Shaibu Husseini of The Guardian Versus Publisher of Nigerians Report

Shaibu Husseini of The Guardian Versus Publisher of Nigerians Report

The controversy over the trademark piracy of Eko International Film Festival has exposed the bad manners and personal bias of Shaibu Husseini, a senior Arts writer of The Guardian newspaper of Nigeria.

The Publisher of Nigerians Report sent a text message to question the unverified report of Shaibu Husseini on Film as purveyor of pristine cultural values and Mr. Husseini got all riled up and replied in a gutter language that would rubbish and tarnish his public image as a professional journalist. Nobody accused him of collecting any brown envelope as he simply jumped to that conclusion and resorted to insulting the Publisher of Nigerians Report from his own erroneous deductions based on his assumptions of the publisher.


Mr. Husseini lied that Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola unveiled the logo when Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, never even attended the event held on July 29, 2010, at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. It was the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Honourable Tunde Balogun who came to the event to represent the Lagos state government.

The governor, who performed the unveiling ceremony of the new AMP/EKO International Film Festival logo - a logo which the president of AMP Paul Obazele explained, was redesigned to reflect the collaborative agreement the AMP, under his leadership, had entered with the Lagos State Government over the staging of the annual festival.
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18930:film-as-purveyor-of-pristine-cultural-values&catid=74:arts&Itemid=683

The following is the exchange between the Publisher of Nigerians Report and Shaibu Husseini.

Publisher of Nigerians Report: Sorry, there is no CNN/MULTICHOICE Brown Envelope Journalist of the Year Award.
When did the Governor of Lagos state endorse the trademark piracy of Eko International Film Festival by the Association of Movie Producers (AMP)? That was a false report on your blog.

Shaibu Husseini: Are u sick! U think u are talking to your child? U know what to do if you feel indifferent about a report. I was at an event where the governor sent a rep and I reported what transpired and ur talking rubbish. Why dint u say no event held and I just reported from my imagination. U think I started writing today? Pls go away and don’t disgrace urself. See who is talking about brown envelope. I know the quarter dis is coming from and I will address it squarely. Opportunist! Write a rejoinder if u feel strongly that I over reported instead of trying to intimidate urself with the title ‘publisher’! U think I will cringe abi?


Nigerians Report: Go to the library of The Guardian as far back as 1988 and check The Guardian Literary Series for Chima Eke, Member of ANA.


Shaibu Husseini: And so what? Is that why u will cast aspersion at me. What has CNN brown envelope got to do with your feeling indifferent about a report when there are avenues for seeking clarification. U tink everybody is like u. ‘As far back’ my foot. Do you know what u have just done with ur very first line and am going to take u up on that. Haba, bicos u are supporting a position (which I know about) and because the piece ran contrary that is why you think I got brown envelope abi? I won’t take this lying low. Sebi, u say u are in ANA..,- I must follow up this matter. U must prove award me that CNN prize at all cost. I know what to do.


Nigerians Report: With all pleasure.

Mr. Husseini’s reported that the Lagos state government has endorsed the illegal AMP-Eko International Film Festival and it’s a lie, because the Lagos state government cannot endorse any illegality and in fact never endorsed the trademark piracy of Eko International Film Festival by the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) of Nigeria. I wonder how the representative of the Governor of Lagos state will endorse such an illegality.

The Lagos Film Office had a meeting with Mr. Hope Obioma Opara, the President/Co-founder of Eko International Film Festival where the neutral position of the Lagos state government was clearly stated and the Lagos state government will soon make its official position known.

Shaibu Husseini should have verified from the Lagos state government before misinforming the public and he has to report the fact no matter what the rep said at the event. The Hon. Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili recently sacked his senior aide for misrepresenting her. So, may I advise Shaibu Husseini to contact the Lagos Film Office for the true position of the Lagos State Government.

Hope Obioma Opara, President/Co-founder of Eko International Film Festival and Publisher of the Supple magazine has all the documents to prove the ownership of EKOIFF and nobody has challenged or contested it until AMP tried to hijack it.


The Nollywood gang of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) has been using their clique among Nigerian journalists to compromise professional ethics and they deliberately did not report the inaugural Eko International Film Festival held earlier in July 2010, at the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas, The Palms in Lekki, Lagos, but rushed to report the so called unveiling of the logo of the illegal AMP-Eko International Film Festival held on July 29, 2010, at the National Theatre in Lagos, Nigeria.

