Thursday, August 16, 2018 Edition

Thursday, August 16, 2018/ Zhul Hajj 5, 1439 AH

Vol. 29 No. 060 N150

1582 Days after

@pmlonline

peoplesdailyng

. . . putting the people first

The nation awaits rescue of the remaining abducted Chibok schoolgirls

PDP demands release on Premium Times reporter

I know nothing about Abacha loot, says Al Mustapha

Resident doctors threaten to shut down FCT hospitals

pAGE 15

pAGE 3

pAGE 21

President:

Inwuanyanwu, Ihedioha back Atiku, as Saraki, Tambuwal mull interest

page 5

Ram trader carrying a ram for a customer at a temporary ram market along Kubwa Expressway in preparation for Eid el-Kabir celebration, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: NAN

Inflation rate drops by 0.09% in one month

>>>page 19

Senate fast tracks passage of N242bn election budget, Reps allege duplication page 5

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

News CONTENTS News 2-10 Editorial 11 Op.Ed 12-13 Politics 15-17 Business Stock

19-20 18

FG partners Chinese firm on digital education

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he federal Government has commenced a process for the implementation of a partnership strategy that will help establish digital education institute and provision of smart learning classrooms across the country.

This came after the Acting President Yemi Osnbajo met with a delegation of a Chinese Digital Technology giant, NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited, led by its chairman, Dejian LIU. Other officials at the meeting were the governor of Edo state, Godwin Baseki and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke OrelopeAdefulire.

In a statement earlier made

available to newsmen by OrelopeAdefulire, the smart classrooms and digital education initiative was in line with the commitment of the government to continue to provide quality education to Nigerian children as stipulated in Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals. SDGs. “It is also designed to facilitate investment in the ICT industry by building IT Incubators, Digital Studios and Software Outsourcing and Training Hubs, towards to the creation of new jobs in the area of Technology and Innovation,” she stated.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting yesterday, the Edo state governor said “It is about promoting digital literacy in Nigeria. A Chinese company came to make a presentation on how we

can expand and ensure the spread of digital literacy, because the world today has gone digital.

“Educational system is now based on technology, this company has done quite a lot of work in several countries in the world where they have deployed technology to develop teaching methods, to train teachers and contents to assist children to learn.

“So, the whole idea is to see how as a country we can catch up with the rest of the world by deploying technology in learning and helping our children to catch up educationally.

“The company has done a bit of work, if you go to their labs in where they have built in Fouzhou province in China, you will see that they are way way ahead of many countries in the world.

Certainly in Edo State we are ready to embrace them. We have started a pilot for about 50,000 children in 300 schools and as at today we are training about 5,000 teachers for the next roll out for about 200,000 children in about 600 schools. The world today has gone digital and with the technology we have in Edo State, we can feel when the teacher is in class because the teacher must synchronized the tablets. We can tell when a child is in school because the teacher has to take attendance digitally. The teacher is now assisted in preparing lessons notes and delivering the contents in class. Technology has taken over education and that is where we are going as a state and I believe that is wherHowe we are going as a country.”

FEC augments Enugu-Onitsha road project with N5.4 billion

Metro

Pgae 4

21

Int’l 22-24 Environment

25

Feature

26

Sports 30-31 Columnist 32

We want to hear from you The Peoples Daily wants to hear from you with any news and pictures you think we should publish.

You can send your news and pictures to: adverts@peoplesdailyng.com pictures@peoplesdailyng.com contact@peoplesdailyng.com

Phones for News: 08142929046 08024432099

Gov. Nasiru El Rufai of Kaduna State, addressing Newsmen after the presentation 2019 Appropriation Bill to the State House of Assembly, yesterday in Kaduna. Photo: NAN

Potable water, sanitation: FG, Kano Govt. sign N12.7bn agreement

T

he Federal Government on Tuesday, signed a N12.7billion agreement with the Kano State Government on the expansion of water and sanitation services to the populace.

