₦airaland Forum

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Between GTB and Innoson, who is playing on public intelligence?
By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat

Recall that yesterday, The Chairman of Innoson Motors, Innocent Chukwuma, through a statement issued by Cornel Osigwe, Innoson Group’s head of corporate communications, claimed that it has obtained a judgement against Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) at the Supreme Court.

The statement claimed that the apex court ordered the management of GTB to pay Chukwuma a sum of N12 billion within 14 days, after it struck out the motion for stay of execution of the Enugu court of appeal division’s order that GT Bank pays N6 billion into an interest yielding account.
However, GTB had countered the claim, saying there was no any judgement like that.

In a statement issued by Erhi Obebeduo, GTB Secretary urged the public to disregard what it termed as false, mischievous and malicious statements circulating in the news and social media in respect of a purported directive by the Supreme Court of Nigeria to the Bank to make payments to one of its debtor Customers.

‘’The Bank's Customers and the General Public are hereby kindly urged to disregard these false statements as nothing could be further from the truth. GTB said.

According to the bank, ‘’there was no directive or Order issued by the Supreme Court of Nigeria to the Bank to make any payment to any of its debtor Customers.

It also added that, the Bank as a highly responsible corporate citizen will in accordance with its culture and tradition refrain from making comments about on-going litigation matters and will continue to focus on using legal means to recover its bad debts.

‘’We again reiterate that there is no iota of truth in the falsehood being peddled by desperate and mischievous elements and the General Public should disregard same in its entirety. It said.

The question now is that, between GTB and Innosson, who is playing with public intelligence? How can there conflict in a purported judgement made by the apex court in the country?
Although, when I first read the news of the purported judgement, I felt two things:

1. I was happy that giant companies like GTB are being humbled, held accountable and made to be more responsible.

2. However, I was not sure about what the reaction of GTB would be, considering the fact that the claim of judgement didn’t emanate directly from the court. Innosson spokesman made the public announcement. I was wondering why media houses are not at the court when such a high profile judgement is being made to break the news directly.

With the denial of GTB that any such judgement had been obtained against it, it appeared something is really happening some where.

Please, can anyone explain what is happening?

Between GTB and Innoson, who is playing on public intelligence?
https://mrrightsng..com/2018/06/between-gtb-and-innoson-who-is-playing.html

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lol

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Kwara Must Change Report

This is a mega school in Kwara. It is one of the schools with one teacher at Baruten LG. It is called Budo Oba primary school.

Thanks to Kwara State government.

Kwara Must Change

Oba of Benin Kingdom, Oba Akenzua N'Iso n'orro II, who reigned between 1933 – 1978 after the death of Eweka II, threw a challenge to the so called religious people of the world, particularly Christianity and Islam.
The Oba challenged them to give him one reason, why he should abandon the Benin religion in favor of any other religion.

He said:
"I would rather serve my God in the Benin way;I would rather worship him in the Benin manner; I will sing songs of praise to him in the Benin custom;Unless it can be proven to me that he does not understand the Benin language"

No person has been able to respond to this challenge 40 years after the Oba died.

I am now throwing back this challenge to each and everyone of us so as to engage in a real intellectual debate over our faith and religion.

Can you please challenge the notion that, "I would rather serve my God in the Benin way;I would rather worship him in the Benin manner; I will sing songs of praise to him in the Benin custom;Unless it can be proven to me that he does not understand the Benin language".

Over to you

Nigeria Police Force is generally regarded as one of the most corrupt institutions in Nigeria, but how corrupt really is the Nigerian Police and to what extent do they perpetrate their acts of corruption? This is what I tried to find out in my recent trip to Ilorin from Abuja.

On 8th May 2018, I embarked on a road trip from Abuja to Ilorin. This is not an ordinary trip like others; it is more like going on a fact finding mission.

Before embarking on the trip, I had gone through the route many times and i understand that commercial drivers often part with their hard earned money at every police check points. However, my mission on this trip was to find out, if it is possible for a commercial driver to drive pass these police check points without paying a bribe.

On the day of my journey, I woke up early, so as to get to park early and have brief engagement with the drivers. When I got there, i requested to see the driver that would drive our vehicle. A tall fair man identified himself as the driver and i asked him, after greetings and other jokes, if it was possible to drive us from Abuja, all the way to ilorin without paying police bribe on the high way. His response was, lai lai (impossibility).

I asked him again, if he has ever attempted to drive without paying or he his just assuming, but his response wasn’t straight forward. So, to cut the long story short, i requested that he should resolve on driving us to Ilorin without paying any police on the road. The driver told me it was impossible.

According to him, this is more like going on a journey to nowhere, because no matter how much we try, we would end up paying, even more than we should have paid. At the end of our discussion, we could not agree to embark on the journey, so I had to look for another driver.

Finally, I saw a driver willing to do this with me. Immediately i spoke with him, we seem to connect almost instantly. While discussing with him, he told me that there is nothing he dislikes like giving police bribe on the road.

