The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian Newspapers

  • Commissioner plans 21st century civil service

    The Lagos State Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle, has urged the ministry workers to be determined to change the negative attitude associated with civil servants.

    She spoke on Tuesday at the opening session of a strategic retreat organised for heads of units and departments in the departments and agencies under the supervision of the Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions, in Alausa, Ikeja.

    Ponnle, who recalled the dignifying nature of public service in the past, said all hands must be on deck to revert to the good old days when people were willing and anxious to be identified with government institutions.

    Read Also: Challenges before Lagos commissioners, special advisers

    She said the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration has a laudable plan to make Lagos a 21st century economy in consonance with T.H.E.M.E.S. (Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment and Tourism, and Security and Governance), adding that “the governor has enjoined the ministry to support this mandate, develop plans and policies to ensure this is driven by a 21st century-enabled workforce.”

    The commissioner said the coming together of the ministry’s officials comprising those from the Office of Establishments and Training, Lagos State Pensions Commission (LASPEC), Public Service Staff Development Centre (PSSDC) and Civil Service Pensions Office (CSPO) was aimed at sharing a combined vision and pursuing their mandates with uniformity and in consonance with the project T.H.E.M.E.S.

    ”Our aim as a ministry, working in partnership with other relevant MDAs, is to ensure the engine of governance, which is driven by its people, working efficiently and effectively to ensure the plans become our collective reality,” Ponnle said.

  • Army partners NPS to protect national parks, reserved areas

    NIGERIAN Army is committed to the protection of the country’s reserve areas and national parks to boost national security, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, said on Tuesday.

    The COAS, who spoke at the presentation of Hilux vans to the Nigeria Park Service, noted that the National Parks and Reserve Areas were not adequately protected.

    Tukur, who was represented by the Chief of Standard and Evaluation, Maj.-Gen. Okwudili Azinta, regretted that the national parks had become safe haven for hoodlums to hibernate and engage in criminal activities.

    The COAS assured the nation that the Army would continue to synergise with the Nigeria Park Service to flush out criminals from the Parks and Reserve Areas.

    He said: “Few months ago, the Nigerian Army, in collaboration with the Nigeria Park Service, organised a seminar with the theme: Enhancing Synergy Between the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Park Services, National Security in Perspective. The purpose of the seminar was to develop synergy between the two services towards denying criminal elements the use of our national parks as well as the reserved areas as safe haven.

    Read Also: Army assures Borno town of security

    “We all know that our national parks and reserved areas have become a safe haven where criminals hibernate and carry out their nefarious activities. At the of the seminar, which was the first of its kind, it was discovered that out of the 92,300 square kilometre landmass that makes the National Parks and Reserved Areas, only 10 per cent is protected. It was based on this the Conservator General made a passionate appeal to the COAS for patrol vehicles. Today, he has fulfilled the promise by providing two Hilux vans to the NPS.”

    Receiving the cars, Conservator General Ibrahim Musa Goni enjoined other security agencies to emulate the Army and support NPS.

     

  • Buhari appoints Ladan as NIALS DG

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Prof Muhammed Tawfiq Ladan as the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS).

    He succeeds Prof Deji Adekunle.

    A letter from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha reads: “I am pleased to inform you that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved your appointment as Director-General Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies for an initial term of four years.

    “This appointment is with effect from 9th September 2019…Please accept my congratulations and best wishes on your appointment.”

  • Navy gives conditions for promotions

    THE Central Naval Command (CNC) of the Nigerian Navy on Tuesday said physical and mental health status of its officers and ratings were conditions for their promotions.  Attendance of courses and operations, according to the command, are also key.

    Speaking at the maiden edition of a wellness lecture entitled: harnessing good health through prescribed medical lifestyle, which held at the naval headquarters, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), CNC, Rear Admiral Saidu Suleiman Garba, said health was important to the navy.

    Reae Admiral Garba insisted that the Nigerian Navy placed a lot of emphasis on the physical and mental health of its personnel, a development he said, led to the lecture series.

    He said the programme was a welfare package to enable personnel understand the need to be medically and mentally fit to undertake every operation expected of them.

    He also said that the Navy introduced the Body Mass Index scale as a measure of fitness to be sure that everyone was fit to undertake normal routine operations and activities.

    Read Also: Navy: we won’t promote unless..

    He said: “This will serve as a criteria for promotion, availability for courses and operations. In order for personnel to know their status we introduced this lecture. It will be quarterly so that we can reach other who are on the field so that we can also enhance their health.

    “Our annual programmes shows we have to undertake series of event like swimming, football championship, the tug of war games and so many others we concluded few days ago”.

    The health expert, Dr. Susan Adam, said the programme was designed to encourage all participants to be more conscious of their health status and appealed to them to embrace nature.

    He said: “We recognize that a lot has been done and already put in place for them to be proactive but we think something could be done extra to enhance their health. They have to deliberately prevent some things, watch their BMI and what to eat, and how to wake.

