The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Council

  • Lagos council donates sandals to pupils

    Lagos council donates sandals to pupils

    THE Chairman, Mushin Local Government Area, Lagos, Olatunde Babatunde Adepitan, has donated sandals to pupils of the area.

    He launched the initiative titled: a-child-a sandal scheme at the Palm Avenue Primary School, Mushin.

    Adepitan said it was meant to provide pupils in public primary schools with a pair of sandals and socks each.

    He said: “The wearing of good sandals to school should not be seen as luxury to the pupils; in fact, wearing worn-out sandals or nothing at all is an index of poverty which should be discouraged. This administration is, therefore, poised to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor by providing each pupil in this local government area with good sandals and a pair of socks.”

    He said in the past, the council reconstructed various school structures, provided furniture, trained teachers, built school toilets, distributed exercise books, gave out free JAMB and WASCCE forms, organised free coaching programmes, exposed the children to oral dental care, provided free first aid boxes, and distributed branded mathematical sets among others.

    He said the new scheme is to renew the confidence level of pupils in the public primary schools. .

    “Something tells me that if these children are well taken care of today, by the time they occupy exalted public offices tomorrow, they will remember to serve the people and not themselves,” the chairman said.

    He added that the council is seeking more partnership with corporate bodies to complememnt the 5000 pair of new sandals of varying sizes available for the take off.

    He extended appreciation to individuals and corporate bodies that keyed into the vision through their generous contributions.

    “We would not have been able to buy in large quantity of sandals if the council had bankrolled the entire cost, but some corporate organisations that believed in the vision bought sandals and donated them to us.”

    He charged pupils in public schools to excel in their studies as they now have enough qualified teachers to handle them. He said recently a teacher from the council,Mr Ganiyu Alawiye, was adjudged the best teacher at the primary school category in Lagos State.He implored other teachers to do same by showing more commitment and dedication to duty.

    Miss Christianah Asagba of Estate Primary School, who gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the beneficiaries, thanked Adepitan for his efforts. She appealed for more like school bags, uniforms and other writing materials.

  • Council boosts fish, onion farming

    Council boosts fish, onion farming

    Fish and onion farmers in Yauri Local Government Area of Kebbi State have been assured of government’s assistance in order to improve their capacity for large-scale production.

    The Chairman of the council Alhaji Bala Usman Mohammed stated this in an interactive session with journalists who visited the local government.

    He stated that considering that fish farming is one of the most important farming activities in the area, his council had ensured that Yauri fish farmers formed co-operative groups and societies in order to benefit from the incentives from the local government as well as loan facility from Bank of Agriculture.

    “The first thing we did was to make sure that fish farmers in Yauri formed co-operative groups or societies and select their leaders. We then provided them with incentives to boost their production. We are also aware that Bank of Agriculture, through the forms we distributed to the farmers, will release N84, 000 to each farmer as loan facility. All the farmers have been instructed to open account with the bank,” he said.

    The council chief further said onion farming in Yauri was flourishing. In the circumstances, he said, the local government has given each onion farmer two bags of fertiliser and irrigation machine with the view to sustaining continuous onion farming to achieve large-scale production.

  • Council to help fire victims

    The Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council,  Alhaji Abubakar Giri, has promised to  collaborate with the FCT Administration to help people affected  in the  Dobi International Yam Market fire disaster.

    Giri, who made the pledge while inspecting the extent of damage caused by the fire incident, expressed dismay at the level of destruction. He urged the victims not to lose hope.

    It was gathered that over 60 shops were razed while farm produce, cash and property worth millions of Naira were  destroyed in the incident.

    Narrating his ordeal, Mohammed Yusuf, a yam seller, stated that  he lost about N3 million in the fire incident, even as he thanked the chairman for his visit and his encouragement.

    Also speaking, the District Head of Dobi, Alhaji Sule Dobi, stated that the disaster which was suspected to have been caused by bush burning, was the worst he ever witnessed.

    Dobi called on  government to assist the victims through provision of yam seedlings for the  farming season as  yam was the major cash crop for people in  the community.

    While sympathising with the victims, the Head of Agriculture in the council, Dr Ahmed Abdullahi, urged government to assist its department to carry out fire tracing which will help cordon off farm produce sites from bush burning. This, according to him, will help prevent future occurrence of such incident.

