Samson Toromade

<h2>When Jonah Daniel was dragged into the Nigerian justice system in April 2016 over a neighbourhood fight that ended horribly, he had no idea how much his life was about to change.</h2>

In its legal advice in 2017, the Lagos Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) ruled that the 32-year-old had no case to answer in court, but because no one processed his release order, he remained in prison for an extra four years until June 2021.

Data compiled by <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/how-nigerians-are-awaiting-trial-behind-bars-for-years/dc8lnny">the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS)</a> shows that 69% of people in prisons across the country are awaiting trial, praying for the chance to prove their innocence — many times for minor crimes or alleged crimes police officers are unable to prove in court.

Jonah Daniel was one of them. This is his story.

Two thirds of Nigeria's prison population have not been convicted by a court of law

<h3>What was growing up like for you?</h3>

I was born and bred in Makoko, Lagos. My father took care of the family but when he died, I dropped out of school in JSS 3. I started hustling, and would often do conductor work for bus drivers. I was 14 or 15 years old at the time. After a while, I also did some work at a sawmill in my neighbourhood.

<h3>What exactly were you doing there?</h3>

When the machine splits the wood, you need people to load it — that was my job. I did that for a while until I turned 22 and went to Aba where my mother had been bugging me to go live with her sister. But her children were making life hard for me — maybe it was because I wasn't their blood but I was suffering.

I left there after a while, around 2011, for Onitsha where I started hustling again. But Bakassi boys were disturbing many people — they could arrest you, accuse you and kill you. It wasn't working for me, so I left again for my grandmother's place back in Abia State. I was there for three years but there was nothing to do and because I didn't have the strength for farm work, I returned to Lagos.

Jonah moved around a lot before he settled back in Lagos, but that's when his troubles began [Samson Toromade]

Jonah had no case to answer, but he spent 4 extra years awaiting trial in prison [Samson Toromade]

<h3>What was in Lagos for you to do?</h3>

I went to my uncle's shop in Yaba to start working for him, but then one of his apprentices ran away with ₦750k in 2015. I didn't even know the guy but my uncle called the police and they arrested me. My mother had to come bail me with ₦85k.

By 2016, I was tired of the suffering, so I went to Makoko to be with my childhood friends. Some of them were living rough street lives but you know how childhood friendships can be. There was this fight problem in Makoko that year — I wasn't a part of it, but there was this gang that always threatened to kill me. It was very wild, I didn't understand it.

Eventually. I used to play football around the neighbourhood pitch at that time. When I was returning from training one day, they cornered me and beat the hell out of me. It was my assistant coach who stopped them from killing me because he told them I wasn't a troublesome person. I was bleeding a lot and my friends were angry.

The next time I saw one of them, I told my friends and they beat him up. I later heard he died after he escaped their beating and his gang came to Makoko to start causing problems. Everywhere scattered, and the Peace Corps was summoned to settle the issue.

There was this neighbourhood brother who called to meet him and I went to his place. Before I knew it, police officers surrounded me and one of them hit me with his gun. They asked where my friends were but I told them nothing.

They took me to the police station and I thought it was a sick joke. I ended up at Ikeja SARS the next day and met one of my friends and another person from Makoko who had also been arrested. People from the neighbourhood also came to antagonise us that we were terrorising the area.

<h3>How did the police treat you?</h3>

The OC SARS said they would kill us, I started crying that I was fatherless and didn't know anything. This was in April 2016 and he said we would remain in the cell till December.

But three days later, they took us to court, and it was in the court cell I found a relative who informed my mother about my whereabouts. She came to court and started crying about how she had warned me about the people I associated with.

In court, the investigating police officer (IPO) accused me of murder, cultism and disturbance of public peace with three other people. The judge refused us bail while we awaited legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) — this will be important later. He remanded us in prison for two months.

Jonah spent a total of five years in prison over a case he was cleared for [Samson Toromade]

<h3>How did that make you feel, going to prison for the first time?</h3>

I wasn't happy, but I knew I couldn't kill myself. I borrowed a phone from someone to call some of my family members to tell them where I was, and they would come to visit me. I spent a week in the welcome cell — it was supposed to be one month, but someone I knew came there to move me.

