The interbank segment of the Foreign Exchange Market has received another boost of $210 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at concluded sales today, September 10.
Figures obtained from the CBN indicated that authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market were offered the sum of $100 million, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received the sum of $55 million. The sum of $55 million was allocated to customers requiring foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others.
The Director of Corporate Communications Department of the apex bank, Isaac Okorafor confirmed the figures and assured of the bank’s commitment towards stability in foreign exchange market.
It will be recalled that at the last intervention on September 6, the bank injected the sum of $321.11million and CNY33.3 million into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) segment.
Meanwhile, the Naira today, exchanged at an average of N357/$1 in the BDC segment of the market.
The Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Administration in Nigeria (2010 – 2015) has generated quite a number of post-tenure publications which significantly, in varying degrees of articulation, veracity and delivery shed light on key developments during that momentous phase in Nigerian politics.
The books under reference offer accounts of individual experiences or outsider perspectives, but altogether, they stand out as remarkable contributions to the growth of the bibliography on governance, politics, democracy and sociology in Nigeria. They include, in this particular regard, Reno Omokri, Facts vs. Fiction: The Story of the Jonathan Years, Chibok, 2015 and the Conspiracies (2017); Olusegun Adeniyi, Against the Run of Play: How an incumbent President was Defeated in Nigeria (2017); Bolaji Abdullahi, On A Platter of Gold (2017); Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story behind the Headlines (2018) and Goodluck Jonathan, My Transition Hours (2018).
There is, in addition, a number of pamphlets, scores of hack writing (which I do not consider worthy of mention) and essays in academic journals around the world which subject the Jonathan Years to scrutiny. The review of a President’s tenure, or the telling of stories by both insiders and outsiders in a government ultimately provide hitherto unavailable information, beam a searchlight on history and provide a platform for engaging specific questions of governance and accountability. The fact that this tradition, taken for granted in advanced democracies, is beginning to gain ground in Nigeria, is a welcome development. The outpouring of books on the Jonathan administration in Nigeria from both participants and observers alike should be understandable given the historic and controversial circumstances of that administration and its exit.
The latest contribution in this regard is the publication of Mohammed Bello Adoke’sBurden of Service: Reminiscences of Nigeria’s former Attorney-General (London/New York: Clink Street, 2019), 270 pp.The book is due for official release on September 16/24, but copies are already in circulation through Amazon.com internationally and locally, through Roving Heights Books in Lagos. It is a semi-autobiographical book, a reflection by Adoke on his role as Attorney General and Minister of Justice (2010 – 2015) during the Jonathan administration, his take on his own legacies in that role and his ideas about the reform of the justice administration system as well as governance in Nigeria. In this book, Mohammed Adoke also practically writes back, and I use that term advisedly, in relation to the major issue that seems to have hovered around his service to Nigeria, namely his role in the controversial OPL 245 dealings, ordinarily known as the Malabu Scandal. In Burden of Service,Adoke tells his own side of the story in a far more comprehensive and detailed manner than he has done hitherto. He pleads his innocence, and accentuates his undiluted commitment to Nigeria’s national interest contrary to the yet unproven allegations against him.
When the Buhari administration assumed office in 2015, it reminded Nigerians that the new government was determined to take measures to strengthen the Nigerian economy, fight corruption and address the menace of insecurity in the country. Exactly as promised, the government reinvigorated the war against corruption as it launched an onslaught on persons who had served in the Jonathan administration. It was in this context that Mohammed Adoke’s name was mentioned in connection with the probe into the management of the dispute over Oil Prospecting License 245 (OPL 245), one of Nigeria’s most fertile and enormously endowed oil fields, which had been in dispute from the Obasanjo administration to that of Jonathan. The state’s allegation was that national interest had been subverted on the altar of personal gains. Adoke went to court in Nigeria to argue against charges that he had betrayed his country and to insist that the state was out to witch-hunt him, whereas he had done no wrong.
In 2018, the Federal High Court, Abuja presided over by Honourable Justice Binta Nyako ruled that insofar as Adoke was carrying out the lawful directives/approvals of the President acting in accordance with his executive powers under Section 5 of the Constitution, he could not be held personally liable for his role in the implementation of the OPL 245 Settlement Agreement of 2011 and therefore had no case to answer. Adoke kept explaining his own side of the story in newspaper interviews and comments. But he remains in exile ostensibly out of fear for his life. After he left office, he proceeded to the Netherlands to study for a degree leading to the award of an Advanced LLM in Public International Law at the prestigious University of Leiden. While he was on that programme, a group of international investigators, under a Mutual Legal Assistance framework, working with the Nigerian authorities kept him under watch as a result of all the allegations made against him by the authorities in Nigeria. He felt haunted.
