Decision of CJN to hide panelists is suspicious: - HURIWA: ....... *Condemns continuous land border closure without sacking inefficient border security:

A prominent civil Rights Advocacy group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has condemned the lack of transparency and openness in the composition of the Supreme court of Nigeria’s panelists to adjudicate on the appeal by the opposition presidential candidate in the highly disputed 2019 presidential poll Alhaji Atiku Abubakar against the Appellate court’s victory awarded to president Muhammadu Buhari.

HURIWA has also condemned the double standards by the Federal government to closed the borders for a long period of time because of the lack of efficient border security but at the same time President Muhammadu Buhari who kept flying all around the globe refused to sack the Comptrollers General of Nigerian Customs Service (Retired Colonel Hameed Alli)  and Nigerian Immigration Services (Mohammed Babandede) all Moslem Northerners  both of whom failed spectacularly to prevent the reported influx of smuggled goods and services into Nigeria for which are the reasons the current administration arbitrarily closed the borders. The Rights group said the President was being sectional for retaining the services of his Northern clique that run the badly secured borders of Nigeria in the Customs and the Immigration departments. 

HURIWA said the way and manner that the hierarchy of the supreme court of Nigeria headed by chief justice of Nigeria Muhammad Tanko has handled the composition of the panel and the untoward secrecy surrounding the identity of the justices to sit on the contentious matter of the highest public interest has rendered the entire process a nullity in the eyes of the general public given that constitutional democracy thrives and obtains legitimacy when transparency, openness, fairness are made the fundamental benchmarks in the dispensation of justice.

HURIWA said the decision by the chief justice of Nigeria to keep the identities of the panelists closed to his chest contrary to extant convention whereby the people of Nigeria are democratically informed and full disclosures made on the panelists, has made the entire scenarios to appear like government magic. "What is the Chief Justice of Nigeria hiding?"

“As human rights practitioners we condemn the decision to treat the supreme court’s anticipated handling of the appeal against the decision of the presidential election petition’s tribunal filed by the opposition leader and erstwhile vice president, as if it is a top state secret, makes the entire process to appear like a drama unworthy of the trust, and buy-in of the people of Nigeria who are the donors of the authority being exercised by the holder of the office of president of Nigeria. The supreme court just like any other competent courts of law is recognized under section 6. The people of Nigeria are recognized in section 14(2) (a) of the Nigerian constitution as the owners of the sovergnity of Nigeria from whom government through this constitution derives all its powers and authority.”

"The failure to abide by the freedom of information law and the constitution by not disclosing the identities of justices to hear the most important public interest litigation has rendered the legitimacy of the entire process questionable. The Nigerian constitution gives the media in section 22, the role of the guardian of the public information. So why is the chief justice of Nigeria treating this list of panelists like there is some form of secrecy which must not be disclosed to Nigerians?”

“Why inform Nigerians about the date of the hearing but refused to disclose the names of the justices? This arbitrariness and unconstitutional secrecy has damaged the process even before it takes off and this is very unfortunate.”

Relatedly, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) said it read with shock the statement by the Central Bank of Nigeria governor justifying the continuous closure of the Nigeria's land borders anchoring it on the need to prevent goods and services from neighboring countries from flooding into Nigeria even without the apex banking regulator addressing the fundamental issue of failure of the extant border security architecture which must be reformed holistically in order for those noble goals of improving the local business climate for producers and farmers in Nigeria to be attained seamlessly.

HURIWA said: " We just read the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who listed the gains of border closure since August to include boosting domestic trade, job creation and enhancing Nigeria’s economic policies and affirmed that before the borders would eventually be reopened; affected countries must be effectively engaged with a view to agreeing on certain terms and conditions. The Apex banking industry regulator of Nigeria whilst answering questions from State House correspondents in Abuja after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari before the president’s departure to Saudi Arabia, Emefiele illustrated how some businesses, which he said had almost collapsed before the border closure, suddenly became productive barely a week after the closure. He narrated the experiences of rice millers and members of the Poultry Association of Nigeria whom he said had before the closure called him to lament about low sales, only to witness a sharp rise in demand shortly after the closure. He described smuggling of foreign products into the country as a major impediment to the growth of local industries and businesses, adding that rice and poultry businesses have been booming optimally since the borders were closed."

