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Tag: group

  • Group urges govt on cancer

    Group urges govt on cancer

    Do you know that cancer can be prevented? How, you wondered? It is through a healthy lifestyle/dietary changes and medical instructions.

    According to the wife of governor of Lagos State,  Bolanle Ambode  Nigerians, especially women should take their health seriously by going to health facilities for early screening/diagnosis if they have concerns about their health, especially breasts.

    Mrs Ambode stated this at the fourth annual public lecture to commemorate the World Cancer Day, organised by Landers 88 (Landers 88 Reunion Club) held at the Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School. The theme was: Prevent and Fight Cancer, We Can I Can.

    The lecture was organised to immortalise a colleague of theirs, Omolara Jolaoso and create awareness on the early detection and prevention of cancer. Mrs Ambode was represented by Mrs Olufunmilayo. Present were also top medical doctors and psychotherapists.

    Mrs ambode said cancer is no more a death sentence as perceived by many if the right steps are taken early enough.

    She said: “What we are saying therefore is that cancer is no more a death sentence if people will follow medical advice and treatment instructions. One thing we need to do very quickly in our fight against the scourge is to step up awareness and public enlightenment among the people. We must let everyone know – both young and old, that cancer can be effectively prevented if some simple dietary and medical instructions are followed. We must also spread the message that the conditions can also be managed for the afflicted to live a normal and useful pain-free-life.

    “Too many lives have been cut down locally and globally by cancer, what we must emphasise is what can be done to save precious lives and prevent needless deaths in cold hands of cancer. For too long it has caused untold pains and anguish among the people but the good news is that cancer is gradually being demystified, though a permanent cure may not have been found yet but we now have reliable clues on prevention and the condition can be managed with strict adherence to medical instructions.”

    President of the Club, Soji Adekogbe, lamented the unavailability of enough equipment in hospitals and therefore urged the government to declare a purpose-driven state of emergency in the health sector.

    He said: ‘’Sadly, due to limited cancer treatment equipments in Nigeria, many die even before it gets to their turn to get on the equipment. Once again, I call on government to wake up to its responsibilities to the citizens of Nigeria and declare a purpose driven state of emergency in the health sector. Since the global direction is forward looking and geared towards reducing cancer related illness and deaths, it is therefore pertinent that Nigeria is not left out of this movement. We therefore use this opportunity to seek more strategic partnerships with Landers 88 Reunion Club in the fight against cancer in Nigeria and urge Government at local, state and federal levels to change the cancer treatment narrative in the country.”

    Medical Director of Alimosho General Hospital Dr M.A Adebajo said people need to pay attention to theirhealth and go for regular checkups to know the state of their health.

    Adebajo said the cost of a full check up is very low compare to that of treatment, as he added, “I would advise people to go for check up on time. In fact, it is very costly to treat cancer but a lot more cheaply to prevent. Go for regular check up at least once in six months.”

    A consultant, Dr Adeleke Kaka  said people don’t seek for help on time, instead they try so many remedies, seek opinions from friends before going to the doctor, “let’s note that loosing blood can impair your function. If you notice some swellings on your body you should contact your doctor immediately. It is important that when you have such cases you meet the right doctor. The doctor will check if there are any abnormal growths in the body and other things before arriving at conclusion.”

  • Group tasks journalists on family planning

    Following calls on stakeholders to step up towards reduction of Nigeria’s prevailing high mortality rate and population explosion, journalists have been tasked to join the fray by making family planning reportage a norm.

    This was the highlight of a two-day workshop for selected journalists from print, electronic and online media in Lagos, organised by Development Communications (DEVCOMS) network in collaboration with the Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative project 2 (NURHI 2).

    Speaking at the workshop, Programme Director, DEVCOMS, Akinlabi Jimoh, said in recognition of the critical role the media plays in agenda setting on issue of public interest, DEVCOMS and NURHI seek to enhance journalists’ knowledge about family planning and thereby enabling them to report from a holistic perspective.

    Jimoh observed that the current estimated population of 186 million Nigerians with an annual birth rate of about 2.5 percent, can be a huge burden with resultant poor health indices such as high maternal and infant deaths, if it is not put under check.

