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Thursday, 6 December 2018
PRESIDENT BUHARI RECEIVES LETTER OF CREDENCE FROM AMBASSADOR OF FINLAND, FRANCE AND CZECH REPUBLIC TO NIGERIA IN STATE HOUSE ON 6TH DEC 2018
Wednesday, 5 December 2018
"You must desist from selective prosecution": - HURIWA to EFCC *Insists on prosecution of Oshiomhole:
A prominent civil society organization – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has expressed deep consternation that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under the current dispensation is consistently sinking into the deepest abyss of selective prosecution of alleged graft offenders. The Rights group said the EFCC has a text book case of how to prosecute accused person based on the criteria of how closed you are to the inner caucus in the Presidency, your Ethnicity and your religion just as HURIWA has asked the National Assembly to investigate the allegation that over 75 percent of strategic holders of offices of directors in EFCC are persons from Moslem North.
The group has also described as hasty and insensitive, the decision by the presiding judge of the Federal High Court, Lagos division, Justice Mohammed Idris to revoke the bail he had granted in 2007 to a former Abia state governor Chief Orji Uzor Kalu who is facing N7.65 billion fraud charges. The group said although granting of bail is discretionary, it however expressed suspicion that the presiding seems to be reading so much of the media blackmail stories usually splashed across social and online media by paid political agents that are out to destroy the person of the erstwhile governor of Abia state Chief Orji Uzor Kalu who has continued to enjoy meteoric rise in politics.
The Rights group said also that the application by the EFCC lawyer for the bail revocation which necessitated the action of the judge in outrighlty revoking the bail he granted to Chief Orji Uzor Kalu was callous, insensitive and a misdirected angst against the accused person who is reportedly in a German hospital to undergo intensive surgical operations. HURIWA wondered why the Prosecution team did not even travel to Germany if they were doubting the excuse tendered before the Court for the unavoidable absence of Chief Orji Uzor Kalu in Court on the date the bail was revoked late last month.
The Rights group said the implication of what happened at that Federal High Court was that the chief prosecution counsel does not care whether the accused is in the right health status or not to show up in court or not probably because he is from the South East of Nigeria and not one of the most favourite political acolytes of the powers- that- be in Abuja.
“As a human rights body, we see what transpired in the Federal High Court Abuja which was instigated by the irresponsible and insensitive application for revocation of bail by the EFCC’s legal team as a confirmation of the widespread apprehension in most quarters that the anti-graft commission makes use of sledge hammer against accused persons from some “unfriendly” ethnicities but treat other favoured ethnicities and close friends of the president with considerable amount of leniency. This same EFCC has not found it necessary to invite the chief of staff to the president for investigation over diverse but worrying levels of accusations of fraud and bribery made by different Nigerians including biological relation of one of the two most powerful members of the cabal in the presidency- the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Apart from the chief of staff to the president, the EFCC is yet to institute charges against the disgraced erstwhile secretary to the government of the Federation Babachir Lawal despite the existence of massive amount of body of evidence which indicted him of alleged diversion of nearly half a billion Naira meant for the rehabilitation of the North East of Nigeria and for the feeding of the displace persons of the counter insurgency war”.
HURIWA wondered why the EFCC has refused to arrest the national chairman of the ruling APC who is the arrow head of the presidential campaign of the president, even when top members of his own party accused him severally of bribery scam during the just ended rancorous primary elections of APC all over Nigeria.
Aside the allegation of accepting bribes worth over $50 million USD, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole is also a subject of a widespread allegation of multibillion dollars scam during his 8-years stint as Edo state governor just as a human rights activist had obtained the order of the court for his prosecution but EFCC is resisting.
HURIWA stated that Justice Anwuli Chikere gave the order while ruling on an ex-parte application brought before the court by Bishop Osadolor Ochei.
HURIWA further recalled that the application is seeking an order of mandamus to compel the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest and commence criminal proceedings against the ex-leader labour for allegedly diverting state funds for personal use.
The Rights group recalled the judge, who also ordered service on the anti-graft agency, stressed that the exercise must be done within five days beginning from the day the said order was issued.
The ex-parte, with suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/628/ 2018, and filed by Dr. West Idahosa on behalf of the plaintiff, has Oshiomole and EFCC as first and second respondents.
Idahosa, had while arguing the motion, urged the court to allow the respondents file their replies to the weighty allegations against them.
On the other hand, Ochei had on October 28, 2016, written the EFCC over Oshiomhole, who was Edo governor between November 12, 2008 and November 11, 2016.
While praying the court to grant the request of his client, Idahosa referred the court to 86 exhibits filed in support of the application, stressing that there were documents and graphics of palatial houses of the ex-governor whose his life earnings, he contended, couldn’t acquire.
He said there were evidence on how the APC national chair allegedly diverted money meant for state projects to his.
The counsel added that there were vouchers of exorbitant airfares that the NLC’s erstwhile boss incurred, which according to him, could get Edo people an air carrier.
The lawyer also claimed that there were receipts of how he used huge state funds to repair his private vehicles, urging the court to grant the sought reliefs.
