Working for our rights (World Human Rights Day 2013)

As the world marks this year’s Human Rights Day on December 10, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon is urging everyone to intensify efforts to fulfil “our collective responsibility to promote and protect the rights and dignity of all people everywhere”. For the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, it will commemorate its 20 years of existence with the theme, “Working for your rights”. It is a good opportunity to draw attention to those of our rights that we often overlook in Nigeria and hope thereby to jolt us to consciousness about them. The fact that these rights are routinely abused does not stop them from remaining human rights. It only means we have to take steps to assert them. In other words, we must work for them.

Many Nigerians, including government officials and their apologists tend to see human rights issues as esoteric or an alien concept that human rights “activists” make too much noise about. They often remind us that, “this is Nigeria”. By that, they apparently mean, we need to see the internationally-recognised human rights “within our own context”, a euphemism for saying we are not “ripe” for such standards or we should make do with sub-standards. Such an argument is puerile! If we see ourselves as part of the world community and we love to appropriate all the trappings of modernity, including state-of-the-art personal gadgets, toys, cars and yes, private jets, what is so difficult with accepting human rights and promoting and protecting them?

The Human Rights Day comes a day after the International Anti-Corruption Day. It is therefore important to remind us of how corruption, especially by government officials, breach our rights to human dignity. To the extent that money stolen from our collective purse by public officials robs us of good roads, quality education, potable water, access to good health facilities and even the right to freely choose our governments means that our human rights are trampled upon.

Apart from the various human rights instruments Nigeria has signed up to and is bound by, the Nigerian Constitution remains the most important source of human rights we must work for. I intend to draw attention to some of these here. Sections 33, 34 and 35 of the Constitution recognise the rights to life, dignity of the human person and personal liberty respectively. Those words seem very clear to understand.

Many see the breach of the right to life mainly from the context of deaths occurring from direct acts of violence such as those perpetrated by armed insurgents and religious anarchists on the one hand and security forces on the other hand. But we must remind ourselves of other under-reported or “uncelebrated” breaches to the right to life which the state must be made to account for. These include the hundreds and thousands that get killed in road accidents caused by a combination of bad or collapsed roads, poor enforcement of road safety regulations, failure to prosecute perpetrators and the general lack of concern for safety rules by the citizenry. How about the deaths resulting from the suicidal speeds and reckless use of public highways by government officials and their convoys as happened in the death of Prof. Festus Iyayi in an auto crash involving the convoy of the Okgi State Governor, Idris Wada, recently? The abuse of the right to life is also seen in the many reports of lives lost on our waterways because the boats carried more human and material weights than required and there were no regulatory authorities to enforce or the officials compromised safety for dirty lucre. The same is applicable to air disasters.

Working for our human rights means that we must demand diligent prosecution of the drivers and operators of vehicles that cause the accidents and killings as well as sanction of enforcement officials for dereliction of duty for every avoidable accident, whether or not occasioning death. And society must learn to sheath its sentiments when such prosecutions commence because people will always ask why a particular person is being tried when others in the past or in other areas of our national rot were not so prosecuted. Truly, such a defence is jejune, silly and takes us nowhere.

Another area the rights to life and of human dignity and are abused is in the failure of the health institutions. Too many deaths have occurred in Nigeria due to poor handling of medical cases, be they emergency, life-threatening or routine. This is often caused by outright corruption which means that even the essential drugs and facilities are not found in health facilities. In the cause of my work, I have come across health facilities in our rural communities that cannot effectively treat our commonest of ailments like malaria while childbirth remains one of the most live-threatening adventures in the country. It is time to hold the state to account for the failure to provide the basic facilities that guarantee health care. It would include prosecution for corruption in the sector and for dereliction of duty as well.

Similar to the above is the collapse of our education sector. Public schools, especially at the primary and secondary levels, are in a total shambles, not only in the rural communities but everywhere. In their current conditions, our public schools abuse the rights of children to life and human dignity and also prepare the children not to be able to stand up and demand such rights in the future, due to ignorance. If children in schools are not guaranteed safe environment, qualified teachers, adequate number of teachers, requisite books and teaching materials as well as proper furniture, they are simply prepared for a bleak future where they cannot cope with their peers within and outside the country.

It raises a very heavy burden in the mind as to the future of our country. I say this because I have seen what passes for public schools in different parts of the country. And it tells of one thing – the Nigerian state, as represented by our governments at all levels don’t really care about education. Most of the present government officials today went to public schools anyway and if the schools were of these present standards, we would not have had the requisite personnel to run our affairs as a country today.

