ekt_bear:

How on earth can you ban a public officer from educating his child overseas? The premise is that he is earning the money from corruption, right?

Assume temporarily that a given public officer was rich even before he entered office. Why should a guy like that not be able to educate his child overseas?

(Implicitly, I am asking for legitimate reasons related to the quality of him doing his job, not flimsy, arbitrary ones)

ekt_bear:

The silly thing about this law is that in Nigeria, there are very expensive schools you can send your children too, if you like.

AIS in Lagos is what, $10k+/term?

So what difference does it make if a man loots and sends his kid to AIS versus a boarding school abroad?

Hehe

Just really a very silly law.

ekt_bear:

For university, it there not Atiku's school in Yola? 15 million+ naira/year just for tuition:

http://www.americanuniversitynigeria.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=41&Itemid=46

Hehe

proudly9ja:

I agree with ekt_bear. The law doesn't make any sense to me. How can you ban anyone from attending a school? What if I am a public servant and my son/daughter gets a scholarship to study abroad?

Another scenario - what if via hardwork I gain admission to study abroad, would you now ask me to withdraw and relocate to Nigeria just because my father suddenly wins an election?

I'm assuming public servant in this case refers to LGA chairmen, commissioners, ministers, governors, VP, P, etc?

I think what government should do is to monitor the amounts declared by public officials. So if a man who has worked as a civil servant all his life declares billions of naira as his worth when he gets into government, he should be made to prove how he came about the money via his tax certificates, etc

ekt_bear:

@Sagamite: There are lots of ways to go to school abroad w/o even being rich. Some people are dual citizens, for example. Or they have relatives abroad they can stay with an attend school. There are also competitive scholarships for elite private schools (and of course, for universities as well).

You can borrow, get work study, etc, etc. Not every foreigner studying abroad is necessarily rich.

It is just dumb to presuppose that every child of a politician studying abroad is spending stolen money. Granted, 90% of might be. But if that is the case, go after said politicians rather than trying to cast

Strike down the immunity clause. Pass a whiste-blower law (if one doesn't already exist.) Let the police and court systems work more effectively.

Anyway, there isn't too much point discussing this further. . . even if this law passes, nobody will obey it.

More importantly, it misses the big picture of what is important and what is not.

Sagamite:

Read the thread. It is only 6 pages long.

Stop asking questions that have been addressed.

The law is not targeted and precise?

Before I even bother with this, let me be clear, are you saying it is harder to launder money than to launder kids?

You said telling public officials to use public facilities they are responsible for is abuse of rights, illegal and unconstitutional, and you don't think telling US citizens they can not do business in Cuba is similar?

You think telling US citizens that they are not allowed to visit Cuba is less of abuse of so-called "rights", is more legal, more constitutional and more precise and targeted?

ekt_bear:

Sagamite: Only now returning to this thread and seeing your comments on the first page.

In a nutshell, this is a dumb policy. If the idea to prevent people from looting. . . how about you just enforce existing laws?

ekt_bear:

No, it is not.

ekt_bear:

I didn't compare the difficult of laundering money vs. kids. Point is that laundering kids is dead easy. Nigerians I know in RL are doing it right now, heh. Against more difficult legal systems to crack (that of the US and UK).

ekt_bear:

When did the minister of defense become responsible for education in Nigeria? 95% of Nigerian public officers have absolutely nothing to do with the Nigerian education system.

ekt_bear:

US and Cuba are essentially still in the cold war! How are you comparing two countries who are antagonists to this situation?   Only worse possible analogy you could have made was one with South Korea and North Korea.

ekt_bear:

For university, it there not Atiku's school in Yola? 15 million+ naira/year just for tuition:

http://www.americanuniversitynigeria.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=41&Itemid=46

Hehe

okada_man:

It is not by force to join the army(at least not yet )

Sagamite:

^^^ Scan read.

By now, you should know the serious people with serious opinions.

That is what I do when a thread goes beyond 3 pages. I am not reetarded so I would never read Becomerichs or cap28's opinions.

