Today (December 10, 2012), the world marks the Human Rights Day, commemorating the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Very importantly, this year’s theme is “Inclusion and the right to participate in public life.”
The theme brings to focus an aspect of human rights often taken for granted. Under Article 21(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.” Simply put, we are talking about democracy as human right.
What is more, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, guarantees every person the right to vote and be elected, and to have access to public service, as well as to free expression, assembly and association.
In Nigeria, we have since May 1999 embraced democracy, even if nominally or superficially. To the extent that every four years, we conduct elections into federal and state government positions (presidency, governorship, national and state legislatures), we can lay claim to compliance with these human rights. But Nigeria’s democracy is yet to fully trickle to the local government level.
A recent newspaper investigation indicates that only the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and 17 out of 36 states have democratically-elected local government councils. The remaining 19 states are operating non-democratically elected local government administrations in breach of the provisions of the Constitution. This effectively denies about half of the country’s citizens the right to participate in their governments directly or through freely chosen representatives. It is totally unacceptable!
It must be stressed further that inclusion and right to participate in public life go beyond simply conducting elections, especially when the elections are more often than not described as ‘flawed’.
Public officials (whether elected or appointed) must recognise that citizens still reserve the right (and do legitimately demand) to be consulted in decision making, policy formulation and law making. To that extent, citizens must be consulted in the making and review of laws including the two most important laws, the Constitution and the budget.
While we are in the season of budget presentation, consideration and passage at federal and state levels, we are seeing very little involvement of citizens in the process. Many government officials involved in the process still suffer the hangover of the military era where laws (including budgets) were made by government officials, whimsically, for the people, irrespective of what the needs of the citizens were. This has to change by getting citizens involved right from the introduction and passage of the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) and the budget itself.
But while there is limited involvement by citizens groups and civil society in law, budget and policy making at the federal level, the same cannot be said about the state level while it is nearly totally absent at the local government level.
Inclusion in decision making (including elections) must also recognise all the component groups in the society and provide them equal and equitable access. For instance, even though women make up half the population, they still form a small minority in government, both elected and appointed officers. It is even worse for persons with disability. The time is ripe now to take specific steps to provide such access, including reservation of positions for women and other excluded groups.
As we seek citizens’ participation, we must commend the resilience of the Nigerian citizens who have kept pushing for better involvement in decision making against all odds. In her statement to mark this year’s event, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay saluted the world citizens who in the last few years (this year especially), have stood up against their exclusionary governments through popular protests on streets and squares. We cannot but salute the ordinary Nigerians who began the year, standing up against government’s insensitive governance actions and still do so in many ways. While government’s responses have been marginally positive, it is evident that people-driven change is still possible. And this we must continue to push and support.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Watch your drugs prescription very well
I have long ago learnt to 'shine my eyes' when dealing with professionals. Because they are all humans, they all make mistakes, with consequences. Today I focus on the pharmacist. The one I met recently misread the duration my girl was asked to take her antibiotics and wrote seven days instead of five. I had to point it out and he agreed and corrected it.
I shared the above information with some friends on a social media chat and soon we got talking. One person had this to say:
"My dear Obo, you are right. On getting to the pharmacy (on lst Sept) after my grand-daughter and her mum saw the doctor, the pharmacist put the baby's label on the mum's drug and the mum's label on the baby's drug. I administered the syrups and said I would read the leaflet for the tablet (because I have never heard of baby drugs in tablet form). Although I thought it might dissolve in water. Days later, my daughter asked me if I saw her contraceptives and I said NO. It just occurred to me then that the baby drugs I was gonna read before administering was for mum. Thank God for me O. Surely, we must be careful because professionals are HUMAN."
I responded as follows: Aahhh! I once got infant syrup for myself because the pharmacist apparently saw me with my daughter and thought it was for her. Imagine how our illiterate compatriots suffer then. One day in the National Hospital the pharmacist packaged the drugs meant for my wife and mistakenly added another person's own which was forgotten at the counter. What saved us was that I knew the number of drugs written on the prescription and what I was given was over so we had to do a manual recount like Florida in 2000 elections to be able to identify the 'excess matter'.
Yet another person said "Thank God @Obo that you are literate enough to read the hand written prescription which many of us can't even decode. It's a lesson now. I must learn and look. Nobody or any professional should be taken granted again."
But I have since learned to decipher even the medical doctor's coded writings. Lol! If they write 5 over 7 it means 5 days in a week (of seven days) and 1 over 52 is one week in a year (or 52 weeks).
