Felix Adewumi's World

2015 Election: The Madness of Democracy continues

2014-12-20T11:07:00.000-08:00

2015 Election: The Madness of Democracy Continues
By Felix Adewumi and Marie Sambo

Since the advent of present day democracy, one will think Nigeria is ready to take its place as one of the heavyweights in the world. 15 years after, the reverse is the case; instead Nigeria has retrogressed since Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was sworn in as Nigeria's first democratically elected President in more than 15 years. This election raised the prospect of Nigeria as Africa's Great Black Hope alas it has been staggering on its way forth.
Understandably, Nigeria was plunged into a downward spiral under the dictatorial rule of General Sani Abacha, who seized power from an illegal Interim Government in what was regarded as a palace coup using threats and terror to control power, until his unexpected death due to a heart attack in June 1998.
It was therefore not surprising that Obasanjo's earnest exhortations to rebuild the country appealed to Nigerians who came out in throngs to vote. Obasanjo won the February 27, 1999 Presidential election with 63% of the vote.
However, the arrival of democracy brought its ‘Demo’ and ‘Craze’ (derived from Democracy), a system of governance all so Nigerian and the madness began.

Burden of Expectations
Nigerians expectations of their leaders is so much that the weight of these expectations seemed to much to bear on Obasanjo as it was with his successor, Late Umaru Yar’Adua and today Goodluck Jonathan, that none of them are said to have achieved much.
As a matter of fact, Obasanjo came into the scene of Nigerian politics like a Messiah; he wanted to be remembered as the person who had pulled the country out of the entire quagmire it was in. So he took the garb of an elder statesman and unofficial spokesman for the African continent. But while he was doing this, the economic situation in Nigeria deteriorated, prices of goods and commodities started to rise with great speed. The days when one Naira could feed a primary school pupil is no more, wit the Naira devalued; one Naira gradually disappeared and the kobo became non-existent, new naira notes were introduced and Nigerians began to really pay the price of its democracy.
The democratically elected leaders seemed to look for opportunities to increase the rice of petroleum goods, and the cost of living began to bite harder. As these were happening, our leaders took time to explain to us that we were still at the rebuilding stage and very soon everything will come back to normal.

Impeachments
Throughout the history of Nigeria, prior to 1999 Election, only Balarabe Musa former Governor of Kaduna State witnessed the case of impeachment. His case being an isolated one at the time made the term “Impeachment” relatively unknown in the sphere of Nigerian Politics; however the case of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky of the United States of America gave it a much needed exposure. The second case of impeachment was that of Salisu Buhari, the first speaker was impeached on certificate and age falsification in August 1999. Not long thereafter, Evans Ewerem, the then Senate President was also impeached on account of inconsistency in his name; His certificate was said to bear Evan while he is known as Evans.
That heralded the era of impeachments; the term became commonly used and served as a weapon for settling scores or blackmails. All through Obasanjo’s era, he had cause to have running battles with the legislative arm of government as they threatened to impeach him on numerous occasions; he also won some battles orchestrating the impeachment of Chuka Okadigbo, Anyim Pius Anyim among others.
The impeachment era continued down to the State and local government level with some governors being impeached among which are Peter Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti, Rasheed Ladoja of Oyo, Deprieye Alaimasegha of Bayelsa and some Deputy governors with Femi Pedro of Lagos State hurriedly impeached barely two weeks to handing over, Enugu Assembly impeaching the deputy governor for rearing chicken. Obviously most impeachment cases are done without any regard for the rule of law, a case study of how 7 lawmakers in Ekiti State House of Assembly were said to have met to impeach their Speaker, or many cases of State House of Assemblies having their plenary sections late in the night or early in the morning to carry out an impeachment. None of the numerous impeachments were regarded as fair and legal, even that of Deprieye Alaimasegha’s impeachment carried illegality with the timing and way it was carried out.
The recent impeachment threat on Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti, who was just sworn in last October, Goodluck Jonathan (by the Legislator) Aminu Tambuwal, David Mark among others shows that impeachment will forever be one of the madness that will be associated with our democracy.

Corruption
Nigerians got wind of how corrupt was as well as how to get away with it or not during the second phase of our democracy. Immediately after the 1999 election it was discovered that Salisu Buhari who was chosen as the speaker had forged his certificate and falsified his age. In order to be able to contest the election the age for contestants was pegged at 30 up, Buhari was 29 but he added five years to his age and also presented a forged certificate which he claimed he obtained from Toronto. He almost got away with it but fate or should I say “demoncrazy” caught up with him.
Another case of certificate forgery followed suit, the sitting governor of Lagos state Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, was also fingered and accused of forging some of his documents, he was however able to get away with it despite the heavy evidences brought forward.
Politicians who tasted democracy may have been amazed at the rate at which they had access to money and greed set in. When news of the amount embezzled by Alaimasegha of Bayelsa became public, Nigerians expressed shock as to how an individual could have access to such a large sum of money. Nigerians never knew that was just a tip of the iceberg. James Ibori of Delta State and other eminent politicians soon followed suit. Many of the supposed leaders had found a way to siphon government’s money into their personal account using various names as cover up. Some got away with it, others got caught. In a state in the south west, a governor diverted fund into his personal account with the pretence of building a poultry farm in the state; the plan failed, he was later arrested and tried. In that same state, another governor took a World Bank loan with the pretence of beautifying the state with flowers and other adornment. He never did any of those and he got away with it.

Strikes
During the military era, the word ‘strike’ was almost non-existent in the mental dictionary of Nigerians, notable Nigerian who were not happy with situation of things held rally and protests. Many of them were arrested and thrown into detention; many fled the country and went on exile. The only groups who risked going on strike then were the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Education Sector
With the advent of democracy, strike became one of the madness associated with democracy. Like impeachment, Strike became a household name, it came at regular intervals. Many associations and unions emerged and strike became the only avenue of making demands which at times were unreasonable and irrational. The Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) became the major force in the strike and had recently turned their strike to a periodic event. Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) came on board and in the past five years had turned strike to an annual event.
Recently, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and JOHESU also joined the league of Unions embarking on strike. The NMA went on strike placing a long list of demands some of which are unrealistic or unreasonable to justify putting the live of patients in danger.

Fuel Increase
There was once a time in Nigeria when 100 naira could a fill a tank of a vehicle. All these were during the era of the military, but within that period, price of fuel gradually increased until it got to 22 naira. However, between that time and 2014, the price of fuel had been increased from 22 naira to 97 naira through successive democratic governments.
With the constant increment in fuel which started with Obasanjo with an unjustified fuel increase, taking it from the twenty-two Naira per litre he met it to sixty-five Naira, and there had been strike, protest and complaint which the government refused to acknowledge.
The mother of all strike was during the January 2012 fuel subsidy removal when Nigerians came together for once to make their feelings known. Although, the strike yielded little result, the era of strike had come to stay.

Religious and Civil Unrest
Civil unrest which has long been a common factor in Nigeria intensified during the era of democracy.
Religious unrest reared its ugly head again in October 1999, to the dismay of the mostly Christian southern Nigerians. One of the northern states, Zamfara declared its intention to introduce Islamic Shari‘a law, which bans alcohol and includes such punishments as amputation for those guilty of theft. Ethnic tensions had also erupted into violence that year. To many people’s surprises, Obasanjo’s response to the massive communal and religious unrest across the country had been to use the army to control localised disturbances, a case in study of the Odi Massacre.
Asari Dokubo, Ateke Tom, Boyloaf, Tompolo and other disgruntled Niger Deltans set up the Niger Delta Militants who embarked on kidnapping Expatriates working in the area as well as vandalizing oil company properties among other acts. This was a harbinger of things to come, Nigerians did not feel the effect of the activities of the Militants as they were not targeted at Nigerians hence nobody felt a need to nip any form of unrest in its bud.
Religious unrest was also occurring regularly when killings were reported in Plateau state, Kaduna state and other middle belt states between the Hausa Fulanis and the Indigenes.
The first sign that Nigeria was going the way of conflict ridden and war torn countries started during the tenure of President Umaru Yar’Adua and that of the incumbent President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. A sect Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidwa’Awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a number of bomb blasts, raids and killing of citizens in their villages and towns spread across the northern parts of Nigeria.
The sect launched attacks in the north central and north eastern part of Nigeria, increasingly becoming sophisticated and bold enough to attack a number of government organisations like police offices, army barracks. The UN building in Abuja was also targeted, a newspaper house, shopping areas and markets was also bombed in the FCT, Plateau, Gombe, Potiskum, Niger and Maiduguri States as they turned their attacks on house of prayer. Churches and Mosques were targeted on a regular basis, more recently schools have been targeted. The most popular being that of Buni Yadi in Potiskum and the kidnapping of about 200 hundred girls in Chibok that gave birth to the hash tag Bring Back Our Girls BBOG on twitter.

Looking Ahead
As 2015 election approaches, the atmosphere is already charged. The recent Primaries held in the various political parties showed how Nigerians are preparing for the next political dispensation.
However, it is just an electoral process which will usher in the next set of political office holders, the madness which had became closely associated with democracy still remains.
16 years of democratic rule and Nigeria is not in any way better off than the years of military rules.

Should Sex be as a Weapon?

2014-08-21T03:12:00.000-07:00

Should Sex be as a Weapon?

By Felix Adewumi

“You play with desire like it was a toy

How much affection can you destroy

You wrap my heart around your little finger

Sex, sex, sex as a weapon

Stop using sex as a weapon” (Pat Benatar – Rock ‘n’ Roll Star)

Listening to the lyrics of Pat Benatar’s song “Sex as a Weapon” I got curious, can Sex really be used as a weapon? I began to ask around and the first information I received was in the form of a joke. According to the Info, a couple had an argument one afternoon; the husband had insisted his wife must move out of the house because she called him a big fool. It took the intervention of neighbours and friends to make the man change his mind. Later that night, when the wife lay down to sleep, the husband crept up to the wife and placed a hand on her as he made a move to draw her closer to him in order to make love. “Who is that fool?” the wife asked, “I am the one” the husband reply, and that settled the whole thing. The husband had inadvertently admitted to be a fool just because he needed to have sex with the wife and the wife had gotten the upper hand once more ..... hmmmmm... the power of Sex.

Without being aware of it, the most prevalent way sex can be used is for control and manipulation more than for procreation and the women had the greater advantage of using it than the men. In one third of marriages, there is a desire gap, one person desire sex more than the other person does and typically, men want sex more than women do and the person who want sex the least is the one who is in control and this is how sex has been used as a weapon of manipulation.

It is probably very clear and obvious that sex is a very strong drive in human, however, the strength of the drive may change over life but it is nevertheless present in most individuals throughout most of our life. A very important thing we ought to realise is that sex is a very powerful two edge sword that can be seen as the metaphysical equivalent of nuclear energy. It can be used constructively or destructively. Sex is used to procreate along with making us feel good but what happened when sex is used for something else. We will discuss some type of weapon in which Sex can be used.

* Sex as a Money Making Weapon: The University runs girls popularly known as Aristos use this weapon very well. They run after Sugar daddies and the only way they get money out of the “Rich fools” is through sex. A man who hardly provide money for his wife at home will give out 300 thousand to a girl just because he derives pleasure from her. In such situation, the girls know that as far as they keep giving the men the correct pleasure, the money keep flowing. Some Aristos even use the weapon correctly and get millions or cars out of the men.

* Sex as Weapon for Information: Most people believe that the best time to get true and correct information is during foreplay preceding a sex. At that point, both of the players are no longer in Planet earth and the only thoughts in their mind is Sex. At that moment, if the lady needs a piece of information from the man, she gets it easily. Delilah might have extracted information from Samson using this method. The same thing also applies to the man who needs to extract information from a lady.

* Sex as a Weapon of Punishment: Think of this scenario that happens in bedroom almost in every homes across the world. After a day where there had been a little misunderstanding at home and temper rising, the night comes and you climb into bed, you mate draws you closer and whisper to you “Honey, let’s have sex” still angry about the argument you had earlier in the day, you roll over to the other side of the bed and reply “ I am not in the mood tonight” and you close your eyes pretending to be sleeping. Defeated, your mate rolls back over to the other side of the bed and either sleeps off or pretend to sleep. Sex has just been used to punish your spouse for an argument you have had earlier in the day. Most times, we refuse to allow our spouse touch us because we don’t feel like they deserve it. Some women even felt sex has to be earned.

* Sex as a Reward: Picture this scenario too, A husband has just arrived from the office, and he had stopped over at a boutique and bought a favourite dress that the wife had longed admired, he also bought a pair of shoe and a Louis Viton Bag, he then stopped over at a fast food spot and got a nice dish. Upon getting home, he present all these to his wife and the wife plants a sweet and nice kiss on his lip. I can bet with you that the husband is surely going to get more than a sex at night because the wife felt the husband had earned it. Many women felt sex is the best way to reward the men. A woman even pointed out that if her husband is well behaved, he gets a Sex reward and her husband also affirmed that most time when he noticed that his wife is not forthcoming when it comes to sex, he go the extra mile to make her happy, buy her gifts and surprise her, then he begin to get “hot Passionate Sex” as he called it.

Dangers of using Sex as a Weapon

Professionals declare that this is the most prevalent way that sex can be misused when it should instead be a means to create intimacy. According to some experts, using sex as a weapon is the primary cause of sexual dysfunction within marriage and sexual dysfunction often leads to divorce.

Using sex as a bargaining chips can be destructive to a relationship over time when sex starts to be viewed as currency. For the married couple, sex should be seen as an affection which should never be bought or sold.

To deny someone sex when he/she needs it most is like denying an asthmatic patient his inhaler, it is tortuous. It is saddening that most people using sex as a weapon knows this yet they still do it.

The facts of Sex in a family is that a woman desire sex but a man need it and a husband during a wedding made a vow to be faithful to his wife, if she refuses to meet his sexual needs and his vows keeps him from seeking another woman, she is inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on him.

When a woman stops treating her husband like a lover and starts treating him like a child or handy man, the passion can fade away. Using sex as a weapon turns intimacy into warfare, in seeking to win and manipulate your partner, you only end up driving him away.

Sex is the greatest gift of marriage, it is meant to be enjoyed, cherished, featured and respected and it is what makes marriage unique among all other relationships. According to the Bible in 1^st Corinthian 7:4-5 Apostle Paul admonished the couple saying “The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Do not deny one another ... Sex should not be used as a weapon under any circumstance.

Bola Ige and the faceless Killer(s) 11 years after

2013-01-15T05:36:00.004-08:00

* I Actually wrote this for publication in the dailies in 2007 during the 6th year of Bola Ige's assassination. recently I stumbled across the write-up and discovered that much of the points are still in place, so I edited few parts and put it up for publication.

There is a cardinal aspect of modern jurisprudence and justice which holds that people are innocent until proven guilty. As hard as it sometimes is, I absolutely respect and accept it. Mobolaji E Aluko (2004)

When Chief Bola Ige was assassinated in December 23, 2001, everybody rose up to the challenge of calling for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the unknown killers; The Press lent their voices, the Judiciary also cried out. I could recall the statement of Femi Falana (SAN), Lagos Lawyer when he heard of the news “Why should Ige whose precious life was spared by Abacha's hit squad have to be killed under a supposed democratic regime of which he was the chief legal officer! What an irony of life!" Who could have killed Uncle Bola as he is popularly called, in his bedroom two days to Xmas, during this period of democracy, Remember that Chief Alfred Rewane was killed during the Abacha regime on October 6, 1995? The differences here of course are that Rewane was killed during a military regime, while we now have a civilian, supposedly democratic regime. Rewane was a private official, while Ige was the highest unelected law-enforcement officer of civilian regime. Rewane was a bitter enemy of Abacha, while Ige was the closest thing to a friend that former president Olusegun Obasanjo had, I mean a very close friends.

People took the death of Ige very personally, just as I am sure that former President Obasanjo has taken the death of his long-time friend very personal, to the point of weeping. Ige was the only cabinet member outside Adamu Ciroma who could dare look Obasanjo in the eye and tell him off without batting an eyelid.

Ironically, on Wednesday, December 19, Chief Bola Ige had just turned in his letter of resignation from Obasanjo’s cabinet, taking effect from March 31, 2002, simply because he wanted to stick around for the Bakassi judgement in February as a fitting “farewell” to himself, and to face his new UN Law Commission appointment.

The Federal Government had promised to do something about his death. Obasanjo had declared that the Killers would not go Scot-free.

There were various theories on who killed him. Some said that the killing was a reprisal killing stemming from the killing of one State Representative, Odunayo Olagbaju on December 20, 2001. The remote cause is linked to be political succession ambitions with the then Deputy Governor of Osun State, who later became a Senator, Otunba Iyiola Omisore’s name coming up. Omisore had alleged that back in 1998/1999 he agreed to be deputy governor only on the condition that his then candidate rival, Adebisi Akande would serve only one term (till 2003) as Governor of Osun State. He had pointed out that Chief Bola Ige had vowed that his friend, Governor Akande will go for a second term. So the Akande/Ige team have been doing everything to discredit him through allegations of fraud, etc., including attempts to poison and/or kill him, and Osun indigenes had taken sides in this bloody feud, as others looked on helplessly.

