There are reassuring words for patients of Vesico-vaginal Fistula (VVF) in Kebbi State.
Wife of the state governor Zainab Atiku Bagudu who received a team of fistula-care personnel on inspection to the state, said more attention would be paid to patients. She spoke in the state capital, Birnin-Kebbi where she received the inspectors at her office.
The team, led by Dr Habib Sadauki, Country Project Manager, also included Fistula leaders from New York, Sokoto and Abuja.
After a general overview of the USAID programme and their experience in VVF care in Nigeria, The project manager praised the work done at the Kebbi VVF centrre, the only government-owned VVF centre in the country.
He spoke of the tremendous improvement in service delivery which he attributed to the dedication of the resident surgeon Dr. Abubakar who, he said, introduced Caesarean Sections for preventing reoccurrence of VVF in women who have had successful repairs. So far, he said, 20 babies have been delivered in this pilot programme, adding that all the consumables for the surgeries are free.
Dr Sadauki noted with pleasure the support given to the center over the years by the state government and in particular by Her Excellency Dr Zainab Bagudu. He expressed delight with what is being done, saying he was looking forward to higher standards of service delivery.
In her response, Dr Zainab Bagudu assured that she will mount a community awareness campaign as well as offer nutritional support for patients. The governor’s wife also spoke of providing jobs and skills for women after undergoing repair.
She equally advised the management of the centre to organise women cooperatives to benefit from government schemes.
VVF is an abnormal hole between the front passage and bladder through which urine dribbles continuously. The most common causes include prolonged obstructed labour, post-Caesarean Section, genital tract cancers. It is more prevalent in short-statured and poorly educated young girls from socio-economic backgrounds.
The chairman of Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Hon Yahya Garba has urged residents to unite, irrespective of their religious and ethnic affiliations in order to achieve sustainable development in the council.
Garba made the call while speaking with youth groups, women organisation, party stalwarts and community leaders when they paid him a courtesy visit after the election petition tribunal upheld his election as chairman of the council.
The council boss said he dedicated his victory to God and the good people of the council for giving him the opportunity to serve, calling on the opposition party to join hands with him as his administration, that doors are open to accommodate every individual in respective of party affiliation.
“Abaji area council belongs to all of us let us put away political difference away and come together as citizens of the council and think of how we can develop and take the council to the next level,” he said.
He added that his administration is poised to offer quality services to improve the well-being and quality of living through the provision of social basic amenities.
Garba said that the administration has embarked on construction of meaningful projects, like the upgrade of Abaji main market, fencing of I’d praying ground, construction of Give road, electrification in various location, renovation of council secretariat amongst others.
Looking after people displaced by the insurgency is a tough task. Chairman of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency Mallam Grema Terab, in this interview with JOEL DUKU, says it costs about 3.5m to provide for the IDPs everyday and that the daily provision might even be cut due to cash crunch. Excerpts:
Sir, what have been your challenges since your appointment?
•Mallam Terab
Our major challenge is the high influx of IDPs into Maiduguri. When I came on board, we were managing few camps; there were about 13 or 14 local governments displaced by insurgents and we had camps for each of the local governments but now it runs to about 22 different camps.
Surprisingly, where we thought things were getting better; we are getting more people displaced and many more people are trooping into our camps. We found out that the displaced persons who were taking refuge in the host communities are now coming into the IDPs camps; some of them have exhausted their rent and some of the people hosting them in some of these communities are tired of taking care of them, and the IDPs have nowhere to turn but the camps. This has come to continuously increase the numbers in our camps. We received about 400 IDPs into the Mafa camp, about 300 into Kukawa camp, about 400 into Monguno camp and also a large number of people into Bama camp.
Those that were formerly living with relatives in the host communities are now trooping into the camps as their host can no longer afford the cost of keeping them. Most of those that were accommodating them thought it was a temporary measure but they later come to find out that days are turning into months and months perhaps turning into a year and the burden just has to be taken off them. Those from Bama have stayed for over 10 months and those from Gwoza for about a year. So it is quite challenging to take care of these IDPs but the government is doing well in providing three square meals but life is not all about feeding. The sanitation is also a priority in the camps, the health care facilities and the basic needs of IDPs, for instance, the soap and detergent to bathe and wash their clothes; they need the body oil and for the women they need the sanitary pads; all IDPs need clothing, baby foods among others.
It is quite challenging and it is a heavy burden on the state government, this has made us to face a lot of challenges and no matter what the government has invested, it may not be enough and the IDPs have to face one challenge or the other.
