Citizen is a column that explains how the government’s policies fucks citizens and how we can unfuck ourselves.

On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the new Police Establishment Act 2020, aimed at making the Nigerian police force better.

But the new law has generated sharp criticism, especially on social media. Many critics say that the law has now granted wide and unending powers to police officers.

Reasonable Grounds, Reasonable Apprehension

The new Police Act is filled with many places where it tells police officers to act where it has found “reasonable grounds”, or if there’s “reasonable apprehension”.

For instance, Section 34 of the Act says that a suspect may be handcuffed if there is “reasonable apprehension of violence or an attempt to escape”.

Section 38 also says that a police officer can arrest a suspect without a court order and without a warrant if he suspects that the person has committed an offence on “reasonable grounds” against any law in Nigeria or another country, except the law creating the offence states that the person cannot be arrested without a warrant.

What this means is that a Nigerian police officer can arrest you without warrant if he has “reasonable grounds” to believe you’re a suspect. Whether or not you’re actually a suspect is irrelevant, as long as he reasonably thinks and believes that you are. 

What is reasonable?

The question of reasonability differs from one person to another. What is reasonable to one may not be reasonable to another. With this bill, if a police officer thinks that only criminals drive a type of car, he is backed by the law to arrest an owner of that car without warrant. 

Legally, the courts have a test for reasonableness, including whether a decision is fair, just and right. But giving the Nigerian police officers these wide powers is definitely not a good thing. They will surely abuse it.

What’s the defence?

Supporters of the law argue that this same section was in the Police Act 2004 and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA 2015)

Many supporters of this Police Act have however argued that this same provision is not new and that it was in the Police Act of 2004 and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA). 

Honest Verdict

Irrespective of when this law was first signed, these powers are simply too much for the Nigerian police.

We already know, as Nigerians, that the police is filled with some of the worst Nigerians. Now that a law gives them the power to arrest anyone on “reasonable” grounds, we know they won’t be reasonable with it, as always. And waiting for a court of law to prove reasonableness is just another long grind.

This provision of the law needs to be amended or repealed. For the sake of the Nigerians.

Read: The Nigerian Police Is Recruiting, We Want These 7 Interview Questions.

Check back every weekday by 10am for more Zikoko Citizen stories.

One year ago, we left Nigeria for an 80-day adventure across West Africa. Something is coming. Unshared stories. New perspectives. Limited series. 10 episodes. Check out: Jollofroad.com

 Also, read this: “We Just Dey Start” – We Went On Jollof Road, What Next?

Citizen is a column that explains how the government’s policies fucks citizens and how we can unfuck ourselves.

Okay, so this is the jab:

And then came the knockout:

Well, that meins, no more dollars to import maize, chicken feed, palm oil, or whatever. Every part of the food you eat must be sourced from Nigeria.

Now, asides from the fact that Buhari’s ‘direction’ clearly shows that the Central Bank of Nigeria under his Presidency is no more independent (if it ever was), the assumption that we have to completely stifle food imports to boost Agriculture in Nigeria is … besides the point.

Also, that the presence of “able bodied” young Nigerians on the farms will equate to more Agricultural yield is … meh. 

The Netherlands for instance, has a population of roughly 17 million people (not up to the people in Lagos), and a land mass of roughly 41,543 sq Km (Nigeria’s is 923,768 sq Km). But the country is the second largest exporter of Agricultural produce in the world, and it made over $10 billion exporting flowers and $7.4 billion exporting vegetables in 2017 alone.

How? Smart work, not hard work. Innovation and smart policies over gra gra.

In fact, in most developed countries only 5% of the entire population work in the Agric sector, while two-thirds of the population in poor countries end up working in Agriculture. But developed countries still end up more productive in Agriculture than developing countries.

Look, don’t just take our word for it. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the things Buhari gets wrong about Agriculture in Nigeria:

1. 70 million Nigerians already work in Agriculture

According to recent World Bank estimates, 35% of Nigerians work in some form of Agriculture. That is around 70 million Nigerians. So we do already have enough people in Agriculture. It can’t be about the numbers again if 70 million out of 200 million people already engage in an occupation, in one form or another. Or can it?