The rift between Akande and Omisore begins almost immediately, both political and financial rifts, with Akande’s friend, Ige naturally in the middle of them. Ige’s presence in Obasanjo’s cabinet had always been seen as his way of getting back at those mainline Afenifere members who would not make him a Presidential candidate despite years of faithful Awo-political-clan service. He was also seen more ominously as Obasanjo’s way of securing a political beach-head in Yorubaland and ostensibly a second presidential term in 2003 - Some would say that Ige literally died in the cause of doing Obasanjo’s service. Looking at the situation in 2003 with Obasanjo’s self-succession plans, Akande’s self-succession, or more accurately, Omisore’s desperation at his own ascension.

In an interview with Tempo Magazine of December 27, 2001 four days before Ige's assassination, Omisore had declared that “Bola Ige is a traitor in Afenifere. He has abused and embarrassed leaders of Afenifere, so, it is nemesis that is catching up with him. He is the 'Akintola' of our time. What Akintola did to Awolowo is what Bola Ige is doing to Adesanya and the Yoruba people”

Every body at least knew what later became of Akintola, whom Omisore made mention of here, so when Ige was murdered, there were speculations as to the cause and the killer, at least one possible set. In Osun State, a contest of political will was going on, with Governor Bisi Akande on the one hand and Deputy Governor Otunba Michael Iyiola Omisore on the other hand. Ige was a supporter of Akande, and Olagbaju a supporter of Omisore. Thus the supported are alive, while the supporters are dead.

A funny twist of event brought out Adebayo Adedamola Aka Fryo, who claimed that he was paid to kill Ige by Omisore, and thus Omisore, Fryo and other named suspects were arrested, following Omisore’s impeachment as Deputy Governor, which cancelled all immunity on him. Omisore had denied ever meeting Fryo before and the stage was set for a proper prosecution. People were relaxed that for once, a murder case will be resolved, unlike that of Dele Giwa, Alfred Rewane etc., but surprisingly, the case was dragged along, almost forgotten, giving Omisore the chance to contest as a senator even in detention and won, later gaining his freedom on June 25, 2003 in a judgement delivered by Justice Akin Sanda. On July 20, some other suspects to the case were released in a judgement delivered also by Justice Ojo, and on October 14, in a judgement delivered by Justice Atilade Ojo at Ibadan Court, Adebayo Adedamola aka Fryo, Daramola Ezekiel, Sgt Oye Oniyanda, Nelson Kumoye, Kareem Lawal, Adebayo Adegoke and Oluwole Ogunjimi, got their freedom.

One thing that is so sure is that Uncle Bola Ige did not commit suicide. Certain people forced their way into his home in Ibadan on that fateful night in the absence of his bodyguards who had all “gone to eat”; proceeded to tie up some of his family members; and then later on his body was found bullet-ridden he was rushed to the hospital where he later died. So it was a homicide, pure murder, committed not by ghosts but by some human beings, in flesh and blood. Despite accepting the notion of innocent until proven guilty, when a number of people, Fryo and Omisore included among others, were arrested on suspicion, either of plotting to kill him and/or actually laying their hands on him to do the dastardly deed, one could not but feel a sense of the need for justice to be expedited on the issue, now all the suspects to Ige’s murder are all free, freed, according to the judge, because the prosecution was completely incapable of providing any persuasive evidence against them either of conspiracy or murder. And we are back in square one, bearing it in mind that his killers are at large somewhere in Nigeria, eating, drinking and making merry somewhere, marrying and being married, having children and hoping to grow up like Ige, you and me. That is, after eleven years, not a single clue is known about who murdered the then Attorney-General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who was regarded as a personal friend of the President of Nigeria.

We have chosen to forget about the issue and regard the case as “one of the numerous murders” (don’t forget that Funsho Williams, Ayo Daramola, Harry Marshal etc., had since joined the endless list of murdered Nigerian) until when Obasanjo opened the old wound when in a valedictory Nigerian Television Authority (NTA)/Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) interview session tagged “The President Speak” said that Bola Ige was killed by a drug baron, saying that it was wrong to assume that the Police had close the case. According to the president, the drug dealer masterminded the killing of Bola Ige to stall the prosecution of a case of drug trafficking that was being handled by Ige and that the police are now looking into it.

What a new chapter to the case! People expected Nigerians to begin to look among the various drug barons in Nigeria for the murderer of Bola Ige thus starting another “the Ultimate Search XI” who knows when it will end? When will we see this faceless Drug Baron who killed Bola Ige?

An Affair with mobile Phone

2012-06-04T06:47:00.002-07:00

An Affair with mobile Phone

Temmy, my wife once told me that she discovered I now have a second wife who is threatening to take her place, I was so shocked to hear that because that thought had never crossed my mind, so I asked her who was the second wife and how did she get the news. Her reply shocked me further. Temmy informed me that my Mobile phone is the second wife.

My Mobile phone… mmmmmm…, well… I am guilty of being too attached to my phone, yes, my mobile phone virtually separated me from other things in my life (Apart from my Wife). I even use it more than I visit my laptop since I can do virtually everything I want to do with my mobile phone.

Nokia 3310 Era

When Mobile phone was introduced in

Nigeria

in 2001, nobody ever predicted it will become an essential commodity now. In fact it took me a whole year before I can join the league of mobile phone users since I never saw any sense in it then.

Perhaps maybe due to rugged and non flashy style of the early phones arrival in

Nigeria

, many do not see the need to buy it.

You will remember with fond memory the Nokia 3310, and how we play the snake game with it. I still remember the Samsung R220 blue face with antenna which I used with the aid of an outside antenna attached to a long pole all in the bid to get network and be able to call out.

However, what I really don’t want to remember is that tiny voice always reminding me that my credit will soon expire when I just bought a 750 MTN card which was suppose to last for only 7 days.

I started my phone with Samsung A800, a small portable blue open and close phone with a green light background whom I collected from my Old man and I was so proud of the phone as I show it off to my friends who were still glued to Nokia 3310.

In this era, yours truly quickly settled down into the mobile world and I learnt how to compose songs for the Nokia 3310 and the likes and I was the rave in the campus as students sought me out with their Nokia 3310 begging me to help them ‘tush’ up their phone with some sounds. I still laugh whenever I remember how we were satisfied with those sounds then and feel so fly anytime our phone ring and it plays monophonic sounds.

Infrared and Polyphonic Era

After my first experience with Sansung, I migrated to Sony Ericsson with Z200, and that was when the Infrared age started and you can imagine my elation when I discovered that apart from making calls and playing games, I can actually send files such as pix and Polyphonic ring tones, by bringing my phone side by side with another phone.

To some of us, that is the best that can ever happen to us on the technology era, imagine you being able to actually transfer pix to my phone, all I need to do is snap myself and send it to other people’s phone through my Infrared. It was simply wonderful

Mp3 and Bluetooth Era

I moved through different ranges of Sony Ericsson from Z200 to K350i, K750i and later W800i and P900i and in all these, I was introduced to Mp3 and 3.5 mega pixel camera as well as Bluetooth. I guess this was where the addiction started from, as I tried various styles and innovations with my Sony Ericsson.

Being a bachelor at that time, it is natural that I stay awake most nights with my ear phone in my ear listening to cool music blaring into my ear while I also try out other things that my phone application allows me.

Internet Browsing Codes

All through these periods there were still a limit to all we can do with our phones, as our network providers felt we don’t still qualify to enjoy full internet access, so you can imagine how happy I was when in the early 2008, I stumbled across a free browsing code and browsing cheats…

Wow, so I can actually browse on my phone for free? This realization was so superb, I formed a clique of free browsing code users, and we create codes for various versions of phones and share it among ourselves.

Much later, we discovered browsing prov and created provs for our MTN and GLO. It was so wonderful.

China

Phone era

A friend of mine visited me in 2009 and was holding a very big mobile phone with large screen. On closer look, I discovered that it was a dual sim phone so I really got interested, what type of phone is this? I asked, an sure it will cost more than 100k, I thought within me…

As I still held on to the phone, it sudden rang…. Omg! I quickly threw down the phone as the sound that came out from the phone was as if a loudspeaker had been placed in the room. My friend gently picked the phone with a bemused look and calmly told me that was how the phone rings so loud.

Wow…. What type of the phone is this? I collected the phone from him to look for the name of the brand but all I could see were some strange names I cant easily recognize among the different brands I know. Then he explained to me that it was a China phone….

Welcome to era of China phones… some call it Shinko phone… over the years, we have course to see many china phones ranging from ITEL, NOKLA, NKIA, TECNO, and even names such as GODWIN, and others.

Later, we begin to see some of these China phones having Mobile Television where you can tune to local channels.

Right now, it has become so difficult to even recognize them again as some

China

phones had been so designed to look like Nokia and other brands, that one of the easiest way to recognize them is the MNT that takes the place of MTN

Blackberry, Ipad, iPhones and DSTV phones

After following the trend of phones, I quickly jumped at DSTV mobile phone following a brief flirt with Nokia phones, but by this time, the new rave in town was Blackberry and iPhones. And sharing of PIN became the order of the day.

Moreover, in a bid to outdo each other, the Mobile network provider created the monthly, weekly and daily internet plans which allowed subscribers to have access to internet.

The introduction of Blackberry and frenzy rate in which our society embraced it is alarming going by different news being heard about blackberry thefts among other things.

Despite my addiction and romance with mobile, it has never crossed my mind to get a blackberry or an iPhone even when I can afford it, I just do not see any thing attractive in it and am still waiting to be proved wrong

However, by now, after my conversation with my wife, I realized that I had really got so involved with mobile phones and as a married man, I ought not to allow it become my second wife. I need to take a decision once and for all.

One thing I promised Temmy was my undying love for her and I think if I need to do that, I have to reduce my addiction to mobile phones.

A very Blue story

2012-06-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

A very Blue story

Dateline: Moscow, May 21, 2008 (My room, Ikorodu 8:30pm)

I had rushed from the office after meeting my production deadline for the week as I consider the day a very special one…. My beloved Chelsea is in the Uefa Champions league Final after grinding its way to the final and had set up a meeting with bitter rival and fellow English team, Manchester United.

I was so determined to get to my house without hitch that when I was faced with a heavy gridlock along Ketu – Mile 12 axis, I opted to pay an exorbitant price to a motorcyclist to take me to Ikorodu and I eventually arrived just as the game was about to kick off.

As I relaxed on my seat with my elder sister’s husband, who is also a Chelsea fan, we never hoped for anything less than a win. The blues had been so assured of victory for various reasons

· The final was held in Moscow, the home country of Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea Multibillionaire owner, and he had prepared very well for it …. There had also been reports that he bought a whole hotel and a street and renamed it Chelsea in honour of his club and had lodged the team in the hotel as part of his preparation.

· On the Road to Moscow, Chelsea had grinded out result with other clubs in the group stage like Rosenborg (1-1), Valencia (won 2-1), Schalke 04 (0-0) Rosenborg (won 4-0), Valencia (0-0), and in the second round with Olympiakos (1-1), Olympiakos (Won 3-0), then the quarter final against Fenerbache (lost 1-2 away ) and (Won 2-0 at home) before an all English semi final clash with Liverpool which Chelsea drew 1-1 away and later won 3-2 (after extra time) with John Riise gifting us a last minute rare own goal. So Chelsea entered the final with confidence that we will grind out any result with Man U.

However, not long after I settled down to enjoy the game, Christiano Ronaldo fired Man United ahead with just 26 minutes played and my heart jumped into my mouth but parity was restored when Frank Lampard equalized before the interval and all was set for a thrilling second half and extra time but before we can say Jack Robinson, Devil entered Didier Drogba and he turned football into WWE by rushing Vidic and bullying him to silence with a resounding slap. This led to his sending off and Chelsea’s fate lies in its own hand with just 4 minutes to play

They rallied round, started a defensive style of play which denied the onslaught that would have happened if there had been more minutes to play.

Luckily, Chelsea held on and the ensuing penalty was mind-boggling. By this time, I was in a frenzy state and was pacing up and down the room, hoping for a miracle…. Yeah… it almost happened, I screamed when Ronaldo lost the third kick after Tevez and Carrick (for United) and Ballack and Belleti (for Chelsea).

So Lampard was successful from the spot, while Michael Owen also scored under pressure and Ashley Cole penalty took Chelsea to the brink of victory and Nani scoring his kick to prolong the tension.

The last kick was supposed to go to John Terry, our captain, but he gifted Man United a lifeline when he slipped in the process of taking the kick.

With renewed strength, Anderson and Kalou both scored for either side before Giggs threw all responsibility on Anelka as the shoot out reached sudden death.

By this time, I had nearly peed in my pants, I was nearly in a state of shock, what would happen, would Anelka keep his cool? I closed my eye as the certainty was about glaring on my face.

But this proved too much for the Anelka as he directed his kick straight into Van der Sar’s palm and thus, our hope came crashing down as Manchester United were crowned the winner.

Well, I did not pee in my pant but I was gutted at being denied the Champion’s league after having come so close.

Dateline: FCE Okene Staff quarters, (1983 – 1993)

My love for football dated back to my primary and secondary days in Federal College of Education, Okene, Kogi State. As the son of a lecturer and living in a staff quarters with other kids like me, we quickly formed a football team and play with other in the quarters.

I was a natural left footer so I was drafted to the left back where I played 3 or 6 as a defender.

However, after I sustained a serious injury on my left leg (Which would have put Messi on 9 months injury in present time - Lol), my father banned every form of football for his children.

So I started sneaking out to play football with other kids in the other compound and dashed back to the house whenever the sound of my father’s car drift to us as he make his way back from the office.

Despite my not being opportune to play regular football, my love for soccer never stopped and I always adored any left back I know both in Nigeria and Europe which was why I fell in love with Celestine Babayaro of the 1994 Super Eagles and when I later learnt that he had signed for Chelsea, I naturally started supporting the club and not long after, Abramovich put his billions in the club and the revolution started with Jose Mourinho after the sacking of Claudio Ranieri.

Dateline: Munich, May 19, 2012 (My room, Abuja 8:30pm)

Believe me, in December 2011, not even the most optimists Chelsea fan will tell you Chelsea will get any where pass the knock out stage in the Champions league after what we had witnessed with our new young coach.

Villa-Boaz had mixed naivety with natural gift as he battled with Chelsea’s mafia; the triumvirate of Drogba, Lampard and Terry who had combined to make life difficult for AVB at the detriment of our league and Champions league position.

However, the mafia again won the battle as they have done to other managers, so out go AVB and in come Roman Di Mattio (RDM) and immediately our lucked changed.

Chelsea was on the verge of going out of the Champions League knock out stage after a 3-1 away loss to Napoli and were held at home in the F.A Cup by Birmingham, but things quickly changed; Chelsea manoeuvre its way pass Napoli with 4-3 aggregate, beat Birmingham in the F.A cup replay, then came Benfica and Totemham and the Champions league and F.A cup respectively.

After Chelsea passed through to the Semis of the Champions League and the Final of the F.A Cup, many felt that no matter what happen next, Chelsea should accept their lots because they have tried pushing up to that stage.

Perhaps, looking at the credentials of the teams Chelsea was to play with in the Champions league (Barcelona) and the F.A Cup (Liverpool), one might be tempted to say this is the end of the road for Chelsea.

Even Mumini Alao, the Complete Sports’ Chief Editor and Columnist in his Column ‘Soccer Talk’ declared Chelsea dead and buried in the two matches.

But luck played its part, Chelsea with a divine help which was beyond human comprehension defeated Barca by even playing out a draw with 10 players at Camp Nuo as well as claiming the F.A Cup after defeating Liverpool.

So back in my room on May 19, the Champions’ league Final was set out to almost be a repeat of the 2008 Final with the game ending 1-1 and going into penalty.

I felt a sense of Déjà vu when the penalty was to be played, Oh God, will this be a repeat of 2008, why do you allow us to get to this stage only to suffer heartbreak.

But this time, the stage had been set for Chelsea to claim the coveted cup after Drogba calmly slot in the ball and Chelsea became to Champion of Europe.

Dateline: Present day

I had been vilified by lots of people for my support for Chelsea, some had hurled insult at me for even attempting to support the club which some called ‘Shepe’ or ‘Chelski’. I remember a guy who even deleted me from his Facebook list just because I am a Chelsea fan. According to him, he hate Chelsea and anybody that support the club.

In all sincerity, I sometimes ask myself why I love this club and still stick to it most time when we pass through coach crisis but I am a committed Chelsea fan and had always remain a true blues and after the Champions League and FA cup success, I will always raise my head high and tell everyone that I AM A CHELSEA FAN and AM PROUD OF IT.

Just before you say “ YES I DO”

2012-02-09T17:59:00.000-08:00

(Strictly for Intending couples)

(Caveat Emptor: This write up is strictly for Intending couples, before you go on reading it, you must identify yourself that you are in that category)

Okay, having done a little test and had screened out all the players or the unserious lovers from reading this piece, intending couples, lets study something together about your ideal person… some pitfalls you will have to avoid before saying YES I DO.

