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  • Concerns over six ‘abandoned’ Delta technical colleges

    Concerns over six ‘abandoned’ Delta technical colleges

    The immediate past Delta State Government promised to establish nine new Model Technical Colleges to boost skill acquisition among youths. With the completion and commencement of only three in 2022, the fate of the other six, currently uncompleted and apparently abandoned, lies in the dark, writes ELO EDREMODA.

    A society where it has become imperative to be equipped with one or more skills, whether having academic qualifications or not, in order to survive the current economic trends, the need to avail young people with opportunities and environments where such skills can be honed becomes very crucial.

    It was In a bid to address this need that the immediate past Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration approved the construction of 19 technical colleges, in addition to the existing six, in each Local Government Area of Delta state, were non existed.

    If seen to the latter, the projects would mitigate the dearth of skilled youths, as well as address the issue of joblessness in the state.

    Towards the twilight of the administration in 2021, the State Government kicked of the construction of nine Model Technical Colleges at Effurun (Uvwie), Asaba (Oshimili South), Obiaruku (Ukwuani), Omadino (Warri South), Irri (Isoko South), Orerokpe (Okpe), Akugbene (Bomadi), Oghareki (Ethiope West) and Kiagbodo (Burutu).

    Three of these projects, all designed to offer boarding and day schooling, in Effurun, Asaba and Obiaruku, were completed and opened for admission by September 2022.

    But the other six which have been built to different stages, appear to have been abandoned, causing disappointment among members of the host communities.

    Checks by The Nation a couple weeks ago revealed that for about a year, most contractors handling the various projects sited in six Local Government Areas (LGAs) have not been to site.

    Each of these colleges were designed to have an administrative building, classrooms, hostels, dinning halls, multi-purpose halls, clinics, residential buildings and landscaping.

    A visit to three out of the six uncompleted project sites located at Omadino (Warri South LGA), Orerokpe (Okpe LGA) and Irri (Isoko South LGA) saw that the projects were abandoned at different stages.

    On arrival at Omadino on Wednesday, January 17, this reporter saw labourers working on the fore building of the proposed technical college. They were working on the decking of the building.

    Three other structures at the site appeared completed, having been painted. However, there were no activity on the other buildings which this reporter learnt had been abandoned for over a year.

    It was learnt that the project at Omadino was contracted to five different contractors, whose names could not be ascertained.

    The youth president of Omadino, an oil-rich Itsekiri community, Francis Omaro, who conducted this reporter around the vicinity expressed disappointment over the development.

    According to him, the construction of the project was supposed to take only a year, but while other schools have taken off for over a year now, the community had no idea when theirs would be completed.

    “When they came to Omadino community town hall, they made us to understand that anybody should not come here to disturb this site. Because before one year, they want to complete the job. The community did according to what was discussed at the town hall. But we are not seeing improvement in the work.

    “There was a time we reached out to a brother in Asaba, we brought the media to cover it. After some time this very contractor (working at the fore building) came to work. After some time again, they left. Before they came this past November.

    “The community is fed up because we expect that before this time they would have completed the project. We gave them all the support as a community so that the project can be fast, but we are not seeing improvement,” Omaro lamented.

    He called on Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to look towards the direction of the technical college and fast track the completion.

    “We want the State Government to focus on it because this is the only thing they have given to us. Omadino is an oil producing community but we are not seeing anything from the government. This one they decided to give to us, we are seeing no improvement. Government should please get the contractors to site,” he urged.

    The following day’s visit to the project site at Orerokpe was met with overgrown weeds and no work progression.

    Unlike its Omadino counterpart that had a constructed entrance, this one just had a motorable pathway leading to the buildings.

    Reliable sources in the community who spoke with this reporter disclosed that the contractor had some challenges with the environment where the project is sited.

    According to one of the sources who spoke off record, the area is terribly swampy during the rainy season, a development that was not envisaged by the contractor. The source added that this led to a pause in the construction as the contractor seeks an upward review of the project to enable delivery.

    Another community source who corroborated this claim, expressed optimism that the project would be completed as soon Governor Sheriff Oborevwori settles into office fully.

    Newly elected Chairman of Orerokpe community, Ogheneochuko Ejijona, who promised to avail this reporter with details of the project, as well as the the name of the contractor on a later day, did not take calls nor reply a text message to his line, days later.

    The technical college sited at Irri community is situated along the Irri-Aviara Road. It spots a fenced, defined entrance, roofed buildings, some with window and door fittings, others without. It could not be ascertained when work stopped at the place.

    A community leader who spoke in confidence with The Nation said the place was hurriedly cleared to enable access by the Commissioner for Technical Education, Hon. Joan Onyemaechi, who visited the site shortly after their inauguration last year.

    Imaty-Doma Consults Nigeria Limited is the contractor handling the Model Technical College, Irri, as indicated on the signpost mounted at the entrance.

    The community leader revealed that in an effort to find out what was delaying the project, the reason learnt was “poor funding and reevaluation of the project. That the contractor had overspent what he was mobilised”.

    “The Commissioner for Education visited before August, and she was furious and said they were not going to take it likely. But maybe because the contractor is a big politician, they decided to take it likely.

