Friday, March 17, 2017
Your letter didn’t say I should appear in uniform, Ali tells Senate
The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali
(retd.), on Thursday appeared before the Senate in a white tradition
attire despite the lawmakers’ insistence that he appear at the chamber
in uniform.
Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, asked Ali why he failed to appear before the lawmakers in uniform as requested.
The Customs DG said in the last letter from the Senate to him, the lawmakers did not state that he should appear in uniform.
Ekweremadu, however, said the last letter only served as a reminder
on the first letter to Ali, in which the Senate asked him to come in
uniform.
Details later…
Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, asked Ali why he failed to appear before the lawmakers in uniform as requested.
The Customs DG said in the last letter from the Senate to him, the lawmakers did not state that he should appear in uniform.
Details later…
LASG advises indefinite shutdown of Queen’s College
Samson Folarin
The Lagos State Government has advised that the Queen’s College, Yaba, be shut down indefinitely for a proper treatment of the water system in the school.
The state Ministry of Health said results from samples taken from water sources in the school showed that the water was “polluted,” adding that the school’s food handlers were also culpable.
This is just as some parents have threatened to take legal action against the school, saying someone must be held responsible for the two deaths in the college.
PUNCH Metro had reported that no fewer than 50 boarding pupils of the school were admitted in the school’s sickbay after eating spaghetti and drinking water in the refectory.
Parents and pupils told our correspondent that two pupils of the school –Vivian Osuiniyi and Bithia Itulua–who were in Junior Secondary School two and three respectively, died as a result of the epidemic.
The school’s principal, Dr Lami Amodu, was later transferred to another school in Edo State.
The school had been shut for the past two weeks to enable a health team to conduct adequate investigation into the incident.
It was learnt that the pupils were to resume on Sunday, March 19, when the Lagos State Government issued a statement recommending an indefinite closure of the school.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, who addressed the press on Thursday, stated that health records from the school’s sickbay indicated that the date of illness was January 16, 2017, adding that a total of 1,222 pupils presented themselves at the school’s clinic on account of abdominal pain, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.
He noted that 16 pupils were admitted in various hospitals, adding that nine had been discharged, two dead, while one was still on admission at the Intensive Care Unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, and three in Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba.
The statement from the ministry read, “According to the commissioner, the recommendation (for suspension of resumption) is necessary to ensure that all the sources of contaminants in the school, which had been causing the death of students, are properly handled.
“Idris said the source of the problem is the contaminated water. Water samples from six sources on the school premises were collected and analysed at the Drug Quality Control Laboratory of the Lagos State Ministry of Health in the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
“Other water samples from 10 sources were also collected and analysed at the Microbiology Department of LUTH, Idi-Araba. The results from the two laboratories showed high bacterial content in the water samples from the kitchen behind the dining hall and Queen’s Delight, the school’s water factory. The bacteria range from Coliforms, Escherichia Coli, Salmonella, Klebsiella ozoana and Aeromonas hydrophila.
“Specimens collected from 40 kitchen workers revealed that cysts of Entamoeba histolytica were isolated in the stool of 23 food handlers; Salmonella Paratyphi, the causative agent of Typhoid Fever, was also isolated from three food handlers.
“All these together imply a common source outbreak, showing repeated or continuous infection from exposure to the infectious agent. Findings from the investigations were consistent with Enteric Fever. The infection was most likely spread through contaminated water sources and infection by food handlers.”
Some parents called for a sanction of the school’s management for failing to prevent the outbreak.
A parent, whose daughter fell ill during the midterm break, said parents might take legal action against the school.
He said he had spent about N70,000 on the treatment of his daughter, who is in Senior Secondary School two.
He said, “My daughter took ill two days after she came back from the school; she had acute typhoid. I have spent about N70,000 on her.
“The government cannot afford to play the ostrich. If they don’t secure the children’s source of water, the death toll may rise. And we don’t even know how many have lost their lives during this break. My daughter is still on the edge as I speak.”
The daughter told PUNCH Metro that the septic tank of the school was not far from the school’s drinking water.
“And that is the only drinking water that we have. After my friends ate spaghetti and drank the water, they started vomiting and stooling. Two days after I returned home, I felt weak and had a bad headache. I was later admitted at LUTH,” she added.
Another parent faulted the Parent-Teacher Association for joining the school’s former principal to deny the problem.
“They sent text messages to parents, saying there was no epidemic. Things are happening and instead of us to do something, we are denying. Maybe if we had acted early enough, lives would have been saved. I paid N20,000 for the PTA levy to hire more sanitation workers and clean the water, and this is what we get? Somebody has to pay for this. You are a principal of a school and you couldn’t do anything? Do you know what it means to lose a child? Some parents are going through hell right now. I am crying. I am in pains. Until somebody sues Queen’s College, nobody will know what is going on,” he said.
PUNCH Metro watched a video of the cleanup of the school’s water tank posted by a social commentator, Jimi Disu, on Facebook.
The video showed that the water had a deep yellow colour, as screams of disbelief could be heard in the background.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Prof. Isaac Adewole, had yet to react to the report of the Lagos State Government, while the new principal of Queen’s College, Mrs. Bola Are, had yet to respond to enquiries from our correspondent as of press time.
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Justice Ngwuta earned £50,000, $196,000, N119m — Chief Registrar
Justice Sylvester Ngwuta
Ade Adesomoju, Abuja
The Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Mr. Ahmed Saleh, on Thursday, appeared before a Federal High Court in Abuja as the second prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of a Justice of the apex court, Sylvester Ngwuta.
Saleh, who was called by the prosecution to testify on the income of Ngwuta as a Justice of the Supreme Court, said between the time of Ngwuta’s appointment in 2011 and September 2016, a period of five years, the judge had earned a total of £50,000, $196,000, N119m.
Meanwhile, a newly amended charge of 12 counts, comprising money laundering and passport fraud offences, were read to Ngwuta before witnesses started to testify in the trial on Thursday.
The old charge had 16 counts.
The amendment was made by the lead prosecuting counsel, Mrs. Olufemi Fatunde, who took over the case from the former prosecutor, Mr. Charles Adeogun-Phillips, in February.
