The Nigeria system has failed us . Government ordinarily organizes the factors of production to optimize societal happiness. Government makes profit when the majority of people are happy.
In Nigeria,those in Government join forces with business and church leaders to exploit the ordinary people. The faulty Nigeria Constitution in Section 14 provides that Government must ensure the security and welfare of her citizens are given maximum attention. Unfortunately,the same constitution did not provide a sanctionable clause for those in Government who fail to ensure that the citizens’ security and welfare are provided . Therefore ,section 14 is not enforceable and that is why the President or the Governor is not bothered when 20 innocent souls are massacred or when millions of people are jobless
GGM Cooperative is here to organize the people to maximize their happiness and this will be done by showing people economic direction, which end is economic freedom.
Ndubuisi Anaenugwu is an Economist and the President of GGM Cooperative
On Friday, a court sitting in the United Kingdom sentenced former deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu to nine years and eight months for organ harvesting.
His wife, Beatrice was handed four years and six months in jail while their doctor, Obinna Obeta, was sentenced to ten years Imprisonment; his medical licence was also withdrawn.
The former deputy President of the Nigerian Senate was arrested by the London Metropolitan Police and was subsequently arraigned on organ harvesting and trafficking charges involving a young man, David Ukpo, whom he was said to pick up from the streets of Lagos State for that purpose.
But Ekweremadu and his wife had pleaded not guilty to the charges while Nigeria’s National Assembly pleaded for clemency.
But on Friday, Justice Jeremy Johnson held that the actions of the lawmaker was serious and amounted to a form of slavery because he was wealthy but leveraged on it to arrange the travel of a lad that could not travel from Lagos to Abuja.
In each of your cases, the offence you committed is so serious that neither a fine nor a community sentence can be justified.
“People-trafficking of human organs is a form of slavery.
“It treats human beings and their body
It is a trade that preys on poverty, misery and desperation, ” Justice Johnson said.
Speaking to Ekweremadu, his wife and doctor, the judge described them as accomplices.
The judged frowned on Ekweremadu’s doctor citing the prosecution’s evidence that he lied that the victim was the lawmaker’s daughter’s cousin.
You each played a part in that despicable trade.”
“People-trafficking across international borders for the harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery,” the judge said while sentencing them.
The development drew the reaction of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is the principal public agency that conducts criminal prosecutions in England and Wales.
“This was an horrific plot to exploit a vulnerable victim by trafficking him to the UK for the purpose of transplanting his kidney.
The convicted defendants showed utter disregard for the victim’s welfare, health and well-being and used their considerable influence to a high degree of control throughout, with the victim having limited understanding of what was really going on here,”Chief Crown Prosecutor, Joanne Jakymec said.
From the UK Met’s Modern Slavery and Exploitation Command, it described the judgement as a “landmark conviction” and commended the donor for his bravery in speaking against the lawmaker.
“We could not have done this without the help of our colleagues in the CPS, Human Tissue Authority and other partners who have worked tirelessly to achieve this result.
“We do understand the challenges around modern slavery cases as no two investigations are the same. Specialist officers from the Met’s Modern Slavery and Exploitation team understand this and we will ensure victims are supported, signposted and safeguarded with the help of partners,” the Command said.
The vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola, to boycott the swearing-in ceremony of the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, slated for May 29, 2023.
He made the call in a recent interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today programme.
Baba-Ahmed insisted that swearing in a ticket that has not yet met constitutional requirements is tantamount to ending democracy.
The LP VP candidate said the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mahmood Yakubu was reckless to have issued a certificate of return to Tinubu and “He’s putting all our lives in danger.”
He described the process that produced Tinubu as president-elect as “unconstitutional.”
I’m repeating, swearing in anybody who does not meet the constitutional requirements of our country, you are engaging in an unconstitutional act. Mr. President, do not hold that inauguration. CJN, your lordship, do not partake in unconstitutionality.”
He insisted that the APC didn’t meet the constitutional requirement of scoring 25% In the FCT and as such, shouldn’t be sworn in.
A bill to create a National Centre for Christian Education that will regulate and set standards for the practice of Christianity in Nigeria has passed the second reading at the Senate.
Sponsor of the bill, Sen. Binos Yaroe of the Adamawa South Senatorial District, claimed that the center would aid in resolving the nation’s “inappropriate practice” of religion, which has in the past led to issues.