HURIWA however maintained that closing the borders and letting the inefficient and ineffective border security administrators to remain in office is cosmetic and is unjustifiable.  The Rights group said the President must come clean on the border issues and avoid ethno religious sentiments if his administration is desirous of effectively putting in place a fool proof border security administration.   

Should we undermine the war on terror?

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

“Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well”, is a very universally acceptable aphorism.

Another wise saying that shares the same etymological resemblance with the above is that which was uttered from the mouth of one of the wisest men to have graced the face of the earth known as Socrates who stated thus: “Man know thyself because the unexamined life is not worth living”. For the benefit of the non-initiates, Socrates is one of the foremost fathers of Ancient Philosophy who helped shaped classical thinking.

Now that we have a bird eye's view of who Socrates is in the pantheon  of highly reputable scholarships, let me state also that the above key sayings are central to the theme of our reflection this morning which is on the specific roles expected of each and every one of us in Nigeria in the current war on terror. We must recall the coincidence of this reflection with the premier World news since last weekend about the killing of one of the World's best known terror masterminds and indeed the most prized wanted terrorists of our contemporary times Abubakar Al Baghdadi who once presided over the maverick caliphate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. He was killed by the United States Special anti-terror Specialists somewhere near the Syrian/Turkish borders. Recall too that ISIS has in the last two years assisted the Nigerian based boko haram terrorists who pledged allegiance to the now killed terror kingpin. Back to our reflection. 

The basic question that calls for introspection and immediate actionable plan is what is the logical rationale of starving the military of operational fund in the 2019 budget circle with the allocation of a paltry #100 billion as encompassed in the proposed budget presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari. That allocation is a little more than what a city in USA or UK would budget per annum. Mind you Nigeria inarguably has the largest land fighting soldiers in all of the black World.

However, from onset I must state that president Muhammadu Buhari who has an illustrious military background as a former General in the Army who actually led troops to fight off insurgents that invaded a part of Nigeria has not set out to undermine the war on terror.

He, President Muhammadu Buhari has indeed made it clear that he is determined to clinically ensure a quick end to the war and the eventual defeat of the terrorists.

Even with his best of intentions, the presentation of a budgetary allocation of just #100 billion has understandably triggered the debate on the necessity of doing what is most critical to ensure that the war on terror is not undermined. What this piece is arguing us that Mr. President and the National Assembly should think out of the box and work out a healthy budgetary package for the Nigerian Military which must be transparently deployed in finishing once and for all, the war on terror.

It is instructive to note that the institution which is suffering the heat of the terror due to the approach being deployed in tackling it is the Nigerian army. While it is agreed that one special role of the military is support of State’s internal security apparatus in quelling internal insurrection, its  traditional role remains protection of the nation from external aggression in defence of sovereignty. The implications of over utilizing the military internally are diverse including grave consequences illegality, human rights violations, lack of popular support by the people and even the likelihood its mode of operation robbing off on other civil security agencies in the light of inter-agency collaboration.

This association has ability to influence the police to become brutal or increase the sophistication and aggression of the terrorists or terror groups who ordinarily should be weakened by intelligence of the police or other trained civil organizations in collaboration with the people with whom the criminals ordinarily associate and sometimes live among. This is one area of thinking.

This abnormality however can be corrected by return to the legal foundations and basis for these organizations and legality in operation; only intelligence with the public support and not use of brute force and brutality, can win the war on terror. There is urgent need to demilitarize the domestic counter-terrorist approaches.

A law based terror war is people oriented and respects not only fundamental human rights (which are the rights granted in the priority law of the land like the Nigerian Constitution) but also recognizes and accords the people due respect as partners on the war and thereby consciously protects the humanity of the people.

