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Tag: Nigeria

  • Bangladesh: Trafficked into nightmares

    Local agents have been smuggling victims across Benapole’s border by showing forged documents of family relations at immigration checkpoints. Sometimes the gang members marry the victims only to sell them into prostitution later.

    The Daily Star learned about this after talking to six victims and law enforcers in bordering areas recently.
    In most cases, the victims from different parts of the country are gathered at small huts built by the traffickers near Benapole border. At that point, they are treated nicely and given the impression that they would actually go to India for a better future.
    When it is time, their counterparts in India would notify their accomplices, and the victims are taken to the other side of the border.

    For commuting, the traffickers always use motorbikes just as locals in border areas do, and carry sweetmeat, fish or gift packets to avoid drawing suspicion.

    TRAFFICKING ROUTES
    According to victims and local law enforcers, the traffickers use Putkhali, Sadipur, Boroachra, and Gathipara points of Jashore to traffic the victims into India without passports.
    The victims are first taken to Jashore and then to the border points by motorbike before they are kept in the small huts.

    Take the case of victim Bonya (not her real name).

    The 17-year-old girl used to live with her parents in the capital’s Mirpur and was looking for a job after completing higher secondary education. She left home after a woman, her neighbour, promised her a better job in India.

    On Jan 28, 2017, she went to Jashore by bus with the woman’s boyfriend. From Jashore town, they went to Benapole by motorbike.

    “For the next five days, the man kept me in a small hut with a TV, almirah (a cupboard) and small bed,” Bonya said, talking to The Daily Star in Jashore town after her rescue.

    “The man asked me to stay inside the hut and went away. I was not allowed to go outside for security reason, and a woman gave me food timely.”
    Bonya come back home in March last year with the support of Rights Jessore, a human rights organisation.

    “On Feb 5, the man came back early in the morning and took me near Putkhali where a boat was waiting for me,” she said.

    “After crossing the river, I found a man with a motorbike. He drove me into a dense forest. One hour later, I saw a locality.”

    In the area, Bonya was kept in a house and forced to sleep with some men, she said. “After a few days, I was being taken to a brothel area. On the way, I ran from them and went to the local police.”
    Police then sent Bonya to a shelter home in West Bengal, and she finally made contact with Rights Jessore from there.

    This reporter recently visited Putkhali in Benapole, and met a person called Sagar with the help of a local man while posing as a client.

    During the conversation about how to cross the border without a passport, Sagar said he could make the arrangement, but it would cost Tk 5,000 (US$59.13) because “border security has been heightened recently.”

    When asked if there were two persons including a woman, Sagar grinned and said he could arrange that too, but the cost would go up to Tk 16,000. “We charge extra for women because it is risky, and it takes time.”

    After the correspondent agreed, Sagar said, “You need to stay near the border for one day or two. We will first clear the border for you and then help you cross it.”

    Sagar demanded an additional Tk 300 for every overnight stay and Tk 200 for food at the hut. He also advised the correspondent to carry some additional cash to buy sweetmeat or fruit on the way.

    CONTROLLING BORDER POINTS
    Locals and law enforcers said each of the border points is run by local ruling party men. They pay hefty amounts to law enforcers to run the trafficking activities smoothly.

    Executive Director of Rights Jessore Binoy Krishna Mallick said, “We have learnt from rescued victims and our local network that some people are leading the nexus at border points using political identity.”

    At present, one Ghana Biswas oversees the Putkhali point, Ashok Sen the Boroachra point, and Jahidul Islam the Sadipur point of Benapole, The Daily Star learned after talking to some accomplices of the gangs and sources of law enforcement agencies.

    All of them are supporters of the Awami League and have been involved in human trafficking for years, but were never arrested, the sources said. Locally, they are known as farmers despite owning luxurious multi-storey homes in nearby Sharshaupazila, they added.

    The Daily Star tried to communicate with them but their phones were switched off.
    Rights activists said the gang sells a woman or girl to Indian brothels for Tk 2.5 to 3 million.
    Asked about the alleged complicity of the ruling party men, Awami League’s Benapole unit President Enamul Hoque Mukul said some may get involved, but they are doing it in secret.

    “We take strict action against whoever is found guilty.”
    He said the law enforcers have tightened security, and the situation is improving now.
    Asked about AL men’s involvement, lieutenant-colonel Selim Reza, commander of Border Guard Bangladesh-49 (BGB), refused to give a direct reply.