    “A bit to when the commissioner was to come, the place was like a deserted forest, the way grasses and trees had grown all over the place. When she gave notice of her visit, they made efforts to make the place accessible for her,” the community leader stated.

    Recalling the excitement that greeted news that such a project would be sited in their community, he added, “as they mobilized to site, the rate of land in that area skyrocketed from N400,000 to N700,000 because people knew that the school would bring development to that area”.

    Read Also: Food inflation: FG to form commodity board to fight price volatility

    Positing that by deserting the project, “the destinies of several Isoko children have been abandoned,” the community leader enjoined Governor Oborevwori to call the contractors to order.

    “It’s high time the Governor calls contractors to account for their projects. This will make education cheaper for the people.

    “I will urge the Governor to call the contractor to account and finish this project so that it can create employment and open windows for those who want to learn vocational training because that is the reason this school is sited here.

    “What is there shows the destiny of most Isoko people is abandoned as regards this project,” the Irri indigene asserted.

    When reached for comments, the Commissioner for Technical Education, Hon Joan Onyemaechi, stated that the projects were not abandoned.

    Declining repeatedly to be put on record, she disclosed that she visited the college sites last year and “there’s no project abandoned”.

    Onyemaechi who did not divulge information on certain aspects of the projects, as according to her, she only took over commissioner duties of the Ministry last year, referred this reporter to her predecessor, Gbubemi Ikolo, when asked about the contract sum of each of the uncompleted technical colleges.

    Also, asked about the request for project reevaluation by the contractors, she stated that it would not be sensible for her to tell “what is in the file of government, if contractors wrote to the governor” for an upward review of their contracts.

    She further stated that because she does not work under the State’s Civil Service Commission, she could not confirm or deny claims that recruitment had been concluded for the uncompleted Model Technical Colleges.

    Meanwhile, the then State Government disclosed that 518 teaching and non-teaching staff were recruited for the three newly established technical colleges, before their take-off in 2022.

    It would be noted that prior to their establishment, the Okowa-led administration in 2018 said that “over N3 billion” was spent on “infrastructural upgrade and supply (and in some cases refurbishment of equipment)” of the six existing Technical Colleges located in Agbor (Ika South), Ofagbe (Isoko North), Sapele (Sapele), Kwale (Ndokwa West ), Ogor (Ughelli North) and Issele-Uku (Aniocha North).

    On completion of the six technical colleges, as envisioned, there would be 10 LGAs left in the State to have same projects, affording, relatively, all young Deltans, especially those whose parents or guardians may not be able to afford the soaring cost of tertiary education, an opportunity to easily acquire requisite skills, alongside academic qualifications that could see them through life.

    Last year, Governor Oborevwori proposed “N46.55 billion on education” in his 2024 budget presentation. Time would tell if the abandoned and uncompleted six Model Technical Colleges would see the light of day.

  • ‘N126.2b lost to abandoned Fed Govt properties ‘

    The Federal Government has been urged to either concession or sell all its buildings across the country currently not being put to use. The sale or concession should be to private investors in order to forestall further deterioration as a result of continued abandonment.

    A Professor of Building Management, Prof. Olumide Afolarin Adenuga, made this call recently during his inaugural lecture which held at the J.F Ade Ajayi Memorial Hall, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos. He disclosed that since 2006 to date, N126.2 billion has been lost in revenue to the Federal Government properties in Lagos State alone, because the government refused to either sell or concession the assets.

    Adenuga listed such wasting assets in the state to include: the National Stadium, Surulere; the Federal Secretariat Complex, Ikoyi; The Nigerian External Telecommunications (NET) building, Marina; the Defence House (formerly Independence Building), and the former NAVY Headquarters building in Marina. Others include: the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, former National Assembly Complex, Tafawa Balewa Square, and the Supreme Court building among others.

    “All these buildings are in deplorable states of structural and decorative repairs because we do not have any maintenance culture, a fact which manifests in the general apathy for maintenance coupled with ignorance on the part of occupiers of the benefits of planed preventive maintenance and care of buildings,” he said.

    According to Adenuga, between 2004 to date, the cumulative potential economic loss from the National Stadium alone, is about N52.6 billion, while the Federal Secretariat, which has been overgrown with weeds  could have  yielded over N72 billion, if it had been converted to luxury residential apartments as proposed by Resort International Limited (RIL) since 2006.  Also the 32-storey NET building with about 720 square metres of lettable space, could have attracted over N1.6 billion in rent annually if well maintained and optimally utilised.

    He said apart from the loss of the huge revenue which could have been ploughed back into provision of social amenities for Nigerians, the 480 units of luxury residential apartments being proposed by RIL could have contributed to reducing the shortfall in the nation’s housing stock.

    “Because of their present deplorable state, these once iconic structures have become a nuisance not only to the city of Lagos and her residents, but is also a source of economic loss arising from abandonment and gross under-utilisation,” he added.

    Adenuga lamented that the nation has been hemorrhaging as a result of the neglect of the buildings, warning that the huge economic benefits of these iconic structures would continue to elude the nation if the government continue to ignore the need to restore them to beneficial use for Nigerians.