Mr. Husseini is obviously mistaking the Publisher of Nigerians Report for someone he assumes he knows. And he said he does not blog! Then what is he doing on blogger blogging for The Guardian Life magazine? So, a seasoned journalist for a major Nigerian news daily does not know what is a blog?


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

About the Author:
Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima is the most prolific African blogger and a prize winning writer and author of four books and many other publications. He directed the first docudrama "Sleepless Night" on the June 12 Crisis in 2002 and in 2007 he published "The Mandate of M.K.O Abiola" written by Adeleke Adeyemi. His next book is on President Barack Obama. More.

The American Documentary Showcase in Nigeria

The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the US Consulate General in Nigeria and the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACi) in West Africa hosted American Documentary Showcase in Abuja, Kano and Lagos.

The showcase was coordinated by notable award winning American documentary filmmakers Bart Weiss and Kim Synder .

The Lagos event was held at the Ozone Cinema in Yaba on Thursday August 5, and at the Public Affairs Section on Broad Street, Lagos, on Friday August 6, 2010. Followed by a cocktail party attended by the participants, including the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Renée Sanders.


Kim Synder's Welcome to Shelbyville got a well deserved standing ovation.

Welcome to Shelbyville is a glimpse of America at a crossroads. In one small town in the heart of America's Bible Belt in the South, a community grapples with rapidly changing demographics. Just a stone's throw away from Pulaski, Tennessee (the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan), longtime African-American and White residents are challenged with how best to integrate with a growing Latino population and the more recent arrival of hundreds of Somali refugees of Muslim faith.

Set on the eve of the 2008 US Presidential election, the film captures the interaction between these residents as they navigate new waters against the backdrop of a tumultuous year. The economy is in crisis, factories are closing, and jobs are hard to find. The local Tyson chicken plant is hiring hundreds of new Somali refugees, and when a local reporter initiates a series of articles about these newcomers, a flurry of controversy and debate erupts within the town. Just as the Latino population grapples with its own immigrant identity, African-American residents look back at their segregated past and balance perceived threats to their livelihood and security against the values that they learned through their own long struggle for civil rights. While the newcomers, mostly of Muslim faith, attempt to make new lives for themselves and their children, leaders in this deeply religious community attempt to guide their congregations through this period of unprecedented change.

Through the vibrant and colorful characters of Shelbyville, the film explores immigrant integration and the interplay between race, religion and identity in this dynamic dialogue. The story is an intimate portrayal of a community’s struggle to understand what it means to be American.

Featured Films 2010

Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy Bronx Princess Burning the Future: Coal in America Come Back to Sudan The First Kid to Learn English from Mexico * Freeway Philharmonic How to Fold a Flag King Corn * & Big River * Neshoba New Muslim Cool No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos Notes on Liberty

Oh, Saigon Racing Dreams Reading the Water Soundtrack for a Revolution Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo Trouble the Water A Village Called Versailles Welcome to Shelbyville Which Way Home * Whiz Kids Animated Shorts

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American Documentary Showcase in Lagos

Today, we were at the American Documentary Showcase at the Ozone Cinemas in Yaba, Lagos. It was coordinated by Benny Uche of the The Public Affairs Section of the United States Embassy and Mr. Madu Chikwendu, Regional Secretary of the Pan-African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI). Mrs. Daisy Chikwendu, the famous Nigerian author Prof. Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, Hope Obioma Opara, the President/Co-founder of Eko International Film Festival and Publisher of the Supple magazine were among the notable people and others at the event.

The documentary Street Fight on the 2002 Mayoral run of Cory Booker against longtime mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Sharpe James was very interesting. Cory lost, but in 2006 he got elected as the Mayor, becoming the 36th mayor of Newark.

Happy 49th Birthday President Barack Obama

Happy 49th Birthday President Barack Obama!

Today August 4, is the birthday of Barack Obama, the first African-American President of the United States of America.

Nigerians Report wishes President Barack Obama many happy returns of the day and with longer life and more historic achievements.

Read Barack Obama: Our African Dream and their American Dream

We are proud of Barack Obama.

The Publisher/Editor of Nigerians Report was invited to the birthday party in the US.

