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  • Eid el-Fitr: FRSC deploys 2,500 personnel, creates five mobile clinics in Kwara

    Eid el-Fitr: FRSC deploys 2,500 personnel, creates five mobile clinics in Kwara

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Kwara command said on Wednesday that it had deployed 2,500 personnel and created five mobile clinic toward a hitch free Eid el-Fitr in Kwara.

    Mr Sunday Maku, the FRSC sector Commander in the state, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in llorin.

    He said that the personnel would be assisted by some officials from the zonal office of commission to ensure sanity on roads, before, during and after the celebration in the 16 Local Government areas of the state.

    Maku added that the five mobile clinics put in place in various parts of the state would take care of emergency situations on the roads.

    He said that the command had set up mobile courts in several parts of the state to try recalcitrant motorists during the period.

    The sector commander, however, warned motorists again driving under the influence of alcohol, over loading, dangerous overtaking and speeding.

    He said that the command would also embark on more sensitisation programme for commercial vehicle operators before the celebration as part of effort to ensure safety on the road.

  • LASTMA men for Edo, Kwara, Oyo

    LASTMA men for Edo, Kwara, Oyo

    The Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) has redeployed two of its officers to Kwara, Oyo and Edo states.

    Yekeen Babatunde Bello now heads the Kwara State Road Traffic Management Authority (KWARTMA), while Femi Falade is now in charge of the Oyo State Road Traffic Management Authority (OYRTMA). Both men were seconded from LASTMA.

    Dennis Oloriegbe will resume duty as the new Managing Director of the Edo State Traffic Management Agency.

    LASTMA also carried out intensive training for traffic officers in Delta, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Kwara and Rivers states.

    The training, it said, was to acclimatise them to international best practices so as to make them more efficient and service driven.

    The statement said Oloriegbe’s release was sequel to the request of the Edo State Government for him to come and reengineer, package and position the Edo State traffic outfit in accordance with the best global practices.

    Before his appointment, Oloriegbe was the Chief instructor and head of the Lagos State Drivers’ Institute (LASDRI), Ikeja centre. He joined the service of LASTMA in the year 2000 and served in various capacities meritoriously to become a Zonal head, where he supervised and managed activities of over one hundred traffic officials successfully.

    LASTMA General Manager Olawale Musa thanked Oloriegbe, and wished him the best in his new assignment and other future endeavours.

  • N2b to fight hearing loss in Kwara, Kaduna, others

    N2b to fight hearing loss in Kwara, Kaduna, others

    Such is the threat of hearing loss in the country that a United States-based firm is tackling it in Kwara, Kaduna and three other states, reports ADEKUNLE JIMOH

    It may not have the same prominence as eye disorders but ear patients know how much their condition hurts. A sufferer once narrated how he could neither eat nor sleep nor concentrate until the specialists put him out of his torture. Ear ailments are also not a one-off. They are quite widespread. That is why a United States-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Starkey Foundation, wants to tackle it in five states of the federation. The states are Kwara, Kaduna, Lagos, Abia and Ogun states. The free healthcare outreach will cost about N2 billion.

    The programme is aimed at increasing access to hearing services. The free healthcare services are billed to take place in Ogun from June 16-20, Lagos (21- 23), Abia (7 July), Kaduna July 9 and Kwara (July 11). The foundation will also provide service and maintain hearing aids given to people living with hearing impairment at no cost.

    In a statement, Director of Global Health and Research for the Foundation, Dr. Luqman Lawal said that the foundation will carry out the medical outreach in partnership with the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, federal ministry of health, state governments, the academia and professionals in the field of ear and hearing care in Nigeria and NGO.

    The foundation said further that Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation would be responsible for the coordination of the logistics of the programme in Nigeria through partnerships with the federal ministry of health, state governments and local stakeholders within the country.

    Dr. Lawal noted that the World Health Organisation estimates that about 360 million people live with disabling hearing loss worldwide with 32 million of them being children and approximately 90% of people living with hearing loss reside in low resource settings with little to no access to ear and Hearing healthcare services.

    He said that a recent national survey of hearing impairment and deafness in Nigeria shows that approximately 8.5 million (five per cent) Nigerians have some form of hearing impairment.

    He said in the first year of the partnership; the Foundation will be serving approximately 3000 patients with the hope of increasing the number of patients served to about 15,000 or 20,000 annually, based on the success of the first year.

    He said “In low and middle-income countries, hearing aids have only 2.5 percent penetration rate (i.e. only 1 in 40 people that require hearing aids have access to and can afford it). It has also been estimated that 50 per cent of hearing loss is preventable through simple and effective public health approaches”.