    The university don explained that maintenance was responsible for increased lifespan of structures such as the Egyptian pyramids, the Papal States in the Vatican City, The White House in the United States and other monuments, most of which have been kept in same serviceable condition as they were at the time of their construction.

    For him, it is regrettable that many of the nation’s iconic assets, which were pleasant to look at when they were newly built, have been allowed to degenerate due to lack of maintenance and planned repairs that could have reversed the trend and turned them into positive economic assets.

    “It is a glaring fact that our buildings are in very poor and deplorable conditions of structures and decorative disrepair, abandoned and reduced more or less to refuse dumps and natural homes for rodents and vermin in spite of billions of naira spent to build and commission them,” he lamented.

    To reverse the trend of improper maintenance of public or private properties, Adenuga recommended a formulation and formalisation of regular minimum repair programme, regular and effective inspection of all the fabrics of the buildings, including the surroundings, as well as the comfort of the occupants to detect signs of disrepair, prompt attention to repair needs of buildings in order to keep the buildings in acceptable standards.

     

     

    The Don also canvassed planned preventive maintenance, which according to him, are best accommodated at the design and construction stages of building development, even as he urged occupiers of buildings to report, as soon as noticed, defects for prompt maintenance even as he charged them to use the property in such a way as to keep them in good tenantable conditions.

     

  • NYSC scholars: NUC abandoned us abroad

    NYSC scholars: NUC abandoned us abroad

    Some 16 corps members, who recieved the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Presidential Honours Merit Award are hanging on to threads of hope that the Federal Government will continue funding their PhD programmes in various universities in the United Kingdom (UK).  They are blaming the Natioanal Universities Commission (NUC) for their dilemma.  However NUC denies blame reports KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE.

    • NUC: we are not to blame; no funds with us

    In 2010, former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, added a juicy incentive to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Presidential Honours Merit Award for corps members who distinguished themselves in the course of their service year. It was a scholarship to study for Masters and PhD in any university in the world as long as they got admission within two years of the offer.  That year, there were 51 of such recipients.

    That Federal Government gesture was an icing on the cake for corps members, considering that they had already secured automatic employment in the government civil service for winning the award.

    Jonathan said back then that the scholarship was to encourage young graduates to work hard.

    The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Petroluem Development Training Fund (PTDF) were to provide funds for the programme with the National Universities Commission (NUC) acting as the clearing house.

    While TETFund was in charge of scholars in medicine, sciences and other fields, the PTDF was in charge of scholars in the engineering field. The scholarship was to cover tuition (amount varied according to programme/institution), research support (10,000 British Pounds Sterling), living expenses (820 pounds monthly) – with additional allowances for passages, warm clothing, and laptop.

    The former President made it a yearly affair, announcing the same award for 52 beneficiaries in 2011, and combined awards for 2012, 2013 and 2014 batches (about 164 in all) in March 2015 before he left office two months later.

    However, the initiative has caused heartache for many beneficiaries, particularly those under TETFund as the funding stopped while many were still undergoing their programmes.  They fear they might be forced to stop the programmes and deported as their institutions have already made repeated demands for payment.

    The first set of beneficiaries left Nigeria for various universities, especially in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2012. On completing their Master’s programme, some went ahead to pursue their PhD.

    Sixteen of them got approval from the NUC to begin their PhD programme with full sponsorship.  Taiwo Shittu, a graduate of Agriculture from the University Ilorin (UNILORIN), Gini Joshua, a medical doctor trained at the University of Jos (UNIJOS), Oluwabamidele Kogbe, a graduate of Public Administration from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, were among the 16 recipients who completed their Master’s programme in 2013 and got approval from the NUC to begin their PhD programme in 2014.

    They are presently in their third or final year of study.  In phone and chat interviews with The Nation they said that their third and fourth year tuition fees had not been paid.  While some received allowances for living expenses last year, others did not get any money from TETFund through NUC.

    Kogbe, who is undergoing his PhD in Politics and International Relations at the University of Dundee, said he was last paid in 2016.

    “NUC paid the tuition fees and allowances for my first year in 2015 and my second year in 2016 – that was the last payment I received from NUC.  Presently, the NUC has not paid my tuition fee for the third year and the remaining allowances for the third and fourth year.  What surprised me sometime last year was that NUC paid some of my colleagues their third year allowances despite that we all had the same approval and funds deposited with the NUC.”

    Shittu, undergoing his PhD in Molecular Pathology and Genetics at the University of Bedfordshire, UK, was one of the ‘lucky ones’ who got paid living expenses last year.  He said it did not come without several unreturned mails to the NUC.

    “Our living expenses fluctuate depending on the exchange rate.  It is between £11,000 and £14,000 yearly and we have to suffer and send many emails before NUC pays despite having our fund with them.  NUC has paid my living expenses for three years.  It remains for the fourth year.  Some of my colleagues have only been paid for two years,” he said.

    Gini, who is at the University of Liverpool researching “Clinical trials, pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenetics drug interactions and safety of antiretroviral drugs in HIV treatment”, has not also received funding since 2016.  He said the situation got bad after Jonathan left office.

    “We did not receive the best treatment during Jonathan, but at least our tuition was paid and occasionally someone responded to calls.  But payments stopped after Jonathan left,” he said.

