Category: South West

Ike Uke Foundation has launched a Campaign on eradication of hard drugs and substance abuse among youths in the South-East and all over the Country.

Speaking at a press conference which was held in Lagos to unveil the Foundation’s new logo and her youth ambassador for the campaign, the Founder, Ike Uke Foundation, Chief Ambassador Victor Okolo lamented that the rate at which youths and adolescents abuse drugs are very alarming If youths are the future of our generation, there is need to fight against it.

Speaking on why the campaign is taking off from the South-East, Okolo lamented that the level at which youths abuse ‘Crystal Meth’ `(Mkpuru Nmiri: Igbo translation) in that region is disturbing and has become a public concern. “Hence, Ike Uke foundation wants to do all it could in partnership with National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), to campaign against it by going to our universities, colleges, secondary schools among others to curb the menace,” he said

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”If we can educate more people to realize the dangers involved in taking the substance, it will contain the spread. It will be a subject of discourse at both national and state assembly, there will be billboards all over south-east campaigning against drug abuse and we will also engage our town union leaders.”  Okolo said.

The foundation also unveiled Kaydee, (Obinna Pius Ani) popular musician as her new ambassador for the campaign against hard drugs among youths.

In her remarks, patroness of the foundation, and senior lecturer at The Bells University, Ota, Ogun State, Dr. Nkiru Ifekwem lamented that the menace ‘’is a parental, societal and government issue, it also rise from our system of education.’’

The Lagos State government has taken the ‘Ilera Eko  grassroots sensitisation and enrollment drive’ to the 20 Local Government Areas in the state.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently launched the health insurance scheme to ensure that all citizens have access to effective, quality, and affordable health care services.

In a bid to create more awareness, the Office of Civic Engagement in collaboration with Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) kicked off the campaign at the Agege, Mushin, and Alimosho Primary Health Centers.

The Special Adviser, Office of Civic Engagement, Princess Aderemi Adebowale, in her opening remarks said the goal is to assist the government in achieving its agenda of providing universal health coverage for all residents.

She said: “The administration of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu is focused on ensuring that all the residents of Lagos State, have access to quality, equitable and affordable healthcare regardless of their socio-cultural and economic status, towards the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in our State.

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“This has necessitated the government to embark on the building and renewal of health facilities all around the State and the continuous initiation and promotion of various intervention programmes which include the Lagos State Health Insurance Scheme also known as ‘Ilera Eko’.

“There is no doubt that Health insurance is new in Nigeria but the journey of health insurance in Lagos State started over six years ago with the signing of the Lagos State Health Law in 2015, while access to care commenced in 2020,” she said.

For seamless and easy registration, General Manager of LASHMA Dr Emmanuella Zamba said  ‘Ilera Eko’ offices and kiosks are opened across the state.

According to Zamba, the governor’s goal was to reduce the cost of accessing effective, quality, and affordable medical services by the citizenry especially vulnerable people.

The insurance covers treatment of various ailments, family planning, surgery among other services.

 

 

Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State, has launched the Royal Cocoa International Film Festivals (RCIFF).

The governor who was represented by the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Adedayo Adewole, launched the Royal Cocoa International Film Festivals at the Filmhouse Cinemas, Osun Mall in Osogbo, the state capital.

Royal Cocoa International Film Festivals is an initiative of Eti-Oni Development Group to promote cocoa renaissance in the country and the continent.

Speaking on behalf of the governor, Adewole said the state government was supporting cocoa farmers in the state in many ways to ensure that they farm with ease and make a commensurate profit.

Oyetola lauded the Oloni of Eti-Oni, Oba Dokun Thompson Gureje IV for consistently promoting cocoa and pledged support of the state government for cocoa farmers and the cocoa festival.

To fewer than 7,311 bags of foreign parboiled rice, second-hand toys, illicit drugs and clothes worth over N172 million have been intercepted from smugglers in the last one month by men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Ogun 1 Area Command.

At a press briefing held at Abeokuta on Wednesday,  the Comptroller of the Command, Dera Nnadi said the 7,311 bags of rice was equivalent to 12 trailer loads of foreign parboiled rice of 50kg each.

Giving a breakdown of the seizure, Comptroller Nnadi explained that 300 litres of vegetable oil, four bales of used items of clothing, 26 sacks of used shoes, and four sacks of used toys were also seized from smugglers.

‘’Other seized items are 124 packs (book size) and 164 wraps (coconut size) of cannabis sativa weighing 167kg, two bundles and four pieces of used tyres with rims, 810 cartons of frozen poultry, 20,775 litres of petrol in 831 kegs among others.

‘’The cumulative Duty Paid Value (DPV) for all the seizures amounted to N172,999,387. The command also generated a total revenue N2,437,050 during the period under review, which is mainly proceeds from auction sales of seized petroleum products and scrap metals.’’

Beginning from January 1, next year, no vehicles would be issued road worthiness  certificates  without physical inspection, the Lagos State Government has said.

It said motorists would have to present their vehicles for physical inspection at any of the designated computerised vehicle inspection centres across the state before they would be issued a roadworthiness certificate.

Announcing this at stakeholders meeting with all transport operators, at an event which took place at the VIS headquarters in Ojodu Berger, Lagos, the Commissioner for Transportation Dr. Frederic Oladeinde said this was to further strengthen the safety of the roads by ensuring that all vehicles plying Lagos roads are roadworthy.

He said the new policy is geared towards making the road safe for all users and in line with the THEMES agenda of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration.

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He explained that the new policy would void the hitherto practice where any motorists can procure roadworthiness certificate without presenting the vehicle for proper checks.

