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  • Security guards shut down primary schools in Rivers

    Security guards shut down primary schools in Rivers

    Security guards on Monday barred pupils and teachers from getting access into some public primary school in Rivers over unpaid salaries.

    Some of the security guards said they had not been paid for 11 months.

    One of them, Mr Chijioke Amah, said: “we want government to pay us, every worker deserves to be paid, they have been unfair to us; they make it look as if our services here are not needed.’’

    Some teachers, who spoke said that at Port Harcourt Centenary Model Primary School Rumuwoji, said it was not the first time they would be locked out by the security guards.

    “We all stood outside here for more than three hours before the gate was opened, the guards have been lamenting non-salary payments for several months.

    “Each time they lock us out, we will spend several hours outside, we end up losing some work hours, this is not good,’’ a teacher who pleaded anonymity said.

    it took the intervention of Rivers Commissioner for Education, Mr Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, for the gates to be opened.

    The commissioner, who pledged to look into the matter, said: “It is very unfortunate, we promise that this will not happen again, our interest is to see that nothing hinders the flow of academic activities.

    NAN

  • Ogun Traffic agency decries reckless driving by tanker drivers

    Ogun Traffic agency decries reckless driving by tanker drivers

    Mr Seni Ogunyemi, the Corps Commander, Ogun Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps ( TRACE ), on Monday decried the rising rate of fatal accidents caused by  tanker drivers’ reckless driving.

    Ogunyemi spoke in a telephone interview in Ota while commenting on the death of four people allegedly caused by tanker drivers between Oct. 19 and Oct. 21.

    The corps commander said that the increasing road crashes involving tanker drivers was due to reckless driving and poor maintenance of their vehicles.

    Ogunyemi said that the tanker drivers were not heeding to the corps’ campaign on road safety and the need to update their training.

    According to him, this attitude is not helping the corps in its efforts to curb carnage on the roads.

    “Ogun Government can no longer tolerate and allow the tanker drivers to continue to kill innocent souls in the state.

    “The state government will not hesitate to prosecute and subject erring drivers to psychiatric tests and sometimes jail if found guilty in the court of law,” he said.

    Ogunyemi, however, urged the drivers to exercise caution while driving on the highways so that lives and property would no longer be wasted through needless and avoidable accidents in the state.

    NAN

  • Bolt says he’s serious about a soccer career

    Bolt says he’s serious about a soccer career

    Usain Bolt says he is serious about starting up a soccer career now he has retired from sprinting, and believes he could even be good enough to play for Jamaica.

    The 31-year-old eight-time Olympic gold medalist, currently recovering from a hamstring injury, accepted there might be some skepticism, but said it had always been his boyhood dream.

    “For me it’s a personal goal. I don’t care what people really think about it. I‘m not going to lie to myself.

    “I‘m not going to be stupid,” the Jamaican told reporters at the U.S. Formula One Grand Prix.

    He was speaking before world champion Lewis Hamilton drove him around the Circuit of the Americas in a Mercedes AMG sportscar, sending the car sliding into corners and ending with tyre-smoking spins.

    “If I feel I can’t do it, I‘m going to say ‘you know what, forget this’. I‘m not trying to embarrass myself.

    “But if I go out there and feel I can do this then I will give it a try. It’s a dream and another chapter of my life,” said Bolt.

    “If you have a dream that you always wanted to do, why not try and see where it will go.”

    The world’s fastest man has been sponsored by Puma since he was 15 and the German Sportswear Company has a stake in Borussia Dortmund.

    Bolt, who retired from athletics after August’s world championships in London, has been invited to spend a week training with the Bundesliga club and he plans to take it up.

    “It’s just my hamstring keeping me back right now. In two weeks I can start training again and get back into some shape.

    “Then I can really explore the situation,” he said.

    “They say the invitation is always open, so it’s all about me getting over my injury and then getting into shape.

    “Then I can do the trials and see what level I‘m at.”

    A keen Manchester United fan, Bolt doubted manager Jose Mourinho would be on the phone any time soon, but said he had spoken to the club’s former manager Alex Ferguson about his dream.

