Borrowing From Peter to Pay Paul: Our National Assembly and Buhari's $3.5 billion Loan

“In foreign policy, there’s a term for governments that don’t govern. We call them failed states. A state can fail for many reasons, but weak or clueless leadership is usually a factor. In a failed state, insurgencies grow, warlords arise, and chaos reigns.” – William Saletan, 2016

As usual, Nigeria is all over the news, foreign and domestic, all for the wrong reasons. According to Financial Times of London, “Nigeria has asked the World Bank and African Development Bank for a $3.5 billion loan. The request comes as Africa's largest economy grapples with a $15 billion budget deficit in the wake of the oil crash that has seen prices fall about 70% in the last year and a half.” There is no doubt that Nigeria’s economy is in dire straits and we urgently need a fix for the peculiar mess we found ourselves. What is in dispute is the willingness of our political leadership to take responsibility for their profligacy that brought our economy to its knees.

Our former president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ), the man who presided over the highest income ever generated by any Nigeria government, and who sadistically spend all on trivialities struts around the world capitals celebrating how he successfully handed over an empty treasury to his successor who by the way, handily won the election! As Punch newspaper editorial rightly quoted Christian Welzell and Ronald Inglehart, “Students of democracy increasingly emphasize the fact that democracy implies government by the people, not mere ‘electoral democracy’ in which elites have elections, but the citizens have little real influence on their actions.” 

To add insult to injury, our National Assembly, is busy sharing the loot called the national treasury by buying expensive and luxurious “state of the art” cars for themselves. When they take time off from looting the already depleted treasury, they fiddles while Rome burns, cue their current effort to pass ordinance that will ban “the internet from publishing negative articles about politicians” to quote one of them.  

It is in the mix of all this, that President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB), approached World Bank and African Development Bank for a $3.5 billion loan. My first retort is to urge an opposition to that loan request until PMB can prove that he and his party are capable of managing the out of control and profligate National Assembly. Why should we continue to mortgage Nigeria’s future to make rich a conscienceless elite ruling class? PMB must guarantee to us that none of the loan will be use to pay National Assembly or the Executive branch emoluments or salaries. He should be made to guarantee that none of the money will be funnel through the office of the National Security Adviser to fund governorship election as GEJ did in Ekiti state. He has to guarantee that the loan will be transparently deployed for the benefit of the suffering masses of Nigerian and monitored by independent Nigerians who are not beholden to the current political class in Nigeria.

We have had enough of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul,  so as to enable  Paul to be able to build skyscrapers in Dubai and jet off to Caribbean Island where they have plush homes. It is time we send a message that the only thing standing between full scale revolution in Nigeria and our profligate ruling class is PMB commitment to anti-corruption and time is running out for him. Nigeria has no faith in party politics and politicians who will steal and loot the treasury in other to win election. So we say NO! to borrowing from World Bank and ADB so the National Assembly could pay themselves mega salary. We say NO! to loans so governors could ride rough shod over us. Our current National Assembly and state governors have to agree to cut their coats according to our falling oil prices for us to move forward. Nigeria meets the definition of a failed state, we have clueless leadership, growing insurgencies, north and south and chaos reigns everywhere. NO! You don’t reward clueless leadership with $3.5 billion loan. It is time we start mobilizing the streets to come out and send that message to those in power.

WHO Report on Lassa Fever Out

Lassa Fever – Nigeria

Disease outbreak news
27 January 2016

The National IHR Focal Point of Nigeria has notified WHO of different outbreaks of Lassa fever occurring in the country.

Details of the outbreaks

Between August 2015 and 23 January 2016, 159 suspected cases of Lassa fever, including 82 deaths, were reported across 19 states. Investigations are ongoing and a retrospective review of cases is currently being performed; therefore, these figures are subject to change.

The 4 most affected states are Bauchi, Edo, Oyo and Taraba, which account for 54% of the confirmed cases (n=54) and 52% of the reported deaths (n=34). The remaining 15 States have reported less than 5 confirmed cases.

Samples of 54 cases, including 34 deaths, were confirmed for Lassa fever by reverse transcription polymerase-chain reaction (RT-PCR). All samples tested negative for Ebola virus disease, Dengue and yellow fever.

To date, 4 health care workers were laboratory-confirmed for Lassa fever; of these 4 cases, 2 passed away. It is important to note that these cases are not considered as cases of hospital-acquired infection as no confirmed or suspected cases were reported in the 4 different health facilities where these health care workers were employed.