He tells us in the Introduction to this book that as Christmas 2016 approached, he thought of ending it all. “Being hunted for what I did not do felt like a death sentence on its own. It is time to force my exit from this world, I told myself, …Death, rather than life, seemed very attractive to me now…. (But) then I came to my senses” (p. 1). In other words, he eventually changed his mind and refused to commit suicide. He decided that rather than help his traducers to get away with negative stories about him, he would live to tell his own story by himself. This is the motivation for this book. Adoke submits that public service comes with a burden, a burden he understands and is willing to carry no matter the odds. “I did my best for my country”, he declares. This book, Burden of Service is the product of that resolve, a kind of cathartic, ameliorative therapy; that is: his conviction that whereas public service may come as a burden, and there may be persecution designed by traducers, telling the truth heals all wounds and the truth invariably outdistances and exposes falsehood.
For readers who may be in a hurry to read Adoke’s side of this story with regard to OPL 245, see Part II of the book, devoted fully to “The OPL 245 Conundrum” at Chapter Six, appropriately titled: “The Facts of the Matter” (pp. 53 – 67); Chapter Seven: “The Witch-Hunt” (pp .68-78); Chapter Eight: “The Witch-Hunters” (pp. 79-87), and Chapter Nine: “The Mischief” (pp. 88-102). In these chapters, Mohammed Adoke lays bare the manner and details of his travails. He talks about his role in the OPL 245 Settlement Agreement, and the role played by a certain Mohammed Sani Abacha and his collaborators, or rather the Abacha family, the Obasanjo government, arbitral proceedings leading to a Settlement Agreement, the role of the Dutch and the Italians, his harassment by the Nigerian authorities – raids on his houses and the home of his brother, the destruction of his practice, and the hostility towards him by security operatives and others. In Chapter Eight, he identifies those he calls the “witch-hunters”. This is a chapter that should be read by the EFCC as an organization, Senator Ali Ndume, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Abachas and someone Adoke refers to as a “diminutive lawyer… who is a darling of the Nigerian media.” In Chapter Nine, Adoke says he seeks to “ask pertinent questions and set the records straight.” This Chapter is essentially a response to all the charges levelled against him by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In Chapter Ten, Adoke writes about “My Vindication”. He says: “I have won my case against the Federal Government in court…not a dime has been traced to me” (p.113). Thus, Adoke’s book is in these parts, lawyerly; it reads in part like a summary of evidence and a brief of argument.
But this is not a book entirely about self-advocacy, OPL 245 and allegations of fraud and bribery. Adoke uses the book to give an account of his stewardship as Nigeria’s Chief Law Officer – beyond the controversies. But before he does so, he takes us, very early in the book, on a journey to see how he emerged as Attorney General and Minister of Justice, through a call of destiny –what he calls “a missed opportunity” at first and then in Chapter Two, “The Appointment”. And in Chapter Three, “The Baptism”. In Chapters Four and Five, in a strictly autobiographical tone, he offers us a glimpse into the journey of his life, from humble beginnings to the ascending heights of senior advocate and public life. Adoke calls himself “The Boy From Nagazi (p. 39)”. Nagazi is an Okene village in Kogi State in Nigeria’s North Central region. Ethnically, the author is of the Ebirra ethnic stock, one of Nigeria’s many ethnic minorities. Adoke tells quite a bit of his personal and family story in a humble tone and with details that many young persons will find motivational.
Students of recent Nigerian history would perhaps be more interested in Part III of the book which deals with major highlights of the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration, specifically the internal controversies within the government and the PDP, the politics of Jonathan’s interest in a second term in office, the 2015 Presidential election and Jonathan’s transition out of power. Chapter Twelve is titled “The Buhari Test”, dealing with the same familiar questions that are still in the public domain in Nigeria: “Did Gen. Buhari really obtain a secondary school certificate? Should he be disqualified from participating in the presidential race?” (p. 125). Adoke reports tellingly: “In the fullness of time, though, President Buhari would come to realise and accept the whole truth: that God used me, and two other high-profile Nigerians whom I will not name for confidential reasons, to make sure he was not disqualified by the courts from running in 2015. The two individuals have like me, also suffered indignity in the hands of Buhari and his men. It must be emphasised here, though that I did not oppose the disqualification because I wanted to help Buhari. Rather, I was being faithful to the Constitution”. (p. 126). Subsequently, hawks within the Jonathan Presidency insisted that Buhari should be given the “Pinochet treatment” and be put on trial for his past “misdeeds” in order to stop him from contesting the 2015 Presidential election. President Jonathan rejected that suggestion outright and opposed the idea of playing “bad politics”.
