…Calls for urgent UN reform as panacea for world peace

Global peace advocates and experts have called for urgent reforms of the United Nations and the enthronement of a more democratic global order as a panacea for attaining global peace and security.

The experts, who spoke at the unveiling of a book: “Towards Effective World Security” written by a Nigerian scholar and international affairs analyst, Mr. Uche Nwankwo in Abuja at the weekend, warned that that the current global system remains dangerously skewed in a favour of a few powerful nations and is susceptible to conflict.

In his keynote address titled ‘Nigeria: Flying Blindly in the Global Space’, Chairman of the occasion and veteran columnist, Mr. Owei Lakemfa, warned that the world is moving toward a dangerous tilt that must be checked to avoid further escalation of conflicts.

He noted the growing intolerance in international politics and the labeling of those who question dominant narratives as defiants

He said, “Just a few weeks ago, the world tilted towards a global conflagration. We all could have been endangered; indeed, we all are endangered.

“We are tilted towards a unipolar world where all countries are told there is just one superpower at whose shrine we must bow and worship.

“Foreign relations is being reduced to a religion in which non-believers are treated as devils, and believers who raise eyebrows are pronounced heretics.” Lekemfa said

Lakemfa warned that global conflict affects everyone and called for the democratization of the United Nations.

He said, “If humanity were to believe in democracy, it would have started with the democratization of the UN. Did the UN Charter not state that all Member countries are equal?

“Specifically, the veto is a violation of Article 2 of the UN Charter which states that: ‘The Organisation is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.’”

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He lamented Nigeria’s diplomatic gaps, saying, “As for my dear country, Nigeria, without ambassadors in other countries, it is like a bird flying with one wing. Indeed, under this government, we might be flying blindly in the global space.”

The Publisher of Vanguard Newspaper, Mr. Sam Amuka, who was represented by Vanguard’s Northern Regional Editor, Soni Daniel, identified peace and security as prerequisites for development and described the book as a vital tool for global transformation.

He commended the author for his foresight in proposing ideas that could influence world leaders and international behaviours.

He said, “Peace and security form the bedrock of development. And if peace and security are jeopardised, there will be no development. We may continue to grope in the dark, believing that we can use weapons or politics, but we’ll just be moving in circles.

“Until we have peace in Gaza, in Sudan, Somalia, Ukraine and so on, even the big powers won’t sleep. They need the resources in those small countries. The world needs to be in a more conducive state for everyone to be happy and safe.

“So thank you for bringing all of us together to think and reflect. Some ideas will flow from this book to the powers that be, the United Nations, ECOWAS, and so on.”

In his welcome remarks, the Author, Uchenna Nwankwo said he was inspired by a lifelong passion for global peace, dating back to the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, which he heard about as a child in his remote village in Southeast Nigeria.

He said global issues captivated him even before he became aware of colonial Britain.

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Commenting on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Nwankwo said, “They were like twin brothers. But today, they are at each other’s throat. The great achievements these two had made in the past, working together as a country, are now like a great mistake that has turned around to mock their disunity.

“It is high time Russia gave up on its war with Ukraine, which is a big distraction to the whole world, and re-join the progressive movement for world peace.”

Nwankwo added that his book is not about Russia alone, but a clarion call for global reforms.

“This book is about the safeguard of nations and the achievement of peace and unity in the world at large as the United Nations totters to the point of going the way of the League of Nations,” Nwankwo noted.

Book reviewer and literary critic, Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, in a speech titled ‘Workable Ways to World Peace’, hailed Nwankwo’s work as a bold charge toward democratizing the UN and averting future global conflicts.

He traced the historical roots of international peace efforts, from Pierre Dubois’ call for arbitration in 1305 to Immanuel Kant’s 1795 Perpetual Peace, and drew parallels to Nwankwo’s proposals.

Uzoatu praised Nwankwo’s clarity and visionary thinking, likening his ideas to those once dismissed as absurd but later embraced as transformative.

He said, “A measure of joy comes from the knowledge that there are thinkers like Uchenna Nwankwo, who are committed to offering the world pathways to global peace and sustainable security.

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“Nwankwo proposes that a World Assembly be established to replace the General Assembly, with power-sharing among nations based on three factors: population, economic power, and the equality of states.

“This is the classical march of democracy that will empower the UN and give it leverage to hold every nation accountable, big or small.”

“Galileo had his idea about the earth moving around the sun denounced by the Church, only for the Church to apologize much later. Nigeria, and indeed the world, needs optimistic thinkers like Nwankwo.”

Delivering his remarks, Ambassador, Embassy of the Philippines in Nigeria, Mersole Mellejor said the book launch was timely and deeply significant.

He likened the event to the Philippines’ 127th anniversary of independence, reflecting on how today’s struggles are less violent but more economic in nature.

Ambassador Mellejor also disclosed that the Philippines had submitted its candidature for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council and intends to propose structural reforms.

He said, “The subject of this work is very relevant at this time in this world. It’s not just about physical presence anymore; what matters is that these ideas are heard and circulated widely.

“We are a big diaspora country, and global security is very important to us. Wherever there is conflict , whether in Ukraine, the Middle East, or Africa, we are affected because our nationals live there.