As of 21 January, 2,504 contacts had been listed and 1,942 are currently being monitored. A total of 562 contacts have completed follow up. So far, none of the contacts have tested positive for Lassa fever.

Public health response

The WHO country office is supporting the Federal Ministry of Health (MoH) in coordinating the response, especially regarding surveillance (including active surveillance and contract tracing), case management, infection prevention and control, and sensitization of community and health workers. WHO and MoH have identified a need to reinforce trainings for clinicians and community sensitization.

Background

Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria and causes outbreaks almost every year in different parts of the country, with yearly peaks observed between December and February. The disease is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses. It is transmitted to humans from contacts with food or household items contaminated with rodent excreta. The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa. Person-to-person infections and laboratory transmission can also occur, particularly in the hospital environment in the absence of adequate infection control measures. Diagnosis and prompt treatment are essential.

2015: The Year Nigeria finally broke the Camel's Back

In this last piece for this year, permit me to review such an eventful year in the history of our country, Nigeria. We started the year with hope and optimism and we succeeded in overthrowing the vice grip of PDP on Nigeria. The fact that Nigeria was able to throw off the 16 year yoke of PDP is causa celebra".
It looked impossible at the time but the collective resolve of the Nigerian people finally brought the change.
Our job is not done however as we need to hold the current administration accountable otherwise they will go the way of PDP.

I beg to disagree: We are not all Dasukis!

"We are Dasuki, I'm afraid. Dasuki, indeed is us"- Okey Ndibe

The above is the concluding sentence from Dr. Ndibe's column this week. He arrived at that conclusion after dissecting the  Dasukigate saga currently going on in Nigeria's political firmament. The unusual logic as set out by the brilliant scholar, turned weekly columnist is that we all complicit in the criminal theft of the last GEJ regime because we refused to speak up when they were looting the treasury. He wonder why the civil servant at Central Bank, ministry or even the newspapers were silent whilst PDP officials engaged in daylight robbery. He therefore conclude that we all accomplice to the treachery and perfidy of our elected officials.

Let me hasten to say that I have huge respect for Dr. Ndibe, but on this score I respectfully dissent. I along with millions other Nigerians are not participe criminis" , and therefore could not be found culpable morally, legally or spiritually for the greed of our ruling class. It is mindset such as this that made Nigerians resigned themselves to fate and take all kinds of stupidity and maladministrations from our ruling elites. I will even ventured to say that Dr. Ndibe, given his voracious writtings and expose on the pages of newspapers is not liable for the crimes of GEJ or any of our political jobbers. Not only did he write compendium on the evils perpetrated durin 16 years PDP misrule, he was arrested at the airport by agents of the same administration for no just cause other than the fact that he dared criticized the regime in power.

No, sir, you are no Dasuki! There are millions of Nigerians who are victims and not the perpetrators of the evil that stalked our land! And it is instructive to note that they are still entrenched in Aso Rock, State house, National and state Assembly. In fact they just awarded themselves brand new BMW cars while many workers and pensioners are yet to get paid for months.

Let's call a spade a spade instead of labeling it an agricultural implement. The good book said the hand that sinneth should be the one to be punished. Vicarious liability is unknown to criminal law of theft and to every creed of faith known to mankind. Sir, we are not all Dasukis!

The Many Dangers of “Tarry Awhile” Stay of Criminal Proceedings in a Democratic Republic

I write this piece as a criminal defense attorney with more than 20 years criminal trial experience in 2 continents, Africa and North America. I am also writing out of my desire to see the development of criminal judicature that can stand the test of time in a developing country like Nigeria. It is my hope that the Chief Justice of Nigeria will take another look at the recent decision by Justice Fabiyi in the Saraki v CCT case with a view of righting the procedural wrong and the inevitable floodgates it opens soon after we join other commonwealth countries in outlawing mindless interlocutory  stay of proceedings in criminal trials.

Very few common law countries permit a criminal defendant to scuttle their criminal trials through a labyrinth of jejune and inconsequential interlocutory appeals as we used to have before the ACJA 2015. The gains we made with the combined provisions of Sections 306 & 396 (2) of that Act is effectively lost through the “tarry awhile” decisions of the highest court in the land. The decision becomes more baffling when the court refused to set an exact date for review of its decisions. What is more, the Supreme Court justice who read the lead judgment effectively retires in 2 weeks.

