The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria newspaper

  • Court orders forfeiture of funds linked to Oyo-Ita’s alleged associate, ONSA director

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the forfeiture of various sums of money estimated at over N1billion allegedly owned by a government official, Titus Okunrinboye Thompson and a former Director of Communications at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Haruna Wando Mohammed.

    Details of the money include about N550million allegedly found in two Zenith Bank accounts belonging to Thompson, who the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) claimed acted as a front for the immediate past Head of Service (HOS) of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita.

    The other chunk constituting $287,500 and N291,367,914.35 was said to have been recovered from Mohammed, in relation to a surveillance contract awarded sometime in 2012 by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to a private firm, RTCOM Limited. The contract was said to have been code named – Falcon Eye (FE).

    While the court ordered that the money recovered from Mohammed be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government, the one being held in Thompson’s two Zenith Bank accounts is only temporarily forfeited.

    On Thursday, Justice Folashade Giwa-Ogunbanjo granted the order of permanent forfeiture in the Mohammed case after EFCC’s lawyer, Mohammed Abubakar, argued the motion he filed to that effect.

    The two orders granted in the case, marked:FHC/ABJ/CS/694/2019 are:

    *A final order of forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria of the sum of N291,367,914.35 recovered from one Haruna W. Mohammed in the course of investigation to be transferred to Recovered Funds Account domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    Read Also: Bank seeks forfeiture of senator’s school over N150m debt

    *A final order of forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria of the sum of US$287,500.00 recovered from one Haruna W. Mohammed in the course of investigation and which has been transferred to the Recovered Funds Account domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    In the case involving Thompson, Justice Giwa-Ogunbanjo could not hear a similar motion filed by Abubakar.

    She noted that although the court had earlier in July 2019 ordered the interim forfeiture of the money and directed that the EFCC publish the order in a national daily, the respondent (Thompson) was absent in court and was not represented.

    Abubakar said the EFCC complied with the order and caused a publication to be made in a national daily on July 8, 2019.

    He noted that since the publication was made, neither Thompson nor Oyo-Ita (who he is suspected to have acted for) responded to the order, by making claim for the money, a development Abubakar said, informed his motion for final forfeiture.

    Justice Giwa-Ogunbanjo then adjourned until October 7, 2019 for the hearing of the motion for final forfeiture and ordered that hearing notice be issued to Thompson in relation to the next hearing date, scheduled for the hearing of the motion for perManent forfeiture.

    The EFCC said, in court documents, sighted by The Nation, that Thompson was an accountant in the Federal Ministry of Special Duties, when Oyo-Ita served as the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary.

    It was alleged that the money traced to Thompson’s two accounts in Zenith Bank (one containing over N500m, while the other has over N50m) were public funds allegedly  siphoned through a project called – Group Life Insurance – which was ostensibly meant for some staff of the ministry.

    In the case of Mohammed, the EFCC stated, in a court document, “that it received intelligence, sometime in 2017 “in respect of cases of defence contract/procurement fraud, gratification and money laundering against the former National Security Adviser (NSA), alleging conspiracy and criminal misappropriation of public funds involving the huge sum of money.

    “Preliminary investigation conducted by the Commission revealed that Ambassador Haruna Mohammed Wando was the Director of Communications at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

    “Our investigation of the case further revealed that sometimes in 2012, the ONSA contemplated putting in place an ICT driven surveillance and security platform to check illegal activities within the Nigerian territorial waters. This was to enhance the security of Nigeria’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

    The project was meant to cover Nigeria’s coastline stretching 420 nautical miles from East to West including the territorial sea and the EEZ of the country.

    “In order to actualize this dream, a committee was set up to carry out an assessment of the country’s maritime security architecture and assets vis-à-vis the desirability and viability of the proposed project.

    “The Committee which mandate includes sourcing for relevant and reputable companies for the project was headed by the then Director of Communications of (ONSA), the said Amb. Haruna W. Mohammed.

    “Between April and June 2012, the committee invited relevant reputable companies to forward technical and financial proposals; companies which submitted proposal to that effect were however not awarded the said contract.

    “A company called RTCOM Limited which was not invited to submit proposal in that regard eventually ended up getting the job which job was code named Falcon Eye (FE).

    “Stamford International Limited (SIL) was considered as the proffered bidder and was first awarded the contract on 11th April, 2013. They applied for a mobilization fee of US$5.0 million which was not given to them, while on 10th June 2013 RTCOM Limited applied for the same amount and for the same purpose.

    “On 30th April, 2014 ONSA signed a contract with RTCOM Limited for the implementation of the Falcon Eye (FF) Project at a contract sum of $459,369,500.

    “40 per cent of the contract sum, amounting to $183,758,585 was paid by ONSA to RTCOM Limited on the 29th May 2014.

    “Investigation has linked RTCOM limited with bribery and corruption in the build up to the award and execution of the FE project which explains why the shady deals went through.

    “Further to the foregoing, investigation has established that RTCOM Limited has paid the sum of about US$1.0 million (in structured periodic cash payments) to the said Amb. Haruna W. Mohammed while he served as director at ONSA and Chairman of the Committee on FE as bribe and/or kickback.

