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Tag: dumped

  • Dumped six-month-old baby rescued in Anambra

    A six-month-old baby has reportedly been found at Umukabia village, Neni, in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State.

    The baby, suspected to have been abandoned by its mother, was said to have been found on Monday at 10.50 p.m.

    It was gathered that the dark-skinned baby was taken to Neni Police Division by the chairman of the area’s vigilance group, Mr Titus Ogudogwo.

    Police spokesman Haruna Mohammed, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said the command was tracing the baby’s biological parents to reunite it with the family.

    He said: “On July 9, at 2250 hours (10.50 p.m), The chairman of the vigilance group in Neni, Mr Titus Ogudogwo, brought to the Neni Police Division a baby girl of about six months, reasonably suspected to have been abandoned at Umukabia village, Neni.”

    Mohammed urged residents with useful information that can enable the command to trace the parents of the child to report at the Neni Division.

     

  • ‘Why we dumped SDP for APC in Ondo’

    Scores of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) supporters who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday hinged their action on the enviable record of achievements of the APC’s administration led by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. The defectors spoke through their leader, Bosun Ogunleye, at the APC secretariat, Akure, the state capital.

    The former SDP members particularly lauded the prompt payment of workers’ salaries and various laudable projects mapped out for execution by the APC administration. Ogunleye noted that APC is a party that would remain relevant in the country’s political firmament because of its ideology. He stressed that they would assiduously work for the success of the ruling party in its future elections,and abide by the rules and regulations guiding it.

    The APC state chairman, Ade Adetimehin while receiving the new party members, described the present  Akeredolu’s administration as God-sent. According to him,the achievements of the present administration are visible and commendable, saying since its inception on February 24, 2016, no civil servant in the state is owed any salary.

    He said “the public servants no longer fear ‘no salary’ syndrome at the end of the month. This was made possible through the efforts of Akeredolu and his executives. Adetimehin also hailed various ongoing road construction projects in various parts of the state in spite of the meagre resources available after payment of salaries and other government runnings.

  • ERA/FoEN alerts on dumped toxic waste in Delta

    The Environmental Rights Agenda/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has raised the alarm on the presence of substances suspected to be toxic waste in Koko community in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State.

    ERA/FoEN, Executive Director, Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, at a briefing in Lagos, urged the Delta State Government and the National Environmental Standard and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) to immediately set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the development. Ojo identified Ebenco Global Link Limited, as the company responsible for the dumping of the toxic waste in Koko community, which he claimed has been on for over three months.

    “This is not the first time this is happening. To refresh our memory, persistence ecological onslaught on the people of the Niger Delta being perpetrated by corporations and their Nigerian collaborators continues unabated leading to massive pollution of water bodies and soil contamination,” he said.

    He recalled that in 1988, Italian businessmen, Gianfranco Raffaeli and Renato Pent, of Waste Broker firms, Ecomar and Jelly Wax respectively, signed an illegal agreement with an unsuspecting Nigerian businessman, Sunday Nana, to use his property for the storage of 18,000 drums of hazardous waste for approximately $100 a month. Italy is believed to produce between 40 and 50 million tonnes of industrial waste and 16 million tonnes of household wastes each year, most of which are exported to developing countries like Nigeria for disposal, ERA noted. Nana, Ojo continued, was made to believe that the wastes were residual and allied chemicals relating to the building industry. “By the time the truth came out, it was discovered that the contents included ‘toxic and radioactive’ substances, including asbestos fibre and dioxin.” Nana was said to have died while looking after the substances.

    To address the issue, ERA/FoEN wants NESREA to live up to its responsibility of protecting the environment and enforce compliance with all environmental laws, both in Nigeria as well as international agreements, protocols and treaties on the environment to which Nigeria is signatory.

    “Delta State Ministry of Environment and the Federal Ministry of Environment should also step into the situation and collaborate for a proper commission of inquiry to unravel the persistence of toxic waste dumping in Koko. Ebenco Global Link should be compelled to clean up its mess in Koko and evacuate its hazardous wastes, including those allegedly surreptitiously buried in large quantities,” ERA/FoEN demanded.

    ERA also wants Ebenco to pay specified penalties and fines as well as compensation, to be imposed by NESREA and the Federal Government, to victims/community people whose lands have been contaminated.

  • ‘I dumped PDP in the interest of my people’

    ‘I dumped PDP in the interest of my people’

    Senator Yele Omogunwa represents Ondo South Senatorial District at the National Assembly. Few days to the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State, he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC). He spoke with reporters in Akure, the state capital, on his relationship with Governor Olusegun Mimiko and how the state can surmount its economic challanges. LEKE AKEREDOLU was there. 

    Why did you kick against the emergence of Mr. Eyitayo Jegede as the candidate of the PDP?

    I take my time before I take decisions. The idea of picking the party’s candidate from Akure was wrong. Akure and Ondo are in the same central senatorial district, where the outgoing Governor Olusegun Mimiko hails from. That is tenure elongation or third term for Mimiko. Akure people are nice, but the timing was wrong. More so, the number of votes they were able to muster is because of the name of Eyitayo Jegede (SAN). If it is the name of these people in authority, they will not get 50,000 votes. Jegede is a complete gentleman. He came to my house and I told him that he was drafted into the race forcefully. He was not one of us. Before aspiring to govern the state, he should have asked himself how many governors he has voted for in this state? We started with Bamidele Olumilua; we were holding the meetings together when Ondo and Ekiti was brken into two states. So, I understand the terrain.  I voted for the late Adekunle Ajasin, not as an active politician then. I have worked for a governorship aspirant, Prof. D.O Oke who did not make it. Mention anywhere in Ondo State, I will tell you I have two or more friends there. So, you must be on ground. To become a governor; it’s not about an appointment.

