The Lagos State Police Command has warned owners of abandoned vehicles at Area ‘F’ Command, Ikeja, and Ijora Badiya Division to remove them within 14 days or forfeit their vehicles.
The vehicles at Area ‘F’ Command include, Kia Optima with registration number ET 140 LAD; Volkswagen Passat (DZ 482 FST) while abandoned vehicles at the Ijora Badiya Division are: Toyota Corolla(AM 429 BDG) and Volkswagen Passat (EKY 427 AG).
A swoop on the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) has begun in Lagos, investigations revealed at the weekend.
This has created another dimension to the battle over the PVC use for the elections slated for March 28 and April 11.
While the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) insists on its use, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is opposed to it.
This is in spite of the test run at the weekend, of the card reader that will enhance the PVC use.
A group of people usually dressed in police uniform or sometimes in vests with police inscription, have been found to be collecting PVCs from some people ostensibly with the intention to disenfranchise them.
The people mostly at the receiving end are commercial motorcyclists aka okada riders, mostly of northern extraction, in the commercial capital.
What these PVCs collectors do is to pose as policemen enforcing the ban on okada on some major streets. After collecting the motorcycle from the rider by force, they then ask him to bail himself by submitting his PVC, failing which his motorcycle, which is his means of livelihood, would not be released.
As soon as he releases his PVC, his motorcycle is released to him and his PVC taken away.
Yesterday, Mohammed Suleiman, one of the few victims who agreed to speak on record – Others are afraid to be quoted for fear of reprisal – said he was arrested at Aguda, Surulere.
According to him, the men posed as plain clothes policemen and that those arrested were mostly Hausa riders.
He said: “I’m a victim. I was arrested in Aguda area. They told me to bring my PVC before they would release my ‘machine’ to me. When I gave them my PVC, they collected it and refused to return it but they gave me back my motorcycle.
“They did not take me to the station but some of our people were taken to the station before the bikes were released to them on collection of their PVCs.” He however did not mention the police station.
He added: “I think they are aware that many of us carry our PVCs on us and where one cannot produce it on the spot, they ask the person to go and bring it to enable him get back his motorcycle. They arrest us for flimsy reasons – like over speeding or that we ply roads where motorcycles are not permitted.”
An Arewa youth leader in Lagos, Kabiru Ahmed,told our reporter on telephone last night: “We have received such complaints from some of our members and we are investigating. Anybody found culpable in this will not be spared. We will defend the Hausa community in Lagos. We will stand for our people. No policeman can intimidate us.
“Collection of PVCs to release okada is a violation of their fundamental human right. We will not allow our people to be intimidated. They will perform their civic responsibility.”
Lagos Police Spokesman Kenneth Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), denied the involvement of his men in the nefarious act.
“There is no iota of truth in such claim of our men’s involvement in that kind of act. What is our business with PVC? What will the police do with the PVC?” he queried.
Customer Passion Point Limited (CPPL) has concluded the January edition of its Monthly Training Programme for business owners to equip them with relevant skills and tools to thrive.
“We have begun to empower businesses afresh this 2015. The January edition was a huge success. More than ever before, Nigerian businesses need to be adequately equipped to survive these very tough times. When people know how to go about doing their jobs, they excel,” says Chief Executive Officer of CPPL, Mrs Chinwe Kalu.
Mrs Kalu noted that that although economic conditions in Nigeria may be discouraging, Customer Passion Point believes that with the right tools, businesses can still thrive. She explained that the monthly training was all about imparting business skills that would boost excellence and tenacity, adding that those business owners and their staff must approach the market with the confidence it requires to win.
Participants were happy with what they got. Mr. Chinedum Amachi, Head of Business Solutions at Customer Contact Solutions,who is responsible for Sales & Marketing, said: “Members of my team will benefit from my training and I also believe my learning will contribute more to the growth of my company. I believe I have become a better marketer fully activated for better success.”
