communitynews Community leader disburses N3.2m to Ikere women
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community leader in IkereEkiti, Colonel Sunday Akinola (retd) has disbursed over N3.2 million to 67 indigent women drawn from various quarters of his native Ikere-Ekiti community, headquarters of Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State. The programme was tagged: “Women Poverty Alleviation Initiative. Speaking while flagging off the programme in lkere Ekiti, the retired military officer, who explained that the gesture might continue throughout his lifetime, said the beneficiaries were not expected to pay back N50,000 each disbursed to them under the scheme. He encouraged them to make judicious use of the fund as this would boost his morale towards the expansion of the programme next year. Akinola, who said beneficiaries were expected to form a cooperative society through which they could build a strong capital base for future maintenance and expansion of their businesses, noted that the scheme was in honour of his his late father, Chief Akinola Oisa. He said: “This is the first phase of the programme. We hope to establish a cooperative society in memory of late High Chief Akinola Oisa, where a high percentage of Ikere women would draw from a trust fund from Wema Bank Plc as loans to do their businesses.” In an address at the event, the monarch of
Friday, 1 January, 2016
the community, Oba Adejimi Adu Alagbado, thanked the donor for
the gesture, noting that he was impressed by the swell of positive devel-
opments championed by prominent indigenes of the community since his
From left, Treasurer, Oyo State All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Muraina Kakako; Deputy Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Honourable Abdulwasi Musa; an industrialist, Chief Tejubiyi Ishola and immediate past Caretaker Chairman, Saki West Local Government Area, Alhaji Yunus Gbadamosi. PHOTO: WALE AKINSELURE
THE Kwara State government has been urged to resuscitate the moribund booster stations of the state owned Radio Kwara or establish new ones in different parts of the state to ensure effective dissemination of information across the state. This was part of resolutions reached by the state House of Assembly following a motion moved by the member representing Ilesha/Gwanara Constituency, Honourable Umar Gunu, on the need to address the
who died several years ago, in the memories of the people of the community. He appealed to the beneficiaries not to waste the fund on frivolities but invest it in their businesses as they shall be monitored to assess the level of their performances from time to time. Oba Adu said “with the economic downturn in Nigeria, the rich ones in our midst should think of community empowerment such as this. If you are rich, you are so because God has decided to bless you. And you in turn should bless others like our brother is doing.” Also in his comments, the coordinator of the programme, Mr Tunji Omoyeni, said the beneficiaries were selected after a screening exercise that lasted for almost a week.
Club donates bedsheets, pillows to hospital in Ondo ABOUT 50 bedsheets and pillowcases have been donated to the Ondo State Specialist Hospital, Okitipupa by Omowa Club of Ikale land. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Mr Benson Akindeju, President of the club, presented the materials to Dr Richard Ikuemelo, Deputy Chief Medical Director of the hospital, on Tuesday. He said the donation was part of the club’s social responsibility, adding that the club had been doing this over the years. “We feel the hospital needs very clean bed sheets because we have once visited this place and we didn’t feel comfortable with what we saw. “We observed that the hospital can make do with clean pillow cases and bed sheets,
so that the patients can lay comfortably on their beds, hence the donation,’’ Akindeju said. He disclosed that the gesture would be extended to other general hospitals in Ikale land. He said the club has experts and professionals who
would ensure that Ikale land gets its pride of place in the scheme of things in the state. Dr Gbenga Ayodele, a member of club, also assured that the club would soon embark on some developmental projects for the benefit of Ikale indigenes. “It is a very germane re-
non-reception of Radio Kwara and the Kwara State Television service signals in Baruten and some local government areas of the state. Reading the resolutions of the assembly, the Deputy Speaker, Elder Mathew Okedare, who presided over the sitting, said information dissemination was imperative in the sustenance of democracy. The assembly, according to him, equally enjoined the state government to commit the needed resources to the rehabilitation of Radio Kwara and Kwara TV to enable the
sponsibility to make the hospital comfortable because the hospital is the last hope of a sick man,’’ he said. Receiving the items, Ikuemelo commended the gesture of Omowa Club members, describing it as a right step in the right direction. He said the club members
had displayed their love for the people through the gesture and urged other clubs to emulate the club. Other members of the club that accompanied Akindeju to the hospital were Prince Teju Emoruwa, Chief Iwayemi Ilesanmi and Mr Stephen Fasawe.
Ota communities express delight over carnival ban akin adewakun-lagos
RESIDENTS of Akinola, Olorunto and adjoining streets in Aboru community, Agbado/Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, have commended the state police command for placing a ban on carnivals during the Yuletide, noting that
the order had gone a long way in achieving the muchneeded peace during the period. Some of the residents, who spoke with Community News argued that unlike in the past, when troubles were fomented under the guise of Christmas carnivals, this year’s Christmas celebrations
Kwara urged to resuscitate radio, TV booster stations biola azeez-ilorin
ascension to the throne. He praised him for sustaining his father’s fame,
stations continue to play their roles of effective dissemination of government programmes and activities to the people, especially those at the grassroots. While moving the motion, the sponsor of the motion said Radio Kwara inherited by the state government from the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) in 1979 and the Kwara Television were faced with the challenge of obsolete equipment thereby making it impossible for the people of Baruten Local Government Area and other parts of the
southern axis of the state to receive signals from the stations. He further noted that since the disappearance of the booster stations of Radio Kwara in Baruten, Irepodun, Ekiti and Oke-Ero Local Government Areas the people of the affected areas now rely on Radio Parakou in the Republic of Benin and FM Stations in Ekiti State for information. This, according to him, had adversely affected the revenue generation of the two stations and the psyche of the people.
were without any major incidents in the area. While praising the police for coming up with the directive, Lekan Adewale, a vehicle owner, who lives in the area, believes the activities of some boys in the area during the period under the guise of carnival were fast becoming inimical to peace. “If this directive had not come now, you would have seen those boys, mounting roadblocks on major roads and extorting money from motorists and commercial motorcyclists, an action that sometimes degenerate into squabbles. It was obvious that what we were experiencing then was not a carnival, but an open invitation to chaos,” he stated. Another resident, Mrs. Fatima Bello, a trader, believes it is the best decision the police had taken in recent times. “Do you know that some of us live in fear whenever the festive period is approaching, because of the activities of these people? If such directive had not come, there
would have come a time when the people would be too scared to move out of their homes because of the harassments of these youths,” she stated. Narrating a personal experience, Mrs. Bello said a commercial tricyclist , who was helping her convey her goods from the market to her shop in the area was once harassed by the youths for refusing to give them money. “Unfortunately, they were not ready to listen to anybody, not even my plea that a customer was waiting to collect some of the goods. It was when the man paid this ‘illegal’ fee that they allowed him to go. It was obvious that the peace of the city was being threatened,” she said. When asked whether the police in the state should re-consider its stand in future, if the peace of the area could be guaranteed, Mrs. Bello could not answer in the affirmative, noting that “the hoodlums in the city” had hijacked what is supposed to be a fun-filled event.