We must therefore continue to demand that government puts in more money into critical sectors such as health and education. But much more than that, we demand that those budgets should go to the real items that would turn around the sector. What we need are facilities, equipment, qualified, efficient and committed personnel to deliver quality services. We demand a departure from the usual budget headings with huge allocations for “welfare package”; “refreshments and meals”; “publicity and advertisements”; “sporting activities”; “anniversaries/celebrations”; “honorarium and sitting allowance” and “international trainings”.

Nelson 'Troublemaker' Mandela (1918-2013)

This is in honour of Nelson Mandela of South Africa, nay, Mandela of Africa. Okay, okay, it is for Mandela of the world! That seems like a more appropriate epithet of the man generally called Madiba. I am always awed by this exceptional personality who on co-receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993 humbly said: “We stand here today as nothing more than a representative of the millions of our people who dared to rise up against a social system whose very essence is war, violence, racism, oppression, repression and the impoverishment of an entire people.” At some other time, Mandela has been quoted as saying: “I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.” Clearly, in victory, he remains humble. Despite what he achieved for his country and the human race, he does not flaunt those qualities as making him a superhuman, with a claim to love his country more than any other citizen or know what is best for his country, more than anybody else. Yet, if he were minded to appropriate such status, many would not disagree with him. He went through 27 odd years of unfair incarceration, coming out and still preaching peaceful struggle, winning the struggle, becoming president, charting a course for reconciliation and integration for his country and quietly bowing out without asking for a second term.
In 2004, Mandela announced his retirement from “public life”. But such retirement could not be, for Mandela belongs in the public realm and cannot be allowed to fade away. He is like the gold fish that has no hiding place. That is why his imprimatur is on many charitable activities such as the fight against HIV/AIDS and the annual Nelson Mandela Christmas party for children. He was also the arrowhead for South Africa’s successful bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
While announcing his retirement from public life Mandela said: “Thank you for being kind to an old man - allowing him to take a rest, even if many of you may feel that after loafing somewhere on an island and other places for 27 years, the rest is not really deserved.” Mandela and everything associated with him (including his prison uniform number 46664) are super brands.
Mandela has a remarkable pedigree that is often overlooked. Born Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918 in Qunu, near Umtata, in the black homeland of Transkei, his father, Henry Mgadla Mandela, was chief councillor to Thembuland’s acting paramount chief David Dalindyebo. When his father died, Mandela became the chief’s ward and was groomed for the chieftainship. His first name could be interpreted, as “troublemaker.” It was only a primary school teacher who named him Nelson afterwards.
But could Mandela rightly be described as a troublemaker? Looked at from the eyes of the apartheid government, he may well have been a troublemaker during his younger days when he fought against that heinous regime in his country. But in later life, this troublemaker has become a trouble-shooter. And that is what won him the Nobel Peace Prize.
The “troublemaker” joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1944, was tried for treason between 1956 and 1961, but was acquitted. The white supremacist regime was not done yet with Mandela until it jailed him on June 12, 1964 for life, for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government. For 27 long years he was incarcerated, first at Robben Island Prison and later (1982-1990) at Pollsmoor Prison.
Because of the long period of incarceration, the only photographs of the man were those taken before he was thrown into jail, which painted a perfect image of “old school” dressing. He was certainly nobody’s idea of a dandy in haute couture. How wrong we all were as just a few years after he came out of prison, Mandela became a fashion model with his flowery designer shirts rightly named “Mandela”.
On February 18, 1990, the world’s most famous prisoner tasted freedom.
I never gave Mandela the chance to become president, even when he was out of prison and the apartheid regime crumbled. I thought 27 years in jail was long enough to finish him off physically and mentally or that he might have lost touch with reality. How wrong I was for the South Africans saw in Mandela the living spirit of their nation, one that was needed to piece together a fragmented society into a rainbow country. And so it was that for five years, 1994-1999, Nelson “troublemaker” Mandela was president of South Africa and unofficial leader of a new Africa.
At 92, this jolly old man has every cause to be glad, for God has endowed him with exceptional qualities. He has witnessed the worst and the best parts of life. He does not have any option than to keep going. After all, he once said: “... after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb...” And he gets recognised for all his good work. Last November, the United Nations adopted by consensus a resolution for commemoration of the Nelson Mandela Day on July 18, beginning in 2010. This recognises the Nobel laureate’s contribution to resolving conflicts and promoting race relations, human rights and reconciliation. I couldn’t agree more with the world body.