    Did you inform Mimiko about it?

    Look, Mimiko and I met five times on this matter and I told him the idea will not fly. He knew I don’t come to their meetings. The only meeting I attended was at Ore in Odigbo Local Government. After he informed me that he had settled for Jegede as the party’s flagbearer, I said let me go and tell my people. I was not fighting for the South, but I was saying that for equity sake, it should either be South or the North. I thank God it has gone to the North. We have seasoned politicians in all the senatorial districts and I told him it has to go round. I told him, zoning itself is not constitutional, but an arrangement of convenience.

    Despite your explanation, the governor insisted on Jegede, why?

    The idea was that since the candidate is coming from Central, particularly Akure, which is the state capital the party will have a chunk of the votes from the Central and whatever votes it gets from the other two districts will give the party victory. I told Mr. Governor that he was wrong. I told him that Akure people do not vote. I told him to remember that Akure is a cosmopolitan city and that more than half of its residents are from the other 17 local governments. So, if an Akoko man emerges as a candidate of another party, do you want to tell me that the Akokos who reside in Akure will not come out on the election day and vote for their kinsman?

    It was rumoured that you left the PDP because of the way Mimiko treated you during your days in Labour Party…

    At this age of my life, what I think I am left with is to face my God, pray for my children, my grandchildren and live the rest of my life happily without any vendetta. I am not the kind of person that would want to avenge. He did that one to justify his position at that time. Though, I angrily left the party and the government, but at the end of the day, he came to me and we settled. So, that is politics for you; if it didn’t go down well for you today, definitely, it will be your turn tomorrow. I remained steadfast praying to God. In fact, one of my wives said I should not quit politics, because I have put in more than 25 years and should not allow somebody to frustrate me to quit. I consider Mimiko a friend. I have told him on several occasions that he is not a true friend. A political friend is not a friend. We didn’t grow up in the same place, we didn’t carry girls together. We have not been in the same club. The only thing we did together is politics. We both graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), but not at the same time. If you know how I became senator, you will marvel and praise God.

    Why did you dump the PDP?

    You will recall that from the LP, we moved into the PDP in the wake of last year’s presidential and National Assembly elections. The main attraction then was to reconnect with the Federal Government along party lines, so as to attract more democracy dividends to the good people of Ondo State. For me, I found it a worthy adventure, on the grounds that virtually all the strategic projects that could transform the lives of the people of Ondo South senatorial district can only be successfully executed with the full cooperation and inputs of the Federal Government. You can then imagine how disappointed I was when the PDP was voted out of power. Despite the sad and frustrating development, as it were, some of us who found ourselves in that situation were ready to cope with it; at least in the interest of the party. But suddenly crisis erupted and the party became fractionalised. At this point, the success of the party at the governorship election was threatened. At this juncture, I considered the implication of being in the opposition in my home state and at the federal level.

    Are you saying that as someone in opposition there is no way you can bring dividends of democracy to your constituency?

    In terms of development, when you are in National Assembly you can talk as much as possible and whatever you say may not get the desired result, except you hook up with the right party. When we are talking about opposition, we are talking about the minority. Under normal circumstances, the opposition does not see anything good in whatever the majority does. But it is more than that, you can leverage on the good will of majority to get whatever you can get, depending on your relationship and acceptability.

    There was uproar on the day you officially defected on the floor of the Senate. Can you explain what really occurred?

    The action was spontaneous. Many of them did not know that I have decamped until that day. So, it shocked them that they are losing another person. So, when it was officially announced at the Red Chamber, they never knew I have written the Senate President and when the President read it, they were not so happy. You know in the chamber, the majority and the minority sit separately and when it was announced, I started moving from the minority seat to the majority and they felt sad and they did not allow the Senate President to end the letter; they started shouting. The senators in the majority were celebrating my defection and the PDP senators were not happy.

    Now that you are in the ruling party, what should be the expectation of your people?

    I want to be in the majority, so I can attend caucus meetings. You will know some minister; you don’t have to go through the President before you talk to the ministers representing Nigeria and then you can explain your point to them. I have seen one or two since I defected and we have been discussing on development. When it may happen, I will not know, but we will continue to discuss. You know governance; it might not be a job. My desire is that development will come and definitely it will, depending on the economic muscle of the Federal Government. We are talking of a sea port in Ondo southern senatorial district and if this is put in place over there, it will impact positively on the economy, especially in the Southwest. Our bitumen is yet to be tapped. You know I am from Irele and in my father’s village, there is bitumen. You will remember former President Olusegun Obasanjo was at the place to commission the takeoff of the project, but it never saw the light of day. We can continue to push this in our own way, without shouting or making noise.

    How do you think the incoming government can survive with the huge debt and non-payment of workers’ salaries that it may likely inherit?

