2012 YOU WIN! WOMEN: WHY I SUED THE NIGERIAN PRESIDENT & 6 ORS?

Isnt it true that little drops of water make a mighty ocean? Little strokes of the cutlass fall great oaks of trees and in Nigerian pidgin small potopoto na him dey spoil white agbada, meaning minute stains of mud can ruin ones magnificent apparel. Therefore, this article is written in the fair spirit of looking out for the little things; little gender discrimination, little child molestation, little bribe, that defile the Nigerian vine. In my article some months ago on www.yourcommonwealth.org/africa/we-your-people-wantpeople-friendly-solutions-for-nigerias-transformation, the You WIN (Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria) programme launched in 2011 by President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, received opened praise. As a matter of fact, the You Win programme was launched to possibly run for 3 years, in such a way that each year, 1200 Nigerian Youths would be given the opportunity to receive between one million naira (N1, 000, 000) and ten million naira (N10, 000, 000) to start up or grow their business; meaning in 3 years, the You WIN programme would have succeeded in raising 3600 You WIN entrepreneurs. And this is for real, because my distant sister and a friend were one of the 1200 youths who qualified in 2011 and I am aware they have received a marginal part of the money as you read this. One of the duos started up a laundry business on www.xtramileclean.org. However, in this article I seek to not only critique the new discriminatory restriction on grounds of sex imposed in this years 2012 edition of You WIN programme, but also the unconstitutional restriction placed on Nigerian men from applying for this years 2012 You WIN programme. The bone of contention lies in the new Federal Government policy on the second edition of You WIN launched on Monday, September 3, 2012. This changed the You WIN programme from an

all YOUTH inclusive programme to a programme exclusively for the female population to the total exclusion of all Nigerian male population. As a patriotic Nigerian, a lawyer and coordinator of the Nigerian Youths in Motion (NYM), I could not fold my hands and allow this little fox defile our vine; I could not fold my hands and allow the Nigerian Government deviate from its originally laudable objective for the You WIN programme. Rather than sit-down-look approach as Nigerians will call it, in addition to using the power of the written and spoken word, we marched on Monday, 17th September, 2012 to the Federal High Court, Ikeja-Lagos, Nigeria, to file a law suit (suit no. FHC/UCJ/C8/205/12), questioning the constitutionality and economic desirability of the Nigerian Governments decision to convert the You WIN Youth programme into an exclusively female programme (www.scribd.com/doc/105810152/Timi-Olagunju-v-Nigerian-President-6-Ors). Firstly, Section 42 of the Nigerian Constitution prohibits the Nigerian Government or any of its organs, agencies or bodies from discrimination on the basis of sex or any of the grounds provided in the constitution. And this is clearly supported by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, 1983. What is clear from Section 42 of the 1999 Nigerian constitution is that any executive or administrative action of the government SHALL observe and follow the following constitutional guidelines: that a citizen of Nigeria of a particular sex SHALL NOT by reason that he is such a sex be subjected to restrictions to which citizens of Nigeria of other sex are NOT subject to. Secondly, in the very words of the Nigerian President when he launched You WIN on www.youwin.org.ng in 2011, he says: In line with renewed commitment to regular performance evaluation and measurement, this administration will monitor the programme closely over the

next three years of its implementation to ensure that it remains responsive to the NEEDS of young Nigerian MEN and WOMEN. If it is so said, then why the new policy to ascribe exclusive privilege to the female population at the expense of the male population? If the new policy had considered more of the female population ABOVE the Nigerian male population covertly, it would not have been an issue but to completely and publicly EXCLUDE the male population is unfair, economically unrealistic and unconstitutional? In a session we had with some young Nigerians, especially in Lagos, Nigeria, it is clear that the high hopes of many young men who had waited since 2011, 365 days, for the second edition of the programme to be launched on www.youwin.org.ng in 2012, turned into frustration. Some asked, if the 2012 You WIN became 2012 You WIN for MEN only, how would the public react? Then would it be fair for the male population to be excluded as reciprocity is reciprocal. Others asked what of families with Only males and no females. How would such a family have any of its members benefit from the programme and vice versa? The question, which is sought to be raised with the pen and in the courts of law on this issue, is: does power really belong to you and me, the Nigerian people or does it dwell in the unfair discretion of the privileged few?. On this question, let the court of justice and your fair court of public opinion decide. Timi Olagunju Similar Commonwealth Article on matter: www.yourcommonwealth.org/africa/why-have-anew-policy-to-ascribe-exclusive-privilege-to-the-female-population%E2%80%9D/ www.facebook.com/olagunjutimi www.twitter.com/timithelaw - Tag: #youwincase
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