Dutch court rules in Nigerian farmers' suit against Shell

A Dutch court will decide on Wednesday
whether Shell should clean up oil
damage that destroyed a group of
Nigerian farmers' land, a case that could
set a precedent for global environmental
responsibility.

Dutch judge Henk Wien will hand down a
verdict at around 10:00 am (0900 GMT)
at a public hearing before The Hague
district court in a case that was first filed
in 2008.

Thousands of miles (kilometres) from
their homes in the Niger delta, four
Nigerian farmers and fishermen have
dragged the Anglo-Dutch oil giant into
court in a civil suit that could open the
door for hundreds of similar cases. The
plaintiffs are backed by environmental
lobby group Friends of the Earth.

The farmers want Royal Dutch Shell to
clean up the mess, repair and maintain
defective pipelines to prevent further
damage, and pay out compensation.

Shell, the biggest producer in the west
African nation where it has been drilling
for the last half-a-century, denied
responsibility.

The company pinned oil spills between
2004 and 2007 on illegal theft and
sabotage.

Environmentalists want the Netherlands, and other Western nations, to
pass laws forcing companies to enforce the same environmental
responsibility standards
abroad as at home.

Helping hands or Child Slavery by Don Abiodun Odedeyi (Part 1)

In a world where education and acquired productive skill(s) play a pivotal role in the success of every man and woman, many middle-agents are neck-deep in the trade of human trafficking; employing ruthless means to keep their victims in line.

 

My sojourn on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 was nosy motivated, at least, it has been since December Friday, February 7, 2012 when I was commissioned to research into Microfinance operations in relation to poverty alleviation ¹.

Had I determined to take my leave for the day, nothing would have been amiss. Save for the friendship that now exist between myself and Emmanuel (the bank official I was attached with) and the long day still ahead, my day's observation was a wrap. I accompanied Emmanuel to Makoko where a group of orange sellers, in Asejere market, are waiting to discuss about a possible loan facility.

Asejere market, located on the marine side of Makoko, enjoy influx of Hausa/Fulani, Tapa, Yoruba, Ilaje and other coastal tribes from Delta to Togo, a distance of about 600 miles, who trade in timber, fruits, fish and other aquatic products.

The group is not a large one, ten orange seller, comprises of seven women and three men, crowded in an empty stall, their look depicting someone who is waiting for divine wonders. Like an artist who knows her trade, their wares were arranged in different interesting ways.

My admiration of this dynamic environment was cut short by a long shriek. I turned in time to see a large dark palm retract from the cheek of a little girl who should not be more than ten years old.

When the coast was clear, Maraba (her name) held her head, tight, with her two hands.

Stunned, I lost touch of time, it was as if was floating in space, like an astronaut. Looking into her fixated and white eyes, I thought I felt the impact of the slap; my head processed the whole movement, very slowly, like a Hollywood action movie.

How long this went on, I cannot say. Her piecing shriek, which increases with each gulp of air, brought me back to consciousness.

It never took long, other women within the vicinity in two and three crowded Maraba, some scolding, others petting her.

Maraba is a labourer with Iya Ibeji, an orange seller in the market. Lying close to her makeshift bed is a basket half-filled with ripe oranges meant for deliveries to customers within the market.

Although fluent in Yoruba, her pronunciation of some syllables gave her away as Tapa.

The Nupe, traditionally called Tapa by the neighbouring Yoruba country, are an ethnic group located primarily in the Middle Belt and northern Nigeria, and are the dominant group in Niger state and an important minority in Kwara State. Their chief town is Bida which is also the second largest city in Niger state. Again, her adept in Yoruba also suggest that she must have been around for a while.

When it was clear that neither coerce nor petting is working, her master, who was alarmed at her sudden change of attitude, was convinced that her association with another child-worker, Alimat, is the reason for her rebellious attitude. She suggests that Maraba's behaviour is the beginning of her master plan that will see her move from her cofer to another master.

The suspect was quickly summoned.

Curiosity took the better part of me, without looking at the direction of my hand, I calmly brought out my midget, switched on the record. In other not to raise eyebrow, I cover it with my phone.

