AN OVERVIEW OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND HOMICIDE IN NIGERIAN MARRIAGES

UNDERSTANDING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Many marriages are falling apart in Nigeria not necessarily because the brides are not beautiful enough but more because of intolerance, impatience, incompatibility and financial constraints. In fact the greatest obstacle to marital success remains financial constraints, compounded by the over dependability of either of the spouse on the other. We are all human beings and there is a level of tolerance beyond which the marriage begins to crack and fall apart irreversibly. However, because of the social stigmatization associated with failed marriages, some women have remained attached to the marriage even where none exists anymore, hoping against hope that things would change. A lot of men have had to endure the…

Land Use Policy And Development Control: A Look At Imo State Ministry Of Lands And Owerri Capital Development Authority

INTRODUCTION A Lot of complaints has been made by members of the public against the ministry of lands and particularly against the Owerri capital development Authority. However since the appointment of Hon Uche Nwosu, a lot of Checks and balances and or reforms has taken place and somehow public confidence has been restored gradually in the system as it tries to reform itself. For the first time however, Hon Uche Nwosu has made a professional Estate surveyor who is accessible and intellectually compliant, a Director of Lands. Also in the Department of Deeds, The government Certification and documentation of Title is in progress under an effective director. In OCDA unfortunately the rot continues but hopefully…

Have you been wrongfully terminated or dismissed?

I came across an interesting and accepted definition of a gentleman under English Customs and usage. It means a Man of high social Status who does not have to earn a living. Who does not have to earn a living these days? These days, the definition of a gentleman accommodates any person of appropriate breeding and learning and has little to do with his being a member of the gentry or his financial status. Thus we all have to earn a living being gentle men of modern accommodation. It does not matter whether your father is the local butcher or that you barely can afford to feed yourself. You are a gentle man by the…

The General Principles of Defamation (1)

Every human being has a character which helps to shape his reputation in his community. To Bill Clinton, former United States president, character is everything. It defines the individual, his integrity or lack of one. It shapes the view of reasonable people in the community about a person or company. In our African communities, the truth is often the first casualty in any discourse and a person’s character often impinged on by his kinsmen who are hostile to his progress. Many young ladies have not married today because of vicious slander behind their backs and many young men have no one to help them not because they have no integrity but because their kinsmen had…

An overview of the Nigerian Public Procurement Act

There is the need for the establishment of a legal framework for public Procurement” says the World Bank to the Officials of the Federal Government who are always in need of more Loans to facilitate one white Elephant Project after another. These loans always seem to find their way to private Pockets because of lack of Due Process or Policy defaults. The Enactment of The Procurement Act 2007 is a weighty development based on the recommendation of the World Bank which advised for better transparency in the proceedings of public procurement. As a general rule, it is the requirement of law and the strictures of procurement Standards and policies to ensure compliance with the procurement…

National Dialogue: Why the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Should Not Represent the Igbo Nation

Recently, the GEJ administration came up with the idea of a national dialogue which in my view is a distraction from the present Civil war he is prosecuting against the Boko Haram rebel group and charges of Corruption against his administration in the backdrop of the cohesive belligerence of the APC. Not many Nigerians are aware of the fact that Nigeria, in the view of the United Nations, the international court of Criminal Justice, The World Bank and the international community is a Nation at War just because, the war has religious connotations. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why we need to have a round table conference with the rest of the Country…

Corruption: The World Bank lists of Nigerian looters and the Code of Conduct Tribunal

Corruption: The World Bank lists of Nigerian looters and the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The Nigerian public was shocked by the revelations by the World Bank, the apex international Credit and development bank which shows the massive looting of the Nigerian economy in the past decades evidenced by foreign accounts owned by the political class, public officers, and the military with outstanding performances by the erstwhile past heads of states, and the powers behind the emerging political challenges in the country. I was devastated by the list not only because of the stupendous amount of loot lying in foreign banks and oiling the British economy and other EU nations that has paid lip service to…