    The development-journalist charged Nigerian journalists to think out of box and evolve an in-depth way of reporting family planning issues by providing useful information on the audience, through a combination of compelling images and concise information that influence life-saving discussions.

    Speaking on the theme: Practical (writing compelling human angle stories on family planning) story idea development/action plan, Jimoh tasked journalists to relate stories to showcase issues or discuss a person in an emotional way, as to generate interest or empathy in the readers, viewers or hearers.

    “You must not just echo the problems, you should proffer solutions and put family planning on the front burner,” he said.

    In his own statement, the Lagos State Team Leader, NURHI, Omasanjuwa Edun, said Nigerians need to wake up and face the reality of population explosion which could draw the country backward among the comity of nations, if not controlled.

    Omasanjuwa charged the journalists to effect change in Nigeria and build a society that is worth living in.

    “The media has the ability to hold government accountable by pocketing their selfish ambition.

     

     

  • Ekiti poll: Group decries dearth of substance in polity

    Ekiti poll: Group decries dearth of substance in polity

    Ahead of this year’s governorship election in Ekiti State, a non-governmental and non-partisan public advocacy organisation, Ekiti Future Agenda (EFA), has decried the lack of political substance, formidable ideology and quality electioneering in the build-up to the July poll.

    The group condemned what it called petty issues, pedestrian propaganda and mundane communication have dominated the political scene.

    It urged the stakeholders, especially the aspirants, to showcase their manifestos, development blueprints and agenda for genuine development of the state, instead of engaging “in fairy tale, war of words and propaganda contests”.

    EFA’s Convener Adesina Adetola said the trend would not give the people the opportunity to elect the best candidate in the July poll.

    The activist said unless urgent steps were taken, the state might be going into another political bondage for the next four years.

    Adetola said: “In the face of the current happenings in the state, where most of the political gladiators, instead of telling the people why they are interested in the race, are outdoing one another in inconsequential issues by engaging the youths as bulldogs to continually and irrepressibly attack their political rivals – physically and most especially via the social media – it is obvious that the state has a long way to go in laying a resourceful foundation for its younger generation.”

    The EFA convener said while the electorate was waiting for the political parties to elect their flag bearers, the delegates, who will elect the candidate at the primaries, need to know what the aspirants have in stock for the growth and socio-economic development of the state.

    He added: “It is a fact that the state needs a visionary leader, an individual who has a robust idea of what genuine development and true governance entail in this 21st century. The state, at this crucial stage of contemporary global advancement, cannot afford a leader without a thoroughly packaged and realistic development blueprint, supported by a well-articulated political ideology that will consequently aid the socio-economic development of the state in all ramifications.”

    EFA, which was founded in 2012, mobilises public opinion towards building and sustaining democratic values and culture to aid a better and rewarding future for the people.

    Last December, the organisation, in conjunction with another socio-economic group, The Pacers, organised a public lecture in Ado-Ekiti where participants highlighted strategies for taking Ekiti out of its current political doldrums. The guest speakers at the lecture, which was chaired by a veteran journalist, Dare Babarinsa, included Ekiti State Deputy Governor Kolapo Olusola; an Abuja-based businessman and politician, Muyiwa Olumilua; the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Funso Falade and Prof Femi Olokesusi of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD).

     

     

     

     

     

  • Group seeks CCT chair’s suspension pending trial

    Group seeks CCT chair’s suspension pending trial

    A human rights group, the Access to Justice (A2Justice), has called for the suspension of Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Chairman Danladi Umar until his trial is concluded.

    It urged anti-corruption agencies to be consistent in fighting judicial corruption.

    A2Justice, Nigeria’s judicial watchdog, noted that there were “questionable dithering and capriciousness” prior to filing the charge against Umar.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Umar with demanding and receiving bribes from Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo, a defendant standing trial before the CCT.

    A2Justice, in a statement by its Director Joseph Otteh, welcomed efforts to ensure that institutions of justice, such as the CCT, function with integrity and that judicial officers do not pervert the cause of justice or abuse their authority.

