₦airaland Forum

Disclaimer: the experience narrated here is reposted to inform the general public. I'm not related to the event, I'm compelled to share to make Nigeria better.

*How much did u do ur affidavit?*


FANTASTICALLY CORRUPT.

I travelled out of my state of residence to do a transaction on behalf of a client. Things went relatively well until I needed to take out an affidavit in court as one of the final stages of the transaction.

So I walked into this court, a federal high court, to do the affidavit. I had in mind that a day earlier , someone had told me in my office how she spent #4 000 to do an affidavit in court. I was furious . I know that only #100 of that #4 000 will go to government purse , the rest will go to some thieves who pose as government workers.

So I stepped into this court wishing that the thieves would try to play pranks on me. I file affidavit regularly in court but I have never experienced such extortion. May be it is because the court workers in my town of residence know me to be a lawyer. May be now that I am out of jurisdiction and dressed casually, the ones here will try to play a fast one on me. Just May be.

So In the court, I was directed to a certain lady. It Seems she is always the first contact person in this web of extortion. I entered the room. She asked me to sit. She was attending to someone, a captive I should say . The man was begging that he did not come with 4k, but the lady would have none of that. She asked the guy to go and come back complete. I was eavesdropping. The guy had just lost his certificate and wanted to make an affidavit to that effect. This is what is supposed to cost him N100. The guy even begged to pay N1000. But she refused. She insisted on the "full price".. In the end, the guy left to use Atm and come back. I was next in line!

I hold the belief that even if one should extort me, it should not be in court. The very thought of being extorted by a non- Lawyer in court is annoying to me. It is like a civilian slapping a Soldier in the barracks! If you must slap a soldier, must you do it in the barracks ?

So I took my turn in front of her. 'What do you want to do, sir? She asked.' Affidavit, of course, I replied. She asked what type of affidavit , bringing out a plain sheet of paper and pen, with an air of fake seriousness. She said she needed to know the type of affidavit because they will help me to type it.

At that point, I brought out a copy of the affidavit as typed by my secretary a day before I traveled. I told her that all I needed was to make the oath before a Commissioner for that purpose. Seems she was taken aback. Seems see didn't expect me to come with my affidavit already written and typed out. She excused me and left with the document. I guess she went to consult with her superiors.

She did not stay too long.

'sir, are you a Barrister'?
'Yes, does it matter'?
'I mean a real Barrister '?
Silence.
' sir are you based here in town '?
Silence.
' Sir'?

I think she wondered if I was really a lawyer as they have not seen me in their court before . May be her superior had suggested that I just claimed to be a lawyer in the affidavit just to evade their extortion.

I told her to go straight to the point. That I still needed to travel back. I told her to show me where to pay and get the oath Commissioner's stamp. At that point, she cut a piece of paper and wrote on it. She signed a complicated signature. She made the stealing to seem official. Unlike how she handled the guy before me, she didn't say a word about the amount I was to pay. She could not speak to me about it . She wrote it down and signed and then showed me where to take it to.

So I took it to whom I was directed. The man took the piece of paper from me and studied it as if it was a graph or some complicated map . Then,as if he had suddenly deciphered a hidden code, he said out loud : 'two thousand'. I paid the two thousand Naira and waited. The man stamped on the document and wrote on it with red ink. I noticed that he did not write the amount received by the Court on behalf of government, as is the custom. He directed me back to the lady who sent me to him . He said she is the one to take me to the Commissioner for oaths .

I was irritated by the unnecessary back and forth, but I was determined to see the end of it .

After the Commissioner had put his stamp on the affidavit, I went straight back to the guy who took 2k from me and demanded a receipt. He looked lost when he saw me again.

He said they don't give receipts. I said its not possible for the federal government of Nigeria to take #2000 from me and not give any evidence of payment. He then said their receipt has finished. I told him to use his red pen and write 2000 on the affidavit. He Shrunk his shoulders, as if to say 'God forbid'.

I told him, Point blank, that he has trouble on his hands. That he should not think that I will leave without evidence of payment. That if he can not handle it he should bring in his superior. I threatened to go to the court Registrar if he continues to waste my time. It Seems the mention of the Registrar was frightening to him. He said to me 'please sit down' and stepped out, running.

