The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 000

  • Housekeeper ‘steals’ employer’s $4,000

    Housekeeper, Toni Aripko yesterday appeared before a Tinubu Chief Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, for alleged theft of his employer’s 4,000 dollars.

    Aripko, 23, who was living with his employer at Kyalami Weadows Street, Victoria Island, is facing a charge of stealing.

    The prosecutor, Sergeant Andohemba Koti said the accused committed the offence at the residence of his employer, Mr Jasper Nwachukwu.

    Koti told the court that Aripko, while cleaning his employer’s master bedroom, opened his wardrobe and removed the money.

    “The accused later absconded to his village in Cross-River with the money after lying to his boss that his father died and that he needed to travel.

    “It was shortly after the accused‘s departure that the complainant discovered that the money had disappeared from his wardrobe,” he said.

    Koti told the court that the complainant alerted the accused’s guarantor, Etim Aku of Jakande Estate, Lekki, who lured him back to Lagos after all efforts to arrest him had failed.

    Aripko pleaded not guilty.

    Magistrate L.A. Owolabi, granted him N100,000 bail with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case till August 31.

     

  • We got only N3,000 on each operation –Robbery suspects

    Seven armed robbery suspects who usually disguised as members of a  secret cult whenever they went for operations have been arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command.

    They are now regretting going into robbery which, according to them, fetched them as little as N3,000 per  operation.

    The suspects whose ages range between 18 and 23 years are: Timothy Obi, Oladele Alade, Christian Matthew, Adebayo Tomoloju, Ajayi Peter, Ogenechukwu Peter and Joshua Olaitan.

    They  were arrested  at Morogbo, a suburb of Lagos State, last week.

    The journey to their doom  began while planning a fresh  round of robbery attacks on   innocent people.

    The police, working on a tip off, busted the plan and arrested Adebayo, said to be a top member of the gang. His arrest led to the arrest of other  members of the gang.

    Before their arrests,  residents  of the area were said to have  lived at the mercy of the gang who routinely dispossessed them  of their hard-earned money and other valuables. The gang was alleged to be fond of  killing people and littering the area with corpses.

    They confessed, during interrogation, that they were responsible for  the corpses that sometimes littered the streets in the area.

    One of them, Ochockwu,  confessed that he was always in possession of the guns and other dangerous weapons that they  used to terrorise their victims.

    Matthew and Olaitan, who worked as  commercial motorcycle  riders,  said their  role  in the gang was to convey members of the gang from their den to operations and to convey them  back thereafter.

    In a chat with The Nation, one of the suspects, Timothy Obi, who claims to be from  Akukuigbo in Oshimili North Local Government Area  of Delta State and  has a National Diploma (ND) in Marketing, said: “I was  preparing to go to church when a friend called me and told me that some policemen went  to our house and arrested my father. I asked him why the police arrested him and he told me that the police said I am a cult member and one of the criminals that are terrorising the area. When I reported to the station, they released my father and arrested me.

    “I told them that I am a member of a cult group and that I was threatened by one Okafor that I should come and join their cult group His gang injured me on my right shoulder and arm when I refused to join them and I reported them to Area K Police Command, Morogbo, that fateful day. They looked for him but did not catch him. They recovered the cutlass  which he used on me and  kept it as exhibit pending when he would be arrested.

    “When one Mr. Ogideon, the former number one of our cult group, saw me,  he asked me what happened to my hand and I told him that I was hurt by Okafor and his gang members and he advised me to see him later.

    “I was initiated into the cult group the very  day that I met him. They blindfolded me and poured hard liquor  in my eyes, mouth and ears and gave me one family wrap of Indian hemp to smoke.After the initiation, I was crying because my father is a pastor here in Lagos.”

    Continuing, he said: “ After that, Ogideon said  I should give him N10,000  to help me revenge. After two weeks I went to Agbara to meet him and he gave me a locally made gun cut to size but I later found out that it was not working and a friend of mine called Ochuku confirmed it.

    “I gave it to Ochuku who later gave it to Dele to keep for me. My parents felt bad when I was arrested.”

    The  second suspect, Oladele,  from Igbaja Kwara State, described himself as a  barber at Magboro. He is married and claimed  to have been  forced to be a member of the gang.

    His words: ”We robbed the  residents every week. It was Obi that told Ochuku to give me a gun to keep for him. I am the gang’s armourer. I wanted to resign when I discovered that the fraternity was an armed robbery gang. I participated in two operations.”

    The third suspect, Christian, said he joined the gang because they threatened to kill him if he refused to join them.