The main cell was a bit more spacious, but over 80 people were living there at the same time. Some people were privileged and got the limited bed spaces, but the rest of us slept on the bare floor. It was tight and you could only sleep on your side — if you slept on your back, someone would wake you up with a cane. I didn’t get a bed until after four years in there.

<h3>Did you have legal representation in court?</h3>

I hired a charge-and-bail lawyer for my first appearance and he charged my family ₦70k. Once we paid ₦40k upfront like this, he disappeared. My mother went to see another lawyer and gave that one ₦120k, but he also disappeared. It happened with the next lawyer who took ₦150k, so I told my mother to stop paying lawyers, that God would set me free if it was His wish. I was already nearing five years in prison at this time.

<h3>How did you survive all that time?</h3>

I was living anyhow. I ate everything I got from the prison kitchen. Sometimes, my family sent me money to buy better food. I could take the eba from the kitchen and find money to buy soup because the soup from the kitchen could cause you all kinds of nasty stuff. I started adapting to my fate because I saw two people die in the cell from thinking too much.

<h3>What was happening with your case in court?</h3>

After my first appearance in April 2016, the court adjourned to October, but the warders didn't take us to court because our case was still awaiting DPP's advice. We didn't see the court again until around October 2017. Nothing was even happening with the case — we would just go to court and return to prison.

Two of my case mates got bail but the remaining two of us couldn't. We didn’t even go to court at all in 2018 and the warders were doing anyhow. The same thing happened in 2019. Some pastors who used to come for outreach in prison begged the warders to start taking us to court, at least.

By 2020, just before COVID-19 fully hit, we finally went to court and got another nine-month adjournment until November 2020. We went to court twice and it didn't sit at all — more adjournments.

Jonah's life changed after meeting Headfort Foundation, a non-profit organisation that offers free legal services to poor people stuck in prison without legal representation [Samson Toromade]

<h3>How did that lack of progress feel for you?</h3>

I was tired. In December 2020, I saw this lady in court, a lawyer, who gave me her number and made promises. I started calling to beg her to help me, but when I went to court in January, the court didn't sit and I didn't see her.

When we went back in April 2021, I saw another lawyer who came to meet us to say the same thing and raise our hopes. I didn't want to say anything at first because I was tired of promise and fail, but my case mate pressured me to speak.

I told her I had spent a long time behind bars and begged her to help me. She gave me her card and promised to track down my file, and that's when I started calling her. I even offered money but she said she didn't want any money and <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.headfortfoundation.com/donate">was doing it for free for Headfort Foundation</a>.

When she eventually found my case file a day after we met, she said the court already released me in 2017.

<h3>What? How did that happen?</h3>

Nobody processed my file. The DPP advice recommended my release but the prosecutor had not acted on it. The lawyer promised to work on getting me out soon. I got another court date for June, this time without my case mate. They called a lot of cases that day and I started worrying again that I would not get my chance. When the judge stepped outside for a break, my lawyer went to meet the court clerk who checked and brought my file from the bottom to the top.

<h3>It's your lucky day</h3>

Yes. When I was finally called, the judge read the offences against me again and asked how I pleaded, I said not guilty. He was writing for over 30 minutes without saying a single word; before finally telling me I had found mercy, that I should have been released four years ago. He finally discharged and acquitted me and I just sat down, laughing inside, and thanking God.

The lunatic warders said they would return me to custody for their boss to confirm my freedom. I was even considering following them but I didn't want to, so I asked my lawyer and she said no. These people were trying to put me in handcuffs again even though I was a free man now.

<h3>Long overdue. What happened after regaining your freedom?</h3>

The lawyer and her boss were kind enough to give me a ride back to my mother's house. She was waiting for us at the junction eager to see me, because we'd not seen since COVID-19 messed up prison visits.

