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  • Group condemns frequent deployment, redeployment of police commissioners in Bayelsa

    A group under the auspices of Bayelsa State All Progressives Congress (APC) Youth Vanguard has condemned the recent politicisation and frequent deployment and redeployment of police commissioners to Bayelsa State.

    This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of an emergency meeting by the Bayelsa APC Youth Vanguard and made available to journalists.

    The communiqué which was signed by the convener of the group, Mr Timi Okofo and the General Secretary, Mr Warepamo Ikoli, accused Governor Seriake Dickson and President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief Personal Security Officer (CPSO) in the Presidency of allegedly responsible for the constant deployment and redeployment of police commissioners in the state.

    They also accused Police Commissioner, Abdulkarim Dauda also in the villa, of allegedly using his privileged office to dictate to the Inspector General of Police which police officers should be posted to Badyelsa State to serve as the Commissioner of Police.

    The group therefore called for the immediate removal of CP Dauda as the Police Commissioner in charge of the Villa in view of the alleged gross abuse of his office, failure of which they will march to the Villa to protest the interference of CP Dauda and Governor Dickson in the security of Bayelsa State.

    The communiqué reads, “Our investigation revealed that our state governor, Seriake Dickson has been at the epicentre of this unfortunate development. The governor has used his incumbency advantage to ensure that only police officers whose loyalty to his ruling party in Bayelsa State, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) are the ones that are retained in the state.

    “Conversely, the governor always raises the false alarm each time a police commissioner who demonstrates strict professionalism and non-partisanship is posted to Bayelsa State and ensures that such officers are promptly redeployed away from the state.”

    The APC group also frowned at the latest use of CP Dauda by Dickson last week, to remove Mr. Joseph Mukan as the Commissioner of Police in the state and replacing him with a PDP police chief loyalist and the former Commissioner of Police from a friendly PDP State in Kwara, Mr. Aminu Pai Saleh.

    “We recall that upon his posting and assumption of office in Bayelsa State in November last month, Mukan immediately settled down to work, pledged his neutrality to the politicians and strict adherence to professionalism, read the riot act to criminals and miscreants, deployed his professional skills to root out the criminals and restore sanity to Bayelsa State.”

  • Group vows to mobilise votes for Buhari

    THE Buhari/Osinbajo Continuity 2019 Organisation wants all campaign groups involved in the Presidential campaign to eschew bitterness and hate speech in the campaigns and preach peace throughout the campaign, promising to deliver 16 million votes to the President in the 2019 election.

    The group said it planned to embark on a door to door campaign to ensure the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    National Coordinator of the Group, Ayuba Birma who spoke at a news conference in Abuja also asked all candidates participating in the general elections to play by the rules, by avoiding campaigns that promote hatred or preach intolerance and disunity among fellow Nigerians.

    While calling for total support for the President to take Nigeria to the next level, Birma vowed that his group will expose those involved in vote buying which he described as undemocratic, while asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remain impartial and ignore all insinuations of the opposition and work assiduously towards a free, fair and credible election.

    He said security agencies must be prepared to discharge their responsibilities with utmost professionalism, as they did in the last elections and asked other Buhari Support Groups to join hands to deliver on their mandate to ensure the re-election of President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    He said the Presidential Fertilizer initiative has resulted in revitalisation of 14 blending plants across the Country with total installed capacity in excess 2 million MT.

    A former Minister of Education Prof. Nora Obaji said they were working for the re-election of the President because of what he has achieved since assuming office.

    She said “We are here because we believe in Mr. President and the work that he is doing. We are here out of our conviction that the President and Vice President needs a second term to lead this country completely out of economic, political, and security crisis.”

  • Group endorses Buhari

    The Nigeria Peoples Voice (NPV), a nonprofit, non-political movement, has thrown its weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term ambition.

    Giving this hint yesterday was the president of NPV, Ambassador Ade Babalola. He spoke during the inauguration of the Lagos State chapter.

    According to him, the NPV, which is an association of progressive-minded people drawn from the six geopolitical zones of the country, has no affiliation whatsoever with the existing 91 political parties but whose mission is to lead the vanguard of those desirous of creating a society where social justice, rule of law, respect for citizens, economic prosperity is the order of the day.

    Going down memory lane, Babalola recalled that successive governments under the military era, including Generals Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, instigated the socio economic downturn which prevails till date.

    Specifically, he said, unlike General Yakubu Gowon who left enduring legacies, the duo of Obasanjo and Babangida-led governments left the country worse than they met it.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Group seeks funding of the National Strategic Health Plan II

    Stakeholders have admonished the Federal and state governments to fund, implement and ensure accountability of the second National Strategic Health Development Plan to achieve the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

    At a news conference to mark the UHC day in Abuja, stakeholders noted that for Nigeria to achieve universal health coverage, it is imperative that all tiers of government fund the plan.