    When we were debating the budget at the National Assembly last year, I raised two issues; that we must be courageous and optimistic that the economy will improve and that Nigeria should go for heavy loan. No government can survive without loan. In Ondo State, no matter the huge debt that will be inherited, Akeredolu will still perform. Everybody is aware that this government owes six to seven months salaries and I also understand the debt is close to N200 billion, but if I am the governor, I know he will draw a line and plan how to pay; even if it requires borrowing. No matter the huge amount of debt, I believe the governor-elect will still perform.

  • How hairdresser dumped son’s body in canal, by witness

    AN Ikeja High Court yesterday heard how an hairdresser, Funmilayo Odunlade, dumped the body of her 13-year-old son, Tunde Sunmola, in a canal in Mowe, Ogun State.

    A witness, Sergeant Adeola Lawal, told Justice Sedotan  Ogunsanya that Odunlade committed the act on August 2, 2014, around 6am.

    Odunlade, 36, is facing a “charge of misconduct relating to bodies”, contrary to Section 163 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

     Led in evidence by the prosecutor, Mr Adebayo Haroun, Sergeant Lawal, said the case was transferred to her department at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yaba on August 7, 2014 around 5pm.

    Lawal, who was the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), said: “The complainant was Mrs. Wuraola Sunmola, the former mother-in-law to the defendant and we summoned the defendant who volunteered to give a written statement. The defendant said the deceased had called her that he was being beaten and maltreated by his father, her ex-husband, in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State and as such asked his mother to come and bring him to Lagos for holiday.

    “She brought Tunde to Lagos and took him to her sister’s house, one Yemi Odunlade at Mowe, Lagos to spend his holiday.”

    The police officer said the late Tunde contracted an undisclosed ailment while in his aunt’s home.

    She said: “Tunde complained of leg pains and his mother went to Ijebu-ode to see her former mother-in-law for financial assistance in treating him. Her mother-in-law gave her N3,000 cash, drugs and some foodstuff for the deceased and she returned to Lagos, she said”.

    Lawal told the court that few days after the trip, Odunlade received news from her sister that her son had died.

    The witness said: “Immediately she heard the news, she made a trip to Ijebu-Ode to inform the complainant about the death of Tunde. Her mother-in-law upon receiving the news got a bus and three men to go to Lagos with the defendant to bring Tunde’s body to Lagos”.

    The trip, Lawal said was aborted on the way by the driver and the three men because of traffic.

    She said the driver and the men returned to Ijebu-Ode, leaving behind the defendant, who headed back to Mowe on her own.

    The witness said when the defendant got to her sister’s home, she and her sister hired a motorcyclist to convey the body from the house.

    “The motorcyclist conveyed the body of the deceased and his mother and on the way, she told the motorcyclist to drop her and the body at an undisclosed location where she dumped the body of her son into a canal, she said.”

    The body, Lawal said, was never retrieved, adding that the defendant was charged to court and the case file sent to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice

    “I and my team took the defendant to Mowe to retrieve the body but our efforts were futile because the defendant claimed she couldn’t remember where she dumped the body”, the witness said.

    The prosecutor sought to tender Odunlade’s confessional statement after Lawal’s testimony.

    “My Lord we seek to tender the confessional statement of the defendant as evidence”, Haroun said.

    The defence led by Mr K. O. Adebisi of the Office of Public Defender (OPD) objected because the statement was made involuntary.

    “My Lord, I am objecting to the admissibility of the statement of the defendant because it was given involuntarily. She was taken to the police station in handcuffs, threatened and not cautioned by the police as to her right to have a counsel present when her statement was being taken.”

    The prosecution insisted that the statement was made voluntarily.

    “We are ready to prove that the statement was made voluntarily and we are calling for a trial – within – trial to prove that the statement was voluntary”, Haroun said.

    Justice Ogunsanya upheld the prosecution’s request and fixed trial – within – trial for October 27.

  • ‘My boyfriend dumped me because of weightlifting’

    ‘My boyfriend dumped me because of weightlifting’

    FOR Baliqis Otunla, winning three gold medals in weightlifting event at the 11th edition of the All Africa Games is the biggest achievement she has ever had. But her worry is not having someone by her side during such feat.

    Otunla, who is making her first appearance at the Africa’s mini-Olympic Games, revealed to Akeem Lawal that she had to break up with her former boyfriend since he could not cope with her involvement in the sport.

    “I was once in a relationship but it didn’t work out because my guy then was not comfortable with my calling as a weightlifter,” said Otunla after she wrought three gold medals in only her first appearance at the African Games in Congo Brazzaville. “He was complaining too much about my travelling for competitions, saying he cannot cope and even complained then that I will not be beautiful again because of weightlifting but I’ve decided to leave everything in the hands of God because I do not have to rush into any relationship  again.”

    She further explained that her focus is now squarely on her career until she finds a man of her dream: “I need a man that will understand me; a man that would give me support and be by my side to celebrate my success.

    “I’m not in any relationship at the moment and I think this contributed to my success here (at the African Games) since there was nobody disturbing me with calls asking me when I’m coming back home or what are you doing and stuff like that.

    “I was able to concentrate here but that does not say I won’t marry or go into relationship; in fact, I want it (relationship) and anything can happen any time by the grace of God,” Otunla admitted as she spoke on sundry issues.