    These impacts of hearing loss are not only on individuals but also on family members, communities and countries,” he said.

    Dr. Lawal said due to the wide access gap that disproportionately affects the low and middle- income countries and the consequent impacts, The Starkey Hearing Foundation was founded in 1984 by Mr. Bill Austin in the United Sates to address hearing challenges.

    He explained that the foundation has created and now operates community-based hearing healthcare programs in 52 low and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Pacific Asia and the Middle East.

     

  • 50 clerics pray for Kwara at 50

    No fewer than 50 clerics have offered special prayers for peace and harmony in Kwara State. The clerics drawn from both Christianity and Islam each prayed for one minute, thanking God for the state’s development over the past 50 years of its existence.

    The prayers, which took place in Ilorin, the state capital, were organised by Mike Omotoso Foundation. Speaking with reporters, founder of the organisation, Dr Mike Omotoso canvassed the establishment of small and medium scale enterprises in the state. He said that is the antidote to multifarious problems associated with under-development in local communities.

    Omotoso said the government can address the challenges facing each segment of the society by empowering the people, especially the business community that would thereafter take time individually to develop their communities.

    He said it is not the responsibility of the government to develop each community but only concerned with the duty of providing the enabling environment for the people.

    The 2015 governorship candidate or the Labour Party in the state added that the duty of community development rests in the hands of people resident in various communities as long as government plays its own role.

    Omotoso maintained that if enabling environment is created, people would be willing to pay taxes, develop their communities and work toward the enhancement of their communities.

    On what should be the focus of the government in years to come, the former Labour Party governorship flag-bearer said, “For me, it is about providing the platform for people to excel. Government truly does not develop the community. You need to empower people to begin to survive by themselves, and then they will in turn, develop their communities.

    “When you look at Lagos for instance, you will find out that there is a lot of internally generated revenue. Where is this money coming from? You cannot extract money from people that are not making money; you cannot give what you do not have.

    “When you empower people to be able to do businesses in such a way that they are successful, they will willingly pay taxes, they will willingly develop their communities, they will willingly work toward the enhancement of their communities where they live in. And that is exactly how cities are developed. It is individuals that develop the communities.

    “For instance, if we are able to proliferate small and medium scale enterprises locally, you will find out that a lot of community development will happen and people will begin to realize, that government is just there to provide the platform, not really to develop the community. That is exactly where our leaders, I think, they have gotten it wrong”.

    Speaking on the rationale behind the prayer session, Omotosho said it was imperative prayer is encouraged whatever set to achieve by any society.

    He stated that Kwara has achieved a lot in the last 50 years, but noted that there is need for improvement in all sphere of governance of the state.

    “It is important to start whatever one intends to do with prayers because, spiritually, that provides strategic guidance to whatever your proposed actions are. So, celebrating Kwara at 50 will require that we stop, pray about whatever mistakes we have made in the past, but more importantly, to commit the next 50 years perhaps or the next stage into the hands of God. We truly believe we have a supreme being, and that is why it was inter-faith prayer, to bring everybody together and then pray for the progress of the state.

    “A lot has been achieved in fairness but the truth is, you will all agree with me there is still room for more. There has been some unfair comparison with states like Lagos and Rivers for instance. Of course, the terrain is totally different.

    “But I believe we can do more than we have done. Giving the opportunity that we already have, there is definitely room for improvement. We must commend the effort of the past leaders, but there is room for improvement,” Omotosho said.

  • KWASU now a debtor institution, says Pro-Chancellor

    KWASU now a debtor institution, says Pro-Chancellor

    Alhaji Saidu Isa, Pro-Chancellor, Kwara State University (KWASU), has said that the university has assumed the status of a debtor institution following its recent financial constraints.

    Isa made the statement on Saturday in Malete, Ilorin, during the 5th convocation ceremony of the university.

    He said that the university had in the last two years, depended on its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to pay staff salaries and offset some recurrent expenditure.

    The Pro-Chancellor, who is also the Chairman of the university`s council, appealed to the state government to revert to status quo by giving monthly subvention to the university to augment its IGR.

    ”This is because our IGR has been overstretched beyond capacity and it is now difficult to pay salaries.

    ”The management, having found no alternative, has resorted to going cap-in-hand to borrow from banks in other to meet some obligations,’’ he said.

    Isa disclosed that the loans so far taken by management was close to one billion naira and was essentially used to pay salaries.

