The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kudos

  • Kudos to Oyo State but…

    Kudos to Oyo State but…

    Whoever amongst you sees something wrong should endeavour to correct it with his hand (by removing it). If he is incapable of correcting it with his hand, let him correct it with his tongue (by condemning it). If he is still incapable of doing so let him effect the correction with his mind (by praying for its stoppage). However, the last option is the weakest of all.”

    Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

     

    Preamble

    Oyo State has proved to be Nigeria’s Pacesetter State indeed by introducing a bill to formally prohibit kidnapping in the State and to prescribe the commensurate penalty for any culprit.

    The bill which prescribes death sentence or life imprisonment for anybody who engages in kidnapping has been signed into law by Governor Ishak Abiola Ajimobi.

    The law also prescribes various jail terms for anybody found to be an accomplice directly or indirectly in the crime. The law is a bold step in stemming kidnapping as a crime in Oyo State.

    ‘The Message’ hereby joins millions of Nigerians to congratulate Oyo State government on this laudable step wishing the governor a successful implementation of the law.

     

    The need for amendment

    Pleasant as the law against kidnapping is, however, there may be need for an amendment to that law. There is another crime that is a deadly as kidnapping in our society today which ought to have been taken along in that law. That crime is rape.

    Looking at it from any angle, rape is like a scar which no dermatologist can obliterate from anybody’s skin. It is only those who experience it that can feel its impact.

    The rate of rape in Nigeria today is amazingly disturbing enough to warrant a law prohibiting it and prescribing a penalty for it similar to that of kidnapping.

    For those who have fallen victim of it, rape is an everlasting agony affecting both the mental being and the state of mind in terms of dignity.

    This is particularly true of innocent juvenile girls who are reportedly defiled in various parts of the country. While praising Oyo State government for championing the war against crimes, ‘The Message’ column hereby implores the Pacesetter State to please take a further by adding rape to it so that other states in the federation may follow suit. Kidnapping and rape are two of a kind in the realm of crimes.

     

    Animal Farm

    Here is the moment in the life of a country when any responsible newspaper    columnist must fall into a dilemma. A Yoruba (Apala) music maestro of late memory, Haruna Isola, once released a philosophical lyric in which he described the modern world as “tiptoeing on one of its two legs while the other (leg) remains hanging and virtually redundant”.

    That is the current situation of life in Nigeria where, like George Owens’s ‘Animal Farm’, the strong devours the weak with reckless impunity.

    “What can we say of a man who fixes his eyes on the sun but does not see it? He rather sees a chorus of flaming seraphim announcing a paroxysm of despair”. That is the parable of the country called Nigeria.

    Like the Israelites of yore, Nigerians of today have become gypsies wandering aimlessly in the wilderness of despair while wallowing helplessly in abject poverty and squalour even in the midst of abundance. This situation has catapulted the thought of crimes as a bailout to the front burner of our social life in many youths.

    Of the overwhelming crimes in Nigeria today, three are outstanding. The first is insurgency. The second is rape. The third is kidnapping. All of these are products of corruption, a canker-worm that has eaten very deeply into the fabric of Nigerian culture. Every criminal in the above itemised spheres is capitalising on the unbridled corruption in the land to engage in his or her branch of crime. But the focus here is rape.

    The dilemma of

    a columnist

    Today, so many disturbing issues are floating in the horizon to confirm an era of unbridled sadism in today’s Nigeria where religion and cultural pedigrees do not have any meaning any more. Thus, the thoughts and ideas of writing on current issues have become so clumsy that a columnist must fall into a dilemma.

    Nigerians of the present generation seem to be bent on interpolating their lifestyle with that of wild animals a euphemism for seeking ruins. In what looks like an animal zoo where no shame is reckoned with and no dignity is valued, crimes seem to have become the rule by which Nigerians of today live on a daily basis.

     

    Societal conspiracy

    The seeming indifference of the public to those crimes, especially the rampant rape of underage girls in the society, is suggestive of a tacit societal conspiracy.

