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  • Lagos rolls out impact campaign in community media

    Lagos rolls out impact campaign in community media

    …Partners 33 Grassroots Media Organisations

    In its determination to consolidate on the achievements of the first year of the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration, the State Government has concluded plans to roll out a massive, multi-channel impact campaign in the print, electronic and online media focusing on communities in the state this month.

    Special Adviser to the Governor on Communities and Communications, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan in a statement on Tuesday said the administration was partnering with over 33 grassroots media organisations including 21 print media, 10 electronic stations and two online media.

    “This novel campaign is a strategic communications initiative inspired by need to give vent to Governor Akinwumi Ambode’s ideology of inclusive governance. It is the result of scientific segmentation of the media that recognizes the niche that community media occupies and drives messages meant for the people at the grassroots through them.”

    Noting that the Ambode administration will revive the community media as part of the institutions that shaped the fate of Lagos since pre-independence days, Bamigbetan said history shows that there were more than 35 community newspapers active on the Lagos media as late as 1940’s.

    “As Lagos prepares to turn 50, it is only proper that she brings on board the current successors of the defunct Lagos Express, Lagos Echo, Lagos Weekly Record among others which provided the platforms for the nationalists to struggle for independence and enriched the electoral politics put in place by the Clifford Constitution of 1922,” he said.

    Bamigbetan noted that community media form a thriving business and social institution in all the megacities of the world today. London, United Kingdom has 2000 registered newspapers, New York, 23, Tokyo 34, Cairo, 34, Johannesburg 34.

    According to the Special Adviser: “As population increases, the pattern of settlement and nature of the residents become more complex. Disseminating information and receiving feedback on what the government is doing to address the concerns of each group requires more innovative communications strategy and tactics.”

    While the campaign involves a four-page pull-out on the achievement of the administration in energy, business environment, security and civic engagement in the print media, it will be in spotlights on electronic and broken down as tweets, clips and banner ads on the electronic platforms.

    Community newspapers involved include Oriwu Sun, Ikorodu News, Townwatch, The Impact, Ilupeju Today, Our Community, Ifako-Ijaiye Post, Echonews, Isolo Voice, The Harbinger, Pivot Extra, The Lagosian, Surulere Now, Surulere Watch, Lagos Panorama, Epe-Lekki Times, Badagry Prime, Grassroots, Kosofe Insideout, The Commoners and  Mushine.

    The electronic media include radio stations running community programming and reportage such as Wazobia FM, Eko FM,City FM, Inspiration FM, Radio Continental, Naija FM, Unilag FM, SMA FM and Radio Lagos. Insidemainlandonline, Lagos State Today and Agegetvonline form the online segment of the campaign’s outlets.

  •  Britain moves against Scottish independence

     Britain moves against Scottish independence

    David Mundell, British Minister for Scotland, said on Friday that Scotland should not hold a second referendum on independence after the United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union.

    He said in London that even though there could be another independence referendum, but the big issue is there should be no other independence referendum.

    Mundell said that he would continue to passionately make the case and also for the benefit Scotland gets from the United Kingdom.

    The United Kingdom voted 52-48 per cent to leave the EU, while Scotland voted 62-38 per cent to remain.

  • How we’ll grow Nigeria’s steel sector- Fayemi

    How we’ll grow Nigeria’s steel sector- Fayemi

    To fund the infrastructure needs of its growing economy over the next 30 years, Nigeria would spend about USD 3 trillion.

    Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, disclosed this on Thursday in London, United Kingdom, at a business forum organised by the Royal African Society.

    Quoting a recent report by the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan, he said Nigeria’s current core infrastructure stocks gap, based on international benchmarks, is estimated at USD 80 billion.

    Fayemi who presented a keynote address titled :  “Mining for Prosperity: fueling Nigeria’s industrialisation in the 21st Century”, said the investment  would allow Nigeria to close its current infrastructure gap and sustain an ideal infrastructure stock level of 70 per cent of GDP and build infrastructure assets across the seven critical sectors-  roads, rail, ports, airports, power, water and ICT.

    He said iron ore and steel would account for the bulk of materials inputs needed to industrialise Nigeria, just as  he urged investors to take advantage of the country’s huge steel market.

    The Minister said “We project a steady increase in domestic demand for steel in Nigeria in the coming decade, driven by increased industrialisation that will ignite a surge in building construction, power, automotive construction, agriculture, road and bridge building, military technology and infrastructure development, refinery investments and other heavy duty machinery.