The ludicrous excuse that lead prosecuting attorney acquiesce in the order is “non sequitor”. What was he supposed to do? A curious reading of the entire proceedings clearly shows that the court has made up its mind to grant the wishes of the rich senior advocate representing the very rich senate president.

This is one moment where I sorely miss the activism of the late Alao Aka-Bashorun era as NBA president. What if every criminal defense attorney in Nigeria sought a stay of proceedings in each and every pending cases where they are challenging the jurisdiction of the court? Or is that right only available to senior advocate of Nigeria an afluent senate president.

What is more baffling is how some severely compromised legal practitioners in Nigeria are criticizing the well informed opinion of the Femi Falana SAN and Professor Itse Sagay. It got so ludicrous that one of them went as far as minimizing the “raison detre” for the existence of the Code of Conduct Tribunal. They say it was a vehicle to punish politicians for mistakes made in completion of forms! And yet these are people that want us to take our laws seriously. If the CCT is not important why do we go as far as enshrining it in our constitution?

One thing is certain we now know the senior advocate of the Nigerian masses and those who are SANs for filthy lucre. The latter are the reasons why we may never be able to conquer the hydra headed monster of corruption in our land. They are gunslinger for hire. They never do any “probono” work to help the poor in our courts but they are always available to help launder politician’s ill gotten wealth through huge legal bills. They will always win in court and when we call them out on their shenanigans we will be accused of slandering the integrity of the courts. They may have won but we have hope on our side.

Refugees – Prisoners of a Single Story: The Cultural Competence Challenge

A refugee’s story is not just a single story – the story of war, deprivation, and pain. But more often than not, the refugee story is deeper and richer than their lucky escape. Our challenge as attorneys is to dig deeper to learn our refugee client’s story. A few examples will illustrate how to put this into practice.

There was a couple who met at the United Nations Refugee Camp in Guinea Bissau. She was from Sierra Leone, a young girl who got married at an early age. He was from Liberia, a child soldier recruited by the notorious warlord and dictator, Charles Taylor. Following traditional African customs, they were married in the presence of the elders. They both applied for refugee visas and resettled in Spokane. Despite vehement opposition from him, she started attending classes at Spokane Community College. There was comfort in education and it helped her overcome some of her fears.

One day there was an altercation over his sexual demands. She told him she had to be in class, but he tried to force himself on her.  She pushed him away. He picked up the car keys and as she reached for the keys in his pocket, his pants tore. He called the police. She was arrested and charged with malicious mischief.

The prosecutor looked only at the fact that she tore his pants; therefore, she was guilty of malicious mischief. The stakes were very high. She faced potential jail time, but also the fear of deportation, or worse yet, losing the opportunity to become a naturalized citizen.

One line item in the police report stood out like a sore thumb. The officer stated that during the questioning, the defendant refused to look the officer in the eye. To the officer, trained in the best Western traditions, this was a tell-tale sign of guilt. As an African myself, I know it is not a sign of guilt to look down when you are telling your story. In fact, it is a sign of disrespect to look an elder or an authority figure straight in the eye. The jury absolved the wife of all charges. The case was won purely on our ability to explain with clarity the complexity of an African woman dealing with new life in America. This illustrates the fact that cultural competency, like other legal skills, requires a disciplined approach to viewing the world from different perspectives.

 “An effective lawyer must possess skills for cross-cultural engagement by developing cultural competency.” ² We cannot effectively advocate for our client when we know little to nothing about where they are coming from or what drives them. Culture encompasses a person’s ethnicity, race, gender, nationality, age, economic status, social status, language, sexual orientation, physical attributes, marital status, and a variety of other characteristics and peculiarities.

Many African refugees cannot understand a “no contact order” that restrains them from their residence. In African culture, a man’s very essence is tied up with his house. When you take him away from his “house”, you diminish him. In 2011, a Sudanese refugee was charged with a misdemeanor violation of a no contact order stemming from a felony assault – DV conviction. 