    Even animals, whether domestic or wild, still maintain some level of morality in their relationship with one another. We may not know the details of the rule of engagement in the wild life but through our little familiarity with domestic animals, we can confirm that the adult ones among them do not rape the juvenile ones.

    Any good observer among men will notice that the lion or any carnivorous animal for that matter preys on a victim only in time of hunger. And as soon as it becomes satisfied, all other potential victims can move around freely without being preyed upon or harassed. This is not the case with human beings, especially those of Nigerian origin.

    An average Nigerian does not only greedily amass wealth for himself illegally. He also amasses wealth for his children and even, grand children as a provision for future comfort against imaginary poverty.

    This terrible greed has been carried into other spheres of life, including rape. Thus, some married men of advanced age believe that the only way of having a sexual taste of virginity is to rape innocent female juveniles since they had missed that opportunity in their wives. Some others satanically believe that virginity is a source of wealth which can be facilitated through the ritual means.

     

    Cases of rape

    Last week, the media was awash with the news of the arrest of 35-year-old Badmos Olajuwon, a fashion designer and husband of two wives, for allegedly raping an eight-year-old girl.

    The unfortunate incident, according to reports, occurred in Somolu area of Lagos State where the man was alleged to have forcefully defiled the innocent girl on her grandmother’s bed.

    Even an animal, no matter how wild, will not descend so low to do that. The unanswered question is this: what could have led a man of that age to think of raping a girl of that age where sanity still holds sway? Until the answer to this question is provided by the Nigerian society it may be difficult to believe that Nigeria remains a member of the civilised comity of nations.

     

    More examples

    Incidentally, last Wednesday again, another breaking news captured the vintage pages of national newspapers with the report of a 30-year-old truck pusher, Nurudeen Owolabi, who allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl in Bariga area also of Lagos State. Both Olajuwon and Owolabi have, as usual, blamed the devil for their devilish acts.

    There are thousands of similar cases reported and not reported in various parts of the country. The incidents of rape have become so rampant in Nigeria today that most people do not see them as an aberration while those crimes are being virtually accepted as a part of societal norm.

    On February 17,  a 51-year-old casket maker, Kayode Michael, was caught defiling an eight-year-old girl in Lagos. He is now serving a four-year jail term. His reason for engaging in such a devilish act was as usual, the devil.

    Also in 2015, a 60-year-old man, Edekin Ojaogbe, was paraded by the Edo State Police Command for allegedly defiling a 13-year-old girl. Confessing to the crime, Ojaogbe who disclosed that he was married with three children but his wife had left him said he slept with the teenage girl three times because he loved her. He eventually blamed the evil act on the devil.

     

    Involvement of clerics

    Rape cases, like many other crimes, have transcended cultural or religious borders in Nigeria even as they have betrayed the honour of age and maturity.

    In other words, the supposed messengers have betrayed the message they are expected to preach. But it is understandable that most cases of rape nowadays occur in the urban centers because majority of jobless men and women are resident in cities and towns.

    The satanic vice called rape is not new in any part of the world. If anything is new about it now, it must be its puzzling rising trend that is causing untold agony in many homes.

    Sometime in November 2015, Pastor Fidelis Eze (32) was reported to have defiled and impregnated an 11-year-old girl at Iju Ishaga, Lagos State. The incident became a court case but the innocent girl will live with the mental agony arising from it for the rest of her life. When asked what led him to the act, Eze blamed the act on the devil.

    And just a few days ago, Pastor Ifeanyi Bernard(46) was arrested in Karu, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, for allegedly defiling a 13-year-old girl. He also blamed the devil for that devilish act as he now answers questions in the court of law.

    In November 2015, a 40-year-old Muslim cleric, Alfa Abdullah Omobolaji, was arrested in Agege, Lagos State and charged to court for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl. The case is still on. While some scores of these cases are reported, hundreds of others are not. Yet, the crimes continue unabated.

     

    Other African countries

    In July 2013, a Pastor, Nana Akwesi Angyemang of Ghana, was jailed 15 years for raping eight juvenile girls, including a three year old. All the eight defiled juveniles were children of his church members.

