The Nation Newspaper

Tag: LGA

  • NAAPD partners Lagos LGAs to scrap illegal tolls on food items

    National Association of Agriculture Produce Dealer (NAAPD) has agreed to partner with 57 local government and Local Council Development Areas in Lagos in tackling illegal toll fees on food items on highway across Lagos state.
    The National Secretary of the association, Kingsley Chikezie said this at an interactive session of NAAPD  in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with Head of Department Agriculture and Social Services in the 57 LG/LCDA in Lagos state on implementation of the federal government policy on Illegal and Multiple Levies and Taxes on Agriculture Products on Highway, Parks and Markets.
    He said that the law is clear and states that no persons, no tax officer or representatives of the government has the authority to collect any levy on the road but only in the market where they are been loaded and downloaded.
    “the association has received mandate of the federal government because they are serious on agriculture, food security and we have been given a mandate to work with security and law enforcement agencies to remove the roadblock on agricultural produce on the road” he said.
    “the association is working on the tripartite agreement with Association of Local Governments of Nigeria over the stoppage of illegal tolls on farm produce across the country, the association is willing to work with all the 57 LG/LCDA in Lagos state because of the state willingness to end this menace”.
    “our action is massive oriented. In the midst of mobility and funding challenges that we face. We want to ensure that nobody go to highway to collect tolls on agricultural products but should be at the statutory revenue based collection of taxes on food”.
    He further said, the implication when illegal tolls are removed on our roads, the prices of food will be drastically reduced because as it is today most of the prices of food are high in Lagos because of multiple taxations.
    “water melon in Sokoto that cost N50 but when its arrive Lagos, its increases to N500 and the reason is that traders passed through a lot on the road which should be addressed by everyone”.
    “one of the findings of the discussion which the association will look into is to engage other stakeholders which include; Iya Oloja, traditional rulers, and politicians who add their bills to what is happening on the road and they are all illegal fees and its having its toll on the people in Lagos”.
    Also, the Zonal Chairman of the association, Prince Adeyinka Bakare said that Lagos is the biggest market of all agricultural produce in Nigeria and that make it a focal point to discuss on how best to address the rate of illegal fees on farm produce on our roads which will be a model for the other states in the western region.
    He said from the hinterland down to the market and to the city, a lot of things happen.
    “A lot of agricultural produce are perishable and many farmers lose half of their products on the highway before its get to the market due to illegal taxes and fees”.

    Read also: Highway tolls

    In his response, the Head of Board of Agricultural and Social Service, Lagos State, Bola Onigbajo said that the Lagos state is willing to partner with the association in addressing the problems of illegal fees on agricultural products on our roads in Lagos
    “We will do a lot of consultation and enforcement of the law will be carried out on any illegal toll on farm produce on the road. We are concern about the people of Lagos and their welfare is our major concern”, he said.

  • Police arrest three transformer vandals in Niger

    The Police Command in Niger state on Monday said it had arrested a three-man gang, suspected to be responsible for vandalism of transformers in Tunga, in Chanchaga Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

    The Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Mohammadu Abubakar, made the disclosure in a statement in Minna.

    He said the suspects were arrested by police detectives attached to Tudun Wada Division for vandalism of a transformer at Kolawole road in Tunga.

    Read Also: Police deploy DIG, AIG, eight CPs, 40 armoured vehicles

    According to him, the suspects confessed to the crime during investigation.

    “Exhibits recovered include eight pieces of armored cables valued at N1.2 million.”

    Abubakar assured the public that the police would continue to protect lives and property in the state.

    He solicited the support of residents by giving useful and timely information to security agencies in the state for prompt action.

    NAN

  • Families of dead LGA, SUBEB staff get N254.6M

    The Lagos State Government yesterday presented N254.6 million to families of 99 deceased staff of Local Government and the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB as insurance benefits.

    The payment is under the second phase of the payment of insurance package to families of deceased LG and SUBEB staff.

