Every December 1 is a day set aside to mark the World AIDS Day. It
is a day which avails people an opportunity worldwide to unite in the fight
against HIV/AIDS, show their support for people living with HIV and to
commemorate people who have died as a result of AIDS. It is a day dedicated to
raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.
Government and health officials, non-governmental organisations and individuals
around the world observe the day, often with education on AIDS prevention and
control.
(Pix:wishestrumptet)
Globally there are an estimated 34 million people who have the virus.
Despite the fact that the virus was only being identified in 1984, more than 35
million people have died of it, making it one of the most destructive pandemics
in history. However, today, breakthrough scientific advances have been made in
HIV treatment. Also, now, there are laws that protect people living with HIV
and we have come to understand so much more about the condition.
Nigeria has the second-largest
number of people living with HIV worldwide. The HIV epidemic in Nigeria is
complex and varies widely by region. In some states, the epidemic is more
concentrated and driven by high-risk behaviours, while other states have more
generalised epidemics that are sustained primarily by multiple unconventional
interactions in the general population. Youth and young adults in Nigeria are
particularly vulnerable to HIV, with young women at higher risk than young men.
There are many risk factors that contribute to the spread of HIV in our
society, including high-risk practices among itinerant workers, high prevalence
of STD’s, clandestine practices, international trafficking of women, and
irregular blood screening.
By Joe
Onwukeme
I was moved to tears as I watched raped victims and their families stood in the
House of Representatives on Thursday, 23rd October 2014 to narrate their
agonizing experience in the hands of rapists.
The victims, mostly young girls, pleaded for
justice to be done on their plight and also called on government through the
female lawmakers and their counterparts to expedite action and pass Sexual
Offences Bill that is currently pending in both the lower and upper chambers
with a view of sparing them the trauma they are going through.
Last week, some of the principal suspects implicated in the probe of the $2.1 billion and N643 billion arms gate were nabbed by the Economic and Financial Commission. Pursuant to the ex parte orders validly issued by the courts the suspects have since been detained for the purpose of investigation. But in a desperate move designed to divert the attention of the Nigerian people and the international community from the grave allegations of reckless and criminal diversion of the public funds earmarked for arms procurement to prosecute the war on terror, some reactionary politicians have accused the Buhari administration of engaging in impunity for detaining the suspects beyond 48 hours without trial. In challenging the detention of the suspects by the EFCC a senior lawyer was alleged to have said that "a magistrate court has no power to issue a holding charge warrant".
With respect, the detention of the suspects is in strict compliance with the rule of law. The attention of the "critics" ought to be drawn to sections 293-299 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 (ACJA) which stipulate that a suspect arrested for an offense which a magistrate has no jurisdiction to try, shall within a reasonable time, be brought before a magistrate court for remand. The order which shall be for a period not exceeding 14 days may be further extended provided that if the investigation is not concluded within 28 days the court may summon the appropriate authority to show cause why the suspect should not be unconditionally released. Suspects who are remanded in custody are at liberty to ask for bail or apply to the appropriate high court to secure the enforcement of their fundamental right to personal liberty. In view of the clear and unambiguous provisions of the law it is misleading to insist that a magistrate court lacks the power to grant the application filed by the EFCC for the detention of the criminal suspects.
” What had started as a belief was transmuted to total conviction;
that they could never again live with Nigerians. From this stems the primordial
political reality of the present situation. Biafra
cannot be killed by anything short of total eradication of the people that make
her. For even under total occupation Biafra
would sooner or without colonel Ojukwu rise up again”
– Frederick Forsyth
Let me start by disagreeing with Forsyth that apart from total
eradication of Biafran people that Biafran spirit cannot be killed. The problem
here is with the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and what
Achebe described as the ‘Igbo problem.’
The 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria did not only incorporates the colonial mistakes of 1900s which made the
Northern Nigeria a force to be reckoned with in the country’s politics
but it created also a leviathan out of the federal government to such a
nauseating level that the component units are seen as dependents and not
co-ordinates.