According to him, these officers make it seems like you owe them money and it irritates him. For this driver, he often try as much as possible not gives police money, but he has been forced to do so on many occasions.

He opines that, one of the reasons he usually succumb is pressure from passengers. He said to me, if you don’t want to give police money, they will ask you to park and keep you there waiting and soon after, the passengers will start mounting pressure on you. Some will beg the officers and you will be left with no option than to part with some money.

As we agree to embark on the journey for experiment, the driver seems happy that a passenger is willing to support his long held view on police bribery and at exactly 7:45 am, we departed Abuja for Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

Driving out of Abuja didn’t give us much stress because the security officials are not usually the demanding type. While they will stop you briefly, hoping to see you extend your gifted hand of bribe to them in kind. If they didn’t see anything, they will let you go without much ado. However, this was not the case in Kogi, the state of Yahaya Bello. Immediately we drove into the confluence state, the security officials became more hostile.

At checking points in lokoja, police will stop the vehicle, hoping to see the gifted hand of our driver extend some squeezed naira note into their tactically stretched hands, but if they didn’t see the bribe as expected, they will ask the driver, why is there nothing for them and irrespective of the response, they will reluctantly let him pass. The situation was the same all through lokoja, until we got to Okene, the drama scene.

Police officers at Okene are extremely mean and corrupt, they are always determined to extract bribe from drivers at all cost. It doesn’t matter if you have all the papers, all they want is money, which you must be forced to pay. To them, not paying bribe is a crime.

The first police check point we encounter at Okene taught us some bitter lessons. As is the usual practice, the officer stopped our vehicle, hoping to get the naira note, but nothing came fought. He looked at our driver with that kind of eye that says, you are in trouble today, but the driver didn’t bother.

Park, the officer said, in a harsh and angry tune. The driver oblige.

Where is your driver’s license was his next question, as if he is a road safety official mandated to check license? The driver gave him the license. Where is your vehicle papers, he demanded again and that too was handed to him. After seeing that all paper were intact, he walk away briefly with the papers to attend to other vehicles.

Moments later, he came back to complain about what was written on the change of ownership document. In his words, Kwara was supposed to be written in a particular place and not in a particular place. The government produced it that way, the driver said, but the officer interjected. This is a fake document the officer said, accusing the driver of crime, of which the driver disagreed, while making it clear that, if indeed it was a fake document as claimed, that means government actually produced the fake document, because it was obtained from the government.

As the arguement continued, the officer insisted that we must wait so that he can show us the document was fake when compared with other kwara vehicles. It was at this point that I came down to speak with the officer. When I asked what the matter was, the officer explained that our driver’s documents were fake and he has told him that, but he is arguing with him. So, he has to hold us here until other kwara vehicles come, so that he can prove to him that the documents were indeed fake. You know, it some times feel good to hear the lies, when you already know the truth. After much interaction, I asked him the final question. Should Kwara vehicle come here and the documents were the same, will our vehicle be allowed to go? And he responded in affirmation. I went back to speak with the passengers and urged them to calm down and be patient so we can sort out the issue.

As we were waiting there for confirmation of our document, more than 5 kwara vehicles without documents came and pass. The drivers would simply tell the officers, I don’t have papers and right before our very eyes, more than 5 of such vehicles drive pass after paying bribe.

Can you imagine? The same police holding our vehicle which has all papers, simply because our driver refused to pay bribe, is the same passing vehicles without papers at all. Ha, naija police.

Any way, we were there for almost an hour waiting for a vehicle with complete papers like ours.

At some point during argument with our driver, the police threatened to take us to their station and I encouraged them to do so because it is better than staying on highway without headway. I asked the driver to enter the vehicle so we could go to their police station, but the police didn’t go through with it. Obviously, it was just a threat to force the driver to plead and pay bribe, but it didn’t work.

At the end, a Kwara vehicle with complete papers showed up and lo and behold, all his papers were the same with ours. But again, while this other vehicle was allowed to move on after paying the usual bribe, we were still held back, this time with no more reason. It was at this point that our driver began to vibrate for the officer. They engaged each other along with other officers until we stepped in to calm the situation. After speaking with other officers, i went to meet the officer in charge and asked why we are still being held after our papers have been confirmed, pointing out what he had told me earlier that should our document be the same with others, we would be allowed to go.

I asked them again, why they are still holding us after confirming our papers, but they have no response.

I had to school them on the consequences of what they were doing. While these was happening, I took pictures of all the officers, but and somehow, we were asked to go. I thought I would post their pictures on line, but I didn’t feel that would solve any problem. Police corruption is an institutional menace from top to down; making scapegoat will not stop it. So, I deleted the pictures.

After leaving that spot, the situation seems to have empowered our driver and he felt even more confidence. At some point, when the police ask our driver to give them money, he will firmly respond in negative, looking them straight in the eyes. A particular police officer even made it clear that if you do not give me the money, I will waste the time of your passengers, but our driver will not burg. I don’t have any money, he declares.