    “This ever-widening vortex of hunger for steel and iron ore is an opportunity for local and international investors to participate in the consolidation and expansion of Africa’s largest economy.”

    He added that local producers are currently meeting just about 25 per cent of demand in the sub-sector, a development he said provides the required optimism for foreign investors.

    Fayemi hailed the success recorded in the limestone, where Nigeria moved from being a net-importer of cement to a net-exporter in less than a decade of putting in place the right policy and necessary incentives for local manufacturers.

    “We are working with all stakeholders in the industry to encourage replication of the limestone success story in the beneficiation of other industrial minerals, towards powering the industrialisation of the country.

    “Our aspiration is to build a world class minerals and mining ecosystem designed to serve a targeted domestic and export market for minerals and ores.”, he added.

    The Minister said the country would focus on  minerals , mining and related processing industry over a three -phased period to achieve this.

    “Phase 1: Nigeria will seek to rebuild market confidence in its minerals and mining sector and win over domestic users of industrial minerals that currently import. During this Phase, Nigeria will also seek to expand use of its energy minerals. This phase will likely last about 2 – 3 years.

    “Phase 2: Nigeria will focus on expanding our domestic ore and mineral asset processing industry. This phase will last about 5 to 10 years.

    “Phase 3: Nigeria should seek to return to global ore and mineral markets at a market competitive price point. We expect this to coincide with the next commodity upswing.”

    Speaking further, Fayemi said should Nigeria successfully follow through with the implementation plans, growth is expected to return to the sector in the form of new exploration activity, operations and production from active mining, functional (and expanded) processing and refining capacity, and higher value-addition in exports.

    “ The net outcome will be the creation of thousands of direct jobs and potentially hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs.”

  • Alleged travel ban: Fayose petitions NHRC, UN, others

    Alleged travel ban: Fayose petitions NHRC, UN, others

    Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose has petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over claim that the Federal Government has placed travel ban on him.

    The petition filed on his behalf by the state’s House of Assembly also complained about the alleged refusal of an agent of the Fed Govt, the Department of State Services (DSS) to obey a Federal High Court judgment, ordering it to pay N5 million damages on the illegal arrest and detention for 18 days of a member of the House, Afolabi Akanni.

    The National Assembly, Amnesty International, Embassies of the United States and the United Kingdom were also copied with the petition.

    Fayose had recently written to Chinese government, urging it to refuse financial aid to the Nigerian government.

    The petition signed by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Kolawole Oluwawole, was submitted Tuesday in Abuja, to NHRC’s Executive Secretary, Professor Bem Angwe, who assured that his commission will investigate the petition.

    The Deputy Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Segun Adewumi who submitted the petition, was accompanied by the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Gboyega Aribisogan and Chairman House Committee on Health, Dr Samuel Omotoso.

    The petition reads; “We write to bring to your attention another impending infringement on the rights of the Governor of our State, Mr Ayodele Fayose and by extension the entire Ekiti by the Federal Government.

    “A few weeks ago, our governor was reliably informed that President Mohammadu Buhari had directed that he should be banned from traveling outside Nigeria. This reliable information was to be confirmed through reports in two major national dailies on Sunday, May 29, 2016 titled; ‘2 govs under watch, face travel

    “From our findings, one of the governors being referred to is our own governor, Peter Ayodele Fayose and we wish to state like we have always done that we, the members of Ekiti State House of Assembly are with the governor on everything that he does.

    “Even ordinary Nigerians do not require clearance from the Department of State Services (DSS) or any security agency to travel outside Nigeria unless in compliance with court order, and as at today, there is no court order placing travel restriction on our governor, Ayodele Fayose. Issues concerning Governor Fayose cannot even be entertained in any court by virtue of the immunity he enjoys as provided in Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    “We however know as always that this latest plot is as a result of our governor’s critical stance on President Mohammadu Buhari’s government and its anti-people’s policies, and we make bold to say that no amount of intimidation, harassment and oppression will cowed the governor from exercising his fundamental rights to freedom of expression and to hold opinions as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended).

    “We are aware that this is coming as a result of the failure of the President Buhari led APC government’s plot to use the DSS to coerce the House of Assembly members into the plot of removing the governor.

    “We are also aware that plot to out-rightly take the governor ‘out of circulation’ cannot be ruled out as those advising President Buhari are said to be of the opinion that our governor has become a threat to his (Buhari) re-election bid and that everything must be done to ‘whip the governor to line’ before 2018.

    “Going by the antecedents of the President Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria and the DSS under the President’s kinsman, Alhaji Lawal Daura, it is certain that there is nothing that cannot be attempted, no matter how unlawful.

