The Nation Newspaper

Tag: emergency

  • Air France plane makes emergency landing in Lagos

    Air France plane makes emergency landing in Lagos

    •Ebola fear grips pasengers

    An Air France flight yesterday made an emergency landing at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

    The plane, which landed at 4:59pm, was said to have developed low tyre pressure midway into its journey to Nigeria from Paris.

    Although the flight’s origin was not ascertained, it was learnt that its fear-griped passengers quickly disembarked the aircraft after it touched down after hovering for over an hour.

    Rescue agencies, including the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), fire service and the Nigerian Air Force and Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) placed their men on standby at the tarmac.

    But the plane landed and taxied to the hanger without a hitch.

    NEMA’s Southwest spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye said there were neither casualties nor injuries.

    He said the problem was adequately handled and the 178 passengers moved to safety.

    A statement by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) spokesman, Fan Ndubuoke, quoted the airline’s captain as saying he noticed that the left hand nose tyre pressure indicator was on. This indicated faulty nose wheels.

    Observing the Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs), which is a corollary to safe operation, the pilot declared an emergency.

    Ndubuoke said the aircraft landed safely.

    The statement added that the captain of the flight later explained to the NCAA that the nose tyre pressure indicator was faulty, hence the wrong signal. The tyre pressure was later discovered to be in perfect condition.

    The NCAA directed the pilot to submit the Mandatory Occurrence Report.

  • Ebola toll hits 729 as Sierra Leone declares emergency

    Ebola toll hits 729 as Sierra Leone declares emergency

    Among the deaths this week from Ebola is that of the chief doctor treating the disease in Sierra Leone.

    The government said Dr Sheik Humarr Khan’s death was “an irreparable loss of this son of the soil”. The 39-year-old was a leading doctor on hemorrhagic fevers in a nation with very few medical resources. His remains were buried yesterday.

    Ebola cases first emerged in Guinea back in March, and later spread across the borders to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma  has declared a public health emergency to curb the deadly Ebola outbreak.

    He said the epicentres of the outbreak in the east would be quarantined and asked the security forces to enforce the measures.

    As part of the new measures to contain the viral haemorrhagic fever, travellers at airports will have to wash their hands with disinfectant and have their temperatures checked, President Koroma said in a statement.

    All deaths must also be reported to the authorities before burial, he said.

    His measures – to remain in place for between 60 and 90 days – follow tough anti-Ebola policies introduced this week in neighbouring Liberia, where schools have been closed and some communities are to be quarantined.

    Both President Koroma and his Liberian counterpart Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have cancelled visits to Washington for the US-Africa summit next week because of the crisis.

    Meanwhile, Ethiopia is to begin screening all passengers arriving from West Africa and Kenya has stepped up surveillance at all ports of entry.

    In a statement, Ethiopian Airlines said ground and on-board staff would have also been sensitised on how to handle suspected cases of the virus.

    Also, the head of the World Health Organization and leaders of West African nations affected by the Ebola outbreak are offering a joint $100m (£59m; 75m euro) response plan.

  • Club owners summon emergency meeting

    Club owners summon emergency meeting

    • To discuss state of Nigerian football

    The Association of Premier League Club Chairmen and Managers (Club Owners) have summoned an emergency meeting  to discuss the state of  football in the country.

    According to a statement issued by the Acting Secretary of the club owners, Alloy Chukwuemeka and made available to SportingLife, top on the Agenda of the meeting is the commencement of the second round of the Glo Premier League in the aftermath of the World Cup break.

    The statement added that “the Association will also assess the current situation in Nigeria football with a view to understanding it as responsible, responsive, and relevant stakeholders cum pressure group in football management and administration.

    “All the 20 premier League club chairmen and managers are expected to arrive Abuja today as the meeting will hold  at Kanem Suites, Utako, Abuja by 10pm while accommodation is reserved at same venue,” the statement read.

  • NFF: Emergency Congress valid

    NFF: Emergency Congress valid

    The Nigeria Football Federation on Sunday reiterated that the Emergency Congress of the Federation, which took place in Abuja on Saturday, fulfilled the statutory requirements for holding an Emergency Congress.

    “We have come across a nebulous report circulating in the social media and such claim that only three State FA Chairmen attended the Congress. This is not only laughable but preposterous.

    “Thirty–one of the 44 members of the NFF were physically present, and were all fully involved in the deliberations and the decisions,” Chief Effiong Johnson, the former Chairman of Chairmen, said in Abuja.