How have you been coping?
Well, we are doing our best but now with the federal allocation not forthcoming or no more regular and with the state government having a lot of responsibilities, it is very challenging and that is why we cherish the collaboration with international agencies. If they had not been collaborating with us, the humanitarian catastrophe on Borno would have better imagined than experienced.
The National Emergency Management Agency is taking more interest in the case of IDPs in Borno State and they are trying to listen to us; for the first time they are asking what should be done and how much we spend, which food the IDPs consume and what the problems in the camps are.
It is a step forward, for the past four years this is the first time NEMA has shown keen interest in really knowing our problems and they want to share the problems with us and we have received a high powered delegation from NEMA; we have sat down and we gave them the template of how much we spend and consume in the camps in terms of feeding and other upkeeps, and they said they are going to partake in it.
We hope with the change of government things are going to be better in the near future.
What does it cost to maintain the camps daily?
We spend about N3.5 million on maintenance and condiments apart from the food items on a daily basis for all the camps. What we mean by the condiments is onions, fish, beans, tomatoes, hot and sweet pepper, seasonings, palm oil, groundnut oil, firewood, water and other essential needs of the kitchen. The N3.5 million is also used for logistics like transporting the food items to the various camps and our ambulances, trucks, labourers. The government is trying to reduce it to a minimum of about N1.5 or N1.6 million.
Is this wise when you think of the fact that people are increasing at the camps daily?
As you can see, the government for the first time in 10 years has received so far the lowest allocation from the federation accounts, this is not only affecting Borno alone but the whole country. The Sure-P money is no more there, the money from the excess crude account is no more there and what we receive is just little above the salaries of our staff. As you can see that a lot of states cannot even pay their salaries but because the government of Borno has saved for the rainy days, this is why news of Borno state government not paying its salaries has not been heard.
How do you intend to balance this shortfall?
We invite all the key stakeholders and actors in humanitarian services and those that are willing to partner with the state government to take care of IDPs. As I said earlier we are partnering with International Committee on Red Cross (ICRC), UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, we intend to receive more international donor agencies. We have met with NEMA and have shown them how much we have spent on a daily basis and what is our requirement in the camps are. We are also trying as much as possible to bring down the cost of running the camps on the bill of the state government to the minimal level so that government can concentrate on other developmental aspects.
We are not unmindful of the fact that we have the issue of relocating, rehabilitation and resettlement of IDPs to their various localities. We are made to understand that Monguno is now peaceful and accessible and that people can now begin to go back to Monguno, maybe Gubio and Guzamala, we have access there but Bama that constitutes the largest number of IDPs is still not cleared by the Nigeria Army, the government is doing its best to reduce the cost of running the camps and as a transparent government we must be prudent in the management of our resources.
Is the support from some of the international bodies enough or perhaps you need friendly countries to come to your assistance?
Without their contributions and assistance I do not think the government of Nigeria, with the way we have handled ourselves in the last four years can overcome this crisis, in terms of fighting and overcoming these insurgents, taking care of the IDPs, rebuilding, restructuring, rehabilitating and resettling the IDPs to their various localities at the same time is not going to be an easy thing for the government. Though we have a new and serious government, we believe we are going to do better if the international community especially friendly nations can come to our aid in the shortest possible time. What the government needs to do is too numerous to mention and that is why the intervention of the international bodies is necessary and timely. Mr. President spoke recently when he was in Niger that a lot of international bodies promised him that when he emerges as the president they would come in to build our blown bridges, build schools, hospitals and a lot of social amenities. If the president of Nigeria is looking for international assistance, why can’t Borno look for international assistance from anywhere? Even though we had meeting with NEMA and it was trying to take responsibility for the running of the camps, from what we are doing it is not enough so we need help from all quarters.
Does Borno State have a good deal with the federal government so far?
In the past four years, we [didn’t have] a good deal because what we received in the last four years was just N200 million and our counterpart Adamawa that was not as hit as Borno State with about six local governments affected received about N4.5 billion. We had 20 out of 27 local governments captured by Boko Haram and we are the worst hit. If you go to Bama, you will see how it was destroyed, even N10 billion cannot rebuild Bama. The activities of NEMA and other federal government agencies like the Presidential Initiatives on the Northeast and many others were brought to participate very well in Adamawa, a state that is not the worst hit. With the coming of a new president I believe we should have a better deal and since the problem started here and much destruction was here we are expecting a better deal. This seems to have been taking note of by the new president who have been drawing Governor Kashim Shettima close where the issue of insurgency is to be discussed. We are now feeling we are part of this country and that the president cares for us. We feel that in the nearest future things are going to go well but in the past we were not carried along.
