The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ogun state

  • Ogun sets up committee on health

    Ogun sets up committee on health

    The Ogun State government, in conjunction with Pathfinder International, has inaugurated a 38-man committee on State Strategic Health Development Plan (SSHDP). The move was aimed at reducing maternal, child mortality rate.

    While inaugurating the committee at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, the state capital, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye urged members of the committee to be committed in the discharge of their responsibilities.

    He added that the committee has five years to finish the task before them, even as he enjoined them to make the state proud in terms of health care delivery as it was the second cardinal programme of Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration.

    Ipaye said the committee would work assiduously in the next five years in order to fulfill the expectation of the Federal Ministry of Health to have the bottom-top approach to the National Strategic Plan on Health, adding that whatever development adopted in the state would be sent to the Federal Government as part of national health plans.

    “We are modifying the expectation of Federal Government plan in such a way that will have positive impact on our people, not only to fulfil the Federal Government’s template but to also build around our three-tier programmes of primary, secondary and tertiary health services,” Ipaye said.

    He said it was imperative to manage the health care of the people, especially those in the rural communities and to reflect the approach of financing the Community-based Health Insurance Scheme (CBHIS), Araya that permits indigent people to key into the five-year programme.

    The commissioner further said the programme would focus on health care of the people with malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, maternal care, immunisation and others.

    He added that the committee would also provide a template for the state to fortify the over 477 primary health care centres across the state with necessary equipment, manpower and resources to deliver the programme in the various communities. He noted that every federal constituencies of the state would have effective service care centres in order to provide comprehensive service to the people.

    The Country Representative of Pathfinder International, Dr. Farouk Jega advised members of  the committee to deliver their services as and when due and with utmost diligence, dedication and commitment, noting that their outcome would be a template for the Federal Government in planning and designing health care services for the people.

    He said with the vision, mission and preparation of the committee in handling the state’s strategic health development plan, it was believed that they would deliver and make the state proud.

    In his goodwill messages, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Dr. Nofiu Aigoro urged members of the committee to fast-track the implementation of health care services delivery that would be of benefit to the masses. He stated that he has confidence in the committee, even as he promised not to jeopardise the confidence reposed in them.

  • Bankole-for-Governor campaign buses emerge in Ogun

    AS the race to succeed Senator Ibikunle Amosun as the Ogun State governor heats up, most of the aspirants are keeping their ambitions close to their chests, preferring to secretly canvass support and build their structures to coming out openly to declare their interests. However, if recent reports are anything to go by, one person who has decided to open up on the issue is former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole. Buses proclaiming ‘Dimeji for Governor’ have reportedly been cruising around Ogun communities in the past few days.

    In the governorship race of Ogun State, Dimeji appears to have chosen speed over subtlety. The appearance of his campaign buses is said to have given his ambition a big boost as other governorship aspirants in the state were said to have been blindsided by the move that has seemingly put them on the back foot.

    Dimeji Bankole had risen to fame as the youngest Nigerian to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Since then, he has remained a key player in the politics of his home state, although his detractors deride him as a politician without robust grassroots structure that can help him realise his ambition of becoming the next governor of Ogun State. At one point, it seemed his ambition would die before it had even begun to live following reports that his campaign offices had been deserted. However, the latest development would seem to have injected his campaign with fresh venom.

  • Ogun inaugurates committee on illegal drugs

    As part of its commitments to rid Ogun State of all forms of drug-related crimes, the government has warned that it will deal decisively with illegal drug dealers. In the circumstances, it has set up a committee to fish out illegal drug dealers and those patronising them.

    Addressing reporters in Abeaokuta, the state capital, the Director of Pharmaceutical Services in the Ministry of Health, Mr. Olufemi Fafiolu said the government took the action against the backdrop of increase in illegal drug dealers and outlets.

    Fafiolu said the committee would commence raiding and picketing of illegal and counterfeit drug businesses, and food outlets that produce unwholesome processed foods for residents’ consumption from this month.

    He advised those who deal on illegal drugs as well as those who patronise them to desist from the acts, noting that anyone caught in the act would be prosecuted.

