The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • Scramble for emblem

    With the launching of the 2016 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Emblem by President Muhammadu Buhari a few weeks ago, there has been a great rush for the symbol at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Besides urging Nigerians to buy it in support of the families and relatives of the fallen heroes and the living soldiers, Buhari had urged Ministers and other government officials to always hang the emblem on their clothes from the period of the launching to the January 15th Armed Forces Remembrance Day.

    He also warned that the emblem may be made mandatory for staff and any visitor to government establishments during the period.

    This last remark was a further nugde for visitors and officials at the seat of government to go for the emblem.

    Of special note was the rush for the emblem three days after the launching when the 63rd session of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting was held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    State governors, their aides and some ministers who came for the meeting, who were not with the emblem had to buy at the main entrance to the President and Vice President’s offices.

    Some beautiful ladies were already positioned at the entrance to sell the emblems.

    Some of the governors and aides who bought the emblem as they were heading to the meeting that morning included Kebbi State Governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi.

    Rather than paying the going rate of N500 per emblem as was being sold to Villa staff that morning, some of the governors paid as high as N20,000 per emblem.

    One of the governors after he was decorated by one of the beautiful ladies selling the emblem turned and gave his aide instruction to settle the bill.

    Some staff, who saw what was happening were surprised to see some of the aides to the governors counting counting N20,000 and some above N20,000 for just one emblem they just parted N500 for.

    While the governors might have been thinking that they were making donations and supporting the course of the fallen heroes and the living soldiers as directed by the President, it is another story altogether whether what they gave out really gets to where it should go or just to enrich the ladies.

    Whatever the case may be, some staff who witnessed what was going on also benefited from the governors’ largess.

    They refused to pay for the emblems they collected from the ladies.

    One of the staff, who collected one emblem and already agreed to pay N500 but waited for one of the ladies to attend to a governor who just arrived, had to reply her this way when she came back for her money: “So, after seeing all these, you expect me to pay for this emblem.”

    The staff walked away as the lady continued to count and properly pile the money from the governor into her purse.

    When another staff was approached by the second lady for the money for the emblem he collected, he brought another angle to the drama by demanding a cut from the governors’ largess.

    Although he didn’t get any cut from the lady, but just like the first staff he walked away with the emblem without paying for it.

    Despite the rush for the emblem, there was no full compliance enforcement at the entrances two weeks after the launching unlike under the last dispensation.

    Many staff and visitors could still gain entrance to the State House without the emblem.

     

    Total refund

     

    One of the common and popular practices under past administrations is that you are left off the hook the moment you refund part of the loot stolen from the national treasury or in a public office.

    Many public officers accused of stealing public funds during their tenures have been allegedly given soft landing by the investigating government agencies as soon as they play ball by secretly parting with part of the loots.

    Whether the money and assets recovered from such looters get to the government purse or ended up in the pockets of those in charge, the cases always died down.

    Often times, the case file may mysteriously disappear from the custody of the investigating agencies or the case simply forgotten with time.

    Such looters not only continue to walk freely in the society but they also continue to command great respect among the low and mighty.

    The trend has also encouraged many to see any public officer, who declined to steal while occupying such office, to be foolish.

    With such treatment on looters, there was no deterrence to discourage massive looting especially in public offices.

    The various laws put in place to check such fraudulent practices cannot achieve much on their own without the human aspect.

    While the laws appeared to be very good on paper, those saddled with the responsibility of enforcing them most times disappoint in carrying out their duties effectively.

    All these have given many thieves in high places the courage and hope that they will always escape prosecution and total refund of stolen money at the end of the day.

    But President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed that such partial refund of money stolen under past administrations will not be entertained under his government.

    Even as he claimed that some of the looters have started to secretly return part of the stolen funds to his government, he has insisted that all monies stolen must be refunded to the government coffers in full.

    Speaking at a forum with the Nigerian community in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran last Tuesday, Buhari said: “On corruption; yes, they are still innocent. But, we are collecting documents and some of them have started voluntarily returning something. But we want all.