  • Eastern Bar Forum Council meets

    The General Council of the Eastern Bar Forum (EBF)

    has held a crucial meeting at the Rosies Hotel in Aba,

    Abia State.

    The meeting, which was chaired by its Chairman, Ogbonna O. Igwenyi, took a critical look at the Forum’s decision at its meeting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State to implement some of the resolutions.

    Igwenyi told The Nation: “ We also took a look at the Seminar and Awards night of the association coming up in April in Owerri, Imo State. We have to put finishing touches to our plans and make sure that members derive maximum benefits from the programme.”

    On whether the forthcoming NBA elections was discussed at the meeting, Igwenyi said: “The EBF is waiting for Egbe Amofin to inform them who their candidate for the Bar Presidency would be.” He said the EBF would not act on the matter until it hears from Egbe leadership according to the tradition of the Bar

    He said: “ There are three fora at the NBA for the purpose of producing NBA Presidents and this has worked well for us. The fora are the Arewa, Egbe Amofin and the EBF and they produce the president of the Bar in turns.

    He said: “ The Mid-West Bar Forum is part of Egbe Amofin for the purpose of this political arrangements and urged the Egbe to be just fair and equitable to the Mid-West in producing the NBA President.

    Igwenyi added: “The EBF is dominated by the Igbos because it is comprised of Southeastern and Southsouth States, we take the slots one after the other and this has worked well for the association. We cannot say because the Igbos are in majority, we shall oppress our brothers form the Southsouth, this will definitely cause conflict within the regional association. We are concerned, we are watching and trusting that at the end of the day, we will receive correct signals from our brothers in the West.”

     

     

  • Council to construct feeder roads

    Council to construct feeder roads

    The chairman of Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Hon. Shaban Tete has said that due to non-availability of access roads in Kuje rural communities, the council’s budget for this year will have 50 per cent concentration on the provision of feeder roads.

    This, he said, would afford the people the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of democracy.

    Tete, who made this known during the council’s monthly press briefing, said the council’s leadership knows the suffering of the people living in rural communities who cannot access the city centre because of lack of motorable roads. This may have informed his administration’s decision to concentrate on provision of access roads for the communities this year.

    According to the council boss, the mandate given to him by the people needs to be reciprocated through good and profitable governance, saying that there was need for him to prove to the people that they did not make mistakes for electing him.

    He promised to do his best to meet the immediate needs of the people by providing access roads, water and electricity which are necessities of life.

    His words: “I know what Kuje people, including those in my village, are going through in terms of access roads. My people are suffering because of lack of access roads. When we are preparing our council’s budget for this year, 50per cent of the budget was earmarked for provision of feeder roads.

    For example, from Kigbe to Kwaku community, it is not an issue of culvert; the entire road is bad and needs to be graded to make it accessible.

    “I want to grade from Kigbe to Takwa community, because the road has serious problem, a situation that has caused the people not to move around. After I finish grading, the people can freely move from one place to the other.

    Mind you, after grading the roads, there is need for asphalt and culvert. But if my administration expires before the roads are completed, the people will know that I was able to open the roads for them and somebody else will complete the project.

    “The most important thing is for us to start constructing the feeder roads in rural communities, because these people are suffering due to lack of roads. So, I am going to do my best in constructing feeder roads, just to alleviate the suffering of the people.

    “I have also awarded contract for the provision of water for the people. I am expecting the drilling machine. Very soon, about 300 communities in Kuje will have access to potable water.”

  • Community hails council chief on performance

    Natives of Kpaduma II community in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have commended the chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Hon. Micah Jiba for the rural electrification project taking place in the community after being in darkness since the beginning of existence.

    The Secretary of Kpaduma communities Simon Baba, who spoke on behalf of the natives in Abuja, thanked the council boss for reaching out to them in 2013, adding that the rural electrification taking place in the community has given the natives a sense of belonging which they have been denied from the beginning of the community.

    According to him, the people of Kpaduma II have spent years without electricity, and the AMAC chairman is doing all he can to ensure that there is developing in every community in his area council.

    “We were informed that the job would have been completed in December 2013, but it is yet to be completed. The council boss has assured us that the project will be completed in January this year and we believe him, because he always stands by his words.

