The Nation Newspaper

Tag: protect

  • Oyo council chief to would-be voters: protect your cards

    •‘PDP, others jittery over APC’

    The Caretaker Chairman of Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State, Ope Salami, has urged the people to protect their voter’s cards.

    He was at the weekend  addressing All Progressives Congress (APC) members at Arulogun, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    Salami said:” We have received news that some opposition parties in this state have gone to bring money from Abuja to buy your voter’s card from you by pretending they want to give you loan. Please reject them and ensure that your exercise your right by voting.”

    Salami, who pledged the support of his local government for Ajimobi’s re-election, said: “Don’t sell your voter’s cards to anybody because the oppositions are very desperate to buy your voter’s cards to rig the election in 2015. Don’t use your voter’s cards to borrow money or take a loan from any politician. If you do, your are selling out your future to the termites that are bent on eating up the future of your children.

    “When INEC begins the voter’s registration soonest, please all of you must ensure that you register to exercise your franchise. The card must be kept safely until the day of the election.

    “The peace we are experiencing in this state during Senator Abiola Ajimobi’s regime is unique in the history of this state. Over the last three years in office, he has laid a solid foundation and for continuity purpose, we all need to support him to complete all this projects.”

    Also at the weekend, the Caretaker Chairman of Ibadan North East Local Government, Mr.Ladi Oluokun said the opposition parties in the Southwest have become jittery about the APC’s rising profile.

    Oluokun spoke with reporters in Ibadan shortly after a meeting with his party leaders in the local government.

    He attributed the defeat of Dr Kayode Fayemi in Ekiti State to militarization.

    Oluokun said Ajimobi’s achievements were enough to guarantee his re-election.

    The council chief said: “This man (Ajimobi), on assumption of office, put an end to brigandage and violence from members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) who held the state to ransom for years and massacred many innocent people. Residents can now sleep with their two eyes closed unlike the period when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government took sides with a faction of NURTW. May we not experience violence again in this state.”

  • Protect the rights of the deaf

    SIR: Nigeria ratified the United Nations convention and optional protocol signatures and ratifications of human rights for all on October 24, 2010. This was after the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and optional protocol were formally opened for signatures at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on March 30, 2007.

    The convention strengthened the linguistic and cultural viewpoints of deaf people all over the world. It recognised sign language and the linguistic human rights of deaf people. The convention specifically states that government are to recognise sign language as an official language in the constitution, ensure professional interpreter services and guarantee education to deaf people in their sign language, in addition to recognising and supporting their cultural and linguistic identity.

    The deaf in Nigeria have suffered untold rejection, relegation and abuses of various forms. Contrary to what obtains elsewhere in the world and the specifications of the Convention, the deaf have virtually been reduced to the status of second class citizens in this country. This should not be allowed to continue in view of the enormous advantages inherent in integrating people in this category into the society.

    The deaf are often jettisoned and neglected when it comes to provision of social welfare, education, employment opportunities and right to information. The present situation whereby the deaf are always grouped alongside people with structural disabilities should change. As a matter of fact, the deaf should also be integrated into the conventional public school system. Deaf education and sign language should be part of the national basic education system as this will allow every other normal child to learn sign language as this is the only way integration of the deaf can be enhanced. A deaf person should be able to communicate with people around him/her.

    As a matter of urgency, the National Assembly should carry the deaf along in its proceedings and plenary by employing a sign language professional who will interpret legislative proceedings and should always be captured by cameras of TV stations and channels. The deaf have the right to know what goes on at the Federal Executive Council, judicial proceedings etc. To this end, the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) should make dissemination of information to deaf Nigerians a priority. News and major television programmes like the presidential media chats, documentaries, personal interviews etc should always be interpreted in sign language.

    In terms of employment, a special quota should be set aside for the deaf so as to give this category of Nigerians a chance to contribute to the economic well-being of their fatherland. These healthy, agile and intelligent men and women should be given the opportunity to channel their productivity to nation-building.

     

    • Hussain Obaro,

    Ilorin, Kwara State

  • I joined PDP to protect my followers’ interest, says senator

    I joined PDP to protect my followers’ interest, says senator

    Senator Bode Ola has defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State.

