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Tag: lagos

  • Ebola sensitization campaign

    Ebola sensitization campaign

  • Lagos takes sensitisation to Synagogue Church

    Lagos takes sensitisation to Synagogue Church

    Lagos State Government stepped up its surveillance on the Ebola virus yesterday, with its officials visiting a church in continuation of its enlightenment campaign.

    Officials of Lagos State Ministry of Health and the Federal Government visited the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), seeking the cooperation of its General Overseer Prophet Temitope Joshua in ensuring Ebola victims are not brought to his church for healing.

    The SCOAN, a  church reputed for its claims of divine healing, is a popular destination for the sick.

    Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who led the delegation to the SCOAN, said it was in recognition that the church is an international Christian congregation whose members comprise people from all over the world, including the countries of West African sub-region already affected by the disease.

    The commissioner added that the visit is one of the state government’s strategies of sensitising faith-based organisations on the need to cooperate with the government to prevent the spread of the disease by educating worshippers to report health issues to medical experts.

    Idris said the Federal and state governments were working hard to prevent the virus from coming into the country.

    “We have our strategies that we intend to share with you. Again, we need to know the resources you have here because whether it is one or two cases, if they are allowed to get out, it is a major problem. We are here to work together on how to contain this disease,” Idris told the cleric.

    Another member of the delegation and Director, Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Professor Abdulsalami Nasidi, said the visit was to inform the church’s leadership about the deadliness of the Ebola virus and to ensure that it does not enter Nigeria.

    Nasidi, who is an epidemiologist and a virologist, said the meeting was a “positive engagement mission”. “We are here to engage you positively. We know the powers of this House and your powers and we are duty- bound to protect you and your congregation. We have no doubt the power God has given you; we can’t do that, but we want to help and make it work stronger,” he said.

    While the delegation came short of telling the cleric not to accept victims of the disease who may want to seek healing in his church, it however made it clear that the government would do everything to ensure the disease is not imported into the country under any guise, after a Liberian government official died of the virus in a Lagos hospital. He flew into the country to attend an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)  meeting in Calabar.

    Professor Nasidi said the government is worried as the Synagogue congregation comprises of people from around the world.

    He said government would provide technical and medical expertise to help the Synagogue team deal with any suspected Ebola case. “ We have experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Musa is an expert who has all the guidelines, we have Dr. Yaunti of the UNICEF, he has all the materials to work with you, to make sure your people know how to handle Ebola.”

    The experts are to work with the Committee on Technical issues and the church’s health team to “ train them on how to handle this dangerous situation, pass some materials to them, share knowledge with them and if need be provide some technical materials,” Nasidi said.

    The committee will also provide underground medical support to the Synagogue church laboratories to be able to diagnose the virus.

    The delegation also reiterated that the Ebola disease comes from a most deadly virus which “ spreads so fast from man to man especially those who come in contact with the victims, share body fluid during treatments.”

    Nasidi said: “ These are the areas we felt we should come and engage and work with you to ensure that members of your congregation, everybody in Lagos and Nigeria will be free of this disease.”

    Prophet Joshua promised to work with the government to ensure that the disease does not spread into the country. He said he would put some measures in place to ensure people from the affected countries do not enter Nigeria.

    According to the faith healer, one of such measures would be to visit any of the countries when necessary rather than allow their residents come into Nigeria. He would also suspend some of his church healing programmes for a few weeks. “I am ready to work with you, I love my country and I will be ready to work with you. Even if it is a rumour, there is need to secure our environment to ensure that it is safe,” Joshua said.

    On the team were the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Raji, his media counterpart, Mr. Hakeem Bello, and Dr. Frank Mahoney from the CDC.

  • Lagos, local govts empower 3000 residents

    Lagos, local govts empower 3000 residents

    Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola and council chairmen have empowered thousands of Lagosians in a bid to tackle unemployment.

    Last Saturday, the council chiefs held a grassroots empowerment programme at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, where over 3000 residents went home with equipment to support their ventures.

    Fashola, represented by the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, lamented the country’s failure to achieve socio-economic and political growth after over 15 years of democratic governance.

    He explained that the vision of state and local government areas is to work together to make the state the pride of the country.

