The Nation Newspaper

Tag: COMMUNITY

  • Community appeals to govt over relocation of motor park

    THE residents of Ajah in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State have called on the Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode not to relocate the Ajah Motor Park from its present location to Ten Families in the Abraham Adesanya area of the town.

    During  a meeting in the town yesterday, the residents drew the attention of the government to the hardships the relocation will cause.

    They said the relocation would put commuters, traders, travellers and other people in the area to untold suffering.

    At the meeting, the chairman of the Eti-Osa East Community Development Committee, Alhaji Jimoh Ariwaja; Chief Sarafa Elegushi, the Baale of Moba Town; Prince Tajudeen Adewumi Fowewe Esinlokun;  Chief Adesina Aribifo, NURTW secretary, Eti-Osa East branch A; and Alhaji Rasak Odunlami, the Baba Oja General of Ajah,  condemned the proposed relocation of the motor park.

    Alhaji Ariwaja said: “We oppose the relocation of the motor park because it will bring about problems for people. The present location is good. It is at a central place. It is accessible to people from all parts of Lagos State.”

    Chief Elegushi said: As Baale of Moba Town, I oppose the relocation, and all people in my town oppose it. The relocation will create problems for both the traders and their customers. We appeal to the government to rescind its decision to relocate the motor park.”

    Prince Esinlokun said:  “The proposed land for the motor park belongs to the Eti-Osa Local Council Development Area. It is meant for the construction of our secretariat. How can it be used as a motor park. I believe Governor Akinwunmi Ambode will listen to our appeals. He is a good governor and a man of the people.”

    Chief Aribifo said: “As an  NURTW man, I do not support the relocation. Our members also do not support it. We want the motor park to be in an open place for security reasons. We can operate beside or around the bridge as it is done in  other places in Lagos State.

    “Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is our governor. We voted for him because we love him and believe in his programmes. As we are against the relocation, he will listen to us because his government is a good  one.”

    Chief Odunlami also spoke against the proposed relocation and implored the governor to cancel it in the interest of the generality of our people.

  • Lawmaker honoured for community development

    For his active roles in community development and media-friendliness, a member of the Osun State House of Assembly, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye has been rated as the best lawmaker in the Southwest.

    Oyintiloye, representing Obokun State Constituency, was honoured by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) as the best lawmaker in the Southwest for the year 2016.

    The lawmaker, who chairs the House Committee on Information and Strategy, was honoured alongside Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, among others.

    Secretary to the Osun State Government Moshood Adeoti presented the award on behalf of the corporation in recognition of the lawmaker’s contributions in media and community fields.

    Speaking after receiving the award, Oyintiloye urged government at all levels and citizens to pay more attention to the development of rural communities.

    Identifying the gaps in the area of mentoring, capacity building, provision of support services to the vulnerable and marginalised groups, youth and infrastructure development, he said to tackle those challenges, community service must be embraced.

    He said: “I advocate bottom-up approach to development, which is community-driven. We must revert to the old-African cultural mode of developing our community to achieve more result. We must imbibe the culture of community spirit, community service and community development.

    “As for me who represents an agrarian constituency, that is what I have been doing, as I have sponsored five bills that are all in relation to community development. Less than two years in the House of Assembly, I have used my earnings to develop my communities.

    “I call on government at all levels and citizens to pay more attention to the development of rural communities so that the people there can also have sense of belonging and play their roles effectively.

    “Nigeria will outlive recession, no doubt, but we must work very hard, sacrifice, open and patriotic for us to get out of recession. All Nigerians, regardless of social strata, can add value and must add value towards the development of their communities, state and the country.”

    Describing the award as inspiring, the lawmaker said it has re-energised him to continue in the community service of his Obokun State Constituency.

    He commended the FRCN for acknowledging good works, promoting diligence, merits and rewarding them accordingly, saying that celebrating excellence will go a long way in resetting the value system and aiding the anti-corruption war.

    FRCN’s Zonal Director, Mohammed Bello, said recipients of the awards were selected based on merit, saying they have made impacts in their various callings and deserved to be honoured.

  • Rain brings pains in Osun community

    A three-hour rain on Thursday evening has displaced many residents of Owu-kuta community in Ayedire Local Government Area of Osun State.

    The affected families are currently living with good-spirited Nigerians who came to their aid after the heavy rain had removed the roofs of their houses.

    The rain was said to have been preceded by windstorm which first caused panic among the residents. But the wind, it was learnt, did not cause any havoc until the rain began to fall.

    The Olowu-Kuta of Kuta, Oba Hammed Adekunle Oyelude lamented that the rain was unprecedented in the history of the town, especially since he became to the monarch five years ago.

    The traditional ruler said he was in town when the rain began and witnessed its severity, saying that the rain was a sign of what lies ahead in the coming months.

    Oba Oyelude said part of the palace where he usually holds meetings with his chiefs was also affected by the rain while a mosque and shopping complex built by the St Peter’s African Church were also affected.

    The monarch expressed his sympathy over the suffering of his subjects who were victims of the incident, just as he urged them to accept it as an act of God.

    He also called for calm among the residents, stressing the need to imbibe the culture of tree planting. He stated that trees have a way of shielding buildings from the effects of rainstorm and minimising danger.

    The royal father thanked Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola for sympathising with his people over the ugly incident. He also thanked officials of Ayedire Local Government Area for their visit to the palace as a show of solidarity.

    “I want to appeal to Governor Aregbesola to sensitise the public to the importance of tree planting. It is a preventive measure we need to tackle rainstorm. I know our governor is a proactive man, but I still need to remind him that the earlier this is done to encourage our people to protect their buildings from natural disaster, the better,” he said.

  • Ogun community gets first monarch

    Following the recommendations by the prescribed authority of Olowu of Owu, Oba (Dr.) Olusanya Adegboyega Dosunmu and the validation by the Ewekoro Local Government Area, as well as  Abule Owu Descendants Union, the Ogun State Government has installed the erstwhile Baale of Abule-Owu, Chief  Wasiu Adeleke Koleoso as the first Olu of Abule-Owu in Ewekoro Local Government Area.

    Presenting the Staff of Office and Instrument of Appointment at Abule-Owu Open field Itoro, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Chief Jide Ojuko, on behalf of the state government, urged the people to remain faithful and reciprocate the gesture of the present administration that has counted the community worthy of deserving an Oba. This, he said, they could by mobilising themselves for the execution of useful self-help projects in order to complement government’s efforts towards the development of the community.

    Ojuko advised the new monarch not to go beyond his territory of Abule-Owu, adding that as a coronet Oba, he should abstain from installing any Baale over any settlement in the neighbourhood. He urged the monarch to always champion all efforts that will enhance peaceful co-existence with other neighbouring towns and co-operate with other royal fathers in order to justify the mandate and trust reposed in him by the government and to his ancestral home, Owu Kingdom.

    “For the record, I also want to impress it on you that as a Coronet Oba, your domain remains Abule-Owu. You are not expected to extend your authority beyond your community and you are not authorised to install baale over any settlement in your neighbourhood,” Ojuko counselled.

    The new Oba appealed to Abule-Owu sons and daughters to co-operate with him, stating that  his commitment is for the development of the land.

    “I want to assure the people of Abule- Owu that I will be fair to all and give everyone a sense of belonging,” Koleosho said.

  • Inside Abuja’s forgotten community

    Inside Abuja’s forgotten community

    On a hill, less than 10 minutes’ drive from Apo, in the nation’s capital city centre, is a community with hardly any feature of modern life, reports GRACE OBIKE

    From their unflattering hilly community they can hear the sounds of the city which lies only about 10 minutes’ drive away. The rich and powerful in Apo Legislative Quarters are not far away.

    In Chille, residents can only imagine the comforts of city life but they do not experience any. Theirs is the very opposite of what obtains in Apo in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Chille is devoid of any form of modern-day civilisation.

    The tiny village is devoid of water, electricity, quality school or  healthcare centre. The villagers who consist of Gbagyi, Tiv, Hausa and a few Igbo live in small structures made from mud bricks of not more than two rooms. They are mostly farmers and charcoal makers, with young wives who strap their children to their waists and go about their business while the children suckle.

    In this small, poor community women help each other to deliver their babies. In emergencies, they rush them over to a nurse a few miles from the community. Eventually, they were blessed with a two-classroom block owned by a  church where a few of them worship. There are two staff members  who teach children from Primary one to four. You can call it a church and school rolled into one. Older children stay back home to help their parents on the farm or charcoal making.

    With all the glitz and glamour that make up Abuja, one will not believe that a community still exists within Abuja, just a few minutes’ drive from the city centre and seat of power. The residents literally drink from gutters or dirty streams and a small hole.

    Husband to two wives and father of five, Muhammed Bello explained that the reason why the community is stuck to drinking from the dirty stream and not a well is because the earth in the village is too soft, making it impossible to dig a well which immediately fills back anytime they dig.

    “It caves back in and covers up; we realised that digging a well will not work here. We share this hole with cows, we drink from it, cook and do our laundry,” he said.

    He also said that they drink from another stream which separates them from the nearest community, adding, though, that vehicles and motorcycles pass through the same water. One thing is that water never dries up becomes it comes out of a small hole whose they have no idea. Animals also frink from it.