2. Farmers still owe over N150 billion from the Anchor Borrowers Programme

The Government’s own Anchor Borrowers Programme, aimed at providing finance to Small Holder Farmers (SHFs) to purchase farm inputs still remains a source of controversy over repayment concerns.

Now, while providing loans for farmers is a great idea in theory, the practicalities of Agriculture in Nigeria still show that it is hard for farmers to turn a profit. Which takes us to the last point;

3. Nigeria’s Agro-Processing sub-sector is still way off mark

In June this year, the Federal Government announced plans to build 142 Agriculture processing centres, but that is exactly the point Nigeria is with regards to agro-processing. *Announcing plans*.

Essentially, Agriculture as an occupation is way different from Agriculture as a business. Until Nigeria works around the Agro-business by developing the Agro-processing sub-sector and building the infrastructure around it, including power and seamless transportation, we’ll have to keep going to farms, like the able-bodied people that we are.

Check back every weekday by 10am for more Zikoko Citizen stories.

Citizen is a column that explains how the government’s policies fucks citizens and how we can unfuck ourselves.

Imagine my surprise when I opened Twitter on Sunday night, only to realise that fans of Erica were donating money to a GoFundMe account opened on her behalf after she was disqualified from the Big Brother Naija show. 

And they were not sending this woman money in naira. They were doing it in – wait for it – DOLLARS. I can’t lie, I was shook.

But the more I think about this the more I want to say to Erica’s fans: “Be careful, the CBN is looking for dollars”.

Roses are red, CBN wll find the dollars you kept under your bed

On Friday last week, the CBN placed a Post No Debit (PND) order on 48 companies, on the allegation that they transfer foreign exchange outside of the country, in a way that hurts Nigeria’s economy.

The order largely affected gaming companies, and it is alleged that over $48 million dollars were taken out of Nigeria into foreign accounts – a move the CBN maintains does not help the FX scarcity situation in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, What Is A ‘Post No Debit Order’?

Note that A ‘Post No Debit‘ is an order  that blocks all money debit transactions from taking place on a bank account, and this recent order placed on these companies is further proof that the Central Bank is taking the foreign exchange issue in Nigeria extremely seriously.

Meanwhile, this dollar directive is not isolated and the CBN has been doing all there is to streamline dollar processes in the country. Many Nigerian commercial banks now cap their international dollar outflow for customers at $100 daily.

But why is the CBN so concerned about dollars?

For much of 2020, FX instability has remained a major problem for the Nigerian economy. The supply of dollars has been on a decline for months due to low oil prices and the absence of foreign capital inflow into the country.

Because the sale of crude oil is denominated in dollars and oil sales accounts for 90% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings, a crash in the international price of oil therefore affects Nigeria’s foreign exchange position badly. 

We have seen the CBN devalue the naira at the official rate to N380, all in avoid the FX speculation. Essentially, $14,000 in any account is big deal, and the CBN might just be coming for Erica.

Citizen is a column that explains how the government’s policies fucks citizens and how we can unfuck ourselves.

Having a bad Monday? Relax. Nigeria still owes P&ID $10 billion. How? Well, by breaching a gas supply contract. But that’s not even all. There’s a lot more to unpack in a case where interest on loan default continues to attract $1.2 million daily. Omo.

The Tea

On the 22nd of July 2009, Nigeria signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID). The MOU was signed on behalf of Nigeria by Dr Rilmanu Lukman, the then Minister of Petroleum Resources, and on behalf of P&ID by Micheal Quinn. The desire of the Nigerian Government was to “develop, construct and operate gas resources at optimal capacity to meet the growth in gas demand at the various level of the economy, including domestic, regional and export market”.

The government identified a number of oil/gas flare points and wished to eliminate gas flaring by setting up a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) base, as well as to make lean gas produced available for other domestic uses. P&ID’s job was to process these “wet” gas into “lean gas”.

The objective of the MOU was for P&ID to construct a Natural Gas Processing Plant and to incorporate two process streams with a total capacity of 400 Million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCuFD), together with all storage utilities and facilities at Calabar.

First, Who or What or Where Is P&ID?

Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) is a company many have said specialise in soft work. Incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), some have called Micheal Quinn, the Irish Father of the company, an “adopted son of Nigeria“. In fact, Quinn is reported to have been friends with Presidents Obasanjo and Yar’Adua.

