The Nation Newspaper

Tag: bemoan

  • KSU students bemoan campus evangelism

    KOGI State University (KSU) students, in Anyigba, have appealed to the management of the institution to stem the tide of evangelism on the campus. The appeal followed the rise in the number of students and outsiders, who visit the campus to preach. Students, most of them Christians, who spoke with CAMPUSLIFE, described the situation as unacceptable.

    Simon Ojadale, a 200-Level Law student, bemoaned the taking over of classes by student-preachers, saying the development is discouraging  students to study in classes.

    He said the school was gradually turning into a religious centre, rather than being a ground for academics and research.

    Simon said: “I am a devout Christian, who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ. But we must show tolerance and respect the rights of others to practice their  faith. Muslim students have one mosque where they gather and pray. Christians, on  the other  hand, have two churches, one for Catholic adherents and the other for other denominations.

    “It is also okay for them to want to share the message of Christ with others, but must they do it at the detriment of other people’s wellbeing?. Even, Christian students preach  during lectures. Some of them target classes where students are waiting for lecturers, regardless of whether the lecturers would come and set a surprise test or assessment. Some students  need to read but these preachers won’t allow that.”

    Another student, Samuel Eniola, called on management to enforce strict regulation against preaching in the academic area. This, he said, would stop students and outsiders from coming to the campus to preach. He said the primary reason of students on the campus was to acquire knowledge and carry out research.

    David Aina, a Mass Communication student, described the situation as “alarming”,  saying the preachers usually disturb the peace of students, who craved quiet environment to study.

    “Our classes have been taken over by evangelism.” David said, urging the school to address the situation.

  • Experts bemoan increase in street children

    Experts bemoan increase in street children

    •Hawkers
    •Hawkers

    The Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, Lagos Prof. Innocent Ujah has expressed discontent at the rate at which street children increase in recent times, even as he maintained that the trend has become worrisome.

    Prof. Ujah spoke at this year’s symposium organised by his institute to mark this year’s Children’s Day celebration. He noted that the number of street children was on the increase despite best national, regional and global efforts to ensure their well-being.

    The theme of this year’s celebration was “The Burden of Street Children in Nigeria” which was anchored by the Maternal, Reproductive and Child Health Research Group of NIMR.

    According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the number of working children in Nigeria that are under the age of 14 is estimated at 15 million. The tedious jobs that children are involved in are particularly disquieting. They include street vendors, beggars, car washers, and shoe shiners. Others work as apprentice mechanics, hairdressers and bus conductors while a large number work as domestic servants and farm hands.

    Prof. Ujah represented by the Head, NIMR Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Research Group, Dr. Nkiruka Odunukwe said: “Street children fall within this category. They are found in every city worldwide. They are most neglected, even victimised sometimes by the society which ought to protect and care for them. They lack basic services such as education, health and shelter, which should be their fundamental rights. Unfortunately, these basic needs are taken for granted by various governments and organisations.

    “As a research organisation, the onus is on this institute to carry out a nation-wide research to determine the magnitude of street children, the predisposing factors, and suggest informed policy guideline for the three tiers of government as well as philanthropists that would address the menace in a bid to reduce the burden.”

    Head of the Research Group, Dr. Oliver Ezechi said many street children have ended up as drug addicts and other crimes. He said the symposium was to educate school children on the dangers of such vices and the need to stay away from crime.

    In her lecture entitled “Burden of Street Children”, one of the resource people, Dr. Agatha David said though street children are visible, they are most invisible. “Study conducted in Enugu, Ibadan and Kaduna showed that more female children are more on the streets than male children. In Enugu, about 414 were discovered, 1,959 children were discovered in Kaduna and 1,931 were discovered in Ibadan. “The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) finding indicates that girls start working at an earlier age than boys, particularly in the rural areas. They also suffer the triple burden of housework, school work and work out of home whether paid or unpaid. One of the most common practices is the use of children as child domestic helps, especially girls.”

    Continuing, she said: “Major causes of child labour are widespread poverty, rapid urbanisation, breakdown in extended family affiliations, high rates of school dropout and lack of enforcement of legal instruments meant to protect children. “Traditionally, children have worked with their families, but today children are forced to work for their own survival and that of their families. The money earned by child family members has become a significant part of poor families’ income.

    “These children suffer from fatigue, irregular attendance at school, lack of comprehension and motivation, improper socialisation, exposure to risk of sexual abuse and high probability of being involved in crimes.”

