The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • Park-and-pay returns

    Park-and-pay returns

    To raise cash and manage increasing traffic, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is introducing a parking scheme that was once outlawed, GBENGA OMOKHUNU reports.

    Illegality was its undoing in its first life. But there is no question that the park-and-pay scheme is back in the nation’s capital.

    The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) is finalising the processes leading to the second life of the scheme, amid applause and concerns from stakeholders.

    This became clear when AMAC Legislative Council held a public hearing on the formulation of the Council’s on-street parking by-law in the Abuja municipality, comprising the Federal Capital City (FCC) areas, including the Central Business District, Garki, Wuse II, Maitama, Asokoro and others.

    Speaker, AMAC Legislative Council, Hon. Daniel Shandabwa Michael while addressing the public hearing at the event, recalled that “the park and pay policy erroneously introduced by the FCT Administration in 2012 was licensed to four companies: Automaten Technik Haumann Nigeria, Safe Parking Limited, Integrated Parking Service Limited and Platinum Parking Managerial Services, for revenue collection in the same Abuja municipality.

    The Speaker further alleged that “because of the illegitimacy of the policy, there was a public outcry that culminated [in] a suit filed by Suntrust Savings and Loans Ltd Vs Hon. Minister, Federal Capital Territory” at FCT High Court in April 2014, in which the former came out victorious.

    According to him, the necessity of the moment makes it imperative for the Council to reintroduce the scheme so as to generate revenue for the Area Council, even as he regretted that it was not the intention of AMAC to over-burden residents with too much taxation in a recessed economy.

    Douglas Itiat of AMAC Marshal who also spoke at the event disclosed that AMAC “put on hold on-street parking to allow AMAC legislature enact and pass the bye-law”, adding that its operations would be completely handled by marshals. Itiat revealed that interviews for recruitment of workers for the scheme were being carried out.

    It would be recalled that Hon. Justice Peter O. Affen based the grounds for the proscription of the hitherto FCTA introduced Park and Pay scheme on the absence of an enabling law from the National Assembly, which doubles as the legislative arm of the FCT.

    Prior to this popular judgment which was celebrated by many FCT residents, especially car owners who had bitter tales to tell about the harsh manner of operations by the defunct park and pay companies, many residents called for abolition of the policy. It was a great relief for many when Justice Peter Affen delivered that long-awaited ruling.

    On the side of the government, huge revenue was lost to that ruling, as the park and pay companies generated hundreds of millions of naira for the FCT Administration. This was in addition to the security operators of the companies provided to owners of vehicles at the parking lots.

    However, the real controversy surrounding the reintroduction of the policy rests on the concern over who reserves the right to implement park and pay policy in the FCT since Justice Affen ruling was silent on whose responsibility it was to collect such levies, only relying on illegality of its establishment.

    More so, it is believed that one of the FCT Administration bills pending at the National Assembly is that concerning park and pay policy, which the Administrations still hopes to dust up and reintroduce the policy which generated so much revenue for the government.

    The proposed bye-law comprises two schedules. While the first schedule deals with charges for the on-street parking, schedule two provides for violations and fines.

    Accordingly, while parking up to 30 minutes attract N50 rate, that of  one hour and 11 hours attract N100 and N600, respectively. There are still proposed charges between two to 10 hours with varying rates of levies.

    Under violations with fines, parking without payment and parking beyond paid time attract the same punishment of clampdown and payment of N5000, while failure to abide by the above attracts towing of vehicles with payment of a towing fee of N15,000 and demurrage on the above attracts N2, 000 per day.

     

  • Gbagyi women: we need help

    Gbagyi women: we need help

    Gbagyi women in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have demanded for the creation of intervention plans to help in poverty alleviation in their communities.

    The women said that no matter how little, government needs to profile their needs and create plans that will enable Gbagyi women speak out through their skills.

    The Abuja women made the call at a two-day seminar organised to create awareness for the overall wellbeing of the Gbagyi indigenous women of the FCT, in commemoration on the International Women’s Day, tagged, the need to give the Gbagyi indigenous woman a voice.

    Organiser of the event and former vocal beacon for the C25 Century on indegenous people, Della Ileri explained that the idea is to connect the Gbagyi issue with the international instruments that can be used to create policies for them.