It must be clear that if the public is terrorized in the war on terror, the government will lose support in the war and that will complicate it. The object of the war should be defined to be the people’s interest for the security and safety of the public. It must be carried out in the most civilized way possible. A lot of times these essentials to the success of the fight are lost in the heat of emotion and stress occasioned by the havoc of the menace resulting in callous raids, arbitrary arrests lacking intelligence, unlawful arrests with ulterior motives, brutalization of suspects without iota of facts or evidence about their involvement or even outright arrests of relatives or friends who have not aided or abetted the crime.

It is said for the umpteen times that there is no such thing as vicarious criminal liability. The Supreme Court made this point abundantly clear in the case of PML (Nig) LTD v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2017) LPELR – 43480 (SC). So however closely related a person may be to a criminal or suspect of a crime, they cannot be held liable for their crimes unless they are culpable or complicit in the crime one way or the other. But the story never ends about how different security operatives raid houses or places and brutalize people who are not directly connected to the crimes. In some cases they are detained as a strategy to secure the arrest of their suspects. This is most cruel and illegal.

One option available to the USA and which was the safest for the US navy seal during the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden was to bomb his hide out at Abbottabad in Pakistan but it was not utilized to avoid incurring casualties of other occupants of the building who obviously were related to him. The lesson is very clear, even the attack on the world’s terror leader and most wanted man was not callous or reckless.

A law based war against terror is also fearless and jettisons the popular belief that law is only enforced against the poor.  This factor is particularly important because although the actual perpetrators are recruits from vulnerable people, the masterminds are the politically inclined or high class members of society.  For instance it is very disappointing that although some top politicians were fingered as the brains behind and sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria, they have never been invited by law enforcement agents for questioning let alone charged with the crime.

Again the war must be holistic. Although a system founded on might has propensity for abuse, the root cause or aggravating factor of criminality is inequality which largely stems from government irresponsibility and irresponsiveness. No nation can successfully win a war on terror when its most active class are either unemployed or grossly underemployed and underpaid. A youthful unemployed population is a threat to peace, stability and security if at all there can be such society.  There is therefore a need to revamp the economy and as an urgent interim measure reduce cost of governance and increase employment.

It is the belief that peaceful co-existence and security are the desire of all; this is a fact self-evident in the communal nature of man. Crime is only an alternative that not all members adopt in response to the social malfunctions of the systems of society. It presupposes that any program meant to ensure the safety of that society would always be supported by it. The vulnerable percentage will also support the scheme if well implemented to their persuasion. It then remains a tiny percentage of the population involved in deviance or non-conformity and this group will naturally be overcome by government anti-crime strategy which will always succeed with the support of the public. Following this prototype, law based war on terror with public support is the panacea to the current insecurity debacle. This is why it is disturbing that the budgetary allocation given to the military in the new budget circle is grossly insufficient. Already diverse sections of the news media are running with the news that there is disquiet in the horizon about this paltry sum allocated to the military.

The N100 billion budget estimation for the Nigerian Armed Forces in the 2020 Budget is already raising dust among the military echelon, The Nation can authoritatively report. The Nation is one amongst the most regarded national newspaper.

The newspaper reports that whereas the military may appear to keep straight face over the matter, it was reliably gathered that the budget estimation for the entire Armed Forces did not go down well with Generals, who had expected a budget that can fund the war against the insurgency in the North-East.

According to reliable sources, the N100 billion budget estimate came as a rude shock, “considering that the country is in a war situation which should have reflected in the budget.”

A high-ranking military officer who did not want his name mentioned argued: “The military is poised to win the war against insurgency and other forms of criminality in the country but such figure (N100 billion) is a far cry from what is required to prosecute the war and run the entire Armed Forces.”

The source continued: “Take for instance, allocating the highest percentage of the Budget to the Ministry of Works and Housing as against the Armed Forces is not logical because you cannot construct roads or build bridges in a war environment. We hope there will be a supplementary Budget that will address this shortfall.”

Another source who also craved anonymity, insisted that “to sustain the winning streak recorded by the military against terror groups operating in the country, adequate funding is required.

“The welfare of the troops in the front lines should be given adequate attention as well as the wounded soldiers who need medical attention. We are not asking for pay rise but the N100 billion budget estimation for the entire Armed Forces does not reflect the reality on ground”.

