It is one of the most important new business models in Nigeria. It has grown from three people to hundreds in less than 18 months. And the firm just unveiled a massive refurbishment factory so that technicians and engineers can refurbish electronics, a/cs, generators, furniture, etc, at scale.
Today at 7pm WAT, CEO of Egoras, Ugoji Harry will be at Tekedia Mini-MBA to discuss Egoras business model. Tekedia Institute served as the innovation and technical partner, providing leadership, as the company emerged.
Come and learn how innovators are thriving despite all the challenges in Nigeria. Respect the supremacy of business models in markets. Egoras is leading and we will be learning. Zoom link in the Board.
I watched with so much shame and disgust yesterday how some of the members of the Senate proudly staged a protest and walked out of the plenary session in lieu of impeaching the president over the insecurity challenge amongst other struggles the nation has been facing.
It is quite shameful and I say this with so many tears in my eyes that the lawmakers have been reduced to mere protesters and resorted to protest instead of manning up and carrying out their statutory duty of impeaching the president as constitutionally provided as at when the need arises. It is far long overdue. I boldly say that in a sane political clime, the president ought to have been impeached long ago, by whatever standard anyone wants to measure or argue it.
All the lawmakers ended up doing yesterday was media gimmicks, tomfoolery, a display of ignorance, and an outstanding show of shame with so much pride. It was rightly described in a response by the Presidential spokesperson that their act of yesterday was “childish” and I totally agree.
There’s no constitutional provision for impeachment procedure known as a protest or walk out. So some of the lawmakers walking out and staging a protest only reduced them to toothless bulldogs that can only bark but can never bite.
The procedure for impeachment is duly provided for in S.143 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria. For benefit of the doubt, I will represent the step-by-step process of impeaching the president as provided by the constitution Incase the honorable lawmakers have forgotten.
According to the constitutional provision; the first step in the impeachment process of the president is a written notice of an allegation of gross misconduct against the person of the president which is duly signed by at least 1/3 members of the National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives inclusive).
The senate president must within 7 days serve the president with the notice of the allegation and every other member of the National Assembly must be served a copy of the notice.
When the President and each member of the National Assembly have been served, the National Assembly must within 14 days resolve if the allegation against the president is to be investigated or not.
If the National Assembly resolves that the allegation against the president is to be investigated, the Senate president must within seven days request the Chief Justice of Nigeria to set up a seven-man panel to investigate this allegation(s).
The panel is given three months to investigate this allegation and their findings are to be reported back to the National Assembly. During the process, the president has every right to appear before the panel and defend himself in person or through his legal representative(s).
When the panel reports that allegations against the president have been proven or substantiated, the National Assembly will consider the report and adopt the report.
Once the report of the panel is adopted the president stands to be removed from office and ceases to hold or occupy the office of the president from the moment the report is adopted.
From the processes highlighted, it is crystal clear that the impeachment process of the president in Nigeria is quite stringent and cumbersome, hence the reason why the lawmakers should stop playing around and initiate the process if they really want to impeach the Mr. President (which is long overdue) because they have a really long way to go.
In nowhere in the constitution is staging a protest or walking out of the plenary session by lawmakers or giving the president six weeks ultimatum is referred to as an impeachment process in the constitution or any other Nigerian law. The lawmakers should cease the gimmicks and stop making fools of themselves and follow the procedures laid down by the constitution if they mean the business of impeaching the president.
As Nigeria goes through a challenging season of leadership quagmire, I want you to remember that nations rarely kaput. In this video, I introduce two men I study – Carlos Slim (Mexican billionaire) and Franklin Templeton (stock picker of the 20th century). As Abuja demoralizes you, remember that the sun will always rise. Do not kill that idea, because Nigeria will always be.
Franklin Templeton began a firm in 1947, against all odds, at the ruins of World War II. Mr Slim bought anything in his sight at one of the lowest points in Mexican history – the peso was down and markets in ruins. Templeton trusted the human race and bought “useless” stocks. Slim’s father told him that countries do not fail; they always come back.
Becoming successful in life is not about being busy – it is understanding things and making sense of them, more meaningfully. There are acres of diamond in Nigeria today, across many areas. Look for them. If you do not believe in humans, it is unlikely you can see opportunities in life.
This moment will go and like the cryolite, the beautiful gems out of periwinkle, new moments will emerge. Plan to vote but do not lose confidence because abundance remains in the future.
I invested in the local pharmaceutical distribution space last week because very soon, importing foreign drugs will go. The challenges in Nigeria must redesign your investment thesis because even in the miry clay, special greener pastures remain. Think and thrive.
The exchange rate between the Naira and Dollar which is merged with huge volatility, with the Naira currently at N720 per $1 at the parallel market, has caused panic among Nigerians.
Recall that the CBN threatened to prosecute anyone caught purchasing the dollar at any of the financial institutions in the country. This has however forced a lot of Nigerians to move into the crypto space by amassing dollar-dominated digital assets as a hedge against the collapse of the local currency (Naira).
Stablecoins and Bitcoins are said to be the most purchased digital assets, causing the fiat local currency (Naira) to plunge to an all-time low record in the black market. According to recent data, Nigerians traded over $5 million worth of Bitcoin on the popular P2P trading website. Pax full and local bitcoins saw a 258% increase from last week.
