.

This more than 1 million people have been described as “the world’s most persecuted minority”. They have no access to work, education, healthcare and other social amenities. They are denied citizenship and rendered stateless in their own country. A good number of them are refugees in Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries where they are also not recognised as part of humanity.

Myanmar has passed through decades of ruinous military interventions in her political affairs and today, it is under a democratic government though considered weak under the leadership of Ms Aung Sun Kyi.

The attempt by the Burmese government in collusion with the Buddhist majority ethnic groups to perpetrate ethnic cleansing in Rohingya has been on for quite a while and, it is therefore not a new development and the world is not unaware of this. But hardly does the world make it an issue.

Since a few days ago, the country’s army has descended on the Rohingya Muslims, carrying out one of the worst genocides in modern time against them. Whole villages are being razed while rape of women and mass murder are carried out in broad daylight.  The world heard and chose to remain silent.

The President of Burmar, Suu Kyi, has been silent and unresponsive to the atrocities of his army against unarmed civilians and a whole ethnic group. Strangely, Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Laureate. What an irony! A peace Laureate presiding over the massacre of a whole ethnic group.

The silence of the world is deafening and hypocritical. Are Muslims not human beings?  Are there different sets of laws for Muslims and non- Muslims? Should the world loose its outrage, voice and limbs when Muslims are being persecuted?  The only news that excites the world about Islam is that of ISIS and Boko Haram. And it is injustice and indifference as this that breed terrorism.

To some people, terrorism is self-help against oppression and tyranny.

As thousands of Burmese Muslims are being gruesomely murdered while hundreds of thousands more are being displaced, America, the self -acclaimed world police and defender of human liberty, has lost her voice when it matters most.

Another irony again; the US did not only loose her voice, it is actually perfecting bills on bilateral military relations with the Burmese government in Congress. The import of this, to America, is that nothing is happening in Burma. Frankly, the US considers Burma a partner and she is not in haste to strain the existing relationship between them even though the hands of Burmese government are drenched in blood.

This is a clarion call to the world not to look the other way when injustice is being visited on individuals or a whole group or demographic category simply because such are Muslims. Such hypocrisy, lessen the love in the world, only to deepen the fissures in it and elevate hate and mutual suspicions among its differing demographics.

May God heal our world, Ameen.

Soldiers return to Nnamdi Kanu’s home with 10 armoured vehicles

Chikezie OMEJE
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Soldiers return to Nnamdi Kanu’s home with 10 armoured vehicles

Soldiers have surrounded the country home of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), with about 10 armoured carrier vehicles and seven Hilux vans on Tuesday, according to Punch.

The presence of the soldiers has forced business owners to close their shops in fear of clash between soldiers and IPOB members.

On Sunday evening, a clash between soldiers and IPOB members left three persons injured at Afaraukwu community, the hometown of Kanu in Umuahia, capital of  Abia State.

Meanwhile, some of the soldiers attacked the Abia State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists on Aba Road, Umuahia, destroying laptops and other valuables.

According to journalists at the secretariat, the soldiers claimed they saw someone take photographs of them from the building.

John Emejor , Chairman of council, expressed disappointment over the incidents, adding that a National officer of the Union Ezeogo Bonny Okoro was slapped by one of the soldiers.

“Our press centre was invaded by soldiers, two journalists lost their iPads and phones, while a national leader in the office was attacked,” he said.

“Our stand is that those involved in this attack on innocent Journalists should be fished out and punished in line with the constitution of the Country.”

However, the Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has called on the federal government to stop the military operation, code-named ‘Python Dance 11’ in the south-east region.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by John Nwodo, its President-General, the group described the operation as an invasion of the region and attempt to intimidate the people.

According to Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Nigeria, at this moment, does not need such deliberate and proactive escalation of tensions and crisis.

The group warned the federal government not to use military force to resolve the issue of agitation for self-determination, adding that there are “civilised and established practices to resolve our democratic and security challenges”.

The Nigerian Army had on Friday announced its plan to launch ‘Operation Ogbu Eke II’ – ‘Python Dance II’ in the south-east between September 15 and October 14, to stop violent criminals, agitators and other forms of criminalities.

Also Tuesday, the South-East Governors’ Forum announced that a seven-member committee had been set-up to investigate the clash between the army and IPOB members.

Michael Udah, the forum’s Director of Media and Communications, said the committee was expected to submit its report during the forum’s meeting scheduled for September 15.

Udah did not disclose the leader of the committee but said that it was set up to proffer lasting solutions to such problems and forestall future occurrences.

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