The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the Federal Capital Territory has suffered a major setback as one of the its stalwarts, Hon. Yahaya Alhassan Gwagwa has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) with over 600 supporters from the six Area Councils of FCT.
Gwagwa, who was the immediate past Mandate Secretary of Area Council Service Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration was received by the APC executives and other stakeholders of the party in his Gwagwa ward office.
Though, he did not elaborate much on why he is quitting the PDP, there were speculations that his movement to the ruling APC might not be unconnected with the forthcoming Area Councils elections scheduled to hold next year.
Gwagwa told our correspondent after the ceremony that he decided to move from his former party to the APC to contribute his quota to the present administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, “I have found integrity, honesty and competence in the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari and I cannot stay aloof and watch things from the sidelines”.
Gwagwa who is believed to be a grassroots politician and the Sardaunan of Gwagwa used the occasion to call on his numerous supporters to vote for the All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming FCT Area Council elections, even as he noted that the present administration will lead the country and FCT to the promised land.
Earlier, the ward chairman of the party, Hon. Mohammed Apula described the movement as a vote of confidence on the leadership of APC, assuring that the party will capture the six Area Councils in the next year elections.
He described the event as a major landmark, while tasking the defectors to be resolute in canvassing for votes.
Apula assured all members of the party who are aspiring for various political position of equal opportunity, stressing that the party will be fair and just to all aspirants in the forthcoming Area Council elections scheduled for April 2016.
The FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has saved N351.5m worth of properties from going up in flames between June and July.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the agency, Josie Mudashiru provided the information in a press statement, adding that the properties were residential homes, business premises and institutional structures.
She stated, “In furtherance of its mandate to ensure that disasters are reduced to the barest minimum, the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has saved properties valued at Three Hundred and Fifty one Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira only in the months of June and July, 2015.
The Director General of FEMA Alhaji Abbas Idriss said that out of the 13 fire stations situated within the FCT, only three, namely, Abaji Fire Station, Kaura and National Judicial Institute did not receive stress calls.
The D.G. urged everyone to cooperate with FEMA and help it to respond promptly to distress calls.
“The properties saved cut across residential, business and institutional buildings, the D-G said, adding that the residential buildings represent 64% of the total fire incidences recorded in the two months under review.
“Alhaji Abbas Idris called on FCT residents to implement the Fire Code that stipulates amongst other requirements, that public and private buildings should install smoke detectors and fire alarms. This implementation, according to the Director General, will ensure that properties and lives are saved due to the early warning system that the gadgets provide.
The TCT boasts of Thirteen Fire Stations and they are as follows: Asokoro, Abaji, Games Village,and Garki Market. Others are Gwarimpa, Kuje, Kubwa, Kwali, Kaura Market, Karu and National Judicial Institute. TheDirectorGeneral said the public should call any fire station closer to them in the event of an emergency or call the three (3) digit toll free emergency number 112.
He urged FCT residents to cooperate with the Federal Capital Territory Administration in reducing emergencies by being safety conscious at all times.
Some indigenous people of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the auspices of Lugbe/Iddo District Community Youth Forum have urged the federal government to suspend all overt and coverts actions or steps with regard to the Centenary City Project pending the constitution of standing ad-hoc committee to complete modalities of compensation and resettlement of affected indigenes.
The natives who are indigenes of Toge, Dayisna, Kpaipai and Barwa communities, also advised the Managing Director of the Centenary City Plc, Dr. Ike Odinigwe to thread with caution in actualising the project, and not to infringe on their fundamental human rights as bona fide citizens of Nigeria.
Speaking on behalf of the natives, the Chairman of the Forum, Emmanuel Gade, faulted the comment made by the Managing Director of the Centenary City Plc, Dr. Ike Odinigwe in July 24 edition of the Daily Trust Newspapers in respect to the acquisition of vast land for the resettlement project, that 671 bulidings would be constructed for the affected indigenes and that N1.237Bn has been spent on compensation and ressettlement project.
Gade said that it was amazing that the authority acted in contrast to their earlier agreement, after series of consultative meetings between the authority and the concerned communities who are both critical stakeholders in the centenary city ressettlement scheme.
“It is worthwhile, that we draw the attention of the authorities to the earlier compromise strucked between them and the affected communities. This was in effect that after the payment of compensation to the original inhabitants with respect to their farm lands, in favour of road networks within the centenary city, which was concluded accordingly.