    “The government is worried over the influx of illegal drug dealers from Lagos State. It will not fold its arms and allow any unscrupulous elements to perpetrate any illegal drug deals,” Mr Fafiolu said.

    He added that the activities of the illegal drug dealers were responsible for the rise in the consumption of hard and illicit drugs among school children, especially in the primary and secondary schools.

    Fafiolu said government, in its attempt to curb the menace of illicit drug-related crimes and abuse among the youth, had established drug-free clubs in 22 public secondary schools across the state.

    The committee set up by the state government are made up of officials of the state’s ministries of health and justice, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and the police.

  • Ogun urges participation in health care delivery

    The Ogun State government has urged members of various communities in the state to revive Ward Health Development Committees (WDCs) in their localities to improve primary health care service delivery.

    The Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Health, Dr. Nofiu Aigoro, made the call in Abeokuta, the state capital, at a Policy Dialogue Workshop organised by the State Primary Health Care Development Board in collaboration with KIT Royal Tropical Institute, Netherland.

    Dr. Aigoro said this has become necessary as a result of recently-conducted researches in Remo North East Local Council Development Area (LCDA) on the need to increase immunisation exercise in the area.

    He noted that based on the research findings, active participation of members of the community is needed to ensure optimal primary health care service delivery, adding that their participation would assist in the implementation of government policies and programmes in the health sector.

    “This research has shown us that with community participation, there is improvement in health care service delivery which also translated to general health awareness among members of the community,’’ he said.

    Earlier in his address, the Acting Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Elijah Ogunsola, said the research work was embarked upon to find out the reason for the high number of unimmunised children at the end of 2014 immunisation in the Ilara and Ipara wards of the Remo North East LCDA.

    He opined that findings from the research had shown that better result could be achieved when members of the community worked together with government agencies, even as he called on the people to support health officers posted to their domains.

    Presenting the research findings, the leading investigator, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, Dr. Ngozi Akwataghibe, said the research had shown the importance of involving members of the communities in the execution of government policies and programmes, noting that there was a drastic improvement in the level of people’s awareness of their health needs.

    In his remarks, the Chairman, Remo North LCDA, Mr Segun Idowu, pledged the council’s readiness to continue its support to the state government in its commitment to provide quality health services for the people.

  • Bells gets new Registrar, Dean

    A professor of Chemistry, Nkechi  Atasie, has been reappointed Dean of Post graduate School of The Bells University Ota, Ogun State for another tenure.

    Atasie, who was appointed to the same position for the 2016/2017 academic session, will wear the same title in the 2017/2018 academic session.

    Similarly, Mr Lamidi Sunmonu Tafa, a former deputy registrar/secretary of the Postgraduate School between 2017/2017, is the Registrar. Tafa’s tenure started on August 1, this year and will lapse in August 1, 2022.

    Atasie is a 1989 graduate of Chemistry from the University of Lagos  (UNILAG),  has Masters in Chemistry  in 1993 and her PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry from the same institution in 2002.

    She taught at the Federal University of Agriculture before joining Bells in 2006.

    Prior to her appointment, Atasie was Head of Department of Chemical Sciences, between 2009 and 2015.

    Tarfa received his first degree in French Education from University of Ibadan (UI) in 1990. He bagged his Masters in Public Administration from Lagos State University (LASU) in 1998.

    Before joing Bells in 2005, Tarfa was an employee of the Nigerian French Language Village, Badagry, Ajara.

    He has two professional certificates in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations, and Record Management from the Administrative Staff College of Nigerian (ASCON) .

    He is a member of the Nigeria Institute of Management as well as the Association of Nigerian University Professional Administrators (ANUPA).

  • ‘I solve maths to relax’

    Cowbellpedia contestant, Oluwanifise Onafowokan, is looking to repeat the feat achieved by her school, The Ambassador School, Ota, Ogun State, in last year’s edition of the competition.

    Her school won all six prizes in the junior and senior categories of the Cowbellpedia Secondary Schools Mathematics TV Quiz Show sponsored by Promasidor Nigeria Ltd, makers of Cowbell.

    She is confident she can succeed Ayooluwa Oguntade, who won the senior category of the competition last year.

    Onafowokan is well in the race to win the crown, having made it to the semi final of the competition.

