The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Okowa’s aide donates to schools in Delta

    The Special Assistant to the Delta State Governor on Youth Development, Prince Sony Jifa Ogbon, has donated wrappers and writing materials worth millions of naira to pupils and teachers to thirty primary schools in Olomu, Ughelli South and Agbon, Ethiope East local government areas of Delta State respectively.

    While donating the items such as wrappers, dairies, registers, notebooks and other writing materials to primary school pupils in both local government areas, Ogbon said the donation was his contribution towards Governor Okowa’s Smart Agenda.

    Responding, Mrs. V. A. Ekrebe and Mrs. Oyoroko Rebecca, Head teachers of Ogoni Primary School and Adaka Primary School who spoke on behalf of the school, thanked Ogbon on the gesture and his magnanimity, praying that God should continue to bless and protect him.

  • Ayade’s Bakassi deep seaport dream inches towards reality

    By Chidi Onyemaizu

    Governor Ben Ayade is a happy man. And Cross River is in festive mood sort of. This is not about the epochal annual carnival Calabar. The world class tourism fiesta comes up every  December. It is about the Bakassi Deep seaport.

    A Catholic knight and a versatile scientist, Professor Ayade’s joy has its locale in his “baby”, the Bakassi Deep seaport which recently received a seal of presidential approval.

    The Bakassi Deep seaport project is dear to the governor. He wants to deliver it before leaving office in 2023. Leaders are either cheered out of dais or booed out of it. Ayade is a ticket for the former.

    The whole gamut of the impactful infrastructural and economic height Cross River has attained in the last four years speak volume. The Bakassi Deep seaport promises to be the icing on the cake.

    When the governor embarked on that gigantic seaport project, he knew he was threading on the threshold of history. He knew he has limited time to deliver. Though massive and capital intensive, the lighting pace of events around the projects signify grit determination to deliver on record time.

    The Bakassi Deep seaport is primed to change the economic and maritime narratives of Nigeria nay Cross River. It appears those who hold the levers of power in Abuja are agreed on this. And it is fit and proper they do.

    Essentially, in Abuja few days ago, President of the federal republic, Muhammadu Buhari formally recognised the imperativeness of the port vis avis its commercial viability.The president did not hesitate to give a nod.

    This came in the mould of issuance of Outline Business Case certificate, OBC, for the project by the Federal Government.

    The certificate was presented on behalf of the Federal Government by the Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi to Sir Ben Ayade at the ministry’s Abuja office.

    Read Also: Lawyer hails Ayade over tribunal victory, new ministries, agencies

    The salient significance of this is manifold: It takes the project to the next stage.

    Secondly, with the Presidential seal of approval, the possibility of federal government standing in in the gap for Cross River by partnering the state to ensure the project comes to fruition looks reassuring.

    Thirdly, the OBC issuance makes the Bakassi Deep seaport project the first  anywhere in the world to receive the document within a short period of being conceptualised.

    The urgency of the port is not lost on the federal government.

    Hear Amechi: “What they (Cross River) have got right now is the OBC. We will take the next move to verify all the necessary instruments that we need and then proceed back to the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission for the FBC before we go to the cabinet for approval.

    “But the most important thing is that we are speeding it up so as to enable those states who want to invest in seaports and others to go ahead and do so.”

    And Sir Ayade’s enthusiasm: “Work started there more than six months ago when we got the EIA approval which allowed us the legal right to get access to the ocean.

    “But right now with this OBC certificate, we are going to be dealing directly with the concessionaires towards arriving at the specific location, data and commencement of actual work plans. But that can only come with the FBC.”

    Matching words with action is key. And one believes the fervour of interest the federal government has shown on the project so far will remain unwavering just as Ayade remains unwavering to seeing it come to fruition.

    Essentially, there are plenty of grains of truth in what the governor has been saying about the project; namely that the Bakassi Deep seaport, looking at the totality of its framework, its structure and location, is a Nigerian project rather than that of Cross River.

    And that when completed, the Bakassi Deep seaport will bring Northern Nigeria and countries in the sahel-Niger, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso- closer to the Atlantic ocean than does any other port in Nigeria.

    And this is why: Cross River, by the the virtue of its proximity to Central Africa along the Atlantic coast, and navigating through the Indian Ocean, the Bakassi Deep seaport is nearer to ships sailing to Nigeria than they are to the Lagos ports.

