we’re going to be looking at the issue of the IDEAS component when we think about Activism Against Violence Against Women. And I’m actually a little bit stirred by … on this subject because there was a tweet on my Twitter feed of a confrontation between an … very much aggrieved consumer of electricity and representatives of an electricity company in Lagos. And the … one of the representatives of the electricity company was a woman and she was holding a wire and the … or some cable, and the aggrieved consumer was also holding the cable, and they were sort of dragging it, and the man was obviously – I mean, I would say he was at breaking point – but at the point of his … as part of his reaction he started stripping himself and then he threatened to rape the representative of the electricity company, at which point of course she let go of the cable

Ok. Well, Bayelsa is … I think Bayelsa is a little bit … there are two parts to it. We’d already been discussing the fact that there are so many … there are so many security agencies deployed in the state, and, you see there’s a point at which it becomes counter-productive, because as I said, if the intelligence agencies and the security agencies had done their job and were working in harmony, then there shouldn’t be a need for such overwhelming security presence, unless the purpose of the security presence is something else, which is to say; either to intimidate voters, or it could equally be, to again pass a message to those who might want to use violence in the elections, that we’re on ground to stop it.

IDEAS Radio 8 November 2019 Gubernatorial elections in Bayelsa & Kogi States Rotimi Sankore: Right, and welcome to the Public Square on Nigeria Info 99.3 with me, Rotimi Sankore.  Aghogho is on leave and we miss him. Ayo Obe is with me on the IDEAS segment, and Georges MacNobleson-Idowu will be joining us for the…

Ojugo Uche who is the Head of Research at BudgIT. Thank you very much. Ojugo Uche has been here before, but she’s also joining the conversation. Gbolahan Olojede is an economist as well as public affairs analyst, thank you very much, as well as ..

I want to introduce Adeolu Adekola, he is the Senior Programme Officer of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism … and he’s here to talk to us about the investigation that has been carried out under the auspices of the Centre and others into the huge amount that’s been spent on Nigeria’s electricity over the past 59 years. And for me, there are two aspects to it. One … because in IDEAS we deal with Integrity, Democracy, Ethics and Accountability.

And so, the discussions we will be having today, will be on whether the Budget was made for the rainy day or not. This week it’s been the Budget 20 … for next year, presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to a joint sitting of the National Assembly. And the clock is ticking, because the common saying from the Executive and National Assembly has been that they want to go to a January-December schedule. I don’t know whether that’s possible or not.

We want to look at the issue of the role of the Nigerian Judiciary as regards Integrity and Democracy. And I think it’s important that we try to separate out the difference between what a government wants, and what an independent … an independent judiciary owes in a Democracy. I say that because I often hear people talking about: We should have our judges elected.

Great to be here and we’re discussing big significant political issues that are happening everywhere in the country today. Big story today: detained journalists charged with treason for criticising the government, and the list is growing. From what it looks like, a number of journalists have been detained by Federal as well as State authorities, accusing them of things like treason and just a host of other allegations against these journalists, and also bloggers, like Amnesty International did point out also.

Well thanks very much Aghogho and Rotimi. And I really want to welcome Uadamen Ilevbaoje to … he’s the Head of Tracka. And if anybody follows me on Twitter, they will know that I’m a big fan of Tracka. And it kind of dates back to a period when I was writing a chapter about Nigeria’s quest for Freedom of Information legislation for a book being published by the Columbia University Press.

IDEAS Radio 30 Aug 2019 Guest: Amnesty International Country Director Osai Ojigo Aghogho Oboh: Alright, we’ve just been shadow boxing before we start the Public Square.  Rotimi Sankore throwing punches! So, this Public Square … Rotimi Sankore: The promo sounded too exciting! Ayo Obe: Then you should be excited! AgO: We are indeed excited.  Public…