    Administrator, Ayobo Transit Home, Ms Patience Ifejuna shared her experience in rehabilitating street children.

    She said: “Most are lost because of lack of funding to pursue the causal factors or in some cases give them good treatment for their impaired health. I will appeal to the government to commit more money into the issue of research and rehabilitation of street children.”

  • Kuje residents bemoan prolonged power outage

    Residents of Kuje area council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have lamented the prolonged power outage in the council.

    Some of the residents who spoke with Abuja Review said that the power failure has almost crippled business in the council, mostly in Kuje town, appealing to the council chairman, Hon. Shaban Tete to  rectify the problem.

    Mr. Samuel Joseph, a resident of the council, lamented that his business has almost crumbled following the general power failure, which, he said, has lasted over five days. He said his woes were compounded by the fact that he could not get fuel to power his generators.

    “We are really suffering in this council,” he said. “This issue of light is a big problem. I operate a restaurant and bar, but we do not have power to cool our drinks and foodstuff in the freezers; now most of our things in my freezers are spoiling by the day, and there is no fuel in filling stations to use for our generators.”

    Another resident, Mallam Isah Yahaya, a vulcaniser, lamented that the power outage has crippled his job too, adding that since the power failure in the council, he has not been able to work and his business is suffering.

    “My business is really suffering, nobody knows what is wrong with the light. The only thing that we can remember is that the light went off almost immediately after the President and National Assembly election. We believe that most of the transformers in the council are bad and we are calling on the council boss to help us in the council,” he said.

    Speaking with a senior staff of the Kuje power distribution company, who pleaded anonymity, explained that the Kuje power source has dropped from 8megawatt to 4megawatt, which has made it difficult for the council to have appreciable power supply.

    She further said that most of the electricity transformers in council have become faulty, which has led to the inability to supply electricity light in the council, saying that the engineers in the company are working tirelessly on the transformers and other sources, in order to rectify the problem.

  • Consumers bemoan high price of kerosene

    Consumers have expressed disappointment over the inability of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to sell kerosene at its filling stations at the regulated price of N50 per litre, two years after it launched the Kero Correct Scheme (KCS), aimed at selling the product to consumers at a cheaper price.

    A market survey conducted in Lagos and its environs reveals the harrowing experience consumers go through even before they can buy kerosene at higher price.  In the NNPC-owned retail outlet in Idimu and Ikotun visited by The Nation, consumers were buying kerosene at N95 per litre.

    Also, retail outlets owned by the major and independent oil marketers especially in Ikeja, Mushin,  Egbeda, Idimu, Iyana-Ipaja areas of Lagos, kerosene sells for between N130 and N150 per litre. The independents also charge extra N5 per litre if they power the pumps with generators.

    A manager in one of the retail outlets of Mobil Oil, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said NNPC does not have direct control over major oil marketers, adding that there is a limit to which the National Oil Company can impose the prices of petroleum products on them.

    The source said his outlet sells kerosene at a much higher price, adding that consumers have been buying the product. Also a staff member of Owena Motels, Akure, Ondo State, who simply identified himself  as Samuel Olowokere, said the price of kerosene goes for between N120  and N130 per litre in various petrol stations in the state.

    He said the petrol station owned by independent petroleum marketers, major oil marketers and NNPC sell kerosene at higher prices.

    The President, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association of Nigeria (LPGAN), Dapo Adesina, said the scheme was not laudable, in view of the problems in the industry. He said consumers are used to buying kerosene at a rate far above regulated prices because they use the product for domestic purposes. He     said awareness on the usage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas otherwise known as cooking gas has just started, noting that consumers use kerosene often.

    He said the issue of subsidies paid on petroleum products has generated controversy such that the government is trying to stop it.

    He said: “There is nothing concrete to say about the scheme because there are flaws in it.  The government is complaining about the subsidies it is paying importers on petroleum products, and at the same time, wants to sell kerosene at N50 per litre. There is no way NNPC can sell the product at that amount without subsidising it.  The scheme is not something Nigerians should be talking about now. It amounts to a misplaced priority for the NNPC to be talking on the issue of selling kerosene at N50 per litre. Why can’t the government discuss the issue of gas, which Nigeria has in abundance and is not paying subsidies on.”

    In his reactions, the General Manager, Group Public Affairs, NNPC, Ohi Alegbe, said it was wrong to say that consumers are not buying kerosene at a much cheaper price at the filling stations owned by NNPC.