    He said he joined the PDP to assist his supporters and move the state forward.

    When Ola was a member of the defunct Action Congress (AC), he lost the Ekiti Central Senatorial election in a controversial election to Senator Femi Kila of the PDP.

    Ola won a protracted court case and was in the Senate for almost two years.

    At an event held at Ward 6 in Okeyinmi, Ado-Ekiti, Ola said: “I brought AC, which later became Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), to Ekiti and nurtured same with my sweat. When other party members were discouraged, I encouraged them. All these I did with my money, but none of them appreciated me.”

    On assurances that his interests would be protected in the PDP, Ola said he believed the PDP knew he was not a joker and that his defection was to protect his people’s interests.

    He said: “The PDP is not a party of ingrates. They have accepted me. I am sure I am joining a party of realists, where I would be honoured according to my weight as a politician and my readiness to support the party to win the coming governorship election.

    “Politics is a game of interests and if the interests of my followers are not being considered in any arrangement, I would not be wrong to call it quits with such a party. I have done them (the APC) good and they have rewarded me with evil. The bible says ‘Do good to the wicked, he will not tread the path of righteousness’. But he who pays good with evil, evil will not depart from his house.’ I can only say congratulations to the PDP.”

    APC spokesman Mr. Segun Dipe said Ola’s defection “is predictably doomed”.

    He said: “He (Ola) actually deserves our pity than criticism, knowing what befell those who went before him, like Olubolade, Adeyeye, Arise, Alabi and Olowoporoku. We wish him luck in his misadventure and await his return from dreamland.”

  • NSE plans new rules to protect whistle blowers, investors

    NSE plans new rules to protect whistle blowers, investors

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has issued new draft rules and amendments to its rules and regulations to protect whistleblowers from unnecessary termination of employment and investors from erroneous trade reports and unsolicited cross deals.

    A copy of the new draft rules and amendments obtained by The Nation outlined that the new rules and amendments were aimed at enhancing the robustness and inclusiveness of the existing rules and regulations at the Exchange.

    The draft rules have been approved by the Exchange and were this week made available to stakeholders for review and comments.

    In the introductory comment on the new rules and amendments, NSE’s Head, Legal and Regulation Division,Tinuade Awe, indicated that the draft rules and amendments would undergo stakeholders’ review and comment up till April 2. The reviewed draft will, thereafter, be sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the apex capital market regulator, for its final review and approval. The NSE will begin implementation of the rules after SEC’s approval.

    One of the new rules titled “protection of whistleblowers” provides a whistleblower with a measure of security in the event that he is constrained to make disclosures of infractions by his employer.

    According to the rule, a whistleblower that is relieved of his employment for making disclosures will be entitled to the bigger compensation of either a lump sum that will be calculated as if he had attained the maximum age of retirement, in accordance with his conditions of service; or compensation amounting to his gross annual income for three years.

    “Any employee of a dealing member firm who is relieved of his employment without any just cause other than for reason of any disclosure made pursuant to the provision of any rules of the Exchange, the Commission or laws of Nigeria shall be entitled to the greater of the following: compensation which shall be calculated as if he had attained the maximum age of retirement or had served the maximum period of service, in accordance with his conditions of service; or compensation amounting to his gross annual income for three years,” the draft stated.

    Where the applicable compensation is not paid within seven days of the employee being relieved of his employment, the NSE will impose various penalties on the defaulting dealing member including suspension from all trading activities until the compensation is paid; a fine of N1 million to be paid to the Exchange prior to lifting of the suspension and public censure for the infraction committed.

    In another rule titled: Erroneous report, the NSE seeks to protect investors from antics of unscrupulous stockbrokers that could issue fundamentally wrong or misleading contract notes or trade reports to investors.

    According to the rule, a dealing member shall correctly report to its customers the disposition of all orders, including the identity of the security, the number of shares executed, the price at which such shares were executed and the side of the market on which such executions were effected.

    In the event that the dealing member issued erroneous reports regarding the disposition of a customer’s order, it shall be liable for a fine by the Exchange in an amount not less than N50, 000.