    “In this respect, we welcome efforts to establish whether Umar is guilty of allegations made against him and is fit to continue in his current office.

    “However, A2Justice regrets that the EFCC did not act sooner with respect to Umar, and waited for nearly five years before reaching the decision to do something.

    “Unfortunately, that time interval has been a costly one: the failure to act before this time fostered the impression that Umar was invincible and unstoppable, and gave him the opportunity to run the CCT as a personal fiefdom,” the group said.

    A2Justice said right from the time of his appointment, Umar had been dogged by allegations of corruption and financial malpractices, claims that came both from within the Tribunal and outside of it.

    “Efforts by a number of whistle-blowers to draw the attention of anti-corruption agencies to what was going on within the CCT drew blank, and in the end, those people were forced out of the CCT.

    “The failure of the EFCC to act on the many allegations against Umar for many years, until now, will trigger doubts among many about whether the Commission is now going after Umar in good faith, or, if indeed, other overarching factors are at play in this dramatic turn of events.

    “These cynicisms will create ambivalent perceptions of the forthrightness of anti-corruption agencies, and, in this case, spark some level of public anxiety about the motive behind this prosecution, a scepticism that is wholly unhealthy in the fight against corruption.

    “To fight judicial corruption effectively, anti-corruption agencies must, as a rule of thumb, be consistent and unwavering, and not permit the public to read mixed messages from what they do, or do not do,” A2Justice said.

    It called for the Umar’s suspension from office until his trial ends. Meanwhile, A2Justice urged Umar to go on an indefinite leave pending when he is formally suspended.

    “Notwithstanding the trial, and as we said in our 2016 report of the CCT: ‘It is no longer tenable for Umar to continue in office as the Chairman of the Tribuna,’ ” the group said.

    According to A2Justice, the allegations of corruption against Umar have brought public ridicule and embarrassment on CCT, adding that it has done incalculable harm to the image of the Tribunal and the Judiciary.

    “The Tribunal under Umar does not have the integrity, public trust and ‘moral character’ it needs to fight corruption, which is something of a paradox given that the Tribunal is established to enforce public morality.

    “The CCT needs a new leadership that will restore public trust in it, provide purposeful leadership for the staff and put the tribunal’s powers to effective use,” the group said.

    A2Justice called for the appointment of a third member of the tribunal as well as its reform.

    Among others, it said the CCT should be removed from executive control and placed under the supervision of the Judiciary.

    “The failure of the Federal Government to appoint a third member of the CCT to fill a position that has been vacant for many years greatly undermines the work of the CCT and the fight against corruption.

    “There are many aspects of the framework of the CCT that sub-serves the Tribunal’s ability to function efficiently and with integrity.

    “The government should use this opportunity to reform the framework of the CCT.

    “Most importantly, it should ensure that the CCT is no longer placed under the executive branch of government but under the Judiciary and is made accountable to judicial oversight bodies – such as the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    “This will give the Tribunal greater independence and ensure more effective oversight of Tribunal members.

    “It will make the Tribunal a more accountable anti-corruption institution,” A2Justice said.

  • Purge yourself of contempt for others, group tells Obasanjo

    Purge yourself of contempt for others, group tells Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been advised to purge himself of contempt for his successors.

    In a press statement on the heels of Obasanjo’s advice to President Muhammadu Buhari not to run for re-election in 2019, the Buhari Media Support Group (BMSG) says OBJ’s “unsolicited missive” is curious and worrisome.

    In the statement signed by its Chairman Austin Braimoh, BMSG wonders why it is that the former President has found fault with each and every of his successor in office, noting that “what is apparent in the unbecoming admonitions inherent in Obasanjo’s letters to his successors is a base exhibition of his self -importance and a rather, narrow perception of governance and its concomitant service delivery to the majority of Nigerian people.”

    BMSG says it is constrained “to submit that the reasons adduced by the former president in calling on President Buhari not to run is a lowly, pedestrian generalization, lacking indepth analysis of the country’s national challenges, perennial contradictions and limited historical economic outlook. We expected a better and insightful dissection of the state of the nation from a man that had administered this country at the highest possible level twice.