    The first universal health coverage day was held in 2014. The 2018 theme is: “Unite for Universal Health Coverage: Now is the Time for Collective Action”.

    Leader of the group and Co-chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in Kano State, Hajiya Halima Ben Umar, said since December 12, 2012, the United Nations (UN) unanimously affirmed universal health coverage as an important pillar of sustainable development, urging countries, civil society and international organisations to make it part of the development agenda.

    The stakeholders lauded the Federal, state and local governments for investing in the health sector despite the economic challenges, and said the hree tiers of government must fund the second National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP II) and ensure accountability in its implementation to achieve universal health coverage in Nigeria.

    “Prior to the global movement of UHC, Nigeria developed health policies and structures, such as the first National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP-I) and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), to increase access to healthcare, but despite these structures, the country was unable to achieve the objective of ensuring that every citizen has access to healthcare,” the group lamented.

    The group explained that according to Nigeria’s National Health Account of 2014, for every N1,000 spent on health, about N700 is out-of-pocket expenditure, a situation that is driving millions of Nigerians into poverty and denying them basic healthcare. The group added that the meagre investment is further compounded by the delay or non-release of funds appropriated.

    “The coalition believes that if these barriers are removed by fully funding, implementing and ensuring accountability of the NSHDP-II, every Nigerian will have access to affordable and quality health care,” it added.

  • Group, APC leaders embark on sanitation project

    Within the week, members of the Mainland Independent Group, MIG, armed with shovels, rakes, among other implements, trooped into the streets of Mainland and Yaba local government areas of Lagos State, in a drive aimed at giving the area a new face.

    Leader and Co-ordinator of the group, Alhaji Ibrahim Alao Megida, explained that the project was being undertaken in collaboration with APC elders in the afore-mentioned local government areas, and that it was meant to complement government’s drive in bringing about a clean habitable environment, which is fundamentally strategic as a preventive health care measure.

    “Apart from this, our renewed effort under this special environmental scheme is in keeping with the vision of a greater Lagos, and a honour to our great leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who laid the foundation for this vision during his historic tenure as governor of Lagos State.

    “You will remember that when Asiwaju assumed office as governor, the first thing he did was to clean up the state. He did this within the first six months of his administration. Before this time, Lagos was fast assuming the notorious image of one of the dirtiest cities in the world. But Asiwaju was able to make history by turning around the situation for good, thus achieving a feat which others before him had been unable to accomplish over the years.

    Read also: APC raises the alarm over destruction of Buhari, Ogah’s campaign posters

    “This is why it is important for us all to join hands together in the onerous drive to sustain this worthy tradition because you cannot talk of a mega city with regards to Lagos State, without talking of a conducive and habitable environment. This is why I am advising others across the state to emulate this good example,” said the MIG leader.

    Megida also seized the opportunity to express his immense gratitude to the Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Tunji Bello, for his untiring assistance in sustaining MIG over the years. “As a keen environmental activist and  an ex-Commissioner for Environment, the on-going exercise is something he so much loves and cherish,” Megida stated further.

  • Group mulls task force on pesticides use

    The National President of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr. Victor Iyama, said the organisation had set up a task force to ensure safe and responsible use of pesticides.

    He said this is to prevent more accidents, protect farmers’ health, and improve efforts in the field.

    A considerable number of accidents occur each year as a result of pesticide mistakes, causing eye, skin, and respiratory infections.

    Iyama said the move has become necessary with the reported abuse of the use of Spiner in beans preservation. The task force, according to him, is targeting farmers and producers.

    The task force, he added, aims at reducing the risks and consequences of the use of pesticides, including a reduction of the use and placement in the market of the products.

    At farm, he said the association will ensure balanced information will be available to farmers about the risks of the use of plant protection products, proper storage conditions, as well as about alternative solutions that entail a smaller risk.

    According to him, it has become clear that farmers were relying on chemical pesticides too much and using any pesticides they could buy without proper guidance.

    Although most farmers use agricultural chemicals to control pest and disease attacks these days, he said many haven’t been properly trained on application practices.

    As a result, the chemicals have a high chance of contaminating crops.   He said the association is determined to teach farmers about pesticide safety.

     

  • Group hails BUA Cement quality

    The Chairman, Kano State Block Moulders Association, Umar Musa has commended BUA Cement for its sustained production of quality cement to meet required demands of the blockmaking industry. The blockmakers gave the commendation at it’s regional stakeholders workshop tagged: Optimising Cement Usage to Achieve Better Quality and Yields of Blocks in Kano State.

    The one-day workshop organised by BUA Obu Cement in collaboration with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) harped on training block makers on the best practices to deploy in the production of standard blocks and concrete which when used, could prevent building collapse and aid in better building practices.