This was how we continued, until we got to Ilorin around 6:30pm. It is my understanding that, if Nigerians want a better country, we must be willing to pay the price to have it, starting with insisting on doing the right thing. Just imagine, if every driver suddenly decide to have their documents intact and decides not to pay police bribe, what can the police do, other than letting them go? While we can continue to urge the authorities to do the right thing, nothing stops us the people, from doing the right thing too.

Abdulrazaq O Hamzat is a lead researcher for Nigeria Peace Index, a Human Right Ambassador and Executive Director of Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP). He can be reached at discus4now@gmail.com

Ha, Naija Police (An ugly experience with Nigerian Police)
By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat

Driving out of Abuja didn’t give us much stress because the security officials are not usually the demanding type. While they will stop you briefly, hoping to see you extend your gifted hand of bribe to them in kind. If they didn’t see anything, they will let you go without much ado. However, this was not the case in Kogi, the state of Yahaya Bello. Immediately we drove into the confluence state, the security officials became more hostile.

https://mrrightsng..com/2018/06/ha-naija-police-ugly-experience-with.html

How we will create 25 million jobs in 3 years - Mathias Tsado
https://mrrightsng..com/2018/06/how-we-will-create-25-million-jobs-in-3.html

In the heart of every economic growth lies the ability to power the development.
There is virtually nothing you can do in today's world without electricity - take for example, your home, once there is power outage, it becomes very uncomfortable, whether during the day or at night, what differs most times is the degree of discomfort.

So if power or electricity is that important to you as an individual, same goes for companies, communities and nations.
Ever since the discovery of electricity, development in many forms has not been possible without it.

Clearly it has to be addressed for us to move from here to the next phase, NO POWER NO DEVELOPMENT.

Power in itself is a form of development and also a business, don't you wonder why this lucrative sector seem to be abandoned by very hungry capitalists?
As an investment banker myself, I know the most important factor in an investment is profit but it's not the only factor.
So, since it is guaranteed that investments in the power sector in Nigeria would bring good ROI why then do we not have billions of dollars being thrown around in this sector in Nigeria?

This is the question that can answer all our problems.
In this almighty question lies our 25 to 40 million jobs. This is where our insecurity problem is hiding, our stunted economic growth, our corruption, even education backwardness is linked to.
Every social ill you could think of is linked to this almighty question, WHY IS THERE NO LIGHT?

On an average I spend N22,500 (1,500 every two days) to augment for power supply in my house every month, and about N15,000 for the office, many homes and businesses spend far more than I to do the same thing.

This huge economic loss is not accounted for.
Power eats up everything.
Remember, without energy you can't do anything. It remains the centre of economic growth and the nucleus of national development.

NIGERIA as a country needs an investment of $40b to have sufficient power supply enough for us to begin our industrial revolution, I mean the kind of industrial revolution that occurred in the UK in the 1800s. Nigeria is yet to attain such, and the gateway to this ground-breaking revolution is electricity.
But the issue here isn't really about the availability of these billions of dollars, it is the state of the power sector in Nigeria at the moment.

The privatisation of GENCOs and DISCOs was supposed to launch the country into uninterrupted power supply, but this has not been the case.

Our power generation is still abysmally low and the transmission of this very little amount generated is still a problem.
Distribution is a problem as 70% of the country is "unmetered".

But beyond all of this lies the main problem, The Bad financial books of the power companies and The Corruption in the government sector in Nigeria are the reasons WHY THERE IS NO LIGHT.

We urgently need to clear this sector and make it attractive to investors, deploy a transparent process of doing business in this sector and make it completely private sector driven with very effective monitoring system.

So how do we get out our 25million jobs or more out? This is the task before us as a country.
We need to unlock our potentials and set our nation on the path to sustainable development.

Like I said in my article of may 29, there is an urgent need for us to diversify our power sector, introduce multiple grids system and multiple sources of power generation
The beauty of this is that the government does not have to spend so much on this.
We only need to clear our books and make the process transparent to attract the best energy companies to the sector, and boom we are good to go.

The sector itself has the capacity of absorbing 4million of our young people from the Labour market and generate billions in dollar terms and increase our per capita income, improve our GDP and improve our everything.

The telecom industry in Nigeria is now worth about N25trillion.
This sector was practically non existent before 2001, yet, this sector has generated thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

This is what is expected of the energy sector, but much more than providing jobs, the sector holds the keys to every other aspect of our development, the solid mineral industry alone could absorb 7million people, electronics manufacturing industries could create millions of jobs both directly and indirectly, SMEs sector in the country would burst the banks, millions of jobs would be created, Toyota would manufacture their cars in somewhere around Ekiti, Ford would be somewhere around Anambra, modular refineries would be scattered around the country, this does not even need a brilliant president but just a visionary leader with determination to do what is right.