    Three gold medals on her debut at African Games

    Well, I am extremely happy because, as a first timer, I never believe I could achieve such a great success. It was not on my mind to win gold medal but when we started and I saw that I was doing well, I said to myself that I should go for it. Also, it was not by my power but God’s. So when I made it, it was like a spirit came out from me and I felt, ‘so I’m still alive that I still have the ability to do it.’ I’m happy to have made such an impact. There is no sport (inclined) person in my family and when I told them that I won, they did not believe me. They asked if truly I won and I said to them that I did; it was then they now expressed gratitude to God that, at last, I was able to prove myself to them. That it was truly I wanted to go back into sport because they were not totally in support at the beginning of my career, they do not understand the sport or the importance of sport. They do not understand what it was all about. To them, I was wasting my time, playing away my future; that there are a lot of better things that I can do with my life rather than taking to sport. But with this success, they promised to celebrate it with me.

    Road to success

    Well, I will say it was not easy. It was rough, seriously and terribly rough. Rough in the sense that you have to train very well; stressful, struggle to make a better performance because it is all about record in weightlifting and what you have in your shoulder.  Even if you have injury but once you pray and believe you can achieve good results, you will want to go ahead once you trained so hard.

    Though it was rough, I enjoyed it.

    Dumping school for  weightlifting

    I was disturbed by my parents to go school but I had to put it aside as a part time student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta. I put it aside because I love this sport. I also went for fashion designing, yet I still could not finish it because of the love I have for weightlifting.  But with what I have achieved now, I can go back to school and even to fashion designing. I really want to go back to school because I will not want to be a liability to any man. Also, one needs to plan for life after sport because I will marry and settle down to live with my husband and children. Even as pet fashion, if I learn it, I will design my cloth by myself. With education, one would be respected; nobody will underrate you or look down on you. You will be respected and get good positions in the society. I have made up my mind that I will not allow anybody to look down on me because if you don’t know, you don’t know and people will rubbish you, but I don’t want that to happen to me. Even though delayed, that does not mean I can’t go back to school because I have already promised myself education once I achieve success in weightlifting and now that I am getting there, I have to go back so that I will know right from left.

    Picking interest in weightlifting

    My getting involved in weightlifting was like a child’s play. It was not what I actually set out for. Then I used to play football, but because of the way they treated us which I didn’t like. Apart from the stress, they didn’t encourage us. At times, you would be begging for assistance, but you won’t get it.  Even when you think you would make the team, you would be dropped. They would not pay allowance. So, when we were to go to Denmark but the trip was aborted without any concrete or genuine reasons, it was then I decided to quit football finally. And fortunately, I met one man Mr Ismaila Yusuf, a weightlifting coach at the National Stadium in Lagos who said I can do the sport. I asked, ‘how can that be possible when I do not have prior knowledge or any form of training?’ But he said I can do it. I told him I do not have the power to lift, he said it’s not about power but techniques and when I started gradually, I realised that I can do it. And in a particular day when I saw the way I developed with my muscles, I loved it and it was then I made up my mind to go into weightlifting fully and before I knew what was happening, I was invited to the national team and I said to myself this is where I belong; that it pays better than team event where I was not recognised and appreciated. I was invited to the national team for youth games and now I am at the top level of my career winning medals, and not just ordinary medals but gold and three at a time. I am really grateful to God and I am ready to do more.

    Eyes on Rio 2016 Olympics

    I was at 2012 National Sport Festival and I won three gold medals in 69 kg. Before then, I was in Egypt in 2010 for youth games qualifier, I picked three silver. That was my first international assignment before the Kenya Senior Olympic qualifier where I won three silver. This is the real thing that has happened to me, the big event. If my performance is okay for the Olympics, by the grace of God I shall be there to make the country proud as well as my family.  I’ve been inspired by a lot of people and the  first person I saw when I started was Juliet Ekueboh, a police officer, with her height and the way she carried herself but later left Nigeria and met another senior colleague who is in heavyweight category, Mariam Usman. She encourages one to always go for the best and a very determined athlete, so she is my role model.

    Of course, I would have been happier if Mariam (Usman) had won a gold medal here; that she won silver does not mean she is not good, it has been destined to be because she is a go-getter. It’s a game and we all came here to win. What happened has happened, she still deserved the honour. She inspires me a lot.

  • USED AND DUMPED Former NASS legislative aides groan over unpaid wages, allowances

    USED AND DUMPED Former NASS legislative aides groan over unpaid wages, allowances

    Many of those who worked for National Assembly workers last week protested against a system they feel short-changed them. In this report, Our Reporter, takes a look at their grievances and the budgeting style of the legislature. 

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘Change’ mantra may never become a roaring success if the ‘long-preserved’ rotten and opaque financial system of the National Assembly (NASS) continues.

    It is curious but true – about 3, 000 persons worked at the National Assembly for four years without ever seeing what a pay slip looks like. Deductions from the salaries of legislative aides have remained shrouded in mystery for many years, adding to long-held suspicions that the tradition of opaque financial processes is meant to benefit a cult-like few.

    Indeed, the pattern of operations in procurement processes, award of contracts and other operations at NASS are pregnant with mind-boggling figures that no anti-corruption body has ever dared to examine for once, since 1999.

    A cursory review of the ongoing display of anger by legislative aides of the 7th National Assembly easily betrays the deep-seated suspicion against the management of the National Assembly (NASS). After working in that environment, they clearly understand the proclivity of Assembly’s top bureaucrats for sleight-of-the-hand tactics where huge sums are concerned.