    He said there were some critical teaching and research related facilities that were lacking in the university but could not be provided due to funding difficulties.

    In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abdulrasheed Na’Allah, while corroborating Isa’s submission on financial constraints, said that payment of staff salaries had become a luxury rather than a right.

    He appealed to individuals, philanthropists and business organisations to support the university through donations to alleviate its financial constraint.

    ”Overcoming these challenges is critical to the attainment of our envisioned loftier heights and will serve as catalyst for the growth and development of our dear community, state and the country,” he said.

    The VC advised the grandaunts to distinguish themselves by building on the entrepreneurial skills acquired during their course of study in the university.

    ”As a KWASU graduate, you have no business giving your CV’s to families, friends and organisations in search of a job.

    ”Through the entrepreneurial skills you have acquired, strategically position yourself in the business world through branding and quest for business excellence.

    ”And do not forget the spirit of community service already instilled in you,” Na’Allah stressed.

    In his remark, Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed represented by the Commissioner for Education, Musa Yeketi, reiterated his administration’s commitment to harness the full potentials in agriculture to unlock desired development.

    The governor challenged the academia to deploy its researches towards designing required machines to process raw materials that were being wasted yearly into finished products.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a total of 989 students graduated from six colleges.

    Thirty-one of them had First Class, 496 Second Class Upper Division, 376 Second Class Lower Division while 84 had Third Class.

    Adeniyi Aderounmu was the best graduating student with a CPGA of 3.90. (NAN)

  • 2015 polls: Kwara police, army, SSS, INEC, others shared in $115m ‘Diezani bribe’, says witness

    The Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday heard how several individuals and public officials shared in an alleged bribe of $115 million paid by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, to compromise the 2015 general election.

    Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) named the officials yesterday during the trial of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Dele Belgore, before Justice Rilwan Aikawa.

    In two documents it tendered before the court, the anti-graft agency said the individuals and public officials benefited from N450 million and N155,220,000 out of the $115 million (about N36 billion) Diezani cash.

    The disbursements, which the EFCC claimed were bribes, were contained in a document titled, “Security and transportation per state”, and another one titled, “Kwara State”.

    According to the first document, the Resident Assistant Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in Kwara State at the time got N1 million cash and the Commissioner of Police (COP) in Kwara State at the time received N10 million cash. The Deputy COP in charge of Operations got N2 million cash.

    Also, the Assistant Commissioners of Police in charge of operations and administration in Kwara State, received N1 million cash each.

    The document also showed that the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kwara State for the 2015 general elections got N10 million cash. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Administrative Secretary in Kwara State at the time received N5 million cash.

    The document added that INEC’s Head of Department, Operations and “his boys” were given N5 million. Other officers received and shared N2 million among themselves.

    Also listed as beneficiaries of the alleged bribe in the state were the “OC Mopol” and “his men”, who got N7 million, “2iC Mopol” and men in the state, who got N10 million; the Director of the State Security Service (SSS) and his men, who got N2.5 million.

    The military in Kwara State was bribed with N50 million, according to the document, while other security agencies including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) got N20 million..

    An EFCC investigator, Usman Zakari, who brought the document, told the court that it was recovered from Belgore.

    Belgore is accused of collecting N450 million from Diezani and distributing same to beneficiaries in Kwara State.

    The EFCC said he handled the cash without going through any financial institution, contrary to sections 1(a), 16(d), 15(2)(d) and18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012.

    According to the commission, the offence is punishable under sections 15(3)(4), and 16(2)(b) of the same Act.

    Standing trial along with Belgore for the offence is a former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Suleiman.

    The SAN and the don were arraigned on charges of money laundering on February 8, 2017 and they pleaded not guilty.

    Zakari is the second witness to be called by the EFCC in its efforts to prove its case.

    Testifying before Justice Aikawa yesterday, the witness explained that Belgore volunteered the list to the EFCC when he was invited and interrogated by the anti-graft agency.

    The investigator noted that Belgore’s endorsement on the document, stating: “document supplied by me, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN).”

    The second document the EFCC said it recovered from Belgore, also showed beneficiaries of a sum of N155,220,000 and the breakdown of what they got.

    Among them were 15 electoral officers who each received, 250,000; 15 supervisors, who got N100,000 each; state Returning Officers who got N1m, among others.

    The two documents were tendered by the EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo. They were admitted in evidence as Exhibit 7 and 7A, against Belgore and Suleiman, as their lawyers, Mr. Ebun Shofunde (SAN) and Mr. Olatunji Ayanlaja (SAN), raised no objection.