HURIWA stated that this distorted operational modalities of the current deeply partisan leadership of EFCC are offensive to a plethora of constitutional provisions as cited below.
Section 17 (1) of the amended constitution of federal republic of Nigeria stated that: “The state social order is founded on ideals of freedom, equality and justice; In furtherance of the social order: - every citizen shall have equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the law; the sanctity of the human person shall be recognized and human dignity shall be maintained and enhanced; governmental actions shall be humane.”
Section 36 (1) “In the determination of his civil rights and obligations, including any question or determination by or against any government or authority, a person shall be entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality.”
Section 42 (1) “A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a person – be subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any executive or administrative action of the government, to disabilities or restrictions to which citizen of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups places of origin, sex, religions or political opinions are not made subject; or be accorded either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or administrative action, any privilege or advantage that is not accorded to citizen Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex religions or political opinions.”
HURIWA is worried that this discriminatory prosecutorial style of EFCC may instigate a revolt from the masses if the acting Chairman of the EFCC is not restrained from continuing with these constitutional breaches in his politically tainted anti-graft style.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN NIGERIA SHOULD BE SEEN AS AN ASSET NOT A BURDEN – Queen Tessy Okoh
By Kennedy Eberechi
Queen Tessy Okoh; the current holder of the Miss Peace Nigeria (Culture) has continued to take more proactive steps in demonstrating her commitments to galvanizing the interest of the youths and strategically re-channel them to national pursuits that will culminate in development and cultural recovery in a bid to address the burning issue of segregation and fundamentalism. This was evident on Tuesday in Abuja during a working visit to the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA).
Queen Tessy who spoke passionately on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16, which comprises of Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, noted the complementarities between culture, peace and human rights. “To build peace that leads to development, it is necessary to have mutual understanding and tolerance between cultures. If people accept cultural diversity and understand cultures other than their own, it will contribute to the prevention of conflict, building of peace and development. Hence, cultural diversity in Nigeria should be seen as an asset rather than a burden,” miss Okoh said.
Continuing, the Benue-born beauty queen observed that with an estimated population of about 130 million and over 250 ethnic nationalities, Nigeria ranks the most populous country in black Africa. Accordingly the important part of human rights and sustainable peace is cultural diversity. “The emergence of differing culture and maintenance of cultural diversity has raised the possibility of the human race to adapt to environmental change in the future. Furthermore, in order for culture itself to retain its creativity and vitality, the existence of other cultures is a must. New ideas are born from other cultures, and the source of cultural creativity lies within constant encounters between different cultures,” she added.
In his remarks, the National Coordinator of Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA); Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko congratulated the 500 level Water Resources Aquaculture and Fisheries Technology student of the Federal University of Technology, Minna on her emergence as the Miss Peace Nigeria (Culture), while noting the strategic importance of her position especially now that the country is undergoing series of orchestrated violence.
While advising her to make use of the media of mass communication as instruments of social mobilization and enlightenment to able to galvanize large army of Nigerian youths, he opined: “the moment the youths of Nigeria are sufficiently educated about the essence of and the philosophy behind Nigeria’s rich cultural diversity, it is easier for the different segments of the complexity that Nigeria is, to now unify and decide to live in peace, harmony, equality and respect for equity, social justice and practice democracy the way it should be.”
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko concluded by asserting that one of the fundamental objectives of state policy is to promote our cultural values. According to him, to promote cultural values one has to create the enabling environment for the proper promotions of the different cultural activities that we find Nigeria”.
Among the Queen Tessy Okoh’s delegation was her Media Relations Manager; Mr. Kennedy Onyegbado of Ken-Gbados Concepts Limited.
Tuesday, 4 December 2018
Prostitution is Capitalism on Campus By Emmanuel Onwubiko
With just few weeks to Nigeria’s most critical election, the major contenders who began their campaigns for the coveted number one political job in Nigeria which is the office of the President have so far not adequately addressed the critical issue of right to education.
Going through the various ramifications and segments of the nation’s highest law which is the constitution, it is unambiguous that the right to qualitative education opens the door to the enjoyment of all other fundamental right provisions espoused in chapter four of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 (as amended).
For instance, in section 17 subsection (3), the constitution stipulates that the state shall direct its policy towards ensuring that (a) all citizens, without discrimination on any group whatsoever, have the opportunity for securing adequate means of livelihoods as well as adequate opportunity to secure suitable employment.
There is no doubt that the clearest way of obtaining suitable employment is the capacity building and/or manpower educational empowerment of the citizenry.
Section 18 (3) of the grund norm emphasized that “government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy, and to this end government shall as and when practicable provide (a)free compulsory and universal primary education; (b) free university education; and (c) free adult literacy programme.
The above mentioned objectives of state policy are never implemented because as I write, the educational sector is amongst the most marginalized even as the provision of the constitution which absolutely prohibits discrimination is not respected by top government functionaries who have continuously underdeveloped the public educational sector whilst diverting public fund towards providing the most competitive educational training for their own children in some of the best Ivy league universities in the advanced Western economies.