Credit must be given to Zicolo Abiola Issac for the inspiration to write this, he wrote a wonderful piece in his Facebook page which I found very useful and which am going to adopt most of his points and discuss about it.

Of course by the time of writing this note, I am still single (If you are reading it after February 18, 2010), so many will say, “What do you know about Love and marriage to teach us” but, I have had my own fair share of the Love and Relationship and there are some topics about love in which I consider myself worthy and qualified to talk about.

Okay, enough of this rambling, lets start….

Do you have a relationship with a girl or a guy and you are telling yourself that its time to settle down… as a lady, do you think its high time he proposed, and as a guy, do you think this is just the right moment to pop the question.

Well… most people get to that stage without actually knowing how they get there. Many just start conceiving marriage thought without the right motive.

To some, it may be the age factor… the thought of “ Oh, I am getting old o… when will he propose na” or “All my age mates are married, am tired of doing the best man, its time I take her to the alter” comes readily to mind.

If that’s your motive for getting married, then you better check out yourself, you are seriously not ripe for marriage, and you are heading for a turbulent time in your marriage.

Deciding if you’re ready to make the commitment to marriage is only half the battle, before you ever think of settling down, there are a few things to consider first because, you must figure out if the man or woman in your life is the right one to devote yourself to until death do you part. Believe me, this is not a joking matter, there are a few warning signs that your boyfriend girlfriend is not marriage material. It’s a complex situation but we are going to address them carefully here.

Is he or she the Touch and Go person: Are you getting married to a restless person, a guy or a girl who has trouble committing to a job, a friendship or even a hairstyle might not be the best person to swear your undying loyalty to. If she has tried numerous short-lived career paths or is constantly making new friends and dropping the old ones, these may be indications that she’s not the kind of girl who’s in it for the long haul. settling down simply may not be in the cards for someone so free-spirited and fickle, Even if he/she sticks around, consider the possibility that his/her ever-changing lifestyle could derail your own life plan as well. Remember getting married means combining your lives in nearly every sense. Give some serious thought as to whether or not she will be a good influence on your future.
Is He/She the Jealous Type? If your boyfriend/girlfriend is jealous of every guy/girl who comes near you, going to the putting a ring on her finger is not going to make her more secure. Everyone gets jealous sometimes, but if you find yourself constantly having to reassure her that the other women in your life are not a threat to her, this could spell doom for a long-term commitment. Two years ago, a guy actually called me on phone to tell me to steer clear of girlfriend…. It really turned me off from that kind of relationship. A good husband/wife is not possessive or irrational. As long as you’re not giving him/her any reason to be suspicious, she should be able to keep the green-eyed monster in check.
Is the sex life totally different? Have you really have cause to wonder if your partner’s sex drive match yours: Sex is an important part of any relationship, and the way you relate to each other physically has a big influence on whether you stay together after you say “I do.” One sign that to show that he/she might make a bad husband/wife is if his/her sex drive differs wildly from yours. Whether it’s much higher or much lower than your own, his/her libido will have a huge effect on your happiness as a married couple. Sex-drive issues can be the result of medical or psychological problems, so problems might come and go, but either way, it’s best to work this out before you walk down the aisle.
Is he/she happy when your friends are with you? Mmmmm…. This is a very sensitive matter, have you thought about his/her disposition towards your friends? A guy/girl who disapproves of you hanging out with your friends will become a husband/wife who doesn’t want you to have your own life outside of the marriage. Even if he/she is not that fond of your buddies, he/she shouldn’t stand in the way of you spending time with them on your own. Provided your friends aren’t convincing you to rob banks or visit a Juju man. He/she should trust you to make your own decisions about your friends. If he/she tries to restrict that now, it’ll only get worse after you say your vows. One of my girlfriends was always against my friends, she will always ask me what’s my use of staying with them. She once asked me to choose between her and my brother when there was a conflict of interest… of course you can imagine that I will chose my brother, the relationship did not even lasted long for me to consider her a wife material.
Is he/she trying to change you? If your boyfriend/girlfriend is constantly fussy about your appearance, your behavior, your personality, your career path, your friends, and your habits, he/she is essentially telling you that you’re not good enough for him/her. Everyone can make improvements in their lives, and a good partner should help you become a better person, but if he/she is forever on your case about changing one thing or another, he/she is certainly going to make a bad husband/wife. You also have to decide whether or not the things he/she is asking you to change are reasonable or out of the question. Can you give up your vision of a loft downtown for his/her desire for a house in the suburbs? Are you ready to start putting on jean just because he/she says that’s how he/she wants you to dress? What if you’ve always wanted to be a father/mother and he/she is dead-set against having children? Ask yourself how much you’re willing to give up to please him/her. A lady was always nitpicking about lots of things about me, she complained about the way I eat, she complained about how I laugh, she complained about how I sleep, she complained about virtually everything about me so one day I asked her, “are you sure I am what you want? You better decide now because this is who I am, I can’t start changing how I walk, talk, eat and sleep because of you”.

Contrary to the wisdom of pop songs, love is not enough to make a marriage work.

Getting married means sharing your entire life with another person, so you want to make absolutely sure that he/she is someone you’ll be happy spending time with day in and day out. Keep an eye out for these warning signs that your boyfriend/girlfriend will make a bad husband/wife and avoid committing to the wrong woman.

If he/she has all or most of the above traits, then you had better think twice before you decide in saying “YES I DO”. Marriage is an eternal thing and once you are inside, it’s till death do you part.

Felix Adewumi's World: Forced Wedding

2012-02-04T04:51:00.000-08:00

Felix Adewumi's World: Forced Wedding

Luv and Marriage: Simply Misunderstood

2012-02-04T00:13:00.001-08:00

By Felix Adewumi
(DISCLAIMER: All names in dis write up are ficticious pls. D names av no bearing wit any pple i av met in real life)

I woke up one day to discover dat not less dan 9 girls had actually thot I wud marry dem or expect me to marry dem.
Pls dont get me wrong. B4 u start thinking am prince Charming, d handsome, cool dude wit plenty swaggar which ladies want. NO I AM NOT. In actual fact am d exact opposite.
Am not handsome (as some pple will say).
Am not tall (what most ladies want... Howeva i wont say am short neither).
I dont walk wit that swag dey want (in fact am a bow-legged boi and if u stare very well u will still see it in d way i walk).
I dont av dat enchanting voice dat swept ladies off dia feet (Am not ashame to say dat I stammer wen am angry, agitated or nervous).
But despite all dese flaws, i came to realise dat dose are not all dat ladies look for in a guy, dey look for something special..... One unique feature which supersede d physical attraction and wen dey find it, dey are ready to overlook d other flaws and cling to it.......
Now lets get dis straight.... I only had relationship wit four (4) gals all my life so how come i had over nine (9) gals thinking i wud end up marrying dem?
Wen One of my female friend who got married last year heard d story of my being involved, she actually placed a call to me and said "Congratz Felix, but so if I had waited for u, dat's how u will end up not marrying me?". Dat really shocked me and got me thinking, so all dis while dat we are friends, dis ladies actually thot i may pop d question "will u Marry me" to dem?
Ok.... Enough of d rabbling, lets start from d very beginning.... I grew up in a house filled wit female, save my younger brother and dad, and I learnt a lot about Ladies from dem....
Its natural dat Tinu, Bola, Martha & Abbey (Not all real names) whom I can really say i had relationship wit will expect me to marry dem afterall I always handled my relationship so seriously and wit maturity.
Take for instance, Tinu and I were together for 7 years. I luv everything about her personality, Beauty and d way she relates wit my friends and family, but dat's wia it ends, we neva really got along until sadly it had to end.
Bola filled up d place wia Tinu lacked concerning luv and Communication but cud not provide what Tinu had... It was a tough decision to make but it was obvious from d onset dat it wont lead anywhere even though it lasted on and off for 3 years.
Martha cud av been it.... Dey said we were perfect... Dey said d chicken had come to roost... Howeva, after 3 years of dilly-dallying and indecision, it was not yet Uhuru for me....
Dat Abbey became my choice is one thing some pple will not understand... Remind me in 80 years time.... And i will tell u why she is d chosen one....
Ok.... Back to d other 5 who still felt i ought to av chosen dem.... One of dem (Hannah) whom i actually av not met... (We were only online friends) immediatly fought wit me over my being involved.
D other two (Juliana and Anthonia) were my Lagos office colleagues and dey neva took it easy wit me for getting involve.... According to one of dem, its a bitter pill to swallow....
Abbey Always told me dat d way i handled and treat ladies always make dem think am interested in dem and all dey need do is to silently expect me to ask dem out..... Me think am just simply understood.......
(to be Continued)

Love and Marriage: the place of Bosom Friends

2012-02-04T00:13:00.000-08:00

(Sequel to Love and Marriage Simply Misunderstood)
Recently, a friend and colleague drew my attention to a post on one of the social website which dealt with issues of Intimate friends… after reading such post, I begin to wonder within me how this really relates to my life as well as the lives of many people.
In my earlier post (Check Love and Marriage: Simply Misunderstood), I had shared my story on how some people expressed disappointment about my plan to settle down…. Obviously, it was not that they don’t want me to settle, they just could not fathom why they were not the one.
By the nature of my upbringing, as a kid, warming my way into people’s heart is one of my asset, I may not be the soft spoken charming type ladies long for, but my shoulder is as wide and soft as the ear of an elephant and on the shoulder most people find El-Dorado and the Utopia world; no matter how short it may be.
I became a reservoir of secrets; people shared their intimate secrets with me and confide in me on important things that at time I respect the burdens which a Reverend Fathers have to bear daily hearing the confession of the people.
With me, I see my friends as sexless, irrespective of your gender, whenever our heart meets and agrees, we take on from there, but my preference for the opposite sex took over.
Before you castigate me or call me a woman wrapper, remember that I said I grew up in the family of 3 girls and just a kid brother so I am more closer to ladies that men and as far back as my Secondary and University days, it was not strange to see me in the company of a girl, or see a girl tagging along when I go about my normal duties.
However, there was always a limit to our friendship: the word LOVE never arises. In my eye, they are just friends or family members nothing attached.
Many people find it difficult to believe a guy and a lady can share intimate moments with a guy without them actually dating, so I can understand the sentiments that people attach to my relationship with some of those friendgirl.
My first intimate moments with a lady friend came during my final year in the University, Kenny, a very intimate lady-friend of mine had moved into my room where she planned on spending a WHOLE month with me…. We were not dating and I was certainly not looking forward to any thing that would suggest a different set up.
However, after her first 24 hours with me where I had watched her sleep, had her bath, dress up and even seen her in her awkward moments, I knew I was in for a great test of my life. How I passed the test is a story for another time.
Just after my University, another test came during my Service year when Lily, another female friend, paid me a visit and decided to stay for 3 weeks.
Now, the point I am trying to bring out here is this… when these girls decide to go to that extent with you, are they indirectly trying to pass a message across to you that its high time the intimacy move to another level.
In my own case, when I see a lady-friend as a family friend, I am not aroused by her sexuality, so it should not amaze you if I say I actually go to the extent of seeing then in their “Birthday suit” and not feel any sensation run through my body.
Well, not many opposite sex see this as many of us tend to see it. In the first place, many intimate relationships which we term “Just Friends” might actually be more than it looked like as most opposite sex actually believe the relationship might actually be leading somewhere.
Recently, a friend of mine on Facebook received a rude shock when he was turned down by his lady friend whom he shared intimate call with. According to him, within the 8 months in which they were together, she had called him on numbers of time, share intimate secret with him, sent him lovely messages and even hang out, so automatically he had the motion that this is leading somewhere and actually pop the JAMB question “Be my Fiancée”. The answer he got, coupled with the tongue lashed he received from the visibly angry girl will forever linger in his heart.
However, how are we now expected to define the level of intimacy you might want to share with your opposite sex? How far are you both willing to go, how will it affect your personal relationship with you fiancé or fiancée?
Joshua Rogers, an writer/attorney based in Washington D.C in one of his write-up “Your Friendgirl deserves better” stated that people have to wake up to the fact that there is something more important at stake than our convenience with our friendgirl, and what might be at stake is his or her heart.
Most times, ladies heart are vulnerable and after some intimate moments together, the assumption begin to creep into her mind, “I think he loves me, he is just bidding his time”
According to Joshua, when this thinking comes into her mind, it is time for a major break up…. “if you are one of those guys who is passively encouraging a single lady to waste her time on you when you are not romantically interested, then it is time for one of the most important break up of your life”.
How practicable is this advice in your life? How do we succeed in breaking up with someone you are so close with?
Well…. In my own case, I procrastinated in most of my friendgirl’s issue and so was not surprise when most of them showed displeasure at my plans to get married.
The only occasion where I try to use the above principle with a friendgirl almost ended in a disaster. Funmmy (Not real Name) was a very close friend of mine… we met in Lagos, find ourselves in the same company and became so attached when I was introduced to her family and I became part of the family.
In this situation, I thought I was okay with the level of intimacy since we both did not plan to take it further and since we were both in a relationship.
Then all of a sudden, my blissful relationship collapsed and in my moments of brooding over the relationship she confessed to me that her relationship had collapsed for over a year but she had continued to use him as front in order to avoid any complications.
Now the best bet and step for a sharp Lagos guy will be to jump at the opportunity and open a relationship with Funmmy… this many expected me to do, and this I failed to do. To me, we were brothers and sisters… even during a crazy moment when we actually kissed and confess some feelings for each other, I still could not fathom how I will live with someone I had initially consider as my sister… that is incest…
So I took another route, I met Abiodun (Not real Name) proposed to her and introduced her to Funmmy as my fiancée. (Till today, still cannot say if Funmmy is really happy to see me settling down).
As for my other friendgirls, I guess I should have followed the advice of Joshua and clearly define what really exist between us.
So you don’t have to fall into the same dilemma I fell into with my friendgirl, ask yourself today if you think you are doing the right thing with her.
Joshua pointed out that “You might have a friendgirl if you are a friend with a girl you never intend to marry and

You know she is interested but you figure that as long as you don’t kiss her, she will understand that the relationship is platonic.
People keep asking you if you are dating her and you act surprise every time.
You have had to explain every time that she is just like a sister to you.
When she calls you, you hang out with her if it is convenient
When you call her, she leaves everything she is doing to be with you

In actual fact, friendgirl thinks and hopes something might be going on between the two of you or why do you think they stay with you all this while, is it to be your wife’s Chief Bride’s Maid?
So it is very imperative we take the right step now, beware of what you are doing to your opposite sex. She might not find it so funny as you think take a decision today.

My 2011 in retrospect

2012-02-04T00:07:00.000-08:00

Ever since I became a journalist, December has always been a busy month for me.
This is d month when i get to write review of the Judiciary, Transport and sometimes the Political section in the year (check my notes for 2009 & 2010),
Every December we have to work tirelessly as our editor breath down on our neck and bellow "have u finished your review? Remember u av to start work on d preview too" .
Oh yes, we also have to turn ourselves to Octopus and Preview d coming year.
These were not easy for me, so d natural thing is to always spend Xmas and New year in d office since u have to meet up wit deadline.
However, this year things became so different. While my media colleagues are struggling wit there reviews and previews (someone even called me to send him my own preview for 2011) here I am, in new and different settings:
I don’t have any editor to submit any review to, i don’t have anyone breathing down on my neck to meet up wit deadline, suddenly, after such a long time, I actually find myself eager to travel for Xmas and new year without having to think of any preview...
However, despite d fact that there is no editor to submit my Law, Transport and Political review, I have decided not to be lazy and write a different form of Review on Fb, wit my Fb friends as my editor and Fb being my newspaper....
Meanwhile, Am gonna have to disappoint people expecting me to talk about Nigeria in 2011 cos dia is nothing to write about apart from Boko Haram and numerous Crises coupled wit Fuel subsidy uproar and other things. (oh, sorry, I will av something to write about if u allow me to compile d numerous Grammar bomb thrown by Madame Patience).
So wit dat in mind, am prepared to review situations around me all through d year.
DIS IS MY 2011 REVIEW...

JANUARY : After an Indifferent new year, I had prepared for a new challenge in d new year. 2 months earlier, I had just changed job from one media house to another and being d Law and Transport editor dia, I had decided to concentrate fully on my job wen a call came in.
I had to change Job again for d second time in 3 months but this time, I had to change Profession as well as location...
It was a tough decision to make... At last I gave in, packed my loads bid farewell to Lagos into d unknown, I started a journey that will take me all thru 2011....

FEBRUARY: Settling down in Abj has not been as sweet as expected.
Coping wit new friends, a new job entirely, and a new environment was not easy... D only thing dat was not new in my life in Feb was Temmy Cara.
By d way, INEC registration was still ongoing so I wanted to exercise my right to vote but after staying in queue consecutively for 1 weeks, I gave up and went home. At least I tried my best, Just dat Uncle Jega refused to register me .