    One Assembly, two systems

    Presently, more than N9 billion of the aides’ severance benefits is at stake. Legislative aides who had continuously wondered why their benefits and some long-standing allowances remain unpaid even after federal legislators in the 7th and 8th National Assembly had collected various hefty sums seem to have lost their patience.

    Indeed, even outsiders smell a rat in the N150 billion annual budgetary expenditure that the National Assembly has enjoyed over the years, while catering for the privileged needs of ‘Distinguished Senators’ and ‘Honourable Members’, NASS bureaucrats tidily assign expenditures for procurements and other disbursements according to their chosen priority.

    Altogether, more than 3, 000 legislative aides work for 109 Senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives at any given time. Each of the federal legislators basically has five, comprising a Senior Legislative Assistant, two Legislative Assistants, Personal Assistant and a Secretary. However, Principal Officers are, however, allowed to have more and their own teams include Chiefs of Staff, Senior Special Assistants, Press Secretaries and Special Advisers.

    Former Senate President, Senator David Mark was speculated to have had some 420 aides, including his son and others from Benue who never had duties in Abuja. The names and number of all aides is somewhat classified under the prevalent opaqueness that has become a cardinal principle of NASS’ financial dealings.

    It would be wrong to rush to a conclusion that it is a life of ease for all legislative aides. Some get short-changed in various ways without daring to speak out. The scope of legislative aides responsibilities, which cover such crucial areas as administration, communication, public relations and research and documentation, as well as other support services are all geared towards the success of their principals.

    Fat pay on paper but thin in reality

    Generally, Senior Legislative Assistants are mostly on Grade Level 13 to 16 while Legislative Assistants are between Grade Level 10 and 12 and Personal Assistants are Level 08 officers. Secretaries are mostly placed on Level 07. On the average, a Senior Legislative Assistant takes about N230,000 home monthly while Legislative Assistants earn about N 160,000, Personal Assistants N80,000 and Secretaries N70,000.

    At the end of their four-year service, they all get 300 % of their basic salaries as severance allowances, as stipulated under the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission’ s “Remuneration Package for Political and Public and Judicial Office Holders (Feb 2007 to date). Thus, Senior Legislative Assistants that served in the 2007 – 2011 6th National Assembly were paid about N3.9 million each as severance allowance while Legislative Assistants got about N1.6 million, For Personal Assistants, most got about N1.1 million while Secretaries were paid about N780,000.

    This newspaper’s recent reports on various payments and allowances paid to the federal legislators were never disputed. For legislative aides, it has become a mystery that rather than the long-standing practice of paying their stipends immediately after legislators receive their own chunky payments, the National Assembly management appeared to be aloof.

    First was the outstanding Duty Tour Allowances (DTA) of approximately N70, 000 each, totalling about N200 million that ought to have been paid since April this year. It did not take long for legislative aides to have suspicions that a clique within the management of the National Assembly has perfected arrangements to divert a portion or the entire sums meant to pay their last DTA.

    However, officials of the National Assembly assert that the situation was only being misread by anxious persons.

    But suspicious legislative aides who sought anonymity assert that while the National Assembly’s management had dutifully paid the quarterly DTA of about N75, 000 – 90, 000 along with aides’ salaries in the past, payment of the April 2015 quarterly DTA inexplicably remained in limbo.

    “The National Assembly management is harbouring people who are smart by half and because legislative aides’ attention is on the impending payment of severance benefits ranging from N1 million to about N4 million, these people want to eat the outstanding DTA totalling approximately N200 million for all aides”, one of the legislative aides told The Nation.

    Findings by The Nation indicates that rather than calm nerves, an undated official memo signed by the Director, Personnel Management Department, Dr. I. S. Habu, on behalf of the Clerk of the National Assembly and pasted on various Notice Boards within the National Assembly in July further spurred suspicions as it unusually bore no date .

    The memo reads: “I am directed to inform all legislative aides to please be patient regarding the payment of their severance gratuity and duty tour allowance (DTA), as management is making concerted efforts to secure the funds from the Ministry of Finance.

    “I am to add that as soon as the monies are released, payment will commence without any delay.”

    When contacted, the Director of Finance and Accounts at the National Assembly, Alhaji Lasisi Bukoye, emphasized that there is no basis for allegations and suspicions, stressing that “No funds has been released by the Federal Ministry of Finance.”

    Also, the erstwhile chairman of the National Assembly Legislative Aides’ Forum (NASSLAF), Mahmud Mohammed who became a member of the House of Representatives in June asserted that his leadership of the association would not have any reason to make compromises with any official who aims to short-change legislative aides.

    “The management has put up a notice indicating that they are yet to access the required funds. The rumour (allegation of diversion) was so much that I advised them to write and put information on notice boards so that it would not be as if they are deliberately refusing to pay (legislative aides’ DTA).

    “The funds are yet to be released but they will pay because we had taken up issues with them.

    “We are not expecting 100% payment because it would now be payment for two months out of the three months that makes a quarter.

    “Things have been worked out, we are counselling our people to just have a little patience as the notice pasted by management underlines a commitment,” Mohammed stated.

    Long afterwards, without seeing the DTA payment and enraged by suspicions that they are about to be short-changed over both their duty tour as well as severance allowances totalling more than N9 billion, several of the 3, 000 former legislatives aides started mobilizing for a showdown.

