The Nation Newspaper

Tag: KOGI

  • Kogi varsity students to protest closure

    Barring a last-minute change of plan, the Kogi State University (KSU) students will storm Lokoja, the state capital, to protest the continued closure of their school. The students gave the government 14 days to open the school, or face a protest.

    The school was shut in January, following an indefinite strike declared by the teaching and non-teaching workers over unpaid salaries and arrears.

    The students said the action was necessary to draw attention to their plight as the school may not be re-opened anytime soon.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the KSU Students’ Union led by Philip Omepa, may have planned the protest to clear itself allegations of receiving bribe  from the government to suppress students’ demonstration.

    Omepa dismissed the insinuation, saying the union resolved to embark on the protest if its ongoing effort to broker peace between the government and the school workers fails.

    Omepa said: “There are different approaches to addressing issues relating to strikes. One is consultation, which we have done. The other is dialogue, which we are presently doing. The last resort is confrontation, which we will do if nothing happens by March 31. We have written letters to authorities concerned and attended several meetings in our quest to find positive result. And now we have been assured of the March deadline when all grey areas would have been addressed for students to return to school.”

    The union president stressed that government had promised to end its staff screening and verification exercise, after which it would have time to address industrial action in the state-owned tertiary institutions. He said the government recently reached an agreement with the national leadership of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), who visited the state to mediate in the crisis rocking the school.

    Omepa dismissed the allegation that he received N1 million bribe from government to shelve an earlier scheduled protest, which was slated for March 14, saying the union canceled the planned demonstration because it could be hijacked by miscreants.

    He said: “The protest was not even planned by the union, but we wanted to be part of it. But, there was no adequate security measure to make the protest peaceful. As the president, I have the responsibility to protect students’ lives. I could not afford to lead them in protest ignorantly, knowing that such protest might be hijacked.

    “To show students that we are not sleeping, we have decided that if nothing happens by March 31, we will disrupt activities in Lokoja on April 1. Students will march on the Government House in their numbers to express their grievances in the manner in which education is being crippled in the state.”

    The students’ leader accused Governor Yahya Bello of using Department of State Service (DSS) to intimidate him over an alleged “conspiracy meeting” with Senator Dino Melaye. Omepa was recently invited by the DSS to explain what transpired at the meeting.

    But, the state government denied sending the DSS or any other security agency after the students’ leader, saying the allegation was false.

    An aide to the governor, who did not give his name because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said the allegation was far from the truth.

    The aide assured of the governor’s determination to end the strike in the state-owned higher institutions, noting that the recent constitution of Boards for tertiary institutions by the governor was an indication that the government was addressing the issue.

  • Six Kogi PDP legislators defect to APC

    Six Kogi PDP legislators defect to APC

    Six members of the Kogi House of Assembly, elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The members, in a joint notification letter to the Speaker, Alhaji Umar Imam, cited “factional squabbles” in the PDP, as responsible for their action.

    Imam, while reading the letter on the floor of the House on Thursday, named the defectors as John Abah (Ibaji), Adoke Bello (Adavi), Kolawole Atthew (Kabba-Bunu), Ahmed Mohammed (Ankpa 1), Victor Omofaiye (Ijumu) and Kekere Sani-Abdulkareem (Okehi).

    The legislators said that they were forced to move to a more stable political group because the factional squabbles, both at the national and state levels, had torn the PDP into shreds.

    “The PDP has two National Chairmen – Sen. Ali Modu-Sheriff and Sen. Ahmed Makarfi- whose existence for over 10 months has left us uncomfortable, politically.

    “In view of the unfortunate division and its negative implications, we have no option than to defect to the APC to be able to accomplish our missions of bringing government closer to our people,’’ the letter further stated.

    Reacting, Godwin Osiyi (PDP, Ogori-Magongo), warned the defectors against moving away from their new political abode anytime it was faced with similar disagreements.

    Osiyi advised that the defection should not be allowed to affect the peace and unity among members.

    The Speaker, while congratulating the defectors for their decision, assured his colleagues that their action would  not affect the unity in the House.

    “What is important is the peace and unity that we enjoy. The House remains one. We are all gentlemen and have to be focused toward what we can do in the remaining period,’’ Imam said.

    Speaking with newsmen shortly after the session, Mr Friday Sani (PDP-Igalamela-Odolu), described the defection as a `child’s play’, and claimed that the members did not follow due process as enshrined in section 109 of the constitution.

    “Votes belong to the party and not individual candidates; the defectors will lose their seats because we shall challenge their action in court,” he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that with the defection of the six members, the PDP, formerly the majority party in the House, has become the minority with nine members to APC’s 16 in the 25-member Assembly. (NAN)

  • Mercy Johnson pledges to serve Kogi with her experience

    Mercy Johnson pledges to serve Kogi with her experience

    Nollywood actress, Mercy Johnson has promised to serve Kogi State with her modest experience following her appointment as Senior Special Assistant on Entertainment ,Arts and Culture to the state governor.

