October 2019

The arrest and public humiliation, via parading in handcuffs, of two ladies for claiming to be pregnant from Davido, the singer, is a clear abuse of power.

Davido is a public figure, a celebrity and an artist. He placed his private life in the public domain through his endless public displays of his private life, such as his romance with his girlfriend, Chioma, his buying of an expensive car for Chioma, the giving of birth, presumably out of wedlock, by Chioma to Davido's son. Davido made and caused to be made endless posts on social media about his life, including exaggerated and false claims about his fame and success.

It is normal that such celebrities and performing artists excite all manner of reactions from fans and followers on the stage and outside. Fans fantasize about them. There is really nothing extraordinary about young women claiming to have had liaisons with stars - rock stars and movie starts. Thousands of women claimed that Michael Jackson visited them in their dreams. Indeed, that is part of the standard experience of celebrities.

There is no harm caused to Davido by a mere claim on social media by a girl that she had an affair with him. The sisters did not accuse him of raping them. They did not accuse him of committing any crime. They did not demand money from him. They did not blackmail him. They did not file for child support. They did not provide any factual details to try to convince anybody that they were telling the truth. All the sisters did was to make a joke about a rock star who was occupying their social media space. At the very best, the only person to be mildly irritated by this joke is Chioma. And Chioma's irritation would come either from her sense of insecurity with Davido or her belief that he is so promiscuous that the joke might not have been a joke.

To place a bounty on the heads of the ladies is a sign of exceptional readiness to flaunt power and money. To have them arrested when no clear crime could be said to have been committed is a violation of their rights. To parade them publicly as criminals is an extreme abuse. And to do all this just to please Chioma is a callous display of arrogance, power drunkenness and insensitivity.  These women had apologized publicly for any inconvenience caused and they said it was a joke. A mild rebuke on social media would have been enough.

It is particularly troubling to realize that the parading of the women was done, not by the police, but by a private citizen. That is unlawful.  The fact that Davido is related to a political family is further disturbing because inevitably one must wonder the environment in which Davido was raised. Is this the kind of behavior his Senator and Governor uncle would consider proper?

If Nigerians allow Davido to get away with this, more people who feel they are powerful enough would repeat it in other varying circumstances. And if this continues unchecked, time shall come when ordinary citizens will become too afraid to make jokes about public figures and officials. Yet we know that the right of the common man to make jokes about public figures is an indispensable part of any free society.

For the above reasons, DPA condemns as wrong the sequence of power display that culminated in the shaming of these sisters. Also, DPA reaches out to those holding and intimidating these girls to cease and desist. DPA will gladly assist these girls if they request help with the enforcement of their fundamental rights.

NOTE:

This is to be shared on Twitter and DPA Rambo Facebook page, in case you want to share it. Also, DPA will provide support and assistance to the sisters to end the ordeal they are currently going through. At the same time, we warn people to be careful about the sort of claims they make on social media. If you want to joke about things like pregnancies, let it be known it is a joke, especially when you know that people are taking you seriously.

After many years of active and diversified experience in America, Emeka Ugwuonye understood the direction of change in many different spheres of human endeavors.

Looking at legal services, for one, he could see that a few years from now, the current way of doing business will need to change radically. The idea that an ordinary person would wait until he is in trouble before he would then dress up, go to the office of the lawyer, sit on his upholstery to narrate his problems to the lawyer; such idea will be too outdated and archaic. The idea that a person needs to be rich before he will be able to receive justice under the law will be too harsh and too unjust for a modern society. For Emeka Ugwuonye, he envisioned justice becoming like oxygen. You don't need to be rich to breath oxygen. You only need to be wise enough to stay away from a polluted spot.

Emeka Ugwuonye's mind was no different from other graduates of Harvard of the 90s. The internet had just been introduced for civilian use. Ten years after graduation, it was obvious to him the impact of the digital revolution. As a lawyer, he was focused on how new technologies were changing the service sector he was most familiar with, which is the legal sector. In 2007, he spoke in a bar function in Washington DC about internet based interactive legal research modules. Based on that concept, he contemplated an online legal services firm. The project was shelved  because it would require several million dollars to get it off the ground.

As a Nigerian, Emeka believed in the opportunity of using his knowledge and experience to effect positive changes in Nigeria. A country of 200 million people, which is quite poor and behind in many areas, has tremendous opportunities for growth and development. With this in mind, Emeka would focus his attention on Nigeria. He has never regretted his decisions, despite any challenges.

But a straight profit driven venture did not appeal to Emeka. He needed a hybrid concept whereby he could create free public good through a commercially viable operation. DPA presented the best opportunity.

Through DPA, we have been able to ensure that an ordinary person can afford quality legal services in his moments of need. Through DPA, we have been able to ensure that access to justice has been broadened to reach more people who were previously shut out. Through DPA, a person in need of legal service is able to get quality intervention from a lawyer he is just meeting for the first time, like what is happening this morning in Benin City. (A lady summoned to a police station will meet her lawyer for the first time a few minutes before the meeting. But the lawyer will have extensive information about her and her case and she will know a lot about the lawyer. And money will not be discussed between her and the lawyer. Also, she will not be worrying whether the law is competent or not. DPA made all that possible). Through DPA, we have been able to create critical legal awareness through free legal education offered on our platforms. We can do any of these things much better.

Beyond our present levels of achievement in DPA, we see vast opportunities ahead. Through the DPA integrity venture, we are going to float integrity evaluation platforms, which will help solve one of the greatest problems in Nigeria today, which is that it is impossible to believe anything good a Nigerian tells you about himself or herself. Our integrity platform will make it very easy for you to confirm a person's resume in minutes, whether you are evaluating the person as a lover, or as an employee or as a tenant.

Indeed, DPA has lined up various ventures that leverage well with its structures. These ventures touch on sectors like the media, education, health, marketing and distribution, financial services, logistics and hospitality, emergency response system, etc.

Members of the DPA community must be aware that joining DPA is about the best decision they have made. The easy entry point into DPA is by joining the forum as a forum member. That's free of charge. Your DPA experience widens as you become a registered member.

DPA has an incredibly bright future, not just as a name, but as a bundle of ideas and concepts.  We want you to be part of the revolution.