Many people have asked: what do Igbo people want? The answer is
very simple! We want political inclusion, we want a society where fair play,
justice and equity, rule of law and meritocracy reign – that’s just what Ndi
Igbo want!
The resurgence in the agitation for Biafra
lies on fact that the Igbo – 48 years after civil war – are yet to find their
bearings in the Nigerian federalism. We are yet to distinguish between the
dictionary and the political conception of the maxim: No Victor No Vanquished.
Let us not forget Ojukwu’s question: What
did he [Gowon] do to make the victor not being the victor and the vanquished
not being the vanquished?
‘Steer Clear Of Bayelsa
Governorship Election’, PDP Tells Buhari
The
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) forewarns President Muhammadu Buhari to steer
clear of Bayelsa governorship election and allow the will of the people toprevail, if he really desires to
sustain the nation’s democracy.
PDP
National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh in a statement on Sunday said
intelligence information reaching the party shows that President Buhari is
neck-deep in APC’s desperation to forcefully take over Bayelsa state, for which
he has directed a covert military and other security operations to assist the
APC to rig the election, which has already been won by the PDP.
“At
the head of this illegal military operation is one Capt. Louis, who led the
hijacking of elections in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, the largest in
the state. Military personnel have seized ballot materials including result
sheets in Igbematiru, Peremabiri, ward 3, ward 6, ward 8, ward 12, ward 13 and
ward 15, which they took to Ologbobiri in military gunboats, where massive
thumb-printing is going on in favour of the APC. In Ward 7 Ekowe, the military
hijacked and destroyed voting materials.
Investigating Nigeria's notorious baby farms and the criminals who abuse and exploit women for profit [Watch a heart-rending documentary].
"It is understandable why a desperate childless couple might do anything to have a baby, but those who exploit their unhappiness for profit are not so easy to forgive.
In this deeply disturbing episode of Africa Investigates, Ghana's undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and investigative reporter Rosemary Nwaebuni team up to identify and expose some of those those behind Nigeria's heart-breaking baby trade.
It is a scam that exploits couples desperate for a baby and young pregnant single mothers - often stigmatised in a country where abortion is illegal except in the most dire medical emergency. It is also a trade that international NGOs have identified as sinister and out of control."
“…Today we have again come face to face with
a destructive and barbarous ideology, and we must not allow
these modern-day dark forces to attain their goals.
“We must stop our debates and forget our differences
to build a common anti-terrorist front that will act in line
with international law and under the UN aegis.
“Every civilised country must contribute
to the fight against terrorism, reaffirming their solidarity, not
in word but in deed.
“This means that the terrorists must not be given
refuge anywhere. There must be no double standards. No contacts with terrorist
organisations. No attempts to use them for self-seeking goals. No
criminal business with terrorists.
“We know who are stuffing pockets in Turkey and letting terrorists prosper from
the sale of oil they stole in Syria. The terrorists are
using these receipts to recruit mercenaries, buy weapons and plan
inhuman terrorist attacks against Russian citizens and against people
in France, Lebanon, Mali and other states. We
remember that the militants who operated in the North Caucasus
in the 1990s and 2000s found refuge and received moral
and material assistance in Turkey. We still find them there.
“Meanwhile, the Turkish people are kind, hardworking
and talented. We have many good and reliable friends in Turkey. Allow
me to emphasise that they should know that we do not equate them with
the certain part of the current ruling establishment that is directly
responsible for the deaths of our servicemen in Syria.
“We will never forget their collusion with terrorists. We
have always deemed betrayal the worst and most shameful thing
to do, and that will never change. I would like them
to remember this – those in Turkey who shot our pilots
in the back, those hypocrites who tried to justify their actions
and cover up for terrorists.
