In a hall that could conveniently sit 250 persons, as at 15 minutes past 10 AM, the total number of people in the Senate Conference Hall, room 0.22 of the Nigerian National Assembly were 22 [not excluding caterers and housekeeping] – Oh! None of the “high-table” members were present either.

By the time the hearing oragnised by the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters commenced at 11:45 AM, the audience were no more than 70 thereabouts, mostly made up of news reporters, which is a shame really especially for civil society who champion their opinions and call for action using social media. The committee was chaired by Senator David Umaru

Let’s press the history tab, to acquaint ourselves with the Frivolous Petition Bill 2015 (SB. 143) –  before proceeding to the Public Hearing.

The bill, introduced by Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, is officially called “An act to prohibit frivolous petitions; and other matters connected therewith,” and has been nicknamed “Social Media Bill” by concerned citizens. The bill requires any person submitting a petition to the government to have an accompanying affidavit. However, the bill goes much further as we see in Section 3(4):

“Where any person through text message, tweets, WhatsApp or through any social media post any abusive statement knowing same to be false with intent to set the public against any person and / or group of persons, an institution of government or such other bodies established by law shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction shall be liable to an imprisonment for 2 years or a fine of N2,000,000 or both such fine and imprisonment.”

The Senate Committee had in attendance Senator David Umaru, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Senator Chukwuka Otazie, Senator Bababjide Omoworare, Senator James Manager, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and Senator Joshua Lidani; on the other end, the audience was composed of delegates who had made submissions to the committee on the Bill, social media champions, members of civil society, law practioners, news agents, national assembly staff and concerned citizens.

However, the absence of some key MDAs such as the Public Complaints Commission [PCC], The Nigeria Police, State Security Service, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC], Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission [ICPC], Voice Of Nigeria [VON], Nigerian Communication Commission [NCC], Nigerian Bar Association [NBA], Federal Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who will clearly be affected by the passage of the bill came as a huge surprise. It also begs the question, are these agencies working in the interest of the citizens or for a selected few?

In the course of the hearing, we were informed that the IG of police supported the bill.

In his opening statement, Senator Umaru cited Section 4(2) of the 1999 constitution, adding that the public hearing underscores the importance of the senate and citizenry in enriching legislative actions with the aim of ensuring peace of the Federation of Nigeria.

On behalf of the special guest of honour, Senate President Bukola Saraki who was absent due to other pressing matters, Senator Akpabio reiterated the intentions of the bill to make having an affidavit compulsory following claims made in the media space. He expressed concern on the anxiety of Nigerians over the bill and said that Legislature is here to defend the rights of Nigerians and not pass bills that will gag the media.

When Justice Clara Ogunbiyi of the Supreme Court made her presentation on behalf of the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, it raised a lot of eyebrows! The CJN supported the bill! “This is because by the very use of the word frivolous, it connotes unseriousness, ill-motivation and suggestive of bad faith which is not within the contemplation of the constitutional provision of freedom of expression.” – Justice Mahmud Mohammed. Continuing, Justice Ogunbiyi went on to read out some recommendations of the CJN which included writing any petition as a formal complaint (idenetifying WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and HOW), the use of personal home addresses and the inclusion of a time frame of 6 months for such complaints and grievances. On a side note, it is imperative to note how she kept hammering on the fact that about how peoples’ destiny and integrity had been affected by posts in the media sphere.

In a welcome contrast to the CJN, the Law Reform Council and Federal Ministry of Justice represented by Mr. P.C. Okorie and Mr. Francis Oyong respectively said the said the passage of the controversial bill will adversely affect media freedom and freedom of expression.

Mr Okorie noticed how “fluidly” the words petition, statement, complaints, inquiry and investigation are used, saying the bill was too open ended. He identified the other issues such as high illiteracy rate in Nigeria and the low number of high courts in localities as well as the current capacity of the judiciary.