In other post-Jonathan publications, many accounts have been given of how and why President Goodluck Jonathan conceded victory to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. In Chapter Thirteen: “The Historic Concession”, Muhammad Adoke offers what I, as a participant in all of that drama myself, consider the most truthful and authoritative account that has yet been written so far on the matter. Part IV of the book: “The Challenges, The Controversies” is devoted mainly to Adoke’s interventions as Attorney General and Minister of Justice. The issues covered include- “The Impeachment Menace” (Chapter 15) dealing with whether or not the Federal Government should support the plan by the PDP-dominated House of Assembly in Nassarawa state to impeach Tanko Al-Makura (APC) as Governor of Nassarawa State; (2) whether or not the President after declaring a state of emergency in some local governments in the Northern Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states in May 2013, should have gone ahead to remove the Local Government Chairmen and Governors in the affected States (Chapter 16); (3) the judgment debt scam that the author observed as an established tradition in the Ministry of Justice and how he addressed it (Chapter 17); (4) the Halliburton and Siemens bribery scandals (Chapter 18); (5) the Bakassi Handover (Chapter 19) and a number of other controversies – “Pardon for Alamiyeseigha”; “the Justice Salami Saga”; “The Gulf War Windfall”; “the Azura Power Project”; and “The Oyinlola and Aregbesola Saga”.
In Part V, titled “The Footprints”, Adoke embarks on a bit of “advertisements for myself” to borrow Norman Mailer’s phrase or as Africans would put it, “a lizard-like act of self-congratulation” – if nobody will praise me, I will praise myself! And so he outlines how as Attorney General and Minister of Justice, he functioned strictly as a constitutional purist and defended both the rule of law and the national interest. The specific episodes on which he reflects include the recovery of the Abacha loot, the Ajaokuta Steel Settlement; reforming the justice system, the Evidence Act 2011, the Freedom of information Act 2011; The Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011; the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and other reform laws (2011- 2015). Adoke brings this book to a close in the remaining two chapters by drawing attention, as he looks back and forward, to specific steps that may still need to be taken to strengthen the justice administration and delivery process, and the constitutional framework for Nigeria’s system of government.
Were it possible to insist that every senior public officer must write a book after office, I would insist that this should be a compulsory pre-condition for appointment to office. Adoke remarkably is the first Attorney General and Minister of Justice in Nigeria to give this kind of account, to the best of my knowledge. And it is a refreshing contribution, an even-handed, authoritative, compelling, and well-written account of his stewardship and experience. The controversies and the responses in kind that this book may generate can only further enrich our understanding of what transpired in Nigeria’s recent politics. Burden of Service is packaged like a supermarket, with something in it for every reader. The compelling take-aways for me, are the issues of service, leadership, friendship and loyalty, governance, the rule of law and Nigeria’s peculiar politics, and I am reminded, reading it thematically, of James Comey’s A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership (2017). Whereas Comey, former US FBI Director, had difficulties working with President Donald Trump, Adoke as Nigeria’s Attorney General seems to have had an excellent working relationship with a President Goodluck Jonathan who believed in the rule of law.
Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba has unveiled the eleven distinct areas which President Muhammadu Buhari’s government will focus attention in the second term of another four years.
The minister, who spoke today, September 9 in an audience with leaders of Edo People’s Movement (EPM) in his office in Abuja, said that the priority would be on achieving agriculture and food security; ensuring energy sufficiency in both power and petroleum products; and improving the nation’s transport and development of infrastructure.
Others are driving industrialization; improving the health, education and productivity of Nigerians; ensuring social inclusion and reduction of poverty; fighting corruption and improving governance; and, generally improving security for all.
According to Agba, Vision 2020, which rests on six interwoven pillars, including good governance and efficient State, skilled human capital, vibrant private sector and world class physical infrastructure, among others, would come to an end next year about the same time that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) would end.
He underscored, in particular, the functionality of the ERGP in helping Nigeria to quickly exit recession in the last quarter of 2017.
ERGP is a Medium Term Plan for 2017 to 2020, developed by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, to bring about medium term all-round development initiative focused on restoring growth, investing in people and building a globally competitive economy.
A statement by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Sufuyan Ojeifo, quoted him to have said that “following the fall in crude oil prices to as low as $28 per barrel and the issues we had around production, Nigerian, of course, went into recession. So the ERGP had to be put in place in order to take Nigeria out of recession; and, I am glad to inform you that for the ninth consecutive quarters, we have experienced growth in the economy.
“It is our plan and desire to ensure that there continues to be growth. But like I said, the ERGP comes to an end in December 2020. The Vision 2020 also comes to an end in December 2020. It therefore means that we need to put a succession plan in place- a long-term plan for our country and that challenge falls within my brief.”