    “I am from Delta State. I am an okada man. I am from Okpe, in Sapele, Delta State. They said they would kill me if I failed to join their armed robbery gang. We operated at Agbara area and collected money and phones. We used to go  to shops at night. We used motorcycles. I  carried weapons to operate once and the total money I got was N11,000.”

    Adebayo, who was the first to be arrested, said he joined the gang because he had gone through a lot of hardship in life.

    He said: “I have suffered in Lagos. There is no type of manual jobs that I have not done to survive. I joined the cult without knowing that it was an armed robbery gang. I had sold pure water, fried plantain chips, did loading and offloading. I am also an electrician, all to no avail.’’

    The fifth suspect Ajayi said: “I am 18 years old. I am from Oto Awori on Badagry Expressway, Lagos. I am a vulcaniser and a factory worker.

    “I  used to package medicine at a herbal medicine store and was paid N5,000 every week. I followed them to rob in one hotel at Atan, Ogun State.My share was N7,000.”

    Ogenechukwu,  who hails from Ughelli,  Delta State  said his father is a pastor and that his mother empowered him by rent  a shop and stock it with goods to keep him busy.

    He said: “Unfortunately  these bad boys came and lured me  to join them. I attended Federal College of Education. I am a member of a cult group. I don’t have gun. The only person who has gun is Obi. He told me that he bought it from Ogudo for N10,000. They robbed one hotel and gave me N7,000 for fuel.’’

    The seventh suspect, Joshua, said he got a total of N9,000 from the three operations he participated in with the gang. “ I am not a robber. I only carried them (gang members) to the places they robbed three times and collected N9,000. They gave me a paltry sum of N3,000 on each operation despite the risk involved,” he said.

  • FUNAAB alumni urged to give – even if only N1,000

    FUNAAB alumni urged to give – even if only N1,000

    An appeal has gone out to former students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) to key into the institution’s ‘Alumni Give Back Programme’.

    The initiative is to raise funds to complete various projects in the university. They have been told that even N1,000 towards each project is welcome and would make a difference.

    A statement from the university noted that names of donors would be published on its website and the ‘Alumni Give Back Programme’ brochure.

    Donations could be made from any part of the world into: Prize and Endowment Account, FUNAAB Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc, Account Number: 0106761783.

  • ‘I started my business with N1, 000’

    Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf profiles the inspiring story of Ayodeji Mebope, a successful entrepreneur.

    Ayodeji Mebope runs a catering outfit called No Left Over Nigeria Plc which she started with an initial capital of N1,000 by selling moin-moin (bean cake).

    She was trained as a confidential secretary, and worked in Corona Primary School for about nine years and on her resignation from Corona, she had the intention of starting a playgroup and not a catering outfit. To actualise this, she enrolled in a six-month Montessori programme. But at the end of the period, she lost interest in pursuing the ambition.

    To get herself busy, she started cooking for her sister-in-law, who was an extremely busy career woman. One day, her sister-in-law visited her house and joined Ayodeji and her family as they were having moin-moin as a meal. She enjoyed it so much that she insisted that moin-moin must be included in her menu in which Ayodeji charged N1,000 for. And from there, family members, friends and colleagues began to place orders.

    Business realisation and future plans

    In three months of selling to a few family and friends, her turnover was running into N30, 000 – N40, 000 and she decided to take the business more seriously and at that point(insert ,) realised that the best way to achieve success in business is to have a high turnover. The first question that came to her mind was where could she go to make her product available in the wider market? She went to the school she previously worked to hawk moin-moin for sale and that opened her up to larger market.

    Even with the income from the sales of moin moin at Corona, she could not really account for the sales, expenses and profit. She had no proper financial account and believed she needed to build her capacity. Coincidentally, she came across an advert in the newspaper saying that an international organisation was coming into Nigeria to invest in women entrepreneurs with little or no business. That was the Goldman Sachs 10,000 women programme in collaboration with the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan-African University. An essay was required from interested applicants about their businesses and growth potentials, Ayodeji participated in the essay and was shortlisted and awarded a scholarship. She simply wrote what she was doing – selling and hawking moin-moin in front of a school.

    The five-month programme opened her eyes to the fact that she needed to put her finances together, and properly structure her business to ensure her sales and expenditure were clearly spelt. Another aspect of the programme that really transformed her business was the customer service aspect; reason being that prior to the CEM Programme she was not sure of her business career. There, she also recognised her good communication skills.

