As fresh crisis seemingly looms in Lagos chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the Treasurer and Oshodi branch chairman of the union, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (aka MC Oluomo), has called on members not to foment trouble. He said anything contrary to peace would affect the unity of the union.
In the circumstances, he has appealed to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode and other stakeholders to quickly call Alhaji Agbede to order to avert unnecessary.
The crisis results from the re- election of Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede as its chairman, a situation which supporters of MC Oluomo insisted did not follow due process.
According to them, the election, which was officially scheduled to hold on October 19, this year at Excellence Hotel in Ogba area of Lagos State at 10:00 a.m., was allegedly manipulated by Agbede. They alleged the election held at 6:00 a.m., instead of 10:00 a.m. as earlier scheduled.
Comrade Saula Yusuf, a branch Chairman of Motorcycle Operators’ Association of Lagos State (MOALS) in Igando, who confirmed the incident, also complained that loyalists to MC Oluomo, including himself, were illegally removed as branch chairmen, warning that state might witness severe crisis if the illegal activities of Alhaji Agbede and his loyalists were not checked.
While appealing to members of the union to keep the peace in the face of alleged provocation, Alhaji Akinsanya assured that everything would be done to ensure that due process was followed to elect a legitimate state executive in a peaceful process devoid of imposition.
The Chief Medical Director, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Prof. Temitope Alonge, has blamed medical tourism in Nigeria, which results in billions of Naira lost in capital flight yearly on doctors.
Delivering a paper entitled: “The Nigerian Health Sector: Maladies and Remedies” at the inauguration of Tri-State Heart and Cardiovascular Centre, Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilisan-Remo, in Ogun State penultimate week, Alonge alleged that some Nigerian doctors and most dishonest businessmen connive with foreign agents to send patients abroad in order to make profits.
He said: “Medical tourism is common on our lips. But medical tourism is not the fault of the tourist. The major problem in medical tourism is doctors in Nigeria and businessmen in Nigeria. The doctors in Nigeria tell their friends abroad, ‘we cannot do it in Nigeria so I am going to ship them over to you’.
“The Indian government established a system in UCH that is called the Pan-African Network. And they wanted me to refer patients to India. And I told them not in your life will I do that. If I can’t manage a case in UCH, that will be part of one per cent that we cannot cover. Because we have more than enough manpower; what we need to do is to strengthen the resources.
“I have colleagues in Lagos who do nothing but medical tourism. They are certificated as doctors but what they do is to ship patients abroad. This is because, for every sixth patient you send to India or America, the money that is supposed to be used for that patient will be paid to you. So, if I send 10 patients, only eight patients will pay. The remaining five million will be paid to the doctor.”
Alonge praised the inauguration of the state-of-the-art centre, saying it was fulfilling the specialist care that many public tertiary institutions could not fulfil because of poor funding.
Also speaking, Chief Bisi Akande, chairman of the Tri-State Heart Foundation, which was launched at the event to raise funds for heart surgeries for the under-privileged, accepted the challenge of helping to fight heart disease because of its prevalence in the country.
“The Tristate team are here in Nigeria on a national medical mission to a country where heart-related diseases are becoming a national disgrace. However, Tristate Cardiovascular Associates have reversed this trend; the team has performed 43 open-heart surgeries in a space of few months of operation in Nigeria,” he said.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain was also optimistic the centre would help reverse medical tourism in Nigeria.
“If you are still grappling with the reality of what is happening here today, then, let me make it more graphic. The fact is that Nigerians no longer need to travel abroad to get treatment for heart-related diseases, many of which are correctable with surgery.
“It also means that Nigeria’s mortality rate will improve significantly since people suffering from this kind of ailment do not need to pass through the rigours of queuing for a visa or struggling to fund the cost of travelling abroad,” he said.