Agba told his visitors that he shunned celebration over his appointment to enable him start work immediately, pointing out that “We had meetings around the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and we are still working on it and the 2020 budget.
“We are trying to change our budget cycle to make it January to December cycle. And, in order to be able to achieve that, the National Assembly had clearly told us that if we could present the budget at least by the end of September; or, say first week of October, they would be able to pass the budget in December.
“So, that is what we are working towards; that is our goal- to ensure that we change that budget cycle. But immediately we do that, we would start work on the succession plan that I talked about.”
Other members of the EPM leaders who visited the minister are co-conveners, Hon. Samson Osagie and Barrister Henry Idahagbon and others.
The Governor of Rivers, Nyesome Wike has stressed that he never demolished any Mosque in Port Harcourt as is being carried in many social media across the country, creating religious tension.
Governor Wike was said to have made the statement yesterday, September 8 while showing the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi the site of the mosque he allegedly demolished in Port Harcourt.
A statement by NGF’s Head of Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo in Abuja, said that Fayemi was in Port-Harcourt to verify the true situation about the issue.
Wike claimed that there was no mosque at the site, but a sewage line, explaining: “I have nothing against Islam or any faith for that matter.
“As you can see, there was never a mosque on this ground instead it is a sewage site which has been in contention between the state government and some groups because they want to develop on prohibited land.”
Wike expressed appreciation to the NGF Chairman, who was accompanied by the Director-General of the Forum, Asishana Okauru, for taking the time to visit and verify the truth about the situation.
He also commended Fayemi’s leadership style which he described as exemplary, noting that he did not join those who rushed to judgment on the matter.
According to the NGF statement, “those who yelled about the demolition were being plain mischievous. There was nothing there to show that a mosque ever existed on the site.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has confessed that attacks on fellow Africans, especially Nigerians in his country by the citizens has been very embarrassing to him.
President Ramaphosa stressed that the violence attacks on citizens of other African countries residing in his country by his people are disconcerting and embarrassing.
The South African leader, who spoke to President Muhammadu Buhari’s special envoy, led by the Director-General of the Nigeria’s National Intelligence Agency (DGNIA), Ambassador Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, said that his government completely rejects such acts which undermine not only the country’s image but its relations with brotherly African countries.
President Ramaphosa reaffirmed his stand against criminality and committed to do everything possible to protect the rights of every Nigerian and other foreign nationals in the country.
This was even as President Buhari stressed the need for South African Government to take visible measures to stop violence against citizens of brotherly African nations, expressing worry that the recurring issue of xenophobia against fellow Africans could negatively affect the image and standing of South Africa as one of the leading countries on the continent, if nothing is done to stop it.
President Buhariassured that the Nigerian Government will guarantee the safety of lives, property and business interests of South Africans in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Special Envoy was in South Africa to convey a Special Message from President Buhari to President Ramaphosa. The Special Envoy was in Pretoria from September 5 to 7.
The Special Envoy conveyed the assurance of President Buhari that the Nigerian Government is ready and willing to collaborate with the South African Government to find a lasting solution to the involvement of few Nigerians in criminal activities, and to protect the lives and property of the larger groups of other law abiding Nigerians and indeed Africans in general, against all forms of attacks including xenophobia.
The Special Envoy also interfaced with his South African counterpart, where they reviewed the situation of foreign emigrants in general and Nigerians in particular. They agreed to work together to find a permanent solution to the root causes of the recurring attacks on Nigerians and their property.
The Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS) has alerted the nation of plans by subversive politicians, groups and individuals to undermine national security, peace and unity in the country.
The spokesman of the agency, Peter Afunaya, in a statement today, September 9 in Abuja, said: “these elements are determined to exploit political differences and other occurrences, within and outside the country, to destabilize the nation. They also initiate narratives to deepen their subversive objectives so as to achieve preferred illegal outcomes.
“The aim is to set the country on fire as well as inflame passions across ethnic and religious divides with expected violent consequences.”
Peter Afunaya advised members of the public to be conscious of fake news, warning those in the habit of spreading false reports to desist.
“Also, the Service expresses dismay over the increasing use of fake news and unsubstantiated information spread across social media platforms to deceive and incite sections of the populace to civil unrest.
“While condemning the unpatriotic and misguided activities of these anti-social elements, the Service equally warns them to desist forthwith from their unholy acts as the full weight of the law will be brought against them.
“In the same vein, citizens are enjoined to remain law abiding, peaceful and report any suspicions likely to inhibit public safety to appropriate authorities. On its part, the Service will remain committed in its pursuit of national stability in line with its statutory mandate of protecting the country against crimes and threats to its internal security.”