* The original of this piece was published in NewAge newspaper on July 18, 2005 to mark Mandela's 87th birthday while this updated version was first published in Next newspaper on July 17, 2010 to mark Mandela's 92nd birthday.

Same of the same

Story story o...story
Once upon a time...time, time
There was an Alliance for Discrimination (AD). And there was and still is another like it. They call it People Deceiving People or Papa Deceive Pikin (PDP). Of course every Nigerian knows them. But then, there is always room for more. Now comes another like them. I call it the Alliance of the Politically Confused (APC). And each of them has its totem, one the umbrella, the other the broom. And all across the land people are asking, ‘Are these the ones to save us or are we to wait for another’? Are you asking me? If you ask me, na who I go ask? Me I only tell stories, I don’t break my head over umbrella or broom. Because all of them are same of the same. They are all weapons of mass looting to steal from our consolidated lootable (sorry, revenue) fund.

This day, November 16

This day, November 16
Birthday of Nnamdi Azikiwe
The Great Zik of Africa
Also his burial day
This day, November 16
Birthday of Chinua Achebe
Of Things Fall Apart
Anthills of the Savannah and
There was a country
This day is a reminder
Of Azikiwe and Achebe, great sons of Anambra
This day reminds of birth and burial
It could mean life and death
As Anambra goes to the poll
It comes down to what everyone does and how
The voters and the candidates
The parties and the umpire
Security forces and the observers
Journalists and the citizens
I hope everyone chooses life.
(Written on November 16, 2013).

ActionAid Nigeria seeks Communications Consultant (4 months)

Position:   Communications Consultant in ActionAid Nigeria

Duration:     Four (4) months non-renewable contract
Reporting to:          Policy, Advocacy, Campaigns & Communications Manager

About ActionAid Nigeria

ActionAid is a Non-Governmental organisation working with the poor and excluded; promoting values and commitment in civil society, institutions and governments with the aim of achieving structural changes in order to eradicate injustices and poverty in the world. Registered with the Nigeria Corporate Affairs Commission as a national organisation, ActionAid Nigeria is also an affiliate of ActionAid International with its international headquarters in Johannesburg South Africa.

ActionAid commenced operations in Nigeria in 1999, while the programmatic operations commenced in January 2000 through a Country Agreement signed with the National Planning Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

ActionAid Nigeria as part of efforts at achieving sets objectives has in place a Communications Desk which is responsible for implementing AAN’s Communication Strategy; plan and carry out public affairs, community relations and publicity in order to influence and inform AAN’s Stakeholders, Staff, Partners and Donors in the organisation’s thematic areas.

ActionAid Nigeria is seeking the services of a Communications Consultant for a non-renewable fixed period of four months. The person so recruited is to perform functions listed in the Job Description listed below.

 
Responsibilities
The following are expectations from the Communications Consultant:

1. Oversee printing of pending ActionAid’s publications, support advocacy and campaigns communications activities, and other documentation works
1. The consultant shall meet with the Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns Manager upon the award of contract to have better grasp of expectation of AAN from the contract
2. The Consultant will be responsible for editorial works on all materials provided. S/he will ensure clarity of structure and internal consistency, both analytical and stylistic. S/he will also ensure general readability and accessibility to a broad readership irrespective of literacy level in English language.
3. The Consultant will provide relevant technical support to the Local Rights Programme (LRP), especially in documentation, skill enhancement, media relations and the social media.
4. The Consultant in consultation with the Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns Manager will identify relevant resource persons with relevant skills and qualifications to carry out the tasks in (b) above and other tasks that may be identified.
2. Oversee technical editing and copy-editing of reports and other publications for readability and consistency
1. The Consultant will oversee the technical editing and copy-editing of materials before they are printed i.e. appropriate use of boxes, graphics and tables; sequencing, consistency, especially between text and tables and figures and integration of text and boxes; ensure that statistical data used and referenced in the text are consistent with the data in the respective tables, figures, charts and maps, as well as with the indicator tables flow and clarity of argument, content errors, style and punctuation, spelling and grammar.
2. The Consultant shall be responsible for the sourcing of competent graphic designer to develop templates for AAN publication.
3. The Consultant shall be responsible for the proof-reading or procurement of competent proof reader (s) for all materials after the layout/graphic works of the document(s) must have been concluded.
4. The Consultant will oversee the graphic design of the final document and ensure this is consistent with the ActionAid branding as given by the international communications team and as modified by the country programme.
3. Support development of advocacy and campaigns materials
1. The Consultant will provide relevant support to Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns Manager in the unit’s liaisons with programmes and projects in the development of relevant policy, advocacy and campaigns materials.
2. The Consultant shall examine all campaigns and advocacy materials for articulation of AAN positions, appropriate use of language, compliance with AAI branding and use of graphic words before they go to press.
3. Shall from time to time examine the need for relevant communications intervention and introduction of new strategy and make recommendation for such.
4. Lead in the organisation’s web activities
1. The Consultant will manage the organisation’s website and make recommendations on changes as appropriate.
2. The Consultant will take the lead on the organisation’s use of ICT and social forums.
3. The Consultant will handle the organisation’s e-newsletter.
5. Capturing and projection of success stories.
1. The Consultant will work with the programmes and projects staffs to ensure regular capture of success stories and stories of change.
2. The Consultant will support and provide appropriate guides to the the LRP partners to capture stories of change.
3. The consultant will be responsible for ensuring appropriate use of such stories of change and success stories in all available outlet within and without ActionAid International.
4. The Consultant will be responsible for the syndication of such stories in the mass media.

