Traditional rulers from South South geo-political zone of Nigeria, made up of Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Edo, Delta and Akwa Ibom States stormed Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, today, Monday, May 27 to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari over his re-election for second-term of four years as President of Nigeria.
The President in a handshake with the paramount ruler of Amayanabo, His Royal Majesty King Edmund Maduabebe Daukoru, while others, the paramount ruler of Twon Brass, Alfred Papapreye Diete-Spiff and members of the delegation look on…Photo by Sunday Aghaeze.
Disturbed at what it called the denial of the right of children by the authorities in Nigeria, the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has concluded plans to use the occasion of Children’s Day celebration to focus on such rights.
In a statement today, Sunday, ahead of the celebration tomorrow, May 27, UNICEF said: ´it comes at a crucial moment for child rights in the country, and for child rights globally. We will launch a campaign to draw awareness to children’s rights by all of Nigerian society. Sadly, it is the most disadvantaged children who are suffering the greatest challenge in having their rights fulfilled.”
“While there have been many advances over the last years, children in Nigeria are still not accessing health, nutrition, education and other rights to the extent that they must.”
UNICEF’s new Country Representative in Nigeria, who took up his post today, said Peter Hawkins, was quoted in the statement as saying that Nigerian Children’s Day 2019 falls during the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which is being commemorated this year around the world.
“As part of the celebrations, UNICEF is launching a “Passport to Your Rights” – a copy of the CRC in child-friendly language, in pocket format. UNICEF aims that every child in Nigeria has a copy by 2030 – the deadline for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
“The CRC ‘passport’ will also be available in Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Pidgin languages, helping to ensure access by millions of Nigerians.
“Thirty years ago, something incredible happened. World leaders came together in a moment of unity for the world’s children. They made a promise to every child to protect and fulfil their rights, by adopting the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Conventon established childhood as a period that is separate from adulthood – a time in which children should grow, learn, play, develop and flourish,” said Peter Hawkins.
“We want to see every Nigerian child have that kind of a childhood.”
The Convention went on to become the most widely-ratified human rights treaty in history, with Nigeria ratifying it in 1991. It has helped to transform children’s lives; inspiring legislative changes to protect children and enabling them to participate actively in their societies.
Peter Hawkins said: “today, more children than ever live healthy lives, are learning in school and have a voice in their communities. But much more needs to be done as children’s rights continue to be unfulfilled and threatened daily around the world and in Nigeria. There are still too many children being left behind, and too many childhoods cut short by violence, conflict, poverty and inequality.”
Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Julie Okah-Donli has told members of the ECOWAS Parliament how Nigerian girls are being sold for between N210,000 and N240,000 to work as prostitutes in Mali.
Julie Okah-Donli, who spoke at a presentation to ECOWAS Parliament, said that the girls who are so sold are usually made to work hard and pay back between N1.08 million and N1.2 million, usually within eight months, to their buyers.
The Director General promised to seek an agreement between Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries to end this practice of slavery.
According to her, the girls who are sold usually gain their freedom from their buyers after making such huge amount and then go into business of making money for themselves through prostitution before they too graduate into buyers.
“There are more than one million Nigerians residing in Mali. About 20,000 of these Nigerians are girls believed to be victims of trafficking and the number increases by 50 per day.
“Many victims are deceived to leave their livelihoods in Nigeria for greener pastures in ‘Mali”
“Some of the victims are abducted from Nigeria, including those that arrive in school uniforms.”
Okah-Donli said that as part of efforts to curb the trend, the agency recommended among other things, that Nigeria should develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Guinea and Senegal.
It further recommended that all motor-parks through which the girls were trafficked should be sanitised and efforts made to stop extortion of Nigerians travelling to or through the aforementioned countries.
“There is need for comprehensive sensitisation of rescued victims before repatriation and a comprehensive blueprint worked out for tracing, empowerment and rehabilitation of victims”.
She added that NAPTIP was ready to give technical support to Mali if it sought to establish an anti-human trafficking agency.
For the ECOWAS Parliament, the mission recommended that the protocol on Free Movement of persons and goods be properly implemented such that other nationals are not harassed in other ECOWAS countries, the director-general said.
Throwing more light on the findings of the mission, Okah-Donli said that efforts to repatriate girls were usually foiled through the complicity of Malian security forces, coupled with the willingness of many girls to return to the ‘sex-for-gold’ trade.
She said that there were some of the girls who were trafficked to the northern parts of Mali where they not only offered sex but were radicalized.
She said that many of the victims who were rescued in 2011 and some others in 2017, came back to Nigeria only to return with more girls.
