The Nation Newspaper

Category: Southwest

Revival pill for moribund Ibadan dry port

The Ibadan Inland Container Depot, now being reclassified as a dry port, is about to spring into life six years after it was established, thanks to a renewed partnership between the Oyo State government and the Federal Government. BISI OLADELE reports that the project is set to galvanise the economy of Ibadan and provide no fewer than 5,000 jobs.

Like a sleeping economic giant, Ibadan dry port lays waste on a large expanse of land, waiting for a big shove to wake it up from its deep slumber.

One of six similar projects set up six years ago across the country by the government to reduce pressure on the existing coastal ports, but which have seemingly been abandoned, the dry port with capacity to create no fewer than 5,000 jobs and boost the economy of the largest city in Africa south of the Sahara, was set up to cater for the import and export needs of the entire south west region.

At its ground-breaking ceremony on August 11, 2008, top Federal Government functionaries, particularly in the maritime sector turned up with fanfare at Erunmu, an Ibadan less city on the Ibadan –Iwo highway to turn the sod of the dry port project.

The seriousness attached to the event suggested that the project would hit the ground running, but that was not to be. The building donated by the Oyo State Government which is standing on the large expanse of land and other physical facilities offered by the state government, have since then been abandoned while weed overgrows its frontage and the facilities depreciate.

The inland container depots (as originally named), one in each of the six geo-political zones, were planned to take port activities to the hinterland, decongest existing ports, improve the economy of the new cities and states as well as make the business of importation and exportation easier for importers and exporters.

Seen as a fantastic idea, stakeholders hailed the thinking and embraced it with both hands. Relevant maritime agencies, coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Transport, swung into action and laid out step-by-step activities to realize the dream.

The Nigerian Shippers Council, one of such relevant agencies undertook the project to ensure they saw the light of the day, particularly the one cited in Ibadan for the Southwest Zone of the country.

The Ibadan dry port stirred hope in residents and the state government judging by the volume of containers and general import and export business that can be done in the city due to its proximity to Lagos as well as its strategic location in the heart of south west Nigeria. But that hope was dashed shortly after.

For instance, shortly after news hit the town that a depot/dry port was cited at Erunmu, investors swung into action, purchasing the landed properties around the depot covering more than 10 kilometers. The development forced price of land up in the area as more people scrambled to get a good piece or pieces as applied. Two years later, however, they began to offload their investments because of the failure of the project to fly as anticipated.

They may have to return soon as the project is coming back to life courtesy of the Oyo State governor Senator Abiola Ajimobi who has reopened its file so to speak. Last week, the government sent a delegation led by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Olalekan Alli, to the Shippers Council in Lagos to work out how the project could be made to fly.

According to the SSG, the government was aiming at joining forces with the Federal Government to ensure the success of the project, and without delay. He expressed the determination of the state government to see to the successful take off of the project and its sustainability.

He explained that one major setback for the project was its original idea as an inland depot. Alli said Customs and other relevant government agencies cannot operate in a depot but only in a port, hence the need to transform it to a dry port.

“What we are looking at is the full implementation of the project as a dry port. All the government did was to set up six inland container depots in the six geo-political zones of the country. Later they said that Federal Government thought that it should not just be inland depots. The essence of this decentralized thing arose because of the congestion in our ports.

“We are saying that while the essence is to decongest the ports, the advantages are there. But it will be much better to make the dry ports fully equipped, fully manned and statutorily pursued to the point of making them ports of either origin or destination.

“We believe that exporters from this country should be able to move their goods out of this country from these six dry ports, in the six zones as ports of origin without putting more pressure on existing ports.

“We are also saying further that people importing into this country from these geo-political zones will make these ports their ports of destination. In which case, even when the cargoes get to any other port in the country, they could be transported essentially by rail to these dry ports from where they will be cleared.” Alli said.

He explained that the one in Ibadan would serve the Southwest as well as Kwara and Kogi states. This means all the ports agencies will be there.

Alli also pointed out that the project was sure to generate a lot of jobs and opportunities for both import and export.

“One would like to say that, this state having worked on the tripod programme of restoration, transformation and repositioning, it is impatient to have this port in place to further actualize the intention of industrializing the state.

“We have foreign investors coming into the state. What we are saying is that from China, Japan, USA, Britain and other parts of the world, they should be able to make this dry port in Ibadan their port of destination”.

According to him the project needs a 1.5 kilometre rail facility from the train station in Erunmu to the dry port. “All the government needs to do is to extend the rail from where it is now to the port.” He said, adding that doing this will reduce pressure on Nigerian roads.

Alli emphasized that the state government was working towards a return to the old practice when trains transported goods from one location to another. Apart from minimizing accidents on roads, this he said would save cost.

Alli added: “We are actually trying to collaborate with the Shippers Council which is the regulatory authority of the Federal Government on this particular programme. Also we are working with a concessionaire to ensure that this project succeeds. Hence we met with the Shippers Council earlier in the week.”

The Executive Secretary, Oyo State Investment Promotion and Public Private Partnerships, Mr Yinka Fatoki, further told The Nation that from inception, the Oyo State Government was part of the investment being a major beneficiary of the port.

According to him, the federal and state governments engaged a concessionaire on the project with the state government owning 35 per cent shareholding. The concession agreement Fatoki said was on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) where the firm would invest capital and operate it to recoup its investments within the agreed time frame. The state government shareholding, however, came in terms of the land offered for the project with Certificate of Occupancy and other titles to remove encumbrances. The state government also constructed an access road to link the port to the village and the main Ibadan-Iwo Road.

Fatoki said the state government did that as the largest shareholder which was most committed to the project.

On the efforts to resuscitate the project, Fatoki said: “One major thing this administration has done was to facilitate a working relationship between Maersk Limited and the concessionaire, Catamaran Logistics Limited. The latter, he said, is the special purpose vehicle specifically formed to drive the project along with other private interests.

Fatoki disclosed that the haulage company, which operates in 80 countries, has a shipping line and a cargo terminal in Lagos.

“The major condition Maersk brought to the table was that the legal framework that will designate Ibadan centre as a port of origin and final destination must be perfected. Once that was done, operation can commence within one week.” He said.

Fatoki explained that the 2007 gazette of the Shippers Council needs to be amended for the depots to become dry ports. “But only the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) can designate a port. The Minister of Transport has set up a joint committee of the NPA and the Council to make recommendations.” He said, adding that the committee has already submitted its report to the Presidency for approval. Once the approval was granted, the ministry will gazette it, then, Customs and other port agents can begin to operate there.

The Executive Secretary also disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Transport through the Shippers Council has given indication that the amendment of the legal framework would be completed before the end of the year.

When the project takes off, the Ibadan dry port is expected to create multiple new businesses including haulage, hospitality, real estate, transportation and financial services firms among others. These businesses are projected to generate over 5,000 direct and indirect jobs for residents. The project will also hasten industrialization.

July 23, 2014
Ewekoro cries out over cement dust pollution

The long standing peaceful relationship between Lafarge Cement and its host communities in and around Ewekoro in Ogun State is being threatened by complaints over dust pollution by the villagers. ERNEST NWOKOLO reports that the company is however intensifying efforts to make life and the environment better for the people.

Fifty four years after it first set up business in Ewekoro, Ogun State extracting and blasting limestone to make cement, all seem not to be well between the West African Portland Cement (WAPCO), now Lafarge Cement and its host communities.

