The Nation Newspaper

Tag: MANAGEMENT

  • LASU not on fire, says management

    LASU not on fire, says management

    Management of the Lagos State University (LASU) has debunked the rumours that the university was gutted by fire on Monday.
    A statement by its Acting Director of Information Martin Adekoya said there was a fire in some shops.
    Adekoya said the university contacted the State Fire Service, Ojo Division, which put out the fire.
    Advising workers not to panic, the statement urged them to always switch off all electrical appliances before leaving.
    “No life was lost in the inferno. It must, however, be noted that LASU was not on fire as it was erroneously captioned and reported in some newspapers and other social media/online media.”

  • Lagos rejigs waste management

    Lagos rejigs waste management

    With the unveiling of new reforms, the Lagos State government is set to transform waste management, environment and the economy, writes MUYIWA LUCAS.

    It was an unusual gathering, coming just a few days after the ministry’s monthly media parley was held.

    And the entry of the state’s commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare and his Information and Strategy counterpart, Steve Ayorinde, meant it was not business as usual. As the duo, accompanied by other members of the ministry sauntered into the PearlWorth Hotel, Ikeja conference room, it was glaring that something ‘big’ was in the offing.

    The occasion turned out to be one that would catapult the state into the next level of waste management, which has remained a sour point in the affairs of a state with an estimated 22 million people.

    Using graphics to explain the reform, tagged the Cleaner Lagos Initiative, Adejare noted the flaws in the structure as well as dynamics of the  system. Besides creating an enabling environment for the private sector to harness international best practices, the initiative will equally tackle challenges in solid waste management in the state.

    “The Cleaner Lagos Initiative aims to protect the environment, human health and social living standards of Lagos residents by promoting a harmonised and holistic approach to the waste and environmental challenges, thereby ensuring improved operational efficiency. It will also address the lacunae in the  legislation to expand the scope of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to enable it enforce, regulate and generate revenue from the waste management process,” he explained.

    To this end, Adejare said the government would carry out a recertification of all the 350 PSP operators, relicense them and audit the state of their compactors. Besides, five new power stations – one in each division in the state – will be built to generate power from wastes, and the numerous dumpsites dotting parts of the state will soon be a thing of the past.

    As part of the initiative, Olusosun and Solus dumpsites are to be closed next year, because it has been established that they are dangerous to health and the environment.

    “We plan to regenerate Olusosun and turn it into a park, where intercity buses will end their journey and would no longer be allowed to enter into the city. Passengers will from there take taxis and intra-city buses to their destinations in town,” he explained.

    Alaso, he said about 25,000 people would be engaged as street sweepers. They would be well-kitted with decent uniforms, gloves, boots, pickers, brushes, carts as well as mobile phones with which to communicate with the control centre, and they would be well paid.

    To make them effective, every sanitation worker will reside in where they operate, especially for convenience and to curb the high cost of fare to work. They will be will be well-trained and given an attractive welfare package.

    “In all, we hope to generate a total of 46,000 new jobs,” he said.

    The commissioner, who disclosed that a law is in the works to back the Initiative, said the scheme would allow big-time players in the waste management sector to do business with the state.

    This is why Lagosians will be required to pay a public utility levy (PUL), which is not a tax but something similar to what is being paid to PSP operators. Part of the PUL goes into an Environment Trust Fund.

    The commissioner, who described   the situation as a “broken system,” regretted that several factors had combined to cripple the smooth running of the state’s waste management. Some of these include hindrance of regular waste collection by a vicious cycle between clients and operators as poor collection service delivery leads to irregular and poor payments; bin placement, transfer loading stations (TLS), and other supporting infrastructure had been ignored and undue attention placed on waste collection only.

    Besides, the waste billing system is said to be unduly complicated due to the differences and inconsistencies in charges and collection routes, therefore, leaving the billing system open to manipulation and fraud.

    Adejare  said LAWMA, as regulator for waste management, is overwhelmed by the responsibilities of having to coordinate 350 companies and still carry out its own collection.