    “When we get those documents we will formally charge them to court and then we will tell Nigerians to know those who abused trust when they are entrusted with public funds. So, the day of reckoning is gradually approaching,” he warned

    This, definitely, is a welcome development as it will go a long way under the present dispensation to discourage such looting.

  • Ishaku’s wife leads anti-HIV fight

    Ishaku’s wife leads anti-HIV fight

    Life of the Taraba State governor Mrs Ann Darius Ishaku has led government officials and health NGOs on a walk and jog seeking to focus attention on the dangers of HIV/AIDS in the state.

    The governor’s wife is concerned that the state posts a 10.5 per cent HIV prevalence, second only to Rivers with a 15.2 per cent endemic profile.

    Mrs. Ishaku and the team trekked and jogged in parts of Jalingo, the state capital, to mark this year’s World’s AIDS Day.

    At the Trade Fair Complex, Jalingo, she made a speech, further calling for concerted efforts to scale back the disease.

    Billboards, banners and placards were displayed and dramas highlighted the dangers of the scourge. The activities sent a loud message to the public that the disease is deadly, but preventable.

    “HIV is not a disease for a particular tribe, religion, community or certain group of people. It is not a bias virus as it does not discriminate against anybody; rich or poor, old or young,” Ann Ishaku, a lawyer, said.

    She added that the fight against HIV is a war that must be sustained to succeed, and the youth must be careful in their social and sex lives.

    “Every society has its social regulations; we were very careful when we were growing up,” she said.

    Commissioner of Health Innocent Vakkai gave the theme for this year’s World AIDS Day as: “Getting to Zero, ending HIV/AIDS in Nigeria by 2030.”

    Vakkai disclosed that the documented national prevalence of HIV in Taraba was 1.8 per cent in 1991, rose to 5.8 percent in 2001 and down to 4.1 percent and peaked to 10.8 percent from 2010. He sourced his figures from the National Sentinel Survey report on pregnant women attending antennal clinics in the country.

    “NASRHS 2012 report, which is the current rate, has placed Taraba state at a prevalence of 10.5 percent, second only to Rivers state.

    “This is not only above the national average, but also the highest in the Northeast sub-region.”

    He said an estimated 150,000 persons are positive in Taraba, out of which over 55,860 should be on treatment.

    He gave the main modes of transmission as through sex inter coarse and mother-to-child transmission.

    “There is a higher infection rate among the Most At Risk Population (MARPS) such as commercial sex workers, injecting drug users and men who have sex with men.”

    He said the state government is complementing provision of ART free to people living with HIV and more HCT Centre’s have been established across the state.

    “With the establishment of the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU), the state government has fully taken over the treatment of HIV/AIDS from the FHI360 in the state, with support from the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA).

    “The SPIU is providing free services such as HCT, PMTCT and referrals to all PLHIVs in the state.

    “17 CSOs were also engaged to provide HIV/AIDS services in all the local government areas of Taraba, through the HIV/AIDS Programme Development Project II Fund, a grant from the World Bank.”

    He called on the people to avail themselves with the free services provided by the government and to test to know their status as well as to show love for people living with HIV/AIDS and to commemorate with the families of those who have passed on as a result of AIDS.

    Director General of TACA, Abba Sale Ibrahim, disclosed that Nigera has the second highest burden of HIV in Africa, with about 3.2 million people living with the virus.

    Ibrahim appealed to the people to see those living with the disease as brothers and sisters, and that with proper care and treatment, they can live a long and normal life like any other person.

  • Dilemma of the hawker

    Dilemma of the hawker

    To stay home leaves the unemployed at the mercy of hunger and other dangers but to hawk exposes them to even more risks, including robbery and death. GRACE OBIKE reports

    They may have mastered how to run after vehicles and sell their articles to commuters, but hawkers in the nation’s capital have not devised any effective strategies to keep members of the Abuja Environment Protection Board (AEPB) at bay.

    The hawkers say they are often chased, caught, beaten up and allegedly robbed of their articles by AEPB officials. Sometimes, the chase turns really ugly, resulting in the death of the itinerant petty traders, it was alleged.