As alleged in the old set of charges, Ngwuta was accused in some of the amended counts of retaining N35,358,000; $319,596,000 and £25,915 during the raid on his house by the operatives of the Department of State Services between October 7 and 8, 2016.
He was also accused of giving a cumulative of over N400m cash to a building contractor, Nwamba Chukwuebuka, between January 2016 and September 2016 without going through financial institutions in violation of the Money Laundering Act.
He was also accused of passport fraud, among other charges.
Ngwuta pleaded not guilty to all the 12 counts which were variants of the counts in the old charge.
Saleh, who was the second prosecution witness to testify after Ngwuta was re-arraigned on Thursday, said the apex court judge was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court around June or July 2011.
According to the witness, who was led in evidence by Fatunde, the incomes accruable to Justices of the Supreme Court comprised their salaries and allowances as well as air fares and ‘estacodes’ paid to them when they travelled abroad.
He said Justices of the apex court were also being paid the sum of £10,000 for medical check-up annually, and were entitled to an ‘estacode’ of $1,300 per night whenever they were on a foreign trip.
He said Ngwuta, as a Justice of the apex court, was earning N751,087 as monthly salary and N710,00,000 as other allowances monthly.
He said for the five years period, Ngwuta had earned a cumulative of £50,000 as medical allowances, $196,000 as medical allowances, N8m for medical trips and air fares for conferences abroad and N103m as salaries.
When asked if Justices of the Supreme Court were allowed to do business while still in service, he said, “I know under the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers, judicial officers are not allowed to engage directly in businesses.”
Under cross-examination, Saleh, however, confirmed that no law barred a Justice of the Supreme Court from owning properties.
Earlier, Fatunde tendered through the first prosecution witness, Mr. Nwamba Chukwuebuka, a cash sum of N4,365,840, said to have been recovered from the Abakaliki home of Justice Ngwuta.
Chukwuebuka, a building contractor said to have been engaged by Justice Ngwuta to build some houses in Abakaliki, had earlier testified on January 18, 2017 that there was originally N27m contained in three bags, but that a substantial part of the money had been expended on the building projects before the bags were discovered by the operatives of the DSS.
He said the remaining amount of money which was counted by DSS operatives in his presence at the Abakaliki home of Justice Ngwuta was N4,365,840.
The sum of N4,365,840 cash wrapped in a cellophane and loaded in a brown bag.
The bag and another silver-color bag containing documents were also admitted as exhibits.
The judge ordered that the bags with the money should remain in the custody of the DSS for safekeeping.
The prosecuting counsel also tendered the statements made to the DSS by the witness.
The statements dated, November 12 and November 13 and 17, 2016, were admitted as exhibits without objection.
The witness, under cross-examination, confirmed that the bags and their contents belonged to the defendant and nobody else had since laid claim to them.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
The Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Mr. Ahmed Saleh, on Thursday, appeared before a Federal High Court in Abuja as the second prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of a Justice of the apex court, Sylvester Ngwuta.
Saleh, who was called by the prosecution to testify on the income of Ngwuta as a Justice of the Supreme Court, said between the time of Ngwuta’s appointment in 2011 and September 2016, a period of five years, the judge had earned a total of £50,000, $196,000, N119m.
Meanwhile, a newly amended charge of 12 counts, comprising money laundering and passport fraud offences, were read to Ngwuta before witnesses started to testify in the trial on Thursday.
The old charge had 16 counts.
The amendment was made by the lead prosecuting counsel, Mrs. Olufemi Fatunde, who took over the case from the former prosecutor, Mr. Charles Adeogun-Phillips, in February.
As alleged in the old set of charges, Ngwuta was accused in some of the amended counts of retaining N35,358,000; $319,596,000 and £25,915 during the raid on his house by the operatives of the Department of State Services between October 7 and 8, 2016.
He was also accused of giving a cumulative of over N400m cash to a building contractor, Nwamba Chukwuebuka, between January 2016 and September 2016 without going through financial institutions in violation of the Money Laundering Act.
He was also accused of passport fraud, among other charges.
Ngwuta pleaded not guilty to all the 12 counts which were variants of the counts in the old charge.
Saleh, who was the second prosecution witness to testify after Ngwuta was re-arraigned on Thursday, said the apex court judge was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court around June or July 2011.
According to the witness, who was led in evidence by Fatunde, the incomes accruable to Justices of the Supreme Court comprised their salaries and allowances as well as air fares and ‘estacodes’ paid to them when they travelled abroad.
He said Justices of the apex court were also being paid the sum of £10,000 for medical check-up annually, and were entitled to an ‘estacode’ of $1,300 per night whenever they were on a foreign trip.
He said Ngwuta, as a Justice of the apex court, was earning N751,087 as monthly salary and N710,00,000 as other allowances monthly.
He said for the five years period, Ngwuta had earned a cumulative of £50,000 as medical allowances, $196,000 as medical allowances, N8m for medical trips and air fares for conferences abroad and N103m as salaries.
When asked if Justices of the Supreme Court were allowed to do business while still in service, he said, “I know under the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers, judicial officers are not allowed to engage directly in businesses.”
Under cross-examination, Saleh, however, confirmed that no law barred a Justice of the Supreme Court from owning properties.
Earlier, Fatunde tendered through the first prosecution witness, Mr. Nwamba Chukwuebuka, a cash sum of N4,365,840, said to have been recovered from the Abakaliki home of Justice Ngwuta.
Chukwuebuka, a building contractor said to have been engaged by Justice Ngwuta to build some houses in Abakaliki, had earlier testified on January 18, 2017 that there was originally N27m contained in three bags, but that a substantial part of the money had been expended on the building projects before the bags were discovered by the operatives of the DSS.
He said the remaining amount of money which was counted by DSS operatives in his presence at the Abakaliki home of Justice Ngwuta was N4,365,840.
The sum of N4,365,840 cash wrapped in a cellophane and loaded in a brown bag.
The bag and another silver-color bag containing documents were also admitted as exhibits.
The judge ordered that the bags with the money should remain in the custody of the DSS for safekeeping.
The prosecuting counsel also tendered the statements made to the DSS by the witness.
The statements dated, November 12 and November 13 and 17, 2016, were admitted as exhibits without objection.