    To address the situation, he said there would be a transformation of the TLS to modern ones, including the introduction of no fewer than 25 Material Revolving Facility (MRF) where wastes will be sorted. Also, 600 new compactor vehicles will be acquired. Each compactor will be tracked while  the state will be divided into zones for ease of allocation of compactors. There will be a control room where every compactor will be monitored, and existing waste dumpsites will be closed and replaced with engineered sanitary landfill sites. The government is considering sites in Badagry, Epe and Ikorodu for the five sanitary landfills being proposed. The leachate and gas to be recovered from the proposed sanitary landfills will be put to good use.

    “The PSP and LAWMA partnership was quite effective, but is no longer applicable, considering the fact that the population of Lagos has increased several fold (and still increasing) and the over 300 compactors in use are old and not suitable for modern waste collection. Wastes should not bring us hardship and shame, but rather we should make money from it. Emphasis will be on zero-dumping, recycling and generation of power from wastes,” he explained.

    When fully implemented, Adejare is convinced that the new arrangement will ensure that waste disposal will no longer be a challenge in the state. An efficient system would have been put in  ground for effective management to eradicate cart pushers in the city.

     

  • Mosque leadership & management

    The title of today’s article in this column is not the coinage of yours sincerely. It is rather an adaptation of the title of a book recently published by the University of Lagos. The book was jointly written by some Muslim scholars and edited by Professor M. A. Bidmos (the Chief Imam of the University of Lagos Mosque) and Dr. I. A. Musa. Both editors are renowned scholars and contributing experts to the contents of the book.

    What actually motivated the writing of the book is the concern in many quarters about the methodology of managing the Mosque especially by Nigerian Imams and the effect of such methodology on the contemporary Muslim congregations. In its determination to put round pegs in right holes the University of Lagos decided to establish a special course through which prospective Imams could be properly trained on leadership and management of the Mosque. It is the very first of its type in Nigeria.

    Definition of Mosque

    The word Mosque is the corrupt English pronunciation of the Arabic word ‘MASJID’ (otherwise called ‘MASGID’ in Egyptian dialect) which literarily means a place of prostration. Contrary to the general misconception here in Nigeria, Mosque is not meant for SALAT alone. Therefore leading Salat alone does not really make a Muslim an Imam. Any Muslim who can recite Suratul Fatihah and some other Surahs or Verses very well can lead Salat. The Mosque, on the other hand, serves many purposes each of which has a fundamental significance. For instance the very first Mosque established by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in Madinah was a multipurpose one. That Mosque named the ‘Mosque of Qubah’ did not serve as a place of worship alone. It also served as a school, a library, a bank, a clinic, a court of law and even a parliament for the Muslim community. Whoever will manage such a vital institution, therefore, must be adequately trained for it.

    Mosque as a source of

    knowledge and civilisation

    The very first University in the world, (University of Cordoba), established in the 8th century CE by the Muslims in Spain, started as a Mosque. And, it will be recalled that even the three oldest Universities in the world today: Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt; Qarawiyyin University in Fez, Morocco and Zaytuniyyah University in Tunis, Tunisia, (each of which is well over 1000 years old) started as Mosques. Thus, it becomes clear that one cannot seriously talk about human civilization without a fundamental reference to the Mosque as well as the Imams who happen to be its managers. Actually, nothing is called Mosque in the absence of Muslim congregations and their Imams.

    The Mosque and the Imam

    Mosque and Imam are like the message and the messenger. There can hardly be any access to one without going through the other. And if the one is afflicted by any disenchantment the other will surely feel the pain. In Islamic doctrine, the functions of a Mosque are both spiritual and temporal. For Muslims, none of these can be taken for granted or handled with levity.

    Imamate by Scholarship

    When Prophet Muhammad (SAW) described learned scholars as the heirs to the Prophets he was referring to Imams. This is because no genuine Muslim can statutorily be an Imam without first being a learned scholar. However, there is a sharp difference between a scholar and a learned scholar. The one can be self-arrogated. The other is intellectually evident.

    Becoming an Imam, if due process is followed, is like becoming a judge after a period of certified experience acquired subsequent to graduating from the Law School. It is not enough to graduate from a Qur’anic school and teach in a Madrasah for a few years to be qualified as Imam. Neither should attainment of Imamate be by heritage through a consanguine lineage. Lawyers do attend the Law School after graduating from the Universities and even practise in law chambers for a number of years before they become qualified for appointment as judges.