    The Bakassi Deep seaport is in the class of it’s own. With 21 metres draft, the port will be Nigeria’s deepest port on completion.

    The internationally accepted maritime standard  port depths required for large vessels and containers-carrying vessels to berth is between 18 metres and 19 metres. As of now, no port in Nigeria has that depth.

    Experts affirm that Nigeria currently boast of only river ports and no Deep seaports. The Bakassi Deep seaport, when completed will fill that void.

    The drafts of the Apapa and Tin Can Island are between 14m and 14.5m respectively, the Warri Port is 7.6 metres, the Calabar Port  6 metres while the Rivers Port is 8 metres. These, again bear testimony to the need to see the Bakassi Deep seaport birthed to fruition.

    As a Nigerian project, the Bakassi Deep seaport requires accelerated action. It calls for a concerted effort devoid of the vagaries of politics and politicking. This has been the case so far and we thank President Buhari for this.

    One hopes that with the issuance of OBC, the Bakassi Deep seaport Project is within inch of realisation.

     

    • Chidi Onyemaizu is the Senior Special Assistant  to Governor Ayade on Print Media

  • My family ran away for fear of daughter’s circumcision – Iyoha

    By Charles Okonji

    A man, Hope Iyoha, has lamented pressure from his family members to produce his 10 years old daughter for circumcision, explaining that his wife had to abscond with the young girl.

    Speaking to The Nation about the reoccurring family ritual, Hope Iyoha, stated that his family members are mounting pressure on him to provide his daughter (names withheld) for circumcision and that his wife had ran away with the baby.

    He stated that the wife had to elope with the 10 years old daughter for safety as the “ugly practice negates her belief as a practicing Christian.”

    He also said his life is under threat as the family members have been threatening to deal with him should he not provide his daughter wherever she is hidden within the country.

    He noted that his family strongly believes that female circumcision ritual removes shame and brings protection to the family and the community through the blood gotten from the circumcision.

    Iyoha said; “Our people believe that it is carried out to control women’s and girls’ sexuality. It is sometimes a condition for marriage. They have the crude belief that if it is not done, the clitoris will grow to the size of a penis, or that FGM will enhance fertility. Others also view the external female genitalia as dirty and ugly. Though, majority do not know why it is done other than to check promiscuity.”

    A member of the extended family, Osaghale Anthony, stated that a certain girl in the family was kidnapped with the consent of the father for weeks in order to perform the ritual, since the mother was against FGM, stating that the girl only surfaced after she was circumcised.

    He pointed out that irrespective of government’s effort and the World Health Organisation (WHO) campaign against the act, the family insists and believes it is a vital part of its rich cultural heritage.

    The Nation learnt that despite the age long campaign against practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), popularly called female circumcision, most families in Amadokhian Village in Uromi, Esan North-East Local Government of Edo State have refused to do away with the practice.

  • Lagos ISMAN gets Exco

    By Tajudeen Adebanjo

    The Lagos Chapter of the Islamic Musician Association of Nigeria (ISMAN) has elected executive members that will pilot the affairs of the association for four years.

    A statement by the association said the election was held at Atinuke Memorial Hall, near Cele Bus stop on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.

    Aliu Isiaq emerged as the governor; Jeleel Ololade and Quazeem Yekeem are first and second deputies. Aminat Babalola Balogun was elected as Ameerah with Basirat Jawondo as Naibal Ameerah.

    ISMAN president, Alhaji Damilola Mumeen Rasheed, congratulated the new executive members.

    Rasheed urged them to work together as a team with a view to promoting Islamic music and propagation of the Islamic religion.

  • Ogun teachers pity Abiodun over liabilities bequeathed to him by Amosun

    By Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

    Ogun teachers on Saturday sympathised with Governor Dapo Abiodun over what they described as the “seemingly insurmountable challenges and liabilities” his predecessor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, bequeathed to him.

    The teachers under the aegis of Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), Ogun State chapter, said so much water has passed under the bridge while the tenure of Amosun lasted, stressing that theirs were “rights and privileges” either long delayed  before they were met or placed at the back seat in government’s scheme of things.

    The state chairman of ASUSS, Akeem Lasisi, made this known at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta on the occasion of this year’s World Teachers’ Day.

    This year’s edition of the World Teachers Day with the theme: “Young teachers; the Future of the Profession,” was also attended by the members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) in the state led by Com. Titilope Adebanjo.

