29092020 - Anger as labour leaders abort strike, mass protest

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Me celebrate Nigeria at 60? Sorry, no!!! BY MIKE OZEKHOME MANY Nigerians at home and abroad, including elder statesmen and women, rights activists, NGOs, journalists and social media czars, have severally called upon me in the last one week to comment on my personal feelings about “Nigeria at 60”. I had hitherto resisted this invitation, lest I painted a horrifically gloomy picture of despondency. However, because the questions will not stop cascading in like a torrential rainfall, I am now compelled to share my honest, but very modest, thoughts about Nigeria at 60. I am extremely sad about Nigeria at 60.Very, very sad indeed.Surely, a 60-year and above old man or woman, is already a senior citizen; a grandfather, or grandmother. I am one. This means such a man or woman has grown; or is at least, presumed to have grown, in maturity and development. But, I am sad that Nigeria, “our own dear native land” (words taken from the beautiful lyrics of the unfortunately discarded old National Anthem), has neither developed nor matured. I am sad that she has not even been allowed to take full advantage of the various constitutions fashioned out by our colonial masters and various indigenous governments to give her meaningful nationhood, after she was named “Nigeria” in 1897. She was so named by a young British journalist, Miss Flora Louisa Shaw, who later married Lord Sir Barton Frederick Lugard, the Governor – General, who amalgamated the Southern and Northern Protectorates to found Nigeria, on January 1, 1914. Flora Shaw(1852-1929), had written an essay in the LONDON TIMES on January 8, 1897, where she suggested the name “Nigeria” for the British Protectorate on the Niger River. She had coined Nigeria as a name, because she desired a shorter name for the “agglomeration of Pagan and Mohammedan States”, to replace the rather lengthy official title of Nigeria, “Royal Niger Company Territories”. This name, to her, was too long to be used as the name of a “Real Estate Property” under the Royal Niger Trading Company. She therefore coined Nigeria (from “Niger-Area”, in preference to such names as “Central Sudan”, “Niger Empire”, “Niger Sudan”, etc. I am very sad that at the time we were forcibly coupled together in the manner described above, Nigeria was made up of already independent and autonomous nations and nationalities. Absence of social justice The entity called Nigeria already had, in no particular order, the great Benin Empire, Oyo Kingdom, Ife Kingdom, the Hausa city States, Kanem-Bornu Empire, the Afemais, Ijaws, Urhobos, Itsekiris and the Esans. We already had the Opobos,Ebiras, Tivs, Idomas, Igalas, Gbagyis/Gwaris, Zulus, Fulfudes, Ogonis, Efiks, Ibibios andIsokos. There already existed the Igedes, Mandaras, Baburs, Beroms, Mangus, the Bachamas, Eggons, Andonis, Chiboks, Bekwaras, and Atyabas. The Shuwas, Kanuris, Bassas, Nupes, Alagos, Aokos, Owans, Balis; the Komas, the Jukuns, Agatus and the Angas, already lived their lives jeje. I am, therefore, sad that some new Sherriffs-in-town, erroneously believe we must live together, willy-nilly, by fire and by force, whether we like it or not.It does not matter that there is absence of social justice, equity, egalitarianism, mutual respect, religious and inter-ethnic tolerance. I am sad that we never utilized, altruistically, the 1922 Clifford Constitution, 1946 Arthur Richards Constitution, 1951 Macpherson Constitution, 1954 Littleton Constitution, 1960 Independence Constitution, 1963 Republican Constitution, 1979 Obasanjo Constitution, the 1989 unused IBB Constitution and the 1999 AbdulsalamiAbubakar Constitution (Decree No 24), which has already been serially amended and is still currently undergoing further amendments. I am sad indeed. I am surely sad that Nigeria is still practising, at best, “feeding - bottle – democracy”, or “come - and- chop – democracy”. I am quite sad that of the pluralistic 374 ethnic groups in Nigeria (OniguOtite), only three to four are given primacy and preferential treatment –the Fulanis,Hausas, Yorubas and Igbos, in that order. We operate in Nigeria as if the other 370 ethnic groups count for nothing, or as if they were created by God in Nigeria, to be mere clappers, playground spectators, bystanders, hewers of wood and drawers of water. I cannot join Nigeria and Nigerians in celebrating our 60th year anniversary of our mere “flag independence” that has made I cannot join Nigeria and Nigerians in celebrating our 60th year anniversary of our mere “flag independence” that has made us remain as nothing but an ordinary appendage of neo-colonial interests us remain as nothing but an ordinary appendage of neo-colonial interests. I am indeed sad because our successive leaders have woefully failed the nation, the present generation and future generations. I am indeed sad that