Praising the initiative, the Emir of Kano, HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II, advocated for low-interest financing for similar projects by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“As a former governor of the CBN, I do hope that some of the initiatives started by the Central Bank in getting long-term loans to critical areas will be extended to health care and education. I do not see many of these centres being built with short term money at 20 per cent plan. And just as we tried to help agriculture and manufacturing; given the great outcome that we have from improving health care and education, the education and health care sectors should have major interventions that allow these kind of centres to be built all over the country,” he said.
After the inauguration, Prof. Kamar Adeleke, President/CEO, Tristate Cardiovascular Associates, conducted the Emir and other dignitaries on tour of the centre. The N2 billion-worth centre has ultra-modern equipment for the CT laboratory, operating room and the wards.
Vice-Chancellor, Babcock University, Prof. Kayode Makinde, said Chief Kessignton Adebutu, who donated the BUTH Accident and Emergency Centre, also promised to sponsor patients identified by his foundation; while the Acting Chairman, Nigerian Health Insurance Scheme, Mr Femi Agunbiade, promised to send 10 patients to the centre under the scheme; and five every month if the centre works well.
Another batch of 500 persons who subscribed to the Ogun State government’s Homeowner’s Charter Scheme, have received title documents-Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of their properties.
Addressing the beneficiaries at Oke-Mosan, the Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, assured other applicants who satisfied the requirements of the scheme that they also would receive their title documents soon.
Adeoluwa, who represented Governor Ibikunle Amosun at the event, said the state government would continue to deliver the documents in batches.
“I assure applicants who are yet to be attended to, that we will not relent in ensuring that our dream of processing title documents for the people of Ogun State at discounted rate is achieved.
“All programmes aimed at achieving the re-building mission of the present administration would be realised while all ongoing projects would also be completed and delivered as scheduled,” Adeoluwa said.
He, therefore, appealed for people’s understanding and support in the face of increasing economic challenges. He pledged that the state is striving hard to attain self-sufficiency.
The Chief Medical Director of University College Hospital (UCH), Prof. Temitope Alonge has said latest radio-diagnostic apparatus in the country would help to address the frequency with which Nigerians seek medical treatment abroad.
The CMD revealed this while celebrating this year’s International Day of Radiology whose theme was “Paediatric Image” at the teaching hospital in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
According to him, radiology occupies major component of clinical medicine in the diagnosis of medical problems and treatments, saying it is the most versatile investigative modality in clinical medicine for radio-diagnosis. He also said that the equipment has reduced the issue of admitting patients unnecessary and has reduced cancer and mortality rates.
He added that the celebration is to express gratefulness to the inventors of the apparatus to address various medical challenges in the country, adding that the hospital is the first to have patient archival computerised system to enhance medical efficiency.
Prof. Alonge also stressed that the hospital’s medical services have been extended to other hospitals in the state, adding that the hospital leverages on technology innovations to achieve the feat.
Also appraising the efficiency of the radiological equipment, the Consultant Radiologist in the hospital, Dr. Mojisola Art Alade said celebrating Radiology is important as it has improved health services.
She added that X-ray is one of the most 10 discoveries since 1895, even as she said the latest invention can both diagnose and cure ailments such as cancer and other terminal illnesses.
Iru/Victoria Island Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Executive Secretary Muideen Daramola has called on residents to be vigilant.
Daramola who made the call at a Pea,ce and Security Stakeholders’ meeting at the council, said residents must be conscious of activities around them because of the security situation.
The council, he said had been doing a lot to keep members of the community abreast of security situations in the state.
“In terms of awareness, what we are doing is one of the ways to curb the menace of insecurity. We have been to market places, motor parks to sensitise people and we have also told them not to allow strangers in their domains that will later constitute nuisance.
Victoria Island is the heart of the nation, we make sure that every month we have security meetings to review security situations in the community,” he said.
Victoria Island Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Olusegun Ajamolaye, a chief Superintendent (CSP), urged members of the community to report crime cases in their neighborhood to the police and other security agencies.
Urging the citizens to be conscious of their security, Ajamolaye gave them the slogan “see something say something” as a way of passing information to the security agencies to track hoodlums.