What might be responsible for that?
Maybe politics or our leaders here in the state have not blown the whistle very well or perhaps the media has not played the needed role. The media should have blown the whistle about happenings here.
The Independent Service Delivery Monitoring Group (ISDMG) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to withhold assent to the amendment of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act passed by the Seventh National Assembly.
The group argued that Buhari’s assent amendment of the act was counter-productive and would drag the government into an unwanted industrial crisis.
“We appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari not to assent to this bill for the simple reason that it is not only counter-productive but will drag this government into unwanted industrial crises.”
Speaking at a news briefing in Abuja, ISDMG Executive Director, Dr. Chima Amadi, claimed that the group’s position was in view of fact that the bill will be a set back for higher education development in Nigeria.
Amadi noted that assenting to the bill might impose a greater financial burden and exposure to the TETFund much worse than the ETF regime.
He said: “The most bewildering aspect of the amendment is the explanatory memorandum. Once allowed to stand, it will take us back to the old Education Trust Fund (ETF) era which was restructured owing to the limitation brought on her activities as a result of interventions in too many institutions. This law will bring about the proliferation of institution, which will negate the change from ETF to TETFund.”
He said that the fact that the bill was rejected in 2012 by stakeholders and unions was a pointer to its unacceptability by the unions and civil society organisations.
Amadi said “The big question is, how come an amendment that was rejected and thrown out find its way into the National Assembly for it to even be passed? Does it mean that the aspiration of Nigerians as reflected in the public hearing does not matter? If it does matter, why waste taxpayer’s money in organizing a public hearing only to do what you thought was right?”
The group also faulted the amendment of the bill to redefine tertiary education to include universities, polytechnics, collages of education and the Nigeria Law School.
He went further: “Have we paused to reflect on the wider implication of allowing this amendment to stand especially in the face of several other institutes that regulate the license of professional? This may just be the opening of the floodgate since they are established by law.”
His word: “the right of the National Assembly to make laws for the nation is not under contention here; it is their responsibility enshrined in our laws to make laws for the country, we are only looking at the implications of some of this laws and the processes we went through in the passage of the law before we got to where we are.”
A member of the group, Mr. Olajuwon Babatunde, also urged the president to shun the bill. Babatunde said the amendment was aimed at weakening TETFund, which had revamped the tertiary institutions in the country.
“I appeal to the president to shun the amendment of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act which was passed by the 7th Assembly. TETFund is one of the most effective institutions we have in this country which has totally transformed tertiary education and taken it to another level. This bill is bent on reducing the impact that it has. We will no longer feel the benefits of this institution. We should focus on critical issues that will boost our educational system in Nigeria and not seek to weaken TETFund,’’ Babatunde said.
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund Bill was among the 46 bills passed by the 7th Senate in a last minute flurry of activities recently.
The bill sought to change the board’s structure to include a representative of the Nigerian Law School; Redefine tertiary education to include the Nigerian Law School; and define university to include the Nigerian Law School and any institution established by law which runs full time programme which leads to formal qualification prescribed by law.
One after another, police dragnet is pulling in suspected criminals as long-suffering residents applaud, reports YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU
Some now in police custody are thought to be armed robbers, some rapists, murderers, and there are more.
How did Plateau State, once loved for its serenity, scenic beauty and temperate weather, end up a haven for felons? It is a question residents often ask without getting any answers.
In broad daylight as well as night, car owners are conscious that their vehicles could be snatched by gun-toting thieves, and their fears often come true. At home, power generators are also stolen. That is not all. Rapists, murders and a variety of other rogues are also about, making residents jumpy most of the time.
There is also the ubiquitous presence of military personnel, not really for these crimes, but for such more alarming cases as terrorism and communal clashes. Yet, the other lesser criminals find enough room to strike.
The good news is that security agencies seem to have figured out how to keep the felons out of business. A good number of the suspects have been arrested and are being questioned by police. When they were paraded, and what a large hurl, the people expressed their joy and relief by applauding the law enforcement agents.
The state police commissioner, Nasiru Oki was celebrated for the catch, even though nothing is certain yet regarding the guilt of the accused, as they have not been charged to court.
•He is accused of concealing a machete
The criminals paraded by the police commissioner at the command headquarters at Joseph Gomwalk Way Jos, were up to 30. But the interesting aspect of the event was not the number of the suspects but the nature of the crime they were thought to have committed.