Who Pays Tenement Rates? (2)

Conclusion The South Eastern governments need to review the regulations of tenement rates and ensure that vacant houses, pensioner  occupied houses and family houses and rural dwellers are exempted from tenement rates There should be a drastic reduction of tenement rates in Areas outside of the capital cities to improve housing development in  these areas and arrest rural urban drift. The arbitrariness in the fixing of tenement rates can be checked by regular and physical inspection of the premises to be rated by appropriate valuations. At the same time, we cannot but affirm the illegality the action of the Lagos state government under the Land Use Charge law No 11 of 2001 of Lagos state, …

Who Pays Tenement Rates? (1)

Abstract Tenement rates are property taxes paid by landlords and or Occupiers of a Building payable to local government Councils as part of their internally generated revenue. Recently I conducted a study on the subject of tenement rates which has become a vexed issue because of the inherent abuses by arbitrary rate increases, failure of most landlords to pay their rates as at when due with the consequent transferred burden on tenants. The objective of the study conducted through my organization, Centre for Development Initiatives and Advocacy was to determine the impact of tenement rates on small businesses and infrastructural developments in south eastern states with the collation centre at my law Office at 11…

Terrorism And Its Impact On Political And Religious Freedom In Nigeria (3)

In the final analysis, Nigeria has no Data base on Terrorism that is credible and dependable. For a country that cannot count itself, no reliance can be placed on facts and figures produced by any state department because it may be influenced by other considerations, including perhaps, the amplification of fear to generate better needless federal funding.                      The federal government war on terror is going awry. It has sent out the signal that it can’t defend itself as it is prepared to negotiate with terrorists contrary to standard protocols and findings on the subject of non negotiation. Nigeria remains a black spot on the troubled conscience of the world where Children are murdered for going…

TERRORISM AND ITS IMPACT ON POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN NIGERIA

A government has to make response on how to deal with the problems posed by Terrorism. There are varied responses a government can take to deal with the problem posed but the responses taken by Nigeria seems to have encompassed the entire response options because of the destructive and psychic fear the organizations   of terrorist groups has caused in Nigeria especially the Group known as Boko Haram. The Niger Delta Militant groups pales into insignificance in comparison to the Islamist fundamentalist group. The federal government of Nigeria has exercised all the options particularized here under including the use of military preemptive and reactive actions in varied locations in Nigeria. Specific types of responses include: Targeted…

TERRORISM AND ITS IMPACT ON POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN NIGERIA

“Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,” 1999 constitution of Nigeria. There is no legally acceptable definition of terrorism to scholars or the United Nations but the definition in use is sectoral conventions. In fact there are as many definitions of the subject as are Authors on the subject. The definition of the term terrorism by a Terrorist is likely to be as unacceptable but we can establish the essential ingredients of Terrorism at least. As Lord Denning Once noted, if we cannot define an Elephant, we know an Elephant when we see One.   What is Terrorism? Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of…

An overview of the American Freedom of hoice Act and Globalization of Abortion

The freedom of choice Act is the most radical abortion law proposed in Human history with respect to reproductive justice which gives a woman unfettered freedom to abort a child she is carrying without criminal culpability or determine a pregnancy without spousal consent, parental notification or consultation. The Freedom of Choice Act Indeed facilitates partial Birth abortion and puts the woman in position to exercise a reckless disdain for human life to facilitate the pursuit of her personal happiness and wellness. FOCA” declares that it is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child; terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability terminate a pregnancy…

SECURITY CHALLENGES, LAW ENFORCEMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN ORLU 2

SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS The challenges of security, law enforcement and unemployment cannot be wished away but a careful consideration and reevaluations will ensure a remarkable improvement of the security services and infrastructures of law enforcement that ensures a sustainable social justice system. The best way to improve the security system is to build a military cantonment in Orlu town centre preferably, now, besides NEPA to ensure proper engagement of violent crimes. The state government can build and hand over to the army such a compact cantonment   with an existing prototype by St Dominic’s, yaba Lagos. This will be complimented by the rules of convergence of police units from all over the state to give sustainable backups…