The director-general further said some of the sex slaves were made to sleep with numerous men without protection while also being made to pay huge taxes by the complicit Malian authorities.
She raised the alarm that there was now a growing possibility of xenophobic attacks as Malian women were already grumbling that Nigerians were taking their men.
“The Malian authorities collect taxes from the victims on a weekly basis and sell condoms and other medications compulsorily to their victims every month”
“Malian women are already grumbling that Nigerian girls are taking their men, and there are fears of imminent xenophobic attacks”
“Three Nigerian girls were killed between November and December 2018,’’ Okah-Donli said.
She said that efforts to stop the trade at the borders had not been encouraged by border security as they had not made efforts to arrest the traffickers in spite of all information given to them.
“The border point between Nigeria and Seme-Krake and Burma Fas/Mali are notoriously porous, and despite numerous reports and pictures of traffickers sent to law enforcement agencies at the borders, no arrests or rescues have been made.
“The traffic madams are well known to the Nigerian community but they are afraid to report them because of the complicity of the Malian security agencies in human trafficking, especially the gendarmerie who assist the traffickers to carry out their activities.
“Nigerian victims are way-billed from a motor-park in Cotonou, dropped at Sikasso near the border with Burkina Faso, from where they are picked by Malian gendarmerie for delivery to their madams,” she said.
The director-general added that the Nigerian sex slaves lived in about 300 settlements in Malian bushes, with each settlement holding 100 to 150 girls.
The girls, aged between 16 and over 30, hang around bars and night clubs to display for their clients who take them into their huts made of polythene, Okah-Donli said.
As part of efforts to curb the menace, she said the team met with the Ministry of Justice in Mali to find solution to the menace.
She said that the Malian Justice Ministry had called on NAPTIP to come up with an MoU that would provide a proper framework to end the trafficking and repatriate those already trafficked.
The Guardian and Daily Sun leads of Monday, May 20, 2019 titled: “Senate leadership: Legislators disagree over voting method” and “Senate leadership tussle gets messy…Ndume, Lawan’s camps in intense lobby over voting method,” respectively, provide the basis for this article.
The camps of Senators Ali Ndume and Ahmad Lawan, the two candidates who are probably more rambunctious in the race for senate presidency, reportedly showed their preferences for the voting method in the election of presiding officers when the 9th National Assembly is inaugurated on June 11, 2019.
I used the words “rambunctious” supra instead of “front-line candidates” because there is Senator Danjuma Goje, who is quietly in the race, deploying his characteristic equanimity in the wily politicking for the third highest position in the land. Goje’s camp is making no fuss about voting method. It is, perhaps, much more concerned about weightier issues.
After all, what is in a voting method to worry any surefooted senator-elect who has done his home-work, secured the support of strategic camps in the Senate, crossed his “ts” and dotted his “is” in the blustery race for the position of President of Senate? Granted the position attracts all manner of interests and intrigues, if altruism is the principal motivation, nothing really should cause anxiety.
It is thus curious that Ndume and Lawan have made issues out of the voting method to be adopted by the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA). In the referenced reports supra, as well as in the versions amplified by other mass communication media, Ndume’s camp was said to be clamouring for secret ballot while Lawan’s camp was purportedly desirous of open ballot.
Reasons for these preferences are quite obvious. They can even be better appreciated within the context of the intra-party squabbles created since the national leadership of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), which is the majority party in the National Assembly, announced it had endorsed Lawan as its candidate for the senate presidency.
The APC apparatchiks had similarly announced Femi Gbajabiamila as the party’s endorsed candidate for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives. Remarkably, voting method has not engaged the attention or dominated the scheming by those jostling for the positions of presiding officers in the House. Nevertheless, the candidates are really not in a position to impose their individual preference on the chambers during inauguration and voting.
Two important points should be noted at this juncture: First, the voting method to adopt, namely: secret ballot has already been provided for in the standing orders of both chambers, except if the 8th National Assembly amends the specific provision to read open ballot. Second, the activation of the inauguration is the exclusive preserve of the CNA. It is specifically the CNA that calls the Senate and the House to order.
Fundamentally, the standing orders of the bicameral legislature are vital summations of the rules guiding or regulating the proceedings of both chambers. The CNA conducts all the affairs before (receiving the proclamation from the President – Muhammadu Buhari – convening the National Assembly for inauguration) and during the inauguration where election of presiding officers will be conducted.
Presiding officers (Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker) who are elected will be sworn in by the CNA. So, it is not within the powers of members-elect to dictate, vote to select or impose a voting method not already circumscribed in the standing orders. The CNA calls the shots in exercise of powers vested in him, which members-elect covet.