“The next step was to constitute and inaugurate an adhoc standing committee with membership drawn from the authority and concerned communities of which its terms of référence is to design and fashion out modalities and the module operandi with respect to the relocation and resettlement of the affected communities.
“We like to state that, no committee of such magnitude was ever constituted and we wonder on whose mandate the Managing Director of the Centenary City Project is making those pronouncements.
“We the entirely affected communities in strong term vehemently and in totality rejected the publication made by the Managing Director regarding the centenary city project, but instead demand the authority to tender an unreserved apology to the affected communities via an advertorial by this same medium or any other means as praticable,” he said.
The chairman of Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Hon Yahaya Garba has urged cattle breeders in the FCT and neighbouring states to take advantage of the new market at Old Gawu community in the council.
Garba made the called at a meeting with the leadership of Miyeti Allah, leadership of Fulani community and Gawu traditional council led by the District Head of Gawu.
The chairman urged them to mobilise and sensitise their people on the takeoff and operation of the new market.
He further promised to assist them in the area of security, fencing and other requirements, because the new cattle market will go a long way in boosting the council’s revenue generation.
Earlier, the chairman Miyeti Allah in fact, Alhaji abdullahi Adamu expressed gratitude to the council chairman and Gawu community for providing the land space for the market.
Adamu solicited for the cooperation of the host community, in order to boost other commercial activities in the market.
The Junior Engineering Technicians and Scientists (JET) competition organised for private and public schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has ended, with Master Essien of Stella Marris Schools walking away with the top prize.
Ibok who was this year’s overall Best Graduating Student of Stella Marris, beat other winners from the six local councils in the FCT.
He is to represent the nation’s capital in the national JET competition scheduled to hold next month in Port Harcourt.
The Head Teacher, Stella Marris Nursery and Primary School, Area 1, Mr. Bitsu Zamani Bitrus said that if Ibok eventually wins the national contest, he will represent the nation in North Korea where the final edition of the competition will take place.
Bitrus said the competition was organised by Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to develop pupils especially in science-related subjects.
The contestants were tested in Maths, Physics, Science, Basic Technology and Computer.
But for the police, scavengers would have dug out and gone home with over 6,000 cartons of hazardous imported poultry buried by officials in a Kaduna State dumpsite. ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE reports
The police in Kaduna Kaduna State have arrested 34 people accused of exhuming and planning to eat or sell poisonous poultry products buried at a dumpsite.
One of the scavengers told our reporter that he took no more than one carton.
Another, a lady, said she was unaware that the toxic birds were disposed of by the authorities.
The suspects
Of the 34 suspects, now with the police, 11 were women, 23 men.
The incident took place in Mando community.
Owing to the Federal Government’s ban on imported poultry products, especially chicken and turkey, said to cause non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and antibiotics resistance, the Federal Operating Unit (FOU) Zone ‘B’ of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) conveyed over 6,000 cartons of the hazardous birds to the Mando dumpsite where there were buried.
Unbeknown to the Customs men, they were being closely monitored. Scarcely had the personnel driven off when scavengers swooped on the dumpsite, digging away to take home the poultry products feared to cause cancer and lung and kidney diseases, among others.
Director General of National Agency for Foods Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii warned Nigerians to avoid imported smuggled chicken and turkey because they have been found to contain substances that can predispose one to kidney, liver and lung diseases as well as certain types of cancers and drug resistant-bacterial infections.
The products were seized at Gadan Wali near Wawa town in Niger State.
Comptroller, ýFOU Zone ‘B’, Masaya Ajiya Malam spoke during destruction of the poultry products along Birnin Gwari Road, Kaduna dumpsite, saying that despite the ban, some unscrupulous individuals still engage in the act.
The poultry products were disposed of at the Kaduna dumpsite, with men of the state Environmental Protection Agency (KEPA) watched. A certain chemical was mixed with fuel and poured on the products before setting it ablaze. But due to the wet conditions of the imported chicken and turkey, they could not burn properly, a situation which forced the government agencies to bury the rest of the products.
It was after the burial that the scavengers moved in.
Speaking to newsmen shortly before the suspected scavengers were paraded by the Kaduna State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Zubairu Abubakar, PRO of the Customs FOU, Kaduna, Ado Idris said the poultry products were toxic.