“I don’t even understand why they did it. Any issues
they might have had, any problems, any disagreements even those we knew nothing
about could have been settled in a different way. Plus, we were ready
to cooperate with Turkey
on all the most sensitive issues it had; we were willing to go
further, where its allies refused to go. Allah only knows, I suppose,
why they did it. And probably, Allah has decided to punish
the ruling clique in Turkey
by taking their mind and reason.
“But, if they expected a nervous or hysterical
reaction from us, if they wanted to see us become a danger
to ourselves as much as to the world, they won’t get
it. They won’t get any response meant for show or even
for immediate political gain. They won’t get it.
“Our actions will always be guided primarily
by responsibility – to ourselves, to our country,
to our people. We are not going to rattle the sabre. But,
if someone thinks they can commit a heinous war crime, kill our people
and get away with it, suffering nothing but a ban on tomato
imports, or a few restrictions in construction or other
industries, they’re delusional. We’ll remind them of what they did, more
than once. They’ll regret it. We know what to do.
“We have mobilised our Armed Forces, security services
and law enforcement agencies to repel the terrorist threat.
Everyone must be aware of their responsibility, including
the authorities, political parties, civil society organisations
and the media...”
–Russian
President VladimirPutin in his State of the
Union address on Thursday, December 3, 2015
A few
days after the 1999 Presidential Election, then Comrade Adams Oshiomhole led a
delegation of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to Ota, OgunState
to congratulate the winner of that election. While hosting the NLC team then
President-Elect, General Olusegun Obasanjo, still smarting from his wholesale
rejection in the South West, swore to destroy the Alliance for Democracy (AD) “in the national
interest”.
*Buhari and Obasanjo
He argued that with the kind of hold that the AD had on the South West it could only remain a regional party and that as long as the South West remained loyal to it the Yoruba would not be able to play at the national stage. Then National Secretary General of AD was procured by Obasanjo to foment a crisis, which he executed, but unfortunately he trusted Obasanjo to reward him handsomely and neglected to negotiate properly. What he got was a directorship in an obscure federal agency.
Shortly
after Obasanjo leaked his infamous December 2013 letter to President Goodluck
Jonathan to the press the leadership of the then newly registered All
Progressive Congress went to Abeokuta
to pay homage to the ex-president and invited him to help guide their new party
to success. Obviously basking in the recognition that had been accorded him
Obasanjo promised to help. He subsequently kept haranguing President Jonathan
until the immediate past president was defeated at the polls.
2015 General Elections
Apart
from President Jonathan’s principal shortcoming, which was neglecting the
communities that supported him to victory in 2011 and instead heavily
patronizing the ones that did not support him in the hope that he could turn
them, the 2015 Presidential Election was won by rumours. What? While preparing
to make a bid for the presidency a record fourth time General Muhammadu Buhari
tasked an associate of his, Prof. Femi Olufunmilade, Head of Department of
International Relations and Strategic Studies and Sub Dean of the School of
Post Graduate Studies and Research at the Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo
State, to avail him of a strategy with which to defeat the incumbent president.
Olufunmilade accomplished the task and submitted a report which indicated that
the only way incumbents have been unseated in Africa
was through widespread disaffection with the government of the day.
“We
are seriously concerned that the National Assembly of Nigeria will any moment
from now pass a bill to jail for two years and fine anybody or group of persons
who send any alleged false text message or post false message on the social
media against another person.
“SERAP is concerned that rather than increasing universal and inclusive access to the Internet for all Nigerians, the National Assembly of Nigeria is working to undermine access of citizens to the Internet. Yet, freedom of expression entails the ability to both speak and receive information, including through the social media and other generated content services such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and chat applications,”
“By initiating this bill, the National Assembly is impermissibly restricting the ability of the citizens to use these tools to communicate, connect, and seek independent sources of information.”
