General
EndSARS: Human Rights Watch Calls for Action on Panel Recommendations
By Adedapo Adesanya
Human Rights Watch has called on Nigerian authorities to act on the #EndSARS panel recommendations and hold those responsible to account.
This call was made in a press statement on Monday in which the group accused the federal government of not making efforts to ensure justice for the killing of protesters in Lagos state in 2020, six months after a judicial panel implicated security forces in the abuses.
Speaking on this, Mr Anietie Ewang, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch said, “The report of the judicial panel of inquiry should not be swept under the rug without any consequences for those responsible for killing and injuring protesters.
“A failure to act on the panel’s recommendations will send a painful message to victims and risks encouraging more violence by security officers.”
For context, in October 2020, young people across Nigeria took to the streets calling for the disbandment of an abusive police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and for an end to the brutality, in a movement using the hashtag #EndSARS.
Security forces responded with excessive force, including gunfire. One of the worst crackdowns was at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on October 20, when army and police officers opened fire on a crowd of protesters, leaving people dead and wounded.
In response, the Lagos state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwolu, mandated a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the incident and provide recommendations for justice and accountability.
The panel heard testimonies for a year from victims and representatives of the army, the police, and hospitals that treated victims. It was found in November 2021 that the security forces shot, injured, and killed unarmed protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate, corroborating Human Rights Watch findings.
The panel also presented a list of at least 48 casualties, including nine dead, four missing and presumed dead, and 21 wounded by gunshots. The panel recommended appropriate disciplinary measures and dismissals of army officers implicated in the abuses. The panel also recommended prosecuting police officers implicated in the indiscriminate shooting and killing of protesters at the toll gate and prompt payment of the compensation that the panel awarded to victims.
The Nigerian police and military authorities have neither taken further steps to independently investigate nor responded to the panel’s findings and recommendations.
The federal government, which has oversight of these institutions, rejected the panel’s recommendations. The Lagos state governor, who called for the investigation and gave assurances that victims would get closure, has also been quiet on the issue of accountability.
Nigeria has a poor history with judicial panels of inquiries, whose recommendations have no force of law and are often dependent on the responsible authorities to carry out the recommendations.
A lack of political will on justice and accountability has meant that past judicial panels including those set up to investigate mass extrajudicial killings in other contexts made no progress toward ending impunity for security force abuses.
Adding her input, Mrs Serah Ibrahim, a coordinator of the EndSARS Survivors’ Group, made up of victims of the Lekki Toll Gate incident and their families, told Human Rights Watch that she and other members of the group including those who are managing serious injuries from the shooting are following up with the Lagos state government officials.
She said they want to see justice done and compensation paid but it appears futile because state government officials have told them it is not up to them to determine what happens next.
“They don’t want to fish out [identify] the people who shot at us and they also do not want to pay compensation for what happened because it will be an admission of guilt,” she said.
“Sometimes I just want to move on because pursuing justice in Nigeria seems pointless, but I can’t because I know what happened and the impact it has had on the lives of victims and their families,” Mrs Ibrahim added
Following the submission of the Lagos judicial panel report to Governor Sanwolu, he set up another committee to review the contents and come up with a white paper to chart the way forward. The white paper, released in November 2021, rejected the panel’s key findings, including the death toll of nine, stating that there were substantial inconsistencies and a lack of adequate evidence to back the claim.
But the Lagos state government said it fully or partially accepted all but one of the panel’s recommendations that relate to its own authority and indicated that it would forward other recommendations to the appropriate authorities, including the federal government, the Police Service Commission, Nigeria Police Force, and the Nigerian Army.
The federal government through the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed, rejected the findings and recommendations of the panel though, and maintained the position it had taken since the incident occurred that reports of shooting and killing by security forces at the Lekki Toll Gate were “fake news.”
Justice and accountability should not be determined by the views of individual government ministers or officials but should rather be guaranteed for all Nigerians through independent systems and authorities mandated to investigate and act on allegations of abuses, Human Rights Watch said.
