Read more »

Anti-gay bill: US threatens to sanction Nigeria

The US has threatened to sanction Nigeria
following President Jonathan’s signing of the
Same-Sex Prohibition Act 2014. The world power
is threatening to scale down its support for HIV/
AIDS and anti-malaria programmes in Nigeria.
This was made known yesterday Jan. 20th by
James Entwistle, the US Ambassador to Nigeria.
Mr Entwistle said he was worried about "the
implications of the anti-same sex marriage law
which seems to restrict the fundamental rights of a
section of the Nigerian population.”
"The issue of same-sex marriage was very
controversial all over the world, including
within  the United States where 17 states out
of 50 had endorsed it, but others still reject
its legality. The issue that we see and I am
speaking as a friend of Nigeria is that as I
read the bill, it looks to me that it puts
significant restrictions on the freedoms of
assembly and expression; in my opinion
which applies especially in advanced
democracies, once government begins to
say something in these areas, freedom no
longer applies. It seems to me that this is a
very worrisome precedent.”

Read more »

Lagos State Government seek to ban smoking in public places

The Lagos State House of Assembly on
January 20th passed a bill seeking to make
smoking in public places illegal in the state, with
first offenders having options of paying a fine of
N10,000, three months in jail or both. The bill
which is waiting the approval of Gov. Fashola to be
signed into law prohibits residents from smoking
in places such as libraries, museum, public toilets,
schools, hospital, day-care centres, public
transportation, restaurants among others.
Lagos residents who break this new law
repeatedly would either be sent to prison for 6
months or pay a fine of N50,000, while owners of
public places who encourage the breaking of this
law would pay a fine of N100,000 or be sent to jail
for six months.
The bill also seeks to punish anyone who smokes
in front of a child with a fine of N15,000 or six
months imprisonment. The bill also directs
corporate organizations to place the 'No Smoking'
sign in their premises. Companies who default
would pay a fine of N250,000.
The Bill when passed into law would be
supervised by the Lagos Environmental Protection
Agency.

Read more »