The Nation Newspaper

Category: Southwest

  • Free surgeries for tumour patients in Ekiti

    Succour has come the way of 10 patients in Ekiti State who are suffering from cleft lip, cleft palate and benign jaw tumour as they have received free surgeries in a mission organised by Health, Work and Shelter Foundation (HEWS) in conjunction with Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH).

    The latest round of surgeries was the third that would be carried out at EKSUTH and it was sponsored by the oil and gas giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

    The beneficiaries, who were operated upon were full of gratitude to the partners for medical intervention which has reconstructed their anatomical composition and restored beauty to their lives.

    A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides or in the middle.

    A cleft palate is when the roof of the mouth contains an opening into the nose.

    These disorders can result in speech problems, feeding problems and frequent ear infections.

    Benign tumour, on the other hand, is a mass of cells that lacks the ability to invade the neighbouring tissues.

    Although most benign tumours are not life-threatening, many types of benign tumours have the potential to become cancerous through a process known as tumour progression.

    Benign tumours are typically surrounded by an outer surface made up of fibrous sheath of connective tissues. Common examples of benign tumours include moles, jaw and uterine fibroids.

    Speaking at the opening ceremony of the health mission, the General Manager, External Relations of SPDC, Mr. Igo Weli, said the mission was to restore a smiling face to the beneficiaries, for the third time in Ekiti State.

    Weli added that the gesture by his company was “to continue to invest in social projects and programmes to improve the quality of lives of Nigerians and to improve health care services in many communities in Nigeria.”

    The founder and President of HEWS Foundation, Mr. Remi Adeseun, in his address, urged people to refrain from self-medication, which he said was “very dangerous to their health.”

    Adeseun advised pregnant women not to use medicine that were not recommended to them during pregnancy.

    He called on well-meaning Nigerians to assist the less-privileged persons by donations and financial assistance to support the people in tackling their health challenges such cleft lip/palate/ benign jaw tumours.

    He said: “Many of us in this country who God has blessed and who have the resources, should help the less-privileged who are suffering needlessly.”

    In his speech, the Ekiti State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Olurotimi Ojo, who was represented by Dr. Adetoye Olusanya, said the state government was passionate about the health issues of the people and is putting up programmes to help the indigent people.

    Dr. Ojo called on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to emulate the gesture of SPDC and HEWS Foundation by giving a helping hand to the less-privileged in the society.

    The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of EKSUTH, Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe, said the foundation and the partners were supporting the vision of Ekiti State Government to make health care affordable to the people.

    Ogundipe added that the team comprised mainly of doctors from EKSUTH, for the third time, is giving support to indigent patients.

    Dr. Obimakinde Obitade Sunday, who is the team leader, noted that ignorance and lack of education was responsible for this kind of disease that is treatable with little fund.

    Obimakinde said they are reaching out to the local governments for the people to know that the treatment is available.

    He said: “Even if you don’t have money, we have an organisation that we can easily call on to bail us out.”

    A beneficiary, Tope Ajidahun, said he had resigned to fate that he would live with the condition of cleft palate for the rest of his life until the opportunity of free surgery came.

     

  • Corps members advised on entrepreneurship development

    Corps members advised on entrepreneurship development

    The Ogun State government has called on youths to develop their entrepreneurship skills and explore other employment opportunities in the absence of white-collar jobs.

    The Commissioner for Youths and Sport,  Afolabi Afuape made the call during the swearing-in of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Batch ‘B’ Stream I corps members at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Sagamu.

    He urged young graduates to concentrate on exploiting their potential and putting their talents to use.

    He said the reality of global unemployment meant that not every graduate would have access to white-collar jobs, thereby prompting the need to be innovative.

    “Education should be functional. People should go to school to be able to function independently and create wealth for themselves and others. “Education is about improving lives and we must start inculcating entrepreneurial development skills into our young minds while they are still at school,” Afuape said.

    Acknowledging that opportunities for enterprise and access to loans are limited, the commissioner urged unemployed youths to challenge themselves by being innovative and by setting targets for themselves.

    Afuape, who represented Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, at the NYSC programme, advised corps members to accept their call to service with resoluteness, dedication and loyalty to fatherland.

    “The scheme is designed to equip you physically, psychologically and socially for the work challenge of national integration and nation-building.

    “It is also a platform for cross-fertilisation of ideas, enhancing national integration where the scheme provides for you the opportunity to contribute to the task of national regeneration.

