The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Lawmaker seeks federal help on roads

    The lawmaker representing Anambra West in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Patrick Udoba, has appealed to the Federal Government to repair dilapidated roads in the state.

    Udoba, who chairs the House Committee on Transportation, lamented that lives were lost daily from accidents.

    Read Also: Traders lament bad road, environment at Ojuwoye market

    The lawmaker, who addressed reporters yesterday, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to rehabilitate and complete bad roads to save the people from hardship.

    He listed some roads:  Enugu-Awka-Onitsha Expressway; Onitsha/Owerri Road; Umuoji/Onitsha Road; Onitsha to Aghamelum, Oromaetiti to Kogi Roads, among others.

  • Robbers attack The Nation driver near soldiers’ checkpoint

    Armed robbers on Monday attacked The Nation driver, Mr. Akinyele Adebayo, at Moro junction, near Ile-Ife in Osun State.

    He was attacked around 12pm while returning to Lagos from Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State.

    The incident, Adebayo said, occurred a few metres to a military checkpoint.

    He wondered why the military personnel, who mounted roadblock nearby, allowed the robbers to operate freely.

    “I suspect connivance between the military personnel and the robbers. The place the soldiers mounted a roadblock is not up to two minutes’ drive to where the robbers operated freely,” Adebayo said.

    The robbers, he said, used cattle as a decoy to attack drivers.

    Read Also: Suspected robbers cart away valuables in Oyo schools

    “There were cattle on the side of the road. I slowed down and on getting towards the place, the three robbers used their motorcycles to block the road. Before I could get to them, they came down and brought out sticks and cutlasses. So I tried to manoeuvre my car so as to go, but before I could, they broke my side mirror,  windscreen and damaged the bonnet. I didn’t stop; all I just wanted to do was to escape from them because I know that is where they rob people.

    “When I got to the front, I discovered that the road had been blocked with tyres and big sticks and some people were there, but they were not in uniform. They were about five. I looked back and saw the three men coming with their motorcycles.  They met me there and ordered me to stop and open the door.

    “I just managed to climb the tyres and sticks and drove away. Within the next two minutes, I got to another place where some soldiers mounted a roadblock. They just checked my vehicle and allowed me to go. I didn’t bother to make a report to them because I sensed that they might be working together. Other drivers have been saying they are working together. So if they could pursue me to the first roadblock, I also believe that they can pursue me even to where the soldiers are,” Adebayo said.

    He said the experience was his first since driving on that road.

    The driver said the robbers spoke English and Yoruba languages.

    “I don’t think they are herdsmen or people from the North. They just used the cattle as a decoy. They spoke in English and some also spoke Yoruba fluently,” he said.

    He appealed to the government to draft policemen to monitor the road, putting the cost of damage done to his vehicle at N50,000.

  • Oyo is ready for business prosperity, Makinde tells investors

    Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has assured investors of his readiness to make the state comfortable for business prosperity.

    He said all hands are on the deck to make investors and business owners prosper economically in the state.

    The governor gave the assurance on Monday while receiving a compendium of investment opportunities at an event christened “Oyo-Ile Investors” Forum, which held at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan.

    The event had in attendance more than 50 local and international and potentials investors, including business owners, corporate organisations, development agencies, financial institutions among others from different parts of the world.

    Makinde was accompanied at the event by top government functionaries, including commissioners, special advisers.

    Read Also: Makinde to landlords, employers: Register migrants, foreigners in your employ

    Speaking on his intention to liberate the state economically, the governor said his intentions is to harness the potentials and proximity of the state to Lagos to build a viable Lagos-Ibadan economic hub by improving the security architecture that would allow investment and economic prosperity.

    He added that before his first 100 days in office, he would unveil a new security architecture for the state which will ensure business and investment success and prosperity.

    He assured the would-be investors to put their minds to rest in terms of chances of business success in the state.

    Makinde said: “Economically, we want to create Lagos-Ibadan economic hub and with this, we are well on our way. In Oyo State, we have put certain things in place since we came in.

    “I can give you the assurance that this economy is going to grow rapidly because we are looking serious at security and efforts are on to ensure that before our first 100 days in office, a new security architecture is been launched for Oyo state.

    Director, Oyo-Ile Investment Forum Mr. Yinka Owodunni said finding from key economic drivers, including access to health, job creation, waste disposal efficient among others from the last forum held earlier in May, showed positive signs of good rewards for investments in the state.

  • Ihedioha ‘in order on loot recovery’

    Civil Society groups in Imo State are backing the government’s move to recover stolen property belonging to the government, it was learnt.