    “It should be recalled that this same DSS invaded the hallowed Chamber of the House of Assembly in our State, abducted our member, Hon Afolabi Akanni and kept him in detention for 18 days without access to anyone. Even when the court ordered that he should be released, the order was ignore. Up till today, no explanation was given for this arrest and detention.

    “It should also be recalled that on April 20th, 2016, the Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti, in Suit No. FHC/AD/CS/7/2016 ordered the DSS to pay a sum of N5 million to Hon Afolabi Akanni as damages for what the court termed unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional infringement of his fundamental rights. Up till today, that judgment has not been obeyed by the DSS.

    “It is therefore on the premise of display of arrogance and contempt for the laws of the country by the DSS under President Buhari that we elected to bring this latest plot to place Governor Ayodele Fayose on travel ban to your attention.

    “It is worrisome that the federal government will consider the idea of compelling a sitting governor in Nigeria that enjoys Constitutional Immunity like the President to obtain clearance from the Director General DSS, who is an appointee of the President before travelling out of Nigeria.

    “This to us is an affront on the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) more so that States, as federating units in Nigeria are not under the Federal Government, which itself is also a State and not superior to other federating units.

    “Section 35 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that; ‘Every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person shall be deprived of such liberty,’ Section 39 (1) provides that; ‘Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impact ideas and information without interference,’ while Section 41 (1) provides that ‘Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereto or exit therefrom.’

    “Article 13 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Nigeria is a signatory provides that “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the border of each State while Article 13 (2) provides that ‘Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his country,’ ditto Article 12 (2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

    “By provisions of the Constitution of Nigeria, ordinary Nigerians do not require clearance from the DSS or any security agency to travel outside Nigeria unless travel restriction is placed by an order of the court, not to talk of State Governors that enjoy immunity just like the President and are not under the control of the President.

    “Our question is; if Governor Fayose has become a threat to the security of Nigeria just because he criticises President Buhari and says the truth about his mis-governance of the country, what happens to Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), which provided for freedom of expression and freedom to hold opinions?

    “Most importantly, under a federal system of government, the states and national government both enjoy some autonomy, with sovereign power formally divided between the national government and the States such that each State retains some degree of control over its internal affairs.

    “However, it appears that the laws of Nigeria are not important to the President Mohammadu Buhari led government and it has become once again necessary that webring your attention to yet, another plot to subvert our rights as a State.

    “We wish to recall that in 1984 when President Buhari was a military Head of State, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was prevented from travelling outside Nigeria for medical treatment, thereby leading to his (Awolowo) untimely death in 1987.

    “The international passports of late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade; late Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero and late Obi of Onitsha, Ofala Akulalia Alphonsus Ogugua were also seized and they were restricted to their palaces just because they travelled to Israel for business.

    “We therefore wish to state on behalf of Governor Ayodele Fayose that as an opposition figure, he cannot be cowed by this pettiness from the presidency.”

    Angwe commended members of the House of Assembly for their commitment to the sustenance of rule of law in the country and cooperation with the executive arm of government in Ekiti State.

  • Corruption is holding back Nigeria- UK

    Corruption is holding back Nigeria- UK

    The United Kingdom is fully behind President Muhammadu Buhari in the ongoing efforts by his administration to rid Nigeria of corruption, Mr Nick Hurd, the UK Minister for International Development, has said.

    Hurd told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday that fighting corruption was critical to transforming Nigeria’s future.

    “We have been very active in supporting President Muhammadu Buhari`s campaign against corruption in Nigeria and we think it is fundamental to transform the future of the country.

    “We fully support priorities that the President has given to tackling corruption in Nigeria.

    “We feel that corruption is absolutely the right priority and we want to support him in that, “ he said.

    The minister urged the federal government to focus on public sector reforms aimed at making corruption unattractive to workers and the general public.

    He pointed out that there was so much workers in the public sector could do to reduce corruption through effective accounting systems.

    Hurd told NAN that his country was working with the Federal Government and the Civil Society Organisations on attitudinal change in the Nigerian society.

    “We think corruption holds Nigeria back and for every pound that is taken out of the public system through corruption, is a pound that could be spent educating children.

    “It is a pound that could be spent educating girls and developing the health system that the country can be proud of.

    “That is the kind of attitude that we would like to encourage and, therefore, we support the President in that, “ he said.

    Hurd said that the UK Prime Minister David Cameron, like President Buhari, is also passionate to rid his country of corruption.