The witness, under cross-examination, confirmed that the bags and their contents belonged to the defendant and nobody else had since laid claim to them.
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All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
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Buhari orders fresh Paris Club loan refund to states
Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday directed the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to immediately release the second tranche of the London-Paris Club loan refund to states.
He said the presidential order should be carried out “appropriately and with dispatch.”
The President, who returned to the country on Friday from his 49-day medical vacation, also turned down advice by state governors to take more rest.
Buhari said he would not take any further rest until he had addressed all issues affecting Nigerians.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President spoke while addressing a meeting of the National Economic Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The council, which is made up of state governors, is chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
Buhari, who had earlier released the first tranche of N388bn to the state governments in December 2016, said the latest release was meant to ease their financial hardship.
He stressed the need for the state governors to ensure the settlement of unpaid salaries and pension arrears of their workers with the funds.
“I will not rest until I address those issues that affect our people.
“One of these basic things is the issue of salaries. It is most important that workers are able to feed their families, pay rent and school fees, then other things can follow,” the President was quoted to have said.
He, however, thanked the governors for their display of “love and respect” for him.
Buhari said he was overwhelmed by his recent experience in which states, irrespective of political differences, charged their citizens to pray in mosques and churches for his well-being.
He apologised to the governors for barring them from visiting him while he was in London.
“I didn’t want government to move to London. I wanted it to remain here and I am glad it did,” he said.
After narrating what he went through while on that vacation, Buhari noted the suggestion by the governors for him to take more rest, but insisted that he would remain relentless in the pursuit of the interest of the Nigerian people at all times.
This, according to him, was the only way to show his gratitude to the people who, he said, “had given so much to me. I was overwhelmed by the celebration of my return all across the country.”
The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Abdul-Aziz Yari of Zamfara State, assured the President, on behalf of his colleagues, that they would continue to support his policies and actions which they had adjudged as being in the nation’s best interest.
The governors of Imo, Akwa-Ibom, Osun and Abia states thanked the President for saving the day for the states through the first tranche of the London-Paris Club loan refunds.
They, however, called for the immediate release of the second one.
They also commended the trust the President reposed in Osinbajo, whom they said did not disappoint when he acted as President.
Buhari had arrived the venue of the meeting chaired by Osinbajo at about 12.30pm while it was already underway.
He went round the hall to shake hands with the state governors and deputy governors standing in for their governors one after the other.
The governors also presented the President with a “get-well” card which they all signed.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday directed the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to immediately release the second tranche of the London-Paris Club loan refund to states.
He said the presidential order should be carried out “appropriately and with dispatch.”
The President, who returned to the country on Friday from his 49-day medical vacation, also turned down advice by state governors to take more rest.
Buhari said he would not take any further rest until he had addressed all issues affecting Nigerians.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President spoke while addressing a meeting of the National Economic Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The council, which is made up of state governors, is chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
Buhari, who had earlier released the first tranche of N388bn to the state governments in December 2016, said the latest release was meant to ease their financial hardship.
He stressed the need for the state governors to ensure the settlement of unpaid salaries and pension arrears of their workers with the funds.
“I will not rest until I address those issues that affect our people.
“One of these basic things is the issue of salaries. It is most important that workers are able to feed their families, pay rent and school fees, then other things can follow,” the President was quoted to have said.
He, however, thanked the governors for their display of “love and respect” for him.
Buhari said he was overwhelmed by his recent experience in which states, irrespective of political differences, charged their citizens to pray in mosques and churches for his well-being.
He apologised to the governors for barring them from visiting him while he was in London.
“I didn’t want government to move to London. I wanted it to remain here and I am glad it did,” he said.
After narrating what he went through while on that vacation, Buhari noted the suggestion by the governors for him to take more rest, but insisted that he would remain relentless in the pursuit of the interest of the Nigerian people at all times.
This, according to him, was the only way to show his gratitude to the people who, he said, “had given so much to me. I was overwhelmed by the celebration of my return all across the country.”
The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Abdul-Aziz Yari of Zamfara State, assured the President, on behalf of his colleagues, that they would continue to support his policies and actions which they had adjudged as being in the nation’s best interest.
The governors of Imo, Akwa-Ibom, Osun and Abia states thanked the President for saving the day for the states through the first tranche of the London-Paris Club loan refunds.
They, however, called for the immediate release of the second one.
They also commended the trust the President reposed in Osinbajo, whom they said did not disappoint when he acted as President.
Buhari had arrived the venue of the meeting chaired by Osinbajo at about 12.30pm while it was already underway.
He went round the hall to shake hands with the state governors and deputy governors standing in for their governors one after the other.
The governors also presented the President with a “get-well” card which they all signed.
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All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
Seized N3bn: Court remands ex-NNPC boss, Yakubu, in Kuje Prison
Ex-NNPC boss, Andrew Yakubu in court. Photo: Olatunji Obasa
Ade Adesomoju, Abuja
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday remanded a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, in Kuje Prison pending when ruling on his bail application would be delivered on March 21.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed gave the order of remand shortly after the ex-NNPC boss was arraigned and his bail application argued on Thursday.
Yakubu, on Thursday, pleaded not guilty to the six charges
preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on
March 10.
The charges against him border on fraud and false declaration of assets.
The charges were all in relation to the money recovered from his house in Kaduna on February 3.
Some operatives of the EFCC had stormed a building belonging to the former NNPC boss and recovered the sum of $9.7m and £74,000 stashed in a huge fireproof safe in a slum in Kaduna.
The sums of the foreign currencies amounted to about N3bn.
Yakubu was driven away from the court premises by prison officials around 3.30pm on Thursday.
Arguing his client’s bail application shortly after the arraignment, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), urged the court to grant bail to the former NNPC boss on either self-recognisance or in liberal terms.
Raji said his client needed to urgently return to the United Kingdom where he was receiving treatment before voluntarily returning to Nigeria to surrender himself to the EFCC.
The lawyer also said the offences that his client was charged with were bailable.
But the EFCC’s lead prosecuting counsel, Mr. Ben Ikani, opposed the bail application.
Ikani said the EFCC had been taking good care of Yakubu while he was in custody.
While admitting that granting of bail was at the discretion of the judge, Ikani urged the judge to impose “stringent conditions” if Yakubu’s bail application would be granted.