MARCH: Settling down fully in Abuja, making new friends, understanding new colleagues and working my way to d top of d Ladder.
However, News of d death of my Head Tutor in Abj Late Mr Ogunseni hit me wit such a force. Late tutor was a like a father figure to me during my two month acquaintance wit him. He was a strong voice in persuading me to make d switch to Abuja. His death almost had me having a rethink but I had to continue... Meanwhile, election was brewing so fast. Accusations and Counter accusations were being thrown by Goodluck Jonathan of PDP, Nuhu Ribadu of ACN, Mohamnadu Buhari of CPC and others in TV debates.

APRIL : Election started in earnest, Started wit d National Assembly and Gubernatorial and d wind of change was really felt across as CPC and AC battled it out wit d ruling party PDP. Iyabo Obasanjo, Ayo Fayose, Alao Akala, Dora Akunyili and even former President Olusegun Obasanjo all felt d heat. (still wondering how Jonathan den went head to beat his opponents hands down... But since I was not allowed to vote, I cant complain much)
Then came the introduction of election violence into 2011 election. Riots in Kaduna, Bornu, Jos, Adamawa and Gombe left a lot of pple homeless and dead....
I lost a brother in dis senseless bloodshed as Late Pastor Gbenga Felix Afolalu was killed in Kaduna...
Meanwhile, I also took my relationship a step further in dat month as I took my parents to Temmy Cara's house for proper introduction....

MAY : Generally boring... Life goes on. Still trying to adjust to Abuja lifestyle and has gone 4 months without writing a news....
Swearing in came and went... We are yet to av a feel of what and who we voted for.

JUNE: As uneventful as May, d only event dia was d birthday of my Mum Mrs FM Adewumi (Uncommon FM).
Meanwhile, Boko Haram became a house hold name... Even a new born babe knew who they are

JULY : Nothing.... I was virtually rusted now having not written any news for over 6 month... Abj is taking its toll on me.

AUGUST: Just 2 events worth mentioning, my cousin Oluseyi Taiwo's wedding (6th) and my Birthday (15th)

SEPTEMBER: By now, dia is nothing to write again about Nigeria apart from the usual talk about Boko Haram, Oil Deregulation, Fuel subsidy among others, we are now reaping the fruit of our vote.
Meanwhile, my training continues and is becoming difficult...
Had to travel to Lagos and noticed a different kinda Lagos... Fashola is really living uo to his promise.
Unfortunately, I also heard the news of the death of one of my brother, Engineer Kayode Daramola in a motor Accident,... May his soul rest in peace

OCTOBER : Independence ..... expected another bomb blast, but it went well, training went on smoothly and now, am getting used to Abuja.... even liking it... may be I will stay there after all, while we move closer to our mission.
Went to Federal High Court for 3 weeks Court attachment.... (funny how lawyers and others gazed at my colleagues and I as we clutch on to a special type of machine they have not seen before)

NOVEMBER: went as peaceful and uneventful... as we look forward to December which will hold something special for my Colleagues....Training continues..... by now it has taken everything away from me.... been trying to get back to writing ways by writing on a topic of interest.

DECEMBER: What a way to start the month! passed through screening at FJSC, traveled to Lagos to attend a wedding of two special media colleagues Gbenga Soyele (Compass) and Shola Adeko (Channels TV). i feel like doing mine immediately, anyway, will have to wait few months more.
Now Am looking forward to a brand new year. 2012 here we come!

PS - My Special thanx to my Facebook friends for their love all through the year.... you made this year worthwhile for me... your comments, messages, Pokes, wall posts and calls are appreciated.....Space will not allow me mention names but know that you are all appreciated. I love you all.

WHAT DO WOMEN WANT

2012-02-03T23:57:00.000-08:00

The idea came to my mind shortly after a chat wit Temmy Cara... I realised dat i av not really known WHAT WOMEN WANT.... Forget d MEL GIBSON's Theatrical Version of WHAT WOMEN WANT... And Dont even think of JOE'S song.... I WANNA KNOW... Bcos u will neva kno unless u take time to do a analytic researchso i did d laziest work eva.... In d wake of Information technology and global embrace of Social Network, i started an online research of WHAT WOMEN WANT....

I went to my facebook, Twitter, 2go and Nimbuzz Account and just updated my Status to "WHAT DO WOMEN WANT? As usual, topics like dat will always raise few dusts and mine neva failed to disappoint, dis first generated a little arguement among some of my colleagues in my office as dey all give dia opinion on WHAT WOMEN WANT....My elder Sister Oluwafisayomi Oloruntimehin who understood wia i was coming from cud not help commenting on my status wit a very short comment:"Women are special so, count yourself lucky guyyyyyyy!"

Another Respondent, Giovanni wud not agree dat women are special... According to him, no man can kno d way of a woman or What dey want cos dia (women) way are like snake upon d rock... As if to buttress his point, Giov propounded an arguement dat Women needed to be lied to "wen u tell a woman d whole truth, she takes advantage of it and slips down but wen u lie to her, she is always on her toe making u feel like a king..."while i beg to differ on dat point, experience showed how some women wud not believe any truth u tell dem but swallow d lies u tell Hook, line and Sinker.

Mr Sunday Ologbon corroborates Giov's point wen he enthused dat Women needs care, love, Affection but above all dey needed 2 be lied to...Being still a bachelor who is aspiring to drop my "Bachelor degree" For a "Master Degree in family life", i was taken aback by Mr Sunny's comment considering d fact dat he is a Married man.... Can he be speaking from Experience? Is he really saying i sud start lying to Temmy if i need to satisfy her? WHAT DO WOMEN REALLY WANT? I prodded further, Timehin Adefemi... A friend and clanmate cud not tell me what i wanted to kno as he returned my question wit a a more puzzling answer... According to him, "Just like u, all men keeps asking same question everyday bcos women are so unpredictable".

If Timehin's response was puzzling, Femi Francis, my childhood friend threw a bombshell wen he declared dat Any man who says he understand what women wants is a fool.... B4 i cud recover from my Shock, Femi added dat Women themselves do not understand themselves... now, b4 u start castigating my friend for his comment, i Want u to Kno dat Femi lived in UK, married to a beautiful wife, had 2 lovely babies, and like me, had 3 sisters in his family wit his mum & dad bubbling in gud health so Femi may av been an expert in d women ministry to make such a comment. And just so u kno, Femi is not alone in dat assumption, Engineer Oladimeji Olutimehin stated dat The truth is no woman knows what she wants as Anyone that comes which fits her for that moment goes. Engineer Dimeji added dat women rely so much on emotions which swings like a pendulum. "be urself b4 a woman and u will win her. Trying to please will make u weak in her eyes. You have to show u are d man wisely though" He concluded..... Mmmm... Words of wisdom...

Another respondent, Bro Odunayo Ayomovich was more direct as he stated dat Women wants and needs depends on emotion, according to him, "you can't studied women ahead. As Events at a particular time will trigger it" but his final words "Afi k'Oluwa ko wa yo" (May God save us from dem) shows dat he too is still trying to fathom WHAT WOMEN WANTS..

Not wanting to be outdone in d debate, women lent dia voices as Olubukola Folasayo, a friend and sister said All women want is to be RESPECT & 2 b heard.... As if trying to use my page to pass across her msg and Be heard, Sayo fiercely added, "damn those men who dont respect us!".Chichi (not real name) was of d opinion dat women want parity and Equal opportunity and argued dat dey had been denied dose opportunities in d society....I find it funny to think someone felt women are not given opportunities in society....

Maybe dose same pple av forgotten dat d women we gave little opportunities in society often misuse it...Lets assuming we want to overlook d opportunity given to Eve by Adam which brings u to our present situation, but other women like our one time SPEAKER, MINISTERs (Save Madam Okonjo Eweala) etc..B4 i move outta line wit d topic on ground, lemme tell u what TEMMY herself said on d issues... According to her, "God will help us to know what we really want & may God grant all our (GOOD) heart desires. She howeva had d last word, "men sud remember dt without women, dey are incomplete...Yeah... I think we (men and Women) complement each other.... Dat's why we were made for each others (Genesis 2:24).... But I still believe that the real answer lies with WOMEN, they only can tell us WHAT THE REALLY WANT...

Why do i stop being a MOSES?

2012-02-03T23:31:00.000-08:00

A conversation wit a close friend of mine spurred me to write dis piece.
My friend called me to seek my view on d situation in Nigeria. To his surprise, i was busy watching a movie.
"What has happened to u?" He asked...
"Dis is not d Felix i know." he added...
"tell me d Felix u kno" I prodded him..
"D Felix i kno will not keep quiet in d face of adversity... He is always d Moses dat will want to kno why d fire is burning and d grass is not consumed" he Enthused.
"Mmmm..... Being d Moses....." i mused....
I wondered what being a Moses had helped in Nigeria... Lots of Moses in Nigeria had either lost dia lives or been made a scapegoat....
What av i really gained in being a Moses?.....
I remembered many Moses close to me who are no more....
Edo Ugbagwu (may his soul rest in peace) of THE NATION Newspaper was someone who wud want to kno why d grass failed to burn. He was my very gud friend and really inspired me wen i started journalism but alas his life was cut short wen Hired Assasins visited his home in 2010.... KEN SARO WIWA was another MOSES who was executed for being a Moses....
Dat reminds me, I remembered PROF DORA AKUNYILI (am talking of d Nafdac woman o, not d Information woman) She was another Moses i admired, what did dis led her to?....(Ask Anambrians)
Yes.... Lets come back to me being a Moses, what did i gained in being a Moses in d first place? After being a journalist for majority of d 20s of my life, I was ready to take d bull by d horn with my write-ups, i remembered lots of stories i had written which had endeared me to some Corporate organisations or even turned me to a dia foe..... I remembered d death threats i recieved from Some aggrieved sections due to some of my piece..... (My piece - OYO STATE- THE MADNESS CONTINUES.... Readily comes to mind).
I remembered how many times i had to hide out of Lagos for fear of assassination.
During d 2007 election, i remembered how i Fueled my car and went round 3 local govts in Ekiti state just to be at d thick of event and was almost Lynched by some party supporter....,
will u blame me if i chose not to be a Moses.... (as some of my friends will say, , "now u av joined d Abuja bandwagon, u will sound like dem")....
Will u blame me wen after queuing up to get registered for almost a week?, INEC refused to register me just bcos dia Machine failed to capture my fingerprint?.....
What will i use to vote wen i was not registered?
how will i comment on a process dat i did not participate?.....
What is dia to talk about? A man was stabbed recently on d eve of d election, while trying to argue on who is d beta candidate....
Two of my Abuja Colleagues nearly went for dia jugulars in d wake of d presidential election just in d process of analysing who won and who did not win.....
I wondered what dey will gain from dat wen D winner and losers av gone on wit dia lives.....
Nigeria politics is likened to d English PREMIER LEAGUE where supporters will nearly set themselve ablaze over who is beta btw ROONEY and TORRES while d duo are catching in on dia Cool millions.
D bush is burning in Nigeria but I must be circumspect in what i say or how i react to d situation.
I must not be made a scapegoat while dose in d seat of hegemony enjoy d nation's treasury.
For d time being, i think i will like to be what i can be beta.... I WANT TO BE FELIX

Forced Wedding

2012-02-03T23:26:00.002-08:00

During a wedding reception; d groom was called upon to give his vote of thanx to his guests... He stood up. Walked graciously to d MC, took d mic, den he dipped his hand into his pocket, brought out a long list, adjusted d rim of his specs, cleared his throat and began to read his vote of thanx: 1. I want 2 1st of all thank Lord Almighty for creating my wife & 2 also thank d pastor & his wife 4 lending us dia wedding rings.2. Special appreciation to my landlord who lent us his car.3. I am most grateful to my boss 4 approving the loan i used 4 d wedding.4. Big thanx 2 d committee of friends for the appeal fund dey raised on my behalf.5. Also to my brother's wife, thank u 4 lending us ur wedding gown.6. Am so grateful 2 d cake designer for d cake. I promised 2 return it 2moro morning as agreed without cutting or eating out of it.7. Special thanks 2 my friends who brought food from dia homes 2 help me feed you all. Please 4 dose who were served food good luck & 4 dose who didnt get any, well we will make it up 2 u during our child dedication ( hopefully next year).8. Very big thanks 2 my parents 4 bringing d village cultural band to supply d music as well as entertain us all here 2day.9. Not forgetting d church marriage committee, thank u 4 persuading my wife to marry me.10. Appreciation 2 the married men in d church 4 rushing me into dis marriage.11. D women are not left out, thanks a lot for teaching my wife how to dance.12. To d youths, thank u 4 sweeping & decorating dis venue with palm fronds.13. I am also grateful 2 my teenage friends for helping with the Zobo drink14. Appreciation 2 my co-tenants for contributing money 4 d cameraman15. Well, I wish u all safetjourney & I pray u don't experience what I suffered 4 this wedding. Thank you

Only If

2012-02-03T23:26:00.000-08:00

(Inspired by an emotional life story)
If u can keep ur head wen all about u're losing theirs & blaming it on u.
If u can trust ursef wen everyone doubt u, But make allowance 4 dia doubting too;
If u can wait & not be tired by waiting,Or being lied about, dont deal in lies,Or being hated, don't give way 2 hating, & yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream not make dreams ur master;
If you can think - & not make thot ur aim.
If u can meet wit Triumph & Disaster & treat dese 2 impostors just d same;
If u can bear 2 hear d truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves 2 make a trap 4 fools,Or watch d things u gave ur life to, broken & stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If u can make one heap of all ur winnings & risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss & lose, & start again at ur beginnings & never breathe a word about ur loss;
If u can force ur heart & nerve & sinew 2 serve ur turn long afta dey are gone & so hold on wen dia is nothing in u except d Will which says 2 them: 'Hold on!
If u can talk with crowds & keep ur virtue Or walk with Kings - nor lose d common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt u,
If everyone count with u ,but none too much;
If u can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run, urs is the Earth & everything that's in it, & - which is more - you'll be a foreva UNTOUCHABLE

Fear: the Painted devil and silent killer

2012-02-03T23:04:00.001-08:00

FEAR cripple all intents.... It turns a dwarf into a giant... According to Shakespeare, "dia is nothing to FEAR but FEAR itself"... Ur FEAR is only d DEVIL u av painted... As u live ur life, what are d things u FEAR most? FEAR OF D UNKNOWN... LACK OF PREPARATION... INSECURITY... Or UR ILLUSION... Dont let dem limit ur achievement.. STARE DEM IN D EYE and u will get ur victory over dem...
D things we hate d most av often turned out 2 be d trigger of our fears.. Our heart skips a beat wen we see dose things... Stare closely @ ur fear & u will realise dat it has no leg & is incapable of wrecking havoc...
Dont also give ample reason 4 Illusion to thrive & dominate ur life.. It is just a figment of ur imagination. As long as d illusion of fear thrives, ur mind cannot be at its creative best... What are d things u hate & fear most? Stare dem in d eye & u wud gain d freedom from dem...
Everyone has a mountain 2 climb. Find a way around urs if u cant climb it. What eva happened 2 u is forgone conclusion... U cant change yesterday but ur 2moro.. U can effect +ve changes in ur life cos Ur genes are dat of a winner & u av paid d dues 2 reach higher height.. As u face new challenges, always remember dat dia is no omelet witout breaking of eggs. Dont be discouraged,... Dont eva quit, cos quitters neva win &winners neva quit.. Dia may be forces ready to side track u but u need 2 be strong & succeed bcos u're d sunshine & no one can cover d sunshine.
D secret of getting ahead is getting started, d secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable task & then starting on d first one......be prayerful & commit it all to GOD

2011: Transport to a new Era

2011-01-12T05:26:00.000-08:00

In this write-up, Felix Adewumi takes an in-depth look at the likely scenarios in the transport sector in 2011

Background

The year 2010 ended on a not too high note following some last minute changes in the transport sector.

There was a 12th hour changes of baton at the Nigerian Port Association (NPA) when Mr Omar Suleiman replaced Mr Abdulsallam Mohammed as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Port Authority coupled with the sack of Mr Temisan Omatsaye as the Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) when he was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and replaced with Mr Ziakade Akpobolokemi

These two changes go a long way in causing a major upset in the transport sector and there are high hope that 2011 will usher in a wind of change.

NRC contract scam

2011 started abruptly as 2010 ended with the arrest of Engineer Adeseyi Sijuade, the managing director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).

The arrest followed a report sent to the EFCC by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) after an investigation by the SSS into allegations of manipulations in contract awards for the rehabilitation of the Nigerian railway lines.

The contracts under view concern the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt to Maiduguri line. The tenders which were invited since March 2010 have not been awarded nearly a year after because of the alleged manipulations and corruption involving Mr Sijuwade to award contracts to predetermined companies connected to his family with no evident track record using fake documents and insertion of documents after bidding had closed in flagrant violation of the Public Procurement Act.

Sijuade was appointed in 2009 and with the contract scam rocking the corporation, many believe that 2011 will go a long way to determine the interest of the government in completing the rehabilitation project.