    Gini said his university has given him until April to pay up or be shown the way out.  He is at loss as to what to do.

    The medical doctor also said he never got the full amount stated as living expenses and all efforts to get explanation for it was abortive as his mails were never replied.

    “A breakdown of living expenses is £820 per month – the total of £9,840 per annum.  Depending on the exchange rate and annual warm clothing allowance, it was supposed to be approximately £10,000 to £11,000 per annum.  But I have never been paid the complete amount.  I was paid at the rate of 600 per month approximately £7,200 plus allowances for the first year was £8,500 and £8,700 in the second year. All complaints were never replied.”

     

    Surviving without funds

     

    It has not been easy for the scholars to survive without funding from the Federal Government.  They told The Nation they have had to do all sorts to survive.

    Christabel Ihedike, who is pursuing her PhD at the University of Sunderland, said she has had some help from family to cover living expenses.  But tuition remains unpaid.

    “2016 was the last time I was paid.  My elder sister in USA and my parents have been shouldering my upkeep all this while but the school fees has not been paid.  School and School Credit control have sent mail and invoice to me on different occasions since my sponsor does not respond to their mails.  I have written severally to the New Executive Secretary but no response.  I am about to start my final year not knowing what the school will do this time because my last year fees has not been paid,” she said.

    With a Tier 4 Visa, Gini said he cannot work more than 20 hours in a week, which is insufficient to raise funds.  He said he has had to take menial jobs and depend on his wife to survive.

    “Even if I wanted to work, my PhD is so demanding I cannot do much outsid academics.  I also am not medically licensed therefore cannot practice.

    “(Surviving) has been a miracle.  I give credit to my wife. She does care job at night to take care of the bills.  I sold my car and other properties to cope.  The university at a point gave me a hardship assistance.  My supervisor also assists occasionally by giving me some in-house cleaning and maintenance to help me cope.  But everybody is getting tired now; it is becoming difficult to get help.  There are times when I have been stranded but miraculously help came from these mentioned sources,” he said.

    Shittu said of his experience: “I was nearly deported last year around August due to nonpayment of my fees to the university.  I had to borrow money to pay the university to restate my studentship.”

    Akin Oyawale, who is doing a PhD in Politics at the University of East Anglia, said he has had to borrow as well.

    “I work part-time and survive on loans from family and friends.  As a PhD researcher, I also teach at the university,” he said.

     

    Scholars blame NUC

     

    Many of the scholars accused NUC of refusing to pay their fees despite the funds being relesased by TETFund.  Kogbe, who described the scholars as “victims of administrative injustice”, said: “TETFund has paid my funds to NUC.  I was in Nigeria with Shittu in November.  We were at NUC.  They never denied the possession of my PhD funds.  TETFund only stopped paying for others who are not part of the already approved list of scholars.”

    Shittu also claimed same, saying: “The fund for our four-year programme was approved and released to NUC by TETFund (we have evidence).  The past President mandated TETFund to sponsor our programmes and to be honest, they have been doing well through the NUC.  My stand is that our money is with the NUC.  The present ES might not know ‘much’ about our case.  There are some directors that are involved from the onset -e.g. the present director of the ES office, Mr Chris Maiyaki; Director of Finance, Mr Sam Onazi.”

    Gini said though the NUC allegedly got all the funds from TETFund, the scholars were told they could not get all the money at once as the NUC had to monitor their progress.

    He said: “I remember we even asked them (NUC) a question, why not just give us the entire money and let us go instead of coming back and they said no, they needed to supervise our progress so they would pay as the invoice comes.

    “The first two years I sent them my annual progress report, nobody ever responded.  I sent letters because they were not paying the complete money.  They paid allowance to me for the first two years; they paid school fees to the school.  My problem was they were not paying me my complete allowance.

    “As I am in the fourth year, nobody has ever visited me to see whether I am in school or not.

    “In 2016, they sent us a letter after one year of not talking to us.  They said for the 16 approved they would continue paying.  I sent uncountable letters, nobody every responded.  They try to sweep this our case under the carpet as if they never received the money.”

     

     

    NUC, others’ reactions

     

    When contacted by email, the NUC Director, Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Usman Yakasai, said the Executive Secretary, Prof Adamu Rasheed, was on leave.  He however said the scholarship was now under the purview of the Federal Scholarship Board.

    He wrote in the mail: “Mail and attachment received. Will revert back after New Year as the ES is on approved leave. However, even he if sees it I can confirm to you that NUC did not receive any money and failed to remit as appropriate. I can also inform you that the said scholarship has been moved to Federal Scholarship Board. You may wish to contact them also to establish the truth.”

    The Public Relations Officer of the Federal Scholarship Board, Hajiya Fatima Jiddum, confirmed that the scholarship had been moved to the board – but without funding. She told The Nation it would be funded under the 2018 budget.

    “The scholarship was moved to us in July 2017 but came with no funding.  Some of the scholars seeking funding do not even have scholarship award letters from the Federal Government.  For those that have, we have included them under the 2018 budget.  Once the budget is passed, we will be able to pay them.  We are in touch with them and have told them so,” she said on phone.

    However, the scholars said they had not been contacted by the Federal Scholarship Board.