    “He said ‘Alright, get into shape and I’ll see where that goes’,” said the sprinter.

    Jamaica, who failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals, are currently 59th in the world rankings, leaving Bolt to also muse: “I think I can make the Jamaica team easily. I wouldn’t say they are that good at this point.”

    Bolt, who suffered the injury in his final race, the world championships 4 x 100 metres relay final, again ruled out any athletics comeback.

    The Olympian said he missed the laughs and banter, but not the training and he was intending to start a family.

    “I‘m waiting to see if my football career will go anywhere, but I definitely want to work with the IAAF in ways to promote the sport and help keep it on the level on which I left it,” he added.

    “Being a coach? No. Definitely not.”

    Asked about the current state of athletics and doping scandals that have seen Russian athletes barred from competition, the Jamaican felt the sport was climbing back out of the gutter.

    “You have to get to the worst to start rebuilding and I think the Russia situation was the worst we could get,” he said.

    “Now it’s all about rebuilding and making people trust the sport again. This year was the first that we made a step in the right direction so, hopefully, we continue.

    “If you’re in the gutter and working your way up, it’s going to take time. That’s what we need. Just time for people to really start trusting the sport again.”

    NAN

  • Kebbi sets new safety measures after 33 deaths

    Kebbi sets new safety measures after 33 deaths

    Kebbi Government has set new safety measures for boat operators to address the recurring boat mishaps which has claimed 33 lives since April in the state.

    Alhaji Sani Dododo, Chairman of the State Emergency Management Agency ( SEMA ) said in an interview on monday in Birnin Kebbi that all boat operators must comply with the new measures.

    “As part of our efforts to curb recurring boat mishaps, we held a meeting with traditional rulers and boat operators and we came up with solutions to the incessant problem in the state.

    “We resolved that henceforth, there will be no transportation on rivers after six in the evening and passengers and loads must be transported separately.

    “The number of passengers to be taken in any boat must be specified and written on the boat to avoid overloading, and  life jackets must be worn by all the passengers in addition to three extra jackets for emergency to be placed on each boat,”  he said.

    Dododo said the measures were precautionary to stop the current practice which endangers lives of passengers.

    “We discovered that a boat that carries 40 passengers is usually loaded with over 100 passengers at a time together with their loads including goats, sheep, cows and camel, all jam-packed in one boat on a river voyage,” he said.

    He added that some boat operators held the superstitious belief that they would never die in river because they inherited the business from their ancestors.

    “They think the river would not kill them since the business was passed unto them from generation to generation.

    “We will not fold our arms and rely on superstitions while people are dying,” he said.

    According to him, the agency will collaborate with the local government councils and Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority to enforce compliance to the new measures.

    The SEMA chairman said the agency would embark on sensitisation campaigns targeting boat operators and local divers on safety and emergency response in case of any mishap.

    Dododo revealed that the agency had adequate staff and was well-funded to carry its mandate, adding that it would set up emergency response offices in the Riverine areas of the state.

    NAN

  • Turkey asks Germany to extradite 81 citizens over failed coup

    Turkey asks Germany to extradite 81 citizens over failed coup

    Turkey has asked the German government to extradite 81 of its citizens for suspected involvement in a failed military coup in 2016, the Justice Ministry said in response to a question from the Left Party.

    The government of President Recep Erdogan has accused Germany of harbouring supporters of Fethullah Gulen, an exiled preacher and former ally of the president whose movement is accused of orchestrating the coup.

    The answer to the Left Party’s question, seen by dpa on Monday, does not reveal how many extradition requests Ankara submitted for people it accuses of terrorism-related activities.

    In November 2016, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey was seeking the extradition of “more than 4,000” supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party ( PKK ).

    “Regardless of the measures the Turkish side uses to exert pressure, the federal government must not extradite,” said Left Party lawmaker Alexander Neu.

    “Instead, it must exert pressure itself in order to finally free German hostages from custody.”

    Turkey is currently holding a handful of German citizens, including journalists and human rights activists, on terrorism-related charges, causing strained diplomatic relations to reach an unprecedented low.