The defendant was accused in some of the counts of knowingly failing to make full disclosure of the sum of $9,772,800 and £74,000 to the EFCC at the anti-graft agency’s office on or about August 18, 2015
The EFCC said the offence was contrary to Section 27 (3)(a) of the EFCC Establishment Act 2004, and punishable under Section 27 (3)(c) of the same Act.
It was also alleged in other counts that between 2012 and 2014, in Abuja, the former NNPC boss, without going through a financial institution, received cash payments of 9,772,800 and £74,000.
Another count read, “While being the Group Managing Director of NNPC, sometime between 2012 and 2014, within the jurisdiction of the court, with intent to avoid a lawful transaction under the law, transported at various times, an aggregate sum of 9,772,800 USD to Kaduna State, an offence contrary to Section 7(4)(b)(ii) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act; and punishable under Section 7(5) of same Act.”
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All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
The charges against him border on fraud and false declaration of assets.
The charges were all in relation to the money recovered from his house in Kaduna on February 3.
Some operatives of the EFCC had stormed a building belonging to the former NNPC boss and recovered the sum of $9.7m and £74,000 stashed in a huge fireproof safe in a slum in Kaduna.
The sums of the foreign currencies amounted to about N3bn.
Yakubu was driven away from the court premises by prison officials around 3.30pm on Thursday.
Arguing his client’s bail application shortly after the arraignment, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), urged the court to grant bail to the former NNPC boss on either self-recognisance or in liberal terms.
Raji said his client needed to urgently return to the United Kingdom where he was receiving treatment before voluntarily returning to Nigeria to surrender himself to the EFCC.
The lawyer also said the offences that his client was charged with were bailable.
But the EFCC’s lead prosecuting counsel, Mr. Ben Ikani, opposed the bail application.
Ikani said the EFCC had been taking good care of Yakubu while he was in custody.
While admitting that granting of bail was at the discretion of the judge, Ikani urged the judge to impose “stringent conditions” if Yakubu’s bail application would be granted.
The defendant was accused in some of the counts of knowingly failing to make full disclosure of the sum of $9,772,800 and £74,000 to the EFCC at the anti-graft agency’s office on or about August 18, 2015
The EFCC said the offence was contrary to Section 27 (3)(a) of the EFCC Establishment Act 2004, and punishable under Section 27 (3)(c) of the same Act.
It was also alleged in other counts that between 2012 and 2014, in Abuja, the former NNPC boss, without going through a financial institution, received cash payments of 9,772,800 and £74,000.
Another count read, “While being the Group Managing Director of NNPC, sometime between 2012 and 2014, within the jurisdiction of the court, with intent to avoid a lawful transaction under the law, transported at various times, an aggregate sum of 9,772,800 USD to Kaduna State, an offence contrary to Section 7(4)(b)(ii) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act; and punishable under Section 7(5) of same Act.”
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Contact: editor@punchng.com
Police arrest plumber for raping daughters
e gave her N500 each time he had sex with her.
“Her mother fled home two years ago when he raped the girl’s
elder sister. The whereabouts of the other victim had yet to be known.
“But the suspect is still denying that he raped them even though her daughter insisted he did,” the source said.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, on
Thursday at the command’s headquarters in Ikeja, confirmed Lasisi’s
arrest, adding that the two cases were being investigated.
He said, “The suspect was arrested for defiling his
daughters. The elder one ran away and he continued to serially molest
the younger one. The suspect will be paraded after the completion of
investigation.”
Meanwhile, a student of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of
Education, Ijanikin, Lagos State, Michael Emeka, has confessed to
belonging to Aiye Confraternity, saying he spent part of his school fee
to mark his initiation into the group.
Twenty-five-year-old Emeka said apart from drinks he bought
with the school fee, he also paid N25,000 to cement his membership of
the group.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Emeka, who had been on the wanted list of the police, was trailed to a place in Ijanikin sometime in February 2017.
He was eventually tracked down on the premises of the
Nigerian Foreign Service Academy on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, while
charms and a locally-made pistol were recovered from him.
The Imo State indigene told our correspondent that he got the charms from the cult leader to fortify himself against gunshots.
He said, “I was initiated into the cult group in 2013. I joined the group to avoid being killed.”
Owoseni said the suspect had been terrorising Ijanikin and its environs, adding that he would be charged to court soon.
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All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
Buhari orders fresh Paris Club loan refund to states
Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday directed the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to immediately release the second tranche of the London-Paris Club loan refund to states.
He said the presidential order should be carried out “appropriately and with dispatch.”
The President, who returned to the country on Friday from his 49-day medical vacation, also turned down advice by state governors to take more rest.
Buhari said he would not take any further rest until he had addressed all issues affecting Nigerians.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President spoke while addressing a meeting of the National Economic Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The council, which is made up of state governors, is chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
Buhari, who had earlier released the first tranche of N388bn to the state governments in December 2016, said the latest release was meant to ease their financial hardship.
He stressed the need for the state governors to ensure the settlement of unpaid salaries and pension arrears of their workers with the funds.
“I will not rest until I address those issues that affect our people.
“One of these basic things is the issue of salaries. It is most important that workers are able to feed their families, pay rent and school fees, then other things can follow,” the President was quoted to have said.
He, however, thanked the governors for their display of “love and respect” for him.
Buhari said he was overwhelmed by his recent experience in which states, irrespective of political differences, charged their citizens to pray in mosques and churches for his well-being.
He apologised to the governors for barring them from visiting him while he was in London.
“I didn’t want government to move to London. I wanted it to remain here and I am glad it did,” he said.
After narrating what he went through while on that vacation, Buhari noted the suggestion by the governors for him to take more rest, but insisted that he would remain relentless in the pursuit of the interest of the Nigerian people at all times.
This, according to him, was the only way to show his gratitude to the people who, he said, “had given so much to me. I was overwhelmed by the celebration of my return all across the country.”
The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Abdul-Aziz Yari of Zamfara State, assured the President, on behalf of his colleagues, that they would continue to support his policies and actions which they had adjudged as being in the nation’s best interest.
The governors of Imo, Akwa-Ibom, Osun and Abia states thanked the President for saving the day for the states through the first tranche of the London-Paris Club loan refunds.
