Situating girl’s affairs in women affairs

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

In section 147(1) of the 1999 constitution, the offices of ministers of the government of the federation are created by law as may be established by the president.

The entire section 147 provides that:” (1) There shall be such offices of Ministers of the Government of the Federation as may be established by the President. (2) Any appointment to the office of Minister of the Government of the Federation shall, if the nomination of any person to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the President. (3) Any appointment under subsection (2) of this section by the President shall be in conformity with the provisions of section 14(3) of this Constitution:- provided that in giving effect to the provisions aforesaid the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State.

To further highlight the strategic place of a cabinet level minister that section of the grund norm further stated as follows: (4) Where a member of the National Assembly or of a House of Assembly is appointed as Minister of the Government of the Federation, he shall be deemed to have resigned his membership of the National Assembly or of the House of Assembly on his taking the oath of office as Minister. (5) No person shall be appointed as a Minister of the Government of the Federation unless he is qualified for election as a member of the House of Representatives. (6) An appointment to any of the offices aforesaid shall be deemed to have been made where no return has been received from the Senate within twenty-one working days of the receipt of nomination by the Senate.”

Then section 148(1) (2) states that: “(1) The President may, in his discretion, assign to the Vice-President or any Minister of the Government of the Federation responsibility for any business of the Government of the Federation, including the administration of any department of government. (2) The President shall hold regular meetings with the Vice-President and all the Ministers of the Government of the Federation for the purposes of - (a) determining the general direction of domestic and foreign policies of the Government of the Federation; (b) co-ordinating the activities of the President, the Vice-President and the Ministers of the Government of the Federation in the discharge of their executive responsibilities; and (c) advising the President generally in discharge of his executive functions other than those functions with respect to which he is required by this Constitution to seek the advice or act on the recommendation of any other person or body.”

The import of the above stated legal provisions is to highlight the imperative essence of the cabinet level offices of ministers of the federation of Nigeria. A nation with dead woods as ministers is as good as dead. A nation with ministers who got their jobs based on political patronage and not merits is a dysfunctional nation. The last scenario is playing out in virtually all facets of our political life. One ministerial level position has gained notoriety for crass incompetence and inertia.  Incidentally, the ministry has a name that is anachronistic given that the concept behind the naming of the ministry is no longer tenable. I mean the ministry for Women affairs. What women affairs you may ask?

One of those ministries as stated earlier is that which is known as ministry of women affairs which as I write is headed by a politician of Plateau state origin who was once the deputy governor of her state by name Mrs. Pauline Tallen.

However, not much impacts have been made by that ministry in the area of mainstreaming of respect for the child right law in the governance structure of Nigeria just as there is a lacuna regarding the role of the ministry of women affairs to confront the demon of trafficking in children and girls and the rapidly expanding frontiers of sexual violations of children of all genders by adult predatory rapists. There are no milestones identifiable as a brand of the current ministry for Women affairs.

The minister of women affairs operate as if her position in government is ceremonial and not that created by law to assist the president to effectively implement policies and carry out projects to advance the human rights of women and children.

The general state of laxity on the part of that ministry has compelled the question of what is the place of affairs of girls in the context of a women affairs ministry.

Also, why is the ministry of women affairs not in the forefront of waging advocacy campaigns to improve the extant near moribund laws against rape which the male dominated National Assembly will rather hurriedly approve #37 billion to renovate their offices than to amend and unify all relevant laws to wage a determined war against rapists?

The near absence of any form of passion on the part of officials of the Federal ministry of Women Affairs to fashion out effective legal frameworks to battle the rising scourge of sexual violations of the Nigerian child, made me think that Nigeria needs a ministry for family values and family affairs and not this bogus name of women affairs which totally lacks the girl’s right contents.

Let us quote from the book of Michelle Obama titled “Becoming” in which she wrote thus: “AS SOON AS I ALLOWED MYSELF TO FEEL ANYTHING for Barack, the feelings came rushing – a toppling blast of lust, gratitude, fulfillment, wonder. Any worries I’d been harboring about my life and career and even about Barack himself seemed to fall away with that first kiss, replaced by a driving need to know him better, to explore and experience everything about him as fast as I could.”

“Maybe because he was due back at Harvard in a month, we wasted no time being casual. Not quite ready to have a boyfriend sleeping under the same roof as my parents, I began spending nights at Barack’s apartment, a cramped, second-floor walk-up above a storefront on a noisy section of Fifty-Third Street. The guy who normally lived there was a University of Chicago Law student and he’d furnished it like any good student would, with mismatched garage-sale finds. There was a small table, a couple of rickety chairs, and a queen-sized mattress on the floor. Piles of Barack’s books and newspapers covered the open surfaces and a good deal of the floor. He hung his suit jackets on the backs of the kitchen chairs and kept very little in the fridge. It wasn’t homey, but now that I viewed everything through the lens of our fast-moving romance, it felt like home.”

I am as passionate as she (Michelle Obama) is to demand that the ministry of women affairs embrace the issues of girl’s rights in a much more devoted way like a maiden who has just fallen in love with her would-be spouse as espoused  in the Michelle Obama’s book.

Of course, the passion to demand accountability from the ministry of women affairs was sparked off by the regularity of the occurrences of the worst and most depraved kinds of sexual violations of Nigerian children to an extent that the only feasible panacea is to introduce chemical castration as a legal penalty for rapists.

Reading through the press daily, will present the grave degree of sexual violations and molestation of children by lawless adults who are emboldened by the presence of officials in the policing institution who are at home with impunity and are willing to compromise any investigative activity that treats the case of rape of children once the accused person can buy his way out. The snail speed justice system in Nigeria is another obstacle to tackling vicious cases of RAPE of children. The list of culprits of this crime against humanity is expanding but the lists of cases that are prosecuted in the courts of law are few and far between. Nevertheless, the pressrun overwhelming percentage of cases of sexual violations of children daily. Thousands of more cases are not usually brought to the media domain due to poverty of many families and many other inhibiting factors. 

