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.