I am a lover of national carriers, I love the sound of the name "Nigerian Airways", it tickles my sense of patriotism, it makes me feel the gusto that nothing else can, so Nigerian Airways is very dear to me. I want to see it work, so I would love to have it established by the Nigerian people.
It could be started with an IPO of N900billion subscription by Nigerians, this would allow us to buy minimum of 5 brand new air crafts, but for effective management this would be run purely as a business with dividends payable to shareholders
We shall have aircraft maintenance hangers in Nigeria and refine our aviation oil locally, this would bring down the price of air travels and stimulate inter state economic relationships. The success of this plan is also tied to availability of power.
The resultant effect would be evident in education, healthcare, water supply, security, exchange rate etcetera.

What I envision is a Nigeria that has a minimum of one major industry per state, unemployment down to less than 3%, economy growing at 16%, fair income spread, high productive Labour force, very balanced international trade, highly developed infrastructure, effective government system and a highly confident PEOPLE.

Mathias Baba Tsado
ADP Presidential Aspirant

Situation Report in Borno State

Following the improved counter terrorism activities of the Nigeria Army against the dreaded Boko Haram insurgency in North East, Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP) in its usual practice visited Borno State, the foundation place for Boko Haram to appraise the situation on ground.

FPP team in North East, headed by the North East Director, Mr. Alkasim Aliyu embarked on a 5 days situation visit to Maiduguri, Borno State capital from 11th -15th of May, 2018 to assess the living condition of the people, as well as the economic situation.

In our visit, it was discovered that Borno state is experiencing the best of time now since 2011, as economic situation, educational progression and other developmental activities is getting better by the day.

This is contrary to most media reports which seem to be exaggerating the security situation, particularly in Maiduguri, the state capital.

This improvement we observed, in addition to the military activities, can be credited to several factors, such as improved activities of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) which has been able to fill the gap in situations that government fall short, particularly in area of refugee housing, post traumatic disorders training, counseling, reuniting of dispersed family and alot more.

FPP also observed that the presence of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) is a blessing, rather than curse to the Borno State. Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) have continued to carry out their voluntary support work to the military, through mounting check points at all entrance to mega towns. This complementary effort has allowed the military concentrate on more important task, such as pursing the insurgents to the hinterland of the Sambisa forest.

Additionally, opening and clearance of Bama and Baga Road ‎for better business and regional development is a positive development which FPP find very welcoming. This has allowed free movement of people in that axis to pursue economic activities and it has allowed population influx into the state to a great benefit.

FPP also observed certain infrastructural developmental activities being carried out by the ‎state government within Maiduguri and other neighboring towns, which is a credit to the government. We also noticed that the state government has taken the bold step of stopping the burning of firewood for the purpose of making charcoal. This has helped to retain forest conservation.

While there is a lot of positive development in Borno State, we are also concerned about certain challenges that may arise after the insurgency is completely defeated.

It is our contention that, when the insurgency is over, what will be fate of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) who has been engaged in fighting war, not as soldiers, but civilian participants. We are also concerned about the destroyed town and communities, who will rebuild them and create opportunities for the youth, women and vulnerable people‎??

Additionally, the traumatic experience of the people, particularly children cannot be underestimated. We have reports of primary children of between age 5-10 drawing AK47 riffle. This has become a part of their daily experience and the need for Post Traumatic Disorders (PTD) rehabilitation for the whole region cannot be over emphasized.

We therefore call on government, regional and international organizations to come up with clear recommendation to address these important issues.

--
Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
Executive Director
Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP)

Saraki invitation by police over offa robbery incident is scary says group

Kwara Must Change on Sunday, 3rd June 2018 read the news of invitation of Senate President, Bukola Saraki by the Nigeria Police Force over the tragic Offa Bank Robbery incident with utmost surprise and curiosity and we encourage all Nigerian to follow the police investigation with all sense of responsibility, devoid of any political sentiments.

https://mrrightsng..com/2018/06/saraki-invitation-by-police-over-offa.html

Femi Gbajabiamila's G-wagon gift and multi million suit
Abdulrazaq O Hamzat

I have read many opinions on the purported N50 million G-wagon vehicle that Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila gifted to his wife on her 50years birthday.

I have also seen the reactions of people, regarding his multi million naira suit on that special occasion.

Let me start by saying that, I congratulate Mrs Gbajabiamila on her 50th birthday. I even congratulate her more, for retaining the love and affection of her beloved husband. This is the most important gift, not the G wagon.

G wagon is a vehicle and vehicle have just a purpose. To convey you from one place to another and I don't think it's a sign of love to gift a lover expensive vehicle.

To be honest, peoples reaction on the matter is not out of place. If you represent millions of people as their leader, earning millions of naira in their name, yet most of them are struggling to have 3 square meals and you went ahead to buy a car worth 50m as gift to your wife, while wearing a suit that cost over a million, there is nothing you can say to justify that stance as a public servant.

While Gbajabiamila's response was decent, it doesn't exonerate him from his gross insensitivity.

