Transnational Arbitral Awards- The Clamour For A Centralised Appellate Review Body by Onyeka Ehiwuogwu- PUNUKA Attorneys & Solicitors

Generally, the benefits of an appellate review system in law can never be overestimated. Whether in formal legal settings or in the most remote forms of family or customary methods of dispute resolution, the importance of appeals remains high in ensuring the enthronement of fairness and equity in the adjudicatory system as well as upholding the integrity and confidence in such system. Granted, the feature of finality in arbitration seems laudable and a good reason to opt for it because of the certainty involved. This is particularly so, as unlike the normal dispute resolution system where the parties have no say in choosing their umpire, in arbitration and other ADR systems the umpire is selected based on a guided consensual process by the parties.

Also, for some, endless and protracted appeals if introduced into arbitration, may steal the gloss of the nature of arbitration as a smooth and less cumbersome method of dispute resolution. However, the assurance that in the event of a grave and manifest error or injustice, an appeal or review is available (at least a one- tier appeal) creates some satisfaction and confidence in the mind of parties.¹

This article attempts to critically discuss the issue of absence of a formally established review arbitration body or institute to which unsatisfied parties can appeal. The writer in a bid to advocate for the creation of an appellate body in international arbitration gives consideration to the dearth of a centralized body to review arbitral awards either for error correction, law making or for the purpose of setting legal precedents.

International Arbitration and Right of Appeal

Court judgments in commercial cases can usually be appealed at least once, often more than once, to higher courts; this is however not true for arbitration, as one of the most striking features of international arbitration is the absence of a review body². There is generally no appeal at all permitted from an arbitral tribunal's award in an international arbitration. The result is absolutely final, subject only to a request to set aside the award due to procedural irregularities such as an unfair procedure or arbitrator lack of independence.³

Thus, in most cases, parties are left to 'lick their wounds' in the event that they or the arbitrators fail to get it right. Consequently, academics, stakeholders and practitioners alike in recent years have vigorously advocated for the establishment of a unified body saddled with the task or responsibility of revisiting, reviewing and the impeachment of arbitral awards in line with the dictates and demands of necessity. Today, the dogma of finality in international arbitration has come under attack, as practitioners and academics have advocated for the introduction of appeals mechanism.⁴

A dispassionate observer taking a keen observation of the arbitration landscape in international commerce would easily take notice of one obvious fact- the inexhaustible list of international arbitration institutions with expertise in alternative dispute resolution. For instance as at today, a host of such institutions exist in different parts of the world. Some of these institutions include the American Arbitration Association (AAA), Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA), Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), Swiss Chambers Arbitration Institution, United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), to mention a few. However, it is to be observed that these bodies are to a large extent, "apex" tribunals when it comes to arbitration as awards made or rendered by them are final decisions from which no appeal may lie. In the words of Eli Lauterpacht,

"A domestic lawyer [...] might be forgiven for thinking it strange that the international community, apparently so well- equipped with means of judicial settlement, appears to lack what seems to be a natural or inherent feature of national judicial systems, namely a comprehensive system of appeal".⁵

From Lauterpacht's comment above, one may then require to know what makes an appellate system so important generally and indeed specifically for an arbitration system.

Why Have an Appellate System in Arbitration

Appellate review fulfills two principal functions- error correction and lawmaking⁶. While these functions are intertwined in operation; the purposes they serve are distinct. Error correction protects litigants against erroneous decisions and safeguards the integrity of dispute resolution. Law making clearly refers to the function of appellate courts in the development and harmonization of standard practices or norms, what is termed in common law as the doctrine of stare decisis. The basis on which these arguments are made are that international commercial transactions and investments are as well as ensuing arbitration are of high stakes. Hence, it is considered imperative that recourse be had to another arbitrator when awards seem to, or manifestly contain errors. More so, considering the risk involved in such finality of awards, proponents have argued that there could not possibly be a reason why an aggrieved party should be totally barred, foreclosed from or denied the option of an appeal, especially where the circumstances clearly requires one. A host of possibilities exist that could turn the justice of an award on its head. According to James M. Gaitis:

"The arbitral tribunal might wrongly determine that the applicable law does not permit an award of prejudgment interest in a particular arbitration, or the tribunal might apply an incorrect statute of limitations. The tribunal might inadvertently fail to recognize that the parties' contract mandates and the law permits, an award of attorneys' fees to the prevailing party, or might misinterpret the law relating to fiduciary duties. The tribunal might misapprehend the doctrine of respondeat superior, or incorrectly describe the force and effect of administrative regulations-for example, oil and gas regulations regarding the correlative rights of interest owners. Allusions to the law of other jurisdictions, and the ensuing reliance on the law of those jurisdictions, might be based on a misunderstanding of that law. The tribunal might incorrectly conclude dicta in a decision actually constitute a formal holding. Simple statutes and complex bilateral investment treaties might be misread, and the language of cases and statutes alike might be misquoted and misapplied".⁷

These arguments are highly convincing considering the value of most international arbitrations and arbitral awards which in many cases run into billions of dollars. Such awards, where given erroneously, if not reviewed or set aside could be the basis for grand scale injustice, manifest unfairness, hardship on the losing party as well as a parody of the entire objective of the practice of arbitration and non-adjudicatory settlement of disputes. In the end, the long run effect on how arbitration would be viewed can never be positive. Consequently, litigation, regardless of its relative "difficulty" might turn out a better option after all.

To What Extent Has the Clamour for Reform Been Incorporated in Modernizing the International Arbitration System?

Currently, some arbitral institutions like the ICSID provide for what could be termed a "review" process in their arbitral rules.⁸ Under the ICSID Rules, either party may request annulment of the award by an application in writing addressed to the Secretary-General on one or more of the grounds that:

The Tribunal was not properly constituted;

The Tribunal has manifestly exceeded its powers;

There was corruption on the part of a member of the Tribunal;

There has been a serious departure from a fundamental rule of procedure;

Or that the award has failed to state the reasons on which it is based.

The application shall be made within 120 days after the date on which the award was rendered except that when annulment is requested on the ground of corruption such application shall be made within 120 days after discovery of the corruption and in any event within three years after the date on which the award was rendered.⁹ On receipt of the request the Chairman shall forthwith appoint from the Panel of Arbitrators an ad hoc Committee of three persons. None of the members of the Committee shall have been a member of the Tribunal which rendered the award, shall be of the same nationality as any such member, shall be a national of the State party to the dispute or of the State whose national is a party to the dispute, shall have been designated to the Panel of Arbitrators by either of those States, or shall have acted as a conciliator in the same dispute. The Committee shall have the authority to annul the award or any part thereof on any of the grounds set forth in paragraph (1)¹⁰.

Also, under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law ("UNCITRAL or UML"), a successful challenge of an arbitral award will usually result in the award being 'set aside,' 'vacated,' or' annulled,' and therefore ceasing to exist, at least within the jurisdiction of the court setting it aside.¹¹

In spite of the above, it suffices to state that this procedure falls short of a full fledge appeal which ought to lie to an independent and totally separate body from the ICSID as it were. Using the analogy of courts of coordinate jurisdiction not being allowed to sit on appeal against the decision of the other court of coordinate jurisdiction, as well as the nemo judex rule of natural justice, the writer is of the view that to the extent that the review is from an ICSID panel rather than an independent and higher body with only appellate jurisdiction, it is arguable that the review panel is merely another version of the same arbitral tribunal whose award is being appealed against. More so, convincing the aggrieved party or 'appellant' of the objectivity of the review panel might prove to be impossible or at best an uphill task.

Of note is the recently concluded CIArb's Centenary Conference held in Singapore on the 4 September 2015, where the new CIArb Arbitration Rules 2015 was launched.¹² The Rules take effect from 1 December 2015 and supersede the current CIArb Arbitration Rules 2000 considered by many to be otiose and long overdue for amendment given their limited application to domestic arbitrations in some jurisdictions especially under the English Arbitration Act 1996.