    The groups, after a meeting at the Links Hotels in Owerri, urged Governor Emeka Ihedioha to track and recover money diverted from the state’s treasury.

    They, however, frowned against the use of violence in the recovery process.

    Spokesperson and Chief Executive of Society for Widows and Orphans Dr. Jane Chukwukere, and co-spokesperson/National Team leader of Next Generation Leadership Initiative Ugochuckwu Onwuasonya enjoined the government to plough the recovered money into the state’s economy.

    Read Also: AbdulRazaq to partner EFCC in recovery of looted funds

    They said: “The body opines that measures taken to pay pension arrears should be sustained so the people can rejoice. The civil society coalition is an aggregate of over 100 organisations …facilitated by the Coalition Committee.

    “We congratulate the present administration and our governor for …reviving the hope of Imolites through the steps taken to conduct local government elections within six months, thus returning power to the people. We pledge our commitment to ensure the success of the councils.

    “We commend the government for introducing the Treasury Single Account (TSA), and call on the government to extend this to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as the councils. We also laud the government for initiating the Imo State Participatory Budget System and ask that it be sustained…”

  • Stakeholders endorse Lyon

    Stakeholders in Bayelsa State are backing a businessman and oil magnate, Chief David Lyon, for the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), it was learnt.

    The stakeholders, who met in Yenagoa under the auspices of Bayelsa Stakeholders Forum (BSF), said they opted for Lyon after assessing other aspirants.

    BSF’s leader Chief Alex Ekiotenne, who spoke after the meeting, described Lyon’s ambition as a divine mandate, saying Lyon was on a mission to transform Bayelsa.

    Read Also: Tinubu predicts victory for APC in Kogi, Bayelsa

    He said: “The forum has concluded to support David Lyon because he is a man who has been tested and trusted… He is a good product and a good product is easy to sell …youths … are yearning for a man like David Lyon. Bayelsans are hungry…because of bad governance. This has to change.”

    Ekiotenne attributed the peace enjoyed in Niger Delta and Bayelsa to Lyon, saying he developed a formula which protected pipelines.

    “We have not fared well at all in Bayelsa State. Our communities are dirty; we do not have potable water and we do not have health care institutions that are working. We do not have an airport that was claimed to have been built, five to six months after the airport was supposedly opened.

    “Salaries are not paid as at when due; certainly there’s so much that is wrong in this state. The state is operated by the operators and those governing now do that as though it is a private endeavour and this is not good enough,” he added.

  • APC knows fate today as court rules on primaries

    The Court of Appeal has reserved ruling on the order of a Sagbama High Court in Yenagoa stopping the All Progressives Congress (APC) from holding its Bayelsa State governorship primary elections using the direct method.

    The Publicity Secretary, Doifie Buokoribo, confirmed that ruling on the matter had been reserved for today.

    The APC has been battling to vacate the order which distorted its schedules for the primary poll. It shifted the primaries from August 29 to 31 citing logistic issues, but further postponed it indefinitely following the order stopping the planned use of direct method in conducting the internal poll.

    An electoral committee headed by the Yobe State Governor, Mai-Mala Buni as Returning Officer, was already in Yenagoa at the weekend to conduct the primaries but decided otherwise after waiting in vain for a vacation of the order on Friday.

    Read Also: Tension as PDP elects governorship candidate in Bayelsa

    But a party source said everything was being done to vacate the order.

    He said: “Everything is in motion to vacate the order on Monday (yesterday) or today. Surely the order will be vacated. We would have gone ahead to hold the primaries because based on the Electoral Act that injunction is illegal.

    “Section 87(10) of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, provides that nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general election or the thereof under this Act pending the determination of a suit.

    “But the party doesn’t want any legal impediments to its primaries. It is only reasonable to counter the order since there is still time to do so. All we know is that the order will be voided and the primaries will be conducted within the stipulated time.”

    Announcing the postponement, Secretary of the Electoral Committee, Senator Emmanuel Ocheja, described the APC as a law-abiding party with respect for its constitution and the laws of the land.

    He said in a statement: “The APC is aware of conflicting orders from courts of equal jurisdiction on the Bayelsa governorship primary election. As a result of these conflicting orders, and following a meeting that Governor Mai-Mala Buni had with the aspirants and party stakeholders, it was resolved that the primary election should be postponed until the committee headed by the governor receives clear direction from the party headquarters on the matter.”

  • 10 die in Anambra accident

    Ten persons died and many were injured in an accident near Agulu Lake in Aniocha Local Government of Anambra State.

    Governor Willie Obiano, who visited the scene, promised to foot the bills of the injured.