    Lasisi identified non-payment of leave allowance to teachers since 2015 till date, non-conducting of the long overdue  2018 and 2019 promotion  exercises and the erasing of the Principal-General status by Amosun’s administration as some of the challenges confronting the secondary education subsector that Abiodun inherited and requiring his urgent attention.

    However, Abiodun, while addressing the teachers, shocked them when he announced the immediate recall of their two colleagues dismissed three years ago by the administration of Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

    The recalled teachers who were sent on compulsory retirement by Amosun’s government included the former state chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Dare Ilekoya, as well as one of the state’s examiners from the Mayflower School, Ikenne, Olusanjo Majekodunmi.

    Abiodun said the decision to reinstate the sacked teachers formed part of his administration’s resolve to encourage the teachers since it falls within the ambit of natural justice as it is also the “right thing to do.”

    In his remarks, Adebanjo lauded the state governor for approving the promotion of the over 10,000 teachers who were denied promotion by the immediate past administration.

  • Independence: Youths task govt on development, empowerment

    By Sodiq Mojibola and Yunus Abdulrasheed

    A youth group, Ikorodu Division Youth Initiative Movement (IDYIM), has urged governments at all levels to see youth empowerment as crucial national development. The group, which made the call during the 2019 edition of its annual ‘Divisional Youth Summit’, said by so doing, it would enable the country and its leaders enjoy the support of, as well as earn the trust of, the teeming youths who are the most active segment of national population. The group’s executive director, Comrade Samson Bisiriyu, said it is important for the energy of the younger generation to be tapped positively.

    Speakers at the event, which also featured the recognition of personalities who have been supportive of youth empowerment and community development, called on government to act swiftly in tackling growing unemployment and youth restiveness. The summit was held at the Ikorodu town hall on Independence Day. Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu ably represented by his Special Adviser on Agriculture, Ruth Olusanya, led dignitaries at the event. Former Secretary to the Lagos State government, Chief Olorunfunmi Bashorun, also graced the event.

    Read Also: Nigeria at 59: Youths urge FG to tackle unemployment

    Sanwo-olu assured the youths of plans by his administration to examine new ways of empowering the younger generation urging them to be prepared to contribute their quota to the development of the state and the country.

    Speaking further, Olusanya described herself as a good example of the new administration’s desire to give youths opportunities within and outside the government. “When I look at the calibre of the people in the cabinet, I see my appointment as a privilege and a call on me to serve as a representative of my generation,” she said.

    “Youths should not be discouraged from venturing into politics. Success does not come on a platter of gold and so they must keep pushing till success is attained. I also want to appeal to the youths who want to go into politics that they must be consistent, truthful and loyal to their course at all times,” Bashorun said.

    He assured participants at the summit of the readiness of the government to continue to tap into the energy and creativity of the youths at all time.

  • Soldiers arrest suspected kidnappers in Ondo

    A seven-man kidnapping squad that has been terrorising residents of Ajowa, Akunnu and Akuga in Akoko area of Ondo State were at the weekend arrested through a combined effort of soldiers, police and Department of State Security Service (DSS) at Ajowa in Akoko Northwest local government area.

    They were apprehended  after abducting a 45-year-old graduate teacher and Muslim cleric, Alhaji Jamiu Zakariyahu,  at gunpoint while coming from a mosque where he usually led the congregation at Daja-Ajowa.

    It was learnt that the suspected kidnappers dragged the victim from his motorcycle and immediately covered his face with mask, leading him into the bush.

    Narrating his ordeal, Zakariyahu said, “after dragging me into the bush, I met two other victims whose legs and hands were tied and blindfolded.

    “They demanded a ransom of N10m, which was later reduced to N5m.”

    Read Also: Seven held for ‘kidnapping’ in Adamawa

    However, when the negotiating team told them (culprits) that the victim was a teacher whose family could not afford more than N250,000,  they consequently agreed.

    But miraculously in the night of second day in captivity, he said the rope already tied on his two hands suddenly cut off, while he untied that of his two legs as the kidnappers slept off.

    He said,”I then escaped in the midnight to an unknown destination in the dark forest where God directed me to meet a local hunter, who was searching for games.

    “It was some soldiers with the help of some locals that later arrested one Wasiu Mohammed, son of a prominent chief in the town, by tracking the phone the bandits earlier seized from me.”