    Doctors undergo Houseman-ship after their graduation from medical colleges before they are formally admitted into the medical Profession. Other professionals also undergo practical industrial training in their respective fields of discipline before they can be qualified as practising professionals. Now, apart from graduating from Madrasah, where do our Imams undergo training to be statutorily qualified as Imams? This question indicates that a glaring vacuum exists in the methodology of Mosque management which Nigerian Muslim Ummah is yet to fill.

    Problem of Appointing Imams

    One of the first problems arising from appointing Imams in Nigeria is lack of leadership training. People are made Imam or assume the office of Imam only on the basis of what they learned from the Qur’anic schools. Besides the preliminary general Islamic knowledge which most Muslim clerics often claim to have acquired what else can be said to make a Muslim an Imam? In reality, the aspect of dealing with the complexity of human nature and the competent management of that aspect is the quality that is supposed to make a person an Imam. But incidentally, that is the real aspect that is missing in Nigerian Mosques today.

    Even after coming into office as Imam, no special training is ever organized to enable the Imam know the enormity of his duty and map out the strategy with which to handle it. It is a well known fact that no written documents are ever handed over to the new Imam to show where the last Imam stopped and where the new one should commence from. In other words, no records of activities or achievements are available in our Mosques except by oral transmission. How can there be progress?

    The need for training

    Whereas the intellectual sophistication of Imamate is such that requires periodic workshops, seminars, conferences and trainings, none of these is ever arranged to update our Imams and improve their quality. Thus, our Imams remain ignorantly static in the belief that they have reached the peak of Islamic knowledge having become Imams. This is not the case with the Christian counterparts who as a matter of obligation must undergo tutelage in Christian doctrines and Church management at specialized seminaries before becoming qualified as Pastors or Bishops. In the case of Imams, there is no such training and thus, imamate is seen as a meal ticket which provides the Imam an opportunity to cheapen the title and abuse the office. Perhaps that is why most Nigerian Imams shun self esteem as they struggle for crumbs under the tables of moneybags in the society. With such a degrading status, how can the leadership of an Imam be respected and his supposed guidance be followed?

    The Prophet’s recommendation

    Whereas Prophet Muhammad’s recommendation for Imamate is that one should only become an Imam when legitimately chosen and appointed as such, based on intellectual capability and exemplary mannerism, the situation in Nigeria today is the direct opposite of that recommendation. In the cause of appointing an Imam, factions of Muslim groups often gang up against one another just as families pick quarrels and hostilities against families having turned Imamate into an inheritable title within a clan. Yet, the claim is that they want to serve Allah. Must Allah be served desperately with ignorance and degradation?

     

    Implications of Imamate

    If those fighting to become Imams knew the implication of serving in that office and reporting back to Allah in the Hereafter, they would never have presented themselves for the post. An Imam is the spiritual guarantor of his congregation. He takes responsibility for any spiritual misdemeanour of that congregation before Allah.

    But like any other Nigerian public office, Imamate has been so grossly commercialized that the process of putting people in that office has been seriously corrupted. That is why most of our Imams are half-baked intellectually and even bankrupt morally.

    Though, the Prophet’s recommendation is for dedicated Muslims to compete for the office of the Muadhdhin (one who calls people to Salat and practically manages the Mosque), Nigerian Muslims prefer to slog it out with one another over the office of Imam just because of the pecuniary benefit accruing from that office.

    The objective of the training course

    It is in order to correct the anomaly in appointing Imams in Nigerian Mosques and to forestall the entailed danger embedded in that anomaly that the authorities of UNILAG came up with the idea of a training course for Nigerian Imams and invited experts to write the concise book entitled ‘MOSQUE LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT’ for the course. The book is both a curriculum for the training and a compendium of factors of knowledge and dignity in leadership and management.

    The Book

    The 165 page book consists of eight parts with each part classified into chapters. There are 21 chapters in all. Every Part in the book serves is a reference point for the tutorials to be provided in the classrooms at the end of which each enrolled Imam will be awarded a Diploma Certificate if successful. The eight parts are as follows:

    Part One: Imams and Imamate Responsibilities. Under this part are chapters such as: An Imam and Self Esteem; Qualifications and Qualities of an Imam; The Duties of Imam in the Light of ‘Maqasid Al-Sharia’ah. Under this part are chapters like:

    Part Two: Arabic Grammar for Khutbah Writing and Delivery. Under this Part are chapters like: The Importance of Arabic to Imam; Essential Nahw Concepts in Khutbah Writing and Delivery.

