Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board says it turned down 114 Nigerians who applied for refugee protection between January and June, 2023.

So far, 12,035 Nigerians have been rejected under the scheme since January 2013, data from the Refugee Protection Division of the IRBC shows.

The IRB grants refugee protection in Canada if the RPD satisfactorily confirms that an applicant or claimant meets the United Nations definition of a convention refugee, “which has been incorporated into Canadian law, or that the applicant is a person in need of protection.”

The 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees defines refugees as persons with a substantiated fear of persecution because of their race, nationality, religion, political ideology or membership in a particular social group. Such social groups can include sexual orientation, gender identity, being a woman and persons living with HIV/AIDS.

However, the document indicated that people asking for protection in Canada must show evidence showing the danger of torture, a risk to their life, or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment should they return to their country of nationality.

It was learnt that the protection claims are made when immigrants notify the Border Services Agency at any port of entry upon arriving in Canada or report to an immigration officer.

“The officer decides whether the claim is eligible to be referred to the IRB. If the claim is eligible, it is sent (‘referred’) to the RPD to start the claim for refugee protection process,” an application guideline by the Refugee Board reads.

However, the RPD has rejected about 12,035 such applications from Nigerians for a decade and six months.

The breakdown showed that 127, 241, and 248 Nigerians were denied protection in 2013, 2014, and 2015 respectively, under the new system for determining refugee protection claims made in Canada – which took effect on December 15, 2012.

Also, 476, 917, and 1,777 claims were rejected in 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively.

2019 saw the highest rejected claims so far, with 3,951 Nigerian applicants turned down, while 1,770, 1,686, and 728 persons were denied protection in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Nevertheless, 9,783 Nigerians were granted refugee status within the period under review. There were 20 in 2012; 308 in 2013, 394 in 2014 and 389 in 2015. Also, 389 Nigerians were received in 2016, 764 in 2017, 755 in 2018, and 1,733 in 2019. While 2020, 2021, and 2022 saw 1,534, 2,302, and 1,315 persons granted protection, respectively. 289 Nigerians have been accepted for protection in the first six months of 2023.

As of June 2023, 2,198 applications were pending, as at least 432 persons had withdrawn their refugee claims.

In a previous interview with Sunday PUNCH, the Executive Director, Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation, Imaobong Ladipo-Sanusi, who judged the acceptance rate as “fair,” said irregular migration was often the main cause of rejections.

Ladipo-Sanusi said, “Most times, many Nigerians miss it when they don’t understand the laws governing refugee status as adopted in their chosen destination. Every country has its regulations for absorbing people into its system.

“For one, documentation is crucial because coming irregularly will get you rejected from their system. But ultimately, everybody’s rights must be protected. Migration must be safe, orderly and regular. Even if their status is irregular, those who really need protection should be protected.”

Also speaking, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Singapore, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, noted that although it was not practicable for all refugee and asylum seekers to be admitted, border control agencies had the duty to reject persons perceived to be a threat to their countries.

[Punch]

‘Still on remarkable lessons from Singapore’

As I was saying beyond the contextual reporting of the strategy for Singapore’s success through education quality, it should be noted that Singapore’s education system was not designed de novo by the iconic Lee Kuan Yew and his colleagues. Rather, it was built on the very solid foundations inherited from Singapore’s British colonial past. Just like Nigeria. In contrast to many of his contemporaries among post-colonial leaders, Mr. Yew was not afraid of embracing whatever elements from that past that would prove useful to the enterprise of nation-building.

Nowhere has this approach been more evident than in education. Many of the country’s premier educational institutions for example, the National University of Singapore (founded in 1905), Raffles Institution (founded in 1823), and the Anglo-Chinese School (founded in 1886), significantly predate independence. Moreover, the curriculum for secondary education is modelled after the British O-level and A-level qualifications (with some adaptation to account for the generally higher average attainment levels of students in Singapore).

And, though infrastructure is by no means neglected, the key focus of educational investment is students and teachers. Our leaders who recruit imbeciles as teachers they don’t pay regularly, should please note this about Singapore. If you don’t recruit and pay good teachers, you can’t expect miracles of education quality.