Headfort asked if there was anything I could do, and riding a motorcycle came up and they promised to get me one. The foundation also bought me a new phone, but I lost it when I went to charge it two weeks later, so I lost contact with them till the end of the year. I needed to hustle again, so I went to Jibowu to do transport work.

<h3>What do you do there?</h3>

I help load customers' bags into the buses. I was first in Yaba hustling for customers to buy bed sheets and curtains. My job was to convince and guide them to the real sellers, but it wasn't working out well. When I started, I needed a guide to help link me to the sellers, but he was defrauding me. So, if there's an ₦80k gain on a deal, he'd give me ₦30k when I should be getting like ₦60k. I did it for four months before giving up because I got many customers but wasn't making anything.

Years after he was finally released, Jonah is still trying to piece his life back together [Samson Toromade]

<h3>What was the worst thing about prison for you?</h3>

I wasn't happy. The warders used us for all sorts of things. I packed shit so much that I was sick for like six months because of all the smell I was exposed to. I was always alone almost every day. I only left my cell for church service and went back straight after. I don't plan to do anything that would make me return to prison.

<h3>How did prison change your life?</h3>

Bro, I calmed down. All the gra gra I used to do vanished. I didn't have a bad record in prison and never did a thing that would make warders notice me. Now that I'm out, I still see the warders from the prison whenever they're transporting prisoners past my route, they would hail me and say, "Better boy." If I had a bad record in prison, they would not even greet me at all.

I still live with my friend, so I need money to move out and also start a business. I helped my brother set up his clothing business, but I don't have the capital to start my own. I've been trying to figure that out since I've been out. I'm too old to start being an apprentice so business is what I want to set up.

<h3>What do people who have never been to prison need to know about it?</h3>

Whoever has never been to prison cannot understand anything about it. I don't pray anyone goes there. I tell everyone that you have to know what you're doing. Just because someone offends you doesn't mean you have to carry it on your head. If you overdo it, you can find yourself in prison and it's hard to get out.

There was a mechanic boy in my neighbourhood who was sentenced to death because he accidentally killed someone. The person refused to give him the ₦15,000 they agreed on for work he did, so he hit him with a brick. It's horrible.

<h3>How did you feel about the verdict to release you from prison?</h3>

I was happy when my lawyer informed me I had actually been released after tracking down my file. If the other lawyers who ran away with my money just bothered to check my case file, I would have been out since 2017. It also made me angry, but there was nothing to do about it at that point.

<h3>What do you regret about your prison experience?</h3>

I can't forget the many years I lost in prison. When I speak to people about my experience now, it becomes heavier. No one knows they can stay in prison that long. There are even some people who didn't do anything and still end up there. I know someone who's been there for over 10 years without a sentence in court. He was arrested during a police raid and no one bailed him. He's just there.

All Jonah wants to do now is set up a business and be able to care for his son [Samson Toromade]

<h3>I am curious what eventually happened to the case</h3>

The last person has also been released. I saw him last year and he said the case was dismissed in April 2023. Nothing happened to it in the end.

<h3>Do you think about the person who died in the fight that caused everything?</h3>

I regret it. I just thought as I was with my friends and spotted someone who was part of a gang that beat me for no reason, I couldn’t let it slide. I only pointed him out and thought they would beat him like he beat me. I was sad to hear he died.

<h3>How do you move forward from all this?</h3>

I just need to start a business and feed my family. My first-born child from 2014 is with my grandmother in Abia and is the person I'm hustling for. Six months after he was born, his mother abandoned him with a neighbour and I don't know where she's been since then. I send my grandmother money for upkeep as I earn from my job. I just need a good job.

Tomorrow, Lanre narrates how he went from minding his business doing his job to landing in prison to await trial for a crime that was impossible for him to have committed. He never got a court date for eight years.

