The Nation Newspaper

Tag: blames

  • Lagos blames NNPC for road neglect

    Lagos blames NNPC for road neglect

    Lagos State Government has blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the non-completion of the Ipaja road expansion.

    The wwork, it said, is being stalled by some at underground NNPC pipelines at Abesan Estate gate in Okunola, a Lagos suburb.

    Mosan-Okunola Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Executive Secretary, Princess Opeyemi Akindele told The Nation that Governor Babatunde Fashola has invited NNPC management to a meeting on how to handle the pipelines.

    The NNPC management has not honoured Fashola’s invitation.

    Commuters on Ipaja road face heavy traffic daily, with many wondering what has been delaying the completion of the job.

    Akindele said if NNPC had collaborated with the government, the road would have been completed long ago.

    “People are using it against us that we did nothing and the governor made me to understand that NNPC is the one not cooperating with the government,” she said.

    She urged the residents and commuters to prevail on NNPC to cooperate with the government to complete the road, noting: “If the contractor handling the project decided to dig the road, it can result to leaking of the fuel and fire outbreak. You and I know that the Governor is not interested in the death of people rather their safety is his priority,” she said.

    According to her, the essence of expanding the road is to ease traffic.

  • Fashola blames Lekki robbery on deployment of policemen for Jonathan’s visit

    •Presidency replies gov

    Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos  State believes the robbers who struck at a bank in Lekki,Lagos on Thursday would not have succeeded if sufficient policemen had been available to secure the area.

    He said at an interactive session with supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate,General Muhammadu Buhari and his running mate,Professor Yemi Osinbajo  in Lagos a few hours after the robbery that many of the policemen and vehicles that should ordinarily be deployed for public protection  on that day were diverted  for the President’s security.

    “Perhaps what would be would have been, but it’s sad to see all our security personnel, all our security vehicles deployed to protect one man,” the governor said,adding: “All the vehicles we bought for the police were stationed to receive the President in Lagos. Those policemen have children and tonight their mothers will have to explain to them why daddy is not coming home.”

    Gov. Fashola requested a minute of silence for the three policemen who died during the robbery which happened as President Jonathan visited the Nigerian Stock Exchange to launch a new online mobile platform, X-Gen, to increase global investment.

    The governor’s  statement did not go down well with the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, who  branded  it as ‘’grossly and utterly irresponsible.’’

    Abati also said that the claim by the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that he was offered by President Jonathan to be Vice President in an interim government was ‘’absolutely ridiculous.’’

    Abati, speaking to State House correspondents in Abuja said  he expected  a man of Fashola’s status  to  “ speak more responsibly.”

    It does   not  make any sense,he said, to say that the entire police formation in Lagos State was deployed to protect the President of Nigeria.

    He said: “The visit of the president to Lagos or any part of the country does not necessitate  the depletion of the police force active in that particular state of environment.

    “Again, President Jonathan does not  need the entire police force in Lagos State to protect him, in a state where he is loved by the people and where as we have seen, he enjoys overwhelming support in the lead up to the 2015 presidential elections.’’

    “We not only consider Governor Babatunde Fashola statement as irresponsible, we also think that it is unintelligent because it flies in the face of facts and it just does not add up. And we hope that Governor Fashola in an attempt to play politics will not continue as his party does to play politics with the lives of people.

    “People died in that unfortunate incident and President Jonathan commiserate with the affected families. But we will find it really cheap and disgusting that the governor of a state will now see that, an occasion of bereavement affecting a number of families, as an opportunity to play very cheap and irresponsible politics.”

    On  Asiwaju Tinubu,Abati said :  “ Except people have not been following the news or they have chosen wilfully to play deaf and dumb, they will know and the facts are there that President Jonathan has said again and again, that an idea of an interim national government is preposterous and to use his exact words also treasonable.

    “And that he has never anywhere discussed that idea with anybody and he has never proposed it at any forum. That as President of Nigeria, the democratically elected president his ambition can never be to head an Interim National Government under whatever circumstances.”