“We should be conscious of our security, we should see something and say something, we are not magicians you need to see something and say something, so as to help us improve security in the state,” he said.
The A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Northern District of Ondo State, Mr. Boye Ologbese has called on the leadership of the party to support the minister-designate from Ondo State, Prof. Claudius Daramola.
This, he said, is to facilitate unity among supporters of the party to pave way for the victory of the party in next year’s governorship election. Mr. Ologbese gave the advice while speaking with reporters in Akure, the state capital.
According to him, the new position that Prof. Daramola has assume from today that President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated his cabinet has given him the rare opportunity of being one of the APC leaders.
He noted that, with the latest development, there was a need for every member of the party to see him as a rallying point.
Ologbese, who is a Special Assistant (SA) to the lawmaker representing Akoko Southwest/Southeast Federal Constituency stressed that the integrity of the ministerial nominee is unquestionable.
Worried about what they regard as growing misconception about gas, the Lagos chapter of Liquefied Petroleum Retailers has taken steps to correct such false impression.
The group is worried that if such insinuation is unchecked, the retailers will experience a bleak future. To avert such a situation, they organised a one-day safety training workshop in Lagos as part of their efforts to sensitise consumers to the safety and affordability of cooking gas. They argued that cooking gas is cheap, safe and healthy to use.
Delivering his speech, the state chairman of the Liquefied Petroleum, Mr. David Okenwa, said the training became imperative in view of the growing demand for cooking gas as an alternative to kerosene and firewood. To enhance the safety of the gas sector, the retailers will create awareness on the use of cooking gas for the health and safety of our customers.
“Many of our members don’t know much about the safety aspect of this business. That is why we engaged a consultant who will train them on the safety aspect of LPG because there are lots of gas-related hazard cases in the country.
“As an association, we deemed it necessary to bring our members to the classroom to widen the scope of their knowledge so that they will be more careful when carrying out their duty,” he said.
He warned that any member who erred in matters of handling cooking gas will be dealt with according to the rules governing the association.
According to the President of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers’ Association (LPGAR), Mr. Michael Umudu, the move aims at ridding the sector of quacks and unlicensed professionals.
Umudu said high rate of cooking gas accidents across the country remained a cause for concern to the association, hence, the decision of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to commence licensing of cooking gas retailers.
Umudu said the safety awareness campaign was put together by the association to equip its members ahead of the licensing round by DPR while also building members’ capacity to be in tune with latest safety standards.
Also speaking on the theme “LP Gas Retailing: The Safety Watch’’ the Principal Consultant of Crownbondis Global Resources Nigeria Limited, Mr. Adebiyi Adewale described safety as being certain that adverse effects will not caused by some agents under defined conditions. For a company, safety is that state of assurance that their resources, operations and productivity are protected against harm or factors that can bring harm.
He said: “Any method or technique or process which can minimise unwanted events (accidents) in an industrial concern may be referred to as a method, technique or process of safety management.
“Safety is the science and art of identifying, evaluating and controlling workplace hazards. It includes measures to prevent human exposure to chemical and physical agents as well as faulty or unsafe work practices.’’
Safety tips given to the retailers during the training included how to transfer LPG from bigger cylinders to smaller ones, proper kits to use; checking expiry date of cylinder; how to leak gas, cylinders should not be stored for excessive period of time, only purchase sufficient quantities of gas to cover short-term needs. Rotate gas cylinders in dry and safe place on a flat surface in the open air. If this is not reasonably practicable, store in an adequately ventilated building or part of a building specifically reserved for this purpose and the consequences of not adhering to safety standards.
Head of Lagos State Fire Services, Alausa, Mr. Olukutun Odunayo said that in their enlightenment programme, they ensure that gas cylinders are installed outside the kitchen, generator is not refueled while working or hot, electrical appliances are switched off while leaving home /close of work. Adequate training /drills are conducted for members of staff regularly.
