The Nation Newspaper

Tag: sweep

  • Man to sweep court for stealing N15,000 make-up

    An Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos yesterday sentenced a make-up artist, Tunde Ebikeme, to community service for stealing beauty products valued at N15,000 from a supermarket.

    Magistrate M. O. Ope-Agbe convicted Ebikeme, 24, following his plea of guilty to a one-count charge of stealing.

    She ordered him to sweep the court’s premises from the fourth floor to the ground floor.

    The magistrate said the convict got only community service as punishment because he had a good skill which he needed to sharpen.

    Mrs Ope-Agbe warned Ebikeme against committing a crime because he could be sent to prison the next time.

    She said: “Prison will not be better for you. I want you to get better with your make-up job. But if you go back to crime, you will be sent to prison.”

    The magistrate delivered judgment after prosecuting Sergeant Cyriacus Osuji stated the facts of the matter.

    Osuji said Ebikeme committed the offence on June 26 at Prince Ebeano Supermarket, Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase I, Lagos.

    According to him, the convict entered the supermarket, bought and paid for some items, but concealed other items in his pockets and attempted to leave without paying.

     

  • Opposition’s broom has nowhere to sweep in Ebonyi, says Umahi

    Ebonyi State Governor David Nweze Umahi has said no opposition party can sweep victory in any part of the state.

    Umahi spoke when a delegation from Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo Federal Constituency as well as stakeholders from Onicha-East Constituency in Ohaozara Local Government Area visited him for the New Year homage.

    The governor said his efforts to transform the state had made it impossible for the broom to attract the residents.

    Umahi, who was apparently referring to the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose symbol is the broom, added jocularly: “Our people doing handiwork have refused to produce brooms again.”

    A statement at the weekend by his Chief Press Secretary, Emma Anya, quoted the governor as saying the only recognisable APC member in the state was President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Umahi, according the statement, said: “When you have a broom in Ebonyi State, where will you sweep? Is there any place to be swept? Is Ebonyi not clean? Is Ebonyi not neat?

    “There is nothing to sweep. They have to take it (broom) to places that are dirty and continue their sweeping. But in Ebonyi State and because of the kind of people in APC, our people doing handiwork have refused to produce brooms again. So, there are no brooms in Ebonyi State because we have made everywhere very clean.

    “When you’re walking on our roads, you will be seeing yourself because the light will be on. So, you will be seeing your shadow on the road. There is nothing to sweep.”

    The governor hailed President Buhari, saying he was the only recognisable APC member in the state.

    The President, the governor noted, held Ebonyi with deep affection, unlike other APC members from the state who he said did not care about the welfare of the people.

    Pledging the unflinching loyalty of the residents to the Buhari administration, Umahi said the only vote APC would get in the state would be for the President.

    He said: “I have always said that APC is one man, and that’s the President. The President is a man with good character. That’s why we are supporting him and he is supporting Ebonyi State. The state is very dear in the heart of the President, but not in the hearts of the masqueraders who have not given anybody a piece of chalk.

    “If APC will get a vote in Ebonyi State, it will get the vote for the President alone and nobody else.”

    Umahi said his purposeful leadership which, according to him, is anchored on God, had brought peace and made it impossible for other parties to exist in the state.

    The governor urged the people not to be deceived by those he said had the opportunity to help others but cared for themselves alone.

    Umahi said: “We have seen the need for unity in Ebonyi State. We’ve seen the need for equity and fair play in the land of Ebonyi. God is helping us so much in this direction. That’s why we have peace in Ebonyi State, and that’s why there is no other party.

    “Some politicians have been deceiving our people for years. Every time they deceived our people, they had the opportunity to buy houses in Abuja. Who have they sent to school? Who have they paid their school fees? The time of deceit is gone.”

  • Ritual Killings: Time to sweep out all hide-outs

    SIR: The persistence of cases of ritual murder, merchandising of human body parts increasing spate of armed burglary and robbery are troubling in a country with a still- functioning state apparatus. This situation is an affront to decent society and should be a cause for alarm for Nigerians and the federal government.