Within the Nigeria police force, there are several units including the X-Squad Unit of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) and the Provost Department, which are responsible for investigating offences by officers and recommending disciplinary actions and criminal prosecution where applicable. The Police Service Commission, which provides external oversight, also has the authority to investigate complaints and to mandate disciplinary actions, including dismissal, it added.
Similarly, the military police can investigate the actions of army officers implicated directly or indirectly in the abuses against protesters. An internal board of inquiry or regimental inquiry can also be set up to uncover the facts around their involvement and a court-martial process can be convened to discipline officers who engage in misconduct and ensure accountability,’ the group noted.
The executive secretary of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, Mr Tony Ojukwu, told Human Rights Watch that it is because of the failure of the various internal systems for accountability to adequately do their jobs over the years that police and military officers have continued to act with impunity.
“Nigerian authorities have evaded their responsibilities to identify, discipline, and prosecute security officers involved in abuses.
“Unless this changes, violence by security forces against ordinary citizens will continue,” Mr Ewang added.
Despite the fact that many consider black and white logos to be old-fashioned and too simple, experience with their use shows their high efficiency and the presence of a large number of advantages. In any case, history knows many cases when black and white logos became super recognizable and turned into a real brand.
You can develop a black and white logo in the logo maker Turbologo for a couple of mipnuts.
What is a logo
A logo is a symbol (containing a picture, an inscription, or both of these elements in any proportions). Its main purpose is to make the company recognizable and distinguishable from firms engaged in similar activities.
A company with a unique and attractive brand name attracts customers. In addition, such brands inspire more trust among the potential audience.
The logo is not just a stylish picture – it has several significant “missions”:
- Creation of brand image. A brand name can convey a lot of information about a company. In addition to the specialization of the brand, the logo tells potential customers and the strengths of the products sold and the services provided. A high-quality logo will show the audience that you are responsible for your business;
- Advertising. The emblem presents the brand on the market, increases its significance. With the help of the logo, customers can find out the necessary information about the company and, if they wish, apply for services or goods. It is also effective to use the logo in business correspondence;
- Market identification. The logo helps customers who are already familiar with the brand to recognize it among other companies;
- Protection from unfair competition. Some firms copy products that belong to another (often promoted) brand. And the logo helps to show customers which of the goods is really genuine;
- Reputation building. If a consumer once used the services of your organization and was satisfied, then he is more likely to contact you again;
- Good quality guarantee. Products marked with the brand name are genuine. This protects customers from buying fakes.
Black and white logos are quite popular in the modern world. They have both advantages and disadvantages. They are economical (they do not require large development and printing costs to use), are minimalist, unobtrusive, are associated with luxury service companies (as large companies choose simple logos), and stand out against the background of the color emblems of competitors.
While the combination of different shades in a logo can look great, sometimes a black and white theme gets the point across better.
These colors are powerful in their simplicity, and they are suitable for almost any platform.
It can be printed on a T-shirt.
It can be pasted on a wall, pictured on a billboard, or even printed on a car window.
Instagram profile , or used as a Facebook cover.
It can be printed on the athlete’s equipment to promote the brand.
If you want a logo that can fit into any setting, go for the black and white option.
Printing in other colors can be expensive, but binary colors such as black and white are cost effective.
Black and white paints are readily available compared to other colors.
In addition, a binary logo is likely to use less power than a color logo.
Famous black and white logos
Today, dozens of extremely successful black and white brand logos are familiar. This color scheme has significantly increased recognition and has become a real “highlight” of companies such as:
- Nissan is a famous car manufacturer from Japan.
- Sony is a company engaged in the creation of technology, as well as the production of films and video games.
- Bentley is a popular automotive giant from the UK.
- BBC is the most famous news agency in the world, headquartered in London.
- Nike is a giant in the sportswear and footwear industry;
- Wikipedia is an international scientific and educational project known to every person who has ever sat down at a computer and used the Internet.
- Walt Disney is a company familiar from childhood that produces animated films, as well as feature films such as Pirates of the Caribbean.
- Gillette is a world-famous brand that produces blades, razors, creams and other shaving accessories.
- Playboy is a legendary adult magazine.
These are just some of the options for black and white logos that have become famous throughout the world and are known to almost every consumer on Earth. As can be seen from the examples presented, many world-famous brands prefer the combination of black and white to color versions of the logo.