100 locomotives for rail transportation

With the hope of reviving the dwindling significance of the rail sector, late President Umaru Yar’Adua had in the 2009 budget, earmarked N8.3 billion to be spent on modernization of locomotive coaches and wagon as well as rehabilitation work and procurement of railway equipment in 2009.

While listing rail rehabilitation as one of the key project to be funded by the 2009 budget, the president stated that his administration remains steadfastly focused on its vision for Nigeria as encapsulated in the seven-point agenda and the vision 2020.

Realising the importance of following his promise with action, Alhaji Isa Bio, former minister of transport who was given the mandate to turnaround the fortune of the rail transport system in the country started an intense rehabilitation process in the sector had stated that the government will provide 100 locomotive engines before the end of the tenure of Yar’Adua in 2011.

Although Yar’Adua was not able to complete his tenure with his death in 2010 and Bio was also moved from the transport ministry to Sports Ministry, Goodluck Jonathan and Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman who succeeded them as President and minister were saddle with the mantle to complete the task

However, despite the promise of the minister to complete the purchase of 25 locomotives engines before the end of 2010, the year 2011 came with only five locomotives being shipped into the country.

Bio only succeeded in purchasing five locomotives before he was replaced with Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman during the demise of Yar’Adua and with only six month to the end the Yar’Adua/Jonathan administration, the target of 100 locomotives by 2011 is still far off despite the huge sum of money diverted into such project.

Change of Batons and effects

The transport sector has been going through several changes in leadership every year and those changes have a way of affecting the sector.

In the transport ministry, Mrs Diezene Allison-Madukwe was replaced with Bio in 2008 as the minister of transport, with Bio coming in, he started with a new agenda for the transport sector but was himself replaced by Suleiman in 2010.

In the Nigerian Customs Service, Hamman Ahmed was replaced by Bernard Shaw-Nwadialo as the Customs CG in 2009 after staying there within just a year while Nwadialo spent just three months before handing over to Abdullahi Dikko in 2009.

The Maritime sector was also not left out as Ade Dosunmu was replaced by Temisan Omatsaye as NIMASA director general in July 2009 with Omatsaye himself being replaced with Akpobolokemi in December 2010.

At the NPA, Abdulsalam Mohammed was recently replaced by Omar Suleiman as the Managing Director of NPA while Mr Adeseyi Sijuwade replaced Mazi Jetson Nwankwo at the NRC.

While all these changes was going on, there is still the fact that they have its effects on the transport ministry as each change of baton leads to a different change of plans and idea for the incoming sets.

Building the Ajaokuta Warri line and other rehabilitation project

With a tender sum to N31 billion to Messrs Julius Bergers (Nigeria) Plc and N2 billion for Team Consultant for the contract work of Ajaokuta-Warri rail line, and other rail work, the process of a rejuvenated rail system in Nigeria was expected to be really on track in 2010.

The scope of the Ajaoukuta-Warri project which initially was to cover the awarded contract of the completion of 22 km track distance left out of the 254Km Ajaokuta-Warri line has now been widened to accommodate the rehabilitation of the entire 254km of the Ajaokuta-Warri line.

There were also expectation of construction of six stations; reconstruction of undermined bridges and culverts; major remobilisation of the contractor to site and the security management.

There is also the rehabilitation contract of Lagos-Jebba which had been awarded to CCECC at the cost of N12.3 billion as approved by the Federal Executive Council (Fec) on October 7, 2009. The contract which was expected to be completed within 10 months is still ongoing.

Besides, there is also the contract awarded within the ambience of the holistic rehabilitation of the corporation such as the supply of 100 tones telescopic crane for the recovery of damage wagons and rolling stocks, lifting jacks and hydraulic jacks, coupled with the supply and installation of 100kva generating sets for mechanical workshop.

Rail concession

After an initial failed attempt to revitalise the rail system, the Federal Government under the tenures of former president Olusegun Obasanjo and Yar’Adua had shifted their minds on rail concession

The ministry of transport which announced the plan pointed out that there is need for modernization of the Nigerian Railway System which is still based on the prevailing technology at its inception early in the century.

According to the ministry, the needs are great, and the government is looking for investors.

There was much talk about the concessioning of railway sector in 2009. The activities of railway concessioning include remobilization of transaction advisers, electronic assets, register for NRC assets, concession project team, work plan for concession and re-structuring of the corporation.

The concession team was said to have completed negotiations with the transaction advisers and World Bank has issued “No Objection Certificate” for work to start off.

On the concessioning, update electronic registrar of NRC assets was also said to be completed in 2009.

According to laid-down plan, concession will be successfully carried out and completed on Eastern line by December 2010 while institutional and management restructure of the corporation will be completed in the first quarter of 2010, yet nothing has been heard about it.

Easing Lagos Traffic congestion

Giving the setup of the country, with Lagos being Nigeria’s most populous city, and becoming the centre of commercial and industrial activity, Traffic congestion has become a very daily thing, as vehicle moved at snail pace all over the State.

Movement in cities like Lagos is mainly road-based, either by private cars or rickety buses as statistics shows that there are 11 vehicles to every kilometres of road nationally while in Lagos there are about 222 vehicles to every kilometres and every efforts to solve this traffic debacle in the past had failed.

The Lagos traffic congestion has been linked to the activities of danfos and molues drivers who flout traffic regulations at will, pick up passengers in illegal places and abandon their vehicles when broken on the road to cause traffic snarl

The effect of this could be seen in the movement of goods and people in the country, causing significant waste of the city’s economic production resources

It is believed that with the arrival of the new locomotive engines and when the train is operational and effective in the country, it will be a great boost to the efforts at solving traffic congestion.

In 2010, analysis showed that a train which carry people from Okokomaiko in Lagos State to Marina carries a projected annual passenger capacity of 200 million people, while more than one million passengers could use the a train passing through Agbado to Marina daily.

It is an unrivalled fact that the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme, an initiative of Lagos State government and Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (Lamata), contributed greatly to the reduction of traffic as it was reported to have moved about 9.7 million people within the first 100 days of operation.

There has been the urgent need to redesign, expand and renovate the Nigerian railway into an efficient nationwide network serving both industrial and agricultural zones and facilitating development of the cash-crop economy in the hinterlands and a far-sighted approach is needed for dealing with the traffic snarls and urban sprawl in the new industrial and commercial zones across Nigeria.

Many had argued that if the country had only placed more emphasis to railway before, maybe the much sought solution to traffic congestion will have been finally found.

Looking ahead

Even thought the year 2010 had not been fulfilling for the transport sector, there is high hope that it has set a high target for itself in 2011.

Despite the drama being played out at the transport sector, the importance of the sector cannot be over emphasised.

2011: Bracing up for more litigation

2011-01-12T05:21:00.000-08:00

By Felix Adewumi

Introduction

The year 2010 ended on a high note for the judiciary after the resounding ovation it received in its attempt to deliver justice without prejudice.

Notwithstanding the little drama during the suspension of Michael Aondoakaa from the rank of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) that almost tainted the image of the judiciary towards the tail end of 2010, the judiciary had really lived up to its expectation.

However, despite these notable achievements, Nigerians still look up to the judiciary and expects much from it in 2011.

Continuation of trials of alleged corrupt leaders

Nigerians have really expected the judiciary to as a matter of urgency conclude the trial of alleged corrupt leaders which has taken longer years to conclude

The trial of Chimaroke Nnamani former Enugu State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, former Ekiti State Governor, Rasheed Ladoja, former Oyo State governor, and James Ibori, former Delta State governor had been seen as a welcome development coupled with trial of some top Nigerians who have at one time or the other allegedly committed financial crime.

With the general election coming real fast and most of the former governors are warming up to join the political field is something to worry about.

Fayose is said to be eyeing the senatorial seat in Ekiti State while Ladoja want another shot at the Governorship seat of Oyo State meanwhile their case are still in court.

The fact that whenever these cases are being heard, people trouped into the court premises to watch the proceedings show the importance that Nigerians placed on the trial.

More worrisome is the fact that the most of these trials started as far back as 2007 and had been suffering various delay through frivolous adjournments.

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) coupled with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had been having a field day in the prosecution of most of these people and result is expected to be arrived at in 2011.

Trial of bank chiefs

The end have definitely not have been heard of the trial of bank chiefs who were sacked from the by Lamido Sanusi, CBN governor as most of the bank chiefs are still gradually going through the case.

The arranged bank chiefs include Mrs. Cecilia Ibru of Oceanic International Bank, Mr. Okey Nwosu of FinBank Nigeria Plc, Mr. Sebastian Adigwe of Afribank Plc and Bartholomew Ebong of Union Bank of Nigeria.

Others include Francis Atuche of Bank PHB, Ojo Enaholo of Spring Bank, Ike Oraekwotu of Equitorial Trust Bank, and Chief Erastus Akingbola of Intercontinental Bank

Ibru who was sentenced to a cumulative imprisonment term of 18 months by a Federal High Court in Lagos for pleading guilty to charges bordering economic crimes after she forfeited assets worth N191 billion is expected to be out in the first quarter of 2011 since her sentence runs for six months concurrently.

The bank chiefs were arraigned on separate charges of over 131 counts bordering on fraud, concealment and grant of loans without adequate collateral running into about N625.95 billion and their trial has been one of the major test of the credibility of the judiciary.

Also arraigned were seven non-executive directors of Intercontinental Bank Plc including the Chairman, Chief Raymond Obieri, Hyacinth Enuha, Christopher Adebayo Alabi, Samuel Adegbite, Isyaku Umar, Bayo Dada and Sanni Adams.

Others were three bank debtors, Mr. Peter Ololo, who was arraigned alongside his company, Falcon Securities Limited, and Henry Onyemem and Niyi Opeodu who were arraigned with Ebong.

However, with most of the arraigned bank chief filing a separate suit at the Federal High Court challenging the power of CBN in removing them from their post, or filing different applications to subvert the suit, the stage seems set for an interesting turn of event in 2011

Election and the petition tribunals

It is no more news that election is expected to take place later in 2011, neither is it news that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has promised a free and fair election, but what will be news will be if the election was done without any electoral disputes.

2011 is expected to be busy for the judiciary as after the election, there is bound to be disenchanted people who had lost out of the election and will want to seek redress from the election tribunal.

When the tribunal started in 2007, what was unknown was the ability of the tribunals to arrive at a result and clear the air of all the illegality and irregularities that the election had brought, little did anybody know that the tribunals was set with a surprise for the nations when they began to correct the errors of the election.

The role of the tribunals in Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Edo, Rivers, Anambra, Bauchi, Delta, had placed real trust in the judiciary to be able to do same in 2011 if election results go the same way as that of 2007

Call for the abolition of the SAN title

Controversy almost rocked the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in 2009 when a major debate over the retention or abolition of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) started.

The debate took centre stage during the national conference of the association, which took place when the motion for the abolition was spearheaded by a pressure group that called itself 'The Movement for the Abolition of the Rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria and other Judicial Reforms' led by an octogenarian lawyer activist, Pa Tunji Gomez.

Among the reasons listed by the movement for their opposition to the rank are: that the SAN title now seems hereditary being passed from father to children with proponents of the agitation describing the privilege as unfair and tantamount to injustice to other lawyers; that the conferment confer undue advantage on selected few thereby making them superior to others; that members of the silk see themselves as a cartel within the legal profession; that the rank creates a dichotomy of lawyers in which a camp belongs to one group of exclusion few with privileges in exclusion of others which is unfair and unjust; and that the process of appointment to the rank is seen to be flawed and inadequate to identify those who really should merit such distinction.

However, the beneficiaries of the SAN title and their supporters disagreed with this posture claiming that the conferment of the rank is in recognition of hard work and commitment as well as honour and motivation for distinguished legal practitioners.

This argument continues in 2010 on a silent note but the suspension of Aondoakaa from using the SAN title may as well bring the issue into limelight again in 2011.

Looking Ahead

Presently, the confidence is being restored into the judiciary; the judiciary was no longer a tool for impeachment, and for passing unwanted decrees.

Under the democratic dispensation, the rule of law is gradually taking root, in the sense that things are being done according to law. The government is subjecting itself to law. All this bring some confidence in the court because at the end of the day, the right institution which determined whether there is rule of law or not, is the court.

Much is still expected from the judiciary, though it is believed that if the report of the Electoral committee set up by late Preseident Umaru Yar’Adua has been utilised efficiently, it will prevent any other electoral woe in the country.

The Judiciary in 2010: Correcting electoral woes

2011-01-06T02:48:00.000-08:00

The Judiciary in 2010: Correcting electoral woes

By Felix Adewumi

Recent happenings have restored hope in the judiciary. Felix Adewumi X-rays the major event in the year and the role the judiciary played in the events.

Background

The year 2010 started on a high note for the judiciary just as the 2009 ended, notwithstanding the way the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (Jusun) had threatened to paralyse court activities in the previous years.

With the uncertainty over the health of late president Umaru Yar’Adua when he was flown to Saudi Arabia in December 2009, the judiciary was still determined to play its part in the nation’s building.

The year 2010 consolidated on the achievements of the judiciary in the previous years was the year the judiciary won the heart of Nigerians by its resolute stand behind truth and justice.

No doubt the judiciary arm of government has large role to play in the sustenance and consolidation of democratic governance in Nigeria.

Since the events of Edo and Ondo States which brought Comrade Adams Oshiomole and Olusegun Mimiko to power in 2008, the judiciary had not looked back as it continues to discharge its duty without fear and bias.

Trials of corrupt leaders

One area where much is expected of the judiciary is when bigwigs with connection are facing trial for various offences. When in 2007, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) began to arrest top Nigeria political juggernaut, one worrying thought in the minds of Nigerians was how the judiciary will fully prosecute them without bowing to pressure from the authorities.

The trials of Chimaroke Nnamani former Enugu State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, former Ekiti State Governor, Rasheed Ladoja, former Oyo State governor, and James Ibori, former Delta State governor was seen as a welcome development coupled with trial of some top Nigerians who have at one time or the other allegedly committed financial crimes.

After the initial euphoria that greeted the trial of the former ex-governors, Nigerians were set for a different dimension in those trials after the trials were increasingly adjourned thereby causing delays.

The arraignment of Chief Olabode George, former chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, (NPA), and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in August 8, 2008, coupled with the speed at which the trial was concluded at the High Court of Lagos State is a great achievement which re-enforces the belief that cases could be heard within a period of one year rather than the traditional years spent on cases in Nigeria.

Most interesting was the fact that the Nigeria Judiciary did not allow itself to be stampeded in the George’s trial as Justice Joseph Oyewole defied the thousand supporters of George who trouped to the court premises on October 26, 2009 and found him guilty of allegation of N85 billion fraud at the NPA with inflation of contract, disobedience of lawful order and abuse of office.

Though Bode George is appealing his conviction at the Court of Appeal, Nigerians saluted the judiciary for its landmark judgement and are patiently waiting for the conclusion of the trial of other supposed corrupt leaders.

However, in 2010, the judiciary had been so dormant concerning the corrupt leaders, Fayose succeeded in transferring his case to Ekiti state from where it could best be regarded as over with even Fayose already gearing up to join the political race in preparation for 2011.

Other cases like that of Nnamani, Ladoja and Ibori have also dragged on

Upturning of Elections

Following the rapid upturning of 2007 elections by the election petition tribunals in some states in 2007 and 2008 where Governor Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Amodu Sheriff of Bornu state, Ibrahim Dankingari, of Kebbi state were put out of office coupled with the sack of Olusegun Agagu of Ondo State and Professor Osaremen Osunbor of Edo State, and the order of a rerun in Ekiti in 2009, the year 2010 witnessed two major upturning of election.

In 2009, Ekiti state election petition tribunal upturned the election of Olusegun Oni of Ekiti State and ordered a rerun of election in the state.

Although, Oni defeated Kayode Fayemi in the rerun which was marred with violence and massive protest, the judiciary could not be blamed for ordering a rerun in the state but this points to the fact that the role of the judiciary is not finished in the state as Fayemi once more took the matter up at a newly constituted election tribunal to determine and just recently, the court of appeal finally sacked Oni and replaced him with Fayemi.

Just six months to the end of the tenure of Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State, the Court of Appeal annulled his election and ordered that Aregbesola be sworn in as governor.

Earlier in March 2009, the Court of Appeal in Ibadan had ordered a retrial of the petition filed by Aregbesola.

Howbeit, in May 2010, a newly constituted election tribunal in the State again dismissed the petition of Aregbesola for lacking merit.

Not undaunted with the force against him coupled with the criminal charge levelled against him, Aregbesola headed to the Court of Appeal in Ibadan to appeal the judgement which he finally got in November.

Arraignment of bank chiefs

When on August 14, 2009, Lamido Sanusi, Central Bank governor announced the sack of five bank managing directors and ordered EFCC to effect that they be made to face the wrath of the law for their involvement in huge non-performing loans of their bank, many knew that the judiciary had a busy day ahead of it.

The events which heralded their trial shows how Nigerian expect more from the judiciary as it is expected to consolidate on their other achievements in the Bode George trials and other corrupt leaders.