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President Jonathan Show Your Resiliency to Self-Confidence with a Yes or No to the 2011 Presidency

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Jonathan Show Your Resiliency to Self-Confidence with a Yes or No to the 2011 Presidency

President Jonathan recently expressed that should he declare his candidacy now either in the positive or negative towards the 2011 Presidential election, his statements could ignite instant political readiness in others including the Governors.

The President noted that some of them could quickly take their respective stand with regard to their candidacy for the next round of elections. What is wrong with such move, Sir?

That is the way it should be in any right thinking democratic society. What has your active or inactive declaration got to do with a State government and a Ministerial agency in terms of governmental functioning on behalf of the people?

Why a ministerial or any other governmental work should, becomes suddenly inactive because the political season is on?

Sir, this concern of yours, while it could correctly validate the sentimental nature of Nigeria’s political mindset and state, it also shows the picture of a society with lack of political commonsense and directions.

Sir, the fact that you expressed grave concern about the possibility of the shortage of functional output in government work during election activities, sends an awful message to any person who believes he or she is capable of simultaneously and efficiently handling any line of multiple tasks including running for office and serving the people.

Sir, don’t say Oh, that is “Oyibo” or the White peoples’ way, no it is the commonsense human way! Since, the affairs to a nation must go on irrespective of the political and electoral climate at the time.

Sir, if this type of thinking is part of your defense games or mechanisms, you need a better line of operative, seductive and influencing defenses that will cause convincing reactions from the people.

Mr. President, heating up the political pot of any democratic election is diametrically even with the impulse of presidential debate and energy.

Sir, admits your rationalizations, it is time to unload on the people, a yes or no answer as to your candidacy in the 2011 Presidency.

It will show you have nothing to hide, and further that you certainly have confidence in the Nigerian polity in terms of its maturity to leave the cycle of governmental functioning intact.

Sir, declare now as there is bound to be some degree of distraction any time to fully focusing on office work by incumbent Governors or other officials running in during an election cycle.

Your declaration today or tomorrow will in fact reduce the level of distractions towards the spirit of active governance which you tend to be attributing to other public officials and offices.

Sir, a more aggressive body of advisers will tell you that with the time highly limited and against you with regard the 2011 presidential election, the apparent waiting game of yours could on a personal level allow you to assess the people’s relationship to possible opponents of yours. But at the same time, this tactics could backfire.

Sir, there is very, very minimum time for the Chairman of Elections, Attahiru Jega to fully carry out voters registration, direct the political parties and constituencies’ with political education and position the necessary infrastructure in regards to the workability of the voting machines as well as maintaining full security.

Sir, with the political and electoral atmospheres lacking adequate time to adjust to an already fierce, bamboozled and misunderstood social surroundings, political turbulence could set in which may attract the need for security by and means possible.

Sir, in your own words, the world is watching the continued state of ambivalence on your part, no matter the strategy you may be employing in this election cycle.

Sir, what is clear here, is the question about your state of self confidence, possibly in the collective mind of all Nigerians and in the view of the global world.

Sir, if the assumption by some that your current silence is a sign that you may be equally waiting for an opening from a native doctor, a prophet or a divine path from God, pray for the message to come real fast. The time is now.


~ By John Oshodi

John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D , DABPS, FACFE, is a Forensic/Clinical Psychologist and the Interim Associate Dean of Academic Affairs--Behavioral Science, North Campus, Broward College, Coconut Creek, Florida. joshodi@broward.edu

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Nigeria Should Develop Forensic Hospital and Confinement Institutions for Corruption Suspects and Convicts

Nigeria Should Develop Forensic Hospital and Confinement Institutions for Corruption Suspects and Convicts who could be described as Corruptomanics

The yearly, monthly, weekly, daily and minute by minute changing reports on corruption are overwhelming.

The perpetrators’ minds and bodies that energize corruption crimes are certainly overbearing for an emerging society like Nigeria.

The amount of public money misappropriated by many of these individuals for their own personal use is always so huge that in their respective lifetime they will not be able to use it up.

So could their misconducts be solely corruptly and mentally driven, if so what could be done to reduce their dangerousness to society.

For the first time in modern Nigerian history has a President, as in the case of President Goodluck Jonathan, publicly admitted that corruption is presently retarding the nation’s “growth” and “development”.

While the Chief Prosecutor of the nation, Mrs. Farida Waziri has also publicly admitted that acts of corruption are scaring off foreign investment from the nation. As part of the Wazirian theory on corruption reduction, she has recently called for the legal endorsement of death penalty for convicted corruption offenders.