I shared the above information with some friends on a social media chat and soon we got talking. One person had this to say:
"My dear Obo, you are right. On getting to the pharmacy (on lst Sept) after my grand-daughter and her mum saw the doctor, the pharmacist put the baby's label on the mum's drug and the mum's label on the baby's drug. I administered the syrups and said I would read the leaflet for the tablet (because I have never heard of baby drugs in tablet form). Although I thought it might dissolve in water. Days later, my daughter asked me if I saw her contraceptives and I said NO. It just occurred to me then that the baby drugs I was gonna read before administering was for mum. Thank God for me O. Surely, we must be careful because professionals are HUMAN."
I responded as follows: Aahhh! I once got infant syrup for myself because the pharmacist apparently saw me with my daughter and thought it was for her. Imagine how our illiterate compatriots suffer then. One day in the National Hospital the pharmacist packaged the drugs meant for my wife and mistakenly added another person's own which was forgotten at the counter. What saved us was that I knew the number of drugs written on the prescription and what I was given was over so we had to do a manual recount like Florida in 2000 elections to be able to identify the 'excess matter'.
Yet another person said "Thank God @Obo that you are literate enough to read the hand written prescription which many of us can't even decode. It's a lesson now. I must learn and look. Nobody or any professional should be taken granted again."
But I have since learned to decipher even the medical doctor's coded writings. Lol! If they write 5 over 7 it means 5 days in a week (of seven days) and 1 over 52 is one week in a year (or 52 weeks).
Friday, October 12, 2012
ActionAid Nigeria's position on Constitution review
Proposal by ActionAid Nigeria to the Senate Committee on the Review of the Nigerian Constitution
Creation of more states: At a time when, even the National Assembly has concluded that many states in Nigeria are insolvent, it is difficult to understand or agree that the country needs more states. Our observation is that most states exist and survive on account of expected revenue from the Federation Account, having failed or being unable to generate enough revenue internally. The widely-canvassed view of the creation of another state in the South-East geopolitical zone to ‘achieve equality/equity’ is not a strong argument. This is because it is premised on the ‘equality’ of all the geopolitical zones in every way. If such argument prevails, it follows therefore that after the creation; all other five geo-political zones apart from North-West should legitimately request an additional state to bring their number to seven, like there is in North-West or alternatively, dissolution of a state in the North-West to ensure the so-called equality of zones. Such argument could be further extended to include equality in the number of local governments per state and per senatorial district.
Recognition of the Six Geopolitical zones: We do not see any strong necessity for the inclusion of this in the Constitution. Standard practice of federalism recognises states as federating units. The creation of another level or structure above the federating units is superfluous and would unduly increase the cost of governance.
Role for traditional rulers: We acknowledge that as Africans, we still hold dearly to our cultures and traditions, including some level of recognition and allegiance to the traditional leadership structures at those levels. However, we believe that the concept of republicanism, which the Nigerian federation has been since 1963, is parallel to the system of traditional political government. We therefore disagree in totality with the suggestion to provide ‘Constitutional roles’ for traditional rulers. Our reasons against these are as follows:
a. To the extent that traditional rulers are not popularly and democratically elected by ALL the people (men and women) who make up the given geographical territory of the monarchy and to the further extent that ALL the people (men and women) are not equitably qualified to vie for such positions, this proposal runs contrary to the democratic nature of a modern state such as we have or try to sustain.
b. The idea of monarchy is one that creates rulers and subjects and such is contrary to the principles of freedom and liberty for which a democracy guarantees.
c. Unlike ‘constitutional monarchies’ such as the United Kingdom, Belgium, Holland or Spain where there is little or no dispute as to the pre-eminence of a single monarch in the entire country, Nigeria does not have such pre-eminent traditional ruler, neither at the federal nor at most state levels. Attempting to foist any such traditional ruler on the rest at this point would create anarchy.
d. Based on the argument in (c) above, the country may be unduly torn apart by arguments as to which traditional rulers should be recognised at each given moment.
e. Suggesting constitutional roles for traditional rulers may also lead to suggesting constitutional roles for other leaders who draw on large followers’ base such as religious leaders, with the same challenges as stated above.
f. We suggest that the present practice of governments engaging and consulting with traditional and religious leaders as the occasion demands should be continued and encouraged, akin to the engagement of other groups such as professional or trade unions. This need not be provided for under the Constitution.