The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, at the event in Abuja, said the Partnership for Expanded Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH), agreement was a 15-year programme targeting mobilisation of all stakeholders to channel efforts to increase access to potable water and sanitation.

He said that the programme, inaugurated by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo in 2016, was a three-tier collaborative effort, which spans from 2016 to 2030 in line with the Sustainable Development Goal six for overall target of providing adequate and qualitative access to water at an affordable price.

He noted that the PEWASH was fallout from the efforts by Nigerian Government to meet its SDG commitment, saying these efforts was obvious with the development of a National Action Plan on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).

“On water supply, the planned scope of the PEWSAH Programme is the rehabilitation of 77,693 facilities and provision of 17,264 new facilities to increase access to rural water supply from 57 per cent to 62 per cent.

“On Sanitation, we are targeting a total of 20,600,000 household toilets from 2019 to 2025 to end open defecation,“he said.

He said today’s agreement signing with Kano state, which came after Ogun had shown that the states were taking the lead from the remaining 22 states which had shown interest by signing the PEWASH Protocols.

Adamu urged the Kano Government to attend to water supply through setting aside more funds for the implementation of the programme, saying this would go a long way to improve the lives and reduce diseases especially among under-fives.

The minister added that the responsibility of providing water supply rests with the states, hence the need for continued efforts to complement the gains recorded.

Responding, Gov. Umar Ganduje, said N12.7 billion earmarked for the programme clearly showed the concern and commitment of the present administration to improve the lives of Nigerians.

He said most rural populace depended on hand pump and motorised boreholes, saying with the implementation of the agreement, more lives would be improved.

Ganduje said that the state

had budgeted N32 billion for provision of water supply in its 2018 budget, saying this would augment current efforts, and further maintain an average water production capacity of 150 to 200 million litres daily.

He said the state government had established a water law for the establishment of a WASH department in all 44 local councils to further strengthen water delivery services to the grassroots.

Ganduje, while commending the efforts of all stakeholders, pledged to speedily commence the implementation of the agreement for the betterment of Kano populace.

He also appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the $200 million Islamic Development bank credit facility to promote water and agricultural development in the state.

Page 3

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

News

Fake News aggravated recent National Assembly crisis - Minister

By Umar Muhammad Puma

T

he Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has attributed the escalation of the recent crisis in the National Assembly to the circulation of fake news, especially in the Social Media.

The Minister stated this in Abuja on Tuesday when he paid a courtesy visit to the headquarters of Blueprint Newspapers, in furtherance of the Federal Government’s campaign against fake news, which was launched 11 July 2018.

“When we launched the campaign, we did not envisage the kind of event that occurred at the National Assembly last week, specifically Aug. 7 - Less than one month after the launch. That event, during which the National Assembly was barricaded, is a classic example of how fake news can aggravate conflicts. In fact, it was driven all the way by fake news ‘’A serving Senator led the fake news onslaught, claiming that only APC members were being allowed into the chambers as a ploy to impeach the Senate President while PDP members were barred - FAKE NEWS! No APC members was in the chambers at the time!’’ he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said but for the timely intervention of the Acting President, Prof.

Yemi Osinbajo, the situation could have deteriorated and brought great opprobrium on the country.

He said that in the aftermath of the crisis, news that 21 billion Naira and assorted weapons have been found in the residence of the sacked Director-General of the DSS also turned out to be fake.

The Minister said fake news remains a clear and present danger to the nation’s unity and democracy, and indeed to the very survival of the country, adding that it cannot and must not be treated with levity.

He admonished Nigerians to always check the source of any news item before sharing it, saying”Don’t share whatever you can’t vouch for.”

Alhaji Mohammed stressed the need for the media to take the lead in the campaign against the phenomenon of fake news which, he said, has the capacity to erode the credibility of the media.

He said the visit to the corporate headquarters of the Blueprint was to enlist the newspaper’s support for the campaign against fake news as well as to thank the news medium for not allowing its platform to be used to spread fake news.

News Editor, Ese Awhotu

I know nothing about Abacha loot, says Al-Mustapha From Femi Oyelola, kaduna

T

he Chief Security Officer (CSO) to former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha has said that, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is not fighting corruption but only chasing the shadow.