On June 26, 2019, it was reported that a 65 year-old man, Bayo Akinwete, was dragged before an Ado Ekiti Magistrate’s Court for allegedly raping his 5-year-old daughter (name withheld) severally.

The court, presided over by Mrs. Kehinde Awosika, also heard that Akinwete gave the small girl alcoholic drink to intoxicate her and perpetrate the crime.

Police prosecutor, Insp. Monica Ikebuilo, told the court that Akinwete allegedly committed the offence on June 18, 2019 in Olorunsogo area of Ado-Ekiti within the Magisterial District.

According to the prosecutor, the victim told the police that she and her 9-year-old sister were living with their father, while their mother had abandoned them with him.

The prosecutor disclosed that the victim said that there was a day, her father gave her an alcoholic drink to drink, saying when she woke up, she saw her father on top of her.

Ikebuilo added that the victim told her interrogators that it was not the first time her father would sexually assault her, saying “he has been doing the act for some time”.

She said that the victim stated that their father would tell her younger sister to hold and massage his manhood.

The prosecutor said the victim reported her father to their neighbour who promptly reported the case to the police.

Ikebuilo said the offence contravened Section 31 of the Child Right Law of Ekiti State, 2012.

The plea of the accused was not taken.

On July 19th this year, came another damaging report that a 37-year-old guard, Wasiu Orilonise, has publicly confessed that he raped his 15-year-old daughter for verification of her virginity and protection.

Wasiu, who appeared in Oyo State Magistrates’ Court sitting in Ibadan, however, appealed to the court to forgive him as he did that only to confirm if her daughter was still a virgin.

The prosecutor, Mr Sunday Ogunremi, told the court that the accused had, sometime in December 2018 at Omo village, Agbofieti, Ibadan, in the Ibadan Magisterial District, raped the victim without her consent.

Ogunremi said the offence was contrary to and punishable under Section 34, sub-sections 1 and 2 of the Child Rights Law of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2006.

The plea of the accused was, however, not taken during the arraignment.

When the Chief Magistrate, Mr Taiwo Olaniran, sought to know what pushed him into defiling his biological daughter, Orilonise said since he lost his wife a few years ago, he had been taking care of the victim and her siblings.

Around September of this year, the news has it that Justice Muslim Hassan of a Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday sentenced a 58-year old farmer, Yesiru Onajobi, to a jail term of 10 years for rape and defilement of his teenage daughter.

The Judge, who noted the rising wave of rape in the society, ordered that the convict would serve 10 years imprisonment without option of fine.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the convict, a resident of Bogije St., Ibeju, in Lekki Lagos, was charged to court in 2011 on a two-count charge of having carnal knowledge of his 13-year-old daughter.

He was prosecuted by The National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP).

The Prosecutor, (NAPTIP), had told the court that after the death of Onaboji’s wife, he took custody of his only daughter who is a twin, while her brother was with relatives.

The convict was said to have engaged in repeated sexual adventures with his daughter, with whom he shared the same bed and restrained her movement or interaction with neighbors.

Moses Okechukwu a 28-year-old man, was arraigned before a Badagry Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl around July of this year.

Okechukwu, whose address was not disclosed, is facing a three-count charge of rape, sexual assault and trying to escape arrest, to which he pleaded not guilty.

ASP. Akpan Nkem, the Prosecutor, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on July 15, at No. 2, Chukwuma Close, Jakande, Ajangbadi, Lagos.

According to Nkem, Okechukwu forcefully had sexual intercourse with the girl without her consent.

“The defendant forcefully penetrated the girl’s private part without her consent.

“He also assaulted one Chukwuemeka Okereke while trying to escape arrest,” the prosecutor said.

Ikem said that the offences contravened Sections 168, 258 and 170 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

Mr Patrick Adekomiya, the Chief Magistrate, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Then came yet another story in the same year that an Ikeja High Court, sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment, a 22-year-old baker, Lawal Kamoru, who led a four-man gang that defiled a 14-year-old girl.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Raliatu Adebiyi found Kamoru guilty and convicted him on a one-count charge of defilement, contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Adebiyi held that the age of the victim and the psychological trauma she experienced were considered while sentencing the baker.

“The defendant is hereby sentenced to 13 years’ in prison custody,” she said.

State counsel, Mrs O. R. Ahmed Muili, had told the court that the convict and three others (now at large) took turns to defile the teenager in an uncompleted building on Feb. 1, 2014, on Oluwanisola Street, Ilaje, Bariga, Lagos State.

NAN reports that the victim while giving evidence during the trial, said that she and her younger sister (name withheld), were on their way home from a church vigil at 5.00a.m when the crime occurred.

She said they were accosted by the convict and his accomplices who commanded them to kneel down, adding that the four men took turns to rape her inside an uncompleted building.

The teenager identified the convict as the leader of the gang.

“I was returning from church with my younger sister at about 5.00a.m when they stopped us and ordered us to kneel down.

“On sighting some people coming on our direction, they ordered us to get up and go,” she said.

Can I call on the Women Affairs Minister to set up a DOMESTIC AND GENDER VIOLENCE DEPARTMENT so early warning system is put in place to capture data of cases of sexual violations of children. The idea by NAPTIP to set up a national data bank of sex offenders should be sustained and the Federal and state offices of women affairs should embrace the scheme and support it.

*Emmanuel Onwubiko is the Head of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and blogs @ www.huriwanigeria.com;www.huriwa.blogspot.com; www.thenigerianinsidernews.com; www.emmanuelonwubiko.com.