    He, however, said they take action against those found involved in the crime. “The situation has got better now, and the number of trafficking incidents has come down to almost zero for our increased vigilance and action.”
    Salauddin Sikder, additional police superintendent of Jessore, said trafficking through the border declined in recent years although there were still some reports of trafficking.

    He said he had no specific information about law enforcers’ involvement in the crime but warned of action if any member of the force was found guilty.

    NEW TECHNIQUES
    In recent times, the traffickers have changed techniques. Now they get their prey across the border using the “legal” channel.
    “For a woman, the traffickers make fake documents like a marriage certificate and a passport. Then they cross the border like a couple going on a trip to India,” Masud Karim, officer-in-charge of Benapole Police Station, told The Daily Star.
    “In the same way, the traffickers get passports for underage girls. They identify them as children or siblings while making fake passports and documents,” said the OC, who claimed to have got the information after interrogating victims.
    Now few victims cross the border illegally, he said. “Some are still doing it without passports, but most of them have relatives in India, or they are sick and poor.”
    Asked about raiding the border huts, the OC said they often conduct drives and take action against the criminals. Sometimes, they also rescue victims from the huts.

    FAKE RELATIONS
    There are some cases in which traffickers marry a girl before selling her to a brothel in India.
    On January 18 last year, a Jashore court sentenced one Shohag Hossain of Narail for life and fined him Tk 50,000 for selling his wife to a brothel in Mumbai.
    Shohag married the girl of JashoreSadarupazila on July 7, 2007. Later, he told his in-laws that he would take his wife to India for a better job. The girl’s family refused but he kept insisting, the victim family told The Daily Star in May last year.
    Finally, Shohag went to India with his wife on April 15, 2009, without letting anyone know. When her family found him missing, they filed a complaint with police and went to Rights Jessore. A few days later, Shohag came back home alone, and said his wife went missing in India.
    Rights Jessore rescued the girl from a Mumbai brothel on May 7, 2010, using its network.

    This story by Mohammad Jamil Khan was originally published by The Daily Star on Jul 22.

    BEHIND THE STORY
    The reporter had to act as a local to get in touch with gang members who ran the trafficking trade, in order to acquire information pertaining to the story. Social workers and law enforcement sources, who worked with the trafficked victims, helped clue him in on the gang members tasks and whereabouts. However, he did not get much data or support from the local law enforcers. While working in the field, he convinced locals to help him cross Benapole’s borders without a passport by paying them sums of money. The NGOs who used to work to rescue traffic victims also assisted him in getting some ideas and provided him a database of contacts. As local political leaders were benefiting from the trafficking trade, the reporter was forced to hide his identity while staying in the bordering village. The social workers, who helped him throughout his investigation, alerted him to a possible threat from a political muscleman. After the story published, the reporter received dozens of phone calls congratulating him on the findings. To his knowledge, although illegal human trafficking is still underway through bordering points, the number of trafficking cases has reduced significantly.

  • Vietnam:‘Wasting’ our lives, we’ll let our country go to waste

    HANOI – A drainage canal is not a garbage landfill.
    Why state the obvious?

    Because, on the ground, they seem synonymous. Every day, their stench assails our nostrils.
    Yet, we persistently treat our surroundings as a free-for-all garbage repository.
    How many of our rivers and other water bodies have died or are dying?
    In April 2018, a drainage canal in Hanoi’s Yen Hoa area was partially restored after a pile of garbage was fished out.

    This included different types of untreated household waste and carcasses. After many years, the stench had become unbearable, but it was only after the media raised a stink that the authorities deployed sanitation workers to clean it.

    But the dead and dying water systems in the capital city and elsewhere are not just the authorities’ responsibility. Anyone can see that a year after Hanoi’s campaign to prevent its rivers and streams from being choked to death by garbage- mainly To Lich, Nhue, and Đay rivers – such efforts are just a drop in the ocean. Every Hanoian is complicit in polluting the city’s environment, and the same can be said of localities nationwide.
    Which also means that every Hanoian and every citizen of this country is responsible for cleaning up our rivers, our soil and the air we breathe.

    A Hanoian who has lived all 38 years of her life along the Kim Nguu River, a distributary of the To Lich River, said that despite the daily effort of workers from Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Limited Company (HSDC) to dredge out the garbage, many neighbours do not hesitate to dump their household waste in it.
    The pollution is so severe that the river has stopped flowing and reeks of rubbish.
    Compare such crass indifference with the concern shown by someone like Gondai Shoichi, a Japanese national who is organising a volunteer group to collect garbage at different places in Hanoi including Van Mieu (Temple of Literature), Hoan Kiem (Return Sword) Lake, Thong Nhat Park and Thu Le Zoo. Gondai told Viet Nam News that the pollution of rivers and lakes in Hanoi was similar to that of Japan in the 1950s. He ticked off a few important points: garbage should be separated at source; environmental education should start very early; environmental regulations should be very strictly followed.
    We need to go much further.

