U-Report: A Court In Anambra State Orders SARS To Pay 5 Million Naira To Onitsha Based Bussinessman For Unlawful Arrest, Torture

Reported By A Citizen Reporter

A High Court sitting in Ogidi, Anambra State has ordered the officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and an officer of the Nigerian Police Force to pay the sum of N5 million Naira as compensation to Ugochukwu Oraefo for extortion, illegal arrest, unlawful detention and torture.

Mr Ugochukwu Oraefo who is an Onitsha based businessman was sometime last year whisked away from his factory by men of Special Anti-robbery Squad to their office at Awkuzu, where he was unlawfully  detained, subjected to excruciating torture and criminally extorted the sum of Six Million Naira (N6,000,000.00) as ransom from him.

Consequently, Mr Ugochukwu, through his lawyer, Justus Ijeoma, the Executive Director of International Human Rights and Equity Defence Foundation (I-REF) instituted a fundamental right enforcement action against the Respondents.

Article: 2019 Elections In Nigeria And The Dilemma Of Victory

By Abiodun Komolafe

With the 2019 General Elections successfully put behind us, Nigerians may now access some semblance of peace. With the contenders and the pretenders having made a choice between ‘clinking glasses’ and ‘licking wounds’, I have no doubt in my mind that the sleeping dog will, at least, for now, advance some respite.

For us in Osun, the last elections conferred on us a new dawn! At least, the ruling party was seen to have taken a leap forward from the troubles and the difficulties that attended, particularly, the September 22, 2018 governorship election in the state. Not only that, March 9, 2019 has radically shamed a predatory opposition and its tiny appendages of accidental practitioners and conflict merchants who had hitherto fantasized that the election that threw up Gboyega Oyetola as governor of Osun was fraught with fraud. And, as fate would have it, the opposition played with a chance by recklessly expanding our national frontlines of political and economic inclinations and it paid dearly for it. Coincidentally too, some ‘Freedom Park politicians’ and distractive noisemakers who had earlier polluted the space with “less than 50 years” as the ‘suitable’ age for Rauf Aregbesola’s successor as governor of Osun could not even wait for the cock’s crow before switching their preference to a 63-year-old contestant. At any rate, elections are now over and it’s time governments across board settled down to serious business of governance.

Photonews: Kano State Election Re-Run Mayhem

News Release: MOSOP Hails Nigerian Government's Sacking Of Shell From Ogoniland

The umbrella body of the Ogoni people, MOSOP, has welcomed the ouster of the trans-national oil corporation, Shell from the Ogoni territory in response to over 26 years of consistent campaign by our people and her friends for its sack. Shell, as of fact, has been responsible for the huge environmental and health quagmire in Ogoni occasioned by her inhuman corporate conduct for which it has shown no remorse and which heightened Ogoni protests against the firm. The protests had in 1993 prompted the suspension of oil production in the area by the oil major. Shell was on trial and the outcome of that trial has been expressed in its expulsion from Ogoni; other similar results may be underway.

Special Report: African Centre For Leadership, Strategy & Development & Palace Of Priests Assembly, Priests Peace & Justice Initiative Pleliminary Statement On The Run-Off & Supplementary Elections In Six States Of The Federation

With the supplementary and run-off elections in six states of the federation underway in Adamawa, Benue, Bauchi, Kano, Plateau, Sokoto on 23rd March and the pending April 2019 collation, the cycle of voting in the 2019 general elections is expectedly coming to an end. The run-off and the supplementary holds within the context of a highly disputed electoral contest in the six states following the polls of Saturday 9th March 2019.

That election was marred by voter apathy and it threw a pall of disenchantment over the whole elections conducted in the 2019 general elections. The Centre LSD and PPA Observer Group had issued an interim report on the governorship and House of Assembly election where they noted the improvement in the conduct of the election especially in the speedy deployment of ad-hoc staff and materials to polling stations across the country. There has however, been a series of arguments by many Nigerians over the proprietary or otherwise for conducting run-offs and supplementary elections in those states. Believing that INEC has enough reasons for opting for the elections on Saturday 9th March 2019, we demand for;

Article: Advocacy Issues For The Federal Government Of Nigeria 2019 Budget

By Otive Igbuzor, PhD

BACKGROUND
The importance of the budget for effective service delivery in any country cannot be overemphasized. It has been recognised that the budget is perhaps the most important instrument for the development of any modern state apart from the constitution. It can be argued that it is only through the instrumentality of the budget that government can allocate resources to deliver services to the people especially the poor and excluded.

Article: Public Health Challenges In Nigeria

By Livy-Elcon Emereonye

There is no alternative to good health, and public health seeks to meet the health needs of the public. According to Everett Koop, “Healthcare is vital to all of us some of the time, but public health is vital to all of us all of the time.” Regardless of space and time, class and status, it impacts everyone.

The field of public health entails prevention and education of the general public to help improve the overall health and reduce risks to a population, as opposed to the provision of individual medical treatment to one patient at a time. Public health can be distinguished from healthcare in that instead of treating diseases and injuries one patient at a time, it focuses on preventing disease and injury in communities and populations. People who work in public health do not necessarily diagnose or treat patients on an individual basis like clinicians do in a clinical setting.