They, however, called for the immediate release of the second one.
They also commended the trust the President reposed in Osinbajo, whom they said did not disappoint when he acted as President.
Buhari had arrived the venue of the meeting chaired by Osinbajo at about 12.30pm while it was already underway.
He went round the hall to shake hands with the state governors and deputy governors standing in for their governors one after the other.
The governors also presented the President with a “get-well” card which they all signed.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday directed the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to immediately release the second tranche of the London-Paris Club loan refund to states.
He said the presidential order should be carried out “appropriately and with dispatch.”
The President, who returned to the country on Friday from his 49-day medical vacation, also turned down advice by state governors to take more rest.
Buhari said he would not take any further rest until he had addressed all issues affecting Nigerians.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President spoke while addressing a meeting of the National Economic Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The council, which is made up of state governors, is chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
Buhari, who had earlier released the first tranche of N388bn to the state governments in December 2016, said the latest release was meant to ease their financial hardship.
He stressed the need for the state governors to ensure the settlement of unpaid salaries and pension arrears of their workers with the funds.
“I will not rest until I address those issues that affect our people.
“One of these basic things is the issue of salaries. It is most important that workers are able to feed their families, pay rent and school fees, then other things can follow,” the President was quoted to have said.
He, however, thanked the governors for their display of “love and respect” for him.
Buhari said he was overwhelmed by his recent experience in which states, irrespective of political differences, charged their citizens to pray in mosques and churches for his well-being.
He apologised to the governors for barring them from visiting him while he was in London.
“I didn’t want government to move to London. I wanted it to remain here and I am glad it did,” he said.
After narrating what he went through while on that vacation, Buhari noted the suggestion by the governors for him to take more rest, but insisted that he would remain relentless in the pursuit of the interest of the Nigerian people at all times.
This, according to him, was the only way to show his gratitude to the people who, he said, “had given so much to me. I was overwhelmed by the celebration of my return all across the country.”
The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Abdul-Aziz Yari of Zamfara State, assured the President, on behalf of his colleagues, that they would continue to support his policies and actions which they had adjudged as being in the nation’s best interest.
The governors of Imo, Akwa-Ibom, Osun and Abia states thanked the President for saving the day for the states through the first tranche of the London-Paris Club loan refunds.
They, however, called for the immediate release of the second one.
They also commended the trust the President reposed in Osinbajo, whom they said did not disappoint when he acted as President.
Buhari had arrived the venue of the meeting chaired by Osinbajo at about 12.30pm while it was already underway.
He went round the hall to shake hands with the state governors and deputy governors standing in for their governors one after the other.
The governors also presented the President with a “get-well” card which they all signed.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
Mata fires Man U into Europa League quarter-finals
Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini (floor)
looks up at the ball after being fouled during the UEFA Europa League
round of 16 second-leg football match between Manchester United and FC
Rostov.
Juan Mata scored the only goal as Manchester United
recorded an underwhelming 1-0 victory over FC Rostov on Thursday to
reach the Europa League quarter-finals.
Mata struck 20 minutes from the end of a subdued game, completing a 2-1 aggregate win that sent United into the last eight of Europe’s second-tier club competition for the first time since 1985.
But victory came at the cost of an injury to world-record signing Paul Pogba, who left the fray with an apparent hamstring injury early in the second half at an unseasonably cold Old Trafford.
United, who have never previously won the Europa League, will discover their last-eight opponents in Friday’s draw in Nyon.
Jose Mourinho’s men are seeking to add the trophy to the League Cup they won last month and have the added incentive of knowing it will yield a place in next season’s Champions League.
Mourinho kept faith with the back three he had deployed in Monday’s 1-0 FA Cup defeat at Chelsea, but whereas it was a defensive tactic at Stamford Bridge, there was very little defending to do against Rostov.
Decried for a below-par display at Chelsea, Pogba was able to spray diagonal passes around to his heart’s content, such was the Russian side’s stubborn determination to defend the edge of their own box.
Marcos Rojo had an early header swatted away by visiting goalkeeper Nikita Medvedev, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic putting the rebound against the post from a tight angle.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan ran through and chipped wide from Mata’s pass and might have won a penalty in the 27th minute following a push by Medvedev, but Lithuanian referee Gediminas Mazeika said no.
Ibrahimovic also saw a shot deflected over by Medvedev and later left the right-hand post quaking with a thunderous shot, while Pogba’s left-foot curler drew a full-length save from Medvedev.
Pogba departed in the 47th minute, Marouane Fellaini taking his place, and Rostov briefly threatened to take the upper hand, Sergio Romero saving from Sardar Azmoun and Christian Noboa.
United also lost Daley Blind after he took a bang to the head, which resulted in the curious sight of Phil Jones coming on as a jobbing left wing-back.
The hosts finally made the breakthrough in the 70th minute after Mata intercepted a loose pass in midfield and spread the ball wide to Mkhitaryan on the United right.
The Armenian’s low cross was back-heeled towards goal by Ibrahimovic and Mata charged in at the back post to slam home from close range.
Aleksandr Bukharov, Rostov’s scorer in the first leg, threatened to peg United back in the 79th minute, but Romero was equal to both his glancing header and Noboa’s dangerous stoppage-time free-kick.
AFP
Mata struck 20 minutes from the end of a subdued game, completing a 2-1 aggregate win that sent United into the last eight of Europe’s second-tier club competition for the first time since 1985.
But victory came at the cost of an injury to world-record signing Paul Pogba, who left the fray with an apparent hamstring injury early in the second half at an unseasonably cold Old Trafford.
United, who have never previously won the Europa League, will discover their last-eight opponents in Friday’s draw in Nyon.
Jose Mourinho’s men are seeking to add the trophy to the League Cup they won last month and have the added incentive of knowing it will yield a place in next season’s Champions League.
Mourinho kept faith with the back three he had deployed in Monday’s 1-0 FA Cup defeat at Chelsea, but whereas it was a defensive tactic at Stamford Bridge, there was very little defending to do against Rostov.
Decried for a below-par display at Chelsea, Pogba was able to spray diagonal passes around to his heart’s content, such was the Russian side’s stubborn determination to defend the edge of their own box.
