The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Imbibe religious tenets, Vice-President tells youths

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday charged Christian and Muslim youths to live up to the tenets of their faith and the best values of human kind.

    He gave the advice at the National Muslim and Christian Youth Summit at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

    Such attitude to life, he said, would enable youths to effectively perform their roles as present and future leaders in society.

    Osinbajo said: “That leadership role extends to being champions of peace, unity and understanding among different tribes and faith today, and the future belongs to you.

    “The greatness of that future will depend on the sacrifices you are prepared to make for the unity and peace of our nation.”

    The Vice-President hailed the Community and Youth Development and the Christian Youth for Peace and Development Initiative, the organisers, for their efforts towards building peace across-religious lines.

    “Your associations have continued to build bridges, to fight discrimination and encourage love and unity, with the full knowledge that the great conflict of our time is not between Islam and Christianity but between extremism and human solidarity, between the forces of hate and intolerance and those of empathy and peace,” he said.

    Osinbajo noted that Nigerians were at a historic juncture as a nation with the religious and ethnic tensions across the country.

    He said: “Many are beating the drums of tribal and religious superiority; some are even seeking to divide the nation into ethnic zones.

    Read Also: Our interactions with businesses essential for economic growth, says Osinbajo

    “Yet, our constitution speaks in the clearest and highest terms of our national commitment to equality of all Nigerians, regardless of ethnicity, religion or status.

    “It speaks of the imperative of all individuals and governments to respect the rights and dignity of every Nigerian. Every free nation today has these or similar ideals.

    “But constitutional declarations mean nothing unless there are men and women ready to make the personal sacrifices to bridge the gap between rhetoric and constitutional ideals.

    “Such men and women are not usually very many. They are few, but the profundity of their actions invariably transforms communities and nations as they bend the arc of history in the direction of unity, peace and progress.”

    He recalled the selfless action of 83-year-old Imam Abubakar Abdullahi, who saved 262 Christians in his mosque when they were attacked in a village in Plateau State last year.

    He said the Imam, like the story of the Good Samaritan told by Christ in the bible, was motivated by “moral courage rooted in a profound recognition of our common humanity”.

    Two keynote addresses were presented by Christian and Muslim clerics during the summit.

    Prof. Ishaq Oloyede said Christianity and Islam share many things in common, insisting that what could make followers of the two religions live in peace is love for one another.

    Oloyede, who is also the Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), said the ethnic tension and religious bigotry are borne out of the fact that many believers do not understand the tenets of Islam and Christianity.

    “If we appreciate Islamic values, including righteousness, generosity, contentment, courage, repentance, among others, we will appreciate the other religions because in them also you have the same characteristics.

    “Biblical virtues are also what you will find in the Qur’an, just as you will find Qur’anic virtues in the bible,” he said.

  • Police to recruit 40,000 constables

    The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) will recruit 50 constables for each of the 774 local government areas of the country, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Adamu, has said.

    These will be over 40,000 constables across the country. The IGP spoke yesterday in Enugu while kick-starting the Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCACOV). The campaign is to be spread across the country.

    Adamu, who was represented by the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) incharge of Zone 9, Mr Baba Tijini, said the Federal Government was focused on getting all stakeholders to fight insecurity in the land.

    He said: “I want all Nigerians to key into this programme for the overall reduction of crime in all communities in the country.

    “We want to engage and work together with local citizens to easily identify security threats and proffer local solutions to them.

    “To this end, the Federal Government wants to strengthen community police efforts of the NPF with the recruitment of 40,000 community police Constables.

    “Each of the 774 local government areas in the country will have a minimum of 50 constables to strengthen security at the local level.

    “It will also involve engaging community-based organisations, groups and institutions to see that it works for the better of all.”

    Read Also: I’m overhauling Police force to overcome insecurity says Buhari

    The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Abubakar Maikobi, who spoke for the security chiefs in the state, assured the IGP of continuous support of the security agencies to the campaign.

    Maikobi, who was represented by the 82 Division Garrison Commander, Brig.-Gen. Sylvester Oloyede, noted that the synergy among the security agencies in Enugu State and other parts of the country had continued to yield positive results.

    He said: “The IGP should rest assured that he would get our unwavering support towards this campaign to ensure that it succeeds.”

    Nigeria Policing Programme (NPP) Team Leader Mrs Kemi Okenyodo said the launch of POCACOV was a demonstration of the commitment of the NPF to adopt community policing as a security strategy.

    “The joint identification of societal problems and cross sectorial consultation in a bid to allow the development of local solutions to local problems that have been identified by the society is a key message from the police to all stakeholders present in here today,” she said.

    Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi hailed the IGP for choosing Enugu to launch the campaign.