    “What we observed in Chief Obasanjo’s ‘roadside’ scorecard of the Buhari administration is a haste to once again flaunt his messianic complex as both political aggregator and moral compass. We, however, find this desperation to aggregate national sentiments as a lowly expropriation of the inalienable right of the mass of Nigerian people to decide and determine who lead them at every point in time.

  • Group celebrates eighth anniversary

    AN Islamic group, Al-Fathiu Al Mubinu Society of Nigeria, has celebrated its eighth anniversary in Ajegunle, Lagos.

    During the event, it launched its prayer book and decorated an All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart Matin Owodunni Iwonlanwe with turban as its first Aare Adinni.

    The group’s founder/Chief Missioner, Alhaji Muyideen Abdullai urged Muslims to unite, adding that there is unity in strength.

    He called for the empowerment of the.

    He advised Iwonlanwe to use his new office to support the organisation.

    Abdullai said the association hoped to appoint more chiefs, get a piece of land and a bus for the society.

    Alhaji Iwonlanwe promised to assist the less privileged.

    “I pray that God should strengthen me to double my efforts to raise the religion of Islam, particularly in empowering the less privileged,’’ he said.

    Chief Mufasir of Lagos Sheikh Tijani Gbajabiamila also urged Muslims to speak with one voice.

    Specifically, he asked the celebrator to take his prayer life more serious as he is now expected to pray five times daily according to the teaching of Prophet Mohammad, adding that he should give good advice to the group.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Group elects new leaders

    The National Association of Ijaw Female Students (NAIFS) Alumna Auchi chapter has elected three members into its executive committee to pilot its affairs for one year.

    They are Miss Ayanka Joy (president), Miss Anitorufa Williams (secretary), Miss Esamah Daisy (Welfare).

    The association which was founded by Joseph Evah in 2004, now has about 15,000 members in over 80 tertiary institutions as well as and over 13 Alumna chapters worldwide.

    Speaking at the inauguration of the new leaders, the National Deputy President, Miss Preye Ejiro, underscored the importance of educating the girl-child.

    “Offering girls basic education is one sure way of giving them power to enable them make genuine choices over the kind of lives they wish to live and also have skills, information and self confidence that she needs to be a better parent”.

    Daisy also urged the women to attend meetings and share their challenges with the house.

    “We are all sisters we should tell each other our challenges even if we can’t help at that moment we can call on God for divine intervention,” she said.

     

  • Group endorses Ambode for second term

    Group endorses Ambode for second term

    A group, the All Christian Leaders & Ministers Forum (ACLMF), has endorsed Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for second term.

    Speaking at the weekend after a prayer session at Overcomers Pentecostal Prayer Ministry, Abule-Egba, Lagos, the National Coordinator, Dr. Samuel Ogedengbe, said Ambode should be re-elected because of his good performance and zeal for development.

    He said Christians prayed for the emergence of a Christian governor during 2015 campaign, “and our prayers were answered.”

    Ogedengbe said Ambode had lived up to expectation and urged residents to get their permanent voters’ cards before the next general election to exercise their franchise.

    Ambode’s representative at the event, Rev. David Verrals, his special adviser on Christian Religion, said the endorsement by ACLM was proper because of the governor’s superb performance.

    He urged residents to support the government in making Lagos a smart city.

    The highlights of the event included prayers for Lagos State and Nigeria.

  • Group seeks Malami’s sack over memo on Maritime varsity

    Group seeks Malami’s sack over memo on Maritime varsity

    A pressure group, the Niger Delta Indigenous Movement for Radical Change (NDIMRC), has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), for allegedly authoring a memo causing ethnic tension in Delta state.

    On October 17, last year, Malami issued a memo to the Clerk of the National Assembly, seeking to alter the name of the location of the Nigerian Maritime University (NMU) at Okerenkoko to Okerenghigho.

    He cited a Supreme Court judgment for his action.

    The Ijaw and the Itsekiri have been threatening war against each other since the memo was leaked.