Marcos Rojo had an early header swatted away by visiting goalkeeper Nikita Medvedev, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic putting the rebound against the post from a tight angle.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan ran through and chipped wide from Mata’s pass and might have won a penalty in the 27th minute following a push by Medvedev, but Lithuanian referee Gediminas Mazeika said no.
Ibrahimovic also saw a shot deflected over by Medvedev and later left the right-hand post quaking with a thunderous shot, while Pogba’s left-foot curler drew a full-length save from Medvedev.
Pogba departed in the 47th minute, Marouane Fellaini taking his place, and Rostov briefly threatened to take the upper hand, Sergio Romero saving from Sardar Azmoun and Christian Noboa.
United also lost Daley Blind after he took a bang to the head, which resulted in the curious sight of Phil Jones coming on as a jobbing left wing-back.
The hosts finally made the breakthrough in the 70th minute after Mata intercepted a loose pass in midfield and spread the ball wide to Mkhitaryan on the United right.
The Armenian’s low cross was back-heeled towards goal by Ibrahimovic and Mata charged in at the back post to slam home from close range.
Aleksandr Bukharov, Rostov’s scorer in the first leg, threatened to peg United back in the 79th minute, but Romero was equal to both his glancing header and Noboa’s dangerous stoppage-time free-kick.
AFP
Thursday, March 16, 2017
INEC queries 202 staff members over election malpractices Olusola Babarinsa /
INEC queries 202 staff members over election malpractices
Olusola Babarinsa / 2 hours ago
The Independent National Electoral Commission has issued 202 queries to its staff members in connection with election malpractices.
The Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made this known while briefing Civil Society Organisations under the umbrella of Situation Room on INEC’s preparations for 2019 elections Thursday in Abuja.
According to him, the commission will not tolerate violation of the Electoral Act no matter who is involved.
He said, “So far, we have issued 202 queries to the staff mentioned in the interim EFCC report covering election in 16 states but we have finished work on 14 of the 16 states; whatever action we need to take will be taken.
“We will ensure that there is no more violation of the electoral act and we will spare no one who is perpetuating it.”
He said after what happened in Rivers, the commission had to set up its own administrative inquiry which indicted a number of staff members.
He said, “Whoever is charged to court for that kind of offence is interdicted, meaning the staff would be suspended and placed on half salary until proven otherwise and that is what we have done.’’
Yakubu said the staff remained innocent under INEC’s law until proven guilty, adding that the commission had begun to plan immediately for the 2019 elections, with a draft likely to be presented to major stakeholders in a few weeks’ time.
He said budget wise, INEC was considering breaking the budget over a two-year period.
He said the early preparation would also afford INEC the opportunity to ensure that political parties did the right thing with regards to the selection of candidates.
According to Yakubu, reviewing cases of the 80 elections nullified the last time, INEC’s scrutiny of the judgment led to the discovery that many were due to the improper conduct of party primaries beginning from the nomination of candidates.
He said, “Somebody has not gone through the primaries but the name is presented to INEC.
“The electoral act says any candidate whose name is forwarded to the commission cannot be rejected.”
He said there was the need to continue to engage with parties.
He said INEC had conducted 167 elections since the last general elections and a little over 20 percent did not meet the threshold.
He said, “So, they were declared inconclusive and yet people who did not understand the antecedent resorted to bashing INEC. ”
(NAN)
N963.7m subsidy fraud: Oil marketer, Jubril, jailed 10 years Olusola Babarinsa
N963.7m subsidy fraud: Oil marketer, Jubril, jailed 10 years
Olusola Babarinsa / 2 hours ago
Ramon Oladimeji and Oluwatosin Omojuyigbe
A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Thursday convicted an oil marketer, Rowaye Jubril, and his company, Brila Energy Limited, of a fuel subsidy scam of N963.7m.
Justice Lateefa Okunnu, in a judgment on Thursday, sentenced Jubril to a jail term of 10 years for the fraud.
She said the jail term would commence from Thursday.
The judge also ordered the convicts to make restitution to the Federal Government by refunding the N963.7m, which they fraudulently obtained as subsidy on the false claim that they imported 13,500 metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit into the country.
The convicts had fraudulently obtained the money under the Federal Government’s Petroleum Support Fund between October 2010 and May 2012.
After uncovering the fraud, the EFCC dragged the oil marketer and his company to court on
November 2012 and arraigned them on 13 counts bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretext, forgery and use of false documents.
The anti-graft agency had told the judge that Jubril and his company acted contrary to Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 2006.
They were also said to have contravened sections 467 and 468 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State 2003.
In her judgment on Thursday, Justice Okunnu found the oil marketer and his company guilty as charged by the prosecution.
The judge sentenced them to 10 years jail term on count one.
She sentenced them to eight years jail imprisonment on each of count two to 13.
She, however, held that the sentences would run concurrently.
The conviction and sentencing of Jubril and his company came barely two months after Justice Okunnu convicted the Managing Director of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, Mrs. Ada Ugo-Ngali, and sentenced her to a jail term of 10 years for a fuel subsidy fraud of N754m.
Also convicted were the Chairman of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, Walter Wagbatsoma, and the company itself.
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Apostle Suleman: Why the truth matters
Abimbola Adelakun
A week ago, I touched on the ongoing
controversy between Apostle Johnson Suleman of Omega Fire Ministries and
a woman, Ms. Stephanie Otobo, who accused him of sexual impropriety and
a breach of “marriage contract”. Since then Apostle Suleman has turned
out to be one of the luckiest holy men in the world. As the narrative is
being shaped in several quarters, the Apostle is supposedly being
persecuted by his state governor whom he antagonises. Suleman himself is
cleverly milking spiritual cum political capital from his purported
tale of harassment. While that seems probable, it is not a viable reason
to hastily exonerate this pastor from the severe accusations Otobo made
against him.
Like flies attracted to decaying flesh,
Apostle Suleman has a former presidential aide in his beleaguered
corner. Our wing-man, a “pastor” who himself was once embroiled in a
scandal over his multiple identities, has grabbed the Twitter soapbox to
proclaim the good works of the pastor. Sorry, but what is being
contested here is not his charity, it is his integrity. If Apostle
Suleman is truly guilty of Ms. Otobo’s charges, no good he has done for
indigent people can erase the fact that he abused spiritual authority
and privilege.