    In his evidence, Zakari told the court that the EFCC’s findings showed that the money was disbursed in cash to the beneficiaries.

    “My lord, the mode of payment, as contained in Exhibit 7, is cash payment. The payments were not done through any financial institution,” Zakari said.

    Justice Aikawa also entertained Belgore’s application seeking the dismissal of the charges on the grounds that the EFCC failed to attach an affidavit showing that it had concluded investigation in the case before bringing the case to court.

    But in opposition, the EFCC lawyer argued that the current law governing criminal cases in the country, was the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

    He argued that the ACJA did not list filing of the said affidavit as one of the conditions that must be fulfilled before a criminal charge could be filed in court, stressing that the provisions of the ACJA were superior to that of the Federal High Court Practice Direction.

    Justice Aikawa adjourned till July 7 for ruling.

  • Unions commend Ahmed for offsetting salary arrears

    Unions commend Ahmed for offsetting salary arrears

    The Committee of Unions in  the Tertiary Institutions (CUTI) has commended Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara for offsetting salary arrears of tertiary institutions in the state.

    The union gave the commendation in a statement signed by its Chairman, Mr Abdulkareem Amuda on Thursday in Ilorin.

    Amuda gave the commendation on behalf of CUTI, comprises College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), College of Education Islamic Legal Studies Academic Staff Union (COLASU), Senior Staff Union (NASU) Kwara State Colleges of Education, Ilorin, Oro, Lafiagi, among others.

    “On behalf of our unions, I express our gratitude for the payment of outstanding salary arrears owed all the above mentioned tertiary institutions,” Amuda said.

    He said that the payment was a pointer toward the commitment of the state government to improve the education sector.

    The CUTI chairman said that the union would continue to motivate its members to discharge their duties diligently.

  • Row over proposed bills in Kwara

    Row over proposed bills in Kwara

    The Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) and the Kwara Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (KWACCIMA) are squaring up with the Kwara State government over some pending bills in the state House of Assembly.

    They contended that those bills, if operational, are dangerous for business in the state. MAN and KWACCIMA are claiming that the bills when passed into law would put more tax burden on them. But the state government via Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) said that bills are not meant to extract more tax from firms doing business in the state. Specifically, MAN and KWACCIMA kicked against the proposed ‘manufacturing processing levy bill 2017’ pending before the state House of Assembly.

    MAN and KWACCIMA said the bill if passed into law is capable of killing industries and manufacturing in the state.

    Spokesperson of the groups Bioku Rahman urged Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed not to assent to the bill if it is passed to him.

    The groups had, at a public hearing called by the state House of Assembly, joined other stakeholders to vehemently register their disavowal to the proposed bill.

    Mr. Rahman hailed the governor’s recent pronouncement of five years tax moratorium to small businesses, calling of the governor to extend the gesture to industries in the state.

    The spokesperson added that the tax holiday is enough “for the bill to be suspended or cancelled.”

    He said, “We believe that the governor is not aware of this bill that promises to potentially sound the death knell of manufacturing and industries in the state and we call on him to call his exuberant officials of the ministry of industry and solid minerals and KWIRS to order before they kill industries in the state.

    “MAN and KWACCIMA in the state employ 400,000 staff directly, about 98 percent of which are indigenes of the state and indirectly, we empower or employ about 800,000. Majority of which are Kwarans and they pay their taxes (PAYE)  and other levies to the state coffers.

    “It is therefore imperative that the ministry and their collaborators prepare enormous budget for caskets for their self-inflicted undertaking job.

    “Those who drafted the bill appear to have undermined the grievous ripple effects of this totalitarian action in the 21st century.”

    Rahman said that the bill “does not carry any rate unlike the companies income tax which 30 percent of total profit; Value Added Tax (VAT) 5 percent and Capital Gains Tax 10 percent of the gain. A situation where the rate of a tax or levy is at the whims and caprices of a consultant is a call for anarchy.

    “The bill if passed into law will duplicate extant laws that govern taxation and regulations of companies as such will amount to proliferation of law and double taxation of our members. The bill will make products manufactured in the state be non-competitive with others manufactured outside the state and may lead to migration of the few companies remaining to nearby states as no state in Nigeria is collecting this level.”

    Stakeholders at a public hearing organised by the state House of Assembly had also faulted the state government’s planned consumption tax bill, calling for it non-passage into law.

    Some government agencies clamoured, though, for its passage.

    The state Ministry of Justice from where the bills emanated and other ministries and agencies which made inputs to the bills had argued that bills were meant to drive revenue generation of the state.

