The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Miriam-Ekene-Okoro

  • Jermaine Jackson for Lagos Jazz Concert

    Jermaine Jackson for Lagos Jazz Concert

    • Plans Music Academy in Lagos

    Jermaine Jackson, co-lead singer of global music brand, Jackson 5 and elder brother of the late king of pop, Michael Jackson, on Friday confirmed readiness to participate in the star-studded Jazz concert being put together by the Lagos State Government in commemoration of the 2016 International Jazz Day.
    The concert, which is to be hosted by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, will hold at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja on Saturday, April 30 by 5pm.
    Jermaine, who confirmed his readiness to participate in the festival during a press conference held at the Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, said he would be at the festival to support the government and an array of international and local artists who would be performing.
    Jermaine, who is in Nigeria as part of activities marking the Jackson Golden Africa Tour, also disclosed plans by the Jackson 5 to establish a music academy in Nigeria to nurture and prepare the talents in Africa for the global market.
    He said: “It’s been 50 years for the Jacksons and we are bringing a team together of people who can produce a concert. I like coming here because I have a lot of questions. I was just in China and I learnt that the first dynasty that started in China came from Africa here and I had a professor in China to tell me this.
    “That made me very proud and the world needs to know this because in our history books in America, they don’t put this there; they don’t want us to know this, but when you travel and you have the opportunity to see things for yourself, you will realize that the history books were written by someone else and it is their version and their interpretation of what happened which is usually not the truth.
    “We are going to give you a nice compilation of songs that you know and I am just very honoured to be here because we have been kept away from you because of the politics and we are not interested in such politics because we are people who care about people. We need to have a closer relationship with African-American and the rest of Africa because we have been separated for long and we can reach out to do other things.
    “There are lots of great talents here and we want to use our 50 years experience of being in the business to teach the arts. We have in our plans to establish the Jackson Academy Performing Art School and the school will have a curriculum and also will teach music, directing, film, lightening, producing, dancing and so on. We want to get the talents here ready for the global market and I do believe that the drums and the beat started from here,” Jermaine said.
    Earlier, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, who received Jermaine and his entourage alongside the Special Adviser to the Governor on Oversees Affairs and Investment, Professor Ademola Abass and other senior officials of the Ministry, expressed delight to receive the visitors to the state.
    Ayorinde added that the visit of the Jacksons to Nigeria in commemoration of the 50 years anniversary coincided with preparations by the Lagos State Government to mark the 50 years anniversary of the state in 2017, and welcomed collaboration with the Jacksons in that regard.

  • Ambode tasks information agencies on public confidence

    Ambode tasks information agencies on public confidence

    Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on Friday at the maiden edition of the retreat for public officers in Lagos State, charged information agencies in the State to ensure they effectively build public confidence in government policies and programmes.

    The Governor, who was represented at the event by the State’s Head of Service Mrs. Olabowale Ademola, said that the retreat was organized among other reasons to afford public affairs officer opportunity to reassess the effectiveness of the information machinery of government, identify areas where they can improve and proffer solutions.

    Ambode while speaking on the importance of centrality of information to human existence noted that the right to information is an inalienable rights guaranteed by the United Nations declarations.

    He therefore described the prompt approval to redesignate information officers in the state’s civil service to public affairs officers as not just doing needful and necessary but also an attestation to the unflinching commitment of his administration to human capital development.

    While promising to sustain the development, he said that “the tripod policy thrust of security, infrastructure development and job creation cannot be effectively implemented without properly disseminating, reinforcing and linkage by strategic and dynamic information machinery.”

    He said that the various information organs of the state have the capacity to perform more than they presently also urged public affairs officers to perform optimally in order to be more visible and relevant so that the people can key into the various reforms the administration is undertaking in the area of traffic control, taxation, employment generation and public security.

    According to the governor, “Considering the cosmopolitan nature of Lagos, one critical area that public affairs officers must be ready to contend with is crisis management”

    Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde, explained that the acceptance and subsequent hosting of the retreat by the Governor was borne out of his belief in the responsibilities entrusted in the Ministry of Information and Strategy and its officers to be well equipped and prepared for the challenges in present day public information management.

    He also noted that the retreat will help participants in outlining strategies for a rejuvenated public sector information management.