HURIWA to Buhari: You are undermining human rights of citizens:

A prominent civil Rights Advocacy group – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of grossly undermining the extant national human rights (amendment Act) of 2010 by failing and refusing to reconstitute a governing council for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The Rights group said the deliberate refusal of the president to abide by the extant law and reconstitute the board of the apex human rights promotional agency shows his government’s disdain for human rights, respect to the principle of rule of law and his unambiguous hatred for constitutional democracy which he just recently restated whilst marking his 77th birthday.

In a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss. Zainab Yusuf, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) condemns the running of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) as an appendage of the political administration of the day and lamented that whilst human rights breaches have escalated, the agency that ought to independently probe and prosecute rights violators is administered as a stooge of politicians.

“The president is doing great disservice to the constitutional oath of office he took by repeatedly violating the National Human Rights Commission amendment Act by preferring that human rights of Nigerians are gravely endangered whilst the Right commission go on partying and giving awards to government and private corporate bodies who themselves are guilty of human rights violations. We may have no choice but to write the United Nations Human Rights Council to ask that Nigeria be downgraded and seen as a nation whose political authority care less about promotion and protection of human rights of Nigerians.”

“It is a fact that several security forces keep detainees extra judicially for years but the National Human Rights Commission is asleep. The last governing board was dissolved over three years ago and the government has refused to reconstitute the panel.”

Citing section 1. (1) of the enabling Act, the Rights group observed tgat the law states as follows: "There is hereby established a body to be known as the National human Rights Commission (in this Act referred to as the “Commission”). (2) The Commission shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and may sue and be sued in its corporate name. 2. (1) There shall be for the Commission a Governing Council (in this Act referred to as “the Council”) which shall be responsible for the discharge of the functions of the Commission. (2) The Council shall consist of – (a) a Chairperson who shall be a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, or Court of Appeal, or a retired Judge of the Federal High Court or High Court of a State or a legal practitioner with 20 years post qualification experience and requisite experience in human rights.

HURIWA reminded the President that by law the Commission shall – (a) deal with all matters relating to the promotion and protection of human rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other international and regional instruments on human rights to which Nigeria is a party; (b) monitor and investigate all alleged cases of human rights violation in Nigeria and make appropriate recommendations to the Federal Government for the prosecution and such other actions as it may deem expedient in each circumstance; (c) assist victims of human rights violations and seek appropriate redress and remedies on their behalf; (d) undertake studies on all matters pertaining to human rights and assist the Federal, State and Local Governments where it considers it appropriate to do so in the formulation of appropriate policies on the guarantee of human rights; (e) publish and submit, from time to time, to the President, National Assembly, Judiciary, State and Local Governments, reports on the state of human rights promotion and protection in Nigeria; (f) organise local and international seminars, workshops and conferences on human rights issues for public enlightenment; (g) liase and cooperate, in such manner as it considers appropriate, with local and international organizations on human rights with the purpose of advancing the promotion and protection of human rights; (h) participate in such manner as it considers appropriate in all international activities relating to the promotion and protection of  human rights; (i) maintain a library, collect data and disseminate information and materials on human rights generally; (j) receive and investigate complaints concerning violations of human rights and make appropriate determination as may be deemed necessary in each circumstance; amongst others.

Is Army the person of the year?

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

It is again that time of the year when members of the human family are busy analyzing how far and how well the passing year 2019 has impacted on their collective wellbeing and indeed contributed significantly to the advances in technology, human relations, constitutional democracy, peace and harmony in their specific communities.

In Nigeria, the year 2019 has seen the good, the bad and the very ugly even as the nation has witnessed some of the ugliest side of life with very specific reference to the upsurge in all kinds of oddities in the area of criminality such as the beastly mass killings of the members of different communities by a combination of freelance armed hoodlums including but certainly not limited to armed herdsmen and those nefarious characters that politicians have chosen to identify only as armed bandits.

The year under critical review has seen the beast in the Nigerian police with serial extralegal executions of suspects in their detention facilities and the worst acts of depravity and criminality such as open brigandry and armed robbery by policemen identified as special anti-robbery squad otherwise known as SARS.

One of such police extra-judicial execution is the mindless execution of a young football fan in Lagos when some rogue elements known as SARS invaded the football viewing center in Lagos and shot and killed at close range the only son of the Lagos struggling family.

There have been several instances of enforced disappearances by the police. The Department of State Services which is legally called States Security Services is accused of harboring and detaining citizens for prolonged periods of time extra legally just as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is another mindless abuser of human rights by way of prolonged extralegal detention of suspected fraudsters who by way of constitutionalism are innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law. Recently, a man walked into the courtroom from the underground dungeon of the EFCC where he was reportedly locked up for a year. However, the Nigerian police force reached a new height of infamy in the cases of extralegal killings.

One of such happened in Port Harcourt, Rivers state and as reported, the 28-year-old woman from Bayelsa State, Mrs. Chidinma Robinson, had to call on the Inspector-General of Police to intervene in the sudden disappearance of her husband, Mr. Imonima Robinson, from the custody of the IGP Monitoring Team in Rivers State.

Chidinma told journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday that she suspected that her husband had been extra-judicially killed while in the custody of the police after a court ordered his release.

The woman, who clutched her baby, said her husband was arrested on August 1, 2019, in Port Harcourt by the cops, who accused him of being a friend to a wanted kidnapper. Punch newspaper did an excellent job of reporting on this matter. The newspaper showed this young wife and her toddler clutched to her hands amidst sobs whilst briefing the media pleading for the release of her husband whether alive of dead.

She stated that though her husband insisted that he was a businessman and not a kidnapper, the policemen held on to him and transferred him from one station to another until his sudden disappearance at the station of the IGP Monitoring Team in the state.

She maintained that the 33-year-old Imonima was shot in the leg by the cops after the court had ordered that he should be released.

Chidinma stated, “My husband was arrested when he went to buy something on Aggrey Road in Port Harcourt. He was later transferred to the Divisional Police Station, Old GRA.