Accordingly, in Singapore, a national system of generous scholarships enables the best students to avail themselves of an education at some of the world’s premier universities, even as Singapore develops its own world-class institutions. With starting salaries above the national median, the teaching profession attracts, develops and retains some of the best graduates.

The OECD and Project Syndicate report that Singapore’s education system is specifically meritocratic (some might say elitist) in its focus on identifying and developing the very best talent and, equally important, directing it towards public service. Government scholarship recipients are obliged to serve in the public sector for a minimum of two years for every one year of study. The same meritocratic approach governs the development and promotion of teachers.

In this connection, top-performing teachers are given leadership responsibilities without excessive regard to tenure, and there is a revolving door between the education ministry, classrooms, and school administration. Educators are frequently seconded to carry out policy work. Many subsequently choose to return to the classroom because it is not demeaning.

Even the World Economic Forum reports that the elitist tendency in Singapore’s education system is tempered by the fact that quality education is available for all levels of academic aptitude. Singapore is rightly proud of its elite secondary and tertiary academic institutions, but one could argue that the hidden gems of the system are the hundreds of neighbourhood schools, the Institute of Technical Education, and polytechnics that provide high-quality education for all.

Singapore’s education system is relentlessly forward-looking. From adopting bilingualism with English in addition to the mother tongue of Mandarin, Malay or Tamil, to its focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), Singapore anticipated many of the key education strategies being adopted by today’s policymakers.

According to Stavros, the choice of English was driven by history and a multi-ethnic society’s need for a common language. But it was also a prescient recognition of English’s rapid emergence as the lingua franca of global commerce and science, and that once entrenched it was likely to remain so for decades, if not centuries, to come.

In this regard, too, Mr Yew distinguished himself from other post-colonial leaders of his generation. Rather than pandering to narrow nationalist sentiment and opting for the majority language and culture, he and his colleagues chose to adopt a global language for a global city (country).

This is worthy of note too: Singapore’s education system evolves with the times and in the light of new evidence. In the 1990s, Singapore’s policymakers, concerned that their approach to education might be somewhat regimented and overly focused on STEM, began to provide avenues for excellence in the humanities, arts and sport. That rebalancing is still ongoing, with a new emphasis on identifying ways to foster creativity and entrepreneurship. This is the light education should provide for citizens. For Singapore’s founding father, education went beyond formal schooling. As he put it in a speech in 1977: “My definition of an educated man is a man who never stops learning and wants to learn.” Indeed, Singapore’s world-class education system will continue to be one of Mr Lee’s most enduring legacies.

There is, therefore, so much brilliance to borrow from the legend, Lee Kuan Yew whose biography we brandish everywhere without studying the content. Let’s advise our new leaders at all levels to get cracking with radical, result-oriented education reform. It is a time to get the right technocrats to lead the pack to do the legwork. That is the first weapon we need to get us ready to lead the black race. And here is the thing, our restructuring priority should be anchored on how to rebuild Nigeria’s education to be world-class too. Let’s get all Africans to come to Nigeria for tertiary education quality.

Korean Education System. PIX:Korea.net

‘Korea: Education as a driving force of national development’
South Korea is a country that boasts of a 5,000-year-old history. A classical scholar’s attitude* and humanitarianism have been highly valued and are deeply embedded in Korean society and history. This has led to the creation of the Korean alphabet, the invention of the world first printing technology, and a rich cultural and spiritual heritage. Hence, Koreans have highly valued studying and cultivating one’s mind to develop one’s abilities and honor the family. Koreans have also considered contributing to national and social development as the ultimate goal of studying and cultivating one’s mind.

In 1866, a French naval officer, who experienced the French navy’s attack of Ganghwa-do to fight against the massacre of Catholics, depicted the education fever in Korean society then as follows. “We cannot help but admire this place and found something that really crushed our ego. Here, even the poorest have books in their homes. There is almost no one who is illiterate and the illiterate are looked down upon.” This is a story that shows well the education fever of Korea.

Korea is no longer a country of a calm morning of the East. It is now a powerful and responsible player in the international community. Let’s study, therefore, how education contributed to such dramatic national development.

