There is no statement as true as the fact that social media has revolutionised life in Nigeria and the entire world. From politics to business, personal relationships to security, religion and the sharing of information, social media has provided a platform with which all may excel. As a tool for seeking political change, critics, activists and other political agents continually engage each other in a battle to champion the course of their principles, beliefs and actions.
The youths have also found an avenue for creating friendships, building relationships and expressing themselves. Lives have been saved, stolen properties recovered and useful information shared all thanks to the advent of social media. Politicians also are wary of it because it has become a strong force in shaping public opinion, little wonder most public officers are now more conscious of the message their actions and in actions convey in the virual world of social media.
Social media however has a down side which is misinformation. Many atimes, i have received false messages from well meaning friends, who out of the abundant care in their hearts, have shared some of such false information without taking the time to verify the source or truth of these statements, i have since deceased from sharing information whenever i am not sure of its authenticity.
No doubt, our precious platform for expression must be protected, i observed that it pours its wrath on who ever tries to curb it's freedom, you can ask David Mark, he was trending for about 6 days and not for the right reasons, when he made a comment which was construed to be an indication of the ruling class' intention to censor social media. We,on the other hand, however have a responsibility to keep social media pure, reliable and relevant in the scheme of things.
We can achieve this simply by being cautious of the messages we share. This is not a call for you to stop abusing politicians who have erred, the fundamental right of freedom of speech has already taken care of that. This however, is a call for awareness. We must be aware of the effects our massages may have if they are false.
From today, i humbly charge you to always confirm any information before you share, lest we give those seeking to scuttle our freedom ammunition with which to shoot us down.
I recently started working with a rights based NGO called Project Alert on Violence Against Women somewhere in Lagos State. Our major work involves Gender based violence issues involving women and young girls' rights and other things in between. We also have a shelter for women to "cool off" or to live temporarily if they are having issues on the home front or suddenly homeless.I'd like to share some information that I've gathered in my short time working here.
GBV(gender based violence) is real! It is very common and it is grossly under-reported. Mostly because of the usual "what will people say" behaviour and the lackadaisical attitude of the Police. Violence here includes psychological trauma, physical beating,assault, rape(even in marriage, yes, it happens) and so many other things.
A lot of women go through some form of violence in their home,mostly from their partners(husbands,lovers). They are beaten, raped, starved, deprived of a social life, some depend on their husbands financially, some are hated because they earn more than their partners or because they are more educated, others have their children taken away and some, their partners decide to keep malice for weeks and weeks. And these women go through these things with little or no support even from fellow women! Some of them wait until the beating has landed them in the hospital or, resulted in the death of a child. We had a case where the husband of a certain woman, poured acid on his wife and then killed their only child!
Some of them say, "oh he started beating me when we where newly married, but I thought he would change" others say, "my family pressured me into marrying". There are a few that married the men against their family's advice not to.Abuse does not no age or class, it affects everyone! Please do not keep silent, speak up and seek help! This culture of silence should be discouraged. The men too should help by reporting any known case to the nearest police station and ensure that there is a follow up.
Young girls should be encouraged to report any form of abuse by anyone to their parents or an older person.Ill say this, a woman is entitled to bodily integrity, not inhuman treatment and no form of discrimination!
If you are experiencing any form of abuse or violence or you just have a need to talk to someone and share your burden through counselling, please call Project Alert on 08180091072. Or visit our website at projectalertnig.org. We will be glad to help.
I came across this article on sahara reporters, if the facts and figures are true, then President Jonathan has got to defend himself and tell Nigerians his side of the story. Surely he must have an explanation. I thought to share anyway;Former house of reps member Dino Melaye
By SaharaReporters, New York
The Anti-Corruption Network has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to find the strength of character, moral fortitude and dedication to duty that this High Office demands.
In a statement signed by Dino Melaye, its Executive Secretary, identified a "dark and dangerous trend" which can lead Nigeria to the brink of a precipice:
• The Obasanjo regime left the country with over $18 billion in the Excess Crude Account and some US$ 34 billion in Foreign Exchange reserves, in addition to paying off our foreign debt of over US$34 billion including the interest.
"By contrast, in just four years, from 2007 to 2011, the Goodluck/Yaradua's administration (together with late President Yar'Adua) has managed to exhaust the Excess Crude Account, and diminish our Foreign Reserves to negligible levels," the statement said.