    “Amb. Haruna W. Mohammed admitted in his extra judicial statement to have converted some of the USD received from RTCOM to naira and deposited it in his Eco Bank account number 0129640537 while 0129640544 had some of the USD balances.

    “Further to the foregoing, a total sum of N291,367,914.00 and USD 287,500.00  have since been refunded voluntarily by the suspect, Amb. Haruna W. Mohammed to the EFCC.

    “The sum of USD 287,500.00  was transferred to the EFCC recovery account through the OAGF FGN Asset Recovery US Account.

    “The sum of N291,367,914.00 was refunded by suspect through several bank drafts submitted by the suspect to the EFCC through the OAGF FGN Asset Recovery US Account.”

  • Buhari’s team divided over P&ID

    Since the news broke on August 16 that a British court had given Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID) approval to seize Nigerian government’s assets worth $9.6 billion, President Muhammadu Buhari has not hidden his desire to get the matter investigated .

    The President wants Nigerians whose hands were soiled in the failed project to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State’s capital, punished. In New York few days ago, he came hard on the project, dubbing it a scam.

    He is determined to know who played what role in Nigeria getting into the trap of P&ID, why the contract terms were not properly vetted, and why no one seemed to care about its execution.

    It has come to light, however, that members of the team constituted by the President to investigate the matter are divided over what approach should be adopted by the country to get over saga. While some members of the team share the President’s passion about investigating the matter, getting to the roots of it and punishing the culprits, others believe that investigation is not only time wasting but could lead the country to nowhere.

    The other group is, however, miffed by the proposal, wondering how anyone could be talking of a deal with “facilitators of a dubious contract.” They believe that Nigeria has a good case and should push on with the ongoing legal battle in the hope that the court will quash the judgment awarding $9.9 billion damages against the country.

    Although the team put together by the President appears to be forging ahead going by the go-ahead given Nigeria few days ago by a United Kingdom court to challenge the judgment, SENTRY can reveal authoritatively that all is not well with it. If the pro-arbitration option had their way, those rooting for thorough investigation would have been dropped from the team and   sent home from London where the team relocated to early in the week.

  • A troubled league

    The domestic league is dead. The clubs are slave camps. The country’s league seasons have no calendar. Weekly matches are marred by violence with the culprits (hoodlums, urchins etc) made to look like spirits due to inadequate security. Referees are beaten to pulp regularly because league venues don’t have close circuit televisions to track the beasts. Sadly, some of these battered referees don’t record their ordeal in their match reports, except such scenes happen in parts of the country where the media presence can overwhelm the influence of desperate club managers, owners and, sometimes, sports commissioners.

    Rather than secure an official television station for the competition to help curb violence and carnage, the organisers watched in awe as the previous league television station stopped the contract. A proactive league board would have accepted what the previous television sponsor offered and secure an arrangement where others could either show the games live or record them to be shown later.

    The composition of the board makes it difficult for the members to take binding decisions, especially punishing those who flout the body’s rules. The league board has taken a harvest of decisions with different interpretations, depending on the clout of the offending clubs. If a less influential team infringes on a law, it could get a five-match ban, with a decision to play outside the home state, for instance. If a bigger team flouts the same law, the referees would be punished for ineptitude and the offending club’s fans prevented from watching the next three matches.

    A disturbing example was the ban imposed on Kano Pillars’ captain for his unsportsmanlike conduct during the Super 4 game against Rangers at the Agege Stadium in June, 2019. Instead of banning the player from all competitions, the board stylishly allowed the Pillars’ star the opportunity of playing in the country’s oldest football competition, the Challenge Cup, which is now known as the Aiteo Cup. It is only in Nigeria that such a thing can happen because we politicise everything.

    Well managed league boards in Africa and Europe have begun, with the players sure of the season’s termination date, unlike ours which has become a league without end. It only ends at the dictates of the organisers, who are quick to adopt short cuts for the competition to end. Nigeria is the only league where clubs dictate how the season should end.

    When the organisers are not talking about the now fraudulent contraption called abridged league to hide their ineptitude, demoted clubs form a clique which canvasses that those relegated last season should remain.

    Our clueless administrators fall into the trap by extending the number of clubs in the elite class. It is a shameful circus of how the leagues shouldn’t be prosecuted. The organisers take delight in shifting the commencement  dates of the competition, the recent being the disgraceful pronouncement  that this 2019/2020 season won’t start because there are no sponsors. Isn’t it disheartening that the players have trained for several months without kicking the ball in any competition. Poor lads.

    Payment of players’, coaches’, officials’ and ancillary staff’s is almost forbidden. The so called administrators of the beautiful game (now ugly in Nigeria) are unperturbed about the sad development which turned our players into beggars and emergency cab drivers  for those who have cars in order to eke out a living. Unfortunately, the organisers cannot  secure a sponsor for the league. They drove away the sponsors they met in the league because of their tardy administrative style.

    Companies don’t work in a vacuum. A league without a calendar which will be complied with can’t get a sponsor. A league where administrators cannot stem the tide of violence at match venues is doomed because no firm wants its products and services enmeshed in controversies. A league where the target audience of sponsors (the fans) are scared of attending matches cannot generate cash internally for the clubs and for itself.