    The governor noted that it would reform life-style of erring youths and future leaders.

    Ugwuanyi, who was represented by the Head of Service (HoS), Mr Chidi Ezema, recalled the achievements Adamu in security matters recorded when he was the state’s police commissioner.

    He said: “It was during your time as commissioner of police here that POCACOV was initiated by you and the state started to be ranked as the most peaceful in the country.

    “The state government will continue to support the activities of the police to ensure that the state remains safe and secure while protecting the future of our children.

    “I must commend the efforts of the police and other security agencies for stemming insecurity in the state, especially the recent rescue of one of our permanent secretaries unhurt from the hands of abductors.”

  • Fed Govt seeks NURTW’s support to fight insecurity

    The Federal Government has solicited the support of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to tackle insecurity across the country.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, urged the union to support the government in its efforts to rid the nation’s highways of violent crimes.

    The minister spoke yesterday in Abuja, the nation’s capital, at the ninth quadrennial conference of the NURTW.

    He said: “Let me use this important occasion to once again call on you to support this government as it evolves innovative measures to tackle the challenge of insecurity on our roads.

    Read Also: Govt to reduce flour importation for cassava bread

    “The union can specifically support the government in the fight against insecurity by providing timely information to the security agencies, particularly on all the black spots on the nation’s highways. Whether on intra or inter-state journeys, your members crisscross the length and breadth of this vast nation and, collectively, have great access to information that can help to make our roads safer.

    “As government continues to frontally tackle the menace of insecurity, it is incumbent on all of us to collaborate in order to address the kidnapping, armed robbery and other forms of insecurity on our roads,” he said.

  • Govt to reduce flour importation for cassava bread

    The Federal Government on Thursday moved to reduce the importation of flour by encouraging bakers to add at least 10 per cent of cassava flour to their baking.

    The Director of Agric Business and Marketing Department in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Alhaji Musibau Azeez, announced this at a meeting with Cassava Bread Development Fund stakeholders in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

    The meeting was organised by the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Development.

    Azeez said the intention of the Federal Government was to ensure that farmers are able to produce enough cassava of up to 10 per cent to add to flour for baking.

    According to him, if this is done, the amount of flour imported into the country will be reduced.

    Azeez said the Federal Government, in 2013 and 2014, set aside some money to produce high quality cassava that could be used for baking bread.

    The director regretted that some of those who borrowed the money for that purpose refused to pay back their loans without even using the money for cassava bread. “The bakers’ attitudes are that these are free funds and they are not going to pay back; only a few people paid back their loans,” he said.

    The director said 86 per cent of the loans collected by bakers had not been repaid, while 23 per cent of the loans collected by processors were not paid back.

    Read Also: Our interactions with businesses essential for economic growth, says Osinbajo

    Azeez noted that to achieve the objective of reducing flour importation in the country and produce cassava flour, the Federal Government would cease to recognise factions in the bakers’ association until they are united.

    He said the ministry was poised to change the face of cassava, adding that as a result of many coming into cassava farming, the prices of the tuber had drastically reduced.

    The director said government needed the master bakers and processors to create jobs for the country.

    He stressed that it was the reason the Federal Government extended the gesture to give out the loan.

    The Chief Risk Officer at the BoI, Dr Ezekiel Oseni, expressed dissatisfaction with the way the loan were being repaid.

    He noted that no deliberate conscious effort was made to repay the loans.

    The risk officer said 55 beneficiaries from the master bakers sold their equipment, given as loans, adding that this was a breach of agreement.

    “This raises a lot of concerns because the people are not willing to pay back while some blame it on the association that they were told not to pay.

    “If you have sold the equipment, then we have no option than to use the law enforcement agencies to go after you because there is nothing to restructure in the loan again,” Oseni said.

    The National Secretary of Master Bakers Association, Mr Jude Okafor, noted that though some members of the association collected the equipment as loans, “but not all of them collected”.

    Okafor advised the BoI and FMARD to wave the interest rate and restructure the loan to enable their members pay back there loans.

    The union leader urged the BoI to disburse other equipment for its members.

    He decried lack of unity in the association because some people were not ready to relinquish their positions because of some perceived benefits.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bakers’ association are factionalised because of the disbursement of the loan; while some benefited, others were not so privileged.

    Pastor Timothy Soladoye, who represented the National President of National Cassava Processor and Marketers Association, said one of the reasons they found it difficult to pay was that farmers inflated the prices of raw materials.

    He said off-takers were not buying the cassava flour, adding that this was the reason cassava flour value chain broke because they were not patronised.

  • Our interactions with businesses essential for economic growth, says Osinbajo

    The Federal Government will continue to support the private sector for its important role and contribution to the growth of the economy, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said.