This was also as the presumed closest ally of the late military dictator said, he knew nothing about the controversial ‘Abacha loot’.

Al-Mustapha stated these in Kaduna on Wednesday during an interactive session with the Christian community, under the auspices of United Christian Leaders, Eagle Eye Forum and 40 Christian Pressure Groups, during which he (Al-Mustapha) was asked to contest as Nigeria’s President.

Speaking on corruption, Al-Mustapha said, EFCC came

overnight with few equipment and personnel and started making the loudest noise “that is why I have likened it to small monkey given a thread to arrest an elephant. The monkey is always busy looking for the elephant. It was give binoculars to look for an elephant that is so close to it, but it is busy arresting ants and abandoned the elephant that is busy destroying the animal kingdom. That is what is going on today.

“If you have to fight corruption in Nigeria, you have to tackle from multi-faceted angles, rather this small structure called the EFCC, which is not enough to fight corruption. It requires a bigger body that has the capacity of intelligence that can reach out to the international community to get our stolen funds stached abroad and equally prosecute, rather than relying on the regular Police to do that, he said.

On the Abacha loot, the former CSO to the late Head of State said, he knew nothing about the so called Abacha loot, even though the government has failed to respond to his challenge, to state ‘when Abacha took the money abroad.

According to him, “When in December 1999 ‘Abacha loot’ was made on the pages of newspapers; some of us were very embarrassed.

I am baffled that there is something called Abacha loot.

“I was interrogated in a bad manner. I was asked whether I have a foreign account and I said yes, the one I opened when I went to United Kingdom for study.

“In that account then, I had $3,200 and when I was leaving, I left just $10 so it will not become dormant in case I may have a cause to further my studies.

“That was why I challenged Obasanjo and others that if only

they know I have an account with the Bank of The North in Nigeria where they are paying my salaries to. I asked them that, if they found any other account I was operating, they should take the money and return it to government cover and expose me to the whole world.

“The fact that they were thieves does not mean that everyone that serves in government is a thief.

Some of us can stand and challenge any institution or individual any day any time.

“Stealing is not what you require, but service to the nation that matters. Any money that you cannot use to render service to the people makes the owner illiterate, visionless storekeeper.

“Also, Obasanjo at that time, has spoken about the loot, but I want them to tell Nigerians when the money was lodged in the account”.

R-L: Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, SGF Mr. Boss Mustapha and Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, Head of Service, Mrs. Winifered Ita and NSA, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), during the FEC Meeting held at the Council Chambers, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: State House

Osibanjo urged to unseal Peace Corps hqtr

By Vivian Okejeme Abuja

T

he acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has been urged to compel the Inspector General of Police,IGP, Ibrahim Idris, to unseal the Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN) headquaters in Abuja.

Osibanjo, was officially written to by an Abuja-based human rights activist, Barrister Ahmed Ajibola Jimoh, on behalf of the building located at No. 57, Iya Abubakar Crescent, Abuja, which has been unlawfully under lock and key since February 28, 2017.

In the letter, the legal practitioner, specifically, wants the Presidency to direct police authorities to respect the rule of law and obey court orders directing them to vacate the office.

According to the letter dated August 13, 2018, the lawyer informed Acting President Osinbajo of the subsisting two judgements of the Federal High Court, Abuja which ordered police to unseal the office, but was not obeyed till date.

The letter, entitled: “Appeal to Mr. President to compel Police to respect rule of law on Peace Corps of Nigeria”, informed the Presidency that the Corps as a uniform youth organization engaging in youth development, nation building, patriotism and neighborhood watch, has been made to suffer untold hardships by the action of Police in sealing up the office unlawfully.

The activist recalled that Justices Gabriel Kolawole and John Tsoho, have at different times, in their

judgements issued orders to the Police directing them to unseal the office in the interest of justice and fair play.

The letter stated that Police rather than obeying the court orders chose to remain adamant by blocking the entrance to the office with a heavy truck and stationed several of its men to prevent the officers and men of the Corps from accessing the office as directed by court.