    “Like Oliver Twist, although we are aware that everything has to go gradual, we hope that in his administration he will help us a get health centre in our community, because, the only hospital we make use of is Asokoro general hospital, which is about 5kms from our community,” he said.

    He therefore appealed to the council to also provide the community with a primary school, and health care centre which they know is one of the priorities of the council boss as a leader who has passion for his people.

    “The council boss has almost touched the lives of everybody in rural communities, by providing water boreholes, electricity transformers, access roads and we believe that he will do more to make life easy for those at the grassroots.

    “I strongly believe that 2014 is going to be better than 2013, base on the steps the council boss is taking to reach out to natives at the grassroots and we will continue to support his administration,” he said.

  • Council boss wins best chair award

    The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abuja chapter, has chosen the chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Hon. Micah Jiba as the best council boss in the FCT for 2013. Jiba won the award, beating five others in the Territory.

    Comrade Chuks Ehirim, Chairman of NUJ, in his speech explained how the six area council bosses affected the lives of people at the grassroots, stating Jiba was chosen as the best council boss because it was discovered that his administration made it possible to take infrastructural development to every ward and community in the council.

    Ehirim who made this known during the award ceremony organised by FCT NUJ in Abuja, said that worried by the myriad of complaints of the FCT and aware of journalists constitutional responsibility as contained in Section II of the 1999 Constitution, the FCT council of NUJ decided to set its hands upon the plough of the task and see how governance has impacted on the people in the FCT.

    “For us, it was not just an opportunity to once again be critical, but to determine what other factors might be responsible for the seeming non-performance of the various facets of government agencies in the territory. Today, I can say we are pleased with what we saw and why on site inspection, it is important in giving accurate report of events in government.

    “As to our findings of how governance has fared, we wish to say that a lot is being done by the area councils, the agency and secretariat. However, there is room for significant improvements . We are pleased that in the FCT, the issue of arbitrary slashing of councils’ funds is an anathema unlike what is obtained in most states of the federation.

    “But, the demands on the area councils far outweigh the allocation they get each month. It is in this respect that we make a passionate appeal to the National Assembly to restore the one per cent statutory allocation for the development of the capital city. Doing so will free up more funds for area councils for development given that the FCT has become the Melting Pot for all Nigerians,” he said.

    Ehirim also frowned at the fact that the members of National Assembly stayed away from showing what they have brought as the dividends of democracy to their constituencies in the FCT, saying that it might be because they have done so little for those who trusted them with the mandate they hold or they have done nothing to justice the constituency allowance that they receive.

    AMAC boss, Hon. Micah Jiba, recipient of the Gold Award, commended the NUJ FCT for the projects inspection and presentation of award to performing council chairman, saying that the gesture will spur them up and put the leaders on their feet to do more for their council.

    Hon. Ibrahim Daniel, the chairman of Kwali area council was given the Award for the Best Initiative for Rural Development, Prince Aruna Momoh was given Award of Excellence in Public Accountability, Mrs Blessing Onuh, was awarded FCT Secretariat of the Year, Hon. Yahaya Garba, Chairman of Abaji area council was given Silver Award and Hon. Peter Yohanna, Bwari area council was given a Silver Award.

     

  • Judge orders council chairman’s arrest

    Justice Adenike Coker of an Ikeja High Court has ordered the arrest of the  Chairman of Ojokoro Local Council Development Area, Mr. Benjamin Adeyemi Olabinjo, for demolishing a section of Irepolodun Central Meat Market, at the Abattoir and Lairage Complex in Ojokoro.

    Justice Coker gave the order while ruling in a motion ex-parte filed against the  council, Ifako Ijaye Local Government, and the Attorney-General and commissioner for Justice.

    The judge ordered that Olabinjo be detained till January 13.

    She also ordered the police not to assist the defendants in carrying out more demolition.

    Justice Coker also renewed her earlier interim injunction, which restrained the defendants “from taking further action to re-allotment, reallocation or reconstruction or do anything on the premises pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice” filed by the claimant, Yaro.

    The claimant, in the motion ex-parte, urged the court to restrain the defendants from demolishing his stall with the abattoir.

    At the resumed hearing of the matter, Yaro through his counsel, Mr. Opeyemi Bello, had informed the court that his shop was allegedly destroyed by the defendants in spite of an order by the court.

