The Nation Newspaper

Tag: paralyses

  • Gridlock paralyses Lagos as fares increase

    Commercial activities were paralysed yesterday at Iganmu, Costain Roundabout, Ijora, Funsho Williams Avenue and other areas in Lagos Mainland, as trucks blocked highways, forcing commercial drivers to increase fares by 100 per cent.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that it was bedlam, especially at Iganmu, as articulated vehicle operators and other motorists drove against traffic, causing logjam.

    Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, has experienced traffic chaos in recent years, caused by lawlessness on highways and an apparent inability of traffic managers to enforce rules to check lawlessness.

    Analysts have blamed the situation on what they describe as poor governance in a mega city dotted by poor roads and bubbling with human activities.

    Speaking to NAN on the gridlock, some commuters lamented the inability of the Lagos State Government to find a solution to the problem.

    A commercial motorist, Olakunle Ajayi, described driving from Costain to Orile as a nightmare because of motorists driving against traffic.

    “I’m sick and tired of Lagos. Do we still have a government in this state?’’, he asked as hoodlums, popularly called area boys, extorted money from him to allow him passage.

    “I don’t like driving against traffic because sometimes it can be fatal, but with no other road to my destination, I’m forced to do so,” Ajayi said.

    Another motorist, lsmaila Ahmadu, who plies the Ojuelegba to ljora highway route, said the gridlock had ruined the business of many commercial motorists because their daily trips had been reduced.

    “My tricycle is on hire purchase. I have to pay to own it, but with this gridlock, I don’t know what to do.

    “I am tired of this hardship.”

    A trader, Mrs. Angela Abumeri, said she endured a long wait at Fadeyi bus stop in her bid to get a bus going to Orile.

    “I woke up around 4am to buy fruits from Ketu. Going home is now difficult because transporters are breaking the journey to collect double fare,’’ she said.

    A truck driver, who simply gave his name as Danjuma, told NAN that truck drivers resorted to blocking the roads because traffic managers were forcing them out of Lagos bridges.

    “Traffic managers have gone tough on us. They chased us from parking on the bridges and since we have no alternative, we have to park in the middle of the road.”

    Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) Chief Executive Officer Mr. Chris Olakpe said the agency was on top of the situation.

    He said it had been working hard to tackle the gridlock.

  • Strange disease paralyses 6 siblings

    SIX members of a family in Gitata, Nasarawa State have been left paralysed by a strange disease, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported yesterday.

    Each of the six siblings got paralysed after turning 18 years, the eldest male in the family, Danlami Danladi, said.

    Their father, Danladi Bawa died in 1990 and their mother in 2017 and both were said not to have died of the decease.

    Danlami, 38 years old, said: “Our parents did not die of this disease. They gave birth to eight of us and six of us have been paralysed by a mysterious ailment.

    “When we grew up and reached the age of 18, we found ourselves paralysed. We don’t know what happens and this kind of disease.

    “When my father died in 1990, it was our mother that usually provided us with our needs. Her death affected us more as we found it difficult to eat and take care of our medical treatment.

    “I am the second born of our parents and I was paralysed in 2006. And let me tell you what disturbs us is that, six of us were paralysed when we were above the age of 18.

    “It was after we grew up and we don’t know what is happening to our family.

    “All of us went to the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi and Godiya Clinic, Jabba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, after various tests, they told us that nothing was discovered.

    “We pray that we will be healed of this mysterious disease one day,” he said.

    Danladi appealed to the federal and state governments as well as well-meaning Nigerians to come to their assistance through the provision of foodstuffs as well as medical needs.

    He said that because of their conditions they could not fend for themselves.

    “I was repairing handsets before but now I cannot do the job because I have been paralysed and I pray that God will heal me and my brothers and sisters from this kind of mysterious disease,” he added.

    Other members of the family are Asabe, married and has five children, Pius, Maikasuwa, Danjuma and Cecelia, all paralysed.

    Their siblings, Hanatu and Joshua are the ones free of the disease, being the youngest members of the family.

    Shuaibu Ahmadu, a resident and hunter in the area, said the people were shocked by the affliction and prayed God to heal them.