Portable fire extinguisher are checked regularly and installed in conspicuous places. In case of fire outbreak, contact toll-free numbers 767 or 112.
The Controller of Operation, Department of Petroleum, Port Harcourt zone, Mrs Chioma Njoku thanked the organisers for the training.
The Principal Partner of Jaydes and Co Jane Oluwaseyi has petitioned Ogun State Police Commissioner Abdulmajid Ali over the death of one Sunday Adefuye and the threat on the life of his father Mr Mutiu Adefuye.
According to Oluwaseyi, the late Adefuye alongside Lekan Oladitan and Sunday Ajayi were attacked on August 5 with gun around Ogba Ayo in Ijoko-Ota, Ogun State.
Adefuye died instantly; Oladitan survived the attackand Ajayi escaped unhurt.
The petitioner claimed that one Mohammed Ogunseye and others are after the survivor so that he won’t testify against them.
Oluwaseyi said Ogunseye was arrested by police from Eleweran in Ogun State; detained for few days and released.
“However, to the dismay of our client, Ogunseye and his cohorts began to send death threat to him and have trailed him all over Ijoko Ota, Ogun state.
“His life has been threatened continuously. Our client informs us and we believe same that Mohammed Ogunseye have been bragging around town that no police in Nigeria can arrest him,” Oluwaseyi said.
The Lagos State Police Command yesterday urged the public not to report traffic robbery and other crimes first on social media but to the nearest police station.
Its Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Joseph Offor, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said such reports would help the police in strategising on how to combat crimes and forestall a recurrence.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, had lamented that Nigerians were fund of reporting crimes first on the social media.
He noted that reporting first to the nearest police station would help the police to prevent further a recurrence.
Owoseni also spoke about how some distress calls were blown out of proportion and advised residents to always verify their information before causing panic.
The spokesman noted that making false crime reports on social media was cheap blackmail against the police leadership.
Offor said: “People should endeavour to report every road traffic robbery to the police station so that we will know who to hold responsible. This will help us to strategise and come against those people behind the crimes. We are not denying the fact that we have a couple of traffic robberies here and there but we have arrested some of the suspects. We have also prevented some of them that were about to be committed. When somebody is a victim of a crime, he knows where to go.
“If you go to a police station to report, it will help us to have the statistics of crime being committed in that area; it will also help us in our planning. It will help us in our research but when people decide to report their cases to the social media, we see it as cheap blackmail against the leadership of the Nigeria Police. And this is worrisome because it is not helping our statistics.’’
According to Offor, people making crime reports on the social media are not helping the system as planning and strategising cannot be based solely on statistics got from such reports.
When Dorcas Oke, the only daughter of Ibadan-based preacher, Bishop Wale Oke, died in 2001, it broke the hearts of many. But, little did they know that her death would bring life to many children in distress n hopeless circumstances. BISI OLADELE and SIKIRU AKINOLA write that Dorcas’ death, which brought pains to her parents, has given hope to children in Ibadan and surrounding communities. This charitable work is done through the Dorcas Hope Alive Initiative (DOHAL).
Hers was a death lamented by many. Dorcas Oke, the only daughter of popular Ibadan-based preacher, Bishop Wale Oke died 14 years ago of complications from adulterated drugs. Her death rendered her parents distressed. Some of her father’s followers wept while family members were distraught. For years, some who knew Dorcas as a good, innocent girl, grieved.
DOHAL providing succour to vulnerable children
But bearing in mind that the girl has gone for good, Bishop Oke and his wife Victoria decided to immortalise their ‘angel’ with a charity organisation christened Dorcas Hope Alive Initiative (DOHAL). That was two years after Dorcas’ death.
The late Miss Oke was a 300-level student of Engineering at the University of Lagos before her death. The 17-year-old had typhoid fever and was given drugs, which, unknown to medics and her parents, were adulterated.
Dorcas, who was the first of the two children in the family, was described by friends and acquaintances as brilliant, gentle and futuristic.