“The UN has brought 75 years of general peace. But it must be made more representative of its member states. Every country deserves the security to pursue its development and protect its people,” the envoy added.
(VANGUARD)

Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebuland, has joined his ancestors

The monarch died on Sunday at the age of 91, hours after the announcement of the death of his longtime friend and former president, Muhammadu Buhari.

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Adetona, who ascended the throne on April 2, 1960, reigned for over 64 years, making him one of the longest-serving traditional rulers in Nigerian history.

Details later…

By Festus Adedayo

Sometime in the early 2000s, at the cusp of Tafa Balogun’s glory as the Inspector General of Police, an oil magnate from a Southwest riverine area was arrested. He was travelling into the state capital from his riverine part of the country. It was at nocturne. The oil magnate, who moved like an Oba, was in a convoy of cars. Inside the car was a falange of private security persons. They were armed to the teeth with sophisticated weapons. It was obvious that this Oba-like man was into oil bunkering as well. At a checkpoint, the police stopped the convoy and subjected it to a needle-search scrutiny. Alarmed at the weaponry in transit at that unholy hour, the policemen promptly radioed the state headquarters which ordered that the oil magnate and his convoy be brought. From there, Abuja was contacted. Tafa Balogun then ordered that the oil magnate be flown to meet him at Louis Edet House. By the time the police finished wedging the fear of God into the magnate’s heart, he had turned into jelly. His face deadpan, the late IGP, who was notorious for his obsession for automobiles, made his demand. The latest BMW SUV was the atonement to set him free.

Left with no choice but to succumb to this extortionist gambit, the oil magnate promptly had the IGP’s choice car wheeled to Balogun’s secret Lagos automobile mart-looking car deposit center. Miffed by this extortion, my source told me the oil magnate immediately ordered same car for himself. Less than a year after, a state governor, who Balogun helped bury his rotten corpse, got a demand of two Mercedez Benz automobiles from the police top brass. His Secretary to the State Government got the order to take the newly purchased cars to the IGP’s vehicle assembly point. He later told his governor boss, “You would think you were in a car mart.”

I recommend to you a copy of Wale Adebanwi’s A Paradise for Maggots (2010) for details of how Tafa Balogun’s lustering police career ended in ignominy. Inside this epiphany, you will encounter how Balogun, not minding his elephant size, went on all fours to plead with rookie police officers to let him off the EFCC hook and how a low-rank police officer, Nuhu Ribadu, made a total mess of him. Balogun died almost unsung a few years after. You would imagine that successive IGPs would learn a huge lesson from Balogun’s fall and not wear such ignominious apparel in future Oro cult festivity. No, they haven’t. To underscore why man should outgrow the facts of his fall, Yoruba use the fire insect (Ìpìn) as illustration. Ìpìn singes the flesh and my people say no animal on earth should wear that same cloth it sheds (Kò s’éranko tó jé f’aso Ìpìn bo’ra.)

For almost an eternity, the rot in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has engaged Nigerians of diverse strata. Being the son of a policeman, I am a stakeholder and also a victim of the rotten system. Theories have been propounded to articulate the rot. Policing literature is replete with all sorts of explanations. The rotten-apple thesis seems to be the most dominant. Today, the police has this notorious acclaim of a hopelessly corrupt and abusive institution, an agent of violence that is manifestly evil. It is also said that the innumerable police roadblocks and checkpoints in Nigeria, rather than being crime clean-up centers, are more of enablers and instruments of corruption and barefaced human rights abuses. I once wrote about how, in the 1980s, at a police checkpoint in Ilesa, today’s Osun State, a police constable by the name Ifeanyi suggested to my late father that a vehicle owner, inside of whose car loads of cash were found, should be murdered. My father stylishly sidestepped Ifeanyi’s suggestion and got the man to leave urgently.

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The rotten-apple theory especially has been knocked severally as explanation for and antidote to the cancer-like metastasis of rot in the Nigerian police. Extortion through arbitrary detention and in some cases, arbitrary execution of detainees are rife in the Nigeria Police Force. Truth be said, police corruption in Nigeria today is so systemic and widespread that you could hardly get one percent of its workforce free from the huge viral load. In Nigeria, this even sounds true and also, alien. To control corruption and arbitrariness in the Nigerian police, we should look at the police as an organization and not the individual. In any case, finding a honest Nigerian policeman is akin to, in the words of Bongos Ikwue, searching for a virgin in a maternity ward.

Apart from the above theories, other factors have been adduced for the rot in the Nigerian police. First is the colonial legacy of Nigerian police. The second albatross of current decadent NPF and the rot within it is what is called the military legacy. The long years of military rule are seen as responsible for the marginalization and poor funding of the force. It is said to be responsible for the coercive psychology of the police, too.

Corruption seems to be the least of the vices in the Nigerian police. The vices range from brutality, coercion, to human rights abuses. It is the conclusion of most reports on the police in Nigeria that its impoverishment is a significant factor in the general climate of popular discontent in the police and is the parent of abuses and corruption in the force. The only means of survival for many of the policemen in Nigeria is extortion. It is a common way for its lower cadres to supplement their meagre incomes.