Local government: The present constitution recognises the existence of local governments and actually lists them out in a schedule. Its mere ‘guarantee’ of a system of government by ‘democratically elected’ governments at that level has, in practice been spurned by the state governments with impunity, through the collusion of the executive and the legislature. Thus across the states, we have caretaker local government administrations which, although provided for by the various state local government laws, may be termed statutory but are unconstitutional and thus illegal. Added to the above is the notorious fact that revenue allocations to local government areas from the Federation Account are often trapped by the state governments. To address this anomaly, we opine that elaborate provisions be made in the constitution for the operation of the local government areas and the power to make local government laws to provide for functions and powers should reside in the National Assembly and allocations to the local government from the Federation Account should be paid directly to those government accounts. Furthermore, given the near impracticability of the current provisions for the creation of new local government areas, we opine that the Constitution be altered to restrict the creation of more local government areas.
Taking out the following from the Constitution: (a) Land Use Act, (b) NYSC Act, (c) Code of Conduct. We do not agree that these provisions should be excised from the Constitution, especially the Code of Conduct, that being a strong basis for holding public officers to account. We however agree that the Land Use Act requires some amendments.
Immunity clause: Much has been said about the provision of Section 308 of the Constitution which immunes certain public officers from prosecution while they are in office. While we agree that all citizens should be equal before the law, we recognise that immunity from prosecution is not an alien concept in democracy. Besides, the said provision does not offer immunity in perpetuity but only for a specific period. Those immune at any given period are also limited to only 74 persons (36 state governors + 36 state deputy governors + 1 president + 1 vice president). Given our recent experience of state governors having running battles with the government at the centre, we are constrained to speak against the removal of the immunity clause, conscious that its removal may occasion the use of ‘federal might’ to hound state governors.
Nigeria Police Force: We agree with the retention and continuation of a federal police structure, decentralised in such a way that state governments have stronger supervisory roles over state police commissioners in the maintenance of law and order in those locations. We equally recommend that the method of appointment of the Inspector General of Police should be reformed to guarantee the tenure of office and protect the office holder from undue influence from the president.
Rotation of executive offices among senatorial districts of a State: While we sympathise with the clamour of many Nigerians for all component units of the country and a state to be equally entitled and have access to the highest political offices at every level of government, we urge caution against reducing politics to a mere game of rotation at the detriment of efficiency and capability. We opine that such rotational principles be left to the political parties to determine if they so wish. Additionally, the component ethnic or geopolitical groups are also in a position to negotiate space and take advantage of political spaces provided to extend their interests. We equally need to draw attention to the fact that the complexities of every geographical political entity (country, state, local government etc) go beyond ethnic and linguistic diversities to include such diversities as gender and (dis)ability. To that extent, we would rather support the recognition of the country’s gender diversities and the adoption of Affirmative Action in the composition of both the executive and the legislative arms of government at all levels.
Gender and Special Group: In line with some of the arguments in the paragraph above and in line with the principles of Affirmative Action, we recommend the review of the Constitution to provide that in the composition of the offices of chief executives and their deputies under the Constitution, both men and women shall hold alternate positions, e.g. where a man is president, the vice president should be a woman. We equally propose the reservation of at least one senate seat per state during each tenure, for filling by a woman. We believe that the details of this could be effectively worked out by the electoral body.
Mayoral status for the Federal Capital Territory Administration: It is a fact that the Federal Capital Territory is not a state but is treated as one in many circumstances, according to the provisions of the Constitution. It is therefore strange that while citizens in every part of the country elect their local government councillors, local government chairpersons, members of the state house of assembly, members of the house of representatives and the senate as well as the president, citizens resident in FCT do not elect the head of their territory, like their fellow citizens in the state elect their state governors. The head of the FCT administration is instead an appointee of the president. To address this anomaly, we therefore support the proposal to create a mayoralty in the FCT so that residents of the territory could directly elect the chief executive of their administration and hold them to account.
Residency and indigene provisions: The continued reliance on indigene as status for accessing political positions has led to scores of conflicts across the country. We have seen instances where communities and individuals who have lived continuously in a particular location for upward of 50 years are still regarded as ‘non-indigenes’ or ‘settlers’, even when they contribute much to the development of such areas and stand to suffer equally with other longer-existing persons and communities, in the event of disasters in the areas. The Constitution even makes reference to ‘indigenes’ in the proviso to Section 147(2) on the appointment of ministers of government of the federation, yet nowhere in the Constitution is there a definition of the word. We opine that the Constitution should either only refer to ‘residence’ or define ‘indigene’ to include persons who have maintained long residence of 10 years in a particular location. We further propose that the section of the Constitution that guarantees against discrimination should include indigenes as basis of discrimination.