    “The training you are about to undertake is to prepare you for the challenges ahead during the service year and beyond,” Amosun said.

    Similarly, Mr James Afolayan, the Ogun NYSC State Coordinator, said the scheme would continue to complement the efforts of the state government in the areas of education and health care delivery.

    “We will continue to deploy corps members to all identified areas of need, especially the rural communities where we shall implement advocacy programmes of interest,” Afolayan said.

    The NYSC official said the orientation exercise, which commenced on Wednesday, October 28, had a total of 2,453 corps members registered in Ogun.

    This comprised 1,226 males and 1,227 females.

     

  • Metro MFB fetes customers

    Metro MFB fetes customers

    Committed to encouraging customers to continue doing business with it, the Metro Micro-finance Bank located at Ogba in Lagos State, recently rewarded four of its numerous customers who emerged winners during the 2015 raffle draw promo.

    The four lucky winners were Abiodun Testimony, (1st position), Awoseni Helen, (2nd position), Mr. Obodozie, (3rd position) and Ajose Bunmi (4th position).

    As the overall winner, Testimony won a chest freezer. She expressed her appreciation to the organisers of the promo.

    According to the Human Resource/Legal Administration Manager, Mrs Adeola Ferdinard-Olufemi, the promo aimed at encouraging our customers to cultivate good saving habit towards a particular project or expenses. Based on this, they can win bountiful prizes by partaking in the savings promo.

    “Our values are hinged on friendliness, professionalism, equality, ethics, integrity and excellent customer service as we recognise that different customers have different needs. For this reason, we provide various commercial and personal financial products to help our customers develop and grow their businesses, to meet their financial needs and save for a better tomorrow,” she said.

    Explaining the challenges of the bank since its establishment, she said: “The fact that there are a number of defunct micro-finance banks in Nigeria at present has done a lot of disservice to the image of micro-finance banks. This has fuelled lack of public confidence which people have in micro-finance banks. And we majorly get funds to run the business through shareholders’ funds and depositors’ funds.

    ”The major problem about customers who have obtained a facility from the bank is the lack of willingness to repay, coupled with diversion of funds. To avoid this situation, we usually obtain proper documentations from the customers and also do thorough KYC on them to ensure that we have adequate information on them to do proper follow up in case of default.

    “Also, our customers have realised that we assist them in improving their businesses; hence there is no reason why they wouldn’t repay.

    “The bank, which was incorporated in 2009, was established in order to offer financial services to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and other clients in the lower income strata. We are also committed to help entrepreneurs improve their businesses by availing them easy access to loans.

  • ‘Tribunal’s verdict affirms my electoral triumph’

    A member representing Ido State Constituency in the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Safiu Olalere has described the verdict of the tribunal that upheld his election as an affirmation of the mandate given to him by the people of the area in the last general elections.

    Olalere made the declaration in Ibadan; the state capital shortly after the State House of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Ibadan declared him the authentic winner of the April 11, 2015 election.

    The Accord Party candidate, Mr. Babatunde Akintunde had dragged Olalere before the tribunal; praying that it should nullify the election of the former on the allegations of massive rigging, irregularities and non-compliance with the electoral law.

    Akintunde also urged the tribunal to order a fresh election in the areas due to the allegations he brought before the court, saying the APC candidate declared as the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after the April 11 election did not meet the requirements for state assembly seat.

    The counsel to the petitioner prayed to the court that due to irregularities that characterised the election in all the 10 wards in the constituency, a fresh election or a re-run should be ordered.

    The counsel also urged the court to either consider its first or second prayers or declare his client winner of the election.

    The tribunal, headed by Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo in the over-two-hour’s judgment, trashed out the petition and allegations brought before it by the petitioners based on lack of enough evidence to prove its allegations.

    He, therefore, declared the APC candidate, Olalere as the authentic winner of the election.

    Speaking with newsmen, Olalere promised to work for the development of his area.

    He said the verdict of the tribunal was an affirmation of his victory at the polls.

  • Group celebrates first anniversary

    It was an atmosphere of fun and friendliness spiced with stimulating discussions penultimate Saturday as the Save Apapa Group (SAG) celebrated its first anniversary.

    The event, which held at the late Obafemi Awolowo Compound in Apapa was attended by dignitaries from various walks of life, including members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in and around Apapa.

    Tagged Bringing Justice to the Polity, the event provided a platform for stakeholders to brainstorm on myriad of issues particularly as it affects the group and its members.

