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Tag: urges

Jonathan urges youth on peace

President Goodluck Jonathan has advised Muslim youths to imbibe the spirit of the Ramadan during and after the holy month.

The President said the call became necessary as the country seeks peace in the face of mounting security challenges in some parts of the country.

Jonathan spoke on Tuesday night while breaking fast with Muslim youth leaders across the country.

While emphasising the importance of peace to nation building and development, the President, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ali Ahmed Gulak said without peace, delivering on developmental projects would be impossible.

He urged the youth leaders not to despair, saying the country would overcome its numerous challenges and emerge stronger.

The President used the occasion to commend the patriotism of youths in Borno State, who collaborated with the military Joint Task Force (JTF) to fight the insurgency in the region.

“The situation is now improving in the Northeast. The youths are emboldened as they are helping in chasing the insurgents, arresting, and handing them over to the JTF”, he said.

On his part, Gulak called on the nation’s youths to support the administration in its quest to keep the country united and stronger.

In his remarks, an official of the National Council of Muslim Youths Organisation (NACOMYO), Malam Suleiman said violence is alien to Islam and Christianity as both Quran and the Bible were never in support of it.

“If both religions do not preach violence, why then are our youths carrying guns and killing innocent people? Even our tradition does not encourage violence, so where does this come from?” he queried.

He urged youths to be courageous by turning down invitation to be used as tools of violence.

August 2, 2013
Ex-AGF urges security agents to tackle insurgency

A former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister for Justice, Chief Mike Kaase Aondoakaa, has urged security agents to tackle the lingering security challenges across the land.

Aondoakaa advised security agents to see themselves as partners in progress instead of engaging in rivalry.

He noted that any face-off among security agents would prevent them from providing tight security for the people and their property.

The former AGF spoke at a stakeholders’ forum, with the theme: The Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Activities of Anti-Vandals in Benue State. It was organised by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in collaboration with the Benue State Government.

Aondoakaa said: “It is the responsibility of all security agencies in the country to form a common front by sharing information and intelligent gathering among themselves and developing strategies together in combating the deadly insurgence that is threatening the core existence of our nation.”

He hailed President Goodluck Jonathan for his holistic approach to restore law and order in the country.

The former minister advised security agents to avoid rivalry so that the war on criminality would be won for the economy to improve.

Aondoakaa said the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Commandant of the NSCDC should share intelligence information so that their officers and men can replicate same to effectively fight crimes.

The former AGF spoke on the topic: The Role of the NSCDC and Other Security Agencies in Maintaining Law and Order in Nigeria.

He said the people’s role in security matters is to give useful information to security agencies.

The stakeholders’ meeting was attended by all security agencies in Benue State.

August 2, 2013
Lagos urges residents to plant trees

The Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Mr Tunji Bello, has advised residents to embrace the principle of tree planting; saying that it is essential for people’s well-being.

Speaking through the director of Laboratory Services Mrs Adetola Onisarotu during the state’s sixth annual tree planting exercise organized by the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) held at the Nigerian Breweries, Mr Bello noted that tree planting is a panacea for issues of climate change like global warming and other ecological challenges.

He said that “Green is Peace,” which is the theme for this year’s exercise, even as he added that the exercise has continued to expand with over four million trees planted within six years.

He reeled of the benefits of afforestation; which are beautification of the environment, shield for rare and endangered animals, wind barriers, deflectors of sun rays as well as other adverse weather.

He said: “Trees serve as breeding ground for some animals and equally help to check erosion as well as supply food and materials for building houses. The more trees we plant, the more we reclaim our forests.”

In order to continue the tree-planting initiative, the state government has established the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK); which an institutional structure to integrate the initiative into the system and to improve the aesthetics of the environment.

Nursery, primary and secondary school pupils were not left out of the environmental re-engineering as tree planting and nurturing techniques have also been included in the school curriculum by LASPARK, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

The general manager of LASEPA Mr. Adebola Rasheed Shabi, an engineer who represented Governor Fashola at the event, noted that the existence of a green environment is germane for the well-being of individuals and the society.

He, however, advised individuals to inculcate the habit of planting trees, even as he added that “one can even name a tree after one’s child.

He said “I planted a tree in my house and named it Babatunde Fashola.”

Mr. Chukwuemeka Ezobu, a lecturer and consultant in the Department of Chemistry, University of Lagos shed light on the significance of trees to the ecosystem. He explained that trees act as agent for extracting pollution from the atmosphere. He therefore identified tree planting as a natural means of removing carbon-dioxide from the environment.

He said: “I need to mention the key element of protecting human population because people’s well-being depends on the availability of sustainable resources and the ecosystem. In the past, trees have been used to preserve memorable dates, form an archive of the past and used to project cultural appreciation. Trees also serve as purifying agents as they ensure clean air and soil by removing dust from the atmosphere. They serve as natural biodiversity, form shade and increase property value. They produce oxygen for us to breathe in.