Any other matter: We would like to make the following submissions and urge the National Assembly to consider in the review of the Constitution to reflect such. Our aim here is to have a reduction in the cost of administration:
I. Remove the proviso to Section 147(2) of the Constitution that mandates the president to appoint a minister from each state of the federation.
II. Put a ceiling as to the number of ministries that may exist at the federal level to not more than 20 and at the state to not more than 12.
III. Limit the number of special advisers that may be appointed to not more than half the number of ministers or commissioners.
IV. We strongly support the operation of a unicameral federal legislature, instead of the present bicameral legislature.
We hope our position would help deepen the national discussions on the Constitution review.
Creation of more states: At a time when, even the National Assembly has concluded that many states in Nigeria are insolvent, it is difficult to understand or agree that the country needs more states. Our observation is that most states exist and survive on account of expected revenue from the Federation Account, having failed or being unable to generate enough revenue internally. The widely-canvassed view of the creation of another state in the South-East geopolitical zone to ‘achieve equality/equity’ is not a strong argument. This is because it is premised on the ‘equality’ of all the geopolitical zones in every way. If such argument prevails, it follows therefore that after the creation; all other five geo-political zones apart from North-West should legitimately request an additional state to bring their number to seven, like there is in North-West or alternatively, dissolution of a state in the North-West to ensure the so-called equality of zones. Such argument could be further extended to include equality in the number of local governments per state and per senatorial district.
Recognition of the Six Geopolitical zones: We do not see any strong necessity for the inclusion of this in the Constitution. Standard practice of federalism recognises states as federating units. The creation of another level or structure above the federating units is superfluous and would unduly increase the cost of governance.
Role for traditional rulers: We acknowledge that as Africans, we still hold dearly to our cultures and traditions, including some level of recognition and allegiance to the traditional leadership structures at those levels. However, we believe that the concept of republicanism, which the Nigerian federation has been since 1963, is parallel to the system of traditional political government. We therefore disagree in totality with the suggestion to provide ‘Constitutional roles’ for traditional rulers. Our reasons against these are as follows:
a. To the extent that traditional rulers are not popularly and democratically elected by ALL the people (men and women) who make up the given geographical territory of the monarchy and to the further extent that ALL the people (men and women) are not equitably qualified to vie for such positions, this proposal runs contrary to the democratic nature of a modern state such as we have or try to sustain.
b. The idea of monarchy is one that creates rulers and subjects and such is contrary to the principles of freedom and liberty for which a democracy guarantees.
c. Unlike ‘constitutional monarchies’ such as the United Kingdom, Belgium, Holland or Spain where there is little or no dispute as to the pre-eminence of a single monarch in the entire country, Nigeria does not have such pre-eminent traditional ruler, neither at the federal nor at most state levels. Attempting to foist any such traditional ruler on the rest at this point would create anarchy.
d. Based on the argument in (c) above, the country may be unduly torn apart by arguments as to which traditional rulers should be recognised at each given moment.
e. Suggesting constitutional roles for traditional rulers may also lead to suggesting constitutional roles for other leaders who draw on large followers’ base such as religious leaders, with the same challenges as stated above.
f. We suggest that the present practice of governments engaging and consulting with traditional and religious leaders as the occasion demands should be continued and encouraged, akin to the engagement of other groups such as professional or trade unions. This need not be provided for under the Constitution.
Local government: The present constitution recognises the existence of local governments and actually lists them out in a schedule. Its mere ‘guarantee’ of a system of government by ‘democratically elected’ governments at that level has, in practice been spurned by the state governments with impunity, through the collusion of the executive and the legislature. Thus across the states, we have caretaker local government administrations which, although provided for by the various state local government laws, may be termed statutory but are unconstitutional and thus illegal. Added to the above is the notorious fact that revenue allocations to local government areas from the Federation Account are often trapped by the state governments. To address this anomaly, we opine that elaborate provisions be made in the constitution for the operation of the local government areas and the power to make local government laws to provide for functions and powers should reside in the National Assembly and allocations to the local government from the Federation Account should be paid directly to those government accounts. Furthermore, given the near impracticability of the current provisions for the creation of new local government areas, we opine that the Constitution be altered to restrict the creation of more local government areas.
