Come Wednesday, I will be in Asaba, Delta State as one of the faculties at the Nigerian Army Quarterly Media dialogue. With the theme, ‘The imperatives of military-media partnership for the attainment of national security’, it is part of their efforts to secure the buy-in of critical stakeholders as they tackle the challenge of insecurity in Nigeria. Incidentally, 12 years ago in the same Asaba, I was one of the speakers at the Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference under Lt General Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd). Unfortunately, the mood will be different this time considering what happened last Thursday when some criminal gangs in Ughelli South Local Government ambushed troops of the 181 Amphibious Battalion after which the commanding officer, a Lt Colonel, two Majors, one Captain and 12 Soldiers were gruesomely murdered.

I join millions of Nigerians in commiserating with the families of the deceased and the Nigerian Army. As President Bola Tinubu rightly noted while granting full authority to the military high command to apprehend and bring to justice those responsible for the “unconscionable crime against the Nigerian people”, the unfortunate tragedy “demonstrates the dangers faced by our servicemen and women in the line of duty.” I also agree with the president that “As a nation, we must constantly remember and honour all those who have paid the ultimate price to keep our nation safe, strong, and united.”

From available reports, the CO and his troops did not die in a gun duel with the criminal gangs. They were ambushed and executed after which their bodies were cannibalised. No army in the world would allow such audacious barbarism against its officers and men to go unpunished. Meanwhile, I have read several posts either to excuse the bestiality as a ‘mistake’ because victims were taken for fake soldiers or provide justification on the pretext that the military had taken sides in the communal conflicts. For me, there is no defence for what happened. More worrisome is the recurrence of these killings of military troops by communal warlords in a nation where people who have lived together for centuries are now up in arms against one another.

Exactly three years ago (in March 2021 to be specific), a Captain and 11 soldiers were mowed down while trying to keep peace between the Bonta people of Konshisha local government and their neighbours, the Ukpute people of Oju local government in Benue State. As I explained at the time, both the Bontas (who are Tiv speaking) and the Ukputes (Igede speaking) are predominantly peasant farmers. The two groups have also cross settled in several villages along their boundary and even in some cases inter-married. Following a violent crisis at the time over the ownership of a parcel of land, troops were sent in to restore order only to run into an ambush orchestrated by one of the parties in the dispute. According to a statement by the army, not only were the soldiers brutally massacred, “the bandits proceeded to burn all the eleven soldiers and their officers beyond recognition while their weapons and ammunition were carted away.”

That the circumstances of the Delta killings bear similarities to what happened in Benue State three years ago is why the authorities must do more than perfunctory knee-jerk reactions. Between January 2018 and August 2022, according to a report by the National Boundary Commission, no fewer than 676 persons were killed in various communal land disputes across the country. In 2021, Patrick Okigbo’s ‘Nextier SPD’, a development research firm, also revealed that communal clashes accounted for 14 out of the 890 conflict incidents and 80 out of the 3,787 casualties that year. From north to the south, but mostly in the latter, many contiguous communities that have lived together for decades are at war over lands that are not put to any productive use. And it is the poor of our society, expendable ‘youths’ that do the fighting while those supplying the AK-47 and other deadly weapons are secure in the knowledge that they, and members of their immediate families, are far away from the theatres of war. And that nobody would ever try to fish them out for punishment.

In a January 2018 column, ‘When a Nation Becomes Funeral Home’, I used the chilling December 2023 report released by the United States-based Human Rights Watch, ‘Leave Everything to God: Accountability for Inter-Communal Violence in Plateau and Kaduna States, Nigeria’ to illustrate this point. In that report, authorities were indicted for “taking no meaningful steps to address underlying grievances” or bring to justice those responsible for “tit-for-tat killings” with victims targeted for extermination, “often in horrific circumstances”. What this has created is a serious national security challenge.

Ordinarily, restoring law and order is the primary responsibility of the Police. Not the Army. But in most communities across the country today, belligerents no longer fear the police. No incident perhaps demonstrated that better than what happened on 7th May 2013 in Nasarawa State. On that tragic day, 63 police officers and 10 state security service (SSS) operatives sent to restore law and order were gruesomely murdered. Today, in most theatres across the country, this recurring mayhem over land disputes is hardly ever quelled until military troops are drafted in. That is the genesis to the tragedy in Okuama.

However, even in this moment of anger and pain, the military should be methodical in their approach. Two things should happen. One, they need to investigate the circumstances under which the troops were in the area and get all the details as to what transpired. Two, they must fish out all the culprits and bring them to justice, however long it takes. In doing that, they should avoid anything that suggests applying collective punishment, especially on residents of Okuama community. On that score, those who trivialise the bestial killings by peddling dangerous narratives are not helping matters.

The most thoughtful intervention on this tragedy has been from elder statesman and leader of the Ijaw Nation, Edwin Clark, who knows the slain officers personally and admitted speaking to them on an unrelated issue shortly before their death. Describing what happened as “very shocking, very barbaric and wicked,” Clarke called for a collaboration between the military and the communities to fish out the culprits. “I was so sad when I heard that Lt Col. Ali was involved because on Thursday, 14 March (same day the troops were killed), I spoke to him about my younger brother, Col Bernard Clark (rtd), who died recently and was to be buried on (last) Friday,” said Clarke who defended the action of the military in the aftermath while at the same time appealing for restraint. “I had to contact him (the deceased CO). And he told me he was in a vehicle and that he would speak to me later, only to hear that he was among them. At that time, he was speaking to me from Agbor in Delta State.”

I am aware of the anger within the military and justifiably so too, given the barbaric manner the lives of their officers and men were terminated. But the application of Odi or Zaki Biam principle would be unhelpful in the circumstance. Both in international law and the laws of war, collective punishment is prohibited, based on the fact the actions of one or a few individuals should not attract punishment for innocent people. A cornerstone of justice systems worldwide, as one writer puts it, “is the presumption of innocence (while) collective punishment flips this principle on its head, presuming guilt by association.”

Let me make myself clear once again. The criminals who killed our soldiers deserve no sympathy. But I am also aware that those who committed such a heinous crime would have left the scene, knowing the gravity of their deed and what would follow. So, apprehending them (and their collaborators) would require intelligence gathering and painstaking efforts. Under an atmosphere of collective punishment that often reduces sense of remorse and heightens perceived grievances, the military will not get the requisite information they need. Besides, it could exacerbate the initial problem they were trying to solve, especially now that the two sides in the dispute are on the propaganda offensive in a bid to profit from the tragedy. The military should not fall for their tricks.

A Day at the Lekki Free Zone
During a recent encounter with Mr Haresh Vaswani, who I was meeting for the first time, a mutual friend said jocularly that he was sure I would have at least two of his (Aswani’s) company’s products in our house. I expressed my doubt. When the friend identified the company as Tolaram Group, a Singaporean family business to which I wasn’t familiar, I became even more curious. Until he mentioned Indomie Instant Noodles as one of their products. Indomie is without doubt one of the biggest brands not only of Noodles but also of any products in the country today.

Incidentally, Aswani, who chairs Tolaram Group in Africa has been in Nigeria for more than three decades and is also the Honorary Consul-General of Singapore in our country. As I would learn, Indomie is just one of the many premium household products either being manufactured by the Tolaram Group or in which they are the main distributor. Dano Milk, Colgate toothpaste, Power Oil, Hypo cleaner, Kellogg’s, Pringles, Coco Pops are some of the others. But what Aswani focused on that day is the Lagos Free Zone (LFZ), a project he described as Nigeria’s first privately owned free zone with a fully integrated deep-sea port, covering an area of 830 hectares. In Lagos a few weeks ago, I visited the LFZ. Fully equipped with world-class infrastructure, a single clearance window for ease of doing business, and integrated with the Lekki deep seaport spanning 90 hectares, I was dazed by what I saw.