    Also in Zambia, a 61-year-old evangelist, Elvis Katongo, was arrested and charged to court in June 2011 for defiling a teenage girl. In all these, no amount of sanction can compensate for the heinous crime.

    In 2014, a 73-year-old Kenyan Reverend Thomson Njoya was arrested for allegedly defiling his 18-month-old granddaughter.

    Reverend Njoya, who was very vocal in upholding democracy in Kenya in the 1980s and 1990s, confessed to the crime and was charged for the offence and convicted.

    Clerics in any country are supposed to be like salt of the society. Salt is supposed to stop other ingredients like locust beans, onion and pepper from getting spoilt. If salt shows traits of rottenness which other ingredient will be used to stop it from getting spoilt?

     

    People’s Wish

    Starting with Liberian Muslim leadership, many African Muslim communities, including those of Nigeria, have objected to sentencing rapists to just a few years of imprisonment.

    These communities believe that such a paltry sentence is an indirect encouragement for rape. They contend that crimes like rape, kidnapping and sodomy or lesbianism should carry the same penalty which is death or life imprisonment.

    They condemn the nonchalance and hypocritical attitude of some so-called human rights organisations which go about campaigning against death sentence as penalty for any crime.

    Such organisations should be watched very closely, they could be accomplices to the various heinous crimes in the society. ‘The Message’ column cannot agree less.

     

    Conclusion

    With the ongoing trend in crimes, especially with regards to rape and kidnapping, Nigeria as a country may be heading for doom and unless an urgent action is taken to stem that trend, such doom may become inevitable.

    About this, the Qur’an had long warned mankind to “fear a calamity that may descend, not only on those who caused it but also those who remain aloof while such a calamity is being caused. Go and know that Allah’s retribution can be severe”. See Qur’an 8 verse 25.

  • Kudos to Aregbesola

    Kudos to Aregbesola

    SIR: By this time in 2011, I was in much apprehension for my aged parents and our lastborn living with them in Osogbo, the Osun State capital. They live in an area called Gbonmi, which literally means ‘clear out the flood water’. This is because their home got flooded every year. Whenever there is a heavy deluge, their home and the whole of that area will be flooded and they would have to spend days clearing out the flooded area.

    If it is one of those rains that last for days, then they would have to leave the area for weeks sometimes, until the rain subsides and the flood water recedes.

    The heavy rains that have been pouring in Osogbo for the past two weeks reminds me of those terrible days. When the rain came in 2011, we were already running around with my other siblings on how to raise money and get an upland accommodation for my parents and force them to leave the house they toiled to build for themselves. However, to my greatest surprise, my parents called to tell me that it would not be necessary to leave their home again.

    The reason for this was that the then new governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, as he styled himself to be called, had embarked on a rigorous effort at clearing and desilting the rivers, rivulets and streams in the state. The myth and superstition surrounding the waters were shattered when earth moving machines entered the rivers, streams and rivulets to clear the debris and charted the course for free flow of water.

    That year, meteorologists told us that we had more rain but there was no flooding in Osun. I understand that the exercise had been a yearly affair and some houses on water path had been pulled down, though with pains to the owners.

    My parents are lucky that their house is not on waterway and was not demolished, but they have been at peace since then. I found it intriguing that a little gesture like this could bring smiles to the faces of many people who would have been going through sorrow and anguish during the raining season every year.

    I commend Aregbesola for saving my parents from yearly embarrassment. I understand that his state’s finances is a bit down, following a drop in oil price but I pray that God will help him and turn things around for him financially.

     

    • Dele Odejide,

    Surulere, Lagos

  • Ahmed gets kudos on projects

    Ahmed gets kudos on projects

    Kwara South Unity Forum has hailed the efforts of Governor Abdulfataah Ahmed to complete road projects.

    In a communiqué at the end of its monthly meeting at Rore in Irepodun Local Government, the forum said resumption of work on the projects rekindled the people’s confidence in the government.

