Tag: SOS

SIR: In September, promotion examinations were conducted for Primary school teachers across board and throughout the length and breadth of Ogun State. Interviews followed subsequently. Promptly, results of the promotion exercise came out last month. And to the amazement of some of us, our results were not released. We thought it was an oversight.

Later, what came to light was that the mass of the non promoted teachers were those of us who are non-indigenes with majority from the contiguous states of Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo. This has never happened before now and it is our belief and hope that it would not happen during this present dispensation whose creed has been JUSTICE to all without discrimination.

We hear from the grapevine that the governor was unhappy with the development and has ordered the rectification of this anomaly. What baffles us is that some officials whose duty it is to carry out this simple task seem to be dragging their feet. We feel very concerned because some of us are married to Ogun indigenes and besides, we are people of the same race who have been contributing to the sociological growth of Ogun State.

That’s why we are pleading once again with our father, the governor of Ogun State to see through his directive for the release of our promotion. May God continue to bless the governor in particular and Ogun State in general.

• Aderibigbe Adedoyin

Abeokuta

SIR: I am at a loss on who to address this article to on the appalling state of Ejigbo roads. I don’t know if I should call the attention of the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola or the Ejigbo LCDA chairman, Kehinde Bamigbetan. The condition of Ejigbo roads is simply nightmarish.

The sorry states of all but three roads present the LCDA dispensation in a poor light. Aside the NNPC/Coker road, Orisunbare road, and recently re-instated Powerline road, all other roads (major and minor) are in complete disrepair. The only two roads -Iyana-Ejigbo and Idimu -that seem to be under-going refurbishment have taken several months without meaningful progress; only fate can tell of their successful completion dates.

To mention just a few: Iyana Ejigbo, Egbe, Ifoshi, Idimu, Ailegun, and Killa roads – these are major roads linking Ejigbo, yet they all are very sorry sights. Countless number of vehicles have broken down and damaged on different occasions in the bid to navigate these roads. Several unrecorded casualties, some gruesome in nature, some falling into deep gutters when it rains due to poor drainage , some sustaining injuries costing fortunes to treat, some suffering accidents resulting to permanent disabilities, and other related cases. The minor roads on streets, avenues, closes, etc, are worse-of. One sometimes spends close to three hours moving within Ejigbo. How sad!

Roads leading to the only public primary and secondary schools complex within Ejigbo are almost completely written-off, especially when it rains; part of the surroundings automatically, become dumping sites, yet students tread these crooked and dangerous paths to school daily, learning under highly unhygienic and hazardous conditions.

Space cannot afford me to latitude to portray several other sorry conditions of life within Ejigbo LCDA. In some ways, residents of Ejigbo are being short-changed on dividends of democracy. It’s a hard cry plying the roads daily. Families also dread going to their respective churches on Sundays. Many of them end up having their fellowship hours used up in the traffic that would hold them glued to the roads rather then get to their church halls. Getting worship centres is becoming a nightmare as a result of the present situation. The situation further worsens the crippling economic, social, and religious activities in the area. This is a cry out to the Ejigbo LCDA chairman, and the proactive government of Lagos State to urgently investigate and attend to these concerns as residents and road users in this area suffer daily in severe and acute hardship.

• David Nkenchor

Ejigbo, Lagos,

SIR: I wish to appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan, and the governors of the 36 states. Your Excellencies, in the first place, I wish to commend the effort of governors like Peter Obi of Anambra State who pay monthly pensions regularly since assumption of office.

This appeal is for Your Excellencies to administer the old pension in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution rather than abandon the civilian pensioners in the lurch through failure to adjust the old pension.

Military pensioners suffered the same fate until Brig-Gen. Bitrus Kwaji was appointed chairman of Military Pension Board. General Kwaji relied on section 173 of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999 to recognize that the 12.5 percent and 15 percent salary increase granted to workers in 2003 and 2007 respectively and the 23 percent increase granted to the military in 2008 should be applied pari passu with pension. The total percentage increase which was 50.5 percent was accordingly added to military pension in 2010 with the payment of the resultant arrears. The “idle” civilian pensioners now got better understanding of the message of George Orwell’s Animal Farm as their pensions remain unadjusted even after the hullabaloo and riot over the controversial petroleum products price increase in January 2012 and the enactment of a new minimum wage by the National Assembly thereafter.

Your Excellencies, at the peak of the Roman empire, fervent admirers of Rome volunteered to sacrifice their lives at the Roman forum (market place) to save Rome in accordance with injunctions of the oracle. In exhibition of patriotism and love for their country, they proudly exchanged cheers with the by-standers at the scene of the supreme sacrifice.

As Nigerians look forward to the centenary of nationhood, what will be the basis for the pensioners and their relations with growing feeling of disenchantment go out there at the Eagle Square and stadia across the nation to cheer? What is the encouragement to the pensioners and their children to rise and obey the call by Nigeria?

A nation that cannot fulfill mutual agreements with its citizens and where 20 percent of our common resources is spent annually by the leadership to combat crimes and lawlessness but would resort to selective application of the provision of the supreme law of the nation which they swore to uphold.

Your Excellencies, the prevalence of inertia in the conduct of human affairs with timescale does not augur well for the future of society. Please help to build a nation where no man is oppressed.

• Chukwuma Nwene

Obunagu Village, Ndikelionwu,

Anambra State.

SIR: I wish to call on Kogi State government to rehabilitate the abandoned Akpanya district roads in Igalamela/Odolu local government area of Kogi State.

The deplorable state of these important roads linking all Akpanya villages with other parts of Nigeria not only exposes motorists to great risks of accidents, but has, by extension, led to the closure of the only existing commercial bank in the district thereby creating more hardship for the entire communities in the areas who patronize the bank.

Akpanya District is a border area with four main access roads to other parts of Nigeria. Regrettably, all the under-mentioned linking roads are extremely bad.

The Odolu/Akpanya road with a narrow rickety wooden bridge constructed at Alakwa over Oweh River many decades ago by our colonial masters is now a death trap to both motorists and motorcyclist who ply the road.

The Akpanya-Alloma road was last rehabilitated in the early seventies by the Ayangba Agricultural Development Project and has not been touched again since then.

The two access roads linking Agbedo-Akpanya with our neighbouring Enugu state at UNADU and ITCHI respectively are always un-motorable during rainy seasons to the extent that the entire district becomes landlocked throughout the period.

I, therefore, request Governor of Kogi State Alhaji Idris Wada to come to the rescue of these communities by rehabilitating Odolu/Akpanya and Alloma-Akpanya roads respectively to enable the communities enjoy the benefits of rural banking scheme for enhanced socio-economic development of the area.

• Jacob Osayi,

Maitana, Abuja