    Beyond obedience to laws, every action that protects our environment should become second nature. This is the biggest lesson we need to learn from our Japanese brethren.
    Wako Takatoshi, a Japanese expert in drainage and sewerage who has been working as a policy advisor on urban environment with Vietnam’s Construction Ministry for the last three years, said that removing garbage from rivers and lakes in Hanoi, as was done with the Yen Hoa canal, was very important, but by itself, it was not a sustainable measure.
    The responsibility of individuals and agencies for maintaining different parts of rivers, canals and other water bodies has to be clear cut, and people’s awareness raised to a point that their habits change, he said.
    Wako also offered a key psychological insight: “People can easily litter in a place that is dirty, but they tend not to do so when a place is very clean.”

    Unlearning a few things
    According to the Hanoi Urban Environmental Hygiene Company in 2018, the capital city generates more than 6,200 tonnes of garbage each day. Only 70 per cent of this is collected and treated. The remaining 30 per cent is dumped into the environment, including our water systems.
    Hoang Thao, who founded the Noi khong voi tui nylon (Say No to nylon bags) group, said many people dump garbage thinking they are being clean and doing their part for the environment.
    “For example, they put nylon bags or plastic bottles into a waste basket and think that they are doing it right, but they are not. It takes dozens of years for the former and hundreds of years for the latter to decompose completely,” she said.

    Practical practices
    Wako, Gondai and Thao were participants at a workshop on “Clean Water for Healthy Living” organised last Sunday by the Japan-Vietnam JDS Specialist Network (JSN) and the US-based FHHER Social Impact Fund.
    The workshop was organised at a coffee shop on Lieu Giai Street, with participants being advised to bring their own mugs in case the shop had no environmentally-friendly receptacles to offer.
    Personally, the get-together, second in the JSN’s Coffee Talk Series, was an eye-opener that went beyond learning about safe water. Experts and environmental activists shared shocking information: Humans have created enough plastic to cover the eight largest country in the world – Argentina; Vietnam ranks fourth among top 20 countries in mismanaging plastic waste; globally, up to 91 per cent of the plastic isn’t recycled.
    Ironies abound in the way “experts” attend workshops on environmental protection, despite the lavish lifestyles many of them lead, the means of travel they use, the amount of plastic used at such meets and so on.

    #7 Day Challenge
    As a nation, institution or individual, the biggest change starts with a single step.
    One such step is the “#7 Day Challenge” launched on April 10, 2018 by the United Nations in Vietnam in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden and the Live & Learn environmental education organisation.
    The challenge encouraged people to practice ways of eating, moving and living without damaging the environment. It commemorated Earth Day which was ambitiously themed “End Plastic Pollution” in 2018.
    Participants raised awareness by posting photos and stories of taking buses and bicycles to work, not using nylon bags or plastic cutlery, turning off all unnecessary bulbs.
    Our leaders, like the Environment Minister, the President and the Prime Minister, can give this campaign a powerful push by accepting the challenge.
    I hope to see this happen, but the question remains: Is this enough?
    No.
    We, as people, experts and politicians, are very fond of intoning the need for “drastic” measures, but fail to recognise that what is needed is a drastic, sustained change in our attitude and lifestyle, a change that cannot be postponed or passed on to others. The change starts with each one of us.
    Nothing else will work.
    More than a year after a hefty increase in fines for littering violations, there has been no appreciable improvement in the situation, not a dent in the magnitude of change that is needed.
    We can no longer afford to accept inane, comforting messages that say small actions make a big difference. We need big actions that make a huge difference.

    This commentary by Hồng Minh was originally published by Viet Nam news on April 13, 2018.

    BEHIND THE STORY
    Vietnam is one of Asia’s five worst polluters of ocean with plastic waste, according to international organisations. This commentary by Hồng Minh was published together with an anecdote about a dying canal in Vietnam’s capital city, Hanoi, due to littering. The writer investigated the pollution of the city’s water system as well as other parts of the country. The writer also met and talked to experts and activists dealing with the problem and had some suggestions on how to help prevent and reduce waste, especially plastic waste. The piece was then widely shared among sanitation and plastic waste experts as well as environmental groups. The problem of illegal littering and untreated plastic waste has become so alarming that the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, launched a national campaign on June 9 to prevent plastic waste with the target to rid Vietnam of single use plastic products by the year 2025. Viet Nam News has been running a series of articles, news, opinions regarding the problem in the country as well as measures to reduce the consequences.