Quinn’s story can be mythical, including how he got a contract from the European Union in 1994 to supply steel in a cleaner way in Ireland for $42.5 million but never supplied anything. But this particular ‘bromance’ with Nigeria relates to the utilisation of natural gas.

You see, in 2008, the Federal Government had grown tired of the amount of the gas that was being flared away (or wasted). The government then sought the intervention of International Oil Companies to help convert these ‘wet’ gas to ‘lean’ gas. 13 companies were granted the gas processing contract, of which P&ID was one.

Scope of The Work

The agreement between Nigeria and P&ID had 4 essential scopes:

a) P&ID shall construct a Natural Gas Processing Plant (NGPP) on the waterside Site, Calabar, allocated by Cross River State Government. The plant shall be constructed on a ‘time of the essence’ basis to ensure the earliest possible delivery to NNPC, or its nominees, of approximately 340 MMSCuFD (C1 and C2) pipeline quality gas for power generation and industrial use by third Parties nominated by NNPC.

b) To ensure this fastrack is achieved P&ID will construct and incorporate two process streams with a total capacity of 400 MMSCuFD together with all utilities and storage facilities at Calabar.

c) The Government shall make available at the P&ID Calabar site boundary, 400 MMSCuFD Wet Gas (free of water and condensate), having a minimum C3 (Propane) content of 3.5% mol and C4 (Butane) content of 1.8% mol.

d) P&ID will process the Feed Gas to be supplied by NNPC and shall provide to NNPC or its nominees approximately 85% of the wet gas feedstock molecular volume in the form of pipeline quality dry gas (C1 and C2 ) at the P&ID Calabar site boundary.

Essentially, the agreement between Nigeria and P&ID was pretty straightforward if you go by the arrangement above. Nigeria makes available a certain amount of wet gas and P&ID provides approximately 85% dry gas back free.

But, na overconfidence no make February complete till tomorrow. Things would soon turn sour.

Section 20 – Arbitration

Section 20 of the Arbitration stated that:

Any dispute, difference or controversy arising from the terms of this MOU shall be settled amicably and mutually by both parties. Subject to amicable settlement, at the request of either Party, such dispute, difference or controversy may be submitted for arbitration or adjudication in accordance with the Arbitration Rules contained in the Schedule to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act Cap 19 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 1990.

3 years later, specifically in March 2013, P&ID activated this arbitration clause and took the case to a court of arbitration in London.

By its request for Arbitration, P&ID claimed that Nigeria did not make the supply of the wet gas as agreed in the contract, including the building of necessary pipelines, a situation in which it deemed a repudiation or breach of the contract. P&ID estimated that it had spent $40 million on the project, even though it had not yet fulfilled its own part of the contract by acquiring the land or building the facilities for the gas processing.

P&ID estimated to the court that it would have generated $5 to $6 billion from the contract if it had gone on over the 20-year stipulated period. The case went back and forth over a series of arbitration panels, but in July 2015, an ad hoc tribunal in London decided that Nigeria was liable to damages to P&ID.

In a majority decision in January 31 2017, the tribunal awarded $6.6 billion in damages to P&ID. The dissenting opinion estimated the loss at $250 million over three years.

Daddy Bubu Comes On Board – Nigeria’s Moves

At some point before the expiration of the Jonathan tenure, the administration had already agreed an $850 million out-of-court-settlement for the case. However, the Buhari tenured ignored these settlements upon assumption of office, deciding to file dismissal suits in both UK and Nigerian courts.

The case went back and forth to arbitration panels, but on June 28 2018, Abubakar Malami, the new Attorney General of the Federation started a formal investigation into P&ID and the Gas Supply Arrangement, at Buhari’s direction. Through this process, a former legal adviser of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources was charged for accepting bribes and failing to follow protocol when he was authorising the agreement. P&ID Nigeria was also convicted on an eleven-count charge of money laundering and fraudulently claiming to have acquired land.

On December 5, 2019, Nigeria’s legal team filed substantive evidence in the London High Court, stating that the agreement was procured through fraud and corruption. The court set down a time for the case to be considered, and on July 13, 2020, Nigeria formally presented arguments on why it should be permitted to bring its fraud challenge against P&ID outside the normal time limits.