    Part Three: Noon of Islam. Under this part are the following chapters: An Overview of Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates; Appraising the Golden and Silver periods of Abbasid Era; Towards Restoration of Spirituality and Morality of Education.

     

    Part Four: Qur’an and Hadith Texts. Under this parts are the following chapters to be found: Ethics and Mechanism of flawless Reading of the Qur’an; Selections from the Sihahus-Sittah and other Collections of Hadith on Imamate.

     

    Part Five: Communication Skills in English. Under this part are chapters such as: Nature and Relationship between Language and Literature; Time and Tense in English; Essentials of Public Speaking; Guidelines for Essay Writing.

     

    Part Six: Approaches and Ethics of Da’wah. Under this Part are the following chapters: Approaches to Islamic Propagation; Conditions and Ethics of Da’wah Practice.

     

    Part Seven: Conducting Tafsir. Under this Part are chapters like: Qualities of the Mufassir and Types of Tafsir; Model Tafsir.

     

    Part Eight: Conducting Islamic Ceremonies. Under this part are to chapters such as: Overview and Methods of Conducting Nikah, ‘Aqiqah & Janazah Ceremonies to be found.

     

    It is necessary to hint here that getting a copy of the book and reading it inside out does not make a Muslim cleric a qualified Imam. There is much more to learn in the classroom than the book contains. The hood does not make the Monk. There is no short cut to knowledge.

     

    About the course

    For the first time in Nigeria, a University course for training Muslim clerics in the art of leadership and management of the Mosque debut at the University of Lagos. The course which is designed for a period of six months and hold every Saturday within the period commenced sometime in 2015. It is strictly meant for graduates of Higher Madrasah who possess at least Thanawiyyah/Senior Secondary School Certificates as well as University graduates who aspire to become qualified Imams. The cost of the course is N120000 and the cover price of the book is N1000. This course is a great opportunity for serious Muslim Organizations with Mosques to train their Imams or prospective Imams.

    The resource persons

    Most of the resource persons for this programme who are also co-authors of the book in question are not just renowned scholars they are also men of dignity and impeccable character. They are as follows:

    Professor M. A. Bidmos (Coordinator); Professor T. G. O. Gbadamosi; Alhaji M. O.Junaid; Dr. I. A. Musa; Dr. Nurain Alimi; Dr. Tajudeen Yusuf; Dr. Abdul Hakeem Adekunle; Alhaji Bashir Abdur-Rahim; Imam Abdullah Akinbode and Imam Zakariya Muhmmad Thanni.

    The first graduating set

    The first set of aspiring qualified Imams enrolled for the course as pioneering students in 2015 and graduated on Saturday, October 22, 2016. They were 20 in number. Every participant in that set who graduated last October has now become a qualified Imam with high sense of pride.

     Similitude of the Mosque

    The similitude of the Mosque is like that of a beehive. It ventilates the activities of the Muslims to solve their spiritual and temporal problems through interactions with their fellow brothers and sisters and through the guidance of their Imams if such Imams are well educated and do not constitute liabilities to their congregations.

    That our Mosques have not lived up to expectations in this sphere even in the 21st century is however, not the end of the story. Righting the wrong is one of the foremost characteristics of Islam. It is better to be late in doing the right thing than not to do the right thing at all. We can still start to put things right as from today by ventilating our Mosque atmospheres for social welfare; for education; for health care; for conflict resolution; for Zakah management; for spiritual guidance and counselling; for economic growth and skill building; as well as for information and publicity. It is only by doing these that our Imams and clerics can rightly claim to be engaged in sensible Da’awah.

