The Nation Newspaper

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  • Our plan to improve Niger Delta, by Odubu

    Newly nominated chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Pius Odubu, has said that the new board, when constituted, would adopt a needs assessment approach to select projects to execute in the region.

    Dr. Odubu said the new board would live above board and ensure quality work in the Niger Delta region.

    Odubu spoke to journalists after attending the thanksgiving service of the 70th birthday of Mrs. Roseline Edaghuase Imariagbe, mother of former Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Hon Samson Osagie.

    According to Odubu“The God that started it will finish it. We intend to have a vibrant NDDC. One that will prioritise the needs of the people. We are going to adopt the NEEDS assessment.

    READ ALSO: Odubu is NDDC’s chairman-designate

    “That is we will go to the various communities to ask them their needs and we are not going to be forcing projects down their throats. We are going to take the Oshiomhole template to NDDC that is we will go on daily inspection and ensure that we get value for money. Accountability will be the word, we are going to turn the region around.

    “Look at the calibre of people going there. They are men of impeccable character, people that you can say they are not hungry , people that you will say are not in need, they are not in need of money, people that are content in life already. It remains therefore for us to go and work. To do our best so that we will make sure we continue to bless this land and to do our best and join President Muhammadu Buhari in taking the Niger Delta to the Next Level”.

  • Muhammad-Bande sets to assume UNGA Presidency

    Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Professor Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, is set to assume office as the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

    The ceremonies, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, will take place at the UN New York headquarters on September 16th and 17th.

    It will be ahead of the High-Level week of the UNGA when leaders of the nations of the world take turns to address the General Assembly.

    A Nigerian government team to the historic event which will be led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, will include the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar and the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

    Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN was elected President of the 74th session of the General Assembly by acclamation on Tuesday, June 4, to serve the one-year role with a strong mandate from his home government that nominated him.

    READ ALSO: UN chief pledges support for UNGA’s President-elect

    Muhammad-Bande nomination was also endorsed by the Group of African States and adopted unanimously by the member-states.

    The Muhammad-Bande presidency, coming 30 years after this country’s first, presents Nigeria and Africa a unique opportunity to ensure the implementation of the existing mandates for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with particular focus on peace and security, poverty eradication, zero hunger, quality education, climate action and inclusion.

    The General Assembly under Muhammad-Bande will also play a role in bridging the gaps and promoting collective action to address all international issues that deserve attention, in close coordination and collaboration with the Secretary-General, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council.

  • Xenophobia: Ohaneze youths absolve Igbo from alleged South Africa’s putrefaction

    The youth wing of Ohaneze Ndigbo has condemned the allegation of putrefaction leveled against Ndigbo by one Adeyinka Granson.

    Granson had ascribed the blame of Xenophobic attack on foreign nationals in South Africa to Igbo immigrants in the country.

    The Igbo apex socio cultural youth group said the statement fall short of patriotism and should be cautioned by all and sundry.

    In a statementon Sunday signed by its national leader Amb. Arthur Uchenaa Obiora, the group dissociated Igbo from the ill-conceived allegation, stressing that the nation remained most formidable ethnic society in present day Nigeria and in Africa at large.

    Retrospecting on the evolution of foreign nationals in South Africa, the statement read, ‘’This few days ago, the South African embassy in Lusaka Zambia came under attack by Zambian citizens. They were protesting the xenophobic attacks by South Africans against Zambian nationals.

    “About a month also it was Tanzanians who descended on businesses with known South African interests operating in Tanzania.

    “At another time it was Mozambique nationals protesting South Africans killings Mozambicans, while Zimbabweans were next to follow.

    READ ALSO: Xenophobia: The man who ignited the fire

    “The list of other Black African nations suffering the same fate in the hands of South Africans is long.

    “Yesterday and today it is Nigerians registering their displeasure, if violently against businesses of South African origin operating in Nigeria because of the wanton killings of Nigerians living in South African by South Africans.

    “No matter how one wants to look at it, South Africans have been adjudged guilty of Xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals living in their country.

    “Nigerians have unfortunately been worst hit, perhaps, more than any other countries’ nationals living in South Africa.