    Osinbajo spoke yesterday when he hosted a delegation from the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), led by its Director General, Mr. Timothy Olawale, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    NECA is the nation’s umbrella organisation of employers in the organised private sector (OPS).

    The visit to the Villa was meant to consult with private sector employers, especially on socio-economic and labour policy issues.

    The Vice-President explained the policy interactions between the Federal Government and the OPS, which he described as essential.

    Osinbajo said the Federal Government would keep exploring ways to improve the economy through its policies and reforms.

    He said: “Our interaction is a very important one, because it is really part of our policy as a government to ensure private sector participation in the economy. We think that the private sector has a very important role. For us, the private sector is essential to the growth of the economy. So, we must continue to encourage the private sector in every possible way.”

    The Vice-President also assured that matters that require government attention would be decisively tackled through the Ease of Doing Business (EDB) initiatives to improve the business environment and ensure growth of local businesses.

    Read Also: Govt to expand TraderMoni loan, says Osinbajo

    “We want to continuously engage NECA and the private sector because it is central to what we are doing in respect to the economy,” he said.

    Hailing the Vice-President for his effective chairmanship of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and the Ease of Doing Business reforms, Olawale noted that the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Vice-President was an outcome of their sterling performance in the first term.

    The NECA DG said the organisation had actively supported and championed government’s efforts at job creation.

    He lauded “the giant strides by the Buhari administration in fostering an environment that is hospitable for businesses to thrive through the Ease of Doing Business initiatives”.

    Olawale added: “We specifically recognise the passion with which you (VP) have driven the relationship between government and organised businesses in the past four years through your interventions and leadership that you have provided. These have translated into the activities of PEBEC, the ERGP and the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum, which you preside over.

    “We have no doubt that the solid foundation that has been laid in the first four years would be built upon and Nigeria would be better for it.”

    Also, Adewale called for quick resolution of all issues delaying the payment of the new National Minimum Wage.

    President Muhammadu Buhari signed the new minimum wage on April 18, but a disagreement between labour and government over consequential adjustment of wages has delayed the payment of the new wage.

    The NECA chief said both parties should adopt the principle of give-and-take to resolve the matter.

    Adewale addressed State House correspondents after the meeting with Prof Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa.

    He said: “What we have advised is that in negotiation, the principle of give-and-take is important. They must not be fixated with their position. In other words, you move positions and meet at an agreeable position.

    “You can arrive at a win-win situation and that is what we have been urging the two parties, that in the interest of those workers who are very expectant, there is need for both parties to arrive at a conclusion in the first week of September.”

    Adewale said almost 80 per cent of organised businesses were already paying higher than the N30,000.00 minimum wage.

    He said one the items on the agenda of the meeting between NECA and the Vice-President was “the issue of regulatory bodies that are working at cross purposes”.

    Adewale added: “What we are saying is that we may not have access to the Office of the Vice-President every now and then to discuss issues for his attention.

    “And while also we do not want to be running to the court to seek relief because of the issue of non-accessibility of some of the chief executives of some these regulatory bodies, we want a situation where there is a clearing desk in the Office of the Vice-President, where we can discuss these issues and they are resolved amicably in the interest of national development and national economy.”

  • Rape suspect held

    A 35-year-old rape suspect, identified as Musa Ibrahim, has been detained in the police custody in Kano for allegedly raping an eight-year-old girl.

    The incident occurred at Rijiyan Zaki area of the Kano metropolis.

    The suspected rapist, a family friend, allegedly lured the girl with packs of Indomie noodles.

    It was learnt that the victim was familiar with Ibrahim, making it possible for him to lure her to a corner of a building where he defiled her.

    Read Also: Fatoyinbo released after second day’s grilling over alleged rape

    Police spokesman Abdullahi Haruna, who confirmed the incident, said: ‘’ Immediately the case was reported to the police, the Commissioner, Ahmed Iliyasu, ordered a discreet investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to the incident.

    ‘’The suspect has been arrested and detained, while investigation has begun.

    “The victim has been taken to hospital to ascertain the extent of injury.’’

    The CP said at the conclusion of investigations, the suspect would be arraigned.

  • Car snatchers arrested with 150 phones

    The police in Anambra State have arrested three suspected car snatchers in the state and Delta, spokesman Haruna Mohammed said in a statement in Awka on Thursday.

    He said over 150 phones suspected to have been stolen from the victims were recovered from the suspects.

    He said the suspects were nabbed by “Operation Puff Adder” personnel in conjunction with the detectives attached to Aguata Division of the command following intelligence report.

    Mohammed said the suspects were part of the gang allegedly involved in robbery/carjacking on Anambra and Asaba axes.

