The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Reps urge Fed Govt, states to tackle Almajiris

    The House of Representatives on Thursday urged the federal and state governments to tackle the scourge of Almajiris

    The parliamentarians called on the federal government to declare child destitution and begging a national emergency.

    The Green Chamber urged governments at all levels to ensure that children are provided with opportunities to access basic education as guaranteed by the United Nations (UN) Convention

    This was sequel to the passage of a motion by Mansur Manu Soro (Katsina APC) and three other lawmakers, titled: ‘Need to Eradicate Child Destitution and Remove Beggars from Nigerian Streets through Provision of Standardised Education System and Improved Livelihood”.

    Another resolution urged the Federal Ministry of Education to integrate the Almajiri Education System into the Universal Basic Education Programme.

    Read Also: Senate seeks reform of Almajiri education system, others

    Similarly, the lawmakers urged the affected states to comply with extant laws on basic education, especially the UBEC Act by ensuring that all children between the ages of six to 16 are given free and compulsory education.

    They called on the Office of the Vice-President to, in collaboration with states’ relevant institutions, conduct a census of Almajiri schools and headcount of the destitute children with the view to enrolling them in the on-going National Home-grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP).

    They further urged the Federal Government to create a department under the UBEC to handle the Almajiri matters with adequate funding to construct a minimum of one Almajiri school in each of the electoral wards of the affected states by the year 2021 and also ensure that the Almajiri school curriculum is planned to include technical and vocational courses with long-term objectives of self-reliance and sustenance.

    The lawmakers equally urged the Federal Government to conduct an extensive enumeration and mapping exercise to, among other things, determine the location of the Almajiri schools, sizes and staff strength to ensure the comprehensiveness of the policy.

    The Committee on Legislative Compliance (when constituted) was mandated to ensure compliance.

  • Northern zones under siege, says Senate

    The growing insecurity in parts of the country took centre stage again in the Senate on Thursday.

    The upper chamber particularly lamented the increasing humanitarian crisis in the Northeast, Northwest and Northcentral geo-political zones.

    The humanitarian crisis in the regions, it said, was being fueled by Boko Haram and Islamic State in West African fighters in Northeast, farmers/herders clashes in the Northcentral and rampant cases of banditry and kidnapping activities in the Northwest region.

    Adopting a motion sponsored by Mohammed Ali Ndume, titled: “The dire state of humanitarian crises in Nigeria, especially in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states,” the Senate asked the Federal Government to pay more attention to the humanitarian crisis caused by growing insecurity.

    Ndume, in his lead debate, painted the realities on the ground in the Northwest zone.

    The Borno South senator put the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in the Northeast at over 7.1 million.

    Ndume put the number of people in need of food in the area at 2.7 million.

    He added that malnourished children stood at 1.1 million.

    Read Also: UKAID supports 98,000 northern women to fight malnutrition

    The lawmaker noted that about $1.2 billion (N420 billion) is required to address the humanitarian crises as soon as practicable.

    Ndume said: “The humanitarian crisis caused by Boko Haram and ISWA in the Northeast, Northwest, farmers-herders clashes in the Northcentral region and rampant cases of banditry are of concerns.

    “Already, more than 7.1 million people need humanitarian assistance in the Northeast. The violence continues to disrupt livelihoods and deepening the impact of chronic vulnerabilities such as food insecurity, malnutrition and epidemics in affected communities.”

    As part of measures to address the disturbing issue, the Senate asked the Federal Ministry of Finance to release funds to National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Refugees Commission to enable them to deal with the humanitarian crises.

    The upper chamber also resolved to hold a conference on Northeast humanitarian issue aimed at finding ways and means to address them.

    Senate President Ahmad Lawan frowned at some government agencies responsible for the management of funds donated by donor agencies.

    Lawan warned that the mismanagement of funds must stop in the interest of the affected persons.

    Senate President particularly took exception to the practice of using the bulk of the money received from donor agencies for overhead by those responsible for the implementation of the intervention programmes

    Lawan said: “The issue of the displaced persons and IDPs are a subject of debate. It is a serious issue. We have to come up with a very coordinated approach to handle the situation in the IDP camps

    “As a country, we can afford to deal with the situation. We are not a very poor country. I think what we lack is the coordination to deal with the situation there.