The new Rules are perceived to be more suitable for international application and are largely tailored in line with the internationally recognised and widely used UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules 2010. This is a welcome development as it appears to be a direct response to the longstanding yearnings of stakeholders in arbitration.

Recommendations and Conclusion 

This work has briefly attempted to advocate or at least lend some support to the clamour for the creation of an independent arbitral review or appellate body for international awards.

It is thus recommended that a separate appellate body be established to review arbitral awards- a body totally extricated from and independent of any currently existing institutions. There is an inherent frailty in the concept of finality in international arbitration. The lack of formal appeal does not bring finality¹³. Hensce, to better sustain the confidence in arbitration and enable parties enjoy the benefits of appeal generally, it is recommended that a formal or unified appellate body be established to review awards arising from international arbitration. Like the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) an appellate body with such centralized powers and function to review arbitral awards from different institutions would certainly do more good to the world of international arbitration. In what appears to be concurrence with the above, in 2002, the United States legislative branch of the ICSID instructed its treaty negotiators through the "Trade Dispute Act" to improve mechanisms used to resolve disputes between an investor and government through ... [the] the establishment of a single appellate body to review decisions in investor-to- government disputes and thereby provide coherence to the interpretations of investment provisions in trade agreements"¹⁴

Furthermore, going by the huge monetary cost involved in international commercial transactions and the resulting arbitral proceedings, it may be unjust to foreclose, shut out an aggrieved party, or deprive him the opportunity to seek redress or to apply for the award to be overturned and corrected. In most civilized constitutions of the world, the right to appeal is enshrined¹⁵; indicative of the fact that the right of appeal is indeed sacrosanct. If the right to be heard fairly or the right to fair hearing and access to justice are taken seriously, it would only be wise and smack of commonsense to create a right to redress or review, if the initial hearing is flawed with manifest injustice and errors.

Footnotes

1. For example, in traditional African societies, recourse is often made to the eldest or alpha male in the family where a family member feels dissatisfied with the outcome of a settlement conducted either by younger members or by the matriarchal head of the home.

2. Irene M. Ten Cate, "International in Arbitration and the Ends of Appellate Review". INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLITICS [Vol. 44:1109

3. http://www.iccwbo.org/products-and-services/arbitration-and-adr/arbitration/; assessed on 02/16/2015 at 13.12pm; http://www.mcmillan.ca/international-commercial-arbitration-awards--no-deference-on-questions-of-jurisdiction.

4. http://www.iccwbo.org/products-and-services/arbitration-and-adr/arbitration/; assessed on 02/16/2015 at 13.12pm; http://www.mcmillan.ca/international-commercial-arbitration-awards--no-deference-on-questions-of-jurisdiction. There is generally no appeal from an international commercial arbitral award. However, under UNCITRAL's Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (the "Model Law") (which is incorporated by reference in the international commercial arbitration legislation of each province), parties may bring an application to set aside an award on certain grounds. One of the more frequently invoked grounds is that the arbitral tribunal made a decision about something that is outside of its jurisdiction (Article 34(2) (a) (iii) of the Model Law).

5. Lauterpacht, Aspects of Administration of International Justice, 99.

6. David Frisch, Contractual Choice of Law and the Prudential Foundations of Appellate Review, 56 VAND. L. REV. 57, 74 (2003) ("[T]he distinction between error correction and law development . . . has been the keystone upon which our whole system of appellate courts has been built."); Chad M. Old father, Error Correction, 85 IND. L.J. 49, 49 (2010) ("Most depictions of appellate courts suggest that they serve two core functions: the creation and refinement of law and the correction of error."); Irene M. Ten Cate, "International in Arbitration and the Ends of Appellate Review". INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLITICS [Vol. 44:1109

7. C Okeke, Judicial Review of Foreign Arbitral Awards: Bane, Boonor Boondoggle; 10 Y. INT'L L. REV29(1997)

8. Under Article 52 of the ICSID Rules

9. Article 52(2) ICSID Rules

10. Article 52(3) ICSID Rules

11.F Leila. 2010. "Setting Aside an Arbitration Award" The Selected Works of Fernando Leila; Available at: http://works.bepress.com/fernando_leila/2 assessed on 02/17/2015.