    “This is a tragedy of enormous proportions given the gruesome dimensions of the killings and maiming, the attendant loss of property and livelihood and the entire pathetic humanatiran conditions left in the wake of these xenophobic destruction.

    “This is certainly a cause for bitterness and regret amongst Nigerians especially given what Nigeria invested in men , material and finances in the liberation of South Africa from the stranglehold of Apartheid.”

  • Man ‘burgles’ nightclub to raise fund for colleague’s bail

    A suspected robber arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) has said he broke into a Lagos nighclub to raise bail money for his colleague in Kirikiri Prison.

    Sadiq Yinusa, 25, a resident of 24, Oluwalogbon Street, Shomolu, was said to have broken into a nightclub in Igbobi at the wee hours of Wednesday while attempting to rob the supervisor of the club.

    He was said to have shot at the supervisor after he refused to handover his wallet, adding that he was arrested after the supervisor raised alarm.

    Yinusa, the police said, had a locally made short gun, four live cartridges, a socket wrench, a chisel and a plier with him at the point of arrest.

    He was said to have told detectives he was desperate to raise money yo perfect the bail conditions of a member of his gang identified as Prince Chika.

    The police also arrested alleged accomplices and receivers of the items Yinusa stole identified as Jubril Adamu and Korede Baki.

    Yinusa said: “Prince Chika is currently in prison Kirikiri. He was arrested for robbery. He called me last week to help him hustle for funds to secure his freedom from prison.

    “I visited him in the prison a week ago and he later called me from prison to appeal for my assistance. He gave me the location of this gun and some of the arms he used.

    “He assured me he will pay back within the first few weeks of regaining freedom. I retrieved all these arms from the bush where he kept them before heading for the operation.

    “He told me that he bought the gun in Anambra State for N5000. This is the first time I am firing a gun during operation.

    “I got to the club on Morocco Road, Igbobi when clubbers have left. I scaled the fence and saw the supervisor. I pointed the gun at him and requested for his wallet.

    “I felt he was wasting time, so, I shot at him but he dodged it. He raised alarm and I started running. That was how I ran into RRS patrol team that responded to the gunshot and noise from the club.”

    READ ALSO: Dwarf beaten to pulp in Enugu for “causing” disappearance of manhood

    Yinusa confessed that he used to pickpocket and burgle people’s homes, businesses before taking to armed robbery.

    “Last week, I broke into three houses in Somolu. From each one, I collected two mobile phones. I also got three laptops as well as jewelry. I sold them to Adamu Jubril.

    “Whenever, I collected ATM cards and pins from victims, it is Korede Baki, 22, that assisted with the withdrawals,” he said.

    In his statement to the police Adamu alias Ango said he has been buying stolen items from Yinusa for over six months.

    Adamu, a trader at Tejuosho market, told the police he has bought over 15 mobile phones, laptops and jewelry from him.
    “I bought laptops from him at N30,000 each,” he said.

    Reacting to the arrest, Police Commissioner Zubairu Muazu appealed to residents to see policing as everyone’s business and ensure they knew their neighbours.

    Attachments area

  • Bayelsa governorship: APC youths lament internal rift

    Youths from the Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the weekend raised the alarm over worsening post primary election’s crisis rocking the party ahead of the November 16 governorship election in the state.

    The youths under the auspices of the APC Youths Alliance (APCYA) said in a statement that the outcome and manner of the party’s gubernatorial primary left it more divided that ever before.

    The Coordinator of the APCYA, Dr. Joseph Ikileka Temple, lamented that the APC might not actualize its desire to wrest control of political powers from the PDP if the party failed to reconcile all the aggrieved aspirants.

    He stated for in stance that one of the most prominent aspirants, Mr. Heineken Lokpobiri, rejected the outcome of the primaries describing it as a sham and mockery of democracy.

    He lamented that top leaders of the APC in the eight local government areas of Bayelsa led by former Special Adviser, Security to former Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, Chief Richard Kpodo were supporting Lokpobiri’s position against the election that produced David Lyon as the candidate.

    READ ALSO: Timipre Sylva and APC chances in Bayelsa governorship election

    Temple said Lokpobiri was bitter and had vowed to reject the result of the primaries because of his belief that the election was an unacceptable charade designed to impose Lyon as the gubernatorial candidate.