Meanwhile the National Assembly Joint Committee on Army has met with the leadership of the Army to discuss possible ways of improving the figure before the Budget is finally passed by the end of the year.

The delegation led by the Chairman Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume met with the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai and other senior Army officers behind closed doors.

Although details of the meeting were not disclosed, it was gathered that how to source funds for the Armed Forces topped the discussion.

However, before the commencement of the closed session, Senator Ndume, said that visit was in continuation of the oversight functions of the Committee.

Ndume, who had condemned the N100 billion budget proposals for the Armed Forces as insufficient, stated further that following the leading role played by the Nigerian Army in war against insurgency, “the Committee embarked on a fact finding mission and NEEDS assessment across military units and formations to know what is going on.”

He continued: “After our tour, we decided to come to the center so that we can talk especially now that the budget of the Nigerian Army is out for consideration, so this not a visit that you will discuss the details to the press.”

But the Chairman House Committee on Army, Hon Abdul Razaq Namdas, in his speech, stated that the “budget for the entire Armed Forces is so insufficient and we are in a war period and there should be war budget, we will see what we can do together.”

He hinted that there is already a Motion before the House seeking for alternative funding sources for the Nigerian Armed Forces out the budgetary provision.

According to him: “It is interesting to know that on the floor of the Senate, there is already a Motion on ground stating to see how we can fund the Armed Forces even outside the normal budget because we realised that budget alone is not likely to take us there”.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, in his response, stated that funding is critical to the success of the Nigerian Army the Nation reports.

He said: “Funding is quite critical to all our activities including national activities, so you’ve taken the bold step by the call for independent funding channels for the Armed Forces in the National Assembly, if that is achieved, be rest assured that we will do our best to provide the enabling environment for security to thrive and by implication also national development.” (The Nation)

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state is amongst the many patriotic Nigerians across political party lines that have enlisted in the positively constructive national debate to give the Nigerian military a healthy budgetary package.  It is expected that President Muhammadu Buhari who loves his primary constituency which is the military will hearken to these clarion calls and upgrade the funding portfolio of the military just as the National Assembly should as expected support this worthy call.

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

HURIWA to EFCC -: Stop harassing students in Owerri:.......... *condemns govt’s plan to import doctors:

Following a series of complaints and save-our-souls messages by students of tertiary schools in Owerri, Imo state brought to the attention of the prominent civil Rights advocacy group – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) about alleged incessant harassment by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the anti-graft body has been asked to desist from the ongoing intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrests and humiliation of students staying in privately developed student’s hostels in the Imo state capital.

HURIWA in the same vein said in as much as it supports a law-based anti-corruption drive by the statutory bodies empowered to so do, these institutions must not go about denying innocent youths and particularly students from the enjoyment of all their constitutionally protected fundamental human rights as enshrined in chapter four of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). HURIWA said it was unconstitutional and undemocratic to demonize students based on assumptions.

The Rights group specifically condemned a situation whereby armed operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) would constantly storm the living hostels of both female and male students of the tertiary institutions in Owerri, the Imo state capital and round up every students staying in those hostels even without any shreds of empirical evidence linking such innocent students to any suspicious activities linked to advanced fee fraud or 419.

HURIWA listed sections 34(1); 35(1) and section 37 of the Nigeria constitution which guarantees basic freedoms to the citizens including students who must never be subjected to such horrendous ordeals of frequent raids by the operatives of the anti-graft body who have been accused of arbitrarily arresting students only because they live in the same flats with some persons who may be or not suspected at all of committing any criminal act of fraud.

Section 34(1): “Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and accordingly - (a) no person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment; (b) no person shall he held in slavery or servitude; and (c) no person shall be required to perform forced of compulsory labour.”