12. https://www.ciarb.org/news-views-events/ciarb-news/news-detail/news/2015/09/08/new-ciarb-arbitration-rules-launched-in-singapore ( accessed on October 5, 2015)

13. William H. Knull, III & Noah D. Rubins, Betting The Farm on International Arbitration: Is It Time To Offer An Appeal Option? 11Am. RevInt'l Arb.531 (2000).

14. Tams J, An Appealing Option? The Debate about an ICSID Appellate Structure, Essays in Transnational Economic Law. No. 57/ June 2006 5

15. See section 241 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As amended). See also Article 1, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States of America.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

QUANDARY

There was only one noun to describe the expression on Chimezie’s face. Despair. The anxiety looked like it had come to stay. But then, it was not like his face had not accommodated worse. Despair, depression and frustration were regular visitors to his mental space, and ultimately influenced his facial expression.

These feelings were friends of his, but who could blame him. Eleven years of legal practice without a major breakthrough or even a half-decent pair of wheels would break even the most resolute of spirits. Chimezie’s inbox was littered with regret mails from nearly every top establishment he had applied to, within and outside the legal industry. In spite of his excellent grades (second class upper division both at the university and at the Nigerian Law School), his bank statement had met with no significant improvement.

He had worked in law firms where he had received salaries that barely covered his transportation expenses in a month, let alone being enough to feed adequately. From hanging around at police stations to blatant pleas to prospective clients at the Corporate Affairs Commission, Chimezie had done it all, with an end product next to nothing. More painfully, he had to send a chunk of his meagre earnings to his young wife, a widowed mother, and six siblings back home in the East. He had less than no choice; they would not hear that his career path was not yielding the desired dividends; after all, a plot of land had been sold to fund his sojourn at the Nigerian Law School. There were days he contemplated suicide as a way of relieving himself of all the pressure. The sun rose and set with nothing for him to smile about.

Until recently, a week earlier, he checked his Facebook inbox, only to find a message from a long-lost pal. James, a successful engineer with whom Chimezie had shared rooms for two consecutive years during their university days, needed help with a building contract agreement, and had asked if he could help, promising to pay handsomely. Frowns had transformed to smiles over the past couple of days. Chimezie was alive again! The issue of whether James’ wealth was legitimate was another issue, but this struggling lawyer could not be bothered. For all he knew, months of fasting and immense prayers had finally paid off.

This was why anxiety found its way to Chimezie’s face that evening. James had initially agreed to meet Chimezie at the latter’s law firm where he worked under a man who had chosen to share rooms with a photocopying shop, but due to what James imply referred to as “unforeseen events”, the proposed rendezvous had been moved to James’ apartment earlier in the week. Chimezie was not comfortable, as going to James’s place would amount to a gross violation of the ethics which he swore to uphold. He knew he needed the money, he knew that his life was in dire need of a facelift, but he was also aware of the Rules of Professional Conduct which applied to his line of trade. He had avoided sharp practices throughout his career thus far and had always boasted about his integrity and how he stuck to the rules. Meeting James anywhere outside his law office would mean deviation from principles he held so highly. In spite of his financial struggles, he commanded a level of respect among his colleagues, and conceding to James’ preferred location would do his dignity no favours, not to mention the risk of a sanction from the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee... but then again, what was dignity? How had those ethics changed his life? What had the Rules done for him? How many people even practised by the rules these days?

His phone beeped again. It was a text message from Ebube, his younger brother who had been awaiting admission into an Eastern university. The message was short and simple: their mother had suffered a stroke and was lying ill. A tear dived down Chimezie’s left cheek.