The neglect of the public educational sector got to a deteriorated extent that most parents have decided to cough out huge cash to be able to send their children to foreign jurisdictions for educational trainings. The public school system in Nigeria suffers from the twin evil of corruption by the management staff and criminal marginalization in terms of funding by all levels of government in Nigeria. Most public schools are at the different stages of collapse.
The focus of this piece today is not on the peremial neglect of the public educational sector but rather one of the most critical offshoots of these neglect and corruption that are weighing down the public educational institutions. This problem is the fact that most girls from disadvantaged homes in Nigeria who are in public tertiary institutions are forced to become sex workers so as to train themselves in those schools that have kept hiking tuition fees but without commensurate upgrade of standards.
This issue is a debilitating factor all around the globe but the Nigerian dimension is uniquely satanic. This is because unlike in some western societies whereby there are facilities from which students can borrow to pay for their very expensive university education and gradually pays off these debts when they begin to work, in Nigeria, the poor students have no form of scholarship funding nor any educational funding banks to borrow. They then resort to engaging in all forms of social crime so that they can pay their ways through school.
Last week when I visited most states in the South East of Nigeria whereby tertiary education is an attractive sector for most young persons, I came face to face with the existence of what can be called capitalism on campus which is another way of describing commercial sex activities by female students of these universities. Capitalism on campus is a menace all around educational faculties around the Country. Public and private universities are very busy commercializing honorary doctorate awards to the highest bidders and are engaged in different fields of businesses to boost their revenue generation, but nothing is done to ameliorate the untold and despicable hardships that most students go through. Moreover, nearly 60 percent of female students in Nigeria's tertiary institutions are their own educational sponsors. This is why in such places like University of Lagos amongst several others, there is the problem associated with what we call ARISTOS. This word is coined from the capitalist term ARISTOCRATS which means rich patron who deploy their wealth to obtain sexual gratification from female or even male students. There are also those that are pejoratively termed as RUNS GIRLS.
The sad thing about it is that the school management have never really appreciated this issue as a fundamental stumbling block to the holistic training and the educational formation of the young persons.
As I write, the academic communities are on shut down due to needless industrial action occasioned by the consistent willful neglect of the funding of public university system by both the national and sub-national governmental administrations.
The academic staff union of universities embarked on strike for nearly a month now. Of course the academic and non-academic staffs are worried about how to make their wages big but the welfare of their students is never in their calculations.
Sadly, the student union bodies have for over two decades become a cash-and-carry contraption for never-do-wells who impose themselves as students union leaders only so they can use their positions to fleece and extort politicians and play the role of praise singers.
There is really no concerted effort to address this issue of students prostitution on campus. This is compounded by the fact that some of the lecturers are even guilty of demanding for sexual gratifications from their students in exchange for marks.
However, my search for the main underlying reason behind the expanding spectre of commercial sex activities or mercantilism on Nigerian campuses led me to a scholarly work done on this issue by Dr. Ron Roberts, identified as Jamaica based university professor.
This university teacher is known to have researched into the menace and to have published a book he called “Capitalism on Campus: Sex work, academic freedom and the market.”
My reading of a recent book review on the above work done by Russell Whitehouse shows that virtually the entire factors he observed in that book are significantly present in most tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria in both public and private sectors.
In the review, he wrote that sex and student debt are viewed as two inevitable facets of university-student life. Kingston University’s Dr. Ron Roberts writes about the disturbing connections between these two and the state of academia as a whole in Capitalism on Campus.
Dr. Roberts writes about the growing phenomenon of uni students partaking in sex work (mainly stripping, camming & prostitution). The book cites multiple UK surveys conducted between 2012-2017 which, found that between 5-6% of students were engaging in sex work. Furthermore, many of these admitted sex workers came from middle-class backgrounds. Another survey found that 30% of students personally knew of another student(s) engaged in sex work, while another found that 16% of students were considering entering the adult industry.
These, figures, the reviewer affirmed, have reliably been rising in tandem with UK tuition hikes that started under New Labour in the late 90s. Such a trend hasn’t been isolated to the UK, of course. American rappers like Jay-Z and Juicy J and the Canadian Drake have been rapping about women stripping to pay their tuition for decades. Across much of the West, college has become exponentially more expensive. Young people in both the US and UK are shouldering total student loan debts in excess of $1 trillion.
This debt explosion, according to the book reviewer combined with poor job prospects for “inexperienced workers,” soaring urban housing costs and the remnants of the recession have compelled many young women (and surprisingly high numbers of men) to take up sex work. Rather than addressing this crisis, schools, by and large, have chosen to ignore it. Worse, many universities and academic associations actively try to whitewash research and reporting about student sex work. Dr. Roberts cites personal experiences, as well as the experiences of other academics, of being stonewalled and threatened by administrators for daring to try to study the issue.
Universities, he observed, are obsessed with maintaining a façade. Ever since universities went from being a public utility to a privatized cash cow, schools have felt the need to sell themselves as a product. Dr. Roberts writes that, “The largely uncritical domestic support offered by university vice-chancellors to tuition fee increases and marketization suggests not merely a lack of vision and subservience, but a propensity to keep one eye on the huge salary and another on possible rewards from the honours system.” This prioritization of bringing in money over student welfare means an obsession with public imaging and maintaining a high rating in places like the U.S News and World Report Best Colleges Rankings and The Princeton Review.
