By Aloy Ejimakor
The Rome Statute is the international treaty that founded the International Criminal Court. Comprising of 13 parts, it establishes the governing framework for the Court. Adopted at the Rome Conference on July 17, 1998, it came into force on July 1, 2002, thereby creating the International Criminal Court. The Statute sets out the Court’s jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and – as of an amendment in 2010 – the crime of aggression.
(A tribute to Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye on his birthday, May 27, 2021)
By Dan Amor
Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye is not only a quintessential Nigerian writer and journalist, he is, undoubtedly, one of the most formidable literary and social critics in the country today. Ejinkeonye, whose birthday is today (May 27), is not only a wordsmith of note whose diction and images capture the experiences and nebulous fancies of the Nigerian condition, he is also one of Africa's most celebrated newspaper columnists and public affairs analysts.
This book is also available on AMAZON
Ugo, as he is fondly called by friends and admirers, is not only trained in the intricate use and application of English words and grammar, he is gifted with the ability and capacity to comment with admirable lucidity and illuminating temper, on the insularity and philistinism of our turbulent existence. Indeed, most of the theoretical and critical essays of Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye have been widely published in local and international newspapers and academic journals with tremendous critical acclaim.
His recent offering, Nigeria:WhyLooting May Not Stop, is a collection of some of his columns published in newspapers and journals over time. It is an engrossing tapestry of the Nigerian condition. Drawing afflatus from language, literature, journalism, religion, politics, culture and everyday experience, Ugo's book, segmented into two parts of unequal chapters (Part One has 17 chapters and Part Two, 5 chapters), is a forum in which the highly informed commentator effects an in-gathering of his critical sallies.
Following the press statement by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, dismissing the decision of the 17 Southern Governors to ban open grazing in their states as having “questionable legality,” the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has issued a response to Shehu on behalf of the Southern Governors.
Excerpts:
---------------------
‘Mr Garba Shehu just
released a press statement purporting to represent the position of President
Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, on the farmer-herder “clashes” and what he termed as
“Deep Rooted Solutions to the Herdsmen Attacks”.
‘He also attributed a unilateral decision to the President
who “clears the way for ranching and revival of forest reserves” as part of the
“permanent solution to the frequent clashes between them, as well as the
associated problem of the gun-wielding “killer-herdsmen”.
‘Anyone who has been following the utterances of this man, as well as his fellow travelers on the self-deluding, mendacious but potentially dangerous itinerary to anarchy cannot but conclude that he works, assiduously, for extraneous interests whose game plan stands at variance with the expectations of genuine lovers of peaceful coexistence among all the peoples whose ethnic extractions are indigenous to Nigeria.
By Yemi Adebowale
The 2021 federal budget is N13.8 trillion. It has a deficit of N5.6 trillion and this will be funded, largely, through external borrowing. Over 30 per cent of the funds for this budget 2021 will be loans. This is why President Muhammadu Buhari is asking the National Assembly to approve N2.3 trillion ($6.18 billion) external loan to enable him fund part of the 2021 budget. The loan is part of N4.6 trillion federal lawmakers had earlier approved for his government as contained in the 2021 Appropriation Act. About 33 per cent of budget 2021 is set aside for debt servicing. Is this nonsense making sense?
By Charles Okoh
The senate president, Ahmad Lawan and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, are two of a kind. Apart from the fact that they both belong to the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), they also seem resolved to maintaining the status quo to hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil about the party and the federal government. If that is what being loyal to one’s party means, I leave that to all to conjecture, but how do we tell when the opportunity to transcend party politics to projecting national interest beckons?
To be sure, both gentlemen have told us severally that they do not intend to ruffle the feathers of the executive, at least not openly, and they have kept faith to that for about two years since their inauguration. However, the very essence of separation of powers in a democracy would be completely defeated if the other arms of government would acquiesce with all that the executive throws at them.
By Tony Eluemunor
When I think about my big brother, Mazi Chuks Iloegbunam, what readily comes to mind is the timeless Abba song, “Move On”. Its opening lyrics truly capture the essential Chuks Iloegbunam.
Here we go: “They say a
restless body can hide a peaceful soul. A voyager and a settler, they both have
a distant goal. If I explore the heavens, or if I search inside. Well, it
really doesn’t matter as long as I can tell myself I’ve always tried”.
The Iloegbunam many know could be that one that never, never, repeat never, suffers fools gladly. As we all know, if you do not suffer fools gladly, you are not patient with people who you think are stupid.
