Court adjourns Tinubu’s N150bn libel suit against AIT till June 30

An Ikeja High Court in Lagos on Wednesday adjourned a N150 billion libel suit filed by former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, against the African Independent Communication (AIT) till June 30. Justice Iyabo Akinkugbe adjourned the suit to enable Tinubu’s counsel respond to the counter-claim filed by AIT.

APC vs AIT

Recall that Tinubu had instituted the suit against Daar Communications Plc, owners of AIT, for airing a documentary entitled, “Lion of Bourdilion”. In the suit, he alleged that the documentary, which started airing on March 1, was libelous and aimed at tarnishing his image.

At the resumption of proceedings on Wednesday, AIT’s counsel, Mr Jeffery Kadiri, informed the court that the defendant had filed a counter-claim which had been served on the claimant.

Responding, Tinubu’s counsel, Mr Ayodele Adedipe, said that the process was served on the claimant only two days ago, adding that he needed time to respond. Adedipe, therefore, asked the court for an adjournment and the judge acceded to his request. In the counter-claim, AIT listed its Chairman emeritus, Chief Raymond Dokpesi and seven others as witnesses to testify against Tinubu.

Others listed to testify are : Namure Edoimioya, Chief Medan Tenke, Ajibola Adewusi, Olumide Idowu, Chief Stanley Odidi, Nwabueze and Dr Stanley Bassey. The broadcast outfit also denied each and every allegation of facts as contained in the claimant’s amended statement of claim. Dokpesi, in his statement on oath, averred that Tinubu’s claim was founded on none existing ground, because the said documentary was not entitled “The Lion of Bourdilon,” but “Unmasking the Real Tinubu”.

He also averred that the documentary, in his honest opinion, was not false and was not aired out of malice to the person of the claimant. Dokpesi said that AIT, as a member of the fourth estate of the realm, was empowered by Section 22 of the Constitution to at all times, hold those in government accountable and responsible to the people of Nigeria.

He further averred that the contents of the documentary were facts which had been in the public domain for over two decades. According to him, these are published independently, prior to the broadcast and have remained unchallenged till date.

 

Court adjourns Tinubu’s N150bn libel suit against AIT till June 30

Babangida fumes at anti-military political documentary to project Jonathan

Former President Ibrahim Babangida has flayed what he Wednesday described as an attempt to ridicule the military institution and some of its sterling lights in the name of politics.

Former President Ibrahim Babangida

Taking note of a television documentary aired on Tuesday night on a private television network to project President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the presidential election, Babangida lamented that the  president’s backers at the same time poured calumny on some of the country’s former military rulers.

Babangida took strong objections to what he said were the negative imputations put on the integrity and services to the nation by Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Muhammadu Buhari, himself; Ibrahim Babangida, late Sani Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar, and T.Y Danjuma.

Noting that the sponsors of the documentary which he described as a hate campaign were either intellectually delinquent or suffering from memory loss; or a combination of both, Babangida referred them to his leading role in the formation of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

He said:

“For record purposes, and without sounding immodest, the idea of a PDP that has now become the “largest party in Africa” started in my home, here in Minna. With the support of my fellow colleagues, we prepared the way for this democratic process that has now led us to where we are presently. We built the democratic infrastructure and architecture. Those who are parading themselves as democrats today, all participated in military governments. As a deliberate principle of remaining unsung, or blowing my own trumpet, I have elected over the years to maintain dignified silence on so many issues concerning Nigeria while I cultivate my access to each sitting President to pass across my advice in whatever form.

“It is on record and this is incontrovertible that the government I ran paraded some of the best brains this country can be proud of. I still remain eternally grateful to those wonderful brains who participated in our government to fashion a new roadmap for re-engineering the country. Some of our policies have remained unsurpassed till date and most of what the country enjoys today was a creation of the Military.

From primary healthcare to good roads, DFRRI, Better Life for Rural Women, housing, river basin authorities, MAMSER, new airports, agricultural development and other economic infrastructure, to mention but a few, were platforms where our interventions were felt. We achieved that much with very slim resources. If we had the several billions of dollars that are flying around today, we would have turned Nigeria to the Dubai of Africa.