He cursed the Rules!

Onyeka Ehiwuogwu (ZEUS)

For zeustelescope.wordpress.com

Edited by Ifeanyi Jerry Chiemeke

CHRISTIANITY; THE ONLY WAY?

This expression remains one of the commonest and most used clichés in modern day christianity. For us Christians, it is believed that without accepting Christ Jesus as our Lord and personal saviour, one would be damned for hell and suffer eternal damnation.

This idea has often been knocked into our heads like burning data into a DVD that we Christians now feel like the lucky few while those ‘outside the shed’ are all Hades bound on a first class flight ticket.

The question then is this; what if the first contact of Christians in the Southern part of Nigeria was with Persians or Turkish merchants. What if the Chinese monks had taken it upon themselves to spread the Budha and Tai Chi far and wide across West Africa and had settled in Opobo, around the River Niger or Lagos? Most certainly we would have been made to imbibe their religion and much of their 'Eastern' as against Western culture. Thus we would have been Muslims or Buddhists. Sunday services would have been Jummats in the mosques and visits to the Temples. The likelihood is that we would have adopted Arabic or Mandarin/Chinese as our major language, eat with chop sticks rather than spoons, drink herbal tea in place of hot choc and probably adopt martial arts training as part of our normal life

The truth is that most of us-the Christ oriented elements follow Jesus Christ today because we were BORN into it, not because we CHOSE to be. For those amongst us who chose Christianity later in their lives, chances are that they did so because of the inner conviction or persuasion they had of/by another Christian who was born into it. So in the end, it all arises from what we find around us and hardly down to our making. For those who claim to have been "called by God"....hmmm, I could also switch to Islam and CLAIM to have been called by Allah, the most merciful.

The simple conclusion to all this is that if we had been colonised by any other group of persons with other religious inclinations but Christianity, we would have been anything but Christians. We would not have had the Conviction that 'Christ is the only way'. It follows therefore that we would have been on a ‘wrong way’ (possible on no way at all because there is Only one way-Jesus Christ). Would we all have been on the side of those doomed for hell because surely we wouldn't have taken to Christianity?

The Holy Bible, the most revered book ever states in the book of Acts 10:34-35 that;

34: "....now I understand that God is not partial,(35)but in EVERY nation, the man who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him" (emphasis mine).

 Need I say more?

#A peek into the Diary of a Recluse….

Onyeka Ehiwuogwu 

RE; JAY Z V. SOLANGE SHOWDOWN.

We often decry violence and try as much as possible to eschew it from our homes and the society. This is even more so when the victim is a woman.There's no gain saying the fact that the major problems of several countries today are all linked to violence, directly or indirectly.

That said, it becomes rather funny to me that ever since the release of the Jay Z- Solange video, several hilarious comments have been made about it with almost no form of condemnation on the violence it portrays. Also, no one has thought it worthwhile to commend Jay Z's ability to hold back despite the quite tempting and provoking circumstance.

Regardless of the provocation or how rational the reason might be, violence or counter violence to a woman is grossly unacceptable and often seen as a sign of weakness in a man. Little boys are taught values of never hitting women no matter the circumstance or the provocation, because women are seen as tender, weaker and require more protection.

To that extent, the mere fact that Jay Z never struck back or made counter attacks at Solange should evoke some sort of appreciation and commendation for being an example of how a man ought to react when face with such plight. Mind you, in the confines of that elevator, and away from the ogling eyes of the world (acting under the ignorance of the circuit camera in the elevator), no one besides the two other person there would have seen it if he had retaliated. It becomes their words against his. Any other crazy man would have taken several swipes back at Solange on an occasion as this.

Let's also consider Hove's nature as a disciple of gangsterism and product of thuggery. It’s totally antithetical with his gentlemanly behavior in the elevator, thus making it utterly difficult for him to act against his much professed nature as a gangster and its attendant disregard for women. For a lover of rap music (and maybe hardcore/gangster rap especially), like the writer, who boasts of being able to manage same with being a gentleman and lawyer, it is indeed extremely difficult  on several occasions when faced with certain circumstances to maintain a perfect synergy of both and not lose your cool or tilt towards the 'quick response' approach which these lyrics and ideas implant in him.