    Conclusion

    As a Muslim community, we have lived with a system for hundreds of years without achieving the necessary objective of our religious mission. In the process, we have lost most of our best brains to the other side of the bridge. We cannot afford to surge ahead with an unprofitable venture at this twilight of the world. We must change the system! The Muslim Ummah must be made to see why they need the Mosque as much as why the Mosque needs them. Experimenting with a new system will not only put a stop to basking in the euphoria of the past, it will also engender a durable legacy for the current generation of Muslims. While congratulating the University of Lagos for this historic initiative ‘The Message’ column hereby implores all forward-looking Muslim Organizations in Nigeria to take advantage of this programme to lay a solid foundation for good management of the Mosque in Nigeria. Our Imams must meet the required standards by becoming qualified.

  • Exercises, good diet, others vital to diabetes’ management

    Exercises, good diet, others vital to diabetes’ management

    How to manage diabetes was the focus of a seminar to mark this year’s World Diabetes Day held in Lagos.

    The event organised by the Union Diagnostics with Nova Biomedical, United States had as theme Unmasking diabetes mellitus.

    Participants agreed that more people are down with diabetes as a result of lack of exercises, poor diet, and inability to go for checks, among others.

    The speakers, which included Dr Olaniyi Aruna of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, said diabetes is one of the world’s leading killers.

    In 2012, for example, 1.5 million people died of the disease, while high blood glucose led to another 2.2 million deaths.

    Also, the World Health Organisation (WHO), said the number of people living with diabetes has almost quadrupled since 1980 to 422 million adults, or one in 11 people.

    Aruna said regular exercises for about 30 minutes daily could help prevent Type 2 diabetes and its complications, adding that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in sugar and saturated fats could prevent Type 2 diabetes, and help people to manage Types 1 and 2 better.

    He said most people might not  know they have diabetes, urging them go for regular checkups. “Symptoms for diabetes include thirst, hunger, weight loss, fatigue and blurred vision.

    ‘’However, many people who have diabetes do not have symptoms. If people think they might have the disease, consulting a health care professional is recommended,” he said.

    Aruna said a range of treatments exists to manage diabetes and control blood glucose.

    “People with diabetes can live well if they follow a treatment plan developed together with their health-care provider,” he said.

    According to him, people with diabetes can live long and have healthy lives when the disease is detected and well-managed. As a series of cost-effective interventions can help people diagnosed with diabetes manage their condition. These interventions include: blood glucose control through a combination of diet, physical activity and medication; control of blood pressure and lipids to reduce cardiovascular risk and other complications; and regular screening for damage to the eyes, kidneys and feet, to facilitate early treatment.

    “Early diagnosis and intervention is the starting point for living well with diabetes. The longer a person lives with undiagnosed and untreated diabetes, the worse their health outcomes are likely to be,” he said.

    He said basic technologies, such as blood glucose measurement, should be available in primary health-care settings. This is because the majority of diabetes deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries.

    Aruna continued: “In general, primary health-care practitioners in low-income countries do not have access to the basic technologies needed to help people with diabetes properly manage their disease. Access to essential medicines, including life-saving insulin, and technologies is limited in low – and middle-income countries. Diabetes is an important cause of blindness, amputation and kidney failure.

    “Diabetes of all types can lead to complications in many parts of the body and increase the overall risk of dying prematurely. Possible complications include heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, leg amputation, because of infected, non-healing foot ulcers, vision loss and nerve damage. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented. Thirty minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days and a healthy diet can drastically reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.”

    On the role of food in diabetes, he advised that diabetics should learn about carbohydrate counting and portion sizes.

    ”A key to many diabetes management plans is learning how to count carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the foods that often have the biggest impact on your blood sugar levels. And for people taking mealtime insulin, it’s crucial to know the amount of carbohydrates in your food, so you get the proper insulin dose. Learn what portion size is appropriate for each type of food. Simplify, plan your meal by writing the portions of the foods you eat often. Use cups or a scale to measure them to ensure proper portion sizes and accurate carbohydrate count.

    “Make sure every meal is well-balanced. As much as possible, plan  every meal to have a good mix of starches, fruits and vegetables, proteins, and fats. It’s especially important to pay attention to the types of carbohydrates you choose. Some carbohydrates, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, are better for you than are others. These foods are low in carbohydrates and contain fibre that helps keep your blood sugar levels more stable. Talk to your healthcare giver or dietitian about the best food choices and the appropriate balance of food types.