“If such bill is passed, it would hamper internal investigations in MDAs” he said, noting that it would be impossible for staff to lodge complaints on issues in their offices, as the process would be more bureaucratic. Okorie added that if the senate saw a need to address excesses for petitions sent to law enforcement agencies, then the operating systems of the agencies should be reviewed, not necessarily proposing a bill.

Furthermore, addressing Section 3(3) of the Frivolous Bill, Okorie noted that various section in the Criminal Code [Section 60, 373] and the Penal Code [Section 391, 392] of the Nigerian Constitution had already covered the subject.

Mr. Francis Oyong representing the views of the Attorney General of Nigeria, Justice Abubakar Malami, said that laws are not made to be exclusive instead they are made in the interest of the citizens of a nation. Reading part of the AJNs submission to the committee, Oyong noted that Section 1 of the intended Frivolous Bill does not create a crime as there was no provision in the statement.

Mr. Oyong posed a critical question to the Senate committee on the issue of the affidavit – “Does an affidavit make a statement to be true?” As the general understanding of an affidavit, is that it’s a document made in the belief of the person swearing it. The proposed bill also violates the constitution & other treaties Nigeria is a signatory to.

The general consensus of both legal parties was that the passage of the bill will be an impediment to the current administration of President Buhari’s drive to expunge corruption as whistleblowing was integral and freedom of expression is key to democracy especially in Nigeria.

This bill seeks to threaten freedom of expression in a country said to practicing democracy – by the way, democracy is characterised by free speech and its objective to say that law as it is, where Divine or man-made, are subject to human interpretation]. Nigeria has 15 million Facebook users, the third most active African country on Twitter [2012] and over 97 million mobile internet subscriptions, a sizeable contribution to the technology sector. If passed as it is, the bill will only hamper further development of Nigeria’s internet and communication system.

Also, the feedback mechanism that is essential in communication would become non-existent as there would be an increase in lack of faith of law enforcement agencies in helping the populace. In a time where audiences are encouraged to send in eye-witness reports to news agencies, how would this law support information dissemination?

Senator Omo-Agege citied an instance of a false Avatar on Facebook posting that a candidate has withdrawn from election, on the eve on going to the polls and asked if the existing laws treat this?

It seems to be that certain individuals in the Nigerian society would rather not be talked about and so on, but with such ostentatious lifestyles in the midst of hunger and need in Nigeria, will questions and allegations not be raised?

A sentiment that was somewhat expressed once the floor was opened for civil society – the senate committee was barraged [well they had it coming *chuckles*]

Popular Twitter champion and Editor-In-Chief, 15 Past 8 Media Group @MrAyeDee identifies fragile egos and that the bill should be discarded ingloriously in the dustbin of history. He added that the dynamics of engagement on social media is quite different from physical human interaction, “People tend to gravitate towards known persons [people with identities] on social media and most times people do not the heed faceless”, adding that people could sue for libel and defamation as made available through the Nigerian constitution.

Gbenga Sesan @gbengasesan Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria did not mince words in expressing disappointment with the CJN and Supreme Court’s stance on the Frivolous Bill. He said the passage of the bill would be licence the death of whistleblowers in a country that hasn’t brought the killers of late Bola Ige, the Attorney General of the Federation since 2001! Sesan also called to note that anonymity cannot be removed from information sharing as its essential.

Yemi Adamolekun of Enough is Enough Nigeria addressed the erroneous impression that calling for Public Hearing is a favour to citizens, rather a responsibility of the Senate reacting to Senator Omoworare’s @jideomoworare comment that the Senate is not mandated to hold a public hearing. EiENigeria is currently running a campaign calling on Nigerians to add their voices and votes to stop the passage of the Frivolous Bill [You can get involved by calling 01–4408464]

Aisha Yesufu, @AishaYesufu who describes herself as an aggrieved mother of the kidnapped Chibok Girls’ who have been missing for over 600 days said if not for social media, where else would the agitation for the release of the girls come from? She identified some recent successes of social media #FreeEseOruru and #BringBackOurGirls. In buttressing Yemi’s point on the public hearing, Yesufu had these words: “As a citizen, I’m the highest office holder in the land & our senators are responsible to me.”