we live by the river, yet wash our hands with sputum. I am sad that we are blessed with the best natural, human and material resources, yet, live in crass poverty, abject penury, ignorance and ignoble despondency. I am quite sad that we grow geometrically in population, yet, arithmetically in growth and development. Nigeria, by available UN data, at mid-2020,ranks number 7 (2.64 %) in the list of most populated countries of the world, with a population of about 206,139,589 people. I am sad indeed that we only operate civilian governments, but never democratic governments. I am sad that we only practise elections, but not democracy. Elections are carried out routinely as a mere ritual EVERY four years. Nigerian elections do not translate to democratic dividends; not even democratic profits. I am indeed sad that inspite of all government pretentions and propaganda to that effect (Hitler ‘s Goebel must be green with envy in his cold grave since 1945), Nigeria is today, according to latest Transparency International, TI , Corruption Perception Index, the number 146 out of 180 countries of the most corrupt countries of World. Nigeria unenviably ranks number three in West Africa. I am sad that inspite of our abundant natural, human, mineral, agricultural and crude oil resources, Nigeria, once one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the richest country in Africa (which actually overtook South Africa), with over $500 billion rebased economy, is today gasping for sheer existence as the poverty capital of the world. It has since snatched that smelly diadem from India. I am sad that Nigeria, once a very safe country, where citizens could drive out, or walk leisurely in orchards, bush paths, dark alleys, forests and highways, is today so unsafe that hapless and hopeless citizens are mindlessly waylaid, kidnapped, robbed, raped, murdered and burnt along high ways, footpaths and even in their very homes and farms. I am very sad that Nigerians (happily before now), were once united in religion, ethnicity, marriage, sports, hope, aspirations, and common goals and objectives. This was because of the lyrical rendition of the old National Anthemthat “though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand”. I am sad that today, however, Nigeria is pathetically and haemorragingly polarised, divided, disunited and dislocated, along primordial fault-lines. I am very sad that the Nigeria of today literally drips with deep mutual suspicion, aggression, hatred, animosity, antagonism, vitriol, repulsion, cronyism, nepotism, ethnocentrisms, tribalism and sectionalism. I am quite sad that Nigeria is now ravaged by provincialism, protectionism, clanishness, cliquism, regionalism, favouritism, prebendalism and neo-patrimonialism. I am indeed sad that mutual distrust and mistrust now reign supreme. I am sad that our children are still struggling to obtain, literally through agonising ”trial by-ordeal”, a mere first degree, at ages 26-32; whereas the same Nigeria had, once - upon - a – time, in the '50s and '60s, produced ministers, military governors and heads of state at the same 26 - 32 age bracket. I am sad that there are no jobs for the teeming millions of Nigerian youths who eventually struggle to graduate from our beleaguered tertiary institutions. They never find gainful employment; whereas in the '50s and '60s, local and multinational companies waited long hours at the gates of universities on graduands’ last days at the university, to recruit them immediately. Such graduates were automatically given cars, houses and placed on handsome living wages and mouth - watering perquisites of office. I am deeply sad that most of the wellknown multinationals that once dotted the industrial and business landscapes of Nigeria, have either died, or folded up completely; or have since been downgraded; or they have relocated to small nearby neighbouring countries. Some of them however exist only as mere museum relics and antiquities in the form of administrative office carcasses. Some of these olden days companies include the UAC, Leventis, Kingsway, UTC, Standard Bank, Barclays Bank, Lever Brothers (Unilever), PZ, John Holts, CFAO, Dunlop, Michelin, Volkswagen, Peugeot Automobile, Cadbury, NTC, May and Baker, RT Briscoe. Political brinkmanship There were airlines like Okada, Sosoliso, Flash , Triax, Nigeria Airways, ADC, Afrijet, Albarka, Bellview, Capital, Dasab, Slok, EAS , Harco, Harka Oriental, Hamza Air, Wings Aviation , Spaceworld, Chrome, New Nation, etc, etc. I am sad that no one can today show me the once famous Ajaokuta Steel Mills, the Itakpe Iron Ore, Delta Steel Company, Oshogbo, Jos and Katsina Rolling Mills; the famous Northern Nigeria Kano groundnut pyramids, cotton, hides and skins; the Western Nigeria cocoa; the Eastern Nigeria palm oil produce; the Midwestern Nigeria rubber and timber produce, Okpella Cement Factory, Ughelli Glass Industries, etc, etc. I