    “Which is why next month, he (Cameron) is holding an anti-corruption summit in London and we very much hope that Nigeria will be well represented in that conference.

    “The conference will bring together world leaders to discuss corruption and their plans to tackle it in their countries; so corruption is a very big issue for us, “ he said.

  • Buhari arrives Nigeria from UK

    Buhari arrives Nigeria from UK

    Buhari Arrives Nig Buhari Arrive

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Buhari Arrivse

     

    Buhari arrivs

     

  • United Kingdom and its enduring parliamentary system

    United Kingdom and its enduring parliamentary system

    Question time in the Commons is one of the widely watched parliamentary sessions in the world. It indeed, has more viewers in the United States than in the United Kingdom, where this practice has existed for centuries. The plenary session provides opportunity for members of the House of Commons to ask the Prime Minister questions on cogent, crucial national and international issues.

    The Prime Minister in turn used the platform to project his/her party and government. What makes it more interesting and appealing for more than casual observers is the incessant interface that usually takes place among the Prime Minister, front-benchers, shadow cabinet members and opposition leader. Even though it takes the form of a debate, the issues raised and the passionate way they are discussed go a long way to show that politicians are individually and collectively responsible for their actions.

    Thus, the question time in The Commons, in large measure, has brought to fore the practice of parliamentary system and why it has not only endured for so long, but became the envy of many countries all over the world. The system presupposes that for you to be a minister or cabinet member, you must first of all be a member of parliament. The Prime Minister, who is also a member of parliament, is only first among equals. In other words, the government is formed by members of the party with the largest seats in parliament.

    In this respect, accountability is largely a collective one and not individual. Once a government is unpopular, the cabinet would have to collectively bear the cost and a vote of confidence would be tabled before the parliament. If the outcome is negative, the government would resign and call for new election. If however the outcome is favourable, it would reinforce the powers of the Prime Minister and he might as well leverage on it by restructuring his cabinet and government.

    In modern times, the Prime Minister has become more powerful that some are comparing it to imperial presidency in the United States. Tony Blair, a former PM was so powerful that most of his policies were hardly challenged. Some attributed this to the landslide victory that brought him to power in 1997, while others argued that it was due to his adroitness and savvy in handling matters of state.

    Currently, David Cameron, the Prime Minister, cannot be said to be that powerful, largely because of the way he came in. He had to form a coalition with Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats five years ago to be able to govern. And now that the country is yet again going to the poll on Thursday to elect a new government, there are signs that there is not going to be a clear winner of the elections. Rather, pundits are already saying that there is likely going to be a Labour government in coalition with one of the smaller parties.

    For now, the race is between Labour, whose candidate, Ed Miliband surprised many with his resurgence in the polls, and Cameron of the Conservative Party. And issues that are dominating the campaign, ranging from immigration to Britain’s involvement in the European Union; from Pension to minimum wage; from the economy to Climate Change. Observers had expected Cameron to have an easy re-election, but there is a lot of disenchantment among the voters, most of who are not happy with the widening gap between the rich and poor.

    For someone who has been following this system for so long, it came as a surprise that unlike the American presidential campaign, where there is so much blitz and razzmatazz, British politicians are less fuzzy and still very conservative in their approach to selling their messages to the electorate. There is less noise; even TV commercials are measured. It’s even unlikely that a first time visitor to London would notice that election is taking place on the 7th of May. The atmosphere does not suggest that there may be a new Prime Minister by the weekend. It all re-enforces the truism that this is the society where democracy has its roots.

    But it appears this traditional way of doing things is what is endearing a system described as first-pass-the-post-to many countries. Both the ones colonized by the British and others that saw it working and not so expensive to operate. While Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan amongst others, have not deviate from this path, Nigeria, Ghana and some others have shifted their focus to presidential system.

    Thus, as the British goes to the poll tomorrow, the world would be watching the event closely, but credit must go to an electorate that, even though there is no written constitution, have put those in authority on their toes, by making sure they are accountable for their deeds.

    Exit polls show Conservatives as biggest party

    CONSERVATIVE Party looked set to win 316 – just 10 short of an overall majority – according to exit polls last night.

    The poll put Labour on 239 seats, the Liberal Democrats on 10, the Scottish National Party (SNP) on 58 and United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) on two as counting began across the country.

    If the predictions were true, the Conservatives would gain more seats than in their 2010 results and Labour would lose 19 seats on their result last time – with the SNP were taking all but one seat in Scotland.