  • NCC blames Ebola for delay in licences issuance

    NCC blames Ebola for delay in licences issuance

    Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Eugene Juwah yesterday blamed the inability of the regulator to complete the process that would have produced the first two licecees of infrastructure providers (Infarcos) on the fear of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) that is ravaging parts of the West African sub-region.

    Juwah, who spoke as chief panelist at this year’s edition of the annual Telecoms Executives & Regulator Forum at Eko Hotel & Suite, Victoria Island, Lagos, lamented that the Commission was already behind schedule on its plans to accelerate the processes that would eventually dovetail to cheap, fast, reliable and ubiquitous broadband to every nooks and crannies of the country pursuant to the realisation of the ambitious goals of the National Broadband Plan (NBP).

    Under its Open Access Model, the regulator intends to licence seven Infracos, one each for the six geo-political zones of the country while the seventh would serve Lagos.

    He said meeting the five-fold target of broadband penetration in the country from the current less than seven per cent by 2018 remains a daunting challenge. He lamented that the process that would have added fillip to the achievement of the target has been stalled because the foreign consultants hired by the Commission to handle the bid evaluation would not come to the country because of the fear of Ebola which was imported into the country by the index, American/Liberian Patrick Sawyer.

    The Federal Ministry of Health has said there is no basis for anybody to fear Ebola, saying emphatically that there is no any Ebola case in the country.

    He said:”We are already behind schedule (on licensing of the Infracos) because we are using foreign consultants who refused to come to Nigeria because of Ebola. I will go and meet them tomorrow (today) in Dubai to evaluate the bids so that we can move forward.”

  • ‘No need to trade blames on Ebola outbreak’

    ‘No need to trade blames on Ebola outbreak’

    The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) has urged journalists to help disseminate correct information to prevent Ebola spread.

    A statement by its National President, Ifeyinwa Omowole and National Secretary, Ladi Patrick, in a statement, reads: “The Ebola Virus may have come into the country under avoidable circumstances but this is no time to trade blames or take sides with doctors or the government. It is a time for journalists to report on issues that will lead to the containment of the virus. As mothers, we would not like to see our husbands, children, sisters and brothers die of this scourge that has sneaked in on us; we should, therefore, all work assiduously to ensure that everyone around us is informed about the virus and how to prevent it. We want to call on all Nigerians to put national interest above self interests; we should not hide family members, who may show signs of the virus as we are not only endangering our lives but the lives of many other Nigerians.

    “NAWOJ also calls on doctors to kindly call off the strike and respond to the national emergency, just as government has declared a state of emergency on Ebola virus and release of the funds will help to procure more protective gears for their job. We commend all the doctors and other health workers who have risked their lives and continue to risk their lives to save the lives of many other Nigerians; we Nigerians can only thank them by playing our part in the fight against Ebola. We must all take a unanimous stand to fight this virus and contain it, containing this virus is as much an individual effort as it is a collective effort; government cannot do it alone if we all do not assist by being vigilant, taking precaution and adhering to all the advice of the medical practitioners.

    “While NAWOJ appreciates the Nigerian culture of making light every challenge, we urge everyone to be careful the way we make light this particular health challenge. We must endeavour not to make this worse than it already is by spreading rumour, which may only lead to more health challenges just as the salt-water anti-Ebola therapy did. The association is also using this opportunity to commend the Federal Government and some state governments for promptly responding to the scourge.”

  • Shooting Federation boss blames insurgency

    Gradually it is becoming clearer as regards the reasons why the Nigeria Shooting Federation (NSC) did not participate in the ongoing Commonwealth Games despite the fact that the shooters and their officials all made the trip to the Glasgow venue of the competition.