    “We get from within and from foreign donors, but there is a lack of focus and prudence in the use of the resources.

    “What we need to do is to engage the National Planning Commission because the donor agencies should really declare exactly what is being brought and what the IDPs would have.

    “A situation where the donor agencies use the monies for rent and other things is wrong. I think it is not acceptable. The bulk of the funds must be expended on the IDPs. The committee on special duties will handle it when constituted.”

  • Man batters son over alleged N500 theft

    A man identified as Ralph Ohue has been arrested by the police in Lagos for allegedly breaking his son’s head over N500 theft allegation.

    Ohue was said to have used an iron to inflict injuries on the 14-year-old boy at their 9, Fatade Street, Isolo home on Wednesday night.

    Neighbours said they were shocked when they saw the boy running out of the house with blood all over his body.

    It was gathered that the man was enraged when he couldn’t five his N500 and he accused the boy of stealing it.

    A woman, who gave her name as Funke Ogunbiyi, said the incident occurred around 8pm, adding that another neighbour, who attempted to intervene, received punches from the angry dad.

    Ogunbiyi said: “I was hearing noise outside, so I went out to know what was happening. There was commotion in the house opposite ours. Suddenly, I just saw the boy running out. He was covered with blood.

    “I heard the father used an iron to hit the boy on his head. In the course of settling the issue, my neighbour received punches from the boy’s father.

    Read Also: Cobbler arraigned for allegedly assaulting Uber driver

    “After the fight, we saw some uniformed men, who came to pick the father. The boy’s mother was said to have come to take him away.”

    It was gathered that the Child Protection Network (CPN) learnt of the assault and reported same at Okota Police Station where the suspect was detained.

    An anti-human trafficking group, the Salvation Army, yesterday raised the alarm over an alleged assault of two Beninoise teenagers by a police inspector identified as Rosaline Olabisi, who was attached to Badagry Division.

    Olabisi, according to Adeola Oloke, who handled the case for the group, committed the alleged offence on May 28.

    He said the matter was reported at the Seme Border Police Post and moved to the Gender Office, Ikeja on May 29.

    “We have not heard anything since May 29 that the case was moved to Ikeja. The inspector claimed that the children were her daughters, but they publicly denied her. The children said they were from Benin Republic.

    “She was charged with abduction of the children, but we do not know what happened anymore. We are concerned and want to know where the children are. We want to know if they have been reunited with their families in Benin Republic.”

    Efforts to get police spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), to comment on the issues were not successful last night.

  • Local govts operate freely in Osun, says Oyetola

    Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola on Thursday said local government councils in his state operate freely without interference.

    He said it will be unfair for any governor not to allow elected chairmen at the local government councils to decide what they want in terms of human, capital and infrastructure growth.

    Oyetola spoke when he hosted the delegation of the Local Government Project Monitoring Team from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) at the Government House in Osogbo.

    He described local government councils as critical arms that should work to deliver development to the people.

    “I believe in the functionality of local government administration. That is why we have given all the local governments and the local council development areas (LCDAs) the independence to operate.

    “To me, it is unfair for any governor not to allow people at the local government to decide what they want.

    “We believe in transparency, accountability and probity. That is why our administration has ensured that the resources of the local governments are not interfered with.

    Read Also: Oyetola seeks focus on technical education

    “We have given our councils free-hand to operate and decide their affairs. We don’t toy with the administration of our local government because we believe so much in development.

    “So, we thank you for finding it necessary to visit our state and for seeing things yourselves.

    “We appreciate all your encomiums and commendations on our little efforts to develop the state. We are glad that our passion for grassroots development has been confirmed.”

    Leader of the delegation Mr. Kayode Adegbayo lauded the Oyetola administration for taking leadership to the grassroots.

    He rated Osun high in the attention to the development of the grassroots, saying Osun had done remarkably well by all standards.