    It cited the Omu-Aran–Rore– Aranorin–Arandun Road; Oloro Palace Road; Oke-Ode– Sagbe Road; Oko River Bridge, Oro-Ago; Offa–Ira Road; Share and Oke-Ode township roads in Kwara South Senatorial District, among projects receiving attention.

    The forum said it was gratifying that similar projects were ongoing in the two other senatorial districts and Ilorin, the capital.

    In the communiqué, by Maj.-Gen. Yemi Abidoye (rtd) and Rotimi Ogunwuyi, chairman and interim secretary, Governor Ahmed was enjoined to ensure the take-off of the Osi campus of the Kwara State University this year.

    The forum urged him to rehabilitate the Ajasse-Ipo–Offa Road and Eruku–Egbe Road, which were described as gateways to the state from Osun and Kogi.

    It noted that although the roads were federal highways, they were vital to the transportation and economic well-being of the state.

    The forum said the degree of infrastructural decay of the state was unbefitting of a first-generation state, which would turn 50 next May.

    It advised the people to cooperate with the government to increase its Internally Generated Revenue from about N10 billion to N60 billion annually so that more social amenities could be provided.

  • Kudos, knocks for Kaduna free school meal

    Kudos, knocks for Kaduna free school meal

    Last January 18, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai launched the free feeding programme for 1.8 million pupils in public primary schools. Some praise the initiative; others give it the thumbs down. ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE reports

    January 18, the first day of the second term of the 2015/2016 session, brought change to public primary schools in Kaduna State. It was the day the Kaduna State government toed the path of Osun State government to provide free mid-day meals for the 1.8 million pupils of its public primary schools

    Governor Nasir El-Rufai launched the school feeding programme at the Aliyu Makama Road Primary School in Barnawa area of Kaduna metropolis, where he also joined the pupils to eat.

    El-Rufai said 60 per cent of the cost of the programme is being re-imbursed by the Office of the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo. The initiative is also getting technical support from The Imperial College London’s Partnership for Child Development.

    He acknowledged the enormity of the responsibility the government had taken by adopting the project, which costs N90 million per day at N50 per meal. However, El-Rufai pledged his commitment to ensuring its success despite challenges? because of its benefits to the pupils in terms of nutrition and enrolment, and to the Kaduna people in terms of job creation for farmers, suppliers and caterers.

    “Every school day, the Kaduna State Government will be providing a meal for 1.8million primary school pupils.  It is an unprecedented undertaking in this state, but one that we solemnly pledged to do when we were campaigning. It is a challenge in terms of its scale, cost and the logistics required to deliver the meals every day. But our children deserve this, and more,” El-Rufai said at the launch.

    It only took only a few days into the project for the teething problems to start emerging – enrolment shot up and contractors struggled to cope.  Also, corruption soon crept into the disbursement of funds to contractors to implement the programme.

    By the third day, schools were reporting that demand had over-stripped supply.  In one school in Sabon-Gari Local Government Area, Bomo Primary School, after feeding 1,235 pupils formally enrolled in the school, 55 pupils were left.

    Teachers at Meyeye One Primary School in Markafi Local Government also reported that many more than the 1,322 pupils had to be fed.  The story was not different in other schools.

    From figures received from all over the state, the Commissioner for Education, Shehu Adamu-Danfulani, said that the enrolment rate had increased by about 64 per cent. The teachers found that the population explosion was as a result of pupils sending siblings to join registered pupils in school.

    By the end of the first week, teachers at Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School, Maiduguri Road told The Nation found that the school’s population increased by 400 pupils.  Similarly, at Kabala Costain LEA Primary School, the population had grown from 1,200 to 1,850.

    The Nation also observed that the authorities seemed to have found solution to the population problem. This is because the lists of newly enrolled primary school pupils from all the schools have been forwarded to the state government through the State Universal Basic Education Board.

    Assistant Head Teacher (who refused to give his name) Kabala Costain LEA Primary School told this reporter that the food now goes round all the pupils.