    The event began at 12:45 p.m. with the welcome address by the chairman of the Save Apapa Group; Hon. Nathaniel Georgewill.

    Informing the gathering of the objectives of the group, Georgewill said: “The major objective of this group is to fight dictatorship and theocracy in Apapa Local Government Area.”

    He stressed that the Save Apapa Group has always been, and will continue to use non-violent measures in achieving its aspirations.

    On his part, the leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Apapa/Iganmu Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Hon. Tunde Balogun urged members of the group to remain united saying, “unity among members has always remained the secret behind the success of any group.”

    One of the major issues confronting residents of Apapa in particular and Lagos in general is that of the menace of tanker drivers. The APC leader, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to help save Apapa from what he referred to as “siege from trucks and tankers”

    “Truck owners and their drivers have turned Apapa to an area where they can do whatever they like, without anybody questioning them,” he said.

    Speaking on the activities of the group, the Secretary to the Apapa/Iganmu LCDA, Mrs. Bolaji Dada described the Save Apapa Group as one of the major groups that have contributed immensely to the growth and development of Apapa.

  • ‘Help! Police want to turn murder case against me’

    ‘Help! Police want to turn murder case against me’

    An estate agent, Mr Ismaila Asabiyi, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Solomon Arase, to prevail on the Force Criminal Investigation Department, (FCID) Annex, Alagbon, Lagos, from witch-hunting him.

    Asabiyi alleged that the FCID is planning to turn a murder case in which he escaped death by the whiskers against him.

    According to him, officers from the department came to arrest him on October 20.

    He said: “When I asked them what my offence was, they told me that one Shine Shine came to report me that I was the one who killed one Yusuf Ramon. I said how could that be now in 2015 when investigation was concluded in 2013 and the matter is already in court?

    “I was in detention for three days and I asked them to produce Shine Shine so that I can confront him. How could I have killed Yusuf in the incident in which I was also a victim? I suspect that this strange move is meant to cow me so that I will not appear in court on November 9.”

    He alleged that the police asked him to write a statement that would provide an alibi for Shine shine but he refused to accede to their request.

    •Asabiyi after the attack in 2012
    •Asabiyi after the attack in 2012

    Asabiyi said he was later released after the police had collected N200, 000 from his relatives. He urged the IGP to save his life as he is being threatened on a daily basis.

    Asabiyi recalled that he was on his father’s land at Ayetoro, Itele, Ogun State, when some thugs allegedly led by Shine Shine attacked him and others on February 15, 2012.

    He said the attack was so fierce that Yusuf was shot dead while his brothers identified simply as Ahmed, Morufu and Seun were injured, adding that; “I was also shot in the chest.”

    The Nation learnt that Shine Shine has been charged for the alleged murder at High Court 1 in Ota judicial division of the state in the suit no HCT/15C/15. He was however granted bail on health grounds and the matter was adjourned till November 9.

    Asabiyi recalled: “When I was shot, the bullet hit me in the chest but I escaped and hid in a church under construction then in the area. But the thugs found me there and dragged me out. I also recalled that he spoke with someone on the phone reporting the situation of the attack.

    “The thugs beat me up despite the fact that I was already drenched in blood. They also brought my brother, Morufu, and put us on a motorcycle.  One man rode the bike and another thug sat behind us. They took us through an area where we would not be easily identified  by  landlords .

    “They later abandoned us when they thought we would eventually die. But we managed to find our way and got in touch with our people. They took us to the hospital and we subsequently reported the case to the police. Some of our people went to the scene to recover Yusuf’s corpse.”

    Asabiyi said after the police investigation, Shine shine was arraigned at a customary court and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) insisted he had a case to answer.

    He said he was set to give his evidence in court on November 9 but was surprised when the policemen from the FCID came to arrest him.

  • Teachers walk for fitness

    Teachers walk for fitness

    Vehicular traffic was brought to a halt at Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos when primary school teachers took to the streets to engage in a walk for fitness exercise.

    The teachers adorned in blue ‘Walk for fitness’ branded shirts jogged for five kilometres from Ilogbo, Badagry Road to Ojo town.

    The quarterly exercise, first in its series, engaged both teaching and non-teaching staff, as well as food vendors of the Ojo Local Government Education Authority (LGEA), Oto Awori and Iba Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) as well as the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) in about four hours of brisk walking and aerobics.