<a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/awaiting-trial-behind-bars-ibukun-in-prison-for-3-years/7pp2r5z">Ibukun lost 3 years of his life awaiting trial in prison to prove he wasn't a criminal</a>

<a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/awaiting-trial-behind-bars-segun-in-prison-for-6-years/hcv9e73">Police officers seized Segun's motorcycle — then sent him to prison for 6 years</a>

<a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/how-nigerians-are-awaiting-trial-behind-bars-for-years/dc8lnny">5 things I learnt about awaiting trial in Nigerian prisons — I spoke to ex-inmates</a>

When Jonah Daniel was dragged into the Nigerian justice system in April 2016 over a neighbourhood fight that ended horribly, he had no idea how much his life was about to change.

Jonah sat in prison awaiting trial 4 years after he should have already been released

Everyone grows up with the shadow of their parents looming large trying to dictate their future career.

It boils down to the usual suspects of doctor, lawyer, engineer, the chief who signs vague expensive contracts like <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/movies/saworoide-nollywood-political-drama/8wklg98">in all those Nollywood films</a>, and maybe the Nigerian politician with unexplained wealth.

No parent ever quite gets around to hoping their kid grows up to become, say, a gravedigger. But someone has to bury the dead, so there's a whole death industry that ensures people get to their final resting places as seamlessly as possible.

As vital as this industry is to the order of nature, it's not quite as visible and the experiences from there are only whispered in hushed tones.

A new documentary, titled The Gravediggers, released on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, is an attempt to peel back the layers of the rituals of death in Nigeria.

The documentary is co-directed by Kayode Idowu and Hassan Yahaya who told Pulse Nigeria the duo primarily measured success by their ability to capture that "we are all ordinary people connecting over the shared experience of living."

"Our intention with this doc is not to be didactic, moralising, or to wring out global implications," Yahaya explains. "Instead, we aim to (hopefully) magnify and probably amplify the realities of people who fly under society's radar of what's 'important.'"

<h2>What does it mean to work in a cemetery?</h2>

The Gravediggers stars Omasheye Mayuku, Rasheed Babajide, Tunji Adeyemi and Kayode (not Idowu, the co-director) — four people who work at the Atan Cemetery in Lagos State.

In narrating their experiences, three major things stand out.

<h3>1. It's not a glamorous job</h3>

Kayode in 'The Gravediggers' prefers to do something else for a living, but he doesn't have the right opportunities yet [Vistanium]

Kayode works as a bricklayer at the cemetery because "there are no good jobs out there," but telling his family what he did for a living took a while. And even though he accepts the job "can be embarrassing," he's found a way to overlook the discomfort and just focus on burying the dead. However, he still doesn't think it's a job meant for a young man like him, and his family is relentlessly breathing down his neck to find something else to do.

Outside of his mother and sisters, the rest of Mayuku's family are in the dark — well, not anymore as the documentary is now public — about his occupation. When his mother asked him what was wrong with him that he would choose to work at a cemetery, he asked her, "Mummy, if no one works at the cemetery, who will bury people?"

'The Gravediggers' documentary [Vistanium]

<h3>2. Six feet isn't always six feet deep</h3>

Adeyemi monitors junior workers whenever there's a burial. From how he explains it, there's a proper process for how a deceased is buried at the cemetery — as clear as a workflow in a 9 to 5 office. But what's striking in that pipeline is Mayuku's revelation that "digging six feet" is not always about the depth of the grave, in the way regular people think about it, but the length. "The only thing is we'll dig it for the coffin to enter," he casually explains.

"Six feet under the ground" suddenly takes new meaning if you're getting buried at a public cemetery.

<h3>3. Fear is relative</h3>

Working around so many dead people can naturally be terrifying [Vistanium]

Working around dead people naturally comes with some unease, but the way each person deals with it in the death industry can vary.

When Babajide first started working at the cemetery, he used to be very scared but that changed at some point "because it has become normal that we have to bury dead people." Mayuku deals with the fear by asking the family of the deceased for alcohol for the gravediggers to drink in a bid to become fearless and more confident.

But Kayode is still very scared. "Why won't I be scared of the dead? A corpse is a spirit. They can vanish into thin air."&nbsp;

Maybe that's why no parent wants their child to work in the death industry, but someone has to bury the dead, and these men do.