    Adegbayo expressed satisfaction with the level of development seen across the local government areas and LCDAs, saying Osun had performed well.

  • Aggrieved Ondo APC stalwarts: no talk with Southwest leaders on Akeredolu’s second term

    Aggrieved stalwarts of Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC), led by former deputy governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi,on Thursday clarified that the last week Tuesday’s peace meeting called by the party’s Southwest leaders in Akure did not discuss second term bid for Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

    The party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had led other APC leaders, including Chiefs Bisi Akande and Segun Osoba, to a closed-door meeting with concerned APC leaders in the state to reconcile warring factions with Akeredolu.

    Olanusi, who spoke during the group’s meeting in Akure, the state capital, said the meeting was purely on the unity and progress of Ondo APC ahead of future elections.

    At the meeting were also Chief Bayo Sunmonu, Dr. Segun Abraham, represented by his political aide, Olatunde Olayinka, Bola Ilori, Solagbade Amodeni, Chiefs Felix Ayegbusi, S.A Idris, Raph Adetimehin, Fola Olaseinde-Vincentte, Mrs. Kehinde Adeniran and Mrs. Grace Akinola among many others.

    Olanusi said part of the resolutions reached at the Southwest leaders’ meeting was for the dissolution of the Ade Adetimehin-led APC state working committee.

    Read Also: Ondo APC urges security agencies to apprehend killers

    According to him, Akeredolu has failed to honour his own part of the agreement more than one week after the meeting, stressing that the aggrieved group was hopeful that he would not renege on the promise he made in the presence of the APC national leaders.

    The APC Board of Trustees(BoT) member said: “We want to appreciate  leaders of our party in the Southwest for calling last week’s meeting. What we discussed was that our party must move ahead in unity and progress.

    “The leaders agreed with us that for the party to achieve the needed unity, the state executives of the party should be dissolved and caretaker committee be set up to run the party pending the time a new congress will be called.

    “They never contested our position and they said they will look into it. We are waiting for the national headquarters of APC to do the needful because those leaders don’t have the power to dissolve party executives. We told them we have lost confidence in Adetimehin-led state executives and they agreed with us.

    “However, we want to place on record that Tinubu, Chief Akande and others did not call the meeting for the second ambition of Akeredolu. In fact, nobody discussed any political ambition, knowing full well the party is still in crisis.”

    Ilori, a former Commissioner for Regional Integration in Osun State, said a window of peace had been opened with the meeting, adding that both parties must keep to the agreement.

    The APC stalwart expressed the need to consolidate the ruling party now, especially as next governorship election draws near.

  • Akeredolu’s wife declares war against rape in Ondo

    Ondo State Governor’s wife Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu has declared war against incessant cases of sexual harassment of minors.

    In her quest to provide adequate intervention, Mrs. Akeredolu has convened stakeholders’ meeting at the Rotunda Hall Government’s House, Alagbaka to fashion out way forward to curtail the ugly trend in the state.

    At the meeting were the Human Rights Commission, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Women and children-based NGOs, Forum of the wives of State Officials, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Titi Adeyemi and female political office holders

    Others include representatives of the Police, National Agency for Foods Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigeria Civil Defence Corps, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu Foundation (BAAF), parents of some victims of sexual harassment among others.

    Read Also: Oshoala visits Lagos State first lady Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu

    The two cases that serve as catalysts for the prompt intervention were the defilement of two girls in Irele and Owo local government areas last week. The girls are age six and seven.

    Mrs. Akeredolu, who condemned the ugly development in strong term, expressed readiness to synergies with appropriate stakeholders in ensuring that assault against minors, especially rape, is eradicated in the state.

    She advocated massive awareness campaign against the trend, assuring that the meeting will produce a logical and convincing conclusion to curb it.

    “What we have done today is to set the pace. This meeting is to send a very strong signal that it is no longer business as usual; government will continue to look at us seriously that we are committed to end or reduce the incidence of rape that is almost an epidemic in Ondo State.

    “As the first lady of Ondo State and the mother of all, I said I can no longer take it anymore”. She noted.