    The President of the Nigeria Shooting Federation (NSF) has revealed exclusively to SportingLife that the rampant insurgency in the country is one of the factors that caused the ‘no show’ of Shooting in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

    Speaking on the allegation that the present insurgency in the country contributed to the bottleneck which prevented the agency that supposed to authorize the moving of the weapons out of the country for the Nigeria Shooting Federation and this hindered the equipments from reaching Glasgow, venue of the ongoing Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

  • Ogunbote blames careless moments for Sharks’ exit

    Ogunbote blames careless moments for Sharks’ exit

    Sharks coach, Gbenga Ogunbote has blamed their Nigerian football federations cup exit on some ‘careless moments’, after they lost 2-0 to defending champions, Enyimba.

    Two goals in the 23rd and 37th minutes from Kingsley Sokari and Raphael Boumsong respectively ensured Enyimba progressed to the semi final and halted Sharks’ hopes of winning the title this season.

    And Ogunbote told SL10 they should have won the game, “It was a game I thought we should have won, but for some careless moments,” he said.

    The ‘Blue Angels’ dominated possession within the first fifteen minutes, and probably should have taken the lead, but failed to create enough goal-scoring opportunities, which Enyimba capitalised upon to score their first goal through Sokari, who has been in impressive form for the People’s Elephants.

    And Ogunbote has rued their failure to make their possession count.

    “We controlled the game at some point, and I thought we should have created chances, but we didn’t. In the end, we paid dearly for it.”

    Ogunbote went on to allude that referee Benjamin Odey from Cross River State may not have been fair in his officiating, sarcastically describing both Enyimba goals as ‘fantastic’.

    “The first goal was fantastic, the second goal was fantastic as well. You can analyze them yourself,” he said.

    And when pressed if he thought the officiating should have been better, he said: “It’s your opinion, but you saw the game, did you think it was poorly officiated?” he asked rather sarcastically.

    “On a normal day we would have won,” he ended.

    Meanwhile, Enyimba captain Chinedu Udoji says they just have to take the games as they come before thinking of playing in the final again.

    “We’re not thinking of the final yet, we just have to play the next game and then see how it goes. We hope to win it again, but we can’t think about that now. The next game comes first,” he told SL10.

  • Nda-Isaiah blames insurgency on govt ineptitude

    Nda-Isaiah blames insurgency on govt ineptitude

    An All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirant and former chairman of Leadership newspapers group, Mr Sam Nda-Isaiah, has expressed displeasure over Federal Government’s ineffectiveness to rescue the schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, Borno State, about a month ago.

    The newspaper proprietor said the present administration needed to wake up to its responsibility of protecting Nigerians instead of embarrassing the country with its seeming helplessness.

    The girls were adducted on April 14 by the Boko Haram members from their dormitory at the Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, and have since remained in the custody of their abductors.

    In a statement in Abuja, Nda-Isaiah sympathised with the families of the abducted schoolgirls.

    The entrepreneur urged them to find solace in the fact that the mercy of God and the global outcry would aid the release of their daughters.

    The publisher, who has been critical of the Goodluck Jonathan administration’s lackadaisical approach to the security of life and property, also queried the government’s effort on similar cases, such as  the abduction of about 40 children four months ago and when 100 pupils were burnt alive at the Federal Government Boys’ High School, Buni Yadi, among others.

    He said: “I am still in shock about how this horrendous evil could have happened, the second major attack on a school in four months. Yet, my shock and distress can hardly compare to the anxiety, grief and pain borne by the families of the missing Chibok girls. It could only have been their dreams, hopes and aspirations for a better Nigeria that inspired them to stay in school, defying the odds…”

  • Airtel blames Nigeria, others for its woes

    Airtel blames Nigeria, others for its woes

    Bharti Airtel Limited has blamed its declining fortunes in its home country, India, on the poor performance of its subsidiaries in Nigeria and 16 other African countries where it currently operates.

    The telco which is owned by billionaire Chairman Sunil Mittal posted slower pace of revenue growth at its African operations. Airtel is among the global system for mobile communications (GSM) that were prohibited from selling new subscriber identity module (SIM) cards last month by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) after missing service quality key performance indicators (KPIs). Also barred from taking in new subscribers are Globacom and MTN. The three operators also paid fines totaling N647.5 million to government’s coffers. Only Etisalat missed the regulator’s sledge hammer.