    “This disease will only paralyse them when they grow up, we wonder why.

    “We pray God to heal them and protect the remaining two children of the family from the disease,” Ahmadu said.

  • Power outage paralyses activities in FESTAC Town

    Power outage paralyses activities in FESTAC Town

    Residents and business operators in FESTAC Town in Lagos yesterday lamented the epileptic power supply to the area by Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDP).

    They alleged that the poor supply had paralysed their domestic and commercial activities, adding that the situation had brought untold hardship to the community.

    A resident, Mrs Josephine Okoro, who manages a business centre, said the power outage coupled with scarcity of fuel had thrown her out of business.

    “We have been experiencing power outage in FESTAC town for more than two months. The most unfortunate thing is that EKEDP used to restore electricity supply in the middle of the night when it is of no use to my business. The scarcity of petrol has compounded the situation. I am always idle because I don’t have electricity to operate. Currently, I cannot afford two meals a day because EKEDP has rendered me jobless,” she said.

    Mr Jide Johnson, a resident of 23 Road, accused the power company of being insensitive to consumers’ complaints.

    Johnson said the bills the community receives every month are outrageous in spite of the outage.

    According to him, the poor supply had crippled their businesses, making artisans in the community to take to commercial motorcycling.

    EKEDP spokesman, Godwin Idemudia, said the company was doing everything possible to improve power supply in the town.

    Idemudia said the drop in the supply to some of the areas was as a result of the drop in the supply from the national grid and subsequent bulk energy load to the company, adding that the situation was beyond the company.

     

  • Strike paralyses LUTH

    Strike paralyses LUTH

    For two weeks, patients have not been able to access treatment at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) because of the ongoing workers strike. The workers are agitating for promotion and improved welfare. WALE ADEPOJU reports.

    When will succour come for patients receiving treatment at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH)?

    For about 14 days, the workers under the aegis of Joint House Unions and Association (JHUA) have been on strike.

    They are complaining about lack of promotion and poor welfare, among others.

    Many patients have left the hospital to seek care elsewhere. Those who could not afford to move their ailing loved ones to other hospitals took them home.

    The ever-busy hospital is now deserted as patients are gently turned back.

    The Accident and Emergency (A and E) Ward, paediatric unit and eye centre, among others, are opened but treatment could not go on because doctors were the only ones available to attend to patients.

    The doctors, however, can not do much; they needed the nurses to attend to the patients and those in health record to make available patients’ information.

    JHUA, comprises Medical and Health Workers Union (MWHUN), Senior Staff Association of Universities Teaching Hospital Research and Allied Institute (SSAUTHRAI), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM). It has said the strike will go on until its demands are met.

    But, LUTH Chief Medical Director (CMD) Prof Akin Osibogun said the hospital had met almost all the demands of the striking workers.

    He said the aggrieved workers wanted mass promotion, which is impossible because staff are promoted on merit and not out of sympathy.

    According to him, the hospital will not promote every worker because there is a structure for doing that.

    He said: “If every soldier is made a general, who will be the foot soldier?”

    Osibogun said promotion must be deserved .

    JHUA said its members were delibrately denied promotion to stagnate them.

    It said many members of the staff had been on a level for over seven years, adding that the hospital only promoted a handful this year.

    JHUA said the strike would continue, until the hospital reviews this year’s promotion with a supplementary list to accommodate more staff.

    Besides, it said the hospital should provide consumables and materials for workers, adding that it has not been doing that adequately.

    Spokesman for the aggrieved workers, Mr Kehinde Adegoke said many issues, such as payment of salary increment and re-designation of officers on Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) 13, were yet to be addressed.

    He said the hospital still owed workers backlog of overtime arrears, adding that some staff were left on CONHESS 12 despite been promoted.

    “We are calling on the hospital management to promote them to CONHESS 13, which is their deserved level. We also want the hospital to release the promotion result of officers on CONHESS 12 in 2012. All staff due for promotion interview should be invited,” Adegoke said.

    He said the hospital management should move those promoted to their grade level, not ‘12 to 12 as we have now’.