Offokaja Foundation

Author: offokajafoundation

  • Human Rights: Spiking Medicine Costs Should Be Struck Down

    Human Rights: Spiking Medicine Costs Should Be Struck Down

    The right to health is a very essential human right. When the right to health is realized, other rights can easily be realized.

    Apart from food and water, one of the most important things to have is medicine. Food and water can sustain a healthy body. Medicine can nurse an unhealthy body back to health.

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides in Article that, “

    (1) Everyone has the right to a standard
    of living adequate for the health and
    wellbeing of himself and of his family,
    including… medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in
    the event of … sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other
    lack of livelihood in circumstances
    beyond his control.”

    There is no way to have health if medical care is too expensive and government doesn’t do anything to restore the health security of it’s citizens so they can afford adequate medical care including medicines.

    Before now Nigeria was already grappling with the japa syndrome where Nigerian doctors have been lured out of the country in very large numbers. Many doctors simply got fed up with the situation in the country. Now, there is a dent in the availability of doctors in Nigeria.

    Pharmaceutical Japa

    It now seems that a new issue is cropping up. The creeping rise of medicine cost beyond the reach of the average Nigerian. This is mainly because pharmaceutical companies have been packing up and leaving the country.

    The other day, we wrote about the sudden high rise in the cost of inhalers for asthma. Inhalers like Seretide. Then just a few days ago, social media became awash with reports that the general price of Augmentin antibiotics has spiked from about N7000 to about N57000.

    This is not good. Apart from hunger, another malady that must be avoided for the citizenry is illness without the ability to buy medication. Hunger can become very dangerous if one doesn’t eat in a few weeks. In the same way, many illnesses can become extremely harmful if a sick person doesn’t get treated on time. Sometimes such illnesses require urgent attention to nurse the patient back to health.

    Nigerians have faced a lot since the recession of 2015. The government has an obligation to fulfill the right to health of Nigerians.

    The government should bring down the rising prices of medicines through introduction of subsidies and effective engagement with pharmaceutical companies to invcentivise them to stay on in Nigeria.

  • 11 Gigs Giveaway Winners Announcement (30-11-23)

    The winners of the latest 11 Gigs Economic and Social Rights/ Humanitarian Relief Data Giveaway on the platform of our giveaway partners Igbodefender Facebook Group are: are Mary Thompson (gets 2gigs), Aladegbaye Racheal, Dominic Edith, Yusuf Isyaku, Winner Emeka, Oforbuzo Vivian, Cyn Cyn, Ogechukwu Martina, Ebube Melody, Star Kind, Chidi Chinaza, and they get 1gb each.

    Our Giveaway Program is part of our efforts to promote several economic and social rights as well as to provide humanitarian relief.

    See the competition here.

  • The Need For Universality Of The Rome Statute Of The International Criminal Court

    The Need For Universality Of The Rome Statute Of The International Criminal Court

    The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court. The International Criminal Court, ICC, was established to bring an end to international crimes like genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.

    And the Rome Statute has the potential to very effectively reduce the spate of international crime in the world.

    But at the moment, only a number of states have acceded to it or ratified it. This has reduced its jurisdiction or the amount of cases it can try.

    We can get a world where international crime becomes effectively reduced. But for that to happen we need to transform this limited jurisdiction into a universal jurisdiction.

    The ICC should be able to try cases of international crime regardless of territory or nationality.

    What You Can Do To Promote Universality Of The Rome Statute

    If your country has not ratified/acceded to the Rome Statute, you can help. How?You can share this message to create more awareness of the need for universality of the statute.

    Check if your country is a State Party to the Rome Statute here.

    And if your country has, you can also share it to build support for universality of the Rome Statute that may gain traction or gain international attention.

    At the end of the day, we are all also, members of the same global village. Perhaps, your involvement can be the spark needed to bring meaningful change in the steps to a better and more just world.

    There is also the responsibility of the ICC to Always do its best to avoid politicization. This will increase confidence in the Rome Statute and attract more supporters.

    There is the responsibility of States to give maximum unqualified support to the ICC to enable it achieve a more just world. This support includes financial support needed to carry out effective investigations. Stakeholders should also consider establishing an endowment fund for the ICC. This fund must be shielded from the influence of special interests and must also have effective oversight to promote maximal accountability.

    The Prince and Princess Charles Offokaja Foundation is a member of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.

  • Unhappy Bank Customers: Offokaja Foundation Asks Court To Order Banking Ombudsman For Nigeria

    Unhappy Bank Customers: Offokaja Foundation Asks Court To Order Banking Ombudsman For Nigeria

    Nigeria may soon get an independent banking ombudsman empowered with binding powers to grant relief to wronged bank customers. This is one of the pleadings of the Prince and Princess Charles Offokaja Foundation Nigeria to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in a recent public interest litigation suit (ECW/CCJ/APP/50/22) brought before the international human rights court.