    Ileri stated further that the advocacy project which brought about the program was sponsored by the International Indigenous Women Forum (IIWF) after an online three months training and a two weeks training in New York that outline the needs of indigenous people.

    She added, “The government needs to make more provisions, to make need assessment, it’s time to start profiling these women, we can’t keep saying we want to meet their needs without the women expressing themselves on where they are and are coming from.

    “So we can create intervention plans, it must not be huge, it can just be basic intervention plans.

    “Like one of the women we met who said that her father is the only person who know about the making of a particular material, it doesn’t take much to train others so we need to get back into these communities and train them.

    “The women need to speak for themselves so their needs can be profiled and create intervention plans no matter how little, we need to let these women speak with their skills.

    “I grew up in this city and saw how a typical Gbagyi woman is confident and not scared of walking into any neigbourhood to sell her yams and other harvests but these days we hardly see them. These women have a unique lifestyle and skills that they can use to sustain their economy.

    “The government and private individuals need to create intervention plans, we need to start letting these women speak and ask for what they want.

    “The 35% affirmation has not been achieved its time to let these women speak, especially those in the grassroot, because some cultures are being lost like that of training the younger generation to be self-sustaining but not depending on the government especially in the area of craft so that most of the Gbagyi traditional knowledge will not go extinct.

    “Presently there is the fear of their traditional knowledge going extinct and not celebrated, it needs to be sustained and passed unto the next generation over time.

    “When you go into the communities, you will know that the women know what they want.

    “The government can liberate Gbegyi women by building skills acquisition centres for them, promoting their knowledge and giving them enough space to practice their skills and give them more opportunities to education because a lot of the families still prefer training the male children to female, provide them adult education and we can get to the point where we translate basic education in their own language so it can help sustain traditional knowledge.

  • Kogi governor’s wife makes case for gender equality

    Kogi governor’s wife makes case for gender equality

    Wife of Governor of Kogi State, Mrs Rasheedat Bello has called for urgent domestication of the Gender and Equal Opportunity and Violence against Persons Prohibition Law in the state.

    She made the call at an advocacy meeting with stakeholders as part of activities marking the 2017 International Women’s Day in Lokoja, the state capital.

    The advocacy meeting was organised by a non-profit organisation, Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development (PIBCID) in conjunction with the Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA) with support from ActionAid Nigeria.

    Bello said women “constituted a very important fraction of the human population” but had been sidelined for too long with their rights often violated at will.

    “It is my belief that the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill and Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill are a great leap but these bills have to be domesticated in Kogi State,” she stated.

    Mrs Gift Owonipa, Executive Director of PIBCID in a paper: “Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill as a Tool for Acceleration Gender Parity in Kogi State,” said that in spite of efforts at addressing gender issues, rights of women and children were still being trampled upon.

    She said, “It is disheartening to note that the rights of Nigerian women and by extension Kogi women are still being violated and women are still subjugated to different forms of violence, discrimination and harmful practices.

    ‘’What we are asking for is protection and equal opportunity when it comes to marriage, business, employments, politics and inheritance amongst others. With these, our families, communities and state will prosper, she said.

    Owonipa called on Governor Bello to as a matter of urgency, institute a gender audit to identify gaps and areas where gender equality can be strengthened in terms of recruitments, appointive positions, promotion and remuneration for public and polittical offices.

    The state commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Bolanle Amupitan who was represented by Mrs Tessy Fadile urged that the government ensure enforcement of the state law on kidnapping, as part of measures at addressing issues of security for women and children in the state.

    Wife of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hajia Hadiza Imam, said gender-based issues remain rampant in communities and urged women to come up with a holistic agenda to tackle the issues.

    Hon. Victor Omofaiye, the member representing Ijumu state constituency at the house of assembly called on women to always support their fellow women’s aspirations, asserting that hitherto, women had been their own worst enemies rather than men.

    Mrs Falilat Yusuf-Musa, FIDA chairperson in the state called for the emergence of a more gender-inclusive world and called on the women to be bold , and come together to address issues of injustice affecting them.

    As part of the programme, two hundred “seed grants” were handed over to two clusters of women cooperative groups from Osara and Ugbedomogwu communities, in Adavi and Igalamela/Odolu local government areas.