By Dan
Amor
In 2013, when yours sincerely was about leaving the Editorial Board of Daily Independent Newspapers, having served on the board for more than ten (10) years, Chief Nnanna Ochereome, Chairman of the Editorial Board of Vanguard Newspapers, recommended me to his friend and colleague, Chief Chuks Iloegbunam, then Media Adviser to Prof. Sylvester Monye. The latter was then Special Adviser to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on Performance Monitoring & Evaluation at the Presidency in Abuja. The purpose of the recommendation was for yours sincerely to assist them in the writing and documentation of some procedures at that level of government as a consultant.
Before then, I had been reading and following Chuks Iloegbunam without having to meet with him face-to-face. He was already an established writer and one of the inimitable and quintessential pen rollers in Nigeria and Africa. Chuks Iloegbunam, for me, is simply a man who has been working hard to find words and images that capture the experience of Nigeria, from her first decade of independence or thereabouts to her first experience in violence as national pastime.
By MC Asuzu
As any
normal person will be able to reason out, politics is the science and the art
of personal and especially group interaction that helps the persons concerned
to be able to influence power or other decision making; or indeed, to capture
that power (or decision-making) in order to use it for the pursuit of the
greatest good for the greatest number of people in the polity, evenly and
equitably.
It is for this reason that the classical Greek philosophers of old reckoned that politics is the highest human calling in the human life. They considered that after nursery, primary, secondary, tertiary or professional education for all the possible professions and jobs in life, then those who are able, will then be trained in philosophy as the highest level of training. Then, they will become the philosopher-kings ready and capable of justly, equitably and progressively ruling the nations of the world.
Days ago, Abubakar Malami
(SAN), the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) granted an interview to
Channels Television in which he faulted Southern Governors’ ban on open
grazing. The AGF is wrong; Southern Governors are right, and here’s why:
Before one can graze, he must be a cattle rearer or a herdsman. The herdsman would have to enter another person’s land. If the herdsman is grazing on his own land, it does not implicate any legal, safety or economic issues because the land belongs to him. But when he goes upon another man’s land to graze without permission or some leave and license, he commits trespass, civil and criminal trespass to boot.
Press Release
I have just read the press statement credited to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Shehu Malami (SAN) on the resolution of the Southern Governors Forum to ban open grazing in their respective states.
The AGF is quoted to have said that this reasoned decision, among others, is akin to banning all spare parts dealers in the Northern parts of the country and is unconstitutional.
It is most unfortunate that the AGF is unable to distill issues as expected of a Senior Advocate. Nothing can be more disconcerting.
By Chido Nwkanma
18 May 2021 is an important day in the household of the Iloegbunams as the one and only Baba Ndidi, the brand and the person, clocks 70 years. Chuks Iloegbunam is a general of the writing fraternity. He has served this nation well as a journalist, book editor, publisher and technocrat in government.
*Chuks Iloegunam
He stands out for his craft as a writer with a fearless voice that wields a powerful pen. Chuks Iloegbunam is a writer in the best traditions of that craft. His pen roars in honesty and fluidity.
Mr Iloegbunam wrote memorable essays in The Guardian, where he
turned to after service at The Punch. He was passionate both in
his writing and in his defense of rights, the worker, and humanity.
He was at Longmans Nigeria Limited as Humanities Editor. He edited Sonala Olumhense, No Second Chance, and Femi Osofisan, Morountodun and Other Stories.
By Charles Okoh
Easily the greatest casualty, in the history of this otherwise great nation, is the murder of truth, justice, fair play and equality on the altar of hypocrisy sycophancy, tribalism, nepotism, religious bigotry, etc. Now, to speak the truth is to risk being seen as an enemy of the state and a saboteur. But the truth has a way of always coming back to haunt those who seek to bury it.
Nigeria is a lie that has been told for several years. It is a
country that is built on falsehood, injustice and inequality. But truth is,
until we are able to come to terms with this reality, we will continue to
wander aimlessly and other tiny nations will continue to take advantage of our
misfortune. Truth remains constant.
Clearly, one truth we seem unprepared to face is the reality that Nigeria has been held back because we have not learnt to be dispassionate with national issues and forge a common front in addressing issues of national significance and importance.
Press
Statement
1) The attention of Pan Yoruba groups has been drawn to reports by the Nigerian Police Force, NPF that Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, (IPOB-IGBO) are planning to attack Lagos. The Lagos State Commissioner Odumosu made the allegation in Lagos today. He speaks for the police high command in Abuja.
2) While we cherish the responsibility of the police to do their work, we are concerned about the public declaration of the alleged IPOB plans to attack Lagos by the Nigerian Police.
3) We are worried that since the police already claim to be in possession of what appears to be a confidential information, the proper thing would have been to discreetly go after the IPOB members to arrest them unless the police is not sure of its information.