  • Malaysia: Pricey problems with medicine

    The issue of access to drugs is not just a Malaysian issue but a global one. In fact, there was a “global war” being waged on this issue. The concern over astronomically expensive drugs and the lack of accessibility has reached the World Health Organisation (WHO) level, and access to medicines and vaccines is expected to be among the top items on the agenda at the 72nd annual World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

    THERE is a global “war” being waged in the health industry.

    Civil societies and several governments in poor as well as rich countries – including Malaysia – are up in arms over pharmaceutical companies setting prices so high that some life-saving drugs are beyond the reach of many.

    The concern over astronomically expensive drugs and the lack of accessibility has reached the World Health Organisation (WHO) level, and access to medicines and vaccines is expected to be among the top items on the agenda at the 72nd annual World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, beginning tomorrow (the assembly ends on May 28).

    Geneva-based Health Policy Watch says that the WHO’s executive board in January held a lengthy debate on a roadmap for access to medicines, and now it will be put before the assembly.

    On Feb 1, Italy proposed that the WHO set international standards for drug-pricing transparency. It has asked the assembly to adopt a resolution that would require drug makers to disclose their R&D and production costs, as well as prices charged for medicines and vaccines.

    The proposal sent to governments on April 29 had 10 co-sponsors and Malaysia is one of them; the rest are Italy, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, and Uganda.

    Italy’s proposal “has generated significant discussion and may be overshadowing the focus on the WHO roadmap to access to medicines, vaccines and other health products,” says Health Policy Watch.

    Skirmishes already began on May 7 at informal negotiations ahead of the assembly.

    Several developed countries have proposed amendments to Italy’s proposal that activists claim will make it confusing, weak and useless in many areas. Some countries have also sought to postpone discussion of the proposal.

    Following such resistance, more than 100 civil society organisations and health experts sent an open letter to WHO member state delegates on May 9, urging them to oppose harmful proposed changes to the resolution.

    The proposal will give the WHO and national governments a strong mandate to collect and analyse data on drug prices, R&D costs, clinical trial results and costs, the patent landscape, and more, says the letter.

    “At a moment when the public is looking to their elected governments to address the crisis in the pricing of new drugs and other biomedical inventions, the WHO has been asked to do something important: improve the transparency of markets for biomedical products and services,” says Knowledge Ecology International’s (KEI) director James Love on its website.

    The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations warns that the Italian proposal could lead to unintended consequences for the capacity of companies to offer preferential pricing to developing countries, and that it must be seen from diverse perspectives.

    It urges WHO and its member states “to conduct careful analysis of the potential benefits and risks to patients and to health systems, particularly for less developed countries, in addition to future innovation,” the Health Policy Watch reports.

    The federation says its industry has responded to concerns raised in the proposal, citing its Principles for Responsible Clinical Trial Data Sharing, and the Patent Information Initiative for Medicines as examples.

    Radical moves that tumbled prices

    In the last few years, some countries have resorted to drastic legal action to gain access to affordable drugs.

    Malaysia came to the forefront of this issue when, in 2017, it became the first country in the world to impose a compulsory licence to gain access to the cheaper generic version of the hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir for about 400,000 of patients.

    The compulsory licence is provided for under the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellec-tual Property Rights. It allows for the generic version of a drug to be imported or manufactured while it is still under patent protection.

    Malaysia was placed under a lot of pressure for the move, prompting the Health Ministry, on Feb 25, to urge the WHO to look into the pricing system of medicine by pharmaceutical companies.

    The hepatitis C virus affects about 71 million people globally, over 66 million of whom are not being treated, according to the WHO. This is despite the fact that 95% of people with hepatitis C can be completely cured within two or three months of beginning treatment.

    Last August, China compelled a pharmaceutical company to withdraw unmerited key patent claims on the sofosbuvir base compound. With 10 million people in China living with chronic hepatitis C, the ruling opens the door to affordable generic treatment ahead of the patent’s expiry in 2024. The base compound patent on sofosbuvir was granted in China in 2009.

    A nonprofit that specialises in uncovering unfair patents, Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK), estimates that treating just 15% of China’s hepatitis C patients with generic drugs would save US$13bil (RM54bil), with a massive US$87bil (RM362bil) saved if all patients are treated.