One of the suspects was a 75-year-old grandfather who reportedly raped his own granddaughters and their friends. The old man was said to be having an affair with his two granddaughters, a development that was said to have lasted without other members of the family knowing about it. He accused was also said to have deflowered the two girls.
The police gave the name of the old man as Mr Umoru Choji who lived in Zawan village in Jos South Local Government Area of the state. He was discovered when the some teenagers from the other families reported the affair to the girls’ parents. The parents in turn reported it to ‘B’ Division Police Station in Bukuru and he was promptly picked up by the police.
The man reportedly owned up to the crime. One of the two granddaughters he allegedly deflowered is 11 years old, the other 14.
Another man, Monday Pam, also paraded by the police, was alleged to have killed another man over a girlfriend. The girlfriend, Magdalene Fidelis, a widow, was dating the two men at the same time. Pam rented an apartment for her where she lived with her three children. But another she loved was also coming to spend some time with her in the apartment.
Pam said, “The woman is my girlfriend, but I know another man was also dating [her], so I warned the man several times but [he] ignored my warnings. So the last time we met in the house of my girlfriend, I challenged him and it resulted in a fight; the man wanted to kill me, so I pulled out my knife and stabbed him.”
The widow at the centre of the conflict, said, “I am a widow with three children; this man Monday Pam is my boyfriend, he even rented the house for me, so when he came across this man in my house, they started fighting and I drove them [out of] my house, so they went to the road and fought that night. I did not know that my boyfriend killed the other man until the police came and arrest me.”
Pam, who is in police custody alongside the widow, has a wife and children. The police gave the name of the dead lover as Christopher Vincent. Both Monday Pam and his girlfriend Magdalene Fidelis will be charged to court for conspiracy and culpable homicide, the police said.
In a similar case, three young men in Josho Daho village of Bokkos Local Government, Plateau state, went to a night party. One of them, Mr. Anjum Morem noticed his wife Asabe Anjum in a passionate romance with another man. Mr. Moren quickly elected his other two friends of the situation and three of them engage the man romancing his wifeliness a fit-scuff. In the fight that ensued, the man said to be romancing Mr. Morgen’ wife, Yakubu Patrick was stabbed to death right there. Mr. More claimed he had several times warned the deceased Yakubu
Patric to steer clear of his wife. The three young men are already in police net for the crime and they are about to be charged to court for conspiracy and culpable homicide.
Another interesting aspect of the criminals on parade is the case of a young man who ride on commercial motorcycle in Jos metropolise with a machete stripped to his back. The purpose of the machete was to attack any security agency that tried to arrest them knowing fully well that commercial motorcycle has been outlawn in a Jos city since 2012.
According to the police commissioner, “These boys knows they are committing crime against the state for ridding commercial motorcycle. So they armed to attack any any law enforcement officer that tried to arrested them. They have done that to several police men. But this one was not lucky, as he tried to pull the machete from his shirt as usual, he was over powered by the police and was arrested” the police boss said they are still looking out to arrest these gang of criminals and very soon, we will get some others if they continued to break the laws.
There is also a case of witchcraft, in this case, an elderly man called Yakubu Kwon Sanga, poured some quantity of Kerosine on one Nancy Dauda, an eight year old girl on the suspicion that the girl was a witch. He lured the girl into his room and tried to interrogate the little girl. But all of a sudden, the man poured kerosine on the girl, got a matches and set the girl on fire, or course, the girl was severely burnt and eventually died. The suspect was eventually arrested by the police.
The regular crime in the state is that of armed robbery. In Old Legislative Quaters in Jos city, one Stephen Musa went with a gun to rub at the residence of one Tokumbo Adewoye in the middle of the night. The suspect forced himself into the apartment and demanded for money at gun point. But the owner of the house was bold enough to grab the suspect while pretending to handover to the robber some money, Mr Adewoye overpowered the robber and alerted his neighbors. The suspect was immediately handed over to the police patrol team.
In Quan Pan local government of the state, two suspected armed robbers attacked Mr. Wilfred Mankut in his house while he was sleeping, he was robbed of his cash and other valuable items. The robbers esced with their lots, but the police continued to trail him through diligent investigation and eventually apprehended him.