South Korea is a country with almost no natural resources. And the Korean War in the early 1950s left the country in ruins. The leaders found some architecture in the debris. Korea overcame its despair and rapidly grew economically to create the Han River Miracle in the 1970s. The miracle was possible, thanks to the education fever that has been handed down for several hundred years. In the 1980s, Korea was called one of the four Asian dragons and has continued to grow rapidly. The country has played host to G-20 Summit Meeting and so has become a member of G-20—50 Club, a hallmark of a powerful country in the global economy.

In other words, Education was the energy that drove Korea to become an advanced country. Despite several national crises, it has amazingly grown since its independence in 1945. Behind Korea’s success was the people’s passion for and state investment in education.

After the establishment of the government of the Republic of Korea in 1948, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. But it grew into the world’s top 15th economic stronghold. From exports of USD 54 million in 1962, it surpassed USD 548 billion (as of 2012). In addition, Korea became a member of the 20-50 Club, a hallmark of an economic stronghold in 2012 (national income of USD 20,000 and population of 50 million).

Korea also overcame the oil crisis in the 1970s, the Asian financial crisis in 1998, and the global financial crisis in 2008. Korea is currently recognised as an IT, shipbuilding, and automobile manufacturing powerhouse. Samsung and LG are dominating the global smartphone and TV markets and Hyundai is a global leader in the shipbuilding and automobile industries. Korea is, however, not resting on its laurels, and dreaming of another leap forward through a creative economy, all thanks to knowledge development through quality research.

In sports and culture, Korea is also exerting much influence in the world. It successfully played host to the 1988 Summer Olympic Games and the 2002 World Cup (co-hosted with Japan). In addition, Horea was on hand for the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang in 2018. Furthermore, it is spreading its pop culture through the Korean Wave, drawing the interest of people worldwide in Korean culture.

In 2010, Korea became a member of Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and switched from being an aid recipient to a donor. Besides, it hosted the 2010 G-20 Summit Meeting, the Busan High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4) in 2011, and the APEC Education Ministerial Meeting in 2012, playing the role of a bridge between developed and developing countries. And so behind such unprecedented rapid growth was the education fever and the excellent Korean educational system that has produced excellent manpower according to the demands of different eras.

‘Current state of Korean education’
Korean education guarantees the right to a quality education to all through steady investment and is educating excellent manpower. Excellence of the educational process has been really significant. The Korean government has since Korea’s independence continuously expanded the provision of free education to all students step-by-step. Starting with free primary education in 1959, it expanded free education to middle school (1985~2005) and expanded to high school in 2017.

‘Everyone is entitled to excellent teachers’
Teachers in Korea are one of the most coveted jobs excellent students choose. Excellent institutions educating teachers are enabling teachers to get high-quality education. In addition, support is stably provided for teachers to focus on teaching only and systemic re-education and training opportunities are provided for them to effectively teach. Of all teachers, 30.8 percent have degrees over a master’s degree (as of 2012).

Let those who are also praying fervently for Nigeria to fulfill destiny note that miracles don’t just happen. We need to encourage our leaders at all levels that they need to invest more in education beyond the revival of the still-hazy Student Loan policy. Meanwhile, let our new leaders note that education is too important to be left to mediocre education ministers and commissioners at time that digital technologies shape at the speed of thought.

MAY BE CONTINUED

Nigerians are on the march again. Looking for political appointments. Some of them like vultures lusting for carcasses. Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office, thousands of Nigerians have, predictably, been positioning themselves for appointments. A friend complained weeks ago that hotels in Abuja were fully booked. This was worsened by the National Assembly inauguration. With Tinubu dissolving the boards of federal agencies, he has instantly created thousands of vacancies. The executive managements will also be replaced (sooner or later). To be sure, this is routine. Every president does it. Appointees often exit with their principals and new ones come in.