    There is a growing global momentum to challenge unmerited patents to ensure more people can access life-saving treatments, I-MAK says.

    Sofosbuvir (400mg) was priced at US$8,939 (RM37,218) for a standard 12-week treatment regimen upon launch in China in November 2017, but generic alternatives are available for US$249 (RM1,037), a potential 98% price reduction enabled by this decision, it says.

    China is also overhauling its healthcare system to provide better access to quality drugs and treatment for its population.

    In December, news agency Bloomberg reported that the government had asked 11 major cities to band together to buy drugs in bulk through a tender process to bring down prices.

    Patent problems

    It’s not just developing or poor countries that are struggling with high drug prices.

    In the United States, 18 lawmakers wrote to the US Department of Health and Human Services in February last year to consider issuing a compulsory licence for expensive hepatitis C treatments because rationing high cost treatment was harming the country’s public health.

    On Feb 5 this year, President Donald Trump, in his State of the Union address, called on Congress to contain the rising costs of prescription medications, saying it is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries.

    I-MAK exposed drugmakers’ abuse of patent law in the United States in 12 bestselling drugs in 2017.

    To protect themselves from competition, drug companies file hundreds of patent applications – the vast majority of which are granted – to extend their monopolies far beyond the standard 20 years of protection granted under US patent law.

    I-MAK says the average number of years blocking generic competition are 38, years blocking patent applications are 125 and the average price hike since 2012 is more than 68%.

    The US Senate Finance Committee launched a bipartisan probe to examine drug pricing in the United States and the rising costs for consumers and taxpayers.

    During the hearing on Feb 26, the committee censured a drug company that had, in 2017, spent around US$11.5bil (RM48bil) on dividends, stock buybacks, marketing, sales and administrative costs – roughly triple the amount it spent on R&D.

    It also lambasted another company for increasing the price of insulin from less than US$100 (RM416) in 2010 to nearly US$300 (RM1,248) last year (the company raised prices again this year).

    The committee also said that in 2017, a portion of a CEO’s multi- million-dollar bonus was directly tied to sales of an arthritis medication.

    “Over six years, the company doubled the price of a 12-month supply from US$19,000 (RM79,000) to US$38,000 (RM158,000).

    “Can patients opt for a less expensive alternative? No they cannot,” it said, adding that the company protects the exclusivity of the drug like Gollum with his ring (referring to the character in the Lord of the Rings series).

    “It is morally repugnant when ailing patients are forced to choose between filling that next prescription or putting food on the table, because they can’t afford both. It is morally repugnant when patients are forced to skip doses.”

    Top executives from the seven largest drug companies were also hauled up before the committee to explain the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs.

    On Wednesday, the committee tweeted again, saying: “@HHSGov is starting to look into drug company middlemen that take millions from taxpayers. But more needs to be done to prevent these middlemen from using schemes like ‘spread pricing’ to take big profits while taxpayers get stuck with the check.”

    (How spread pricing affects the consumer: a pharmacy benefit manager company pays a pharmacy a minor amount for a drug but charges the health insurer that employs it much higher prices; the insurer in turn will charge its customers higher premiums to cover its costs.)

    The comparison method

    In Europe, issues relating to external reference pricing was reignited by an unprecedented meeting in Brussels in mid-April that brought together national pricing authorities with drug companies, patients, payers, physicians, and civil society.

    A decade ago, EU national authorities conceived a scheme known as Euripid to boost their negotiating powers with pharmaceutical manufacturers by exchanging pricing information among themselves. (One country compares the price of a drug in several other countries to derive a reference price that is then used to negotiate the product’s price in that country.)

    Pharmaceutical companies say this could hinder drug access since companies tend to delay the launch of products in countries with the lowest prices, to counteract the downward pressure in price-comparison baskets. The industry is also pushing back against Euripid’s ambitions to shift its focus from list prices to net prices, PharmExec.com reports.

    Now, with more countries holding pharmaceutical companies to account, more intense debate is expected at tomorrow’s WHO assembly.

    More transparent pricing and a redirection of how medicines are sold is urgently needed.

    Buying most products and services is a choice – but you can’t choose not to buy medicine, so if you need that patented drug to save your life, you have to find some way to cough up the exorbitant price.

    This does not work, especially on a global scale, where millions lack access to the treatment for certain infectious diseases that continue to spread, setting up a vicious cycle. This is a free market failure that must be addressed.