The dozen or so communities playing host to the two giant cement plants and a host of quarries around the area are not happy with the dust coming out of the company’s plants which they claim is harmful to them and their environment.

They are, therefore, calling on Lafarge to reduce the dust emission to zero level . In addition they want a higher share of the company’s profit as well as more employment opportunies for their children and more empowerment programmes for the unemployed among them.

But Lafarge, while not dismissing the communities call for a dust free environment said it was doing its utmost to make life better for the people adding that the level of dust being emitted by the company is too low to cause any harm to the peoples health.

When the company began business in 1959 at a location few meters away from the present home of the Baale of Ewekoro community, Chief Satari Lawal, little did the largely uninformed villagers then know about what challenges lay ahead.

The villagers had not only thought it was merely a factory with small quarry occupying a negligible piece of land for their operation, but were also un-educated on the likely impacts the company’s activities would have on their environment among others.

And few years after commencement of operation, the chicken came home to roost – the deafening noise from blast at the quarry, the effect of the accompanying vibration as well as the routine plume of dust being emitted into space, soon became major sources of worries to the Ewekoro community.

It was gathered that the company, about 43 years ago, wanted members of the Ewekoro community to move to another location but the people refused, saying they would not leave their ancestral land and thus, compelling WAPCO PLC (now Lafarge Cement) to not only suspend quarry work in Ewekoro village, but also moved some kilometres away into remote locations to resume quarry/limestone extraction for its cement.

Today, Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc, has not only morphed from a small factory, to become a leading cement manufacturing company in the country, but has also built an additional 2.5 million metric tons capacity cement plant.

The new plant designated as Ewekoro II and commissioned in 2011, churned out its first finished cement for the Nigerian market September 16, 2011.

The company also went a step further to ensure a steady production without power interruption at the plant by installing a 90 MW Power Plant, that was inaugurated by the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

While these remain good news as it would enhance Lafarge’s ability to be adding about 12,000 tons of cement to the Nigeria cement market daily, create more jobs for Nigerians among others, the company’s expansion and the attendant activities are also leaving, albeit unintended, sweet – bitter taste to some.

Last week, a dozen of communities including Ewekoro which co – host Lafarge Cement WAPCO PLC called on the company’s management to consider their safety and do something to mitigate the impacts of its operation on them and the environment. The 12 communities are Lapeleke, Akinbo, Oke – Oko, Egbado, Sekoni, Olujobi, Papalanto, Ewekoro, Egba -Ajegunle, Elebute, Alagunto and Itori.

According to the people, while the first eight communities are situated on areas referred to as ‘limestone belt,’ the four others though have limestone, but quarrying of it can’t take place there as they are homes only to the Lafarge plants and chimney.

Their representatives which included the chairman, Lafarge host Communities’ Employment Committee, Chief Olaleye Olalekan, Baale of Ewekoro, Chief Satar Lawal, Baale of Akinbo, Chief Rasheed Balogun, Baale of Egba Ajegunle, Chief Joshua Oniyitan and the youth leader for the 12 communities, Segun Oniyitan, want the dust and smoke emissions from the company reduced drastically to a zero level when they spoke to The Nation.

They also urged the company to quickly relocate the people of Oke – Oko Sekoni and Oke Egbado communities to safe locations away from quarry sites since the villagers are “prone to the effects of blasting at the quarry.”

Again, they want the company to also install efficient dust collection technology at the plants to “protect residents against air pollution.”

The villagers equally hinted that they are passionate about the ties with their departed loved ones, especially their ancestors.

Some of them indicated that they would not only exhume and take the remains of their ancestors along with them to the new location to be provided, but also expect that Lafarge should bear the cost of reburying their departed ones.

According to them, “our departed parents are the links to our past and we won’t leave them behind even if it is only their teeth we could find when exhumed from where they are resting, we will carry such teeth along.”

Interestingly, the people admitted that a dust collector equipment procured and installed recently by the company had reduced the pervasive dust in their communities by about 75 percent but said they want it eliminated totally.

It is understandable why the communities are grumbling over dust and smoke emission.

A visit to some of them like Akinbo, Ewekoro among others, revealed a people that had continued to contend with a cloud of dust and smoke constantly over their mid – sky and which often settle thickly on their roofs, inside their houses, and any personal item left in the open.

Washing and drying clothes in the open is a huge challenge as they get quickly dirtied and discoloured by limestone dust emission. The impact is more on villages near Lafarge’s operational base.

Their experience is pathetic and it is being said that some parents have resorted to giving their children oil and milk to lick frequently to eliminate the effects of inhaling dust daily but there was nobody willing to confirm or deny this.

And there has equally not been any report or case of the villagers developing health challenge such as bronchial problem and though, The Nation gathered that Lafarge aside building health centres in its host communities, it also routinely send medical team to carry out random medical testing and examinations on the people to ascertain their health status, ostensibly to ensure that nobody is at risk on account its activities.

But one of the Baales told The Nation that the fact that there has not been any report of a major health challenge to the people does not mean there is none because most of the people, out of fear of what the result could be, are not going for test or coming out for test when Lafarge’s medical team comes around. “This makes it difficult to conclusively say that none of the villagers has any health problem linked to the effect of inhaling the dust from the quarry/cement factory”, he said.

But there are indeed health challenges associated with inhaling this type of dust according to health experts. For example, hazard assessment document on Portland cement dust published by UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regarding effects of repeated exposure to cement dust, identified some likely health challenges.

The HSE (1994) “noted evidence that repeated exposure of humans to Portland cement has produced rhinitis, chronic productive cough (chronic bronchitis) slight abnormalities on chest radiography and impaired pulmonary function.”

However, it is not clear if similar report has been documented by anybody or organisation on the Nigerian situation with regards to long term exposure to cement dust by Nigerians either living near cement factories or working there as employees. While it is not unlikely that such a report exists, the Nigerian law provides for redress for anybody affected by such fumes/dust.

An Abeokuta based lawyer Mr Kizito Robert said there are regulations governing the handling of an industrial emission and that individuals or a community has rights to sue a firm whose operation posed grave health risk to them.

Kizito noted that some fumes could be poisonous or hazardous to humans and said if there is an established case of harm – health challenge, which can incontrovertibly be traced to the emitted fumes or dust, affected persons have rights to sue the company responsible the emission.

According to him, if proven, victims are entitled to commensurate damages because it has to do with humans’ safety and survival.

While the jury is still out on the effect of the company’s operations on the people’s health, their environment is in a terrible shape, while farming their main economic activity is being seriously hampered by the dust emission.

Their roads are deplorable, some of the villages do not have accessible roads, and where they exist, there are riddled with potholes and often flooded whenever it rains.

The Baale of Akinbo, Chief Rasheed Balogun and his counterparts in Ewekoro, Chief Lawal described the impact of the “dusts” as being “terrible.”

The duo noted that their people were popular with vegetables farming, but rued that they have since waved bye to that aspect of their lives because of dust invasion.

For Satar Lawal, the affected communities would be happier if the air pollution via dust following limestone blasting and processing activities by Lafarge could be reduced totally.

Lawal said, “We are known for growing vegetables and other crops but the dust from the production activities of Lafarge normally settles on them. This means we have to wash and keep washing them thoroughly before either sending them to the market or cooking. We are appealing to them to bring the dust level to zero level.”