A large percentage of Nigerians have nonetheless gone contrary to the CBN law as they continuously exchange digital currency in the peer-to-peer market where transactions are priced in dollars. Recall that the Apex bank issued a warning to other banks to desist from aiding cryptocurrency transactions.
The CBN had in 2017 disclosed that digital currencies such as Bitcoins, Litecoin, and others are widely used in financing terrorism and money laundering, considering the anonymity of virtual transactions.
Displeased with the CBN law on the trading of cryptocurrency, a large percentage of the citizens have argued that the CBN is creating money out of thin air, as the currency is unbacked by tangible assets.
They further claimed that the CBN manipulates the supply of money to create inflationary pressures and asset bubbles in the economy. Others view it as an avenue for the CBN to exert control over economic and fiscal policy.
Despite the CBN restrictions on crypto trade in the country, in the first three months of the year 2022, Nigerians traded at least N77.75bn ($18m) worth of Bitcoin which saw a 5.71 percent increase from the N73.54bn worth of bitcoin that was traded in the year 2021.
Nigeria was said to be the highest trading country in the year 2021, with 16,000 daily trades, occupying the sixth position of leading nations in the world in terms of crypto adoption. As Nigerians continue to pile into cryptocurrencies due to low confidence in the Naira as a result of constant devaluation. It has been reported that the accumulation of cryptocurrencies is being used as a hedge against the weakening naira.
People are buying dollars to purchase digital assets, as the USD buy rate in the crypto market is moving at the same local rate. Binance, a trading platform, has revealed that Nigerians have conducted many trades in digital currencies over the last few days.
Analysts have blamed the continuous devaluation of the Naira on rising import bills, savings in dollars, and the accumulation of digital assets by Nigerians. With the continuous fall of the naira, the senate has resolved to invite the CBN Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele to appear before the senate in plenary to address the lawmakers behind closed doors, over the constant fall of the naira in recent weeks.
Yesterday a popular and outspoken Nigerian lawyer and human right activist, Mr. Inibiehi Effiong was sent to prison for one month by the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom state, Her Lordship, Justice Ekaette Obot for contempt of court.
Some individuals have expressed concerns and genuine shock over the incident and have been asking around to know if a judge has the power to send a lawyer who is appearing before the court in defense of his client to jail for doing the job of representing his client.
Due to the circumstances surrounding this particular issue and the status of the persons involved especially the status of the person of her Lordship, Madam Obot, the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom state; the purport of this piece is not to determine if her lordship is right or wrong to have sent a lawyer to jail for contempt (that can only be determined on appeal or by other judges) rather this piece purports to answer the question and educate readers “whether a judge has the power to send a lawyer appearing before him to jail for contempt and things that a lawyer can do in court while appearing in the court for the lawyer to be held to have committed contempt of court”.
Contempt of court is a serious offense and a lawyer will be said to have committed contempt of court if the lawyer does something that interferes with the powers of the Court to administer justice or does anything which may in any way obstruct the course of justice or tries to undermine the authority or power of the court to administer justice and the Court is entitled to invoke its innate powers to punish the person, be it a lawyer or a bystander by committing the person to prison till the person purges him or herself of the contempt and apologize to the court.
The legal profession is an honorable profession so there are laws and rules regulating the affairs of lawyers in court and even out of court. A lawyer is expected to be disciplined and display a high level of integrity and professionalism at all times.
In court, a lawyer is expected to conduct his case with utmost respect and discipline; respect and regard for the co-lawyers on the other side of the divide, and respect to the bench (the judge(s)). A lawyer should never on any account raise his voice on a judge or show any form of disrespect to a judge or never be seen to use some foul tone or foul language on a judge or while addressing other counsels or any other person present in court. If a lawyer does that he will be held to have committed contempt of court and a judge has the power to order the committal of the lawyer to prison till the lawyer purges himself of the contempt.
S. 31(1) of the Rules of Professional Conduct provides; A lawyer shall always treat the court with respect, dignity, and honour. Subsequently, S.35 of the same RPC further provides; A lawyer appearing before a judicial tribunal or court shall accord due respect to it and shall treat the tribunal/court with courtesy and dignity.
When a lawyer shows any sign of disrespect to a judge or disregard for the judicial process he will be held in contempt and will be ordered to step out of the bar and “derobe” himself.
The issue of whether a judge can send a lawyer to prison for contempt without giving the lawyer the chance to defend himself and exercise his right to a fair hearing will be an issue for discussion on a later day but it is totally lawful that a judge can send a lawyer to prison on grounds of contempt of court till the lawyer purges himself of the contempt.
Applying these established rules to what transpired between Barr. Inibehi Effiong and the Honorable CJ of Akwa Ibom yesterday, according to the eye witness report, it was said that Barr. Effiong raised his voice at the judge and addressed the judge in a rude and disrespectful manner, hence the reason why the judge ordered him to step out of the bar and derobe and sentenced him to a one-month jail term.
We all hope that caution will prevail and this issue between her honorable Lordship and the ferocious Barr Effiong will be settled amicably in no distant time.