“The military is an institution that is so dear to my heart. It is an institution that nurtured my growing up and my achievements in life. I am not only sold to the military institution and by extension the Nigerian state, I am betrothed to it. As a profession, retirees are bound to participate in politics and democracy as an all-inclusive process, same way that Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers, Nurses, and Civil Servants get involved in it.

It is the reason why I ventured into politics in 2003 before I quit in 2010. It is the same reason why General Obasanjo participated and got elected; and now General Buhari. It is therefore very curious that promoters of President Goodluck Jonathan’s aspiration would attempt to demonize and stigmatize former military leaders and cast aspersions on them in order to malign their reputation. This is very unfair.

“Fact is; the military fought a civil war to keep this country together. What I suffer today is a consequence of the injuries I sustained during the Nigeria Civil War. I am not sure there is any patriotism that is more than that. Some of us were prepared to die for the country. The military is presently combating the dreaded Boko Haram sect to restore Nigeria’s territorial integrity. What law under a democracy forbids retired military personnel from participating in politics and presenting themselves for election? Over 90 percent of American Presidents have military background.

Leadership training is better grounded in the military than any other profession. And the military parades some of the best brains in any country, including Nigeria. In fact, some of my military students that I tutored have Doctorate Degrees. It is therefore callous, wicked, out-of-sync, cynical and a show of crass ignorance for anyone to undermine the military institution by embarking on mudslinging campaigns against former presidents and leaders of military background.

“While those campaigners are pointing their accusing fingers at us, they forget to recall that the present Director-General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization is actually a retired Military Officer. It is this form of demonization and stigmatization that often compels us to exhibit espirit de corps amongst ourselves in support of our military institution and colleagues when the stakes are high. As disciplined military officers, we are patriotic Nigerians and must be treated with utmost respect and decorum.

 

Babangida fumes at anti-military political documentary to project Jonathan

Court to Rule on Tinubu’s Suit against AIT April 1

Justice Iyabo Akinkugbe of an Ikeja High Court has fixed April 1 to rule on the interlocutory application filed by the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu against Africa Independent Television (AIT).

Tinubu, former Lagos State Governor had instituted a N150 billion suit against AIT, owned by Chief Raymond Dopkesi for peddling false accusations about his personality.

In the ex-parte motion filed by his lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Tinubu sought an order of interim injunction restraining AIT whether by itself, agents, privies and or other persons from producing or continuing to broadcast, airing, or continuing to reproduce a documentary.

The motion also sought to restrain the TV station from continuing the broadcast of the documentary, which it started airing on March 1 and had been repeating daily, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice dated March 5, 2015.

The motion further noted that damages would not adequately compensate applicant/claimant if the ex-parte order was not granted and prayed that the rest of the suit may be extinguished if the ex-parte order was not granted.

It also noted that there was real, imminent and urgent threat and danger of continuing to decimate the person and integrity of Tinubu by AIT by continuing to air the “offensive” broadcast if the ex-parte motion was not granted.

Akinkugbe had last week granted an interim injunction restraining AIT from airing the said documentary pending the determination of the interlocutory application.

Moving the application yesterday, Chief Olanipeku urged the court to grant the motion as the defendants; AIT stands to lose nothing by temporary stopping the broadcast of the contentious documentary pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Olanipekun further stated that AIT’s contention that most of the contents in the said documentary were already on various online publications was not an excuse to continue to broadcast the document.

He further noted that AIT’s contention that the said documentary was a sponsored advertorial was also not an excuse to further continue the broadcast which had become a subject of litigation.

Olanipekun noted that AIT could not continue to make money at the expense of Tinubu who he claimed had never been convicted by any court of law either in Nigeria or abroad.

Responding, counsel to AIT, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) insisted that Tinubu’s applicant would not in any way be prejudiced if the court chooses to make an order stopping the broadcast.

Ozekhome informed the court that AIT had since stopped the broadcast of the documentary immediately after Tinubu instituted the suit.

He also contended that the issues contained in the documentary were already public knowledge as several website had already published similar facts.