Section 35(1): “Every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person shall be deprived of such liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure permitted by law - (a) in execution of the sentence or order of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty; (b) by reason of his failure to comply with the order of a court or in order to secure the fulfillment of any obligation imposed upon him by law; (c) for the purpose of bringing him before a court in execution of the order of a court or upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed a criminal offence, or to such extent as may be reasonably necessary to prevent his committing a criminal offence; (d) in the case of a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years for the purpose of his education or welfare; (e) in the case of persons suffering from infectious or contagious disease, persons of unsound mind, persons addicted to drugs or alcohol or vagrants, for the purpose of their care or treatment or the protection of the community; or (f) for the purpose of preventing the unlawful entry of any person into Nigeria or of effecting the expulsion, extradition or other lawful removal from Nigeria of any person or the taking of proceedings relating thereto: Provided that a person who is charged with an offence and who has been detained in lawful custody awaiting trial shall not continue to be kept in such detention for a period longer than the maximum period of imprisonment prescribed for the offence.”

Section 37: “The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected.”

HURIWA accused the anti-graft agency of unduly subjecting these students to unnecessary embarrassment which the Rights group reasoned may impede on their studies and academic pursuits just as the Rights group has called on the operatives of the anti-graft body to abide by the due process of the law in all their operations.

In another development, the Rights group has carpeted the Federal minister of health, for the primitive, backward, and retrogressive thinking of importing foreign trained doctors to be employed to work in public hospitals.

According to the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA), the plan by the current health minister has shown the lack of adherence to standard policy implementation in the administration of the health sector. HURIWA has therefore asked the health minister and his minister of state to resign forthwith if they have run out of workable solutions to the problems afflicting the public healthcare system in the Country.

“It was this same Federal administration in the first tenure that Nigerians were told loud and clear by the then health minister Dr. Isaac Adewole that Nigeria is producing too many medical professionals and doctors even as the minister then went ahead comically to tell the doctors who are unable to find job slots both in the private and public health facilities to embrace tailoring and other vocational jobs.”

“We in HURIWA with a membership of over ten thousand people made up mostly of youngsters including medical doctors, we are disappointed that those running public health policies in Nigeria are bereft of ideas that can turn around the health sector. Thinking of employing white or foreign doctors or even Cuban/Chinese doctors to work in Nigeria’s health sector is selfish, irrational and an attempt by the ministers to populate the public health facilities with ghost workers.”

“What we need in Nigeria are not foreign doctors but the most up to date medical equipment and facilities that are in tune with the advances in technology of the twenty first century and beyond. The country has more than enough competent doctors but due to corruption by the health institutions, virtually all the yearly budgets for health in the public sector are stolen by politician.”

HURIWA has charged the ministers of health to check the cases of procurement corruption in the public health ministries so as to ensure that the right calibre of facilities are bought and installed and for the usual in-house and regular training and capacity building workshops for the Nigerian doctors to be conducted in a transparent manner. The Rights group said it is well known that in many foreign jurisdictions such as the United States of America and Britain, the number of Nigerian doctors are so high to an extent that there were well conceived clamour to check the rapid brain drain of doctors and other top professionals from Nigeria who leave the shores of Nigeria in search of greener pastures.

HURIWA recalled that the Minister Osagie Ehanire said that Nigeria would employ the services of medical experts from Europe and America just as the disclosure came at a time that some stakeholders are understandably expressing concern about the migration of health workers from the country.

HURIWA said: "It is shocking that in this 21st century with the high number of Nigerian doctors to have read the minister of health saying that officials of the ministry were in touch with foreign embassies for specialists who would work in hospitals across the country for specified periods. To add salt to injury the minister, who stated this during the 2020 budget defence session, said the move would strengthen the nation’s health sector even when the idea of employing foreign doctors will only increase capital flights from Nigeria and worsen the state of unemployment and will not improve in any way the quality of healthcare delivered in the public health centres for as long as these healthcare institutions are grossly ill equipped with the medical facilities and devices that meet the best global practices".

"HURIWA is miffed that the minister failed to state how importation of foreign doctors can stop for instance President Muhammadu Buhari from seeing the British doctors in London or stop politicians from medical tourism but whilst he was responding to a question from a member of the Mrs. Tolulope Akande Sodipe-led House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Matters about plans for curbing medical tourism, the health minister misfired and veered off into the arena of comedy and irrationality ".

