Archive for May, 2013
Politics
From ODEYEMI Samuel, Akure
Police in Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Government of Ondo state have arrested five armed thugs who were allegedly imported by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to disrupt the flag off of the Dr Olusegun Mimiko re-election campaign the the erarly hours of yesterday, following hours of mayhem unleashed on the ancient town.
Items recovered from them include, guns, charms, live ammunition, masks, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons, having unleashed terror on the innocent people of Owo on Wednesday evening, shooting sporadically in the air, vandalising the sound systems, podium, billboards, Labour Party (LP) flags, erected at the Methodist Primary School venue of the Mega rally in Owo.
They also wounded several people who are currently receiving treatment in various hospitals in the town.
In its reaction, the Mimiko campaign Organisation (MCO) stated that the development vindicated its alarm ...
Politics
From OLADELE ADEDAYO, Ado-Ekiti
Former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Chief Abiodun Aluko has lamented that students’ performance in public examinations in the state since the incumbent Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi came on board about two years ago had slumped from 31 per cent to 15 per cent.
Expressing concern over the situation, Aluko said the decline had negative impact on the future of the state.
Aluko posited that standard of education would continue to be on the decline in the state if the state government did not focus on policies capable of transforming the sector.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart told journalists in Ikere- Ekiti yesterday that among"the multifarious dimension problems that culminated in the falling education standard was the disillusionment of teachers owing to the stoppage of their 27.5 per cent increment and other inhuman treatments meted to them.
He said the "controversial comp...
News
From Cobham Nsa, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday insisted that its proposed restructuring of the national currency is for the overall economic good of Nigeria.
Similarly, the apex bank said critics of the restructuring exercise tagged "Project CURE" were being unfair as most of their submissions on the issue not only lack merits but at variance with best global practices at growing the economy.
Also, the CBN said no provisions of its enabling Act have been violated in the proposed exercise and the National Assembly’s summons to the apex bank management was meant clarify specific issues in line with the lawmakers’ oversight functions.
CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Ugochukwu Okoroafor said during a media interaction session in Abuja that the exercise would ease transactions at all levels as well as minimize cost of currency management in the country.
Mr Okoroafor, who spo...
Features
By J. A.Omotayo
Who can fault Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) who has informed the world publicly on Thursday, August 23, 2012 that a new set of currency denominations are desirable and thus will be introduced into the country early next year? (For further details, see: Central Bank of Nigeria to redesign Naira notes & introduce a N5,000 note, www.ngex.com, August 24, 2012). He has stated among others that:
(i) N5, N10 and N20 currency notes will be replaced with coins;
(ii) N50, N100, N200, N500 and N1000 currency notes will be redesigned to accommodate new features; and
(iii) N5000 currency note will be introduced that will feature three outstanding Nigerian women on one side and the national assembly building on the other side.
Mr. Sanusi went ahead to justify his proposed policy thrust by telling us Nigerians that:
(i) The introduction of the new currency and the withdrawal of...
Perspectives
By SULEIMAN NASIRU
It was reported last week that some ex-militants were given contracts to guard our petroleum pipelines. The money involved is a whopping sum of N6.32 billion shared amongst the ex-militant leaders.No doubt, these repentant militants are Nigerians, and are entitled to whatever rights and privileges any citizen of Nigeria is entitled to since they have been accepted back to the society. Like any Nigerian the ex-militants can bid for and win contracts. That is why in response to the reports Asari was quoted as saying "I see nothing wrong with it."But the question is why can’t our security outfits handle this? What are they doing? The Nigerian Army, the Navy, Air-force, the police, Civil Defence and the rest of them, what is their job? Why the huge budget on security if our pipelines cannot be secured by the state security outfits?
We are in big trouble as a nation if we have to depend on ex-militants to guard our ...
News
From ELEKWACHI CHINEDUM, Abuja
IT was a hectic task for staff of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as they moved from camp to camp in Adamawa State, Nigeria to assess and provide relief materials to the victims of excess flooding due to sudden release of water from Cameroon Republic’s Ladgo dam.
The emergency workers were being inundated with gory tales of washed away farmlands, drown children, missing herds of cattle, bites from emigrant snakes, lost valuables, submerged schools and houses. There are also reports of premature deliveries, miscarriages and new born babies delivered in the Internally Displaced Peoples Camps (IDPCs) in Adamawa State.
Five women have so far delivered babies successfully while 57 pregnant women have been registered in camps, especially in Gwadabawa, Damare, Limawa, Bwaraji, Sanda and Numan. Some of the women would be transferred to hospitals for proper medical attentions.
Meanw...
News
From BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
IMMEDIATE past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, yesterday said state police would constitute great dangers to the nation’s growing democracy if allowed to be.
Bankole stated this while speaking at the Yoruba National Assembly 2012 forum held at the parliamentary building in the Oyo State House of Assembly Complex in Ibadan.
The former speaker declared that the state police if allowed in a country like Nigeria will be abused and mismanaged by majority of the state governors to achieve cheap political ambition.
According to him, with the present insecurity problem facing Nigeria, there was no basis for the ongoing clamouring for the creation of state police so as not to add more to the problem already on ground
Bankole maintained that despite the fact that state police had existed in the past and used very well by the leaders of that time, the fact remains that the presen...
News
From ANDREW OROLUA, Abuja
THE partnership between the Ministry of Defence and United States Department of Defence on HIV/AIDS has resulted in the building of the Defence Reference Laboratory in Abuja.
The facility described as the first of its kind in the West African sub-region is part of the US 500 million dollars aid to fight the HIV/AIDS and other related diseases in the military.
This disclosure was made yesterday in Abuja by the US Ambassador into Nigeria, Terence P. McCulley in a speech at the commissioning of the project by the Minister of State for Defence, Erelu (Dr) Olusola Agbeja Obada who described the laboratory as a breakthrough for the country in her bid to fight some of the terminal diseases buffeting the citizenry.
"This (Reference Laboratory) is a practical example of the partnership we have with the Nigerian Ministry of Defence, it is going to provide a critical research facility to support the sites t...
News
From MOHAMMED MUNIRAT NASIR, Gusau
FOLLOWING the alarm raised by the Emir of Gusau, [Sarkin Katsina Gusau], Alhaji Mohammed Kabir Danbaba over the fresh outbreak of the dreaded Lead poisoning in Gusau Emirate, the Zamfara State Government yesterday banned the processing of gold ore in Gusau and other parts of the state.
This was disclosed by the Special Adviser on Environmental Sanitation Agency, Alhaji Marwan Haruna Abdulkarim Mafara in Gusau, saying the measure was taken by the state government to prevent reoccurrence of the disease in the state.
The Special Adviser warned those involved in the dangerous acts to desist as the state government will not hesitate to prosecute violators no matter the status of the violator in the society.
"We will no longer tolerate, those involved in the deadly business to desist from their nefarious activities as their illegal business is causing more havoc to the society by causing serio...
News
From SYLVANUS EZE, Awka
ANAMBRA State yesterday became the latest oil producing state in the country when President Goodluck Jonathan commissioned the production of oil at the Aguleri facility of the Orient Petroleum Resources (OPR), Ltd.
The drilling of oil at the facility which became productive few months ago, was the high point of the journey which began in 2002 when the Federal Government granted licence to the company to establish and approval to construct a 55,000bpd refinery.
According to the visibly elated President Jonathan, "the good of today is not just for the people of Anambra State or Orient Petroleum Resources, but for the entire nation. Anambra basin has a lot of gas that would be explored…"
He therefore called investors in the sector to come in, but not just to export the crude but to refine the product and add value to it as people who add value to it make more money than those who export just raw cru...