Violence is violence. Pain is pain, irrespective of who's giving and who's taking. pain, hurt, harm, maiming or even death has never been gender discriminatory. They don't affect the victim less simply because its a guy or a lady.

Also, if the much heralded message of gender equality is to make much sense or not be counterproductive, there is a need to also emphasise that equality implies equal benefits and equal burden. Not some form of selective equality which tends to bend certain ‘rights’ (such as to be violent to the male folks and not vice versa) in favour of one gender against the other. Hence, if Jay Z had stuck back, the world by now would completely forget the #bring back our girls campaign and adopt a “#bring Jigga to Justice” or “#bring down Jay Z the Beast”. Find a perfect example in Shaquille O’Neil’s instagram incidence of mocking a Michigan man with a rare disorder or Donald Sterling’s racist comments. Two instances in which the media, blogosphere went awash with several vile and unprintable words about the culprits. It’s simple; as much as we condemn wrong deeds, we ought also to praise people when they do good stuff.  

The mere fact that it’s a woman striking a man doesn't make it a lesser or more tolerable and acceptable vice.

#Zeus Telescope/the Diary of a Recluse.

www.zeustelescop.blogspot.com

The Diary of a Recluse!

Its easy to discard the importance of a lawyer in most of life's ventures. Afterall, wtf do these lawyers even know?!
He cleverly drafted the deed/receipt himself; serving of course as evidence of a transaction. Pretty smart indeed! Too bad he missed the lecture where Professor Chianu empahsised the need to adequately describe the property in question. Now he's gone; That portion he got for 800 naira now goes for 8million naira....But posthumously, he's(his family) at the brink of losing it cos of his 'unlawyerly' ingenuity. #Morale: BE WISE, GET A LAWYER TODAY! Its a necessity and not a burden.

www.zeustelescope.blogspot.com

DEAR AUNTY DORA

Dear Aunty Dora

It is with great concern that I write  this letter , and  I hope it gets to you, in a better state of health than you were at the time it was being written.

My short letter directly pertains to your present health condition and of course, your presence at the National Conference. I feel deeply obliged to write you this letter because of the love and respect I developed for you during your reign as Director General of NAFDAC.

To me, and a host of other sane minded Nigerians, you remain the best human ever to have been appointed by any Nigerian government, both Federal and State alike. You were an epitome of responsibility, diligence and good change. Your commitment to the course presented our heavily blighted nation with an ember of hope in a pitch dark tunnel.You gave us a reason to believe that with a few more of your kind, redemption for Nigeria lurks around the corner.

You also set a convincing precedent and of course proof of the fact that women, if given the chance, could outshine the bulk of our chauvinistic male folks who egotistically feel leadership and governance in Nigeria is a boys only fiesta. The enormity of your impact can be better felt considering the fact that most Nigerians (myself inclusive) sparsely knew about NAFDAC until you came on the scene. Even now, the acronym has gradually ceased from being a household name to a "just another government parastatal”- back to the way it was before your tenure. That sufficiently lays credence to your accomplishments as its boss. It is even most amusing that we no longer hear of illegal ice cream industries, sachet water manufacturing companies, drug stores, to name a few. All those news now seem non-existent. Is it that fake food and drug manufacturers have repented, or turned a new leaf or that they have ceased to exist at Onitsha, Aba and Lagos or even Ibadan? Or could it be that the present NAFDAC set up frowns against such publicities? That I know is most unlikely. So, it leaves  me with one conclusion, NAFDAC is not as active as it was during Aunty Dora’s time.

I recall how much the word “NAFDAC” and “NAFDAC Inspectors” used to send chills down the spines of manufactures of drugs and food. The phrase “NAFDAC Number” was on the lips of everybody. Yes! Everybody! What happened to the radical campaigns against bromate in bread, mercury and hydroquinol in body creams?

