Make A Difference Initiative (MAD), a non-governmental organization has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to dismiss Nigeria’s current service chiefs, following the killing of scores of soldiers by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

Executive Director of MAD, Lemmy Ughegbe, who described the service chiefs as “shameless”, pointed out that generals with pride and honor would ordinarily resign if they lose such a number of men.

“This is a heartbreaking picture that speaks more than a thousand words. Our citizens are being wasted in this senseless insurgency in the North-East.

“While some persons are feeding fat on the war, soldiers in the line of fire, who are ill-equipped, ill-motivated and unpaid are being wasted in their scores.  ……….. CONTINUE READING

The Alliance for Preservation of Democracy, on Sunday, raised the alarm over what it described as a dangerous crossroad, which erodes the values of reprieve, justice, and faith in the system.

At a press conference in Abuja, Lemmy Ughegbe of Make A Difference Initiative (MAD), who spoke on behalf of the coalition, observed that the judiciary is the arm of government that ordinarily should stand above the vagaries of politics and compromise.  ……. CONTINUE READING

A human rights and good governance advocacy group, Make A Difference Initiative (MAD), has applauded Justice Sybil Nwaka for imposing a 60-year jail term on a pedophile, Adegboyea Adekan, who raped a two-year-old girl.

Justice Nwaka of the Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Unit imposed the historic sentence after finding Mr Adenekan guilty of child defilement.

In a statement Friday, the Communication and Advocacy Director of MAD, Lemmy Ughegbe, said, ………… CONTINUE READING

A human rights and good governance advocacy group, Make A Difference Initiative (MAD), has accused the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) of levity in handling allegations of molestation and sexual abuse of female students in the FCT School for the Blind brought against two teachers.

In a statement Thursday, the Communication and Advocacy Director of MAD, Lemmy Ughegbe, said the issues of sexual abuse and molestation of children and the vulnerable ought to be tacked with more urgency and openness than the FCTA has done.

“The abuse of children and the vulnerable in our society has become too rampant. It is even more worrisome when the abuse is being perpetrated in a school which should be their safe haven”, Mr Ughegbe said………. CONTINUE READING

TWENTY-three out of the 36 states of the federation are yet to domesticate the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, five years after the Act was signed into law.

THE VAPP Act is a law that guarantees protection of the rights of victims of all forms of sexual and gender-based violence in the country.

Fifteen out of these 23 states, representing 65 percent, are Northern states, six, representing 26 percent are in the Eastern region, while one is a South-western state, according to data collected by TechHer

TechHer is a civil society organization that provides a platform for technology knowledge exchange amongst women.

The states are; Sokoto,Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, Borno, Zamfara, Kano, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Niger, Nassarawa and Taraba.

Others are Kwara, Kogi, Ondo, Delta, Imo, Abia, Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom.

Only 14 states have domesticated the Act since it was enacted five years ago.

They are Kaduna, Plateau, FCT, Benue, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ogun, Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Cross River…….. CONTINUE READING