The setting of 'The Gravediggers' is Atan Cemetery in Yaba, Lagos State [Vistanium]

Someone has to bury the dead, and that's what these four men in The Gravediggers documentary do.

What does it mean to work in a cemetery? 'The Gravediggers' documentary finds out

<h2>After 40 years of acting in the Nigerian film industry, John 'Mr Ibu' Okafor, one of Nollywood's most famous comedians died on Saturday, March 2, 2024.</h2>

The widespread <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/celebrities/mr-ibu-john-okafor-africas-mr-bean-kanayo-o-kanayo/w2tf7fg">acknowledgement of his talent</a> has trailed the announcement of his demise <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/celebrities/nollywood-filmmakers-fans-pay-tribute-to-deceased-actor-mr-ibu/6l1c4qt">at the age of 62</a>, and he can be proud of keeping to his promise to do whatever made him happy.

The actor was quite vocal about this aspect of his life in a December 2007 interview with PM News, resurfaced by the online newspaper archives, <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://archivi.ng/">Archivi.ng</a>, after his death.

Mr Ibu said he started acting at the age of 18 in the late 1970s due to an interest nurtured by his grandfather whom he described as a wonderful comedian.

"I developed interest when I used to watch a programme called Hotel de Jordan then on Bendel State Television and used to go there because it was being transmitted live. So, there was this role I was asked to play and that was how I developed interest in acting.&nbsp;

"Later, I was doing something in Anambra Broadcasting Service and when the state was split, we had MBI at Onitsha and was anchoring a programme called Ayonocha on the station then."

Despite how early he started acting, Mr Ibu considered his role in Agony (1997) his first big break. It was released years before the Mr Ibu film which shot him to the limelight with a fictional character whose name he carried until his death.

Mr Ibu will be remembered as one of Nollywood's most popular comedians [Instagram/@realmribu]

John 'Mr Ibu' Okafor [Instagram/@realmribu]

The 62-year-old was mostly famous for his acting, but he did other things before or after the fame. Before his big Nollywood break, he used to trade in electronics because he had attended a technical school. He was also a boxer but one of his colleagues beat him "like nama (cow)" so he decided to quit.

"I did photography, hairdressing and music," the actor said during the 2007 interview. "You see, something inspires me in every sphere of life I find myself," he added.

Mr Ibu acted in more than 200 films and will be remembered as&nbsp;<a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/movies/celebrating-the-legacy-of-mr-ibu-with-7-movies-that-defined-his-career/p2r10jw">one of Nollywood's most popular comedians</a>.

After 40 years of acting in the Nigerian film industry, John 'Mr Ibu' Okafor, one of Nollywood's most famous comedians died on Saturday, March 2, 2024.

How Mr Ibu started acting — and 5 other jobs he did in his lifetime

<h2>A gene editing treatment considered a game-changer for people living with sickle cell disease is under consideration to be approved in the United States before the end of 2023.</h2>

The disease is an inherited blood disorder that can be potentially deadly and often represents a lifetime of pain for patients.

An advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will decide on Tuesday, October 31, 2023 if a new gene editing treatment's safety data is acceptable, according to a report by the New York Times.

The treatment, developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, involves the gene editing tool known as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), used to selectively modify the DNA of living organisms.

When applied to a sickle cell patient, the technique activates a gene that can produce normally functioning blood cells. Vertex reported that treated patients during clinical trials stopped seeing symptoms of the disease, and appeared to be cured.

If the data satisfies the committee and it decides additional study is unnecessary, the FDA will decide whether to approve it on December 8.

The treatment starts with the removal of stem cells from the blood — and the cells are sent for treatment. This stage is followed by intense chemotherapy to clear the bone marrow before the treated cells are injected into the patient. The patient is then required to stay at the hospital for at least one month while the treated cells repopulate the bone marrow.

A sickle cell disease patient receiving a blood transfusion to alleviate his pain at a hospital [Tammy Ljungblad/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service, via Getty Images]

According to the NYT report, there are still questions about how quickly production can scale. Notably, Vertex's sickle cell disease treatment is expensive and expected to cost millions of dollars per patient.