    ”We do not do poverty alleviation but grassroots empowerment. The council chairmen have done well in providing infrastructure for the citizens. They have built roads, schools, hospitals, constructed drainages and empowered the people among other things. I must thank the council chairman for taking care of the grassroots. The councils’ bosses have come together to do the biggest empowerment programme in the country,” he said.

    Fashola expressed the need for the residents to be vigilant in the face of security challenges rocking the country, urging them to continue to be security-conscious to keep the state safe.

    “I want to tell the residents of Lagos that the security of this great state is also their responsibility. We should not leave it for the government alone. We need to support the council chairmen in their programmes so that they can provide the dividends of democracy. We need to be steadfast and do not accept expired rice from some people who claim to love you. These are tactics from the opposition. And I do not want them to scare you with their strategies,” the governor added.

    He explained that Lagos is the only state in the country that did not ban the activities of commercial motorcycle operators, saying it was outright ban in other states controlled by the opposition parties.

    The Chairman of Conference 57, a body of the councils’ bosses, Hon Akeem Sulaiman, explained that the gesture to empower over 3000 grassroots people became necessary because, “poverty seems to have become a natural phenomenon in Nigeria. Successive administrations in Nigeria have made efforts towards poverty alleviation in Nigeria.”

    “It is obvious that most poor people in this country cannot provide for themselves the basic needs of life. The persistence of poverty in the world and indeed in Nigeria has made it imperative for us to embark on some developmental programmes to ensure improved standards of living for the poor masses.

    “As part of measures to empower our people, we will give out fridges, deep freezers, boat engines, generating sets, food stuffs like rice and garri; pop corn machines, mobile phones, spray painters, machine boxes, soft drinks, sewing machine and hair-dressing machines, among others. I urge you to make good use of the goods. Please do not sell them,” he said.

  • Electric cable kills mechanic in Lagos

    Electric cable kills mechanic in Lagos

    A middle-aged auto-mechanic, Lukman Ayinla, has been electrocuted at his workshop at Iyana-Era in Ijanikin on the outskirts of Lagos.

    The incident, The Nation learnt, occurred last Thursday about 2.55pm, causing pandemonium in the workshop and its neighbourhood.

    It was gathered that a high-voltage wire fell on a bus while the victim was working under it to do some repairs.

    The late Ayinla was electrocuted in the process, while other workers in the workshop could not rescue him as they scampered for safety. However, they later alerted electricity officials who came and disconnected the wire.

    The victim’s remains were removed from under the bus and deposited at the Badagry General Hospital’s mortuary for autopsy.

    Spokesperson to the state police command, Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP) confirmed the incident.

    She said the matter was being investigated by detectives at the Ijanikin Police Station.

  • Vacation course for Lagos pupils

    Vacation course for Lagos pupils

    The Lagos State government has organised a five-week science vacation course for secondary school pupils.

    Commissioner for Education Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye said the course, which will be held in 217 centres across the six education districts, begins today and ends on September 5.

    Pupils will be tutored in Agricultural Science, Chemistry, Computer Studies, Biology, English Language, Further Mathematics, Mathematics and Physics.

    Junior Secondary School pupils will be taught Agricultural Science, Basic Science, Basic Technology, Computer Studies/ICT, English Language and Mathematics.

    Mrs Oladunjoye urged parents and guardians to enrol their children/wards at the designated centres.

  • Ebola: Two down with fever in Lagos after contact with victim

    Ebola: Two down with fever in Lagos after contact with victim

    The Lagos State Government on Friday said two persons out of those who had contacts with Mr. Patrick Sawyer, the dead Liberian Ebola victim, had manifested symptoms of fever.

    The Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, made the disclosure when he addressed newsmen on the update of the country‘s first Ebola case in Ikeja.

    Idris said the two persons were among the 70 contacts being monitored and investigated for any symptoms of the disease by the state government and other partners.

    The commissioner, who said the two cases were under observation, however stressed that they did not test positive  to the virus.

    Idris said the state government would continue to monitor all contacts with the victims until the end of the 21 incubation day  period of the virus.

    “Our Rapid Response Team is currently tracking all contacts of persons exposed to the dead passenger with Ebola virus.

    “The contract tracing team is following 70 contacts of the EVD case and linking them to clinical support when needed.

    “Two suspect cases had fever, they are under observation and so far have tested  negative to the virus.

