THE BANE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY

BY DANIEL BULUSSON, ESQ

It is no longer news social media has contributed to the development of Nigeria in one way or other, it brought about a fast means of sharing information from the Government to the governed, it also turned some innovative youths into millionaires (e.g Linda Ikeji, Paystack, e.t.c), but then again, despite its advantages, it has created a vacuum that needs to be filled in our society.

The Federal Government which is made up of great men and women who grew up without the use of technology, are now faced with the issue of fake news and its effect in our society. Government Officials understand the importance of social media, that is why they employ people to run their social media handles, but because they are not conversant with the pace of technology, they are oblivious as to where to channel their resources to curb the cons of social media.

It is my humble opinion, that instead of pushing for legislations to regulate the use of social media, why not empower the players responsible for sharing information through the various social media platforms, by providing a pool of funds and an agency to support social media influencers, bloggers, online news media who genuinely vet and post information critical to the development of the country.

This way, the government creates a module of boosting economic opportunities for teeming youths who desire to use social media to bring about positive social change to the country. This in turn will create a pattern, where the youths instead of using social media to share personal proclivities, they engage themselves on how to use the social media to earn a living for themselves.

To cut the long story short, ‘fake news’ is the enemy of our society not ‘social media’, hence, the focus of the Federal government to regulate social media strictly because of the issue fake news is likened to a person using a hammer to crack an egg. The right approach to take is to tap into the fountain of talents wasting away and focus the attention and resources towards engaging their mind to use social media for the development and improvement of the country.

Daniel Bulusson is a legal professional and legal journalist. {Do send your observation{s}, comment{s} and suggestions to danielbulusson@gmail.com}

‘WAZOBIA’ AND THE FREE FALL OF NAIRA

Wazobia is a Nigerian who makes three million naira {N3,000,000.00} monthly, with high appetite for luxury and acquiry things, these include a seven million naira rented apartment on the island, a jeep of five million naira while his wife drives a three million naira SUV, his children all school abroad, his medical check ups and treatment are not done within the shores of the country either, not to mention the expensive parties and show off. In all these, wazobia saved little of his monthly salary and did close to nothing in producing alternative source of income to satisfy his taste, then the unfortunate happened, his monthly salary that he solely depended on was slashed to four hundred and fifty thousand naira {N450,000.00} monthly and ‘all hell was let loose’. Wazobia is now left with two options; either he borrows money to keep living a lavish lifestyle with the hope that things would return to normal, or he cuts down his expenses to fit the new income and possibly, find alternative measures to curtail the effect. The story of ‘Wazobia’ is similar to what the Nigerian economy is passing through at the moment and the reason for the free fall of naira, we convert our naira to dollars to purchase foreign goods and products that can be manufactured in Nigeria, we have placed too much dependence on oil as the only source of dollar influx into the economy that a crash in price {from about $116 per barrel in june 2014 to about $30 per barrel currently} shakes the whole nation, simply because, we spend the dollars as we make it and save little for rainy days like these. Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele sometimes in January told the senate that “45% of our foreign exchange earnings go into importation of food, fuel and fertilizer…” and the sure way to revive the economy is to produce and patronize locally made goods. President Muhammadu Buhari {GCFR} recently said “…We are not competing and exporting but importing everything including toothpicks. So why should we devalue our currency?... we want to be more productive and self-sufficient in food and other basic things such as clothing”. How hard can this be? Our brothers from the eastern region have proven on countless occasions that they have what it takes to produce locally made goods and vehicles {Innoson motors}, the land mass and fertile ground of the nation is enough to feed the whole country and also, export to neighboring countries, all it takes is patience and a paradigm shift in our choices, we shouldn't be importing toothpicks for Christ sake, at best, cut a match stick and pick your teeth, the problem is that some of the matches are even imported 'sef'. The way Naira has been plummeting in the international market gives one cause for concern, giving rise to questions like ‘the naira is already devalued at N385 to $1 at its current state, so why not devalue anyways?’ In my humble opinion, devaluing the naira would only provide a temporary relief as against a future devastating effect for the generations yet unborn, if you ask me, it is better to find our way out of the problem by encouraging our locally made goods and reduce dependence on oil than devaluation. It is an undeniable fact that times are hard for everyone, prices of goods have skyrocketed, and there is not enough money in the pocket to buy anything, but the truth is “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end”, if by 2019 the economy is worse than this, then we go back to the polls and exercise our right and vote them out, Shikena! #BuymadeinNigeria #Letsgivechangeachance #Timewouldtell