He said since Tinubu had already demanded for N150 billion as compensation which is the worth of his purported damaged integrity, it would not be wise to grant his prayer for interlocutory injunction restraining AIT from further broadcasting the documentary.

Justice Akinkugbe adjourned the matter till April 1 for ruling, after listening to the arguments of both parties.

Court to Rule on Tinubu’s Suit against AIT April 1

A US President and local heroes on the brink of beating one of the world¹s worst diseases

• Guinea Worm is expected to be only the second disease eradicated globally, after smallpox. As of January 2014, only 148 cases of Guinea worm remain

• The Carter Centre, African governments and local health workers have been working over the past decades to reduce the numbers suffering from Guinea Worm from 3.5 million 

•First globally-broadcast film to explore this neglected disease in-depth, by Emmy-winning South African filmmaker

 Screened on Al Jazeera English on 8 May 2014, Lifelines: How To Slay A Dragon profiles the steady elimination of Guinea worm in South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, where almost all of the last 148 cases are found.

Guinea worm is expected to become the second human disease ever eradicated, with Nigeria and Ghana already free of the parasite. Smallpox was eradicated in 1979, so this would be the first eradication in 35 years, although polio is also close.

Through The Carter Center, former US president Jimmy Carter has been working to eradicate Guinea worm since 1986.

“This was a terrible vacuum in the health care for literally millions of people,” says Carter. “We decided that we would take it on as a project not knowing the extent of it, not knowing where it was, and not knowing at that time how to address the problem.”

The Carter Centre discovered 3.5 million cases occurring every year among some of the world’s most remote people, in Pakistan, India and Yemen, but especially across Sub-Saharan Africa.

A victim may ingest Guinea worm larvae through drinking unsafe water. Once inside, a fertilized female worm can grow up to a metre and will seek to burst through skin to release larvae back into the water source, causing intense pain for the victim.

Over three decades, Guinea worm was eliminated village by village, country by country, until South Sudan is now the final frontier. But in one of the poorest regions in the world, plagued by civil war, lacking basic infrastructure, and with a population on the move, challenges remain.

“To stand out in the world as the only country with almost all the cases you have in the world, it is a burden,” says Makoy Samuel Yibi from South Sudan’s Ministry of Health. “It is a huge responsibility.”

“This [South Sudan] is where it’s going to end,” says parasitologist Dr. Mark Siddall from The American Museum of Natural History in New York. “These are the people who are going to solve this problem once and for all, just like the Nigerians solved it in Nigeria and the Ghanaians solved it in Ghana. To see how we have a community of people coming together to interrupt the parasite lifecycle and solve it without vaccines, without drugs, it’s just fascinating and really uplifting, to see humanity be able to accomplish this across such a huge geography and cultural diversity.”

“I’m 89 years old now,” says Carter. “I’m still in good health. We know every person on earth who now has Guinea worm, so I think I can see now the hope that we’ll be rid of Guinea worm during my lifetime.”

The fifth documentary in a groundbreaking eight-part series, Lifelines: How To Slay A Dragon is now available on Al Jazeera English website at http://aje.me/1hzigqk and on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znRQvTCJvy0. It’s directed by South African Clifford Bestall, a Grierson, Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentary filmmaker.

 

ABOUT LIFELINES: 

Lifelines: The Quest for Global Health highlights the work of inspiring Africans on the frontline of public health. The groundbreaking eight-part series is filmed up close as these health heroes forge dramatic breakthroughs while tackling nine of the worst diseases and conditions that afflict poor people: Guinea worm, leprosy, malaria, maternal and neonatal mortality, polio, rabies, river blindness, schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia or snail fever), and trachoma.

Al Jazeera is committed to reporting the world’s untold stories and giving voice to those people seldom heard. In researching and producing this series, the Lifelines team worked closely with a number of individuals and organisations but Al Jazeera retains complete editorial control and independence throughout all stages of the production.

 

For more information on the series, visit http://aje.me/lifelines or follow Lifelines on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AJlifelines or on Twitter at @AJlifelines using #healthheroes to be part of the discussion.

A US President and local heroes on the brink of beating one of the world¹s worst diseases