Davido can gift Chioma,his girlfriend with G wagon of such cost and nobody would care. He owes nobody any explanation because he his a private person and draws no income from public treasury on behave of the people.

Gbajabiamila is different and so is every public servant.

Those defending Gbajabiamila should understand that, being a public servant means taking public burden and being responsible to those public whom you claim to represent at all times.

Their suffering should be your suffering and their hunger, your hunger. Even when you live a slightly better life than them, you cannot be seen flouting this in their face.

How can you truly represent them, when you are disconnected to their situation? Tell me, how do you intend to represent them, if you are so insensitive by way of flaunting your luxury in amidst their misery?

https://mrrightsng..com/2018/06/femi-gbajabiamilas-g-wagon-gift-and.html

lol

What Drakehas in common with Davido
https://mrrightsng..com/2018/05/what-drakehas-in-common-with-davido.html

If you have been following the American hip hop scene lately, you must have heard about the beef between Drake and Pusha T, the President of kanye West Good Music.

On Friday, Pusha T dropped Daytona, a 21-minute album currently making wave in America. Closing out the album’s seven-track run was “Infrared,” a lyrical track addressing the dubious artistry of Drake, a longtime thorn in Push’s side. On the infrared track, Pusha T slammed Drake once again for using ghost writer and many others.

In the usual Drake manner, the God’s Plan hit maker fired back with a track titled “Duppy Freestyle”—released less than 24 hours after Pusha T’s album dropped, where he dispensed the grievances about his history with ghostwriting.

Drake went further to drag Kanye West into the rap battle, saying he had once assisted Kanye on a track, a collaboration well acknowledged by Mr. West. In the Drake’s response, he also dragged the name of Pusha T’s wife into the battle and all hell let loose.

About 24 hours after Drake released his Duppy Freestyle, Pusha T struck back on Tuesday night with a merciless tongue-lashing track titled “The Story of Adidon,” a three-minute verbal assault most notably accusing Drake of many things, one of which was fathering a child with a French porn star and refusing to bring the child home. The name of Drake’s alleged Baby mama is Sophie.

Nigeria’a music star, Davido had also fathered a child with a lady called Sophie. Davido and his baby mama, Sophia Momodu got into some sort of controversy in 2016 over the custody of their daughter, Imade. It started when Davido put up a snap saying she (Sophie) called him a deadbeat dad because he will never marry her. In reaction to that, Sophie also posted snaps and screenshots of their conversation.

It appeared not only Davido had a Sophie in his life, even Drake do. It also appeared both Drake and Davido fathered a child with their Sophie baby mama and they are both not marrying them.

However, unlike Drake, Davido is very much alive in the life of his child with Sophie. It appeared Pusha T wants Drake to learn from the Nigerian music star.

https://mrrightsng..com/2018/05/what-drakehas-in-common-with-davido.html

How are they the problem?

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How to fix Nigeria in 72hours
By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
https://mrrightsng..com.ng/2018/05/how-to-fix-nigeria-in-72hours.html

Nigeria is one of the greatest countries in the world, whose greatness is being held back by numerous self inflicted vices. While the country is blessed abundantly in all fronts, its greatest undoing is the lack of visionary leadership, which some analysts have described as Nigeria’s natural disaster.

Successive governments in Nigeria have blamed the complexity of the country for their failure in office and some even argued that Nigeria is a difficult country to govern. However, this piece is not to debate whether or not, Nigeria is a difficult country to govern since every country has their own peculiar difficulties, the focus is to proffer workable solutions that if implemented can set the nation on the path of progress.

To my understanding, any visionary leadership can fix Nigeria in just 72 hours and position the country for greatness. By fixing Nigeria, I do not mean a sudden transformation from third world to first world. What i meant is simply to create a structure for progress by building and empowering all citizens to directly or indirectly be part of the nation building process and putting the right people in the right place, to drive the right policies with the required vigor at the right time and create an institutional culture that cannot be reversed.

Without boring you with so much intellectual analysis and academic jargon's, let us go straight to the issues that matters and how to fix Nigeria within 72hours.

1. Civil War and Civil Peace
Problem: The issues that led to Nigeria’s civil war in 1966 and those after are part of the fundamental challenges holding Nigeria back from progress. As at 2018, Nigeria is still dealing with issues of Biafra agitation.
Solution: We must recognize that people, whose tribal and family members were cruelly murdered in the first coup, counter coup, pogrom and civil war are still hurting. They are all front line victims still hurting from the pains of the past. Nigeria as a country should offer specific apology and relief to these set of victims and a national apology to all Nigerians, who may have been directly or indirectly affected by these unfortunate incidents. This singular action will begin the process of leading Nigeria to civil peace. This action is very important because, it is the first primary duty of Nigeria as a country to protect every citizen from harm, even against themselves and the country failed in that regard.

2. Incarceration and De-incarceration
Problem: According to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), close to 80% of people incarcerated across Nigeria are unsentenced prisoners. Some of them have been held in unlawful detention for more than 10 years, for a crime that if convicted, they may only be held for maximum of 6 months. In other words, close to 80% of Nigerians in prison are victims of injustice by the Nigerian state.