“SERAP also contends that the bill will restrain access to internet and social media, curtail the freedom of the press, and online content in illegitimate, disproportionate, or otherwise unlawful and abusive ways. The real targets of the bill are social media and human rights defenders that might be critical of government policies or report on corruption involving high ranking government officials,”
To say that President Muhammadu Buhari came to power on the wings of
his anti-corruption credentials is simply stating the obvious. And that the All
Progressive Congress (APC) party swept majority of the governorship seats on
account of the change mantra of the party is equally not contestable. What is
however a subject of contention is whether some of the party’s governors are
still on the same page with the president in his avowed determination to clean
the nation’s Augean stable.
*Jibrila Mohammadu Bindow
Today, in AdamawaState, a cruel drama of
sorts is currently playing out, which if not urgently nipped in the bud, has
all the potentials of negating President Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade. What
makes the entire scenario alarmingly worrisome is the fact that the state is
being governed by an APC governor, Sen. Bindow Umar Jibrila.
Allegations are rife in the state that the governor is currently
pilfering the resources of the state with abominable perfidy under the guise of
executing sundry projects, a development Abdurrahman Abubakar Isa, a
member representing Mubi South constituency in the State House of Assembly, has
been vehemently kicking against, which in turn has drawn the ire of the
governor. For his insistence that things be done in a proper manner in line
with the twin principles of transparency and accountability, Abubakar Isa is
today being barbecued on a smoldering fire of victimization.
The genesis of the current face-off between the governor and Isa
stemmed from the former’s submission of a document dated 28th October, 2015 to
the State House of Assembly titled ‘’Re-Submission of Detail Areas of Virement
in the 2015 Revised Budget’’, which in reality was a request for new capital
projects and not projects already contained in the earlier Appropriation Law.
This did not go down well with Isa, who happened to be the Chairman of the
House Committee on Finance, Budget and Appropriation, as he rightly insisted
that ‘’the only way new projects can be captured in the budget after passage of
the Appropriation Law is by a supplementary appropriation bill duly
passed by the House’’.
Within six months of inauguration, the man Nigerians
elected in a historic voter revolution has created an alarming pattern of
absenteeism. President Muhammadu Buhari, who is hyped as an orator of ‘’body
language’’, has been voting with his feet since May 29, 2015.
*Yet another goodbye to Nigeria
An audit of his overseas travel
shows that, so far, he has accumulated more than forty days and forty nights of
elopement!
Though Buhari begged for and
received from Nigerians a clear mandate to help break the free fall of a nation
that is disappearing into an economic abyss, a Nigeria that offers the world
one of the most frequent and highest death tolls due to terrorist attacks, he
shows that he can hardly afford the discipline of sitting down long enough to
master the desperate emergencies of the nation.
With the recurring image of a lanky, bespectacled man standing at the door of
the presidential aircraft, waving and waving an umpteenth good bye, Buhari has
literally compelled the discerning to cotton up to the fact that he would
rather go elsewhere than fulfill the sedentary lion-share of his job!
Time is the easiest to calculate
aspect of Buhari’s wanderlust: By checking his itinerary and adding small
numbers, one can determine that our brand new leader has notched a month plus
stay abroad. The monetary cost is different: It is hidden. Nigerian taxpayers
do not know the irreducible minimum amount of their money that grows wings
whenever he leaves the Nigerian airspace in his presidential glory.
It must be our ultimatum duty to uphold the
fighting of tigers and flies at the same time, resolutely investigating
law-breaking cases of leading officials and also to a great extent willing to
resolve the abnormal and harmful inclinations and corruption problems which
happen all around people.
*John Dramani Mahama
The economy of Ghana is at its worst since it independence. Most of our people poor and they are wallowing in stark poverty and starving on account of the expensive consumer goods.
Basic commodities prices are always on the increase however wages for workers still remain. It is inhumane and unfair for all the hardships the people are going through. All basic needs are continually increasing and the present NDC government is not taking actions but to corrupt!
The economy is down owing to corruption as it is very rampant at high places. The problem with our society is that we can not absolve ourselves from the evil practice. Almost the entire country is caught up in the menace as we find ways to engage in the act.