Qualifications
Education:       Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree desirable
Experience:     At least five years of relevant experience as a communications specialist working in the development sector.

• Proven experience in editing and writing
• Experience in development works
• High competence in web management
• Verifiable evidence of activeness on social networks i.e. facebook, twitter, personal blog etc
• Experience in publication requirements
• Experience in working with statistical data and statistical indicators, and familiarity with the logic and structure of complex statistical tables and concepts.

All interested candidates should send their Curriculum Vitae as PDF or MSWord attachments to vacancy.nigeria@actionaid.org on or before 29^th September, 2013.

Salary in perpetuity for former heads of parliament? Perish the thought

Lest the point be lost on us all and we allow this to slip by, Nigerians need to question the rationale behind and the implication thereof of Senate’s vote to alter the Constitution to provide salary in perpetuity for former heads of the parliament.

At its sitting on Tuesday July 16, the Senate decided, inter alia to alter Section 84 of the Constitution (by inserting a new subsection 5a and subsection 8) to read that: “Any person who has held office as President or Deputy President of the Senate, Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall be entitled to pension for life at a rate equivalent to the annual salary of the incumbent President or Deputy President of the Senate, Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.”

Let us quickly note that what the Senate did remains a mere proposal. For it to have effect, it must first be concurred to by two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and afterwards by at least two-thirds of the state houses of assembly (24 out of 36).

This proposed alteration follows the existing subsection 5 of Section 84 of the Constitution which provides for payment of pension for life to the President and Vice President of the country at a rate which is the equivalent of what the sitting president and vice president are paid.

The present subsection 5 however has a proviso which states: “provided that such a person was not removed from office by the process of impeachment or for breach of any provision of this Constitution”.

The Senate’s proposed amendment coming after the present subsection 5 (and its proviso) and without any proviso thereto, suggests that if passed, the provision for life pension to former heads of the federal legislature would apply to every single one of them, whether or not the person served out a term or was removed from office.

Even if the proviso to the present subsection 5 is to apply to the proposed new subsection 5a, there is still likely to be controversy of legal interpretation. The present proviso excludes persons who were removed from office “by the process of impeachment”.

An impeachment process admits that there is a formal charge of wrongdoing against (usually the head of the executive or other holder of an executive position), a trial or hearing (leading to an establishment of guilt) and consequent decision taken to remove the person from office. That is the usual manner by which a president, vice president, governor or deputy governor can be removed from office. And this is a rare occurrence. Hence there are very few former presidents, vice presidents, governors or deputy governors who fit into this category.

Heads of the legislature are usually removed from office by two-thirds of votes of the members, whether or not there has been any allegation of wrongdoing. To be sure, no leader of the Senate or House of Representatives of the present republic in Nigeria was ever removed from office by way of impeachment. In all the instances where the leaders of the two chambers of the National Assembly were removed, they were merely pressured to resign, and that includes the notorious liar and perjury offender, Salisu Buhari, who cheated his way to the speakership of the House of Representatives.