On his part, Sen. Istifanus Gyang of the Plateau North Senatorial District, weighed in on the discussion, claiming that radicalism has been fostered by improperly practiced religion.
The federal lawmaker noted that, if followed properly, religion could be a source of strength and national solidarity, which is why the bill to establish the center to create a curriculum for Christian education is very necessary.
Sen. Abba Moro, who represents Benue South in the Red Chamber, who also spoke, said the bill was ‘apt’ given that some youngsters had been duped by radical religious figures.
Sen. Moro emphasised that there was no denying that the misinterpretation of the Bible and the Quran was a contributing factor in some of the country’s problems.
After the discussion, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, who presided over plenary, put the bill to a voice vote, and it passed Second Reading.
However, for additional legislative input, Sen. Lawan referred the draft to the Committee on Education.
Recall that a similar bill proposed by Governor Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna state in 2021 was described as being “injurious to the Church” and a deliberate attack on Christians in Nigeria by Christian leaders in the country.
The Chairman of the Benue State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Akpen Leva said the proposed bill “is a direct attack on the Almighty God and injurious to the church, not only in Kaduna State but Nigeria and the world in general.”
He said it is “indeed devastating that man would conspire to enact an anti-God legislation to regulate the activities of Christianity.
How can you regulate God? How can you call God to order? The law cannot function in a circular state like Nigeria,” the Christian leader posed and said.
The CAN chairman in Benue State noted that religious leaders in Nigeria “cannot fold their arms to watch the implementation of the law that is anti-God.”
The United Kingdom court has sentenced former Deputy Senate President of Nigeria, Ike Ekweremadu, to nine years and eight months in prison for an organ trafficking plot.
The court also sentenced his wife, Beatrice, to four years six months while the medical doctor who acted as a ‘middleman’ in the plot, Dr Obinna Obeta, was sentenced to 10 years and his medical licence was also suspended.
The PUNCH reports in March 2023 that the jury found they criminally conspired to bring a 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney.
The young man was said to have been falsely presented as Sonia’s cousin in a failed bid to persuade doctors to carry out an £80,000 private procedure at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
The young man was said to have been offered an illegal reward to become a donor for Sonia after kidney disease forced her to drop out of a master’s degree in film at Newcastle University.
Their conviction was the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act.
“Entitlement, dishonesty and hypocrisy”
The prosecutor, Hugh Davies KC, had told the court that Ekweremadus and Obeta had treated the man and other potential donors as “disposable assets – spare parts for reward”.
He said they entered an “emotionally cold commercial transaction” with the man, The Guardian UK report added.
The behaviour of Ekweremadu showed “entitlement, dishonesty and hypocrisy”, Davies told the jury.
He said Ekweremadu “agreed to reward someone for a kidney for his daughter – somebody in circumstances of poverty and from whom he distanced himself and made no inquiries, and with whom, for his own political protection, he wanted no direct contact”.
Davies added, “What he agreed to do was not simply expedient in the clinical interests of his daughter, Sonia, it was exploitation, it was criminal. It is no defence to say he acted out of love for his daughter. Her clinical needs cannot come at the expense of the exploitation of somebody in poverty.”
On March 14, The PUNCH reported that Beatrice denied involvement in the search for an organ donor for their ailing daughter, Sonia.
The table below shows full details of states where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dubiously failed to upload election results on its IREV portal according to the number of the polling units, as the hearings on the petitions before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal over the controversial February 25 election get underway.
We have reported that results obtained from the IREV shows that as at today, May 2, the electoral body has yet to upload results from 9,403 polling units, despite hastily declaring the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the winner of the election.
According to data obtained from the IREV, Kano State topped the table of polling units where INEC failed to upload election results on IREV with 1,101 polling units.
It was followed by Anambra State with 834 unloaded polling units, and Rivers State was third with 793.
Others are Imo State with 620, and Oyo State with 577 unloaded polling units.
Only one state, Ekiti, had a 100 per cent success for uploading results on IREV, followed by Enugu with just two unloaded polling units.
Result Stats for the Presidential election – 2023-02-25, is as follows:
Total number of polling units — 176846
Total number of uploaded/submitted results — 167443
Total number of expected results — 9,403
Percentage of uploaded results — 94.68%
Last upload time — March 25, 2023, 10:36:31 PM
Total number of Local Government Areas — 774
See the full table below:
While INEC apologised for the technical glitches” in uploading results on the IREV portal as planned, its chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu, carried on with the process and declared Tinubu winner.