From the body language of the senators, it was obvious that they had a supportive stance on the bill even though both Senator Omo-Agege and Senator Lidani said that the public hearing is purposely for the collection of public opinion as Senator Omo-Agege said he was expecting comments on the issue of responsibility of persons on social media.

Only last month at the Social Media Week 2016 held in Lagos, the issue of the regulation of social media was brought up in a debate #BBCAfricaDebate [You can listen to the views here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03jxdyr]

We say #NoToSocialMediaBill as it’s not only freedom of expression and leadership that are on the line in Nigeria, but the very essence of democracy which social media has helped to shape. We will not be strangled of our oxygen!

After the 220 billion, there is the new 31.52 billion Naira for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise: Where did, and will the money go!

Adamu and Chukwuma have been a long term friend at the Abuja Park in Gusau, Zamfara, and each time I want to buy a recharge card from their kiosk, they ask if I know how their businesses can be funded by the government, and if also they could learn how to write business proposals, if eventually the funds are made available. My response many times has been that they should check the Nigeria SME toolkit, and that also they can visit the Zamfara Medium and Small Enterprise Agency, or the Zakat Board of the state, and ask if they could learn writing proposals with their agency.

While not sure if there is one, it is certain that the state receives and must have received some SME funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Yes! for some years now, funds meant for such programmes and intervention are being domiciled with the CBN, but unfortunately, it seem people like Adamu and Chukwuma will never have access to such funds or programmes, if the apex bank cannot justify or present impacts of “heavy funds” that have been allocated to micro, small and medium enterprise.

Nigeria, with an unemployment rate of 9.9% in Q3 2015 has a better unemployment rate than reported in 67 countries but worse than 113 countries, including 21 African countries with unemployment rates lower than 9.9% needs to employ innovative means of engaging MSMEs other than this “screaming headlines” kind of funding. The state governments are not even helping matters, as some of them had turn this funds into political campaign funds. Hold on – there is a new funding again for MSMEs called BIG (Business, Innovation and Growth), this time, it claims to be innovative, much more than the YOUWIN intervention

To so many Nigerians, it is not clear where they can access this funds, and when it becomes clear as well, the proper strategy is not used in mentoring young enterprises, and many times, potential enterprise are frustrated to start applying for jobs. Truth be told, the funds are out there for MSMES, and we really need to let potential entrepreneurs know, consequently, we are planning to visualise MSME Funds in Nigeria, and make people like Adamu and Chukwuma know where and how to get one.
If you have had access to an SME funds in Nigeria recently, what do you think about this controversies, and if you have gone through what Adamu and Chukwuma had experienced in the past trying to access MSME Funds, do let us know your thoughts

Join the Open Data Day Hackathon

Saturday 5th March at 9 am Abuja / 8 am London

We hope that a diverse group of you will join in the gathering of SME Funds data. During the Hackathon you will have plenty of chances to discuss all questions regarding MSME funds failures whether they be specific cases. Do not let your state or region leave a blank spot when we draw up the map of MSME Funds.

At the data party we will go through some of these questions:

• What kind of MSME funds do we wish to collect (date, amount, description of intervention, location etc.)?
• What are the possible sources (press, CBN, Bilateral Agencies, Multilateral Agencies)?
• Getting started with the data collection for the MSME Funds Tracker

 You can join the Data party by adding your name and skype ID here.

“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

Education is one of the indices used to determine the level of progress of in a community. The drivers of development in any society are mostly the educated ones. Eyele is a community in Ofu LGA in Kogi State and it is about 1 hour 30 minutes drive from Lokoja, the state capital. Eyele is another isolated community that lacks access to basic amenities such good schools, electricity, health facilities, clean water, improved hygiene and sanitation.