The writer also stated that much of the weight for these rankings comes from student surveys. Several university teachers and administrators have been caught telling students to give disingenuous good reviews on such surveys. The exponentially rising tuition rates at these school means that front offices are largely beholden to prospective parents of students and donors. Thus, the administrator line of thinking goes: What parent or affluent donor is going to want donate to or to send their precious child to a school that’s been exposed for having loads of students who sell their bodies just to get by? Uni students who have to resort to such means are consequently not just deprived of help by administrators, but often threatened with disciplinary action.
The reviewer affirmed and rightly so that society foists upon its future workers not just serf-like levels of debt, but substantial psychological baggage, as well.
The reviewer also asserted that the soaring rates of depression, anxiety and suicide among Western youth is, according to Dr. Roberts, better understood not as an index of personal failure, but as a consequence of the brutal circumstances which have seen cuts in investment, training and job opportunities for young people, low wages, exorbitant student loans and tuition fees, cuts to mental health and welfare services, as well as a savage primary and secondary school system where endemic testing has become the norm.”
Worried about the lacuna in any form of legal frameworks to check the menace as highlighted above, I then checked nuc.edu.ng and found out that the National Universities Commission was established in 1962 as an advisory agency in the Cabinet Office. However in 1974, it became a statutory body and the first Executive Secretary, in the person of Prof. Jibril Aminu was then appointed.
The National Universities Commission (NUC) is a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Education (FME). The Commission has a Governing Council, its Executive Secretary is Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed mni, MFR, who assumed office on August 3, 2016.
Over the years, the Commission has transformed from a small office in the cabinet office to an important arm of government in the area of development and management of university education in Nigeria.
The main functions of the Commission are outlined as follows:
Granting approval for all academic programmes run in Nigerian universities; Granting approval for the establishment of all higher educational institutions offering degree programmes in Nigerian universities; Ensure quality assurance of all academic programmes offered in Nigerian universities; and Channel for all external support to the Nigerian universities.
The Commission has twelve Directorates; Directorate of Academic Planning, Directorate of Inspection and Monitoring, Directorate of Management Support Services, Directorate of the Establishment of Private Universities, Directorate of Students Support Services, Directorate of Research, Innovations & Information Technology, Directorate of Finance and Accounts, Directorate of Accreditation, Directorate of Open and Distance Education, Directorate of Liaison Services and International Cooperation, Directorate of Corporate Communications, and the Directorate of the Executive Secretary’s Office. Each of the Directorates is headed by a Director.
As a coordinating body, the Commission ensures it discharges its responsibilities by recruiting adequate and relevant man power and appeals to the Universities for their sustained support and understanding. The Commission also relies on support from the Federal Government, State Governments and other stakeholders in its bid to improve on the quality of tertiary education and graduates of the nation’s university system.
From what we have seen above regarding the functions and duties of the main regulatory body that coordinates standardization of the educational sector of the tertiary level, it would seem that the welfare of the students are not adequately captured. NUC has failed substantially to bridge this gap between the high tuition fees and the social demands and pressures on students to meet up with these different aspects funding requirements whilst they are in the higher institutions.
The only faint approach towards the eradication of the social malaise of sexual abuses of students is the infinitesimal cases that the independent corrupt practices and other offences commission has instituted against randy lecturers.
I will therefore charge the candidates of the main national parties seeking for office of the President of Nigeria to tell Nigerians how each of them intends to tackle the menace of prostitution on campus.
The next president must look at the way to adopt strategies to assist students to be able to study without tears. The next president must work collectively with the national legislature and state legislatures to operationalize modalities for stopping the rising cases of prostitution on the Nigerian educational campuses.
The need to sanitize the educational sector in Nigeria and check the proliferation of all kinds of commercial sex work by students is anchored on the provision of the Nigerian constitution in chapter four and specifically section 34 (1) which states that: “Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and accordingly :- no person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment; no person shall be held in slavery or servitude; and no person shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour.”
*Emmanuel Onwubiko is head of Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and blogs @ www.emmanuelonwubiko.com; www.huriwanigeria.com; www.huriwa.blogspot.com.
In NYSC, Buhari has excelled By Emmanuel Onwubiko
Nations around the globe that want to become advanced in the twenty first century and beyond, usually place the highest premium on the capacity development of their young populations. This is obviously for the reason that such political entities do not wish that their national heritage go extinct.
Another obvious explanation for devoting substantial chunk of the national wealth of the forward looking nations towards the development of the young population is because of the statistical status of the younger members of these respective sovereign entities.
Nigeria is no exception. First, Nigeria is made up of over fifty percent of the younger populations even as it is beyond debate that the youth of Nigeria have attained phenomenal heights in the diverse fields of human endeavours. Perhaps, the only sector in which the youth is yet to dominate is the field of politics.