    Last month, the judge restrained the defendants, their agents, from disturbing or interfering with the possession of the claimants, his tenants and anyone claiming through them on the seven kee-klamps comprising 186 stalls at state abattoir.

    The matter was adjourned to January 13.

     

     

     

  • Council gets fire service station

    Council gets fire service station

    As a way of reducing the huge human and material losses associated with fire incidents, the Ejigbo Local Council Development Area has begun the construction of the first Fire Service Station in the area.

    Speaking with journalists in his office recently, the council chairman, Hon Kehinde Bamigbetan explained that the sad experience associated with past fire incidents in the council area, where there was always late arrival of Fire Service men to scene of fire incidents, because of the distance they will cover and the issue of traffic bottleneck, necessitated the provision of the fire station, which is situated at the frontage of the council secretariat.

    According to Bamigbetan, the fire service station which construction is at the roof level consists of five rest rooms, information complaint office and two offices for fire men with toilet facility.

    He added that the building also consists of six columns upon which the steel stanctions shall be constructed to serve as shelters for the fire bus.

    Bamigbetan concluded that the project is solely financed by the council and it would be commissioned before the end of the year.

    Also, numerous initiatives put together by the council to boost its revenue have started yielding positive results, as the council for the first time generated over N5m as internally generated revenue (IGR) in September.

    The council’s Supervisor for Revenue Generation and Market, Peter Ajayi, disclosed this at the council secretariat.

    The supervisor attributed the development to the introduction of various initiatives by the council chairman. Some of these initiatives, he said, include, the creation of revenue offices in the six political wards of the council, reorganisation of all revenue sections with posting of revenue officers, inauguration of the council’s Revenue Monitoring Committee, which is statutory, introduction of direct payment of council’s levies to banks instead of revenue officers and regular sensitisation of residents, through Community Development Associations and trading associations.

    Ajayi stated further that before the introduction of these initiatives, the council was generating a paltry amount between five hundred thousand naira and one million naira monthly, adding that the situation has changed since July, when the council generated over 3 million naira and in August, over four million naira.

    He praised Bamigbetan for introducing pragmatic approach towards finding solutions to the dwindling state of the council’s IGR, adding that if the current tempo is sustained, the council stands the chance of achieving is revenue target of 63 million naira as contained in this year approved budget for the council.

    The supervisor concluded that the revenue target is achievable if all franchised revenue contractors working for the council remit all their unpaid revenue targets to the council’s purse.

  • Council rerun: Ballot box snatching, shooting mar poll

    Council rerun: Ballot box snatching, shooting mar poll

    The inconclusive councillorship election in Ighuoro Ward 9, Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo was marred by shooting and snatching of ballot boxes.

    Reporters were also beaten by suspected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs at Okonwo.

    The supporters of the PDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC) clashed and this scared voters away from the polling units.

    The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) crew, Edo Broadcasting Service reporters and Ehis Igbaugba of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) were not so lucky, as the suspected PDP thugs attacked them, leaving two of the reporters injured.

    Security men were seen at the polling units visited at Abumere, Okonwo and Iguhoro, but there were no electoral officials, party agents and voters.

    The electorate, who reported earlier for accreditation, were chased away by suspected PDP thugs, who snatched electoral materials and took them to an unknown destination.

    An APC member, Mrs. Comfort Abudu, who spoke with reporters, alleged that PDP supporters were responsible for the shooting and snatching of electoral materials.

    However, PDP youths, led by Richard Okonufua, barricaded Ekiadolor/Okowo Road, protesting an alleged confiscation of electoral materials by the APC.

    The youth alleged that they barricaded the road to prevent APC members from coming out with the electoral materials after they must have thumb-printed them.

    Okonofua said: “You can see that it is almost 1pm and we are yet to see any of the electoral officials. The APC members have taken them with the electoral materials to a place where they will carry out their fraudulent practice.”

    The Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Mr. Orobosa Omo-Ojo, said it was regrettable that the PDP supporters were yet to key into the one-man-one vote philosophy of Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

    The representative of Ovia North East Constituency 1 in the House of Assembly, Mr. Sunday Osazemwinde, praised the efforts of security agencies during the poll.

    He said despite the plan to disrupt the election by the opposition party, it was successfully conducted.