am indeed very sad that our leaders Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 —17 Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com who were in power in the '50s and '60s (some,over 70 years ago), are still today ingloriously clinging to power, either directly, or indirectly, through their proxies, acolytes, minions, school mates, or village kindred, kinsmen and kinswomen. So, I am a sad Nigerian. I am greatly saddened that in the 1980s, even the Naira was exchanging for one naira to two dollars; that we did not require visa to travel; and that my first journey to London cost me less than N350 only. I was respected, as a very young lawyer at Heathrow Airport, and treated with king courtesies. We have frittered away rare countless opportunities, mismanaged our economy, abused and thoroughly misused our natural, human and material resources. We have since birthed, nurtured and enthroned a dangerous regime of impunity, government’s wanton breach of citizens’ fundamental rights, reckless disregard to court orders, and brazen desecration of the rule of law. We have glamouralised moral decadence, primitive acquisition and a rentier economy. We have encouraged mediocrity, nurtured ‘yahoo boys’, festered youth brigandage and criminality, and promoted female prostitution and girlchild labour and marriage. I am very sad. I am too sad that we still practise what late Professor Claude Ake and other eminent economists, refer to as a “disarticulate economy”, an economy where we produce what we do not consume (crude oil) and consume what we do not produce (fuel and gas). We have bred mass unemployment, untrammeled corruption, intellectual dishonesty, academic squalor, social disequilibrium, political brinkmanship, executive lawlessness, legislative rascality, judicial injustice and electoral brigandage. In the Nigeria of today, the votes are neither counted nor allowed to count. I am very sad because there is no transparency, accountability and responsibility in government or governance. I am utterly depressed and sad that the proverbial common man and woman continue to wallow in ignorance, dejection, melancholy and hopelessness. I am very sad that we practise religion vociferously but without being religious or Godly. I am very sad that the hoi polloi continues to be repressed, oppressed, suppressed, marginalised, subjugated, denied, traumatised, ignored, rejectedand dejected.The Frantz, Fanons “Wretched of the Earth”still wallows in searing pains, pangs, blood and sorrow. I am indeed a very SAD NIGERIAN. NIGERIA WE HAIL THEE. GOD BLESS NIGERIA. AMEN. •Ozekhome, SAN, human rights lawyer and political activist, wrote from Lagos Telemedicine and malpractice insurance (3) This concludes the piece continued from yesterday with the way forward for telemedicine practice in Nigeria By FEMI OBIKUNLE ALL insurance companies need to establish telemedicine benefit plan that provides flexible coverage options for individual and family coverages. And physicians should make affordable provisions for patients who are not able to make payment. • There is the need for the provision of stateof-the-art technology to attain operational excellence, while contributing to prompt service delivery. • Provision of effective health risk management solutions and financial services to both individuals and corporate bodies. • Plan to militate against cyber exposure to telemedicine platforms, and guide against medical fraud abuse. • Provision of flexible healthcare plans where clients can have access to an array of healthcare benefits, including telemedicine within a given insurance network throughout their branches within the country and understands cross border implications as well. •Medical group practices need to properly address the legal issues that will minimize their liability exposure for providing telemedicine services. In addition, clinical settings needs to give careful scrutiny to telemedicine contracts when negotiating managed care contracts. Conclusion Telemedicine has introduced a new dimension to healthcare delivery system in Nigeria. As a result, salient issues that come with the implementation need to be understood by healthcare practitioners, insurance companies, lawyers and the governing bodies associated with insurance and healthcare delivery ecosystem. These governing bodies include the Nigeria Insurance Association, Nigeria Insurance Commissions, Chartered Institute of Insurers of Nigeria, Nigeria Insurers Brokers Association, and Nigeria Medical Board. All these stakeholders need to work together in setting standards, procedures, guidelines, billing templates, and so on, in ensuring a successful telemedicine adoption within the country, in order to minimise the tendency for malpractice liability and medical fraud. •Dr. Obikunle is a Certified Telehealth Clinical Presenter, CTCP, and Doctor of Business Administration - Healthcare Management (Telemedicine), USA.