Some weeks ago, I was at the notorious and infamous Ibadan police station called Iyaganku. I was counsel to some persons accused of electricity theft. There, I confirmed that anyone judging the policemen we see outside by their outward manifestations is the proverbial man who accuses the knock-kneed of wobbly foot-dragging. The fault is actually from the foundation. The police station is the picture of the rot. At Iyaganku, I saw dirty, crumbling police residential houses which were probably built six decades ago. On ropes tied to balustrades were hung unpleasant-looking clothes. Broken glass panes were replaced with sooth-stained woods. Its roads, which apparently once bore tars, looked like bombed streets of Mogadishu. It was a terrible neighbourhood to behold. The whole place stank like the inside of Death’s hovel. When I moved closer to one of the residential houses, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Broken sewage and gutters had a tribe of maggots brimming out of them like traders in a night market. Police children ran over one another as they playfully encircled these ponds of rot, dead to the colony of germs and diseases lurking around.

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Conversely, fat-stomached officers walked about Iyaganku police station. Their rotund, overfed bellies were apparently proceeds of illicit graft earnings. The officers looked like bloated bedbugs. They seemed to be scanning every entrant into the police station as a scientist scans an object just fallen from Mars. No one needed to tell you they were scanning for the next victim to drain their blood. Then compare them to junior officers dressed in multi-layered uniforms with shoes whose only resemblance to others’ is the black colour. Some had missing uniform buttons and torn breast pockets. It suddenly occurred to me: how can anyone expect a sane police from this tribe of frustrated persons who live in this place?

A recent interview which went viral, granted by ex-Lagos Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, eventually burst the bubble. So also did a viral video of a retired police officer, a Superintendent of Police, who after 35 years in service, was paid a pittance of N2m as retirement allowance.

“When I joined the Nigeria Police in 1984, my first posting in 1985 was Sagamu (Ogun State)” Owoseni began. According to him, in the station where he was posted, there were stationed there Land Rover vehicles and lorries belonging to the police. Any policeman being posted out would be conveyed by vehicles. There was a fuel dump, like a filling station and mechanic workshop belonging to the police. This was where all spare parts were kept. The DPO had a safe containing information money to give informants. Two pairs of uniforms and brand new shoes were given yearly to junior rank policemen while officers, though bought theirs, had them highly subsidized. They were imported from England. “It was such that soldiers befriended police officers and gave them money to purchase police shoes for them,” Owoseni said. “Policemen being posted out of their stations were given 28-days allowance money in lieu of notice. Hotels in the neighbourhood befriended DPOs so that they could let posted policemen lodge with them. There was money to feed inmates in the cells. It was the police with dignity that we met.”

Now, it is as if government is deliberately punishing the young policemen, Owoseni said. “It is from these paltry salaries that those policemen buy their own uniforms. If you gather ten policemen now, they will wear different uniforms and different standards. There is no standard again. As they are collecting their salaries, they are deducting money to buy fuel for police vehicles, if there are vehicles at all. There are no more rain-capes, nothing. How do you treat men like animals and expect those horrible behaviour associated with police to be absent? Today, if a policeman dies, his burden is left to his family. His police colleagues would gather money to bury him,” he lamented. Owoseni said a police DPO gets budgetary allocation of N30,000 for a quarter. As a retired Police Commissioner, Owoseni said his monthly retirement salary is N70,000. When you compare what Nigeria pays soldiers who also have the fortune of sitting atop the trillions of Naira budgeted for insurgency, you will weep for the Nigerian police.

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It is no doubt that Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police, is sitting on a house of rot. When you see the IGP, with his beautiful police uniform and shining shoes, know for a fact that under this facade is a tribe of maggots festooning him all over. After the retired Superintendent of Police in the viral video shook the country to its nadir with that shocking revelation, Egbetokun claimed he was not aware of the retirement payment fiasco. It was a lie from the pit of hell. He was. In fact, his volte-face revealed the underbelly of the force. It is said that the various billions of Naira voted for infrastructure upgrade of police stations and barracks get filched by an unholy trinity of federal legislators, police commission and police top brasses. Successive police IGPs have been content with corruptively enriching themselves from graft and extortion and retiring into wealth thereafter, rather than bothering about the rot inside of which the police institution is trapped. Unfortunately, any discussion of the issue of welfare by the police is considered as threat to national security.

As Yoruba say, it is how you present that is the measurement of reactions to you (Irinisi ni isonilojo). A people is appraised by the quality of their police. If the present government does not bypass the maggots-brimming police institution and carve a future, as well as a better image and look for Nigerian policemen, we should all be prepared to stand up to it. You may not queue on same political thoughts with Omoyele Sowore. You may even not like his brashness. However, Sowore’s call for protest on July 21 against Nigerian police deplorable state is protest for a good country. The El Dorado we all construct in our minds of a great Nigeria can never come to reality if we continue to be surrounded by a tribe of maggots. That is what the Nigeria Police Force is. The NPF collapse is a metaphor for Nigeria. This country cannot continue to sell sands as it does and not collect pebbles as payment.