    The draft clarifies that an oral report by a dealing member to a customer regarding the disposition of an order shall not constitute an official report on the disposition of such trade, and customers should not rely on such oral reports as definitive evidence of disposition of any trade.

    Notwithstanding this provision, the Exchange shall still maintain the official record regarding the disposition of any trade.

  • Senate, NCC differ on need for law to protect telecoms infrastructure

    The Senate and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have diagreed over the necessity of a law to classify telecoms infrastructure as critical national infrastructure to insulate it from vandalism which the regulator said is part of the reason for poor service quality in the country.

    While the Upper House said there were laws to address vandalism, the regulator said it was fine-tuning a bill that seeks to classify telecoms infrastucture as critical national infrastructure so their vandalism will attract severe punishment equivalent to that of the infrastructure of the Power Holding Compnay of Nigeria (PHCN).

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Communications, Senator Gilber Nnaji, said there were laws that take care of vandalism, insisting that there is no need for another law to address the issue.

    “Already, there are laws taking care of vandalism in this country and we cannot continue making laws. The only thing now is that it is left to the security agents to be more proactive, more vigilant and watch the telecoms infrastructure. The National Assembly has been doing a lot. We have even hold security meetings with the National Security Adviser (NSA). I am a member of National Security and Intelligence (Committee) in the Senate. So we have held several meetings and we have the issue of telecoms infrastructure being vandalised,” the senator told The Nation on the sideline at a forum last week in Abuja.

    He said what was needed was the will by law enforcement agents to carry out the relevant laws by arresting and prosecuting those who breached the law.

    But the Execuive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah, disagreed. He said a bill to address the issue was at its final drafting stage and would soon be presented to the legislature.

    He said: “The NCC is preparing a bill to classify telecoms infrastructure as critical national infrastructure. The bill is in its final drafting stage. And I am sure that very soon, the bill will be presented to the National Assembly. A lot of work has been done on this in the Office of the NSA in conjunction with the Ministry of Communications Technology and the NCC and other important infrastructure that also important in Nigeria. It is not only the telecoms infrastructure. Others are military infrastructure, aviation infrastructure and others.”

    According to him, the passage into law of the bill halt vandalism of telecoms infrastructure be it metropolitan/rural optic fibre cables (OFC) or base transmission stations (BTS).

  • NAMA to protect low-flying planes in Niger Delta

    Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) plans to deploy automated data surveillance broadcast (ADSB), a state-of-the-art technology in airspace navigation, to boost safety of aircraft flying at lower altitude in the Niger Delta region.

    Its Managing Director Nnamdi Udoh said such a deployment became necessary because of the increase in the number of aircraft flying into and out of the Nigeria.

    The agency, according to the NAMA boss, “is striving to sustain an environment that promotes air safety, particularly in surveillance for pilots to fly with less communication – where pilots can fly more directly to their airports of destination. This, in the aviation parlance is called direct air navigation.”

    He said the agency was doing a lot in manpower development, because the “sophisticated equipment deployed by the agency would be manned by Nigerians.

    The NAMA boss said contrary to the notion that there is no surveillance in the Niger Delta, the agency’s radar captures flights in that region and would soon deploy (ADS-B) to capture low flying aircraft, such as helicopters to enhance safety and revenue.

    NAMA, he said, handles at least 500 aircraft and 300 helicopters that fly around the country’s airspace daily.

    The 500 aircraft, Udoh explained, is aside the numerous foreign aircraft that flies in the nation’s airspace en route other countries.

    He said the increasing number of aircraft that use the nation’s airspace will continue to challenge the infrastructure, including radio communication between the pilots and air traffic controllers.

    The NAMA boss explained that because of the increasing traffic in the airspace, the agency has taken steps to improve air navigation infrastructure and the total radio coverage of the country.

    He said the agency has been approached by many private airstrip and aerodrome operators to provide air traffic services, which is evidence of improved infrastructure and recurrent training of its personnel.

    This year alone, NAMA, he explained, has trained about 300 air traffic controllers both in United States, South Africa and Egypt in many areas of air traffic management.