I sincerely believe that most people will fall prey or get compromised if they had chance to get to the position where they have access. I could vouch that about 75 percent of the people are compromised. Although corruption could be said to be very prevalent among the citizens however, it very sickening to observe the profligacy exhibited by these officials. The least said of them the better.
Text Of Broadcast By Gov Willie Obiano Of Anambra On The Evening Of Wednesday, December 2, 2015
“My beloved people of AnambraState,
I wish to address you on the on-going protest staged in Onitsha by the members of the Indigenous
People of Biafra and MASSOB.
“The
government of AnambraState has been monitoring
developments and is greatly concerned about the security of lives and property
of residents and visitors to the state. As your Governor and Chief Security
Officer of the state, I am compelled to act to avert any likely breakdown of
law and order. In all situations, the preservation of human life comes first
and I am determined to enforce that.
“Since
the inception of my administration, we have made the security of lives and
property our priority and we are not going to compromise on that. I, therefore,
sincerely appeal to members of the IPOB, MASSOB and other aggrieved groups and
individuals to maintain the peace and resist any attempt by hoodlums to take
advantage of the situation and destabilize any part of AnambraState.
“I
am in constant touch with all the security agencies in the state to ensure that
what has otherwise been a peaceful protest is not hijacked by trouble makers.
All mischief makers are hereby warned to keep off as we will not tolerate any
breach of peace under any guise or pretext. You are seriously warned! I
therefore wish to assure Ndi Anambra and all visitors to the state to go about
their normal businesses peacefully as the security agencies are on top of the
situation to preserve law and order.”
Former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has
requested the Federal Government to call Edo State Governor, Mr Adams
Oshiomhole to order over the Governor’s recent efforts to link her name to the
alleged $2.1 billion arms issue.
The
Minister stressed that she has absolutely nothing to do with the issue.
*Dr. Okonjo-Iweala and Gov Adams Oshiomole
She
stated that it is an abuse of public office, the judicial process and her human
rights for Governor Oshiomhole whom she stopped from taking a highly suspicious
N15 billion loan to make false allegations against her while hiding behind the
constitutional immunity granted state governors.
As
recently confirmed by the Debt Management Office, professional analysis showed
that Oshiomhole’s loan request which was based on using low interest World Bank
loan to offset high interest commercial loans would have left Edo state with a
heavy debt burden and the the state would have found it very difficult to pay
back.
The Bode
Thomas Street office of the MTN in Surulere, Lagos, was this afternoon
attacked by angry customers who complained that the telecommunication company
has for several weeks now continued to block their mobile phone lines. The company had to invite armed policemen who
rushed to the scene to arrest the situation.
A customer who was among the now reduced crowd still
standing there about 3.00 pm when our correspondent got to the scene claimed
that the police shot teargas at the angry protesters to disperse them.
Shattered door glasses indicated that the customers indeed became
uncontrollable and violent. One of the policemen said a car also received the
wrath of the angry customers.
The staff had to close for the day, while the armed
policemen told visitors to return the next day.
Some customers claimed that when their lines were first
blocked, they had rushed to the MTN office, and after staying on the queue for
several hours, they were able to get them reconnected. But to their shock, the
lines were disconnected a few days later.
“This is the fifth time I am coming here to re-register my
line, and they have continued to disconnect me only days after each visit,” a
visibly angry customer told our correspondent who was paying his second visit
to the office to have his own line reconnected.
Some 584 days ago, something
called Chibok crept into the Nigerian lexicon. We were told that a certain
sleepy town in BornoState that goes by that
name had been invaded by Boko Haram terrorists. The gist of the strange tale
was that over 200 schoolgirls had been abducted from a secondary school in the
town.
The story, strange as it was, bore
the ring of the familiar. It was in line with what had become almost customary
– the daily invasion of northern enclaves by Boko Haram insurgents.