    A short write up about the impact of the story
    The article gives an explosive overview of the concern global communities have with high cost of drugs and the need to address the market failure relating to maximising of profits. I have been following the issue closely for three years and have been consistently writing about it to raise awareness and advocate for fair and lower drug prices.
    This is because the issue is also related to human rights to health.
    The price transparency concern was subsequently brought to the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May this year.
    In my writing the article and previous articles on high drug prices, combined some others’ work in other parts of the world and the role of governments in wanting the issue to be addressed at the World Health Organisation (WHO) level, the issue received the spotlight in the WHA meeting. The drug price transparency resolution proposed by Italy for the WHO was adopted. Although diluted, civil society organisations and many countries were glad that it had made an inroad and the initial resolution serves as the first step in bringing greater disclosure of prices.

  • Video: Peter Okoye denies promising Tacha N60m

    By Samuel Oamen

     

    Superstar musician Peter Okoye has denied promising to give Tacha, who was disqualified on Friday from #BBNaija whether or not she wins the reality show.

    Okoye was seen in a live video promising to give the controversial the prize money whether she won or not.

    However, Okoye made another live video on Friday to debunk the promise.

    Read Also: BBNaija: Will Peter Okoye fulfill his promise to Tacha?

    He said he never promised to give Tacha any money.

    According to him: “I said I will teach her how to make N60million, I never said I will give her N60million.”

    Peter went ahead to pledge to give N10million to anyone who can provide a video evidence or a tweet where he promised Tacha N60million.

    WATCH VIDEO BELOW

     

  • Strike at expense of patients’ interest unethical, Obasanjo tells Doctors

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday appealed to the medical practitioners in the country to always put the lives and health of their patients first before going on strikes.

    Obasanjo declared that the culture of doctors proceeding on strike and abandoning patients to their fate is even more unethical, advising them to fashion out another way to show their displeasure.

    The elder statesman made this known during the opening ceremony of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMD), at the Doctor’s House, Lukosi, Abeokuta.

    The ex-Head of States, who was the Father of the Day at the occasion, passionately appealed to physicians to make patients’ conditions a matter of priority while demanding better welfare from their employer(s).

    He said: “A major issue that I always want to talk about whenever I am in your midst, which I told you when you came visiting is the issue of going on strike anytime you want to show your displeasure particularly, government Doctors.

    “My position is that since the care for your patient is a major ethical issue of your profession, abandoning them to go on strike is even more unethical. You should fashion another way to show your displeasure and not doing so at the expense of your patients.”

    Commenting on the conference themed: “The Importance of Supply Chain Management in Health Care System Straightening,” Obasanjo called for the resuscitation of the old central medical store system in order to boost availability of drugs in the country.

    “We used to have something like that in the past during the Western region. I don’t know whether we still have it. If we don’t, made this is time to return it or have something near it, which will bring efficiency and affordability to our drug chain system,” he said.

    Also, the Secretary to the State Governor (SSG), Mr. Tokunbo Talabi who represented the governor, Dapo Abiodun aligned with the ex-President and called for caution over tendency to resort to strike.

    Read Also: Obasanjo’s son to court: I haven’t served my wife divorce papers

    “I want you to look into what Baba Obasanjo has said on this issue of strike. You can get alternative for Taxi drivers if they decide to go on strike, yes, we have Okada drivers, but, this is not so for you. God made you so special to save lives and you should live up to the expectation. We can device other ways to save these lives it is very important,” Talabi said.

    The Ogun State chairman of NAGGMD, Dr. Olufemi Odusote, in his welcome address hinted that the theme for the 2019 National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, “The Importance of Supply Chain Management in Health Care System Straightening” became imperative in view of the health challenges, which included manpower, brain drain, and general welfare of members and security challenges have made doctors vulnerable.

    “With the calibre of resource persons, including our highly revered Erudite Professor Ogunlesi as our guest lecturer, we are of the view that we are going to get solutions to these challenges confronting us as a body in the country.”

  • Gunmen kill policeman, seven vigilantes in Niger

    A policeman and seven members of the vigilante group have been killed by gunmen in Kusherki Community in Rafi local government area of Niger state.

    The gunmen were said to have laid ambush for the security operatives rushing to the village after receiving distress calls that it had been invaded by gunmen.

    The gunmen and security agencies exchanged gunfire that lasted for three hours which resulted to the death of the policeman.

    Policemen were said to have received a distress call that some gunmen stormed Lamba Waya village at Pandogari to rustle cows, prompting the deployment of a combined team of the Police Civil Defence and Vigilante group to track down the rustlers.

    Read Also: Gunmen abduct NRC MD’s wife

    Witnesses said that the gunmen escaped with the rustled cattle, leaving seven vigilantes and one policeman dead.