"HURIWA hereby condemns Mr. Ehanire for saying that the experts, already exposed to sophisticated practice in the advanced world, would not only attend to the health needs of Nigerians but also use the opportunity to share expertise with their local counterparts even as we in the organized human rights community see this as an incurable addiction to neocolonialism and inferiority complex which must be discountenanced forcefully".

The Rights group said the information by the minister that there are equally plans to make indigenous consultants and surgeons spend some time abroad and come back to improve the Nigerian healthcare system, is a red herring because most of the medical practitioners in Nigeria have attended courses abroad before returning to practice in the Country.

“HURIWA hereby strongly condemns the minister for erroneously maintaining that the country’s teaching hospitals were adequately equipped and manned by experienced and qualified doctors but the same minister is the person canvassing the employment of foreign doctors. This is a fallacy of unfathomable dimension. It is clear that these health officials are bereft of idea but are only interested in what benefits can accrue to them and their political masters. Saying that the sector requires more funds to also create an enabling atmosphere for Nigerian experts in the diaspora to return and render free services to the homeland is neither here nor there. The health minister should stop procurement corruption first".

HURIWA however dismissed the statements of the health minister as misconceived and abhorrent to good and qualitative reasoning given the facts that there are a high numbers of Nigerian trained doctors produced on regular basis after thoroughbred trainings in the medical faculties embedded in some respected Nigerian Universities under the competent supervision of the Medical and Dental Health Council of Nigeria.

Trudeau: second chance for a global leader

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

No gainsaying the notorious truth that the election of the Republican outsider and the maverick billionaire Mr. Donald Trump about four years ago as the 45^th president of the United States of America changed the global dynamics in the area of worldwide push for globalization of human rights and democracy as it were.

Trump's emergence on the global stage has so far remained localized within the context of the domestic issues directly affecting the United States of America with a virtual shut down of all usually proactive America's roles as the global human rights enforcer either on its own terms or through the platform of the United Nations.  

What that means is that president Trump who dethroned the democrats to become the president of the world’s strongest economy and indeed the universal leader in the area of global security, made it abundantly clear that his administration will be all about America first. 

His administration so far has made no single move in defence of human rights around the World and has even escalated the DIMINISHING respectability of America as the clear World leader in the spreading of human rights messages and democracy as an ideology around the World even as the wider ramification of this lacuna gave rise to the search for a possible global leader whose passion will also extend to the need to ensure that nations around the globe keep to their binding obligations of respect for the fundamental human rights of their citizens.

Ironically, these past four years have seen the growing phenomena of wars ravaging a lot of countries and the growing populations of refugees who have been constantly on the move in search of security of their lives. Nigeria being one major flashpoint of global terrorism with the large portion of the Country almost as big as France and Belgium put together being hobbled by the war waged on Nigerians by the Boko haram terrorists who have working partnership with the Islamic States terror networks. So Nigeria as a largely war torn and unstable Country contributes largely to the global refugees crises. The failure of United States of America under Donald Trump to play the Universal role as the Global leader who advances peace and human rights has gravely affected millions of Nigerians who live in fear for their lives. The refugees issue is a global phenomenon. 

The greater percentage of these refugees comes from the developing economies in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Many have perished from Africa trying to flee into the Western nations through the Mediterranean Seas off the coast of lawless Libya. 

Another type of refugee crisis however became worrisome around the fringes of America with millions of frightened South Americans from some war ravaged and crime ridden countries trekking so far to cross into the United States of America from the borders of USA and Mexico. This phenomenon posed severe logistical nightmare for the Donald Trump’s administration.

Also President Donald Trump has not hidden his disdain for refugees and immigrants and his administration has introduced a rash of executive orders and unleashed immigration officials to fish out illegal immigrants and to repatriate them out of the shores of the United States of America. 

It has been reported that some of those immigrants afraid that they could be returned to some of their war ravaged nations by the Donald Trump immigration enforcement authority decided to cross over to Canada to seek for refuge. 

These migrants found a good host in the prime minister of Canada Mr. Justin Trudeau who incidentally becomes the only world leader that speaks out in loud defence of the rights of the refugees.