In the same vein, the Oshodi theory on this national predicament as previously written by this author in various news outlets, is for the legislature to pass very harsh anti-corruption laws with the Sharia type punishment meted on corruption convicts.

Now the nation is clearly under national and international threat as a result of endless number of cases of corruption spanning from those currently on prolonged bail, long-drawn-out trials, on mounting appeals as well as those on runaway status or in local prisons.

Therefore, it is time to start managing these persons in a whole different way. Nothing seems to be working on their minds!

Also, is it time for a corruption offender registry? The answer is a resounding yes, and it must be a public registry.

Is it time for a Forensic Hospital and Confinement Center for Corruption Offenders (FHCCCO), of course yes, and it could become operational as soon as possible in form of private therapeutic wards or as correctional treatment ventures.

As the above institutional name indicates it could be a two-tie system, with the first for those with active cases in court but need a form of treatment and confinement as they remain dangerous to witnesses and informants.

The second phase of hospitalization and confinement is strictly for the already convicted corruption offenders in need of rehabilitative and punitive environment.

He or she should have been diagnostically assumed to suffer from what could be called “Corruptomania”, an apparent impulsive and anti-social personality like syndrome that calls for ongoing study for the sake of objectivity and proper classification.

For the purpose of definition, a battery of psychological testing should be conducted on the individual to determine if he or she meets the criteria of being classified with one or more mental diseases in the areas of impulsive and social personality related ailments.

That is, psychological disturbances in the likes of the anti-moral personality, authoritarian personality, impulse control disorder and other related mental diseases with a clear and revealing picture of a criminal corruption offender.

Possible diagnosis like “Corruptomania” could be reached on the individual and the offender could be characterized as a “Corruptomanic”; however these are presumptive classifications by this author.

The battery of test must be carried out by qualified doctoral level Psychologists given their lengthy training and extensive practicum and experience in intellectual, projective, affective, personality and neuro-psychological evaluations.

Clinicians with training mainly in Psychiatry, a specialty that is related to the application of medicine to mental illness should be fully involved with the committed or confined offender only for the purpose of psychotropic medication assessment and maintenance.

For the sake of efficiency, it is emphasized that private ventures should be authorized to open and manage the forensic Mental Health Hospital-Confinement structures.

But mean while existing university teaching hospitals with some of them almost sitting empty or lacking adequate clients and clinical students should be used by the supervising private companies on contractual bases.

The atmosphere must be that of maximum security environment. This will reduce the chance of these corruptomanics threatening informants, witnesses or prejudicing their case by flying to overseas.

The goal of their being hospitalized is : 1.To keep the public safe as many or some of these offenders are known to put fear and danger in those who try to bear witness against them; 2. To stop their continued impulsive spending with all of the monies, in billions of naira or millions of dollars that they reportedly pilfered; 3. Under involuntary hospitalization, they are more likely to become out-of-pocket, and prone to freely engage in confessional and penitent-related behaviors; 4. For the convicted corruptomanic ,instead of becoming a bearer of State Execution, long-term detention would help provide the development of guilt, responsibility and controllability.

The Forensic Hospital and Confinement Center for Corruption Offenders must be expanded into a full blown phase for convicted corruptmanics where they will face both punitive consequences and therapeutic applications, all pointing to moralistic restoration.

The benefit of the this proposed system of dealing with corruption suspects or convicted corruption offenders is the allowance of not putting them in regular jails or prisons where they could face fatal and deadly acts from the general inmate population because of their crimes against the public treasury.

They need to be placed in special environments like the FHCCCO because they are corruption crime offenders and nothing else. As we all know they are highly malevolence in their advances to the public order.

While in the first or second phase of placement their seductiveness to shady or crooked money must be therapeutically addressed, so as to assist them develop an understanding of the societal, financial, and other destructive harms they have caused to the general population.

The most essential goal of corruption offender restoration is that he or she refrains from committing corruption offences in the future. This goal is more important than feelings of recovered self esteem and well-being when they return back to the society.

To reduce their temptations and recidivism rate or future reconviction, long term probation is recommended as well as the need to deny them entry into any job that calls for financial contact.

The treatment and penal direction of this proposed system of justice could help reduce the dreadful nature and consequences of corruptomanics and help them develop humane behaviors and caring ways to their nation.