Alimat, in age and size suggest someone who shouldn't have left her mother's protective side, she is nowhere the age of twelve yet her utterances were far beyond her years.

Alimat got to know Maraba four days earlier and since then, they've both become bosom friends. She works in a pepper grinding shop not far from the orange section. When Alimat was told about Maraba insubordination, she clapped her hands then clips them akimbo, a show of disbelief to what she heard. What followed was equally surprising to me, if not for my fast fingers on my midget; the following conversation might never have come clean.

 (Transcript of Alimat's reaction)

"She cant, she better not try it", Aminat blurted.

"If she tries it, alfa (the middle-agent) will withdraw her from here and send her elsewhere. Look at me, (she stretched forth her hands for the women to see), look at my hands, my fingers are as hot as fire, I sort pepper from morning till night, there is no time to rest. Every now and then, I dip my hands in water with the hope that they become normal but no, seconds after I pull them out of the water, the burning starts. Day and night is the same.

"I don't eat before resuming 'work', many times; I eat morning and afternoon food together".

The crowd roar into series of laugher as Alimat recounts her ordeal, many praise Maraba's master for handling her princely.

"see this ungrateful girl o", Maraba's master interject, cutting short the crown in their laughing galore as they turn around to hear her own contribution. "We use the same soap o, use the same sponge, eat the same food at the same time, there is nothing I eat that she doesn't taste from".

"Hmm, they suffer a lot o" said one of the women, "there is no work in their country-home, and the treatment she gets here is charitable compare to what she gets from her country home. If she wants to leave, let her go".

"Look at her skin", said another, "she was this thin when she got here". With her left hand, she held out her little finger out to describe Maraba size when she started working with Iya Ibeji.

While they continue in their condemnation and chat, my thoughts transcend the environment, away from the sheds filled with oranges, the heat and the noise emanating from the flux of languages that defined the multi-ethnic diversity of the market.

CHILD LABOUR

Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organisations.

Legislations across the world prohibit child labour. These laws do not consider all work by children as child labour; exceptions include work by child artists, supervised training, certain categories of work such as those by Amish children, and others.

Child labour is still common in many parts of the world. It accounts for 22% of the workforce in Asia, 32% in Africa, 17% in Latin America, 1% in US, Canada, Africa has the highest percentage of children aged 5–17 employed as child labour, and a total of over 65 million.

The United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, which was subsequently ratified by 193 countries. Article 32 of the convention addressed child labour, as follows:

...Parties recognise the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

Under Article 1 of the 1990 Convention, a child is defined as "... every human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier." Article 28 of this Convention requires States to, "make primary education compulsory and available free to all."

 

While they continue in their euphoria debacle, I was left to wonder, are children expected to help towards the family budget, despite the hardship prevalent in the country? What become of their future and indeed the future of their parents (then aged and helpless)? How can a developing country break the jinx of poverty when the circle of illiteracy and skills are not broken?

Toothless as these laws are, the future of children about 304 million (between the ages 5-17) are en-route to nothing, and we all are looking forward to a brighter, rewarding future?

1. The project, Effect of Microfinance Intervention in Poverty Alleviation in Developing Countries, is a six-month-long research project that commenced in the last month of 2012. I've been moving around with Microfinance Banks officials to observe, firsthand, the ramification of Micro-Credits in relations to poverty alleviation etc).

Funny tweets about 'Maya' and the' world coming to an end' by Don Abiodun Odedeyi

As we hurtle toward the end of
2012, the conversation about a certain date with roots in an ancient Maya calendar has reached a fever pitch.

Check out some hilarious tweets about Maya and the world coming to an end.

Video Game Facts™ @VideoGamesFacts
If the #Mayans were right, you only have about 12 hours to game. If you were ever going to over heat your console, now's the time!

Harry Potter™ @ThatBravePotter
Dear #Mayans, The world won't end tomorrow because Harry's kids go to Hogwarts on September
1st, 2017.

Rod Walker @rwalker1906
I'm sure going to be mad if I pay this cell phone bill today and the world ends tomorrow. # mayans

J o e e y @JOE_GALLAGHER1
NASA has confirmed that December 21, late afternoon, the sky will be very dark. It is an interesting phenomenon called "night."