“He was again transferred to the Anti-Cultism Unit, Port Harcourt. I went there several times when I got information that he had been moved there. But they did not allow me to see him. There, they handcuffed him to a generator.

“They were asking that I should send N500,000 to them. I told them that I didn’t have such money and that after my husband was arrested, we had not been feeding well. They later transferred him to the IGP Monitoring Team’s office in Aluu. When I got there, they had already shot him in the leg.

“Since that time, I have not seen my husband. I learnt that he had been killed. We have been looking for him; we can’t find him. I am calling on the IGP to tell his men to please produce my husband. If they have killed him, they should show me his corpse.”

The lawyer to the family, Mr. Godwin Omereji, confirmed that the family had taken the matter to court and got an order for Imonima’s release.

Omereji expressed dissatisfaction that the police disregarded the court order for Imonima’s release and demanded that the businessman be released from police custody dead or alive.

The lawyer also demanded that the Commander of the IGP Monitoring Team in the state should be prosecuted in the interest of justice.

He stated, “No matter the gravity of the crime that Imonima Robinson allegedly committed, he is still presumed innocent by the constitution, and this constitutional presumption of innocence encapsulated in Section 36 (5) of the Nigerian Constitution (as amended), 1999, remains until a court of competent jurisdiction adjudges him guilty.

“Our law does not provide for jungle justice and also the law establishing the Nigeria Police Force does not empower the police to be the accuser, investigator, prosecutor, judge and executioner at the same time.”

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, said he was not aware of the matter and Chidinma and the family’s lawyer to visit his office.

However, there is a cause for joy especially amongst us in the civil society and human rights community with regards to some remarkable improvements in the human right rating of the Nigerian Army this year.

Hitherto, the Army got a lot of criticisms in the past for poor human rights records.

But due to a rash of policies and initiatives done by the chief of Army staff lieutenant General Tukur Buratai and his competent management even his die-hard critics have applauded the improving human right records of this institution of the Army and it is hoped that they would sustain these good works that have catapulted the Army to the lofty height of the PERSON OF THE YEAR 2019.

The Army in this year under review did the unthinkable by launching internal military operations in different parts of Nigeria in aid of the regular police and apart from forensically confronting armed bandits and hoodlums, the Nigerian Army has distinguished itself as a wonderful socially responsible corporate body to such an extent that Tafawa Balewa university in Bauchi state will not forget the good gestures done by the Army this year.

On Monday, August 5, 2019, as captured by a writer in the media, the students and entire staff of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, were thrown into mourning, following the death of three students after a bridge collapsed on the main campus in Gubi, Ganjuwa Local Government Area.

Seven other students were alleged to have sustained various degrees of injuries in the incident.

The Gubi campus says the report, is one of the two campuses of the university. It is situated on Kano Road, about 20 kilometres from the Bauchi metropolis and five kilometres from the Bauchi Operations Command Headquarters of the Nigerian Air Force and the Sir Abubaka Tafawa Balewa International Airport. The presence of both establishments makes the Gubi area a beehive of activities.

On that fateful Monday, as recalled by the media practitioner who witnessed it, there was a downpour, which started at 6pm and lasted several hours. Many students were on campus at that time preparing for the first semester examinations. After the rain subsided, some of the students decided to rush to their hostels.

Eyewitnesses said that as the students hurried to reach their respective hostels, in order not to be caught in the rain again, the metal fabricated bridge, which linked the academic area and the hostels caved in, so the newspaper disclosed in a clinically written piece.

The incident, which occurred at 11.45pm, was due to the heavy traffic on the bridge. Many of the students fell into the river underneath the bridge and the current swept them away. Those who could swim survived, while the others hung on to tree branches for safety till help came much later. We must admit that there is a failure on the part of first responders. This is because there was no sign that National Emergency Management Agency intervened or Did anything close to carrying out their mandate.

The newspaper narrated that the following day, it was rumored that many students had lost their lives in the incident.

This the journalist observed threw the entire university community into confusion. Parents, guardians and relatives, whose loved were on the campus at the time the incident occurred, were also agitated and confused. Immediately, a search and rescue operation began.

The Management of the university immediately summoned an emergency Senate meeting to discuss the development. Shortly afterwards, the Vice-chancellor, Prof Mohammed Abdulazeez, in a meeting with journalists, confirmed that three students died as a result of the incident, while seven others were injured.

Consequently, he announced the closure of the university, just as he reportedly added that the bodies of the deceased had been recovered.

The dead students were identified as Joseph Akoh Isah (100 level), Blessing Godfrey (200 level) and Salmat Akpaojo (200 level).

They were all students of the Department of Business Education and Management Studies.

The students who protested had accused the management of not listening to pleas for replacement of metal bridge. One of the students said to a media practitioner thus: “The management has been insensitive to our needs. We wrote several letters requesting the construction of a better bridge for us because the metal bridge was not good and safe enough. But nothing happened. If the management had listened to our pleas and done the needful, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Also as noted by the journalist, the National Association of Nigerian Students President, Danielson Akpan, at a briefing held in Bauchi, said the ugly incident could have been avoided if the management of the institution had responded to complaints from the Students Union Government regarding the deplorable condition of the bridge. Succor came their way in torrents from a very unexpected quarter- The Nigerian Army.

The Nigerian Army, decided to construct a standard bridge over the river. The United Bank for Africa also promised to build another bridge and an access road in another location on the main campus of the university says the reporter of Punch newspaper who has professionally reported on this human angle matter.

The media reported the Bauchi State Government as pledging to construct a road network within the campus.

As narrated by the media, more than three months after, most of the promises have not been fulfilled. Only the Nigerian Army kept to its pledge to rebuild the collapsed bridge. The Army has become a PROMISE KEEPER.

The media reports that the new bridge was constructed by the 43 Army Engineering Brigade, Jos, within two months. The Commander of the brigade, Brigadier-general Briggs, said the bridge was designed to contain up to 60 tonnes at a time.