    A league where fans run through tear gas fired by security operatives to prevent mayhem isn’t one to attract positive comments from the globe. A league whose fixtures can be changed for spurious reasons, such as going to watch the World Cup, when only one goalkeeper in the domestic league makes the Super Eagles’ squad, underscores the organisers’ poor knowledge of growing the game. After all, matches weren’t played every day. Besides, World Cup fixtures were known months before the competition began.

    Sadly, our football chieftains who gloat around the country over their feats as match commissioners in FIFA and CAF competitions have not been able to implement the objective of using the domestic game as the nursery for the Golden Eaglets (through clubs’ feeder teams), Flying Eagles, Olympic Eagles, CHAN Eagles and Super Eagles. It suits them more to woo Nigeria-born lads in Europe and the Diaspora than to supervise the local game to produce more stars like we had in the past.

    To underscore the importance FIFA attaches to the local game, Enyimba FC and Ifeanyi Ubah FC goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa brought into the coffers of both clubs $237, 720 (N86 million) following the Super Eagles exit from the group stage as they failed to make it out of the group containing eventual finalist Croatia, familiar foes Argentina and debutants Iceland. Imagine if any Nigerian club had up to five home-based players in the Eagles for the World Cup? Simply multiply N43 million by five (N215 million from FIFA). Good money? Sure, but do our football organisers think this way?

    A league where touts sell match tickets at the gate yet the organisers don’t know why there is carnage. A league where 50 wiry security operatives with batons are trying to stop 3000 rampaging fans from beating up a referee, shows who the organisers are – jesters.

    When a referee is killed, we will constitute panels to find out how it happened, who did it, why and how? Innocent souls will be arrested while the roughnecks will be walking the streets, free as air, with instructions from their principals not be seen around any stadium. Of course, the noise over the dastardly act won’t last long; it will be buried with the victim whose family will be left to bear the burden of losing their loved one.

    Nothing seems to be new because these same characters run the competition yearly. Those who run the domestic game have the penchant for signing MOUs. They enjoy listening to themselves. Those with dissenting views don’t know what it takes to run the game. But this writer won’t give up until the right personnel are put in place.

    The first thing that stadia where games are played need urgently are CCTVs which can’t be destroyed to cover up malpractices. Besides, any stadium that is slated to host games must build special exit gates that will make it absolutely impossible to access the referees before, during and after matches. Any harm inflicted on match referees will translate to 10 points deduction from the offender’s total. Such a defaulting club should not be allowed to play in that venue for one year.

    With a live coverage of the domestic league, it will be easier to identify where a problem began. Those running the league met an existing television right sponsor and a title owner of the league. What happened to these two bodies which funded the operations of the organising body?

    Referees should be encouraged to sue clubs which send touts to beat them. The referees’ body should secure lawyers for them and refuse to discontinue such cases, no matter whose ox is gored. Asking clubs to pay assaulted referees’ hospital bills is not enough.

    A league whose representatives at the continental level are beaten at home by less-fancied clubs in another country should attract the ire of the organisers. Not so here. Nothing changes yearly. A league where new winners keep recycling players who failed with former winners isn’t one to celebrate. Except the league is run properly and clubs are compelled to have feeder teams and competitions instituted for them to play games, the league cannot perform its role of developing players for the national teams.

  • Finally, a clue to tackling killer herdsmen menace

    A friend once asked me what I would tell God, if He gave me the chance to suggest what He should do to make the world a better place. My response was that God should make it impossible for anyone to harbour a thought without the people around him knowing what he or she is thinking about. Every evil deed is preceded by a thought, and its execution would most probably be aborted by others, if they have a foreknowledge of it. Didn’t the good book say that the mind of man is desperately wicked and no one can know it? It follows then that the key to checkmating the manifestation of the mind’s wickedness is to prevent a deed before it is done.

    With the scary incident in which 36 cows were struck dead by lightning in Ijare, a community in Ifedore Local Government Area, Ondo State last Saturday, there is another wish I would table before God, if He gave the chance to do so: turn all the forests that harbour killer herdsmen in the South West, the South East, the North Central and other parts of the country into sacred lands in the same manner as Oke-Owa Hill where the cows in question met their waterloo.

    As the story goes, the unfortunate cows were led by some Fulani men to the top of the hill for grazing in spite of repeated warnings by some leaders of the community that the hill was a sacred ground that could only be visited by the traditional ruler of Ijare who has the grace to ascend it to perform some rituals once in a year. But like a hunting dog destined to get lost would ignore the hunter’s whistle, the herdsmen called the bluff of the residents and guided their cows to the hilltop. As the cows were busy devouring the lush grass on the hill, the sky roared in anger and instantly terminated their lives.

    Reports say the owners of the cows described the incident as an act of God, while some people tend to see it as a mere coincidence. For the Olujare, the traditional ruler of the community, however, it was a manifestation of the wrath of the gods against the herdsmen and their cows for destroying many farmlands in the area. The Olujare said the community had repeatedly warned the errant herdsmen against their destructive acts in the area, but they would not heed the warnings, adding that the issue had led to open confrontation between the herders and the farmers in the community on many occasions.

    “It has happened and there is nothing we can do,” said Olujare’s second in command, Chief Wemimo Olaniran.” We regard it as the act of God which nobody can query. There had been occasions like that with some individuals who desecrated the land. In the past, we did witness thunderbolt attacks when any part of Ijare, particularly the sacrifice places, was desecrated.”