Although Nigerians always focus their energies on Abuja, the same scenario plays out in the states. Thousands upon thousands of vacancies have also opened up across the states of the federation. When you add the federal government and states together, vacancies for political appointments run into huge numbers, both full-time and part-time. There will be ministers, board members, ambassadors, commissioners and advisers. There will be chiefs of staff, chiefs of protocol, SA this, SA that, press secretaries, personal assistants, and so forth. It is a big seasonal market that peaks every four years. It is what many fast and pray for, what they live and kill for. It is their utmost heart desire.

Dear appointees-in-waiting, I hope this finds you well. It has been my wish to communicate these few lines to you before you are officially appointed. Please be assured that I have nothing against political appointments or your determination to be the beneficiaries. The vacancies are meant to be filled. And it is human beings, not goats, that will fill them. So, you have not done anything wrong by submitting your CVs and begging the godfathers, both imagined and real, to put in a word for you. You have not committed any crime by putting in relentless efforts and vigils to serve your country.

Did I just say “serve your country”? Well, let’s discuss that. Are you putting in these extra-ordinary lobbying efforts because you sincerely want to serve your country? Are you pushing to be minister of works and housing, for instance, so that you can work your head off to help fix our road infrastructure and help tackle the housing deficit from your own corner? Are you wishing to be minister of health so that you can work day and night — and night and day — to turn our federal hospitals into centres of excellence where every patient would like to be attended to, where every doctor would like to work and where you yourself would gladly go for treatment or even surgery?

Are you lobbying to be attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice so that you can provide selfless and patriotic legal opinions to the federation and lead a reform process that will deliver justice to all Nigerians, no matter their standing? Or are you fantasising about being AGF because you want to collude with scammers and judges to secure decisions against your fatherland and share from the judgment debt payments? Are you desperate to be AGF so that you can be selling your legal opinions for a mess of pottage, thereby making your country vulnerable to legal proceedings all over the world and creating a huge slush market for your lawyer friends?

Are you angling to be commissioner for education because you are broken-hearted about the number of out-of-school children and you want to do everything within your power to address this issue? Are you so downcast about the quality of teaching and classroom infrastructure that you have been fasting and praying that God should let you get into government so that you can lead the sector to the promised land? Are you lobbying to be appointed as a board member of an agency so that you can deploy your experience and resources to help with giving policy direction and demanding accountability of the management team? Or are you interested mainly in the sharing of money?

Dear appointees-in-waiting, if the dominant thought in your minds is the peace and progress of Nigeria, congratulations! May your tribe continue to expand. May we unearth more of your ilk. We need more of you in critical and strategic public positions as the quest for a greater Nigeria continues. However, if your heart desire is to secure a licence to loot or to be called “government official” so that you can feather your nest, you may find this love note a bit uncomfortable but do not be offended. I mean no harm. My intention is to tell you as subtly as possible that appointments should not be about enjoying all the free comfort and impunity that public office can offer.

I am absolutely aware that not everyone who gets appointed into public office lobbied for it. I know that some are practically cajoled or persuaded to accept such appointments because of their expertise or profile. Some have to forgo their own comfort, even taking a pay cut, to serve their country. They are not in government because of the perks of office. I know as well that some appointees put in a decent shift despite the very difficult environment, full of wolves and buccaneers. This love note is not for this category. I am talking to those of you (yes, you know yourselves) who are obviously motivated by the wrong values as you lobby intensely for political appointments.

May I, this day, invite you to have a quiet conversation with your conscience. Are you really, really desperate to serve Nigeria for our good? Are you going to great lengths to lobby for appointments for the love of God and country? Are you a proven problem solver and you are wishing that you would get a chance to prove your mettle in public office, to prove that things can be better done? Have you taken time to analyse the problems and prospects of the position you are targeting? Do you want to create a legacy that will make us celebrate you forever as someone who came, saw and conquered? Are you irrevocably resolute to build a nation “where peace and justice shall reign”?

I am asking these questions not because I am in search of answers. That is why they are called rhetorical questions — the real intention is to make a point. My intention is to prick your consciences. I have seen the excitement with which some of you are jumping on planes to Abuja in preparation for appointments. Something keeps telling me the motives of many are not pure. Some just want to be at a vantage position to tamper with public funds. Some of you are searching for an opportunity to amass Prados and Pradas. Some of you are only dreaming of siren-led convoys. You crave to have police orderlies carrying your bags and lowly Nigerians eating from your palm.