These representatives who spoke at the Palace of the Baale of Akinbo in Akinbo village nonetheless lauded the company for its Corporate Social Responsibility which they said reflected in the areas of education, provision of portable water as well as road construction but said these are “mere drops of water in an ocean.”

They also acknowledged that the company’s Managing Director, Mr. Joe Hudson and the Plant Managers, have been proactive in attending to issues touching their environment, safety and welfare unlike what hitherto obtained when some Nigerians were at the helms of affairs.

For example, Chief Balogun, said work has commenced on the road being constructed for Akinbo community, he appealed to the company to expedite action on it to make the community accessible during the rainy season.

Balogun said, “the company has commenced work on the concrete 2.5km road it promised us in Akinbo, about 500 metres have been done. We want it to expedite action on it, because the rains are here and we all know the implication of that.

“We want to commend the company for its many interventions in the area of health care, education, electrification, potable water, economic empowerment and offering of scholarship to our children in many communities. But we believe they can still do more.”

Also, the Baale of Egba Ajegunle, Chief Joshua Oniyitan, lending his voice, noted that about 70 per cent of Lafarge’s production activities are being carried out in Ewekoro and surrounding villages, and called on the management to employ more of their youths in the company.

Similarly, Chief Olaleye Olalekan , Baale of Ewekoro, identified areas where the company had intervened to include borehole, provision of transformers, health centres, human resource development, building of blocks of classrooms and the introduction of Lafarge Apprenticeship Training School for their youths.

But now they are also making a three-point demand which Lafarge should address. They want to have a fraction of the company’s annual profit, an increment in the yearly grant to each of the 12 host – communities and more employment opportunities for their youths.

According to them, what the company had been giving them as annual grants were mere palliative, considering the negative impacts of their activities on their lives and environment and what the company garner annually as profits.

When The Nation visited Lafarge Cement Ewekoro plant last week the company said it was aware of the villagers’ complaints, and was also taking steps to make life better for them.

It explained that it was determined “to be the preferred neighbour to the host communities” adding that it equally “meant good” to them.

The company admitted that it was not a big ambition for the villagers to demand a zero level of dust emission in their environment but said the amount of the dust being emitted today are not such that could “pose health hazard to the people,” adding that it may not be possible for someone to live near the ocean without feeling cold.

The Community Relations and Communication Manager Mr Ogunleye Festus told The Nation they are executing many projects in the 12 communities yearly based on what each of the affected communities considered a priority need.

Ogunleye noted that the company was also actively involved in the building of schools, youth empowerment and training, scholarship, care for the elderly, less privilege and the orphans as well as building of roads and grant of financial assistance to their host communities.

According him, this is not a once in a while intervention but a continuous exercise as the people’s genuine needs arise.

He assured that Lafarge was “very committed” to relocating villagers living near the quarry but said thing had to be done properly while the issues of relocating the departed loved ones were equally settled.

He said: “It is a fact we are relocating some communities, we are very committed to relocating those people located on the limestone deposit. We have cleared the site meant for them, the process is going on and before the end of the year much would be achieved.

“It is just that they want it to happen now but there are usually issues involved with movement of people, there is going to be documentation among other things.”

Regarding the quest for a fraction of the company’s yearly profit, he said the communities are already benefiting and partaking in the share of it through sundry projects being executed for them, adding when the cake gets bigger, their share of it would also get bigger.

Ogunleye said:”profit sharing involves many stakeholders – workers, management, governments, investors and host communities. It is from profits taxes are paid, salaries and wages are also paid and the needs of the communities addressed.

“It is a continuous thing. When the cake is big, the share of it would also be big. If we didn’t make profit last year, I don’t know what would have happened to community projects.”

Also, Dr. Taiwo Agbede, the company’s training manager, said no fewer than 12 youths from the communities received specialised training in some engineering aspects of cement production.

And last week, The Nation also observed 21 youths drawn from the host communities taking lectures at company’s Apprenticeship Training Centre where the beneficiaries are currently undergoing 18 months intensive training.

According to Agbede, the trainees are also given allowances throughout the training, free feeding and medical care at the company’s clinic.

While all these are being undertaken by Lafarge to assuage the anger of her host communities, it is left to be seen if the beneficiaries are contented as they kept harping on their grievances.

And they expressed the hope that the company would listen to them, attend to their demand and not create a situation as was the case in the past where it would first take protests and blocking of the entrance to the quarry sites by the youths before Lafarge makes a move. How far the Lafarge Cement WAPCO Plc can resolve this only time will tell.

July 23, 2014
‘Call for merger of Ondo oil communities selfish’

The desperation of some politicians to either become chairman of Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC) or Commissioner representing the State on the board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been identified as the driving force behind the recent agitation by Mahin, Aheri and Etikan Communities to be merged with Ugbo land.

According to Ugbo communities through the Chairman, Ilaje Ugbo Think Tank Group, Mr Henry Agbude, it was the act that established the OSOPADEC and NDDC that gave the people of Ugbo Kingdom the preference above other kingdoms in Ilaje Local Government to occupy the positions being the only oil producing kingdom in the state as at now.

He said it was this law that has over the time stirred up envy among desperate politicians from Mahin, Aheri and Etikan axis who have been eyeing the plumb positions for many years.

According to him, the same agitation came up during the tenures of late Chief Adebayo Adefarati and Dr. Olusegun Agagu as Governors of Ondo State but collapsed because it was laced with self interest, greed and inordinate ambition.

He noted that Governor Olusegun Mimiko has also seen the truth that non oil producing communities cannot be merged with oil producing communities saying that is why the merger related crisis has been lingering for almost two years now.

Agbube said it was Ilaje Ugbo Communities that signed the General Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU) with the Chevron Nigeria (CNL), advising that the people of Mahin, Etikan and Aheri should enter into their own discussion with the company first before knowing the next step to take.

According to him “the Communities in Mahin, Aheri and Etikan axis have no GMOU with CNL.

What Ugbo People are saying is that Mahin, Aheri and Etikan should first enter into GMOU with CNL in order to confirm their oil producing status”,

The group also urged the merger agitators to approach relevant government agencies that give recognition to communities as oil producing ones and prove their eligibility for recognition.

It said the idea of gaining recognition from the back door through merger of the communities would not work.

“If Mahin, Aheri and Etikan should hinge the basis of their offshore recognition on the fact that they share the same coastline with Ugbo Kingdom, they should be informed as well that the same coastline extend to Ogun and Lagos states, therefore the reason for the agitation is not

enough” The statement stressed..

The chairman accused some government functionaries of being the brain behind the merger agitation.

He therefore called on CNL to continue its relationship with Ilaje Ugbo Coastal Communities Development (IUCCDC). The chairman also called on the Ondo State Government of Ondo State to also see the insistence of Mahin Aheri, and Etikan’s call for Pan merger as an action that is capable of causing crisis.

July 23, 2014
Tears,agony, deaths at UCH

Nigeria’s premier tertiary health institution, the University College Hospital (UCH) remains a shadow of itself as the nationwide strike by doctors enters its second week. BISI OLADELE and TAYO JOHNSON report tales of agony and death at the hospital as patients are left to seek alternatives elsewhere.

For Mr Babatunde Abass, life is becoming meaningless as his hope of relief from pains and agony associated with hernia, which he suffers from, is dashed. He sat on his bed at a male ward at the University College Hospital, (UCH), Ibadan, looking pale.

