The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • CJN advises judges on transparency

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Mohammad, has advised judicial officers to always be transparent and uphold their oaths of office.

    Mohammad particularly urged judges of the Federal High Court, the court with the broadest jurisdiction among High Courts in the country, to redouble their efforts in view of the large volume of cases pending before the court.

    Represented by Justice Mohammed Shuaibu of the Court of Appeal, the CJN spoke yesterday in Abuja at the 35th annual judges’ conference of the Federal High Court.

    The CJN stressed the need for judges to always be transparent, live above board and be guided by their oath of office in the discharge of their responsibilities.

    The court’s acting Chief Judge (CJ), Justice John Tsoho, restated his plan to ensure that more judges were appointed for the court.

    The Federal High Court, with headquarters in Abuja and presence in all states of the federation, currently has 80 judges.

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    Justice Tsoho urged his fellow judges of the Federal High Court to improve on their efforts in a bid reduce the current high volume of pending cases.

    This, the acting CJ said, was necessary to bridge the existing gap pending the appointment of more judges.

    He hailed his predecessor, Justice Adamu Kafarati, for his thoughtfulness, which reflected in his directive to judges to be introspective in granting ex parte injunctions in pre-election matters before, during and after the last general elections.

    The directive and the way judges of the court adhered to it, Justice Tsoho noted, assisted the court in avoiding being linked with unnecessary controversies.

    The acting CJ, who said the conference was intended to prepare the judges for the task ahead, added that the court had engaged experts in various fields to interface with judges and to bring them up to date in most aspects of their operations.

    He said medical experts had also been engaged to counsel judges on health issues, which he noted were of great importance to all heads of courts.

    Justice Tsoho thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for considering him worthy of being appointed the court’s acting Chief Judge.

    He also hailed the CJN for his exemplary support to the Federal High Court.

    The acting CJ assured the National Judicial Council (NJC), the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) and his colleagues of his commitment to duties with a pledge that he would not to let anyone down.

    Justice Tsoho also assured the nation that he would not be involved in anything that would make them regret their support for him.

  • Osinbajo raises panel to recover N5tr AMCON debts

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday inaugurated an inter-agency committee to recover the N5 trillion debts owed the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

    A statement by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, announced this in Abuja.

    The statement said members of the committee include heads and representatives of agencies, such as AMCON, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Federal Ministry of Justice.

    “One of the terms of reference is for the committee to prepare a report, giving us a sense of what the time lines will be,” Osinbajo said.

    The statement added that “about 67 per cent of the outstanding N5 trillion debt is said to be owed by just 20 individuals/entities”.

  • Buhari backs PSC in tussle with IGP over employment

    President Muhammadu Buhari has pitched his tent with the Police Service Commission (PSC) in the tussle between the commission and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) over appointments and promotions.

    He said the PSC mandates include the task of appointment and promotion in the NFP.

    The President stated this yesterday when he received the 2018 Annual Report of the PSC at the State House, Abuja.

    He added that the PSC mandate also included the disciplinary control of officers of the Nigerian Police Force, except the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

    “By the mandate of the Commission, the task of appointment, promotion and disciplinary control of officers of the Nigerian Police Force, except the Inspector General, fall under it,” he said.

    President Buhari urged members of the PSC to redouble their efforts at ensuring that the NPF delivers on its responsibilities.

    He said: “The Commission has the most challenging responsibility of carrying out oversight responsibilities of the Police Force.

    Read Also: Buhari, Atiku: What next after judgement?

    “The people that comprise this commission are mostly personally known to me and some of them have been through the mill, as it were. Therefore, I expect them to put the police in order.

    “I personally believe that the Inspector General is doing his best …the police are always in the frontline and unless we get the police working effectively, the security of this country will remain in doubt.”

    President Buhari noted that the commission’s assignment was enormous and called for sacrifice and commitment, “especially now that almost every country is faced with severe internal security challenges. Nigeria is no exception”.

    He praised the Commission for new ideas introduced into the workings of the Force.

    “I am aware that you have put policies in place to reposition the Police Force in the areas of merit-driven promotion and prompt disciplinary actions.

    “Government will require that you redouble your efforts and ensure that the Police Force receives the required assistance for optimum service delivery,” the President said.

    He also urged the Commission to ensure harmonious working relationship with the Police Force.

    “I wish to see close communication and understanding between you and the Nigeria Police. This is necessary for the overall efficiency and effectiveness in securing the country,” President Buhari added.

    PSC Chairman Musiliu Smith, who led other members to the State House, told the President that in line with his (President’s) specific directives, the management was gradually putting together a productive Nigeria Police Force.