    Nineteen-year-old Sani Shehu who hawked energy drinks at Bolingo Junction was allegedly killed by officers of the AEPB, leaving his aged father, a roadside orange seller at Area1, in grief, Abuja Review was told.

    The Abuja Environment Protection Board (AEPB) Act of 1997 prohibits street hawking among other things. To ensure compliance, the agency sends out its dreaded agents with a task force team which comprises security operatives. The hawkers are often harassed and arrested, their wares seized.

    When the hawkers are arrested, they are required to be tried at a mobile court and if found guilty, fined, while those who cannot pay the fine are detained. A lot of them have different negative stories to tell about this task force team. Some hawkers accuse them of collecting bribes, allowing some hawkers who can afford to bribe them each day go ahead with their trade without any fear of intimidation.

    Others accuse them of going about in plainclothes so they can catch unsuspecting hawkers.

    Elkana Habilla said, “Most of us hawking are people trying to make ends meet instead of always begging from people or relatives or getting involved in criminal activities; it is not everyone that has the means of renting shops, some people start small and probably save enough to become big.”

    A few weeks ago, a groundnut seller beside the NNPC Mega Station in Wuse was killed by an oncoming vehicle because she was being chased by the task force and she tried to cross the road too suddenly. A boy who roasted maize by the roadside around Central Area was also knocked down and killed by a lorry as he tried to escape from the AEPB.

    Sani Shehu did not notice the AEPB officials on time, his co-hawkers said. So the team caught up with him and his friends at Bolingo Junction. The officials reportedly bundled some into their vehicle but could not take Shehu in because he held onto the bridge railing. In the scuffle, the hawkers said, Shehu was pushed over and died.

    Umar Farouk, 20, who sells sachet water, said to be a close friend of Shehu, said he was one of those dragged into the AEPB vehicle.

    “They threw him over and he died and the painful thing is that, maybe, it is because we are poor or seen as unimportant but we see his killers everyday and they act normal as if nothing happened, they have returned on several occasions to chase us after killing Sani and no one seems to care about the case,” Farouk alleged.

    Other witnesses said they could identify Shehu’s killer any day.

    “We all know him, every hawker in Abuja knows him. I know him very well just like I know the hunger in my stomach. He is the most heartless among all the members of the task force. We were all here and saw him kill our friend.”

    Shehu’s 65-year-old father, Mallam Shehu Umar looked devastated, saying that the AEPB has taken his only hope and reason to live.

    “Sani was my only hope after God; he was the only son that I had in this life, he was so hard-working, was always ready to help me out and I was grateful to God for giving me such a responsible child. All my hope was that now that I have grown old, he will take care of me but now they have killed him.

    “No one has bothered to come and talk to me since the incident; his killers all ran away and now I’m only living like a shell, I feel like I have nothing else to live for.”

    Mallam Umar says that since the burial of his son, the police force who acted like they will take up the case have forgotten about it.

    “I am crying to Baba [President Muhammadu] Buhari for justice, for him to wipe away my tears. During the election, Sani was one of those that fought hard to ensure victory for this government but now see what was done to him; they killed my only eye because he decided to be responsible, to work hard and support his family. To be honest if I could have my way then I will ask for AEPB to be scrapped completely, since they took my son away from me without remorse then I can never feel sorry for them.”

    When Abuja Review contacted the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of AEPB Joe Ukairo, he said that the case was still being investigated.

    “The case is a criminal case that is presently being investigated, the case is with the Inspector General of police and I cannot comment of it.”

    Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Anjuguri Manzah informed Abuja Review that the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase has ordered investigation into the matter.

  • American varsity counts blessings at anniversary

    American varsity counts blessings at anniversary

    The American University of Nigeria (AUN) celebrates the tenth anniversary of its Founder’s Day, pointing out its achievements, reports ADEKUNLE YUSUF

    Children from various schools, parents and teachers, students and other invited guests defied the negative news emanating from the state and gathered in the Lamido Aliyu Musdafa Commencement Hall, American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Yola, Adamawa State. It was AUN 10th Annual Founder’s Day and Special Award Ceremony.