As if trying hard to interpret a dream or make a salient point, the patient looked into the space in the midst of his other bed-ridden patients in the ward. His looks conveyed hopelessness and frustration as he was later helped by his relations to make a trip to the toilet. With a singlet hanging on his Ankara trousers, his looks summed up the effect of the ongoing strike by medical doctors on patients at the UCH, the only major tertiary health institution in Oyo State.

The situation of Mr Abass is a sample representative of many patients in government hospitals across the country.

Medical doctors had commenced an indefinite strike last week over unresolved issues within the hospital system. The doctors are demanding issuance of a circular for restoration of sanity in hospitals as well as increment of hazard allowance by about 100 per cent and delisting of all workers on Grade Level 15 as directors. The strike has since paralyzed health care services in the nation’s government’s hospitals one of which is the UCH, Ibadan.

Worse hit by the unfortunate development are the less- privileged patients who could not afford to patronize private hospitals whose bills are beyond their reach. The situation is increasing deaths at the hospital daily. Some patients in critical conditions, some in urgent need of surgery as well as those newly seeking such services are losing their lives daily.

When The Nation visited the UCH, only nurses, pharmacists and other health workers were attending to the patients, while new patients with complicated issues were being turned back.

Relatives and patients were seen leaving the hospital in frustration as there were no doctors to attend to them.

Patients, who were rushed to the Accident and Emergency Unit of the hospital, were advised to seek medical care in private hospitals.

Many of the patients who cannot afford private hospital bills have since given up hope. A good example is 60 years old Babatunde Abass a resident of Oyo town, in South West ward of the UCH. Although the ward was getting empty as patients literally discharge themselves, but Abass stayed on due to his inability to foot private hospital bills.

Abass, it was learnt, has been a regular patient at the UCH and was due to undergo a surgery on July 2.

It was learnt that he got an offer for the surgery at a private hospital in Ibadan but the bill was beyond his almost empty pockets. He had to resign to fate, praying for a quick resolution of the crisis.

Another patient, Alhaji Mukaila Ogunsina who suffers heart related disease, was writhing in pains in another ward in the South West wing of the hospital. Ogunsina, who is in his late 60s, is only hoping the strike would end soon. His relative, Mr Ola Akande, said:” If this strike is not called off, I may likely lose my uncle because he has been abandoned and we cannot afford to take him to a private hospital. This place is our only hope and the doctors are nowhere to be found now. We have spent a lot on this sickness and we cannot start his treatment again in another hospital from the scratch. I am using this medium to appeal to the government to meet the demands of the doctors so that they can resume on time.”

During The Nation’s visit to the hospital, it was discovered that many patients in the wards had been discharged while a few consultants offer skeletal services to outpatients. But all other units such as Laboratories, Eye and Dental are open to patients. Doctors in such units are, however, not attending to patients, leaving only other medical personnel offering services.

The Chief Medical Director, Prof Temitope Alonge, along with two consultants were seen going round the wards on a routine check to ensure safety of the patients.

An out-patient, ýwho didn’t want her name in print, said: “I was not aware of the doctors’ strike until Friday. But since I already have an appointment for the day, I have to come.

“The whole place is dry and the doctors are not on seat. I am still trying to see what will become of my treatment and how my appointment can be rescheduled.

“I wish the government answer them on time or ensure skeletal services are arranged to attend to some patients that are hanging between life and death.”

Also, Mr Bade Lawson, whose relation was on admission, said that the family was already planning to transfer the patient to a private hospital.

“We were shocked when we received information about the strike. We have to think of how to transfer our relation elsewhere for treatment. The Federal Government and the doctors should settle the issues once and for all. Doctors and health workers are very critical to this nation and to our economy. I believe the health sector should be adequately catered for. There should be enough funding and functional facilities on ground. Doctors on their own part should be more dedicated. They should be efficient and well-grounded to save lives. I hope the issues will be resolved promptly to forestall it from becoming a full blown strike.” Lawson lamented

Another stranded patient who preferred anonymity, explained that doctors prescribed ultrasound for her at the last visit before the strike but she could not complete all the tests. The patient, who came from Amuloko area of the city, lamented the strike. She said she had spent about five hours doing other tests.

She said: “Let government answer them so they can return to work fast. Government should pity the masses. People come from far distances. No healthy person visits the hospital.”

In his own reaction, the President of the UCH Chapter of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD),Dr Franklin Anor , said patients on admission before the commencement of the strike were being taken care of, adding that the strike was not total at they were still rendering skeletal services.

According to him, the strike is not against the public, but it’s just to call the attention of the government and the public to the atrocities that are being committed in the health sector.

“Some emergency cases like accident victims are being attended to when we are called upon. We don’t know when we will be calling the strike off but whatever the Federal Government is offering, we shall consider it at our next delegates meeting and a concrete decision will be taken there. We are not trying to punish Nigerians but we are just drawing the attention of government to do the right thing.” Anor said

He urged Nigerians to be patient with them, saying that their action is to save the future of the healthcare delivery in Nigeria and on the long run to save the lives of the patients themselves.

The Head of Public Relations Unit of the UCH, Mr Toye Akinrinlola, explained that the hospital embarked on emergency services for patients with critical cases. Senior doctors are called on to offer minimal service to patients with critical cases that cannot be discharged abruptly.

When asked about increasing number of deaths at the hospital since the strike started, Akinrinlola said he did not have data to confirm it.

July 9, 2014
Day lawmaker ‘joined’ tailors’ union in Ibadan

Approaching Bank bus stop at Moniya on the ever busy Ibadan-Ilorin Expressway , that fateful day, one is forced to slow down to behold the spectacle created by the gathering of some men and women clad in Ankara. Not just the regular attires, but ones designed and sown to make a statement.

These men and women readily brandished tape rules around their necks, thereby giving pointers to who they are. They are tailors- members of the Nigerian Union of Tailors (NUT) in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.

The occasion was one organised by their union to receive one of the lawmakers in the State House of Assembly whom they claimed has always been one of them. And true to the claim, the lawmaker, Hon. Hammed Adigun representing Akinyele State Constituency II in the House had for them, gifts worth N1.5million loaded in two large trucks.

It was initially a promise but when the trucks soon pulled into the venue of the gathering and men started offloading brand new sewing machines from the vehicles, it turned into a reality. The Nation learnt that the donation was part of an empowerment programme embarked upon by Hon. Adigun in his constituency.

Hon. Adigun who spoke to journalists at the venue, however noted that tailors were not the only ones slated to benefit from the exercise as his target were actually artisans, whom he said form the bedrock of development in the grassroots.

He could not explain why the cloth makers came first, and admitted quite helplessly that “maybe I have a special love for those who dress you up”.

He spoke further: “Today we are distributing 100 sewing machines to tailors. They are not the only beneficiaries though. They are just the first on the list. We have concluded plans to also empower other artisans- mechanics, vulcanisers, welders, okada riders, hairdressers and so on”

He noted that he chose to distribute the machines through the Local Government unit of the Tailors’ union because of the need to ensure that genuine tailors got the machines.

“We are distributing the machines through the tailors association because it is important that they are given to those who actually need them, not those who would go and sell them” he said.

The chairman of the union and chief host of the event, Prince Toyin Olaoye, expressed gladness at Hon. Adigun’s kind gesture, describing it as timely and needed to alleviate poverty.

According to him, the beneficiaries were chosen through a painstaking process and the machines would go a long way in benefiting every member of the association.