    He gave their names as Anyingor Arinze of Otueke, Asaba, Delta State; Chinedu Nweke of Mbekwe Estate, Ogidi and Ebuka Christian Eziamaka of Ire village, Obosi, both in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

    Read Also: 22-year-old woman killed in Ondo

    The police spokesman listed the stolen vehicles to include one Toyota Corolla 2004 and Lexus 300 car.

    He said: “Exhibits found in their possession include one Gionee phone belonging to one of the victims whose vehicle was snatched.

    “Others are 12 Itel phones of different models, 26 Infinix phones of different models, 32 Tecno phones of different models, 16 Samsung phones of different models, three Gionee phones of different models and 60 other smaller phones of different models, all suspected to have been snatched from victims.”

    Mohammed said the suspects would be prosecuted after investigations.

    “The command enjoins people whose phones were either snatched or stolen through similar modus to report at the Special Anti-robbery Squad, Awkuzu with proof of ownership in order to claim their handsets and give evidence to aid police investigation,” he added.

  • Civil Defence still investigating ‘killer-cop’, says spokesman

    The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is yet to conclude investigation on its officer who allegedly killed a 100 level student of Niger Delta University, (NDU), Ammassoma, Bayelsa State, spokesman Emmanuel Okeh has said.

    He told The Nation yesterday in Abuja that the officer is still in detention.

    The officer two weeks ago allegedly shot dead a Petrochemical Engineering student identified as Obinna, who was reportedly taken to a hospital in the community, but died later.

    NSCDC Commandant General (CG) Abdullahi Muhammadu said the incident could have been avoided if the officer had been careful. He assured the bereaved family that the officer would be sanctioned in accordance with the law, to act as a deterrent to others.

    Read Also: 22-year-old woman killed in Ondo

    Okeh said: “investigation is still ongoing. He is in detention in Bayelsa State. It is after investigation that we will know the next step to take.”

    A family source, who spoke with our correspondent in confidence, said the deceased’s parents are beginning to express fear over the investigation.

    The source said: “For the family of the deceased, we are worried. We expect that the investigation would have yielded result now, but what we are told is that investigation is still ongoing. For how long? We hope this case will not be swept under the carpet. We want the NSCDC to speed up the investigative process.”

  • 22-year-old woman killed in Ondo

    Fear has gripped residents of Akure, the Ondo State capital, following the killing of a 22-year-old woman.

    The Nation learnt that the incident occurred on Wednesday at Oke-Ogba area of Akure, about 7pm.

    It was gathered that the woman was operating a point of sales (POS) at Oke-Ogba junction, off Agagu Road, Akure when the gunmen attacked her.

    The murder occurred barely 24 hours after a middle-aged worker with a publishing company located at Ajipowo was also shot dead in a night robbery.

    The incident happened on Ajipowo/Ogundipe Estate, off Ondo Road/Customs Junction, Akure.

    Read Also: Gunmen kill Catholic priest in Taraba state

    Robberies have been on the increase recently at Ajipowo/Ogundipe, Shagari village and Ijoka, among others, in Akure.

    Policemen have been deployed in Oke-Ogba where the woman was shot dead.

    An eyewitness said: “Residents of Oke-Ogba community on Agagu Road, Akure were on Wednesday evening thrown into mourning, as shop owners ran for safety when a woman was shot at close range by gunmen.”

    It was learnt that the men, who were on a motorcycle, snatched an undisclosed amount from the woman before killing her.

    Police spokesman Femi Joseph, a Superintendent of Police (SP), who confirmed the incident, said the command was working towards arresting the suspects.

  • IGP orders CP to fish out killers

    Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammmed Adamu has directed the Commissioner of Police in charge of Taraba State Command to fish out the killers of Rev. Father Tanko.

    He also ordered the DIG in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) to provide additional forensic and other investigative assets to the Taraba State Command to aid investigations into the incident.

    The cleric was murdered by unknown persons yesterday at Kpankufu village along Wukari Road while he was on his way to Kofai Amadu village in Taraba State.

    A statement in Abuja yesterday by the Force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba,

    Read Also: Gunmen kill Catholic priest in Taraba state

    said the IGP, while condoling with the Catholic family in Nigeria over the unfortunate incident, also expressed deep concern over the recent incidence of attacks on clergymen in some parts of the country.

    Following the recent attacks, Adamu also directed commissioners of police in all states and the FCT to pay special attention to the clergy and increase security around worship centres nationwide.

    The police chief, while assuring the nation that the perpetrators of the act would not go undetected and unpunished, urged the people to be calm and support the police to unravel the mastermind of the crime, their motives and circumstances surrounding the unfortunate killing of the priest.