Nigerian Teachers Resume Nationwide Strike
June 30, 2008 by 
Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
Students across the federal were turned away from school today, due to the nationwide strike embarked upon by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), an umbrella body of all the teachers in Nigeria. The NUT had suspended her three days warning strike after the Senate and other well meaning Nigerians intervened to bring the government to a round table. The teachers want a better working environment, implementation of payment of minimum wage and an upward review of their salary. According to the NUT, the Minster of Education Dr. Igwe Aja Nwachukwu was callous, rude and unfeeling towards the plight of teachers and when confronted with threat of an industrial action said “I wish you all the best”. Furthermore, the NUT accused the minister of misleading the president on the implementation of the Teachers Salary Structure. The teachers want a harmonised salary structure across the 36 states of the federation.
This renewed hostility by the teachers is expected to be long drawn, as the NUT vowed to picket any private school that refuses to participate in the strike. Most children of rich men and politicians attend private schools, where a terms school fees is equivalent to the annual salary of a teacher in a run down public school.
NUT holds the minister responsible for the failure of the talks.
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Soludo Gets Clean Bill Of Health
June 30, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
The crisis that rocked the Nigeria Financial sector with the allegation that the Central Bank Governor invested $480million in Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) appears to have settled with absolution of Professor Chukwuma Soludo of any blame by a The committee set up by the Federal Government to investigate the investment. The panel was also mandated to ascertain the source of the authority for the withdrawal of the sum of $480 million for the purchase of equity in AFC by the CBN.
After conducting its investigations the panel found nothing incriminating against the CBN Governor.
Despite “this nothing to incriminate Soludo” finding, the panel have sat for over three months trying to doctor their findings as it has been gathered that some people want Soludo to be incriminated at all cost.
Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, a first class product of University of Nigeria Nsuka, has been having rough times since the inception of Yar’Adua’s administration. His first rude shock came when the Federal Executive Council over ruled him on the redenomination of Naira. Professor Soludo had wanted N20 (Twenty Naira) to be the highest denomination.
The high point of Professor Soludo’s wizardry was the merger of all the mushrooming banks in Nigeria into mega 25 banks, whose minimal share capital base is 25 billion. Since after this merger that many critics believed will not work, there has been significant improvement in the banking sector and a good number of customers are happy, forgetting the ghost of failed bank and trapped deposits.
Professor Soludo’s tenure at the Central Bank is guaranteed for 5 years by the constitution and renewable.
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Nollywood or Nollynude?
June 29, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · 7 Comments
One of the greatest sources of influence is the television. This is because the family has failed. We now have over ambitious career mothers, who have no time to train their children. The house girl and DSTV take over. Many children know the names of all the cast in Barney, CartonNetwork and Disney but cannot identify their Uncles, or recite States and Capitals. Asking them to say the Lords prayers, recite the 66 books of the bible or the heroic deeds of the Prophet in Medina, the Nigerian national anthem, is a death sentence.
Of the DSTV channels, none is watched more voraciously by Africans than African Magic. This channel carter for African films. It was created solely for African films because most African movies cannot compete with movies shown on Hallmark, Movie Magic and other movie channels. Another reason is because the capitalist owner of DSTV, wants to retain the teeming TV watching Africans and absence of an African movie channel, will rob them of a market. And nowhere is this market growing in limps and bounds than in Nigeria. Nigerian film industry Nollywood, dominates Africa Movie Magic. I have expressed by opinion about the poor quality of Noollywood films in my article Oh Nollywood! published by LEADERSHIPWEEKEND’s ORACLE of January 12th 2008.
My major concern here, is the message content and the moral content of the Nollywood actors and actresses. Since the TV has taken over parenting and teaching (most play group centres teach nothing but to on a Carton CD/DVD for the toddlers to rock them to sleep), there is need for all concerned to scrutinise what the younger generation of Nigeria watches. The film censor board has disappointed me. Check out the film they rate 13 and PG? The subtle sexual content will make am imp blush. Another watershed is the rewriting of African cultures by the producers of these films. Africans are not violent people. The gun culture Nollywood is trying to plant in the psychic of our children, should be resisted. When you watch a Nollywood production of a campus scene, you ask yourself, is this not the same University you went to? Another poor content is the use of American accent to act a movie whose setting is 18th century Africa. Another disturbing trend, is found in the Yoruba film department of Nollywood. No Yoruba movie, is complete without magic/juju. Is this a true representation of the Yorubas? A race that has the highest number of Pentecostal pastors and pride herself on the exploit of her returned slave Samuel Ajai Crowther. The canny Hausas, not wanting anything that will abuse Sharia stayed away from Nollywood, started Kannywood and Hausanized India, Arabian and Chinese film. To their shame, one of the pervert sex symbol of Nollywood (Omotola) is now starring in their movies.