“It is a thing of joy to receive such a donation from the lawmaker. It would go a long way to make work and life easy for tailors in the local government. Choosing the beneficiaries was not a problem at all because there is a standard procedure for such exercises in our association”

Members of the union could also not hide their excitement. Apart from the jubilation at the arrival of the machines, they expressed satisfaction at the lawmaker’s thoughtful action.

One of them who simply identified herself as Rukayat described Hon. Adigun as a special being, stating that the machines would no doubt ease the stress of their work as tailors.

“Honourable is a very special person. For him to make the promise and fulfill his promise is a very rare character among some of the politicians we have today. I learnt he had promised the same to other artisans and I am sure he would fulfill the promise. I urge everyone to vote for him again. He should aim at the federal house, we would vote for him”

July 9, 2014
‘We are not at war with LASU management’

The lingering faceoff between academic staff and management of the Lagos State University(LASU) does not seem set to end soon as the university’s Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) chairman Dr Adekunle Idris has accused the Vice Chancellor and his team of not telling the truth to the state government on the situation of things at the institution. He spoke with ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA against the backdrop of some allegations levelled against the teaching staff by the management.

The coming of Prof Obafunwa-led administration in the university coincided with Lagos State government’s improved infrastructural development in LASU. Don’t you think this, among other things, should signpost a new era of peace in this university?

There is no doubt on the fact that the Lagos State government is spending a fortune on infrastructural development in LASU. We now have a new auditorium; faculty of management building is about starting, while the science building is almost concluded. These, among others ongoing projects, are investments government has made and we thank them for it. However, let me say these are plans that had been on and approved in the past even before the current administration came on board.

The fact is that the university management is not providing true picture of the situation to government, and examples abound. We have seen lots of distortions and misinformation being fed to government and it is incumbent on government and the Governing Council to use other sources to gather information other than the management alone. What we are seeing on ground is very clear with respect to the position of staff unions.

The strike has dragged for some time now, and there seems to be no hope in sight yet. Why is this so?

Simple! We have an administration that does not listen otherwise we would not have had this ongoing strike action. We contend that the management is not listening to people that it’s supposed to be leading. There is no contest between the union and the administration. There is a system establishing a university and we are supposed to be working under that system, and that is the committee system. Let the vice-chancellor allow the committee system to run without manipulation as it is being currently done. The Governing Council also needs to stamp down its feet and ensure the system runs the way it ought to, and not to be misled by this administration to run the university aground.

Let’s talk about the school fees which have just been reviewed. The vice-chancellor said the increase was not a ‘hike’ as most people assumed, but a ‘review of the value of goods’

First, let’s make a correction here. We are not selling goods in LASU. We are providing services which are intangible. Therefore we cannot be revaluing goods. However, if we say that hike in fees is a revaluation in services, it therefore means services available must have increased before the price of such services are increased. Anybody that is familiar with this university, and has also moved around LASU in recent times, will they admit if there is a justification of these services? ASUU-LASU says no justification and a wrong pricing policy. In the past the vice-chancellor used to tell us that the issue of school fees is a no go area. But after much struggle, we are now hearing that government is doing something about the school fees. It simply means when people agitate for their rights, our leaders have no choice but to do what is right.

The Vice-Chancellor also claimed the current crisis in not a bilateral war between management and ASUU, as the former has continually opened itself for dialogue

ASUU-LASU has not declared any war. For the record, we cannot declare a war in a system where we earn our livelihood. If you remember, we have been talking with the management since March last year and up to the point when ASUU national strike started. At a point, we brought ASUU national to meet with the management, to no avail. So to say ASUU-LASU declared unilateral war is unfair to us.

The university management also accused ASUU of personalising the school fees issue, saying it is the concern of students and parents.

We want to take that as a commendation to ASUU. We are a union, and as the conscience of the nation, we are committed to pursuing anything that is going to be helpful to this nation. Besides, we are a pseudo parents to these students and therefore we are on the right course. What ASUU-LASU is doing here is being replicated in other universities. ASUU-LASU will continue to champion this. As ASUU, we will not allow the university to be turn into a business school. With the recent review of school fees, you can see we are beginning to get results and we shall not rest on our oars.

But the management said ASUU through the Senate also supported and endorsed the tuition when it was introduced two and a half years ago?

The Senate does not represent ASUU. Though it is the highest academic organ in the university, yet we cannot specifically say that that was passed in the Senate. We are yet to see the minutes of meeting of the Senate to confirm that. We have asked several senators that said it was not a Senate approval. We have also heard from one or two that said the Senate actually saw it. Regardless of whatever happened, should we say because Senate saw something, and that policy turned out (to be) bad, then we should fold our arms? ASUU will not; that policy has to be changed.

The ‘No vacancy; No promotion’ issue has been over flogged; yet the vice-chancellor said ASUU coined the term as management has always declared vacancies every year.

The truth about the ‘No vacancy, No promotion’ policy is that management says it is the coinage of ASUU. But we will show you letters. We have our members whose letters stated that ‘they have been found promotable; but that they cannot be promoted’ and some others say ‘they have been found promotable subject to vacancy’.

Imagine, somebody sent his papers overseas for APPA (pls emphasise this acronym) since 2011. The papers were found to be okay. The university conducted the interview bringing in experts from outside. After that, they were issued letters that they’ve been found promotable but cannot be promoted because there is no vacancy. Now the question is: If there were no vacancy, why was the process put in place in the first instance? The issue is not about declaration of vacancies. ASUU is saying that portion in the Condition of Service that is being misinterpreted to mean that our members cannot be promoted except a vacancy exists should be abrogated. That portion is capable of being used by any mischievous vice -chancellor to stifle the growth of our members in future.

We are not concerned about what transpired within the current management but the future. Mind you, this portion has been in the Condition of Service for years but has never been used by anybody until the current administration came on board.

I’ve always heard that in the law of Nigeria, members of staff should not have more than one third of their salaries deducted particularly when they get loans from the administration. The idea is to ensure that people have enough to spend from their salaries. This law has been there for ages until recently, our management came up to say members cannot get cooperative loans beyond one third of their salary regardless of how much they have in the cooperative. it’s like somebody just came, look for a way to create trouble within the workforce by bringing such a law into effect. This is why we are saying that portion that says promotion should be subject to opening should be expunged because it is currently being abused by the management.

We are not saying our members should be promoted every year. In the academia, there are conditions you must meet before being promoted. We have seen people that have used five or 10 years on a level before they are qualified to be promoted; and sometimes they are qualified, but yet are not promoted. In the academia, it is not easy to get promoted every three years if you don’t do things you are supposed to do, and sometimes you are not able to do them because of the standard. ASUU is simply saying follow the rule. Our members should spend a minimum of three years on a line and it could be more; but once you are able to do what you ought to do with respect to research, you should not be suppressed.

In his attempt to further curb corruption, the management said it has reduced the university’s monthly imprest from N13 million to N5 million currently

The running of a university goes beyond cost reduction. Cost reduction is a good thing to do for any administration. So when the vice chancellor said he has been able to reduce imprest, we say the idea is a normal thing to be done. Aside from that, an administration is also expected to generate revenue.

We asked the current management to show us one single programme it has put in place to generate revenue since its assumption? The University Consult has never taken off. Take a trip to any institution be it public or private in Nigeria today, most of them produce sachet and bottled water in their institution’s name, which to me, is the easiest.