    In a message shared on her Instagram handle, @mercyjohnsonokojieI , she said she is gratified with the official notification of her appointment.

    “ I am humbled, as I duly acknowledge this attending responsibility to serve my great state with the modest experience I have gathered over the years.

    “With depth of gratitude, I want to thank the Governor of Kogi State; His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello and his wife, the first lady of Kogi state Her Excellency Mrs Rashida Bello for this unparallel opportunity to serve.

    “My endless gratitude goes to my husband, Prince Odianosen Okojie for giving me his consent, knowing fully the sacrifices and adaptations he will have to put up with.

    “To all my family, friends, colleagues and fans, thank you for all your prayers and well wishes, I am eternally greatful to Almighty God, to him be all the glory,” the actress stated.

     

  • Monarch tasks government on environmental protection

    The Attah of Igala in Kogi, Dr Idakwo Ameh-Oboni II, has urged government at all levels to embark on continuous afforestation programme to protect the environment.

    The monarch made the call in Idah on Tuesday when the State’s Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mrs. Rosemary Osikoya, visited the palace.

    He advised the government to develop tree nurseries in all the local government areas across the state to make afforestation a continuous process as being done in advanced countries.

    “The numerous benefits of afforestation include addressing environmental degradation, more especially desertification, deforestation, erosion and flooding as well as reducing the effects of climate change

    “Most trees of our forest reserves have been turned into desert through deforestation thereby exposing the soil nutrients to sunlight and causing erosion.

    “We are calling on government and the people to quickly embark on afforestation to enrich our environment; if neglected, the price of the negative effects would be too high to pay.

    “Let us try and revive our natural environment for our benefit because we met them and we should not destroy them,” the monarch said.

    Ameh-Oboni, who is also the President of Kogi Traditional Council, however, commended the efforts of the State Government for making the issues of environmental concerns a priority.

    The traditional ruler urged the people to maintain clean environment, saying that they should adhere strictly to environmental laws, and avoid roadside trading for their safety and that of others.

    In her remarks, the commissioner said that the government was committed to providing quality tree seedlings to farmers that have interest in establishing private plantations.

    “Timber is the state`s third highest foreign currency earner, every house that does not have a tree should be ready to plant one as the planting season starts between May and June.

    “By extant laws, nobody is allowed to cut down any tree without government`s approval; this will bring transparency and accountability to the process of benefit that is derived from the forest.

    “Our target is to have 24 per cent afforestation of the state’s land mass; a little below the 25 per cent vegetation standard.

    “So, this administration, led Gov. Yahaya Bello, is committed to sustainable utilisation of forestry, sanitation and waste management,” Osikoya said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the commissioner`s visit was part of government’s sensitisation and consultation campaign on environmental issues.

     

  • Kogi governor’s wife makes case for gender equality

    Kogi governor’s wife makes case for gender equality

    Wife of Governor of Kogi State, Mrs Rasheedat Bello has called for urgent domestication of the Gender and Equal Opportunity and Violence against Persons Prohibition Law in the state.

    She made the call at an advocacy meeting with stakeholders as part of activities marking the 2017 International Women’s Day in Lokoja, the state capital.

    The advocacy meeting was organised by a non-profit organisation, Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development (PIBCID) in conjunction with the Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA) with support from ActionAid Nigeria.

    Bello said women “constituted a very important fraction of the human population” but had been sidelined for too long with their rights often violated at will.

    “It is my belief that the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill and Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill are a great leap but these bills have to be domesticated in Kogi State,” she stated.

    Mrs Gift Owonipa, Executive Director of PIBCID in a paper: “Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill as a Tool for Acceleration Gender Parity in Kogi State,” said that in spite of efforts at addressing gender issues, rights of women and children were still being trampled upon.

    She said, “It is disheartening to note that the rights of Nigerian women and by extension Kogi women are still being violated and women are still subjugated to different forms of violence, discrimination and harmful practices.

    ‘’What we are asking for is protection and equal opportunity when it comes to marriage, business, employments, politics and inheritance amongst others. With these, our families, communities and state will prosper, she said.

    Owonipa called on Governor Bello to as a matter of urgency, institute a gender audit to identify gaps and areas where gender equality can be strengthened in terms of recruitments, appointive positions, promotion and remuneration for public and polittical offices.

    The state commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Bolanle Amupitan who was represented by Mrs Tessy Fadile urged that the government ensure enforcement of the state law on kidnapping, as part of measures at addressing issues of security for women and children in the state.

    Wife of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hajia Hadiza Imam, said gender-based issues remain rampant in communities and urged women to come up with a holistic agenda to tackle the issues.

