Kenneth Nwangene

onye Igbo, scientist and salesman. A truth told with bad intent beats all the lies you can ever think up.

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

Brilliant explanation.

[Dr. Priyam Bordoloi @DocPriyamMD]

I asked my junior resident on rounds today: Why do we treat a UTI in a woman with 3 days of pills and send her home, but a UTI in a man is automatically classified as a complicated infection?

He mumbled something vague about anatomy.

[legalnaija @LegalNaija]

On a Tuesday morning in Abuja, a 34-year-old engineer named Kelechi Eze kissed his wife goodbye, dropped his daughter at school, and drove to work.

He never made it.

By 9am, he was in the back of an unmarked Toyota Hilux.

No warrant. No explanation.

Just two men in plain clothes who said four words:

“Come with us now.”

[Nigerian Bar Association @NigBarAssoc]

BAIL CONDITIONS SHOULD NOT UNDERMINE THE ESSENCE OF BAIL

In recent times, we have observed with growing concern a disturbing trend in the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria, where courts and law enforcement agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force, EFCC, ICPC, and other security agencies, increasingly impose bail conditions that are excessive, impractical, and difficult to satisfy. The frequent insistence on sureties who are senior civil servants of specified grade levels, coupled with demands for landed properties of extraordinary value, has in many cases transformed bail from a mechanism for securing attendance at trial into a tool of pretrial detention. The consequence is that many persons who are constitutionally presumed innocent and have ostensibly been granted bail remain incarcerated because the conditions attached to their release are beyond their reach. This troubling development undermines the constitutional right to personal liberty, weakens the presumption of innocence, and defeats the very essence and purpose of bail within our criminal justice system.

We consider it necessary to reiterate that bail is a constitutional safeguard designed to secure the attendance of an accused person at trial while preserving his or her liberty pending the determination of guilt or innocence. It is neither a punishment nor a mechanism for imposing pre-trial incarceration by indirect means. The law is settled that bail conditions must be reasonable, practical, and capable of being fulfilled by the accused person.

The Supreme Court, in Suleman & Anor v. Commissioner of Police, Plateau State (2008), emphasized that the object of bail pending trial is to grant pre-trial freedom to an accused person whose appearance in court can be secured through appropriate conditions. Bail is not intended to create insurmountable obstacles that make release impossible.

We are particularly concerned by the increasing tendency to impose conditions that are disconnected from prevailing economic realities and often impossible to satisfy. Conditions requiring sureties who are serving civil servants on specific salary grades, ownership of landed properties of extraordinary value, or other burdensome requirements effectively convert the grant of bail into a denial of bail.

Of particular concern is the continued insistence in some cases on sureties who must be senior civil servants, often on Grade Levels 16 or 17, and who must own properties worth hundreds of millions of naira. Such conditions have been strongly criticised by the appellate courts.

In Dasuki v. Director-General, State Security Service & Ors (2019) LPELR-49182 (CA), the Court of Appeal unequivocally condemned the practice of involving serving public officers as a mandatory category of sureties. The Court observed that such requirements are unknown to civilised legal systems and run contrary to public service regulations. The Court further noted that expecting a public servant on Grade Level 16 to own property worth N100 million would not only be unrealistic but could also conflict with public service rules and anti-corruption objectives.

The Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, is equally clear on this issue. Section 165(1) provides that while the grant and conditions of bail are within the discretion of the court, such conditions must not be excessive. Judicial discretion, though wide, must always be exercised judiciously, reasonably, and in a manner consistent with constitutional guarantees.

We therefore restate that bail conditions must be tailored solely to ensure attendance at trial. They must never serve as instruments of punishment prior to conviction. Conditions that cannot be met amount in substance to a refusal of bail and contribute directly to pre-trial detention and congestion in correctional facilities.

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[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@Urhobo_Mudiaga @Omiragua_Teejay @OgagaPeter3 You don't realize that state governments cannot build fed roads.

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

I don't know who started tribalism in Nigeria, but all tribes are guilty of it to a large extent. I have stated ours here many times and how we even have a very derogatory Edo word “eghoen” for people of other tribes and saw them as inferior. I later realized it was all rubbish.