Also, the treatment and care needed for a successful procedure can only be administered by doctors who have expertise in a number of advanced techniques.

The cocktail of problems the new treatment already faces will not come as a relief for millions of patients who live in developing countries and are less likely to be able to afford the treatment.

More than 66% of the 120 million people affected worldwide by sickle cell disease live in Africa, especially Nigeria, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2022. An estimated 1,000 children are born with the disease every day on the continent, and more than half of them die before they reach the age of five, usually from infection or severe anaemia.

The only other known cure for sickle cell disease currently is a blood and bone marrow transplant — finding a donor can be an impossible task. But the success of the Vertex treatment may open the door for similar treatments.

Another application for sickle cell gene therapy treatment, by Bluebird Bio, will be decided by the FDA on December 20, while two other companies and an academic centre are also testing their own sickle cell gene therapy treatments.

Vertex is also developing another ambitious treatment that would deliver gene editing in a pill.

Sickle cell disease can have life-threatening impact for patients [Alamy/PA]

A gene editing treatment considered a game-changer for people living with sickle cell disease is under consideration to be approved in the United States before the end of 2023.

A new cure for sickle cell disease is on the way — it may be too expensive

<h2>On August 30, 2023, Gabon became the latest African country to suffer a military overthrow of a democratic government, the continuation of a trend that started building again in 2020.</h2>

The <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/world/another-coup-in-africa-as-military-removes-gabon-president-ali-bongo/8qz9ncw">termination of democracy</a> in the Central African country followed closely after <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/world/niger-coup-leaders-vow-to-prosecute-bazoum-for-high-treason/n552216">a similar military overthrow in Niger Republic</a>, an event that triggered calls for a military intervention from regional partners.

Similar coups happened in Mali in 2020 and 2021, Chad and Guinea in 2021, and Burkina Faso, twice in 2022.

The spate of coups <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/president-tinubu-deeply-concerned-about-gabon-coup-ngelale/k491je0">is starting to raise concerns</a> about the future of democracy in the region. We spoke to five political analysts in four African countries for insight into the future of governance on the continent.

<h3>Prof. Ransford Gyampoh — Ghana</h3>

Democracy is failing in Africa because it's unable to protect itself, culminating in its misoperationalisation by greedy leaders, supported for a long time by the very ignorant, docile and excessively partisan citizenry.

Corrupt leaders tend to exploit the challenged citizenry in their countries to loot resources, connive with foreign countries to decimate natural resources and generally, perpetuate bad governance that silences the opposition and flourishes regime sycophants.

These have created a state of praetorianism in many African countries where all segments of society make demands on the state, with the state unwilling to meet such demands because of bad governance, corruption and greed on the part of leaders.&nbsp;

Under such a state of praetorianism, coups would remain rampant and oftentimes receive support and acceptance from the citizenry, many of whom are tired and are now gaining knowledge about the bad governance of their leaders.

The antidote to coups in Africa isn't about using force to counter-attack coup makers who oftentimes enjoy support from their people.&nbsp;It necessarily is about good governance that tackles corruption, protects the national interest from neocolonial foreign thieves and exploiters as well as improves the physical quality of human life of all the citizenry.&nbsp;

When these are done, soldiers would be kept at bay and confined to where Plato placed them in his discussion of Justice within the State.&nbsp;Soldiers have no business killing the state and taking over its governance but when there is a deepened state of praetorianism, the unexpected may happen in a manner that would keep rolling back the frontiers of democracy in Africa.

<h3>Milton Lucheri — Kenya</h3>

Democracy is a Western idea, originally from Greek philosophers. It may have worked for them, but unfortunately, it's not a panacea of leadership model for the world.&nbsp;Different societal setups are led uniquely and differently.

Democracy doesn't recognise that most African societies are heterogeneous and not homogeneous, as it is in Western societies where it works best.