LASU once had a programme called Foundation programme in Badagry. The programme was meant for students to spend one year before they enter the university’s mainstream. Today, that programme is gone. The pre-degree programme is also dead. The sandwich and the MBA programs are almost gone because the lecturers and resource persons that worked there are not paid. The LASU external system has since been wound down without thinking of proper replacement. Why is it taking so long for LASU to do the Distance Learning Programme which can be used to recoup all that LASU lost in the external system? So the current administration has done next to nothing about IGR.

The one single term of five years for principal officers as contained in the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment Act 2012 is one of the demands of ASUU; but it is not the prerogative of the management. Why is it so important to ASUU?

The issue of one term for principal offices is so germane to LASU. If you look at our history, we have always had crisis anytime there was a second term bid. We know this require the amendment of the LASU law, and we are simply saying the government should give an executive bill to the Lagos State House of Assembly so that this thing can be done. A similar law has already been done in LASPOTECH. It is within the purview of government. Nevertheless, if the Governing Council and the university administration are convinced, they should be able to convince government about the usefulness of that law as it will help stabilize universities and LASU in particular.

The second arm of the Act which now recommends 70 years retirement age for academics in professorial cadre is also important to LASU, especially with respect to the ability to attract the best hands into the system.

Most of the professors that we have now were trained using LASU money. Why would LASU use its money to train people on research, conferences and all that and when they are at the peak, you now let them go for onward employment in private universities. LASU is competing with 129 universities in Nigeria and the best brains will gravitate to where they can get the best condition of service. You know the idea is that these professors are meant to reproduce themselves by producing PhD holders. It is incumbent on the system to float programmes that will make them produce PhDs in various departments. The issue is that we had an agreement dated and signed by the Lagos State governor who is also a SAN on December 31, 2010. We also believe the issue of retirement age is under the purview of the Governing Council.

July 9, 2014
Relief underway for Apete residents as govt rebuilds bridge

Happy days are around the corner for residents of Apete, a suburb of Ibadan, as the pedestrian bridge linking the area with the rest of the Oyo State capital washed away recently by flood is being restored while a permanent bridge is under construction. BISI OLADELE and OSEHEYE OKWUOFU report.

As the dust settles on the political hype ignited by the flooding of the pedestrian bridge at Apete, a suburb of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the Oyo State Government Monday began rebuilding a new bridge to bring succour to residents of the area. The new bridge was billed to be fully in place by yesterday.

Residents were full of joy that they could use the route again to transport their children and wards to school, access markets, offices and others 10 days after the bridge was washed away by a heavy flood.

A resident of the area Alhaji. Rasheed Ajisafe said: “Before the collapse of the bridge the Okada operators would collect just N30 from Ijokodo to Apete but now you will have to plead with them before they will collect N150 to pass through Ajibode road to Apete .

“And that means I will be paying N300 from Ijokodo to Apete alone everyday and how much am I making as profit from my shop. Remember also that some residents have children who attend schools and they will pay same fare for them. So, you came now imagine what the people of Apete are facing just because of the bridge since 2011. But, we are happy that something is being done by the governor to address this problem once and for all.”

The bridge, which serves as a temporary measure pending the completion of the main bridge, was washed away by a heavy flood during a downpour on June 28. The development, which irked residents of the area, triggered moves by opposition parties to exploit the situation to warm themselves into the heart of residents. They criticized the Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration, saying it abandoned the residents.

But the government, which explained that it took several steps to bring succour to residents of the area by awarding contract for rebuilding of a wider, stronger and more durable bridge as well as opened up the area by reconstructing the Apete-Ajibode-UI road, among others, said opposition parties were only trying to reap where they did not sow. It said apart from bequeathing dilapidation infrastructures to the current administration in 2011, no other administration in the state has addressed infrastructural decay as much as the Ajimobi administration has done.

The governor sympathised with the people over difficulties inflicted on them by destruction of the bridge and pleaded with them to exercise patience. He assured them that a new pedestrian bridge would be constructed within 10 days.

“The contractors have met with us. We have given them target and they have been mobilized to meet the target. The temporary pedestrian bridge will be ready by this week-end, and people will be able to cross the river. We have told our supervisors and the Ministry of Works to supervise them to ensure timely completion,’’ the governor said.

Unlike the former frail and weak structured pedestrian bridge, the new one has solid iron pillars and strong platform to facilitate easy access and secured movement of people across the river .

The Commissioner for Works, Mr Bimbo Kolade, also assured at the weekend that the bridge still under construction was strong enough to last the time the permanent bridge will be completed for use.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state also insisted in a statement that the two previous administrations by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the leadership of former governors Rashidi Ladoja and Adebayo Alao-Akala, left decayed infrastructures for the current administration.

The statement signed by the party’s Chairman, Chief Akin Oke stressed that:”The inaction in building and maintenance of infrastructure by Governors Rashidi Ladoja and Adebayo Alao-Akala left a huge burden that the APC-led government is carrying.

”Apparently, understanding of basic English language is at issue here. Alao-Akala was able to mention only two bridges his government constructed in almost six years of being in office. Ladoja was too engrossed in the violent exchanges between his faction and that of Akala to perform meaningfully in office.

“If 26 bridges fell within less than a year of their governments, and sufficiently aware that they both lifted no finger in the sustenance of our environmental infrastructure while in office, it is only logical to conclude that the decay they passed over to us is in acute manifestation now.

“However, not only has the Ajimobi government almost finished the construction of the 26 bridges within two years, in spite of its dwindling earnings, it has gone ahead to change the landscape of infrastructure in the state. One of the bridges perfectly constructed is the Bodija bridge that is the delight of all. Essentially, what the APC maintains is that the two of them ran a government of backwardness and the backlog is the burden we are bearing today.

“We maintain that they should stop politicizing the Apete bridge because they were vicariously liable for its collapse in the first place,” said the party.

The governor, also in a reaction through his Special Adviser on Media, Dr Festus Adedayo, said: “Flood is among the most devastating natural disasters all over the world due to its phenomenal impact on numerous lives that are lost, destruction of property and degradation the natural environment. Noteworthy to mention is that flooding is attributed to consequences of human action. The flood disaster was occasioned by heavy downpour of 7.5 hours rainfall (187.5mm) intensity on 26th August,2011.”

Specifically on Apete bridge, the statement said: “The state government, immediately the disaster occurred, constructed a make-shift bridge for the residents and awarded the contract for the reconstruction of the damaged bridge. However, upon the serial complaints of the residents of the area, government had no other alternative but to call the contractor to hands off it. Being a government that abides by the dictates of process and order, the re-award of the bridge contract went through due process to showcase the government as an open and transparent one.

“Construction work is now ongoing on the bridge but government has stepped up the completion of the Apete/Ajibode road which is an alternative road to the residents. Its completion is expected in December. Another alternative route has been well paved to ease the pains of the residents.

“Government came back aftermath that devastating flood, to the drawing table. It immediately set up a panel to look into the overt and covert causes of the flood, with a view to recommending appropriate solutions. That panel came out with the list of a total of about 2500 houses which it recommended for demolition. But after a critical look by government, being a humane one, the number was reviewed downwards, with the belief that massive dredging of rivers and streams, as well as construction of bridges across the state would ameliorate the situation. This we did and we thank God that the result is what we have now – a great reduction in the destructive powers of the flood.