The dots are easy to connect to reveal
why the Apostle, despite his alleged indiscretions, has zealots
defending him and claiming that their suspect Christian values are under
attack by some rampaging counterforces. The Nigerians who have this
kind of mindset are typically blinded in one eye by religious sentiment
and in the other by ethnic parochialism. No matter how they spin this,
the truth needs to be established and not merely presumed on some
baseless sentiment. As a man of God faced with such a weighty accusation
that impugns his credibility, Apostle Suleman himself needs a stronger
defence than making silly prophecies about “marine spirits.”
Otobo stated that she travelled with the
pastor on his evangelical ministrations and that he wired her sums of
money. The police should cross-check both their passports to confirm
this to be true. He should provide his passports and his bank details to
prove her wrong.
There are important reasons the
unflinching innocence of Apostle Suleman is an imperative. First is the
fact that he heads an organisation gifted a non-profit status. If it was
true that he was bestowing the money he made in church on women with
whom he had sexual relationships, then he should be penalised and his
tax-free status revoked. It is morally and legally wrong for a pastor to
collect the seed offering from people who use the money as a “point of
contact” for their miracles and lavish it on women who satisfy his lust.
No matter what pastors say about “God’s
money”, the fact remains that financial accountability is essential.
God’s money is not a “no-go area” and corruption is corruption, no
matter where it takes place. We cannot complain about corruption in the
government and justify corruption in the church.
The establishment of Apostle Suleman’s
innocence is also necessary because Christianity, by its very nature,
imposes an obligation of self-abnegation and self-sacrifice on its
adherents especially the leadership. A man is a man of God not because
he can prophesy the death of a state governor but because he practises a
level of self-denial and self-discipline that opens him up to spiritual
power and experiences. To be a man of God goes beyond being called
“Papa” or “Daddy in the Lord”, it is about self-crucifixion, a
suppression of desires and a daily subjection of the flesh to certain
ascetic and monastic practices.
The legitimacy of men of God revolves
around the belief that in their private spaces, they pray longer and
study the Bible with far more commitment than lay members. We take it
for granted that they practise certain spiritual exercises and as a
result they claim certain privileges from the public. A pastor that
lacks libidinal restraint is therefore useless because it means he is
corruptible and untrustworthy.
There is no question of whether he is
accountable to only his church members, he also owes the public a
measure of accountability. Spirituality is not sports, but let me relate
the hard work of being a pastor to athleticism. Athletes are some of
the highest paid people in the world because they take their bodies
through a disciplinary regime so arduous regular humans cannot attempt
them. They do this to win a race or a game and they get heavily
compensated. When we find out that they have not worked hard enough and
they merely used performance enhancers, they are stripped of their
credit. The same ethics go for men of God. They must discipline
themselves otherwise they have no moral right to speak for God or claim
benefits in his name. Nigerians need to learn to stop defending their
pastors’ excesses and learn to demand accountability from them.
Some years ago, I interviewed a woman in
Ibadan. The woman, a retail seller of soft drinks, told me about a
pastor who had prescribed a fasting and prayer session for his flock but
entered her shop at 11am on the first day of the programme to buy a
bottle of a popular malt drink! She was not a member of his church but
she attended services occasionally and so she knew him. The woman told
me she watched the pastor drink and drain the bottle. After he left, she
called the church members she knew and told them to go break their fast
since the pastor himself had broken his. I asked her why she did not
challenge him and she replied that the phrase, “Man of God” means “the
man” comes before “the God.” Pastors are just human like us, she said.
I found her rationalisation both
fascinating and upsetting. How could she be so undemanding of a man that
imposed on others a spiritual procedure he himself could not adhere to?
The kind of laissez faire attitude to religious moral standards she
exhibited is an aspect of the Nigerian religion that confuses me. Why
was she quick to overlook the pastor’s hypocrisy and lack of
self-discipline to offer an excuse for him? Is that not the same way
Nigerians quickly rally around the same politicians who have robbed them
of their national patrimony? Why are Nigerians hell-bent on protecting
the virtues of their leaders despite their sins?
In Western countries, pastors like
Bishop Eddie Long, Ted Haggard, and Jim Bakker have all had cases of
sexual indiscretions. When they were exposed, they apologised and
recused themselves from the altar while they dealt with their sins.
Why is Nigeria different? Why do our
pastors resort to “strong head” when challenged on their sins? Pastor
Biodun Fatoyinbo of COZA promised to give us a “robust reply” he has
since left the public in abeyance with his elusiveness. What is it about
the Nigerian character that makes penance for betrayal of public
confidence a non-starter? From the secular to the sacred realm, people
who are caught in sin merely deny and assert their tainted moral
authority. A former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, returned from
prison recently. The same man who confessed to all his crimes in the UK
court now insists he was innocent and was only a victim of political
machinations. From pastors to politicians, the story is the same: I
didn’t do it, I must have been set up by someone…
Nigerians should stop making excuses for
their spiritual and political leaders and let them take responsibility
for their actions. Faith practices are a powerful historical and
cultural force that shapes political sphere and if, as a society, we
want a better political system, we should start with the religious
sphere.
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All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
#BBNaija: Obaseki attacks TTT for claiming he is single
As long as #BBNaija is concerned there is never a lack of action and reaction both on and off screen.
The spotlight is currently on ThinTallTony for not coming
out to his in-house lover, Bisola that he is married with children. TTT
told Bisola that he is a single man, “By The Grace of God”.
Many fans have come for TTT believing N25million is not worth his denying his family. One of the voices against TTT is actress Matilda Obaseki.
Matilda holds that TTT’s wife is a fool if she is happy with his acts in the house. See her tweet.http://punchng.com/bbnaija-obaseki-attacks-ttt-claiming-single/
Many fans have come for TTT believing N25million is not worth his denying his family. One of the voices against TTT is actress Matilda Obaseki.