    Ayorinde urged public affairs officers to use the occasion of the retreat to interact, rub minds on contemporary issues and challenges that affects the profession as well as acquiring knowledge and forge new network necessary for the growth of the profession.

  • Lagos goes tough on processing, distribution of unwholesome food

    Lagos goes tough on processing, distribution of unwholesome food

    The Lagos state government has read the riot act over processing and distribution of unwholesome foods and all forms of food poisoning in the state.

    Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Food Security, Mr. Ganiyu Sanni, who spoke at special Lecture/Induction and Awards Presentation organised by Institute of Security at the University of Lagos Main Auditorium, reiterated that the government remain committed towards ensuring food security in the state.

    He said it is necessary to monitor the whole process of food handling and distribution until it gets to the final consumers, while adding that a proposal is already in place to set up Food Marshals Corp that will be positioned in various markets across the state for proper monitoring.

    Okanlawon said the Food Marshal Corps will be trained on food hygiene and handling, and they will work together with the market executives in various markets to inspect food that are brought into the state.

    He disclosed that over the years, government through the Ministry of Agriculture has built a vibrant relationship with the farmers, which made it easy for government to respond fast to any reported issues of agro crises.

    Citing examples of government response to the outbreak of Bird Flu in the state when thousands of birds were depopulated as control measures in some poultries at Ajah, Okanlawon said various reports has reached the office of food security on some processors that engage in the use of unhygienic chemically contained materials to process their products before taking them to the markets without considering the effect of their acts on the consumers of such products.

    He disclosed that some people use carbide to ripen plantains, banana and some other fruits while some processors use formalin to preserve chicken, turkey and beef before getting it to the markets.

    The Special Adviser stated that government is very much aware of all the unhygienic and unwholesome practices stressing that government is not relenting in its efforts to curb food poisoning in the state.

    Soliciting for the support of the residents in the drive at ensuring that they are fed with safe food from farm to the table, Okanlawon implored Lagosians to expose and make formal report of any known food processor and handlers that are suspected of insanitary and unwholesome practices.

    Also speaking at the event, a renowned security expert and chairman of the occasion, Dr. Ona Ekhomu advised the Lagos State government to be more pro-active in the struggle against agro terrorism, he however commended the state Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode for establishing the office of Food Security at the most appropriate time.

    The high point of the event was the conferring of the Institute of Security Fellowship Award to the Special Adviser on Food Security, Mr Sanni Okanlawon and 18 Professors and 29 prominent Nigerians.

  • Lagos will continue to celebrate Braithwaite’s ideals – Ambode

    Lagos will continue to celebrate Braithwaite’s ideals – Ambode

    • Our Dad has left a vacuum, so hard to fill – Daughter

    Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday paid a condolence visit to the family of the late foremost nationalist and prominent lawyer, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite in Victoria Island, saying the state government will continue to celebrate the ideal he stood for.

    The governor, who was accompanied on the visit by members of the State Executive Council, said his demise was a major loss not just to Lagos State but also Nigeria.

    He said: “On behalf of Lagos State, I want to say that this is something that thoroughly touched us; we are concerned about it and we would like to take deeper part in whatever you want to do to honour him because this is a great loss to Lagos and this is a great loss of a great man of Lagos and we intend to celebrate him in that manner also.

    “Whatever it is that we do even as a government or as a party, they are things that always project us. If there is any person that is on the side of the masses or the poor, this is one thing that Dr. Tunji Braithwaite believed in. He preached it; confessed it and fought it during his lifetime.

    “He was always thoroughbred. That is why we have come here not only console or say just anything. But we must equally point out that everything I am also doing is on the side of the poor and is on the side of the majority, which he believed in; which he confessed; which he stood for during his lifetime.

    “Notwithstanding, whatever challenges we have on the way, the only thing we have joy about is that he lived a Christian life from the beginning to the end. I just shared his widow some of the legacies that the Braithwaite left in Anglican Church in Epe and the things they continue to do also. My prayer is that wherever he left his sermon, we will take it up and also make sure that the philosophy of what he believed in does not die here.

    “I want to console with the rest of the family. The name Braithwaite will never die. I believe strong that any time that we are reading any legal matter or any other issue that relate to constitutionalism in Nigeria, his own side of the story will remain indelible.”