    Ojo LGEA Education Secretary Tolani Sule who led the walk, said the exercise was to create awareness on physical fitness for teachers beyond classroom teaching of the subject.

    He said: “We want to ensure that there is a correlation between physical fitness and mental health of the teachers. We found out that it is a healthy, fit and sound teacher that would be able to do the job efficiently. So we tried to look out for other things we could do besides the efforts of the state government to make teachers happy and healthy. We therefore decided that at every term in the session, we would hold a fitness walk of about five kilometres to keep us fit.”

    Sule stressed that ailments such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, among others would be ostracised with routine exercise.

    Dr Rahimi Morounfolu, a lecturer at the department of Physical and Health Education, Lagos State University (LASU), stressed the importance of relieving stress through regular exercises.

    Speaking at the St. Micheals Primary School, Ojo, where the teachers gathered for aerobics after the walk, he said: “Stress is your body’s reaction to situations around you. Chronic stress usually has a delayed but prolonged effect on the individual, which is more dangerous than acute stress. It quickly degenerates into distress when not taken care of. However, the most effective non-medical way of handling stress is exercise, especially brisk walking, which engages all muscles, vessels and parts of the body.”

    Dr Morounfolu, who opined that women are more prone to chronic stress than men due to combination of officer work with housekeeping, appealed to the men to assist their wives at home to relieve them of the stress.

  • Council sensitises residents to hygiene

    Council sensitises residents to hygiene

    Committed to ensuring residents’ well-being, Executive Secretary of Ikeja Local Government Area of Lagos State, Mr. Adekunle Dally-Adeokun has promised to make the environment conducive for healthy living.

    •Mr Dally-Adeokun durng the last sanitation exercise.
    •Mr Dally-Adeokun durng the last sanitation exercise.

    Hon. Dally-Adeokun, who spoke during the environmental sanitation held at the council headquarter,  said he would work towards ensuring that residents have attitudinal change on the environment.

    He noted that maintaining high level of cleanliness would engender good health, advising residents to participate actively in the monthly clean-up exercise.

    The Executive Secretary called on the residents to co-operate with the council in its efforts to rid the area of waste, so as to promote healthy environment.

    The council chief, however, expressed discontent over attitude of some residents who do not comply with the council’s and state’s rules and regulations with regard to proper waste disposal. He also frowned at their proclivity to indiscriminate dumping of garbage in water channels which would have devastating effects on the environment.

    He said: ‘’We are appealing to residents to strictly observe the monthly environmental exercise. Today, we are not satisfied with the level of compliance, especially at Makinde Street by Obafemi Awolowo Way and Baba Yufu Close at Ward F all in Alausa Ikeja. The drainage has been blocked; the street most times are waterlogged, coupled with construction of illegal markets and parks. We are going to enforce environmental sanitation laws.

    “Residents should co-operate with the council to rid the surroundings of waste, especially in front of their houses.

    “It would not be business as usually. The council’s vehicles would help to evacuate wastes. The council would also work towards making residents of various communities to maintain clean environment.”

    Also speaking, the wife of Executive Secretary, Mrs. Olaide Adeokun said the council was disturbed over the nonchalant attitude of some residents who block water channels with domestic waste.

    She equally expressed worry over indiscriminate dumping of garbage in water channel which she said could result in overwhelming effects on the residents.

    She, therefore, urged market women to always clear their environment before selling and after selling their wares to ensure clean environment, saying a dirty environment was threat to good health.

    Corroborating Mrs. Adeokun’s views, the Chairman Community Development Committee (CDC) of the council, Ahaji Osinberu Sulukaleen said in their monthly stakeholders’ meeting, they would continue to appeal to residents to maintain clean and safe environment and to imbibe rewarding sanitation habits.

    He also pleaded with the state government to start enforcement of the environmental laws.

    Sanitation tools such as hand gloves, brooms, rakes and nylon bags for waste collection were distributed to the residents.

    The Head of Environmental Services and Waste Management Unit, Mr. Kolawale Ajanaku said efforts are being made to sensitise residents to the need to clean their surroundings every day and not to wait until another sanitation day.

    Meanwhile, some officials of the council, including the Deputy Executive Secretary, Prince Oluranti Olufon visited some streets to inspect the level of compliance to the day’s sanitation exercise by the residents.

  • Landlord’s son defiles tenant’s girl, 2

    A 21-year-old man who allegedly defiled the two-year-old daughter of his father’s tenant, has appeared before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court in Lagos.