If it is over 10 pages, I normally do not join.

proudly9ja:

Can I ask a simple question?

How will this law stop anyone from stealing money?
Most of our leaders send their children to private pry and secondary school in Nigeria anyways. At tertiary level, there are private schools even more expensive than foreign schools.
Even after 'scanning', the only posts Ive seen answering my question are opinions of other NLers. Noone has shown a part of the bill that answers the questions. I don't take opinions as fact.
I do not see any need for the law. There are better ways of checking corruption at that level.

Sagamite:

[size=14pt]Edjucate me!!![/size]

I said this law is easier to enforce than other laws because it involves laundering kids?

How can you say a law easier to enforce than current laws is senseless?

Amsorry?

I bet you think you have an argument with this. UTTER TOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!

Majority of them are corrupt, (1) let them all face the consequences of corruption and (2) they will start putting reciprocal pressure on each other to perform.

Amsorry?

How is an American going on holiday affect Cuba's impact on USA?

You think this law is precise and targeted? Fcking tell me you do!

So you think this one is not "abuse of rights"?

So you think this one is not "illegal"?

So you think this one is not "unconstitutional"?

What war at they at? Stop chatting tosh. It is purely economic oppression! Don't be giving Sagamite bullshyt!

Nigeria does not have war against corruption?

Edjucate me!

ekt_bear:

I've already mentioned numerous reasons why. To repeat, not all children of politicians abroad are using stolen funds for their education. Many may be, but not all.

ekt_bear:

It may be, it may not be. Anyway, you should go back to my post which you quoted and see that isn't what I was mentioning.

ekt_bear:

Wth does majority have to do with anything? What about the minority who are not corrupt?

And you objected to me comparing this law to a sledgehammer before?

Furthermore, don't you have to prove that someone is guilty before treating him as such?

At any rate, here is again what I quoted:
"You said telling public officials to use public facilities they are responsible for is abuse of rights"

So tell me, how is the Minister of Defense, Minister of Finance, or hell, even the LGA chairman of such-and-such LGA responsible for the poor state of Nigerian education? Why does it concern him? When did it become his responsibility/job?

ekt_bear:

Jesus man. This is getting a bit ridiculous. Maybe we should ask why South Koreans aren't going on holiday to NK or something. Generally you don't get to go on vacation to countries your own country views as a foe.

ekt_bear:

@okada_man: Hehe.

This is why I have mixed feelings on democracy. It takes very little before it becomes pure mob rule.

Any silly law that appeals to the blind instincts of the masses will likely be passed, whether it is a good law or not.

So tell me, you want to pass this law. It presupposes that all public officials sending their kids abroad are looting money.

So what happened to the concept of innocent until proven guilty? Fine, that is a concept from the Western world and English common law that may not be applicable in Nigeria.

But doesn't at least some burden of proof lie with the government to show that student X abroad, son/daughter of politician Y is using stolen funds?

Reference:

Okay, heard that much. So guys is such a law undesirable or impracticable. Any takers.  

Princek12:

Reading this thread is annoying, as many people don't understand that no one is putting a gun to one's head to accept a position as a public official. If you cannot accept the restraints and requirements attendant to becoming a public official, then for the sake of peace, remain a private citizen.

Public officials should not have the same rights as a private citizen, and any law that imposes restrictions on a public official's liberty should be welcomed as long as the law is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling governmental interest. Here, there is a compelling interest in motivating public officials to improve the areas of education by making sure that their children attend the same educational institutions as the children of their constituents. That way, they will be motivated to fix it and not allow it to decay.

For example, if you attempt to pass a bill requiring incoming presidents to publicly declare their assets, will any aspiring president now claim that his constitutional rights are being infringed because he is required to declare his assets as a condition to becoming  president? If any aspiring president makes such a claim, voters should run away from that candidate.

Same thing with these lunatics called public officials in Nigeria. They have had an open field in which to steal money with impunity and without any obstacles.

Once you start imposing all these restraints, aspiring public officials will now begin to realize that public office is a position that comes with the obligation to serve the people, not to enrich their pockets.