    Udoh said the agency would continue to invest in the training of its personnel, which is key to ensuring that Nigeria meets the minimum acceptable standards in air traffic services.

    He explained that it is wrong for anybody to insinuate that the airspace is unsafe, stressing that it will be unprofessional for any air traffic controller to suggest so. He affirmed that no pilot will embark on any flight without receiving air traffic instructions from the control tower.

    He wondered why more foreign airlines will like to fly into the Nigerian airspace if it is not safe, explaining that without radio communication, which could have problems of congestion, pilots can still land their aircraft.

    NAMA is also planning to migrate from ground-based air navigation to satellite-based navigation among critical air safety personnel, investigations reveal.

    Migration to satellite based navigation, according to experts, is expected to reduce the work load of some air navigation personnel, including air traffic controllers. This is because an aircraft fit with the latest technology is supposed to fly without any guidance by air traffic controllers until it gets near the aerodrome of arrival.

    When the new air navigation system comes on stream, NAMA would require fewer air traffic controllers en route to carrying out advisory air traffic services to aircraft in flight.

  • ‘Protect customers’

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been advised to provide a comprehensive consumer protection mechanisms for the industry.

    A Finance/Management Consultant with Kenobolyen Nigeria Limited, Mr Kenneth Nwachinete, said this became imperative to prevent customers from being maltreated.

    Nwachinete said there is the need to establish a forum that would fight for the interest of the aggrieved customers. He said private organisations must rise to the challenges of fighting for the interests of customers that are unfairly treated by banks.

    He said: “Often times, errors do occur in the process of conducting transactions. Because many customers are technically deficient and lack knowledge of banking transactions, they were cheated by banks. The development culminated in the establishment of a finance management consultancy firm that would help the aggrieved customers in the industry.”

    He said banks’software is sometimes faulty, adding that the development would snowball into substantive calamities for the customers and the banks if the trend continues.

     

  • ‘1999 Constitution doesn’t protect women’s rights’

    ‘1999 Constitution doesn’t protect women’s rights’

    Gender Activist and United Nations Special Rapporteur Dr. Ngozi Ezeillo yesterday said the 1999 Constitution did not protect the right of women.

    Dr. Ezeillo spoke at the Second Ekiti Gender Summit in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, while delivering a lecture, entitled: “Human security and its implications for women”.

    The summit was jointly sponsored by the Ekiti Development Foundation (EDF) and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

    Dr. Ezeilo said: “Although Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution prohibits all forms of discrimination against women, Section 55 of the penal code permits wife chastisement, that is spousal beating, which is an instance of the institutionalisation of violence.

    “Section 26 fails to recognise the rights of Nigerian women to extend their citizenship to their foreign spouses.

    “It has been noted that poverty and violence are the most surreptitious violation of women’s rights. In Nigeria and elsewhere in the world, women have suffered tremendous and systemic discrimination, which has created inequalities in all spheres of life and encouraged a culture of violence against women.”

    Governor Kayode Fayemi said next year’s budget would enhance the opportunities of women in the state.

    Fayemi said Ekiti put the Gender-Based Violence Prohibition Law in place to protect women’s rights.

    He said the EDF was working towards domesticating the National Gender Policy, establishing a Multiple Birth Trust Fund and offering free vocational training for women.

    The event was attended by the wives of governors in the Southwest – Erelu Bisi Fayemi (host, Ekiti); Dame Abimbola Fashola (Lagos); Mrs. Foluso Amosun (Ogun); Mrs. Florence Ajimobi (Oyo); Alhaja Serifat Aregbesola (Osun) and Mrs. Omolewa Ahmed (Kwara).

     

  • Ekiti may enact law to protect public school buildings

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said the government is working on a bill to prevent the damage of buildings and property in public schools.

    He said the bill would soon be forwarded to the House of Assembly for passage into law.

    Fayemi spoke at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, during the maiden edition of a live interactive Radio and Television programme with primary school pupils, tagged: “Meet Your Governor”.

    He urged pupils to guard their schools’ property jealously to maintain a conducive learning and teaching environment.