Matilda holds that TTT’s wife is a fool if she is happy with his acts in the house. See her tweet.http://punchng.com/bbnaija-obaseki-attacks-ttt-claiming-single/
BSc. Bus Conducting, Lagos University
Abimbola Adelakun
Yoruba films aficionados would no doubt
be familiar with the spectre of the gateman, a comic relief that almost
always overwhelms the story arc. Most times, the gateman is caricatured
as a half-wit; his “acting” lacks any artistic subtlety; he talks too
much and most of the lines are improvised, and can be irrational and
rude. Like Esu in Yoruba cosmology who is the gatekeeper between the
celestial and terrestrial realms and therefore privileged to know many
secrets of both humans and the gods, the gateman in Yoruba films also
knows too much for his lowly status. Much credit can be given to
Babatunde Omodina, the Baba Suwe character who turned the role of a
gateman into such an outsized and hyper-visible one. His natural
boisterousness meant no director could contain him and so he was left to
roam free. Without the discipline of a script, he was uncontainable,
disruptive, rude, and brash.
The gateman is also a reminder that
Nigeria’s technological evolution is static. Our society is one that
necessarily rigs the urbanscape with fences and manned gates because we
have not quite developed sophisticated and automated means of securing
our houses. We resort to fences and gates even though they are ugly and
take up useful space; some really beautiful architectural masterpiece
cannot be flaunted because the owner has to wall him/herself inside.
Yet, without fences we would be doomed by ravaging forces from outside
that threaten our private domains. Since the network of infrastructure
that can help us manage our urban landscape more efficiently is
currently missing, we have the gateman.
The gateman thus signifies a technocultural lack, a permanent reminder that we are a pre-automation society.
Another reminder of such lack is the bus
conductor. Bus conductors exist because our society has not yet engaged
technology. We still use bus conductor to chant destinations at the top
of their voices. We are not yet a cashless society where, instead of
submitting our money to a conductor, we can simply swipe bus tickets or
cards. If we have properly designated bus stops, and each bus has
buttons one can press to indicate to the driver that one wants to
alight, we will have no need for conductors. Just like we should,
ideally, have minimal or no need at all for gatemen.
However, Nigeria not only has bus
conductors, they also have an association run by a “national president.”
Typical of labour union in Nigeria to display socialist pretensions,
the president goes by the title of a “comrade!”
Lately, the President of Bus Conductors
Association of Nigeria, Comrade Israel Ade Adeshola, announced that they
were working with the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation to employ
1,000 graduates from various universities as bus conductors. He said
they were already training the graduates and they would be paid N50,000
monthly as salary. Their objective is to make “bus conducting
attractive, respected, and dignified as obtainable globally.” I do not
know how much of the globe “comrade” Adeshola has travelled, but if he
is talking about western societies, he should know that the job of a bus
conductor has long been phased out. The same thing with jobs like car
wash and fuel attendants. While those societies are still experimenting
with driverless cars – and one day their buses will drive themselves –
Adeshola should also know that those who drive their buses are mainly
those with equivalent of senior secondary school certificate and some
professional certification.
For the life of me, I had to wonder why
of all people they had to reach for to empower bus conducting, it had to
be university graduates. What becomes of the uneducated and the school
dropouts that currently do the job of bus conductors when graduates
begin to gentrify such occupations? Why not train those that hold the
jobs if they are concerned about the dignity of the profession? Either
the proponents of the idea have an aversion for what the university
personifies or they are espousing the Nigerian reality – that the
quality of a graduate degree in Nigeria has been so devalued it is no
better than illiteracy, and should therefore be denigrated accordingly.
Let me make it clear at this point that I
am in no way looking down on bus conductors. Through their jobs, they
hold up their own share of the Nigerian sky. Like many of us, they are
simply trying to live their lives with as much human dignity as they
deserve. A decent society is one where everyone, including low wage
earners, is not only allowed their dignity but also access to social
structures that can guarantee their upward mobility. If anybody with a
university degree, of their own accord choose to be a bus conductor, it
should be no problem. My worry is governmental involvement; it means
they are not thinking with an eye for the future, just merely widening
the culture of poverty and underdevelopment.
We should be making plans towards using
technology to create more opportunities for the society and planning for
that time when certain professions would be inevitably phased out. This
BSc “Bus Conductor” plan will instead contract opportunities.
Meanwhile, as they are planning a future of “Bus Conducting” for
graduates, Nigeria is busy approving more universities and we are
planning to turn more polytechnics into universities. This kind of
disparate thinking reflects part of the problems of our society. We do
not have an overall idea and philosophy that undergird policies, and
leaders in their various corners basically end up working at
cross-purposes.
What exactly does a Lagos bus conductor
do that anyone needs four years of education in the university to
execute? If you want people who earn low wages to aspire to get an
education, why not start with OND at least? Why start from the
university which is the pipeline through which societies train their
elite and thinkers? Why send people to universities and then provide
them with jobs they do not need an education for? Anyone that thinks
that having graduates as bus conductors will improve road business
should first of all ask why Nigeria that produces thousands of graduates
every year has been unable to think her way through modernisation. A
number of the National Union of Road Traffic Workers’ officials in
Nigeria flaunt degrees but you only need to see their primal conduct
when they want to seize motor parks from each other. If we have to “use”
graduates to try to shore up what is deficient in every stratum of the
society, then we would have to take everyone through the university so
they could get jobs as even gatemen!
We should be looking at widening
opportunities and one track is vocational education. A country like
Germany has a model of vocational education that enables students to
attend schools for an average of two days a week and spend the rest of
the time being affiliated to a company where they learn skills of
professions. Although Germany has standard universities, more than half
of students who leave high school choose this dual vocational training
option rather than more conceptual kind of education the university
offers. Nigeria can refine this system to suit her own local needs.
There are university students who are unfulfilled because they would
have been better suited elsewhere. Ours is a society that places too
much emphasis on university certificates but not everyone is wired to
pass through that system, neither should a university degree be the only
route or access to self-sustenance in any society.
With vocational education, Nigeria too
can build students who will not only know crafts that can translate into
direct impact on the society through self-employment, but also build
theoretical education to boost their knowledge of how things actually
work and how they can be improved. Many technicians in Nigeria simply
acquired the craft, they cannot reverse engineer so as to improve on the
manufacturing process. Those are the aspects Lagos State should be
looking at, not enticing poor and desperate graduates with a N50,000
salary to take a job that is no longer necessary in a modern society.
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All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
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