The school in Eyele community was established in 1996.Before the new structure was erected; the school was a mud building with 3 classrooms, which accommodated 180 students. Currently, 3 new classrooms have been built through the MDG Special Project in 2014 and 2 new classrooms are under construction by the Kogi State Government. During a recent visit to the community by the Follow The Money team, they discovered that the school has 200 students, with 2 teachers to teach them 8 subjects. There are no toilets in the school and no water source. As part of the MDG Special Project, VIP toilets were supposed to be constructed and the classrooms furnished but the contractors have abandoned the project without providing them. There are no boards or desks in the school.

In all its years of existence, Eyele community never had access to electricity and it is just about 30 minutes drive from Ajakouta LGA where Generu Generating Power Plant is located.

On the week of 8 – 12th and 15 – 19th in February 2016 in Abuja, I facilitated training on tracking government spending with 16 producers of popular current affairs programmes and 16 news editors from the broadcast media in a BBC Media Action supported capacity building for journalists. Nothing can be more exciting than igniting journalists passion to innovate their newsrooms, and also participating at this training were facilitators from BudgIT (One of the leading organizations using technology to hold government accountable) and Premium Times (An online media organization disrupting the media terrain in Nigeria).

No doubt, journalism is one of the profession that has young and vibrate women, and as confirmed the participants had a balance of gender, unlike other training have facilitated, that gender is always skewed towards the male. 60% of the participants had contact with the computer in the middle of the last decade, at the advent of Facebook, and just at the exit of excite.com and inbox.com, Certainly, our participants this time should be conversant with the new technologies. Were they? I will say yes, at least they are familiar with their newsroom consoles, Twitter and Facebook.

Cross section of participants at one of the training batch

Other than their console, they were exposed to data journalism tools that can be leveraged on in scraping government budget data, from the conversion of PDFs to Excel using www.online2pdf.com ,Tabula and WebScraper. But one thing that remains clear is that many times, we see the budget data, but actually do not know when the money on the budget will be spent. So, what does a journalist do in such case? I asked, and most knew they are always the first to know, as a press release is always issued to media houses, when these funds are approved or released. So journalist can scrape the press release and find useful information for tracking government expenditure, and thus making a story out of it. Another useful tool is Google Alerts which sends instant email of keywords that has earlier been subscribed to by the journalist.

We all agreed, that there is always a time difference between approval and release of funds, as such the time lag keeps the journalist inquiring, and keeping the story alive. So many at the training asked, what funds do we have to keep such stories alive, in a program or in the news? In the last six months, I have trained 62 journalists from the print media, and broadcast, the same question keep re-occurring, and this time, I was almost told to change the training topic to how to write funding proposals for data journalism. Perhaps, this can stop the popular “Kwa” mentalism!

Oludotun Babayemi, a School of Data Fellow takes journalist through overcoming challenges in the industry

As more of the traditional broadcasters are now moving into data journalism, many are still incapacitated due to media ownership, availability of knowledge resources, skill gaps and a peer review center where knowledge can be exchanged on the go. Each of these training always draw us up to the solution, perhaps, as Connected Development [CODE] is working on its citizen lab for activists and journalists, it will be better placed to tackle some of this challenges.

As someone who has a background in Information Management, I always appreciate the media, and those that stand by the consoles to inform Africa, and through this we believe the console can turn around, educate, inform and impact our society. With more data been churned out everyday, and more funding in the direction of data journalism, I look forward to taking another set of interaction on data journalism with 24 news editors from Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, Adamawa, Kaduna and Plateau, in April, let’s keep the consoles jingling!  

As the winds of austerity blows, Nigerians eagerly await the 2016 Budget Approval

February brings with it arguably the most celebrated day of love, Valentines, but that love might not be extended to the federal government of Nigeria and President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as many Nigerians are soured at the current state of affairs.

February 15, counts 262 days i.e. 10 months since a new government came into power for Africa’s most populous nation, 10 months, that many argue hasn’t transpired to “change”.

The current increase in electricity tariffs [45%], a possible increase in VAT, declining oil prices, the exchange rate of the naira on the forex and most importantly, the 2016 budget that is yet to be approved, has the masses wondering where the country is heading.