    Turkey’s relationship with Germany was severely strained after it refused to allow Turkish politicians to hold campaign rallies in February.

    Erdogan repeatedly threw Nazi slurs against Angela Merkel and accused the country of Nazi practices.

    Berlin’s decision to grant asylum to some of 414 army officers and government workers only added fuel to Turkey’s escalating animosity toward the country.

    NAN

  • UN appeals for $434m in Rohingya aid conference

    UN appeals for $434m in Rohingya aid conference

    The UN gathered donor countries in Geneva on Monday to shore up 434 million dollars in aid for the world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis that has been unfolding between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

    Bangladesh, one of Asia’s poorest countries, has taken in some 580,000 minority Rohingyas who have fled alleged atrocities in Myanmar’s Rakhine state since August.

    The sum is calculated to fund UN operations until the end of February in Bangladesh, which has kept its borders open, despite being one of Asia’s poorest countries.

    UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi said: “It’s a pretty grim situation.

    “The needs are massive.”

    Refuges in and around the Bangladeshi fishing town of Cox’s Bazar have faced food and water shortages, lack of shelters and inadequate sanitation facilities, raising the risk of disease outbreaks.

    Nearly six out of 10 refugees are children, many of them arriving malnourished.

    The Rohingyas are a marginalised Muslim group in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

    They have been struggling with poverty and discrimination, including the denial of citizenship rights.

    In August, Myanmar security forces launched an operation against attacks by Rohingya militants in Rakhine.

    UN human rights investigators have concluded that the burning of villages, persecution of community leaders as well as killings and rapes amount to a systematic effort to drive the Rohingyas out.

    Beyond appealing for funds, UN leaders urged the international community to get involved to stop the violence and discrimination.

    “This is not an isolated crisis,” UN emergency aid chief Mark Lowcock said, pointing to decades of “persecution, violation and displacement.

    NAN

  • Unity Bank’s capital base hits N80bn

    Unity Bank’s capital base hits N80bn

    Unity Bank Plc’s capital base has hit N80 billion, up from N31 billion in 2014, Mr Thomas Etuh, former Chairman, Board of Directors, has said.

    Etuh, the immediate past board chairman of the bank said in a post-retirement interview in Abuja that the growth was recorded under his watch, between 2014 and 2017.

    Etuh who retired as the bank’s board chairman a fortnight ago, explained that the bank was able to achieve the feat because of its “agric business” banking.

    “You know Unity Bank is number one in agriculture, in terms of agric lending to small holder farmers; we also have a product for youths because youths own this generation.

    “I came into Unity Bank in time of recapitalisation under Mohammed Sanusi as the CBN Governor and we recapitalised the bank to get it to a national bank where it is today.

    “Interestingly, we are leaving the bank in the capital excess of N80 billion from the N31 billion that we met it,” Etuh said.

    According to Etuh, “the successes recorded by the bank did not come without the contributions of its two major co-shareholders, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

    He said: “Obasanjo and Babangida came up with that name `Unity’ after the merger of some Southern and Northern banks.

    “The merger means a lot for Nigeria’s unity. So, having nine banks from different entities, it behoves on the board to also merge the different banks culture into one; and that, we did to make it a national bank.

    “You can see that the bank has flourished in various products which have brought it to stability, and I won’t say it was achieved singlehandedly; it was a collective effort of the board and management.

    The former Unity Bank board chairman named the merged banks to include Bank of the North, Tropical Commercial Bank, Intercity Bank, African Merchant Bank, First Interstate Bank, New Nigerian Bank and Societe General Bank.

    Etuh said that he retired from the bank to focus on agriculture.

    “I retired to start something new in developing the frontier of the agric sector which has always been my first love.

    “I have given a notice since last year that I will be retiring as the bank’s board chairman after I have spent some years.

    “I am leaving the board of the bank, but am a co-shareholder, so, it means that I am still in Unity Bank. I am retired but not tired,” he said. 