He lamented that after the Customs destroyed the seized poultry products in the presence of relevant agencies, some Nigerians who were fully aware of the toxicity of the poultry products went to the site to exhume them to eat and sell to members of the public.
Zubairu Abubakar said the 34 suspects arrested at the dumpsite will be charged to court for consumption and sale of toxic and adulterated foods.
One of the suspects, Haliru Musa told The Nation that they were seated at the motor park when they saw people passing with cartons of chickens, and they decided to join too.
According to him, “I was with my friend at garage, it was in the morning, suddenly, we saw people coming from Birnin Gwari Road with cartons of chicken. Initially, we didn’t know what they were carrying until some people said it is chicken buried at the refuse dump site. So, me and my friend too decided not to be left behind in the largesse”.
The chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Hon. Micah Jiba has advised residents and the entire Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to resist the temptation of dumping refuse in drainages, in order to allow free flow of flood as the raining season gets to the peak of the season.
Jiba who re-echoed the advice yesterday while speaking with journalists, said that due to metrological prediction last month that about six states in Nigeria are at the risk of massive flooding, there is the need for residents to be careful on how they dispose their refuse.
According to Jiba, who is also the President of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) it is important to continue to advice Nigerians on how to live their lives in respect of their environment, so that they will not fall victims of any natural disaster.
“We are blessed people in this country that is why we do not witness anything like earth quake or any other natural disaster like hurricane and sunami that happen in other developed countries like China and America.
“The only challenge we have in Nigeria is that of flooding, where houses are collapsing in some part of Nigeria, but we can control the flooding from our individual environment if we want to do it. That is if we learn to manage our immediate environments.
“If you go to some areas in the FCT, you will notice the way people dump refuse in drainages, mostly during when it is raining. They do it because they do not want to spend little money to dispose their refuse properly at a designated dump site.
“We should learn to dispose our refuse properly and not in drainages. By dumping our refuse properly, we will definitely avert any negative occurrence or disaster as a result of flooding. We should not allow any massive flood to take us unaware,” he said.
Many predicted long ago that Nigeria could eventually fry in its abundant oil, whose dwindling value is now threatening almost everything in the country. Thankfully, a miner shows a path out of the woods. YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU reports
An industrialist, miner and former governorship aspirant in Bauchi State, Alhaji Adamu Usman, is not the only one disturbed by Nigeria’s dwindling oil-induced fortune. But he is one of those with a concrete ideas on how the nation can overcome its woes: solid minerals and agriculture. He said the switch from oil to solid minerals would bring about the real change President Muhammadu Buhari promised.
“Nigeria has been, in the last two, three decades, battling with…mass unemployment; she lacks enough money to run her own annual budget,” said the miner who is popularly called Dan China.
“The value of the naira keeps crashing against the dollar, government cannot generate employment for her skilled and unskilled youths, thousands of graduates come out of the universities every year without a job and so on.
Some solid minerals
“For several decades, we have abandoned agriculture and solid minerals with hope that crude oil alone was enough to give the country economic independent, but so far we have seen that revenue from oil cannot take us anywhere, we still remain poor as a country, government cannot feed its citizens, talk more of housing them, we have virtually become a hopeless nation with our crude oil.
“But, we have hope in the solid minerals and agriculture; I will advise the government of President Buhari to make sure the change he promised to bring on the nation should be total, total in the sense that [he should shift] the focus of the country’s revenue from crude oil to agriculture and solid minerals. This country is not lacking in gaming lands, and not lacking in solid minerals. We have comparative advantage in solid minerals over many countries of the world.”
Usman is not a new convert to solid minerals. In 2011 when he ran for governorship on the platform of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), he promised to govern the state, if he won, without partaking in the sharing of federal allocation.
Asked how he would perform the magic, he said, “It is simple. I will explore the solid mineral deposits in Bauchi State to generate revenue enough to sustain the state. Rather than going for federal allocation, Bauchi will have the capacity to give loans to the federal government.”
Alhaji Usman said he has been involved with solid minerals for 18 years and can speak authoritatively on it.
“Foreigners have cheated the country for too long in the name of mining. My advice to President Buhari is this: he should give priority attention to solid minerals and agriculture. If Nigeria begins to mine her rich mineral resources, in just two years it will stop borrowing money or begging for foreign aid and assistance, the nation will then attain economic independence.