    “The food has been going round.  We sometimes get remnant of food from LEA Ja’afaru Estate to give to our pupils,” he said.

    In addition to now being able to cater for the additional 400 pupils that have been enrolled at LEA Primary School, its enrolment officer (names withheld) said the school has found ways to make the pupils stay in school after the meals.

    She said that at the start of the programme, some pupils left the school after eating.  To address that problem, the school started serving the pupils in the classroom.

    “When we found that the children left the school after leaving, we adopted the idea of serving them in the classroom, while lessons continue after the breakfast,” she said.

    The state is also addressing the problem of corruption that caused hitches early in the programme, particularly in Giwa, Jaba and Kachia Local Government Areas (LGA) where the programme did not take off as expected due to the vendors’ inability to access the funds.

    The development led to suspension of a senior education official in Zaria LGA for tampering with funds meant for the programme’s food vendors.

    Adamu-Danfulani said the officer is being investigated.

    He said:”Based on our arrangement, the money for the vendors would be deposited weekly in banks where each of the vendors’ cooperative societies opened their account.

    “The heads of the cooperative societies will thereafter access the money and distribute same to each vendor accordingly, based on the number of pupils expected to be fed in a week at N50 per plate.

    “But it was alleged that the suspended officer gathered all the heads of the cooperative societies within the local government in his office.

    “He collected the money from them and was personally sharing it to the vendors which lasted up to the middle of Monday night, thereby affecting the implementation of the programme in Zaria.

    “That is not his responsibility, and therefore, he is suspended to enable the ministry carry out full investigation into the matter.”

    He added that other LGAs where such cases were reported are also under investigation, adding that any official found involved in such practices would also be prosecuted.

    He also said the ministry had received allegations that some of the heads of the cooperative societies collect money and disbursed to the vendors in bits or in some cases divert the money to their friends instead of the vendors.

    He said that some of the women are already in police net under investigation and would be charged to court if found wanting.

    While the programme has attracted praises in some quarters, it has been criticized by some people.  The most prominent critic has been Senator Danjuma La’ah, who represents the Southern Kaduna Senatorial District in the National Assembly.

    La’ah, in a statement, described the free feeding programme as a misplaced priority considering that many public schools lack basic facilities.  He said the programme was not sustainable.

    “There is no way the feeding programme can be sustainable in Kaduna State when the targeted pupils are about two million and are expected to be fed on daily basis. So, it is a political gimmick and I am not in support of it. I therefore call on the government to do the right things for our education system to move forward instead of spending public resources on what is not tenable among the citizenry,” he said.

    However, a Kaduna-based Nutritionist, Mrs. Hajara Yahaya, said the programme would go a long way to boost nutrition status of children, which is a problem in northern Nigeria.

    “Some documented comparative studies have shown dramatic effects of school food programme on attendance and school achievements.  Low anthropometric measurement, that is, height for age, weight for height and head circumference is associated with poor school achievements. Similarly, Iron deficiency anaemia, missing breakfast and helminthic infections, all of which are nutritional disorders have negative effects on school performance.

    “So, malnutrition hinders cognitive development and it is one of the contributing factors to generally poor school performance among children from low socio-economic communities, who are obviously the majority in Nigeria and Northern Nigeria in particular.

    “So, it is natural that if appropriate correction of nutrition deficiencies is done, it can lead to measurable improvement in cognition, and even in situation of good nutritional status, the brain can be very sensitive to short-term fluctuation of glucose availability,” she said.

    On his part, El-Rufai said the government has other plans to improve education in the state, and is not just focused on school feeding.

    He said: “School feeding is a separate plan of our initiative to expand access to education, to ensure that every child can have nine years of free, decent basic education, no matter the income level of their parents.

    “We began our education programme with the recruitment of teachers for core subject areas, conducted a needs-assessment to identify how we can strengthen the capacity of current teachers and then announced the removal of all bureaucratic impediments to the career advancement and sense of fulfillment of professional teachers in the public school system. We made it clear that a professional teacher can rise to Grade Level 17, without having to stop being a teacher.