In Nigeria, we often blame the principals for all our failings. We spend much time holding our presidents, and sometimes governors, wholly responsible for the state of the nation. Has the time come to start sharing the blame with their appointees as well? I agree 100 percent that the presidents and the governors are responsible for the appointments they make. They deserve every blame they get. But maybe it would also help if the appointees purpose in their hearts to give their utmost best in the quest for a greater Nigeria. If your principal appoints you for the wrong reasons and with the wrong expectations, what stops you from using the opportunity to be different?

Dear appointees-in-waiting, it is very easy to blame the principals for all the rot in the system. It is very convenient. But if you are appointed commissioner of finance or accountant general and your principal wants you to tamper with the books as he launches an assault on the treasury, you have a choice to say no. If you do not say no, it is most likely because you too hope to benefit from the raid. Let’s be honest with ourselves. Okay, you are an ordinary appointee and you will be fired if you disobey your principal. So what? If indeed your motive is service to fatherland, must you serve your country by force? In any case, you are not going to be commissioner or minister forever. Fact.

Let us imagine that the principal wants you to do something that is unpatriotic and criminal and he fires you because you refuse to carry out the instruction. Let us further imagine that the appointee that replaces you also refuses to carry out the instruction. He too is fired. And let us imagine the next appointee also refuses to do the dirty job and gets fired. I can assure you that Nigeria will become a better place. It will be clear to the principal that the loyalty of an appointee is first and foremost to the nation and its laws, not to an individual. But the moment appointees see their positions as a meal ticket, it is so easy to say “I was only carrying out instructions”. You can resign. It is allowed.

Dear appointees-in-waiting, before you accuse me of preaching Utopianism, I want to assure you that I have had one or two friends who served this country and didn’t soil their hands. I can defend them even with a loaded gun pointed to my nose. I can testify that they never took more than they were entitled to and even gave up some of their entitlements. I know they came out of government poorer than they went in and some people laughed them to scorn, but they have their integrity intact and are forever proud of their service. I am proud of them too. And I know there are thousands of Nigerians who would serve their fatherland with equal passion and patriotism.

By the way, I am not asking that saints should be appointed into government. There are no saints in this business. I am asking you a simple question: why are you lobbying for that appointment? To help us eradicate poverty and disease? To help us banish infant and maternal mortality? To help reduce accidents and deaths on our roads? To contribute to making Nigeria a land of delight? Or are you just salivating for the perks of office, to raid the treasury like vultures? It is not too late to have a rethink. You don’t have to be a saint in government, but you can decide to do things differently and leave a legacy of patriotism and commitment to the greater good. You can choose to love your country. 

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

HARD TIMES

While Nigerians are still trying to adjust to the new petrol pricing regime, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) floated the naira and the currency depreciated rapidly. While we are at it, electricity tariffs are set to go up again. In truth, Nigerians had been protected from these hardships for years despite changing economic realities across the world. We protected ourselves by piling up ruinous debts. Something had to give. Unfortunately, it is ordinary Nigerians that will bear the harshest part of the brunt. The fat cats in government will only get fatter. Asking Nigerians to endure the hardship is a message that will be best preached if public officers would also share from the pains. Sacrifice.  

OGALLA AND IGALA

One complex thing about Nigeria is the ethnic game. President Bola Tinubu has just appointed Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla as the chief of naval staff but, according to what I read on Twitter, he is an Igala, not Igbo, from Enugu state. I never knew Enugu had Igalas until now. I don’t know if Ogalla is Igbo or not (his other name is Ikechukwu), but those making the Igala point may be trying to prepare a case of marginalisation. This would be an irony. Are Enugu Igalas fully integrated or are they being marginalised? It is sad that we are not discussing the Ogalla who had A1 in all but one of his subjects in the military school and the Ogalla that is celebrated as a thoroughbred professional. Politics.