He also informed the Presidency that the flagrant disobedience to court orders and utter disregard to the rule of law by the Police, run counter to the tenets of democracy, warning that Police actions are capable of causing anarchy in the country.

He therefore, warned that the

use of naked powers and oppression against the youth in the Peace Corps of Nigeria, who are being prepared for a bright future, were capable of spelling doom for the nation and therefore urged the Presidency to passionately wade into the matter and order Police to vacate the office.

Jimoh stated that the attitude of Police in the matter of Peace Corps was worrisome because the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, being the Chief Legal Officer, had twice written the Inspector General of Police on the need to obey court order in the matter of Corps, but that the two letters were treated with levity by the Police and continued their deliberate and willful disobedience to valid court orders.

PAGE 4

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

News

Why we FEC augments Enugu-Onitsha road suspended project with N5.4 billion consular services – US

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he U.S. Embassy Nigeria says it has temporarily suspended its consular services in Abuja due to reasons beyond its control.

The embassy in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja maintained that its Consulate Office in Lagos was not affected by the development.

While expressing regret on the inconvenience the development it might cause to applicants, the embassy expressed the hope to resume its operations soon in Abuja.

The embassy in its website earlier did not give reason for the suspension of its consular services in Abuja which it latter did in a statement. ”Due to reasons beyond our control we are temporarily unable to provide regular services for visa and American Citizen Services (ACS) in Abuja, but other offices within the embassy remain open. ”Please note that consular functions at the U.S. Consulate Lagos are not affected and will continue. ”Until further notice, applicants are encouraged to contact the Consular Office in Lagos for immediate emergency travel,” the embassy stated.

The embassy advised applicants to please monitor the Facebook and Webpage of the U.S. Embassy for updates on consular operations.

It stated that scheduled visa and ACS applicants for Abuja would be contacted for rescheduling. ”American citizens in northern Nigeria with emergency services needs should continue to contact the after-hours emergency number for Abuja at 09461-4000 and press “0” to go to the operator to request assistance. ”We regret the inconvenience this has caused to our applicants and hope to resume operations soon,” it stated.(NAN)

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the augmentation of Enugu-Onitsha road with the sum of N5.4 billion.

The initial contract sum, according to the the Mi jäger of Power, Works and Housing who briefed newsmen after the weekly FEC meeting chaired by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, was N10.3

billion.

The new contract sum after the augmentation stands at N15.7 billion.

Fashola disclosed that the contract which was first awarded in 2012 is part of the series of roads captured as Umanna- Udi Agu- Ebenebe- AmansiAwka- and spurred to Umumba road, section 2 in Enugu state.

“The contract was awarded in 2012 covering Enugu to Onitsha high way” “Because of lack of appropriate

budgeting and funding, all of these projects could not be completed and there were also failures in implementation so we inherited it.

There was also the need to provide fir erosion control measures and drains and that has led to revision of the cost” “It was that revision to enable us complete the road project that was presented, discussed and approved by the Council today”

Fashola said the augmentation will accommodates the need for erosion control measures and drains.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had earlier told newsmen that Fashola’s memo was the only one treated at the Council meeting He said “His memo was the only one that survived and his memo was for augmentation of an existing road contract”.

L-R: Executive Secretary, Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board (FGDHLB), Mrs Hanatu Fika; representative of the Minister of Federal Minister of Power Works and Housing, Mr Suara Akiola and Head of Operation Department, FGDHLB, Mr Rabiu Yusuf, during the FGDHLB Board meeting, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: NAN

Alleged security failure leads to kidnap of 2 pregnant wives, a child in Zamfara From Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau

T

wo pregnant wives in Goran Namaye village under Maradun local government area of Zamfara state and a grownup child of a lecturer with Federal College of Education (FCE) Maru have been allegedly kidnapped following alleged failure of security.