Another participant, Abigail Moses Ikhiede, who heads Sales & Marketing at 3 Way Communications (3WC), added: “On the knowledge of the subject matter, I found the facilitators insightful, demonstrative and experienced. They are highly experienced professionals with deep and practical examples to buttress their points. I enjoyed the practical exercises too. Overall, my lasting impression is that the CPPL line of thought is extremely persuasive.”
Investors and business owners in Abia State have been assured of the state government’s commitment to promoting trade and investment in the state and Aba in particular.
Governor Theodore Orji who was a special guest of honour at the second edition of a business summit organised by a group of business professionals, Abia Think Tank Association (ATTA), said that as part of his administration’s efforts to ensure that business activities continue to thrive in the state and the once troubled commercial city, the state government invested heavily in security.
Orji, represented by the state Petroleum Commissioner, Honourable Don Ubani, underscoring the importance of Aba to the economy of the state, said that as part of his administration’s efforts to further promote trading activities, his government is also working hard to ensure that power generation and distribution in Aba are stable.
This, he said, will enable manufacturers to save cost of production and also maximize profit.
According to Ubani, “the state government is not relenting in making the state and Aba the envy of all”, and urged participants of the summit to queue into the developmental programmes of Governor T.A Orji’s led administration.
The Petroleum Commissioner used the opportunity to promise Aba residents that work would commence immediately on some of the roads that were already bad in the city as soon as the rainy season ends and dry season sets in.
He expressed hope that the business summit would provide the businessmen in Aba to rub minds together and proffer solutions on how to restore the “lost glory” of the business community.
President of ATTA, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, in a key note address captioned “A Fresh Wave of Thinking on Aba,” said that the passion for the summit was borne out of the association’s concern for a robust socio-economic and political development of the Abia State, Southeast and the entire nation.
Ohuabunwa disclosed that this year’s business summit was the second in the series of what has become an annual intellectual discussion programme by his group (ATTA) to appraise what he described as “critical challenges of development in Abia State with Aba being at the heart of it”, adding “based on distillation and articulation of intelligent ideas and solutions proffered by key speakers, resource persons and participants of this business summit, it has become a veritable platform for unlocking the hidden treasures to unleash creative energies for the sustainable socio-economic development of our people.”
ATTA President who is also President Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce said that the vision of the annual Aba Business Summit is to pursue sustainable people oriented programmes which would boost economy of the state and the country, create job opportunities for the teeming unemployed Abia and Nigerian youths, promote productivity and also exposing businessmen to international best practices of doing business.
Ohuabunwa while lauding the state government’s efforts in tackling developmental challenges in the state, said the T. A Orji administration has made tremendous efforts to leave behind concrete developmental structures through the governor’s legacy projects across the state and expressed hope that his successor in 2015 will ould continue on the same developmental pace.
He urged stakeholders and participants at the business summit to redouble their efforts and pull resources together “to create a new model city of Aba with world-class infrastructure to drive the economy of Abia, southeast and Nigeria forward.”
Some of the participants thanked the organisers of the summit for engaging their minds in a such manner.
They also requested that more groups be involved in order to ensure a wider participation and consensus.
Imagine a park filled with commuters on a rainy June evening, the torrents of rain pelting the waiting crowd, the icy winds making them shiver to the bone marrows in the approaching night while waiting for vehicles that never came.
Would this be the impending fate of thousands of workers and commuters in the coming days?
From this week what will be the lot of the masses in the Federal Capital Territory in terms of transportation? How much is going to be the amount to be spent by an average worker for daily transportation in Abuja in the coming days? How long would it take people to get to work in the mornings and home in the evenings?
Would people be able to afford taxis or have the energy to trek long distances everyday to and from their offices and various destinations?
These are the questions currently being asked by concerned citizens in the Federal Capital City of Abuja.
The FCT Administration decided that from that date mini-buses shall no longer operate within the main city. The administration has said that any mini- bus found in the city after that date would be impounded.
The determination of the FCT administration to enforce the policy has elicited concerns and criticisms from the populace about the fate of the thousands of workers that commute daily from the satellite towns of the FCT to the city centre on a daily basis.