Built in partnership with China Habouring Engineering Company (CHEC), the Lagos State Government and the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA), construction of the Lekki Port was commenced in 2012 when Babatunde Fashola was governor and is to date the single largest private infrastructure investment in the country. That such a significant investment of about $2.5 billion would be committed along the Lekki Corridor is an indication of the potential of that axis for the development of both Lagos and our country. The Lekki Corridor stretches from Victoria Island along the Peninsula to Epe with the Expressway serving as its primary artery. In my chat with the LFZ Managing Director, Dinesh Rathi who took me on a tour of completed facilities, what they are trying to create within the economic zone which entices businesses with tax breaks and simplified procedures, “is a ‘city within a city’ that integrates industries, residences, and commercial spaces, all functioning seamlessly together.”

The Lekki Corridor, as Rathi explained, is divided into four quadrants. The fourth quadrant is where the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Lagos Free Zone, Dangote Fertilizers & Refinery Complex are domiciled. “It is a dynamic region on the rise. It offers exciting opportunities for businesses and residents seeking a modern and vibrant environment,” said Rathi who reeled out the benefits of the Lekki Port equipped with modern facilities, including those not available in either Apapa or Tin Can Ports. For instance, the Lekki Port has five ship-to-shore (STS) cranes for loading and unloading intermodal containers from ships and 15 rubber tired gantry (RTG) cranes. Completed in April last year, the Lekki Port recently welcomed its first transshipment vessel and consistently receives an average of one vessel per week since its launch, according to Rathi.

I was also taken through the history of the Tolaram Group. Established in 1948, and structured as a holding company, it boasts a diverse portfolio spanning various sectors, including fintech ventures which, according to Rathi, “involves providing innovative solutions for financial services and transactions in emerging markets.” Additionally, their infrastructure and industrial projects contribute to building essential structures and industries that form the backbone of economic activity. Some of the facilities I saw include a modern fire station, an expansive truck park, the Colgate factory where I was taken through production processes, several warehouses, a medical facility, police station, residential tower, solid waste management centre, security command center, helipad and three banks. To ensure a reliable and cost-effective energy source for its tenants, as Rathi explained, the LFZ has secured a 20-year Gas Infrastructure Development Agreement (GIDA) that will connect it directly to the national gas transportation grid. To actualise this, a consortium already formed to develop the main pipeline and distribution network within the zone, ultimately delivering piped natural gas to each tenant. The agreement, I was told, also incorporates an LNG solution.

I left the LFZ feeling more optimistic about Nigeria and the prospects for economic growth with the right policies and incentives for investors, local and foreign. But on my way back to the Island, I spent several hours in traffic gridlock along the same Lekki-Epe highway. I can only imagine what would happen on that axis during the coming rainy season and the years to come. This is one of the issues that would have to be resolved by the Lagos State government for the dream of the Lekki Corridor, the LFZ and other big businesses along that axis to become a reality. The federal government can help resolve that if they expedite action on the Coastal Road that has been in the pipelines for years. But for the Tolaram Group, I believe they have taken a huge bet on Nigeria. I hope it pays off. Both in their interest and that of our country.

The press has been unkind to Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales. I find it hard to understand why, of all the problems at this time, from the cost-of-living crisis to the war in Ukraine, and from the war in Gaza to the near total loss of trust in politicians, it is Kate’s unguarded photoshop moment on Mother’s Day, of all days, that is the obsession.

And there’s no better time to catch the British press swooning with testosterone than when a member of the royal family trips. They go all out. Nothing smells like the scent of royal blood and the hounds spare no stone.

And so, it was last week that a number of newswire services recalled or stripped photoshopped images of Princess Kate and her three children from their dispatches. The kinder ones among the newspapers nailed every single offending spot on the photo with a red flag, labelling and listing the photographic infractions one by one.

Daily Mail circled 10 spots, with lengthy captions on what it described as Kate’s “pic scandal.” My heart bled for the Princess of Wales, but something deep inside kept saying, if this had been Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex and famous Witch of Windsor, it would have been worse. I can imagine that the most generous description from the Daily Mail stable, for example, would have been something like, “Meghan in epic scandal!”

But what’s the point of it, really? Since the outbreak of the so-called Kate pic scandal, I have been brooding over images that I see very often as DPs and also on some WhatsApp Status. I’m keeping myself to that microblogging site and the mainstream press. There’s no need to bother with Insta, probably the worst photographic crime scene since Joseph Niepce invented the camera.

Who is this?

I have seen DP posts not remotely resembling folks that I know in real life. In a number of these meticulously airbrushed DPs, these same less than averagely endowed folks look so fine, faces nicely chiseled, neckties in place, or necklines plunging, and every strand of hair in place with poses like something out of Vanity Fair. You cannot sometimes help but zoom in and look again.

My anecdotal experience suggests that normal people, especially normal young girls and women, have fabricated more Kate Middleton moments than they can count. I have seen folks who are fat – that word has been banned by the language police – looking incredibly slim on their profiles or those who are black or brown looking all fair and incredibly white.

I have also seen folks with ageing-borne wrinkles, birth marks or even a few blemishes or dimples in real life look breathtakingly flawless on their DPs. I have never stopped wondering what this digital filter is really all about.

If the Daily Mails of this world have to spotlight every single photoshopped celebrity image – never mind the millions of celebrity wannabes – God knows how many would be out of circulation or perhaps be standing trial in the court of public opinion along with the Princess of Wales. 

I have shied away from digital makeover, not out of self-righteousness, but because I have accepted my flaws and physiological shortcomings as part of the gifts of an imperfect earth life. Why do people go to extra lengths to make over and then portray themselves in images that are not remotely who they are?

Of course, photo airbrushing didn’t start with the Princess of Wales or the folk in that DP who’s probably the aspirational version of the image you’re looking at right now.

Fakery industry

Joseph Stalin erased enemies like Nikolai Yezhov, who played a significant role in the Great Purge out of photographs because he thought doing so would wipe away the man’s memory from history. He didn’t quite succeed.

In the 2004 presidential campaign, opponents of John Kerry spliced his photograph and that of actress and anti-war activist Jane Fonda to discredit his war record. And, come to think of it, this same Daily and Sunday Mail that have been unforgiving of the Princess of Wales fell flat for the epic Kerry photo forgery!

Seven years later, an ultra-Jewish newspaper suspected of religious influence erased Hilary Clinton and Audrey Tomason from a Situation Room picture taken moments before President Barack Obama authorised the strike on Osama bin Laden. Here again, as in the Kerry pic scandal, the press was duped.

Of course, it’s not every time that something bad comes out of an awkward photo moment. In 2016, for example, King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia caused a minor sensation when he and his brother, Crown Prince Sultan, were photographed with women without their faces covered.

They would have been pleased to pay a million riyal to plug a leak or scrub it if they had known beforehand. The ticking photo-bomb was released only for a government official to defuse it the next day by simply saying the photo showed that, “It was OK to work with women!”

Does it matter?

Back to the question: why do people manipulate photos? Studies have suggested a number of reasons. A study by BMC Psychology last April suggested that reasons for image-manipulation or photoshopping are rooted in self-objectification where individuals involved are keenly aware of, even sometimes obsessed by, their physical looks, which tends to affect everything, including their sense of self-esteem.

The higher the investment in social media, the higher the tendency to use tools, including photoshop and other image-filtering apps, to look incredibly, yet quite often, deceptively, good. But that’s the modern playground, the place where billions work and move and define their being.