    According to him, this will attract the endorsement of all Nigerians and receive the acclaim of the policemen themselves.

    Smith also requested for the intervention of the President in overcoming the funding constrains of the Commission as well as securing better office accommodation.

  • State governments in race to put 10.5 million kids in schools

    States, such as Kano, Akwa Ibom, Katsina, Kaduna, Taraba, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara, Oyo, Benue, Jigawa and Ebonyi, top the chart of those with the highest number of out-of-school kids. MARTINS ODEH examines governments’ strategies to reverse the trend

     

    Neglect of many years started it all. Now, 10.5 million kids are out of school in Nigeria, according to the United Nations estimates. Sixty per cent of the out-of- school are in the North. Available statistics listed the states with the most out-of-school children as: Kano, Akwa Ibom, Katsina, Kaduna, Taraba, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara, Oyo, Benue, Jigawa and Ebonyi.

    This neglect of basic education resulted in unimaginable decay of infrastructure and systems failure in the sector.

    However, almost all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are assiduously deploying resources to improve the situation.

    The various interventions were to address the problems of out-of-school children; improve infrastructure; enhance interests in the teaching profession, among others.

    The Federal Government was not oblivious of the infrastructural decay, low school enrolment and importance of basic education, as it established the Universal Basic Education (UBE) in 1999.

    The programme is a nine-year basic education strategy to eradicate illiteracy, ignorance and poverty.

    Though funding of basic education is the responsibility of the state and local governments, the Federal Government still funds basic education with two per cent of its consolidated revenue fund.

    The support from the Federal Government was meant to spur the states to improve the standard of basic education, in order to meet the goals of the defunct Millennium Development Goals (MDG) now replaced with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

    Kano State is desirous to upgrade infrastructure and boost enrolment. Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, during a working visit to Minister of Education Malam Adamu Adamu in Abuja, promised to harmonise the Almajiri education system into modern academic curriculum

    The governor said education should be made free from basic to secondary levels in the interest of the Nigerian child.

    Read Also: Out of school children hits 16 million

    “As a government, we have said that basic education and secondary education will be free, we have also make it compulsory to ensure sustainability,’’ he said.

    In Kaduna State, the state’s Universal Basic Education Board, on Augugust 22 mobilised 2,000 education stakeholders as part of activities to kick start the 2019 enrolment campaign.

    The board’s acting Director, Social Mobilisation, Malam Ibrahim Aminu, said the campaign targeted the enrolment of 727,764 out-of-school children in the state in five years.

    Aminu explained that the campaign, which targeted the enrolment of 145,000 pupils in 2019, would be carried out under the World Bank assisted Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA).

    He said the 2,000 stakeholders, who would serve as enrolment influencers, would be trained to carry out community-based and house-to-house sensitisation campaign on the need to send children to school.

    According to him, the programme is to support Universal Basic Education Commission in addressing Pillar One of the Ministerial Strategic Plan that seeks to address the problem of out-of-school children in the country.

    The Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) on August 21, distributed instructional materials worth N1.4 billion to over 1,000 primary and junior secondary schools in the state.

    The Executive Chairman of the board, Chief Ikeje Asogwa, disclosed this when the State House of Assembly Committee on Education visited the board on an oversight function.

    Asogwa said the educational materials were distributed to the schools to improve teaching and learning.

    He said the board was also renovating dilapidated buildings and providing desks and sports equipment to schools across the state.

    The Oyo State government has also promised to educate over 170,000 almajiri. The state government said it would utilise the  three million US dollars World Bank Assisted Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) take-off grant to educate 170, 536 out-of-school children in the 23 local government areas of the state.

    The Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr Nureni Adeniran, said the state was committed to boosting enrolment.

    The SUBEB chairman reiterated the state government’s resolve to effectively take off the streets, all out-of-school children and put them in public schools.

    Also, Benue Commissioner for Education Prof. Dennis Ityavyar, said the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) had set aside N6.5 billion for the execution of projects under its first and third quarter intervention funds.

    Ityavyar spoke in Makurdi, during the launching of the SUBEB’s financial bids opening ceremony for the utilisation of its first and third quarter intervention funds.

    The Nasarawa State government said over 8, 000 out-of-school children had been re-organised and returned to almajiri schools in Keffi Local Government Area.

    He also said the state conducted headcount of the almajiri, adding that 13,000 were registered.

    The Plateau State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said it was currently executing 581 projects in public primary schools across the 17 local government areas of the state.