    Shittu, their leader said: “Federal Scholarship Board (FSB) has never communicated with us officially – no letter, no email.”

    Shittu also insisted the funds was with the NUC.

    “NUC may have transferred our file but they are still with our money.  NUC needs to be questioned.  Left to us, we don’t have anything whatsoever with FSB.  We are still with NUC because there is no official communication from NUC or FSB to us regarding us.  We are not politicians so they cannot be using us to play games,” he said.

    Efforts made to get Hajiya Jiddum to confirm that the names of the 16 scholars are among those to benefit from the 2018 budget proved abbortive as she did not respond to calls, texts and emails sent to her.

    Responding to claims that NUC failed to transfer the funding to FSB, Yakasai told The Nation on phone: “Like I said in my mail, we did not receive any money that we did not remit.  When we handed over to Scholarship Board, did they say see any money that we failed to hand over? The handover was done properly and they must have asked questions,” he said.

    Former Executive Secretary, Prof Julius Okojie, under whose  administration the programme started, refused to comment on the matter.

    “Please go to the NUC.  I have left the NUC for almost two years now.  But the others are still there.  You can ask them about the scholarship,” he said.

    However, a source at NUC, who did not want to be named because of non-authorization to speak, said the funding for the programme was stopped by TETFund.  The source said it was transferred to FSB when NUC no longer respond to invoices from the foreign universities.

    Efforts to hear from TETFund proved abortive as calls, emails and text messages sent to the Public Relations officer were not returned.

     

    State of the

    NYSC scholarship

     

    After the initial 16 scholars, subsequent NYSC scholars who did not get full approval from the NUC before starting their PhD programme, were forced to abort the programme as they were not funded.  Some of them were deported to Nigeria.

    In August 2016, the NUC wrote all the scholars (letter published on this page), saying TETFund attributed the delay in the release of funds to “the absence of a Governing Board which has the sole responsibiity for approving any financial allocation of this nature.”

    The NUC warned  the scholars abroad without approval they did so at their own risk.

    Those corps members who won in 2014 and 2015 have not been mobilized to do their masters programme outside Nigeria.

    The NYSC scholarship is not the only programme administered by the NUC that has been suspended.  The Nation gathered that the Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for Innovation and Development (PRESSID) has also been suspended because of lack of funding by TETFund.

    The strictly merit-based scholarship was initiated to train the best of Nigerian graduates from both public and private universities for their masters and PhD in the top 25 institutions of the world.  A total of 100 scholars with the best scores after a test conducted by NUC were chosen for the programme. After the first two sets went in 2013 and 2013, subsequent sets have not been mobilized.

    A source said the suspension of PRESSID happened because some law makers claimed the scholars were only from some parts of the country while other parts were left out.

    “They stopped it because some parts of the country did not do well in the tests and so were not chosen,” the source said.

     

  • Women to Buhari: we’ve been abandoned

    Women to Buhari: we’ve been abandoned

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) women wing, under the auspices the Concerned Women of All Progressives Congress (aka Caucus of Likeminds), have written to President Muhammadu Buhari, complaining of marginalisation of women by the current government, especially those who worked for the party’s success.

    In an open letter to the President by conveners of the group, Miriam Yakubu Ikunaiye and Ayoade Simisola, the women said though they laboured for the success of the party at the risk of losing their families, their contributions have not been appreciated by the government and the party.

    They are, however, seeking audience with the President ahead of preparations for the 2019 elections to discuss their plight and solutions found as they are tired of waiting endlessly for their contribution to be recognised.

    The statement reads: “We have patiently watched with all humility, the sidelining of Women of intellect and character of our great party, APC in the Political Appointments made till date.

    “These are women who worked out their hearts and spent their resources, sometimes at the detriment of their families; traveled the length and breadth of this country to get fair deal for the Women and Youths; Justice; good Governance, succor to the Down Trodden; development to our people and dear nation which in turn ushered in the Progressives’ Government and our great Party to where we are today.

    “Your Excellency, we are women of great capacities, intellect and political sagacity, with huge followership across the country, still championing various causes to effect the desired change in our own little ways, but unfortunately, like other great Women of our party, APC whose interests we represent, we are still the unsung heroines of our time!

    “Unfortunately, we were neither appreciated, nor recognised for our bravery and; we can only wonder when we will be able to further bring our skills, experience and passion for change to bear its full cause in this curent administration.

    “To this effect, and as 2019 approaches, we would appreciate it if we are given an audience with Your Excellency to further express our plights as a caucus.”

  • Abandoned power

    •TCN must make errant contractors who abandoned electricity equipment at ports pay for them

    It is a veritable example of how not to use public funds or indeed, how not to conduct any business whatsoever.

    A few months back, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had informed Nigerians that power equipment imported by various contractors worth hundreds of billions of naira lay waste at the ports. These components were required for the numerous power projects scattered across the country.

    The equipment, which are said to be mainly transmission projects, had been ordered under the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) while some were procured during the transition period when the current transmission firm was being  set up.