Personally, for a quintessential woman like you, I still bear my reservations about what Anambra state must have denied themselves of when they chose not to allow “a woman lead them”.

Having said all these, I’ll plunge straight into what necessitated this letter; your current state of health and your apparent insistence to attend the confab.

Granted, patriotism is a noble idea, and it takes only a stoic, an amazon of a rare breed to do it the way you have done in the past few years. That notwithstanding, seeing you at the confab really gave me and a couple of your fans  and well wishers a lot to ponder on. It was torturously difficult to see the once healthy and physically strong woman you were now lost in rather shocking deterioration- A perfect replica of a brown skinned African woman. For a while, I doubted myself and questioned the wellness of my eyes.

Aunty, we love it that you love our nation even to the point of risking your own health, but please, it would do us great damage to see you get hurt in the event that you fail to take proper care of yourself because anything done in excess is a passport to tragedy. If for anything, my beloved mum sings your praise every day like you’re the best thing that has ever happened to Nigeria during your short reign as NAFDAC boss. I can’t even imagine the amount of hurt she’ll go through if she finds out about your current condition.

Like the local saying goes, “Soldier go; soldier come, barrack remain”. Nigeria would always be here for you to come back strong and healthy to continue your diligent struggles and contributions to her growth and betterment. But, it is of extreme importance that you take a while off to take proper care of yourself, if for anything else, your family and of course, my aging mother who sees you like her Ada. Also, your efforts towards a better Nigeria would no doubt be a light years more effective if done with a clean bill of health and in a physically fit state.

Finally, and most importantly, I hope the good Lord continues to answer the prayers of a host of Nigerians praying for your recovery and overall well being in the shortest possible time. We shall all continue to have our “Madam Nafdac” in our prayers and with that; it is easy to see that there will surely be joy in the morning.

May God continue to bless you, your household and our beloved Nation Nigeria which you have worked assiduously to improve.

RE: JOE IGBOKWE'S "THE COWARD CALLED ASARI DOKUBO AND HIS EMPTY THREATS".

After a horrid sex experience, the urge to embark on another encounter becomes really low and could drain out even before it percolates. That precisely describes how I've felt for writing in recent times . Indeed, my desire to smear ink on paper or punch my qwerty keys stayed at its lowest ebb in the past few days. Apparently, due in part to some further academic pursuit and of course an exacerbating work schedule. Many ideas come, but even quicker than Abikus, they die before conception. So, I took solace in teaching my dogs some tricks-and how to attack on command. However, I did struggle to scribble down a few things until I saw Asari Dokubo's comments or rather threats of war if GEJ does not get re elected in 2015. With Joe's reply to Asari Dokubo's ramblings, a tight work schedule and academics had to come to a screeching halt, albeit momentarily as I whipped out my keyboards.

I’ve always been miffed at the impunity and wanton disregard for national peace displayed on a regular basis by Muhajudeen Asari Dokubo, but derided him knowing too well the motivation behind such aimless proclamations from a dicky mind. However, Joe Igbokwe’s response was all I needed to soothe my anger.

The manner in which he trashed MAD was to me, beautiful, superb, spectacular and really, a class act. Touché!

Thanks to JI, I now know how to diss and fire people!

That said, it’s hard to see why the Police and other security agencies in Nigeria have shut their eyes to the blatant disregard for law and order with regards to MAD’s persistent call for war and warlike undertakings particularly in a time when the Security and unity of the Nation is at its tether end. These agencies have most embarrassingly turned their faces away from the provisions of section 88A(1) (b)  of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 LFN 2004.

The 7th edition of the Black’c Law Dictionary defines “terrorism” as;

“The use or threat or violence to intimidate or cause panic, especially

as a means of affecting political conduct.”

Without wanting to start a full write-up on Terrorism, as much as I feel irked to, I’d proceed with the main subject of this work.