“So, I enjoin all participants here today to engage in this global fight. Join this cause so that we would have peace in the environment.”

Mr Samson Aigbedo who represented the managing director of the Nigerian Breweries Aigbedo commended the efforts of the government on providing a sustainable environment for operation.

August 2, 2013
Lawmaker urges peaceful co-existence

A Member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Mushin Constituency 1, Mrs Adefunmilayo Tejuoso, has urged Muslims and Christians to live in peace to promote development in the country.

At a Ramadan prayer lecture held at the Odi Olowo/Ojuwoye Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Secretariat, she said Muslims should use the holy period to embrace their Christian neighbours and bury any difference that exist among them.

She said: “As a representative of the people, you have to be able to identify with those who are in your religion and those who share other beliefs. We have to appreciate Ramadan and encourage our people to do well to those who come their way.

“This is the time to give to the less-privileged; it is a period when you have to be charitable. Even when you have lots of money and you don’t give to those who are in need, it means you are not doing what God wants. Ramadan offers such a moment and that is why I urge my Muslim brethren to show love to their Christian brethren by coming together so that we can make progress in our country.”

She stated that those who want peace must learn to share with others who don’t have. According to her, it is only when the haves share with the haves-not that they could sleep with their eyes closed.

“Though I am a Christian, I have come to appreciate the Ramadan period, to take part in this prayer session, to pray for the development of our constituency, the state and the country.

“You should also remember that in Lagos State, there is no religious divide, there is complete harmony here. We want the country to know that when there is peace, there will be growth, development will happen and our people would be better for it.

“If you respect other peoples’ religion, it does not mean you are changing to their religion but we must know that we are all created by God and it is Him that we are worshipping,” she said.

“If you must live in peace with someone you must be tolerant and appreciate religious divides. The Christians should learn to appreciate the Muslims and vice versa,” she added.

She noted that Islam is a friendly religion which gives humanity abundant opportunities to be their brother’s keeper.

“You see they pray five times daily, if adherents of the religion could spend as much time communicating with God and seeking His divine blessing for humanity, its means it is a peaceful religion. Those who have hidden under the cover to commit unacceptable things should have a rethink,” Mrs Tejuoso warned.

The Chief Imam of Odi Olowo/Ojuwoye Alhaji, Abdul Gafar Shittu said there would be peace in the country because God would intervene in what is happening.

He thanked the lawmaker for observing the Ramadan prayer session with them and prayed God to continue to strengthen her and the formers Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Muiz Banire, who he said is a strong pillar and supporter of Islam in the constituency.

August 1, 2013
Shun greed, cleric urges Nigerian leaders

Foremost cleric and international preacher Sheikh Muhydeen Ajani Bello has urged Nigerian leaders to be moderate in the acquisition of wealth.

The cleric noted that the tendency to acquire wealth at the expense of the masses was the cause of the ills in the country.

He said leaders must show concern and love the poor for peace to return to the country.

Sheikh Bello spoke yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, at a Ramadhan Lecture, organised by the management of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (Progress FM 100.5FM).

Speaking on the topic: ’The role of religion in governance’, the lecturer explained that all religions preach love, adding that “whatever religion a leader practices, his position demands that he reaches out to all and sundry equally and fairly.”

He noted that Nigerians are not enjoying good governance because of “the insincerity of its leaders towards the led.”

Quoting a Quranic verse in which Allah says: “If it pleases me (God), I would make all of you Muslims. I would have all of you just one sect. But I was the one who decreed differences”, the preacher noted that the challenges facing the country had nothing to do with differences in religion.

Commending Governor Kayode Fayemi for the developmental efforts which he said “is very noticeable everywhere in the state,” the cleric said “I advise you people (the Ekiti) not to lose this opportunity.

“Fayemi is an opportunity for you. I urge and appeal to you to take it. I was somewhere three days ago where we were being urged to pray for some governors who were doing their jobs well. Fayemi was one of those being mentioned,” he said.

Fayemi, represented by Alhaji Sulaiman Afolabi Ogunlayi, noted that religious tolerance and harmony has accounted for the peaceful inter-relations in the state which, according to him, was aided by the Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC).

According to him, the State NIREC is one of the best in the country, urging the operators to always ensure peaceful inter-faith relations.

Alhaji Musa Ayeni urged the people to be united and use the ongoing Ramadan period to pray against the current spate of killings in the country.

August 1, 2013
ASUU urges NUC to account for over N100b stabilisation fund for varsities

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged relevant anti-graft agencies to probe the National Universities Commission (NUC) on how over N100 billion annual stabilisation fund for universities was spent.

The union also accused the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Julius Okogie, of being a cog in the wheel of university education and development in Nigeria.