Taking out the following from the Constitution: (a) Land Use Act, (b) NYSC Act, (c) Code of Conduct. We do not agree that these provisions should be excised from the Constitution, especially the Code of Conduct, that being a strong basis for holding public officers to account. We however agree that the Land Use Act requires some amendments.
Immunity clause: Much has been said about the provision of Section 308 of the Constitution which immunes certain public officers from prosecution while they are in office. While we agree that all citizens should be equal before the law, we recognise that immunity from prosecution is not an alien concept in democracy. Besides, the said provision does not offer immunity in perpetuity but only for a specific period. Those immune at any given period are also limited to only 74 persons (36 state governors + 36 state deputy governors + 1 president + 1 vice president). Given our recent experience of state governors having running battles with the government at the centre, we are constrained to speak against the removal of the immunity clause, conscious that its removal may occasion the use of ‘federal might’ to hound state governors.
Nigeria Police Force: We agree with the retention and continuation of a federal police structure, decentralised in such a way that state governments have stronger supervisory roles over state police commissioners in the maintenance of law and order in those locations. We equally recommend that the method of appointment of the Inspector General of Police should be reformed to guarantee the tenure of office and protect the office holder from undue influence from the president.
Rotation of executive offices among senatorial districts of a State: While we sympathise with the clamour of many Nigerians for all component units of the country and a state to be equally entitled and have access to the highest political offices at every level of government, we urge caution against reducing politics to a mere game of rotation at the detriment of efficiency and capability. We opine that such rotational principles be left to the political parties to determine if they so wish. Additionally, the component ethnic or geopolitical groups are also in a position to negotiate space and take advantage of political spaces provided to extend their interests. We equally need to draw attention to the fact that the complexities of every geographical political entity (country, state, local government etc) go beyond ethnic and linguistic diversities to include such diversities as gender and (dis)ability. To that extent, we would rather support the recognition of the country’s gender diversities and the adoption of Affirmative Action in the composition of both the executive and the legislative arms of government at all levels.
Gender and Special Group: In line with some of the arguments in the paragraph above and in line with the principles of Affirmative Action, we recommend the review of the Constitution to provide that in the composition of the offices of chief executives and their deputies under the Constitution, both men and women shall hold alternate positions, e.g. where a man is president, the vice president should be a woman. We equally propose the reservation of at least one senate seat per state during each tenure, for filling by a woman. We believe that the details of this could be effectively worked out by the electoral body.
Mayoral status for the Federal Capital Territory Administration: It is a fact that the Federal Capital Territory is not a state but is treated as one in many circumstances, according to the provisions of the Constitution. It is therefore strange that while citizens in every part of the country elect their local government councillors, local government chairpersons, members of the state house of assembly, members of the house of representatives and the senate as well as the president, citizens resident in FCT do not elect the head of their territory, like their fellow citizens in the state elect their state governors. The head of the FCT administration is instead an appointee of the president. To address this anomaly, we therefore support the proposal to create a mayoralty in the FCT so that residents of the territory could directly elect the chief executive of their administration and hold them to account.
Residency and indigene provisions: The continued reliance on indigene as status for accessing political positions has led to scores of conflicts across the country. We have seen instances where communities and individuals who have lived continuously in a particular location for upward of 50 years are still regarded as ‘non-indigenes’ or ‘settlers’, even when they contribute much to the development of such areas and stand to suffer equally with other longer-existing persons and communities, in the event of disasters in the areas. The Constitution even makes reference to ‘indigenes’ in the proviso to Section 147(2) on the appointment of ministers of government of the federation, yet nowhere in the Constitution is there a definition of the word. We opine that the Constitution should either only refer to ‘residence’ or define ‘indigene’ to include persons who have maintained long residence of 10 years in a particular location. We further propose that the section of the Constitution that guarantees against discrimination should include indigenes as basis of discrimination.
Any other matter: We would like to make the following submissions and urge the National Assembly to consider in the review of the Constitution to reflect such. Our aim here is to have a reduction in the cost of administration:
I. Remove the proviso to Section 147(2) of the Constitution that mandates the president to appoint a minister from each state of the federation.
II. Put a ceiling as to the number of ministries that may exist at the federal level to not more than 20 and at the state to not more than 12.
III. Limit the number of special advisers that may be appointed to not more than half the number of ministers or commissioners.
IV. We strongly support the operation of a unicameral federal legislature, instead of the present bicameral legislature.
We hope our position would help deepen the national discussions on the Constitution review.