    Hon. Victor Omofaiye, the member representing Ijumu state constituency at the house of assembly called on women to always support their fellow women’s aspirations, asserting that hitherto, women had been their own worst enemies rather than men.

    Mrs Falilat Yusuf-Musa, FIDA chairperson in the state called for the emergence of a more gender-inclusive world and called on the women to be bold , and come together to address issues of injustice affecting them.

    As part of the programme, two hundred “seed grants” were handed over to two clusters of women cooperative groups from Osara and Ugbedomogwu communities, in Adavi and Igalamela/Odolu local government areas.

  • Gov. Bello approves payment of N1.388 bn to Kogi pensioners

    Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi had approved N1.338 billion for the payment of 14 months’ arrears to pensioners in the state.

    A statement issued in Lokoja on Sunday said that Bello made the approval during the last state executive council meeting held on March 9.

    Mr Kingsley Fanwo, the Director-General (D-G) to the governor on media and strategy, said in the statement that the money was to cover outstanding pension arrears of retirees from January 2016 to February 2017.

    He, however, said that those to be paid were pensioners on the cleared-list of the just concluded screening.

    According to him, payment will commence immediately as all necessary arrangements have been put in place.

    The D-G quoted the governor as commending the pensioners for bearing with the government during the period of the screening, it said.

    The governor was said to have promised to continue to place top priority on the pensioners’ welfare.

     

  • Kogi council worker arrested for double employment

    Kogi council worker arrested for double employment

    Operatives of the Kogi State Investigative Bureau (SIB) have arrested an Ibaji Local Government worker, Atule Austin, for allegedly earning salaries from Ibaji council and the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) in the last 10 years.
    Austin is believed to have fraudulently earned over N21.9 million from both agencies in the period under review.
    Addressing reporters at the Government House in Lokoja, Director General, Media and Publicity to the governor Kingsley Fanwo, said the fraud was discovered by members of the Screening Appeal Panel.
    According to him, Atule had been working with both agencies since 2005, earning N105,050.40 monthly from TSC and N77,671.67 monthly from Ibaji council, totaling N21,926,648.40.
    According to him, Atule was consistently promoted at Ibaji despite absconding from work. He was employed as a Finance Officer but had no work schedule.
    Atule admitted he committed the fraud and asked for forgiveness.

  • Senator provides transformers, boreholes for Kogi constituents

    The Senator representing Kogi Central, Ahmed Ogembe has donated 25 boreholes and six transformers to the five local government areas in the district.

    The boreholes are spread across the five council areas of Adavi, Okene, Okehi, Ogorimagongo and Ajaokuta.

    He disclosed that work has reached advanced stages at the Okene multipurpose civic centre.

    Represented by his media aide, Mr. Yemi Duke, during the presentation, he described his achievements in one year as evident that he is determined to give priority to the welfare of the people in his district.

    He said, “It is evident that we have a representative at the senate who is ready to give priority to the welfare of his people.”

    Speaking on the civic centre in Okene, Duke said it was the initiative of the senator, as local government chairman, but which he could not complete before the end of his tenure.

    “The senator initiated the idea of the civic centre to serve as a rallying point for the people of the council area, but could not complete it then, as he won the election to the senate.

    “He therefore decided to complete the project to achieve his dream of bringing the people together under one roof,” he said.

    He listed other his other priority areas to include empowerment with direct impact on the people in view of the current economy recession.

    He thanked the people for their mandate, adding that he is determined to do his best at good representation in the Senate.

  • Bello: Taming the tides of insecurity in Kogi

    Bello: Taming the tides of insecurity in Kogi

    As we journeyed from Lokoja to Okene enroute to Akure for the swearing-in ceremony of the Ondo State Governor-elect, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), my mind dwelt on a number of things that have changed in my journeys along the familiar road with deep reflections on the innate capacity of purposeful leadership to fully transform failing infrastructures for people’s benefit. I realised once again how much our everyday life is affected by governance, anchored on leadership or the lack of it, and how inexorably linked our access to infrastructure is to our living standards and what difference a visionary leadership could make in a short period of time.

    Being from Ogori, Kogi State the road is one I had plied very frequently. And as we moved smoothly and swiftly for that matter, I recalled how torturous transiting through this road used to be few months down the fading past. The experience was always a nasty one with intermittent descent into wide gullies bestriding the un-motorable road amidst insecure grunts of apprehension. As my mind lingered on the ease and comfort now experienced on the road, compared with what obtained in the not too distant past, I became suddenly overcome with emotions and overwhelmed with deserving appreciation to His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello from the hordes of social commentators who are frequent users of the road.

