Advocatus L.P.

The Central Bank of Nigeria under Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele completely misses the point of redesigning, reinventing and promoting a currency.

Currency is money or legal tender authorised by the government and put in use and circulation.

Indeed, money is called 'currency' because of wide use and occurrence. Neglecting to put out enough cash and inadvertently creating its scarcity means that legal tender is not yet currency by the very definition of the word.

On the Permanent Ban or Temporary Suspension of Twitter

We must or should appreciate 3 very fundamental issues:

1. There is something innately immoral about a government that uses a tool to come to power and bans the use of that tool because of the damage others are doing to its carefully curated propagandised image of itself;

2. There is something illegal about threatening to arrest and detain your citizens in the absence of a clear law allowing you to do so in response to the use of an internet tool and with the existence of a law (the Constitution) that prohibits you from even conceiving the idea of punishment without crime;

3. While we may not agree on the exact figures actually or potentially lost with respect to the ban of Twitter, we all agree that Twitter is a veritable tool for business. All news media and serious international businesses are ALL on Twitter. Banning its use will DEFINITELY affect the profit margins of businesses in Nigeria, and by extension, taxes.

Finally, if a government has vowed to lift 20 or whatever million people out of poverty, banning the use of social media should be least idea to be used in achieving that.

Eleazar Nwadiugwu is a lawyer and writes from Lagos

Still very relevant

May the Rains of June wash away the pain and sorrow..

May the brightness that comes with June shine bright all through the world...

May it bring back the smiles..

It's not too late to say Happy New Month.

'Any amount standing to the credit of the judiciary in the Federation Account shall be paid directly to the National Judicial Councils for disbursement to the heads of courts established for the Federation and the States....'

Section 162(9), CFRN, 1999 (As amended)

He banged on the door several times screaming at the top of his lungs.

'Leave my house o. Leave my house!'

A frail old man emerged from the door he was banging on, a dirty towel tied to his waist and water dripping from his hairy skin. He took a long look at the man who had banged the door and asked.

'Are you the landlord?'

'Yes' The other man replied. 'The new landlord'

'Oh, then you should know I have the right to quiet enjoyment of this apartment. If you as much as knock on this door one more time I will sue you and your property out of existence.'

The hairy man finished his warning, turned around and went back into the apartment from which he had emerged leaving new landlord's brow creased in confusion.

Calls for memoranda by Lagos State for victims of SARS related abuses and Lekki Toll Plaza shootings

Lagos State has begun prosecution of police officers for offences related to violation of human rights.

JUST SO YOU KNOW

Generally, the responsibility to impose a curfew can only arise after a state of emergency has been declared.

Where a person is found violating a curfew, the procedure is as follows:
1. That person is arrested;
2. Within 24 to 48 hours such person must be brought before a court of competent jurisdiction;
3. Where a person is found guilty punishment may be imposed ONLY by the competent court;
4. Such punishments usually range from 2,500 Naira to 3,000 Naira with or without community service.

This is generally also the usual process in all democracies. The idea of shooting live ammunition sporadically or deploying armed thugs or police or army personnel to clear the streets is not only illegal, it is reminiscent of communist dictatorships.

****this piece is the opinion of Eleazar Nwadiugwu Esq***

This is fair warning to trigger-happy police officers.