    In the first phase in May, 2017, the sum of N191.9 million was paid to families of 46 deceased staff of LG and SUBEB.

    Speaking at the disbursement of the fund to the beneficiaries, Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Muslim Folami said 57 of the deceased staff were from Local Government while 42 others were from SUBEB.

    Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Fola Padonu, Folami said the First phase of the presentation was made in May with 46 beneficiaries.

    The information, he said, depicts that appreciable number of beneficiaries have received their money as at when due.

    The commissioner advised the beneficiaries to utilise the money prudently.

  • Edo offsets N430 million LG pension arrears in two months

    Edo offsets N430 million LG pension arrears in two months

    To assuage the suffering of pensioners in the state and clear up a backlog of arrears that accrued over two decades, the Edo State Government has released about N430 million through the Joint Account and Allocation Committee (JAAC) in the last two months.

    In a statement, Thursday, the state government said the sum was released as part of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s phased approach in offsetting pension arrears, which accrued over a 20-year period.

    According to the statement, “In August, Edo JAAC allocated N212, 879,888 for settlement of pension arrears, while in September, the sum of N212, 879,000 was set aside for the same purpose out of the N2, 868, 174, 276 that accrued to the 18 local government councils as revenue.”

    “Efforts are ongoing to harmonise the pension system in the state. We want to ensure that those at the local councils enjoy smooth transition to the new pension scheme. This is so that they are on the same scheme with their counterparts in the employ of the state government.”

    Noting that the plight of pensioners was top priority for the administration, the state said, “The sum is for the settlement of arrears of pensioners in local government areas. The pensioners have been protesting for a while and we assured them that we have an elaborate plan to address their concerns. So, it is in this light that we have made arrangement that part of JAAC disbursement addresses pension arrears.”

    The state added that it has been responsive to the suffering of pensioners, many of whom have sacrificed a better part of their life in service to the state, noting, “We are touched by the suffering of pensioners. It is regrettable that we have to deal with these issues, because, as a government, we value the dignity of work.

    “We hope to continue to approach this issue with the phased approach and are confident that in no distant time, the state wouldn’t have to deal with issues such as this anymore.”

  • Kaduna Tremor: Non-natives flee affected communities

    Nonnative residents of Kwoi, Jaba Local Government Area, LGA, of Kaduna state, affected by series of earth tremors between Sunday to Tuesday were busy on Thursday evacuating their property.

    The desperation of the non-natives to flee the town was heightened by a much smaller tremor which was experienced in Kwoi town on Wednesday two days after the previous one which was thought to be the last.

    Sources in Kwoi said, Igbo, Hausa and other non-native tribes’ shops were locked up after they had moved out with their wares and personal belongings.

    It was also gathered that, even those who were into other forms of employments both in the private and public sectors have fled the town.

    According to a source, Jonathan Sati a native of Jaba , “There was a small tremor on Tuesday night and another one Wednesday afternoon. The Igbo traders and other people that are not from here made up their minds to finally leave. The majority had moved out between Sunday afternoon and today (Thursday).

    “On Monday there were 26 vibrations. Those that stayed back were not sure. But now, they are leaving. I can’t remember any of them that I know who is still around. Unless non-Ham (Kwoi dialect) women who are married here.

    “As for us the natives, we can’t really think of where to go now, because this is our ancestral land. But, that does not mean that we are not scared. We are all living in fear, especially that the incidents are happening repeatedly,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Senator Danjuma Laah (PDP, Kaduna Southern Senatorial Zone) has visited Kwoi town, and appealed for calm.

    Laah assured the residents that he would ensure that geo-physicists from the side of the Federal government are brought to Kwoi to carry out a detailed investigation of the strange phenomenon and determine if it had a possibility of re-occurrence.

    The Senator who visited some structures affected by the tremor later addressed a crowd of anxious residents.

    He said: “I have come here to see for myself this frightening development. It is unimaginable that such a thing has happened in Southern Kaduna. In the history of our people, not even our grand parents could recall this occurrence. But, as people of Faith, let us take it as the wonders of the Almighty.  