~ By John Oshodi

John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D , DABPS, FACFE, is a Forensic/Clinical Psychologist and the Interim Associate Dean of Behavioral Science, North Campus, Broward College, Coconut Creek, Florida. joshodi@broward.edu

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Beyond Setting Up The Ambrose Alli University’s Sex Probe, Institute A Crisis Drop-In-Center Now

Every faculty, student and family share a common priority in an educational center like the Ambrose Alli University, and that priority is leaning.

The Ambrose Alli University will not be the first institution of higher learning in the world to be faced with incidents of corrupt sexual behaviors between unprincipled students and dodgy lecturers or professors.

What is likely to be the first across the globe, is that on July 23rd, 2010, there was dramatic moments of a student, one Judith Okosun, in a chaotic encounter in the latter’s tiny room.

The videotape was flashed everywhere by the Sahara reporters, an internet newspaper.

There is a human side to this tragedy, which is the possible shocking response that could occur in persons directly and indirectly involved in this all time and highly published live video.

At the time of his writing, one wonders what the said lecturer and student, their respective families, the administrators, faculty and the student body of the university could be going through emotionally and morally.

There is a feeling of dishonor, indecency and shame that could be robbing on those affected by this hurting incident.

In what manner could the lecturer be thinking at this time even if he is being viewed as dishonorable, what could be streaming through the mind of the student even if she is being described as vicious?

At on point in the video, in what seems to be expressions in the Ishan vernacular, an Edo State dialect of this writer, a female voice, possibly that of a female on-looker or Ms. Okosun could be heard admonishing the highly distressed and near-naked engineering university lecturer; “Oya gbe’, tell me yes mar, Oya gbe (meaning shame on you, tell me yes madam). At which time the visiting but physically shaking, distraught and fenced in lecturer, replied through a nervous laughter, “Yes Ma”.

In the moment to moment recording were traumatic mentions of his wife, and daughter by the streaming and noisy voices of on- looking students. The identified student, Ms. Okosun, could be noticed periodically showing fluctuating display of facial pain and anger, in between phone calls.

At the point of this ugliness, what about their families out there in their respective homes, what could they be thinking is this a real or a fake episode?

For the lecturer’s wife, adult children and other family members, this apparent devastating event could form into an emotional storm and an overbearing event.

There could be feelings of traumatic horror equally manifesting in the affected student’s family. Even the co-female residents of Ms. Okosun, as well as the male students operating the video could be heard periodically mounting off screams of frustration and fury.

And there is no doubt that the families of the video operators could be feeling a sense of traumatic worry over the whole explosion.

How does any one make the families and the faculty, the males faculty mostly, understand the institutional tragedies flowing from this experience.

In the live footage, is a middle aged husband, father and lecturer with a full and open display of his penis per the order of both the female and male students.

So clear, from the entire image is a display of alarm, shame and helplessness beaming across the nation, and globe into various homes, offices, markets, dormitories and other settings.

Under these situations, the need for clear and cool heads through some form of clinical help becomes paramount.

The Nigerian culture historically has little attraction to helpful outlet like professional counseling and therapy, and instead many Nigerians rely much more on religious, tribal and family support or remain indifferent to painful related experiences. Certainly these outlets are part of the African reality.

However, the current institutional traumatic grief stands out markedly, as it is first of its kind, therefore calls for a much more different understanding, assessment and emotional support.

The Psychology department of the University with the help of the two or three Clinical Psychology faculty should set up a Crisis Drop- in- Center in safe like settings. It should be open to any one related or involved with the university.

In matters like this one there are natural responses of all types which could include guilt, exhaustion, apprehension, bewilderment or catastrophe.

The overall set up for help should revolve around Institutional Tragedy Assistance. The lecturer in question should be encouraged to receive urgent individual counseling to deal with possible feelings of acute stress, hopelessness, insecurity, gloom and loss.

On a separate basis his wife and children could be scheduled for a critical or an immediate family therapy, and in future another line of therapy with possible inclusion of the dishonored father and husband should be offered.

The student in question, given her reported past frustrations and dealings with this lecturer, and her current feelings of mixed, disgusted emotions and all of her overwhelmed undertakings ,she could gain from a cooling out related crisis intervention.

Her own family could also gain from some sort of supportive counseling. The faculty, administrators and other university staff should be encouraged to come in for counseling focusing on ‘this could have being me’ session.