Greek Gent @GreekGent
BREAKING NEWS: The world just ended in Australia! It's happening by timezone! Not really. Go worry about something that matters. # Mayans

Funny Tweets @FunnyOrTruth
According to #Mayans calendar the real date of an apocalypse is October 21 in 4772. That's more than 2500 years in the future.

Laura Freed @heyLauraFreed
Duh! The world as we know it ended on Nov 6th, 2012 when morons voted in Obama "I got a task force for that." # Mayans

Calestous Juma @Calestous
The #Mayans didn't lie. It was an experiment to test human credulity. Early results from #Kiribati confirm hypothesis.

Alex Papasozomenos @alexplovesldn
#Mayans is trending. THEY DON'T EVEN EXIST ANYMORE

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

Monopoly moves to Africa with Lagos edition

Some 80 years after its first launch, the iconic board game of Monopoly has finally released it's first African city edition.

A Lagos-themed version of the popular real estate game was unveiled earlier this week, making Nigeria's bustling economic capital the first city in the continent to have a dedicated Monopoly edition.

"Lagos is special, it's a megacity, one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa," says Nimi Akinkugbe, head of Bestman Games which is distributing the Lagos edition.

"But apart from that, Lagos also holds a very special place for Nigerians all over the world. There are about 15 million Nigerians in the diaspora who are very nostalgic about Lagos; it's not just for Lagosians but for people all over the world," she adds.

The affluent Banana Island, a man-made waterfront community boasting multi-million dollar mansions and manicured lawns, was revealed as the game's most expensive property, joining Boardwalk in the standard U.S. edition and Mayfair in the London version.

Many of the squares for the game's upmarket locations feature sponsorship from banks, radio stations and shopping centers. In contrast, the square dedicated to the floating shantytown of Makoko, which is the cheapest piece of real estate in the Lagos edition of the game, was left unsponsored.

Local officials were heavily involved in bringing Monopoly to the sprawling metropolis of some 15 million people. Their goal was partly to promote the city's rich history and landmark sites but also to encourage responsible behavior and inform citizens about laws that are often overlooked.

"You've been caught driving against traffic. Report for psychiatric evaluation," is the message on one Chance card, which issues a fine -- in line with the laws introduced recently by the local government to deal with the city's major traffic problem.

Another card reads: "For using the overhead pedestrian bridge on Worodu (Ikorodu) Road, move forward three spaces." Akinkugbe explains that many lives have been lost as people tend to cross the express highway by running across the road. "By rewarding the person that uses the overhead bridge by moving forwards three spaces, slowly it begins to sink in," she says.

And there are also references to Nigeria's corruption problem: "For attempting to bribe a law enforcement agent, pay a fine," says another card "This gives us an opportunity to educate the public about those things," says Akinkugbe.

"[It's about] penalizing negative behavior and rewarding good behavior but in a fun and enjoyable way. We all know that learning through play is one of the most powerful forms of learning because it is not forced but is done in a relaxed, easy way."

Akinkugbe says that two other African countries -- South Africa and Morocco -- have a version of Monopoly, but Lagos is the only city in the continent to have its own edition. She says that the Lagos game was sold out within 24 hours of it's release, as about 4,000 people got their hands on it.
"Thousands of Nigerian families they are going to be playing Monopoly over Christmas, having a good laugh and learning at the same time, and just appreciating the city," she says.

Culled from CNN
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

Coming soon: Islamic Microfinance

Three-day 'Global Islamic Microfinance Forum' held between 8th-10th December 2012, in Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE saw delegates from UAE, Pakistan, India, UK, Bangladesh, USA, UK Bahrain, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kirghizstan, Mauritius, Kenya, Canada, France, Egypt, Philippine, Uganda, Iraq, Nigeria, Sudan along with delegates from other countries brainstorming on the role of Islamic Microfinance in poverty alleviation, Shariah and related issues of Islamic Microfinance Institutions and their solutions.

Representatives from microfinance institutions from 27 countries expressed their intent to unify their efforts for poverty alleviation and social development through Islamic Microfinance.

Speaking on the successful completion of the forum, Zubair Mughal - Chief Executive Officer AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics highlighted that the assemblage of a large number of institutions on the forum of Islamic Microfinance is a clear indication that it is the only viable solution of poverty alleviation around the globe.

