The Nation Newspaper

Tag: fought

  • ‘I fought for special economic assistance, not special status for Lagos’

    All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has reflected on her struggle to attract “special economic assistance” to Lagos State through a bill she initiated in the Senate.

    The senator representing Lagos Central said the motive was misunderstood by her colleagues.

    She noted that senators who misunderstood the bill uncritically confused her clamour for special economic assistance with the struggle for special status.

    Senator Tinubu, the Yeye Asiwaju of Lagos, said many senators later showed the readiness to support the initiative, after it had suffered defeat on the floor, when they became aware of its focus and objective.

    She said although many colleagues later encouraged her to represent the bill, she declined, adding that it is up to other senators to do so in the future and take the credit.

    The senator addressed reporters in Lagos on her legislative activities, her achievements, vision for good governance, women empowerment and re-election bid.

    Senator Tinubu was accompanied by APC leaders, including Governorship Advisory Council (GAC) members Alhaji Mutiu Aare, one-time Finance Commissioner Olawale Edun, her campaign manager and former House of Assembly member Wahab Alawiye King and Chairman of Lagos Island Development Council Area (LCDA), Mrs. Omolola Essien.

    Explaining her conception of special economic assistance, the senator said since Lagos contributed the greatest percentage of tax, Value Added Tax (VAT) and proceeds from the ports, equity, fairness and justice demanded that it deserved one per cent of what it contributed to the Federal purse.

    She said the one per cent could be used to fight part of the infrastructure battle, tackle the recurrent gridlock and build roads in the Centre of Excellence.

    Senator Tinubu added: “The percentage is to be decided by the National Assembly and the Lagos State House of Assembly will determine how it should be spent. But it was misunderstood. I was not fighting for special status but for special economic assistance. It was later that some of my colleagues came to me and said they did not understand it. Some of them even asked me to represent it and I said no; that another person can initiate the bill in the future and take the credit.”

    The senator, who highlighted her legislative activities and social intervention programmes for the poor and the indigent, said her achievements could speak for her, having placed her hands on the plough through divine benevolence and active support of Lagos Central senatorial leaders.

    She said her life has been about service to God first and her people, adding that she decided to seek re-election, following the insistence of her political leaders in the district.

    Senator Tinubu reflected on the controversy generated by constituency projects and the myth that senators are rich.

    She noted that since the days of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, money had been earmarked for zonal intervention programmes.

    She said 13,600 people had benefitted from her personal social intervention programme, adding that she had never been involved in budget “padding”.

    The senator hailed efforts by President Muhammadu Buhari to reposition the polity through his people-oriented policies and programmes, saying hope had returned to the country.

    Noting that the President is not a magician, Senator Tinubu chided the critics of the administration, including the opposition, for the shortfall on historical perception.

    She said their blackmail against the President will fail.

    On the minimum wage struggle by organised labour, which she said is backed by President Buhari, Senator Tinubu said: “I support people to be taken care off.”

    The senator urged women to participate in politics in a democratic atmosphere.

    Senator Tinubu noted that while she had been privileged to be married to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, she also had the resolve to always work hard.

    Chiding big women in power for elitism, the senator doubted if they have a proper orientation of leadership.

    She added: “Women who got appointments don’t help other women. They should share what they have. Some of them will tell you how they fought with men to get what they got. The governors’ wives, what have they been doing? Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, wife of Ekiti State governor, passed the first child’s rights in the House of Assembly.”

  • Mashaba: We fought to the end

    Mashaba: We fought to the end

    Bafana Bafana head coach, Shakes Mashaba, was pleased to see his side fight all the way to end against Nigeria.

    Bongani Zungu struck in stoppage time to secure a 1-1 draw for South Africa against the Super Eagles and Mashaba would not be drawn into commenting about the missed penalty.

    “I want to say to the boys congratulations, they played very well, on the day it’s the combination that you come up with, it doesn’t matter who you play with,” Mashaba said after the game.

    “We were unfortunate to not score more goals, I don’t want to talk about that penalty again They fought to the end and that’s how we got the goal.

    “It’s a normal thing, we were all over them for three quarters of the game until we missed the penalty, you’ll always get that, that’s where you need leaders in the game, to push them up.

    “But what else can we do, it’s one of those things.The second time it happens, it gives cause for concern.”