Through the interpreter, we learned that the client had no formal education, completely illiterate, and understood only basic Arabic, and a “smattering” of English. It was extremely difficult for him to grasp the meaning of the no contact order.  He did not understand why he could not go home if his wife wanted him there and they were not having problems.  How could a court keep him out of his own home? “Where am I supposed to go?” he asked. “What if I want to see my children?” The arrest was a culture shock moment for him. The plea taken through the help of a telephone translator, with little or no understanding, was later challenged. The felony guilty plea was withdrawn due to ineffective assistance of counsel for lack of meaningful representation based on the use of an Arabic interpreter. This case was later used to effectively solicit the assistance of the state legislature in procuring funding for training interpreters in Eastern Washington through Refugee Connections Spokane³.

Cultures, no matter how resilient, are not static. Our next example concerns the parents of a seven year old refugee boy who could not understand why they were charged with reckless endangerment because they left their child in the car in the summer heat. When counsel tried to explain the law to the parents, they couldn’t comprehend that a shopping mall is not equivalent to an African market. Every adult in an African village has the responsibility to care for all children regardless of their biological parentage. This particular Congolese family was connected with other African parents/grandparents living here. This led to a community effort that enabled refugee elderly grandparents to care for little children while their parents take a break.

A Burundi refugee was involved in an auto accident triggering a severe case of PTSD. Our phone conversation with the insurance adjuster helped the company understand the need for mental health counseling.  As an 11 year old young girl, she walked through a dense jungle in the night to escape the holocaust in her land.  Her recent auto accident brought back those six months of trying to elude the gendarme.

Cultural competency is an essential skill set for the 21^st century attorney who seeks to deliver effective advocacy and serve justice. These examples are just a few reasons why we recently established the American Law and Justice Workshop in Spokane. This annual workshop which has been widely celebrated by many, including the Association of American Law Schools ⁴, will hold its next session in April, 2015. While we educate immigrants and refugees about different cultures, we also need to sensitize lawyers and legal practitioners about familiarizing themselves with their clients’ cultural background.  A single story does not define our clients, it’s our duty to dig deeper.

Defending the Indefensible: The case of Ex-Works Minister Onolememen

"You can't defend the indefensible - anything you say sounds self-serving and hypocritical." - Diane Abbott

It all first sound like a joke but the group of ex-political appointees of former President Goodluck Jonathan who had promised a robust defense of their time in office have started their responses to the numerous allegations of impropriety and corruption being levied daily against them by President Muhammad Buhari's administration. Some of the stuff they are trotting out as defenses would be a script on Baba Sala or Zebrudiah comedy shows but for the fact that we are actually talking about a country made poor not by lack of resources but bad leadership and corruption.

First out of the gate is the immediate past Works Minister, Arc. Mike Onolememen, who responded to an exclusive  report by Vanguard in which he was accused of smuggling four unnamed officials into the delegation that represented Nigeria at an international infrastructure summit in Paris, France, in 2011. If you thought his defense will be grounded in financial prudence and robust statutory riposte, you don't know Nigerian politician. 

According to Vanguard, "the former minister said the four unnamed persons referred to as “ghost representatives” by the newspaper were members of the Senate and House of Representatives committees on Works, who decided to accompany the ministry’s delegation to Paris after the necessary arrangements had been concluded." He stated that the total sum of 20.6 million Naira was earmarked for legislators who were added to the delegation hurriedly. For those familiar with Nigeria "double dipping legis-looters", you can bet the same expense was again paid for by National Assembly oversight budget! He also refused to tell us why it took 5 years to correct the books and who left it too late?

But the minister is not done with his "comical Alli" defense of his time as works minister, he went on to defend the inclusion of his wife and sister on the ministry’s list for a trip to Dubai in 2011 on the ground that the trip "was actually for ministers’ wives and top female ministry officials. Onolememen stated that his wife was specially nominated to lead the team from Nigeria to Dubai and she in turn picked three female officials to accompany her to the event, which lasted five days." What in the world is wrong with this picture?

An unconstitutional and illegal "office of minister's wife" now exist where the wife of a sitting minister can pick 3 other officials to go on junkets or is it shopping at Dubai? All of which are generously funded by Nigeria state money! Ever wonder why federal roads in Africa's most populous nation remains a debt trap? How can any sane mind given the level of squalor and poverty in today's Nigeria justify such expense? What is wrong with our so called leaders? And they wonder why the people of southwest where the Lagos-Ibadan expressway remains like a precolonial rain forest voted them out of office. In saner climes, folks like Onolememen will voluntarily return the money expended on his wife and be ban from holding any political office. But don't expect that in these climes, he will soon run as governor of Edo state or senator using the stupendous wealth he got from from his disastrous era as minister.