    Johnson blasted the fictitious report that spectacularly claimed that those who were opposed to the Emergency Congress did not want their names in print.

    “That means they do not exist. They should simply keep quiet and show respect to the esteemed members of the NFF Congress.”

     

  • Emergency: Borno Governor blasts Clark, says age should come with wisdom

    Emergency: Borno Governor blasts Clark, says age should come with wisdom

    The Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima,  yesterday asked a former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, to champion national issues instead of promoting sectional desires.

    He also reminded Clark that power does not last forever, and he should manage his age with wisdom.

    Shettima took a swipe at Clark while receiving members of the Niger Delta Peoples’ Forum in Borno State at the Government House, Maiduguri who came to protest against full emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

    The group condemned Clark for demanding the appointment of military or sole administrators for the three states.

    The governor said: “We are one people, the majority amongst us in terms of numerical strength, whether in tribe or religion, must give a  sense of belonging to the minority.

    “It is people like Elder Edwin Clark that do not really understand who we are and who we should be in this country.

    “Power doesn’t last forever. Every opportunity you have is one that you must miss some day. He is 87, he should be a father to all and he should champion the course of nation-building and not sectional interest, if for nothing else, at least for his age.

    “From the moral point of view, God gives some consideration to the youngest and the eldest. Let us continue to urge him in a polite manner to see Nigeria beyond his walking stick.

    “The hat that he puts on should provide shield not only to his grey hairs, but to the young hairs of other Nigerians, regardless of where they come from.

    “Age should always go with wisdom of tolerance, wisdom of truth and defence of it, wisdom of togetherness and national unity,” Shettima said.

    He told the Niger Deltans that he regards them as Borno people, contrary to what they named their group.

    He added: “I will prefer to call you the Forum of Borno People from the Niger Delta. Some of you were born here in Borno State; some of you probably had parents or grandparents born in Borno.

    “Most of you have something doing in whatever respect whether as businessmen, traders or whatever it is you are doing and by that, you are contributing to the economy of Borno State.

    “The allocations given to Borno from the Federation Account is given based on our population amongst other indices being considered, and all of you here, regardless of where you consider your roots, make up the population of Borno State and this means you are stakeholders in what we get from the Federation Account, you are fully entitled to all public services and privileges that we provide as a government.

    “When Boko Haram members, in their evil ways, planted explosives around the post office in January, this year, the explosives did not choose victims based on their backgrounds and what part of the country they came from, the explosives simply targeted residents of Maiduguri who happened to be on the spot. This is the same of other wicked attacks in any part of Borno State.

    “So, to me and indeed to every reasonable person here, you are part and parcel of Borno State, you are sons and daughters of this state with roots from the Niger Delta.

    “My ancestral background is the Nganzai Local  Government Area in Northern Borno, but I have adopted the Maiduguri Metropolitan Council as my official place of origin. We are all one people in this country.

    “Believe me, I have never regarded Honourable Christopher Godwin Akaba as different from anyone that works with me on the basis of ethno-religious background and this was why immediately he was appointed as Special Assistant, I brought him directly under my office; I have seen his potential, his sincerity, zeal and commitment to progressive governance and this is what matters to me as a governor”.

    Shettima said one of the best ways any society can grow fast is to open its doors to accommodate any person that lawfully lives within it regardless of his background.

    He said the United States and the Dubai Kingdom in the U.A.E have become great mainly because they accommodate any good citizen across the world who desires to live and work there without being unlawful.

    The governor called on members of the group to aspire for anything in Borno and be free to enjoy rights and request for privileges as others would do.

    The Secretary General of the forum, Prince Stephen U.A. Ebri, who read a prepared text, faulted Clark’s agitation for full emergency in the three states.

    He said members of the group used to feel ashamed when some elders from the Niger Delta speak ignorantly on issues.

    “There is one issue that is seriously troubling the mind  of every one of us here and that is how some of our elders from the Niger Delta that are completely ignorant of the true situation in Borno State are attacking this government that is doing everything within its powers to address the problem.

    “Sir, we were in Maiduguri when you were sworn in on May 29, 2011. In case our elders in the Niger Delta do not know, there are Niger Delta people living in Borno. We are from the Niger Delta, but our difference is that we are well informed about the true situation and they are ignorant, they don’t know, they don’t want to know and we don’t think they will ever know.

    “We are not fools or sycophants; we are responsible people that will call a spade a spade. When you were sworn in, Maiduguri was in disarray. People were killed daily; bombs were every where; all of us were living in perpetual fears, young boys were threatening everyone with guns, calling phone numbers to threaten people.