    “On my part, I shall go back and ensure that I engage the Federal Government to send in their best geo-physicists to determine the cause of this problem, and to determine if it will happen again. I shall also insist that Federal Government puts evacuation logistics in place, should there be need to move out everyone in a hurry if, God forbids, it happens at a bigger scale next time.

    “It is unfortunate that some people have lost their homes and some houses have badly cracked. It is however, of relief that no life or serious injuries were recorded. Please go about your livelihood calmly and let’s trust God that this is the end of it all,” he said.

    Sen. Laah later visited the traditional ruler of Kwoi, Kpop Ham, the  Dr. Danladi Solomon Maude and they met in private.

  • Insecurity: Council chief restricts operation of motorcycles

    Insecurity: Council chief restricts operation of motorcycles

    The Caretaker Chairman of Khana (Ogoni) Local Government Council of Rivers State, Gbara Erelo, has restricted the operation of commercial motorcycles, popularly called okadas, in the area from 7 p.m. To 6 a.m., in view of the rising insecurity.

    He stated yesterday in Port Harcourt that the restriction in the operation of okadas would be until there is improvement in security in the LGA.

    The caretaker chairman noted that the council would not fold its arms and watch those he called agents of darkness to continue to harass innocent residents and visitors in the LGA, disclosing that security operatives had been detailed to ensure the enforcement of the restriction order.

    He asked the commercial motorcyclists to go about their normal and legitimate businesses, but must ensure that they were not seen on roads in the area at the hours of the restriction order.

    Erelo assured the okada riders and members of the public of his determination to secure their lives and property, while warning that violators of the restriction order would be decisively dealt with, in accordance with the law.

    The caretaker chairman also stated that the restriction order was not intended to witch-hunt anyone, but to restore peace and security in Khana LGA, while calling for the cooperation of all the stakeholders, in his quest to ensure the safety of lives and property of people in the area.

  • A forgotten source

    A forgotten source

    •Oloibiri’s neglect is part of the neglect of history, including in schools

    It is possible that not many Nigerians have heard of Oloibiri before; even of those who have, not many know its historical or economic importance. Curiously, in Nigeria, that is not new. A few years ago, some pupils in a primary school in Ikenne, Ogun State, the birthplace of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, knew next-to-nothing about the man, Obafemi Awolowo. When they were asked whether they knew anyone by that name, they said no.

    The only Obafemi they know is the football star, Obafemi Martins! The fault is not in them, it is in our warped educational curriculum that has relegated such persons and places of rich historical value in the country to the background. It is also because we no longer teach history to our children in primary and secondary schools.

    Oloibiri, in Ogbia Local Government Area (LGA) of Bayelsa State; came into prominence with the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantities in the place in 1956. This discovery ended a 50-year fruitless search for oil in Nigeria and launched the country into the limelight of oil-producing nations, with the attendant petro-dollars.

    An appreciative country ought to accord Oloibiri the attention befitting such a community. Unfortunately, Oloibiri’s tale is like that of other oil-bearing communities in the country. At least that is the impression one gets if Chief Amangi Daniel’s claim is anything to go by. Daniel had regretted that in spite of the community’s peaceful nature that made oil production uninterrupted for years, development has eluded it. He told the visiting Mr Jay Naidoo, a former Minister of Development in South Africa in Ogbia that it was regrettable that “the area has nothing to show for its historic role in the nation’s economy’’.

    Naidoo said that he was in Nigeria to see and feel the pulse of the Niger Delta communities as well as assess the level of development in the region. Like most other visitors to the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, he too was disappointed not just by what he was told but also by what he saw. Even the renowned environmentalist, Mr Nnimmo Bassey and the Country Director of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Mr Larry Umunna, who accompanied Mr Naidoo must have been equally flabbergasted by the eye saw that the community has become.