He returned with a woman I presume is his unit head, a woman in her late forties by my estimation. She asked what was the problem. I told her there was no problem. That I am surprised the guy brought her. That all I want is receipt or some evidence of payment.

She said that their receipt has finished. She brought out a big book and said they enter all the payment entries made by everyone and at the end of the day, they issue one receipt!

Hear lie. One receipt to whom? She did not even seem like an intelligent thief to me. Seeing that her explanation meant nothing to me, she collected the affidavit from me and looked. The next thing I heard was :

'who typed it? Who asked you to type it?'
She said they will give me my money back and take 'their affidavit'. That I should go elsewhere and make the oath.

At this point, I lost my patience and temper. It became clear to me that I was dealing with an ignorant crook. Who told her that she had the power to stop me from doing the affidavit? Who told her that private affidavits must be typed by the Court. I mean she made it so clear with her actions that she is fantastically corrupt.

I stepped out of their office and headed to the Registrar's office. They started pleading. The guy who took the money started running helter skelter.

He took me to the office of another oga. The oga was polite. Cool office. He took the affidavit document from me and read. He screamed : 'did they not even read this thing to see that this man is a lawyer'? He stormed out and left me alone in the office.

It became clear to me that the oga was not necessarily angry at what they did. He was angry that they did it to a lawyer. He felt they were daft to do so to a lawyer. They should have done it only to other members of the public. They should have known that a lawyer is "bad market".

The oga returned with the woman and asked her to apologise for saying I should get my #2000 and go elsewhere to do the oath. She did. And I accepted the apology.

The oga thought that was all. He looked happy, as if everything has been settled. As if he had just resolved a conflict between Iraq and Kuwait. I brought him back to reality by saying that I am still waiting for receipt. You can't extort me and apologise and bid me farewell, without a refund.

At that point, he asked the lady to excuse us. As soon as the room had only Me and him, he removed the masquerade. He said :"BUT BARRISTER, YOU AND I KNOW THAT THIS THING IS HUNDRED NAIRA. How do we give receipt for 2 thousand "?

I did not bulge. I told him that it was either he gave me the receipt for 2k or I go to the court registrar.

At that point, he went out quietly without a word. I did not know if he went to get the receipt or my money. I looked through the window and saw him outside calling the staff to gather my money. It was then I knew that the loot had already been shared (it was close of work and I was the last customer). They had to send someone to call one of the staff at the gate to bring his part before entering a taxi home.

The oga soon returned to the office with my #2000 and asked for hundred Naira. I gave him #100. They wrote #100 on the affidavit with red ink and gave a receipt reflecting #100. The same receipt they said they didn't have.

I walked out of the court feeling sorry for the country. I mean this is a court of law! A place you would expect to see the strictest adherence to probity. Yet people openly engage in extortion. Government charges #100 for something, but corrupt government workers make it #4000 (I believe I was charged #2000 cos I had mine typed already).

People no longer do subtle corruption in this country. Corruption is the norm. They make you look stupid if you don't join in. Every sector is involved, not just the political class. The civil service stinks.

And someone wants me to believe that Nigeria is not fantastically corrupt. Please keep sharing until it gets to the right people. Nigeria must be saved.

May God save my ctry Nigeria.

0temAtum:
No. As a matter of fact, hell fire as a realm have been quenched millions of years back in the days of Mulah, but the bible, Quran and some Greek stories would not just let the things of the neanderthal periods be gone for good. Here is a passage of the doctufos which spoke about how the Light of God Almighty rendered hell fire extinct.

I pray for you today, every power that want to destroy your soul, by making you to believe lies and false doctrines, get out in Jesus name(Amen).

kevoh:
That moment when your neighbor (female) with partial disability in the limb attends a crusade and is shown live on TV that she got healed but you see her two days ( and months) later she still remains in the same partial disability state.

are you taking from experience?

HERSLEY:
please will u marry or date me?

sorry dear, he's married!