It was a miracle for another woman who was attacked by armed robber at her residence along Bukuru express in Jos city. The suspects robber who is now in police net came to the house in a broad day light and told the woman that her husband directed him to come and carry out some electrical work on the house. But the woman suspected the electrician and refused the electrician to carry out any work in the house. The fake electrician then requested for a water to drink. As the woman headed towards the kitchen to bring the water, the fake electrician followed the woman up and pulled out a gun, he immediately ordered the woman to surrender all her money, handsets and other valuables. But instead of responding to the demands made on her at gunpoint, the woman pounced on the robber and eventually dispossessed the robber of the gun, she screamed heavily and neighbors came to her help to apprehend the robber and handed her over to the police.
A huge sigh of relief coursed through the capital city following the ease of fuel scarcity and the long queues at filling stations, some even suggesting it is the Buhari touch. AYORINDE HOPE reports
For months on end, the people suffered and hoped. Fuel scarcity upset homes and the order and rhythm of life at the nation’s capital. Power supply dropped, worsened by the fact that there was no petrol to run generators. Businesses suffered, some folded up. Going to work was herculean. Prices of foodstuff went up. Those who were initially hopeful that the dark cloud would soon blow over had reason to despair as weeks turned to months with no hope in sight.
The precious liquid is available and the long-winding queues have disappeared. Nigerians especially those in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) can now heave a huge sigh of relief. Residents can hardly contain their joy. Some reckoned that the scarcity was going to be the longest trying time for the country’s sovereignty.
The fuel scarcity overran all sectors of the economy, crippling businesses, shutting down power and testing the courage and strength of Nigerians.
The social media could not help but further set agenda on the issue, although one wouldn’t have expected less. Nigerians posted hilarious pictures and statuses while hoping that the change they had envisaged would finally arrive, and not just arriving but also sweeping the ills and vices left in Nigeria away so that democracy would start to pay its dividends.
•Where are the queues?
The transport sector was the hardest hit, of course. Vehicles were on long queues for days. This was not because of their love for queues nor the lack of money to purchase fuel. No. The lingering scarcity was a shadow that just would not disappear.
A visit to the federal capital city a few weeks ago, would present a city whose streets, roads and other places crawled with fuel merchants who sold fuel at exorbitant prices, a 10-liter jerry can selling for N2,500. Motorists stopped by the roadside to patronise them.
The lingering shadows have now vanished, and Nigerians have now found respite from their travails. You no longer find cars waiting in long queues at the petrol station. Bus fares have gone back to normal and the economy is back on track.
This week, Abuja Review met with some residents of Abuja who described how they were adjusting to life in the absence of fuel scarcity, some believe it was the long awaited change and the president that was instrumental to its disappearance others believe it is still affecting them in one way or the other.
Mr. Saheed Adelakun said that during the scarcity of fuel he experienced difficulty in transporting his merchandise from Suleja to Kubwa, but he is happy to say that things have gone back to normal.
“I thank God that fuel is now available; I transport meat from Suleja to Kubwa here. Transportation cost during the period of fuel scarcity was so high. Normally it shouldn’t be more than N2,500 but it went as high as N5000 which also made us sell meat at a high price. Government should always consider the masses before allowing things to go out of normal,” he said.
Mr. Zakaria Bahago had a different view to the whole matter. According to him the issue of fuel scarcity affected him both personally and business-wise. He said, “It affected me personally and in my business. I paid a high price for transportation to my place of work every day for weeks; you can imagine summing up the amount you paid every day for transportation and comparing it to your salary for the month, it was a hard time for us all”.
He added that the availability of fuel has brought relief to him and his family.
While reacting to whether the coming of the new president was responsible for eliminating fuel scarcity, Mr. Bahago said, “We the masses usually say that if the president wants it to work, it will, so we can say it was his [President Buhari’s] coming and we can thank God because we are seeing the change we envisaged; our businesses are moving fine and power supply is getting better”.
Another resieent simply known as Mama Kuburat said that the scarcity so affected her business that she sold off her foodstuff on credit to customers because they were unable to pay her immediately.
“Business is moving fine unlike before when the fuel was scarce. I sold on credit to customers because I could understand the situation even though the prices of foodstuff increased but I thank God I was able to manage to feed my family and the prices of foodstuff have returned to normal,” she said.
The end of the fuel scarcity of course, has however shown the commitment of the government in meeting the needs of the masses. It has also shown that the government should put in place proactive means of maintaining the availability of fuel.
As part of activities marking the 2015 International Widows Day, the Rock of Ages Empowerment Foundation (RAEF) has given scholarship to 85 primary school pupils and 50 secondary schools students in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The gesture, according to the Founder and Executive Director of the RAEF, Ignatius Newman Ezeigbo, is aimed at providing succour to the mothers of the 135 students who are widows.