    “The monitoring of suspect cases will continue until the end of the period of 21 days from their exposure to the victim,’’ he said.

    The commissioner said an emergency operation centre had been activated in Lagos ,by the state  and its partners as part of efforts to check the threat  of the virus.

    He added that the Federal Government had stepped up measures to screen incoming passengers to Nigeria to identify any traveler with symptoms through, airport, seaport and border crossing.

    Idris said a deceased body was recently brought to Nigeria from Liberia, explaining that the government was investigating if he died from Ebola.

    The commissioner urged residents to collaborate with government in checking the Ebola threat in the country by reporting suspected case for government‘s intervention.

    While saying diseases thrived well in dirty environments, Idris urged residents to maintain clean body and environment to reduce the risk of the virus.

    Also speaking. Prof. Abdul Salim Nasidi of the National Disease Control Centre said noted that though disease had no cure ,it was treatable.

    He warned members of the public against emphasizing that the virus had not cure,saying it might discourage those with suspected cases from accessing treatment.

    While saying the Federal Government was doing everything to check the threat of the disease,Nasidi urged citizens not to panic as no fresh case had been discovered yet in the country

  • Lagos to sustain zero deficit budgets in 2015

    Lagos to sustain zero deficit budgets in 2015

    Lagos State plans to achieve a zero deficit budget next year.

    Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget Mr. Ben Akabueze spoke yesterday during the sixth budget consultative forum held at Adeyemi Bero Hall, Alausa.

    He said the budget would maintain the same level as the 2014 budget.

    Akabueze explained that the projected budget would entrench sustainable government expenditure.

    He said the 2015 budget outlook for the state projected annual growth rate of 10 per cent would put the state’s GDP at over N19.992trillion by 2016.

    Special Adviser to the Governor on Economic Planning and Budget, Mrs. Iyabowale Aluko, said the forum was organised to carry stakeholders along in the budget process.

    She said besides enhancing better and effective communication and good understanding between the government and the citizens, it would also assist in identifying programmes and projects capable of impacting positively on the lives of citizens

    “There is also this desire to ensure that the 2015 budget effectively identifies spending priorities in line with aggregate resources, the implementation of which would ultimately transform the living standard of the citizens,” she said.

  • Lagos urges bakers to reduce pollution for healthy life

    Lagos urges bakers to reduce pollution for healthy life

    The Lagos State Government has urged bakers to embrace the Environment Pollution Management System (EPMS).

    Government said the policy would preserve the environment by ensuring that bakeries maintain standards that would promote safety of the environment and the bread they produce.

    The General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Mr. Rasheed Shabi, said at a seminar themed: “Effect of bakery activities on the environment in the state,” said bakers were crucial to the policy’s implementation.

    Shabi said the carbon audit carried out by his agency showed that bakers contribute 18 percent of emitted pollution in the state.

    The bakers, who produce bread which is consumed by 80 percent of the population, he said, must embrace modern baking standards that would reduce their carbon emission.

    “The EPMS will ensure that you are able to reduce pollution throughout the life cycle of the bakery. The wastes produced by the baking houses could be reused, reduced, recycled or recovered by the operators,” he said.

    The Director of Operational Health, Occupational Health and Environmental Services, Dr. Layeni-Adeyemo said high standard of personal hygiene was sacrosanct for all operators and workers.

    She urged bakers to maintain good hygiene to prevent food contamination and epidemics.

    The Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment, Dr. Taofeek Folami, and Hon. Abiodun Tobun, who chairs the Environment Committee in the House of Assembly, said the seminar would boost bakers’ profitability in their businesses.

    The Chairman, Master Bakers and Caterers Association of Nigeria (MBAN), Prince Jacob Anjorin, urged government to give bakers loans for improved operations.

  • Still on the Lagos bomb blast

    SIR: That a lady suicide-bomber was able to drive a Toyota Sienna to Folawiyo fuel depot on Creek road, Apapa, on June 25, to detonate a bomb, despite the security measures put in place by Lagos State government shows how vulnerable Lagos residents are to potential insurgents attacks.

    Though the Lagos State government made frantic efforts to manage the information when it initially claimed that it was an industrial accident, the die has been cast; now, the government had better accept the reality and start to face the challenges to prevent any future attacks. To avoid another incident, all hands must be on deck to pull the country back from the brink. It will be catastrophic to allow the terrorists to have free access to operate in Lagos considering its population, economic and strategic position to the economic survival of the nation.