In fact, the closest thing to an indictment held against former senate presidents Evan(s) Enwerem and Chuba Okadigbo were later, by parliamentary resolutions, expunged and the officers exculpated from any wrongdoing on the occasion of the valedictory session of the legislative session and during the special session to mark Enwerem’s funeral.

It therefore means that all the former Presidents of the Senate and Speakers of the House of Representatives alive would be entitled to be paid pension for life, calculated at the salary of the incumbents. And if the legislature decides to change its leaders every year, we would suddenly find ourselves beholden to each of them in life pensions. And by the way, the list of former presiding officers of the Senate and House of Representatives prior to the emergence of the incumbent officers shows five in eight years for the Senate and five in 12 years for the House of Representatives!

What is more, by the current subsection 6 of Section 84 of the Constitution, the pension for former officers is charged upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, meaning it is a direct charge, not subject to appropriation (that is budgeting). Is this really what the Senate is proposing and is this what the Nigerian people envisaged as an urgency requiring an alteration of its Constitution for?

That this proposal by the Senate was passed on the same occasion senators negatived a proposal to guarantee the financial autonomy of local governments through direct payment of their allocation from the Federation Account is shocking. It raises a weighty moral question on the overriding interest of the senators in this Constitution amendment effort. The proposal is not in any way weighty, urgent or imperative, yet the senators managed to bring it in.

Already, all our legislators get paid what is called “severance allowance” calculated at four times their annual basic salary at the end of each legislative term of four years. And although this severance allowance was envisaged to be paid once in a lifetime, our legislators receive this over and again for as many terms as they complete.

Another concern is that in the practice of “rub my back and I rub yours” peculiar to politics, the state houses of assembly may equally demand that this provision be extended to the state legislatures.

At this rate, one is pained to suggest that the Senate is out of touch with the issues that Nigerians are passionate about and urge the House of Representatives not to give its concurrence to this.

July 9 as July 10

July 9 as July 10
(By Obo Effanga)

Strange coincidence

July 10 and July 9
As it was on July 10
So it has been on July 9, its eve

July 10 2003 Anambra had its macabre dance

July 9 2013 is ten years after the dance
And the dance troupe has landed
Landed in full colours in Rivers

July, oh July

Your ten year cycle has come round
What political atrocities we see in thee
But no need to apologise dear July

The fault is not in thee

Neither in our laws
It is in our political class
The cesspit of brigandage

Give them time and see

They will kiss and make up
Because they only disagree now
But will agree too soon

Just so that they continue

Continue to plunder
Plunder our common wealth
And they shall live happily ever after

Of snooping and Snowden

US was snooping
And Snowden was noting
Snowden went squealing
And US got shivering
Then US went searching
And Snowden went hiding
Now Snowden 'bin' hiding
And US been finding
Yet Snowden is missing
And US been fuming
All because of a silly snooping act.