    Speaking at the well-attended ceremony, which featured outstanding staff awards, community service award and other honours for outstanding students, AUN President Dr. Margie Ensign declared that the university has weathered many storms in its bid to touch lives of students and the people in the host community. Since October 2004, when the first brick was laid at AUN, the pursuit of quality education in Nigeria and Africa has been growing at a steady pace, she said.

    With the bringing of the best in Africa and the United States together in one location, Dr Ensign added that students from 36 countries in the continent now enjoy a new experience of critical thinking through liberal studies that respect African culture, which is a departure from the colonial system.

    Also, while thanking all those who have contributed in one way or another to the success recorded by the university, AUN founder and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar acknowledged that the journey has been bumpy with numerous challenges. He, however, added that he is relieved that AUN has braved another challenging year.

    “The insurgency in the North-east, which has had devastating effects on thousands of people, tested our resolve – but it also confirmed that we the AUN community can respond to mistrust and cruelty with care and love. Looking ahead, there are still plenty of clouds, but they pale in comparison to the silver lining on the horizon.

    “I ask you to support not just AUN, but education reform. We must persuade federal, state, and local authorities to provide universal, free, and valuable basic education; we must convince lawmakers, teachers, and unions to encourage competition among schools; and we must encourage government and the private sector to give public universities the leeway, and the ways and means to catch up with their international peers.”

    The AUN seized the opportunity to flaunt its record as an eco-friendly university, having constructed an environmentally-friendly office accommodation that is replete with all appurtenances. The special edifice, which now serves as the administrative building, was named after AUN chair of board of trustees Akin Kekere-Ekun. It was commissioned by Abubakar, and witnessed by Kekere-Ekun, AUN BoT member Peter Okocha, and Governor Muhammad Umar Jibrilla of Adamawa State.

    Dr Ensign said the building “answers the urgent need for AUN to consolidate its administration on main campus, in a modern facility, with low operating costs, and with the budget constraints of academic institutions.”

    It will hold over 120 working stations of different types, a 100-person training facility, an open-air formation area, changing rooms with showers, toilets and resting areas for staff.

    Elaborating on the unique features of the building, Alex Cobo, executive director, Projects and Facilities Management at AUN, explained that the steel roof of the building was manufactured on site by local craftsmen, adding that the building also enjoys 52 solar skylights that bring in sunlight so efficiently that no electric lighting is required during the day, besides ample ventilation and insulation to reduce air conditioner needs by 30 per cent. Its open office design saves space, eliminates partitions, promotes collaborative work and accountability, improves operational efficiency, just as its landscaping consumes less water because it is designed to capture rainwater and return it to the groundwater reservoir.

    “This project was developed and supervised by the AUN project team. No outside general contractor was required. This project has relied on the most part on local labor, local vendors and local craftsmen. They have worked day and night; weekends. Together we have all learned how to make a sustainable building. The acoustic panels required to control noise were made by groups of empowered local women who use tailoring scraps. Toilet partitions are made of container cutouts. Our two decorative water fountains at the entrance have been manufactured of container scraps. This building has a special skin. Its skin is made of laterite, prepared the old way, mixed with grass and natural resins, molded by local hands, preserving ancient traditions. It will never need paint. It will never fade. It will breathe.

    “This project uses clay bricks made in AUN, made of local materials, cured in the sun, following local traditions while opening long-term opportunity to local laborers. To enhance our environment, we have brought six baobab trees, the trees of life, which carry many spirits inside, and will protect our colleagues who will work here. 100 per cent of the water it uses is recovered and treated biologically for re-use in irrigation.”

  • Way forward for Southern Kaduna

    Way forward for Southern Kaduna

    Raided fairly consistently by bandits, Southern Kaduna and other stakeholders ponder peace and rehabilitation options, reports TONY AKOWE

    The past two years have been especially nightmarish for residents of the southern part of Kaduna State. Bandits loosely called Fulani herdsmen often attack them, killing and wounding them and setting their homes on fire.