The bank chiefs were arraigned in 2009 on separate charges of over 131 counts bordering on fraud, concealment and grant of loans without adequate collateral running into about N625.95 billion and their trial has been one of the major test of the credibility of the judiciary.

Others include Francis Atuche of Bank PHB, Ojo Enaholo of Spring Bank, Ike Oraekwotu of Equitorial Trust Bank,

Chief Erastus Akingbola of Intercontinental Bank who in 2009 went into hiding. He later gave himself up in 2010 and has since been arraigned alongside the other bank chiefs

Others were three bank debtors, Mr. Peter Ololo, who was arraigned alongside his company, Falcon Securities Limited, and Henry Onyemem and Niyi Opeodu who were arraigned with Ebong.

In September, Mrs Ibru entered a plea bargain with the EFCC and gave up properties and assets valued at N191 billion and in the process, she bagged an 18 months imprisonment.

Other cases are still going on though most have suffered several adjournments.

Aondoakaa’s role and nemesis

During the uncertain periods when Yar’Adua was in Saudi Arabia, Michael Aondoakaa, then attorney general of the federation played a great role in thwarting the efforts of the judiciary in allowing the rule of law to take precedent.

Aondoakaa said to be the custodian of the law by virtue of his position did not help matters as he disobeyed many court orders given on Yar’Adua’s ability to lead.

He finally caved when Yar’Adua’s death was announced yet the damage has been done, he had ridiculed the judiciary with his position

A Federal High Court sitting in Calabar, Cross River State, had in early June, restrained Aondoakaa from holding the office of the AGF or any other similar public offices in the future in Nigeria.

It had, therefore, advised the government to always consider Aondoakaa unfit and incompetent to hold public offices because of his conduct while serving as AGF.

Besides, the United States Government on July 1, 2010 confirmed that it had barred Aondoakaa, from entering its territory.

A precedent was set when the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee slammed a two-year ban on Michael Aondoaaka, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and stripped him of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)

ADR to the rescue of court congestion

For some time now, there has been the canvassing for the adoption of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in settling court disputes.

ADR is said to relieve court congestion, and prevent undue cost and delay, enhance community involvement in dispute resolution, facilitate Access to Justice, and provide more effective Dispute Resolution

Bearing in mind that the Federal Government has the vision 2020 in mind while the Lagos State government planning the Lagos Mega city project, investors are bound to move into the country in 2009 to invest and participate in the project.

No doubt there is bound to be disputes between arsing from such participation if one party feels not too comfortable with the policies and programmes of the other party

The role of ADR here is very important. Over the year, states and other bodies had begun to embrace ADR as an effective approach to settling their dispute rather than spend long years in court.

The negotiation Conflict and management Group (NCMG) organised its fifth NCMG African ADR Summit in November 2010. This theme of the summit centred on how ADR can be used effectively to settle Election disputes.

The presence of highly placed people at the summit shows the readiness of Nigeria in particular and Africa as a whole to embrace ADR.

Disrobing a SAN: the Aondoakaa’s case

2010-12-14T05:57:00.000-08:00

Disrobing a SAN: the Aondoakaa’s case

By Felix Adewumi

Background

Before this, the issue of SAN had generated a lot of controversies for a long time and came into fore front when Pa Tunji Gomez, an Octogenarian called for the abolition of the title at the 2009 annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Many believed that the SAN title has been compromised and felt it should be scrapped to give a fair landing to the legal profession while others believed it should be left as it is.

The ban given to Aondoakaa and its implication on the Nigeria legal system brought the issue into fore front again.

SAN as a demigod

The SAN title was borrowed from the British where they have the Queen’s Counsel (QC). This started when Nigeria legal system felt the need to create the equivalent of QC and came out with Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

It is the highest title that legal practitioner could have, it is most celebrated and have certain advantages, they wear silk gown, sit in the front row in court and have their cases heard first.

This honour was even sometimes accorded to them by the judge as some of the judges were sometimes accused of swaying judgement to the sides of the SAN handling the matter.

The SAN title is so revered that some lawyers with the SAN title now see it as an equal footing with the power that be. It is not uncommon to see a Senior Advocate coming to court with an array of about 13 young lawyers all following him from behind and carrying over 100 giant law books, constitutions, law reports and rules just to show their status.

It is also not uncommon to see a senior advocate stand up before a judge and say, “My Lord, I don’t have much time here since I have other cases to handle so I ask for adjournment” and despite the protest of the other lawyer who is not a SAN, the judge will go ahead and grant the adjournment to the convenience of the SAN.

It will also be foolhardy for a younger lawyer to try and ask for adjournment when the Senior Advocate is ready to go on in any matter.

This discrepancy had been one of the factors responsible for the call for the abolition of the silk title with younger lawyers feeling they ought to be given the same privileges as the senior advocates.

Professor Akin Oyebode, former vice chancellor of the University of Ado Ekiti and a lecturer of the University of Lagos felt SAN has become like a family inheritance and the younger people are not very happy with it.

“You now need a godfather to be a SAN and many of the people being given the title did not command the respect of their peers. Look at somebody like Gani, it became almost too late before they decide to honour him with the title, look at Femi Falana, how can you mention 10 names in the legal profession today and omit Femi Falana? then that list is not complete. And the people are watching” he said

He pointed out that Nigeria must be extremely circumspect in giving the highest title to people, because the title will lose its lustre and prestige if they start giving it to just any person.

Moreover, Chief Abiodun Dabiri, former Chairman, Lagos branch of the Nigerian Bar Association and member, National Executive Council (NEC) and the National Disciplinary Committee of the NBA, said lots of people are going for this title not because they are competent or qualified or they want to improve the image of the profession or they want to develop the law or whatever it is but because they are going there for pecuniary reasons

“They are thinking that if I become a SAN, I will be getting money, people will be calling me SAN and then when a case comes, I will charge them N10 million, that is what they are going there for.

Abusing the SAN title: between Bayo Ojo and Aondoakaa

Adding the position of the attorney general of the federation to the title of a SAN may actually give a personality to position of a demigod going by happenings in the legal system since the advent of democracy in Nigeria.

Chief Bayo Ojo, a senior advocate and a former attorney of the federation during the Olusegun Obasanjo regime as the president certainly escape the watching eye of Nigerians with the way he used his two positions to influence events during his time.

Ojo infamously ordered a status quo to remain despite a court order which has removed Alao Akala as governor of Oyo State and installed Ladoja. He used his position as a senior advocate and minister of Justice and his order was obeyed.

He was also instrumental to the Anambra case and some other cases where after a court judgement, he try to dare the judgement by issuing a statement saying the Federal government is still studying the judgement.

When Aondoakaa came on board at the Yar’Adua regime, he started playing the role left behind by Chief Ojo.

Mr Aondoakaa was better known as an attorney for corrupt ex-Governor and found himself in the exalted position of both the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Nigeria.

Since assuming the office as the number one law officer for Nigeria, he has systematically under the guise of upholding the rule of law, dismantled the little gain Nigeria has made in the effort to control corruption in public places.

He has sought to weaken the hands of progressive institution in Nigeria like the EFCC, by threatening to take over or discontinue cases initiated by other agencies that he deems against the rule of law.

From the beginning, Aondoakaa did not hide his ambition to severely clip the wings of EFCC and Nuhu Ribadu, its then chairman.

His move started barely a month after his appointment in July 2007, when he submitted a memo to the President requesting “that all agencies involved in the prosecution of criminal offences such as the EFCC and ICPC should report and initiate criminal proceedings with the consent and approval of the Attorney-General of the Federation as specified in relevant sections of the Constitution.”

He started making use of his office when Ribadu made move to prosecute James Ibori, former Governor of Delta State, reputed to be a close friend of Aondoakaa, and the person who actually recommended him to President Yar’Adua for the position of Attorney General.

In February 2009, only weeks after Ribadu was dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force, Aondoakaa filed charges against him, before the Code of Conduct tribunal, alleging that he did not declare his assets upon assumption of duties as EFCC chief, as required by law.

Consequences

Following the removal of Aondoakaa from his position ans his subsequent sack by President Goodluck Jonathan, it all seems that the law of nemesis was ready to catch up with him,

A Federal High Court sitting in Calabar, Cross River State, had in early June, restrained Aondoakaa from holding the office of the AGF or any other similar public offices in the future in Nigeria.

It had, therefore, advised the government to always consider Aondoakaa unfit and incompetent to hold public offices because of his conduct while serving as AGF.

Justice Adetokunbo Ademola, who delivered the judgment, had also referred the ex-minister to the Nigerian Bar Association for appropriate disciplinary action.

The judgment was on a suit filed against Aondoakaa by the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for Uyo Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Emmanuel Obot.

Besidres, the United States Government on July 1, 2010 confirmed that it had barred Aondoakaa, from entering its territory.

The US Embassy in Abuja, through one of its top officials, confirmed that the former AGF and his family had indeed been barred from entering the United States.

Reading from a prepared text on the telephone, the diplomat said, "The United States has indeed revoked the visa of the former attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 7750, which provides authority to deny entry to the United States to persons with links to corruption."

the judgment of the Federal High Court, and the declaration of his person as persona non grata for offences relating to corruption and the consequent revocation of his entry visa by the American Government earlier in the year was a factor leading to the suspension of his Silk title for two years.

Reactions

Barely days after the suspension, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) kicked against the suspension saying it did not follow due process and it was done by the wrong body.

Whgile calling for the reversal of the decision, NBA in a statement signed by Joseph Daudu its president, said the statutory body responsible for such disciplinary measures is the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) and not the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), which issued the suspension.

On the argument that the privileges committee possess powers to remove its appointees from office, just as it is empowered to appoint, the NBA stated that the Legal Practitioners Act, under the maxim Generalia Specialibus non derogant, displaces ‘the general' as it "does not envisage a withdrawal, removal or suspension of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria" citing Section 5-(1)-(8) and 6 of the Legal Practitioners Act.

The association stated that the rank of SAN is a leadership position, conferred only on persons who have shown exemplary character and, consequently it can only be taken away where another statutory body, the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, adjudges the person accused of infamous conduct or breach of any of the rules of professional conduct.

The NBA president said the LPPC, notwithstanding its eminent membership, "cannot and is not equipped to deal with matters of discipline."

He added that the LPPC's foray into "looking at matters of the discipline of a lawyer under the guise of suspending a person of the rank of SAN is ultra vires, illegal, unconstitutional and therefore null and void."

"We stand for the promotion of the Rule of Law and regardless of the personality of the person involved herein, we cannot acquiesce to a situation where a person, legal practitioner and senior advocate is punished even before the allegations are established against him, moreso by a body that clearly has no jurisdiction to inquire into matters of alleged breach of professional ethics," the NBA president said.

Corroborating the views of NBA, Chief Dabiri said the Privileges Committee has no right to suspend Aondoakaa.

Though Dabiri accepted that Aondoaaka’s antics are disgraceful but as far as the law is concerned, the committee have no power to do it.

According to him, it is only the Disciplinary Committee that can do that, if the Disciplinary Committee feels that his name should be struck out of the register and that is the end of his title.

“I know that Aondoaaka disgraced his office as AGF. He wasn’t a law officer at all. He was more of a politician and he carried it a bit too far, too far. At the same time, I am saying the Privileges Committee has no power to withdraw or suspend it” Dabiri said.

Conclusion

While Aondoakaa serve his two year-ban, the issue of the abuse of the SAN title also comes into focus. The call for the abolition of the title is gradually gaining momentum again.

It is important that the process of choosing the title should be looked into with the agitation for a reform in the way and manner that the selection is done.

DSTV Mobile: A promo gone awry

2010-12-07T02:34:00.000-08:00

DSTV Mobile: A promo gone awry

By Felix Olukunle Adewumi

When MTN announced that they are coming out with an initiative in partnership with DSTV to bring out mobile edition of cable television, many do not believe it can ever be realistic.

The low cost of the phone with the one year free subscription makes it more suspicious, knowing the way the Nigeria corporate world compete with each other in other to woo more customers.

The fact that super sports 3; the sports channel where most premier league matches are shown is among the channel did not help matters. A lot could not believe that MTN who is notorious for not being able to give out anything free to its consumers since its invention.

In fact many believe that most of the promos of the telecommunication giants in Nigeria is a way of giving to people with one hand and taking it back with the hand.

The eye-catching area of the DSTV Mobile edition was the fact that they made available mouth-watering channels like Super Sports 3, Super Sports 9, Super Sport Blitz, Africa Magic, Magic World, Big Brother Africa, Channel O and CNN among others as part of the 11 channels available in the mobile edition.

After overcoming the initial sceptic about the mobile edition, trust Nigerian, they quickly rush to purchase the phone even as the 2010 World Cup approach but with the prospect of HiTV still having the majority right of the England Premier League, there was no way MTN could market the mobile edition for the premiership.

However, luck shone on the partnership between the duo when HiTV suddenly developed cold feet and decide not to continue its coverage rights thus allowing DSTV to take majority rights of the Premier league.

MTN saw this as an opportunity to sell the mobile edition. Adverts were coming out with great intensity and MTN sales girls travel round in an attempt to put the phone into the heart of Nigeria.

There was also a great improvement when MTN lobbied Nokia into the partnership after its first edition of DSTV mobile (Zedge Phone) was not well received by the people.

With the Triumvirate of DSTV phone, Nokia and MTN, the DSTV Mobile was set to be a major initiative and a hit in the Nigeria telecommunication market.

However,after having gained from the rate at which people rushed the DSTV Mobile phone, MTN threw the first joker when they suddenly remove Super Sports 3 from the mobile edition, All efforts to get them explain the rationale behind the removal prove abortive as all they could offer was to replace it with Super Sports 7, a channel which shows only one premiership match weekly.

Not satisfied with the situation, lots of Nigerians threatened to abandon the phone since most people buy the phone for the lure of watching premiership matches.

Shola Oluferanmi, a student of Unilag who is a die-hard premiership fan could not hide his disappointment at what he described as the deceit being given to unsuspecting Nigerians by the corporate bodies just in an attempt to sell their product, stated that he is waiting for the end of the Big Brother Africa Programme being aired in one of the channels to know what to do to his phone.

Oluferanmi was not then surprise when just a few days later, the Big Brother Africa ended and MTN wasted no time in yanking off the channel from the list and replace it with Sound City.

Many wonder why MTN would go to the length of advertising Super Sports 3 to entice subscribers when it knew that it could not offer it to Nigerians.

Samson Oludare, an engineer who have always been sceptical about the ways of the corporate worlds handle their promos in Nigeria had predicted that MTN had a game plan when they came out with the DSTV Mobile.

“I know MTN, they don’t give something out for free and they are a stingy type of network, when they introduced the Mobile edition, I was not fooled because I know they are up to their trick again, so when they started removing the best channels and people started complaining I just laugh within me. How can you expect MTN to give you something like that for free” he said.

A quick survey shows that lots of people are quickly changing phones and dumping the DSTV mobile phone while others who keep the phone are waiting for the end of the one-year free subscription to dump it for a better phone.

“I do not think I will ever make that mistake of buying any thing MTN is trying to sell, I do not believe them and I am not prepared to believe them for anything, they are treacherous. I wonder why our regulatory body allow such act from them” Moses Ugwu, a business man said.

MTN had even find a way of covering their track in their recent adverts for the DSTV mobile edition where the Super Sports 3 and Big Brother was conspicuously omitted and Super Sports 7 with Sound City being included in the list.

Mrs Deborah Ajetumobi, one of the first persons to buy the DSTV mobile at the onset explained how out of her annoyance at the deceit she gave the phone out to her niece as the sight of the phone makes her angry with MTN all the time.

“Can you imagine me buying the phone and getting to watch NTA, Cartoon Network, TBN, Channel O, and Sound City? All those ones I get them on our daily local channels at home, even AIT show better program so why will I watch the one on the phone? Even the number of channel they put on the phone is too small” she fumed.

All efforts to get MTN to talk on the promo prove abortive as most sales point where they are being sold now has stern looking marketers who are never ready to answer any question on the phone.

One wonders the next move the telecommunication giants is planning and what will later become of their partnership once Nigerians have gotten enough of the gimmick, but until then, MTN, Nokia and DSTV can still bask in the euphoria that they are the only partnership that brings DSTV mobile to Nigeria.

Election Annulment and INEC dilemma

2010-12-07T02:31:00.000-08:00

Election Annulment and INEC dilemma

By Felix Adewumi

Introduction

When the Court of Appeal annulled the Election of Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State and installed Rauf Aregbesola as the governor, there were jubilations in every corner where progressives are and people who believed that they were robbed of the victory in the first place.

However the annulment had once again constituted another dilemma for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as it added Osun state to the list of headache the electoral body is expected to deal with.

When the tribunal started, what was unknown was the ability of the tribunals to arrive at a result and clear the air of all the illegality and irregularities that the election had brought, little did anybody know that the judiciary is set with a surprise for the nations when they began to correct the errors of the election.

A fact is becoming obvious from the spate of election annulment in some states in Nigeria, INEC has a difficult task ahead of them as they tends to balance the various elections times table in Nigeria starting from the Anambra State election.