    “But today, Your Excellency, you have been able to lead the people of Maiduguri to rise against threats and defend themselves. Today, Maiduguri is an opposite of what it was when you came in.

    “Rather than the fear and citizens’ imprisonment you met on May 29 2011, today there is peace, security and freedom in Maiduguri. It was you that led us to the peace through the intervention of God.”

    The group faulted the agitation for full emergency by Clark in the three states.

    The Secretary-General of the forum added: “We are worried so much by some of the utterances of our Niger Delta brothers like Asari Dokubo and elders like Chief Edwin Clark. Only yesterday, we read an advert by Chief Edwin Clark in the newspapers calling for the removal of governors, saying all manner of things that are out of absolute and annoying ignorance.

    “Chief Clark said the Borno State Government is not cooperating with the Federal Government. How can a government that is using resources to finance security agencies be accused of being uncooperative when we all know that it is the Federal Government that is supposed to fund the security?

    “We are angry and tired with these utterances that are making us very uncomfortable in a state that the people have been treating us with love and respect. This is a state government that went as far as giving a political appointment to a son of the Niger Delta who works directly with the governor.

    “This is a government that appointed an Igbo man as a cabinet member and that Igbo man is in charge of community relations, that Igbo man has been with Your Excellency for many years.

    “Sir, anytime people from Niger Delta speak on Borno out of ignorance, we feel very ashamed because all that they say are not the truth of the ground realities in Borno State and some people assume that we from the Niger Delta share the hate views of some of these people.

    “We have had enough of them. They are trying to mislead Nigerians and they are making us unhappy in a place we have been happy for many years. In the light of the foregoing, we, the great people of the Niger Delta in Borno State, hereby, disassociate ourselves from all utterances made against the government and people of Borno State.

    “We are, however, committed to any meaningful goal of the Niger Delta people which does not compromise the unity, peace and progress of the entity called Nigeria. The people of Niger Delta are reasonable, we are tolerant, we fight but we fight good courses.

    “Anybody calling for the military is talking out of ignorance of the laws of this country. If anyone has a military man he wants to make Governor of Borno State, he shouldn’t come through the backdoor. He should sponsor that person to retire and contest elections for the governorship of Borno in 2015 and we will be very happy to send that person letters of commiseration after we successfully and proudly re-elect Governor Kashim Shettima in 2015 to continue his great work of sustaining the peace in Maiduguri and working to attract peace in the entire Borno State” the forum said.

  • Attaching conditions to ‘emergency’ illegal

    SIR: On Tuesday, May 20, the Senate in the exercise of its constitutional powers under Section 305(6)(c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) endorsed a six month extension of the proclamation of the state of emergency in the north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe on eight separate conditions read out by the Senate leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN). The conditions as communicated and reported by the Nigeria media include:

    a) Expansion of the cooperation and collaboration of the International Community with a view to arresting the ugly incidence of terrorism in Nigeria.

    b) Proper kitting, arming, welfare and care of the Nigerian Armed Forces and troops deployed to arrest the insurgency.

    c) Sustained military operations in order to rout out the insurgents.

    d) Special recruitments into the Armed Forces of screened and vetted youths particularly those in the civilian JTF (Joint Task force) who will receive emergency training and be deployed in the troubled zones in order to beef up the strength of our troops.

    e) Federal Government in conjunction with the state governments to come up with an economic marshal plan to revive the economy of the economically and educationally backward parts of our country.

    f) Monthly progress report to the Senate by all security agencies including the Ministers of Defence, Police Affairs, Service Chiefs, NSA, DG, SSS on the basis of which the Senate can review or possibly revoke the proclamation of the state of emergency.

    g) The President should prepare and submit to the National Assembly supplementary budget to meet any establishment financial requirements needed to combat the insurgency (Although there is no substantive budget yet). Emphasis mine.

    h) The President should immediately approve intervention funds to the affected states for development.

    Desirable as the above conditions may be particularly on the need to meet the security exigencies of the moment, w predicating such an extension on any condition(s) whatsoever is against the express provisions and spirit of Section 305(6)(c)(d) of the 1999 Constitution as amended. It is accordingly, illegal, null and void and of no effect or moment. The prerogative to issue a proclamation for a state of emergency under Section 305 of the Constitution is exclusively that of the President. To be sure, Section 305(2) accords the National Assembly a complimentary role after the issuance of the proclamation and transmission thereof to consider the situation and decide whether or not to pass a resolution approving the proclamation. The conditions that would exist and justify such proclamation by the President are as set out under Section 305(3)(a-g). It is also correct that the National Assembly can withdraw its approval of the proclamation within two days when in session or ten days when it is not in session in which case the proclamation ceases to have effect.