Friday, October 5, 2012
My Teacher Honours List
By Obo Effanga
Yippee! It’s World Teachers’ Day today. Oh, well not too many people may be aware of that fact. Not that they couldn’t be bothered I guess; just that the day, like many things about teaching, has not been made popular enough, at least in our climes here in Nigeria.
I don’t really have the time to start dwelling on the problems of teaching and how poorly appreciative we are of the men and women who have helped mould each one of us right from the cradle. All that I would try to do here is go way back in time and remember some of the best teachers I have had in primary and secondary schools. No doubt I may not remember all of them (it’s been 38 long years since I first began formal education) but I would try all the same.
Here with my personal list of honours for my teachers.
Mrs. Eta: I remember Mrs. Eta, my first teacher in school, AME Zion Primary School, Diamond Hill, Calabar. She was that quintessential teacher you would find in 1974, that helped ‘wean’ off a clingy five year old from his father by giving him the special care and attention he needed to get used to the school environment.
Miss Eleng: My teacher in primary 3C. She was a teacher on ‘student practice’, as they called them. She was young and playful. The fact that she could not speak the local Efik language meant that we had to polish up our English language skills.
Mr. X: (Oops, I’ve forgotten his name hence the use of ‘X’) My Primary 6 teacher, a tall dude. We enjoyed his tutelage but he was a terror when he got angry.
Secondary school was more fun for me, thanks to the wonderful teachers we had in Hope Waddell Training Institution, Calabar.
Mrs Panchallingham: My Class 1 mathematics teacher, whose husband taught physics to the higher classes. They were Indians (or is it Sri Lankan, but we saw no difference in the two countries). We could swear the woman was a witch, the way she went about solving maths and giving us all that stress of adding ‘n’ plus ‘m’ or subtracting ‘x’ from ‘y’. Today I really wonder how come we don’t see the Xs and Ys in real life. Lol!
Mrs. Henshaw: My Class 1 English teacher. She was the prim and proper teacher whose class I exceedingly enjoyed.
Mrs. Umunakwe: Her literature classes in class 1 saw us read interesting poems and prose like Tales out of School. It was in her class I learnt that the past tense of the verb ‘burst’ is ‘burst’.
Mrs. Asukwo: (I hope I got the name right) She taught me English in classes 4 and 5. She was a huge lady whom we called Igor or Igoress, in reference to the wrestler, ‘Mighty Igor’ (God please forgive us).
Mr. A. A. Ikoiwak: Our no-nonsense literature teacher in classes 4 and 5 who made us see both the ‘seen’ and ‘unseen’ poems. The way he broke down the meanings and nuances of poetry marvelled us all. I have just called and spoken with him today and I am further awed. At 83 going to 84, he is still in his elements. I mentioned the line ‘O young Lochinvar is come out of the west...’ and the man went all through reciting several more lines.
Mr. Umoh: This teacher of government was a genius, taking us through the maze of the three arms of government and telling us about governments in the pre-colonial and the early days of Independence of Nigeria. The second republic collapsed right in our hands in class 4!
Miss Ekaete Umo: She taught us biology, dissecting the human anatomy and getting us boys go naughty with side talks. She had no problems teaching biology in an all-male school.
Mrs. Jaja: The geography teacher in class 4 who would nearly cry when she saw how unserious some students were with their work. She gave geography a life, the way she handled it.
Mr. E. U. Esara: He taught us Bible Knowledge and I enjoyed his teaching of ‘the synoptic gospels’ He was also popular as the teacher in charge of arranging students to bring down the grasses in the school.
Yippee! It’s World Teachers’ Day today. Oh, well not too many people may be aware of that fact. Not that they couldn’t be bothered I guess; just that the day, like many things about teaching, has not been made popular enough, at least in our climes here in Nigeria.
I don’t really have the time to start dwelling on the problems of teaching and how poorly appreciative we are of the men and women who have helped mould each one of us right from the cradle. All that I would try to do here is go way back in time and remember some of the best teachers I have had in primary and secondary schools. No doubt I may not remember all of them (it’s been 38 long years since I first began formal education) but I would try all the same.
Here with my personal list of honours for my teachers.
Mrs. Eta: I remember Mrs. Eta, my first teacher in school, AME Zion Primary School, Diamond Hill, Calabar. She was that quintessential teacher you would find in 1974, that helped ‘wean’ off a clingy five year old from his father by giving him the special care and attention he needed to get used to the school environment.