Therefore, in exercise of the powers, no amount of intimidation and sabre-rattling can compel any CNA for that matter to adopt procedures that are alien to the standing orders in the conduct of the inauguration, election and swearing-in of the presiding officers. I do not also think that the incumbent CNA, Mohammed Ataba Sani-Omolori, a brilliant and experienced lawyer will be swayed to circumvent the rules in a dodgy fashion. Sani-Omolori must not only comply with the rules but must also ensure that members-elect act on the floor in full compliance with the rules.
Sani-Omolori has the 2015 precedent, in particular, to follow. His predecessor, Salisu Maikasuwa, resisted overtures from certain quarters in NASS to delay the inauguration by some hours to enable the APC to resolve the issue of endorsement of candidates for the positions of presiding officers at its meeting at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja.
Sani-Omolori has a date with history on June 11. He has adequate protection of the Constitution and the standing orders of NASS to do so. He is properly guided. For instance, Order 3 of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 as amended provides that “The election of the President of the Senate shall be conducted in the following manner: (a) a Senator-elect, addressing the Clerk, shall propose another Senator-elect to the Senate to be President of the Senate and shall move that such Senator-elect ‘Do take the Chair of the Senate as President of the Senate.’”
Order 3 (b) provides that “a senator-elect when nominated and seconded shall inform the Senate whether he or she accepts the nomination. He may then proceed to address the Senate.” According to Order 3(c): “The Clerk shall then ask ‘Are there any further nominations?’, and if there are no further nominations, the Clerk shall say ‘I declare the nominations closed’. The Clerk shall then declare the Senator-elect so proposed and seconded elected as President of the Senate. Such Senator-elect shall be conducted to the Chair by the proposer and seconder of the motion, and shall take the chair of the President of the Senate.”
In Order 3(d), “If more than one Senator-elect is proposed as President of the Senate, the Clerk shall after the second nomination ask: ‘Are there any further nominations?’ and if there are no further nominations, the Clerk shall say, ‘I declare the nominations closed.’”
Order 3(3)(e) provides: “When two or more Senators-elect are nominated and seconded as Senate President, the election shall be conducted as follows: (i) by electronic voting: or, (ii) voting by secret ballot which shall be conducted by the Clerks-at-Table using the list of the Senators-elect of the Senate, who shall each be given a ballot paper to cast his vote, with the proposers and seconder as Teller.
According to the third step in (iii), “the Clerk of the Senate shall submit the result of the voting to the CNA who shall then declare the Senator-elect who has received the highest number of votes as Senate President-elect. But Order 3(3)(f) provides that: “when more than two Senators-elect are nominated and seconded to be Senate President, the division shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in Order 3(3)(e)(ii) herein and the Senator-elect who received the highest number of votes shall be declared the Senate President-elect.”
The order further provides that “in the event of two or more Senators-elect receiving highest but equal number of votes, the name of the candidate having the smallest number of votes shall be excluded from subsequent divisions; a further division shall take place. This voting shall continue until one candidate receives a simple majority of votes of the Senators-elect. Such person will then be declared Senate President-elect.”
The same procedure supra obtains in the House of Representatives. These are the powers of the CNA as expressly provided in the Standing Orders. Therefore, all eyes are on the CNA to conduct the inauguration in accordance with the national interest, devoid of shenanigans.
The Catholic Arch Bishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan has appealed to politicians of all shades to bury their differences with the aim of addressing the current national security challenges.
Onaiyekan, in a sermon titled: “Let us choose life not death” to mark the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari for his second tenure, said: “this is no time for celebration of victory or for lamentation over defeat. Rather, it is time to pull efforts together, with the grace of God, to tackle the serious challenges before us.”
The Bishop, at the inter-denominational Christian service in Abuja, the nation’s capital, wanted Nigerians to acknowledge their failure to do things in the right way. “The blame game of pointing accusing fingers at others will not carry us far. For a positive change to take place, we must all be ready for a sincere change of heart, from the lowest to the highest, but especially at the highest levels. Empty boasts and bare-face denial of the realities around us cannot build a nation.
The truth is that our nation is not in a state for us to rejoice. The ranks of the poor are swelling by the day, hopeless and helpless, as they watch in frustration the affluence of the very few cruising in a different world. Such wide socio-economic disparity has led to anger, tension, violence and outright criminality in the land. All is not well.
“But all is not lost either. As we embrace a new term of government, it should be for us a new opportunity to change ways and review habits of governance, for a better Nigeria. We can and we should do this. God has endowed us with adequate resources to achieve this, resources that we unfortunately turn into crises and problems. Ethnicity and religion are two cases in point.