A leading Public Rerations and Rating firm, Avance Media is set to host the first edition of the Ghana Bloggers Summit scheduled for November 1 and 2 at the SBIncubator, in the Silver Star Towers, Accra.
The Managing Director of Avance Media, Prince Akpah said that the summit is aimed at supporting the building of a vibrant community of Ghanaian bloggers, foster international partnerships and provide an avenue to network, learn and share.
According to him, key among the activities to take place during the two day summit would be a Bloggers Lounge, an all-Female Bloggers Panel, Breakout Sessions, Keynote Presentations, the announcement of the 2019 Top 50 Ghanaian Bloggers Ranking and many others.
The summit will also feature a SDGs competition for bloggers dubbed the Next Top Blogger. The competition is expected to be used as an opportunity to support upcoming bloggers who have dedicated their platforms to champion the SDGs in Ghana and beyond.
Partners for the summit include: SBIncubator, WatsUp TV, CliQAfrica, Wineloya; Google Digital Skills Training Partner, Reset Global People & Egotickets.
Nigeria Police have sounded a strong warning to members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shiites that they are ready to crush the planned procession as the sect has been legally proscribed.
“It has come to the knowledge of the Nigeria Police Force that some members of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) intend to embark on a nationwide procession, ostensibly to cause disruption of public peace, order and security in the Country.
“The Force notes that in line with the Terrorism (Prevention) Proscription Order Notice 2019 of 26th July, 2019, the activities of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria have been proscribed. Consequently, all gathering or procession by the group remains ultimately illegal and will be treated as a gathering in the advancement of terrorism.”
A statement today, September 9, by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba said that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has directed the Commissioners of Police in all the States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja as well as their supervisory Assistant Inspectors-General of Police to put in place concrete measures to avert any planned procession and/or disruption of public peace by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, anywhere in the country. Mba said that the police boss also enjoined the public to avail the Force with useful information as regards the activities of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria.
“In addition, the IGP has also advised parents and guardians to prevail on their children and wards not to be cajoled into embarking on illegal and ill-motivated activities by anyone or group of persons, under any guise whatsoever.”
Nigerian Students undergoing their PhD studies in the United Kingdom (UK) Universities have written to President Muhammadu Buhari describing the hunger and difficulties they are facing as a result of none remittance of their extension allowances by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) for more than six months.
The students claimed that some of them have turned into beggars to survive as all their complaints to the current leadership of PTDF, led by Dr. Bello Aliyu Gusau have not been attended to, even as they appealed to the President to intervene for them to complete their various programmes and return home. The students told President Buhari in the petition that firms involved in accommodating and feeding them have threatened to take them to court, a development that may greatly dent the image of the country if the threats are carried out. “Our letters of admission from all our universities stated that the PhD programme will last for four years with additional one-year extension and the award letter given to each of the PhD students by the PTDF indicated that the scholarship covers accommodation, feeding and utilities for the period of thirty-six months with twelve months extension period due to the nature of the programme.” The students said that majority of them that started the programme in 2016 were not able to finish the programme within three years because PhD programme is a step by step process.
According to them, each PhD student is expected to produce and present an interim assessment report at the end of first year which will be used by the examiners to access the student and internal evaluation report at the end of second year which will be used by external and internal examiners to decide whether the student should proceed or not to proceed to the third year. “If the examiners are satisfied with the report and the progress, they will allow the student to continue and if they are not satisfied the student will not continue with the research. The third-year is mostly used for designing data collection instrument, data collection, data analysis while the fourth year is generally for the writing of the thesis. “With this step by step process it is almost impossible for many of the students to finish such a programme in three years without any challenge. There are unforeseen circumstances that can arise like a change of supervisor, lack of access to the data required for the research, health issues and shortage of resources because most of the time our allowances were paid three months late which distract us from our studies because we cannot study with an empty stomach.” The students said that several letters written as individuals, groups and their universities’ supervisors to the Executive Secretary requesting for the payment of allowances to cover the one-year extension period since November 2018 have not been attended to. According to them, the development has led many of them to pass through difficulties whereby they cannot buy food, pay their rents, electricity, water and gas bills. The students appealed to President Buhari to set up an inquiry to investigate the veracity of their claims as part of efforts to bring the Executive Secretary to order and close the communication gap between them and the management of PTDF. Several calls, text messages, including e-mails sent to the Head of Media and External Affairs of PTDF were not replied to as at the time of going to press.
Shell LiveWIRE has shortlisted two Nigerian entrepreneurs; FarmToJuice and Foods Nigeria Limited and Basiled Energy Ventures among 21 finalists for the Top Ten Innovators Awards, a global competition which highlights and rewards businesses that demonstrate excellence in innovation as well as giving entrepreneurs a chance to shine on a global platform.