    He said that another founding member and gubernatorial aspirant of the party, Preye Aganaba, dragged the party and its candidate, Lyon, to the High Court in Yenagoa where he demanded cancellation of the election.

    The youth group expressed deep concern that the leaders of the APC, and even the elders Forum were sharply divided over the emergence Lyon as the party’ candidate.

    He said that the APC was faced with the grim reality of repeating what happened in Zamfara State where the party’s candidates were disqualified in the last election.

  • Dana Air takes delivery of first Boeing 737 aircraft

    Dana Air’s drive for strategic route expansion received a boost at the weekend as the carrier acquired a Boeing 737 aircraft.

    It is the first time the airline was acquiring a Boeing 737 aircraft it its 11 years of operations where it has flown over 4.5 million passengers.

    The Managing Director / Chief Executive officer of Dana Air Jacky Hathiramani, who disclosed this in Lagos, said the aircraft arrived Lagos about 1am on last Friday.

    He said the arrival of the first Boeing 737 aircraft was part of its promise to its passengers earlier in the year that the airline will acquire some Boeing 737 aircraft to increase its capacity and meet the ever increasing demands of passengers.

    He said Dana Air was committed to its strategic route expansion and fleet renewal plan, and its desire to continue to provide unmatched on-time performance, world-class in-flight services and seamless air travel to its teeming passengers.

    Dana Air

    According to him: ” Earlier in the year, we noticed that there were fewer aircraft in the country and less capacity to meet the demand at the time, so we decided to assure our passengers that we will acquire some Boeing 737 aircraft to ensure that they travel at ease without having to worry if they will get flights to certain destinations even at peak periods.

    “The arrival of the first of our recently acquired 737 aircraft is a firm confirmation of our resilience, operational efficiency, deep passion, and our commitment to continue flying safe.

    “It also underscores our mission which to earn the loyalty and respect of our customers by consistently demonstrating our commitment to service, and providing affordable regional air transport services that focus on innovation, quality and service excellence.

    READ ALSO: ‘How Dana Air’s security personnel returned passenger’s $5,000.00, other items’

    ‘With our fleet size likely to hit nine soon, we are ready to give more Boeing 737 rated Nigerian pilots and engineers the opportunity to be gainfully employed. We would also deploy this Boeing 737 to strengthen our existing route network while new routes will be announced soon in line with our careful and methodical route and fleet expansion project.”

  • We were framed up, dismissed ASUU-LASU members say

    Two of the five dismissed members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Lagos State University (LASU), on Thursday last week, have cleared themselves of the allegation of forgery and extortion put forward by management as reasons for their dismissal.

    The pair, Secretary of ASUU- LASU Dr Tony Dansu and Treasurer Dr Oluwakemi Aboderin-Shonibare who were members of the ASUU-LASU executive, were fired on Thursday last week for allegedly violating the university’s law against unauthorised possession and use of official documents. However the duo have also accused the university’s management of deliberately framing them up on trump up charges as a means of victimising the remnants of the union.

    Until their sack, Aboderin-Shonibare was an associate professor, Department of African Languages, Literature and Communication Arts, while Dansu, was a Senior Lecturer, Department of Human Kinetics, Sports and Health Education.

    Three other lecturers sacked include: Adeolu Oyekan assistant secretary of ASUU-LASU and Lecturer 1, Department of Philosophy; Kehinde Coker, Lecturer 1, Department of Religions; and Olusegun Henry, lecturer 1, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health.

    Reacting to the dismissal in a statement titled: ‘Chasing shadows: ‘LASU VC, farcical dismissals and the questions that won’t go away’ yesterday, Dansu noted that the union n needed to set the record straight in view of lots of misinformation being circulated by social media and certain ‘unscrupulous’ mainstream media, about the purported dismissal.

    Dansu said the first allegation against him and Aboderin-Shonibare was granting an interview with a TV station and another prominent online blog on the dismissal of the chairman and Vice Chairman of the union Dr Isaac Akinloye Oyewunmi and Dr Adebowale Adeyemi-Suenu respectively in October 2007. Dansu said the second allegation was being in possession of a document considered ‘confidential’ by the management. On her part, Aboderin-Shonibare was accused of using her assessment report for promotion as evidence that she ought to have been an Associate Professor since 2011 instead of the 2015 date earlier communicated to her, Dansu further added.