The above statical facts then bring us to the topic of analysis in this piece which is basically a forensic analysis of the legacies that the current president Muhammadu Buhari has pragmatically made towards the sustenance of one of the few remaining institutions created over many years – the National Youth Service Corp Scheme (NYSC). This uniquely impactful scheme has gone through the good, bad and ugly times but perhaps the present period could be adjudged as one of the best in terms of prioritization of the funding mechanisms provided for it by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. This may not necessarily be called the golden age of National Youth Service Scheme(NYSC), nevertheless the sustainable investments made so far by the current administration towards keeping the NYSC's legacies alive can as well be termed as a glorious era. We are indeed beginning to witness a turnaround in the management of the NYSC that has become the significant unifying national institution.
Prior to 2015, there were already calls from a lot of quarters for the abrogation of the NYSC scheme but the coming to power of the current president brought stability and respectability to the scheme. A possible reason could be that the man at the helms of affairs in Nigeria is a man that has seen it all going by his antecedents.
Little wonder that he took his time to pick a serving military General who has fortunately kept to the goals, aspirations, visions and objectives that president Buhari has also hoped that the National Youth Service Scheme plays.
There is no doubt that Brigadier General Suleiman Kazaure has brought style, panache and professional commitments towards piloting affairs at the NYSC.
From the background of a constructive critic and a human rights activist who speaks truth to power, there is no doubt in my mind that humanly speaking, the choice of General Kazaure to head the NYSC is amongst the most distinguished choices made by the president of Nigeria who should be proud of the salient achievements his appointee has made but aided by a great management team. As it is stated, better soup na money cook am... it is also true that when a Director General is succeeding, it depicts the caliber and qualitative attributes of his lieutenants. More than at any other times, the NYSC has received accolades from mainstream leaders of the society and the young population of contemporary Nigeria. One of the most revered traditional rulers in modern day is the Ooni of Ife. He recently applauded the leadership style of the current management. He spoke with a team of editors from a reputable institutional magazine.
The Ooni of Ile-Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi in responding to a question requesting him to assess the NYSC as it is now said “You (NYSC) are fully on the right path and I am a living example. I am from Osun State and was posted to Benue for my youth service. My mother of blessed memory took me to the Car Park at 6 o’clock in the morning. I was inside the vehicle for 16 hours before we got to Benue. It was a very refreshing experience for me. If there was no youth service I may not have gone to Benue state. So, it is a programme that needs to be funded the more and government should patronize it."
The high profile traditional ruler who was amongst the few custodians of the diverse Nigerian traditions that were nominated by the Nigerian government to receive Prince Charles of England during a recent State visit to Nigeria by the British Monarch also affirmed as follows about the NYSC: "It is one of the programmes cementing our relationship in Nigeria. Some participants fall in love during the programme. I recall sitting with General Gowon who established the Scheme – he was very passionate about NYSC as one of his achievements – and some of the first set of Corps Members. One of them said to General Gowon, ‘Sir it was the programme you started after the Civil War that made me what I am today. Because my parents did not want me to go, you were the one that provided a government plane to carry all of us. I started my life there in Kaduna, I lived there and I became one of the most successful men in Kaduna today’. And he is from South-West, so I want to continue to wish you well and to wish you the very best and a happy anniversary.”
Queen Onwughalu is an Abuja – based blogger and a young lady entrepreneur who only recently served in the office of the Minister of Women Affairs Abuja for her one year compulsory national youth service. She told me that her stay as a Corper was a wonderful experience. She said that the Director General showed tremendous love and passion about the welfare and wellbeing of the participants of the NYSC.
Similarly, Obilor Cliff Grace who would be doing NYSC soon wrote as follows:
“NYSC which is known as National Youth Service Corps was founded in Nigeria in the year 1973 for graduates of universities and graduates of polytechnics later joined.
NYSC scheme is set up by the Nigerian Government to involve Nigerian graduates in building and developing the country. Before the government start posting them to different states, they undergo a kind of orientation which is basically controlled by the military, this orientation lasts for just three weeks, at the end of three weeks, they are being posted to their PLACES OF PRIMARY ASSIGNMENT which is popularly known as “PPA” During this service these young graduates are being posted to different parts of the country, so that they can mix up with other people, learn new cultures and also use their knowledge to develop the places which they have been posted to and every month end these Corp members receive a token from the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Am looking up to service in the NYSC for so many wonderful reasons, although most of these young people have lost their lives as a result of Religious, Ethnic and Political problems, but NYSC has a lot of benefits which can make a young person look up to service. Service in NYSC helps to build the moral life of a young person and also teach on how to be independent and self-reliance. Am looking forward to this service so as to acquire new skills and also share the ones I know, serving in the NYSC promotes unity of the nation, it gives us a sense of belonging, it encourages youths when they see the performance of other young people, service will go a long way in helping us contribute to the ongoing growth and development of the national economy and whenever these young people are assigned to any state ,they are not just there for themselves rather they are representing our country Nigeria, during these service year. These young people tend to see different kinds of religion, so they are expected to tolerate any kind of religion. I look up greatly to this service because currently in our society if that certificate is not acquired, a graduate finds it very difficult to acquire a reasonable job and also considered ineligible to work in government firms and most private firms.