    After the programme, she claimed that her story took a different turn.  She was like a bird ready to fly – she became unstoppable. She was determined to run the business truly like a business. She opened a bank account for the company and started setting up business structures. The company had moved from one single product company (moin-moin) to a full catering outfit, where catering for 1,000 people was no longer a big deal but she jealously guarded the humble SEED – moin-moin, which has now become Moin-Moin Department in her new outlet. The contribution from this department in one week was enough to pay all the staff monthly salary. In less than one year of being a Goldman Sachs scholar, she had saved enough money to buy her own delivery vehicle, giving her more control on service delivery. She moved her business from her “Home” to “Office” thus enabling her to take on multiple jobs.

    Business transformation and expansion plan

    She had staffing issues at the initial stage of growth, but the HR module (people make it happen) she attended during the CEM programme sorted her out. She set up a proper staff structure and started to delegate duties. But as she grew, she found out that as long as the business is tied around the owner, the business cannot grow. Trust, delegation and empowering people are required in growing and meeting targets. She started handling multiple chores at the same time and so the business exploded with higher capital.

    ‘A humble beginning of N1,000 to a turnover of 50 million naira a year within a short period’. What is the message for young female entrepreneurs out there thinking of starting their own businesses?

    The most important message she has is never to be afraid to start small and never to be afraid to start with any amount. Well, she admitted that the journey was not smooth all the way. The zeal to acquire so much set in at a point and this really set her back at a time. She will like to encourage the young entrepreneurs to have a good business plan because it helps with proper planning and projection. Also, she advised that the financial records must be properly kept.  In her words: “That would help the business to know when to make the next move, when to expand and how to expand.”

  • Yoruba teacher wins N500,000

    Hakeem Opadijo did not expect that by the end of last Sunday, he would be N500,000 richer courtesy of a Teachers Award programme organised by Hope gate  Education Support Foundation.

    He attended the event in his Sunday’s best hoping to enjoy a nice outing at the event held at the Youth Centre of Oshodi Local Government Area.  But he was in for a pleasant surprise when he was named the most outstanding teacher in Education District IV.

    The event was to honour outstanding teachers who have contributed immensely to the development of the education sector.

    Nineteen public primary and secondary teachers out of 48 schools in Education District VI applied for the competition. They were asked to write an essay on why they should win the award.

    They were nominated by principals of their schools, judged on how creative they are, participated in any volunteer work and records on their previous awards.

    Opadijo has been teaching Yoruba Language for eight years. He  teaches at Ewututu Senior Grammar School, Oshodi, where he passed out many years ago.

    But Opadijo is no ordinary Yoruba teacher. The father of four is groomed in 20 vocational skills. Out of his salary, he established a Yoruba art gallery in his school. Aside teaching, he engages his pupils in selfless services, including: visiting destitute homes, psychiatric hospitals, homes of the blind – all at his expense. He is also creating awareness on Hepartis, which cost about N50,000 to treat per week.

    He said teaching has been his passion as he loves imparting knowledge in pupils. He has also won several awards to his credit

    Expressing his joy at the award, he said: “I am extremely delighted. I never thought I would win. I was even the last person that submitted my form. I am only doing what I love to do, which is imparting knowledge. Because I believe that failure to impact the community means that you are destroying the lives of your children,” he said.

    He lamented that the education sector is getting less attention than the entertainment.

    “Education nowadays is given very low attention.  All attention has drifted to the entertainment industry. Students are hardly awarded for their excellent performances.  A professor for many years is hardly recognised compared to a footballer or even a musician,” he said.

    He urged the government to invest in teachers and pupils.

    The first runner up went home with N100,000 while the second runner-up got N50,000. Teachers who merited long term service were given plaques, and 19 teachers billed to retire this year went home with gifts

    One of them, Mrs Fasunloye Taiwo, said: “I express my profound gratitude first to God Almighty then to the Founders of HopeGate Foundations, Mr and Mrs Akinyemi, the Trustees and other members of their organisation. I say a very big thank you to you all for appreciating the effort of teachers which nobody has thought of in this country.  May God bless you.”

    Mrs Ojulape Akinyemi, founder of Hopegate Foundation, said the awards was instituted to motivate teachers by acknowledging their efforts.

    “We are honouring our teachers in Oshodi. We want to give back to the society by capacity building of the teachers and pupils.

    “According to WAEC, 31.2 percent is the pass mark which is not even up to average. We really need to do more. It was a wakeup call for me. For the past seven years, the result has been going down. The government can not do it alone, the private sector needs to support and that’s why we are here,” she said.