    The Ijare incident will certainly be bad music in the ears of blood-thirsty herdsmen who in recent times have constituted themselves into terrors in different parts of the country. Until now, they have enjoyed a free reign destroying the farmlands for which poor farmers have toiled for years, killing, maiming and kidnapping innocent people for ransom. But it would seem that a solution is about to be found to their reign of terror, and it cannot be a mere coincidence that the solution is coming from Ondo State where deadly herdsmen have repeatedly assaulted elder statesman Chief Olu Falae and abbreviated the life of Funke Olakunrin, the beloved daughter of another Ondo-born elder statesman, Chief Reuben Fasoranti.

    Since the Ijare incident was reported early in the week, the once obscure community is said to have become a tourist attraction not just for ordinary Nigerians and even foreigners, but for monarchs from different parts of the country who are desperate for a solution to the menace of killer herdsmen in their domains. They are said to be trooping to Ijare for clues on how their communities can be transformed into sacred lands in the same manner as Ijare such that they can scare away the herders who are bent on overrunning their domains and turning them into grazing fields for their cattle. It is the amazing extent to which a gratuitous incident can transform the fortune of an obscure community in the blink of an eye.

    Even Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who only a few months ago was recommending massive production of Indian hemp as a solution to the economic problems of Ondo State, can finally heave a sigh of relief from the vitriolic jibes that have been hauled at him by his horde of traducers since he mooted the idea as a long-term solution to the state’s social and economic problems.

  • Customs boss lauds Ogun command over joint border security

    The Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service (CGC), Col Hameed Ali has commended the Ogun 1 Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over the ongoing joint border security exercise across the country.

    Ali made the remarks on Thursday during an assessment tour of the ongoing joint border security exercise in Ogun 1 Customs Area Command at Idiroko town, which shares border with the Benin Republic.

    He thanked the operatives of the joint border operations in the command for sustaining the exercise since the beginning of the operations last month.

    The customs chief who was received by the Controller of the Ogun 1 Area Command, Comptroller Michael Agbara, was accompanied by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Benin Republic, Kayode Oguntuase, Comptroller General of Immigration, Mohammed Babandede and Brigadier General . E.A Ndagi, Coordinator of Joint Border Security Exercise, among others.

    Read Also: Ogun Customs Command 1 rakes N6.7b revenue

    ‘’My observation is that the officers are doing well. They are deployed to do a job and they are doing it exceptionally well, and that is the reason why Mr President (Buhari) asked us to come and convey his appreciation and commendations to the officers.

    He also said the closure of land borders was in the best interest of the country.

    He noted that the closure of land borders by the Federal Government was necessary to fortify the country’s security and economy, against the backdrop of smuggling of unwholesome goods including arms and ammunition into the country.

    He said: ‘’We are touring the operations sectors. As you know, we are doing an operation called ‘’Border Drill’’ and as a result of that, we have deployed our men in most of these commands.

    ‘’There are three reasons for going round. First, is to convey Mr President’s compensation to our troops and personnel that have been deployed to carry out those drills.

    ‘’Secondly is to further explain to them the reasons why we are doing this drill. Thirdly, is to getting feedback on the ground as to the successes and challenges (of the operation).

    He disclosed that the exercise would not be terminated unless there was assurance of cooperation from neighbouring countries on Nigeria’s anti-smuggling policies.

  • Pantami attack: Kano police quiz three PDP chieftains

    The Kano State Police Command, on Friday, quizzed three chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), over the alleged assault meted, on the Minister of Communications, Dr Ali Isa Pantami, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), by supporters, believed to be Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwso’s loyalists.

    Pantami, who was in Kano for a condolence visit, over the death of Ibrahim Liman Sharada, father of a member, representing Kano Municipal at the House of Representatives, Shaaban Ibrahim Sharada  last week Monday, booed by hoodlums, suspected to be members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, on his departure to Abuja.

    According to the Kano State Police Command,  the PDP deputy governorship candidate, Comrade Aminu Abdulsalam;  State Chairman of the (PDP), Suleiman Bichi and Dr Yunusa Haruna Dangwani, Director-General, PDP governorship campaign, were queried, over the level of their supporters’ involvement in the attack of the communications minister.

    Read Also: Kano Police recover 1000 cattle, arrest three notorious rustlers

    Briefing reporters, in his office at the Police Headquarters, Bompai, Kano, the spokesman of the Command, DSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, said, the three PDP Chieftain were invited and interrogated by the Police Commissioner, Ahmed Iliyasu, alongside the Director of DSS in Kano, to establish the intent of the unruly behaviour of their supporters.

    DSP Haruna, who emphasized the resolve pf the Command to unravel the security breach on the Minister at the Kano Airport, insisted that the Police will not spare any culprit, implicated in the embarrassment, adding that nobody is above the law in the state.

    ‘’The Police invited the PDP stalwarts in the state in connection, with the mob action attempt on the minister at the Airport in Kano. In attendance were the Chairman of PDP in Kano, Suleiman Bichi; PDP Deputy Governorship candidate, Comrade Aminu Abdulsalam; and the DG, Governorship campaign, Haruna Dangwani. They were interrogated by the CP himself, alongside the Director, DSS in Kano. They were invited and quizzed about the ugly incident that happened at the Kano airport, last week Monday.