THE YOUNG LAWYERS ROLE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION

“Lawyers must not be allowed to take advantage of their profession to frustrate trial of a suspect. We have a duty to this country as ministers in the temple of justice” Femi Falana {SAN} The president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Augustine Alegeh {SAN} at the National Executive Committee meeting of the NBA held in Jos, Plateau State on 18th February, 2016 reiterated in his speech that the war against corruption can be won within the ambit of the law, “Counsel have a duty and are trained to prosecute or defend… it is laughable that an agency of Government would retain counsel to prosecute persons accused of corruption but frown at counsel representing such persons. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander” The fight against corruption seems to be making major headlines in the political scene, and we cannot deny the importance of the judiciary in achieving any meaningful result, equally important are the operators of the judiciary i.e the legal practitioners. The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission {EFCC} Ibrahim Magu was reported to say “Lawyers were frustrating the trial of treasury looters” and I wonder the reason for such, but I beg to differ because what the Chairman might see as frustration may just be a lawyer on the other side doing his job. It is understood that the Anti-graft agency are under pressure to recover looted funds and also secure a conviction, but in doing this they must be aware that the lawyers role is to represent his clients within the ambit of the law, nothing more and representing a client charged with corruption related offences doesn’t make the lawyer corrupt. The truth is, Lawyers can be involved in corruption in a number of different ways without their knowledge or acquiescence, and as minister in the temple of justice, we must endeavour to distinguish our roles as advisors, solicitors or advocates when representing clients, especially when active participation is involved and distance ourselves from celebrating criminality. Young lawyers can assist the fight against corruption by refusing to aid clients in corruption related offences like money laundering, or obstruct government agencies from carrying out their job, insist on due-diligence when creating legal structures for client or acting as intermediaries for transactions, avoid contribution of any sort to a judge that may be considered to “sweeten” the decision making of My Lords. The fight against corruption would be undermined if parties do not act in accordance with the rule of law, both parties must conform with the provisions of the law, any other way would be tantamount to sweeping corruption with another corruption.

UP AND RUNNING AGAIN!

Good morning and happy new year to our readers and followers, the last time we published any post was 23rd November, 2014, We sincerely apologize for the long delay in sharing the perspective of a young Nigerian on the state of affairs considering the fact that many events have been happening in our beloved country,from the fight against corruption, to the dwindling Naria, to the controversial budget, to the bread seller that became famous overnight and so on. The good news is we are up and running now, and intend to lend our voice objectively on the issues as they happen in the country, we don't just report the news, we express our views and opinions on the news, we say it as we see it without fear or favor and we hope to make it an interesting journey for you. Stay tuned as we return to doing what we know how to do best... Thank you.

KEEP KADUNA CLEAN!

Stumbled upon a law that caught my interest and kept me wondering why the crocodile city has not achieved much when it comes to cleanliness, talking about dirt in gutters and blocked drainages. The Kaduna State Environmental Protection Authority, Solid Waste Management Regulation No.1 of 2010 provided by the Government to keep the state clean.

Section (2) provides for the prohibition of throwing rubbish on the streets, e.t.c, it states that no person shall throw, lay or deposit litter, refuse or waste of any matter on any street, gutter, open space. In layman terms, na offense to troway trash like pure water sachets for street or gutters.

 

Section (3) is a provision of public refuse receptacles, for instance every Bus driver in any part of the state shall make use and maintain a waste bin in his vehicle at all times, i can say for sure i.e 100% certainty that most danfo buses in the state don’t have one and our enforcement agencies are yet to apprehend this drivers or at least, bring them up to date on the provisions of this law.

 

 

The Government are not without their own obligation, section (4) state that it shall be the duty of each Local Government Authority to locate, construct and maintain public refuse receptacles in strategic places , where residents may deposit their household waste, sadly this is not the position of things on ground, last week we spoke about where the peoples representatives are, this is one aspect where they are lacking.

 

A law would be meaningless without sanctions, section (16) provides for penalty and guess what? Any person who fails to comply with any of these provisions shall be guilty of an offense and liable on conviction to a fine of not more than One hundred thousand naira or not more than five years imprisonment.

 

 

 

Why then is kaduna state not there yet? Is it because the authority saddled with responsibility of enforcing this law i.e Kaduna Environment Protection Authority not performing to expectation?  Or is the Authority not well funded by the Government to carry out her duties effectively?

THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF KADUNA STATE

 

It is clear that the people of the state are unaware of this law, as such, Kaduna State Government and KEPA need do more to enlighten the people of the state in a bid to ‘Keep Kaduna Clean’

 

"Cleanliness is next to Godliness" lets endeavour to keep our environment clean!





WHERE IS THE PEOPLES REPRESENTATIVES?

It is a common thing for politicians in Nigeria to forget campaign promises when they get into power and return with fresh promises when they need re-election, the sad thing is that Nigerians have being falling for this trick since 1998.

Saw a road recently in Yelwa/Romi ward of Kaduna State that needs asking of elected representatives of the people. This road is harmful to legs and cars alike {without exaggerating} that the dilapidated state of the road in that area led to the death of a seven year old because of flood.



its almost a month since rain fell in Kaduna state but water no still free the road.