We present to you a timeline of some events shaping Nigerians reactions and Buhari’s tenure: –

• May, 2015 – President Muhammadu Buhari became Nigeria’s 6th elected Head of State
• November, 2015 – President Buhari announces list of Ministers [24], with Ministers of State to make up remaining portfolios
• December, 2015 – Barely a month after Ministers resume leadership positions at ministries, President Buhari submits 2016 Appropriation Bill
• January, 2016 – #MissingBudget; President Buhari submits corrected 2016 budget
• January/February 2016 – Controversies arise following 2016 Budget approval as Ministers cannot defend the budget e.g. Health Budget
• February, 2016 – Senate President, Bukola Saraki Code of Conduct Tribunal [CCT] trial resumes after Supreme Court dismisses it [Opinions are that the head of the National Assembly might be too embroiled in his matters to attend to that of the State]

Well, it is necessary to note and give credit to the National Assembly for spotting errors in Nigeria’s 2016 budget as seen below:

• Lai Mohammed, Minister for Culture flatly rejected any knowledge of N368 Million in the budget item of the Ministry of Information for the procurement of computers;
• Ministry of Solid Minerals To Update Website With N795 Million;

Some other funny [well suspicious] figures most Nigerians will be watching to see if they get approved include: –

• The State House Rent – N30.8 million [is the Aso Rock for rent?]
• Office Furniture for Ministry of Power, Works & Housing HQ – N1.2 billion
• Purchase of Photocopying Machine by APCON – N6.5 million

Whether it’s the revised version, Minister’s version or Budget Mafia’s version that is finally approved, we do hope for immediate action as many local communities who most likely would not read this post live in abject poverty. Families are living a hand to mouth existence, with no electricity, water, nor adequate health facilities.

If the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, and his Ministry complete the building and upgrading of at least 10,000 Primary Health Care Centres [PHCs] across the entire 774 local government areas of Nigeria in the next one year, millions of Nigerians living in communities will reduce approaching secondary and tertiary health institutions with common ailments like headache, malaria, cough and catarrh.

If the supporting announcement by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, for the ambitious project across Nigeria ensures its achievement, then overcrowding at the tertiary hospitals would reduce.

Ehanire said that the architectural plan of healthcare in Nigeria were 4: Preventive, Promotional, Curative and Rehabilitation.

The preventive aspect entails safe water, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition and immunisation which many local communities lack and existing infrastructure are not working.

Getting down to it …

The Total Proposed Health Budget stands at 257.7 billion naira from 221.7 billion [a 16% increase]

Out of which the total proposed for the National Primary Health Care Development Agency [NPHCDA] is 17.7 billion naira [It is the assumption of the author of this article that the NPHCDA would be have a major stake in this project]

Well, according to the budget for the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, there is no proposed spending for the upgrading and building of the PHCs as capital spending revolves arounds developing a national logistics supply; and procurement of vaccines and devices.

Visiting the website of the agency [http://www.nphcda.gov.ng/], reveals no information about Primary Health Centres, which should raise a few eyebrows given that the project is supposed to be completed within the year 2016.

So I return to where I began this post “If”

Also, if the funds are eventually released [from who knows where] and you want to probably get involved to support the completion of the project, you could activate us to track spending.

If …

For Further Reading

2016 Appropriation Bill – Budget Office of the Federation

News article – FG to build 10,000 PHCs in 774 councils – Minister

It was apparent that everyone sitted in the Acacia Room of the Ladi Kwali Hall in Sheraton Hotels & Towers, Abuja were interested in the reason for the event – Nigeria had lost 3.3 billion dollars from tax holidays given to the NLNG consortium made up of Shell, Total, Eni and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC].

How did this oil rich nation lose so much from tax, when 70% of all its previous budgets were financed from the profits of crude export?