    “God has been protecting us. We have a lot of needs but if the government can assist us with water, we will really be grateful,” Bello said.

    Chief of the village, David Chille informed The Nation that the contaminated water causes boils and rashes on the bodies of their children.

    “Most of our people here are displaced and poor, after primary four we cannot afford to send our children to the nearest schools outside this village because they are all private and we cannot afford it. The water we drink is contaminated and it causes our children rashes and boils,” said the chief.

    He also added, “If the government can also assist us with a clinic, we will be grateful, all our pregnant women cannot afford to go for antenatals and when the time comes for them to deliver, they deliver without a hospital, three of them had complications recently, we rushed them to a church and a nurse there assisted.”

    It seemed like fortune was beginning to shine on the community when On Air Personality with Wazobia FM and founder Help One foundation James Expensive, drove to the community in search of land to build his dream school for the less privileged children.

    ”I drove past the stream and saw people drinking the dirty water and was surprised, I realised they were

  • Community threatens to shut NPDC over OML 42

    After enjoying the status of “host community”of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 24, the Kunukunuma Federated Community is protesting its exclusion from the same facility by Shell Petroleum Developing Company (SPDC) in its review of host communities.
    To this end, the community has planned a protest for Friday, threatening to shut down Nigeria Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC) over the exclusion.
    Decrying the non-recognition of the community as a host community in the OML 42 host communities, the Chairman of the Community Association, Chief Moses Bebenimibo, frowned at the removal, at the weekend.
    According to him, Kunukunuma community has been treated as host community over the years and has been enjoying the status in terms of provision of amenities and projects executed in the community by SPDC.
    “We wish to draw the attention of Nigeria Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC) to the issue of our community not being recognised as a host community in the OML 42 host communities, whereas our community was among the list of host communities that was forwarded to your office,” he added.
    Bebenimibo revealed that on November 29, 2011, at a meeting held in Wellington Hotels, Effurun, Warri, Delta, the intention to sell the OML 42 was made to know to all SPDC host communities, including its handing over to a new operator; the Kunukunuma community, he said, was invited to the meeting. Besides, every time SPDC organised People’s Parliament and its open forum, Kunukunuma community as always been invited to attend such meetings.
    “When NPDC came on board and invited host communities of OML 42, Kunukunuma community was conspicuously omitted. We drew the attention of the NPDC Community Relations Officer to this anomaly, we were told that it was an error and that it will be corrected as soon as possible, but up till now nothing has been done. We wish to state very clearly that we have been a host community enjoying all host community benefits from SPDC before NPDC came on board, we don’t know why NPDC has not recognisedKunukunuma as host community in OML 42,” Bebenimibo explained.
    He regrets that since that time till now, series of letters have been written to authorities of NPDC without response. Therefore, the entire women and youths of Kunukunuma community will on Friday 10th March, 2017, protest against NPDC over exclusion of our community as host to OML 42 and we will shut down their operation until our community status as host is restored back.

  • Community to Otakikpo marginal field operators: don’t neglect us 

    Ikuru, the host town of Otakikpo marginal field in OML 11 in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, has pledged to work with the operators of the oil field.

    It said it needed to give the assurances following the successful completion of the company’s maximum efficiency rate test, which it added would enable it set to commence the continuous production and evacuation of crude oil.

    The community, however, appealed to the operator not to neglect it in the provision of essential amenities.

    The operator of the oil field, Green Energy International Limited, announced the completion of the efficiency test in a statement last week.

    However, spokesperson for the community, Mr. Accra James, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said the drilling and cocking of the oil field was carried out first by shell in the 60s.

    He said the community would be glad to see the company start operation.

    He urged the operators not to make the mistake of Shell which  made it  leave Ogoni land.

    James said: “We welcome the Green Energy International Limited, which has just finished testing on the production wells of the Otakikpo field as supervised by the Department of Petroleum Resources, to our community.”

  • Crisis looms in Lagos community

    Residents of Ilamose, Oke-Afa community in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State have raised the alarm over plans by a Lagos property developer, Alhaji Hakeem Osuolale, to destroy their landed properties.

    Spokesman of the embattled community, Mr Dele Olokobi, said the property developer had started issuing new threats despite a court order suspending the execution of an earlier judgement (Suit No : ID/ 1752/89) in the community.

    In spite of the court order, Osuolale, he said had been going on air and newspapers threatening the residents that by the end of this month, he would bulldoze properties in Ilamose.

    “Despite our law abiding stance and the fact that many pronouncements have been made by the court, Alhaji Osuolale, attorney to the judgment creditors, has continued to harass, intimidate and force residents out of their houses.”