    “The vegetable drinks is all about going to nature, because it has so much to offer and heal us, by running away from nature is running from natural medicines. First they should be awareness that there’s something called healthy living, it will be a learned habit and it doesn’t happen overnight”.

     

  • Fire guts building in Mushin

    Fire razed the second floor of a two-storey building on 152 Agege Motor Road in Mushin Olosha, Lagos state on Tuesday.

    It destroyed household materials.

    The Nation learnt that the fire, which began around 3 pm, was put out around 5:30pm .

    It was gathered that there was an electric spark when power was restored in the area which led to the fire outbreak.

    The goods on the second floor were burnt.

    Occupants of the building were said to have fled immediately the fire began.

    Read Also: Unity Bank head office on fire

    An official of the Lagos State Fire Service at the scene, Mr. Usman Ibrahim said the cause of the fire was yet to be known.

    “We responded immediately we got the calls but the bad roads and reckless driving by some motorists caused the little delay,” he said.

    An official of the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps, Mr. Adekunle Sunday, said a resident told him that a tenant put on gas and suddenly exploded.

    He added that the residents were also helpful in the process of vacating the leftover goods not engulfed in the fire.

    A trader on the ground floor of the building, who simply identified himself as Mr. Chukwudi, said he was the one who called the firefighters.

    He added that the fire outbreak was due to electric spark.

    “Thank God none of my goods caught fire,” he said.

    A resident, who pleaded not to be named, said some hoodlums seized the opportunity of the incident to steal valuables from the building. He said he was one of the rescuers before some other boys in the area joined.

  • NANS hails improved security in Katsina

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has commended Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari on the improved security in the state following his dialogue with bandits.

    Read Also: Xenophobia: NANS advises youths to shun violence

    The President of the Association, Mr. Danielson Akpan, who addressed a press conference at the NUJ secretariat in Katsina, told newsmen that they have been in the state for 4 days to inspect projects executed by the present administration in the state and from what they have seen during the tour of the three senatorial districts in the state, the state is peaceful and secured.

    He said’’ I want to state quite frankly, we have visited the three senatorial districts in the state, we didn’t notice pandemonium, and from what we have seen during this visit, there is peace now in the state and considering the way he has reached out to the bandits, peace has returned to Katsina State.”

  • Phone ‘thief’ burnt in Delta

    An unidentified phone ‘thief’ was burnt to death at the popular Effurun Roundabout in Uvwie council area of Delta State.

    The Nation gathered that the incident occurred on Sunday at about 7am.

    Witnesses said the suspect  snatched a woman’s phone outside the Delta Mall premises and was headed for the bush across the mall, when an angry mob caught him and immediately lynched him.

    A wristwatch trader who sells at the roundabout narrated the incident.

    Read Also: Black market petrol seller burnt to death

    “It happened on Sunday morning here. As he was running, the people around pursued and caught him. After seriously beating him, they put a tyre on him and set him on fire. They burnt him near were those buses are parked.

    “It was yesterday they removed the body,” the trader who did not disclose his name said.

    A man, Chuks Ifeyinwa, corroborated the story. He said he was on his way to church and saw the alleged thief being set ablaze for “stealing a lady’s phone”.

    When The Nation visited the scene on Tuesday, a bystander simply identified as Mabel claimed to have witnessed a robbery attack on some people who were just returning from a business trip in the same area.

    Stating that the area as from 10pm is “a deadly zone,” she called for security operatives to be drafted to the area in order to reduce attacks on unsuspecting persons.

    The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Adeyinka Adeleke said he was “not aware,” of the case but  promised to “find out,” but was yet to give feedback as at the time of filing this report.

  • Oyo declares war on vandals

    Worried by the ceaseless theft and vandalism of public schools properties  in Oyo State, the government has declared war on vandals, saying that anyone caught in such acts will face the music.

    Some members of staff of the affected schools were also accused of conspiring with the vandals, but none has been arrested.

    It was reported that due to the absence of security guards in public schools, as a result of the ban on payment of school fees by the government, some criminal elements have taken advantage of the seeming collapse of security system to cart away valuables in the schools.

    Some head teachers had raised the alarm in a report, calling the attention of the government to the grave danger faced by the schools, especially when most of the schools could no longer afford to hire security guards because of the ban fees and levies.

    Read Also: Shell loses N202 million daily to vandals, oil thieves

    The state governor Seyi Makinde promised grants to public schools, but the government is yet to make the grants available.

    A statement issued by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatunbosun yesterday warned that anyone caught in the act would be dealt with according to the law.

    Quoting the chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Nureni Aderemi Adeniran, the statement said those behind the vandalism shall be treated as saboteurs and enemies of the state.

    Speaking on the destruction of properties at a new model school completed by the state government in Ibadan, Adeniran said that perpetrators of such acts would be punished with extreme severity.

    Adeniran said, “It is unfortunate that these deliberate destructive acts on one of our model schools reportedly were aided by some teachers and staff members of the school, but let me assure you that this administration would tackle the menace of thugs among our teachers in the interest of our children.