  • Went to monitor election, crippled by accident

    Went to monitor election, crippled by accident

    A road crash while on election monitoring assignment in Gombe State has left Peter Okosun, a human rights activist, crippled, his family shattered. He needs help from anyone who can give it, VINCENT OHONBAMU reports

    Since the accident, Peter Okosun has been feeling as though the world was crashing down on him. He cannot walk except aided by a pair of crutches, one under each arm. Even then, his movement is laborious and painful. The wounds did not heal properly when he was first taken to hospital. Why? He lacked the money to undergo a comprehensive surgery. His family is a shambles. His wife, a nurse, is buckling under the weight of daily responsibilities. Their children have been withdrawn from school for their serial fees defaults.

    Okosun has no viable means of livelihood, but he would not sit and groan all day. Sometimes he hobbles to motor parks to pray for those about to travel, asking God to spare them what he went through on the road. Moved by pity and also in hopes that God will answer the prayers, they would hand him some small amounts of money. Okosun will hobble back home and hand it over to his hard-working wife. Still, what he brings home is not enough. So sometimes the wife and the children go out to beg.

    Okosun needs N2m for a surgery that will help him walk again, he told The Nation.

    A human rights activist, and coordinator of Pan African Peace Initiative, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Okosun left his family in 2010 to monitor an election in Gombe State. He neither completed the assignment nor has been able to fend for his family ever since.

    He was lucky, though. Three others in the vehicle he was travelling in died. Okosun came away with very severe wounds that left him unable to walk but which were not properly treated.

    Okosun who hails from Uromi in Esan Northeast Local government area of Edo State said he would welcome death as a relief, but since death will not come, he is now appealing to the general public for donations to enable him carry out the recommended surgery that would enable him regain the use of his legs and lead a normal life again.

    The ghastly accident that crippled him occurred in the course of monitoring elections for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Gombe State.

    Okosun visited the Correspondents’ Chapel Secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Gombe to solicit the journalists’ help in publicising his predicament so that help may come from anywhere, including corporate bodies and government.

    Relieving his ordeal, Okosun said he met his fate along Gombe-Dukku Expreeway in August 2010. The NGO he coordinated was accredited by the electoral body to monitor Gombe North Senatorial by-election as an election observer.

    He said they were on their way to Gombe metropolis when their vehicle had a head-on collision with another. The driver and two female colleagues died immediately. It took the intervention of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) crew which was following closely behind to get him to the now Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH), Gombe alive, where the doctors battled and administered the preliminary treatment to keep him alive.

    He was discharged since the facility at the time lacked the requisite expertise to make his limbs work. He thereafter went to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) for expert treatment. But the treatment did not hold because he could not afford the required N2m charged at the time.

    Okosun said he wrote to INEC and the Presidency asking for help, considering that he was on national assignment. None responded positively, he said. While the Presidency kept mum, INEC under Professor Attahiru Jega reportedly said election observers were not captured under their insurance scheme.

    Inquiries at the Gombe arm of INEC also confirmed that the commission has no obligations whatsoever to election observers. Has INEC helped Okosun in anyway whatsoever? No. Is the body aware of Okosun’s plight? Yes, our source said, confirming that the ex-human rights activist was indeed in Gombe to observe an election conducted by the commission when the accident happened.

    Okosun is now seeking help wherever he can find it.

    “My children are now withdrawn from school because I cannot afford their school fees and my wife is fast wearing out under the burden of the family responsibility she has now assumed,” he said.

    “Look, the worst part of it all is not just being limp; I feel pains all over my body, especially injured parts and areas around. The pain gets more excruciating by the day; to the extent that moving my body is so laborious, not to talk of trying to do something. As it is now, I would gladly welcome death so that I can rest in peace, but death too has refused to come.

    “The reason I am here (Correspondents’ Chapel of NUJ, Gombe) is to beg you to please help me reach out to INEC, the Presidency, kind-hearted people and groups out there to please come to my aid and help me financially, to at least facilitate my treatment. That is my greatest appeal now,” said Okosun.

    Asked how to reach him, should succour come, Okosun said he could be contacted through Edith Okosun, his wife on 07065553301 or his daughter on 08034574392.

  • Security: Govt to strengthen transport policy

    The transportation system in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would be strengthened in line with the Abuja Master Plan to improve the security of life and property.

    FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, disclosed this while receiving officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), FCT Chapter that paid him a visit in his office.