Since October 28, 2003 when DOHAL was established, the foundation has given hope to hundreds of grown-up children who had been consigned to the backside of life by poverty, sickness and lack of useful information.
According to the one of the directors of the Dorcas Oke Hope Alive Initiative (DOHAL), the initiative is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in the field of health and development, contributing to the prevention of untimely death among youth, children and women in Nigeria and Africa at large. We largely focus on orphan and vulnerable children (OVC).
Using initiatives tailored towards specific challenges in the society, the NGO helps to prevent deaths among rural and urban children and women, even as it offers poverty eradication programmes as well as relief materials to victims of disasters.
The programmes include the Death Prevention Programme (DPP), Youth Emancipation and Empowerment Programme (YEEP), Poverty Eradication Programme (PEP), Rural Development and Empowerment Programme (RUDEP) and Disaster Relief Programme (DRP).
Through these programmes, many youths in communities and villages in and around Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, are being helped with empowerment tools, offered information on prevention of diseases while hoodlums are being rehabilitated to lead rewarding life.
For instance, under the Death Prevention Programme, several deaths have been prevented, particularly for rural dwellers through the foundation’s information, education and communication materials on preventable health issues such as HIV and AIDS, sexually-transmitted diseases, malaria, Hepatitis B, yellow fever and tuberculosis.
The NGO also sponsors treatment of minor ailments in local communities as well as partners with health agencies on life-saving programmes such as immunisation and tests. It also facilitates education on nutrition and environmental safety.
Summarising the objectives of the project, DOHAL Executive Director, Mrs. Oluwafunmilayo Ajibulu said: “In pursuance of the Death Prevention Programme, DOHAL embarks on series of school outreach as part of its missions of providing information, education and counseling on preventable health concerns, using integrated and sustainable approach. Issues discussed include reproductive health, dangers of pre-marital sex, personal hygiene, child abuse, developing a wholesome personality and other preventable heath concerns.”
Through this programme, diseases and deaths have been prevented in homes and communities.
For the YEEP, DOHAL organises career counseling and seminars, offers scholarship for indigent students from poor homes as well as skill/vocational and entrepreneurial development and training. It also embarks on mentoring and motivational talks.
Under YEEP, several out-of-school youths of both genders are identified and trained in various vocations to help them to earn decent living. For instance, the organisation has arranged several trainings in barbing for boys and hair dressing for girls. So far, over 1,000 out-of-school children have benefitted from this programme, thereby restoring hope to many homes.
DOHAL’s Disaster Relief Programme (DRP) has assisted many victims of flood and other natural disasters. For instance, relief materials, including food, clothes and building materials were distributed to Ibadan flood victims in 2012 while cash was also donated for the rehabilitation of one Mrs. Hafsat Abiade who was a survivor of electricity shock in Apata area of Ibadan in 2012.
Through this programme, DOHAL has also donated clothes, food, drugs, building materials and cash to victims of Jos communal crisis in 2010. The programme also covers prison and market outreach through which items are donated to prisoners in Agodi Prison, Ibadan. Counseling and medical outreach were organised for traders at the Bola Ige International Market, Gbagi, Ibadan.
Under its Rural Development and Empowerment Programme, villages, including Ikija, Adeosun, Oyainu and Sanusi (in Ibadan) have benefitted from welfare packages donated by DOHAL. They included provision of potable water, sustainable sanitation facilities, access to micro-financing, promotion of community health and awareness on civil matters.
The organisation also identifies vulnerable children and link them with orphanages.
Through these and many more, DOHAL, which was borne out of a young girl’s death, has become a source of hope and life for many youths. Besides, the NGO instituted an annual lecture where salient issues affecting youths and women are discussed by experts with the aim of creating awareness on such dangerous issues.
Explaining the reason for some of the programmes, Bishop Oke said many deaths in Nigeria are preventable, including that of Dorcas. He urged the society to rise up and take necessary measures based on the firm belief that life is sacred.