    “This government frowns at such shameful acts and we promise to fish out those who masterminded this. As a government, we will not allow anybody mortgage the future of our children, for their selfish interests,” he added.

  • Doctor re-arraigned for cutting off patient’s kidneys

    A medical doctor in Adamawa State Yakubu Hassan Koji who cut off a patient’s kidneys during a surgery was on Tuesday re-arraigned before a tribunal on a 12-count charge.

    The tribunal is sitting at the instance of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).

    Dr Koji was questioned on issues bordering on negligence in the handling of a patient Mr. Isa Hamma, now deceased.

    The accused doctor performed an operation on the patient without informing him of the risks involved. In the process he ‘mistakenly’ cut off the patient’s kidneys.

    One of the 12 charges reads: “That you, Dr. Yakubu Hassan Koji, registered medical practitioner and practicing as such, between 25th June and 7th July, 2016 or thereabouts at Jimeta Clinic and Maternity, Jimeta, Adamawa State, were negligent when you undertook a surgical operation on one Isa Hamma and removed an organ you could not identify and by the said fact, conducted yourself infamously in a professional respect contrary to Rules 29.4f of the Code of Medical Ethics in Nigeria, 2008 Edition, and punishable under section 16 (1) (a) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Act CAP M8 LFN 2004 (as amended).”

    Read Also: Doctor performs abortion on the wrong woman

    Although in earlier arraignment, Koji pleaded not guilty to one or two of the charges, in a new twist, the respondent pleaded not guilty to all 12 charges.

    The Defense Counsel, B. E Olowonubi pleaded with the members of the tribunal for a little time to opt for plea bargain for his client. However, the prosecution counsel vehemently opposed the position, saying a plea bargain can only be reached if the respondent accepts that he is guilty of the charges.

    According to the Prosecution Counsel, Dr. Musa A. Aliyu, “We remember that this respondent had earlier pleaded guilty to a count or two; that would have been the proper pedestal to build a leniency of any punishment that can be meted to him.

    “But he, after he has taken his plea, has taken a step to say ‘I am not guilty’, what are you bargaining again? Plea bargain will only result in, I am guilty.

    “This is a tribunal established by law, and the proceedings are guided by law. In criminal crime, in the new development there are issues of plea bargain which the administration of criminal justice have introduced into our criminal justice system, which is accepted in the court.

    “But to the best of our knowledge Mr. Chairman, there is no provision either in the medical ethics of Nigeria or in the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Act, which empowers the prosecution or the Medical and Dental investigation panel to enter into any bargain with somebody it has investigated and found that he has a case to answer, as a result of which a charge is proffered against him.”

    He went further to say that if the respondent admits to the charges and pleads guilty then the issue of plea bargain will suffice, if not he  (prosecution counsel) and his team are ready to proceed with the prosecution and call their witness and tender all the evidences they feel that are enough to have the respondent convicted of professional misconducts on all the charges proffered against him.

    Chairman of the tribunal, Prof. Abba Hassan, reminded everyone that the respondent initially when he was arraigned pleaded guilty on one or two of the charges. But because he didn’t have a counsel then, the tribunal granted him some time to prepare with one. Now he has changed his plea to all of them that he is not guilty.

    “The issue is the removal of functional kidneys in an individual, which has led to the death of the patient. Even if you are going to do a plea bargain, the important thing which you raise is not our law now.

    “In the review of the Act, if this comes in, but as far as I am concerned, the members of the tribunal have no option than to go ahead with the prosecution because the case is an issue of somebody who lost both of the organs and the patient is dead. It is only fair to the complainants that we conclude this case to a surgical conclusion,” he said.

    The case continues.

  • ‘I quit U.S Navy to serve my people’

    A Member of the House of Representatives Ibadan Southeast/Northeast Constituency Abass Adigun has said the urge to serve the people propelled  him to quit the United States Navy.

    Adigun told reporters in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, that service to the fatherland was much rewarding.

    The lawmaker explained that serving in Asia, Europe and other parts of the world exposed him to great feats that abound in self-development efforts.

    He said many people and companies from Western nations have been moving to third world countries to  improve standard of living of their citizens and strengthen democracy.

    Adigun said the experience made him to come back home and contribute meaningfully to democracy, adding that he has the energy to serve the country.

    The lawmaker added that, within a short period in the House, he has moved a motion to improve the welfare of the officers in the military and paramilitary agencies.

    He said the security personnels needed better welfare to boost their morale and patriotism. He added this would enable them confront insurgents and other criminals in the society.

    Adigun said the security personnel, who have laid their lives for the peace and security of the nation, deserved better welfare to motivate them.

    He said their welfare would be given adequate attention in preparing the 2020 budget.

    Adigun commended Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila for his leadership role, noting his listening ears and attention had galvanised the House .

    The House under his leadership has ventilate robust discussions at plenaries. This has resulted in sound laws that will support the development efforts of the Federal Government.”