Honourable Herman Hembe, representing Vandeikya/Konshisha federal constituency, Benue State noted that with the global crises arising from falling oil prices, it was time that executive and national assembly revisited policies and laws that granted corporate bodies tax exemptions in Nigeria

In her welcome address, Ms. Ojobo Atuluku, Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria pointed out that tax incentives in developing countries was costing 138 billion dollars yearly. Citing the current research undertaken by the organisation, Nigeria’s current loss of 3.3 billion dollars was equivalent to twice the national education budget and thrice the healthcare budget in 2015.

More statistics shared showed that 10 million children were not schooling and 15 out of 100 children die before turning 5; the leakages in the system could have been put to better use to uplift the citizenry.

She challenged the federal government of Nigeria on the current tax culture and calling for collaboration of the country with other countries to end harmful regional tax completion.

The launch of the report also featured a panel discussion between ActionAid Nigeria, government officials in the Federal Revenue Inland Service [FIRS] and staff from the Ministry of Finance.

You can Download the Report here

Patients experience fever, nausea, diarrhoea, meningitis and in severe cases bleeding from orifices such as the eyes and the eyes, a complication that leads to death. The mortality rate is steadily climbing, at last count it stood at 44% and various news reports have it that the fever has shown up in Abuja the Federal Capital Territory and 11 states in Nigeria. 43 deaths have now been recorded in Nigeria.

Lassa fever or Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF) is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus and first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa, in Borno State, Nigeria. It is similar to ebola, in the presentation of symptoms by patients especially bleeding via openings.

The first case of the current outbreak in Nigeria was reported from Bauchi state in November, 2015.

Lassa frequently infects people in West Africa. It results in 300,000 to 500,000 cases annually and causes about 5,000 deaths each year. The virus is probably transmitted by contact with the faeces or urine of animals accessing grain stores in residences.

Transmission from person to person has also been established, which presents a risk for healthcare workers. Though no cases have been documented via sexual contact, it is imperative to note that the virus is excreted in urine for 3-9 weeks and in semen for three months.

Control of the Mastomys rodent population is impractical, so measures are limited to keeping rodents out of homes and food supplies, as well as maintaining effective personal hygiene. Gloves, masks, laboratory coats, and goggles are advised while in contact with an infected person.

Prevention of Lassa fever relies on promoting good hygiene in communities to discourage rodents from entering homes. Family members should always be careful to avoid contact with blood and body fluids while caring for sick persons. In health-care settings, staff should always apply standard infection prevention and control precautions when caring for patients, regardless of their presumed diagnosis.

The Minister for Health, Professor Isaac Adewole has advised healthcare workers seeing a patient suspected to have Lassa fever to immediately contact the State Epidemiologist in the state ministry of health or call the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Federal Ministry of Health using the following numbers: 08093810105, 08163215251, 08031571667 and 08135050005.

An estimated 51 million Nigerians may be at risk of contracting the disease especially those in rural communities with the annual number of deaths put at 58,330.

For further reading, check this United Nations Fact Sheet

Ever imagined there is a community in the Federal Capital Territory that never had access to electricity? You will be shocked to discover there is, and that community is Shere which is under the Bwari Area Council.

Shere is a community with an estimated population of about 3000 people in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory. For a community that is located just few minutes away from the Federal Capital, one would expect it to have access to basic amenities, but unfortunately this community never had access to electricity in its almost 200 years of existence, the roads are bad, no access to clean water, ill-equipped health care facilities, high rate of illiteracy and school dropouts.

Going to Shere from Bwari, you will be welcomed by abandoned road and power projects; upon arrival in Shere, your body will be covered in dust after surviving the 25 minutes bike ride on the bumpy roads. You will find a dilapidated building with the roofs torn off by the wind over 2 years ago serving as their health clinic; 14 classes, most of them with half roofings or no roofs accommodating over 1,000 students; 2 toilets serving over 14 teachers and 1,000 students; a well filled with sand-colored water which serves as the major water source of the community. That is the reality of Shere community; a community not far from the Federal Capital but far away from advancement and civilisation.