    In a petition to President Buhari, by its President, Nelly Emma; Secretary, John Sailor and Public Relations Officer, Stanley Mukoro, NDIMRC warned the AGF against any attempt to mislead the National Assembly, knowing that the university is at Okerenkoko, an Ijaw community.

    The petition reads: “Mr. President, our attention has been drawn to a purported memo emanating from AGF Malami on the location of the Nigerian Maritime University at Okerenkoko in Delta State and wish to let you know that the memo is capable of rocking the peace that your administration has restored in the Niger Delta region.

    “Mr President, the Nigerian Maritime University is located at Okerenkoko, an Ijaw community, and not Okerenghigho, as being claimed by the AGF. We want to make it abundantly clear that Okerenghigho is a non-existing name. Okerenkoko, where the Nigerian Maritime University is located, is an Ijaw land. Any attempt to cause another crisis between the Ijaw and the Itsekiri in Delta State must be avoided at all costs.

    “Let it be known that the site or community where the Nigerian Maritime University is situated has never been known, addressed or called Okerenghigho at any time. The actual, historical and legally recognised name of the host community to the Nigerian Maritime University is Okerenkoko. The name Okerenkoko is reflected in all historical and political documents and institutions, including the Okerenkoko Primary School, Okerenkoko Secondary School, Okerenkoko electoral ward, in all electoral documents, as well as Okerenkoko General Hospital.

    “There is no community known as Okerenghigho within and around the area where the Nigerian Maritime University is situated. Therefore, the purported Supreme Court case of James Uluba and Others v. Chief E. E. Sillo has nothing to do with the land where the Nigerian Maritime University is situated.

    “The contents of the AGF memo to the National Assembly to rename the location of the Nigerian Maritime University from Okerenkoko, to Okerenghigho, are misleading, provocative and mischievous. His action is inflammatory, capable of causing a fresh crisis between the Ijaw and their Itsekiri neighbours. This is why we are urging Mr President to throw him out of his cabinet now.”

  • Group demands recall of Kwara senator

    Group demands recall of Kwara senator

    A group, the Kwara South Unity Forum,  has instituted a recall process against the senator representing Kwara South  District, Rafiu Ibrahim.

    The group said it has dispatched letters to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the National Assembly on the recall.

    The forum said its decision was due to the under performance and poor representation of the Kwara South senatorial district under Senator Ibrahim.

    Addressing reporters in Ijagbo,  Oyun local government area,  its President Comrade John Adegboye said: “The current system of representation we are experiencing under Senator Ibrahim is archaic, demeaning, dehumanizing  and also unacceptable. We are no longer under the precolonial dispensation where there is indirect rule.

    “We the proof Kwara South are appalled by the fact that a man whom we unanimously elected as a senator to represent us in the 8th Assembly, has now openly declared that he has ‘boss’ other than we the good people of Kwara  South, that he takes directives from us.

    “We make bold to call your attention to the physical implications of this show of subservience. In almost three years, where are the federal projects the senator has attracted to the district?”

    Adegboye said the senator has continued to dismiss “our elders and insult our common patrimony by telling that he must consult with his boss.

    “It is therefore, under these circus that the good people of the Kwara South today decide to intimate the generality of Nigerians about our intention to recall him.”

    Reacting to the group’s intention, the National Association of Students, the state branch,  National Association of Kwara state students (NAKSS) passed confidence vote on the senator.

    Also speaking with reporters in Ajase-Ipo, Irepodun locally government area, NANS leader, Comrade Abdulkadir Aliyu said the senator is a man of the people and father of Nigerian students in the constituency.

    Aliyu said that his leadership qualities and open door policy had endeared him to the students.

    He said this can be attested to by the construction of relaxation centre to University of Ilorin students,  students empowerment scheme, renovation of Offa Township Hall,  free SSCE and JAMB registration. Others are sponsorship of students programmes, scholarships, free vocational training.

    “Without iota of doubt, we are convinced that his leadership deserves a great applause,” he added.

    In his reaction, former transition implementation chair,  Irepodun local government Kashim Adekeye described the plan recall as a cheap talk.

    Adekeye added that “anybody can decide to say what he likes.