SECURITY CHALLENGES, LAW ENFORCEMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN ORLU

Society is always in a mercurial state of flux. Hopefully change should be for the better and not for the worse. Every community has to rise to the challenges of modernism and concretize its legitimate aspirations or betray them. For Orlu, the greatest challenges remain the problems created by insecurity, poor law enforcement and a high level of unemployment.   THE SECURITY CHALLENGES The broad spectrums of security challenges are very remarkable in Orlu which has driven away potential investors from the historical town which perhaps is an emerging commercial centre. Daily reports of Kidnapping and armed robberies are of rampant occurrences and the uses of narcotics very high. The Banks in the historical town…

AN OVERVIEW OF THE LAW AND FACTS OF PENSION ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA

The erosive decay of our moral infrastructures has not only undermined the institutional frameworks for growth, fiscal and policy management in our polity but has also undermined in grave measures the initiatives for post employment benefits for Nigeria workers. Billions of Naira meant for retirees has been stolen.   All these facts point to a growing necessity for more and better rules to institutionalize pension reforms and ordered development of our pension System under the regulation of the Nigerian pension commission.   What is a pension? A pension can be defined as a benefit usually money paid regularly to a retired employee or their survivors by private business, federal, state and local governments.   It…

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR BANK CHEATS YOU AND IN MATTERS OF DEBT RECOVERY

A lot of people have lost confidence in their banks and many families ruined by failed banks. In the last dispensation, banks have been used to facilitate fraud involving pension scams, 419 international transfers, cheque frauds, and breaches of customers confidentialities to criminal elements.   So what will you do when you discover that your bank has been cheating on you?   Here are some checklists to help you appreciate the problem.   CAN A BANK CHEAT ITS CUSTOMERS?   Yes. They do this every day in Nigeria where the level of regulation enforcement is not strict and customers rarely complain. Those who complain get their refunds and the banks get sanctioned by the CBN,…

AN OVERVIEW OF THE JUSTICIABILITY OF THE FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVES AND DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY UNDER THE 1999 CONSTITUTION

The constitution has provided guidelines of the fundamental objectives of good governance which frames the directive principles of state policy. Thus when we talk about clueless and visionless leaders, we are talking about the inept leadership that is not concerned with the growth of society but with the enlargement of their greed and self aggrandizement. There are sufficient guidelines in our constitution to give sight to the politically blind and propagate a new generation of responsible leadership.   A lot of our leaders go through Life appropriating the resources of society and stealing from the poor. They are basically illiterate in many cases or under educated but today they have acquired doctorate degrees without understanding…

The Role of Lawyers and the Courts in the Enforcement of the Fundamental Rights of the Citizen

There are many guarantees made by the 1999 constitution which has been habitually infringed upon and treated particularly, by the courts with indifference and by the state with criminality.   These letters of the law became sterile litanies and mimicry of eloquent respect for human liberties whilst the contrary is practiced. Today over 80 percent of the inmates of Nigerian prisons are awaiting trial .Many have completed the number of years they would have spent in jail if they are convicted. Many are pregnant whist in the custody of prison Authorities and or serving terms with their babies.   A substantial number of these citizens whose rights have been raped are innocently accused of crimes…

LAND LAW: FIVE WAYS OF PROVING OWNERSHIP OF A LAND IN A DISPUTE

Land Disputes are very common in Southern Nigeria because of the growing scarcity of land for agriculture, housing development, and the development of infrastructures. We readily agree with economists who state that land is in short supply and accept the Biblical insights that God has since stopped creating land and rested. Human populations on the other hand have continued to increase with associated problems of housing and food security. This explains why we have increasing litigations in our states especially in the South east where the demand for land has led to large scale migrations and many in our lands buy land at such exorbitant costs or engage in exploratory adventurous litigations. In Igbo land,…