He disclosed that he received a directive from the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-general Tukur Buratai on September 15, 2019 to commence the construction of the bridge and the engineers were mobilised to the site on September 20.

“After the directive, we mobilised here on the 20th September with a view to constructing a bridge that will last for a minimum of 50 years. It is a class 60 bridge, which can carry two armoured tanks at a time without collapsing,” he stated.

Also, Buratai, who inaugurated the bridge, on November 25, 2019, said the new bridge was meant to address the plight of the students.

Buratai who was represented by the Commander of the Armour Corps, Bauchi, Major-general James Akomolafe, charged the university community, especially the students, on the need to embark on academic research in different fields in order to keep the memories of the three students who lost their lives during the unfortunate incident alive.

Army chief also urged the management of the university to ensure that the bridge was properly used and adequately maintained.

The vice-chancellor, who could not hide his feelings, praised the Army for keeping to its promise and thanked various corporate bodies and individuals for supporting the university in its trying moments.

Nigerian Army engineers also fixed a portion of a failed federal highway in the South East of Nigeria and executed multimillion Naira worth of corporate social responsibility in the soon to end OPERATION EGWU ATILOGWU  in the South East of Nigeria.  The Army swept Ojuelegba in Lagos.

Clearly, if the Nigerian Army should maintain this tempo, I'm sure we will return to the good old days when most school children were dreaming of enlisting in the Nigerian Army because of the childhood fantasy about a highly professional Army. Nigerians await that day.

*Emmanuel Onwubiko is the Head of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and blogs @ www.huriwanigeria.com;www.huriwa.blogspot.com; www.thenigerianinsidernews.com; www.emmanuelonwubiko.com.

Ned Nwoko, Malaria challenge and Nigerians

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

Malaria fever is one medical challenge that confronts millions of Nigerians and when it strikes, it hangs precariously like a sword of Damocles and poses some of the most disturbing disruptions to virtually all of our economic, social, religious and cultural activities.

As humans, medical ailment is that which we must confront us. Man/Woman is a mortal being.

But due to advances in medicine and science, there are certain medical conditions that have been eradicated.

Malaria fever which as far back as a century ago constituted a global threat has in our own time been successfully wiped out by some nations of the World in Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom.

But it has still remained very much one of the biggest and most fatal health conditions afflicting much of Africa and Nigeria despite the enormity of Nigeria’s human and natural resources.

If the Federal ministry of health in Nigeria conducts a referendum with the sole question of gauging or getting an assessment of the mind or heartbeat of millions of Nigerians regarding the need to eradicate malaria, it is almost a certainty, which is as constant as the Northern star that virtually all Nigerians will positively approve that the Nigerian state should invest substantially in the eradication of malaria.

The question to ask is how come the eradication of malaria fever has never enjoyed a place of high priority amongst the Nigerian nation and why do we keep reeling out the high toll that malaria has had and continue to unleash on the public space with millions of people already been sent to their untimely demise by malaria fever which some serious minded nations have eradicated but yet Nigeria has evolved a vaccine nor have we eradicated the very specie of Mosquitoes that breed Malaria fever?

The interrogatory is almost the same as trying to unravel why with enormous mineral resources that Nigeria is endowed with, poverty is still a major challenge to the most deadly dimension that in 2018, Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world.

Mind you, the fact that Nigeria churned out over 90 million people that are absolutely poor, means that the impacts of malaria fever has multiplied because malaria is a disease of poverty.

Perhaps this was what motivated the then Nigerian president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to invest a lot of resources to host a continental forum on malaria eradication which in any event fizzled out as soon as the talk shop ended. Then, government and the African Union worked out a master plan on the eradication of Malaria but it has yet to be actualized.

Again, there is an innovative initiative by a private Nigerian citizen and a onetime law maker Prince Ned Nwoko and his wife Regina Daniels Nwoko to embark on the complex challenge of finding lasting cure to malaria and to eradicate malaria from the face of Nigeria. This is indeed a Herculean task.

This is a worthy idea but it is an idea whose time has come that also would need the support of all and sundry including President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Assembly, the Nigerian people, the African Union and all Africans.

This is precisely because if malaria is eradicated in Nigeria, it will open the flood gate of scientific possibility of wiping off malaria fever from Africa.

This is because of the demographical nature of Nigeria which is home to four out of every black living human being on the planet earth.

The awareness of the initiative by the Delta state born philanthropist and politician Prince Ned Nwoko to wage a determined battle against malaria fever came to me today just as I was taken the last prescription of drugs against malaria which I usually do yearly about this festive season.

You my reader can imagine the joy in my heart when I read that the Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation hereby respectfully invites you to the world Press Conference by its chairman, Prince (Dr) Ned Nwoko and his wife, Regina Daniels Nwoko. The conference is on their Antarctica Expedition to flag off Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation’s Mosquito Elimination and Malaria Vaccine Research Project. The Foundation plans to collaborate with relevant stakeholders at both local and international levels to create awareness on ways of eradicating the mosquito vector that causes malaria in Africa and put a permanent end to the malaria scourge.

“After the expedition in January 2020, Prince (Dr) Ned Nwoko, through his foundation, will institute an Endowment for research on malaria vaccine in selected universities across Africa. this is with a view of putting a permanent end to the mosquito scourge in Africa.”

“It is our expectation that National, International and multilateral agencies that are concerned about the subject matter will collaborate with the foundation in this programme.”

“This project is in fulfillment of one of the objectives of PRINCE NED NWOKO FOUNDATION and the mandate of United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG goal 3 for good health).”

This ground breaking initiative is such that should elicit the interest of all Nigerians and Africans because of the realization that the goal is attainable because it has been done elsewhere as I stated earlier including China which is one nation that is home to the greatest number of human beings on earth. China became independent only ten years before us. But due to dint of hardwork and resilience of their successive government with necessary institutional frameworks that eradicate official corruption, China is Malaria fever free today but Nigeria remains a poverty and malaria fever stricken entity.