DEMOLITION MAN

Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, the governor of Kano state, has spent the early days of his tenure demolishing structures built by his predecessor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje. It got so ridiculous he said one of the structures was pulled down because there was a cross design on it. Since he hates the cross — the symbol of Christianity — so much, why not just paint over it? Why bomb a car because of one cockroach under the seat? It is estimated that property destroyed so far is worth close to N200 billion. What these guys don’t know is that it is the society that suffers the losses. Although he appears intoxicated with power, he will be governor for maximum eight years, not eternity. Vicious.

TIGER BY THE TAIL

I usually don’t like it when your first duty is to clarify your pronouncement. Mr Kayode Egbetokun, the acting inspector-general of police (IGP), just did exactly that. After he was decorated with his new rank by Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday, Egbetokun said he felt like a tiger ready to “devour Nigeria’s internal enemies”. He went to “shalaye” the following day, saying he was only conveying a message to the public about his knowledge of insecurity in Nigeria. The task before him is massive. It would be better if he rolls up his sleeves and talks less so that he does not end up as a paper tiger. He will be judged by his actions and not his metaphors. I wish him success. Tough.

The attention of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has been drawn to calls by imposters and sponsored amorphous groupings acting as fronts for the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Mr Nyesom Wike, that APC in Rivers State is calling on him (Mr Wike) to join the same party he had characterised as suffering from Cancer.  

Nothing can be more preposterous than this kite being flown by minions of Wike working hard to justify their pay cheque.

We wish to unequivocally dismiss any such rumour or sponsored story planted in any medium that Rivers State APC had at any forum invited Mr Wike to join our party none the least calling on Wike to take over leadership of a party he never campaigned for. We dare anyone to provide video evidence of any campaigns where Mr Wike openly campaigned for the APC. The terror unleashed on our party members in the cause of his eight years maximum rulership alone is enough evidence to confirm that Wike has no business with Rivers State APC. Asking him to come and take over is asking an enemy to come and finish off his victims. 

We are aware of his schemes to escape justice over the looting of the collective patrimony of Rivers people which is the major reason for his romancing top APC members.

For those who may be suffering from amnesia, a none APC member cannot be cheerleader for the entry of Wike into APC. Nobody can decree his membership of a political party through radio or newspaper publications. All vexatious attempts at distracting our party in Rivers State will keep failing. 

For the avoidance of doubts, the APC in Rivers State has a legally recognized state office where all official businesses are conducted. We do also have standard procedure for convening our meetings according to our party's constitution. Therefore, it is expedient for the public to be aware that village meetings or gatherings cannot equate with a stakeholder's meeting of APC in Rivers State, especially a gathering that took place at a hotel belonging to such a non-APC member.

We therefore disassociate the leadership of our party from any so-called stakeholders meeting suggesting that our party be handed over to Mr Wike. We reiterate our party's resolve to lend 100% support to the policies and programmes of the Federal Government under the indefatigable leadership of our President, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.

We warn blackmailers and conflipreneurs to desist from the shameless tradition of using the name of our party to curry favour from desperate politicians seeking relevance at the centre. 

Signed:

Darlington Nwauju

Rivers State APC Spokesperson

24/6/2023

Nkechinyere UMEH has emerged as the leading scorer in the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, having achieved an impressive cumulative mark of 360.

During the ongoing 2023 policy meeting in Abuja, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Examinations, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, made a presentation revealing that...

Umeh, hailing from Anambra State, has reportedly scored an impressive 360 points, as stated by Oloyede.

In a recent development, the JAMB boss has revealed the names of the top 10 candidates who excelled in the examination. Notably, Aguele Stephen and Ositade Oluwafemi secured the top spot with a score of 358, followed closely by Gbolahan Ayinde with a score of 357. Other high-performing candidates include John Fulfilment and Chimdubem Ugonna, who scored 356 and 355, respectively.

For a man who went to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC with a background of activism and as a defender of civil rights, the sorry reputation with which Mr Festus Okoye is reckoned these days is pitiable.

After a long abstinence following the faux pas of the 2023 General Election, Mr Okoye again burst out into our space with the announcement that the INEC was about to review the processes of the 2023 General Election. The retort from the public space was almost universal, to wit: ‘you don come again?’