    The Nigeria Police, security and intelligence agencies, government’s town planning and development control departments, religious leaders, citizens, professionals involved in the building trade, other concerned Nigerians and  community leaders have their parts to play to bring these acts of savagery to an end in Nigeria without delay.

    With the ready accessibility of services such as Google Earth, every physical structure in Nigeria and anywhere in the world can be located, mapped and tracked. Drones are now quite cheap and can be mounted with security cameras for detailed scanning of difficult to reach places. A database of owners of all properties should be available to security agencies to aid crime-fighting and protection of citizens.  The Nigeria Police should find these tools handy in their effort to systematically sweep through every community in Nigeria for effective security surveillance and arrest of criminals who continue to give our country a bad image.

    President Buhari should as a matter of priority, give the marching order to the  Police and other agencies to jointly carry out exercises this year to rid Nigeria of this embarrassment and free citizens from fear as they pursue legitimate daily needs.  In addition, the long talked-about Community Policing Blueprint should be rolled out and implemented to fill the security gaps now evident in the country.

     

    • Oteniese Ozioga Amune (Oteniese), Igarra, Edo State.
  • Turkish Colleges sweep Mathematics, Science awards

    Turkish Colleges sweep Mathematics, Science awards

    Nigerian Turkish International Colleges (NTIC) were on Tuesday  honoured by the National Mathematical Centre (NMC) for winning no fewer than 12 awards in national and international Mathematics and Science Olympiads.

    The awards and other excellent performances churned out by students of the schools also prompted the NMC to declare the colleges as the best in Mathematics in Nigeria for 2014 as well as the best schools in Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Computer Science for 2013.

    Presenting the awards to the schools in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, described the performance of NTIC students as wonderful and commended the schools for its numerous achievements in Mathematics and Sciences.

    The minister, who was represented by the Director, Basic and Secondary Education in the ministry, Barrister  Chike Uwazuoke, said the emergence of these schools among the best in Nigeria in the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) in the 2013 and 2014 showed that the schools’ excellent performance in Olympiads is not a fluke.

    In his words: “These are schools  that have made so much mark in Mathematics and Sciences. I am the Chairman of the WAEC Board in Nigeria, last December at Minna. The usual practice whenever we have our annual meetings is to reward schools that did very well in School Certificate examinations, NTIC was among the best three schools in Nigeria for WAEC in 2013 or 2014.

    Earlier, the Director and Chief Executive Officer of NMC , Prof Adewale Solarin expressed satisfaction with the system put in place in all NTIC schools, which  has seen to Nigeria winning laurels in international  Olympiads.

    “I am very impressed with the kind of system NTIC have in place, so I am not surprised  that we have to celebrate their achievements,” the Director said.

    He commended the partnership between NMC and NTIC, saying that the symbiosis collaboration  has led to  enormous gains in stimulating students’ interest in Mathematics.

     

  • NFF to sweep away corrupt officers

    Acting president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mike Umeh has exclusively told supersport.com that he will lead the fight to rid Nigerian football of “all corrupt officers.”

    Erstwhile president of the NFF, Aminu Maigari was on Thursday impeached “on grounds of financial misappropriation, misapplication and maladministration.”

    Umeh, who took the reins following Maigari’s fall from grace says the move to rid the Glass House of “individuals of questionable character is ongoing as we look to repair the damage done to Nigerian football.”

    “We want to assure Nigerians that we will not relent in adopting due process in showing corrupt officers of the NFF the way out. I can state through this medium without fear or favour that the procedure of kicking out individuals of questionable character is ongoing as we look to repair the damage done to Nigerian football.

    “That is my immediate mandate. We are not small boys. We know what to do,” he told supersport.com on Thursday.

    Umeh will preside over the affairs of the NFF, pending the composition of the new NFF Executive Committee after the elections of Tuesday, 26th August, 2014.