The domain is not limited to royalty. Obsession to twist, scrub and bend things from their essence as sacrifice on the altar of the post-modern self is just as widespread in royalty as it is in fashion, journalism, marketing and politics. And the realm is getting larger and larger because increasingly the only thing that matters, that is rewarded and celebrated, is success. Everything else is judged harshly.

The art of it

There is of course also the ethical question of boundaries. While there are those who argue that image-alteration is a form of art which has produced such geniuses as Erik Johansson or Rosie Hardy, for example, there are others who take the view – and I agree – that unethical retouching can contribute to body image issues, especially among young people, fostering feelings of inadequacy and insecurity.

To encourage authenticity and hopefully slowly create a society where people are not ashamed – or afraid – to be who they are, perhaps we need to be less severe and more forgiving and transparent when we scrub those images. And yes, we must also learn to take ourselves a lot less seriously.

We may not yet look like the Madonna we wanted to be, but at least we can go to bed satisfied that we have paid our two cents to create a healthier, more responsible visual landscape.

THE NEVER-ENDING CALL FOR A NEW PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTION

The Constitution is the birth certificate and identity card of a Nation. It mirrors the values and aspirations of a people. Such a supreme document is not a mere law or legislation that is crafted by the NASS. Neither the NASS nor the government that can give the Nigerian Nation a constitution. Rather, it is the Constitution that gives the Nation a government, because it is based on the will of the people. It is the dog that wags the tail; the tail does not wag the dog.  In the halls of the Green Chamber, sixty legislators, transcending party lines have only recently advocated for a transition from a presidential to a parliamentary system of government. Simultaneously, the Senate also convened a 43-member panel on Constitution review. These steps to me should be used as an auspicious moment to consider how best to fashion out a truly representative people's Constitution.

The never-ending call for a new Constitution arises from a recognition of the inherent fundamental shortcomings of the present unitary and lop-sided system, which is anything but federalist. Mere amendments to or replacements of the Constitution under sections 8 and 9 therefore, would be akin to merely applying a superficial remedy to a deep-rooted ailment. It simply cannot and will not work. I humbly submit, as I have done since the year 2000, that one million amendments multiplied by another million amendments, with the addition of yet another million amendments, will never work. Merely chopping off the branches of a tree without cutting off the taproot will never kill such a tree. It is akin to merely treating the symptoms of a serious disease. Just as one cannot cure cancer with medication meant for minor skin conditions, the need for a new beginning is dire. This is because the process and procedure for crafting a new Constitution must be democratic and all inclusive, as they are more important than the contents of the Constitution themselves. The simple reason is that it is such procedure or process that confers legitimacy, credibility and acceptability on the supreme document called Constitution.

WHY THE 1999 CONSTITUTION IS ILLEGITIMATE

The fact that a dictatorial and autocratic military junta imposed the 1999 Constitution completely robs it of its legitimacy, credibility and acceptability, as it does not represent the nation’s Identity Card, covenant and the supreme will of the Nigerian people, which are what a Constitution highlights. Though a Constitution may be initiated through or amended by parliament, the final and decisive act of promulgation is strictly reserved for the people through a referendum. It is this act that confers autochthony, ownership, legitimacy and credibility on the document called a Constitution. The 1999 Unitary Constitution of Nigeria lacks all these attributes. It is a schedule attached to the Decree No. 24 of 1999. The 1999 elections were held without a Constitution. The Constitution therefore tells a lie in its preamble by proclaiming its existence with “we the people of Nigeria”. The Nigerian people never gave us such a Constitution through a referendum.

SOME PROCEDURES FOR BRINGING ABOUT A PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTION

1. PROFESSOR BEN NWABUEZE’S SEMINAL THESIS

In a seminar writeup titled "Legal Authority for the Convening and Holding of a National Conference and for the Making of a People’s Constitution," Professor Ben Nwabueze, SAN, NNOM, widely regarded as Africa's pre-eminent and foremost constitutional lawyer, delved into the mechanisms for bringing about a people's Constitution through the National Assembly. He asserts that the National Assembly's power to enact legislation for convening and conducting a National Conference is rooted in its authority to "alter" the Constitution as conferred by sections 8 and 9.

Professor Nwabueze contends that while the power to "alter" does not inherently imply the power to replace, the National Assembly's authority extends beyond alteration vide sections 8 and 9. He highlights the enactment of the 1999 Constitution via Decree 24 and advocates a repeal of section 1(1) this Decree as a means of abolishing the existing Constitution and simultaneously instituting a new one. He drew parallels to the 1963 method in the making of the 1963 Republican Constitution to replace the 1960 Independence Constitution which was established in section 2 of a Schedule to the British Government’s Order-In-Council.

Furthermore, he argued that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Promulgation) Decree 1999, qualifies as an "existing law" within the meaning of section 315(4) of the 1999 Constitution, thereby subject to repeal by the National Assembly. Professor Nwabueze maintained that such legislative actions are within the purview of the Legislature, ensuring coherence and conformity with constitutional principles.

In essence, Professor Nwabueze's discourse underscores the National Assembly's dual capacity as both a federal legislative body and the supreme legislative authority for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, affirming its prerogative to effect constitutional changes in alignment with democratic principles.

THE ISSUE WITH PROFESSOR NWABUEZE’S BRILLIANT THESIS

Late Professor Nwabueze’s thesis is a beautiful and attractive intellectual piece of discourse, resonating in its breadth and depth. However, it still fails to answer the critical question: does the mere yanking off of Decree 24 which promulgated the Constitution, and simultaneous replacement of the 1999 Constitution through repealment of section 1(1) of Decree 24 amounts to the enactment of a brand-new Constitution to replace the present 1999 Constitution? Does it cure it of its “original sin” of lack of autochthony? Does it amount to making it the people’s Constitution when same is replete with fallacies and inconsistencies, having been militarily imposed by a little clique of military dictators as a mere schedule attached to Decree No 24 of 1999? Did this tiny clique represent “We the People of Nigeria” as the preamble to the 1999 Constitution falsely states? I think not. Can an illness be cured by attacking the symptoms? This is where the issue of a referendum comes in.

2. PROCEDURE THROUGH ADOPTION OF THE 2014 CONFERENCE REPORT

To have an autochthonous Constitution that derives its legitimacy from the Nigerian people, we may need to look at the 2014 National Conference, (where I was a member and headed the subcommittee on Constitution drafting, human rights and legal reforms). The Committee made appropriate recommendations regarding bringing about a people’s Constitution. The said over 600 recommendations were subjected to the plenary session, hotly debated and consensually agreed upon and adopted. It was agreed that there was the need to have a totally brand new Constitution for the people of Nigeria. The 492 members that were at the National Conference represented all strata and walks of life of the Nigerian people – the Federal Government, States, LGAs, Labour; trade unions; physically challenged; youth; students; Civil Society; market men and women; professionals; technocrats; military; Police; civilians; traditional rulers; educationists; members of the diplomatic corps; private and public sectors; etc. Some people have argued (and with some strong reasons too), that the 2014 National Conference was not representative of the people because the delegates were not elected. The simple answer is that aside the fact that the delegates were all thrown up by the entire Nigerian people – States, LGAs, Civil Society, Market men and women, professionals, the physically challenged, technocrats, youths, students, Labour and Trade Unions – the question of representation was a sore issue at the Conference. It was hotly debated. After many days of arguments, and counter-arguments, it was finally agreed by way of consensus that the 2014 National Conference delegates constituted the true and correct representatives of the Nigerian people. These delegates certainly constituted plurality of representatives of the Nigerian people more than the 28 members of General Abdusalami’s tiny military oligarchy that promulgated Decree 24 of 1999, to usher in the present 1999 Constitution. However, the point must be made that the NASS having been voted into office by the Nigerian people without a Constitution (since the elections predated the 1999 Constitution), can promulgate a law that subjects these over 600 recommendations to a referendum of the people through an appropriate agency. I shall anon state how this can be done.