    The residents cry out. At a forum to chart the way forward for the beleaguered people, the state governor Malam Nasir el-Rufai said his administration would find a lasting solution to the problem, adding that there is need to keep talking to the constituent groups in the region.

    Professor Yusuf Turaki, a former Secretary General of the Evangelical Church of West Africa now called Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), said rebuilding the ruined homes of the people would do a lot in rehabilitating and reassuring them.

    They were speaking at a forum organised by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) in collaboration with Canadian and Kaduna State government.

    In the last two years, the area has witnessed series of bloody invasions that have killed hundreds of innocent men, women and children, leaving several communities in ruins.

    The event was organised as part of the efforts to find lasting peace in the area.

    Governor el-Rufai, represented by his Deputy, Mr. Barnabas Bala Bantex, said that “sustained dialogue between various ethnic groups in the state will create mutual trust and understanding, respect, tolerance and acceptance among the people, thus leading to peaceful co-existence and socio-economic advancement.”

    He stressed that until people choose to live in peace with one another, harmonious coexistence cannot be achieved, hence the need for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to be more committed to the cause. He reiterated his earlier promise to support any initiative aimed at enhancing harmony in the state and urged the people to rally round the administration to guarantee the achievement of set goals.

    Professor Turaki said peace is a necessary ingredient in human relationships while greed, injustice, prejudices, discrimination and stereotyping destroy good relationship. Lamenting the reign of terror that has pervaded the area in the recent past, he said he believes that since the federal government considers rebuilding the houses destroyed in the Northeast by the insurgents, a similar gesture should be extended to communities in southern Kaduna.

    He urged the elite in the area to take the challenge of contributing to the development of their communities.

    The scholar and clergyman said such a gesture could be a sure way of ensuring true reconciliation and healing the wounds, adding that many houses have been damaged in various night attacks since 2011.

    He said: “The state government should consider the plight of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). This should be with a view to re-constructing their destroyed homes and establishing a Permanent Re-conciliation Commission, following the recommendation of the Yakowa and the Agwai peace committee reports. The elites must take the challenges of contributing their quota in the development of their respective communities.”

    The Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Perry CalderWood was impressed by the quality of representation from the various communities in the area and assured that the Canadian government would continue to support peace building processes in conflict areas.

    The Senior Advisor for African Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, David Lambo, who was represented by Dr. Yakubu Sankey Adviser said for the next six months, the centre would serve as a neutral facilitator of an inter-communal dialogue process between communities in southern Kaduna, especially those in Jema’a, Kaura, Sanga and Zangon Kataf Local Government Areas of Kaduna State which has been mostly affected by frequent clashes in recent times. He explained that the centre hope to achieve great results just like was done in Plateau state where they have achieved maximum peace. Several tribes in Plateau state were part of the dialogue as a way of proving that they have achieved lasting peace in the state.

    “This is just as it was done on the Plateau, which is yielding encouraging dividends,” Sankey said.

     

  • ‘I’ll resolve resettlement issues’

    The long-drawn-out concerns of displaced indigenous peoples of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will be sorted out if Hon. Yamawu Tanko wins the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) chairmanship election, said the aspirant.

    Tanko, running on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) pledged to resolve the resettlement issues that have bedeviled the indigenous people of the territory.

    He said the Federal Government cannot afford to pay everyone who was displaced but will have to come up with solutions that will work for both the government, natives and residents of Abuja.

    Tanko said that in other to handle the issue and put and end to demolition of houses which causes so much hardship on the people, he will work with the minister of the FCT and the FG to come up with a standard design of rural areas that will work with the master plan.

    He stated this at the FCT, APC secretariat when he appeared to declear his intention of running for the chairmanship position and also added.

    “What is paramount to me is the issue of resettlement in the FCT; it has been a lingering problem for a very long time between ministers and the natives, the non-natives in Abuja suffer from it as well and they are all part of my electorate, so it will be a question of sitting down with the minister and possibly bringing in developers that know how to create rural dwellings into urban areas and get them involved.