On September 4, 2020, the English Commercial Court delivers an unprecedented judgement allowing Nigeria permission to proceed with its challenge to the $10 billion arbitral award made against it over three years ago.

Moral of the Story

Credit has to be given to the Malami led Ministry of Justice for seeing Nigeria up this point. The EFCC led Magu has also been credited for establishing fraud in the case.

But the work has not stopped here. Nigeria can only proceed with its challenge to the arbitral award – a sum that equals our budge for health and education. Hopefully, we will begin to start signing better contracts.

The Nigerian experience is physical, emotional, and sometimes international. No one knows it better than our features on #TheAbroadLife, a series where we detail and explore Nigerian experiences while living abroad.

The subject of today’s Abroad Life is a 29-year-old woman who moved to Canada when she was 11. She talks about the sudden move, the lack of community growing up, and her biggest problem in Canada: finding love. 

First things first, for how long have you been in Canada?

I moved here in 2002, when I was 11. I was just minding my business one day and the people who brought me into this earth said, “Oya pack your bags, let’s go”. It’s not like I could say “Oh no, I’m not going. I want to go and stay with my aunt in Yaba”. That’s how I found myself here.

Do you know why your family moved? 

My parents had always had plans to leave, so when the opportunity came, they pursued it. I know that they were always talking about getting us a better education. That was a huge motivating factor. But I was 11 at the time, so I was still trying to figure out how life worked. I knew that in Nigeria, there was no constant electricity, and we were always in traffic, and my mum worked late a lot, so we had to stay at a family friend’s until she came to pick us at night. It was in the middle of this that Canada happened and I was happy we were going abroad. I’m grateful for what they did. 

Nigeria is great but it obviously has its flaws, just like everywhere.

Have you been to Nigeria ever since?

I’ve been there a few times. Maybe 7-8 times in the past 18 years. I’d usually just come back for weddings, burials and major events.

What’s your fondest memory of Nigeria? 

My fondest memory of Nigeria was always being at my dad’s office and then attending the office Christmas parties. It was always amazing, because who doesn’t like getting gifts and free food.

What was it like when you first moved to Canada?

We started living with my mum’s co-worker. After some time, we moved. I remember having to settle into a new environment and moving to a new school. There was a lot of what you would call culture shock.

What was shocking?

I remember standing outside and waiting to go into class and there was a list of all the students on the door. I know it was in grade 7, which is about JSS 1 in Nigeria, and the first problem people had was with my very Yoruba name. I became the centre of attention. I got so many questions, there was some bullying here and there, but you know, that’s what makes a strong woman today. It was awkward. 

I also had to register English as a second language, although English was in fact my first language and  parents had to come in and be like “she can speak English, it’s just a new environment for her. She’s a bit shy, but that doesn’t mean she can’t speak English.”

That’s interesting. When did it stop being awkward?

Not so quickly. I think it took me about six months or a year to understand how things work on this side of the world and just settle. 

What about the weather?

I had not seen snow before so that was quite exciting. I remember my friends saying, “let’s take the little African girl to go and see snow. She’s never seen snow before.” 

They took me to see snow for the first time. It was nice. Then I remember that my parents took me to a store and we got all kinds of winter jackets, padding and multiple layers of clothing. Getting dressed in the morning wasn’t fun and it probably took about 20 minutes to put on all the layers to avoid me from getting frostbitten. It gets quite cold here. 

Did you ever have an identity problem as a Nigerian in a foreign country?

Yes I did. Growing up, apart from the one Nigerian family I knew when I moved here, I had no other Nigerian community I could relate with. In school, I was the only Nigerian. There were Ghanians, but I didn’t think it was the same thing. I had to constantly, and intentionally change the way I spoke and the things I said because a lot of people did not understand me. 

There’s this time I was trying to  compliment a friend and I was like “oh wow I really like your chain” and she was like “chain? What’s that?” and then I pointed to her neck and she was like “oh! You mean my necklace” and it was so confusing. 

And I’d say things like “can I borrow your biro?” and my friends would ask, “Bible?”

I had to adjust, but it was just a lot to unravel at once. 

For the first 6 years I did not leave Canada and having to switch friends was a disadvantage to me cause I remember going back to Nigeria and visiting  my old school reunion and no one remembered me. 