    On the former allegation, Dansu insisted the union owes the management no apology over its action, saying it is a matter of common knowledge that both Oyewumi and Adeyemi-Suenu were victimised out of the system because of their stance against management’s ‘un-academic’ style of governance.

    Further clarifying the air on the second allegation, Dansu said the union suddenly stumbled on a letter purportedly written by the immediate past registrar of the institution Mr Akinwunmi Lewis which dubiously backdated the promotion of the status of the professorship of the vice chancellor Prof Lanre Fagbohun to 2008 as against the recommendations of the university’s Governing Council which upgraded Faghohun to same status in May 2014.

    READ ALSO: Dismissal: Court adjourns ASUU-LASU chairman, deputy case

    Dansu said the union then decided to challenge what it discovered by presenting a copy of the letter to back up their claims.

    “Curiously, Mr Lewis wrote to Dr Fagbohun, saying he had been promoted to the rank of Professor with effect from October 1st 2008. There is no evidence anywhere that the Governing Council met to change the effective date of the promotion of Dr Fagbohun to 2008,” the statement started.

    It continued: “Rather than investigate the allegation however, the university administration issued queries to us, wanting to know how we came about a copy of the promotion letter issued to Dr Fagbohun by Mr Lewis. They described it as a confidential document which we weren’t authorised to hold. The Governing Council which appointed Dr Fagbohun as vice chancellor knew that sanctioning Mr Lewis could raise the issue of whether any due diligence was done in the selection process. Yet, it accused the officers of the union who signed the petition of theft of confidential document, even with the knowledge that the FoI (Freedom of Information) law provides immunity for an employee to use public documents without the burden of disclosing his or her source.”

    Dansu therefore described management’s latest action as lacking in the understanding of how a university should be run, and deficient in accommodating dissenting views.

  • Royal ruling house in Ikorodu cries out over imposition of non-indigene as monarch

    A royal family in Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Ijaolu Ruling House, has urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to save the ancient town from looming crisis over alleged fraudulent imposition of a non-indigene as monarch.

    The Ijaolu Ruling House, who are the sons and daughters of late Oba Osho-Ojuba who ruled from 1904 to 1931, in a letter dated September 6, 2019 signed by the family Secretary, Prince Adeyemi Olusanya, said there was urgent need for the Governor to intervene as the Chief Security Officer of the State to prevent the matter from snowballing into a major crisis.

    According to the family, “Your Excellency, Ijaolu Ruling House of Igbogbo (The Sons and Daughters of late Oba Osho-Ojuba) seeks your urgent intervention to reverse a daylight robbery that was perpetrated against us by impostors who have fraudulently used our family name in connivance with some chiefs to install one Semiu Kasali as Adeboruwa of Igbogbo land.

    “The said Kasali was installed against a Subsisting Court Order of Lagos State High Court (Ikorodu Judicial Division) made on April 19, 2016, and despite several letters warning the actors including officials of Lagos State Government to desist from acting against the Order of Court.

    “The said Kasali is not from any Ruling House in Igbogbo, and so it was surprising that he fraudulently ascended the throne in Igbogbo using the name of the Ruling House of his Mother from Ewu Elepe which coincidentally tally with our own Ruling House (IJAOLU).”

    The family accused the people behind the alleged scandalous act of employing several tactics to delay and frustrate the court case, adding that a number of letters have also been written to the Lagos State Government on the need to reverse the gross injustice to avert any breakdown of law and order in Igbogbo, all to no avail.

    READ ALSO: Palace disagrees with ruling over Ikorodu monarch

    “Also, we have written to the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu who, in turn, wrote a letter dated February 12, 2019 to the former Governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, asking him to act in order to prevent any crisis, but nothing was done by the former Governor till his tenure expired on May 29, 2019,” the family said, just as they expressed optimism that Sanwo-Olu would save Igbogbo of impending crisis.

    “Your Excellency Governor Sanwo-Olu, we are confident that you will use your good office to end this manifestly obvious injustice and daylight robbery that has been perpetrated against us by the said Semiu Kasali who has been desperately and shamefully using his position as a lawyer and former staff of Lagos State Ministry of Justice to perverse the hand of justice in this matter.

