The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Oyo State capital

  • Union canvasses more prayers for Nigeria

    Bothered about the poor state of affairs in the country, an international, inter-denominational and non-denominational faith-based Christian organisation, the Scripture Union Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to engage in  serious policy rejig and strategic implementation of programmes and value reorientation that will set the country on the path of glory and honour.

    It also identified injustice, inequality, nepotism, ethnicism, kidnapping, corruption, poor funding and misappropriation as major challenges facing the Nigerian state

    The union raised these concerns in a communiqué signed by the trio of Scripture Union Nigeria  National Chairman, Prof. Madu .O. Iwe, the General Director, Mr. Odelana and Phillips Adewale during its 104th residential National Council meeting  held  at the Training and Conference Centre (TCC) Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    The communiqué further stated that Nigerians should be reminded of the need to know that they have no other country but Nigeria, and should work towards her existence irrespective of religious, ethnic, linguistics and tribal differences.

    According to the statement, the unemployment rate among the youth is getting to an alarming rate; a situation it said has provided a platform for all kinds of crimes among our youths.

    The union, therefore, calls on the Federal Government to provide avenues through which our youths would be employed. Specifically, it advised that agro-based industries; small-scale and skill centres should be established in various communities.

    Also, the Union noted with dismay, skewed appointments in many sensitive positions in favour of some ethnic groups in Nigeria at the detriment of others. The situation, it said, creates bad blood among Nigerians and generates avoidable tension and crisis in the polity.

    “Despite appeals and agitations from the citizens, merciless killings of innocent Nigerians have continued unabated. The effect of this is sacking of agrarian communities which results in deepening hunger due to lack of engagements in farming by agrarian communities,” it said.

    The union urged the Federal Government to regard every citizen as a Nigerian who should be treated with justice, fairness and equity.

    On education, the union said there is much rot in the sector, with incidences of strike actions, poor education facilities and production of unskilled graduates in Nigeria, due to inadequate fund allocation to the sector.

    It maintained that education should be given its pride of place through provision of adequate funding and by ensuring right and quality teaching and learning facilities to enable educational institutions to produce graduates that could compete among their counterparts in developed countries. No country can rise above the quality of her education.

  • How reckless driver caused Ibadan tanker fire

    No fewer than three people were burnt and property worth millions of naira destroyed during the week in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, after a fuel-laden tanker fell and caught fire. The incident threw the ancient city into mourning and serious panic. YINKA ADENIRAN, writes.

    DETAILS emerged yesterday about how a reckless car driver triggered the fire incident that claimed the lives of three people, three cars and more than 10 motorcycles in Ibadan during the week.

    Also destroyed in the fire incident were kiosks belonging to a motorcycle seller and a lottery operator.  The havoc wreaked by the incident according to eyewitnesses would have been worse but for the quick removal of vehicles in a  nearby car wash. The operator was said to have quickly driven the vehicles to safety when the fuel started spilling from the tanker.

    The 33,000litres fuel-laden tanker going to  Ibadan from Lagos had while trying to avoid colluding with a taxi on the Sawmill Bridge along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, fell and spilled its content on the highway.

    The two sides of the Onipepeye Road to and from Agodi Gate had the residents raising the alarm and warning drivers not to try driving on the fuel-flooded road at the time.

    But a driver, refused to comply with the advice and hastily tried to speed past the scene when the exhaust of his car had a contact with a stone while trying to beat a pothole.

    The contact led to a spark which eventually started spreading from one part of the road to another.

    Eyewitnesses who spoke with The Nation faulted the defiant driver whose stubbornness led to the spark that triggered the fire. He was also one of the casualties of the incident.

    The owner of a lottery/game betting shop adjacent road, Kayode Rabiu,  said: “We just heard that a tanker had fallen on the bridge and by the time we looked through, we saw that fuel had been pouring down the bridge from a water channel. The fuel was everywhere on the road. Some car owners and drivers were alerted and before you know it, the road was deserted within a twinkle of an eye.

    “Unfortunately, some stubborn drivers failed to heed the warning to avoid the affected area. Some of them kept taking a terrible risk by speeding past the place. While we were trying to stop the drivers from passing through the place, one came from nowhere trying to speed past hastily. Unfortunately,  he couldn’t beat a pothole in front of him and that was how he hit a stone and immediately there was a spark that ignited the fire.

    “Some other cars who were also trying to beat it trying to access the bridge also fell victim. The car at the time was been occupied by a man, a woman and a child.

    Read also: 34 shops burnt as fire razes Iponri shopping centre

    “Immediately the fire started, the car occupants were confused. The driver in particular lost idea about where to maneuver the car to. The man hastily got down with fire on his body and took to his heels. By the time the woman came out of the car, maybe due to the fumes of the smoke that blindfolded her, she didn’t know the direction to run, but we just saw that she fell and that was where she was burnt beyond recognition. There was also another man from another car who came out of his car and while trying to escape was caught by the fire.

    “When I saw that the fuel was gushing out,  I immediately packed my machines and equipment and ran far away from the scene but the fire still spread to my kiosk burning it partly.  We were still nearly when we heard the explosion and everyone took to their heels and that was how we were spared.