“I have made many rural people rich by involving them in mining activities. A local labourer who works with me on site earns more than a graduate in Nigeria. I can take you to a village where you will not find one single civil servant there, and if you look around you can see a house of N5m built by my labourers from what they earn from site. I mean Nigerian can engage her massive unemployed youths through mining and that will automatically resolve the issue of youth insurgents, because there will be no idle youths for terrorists to recruit.
“It is on record that several nations in Europe were developed with the proceeds of tin mining from Jos alone during the colonial days. This implies that with 70 percent of tin and columbite left by the colonial masters in modern Plateau State, we can develop the entire country.
“You can’t even compare the value of oil and the value of a kilo of tin. I want the federal government to do a survey of the cost of a barrel of fuel and a kilo of tin, then we will realise how much we are losing for not exploring our own solid mineral resources. Nigeria has the largest deposit of silver than any other country in the entire world. The price of silver today is 10 times that of gold. A country like Sweden is making heavy funds from iron ore, but the iron ore deposit in Sweden is just one tenth of the deposit of iron ore we have in Nigeria, especially in Kogi State. I will advise President Buhari to revive Ajaokuta Steel Company; that is the economic lifeblood of this country.
“Sweden is already making huge profits from her iron ore deposits, what is Nigeria waiting for? Nigeria can boast of large gold deposits in Niger State, Kebbi, Zamfara, Adamawa, Yobe, Bauchi and Nasarawa. Many did not know that Nigeria has more gold deposits than Ghana does.”
Usman cautioned, however, that when President Buhari switches the nation’s focus to solid minerals, great care ought to be taken to ensure that foreign miners do not unduly take over the industry because, as he said, they know no better than indigenous ones.
He said, “They will use our resources to create industries in their countries and get their youths employed at the expense of our own youths so we need to use our God-given resources to create jobs for our youths.
One practice that is so prevalent at the Federal Ministry of Mines and Power is that the ministry is fond if issuing mining license to top politicians and traditional rulers who does not know anything about mining, they ended up selling the mining liven e to foreigners to come and exploit the country’s resources.
He said, “There are three Chinese companies mining in Bauchi State, and they make at least N80 million everyday mining tin and columbite. If I think about it I feel like weeping for this country, we are already losing our solid mineral resources to foreigners.
“Today, Nigeria is buying a bag of cement at the price of N2,000 but we have the largest deposit of limestone in this country. If we mine our limestone alone, we will buy a bag of cement for N300 in this country, we can export cement to all African countries in the next two decades. There is no state in Nigeria that does not have valuable solid mineral resources in commercial quantity. The prosperity of this country lies in solid minerals.”
The sight and sound of bulldozers are as familiar as the destruction and tears they leave behind. GRACE OBIKE reports on the latest demolition in the Federal Capital Territory’s (FCT’s) suburb
You could say they are the scourge of residents of the less glitzy parts of the nation’s capital. They have torn down homes, shops and what have you in Nyanya, Kubwa, Apo, Dutse and several other areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). And everywhere the bulldozers went, confusion, tears and questions followed.
So it was in Jikwoyi where residents were going about their business when the monstrous motorised machines rolled into view and promptly started pulling down homes and shops.
Several residents claimed the notification for demolition was only given for shops but when the bulldozers came, they took down houses, rendering a lot of people homeless.
Tears have been flowing
Some claimed that not only were they not given prior notice of the demolition but that some people were still indoors when their houses were being demolished and that some others were not even home to move out their belongings.
Most of the residents said they duly bought their land from indigenous Abuja people, adding that some of the bulldozers’ victims had lived in their houses for over 15 years.
Mr Mike James said, “They just came to our area and began demolishing our houses without giving us any form of notice, we have taken them to court and we hope to be compensated. My friend just completed a N5m house and was so excited to pack in with his family when they just came and demolished his house like that.
“Yes, they said that the land belongs to a General and we are supposed to evacuate his land but, at least, they should have given us adequate notice to find alternatives; we did not intentionally encroach on the General’s land, it was sold to us by natives and some of us have been living here for over 15 years, no one told us anything about the General when it was being sold to us,” he concluded.
Many residents have since been lamenting the fact that they have now found themselves homeless and most of their livelihood taken away from them.