    The accused, Justice Seun, who resides at Abebi Street, Ogudu, is facing a one-count charge of child defilement.

    He pleaded not guilty to the charge.

    Prosecuting Inspector Simon Imhonwa told the court that the offence was committed on September 7 at noon at the accused’s residence.

    He said Seun, who is the son of the Landlord inserted his finger into the private part of the two-year-old daughter of a tenant.

    Imhonwa said the accused lured the child into his room and defiled her.

    According to him, the case was reported to the police after the child’s mother raised an alarm following the child’s complaint of discomfort.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that at the arraignment, the father of the child, Mr Umoh, told the court that he would like to withdraw the case.

    “I don’t want a court case. The family has begged for forgiveness,” Umoh said.

    But Magistrate Bola Osunsanmi said that the matter can no longer be withdrawn.

    “This case cannot be withdrawn; it is not in your jurisdiction any more. It is the state’s. The case will go to trial,’’ Osunsanmi said.

    She granted the accused bail with two sureties and adjourned the case till November 30.

     

  • Rotary inducts new president

    It was a joyous moment at Lagos Country Club, GRA, Ikeja, penultimate week when members of family, friends and well-wishers gathered to witness the induction of Rotarian Zainab Grace Nnenne Enakhume as the 33rd President of Rotary Club Opebi, Lagos. She will pilot the affairs of the club for the 2015-2016 Rotary Year.

    Dignitaries that attended the event included the District Governor, Rotary 9110 Nigeria, Otunba Bolaji Olugbenga Onabadejo and his wife, Mrs Sarah Aina, His Royal Highness (HRH) Eze Christian Uchechukwu Nwachukwu Eze Ndigbo of Lagos, Baale Taiwo Nosiru Bakare, Baale of Omole, Ikeja and many others who came from far and near to felicitate and rejoice with the world-class President, as she was fondly called by the club members.

    The gathering was not just to witness the installations but also to raise funds that would be used to execute various community projects.

    The ceremony commenced with a call to order by the out gone President, Rotarian Akeem Ibrahim.

    Shortly after her installation and decoration as the new president, Mrs Enakhume thanked Mr Akeem for all his efforts in moving the club forward.

    She pledged to sustain the spirit of the club and maintain high level of integrity and good conscience in conducting the affairs of the club.

    Mrs Enakhume promised to make the club more vibrant by attracting more serious and committed members to get them involved in membership drive, projects and maintaining friendships.

    According to Mrs Enakhume, her journey to Rotary began in 2007 at International Airport, Lagos, when she was waiting for the arrival of her husband that travelled to Singapore for an International Bar Conference. She said a woman walked up to her and demanded to know if she was a Rotarian, because, there also were some Rotary Club District 9110 presidents waiting to receive their foreign counterparts. She said she replied in the negative.

    She said the woman called some of the presidents to meet her for proclamation of Rotary gospel.

    According to Mrs Enakhume, she decided to join the club after some brief discussions and ever since had accomplished her heart desires to achieve a vital goal of keeping the restless mind still and continuity of service to humanity which defines Rotary.

    Mrs Enakhume appealed for maximum support from members of the club and well-meaning Nigerians to enable her to achieve success during her tenure.

    The out gone President, Mr Akeem also called for support of the members to enable her, in line with Rotary International policies, to promote, improve and strengthen active participation of all members to participate in executing projects that will make a difference and improve the standard of living of the people.

    Mr Onabadejo urged Rotarians and the newly inducted board to be a gift to the world as mandated by the club, saying “Rotarians are supposed to make their resources available to the world. The journey of life is such that you will be remembered for the amount of your goodwill to mankind, not the number of cars you own.

    In line with the efforts of sustaining the service to humanity, Mr Onabadejo appealed to Rotarians to continue to support the World Health Organisation (WHO) on polio eradication initiative in the country until Nigeria is finally pronounced polio free in 2017.

    He urged the new president to inspire and motivate members of the club to collectively and individually mitigate the plight of the downtrodden. He said Rotarians must have a collective resolve to bring smiles to the faces of the less-privileged.

    According to Onabadejo that’s the reason all projects and programmes to be execute in Rotary yearly must primarily be for the less-privileged persons.

    He solicited the support and encouragement of all members of the club and philanthropic individuals and organisations to partner with the club in order to fulfill its objectives.