The Nation Newspaper

Category: South West

  • Lagos pays N538.9m insurance death benefits

    Lagos pays N538.9m insurance death benefits

    Lagos State, in conjunction with LASACO Assurance PLC and Consortium of Underwriters/Brokers, has paid N538.9 million as insurance death benefits of 102 civil servants, who died in active service.

    Cheques were presented to 250 beneficiaries.

    Read Also: Lagos announce competition for SDGs

    Head of Service Hakeem Muri-Okunola, who delivered a keynote address at the cheque presentation yesterday, said payment of Insurance Death Benefits cheques to relatives of deceased members of staff showed that the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration prioritised worker’s welfare.

    Muri-Okunola, represented by the Permanent Secretary (Public Service Office), Mrs. Olasunkanmi Oyegbola, added: “We are paying these insurance death benefits to relatives of deceased staff to serve as a succour, help keep the children in school and so they can have a roof over their heads.”

  • Lawmaker holds security summit

    Lawmaker holds security summit

    The lawmaker representing Ile Oluji/Okeigbo/Odigbo Federal Constituency, Ondo State, Mayowa Akinfolarin, yesterday held a security summit for traditional/religious leaders and security agencies in the constituency.

    He said the summit was held as part of his commitment to improving the security architecture of the constituency.

    Akinfolarin stressed the need for proper synergy between security agencies and traditional rulers in the constituency and the state, to combat insecurity.

    Read Also: Sultan asks Miyetti Allah to help Fed Govt tackle insecurity

    He said monarchs were the closest to the people, hence they had an immense role to play in advocating peace in their communities.

    Ondo State Deputy Governor Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, who represented Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu at the summit, said security had been prioritised by the current administration.

    He said security operatives of the indigenous security outfit, Amotekun, since inception, had made progress in curbing the high rate of insecurity in the state.

    He praised Akinfolarin for coming up with the initiative, which he described as well timed.

    Present at the event were Oba Rufus Olugboyega Akinrunda, Orunja of Odigbo Kingdom; Oba Aderemi Adelola, the Ajobu of Araromi Obu Kingdom, among top government functionaries.

  • ‘I’m in politics because of Arewa women in Southwest’

    ‘I’m in politics because of Arewa women in Southwest’

    By Segun Showunmi, Ibadan

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southwest, Rabi Dangizo, has said she joined politics to address issues affecting Arewa women in the Southwest.

    Dangizo, the leader of Arewa women in the Southwest, lamented that the women had been sidelined in the region.

    She said she will try her best to make sure the voice of the women is heard.

    Read Also: Politics, governance and nation-building

    Speaking in Ibadan, Oyo State, after being turbaned as Wakiliyar Mata (Leader of Northern Women in the Southwest), by the Sarkin Hausawa of Ibadan, Alhaji Ali Zungeru, Dangizo said although Hausa women were staying with another tribe (the Yoruba), they deserved better treatment.

    She promised to use her position to effect changes in Arewa women, to alleviate their suffering and make them feel at home despite not being in their fathers’ land.

    Zungeru said Dangizo was honoured because of her good character and positive impact on women, adding that she always fought for the interest of her people.

  • #FixPolitics launches Office of The Citizen campaign

    #FixPolitics launches Office of The Citizen campaign

    Office of The Citizen campaign from #FixPolitics will debut on Monday, November 28, 2022.

    The OOTC campaign, which will introduce, activate and mobilise Nigerians to assume their roles as citizens and choose the best candidates in the 2023 general elections, will begin by 10 am at Providence Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos State.

    A three-month campaign, it will be supported by the Nigerian think-tank for #FixPolitics, whose goals are to restore the OOTC to its proper position in Nigeria and create a political class of servant-leaders.

    Read Also: Babachir, Dogara failed rebellion: Anti-Tinubu campaigners now at odds

    This social engineering campaign will take place in Abuja and Lagos from November 2022 to January 2023.

    According to the organisers, the campaign will reorientate the populace to understand the electoral process, recognise the influence of the vote, as well as emphasise the value of casting a valid ballot, promote political literacy and prohibit the sale of vulnerable electorates’ votes.