    The Executive Chairman of the board, Prof. Matthew Sule, disclosed this in Shendam, at the inauguration of the Social Mobilisation Intervention Campaign for communities benefitting from projects executed by the board.

    It is no gainsaying that basic education is sine qua non to the survival and growth of both secondary and tertiary education and by extension the nation.

    A former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Peter Okebukola, acknowledged this when he spoke recently at the Lagos State University Faculty of Education, 2019 Distinguished Lecture series.

    He said the authorities must show greater attention to teachers’ preparation, happiness and welfare.

    Okebukola also advised the government at various levels to improve funding and close up the huge infrastructure deficit in the sector.

    According to him, proper funding of education would ultimately translate to good quality education in the country.

    Stakeholders noted that there is always the tendency for older folks to be nostalgic when commentaries are made on the falling standard of education in the country.

    They forgot to realise that high standards were maintained yester years because of sustained investment in the education sector.

    They said it was regrettable that a country with its first primary school established in 1843 had allowed this magnitude of rot in the system.

    The general neglect of the sector has continually given credence to the series of lamentations on the general falling standard of education in the country.

    Consequently, it would not be out of place if the various authorities go beyond rhetoric and the seasonal interventions and declare a state of emergency in the sector, in order to address the challenges without further delay.

     

    • Odeh is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

  • Osinbajo’s task team gets kudos on Apapa gridlock ease

    Stakeholders comprising truckers, residents, business owners and commuters in  Apapa, Lagos Sate have showered praise on the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo-led presidential task team on evacuation of trucks and restoration of law and order in the area.

    They said with the intervention of committed Nigerians and diligent law enforcement agents, which constitute the taskteam, life is gradually returning to the axis as businesses are springing up.

    Prior to the intervention of the presidential task team, most residents had abandoned the axis while most businesses were shut down due to perennial traffic gridlock which sometimes lasted for days.

    The hitherto bubbling community and its environs were deserted due to indiscriminate parking of trucks on the roads leading to Apapa port. Transportation along Ikorodu Road, Ijora, Apapa, Costain was hindered as a result of the heavy-duty trucks stationed on the roads.

    Read Also: Apapa gridlock: End of nightmare in sight

    But with the inauguration of the task team set up by President Muhammadu Buhari and headed by the Vice President Osinbajo, the narrative is  changing. Movement in and out of Apapa is becoming easier.

    The Chairman of Amalgamation of Container Trucks Owners, Chief Olalaye Thompson said the  Osinbajo-led team has been able to eradicate the sufferings of the commuters and business owners on the axis. He said that the successful eradication of corruption in the system was responsible for the free flow of traffic in Apapa.

    Also speaking, Mrs Augustine Chukwuemeka, who runs a shopping mall in the area, said that since enforcement of the Osinbajo-led presidential taskteam, she has been recording remarkable improvement on her sales. She said that the population of  Apapa is rapidly increasing.

    speaking on relative restoration of orderliness in the area, Gbade Amodu, a truck owner, said the manual call up being worked on by the taskteam would bring about an electronic call up that will finally put an end to the human interference which breeds corruption.  “For me, old glory of Apapa is being restored. Many of our colleagues who left the business now wanted to come back.

    “So far so good, we are impressed with the progress made so far. The current task team met a system that was not transparent and they adopted better strategies after listening to our plights” he said.

  • Lagos commiserates with deceased pilgrims’ families

    A Special delegation from the Lagos State Ministry of Home Affairs has paid a condolence visit to the Mafoluku-Oshodi and Lekki family houses of the two pilgrims who lost their lives in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while performing the Hajj.

    Alhaja Mulikat Shade Lawal and Alhaji Muhammad Siraj Kayode Mars Molake died during the pilgrimage.

    Commiserating with the families on behalf of the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, the Chairman 2019 Hajj Ad-hoc committee, Alhaji Ahmed Jebe-Abdullahi, urged them to accept the death of their beloved ones as an act of God.

    Jebe-Abdullahi stressed that doctors in the Lagos State medical team and their Saudi Arabia counterparts did their best to save the lives of the pilgrims but could not because Allah has ordained that their time was up.

    He prayed that Allah grants the families the fortitude to bear the loss and forgive the dead of their sins.

    After presenting a condolence letter to the families, Alhaji Jebe-Abdullahi promised that the death certificates and International Passports of the deceased would be presented as soon as they are retrieved from officials of the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON).

    Read Also: Nigerian female pilgrim dies in Saudi Arabia

    The luggage and other personal belongings of the deceased were formally presented to their families.