“At this moment, we should do well to acknowledge our failure to do things the right way. Here the words of the Psalmist should challenge each of us ” I’d you oh Lord should mark guilt, who would survive?” The blame game of pointing accusing fingers at other will not carry us far. For a positive change to take place, we must all be ready for a sincere change of heart, from the lowest to highest, but especially at the highest levels. Empty boast and bare faced denials of the realities around us can not build the nation.”
Bishop Onaiyekan said however that all is lost, saying: “as we embrace a new term of government, it should be for us a new opportunity to change ways and review habits of governance, for a better Nigeria. We can and we should do this, God has endowed us with resources to achieve this, resources that we unfortunately turn into curses in point.
“Our ethnic diversity is God’s will and gift that we ought to appreciate and celebrate. We should beware of those who seek to manipulate this in a game of divide and rule, for selfish interests. In our emerging global world, we should be building on our long experience of living together across ethnic lines, if we are not to allow ourselves to be left behind in our fast developing modern world.
“We are living in a world where many are abandoning faith in God, at great cost to humanity now and in the future. We do well to commend ourselves for our generally high level and of religious fervor.But if this is to translate into a righteous nation, we must all seek the will of God for good human relations. This cuts across our religious differences and affiliations. Religion is good, but not enough. It is useful, and can even be worse than useless. If it does not promote good humma behaviour.(James 1: 27). We can not deceive God. We may, by our human failure, give religion a bad name. But God will always be the Holy and Religious One.”
The Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Dr. Hamid Bobboyi has revealed that as much as 43 percent of the nation’s basic education teachers are not qualified to teach. Hamid Bobboyi said that there was an increase in the population of teachers from 841,716 in 2008 to 1.5 million in 2018. The Executive Secretary spoke yesterday, Saturday, in Kaduna in a paper entitled: “State of Basic Education in Nigeria: Prospect and Challenges.” The paper was presented at the ongoing two-day policy retreat with the theme, “The State of Basic Education in Kaduna State: Prospects and Challenges”, organised by the state’s Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. Hamid Bobboyi said that the percentage represented a decline from 76 per cent in 2008 to 57 per cent in 2018. He said that in spite of the huge investment in the sector, basic education was still characterised by poor learning outcomes, unqualified teachers and acute infrastructure deficit among others. He also expressed concern over the increasing rate of enrollment in basic schools, which he said was not proportional to the available infrastructure and funding. “For example, enrolment in preprimary school (Early Child Care Development Education) has increased from 2.1 million in 2006 to 2.7 million in 2010 and skyrocket to 7.2 million in 2018, representing 167 per cent increase. “Also, enrolment in primary schools, which declined from 24.2 million in 2006 to 21.9 million in 2010, equally increased to 27.9 million in 2018, indicating a 27 per cent increase. “The story was no different in Junior Secretary schools where enrolment also increased from 3.6 million in 2006 to 4.6 million in 2010 and further increased to 6.8 million in 2018, representing 49 per cent increase. He also said that enrollment in public primary schools constituted 83 per cent in contrast with 17 per cent in private primary schools. He equally said that junior secondary schools had 79 per cent enrollment as against 21 per cent in private junior secondary schools in the country. According to him, the scenario shows that government has greater responsibility of proving quality education to the Nigerian children to enable them to live a meaningful and productive life in the future. Bobboyi also said that Federal Government’s allocation to the education sector from 2009 to 2018 was between 6.1 per cent to 10.8 per cent of the national budget. “Similarly, spending on basic education for many years has hovered between 1.8 per cent to 2.4 per cent, far below the African Declaration average of about 4.0 per cent,” he said. He described primary education as critical foundation needed for sound education in the country, adding that Nigeria and its component states must work towards ensuring functional basic education system. “Basic education needs heavy investment, but we must all agree that it is a necessary investment to move the state and the nation forward,” the UBEC boss added. He commended the Kaduna State Government for its continued effort towards repositioning the education sector. Bobboyi added that the effort would reposition the sector to serve its strategic role of driving socio-economic development of the state and the country. Prof. Kabiru Mato, Commissioner, Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, had explained that the retreat was organised to look at issues around basic education and chart a way forward
President Muhammadu Buhari has acknowledged that Nigeria’s former Information Minister, Chief Edwin Clark had served the country with distinction and untainted record over the years.
The President, in a message congratulating Clark as he celebrates his 84th birthday acknowledged the contribution of the nation’s former Information Minister during the regime of General Yakubu Gowon, to the peace of the country.