    The Niger state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Muhammad Abubakar confirmed the incident.

    He said that some of the cattle rustlers were also badly injured and a combined team of the Police Civil Defence and Vigilante group has been drafted to the area with a view to apprehending the culprits.

    DSP Muhammad Dan Inna alleged that some of the cattle rustlers were killed while others sustained various degrees of injuries as a result of gunfire.

    “Our men are following the blood trails and combing the areas as we speak, ” he explained.

  • COZA: Fatoyinbo not ready to be helped, says ex-spiritual father

    Founder of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) Abuja, Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, is not ready to be helped to overcome his sexual weaknesses, his former spiritual father, Pastor Emmanuel Oset has declared.

    Oset, presiding pastor of Champions’ Church Ilorin, was reacting to the allegation of rape against Fatoyinbo by celebrity photographer, Busola Dakolo.

    Several women have also alleged the preacher had illicit sexual relations with them.

    The first allegation broke in 2013 when Ese Walters gave graphic details of how he had a long affair with the preacher, culminating in sexual relations while in the United Kingdom.

    Oset, to whom Fatoyinbo submitted until 2014, described his estranged spiritual soul as a man who cannot be helped by man or God.

    He spoke on Thursday in an interview on Arise TV.

    Read Also; Rape saga: Jealous pastors behind Fatoyinbo’s ordeal — COZA

    According to him:“Our Lord Jesus Christ knew that Judas had become a thief but it wasn’t Jesus who said so, it was John who said so. Not because Jesus was weak but because Jesus was hoping that this man would change,” he said.

    “You always find in the scripture, the purposes of God are redemptive. Before God comes with judgement in any case, you will see that he would have tried to get through to the person. It is when His love has been rebuffed and rebuffed again that He comes with judgement. That is God’s procedure.

    “God does not rule by force, he rules by love.

    “People have spoken. People spoke in 2013 but you can only help somebody who wants to be helped.

    “If somebody doesn’t want to be helped, even God will not be able to help him. His hands will be tight in that regard.”

    Recalling his efforts to bring Fatoyinbo to order in 2013 when Walters allegations became public knowledge, Oset said: “When in August 2013, news broke out online concerning him and his ministry, as somebody he was close to as an elder I thought it was my responsibility to get across to him.

    “I was preparing to go to the United States for ministry and after some efforts because it wasn’t easy to get through to him, his pastor in Ilorin here, I told him, get through to your boss and I want to share a thing or two with him.

    ‘’Eventually he succeeded, and he called me from Abuja. And I told him this news is all over the place and I want to hear from you and I want to also give you some counsel if need be.

    ‘’And he said he would get in touch. I said okay, I’m on my way to the US while I’m there if I want to get through to you how do I do it?

    “I thought he would just say sir you can get through to me using my email. Then he said his fear that time was that he was being bugged.

    “When I came back from the United States, I still tried to get across to him because my desire is always to please God. I am not saying this to impress anybody.

    “I wasn’t part of those already making comments on the issue. I just wanted to see how I could be useful in terms of helping him, but he didn’t show up.

    “I waited from August 2013 to April 2014. When he didn’t show up and he was coming to town, having meetings I was seeing his billboards in town, well, my wife and I said to ourselves we’ve done our bit.

    ‘’It was then I wrote him a letter and I said consider that we no longer have anything to do with you and your ministry. I didn’t post it, it was hand delivered by his pastor.”

  • Stakeholders call for FG’s intervention to boost tourism sector, economy

    Stakeholders in the Nigeria tourism sector on Friday called on the Federal Government to harness enormous potential in the industry to develop the nation’s economy.

    They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Lagos that the Federal Government should give attention to tourism to thrive.

    The stakeholders spoke in commemoration of the World Tourism Day designed by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) since 1980.

    The 2019 theme is: “Tourism and Jobs: a Better Future for All”.

    A veteran Fuji musician, Adewale Ayuba, said that government should exploit the nation’s tourism potential in cuisine, music, clothing and other areas to create employment opportunities for youths.

    According to Ayuba, proper projection of these potential will improve cultural exchange programmes among African countries, thereby putting Nigeria on the world tourism map.

    He said that government ought to create platforms which would enable musicians across different genres of music such as the Fuji, Waka and juju to showcase their talents to the world.

    “We can tag it ‘Nigeria Indigenous Music Festival’ and it can be promoted to attract tourists across the globe.

    “I advise that we celebrate our music that are indigenous to us, create platforms where Fuji, juju, Afro beat, Waka and Apala and more can be promoted.