They said it is difficult putting themselves together. Some of them have been squatting with family and friends since the demolition. Some others protested at the National Assembly the day after the demolition, urging lawmakers and demanding justice and compensation after they claimed to have filed a suit against the FCT Development Control and the Nigerian Army for molesting them when they tried to protect their properties.
Linus Uboyi, a tenant in one of the demolished buildings, lamented: “My rent had not expired, it was still remaining two months and I was actually looking forward to renewing my rent in the house because I enjoyed living there.
“No one told me of any notice from development control although our house and several other buildings had been marked with the usual X, which is a common mark for demolition; we did not take it seriously because everyone knows that the fact that a house is marked does not mean that it will be demolished.
“I wish they had given us proper notice, maybe I wouldn’t have renewed my rent, or I would have gotten somewhere else to pack into instead of being disgraced in this manner.
“I don’t know anything about a court case and nether will I embark on protesting over a property that does not belong to me, so now I’m simply squatting with my church member and will hopefully get a place for I and my family.”
Authorities of the FCT Development Control on the other hand denied the accusation, saying that it is impossible for them to embark on demolition without giving adequate notice to residents. Public Relations Officer (PRO) Kalu Emetu, explained to Abuja Review that the Jikwoyi demolition was embarked upon as a result of encroachment and the deliberate takeover of plots which the residents had no title right.
“One of the mandates of the Department is to give approval to intending developers drawing. When such approval is about to be given, it is also the duty of the Department to ensure that such plot does not have any ecunberance and where such exist, it beholves on the Department to remove such, and that was what happened at Jikwoi a suburb of Abuja.
“One important thing to note is that before any demolition exercise, the Department ensures that it exhaust all the notices as prescribed by the Urban and Regional Law and that of FCT Act of 1999. There are three notices: Stop Work, Quit Site, before the Demolition. It is only when Demolition notice is issued that you begin to hear such defaulters weeping up sentiments everywhere.
“A period of 21 days is given after the first notice while a minimum of 10 days is also given after the second notice. The law does not make it compulsory for the Department to give any day, the demolition can start as soon as the demolition notice is issued. All these notices were exhausted in November, 2014,just as the exercise could not be carried immediately because of the elections.ý”
He also added that “In the case of Jikwoyi on the 12th, there were many reasons why the Department had embarked on the demolition exercise. The area had a planned lay out but occupied mainly by people who do not have any title to any of the plots. With this, many built on right of way, some on water ways, many built under high tension thereby exposing many to danger. Some genuine developers who had drawing for approval had progressed and gone to court and obtained order for the Department remove most of the houses that were seen as illegal structures.”
The Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to shut down substandard private schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In an open letter addressed to the President, Bishop, Diocese of Kubwa, Anglican Communion, Abuja, Rt. Rev. Duke Akamisoko said schools are operated in kiosks, flats or rented shops.
A copy of the letter made available to The Nation stated that, “We have noticed that private schools ranging from primary, secondary and tertiary are being opened and run in unapproved structures and facilities within the FCT.
“But contrary to the approved guidelines, schools are operated in rented shops, kiosks, flats, among others which lack standard facility. In addition to this, it has been observed that teachers being recruited by such schools are not qualified. This no doubt has an attendant effect on the innocent pupils, parents and the nation at large.”
While calling on the President to look into the operations of the Directorate for the Inspectorate of Education in the FCT, the clergy noted that the department seems to be relenting in its statutory obligation of approving, monitoring and supervision of private schools.
The bishop, who is also a former National Treasurer of Christian Association of Nigeria CAN noted that the education guidelines are very clear as to structures and environment where a school should be opened and run.
However, he expressed displeasure at the spate which the guidelines are being violated by operators of private schools in the territory.
“This act cannot be far-fetched from the act of corruption which Your Excellency has vowed to get rid of.
“We therefore pray your Excellency to use your good office to direct the appropriate department to act promptly so as to save the falling standard of our education before it is too late. We suggest that you direct the directorate of education in the FCT to swing into action identify the concerned schools and close down such with immediate effect.
“The FCT is expected to be a model to other 36 states of the Federation. The onus however, behooves on the administrators of education in the FCT to sit up and ensure that due process is followed; standard and regulations are strictly complied with,” he stated.
Akamisoko added that if the dreams and aspirations of the President is to be realized, the standard of education should not be compromised.
Earlier, the Communion had commended the renewed anti-corruption move of the new administration.
He urged the President to persist in eradicating corruption completely from the country.