Also, other students like Ms. Okosun’s co-residents, the students’ video makers and other on-lookers to the graphic scene, could gain from a safe environment like the drop in center to vent their anger and worry over their aberrant acts, the videoing of the episode especially.

And for those whose assessment and intervention showed to be in need of further help, a psychiatrist could become involved for medication evaluation and possible psychotropic medication maintenance.

There is the need for the Vice-Chancellor Sam Uniamikogbo and his administration to realize that crisis intervention is of high importance as it could help the affected players and individuals, the lecturer and the student especially. Immediate therapeutic assistance could help them learn better coping skills, develop good problem solving behaviors, and avoid negative ways of coping such as engaging in self destructive acts like self injury, drug or substance abuse as well as help return the individual to their previous level of functioning.

The commission of inquiry and the probing panel of this incident by the State of Edo under the administration of Governor Adam Oshiomhole, and through an investigational team at the university are certainly required.

However along side the investigation should be the urgent set up of short term assistance like the recommended Crisis Drop- in- Center.

This whole matter appeared to have come upon the university silently and swiftly, and let’s hope that this extraordinary problem goes out in the same way.


~ By John Oshodi

John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D, DABPS, FACFE is a practicing Forensic/Clinical Psychologist and the Interim Associate Dean of Behavioral Science, North Campus, Broward College, Coconut Creek, Florida. joshodi@broward.edu.

Honorable Fatima Raji-Rasaki the matter with Police is the lack of Psychological Connection and Clearance

Honorable Fatima Raji-Rasaki the matter with Police is the lack of Psychological Connection and Clearance



Madam, public service is all about attitude. Even when an individual is imbued with the best conditions of education, remuneration and lifestyle, if the individual’s mindset and outlook to his or her work and the community they serve, is representative of negativity and indifference, then the nation is in trouble. This is what you are dealing with in regards to the current brand of police workers and officers in your midst.



This is why a candidate for any national and state security-related job should to go through an extensive battery of intellectual, personality, visual-motor and ethical testing. Thereafter, routine and periodic psychological assessment should follow on serving officers in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) beginning with the lowest rank of constable to those at the commanding levels.



Also there are those who need to benefit from random testing and retraining depending on the test outcomes. Madam, take for example, the recent announcement of mass transfer of police personnel from the South-East to other geographical zones, following the kidnap debacle.



Of course, you can transfer the individual’s body but the same mindset remains active just like it has been, and with time that mindset is equally acted upon in any new environment. Such has been the case of the Nigerian security forces including the Police, Prisons, State Security Service, and others.



Madam, there is a reason why police psychological service within the police administration is important. For decades there is no independent or fully staffed doctoral level psychological testing and readiness unit in the Nigerian police force. None!



Madam and you wonder why, just last month in Abuja, why a police officer started shooting at a bus conductor after been asked for his 30 naira bus fare. Madam, that victim could have been my or your family member!



The formation, structure and functioning of attitude require special identification through the guidance of a licensed or certified Clinical and personality psychologist. Certainly, Police personality and competency testing must not be carried out by psychiatrists as they are by law and norm mainly involved in the medical model of verbally questioning, and mentally observing a client as well assessing their need for medication.



This understanding is important as the colonial mentality of sending troubled persons to psychiatrists mostly still persist in Nigeria. As a result there is little awareness of psychology in the institutional framework of the society. And by the way, these problems include the law making bodies like yours, where mental health course of actions are hardly raised or opined upon.



While there are some like you that see attitude change as indispensable in police work, the system remains closed minded to the methodological, clinical and ethical improvement that comes from the psychological measurement of a candidate preparing for a ‘life and death’ job.



Madam, we are talking about persons with the power of guns, sticks and badges, which could be misused by any ill-cultured persons attracted to security agencies like the Police Force, EFCC, SSS and others.



Madam not until you and your colleagues mandates Psychological systems in the Police force as expected in the 21st century, you are wasting your free time and space.



There are a few persons that see the clear need for psychology and have come to the realization for psychological clearance, and that person is Chairman Parry Osayande of the Police Service Commission. But the apparent loosely tight communication and relationship between the essential sub systems like the Ministry of Police Affairs and the NPF remain remains a strain on the entire system.