In conclusion, I look up to this service because judging from the recent events about NYSC CERTIFICATE SAGA in our top government offices, without the NYSC certificate most positions as regards to politics in our country will be very difficult for the an individual to attain, because for you to start talking about some positions in Nigeria as regards to politics you must make sure that you have an NYSC certificate or an exemption letter from the NYSC office. Exemptions are considered when the Graduate is above 30 years of age. In as much as am hoping and aspiring to be in a good position in our Country, I strongly look up to service in NYSC so as to acquire the certificate for future purposes.”
Miss Obilor’s statement brings us to how significant NYSC has become in the current dispensation to an extent that the scheme has continued to churn out qualitatively trained youth in their high numbers compared to what used to be obtainable prior to the coming of the current administration.
Under his watch, General Kazaure, through deepening of the existing partnerships between the Scheme and the private sector, expedited the building of integrated skills acquisition centres in the six geopolitical zones of the country to facilitate post-camp skills training.
This writer learnt authoritatively that two of them in Ekiti and Gombe states have been completed, while that of Delta State is ongoing. He went ahead to stage the NYSC SAED Festival aimed at creating a platform for Corps members to showcase their business and vocational skills to investors and other stakeholders to attract funding and material support as well as greater networking with the business community. The current management at the NYSC further facilitated the provision of credit facilities for corps members through collaboration with banks and the launching of Job Portal as well as SAED connect platforms which have expanded opportunities and created alternative platforms for training and mentorship of corps members nationwide.
Described by those who work with him as a good manager of human resource, General Kazaure’s belief that motivation of staff, through enhancement of welfare provisions, is the surest way to get the best out of them apparently informed his unwavering commitment to evolving confidence building measures aimed at engendering industrial harmony.
There is no doubt that It is on record that on assumption of duty he immediately cleared the backlog of unpaid staff entitlements and restored other statutory staff allowances. In addition, a greater percentage of staff of the Scheme that sat for promotion exam in the past two years was promoted. Importantly, the venues of writing the promotion examinations reflected the geopolitical spread of the institution of NYSC and created a sense of belonging for all participants.
Apart from these, General Kazaure upgraded the NYSC staff Clinic with the procurement of state of the art equipments, added an optometry unit and gave the Directorate Headquarters a face lift. These measures have raised the morale of the staff to new heights and engendered a harmonious relationship between Management and the staff of the Scheme.
Structurally, the NYSC has equally fared better in the past two years in the area of infrastructural development. Facilities in many NYSC Camps needed to be upgraded when Kazaure took over the leadership of the Scheme.
In view of the fact that statutorily it is the primary responsibility of State Governments to build and maintain Orientation Camps, Kazaure embarked on advocacy visits to State Governors to appeal to them to renovate and upgrade their Orientation Camps. Dividends of these visits are already reflecting in the increased provision and expansion of facilities in NYSC Orientation Camps by a good number of State Governments as enshrined in the NYSC Act.
While courting State Chief Executives to be alive to their responsibilities, Kazaure, despite paucity of funds launched an intervention programme which saw many Camps like Zamfara and Enugu confronted by perennial water scarcity getting boreholes while Kano, Kwara, Bayelsa and Benue States got power generators.
Impeccable sources with considerable amount of verifiable information told this writer that many NYSC Camps have equally benefitted from the provision of water tankers, double bunk beds, mattresses, renovation of accommodation facilities and other projects aimed at upgrading facilities to make the Camps more conducive for Corps members and Camp officials during Orientation exercises. In addition, ambulances, Hilux vans and 166 motor bikes have also been procured and distributed to State Secretariats of NYSC to aid effective supervision and monitoring of Corps members.
Relatedly, the great managerial acumen in General Kazaure has made him to visualize and practically deliver some giant strides in the deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in solving and addressing not only issues of Corps administration but the entire operations of the Scheme.
Kazaure has reportedly fast tracked the implementation of biometric system of pay-rolling Corps members for their monthly allowance to check truancy and eliminate sharp practices among them. The strategy involves the use of finger prints to confirm the true identity of Corps members appearing for clearance.
Asked to assess the salient achievements of the NYSC in the current dispensation, a senior staff of the agency told me as follows: "An area of innovative feat is the success of the NYSC-JAMB collaboration which is attested to as one of the success stories of the deployment of IT solution in the operation of the Scheme. Indeed the expansion of ICT infrastructure has greatly enhanced efficiency, transparency and accountability in the operations of the Scheme. This development has facilitated the ease of doing business between the Scheme and its various publics. As a result of this, the NYSC recently received award as the best E-Governance compliant public organization during the 2016 NITDA-NIHILENT E-Governance award ceremony."
Before putting pen to paper, this writer took a month to gather evidence in real terms of the milestones recorded in the current dispensation in the management of NYSC.
Here is what one of the most remarkable resource persons I met stated about the current status of the NYSC.