The 2014 National Conference surely passed for a Constituent Assembly also known as a Constitutional Convention, Constitutional Congress, or Constitutional Assembly. Members of such a Constituent Assembly may be elected by popular vote, drawn by sortition, appointed, or some combination of these methods, as was the case of the 2014 National Conference. Assemblies are typically considered distinct from a regular legislature. A Constitutional Convention or a Constituent Assembly, is usually set up for its specific purpose, which it carries out in a relatively short time, after which the Assembly is dissolved. A Constituent Assembly is a form of representative democracy. This was what happened in 2014 with the National Conference which was a Constituent Assembly of the Nigerian people.

WHAT IS A NATIONAL CONFERENCE?

A National Conference serves as a public platform for representatives from diverse political and civic groups to discuss and formulate a consensus-based plan for the country's political future. Despite its commitment to inclusivity, participation in a national conference doesn't assure immediate political freedom or power-sharing. These conferences, predominantly observed in Francophone Africa from 1990 to 1993, played a pivotal role in transitioning from one-party systems to peaceful alternations of power.

OBJECTIVES OF A NATIONAL CONFERENCE

The multifaceted objectives of a national conference include preventing conflicts, building national consensus, negotiating democratic transitions, establishing new rules and institutions, legalizing multipartism, drafting new constitutions, and facilitating a peaceful alternation of power. These conferences bolster citizens' support for state institutions, reduce internal destabilizing factors, and level the playing field by recognizing the government's inability to maintain the status quo.

It should be noted that the terms "National Conference" and "Sovereign National Conference" are often used interchangeably, but their precise meanings can depend on the context. In a general sense, both terms refer to gatherings or assemblies where representatives discuss and deliberate on important national issues. However, there can be nuances in their usage. While a national conference is a broad term indicating a gathering or meeting of representatives from various segments of society to discuss matters of national importance and may involve discussions on political, social, economic, or constitutional issues (as in the 2014 National Conference), a Sovereign National Conference emphasizes a higher degree of independence and authority for the conference. In some contexts, a SNC implies that the gathering has the supreme power to make decisions without external influence or interference.

EXAMPLES OF NATIONAL CONFERENCE FROM FRANCOPHONE AFRICA

The following Francophone countries are examples of the impact of national conferences highlighting its role in managing conflicts and fostering political dialogue amid significant political changes.

1. Benin:

Amidst turmoil in 1989, a 1990 National Conference challenged President Mathieu Kérékou's authority, leading to the suspension of the constitution. This facilitated a democratic transition, including multi-party elections and a new prime minister.

2. Congo (Brazzaville):

Facing economic decline, Congo (Brazzaville) witnessed a erosion of single-party rule. A 1991 National Conference compelled President Denis Sassou-Nguesso to yield to the opposition, resulting in a new constitution and multi-party elections. However, Sassou-Nguesso's return in 1997 ended this democratic period.

3. Mali:

After President Ibrahim Traoré's ousting in 1991, Mali convened a National Conference focused on crafting a new constitution. This consensus-building process led to the adoption of a new constitution in 1992, paving the way for multi-party systems and democratic elections.

4. Togo:

Demands for democratization in 1990 spurred a National Conference in Togo, challenging President Gnassingbe Eyadéma's regime. Despite initial opposition, Eyadéma retained control, resulting in the collapse of the democratic experiment by 1997–1998.

5. Democratic Republic of Congo:

During President Mobutu Sese Seko's rule, allowing opposition parties in the early 1990s signaled change. The 1991–1992 National Conference expanded political space, but failed to achieve a complete transition to democracy in what became the Democratic Republic of Congo.

THE 1991 IBB NATIONAL CONFERENCE AS A CASE STUDY

The IBB conference of 1991 under the auspices of the then military-led government of General Ibrahim Babangida suffered some predetermined government nuances with certain “no-go” areas specified for the conferees. There was palpable government interference and influence even in the nomination process that had 96 government delegates out of a total of 369.

In stark contrast, the 2014 National conference was totally independent of government control. I was a member; so I should know.

3. PROCEDURE THROUGH THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

No one is saying the NASS will be ignored in the process of bringing about a new people’s Constitution through a referendum. It is the NASS that must  pass an Act, relying on and using the provisions of sections 4,8,9,13 and 14 and 315 of the 1999 Constitution; and, Items 47, 67 and 68 of Part 1 to the Second Schedule of the Exclusive Legislative List.  It can use these sections to make and amend laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation.

Thus, the 2014 National Conference surely served such a Constituent Assembly of the Nigerian people. There is therefore no further need to dissipate energy, waste scarce resources and time to convoke yet another Delegates Conference or Constituent Assembly that will gulp billions of naira in this austere period. All we need to do at this stage is to aggregate the 2014 National Conference report with the condensed recommendations made by the Senate and House of Representative Committees on Constitutional amendment, and the salient provisions of the 1963 Republican Constitution and refer them to the NRC to activate a referendum of the Nigerian people. This will enable it command the people’s respect, legitimacy, acceptability and credibility. The emergent product becomes a people’s Constitution. To carry out this exercise is not rocket science.  It can be executed with the urgency of yesterday, through the appropriate processes of first, second and third reading in the respective Houses within few days of a bill to that effect. Thus, it is recommended that the NASS should take the following urgent steps to promulgate a New People’s Constitution for Nigerians:

PROCEDURAL STEPS TO BE TAKEN BY THE NASS IN MIDWIFING A PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTION

1. Section 14(2) of the 1999 Constitution provides that sovereignty belongs to the Nigerian people (not the NASS). The present NASS was itself elected by the said Nigerian People even before the coming into being of the 1999 Constitution. Therefore, to abate their fear of being rendered irrelevant in the process of midwifing a new peoples Constitution, the NASS shall be deeply involved in facilitating the process of the emergence of a brand-new Constitution from its present constitutional review exercise. It its law-making function it can set up a National Referendum Commission (NRC), to drive and actualize the process of a new Constitution through a referendum of the Nigerian people emanating from the 2014 National Conference recommendations; present review by the NASS and desired provisions of the 1963 Republican Constitution. The version of the National Referendum Commission (NRC) was what Iraq termed Constitutional Referendum (2005); Constitutional Assembly by (South Africa, 1996); Constitutional Commission (Eritrea, 1994); Constitutional Convention (USA, 1776).
2. It is this National Referendum Commission (NRC), thus provided for by an Act of the NASS under sections 4, 8, 9 and 14 that will collate the recommendations of the present Constitutional Review Committees set up by the NASS; the 2014 National Conference lofty recommendations and some relevant provisions of the 1963 Republican Constitution. The entire process shall be driven by the National Referendum Commission already set up by an Act of the NASS.
3. This Act enacting the NRC shall also make provisions for a referendum of the people. What the NASS therefore does is to simply catalyse, aid and energise the entire process of the NRC’s collated final draft which the same NRC then subjects to a referendum of the Nigerian people. The referendum is predicated on the emergent draft as collated and propelled by the National Referendum Commission (NRC). The about 374 ethnic groups of Nigeria (Prof. Oniga Otite) will have opportunity through a referendum to speak to the proposed Constitution.
4. The collated draft version shall thus be voted on by Nigerians during a popular referendum in a manner already prescribed by the NASS, in the form of “AYES” or “NAYS”. The emergent Constitutional draft thus becomes the outcome of the will of the people.
5. With this, the new emergent draft of the Constitution becomes autochthonous, indigenous, legitimate, credible and owned by the people.
6. The NRC can, in its collated draft include the new clamour for re-introduction of the Parliamentary system of government as done in Bangladesh on 15^th September, 1991. It is left for the Nigerian people to accept or reject this during the proposed referendum.
7. All these can be done within a space of a mere six months.
8. The President then PROCLAIMS this document into a New Constitution, using his executive powers under section 5 of the Constitution.