There are high level psychological experts (not the recent recruitment of persons with first degree in psychology, and calling them psychologist!) who are willing to exhibit patriotic, volunteer, and altruistic-related assistance. But they are ignored. Why, that is the way it is, in a system where strict rules of coordination, of ethics and shared understanding remain absent or lacking.



Madam, the work of policing certainly is demanding and risky, therefore one want officers who have the attitudinal power to relate with the people of the community. Since an attitude of good neighborliness makes fighting crime much easier. Madam, a monthly salary of at least 35,000 naira for a psychologically prepared constable would enhance the mindset of professionalism.



Madam, a systemic talk with the Chairman Parry Osayande will inform you that prior to an applicant being accepted into a police academy either as rank and file officer or as a cadet for inspector or superintendent position just taking an aptitude test, a physical exam, meeting the federal character or meeting entry qualifications like secondary school or others are not enough.



To be accepted into a junior or senior academy a battery of evaluations conducted by a doctoral and certified clinical psychologist is paramount. The number of test administered should cover personality, drug, lie-related test and other psychological related measurements deemed essential by the psychological examiner.



A detailed historical, personal, family and work background check is important. As a criminal background check is part of the pre-employment requirement, Madam you and others at the National Assembly, should provide the resources for the technology necessary for workable fingerprinting, and for data collection and banking of a citizen’s social history.



Madam, there is opportunity to advance the society towards peace and sanity, but it must start from your official end, and a cooperative relationship between the appropriate agencies will transform into the making of an officer with good attitude to security related services.


~ By John Oshodi


John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D, DABPS, FABFE, is a practicing Forensic/Clinical Psychologist, and the Interim Associate Dean of Behavioral Science, Broward College, North Campus, Coconut Creek, Florida, joshodi@broward.edu

President Jonathan, I G Onovo and the Kidnapping Matter

President Jonathan, I G Onovo and the Kidnapping Matter

The ordinary Nigerian on a daily basis, earns less than 100 U.S cents, equivalent to 60 British pence, or roughly ₦140, which is less than a dollar.

A few weeks ago, at the University of Port Harcourt, something terrible happened to two students. For not being able to complete the remaining ₦100 on a cell phone debt, a student was beaten to death along with his friend by another group of students.

These are the realities in Nigeria at a time the nation is struggling to return to Nigeria the former MD/CEO of the Intercontinental Bank, Erastus Akingbola, an alleged escapee now in London.

While the ordinary Nigerian struggles to earn ₦10,000 monthly, Akingbola is reportedly allowed ₦1.4million naira for his monthly expenses while relaxing in his London residence. Assets of £83 million or $126 million belonging to Akingbola were recently confiscated by a London Court. A contrast between two extremes!

As these harsh differences between the very poor and the exceedingly rich continue, the nation now seethes with the new phenomenon of kidnapping.

The latest was a seven-day national ordeal which involved the abduction of four journalists who reported had an unusually large amount of cash in their possession. This terrifying development had an emotional toll to an already nervous nation.

I.G Onovo’s Psychological Warfare

The episode held the entire country spellbound, including the psychological warfare waged by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo.

The journalists owe their release to this man! In spite of the fragile state of the Nigerian Police Force, representative of a chronically distressed society, Onovo’s tactics and leadership worked against the captors of the now-released journalists.

It mattered little if the any of the nation’s security management had a useable tracking device, or if any technical assistance was sort from an international or outside security agency was forthcoming.

The President’s recent statement that it will soon procure contemporary security technology to help control criminal activities like kidnapping is a good thing.

The President also recently pledged to put the military to use against those who abduct individuals such as foreign oil workers and contractors, which is how kidnapping began. The President’s recent show broadside aimed at kidnapping, whose new targets now include wealthy and middle-class Nigerians is welcomed.

As you may be aware of, we now know why what could be called the Onovo’s Rescue Manual with all of its outmoded tactics as in house-to-house; bush-to-bush search was the best alternative to fight the current wave of abduction.

According to Onovo, the police currently lacks the “necessary equipment,” and it is no wonder that a report from the four journalists revealed that the captors had more “sophisticated” weapons and devices than a law enforcement body like the Police.

Types of Kidnapping

Truth be told, the Nigerian style of kidnapping is a felony that appears to be very distinct in its nature, features and operations.