    Whatever the case may be, only last week, the Interim Managing Director of TCN, Mr. Usman Mohammed, informed Nigerians that his firm had spent about N2.5 billion to clear some power transmission equipment worth several billions of naira abandoned  by different contractors at the nation’s seaports. He noted many contractors handling various power projects in the past had abandoned a lot of transmission equipment at the ports for no justifiable reasons.

    As to possible reasons for the abandonment, Usman noted that, “We found out that contractors formed the habit of collecting part-payments to import equipment and when the equipment got to Nigeria, they abandoned them at the ports without providing justifiable reasons.”

    He explained that the poor execution of transmission projects in Nigeria was largely due to many unqualified contractors handling the projects.

    While we commend the new management of TCN for rising to the challenge in the last one year, to clear stranded equipment from the ports, we dare say that several issues have been raised here.

    There is the question of poor institutional memory bordering on impunity and the question of poor deployment of government’s resources, among others.

    First, we wonder whether contracts worth over two hundred billion naira could have been awarded by various public corporations without proper documentation, monitoring and evaluation. Letters of credit must have been opened for those orders so there would not be any confusion as to who placed what orders, costs of the equipment and when they were ordered.

    We thought that even as the new TCN management had undertaken to retrieve the equipment from the ports, it is only incumbent upon it to ensure that the errant contractors are exposed, if need be prosecuted and necessary restitution made. How can we vouch that the same contractors that had been remiss in carrying out previous contracts are not back in the fold causing more havoc?

    Who bears the N2.5 billion spent to clear these goods? This is no way to spend public funds. The errant contractors and the colluding government officials, if any, must be fished out and made to bear some costs.

    It is unacceptable and borders on impunity that contracts of this magnitude were handed to contractors and they were handled with so much insouciance, yet not one person is being made to answer. Nigeria’s power sector has been in the doldrums despite billions of dollars sunk into it because of this kind of laissez faire attitude to work and in carrying out government business.

    Further, if TCN had elected to quietly retrieve the equipment from the ports, without recourse to the contractors, how can we tell that it doesn’t have junk equipment which would soon be found to be of no use to Nigeria’s power infrastructure?

    In a nutshell, we insist that the contractors and their cohorts in service must not be allowed to go scot free; they must be made to pay a price if this impunity and crass breach of contracts is not to recur.

  • Turai Yar’Adua’s N10b Abuja cancer centre abandoned

    Pesidents of Abuja have called for a revamp of the cancer centre project that was championed by former President Umaru Yar’Adua’s wife Turai for health delivery to the vulnerable in the country.

    On July 18, 2009, she assembled the Nigerian rich and government contractors to a fundraising in Abuja, which was also attended by her usually taciturn husband, who was battling some complicated diseases at the time.

    Financial pledges made by the galaxy of guests to actualise her dream amounted to N6.8 billion.

    The International Cancer Centre, (ICC) Abuja was born.

    But since then, apart from the imposing structure on the Umaru Yar’Adua Express Road, the project is now virtually abandoned, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria  (NAN).

    One of the security guards at the ICC, who simply identified himself as Garba confirmed the abandonment.

    He said there had been no activities to actualise the centre, as envisioned by Turai Yar’Adua.

    According to him, Turai came two times in 2016 to the site. She had not been seen around the area since then.

    “We have not seen her this year, but some people often come around to see the progress of the place,” he said.

    Garba said some bandits invaded the ICC last year to disposess them of their valuables, adding that few items belonging to the centre were also stolen..

    He added that some policemen from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) had since been deployed to secure the ICC against further attacks.

    “Six of us were employed to secure this place and we do alternate, but because the bandits were fully armed, they overpowered us and beat the security guards.

    The desolate centre was more palpable at a park for scores of tricycles meant to be conveying patients. Weeds have swamped the tricycles.

    Worried by the delay in completing the ICC, one the residents of Abuja, Mr. Gabriel Oluwabunmi, berated those responsible for the abandoned project, adding that such noble idea that could bring relief to the masses, should have been completed without the usual hiccup.

    He called on the authorities to ensure that the project was resuscitated, adding that such cancer centre would help bring succour to those ravaged by the disease and especially those who could not afford to be flown abroad.

    Miss Ngozi Chukwuma, whose relative is suffering from the cancer, called on the Federal Government to ensure the completion of the centre to enable Nigerians who could not afford overseas treatment to patronise it.

    She said such project would go a long way in assuaging the feeling of Nigerians who could not afford the treatment as a result of heavy monetary demand.

    Mrs. Yar’adua had in her speech during the launch of the centre said the whole idea of establishing the cancer centre was conceived out of her desire to contribute her quota to achieving standard healthcare delivery for the vulnerable.

    According to her, the centre would specifically render services to women and children, especially the rural and urban poor.

    When NAN visited the National Hospital Abuja, which is offering an alternative treatment to cancer patients, the staff appeared so overwhelmed with the huge number of cancer patients.

    A cancer patient who craved anonymity called on the Federal Government to assist in revamping the centre, adding that this would go a long way in decongesting the national hospital from cancer patients with special attention.

    Mr. Mohammed Lawal, an Abuja based businessman, called on the government not to abandon the centre, adding that though it was a private initiative; the government could also intervene to revamp it.

    The ICC, according to its promoter, was meant to focus on four types of cancer that account for most deaths in Nigeria: cervical cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and throat cancer.