    Speaking on behalf of the family Dr. Omowunmi Braithwaite thanked the governor for finding time, despite his busy schedule to come and commiserate with them.

    She said her father’s demise had left a void in their lives that will forever remain difficult to fill, but they were drawing strength from his legacies and his love for God.

    “We love our father; he has left a huge void in our lives and his footsteps impossible to fill. But we take comfort in what he has left as a legacy, as you have said, for us as a family and the nation.

    “Daddy did not compromise under any circumstances with his family. We thank God for the fact that he was such a forthright and God-fearing man and fearless on many levels and as I have said to some other people, he was not up for sale at any level.

    “We thank God for him because great people are born not made and daddy was a great man. I know he will live forever in our hearts and he will go down in Nigerian history as one of the greatest men who ever lived in Nigeria,” she said.

  • Daughter of late The Nation Editor, five others get scholarship

    Succor came the way of six year old Miss Aladelokun Jemimah, daughter of the late Assistant Editor of The Nation Newspapers, Mr. Dada Aladelokun and five other children of deceased journalists as they got scholarship from Richard Akinnola Foundation.

    Dada Aladelokun died on September 25, 2015 at a Lagos hospital after a protracted illness.

    Chairman of the Foundation, Mr. Richard Akinnola while presenting the scholarship of N100,000 each to the beneficiaries on Thursday at the Ladi Lawal Press Centre in Alausa, said the gesture was geared towards ameliorating the sufferings of the widows of the deceased journalists.

    He explained that beyond the momentary emotional outpouring after the demise of journalists, the widows and children are soon left to face the arduous situations of life.

    Akinnola said the foundation established in the last four has reached out to meet the needs of widows by empowering them, adding that it decided to use this year’s edition to go a notch higher by giving out annual scholarships to the children.

    He said the scholarship is restricted to one child per family due to paucity of funds, adding that other consideration would be given in the future as the foundation’s funds improve.

    Other beneficiaries of the scholarship include 19 years old Cynthia Okonkwo, Ogundeji Adeyemi Ezekiel, Amadi Samuel Onyedikachi, Samuel Olumide Paul, Sanni Omolara.

    Omolara, a student of Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ) who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries, thanked the foundation for the gesture while assuring that they would make adequate use of the opportunity to become better citizens and care for their younger siblings.

    She told our reporter that their family has not been having it easy since the demise of their father.

    “I have been having challenges with paying my school fees and for me to continue studying I have to do little savings so as to meet up with the fee payment. This gesture would go a long way to assist me and take away the pain my mother has been going through when it comes to how I will continue my studies,” Omolara said.

    Also Mrs. Folusho Samuel, widow of late Encomium Weekly Deputy Editor, Folusho Samuel who passed away on October 28, 2015, also relieved her experience since the demise of her husband.

    She said she has been worried about coping with her rent that will soon expire and also thinking of meeting the children fees when school resumes next term.

    She thanked the foundation saying the gesture is a big relief for her and her family.

  • Lagos bans use of schools for parties

    Lagos bans use of schools for parties

    The Lagos State Government on Tuesday said it would no longer tolerate the use of public school premises for social functions and parties.

    The government also warned owners of private schools across the state to comply with rules and regulations guiding their operations.

    The Deputy Governor of the State, Idiat Oluranti Adebule, said this while briefing journalists on the strategic focus of the state government on education this year, adding that the Governor had directed that schools should no longer be used for social functions.

    She said: “The Governor has directed that schools will no longer be used for social activities any longer. We want to implore members of the public to report any school that violates this directive and we would ensure that defaulting schools are sanctioned accordingly.”

    Adebule, who also oversees the Ministry of Education, said the state government was putting a searchlight on the standard of education in the private schools, saying it will no longer be business as usual for such schools that undermine best practices.

    She said as a first step, the government will engage with private school owners and proprietors to intimate them on the action plan of the present administration towards improving the standard of education, saying although government is willing to partner with private schools, they must also be willing to adhere strictly to the acceptable standard.”

  • Fashola: revealing Agbaje’s tax status not personal

    Fashola: revealing Agbaje’s tax status not personal

    Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola said yesterday that revealing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Jimi Agabaje’s tax status was for economic reasons.

    He said issues of tax were beyond personal relationships.