Amnesty from our tax burdens

Each time I receive my pay advice and go through the mathematical details that define the deep crevice between my ‘gross’ and ‘net’ salary, I am always annoyed by how much is taken up by one item called ‘tax’. That is the amount the government takes from me willy-nilly.  It is an amount I am obliged by law to lose to government for its supposed duty of guaranteeing my security and welfare. Now, I shouldn’t really complain if I am taxed to ensure that government takes care of our security and welfare. But the question is, “does the government really guarantee our welfare and security?” Let us think it through.
Guaranteeing security means that government is truly ‘on top of the security situation’, not just mouthing it every time there is a breach of security. To be on top of the situation means that government can see the situation coming and speedily move to nip it. And where for any reason the incident happens on us all, a government on top of the situation should truly ‘leave no stone unturned’ (as they love to mouth it) to unravel the situation by picking up the perpetrators and bringing them to justice or bringing justice to them. That was the example the American government showed the whole world in unravelling the bombings at the Boston Marathon. When government shows such efficiency in taking care of our security, citizens will feel at ease to move about, visit, live and carry out their livelihood in any location in the country. Guaranteeing security means that no part of the country is seen as no-go areas whereby their control is ceded by government to terrorists and militants who owe us citizens no duty of care.
Guaranteeing our security means that the leadership would ‘give a damn’ about what happens to us wherever we are. It means that whenever citizens and ordinary people get attacked unlawfully by those who use violence (be they terrorists, militants, cultists, politicians and their thugs or even security personnel), such would elicit appropriate reaction from government. And talking about reaction by government, we expect it to show as much interest in the life of ‘unknown’, ‘unidentified’ and ‘unidentifiable’ victims of terror attacks and counter attacks in Borno, Yobe, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau as the ones that suffer same fate in highbrow Abuja.
And you wonder where all the huge amounts budgeted for ‘security’ by all the tiers of government go to at the end of the year while our country continues to have what government conveniently euphemises as ‘security challenge’ and dismisses as a global issue that we must brace up to and live with. After the exacerbation of the reign of terror in the public space in 2011, our governments began to install security gadgets such as surveillance cameras on our streets. Soon it became ubiquitous in the Federal Capital Territory. Less than three years down the line, many of those structures have been destroyed through accidents (and not replaced) and don’t seem to serve any particular security purpose. We are yet to see how those equipments have been used to track criminal activities or even minor infractions of the law such as road traffic offences. They stand however as monuments of our enduring security-challenges.
And what about our welfare? There is little to show that this is high on the priority of government. Initially, government used to issue statements condemning or regretting the occurrence of calamities in the land, even when we joked that such was all they were capable of doing in such situation. Today, even the statements have ceased coming, apparently indicating that the occurrence of calamity is the new ‘normal’ we must live with. Or how come government remained quiet when more than 100 poor citizens drowned while travelling by boat on the high seas between Nigeria and Gabon and another 50 plus were roasted in a bus crash with a petrol tanker along a highway in Edo State? Those lives are as important as those of a deputy governor and a retired army general who died in a helicopter crash, not on any official assignment but while on a purely private social engagement and immediately elicited state-promoted ‘national mourning’.
Because government sucks up our taxes without providing commensurate services, we Nigerians, have learned to be ‘a government unto ourselves’. We sink our own boreholes because public water supply is inadequate, epileptic, unreliable or not even available where we live (and that includes within many parts of the federal capital). For electricity supply, it is almost a given that we should ‘never expect power always’ (NEPA) because the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) would always (in keeping with its name) hold back the power. We even have to construct our own roads or fix the pothole-ridden public roads that lead to our homes. For healthcare and education, those ones had since been outsourced and surrendered to private businesses (individual entrepreneurs and religious institutions) that milk us steadily while government stands idly by. On top of all these, we cannot rely on the state alone to provide or guarantee us security, so we hire private security guards and employ vigilante groups to do the jobs.
So I ask again, what is my tax meant for anyway? And since I am not getting value for my money, may I ask government to please grant me an amnesty or presidential pardon (whatever they choose to call it) from the burden of tax payment? I know I am not asking for too much. After all, how much is the amount of revenue they will lose from my tax monthly, compared to how much government pays to the so-called ‘reformed militants’ to secure oil pipelines, a duty that our security personnel are statutorily meant to do? Such pipelines protection contracts to (ex-)militants is akin to the payment of ‘protection fees’ by weak citizens to mafia groups. But here we are seeing government pay ‘protection fees’ to militants. And while we are still chewing on that, government again is proposing another ‘amnesty’, willy-nilly (that word again) for another killer group, even when the group says it is not interested.
Since our government is in a go-happy mood to dispense ‘amnesty’ and ‘pardon’, I again appeal, on behalf of those of us non-violent, unprotected and ‘un-welfared’, yet tax-paying citizens that we be exempted from paying taxes. Let this benevolence of government be democratised.

• Effanga, an attorney and human rights activist writes from Abuja. (obobef@yahoo.com)
First published in http://premiumtimesng.com/opinion/131244-amnesty-from-our-tax-burdens-by-obo-effanga.html