    According to him, the PDP chieftains confessed to have warned their members not to go to the airport.

    But however, with the issue in place,  the Command is doing everything possible to ensure that the rule of law prevails, emphasizing that nobody is above the law, as the security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as well as that of the State, is a above any individual or any parochial interest.

    While assuring that the Police Command will  investigate issue, he said that no arrest had been made.

    The Chairman of the PDP and a top Kwankwasiyya member, reportedly said that those people, who attacked the Communications Minister, Ali Isa Pantami were not their members, as being speculated.

  • Philippines: Inside the battle of Marawi

    ‘Falcon,’ a Marine sniper, recalls how his companions died as they tried to reclaim the Mapandi bridge from the Maute group – Isis-inspired terrorists – amid the five-month-long conflict in Marawi City in the southern Philippines that started May 2017.

    Just a few hours past midnight, when the Marine troops tried to advance from the bridge toward a street surrounded by buildings, terrorists unleashed a storm of heavy gunfire, grenades and molotov cocktails. The firefight lasted 14 hours.

    Despite the difficulty of getting through an area of terrorist-infested buildings, the valiant troops did not give up. Instead, they tried to enter the Mapandi area through a much farther bridge.

    The Marines were eventually able to retake the bridge in at least two months, a turning point in the war that allowed the military to bring in more troops and supplies to the main battle area.

    The bridge also became a key route used to transport rescued civilians and wounded soldiers, said Army Colonel Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of Task Force Marawi.

    The experience made Falcon and Brawner realise the difficulties of urban warfare. The sniper added that most Marines were trained for thick jungle battles but not for fighting in cities.

    RAINING BOMBS

    The sound of bombs raining and flattening Marawi impaired the hearing of 78-year-old ‘Nanay Linda,’ who spent the whole five months in the hands of the terrorists.

    Nanay Linda, a retired health worker, was among the hostages taken at nightfall on May 23. 

    That night, Nanay Linda recalled, they were taken in a van with teachers abducted from Dansalan College.

    Nanay Linda said there were times Omar Maute, a terrorist leader, visited the building where they were held captive. An alumnus of Dansalan College, Maute would always talk to his former school principal about the good old days.

    Maute assured the captives they would not be killed since they only wanted the military to withdraw its forces, Nanay Linda recounted.

    What stuck with Nanay Linda from the conflict was the relentless bombing that led to flattened buildings and dead bodies.

    “It was always raining bombs until almost all of the structures there were flattened,” she said.

    For months, Nanay Linda and her fellow captives ran from building to building to avoid the bombs, while praying to the heavens that they would not be hit.

    Until one day, no bombs fell from the sky.

    ESCAPE PLAN

    Three weeks before the military announced the end of combat operations, the hopes of Nanay Linda and the rest of the captives lifted as a drone arrived. By then, the captors let their guard down as supplies were depleted and fatigue set in.

    With a lipstick, one of the captives scribbled the word “help” on a cloth, hoping the drone would heed their call. And through the drone, the military handed them a phone, with an escape plan the captives pursued by dawn. 

    The captives ran until they were able to board a military safe vehicle, and were later brought to a safe house, staying there for eight days before they were allowed to go home. 

    However, much of the town was already flattened by the bombing, with many losing their homes in the process.

    Townsfolk, like ‘barangay’ – meaning village – chief Bashir Manri, looked heartbroken as he stood atop what that used to be a lively park in the city’s centre, looking for this house. 

    “I looked for my home first. But I couldn’t even recognise our place because of the damage. I can no longer recognise home,” he said. 

     

    NO ONE WAS SPARED

    Even the powerful clans in Marawi were not spared by the destruction.

    Provincial government official Zia Alonto Adiong broke down in tears when he saw the devastation that turned their ancestral house into a pile of broken stones and twisted steel.

    Adiong’s grandfather, the late senator Domacao Alonto, began to build the house in Panganuran village in the 1950s. Their residence was treated as an open house, as Maranaos freely entered the compound on many occasions.

    He said the family has yet to discuss how to rebuild their ancestral house. He has proposed retaining a portion of the ruins as a marker for people to see, a reminder to the next generation of the destructive power of hatred.

     

    RUINED MOSQUES

    Simultaneous calls for prayer from towering minarets scattered throughout central Marawi used to wake up Maranaos from their lakeside slumber before daybreak. But the war silenced these Islamic beacons of peace as the nightmare of destruction befell the town area.

    Out of at least 56 mosques or masjids — big and small alike — in the 24 villages in the main battle area, 48 were wrecked and would need to be built from scratch, according to the United Imam of the Philippines. Most of the destroyed mosques were the big ones, including the landmark Islamic Center.

     

    MARAWI REHAB

    Wider roads, a modern business district, riverside parks, and promenades are just some of the improvements expected to rise from the ashes of war in Marawi City. And what the battle destroyed in five bloody months, the government promises to rebuild in 4 years at most.

    The reconstruction of the 24 most affected villages inside the 250-hectare land that used to be the main battle area would require an estimated P48 billion (US$927.2 million).

    How locals and the national government view reconstruction work may even lead to a worse problem – radicalism – said researcher Steven Rood, a former University of the Philippines professor from the northern Philippines who has done studies on the Moro conflict both for the Social Weather Stations and the Asia Foundation.