Wow. Are you a full citizen of Canada now?

Yes I am. It took me about three to four years. I didn’t have to do much. My mum had to write an exam for me.

What is a Nigerian reality that shapes your Canadian experience?

Power outages. It’s always like a movie when the lights go out here. Everyone thinks the world is ending but I’m just like “NEPA has taken light”. There’s also the way kids talk to their parents. The Nigerian in me sees the way people here behave as rude and spoilt, because I know that if I try any of that with my mother, she would have my head on a platter. It’s harder for Nigerians to raise their kids in the Nigerian way here. There’s the respect element, and the street smart element that comes from growing up in Nigeria, and that’s why when kids mess up, their parents always threaten to send them back to Nigeria. 

What’s the thing about Canadians being extremely nice?

It’s very true. You’ll do something to a Canadian and they’ll apologise to you. Everyone just tries to get along. People apologize a lot and are very polite. We don’t like drama.

That’s crazy. Do you know why it’s that way?

I have a theory. When you go through that many months of winter and extreme cold, you’re grateful for the opportunity to finally come outside of  your house and socialize and see people. People aren’t really out of their houses during winter so when everyone is out, everyone wants to be nice.

That makes so much sense. 

What’s the most Canadian thing ever?

Poutine. It’s a main dish here that people just absolutely love to eat. I don’t really like it. It’s French fries, with a very generous drizzle of gravy, and melted cheese. Canadians love Poutine.  There’s also some lingo for some stuff here that would probably not make sense to people in America. If I went to America and said I wanted a Double Double in a coffee shop, they would be confused. It’s coffee with two cream and two sugar, but it’s just a Canadian thing.

Haha… So you spoke about raising kids in Canada. Do you plan on doing that?

Yes. Eventually. But I’m not quite sure when. I’m hoping it happens in  the next few years, but I need a husband first before I get kids, don’t I? 

What’s up with getting a husband?

I saw something yesterday that said “God I’m not asking you to bring my husband right now I just need a tracking number”. 

I go out, I go to church, I hang out with friends I commute to work, I go to the mall, I’m out here but I don’t really know what’s going on. It’s not easy. 

What relationship experiences have you had?

I’m basically the CEO of the “God When” committee. I have never been in a relationship, so I’m not even entirely sure I can relate with what you mean when you say “experiences”. And it’s not been a choice. That’s just how it is. I wish I could put a pin on the reason it’s like this but I really can’t. I’m not a hermit; I’m actually very social. But I’m just the fun friend, and people always forget to add the “girl” in front of “friend”. 

Are you looking for a Nigerian?

I’m open to anything. Nigerians, and white people are welcome. If you don’t try, you never know. I’m still very Nigerian, even though I have been here for 18 years, so a Nigerian won’t be a bad idea. I also like the Italians. They have a strong sense of family, and community, and some of the other stuff we have running on our side of the world. But honestly, I’m not trying to be picky. I can’t knock it if I haven’t tried it. Deep down though, maybe a Nigerian is the way to go.

Until then, I’ll keep living my best life, because “who men epp?”. 

Ouch

Do you see yourself coming to live in Nigeria at some point?

I get people asking me this all the time. I love to visit, but after two weeks I’m like “this has been fun” so I have to go back home. You know what they say; “never say never”, but it would have to be something amazing that brings me to Nigeria and makes me stay there.

So what benefits do being a Canadian offer you that being Nigerian doesn’t.

I could go all day!  A blue passport is definitely up there. Then free education, free healthcare, and constant electricity.

What does a blue passport give you?

I get to travel to almost anywhere in the world without a visa. It’s amazing. I still have my Nigerian passport and I’m grateful for it sha. 

There’s also free health care. But sometimes the weather will make you question your life like “is it really worth it?”

There’s a sense of security and confidence in systems to work. Then there’s exposure to a mix of races and types of people, and that’s awesome too. 

Also being in a place where things work, constant electricity as well being able to meet other people that aren’t Nigerians definitely exposes you. The government makes decisions for the betterment of things. It’s really nice here. 

More Nigerians should come to Canada. 10/10 would recommend it. 

Want more Abroad Life? Check in every Friday at 9 A.M. (WAT) for a new episode. Until then, read every story of the series here.