Even if I lack the locus standi to prosecute some persons or officials in our midst, I still strongly believe I’ve some amount of immunity to justify any scenario taking place within my territory.

In other words, most of us are naturally gifted with the initiative and prowess of putting up a judgment over any occurring drama or observation irrespective of our professions.

It could be recalled that in August 18, 2011, Justice Isa Ayo Salami of Nigeria was suspended as the President of the country’s Court of Appeal by the National Judicial Council (NJC) when the said body found him guilty of gross misconduct following his refusal to apologize to former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu whom he accused of victimizing him for refusing to compromise the then gubernatorial election dispute in Sokoto State.

Subsequently, the Judicial body (NJC) abruptly turned round to recall the principal judicial officer and recommended him to the presidency for reinstatement without stating any reason for the urgent recall.

In its remark, the NJC said that it’s within its constitutional powers to recall and reinstate any justice of the Court of Appeal, or any court of competent jurisdiction, and does not require the President’s consent.

Come to think of it, if truly the presidential immunity was not required or that they don’t owe the presidency any reason whatsoever for the recall, why did they find it difficult to understand that the public opinion or view was of high importance in any action meant to be taken by the body?

More so, a few weeks earlier, the then Nigeria’s President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan granted a presidential pardon to the convicted former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and the ex-Managing Director of the Bank of the North, Mr. Shettima Bulama, among others based on the decision taken by the Council of State.

The bitter and controversial side of the story was that such a decision was taken without minding or considering the anticipatory reactions of the citizenry or the general public. This means that the action was taken out of personal interest.

The funniest part was that, Chief Alamieyeseigha was extricated while the United Kingdom (UK) was still seeking for his extradition to the (UK) to be tried for a crime he allegedly committed.

On the other hand, sometime ago, one of the banner headlines of The Punch Newspaper read, “Akpabio admits rigging primary election”. The inside of the Page 8 of the paper stated that the then Akwa-Ibom State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, who is now the Minister of Niger-Delta Affairs, allegedly confessed that he manipulated the result of the 2007 People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Senatorial Primary election in the State by single-handedly replacing the winner with the name of his preferred candidate.

Based on what the said paper wrote, the then sitting governor said the manipulation was necessary in order to give the people of Ikono and Ini LGAs a sense of belonging. According to him, the people of the aforementioned LGAs were yet to produce a senator since 1960 till 2007. Consequently, his political equation yielded the emergence of Sen. Aloysius Etok who hails from the affected area.

Notwithstanding, even if the group in question was yet to produce a senator, did it call for rigging? Also, if truly that rigging was imposed as published, must it be confessed to the public hearing, thereby portraying impunity? That could best be described as impunity begotten by extreme immunity, which has hitherto been the case on the African continent.

Apart from the above anomalies, many similar phenomena have been lingering on the socio-political rostrum of most countries in Africa. Such a phenomenon has become a recurring decimal that one cannot just fathom the number of times it takes place in our polity on a daily basis. In recent times, it seems Nigeria has suddenly become the engine room of such anti-social act.

The public office holders or the political leaders in Africa, particularly Nigeria, should endeavour to live up to the expectations of their subjects. They ought to learn how to carry the entire public along in their respective scheme of works or obligations.

For sanity, or effective and efficient democratic system, to be actualized in the Nigerian State and that of other African nations, the rule of law or due process must be properly adhered to, by the concerned authorities. Hence, the congress/public opinion must not be left out before carrying out any action.

Nigeria as a country is obviously and indisputably of age, thus old enough to know her right from her left. Therefore, she must endeavour to tell herself nothing but the truth if we are sincerely determined to embrace the anticipated change.

Sixty one years as an independent nation, and over a century as an entity, is enough numbers that can guarantee a concrete existence as a people.

Meta’s private data problems keep coming around even when everyone thinks the social behemoth has got a break. Besides current cases emanating from tighter scrutiny by antitrust watchdogs, cases from the past keep resurfacing.

Earlier this week, Facebook agreed to a multimillion dollar settlement for a decade-old lawsuit. The 2012 suit said Facebook used plug-ins and cookies to track visits to third-party websites containing “like” buttons.

Meta agreed to pay $90 million to settle the lawsuit that would be one of the 10 biggest data privacy class action settlements ever if approved. The proposed settlement was filed late Monday and still requires court approval, according to court documents.

Meta has so many fresh antitrust concerns and has been fighting to keep its head up amid the drowning impact. Lately, GDPR, Europe’s data privacy watchdog, has been tightening its rules, making it more difficult for Facebook to harvest data for targeted ads.

The 10-year old lawsuit has dragged along many other cases that came along, prompting Facebook’s decision to move for settlement. Insider reports below that the events leading to the lawsuit involved improperly-collected data that took place about 12 years.

The 2012 lawsuit alleges that, between April 2010 and September 2011, Facebook violated privacy and wiretapping laws by using plug-ins to store cookies tracking users’ visits to third-party websites that contained “like” buttons. The social media site had users’ permission to track them while they were logged in but promised to stop when they logged out.

Besides the $90 million sum, which would be distributed among affected users, the settlement would require that Facebook delete data improperly collected on users through the use of this practice.

Meta did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, but a spokesperson told Variety, “Reaching a settlement in this case, which is more than a decade old, is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders and we’re glad to move past this issue.” As part of the settlement, Meta denies any wrongdoing.

The lawsuit was dismissed in 2017 when a federal judge said the plaintiffs failed to show they had a reasonable expectation of privacy or that they suffered economic harm. In 2020, a federal appeals court revived the case, saying there is economic harm in such a situation. Facebook tried to have the Supreme Court take up the case, but it declined, allowing the federal appeals court’s decision to stand.

Last year, Facebook agreed to pay $650 million to settle a separate privacy lawsuit, this one alleging the company’s tagging feature violated an Illinois law prohibiting the collection of biometric data without prior notification and written consent. On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the state is suing Meta over Facebook’s now-defunct facial recognition program.

Two weeks ago, Meta threatened to pull out of Europe over the decision of regulators to halt the social media giant from transferring data from European users to the United States. These unending cases are stifling Meta’s chances at growth. The company started the year at nearly $1trillion valuation, but has lost about $250 billion, taking its valuation to around $600 billion.