    While the government’s plan tries to paint a beautiful and modern picture of a reconstructed Marawi in three more years, the Maranaos have a simpler vision—good ol’ home. As the Maranao saying goes: “Minsanoray bolawan a oran ko isa ka inged na mapangingiroy tadn i tarintik sangganatan.”

    Roughly translated in English, it means: “Even if gold rains in other places, I will prefer the raindrops in Lanao.”

     

    This story by Patrick Quintos was originally published on ABS-CBN News on March 13, 2018.

     

    BEHIND THE STORY

    Written by Patrick Quintos, the story was part of a 9-part special report that won the 2018 Association of International Broadcasting (AIB) Awards in the interactive category and an Honourable Mention in Journalistic Innovation at the Society of Publishers in Asia’s (SOPA) 2019 Awards for Editorial Excellence. It recounts the five month siege on Marawi City staged by Islamic State sympathisers in 2017 through the perspectives of the people affected by it. Before this story, readers have never had a view of how widespread the destruction was except for news footage shown on television. The multimedia story was presented on a map with several aerial shots of Marawi, which gave readers a survey of its total annihilation. It was developed for the web by Regie Francisco and published on the ABS-CBN News Digital website, featuring photos from Jonathan Cellona and Fernando Sepe Jr and drone videos from Val Cuenca. With the city holding the families’ stories and their culture’s legacies in shambles, residents of Marawi fear that the situation will unravel into more conflict if the government failed to provide answers about its destruction. This story is both an attempt to acknowledge that fear, and to honour the people who struggled to stay alive as well as the memory of those who perished. 

     

  • South Korea: Technology offers freedom of mobility

    For an able-bodied person, it takes less than 10 minutes to transfer from line No. 2 to line No. 6 at Sindang Station, one of the biggest transit points in Seoul.

    For a person in a wheelchair, it takes up to 40 minutes.

    The corridor at Sindang Station is long. It contains a lot of stairs and not enough ramps or elevators to help those using a wheelchair move on their own. During rush hour, the commute is a nightmare.

    “Most subway stations in Korea were designed without mobility disabled people in the picture,” said Hong Yun-hui, founder and head of Muui, a nonprofit that provides transit information for people with physical impairments.

    To point out one problem, “because Seoul’s subways are operated by more than two organisations, the signs are inconsistently placed,” she said. “There are even blind spots in stations where there are no signs at all. It is impossible for people with an impairment to even bother to use the subway relying on these signs.”

    Last year, Muui released a service that gives passengers the easiest transfer routes in select subway stations. The app can tell users which subway car is closest to the elevator and which corridors have more ramps. The nonprofit started with 14 stations and expanded the service to 33 this year. Volunteers collect the information by actually wandering the stations in wheelchairs.

    “We have to consider everything from the perspective of those who move around in wheelchairs,” Hong said. “Even if there’s a sign, it is not useful for the mobility disabled because they cannot see them.”

    Hong started Muui because of her daughter, who is unable to walk due to neuroblastoma. She believes people with disabilities should venture out and raise awareness of their experiences, but the infrastructure and technology in Korea is far from sufficient.

    According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, one out of four people in South Korea face difficulties getting around on their own. Ten per cent of that population has limited mobility because of conditions inherited at birth or wrought by a tragic accident. That adds up to about 1.2 million people in a country of 50 million.

    Perceptions of people with disabilities cannot change overnight, but technology and services can.

    “With the help of electronic wheelchairs and computer-assistive equipment, I was able to study and participate in society again,” Kim Jong-bae, an associate professor of occupational therapy at Yonsei University, told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

    An accident in graduate school paralysed Kim from the neck down, but he was later able to study rehabilitation engineering in the United States with the aid of diverse technology and equipment.

    “I severely felt the importance of rehabilitation engineering and how it is vital for disabled people to live independent lives,” he said.

     

    Small changes, big impact

    Hong Yun-hui believes in the positive effect of technology for people with physical impairments, but she also says it does not have to be expensive or sophisticated.

    “Very, very small changes can entirely change how disabled people move around outside,” she said.

    Todo Works is a Korean start-up that provides kits to turn manual wheelchairs into electric ones.

    “I witnessed my daughter’s friend struggling with a foldable wheelchair, so I made a motor in about six months that let her more easily move around,” said Shim Jae-shin, founder and CEO of Todo Works. “I received more than 200 calls from parents of mobility disabled children to make the same motor for them after this one-time product.”

    The motor weighs about 4.5 kilograms and coupled with a foldable wheelchair – which can weigh anywhere from 15 to 20 kilograms – the contraption is lighter than an electric wheelchair, which can easily exceed 100 kilograms.

    Shim said the kit, called Todo Drive, represents a “midway technology” that resolves an immediate inconvenience until a more complete solution is developed. The motor can drive a wheelchair about 10 kilometres on one charge.

    “It is a rather simple task for the manufacturer to make these kinds of products,” Shim said. “But for disabled people, these simple products change their entire lives. The most frequent feedback I hear from parents is that the personality of their disabled children has changed to become brighter and more positive.”

    Todo Drive sells for 1.76 million won (US$1475.89), while similar imported products go for over 5 million won (US$4192.88) on average.