While FarmToJuice and Foods Nigeria Limited produces juices, processes any waste into livestock feed and uses a biogas digester to provide energy, Basiled Energy Ventures is a business that provides solar lamps, solar installation maintenance and repair, and solar battery recycling services.
A statement quoted the Managing Director of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) who doubles as the Country Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor as saying: “the two Nigerians have come up with creative ideas on energy efficiency, food and agriculture and join19 entrepreneurs from other countries to vie for the prestigious prize.”
The statement said that a public vote of the shortlisted businesses will take place between tomorrow, September 9 and 18, on the Shell LiveWIRE website, with the results helping to determine the winners.
The statement also quoted SPDC’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli as saying: “we are happy that young Nigerians keep deploying the skills and funding assistance in our LiveWIRE training schemes. Last year, two Nigerian companies were among the Top Ten Innovators from among 21 entries in a contest which attracted over 11,000 voters from 102 countries. We hope to come out successful again this year.”
It said that LiveWIRE is Shell’s flagship youth enterprise development programme that provides training and finance to young people to start or expand their own businesses.
Launched in Nigeria in 2003, the programme enables young entrepreneurs to convert their bright ideas into sustainable businesses creating wider employment and income generation opportunities. “LiveWIRE ambassadors have benefitted from this support to make their mark and we call on Nigerians to encourage them by voting for their ideas,” Weli added.
Winners and two runners up will be named in the categories of Food & Agriculture, Energy & Mobility, and Sustainable Future, with the winners receiving $20,000 USD and runners up receiving $10,000 USD. In addition, Shell LiveWIRE will name an Outstanding Achievement Award winner who will receive $10,000 USD. All Top Ten Innovators will win direct mentoring from Shell staff and the opportunity to integrate and benefit from vast linkages within Shell’s global network.
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Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba has unveiled the eleven distinct areas which President Muhammadu Buhari’s government will focus attention in the second term of another four years.
The Governor of Rivers, Nyesome Wike has stressed that he never demolished any Mosque in Port Harcourt as is being carried in many social media across the country, creating religious tension.
The Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS) has alerted the nation of plans by subversive politicians, groups and individuals to undermine national security, peace and unity in the country.
Mohammed Adoke’s Book, Burden Of Service, By Reuben Abati
The Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Administration in Nigeria (2010 – 2015) has generated quite a number of post-tenure publications which significantly, in varying degrees of articulation, veracity and delivery shed light on key developments during that momentous phase in Nigerian politics.
The books under reference offer accounts of individual experiences or outsider perspectives, but altogether, they stand out as remarkable contributions to the growth of the bibliography on governance, politics, democracy and sociology in Nigeria. They include, in this particular regard, Reno Omokri, Facts vs. Fiction: The Story of the Jonathan Years, Chibok, 2015 and the Conspiracies (2017); Olusegun Adeniyi, Against the Run of Play: How an incumbent President was Defeated in Nigeria (2017); Bolaji Abdullahi, On A Platter of Gold (2017); Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story behind the Headlines (2018) and Goodluck Jonathan, My Transition Hours (2018).
There is, in addition, a number of pamphlets, scores of hack writing (which I do not consider worthy of mention) and essays in academic journals around the world which subject the Jonathan Years to scrutiny. The review of a President’s tenure, or the telling of stories by both insiders and outsiders in a government ultimately provide hitherto unavailable information, beam a searchlight on history and provide a platform for engaging specific questions of governance and accountability. The fact that this tradition, taken for granted in advanced democracies, is beginning to gain ground in Nigeria, is a welcome development. The outpouring of books on the Jonathan administration in Nigeria from both participants and observers alike should be understandable given the historic and controversial circumstances of that administration and its exit.
The latest contribution in this regard is the publication of Mohammed Bello Adoke’sBurden of Service: Reminiscences of Nigeria’s former Attorney-General (London/New York: Clink Street, 2019), 270 pp.The book is due for official release on September 16/24, but copies are already in circulation through Amazon.com internationally and locally, through Roving Heights Books in Lagos. It is a semi-autobiographical book, a reflection by Adoke on his role as Attorney General and Minister of Justice (2010 – 2015) during the Jonathan administration, his take on his own legacies in that role and his ideas about the reform of the justice administration system as well as governance in Nigeria. In this book, Mohammed Adoke also practically writes back, and I use that term advisedly, in relation to the major issue that seems to have hovered around his service to Nigeria, namely his role in the controversial OPL 245 dealings, ordinarily known as the Malabu Scandal. In Burden of Service,Adoke tells his own side of the story in a far more comprehensive and detailed manner than he has done hitherto. He pleads his innocence, and accentuates his undiluted commitment to Nigeria’s national interest contrary to the yet unproven allegations against him.