“The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), an initiative of the Federal Government, of Nigeria began with the mission to promote 7 strategic objectives amongst which are national unity and integrated, dignity of labour and self-reliance. The scheme was borne out of the exigencies and dynamics of national development and widespread clamour to give the Nigerian youth a definite role in national development.”
“NYSC as an organization is strategically positioned to lead interventions in many socio-economic and poverty reduction initiatives because of its prominent role in mobilizing youths for national development. It should be borne in mind that these youth under reference are highly skilled, well educated, entrepreneurial minded and have the capacity to effectively engage other categories of youths already identified in the national youth policy for positive outcomes.”
“NYSC today commands the biggest concentration of educated youths working with, in and for communities (rural and urban) nationwide. It has since inception mobilized and deployed over three million (3,000,000) educated youths, male and female, from diverse religious, cultural, and that define Nigeria’s plurality. The NYSC scheme is also one of the best available entry points for reaching hard to reach areas and indigent grass root people in any field of endeavor or program at the most minimal cost.”
“The scheme through the deployment of its highly skilled manpower has been performing strategic national assignments when called upon to do so. These assignments require neutrality, numerical strength, geographical spread and appreciable level of intellect such as National Census, Immunization programmed, Voters Registration and National Elections among others.”
This writer discovered that one credible feat of the current management of NYSC is on the area of promoting entrepreneurship training, employment generation, and workplace readiness programme.
As learnt recently, an impressive number of a total of 971,272 Corps Members comprising 546,254 Males and 425,018 Females have gained this knowledge and skill empowerment. Out of this, 476,879 Corps Members completed the post training during the service year and over 7,000 are proud owners of their businesses.
The current management as aforementioned successfully recorded the establishment of Skill Centres just as the NYSC has witnessed the presentation of cheques by CBN to 310 Corps Beneficiaries in the NYSC/CBN/Heritage Bank YEDP on Thursday 20th October 2016.
The current team at the NYSC also successfully signed an MOU with the Skill and VMLEARN on the establishment of SAED connects-an electronic platform to enhance training of Corps Members.
Significantly, there is statistical evidence to show that a total of 1032 serving and ex-Corps Members have been trained in the NYSC/CBN/Heritage Bank YEDP programme in seven centres. This public/private sector partnership that has become extensively acclaimed has also resulted in the signing of MOU with Honour Ventures on electric tricycle transportation Scheme for Corps Members.
The production and distribution of social workbook, certificates and operational manual for SAED training programme has attained tremendous status in the current dispensation and the younger population of Nigeria who are the immediate beneficiaries will hopefully become creators of wealth in the Country.
Participants of the NYSC have benefitted from the Provision and distribution of microwave, wireless PAS, Laptop Computers and printers, sewing machines such as zigzag, weaving knitting, embroidery, stitching, welding and welding accessories, aluminum cutting milling and drilling, Gas cookers and cylinders, industrial pressing Irons barbing clippers for SAED training to states; and the management team has successfully conducted the NYSC Maiden SAED Festival in Abuja. This is a step in the right direction towards the attainment of cultural integration amongst Nigerians of diverse cultural and traditional affiliations.
Above all else, the current administration has endeavoured to give opportunities to all eligible graduates to serve unlike how it used to be before 2015 whereby some graduates were made to wait for as long as two years before been called upon for mobilization and deployment.
The Muhammadu Buhari’s administration deserves all the accolades for attaining lofty heights and for escalating tremendous milestones in the NYSC scheme. It is the conviction of this writer that these investments made in the sustenance of NYSC will profoundly shape a great and better future for millions of our younger persons. Nigeria needs to sustain the tremendous investments towards keeping the aspirations of NYSC alive.
*Emmanuel Onwubiko is head of Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and blogs @ www.emmanuelonwubiko.com; www.huriwanigeria.com; www.huriwa.blogspot.com.
Monday, 3 December 2018
Counter Terror War: Special Forces need special weapons – Says HURIWA
HURIWA has also canvassed the creation of what it calls 'War budgets' and the time line for what national security objectives that must be achieved by a particular set of service chiefs and a specified tenure so other competent professional and combat tested and trusted military Generals are appointed to replace the serving military chiefs so the counter terror war does not become a commercially viable sector to be used by them for personal aggrandizement.
HURIWA also asked the Nigerian government to adopt newer and much more effective combat approach in the war on terror and must stop forthwith the intermittent releases of captured boko haram terrorists in the guise of being repentant fighters. 'The releases of terrorists amounts to the undermining of the fundamentals of law and order which requires that offenders must be made to pass through the crucible and heavy weight of the laws of Nigeria to serve as deterrent sanctions/factors and check re-offending.
Besides, HURIWA has called for expedited funding mechanisms that would allow for the supplies of combat hard wares and soft wares and other essential combat weapons to be transparently procured to enable the military achieve success in the ongoing counter terror war in the North East of Nigeria.
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) spoke against the backdrop that the $1billion USD said to have been taken from the escrow account has yet to drop at the Defence Ministry, just as the Rights group wondered why the government could allow bureaucratic bottlenecks to slow down the process of releases and utilization of fund for the prosecution of the ongoing war against terrorists.