“Government also engaged in massive sensitization measures, especially with the residents and stakeholders of flood-prone areas on one-on-one basis, as well as on the radio and television.

Part of the pro-active measures government took was to work in partnership with the World Bank.

“Because the task of reconstructing these bridges is so massive and is beyond the state government alone, immediately after the last year flood, the governor met with officials of the World Bank and did a presentation on the case of Ibadan flood disaster, upon which the Bank sent its representatives to the state for an assessment. The report has culminated in the Bank, with the support of the Federal Ministry of Finance, agreeing in principle to grant the state government emergency relief. Only recently, the World Bank approved the sum of $200 million for the construction of some bridges and roads damaged during the flood.

Part of the fund is to channelize the 30km Ona River and complete the Upper Ogunpa River, along with helping to solve the state waste management challenges, from storage, collection, transportation to disposal sites, so as to turn them into sanitary landfills and to eventually begin a waste-to-wealth programme. An absence of these efforts has often been a major cause of flood disasters,” government said.

Another part of the government’s efforts at ensuring that the flood disaster of last year does not reoccur was to also partner with the World Bank on the Eleyele Dam. “The report, which came out after this partnership, discovered that the Eleyele dam had not been silted in its 47 years of existence.

Immediately after the 2011 flood, Governor Ajimobi had to urgently rush to the World Bank office in Abuja, as a result of the predicted heavy rainfall. He further made a presentation to World Bank officials in Washington through teleconferencing in Abuja to show the emergency nature of the Eleyele Dam. This led to the palliative measures taken by the state government in the reconstruction of Eleyele Dam’s broken slabs. Perhaps, if this had not been done today, the flooding situation would have been more chaotic.

“Even though flooding is a natural occurrence, the Oyo government has done every humanly possible thing to ensure that there is no reoccurrence of flood disaster in the state. It is however not resting on its oars.” The statement added.

July 9, 2014
Oba Sonariwo leads Ogun Council of Obas and Chiefs

Though his inauguration was three months behind schedule, Oba Micheal Adeniyi Sonariwo, the Akarigbo of Remoland, who mounted the saddle last week as Chairman of Ogun State Council of Obas and Chiefs, has hit the ground running. ERNEST NWOKOLO reports

After much delay and tactical postponements, the Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Michael Adeniyi Sonarinwo, finally becomes the new chairman of Ogun State Council of Obas.

Oba Sonarinwo, a professional accountant from Sagamu, was formally inaugurated last July 1 into his new office by Governor Ibikunle Amosun to pilot the affairs of the state’s traditional rulers for the next one year.

He succeeds the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona. The rotation of the Office of the Chairman of the state’s Council of Obas followed an extant Obas law (2004) that ensures it revolves around the four Paramount Rulers of Egba, Ijebu, Remo and Yewa.

According the Commissioner for Local government and chieftaincy affairs, Basorun Muyiwa Oladipo, the inauguration should have come earlier in March but the medical trip abroad undertaken within the same period by the monarch, compelled the government to differ the exercise.

The postponement, Oladipo said, soon became a huge “political issue” as fifth columnists and political gladiators desirous of making political gains out of the situation seized it as a veritable tool to wage “campaign of calumny” against the person and office of the Governor.

According to Oladipo, the Council of Obas, which the Akarigbo now leads, has continued to play a major role as custodians of the people’s culture and tradition while their mediation role has equally offered a veritable Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism (ADRM) to their subjects which consequently reduces significantly the number of court cases on chieftaincy issues.

Akarigbo’s tenure is coming at a challenging time in the state where there appears to be an emerging paradigm shift in what constitutes governance and development and even more challenging as the general elections approach.

The Royal fathers are not supposed to engage in partisan politics, as they are fathers to all, but expected to caution their subjects, particularly the youth population, against offering themselves to be used by politicians to carry out subversive activities during elections period.

Today, the thinking also in some quarters is that government’s effort that addresses the immediate needs of the citizens seemed to gain more popularity than one that is targeted at achieving clean environment, safety of lives and properties as well as infrastructural development.

Since the traditional rulers are closer to the people in their respective domains, they interface between the government and their subjects, helping to maintain peace as well as rallying the people to support government’s programmes and policies.

There are equally issues of coronet Obas in the state and over a dozen of them were installed between 2006 and 2008 but the then administration of Gbenga Daniel declared them “illegal,” yet some of the affected persons kept carrying on till date as Obas; creating challenges in their respective localities.

The Akarigbo in conjunction with other traditional rulers are expected to assist the government in finding amicable solutions to the crisis arising from such chieftaincy matters as the Council meets quarterly to deliberate on affairs concerning the state, rally the people’s support towards peace, growth and development of the state while also ensuring that the dividends of governance get to the rural folks.

However, Oba Sikiru Adetona who in his valedictory speech, noted that the Obas Council during his tenure was unrelenting in promoting Amosun’s ‘Mission to Rebuild Ogun State,’ appealed to the Governor to review their salaries and allowances given the increasing cost of living in the country.

And while inaugurating Sonariwo at the Obas Complex, Oke – Mosan, Amosun admitted that the monarchs are not to be involved in partisan politics but said they remained the best “advertisers” of government and its policy meant to benefit the people.

The Governor urged him and the rest of the Obas to prevail on their subjects, especially the youth, to steer clear of thuggery and other vices with the approach of 2015 general elections, adding his administration would soon address issues pertaining to their welfare.

He explained that he is committed to pursuing programmes that would continue to deliver dividends of democracy to residents and people of the state but not to reduce governance to sharing of rice or gari.

He urged them to help their subjects re-examine themselves and ask how come previous inducements with money, rice and gari by some politicians had not taken hunger away from many, reckoning that the problem persists because the “substance” of it has remained largely unaddressed.

In his estimation, the people of Ogun state should guard against being deceived into travelling the easy path of ephemeral gains at the expense of long term benefits by not allowing ”Amala politics” to influence their choice of leaders.

He said: “Government will come, government will go and our people will begin to get poorer. We must create a system; a system that will make people that are poor today to begin to now create that wealth for themselves, to make them get out of that poverty tomorrow. That must be the way to go

“Let me use this opportunity to call the attention of our Kabiyesis to the need to pursue peace and rapid development of our state particularly as the year 2015 general elections is fast approaching.

“It has become necessary for our royal fathers to admonish their subjects and the youth to avoid thuggery, before, during and after the elections. Our people should see the electoral exercise as a peaceful process that will be used to throw up leaders in government who will in turn, provide good governance in all ramifications.

“On our part as government, we shall try our best to ensure that peace, law and order are always maintained throughout the period of the general elections and at all times. I want to place on record once again and acknowledge the huge and tremendous supports we have received from our Kabiyesis.

“And let me say once again, that we will continue to hold them in very high esteem and we will not take your support for granted. On your welfare, it is of paramount importance to us as well. That is why we plan to start the distribution of the cars in batches of 20 to the first class Obas beginning with the Paramount rulers.

“The issues of your official cars and indeed, the review of your salaries and allowances, you will have course to be happy with us. Very soon, you will see our hands. But let me say here that there is no way we can solve all of our people’s welfare at a time.

“All issues pertaining to the welfare and other matters of our royal fathers and the good people of Ogun State, it is going to be a continuous exercise. As time goes on, you will realise and understand that all that we promised, we will continue to address them one after the other.

“Yes, we have commended you, but we still need more of your support. I am sure so many of our Kabiyesis, at one point or the other, had reasons to ask us certain specific things which they said they need in their various places.