When the Buhari administration assumed office in 2015, it reminded Nigerians that the new government was determined to take measures to strengthen the Nigerian economy, fight corruption and address the menace of insecurity in the country. Exactly as promised, the government reinvigorated the war against corruption as it launched an onslaught on persons who had served in the Jonathan administration. It was in this context that Mohammed Adoke’s name was mentioned in connection with the probe into the management of the dispute over Oil Prospecting License 245 (OPL 245), one of Nigeria’s most fertile and enormously endowed oil fields, which had been in dispute from the Obasanjo administration to that of Jonathan. The state’s allegation was that national interest had been subverted on the altar of personal gains. Adoke went to court in Nigeria to argue against charges that he had betrayed his country and to insist that the state was out to witch-hunt him, whereas he had done no wrong.
In 2018, the Federal High Court, Abuja presided over by Honourable Justice Binta Nyako ruled that insofar as Adoke was carrying out the lawful directives/approvals of the President acting in accordance with his executive powers under Section 5 of the Constitution, he could not be held personally liable for his role in the implementation of the OPL 245 Settlement Agreement of 2011 and therefore had no case to answer. Adoke kept explaining his own side of the story in newspaper interviews and comments. But he remains in exile ostensibly out of fear for his life. After he left office, he proceeded to the Netherlands to study for a degree leading to the award of an Advanced LLM in Public International Law at the prestigious University of Leiden. While he was on that programme, a group of international investigators, under a Mutual Legal Assistance framework, working with the Nigerian authorities kept him under watch as a result of all the allegations made against him by the authorities in Nigeria. He felt haunted.
He tells us in the Introduction to this book that as Christmas 2016 approached, he thought of ending it all. “Being hunted for what I did not do felt like a death sentence on its own. It is time to force my exit from this world, I told myself, …Death, rather than life, seemed very attractive to me now…. (But) then I came to my senses” (p. 1). In other words, he eventually changed his mind and refused to commit suicide. He decided that rather than help his traducers to get away with negative stories about him, he would live to tell his own story by himself. This is the motivation for this book. Adoke submits that public service comes with a burden, a burden he understands and is willing to carry no matter the odds. “I did my best for my country”, he declares. This book, Burden of Service is the product of that resolve, a kind of cathartic, ameliorative therapy; that is: his conviction that whereas public service may come as a burden, and there may be persecution designed by traducers, telling the truth heals all wounds and the truth invariably outdistances and exposes falsehood.
For readers who may be in a hurry to read Adoke’s side of this story with regard to OPL 245, see Part II of the book, devoted fully to “The OPL 245 Conundrum” at Chapter Six, appropriately titled: “The Facts of the Matter” (pp. 53 – 67); Chapter Seven: “The Witch-Hunt” (pp .68-78); Chapter Eight: “The Witch-Hunters” (pp. 79-87), and Chapter Nine: “The Mischief” (pp. 88-102). In these chapters, Mohammed Adoke lays bare the manner and details of his travails. He talks about his role in the OPL 245 Settlement Agreement, and the role played by a certain Mohammed Sani Abacha and his collaborators, or rather the Abacha family, the Obasanjo government, arbitral proceedings leading to a Settlement Agreement, the role of the Dutch and the Italians, his harassment by the Nigerian authorities – raids on his houses and the home of his brother, the destruction of his practice, and the hostility towards him by security operatives and others. In Chapter Eight, he identifies those he calls the “witch-hunters”. This is a chapter that should be read by the EFCC as an organization, Senator Ali Ndume, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Abachas and someone Adoke refers to as a “diminutive lawyer… who is a darling of the Nigerian media.” In Chapter Nine, Adoke says he seeks to “ask pertinent questions and set the records straight.” This Chapter is essentially a response to all the charges levelled against him by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In Chapter Ten, Adoke writes about “My Vindication”. He says: “I have won my case against the Federal Government in court…not a dime has been traced to me” (p.113). Thus, Adoke’s book is in these parts, lawyerly; it reads in part like a summary of evidence and a brief of argument.
But this is not a book entirely about self-advocacy, OPL 245 and allegations of fraud and bribery. Adoke uses the book to give an account of his stewardship as Nigeria’s Chief Law Officer – beyond the controversies. But before he does so, he takes us, very early in the book, on a journey to see how he emerged as Attorney General and Minister of Justice, through a call of destiny –what he calls “a missed opportunity” at first and then in Chapter Two, “The Appointment”. And in Chapter Three, “The Baptism”. In Chapters Four and Five, in a strictly autobiographical tone, he offers us a glimpse into the journey of his life, from humble beginnings to the ascending heights of senior advocate and public life. Adoke calls himself “The Boy From Nagazi (p. 39)”. Nagazi is an Okene village in Kogi State in Nigeria’s North Central region. Ethnically, the author is of the Ebirra ethnic stock, one of Nigeria’s many ethnic minorities. Adoke tells quite a bit of his personal and family story in a humble tone and with details that many young persons will find motivational.