    Conglomerates have also started initiatives to help people with limited mobility. Hyundai Motor Group, the nation’s largest automaker, set up a social enterprise called Easy Move in 2010 to develop products catered toward that population.

    The company remodelled its Carnival van and Ray box car with a ramp in the trunk so that wheelchair-bound people can easily get in and out of the car. The modified cars and other products posted 2 billion won in sales in 2011 and went up to 7.7 billion won last year.

    Easy Move also designed a wheelchair for children that resembles a baby stroller. “Most of the wheelchairs sold in Korea are made for adults,” an official from Easy Move said. “But children who are unable to walk also need to use wheelchairs instead of just settling for a baby carriage because that option is not safe” since they were not designed for children with disabilities.

    Like Todo Drive, the domestically developed and manufactured Easy Move products are less expensive than comparable imports.

     

    Robot suits

    Hyundai Motor has given its researchers opportunities to come up with novel ideas that help the disabled population. Last year, it held an R&D festival where a team called Sympony took first prize for creating a system that turns sound into visible colors in a car’s front window to help the hard of hearing easily identify police or ambulance sirens.

    The automaker’s research has even expanded to the realm of wearable robots. At last year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it unveiled three types of wearable robots, also known as exoskeletons.

    One of them, called H-MEX (Hyundai Medical Exoskeleton), allows people with lower spinal cord injuries to walk. Paraplegics can sit, stand and even walk up and down stairs by controlling the legs with a joystick.

    The exoskeleton market is expected to exceed US$3.4 billion by 2024, according to Global Market Insights, and research on the technology is rising in South Korea. The number of patents related to exoskeletons filed in the Korea Intellectual Property Office hit a record high of 44 last year compared to just 11 in 2010. Hyundai Motor and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering filed the most patents between 2007 and 2016.

    Such futuristic technology, however, has a long way to go in practically helping people with physical impairments. “Most of the robotic equipment being developed today cannot be worn or taken off by disabled people on their own,” said Prof. Kim Jong-bae at Yonsei University. “I wonder if they can be really called a practical invention for the disabled.”

    Accessibility is also a problem. “People with impairments are generally not financially affluent,” said Shim Jae-shin of Todo Works. “It is critical to develop something that can be used right away, which is what we are doing.”

    “We already experienced information gap problem when the internet and PCs first emerged,” Professor Kim said. “If technology of the so-called fourth industrial revolution doesn’t consider accessibility among the disabled population, it will end in a serious ‘technology gap.’”

     

    This story by Jin Eun-Soo was originally published by Korea JoongAng Daily on March 12, 2018.

     

    BEHIND THE STORY

    Published on March 12, 2018, business reporter Jin Eun-Soo’s story in JoongAng Daily drew attention to the plight of people with mobility impairments in South Korea and the technology that improved their lives. Listening to the difficulties of parents with disabled children in South Korea inspired her to shed light on the issue in a society so inattentive to their needs. She said: “It wasn’t an intentional violence, they say, but this ignorant attitude was what eventually lead to hostility and discrimination towards disabled people.” Her conversations with these parents revealed how small changes, such as information about which subway exit has ramps and an elevator, could help tremendously. The journalist then searched for people behind the products and services making these changes. They were eager to talk, because despite how useful their service was, nobody seemed to care. After running the story, Eun-Soo received many messages from people with disabilities and parents of disabled children thanking her for telling their stories to the world. She said: “They did not wish for immediate changes, but were thankful that the story could act as a pathway to elevating social awareness on disabled people and letting them know that small changes could really have big impacts on these disabled people.”

     

    ORIGINAL STORY LINK:

    http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3045471

  • Taiwan: No paid time off for 8 years

    Is Taiwan ready for bilingual education? In light of the government’s new policy goal, many foreigners living in Taiwan have expressed concerns regarding the protection of their labour rights.

    The government aims to turn Taiwan into a bilingual nation over the next ten years by attracting foreign teachers from across the Asia Pacific region.

    Many cram schools, however, use “deceiving contracts” to deny foreigners rights for paid time off on weekends and national holidays. They also deny them any annual leave by forcing to sign for part-time jobs. This is the fallacy of Taiwan’s much-touted bilingual education and the “international perspective” local educators work so hard to foster.

    Dave Patrick, a Canadian English teacher based in Taipei, told The China Post how he is taking his former employer to court for allegedly denying any paid time off for the past eight years.

    The teacher claims that Eagle American Institute used “deceiving contracts” to deny his rights for paid time off on a national holiday and annual leave, according to legal documents provided to The China Post.

    The contracts would mislead many foreigners to the responsibilities of a “full-time” contract in which the school’s duties would be limited to those of a “part-time” agreement, Patrick said.

    According to the Ministry of Labor, Taiwan workers are entitled to seven days of annual leave after one year of work and 10 days after three years of employment.

    Patrick reportedly asked the school for the overdue payments of the national holidays and annual leaves, but his actions were met with failure, frustration and “negative remarks,” bringing the purportedly friendly working environment of Taiwan into question .

    After consulting Taiwan Legal Aid Foundation and the Department of Labor at Taipei City Hall, Patrick accused the school of hiring “part-time” teachers to do “full-time jobs” with the aim of “denying their rights for fair paid time off.”