18 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 IVORY Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, is sick again politically. Tension is rising back to the 2011 levels when a disputed election led to the death of over 3,000 people through widespread violence. A presidential election which mainly pitched former President Laurent Unfortunately, Ouattara and his followers have submitted themselves to Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front, IPF, and Alassane Ouattara’s Republican the same demon that prevents African leaders from peacefully leaving Rally, RR, ended in the latter’s favour, but the Constitutional Court upturned the seat of power; the very same issue that led to the disgrace of Gbag- the vote in Gbagbo’s favour. The ensuing impasse and violence sparked bo, his immediate predecessor. off the Second Ivorian Civil war in After exhausting his constitutional March 2011. The bulk of the country’s military, with the full backing of two terms, Ouattara had initially anointed his Prime Minister, Amadou former colonial master, France and Gon Coulibaly, to succeed him. But the international community which when Coulibaly suddenly died of a backed Ouattara, flushed out Gbagbo. heart attack on July 8 this year, Ouattara shockingly decided to run for a He was arraigned at the International Criminal Court, ICC, at the third term. Already, (just like in 2011) the Ivorian Constitutional Council has, based Hague while Ouattara was sworn-in as president. on a court ruling, cleared Ouattara for Ivory Coast: No to Ouattara’s third term bid his third term bid. Ouattara’s party insists that a 2016 tweak of the laws makes the third term bid legal. Also, the electoral umpire has made rules forbidding people convicted of crimes from running for office. This effectively disqualified Laurent Gbagbo (who has been conditionally freed by the ICC) and a handful of others from running in the October 31, 2020 presidential election. That narrows the field to two very old men: RR’s 78-year-old Ouattara and 86-year-old former President, Henri Konan Bedie, who flies the Democratic Party of Cote D’Ivoire- African Democratic Rally, PDCI-RDA, flag. From all indications, the highlymeddlesome France, which had advised Ouattara against the third term bid, has fallen ominously silent. Also, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS and Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, only advised West Africa leaders to desist from tenure extension, unlike the military threats used to get rid of Gbagbo. Meanwhile, the seeds of violence are already sprouting. At least, 17 people have died due to clashes arising from Ouattara’s unholy ambition. We call on ECOWAS and the international community to exert the same pressure they applied on Gbagbo and prevent Ouattara from standing for third term. If he succeeds in imposing himself on the Ivorian people, it may negatively affect transition in other countries of the sub-region. Worst of all, Ivory Coast might be plunged into a third civil war. The first part of this piece published last week ended with Decree No. 8 and Decree No. 3 of 1984 promulgated by the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari. THIS Decree(No.8) may be cited as the Recovery of Public Property (Special Military Tribunals) (Amendment) Decree 1984 and shall be deemed to have come into force on December 31, 1983. The Decree 3 says: “ WHEREAS by section 5 (1) of the Recovery of Public Property (Special Military Tribunal) Decree 1984, the Head of the Federal Military Government is empowered, by instrument under his hand, to constitute special military tribunals for the purpose of the trial of certain public officers: AND WHEREAS by section 5 (2) of the Decree it is provided that each tribunal appointed under the Decree shall consist of — (a) a Chairman who shall be an officer in the Armed Forces not below the rank of Colonel or its equivalent; (b) three other officers of the Armed Forces not below the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel or its equivalent (c) a serving or retired judge of a High Court or any court of like jurisdiction who shall, amongst other things, assist the tribunal in determining questions of law. General Buhari later constituted five military tribunals to try the detained governors. The Lagos tribunal (Lagos State) was headed by Brigadier Paul U. Omu with Brigadier M.M. Nassarawa, Navy Captain J.N. Kanu, Lt-Colonel Yinka Martins and Mr. Justice T.A. Oyeyipo as