He said: “No one would be able to obtain roadworthiness certificate anywhere in the state without the Vehicle Inspection Service (LACVIS) certifying such vehicles roadworthy,” Oladeinde said.

He explained that if the vehicle passed the minimum safety standard of the computerised test, such vehicles would be issued the certificate, and anyone whose vehicle failed the tests would be given one month grace period within which to fix the problems on such vehicles after which such would be returned for certification test upon which a roadworthiness certificates would thereafter be issued.

The renewed communal clashes in Ikare Akoko, in Akoko Northeast Local Government Area of Ondo State, has continued despite the 24-hour curfew imposed by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

Akeredolu had imposed the curfew following killings of some persons and persistent shooting of guns.

Residents in the community defied the curfew and attempted to destroy a building housing a bank in the community.

The building reportedly belongs to a rival traditional ruler of the town, the Owa-Ale of Ikare, Oba Adeleke Adedoyin.

Oba Adedoyin and the Olukare of Ikare, Oba Akadiri Saliu Momoh are at loggerheads as the Olukare regarded the Owa Ale as one of his Chiefs.

Olukare is regarded as a Class A monarch while the Owa Ale is in the Class C category.

Read Also: Ikare residents defy Akeredolu’s curfew

Eyewitnesses said some residents of the town moved freely disregarding the curfew while hoodlums attacked the building.

The windows and doors of the bank were broken but the intervention of the police stopped the building from being razed.

He said the damage had been done before the police arrived at the scene.

It was learntb that residents in some parts of the town banned other resident from visiting their area for any business activities.

Ondo Police spokesman, DSP Funmilayo Odunlami, who refuted claims that the police failed to ensure compliance to the curfew order said policemen were on the ground to maintain peace.

Lawmakers in the Ondo State House of Assembly have suspended the Chairman of Ifedore Local Government, Alex Oladimeji, for three months.

They said the suspension was due to gross misconduct.

Some councillors in Ifedore Council led by the Vice Chairman, Sogo Ajikiola, had petitioned the Ondo Assembly, stating reasons why the council chairman should be removed.

Six of the councillors, Olakitan Akinsola, Deputy Leader; Kehinde Oluwajana, Majority Leader; Abiodun Aladegbohungbe, Deputy Majority Leader; Mrs. Omolola Alabi, Chief Whip; Omojowo Adodo, member and Adebayo Adefila, ex-leader of the House, denied signing any impeachment letter.

They claimed that their signatures were forged.

The chairman, in a phone chat, said the allegations against him were unfounded.

He said he was suspended for committing no offence.

 

 

Four monarchs in Ilejemeje Local Government of Ekiti State yesterday protested the shoddy implementation of the Supreme Court judgment directing relocation of the council headquarters from Iye-Ekiti to Eda-Oniyo.

The protesting traditional rulers are the Eleda of Eda-Oniyo, Oba Julius Awolola; Elewu of Ewu-Ekiti, Oba Bamidele Ajayi;

Onijesha of Ijeshamodu, Oba Aderemi Daramola, and Onipere of Ipere-Ekiti, Oba Omiyale Olufemi.

The apex court on December 14, 2018 ruled in a unanimous judgment that the headquarters of Ilejemeje Local Government be relocated from Iye-Ekiti to Eda Oniyo, but some departments are still in Iye-Ekiti two years after the relocation.

The protesting monarchs and residents comprising the traditional chiefs, elders and youths took to the streets to express their displeasure about non-availability of infrastructures in the council.

The protesters, carrying placards, chanted solidarity songs and blocked the road leading to a neighboring community, Obbo-Ayegunle in Kwara State, thus preventing free flow of vehicular movements.

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Addressing reporters, the Chairman, Council of Traditional Rulers in Ilejemeje, Oba Ajayi, said it smacks of injustice that two years after Supreme Court ordered the council relocation to Eda Oniyo, accompanying facilities are still at Iye-Ekiti.

The monarch said local government administration in the community was in comatose with little or no activities at the temporary secretariat as a result of lack of infrastructural facilities.

He lamented that there had been decline in the quality of service delivery and governance in Ilejemeje Council, which had manifested in socio-economic challenges taking its toll on the citizenry.

Oba Ajayi said there was no justification for the shoddy relocation since the Supreme Court had ordered the relocation, noting that the buildings provided by the host community for temporary use could not accommodate all the workers, hence they sat under the tree.

He appealed to Governor Kayode Fayemi to build a befitting secretariat and relocate the departments at the old headquarters in Iye-Ekiti to Eda Oniyo.

Contacted, the Chairman of the council, Oladunjoye Akinola, confirmed the sorry state of the local government.

He said lack of facilities at the secretariat is taking its toll on service delivery.

Said he: “Governor Fayemi was aware of the situation of things in Ilejemeje. Since we relocated to Eda Oniyo, we have been managing. We have raised a memo to build a secretariat. We are waiting for approval from the state government.”

 

 

 

 

 

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has said Nigeria and other members of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCTA), stand to gain from the agreement in the area of employment, wealth generation, food security and poverty alleviation.

He spoke yesterday in Abeokuta at the 36th Annual General Meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Ogun State branch.

The governor stressed the need for stakeholders in African countries to appraise and review process of the continental agreement.

“Our production base has continued to expand and we are harnessing the potentials of the manufacturing sector towards improving on policy formulations and programmes to internalise and mainstream African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCTA) into Nigeria’s Economic Development Plan.

“Interestingly, the results have remained positive, especially, in the area of employment generation, wealth creation, food security and poverty alleviation and consequently, the continued improvement in the standards of living of Nigerians.

“No doubt, AfCTA comes with immense benefits to member-nations. Nevertheless, it is important that critical stakeholders in African countries also come together to appraise and review the process,” he said.