    “Coordinate your meals and medications. Too little food in proportion to your diabetes medications — especially insulin — may result in low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) while too much food may cause your blood sugar level to climb too high (hyperglycemia). Talk to your diabetes health care team about how to best coordinate meal and medication schedules,” he said.

    Besides, Aruna advised those with diabetes to avoid sweetened beverages. ”Sugar-sweetened beverages, including those sweetened with high fructose corn syrup or sucrose, tend to be high in calories and offer little in the way of nutrition. And because they cause blood sugar to rise quickly, it’s best to avoid these drinks if you have diabetes. The exception is if you are experiencing a low blood sugar level. Sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soda, juice and sports drinks, can be used as an effective treatment for quickly raising blood sugar that is too low,” he said.

    Another participant, a traditional medicine practitioner, Dr Segun Fahuwa, said there are natural remedies for diabetes management.

    He said cinnamon, turmeric, fenugreek, ginger and red chilis are examples.

    “In diabetes, these healthful spices and herbs include improvement in blood sugar, reduction in inflammation, improvement in cholesterol and lipid status, and perhaps reduction in blood pressure,” he said.

    Fahuwa saidintake of  about 2,000mg  of turmeric curcumin daily is good.

    “When cooking with ground turmeric powder, the University of Maryland, United States recommends one to three grammes per day. One gramme is about half a teaspoon.

    Founder Pax Herbals and Research Laboratory Revd Father Anselm Adodo said good diet and exercises, among others, contribute to wellness.

    ‘’It is good to talk to your healthcare giver about an exercise plan. Ask about what kind of exercise is appropriate for you. Most adults should exercise at least 30 minutes a day. If you’ve been inactive for a long time, your healthcare giver may want to check your overall health before advising you. He  can recommend the right balance of aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise. Keep an exercise schedule. Talk to your doctor about the best time of day for you to exercise, so that your workout routine is coordinated with your meal and medication schedules,” he said.

    Red Adodo warned against regular intake of alcohol, saying it could increase blood sugar and cause liver toxicity. “Beer and sweet liquors are high in carbohydrates and should be avoided. Refined sugar rapidly spikes blood glucose and soda, fruit juice and other sugary beverages are the worst culprits. These forms of sugar enter the blood stream rapidly and  cause extreme elevations in blood glucose. Even though natural sweeteners, such as raw honey are better options, they can still affect blood sugar.

  • NNPC appoints, redeploys management staff

    NNPC appoints, redeploys management staff

  • Fuel import: Ex-PPPRA chief seeks fine-tuning of forex management

    A former Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) Reginald Stanley has urged the federal government to fine tune the foreign exchange (forex) facility provided for fuel importation.

    Stanley spoke at the inauguration of a multi-million naira mega petrol station built by Emadeb Energy Services Limited in Abuja at the weekend.

    He described the federal government’s intervention in the downstream petroleum sector as “as good and enormous.”

    Stanley said: “it is advisable that the government clears our certain administrative bottlenecks in providing forex to marketers.  Those bottlenecks are preventing the liberalization of the sector from taking its full course.

    “When forex approved for marketers are delayed from getting to their banks to enable them open letters of credit for orders placed, the volatility associated with petrol importation will eventually affect the tonnage imported by marketers.

    “The forex challenges are national whether you are manufacturing or importing, but the government has done very well by providing intervention forex for the downstream to make sure that it keeps running.

    “The only little lacuna here is that the forex needs to be made to work. There is a little bit of administrative bottlenecks here and there that need to be untangled; and, as soon as you do that, it will work well. The intervention is great but the application has to be fine-tuned.

    “The way the forex is being given today, there is a timing issue. If you are given forex on a Monday and the price of PMS is $450 per ton but that forex does not get into your account for letter of credits to be opened until Friday, it means there is a time difference of four days and unfortunately there is volatility in the market place because by Friday the price would have moved up to $500 and marketers will bring less quantity. That underpins why a good number of marketers are unable to import petrol.”

    On the Emadeb retail outlet, he said:  “This is not just a filling station but a mega station which is what I have always advocated. This is an integral part of the downstream development in Nigeria. We have had a proliferation of filling stations littered all over the place but abandoned.