Godswillnwaoma:
that why I.m scared to have a girlfriend because I know sex must involved. that 5 mins enjoyment when not prepared can make you regret ur life.

what can be prevented should be avoided!
One round of sex is enough to round off a glorious destiny⚠

columbus007:
I have always advice young ones about some girls of this our time,they are full of venoms

One round of sex (outside marriage) is enough to round off a glorious destiny⚠

Freewoman:
MY WORRIES REMAIN THAT THEY WERE OWN AND MANAGED BY CHURCHES, THEY SUPPOSED TO BE ALMOST FREE BUT NOT, YOU SEE WHY NIGERIAN GOVT WANT THEM TO PAY TAXES AND SOME IDIOTS ARE SHOUTING THEIR HEADS OUT, WHAT A PITY FOR THOSE THAT PAYS TITHS IN THOSE TYPE OF CHURCHES ............... WHAT A PITY,

See why you should worry not!

Why Church Universities Are Expensive by Statsocial :
1:02pm On Feb 11
By Ife Olaleye
There has been so much buzz about Church universities being expensive in Nigeria and I would like to address some of this controversies mostly using Covenant University as a case study.
Tithes/Offerings are used to build Church Universities? This seems to be a widely asserted theory. This is partly not true because most Churches don’t exactly use Tithes/Offerings for building church universities but create special donations for that purpose. Usually, the initial university capital projects are funded with these donations. We have to remember that the core mandate of any church isn’t not to create universities but to preach the gospel of Jesus and help the poor and that is done with tithes/offering to establish outreaches, pay pastoral salaries, build new churches etc.
Donations can’t sustain recurrent expenditure: while ‘excited’ members would usually agree to pay donations for the initial financial responsibility of the universities. No church would be able to get its church members to continually pay for its recurrent expenditure. In fact if any of these church schools were to try and choose continual donations as an alternative to ‘High’ tuition fees the next thing you would see are private university lecturers going on strike.
Are Church universities profitable? I do not believe any sane investor or business man would venture into the tertiary education sector with the aim of making profit. There is a reason why you wouldn’t find Otedola or Dangote investing in education. If you do your research properly you would find that till today Covenant university hasn’t made any profit for its proprietors. Let us examine the revenue vs expenditure of Covenant university for example. The Covenant university tuition(undergraduate) ranges between 600,000-800,000 depending on level/program but I would base it on 700k. There are about 7,000 students on campus at a given time so I multiply 700,000 by 7,000=4.9 billion. So the university’s revenue from tuition fees is about 4.9 billion.
When considering expenditure I would like to keep the value projections conservative. I believe Covenant University’s wage bill to be around 500 million/month but I would calculate using 400 million since that is the average wage bill for a Nigerian university. So 400 million x 12 months= 4.8 billion. I currently don’t know how much CU pays to get electricity but reports had it that in 2012 the university spent 700 million naira on electricity. I would deliberately exclude expenditures like research grant, conference support, Infrastructure, field trips, medical services, internet provision e.t.c because I do not have real data to conclude how much they gulp yearly. So using just wage bill+Electricity, the university has spent 5.5 billion when the tuition fee is about 4.8 billion. This proves the former NUC president, Peter Okebukola right when he said that ‘’Church universities were being too dependent on the Church’’. Also, the VC of Crawford did buttress the fact that the proprietor base still donates 500 million yearly to Crawford as subsidy. If these subsidies weren’t in place Church universities would have been more expensive that secular ones.
Assumed wealth of the Church: there is a saying in Yoruba land that ‘’the chicken sweats but the feathers won’t let you know’’. Would you believe that Oyedepo nearly missed his own deadline for the establishment of the first two halls of residence in Covenant University? because donations weren’t coming forth, until God miraculously provided.
‘Expensive’ tuition isn’t unique to Pentecostal Churches : whilst many choose to assault Pa. Adeboye and Bishop Oyedepo for charging high tuition fees. It is important to note that even Orthodox churches which are known not to be ‘’prosperity conscious’’ charge within the same bracket e.g Bowen(Baptist), ECWA(Bingham), Godfrey Okoye(Catholic), Adventist(Babcock), JABU(CAC), Methodist(Wesley) e.t.c
Expensive tuition isn’t unique to Church universities alone; Church universities are ranked to be generally good with Covenant University averagely in top three on the two out of four most reputable rankings in the world-Webometrics and Times higher education. However Islamic schools that are not in the top 50 universities in Nigeria but also charge about half a million(e.g Crescent) which is about the same thing CU charges.
The underlining purpose for creating Church schools ; This is very important, the creation of church schools isn’t to actually teach physics and chemistry, but to create a spiritual revolution. Take that spiritual revolution away from CU, then it is by no means different from Afebabalola university. Therefore, if you are a committed member of your church you are already a member of that movement. For instance I am not a living faith member, but by attending CU I have joined myself to the spiritual movement of the church.