It’s downright disheartening that such statements could be made with reckless abandon and nothing is done by appropriate authorities to put a stop to it. It only goes to prove JI's belief that MAD and Chief Edwin Clark are basking in the  euphoria of presidential support. Like the saying goes, a child sent by his father to steal doesn't go through the window, he takes the front door.

I particularly loved the humor in some of the points he raised in proof of MAD's cowardice and lily-livered nature. The most important and sincere part of his write up, no doubt was his mention of the fact that non oil producing countries make billions of Dollars from their heads and not oil. For that I'd say may God bless Joe!

However, quiet disappointingly, he veered of the objectivity in his work like Sebastian Vettel fell asleep on the tracks at a grand Prix.

His ordinarily beautiful rejoinder, even though many might fail to see as such, became laden with so much political undertone that's it would take an autistic 95 year old blind man not to see. Hear him;

"The reason why elections are conducted every four years is for the electorates to have the liberty to change a bad leader or to re-elect a good leader. A leader that lacks the capacity to perform should not be re-elected.

All things considered, there are many compelling reasons why President Jonathan may not be re-elected in 2015. One is that we have to worry about the feelings of other ethnic groups in a democracy. The unity of this country is very important. If the President is re-elected in 2015 he would have ruled for 10years in 2019. I do not think it is fair judging from the circumstances that lead to President Umaru Yar’Adua’s death. Secondly, corruption at the federal level under President Jonathan is alarming and unacceptable. Thirdly, impunity has assumed a frightening dimension under the leadership of President Jonathan. Fourthly, the inability of President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle the problem of insecurity is threatening also. In the midst of plenty our institutions are collapsing with no end in sight. The power sector is still down."

God forbid I  be seen as holding brief for the President or the  PDP on these issues raised, because my feelings towards performance or lack thereof of this administration is well known by those around me. More so, some of his observations aren’t totally out of place. But that's talk too much of a digression from this piece. So, I'll let it slide for now.

Just as a blind man needs no telling that there's a stampede in the market place, same way we need to proof to know that JI's comments are politically driven, hence grossly mala fide or better still not totally objective.

Firstly, if JI and his fellow “anti-GEJ for 2015’ campaigners have any honesty and “fairness” in them, they would easily concede to the fact that so much as it might not be very palatable to allow GEJ rule for 10 years like they claim, it would also be gravely unjust to shorten his constitutionally allowable term of 8 years to 6, simply because a the benefited from rather mysterious circumstances , which for all we know  is not a product of his making or his own orchestration. GEJ did not kill Yar Adua. It’s even on record that it took GEJ awhile and great deal of time to muster the courage to take assume his late boss’s seat. Tell me, Mr. JI, who wouldn’t like to enjoy the benefits of such force majeure? Unless sugar tastes bitter to you would your clamor for a reduction in the 10 years be acceptable by any stretch of the imagination.

Secondly, JI's post first appeared on Japhet Omojuwa's blog. It is well known that Omojuwa and Nasir El Rufai, an APC squealer and a compulsive one at that, as well as an anti- GEJ administration hound, are strong twitter and facebook buddies, going by their tweets and posts and the frequent interactions, shares and comments on each other's posts. Little wonder JI made copious references to El Rufai’s detention by the SSS when he made similar suggestions of impending bloodshed.

 It becomes quite easy to find a direct link running through all three gentlemen and of course the subjective nature of JI’s rejoinder to “the coward called Asari Dokubo and his empty threats".

For the records, speaking from a dispassionate standpoint, I dare to state that both the PDP and the APC seem so much like same wine in different wineskins. In my opinion, the APC, is nothing but old wine in a new skin, hence, with absolutely no difference from the PDP. If they eventually topple the PDP, good luck to them, if not; too bad, better luck next time.

Till then, feel free to enjoy the drama as it unfolds, and remember to always pray for our beloved nation, Nigeria.

#YES, I SAID IT!!!

Follow Zeus Telescope on twitter@zeustelescope.