Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives Vacates Seat.

by Eze Eluchie

By announcing his membership of another political party prior to the expiry of the tenure of the House for which he was elected, in the absence of either a division or factionalization in the party which sponsored his nomination into the House of Representatives, ex-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tumbawal, has vacated his seat in the House of Representatives as a Member representing the people of “Sokoto Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency” of Sokoto State, north-west Nigeria!!

The provisions of Section 68{1}(g) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution is explicit and requires nothing else to ensure its enforcement – the pronouncement, by ex-Speaker Tumbawal, of joining the membership of another political party suffices for law enforcement and other agencies of government charged with the enforcement of the Constitution to ensure that the spirit and letters of the Constitution of the Federal Republic is respected and enforced.

Mr. Tambuwal's continued pretense at occupation of the revered position of Speaker and membership of the House of Representatives, after his public pronouncement of becoming a member of another political party other than the one which sponsored his election into the present House of Representatives must be swiftly corrected and visited with the necessary legal and penal consequences, least of which are for impersonation and fraudulent misrepresentation.

An excuse that this explicit provision of our Constitution had not been previously enforced is a non-starter. We must enforce clear cut provisions of our Constitution to avoid the stigma of being regarded/treated with disdain and nonchalance by other actors in the international community and perceived as a ‘banana-republic’.

If we do not begin to take ourselves and our Constitution serious, we may wake up one day down the road from now, only to discover that the President of the Federal Republic, the President of the Senate, a State Governor or other high ranking elected public official has ditched his Nigerian citizenship in favor of a foreign nationality and we will be ruled over by a non-Nigerian, in violation of our Constitution, and be stuck with the lame excuse that previous violations of constitutional provisions as the qualification for contesting or remaining in elective positions had previously been violated without any consequences to the violator.

For starters, the various security agencies must withdraw the retinue of operatives previously attached to Mr. Tambuwal by virtue of his previous position as Speaker of the House of Representatives; the Clerk of the National Assembly must ensure that all properties attached to the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives are recovered and kept in safe custody pending when a new Speaker emerges.

Again, where is the Federal Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation?

Let us begin to take ourselves and our laws serious for once!

Picture: Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tumbawal.

Punishing the Heroes: When Politicians Make Public Health Decisions.

 by Eze Eluchie

The unimaginable scenario of a Farmer making decisions as to when and where to conduct an appendectomy or other medical procedures; or a Medical Doctor having the final say of how many floors to add unto a multi-storey complex, is vividly transformed into a real life horror when persons versed in extracting votes from a hard pressed population take upon themselves the arduous responsibility to, without any recourse to available science or relevant professionals, make decisions which adversely impact public health.

The recent decision of some State Governors in the United States (Governors of New York, New Jersey and Illinois States) ordering a mandatory quarantine of all health workers who traveled to work in countries overburdened by EVD upon their return to the States controlled by these Governors, is a most unfortunate and irrational public health decision taken by those who are apparently solely concerned with pandering to the whims of pedestrian fears and posturing to be ‘protecting’ a population scared by misinformation.

The mandatory quarantining of returning health workers is morally and practically equivalent to applying same quarantine policies to US soldiers and military servicemen returning from military operations overseas.

The reality is that these health workers who traveled to EVD ground-zero countries to assist in tackling the disease at source are heroes who are contributing their quota to ensuring that EVD is contained and does not spread around the globe. Actions, such as the knee-jerk policy being implemented in the 3 States of the US mentioned above, which stigmatize and virtually criminalize these health workers upon their return to the United States will directly serve to dissuade professionals whose expertise is greatly needed to stem the spread of EVD from volunteering to serve in countries where they are most required. The mandatory quarantining will serve to dissuade many professionals who are willing to participate in confronting EVD in the countries where it is attaining near endemic status, thus allowing the disease to further proliferate, eventually and ultimately becoming a greater danger to entire humanity, inclusive of the States taking the unhelpful ‘mandatory quarantine’ decisions.

Oddly enough, the small island State of Cuba, by deploying over 400 health care professionals to EVD ground-zero countries, is taking global leadership in the field of humanitarian and medical assistance, a field where the US once reigned unchallenged.

I do urge a rethink and eventual cancellation of the mandatory quarantine policy presently adopted by some States in the US.