     

  • 40,000 houses for Abuja workers

    Workers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja are to benefit from a 40, 000 housing units, FCT Minister Bala Mohammed has said.

    The minister has laid the foundation for the development of the 40,000 housing units for workers in Abuja.

    The multi-billion-naira housing project, which is in partnership with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and some private developers have the capacity of alleviating the suffering encountered by workers in the Federal Capital Territory.

    Speaking at the ceremony, Mohammed said that President Goodluck Jonathan personally gave the FCT Administration a matching order to initiate a viable housing scheme that would cater for the needs of the Nigerian worker who are the engine of the country’s economy.

    Mohammed remarked that the project will contribute greatly to the reduction of the housing deficit in Nigeria particularly, in the Federal Capital Territory; adding that the project has been designed in a manner that would ensure affordability by the workers.

    His words: Ensuring affordability by Nigerian workers through the provision of wavers on premium for the plots by the FCT Administration”.

    According to him, the gigantic sites will also provide avenue for over 7,000 skilled and unskilled job opportunities to Nigerians, which will go along way to reduce unemployment.

    The Minister at the occasion directed the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to immediately commence arrangement to provide basic infrastructure to the site in line with the instructions of President Jonathan.

    The workers housing projects are located on 329.93 hectares of land in parts of Lugbe District and 298.59 hectares in Apo Taphi District of the Federal Capital City.

    “The financing of the infrastructure aspect of the project is to be driven under the SURE- P Progaramme of the Federal Government,” he stressed.

    Also speaking at the occasion, the NLC President, Comrade Abdul-Waheed Omar thanked the Minister for his foresight and commitment to the workers welfare.

    The NLC President described the project as historic saying that no government has ever initiated a viable and sustainable housing project such as this for the Nigerian workers.

    He therefore urged workers in the country to take advantage of the scheme to own a house.

    The TUC Secretary General, Barrister Musa Lawal who represented the President Comrade Babboi Kaigama also commended the FCT Minister and the Administration for providing a land in strategic areas for the actualization of the scheme.

    The occasion was attended by the FCT Minister of State, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, Senator representing FCT, Senator Philip Tanimu Aduda, FCT Permanent Secretary, Engr. John Obinna Chukwu and well as other top management staff of the FCT Administration.

    Meanwhile, an agreement was signed between the FCT Administration and Good Homes Development Company Limited at the occasion for development of the houses.

  • Robber to die for stealing N9,000

    Robber to die for stealing N9,000

    Lagos High Court, Igbosere yesterday sentenced an armed robber to death by hanging for dispossessing his victim of N9000.

    The convict, Onyekachi Abazu, was said to have at gun point, robbed Obioma Obiekwe of her N9,000 and a BMW car marked CM659JJJ.

    He was said to have committed the offence with others at large on June 13, 2007 at Gowon Estate, Ipaja on the outskirts of Lagos.

    Abazu was arraigned by the Lagos State Government on January 9, 2008, before Justice ýMorenike Obadina on a two-count charge of conspiracy and armed robbery under Sections 403 (A) and 402(2)(A) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos, 2003.

    He pleaded not guilty.

    Delivering judgment yesterday, Justice Obadina said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubts.

    She found the defendant guilty as charged and sentenced him to death by hanging as prescribed by the law under which he was charged.

  • Fashola reverses LASU fees to N25,000

    Fashola reverses LASU fees to N25,000

    There was jubilation yesterday at the Lagos State University (LASU) when Governor Babatunde Fashola reversed school fees to N25,000 (the old rate).

    Fashola announced the reversal at the institution’s new auditorium during the grand finale of the 19th convocation.

    Students, parents and staff went wild in jubilation. Some students ran to the podium and prostrated before the governor in appreciation. Others hugged one another.

    Fashola hailed the Students’ Union for its maturity during protests against the increase of fees to between N193,000 and N350,000.

    He said: “I appreciate the maturity of our students in the way they went about their agitation for the reduction of school fees. In the course of their protest, I invited them and they responded. The students submitted a position paper on what they felt the fees should be. We looked at their (students) position paper and the adjustment they recommended and made a reduction of between 34 to 60 per cent.

    “But they (students) were not satisfied. They said the fees were still high and wanted further reduction. We looked into their demand and decided that school fees must revert to the old rate.”

    The governor met with protesting members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), LASU chapter, who earlier threatened to disrupt the convocation, if their two-month salary arrears were not paid by yesterday morning.

