Showing posts with label Cleveland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cleveland. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Marching In Circles, Walking In Circles

By Chuks Iloegbunam
We must invite Hon. Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to come to our immediate assistance. On Thursday June 9, 2016, Mr. James F. Entwistle, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, petitioned Speaker Dogara, accusing three members of the lower chamber of the National Assembly of improper conduct, attempted rape and soliciting for prostitutes while participating in a political programme in America.
*Buhari 
The following is a part of the Ambassador’s petition: “It is with regret that I must bring to your attention the following situation. Ten members of the Nigerian National Assembly travelled to Cleveland, Ohio, as participants in the International Visitor Leadership Programme on good governance. We received troubling allegations regarding the behavior of three members of the delegation to the U.S. Government’s flagship professional exchange programme.

“The U.S. mission took pains to confirm these allegations and the identities of the individuals with the employees of the hotel in Cleveland. “The conduct described above left a very negative impression of Nigeria, casting a shadow on Nigeria’s National Assembly, the International Visitor Leadership Program, and to the American hosts’ impression of Nigeria as a whole. Such conduct could affect some participants’ ability to travel to the United States in the future.”

The Ambassador requested “in the strongest possible terms” that the Speaker should share his government’s apprehension with the National Assembly so that the members will understand the “potential consequences” of their actions. The Ambassador had acted appropriately. As was to be expected, the matter sacked every other topic in the Nigerian media, orthodox and social. Calls sprang from the four corners asking for the heads of the accused legislators. Some, more merciful, demanded their imprisonment or, at the very least, their letters of resignation. It was at this point of cacophony that Speaker Dogara stepped in with a dose of fresh air. He called the American Ambassador’s petition by its real name, which is Allegations. And he tweeted severally: “He who alleges must prove. That’s the law. As we speak, no evidence has been put forward other than the letter sent to my office and copied to many others.”