Speaking at an event marking the 2015 International Widows Day in Abuja, Ezeigbo said his foundation have also trained 95 widows for bakery, 105 for soap making while a sum of N4, 800,000 have also been set aside to equip the women with all the materials needed for the initial take off in their businesses.
“The Foundation have so far spent N70 million on about 3000 widows since 2012, about ten elderly ones here will get grinding machine value at about N40,000 while 1200 bags of rice and also wrappers will also be shared to the widows today”
Speaking on the future plans of the foundation that have been assisting widows in the last five years, Ezeigbo said it has concluded arrangements to embark on a programme tagged, “Vegetable for life” where lands have been procured in various locations in its branches to be leased to beneficiaries and crops supplied to them for planting.
“Additionally, boreholes are to be provided in various locations to make for an all year round farming since somevegetables are grown all seasons”he said
Ezeigbo called on Nigerians to seize the opportunity of the International Widows Day to start helping widows around them no matter how little, saying they need assistance.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Ezekiel Oyemomi in his goodwill message at the session said the Federal Government has launched a widows empowerment scheme in collaboration with the MTN Foundation with a strong commitment to address the plight of widows in Nigeria and to ensure their integration into the National transformation processes.
“In addition, the Ministry in continuation of its drive to promote the economic empowerment of women is proposing to train about 100 widows in basic skills and also give them start off grants and tools
“I wish to call on all stakeholders to support these empowerment schemes as a sure way to ensure that widows vulnerability issues and concerns are positively addressed and be encuraged to participate in economic and other activities geared towards improving their status and ensurinh full integration into National Development”he said
Some widows, who spoke at the event, like Sisister Faith Owoicho from Benue State and Rosemary Joseph from Cross River State, said they encountered hardship after the death of their husbands but with the help of the foundation, they now adequately feed their children, pay their school fees and started a trade of their own.
They urged people to extend helping hands to widows.
Other activities that formed part of the celebration includes free medical screening as well as distribution of drugs to the sick persons.
The Rotary Club of Abuja District 9125 has donated a borehole and seven units of ultra-modern water system toilets to the LEA Primary School, TundunMaje.
The club made the donation during a visit to the institution as part of its 2014/2015 rotary year achievement at the school premises in Abuja.
Rotary club is an international organisation of different professionals such as engineers, medical doctors, pharmacist among other groups whose passion is to render humanitarian services.
Rotary District Governor, Tolu Omatsola said, during the donation that the effort was in alignment with the year Water and Sanitation, Disease Prevention and Treatment Resolution for the year.
Omatsola disclosed that with the facilities, staff of the school, teachers and pupils can live healthier life with the advantage of keeping their hands clean.
“Students and teachers now have the privilege of easing themselves in the comfort of their school premises. We have donated drugs to hospitals and supported widows.
“We provided full health insurance for 1, 600 urban poor and indigent persons in Lugbe community, FCT including pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under the age of 5, elders and orphan,” he said.
The Rotarian added that the projects were solely funded by members of the club in Abuja without government intervention.
He urged management of the school to take ownership of the two projects and ensure they are adequately put to use.
President, Rotary District, Abuja, Bar. Ezenwa Anummu commended donors for their supports.
He urged teachers to intensify their efforts to educating the pupils.
Earlier, LEA Head Teacher, Mrs. Ugwuanyi Christiana said the club, on 28th May, 2014 had donated 100 pupils’ furniture including a renovated block of two classrooms.
She commended the Rotary club for supporting the school with additional water and modern toilet facilities.
“We are here today to praise and glorify rotary club of Abuja for its achievement in the 2013/2014 rotary year, but for its current feat and achievements in the 2014/2015 rotary year. Apart from the sinking of a standard borehole to provide portable drinking for pupils and staff of
the primary school, it had also constructed a set of seven units of modern water system toilet which is being commissioned today,” she said.
According to her, Rotary Club which assists any government in power is rare in the country.
She urged other humanitarian organisations to imbibe the generous gesture.
The 30-year-old Kwara State Transport Corporation, Kwara Express, has been turned around, ditching its old name and acquiring a new one, Harmony Transport Service. It is also under a new management, the aim being to make it efficient and effective.
The new owners are Harmony Holdings Limited, supervisors of the state business entities.
Before its takeover in 2012, the then Kwara Express was foundering.
Little wonder, with the support of Sterling and Infrastructure banks, Harmony Holdings Ltd recently injected 42 new buses at the cost of N270.6 million into the company’s fleet.