Solution: We can solve the problem of incarceration with De-incarceration. Nigerian president, through his constitutional power can order the release of all prisoners in the country, with the exception of a very small percentage, maybe 5-10% who maybe rightly adjudged as threat to national security. The president should also offer a national apology to all victims who may have been wrongly held in prison without justice.

3. Human Rights Violation and Rights Protection

Problem: Human Rights violation is at the center of almost 50% of Nigeria’s civil unrest. Additionally, government institutions are also major violator of human right in Nigeria and the judiciary, which should ordinarily be the last hope of common man is nothing to write home about. Furthermore, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) as well as other agencies created specifically for the purpose of protecting citizens are massively failing in their statutory responsibilities.

Solution: Empower and mobilize all Nigerians to be human right defenders through adequate enlightenment and institutional support. From nursery school to higher institution, all students must be adequately empowered to expose, challenge and bravely confront human right violation within and their outside their institutions. Additionally, the country should make it culture to appoint radical and veteran human right defenders as head of the following agencies, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Public Complaint Commission (PCC) and other such agencies and empower them to recruit young and passionate human right defenders across the country to run such agencies.

4. Lack of patriotism and Social Mobilization
Problem: Nigeria’s greatest challenge is the disconnection between the people and its government. The people lack outright understanding that they own the government and could dictate what must be done. This disconnection has made them lack patriotism in the sense that, they do not take ownership of government resources, assets, policies and vision.
Solution: Prioritize public information, re-orientation and sensitization through constant engagement for educational purpose on key citizenship concept. The leader must educate the people to be able to socially mobilize them for joint policy implementation and to instill mass patriotism.

5. Insecurity and Peace
Problem: Economic marginalization, extra judicial killings, security high handedness and lack of access to justice had given birth to regional and community terror gangs such as militants, insurgents etc.
Solution: Offer sincere apology to all victims and their community. Offer sincere amnesty to all combatants and demonstrate willingness for true national healing by having open and sincere dialogue about the cause of the problem and give room for joint problem solving. De-militarize, De-mobilize and reintegrate.

6. Slow justice system and Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution
Problem: The court is not a place for dispute resolution; it is a place for judgement pronouncement. And in most cases, judgement is only pronounced in favor of the most intelligent speaker, but only the rich can hire the best speakers. In addition to this, the slow justice system is a major problem, apart from the excessive concentration on technicalities, thereby loosing the essence of the justice system.

Solution: The worst alternative dispute resolution is still a little better than the best court judgement because, ADR does not only resolve the dispute, it unites the conflicting parties. Center for alternative dispute resolution should therefore be given greater priority in our quest for peace. ADR centers should be established across all local government areas of Nigeria and empowered with adequate resources to function properly. The court should be encouraged mostly to handle criminal matters, while ADR centers handle civil matters.

7. Ethnicity/Religion and Nationalism/Free thought
Problem: Religion/Ethnic sentiment is the order in Nigeria rather than the exception. This vice drives our politics, policies and conduct in every sphere of life. Hardly can any policy be discussed without an element of ethnic and religious sentiment. From Central Bank money printing, recruitment into civil service, security engagement and activities, foreign mission and even achievement of Nigerians in diaspora are all subjected to ethnic/religious interpretation.

Solution: If we don’t want the populace to continue to draw wrong ethnic/religion interpretation from our everyday issue, we must give them something else to draw interpretation from by shaping their sentiments with more free thoughts that disrupt their preconceived thoughts. As we all know, sentiment is part of life and a visionary leadership will understand how to exploit the ethnic and religious sentiment of all sections of its citizens for positive advancement of their interest.

Abdulrazaq O Hamzat is a Human Right Ambassador and Executive Director of Foundation for Peace Professionals. He can be reached at discus4now@gmail.com
https://mrrightsng..com.ng/2018/05/how-to-fix-nigeria-in-72hours.html

Okonjo-Iweala and Aso Villa Prayer Warriors By Simbo Olorunfemi
https://mrrightsng..com.ng/2018/05/okonjo-iweala-and-aso-villa-prayer.html

I do not know what Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala set out to achieve with her book,‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines’ but if it is to help repair the damage done to her image on account of her last stint in public service, I doubt that some of the excerpts from the book in the public domain will help in that regard.

Her own account:

"I was privileged that part of my daily routine was to join the President and his family and his few close friends in Christian fellowship and morning prayers in the Residential Complex of the Villa. It was a way to gain strength for each difficult day. The prayer normally began at 6am so by 5:45am every day..."

Prayer is the master-key, someone sings. But the Minister of Finance having to be a part of daily routine of prayers with the President at 6 a.m?

Was that really about the prayer or a yearning to be a part of a kitchen cabinet, masquerading as prayer warriors?

Madam had to be in a prayer session with the President on daily basis to gain strength for each difficult day?