Through his open policies of receiving refugees running from terrorism, war and political persecution in their homelands, the Canadian prime minister perhaps can be compared to the ebullient chancellor of Germany Mrs. Angela Merkel who stands out in Europe as one leader devoted to finding practical solution to the global refugee emergency.

Her decision to provide temporary shelters for hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and Nigeria amongst others, led to a lot of political setbacks for her even as Germany even started witnessing the resurgence of right wings elements who openly detest the presence of foreign refugees in Germany just as some political parties with such extreme ideology went on to win parliamentary seats.

The internal challenges created by her positive disposition towards hosting refugees have even forced her into what analysts see as early retirement because she has now stated that by 2021 when her tenure is over she wouldn’t seek re-election.

Reuters has even reported that German Chancellor has found a capable successor.

Germany’s Angela Merkel threw her weight behind her embattled new defense minister and heir-apparent while insisting she herself was fit to carry on serving as chancellor through to the end of her term in 2021. Apart from the disenchantment of some voters with her open hospitality for refugees, there have of late being some stories around her health. 

Merkel, who turned 65 and has been in office since 2005, has suffered several bouts of shaking at public ceremonies in recent weeks that have stirred speculation about her health, though she has maintained she is fine as reported by Reuters.

On jovial form before taking a summer break, the conservative chancellor said she understood the questions about her health, but told her annual news conference: “I can carry out this role.”

She has no history of serious health issues. Her office has given no explanation for the shaking episodes. After one such bout, a government official told Reuters that it was more a psychological issue as she tried desperately to avoid a repeat.

“As a person, I have a strong personal interest in my health and, as I said, 2021 is the conclusion of my political work,” Merkel told reporters, adding with a smile: “But then I hope there will be another life (after politics).”

Asked how she was feeling, Merkel added: “Good.”

The chancellor, who has loomed large on the European stage since 2005, is trying to stage-manage a slow-motion exit from politics and in December gave up the chair of her Christian Democrats to protégée Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

Merkel’s “grand coalition” with the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD) has come close to collapse on several occasions since taking office last year, and SPD leader Andrea Nahles quit after setbacks at regional and European elections in May.

But Merkel played down suggestions that the governing alliance was in trouble, saying she had “very, very trustworthy” working relationships with the SPD’s interim leaders.

The SPD is plumbing new post-World War Two depths in polls as a result of its decision, deeply unpopular with supporters, to prop up Merkel’s government, and is divided over whether to stay in the coalition for another two years.

“We have shown that we are able to act, although to some extent we have to bridge large differences of opinion,” Merkel said, adding that she had “great respect” for the SPD’s process in handling its leadership change.

“That gives me optimism that we can continue to work very well in government,” Merkel said.

An end to the ruling coalition could yet be precipitated by regional elections in three eastern states in the autumn. Polls show the SPD is set to perform poorly.

The looming exit of the German leader means that clearly, only Justin Trudeau of Canada can play the role of the global defender of the rights of refugees given his antecedents. Boris Johnson of United Kingdom is interested majorly in securing a healthy deal for BREXIT. So the Canadian good man who has just won re-election is clearly the global human rights leader. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau begins his second term facing an increasingly divided Parliament and country, with his rock-star appeal from four years ago diminished by scandal and unmet expectations.

Trudeau was re-elected in a stronger-than-expected showing in Monday's national elections. But while his Liberal Party took the most seats in Parliament, it lost its majority and will have to rely on an opposition party to get anything passed.

Trudeau, 47, prevailed after a series of scandals that tarnished his image as a liberal icon.

Old photos of him in blackface and brown face surfaced last month, and Trudeau was also accused of bullying his female attorney general into dropping the prosecution of a Canadian engineering company.

Also, environmentalists have accused him of betrayal for spending billions to buy the pipeline in a so-far unsuccessful bid to get the stalled project moving again. It has been held up by environmental opposition and court challenges.

Trudeau's positivist role towards human rights reinforces the essence of the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states thus: "Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, Therefore The General Assembly proclaims This Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction."

The World awaits his leadership activities in the area of human rights promotion and protection. 

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