9. With this, the new document (Constitution) can truly proclaim, “WE THE PEOPLE OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA…DO HEREBY MAKE AND GIVE TO OURSELVES the following Constitution”.
10. The NASS should therefore eschew its understandable fears of being ignored, side-lined, or marginalized in the emerging constitutional scenario. It is actually the main organ and engine room that drives the entire process of how a National Referendum Commission facilitates a referendum of the Nigerian people through its draft collated from the sources earlier highlighted.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A REFERENDUM

WHAT IS A REFERENDUM?

A referendum is popularly known as a system where the electorate body (voters or citizens of a country) through a ballot approve or reject an act of the legislature. This posits referendum as the practice of submitting to popular vote of the people passed on or proposed by a legislative body or by popular initiative.[2] It is one of the truest ways of ensuring citizens take part in the decision-making process that shapes the future and fate of their country. A referendum is a general vote by the electorate usually taking the form of yes (Ayes) and no (nays) votes of the populace on a single political question which has been referred to them for a direct decision. This may result in the adoption of a new policy or specific law.[3] A constitutional referendum is thus a form of referendum where a popular vote is cast for the adoption or amendment of a Constitution, by members of the electorate. A referendum enables the people to negotiate, agree, express their desires, which may ultimately be different from that of the political ruling class.

COUNTRIES THAT SUBJECTED THEIR NEW CONSTITUTIONS TO CITIZENS’ REFERENDUM

IRAQ

The first Monarchial Constitution of the Republic of Iraq came into force in 1925 and existed till the 1958 Revolution which established a Republic. Interim Constitutions were adopted in 1958, 1964, 1968, and 1970, until the Transitional Administrative Law was adopted in 2003 after the fall of Saddam Hussein. In 1990, a draft Constitution was prepared but never promulgated due to the onset of the Gulf War. The current Constitution was adopted on September 18, 2005, by the Transitional National Assembly of Iraq, and confirmed by a Constitutional Referendum, held on October 15, 2005. It was published on December 28, 2005, in the Official Gazette of Iraq (No. 4012), in Arabic original, and thus came into force.

KENYA

There were three versions of the Kenya Constitution; with the most recent being the 2010 redraft. This replaced the 1963 Independence Constitution. This version of 2010 was presented to the Attorney-General of Kenya on 7^th April, 2010, officially published on 6^th May, 2010, and was subjected to Referendum of the Kenya people on 4^th August, 2010. It was voted for and approved by 67% of Kenya citizens. It was then promulgated on 27^th August, 2010.

SOUTH AFRICA

After the elections of 1994, the new Parliament (working as the Constitutional Assembly) began writing the final Constitution of South Africa. On May 8, 1996, the Constitutional Assembly completed two years of work on a draft of a final Constitution, replaced the interim Constitution of 1993 by the year 1999. The objective to submit the draft to the Constitution Court was to ensure that the final Constitution was legitimate, credible and accepted by all South Africans.

The process of drafting involved many South Africans in the largest public participation programme ever carried out. Nearly two years later, representatives of political parties negotiated the formulations contained in the final draft and ignited an integration of ideas from ordinary citizens, civil society and political parties represented in and outside of the Constitutional Assembly. The Constitution therefore represents the collective wisdom and will of the South African people because it was arrived at by general agreement and consent of all South Africans.

IRAN

A proposed new Constitution which would make Iran an Islamic Republic, introduce direct elections for the presidency, create a unicameral parliament and require any constitutional changes to go a referendum was proposed by the Iranian Government. To bring this about, a constitutional referendum was held in Iran on 2^nd and 3^rd December, 1979. The new Islamic constitution was approved by 99.5% of voters at the Referendum.

BANGLADESH

A constitutional referendum was held in Bangladesh on 15^th September, 1991. Voters were asked "Should or not the President assent to the Constitution (Twelfth Amendment) Bill, 1991 of the People's Republic of Bangladesh?" The amendments altered the existing Constitution and reintroduced of Parliamentary system of government. It also abolished the position of Vice-President and provided that the President be elected by Parliament. 83.6% of Bangladeshis voted in the referendum, with a turnout of 35.2%.

MOROCCO

A referendum on constitutional reforms was held in Morocco on 1^st July, 2011. It was called in response to a series of protests that spread across Morocco which had begun on 20^th February, 2011, when over ten thousand Moroccans took to the streets in massive demonstrations demanding democratic reforms. A Commission was set up to draft proposals by June, 2011. A draft was released on 17^th June, 2011, which brought about fundamental changes upon people’s referendum.

EGYPT

In October, 2012, the Egyptian Constituent Assembly announced that its first draft of a new Constitution and launched a public awareness campaign called “Know your Constitution”, to educate the public.  On November 29, 2012, the Egyptian Constituent Assembly finalized the drafting process of a new Egyptian Constitution.  One week later, on December 8, 2012, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration announcing that the constitutional draft would be voted on in a national referendum. In accordance with article 60 of the Transitional Constitutional Declaration of March 2011, a special Judicial Commission was formed to supervise the referendum process and monitor vote counting.  The referendum took place in two rounds on two different dates: December 15 and 22, 2012.  The majority of Egyptians thus voted in favour of the newly drafted Constitution in a popular National Referendum, a Constitution that brought about profound reforms.

ERITREA

The Eritrea’s Proclamation 55/1994 established a Constitutional Commission which organized popular participation in the process of a new Constitution. The Commission members and more than four hundred specially trained teachers instructed the public on constitutional issues and related political and social questions using local vernaculars. The process took three years to solicit the views of a broad cross section of Eritreans. The participation of a majority of Eritreans gave the people a “sense of ownership of the Constitution”. 

TUNISIA

Tunisia's first modern Constitution was the fundamental pact of 1857. This was followed by the Constitution of 1861, which was replaced in 1956, after the departure of French administrators in 1956. It was adopted on 1^st June, 1959 and amended in 1999 and 2002, after the Tunisian Constitutional Referendum of 2002. Following the revolution and months of protests, a Constituent Assembly drafted a new Constitution in 2014, adopted on 26^th January, 2014 after a referendum.

THE AMERICAN EXAMPLE OF A PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTION THROUGH A REFERENDUM

The birth of American independence in 1776 saw the convening of a Constitutional Convention under George Washington's leadership from May 14 to September 17, 1776, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fifty-five delegates, representing autonomous Confederates, convened with the aspiration of forging a "more perfect union," engaging in passionate debates over the framework of the new nation.

Similarly, between May and September 1787, fifty American Confederate representatives gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to deliberate on achieving a "more perfect Union" following independence from Britain in 1777. Thirty-nine out of the fifty-five delegates endorsed and ratified a new Constitution starting in December 1787. Through a referendum held on June 21, 1778, initially eleven and later thirteen states adopted and ratified it, paving the way for the establishment of a new government on March 4, 1789.

This new Constitution delineated key governmental principles to supersede the earlier Articles of Confederation, embracing Republicanism, Federalism, Presidentialism, and Judicial review. Inspired by the doctrine of separation of powers elucidated by French philosopher Baron de Montesquieu in 1748, they incorporated features such as a Bill of Rights, Bicameral Legislature, Electoral College, Executive Presidency, and a Judiciary comprising Supreme, Circuit, and District Courts.

Notably, the Constitutional Convention gave rise to luminaries like Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, and Washington, who assumed the presidency. Revered as a product of the people, the American Constitution spans a mere 192 pages, with 27 amendments, encapsulating a concise 7,591 words—a testament to its revered stature among the American populace. This stands in stark contrast to the figurative "briefcase-like" bulk of the Nigerian Constitution.