• An enormous escalation in government debts to over US$ 44 billion of domestic. (11.2 trillion Naira debt in total), while external debt now stands at US$ 4 billion, although receipts from petroleum production in those same four years are over US$ 300 billion (48.9 trillion Naira).
• The various probes into malfeasance in administering the subsidy regime estimate the bill to the nation at between N2.3 trillion for just last year. The statement notes that this does not even factor in the arbitration award (judgment) against NNPC for US$5.5 billion for over lifting by NNPC of crude oil during your tenure as President."
• The Yar'Adua/Jonathan administration has received appropriations of over 16 trillion Naira in the last four years, compared with a total of 12 trillion Naira appropriated during Obasanjo's entire eight years. Yet we are now in debt of nearly N11.3 trillion.
• This year, the National Assembly appropriated N800 billion Naira for petroleum subsidy, but several accounts indicate that those funds have already been exhausted, applied not to this years' consumption of petroleum products, but to servicing last year's debts.
"Under this administration and under the watchful eye and direction of the Honourable Minister of Petroleum, NNPC continues to deduct funds from the proceeds of sale of crude oil at source before remitting the balance to the Accountant General and Central Bank of Nigeria eight years after such practice was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court."
Looking at all this, the group stressed that the only thing more egregious is that the National Assembly has yet to take the matter up as is their constitutional role and the purpose for which they represent their constituencies.
Wondering if Nigeria has gone bust in the midst of an oil boom, Anti-Corruption Network noted, "Under this administration the greatest concentration of wealth has flowed into the fewest hands, and much of that wealth has been spirited away to foreign countries.
"A combination of corruption and incompetence has led some commentators to compare this administration with a criminal enterprise. Such a combination is among the greater threats to the health and viability of our young democracy. It is conduct so illegal and in such blatant disregard of the constitution, laws of our land and the integrity of the diverse polity that is Nigeria that it begs the question as to whether it can raise to the level of gross misconduct in the performance of the functions of the President's office.
The Anti-Corruption Network further pointed out that the entire process of crude oil sales is approved through Mr. President's office and from the Minister of Petroleum, and warned that as chairman of the board of NNPC, the President and the minister bear responsibility for the deductions and thus for the violations of the Constitution they swore to uphold.
"Under this administration, and in contravention of section 83 of the constitution, and section 44 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, borrowing was made, often in the form of Sovereign Debt Notes issued by the Debt Management Office, to finance products imported into Nigeria and without approval of the National Assembly to borrow said amounts and in excess of funds appropriated by the National Assembly to meet the petroleum subsidy bill," the statement said.
Addressing the President directly, the group said, "Under your administration and in contravention of existing presidential directives deregulating the price of Kerosene, importers of kerosene were eligible to recover payments from the petroleum support fund when no such sums had been appropriated for the same and in violation of sub-sections 80(3) and 80(4) of the Constitution, laws, rules and regulations for eligibility for payments under the Petroleum Support Fund."
RE: CAMPAIGN AND ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MY PERSON.......HERE WE GO AGAIN!
My attention has been drawn to various newspaper paid advertisements calculated at disparaging my person and aimed at discouraging me from discharging my responsibilities as a legislator and as the leader of the opposition in the House of Representatives. . To my traducers let me quickly and unequivocally state that i am not deterred but remain focused and even emboldened in my determination to continue to bring germane national issues to the fore and to hold the presidency and those in charge of our affairs accountable. Because I believe in accountability, I also must be accountable to the electorate. It is for this reason and this reason alone that I have decided to respond to a faceless and amorphous group that lacks the courage to affix their real names to the publications.
Let me state very clearly that yes I was sanctioned by the Georgia Bar Disciplinary Board for professional misconduct and negligence due to an unfortunate ethical violation that took place about 10 years ago in 2003. There are no ifs, buts or ands about it. However here are the facts. Verifiable facts.
1. I returned to Nigeria in 2002 to prepare for party primaries and general elections. Prior to leaving the US, I had left instructions with my paralegal to close out pending files when due. He had instructions to pay my client 25000 dollars whenever her cheque was sent in. The cheque did not come in until January 2003 as the records show and at which time I had already been in Nigeria for over 6 months. Unfortunately after paying in the cheque as instructed, he withdrew the money again as instructed with cheques I had given him for sundry matters and he never paid the client but made away with it.