The Nigerian style abduction, at least, at this time is mostly in the image of what could viewed as:

* Arranged kidnapping with systematic and sequential approaches;
* Unorganized Kidnapping with marks of irregularity as in the spur-of-the-moment or sudden kidnapping of any one;

* Media-driven kidnapping as in a highly hyped and published name of a person with sudden wealth, focused on by criminals;
* Ludicrous kidnapping with ridiculous and bizarre characteristics as in a father abducting a son to get reward from a rich relative;
* Sensational kidnapping with marks of high-level acts like abducting an infant child; Message-driven kidnapping with purported information and concerns about the painful conditions in a society;
* Chance kidnapping with marks of opportunity and probability that the targeted victim is the right target;
* Sadistic kidnapping with marks of severe brutality and possible extermination of the captive,
* Compensatory kidnapping with marks of pure business like dealings;
* Humiliating kidnapping slanted on dishonoring and shaming a powerful, politically or socially placed individual;
* Ritual kidnapping with marks of illicit customary characteristics; and
* Conspiratory kidnapping as in a collaborative arrangement between disgruntled officials and bandits.

The common thread that passes through each style of kidnapping is the moment-to-moment emotion of not being a moneyed person, and the penchant for sudden riches, in the manner of those who became wealthy suddenly through corrupt or fraudulent practices.

Feelings of Inequality

People in general, perceive the nation as an oil-based economy where money should go around especially among the laboring working-class Nigerians.

As such, there appears to be this psychological pressure for some Nigerians to become soft invitees to crime, leaving them open to a quick entry into the illegal world of abduction. It appears that some hungry students from higher institutions, a few university students and some poverty-bound police officers with free and dangerous weapons now operate in the abduction trafficking.

These vulnerable Nigerians read the News papers and see articles about alleged billions of naira stolen by their fellow Nigerians.

Just imagine what goes through the mind of a university dropout due to financial problems, what emotions are felt by an unemployed graduate or a police officer with a monthly belated salary ranging from ₦8,000 to ₦21,000, when news of politicians like Senator Saminu Turaki reportedly amassed extra-ordinary wealth.

Turaki, the ex-Governor of Jigawa State allegedly looted ₦6 billion of State money in one day. In one day!

Perhaps the President feels for those enormously rich Nigerians who have to result into extreme precautions like the use of expensive German shepherds and armored cars in an attempt to protect themselves, their cash, wives, and children.

Young men and women by their very nature have so much energy or oomph, and pray for a state of liveliness. But when, some of them cannot pay for a basic living, or even purchase adequate food, shoes or clothing their vulnerable spirit might drive them to criminality.

And the President was right, some of these rebellious young men and women make these heavily guarded Nigerians their possible targets.

In a complicated society like Nigeria where people have a little trust in the Police, and where police informants are reportedly frequently killed, it is easier for captives to identify quickly with their captors emotionally.

In the same vein, captives secretly pay for their freedom at all costs and as a result of fear, protect the captors’ identity, especially when many kidnappers appears better armed than the nation’s Police.

As long as Nigeria remains a giant risk internally and among nations the threat of cyclical crimes such as extortion or abduction leaves the nation in a security-based dilemma leaving people feeling vulnerable.

Needed Reforms

Pesidential executive orders are needed to address the perilous state of security in the nation.

All private GSM Telecommunication device operators should install circuitry to quickly point out and locate the origin, and place of an incoming call, thereby making any telephone-oriented crime easy to detect.

Instead of trying to start a new senior police college, it should be delayed for now and the money invested in security measures for routine police work. This could begin with setting ₦40,000 naira as the basic salary for an entry level police constable with secondary school certificate.

Bullet proof vests for the Police become vital as the streets, banks, rural and urban areas are becoming more and more dangerous for the patrol officer.

The government should work effectively towards more electrical power to reduce darkness that kidnappers and other criminals thrive in. With expanded electricity generation, what better way to reduce unemployment?

Authorities should also work towards communications’ enhancement for the police to increase the detection rate for kidnapping to those of Western countries.

Nigerian should establish State policing in the nation, since local authorities tend to work better in coordinating local-driven occurrences that include crimes of kidnapping.

The security crisis requires the authorities to provide a steady step and bold moves in a national battle against the new type of criminal.

~ By John Oshodi

John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D is a Forensic/Clinical Psychologist and the Interim Associate Dean of Behavioral Science, North Campus, Broward College, Coconut Creek, Florida. joshodi@broward.edu

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