    On the entourage were the Board Secretary, Mr Rahman Ishola; Head of Operations, Alhaji Soliu Olohungbebe and other officials of the board.

    The state government has also commenced payment of N100,000 to all the pilgrims that performed this year’s hajj.

    Amirul Hajj Dr AbdulHakeem AbdulLateef had urged the pilgrims in Saudi Arabia to drop their account number with the board.

    The Secretary, Mr. Rahman Ishola, said the accounts department has started the disbursement through the bank account of all the pilgrims and confirmed that he has been receiving appreciable feedback from those who have received alert from their banks so far.

  • Alleged corruption: RTEAN sacks President, Secretary

    Twenty-eight National Executive Council (NEC) members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) at an emergency meeting, has sacked the National President Comrade Osakpamwan Eriyo.

    Also dismissed for what it described as ”gross sabotage against the interest of the union and the NEC”, is the RTEAN National Secretary General Mr Yusuf Ibrahim Adebiyi.

    The Assistant National Secretary General Alhaji Adamu Zubairu Jalaludeen, who made this known at the Igando RTEAN Lagos State headquarters, said the National Deputy Chairman (Administration), Alhaji Mohammed Musa, being the most senior national officer, has been unanimously appointed as Acting RTEAN President, while the hitherto Deputy Secretary General Comrade Henry Ejiofor, is appointed the acting Secretary General of the union.

    Until his appointment, Musa was the Lagos State RTEAN chairman.

    Jalaludeen said the dismissal of Eriyo from the union stands, and he is therefore no longer recognised as the National President of RTEAN.

    Read Also: RTEAN exco rejects dissolution

    He said Eriyo’s one year regime brought a huge shame to the union, as it was exemplified by ticket racketeering, bribery, corruption and an expansionist agenda that has brought crisis to Kano, Katsina, Ogun and recently Lagos state councils of the union.

    He said, “The RTEAN NEC found it shameful that Eriyo, who alongside the dismissed secretary general had collected N60 million from the Lagos State chairman for his second term of the exco, a development which has since been discovered to be fraudulent.”

    The President, according to him, ”unashamedly in concert with his aid and without the consent of NEC on September 15, dissolved the duly constituted Lagos State executive and put in its place a caretaker committee wherein his appendage, Alhaji Sulaiman Onabanko, who presided over the meeting wherein Alhaji Musa Mohammed was unanimously adopted for a second term, was enthroned to head the caretaker committee, in a bid to annex Lagos and enthrone a corruption laden regime”

    According to him, apart from the large scale fraud and diversion of funds, Eriyo also sidelined the NEC, making it, ”redundant in a manner that is at variance with the constitution and takes decisions without recourse to NEC.”

    Jalaludeen said the RTEAN constitution is such that a person can hold two offices, and as such Musa is qualified to hold the office of the National President and the state Chairman.

    He said by the time the tenure expires in October, Lagos Council would have come up with a resolution of the matter.

    In a swift reaction, the National President ComradeOsakpamwan Eriyo has dismissed the purported sack by NEC.

    Dismissing the action in a telephone interview, he wondered how a NEC could hold in Lagos without following the due process required for such meeting.

  • Woman ‘kills’ lover for not funding daughter’s party

    Homicide detectives have arrested a 23-year-old woman Stella Peter for allegedly stabbing her live-in lover to death for  refusing to finance their daughter’s one-year birthday party.

    The incident occurred Tuesday morning at 2, Tejuosho Avenue, Surulere where they have lived for three years.

    It was gathered that Peter, a native of Kogi State, had an argument with her Niger State partner identified as Bala Haruna, 25, early on Tuesday following his inability to raise N30,000 for their daughter’s birthday yesterday.

    The couple, it was learnt, started quarrelling before 6am after Haruna, who charges mobile phones for a living, was said to have given his woman N3,000 to buy biscuits and share among kids in the slum neighbourhood.

    According to a neighbour who identified himself simply as Alhaji, the woman got angry, insitimg she wanted to host a party with a hired disc jockey for the celebration.

    “Today was their daughter’s birthday. She said she wanted N30,000 to do birthday party for the child but her husband said he did not have money.

    Read Also: Mob kills policeman for ‘shooting’ pregnant woman dead in Lagos

    “He gave her N3,000 that she should buy biscuits and share to other children but the woman got angry. They argued and it turned to a fight. That was when she took a kitchen knife and stabbed him.

    “The blood was pumping out. It could not be stopped. Even when he was taken to the hospital and mortuary, the blood was still coming out. He died in the house here because it was blood and water that was coming out.