    “Having taken steps to raise the morale and capacity of teachers as the frontline workers in delivering quality education, the government began addressing the question of the physical condition of the theatre in which they work: the schools.

    “We inherited a baleful legacy of dilapidated schools, inadequate classrooms, and no furniture for 50 per cent of the pupils. The schools also often lacked water and toilet facilities.

    “The APC government of Kaduna State responded by launching a school rehabilitation programme. It is a massive commitment to fix the more than 4,000 public primary schools in the state and transform them into conducive places for the delivery of quality education. We will strive to complete the rehabilitation within our term of office.”

     

  • Kudos on O’MEALS

    SIR: I wish to commend Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, for starting the Osun Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme and sustaining it, in spite of the reported cash crunch that hit the state and many others in the federation.

    I have relations, especially in rural areas of Osun, whose children are still in school because of the free food served in public schools.

    It never occurred to me that it was anything serious when I read sometimes ago that the governor was invited by the British Parliament to speak on school feeding, but I started having the feeling that something good is happening in the state when officials of Partnership for Child Development of the Imperial College in London and World Bank came to Osogbo on the same matter, not long afterwards.

    I learnt that the children eat sumptuous meals every school day and this has helped the parents, especially the peasants, who are the majority in the state.

    The interesting thing about the Osun experience is that it is inexpensive. The state government, I learnt, spends about N1.6 billion every year on about 252,000 pupils. This comes to about N50 per child in a day. The programme employs over 3,000 cooks and indirectly engages farmers and other food producers since, to be able to feed these pupils, 15,000 whole chickens, 254,000 eggs, 35 heads of cattle and 400 tonnes of catfish are purchased weekly from farmers and food vendors. This is empowerment for farmers and job creation opportunity for thousands of others in the state. The feeding is complemented with a deworming programme that makes the child to derive the maximum benefit from the food eaten.

    The importance of good nutrition for a growing child is invaluable. A hungry child will not have developed brains to be able to have proper cognition in class and the psychological state of mind to enable him or her be happy in a school environment.

    I am happy to read that the Federal Government is taking over the school feeding in the whole federation but my candid advice to other states is to start feeding their own school children and not wait for the Federal Government.

     

    • Mike Ogundele,

    Osogbo, Osun State  

  • Kudos for CCNN

    Shareholders have passed a vote of confidence on the board and management of the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) Plc for improving the fortunes of the company in the last one year.

    The shareholders spoke on the sidelines of the company’s 36th Annual General Meeting in Abuja.

    Speaking on behalf of a shareholder group, Shehu Mallam Mikail, National President, Constance Shareholders’ Association of Nigeria, expressed satisfaction with the track record of the company, saying it has continued to deliver shareholders’ value.

    According to him, “The sterling performance of the company was made possible because the Board and Management are being transparent in their reports and also comply with all the necessary rules that govern all the quoted companies in Nigeria.”

    Besides, he said the company was able to declare substantial dividends in spite of the poor state of infrastructure, among others.

    “With a proactive approach of the Board/Management which prompted the company to make an alternative measure in maintaining a stable production line by using Biomass as a supplementary Kiln fuel through which it as able to reduce the cost of energy. And the company is really abiding to the company mission of producing and marketing high quality cement for national development.”

    Judging by the modest success achieved by the company, the shareholders said they would continue to throw their weight behind the board.

    “Shareholders would surely support companies that put smiles on their faces when dividends are being declared,”Afolabi Bankole, a shareholder said.

    “We are happy with the performance of the company thus far and that is why we have promised to continuously support all the resolutions passed by the Board/Management because it shows they know how to carry along all the stakeholders, including minority or majority shareholders of the company.”

    They however stressed the need for the company need to raise more funds so as to able to complete the coal line project as expected to be completed by 2017.

    CCNN posted a profit after tax of N1.9 billion in the financial year ended December 31, 2014, indicating an increase of 23 per cent over the N1.56 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2013.