In a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and National Media Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA categorically stated that it could as well be taken to be a crime against humanity if the central government continues to adopt old fashioned bureaucratic processes in the procurement of special fighting military weapons at this period of national emergency whereby there is clearly a formidable resurgence of armed terrorism threatening the territorial integrity of Nigeria.
“How can a leadership of this nation be chasing after rodents when our house is on fire? How can our President be globetrotting attending insignificant conferences such as the ongoing climate change event in Poland that at best can be attended by ministers when critical issues of funding of the war on terror is left unattended to? How can we allow the hitherto rag-tag boko haram terrorists to now become embolden and well equipped to an extent that they have acquired capacity for use and deployment of drones and other sophisticated weapons whereas the country is slowing down on the process of buying combat weapons? How do these terrorists obtain their weapons and cash? How much have Nigeria paid as ransoms to boko haram terrorists?”.
HURIWA said the central government has also failed to find out the sources of funding and procurement of weapons by the terrorists. "Nigeria will not easily defeat the terrorists unless we have actionable intelligence on the sponsors and exact locations from which these terrorists purchase their combat weapons including sophisticated arsenals such as drones and anti-aircrafts’ gunboats as reported recently. Government must put politics aside and pursue bipartisan panacea to the dwindling fortunes that we have made on the war on terror".
“All citizens must rally round the nation’s military and support our fighters to achieve holistic victory against our common enemies. The special forces in the North East must also be equipped with special combat weapons. The national security of this nation is indeed at the crossroads requiring all hands to be on deck.”
HURIWA said it is a phenomenal statement that the Nigerian Army had challenged its Special Forces to prove that they have better training and tactics than terrorists by making the difference and positive impact in the on-going counter-terrorism operations. But the Rights group said it was an impossible mission if you train soldiers and then send them out to confront enemies that by your official admission has already upgraded the sophistication of the military weapons at their disposal.
HURIWA therefore reminded President Muhammadu Buhari that it is real that the killing of 23 soldiers in Metele, Borno State by insurgents and the angry response from Nigerians have stirred up an already simmering disquiet in the military over the continued stay in office of the service chiefs and the handling of the war against insurgents in the North-east. HURIWA however emphasized that the current Chief of Army staff was right to continuously motivate his fighters to put up their best but the Rights group said the Nigerian government must also stop adopting steps that allows for dysfunctional bureaucratic bottlenecks to slow down the speed of purchases of combat weapons.
HURIWA recalled that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, who charged the soldiers in Maiduguri recently, while addressing the Armed Forces Special Forces and Army Strike Group deployed in the North-east, said they were selected specially and deployed in the troubled region after being given special training, saying that is why they are called Special Forces.
Buratai said, “I am here to tell you that you have a great job to do and you must do it properly. You are deployed in the North-east to make a difference because of your special training. If there will be any challenge in terms of capacity, I believe you will fill that gap and you have all it takes to do that.
“If you apply the training that you are given, we will all have cause to be proud to belong to the armed forces of our great country.’’
He warned them against exhibiting cowardice, saying, “We do not have time for the chicken-hearted, the cowards; you all must brace up and be brave. We have done the greatest job so far in the North-east; the greatest in terms of degrading the terrorists.
“We are better trained, better equipped. We know tactics better than them and what is remaining for us is to dominate everywhere and dominate our areas of responsibilities. We must dominate the whole of the North-east.’’
HURIWA however said all hands must be on deck to ensure that the war on terror is winnable.
MISS PEACE NIGERIA (CULTURE) TASKS YOUTHS ON PEACEFUL ELECTION By Kennedy Onyegbado
The role of the youths in peaceful elections cannot be over-emphasized. This is because youths are one of the greatest assets that any nation can have. Not only are they legitimately regarded as the future leaders, they are potentially and actually the greatest investment for a country’s development.
The extent of their vitality, responsible conduct, and roles in society is positively correlated with the development of their country.
Against this backdrop, the reigning Miss Peace Nigeria (Culture); Miss Tessy Okoh has called on youths to peacefully participate in the forthcoming general elections. Queen Tessy made this call in Abuja not too long ago on the sidelines of the Nigeria Youth Peace Summit & Honours 2018 event, organised by the Peace Ambassador Agency.
The event, which held at the National Merit Award, Maitama was in recognition of the theme: The Role of Nigerian Youth, Media Houses, Security Agencies and Religious Leaders in the 2019 Elections.
Speaking to Journalists, the Peace and Culture Queen charged all youths to vote in the forthcoming elections but desist from all acts of violence. “The youths should at this time resolve to stand firmly for the peaceful conduct of the election”, Miss Okoh said.
In addition, she advised the youths to portray themselves accordingly and should steer from being used as pawns and devices in activities that may be detrimental to the unity and security of the Nation.
Conclusively, Queen Tessy Okoh informed that she is planning some advocacy visits and activities specifically designed to campaign for a massive participation of youths in evolving a greater and better Nigeria devoid of violence and political crises. According to her, it is geared towards seeing Nigeria in the nearest future with empowered youths campaigning and maintaining peace in all parts of Nigeria through expanding our understanding of cultural diversity.
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