Miss Eleng: My teacher in primary 3C. She was a teacher on ‘student practice’, as they called them. She was young and playful. The fact that she could not speak the local Efik language meant that we had to polish up our English language skills.
Mr. X: (Oops, I’ve forgotten his name hence the use of ‘X’) My Primary 6 teacher, a tall dude. We enjoyed his tutelage but he was a terror when he got angry.
Secondary school was more fun for me, thanks to the wonderful teachers we had in Hope Waddell Training Institution, Calabar.
Mrs Panchallingham: My Class 1 mathematics teacher, whose husband taught physics to the higher classes. They were Indians (or is it Sri Lankan, but we saw no difference in the two countries). We could swear the woman was a witch, the way she went about solving maths and giving us all that stress of adding ‘n’ plus ‘m’ or subtracting ‘x’ from ‘y’. Today I really wonder how come we don’t see the Xs and Ys in real life. Lol!
Mrs. Henshaw: My Class 1 English teacher. She was the prim and proper teacher whose class I exceedingly enjoyed.
Mrs. Umunakwe: Her literature classes in class 1 saw us read interesting poems and prose like Tales out of School. It was in her class I learnt that the past tense of the verb ‘burst’ is ‘burst’.
Mrs. Asukwo: (I hope I got the name right) She taught me English in classes 4 and 5. She was a huge lady whom we called Igor or Igoress, in reference to the wrestler, ‘Mighty Igor’ (God please forgive us).
Mr. A. A. Ikoiwak: Our no-nonsense literature teacher in classes 4 and 5 who made us see both the ‘seen’ and ‘unseen’ poems. The way he broke down the meanings and nuances of poetry marvelled us all. I have just called and spoken with him today and I am further awed. At 83 going to 84, he is still in his elements. I mentioned the line ‘O young Lochinvar is come out of the west...’ and the man went all through reciting several more lines.
Mr. Umoh: This teacher of government was a genius, taking us through the maze of the three arms of government and telling us about governments in the pre-colonial and the early days of Independence of Nigeria. The second republic collapsed right in our hands in class 4!
Miss Ekaete Umo: She taught us biology, dissecting the human anatomy and getting us boys go naughty with side talks. She had no problems teaching biology in an all-male school.
Mrs. Jaja: The geography teacher in class 4 who would nearly cry when she saw how unserious some students were with their work. She gave geography a life, the way she handled it.
Mr. E. U. Esara: He taught us Bible Knowledge and I enjoyed his teaching of ‘the synoptic gospels’ He was also popular as the teacher in charge of arranging students to bring down the grasses in the school.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Jigawa calls itself "A New World", more like a different world, if you ask me. Sleepy, hot and rocky. Its capital city is named Dutse, meaning a rock. And that dots many of its landscapes. On one such rock formation sits the Jigawa Hotel.
If you ask an average resident here where Jigawa Hotel is, chances are that he/she would say there is no hotel by such a name. Re-phrase your question and ask for "Three Star" and they will show you to the hotel by the rock...you bet, it is the same Jigawa Hotel.
Do not ask me who created or conferred the stars on the hotel in the first place. Everyone calls it that and so nobody stops to ask, after all that is the only good hotel where anybody who is somebody (or whose organisation can afford to pay for) stays.
Just one week here and I couldn't but marvel at the scenic sites that need to be made popular in publications and on the internet. Hey, wasn't its immediate past governor the one who claimed to drive the state into the IT age?
Why National Assembly should not resist court order on members’ salaries
Why National Assembly should not resist court order on members’ salaries
By Obo Effanga
According to The Punch newspaper of Wednesday August 29, 2012, the Nigerian National Assembly is taking steps to reverse the recent order of the Federal High Court for it to disclose the earnings of its members.
The report says the National Assembly (NASS), acting through its Clerk (the highest ranking civil servant and administrator of the federal legislature), Mr. Salisu Maikasuwa, is by a motion on notice dated June 29, asking for stay of execution of the judgment on the grounds that he has filed a “valid notice of appeal” challenging it.
Recall that on June 25 2012, Justice Balkisu Aliyu had delivered judgment in a suit filed by a civil society organisation, Legal Defence and Assistant Project (LEDAP), ordering the Clerk of the National Assembly “to give detailed information of salary, emolument and allowances paid” to all the federal lawmakers from June 2007 to May 2011.