Calls I have received from onyibo friends after watching a Nollywood movie are embarrassing. I have been able to address the issue of texture of the films. I blame it on technology and that we are still growing. America has started Mars exploration while in Africa we are yet to find solution to gabarge disposal. I point out to them that Europe underdeveloped Africa and America and Asia are furthering it via importation of inferior goods which kill the indigenous industry.
When they hit me with complains about rituals, taboos in the Nollywood movies, I am at sea without a rudder. One actually asked me, “Do the Igbos still insist that a widow drink the water used to wash her husband’s corpse?” Instantly, I knew one nna men is finding it difficult to convince this lady. I blame is squarely the fault of Nollywood. Nollywood should stop scaring Nigerians and other members of the global village with twisted half truth. Let us rebrand Nigeria.
Movies, Cinema, TV, Music, just name any arm of entertainment, is a powerful tool of influence. Before I had first hand information from USA, I thought all the streets in America are lit up like Christmas tree, that there is an ambulance at the end of each street, that zooms into crime scene before the smoke fades away from the pistol. Most Nigerian ladies dream of elusive Mr. Right, who will open the car door, kiss her good night without going all the way, cook for her while she gist on the phone as a result of Hollywood movies of ideal American family. Forget it. Check your records, misogynists, failed marriages abound in USA but movies depicting these won’t be sold massively in Africa. This onyibos are better than Africans mentality was foisted by Hollywood and her counterparts in other onyibo’s country. Even India’s Bollywood, has improved the world wide image of Indians, from the Snake Girl and the over reincarnation (they always kill themselves and reincarnate to take revenge without the murderer getting old) to a Technological and scientific India. Indian movies now showcase India as emerging IT giant.
Having agreed that movies are important agent of socialisation, I dare ask, will you allow a prostitute to train your child or a naked house girl serve your husband dinner? Pick a copy of these glossy fashion/love magazines or any national daily on Saturday or Sunday, the pictures of Nollywood actresses on the centre spread gives me the feeling I am watching pornography forget what happens to my third leg. These papers not okay with page 3 girl, splash colour on these half nude actresses and go the extra mile of doing a pull out. Most Newspapers now sell their weekend edition by highlighting these nude actresses on the front page.
Some of them are not contented with being confined to the pages of the Newspaper. At every award, charity show and even strictly children’s programme, they bare it all. At the just concluded Nigeria Musical Award in Owerri, it was breast baring galore. Different sizes gravitationally pulled out of shape by age and rough squeeze, were forced into undersized bra to give the impression of a Honda prelude headlight were on display, showing a cleavage that will make my grandmother look like a virgin. It baffles me that a woman will pay so high to have a dress that covers nothing to be designed for her. We now have more lewdness in Nigerian movies than the American films we wanted to escape from.
The male counterparts are not innocent. Their conducts in nightclubs and recreation centres dotted around town is a letdown. A good number are paedophiles, deflowering teenagers, in need of role models or a role in a movie. To crown their moral bankruptcy, their marriages are collapsing like a pack of cards at a rate that will make Elizabeth Taylor feel like a Nun.
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Niger Delta Leaders Responsible For Kidnapping
June 29, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has blamed the leaders of Niger Delta for the ills bedeviling the region. According to a communiqué released at the end of ACF meeting in Kaduna, “ Some States in Niger Delta took home as much as N42 billion while many of the non-oil producing states went home with a paltry N6 billion. If these huge resources have not translated into developmental projects…the managers of these resources in the Niger Delta are more culpable.
In a swift reaction, President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) Professor Kimes Okoko accused members of the ACF of being participants in the looting of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the federal government organized Niger Delta Summit, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, a Northerner from Kwara State, has refused to honour the calls from the delta for him to set down for calling Ken Saro-wiwa and the Ogoin 9 activists murdered by Abacha as common criminals. According to Gambari, his statement was made in 1995 as a representative of Nigeria at the United Nation.
