The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kwara State

  • Kwara NURTW leader seeks ban of illegal transport unions to stem kidnapping, others

    Kwara State National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Chairman Alhaji Aliyu Issa Ore has advised that kidnapping and other violent crimes on highways can be stemmed, if illegal transport unions are banned by the government.

    Ore spoke while welcoming members in the North Central states (Zone 4) to the opening of their secretariat in the Kwara State capital.

    The secretariat was funded by the national body of NURTW headed by Alhaji Najeem Yasin and Kwara donated the land opposite the Ilorin International Airport.

    According to him, illegal transport unions abound across the states of the federation, which often times were difficult to be held responsible for suspected involvement in the events of crimes committed on the routes they ply illegally.

    He said no registration of these unions were done in the first place and so they operate freely even in these days of crimes like assassinations and robberies aided by unknown transporters and fake passengers.

    His words: “Three of such unions operating in Kwara were the Nigeria Association of Cooperative Transporters (NACT), Association of Okada Riders and Taxi Owners Association.

    Read Also: ‘Kwara understudying TraderMoni to fight poverty’

    Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who commissioned the edifice through his deputy, Mr. Kayode Alabi, said NURTW is one of the major partners of government helping to reduce unemployment in the country.

    “Statistics ?shows that the road transport sector constitutes one of the largest employers of labour in the economy with over 1.5 million people engaged in the sector,” the governor said.

    President of NURTW, Alhaji Najeem Yasin, who was commended for bringing the union to a level of envy among other unions in the country, told the gathering that his executive was building six edifices in the geo-political zones of the country.

    Yasin said already, four (including Ilorin) had been built and commissioned in Gusau for North West, Gombe for North East, Oshogbo for South West and the newly commissioned Ilorin for North Central.

    First Class traditional rulers led by the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Gambari, Federal Road Safety Corps Marshall, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi and NURTW delegates from across Nigeria attended the occasion.

  • Court orders forfeiture of Kwara civil servant’s N150m property

    A Kwara State High Court, sitting in Ilorin, the state capital, on Thursday ordered the forfeiture of N150 million plaza belonging to a civil servant, Rasaq Momonu.

    It followed a plea by the Ilorin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that the court should give an order of final forfeiture of Asmau Plaza on University of Ilorin road, Tanke area of the metropolis.

    EFCC argued that the said property was acquired with proceeds of unlawful activity.

    In the affidavit deposed to by an investigating officer with the EFCC, Musa Gidado, urged the court to order the final forfeiture of the plaza.

    Gidado said: “Investigations revealed that the owner of the property, Momonu, used his influence as accountant with Kwara State Government to inflate and award contracts for the construction of two classrooms at Ogbondoroko and Obanisuwa communities, Asa Local Government area of the state.

    “Investigations further revealed that the respondent who is a civil servant that earns less than N100,000 in a Month, cannot afford to build the house known as Asmau Plaza between 2010 and 2012.

    “That I know as a fact that the respondent was confronted with the above findings by the applicant which he did not dispute and has agreed to forfeit the property known as Asmau Plaza to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

    EFCC counsel Nnaemeka Omewa urged the court to grant the order based on the provisions of Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.

    Read Also: Kwara courts in bad shape, says NBA

    Omewa said: “My lord, we have a motion on notice dated July 19, 2019 and filed on the same day, the motion is brought pursuant to section 17 of the Advance Fee fraud and other fraud related offences.  I urged the court to grant the motion.”

    Delivering his judgment, Justice Sikiru Oyinloye held that the EFCC had fulfilled all the requirements in the suit and thereby ordered that the said property should be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

    “I have gone through the application brought by the EFCC,  I also sighted the hearing notice issued to the respondent in the suit, Rasaq Momonu.

    “This court is persuaded that he had been served with the court processes.”

    The judge said the application brought by the EFCC is meritorious and the court, therefore, orders the final forfeiture of the landed property.