    Indeed, Naido was so disappointed that he recommended that “the communities should organise and seek further assistance from the United Nations as well as draw the attention of shareholders of oil multinational firms to the negative impact of their operations on the people.” We agree with this view even as we also support the position of Mr Basssey that it is imperative that not just Oloibiri but the entire Niger Delta region must be cleared of the relics and pollution associated with oil exploration that are evident in the communities. However, unlike his view that the government integrates environmental issues into political discourse, we want to suggest, based on experience, that it should not be left to the government alone.

    As Chief Daniel told the visitors, our governments are usually tall in speaking but miserably short in action. Most of the promises that successive governments made to better the lot of Oloibiri community have remained largely unfulfilled. Therefore, it is the civil society and the communities themselves that should ensure that their plight is brought to the front burner of national discourse. They should even externalise it if necessary. If successive governments had been responsible and fair to the oil-bearing communities, things should have improved in those areas since the days of Isaac Boro and the late Ken Saro-Wiwa.

    In the particular case of Oloibiri, it should not just be developed; the community should be made a tourist attraction to serve as eternal reminder of its importance to the country’s development. If we got so much from Oloibiri, the least we can do is to give back to it part of what we took from it. That is what corporate social responsibility is all about.

  • Chief missing in Osun

    A chief, the Alala of Oba-Ile in Osun State, Olaniyan Adelere, is missing.

    This is the aftermath of a bloody communal clash between Oba-Oke and Oba Ile in Olorunda Local Government Area (LGA).

    The Oloba of Oba-Ile, Oba Michael Adeeyo, yesterday told the Assistant Inspector General of Police (IGP), Zone 11, David Omojola; Commissioner of Police Mrs. Dorothy Gimba, and Special Adviser to the Osun State Governor on Security Matters Amos Adekunle, during a visit to the troubled communities that the chief was last seen on Friday.

    The 54-year-old chief, who is the headmaster of St. James Primary School, Osogbo, got missing between Oba Ile and Osogbo after attending the weekly community meeting last Friday.

    The Oloba urged the police to help locate the chief’s whereabouts, saying his community is ready for peace.

    The AIG, police commissioner and Adekunle, who had earlier visited the burnt palace of the Oloba of Oba Oke, Oba Dahunsi Iyioola, told the rulers of both communities to control their youths.

    Omojola said: “The youths must obey laws and listen to their traditional rulers and elders because there can only be progress in an atmosphere of peace. Whoever breaks the law shall face the music.”

    Oba Iyiola assured them that his subjects would not avenge the attack on his community, saying they leave vengeance to God.

    Responding to Oba-Oke’s appeal to Governor Rauf Aregbesola to rehabilitate the community, Adekunle said the community would not be allowed to bear its cross alone.

    Mrs. Gimba, in her assessment of the situation in the communities, said: “Peace has returned here and we will do everything humanly possible to sustain it.”

  • ‘We the People’ NC in 2014; Babangida; Abacha; Airport carpark vs cars; One student: one backpack

    ‘We the People’ NC in 2014; Babangida; Abacha; Airport carpark vs cars; One student: one backpack

    Politicians and military interventionists have failed over our 100 ‘Amalgamarriage’ or 53 post independence years. Will the politicians fail this amazing opportunity to ‘Resit’ and ‘restructure’ the future or will it succumb to more political mathematical futility like 12 2/3?

    The examiners, the citizens, the nation, want to adjust ‘The Syllabus’. So far the politicians have wasted fruitless selfish years since 1999 failing to achieve that. ‘The Syllabus’, The Constitution, review will allow all Nigerians a part and an input to replace the Abacha military constitution of 1999. We have an opportunity as sovereign people to actually have a ‘WE THE PEOPLE NATIONAL CONFERENCE in the auspicious year 2014, well before the 2015 elections.

    Why does the press disseminate the uncharacteristic ‘words of wisdom’ from failed rulers? So Babangida has just discovered what millions have known since 1980 – that ‘True Federalism or Fiscal Federalism’ and ‘more powers to state and LGAs’ are the solutions for Nigeria’s boiling troubles and lack of a feeling of citizenship and Nigerianship? Now we are forced by an ignorant press to listen to Babangida singing sweet democracy true federalism songs. So it is at last time for true federalism? The dance is complete. The masquerade is exhausted. Is that a conversion, paradox or a 419?