Students of recent Nigerian history would perhaps be more interested in Part III of the book which deals with major highlights of the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration, specifically the internal controversies within the government and the PDP, the politics of Jonathan’s interest in a second term in office, the 2015 Presidential election and Jonathan’s transition out of power. Chapter Twelve is titled “The Buhari Test”, dealing with the same familiar questions that are still in the public domain in Nigeria: “Did Gen. Buhari really obtain a secondary school certificate? Should he be disqualified from participating in the presidential race?” (p. 125). Adoke reports tellingly: “In the fullness of time, though, President Buhari would come to realise and accept the whole truth: that God used me, and two other high-profile Nigerians whom I will not name for confidential reasons, to make sure he was not disqualified by the courts from running in 2015. The two individuals have like me, also suffered indignity in the hands of Buhari and his men. It must be emphasised here, though that I did not oppose the disqualification because I wanted to help Buhari. Rather, I was being faithful to the Constitution”. (p. 126). Subsequently, hawks within the Jonathan Presidency insisted that Buhari should be given the “Pinochet treatment” and be put on trial for his past “misdeeds” in order to stop him from contesting the 2015 Presidential election. President Jonathan rejected that suggestion outright and opposed the idea of playing “bad politics”.
In other post-Jonathan publications, many accounts have been given of how and why President Goodluck Jonathan conceded victory to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. In Chapter Thirteen: “The Historic Concession”, Muhammad Adoke offers what I, as a participant in all of that drama myself, consider the most truthful and authoritative account that has yet been written so far on the matter. Part IV of the book: “The Challenges, The Controversies” is devoted mainly to Adoke’s interventions as Attorney General and Minister of Justice. The issues covered include- “The Impeachment Menace” (Chapter 15) dealing with whether or not the Federal Government should support the plan by the PDP-dominated House of Assembly in Nassarawa state to impeach Tanko Al-Makura (APC) as Governor of Nassarawa State; (2) whether or not the President after declaring a state of emergency in some local governments in the Northern Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states in May 2013, should have gone ahead to remove the Local Government Chairmen and Governors in the affected States (Chapter 16); (3) the judgment debt scam that the author observed as an established tradition in the Ministry of Justice and how he addressed it (Chapter 17); (4) the Halliburton and Siemens bribery scandals (Chapter 18); (5) the Bakassi Handover (Chapter 19) and a number of other controversies – “Pardon for Alamiyeseigha”; “the Justice Salami Saga”; “The Gulf War Windfall”; “the Azura Power Project”; and “The Oyinlola and Aregbesola Saga”.
In Part V, titled “The Footprints”, Adoke embarks on a bit of “advertisements for myself” to borrow Norman Mailer’s phrase or as Africans would put it, “a lizard-like act of self-congratulation” – if nobody will praise me, I will praise myself! And so he outlines how as Attorney General and Minister of Justice, he functioned strictly as a constitutional purist and defended both the rule of law and the national interest. The specific episodes on which he reflects include the recovery of the Abacha loot, the Ajaokuta Steel Settlement; reforming the justice system, the Evidence Act 2011, the Freedom of information Act 2011; The Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011; the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and other reform laws (2011- 2015). Adoke brings this book to a close in the remaining two chapters by drawing attention, as he looks back and forward, to specific steps that may still need to be taken to strengthen the justice administration and delivery process, and the constitutional framework for Nigeria’s system of government.
Were it possible to insist that every senior public officer must write a book after office, I would insist that this should be a compulsory pre-condition for appointment to office. Adoke remarkably is the first Attorney General and Minister of Justice in Nigeria to give this kind of account, to the best of my knowledge. And it is a refreshing contribution, an even-handed, authoritative, compelling, and well-written account of his stewardship and experience. The controversies and the responses in kind that this book may generate can only further enrich our understanding of what transpired in Nigeria’s recent politics. Burden of Service is packaged like a supermarket, with something in it for every reader. The compelling take-aways for me, are the issues of service, leadership, friendship and loyalty, governance, the rule of law and Nigeria’s peculiar politics, and I am reminded, reading it thematically, of James Comey’s A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership (2017). Whereas Comey, former US FBI Director, had difficulties working with President Donald Trump, Adoke as Nigeria’s Attorney General seems to have had an excellent working relationship with a President Goodluck Jonathan who believed in the rule of law.