    From a high of N2.77 billion in 2013, CCNN Plc’s production and operational expenses significantly declined to N2.40 billion in 2014. Shareholders were also apprised of the developments the company took in the financial year, including CCNN Plc’s proposed N48billion cement plant expansion, which will modernise production facilities and raise the company’s output to 2.0 million metric tonnes of cement annually.

     

  • Kudos to Governor Ambode

    SIR: I want to sincerely thank Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State for having started to fulfill some of his electoral promises which he made to the people of the state during his campaign to be elected as the governor.

    Among the promises was his resolve to end the trend of casualization in the state’s Civil Service. Recently, he made good his promise by regularising the employment status of the medical doctors who were engaged some years ago as casuals. Many doctors who benefitted from this gesture of the governor have heaved a sigh of relief having been saved from many years of tortuous wait during the period that they were in that pitiable condition.

    It is noteworthy that the affected doctors, during the period of the endless wait, did not allow their plight to affect their zeal to give in their best at work. This could be testified to by many patients who patronize the various government hospitals scattered in the state. They held their heads and worked hard during the period of wait.

    The ugly effect of their status if they had remained as casuals would have been that they would stagnate on the same position forever without any growth! These are young and brilliant doctors, who would have wasted away due to frustration, and for no fault of theirs.

    While thanking Governor Ambode for regularizing the employment status of the doctors, I wish to respectfully appeal to him to go further steps to kindly look into the plight of many lawyers, most of them in their prime, who were also engaged as casual workers many years ago into the state Civil Service. Some of these lawyers have spent almost between five and 10 years and have stagnated on the same position that they were engaged! Many of them are very brilliant with bright career prospects if they are given the opportunity to grow in the state employment.

    I also, recall that some of them were not paid their salaries for the period that they agitated for improvement on their conditions of service.

    I believe that you will, also kindly review their case and bring smiles on their faces like their medical counterparts. As you do this, may God continue to equip you with wisdom, good health of body and mind to enable you continue to give the good people of Lagos State dividend of good and responsible governance, which is based on transparency and accountability, to the admiration of all, including your fellow governors, who would like to emulate you in the governance of their states.

     

    • Emeka Damian

    Ikeja, Lagos

  • Kudos to The Nation and LASPOTECH

    SIR: I want to thank The Nation for its role in the release of my Higher National Diploma (HND) result by the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH).

    I wrote a complaint letter over protracted delay in the release of my result since August 2013 and sent it to several newspapers in the country. But only The Nation published the letter to my chagrin. Lo and behold, the deputy registrar of LASPOTECH called me to come and pick my result on that very day, saying it was ready since April. I was very shocked, yet very glad within. What a power of the press!

    The speed at which my result was released following the letter in The Nation was unprecedented. I would surely have continued to lament over the long delay if I had not sent the letter.

    Surprisingly, the deputy registrar did not only assist me in going through the stressful processes of result collection, he also made sure that I did not spend much time in getting my result.

    Therefore, I express my gratitude to The Nation for its advocacy role, LASPOTECH management for being sensitive to the plight of hapless Nigerians. I will forever be grateful to The Nation.

     

    • Ogunbona Abisola Aishat

    Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta

  • Dangote gets kudos for ‘stimulating’ African economy

    Dangote gets kudos for ‘stimulating’ African economy

    •Firm inaugurates $600m cement plant in Tanzania

    President Muhammadu Buhari and his Tanzanian counterpart, Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, have hailed businessman Aliko Dangote for stimulating African economy through his investments.

    Dangote’s investments, the two leaders said, were sustaining the continent’s economic stability and standard of living.

    They spoke at the inauguration of Dangote Cement’s $600 million plant in Mtwara, Tanzania as well as the groundbreaking of a 26-hectare jetty.

    The cement plant was described as the largest in East and Central Africa and the largest single investment in Tanzania.

    The event attracted notable personalities from Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo.Kikwete said the investment opened the door for job creation and opportunity for people to express their creative abilities.

    He described the three million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) cement plant as the largest in the eastern and Central Africa.

    The Tanzanian president noted that the investment would have a huge impact as well as bilateral relation between his country and Nigeria.