Democratic ideals have been subtly weaponised by the West to perpetrate precarious governments in Africa, hence a conducive environment for wanton extraction of natural resources. The Chinese have a different model of leadership that works for them. Africa must find its own.

Africa should embrace quasi-democratic models of government as opposed to full democracies. A blend of cultural leadership, for example, kingdomship and chieftainship, in government will go a long way in abating incessant political upheavals on the continent.

Every citizen must feel part of the government, and avoid the us-vs-them mentality. This is achievable by developing a revenue allocation formula that takes into consideration inter alia demographics, marginalised communities, per-capita income, resource-context development, etc.

<h3>Ikemesit Effiong — Nigeria</h3>

The key challenge facing democracy in Africa is it hasn't produced the kind of economic development and opportunities that many African leaders, policymakers and their mostly Western supporters and counterparts have insisted is the bedrock and fundamental remit of democracy.

In many of these African countries, there is a clear dichotomy between economic development and democratic outcomes. That frustration is beginning to filter into rising calls in many African countries for regime change and the takeover of governments in some of these African capitals.

What African leaders need to do is first see this as a warning call that merely conducting elections, whether flawed or well-managed, alone will not satiate or address the fundamental developmental needs that Africans grapple with. They have to transcend their current role as election managers to deliver on governance priorities. Not doing so would put them in the bull's eye of their disaffected populations.

<h3>Godwin Toko — Uganda</h3>

Democracy — the idea that people choose their leaders who govern them with respect to human rights and the rule of law — has been corrupted on the African continent.

In countries like Uganda, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Gabon, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea, presidential elections are blatantly rigged with voter bribery now a norm, and electoral outcomes known well before the actual voting.&nbsp;

It's this state of hopelessness that has caused negative sentiments about democracy among the masses which have in turn been exploited by military men to take power.&nbsp;

No coup would succeed if the masses stood against it — we saw that in Turkey years back. Here, coup leaders are welcomed and treated as heroes. Never mind that many of the coup leaders disappoint in the end.

Most African leaders have become puppets of the Western world. As such, they aren't working to better the lives of their citizens, just their own lives and their immediate families — at the expense of their citizens.&nbsp;

This explains the anti-colonial sentiments against the West — especially America and France — in countries like Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso where coups happened recently. It also explains the praise being heaped on Russia.

Simply put, African leaders have failed to work for the masses, and minerals on this mineral-rich continent barely befit us. As a result, military men exploit the anti-colonial sentiments to carry on coups and to entrench them.&nbsp;

<h3>Olu Onemola — Nigeria</h3>

I don’t think democracy is failing in Africa, per se. Instead, constitutional and civilian coups are — and prolonged periods of poor governance and neglect of the African people are propagating the shift towards alternatives.

We all need to understand that democracy as a system of government in Africa is relatively young. Compared to our counterparts across the world, many of us are in our fifth or sixth decades of democracy.

However, unlike other countries, while trying to figure out our individual democratic values, we have the overbearing influence of our former colonial masters to contend with, in addition to our internal contradictions.

What this means is that the influence of external powerful actors often decides what goes on in our countries in terms of leadership, political ideology, and resource control. This shows that there is no self-determination.

Another example is the tenure elongation of African strongmen. We have had leaders in Gabon, Togo, Cameroon, Chad, Uganda, and Egypt altering their constitutions to remain in power — to the silence of the regional economic blocs, the African Union and other international powers.

This flawed theory that if a coup doesn't involve the military it isn't a coup needs to be dispelled in Africa. From rigged elections to flawed electoral processes, the African elite needs to self-evaluate and monitor each other against civilian coups.

Military officers have seized power in Gabon. [Punch]

The spate of military coups in Africa is starting to raise concerns about the future of democracy in the region. We spoke to five political analysts in four African countries for insight into the future of governance on the continent.

Is democracy failing in Africa? We asked political analysts in 4 countries

<h2>Elon Musk has announced that X, formerly known as Twitter, will soon allow users to make audio and video calls.</h2>

The billionaire tweeted on Thursday, August 31, 2023 that the new additions won't require phone numbers to function and will be accessible on iOS, Android, Mac and PC.