    NAN

  • There’s light at end of the tunnel – Catholic Archbishop

    The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, says despite the hardship many are facing in the nation, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

    Martins spoke on Wednesday at a news conference on the Marian Year celebration at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos.

    The  celebration is to mark the centenary of Mary’s apparition to the Three Shepherd children of Fatima in Portugal 1917.

    Pope Francis, in view of this, had declared a Centenary Celebration running from Nov. 27 2016 to Nov. 26 2017.

    In Nigeria, the Marian Year is dedicated to the blessed virgin Mary as the Queen and patroness of Nigeria.

    Martins said Nigeria was in need of healing in several areas, and assured the faithful that their prayers were not in vain.

    ”I have good news for all my fellow countrymen, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The prayers of God’s children in this last one year will not be in vain.

    ”He will surely restore the glory of the nation and bring to shame all those who have consistently worked to hold us in perpetual bandage.

    ”Our assurance that God will restore the glory of the nation requires that we also rededicate ourselves to living lives of righteousness, shun sin and embrace the truth,” he said.

    The archbishop regretted that innocent lives were being lost to Boko Haram and  herdsmen attacks, among others, praying that God would help the nation to overcome the problems.

    Martins said that the Marian Year celebration was to give all Christians in the country the opportunity to give special honour to the blessed virgin Mary.

    He said it was also to seek her maternal intercession with her son, Jesus Christ, for the needs of families, individuals in the nation, and the nation as a whole.

    According to him, this is to pray God to save the nation from the moral, economic and political problems facing her.

  • ‘NAFDAC will continue to safeguard public health’

    ‘NAFDAC will continue to safeguard public health’

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control ( NAFDAC ) said on Tuesday in Osogbo that it would continue to safeguard public health in the country.

    The South-West Coordinator of the agency, Mrs Ayeduni Adenuga, made the pledge when he received operational vehicle donated to the agency by the Osun Chapter of the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (AIPN).

    Adenuga said that the agency would continue to ensure that only safe and quality food, drugs and other regulated products were certified and made available for public consumption.

    She added that only genuine manufacturers of regulated products would be allowed to operate in the south-west region and the country at large.

    She commended members of AIPN for their gesture, saying it would help the agency to improve its monitoring and surveillance activities .

    “This is a corporate social responsibility from your society and it is highly laudable.

    “This vehicle will help to improve our monitoring and surveillance activities to fight against drug counterfeiters and other unscrupulous element who engage in producing unwholesome regulated products.

    “We want to use this opportunity to encourage other stakeholders to emulate this group by supporting and collaborating with government agencies to achieve a better society as government cannot do it alone,” she stated.

    In his remarks, the Acting Chairman of the association, Mr Samuel Olawoye said the bus was donated to the agency as part of the association’s corporate responsibility.

    Olawoye said the association would continue to partner NAFDAC in its critical role and operations in safe guarding the health of the citizenry.

    NAN

  • Kwara Govt denies rumours of soldiers injecting students in Omu Aran

    Kwara Govt denies rumours of soldiers injecting students in Omu Aran

    The Kwara Government has denied rumours that soldiers are injecting school pupils in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area of the state with killer vaccines.

    The Special Adviser ( SA ) on Security to the Governor, Alhaji Amusa Bello, made the denial in a statement on Wednesday in Ilorin.

    The  parents and guardians had on hearing the rumour rushed to schools to withdraw their wards.

    They besieged both private and public schools in the area as early 9 a.m. on hearing the rumour of the presence of vaccine injection team allegedly accompanied by soldiers in the town.

    Some of the parents, mostly traders and commercial motorcyclists, abandoned their businesses to withdraw their wards from schools to prevent them from being injected with the alleged vaccine.

    Some schools had to lock their gates to prevent the parents from gaining entrance to remove the students.

    The SA, therefore, advised members of the public to ignore the rumour as neither the Nigerian Army nor any other security agency was currently undertaking a vaccination exercise or any other health campaign in any part of the State.

    “The State Government calls on parents and guardians not to panic and to refrain from withdrawing their wards from schools based on this unfounded rumour,” he said.

    NAN