    By Section 305(6)(c) and (d), the National Assembly (Senate inclusive) can extend the period of a proclaimed state of emergency provided it is done before the expiration of the period of the first six months and not for a period longer than six months afterwards. Indeed, each House of the National Assembly can, by a simple majority, revoke the proclamation but cannot itself issue a proclamation in any circumstance.

    It follows therefore that if they cannot proclaim a state of emergency but can only extend or revoke, they surely cannot give conditions for the extension of the already proclaimed state of emergency. At any rate, in what manners are the condition(s) expected to operate? Are they conditions precedent or subsequent? If they are conditions precedent, it means the endorsement for the extension will only become effective upon the fulfillment of those conditions. On the other hand, if they are intended to be conditions subsequent, it would mean that the endorsement for extension already given is ineffectual because those conditions are yet to occur or materialise.

    The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended did not envisage a situation in which the executive would exercise its powers under Section 305 based on conditions imposed by the legislature.

    • Malachy Ugwummadu Esq.

    Adelabu Street

    Surulere, Lagos.

  • Emergency MPC likely over market crisis

    Emergency MPC likely over market crisis

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may summon an emergency Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting to review its stand on key market decisions taken at the January 21 meeting, it was learnt yesterday.

    Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Managing Director, Bismarck Rewane broke the news in the company’s economic report for February released at the weekend.

    He said the MPC will meet March 17 to 18 or even earlier, if an emergency meeting is called, to review its current monetary policy stance.

    All indicators are that the markets are in for a bumpy ride in February and March, Rewane said.

    Rewane’s reason is that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released its January inflation data on February 12 which showed that the year-on-year (y-o-y) consumer price index was eight per cent, unchanged from December 2013.

    The consensus view of most economists is that the rate of inflation will remain flat, but with a probability of a marginal increase.

    Besides, inflation in Nigeria has been muted over the past year mainly because of tightness in money supply aggregates, a stable naira and an increasing interest rate environment.

    Rewane said the low inflation rate of eight per cent did not take the market by surprise because of the usual time lag between money supply increase and exchange rate pressure on consumer prices. In other words, the transmission time lag of four to six weeks had not yet manifested.

    Also, last year, money supply growth was negative at –4.82 per cent compared to the annual target of 15 per cent. Therefore, an increase in money supply aggregates in January would have no impact on total money supply, since it is starting from a negative base.

    There has been increased currency pressure since the removal of the limit on dollar sales to bureau de change last year. The impact was a sharp depreciation in the naira from N162 to 176 to a dollar at the parallel market.

    In the informal market where retail trade inventory is mainly financed by dollars sourced in the parallel market, the prices of goods is directly linked to the value of the naira in the parallel market. In December, some traders had slowly started re-pricing their inventory based on a weaker naira. The effect of this re-pricing was not apparent because of the seasonal Christmas price increases.

    He said what is more important now is the trend of inflationary expectations. “A number of manufacturers surveyed were anxious as to the direction of the naira in the forex market. Most of them agreed that they would pass through increased costs in the pricing of their products to the market. Nonetheless, the sentiment of inflationary expectations points to a more pronounced increase in prices in February,” he said.

    This, he said, was driven by the 50 per cent increase in the cost of gas, which will push up the cost of power for gas-fired generators and the Gencos.

    Furthermore, a depreciating naira and depleting external reserves will have a negative impact on the non-food basket. “While inflation remains muted in January and February, the real threats will come in March. This is because the impact of the new automotive policy tariffs and the 50 per cent hike in gas prices will be more pronounced in the markets. In addition, the money supply effect will start biting in March,” he said.

    The analyst said a spike in the rate of inflation in March will undermine monetary policy objectives and threaten macro-economic stability. The CBN Governor has already expressed concerns on the depleting external reserves and has reiterated his determination to defend the naira. However, if the depletion in external reserves continues, an adjustment in exchange rate becomes inevitable.

    The question on everyone’s lips is when and by how much the currency will depreciate especially at a time when the parallel market rate has appreciated from N176/$ to N170 to dollar and the interbank exchange rate has moved in the opposite direction to N167 to dollar.

     

  • Consider this an Emergency: We need Emergency numbers in this country now!