  • We fought a good fight, says Obuh

    We fought a good fight, says Obuh

    Nigeria U-20 coach John Obuh has said his team put up a good fight only to crash out of the World Cup in Turkey to Uruguay on Tuesday night.

    “Despite playing a man short for half of the match, we fought a good fight. The match has been won and lost and we accept the loss in good faith,” declared Obuh.

    Nigeria fell behind after 64 minutes when Nicolas Lopez slotted home after goalkeeper Samuel Okani failed to deal with a free kick from the left.

    Olanrewaju Kayode drew Nigeria level in the 69th minute when he let fly from just outside the box. And moments later, Michael Olaitan saw his effort crash against the side netting.

    Okani pulled off a big save in the 56th minute and Nigeria created a number of chances thereafter before Uruguay regained the lead from the penalty spot through Lopez in the 84th minute after Wilfred Ndidi had fouled a goal-bound Diego Rolan.

    Nigeria began to play with a man short after 40 minutes when fullback Shehu Abdullahi was sent off for a double-footed tackle on Diego Laxalt. It was a cagey start by both teams as they tried to settle down.

    In the 16th minute, Umar Aminu created Nigeria’s best chance yet when he delivered a low cross into the Uruguay goal area, but there was no one to connect home.

    Two minutes later, Uruguay responded when Gino Acevedo dashed through, but his final effort from inside the box was wide off target to the relief of the Flying Eagles.

    Aminu then got a chance to give Nigeria the lead in the 37th minute, when he was all alone inside box but he directed his shot straight at goalkeeper Guillermo de Amores.

  • Boko Haram must be fought, says Soyinka

    Boko Haram must be fought, says Soyinka

    Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka is against dialogue between the Federal Government and the fundamentalist sect Boko Haram.

    “This is a violent organization. What do you do with them? I’m sorry but you must fight them,” Soyinka said.

    The 1986 Nobel Prize winner in Literature spoke to IPS during a visit to the United Nations on the International Day of Peace.

    The International Day of Peace was celebrated on September 21with a debate about how to build a global culture of tolerance. Among the participants were superstar actor Forest Whitaker, economist Jeffrey Sachs and Soyinka.

    After his speech, Soyinka spoke to IPS about the situation Nigeria, where Boko Haram has been responsible for thousands of deaths and the bombings of many churches, the Police Headquarters and the UN office in Abuja.

    Boko Haram (western education is a sin) is seeking to establish sharia law in the country.

    “We have an organisation which closes down schools, shoots faculty teachers, knocks out children and turns most of the north into an educational wasteland. How can we reach the children there? We must first get rid of Boko Haram,” Soyinka said.

    “We have a contradiction,” he acknowledged. “How do we get rid of Boko Haram? Violence must become involved. That is a dilemma.”

    Calling for armed intervention on Peace Day may certainly seem like a paradox. But Soyinka’s call for attacking Boko Haram to stop the group’s attacks on schools made more sense after the debate, where speaker after speaker highlighted the importance of education to enable a global culture of peace to grow.

     

    As stipulated in the 1999 Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, the United Nations’ primary goal is to “create and maintain world peace” through economic, social and political agreements, and in the worst cases through military intervention.

    For such a framework to succeed, a foundation of peace and a culture of tolerance must to be built. A cornerstone in building this culture is inculcating respect for others in children.

    “The real weapon of mass destruction is ignorance,” said British-Iranian philanthropist Nasser David Khalili, one of the speakers during the event to emphasise the importance of schooling, building a culture of peace. “The solution must be education.”

    Sachs, a professor of sustainable development at Columbia University, said: “As an economist it strikes me… how hunger and poverty are incendiary parts of war.”

    He added: In the Sahel region of Mali this summer, for example, a famine sparked conflict between nomads and farmers over access to water.”

    Sachs drew attention to the fact that critical issues, such as these, receive too little attention, describing the great frustration he felt as he failed to raise money from the World Bank on behalf of Mali. “Shout Al-Qaeda, and you get millions for missiles. But try to do something preventive, and you do not get anything.”

    He urged global leaders to invest in “development rather than military”. Globally, “we are spending more than 10 times more on the military than we do on development,” Sachs said. “In the U.S., the rate is 30 to one.”