    In addition, by giving participants the chance to become more influential and active in politics, it will give the general public a stronger voice in the creation of governmental agenda and public policies.

    “This is a product that aims to empower people and give them a voice,” the organisers explained.

  • Kwara reopens College of Education

    Kwara reopens College of Education

    Kwara State Government has ordered the resumption of academic activities at the College of Education in Ilorin.

    This directive is contained in a statement issued by the Press Secretary, Ministry of Tertiary Education, Monsurat Amuda-Kannike, in Ilorin yesterday.

    Amuda-Kannike quoted the Commissioner in the ministry, Dr. Alabi Abolore, as saying that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq gave the directive, following interventions by stakeholders on the need to find solution to the crisis in the institution.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the state government had, on October 19, shut the college, following the violent protest embarked on by the students.

    The commissioner said government had to close the institution to forestall degeneration of the crisis within the college community.

  • Ondo moves to stop hiring consultants

    Ondo moves to stop hiring consultants

    Ondo State Government has said it has begun move to stop hiring consultants for effective service delivery and improved revenue generation through the introduction of civil service innovation challenge.

    It said the ‘challenge’ was meant to engage talented civil servants who could think outside the box, to initiate positive innovations and implementable ideas along its REDEEMED Agenda’s thematic areas for the benefit of the civil service and the state at large.

    Speaking at the maiden edition of the ‘Challenge’, the Director General of the Performance and Project Implementation Monitoring Unit (PPIMU), Babajide Akeredolu, said it was an opportunity for people to come up with idea to solve their problems.

    He said it was hard for the administration to bring consultants from outside to fix what they (consultants) did not understand.

    Akeredolu said: “It is people from inside that should be able to fix it. We are running an open and transparent government. You will be part of the implementation.”

    Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Princess Catherine Odu, said 28 entries were received and were pruned down to five out of which the best three would be selected for reward.

    Head of Service Pastor Kayode Ogundele said the move was to encourage creativity and innovation among civil servants as well as see how civil servants, through their creativity, could add value to the process of governance.

  • UI begins data efficient course

    UI begins data efficient course

    University of Ibadan (UI) has begun data-efficient course in its Open Distance eLearning (ODeL).

    The course webinar, according to the management of the institution, was designed for excellence in teaching. It said it was similar to Zoom and Google Meet.

    The Director of the centre, Prof. Emmanuel Omobowale, said the institution collaborated with telecommunications service providers and an innovative educational technology firm, Edutechportal Solutions, to deploy the top-notch solution to its students.

    He said: “The course webinar is easy-to-use and data-efficient with no limit on hosts/courses that can take place simultaneously, no cap on the population of participants/students that can take the online classes. All registered students, irrespective of their population, have right and access to comfortably participate and engage in their registered course, and take the front seat with their smart device.”

    Omobowale thanked the management under the leadership of Prof Kayode Adebowale for its  support, noting that the university was leveraging on technology to bring distance into a virtual space where communication between content experts and learners was practically seamless, accessible and affordable for the teaching-learning enterprise.

    He said: “The public can visit the university website (https://modeofstudy.ui.edu.ng) for further information.”

  • ‘Epe will vote APC in 2023’

    ‘Epe will vote APC in 2023’

    Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Epe, Lagos State, have restated their commitment to ensure the party wins across board in the 2023 elections.

    At a rally held at the weekend, the people reaffirmed that APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and other party candidates, would receive overwhelming votes from Epe.

    The rally was jointly organised by Epe Local Government, Ikosi-Ejirin Local Council Development Area and Eredo Local Council Development Area.

    The Chairman of Epe Local Government, Princess Surah Animashaun, said the rally was the people’s way of reiterating their love and support for the candidates, especially Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu, and to assure them of votes from Epe.

    She said: “This joint rally is to show our thanks to Asiwaju Tinubu and Governor Sanwo-Olu, as well as our representatives at the federal and state level, for everything they have done for Epe people.

    “This shows how much we love and support them, and how we are ready to vote for them. They have done us well in Epe, and it is time to repay them by voting for our candidates in the 2023 elections. Epe is ready for APC. We all have our permanent voter cards (PVCs) and we will show them our love in February 2023.”