    Speaking on the development, Head, Research at India Nivesh Securities Pvt, Mumbai, Daljeet Kohli, said: “Africa didn’t do well. That’s a disappointment because many people were looking for Africa to stabilize; that this time, they would come to a break-even point. But that has not happened, so Africa will continue to be a drag on the good work that Airtel does in India.”

    Chief Executive Officer, Bharti’s Africa Business, Christian de Faria, blamed the downturn on regulatory interventions in Nigeria where it is the second largest operator after MTN.

    Farai said:”The quarter was impacted by the seasonal downturn in parts of Africa and regulatory interventions in Nigeria. Our teams remain focused on accelerating growth through improving the quality of network, growing the data business.”

  • NATCOMS blames telcos for poor customer care

    The National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS) has blamed telecoms service providers for their failure to put an efficient customer complaint management structure in place.

    Its National President, Deolu Ognbanjo, said while subscribers’ numbers have grown tremendously, the sophistication in managing customers’ complaints arising from poor service quality continue to be an issue.

    According to him, each time customers call the customer care lines of the operators, the customers are compelled to listen to the advertisement of the various products bouquet available on their stable after which an answering machine will start another round of unsolicited musical entertainment.

    He said this practice is not acceptable as it appears to be a deliberate attempt to waste the time of the customers.

    He said: “Customer care lines are there but will only attend to more than between five and10 per cent of customers who actually have pressing issues and concern. All the operators are guilty of this. I think it is a deliberate on their part to continue to frustrate their customers.

    “Out of every 100, to continue to frustrate between 90-95 per cent of subscribers who wants to complain against their operations. But Nigerians must also demand a process and that is what we want to do.

    “It takes too long for customers to get redress if they ever do. A lot of them drop the idea of getting justice along the way because they feel the efforts they are putting into it is not worth the while.”

    According to him, the operators do not have the right to keep their customers waiting endlessly to get their challenge fixed, adding that the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) must take step in this direction.

    “There has to be a consumer management complaint process and procedure/resolution. We are saying there has to be a time limit or else a process where there is an NCC desk or an NCC mini consumer court or a telecoms consumer court to quickly manage this.

    “If for instance, you see a bad product, you quickly take it to the manufacturer and it is addressed with dispatch. In telecoms, what happens? They just keep wasting your time,” he added.

  • Obuh blames Rangers frontline

    Obuh blames Rangers frontline

    Enugu Rangers technical adviser, John Obuh has blamed his front men for the 0-1 defeat at Warri Wolves in the Globacom Premier League match day 7 tie on Saturday at the Warri Township Stadium.

    Striker, Gbolahan Salami converted a penalty to give his side the maximum points in a game the visiting side showed dominance.

    Obuh said his wards could have scored as much as three goals but ended up paying dearly for their wastefulness.

    “I’m really disappointed with the outcome of the game, we had three clear chances at goal to rake in a comfortable win but we ended up paying dearly for our wastefulness. We created several chances but poor finishing was our greatest undoing, we’ll work on it to ensure we score goals as we create chances in the next matches.

    “It’s not entirely a bad performance, now that we know we create chances but couldn’t convert the chances it somehow makes our work a bit easier,” said the former Sharks coach to supersport.com.

    Obuh said his side will recoup the three points dropped at Warri Wolves when they host newcomers Abia Warriors.

    “We’ll fight hard to recoup the three points when we entertain Abia Warriors, we must win so as to consolidate while we work hard to reposition ourselves. We won’t be talking of changes right now as we still have some players yet to taste action. I know we’ll overcome the teething problems in no distant time,” said the former Flying Eagles coach.

    Enugu Rangers have raked in eight points from a possible 21 in the seven-week old Nigeria topflight.