He urged the World Bank, IDB, USAID, IFC and other international institutions to include Islamic Microfinance in their priority list for social development and poverty eradication; otherwise the achievement of Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations will not be possible.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

Fight against deforestation in Nigeria: Ogun State Confiscates Timber Worth millions of Naira

The Ogun State Government, South West Nigeria, has confiscated woods and timbers worth millions of naira felled illegally by timber merchants at Ajibandele Village in Area J6, Forest Reserve of the State.

Commissioner for Forestry, Engr. Ayo Olubori who made this known in Abeokuta while conducting newsmen round the confiscated woods, described the act as the peak of confrontation with government, especially at a time the State Government had suspended activities in all it's forestry reserves.

"I think this is outrageous and infact, the peak of confrontation that government had ever received from the daring illegal wood traders and smugglers." He said.

Engr. Olubori said the combing and 24hrs surveillance of the nine forest reserves by the government at the moment resulted in the feat.

"We got a tip off from the people and reacted spontaneously and when we got to the spot where the illegality took place, the hooligans took to their heels having sighted us, though we demobilized about nine lorries and tractors, we ensured that we evacuated every plank we met in the bush that night though it was late, around 3.am. We were there till daybreak until we evacuated every plank there down to Abeokuta," he explained.

Commending those who gave the tip off for their patriotism, Olubori declared remained unperturbed about the antics of the unscrupulous elements involved in the act and assured that Government was equal to the task of stopping the illegal merchants that were hell bent on stealing the common wealth of the people.

He also emphasized that activities all the forest reserves in the State remained suspended and would resume as soon as due consultations by government with relevant stakeholders are concluded.



Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

JUSTICE IS ON SLOW-MOTION by Adedunmade Onibokun Esq.

In the Nigerian Law School, it is mandatory that each student participates in a court attachment
exercise, a period whereby students are attached to courts in other for them to experience first hand the rules and procedures of the court
system.

I remember walking into the halls of the Federal High Court, Abuja during my attachment dressed in my white shirt, dark suit and black tie as is the usual custom, filled with a great sense
of purpose after winking at the blindfolded babe outside who held the sword and the balancing scales, lady justice was to be my bride after my call - to - bar ceremony, it was essential we had a relationship.

Anyway, while sitting in the court room, taking notes, watching lawyers try to outsmart one another and observing the grim looks on the faces of witnesses and accused persons alike, I noticed one thing, "adjournments". Oh my goodness, every matter got adjourned, sometimes for months at a time and i always wondered why.

Even as a practicing lawyer, i still wonder why. I have come across cases that have been in court for almost 12 years, what am I saying, i know one that has been in court since 1986, i am sure lawyers and others who have been to the courts know what i am talking about.

How can it still be regarded as justice if it takes me 5 years or more for the High Court to deliver judgment, keeping in mind that if the courts' decision goes on appeal, we could still be litigating for another 5 or 7 years.
Imagine how i felt when trying to explain to a client in court that our matter had been adjourned for the 5th time,1 year after filing court papers, we were still yet to see the judge eye to eye.

I am not blaming the judges, even they will tell you that sometimes the lawyers bring up all sort of applications in a bid to stall the proceedings. I am however blaming the "law". I mean the rules of court.

This issue has been judicially noticed and some credible steps have been taken to speed up the court process, for instance: the Electoral Act now provides that election tribunals are given accelerated hearings and same also apply to issues bothering on fundamental human rights but that is not enough.

All matters before the court, either: Civil or Criminal, should be given accelerated hearing, I propose that all matters in court must not exceed a maximum of 180 days from the date of filing whether in the Magistrate court, High Court, Court of Appeal or Supreme Court.

With the rampant allegations of corruption within the Nigerian Judicial System, the common man has lost faith in the courts, he believes justice is for the rich or well connected.

The Court which should serve as a champion for the average Nigerian who has no blood or political ties to people in power is alleged to now be the piper who plays the tune of the wealthy few who pay bribes. We need reforms,the judiciary needs reforms and we need it like yesterday.
Adedunmade Onibokun Esq.
@adedunmade
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.