There is also the fear that the stoppage could escalate the current unemployment situation and increase the crime rate in the capital city.
Scores of mini-bus owners and drivers last Tuesday staged a protest at the National Assembly over the imminent ban of the buses in the Federal Capital Territory metropolis.
An earlier test of the policy for a few days in February by the FCT Administration left thousands of commuters stranded across the city.
The Transport Secretariat of the FCT has expressed the intention to confine the operations of the mini-buses to the satellite towns in the FCT and stop them from coming into the city and to replace their services with long buses.
The new policy initially thought to have been postponed indefinitely is now the source of apprehension in the city as those who are not car owners believe that the policy would compound an already complex transportation situation.
There are also fears that the cost of transportation will skyrocket and commercial activities in the city would be affected.
The protesters at the National Assembly last Tuesday under the aegis of the Owners and Drivers of Mini-Buses Association in the FCT, described the new policy as “obnoxious policy on transport,” and that it is “not mass-friendly.”
“About 62,000 drivers and conductors will be denied of their daily bread as a result of this inhuman government arrangement,” the association said.
Members of the association carried various banners that had inscriptions like: “We are Nigerians, give us our right to work please,” “We are not in military regime, we are in democracy, hear our cry,” “We’re part of the organised labour, we are not touts, live and let live,” “SOS, SOS, save our jobs, don’t throw us into starvation and death. Save our jobs,” “NASS save our families.”
Other banners read: “We are legitimate drivers and conductors, NASS stop this impending slavery,” “Is government afraid of competition? Live and let live,” “Create jobs not joblessness.”
A member of the association, Prince Paul Omeire, stated that the objective of the protest was to get the National Assembly influence the FCT Transport Secretariat change the policy
“We are members of Owners and Drivers Association, and we operate the town service. We own the bus and drive it. Our problem is with the Transport Secretariat of the FCT.
“The new transport policy is that we should stop operation in the city on June 3 and this means that thousands of drivers and conductors with their families and other extension will suffer. We create jobs and we don’t know why they want to create joblessness,” he said.
On why they were at the National Assembly, he said “We are here to see our representatives at the National Assembly and see if we can get the FCT Transport Secretariat to change the policy.
“In many cities across the world, small, big buses as well as taxis operate without hindrance, why should it be different in Abuja, all we want is peaceful co-existence.
Omeire said that in the alternative, the FCT could build alternate motor parks and garages in the city where the mini-buses can utilise within the city, “so that the complaints of disturbance will stop.”
The association enjoined all FCT residents to “Lend your voice and save the situation,” adding that “we are persuaded that the timely disapproval and condemnation by the masses of the FCT of the Machiavellian policy can make the FCT policy makers think twice.”
Clement Acholonu, an FCT resident who stays in Maraba told The Nation that the problem stems from a disconnect of the policy makers from the problems of the people.
“These people do not understand. They have many cars. Do they stand in the sun like we do? Do they stand in the rain like we do? Do they feel our pains? Do they trek kilometres after a hard day’s job? Of course, the answer is no. Its not enough to sit in air-conditioned offices and craft policies that affect the people negatively. That is not governance,” he said.
Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert insists he has a good relationship with owner Randy Lerner, ahead of the American’s visit to the Midlands.
Lambert and Lerner are set to meet next month following the disappointing start that Villa have had to the season and the manager believes he has the full backing of his boss.
The club have made their worst start to a season in 43 years and have just the one victory in the first nine games this season and the last time the club started the season off this badly they were relegated to Division Three.
Lerner is set to visit the Midlands in a fortnight, but Lambert has revealed that he is in constant contact with the American who has been very supportive of the team so far.
“The chairman has got the club at heart. I have a good relationship with him, which is mutual, and he will come over in a couple of weeks’ time.
“At the end of the day, you just keep going. Has he been really supportive? Yes. Honestly. I have a good relationship with him.”
Lambert is adamant his side will not be relegated this season and has faith in his players.
“We will be fine, I always have belief in the team.”