I would like to emphasise the fact that representatives of this ward are not appointed but elected, the people of the area chose them to help salvage their situation yet transformation is still far away.

One resident who pleaded anonymity said “we have to park our cars far from our houses because of how bad the road is” another said “it is worse at night, when there is no light most people dey use torchlight to find better place to pass for the road”

Spirogyras have taken over! 

It is disheartening that this ward is not even in a rural area with scarce development, it is placed in between two major federal roads which means a good road network would definitely do more in lessening traffic on the federal highways and also open up the area for commercial activities.

When i asked of the councillor of the ward and efforts taken so far to fix the roads, no one was able to give a convincing answer. A resident popularly called 'coach' said the money given to councillors for their ward is not enough to do any meaningful facelift.

But then i ask, how much does it cost to erect a culvert, how much does it cost to fix drainages et al, in my view the issue is not about the money but that people do not hold their representatives accountable on how tax payers money are spent.

A culvert on the age of collapse... waste is also taking over the road!

Having said that, government is a two way thing, the people also contribute one way or the other to the continued decay of the roads by disposing waste in the not to good drainages and road sides in simple words, with no close attention to sanitary solutions.

Residents had to construct a makeshift passage for cars!

 

Initially thought of titling this piece ‘where is the councillor’ because of how sad the state of the road is, but changed my mind when I saw reasons that it would be unfair to place all the burden on the councillor alone, where is the Kaduna state Government?.

The fact speaks for itself

This may not be the worst road in Nigeria but is surely one of the worst in the Yelwa/Boro ward, true story peeps the road from Halima junction to Ejeg filling station is 'a story for the gods'. My people abeg get your voters card so we fit choose who go work for us come 2015.

Middle of a road that looks so much as a drainage!

lets not fall for the same trick come 2015, let the best man win.

 

LETTER TO MALAM NASIR EL-RUFAI!

Sir,
It is with admiration and a heavy heart that I write this letter to you. Admiration because of my belief that you are the right person to take Kaduna state to the level it ought to be. However i am saddened by the fact that it is coming a little too late.

While declaring to run for the 2015 governorship elections under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) you said “We must move Kaduna state from a state where people live in mutual suspicion; where few people feel safe or secure and where nothing gets done”, I can only hope that if you eventually become the next Governor of Kaduna State things would change to a great extent.

Sir, many young ones are ready and willing to vote for you because they desire change but have certain worries that need clarification before they fully commit themselves to supporting you. We cannot say for sure if what we hear is true or just propaganda, however it may be, your campaign team has to work on allaying the fears of indigenes as to whether you are a fanatic or not. One young man said to me “this one he is bearing ‘malam’ hope we are safe?”, another said you once made a mockery of Jesus Christ on twitter.

No matter how good your intentions for Kaduna state are, indigenes need to be assured that if elected, you would be a Governor for all tribe and religion (NAKOWA), that development would not be segmented to a particular region as has been the norm all along, and also that appointments would be based on merit not religious divide, it is only through unity that Kaduna state can develop and having a Governor who is one sided would not bring meaningful change no matter how hard we try.

Sir, another group of people are scared of demolition, they say, “El-Rufai would come and demolish our buildings”, for the success of this course, it is imperative at this stage that every propaganda or fear of indigenes are put to rest by your campaign team, they should endeavour to inform the people on the true position of things as it is now and how things would be done if you assume power.

It is true that Kaduna lacks infrastructure that ordinarily should be available, like a shopping mall properly so called (Shoprite, Spar et al), cinemas, relaxation gardens, good road networks especially southern Kaduna that has suffered abandonment e.t.c and for a change like this to occur, some demolition must happen.

With humility sir, am a young man who is considered ‘a baby’ to the workings of politics, forgetting that General Yakubu Gowon {RTD} became Head of state under the age of 30, from my point of view and how it is on the street i.e where the common man lives and hustles, ‘little things can make the difference’ in determining who wins the 2015 election.

The people of Kaduna need to see you more often than before and I am not talking about on television, we need to see you going round the state and inspecting projects that need changing, we should hear that Malam Nasir El-rufai just left Sabon-Tasha on his way to A.B.U Zaria, or Romi on his way to Mando. It is not advisable to leave this sort of trips till after party primaries, get the support of the young people now and the primaries would be yours Insha Allah.

A Wiseman once said “you cannot continue to do the same thing all the time and expect a different result”, sir your campaign should not be business as usual i.e. restricted to jingles, posters, TV commercials and all, the people of the state should have a close connection with you, even if it means “ungwan” to “ungwan”, by all means oblige them and victory would be yours

I write this letter because am an ardent believer of what you stand for, it would be most unfortunate for the crocodile city if you lose the race, that is why I have voiced out my concerns that need working on.

Finally sir, It is not a ‘do or die’ affair, the Almighty gives and he taketh, if it is his will you shall win and if it is not, there is nothing we can do.

Yours truly.

DANIEL BULUSSON ESQ