    He promised to put barricades on the road to prevent a recurrence.

    The accident involved a truck (XB 238 MBA) loaded with metal objects.

    Read Also: 17 die in Kwara auto accident

    An eyewitness said the truck’s brake failed and collided with four other vehicles.

    The governor also visited St. Joseph’s Hospital, Adazi Nnukwu, where about 10 injured persons were being treated. He directed that speed breakers be built on the roads to check a recurrence.

    Obiano sympathised with the bereaved families, and directed that the injured be taken to the teaching hospital in Amaku, Awk, for proper medical attention.

  • Wike seeks federal, state partnership against oil theft

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has called on the Federal Government to partner  states to fight oil theft. Wike reiterated that oil bunkering has continued to worsen because of the participation of security agencies.

    A statement by the governor’s media aide, Simeon Nwakaudu, said Wike spoke yesterday when a delegation of Konrad Adenauer (German Foundation)  visited him at the Government House in Port Harcourt.

    He said oil bunkering had continued to worsen because of the participation of security agencies.

    The delegation was led by Dr Vladimir Kreck,  Andreas Lammel, and Dr Joachim Pfeiffer, of the German parliament.

    Wike said: “Some of the security agencies are involved in oil theft. When you see oil bunkering, the security agencies are involved. They are fully involved.

    Read Also: Wike seeks creation of state police

    “If the Federal Government comes strongly and partner the states, we will solve some of the problems. Also, we have the problem of politicisation of security; this is unfortunate in this country.”

    The governor said the security framework of the state was negatively affected by oil majors patronising cult groups for surveillance jobs.

    He noted that the state security council was liaising with oil majors to stop the patronage of cult groups for such jobs.

    “We have told oil majors to patronise official state security agencies and stop patronising cult groups for surveillance jobs. This is because part of the problem is the oil majors’ continued patronage of cult groups,” he said.

    Wike called for collaboration with Germany and the foundation to fight insecurity.

    He sought the foundation’s partnership to attract German investors in agriculture to create jobs.

    Kreck said the visit was aimed at advancing economic development.

    He said: “We have been providing support for the democratic development of Nigeria since 2001. In Rivers State, we have been providing capacity building for lawmakers and security agencies.”

    Kreck noted that the foundation invited two German lawmakers to Nigeria to acquaint themselves with the country’s economic development programmes.

    Lammel said the main objective of the visit was to understand the economic development process and discuss oil production and development in the state.

  • Ekiti to prosecute parents keeping kids out of school

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said parents who keep their school-age children out of school risk being prosecuted, stressing that the state’s Child’s Right law provides that all children must be given access to education.

    The government last week began school enrolment drive aimed at ensuring that all school-age children register for the forthcoming 2019/2020 academic session.

    Read Also: Fayemi urges positive change

    Speaking in Eporo, Emure-Ekiti during the sensitisation programme, Fayemi, who called on all parents and guardians to key into the free education programme of his administration, said education is not only free but compulsory in Ekiti State.

    He added that it is an abuse of Child’s Right for any parent or guardian to deny school-age children the opportunity to go to school.

  • OOUTH ADR embarks on indefinite strike over poor working condition

    Doctors at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, on Monday embarked upon an indefinite strike to protest the worsening conditions of service and the unwillingness of successive state government to address the situation.

    The doctors under the aegis of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), OOUTH chapter, lamented that they have been overburdened with work load because of the “enormous and persistent decline in workforce,” saying they were now compelled  to resort to strike action to draw attention to their plights when several meetings with both previous and current state governments became a thing of no effect.

    Rising from its meeting in Sagamu, on Monday, the OOUTH’s ARD said the teaching hospital had witnessed grave reduction in its workforce, which culminated in the  loss of accreditation for full training of the resident doctors.

    Read Also: Abiodun approves recruitment of doctors for OOUTH

    ARD added that the reduction in workforce has also taken a serious toll on the health of few doctors still working in the teaching hospital.

    In a statement issued at the end of its meeting by  the chapter chairman and secretary of the Association: Dr. Osikoya Oludotun and Dr. Ajose Oluwafemi, ARD said its decision to embark on the industrial action became inevitable to force the state government to do the needful for the hospital.

    The resident doctors also  accused the state government of paying lip services to their plights and condition of the hospital, particularly the manpower shortage, stating that they were aware of the last administration’s caveat to the management not to exceed a certain wage bill, wondering why wages of resident doctors who had exited the system could not be freed for the employment of new doctors.

    They also claimed that the workload is so enormous that it had prevented them from adequately preparing for their postgraduate examinations.