The World Health Organization takes China as a model of a people whose determination has resulted in the resolution of the malaria fever infestation amongst millions of their people.

This is how the global health body lauded China. It says that China is celebrating a major health achievement: the country has not recorded a single indigenous case of malaria since August 2016. This is a notable feat in a place where the disease has historically taken a huge toll. In the 1940s, there were an estimated 30 million cases of malaria and 300 000 deaths each year.

“I come from a village where malaria epidemics were common,” recalls Professor Yang Henglin, who is now a senior advisor on malaria at the Yunnan Institute of Parasitic Diseases. “Among my father’s generation, I had 2 older uncles who died probably as a result of severe malaria infection.”

Professor Yang has been involved in malaria control for 45 years. His work directing the malaria elimination strategy in Yunnan Province has helped lead to a dramatic drop in indigenous malaria cases: from 400 000 in 1953 to zero in 2016.

In 1955, China established a National Malaria Control Programme. Communities rallied to improve irrigation, reduce mosquito breeding grounds, use insecticide spraying and sleep under bed nets. Health authorities worked to locate and stop the spread of outbreaks.

Progress was steady. By the end of 1990, the total number of cases nationwide had plummeted to some 117 000, and malaria-related deaths were reduced by 95%.1

With support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, beginning in 2003, China stepped up the training, staffing, laboratory equipment, medicines and mosquito control measures that were needed to quickly find, treat and prevent malaria cases. Global Fund support totaling over US$ 100 million was disbursed over a 10-year period to help end malaria in 762 counties. In that time, the number of malaria cases fell to fewer than 5000 per year.

In 2010, China according to WHO set an ambitious target: to eliminate malaria by 2020. This was a response to the country’s progress in malaria control and to the malaria target of the 2000 Millennium Development Goals, which called for halting and reversing the incidence of the disease by the year 2015.

Through a sweeping agreement, 13 ministries – including those representing health, education, finance, research and science, development, public security, the army, police, commerce, industry and information technology, media and tourism – joined forces to end the risk of malaria nationwide.

“We realized that it was necessary to cooperate with all relevant departments and involve the whole of society in order to achieve the malaria goals,” says He Qinghua, Deputy Director-General of the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control at China’s National Health Commission.

One feature of China’s way of working is the replication of ministries and departments from the capital through to the provinces, prefectures, counties, townships and villages. If Beijing makes a policy, each level follows.

In Meng La County, on the border with the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), it’s easy to find national policies translated into local action. Ms Yi Yue, Deputy Director of the county People’s Congress, explains how local ministries work closely together.

“Every year, we host a working group meeting with the 13 ministries, including the Ministries of Health and Finance, she said. “We discuss what we achieved, the current challenges, and plan strategies for the coming year. In this way, we work efficiently to achieve the goal of malaria elimination.”

In recent years, China has also fully invested in national efforts to stamp out the disease. Since 2014, the country has paid for its entire malaria elimination programme through domestic resources.

“The Government has demonstrated its commitment to malaria elimination by dedicating funding,” says Professor Yang Henglin. “Government commitment, together with the dedication of Chinese malaria experts, and the early support – in particular from the Global Fund – has led to success here.”

Ms Yi also notes that the Meng La County allots some of its own budget to the programme, as do other priority counties.

This is why we need to support Prince Ned Nwoko to achieve the objective of his anti-malaria project. This is because of the dangers inherent in us not doing anything to eradicate Malaria fever which has unleashed consequences of monumental economic proportions.

From www.hcs.harvard.edu, Malaria is said to be one of the most serious health problems facing the world today. The World Health Organization estimates that over 300 million new cases of malaria arise a year, with approximately two to three million deaths resulting from contraction. Malaria is endemic in tropical Africa, with an estimated 90% of the total malaria incidence and deaths occurring there, particularly amongst pregnant women and children. More specifically, malaria is causing various problems in Nigeria. Malaria is the only vector borne disease to be placed on World Health Organization’s Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYS) list.

The writers stated that it is important to look at health problems like malaria that grossly affect the morbidity and mortality rates, as well as the economy of a developing country, such as Nigeria.

The write up aforementioned stated that Nigeria has a population of about 123.9 million people then it rationalized that a large percentage of its population lives in extreme poverty in rural areas, without access to potable water and adequate healthcare.

Nigeria it says is also a low-income country already saddled with a huge foreign debt burden just as the current government has set out to go a borrowing to the tune of over $30 billion which may very well end up in the pockets of government officials due to high procurement corruption in the current administration.

The piece we are looking through stated that Nigeria risks sinking further into debt as it struggles with a sick populace whose good health is essential for its economic growth.

"Traditionally, Chloroquine was a common treatment for Malaria. However, with the increase in chloroquine resistant malaria, additional methods of control must be employed".

It argues that a multidimensional approach should be used in the control strategy, such as good management of clinical malaria, the use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITBN), education and training programs in malaria prevention, vaccine research and the use of insecticide spraying such as DDT on breeding sites. It is also necessary to explore the use of indigenous natural mosquito repellant plant species.

Also, scientists say that pharmaceutical companies should study local anti-malarial herbs to determine their efficacy on malaria and effective and safe dosages should be found.

"The answer to malaria control may lie within local communities. Policies pertaining to the use of impregnated (soaked in insecticide) bed nets would be doubly advantageous and economical in rural areas".

It added that culturally, the two most susceptible groups of people, pregnant mothers and infant children, tend to sleep together. Walls of mud huts in rural areas should be white washed to avoid attracting mosquitoes. Cracks and crevices where stagnant water can collect should be sealed. Partial funding for malaria control projects could be generated internally if the Nigerian government collected a levy from companies that are involved in activities that pollute the environment. Oil companies working in the Niger Delta areas, where there are many marshy swamps and a high prevalence of malaria should also be asked to contribute to a general malaria control fund.