    However, the quick intervention of the Acting Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Ben Efeturi doused tension as he assured about forty protesting aides’ representatives that everything would be done to address their concerns.

    Efeturi who empathised with the aides asserted that the National Assembly’s management would not unduly cause them pains or condone such acts that some were alleging.

    The protesting aides who served during both Senators and members of the House of Representatives during the 7th National Assembly were led to the office of Acting Clerk by the Chairman of the South-West chapter of National Assembly Legislative Aides Forum (NASSLAF), Al-Maroof Yinka Ajibolu.

    According to Ajibolu, the aides were demanding to know the truth over monies that ought to have been paid as Duty Tour Allowances (DTA) since April last year.

    Although Efeturi’s expression of sympathy and explanations that he was not aware of the problem swayed the aggrieved aides, several of them insistently told The Nation that there are suspicions that the funds may have been deposited in private accounts over a month ago.

    “They promised to pay the DTA which ought to have been paid since April after legislators collected theirs but till date, the National Assembly management has kept quiet on the matter, knowing that we would be more focused on the severance allowance.

    “Also, they ought to have paid us the severance allowance immediately after paying that of legislators but all that we are hearing is that some people are trying to figure out the best way to short-change us and ensure that we do not get our full entitlements.

    “Such problems have occurred in the past but this time, we are more than ready for them as we know that President Buhari and Speaker Yakubu Dogara would bring down the full weight of the law on any of the officials who may be implicated in National Assembly shenanigans,” an aide who requested anonymity stated.

    On July 24, this year, in response to enquiry, Alhaji Bukoye had told The Nation that the delay in payment of DTA was primarily caused by the paucity of funds as the National Assembly was awaiting release of funds from the Federal Ministry of Finance.

    Throughout August and till date, the expected payment never materialized.

    On 1st September, this year, the National Assembly’s management, policemen and scores of angry legislative aides managed to avert a showdown over unpaid N9 billion allowances as dialogue won the day, to buy more time.

    Concerned about growing tension caused by restless aides in the 7th National Assembly who have suspicions that they were about to be short-changed by crafty officials, the National Assembly’s management had drafted in scores of policemen and put its in-house security teams on high alert.

    However, the aides’ representatives who held a meeting with top officials of the led by the Acting Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Ben Efeturi subsequently rallied their members to agree to the NASS management’s request for a breather till Monday, 7th September, 2015.

    More than twelve policemen occupied the lobby of the National Assembly till evening on Tuesday while scores of plainclothes security personnel and the National Assembly’s security teams under the office of the Sergeant-At-Arms maintained high alert in strategic places within the complex.

    Specifically, Yinka Ajibolu who is leading a ten-man team of Concerned Legislative Aides emphasized that opaque processes at the National Assembly justifies various suspicions also stated that ‘anything can happen if current dialogue fails to yield results by next Monday when another meeting is scheduled to take place’.

    Ajibolu who asserted legislative aides’ suspicion that “the hand of the monkey has reached the bottom of pawpaw” later told a meeting of hundreds of legislative aides that while suspicions linger, the proceedings at the meeting with NASS management necessitate some patience until next week.

    Recalling the account on that day, he said, “We met the Acting Clerk, the Director of Procurement and other officials but the director of finance was said to be away in New York; we asked when are they going to pay our severance benefits and how they are deriving the percentage of what they plan to pay us.

    “We told them that the fact that they had the guts to inexplicably deduct one percent of our salary while later telling us that they find it difficult to determine our basic salaries suggest to us that the hand of the monkey is at the bottom of pawpaw.

    “We asked them what is happening to various sums of monies due to legislative aides as unpaid arrears; we asked them of the Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) that was unpaid since April; if they are saying that the National Assembly’s N150 billion budget was affected by a N30 billion cut, why should our entitlements be affected by a 70 to 80 percent cut.

    “We asked about the fate of our colleagues (Secretaries) who were made to sign for laptops that they never collected and those whose salary arrears have remained unpaid.

    “They told us that they heard that we planned a protest for today (Tuesday) but we told them we only wanted to ask for what belongs to us and they asked us to come for a meeting on weekend and Monday.

    “The Acting Clerk was suggesting that our protests should be taken to Ministry of Finance but we told him that it is not our duty to go there; he said that maybe the Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Finance is afraid of releasing more funds to the National Assembly because a Minister is not yet in place.

    “Our members have been to the Salaries and Wages Commission and other government offices to gather necessary information and documents on our issues, including how they are supposed to calculate our benefits properly.

    “The Acting Clerk told us that they (National Assembly) are in a financial mess because they also owe several hotels huge amounts but our area of concern is to meet the management team on Monday, especially on the issue of proper calculation of our entitlements.

    “We are truly suspecting that the hands of the monkey has reached the bottom of the pawpaw but presently, nobody can hide anything from us again; we still remain civil until they prove otherwise and we shall wait till Monday when anything can happen thereafter,” Ajibolu stated.

    On Wednesday, 9th September, following deadlocked discussions, growing tension and mutual suspicions over the 7th National Assembly legislative aides’ unpaid N9 billion severance benefits and Duty Tour Allowances (DTA), the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki intervened in the matter.