In a global context, the United States Constitutional Convention of 1787 remains a poignant example, where delegates from thirteen states converged to address the deficiencies of the Articles of Confederation, laying the groundwork for enduring governmental principles that have withstood the test of time.

OTHER COUNTRIES THAT USED REFERENDUM TO GALVANISE THEIR PEOPLE

Referendum thus simply means that the people are made to buy into an idea and own it. This occurred when a new Constitution emerged from the people of the then Midwest region on the 10^th of August, 1963, to be separated from Western region, through a popular referendum. Heavens did not fall. There are other examples. The Eritrean separated from Ethiopia with a people’s referendum.

Many other countries of the world fashioned out new Constitutions after their people’s referendum. Such examples can be found with the people of Indonesia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Sweden,  East Timor, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Russia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France and Germany. Others are Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxemburg, Malta, Poland, Romania, Spain, Slovenia, Ukraine, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Australia, Uruguay, New Zealand, etc. The people of Norway (53.5%) in a referendum in 1972, voted against being part of the European Economic Community in a referendum, without any provision for such a referendum in their Constitution. The same Norwegians in January, 1994, in a referendum of 52.2% of the people, rejected membership of the European Union (EU). On 23rd June, 2016, the people of UK voted to exit EU in the EU Referendum, also known as BREXIT Referendum.[4]

So, we need a BRAND-NEW CONSTITUTION and it can be done. We do not need to merely amend the present Constitution using section 9, or replace the parent Decree with either existing Constitution because it will never work. Rather, we need a BRAND-NEW CONSTITUTION that is autochthonous, legitimate, indigenous, and people-driven. This will enable it command the Peoples respect, legitimacy, acceptability and credibility.

EXPECTED INNOVATIONS IN A NEW PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTION AND THE IMPERATIVES OF RESTRUCTURING

Restructuring is meant to make the Nigeria project work better and give a sense of belonging to all persons in Nigeria. It is meant to overhaul the current polity by giving power back to the people through their elected; rework a new Constitution that truly reflects their aspirations; address the peculiar needs of the federating units; and, resolve and restore true fiscal federalism. It is meant to afford minority groups a sense of National Identity; afford them control over their natural resources; allow them establish their own Court systems, Police Forces and Community Policing Systems; give them maximum security; afford them a fair and effective political structure; and allow the people develop according to their desire and pace; while paying a fair tax to the central Government to enable it oversee limited areas of jurisdiction within the exclusive Legislative list. To achieve such restructuring of Nigeria, I hereby make the following humble recommendations:

1. We need a fresh people’s Constitution anchored on a six-zonal federal structure, with the present states, still retained as federating units, thus having a two-tier system of Government.
2. There shall be a central Federal Constitution, whose provisions shall prevail in the event of a conflict with the provisions of States and sub-regional Constitutions.
3. Each State shall maintain its own Constitution, have its own Police Force, and its hierarchy of courts up to the Supreme Court.
4. Each sub-regional group (Geopolitical Zone) shall have a Supreme Court that entertains appeals from the Supreme Courts of States within the sub-Regions, as was with the Western Region Court of Appeal. Only serious matters of Constitutional importance between States and States, and between States and the Federal Government shall go to the Supreme Court of Nigeria in Abuja, in like manner of the US Supreme Court.
5. Abolish section 162(4) – (8) of the Constitution and allow each State to be free to merge existing LGCs or create fresh LGCs, depending on its needs and financial capability. Such LGCs shall be made autonomous and not dependent on State Governors.
6. Each of the federating states shall fully control its own resources up to 100% resources and pay 30% of revenue generated from these resources to the central government to enable it take care of its fewer allotted functions. In a proper federation, the central government does not own the resources and then allocate or dole out revenues to the sub-national units. It is the other way round. This was the position under the 1963 Republican Constitution, true fiscal federalism set up that allowed states to own their resources, pay tax to the central Government and develop according to their pace and needs. Let states begin to bake, and not merely share the National Cake.
7. Separate the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation from the highly political office of the Minister of Justice.
8. Separate the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation from that of the Accountant-General of the Federal Government.
9. Enthrone participation by vulnerable groups in governance, and bring about gender equality through a clearly defined Affirmative action.
10. Abrogate one chamber of the NASS (360 House of Representatives members; 109 Senators are too much for Nigeria). Or, allow existing members to sit on part-time and get paid sitting allowances.
11. Maintain Nigeria’s secularity and Governments must hand off religious matters and pilgrimages.
12. Remove the immunity clause in prima facie criminal offences for the offices of President, Vice President, Governor and Deputy Governor while in office. This will stop their criminal proxy activities.
13. Bring about rotation of power between the North and the South.
14. Make provision for independent candidature.
15. Create specific Constitutional and Anti-Corruption courts.
16. Revamp the electoral process; Allow transparent counting of votes and allow the votes to count.
17. Enable funding of members of the NASS by constituent States.
18. Create a specific constitutional role for traditional rulers and the traditional institution. They are the nearest units to the grassroots.
19. Reform the Judiciary by banning mere interlocutory appeals to the Supreme Court and demarcating clearly between pre- and post-election matters. Halt the process of courts conceiving, incubating and delivering Presidents, Governors, Legislators, Chairmen of LGCs and Councilors.
20. Remove the artificial discrimination inherent citizenship, indigeneship and
21. Provide for clearly defined timelines for initiating assenting to and passing bills by all Legislatures in Nigeria.
22. Whittle down the entire bureaucracy in all the three arms of Government in Nigeria.
23. Make justiciable and actionable in a court of law, the entire provisions of Chapter II of the Constitution deal with socio-economic rights.
24. Constitutionalize electoral Reforms and punish electoral offences, including banning for 10 years, politicians that are involved in, or who instigate electoral crimes.
25. Prune down the Exclusive Legislative list of the Federal to few matters concerning Aviation Policy and Regulations; Banking, Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes; Citizenship, Naturalization and Aliens; Creation of States; Currency, Coinage and Legal Tender; Customs Duties; Foreign and External Affairs; Defence and Defence Matters; Immigration into and Emigration Matters; Nuclear Energy; Ownership of and Control over Educational Matters that border on Federal Tertiary and Research Institutions.

CONCLUSION

THE WAY FORWARD

Finally, evolving development around the globe points clearly to the fact that promotion, respect and preservation of tenets of the rule of law are not only desirable, but are mandatory requirements to ensure a peaceful and civil human society.[5] Executive lawlessness or rascality shall be prohibited by the Constitution. It is very important that the powers of every arm of government to act against the citizen is not stimulated by whims and caprices of the controller of such powers, but only to the extent authorized by the Constitution.[6] The right of every man and woman to have his inalienable rights respected and removed from privations under any guise is God-given and must be taken as such. It is now a compelling necessity that both the governor and the governed must be subjected to the rule of law.[7] The rule of law must therefore be protected by the Constitution. The government should also abide by the law and act within its confines to ensure peace, stability and welfare of the general public.

Democracy must also be rooted in the Constitution. The people should be given a clear voice and mandate to manage the affairs of the nation, through appropriate measures of free and fair elections, and checks and balances. The people should be given the rights of access to information, participation in decision making process and access to justice. Democracy needs to take significance over politics in Nigeria, and oust the current practice of election malpractices which prevent free and fair elections. Democracy and Rule of Law need to be revived once again in Nigeria, and that cannot be done merely by amending the present Constitution. Rather, the present Constitution must be discarded with, and a fresh new Constitution created through a referendum of the people as midwife by the NRC enacted into law by the NASS.