How did someone who negotiated herself into a specially- created, all-powerful title "Coordinating Minister of the Economy" become someone who had to become a 'set-forth-at-dawn' prayer warrior to maintain her influence?

So important was the daily prayer session to the Minister that even when she was denied entry on the first day, she didn't shrug it off and move on to gaining strength for the day through other means. She had to come back over the next three days to face the 'humiliation' of being turned back at the gate?

Was it really about the prayer? She had to call one of the go-to men at that time, Mr. John Kenny Opara who promised to discuss this with the villa pastor so they could intercede on her behalf! What was it about this early-morning prayer that Madam Okonjo-Iweala had to be there?

And her presence was so important that for a daily routine which was only for the President, his family and his few close friends, the President would not notice the absence of this his 'close friend' for all of 3 days to be able to bring it up with her?

Could it be that the President knew that, as with a lot of these things, many of the prayer warriors were not necessarily there for the prayers, but for other things?

How did the all-powerful "Coordinating Minister of the Economy" become someone a Presidential aide would block her access simply for doing her duty? How petty can it get that she would be barred from a 'private' prayer session? How disorganised can the Villa be that protocol will be blatantly breached such that the MD of IMF usually accorded the Head of State status would be denied entry through the proper gate, just to spite Dr Okonjo-Iweala?

And Madam who knows about protocol, having once served as Foreign Affairs Minister, did not deem it fit to bring up this embarrassing breach of protocol with the President! She chose not to rock the boat?

To think that this incident reported by Madam happened in as early as 2011. So, how did she cope as Coordinating Minister of the Economy over the next 4 years? How did she cope without the daily prayer session?

Prayer warriors as palace courtiers

So influential have prayer warriors become, over the years, that Chaplains, Diviners and Alfas have become powerful men who opened doors of access to people in power.

Some do not even have official titles but they make things happen as powerful palace courtiers. Those who know, know them.

Who would have known that a Minister has to grovel to be a part of prayer sessions to be able to 'function'?

Power is good. Even for some who never let us forget how they were doing us a favour by opting for public service.

The things people have to put up with just to remain in office.

Who would have known that Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was also one of the Prayer Warriors?

https://mrrightsng..com.ng/2018/05/okonjo-iweala-and-aso-villa-prayer.html

https://mrrightsng..com.ng/2018/05/okonjo-iweala-and-aso-villa-prayer.html

Measuring Peace in Nigeria
https://www.peacenews.com/single-post/2018/04/27/Measuring-Peace-in-Nigeria

An increasing amount of attention to peace indexes has provided insights into the levels of peace and conflict around the world. The indicators used in Vision of Humanity’s renowned Global Peace Index have now been adopted in a Nigeria Peace Index, created by the Foundation for Peace Professionals (FFP), with slight adjustments made to suit local use. FFP Executive Director Abdulrazaq O Hamzat is a Human Rights ambassador, and shares his views on what the NPI can provide peacebuilders in the country.

Measuring peace at the national level allows a country to assess the social, political and economic factors that create peace. More importantly, the NPI will allow peace builders in Nigeria to change the narrative, by concentrating the advocacy on foundational indices of peace, not conflict management. By focusing the discussion on fundamental indices of peace, we are channeling efforts towards advocating for improvement in those factors that make the society empowered and less prone to conflict.



To design the NPI five broad indicators were adopted; crime rate, level of human rights abuse, level of poverty, level of education, and rate of incarceration. Under these five broad categories, there are sub-indicators, which include rates of communal clashes, kidnapping, extra-judicial killings, unlawful arrest and detention, armed robbery and many others. We collected data from across the 36 states of the federation between 2010 and 2016.



It is important to note that a perception of peace is not the same as presence of peace. Perceptions can be shaped by external factors, such as media reports. The more coverage of negative stories a state receives, the greater the perception of lack of peace and vice versa. It is on the basis of news coverage that newspapers give opinions on their op-ed pages. Talk shows on television have turned the sharing of opinions into a national pastime. Editors and talk show hosts strive to give us a range of opinions that stretch from one end of the spectrum to another. At another level, people are enlisted to share their thoughts and feelings publicly on any number of social, moral, and political matters. As a result, some people spend valuable time sharing only feelings or uninformed opinions.



However, that is not the case with the NPI, which was designed based on facts and verifiable data. It is not about opinion or perception of peace. It is primarily focused on rating the peacefulness of states based on foundational indices of peace, which are verifiable and not tied to singular events. Upon my submission, we all agreed that such a fact-based index needed to be given more attention to improve the general state of peacefulness in the long-run. More importantly because, the NPI will help leaders at various arms of government come to term with fundamental issues needing proper attention to guarantee long term peace.