At the commissioning of the buses in Ilorin, the state capital, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed said that “establishing Harmony Transport Services Limited reflects how we intend to run government business henceforth: Through innovative approaches, prudent management, and targeted diversification.”
He added that the commissioning was therefore a strong pointer to the better future that awaits Kwarans through better management of public resources.
Said he: “The acquisition of these buses is indicative of Harmony Holdings’ capacity to steer the transport company towards growth and profitability. It is worthy of note that while unveiling Harmony Holdings Limited in March 2013, I charged its management to turn around the fortunes of troubled entities established by successive administrations in the State.
These companies were struggling to turn a profit and instead constituted a drainpipe on the state government’s resources.
“As you are all aware, these changes have generated concerns in certain quarters. Understandably, the dissolution of Kwara State Transport Corporation, for example, has created apprehension about the fate of its staff. Let me state clearly that no staff of the defunct corporation will lose their job on account of its takeover.
“You have a choice to remain in Harmony Transport Services Limited or seek redeployment back to the core civil service. Either way, your jobs are safe.
It is also imperative to put our decision to abrogate the company in perspective by recalling the events preceding it.
“When Kwara Express was established, government envisioned an efficient transport corporation that guarantees excellent services to customers and profits for its owners
Regrettably, more than 30 years later, the corporation was struggling to realise its huge potential in terms of service and profits. While it had substantially delivered in certain areas (especially safety), its overall performance remained poor.
“By the time Harmony Holdings Limited took over its management in 2012, the Corporation was nearly comatose. As a result, Harmony Holdings Limited re-engineered the corporation, made it profitable and refocused its operations, culminating in today’s event.
“Let me therefore commend Harmony Holdings Limited for the resilience exhibited in the face of daunting challenges encountered in the process of rescuing Kwara Express and other government concerns.
“To the management and staff of Harmony Transport Services Limited, I ask you to see the acquisition of these buses as a passport to a new beginning.
Be advised that the era of impunity, and careless usage of Government properties is over. These new buses and the old ones in the fleet should be deployed efficiently and professionally to ensure their optimal use.
“However, the Kwara State of our dream still requires hard work and sacrifice by every one of us. We must seize the current economic situation as an opportunity to diversify our economy and eliminate wastage.
“In doing so, we will better fund our development by reforming the revenue generation and collection process. This will reduce our reliance on federally allocated revenue. In line with this reality, we will also streamline ministries and appointments to reduce the cost of governance.
“Some of you may find the reforms we are implementing difficult. I admit that change is often hard to accept and challenging to achieve. But I assure you: Kwara State will come out better and stronger.”
Painting a sordid picture of the transport company before the acquisition, Group Managing Director of Harmony Holdings Ltd, Tope Daramola “said that apart from the critical issue of ageing vehicles which dominated the fleet, the Infrastructure Bank (formerly known as Urban Development Bank)-creditors to the company, was about recalling operational vehicles acquired under a lease arrangement from the bank. This was due to accumulated backlog of unpaid rentals. The company was four months in arrears than.”
Mr. Daramola added that “morale among staff of the company was at its lowest ebb due to salaries owed by preceding management. There was the issue of accumulated unpaid leave allowances and cooperative contributions dating back to 2008.
“Administratively, internal control structures were weak, compromised or non-existence, thus leading to incapacity to identify evaluate and resolve control breaches. Performance monitoring and management processes were nil. The ticketing processes were manual and prone to errors and fraud.”
Daramola said given this unsavoury picture, the entity had recorded massive operational losses for several years back.
He said that procurement of the buses being commissioned was the culmination of preparatory steps which the supervising company implemented.
He listed those steps as paying of outstanding debt owed to Infrastructure Bank, Diamond Bank and debts due to partners by the Kwara Express in the region of N169.8 million; payment of the arrears of salaries, leave bonuses and cooperative contribution of staff to the tune of N17.5 million owed by past management; implementation of the minimum wage policy in staff salary from July 2013; institutionalisation of sound corporate governance principles which has led to an improvement in staff productivity and performance; automation of the ticketing process at the company with the attendant result of minimising incidence of fraud and improved accountability and activation of the fuel pump which was abandoned since 2008.
On Monday when 5500 Internally Displaced Persons or IDPs got relief materials in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, everyone in the city knew that something remarkable was happening. An unusual traffic gridlock built up around the central Roundabout area of the town. Commercial tricycle operators made brisk business ferrying food items meant for the IDPs.
The food items were distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The 300-meter gridlock at the Ministry Integrated Rural Development area caused a nightmare for motorists in the town. After the first day of the distribution, word got out to others, which was why the entire section of the road swarmed with IDPs queuing up day after day to collect the relief materials.