    Initial involvement of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, were among strategies being canvassed by some of the 3, 000 aides who anticipated that there may be need to finally send a Save Our Souls appeal to President Buhari over non-payment of their allowances long after old and new federal legislators had collected various forms of allowances.

    A two-hour meeting held by the National Assembly’s management led by the Acting Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Ben Efeturi and representatives of the aides led by Ajibolu two days earlier ended without any concrete outcome.

    At another closed-door meeting summoned on behalf of the Senate President by his Chief of Staff, Senator Isa Galaudu on Tuesday, 8th September, 2015, both Galaudu and Efeturi emphasized the National Assembly’s keen interest in resolving the issue which has caused undue tension and suspicion.

    While the legislative aides led by Mr. Al-Maroof Yinka Ajibolu stressed that they had no intention to subvert any National Assembly official’s position or cause crises unduly, Galaudu noted that the delay in payment of salaries and allowances affects other organisations and states while Efeturi expressed disappointment that it appears that he has been dragged before the Senate President’s office over unpaid entitlements.

    According to Galaudu, “The leadership of the National Assembly is keen to see that you are paid your entitlements; usually, at the end of every legislative session, payments are made in August but now, even salaries for August have not been paid.

    “So, it is not yet time to   complain…this is not peculiar to the National Assembly; you can even note that states were bailed out with funds

    “The Senate President wishes to assure you that we are taking all measures to ensure that you receive your entitlements as soon as possible,” he stated.

    However, the Acting Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Efeturi who stated that he had sought to convince the angry legislative aides of his keen effort to ensure release of funds by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance expressed surprise that he could be brought to such meeting over the pending issue.

    “I was very surprised to see legislative aides seated here. I saw them in my office (on Monday) and I told them that if I see them going to any other office for a meeting,   I’ll be very bitter.

    “They said they’re not going anywhere for a meeting; I spent over two or three hours with them yesterday and now, they are here. I told them that I was going to tell the leadership of the Senate to tell them at Ministry of Finance.

    “It was on that note that we stopped yesterday. There is nothing that we can do more than that; that is what could be done.

    The Senate President cannot go and meet them and the way we are operating, you have to understand what is going on. There is deeper dynamics about what is going on … if care is not taken, you will turn the entire thing into too much of politics and start having problems.

    “Tomorrow, we are going to see the Permanent Secretary, to discuss with him and make efforts to see that the money meant for payment of severance allowances and all other allowances, including that of senators and even, induction programme (for all federal legislators) are sorted out,” Efeturi pledged.

    Speculations that funds had been lodged in fixed deposits for some unscrupulous officials’ benefit have remained unproven and there are indications that the National Assembly’s indebtedness to hotels and contractors is huge.

    The Nation’s findings indicate that the quiet involvement of President Buhari’s liaison officials at the National Assembly – Senator Ita Enang and Suleman Kawu – has really helped to douse tensions, especially as Enang was said to have met a key official from the Federal Ministry of Finance as well as the NASS management towards clarifying issues and ensuring that legislative aides receive their entitlements.

    In a self-effacing manner, Senator Enang told The Nation that   he would not like to make comments or take any credit for the official concerns of the National Assembly management.

    It was gathered that like before, “next week” is the expected period of payment, failing which the spectre of tension is bound to rise once again.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Young mother who dumped baby asks for forgiveness

    About two months after a 28-year-old girl threw away her new born baby soon after she put to bed, she has come out to ask for forgiveness from her parents and Nigerians.

    Joy Osarhiakhi, had on June 13, 2015, secretly delivered herself of a baby girl in a bathroom of the house she lives with her parents and immediately packed the baby in a nylon bag and dumped her in the neighbourhood.

    But the baby survived after she was discovered by neighbours three days after she was dumped.

    Joy, who said she successfully hid her pregnancy from her parents for nine months, attributed her action to the fact that her lover denied being responsible for the pregnancy.

    Joy has been remanded in prisons since July after spending about three weeks in the custody of the Nigeria Police who arrested her upon her confession.

    “I regret my action and have begged my parents and siblings for the pains and embarrassment I have caused them. I also want Nigerians to forgive me.

    “I want my baby back. I want to take proper care of her and promise that I will not in any way harm her.

    “It was never my intension to do what I did, I just took the decision immediately I delivered.

    “I felt labour pains when I was about to have my bath and when I had the baby, I held her in my hands for some minutes and asked myself what to do with the child.

    “It was then I saw a N10 nylon bag and rapped her inside I quietly dropped her across the fence. I regret my action and appeal for forgiveness from everybody.”

    Also speaking,  her parents, Mr Ebohon Osarhiakhi and his wife, Mrs Elizabeth Osarhiakhi, who both denied knowledge of their daughter’s pregnancy, said they would not have allowed her take the decision she took if they were in the know of her condition.

    ‘When we heard of the outcry that greeted the discovery of the baby, we joined them to curse whoever did it and never knew the person was with us.

    “I don’t know what my wife discovered for her to later ask me to question my daughter about the baby. I immediately handed her over to the security agency for her to face the appropriate punishment after she confessed.”

  • Why Alaibe, others dumped PDP, by Bayelsa group

    Fresh facts have emerged on the defection of a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Ndutimi Alaibe, with Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Col. Sam Inokoba (retd) and others to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    A socio-political group, Bayelsa for Good Governance (BGG), claimed that the erstwhile Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members defected to APC to “escape” Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrest.