    The exit poll of about 20,000 voters was dramatically at odds with polling during the election campaign, which suggested right up to the last day that Conservatives and Labour were heading for a dead heat.

    But the Liberal Democrats dismissed the exit poll forecast, insisting it did not tally with the information they had received from their activists.

    A party spokesman said: “This exit poll does not reflect any of our intelligence from today or in the run-up to polling day. We will wait for the final results.”

    The spokesman added: “No opinion poll to date has shown the numbers in this exit poll.”

    SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon was also cautious about the exit poll.

    She tweeted: “I’d treat the exit poll with HUGE caution. I’m hoping for a good night but I think 58 seats is unlikely!”

    If the exit poll proves correct, it would be the first time that a ruling party has increased its tally of seats since 1983, with Conservatives increasing their strength at Westminster by 14.

    It will give Mr. Cameron the option of attempting to form a Conservative-only minority government without having to offer ministerial posts and a role in framing legislation to coalition parties.

    Although a tally of 316 is lower than the 326 threshold for an absolute majority, it is very close to the lower figure of 321-322 needed for all practical purposes, assuming Sinn Fein MPs do not take up their seats.

    A minority Tory government may hope to get its legislation through with the support of Northern Irish unionists, who are likely to win around eight or nine seats.

    The arithmetic could even hand the balance of power in key votes to a pair of UKIP Members of Parliament (MPs), who could be expected to use any leverage this gives them to put pressure on the Prime Minister to bring forward his planned in/out referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU), currently scheduled for 2017.

    If borne out by results, the polling figures would raise large questions over Mr Miliband’s future as Labour leader.

     •Aruna, the Managing Editor, Upshotreports,is in the UK to cover the elections.  

  • Nigerians in UK get new chairman

    Nigerians in UK get new chairman

    The Central Association of Nigerians in UK (CANUK) now has Mr. Babatunde Loye as its new chairman.

    Mr Loye, a 44 year old insurance expert, was the immediate past Assistant Social Secretary of the association.

    In the second round of voting held at the Nigerian High Commission into the executive of the association, he polled 46 votes to defeat his main rival Mr. Boma Douglas who got 44 votes.

    The two candidates previously equal votes of 39 while the third candidate Mrs. Ronke Udofia got 16 votes.

    Speaking on his victory, Loye expressed gratitude to the voters and pledged that his administration would raise funds to pursue the programmes of the association.

    He said his administration would do its best to positively project the image of Nigeria in UK and beyond.

    CANUK was established to serve as the umbrella body of Nigerians living in the UK.

    Its mission is to protect, unify and empower the Nigerian community towards contributing to nation-building in the UK and Nigeria.

  • U.K. economic growth slows as obstacles to recovery mount

    UNITED Kingdom (U.K.) economic growth cooled in the third quarter as threats to the recovery from the euro-area slump mounted.

    Gross domestic product rose 0.7 per cent in the three months through September, compared with 0.9 per cent in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics said at the weekend. That matched the median forecast of 36 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. On an annualised basis, the U.K. economy grew 2.8 per cent in the third quarter, according to ONS calculations.

    The slowdown comes as Bank of England policy makers become more concerned about threats from the weakness in the euro area, Britain’s biggest trading partner. Reports this month showed manufacturing and services cooled in September, and BOE Chief Economist Andy Haldane said last week that he’s become more “gloomy” on the global backdrop.

    “Growing signs of renewed stagnation in the euro zone and some softer manufacturing surveys have intensified concerns that the recovery will lose pace,” said Samuel Tombs, a London-based economist at Capital Economics Ltd. “But the U.K. economy has shown on several occasions in the past that it can outperform the rest of Europe. The recovery seems unlikely to suddenly stall.”

    Growth in services, the largest part of the economy, eased to 0.7 per cent from 1.1 per cent. Within that, growth in distribution, hotels and restaurants slowed to 0.5 per cent in the third quarter from 1 per cent in the previous three months. Business services and finance saw its expansion ease to 1 per cent from 1.5 per cent.

    The GDP report also showed that manufacturing grew 0.4 per cent, the least since the first quarter of 2013.

    G7 Economies Britain is the first Group of Seven economy to report GDP for the third quarter. The euro-area economy is forecast to have expanded 0.2 per cent, according to a survey of economists. U.S. data on Oct. 30 will show the world’s largest economy grew an annualized 3 per cent, a separate survey showed.

    “Today’s strong growth figures show that the U.K. continues to lead the pack in an increasingly uncertain global economy,” Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said in a statement. “But the U.K. is not immune to weakness in the euro area and instability in global markets.”