    Bello said that such policy would be aimed at devising very efficient and scientific ways of operating as well as handling large numbers of commuters.

    He said, “We also have our plans and programmes as to what we want transport management in Abuja to be. Based on the master plan and our focus and for us to be able to cater for the high number of people in Abuja”.

    “We have to really sit down and device very efficient and scientific ways of handling that, starting from the locations where you operate to the road network for your members to function, to the security of commuters and your members as well as the freedom for you to operate without hindrance,” he added.

    Bello reiterated that the policy cannot be an all comer’s affairs because Abuja remains the window through which the world sees Nigeria.

    In a statement issued by the Deputy Director / Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Sule, the minister said: “As you all know, anybody who has a car, no matter where he is from, one day just decides, ‘I want to go to Abuja’ and he comes to Abuja and just paints the car or we paint it for him and register it and before you know it, he is on the streets. Some of them will come and they don’t even follow traffic regulations, they hit people on the road, park indiscriminately and I am sure most of them as you said are not your members and I know”.

    “But we will sit down with you and streamline it so that if somebody comes in, I will know this is not the type of driver or vehicle we want in Abuja. We will tell him to park it at the border and then enter our own kind of vehicles,” he emphasised.

    The Minister remarked that “for us in Abuja, we require your support; all the issues raised cannot be resolved without the support of the Unions”.

    He restated that NURTW and other Unions in the transportation industry are very important stakeholders in Nigeria because no economy will progress and survive without the movement of goods, services and human beings.

    Bello said that the FCT Administration through its investment arm would roll out empowerment programmes for the transport associations through credit facilities to enable them own commercial vehicles of the standard befitting of Abuja roads.

    On the knotty issue of multiple taxations, he assured, “We are working on it seriously because it affects you as transporters, and it affects the hotel and hospitality business. It affects the health and educational system. Everybody is complaining. So, we are going to streamline it because the duty of government is to facilitate what you do”.

    Bello used the opportunity to appeal to the NURTW and other unions in the transportation industry, to continue to be patience despite the challenges; saying, “under no circumstances should you take the law into your hands, no matters the provocation”.

  • Group trains 226

    The office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in conjunction with Anti-Corruption Enlightenment Drive Initiative (ACEDI), has concluded arrangements to take the federal government’s anti-corruption campaign to schools.

    The coordinator of the group, Mr. Samuel Ukwu, who made the disclosure during a media parley in Abuja said that apart from visiting schools to enlighten them on anti-corruption, the group has trained over 226 Nigerians youths on various empowerment programmes, as a way of fighting crime and corruption.

    “We have the endorsement of the SGF, the National Orientation Agencies (NOA) and all the anti-corruption agencies in the country to take the federal government’s anti-corruption fight to the schools. ACEDI has been able to raise visible campaigns in some secondary schools in the FCT and we also hope to carry on this campaign across all the States and Local Governments in Nigeria.

    “We believe that corruption should be nipped from grassroots level as such, ACEDI’s next campaign move would be in Niger State. We hope to invade and educate the young minds of students on the ills of corruption. ACEDI would commence her campaigns in secondary schools and we have also commenced our community enlightenment programs.

    “ACEDI has been able to raise viable campaigns in some secondary schools in the FCT and we also hope to carry on this campaign across all the states and local government in Nigeria, as we believe that corruption should be nipped from the grass-root level, as such, ACEDI’s next campaign move would be in Niger state; we hope to invade and educate the young minds of students there on the ill of corruption.  ACEDI would commence her campaigns in secondary schools with Kick Start Academy, Niger state and we have also commenced our community enlightenment programs.

    “We came up with a 14-day Skill Acquisition and Empowerment Programme to train and eradicate self-doubt and increase personal empowerment as well as promote entrepreneurship in Nigeria. The goal of this empowerment program stems from the strong believe that unemployment is a major contribution to corruption. ACEDI is poised to contribute our quota in this regard.

  • German group trains 160 Plateau youths

    German group trains 160 Plateau youths

    It is no secret that youths without any viable means of livelihood are easily manipulated and recruited by unscrupulous individuals to foment trouble. But how do you stem this tide?