One cannot amend a bad document; it is simply not possible. An illegitimate document remains illegitimate forever. The present Nigerian Constitution is a child of bastardy and nothing can cure it. Even one million amendments multiplied by another million amendments can never cure the present Constitution of Nigeria of its original sin of its illegitimacy. Albert Einstein once said that “it is only a mad man that seeks to get different results by using the same methods that he has been using when a problem commenced”. The Constitution has already undergone several amendments; yet, it is still bad. The problems of hunger, insecurity, corruption, mutual distrust, religious intolerance, favouritism, ethnicity, sectionalism, prebendalism, et al, mount by the day.

The beauty of democracy is the primacy of the wishes of the people and the mutability of the instrument that binds the people and the government.

THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE IS SUPREME (SALUS POPULI EST SUPREMALEX)

The people have a say as to how they want to be governed; this is the whole purpose of democracy. The donor of the power remains the people. A tail cannot wag the dog; it is the dog that wags the tail. Therefore, the government should learn to subscribe to the will of the people, not the people subscribing to the will of the government.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, once postulated that desperate diseases require desperate remedies. Nigeria now finds herself in a desperate quagmire and hence, desperate solutions are required. The only price we have to pay for our liberty is eternal vigilance, says Learned Hand. Therefore, I urge Nigerians to stand up to their rights and demand for a fresh new Constitution that emanates from the people themselves. The will of the people is supreme (salus populi suprema lex). Nothing less.

*Being a keynote address delivered by Prof Mike Ozekhome, SAN, CON, OFR, FCIArb, LL.M, Ph.D, LL.D, D.Litt, D.Sc , at the National Dialogue (Colloquium) in honour of Prof. Ben Nwabueze, SAN, CON, NNOM, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos, on Monday 18^th March, 2024.

[2] Butler & Ranney, 1994,

[3] Wikipedia, ‘Referendum’ <en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referendum

[4] https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/will-uk-leave-eu

[5] The Rule of Law (June 22, 2016) available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rule-of-law/

[6] Michael John DeBoer, “Equality as a Fundamental Value in the Indiana Constitution” (2004) 38 Valparaiso University Law Review 489.

[7] UN, “Rule of Law and Human Rights”, available at: https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/rule-of-law-and-human-rights/

A deeply human dimension was introduced yesterday evening  into the tragedy that occurred in  the Okuama community of Delta state when an elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, appeared on Arise News. He offered a lot of words of wisdom in the television show to help douse the tension arising from the killing of 16 soldiers.

Clark, an Ijaw leader with Urhobo blood in him, said  that a few days before the killings  he spoke with Lt. Col A.H. Ali and Captain D.E. Obi, two officers among the 16 soldiers who went  on a peace mission following a land dispute between Okuama, an Urhobo community, and their Ijaw neighbours  of Okoloba. In a notably balanced intervention, Clark reminded the two Niger Delta communities in conflict  of their common ancestry and cultural overlaps. They “are the same people,” he said with the full  authority of his age. He recalled that he himself  attended primary school in the area 82 years ago. 

Ironically, Clark’s  calls to these officers were in respect of the funeral of his younger brother, Colonel Bernard Clark (retired), which took place last Friday.

In an emotion-laden tone, Clark animated things, saying repeatedly that he knew the officers as he condemned the killings while urging the military authorities to avoid collective punishment of the innocent people in the Okuama community. 

Clark also called for a thorough  investigation, cautioning against reaching a wrong conclusion on the criminal act. What  Clark said about Lt. Col Ali and Captain Obi is a proof of the obvious fact that  the issues involved are far from being abstract. The soldiers who lost their lives in the course of duty were first and foremost human beings. They were not just numbers. This elementary fact should not be forgotten in the heat of the moment.  The  Okuama killings constitute a sad reminder that our  common humanity  matters a great deal even when there are  different perspectives to telling a story.

The discussion of this tragedy must, therefore,  be imbued with a good sense of humanity especially in the media. The tragic story should not be told in a manner that could inflame passion. The headlines must not be disrespectful of the dead. The sensibilities of the bereaved families, friends and colleagues of the fallen heroes  should be well considered in the way the bloodletting  is reported.

Therefore, the circulation of bestial clips should stop. Gory pictures should not be printed.  It is enough to say that the soldiers were callously killed. It is unhelpful in the situation to keep repeating the barbaric and provocative  details of the killings. Perhaps, referring to what happened as a “slaughter” is even inappropriate in the circumstances. After all,  one  of the dictionary meanings of the noun, “slaughter,” is as follows: “the killing of animals for food.” In any case, in the mainstream journalism of the old an editor would prefer to simply publish that the soldiers were killed instead of splashing it on the front page of his newspaper that human beings  were “slaughtered.” Definitely,  savage photos would not be published. Sadly, the permissive nature of the social media with its huge deficit of humanity has now  rendered such journalistic ethics ancient.

In the situation, the discussion of the tragedy should be sufficiently compassionate so as to avoid  creating multiple tragedies in the form of what happened in Odi in  Bayelsa state and Zaki Biam in Benue  state. Those two communities  were severely  attacked by the military in  reprisals following  the killings of  soldiers and policemen by some criminals while President Olusegun Obasanjo was in power.

It is also important that the members of the elite from the communities  in dispute should be circumspect in their statements. The Urhobo  and Ijaw versions of what happened are widely circulating in the various media outlets. However,  caution is the word. It is advisable that credible information should be made available to the those who are officially given the task of investigating the crime. It  is quite appropriate that President Bola Tinubu in his position as the Commander-in-Chief has directed that justice must be done. In a well-humanised statement  personally signed by the President the point is made unequivocally: “The cowardly offenders responsible for this heinous crime will not go unpunished.  This incident, once again, demonstrates the dangers faced by the  servicemen and women in the line of duty.  I salute their heroism, courage, and uncommon grit and patriotism.” 

The President also said that the defence authorities are “already responding to this incident.”

Now, it is left to  be seen  if the response of the military high command would lessen the  growing anxiety about what would happen next going by the promise from the defence headquarters: “The military  assures that there would be measured responses and injurious consequences for the perpetrators of these dastardly acts. Nevertheless, the armed forces being a  disciplined force that complies with rules of engagement, laws of armed conflict and respect for human rights, would be tempered by these provisions. We would not be led by emotion, but by the rule of law.”    

So, while the investigation is on nothing should be done by  any of the parties to worsen the problem.

Meanwhile, the issues brought to the fore by the tragic incident ought to  be pondered upon by policymakers and the public alike.

For instance, state governments should take the resolution of  conflicts among local communities in the state as a serious security matter. Maybe, the Okuama tragedy could have been averted if the conflict between the Urhobo community and its Ijaw neighbour had been amicably resolved by the Delta state government. Isn’t the land constitutionally vested in the governor in the first place?

The local government that is nearest to the situation should have also played a constructive role by preventing the dispute from degenerating into violence. After all, the local governments are  involved in managing the affairs of the traditional institutions  which often lay claim to ownership of  of lands in some communities.  

Secondly, the killers of the soldiers must have operated with sophisticated weapons as non-state actors.  A number of panel reports gathering dust on the shelf are about  the immense danger of proliferation of arms and ammunition. The free flow of arms is a common factor in the various shapes of insecurity bedevilling  the land from the rainforest to the Sahel. A programme of massive disarmament should be a strategic priority in order to check violent crimes. 

Thirdly, the police should be prepared in terms of manpower and equipment to perform  its central duty  in internal security. Gradually, the military should be withdrawing from policing duties so as to face its primary defence role   squarely. The police are better placed, for instance, to make arrest and prosecute the killers of the soldiers.

As  condolences continue to pour in for the bereaved families and the military, reflections on the Okuama tragedy should  be geared towards putting the nation in a position to say never again will  its soldiers be killed in such a horrific manner.  