    “I urge the embassies to promote our culture and music. This will help us to improve,’’ the Fuji musicians said.

    He, however, expressed regret that Nollywood artistes who had invested a lot were not reaping enough from their hard work.

    Read Also: Tourism practitioners lament temporary closure of border

    “We can see most of our actors who had entertained us later soliciting for help when they are sick, this is bad.

    “Government must create functional royalties to compensate them for their contributions toward the growth of the entertainment industry,” Ayuba said.

    Also, Mrs Ebele Enemchukwu, a former Miss Tourism United Nations, said the industry could be a huge money spinner for the nation, if well harnessed.

    Enemchukwu urged government at all levels to collaborate more with the private investors to ensure that the industry generate enough job opportunities for the citizens.

    According to her, the benefits of tourism are enormous, if government will endeavour to boost and sustain the industry.

    She said that all Nigerians have roles to play in the promotion of tourism by visiting and spending holidays in leisure sites because they have better attraction.

    “Nigerians should cultivate habit of visiting nation’s tourist attractions, share beautiful pictures, videos, articles that captures our rich green land and warm people.

    “I urge individual tourism practitioners to keep the fire burning, giving up is not an option and as far as tourism is concerned, posterity will remember you all for the good reasons,’’ she said.

    Enemchukwu recalled that when she won the Mrs Tourism United Nations World, she publicly pledged to use the platform as Tourism Queen to give Nigeria the needed promotion and visibility.

    “My reign ended two years ago, but that promise still stands and is still being fulfilled. I have contributed in many capacities to the industry.

    “There is more to Nigeria than Boko Haram, to political instability or all the negative reports that have gained publicity, locally and internationally,” she said.

    Commenting, Mrs Nike Okundaye, Managing Director, Nike Arts Gallery, also told NAN that government should intensify efforts in solving problems of insecurity, inadequate infrastructure facilities and power outage.

    Okundaye said these problems had hindered the growth of the tourism industry over the years.

    She said the industry was majorly driven by the private investors who needed to enjoy the support of government.

    Okundaye said also that government support would make tourism business to thrive, generate employment opportunities for youths and boost the nation’s economy. (NAN)

  • BUK expels 63 students, rusticates 13 others

    Bayero University, Kano (BUK) has expelled 63 students and rusticated 13 others for one year for their involvement in various forms of examination misconduct.

    This is contained in a statement signed by the Director, Examination, Admissions and Records (DEAR), Amina Umar-Abdullahi and issued to newsmen in Kano on Friday.

    According to her, the action followed a recommendation earlier submitted by the Senate Committee on Examinations Misconduct and Leakages approved on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019 at the 374th meeting of the highest decision making body of the institution.

    Read Also: BUK television commences operation 2020

    She said the expelled students included 10 from the School of Postgraduate Studies, 10 from the School of Continuing Education and seven each from the Faculties of Basic Medical Sciences and Computer Science.

    “However, the Faculties of Education and Management Sciences have six each and Engineering, FEES and Physical Sciences four and three, respectively.

    “The Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies has two expelled students and Faculties of Communication, Allied Health Sciences and Life Sciences have the least number of affected candidates with only one student each.”

    She said the Senate had equally directed that 19 other students be served with warning letters for other infractions.

    (NAN)

  • Ondo APC dissociates from pro-Osinbajo campaign group

    The Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dissociated itself from a group that staged support on Thursday for the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s presidency in 2023.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a group, Southwest Youth Congress, had stormed the secretariat of the party with banners in a campaign tagged: ‘OSINBAJO 2023’.

    A statement made available to newsmen by Mr Alex Kalejaye, the state’s Publicity Secretary states that: “the action was an embarrassment to the leaders of the party in the state.

    “The party wishes to firmly declare that it has no link whatsoever with the said group.

    Read Also: UPDATED: N90 billion allegation against Osinbajo baseless- CAN

    “For the records, the group that could best be described as a non-governmental body, and looked a bit unorganised, only stormed the state secretariat of the party unannounced with their banners and other write-ups.

    “The party notes with deep concerns that a highly sophisticated state politically like ours knows better than engaging in campaigns for an election prematurely.”

    The statement appealed to “those it described as desperate politicians and attention-seekers to encourage the vice-president, who was sworn in only a few months ago, to concentrate on the tasks and responsibilities attach to his office.”

    “We are sure, the vice-president is preoccupied with decisions and policies in the overall interest of the country and could therefore do with less distraction.

    (NAN)