States like Anambra State, Edo State, Delta State, Ekiti State, Ondo State Osun State and Rivers State may not participate in the 2011 gubernatorial elections as the annulments of election in those states brings out the possibility of the new governors’ term starting from the date of annulment.

Correcting INEC anomalies

Perhaps, one of the most interesting things in the judiciary was the role of the tribunal in correcting most of the election woes. About two months after the tribunal commenced sitting, the expected results starts coming in.

Governor Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State received the knock when the Kogi State tribunal nullified his election and ordered that a fresh election be conducted in the state. Before Idris could recover from the shock of the election, the axe also fell on the Murtala Nyako, governor of Adamawa, Amodu Sheriff, governor of Bornu state and Ibrahim Dankingari, governor of Kebbi state.

However, Idris and other governors saved INEC blush as they won the re-run elections in their states.

Though some might query the decisions of the tribunals and chose to challenge it, just as Kebbi State governor did and won at the court of appeal, yet the judiciary should be commended for their unflinching stance.

Other elections were also nullified, some senators lose their seat with the outcome of the tribunal, house of representative members as well as house of assembly members also lost out.

Dateline – Anambra election

The INEC election drama started Anambra state during the Chris Ngige saga when after a series of power play, the Court of Appeal suddenly dismissed the election of Ngige and ordered that Peter Obi of the All People’s Grand Alliance be sworn in governor after Ngige had already spent three years in office.

Dr. Ngige’s last minute effort of appealing against the decision of the tribunal could not produce the desired result.

However problem started when INEC made an attempt to conducted an election in the state overlooking the tenure complicity the annulment of the election had caused, this made Obi not to seek election but rather head to the court to seek interpretation of his terms of office.

However, while the case was in court, INEC gambled with election in the state and Andy Uba, a Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) candidate won the election and was sworn in while Obi battle on in the court.

After series of arguments at the court which extended as far as the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court judgement returned Peter Obi as Governor of Anambra, thereby displacing Uba.

That Peter Obi’s judgement became a landmark judgement in which other states lean upon when they win the tribunal judgement in their state.

Rivers imbroglio

INEC shot itself in the foot when it disqualified Rotimi Amaechi from contesting in the 2007 gubernatorial election in Rivers state. An election in which Celestine Omehia later won

The disqualification of Amaechi by INEC was something that called for legal interpretation. Amaechi fought it out from the lower court to the Supreme Court, he never relented until he got his victory when the Supreme Court ordered that he should be sworn in as the governor of Rivers

Though Amaechi was defeated at the lower court, he still had the faith in the judiciary in arriving at a logical conclusion.

The Rivers State decision was a real embarrassment to INEC as it even more discredit as a body capable of overseeing any election in the country

Edo and Ondo palaver

After a lull in the tribunal following the Amaechi and Obi’s landmark case, INEC was put under the hammer once more when the Court of Appeal upturned the election Professor Osaremen Osunbor of Edo state and ordered that Comrade Adams Oshiomole be sworn in.

Ondo state was a beneficiary of such judgment after the Court of Appeal in 2009 also sacked Olusegun Agagu and replaced him with Olusegun Mimiko who was said to have won the election in the first place.

The direct order of the Court of Appeal was a hard knock on INEC and the face saving talk of Professor Maurice Iwu, the then INEC chairman could not salvage the truth that INEC face a daunting task in telling Nigerians that it is ready for the task ahead.

Saving INEC blush in Ekiti state

A major event in the 2009 election petition tribunal was the upturning of the election of Olusegun Oni of Ekiti State where the Election tribunal ordered a rerun of election in the state.

Although, Oni defeated Kayode Fayemi in the rerun which was marred with violence and massive protest, the judiciary could not be blamed for ordering a rerun in the state but it only point to the fact that the role of the judiciary is not finished in the state.

Out of desperation to justify the fact that Oni won the election, Mrs Adebayo Ayoka, the resident Electoral commission chairman in the state, suddenly played out a well rehearsed drama after initially failing to announce the election result and later backtracked and announcing a result where Oni was said to have taken most votes in a local government to complete his result and thereby winning the rerun.

Fayemi once more took the matter up at a newly constituted election tribunal to determine and just recently, the court of appeal finally sacked Oni and replaced him with Fayemi thus Fayemi started a fresh 4-year term.

The Ekiti tribunal also played is role when it upturned the election of Senator Femi Kila after it was discovered that he was not validly elected and also ordered a rerun in the election of Senator Ayo Arise who eventually won the rerun.

Osun Debacle

Just six months to the end of the tenure of Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State, the Court of Appeal only recently annulled his election and ordered that Aregbesola be sworn in as governor.

This has once more renewed the call for a review of the judicial system so as to help INEC in coming elections

Mr Wahab Shittu, a Lagos Lawyer stated that justice delayed is justice denied, the long period this is taking before justice is gotten in Nigeria is an indictment on the justice system. This should not be allowed to continue.

Shittu also reiterated the call that for reform of the justice system stating that the judiciary ought to be tinkered upon so that future cases can be decided upon in time.

Echoing the call of Shittu, Mr Ebun Adegboruwa, a Lagos lawyer stated that the judgment itself constitutes an embarrassment to the legal profession, the judiciary and Nigeria as a whole as it shows how slow the judiciary is.

Adegboruwa also expressed his displeasure over the fact that the judgement was coming just days after the times table for the 2011 elections have already been released and contestants have already been warming up for the election.

“It is so heartrending to note that judgement is coming after the time table for the coming election has been released and contestants are already emerging. The court of law should be reformed to ensure that petitions are heard in time” he said .

Jega’s Herculean Task

Professor Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman was appointed with a burden of responsibility; to correct most anomalies of his predecessor as well as give INEC a new image.

Right now, Nigerians cannot trust INEC on election matters even after watching the way Jega has at various time changed the 2011 election timetable as well as even try to change the election date.

Already INEC are getting ready for the election period but it is not forgetting the fact that election might be conducted every year and every months after 2011 following the several annulments that have taken place in the states, national assemblies, State Assemblies and local government seats if issue of tenure is to be taken into consideration.

A local government chairman who was recently sworn in after the tribunal ordered that he was the winner of the 2008 local government election was said to have pointed out that he is starting a fresh term.

These and others are the dilemma faced by INEC coupled with the fact that the whole world is watching out for a free and fair election in 2011.

Osun Election: Justice with a high price tag

2010-12-07T02:27:00.000-08:00

Osun Election: Justice with a high price tag

By Felix Adewumi

Background

Three and half years after the April 14, 2007 gubernatorial election in Osun State and two years after a telephone conversation scandal rocked the judiciary in Nigeria, Engineer Rauf Aregbesola was finally declared winner of the election.

However, for Aregbesola, justice came with a high price tag as he was made to go through lots of hassle and embarrassment on the road to victory.

Osun election petition tribunal was the most interesting tribunal of the 2007 election with interesting stories coming out of the state.

Osun Drama

In 2008, About a year after the first election tribunal was constituted, the first drama broke out in the state when The News newspapers revealed an illegal telephone conversation between Chief Kunle Kalejaye (SAN), counsel to erstwhile governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Justice Joe Ekanem, the tribunal chairman.

This conversation was said to be purportedly conducted to pervert the course of justice and while urging the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to investigate all SMS, voice messages and other related communications data in order to determine the level of complicity, the Action Congress (AC) alleged that the communication compromised the integrity of the tribunal members.

However, in a twist of event, in 2009 Aregbesola suddenly found himself in trouble with the police after he was alleged to have forged a police report for the election tribunal. He was subsequently arrested and arraigned before a High Court in Abuja.

While it took the EFCC several years to investigate and prosecute those involved in the alleged telephone conversation in Osun State, the Nigerian Police were very ‘effective’ in investigating and bringing a forgery case against Aregbesola.

In the charge, Aregbesola and one Yinka Okedara, a lawyer were said to have forged a police letter head paper for the security report on the 2007 election in Osun State contrary to section 364 of the penal code and tendered it before the court of Appeal in Ibadan.

Road to Victory

While the battle for the soul of Osun raged on between the PDP and AC, drama started in Osun State when Aregbesola filed a 1004 page petition contending that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the police colluded with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the election in favour of Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

However, Aregbesola’s petition included forensic analysis of the ballot papers used for the election to prove that the poll in 10 councils did not follow the electoral law thus setting the stage for the use of science to prove election rigging.

However, in February, 2008, the electoral petition rejected the forensic evidence and on July 15, 2008 dismissed the AC candidate petition entirely, but in March 2009, the Court of Appeal in Ibadan upturned the decision of the tribunal and ordered a retrial of the petition at election petition tribunal.

Howbeit, in May 2010, a newly constituted election tribunal in the State again dismissed the petition of Aregbesola for lacking merit,

Not undaunted with the force against him coupled with the criminal charge levelled against him, Aregbesola headed to the Court of Appeal in Ibadan to appeal the judgement thus the stage became set for a final showdown at the appellate court as the judgement was expected to bring an end to the unending legal tussle for the soul of the state.

However, with results coming from Ekiti state election, Delta State election and the Ondo State of 2009, there was cause for anxiety that the Court of Appeal was apparently set to correct most wrongs of the 2007 election.

Reactions and Mix feelings

Mr Wahab Shittu, a Lagos lawyer while commending the decisions of the appellate court declared Aregbesola’s victory as a victory over perseverance and patience.

Shittu however lamented the fact that it took the judiciary three and half years to correct the anomalies.

“We all know that justice delayed is justice denied, the long period this is taking before justice is gotten in Nigeria is an indictment on the justice system. This should not be allowed to continue” Shittu said.

Shittu also reiterated the call that for reform of the justice system stating that the judiciary ought to be tinkered upon so that future cases can be decided upon in time.

While saluting the courage of the AC and all progressive politicians, he urged them to make to the most of it and show shy the electorate put their faith in them.

In the same vein Mr Adeshina Ogunlana, a lawyer and publisher of The Squib, a weekly watchdog of the judiciary, noted that the judgement shows that truth will always prevail over deceit.

Ogunlana was also of the view that election fraudster should be made to face the music and the court of law so as to serve as deterrent to others.

He called for the authorities to ensure that election riggers are arrested and tried before a court of law since it is obvious that a large number of politicians rigged their ways into power.

“This is one thing we should look into, riggers should not be allowed to just go free, Oyinlola and Segun Oni spent three and half years in their state, and they expect us to just overlook that, that should not be allowed at all if we really want progress in the country.

A fact is becoming obvious from the spate of election annulment in some states in Nigeria: INEC has a difficult task ahead of them as they tends to balance the various elections times table in Nigeria starting from the Anambra State election.

Conclusion

It took Aregbesola three and half years to win the soul of Osun State, just six months before the next gubernatorial election. As pointed out by Adegboruwa, other aspirants for the 2011 elections have no other option to wait for the next four years while Aregbesola run his term.

However, it remains to be seen how INEC will handle the scattered electoral timetable in the country and ensure a free and fair election in 2011

Delay in EFCC trials: Who is to blame?

2010-08-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Delay in EFCC trials: Who is to blame?

By Felix Adewumi

Background

To some public office holders, the fear of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is the beginning of wisdom. This has been the case when former President Olusegun Obasanjo saddled Mr Nuhu Ribadu with the EFCC duty.

The uproar that followed the arrest and subsequent arraignment of former Inspector general of Police, Mr Tafa Balogun after Ribadu brought him to the court in handcuff showed the resolve of the anti graft commission to track down corrupt public office holder.

Perhaps more interesting was the rate at which the anti graft commission clampdown on some former governors where Dr Ayo Fayose of Ekiti, Chimaroke Nnamani, (Enugu), Orji Kalu (Abia), Rashidi Ladoja (Oyo), Chief Lucky Igbinedion and Joshua Dariye (Plateau) were all arraigned.

However, following the removal of Ribadu as the EFCC boss and the subsequent replacement of his position with Mrs Farida Waziri, the commission experience little lull in which the commission concentrated on the arraignment and subsequent sentencing of Chief Olabode George, a PDP chieftain while the Femi Fani Kayode suit drag on to the Court of Appeal.

EFCC finally had another field day when they were made to arrest and arraign some bank chiefs affected by the Sanusi’s restructuring exercise.

With this renewed sense of responsibility, the commission started a manhunt for some of the bank chiefs, while some surrendered (Cecelia Ibru, Francis Atuche, Charles Ojo and others); Erastus Akingbola of Intercontinental Bank took to his heel only to later surrender himself to EFCC 11 months after.

Convictions and recovery

Since the emergence of Mrs. Farida Waziri as EFCC chairman, in addition to the high profile cases she inherited from her predecessor. Ribadu, her commission has recorded reasonable success in high profile arrests of top politicians, captains of industries, Directors-General of federal institutions. Her only constrain is that there has not been any tangible conviction to show for it due to manipulations and frustration of the cases by those arraigned when they are granted bail.

At a media chat once, Mr Femi Babafemi, EFCC spokesman pointed out that about 25 persons have so far been convicted just within the short duration of Waziri’s stay in office and not less than N3 billion naira had been recovered by the commission.

The EFCC spokesman pointed out that some high public office holders like Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, Chief Kenny martins, Bode George, Femi Fani-Kayode, Chief Bablola Aborishade and other members of the Petroleum Equipment Foundation who are considered as untouchables, had been charged for corrupt enrichment by the commission.

According to the EFCC spokesman, Mr. Femi Babafemi, not only has the trial of some governors continued in the courts, the recent arraignment of former governors, Michael Boatmang and Boni Haruna, was a clear testimony that the bar of the anti-corruption has been raised.

However, with the celebrity status of these arrests and arraignment of these men and women of power for corruption and money laundering by the EFCC, the fears that there is the possibility of manipulations and frustration of their trials and the subsequent long court adjournments, many Nigerians are wondering if this is not the end of the some of those cases.

The fears of these Nigerians have their roots in the country’s recent history, before the end of the last administration, several EFCC and ICPC reports had indicted a number of ex-governors. The amount of funds the EFCC traced to the former governors was mind-blowing. In 2006, the commission claimed to have recovered more than $5billion.

Apart from stealing from monthly allocations, some of the governors reportedly compounded their states’ financial crises by taking questionable loans from banks.

But over two years after some of these former governors were charged to court by the anti-graft agency and granted bail by the courts, they still walk the streets freely and travel abroad unencumbered and given their clout, they have the capacity to manipulate and frustrate their trials.

To this end, these Nigerians are worried that the bail granted the bank chiefs may have spelled doom for the case. They also wonder if the Justice Dan Abutu-led Federal High Court and the EFCC will record any tangible conviction from the charges preferred against them.

EFCC as a cog in the wheel of the trial?

Perhaps one very important facts is that EFCC had not also helped matter in some of those cases as they tends to bring about the delay thus allowing the matter to delay unnecessarily

A clear example was the Fani- Kayode’s matter which the EFCC once celebrated. No sooner as Fani –Kayode got his bail, that EFCC sought to tender computer printouts of statements of accounts belonging to the former minister to prove that the former minister committed financial crimes.

This moved was opposed by Fani-Kayode’s lawyer arguing that computer printouts are not admissible in evidence and Justice Ramat Mohammed, the presiding judge ruled that the computer printout is not admissible in evidence.

However, not satisfied with the ruling of the Federal High Court, the EFCC appealed and in June 2009, Justice Ramat adjourned the N230 million money laundering trial involving Fani-Kayode indefinitely to allow for the determination of the appeal.

After almost a year, the Appellate Court overturned the decision of the lower court and upheld the appeal of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, by declaring that computer printout is admissible in evidence.

With this decision, everyone thought the coast is now clear for the continuation of the trial of Fani-Kayode, but the decision only gave him another tool to fight with and he headed for the Supreme Court to argue his case, thus the Fani-Kayode matter has spent close to two years without real trial even beginning.

Another situation is the way in which most of the cases are being handled with EFCC made to look like a disjointed group on numerous occasions.

Mr Olalekan Ojo, a Lagos Lawyer passed the buck of the blame on EFCC, according to him, in most cases, like during the trial of Nnamani, Fayose, Fani-Kayode, Bode George and others, EFCC came to court to inform the court that they are not ready to go on either because their witness is not around, their lead counsel is not available, they need to file a reply to an application or they need to file for extension of time.

Ojo, who famously defended Lateef Shofolahan, a former aide to the late Mrs Kudirat Abiola said it will not be correct to blame lawyers and judges in this situation.

“There are situations where adjournments were brought about by the absence of witnesses, I know of a case which suffered adjournment more than eight times due to the absence of just one witness” he said

However, Mr Foluso Fayokun, former Lagos Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) chairman, think lawyers have not really helped matters in this situation

“These days, lawyers are involved in all sorts of tricks. That have not helped the integrity of the legal profession, you find lawyers filing applications that the trials should not go on just to frustrate the suit.

According to him, lawyers file stay of proceedings, application for bail, challenge the charge itself and if they are ruled out, they go to the appellate court.

He pointed out that a lawyer duty is to ensure that his client’s case is resolved as quickly as possible so that it can be determined whether he is guilty or not and if he is guilty he should quickly serve his term and go about with his life.