    Justice Oyinloye resolved all the issues raised in favour of the EFCC. He also said the order for final forfeiture should be published in two national newspapers.

     

  • Kwara to partner AfDB on infrastructure growth, others

    KWARA State Government has opened talks with the African Development Bank (AfDB) on areas of partnership.

    The partnership areas include road construction, small and medium scale enterprises with a focus on women empowerment, energy, and agro-processing.

    The proposed partnership is the outcome of a meeting Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had with the AfDB team in Abuja on Monday during which he spelt out the priorities of his new administration and sought the buy-in of the development body, governor’s spokesman Rafiu Ajakaye has said.

    The meeting was attended by AfDB Country Director Ebrimal Faal and other top officials.

    Read Also: Kwara governor mourns ex-Offa Poly Rector Kawu

    The statement said the governor identified the priority areas to include education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, women and youth empowerment, and entrepreneurship and what steps he has taken on them like recent the multi-million naira counterpart funds he recently released to access various development funds.

    The statement quoted AbdulRazaq as saying that the administration plans to develop agribusiness and promote agro-processing with special focus on commodities like sugarcane, rice and cashew, among others.

    The governor mentioned some investments in these areas to include the $350 million sugar refinery being constructed by the BUA Group and the 16,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation owned by the Dangote Group.

    A team of experts from the AfDB is expected in Kwara later in the year to identify projects in the priority areas, it added.

     

  • Rugalities and insecurities in Nigeria

    Not too long ago, a Nigerian man in diaspora (somewhere in Europe) was trying to educate both the critical mass of our populace and selective demographics of our government workforce, about modern day methods of cattle rearing and domestication with a video of best practices and modules/models of international intelligence standards.

    Also, quite recently, TVC reported on Business Week a case study of best practices, empirically proven to be a successful domestication of cattle being practiced in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria by Rosedale Farm. According to this report, the Zimbabwean farm MD, Irvine Reid, explained the considerable success they have been able to make in cattle domestication and went on to say they were building a factory to produce dairy products.

    Having been furnished with all these internationally and locally practiced efficient modules/models, any cognitively active mind will be riddled with the following questions:

    1. Should Rugalities and the insecurities attached to it ever be a point of National discourse?
    2. Why can’t we adopt these credible modules/models and make life decent for us all through fostering unity and adopting reasonable lasting solutions to satisfy all parties of our heterogeneous national identity?
    3. Why are some people consciously clamouring and agitating for a detour from what seems to be a 21st century normality?
    4. Why are people just afraid to evolve?

    The free-range module/model of cattle rearing is probably good, only but at two lifetimes in our medieval past and not for the present clime and level of universal development. Summative, this model is susceptible to a lot of dangers including difficulty in containing epidemic (either from the host or nomadic demographics), communal clashes which often leads to loss of lives and properties, essentially negating the whole essence of live stocking. The precipitating effects of these clashes are the kidnappings, banditry, robberies, ethnic decimation and/ or even war. Invariably these actions tend to desecrate the socio-economic and moral fiber of our national psychology.

    As much as we do understand the right of free movement of Nigerian citizens but miles above that is the free gift and right to life, which the state swore to protect. Non indigenes shouldn’t infringe on the freedom of movements and rights of indigenous occupiers of a particular settlement in the name of “one Nigeria”.

    We are one Nigeria, only and when we accommodate yet respect our individualities and sacred sentiments. As much as the cattle are important to the herders, the crops are lifelines of the farmers, the cash crops are also economic sustenance for the business population and all these are empirically evident in the National GDP.

    As my dad will say… owo kin fun owo lorun (business is live and let’s live). Our demographic diversity is meant to be an instrument of showcasing our strength and collective resolve to co-exist peacefully, productively and functionally as one Nigeria (as in similar cases with Canada and India) and not a display of diversity mismanagement capabilities through utter ignorance or arrogance to universal standards of normality.

    Closely stifling the nation’s stability are other estuaries of the “diversity abuse” – which includes drug abuse, education and the ever-threatening demographic explosion. These issues are all connected and only genuinely inclusive governance with the nation’s unity (the people) at the center of it can rid us of the impending consequences.