    Last week, dear reader, I regaled you with accounts of how I attempted to fight a fire with my, err… spittle, repeatedly spat through my screams at a fire. And I’m sure you laughed. Believe me, it was no laughing matter though. Being confronted by water-licking flames, gun-slinging robbers, chest-constricting heart attack, heart failure or heartbreak are never things to laugh at. You can cry, scream, shout for help, even faint, but, sir, you may not laugh. The reason is that when it is happening to you, you never can collect your wits fast enough to act reasonably and safely. This is why you always want the government to step in at that point. It is supposed that, at that point, the government is more reasonable than you are.

    That’s right. When some arrant, undisciplined knave of a fire steps into my sitting room unbidden, I want the government to step in. (Well, if I were an arsonist, I would not invite the government now, would I?). Anyway, if some sacrilegious robber were to be so inconsiderate as to interrupt my sleep, I certainly would want GEJ to step in. After all, I am entitled, under the long arms of the constitution, to a full night’s rest, ain’t I? And God forbid, if an unholy thing – such as a blocked artery from worrying too much about Nigeria or an insufficient housekeeping allowance – were to attack my heart in the middle of the night, I would holler for GEJ! Why? Why ever not? Is he not the cause of everything now – PHCN not working (fact), chickens not laying (fiction), women not giving birth without pain (faction), women not quite getting the style of gele they want (fiction), housekeeping allowance not being sufficient (fact)? Well, is he not responsible for these things?

    It is one thing to holler for the government though; it is another thing for the government to respond to your hollering. No, it isn’t that the government does not want to come; it’s just that many obstacles are standing in its way right now. For one thing, many of its members have these large juicy pieces of uninterrupted chicken thigh between their teeth; so they cannot prise apart the different noises reaching their ears. Are the people praying? Crunch-crunch. Are the people singing the government’s praises? Crunch-crunch-crunch. Are the people crying loudly? Crunch-crunch-crunch. Are the people chattering, gritting or gnashing their teeth? Spit-splat. Now, where were we?

    For quite another thing, the government cannot come to our aid because the mechanisms of people-repair need some serious repairs themselves. How can a sick hospital hope to help a sick person? How can a sick PHCN, scrambled or unscrambled, ever hope to deliver the goods? How can a Nigerian be stopped from being a Nigerian – an organ of disruption, disrepair and destruction?

    More plausibly though, the government cannot come to our aid because it does not get to hear we are in trouble until long after the trouble has come and gone. After all, detectives would not have any work if crimes do not first take place. Yeah, yeah, I hear you; we pay the government so that it would foresee trouble and plug the hole, like. I know that; you know that; but does the government know that? In short, the government, as usual, can get to talk to us whenever it wants to talk to us. Well, there are the billboards telling us to pay our taxes. However, it does not get to hear us when we want to talk to it. There are no billboards addressed to the government from the people saying things like ‘GEJ, No money to pay taxes. Can I get a loan from you?’; or ‘GEJ, Foot hurts; is Aso Rock clinic open?’ or ‘GEJ, stop the country, I’m getting off here’. I imagine such billboards will be torn down hey-pronto by the Men-In-Brown-French-Suits. And there you were thinking they did not exist.

    Sadly, reader, we the people cannot express our hurts because there are no emergency numbers to press. Imagine that; a country of over a hundred million people cannot call for any of the formal emergency services at all on the phone. At the moment, the only emergency number that people have is ‘E gba mi o’ (literally ‘Save me’); and the only emergency services come from the neighbours nearest to them with whom they are on talking terms. So God help the trouble maker. It’s the neighbours who have age-old, time-tested remedies that will save on expenses. Fell down on your head from a tall tree? ‘Ah, use my great-grandmother’s back remedy; let me just fetch it from the farm!’ Seized by epilepsy? ‘Ah, my great-great-grandfather used to treat that; he was the greatest medicine man that ever lived. Here, use his black soap; it washes everything away.’ Having a heart attack? ‘Ah, my great-great-great-grandmother…

    There is no denying that our formal social engineering efforts are not only warped, they are incomprehensible to say the least. How is it possible to boast that if there are only three copies of a rare car brand in the world, one or two will be in Nigeria, yet the people cannot summon the police for emergency purposes? I am stumped in this, very stumped. Where the deuce are our priorities? I know, we have these large juicy pieces of uninterrupted chicken thigh between our teeth. That’s one reason. The other has been staring us in the face for so long we no longer notice it: we do not have emergency response units in this country – fire alarms, health problems, police for domestic disturbances caused by insufficient housekeeping allowances, etc.; we have nothing. So, how can we have telephone numbers leading us to nothing?