 Mr. Okoye had never been a close acquittance. Apart from meetings here and there in the course of my duty as a journalist, I had never really been in close proximity to him. However, his reputation as a civil rights activist and defender of the public good went before him and won much admiration from this correspondent and from many others. He was indeed a likable man whose personal interactions and gestures bespoke much humility.

Journalists in Kaduna almost always spoke in admiration of Okoye. Not only was he a good news source who was almost always willing to give interviews and perspectives on the issues of law and civil rights, but he was also hailed for his sacrificial legal pro bono services to the oppressed.

So when he was appointed the spokesman of INEC, your correspondent took it that Okoye had been served a poisoned chalice. The most one could do was to pray for him that he would survive with his reputation.

Unfortunately, as Twitter showed when he made the announcement on Thursday on the INEC review of the election, the esteem with which Mr Okoye was held by many right-thinking members of the public has eroded.

His reputation was tried by his publicized assertions that the INEC would transmit results automatically and conduct the best election in the history of Nigeria. Serving as a spokesman to a disreputable institution as INEC has turned out to be is Mr. Okoye’s quagmire.

A man who spoke truth to power is now the purveyor of the very opposite, bringing to wonder what power or is it money does to the souls of men.

It is an agony for your correspondent watching Okoye these days, wondering how a man that he so loved for his humanity has turned against the dignity of men. How he has become the voice and defender of electoral malfeasance as against his pedigree of sincerity and truth.

I wonder what was Mr. Okoye’s reaction to the video image of the Lagos lady who was brutalized at the point of voting last February and who still came with her bloodied face to vote. Mr. Okoye of yore would probably have not just issued a statement in condemnation of the action but probably taken up the duty of defending her.

Of course, Okoye may not have acted directly to impinge the integrity of the ballot, but his decision to defend the worst presidential election in Nigeria since the Maurice Iwu era is befuddling. His action is against the background of the promises he MADE and the enormous resources that were channeled to his INEC.

Of course, your correspondent is not addressing Mr Okoye’s boss, Professor Mahmood Yakubu as the INEC chairman did not seriously disappoint. I gave up on Yakubu before the 2019 election and would have been gladly pleased if I had been proved wrong.

Indeed, Yakubu almost convinced me to have a change of mind with his assertion of automatic transmission and such just before the 2023 General Election. But in the end, he went as expected in what has now been claimed as the programmed decimation of the will of the people.

The character profiles of Okoye and Prof Yakubu come against the adulation with which another democracy stakeholder, Dr Raymond Dokpesi was projected as he was laid to rest last Thursday.

Whatever one may say, Dokpesi showed a knack for the upliftment of the common good through the instrumentality of his broadcasting stations. If one is not moved by the grief of AIT staff on air, then the elocution of those who gestured on how he used his stations for the public good including the Third Term debate and other interventions will engraft his name in history for good. It was such character that made the Bendel State-born man to be appointed Chief of Staff to Governor Bamanaga Tukur in 1983.

Today as his remains lie in the ground, the good he did will continue to speak on his behalf as Nigerians remember him.

But for Okoye, I wonder how he can repair his damaged reputation. I wonder what enchantment is in that office that would make a man be profiled with the evil geniuses he once fought against.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a new warning to banks and other financial institutions regarding their business relationships with Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

CBN said the banks and other financial institutions should apply a risk-based approach to identifying Politically Exposed Persons and apply appropriate Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) measures when dealing with them.

In a document titled, ‘GUIDANCE NOTES ON POLITICALLY EXPOSED PERSONS’, which was issued to banks on June 22, 2023, but obtained on Saturday, the CBN said the enhanced due diligence is necessary due to the PEPS exposure to corruption.

The apex bank also listed exposure to money laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation financing (ML/FT/PF) as some of the reasons the banks must apply the EDD and the Customer Due Diligence (CDD).

According to the CBN, PEPS could pose reputational and financial crime risks to banks and other financial institutions due to their political office.

“Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) who may be vulnerable to corruption thus may portend reputational and financial crime risks to the FI. PEPs pose a high risk of money laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation financing (ML/FT/PF) due to the possibility that individuals holding such positions may misuse their power and influence for personal gain or advantage to themselves, close family members and/or associates,” the document reads.