    She said long hours of work and practice deepened her knowledge of Mathematics.

    She credits her parents for her love for the subject, and her school for developing her knowledge, adding that she solves mathematics to relax.

    “I love solving mathematical problems until I get tired.  It has become a part of me. It is fun taking my mathematics textbook and my workbook; it relieves my stress. I just love my Mathematics,” she stated.

    At the end of the preliminary round last weekend, Onafowokan and Plangdi Nepele of the Baptist High School, Naraguta, Plateau State, advanced to the semi-final stage.

    Onafowokan and Nepele contested the preliminary rounds with Faith Edokpa of Mount Carmel Secondary School, Ekpoma, Edo State; Gift Nwere of FISO, Owerri, Imo State; Aisha Abubakar of Iqra Science Academy, Jalingo, Taraba State and Musa Usman of Government Science Secondary School, Faskari, Kastina State.

    In the Junior Category, Oluwafemi Adeyanju of Jesuit Memorial College and Jesse Uche-Nwichi of Graceland International School, both in Port Harcourt, Rivers State qualified for the semi-finals.

    The first prize for each category is N1 million and an all-expense paid educational excursion outside the country, while the first and second runners-up will get N750,000 and N500,000.

    Teachers of the category champions will get N400,000, while those of the first and second runners-up will get N300,000 and N200,000. The winning schools will receive Mathematics textbooks, desktop computers and printers.

    The 2017 Cowbellpedia Secondary Schools Mathematics TV Quiz Show continues.

  • Man docked for allegedly beating another with plank

    Man docked for allegedly beating another with plank

    A 28-year-old man, Monday Michael, was on Monday charged before an Ota Magistrates Court in Ogun for alleged assault.
    Michael, who lives at No. 36, Fadipe Street, Iyana-Ilogbo, Ota, is facing a two-count charge of assault and conspiracy.
    The Prosecutor, Sgt. Chudu Gbesi, told the court that the accused and others still at large, committed the offences on July 25 at about 7.00 p. m. at Iyana-Iyesi, Ota.
    Gbesi said that the accused and his accomplices conspired to assault one Jelili Badru by using a plank wood to inflict injuries on his neck.
    He said that the offences contravened Sections 351 and 452 of the Criminal Code, Vol. 1, Laws of Ogun, 2006.
    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
    The Senior Magistrate, Mr S. O. Banwo, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N450,000 with two sureties in like sum.
    Banwo said that the sureties must reside within the court’s jurisdiction and swear to an affidavit of means.
    He also said that the sureties should submit four recent passport photographs to the court and show evidence of tax payment from the Ogun Government.
    The case was adjourned until Sept. 20, for hearing.

  • Lassa fever contacts increased to 106 in Ogun, says Ipaye

    Lassa fever contacts increased to 106 in Ogun, says Ipaye

    The Ogun State Government on Sunday said that the number of suspected contacts of the Lassa fever had risen to 106.

    The Commissioner for Health, Dr Babatunde Ipaye, who disclosed this in a telephone interview, however, allayed the fear of the public

    He said that the state government was putting in place necessary measures to contain the spread.

    Ipaye had on Friday disclosed that no fewer than 66 persons had had contact with the patient.

    NAN reports that a 22-year-old male patient (name withheld) had on Thursday been placed under medical observation at the State Hospital, Ijaiye, Abeokuta over Lassa fever infection.

    Ipaye said all the contacts had  been given thermometers to measure their temperature, with health and surveillance officers of the state government deployed to monitor them daily for 21 days.

    “You don’t take Lassa fever contacts to isolation centre; you only monitor their level of temperature. It is not like the Ebola disease where you take contacts to isolation centres.

    “Initially we had 66 contacts when I briefed you on Friday. Between then and now, we have additional 40 contacts. So, now, we are monitoring 106 contacts.

    The commissioner, however, noted that not all contacts that met the patient during his travel to the hospital had been established.

    “All the 66 were care-providers in all the hospitals that he had been treated. We also had to go to his house to decontaminate it. So, everybody that lives around there is a primary contact one way or the other; just to play safe.