    The only female lawmaker in the state House of Assembly, Mrs. Favour Tomomewo, said women need to rise up against the trend.

  • Ajimobi: I’m more focused on recovering my senatorial mandate

    Former Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi said on Thursday that he was focusing on retrieving his senatorial mandate in court, rather than pursuing ministerial appointment.

    He stressed that serving at the Senate is his personal preference.

    The former governor denied that he rejected ministerial appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari, saying he was not offered the appointment in the first place.

    He spoke in a telephone chat with The Nation yesterday.

    Reports on social media yesterday suggested that he rejected a ministerial appointment offered him by the President.

    The report added that Ajimobi said the appointment should go to a younger member of the party.

    Read Also: Build on our successes, Ajimobi admonishes Makinde

    But the former governor told The Nation that it was impossible to reject what was not offered.

    He said he only expressed his personal choice for the Senate, stressing that it was the reason he was committed to the petition his party filed against Senator Kola Balogun at the tribunal.

    The Balogun was declared the winner of the Oyo South Senatorial District election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The elected senator contested on the platform of People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Ajimobi is of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Ajimobi said he, however, affirmed his belief  that the ministerial appointment should go to a younger member of the party in Oyo State since he is not the only APC member in the state.

    He said: “I am in court for my senatorial election. I only expressed my preference that I am in court because I prefer the Senate. How can I be pursuing the Senate and ministerial appointment at the same time? I prefer the Senate. I hold President Muhammadu Buhari in high esteem. I will actually prefer a younger person to be considered for the ministerial slot since I am pursuing my senatorial ambition.”

    He said those behind the misleading report wanted to cause disaffection between him and the President, whom he has a lot of respect for.

    “I don’t know the source of their report. They just want to set me against Mr. President and it won’t work,” Ajimobi said.

  • Suspended Ogun local govts’ chairmen threaten legal action

    The 20 suspended local government chairmen and heads of 37 local council development areas (LCDA) in Ogun State on Thursday asked Governor Dapo Abiodun to reinstate them back to their positions.

    They threatened to commence legal action against the government and House of Assembly over their alleged suspension, if not reinstated.

    They made the demand at a news conference addressed at the Ikeja chamber of their counsel, Monday Ubani.

    The House of Assembly had on May 3 passed  a resolution suspending political functionaries at the LGs and LCDAs.

    Following the resolution of the assembly, the state government froze all LGs’ and LCDAs’ bank accounts.

    But, the local government chairmen described their suspension as “illegal, unconstitutional and void”, having been duly elected by the people of the state for a four years term, which expires in October.

    Ubani stated that they took the decision to approach the court having unsuccessfully explore several avenues to make the Ogun State government and House Assembly to reverse their suspension.

    Read Also: Assembly gives suspended Ogun chairmen ultimatum to submit financial report

    The lawyer  also alleged that since the suspension of the council chairmen, the state government and its cronies have been meddling with the bank accounts of the local governments.

    He urged the National Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to investigate the matter.

    The lawyer said since assuming office  nearly four years ago, majority of the council chairmen have not been paid for over 33 months and have only received N500,000 as security vote from the state government.

    Ubani said: “The decision to freeze the LG/LCDA bank accounts and their suspension before the expiration of their tenure, based on purported petitions which they were not given an opportunity to respond to is a gross violation of their constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right to fair hearing, and hence cannot stand.

    “Even if fair hearing was given to them before the decision to suspend them was reached, no law gives power to either the state governor or state House of Assembly to suspend, terminate or abridge the tenure of the duly elected council executives, having been duly elected by their constituents and certificated by Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission.

    “Any such act amount to reckless abuse of Executive/Legislative power, which must be checked in order to protect our nascent democracy.

    “On behalf of our clients, we demand their immediate reinstatement and payment of all their entitlements for the past 33 months, which they have been denied, as stated above be computed and paid to them with effect from  October 10, 2016, when they were duly sworn into office as LG and LCDA chairmen till October 10, 2019 when they are expected to leave office.

