Femi Aborisade's Blog

RESTORING TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE NIGERIAN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY By Femi Aborisade [1] Labour Consultant and Attorney-at-Law 09093536706 Or 08091371874 aborisadefemi@gmail.com Introduction My central argument in this paper is that political corruption is at the root of corruption in the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian economy. It is not simply a question of administrative and/or organisational weaknesses. Whatever administrative and/or organisational weaknesses that facilitate corruption in the sector are consciously so programmed or designed. In other words, there is a relationship between political corruption and corruption in the oil and gas sector. Solving corruption at the political sphere level is a pre-condition for bringing transparency in the oil and gas sector. However, an attempt to deal with corruption in the oil and gas sector must also adequately recognise that it is a fight against a network of politically and economically powerful a...

THE LABOUR MOVEMENT AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHALLENGES IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA  [1] By Femi Aborisade Labour Consultant and Attorney-At-Law aborisadefemi@gmail.com     ‘It cannot be said often enough, that overall progress remains too slow and too uneven; that too many Africans remain caught in downward spirals of poverty, insecurity and marginalisation; that too few people benefit from the continent’s growth trend and rising geo-strategic importance; that too much of Africa’s enormous resource wealth remains in the hands of narrow elites and, increasingly, foreign investors without being turned into tangible benefits for its people’ Kofi Annan, Chair, Africa Progress Panel (in ‘Foreword’ to “Africa Progress Panel, Jobs Justice and Equity: Seizing opportunities in times of global change, Africa Progress Panel Report, 2012” [2] )   INTRODUCTION

On Monday, 13 July 2015, at two separate events, two elected prominent, influential and powerful public officers, one a Governor, the other a national legislator, made similar policy advocacy on fundamental aspects of the economy, which could determine the direction of civil society-government relationship in the coming period. They are the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara.   Riding on the

Under the law, can civil servants (or more appropriately, public sector employees and staff, simply covered by the concept of ‘public officers’) expose corruption in public office without fearing victimization or persecution? The simple and direct answer to this question is “YES”. Any public officer can expose corruption in any public office, including institutions, schools, colleges, ministries, establishments, enterprises, departments, agencies, and so on, owned or financed by any arm of government, without the fear of being victimized. Even if an anti-corruption public officer had been made to suffer any form of punitive measure, the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) could, if approached, not only set aside any punishment the anti-corruption public officer might have suffered, the whistle blower could also be entitled to monetary damages for the deprivation, harassment and/or humiliation s/he might have been made to go through.