He boasted that the X app will function as "the effective global address book" when the features launch.

<div class="embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Video &amp; audio calls coming to X: - Works on iOS, Android, Mac &amp; PC - No phone number needed - X is the effective global address book That set of factors is unique.&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1697145283472244974?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

</div>

Musk did not provide a timeline for the launch of the features but it will put X in direct competition with other audio/video call apps like WhatsApp and FaceTime. Like many of the platform's recently-launched features, the audio and video call additions may likely be restricted to X Blue subscribers paying $8 monthly.

Since he acquired the popular social media app for $44 billion late in 2022, the SpaceX founder has pushed a raft of changes, including the rebranding from Twitter to X.

After stepping down from his initial role of CEO for Linda Yaccarino in May, Musk has remained heavily involved in the company's running as the chief technology officer. His goal is to create a super app that provides a range of services to its hundreds of millions of users.

Thursday's revelation follows closely after the billionaire's announcement that the platform <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/business/domestic/twitter-will-stop-displaying-headlines-on-links-posted-by-media-platforms/zflttc6">will change how news links appear to users</a>. He's also added well-received new features like long-form tweets, longer videos and monetisation for creators, all restricted to X Blue subscribers.

Some of Musk's actions since his takeover have also been controversial, especially the restoration of high-profile accounts of <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/world/donald-trump-returns-to-twitter-2-years-after-ban-to-cry-about-arrest/rbj4j11">former US president, Donald Trump</a>, and American rapper, Kanye West, who had previously been banned for violating X's terms of service.

He also fired around 6,000 X employees to address the company's "negative cash flow situation."

Elon Musk has announced that X, formerly known as Twitter, will soon allow users to make audio and video calls. The new additions will work on iOS, Android, Mac and PC and will not require phone numbers to function.

Elon Musk is adding audio and video call features to Twitter

<h2>As a citizen of a third-world country, applying for a visa is one of the most stressful things you ever get to do with your life.</h2>

You have to get your documents in order, fill a million and one boxes with your personal information, and then possibly deal with intolerable queues when it's time for your visa interview.

The country you're applying to will also <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/uk-will-hike-visa-fees-for-nigerians-other-migrants/gx87e2j">take a non-refundable visa fee from you</a> to fund their own economies.

If you don't get the visa at the end of the day, it's easy to blame your village people who are chronically online or the insufferably evil officer who reviewed your application. But the problem could be as simple as the passport photograph on your visa application.&nbsp;

The passport photograph is an essential part of the visa application process as it serves as proof of an applicant's visual identity. Messing up the submitted photo can be the difference between <a href="https://www.pulse.ng/lifestyle/food-travel/japa-how-nigerias-relocation-wave-got-a-cool-new-name/2jd24kh">finally japaing to Canada</a> or <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/petrol-rises-from-naira537-to-naira617-per-litre-in-abuja/2kbbbs9">buying fuel for ₦617 per litre</a> with the rest of the masses for another calendar year.

ALSO READ: <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/lifestyle/food-travel/nigerian-passports-visa-free-countries-can-go/y1993hv">Nigerian passports can get you visa-free access to only these 26 countries</a>

According to MyBiometricPhotos, these are the correct passport photo specifications many countries use in the visa application process.

Different countries have different visa size requirements but generally, the head should cover about 80% of the photo.

The height of your head, from the top of it to the bottom of your chin, must be 25 to 35 mm. For some countries, the required visa photo dimensions are 50×50mm, 22×35mm, 51×51mm, 35x45mm.

<ol><li>The photo must be in colour.</li><li>The background must be white. Few countries require a background of a different colour.</li><li>The photo must be clear and not blurry.</li><li>No shadows must be visible in the image.</li><li>No reflections must be visible in the image.</li><li>The eyes must not be red from the flash.</li><li>The photo must not be taken from too close or too far.</li></ol>

Samson Toromade

Articles written by the author

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