Consequently, government, as it appeared then, did not take exception to it. Besides,
the story resonated more with theory. How did the abduction take place? Where
were the authorities of the school when it happened? What about the Nigerian
security network that operated in the North East? Did they, by any means, know
something about the famed abduction?
Answers to these questions did not
come handy. They were far to seek. Because this was the case, the government of
the day, which was honed in by its effort to establish the truth of the matter,
was not quick to respond to the abduction story.
That was the period of high wire
politics. It was a period when the Jonathan presidency was encircled by a web
of conspiracy but which was hardly obvious to the president himself.
While the president groped in the
dark, the conspirators had a field day. They tightened the noose around his
neck. And so, because the Jonathan presidency was not seeing clearly, opposite
people seized the stage. They went to the roof tops with the story of the
abduction. Then the international media took over from them. And before long,
the government of the day was crippled by the story of the abduction.
The event was a sure
delight and the organizers, SPintelligent, did a good job but the most
regrettable part was the conspicuous absence of representatives of NERC, the industry
regulator, and members of the newly formed Nigerian Electricity Consumers’ forum.
To say the least, this was disappointing as most of the discussions centred-on
and around matters relating to these two entities. However, it was nice to have
other key stakeholders like NBET, CBN, local Banks, the Ministry of Power and
representatives from network operators.
A major drawback of the
privatisation process according to fresh claims by the investors is the fact that they were unable
to have access to the asset before taking ownership. This simply means they
were unprepared for the job. No one will invest huge amount of money in a
business of this scale (going by the amount of money they had to pay) and not
insist on carrying out due diligence. This is why the process is facing many
challenges from network delivery point of view. Discos especially have claimed
that the network asset are largely dilapidated than they ever imagined and the
inherited staff lack requisite skills and attitude to turn the situation
around. Enough of rhetorics! we must say. Government no-doubt will have to
provide intervention as recommended in part 1 of these series. A key highlight
was the acceptance by the network operators of responsibility of failing to
meter customers who have paid for such under the CAPMI scheme.
It is important for all
customers to be metered in line with earlier suggestions. The networks need
rejigging to be able to consolidate the gains of the reform process. As we
speak, even if we have increased generation, the transmission network is unable
to carry the electricity produced successfully. Technically speaking, this
leaves no room for discussions around cost reflective tariff (CRT).
Representatives of TCN lamented the spate of bureaucracy and cutting of
“transmission” budget by the National Assembly as the root cause of the
problem. In general, inefficiency, corruption and lack of skilled manpower have
made it practically impossible to improve the net transmission capacity of TCN
network in the last 2 decades. In this regard, Dr Reuben Okeke, DG NAPTIN,
reiterated that the structured training program within the former PHCN was
stopped 22 years ago until government revamped the department in 2009 by
establishing NAPTIN, the national power training institution.
The problem with dictatorship is that it
usually lacks the capacity and patience to understand the meaning of the rule
of law and due process. Both doctrines are often slow and therefore require
patience. Dictators don’t have patience, they want it here, now and by any
means necessary.
In 1984, Muhammadu Buhari overthrew the
democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari. It is true that
every coup plotter is guilty of breaching the Nigerian constitution and
shooting his way into power. But arguably, unlike Ibrahim Babangida that
overthrew a military junta, Buhari’s offense was more egregious because he
overthrew a democratically elected government – an expression of the collective
will of Nigerians. In his false feeling of importance, Buhari has always
believed in his messianic mission. He thinks that he knows it all, and that,
unlike any other Nigerian, he knows what is best for Nigeria. His twisted sense of
superiority and inordinate craving for power found expression in his 1984 coup
and his subsequent, repeated run for the presidency. Before he finally won in
2015, he had been defeated in three earlier presidential elections.
On his third defeat, he broke down and
wept in public, an action that would have ended his political career if he were
an American politician. Politicians hardly weep in America. To me, that unrestrained
public effusion of tears signified his utter desperation for power. His
frequent threats to Nigerians were also indicative of his excessive hunger for
power.