    The Plaintiffs, the Prince and Princess Charles Offokaja Foundation Nigeria and the Prince and Princess Charles Offokaja Foundation Switzerland are among other requests asking the court for:

    (e) An Order compelling Nigeria to, pending the passing of the Financial Ombudsman Bill into law and the operationalization of such law, and within 3 months of judgement by this Honourable Court, operationalize an interim, independent, effective and accessible financial ombudsman service where dissatisfied consumers have the option to escalate complaints not satisfactorily resolved by the Consumer Protection Department of the CBN within 3 months of escalation to the Department under the following interim conditions:

    1. There shall be an ombudsman service made up of an ombudsman board and an ombudsman office which shall be headed by an ombudsman
    2. The ombudsman board shall be appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria with five members from the banks representing the banks and six non-bank members to represent bank customers, with the chairperson also being a non-bank member.
    3. There shall be an ombudsman office headed by an ombudsman who shall function as the chief executive of the ombudsman office. The ombudsman shall not be a banker and shall not own shares in Nigeria’s banking sector at any time during his appointment.
    4. The ombudsman board shall elect the ombudsman for a non-renewable term of 3 years, and exercise oversight on his activities on behalf of the CBN. The ombudsman board shall also approve the annual budget of the ombudsman service subject to the final determination of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The ombudsman service shall be funded by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
    5. The ombudsman board shall not serve as an appellate body on the decisions of the ombudsman regarding complaints brought to the ombudsman office. The ombudsman board shall be appointed for a non-renewable term of 4 years.
    6. In handling consumer complaints escalated to it, the ombudsman shall have the authority to pass either binding awards (determinations) or non-binding awards (suggestions). The ombudsman office shall resolve complaints based on the delegated authority passed to them by the ombudsman.
    7. The ombudsman may award compensation not exceeding NGN3 million (in 2022 value) to the complainant for emotional/mental/ agony, social loss of reputation, and harassment. The ombudsman shall take into account such factors as the loss of the complainant’s business opportunities, loss of time and manhours, expenses incurred by the complainant, harassment, emotional and mental anguish suffered by the complainant while passing such award.
    8. Parties that don’t agree with a binding award of the ombudsman have the option of and right to appeal by going to the court of law.
    9. There shall be branches of the financial ombudsman office in all 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a Federal Capital branch in Abuja, as well as a head office at Abuja. There shall also be a website, telephone lines and social media handles to facilitate consumer access to the ombudsman service.
    10. The ombudsman office shall only deal with complaints escalated to it by parties dissatisfied with a resolution by the Consumer Protection Department of the Central Bank or after non-resolution of a previously escalated complaint by the Consumer Protection Department within a timeframe of at least 3 months.
    11. Except for cases of abuse of office or corruption, the ombudsman once appointed can only be removed by an unanimous vote of the non-bank members of the ombudsman board.
    12. The CBN shall by use of delegated legislation form and adapt a frame of reference for the ombudsman board and ombudsman office from the aspects of the Financial Ombudsman Bill as needed insofar as non of the above conditions are derogated from in the process.
    13. The Defendant’s Central Bank shall be able to change any of the above conditions by an Act of Nigeria’s Federal Legislature at any time. The Defendant’s Central Bank shall guarantee the operational independence of the interim financial ombudsman for as long as it exists. The moment the permanent ombudsman structure proposed in the Financial Ombudsman Bill is passed into law and becomes operational, it shall take over the functions of the above interim ombudsman service.

  • Why Gov’t Must Slash Prize Of Inhalers For Asthma

    Why Gov’t Must Slash Prize Of Inhalers For Asthma

    Since the exit of the pharmaceutical giants from the Nigeria the price of inhalers for asthma like Seretide and Ventolin have hit the roof. Investigations reveal that Seretide currently sells for up to N50,000 in some pharmacies.

    An online listing for the inhaler even listed it’s price as N70,000 in a country where the minimum monthly wage is N30,000. How would a worker earning N30,000 afford this inhaler for asthma if it isn’t subsidized?

    Asthma is a respiratory illness that can lead to medical emergency in a very short while if an inhaler isn’t around for the patient to use.

    The economy in Nigeria is in difficult straits. There’s a lot of unemployment and underemployment. Many people earn below N50,000 per month.

    One can imagine how difficult it would be for such a person to afford an asthma medication like Seretide. They have other essential needs, such as food which they have to spend on which could suffer. We know that lack of food itself can lead to health complications over time.

    This is where the government has to come in. There’s a need for the government to subsidize inhalers for asthma and indeed other critically needed medical products.

    But an issue as medical treatment must always be affordable. The right to health is a very basic right that should not be trifled with. And if medications become to expensive for millions of Nigerians, it’s not a good thing at all!

    There are not enough affordable ambulances in the country to quickly drive the sick to hospitals. So the sick need affordable prescription and over-the-counter medicines to prevent medical emergencies from occuring in the first place.

    Government also needs to urgently sit down with the pharmaceutical companies and find out their most urgent needs. This could slow down the rising trend of them divesting from the country.