Picture: Quarantine

Ceasefire with Islamist terrorists?

by Eze Eluchie

….And with incredulous haste, the Defense Spokesman, General Chris Olukolade, hurriedly announces an ‘immediate ceasefire’ with Boko Haram terrorists, without letting Nigerians or the world know what fire is being ceased? Perhaps we have some information that may assist the rest of the world also arrive at ‘ceasefire agreements’ with Al Shabaab, Al Qeida, Al Qeida in the Islamic Maghreb {AQIM} and the Islamic State!

Do these guys really know what they are dealing with?

Which of the objectives of Boko Haram as loquaciously announced by its purported ‘leader’, Shekarau, has been attained or conceded to? Creation of a Caliphate? Islamization of our population? Ethnic Cleansing? The continued decapitation of 'non-believers' in the Islamic faith? We need urgent answers!

Is this merely a ruse to allow terrorists to recoup their losses and rearm themselves for a more vicious assault?

What happens to the families whose loved ones have been bombed into early graves by the dastardly attacks of these terrorists?

What about justice for the countless Nigerians beheaded, raped and dismembered by these terrorists? Are their families and loved ones to cease their tears?

To spice up the ‘ceasefire’ deal, we are informed that the as at yet unspecified number of young female Chibok ‘abductees’ who have spent over 6 months with their ‘captors’, and whose very initial 'abduction' smirked of efforts at politicizing terror, will be released – and I guess we are all expected to jump up in shouts of Hurray?

What happens to the soldiers being court-marshaled as a result of actions during the war against terror and those already sentenced to death? Would there be a ‘ceasefire’ of such actions/sentences?

Considering the political developments surrounding the purported ‘ceasefire, particularly the recent declaration of intent to contest for the Presidency by an ex-military dictator who has severally expressed sympathy for BH terrorists (in one instance urging Federal authorities to refrain from killing the terrorists even in battle), one is forced to wonder if this is this merely a new chapter in the politicization of terror.

Are those superintending over our affairs really these naïve?

Ceasefires are always good to aid parties in conflicts work towards the resolution of armed conflicts, but some could in reality tantamount to capitulating to terror or outright defeat!    

Picture: The United Nations Headquarter complex, Abuja, destroyed in a Boko Haram suicide car bomb attack which left several persons, including United Nations staff members, dead.

A justiciable responsibility to prevent mass atrocities?

by Eze Eluchie

Can a responsibility to prevent mass atrocities be inferred from the coming into force of the Rome Statutes?

Can this responsibility be justiciable, such as to make it a crime punishable under International Law for a State not to act to prevent the commission mass atrocities?

For weeks, the world had known that the Syrian-Kurdish city of Kobani was within the sights of the Islamic State  (IS)militants and that when IS finally overruns Kobani, that mass killings and other atrocities tantamount to international crimes would be committed.

Yet, the authorities in Turkey, stood idly by, with its soldiers watching across unmarked borders, as the IS militants inched closer by the day to overrun Kobani. An overrun that is now leading to a massacre of monumental proportions.

What relevance is the much touted Responsibility to Protect (R2P) if there is no accountability for deliberate failure to stop the commission of mass atrocities, crimes against humanity and or genocides?



Picture: Mass exodus of Kurds from Kobani, Syria into Turkey to escape the advancing Islamic State 

The Echezona Project - Reuniting children displaced during Biafran Genocide

by Eze Eluchie

Efforts to trace the thousands of children ‘airlifted’ out of their places of origin in present day South Eastern Nigeria (during the Nigeria – Biafra War, 1967 - 1970) to places as diverse as Ivory Coast and Gabon is ongoing. At the end of the war, some of the ‘airlifted children’ were reunited with their families.

The Echezona Project seeks to identify and reunite children who were not returned to their kith and kin in South Eastern Nigeria.

The Echezona Project has already, via research undertaken in France, Nigeria, Ireland and the United States, sourced the identities and ‘points of departure’ of thousands of these children, collated details of the airlifts and will shortly be progressing to using trace technology to identify the families of the ‘airlifted children’ with the objective, where possible, to reunite these children with their filial relatives.

The Echezona Project Team, which I am a part of, is comprised of experts in diverse fields with myriad of experience, inclusive of persons who are part of ongoing efforts at using trace technology to reunite displaced peoples from the El Salvador Civil Wars and versed in ensuring accountability and closure for episodes of Genocide and Mass Atrocities

The right to an identity is an inalienable fundamental right. Let us strive to ensure Never Again!



Picture: Some of the Biafran children at point of airlift (usually, the only mark of name/origin is the little piece of white paper stuck unto the heads of the children as shown on one of the boys in the picture – this piece of paper would have dropped off by the time of arrival at the reception/refugee center)