members. The Ibadan zone (Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Bendel and Kwara states) was headed by Brigadier C.B. Ndiomu. Other members are Commodore I.J. Ogohi, Lt-Colonel Y. Madaki, Wing-Commander C.C. Ohadumere and Mr. Justice S.U. Minjibir. The Kaduna Zone (Kaduna, Kano, Niger and Sokoto states and the Federal Capital Territory) had Navy Captain M.A. Elegbede OPINION Historic perspective on the pardon of Alli and Enahoro (2) as the Chairman while the members were Lt- Colonel I.D. Gumel, Lt-Colonel M. Maina, Wing-Commander J.P. Obakpolor and Mr. Justice P.P. Nwokedi. It was the Kaduna zone headed by Navy Captain Muftau Adegoke General Buhari later constituted five military tribunals to try the detained governors; the Lagos tribunal was headed by Brigadier Paul U. Omu Babatunde Elegbede (1939-1994) that jailed the former Kano state governor, Alhaji Sabo Bakin Zuwo (1934-1989). He was tried and sentenced to 23 years in prison on charges of corruption by the Kaduna Zone. Alhaji Bakin Zuwo was released from jail in January 1988. He died on 16 February 1989 in a German hospital, where he had been taken after a fall. He was buried in Kano, his beloved city, in whose politics he had featured prominently for several decades. Alhaji Bakin Zuwo was survived by three wives and 26 children. Sadly, Captain Elegbede was assassinated by gunmen on June 19, 1994 along the Gbagada/Oworonsoki expressway in Lagos. It was the Ibadan Zone that jailed Professor Ambrose Folorunsho Alli. The Zone was headed by Major General Charles Bebeye Ndiomu (1934-2002) from Odoni in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Professor Alli from Ekpoma in the then Bendel State was educated at the Immaculate Conception College in Benin City before going to St. Patrick’s College, Asaba and to the School of Agriculture in Ibadan. He trained as a medical laboratory technologist at the University College, Medical Laboratory, Ibadan, from 1950-1953 and studied Medicine at the University College of Ibadan from 1953 to 1960. Alli did further medical studies in Britain after that and worked in hospitals there and in Zimbabwe (1960-1962). Professor Alli returned to Nigeria in 1966 to begin a distinguished academic career. He was a Professor of Morbid Anatomy at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1969 to 1971, Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com and at the University of Ibadan from 1971 to 1974. From 1974 to 1979, he was Head of the Department of Pathology, University of Benin. He was tried on corruption charges and sentenced to a total of 66 years imprisonment. The sentence was later reviewed and reduced to seven years. His health deteriorated while in jail. Alli was released on February 13, 1988 only after the payment of N983, 000.00 raised by his friends into the government chest. He died on September 22, 1989 (his 60 th Birthday) at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital. On page 17 of his book titled MY DIALOGUE WITH NIGERIA, the former Chief of Army Staff, General Julius Alani Ipoola Akinrinade wrote that: “Some people have pointed out seeming contradictions in the trial of former public officers. For instance, they say that while some former governors were jailed for accepting money from contractors, the contractors themselves were not jailed; and while Abba Musa Rimi and Wilberforce Juta were jailed for giving money to legislators, the legislators themselves were not jailed for taking the money. I believe that in both cases, the governors were wrong to have taken the money and spent public funds in a way not permitted by law. People are confused because the government has not bothered to explain and they are in fact, edgy because they regard the judgments as contradictory. The government has to be open and, at least, brief the people on why it takes certain actions. I don’t think this government has someone to do public relations for it properly”. It was Governor Lucky Igbinedion of Edo state who renamed Bendel State University to Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. The governor was assisted following a motion moved by Honourable Pascal Ugbomeh (Etsako Constituency 1) of the Edo state House of Assembly while the right honourable Thomas Okosun presided as Speaker in the then Edo House of Assembly, in 1999. Continues next week
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29092020 - Anger as labour leaders abort strike, mass protest

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