    The lawmaker representing Epe I, Abiodun Tobun, described the ‘monumental achievements’ of the Sanwo-Olu-led administration as reasons why the party would win the 2023 elections. According to him, the people see what the APC is doing and will vote for the good work to continue.

    He said: “We are progressives and we want the best for the people at all times; we want the dividends of democracy to get to the nooks and crannies of the state. We have demonstrated and exhibited this over the years, going in line with the agenda of the progressive team, as laid down by our national leader and presidential candidate of our party, Asiwaju Tinubu.

    “Our achievements cut across infrastructural and social amenities – good roads, health facilities, education, human capital development, youth empowerment, women development. The Mother and Child Centre was built across the state to cater for our mothers and their children.

    “Getting to Epe used to be difficult, but today the story has changed. So the people appreciate these efforts at making their lives better for it and they are at this rally to say thank you to those involved, and to promise that February 2023 will be a walk over for the APC. They have promised that APC will win in Epe and the whole country.”

  • Lagos proud to have Tinubu as APC candidate, says Are

    Lagos proud to have Tinubu as APC candidate, says Are

    The large turnout of Nigerians, who attended the rally of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Lagos at the weekend, is a display of love for the former governor of Lagos State.

    It is also a confirmation that Lagos will vote en-masse for him in next year’s election, the Director, Contact and Mobilisation, Southwest of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Alhaji Mutiu Are, has said.

    Are, in a special ‘Thank You’ message to the people of Lagos State, made available to the media by the spokesperson for Contact and Mobilisation Committee, Southwest, Mr. Kehinde Olaosebikan, said with the show of love, Tinubu was reaping from the gains of his developmental strides, visionary leadership and political stability he established in Lagos since 1999 and still being nurtured to date.

    Are, a progressive grassroots politician, said the people of Lagos State were appreciative of the towering level the Jagaban of Borgu had taken their state to, making them proud of their place of origin and residence, “which now serves as a model to other states in and outside Nigeria in their developmental plans.”

    He said the people of Lagos were warm and receptive to his committee in their outreach and engagements across the length and breadth of the state, a situation, he added, had made the work easy and smooth for him and his committee members.

    As a state, Alhaji Are said Lagos is proud to have its paramount visionary leader, Asiwaju Tinubu, as the presidential standard-bearer of the APC, a leader whose records as governor over 20 years ago have remained unbeaten to date.

    Buttressing his point, Are said as the governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Tinubu:  “pioneered economic summit in Nigeria and proffered solutions and templates for economic prosperity in Lagos State and Nigeria; first introduced Treasury Single Account in the country to enhance good governance and transparency; first introduced Independent Power Project (IPP) (ERON) to boost power supply, industrialisation and employment opportunities in Nigeria; first promoted digital economy by the digitalisation of Lagos Tax Administration to improve revenue collection and development and made history by creating 37 local council development areas in Lagos State.”

    He said the pride, love and their utmost belief in the capacity of Tinubu to do more for them as a state and Nigeria motivated them to turn out in their large numbers at the rally; and the peaceful, orderly conduct in and around Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere throughout the programme was a mark of respect for their most loved governor.

    “I hail the commitment and dedication of the Senator Ganiyu Solomon-led Campaign Council for Lagos State, their dexterity in organisation and management manifested clearly in the success of the rally. With the outcome, they have further established that Lagos is indeed the Centre of Excellence.”

    Are said he and his 87 members of the Committee on Contact and Mobilisation were working round the clock, covering every nook and cranny of the Southwest to secure a minimum of 95 per cent votes of the zone for Asiwaju Tinubu.

  • Oyo APC slams Makinde over WAEC’s delisting of 50 schools

    Oyo APC slams Makinde over WAEC’s delisting of 50 schools

    All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has described as unacceptable, the delisting of 50 secondary schools for examination malpractice by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

    The party, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, yesterday said things had been in a downward slope in the state since Governor Seyi Makinde took over governance in 2019, stressing that it was worrisome.

    The WAEC reportedly delisted the schools for their involvement in examination malpractices during the 2022 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).

    APC said the development was unprecedented, declaring it as a clear manifestation of the rot in the system and the gloomy future awaiting the state if nothing was done urgently to arrest the situation.