The craziest part is that the person who was instrumental in making me lose all of those beliefs of superiority was an Edo Prince and my first Philosophy lecturer, Professor Iro Eweka. He made me see the flaw in all of man’s beliefs and how culture was manufactured.

Philosophy was my first foray into abstract and critical thinking rather than dogmatic beliefs, as even science as I knew it then was more dogma than experimentation and proof.

We had textbooks that presented the theories, but didn't go deep enough to explain the history and struggles that led to them. Dogma is the root of all bigotry, and even science once had a lot of dogma, as humans were involved. It is why many black inventions were either stolen or hidden.

One of my aunts was probably one of the reasons why I never got married on time, as she kept sabotaging my relationships by sowing seeds of doubt. She did it so well that I never saw her angle was tribalism. She was not married to an Edo man, and her mother was Yoruba, but she harbored a deep resentment for those across the Niger.

It took me a while to unpack the fact that her problem wasn't just with other Nigerians; it was worldwide. She started warning me about Ghanaians, and I cut her off, then got married to one.

Why was she that way? I later realized that it was more about narrative control than anything else. She wanted to be the one responsible for that part of my life and wanted me to seek her advice on my life’s choices. The root of all bigotry is the fear of loss of control.

If you check throughout history, the people who pushed for dogma the most feared passion for other things. Dogma was always about control. All tribes are held together by shared beliefs, which tend to be dogmatic rather than objective.

Before the last Nigerian Presidential elections, some friends surprised me in ways I didn't expect as their long-hidden biases came to light. I also have family members who became Trump supporters in America for biased reasons, too. I didn't invalidate their beliefs; I just tried to understand why, and it all came down to fear.

People fear that what they believe most in and what defines them can be upturned, leaving them with no moral or tribal high ground. That fear is irrational, but they try to rationalize it. Almost everyone is guilty of it to some extent.

I was studying a US Republican economist yesterday, who had predicted Russia's fall based on the data and had also predicted the rise of gold in recent times. She is a brilliant economist who has been denied a position at the Federal Reserve because of her politics.

I went back to study politics, and I then understood why the other side would have concerns. Technically, she is one of the best and most objective researchers, but politically, she is firmly biased. Looking at how someone can have both traits made me understand why America has so many Independents who don't belong to either ideological political construct.

If I were an American voter, I would be an independent. In Nigeria, they call those kinds of people “fencists” (another derogatory term) because they decide to think for themselves and not remain dogmatic.

In life, you have to be a “fencist” in your thinking, always seeking the truth. Dogma only helps the powerful and deludes the powerless.

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@Jaecougar This thing about stopping sit at home, the government is not really serious about it. Traders don't have insurance so they are taking the government statements with a pint of salt. What did the government after the chairman of that spare part market was abducted?

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@Donmekusy2j @Eastern_Vybz @Udalaradio Cook nwannem you're a chef

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@GunnerPuls Yossi Benayoun and Sterling

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@Jaecougar @UchePOkoye It's usually annoying. They also close a part of the multi-lane and create a sort of eye of the needle, just cuz of 100 naira

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@Jaecougar @UchePOkoye To be fair to the army guys once they notice a build up of vehicles they allow free flow of traffic. The police and road safety would not even flinch. Its a sad situation.

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@allhajinallah @woye1 This is nothing new. He served in Nsukka when he was a captain in the army ( I'm not very sure of the rank and the year) but I heard it from his own mouth. He speaks fluent igbo too.

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@TheChelseaForum Ballack is a joke to you?

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@futbolscreen Coutinho

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@LegacySiu Courtois

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@Amb_Honesty I thought Shagaya was Taruk name. Didn't realize Jukuns use the name too. My good mate was a Shagaya too, but he Taruk from Langtang

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@CoachKingLeon Tax guide

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@Morris_Monye Morris, I can tell you it's privilege. This morning in my polling unit both APGA and APC were sharing 3k to anyone that voted for them. You need to see the people that were voting and showing the ballot just to get 3k. I couldn't believe myself if someone else told me

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@elnathan_john Very interesting read.

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@Dexterfooty Solanke

[Kenneth Nwangene @KennethNwangent]

@Mbahdeyforyou Hammer head of horror. Good evening sir. How's the family?