    “For me, with less than N10,000 I will fix my shops and restore it, but other people lost everything in their shops, especially those by the car wash. Three motorcycles were burnt and three cars while two people died.”

    In his own account, Abiola Omowale, a mechanic whose workshop was also nearby the scene, said he suspected that the victims were new on the route and couldn’t have imagined what they saw.

    “When it happened, the fuel was gushing out from the hole which was channeled from the top of the bridge and it spread on the road. Many road users and business owners were already closing their shops and packing up but a driver who chose to be smart was the one that ignited the fire.

    “We suspected that the affected cars that got burnt were probably going to Lagos, a father, mother and a child were all affected. The man rushed back for the child and they were almost escaping but while the wife was trying the escape too, the fumes had choked her. Instead of running to safety, she ran into the fire.

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  • Varsity trains 100 youths in security technology, cosmetology, agricbusiness

    A total of 100 youths from Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, have emerged the first beneficiaries of the empowerment and contract recruitment programme of the Oyo State Government. The programme is being executed by the First Technical University (Tech U), Ibadan.

    Trained in security technology, fashion design, cosmetology, videography and agribusiness, the beneficiaries were drawn from Ona-Ara Local Government area of the state. Mostly Youths, they were at the university for two weeks participating in hands-on training in the vocational and business areas. The project was sponsored by the Commissioner for Finance and Budget, Mr Bimbo Adekanmbi.

    Addressing the beneficiaries during the certificate presentation ceremony at the institution, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ayobami Salami, described the scheme as the university’s way of providing sustainable alternatives to the crisis of unemployment in Nigeria.

    He said: “In many ways, the rising rate of unemployment in our country today, currently puts at 23.1 per cent, should task any genuinely concerned observer to get to work and think of innovative ways out of the very worrisome situation. Our university is adequately equipped to offer evidence-based solutions in this regard.

    “As Nigeria’s premier technical university, this programme, in addition to the unique and solid entrepreneurial and innovative education our regular students enjoy, is our corporate social responsibility. It is our own modest way of empowering our young people and getting them to work for development. The overarching aim of the programme is to promote innovative entrepreneurship by equipping beneficiaries with relevant, cutting-edge, creative and business skills required for impact and profitability.

    “This programme is our first in the series. In the coming days, we shall also undertake similar trainings for youths across other parts of the state and the country at large. We hold the conviction that by working assiduously to empower our young people, we would not only deal a huge blow on poverty and unemployment in the country, but also bridge the yawning skills gap that consistently makes it impossible for the nation to join the league of truly productive economies globally.”

    Salami expressed gratitude to Adekanmbi for partnering with the institution on the scheme.

    He described the partnership as “an invaluable partnership borne out of shared values for the sustainable empowerment of our people.”

    The Vice Chancellor assured the beneficiaries of a rewarding entrepreneurial journey having patiently endured the rigours of the programme.

    “You would realize that, deliberately, we have emphasized that in addition to the skills acquired, you also acquire the know-how required to conduct businesses successfully, deploying proven innovative principles.

    With this, we are assured that you would emerge as very prosperous entrepreneurs who solve problems, provide excellent services and create employment opportunities for others as proud alumnus of the Tech-U TVET Programme.” Salami said.

    Adekanmbi also congratulated the beneficiaries, stressing that carrying a certificate of Tech U will enhance the credibility of their knowledge and skills before clients and other participants in the business world. He urged them to make the best use of the knowledge and skills acquired.

    The commissioner also donated a sum of N500,000 to a fund that will be used as revolving loans for the beneficiaries.

  • Scores trapped, injured as another building collapses in Ibadan

    A building collapsed in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, yesterday leaving some people injured and some others trapped.

    The structure, which was a two-storey building under construction suddenly collapsed and threw residents of Shogoye Bus Stop area, Bode community, in the city into panic.

    The building was said to have collapsed around 5:54pm,  while bricklayers and other artisans on site were rounding off for the day’s work.

    Nobody was confirmed dead as at press time last night, but rescue efforts were ongoing.

    Four of those who were trapped in the rubble were already rescued by men of the state fire service and volunteer rescuers.

    The Nation learnt that some of trapped victims were making telephone distress calls from under the rubble. But when calls were made to one of the numbers a few minutes after, an eyewitness said there was no response.

    Read also: Building collapse: Lagos begins demolition of over 150 marked houses

    The incident led to traffic gridlock in the area as motorists from Idi Arere and Oja ‘ba and those from Molete end of the city could not move freely.

    As usual, crowd of sympathizers swarmed the scene, blocking the road.

    Among those rescued are 42-year-old Olalekan Dauda, Tunde, Toheeb Gbadamosi and Rilwan Oladepo. Dauda said he was working with other artisans on the second floor when the building collapsed. He said he just heard a sudden blast and later found that he and others in the building were trapped in the rubble.

    Gbadamosi, 19, said: “Today is my first time of working at this place. I just came around in order to raise some money for my upkeep because things were difficult. I thank God that I came out of the rubble alive”.