    In Plateau State, which has seen much mayhem perpetrated by youths, a German organisation, GIZ, which specialises in peace building, on behalf of the European Union (EU), has tackled the problem by training no fewer than 160 youths in skills, and equipping them with tools to set up their new trades.

    They were trained in plumbing, tilers, carpentry, POP installation, masonry, house-painting and welding, among others.

    The most interesting aspect of the training is the creation of a job portal that will expose the artisans to developers and others who need their services. The “Job Creation Centre”, which is an internet portal, contains the names, skills and other particulars of the artisans. Each of them can be contacted through the portal for any available job.

    Explaining how the portal works, Mr. Everest Miri, the portal operator, said, “The job centre is meant to expose these trained artisans to the outside world for contact. There are huge construction works going on in Nigeria, but the developers often run into the problem of getting skilled artisans for the construction. This lack of access to qualified artisans has led to two things: the developers had to hire the services of artisans from neighbouring countries, or the developers tried to make do with unprofessional artisans available to them. This on its own has led to capital flight and, the worst, poor quality of construction resulting in collapsed buildings all over the country.

    “But with the training of these artisans and the creation of the job centre, quality of services has been guaranteed and the trained artisans can be accessed to render their services. So the job center concept is aimed at redefining service in the construction industry, developers would not have to look outside to get professional artisans. The truth is that artisans have never been organised in this manner. There is a big market for construction in Nigeria but how prepared are the artisans for this task of nation building. There are lots of untrained artisans who dupe innocent Nigerians, which is why we have cases of substandard constructions all over.”

    One of the factors said to be responsible for prolonged violence in Plateau State was the issue of idle youths who are often recruited and equipped with weapons to carry out violence. The state witnessed such prolonged conflicts between 2001 and 2014.

    Promoter of the training, Everest Miri said, “This group of 160 artisans is just a tip of the iceberg; hundreds more youths will be trained in some other skills, this is just the first batch, in the next two weeks another batch will commence their own training.

    The state governor, Simon Lalong who launched the job portal, said, “The EU, through GIZ has helped a lot in reducing conflicts in the state by targeting the youths for capacity building. The governor who was represented on the occasion by Mr. Haggai Gutap, the director general of Plateau State Micro-Finance Development Agency said, “Government is going to develop the policy framework for the engagement of the artisans in all government constructions so as to give the artisans the opportunity to deploy their skills for state building. Government is most happy because these youths will no longer be jobless and they will no longer be recruited by conflict merchant to cause violence.”

    The job centre and the portal can be accessed at artisanjob@-gmail.com. The website is www.artisanj-obcenter.ng, while the GSM lines are 08111071196, and 08034519640.

    Two of the trainees, James Joseph and Adeyemi Becky said it a dream come true. “The training has opened our eyes to a lot of things we never knew about our job. The equipment like safety boots, hand gloves, safety workshop dresses and safety helmets boost our morale”.

  • Inside Abuja’s forgotten community

    Inside Abuja’s forgotten community

    On a hill, less than 10 minutes’ drive from Apo, in the nation’s capital city centre, is a community with hardly any feature of modern life, reports GRACE OBIKE

    From their unflattering hilly community they can hear the sounds of the city which lies only about 10 minutes’ drive away. The rich and powerful in Apo Legislative Quarters are not far away.

    In Chille, residents can only imagine the comforts of city life but they do not experience any. Theirs is the very opposite of what obtains in Apo in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Chille is devoid of any form of modern-day civilisation.

    The tiny village is devoid of water, electricity, quality school or  healthcare centre. The villagers who consist of Gbagyi, Tiv, Hausa and a few Igbo live in small structures made from mud bricks of not more than two rooms. They are mostly farmers and charcoal makers, with young wives who strap their children to their waists and go about their business while the children suckle.

    In this small, poor community women help each other to deliver their babies. In emergencies, they rush them over to a nurse a few miles from the community. Eventually, they were blessed with a two-classroom block owned by a  church where a few of them worship. There are two staff members  who teach children from Primary one to four. You can call it a church and school rolled into one. Older children stay back home to help their parents on the farm or charcoal making.

    With all the glitz and glamour that make up Abuja, one will not believe that a community still exists within Abuja, just a few minutes’ drive from the city centre and seat of power. The residents literally drink from gutters or dirty streams and a small hole.