“There is none of these your requests that we have not of course, recorded and we have planned on how we will attend to those requests.

“I remember the last time we met. One of our Kabiyesis raised a point and said big cocks do not allow the smaller ones to crow. Let me assure you that in all that we do, we plan. But now is the time for us to go into all the nooks and crannies of our state to begin to let you have more of our Ogun standard infrastructure.

“Don’t forget that we are just entering our fourth year in office. But let me assure you that very soon now, we will be moving round. In all our 20 local governments and all our 236 wards and indeed, in all the over 4, 000 villages that abound within the length and breadth of the state we will be going from one place to another.

“And I can assure you that by the time we get to your place, you will discover that those things that we said we are going to do are already completed.”

And responding, the Akarigbo also assured that through the instrumentality of the state’s Council of Obas, he and other paramount rulers would not only discharge their duties in traditional governance, but also perform advisory role to the government in order to sustain the state’s pervasive peace and development in the last three years.

Oba Sonariwo said:”I want to re – assure you of our unalloyed support in implementing the five cardinal programmes. Your administration stands out among your contemporaries in Nigeria.

“All the monumental projects which have been and are being put in place since you assumed office are people oriented and they are highly commendable.

“ Your Excellency should note that all the traditional rulers in Ogun State are solidly behind you because of your determination to make Ogun State a force to reckon with in terms of infrastructural development, improved qualitative education system, good and affordable healthcare services among others.”

July 9, 2014
Coolworld employees donate building to orphanage

As part of the Corporate Social Responsibility, staffers of Coolworld Electrical Retail Stores have presented a building block to Lagos-based orphanage, Heritage Homes.

Under the banner of Inner Hearts, employees of the store which is a subsidiary of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc pooled resources from their salary to erect the two room structure.

The ceremony, which held at the Anthony, Lagos premises of the orphanage home was witnessed by officials and staff members of Coolworld and PZ Cussons who were warmly received by the General Manager of Heritage Homes, Mrs Olakitan Osuntokun.

Just before the cutting of the ribbon to declare the building open, Corporate Affairs/ Admin Director, PZ Cussons Nig Plc Yomi Ifaturoti, acknowledged that a need for the building had been long overdue.

“God has commanded us to look out for our neighbours and this is our own way of giving back to the society. We make this presentation on behalf of Inner Hearts made up of staff of Cool World,” Ifaturoti said.

Also, Managing Director of the Stores Olugbenga Kolawole, said that the project which began in September last year, took about 10 months and cost N700, 000. According to him, “To task ourselves over a nine months period to continually give and establish something that would stand the test of time was a key driver for all of us. This would not be a one-off donation because we have decided to stand with Heritage Homes.”

Kolawole who commended his staff hopes that the humanitarian gesture would inspire other Nigerians. Said he: “People should stop seeing CSR as a company driven initiative but from the hearts of people. Within any household company, if the staff members come together they can achieve a lot together. At first, the project looked huge but guess what? We are here today and are proud of what we have achieved today.”

Responding to the gesture, Mrs Osuntokun, who was moved by the act of kindness from the donors was full of praise for them.

“I feel very happy and not just myself but the whole management. When they first visited us, they realised our need and we are all witnesses of what is happening today.”

Heritage Homes, Anthony which was founded by popular Lagos Christian leader, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo now caters for over 40 children between zero to three years. However, Osuntokun says that many more support like that of members of staff of Coolworld Retail Stores would ease the burden.

Aside the cost challenge of running the home, she also made a strong appeal to Government on electricity supply.

“We have challenges with PHCN and we have gone to them to help us with the exorbitant bills and nothing has been done so far. We hope that Government would be touched by the plights of these children and do something drastic.”

July 9, 2014
Strike takes toll in Ondo

From Akure DAMISI OJO reports that patients in various hospitals across Ondo State are having a traumatic experience over the nationwide strike embarked upon by members of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA)over their demands which had crippled medical services in government hospitals in the State.

Many of the hospitals visited by The Nation in Akure and few local government areas showed that many patients have been forcefully discharged from the hospitals.

According to the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the State Specialist Hospital, Akure, Dr Adeniran Ikuomola, patients with serious conditions had been discharged even before the commencement of the strike, in anticipation of any eventuality.

He said the management took the decision to reduce the sufferings of the patients, stressing that those left behind are having minor cases that could be handled by nurses.

Dr Ikuomola said repeated appeals for skeletal services were rebuffed because the NMA has threatened to sanction any doctor that tries to sabotage the struggle.

He expressed optimism that the strike would not last too long before it is resolved, stressing that God has been in total control of their activities at the hospital since the strike commenced without casualties.

Activities were at the lowest ebb at the Specialist Hospital. Its premises were deserted, no medical doctors available. However, security men at the gates were at alert watching visitor’s movement in and out of the hospital.

Nurses were at work to give assistance to few patients whose conditions warrant attention.

The congested wards of the hospital which normally enjoys heavy presence of doctors however had other health workers attending to in-patients.

The Accident and Emergency (A and E) units of the hospital, which also treats emergency cases, were also deserted.

The male ward was empty, with nurses busy sorting out pending files. In the female surgical wards, a few patients listed in minor condition were on their beds sleeping.

Senior Nurses were in the Children ward attending to them, some were even being bathed.

At the General hospital in Okitipupa, it was learnt that patients who had decided to move out left for their respective homes to rely on their medications pending the end of the strike.

Sources said nurses at the hospital were overburdened, and had advised patients to leave the hospital wards in their own interest.

At the Ikare Akoko General hospital, sources hinted that nurses were managing the few patients in the wards. They were said to be administering drugs to in-patients.

Sources said the nurses there were only attending to in-patients, and that new patients were being prevented from obtaining hospital cards for treatment.

The story was the same at Ido Ani government hospital in Ose local government area, where no doctor was available. Some patients were seen pleading with nurses to give them drugs.

It was gathered that many of the patients had been advised to return to their respective homes.

With this development, owners of private hospitals in the state are now smiling to their banks as they are now having a boom in business because of surging patients.

A patient, Mrs Doriz Okofu said the strike embarked upon by doctors would have adverse effect on the masses, stressing that many ailing persons in severe conditions had been discharged immediately.

She pleaded with the federal government to meet the demand of the doctors to rescue people from untimely deaths.

Reports from Federal Medical Centre (FMC) indicate that Residents Doctors also abandoned various wards, but Consultants and Nurses were at their duty posts attending to patients.

Its Chief Medical Director (CMD) Dr Olufemi Omotosho said the Consultants and Nurses were carrying out their normal duties as expected saying the hospital is not feeling the pulse of the strike too much.

However, a visit to the Mother and Child Hospitals both in Akure and Ondo town was a different ball game.

Consultants and Nurses were fully at work as normal medical services were being rendered to the people and patients. The Medical personnel there declined comments on the doctors’ strike.

A relative of one of the patients on admission at the State Specialists Hospital in Akure, Mr Amos Jayeoba told The Nation that they decided to remain behind in the hospital because they could not afford the huge medical bill at a private hospital in the vicinity.

According to him, “God has been helping me with the assistance of nurses around to manage the health condition of my younger brother Sunday who had a road accident a month before the strike and may be discharged this week.

He used the opportunity to plead with the federal government to respond to the demands of the striking Doctors to save human lives.

July 9, 2014