In its definition of a PEP, the CBN explained: “PEPs who are or have been entrusted with prominent public positions in Nigeria are known as “Domestic PEPs”.

“PEPs who are or have been entrusted with prominent public positions in any other foreign jurisdiction are known as “foreign PEPs”.

“PEPs who are or have been entrusted with the management or any prominent function within an international organization are known as “International Organizations PEPs”

“Close associates of PEPS: are individuals who are closely connected to a PEP, either socially or professionally and include a PEP’s widely- and publicly known close personal friends, business colleagues, and personal advisors. Close associates also include persons having joint or ownership right in a legal person or arrangement established in favour of a PEP.

“Family members of PEPS: include a PEP’s direct family members, their spouse, their children and their spouses, their parents, and the siblings.”

Despite the high risk, the CBN informed the banks and other financial institutions not to prevent or close their business relationships with a customer on the grounds of the person being politically exposed.

Aside from direct requests for information from the PEPs, the CBN urged banks to conduct a third-party search by tracking the PEPs on the Internet or media.

“FIs may use the internet and media as sources of information for the determination, monitoring, verification of information in relation to PEPs, although it should be noted that such information may not be comprehensive or reliable,” the CBN suggested.

“Consequently, the CBN issues this Guidance in line with CBN AML/CFT/CPF Regulations 2022, FATF Recommendations, FATF Guidance on PEPs (2013) and Wolfsberg Guidance on PEPs (2017), to assist FIs in the identification and management of risks associated with PEPs.

“This Guidance provides minimum standards for FIs in their relationships with PEPs and does not limit measures to be taken by FIs to meet their statutory obligations. The Guidance Notes will be revised from time to time, as necessary,” the apex bank noted.

[NationalDaily]

The Chief Of Army Staff (COAS), Major General Taoreed Lagbaja, has hit the ground running by approving the appointment of New General Officers Commanding (GOCs), for some of the divisions of the Nigerian army and commandant for the Nigerian Defence.

Lagbaja appointed Major General A.B Ibrahim as the Chief Of Policy and Plans.

Under the new arrangement, Major General Alabi is now the General Officers Commanding 1 Division Nigerian Army Kaduna, Major General E.A Abubakar, 3 Division Nigerian Army, Jos, Major General Mala, GOC 7 Division, Major General.

Also appointed is a new Provost Marshal, Army, Brigadier General Garba, Chief of Military Intelligence, Brigadier General Ugiagbe, Major General Ochai, Commandant, Nigerian Defence Academy, Major General Maina, Commandant Army War College Nigeria.

Others include Major General Aligbe, Commander Training And Doctrine Command, Minna, Major General Oluyede, Commander Infantry Corps, Major General Kange, and Commander Artillery.

The appointment, it was gathered, became necessary following the gap created by the retirement of some officers due to the selection of new service chiefs by President Bola Tinubu on June 19.

[PoliticsNigeria]

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, on Saturday reacted to the criticisms from Nigerians over the photographs he took in Paris, France.

Okonjo-Oweala had posted a photograph of him in which President Bola Tinubu was cropped out.

The WTO DG had taken the photograph during the summit for ‘A New Global Financing Pact’ convened by the French President, Emmanuel Macron.

The summit afforded Tinubu the opportunity of projecting, on a global stage, his advocacy for widening the fiscal space, economic justice for Africa as the world accelerates the pace of energy transition, and the urgency of addressing the pressing issues of poverty and climate change.

The photograph had generated so much controversy among Nigerians.

Reacting to the controversy generated, Okonjo-Oweala urged Nigerians to relax.

Tweeting, the former Finance minister said the controversy has exposed how polarised Nigeria has become.

According to Okonjo-Iweala: Nigerians, please relax! Re Paris, Interesting attacks from both sides. This sadly shows the depth of polarization in our society.

“I post photos in the order received by accompanying staff or colleagues. Reading more into it is unwarranted. Let’s unite to build our country, not attack.”

[DailyPost]