“But most time what we find is lawyers who try to frustrate the hearing of the matter and that will not serve the best interest of the clients and even the legal profession. It does not give the profession a good name and shows that we don’t really know what we are doing” he said

Referring to Major General Ishaya Bamaiyi’s matter which suffers many adjournments because of the lawyers, Fayokun however faulted the judges for not talking their stands when it comes to treating frivolous applications.

“The judges are supposed to manage their courts and not allow flimsy application. If a lawyer is not willing to go on with his matter, the judge can proceed; there is no rule which says he can’t proceed if a lawyer refused to file his application.

On the part of the EFCC, he said if they are not ready with their case and failed to produce their witnesses or file the necessary papers; the judge should just strike out the matter and tell them to come back when they are ready.

“As far as I am concern it is the duty of the judge to say when they are ready they should bring the accused back. The court should not just be congested with cases, the lawyers should manage their courts in a way that they don’t waste their time on frivolities, if the lawyers want to engage in rigmarole exercises, the judge should not condone it, it is the duty of the judge to make sure that he does not grant unnecessary indulgence” he said

Need for Special Courts on Corruption?

Recently, the EFCC boss had at a public hearing on the Bill to amend the EFCC Act to empower it to refer cases to special courts on corruption, said the delay in the trial of suspects charged for corruption in the law courts was frustrating the operations of the commission.

She advocated the establishment of a special court to try corrupt officials to facilitate the commissions' operations. According to her the slow judicial process in the regular courts was a major challenge to the commission.

According to her in most cases, people are arrested and arraigned before the court only to be released the next day on bail.

“Honestly, we are getting frustrated because the man you picked up looks you in the face and tells you that you are wasting your time” Waziri admitted.

Waziri blamed the slow judicial processes Nigerian courts are known for and the bureaucratic and legalistic bottlenecks of the judicial system of this country for the main reason behind the setback in the quick arraignment and conviction of some of the suspects.

According to her, “the legal process takes quite a lot of money, energy, time, and deployment of personnel to get a single conviction. To speed up prosecution of our cases, the National Assembly should begin the process of creating special courts with the requisite jurisdiction bringing to book, public and private officials involved in corrupt acts", Waziri declared.

She has not failed to tell all that cares to listen that the court is responsible for the delay in the trial of some former governors and other corrupt officials her commission had arraigned.

She had argued that the judiciary was slowing down the anti-graft war, as the rulings and other processes used by the accused persons to escape prosecution gives the impression that the EFCC is not living up to expectation.

“You know very well that their cases are in courts very many of them, about 12 of them. I have been crying out that the cases are being stalled in courts. They get lawyers and pay them heavily. They use the judicial system that is slow by nature to thwart the cases because they first of all challenge the jurisdiction of the high court and then go to the Court of Appeal to ask for stay of execution and then it is neither here nor there”. She said at a recent forum.

According to her, even cases that Ribadu took to court were still there, adding that it was worrisome.

Scoring her commission high, Waziri said, “Those people who do not like my face will say EFCC is not working. I cannot investigate, take the witnesses to court, exhibits are tendered, and the cases are adjourned. I cannot do anything more than I have done. A special court for EFCC-related offences will take us away from the undue legalities that many brilliant lawyers have capitalized on to twist the hand of the courts and the commission”.

However, Justice Abutu, chief Judge of Federal High Court, during his screening before the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters faulted Waziri’s request for the establishment of a special court to try corrupt officials in the country.

Abutu argued that setting up special courts to try corruption and financial crimes cases would neither solve the problem of delayed justice nor boost the crusade against corruption in the country. Instead, he said the solution lies in the amendment of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution to reduce delays in the trial of cases.

“A solution cannot be found in creating a new court for EFCC. A solution can be found to the amendment of the provisions of the constitution to reduce delays in the trial of cases". He said

Instead, Abutu blamed delay in the trials to the various applications for interlocutory injunctions and stay of execution of court judgments, calling for the need to amend these provisions in the constitution that cause these delays.

“Even if the special court is established and it decides on a case, what will you do if an application for stay of execution is granted? There are too many interlocutory injunctions in the country" he argued.

one cannot forget the role played by the Federal Government too when Michael Aondoakaa, former Attorney general of the federation (AGF) deliberately or inadvertently, equivocating on sensitive issues which have enabled those charged and arraigned by the EFCC, including the former governors to capitalise on.

There was an occasion when the AGF directed the commission to always obtain clearance from his Ministry before prosecuting any accused persons in court.

Conclusion

Many EFCC cases are still pending at the court while the commission hope to still arraign more (Prof Ndi Onyuike, former NSE boss) when the green light is given, but there is the real need to address issue of delay in the trials if the commission hope ot achieve meaningful progress.

CBN absolves self from N50bln ATM fraud suit …….. We are all in it……. says Bank

2010-08-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

CBN absolves self from N50bln ATM fraud suit …….. We are all in it……. says Bank By: Felix Adewumi The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made moves to get its name struck out from a N50 billion class action filed by some Nigerians who claimed to be victims of authorised ATM withdrawals against all the 24 banks in Nigeria and Interswitch Nigeria limited and the Apex bank. In the suit filed before Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Lagos, as a class action by Mr Tochukwu Onyuike from the Punuka Attorney and Associate chambers on behalf of the members who are victims of unauthorised ATM withdrawals, the plaintiffs wants the court to give an order directing the banks, CBN and Interswitch to pay the sum of N50 billion as general damages for the withdrawals However, the Apex bank through Chief Theo Nkire, its counsel, brought an application before the court wanting it to strike out its name from the suit because the plaintiff has not complied with the pre-condition for bringing it into the suit as required by S.46A of the CBN Act. The apex bank contended that none of the plaintiffs evidence show any wrong doing against the apex bank as the closest the plaintiffs came to linking the CBN to their claim was that the Apex bank have failed in its regulatory duty to promote monetary stability and sound finance system in relation to electronic money withdrawals. CBN argued that the present action have brought no evidence of any wrongdoing against it and the plaintiffs cannot under the Nigerian law bring an action against it unless they show evidence of bad faith against as a precondition for their action. In a swift reaction to the application, Bank PHB, represented by Barrister Joseph Olowo, its counsel, who claimed not to have been served with the application of CBN argued that the CBN cannot seek to absolved itself from any complicity since the Apex bank is a party to the suit. “We are all in it together, we will swim, sink or win it together, the Apex bank cannot try to leave us to face the suit alone, if it did not want to be a party, we must all be carried along and agree on it together” the counsel said. Justice Tsoho has however adjourned till October 12, 2010 to hear the application of CBN while also adjourning till July 26, 2010 to rule on an earlier application by the plaintiffs to bring in additional witness. In the statement of claim of the plaintiffs, they had also demanded for the sum of N2.5 million being the joint value of the sum lost by them at four of the banks as well as N100 million as the cost of litigation and N10 million as cost of providing appropriate notice to the defendants and administering the class action for their benefit. The plaintiffs who were represented by Miss Daba West, a civil servant with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Miss Nwajiagah Omeruo, a consultant, Mr Tochukwu Onyuike, a lawyer and Mr Sydney Aguwamba, a fashion designer representing all Nigerians who have been victims of unauthorised ATM withdrawals. Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, United Bank of Africa Plc, Bank PHB and Intercontinental Bank Plc were chosen as representative of the all 24 banks and any decision taken against the four banks affects the 24 banks as well as the CBN and Interswitch. They had sought a declaration that the defendants are liable to Nigerians for the losses and damages occasioned by the negligence of the defendants in relation to the provision of debit card services. Besides, they had sought a declaration that the defendants are strictly liable for any damages or losses caused to them by reason of the use of the debit cards offered to them by the defendants. More importantly, they had sought a declaration that the four banks are representative defendants of the class of defendants being those designing manufacturing supplying and offering of debit card services. Moreover, the plaintiffs sought a declaration that CBN failed in its regulatory duty to promote monetary stability and sound financial system in relation to the electronic money withdrawals. According to the plaintiff, since the introduction of the ATM in 2007, Nigerians have at all times had their inclination towards its use as they have build their daily living around the use of such cards and have always done so with the daily limit withdrawal of N60,000.00. However, they averred that at various time, they had went to make withdrawals from ATM in the usual practice but were declined by the ATM for non-availability of funds despite the fact that their accounts was funded in excess of N300,000.00 at the time of the withdrawals. According to them, in each of the occasion, after their experience, they had requested from the banks for their statements of accounts and discovered to their dismay that their accounts had been tampered with unauthorised and illegal withdrawals in rapid succession made from different ATM cash machines thereby reducing the account to zero balance. The plaintiffs contended that the banks had been negligent in their duties as commercial banks and service provider in safeguarding the plaintiff’s funds through installation of security software in total protection of the plaintiff’s fund and this is the duty ought to be observed at all time. Moreover, the plaintiffs had argued that the defendants owed then a duty of care as regard the protection of their fund by providing security mechanisms towards the safe use of the debit cards. According to the plaintiffs, the defendants have failed to take all reasonable and effective measures whether by installation of any software or any part of the information technological devices to install devices to protect the plaintiffs’ funds from unusual, unauthorised and fraudulent withdrawals. The plaintiffs also contended that the defendants failed to enhance their ATM systems to detect and retain clone cards when used as it is the standard practice all over the world and had also failed to realise the hazardous nature of offering debit card by not taking all reasonable steps to ensure that the ATM do not release funds more than N60,000.00 daily. While adding that the defendants failed to provide debit cards with the chip and pin technology which operates against unauthorised withdrawal as done in other countries, the plaintiffs added that the negligence of the defendants have caused Nigerians to suffer financial losses, physical trauma, emotional distress, loss of reputation and severe personal unrest.

So where are the promo Winners?

2010-08-18T04:55:00.000-07:00

So where are the promo Winners?

By Felix Olu Adewumi

Introduction

Every year I watch as several corporate organisations compete among themselves with the sole aim of gaining more customers to their sides.

To achieve this purpose, it is common to see the corporation organisations engage in promotions and award just to lure customers to their products.

This practice, though initially adopted in the western world has gained widespread adoption in Africa with Nigeria taking the lead.

This eye-opener in promo is getting more rapid that it is not uncommon now to see an organisation having more

than two promotions in a year.

Promotions of yesteryears

In those years, the market was not so competitive hence there was not much need for promo as being done in recent time. However, companies like Lever Brothers (now Unilevers), UAC and some beverages company still felt the need to woo more customers to their fold, though not with much dexterity as being done today.

Common promos in the early 80’s were the beverages and lager beer promo. Then, some the company engage in “Look inside the crown” promo where consumers are expected to look under the cork of some drinks and find a set of things ranging from animals, musical instruments and alphabet.

I could remember the famous look under the crown promo done by seven-up (7up) in the late 80s where we are expected to find a complete set of animals in other to claim our prize (one thousand naira). After a long search, we met with brick-wall when we can not find the last of the animal (eagle).

Determined and not giving up, my mum bought four (4) crates of 7up and we declared an impromptu party where people came in and drank awoof drink. However, after checking all ninety-eight (98) bottle crown, we still could not find the missing animal. We were later made to realised that there was only three (3) eagle printed in 3 bottle covers throughout the whole Nigeria. What a promo!

A promo also came to my mind during that same period when the Lever brothers started the Omo buy and win promo, in the promo, consumers are expected to buy a packet of Omo (Omo was still being sold in a thick paper) and look inside the packet for a coupon which stated the prize.

I stayed in a staff quarters where all the lecturers’ wives (over 20 of them including my mother) used Omo to wash their cloths, yet during the 3-month period of the promo (which led to intense and frequent buying of the Omo products) none of the wives saw any winning prize in the packet. The closest one came to winning anything was a Bic Biro in one of the packet.

Bank promos

Before the Soludo’s consolidation exercise and the Sanusi’s restructuring exercise, various Nigeria banks see it necessary to woo more customers and thus started the save and win promos. The purpose of this promo is to encourage customers to save more and withdraw less.

A common feature in the promo is the catch Increase your savings deposit by N10,000 monthly from June 20… to March 20… to win N50,0000, three consecutive incremental deposit of N10,000 qualifies you for a quarterly draw where you can win a brand new Kia Picanto car, while a N50,000 increment qualify you for a draw where N10 million.

This is very common in most banks, and prominent with Intercontinental bank, First Bank, UBA, Wema bank and Oceanic bank.

Only in 2009, Intercontinental bank did the promo twice (one for their anniversary and the other called happy savers promo, first Bank also ran the promo almost through the year and over 200 people were said to receive gifts ranging from N200,000 to Kia Picanto cars.

Telecommunication Promos

Perhaps this is one of the areas where the promo has been bastardised. With the triumvirate of MTN, GLO mobile and ZAIN (or can we call it Bharti Airtel already) the competition become thick daily as each battle to outdo the other and as such create promos at will.

There is no doubt that the three telecommunication network shared a customer base of more than 100 million subscribers but the need to keep those subscribers urge the telecommunication companies on.

With the threat now being posed by the new born babe among them (Etisalat), trying to break their dominance in the market, the telecommunication network are desperate to keep their hold on their customers.

Now and then, they all experimented with different plans and platform where their subscribers can enjoy their services the more.

Glo started the free night call experiment in 2004 with MTN and Zain following suit and this had brought in more youths to the network as they chat away all through the night.

With the need to outdo others, Glo also tried to experiment the free daily call where all they will need to deduct daily is N50 from the subscriber and the subscriber call freely all through the day.

This experiment only lasted for one week as Glo could not continue with it and have to revert back to its original plan.

Presently, Zain has experimented with the Joli plan and now the valueMax where subscribers have the avenue to call freely. All this are one of the strategy to woo more subscribers and keep existing ones.

MTN started with MTN Classic before trying out the Xtra plans where they have the Xtra Cool, Connect, Pro, and others and only recently switch to the Link Plan with the happy link, Funlink, Prolink and others.

Etisalat, not wanting to be outdone also from time to time bring in some promos with their plans, starting with the “Call for one minute and get one free minute” promo to the “Call all through the week and get 50 % of your credit back for use during the weekend”

Only recently, Etisalat tried out another version of the “family and friend” with the “U and Me” where subscribers get 300 naira credit weekly to call their “U and Me” numbers.

However, not satisfied with those platforms, these telecommunication networks have at one time or the other gone the extra mile to woo customers with some mouth watering promos.

2009 was the thick of all promos in the telecommunication companies as each tried out exaggerated and high profile promos.

For example, Glo started with the “Text and win” promo where subscribers are said to win N1 million daily for a period of 4 months and a grand winner winning N30 million (Waoh……. Can you imagine Glo dashing out N153 million just like that to 121 subscribers?)

After trying out the “Treasure Hunt ” Promo, MTN also adopted the “text and Win Promo” to mark the World Cup and allegedly gave out various Millions to subscribers (Mmmmmm….. Rolling up my eye)

The biggest Joker came from Etisalat where over 10 people were said to win N1 million daily in their Etisalat game show (being viewed in various Television stations all over Nigeria) and a 17 year old boy (oh no! not again) said to have won 30 million dollar.

Car Winners

Apart from the N1 million being said to be won daily in Nigeria by you and I, one enticing promo is that of the car promo. By my last count, Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank, First Bank, Diamond Bank and even the relatively unknown Spring Bank and Union Bank have between them given out over 300 promo cars within just one year, while the telecommunication companies also give out about 100 cars each every year.

For instance, Glo started a promo called “Bid as low as 11 naira” last year where they reportedly gave out over 60 cars (the promo ran for 2 months and a winner is expected to be chosen every day throughout the duration), right now, Glo is also involve in the “Recharge and win” promo where one person is expected to win a car daily for the duration of three months (90 cars again).

MTN is also not left out as they at one time or the other include the Car promo into their promos and gave out cars to people while Zain and Etisalat also join in the car promo.

Just last year, Nigeria Sport Lottery (Now SET Nigeria) invited me to witness the presentation of cars to 10 lucky winners as well as DSTV decoders and I was also present at the presentation of Car to UBA savings winner last year.

So where are the Promo Winners

A question quickly comes to mind, with all this cars being given out to people daily (mostly in Lagos), how come we still have thousand of people struggling for Molue, Danfos or queuing up at BRT terminals in Lagos?, How come we don’t have the street of Lagos adorned with vehicles said to be won by all these people? (I understand most of the vehicle won carries the logos of the company and ought to remain like that for a year).

How come that out of the over 500 car winners we have highlighted and over 500 supposed millionaires we hear of, ME, MY FRIENDS, MY FAMILY, MY RELATIVE, MY NEIGHBOURS and MY COLLEAGUES never know any of them?.

I can say this confidently that I live in Ikorodu and work in Ikoyi and in the course of my movements to and fro those places, I have never set my eye on any of the over 100 won promo cars saved for the Sisi Oge, Project Fame winner, and one Insurance car promo winner that I usually come across

This and many questions keep begging for answer any time another car or millionaire promo is being announced. I hope one day we will all know where the cars and millions are going and we will all get to know the truth, for now, lets keep the promo going.