    Also in his submission, a representative of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at the occasion, Muritala Olayinka emphasised the need for government to generate more fund for the state but cautioned “before any tax bill can be passed to generate fund, there is supposed to be an enabling environment.”

    KWIRS said that the bills are not meant to create new burden but to aide revenue generation of the state.

    KWIRS added that the proposals are not illegal and urged the House to pass them into laws.

  • Opadokun: blame military for Kwara’s woes

    The convener, Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER) Ayo Opadokun has accused the military of being responsible for the stunted development of Kwara State in its 50 years of existence.

    The former spokesman of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, added that the military dictators used the state as guinea pig by their “surrogates to come, feast and chop in Kwara.”

    Chief Opadokun who hails from Offa, Offa Local Government Area of the state, said this in Ilorin, the state capital, at a colloquium organised by the Movement for Genuine Change (MGC).

    He said, “The dynasts who installed their loyalists constituted themselves as the albatrosses and demagogues on the civilian governors so much that no significant achievements were recorded. Even while they put up structures, the costs were scandalously prohibitive and unjustifiable. All the promises made as to the benefits that the people will derive from some ventures remain a mirage.”

    Similarly, former governorship aspirant in the state, Sunday Babalola said that the state had not done well in the last 50 years. Babalola, an engineer, singled out the administrations of Brigadier David Bamgboye and Colonel George Innih for scintillating performance.

    “But aside those two, everybody that came after that did not do much to project the state positively and progressively. Lawal’s administration would have been more a commendable model of development, if his activities had spread across the 16 local government areas of the state.  He forgot the many areas that make up the state. Dr Bukola Saraki was worse. He did not basically do anything. Ahmed is just Saraki’s surrogate there. Many of the leaders that have worked in the state have not added value. When the state was bigger and maybe the size could not make them do what they are supposed to do.

    “But you find Bamgboye and George Innih doing very well within the limited knowledge they had and the limited resources they had.

    “After that we have had a lot of resources that had been squandered. It is very sad that there is no vision for the state by the leaders, no direction that the state is following.  You cannot say this is what this state will be in the next twenty or even five years except if there is a change of political leadership which is not based on religion or where the person comes from. As long as we keep saying the governor must come from a particular place, then we cannot get result.

    “We need a visioner who knows what he wants to achieve in the four years to lead the state. Until we get that, we cannot make progress. If we are using sentiments, then we cannot get any result. That will mean that in another 50 years, the state will remain the way it is unless something changes.

    “Kwarans should wake up and participate in politics and should not be bought over by pecuniary offers or money. They should look out for people who will work for them and put such people in leadership position or in power; no matter where they come from or their religious inclinations. Religion does not feed people, and tribe does not feed people,” Engr. Babalola who was represented by an official of the group, John Adeboye, added.

    Reacting, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed on media and communications, Dr Muyideen Akorede said “Kwara State has recorded growth in leaps and bounds since 1967 when it was created. The Kwara State of today has no resemblance to that of 1967 development-wise. Look at the infrastructure network, the number of universities, the level of urbanisation, the expansion of towns and cities. It is absurd to claim that Kwara hasn’t witnessed development since those governors.

    “Every subsequent administration has built on its predecessors and recorded successes. None can be labeled a failure.”

     

  • Kwara steps down Democracy Day celebration

    Kwara steps down Democracy Day celebration

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has stepped down the 2017 Democracy Day celebrations as a result of the ongoing celebration of the 50th anniversary of the state.

    A statement by Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Abdulwahab Oba, said the governor rejoiced with Kwarans as the nation marks the Democracy Day.

    Dr Ahmed, who advised Kwarans to uphold the prevailing peace and understanding in the state, said such understanding is crucial for overall development of the state.

    Ahmed stressed the need for Kwarans to live in peace and harmony and respect for one another’s differences. He reiterated the administration’s determination to scale up service delivery and infrastructure development across the state.

    The governor, while thanking Kwarans for the overwhelming support and cooperation his administration enjoyed from them in the past six years, assured them that with the introduction of infrastructure Development Fund(IF-K), Kwarans should expect aggressive development  in the last two years of his government.

    “With a deep sense of profound gratitud to God Almighty, I thank you all for your support to my administration in the past six years. I appreciate the unflinching support and cooperation my administration has enjoyed from you all.”

    Ahmed praised the Federal Government for its economic recovery plan and appealed to Kwarans to use the  Ramadan to pray for the President’s quick recovery.