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Salary Increase Should Cover Other Judiciary Workers, Not Just Judges – Odinkalu
Human rights activist, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, says focusing only on the review of the salaries of judges will be counterproductive.
Odinkalu, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, said that the output of judges is dependent on the welfare of other staff in the judiciary and therefore urged that the salary be reviewed across board.
“How many times have members of the judiciary staff union gone on strike in the last three years? In some states, courts have been more closed than opened.
“So, when you go to court, there is a registry and the registry has the personnel who run the records, who help with filing. The judges are not going to do the filing, they are not going to do service, that is the business of the bailiffs, they are not going to do the documentation.
“All of those things precede the performative parts of the judicial function. My fear is that judges are so fixated on themselves, they forget that their output is contingent actually on the wellbeing of those personnel,” Odinkalu said.
He said there would be no justification if judges are granted over 800 per cent increase in salary without also expediting the review of the judicial workers’ salaries.
The former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission said this might make judicial workers to be resentful and embrace bribery.
Earlier in the day, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, bemoaned the neglect in the remuneration of judicial officers for close to 17 years, a situation he asserted as antithetical to any meaningful judicial reform.
On May 9, the Senate kick-started moves to review salaries, allowances and fringe benefits of judicial office holders in Nigeria in a bid to curb bribery and corruption and ensure independence of the judiciary.
The executive bill seeking to prescribe the salaries of the judicial office holders both at the federal and state levels scaled second reading.
The bill was, thereafter, referred to the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters to report back in four weeks.
The move by the Senate came two months after President Bola Tinubu presented a bill to the upper chamber, asking the lawmakers to review the salaries of judicial officers in the country.
News
Edo Govt Announces School Resumption Date
The Edo Government has directed all public and private schools in the state to resume the 2024/25 academic session on September 30.
This directive comes after an earlier postponement of the resumption date, initially set for September 9, 2024.
In a statement on Sunday in Benin, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Ojo Akin-Longe, warned that a fake notification had been circulating that schools would reopen on Monday.
He urged parents and guardians to disregard this false information.
The permanent secretary said, “We refer to the earlier announcement postponing the resumption of all public and private schools in Edo State, which was originally scheduled to reopen on Monday, 9th September 2024.
“We are aware of a subsequent false notification stating that schools should resume on Monday, 23rd September 2024.
“We wish to clarify that this announcement did not originate from the Edo State Government and is the work of mischief makers. The information is false and should be disregarded.
“The Edo State Government hereby directs that all public and private schools in the state will now resume for the 2024/25 academic session on Monday, 30th September 2024. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.”
News
17 ISWAP Terrorists Dr0wn While Crossing River In Yobe
At least 17 members of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) drowned while attempting to cross a river along the Nigeria-Niger Republic border.
According to a counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, the incident occurred between the Kafetoa and Bulabulin Gaidam communities in Yobe State, Nigeria.
The insurgents were reportedly en route to Tam village in Niger Republic, near the Kannamma settlement in Yobe, when they were caught by strong water currents and swept away.
Boko Haram kills many, burn shops, houses in attack on Yobe village
Makama stated that the fighters had been displaced from key bases, including Bulabulin Geidam, Chettimari, and Diffan, all along the Nigeria-Niger border regions.
ISWAP has been involved in insurgency activities across Nigeria’s northeastern region and has come under increasing pressure from Nigerian military operations in recent months.
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Sowore insists Fearless In October protests must hold, says it’s for all ages
Human rights activist and convener of #RevolutionNow Movement, Omoyele Sowore, has reaffirmed the scheduled second phase of the nationwide protests against acute hunger, poverty and bad governance under President Bola Tinubu’s administration tagged #FearlessInOctober.
Sowore, a former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) party, said the protests should not be regarded as only meant for Generation Z (Gen Z), but for all ages.
Generation Z refers to people born between 1996 and 2010. They are also known as Zoomers. They are the second-youngest generation, between millennials and Generation Alpha.
According to Sowore, the movement is championed by Nigerians of all ages who are fed up with bad governance in Nigeria, and in extension, Africa, noting that their flag will be “A New Pan-Africanism”.
He stressed that only if Africans unite will they be able to earn a place in global prosperity, hence, Nigerians need to rise against bad governance on October 1 when the country marks its Independence Day.
He said, “But don’t call it a Generation Z protest, rather from A to Z. The movement is animated by Nigerians of all ages, who are fed up with bad governance.
“Only if Africans unite will they be able to earn a place in global prosperity.”
He said the protests will be in October because “it’s a significant month for a number of reasons”.
He said, “There’s the anniversary of “their” independence, which Nigerians have not yet truly won, and also that of #EndSARS, the movement that denounces the abuses and blackmail against defenseless citizens committed by the police of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad at dawn on October 20, 2020.
“After days of marches, soldiers shot at participants in a sit-in in Lagos to enforce a curfew order. According to a local commission of inquiry, there were at least 48 victims: young people who denounced bad governance.”
The first phase of the protests took place nationwide from August 1-10, during and following which Nigerian authorities arrested several people for their alleged roles in the demonstrations.
The authorities have held several protesters in prison and charged them with treason.
However, Sowore has continued to encourage Nigerians, especially the youths not to surrender to the government’s brutality and hostility meant to silence and keep them in perpetual bondage.
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