After he lost the 2011 presidential election, he made his threats;
vowing to make Nigeria
ungovernable. And true to his word, he attempted to make Nigeria
ungovernable. Through his Boko Haram connection, he unleashed terror on Nigeria. Some
say that if Buhari had no relationship with Boko Haram, why did the terrorist
group nominate him as one of its negotiators? And before the 2015 election, he
threatened to spill blood and cause mayhem if he loses the election.
Unfortunately, in 2015, Nigerians buckled under Buhari’s threats and
shenanigans, and elected a dictator-president.
I was
always skeptical about flying to Ghana on Turkish Airlines. Many
things have been said about the airline. It is commonly known that transit in Istanbul sometimes took
about 24 hours and passengers had to spend a night in a hotel. I also felt that
Turkey was so close to Iraq, and that the long standing dispute between
Iraq and the Turkish Kurds
could suddenly spark off terrorism which could affect planes flying from Turkey.
All these things frightened me and I always said
to myself never to fly Turkish Airlines. This year, at the time I was about to
travel to Ghana,
Turkish Airlines happened to have the cheapest rates of all the airlines I
checked. I was tempted and decided to give them a try.
A bit of facts about Turkey:
They have been trying hard to be counted among the developed countries of Europe and want to join the EU. They hype their
achievements and one of their prides is Turkish Airlines. They have
advertisements in major international media saying how good the Airline is and
the awards they have received.
Some major footballers in the world have appeared
on some of these ads. One popular and funny one pits Drogba against Messi in an
epic food battle featuring many exotic dishes served on the airline which you
are not likely to get on the Accra
journey. It is evident in my personal opinion that what they say in these ads
did not meet up with their services as I experienced when I travelled in their
aircraft to Ghana.
I get the impression that they have different and better services to the developed
world but poorer services to the third world.
Through inefficient management of the Airline or
absolute and deliberate corruption, Ghana Airways collapsed never to rise
again. Ghanaians have been travelling very much with airlines which are better
known to them, and these are: British Airways, KLM and Lufthansa. These
companies use huge aircrafts for long distance journeys. These are wide-bodied
passenger jet airliners.
The article will mainly be talking about Turkish
Airlines and the uncomfortable treatment meted out to passengers travelling to Ghana. In July
there was an urgent need for me to travel to Ghana. Since their rates were some
thirty percent lower than the next cheapest airline, I chose to travel with
them for the first time despite the mixed feelings and suspicions I have for
the airline. The plane left very early in the morning and we were to transit in
Istanbul. The
immigration process was simple and waiting period to board another plane to Accra was just three
hours.
When you visited the
United States Institute of Peace last July, you pledged that you would be "fair, just and scrupulously follow due
process and the rule of law, as enshrined in [the Nigerian] constitution"
in prosecuting corruption.
Such loftiness is laudable. As the Bible instructs in Amos5:24: "[L]et
justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
But to be just, the law must be evenhanded. It cannot, in
the manner of Russian President Vladimir Putin, be something that is given to
punish your enemies and withheld to favor your friends. If so, the law becomes
an instrument of injustice bearing earmarks of the wicked rather than the good.
In the United
States, you declared a policy of "zero tolerance" against
corruption. You solicited weapons and other assistance from the United States
government based on that avowal. But were you sincere?
During your election campaign, you promised widespread
amnesty, not zero tolerance. You elaborated: "Whoever that is indicted of corruption between 1999 to the time
of swearing-in would be pardoned. I am going to draw a line, anybody who
involved himself in corruption after I assume office, will face the
music."
After you were inaugurated, however, you disowned your
statement and declared you would prosecute past ministers or other officials
for corruption or fraud. And then again you immediately hedged. You were reminded
of your dubious past by former Major General and President Ibrahim Badamasi
Babangida, who succeeded your military dictatorship. He released this
statement:
