The Nation Newspaper

Tag: compensate

  • Monarch urges Buhari to compensate those who worked for him in 2015

    Monarch urges Buhari to compensate those who worked for him in 2015

    As President Muhammadu Buhari’s supporters flag off campaigns for his re-election in 2019, a royal father in Lagos, HRM Oba Oladele Friday Kosoko, the Oniworo of Iworo and Ogundeyi 11, has advised the president to first set his house in order before the issue of his re-election would be brought out in public. He also said current developments in the country tend to suggest that some presidential advisers and other aides may not be giving him the right advise.

    “Mr. President has not compensated those who stood by him in 2015 and we are talking about re-election in 2019. That should not be the order. The first thing to do should be to set the house in order. From what we are seeing, it seems the people who labored together with him to get the people’s mandate are not the ones in power. That error should be corrected. One way of doing that is to dissolve statutory boards and make fresh appointments through which the president should compensate those who stood by him when it mattered most. Statutory boards, like that of the Federal Housing Authority, which has been there since 2013; FERMA and NPA, amongst others, are still there.

    “That is why it cannot be denied that PDP sympathizers are still dominating President Buhari’s government. So, before we talk about re-election, Mr. President should address this and other critical issues that may work against APC. Any informed observer will easily agree with the wife of Mr. President that a certain cabal exists in the government. But this cabal should please feel the impact of their actions on the people and on the image of the APC-led government,” the former member of House of Representatives said.

    The royal father also expressed concern over the anti-corruption crusade of the government. “In spite of the efforts so far, one still wonders if there is any high profile anti-corruption case that has been concluded with a definitive verdict,” he said.

    Commenting on Mr. Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina’s case, he said, to settle that case, government should realise that no one is above the law. So, all the people that contributed in Maina’s curious recall and promotion, when he was still a wanted person, should be punished.”

  • Ekiti APC: compensate market fire victims

    Ekiti APC: compensate market fire victims

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has written to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to assist traders, who suffered losses when the Ado-Ekiti Main Market was gutted by fire in May.

    The former Speaker of the House of Assembly and a governorship aspirant, Femi Bamisile, who notified NEMA on behalf of the party, assured the traders that the agency would soon give them relief materials.

    He visited the market on an assessment tour at the weekend where he sympathised with the traders.

    The APC chieftain distributed petrol to about 250 commercial motorcyclists in the capital.

    He said the step became necessary, following complaints by the traders that some of them were excluded from the compensation package of the government.

    The ex-Speaker decried the government for the alleged selective compensation, which he described as “wicked and unpatriotic.” He condemned government’s plan to relocate the traders without giving them a viable alternative.

    Bamisile lambasted the Ayo Fayose administration for making the public to believe that the fire victims had been compensated.He said the APC-led Federal Government was responsive to the suffering of the masses, adding that it would do everything to make life easier for them.

    His words: “President Buhari’s government is for the masses. We won’t allow you to suffer just because your means of livelihood was consumed by fire.

    “I assure you that within the next 30 days, the relief will come. Our party would have done this earlier, but for the fact that the government publicised that you had been compensated. This deception shows the failure of governance and we will address it.

    “I have seen your pains and I have faith that the Buhari’s government to do the needful. The present government at the centre is different from other governments. The President runs a people-oriented programme and we are sure that the Federal Government will soon put smiles on your faces.

    “We have written to NEMA on your behalf and what I have seen here is as if the whole market was burnt. I have been told that 180 shops are affected and we will take an inventory of the goods that got burnt. My interest is to come and sympathise with you.”

    Two of the victims, Mrs Tijani Hafsat and Alhaja Taibat Bilau, who lost about N7 million property in the inferno, said they did not benefit from the state government compensation.

    They said they relied on trading as a means of livelihood and that it would be disastrous for them to be left without help.

  • ‘Compensate Bakassi indigenes’

    The National Conference Committee on Environment has recommended that the Federal Government compensate  the displaced people of Bakassi Peninsula.

    The compensation, according to the committee, should be paid directly to the victims.

    It said the compensation was for the loss of natural and aquatic resources, following the ceding of the Peninsula to Cameroon by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

    The committee, which presented its final report to the Conference Secretariat yesterday, also proposed that a special court that would try perpetrators of gas flaring and other environmental hazards be set up.

    In addition, the committee also recommended 100 per cent ownership of resources by host communities.

    It also proposed an increase of the three per cent allocation to the Ecological Fund  to five per cent.

    The Committee Chairman, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, said environment, oil spills, Bakassi issues were discussed by the members.

    According to her, the committee saw the need for the government to treat the displaced people well.

    Her words: “Those displaced from Bakassi should be resettled and compensated for the loss of their natural resources and other artifacts. The compensation includes money too.

    “We are asking that individuals should be compensated and not the government.

    “Even it goes to the state government, they must ensure that it gets to the Bakassi people.

    “We agreed on the need for Nigeria to protect its territorial environment.

    “We agreed on the need for the Federal Government to establish environmental courts.

    “Hitherto, Nigeria had been very careless with this issue. We need a law on gas flaring and an institution that deals with issues like that.

    “Even the issue of waste was discussed and it was agreed that there will be a court that will try you on that. The special court can also handle cases of atomic or industrial waste.

    “We also emphasised on the rights of Nigerians to own and manage their resources. We know that some people might want to make an issue out of it.

    “Once you talk about natural resources, Nigerians think it is all about oil.

    “Nigerians should have the rights to manage their resources.

    “For instance forestry, these are the areas the committee tried to highlight. Oil spill was also discussed and our recommendations were apt.”