    Like most foreign nationals confronted with legal woes, however, Patrick said he found himself struggling in the process for too long while the school not only hurled abuse at the “non-salaried employee” but also denied his payments.

    According to Patrick, his employer has repeatedly failed to “notify part-time workers of their rights” and even “turned a blind eye even after the Department of Labor issued administrative fines to the school.” Such reckless actions are behind his decision to take his former employer to court, he said.

    Patrick added that foreign teachers should be better aware of their labor rights. “Many fellow coworkers are in the same situation,” he said, adding that this could be a widespread issue in Taiwan.

    This recent case is indeed far from an isolated one; it casts a spotlight on the inconsistencies between government policies, foreign culture, and public expectations.

    According to various reports, Taiwan is at a critical time to shape the future of its human capital through education. 

    Many believe, however, that fostering bilingual education requires more than a top-down approach.

    Authorities should put more emphasis on changing attitudes towards English learning in order to build a friendly working environment for foreign teachers.

     

    BEHIND THE STORY

    Written in both English and Chinese, journalists Jay Cho and Dimitri Bruyas teamed up to inform Taiwan and its foreign residents about the alleged labour and tax abuses in English schools. The teacher, Dave Patrick, contacted Dimitri directly on Facebook through a special section in The China Post related to the foreign community in Taiwan. Since the publication of this story, Dave has won his case against the school, which paid him an undisclosed amount to quickly settle the issue. Many messages left on The China Post’s Facebook page show that his experience is not unusual. His successful claim has helped set a precedent for other teachers experiencing the same exploitative situation of being hired on part-time contract despite performing full-time work. In a bid to prevent further cases, Patrick has filed complaints at Taipei’s Labour Department and National Tax Office to ensure that the authorities will continue their inquiry into alleged labour and taxes abuses at other branches of the English cram school despite his financial settlement. The inquiry is ongoing.

     

    ORIGINAL URL

    https://chinapost.nownews.com/20190413-546174

  • The voice from the jungle

    As he usually does in the morning, Madu greets his listeners. Madu runs his broadcast from a community radio station, Benor FM Radio, located in a remote area in Bukit Suban Village.

    The village is located in the Air Hitam District of Sarulangun Regency in theJambi Province.
    Benor Radio was initiated by an NGO called the Indonesian Conservation Community Warsi.
    Benor Radio, that started its broadcast since 2013, priorities its radio program forthe Anak Dalam, who are also known as the Orang Rimba ethnic group.

    The group is scattered amongst the Bukit Dua Belas National Park area.
    The Orang Rimba is a native Jambi community who live nomaidcally in the forest as a group.
    Madu is a native broadcaster from the Orang Rimba ethnic group. Beside Madu, there are five other native jungle people who are active as broadcasters.

    For the children of the Suku Anak Dalam, it is not easy to learn to be an announcer. However, their willing attitudes have now made them broadcasters whose voices are eagerly awaited by The Orang Rimba in the forest and local residents.

    “Well, the first difficulty was learning to operate a laptop. When I first broadcasted, I spoke stiffly, but after two weeks it went smoothly,” said Madu.
    By broadcasting the radio show to cover an area of 30 kilometres, Benor Radio program can be listened to by 80 percent of the entire 2,546 jungle people in the national park area.

    In addition to fighting inequality and enabling equal access to media and information, Benor Radio was established to deliver information to people who live in the forest and who are difficult to reach physically.

    “To get information, Orang Rimba access is very limited. By the radio, it can provide information to the jungle people and the radio can be a learning medium for them,” said Jauharul Maknun, responsible person for Benor FM Radio.

    “Benor is also expected to become a media platform that bridges the gap between the jungle people and the surrounding community, reducing the negative stigma of outside communities towards the jungle people. we can provide understanding to the outside community about the jungle people,” He added.
    For The Orang Rimba, radio is the only medium they are able to get information from.

    “I got the information about earthquakes, floods, and also elections (through the radio). So we got the information about who wins and loses in the election,” said Perabung, as member of Suku Anak Dalam.
    Moreover, Benor Radio provides information about the arrival of health workers to the national park area.
    This is important to the Orang Rimba whos secluded and nomadic livs in the forest often rob them of health facilities.

    This story by Perwiranta, Syahrudin, Amir Musa and Sandy Arizona was originally published on ANTARA Indonesia News Agency in May 2019.

    BEHIND THE STORY

    Suara Dari Rimba is a documentary video made by the ANTARA TV team in May 2019. The documentary video is about the lives of the Anak Dalam tribe, or who are also known as the Orang Rimba, whose live nomadically inside the forest area. The current presence of Radio Benor is their only source of information. The Anak Dalam tribe community has been limited to receiving information and in voicing their anxiety. Their forest home is still being destroyed. The Orang Rimba have been pushed from their homes in Bukit Duabelas National Park because of deforestation. The team took a six hour road trip to where they stayed. It was challenging for the team due to the rocky and unpredicatble roads. There was also a lack of facilities as the park was situated in a very remote area. The place and the people were isolated from any mode of transportation and cut off from any communication with the outside world. Thus, those who lived there spoke in a different dialect as they only used their native language. We therefore required a translator. They used firewood to cook simple food from the jungle, such as cassava, and drank water from streams. Living in such a closed and secluded area, they were quite protective and wary when our team arrived for the documentary video.