In his speech at this year’s lecture at the weekend, Bishop Oke said DOHAL has been affecting and changing lives positively around the country.
His words: “Over the past 12 years of its existence, DOHAL, inspired by the experience of the church of Christ, has been positively affecting and changing lives around the nation, one life at a time. God certainly knows how to turn tragedy to triumph. He knows how to turn sorrow to joy. We give Him all the glory due to Him; specifically for all He has done with DOHAL over the past 12 years.”
•Medical personnel examining a child
Oke said the NGO believes that everybody has the right to life, right to happiness and enjoyment and the right to maximum fulfilment. “We depend on public-spirited individuals to give and participate in our programmes and to make sure that the children of Africa do not die needlessly like Dorcas did.”
He further explained that though the organisation was set up as part of the “Mercy Ministry” of the Sword of the Spirit Ministries, it offers help to the needy irrespective of their religion, gender or background.
The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo delivered a lecture entitled “Child Abuse and the Challenges of the African Child” at the event.
According to Osinbajo, children in African cultures are regarded as gifts from God. “We have not found that society where a child is a curse except in an ignorant society; when we started having twins and triplets. The birth of children is heralded with joy. Why is it that these same children whose birth were celebrated with fanfare made to suffer from the society?” he queried.
Osinbajo, who was represented by former Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, said Nigeria passed its Child Rights Act (CRA) in 2003. “For now, 24 states have passed the child rights act into law. Lagos and Akwa-Ibom have been enforcing the law. All the states that have pass this act into law adopt the age of 18 as age of consent.”
Continuing, he said: “When you beat a child in a way that will cause permanent damage to him or her, you have violated the CRA. The age below 18 is when we instill character, ideas and attitude into the child. Anything she learns constitutes what is going to form part of her adult life.
“Tribal marks, tattoos, child trafficking, child labour, betrothal, child molestation, child prostitution, depriving a child access to education and enlistment of children into the armed forces are against child rights act.
“Some of these child abuses are not always intentional but the law does not know that. If you circumcise a girl-child, you have committed an offence under the law.
“Ignorance and poverty can be the reason but they are not valid excuses. It is an offence for you to beat a child just because he or she is not serious. It is a crime under the law. This abuse goes beyond physical assault; it is affecting some internally and you cannot notice it. Some have been exposed to some criminal activities that cannot make them useful to themselves again.
“Forty per cent of Africans live in slums. You can have a family of seven in a room. In this kind of situation, there is the likelihood of child abuse. Majority of African children living in slums have either of his parents. HIV and AIDS kills women and children mostly in the slums. There is no security of lives and properties there.
“More than 2,000 children have been sold into slavery in sub-Sahara Africa. Only 57 per cent of African children are enrolled in primary school and only three per cent completes it,” he noted.
He further explained that there are some religious interpretations to child abuse. “Some will say their religion is against some things which are against the law. The only way out of this is for them to be educated. The law frowns at some religious and traditional interpretations. You cannot do what you like to your children. You cannot beat a child to coma.
“Some cultural and religious perspectives need to be changed. We have the law. How we enforce it should be paramount in our minds.
“Child marriage is still rife in Nigeria. Thirty per cent of our children between the ages of 18 and 24 are married before adulthood. Poverty is a problem that we must do all we can to tackle. Tackling it will go a long way in curbing child abuse. Let us stop insurgency also. When a child loses a parent, it affects the child in many ways.
“We will begin to make impact when we set up agencies to tackle this menace. Let us report and the appropriate quarters will react to it. Institutions must be put in place for people to lay their complaints.
“To children, it is good for them to speak up. There are cultures which forbid children from speaking against injustice. Children must have knowledge of what constitutes abuse. Education will give them the confidence to speak up. Though the responsibility is of government but it cannot do it alone. Education is a solution to many problems because an enlightened child will not die in silence. We must fight against all social vices,” he advised.