    I am convinced that our policy making arms of government and policy prescribing arms of the society are not completely devoid of credible and true nationalists. That being said, I will implore these relevant arms to handle these issues within the extant of our constitution, taking a cue from world-class, evidence-based modern-day practices.

    • Ogunsanya is a retired officer of the United States Army

  • Four abducted Turkish nationals regain freedom in Kwara

    THE four Turkish nationals abducted in Kwara State have regained their freedom.

    The construction workers were received yesterday by the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Kayode Egbetokun,six days after they were seized at  a local bar at Gbale village in Edu Local Government Area of the state.

    They are Seyit Keklik (25), Yasin Colak (33), Ergun Yurdakul (35), and Senerapal (40).

    Egbetokun said the police worked round the clock with local vigilantes to secure the release of the victims.

    He said their effort paid off with the arrest of a member of the gang which kidnapped them on Thursday while another one was apprehended on yesterday.

    According to the police commissioner, this mounted pressure on the gang and forced them to release the captives unconditionally.

    Read Also: ‘We want due process in Kwara’

    He disclosed that the kidnappers initially asked for a ransom of N400 million and later reduced their demand to N100 million.

    Egbetokun, however, insisted that no ransom was paid for the release of the foreigners.

    He noted that three suspects have been arrested so far while others were at large.

    The police commissioner said the victims would be taken to Abuja after the doctor might have finished examining them.

  • ‘Police working to ensure safe release of Turkish nationals’

    THE Kwara State Police Command on Monday said it is working assiduously to ensure the safe release of four abducted Turkish nationals.

    Unknown armed bandits had on Saturday abducted the expatriates at a local bar in Gbale village, Edu Local Government Area.

    The abductees are Yasin Colak (33), Senerapal (40), Ergun Yurdakul (35) and Seyit Keklik (25).

    The victims are said to be working with Instanbul Concrete Limited in the village.

    The command’s spokesperson, Ajayi Okasanmi, also denied any knowledge of the demand for ransom for the release of the victims.

    Okasanmi added that the “police have advised abductee family members not to pay ransom for the release of their abducted members”.

    Read Also: Police confirm abduction of 4 expatriates in Kwara

    “For now, the police are working round the clock to make sure the abductees are release unhurt and alive. That is what I can say for now. We don’t want to give out information that will jeopardise the safe release of the Turkish nationals,” he said.

    However, an online report said the suspected kidnappers have demanded a ransom of N16 million for the release of the victims.

    The online report quoted Shaaba of Lafiagi, Abdulrahaman Manzuman.

    Manzuman expressed his dissatisfaction on the matter, adding that such development is an eyesore to the community.

    He said: “We are very disturbed concerning the incident. I heard that the kidnapper have contacted the company demanding for N4 million per head. I can’t say much on it because I am not in town presently.”

    Recalling the incident, he said: “On that fateful evening, we were told by other people who had scampered for their safety that some gunmen, who looked like Fulani herdsmen, had taken the Turkish nationals to unknown destinations.”

     

     

     

     

  • Nigerian mode of skills acquisition archaic, says Rector

    International Vocational, Technical and Enterpreneurship College (IVTEC)  Rector Dr Ade Somide has described the mode of skills acquisition in the country as outdated.

    Somide said this in Ajase-Ipo, Irepodun Local Government Area of the state, during the matriculation of 468 students for a three-month special certificate programme for artisans in the college.

    He said: “The mode of training and skills acquisition in Nigeria is archaic, old fashioned and it does not fit in well with the 21st century knowledge economy. This college was established as way to modernise the mode of training in this county so that we can have highly skilled labour capable of competing anywhere in the world. We believe it is very important because it not only addresses the issue of poverty it also empowers youth to go out and become employers of labour.”

    Read Also: Centre trains 836 women in skills

    The students were sponsored by the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO), Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS), the Presidency, and other institutions.