According to Yakubu, Tinubu scored a total of 8,794,726 votes, while the PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar came second with a total of 6,984,520 votes.
Labour Party candidate Peter Obi came third with a total of 6,101,533 votes while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.
The opposition parties have since rejected the outcome of the election and filed petitions at the Election Tribunal citing irregularities and INEC’s failure to abide by provisions of the law. The electoral commission and the APC have also filed counterclaims insisting the election was credible.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has told the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT, that the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu met the constitutional requirement of scoring 25% in the FCT to be declared winner of the February 25 presidential election.
The candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi in paragraphs 80, 81 & 82, told the tribunal to nullify the emergence of Tinubu on the grounds that he wasn’t not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the election.
“Our contention is that in an election to the position of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the determination of the outcome will not only be based on the count of votes for each candidate but will also follow the guidelines set out in sections 133 and 124 of the 1999 Constitution.
“To be declared the winner, a candidate must have received the highest number of votes in the election, have obtained at least one-quarter of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of all states in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and not have been previously declared and returned as elected. We are specifically relying on the result announced by INEC for the FCT, Abuja.
In their, response, INEC said Tinubu met the constitutional requirements, including scoring 25% in the FCT.
“We admit p80 and 81 but wish to clarify that because there were more than two candidates contesting the election, a candidate can only be declared the winner if they receive the highest number of votes cast and have at least one-quarter of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
“We dispute the other claims made in p81 of the Petition and affirm that Tinubu not only received the highest number of lawful votes cast, but also had at least one-quarter of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of all states in the Federation and the FCT, Abuja. As such, Tinubu was rightfully declared and returned as elected.
“Regarding paragraph 82 of the Petition, we state that Tinubu, who satisfied the constitutional requirements to be declared the winner of the election, was duly declared as such, and therefore, a second election is not necessary in this instance.
Also, APC in their response, insisted that their candidate met the requirements to be declared winner but never said their candidate scored 25% in the FCT.
“In response to p80 of the petition, we state that the result of the election which returned Tinubu as the elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was ascertained and confirmed after counting of lawful votes of each of the candidates.
“We further state that the election and the return of Tinubu as the elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria followed the provisions of Section 133 and 134 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“We admit paragraph 81 of the petition only to the extent that the Presidential Election was contested by more than two (2) candidates and that a winner shall be declared only if he scores the highest number of votes cast at the election and has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the states in the Federation and the FCT, Abuja.
“We state that Tinubu scored majority of lawful votes cast at the Presidential election and satisfied the Constitutional requirement/threshold across the Federation and was duly declared and returned as the elected President of the FRN.”
Tinubu and Shettima in their response, denied the claim by Obi and challenged him to provide evidence that they did not score the majority of the lawful votes cast. On the issue of scoring 25% of the votes in the FCT, Tinubu and Shettima said it’s not mandatory.
“We deny the claims made in paragraphs 81 & 82 of the petition and challenge the petitioners to provide evidence to support their allegations.
“We argue that the petitioners’ interpretation of sections 133 and 134 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) is incorrect and contrary to the clear wording and intent of these provisions and the Constitution as a whole.
“We contend that section 133 of the Constitution is irrelevant in this case since, LP & Obi themselves have shown, there were more than two candidates at the election. Furthermore, the respondents state that Nigeria’s democratic process does not rely on an Electoral College jurisprudence, particularly with regards to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
“The respondents also refute the petitioners’ claim that a candidate must obtain 25% of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to be validly elected as President of Nigeria.
Note that Tinubu scored 90,902 votes, which represent approximately 20% of the votes while Atiku Abubakar of the PDP scored 74,194 votes, which represents 16% of the votes.
The Labour Party Candidate, Peter Obi won in the FCT with 281,717 votes which represents 61% .
The PEPT is set to commence hearing on the 8th of May, 2023.
Cardinal John Onaiyekan, former Catholic archbishop of Abuja, says “it doesn’t make much sense” for President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu to be sworn in before the conclusion of the election tribunal.
Tinubu is expected to be sworn in as president on May 29. His victory is being challenged in court by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
On Wednesday, the presidential election tribunalfixed May 8 for the hearing of the petitions.
Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, Onaiyekan said the system of electioneering in the nation should be reviewed, noting that it would produce winners who don’t have the shadow of the court lurking behind their victory.
There are cases in court that have not been disposed of. That is why we are in an anomalous situation. We have a president-elect whose election is being challenged and the court is handling it,” he said.
“I’m still waiting for the court to tell me who won the election. It doesn’t make much sense to be swearing in people when they are still in court.
“I know it has happened with governors but the outcome has really not been the best of all cases. I think we need to review our election process, so we do have a winner who will be sworn in and whom everybody would rally around.
It is a pity that it is taking longer for the court to come to its decision. My problem is that the whole system of our election must be properly reviewed so that it would be easier for winners to emerge according to the wishes of the people.
It is not right to have a system that is constantly contested. We should find out why is every election being contested.”
APC are aware of the rubbish but still wish to go ahead to Hand over to their selected candidate…… Let’s be watching the drama as it unfolds..
Students of Rising Sun Children School wear face masks as a preventive measure to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in their classroom in Yaba, Lagos, on October 12, 2020. (Photo by Benson Ibeabuchi / AFP) (Photo by BENSON IBEABUCHI/AFP via Getty Images)
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has called for a review of Nigeria’s educational curriculum to meet present-day realities.
The UNESCO director of the International Bureau of Education (IBE), Ydo Yao, made the call at a capacity development training workshop for officials of the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja on Tuesday.
Mr Yao said to address the education crisis, there was a need for action in making curriculum relevant to ensure quality in education and that values, knowledge and skills thrived. He said the curriculum was a central and irreplaceable component of any educational policy, which is also pivotal in transforming education.
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“You know, we used to say that curriculum is for education, while a constitution is for a democracy. It means the curriculum is the heart of education. So, when you talk about education, you are talking about content, programmes and learning,” Mr Yao explained. “So, if you want to transform education, and you don’t transform what is at the core of it, which is the learning, content and the programmes, your transformation has no meaning.”
Mr Yao described the curriculum as overloaded, outdated and short of present-day development, hence the need for review. He said the training was put in place to strengthen the capacities of specialists and officials in the ministry on eight thematic modules.
Meanwhile, the minister of state for education, Goodluck Opiah, says steps have been taken to rejig the curriculum.
Mr Opiah said, ”We recognise the fundamental role of curriculum in the drive for the attainment of globally agreed goals and country-specific aspirations. It remains the singular instrument capable of transforming the human capital base of a nation for effective contribution to nation-building and development.”
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The minister added, “Thus, in setting our education targets as articulated in the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) (2019 to 2022) for the education sector, curriculum and policy matters were identified and prioritised.”
Ismail Junaidu, the Nigerian Educational Research Development Council executive secretary, said the ministry had continued to strengthen school curricula with knowledge and skills on entrepreneurship, job creation and capital market studies.
Mr Junaidu also mentioned that teachers and education managers had been provided resource materials to help them implement the curriculum seamlessly.
“It is heart-warming to us at NERDC that this workshop is taking place at this time when we are set to review the senior secondary education curriculum. As part of preparations for the review, we have evolved a curriculum review model that is anchored on a participatory and equity framework,” said the NERDC chief.
He added, “A model that gives voice to all legitimate citizens in the curriculum development process.”
Tinubu Turns Down Wike’s Request to Repay Rivers for Flyovers on Federal Roads
Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the president-elect of the country, has made it clear that he will not refund the cost of flyovers constructed on the federal government’s road by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.
Our Reporter reports that Tinubu’s statement was made on Wednesday during the commissioning of the 12th flyover project carried out by Gov. Wike in Port Harcourt.
During his speech, Governor Wike made a plea to the President-elect to reimburse Rivers State for the cost of the projects carried out on the federal government’s road after he is sworn in as President on May 29.
The governor stated that a letter requesting the refund had already been prepared for the incoming governor of the state, Siminialaye Fubara, which he would sign when he assumed office and ask the President to approve the refund.
In response to Wike’s demands, Tinubu asserted that he did not owe the governor anything, emphasizing that the roads were being used by the people of Rivers State.
He said, “the 12 flyovers and the demands you made for refund l, I owe you nothing, it’s your road.
“You can’t chuckle at me and make a demand. You are the one using the road. I commend your effort. You have to lobby me.”