    “Discuss with the minister on how to develop of rural areas to forget what is called resettlement because we talk about resettlement every year, I do not believe that it is something that can be achieved, the Federal Government cannot afford the money involved in resettlement, so instead of demolishing people’s houses every year it will be better to sit down and probably have a design in this rural areas, a design of houses that people can afford to build or the government engages a developer to build the houses which they can pay by installments.

    “Mine is a familiar name in the political class of AMAC, I have served as a councillor twice in AMAC, I have been the NAPEP cordinator in the area council, held other political offices at the national level and have contested for this position twice before

    “I have a lot to offer, I want to provide roads, health services to the rural areas and build standard houses for the doctors in the rural areas.”

     

  • FCT Minister to prioritise mass rail

    Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Muhammad Bello has promised to prioritise the Abuja Rail Mass Transit projects of the administration. Bello assured that he would do everything possible to fast-track the completion of the project, considering the relief it would bring to commuters in and around Abuja.

    Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary FCT Muhammad Sule made it known in a press statement and said that the minister stated this when he visited the project sites at the Airport, Wupa, Idu and Ring Road II Stations, which forms part of his familiarization tour of projects and facilities in the FCT. He also added, “He remarked that the FCT Administration would support any project that would have positive impact on the lives of the common man especially as this would go a long way in reducing traffic congestion in Abuja.

    “The Minister expressed satisfaction with the quality of the job done so far, but however charged the contractors (CCECC Nigeria Limited) to redouble their efforts in delivering the job on schedule. “Malam Bello reiterated that everything must be done to ease movement, particularly public transportation in the city to make it at par with other modern cities around the world.

    “His words: “This is a very important project for the residents of the Federal Capital Territory and everything would be done to see to its early completion because of its utmost benefit”.

    “The Managing Director of CCECC Nigeria Limited, Mr. Li Quigyong who led the Minister and his entourage round the sites remarked that his company takes the project with seriousness and would do all it takes to complete it.”

  • A Chinese contractor who defied Boko Haram

    A Chinese contractor who defied Boko Haram

    An expatriate worker remained in Yobe State in the heat of Boko Haram attacks, but he says the locals
    encouraged him. DUKU JOEL reports

    •Mr. Haiming
    •Mr. Haiming

    Now that the attacks are easing, Mr. Weng Haiming Project Manager of CGC, a Chinese construction firm in Yobe State, can heave a sigh of relief and find his voice again. He stayed back while other foreign workers ran for dear life as Boko Haram fighters intensified attacks. In many cases, in Yobe, Borno, Adamawa and some other states in the North, contractors, especially expatriate ones, abandoned work and ran as the bloodthirsty terrorists struck repeatedly.

    No one could blame those who left. Some firms had their staff killed or kidnapped; some lost equipment, including vehicles, even cash. In July 2013, gunmen suspected to be allied to the Islamist sect stormed a construction site and carted off 125kg of dynamite and hundreds of detonators after overpowering the security guards. The same group also reportedly attacked Ashaka Cement Company in Gombe State and took away a huge quantity of dynamite.

    That was why contractors, especially foreign ones, left the scene. CGC stayed back and managed to keep an eye on its contract, a part of the 300km Trans-Sahara road awarded by the Yobe State Government under the leadership of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam.

    Haiming was relieved to inform the Commissioner for Works, Transport and Energy, Mr. Suraj Wakil who was inspecting the road, that the courage to stay actually came from the host communities of Kanamma, Kafiya and other small communities along the road.

    Haiming said, “We are happy to be part of this dream of the Yobe State government to construct this road. We are also happy that the communities here are happy with us. They are the people that kept on encouraging us not to go even when we wanted to go because Boko Haram was killing people and everybody was running away.

    “We stayed here to do this road because of the love that the people of Kanama, Kafiya and other communities have for us and we are happy. We thank God that their prayers for us worked because Boko Haram did not attack any of our staff during the construction.

    “Another reason that we stayed here to do this work is because we realised that this project is very important to the lives of the people of Yobe State, so we want to be part of this big dream of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam to make this road so that his people will be happy.”