     Fashola, who spoke in Epe yesterday, said: “I don’t hate Agbaje .Revealing the unpaid taxes of Agbaje’s pharmacy was not personal but was for economic reasons. I didn’t say you did not pay two years Land Use Charge, (LUC) you did. But you have four years unpaid LUC. If you have paid all your LUC, please publish your receipts.”

    The governor said corruption and siphoning of public funds retarded the nation’s economic growth and transformation.

    “The Burj Khalifa in Dubai was built with $1.5 billion. This administration has lost $20 billion. The money lost by this administration could be used to build 10 of those structures.

    “We are the only oil producing country that is importing oil products. And they spent over N2 trillion importing fuel.

    A group, Support Group for Ambode 2015, has challenged Agbaje to declare his tax status.

    The group, at the inauguration of its local government mobilisation committees, said: “Lagos State has been able to reduce dependence on federal allocation because Lagosians pay tax.

    “It is embarrassing that a man who seeks to govern Lagos has been found wanting in this civic duty. To whom much is to be given, much should be expected.”

     The Chairman, Demola Seriki, urged the committees to focus on a door-to-door and house-to-house campaign.

    The chairmen include Jide Oni (Oshodi-Isolo); Sesan Olanrewaju (Shomolu); Mrs. Adenrele-Ogunsanya (Ikorodu); Enoch Ajibosho (Agege); Samuel Ifemade (Amuwo-Odofin); M.M.Hassan (Ojo); M.K.O. Akindele (Ikeja); Segun Dawodu (Lagos Island); Bode Oluwole (Lagos Mainland); Rilwan Alesh (Eti-Osa); Tunde Balogun (Apapa); Hakeem Dickson (Surulere) and Kamal Bayewu (Ajegunle-Ajeromi).

    Others are Monday Whenu (Badagry); Yomi Adedo (Ifako-Ijaiye); Rasaq Amao,(Mushin); Francis Adebisi (Alimosho); Laja Adelaja (Epe); Babatunde Surakat-Idogun (Ibeju-Lekki) and K.K. Eleshin (Kosofe).

  • Fashola inaugurates 166 lighting poles on Carter Bridge

    Motorists plying the Carter Bridge, a major arterial road connecting Lagos Island with the Mainland, can now heave a sigh of relief as Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has inaugurated 412 light fittings on the bridge.

    The aim is to improve security and encourage human and vehicular traffic at night.

    The bridge, first built by the colonial government in 1901 and later rebuilt in 1973, had, for many years, been abandoned at night by motorists, motorcyclists and pedestrians because it was always dark and considered unsafe.

    In a brief ceremony performed atop the bridge on Sunday night, the old facility took on a new life as the 166 poles holding the lamps, 52 attachments on the poles to illuminate the walkways, 204 indicator lights and 48 blue reflective lights placed underneath the bridge as well as a lighting under the bridge that reflects the Lagos State colours on the water came alive to the joy of residents and traders.

    Governor Fashola said the lighting of the bridge was in fulfilment of his administration’s commitment to power facilities in transportation and housing, adding that in the area of power, his government has focused on traffic lights and street lighting.

    Governor Fashola, who noted that the lighting of streets has improved security in the state and enabled people to move around safely at night, described the lighting of the bridge as “a transport solution as well as a security solution.”

    “The significance of these street lightings is that it has improved security in the state, making Lagos safer at night,” the Governor said, adding: “On the Carter Bridge particularly, this is a transport solution as well as a security solution.”

    Making history as the first bridge in the country to have public lighting powered by an independent power project, the Carter Bridge project covers public lighting starting from the Idumota area to Ijora Olopa, Iddo Terminus and towards the Third Mainland Bridge, Adeniji, Ebute Ero and Ofin.

    In addition, the switch on ceremony for the Carter Bridge public lighting project marks the first public infrastructure facility to be powered by the Lagos State Independent Power Project (IPP) and forms part of the Island Power Expansion Project, which will also include the connection of four general hospitals, 14 schools, two waterworks, one transfer loading station, two court facilities, two stadiums and a 30- kilometre additional public lighting as well as Tinubu Square.

    The Carter Bridge connects several roads on the Lagos Island, including Ijora Olopa, Iddo Terminus, Offin and Ebute Ero.