    He said NNPC is monitoring developments in its mega stations, affiliate stations and floating stations across the country in order to ensure that consumers buy the product at N50 per litre.

    Alegbe said the corporation is using its staff and volunteers from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to coordinate activities in its stations to enable the scheme achieve its goals of making consumers buy kerosene at N50.

    He said volunteers were being brought into the project to help monitor discharge and sales of kerosene as an independent feedback system, adding that they help in promoting transparency and ensuring that the product gets to the desired end users.

    He said: “NNPC is using its retail outlets for the implementation of the scheme. The Corporation has 37 mega stations, 524 affiliate stations, and 12 floating stations.  The floating stations are in the riverine states such as Ondo, Edo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and others. NNPC located the floating stations in the areas to enable people living the creeks to buy kerosene at a cheaper price.

    According to him, the price of kerosene has crashed to N70 per litre, adding that the price is going to fall further as the scheme gets underway.

    He said the scheme aimed at cutting several layers of middlemen who made it difficult for end users to enjoy the subsidy on the product.

     

  • Motorists bemoan ‘worsening’ robbery attacks

    Motorists bemoan ‘worsening’ robbery attacks

    Motorists are appealing to Lagos State Police chief Umar Manko to save them from incessant attacks by hoodlums in traffic gridlock.

    The commissioner, they said, should direct his men to be on foot patrol during heavy traffic to check hoodlums’ activities.

    “The commissioner has proved to be a disciplined officer who is ruthless when it comes to crime-fighting. Available records show that he has arrested notorious armed robbers, kidnappers, fraudsters and other criminals that have been terrorising us; but he must not sleep yet,” said motorist, Chief Muniru Alani. He added: “In the past few weeks, I have been attacked in traffic snarls by armed robbers. This is why the commissioner must do more. He has a lot of work to do.”

    Last Thursday, around 9 pm, over 15 armed men reportedly terrorised motorists around 1st Rainbow bus stop, inwards Mile 2 on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.

    The attack, according to eyewitnesses, was made possible by the bad spot on the route, where motorists slow down to avoid damaging their vehicles.

    The problem was worsened by the narrowing of the highway from that point because of the ongoing road construction; some heavy-duty vehicles blocked a major part.

    An eyewitness, Emma Nwachukwu, said: “When I noticed that the hoodlums were attacking and robbing motorists and even passengers of commercial vehicles, I slowed down because I was about 20 metres away from where they were operating. I quickly thought of what to do. And I was lucky to veer through the link road that leads to ABC Transport Company. That was how I escaped from the robbers. But about five vehicles were robbed in that incident.

    “The irony is that about 30 metres away from where this ugly incident occurred, there was a police patrol team looking for motorists to stop, demand particulars, and extort money from. There is also a police post opposite there; still, motorists drive in fear. The commissioner of Police and Area Commander in charge of the place should call their men to order and advise them on how to do these things right. They should not wait until someone is killed by these hoodlums in the traffic before they will swing into action.”

    Nwachukwu said it was not the first time he was witnessing such incident, adding that he had also fallen victim at Mile2.  “It is an incident that occurs every day and I believe that the moment the hoodlums know that the police are living up to their responsibility by arresting them, they would stay off the roads,” he added.

    Other motorists said the same incident often happened whenever there was traffic jam at the popular Toyota under bridge from Orile to Mile 2; between Contain Bridge and Orile/Alakija area along Mile 2/Badagry Expressway.

    At Toyota under bridge, just by the link road to Airport Road from Oshodi, two motorcycles belonging to the Rapid Response Squad of the state police command are always parked there with no policeman in sight, while robbers have a field day robbing motorists.

    Motorists going to Airport Road from Mile 2, it was gathered, are not spared, despite the presence of an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), not too far from a newspaper house.

    Similarly, whenever a vehicle breaks down in most part of the metropolis, hoodlums will appear from nowhere, pretend that they want to assist the driver and rob him.

    A victim told The Nation that he had a flat tyre along Apapa/Oshodi Expressway and before he knew what was happening, about 10 hoodlums rushed out from nowhere and offered to help him push the car off the road; but because he was with his driver, he rejected the offer.

    “The next thing they did was to start demanding money. They said I should give them N20,000 or they would vandalise the car. I pleaded with them and gave them N10,000 because I had my phones, laptop and tablet in the car. The hoodlums took the money and disappeared,” the victim said.