Edo State House of Assembly has passed a resolution directing the state’s chief judge, Justice Daniel Okungbowa, to set up a seven-man committee to investigate the allegations of gross misconduct levelled against the deputy governor of the state, Philip Shaibu.
The House passed the resolution at its plenary yesterday. At the plenary, 19 of the 24 lawmakers voted in favour of the resolution.

Earlier, the speaker, Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, had notified the lawmakers that the seven-day ultimatum granted the deputy governor to respond to the impeachment notice served on him had expired.
Agbebaku said the impeachment notice was earlier served on the deputy governor on March 6, 2024 but due to the alleged evasion of service, the Assembly ordered a substituted service.
He said the substituted service was published in the state-owned newspaper, the Observer Newspaper and the Vanguard Newspaper on March 12, 2024, noting that March 19, 2024 (yesterday) made it seven days.

In his motion, the majority leader, Charity Aiguobarueghan and seconded by Nicholas Asonsere, representing Ikpoba Okha constituency, moved that the chief judge be directed to set up a seven-man committee to investigate the petition against the deputy governor.
Aiguobarueghan averred that the motion was in line with section 188 subsection 3 and 4 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He said the failure of the deputy governor to respond to the petition at the stipulated time was also in conformity with the provision of section 188 subsection 3, where it was clearly stated that “whether he responds or not the House has a duty to perform”.
In a voice vote, 19 members voted in support of the motion which was more than two-thirds of members of the House.
The speaker directed the chief judge to set up a seven-man committee to investigate the petition against the deputy governor.

[Leadership]

Nigeria has witnessed a significant surge in tax earnings from foreign firms, with figures nearly doubling in the span of one year.

This significant fiscal boost is likely due to the weakening of the naira, which has increased the local currency’s value of foreign transactions for non-import (foreign) Value Added Tax (VAT) and Foreign Company Income Tax (CIT) payments.

The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for 2023 indicates that Nigeria’s revenue from foreign-related Value Added Tax (VAT) rose by 61%, with figures reaching N824.6 billion, a significant increase from N510.8 billion in 2022.

More noteworthy is the surge in Corporate Income Tax (CIT) from foreign entities, which has seen a 107% increase, climbing from N1.14 trillion in 2022 to N2.38 trillion in 2023.

Recommended reading: Nigeria gets N4.9 trillion CIT in 2023

Cumulatively, the total tax revenue from these streams rose by 93%, from N1.66 trillion in 2022 to N3.21 trillion in 2023.

While the increase in tax revenue is a welcome development for the country’s finances, it also highlights the Nigerian economy’s exposure to exchange rate risks.

The current boost in tax earnings is significantly propelled by the naira’s weakness, which, while beneficial in the short term, may mask underlying vulnerabilities in the economic framework.

Foreign payments make up 49% of 2023 CIT earnings

Nigeria’s Company Income Tax (CIT) collections surged by 73.14% in 2023, amassing a total of N4.9 trillion. This remarkable growth underscores the significant contribution of foreign firms to the Nigerian economy, with nearly half of this figure, precisely 49%, being attributed to foreign CIT.

On the other hand, the Value Added Tax (VAT) collections painted a slightly different picture. While still noteworthy, the impact of foreign firms on VAT was less pronounced than in the CIT sector. Foreign entities contributed 23% to the total VAT collections, which stood at N3.64 trillion for 2023.

This financial landscape highlights the critical role that international businesses play in bolstering Nigeria’s tax revenue, especially in the CIT domain.

More Insights

• In June 2023, the CBN announced the unification of all segments of the forex market, collapsing all windows into one. This was part of an effort to drive liquidity and stability in the forex market in Nigeria. However, this seems to have had a counter-effect, as it triggered further instability in the market.
• Nairametrics earlier reported that the Naira lost about 68% of its value, marking a profound downturn since the implementation of the foreign exchange unification policy.
• The weakening naira has inflicted broad economic repercussions, including heightened import costs, surging inflation rates, diminishing purchasing power, and a deterrent effect on investment inflows.
• However, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso said that the naira is undervalued. He added that the apex bank will work towards real price discovery in the foreign exchange market in 2024. Cardoso recently blamed the undervalued state of the naira on market distortions and FX spectators.
• Also, Goldman Sachs analysts recently projected a significant appreciation of the exchange rate to N1,200/$ in 12 months. This amounts to a massive recovery from its perceived undervalued state.
• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), however, said that the CBN faces a significant liquidity crisis in supporting the naira, as nearly $20 billion of its $33 billion in foreign reserves is tied up in various derivative deals.
• Regardless, the central bank has been actively addressing the FX issue in the country with some reforms, such as clearing the backlog of forex obligations which the CBN noted would be fully cleared in a few days.
• Also, the apex bank plans to establish a singular foreign currency (FCY) gateway bank that will centralise all correspondent banking activities and provide incentives to individuals who hold foreign currencies outside the formal banking system.
• Other measures include investigating and resolving FX backlogs, restricting forex allocation for overseas education and medical trips, augmenting the minimum share capital for BDCs, and targeting FX market speculators.

[Nairametrics]

Embattled singer, Joshua Iniyezo, aka Solidstar, has claimed that his hit song ‘One In A Million’ inspired a new sound in the Nigerian music industry.

He said when he hit stardom, many thought he was Ghanaian because of his unique musical style.

Speaking in a recent episode of The Honest Bunch podcast, Solidstar specifically mentioned that the remix of the song with 2Baba inspired P-Square’s hit song ‘Possibility’ which featured the same artist.

He said, “It was ‘One In A Million’ that paved the way for me in the music industry. I won the Best New Artist at the Nigerian Music Video Awards with the song. Many even thought I was Ghanaian, they didn’t know I’m Nigerian because my style then was different.

“It was my song [‘One In A Million’] that changed the sound of the Nigerian music industry. It was also the inspiration behind P-Square’s ‘Possibility’ featuring 2Baba.

“The song changed the Nigerian music industry. It came with its unique style. I slowed the tempo down and everyone started copying that pattern.”

[DailyPost]

Zenith Bank Plc on Tuesday appointed Dame Adaora Umeoji as the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (GMD/CEO) from June 2024.

She is the first female to lead the bank.

Her appointment is, however, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Umeoji will take over from the current GMD, Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, whose time in office expires on May 31.

Here are things to know about Adaora Umeoji

1. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Jos,

2. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, and first-class honours in Law from Baze University Abuja.

4. She also bagged a Master in Business Administration from the University of Calabar.

5. Umeoji joined Zenith Bank in 1998, and since joining the bank, she headed the marketing group Maitama branch and went on to be the deputy zonal head of the Abuja Zone.

6. She then became executive director in charge of Abuja and Middle Belt Zones of the Bank.

7. She was appointed to the board on October 9, 2012.

8. She is an alumnus of Harvard Business School.

9. She attended the strategic thinking and management program at Wharton Business School, USA.

10. She holds a certificate in Economics for Business from the prestigious MIT Management Sloan School and a Certificate in Leading Global Businesses from Harvard Business School, USA.

11. She is a fellow of professional bodies including the Chartered Bankers Institute of London, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, the Institute of Credit Administration, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria, the Institute of Chartered Meditators & Conciliators, and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators of Nigeria, among others.

12. Beyond banking, Umeoji founded the Catholic Bankers Association of Nigeria (CBAN), a platform she uses to promote ethical banking and service to humanity.

13. She is a peace advocate of the United Nations (UN-POLAC), and a Lady of the Order of Knights of St. John International (KSJI).

14. She was recently awarded a Papal Knight of the Order of St. Sylvester by His Holiness Pope Francis.

15. In 2022, the Federal Government honoured her with Officer of the Order of Nigeria as a recognition of her contributions to nation-building.

[TheNation]