  • Vice President’s wife decries rate of abandoned children, others

    Vice President’s wife decries rate of abandoned children, others

    Vice President’s wife Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo has decried the rate of abandoned children, violence and pregnancy among teenagers.

    She spoke at the first annual conference of Heritage Adoption Support and Advocacy Group (HASAAG) at Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos over the weekend.

    Mrs. Osinbajo said it was heartbreaking that 17.5 million children are abandoned, 60 per cent of teenagers under the age of 18 suffer violence in the East, 24 per cent of girls under the age of 18 get pregnant in Lagos and 40 per cent suffer from increased male infertility.

    HASAAG is an offshoot of The Heritage Homes orphanage founded in 2006 by Pastor Ituah Ighodalo.

    The vice president’s wife urged Nigerians to do something about the situation.

    “So many areas have potential to change for the better. We must choose to fight the negativity that is around adoption and raise our voice to speak out against the stigma, uncertainty and fear attached to adoption.

    “Bearing and adopting children are both ways to parenthood. The power of adoption is the power of love. We all should love even those who we did not give birth to.

    “People are vulnerable and poor, at risk, in abusive circumstance, hungry, feeling unsafe and we have so many abandoned children. It should not be difficult to see someone in pain and help them. Encourage infertile couple, support and help them financially. There is nobody that cannot make a difference.”

    She called for advocacy for the ease of adopting and review of the adoption processes, adding that adopters should love those who they have adopted.

  • HELP, we’ve been abandoned!

    HELP, we’ve been abandoned!

    THE wife, four children and aged mother of the Police Inspector buried alive by hoodlums in Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos have cried out to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and the Lagos State Commissioner of police, Edgal Imohinmi, for help. Inspector Musa Sunday was attacked by hoodlums in Ibeju Lekki on November 29 last year while responding to a distress call along with two other policemen to repel a kidnap attempt in Osoroko part of the community.

    The distressed family members are calling on the police hierachy to help them to get sums of money promised by the police authorities to fallen policemen who served in Lagos State, especially now that some who were killed or wounded in Ikorodu axis of the state have since received their own financial compensations. Recalling the circumstances surrounding Musa’s disappearance and eventual death, the spokesman of the family, Mr Jonathan Arome, said: “The police should release the remains of our brother, Inspector Musa Sunday, for a befitting burial. Those who were involved in his death should also be brought to book, no matter how highly placed.”

    •Colleagues and sympathisers at the Late Inspector Musa’s burial

    The wife, children, aged mother and hundreds of sympathisers had flooded the site of Musa’s burial with tears, wondering why he was so callously treated by his killers for willingly going to Lagos to serve his fatherland, protecting people’s lives and property. Arome noted that while the four children of the late Musa were going to good schools when their father was alive, they hardly get enough food to eat now, not to talk of paying school fees. He said that none of his children had been granted scholarship as compensation for their father dying in active service to the nation.

    “They are still crying after the burial of their breadwinner. They are in tears, calling on the police authorities to at least make available the money promised by the authority and the Lagos State Government to police officers who died while performing their duties, which include protection of lives and properties of others.

    “They want to get something, no matter how small, to enable the wife cope with the challenges of the times,” he said. Arome recalled that Musa, upon his posting from the Police College in Kaduna to the Lagos Command in 2000, was redeployed to Bariga Police Station and later to the State Criminal and Investigation Department, Panti Yaba Lagos. He was later posted to the Lagos State Command Headquarters Ikeja and later as orderly to the Lagos State Commissioner for Water Fronts, Aremo Oniru, during the eight-year aministration of former Governor Babatunde Fashola. “Later, he was redeployed to work with a task force notably at Oshodi and Ojuelegba before he was posted to SARS because of his gallantry in areas of tackling crime.

    His bravery was astute, his sense of humour perfect. “He had a lot of investigative acumen and passion for crime fighting and had never been found wanting. He was also very loyal to his seniors, very upright, perhaps the reason he fell so cheaply,” Arome said. He recalled that the people that killed Musa were the same people he had rescued in a previous circumstance as attested to by the former Lagos State CP, Fatai Owoseni, in some publications. “However, he has fallen.

    His remains have been interred according to our traditional rites. His wife was at the time of the incident a complete housewife. At the moment, she is mourning her late husband. Four of her children have been relocated to the village and are presently out of school. This, definitely, will not be the wish of their late father. “All we are asking for is a window of opportunity as promised by the Lagos State Government to make good its promise for the fallen heroes of Lagos State Police Command evidently as it was done for some police officers that were involved in similar circumstances in Ikorodu area of Lagos. “What is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander.

    The late Inspector Musa was a gallant officer who served meritoriously. He deserves to be honoured,” Arome said. Halimat is not alone in the agony of wives of policemen who became widows. Another widow, Mrs. Fatimah Yakubu, could not believe her ears when she was told that her husband had been killed by pipeline vandals in Ikorodu, Lagos. She insisted that her husband, Inspector Yerima Yakubu, was alive and would return soon. Unfortunately, he never did. Some Ijaw youths suspected to be pipeline vandals were said to have opened fire on some policemen on Ishawo Road, Ikorodu, Lagos State on August 3, killing four of the policemen, namely Inspector Yakubu, Corporal Adakuro Peredigha, Sgt Obi Chukwudi and Sergeant Okoh Endurance.