    Listen as I tell you this story again. Once, a drunken fellow, deep in his cups, took it into his head to climb a tree. Well, he got so high up on both the tree and his ego that all entreaties to him to come down fell on deaf ears till everyone realised the problem. The drunk had climbed the tall tree to the very top from which no mortal could safely come down, let alone a drunken one. The police had to be summoned which in turn called in the fire brigade which in turn called in the ambulance services which in turn brought in the air ambulance services. They all responded within minutes to save a drunken man who was oblivious of all their efforts. Now, that is what is called a society.

    The time has come for you and me to give this government – and all others – a wake-up call to establish emergency numbers. We want emergency numbers that can easily be recalled for use by all so that the government can step in when we feel pain, and also when we are drunk. I understand that the police have emergency numbers which are no different from the normal or abnormal numbers you and I use daily to talk to our friends; you know those 11-digit numbers beginning with 080…., and so on. Now, who on earth ever expects anyone to remember such numbers in emergency situations? Only the government obviously; the rest of us do not.

    THE NCC SHOULD BE COMPELLED TO TWIST THE ARMS OF THE GSM PROVIDERS IN THIS COUNTRY TO GIVE US EMERGENCY NUMBERS THAT ARE FEW AND EASY TO PRESS, EVEN BY CHILDREN. Reports say many children have used those numbers to save the lives of many adults around them. It is time the government began to think of adding value to our lives ON THIS MONKEY ISLAND. GIVING US EMERGENCY NUMBERS IS NOW AN EMERGENCY.

  • Maigari: No ‘state of emergency’ in Nigeria football

    Maigari: No ‘state of emergency’ in Nigeria football

    The Nigeria Football Federation has voided a ‘state of emergency’ purportedly declared by the League Management Company and the Club Owners on Nigeria football.

    The League Management Company, with the support of owners of Globacom Premier League clubs, had ‘declared’ a ‘state of emergency’ in the domestic game as the body face the final weeks of the Globacom Premier League season.

    Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, NFF President, Aminu Maigari decried the statement and said categorically that, “there is no situation in Nigeria football to warrant the declaration of a ‘state of emergency’.

    “It was a wrong move by the LMC and the Club Owners. If there is a state of emergency in Nigeria football, it is the duty and responsibility of the NFF to alert the public and the world at large. It is not within the purview of the LMC to declare a ‘state of emergency’, which is not, in the first place, backed by any incidences or situation. We did not inaugurate the LMC to serve as an alternate NFF.

    “There are better ways to deal with expected situations than being alarmist. Nigeria football is very much at peace and I can confirm that,” Maigari stated.

     

  • Pharmacists seek state of emergency in drug distribution

    Members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) yesterday urged on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the drug distribution system.

    The emergency declaration, the body said, would curb the proliferation of illegal pharmaceutical and healthcare premises, which are the conduits for the widespread circulation of sub-standard, fake, counterfeit and spurious medicines.

    The Oyo State PSN Chairman, Mr. Olalekan Fashesin, addressed reporters spoke in Ibadan, the state capital, ahead of the activities for this year’s Pharmaceutical Week, which begins today in the city.

    To ensure access to standard, quality and efficacious medicines, Fashesin said the government needs to provide the infrastructure which would aid economic and industrial growth to create jobs for the nation’s teeming youths.

    He noted that relevant agencies should enforce laws, rules and regulations of good manufacturing practice, as well as sanitise the nation’s chaotic drug distribution system.

    The PSN chairman listed some areas in Ibadan, which he described as merchants of death, with several illegal drug stores that have neither been registered nor authorised by the regulatory agencies to distribute drugs.

    In Nigeria today, he stressed, the only body saddled with distribution of drugs and pharmacy practice is the PCN.

    Fashesin regretted that several people chosen to distribute drugs unregulated.

    The PSN chief said millions of people have died as a result of faked drugs, adding that drug distribution chains in Nigeria has reached an alarming rate.

    According to him, if urgent steps are not taken, the situation would jeopardise the lives of more people.

    He said: “When medicines are manufactured in ideal conditions, under very strict adherence to standards, they still need to travel through various handling and distribution chains, with necessary oversights, to ensure the retention of quality, before they get to the final consumer or the patient.

    “Therefore, necessary provision and access to safe medicines require quality assurance processes, with principles of good manufacturing practice and regulations and also strict monitoring of the handling and distribution chains to ensure that the medicine retain its quality until it gets to the final consumer.”