Conclusion
Reducing the color gamut can be a key choice to bring your symbol to high standards, versatility and modernity.
Now is the time to make a black and white symbol that will exalt the brand that has appeared on the market. You can make a black and white logo yourself or by ordering it. The first option is much cheaper, and thanks to the emergence of numerous resources, the logo can be made by yourself, using special designers for this. It doesn’t take much time, but the result is amazing.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Over 1,000 houses would be delivered to Nigerians by the end of the second quarter of 2022, the managing director of Landwey Investment Limited, Ms Shola Bello, has disclosed.
This is part of the efforts being made by Landwey, which is one of Nigeria’s largest residential developers, in reducing the housing deficit in the country.
Ms Bello, in a chat with newsmen on Monday, noted that the company has been able to deploy measures to mitigate the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant economic recession in the real estate sector in Nigeria.
“2022 began on a rough note for most real estate developers in Nigeria. This has been made obvious by the growing apprehension amongst some clients over the viability of their investment owing to delayed delivery of housing units and some publications addressing these issues.
“Many developers in Nigeria have openly addressed some of the challenges experienced in the course of construction and delivery of housing projects, a challenge which is largely attributed to the impact of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant economic recession.
“In the past few years, many developers have had to navigate the harsh economy and its severe impact on all businesses across many industries. While it may appear that many of these businesses have recovered from the impact, the story is not quite the same for the real estate industry.
“The industry has felt its huge blow from resultant factors ranging from scarcity of labour, a challenge we have since overcome, scarcity of building materials, unfavourable importation policies, long project approval timelines as well as other environmental limitations.
“However, our clients are always at the forefront of everything that we do, therefore, we have had no other choice but to unearth new and creative solutions in order to mitigate the rippling effects of the pandemic and the harsh realities of the global economy,” she told journalists.
The real estate guru lamented that most real estate development companies had to reassess and adjust their operations to acclimate to the “new atmosphere by working and negotiating potential changes in project completion timelines and the management of their internal and external workforce, communicating challenges and progress updates routinely with investors and reviewing supply agreements with suppliers while also determining the impacts of delays in our delivery obligations as well as other potential risk factors.”
She added that after what appeared to be a challenging Q1, the company is now making a headway on housing project delivery with a mass delivery of homes scheduled to take place at the end of the second quarter.
“I can assure you, by the third quarter of 2022, we would be well on our way to completing at least 1000 homes,” Ms Bello concluded.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced that it is ready to help Nigeria return to the electronic wallet system of input distribution to farmers to boost agricultural production.
This was disclosed by the president of the multilateral lender, Mr Akinwumi Adesina, on the sidelines of the bank’s ongoing 2022 Annual Meetings in Accra, Ghana themed Fostering Climate Resilience and a Just Energy Transition for Africa.
During his time as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Mr Adesina introduced the e-wallet system which allowed the government to register about 14.5 million farmers.
Through this platform, it reached them directly with inputs, notably seeds and fertilisers, via electronic coupons on their mobile phones.
Mr Adesina said the bank would support Nigeria with about $30 million reallocated fund to be used for an emergency food plan to produce in the dry season.
“Nigeria needs to go back and use the electronic wallet system that I developed when I was a minister to get fertilisers straight to farmers and cut out all the middlemen.
“We are going to help the government to do that because when farmers have quality seeds and fertilisers, they can rapidly triple food production,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria will also benefit significantly from the African Emergency Food Production Plan.
Business Post had reported that the AfDB Board had approved the $1.5 billion facility which will support smallholder farmers in filling the food shortfall. It will provide 20 million African smallholder farmers with certified seeds.
It is also set to increase access to agricultural fertilizers and enable them to rapidly produce 38 million tons of food, which is about a $12 billion increase in food production in just two years.
“In Nigeria, we have provided $540 million for special agro-industrial processing zones in seven states including the Federal Capital Territory.
“That will allow Nigeria to have special zones where you can have agro-processing value addition and increased competitiveness of agriculture.
“We are not alone, we put in $170 million and others put in money such as the Islamic Development Bank and other partners,’’ he said.