    The commissioner Wakil praised  CGC for the quality of   job done in the  first phase of the project which is 100% completed from Kanama to Kafiya spanning 55km.

    Wakil, an engineer, was worried over the abuse of road usage by heavy trucks and over-loading. He threatened that Yobe would be compelled to come up with a legislation to protect its roads.

    He said, “We can’t afford to see roads we have spent billions of naira wasting when we can protect them. We will be compelled to come up with legislation against violators of our roads.

    “For the records, most of these roads are designed to carry only 70 tonnes, but you will see a truck weighing 120 tonnes plying them. We cannot tolerate that.”

    As part of another way out, the commissioner advocated for the re-introduction of vehicles weighing in terminals to check   overloading, generate revenue and save the roads.

    He also called on the Federal Government to reintroduce toll gates on major roads to check truck overloads, adding that effective railway system would also be an alternative for heavy goods haulage across the country.

  • Pupils donate N300,000 to IDPs

    Pupils donate N300,000 to IDPs

    The pictures taken with members of the House of Representatives could be framed for life, but the more enduring gesture by pupils of Straitgate School, Magodo, Lagos was donating to children displaced by the insurgents. DELE ANOFI reports

    For many, if not all of the pupils of Straitgate school, Magodo, Lagos who visited the House of Representatives, it was history fit to be frozen in pictures. Yet, it was their donation of N300,000, to children forced from their homes by Boko Haram that will outlast their moments with the lawmakers. The recipients are those in camps in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

    The gesture triggered a standing ovation from the federal lawmakers.

    The Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, while introducing the school children who came to the House to observe legislative proceedings, urged the pupils to keep pressing on for excellence.

    He said: “I want to say that this is a first and an historic gesture because no school has ever done this in this House.

    “I asked them to keep standing so that I can read what they have in this envelope.

    “These children have donated N100,000 to the children of displaced persons in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Adamawa.”

    The Speaker said that was not all as he removed a cheque leaf from the envelope and showed the lawmakers.

    “This is another cheque of N100,000 for children in Yobe IDP camp, and this is another one of the same amount signed for children in Borno IDP camp.

    Mr. Omoniyi Olasehan, who led the children and two other staff to the National Assembly, said the Head of School, Mrs Tolu Orojo was enthusiastic about the gesture.

    “She was very enthusiastic and supportive when it was suggested to her that this was what the children wanted to do.

    “The school decided to present the cheques to the Speaker because we are aware that he was instrumental to the creation of a committee on IDPs and very keen about the situation in the Northeast.

    “The children just want to send a mesaage to their counterparts in such situation, saying that they are not alone.

    “I want to believe also that our children are in another way sending a message to those in authority and well-meaning Nigerians to do more for the children in IDP camps while making efforts to put a stop to the cause of the sad situation.”

  • DSS seeks collaboration on insurgency

    The Department of State Services, whose job it is to sniff out sources of threat to the nation, has expressed its desire to collaborate with the populace in the fight against terror.

    The Department organised a two-day workshop which featured heads of security agencies and sister organisations, religious bodies, traditional rulers, legislators, heads of government agencies and other stakeholders. About 1000 people attended the event on each of those days.

    Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo said the workshop drove home the message that there is no room for complacency in the war against terror, even as the terrorists have been put on the back foot.

    Dankwambo, represented by his Deputy, Charles Iliya, said there is need for mutual trust between security agencies and the people in order towards sustain the prevailing peace in the state.

    He said there has been an influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state, and that the state has witnessed sporadic attacks by the insurgents.

    Initiator of the programme, the State Director of Security (SDS) Mr. Reuben Sina Amao said, “We must not be distracted; we must remain focused because despite successfully carrying out attacks in the past, security agents through collaborative efforts have been able to avert many other planned attacks in the state.”

    The state chief of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Yusuf Ganiyu Mumeen said it has spotted and deported over 600 foreign migrants whose stay suggested something inimical to the security of the state. Those deported were said to have lacked valid papers and had no credible proof of sources of livelihood.

    He also complained about the lack of street names and house numbers in Gombe which makes it difficult to trace addresses of applicants for international passports.