    Husband to two wives and father of five, Muhammed Bello explained that the reason why the community is stuck to drinking from the dirty stream and not a well is because the earth in the village is too soft, making it impossible to dig a well which immediately fills back anytime they dig.

    “It caves back in and covers up; we realised that digging a well will not work here. We share this hole with cows, we drink from it, cook and do our laundry,” he said.

    He also said that they drink from another stream which separates them from the nearest community, adding, though, that vehicles and motorcycles pass through the same water. One thing is that water never dries up becomes it comes out of a small hole whose they have no idea. Animals also frink from it.

    “God has been protecting us. We have a lot of needs but if the government can assist us with water, we will really be grateful,” Bello said.

    Chief of the village, David Chille informed The Nation that the contaminated water causes boils and rashes on the bodies of their children.

    “Most of our people here are displaced and poor, after primary four we cannot afford to send our children to the nearest schools outside this village because they are all private and we cannot afford it. The water we drink is contaminated and it causes our children rashes and boils,” said the chief.

    He also added, “If the government can also assist us with a clinic, we will be grateful, all our pregnant women cannot afford to go for antenatals and when the time comes for them to deliver, they deliver without a hospital, three of them had complications recently, we rushed them to a church and a nurse there assisted.”

    It seemed like fortune was beginning to shine on the community when On Air Personality with Wazobia FM and founder Help One foundation James Expensive, drove to the community in search of land to build his dream school for the less privileged children.

    ”I drove past the stream and saw people drinking the dirty water and was surprised, I realised they were

  • Dangote Foundation votes N200m for Kano hospital rehab

    In addition to building a N7 billion surgical and diagnostic centre (SDC) at the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano, the Dangote Foundation is renovating sections of the hospital at the cost of over N200m.

    The 900-bed capacity hospital, reputed for the highest number of in-patients in sub-Saharan Africa has been lacking facilities that may detract from the new SDC being built by the Foundation, hence the decision to carry out the construction and renovation of the auxiliary facilities.

    The chairman of the Foundation said he is committed to its timely completion.

    The Foundation handed over to the hospital management a renovated maternity ward, two ultra-modern maternity laboratories, upgraded water supply system Eclampsia ward, theatre and improved sanitary environment befitting of a specialist hospital.

    President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote who was represented by his daughter, Hajiya Fatima Dangote, explained that the provision of the health care facilities was in line with the focus of the Foundation to contribute to improved health care service delivery in Nigeria as well as nutrition on the African continent.

    He stated that his Foundation has the mandate to intervene in the critical areas such as health, education and human development which was why the Foundation has also embarked on some poverty alleviation programmes targeted at women at the grassroots.

    Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, who was represented by his deputy, Hafis Abubakar expressed the state’s gratitude to Dangote Foundation for coming to the aid of the state in the task of provision of sound health care to the people of the state.

    He urged other public-spirited individual and organisations to rise up and partner with the state government efforts at making life more meaningful to the people saying government alone could not provide all that the people need.

    The Deputy Governor then called on the staff of the hospital to make judicious use of the facilities and maintain them like their personal property so that they can serve the people for a long time.

    The state Commissioner for Health, Kabiru Getso said the Murtala Mohammed Specialist hospital Kano, was established about 92 years ago and it is one of the biggest facilities in Africa; with the maternity ward alone recording no fewer than 2, 000 deliveries monthly.

    Head of Medical laboratory of the hospital, Magaji Minjibir said the intervention by Dangote Foundation was timely because the state of the hospital was appalling.

    He said the hospital’s laboratory has suffered congestion and the hospital is generally bedevilled with many infrastructural challenges.

    “At the chemical pathology, we had to wait for our equipment to cool down before we process results. The Histology department had to stop work temporarily. Our autoclave is about 15 years old and outdated. We have only one microscope and this cannot cater for our teaming patients while lab staff take turns to perform tests and this delay results especially for patients in emergency cases”.  Minjibir stated.

    The Matron in charge of Maternity ward, Hauwa Mansur Waziri, who also spoke on the pitiable situation of the hospital before the Dangote Foundation’s intervention, said the new facilities will go a long way in improving services and saving more lives.

    “There is no doubt that our staff will now be motivated by the conducive environment made possible by the Foundation. They can now perform their duties free of so many hazards. The wards now have bright light, functional tools, water and toilets. All these would enhance conditions of patients and help healing process”, she stated with excitement.