In a statement on Tuesday in Awka, Anambra State, by ASUU’s Nsukka Zonal Coordinator, Dr Chidi Osuagwu, the union said the strike would linger, if the Federal Government remained insensitive.

The Nsukka zone of ASUU comprises Abia State University, Uturu; Anambra State University, Uli; Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki; Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu; Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN).

ASUU has been on strike for over a month, following the non-implementation of the five key areas in its 2009 agreement with the Federal Government. The action has paralysed academic activities at most of the nation’s universities.

The Nsukka zone of ASUU said if after the probe of the NUC by relevant agencies and somebody is found guilty of meddling with the funds, the person should be removed and punished.

The statement reads: “This strike will linger, if the Federal Government fails to honour the agreement. If it will take the Ghana experience to bring the anomalies in the university system back on track, so be it.

“We invite all Nigerians, but specifically the responsible agencies of government to bring the NUC to account for the annual stabilisation fund for Nigerian universities, estimated at over N100 billion.”

The ASUU said yesterday the Federal Government has the resources to implement the agreement reached with the lecturers in 2009.

The union urged the government to implement the agreement without delay.

ASUU advised the government to cut down its “profligacy in many areas” to make funds available for the education sector, particularly tertiary education.

The university lecturers, on July 3, shut down academic activities in all the public universities protesting Federal Government’s unwillingness to “implement the outstanding aspects of the 2009 agreement” it entered into with them.

The lecturers are asking for adequate funding to revitalise the universities, government’s assistance to state-owned universities, progressive increase in annual budgetary allocation to Education to 26 per cent, reinstatement of prematurely dissolved Governing Councils of universities, setting up of a Research Development Council and provision of research equipment to laboratories and classrooms in universities, among others.

ASUU’s National President Dr Nasir Isa told The Nation yesterday that the Federal Government has reneged on its promise to meet the lecturers’ demand, as contained in the 2009 pact.

He wondered why the government was shying away from its agreement.

Also, the Coordinator of Ibadan Zone of ASUU, Dr Adesola Nasir, asked well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the Goodluck Jonathan government to be “serious with the funding of university education” in the interest of the children and future of the nation.

Addressing reporters yesterday on the campus of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Dr Nasir urged the government to cut down its “profligacy in many areas” so that there would be enough money to fund the nation’s education sector.

He added: “This year alone, the government has been selling crude at close to 150 per cent of budget price and collected about N500 billion in 2013 in excess of projected revenue from tax alone.

“We are convinced that if our governments cut their profligacy in many areas, they would have more than needed to adequately fund the education sector.”

The Federal Government yesterday said it was committed to a resolution of the ongoing ASUU strike.

Addressing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting yesterday, the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, said the government was worried by the lingering crisis.

He said there were social costs to the disruption of the academic calendar, adding that the government would soon resolve the matter.

August 1, 2013
Activist urges ASUU to sustain strike

Activist lawyer, Morakinyo Ogele, has urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to sustain the strike it has embarked on, since the Federal Government has failed to implement the agreement reached with it in 2009.

He said the strike is for the good of every student and the implementation of the agreement would enable normalcy to return to universities.

In a statement, Ogele said most universities, which lack infrastructures, are now more or less glorified secondary schools.

It reads: “In 2009, ASUU embarked on a strike after viewing the existing decay of infrastructures that prevail in tertiary institutions all over the country. The Federal Government went into an agreement and promised to meet all the conditions stated in the agreement. Looking at our universities holistically, they are more or less glorified secondary schools.

“Nigerians should condemn the careless attitude and neglect toward our tertiary institutions.

“It is shocking and embarrassing for the Federal Government to come out and inform Nigerians that the agreement cannot be implemented, thus approbating and reprobating.

“This action by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government has again put the credibility of the people managing the affairs of the country into question.

“The neglect of our universities has promoted the sundry of universities called private universities, where parents are exploited through exorbitant fees, making our universities to be business centres.

“Tertiary institutions in Nigeria are yearly turning out graduates short of what the society is expecting. Laboratories and research facilities are things of the past; buildings are rusting and government is spending a lot of money on what cannot be of help to Nigerians.

“Federal Government should within seven days implement this agreement so that normalcy will return to our universities, otherwise, we will mobilse students for a mass protest.”

July 25, 2013
Leadership crisis: TWAN urges govt to intervene

Tricycle Workers Association of Nigeria (TWAN) has called on Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation Mr Kayode Opeifa to intervene in the leadership crisis brewing within the different associations of tricycle operators in the state to prevent chaos.

The association has, however, accused the Lagos State branch of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) of attempting to impose an unelected leadership on them describing the attempt as an act of injustice.