  • Court refuses to compensate Bianca’s children for suit’s delay

    Court refuses to compensate Bianca’s children for suit’s delay

    Justice Funmilayo Atilade of the Lagos State High Court, Igbosere yesterday refused to compensate two children of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Afamefuna and Nwachukwu over the delay in the suit.

    The claimants, who are infants, sued a company, Ojukwu Transport Limited and seven others through their mother and “next friend” Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu.

    During proceedings yesterday, their lawyer, Nick Omeye, told the court that the eighth defendant was yet to serve them with a statement of defence.

    “Up till now they have not served us with their defence,” the lawyer said.

    The development, he argued, stalled the fixing of a date for Case Management Conference (previously called pre-trial conference).

    He said the claimants, therefore, deserved compensation for the delay.

    “We have already applied for Case Management Conference. Since the eight defendant is yet to serve us with a defence, we shall be asking for cost,” Omeye added.

    But counsel to the first to seventh defendants, Mr Ike Ubahakwe, informed the court that the eighth defendant had indeed served the other defendants with its defence.

    “We were served with the eighth defendant’s statement of defence on the 13th of March,” Ubahakwe said.

    Justice Atilade then refused the claimants’ demand for cost and instead adjourned the matter till May 20 “for mention.”

    She said: “Since everyone has not been served, we need a date for mention. There shall be no order as to cost.”

    The other defendants are Prof Joseph Ojukwu, Emmanuel Ojukwu, Lotanna Putalora Ojukwu, Dr Patrick Ojukwu, Edward Ojukwu, Lota Akajiora Ojukwu and Mrs Massey Udegbe (doing business under Massey Udegbe & Company).

    The claimants sought a declaration that they are entitled to the possession and occupation of a property located on 29 Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi until the harmonisation of the management and administration of the first defendant’s assets.

    They also asked the court to declare that the threat to forcefully eject them from 29, Oyinan Abayomi Street, Ikoyi, by the defendants is illegal.

    The children urged the court to hold that they are entitled to the possession of the properties on 13, Hawksworth Road, Ikoyi (now 13, Ojora Road, Ikoyi), 32A Commercial Avenue, Yaba, 30, Gerard Road, Ikoyi, and 4, Macpherson Avenue, Ikoyi.

    They claimed that the houses were in the possession of their father from the time the properties were released from government acquisition till date.

    The claimants prayed for an order restraining the defendants, either by themselves or through their agents or privies, from interfering with their possession and control of 29, Oyinkan Abayomi Street, Ikoyi.

    They also urged the court to stop the defendants from interfering with their possession of the other properties.

    The claimants stated that throughout the period their father was struggling to retrieve the properties from the government, the second to seventh defendants “never played any role in the struggle not contributed financially or otherwise to the realisation of the struggle.

    They said while Ojukwu was alive, he lived with his household at 29, Oyikan Abayomi Street and was in “exclusive possession” of the other houses which form the subject of the suit.

    But the defendants denied the claims, saying the children are neither directors nor creditors of Ojukwu Transport and, therefore, have no locus (legal right) to question the company’s activities.

    The defendants said at no point did they attempt to forcibly take possession of 29, Oyinan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi.

     

  • Fed Govt to compensate owners of farms damaged by flooding

    Fed Govt to compensate owners of farms damaged by flooding

    Benin-Owena River Basin Development Authority has said the Federal Government would compensate persons whose farms were destroyed by the recent flooding “with improved rice seedlings and other inputs”.

    Manager, Asaba Area Office of the organisation, Mr Charles Ovweigho, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba.

    “Most of the farmers were greatly impacted by the recent flooding and government has promised to assist them with the clearing of the land and with improved rice seedlings to enable them to go back to busines,” he said.

    Ovwigho said 100 hectares of land, out of the 200 hectares earmarked for rice farming on Asaba-Illah Road, would be irrigated to enable the farmers to cultivate the commodity during the dry season.

    He explained that the entire 200 hectares would be cultivated during the rainy season, adding that the 100 hectares for the irrigation would also be cultivated during the dry season.

    He said contract for the irrigation was awarded in 2012 at N200 million, adding that the project was split into two units.

    He said the cost of the irrigation in one unit included the installation of sprinkling system, electrical works and other accessories.

    Ovwigho stated that the project was part of Federal Government’s strategies to ensure food security in the country.

    “The whole essence of the irrigation is for the rice farmers to have the opportunity to cultivate rice in the dry season”, he said.

    He said preparation of the 200 hectares would begin this month to enable planting to begin in May.

  • Borno to compensate victims of bomb blast

    Borno to compensate victims of bomb blast

    The Borno State government has inaugurated a 12-man committee to compensate victims of the October 8 bomb blast in Maiduguri.

    Inaugurating the committee at the Government House, Governor Kashim Shettima gave the committee one week to submit its report.

    “As a responsible government, we will do our best to ameliorate the sufferings of the victims, by giving them some compensation.

    “It is a known fact that human lives once lost cannot be replaced; we sympathise with those who lost their loved ones in the incident, they should regard it as an act of God,’’ Shettima said.

    He also advised members of the Boko Haram sect to stop the ongoing violent attacks because of its negative effect.

    “Members of the sect should know that what they are doing is not advancing the cause of Islam; we call on them to embrace dialogue because violence only leads to destruction,’’ he added.

    He said government was willing to rehabilitate members of the sect who decided to lay down their arms and dialogue.

    “We are going to take up the issue of excesses among the soldiers; and we will hold a securitycouncil meeting to discuss the issue of excesses among them,’’ the governor said.

    In his response, the Chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Babakaka Garbai, promised to submit the committee’s report on schedule.