    On the governor’s way to the convocation, the angry union members waited for him on the road leading to the auditorium.

    Fashola stopped his convoy and approached them. He listened to their grievances and promised to look into their demands after the convocation.

    LASU Pro-Chancellor Sir Molade Okoya-Thomas and the Students’ Union President, Nurudeen Yusuf, thanked the governor for reversing the school fees.

    Recalling his experiences during the protests, Yusuf said: “I was almost shot by security agents. Each time we protested, the police wanted to know who the leader was and once I was pointed out to them, they harassed me.

    “From the onset, we had a clear cut agenda on what we wanted to do. We opened facebook and twitter accounts with the slogan ‘Bring Down LASU Fees’. Contrary to rumours that some elements were funding us, we did not collect money from anybody. We had no money. At the initial stage, we went to the street and begged motorists and commoners to assist us. We raised N82,000 and that was what we used to fund the protests. They said I was being used by the opposition but it is not true. The opposition invited us, but we did not go.”

    On the fate of his colleagues who fell out of school when the fee was increased, Yusuf said: “With the reversal, I believe they would return to LASU to complete their progammes. In one of our meetings with the governor, we drew his attention to the development and he asked us to compile their names. We submitted over 500 names to him and he promised to do something about them. The governor’s step today (yesterday) is a pointer that there is hope for those students.”

  • 274, 000 get input in Kebbi

    The Federal Government  has supported 274,000 farmers in Kebbi State with fertiliser, improved seedlings and chemicals to boost food production.

    Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Kelvin Tekpat said in Birnin Kebbi that the farmers were among the  340,00 registered under the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) in the state.

    He said 58 redemption centres for the distribution, adding that each  farmer would receive two bags of subsidised fertiliser, two packs of chemicals and 50 kgs of improved seedlings.

    According to him, the improved seedlings would enable each farmer to produce at least seven tons of crops per hectare.

    Tekpat urged the state government to assist the ministry with vehicles to monitor farmers for the success of the programme.

    The Secretary, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in the state,Alhaji Muhammad Idris, said the implementation of the GES was a huge success.

    He commended the Federal Government for the initiative, saying it had reduced hardship faced by rural farmers in accessing critical farming input.

    Meanwhile, about 250,000 Borno farmers are expected to receive fertiliser under the Federal Government electronic wallet system of the Growth Enhancements Scheme (GES) this year, according to an official.

    The Acting Federal Director of Agriculture in Borno, Alhaji Bukar Musa, made this known in Maiduguri.

    He said each farmer would receive a bag of NPK and Urea brand of fertiliser at N2,750 which translates to 50 per cent subsidy.

    He said most of the farmers had already received phone alert on the allocation, thereby enhancing access to the input.

    “Most farmers have already received alert on their phones of the fertiliser allocation.

    “However, there are some areas with poor GSM networks due mainly to the security challenges in the state.

    “We have introduced radio jingles and announcement to alert this category of farmers.

    “ We have also made contact with farmers associations and cooperatives towards reaching out to farmers at the grassroots level.”

    He said 12 agro dealers were shortlisted for the sale of the fertiliser to genuine farmers this year.

    Musa said farmers in Borno North and Central zones would get their supply in Maiduguri because of the insecurity in the area.

    He said farmers in Southern Borno would get their supply in their local government while those in Damboa and Gwoza councils, would get their supply in Askira Uba Local Government Area.

    Musa expressed optimism on a bumper harvest depite the security challenge in the state.

  • Anambra eyes 500,000 hectares to kick-start agric revolution

    Anambra Government is targeting the acquisition of 500,000 hectares of land for its agricultural transformation programme meant to provide massive employment for over 100,000 people, especially youths.

    The Interim Chairman of the 12-man Land Acquisition Committee, Igwe Chukwuemeka Ilouno,  made this known in Onitsha, Anambra..

    Ilouno said that over 50,000 hectares donated by two agrarian communities for the agricultural programme had already been surveyed, adding that the land were leased to the government without much pressure.

    Ilouno, who is also the Chairman of Anambra Central (Zone) Traditional Rulers’ Council, said that the committee had also secured nine natural body of large water for fish ponds under the new agricultural scheme.

    “I have not seen such a massive support from our people to any government before; Gov. Willie Obiano is highly lucky and blessed.

    “Communities, through their presidents-general and traditional rulers, are on their own calling us (committee members) to come, survey and start something on their land for the benefit of the people, especially the youths.

    “I know that most times in the South-East, it is difficult for people to give you their birth-right, which is their land no matter the circumstances.