    By the end of their programme, Somide said the students would be able to start their own businesses.

    He said: “Today’s matriculating class  comprised 350 S4J YESSO candidates sponsored by World Bank/National Directorate of Employment, 46 artisans sponsored by KWIRS, 70 N-Power-Build candidates and finally a handful of direct applicants for a total of 468 from all the 16 local government areas of the state.

    “All IVTEC programmes have an entrepreneurship components built into our curriculum, which enable our trainees leave here with requisite skills and competencies to start their own businesses and become employers of labour. In addition, the college facilitates internship placement and industrial attachment, which is a key component of the N-Power S4J schemes.”

  • Oyedepo: Food security a necessity, not ideology

    Landmark University Chancellor Dr. David Oyedepo has again raised the fear of food insecurity in Africa, saying it is the ‘greatest threat to the continent’s survival. The cleric fears that the menace, if not checked, could wipe off a whole generation.

    Dr Oyedepo challenged Africans to learn to engage in intensive agricultural endeavours if they must survive in the face of impending global food crisis. The cleric insists that Africa, especially Nigeria, has no excuse to suffer  food insufficiency with the available abundant arable land and resources.

    Dr Oyedepo spoke during the university’s sixth convocation at Omu-Aran, Kwara State. The theme was:Release of pathfinders, Royal Set of 2019.

    According to him, food security is a major global concern as over a billion people are suffering from starvation, hunger and malnutrition.

    “There is no substitute for food as far as human substance is concerned; there is no software for addressing food challenges,” he began.

    “No matter the state of the economy of any nation, the last thing to remove from the budget is food, food security is not an ideology but a necessity.

    “There is nothing that challenges human dignity like lack of food, with the massive arable land to us as a nation, hunger is obviously an insult in our intelligence.”

    The Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church, noted that the need for the institution to address these anomalies informed the Landmark’s introduction of agripreneurship,an entrepreneurial-driven programme, as well as toward total graduate (TTG) concept, meant to infuse values in graduates.

    He said Landmark is very much committed to a new approach to leading an agrarian revolution through the consciousness of farming since mankind acknowledges the indispensability of food.

    Oyedepo continued: “The number one purpose for setting up Landmark University is to help young people see the treasure hidden in the mother earth through agripreneurship and other incentives.

    “Our university life-coach programme, compulsory for all final year undergraduate students are designed to provide pathways to a life of meaning, fulfilment and out-of-this-world order of accomplishments.”

    He expressed the urgency to repackage the continent’s education system to align with best global standard that seeks solutions to their peculiar challenges, arguing that a good and formidable formal education system must be a departure from knowledge to empowerment.

    “It (education) must be a departure from figure to future-building, a departure from points to facts, a departure from mathematics to life-matics and a departure from legalism to realism.’’

    Keynote speaker and former Secretary-General of African Development Bank (AfDB) Ms Cecilia Akintomide, urged the graduands to be “very focused and research oriented’’.

    In her lecture titled: You only get one shot, she said: “You have to stay focused, research-oriented and informed. You have to be bold, audacious and you must be ready to take well-calculated risks.

    “Have covenant with God in getting a different relationship, He will guide and propel the rest of your life,” she counselled. Vice-Chancellor Prof Adeniyi Olayanju attributed the institution’s achievements to spiritual support and continuous investment in ultra-modern facilitiesa.

    “We are unrelenting in advancing the frontiers of research activities that would, among others, boost agricultural value chain.

    “This, we hope, will engender the much needed food sufficiency in our continent,” he said.

    The Olomu of Omu-Aran, Oba AbdulraheemAdeoti, praised the Chancellor and the management for putting the name of the community and Igbomina region in global limelight.

    Fifty-one First Class graduates led 381 others. The 2018, 2019 set comprised 182 female and 250 males. Interestingly, four of the 26 First Class female graduands, were overall best from the four colleges of the university.