    “Now, I am afraid of women and I don’t think I will ever get married,” the neighbour said.

    When our correspondent visited the residence located directly behind Oba Tejusho Palace, forensic experts from the state government and homicide detectives from the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) Panti were sweeping the scene for fingerprints and other exhibits.

    Their room was cordoned off while the officials were evacuating their equipment.

    Petty traders along the avenue condemned the suspect for demanding such money from Haruna, who they said operated his phone charging business from a makeshift qiosk by the canal.

    “How can you kill your husband over birthday party? Where did she expect him to get the money? The young man does not even have money to do business. He is a phone charger. People pay him N50 to charge their phones. He also assisted people to upload music to their memory card,” a woman said.

    Confirming the incident, spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) they received the compliant 6am, adding that the woman would be charged with murder.

    “The couple who were not actually married, lived together for three years and have a baby who just turned one. An argument ensued between them which turned violent and the woman used a kitchen knife to stab the man in the back which led to his death.

    “The woman accused the man of refusing to release money for their daughter’s birthday party. Homicide detectives have taken over the investigation. The suspect confessed to the commission of the crime. She will be charged to court for murder,” he said.

  • Three ‘Islamic clerics’ held for ‘exploiting’ women

    Police in Ogun State have arrested three persons claiming to be Islamic clerics who allegedly swindle  female victims in addition to sexually exploiting them.

    The suspects Aliu Abdulfatai, 50, Sule Adebayo, 36, and Lekan Olokodana, 31, were arrested following complaints by one of their female victims who reported the alleged offence at the Adigbe police station.

    She accused the suspects of duping her of N70,000, and one of them also raping her.

    The female victim is said to be a marketer with a real estate firm and was canvassing for subscribers when she came across the suspects.

    She said the three men indicated interest in buying a large expanse of land for constructing  their mosque.

    Read Also: EFCC Quizzes Real Estate Mogul, Kelechukwu Mbagwu over fraud 

    The Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun State, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed this in a release, stated that the suspects having got the  lady to believe they were interested in buying land, soon introduced the importance of special prayers to her.

    Abimbola, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, added that the suspects said they saw her in a vision being under a spell and that she needed special deliverance prayers to break the spell. She fell for it.

    “They succeeded in fraudulently obtaining the sum of N70,000 from her after they lured her into their house where one of them forcefully raped her.

    “On the strength of her complaint, the Divisional Police Officer for  Adigbe Division, Augustine Opadile, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), detailed detectives to go after the suspects, and  apprehended them while waiting for the victim to bring money they demanded from her,” Abimbola stated.

    According to the police spokesman, while one the suspects escaped arrest,  others upon interrogation confessed to being fraudsters.

    They also confessed that swindling people is  their means of livelihood while it was also revealed that one of them has used  proceeds of fraudulent act to build a private school in Ikorodu, Lagos State.

  • N5m lost as 16 cows die in auto crash

    Over N5m was lost yesterday morning when 16 cows died at Mosolashi bus stop along Lagos Abeokuta Expressway.

    The accident happened around 6:30am while a fully loaded mass-carrier bus popularly called ‘molue”  and a lorry packed with 32 cows collided.

    The bus was heading to Oshodi area of Lagos State, while the lorry was heading to Abattoir when the accident happened. The Nation gathered that the drivers of both vehicles were trying to avoid a deep pothole at Mosolashi bus stop when the accident happened, triggering a traffic snarl for hours.

    A security official said the accident happened around 6:30 am.

    He said the truck was conveying cows from Shaki in Oyo State and was heading to  Abattoir in Ogun state.

    Read Also: 17 die in Benue road accident

    “There is a big pot hole here in Mosolashi bus stop. The lorry carrying the cows first partially hit the bus breaking some of its glass, all the passengers ran out of the bus and there was no loss of life. It was while the lorry driver was trying to prevent further falling on the bus and was trying to move out of the pot hole that it fell and 16 of the  cows died on the spot. The lorry driver fled the scene and was no where to be found.”

    He said the people from Abatior came to remove the remaining cows that were alive.

    He said officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Response Unit of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the police from Alagbado cleared the environment.

    The owner of the lorry, Sulaimon Olarenwaju said the 16 cows that died were worth over N5m.

    Olanrewaju said the police who towed his lorry to the Alagbado station were yet to release it to him.

    “It was not as if the lorry driver intentionally caused the accident, the pothole caused it, I dont know why my lorry is not released, they should please release my lorry and not ask me to pay for it,” he said.