    Of the several journeys through that road that I can remember, there has never been one that felt like this one. The journey was smooth and quick. There have been several leaders at the helm of affairs in our dear Kogi State, but I make bold to say none has given this road this much attention at renewal, no one, not even close. Never mind the question of the consistent window dressing of majority of our prominent roads by successive administrations with purchased or rented crowds to cheer the leaders for variegated political plaudits at the bogus commissioning –those are plays upon the stage. What is truly unprecedented in the mind of the patriotic and discerning Kogi people is the propelling love of the people by the governor, the desire to improve on their access to functional road infrastructure, and the sheer magnitude of quickening heartbeats in millions of Kogi people who are filled with appreciation for the uncommon transformation of their once ruined road networks which they hitherto plied largely buffeted within and without by the simmering ache of dread.

    In a similar vein, I have never seen transformation so vivid with clear evidence of committed work and applauded performance so unencumbered by questions of divisiveness, tribalism, and other base considerations.

    One thing about performance is that it cuts across all the people as ultimate beneficiaries without undue interference by a tangled web of conflicting interests. Despite the pageantry of unity that accompanies any accomplishment that cuts across everyone in Kogi State, there is a piercing sense of fulfilment that touches close to home that the one doing these exploits is the revolutionary game-changer governor.

    Apart from the cogent and limitless benefits to travellers on this road and many others in form of easy and comfortable drive, less wear and tear on vehicles and the tyres, faster and safer travels, there is a more important reason why people of good conscience continue to applaud the Governor Bello for working on the road: this is the improvement brought on the security apparatus – something that earned him recognition as the governor with the greatest strides in security improvement in the country in the past year.

    It should be recalled that these bad roads hitherto contributed to the insecurity challenges faced by the state as they made it easy for robberies and kidnaps to happen unfettered on that axis. Journeys on that route were previously characterised by reasonable apprehension, palpable fear of imminent danger over carefully orchestrated robbery ambushes and hostage-taking owing to the slowness of journeys accentuated by structurally defective road infrastructure.

    This move to further improve on security which the Bello administration considers as priority was informed by intelligence reports that criminals hide behind bushes along the roads to perpetuate crime. And so in line with the Kogi State government’s unalloyed commitment to ensuring security, the governor directed a construction company to be engaged to clear five metres on both sides of the roads from Kabba Junction to Otite in Okehi LGA; Check Point in Okene LGA to Okpela; from Check Point in Okene LGA to Ajaokuta to assist the road networks, open up the lingering hideout of criminals on that route and ultimately contribute to nipping insecurity challenges in the bud once and for all.

    The second phase of the road clearing and widening project is billed to commence from Kabba Junction through Odo-Ape to Kabba Town while the third phase will equally commence from Lokoja through Ganaja to Ajaokuta Township and the link road between Igalamela/Odolu to Ofu and several internal road path in Omala LGA which have been previously considered to be flashpoints for the unbridled infestation of crime in the state.

    It is instructive to note that the Kogi State government has completed the clearing of the roadsides between Koton-karfe and Abaji in fulfilment of the administration’s strides towards delivering on its promises to improve on the road networks and ensuring the security of lives and property of the commuters in a continuous bid to making Kogi safer and more secure.

    The fact that one of the multi-dimensional approaches the Bello-led administration is taking to curb insecurity challenge in Kogi State is to improve on the road network confirms his faultless genius as solving the people’s peculiar infrastructural challenges and delivering the dividends of democracy to all Kogi people irrespective of their political affiliation despite the limitation of resources. It is worthy of note that these worthwhile huge investments in the road and security infrastructure is already paying off as seen in the substantial improvement of security in the state.

    One can only wish the hard-working, diligent, extremely focused governor, Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, more wisdom, strength and sound health as he continues in his laudable efforts towards repositioning the state as contained in the New Direction Blueprint in the years ahead.

    •Onyegbule is Chief Press Secretary to Kogi governor.

  • Kogi empowers 2,500 unemployed youths in vocational skills

    The Kogi State government has empowered 2,500 unemployed youths through its Basic Skill Acquisition and Vocational Training Programme.

    The empowerment programme, which began February 9, was held in the three senatorial districts.

    Speaking at the weekend, at the completion of the final phase in Anyigba, Governor Yahaya Bello’s Special Adviser on Job Creation and SMEs Development, Prince Abdulkareem Onyekehi Suleiman, expressed satisfaction with the programme, attributing its success to Bello’s commitment to raising successful entrepreneurs.

    He said government would help certified participants to start up their businesses.

    “Besides the knowledge acquired by the participants, the government, in partnership with Coolink Integrated Services Ltd, will secure loans for them to start up their businesses.

    “Meanwhile, Governor Bello has approved the sponsorship of 10 participants to the United States of America for advanced entrepreneurship development at the upcoming African Global Economic Development Summit in Los Angeles, between March 16 and 18, Suleiman said.