“Even if you don’t agree with the elder statesman sometimes, you must acknowledge his patriotism and commitment to peace.
“Peace building is one of the greatest contributions we should expect of our elders, and I am proud that Chief Edwin Clark has played this role remarkably during trying times in our country.’’
The President described the octogenarian as a man of strong convictions who doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind on national issues.
“This gentleman expresses his mind without malice, one of the outstanding virtues of a statesman that he is.
“While felicitating with you on this joyous occasion, accept my best wishes and deepest goodwill of my government. You have served your country with distinction and untainted record.
”You should be proud of this legacy. The country would always look up to you to tap from your fountain of wisdom.”
Qatar lost to Nigeria 0-4 in their Group D opening match at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Tychy, Poland yesterday, Thursday.
Nigeria, runners-up to a Joao Pinto-propelled Portugal in 1989 and a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina in 2005, went 2-0 up within 25 minutes – and both goals were indebted to their left-back. Ikouwem Utin duped his marker and unleashed a swerving shot, which Shehab Mamdouh could only push into the path of Maxwell Effiom, whose first-time volley broke the deadlock. The Nigerian then somehow sprung four challenges down the left and cut the ball back to present Okechukwa Offia with a comfortable finish from close range. Qatar did have their chances as Zulkifilu Rabiu catapulted himself across the Tychy turf to make an outstanding block from Yusuf Abdurisag, and Nigeria goalkeeper Olawale Oremade was alert to break up a three-on-one break from which the underdogs should have made more. They were further punished when midfielder, Tom Dele-Bashiru making it 3-0 before Aliu Salawudeen’s completed the rout. The teams return to action on Monday, when Qatar face Ukraine and Nigeria encounter USA. Meanwhile, New Zealand produced the nation’s biggest win in FIFA U-20 World Cup history with a 5-0 rout of Honduras in a Group C match.
Darwin Diego inadvertently steered the ball into his own net just eight minutes into the match, and that unfortunate moment seemed to deflate Carlos Tabora’s side.
After that, New Zealand took full control of the match as Ben Waine had a brace to his name midway through the first half. The second half continued in much a similar vein to the first. New Zealand maintained their dominance with Sarpreet Singh and Matt Conroy adding a fourth and fifth goal to ensure the Kiwis made history to commence their Poland 2019 campaign.
Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, has said that he will leave the State as governor as a fulfilled man and that posterity will judge him.
Governor Ambode, who spoke to newsmen shortly after inaugurating the 400-seater Lagos theatre today, Friday in Epe area of the state, expressed gratitude to God for giving him the grace to serve humanity and govern Lagos.
“This is more of a fulfilling day for me. If there is anything for me to say, it’s that I am fulfilled that a day like this can come in the history of this town. Four days to go in four years, we have turned things around.
“God has given us the grace that I can come back here and actually spend my last weekend of those four years with my people. We are very delighted that among the theatres that we have established, we have the opportunity to come and commission the one in Epe.
“I am very grateful to God. You never planned what you met on the way. Having had that opportunity to be elected as governor and for four years, one is able to do it in good health and mind. To God be the glory.
“The main purpose of governance is giving back to humanity and serving selflessly. All that put together, I am happy I was able to do that and God gave me the grace. The fact that I am also leaving in good health is a sort of fulfillment for me.”
Governor Ambode said that governance is a continuum and expressed the hope that his successor, Babajide Sanwoolu, would continue where he stopped.
According to the governor, the new edifice will help to promote tourism and hospitality both at Epe and in Lagos in general.
He added like other parts of Lagos such as Igando, Oregun and Badagry, where such theatre had been inaugurated by his administration, the new theatre at Epe would boost the economy of the community.
“This is, of course, is in line with our promise to make tourism, hospitality, entertainment and the arts together with sports, the centre piece of our development agenda for the youth in our state.
“The Lagos State initiative to bring theater experience closer to the people across the state has been generating positive excitement among creative minds across the project locations.”
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Disturbed at what it called the denial of the right of children by the authorities in Nigeria, the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has concluded plans to use the occasion of Children’s Day celebration to focus on such rights.
The Guardian and Daily Sun leads of Monday, May 20, 2019 titled: “Senate leadership: Legislators disagree over voting method” and “Senate leadership tussle gets messy…Ndume, Lawan’s camps in intense lobby over voting method,” respectively, provide the basis for this article.
The Catholic Arch Bishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan has appealed to politicians of all shades to bury their differences with the aim of addressing the current national security challenges.
Qatar lost to Nigeria 0-4 in their Group D opening match at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Tychy, Poland yesterday, Thursday.