  • Shun drug abuse, Kwara urges youths

    KWARA State Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi on Tuesday urged youths to shun drugs abuse to enable them to build an egalitarian society.

    Alabi spoke in Ilorin, the state capital, while inspecting the Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari Drugs Abuse Rehabilitation Centre.

    He noted that drugs abuse had affected the lives of many people, forcing them to engage in vices.

    The deputy governor pledged the support of the state government to the project in view of its importance and called on the people to desist from vices.

    Read Also: Row over upgrade of Kwara monarch

    Alabi hailed the Emir of Ilorin for his foresight and support to rehabilitate and stem drugs abuse among the people.

    He stressed the need to employ the services of consultant and professional to train the teachers, who would train the drug addicts.

    Also speaking, the chairman of the committee in charge of the centre and the Magaji Are of Ilorin, Alhaji Shuaib Zubair, thanked the state government for identifying with the project.

    Secretary of the committee Mr. Femi Oyebode explained that the facilities would have information and communication technology centre, vocational and training centre, lecture rooms and clinic among others.

  • Row over upgrade of Kwara monarch

    The upgrade of Olugana of Ganmo, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State by former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has ruffled some nests in the community.

    The new Oluganna is Alhaji Abdullahi Kolawole Atanda.

    The upgrade of the monarch’s stool to third class status coincided with the presentation of staff of office Alhaji Atanda.

    The development has not gone down well with another family (Oluganmo ruling house) that claims right to the stool.

    Two ruling houses of Oluganna and Oluganmo have over the years, been laying claim to the stool of the community of the community.

    This has led to bloody clashes between the two ruling houses for ages, until the recent Supreme Court judgement which favoured the Oluganna ruling house.

    The rightful holder of the title of paramount traditional ruler between the Oluganna and the Oluganmo families in the community had been a subject of controversy and litigation for more than 30 years before it was recently resolved by the Supreme Court in favour of Oluganna.

    Read Also: Owo gets new monarch

    Children of Oluganna ruling house are of Igbomina stock, while Oluganmo are of Afonja ancestr

    Presenting the letter of appointment and staff of office to the monarch, in Ilorin, the state capital, Governor Ahmed represented by Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Alhaji Habeeb Saidu stated that would put an end to the long dispute in the community.

    He sued for peace and harmony among residents of the community, noting that there could not be any development in a community full of violence and acrimony.

    He urged the new monarch to embrace all the parties and mobilise them to support government programmes and policies.

    In his acceptance speech, Oba Atanda hailed his recognition as the rightful holder of the title of Oluganna and the upgrade to the third class status.

    The monarch pledged to maintain peace, unity and harmony in order to attract growth and development into the community.

    But the Oluganmo ruling house has kicked against the state government’s action, warning of dire consequences.

    Spokesperson of Oluganmo ruling house, Alhaji Moshood Badaru said: “We want Governor Ahmed not to lay down a booby-trap for the incoming administration. We appeal to the incoming governor not to fall into this booby-trap. We also urge him to let the outgone governor know

    that he will be held responsible for any undesirable consequences of his action.

    “We also call on the incoming governor to reverse this injustice.

    There cannot be two third class Obas in Ganmo. There is only one. The consequences will be very grave. They all know that Ganmo is a flashpoint. The person that was installed cannot walk the streets of Ganmo.

    “All the rulers of Ganmo have always come from Okun-Oye family before this injustice.

    We believe strongly that the outgoing governor has been misled by those who went to him surreptitiously to install this man. The governor was seriously misadvised.

    “The Supreme Court judgment was not specific. Though I am not a lawyer, but there is nowhere in that judgment where the Supreme Court made a clear-cut declaration that the chieftaincy title of Ganmo belongs to Alhaji Abdullahi Atanda.

    “Supreme Court did not go into the nitty-gritty of the matter. The court did not treat the matter on its merit. It was all technicalities. We know as a fact, that 98 percent of the people of Ganmo will not accept him. So far we have been able to calm down our people but I don’t think we can do that for too long.”