From these reports we have copiously cited, it is clear that the Anti-Malaria challenge about to be inaugurated by Prince Ned Nwoko a Celebrated philanthropist may take a lot of commitments and partnership beginning from the grassroots to the governmental levels and must be sustained and not seen as a mere carnival. 

*Emmanuel Onwubiko is head of HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA and blogs @ www.huriwa.blogspot.com; www.thenigerianinsidernews.com; www.emmanuelonwubiko.com. Additional information was from Miss Queen Onwughalu and Alexandra Gekpe.

2019: Year of black African girls

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

I write from a profound background of experience as a child of a dark coloured mother and a husband of a black and beautiful wife.

So this is about the milestones made globally by black African girls/ladies in just one year alone which should serve as a bedrock to urge all lovers of black Africa to push back on the drive by some modern day girls in Africa to bleach their original colour so as to be white.

Are you a man of distinction if you are reading this piece? What colour tickles your fancy when you admire a female?

For me, I am a worshipper of the idol of black colour not necessarily because I was incubated in the womb of a very black woman. But as a matter of intrinsic choice and for the purpose of holding in high esteem, that colour that the divine Being endowed myself with and my other like species of the human creatures.

Come on! Emmanuel! Why all these poetic fantasies on the black coloured skin?

Well, from the deepest consciousness of my being, I have decided to engage in this reflection motivated by the irony of the emergence of black winners in virtually all the most important beauty competitions for the female gender held this year ranging from the most glamorous Miss Universe, Miss World and to cap it all the most competitive of all Pageantries known as the Miss USA.

Mind you, United States of America is the strongest nation in the world in terms of civilization and military advancements.

Also, America is led by Donald Trump who is regarded as a sympathizer of white supremacy.

To have a black American lady take the lead in the most strategic beauty contest in a nation like the United States of America led by Donald Trump who has the confusing notoriety as someone who is a racist, is to say that this year is not to be forgotten in a hurry but must be symbolically renamed as the year of black girls.

Additionally, the emergence of a black South African girl as the winner of Miss Universe should send clear message to her compatriots to have a rethink and stop any further xenophobic violence targeting fellow black Africans only because they left their homes in other parts of Africa to settle in South Africa which as it were, was aggressively developed by the white racist governments of the past apartheid era. After all, it took black solidarity to get apartheid dethroned. 

We will return to that angle of the black South African involvement in xenophobia.

First, let us look at the historicity of all the beauty competitions that have all been won by black girls so as to very clearly understand the wider ramifications of their victories then we situate these phenomenal feats by black girls to the craze by some Africans to bleach their black natural skin to look like white girls.

By the way, this piece is not negating the essence of the colour white but is meant to tell black girls to be just the same way that white girls are proud of their beautiful skin colour which the divine creator gave them as their unique identity. I understand that some black men also bleach their skin to become whites. Michael Jackson did that. Many other men still do it. So it's not the bad habit of only black girls.

Reading through the report done by the British Broadcasting Corporation from the venue of the 2019 Miss Universe has clearly supported my assertions aforementioned.

The BBC reports that the 68th Miss Universe pageant was held on December 8, 2019 at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States.

It recalled that Catriona Gray of the Philippines crowned her successor Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa by the end of the event.

This is South Africa's third win after their recent victory in 2017. This edition also saw the crowning of the first black woman winner since Leila Lopes was crowned in 2011.

BBC statistically concluded that contestants from 90 countries and territories participated in this year's competition.

The pageant was hosted by Steve Harvey in his fifth consecutive year, with Olivia Culpo and Vanessa Lachey as backstage correspondents, and with a performance by Ally Brooke.

The new Mouawad Power of Unity crown made its debut. Swe Zin Htet of Myanmar became the first openly lesbian contestant to compete for the Miss Universe title.

Her emergence and it's symbolism wasn't lost to her even as he stated that: "I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was never considered to be beautiful.

"I think that it is time that that stops today."

That's the message from newly-crowned Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi, who is from South Africa.

More than 90 women from across the world took part in the pageant which was held in Atlanta in the US on Sunday.

Zozibini beat Puerto Rico's Madison Anderson and Mexico's Sofia Aragon in the final three to take the tiara.

Finalists in the competition were asked a range of questions on topics such as climate change, protest and social media.

In her final question, 26-year-old Zozibini was asked what we should be teaching young girls today.

Her answer was leadership.

"It's something that has been lacking in young girls and women for a very long time - not because we don't want to, but because of what society has labeled women to be," she said.

"I think we are the most powerful beings on the world, and that we should be given every opportunity.

"And that is what we should be teaching these young girls - to take up space."

Zozibini has been described as "a proud advocate for natural beauty"

Zozibini is the first black woman to win the competition since Leila Lopes in 2011.

The Angolan former winner congratulated her in a post on Instagram, writing: "Congrats girl you did us very proud."

Relfecting on her win, Zozibini wrote: "Tonight a door was opened and I could not be more grateful to have been the one to have walked through it.

"May every little girl who witnessed this moment forever believe in the power of her dreams and may they see their faces reflected in mine.

"I proudly state my name Zozibini Tunzi, Miss Universe 2019!"

The hashtag #MissUniverse was trending on Twitter and she even got a shout-out from Oprah Winfrey.

What indeed is the history behind the yearly competition to crown the winner of Miss Universe?

From documented records derived from the official websites of Miss Miss Universe, we are told that Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by the United States-based Miss Universe Organization.

The contest is reportedly the largest pageant in the world in terms of live TV coverage, airing yearly in more than 190 countries worldwide to an audience of over 500 million people.

Along with Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth, Miss Universe is one of the Big Four international beauty pageants, or so it seems.

The Miss Universe Organization and its brand, along with Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, are currently owned by the WME/IMG talent agency.