    “Mega filling stations are the roadmap to the future. For Emadeb Energy Services Limited, this is a very good move that comes at a very critical time when depots are gone and products are taken to the consumers with efficiency.”

    Managing Director of Emadeb, Mr Adebowale Olujimi, said his firm was building 10 megaoutlets nationwide with the plan to acquire some existing stations within the next 18 to 24 months.

  • Etuemena: Heartland management has not been dissolved

    Etuemena: Heartland management has not been dissolved

    Chibuzor Goodfaith Etuemena has revealed that he still remains the chairman of Heartland and that the public should disregard the purported media reports credited to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Ugonna Ozuruigbo that the Naze Millionaires’ management has been dissolved.

    Etuemena in a signed press statement through the club’s Director of Media,Cajetan Nkwopara disclosed that the Imo State  government which appointed him as the boss of the Owerri side has not said anything contrary and has warned the  state’s Deputy Speaker who within his scope as the Supervisor of the club, not to hijack it.

    Etuemena said: “The facts remains that I was appointed the chairman of Heartland by the state government and the same government appointed Ozuruigbo as a supervisor in Heartland FC. If my position is to change, the same government will write and inform me that I am no longer the chairman of the club but this has not happened. I have checked and found that the government has not directed anybody to dissolve my management team.

    “I am ready to work with Ozuruigbo as long as he is willing to limit his activities to the areas of his appointment. He has no right to take over the running of the club from me. He is a serving law-maker and Heartland is a parastatal. I don’t know where in the civil service rule a sitting law-maker would be required to run a ministry or a parastatal while at the same time collecting his salaries and allowances from the same government source.

    “May I therefore, seize this opportunity to reassure our great players, hard working technical crew members and  staff as well as our loyal supporters club members and the general public that for now, nothing has changed and that Heartland FC are still intact while I remain the chairman.”

  • Towards a better waste management regime in Lagos

    Towards a better waste management regime in Lagos

    Waste management or waste disposal has been a challenge for the Lagos State government for decades.

    The government has adopted several strategies to manage the whopping 15,000 tonnes of garbage generated daily in the over-crowded city-state that receives immigrants almost on a daily basis from other parts of the country and beyond.

    Thorough the responsible agency, the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), government had in the past explored several measures such as the use of private sector players (PSP), which are facing stiff competition from the infamous but somewhat preferred cart pushers.

    In a bid to achieve better results, LAWMA has also attempted managing waste through characterisation, improved technology and partnering with other nations.

    However, only limited success has been achieved. Indeed, health hazards due to the activities of the PSPs, the ageing equipment they deploy, sharp practices by cart pushers, and the sorry state of the waste dump sites have all colluded to put the situation in a state of desperation.

    The need for an urgent action to turn around the conditions cannot be over-emphasised.

    In fact, there is the need for an elaborate and standardised regulation of the environment of Lagos State, in line with international best practices, while taking cue from locations such as the United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Kenya, Namibia, and New York City in the United States.

    Lagos and New York City, for instance, are two mega cities that mean the same in terms of entertainment, commerce and global trends. While Lagos has a population of 21 million with an estimated population density of 13,405/sq.km, New York City has a population of 23 million with a population density of 10,833/sq.km.

    In fact, while New York with its huge population has been able to successfully handle the massive amount of waste generated daily, Lagos, on the other hand, is struggling with storage, collection and disposal of her waste.

    New York has about 120 landfills sites while Lagos has only six landfills, with only three of the six functioning. This is grossly inadequate for the Lagos metropolis, considering that she generates approximately the same amount of waste as New York does, even so, a huge percentage of this is solid waste.

    Aside struggling with disposal of the enormous amount of waste generated daily, Lagos has not been able to effectively collect her waste. This is exemplified as waste littering roadsides, waste being disposed into drainages, and overflowing public bins, among several others. There is a huge gap in collection and the PSP operators obviously struggle with the huge amount of waste they have to collect.

    New York has successfully been able to collect her waste through several methods including government-regulated commercial waste systems in which they have over 250 commercial waste haulers, as well as dispose effectively through recycling methods and landfills. In that part of the world, waste is wealth. In Nigeria, and Lagos to be precise, waste is a curse rather than a blessing – it’s simply a disaster waiting to happen.