Parliamentary arbitrariness and tyranny of majority

By Article 21 paragraph (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”. This right finds expression in the practice of democracy.
To be sure, democracy is a government that promotes popular participation by all citizens. But because every citizen cannot sit together to take decisions, they do so through the representatives they freely choose in an election.
 The elected representatives make up the parliament whose primary responsibility is to make laws, appropriate resources and mandate the executive arm to carry out routine activities of state administration. The parliament is composed of elected members who represent defined constituencies, often geographical in nature. To the extent that every constituency has the same number of representatives, usually one, every constituency is therefore equal. It is important therefore for the representatives to avail themselves of opportunity to represent the interest of their constituency and they should not be unduly prevented from doing so. No constituency should be without a representative. That is why the electoral body is obliged to speedily conduct an election to fill any vacant seat occurring through death or other constitutional means. By so doing, the members of the affected constituency are still guaranteed their rights to participation in government.
However, there is a worrisome trend in Nigeria, whereby some legislators purport to suspend fellow members as a punitive measure. This practice, even if provided for under the rules of such parliament is a clear breach of the human rights of the members of the constituency the legislator represents. This is because the constituents are during that period denied their right to representation.
A recent case in point is that of Mrs Rifikatu Samson Dana, the only female member of the Bauchi State House of Assembly who has been suspended from the legislature since last year. Her suspension followed the finding of the committee on anti corruption, ethics and privileges that her contribution to a debate was ‘repugnant and derogatory’.
Dana’s suspension follows a long list of irresponsibility by many legislatures, beginning with the Senate which suspended Arthur Nzeribe indefinitely in 2002. Interestingly, the suspended members in many cases are only barred from the sittings but still draw salaries, while their constituencies remain unrepresented. In the case of Nzeribe, it took the judgment of Justice Stephen Adah of the Federal High Court, Abuja to set aside his suspension. The judge rightly described the action of the senators as “arbitrary show of power and tyranny of the majority”.
In many of the instances the abusive acts of the parliamentarians were aimed at short-circuiting the process for the passage of unpopular decisions without the strict process of getting a high majority. We saw such shenanigans as the first act to the purported impeachment of state governors in Plateau and Oyo, even though the court again came in to ensure sanity.
With the suspension of Dana, not only is her state constituency being excluded from government but indirectly, the women. Such action of the legislature is in breach of the letters of the Constitution. And since the Bauchi House of Assembly has refused to do the right by reversing its illegality and tyranny, the only option left is for the suspended lawmaker to challenge this in court.

Judgment beckons

(Written on March 21, 2013 in celebration of the World Poetry Day)

To the thieving politician who pinches the cake
And the supporting cast who share the loot
To the leader who is clueless
And the follower who cares less
To the crooked officials who break the rules
And their kin who defend their every act

I tell you what dear compatriots
When judgment comes, of citizens, nature or of God
Many who create the rot or sit and watch
And those who benefit and condone today’s rot
Will also gnash their teeth that time
For their damage direct and collateral

They include the worshippers in the corridors of power
And the priests in places of worship
Who hobnob power rather than romance the poor
And thus help fritter our common wealth
For unto them were given the choice life or death
And death they chose and that they’ll get

World Day of Happiness and Us

(First published in PremiumTimes on March 20, 2013. http://premiumtimesng.com/opinion/125955-world-day-of-happiness-and-us-by-obo-effanga.html )

Yes, you read that correctly. Today (March 20) marks the maiden edition of the International Day of Happiness or World Happy Day, declared by the United Nations, at the prompting of the tiny nation of Bhutan.

It recognizes that happiness is a fundamental human goal, and calls upon countries to approach public policies in ways that improve the well being of ALL peoples.

For us in Nigeria, it is an opportunity to remind our governments that the Federation “shall be a state based on the principles of democracy and social justice”, section 14(1) of the Nigerian Constitution and that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”, section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution.

These guiding principles should be reflected in every action, policy, laws and conduct of governments and their officials in order to guarantee the happiness of ALL citizens, women, men, girls, boys, persons with disability, PLWHA, destitute, literate, illiterate, celebrities and non-celebrities, privileged convicts/common criminals and ordinary ones etc.

The thousands of citizens who get forcefully ejected from their homes, which various governments declare uninhabitable, without providing alternatives are entitled to be protected and made happy.

Those destitute who get evacuated from our cosmetically beautiful cities and are ‘deported’ to their state or local government or village of ‘origin’ are clearly denied the social justice that our constitution provides for.

The hundreds of citizens who get killed by acts of terror and counter-terror as well as their surviving relations have been let down by a country that ought to protect them.

The change needed to ensure that social justice exists in our country lies with the proverbial person we see in the mirror each day to speak up against all acts of injustice. We can do this even when for now, it is the ‘jews’ they are coming for and we are no ‘jews’, because eventually, they will come for us when we may have no one to speak up on our behalf.

This would require each one of us to speak truth to power whenever the opportunity presents itself. And those opportunities abound in every station of life we find ourselves. It includes the pulpits where many of our preachers often balk the opportunity to call government officials to order. It includes our traditional leadership and the so-called party elders or ‘elder statesmen’ who continue to cheer lead government officials for their selfish ends. It includes those who could influence opinions in the traditional and now popular social media. Very importantly, it is you the reader.

We cannot really claim happiness where social justice is absent.