    “We have to monitor their temperature for 21 days. That was what we did for over 1,800 people we followed the other time. We had to monitor their temperature minimum of twice daily – morning and evening.

    “And the contacts must come up to tell us the reading immediately. We have given all of them thermometers and we have taught them how to measure temperature.

    “So, when we call them they will tell us what the temperature is in the morning and in the evening and they will  do this for 21 days. If after 21 days there is no fever of any type, then that patient is discharged from our contacts.

    “But if there is fever, we will take him and put him in an isolated place and do the test quickly. So, if the test is negative we will discharge him. If the test is positive, then we start treating the person.

    “But we do not have any problem for now,” Ipaye said.

  • Blood, pandemonium as soldiers attack traders in Ogun

    Blood, pandemonium as soldiers attack traders in Ogun

    Panic and confusion enveloped Ijebu – Ode, Ogun State, on Friday evening two soldiers suspected to have come from Sappers Barrack, Ilese – Ijebu, attacked some traders at the Idobi market  over an  alleged ill treatment of their friend by a trader.

    The two soldiers were said to have beaten thoroughly, those they caught and gravely stabbed two persons in the process while others sustained injuries in an ensuing stampede and commotion.

    A witness told The Nation that the fight sent panic reactions in the market and other places like Folagbade road, Oba Adetona arch way which leads to the Idobi market as well as Oyingbo and Italapo areas as traders hurriedly closed their shops and fled.

    The Witness said further that a friend of the soldiers had an issue with electronics dealers in the market and when the matter could not be resolved amicably, he called his soldier – friends who stormed the market with arms and began to assault people.

    The Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun State, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed to The Nation that there was a “pandemonium in Ijebu – Ode” and that two persons were stabbed by soldiers during a fight.

    Abimbola added that injured persons have been taken to hospital for treatment while a man suspected to have called  the soldiers’ help has also been arrested.

    “There was pandemonium and the Police Area Commander and a Senior army officer have gone to scene to ascertain the true situation of things.

    “A man had gone to the market to buy a Plasma TV but on getting home, the TV did not work when he tested. He was said to have returned it to the seller but the man refused to accept it.

    “It was said that the man had to call his soldier – friends who came to scene and there was a fight. In the process, the soldiers stabbed two persons and that caused commotion in the place. The soldiers fled but the Police have arrested the man who invited the soldiers. Also calm has returned while the injured have been taken to the hospital,” Abimbola said.

     

  • Ogun govt hails NUT for high educational standards

    Ogun govt hails NUT for high educational standards

    Ogun State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Chief Jide Ojuko has commended the leadership of the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), for the sustenance of high educational standard in the state.

    Ojuko, who acknowledged that the union is putting more efforts in ensuring good records and performance in the sector, spoke while receiving the new executive of the union, led by its Chairman, Comrade Adebanjo Titilope, in his office in Abeokuta.

    The Commissioner said the Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration would not relent in ensuring prompt payment of teacher’s salaries and entitlements, noting that the role of teachers cannot be over-emphasised, as they are the key agents of change in raising future generations.

    “This administration in Ogun is responsible and would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that those in charge of raising the future generations of this state are adequately taken care of. Let me, on behalf of the state government, assure you, that local government autonomy, that you crave for, can only be a success, with adequate funding. The government has been augmenting  what comes from Abuja since I became commissioner in this dispensation, hence it must be commended,” Ojuko said.

    Titilope promised the support of the NUT to the government, saying that the union is pleased with the prompt payment of salaries and allowances of primary school teachers as well as arrears of the 2015 promotion.

    He added that the union appreciated the government for using the Paris Club funds to offset deduction arrears of workers.

    According to him, the Amosun administration has proven itself to be a government of all, by making the welfare of the workforce a priority.

    The state NUT boss said the union was aware of government’s intervention in the area of staff welfare, assuring that the NUT would continue to bridge the communication gap and erase all ill- feelings as well as ensure cordial relationship among it, the Ministry and the State at large.

    Chairman, Mokoloki Ofada LCDA, Hon. Kudirat Balogun, also appreciated the leadership of the NUT for retracing their steps and joining hands with the state government in its rebuilding mission.

    The government, she said, would create an enabling environment to foster harmonious relationship.