TWAN, in its petittion to the commissioner dated July 12, 2013 and signed by its Acting Secretary, Comrade Daodu Adesoji, said the union was working at cross purposes with their organisation.

The body stated that they are ready to work with the NURTW for peace to reign in the state as earlier agreed as long as the union allows democracy to prevail.

It, therefore, describes as illegal the caretaker committee constituted for the association by the union saying it is unjust and illegal.

TWAN, which is the product of a merger of two rival tricycles bodies (Three-Wheelers and KORAN) further, alleged that the NURTW is trying to thwart the efforts of the Reconciliation Committee set up by the Transport Ministry to see to the complete reconciliation and merger of the two rival tricycle associations in the state.

According to TWAN, after the first General Assembly meeting of the two rival tricycle associations (Three-Wheelers and KORAN) on July 4, another meeting was slated for July 16 to finalise the selection of the caretaker committee.

They said they were surprised to receive a letter of inauguration of a caretaker committee members from NURTW on July 9 while the meeting of the two rival tricycle association set up to appoint caretaker committee is yet to be concluded.

“On Tuesday 9th of July, 2013, we are shocked to receive a letter from the state office of the NURTW inviting all our branches exco to their state office for Wednesday 10th of July, 2013 for inaugural meeting of the association new caretaker committee and its state executives without the knowledge of the members and leaders of both association (Three-Wheelers and KORAN).

“To our surprise, some of the members of the newly constituted caretaker committee are not known to the association members.

“Meanwhile, the formal committee is about to round-up and organise election for the state exco of the association but this sudden change of the former committee have given us another set back”, it stated.

In the caretaker committee set up by the NURTW, TWAN alleged that Three-Wheelers has only three representatives while KORAN has 17 representatives which it described as imbalance.

TWAN therefore urged Opeifa to call the state Chairman of NURTW, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede and Chairman of the so-called newly constituted Caretaker Committee Mr. Odusanya to order.

TWAN therefore called for equal representation of the two associations’ members in the new caretaker committee.

It also demanded for one month for the committee to organise a free and fair elections for the state executives for peace to reign.

“Mr. Odusanya should be call to order not to use force or any act of provocation with the support of NURTW to intimidate or harass any of our members in their branches and units across the state, because we are ready to resist him with another round of serious legal battle”, it stated.

July 22, 2013
Ikuforiji urges Nigerians to love another

Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji has said the country would be better-off if everyone shows love, as enshrined in the holy books.

Ikuforiji spoke at Sinai Agunbiade Annual Ramadan Tafsir and Iftar in Lagos.

“God loves us and he has given us all that we need to make a good living in this country if only we can love ourselves, according to the injunctions of the Quran,” he said.

In a lecture, entitled: Islam: The real concept of love, Chief Imam of the Assembly Mosque, Alhaji Abdul-Hakeem Abdul-Lateef, enjoined the faithful to show love at all times.

“Islam is love and God created us with love; it is because of the love of God for us that He created us as human beings and made us masters over every other thing in creation; he gave us sense, intelligence and knowledge unlike animals.

“Wherever you are, whatever you are, it is God that made it possible, it is God that gives.

July 22, 2013
Umar urges fresh probe of Kudirat’s murder

A former Military Administrator of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar yesterday asked the Federal Government to reopen investigation into the death of the nation’s democracy heroine, Mrs. Kudirat Abiola.

He said there is no doubt that agents of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha assassinated Kudirat.

Umar, who made the suggestion in a statement in Abuja against the backdrop of the acquittal of all suspects implicated in the assassination, said the nation’s judicial system has failed to deliver justice to Kudirat.

He said it was wrong to assume that there was no witness to prove how Kudirat was killed.

Umar said Sgt. Rogers was a key witness to the murder and he could not understand the logic of his (Rogers’) release.

The Court of Appeal , Lagos Division last Friday set free the last batch of suspects including Major Hamzat Al-Mustapha and Alhaji Lateef Sofolahan for want of concrete evidence.

But Umar said the case should not be swept under the carpet because there is a sufficient clue in Rogers.

“There is absolutely no doubt that agents of the Abacha regime assassinated Kudirat Abiola. As it has turned out, our judicial system has failed to deliver justice to the heroine and her family. This is most regrettable.

“As believers in God and His attributes which are all encompassing, we are aware that He will deliver His judgment in this matter. All those involved in her murder will get their just reward here and now.

“The government is duty bound to reopen fresh investigations into this case. Sgt Rogers is a key witness. One cannot understand the logic of his release by the Obasanjo administration other than contempt for the Abiola family.

“Kudirat died in the service of her unjustly treated husband and therefore in obedience of God’s commands. His promised reward of eternal life in heaven to such an obedient wife is fulfilled as He delivers.

“As painful as her tragic loss is, her family should take solace in her present fate. She sleeps well in heaven.”

July 19, 2013