    It is sad that the Abachas, who arrogantly run for governor, punch Nigeria in the face for the $185m ‘Abacha Loot’ held in Lichtenstein.  Their lawsuit is an attempt to keep stolen property, property stolen from Nigeria –surely a criminal act. The Abachas can therefore be charged for being ‘Receivers of Stolen Goods’ and ‘Illegally Benefiting from the Financial Crime of Others At Large or Dead’. It is of note that $185m is as much as Buhari and Babangida paid to stop Lagos getting a rail line- ‘Jakande rail’ in 1983. Wow! How much hate they must have had to stop a railway which would have carried millions totalling 1+billion now? Of course Obasanjo’s too had a ‘Jakande rail’ moment with the cancellation of the then successfully on-going World Bank funded Lagos-Ibadan third lane in favour of Babalakin’s Bi-Courtney with disastrous results and death and time delays for millions daily. And how much was paid by the Obasanjo government as compensation to the contractor for that contract cancellation –perhaps the recurring number $184m?

    As we are forced to witness the nauseating scenario around the purchase of two bomb-proof cars with N250m we Fellow Nigerians get nothing. Angry users of rubbish FAAN international pot-holed car park at the MMAirport Lagos have to pay a parking fee. Why did the collective aviation agencies not tar that ‘rubbish FAAN car park’ area for ordinary Non-VIP travellers? Nigerians don’t ask for bomb-proof cars but we do expect a fraction of the N250m to be spent on making public airport car parks welcoming and usable.

    The company Julius Berger had students marching with JB blue logo plastic bags full of educational goodies. Now Nigerian Bottling Company, NBC is also donating educational kits. We live in a country that expects its private companies after paying education tax to still contribute to education while government irresponsibly misapplies the earnings of two million barrels of oil per day at $105/barrel and spends N250m on two vehicles while children lack books. Nigeria can easily kit all students with the 15 textbooks and novels and 12 exercise notebooks needed annually and placed in adire or other home-grown backpacks/satchels from the proceeds of one day’s oil earnings and still have change to steal. This systematic ‘ONE NIGERIAN STUDENT- ONE BACKPACK OF BOOKS METHOD’. Education and living basics are the sole responsibilities of government. Private companies and Corporate Social Responsibility funds should be the icing on the education cake- travel, exhibitions, scholarships, competitions and prizes –not toilets and running water. The 40million students deserve immediate books, this month before buildings and we do not need another 2013 Ladi Kwali Hall multibillion naira Education Summit. Books build brains. A book is the life saver and Gold Standard and goes further than a beautiful bookless classroom.

    Fires cause global warming. Massive fires burn millions of trees causing forest destruction and global warming. Is it not more environmentally friendly to try to save the forests from fires by making tree-free corridors between tree blocks? This would also provide tree trunks for the wood industry. Talking of global warming, what is the contribution of festive period fireworks displays ay New Year and Christmas global warming and smoke pollution? It is worth a study because major firework displays are entirely under the control of man. What is the carbon footprint of New Year fireworks worldwide?

    If Nigeria had been hit by the ‘Fires of Australia’ what would have been our fate from the emergency services? Already we have a new cholera outbreak officially claiming more than 60 lives caused by poor hygiene and water supply. Cholera in 2013?  Imagine the real figure of deaths.

    The very public suggestion that the whistleblowers for the N250m cars did wrong means that the Freedom of Information Bill is still not accepted by government agents. This was made clear by the ‘forced’ resignation of Odimegwu from the census Commission for ‘whistle-blowing’ by revealing the well-known truth about the last census figures. Remember Justice Salami and Professor Grange. Truth is the first casualty of war, civil or military, declared or not! It is obvious that we are still at war in Nigeria.