    It has been shown that only 60% of the daily wastes collected in New York go to the landfills compared to about 95% in Lagos.

    Lagos must, as a matter of urgency, start recycling as an alternative to landfilling. It has been seen that the heavy reliance on landfills has brought about environmental pollution and several health hazards to residents around the sites as seen in the Olusosun landfill, which today remains the largest landfill site in the country.

    The Olusosun dump site is nothing but as a disaster waiting to happen and the need for a quick action from government is long overdue. The dump site at Isolo also requires an urgent intervention from the authorities.

    There is likewise the need to allow for a coordinated and effective private sector participation in the management of the environment, as well as the provision for an organised judicial framework for the administration of environmental laws in Lagos State in other to make this happen.

    Similarly, there is the need to explore newer methods of collection to help effectively handle the waste generated. Other collection agencies need to be employed as it is obvious that the PSP operators alone can’t handle the massive amount of waste.

    The Akinwunmi Ambode administration should tackle this hydra-headed problem without minding whose ox is gored. The speed and enthusiasm with which the present administration tackled the Light-up Lagos initiative should be deployed to combat this age long problem that has now grown to become a monster.

    The recent clean up exercise embarked upon in highbrow areas of Lagos like Victoria Island, Lekki and Ikoyi should be extended to the waste management sector.

    Government must, as a matter of urgency, seek help from those who have managed waste in mega cities around the world, while bearing in mind the nation’s – and the state’s – peculiar solid waste generation status.

     

    • Samuel, an Environmental rights activist sent this piece from Lagos.

  • Students seek truce between management, lecturers

    Worried by the lingering industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), students of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State have appealed to the management and their lecturers to return to the negotiation table.

    The institution chapter of ASUU, through its chairman, Dr Sola Fayose, declared an indefinite strike two weeks ago over the management’s inability to pay lecturers’ outstanding salaries.

    Some students, who spoke with CAMPUSLIFE, said the strike is taking negative toll on their pursuits, urging the management to accede to their lecturers’ demand for them to return to the school.

    A final year student, Marcus Amudipe, lamented the development, saying students should not be the made to bear the brunt of the action.

    He said: “When two elephants fight, the grass suffers. My advice to both parties is for them to dialogue and find a common ground for the sake of students.”

    Mary Fagbiye, a 300-Level student, expressed displeasure over the strike, urging the lecturers to reconsider the management’s offer.

    Noting that the strike has distorted the school calendar, Mary appealed to the parties to settle their differences and end the strike.

    She said: “I can’t blame the lecturers for going on strike, because they deserve to be paid for doing their jobs. But, they still need to be considerate, because the strike has stalled academic activities and it has greatly affected the school calendar. Both parties must dialogue and come to a resolution as soon as possible.”

    Adebola Adekanye, a student, decried the strike action. She wanted the both parties to sheath their swords and return to negotiation to discuss permanent solution to the matter.

    She said the lecturers deserved to be paid, but urged the striking workers to embrace dialogue to protect the future students.

    The lecturers vowed not call off the strike until their outstanding three months salaries and seven months deductions are paid.

  • CMD hails EKSUTH management

    CMD hails EKSUTH management

    The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado-Ekiti, Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe, has hailed the hospital’s management for making it a centre of excellence.

    He praised Governor Ayodele Fayose for supporting the hospital since he assumed office.

    Ogundipe, who spoke at the kick-off of the Histopathology Archives of the Department of Anatomy Pathology, noted that the governor’s support had led to the approval to build an ultra-modern mortuary through public private partnership (PPP).

    The CMD said the various success stories recorded by the Anatomy Pathology Department were in line with the vision of the teaching hospital’s management to make it the preferred referral centre for qualitative, affordable health care, ethical medical research and training.

    He noted that Anatomy Pathology and Surgery departments were like Siamese twins, which cannot function without each other.

    Ogundipe said the department occupied a pride of place among similar departments of Histopathology of teaching hospitals in the country because it boast modern equipment which were not available in some first generation teaching hospitals.

    The Head of Anatomy Pathology Department Dr. Abidemi Omonisi said setting up an archive in the department was imperative because it would be useful for keeping records of histopathology reports.