2 . This did not come to my knowledge until I received a letter from the Georgia Bar in 2005. The letter was addressed to my Lagos address which I had left with the Georgia Bar as my contact address for any housekeeping matter that may arise after I might have left. It is necessary to state this as it is alleged that I absconded. On the contrary, i informed the State Bar that i was moving back to Nigeria and left a forwarding address and email. Both remain valid till date.
3. Upon receipt of the letter from the Bar, I immediately travelled to Atlanta to find out what had gone wrong. Upon discovery of what had happened and being unable to trace the paralegal, I found myself in a bind as the disciplinary committee insisted I had violated rule 1.15 of Georgia Professional conduct pertaining to safe keeping, co-mingling of funds and allowing others to handle clients money. I accepted full responsibility and was sanctioned with a suspension. Had i anything to hide, i would not have gone back to Atlanta to clear all the issues.
4. This was a matter of not complying with strict ethical rules. At no time was i tried by any court for any criminal offence as it was never such. Attached is a letter from the State Bar of Georgia and paragraph 2 is very instructive. It should be noted that the Supreme Court of Georgia is vested with jurisdiction over professional ethics cases.
5. As evidenced in the attached letter, i am eligible to practise law in Georgia and remain in good standing. A convict can NEVER be eligible to practise law in the United States!
6.On the issue of change of name, my family has always used the names Gbajabiamila and Gbaja interchangeably. For me, Gbaja was a lot easier for pronounciation in a foreign country and Gbajabiamila was more desirable for my adventure into politics for the purposes of name recognition. Any suggestion that i changed my name to avoid being traced smacks of desperation to make a baseless allegation stick. Indeed i have maintained Gbaja as my facebook name and other documents including my international passport.
7. It should be noted that by law 33 percent of sums recovered is the legal fees charged by a US attorney for personal injury cases. Therefore the amount was 25000 less 33percent legal fees. No sane person would put his legal or political career in jeopardy for that.
8. Because of my strong belief in accountability and unknown to my traducers, i had publicly disclosed this incident to the whole world in a book (FEARLESS) about my political career that was published by Dr Wale Okediran (a renowned author) and launched June 27th of this year. I will refer this faceless group to Page 29 of the book which speaks to the issue. It is clear therefore that i had nothing to hide.
9. The cowardly act of this group and its paymasters shows unfortunately how low and degenerate our politics has become. To the discerning, it is obvious where these attacks are coming from and inded a crying shame that an elected representative can no longer speak freely in defence of those who elected him and in the interest of the country. I find it rather curious that these attacks came on the heels (only 3 days) of my moving for articles of impeachment against Mr President come September 18 if the proper thing is not done and the constitution and laws of the country continue to be violated. At no time did i ever think taking on a powerful office would be a tea party or would not produce virulent attacks. Such would be naivete on my part.However i am propelled by the belief that the hottest part of hell is reserved for those who say nothing when they should.
I wish to state that i have never prophesed to be saintly neither have i paraded myself as perfect but my imperfections should not and will not stop me from doing that which is right. I have always believed and still do that a mandate is not fulfilled nor does it end upon election, rather it is fulfilled in standing up after the election to speak for the people who gave you that mandate. I have been given a mandate three times and i will continue to do the bidding of the owners of that mandate.
For the avoidance of doubt let me repeat my comments on the floor of the House just 5 days ago: " i like my President, but i like my people and my country more. If Mr President does not implement the budget 100% by September 18, this House must begin to file articles of impeachment against him". To this faceless group my postion has not changed.
I must also remind Mr President that it is on record that i fought tirelessly for him to be made the Acting President in this country in the face of serious opposition and at great risk to my wellbeing. I was the first and only legislator to move a motion to that effect on the floor when it was difficult to do so. It is with that same passion that i will and must continue to push that he obeys the laws of the land. That is my job. No more no less, amd for that i have no apologies.
I have stated my case now let the President state his.Now as we were saying Mr President sir before the debate was rudely interrupted by these guys, where is the peoples' money? We must as a country learn to address issues and not skirt them. We must leave shadows alone and deal with substance.