    Speaking at the workshop, Musa said: “BUA Cement is quality cement that can be used to mould any types of block. It has so many requirements needed from any cement – in terms of strength, colour and quality. And it also gives us more blocks per bag.

    “We are happy that BUA Cement came to train us on new techniques in block making and we know that this event will further strengthen the existing relationship between the company and block moulders.”

    Present at the workshop were Head of Training, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Dauda Lawal; Unit Head, Civil/Building Department, SON Musa Bauchi and Quality Control Manager, BUA Obu Cement, Adeyinka Adesola.

  • Group mourns Fasehun

    A group, the Oodua Peoples Congress-Reformed (OPC-R), has commiserated with the family of the late OPC founder Dr. Frederick Fasehun.

    In a statement in Lagos yesterday, its National President, Comrade Dare Adesope, described Fasehun as a good father and a visionary leader.

    The letter reads: “There is no other word that can perfectly express how sad we are to receive the news of the death of Dr. Frederick Fasehun; a father, mentor and rare gem.

    ”Death is inevitable, but we take solace that we witnessed incredibly first hand close relationship with him. We express our condolence to the family. We will ensure unity among all OPC groups.”

     

  • Group celebrates 10 years of giving succour

    Thirteen years after the death of popular pastor, youth mentor and marriage counsellor, Bimbo Odukoya, her husband, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya and the flock he leads, the Fountain of Life Church, has moved on.

    At the weekend, the church celebrated 10 years of catering for single parents, widows/widowers and divorcees in need of one thing or the other; a forum that was instituted in memory of the late Pastor Odukoya.

    Speaking to reporters after the event, Pastor Biodun Soderu said the assistance rendered by the church to vulnerable groups at this time of the year is a way of encouraging them to continue to soldier on in life. Soderu is the Assistant Head of Department, Ruth and Boaz Fellowship, the platform or ministry through which the church has been reaching out to vulnerable groups, such as single parents, widows/widowers, divorcees and matured singles.

    During the anniversary, about 150 people, mostly women, benefitted from Ruth and Boaz Fellowship’s Christmas gift, made up of essentially food items like rice, beans, macaroni and spaghetti.

    Soderu said the group regularly renders assistance to needy persons, particularly during its bi-annual rallies, as well as during its monthly prayer meetings.

    Other ways of assisting the needy, he said, includes paying school fees for indigent students, paying house rent for those in dire need of shelter, widow empowerment and support, as well as provision of vocational tranings in soap making and other skills.

    Pastor Soderu added: “We have a vocational school that we have ran for almost 10 years. The school has graduated thousands of people in a number of vocational fields. We also have a cooperative that has over 1,500 active members. These are some of the ways we have used to assist vulnerable people in society, not just members of the Fountain of Life Church, because the vocational school and cooperative is open to everybody.”

    Head of Department, Ruth and Boaz Fellowship, Pastor Tinu Olashore, said the Lord has utilized the group to do a lot of exploits over the years. She said: We have recorded amazing testimonies and answers to prayers from our prayer meetings. This has also been an avenue for counseling those that require same. We have also set up coffee meetings in Abeokuta and Lagos where members can come together in an intimate setting to fellowship in smaller groups.”

    Olashore said Ruth and Boaz has been sustaining its empowerment programmes through voluntary donations from members and the parent church. She added: “The money is dedicated to the programmes and does not go into the coffers of the church.”

     

  • Group advocates for good governance

    A Lagos based non-governmental organisation, Greater and Better Nigeria Development Initiative (GABNDI) has canvassed for good governance in Nigeria. The president of the group, Bonus Omenma, said the group will throw its weight behind any candidate (s) who will convince Nigerians beyond reasonable doubt of their commitments to bring out the country out of woods.

    He urged Nigerians to get their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, ready and vote for the candidates of their choice in 2019; adding that government should endeavour to conduct free, fair, credible and transparent elections where the votes cast by Nigerians would be counted.”One of the reasons why we voted president Buhari is because he promised to fight corruption, unemployment and insecurity.

    Re-echoing the same sentiment the vice president of the group, Barr. Theophilus Akanwa, said GABNDI believe in oneness and greatness of Nigeria. He said Nigeria has what it takes, in terms of capital and human resources to make Nigeria a great country like those in developed world. Akanwa believe that Nigeria can get it right if the citizens are ready to support and vote for the right people to the right political positions across the country.

    He said GABNDI being an Igbo tribe initiative will not join forces with some people who are kicking against the nomination of former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi as a running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who is flying the ticket of People’s Democratic Party, PDP in 2019 presidential election. “Some of them are jealous that Atiku is going for the best,” he submitted.