By Dan Amor
Even as the River Niger surges still along its wonted paths to its dalliance with the River Benue and the consequent emptying of the passionate union into the mazes of the Delta, and, thereafter, into the vast, swelling plenitude of the all-welcoming seas, it is Nigeria, our Nigeria. True, Lagos is still Lagos; Abuja is still Abuja. It is, indeed, injury time in a new country under a new democracy, our democracy! Yet, everywhere you look, things look pretty much as they always have been. Still, the sway of buffoonery and unintelligent greed; still the billowing gown arrogance of the supposedly powerful, the surface laughter of the crashing rivers celebrating the disquieting crisis of democracy, the riveting appearances of things.
Splendid is the current! Yet, into the heart of the average Nigerian pop uninvited intimations that we live today in the cusp of a new age, a new country and a new democracy. Alas, it is a new era. But in the lull between the passions and exertions and excitations of our workaday world today, at these times when the body yields to repose and the mind nestles in shades of quietude, it hits you: it is the dawn of change! But, what manner of change is this? From better to worse?
By Charles Dickson
All idiots are morons, but not all morons are idiots.
It was the International Women's Day 2021 recently and the theme was 'Choose to Challenge'. So today I choose to challenge us, the people of Nigeria, hoping that someone is reading and listening, a quick caveat, I will be sometimes uncomplimentary in my choice of words, phrases and conclusions but that’s the essence; a challenge and yes a choice.
Over the last decade, I have done a sizable amount of work on not just Boko Haram but also the Chibok girls, killings, abductions and Nigeria’s conflict torn Northwest region.
So listening to Leah Sharibu’s father, Mr. Nathan speak touched all the wrong cords, hear him, “He has promised several times to the family, he promised the nation, he promised the whole world that his administration will do his possible best to see that my daughter returned home safely. So, I’m pleading to him to be a father, a grandfather, to do his possible best to see my daughter return home safely. Please, I'm begging him”.
By Jerry Uwah
Nigeria’s security crisis has
taken a precarious nose-dive. Inveterate gangsters derisively tagged gunmen by
the Nigerian media have practically turned the country into one huge killing
field.
Last Tuesday the gunmen killed 21 innocent people in different
parts of the country. The previous day they killed 18 in one community in
Anambra state. The situation in Rivers state is so deplorable that the governor
had to declare a curfew.
The strange development in the escapades of the gunmen is that they are now bold enough to take on those paid and armed to protect the society. In the last two weeks, dozens of policemen have been mowed down by the gunmen who take on police stations as cheap targets.
By Yemi Adebowale
In Law, Ignorance is not an excuse. Confessing to a crime is not immunity against trial. Again, the fact that an offence was committed years back does not mean the offender will escape justice. The person can be put on trial anytime the facts of the crime emerge. That was why the American government put former film producer, Harvey Weinstein on trial for sex offences dating back to the late 1970s.
Weinstein was arrested, charged with rape in New York in May 2018, convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison. Nigeria’s Communication and Digital Economy Minister, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, for his past extremist and flammable preaching, is liable for trial for incitement; inciting Muslims against Christians, inciting Muslims against the federal government and the military. In criminal law, incitement is encouraging another person to commit a crime. It is committed when one person counsels, procures or commands another to commit a crime, whether or not that person commits the crime.
By Richard Calland
President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to appear before the Zondo Commission of inquiry into corruption in South Africa comes at a delicate time. A great deal hinges on it. When a sitting President appears before a Judicial Commission of Inquiry it is always a significant moment.
Sometimes
a Commission will be concerned with a failure or with misconduct that has taken
place under the particular head of government's own watch. But other times, it
may be that it is the mistakes of a previous administration or President that
are under scrutiny.
Ramaphosa's case is unusual as it is neither one nor the other. The Commission's terms of reference are focused clearly on events that took place while Ramaphosa's immediate predecessor ,Jacob Zuma, was President , between 2009 and 2018. Ramaphosa was elected president in February 2018.
By Reno Omokri
The 2019 xenophobia attacks in South Africa, for which President Muhammadu Buhari visited South Africa on Thursday, October 3, 2019, was the defining proof that the rest of Africa needed to see, to convince them that Nigeria, under Muhammad Buhari, has become a paper tiger, whose bark is worse than its bite.
Come to think of it. How can
Nigerians be attacked in unprovoked xenophobic outrage in South Africa, and it
is the Nigerian President who goes to grovel to the South African leader, a
neophyte, like Cyril Ramaphosa, nonetheless?
It beggars belief. Obasanjo would never have done that, and former President
Jonathan did not do it.
Nigerians may recall that on March 4, 2012, South Africa deported 125 Nigerians over Yellow Fever Certificates. The very next day, then-President Jonathan ordered the retaliatory deportation of 84 South Africans.
By Charles Okoh
The recent unearthing of the not-so-wholesome past of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, has brought doubts on the sincerity and desire of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to end insurgency and all sundry security issues that currently engulf the nation.