In a related development, the Truth and Reconciliation Committee set up by the Rivers State government is still on a merry-go-round, haven reached its climax with the testifying of the unholy trinity (Odili, Omehia and Sekibo) fingered by all as the brain behind the violence in Rivers State. Of all the warlords, its only Ateke Tom that is yet to appear.
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Delta State Governor Attacked
June 27, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · 3 Comments
Armed Robbers attacked the convoy of Delta State governor, leaving a police officer dead. The advance security team of the governor was driving Warri to attend the testimonial match organized in honour of retired Super Eagles Captain Austin Jay Jay Okocha.
This dare devil attack, at 2:30 pm broad day light, shows that the robbers in Nigeria are now identifying the real looters of Nigeria’s treasury. During the reign of James Ibori, Delta State was the highest collector of revenue from the federal government. According to reports from Delta State, there is nothing on ground to justify the money collected.
Since Ibori left office, a lot of loot has been discovered. He is currently facing corruption charges both at home and abroad. The London Metropolitan Police is hot at his heel while EFCC is gunning for his head.
While we commensurate with the family of the fallen Police office, we warn that if nothing is done to engage these jobless youths, especially the highly agitated ones in the Niger Delta, where small arms are in free flow, there will be more attcks as this attack is a tip of greater evil attack that will befall Nigeria. Indeed the rich can no longer sleep for the poor are hungrily awake plotting how to be rich.
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Sanitizing the Electoral Process in Nigeria (1)
June 25, 2008 by Uche Ohia · Leave a Comment
How to purge our electoral process in Nigeria of the structural flaws that have prevented it from achieving even modicum credibility is a great concern in the polity today. From 1959 to 2007, general elections in Nigeria have been characterized by malpractices and controversies. For this reason, early in his administration, President Umar Yar’Adua set up the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) headed by retired Chief Justice of Nigeria, Muhammed Uwais. The ERC has been going round the country in the last few weeks in two teams collecting ideas on the way forward. While Team A has visited Maiduguri, Ibadan, Jos, Calabar, Sokoto, and Owerri, Team B has been to Lagos, Yola, Benin City, Ilorin, Enugu, and Kano. Both teams will end up at Abuja for the grand finale.
Through it’s public sittings, the ERC seeks to pool ideas and strategies aimed at breaking the vicious cycle of electoral disorder, to produce an electoral framework that will result in elections that are free of violence, bigotry, rigging, corruption and all other vices that are stultifying the growth of our nascent democracy, and possibly, to initiate a better and more profound legislation that will fast-track electoral best practices in our country. The envisioned reforms are targeted at strengthening our institutional capacity for conducting transparent elections inorder to restore intergrity to the process.
In this onerous duty, the Committee will need to identify the fundamental defects in the existing electoral legislations which provide the axis on which the vicious cycle of electoral delinquency revolves. The first, for me, is that electoral offenders are not punished in this country. Although the Electoral Act 2006 makes ample provisions for punishment of electoral offenders in its various parts and particularly in Part VIII Section 124-138, our experience in practice is that the civil dimension of electoral petitions are emphasized to the diminution of the criminal aspects. Incidentally, the root of this problem is embedded in the Act.
Whereas the Electoral Act 2006 in its First Schedule provides rules of procedure for election petitions in their civil nature, the criminal aspect without which the civil may not have arisen in the first place is left open ended. For one, the Act vests all prosecutorial powers under the Act on INEC by specifying in S.158 (2) that “prosecution under this Act shall be undertaken by legal officers of the Commission or any legal practitioner appointed by it”. For another, the Act vests the critical duty of determining whether to and who should be arraigned for electoral offences on INEC and the Tribunals and makes prosecution of electoral offenders mandatory by providing in Part X, S.157 that INEC “shall consider any recommendation made to it by a tribunal with respect to the prosecution by it of any person for an offense disclosed in an election petition.” But INEC carries on as if the prosecution of electoral offenders is a discretion which the Commission is at liberty to choose whether to exercise or not. And, who makes this recommendation? By virtue of the 6th schedule of the 1999 Constitution which expressly provides that the chairman and members of Election Tribunals shall be serving judges, it is their lordships that will recommend to INEC! Does INEC act on the recommendation? It does not! And the reason is obvious.