https://www.nairaland.com/3623074/why-church-universities-expensive

pls help with this mtn 4g mifi,
Have tried 4 code that didn't work.

861791030448437
Model: Huawei E5573Cs-322

Many thank sir.

you guys dey too fall hands ooo, is keshi a northerner or is he a Fulani herdsmen? why should you expect more?

Okijajuju1:
Mtcheeeew!! Miracle seekers everywhere.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/3891795_img20160626172203_jpeg8d39bd34be6ec918c5c152cdd27a2951


With the number of churches, crusades, outreaches and religious people in this nation, yet its hard to find good people in our society.

if your dream will be realized one day, you must accept to change your frame of thought and be that good person you seek for in the society consistently, without thoughts of getting praised or treated equally!

Nicur:
and I hope you are not one of those zombies that have sold their critical thinking ability?

I think he sold himself to APC.

we should grow beyond the level of blind patriotism and encourage accountability from all personnel in government irrespective of their party affiliation.

where are those blaming Jonathan for not visiting chibok/Borno state during his presidency?

I've encountered such in a pre interview assessment!

07037351573

Baba for don't mention this during the campaign season, he's truly cheated our trust. Chai!

Any positive development baba may be considering, if he hasn't laid the foundation after a year, it's a clear indication that he could waste the 4yr opportunity he has.

any info on accommodation, or they're not given them out this year?

emenik08:
Please MSc Mechanical engineering students in the house, what is the time and where is the venue for the course called numerical methods in engineering. I want to offer it in my department but will like to attend the lectures in your department as my own has not fully commenced. Thanks.

9:00am prompt every Wednesday.
venue is PG hall, beside LG lab.
if you're not ready for serious business you better runaway. it's rigorous but not tedious, you can drop your email for the lecture notes.

Any system engineering student here, pls contact me I have something for you.

iretex1@gmail.com

Mech engineers, pls what's the min course unit for first semester?

1stola:
RUBBISH!
Is it now that Jònadaft has almost bankrupted this country that this people will include Nigeria
Dollars is now 220 to Naira on black market.
⚡ Thunder fire all of una.

can you update your comment now?

Jazmiynne:
Please wld the receipt be same? How do I go abt printing my fee receipts?

yes, its the same, you can access from your printouts menu in the portal. I did mine via the same channel.

Jazmiynne:
Please can I pay the fees in any of the Lagos branches of those banks mentioned on the spgs site?

Abeg, go and pay online.
why stress yourself when theirs a way to do it better!

shizzy7:
The men in the first picture looks like transgenders...
They call it Love and protection of human rights...


Nigeria never civilize reach this level.

That is no civilization, except you want to redefine the word-
it is an official demonization of the victims and their fans.

lopzy:
Finally, I am in. Congratulations to me.

congratulations, friend!
for those still getting error message, I just discovered I've been using a wrong application number, retry with the one on the admission list page, it worked for me.

lopzy:
I guess the server error is because they are working on the site. Waiting for more uploads

It's OK.
Thank.
I wish you the best also.

ibadanfinest:
If your name is on d list, I expect u to be able to login by now.

I can't login still, what could be wrong,
can you post the link you used?

Teeslam:
Yes. I was able to... First, you have to generate payment before you can view admission letter

That's serious... some of us can't access the student portal yet due to server error

amd4598:
finally I bless God o. Chemistry don admit me o.

Congratulations....
God will do for others too!

Has anyone been able to view admission letter from the application page?
Could that be a reason for the error message I'm getting on logon to the student portal?