In conclusion, let me ask a question we can all ponder: How can media contribute to peace building and preventing conflict in Nigeria? To me, it is by giving voices to those who are advocating tolerance, peace building and understanding and promoting such other efforts geared towards strengthening the foundational indices of peace. Nigeria Peace Index (NPI) is one of such effort, and we all need to embrace it.

https://www.peacenews.com/single-post/2018/04/27/Measuring-Peace-in-Nigeria

Preserving our joint humanity
By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat

Some years ago, when Boko Haram insurgency was at its peak in North
East Nigeria, sacking villages, detonating bombs in markets, mosques
and churches, killing children, women and elderly and forcefully
conscripting innocent youths into its fold, many of our fellow
citizens in the other parts of the country are feeling so unconcerned.
The reason for their lack of concern is very clear; they thought the
violence is a northern affair that would never get to their part of
the country.

To add salt to the injury, some unkind people, out of sheer
carelessness went on social media to mock victims of the insurgency
without feeling any sense of shame. In the most inhuman and demeaning
manner, the whole world heard them saying; ‘’let the north continue to
kill themselves’’. Nothing could be more shocking and heart breaking.
These people made it clear to all that they do not care about the
innocent lives being lost in North East. It doesn’t matter if more
than 20,000 people are gruesomely killed and over 2million are
displaced, they just don’t care they said.

During the same period and in the most disheartening manner, people
who showed serious concern about the suffering of the people of North
East are blackmailed and shamed. People like Madam Oby Ezekwesili and
others like her, who are known defenders of human dignity, are
constantly bashed and maligned, not for doing anything wrong, but for
speaking out for victims of inhumanity. We made it look like demanding
dignity for human person is a sin and those who do so are the sinners.

However, just few years later, the Biafran issue became a major source
of security concern in South East Nigeria and living became very
difficult for a lot of people. While the agitators are making life
hell for some sections of the populace on one hand, the security
agencies are also doing the same at the other end. From North East,
the concern for insecurity shifted eastward and a lot of people who
may be part of those earlier mocking and demeaning the victims of
North East are also calling for help. Who will help save humanity they
cried, but unfortunately, no one responded.

Images of people killed in controversial circumstances liter the
social media space, but rather than show compassion to the victims,
people are also mocking the east and demeaning its victims. Like we
did to the victims in North East, we also did to the victims in South
East. We say to them, ‘’we don’t care about what happens to you
because you brought this upon yourselves’’.

Furthermore, as if that was not enough, the train of violence visited
the Middle Belt region, where organized killers who disguise as
herdsmen are spreading sorrow, tears and blood. Human life has become
so meaningless, not just to the killers, but also to us the observers.
Accusation and counter accusations are traded over the media, yet the
killing spree continues. Do we really care? Instead of empathizing
with victims and contribute to ending the human massacre through
informed commentary and valuable propositions, we are much more
concerned with proving who is right or wrong, despite not having facts
to back up our claims. We spit on the body of our fellow citizens,
swim in their blood and seek personal satisfaction in their sorrow.
We want to win the arguments, not rescue the victims. We compete to
demonize each other with the most harsh and injurious words based on
imaginary and concocted falsehood. This is very saddening.

It is disheartening because, while many of us truly make so much noise
about the crisis, we do not really care about truth or about the
peace, we just want to feel a sense of superiority and rightness over
the others. Our arguments and advocacy is not out of empathy for our
dying citizens, but about condemning each other in the most dishonest
manner.

For a moment, let us sit back and reflect about our attitude towards
each other and ask salient questions such as, what would have
happened, if we had genuinely shown the people of North East more
love, care and concern without considering their tribes and religion?
What would have happened, if we collectively embraced the South East
without minding their political decisions and speak out for their
concerns and interest?

Tell me, what would have been the situation now, if we are genuinely
speaking for the people of middle belt, not because we just want to
blame and condemn each other, but because we genuinely care for our
humanity and want an end to the bloody crisis.

In my opinion, our old manner of engaging each other has brought us
here and has brought us pain and discontent, it is now time we turn a
new leaf and start showing care and concerns genuinely. We must all
care because we belong to each other. Our sufferings are the same,
even though we get our share of the pains at different times.

Our genuine care is important because, if you care for me today that
the suffering is my turn, I will surely care for you tomorrow when the
suffering shifts to your side. If you help me advocate for the end to
my pain, i will genuinely help advocate for the end to yours too. If
we all care and show concern for each other as humans, we are simply
preserving our joint humanity.

Abdulrazaq O Hamzat is a Human Rights Ambassador and Executive
Director of Foundation for Peace Professionals(FPP). He can be reached
on discus4now@gmail.com

For a moment, let us sit back and reflect about our attitude towards each other and ask salient questions such as, what would have happened, if we had genuinely shown the people of North East more love, care and concern without considering their tribes and religion? What would have happened, if we collectively embraced the South East without minding their political decisions and speak out for their concerns and interest? Tell me, what would have been the situation now, if we are genuinely speaking for the people of middle belt, not because we just want to blame and condemn each other, but because we genuinely care for our humanity and want an end to the bloody crisis.

https://mrrightsng..com.ng/2018/04/preserving-our-joint-humanity-by.html