    The pound rose against the dollar after the data and was up 0.3 per cent at 1.6070 as of 9:49 a.m. in London.

    EU Demand While the recovery may be losing momentum, the economy has grown for seven straight quarters and GDP is now 3.4 per cent above its previous 2008 peak. The performance means Prime Minister David Cameron is facing a demand from the European Union for an increased contribution to the bloc’s budget.

    The EU has requested that Britain pay an extra €2.1-billion because of the nation’s relative economic health, said a U.K. government official who asked not to be named because the negotiations are private.

    The BOE held its key interest rate at a record-low 0.5 per cent this month. Today’s ONS report is a preliminary estimate based on about 44 per cent of the data that will ultimately be available. The BOE has forecast a slowdown in the pace of growth, though it expects third-quarter expansion to be eventually revised up to 0.9 per cent.

    “It is not a bad reading by any stretch of the imagination,” said Alan Clarke, an economist at Scotiabank in London. “It is lower than the BOE’s projection, but they will assume upward revisions in subsequent releases.”

  • Baby’s death in UK lands Nigerian doctor in trouble

    Baby’s death in UK lands Nigerian doctor in trouble

    A Nigerian doctor practising in the United Kingdom is banned for one year over the death three years ago of a boy twin. He is accused of killing the boy through negligence, writes Daily Mail 

    A newborn twin boy died because managers at an overstretched maternity unit failed to make proper checks on whether a bungling doctor was up to the job.

    Dr Olufemi Dina was allowed to work only under the supervision of a consultant after being blamed for the death of a young mother following childbirth, and also after falsifying medical records.

    But with a severe shortage of staff, managers at the unit where he had been working as a locum for three days allowed him to take charge of delivering Natalya Almond’s twin boys.

    The first, Lien, was born safely, but his brother, Arron, was deprived of oxygen when his head got stuck for 20 minutes, and suffered severe brain damage.

    Yet Dr Dina still placed him on his mother’s chest – only for her to see to her horror that he had turned grey and wasn’t breathing. Arron died after three weeks on a life support machine.

    After a lengthy battle to learn the truth, Mrs Almond and her husband Neil, from Darwen, Lancashire, have now been awarded more than £50,000 after the hospital accepted Arron would probably have survived had he been delivered competently.

    Dina, 49, who was found to have ‘communication problems’ because English is not his first language, was later banned from practising for lying to investigators. But the Almonds are furious that none of the staff who put him in charge of such a complicated birth have been disciplined.

    ‘You put your trust in these people and believe that they know best,’ said Mrs Almond, 27. ‘Now we know managers at the hospital knew he wasn’t competent enough to deliver my twins but simply left him to it.

    ‘We feel the people who let him work that night are partly responsible for what happened.’

    In 2007 the Nigerian-born doctor, who specialises in obstetrics and gynaecology, was branded negligent by a High Court judge after sending home a new mother who complained of headaches with painkillers when she in fact had a fatal blood clot.

    Then in 2008 he was accused of falsifying medical records and prescribing powerful drugs to a pregnant patient he had not seen while working as a locum in Manchester.

    The General Medical Council ordered that he should work only under the supervision of a consultant.

    In September 2010 he secured a locum post at Royal Blackburn Hospital. On the night Arron was born there were staff shortages and clinical director Mark Willetts let Dr Dina work unsupervised because the alternative was shutting the maternity unit.

    Lien was delivered safely but Arron was deprived of oxygen when he became stuck. Three weeks later his parents were advised to turn off his life support machine.

    In an initial report, the hospital claimed Arron’s death had been unavoidable, saying ‘no gaps in care were identified’.But after his angry parents discovered that Dr Dina should not have been practising unsupervised, Arron’s inquest was halted.

    An independent medical expert concluded that ‘the outcome could have been significantly better’ had he been supervised by an experienced consultant, but the coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.

    Dr Dina was initially allowed to continue practising but after pressure from Arron’s parents there was a fresh investigation. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service banned him from practising for 12 months for lying that  he had told the GMC about his Blackburn locum post. He has now lost an appeal.

    Mr Almond, a 36-year-old plasterer, said: ‘His mistakes have now caused the deaths of a mother and a baby, but he could be able to work again next year – what does it take for a doctor to be struck off?’

    East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust described Arron’s death as a ‘very sad incident’ and said ‘changes in practice have been put in place’. But it added: ‘The Trust has found no grounds for action against individual doctors.’

    Dr Dina’s solicitors declined to comment.