    Fayemi said some of his achievements in his two years in office include the building of roads, water projects and the provision of solar-powered laptop computers for secondary school pupils.

    Answering questions on sports, the governor said his administration would continue to develop budding talents in sporting activities.

    He said the establishment of the proposed Sports Academy was in progress.

    Fayemi urged parents to ensure that their children enjoy the free, compulsory and qualitative education that is being provided by his administration.

    He noted the brilliant performances of the pupils during the programme and urged the organisers to make the programme a regular one.

    Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Prof. Modupe Adelabu said she was impressed with the performance of the pupils.

    She said public schools in the state have greatly improved and advised parents to enrol their children there.

    Also at the weekend, old students of Ola Oluwa Muslim Grammar School, Ado-Ekiti, hailed Fayemi for renovating 100 of the 180 public secondary schools in the state.

    Ola Oluwa Muslim Grammar School was one of the schools renovated in the first phase of the recently completed Operation Renovate All Schools in Ekiti (ORASE).

    In an appreciation letter to the governor, the old students thanked Fayemi for turning their alma mater into a “mini university campus”.

    The letter was jointly signed by the Ola-Oluwa Old Students Association President, Lt.-Col. Tajudeen Olabode; Secretary Mr. Fatai Adeyoju and the Public Relations Officer (P.R.O.), Mr. Popoola Ojo.

    The old students also hailed the governor for numerous projects being executed by his administration across the state.

    The letter reads: “We were short of words when we visited the school recently by the extent of the renovation work that has given the school a new look, such that it is now being referred to as a mini-university campus.

    “You did not only renovate blocks of classrooms, but virtually rebuilt a building that was about to be demolished, due to its decrepit state. We hardly recognised the building, if not that it still stands on the same location.

    “We are particularly grateful for the renovation of the Sheik Ibiyemi Multipurpose Hall, which you have virtually rebuilt and completed with PVC ceiling, window, roofed with red Aluminium long span and painted.

    “Your administration has taken a huge burden off our shoulders, as we have been contemplating how to put resources together to renovate dilapidated buildings in the school.

    “We assure you that we shall maintain the renovated buildings, so that they will never go bad again.

    “We also thank you for all the developmental projects your administration has embarked on in Ekiti State, which are too numerous to mention. We pledge our support for your administration in your bid to take Ekiti to greater heights.

    “We also seize this opportunity to congratulate you on your recent receipt of the Leadership Award as the ‘Governor of the Year’. We are convinced that you truly deserve the honour. May you continue to glow from glory to glory.”

  • Council boss to protect Corps members

    The chairman of Kuje Local Government Area of Abuja, Hon. Danladi Etsu Zhin, has promised to provide adequate security and welfare to Corps members posted to his council. The council boss made the commitment when the Federal Capital Territory coordinator of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr. Frank Ekpunobi and his entourage, paid courtesy visit to the council headquarters, in Kuje, Abuja.

    A guard of honour was mounted at the entrance gate of the local council by Corps members. After receiving a salute from the guard, Ekpunobi was received by Zhin, his deputy, Hon. Danladi Doggo and the head of Administration, Barr. Muhammed Dokko.

    Ekpunobi said his visit was to ensure that over 200 Corps members posted to the council were absorbed especially now that there is a new posting policy that restricted the serving youth four key sectors, which are agriculture, education, health and infrastructure. Mr. Epunobi praised the Zhin for the peace in the council area, urging the chairman to ensure security of the serving youth.

    In his response, Zhin said he was happy to receive NYSC entourage to the office. He re-emphasized the importance and continued relevance of the scheme. He noted that Corps members have contributed immensely to the development of the council, therefore assuring that it was his responsibility to provide welfare and security for them.

    There was a dance performance by the Corps members to entertain the NYSC officials. In the entourage of coordinator were Mrs. Eloeboh Amaka, Chief Public Relations, Chief Greg Anyia, Head of Deployment and Relocation, Mrs Mary Akuso, Head, Corps members Inspection, Mrs. Hadiza Jubril, Assistant Chief Inspector, Public Relations, and Mrs. I. Isu, Kuje Zonal Inspector.