    The federal government should as matter of urgency spread their security networks to Lagos State. Though the Murtala Mohammed International Airport has been put under tight security, this is not the time for politicking but for patriotic steps to be taken to nip terrorism in the bud in the state. The federal government should put the military and paramilitary institutions in Lagos State on red alert.  Lagos must not be allowed to witness any attack again, being the economic hub of Nigeria, nay West Africa, and Africa at large. All the celebrations of being the largest economy in Africa, claims of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) that make Nigeria an investment destination will fizzle out if Lagos is allowed to suffer any further terrorists attack.

    The imperative of close circuit television cameras (CCTV) in major strategic places cannot be over emphasized. The citizens themselves have to wake up and smell the coffee in ensuring neighbour to neighbour intimacy for sound intelligence gathering, so as to fish out any marauder in their midst and report any strange character or suspicious movement to security personnel for prompt investigation or possible arrest.

    The security officers should strive to earn the respect and confidence of the masses by being civil in their conduct and disposition to the civilians in Lagos, by treating all vital information received with highest level of confidentiality. The time has come to tell the world that we are our brother’s keepers and that in the South-west, we place premium on sanctity of human lives and our existential humanity. We are not saboteurs who will collude with the ruthless blood suckers. Every landlord/landlady should know the profile of his/her tenants, community associations should be vigilant without compromise.

    I want to commend the efforts of the state government, for being proactive by ordering tight security at major fuel installations, putting the state fire fighters on standby, expanding the capacity of state hospitals to be able to handle any emergency with mass casualty. The immediate increase of blood stocks and the purchase of new ambulances for any unforeseen eventualities and causalities at the hospitals and health centres are signs of a caring government.

    Finally, it will be apposite for fuel tank farms in Apapa to relocate and decongest the area of trucks and articulated vehicles that use the road as park. The news that federal government has issued 24hrs ultimatum for the shippers and truckers at Apapa to remove their vehicles is a welcome development.

    • Pastor Mark Debo Taiwo,

    Takie, Ogbomoso.

  • Lagos new CJ to be sworn in next month

    Lagos new CJ to be sworn in next month

    History will be made in Lagos State next month when Justice Funmilayo Atilade succeeds her sister Justice Ayotunde Pillips as the new Chief Judge.

    Justice Phillips bowed out on Saturday on attaining the mandatory retirement age of 65.

    Justice Phillips and Justice Atilade are daughters of the late Justice James Williams, who was a judge in Lagos.

    It was learnt that Justice Atilade may be sworn in before the new legal year 2014, which begins on September 2, to mark her first major official assignment and outing.

    Sources said the in-coming chief judge would appear before the House of Assembly for screening in a few days. All handing over processes were completed last week by Justice Phillips.

    Justice Atilade will become the 15th Chief Judge of Lagos State and the fifth woman to occupy the post.

    Her female predecessors include Justice Rosaline Omotosho, who occupied the office between 1995 and 1996. She was followed by Justice Ibitola Sotiminu (2001 and 2004); Justice Inumidun Akande (2009 – 2012) and Justice Phillips (2012-2014).

    Justice Atilade was born in London on September 24, 1952. She attended Ladi-Lak Institute in Yaba, Lagos Mainland; Anglican Girls Grammar School, Surulere, 1965 and 1969 and Queens College, 1970 and 1971.

    She proceeded to the University of Lagos in 1972 and graduated in 1975 with a Law degree. She passed out of the Nigerian Law School in 1976.

    Justice Atilade was State Counsel, Federal Ministry of Justice between 1977 and 1979; Principal Legal Officer, Nigerian Ports Authority 1979 to 1981; and a Senior Magistrate Grade 1,  1981 to 1996. She was appointed a judge on July 19, 1996.

    She became the Head Judge in June 2012, also occupied by her sister, Justice Phillips before her elevation as the chief judge.

    One of the most important professional courses attended by Justice Atilade  is Administration of Courts in the United States between June and July 1990.

    She is a member of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), International Bar Association (IBA) and Ikoyi Club 1938.

    Jusice Atilade, whose hobbies include travelling, aerobics and music, has three children.