  • APC ‘ll sweep poll in Southeast, says Okorocha

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has assured that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will sweep the poll in the Southeast in next year’s elections. He said Ndigbo see the party as a credible alternative to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Speaking at the weekend at a reception for the APC National Organising Secretary, Senator Osita Izunaso, at the Orlu Township Stadium, the governor urged those interested in the liberation and progress of the Igbo to support the APC and remove the PDP from power.

    He said PDP has no place for the Igbo and enjoined them to ignore the insinuation that APC is a Yoruba party. Okorocha added: “You should ask them how many Igbo occupy sensitive positions in the Federal Government. The only Igbo Service chief was removed. This shows PDP has no plan for Ndigbo”.

    According to him, APC is a party of true democrats committed to a change, adding that it would give all zones equal opportunity to realise their aspirations.

    He restated that he did not leave the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for personal aggrandisement, but because he realised that the party lacked spread and acceptability needed to achieve the Igbo agenda.

    The APC candidate in the last governorship poll in Anambra State, Senator Chris Ngige, said other Southeast states, still under PDP, were in bondage and needed to be rescued.

    He lamented that Imo, ruled by the APC, is better than Anambra in terms of infrastructural and human capital development.

    “You can see new cities emerging in the state, such as Orlu and Okigwe because of the ingenuity of Governor Okorocha. This is what APC will do in other states,” Ngige said.

  • ACN’ll sweep 2014, 2015 polls, says Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) will win all elective positions at the 2014 and 2015 polls.

    The governor, flanked by his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Akintunde Adegboye, who stood in for the Speaker, Hon. Najeem Salaam, spoke at the fourth edition of the Ogbeni Till Day Break, live programme aired on the television and radio from 8pm on Friday to 5am on Saturday.

    He said “whoever raises his head outside the ACN will be defeated”.

    The programme created an opportunity for people to interact with the governor and ask him questions.

    Aregbesola said his administration’s objective was to improve the standard of living through the implementation of people-oriented policies and programmes.

    Thanking the people for supporting his administration, he dispelled the rumour that the state’s debt profile had risen to N300 billion.

    Explaining that no state aiming to be successful can operate within the ambit of its resources, Aregbesola said any serious government should learn to invest in the people, who in turn would develop their environment.

    Criticising those peddling the rumour, he said: “I think what should be important to us is how the state’s resources are deployed.”

    The governor said the rumour was aimed at destabilising the state’s progress.

    He said the state’s monthly allocation from the Federation Account and its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) could not finance the development going on in the state, so his administration obtained some bonds from the capital market.

    Aregbesola said: “There is nowhere in the world where borrowing or taking a loan is a taboo. Advanced nations also borrow money to execute projects. Any government that wants to succeed may need to borrow money for the execution of projects.

    “The issue is not about debt, but what we are doing with the money. We queried the immediate-past administration because it sourced a short-term loan to finance long term projects which had no social benefit to the people. The effect of that loan was debilitating and suffocating.

    “Banks are well structured and it will be hard or almost impossible to manipulate the process and procedure of getting loans from their system. We should also know that no serious bank will give you a loan above 50 per cent of what you are worth.

    “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other monetary agencies are monitoring their operations and if Osun is in debt, it would be listed among states in debt. We are also paying workers’ salary without stress. We paid May salary even when the Federal Allocation for April had not been paid.

    “Those peddling the rumour are liars and enemies of the people and the state. Our debt profile is far below N30 billion.”

    Debunking the rumour that he once slapped his deputy, Aregbesola said: “I have never beaten anybody in my life. In fact, I do not beat my children, let alone beat any other person. More so, the deputy governor is older than I am, so how can I beat an elderly person.

    “I do not have any quarrel with my deputy and I cannot have any with her because I chose her; no one chose her for me. I chose her because I knew I could work with her. So, no differences exist between us.”

    Mrs. Laoye-Tomori also debunked the rumour, saying she has a cordial relationship with Aregbesola.

    On the crisis rocking the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Aregbesola said: “Let the NGF take care of itself. The forum is a voluntary one and it is not compulsory that every governor must be a member.”