    “It will go a long way in transforming our happily existing diplomatic and political relations into investment and trade arena,” he noted.

    Kikwete added that the timing of the cement plant’s establishment was “very auspicious”, coming at a time when the demand for cement was on the upsurge locally and regionally.

    His words: “It is logical that there is a sound relationship between economic growth and booming of the construction sector, whereby cement is a critical input. Tanzania is one of the countries where such relationship can easily be traced.”

    Kikwete, who said Tanzania was attracting more investment, added that it has registered an average growth of seven per cent.

    He said the country was one of the top 10 fastest growing economies in Africa.

    Buhari, who was represented by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, said Dangote was a key role player in the Africa’s economic development.

    The president added that the businessman’s investment model was in tandem with his government’s economic policy.

    He said Dangote taught the continent the need to adopt an economic integration policy to encourage Africans to invest on their continent “rather than waiting for the elusive foreigners to come and help invest and develop Africa”.

    Buhari added that Dangote had proved a point that though there could be challenges, “there are huge returns for African investment in Africa”.

    “Others should emulate him and partner with the government on the onerous task of job creation. As our son, we are proud of Dangote. Nigeria is very proud of him,” the president said.

    The Federal Government, he said, was placing an emphasis on job creation.

    Buhari noted that it would work assiduously to achieve the plan to create a million jobs.

    He hailed the government and people of Tanzania for “providing the enabling environment that makes business to thrive, even to non-indigenes”.

    Dangote said the “key factor that drives investments in an economy is the presence of an investor-friendly business climate”.

    He noted that Tanzania was one of the most attractive investment destinations in Africa.

    The businessman added that was attested to by the substantial amount of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) that flows into the country yearly.

    The cement plant, he said, was part of the company’s African expansion drive.

    The Tanzanian plant is the fourth plant to be commissioned after Ethiopia, Zambia and the Cameroon plants.

    The Dangote Group now has cement operations in 18 African countries and it plans to commission its cement plants in Senegal and South Africa before the end of this year.

  • Kudos for CCNN

    Shareholders have passed a vote of confidence on the board and management of the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) Plc for improving the fortunes of the company in the last one year.

    The shareholders spoke on the sidelines of the company’s 36th Annual General Meeting in Abuja.

    Speaking on behalf of a shareholder group, Shehu Mallam Mikail, National President, Constance Shareholders’ Association of Nigeria, expressed satisfaction with the track record of the company, saying it has continued to deliver shareholders’ value.

    According to him, “The sterling performance of the company was made possible because the Board and Management are being transparent in their reports and also comply with all the necessary rules that govern all the quoted companies in Nigeria.”

    Besides, he said the company was able to declare substantial dividends in spite of the poor state of infrastructure, among others.

    “With a proactive approach of the Board/Management which prompted the company to make an alternative measure in maintaining a stable production line by using Biomass as a supplementary Kiln fuel through which it as able to reduce the cost of energy. And the company is really abiding to the company mission of producing and marketing high quality cement for national development.”

    Judging by the modest success achieved by the company, the shareholders said they would continue to throw their weight behind the board.

    “Shareholders would surely support companies that put smiles on their faces when dividends are being declared,”Afolabi Bankole, a shareholder said.

    “We are happy with the performance of the company thus far and that is why we have promised to continuously support all the resolutions passed by the Board/Management because it shows they know how to carry along all the stakeholders, including minority or majority shareholders of the company.”

    They however stressed the need for the company need to raise more funds so as to able to complete the coal line project as expected to be completed by 2017.

    CCNN posted a profit after tax of N1.9 billion in the financial year ended December 31, 2014, indicating an increase of 23 per cent over the N1.56 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2013.

    From a high of N2.77 billion in 2013, CCNN Plc’s production and operational expenses significantly declined to N2.40 billion in 2014. Shareholders were also apprised of the developments the company took in the financial year, including CCNN Plc’s proposed N48billion cement plant expansion, which will modernise production facilities and raise the company’s output to 2.0 million metric tonnes of cement annually.