    “We trust that your Excellency will act swiftly to prevent this matter from degenerating and snowballing into a major crisis in our land,” the family said.

  • Ramaphosa sends envoys to African countries over xenophobic attacks

    President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has dispatched three special envoys to seven African countries to deliver messages of pan-African unity and solidarity following xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the Presidency said on Sunday.

    The special envoys will deliver a message from Ramaphosa regarding the incidents of violence that recently erupted in some parts of South Africa, which have manifested in attacks on foreign nationals and destruction of property, presidential spokesperson, Khusela Diko, said.

    The envoys will reassure fellow African countries that South Africa is committed to the ideals of pan-African unity and solidarity, Diko said.

    They will also reaffirm South Africa’s commitment to the rule of law.

    READ ALSO: Ramaphosa cancels plan to attend UN meeting

    The envoys will visit Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, according to Diko.

    They will brief governments in the identified African countries about the steps that the South African government is taking to bring a stop to the attacks and to hold the perpetrators to account.

    South Africa has been hit by a new spate of violence for the past few weeks.

    At least 12 people, including 10 South Africans and two foreigners, have been killed.

    South Africa is host to some 274,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from African countries, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

    Xenophobia-related attacks are common in South Africa, where foreigners are blamed for taking up employment that should have been taken by locals.

    (Xinhua/NAN)

  • Fishermen lament losses from Dangote dredging

    Association of Fishing and Fishing Related Persons in Ibeju Lekki area, Lagos has raised alarm that the dredging done by Dangote Group of Companies on the sea has caused lots of damages on their fishing gears and fishing activities.

    Chairman of the association, Odubote Akorede while speaking with The Nation on Saturday lamented the loss of livelihood caused by the dredging activities, adding that it has significantly reduced their catch of fishes.

    Odubote noted that homes and properties worth millions of Naira has been destroyed by water from the sea which is caused by dredging activities.

    He also lamented that there is a high rate of school drop outs in the community due to lack of finance for parents to cater for their children’s school fees.

    The Chairman, therefore, appealed to the Federal government and the Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to come to their aid by finding a lasting solution to their problems, adding that the community can no longer hold their patience.

    “We have been encountering so many difficulties on the sea-based on the dredging by Dangote Group of Companies. This started in 2014 but this year is the worst of all. Before they came, we make use of 10 to 15 bundles of shower nets but today, hardly will you return with three or four bundles due to the activities of Dangote Company on the sea.

    “Their ships destroy our fishing gears and we have been stopped from going to the areas where we fish. This is the only means of survival; this is the only profession we use to feed our families. I started fishing since 1977 and my parents used all they got from this profession to enroll me in school to the higher institution.

    “Our children are out of school because parents can no longer afford the money to enrol their children. We have families, including the aged who we cater. But the dredging by Dangote has damaged all we depend on,” he said.

    He continued: “The heavy waves have washed away all the coconuts planted by our fathers. The dredging does not only affect the area where they work but extends to 15 or 20 miles from the right and left. That is why the water was able to penetrate and destroy some of our homes and properties.

    “We appeal to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Federal government to please help us interfere in this case of ours before it is too late. Naval officers chase our people away, as well as some of our fishermen beaten and their fishing gears been damaged. The government should help us because we are good citizens,” he added.

    READ ALSO: Dangote Group, Ocean Beach Resorts row over multi-million naira Lagos project

    Secretary of the association Shina Adeniyi added that: “Our people are majorly into fishing and farming. All the land along the lagoon has been allocated to the government that is why our only occupation today is fishing.

    “But it is a pity that the fishing activities have been paralysed due to dredging by Dangote Group of Companies. Our people can no longer go to the sea and erosion has waded away from the little perennial crops we have like coconut.

    “Many houses have been destroyed and despite all the letters we wrote, only the Department of Petroleum Resources, Lagos state replied us two weeks ago,” he said.

    A fisherman in the community, Matthew Adewale also said: “Many of our people have borrowed money to finance their fishing businesses and as a result of the dredging activities taking place, our people no longer fish which results to debt for them. So many of them have nowhere to go or they don’t even have any other work to do except this fishing business. The government should please help us,”