Not everyone who came got the relief items materials as the Red Cross and the ICRC had already registered a total of 8500 displaced people in the State.
As part of its considered objective of responding to the consequences of armed violence, ICRC through its humanitarian initiatives provides displaced persons with basic household necessities, such as cooking utensils, hygiene items, bedding and mosquito nets. They also provide and distribute shelter materials, food and clothing to help them cope during the most vulnerable period of their displacement.
A field official of the ICRS who provided some information about the distribution in the state but asked not to be quoted informed that a total of 8500 displaced families will benefit from the scheme. Out of the number, 5500 are from Damaturu, 3000 from Potiskum.
Each beneficiary, according to him, will go home with three bags of rice; three bags of beans; two packs of salt and bottles of oil as the food materials while the non-food relief materials include soap; mats; sanitary towel; blanket; mosquito nets; bucket; kitchen sets and tarpaulin.
The officer further explained that his organization had initially embarked on a comprehensive and coordinated process before arriving at the figure.
“We initially embarked on what we call map-out, then the registration of the IDPs. After that, we take a need assessment of the displaced people [who] we then issue a permit card for each of the persons accredited or screened in the family.
“Without this process, you cannot benefit from what we are giving out unfortunately even if you are genuinely a displaced person. You have to be captured through this process,” the source explained.
With the distribution coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan and more than half of the population of the state fasting as Yobe being a predominantly Muslim state, the number of the displaced people kept on swelling as many that were not registered also evaded the distribution that lasted for one week.
Those who got the materials were however full of praises to Red Cross. Throughout the town, commendations have been pouring on the organisation even from non-beneficiaries.
“Anybody that has seen these materials that Red Cross has provided for these displaced people will know that our government (both state and Federal) are only paying lips service to the care of the IDPs in the state,” a civil servant in the state who does not want his name mentioned, said.
Lawan Gudusu, a 60-year-old displaced blind man from Goniri in Gujba Local Government area of Yobe State, married to three wives and has 12 children, was happy when a Red Cross volunteer told him the list of items he collected.
“Haba, they gave us all those items? That will take care of us for a long time. This is the best thing that has happened to my family during this fasting. We have been surviving on very little ration that I normally go out and get from public-spirited people through begging.
“It has not been easy but with what we have now from these people (ICRC); it can take us through the fasting period. Whoever decided to provide this for us will see Aljanna (heaven),” Gudusu said.
Lubabatu Sani, 35, who has seven children, said she has not seen this kind of help from anywhere since they were displaced from their hometown in Goniri and relocated to Damaturu where they have been taking refuge for the past one year.
“To say the truth, since the problem of Boko Haram started, different people and individuals have been giving us help but I cannot compare this particular one to any of those. This help is truly coming from people with a good heart and intentions and Allah will reward them abundantly,” she said.
Like Lawan Gudusu, Bintu Molima a widow with 9 children has been barely surviving during the fasting period. Her husband was brutally murdered in front of her house in the presence of four of their children at Katarko. According to her, the relief materials she got are just “timely and Allah’s design”.
“This help I can say is designed from Allah to save people like us that have no hope. I lost my husband to Boko Haram when they slaughtered him like a goat in my presence with four of my children watching. It has not been easy (she broke down into tears)”.
Information available indicate that what is been provided for the displaced people is only for a ration of one month and that the ICRC will still be back to carry out what it refers to as Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) to determine the impact of the materials on the IDPs and also see the need of subtracting items not need or adding those that may desire their dire need.
Our correspondent observed that apart from the food and non food materials that the ICRC has provided, it has also provided job opportunities for some of the able displaced youths working in the distribution unit of the program with some Daily Wage allowances.
Commercial tricyclists are also feasting on the available market being provided at the venue of the distribution. It was gathered that some of the tricyclists normally come out around 4.00am to queue up so as to make money.
One of the tricyclists informed that they normally collect not less than N1000 per drop depending on which part of the town the beneficial would be going to.
“This is good business for us. The least that we do collect from one person is N1000. Some people pay more than that depending on which direction you are going to. It is good business for us because one drop is N50 and before you get N1000, you must have burnt so much petrol so it’s better to queue up here,” he said.
Our correspondent also observed that security is very tight at the distribution centre. While the soldiers and police battle with screening the tricycle operators before the gain entrance into the venue, the main venue is saturated with sniffer dogs and bomb detective experts that continually combs as a proactive measure of averting any unforeseen danger.