That judgment was well received and celebrated by citizens. Among other things, it would help put paid to controversies surrounding the actual, official and legitimate earnings of our legislators and thus help in our quest for accountability. The salaries and allowances of these state officials after all are paid from the common wealth of Nigerians and we deserve to know what it costs us to maintain our public officers.
What is more, it is a practical application of the intendment of the Freedom of Information Act earlier passed by the same National Assembly, whom Mr. Maikasuwa is attempting to shield from scrutiny.
The questions to ask include: “whose interest is Mr Maikasuwa attempting to protect anyway?” What injury does he or the (former) members of the National Assembly stand to suffer if this information as to their salaries and allowances are made public?”
While we are aware that the law recognises the right of any party in a legal proceeding to appeal any decision, we are also aware that public officers, whose offices and activities are paid for by public resources should at all times act in the best interest of the public. Spending public resources in appealing this judgment and resisting the quest for the disclosure of public information cannot by any stretch of imagination be said to accord to that standard.
Our country cannot progress with the attitude of public officers as represented by the clerk of the National Assembly who continue to regard the salaries and emoluments of public officers as private and secret information.
One view reportedly canvassed by the NASS Clerk is that the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 and any other law did not have retrospective effect. This apparently suggests that because the Act was passed in 2011, it cannot be used as basis for demanding information that existed prior to that time.
That certainly cannot be a proper interpretation of the law. Section 1(1) of the Act refers to “information, whether or not contained in any written form, which is in the custody or possession of any public official, agency or institution...” Thus, we believe that information about the salaries, allowances and emoluments paid to members of the National Assembly of Nigeria from 1999 to date, being within the custody of the NASS Clerk, clearly full within the above provision.
Our position therefore is for the Clerk and indeed the leadership of the National Assembly to discontinue forthwith this appeal in the best interest of Nigeria and to speedily release the requested information as ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.
By Obo Effanga
According to The Punch newspaper of Wednesday August 29, 2012, the Nigerian National Assembly is taking steps to reverse the recent order of the Federal High Court for it to disclose the earnings of its members.
The report says the National Assembly (NASS), acting through its Clerk (the highest ranking civil servant and administrator of the federal legislature), Mr. Salisu Maikasuwa, is by a motion on notice dated June 29, asking for stay of execution of the judgment on the grounds that he has filed a “valid notice of appeal” challenging it.
Recall that on June 25 2012, Justice Balkisu Aliyu had delivered judgment in a suit filed by a civil society organisation, Legal Defence and Assistant Project (LEDAP), ordering the Clerk of the National Assembly “to give detailed information of salary, emolument and allowances paid” to all the federal lawmakers from June 2007 to May 2011.
That judgment was well received and celebrated by citizens. Among other things, it would help put paid to controversies surrounding the actual, official and legitimate earnings of our legislators and thus help in our quest for accountability. The salaries and allowances of these state officials after all are paid from the common wealth of Nigerians and we deserve to know what it costs us to maintain our public officers.
What is more, it is a practical application of the intendment of the Freedom of Information Act earlier passed by the same National Assembly, whom Mr. Maikasuwa is attempting to shield from scrutiny.
The questions to ask include: “whose interest is Mr Maikasuwa attempting to protect anyway?” What injury does he or the (former) members of the National Assembly stand to suffer if this information as to their salaries and allowances are made public?”
While we are aware that the law recognises the right of any party in a legal proceeding to appeal any decision, we are also aware that public officers, whose offices and activities are paid for by public resources should at all times act in the best interest of the public. Spending public resources in appealing this judgment and resisting the quest for the disclosure of public information cannot by any stretch of imagination be said to accord to that standard.
Our country cannot progress with the attitude of public officers as represented by the clerk of the National Assembly who continue to regard the salaries and emoluments of public officers as private and secret information.
One view reportedly canvassed by the NASS Clerk is that the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 and any other law did not have retrospective effect. This apparently suggests that because the Act was passed in 2011, it cannot be used as basis for demanding information that existed prior to that time.
That certainly cannot be a proper interpretation of the law. Section 1(1) of the Act refers to “information, whether or not contained in any written form, which is in the custody or possession of any public official, agency or institution...” Thus, we believe that information about the salaries, allowances and emoluments paid to members of the National Assembly of Nigeria from 1999 to date, being within the custody of the NASS Clerk, clearly full within the above provision.
Our position therefore is for the Clerk and indeed the leadership of the National Assembly to discontinue forthwith this appeal in the best interest of Nigeria and to speedily release the requested information as ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.
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