    In a statement by its chairman, Mr. Perefini Ebiye, BGG said the EFCC was beaming its searchlight on Alaibe as a former NDDC chief; Lokpobori, as a former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports and Col. Inokoba (retd.), as the former Chairman of Bayelsa State PDP.

    The statement said the EFCC, in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s zero tolerance for corruption, was investigating the activities of some of the defectors when they were in office.

    It noted that if found culpable, they may be charged to court.

    The group said it was the danger the former PDP members saw ahead that compelled them to defect to APC, to escape arrest by the anti-graft agency.

    Apparently rattled by the decision of the politicians to dump the PDP, the group said it saw an implosion in Bayelsa State APC, as also predicted by political pundits.

    The PDP had said the Transition Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), which former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan allegedly floated, was set to dislodge the APC faction, led by former Governor Timpere Sylva, from picking the governorship ticket.

  • ‘Why I dumped food for engineering’

    ‘Why I dumped food for engineering’

    Omotola Olatunji is the Executive Director of Imagecliniq, which specialises in bringing out women’s beauty in a unique way. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LATECH)- trained engineer speaks on how it all started, her inspiration and more. 

    WHAT is the focus of your organisation?

    I am the executive director for Imagecliniq. Essentially what we do at Imageclinq is to help women look more beautiful and attractive. We work on them to be able to express their innermost person, to be able to express their beauty and confidence. Who they essentially are inside and on the outside. I have been doing this officially since 2013, pretty much officially. But unofficially by the side, I have been doing this for about six years.

    What exactly does it take to look beautiful?

    To look beautiful, you have to first believe that you are beautiful. It is about how you feel inside and then it begins to show or what you feel inside. What we essentially do is to help reveal what is inside, help people rediscover themselves and have the self esteem that is required. We also ensure that what you look like outside now affects how you feel inside. To be beautiful you have to be functional.

    How did you discover that you had the skill to do this?

    I think that some part of it was inborn. It was part of the things that I picked up while I was growing up and it helped me a lot. At a point, I did not particularly know if I was doing what was right. I began to do this that other people admired and they always wanted to know how I did them. Then I remember that my mum would be like ‘why do you have that on? You shouldn’t have that on.’ That was the first part, and by the time I got into adolescence, I began to pick up the real skill from watching people and began to watch a lot of the fashion shows and put them to practice. At that point, I didn’t even have so much access to fashion shows but people gave me feedbacks and eventually I went to a make-up school, MUD (Make up Designery) Nigeria, and trained there. Then I also trained online with an international make-up brand in the United States.

    What do you do outside the beauty and make-up line?

    I trained as an engineer. I studied at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology.

    Why did you go into engineering?

    I would say that growing up, I happened to be multi faceted; what you would call a multi talented person. I was very hands on. So when I had to leave secondary school and thought of what to do in future, I chose to go to the technical class. I did technical drawing, woodwork and metal work. It was good and I was on top of my class. When I got to the university, I initially wanted to do chemical engineering but there wasn’t chemical engineering. So I got into food engineering and I didn’t really know what it was about at that point. But when I started, I found that it was something that I could do.

    What was the course like?

    It was a lot interesting and I began to find out that it was a lot like mechanical engineering. We essentially took the same courses, and it was just that we took some food science courses in addition. It was pretty much a stretch but I enjoyed it.

    Where did you work?

    As I told you earlier on that I am multi talented, I started out in engineering manufacturing with Pharmadeko. They made Sans cream soda for about two and half years. While I was in Pharmadeko, I did procurement, which is supply chain management. Then I left to go and work in a printing firm to do the same thing and then I resigned and moved to the Irede Foundation. I essentially ran the programmes and activities of the foundation before starting Imagecliniq.

    The Irede Foundation is a non-profit organisation working to ensure that every child amputee becomes a champion; living above the limitations of missing limbs whether congenital or acquired. Our major activities are in the sphere of empowering children with prosthetic limbs, encouraging the children to live a normal life, educating care-givers and the society.

    Our targets basically are children between the ages of one and 10 years because they are in the most vulnerable position to personally live above the limitations of amputation. Our support for them is continuous till they attain the age of eighteen (18years). This support includes continual replacement of their prosthesis as they grow and having support group meetings to ensure they are living life to the fullest. We are ecstatic to have restored hope to so many children over the years and we are determined to do more.

    How are you using your food engineering training for the things that you do?

    Food engineering is not about the diet or even the content of the food. It is about the equipment that makes the food, equipment that is used in the manufacturing process. For me, no knowledge is lost. There is a way that I am making use of food engineering for now; it is not by the side for now but by the side completely. This is because I have found something that I am more passionate about. I think what happened is that growing up, you don’t have proper direction about what it is that you want to do. So you just go to the university, study a course and just get out of it.

    What are the other things that you do for your clients?

    I do make up. I help my client choose the right clothes for their events. I also help them buy the clothes and accessories that they need. We therefore decide what they are going to look like and be at their best. It is a one-stop shop where ladies would get everything they need. A full package of what to wear, where to get it from. Your hair, make-up is treated as a consistent package and we help to vary your looks in a unique way. If you are somebody that goes somewhere consistently and you change your career path, then it would be great to change your looks. You also need to change your wardrobe, especially if you are moving from the health sector to the boardroom in a business environment.