What about the other powerful contest in which another black professional career girl emerged as winner known as Miss USA 2019?

It was reported that the Miss USA 2019 was the 68th Miss USA pageant. It was held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada on May 2, 2019. Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey served as hosts, while Lu Sierra served as commentator, all for the second consecutive time. Additionally, it featured performances from T-Pain and Nick Lachey.

Sarah Rose Summers of Nebraska crowned her successor Cheslie Kryst of North Carolina at the end of the event. Kryst represented the United States at Miss Universe 2019 and placed in the Top 10.

The 2019 competition served as the second consecutive time that the pageant has been held concurrently with the Miss Teen USA competition.

If you think beauty contests is for the never-do-wells then think again. This is because Miss. Cheslie Kryst is a full-time attorney who is licensed to practice law in two states.

She earned both her law degree and MBA from Wake Forest University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor's degree from the Honors College at the University of South Carolina.

This 28-year-old is a former Division I athlete, having competed in the heptathlon, long jump and triple jump on South Carolina's track and field team.

When Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa was named Miss Universe on Sunday, her crowning signified a milestone: the first year that four of the major beauty pageants had simultaneously awarded the top prize to a black woman, so echoes an analyst similarly happy at this turn of events for black girls in the World.

A modern historian recalled that pageants have long been criticized for their antiquated beauty standards and, in many cases, outright racism or gender stereotyping.

The historian also stated that last year, the Miss America Organization announced it would scrap both the swimsuit and evening gown portions of the competition. And while black women have been winners in the past — notably Vanessa Williams, who in 1984 was the first black woman to be named Miss America — they have never been as successful as this year.

Supporters of the women — Ms. Tunzi, Cheslie Kryst (this year’s Miss USA), Kaliegh Garris (Miss Teen USA) and Nia Franklin(Miss America) — say the recognition sends a powerful message that today’s beauty standards are evolving beyond Barbie-lite, or an era when contestants were prized solely for smooth hair, light skin color and thin lips.

Toni-Ann Singh who is Miss Jamaica won the 2019 Miss World to crown it all for the black women of our time.

BBC observed thus: “It is the first time in history that black women hold the titles of Miss USA, Miss Teen USA; Miss America, Miss Universe and Miss World. This comment by the British officially owned broadcaster should tell the remaining black girls who still go about bleaching their skin that now is the time for them to stop.

Imagine the futility in the craze by some black girls to bleach their skin to be white; this is certainly a case of inferiority complex which is a psychological and an emotional disturbance that must be confronted.

The other day, the social media celebrated a certain skin bleaching entrepreneur who was using chemicals and hot water to help black girl automatically bleach their skin to white.

The thought of skin cancer and other medical conditions that can arise from such practice worried me.

The regulatory agency in charge of food, drugs known as NAFDAC was proactive in moving to close down that semi-color changing laboratory in Lagos.

NAFDAC had reportedly raided the facility of a skin bleaching professional - The attention of the agency had been drawn to the facility after a video of a bleaching process went viral - At the time the video surfaced, Nigerians were outraged by the length to which ladies go to have a fair skin, so reports a local online newspaper.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) reportedly raided the facility of a skin bleaching professional just as it was gathered that the facility belongs to the lady behind a viral bleaching video.

Media had reported that a lady, who described herself as a bleaching expert, had taken to social media to brag about her work after Nigerians condemned a viral bleaching video she was responsible for.

On Wednesday, December 4, the bleaching professional's facility was raided by NAFDAC.

It was gathered that the viral bleaching video had brought the attention of the agency to the lady. In a video shared online, the officials of the agency were seen removing products from the facility to carry out a quality test at their office.

Can NAFDAC brief Nigeria about the update on this case. There is the need to reinforce our collective rejection of bleaching because of the side effects.

Side effects and precautions of skin bleaching as medically reviewed by Cynthia Cobb, on July 22, 2019 just as it was written by Adrienne Santos-Longhurst (www.healthline.com).

This review has it that Skin bleaching refers to the use of products to lighten dark areas of the skin or achieve an overall lighter complexion. These products include bleaching creams, soaps, and pills, as well as professional treatments like chemical peels and laser therapy.

The medical review aforementioned affirmed that there is no health benefit to skin bleaching. Results aren’t guaranteed and there’s evidence that skin lightening can result in serious side effects and complications.

From a medical standpoint, there’s no need to lighten the skin. But if you’re considering skin bleaching, it’s important to understand the risks.

Skin bleaching they emphasized reduces the concentration or production of melanin in the skin. Melanin is a pigment produced by cells called melanocytes. The amount of melanin in your skin is mostly determined by genetics.

People with dark skin have more melanin. Hormones, sunlight, and certain chemicals also affect melanin production.

When you apply a skin bleaching product to the skin, such as hydroquinone, it decreases the number of melanocytes in your skin. This can result in lighter skin and a more even appearance to the skin.

A number of countries have banned the use of skin bleaching products because of the dangers associated with them.

In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Trusted Source also issued a notice that over-the-counter (OTC) skin bleaching products are not recognized as safe and effective. The products were deemed not safe for human use based on a review of evidence.

Skin bleaching has been associated with a number of adverse health effects.

Some skin bleaching creams made outside of the United States have been linked to mercury toxicity. Mercury has been banned as an ingredient in skin lightening products in the United States, but products made in other countries still contain mercury.

In a 2014 study Trusted Source of 549 skin lightening creams bought online and in stores, nearly 12 percent contained mercury. About half of these products came from U.S. stores.

AS we mark the year of the black girls, may I suggest to all the First ladies of African countries to lobby so their nations and the African Union can adopt a particular day in a year to CELEBRATE THE DAY OF THE BLACK GIRL.

This is an idea whose time has come.

*Emmanuel Onwubiko heads HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) and blogs @www.emmanuelonwubiko.com, www.huriwa.blogspot.com,www.thenigerianinsidernews.com.