    He enjoined Osuolale to respect the court order, pointing out that at the February 2 court sitting on the case, the judge  advised parties not to resort to any form of self help.

    “Since the matter is still in court, he has no right to carry out the execution,” he said.

    He called on the police to help forestall any acts of hooliganism, malicious damage to property, public disturbance which may result to threat to life and property in the community.

    But Alhaji Osuolale insisted that an agreement was signed between the community and his company in 2016 at the instance of the Ojoun of Ejigbo and Ijanland, Oba Moroof Adekunle Ojoola as the mediator.

    He advised the property owners to honour the agreement to ratify their properties on or before the expiration of the deadline to avoid demolition.

  • Monarch lauds Tinubu, seeks Ambode’s assistance for community

    A monarch, the Jagunmolu of Somolu-Bariga, Oba Gbolahan Timson,  has described the All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart  and former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu as a national asset, who has made invaluable contributions to the growth of democracy.

    He prased the eminent politician for laying a solid foundation for the prosperity of Lagos State.

    Oba Timson said Asiwaju Tinubu discovered Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), adding that they are adding value to public administration.

    He said:“Asiwaju is a brilliant politician. He laid the foundation for the new democracy. He is intelligent. We should always pray for him. When he brought the ex-governor and Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, he saw some talents in him.

    “Politicians who were not happy for not picking one of them eventually agreed that Tinubu presented a good material.  We thought we had seen the best and Ambode came on board and surpassed that record in less than two years.”

    Oba Timson, who is yet to be recognised as a monarch by the government, urged the state government to give an official recognition to him as the traditional ruler of Shomolu/Bariga.

    The monarch spoke with reporters in Lagos on plans by some foreign investors to establish solar power plants, which will generate 100 mega watts of electricity for the people of Lagos without financial input from the government.

    Oba Timson said: “Some foreign investors met me recently. They want to establish power plants in Lagos. All they need is just two and half hectares of land where they can put up their equipment without any financial input from the state government while Lagosians will only pay for service rendered.

    “We are using this forum to appeal to Governor Ambode to give us approval since the project will further enhance stable electricity in the metropolis, even with  plans by the state government to add another 300 mega watts to the national grid.

  • Oyo community to govt: fix our road

    Oyo community to govt: fix our road

    The residents and business owners of Oniyeye, Alao-Akala Way, Okebadan Estate in Lagelu Local Government Area of Oyo State have appealed to the local and state governments to assist in fixing their road.

    They said the road was a death trap because it was full of potholes and many portions had been washed away by erosion.

    The Zonal Chairman for Oniyeye Residents Association, Adeleke Kayode, said after all efforts to call the attention of both the local and state governments did not yield any positive results, they pulled their resources together to repair the road.

    He said: “We have informed Lagelu Local Government but the chairman complained of paucity of fund to support us. He told us to go ahead with the project that he will support us when fund is available. When we were doing the stone-base, he gave us the graders and still promised to give stone-base and we are expecting.

    “To start the project, we started with six trucks of asphalts. Before now, we have laid 16 trucks of stone base and as you can see, there are graders, MC1 , bitumen and other materials are on ground. The resident engineers are on ground to make direct labour to save cost. Also, we make everything transparent as we pay directly from our director to companies’ account to purchase all materials needed for the construction. So, nobody is holding cash.”

    Adeleke added that they had requested for N10m from Lagelu Local Government for the three- kilometers road which needs N29 million to be completed.

    He said the road had gulped over N6m.

    He said: “I remember whenever former Governor Alao Akala wanted to travel to Ogbomosho, his hometown, he used to travel through this road to avoid traffic logjam.

    “Also, the government has awarded road project from Akobo to Olorunda end. This road will be busier because there will be diversion which will make people come through this road.

    “Due to this bad road in the past, we have had security issues where there were reports of hijacking of cars and that is one of the reasons we felt we should start this project earnest.”

    “We have started building police post around palace bus-stop which has almost reached completion. We are doing these to assist government because we know there are financial challenges before government of the day and we want them to complement our effort.”

    Also speaking, the Chairman working committee in the area zone, Adekola Sulaimon, said the condition of the road was terrible.

    He said: “This time we want to make a durable construction with quality materials that will make the road more durable. That is why we first applied the stone-base, adequate thickness of asphalts to make it last at least for 5 to 10 years.

    “Before now, we did put only laterite and stone base but this time, we use asphalts with high thickness to make it stronger to enhance its durability.

    “We are also putting up drainages to make the road last. Already, we have spent over N7 million and what we calculated to be our total cost on the whole road length is between N29 million and N30m due to market variables.”