    According to the victim, the arrested Wasiu is the leader of the squad, who paved way for the arrest of three others, while the remaining ones were still at large.

  • Katsina battles yellow fever, 36 cases already reported in two LGAs

    Augustine Okezie, Katsina

    The Katsina State government yesterday announced plans to tackle yellow fever outbreak in the state, with 36 cases already reported in two LGAs of Danmusa and Kankara.

    The Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Health, Dr. Kabir Mustapha, who made the above declaration at the flag-off ceremony of Yellow Fever Preventive Mass Vaccination Campaign held in the state capital, said seven million people in Katsina State are expected to be vaccinated, which translates to about 87% of the state’s population.

    Read Also: Ten things you should know about yellow fever

    He called on traditional and religious leaders to continue engaging with their communities to guard against vaccine refusal and hesitancy, as the state government is committed to strengthening the health system and improving healthcare delivery to meet the yearnings of the people.

    Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary, Katsina Primary Health Care Agency, Dr. Shamsuddeen Yahaya, has allayed fears about the yellow fever outbreak, assuring that with supportive care which is required to treat dehydration, respiratory failure, and fever; alongside with other antibiotics that are recommended to treat associated bacterial infections, there is no cause for panic.

  • Jibia flood victims hail Katsina’s plan to build 400 houses

    Augustine Okezie, Katsina

    Some displaced 2018 Jibia flood victims have been commending the Katsina State government for its decision to build 400 houses for them at a new location.

    64-year-old bricklayer, Lawale Ibrahim, who is currently squatting with a relation in a nearby village, told this medium that the decision has portrayed the state government as humane and caring. He said, “You can imagine what we have been going through, trying to find shelter; but now God has touched Masari’s government to remember us, one and half years after.”

    33-year-old Sanni Yahaya, whose marriage was consummated just two days before the flood, said the decision by the state government is quite commendable. He, however, called for a speedy construction of the houses.

    Read Also: Flooding: NERC orders three hydro power plants ‘must run’

    Recall that the Katsina State government recently announced plans to relocate and build 400 houses for victims of the 2018 Jibia flood victims, who had their houses submerged or completely swept away by the rampaging flood.

    Secretary to the Government of the State, Mustapha Mohammed Inuwa, who made the disclosure while inaugurating the committee for the relocation exercise on behalf of Masari, observed that the relocation committee’s existence is long overdue and therefore urged them to work expeditiously to deliver on their expected report.

    He described the decision to build houses for the flood victims as humanitarian, adding that “Vice President Osibanjo was here on behalf of the president to condole with the victims at the time and he made promises on behalf of the federal government.”

  • Adamawa primary teachers not promoted in 13 years – NUT

     Onimisi Alao, Yola

    The chairman of the Adamawa State wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Rodney Nathan, has lamented the non-promotion of primary school teachers in the state in the last 13 years.

    Nathan, who made the complaint at the Mahmud Ribadu Square in Yola where the state NUT marked the World Teachers Day on Saturday, also said that within the same 13 years, “no leave transport grant, annual increment and upgrading of teachers was effected.”

    He said this has seriously affected the morale of the teachers and should be redressed with a sense of urgency to save the education sector.

    “We need to be motivated. Not giving teachers their due is a way of driving them out of the profession. Government must avoid omissions that could cause a situation in which some day, pupils will go into their classrooms and not find teachers,” the NUT chairman warned.

    He, however, commended the administration of Governor Ahmadu Fintiri for always promptly paying workers’ salaries and for other changes the administration has made since coming to be in May this year.

    Read Also: World Teachers’ Day: Reps to champion better deal for education sector

    He said, “We also want to commend you and your government for your wise decision to increase five years of service for science and English teachers across primary and post-primary schools and for paying post-primary school teachers their leave transport grant.”

    In his own speech, the Adamawa State deputy governor, Crowther Seth, who represented Governor Ahmadu Fintiri at the World Teachers Day celebration in Yola, said the government would always strive to address the complaints of teachers.

    Highlights of the event were a match pass by teachers from each of the 21 local government areas of the state, and merit award presentation to three dignitaries for their contribution to the educational sector.

    One of the awardees, Abdurazak Namdas, who spoke on behalf of the awardees, announced that the national assembly, to which he belongs, has represented for President Muhammadu Buhari’s signature the bill for review of retirement age of teachers and education officers from 60 to 65 years.