  • Keeping Presidency indivisible

    No doubt Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has clearly been calling the shots since President Muhammadu Buhari embarked on vacation in the United Kingdom.

    Buhari, unlike some past leaders, has made that possible when he transmitted letters to the National Assembly in line with the 1999 Constitution.

    That move paved the way for Osinbajo to act in Buhari’s absence since January 19.

    But what has become worrisome now is the alarm raised by the Presidency last week of deliberate and calculated attempts by some individuals to divide the house.

    The Presidency believed that the individuals are bent on causing division between Buhari and Osinbajo.

    They have been praising Osinbajo since the naira appreciated against the dollar under his watch.

    They have also thumbed up for Osinbajo for the relative peace in the Niger Delta region, which has led to stoppage of sabotage and bombing of oil and power installations.

    The new peace in the area has increased oil production to over two million barrels per day, which had hovered around one million barrels during the period of hostilities.

    Generation of power has also increased to over 4,000 megawatts with the availability of more gas.

    Apart from signing seven bills into law, Walter Onnoghen was also confirmed by the Senate as substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) after Osinbajo forwarded his name to the National Assembly  just before the expiration of his 90-day acting status.

    So this set of Nigerians general believed that things are better under Osinbajo as Acting President in comparison to Buhari in the saddle.

    But the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Babafemi Ojudu, faulted them, warning that they have bad plots against the unity of the Presidency.

    He said: “I think it is thoughtless. I also see it as a ploy by the opposition to cause an unnecessary ýdivision. It is joint ticket, the president and the vice president were elected based on the manifesto of the party and since they were sworn-in they have been committed to implementing that manifesto.

    “The same people who said we never had economic team, no policy, nothing are the ones saying this. It is now that the policies we are implementing are maturing and they are seeing the result. It is not a question of one person being better than the other person.

    “I will give you an example, there is nothing that has been done since the vice president started acting that is not something that started far back in the past.

    “A good example is the Niger Delta initiative. The President called the Vice President and said I am giving you the mandate, go into the Niger Delta meet with everyone who is a stakeholder, all the communities, talk to the militants and make sure you solve this problem for the benefits of Nigerians.

    “We are losing 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, all the gas pipelines powering the turbines are being blown up.

    “And the President has said unless and until we resolve this problem we will not get out of recession.

    “The Vice President took up the mandate and went to the Niger Delta, it is the initiative of Mr. President not that of Vice President.

    “This is mischief makers, those who do not wish this country well, who are always promoting crisis, who will not allow the people to benefit from this democracy, are the ones promoting this kindý of divisive tendencies.” he added

    Noting that the Acting President has been consulting with the President in London, he said: “Almost on a daily basis, yes.ý Well, there are things he still needs to consult the President, I mean it’s not a regular thing but major decisions he still has to consult Mr. President. The president is still the president.

    “ýHe is in charge but like I said earlier on, this is a joint ticket the president of Nigeria remains the president of Nigeria. He is acting because it is one government and the same.

    “He is more experienced, he has been in the game longer than the vice president and if there are major issues that he needs to take decision on, he could call on him and say Sir, what do you think about this we are about to take decision on it, do you have opinion? That does not mean he is not in charge.” he said

    He added: “Again, one other thing you have to see is that if you give someone a responsibility, he must be able to show to Mr. President that despite that he is not around, it is not going to create any vacuum.

    “He can then decide not to sleep at all, all through the time the president is away just to show him that he is capable of ensuring that Nigeria goes on well while he is away.

    “And the President could also have given the mandate let nothing go wrong, I believe in you, I appointed you as my Vice President you must make sure that you do this. If you have a boss who gives you an assignment you will want to impress him and Nigerians as well and that for me is what has happened. ýIt is not that one person is better than the other, certainly not.

    “I’m telling you that I have seen some things sent out intentionally to cause some kind of division within the presidency. Some people who have been condemning everybody in the past, I see them on twitter and on facebook and generally on social media. Some people are trying to promote division and we are not going to allow that.

    “This president and vice president worked together in tandem and I know they both have confidence in this nation.” he said

    While Nigerians have the right to appreciate the improvements they are seeing in the government, it definitely will not augur well for the relationship between the President and the Vice President to be strained.

    When two elephants fight…