    Three of the policemen were attached to the Owutu Police Station in Ikorodu, while the remaining one was from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command. Inspector Yakubu, who hails from Ebiewakpi in Auchi area of Edo State, was blessed with five children. Their children kept saying that their father who went to work would come back. Her eldest child, Rukayat, said: “He cannot just disappear like that.

    My dad is very much aware that school will soon resume. His life dream for me is to become an accountant, and I had reassured him in the last two weeks that I will become the accountant general of the federation in the future.” Other pathetic stories of widows of police officers abound. Some police officers also sustained wounds of various degrees while carrying out their lawful duties. What makes the situation worse is that most of them look abandoned despite the money promised by police authorities and the Lagos State Government. While some have received theirs, opthers have not been told why theirs are yet to be paid, especially when school fees and feeding of their children are still a herculean task.

  • Ambode and abandoned inner streets

    Ambode and abandoned inner streets

    SIR: The Abule Egba Bridge is a signature project of the Akinwunmi Ambode administration in Lagos. It is a beauty to behold – especially at night – with the water fountain placed strategically by its side fully operational.

    Besides, the construction of the bridge has helped to push traffic on the Lagos-Abeokuta axis among other advantages.

    However, this laudable project has brought untold hardship on the people leaving in New Oko Oba. The good roads in the entire area took a hit because all the articulated vehicles going to Ota/Abeokuta from Lagos when the Abula Egba Bridge was under construction were diverted to the area. Suffice to say that culverts, roads and walkways were destroyed such that the enviable area is now completely no longer motorable.

    The rains have also made things worse. Now, the people are lamenting the negative effect of building the bridge on their lives.

    Yes, Governor Ambode promised that the inner roads would be fixed after the completion of work on the bridge. But that has not been done. Work actually started on Charity Road end by Abule Egba but the contractor stopped inexplicably by the entrance to Social Club Road.  Did the contractor abandon work due to lack of fund?

    The other half of Charity Road through to Olaniyi Road to connect to Adewunmi Adu, Kareem Alabi, Jibowu Road to link up Agbe Road are reeling under the terrible effect of the movement of articulated vehicles.

    Also totally destroyed is Social Club Road through Santos Avenue to join Agbe Road and the Sanni Balogun road, whose culvert to connect Agbe road had been destroyed.

    During construction time, people on these streets could not sleep because the heavy duty vehicles moved day and night. Now, the work has been completed, yet they have no road again.

    Our worry now is whether in spite of the assurance by the governor, there is currently buck passing between the contractor and the government’s agency that fixes roads. Why should this be?

    Whoever has the responsibility to fix these roads should be called to account lest the good work of Governor Ambode take away the comfort of the people.

     

    • Olusola Adelakun,

    Abule Egba, Lagos.    

  • Justice for abandoned 2016 NITDA scholars

    Justice for abandoned 2016 NITDA scholars

    ir: It was on a bright Sunday afternoon, October 2, 2016 that I received a congratulatory email from National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, confirming that I was successful in the rigorous scholarship aptitude test I wrote on Wednesday September 28, 2016, 9am at Public Service Institute (PSIN) Dutsen Alhaji, Abuja. I was elated by the great news and my hope for continuing my studies up to the postgraduate level was revived.

    That was my first time of visiting Abuja.

    Afterwards,  me and my fellow colleagues representing their respective states and geo-political zones were invited for a one-on-one interview and credentials-sighting which did not hold on the said day due to the change in administration of the agency; we were told to go back home and they assured us that they will contact us.

    Days passed, weeks went by and months elapsed and none of us received any correspondence from NITDA. Some of us – the scholars decided to follow up and inquire about the situation by contacting notable staffs of NITDA.

    When we contacted them earlier this year, we were sweet talked and they kept assuring us that they haven’t forgotten us that they were doing all that was necessary. We were once told that the reason for the delay was because they were negotiating with international institutions for our admission. This rekindled our spirits and we kept our hopes alive. Later on they said they had to wait for the passage of the budget before we will be officially contacted.

    We waited, and after the budget was passed, we once again contacted NITDA, but this time around they said their fiscal year was different from that of the country that theirs would commence August. We continued contacting them but they resorted into complicated tactics in a bid to side-line us.

    In the advertisement, it was stated that the scholarship would be local which we fully understood before we rolled in our applications (although the reason for the change to local seemed unbecoming).  We were also aware that the country was in recession. But it can’t be so bad that a nation won’t be able to provide scholarship to absorb its own citizens into its own institutions.

    After wasting about a year, our country decided to forsake us. They sent us a termination letter yesterday, Thursday September 6, after we have waited for almost a year.

    Why plan for 2017/2018 exercise when you are yet to clear the 2016/2017 scholars? This is beyond logic. This is not the change we voted for. If the agency cannot fulfil its overseas promises, they should at least fulfil what we bargained for when we applied for the scholarship.

    We seek justice.

     

    • Tunji Afolabi

    atunje_afolabi@yahoo.com