By it’s impractical provisions, the Electoral Act 2006 creates a lacuna, a window for electoral offenders to evade justice. As if to provide more cover for perpetrators of electoral infractions, the Act goes further in S.41(1) (2) (3) and (4) to stipulate that a certificate of indemnity be provided to any witness at an Election Petition Tribunal seen to have exhibited a level of honesty. The purpose of this immunity is to prevent the testimony of such witness from being used in evidence against him or her in all criminal prosecutions for electoral offences except perjury in respect of the testimony. Such a certificate acts as ground for the court to stay proceeding against such a person or even to award costs to him!
But there is an even more curious twist to the hypothetical provisions in the Act: many of the technical offences listed as electoral offences under the Act can only be committed by staff of INEC or persons engaged as officials by the commission for the purpose of elections. S.130 (1) – (6) contain offences in this category: breach of official duty, failure to report promptly at polling stations on election day without lawful excuse, failure to discharge his lawful duties at his polling station, announcement and publication of election result knowing same to be false or at variance with the signed certificate of return, delivery of false certificate of return, and release of false results to the news media. Thus, although S. 144(2) of the Act allows a petitioner to complain about the conduct of an Electoral Officer, a Presiding Officer, a Returning Officer or any other person who took part in the conduct of an election in his official capacity as an agent of the commission and provides that such a person may be joined in the election petition in his or her official capacity as a necessary party, what happens where the petition succeeds and the conduct of the officer or agent provides sufficient grounds for his or her prosecution for electoral offences?
In such a case, what we have under the Electoral Act 2006 given it’s provision in S.158 (2) earlier cited is a situation where the indictor and the indictee are one and the same person: INEC! Can INEC honestly prosecute INEC? That is unlikely to happen; more so, because the capacity of the legal officer of INEC to prosecute electoral offenders is limited in practice. Generally, where a statute specifies a special prosecutor as the Electoral Act 2006 has done, it is only the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) that can validly institute criminal proceeding in respect of a violation of the provisions of such statute because the authority of the AGF “to institute, take over and continue, or discontinue criminal proceedings” derives from the constitution. A legal officer in INEC, therefore, cannot institute criminal proceedings without the express authority of the AGF. And the AGF is too busy trying to take over EFCC cases to bother about electoral offences. Do you still wonder why electoral offenders are never prosecuted?
By making provisions that make it hard to bring electoral offenders to book, the Act perpetuates electoral misconduct because transgressions thrive whenever or wherever offenders are allowed to go unpunished. Any meaningful electoral reform, therefore, should accommodate the establishment of an Electoral Offences Tribunal and, if necessary, the establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission independent of INEC with powers to monitor, investigate and to prosecute electoral offenders. In any case, critical review of the Electoral Act is required to expunge the sections that hamstring the procedure for prosecuting offenders as well as those sections that reward offenders with statutory protection and unearned immunity. Unless the Electoral Act enables us to go beyond the essential but purely civil matter of restitution of stolen mandates to sanction monitoring and punishment of offenders, the cycle of electoral disorder and impunity may never be broken.
Email: Uche Ohia
Tel: 0805 1090 050
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EFCC Fingered in Dirty Car Deal
June 22, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has given a seven-day ultimatum to individuals, who benefited cars and money from the defunct Police Equipment Fund (PEF). According to the statement by the EFCC head of Media and Publicity Mr. Femi Babafemi,, any individual who fails to heed this ultimatum gives the commission no alternative but to effect their arrest and prosecution.
Meanwhile the chairman of the PEF, Chief Kenny Matins, speaking through his lawyer, said that EFCC benefited from the car and money bonanza by the PEF and queried why the EFCC should not return the cars and money she received from the PEF. Kenny Matins has stayed more than 48 hours in EFCC detention center without a charge being proffered against him.
In a swift reply, the EFCC maintained that she will not return the cars or refund the money as they are more interested in the individuals who received cars and other gifts and not on institutions that benefited. In the hay days of PEF, almost all the security organizations in Nigeria benefited one item or the other from PEF while the Nigeria Police Force remained under funded and her helicopter was declared missing.
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