    “We also demand N500,000,000.00 as damages for the infringement on their fundamental right as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and the hardship they have suffered as a result of willful deprivation of their entitlements as council executives.”

    Also speaking on behalf of the suspended council chairmen, Adebayo Osikomaiya, representing Ijebu East Central LCDA, denied reports that they were suspended due to alleged embezzlement.

    He noted that before the suspension was announced, the 8th House of Assembly oversight committee had clear them of all allegations of financial misappropriation.

  • Lagos to provide alternative means of transportation, says Sanwo-Olu

    Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said on Thursday that his administration was planning to reduce the number of cars on the road.

    He said the government intended to provide alternatives, which are rail and waterways transportation, adding that they will be efficient and safe for Lagosians and those who choose to visit the state.

    The governor said the water transportation sector would receive attention.

    Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, spoke in Alausa, Ikeja at the 4th Lagos Traffic Radio Lecture Series with the theme: ‘Lagos beyond road: the intermodal transport option’.

    He said the government has identified the need for intermodal transport to resolve gridlock, adding that that was why the blue line was initiated and BRT lanes constructed.

    Sanwo-Olu said human movement is a necessity and all prosperous cities around the world must deal with traffic and transportation issues on a regular basis.

    Read Also: Lawmaker distributes N6m uniforms to pupils

    He said in the last few weeks, he has had promising discussions with groups of investors, who have expressed their intention to invest in the transport sector, especially the water transport sub-sector.

    He noted that the water transport sector is grossly underutilised in terms of harnessing its economic potential.

    “The current traffic situation indicates that 95 per cent of transportation is done by road in our state of over 22 million people, with about 25 per cent of the land mass consisting of waterways.”

    National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) Managing Director Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora said 90 per cent of mishaps on waterways are due to non-compliance with the inland waterways transportation codes by operators.

    He identified overloading and night navigation among the major causes of waterways accidents.

    The former House of Assembly Speaker, who lamented the rise in waterways mishaps, cautioned operators and other stakeholders against isolation of existing rules.

    He said: “Against the existing rules that waterway navigation should stop at 9pm, many boat operators  isolated the rules for their own selfish end, navigating even beyond 11pm.

    “Just as we have at the parks, some of the operators are also on drugs, it happens even on the waterways. Another major cause of accident is not putting on life jacket by passengers, which could have saved them in case of eventuality”.

    Mamora appealed to relevant agencies of the government to enforce rules so as to ensure compliance to save lives.

    The NIWA boss expressed the willingness of his agency to go into partnership with the state government, particularly in the area of enforcement.

  • DNA centre will aid our work, says CP

    The Lagos State police Command will, henceforth, take advantage of the state-of-the-art government owned  DNA and Forensic Centre (LSD&FC) in its investigation and resolution of crime cases. Commissioner Zubairu Muazu said on Thursday.

    Speaking during his visit to the LSD&FC at Odunlami Street, Lagos Island, he said it was ideal to have such a facility, which was used in advanced countries in crime investigation.

    He said the command would work with the centre to scientifically combat crime.

    LSD&FC Managing Consultant Dr. Richard Somiari, who took the police chief round the facility, said it had the technology and expertise to support the DNA testing needs of the state.

    He listed some of the services of the centre to include consultation on cold cases, crime scene processing, evidence collection, serological screening for blood, semen and saliva, DNA analysis, mass disaster victim identification and old case files review.

    Read Also: FG directs Accountant-General to complete forensic audit of varsities personnel

    Somiari said an important task before the centre was the development and management of a central DNA database to be called Lagos State DNA Database (LSDD).

    “The DNA crime laboratory will be helpful when dealing with organised crime, including automobile theft, home burglaries and extortion.”

    “Many of these crimes are organised, gang related and committed by the same people and with DNA forensics, the DNA from the crime scenes and from suspects will be put in a DNA database,” Somiari said.

    He said the project would allow the testing of human specimens such as blood, urine, saliva and tissue to check for chemicals, poisons and toxins that might be harmful or responsible for death.

    Somiari added that the Chemistry section would allow the testing of suspicious and controlled substances recovered from individuals or from crime scenes.