Special Report: Second Interim Report Of The Nigerian Bar Association Election Working Group On The 2019 Gubernatorial Elections

Preamble:

The Independent National Electoral Commission (“INEC”) on Saturday, March 9, 2019 conducted Gubernatorial Elections in twenty-nine (29) States of the Federation and also conducted elections into the Houses of Assembly of all the thirty-six (36) States of the Federation. Chairmanship and Councillorship elections for all the six Area Councils in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) also took place. The Elections were initially slated for March 2, 2019 but were postponed at the instance of INEC by one week.

The 125 (one hundred and twenty-five) branches of NBA deployed observers to the areas covered by the respective branches. NBA-EWG also utilized every lawyer who visited any of the polling units as an observer. Thus, the NBA-EWG received reports from its member-observers through its Toll-free line and other social media platforms. In appropriate cases, these reports were accompanied with photographic images and or videos. Critically, the NBA-EWG situation room made several telephone calls to its members who were in the field in order to authenticate reports received regarding incidents of violence, intimidation or threatened acts of violence.

In the light of observations of the members of the NBA Observation teams as well as reports received, the NBA-EWG reports as follows:

Photonews: "Candlelight Gathering" For Pius Adesanmi In Abuja

News Report: Popular Columnist, Pius Adesanmi, Dies In Ethiopian Plane Crash

Adesanmi

Courtesy: Punch Nigeria.

Popular political columnist, Prof. Pius Adesanmi, was among the 157 persons that died in the Ethiopian Airline crash.

The PUNCH learnt Adesanmi, who holds a Nigerian and Canadian passport, posted a photo from Addis Ababa Airport, Ethiopia, hours before the plane took off.

News Release: Nigeria's Election Umpire Suspends "Election Processes" In Rivers State

!

Photonews: Militarization Of (Eleme) Rivers State On Gubernatorial Election Day

Photonews: Soldier Arrested By Civilians In Rivers State For Allegedly Being In Possession Of Fake Governorship Election Result

Photonews: Palace Of Okochiri Okrika Monarch And Ex Niger Delta Militant, Ateke Tom Allegedly Attacked By Soldiers

News Release: Key Initiatives Launched At The Close Of The Africa Health 2019 Conference

The Africa Health Agenda International Conference (Africa Health 2019) concluded today with leaders making bold commitments to scaling up access to health for all in their countries. I’ve attached the official conference press release and highlighted below key announcements made and several initiatives launched at the conference. 

President Paul Kagame received the UHC Presidential Champion award for his relentless political leadership and accountability to advance UHC in Rwanda, and serving as an example for the region. In the past few years, Rwanda has significantly improved its focus on health care and managed to bring 90% of its population under the popular community-based insurance scheme. As the chair of the African Union, President Kagame has repeatedly voiced his support for UHC and encouraged leaders to commit to achieving the UHC vision.Ethiopia’s Minister of Health was also recognised for efforts to strengthen Primary Health Care, receiving the UHC Ministerial Champion award..

U-Report: Amref Health Africa And Rwanda Ministry Of Health Host The First-Ever Global Conference Focused On Universal Health Coverage In Africa

Report By A Citizen Reporter.

Rwanda's Minister of Health, Dr Diane Gashumba, urged governments across Africa to work together to fund health care systems on the continent at the opening of the Africa Health Agenda International Conference 2019 (Africa Health 2019) in Kigali, Rwanda.

“Investing in Universal Health Coverage is one of the smartest investments a country can make", said Dr Gashumba. In the past two decades, African countries have displayed commendable leadership in furthering the UHC agenda across the continent. We must ensure that this movement is sustained through greater domestic investments in health care and that all ministries and stakeholders do their part.

Article: Lagos Before Nigeria

By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat 

More than 50 years before the creation of Nigeria as a united entity, Lagos is already a major centre of modern civilisation. 

Lagos history is rich in Yoruba tradition, trade and commerce, infrastructural development and cosmopolitanism." -EXTRACTED

In the past few days, i have followed the unhealthy debate between easterners in Lagos and their host and i must say that such is really uncalled for. 

No tribe or race is an island of knowledge and civilisation. At one time or the other, each one of them contributed in one way or the other. 

News Report: Group To Protest Buhari's Win

Buhari

Courtesy: Daily Trust

The Occupy Nigeria Movement has described the just concluded presidential election as “worst form of election robbery meted on the Nigerian people” and that it will protest against it.

The statement further noted that “It is an insult to the Nigerian people that INEC would allow an election in which voters were intimidated, maimed and even killed to stand.”

The group also condemned alleged use of thugs to intimidate legitimate citizens from exercising their civic rights.

“Some thugs constituted themselves into a government in a society governed by laws, and prevented legitimate citizens from exercising their franchise, makes a mockery of the entire law enforcement system and to rub it in the government and its agencies have turned a blind eye to this situation.