The incidence as according to reliable sources, occurred following alleged mob action by irate youths which allegedly led to the slain of some people suspected to be ritualists in the village, the development which drawn the attention of the state Police Command to deploy men with a view to avert the growing tension

and restore law and order.

A disturbed member of the community who also pleaded his identity to remain anonymous in print said, the deployed Police teams after making some arrests, had enforced 06:00pm to 06:00am curfew in the village with a view for them to prevent the village from having an outbreak of further lawless activities.

The source further narrates that, to control the situation, some community elders asked the police to allow some members of the vigilante group to join the police for the restoration of peace, but the police declined the offer.

In order to ensure accelerated restoration of peace in the village, some elders of the community suggested that the deployed Police

should work relatively with some trusted members of Vigilante who always sacrifice to fight low profiled security challenges bridging the gap created by inadequate number of Police, but the request was rejected by the Police teams leader.

“Soon after the enforcement of the curfew as people were forced to remained indoors, the police patrol teams left, the situation that gave armed bandits a calm opportunity to launched an attack on the village around 2:00am, killing a score and kidnapped two pregnant wives of a lecturer with FCE Maru, Suhaima Abdullahi, Hadiza Abdullahi and his grownup son, Sulaiman Abdullahi who were until the time of compiling this report are in the hands of

bandits”, he narrated.

Speaking to our reporter, the community has deposited its blames on security failure on the part of the Police for untimely departure by the deployed men from the area, the development which has allegedly clear all chances to launch an attack on the village.

Responding, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kenneth Ebrimson, has denied having knowledge of kidnapping pregnant wives and a grown-up child, and or any attack by bandits on the grudging community, but only has received signal on the killing of some suspected ritualists by irate youths in Goran Namaye, but had directed one senior officers to investigate the matter.

FG strategize to improve adolescents, young people’s health

By Ovave Mercy Maria

F

ederal Government has put in place strategies to improve the health of adolescents and young people in Nigeria.

A statement issued yesterday by the Director, Media and Public Relations in the ministry, Boade Akinola said the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole made this known in Abuja recently, while declaring open a five day stakeholder’s meeting on Health and Development of Adolescents and Young People in Nigeria, organized by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) in partnership with World Health Organizations (WHO).

Adewole said Adolescence is a period of transition between childhood and Adulthood (aged 10-24). There are about 47 million adolescents and young people in Nigeria.

The statement said the Minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Abdulaziz M. Abdullahi who said that the meeting was a reflection of the Ministry’s commitment to ensure significant improvement of health and well-being of adolescents and young people in Nigeria.

As part of the strategies, the Federal Ministry of Health, recently banned production and distribution of Codeine drug and other substances that cause harm to adolescents and young people.

The Minister explained that National Strategic Health Development Plan II, approved during the National Council on Health in Kano, would provide support to adolescents and young people in Nigeria.

He further said that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) which was being gradually adopted by states had great impact on adolescents and young people adding that the Saving One Million Lives Programme, the health intervention funds to states, was beneficial to adolescents and young people.

“I implore the group of experts here to come up with innovative ideas and feasible interventions that would enhance adolescents and youth friendly health

services and programmes across the country particularly as we work together towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” the Minister said.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, represented by the Director, Department of Family Health, FMOH, Dr. Adebimbe Adebiyi said that investing on adolescents and young people was a national priority considering the growing population and the increasing need of their health care services.

Abdullahi called on participants to assess the current situation of adolescents and young people in the country with a view of harnessing resources to address their immediate needs.

Page 5

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

By Lateef Ibrahim and Musa Adamu, Abuja

A

s tension mounts over who picks the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party. PDP, for the presidential election in 2019, prospective aspirants have been positioning themselves and reaching out to party stakeholders.

A chieftain of the PDP, and frontline businessman, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has declared his support for the presidential aspiration of former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Chief Iwuanyanwu in company of other leaders of the PDP in Imo State received Atiku in Owerri during his visit to the state in continuation of his nationwide consultations with PDP stakeholders across the country.

According to Iwuanyanwu, “Atiku’s political journey has come a long way and he is particularly cut out for the demands of the time at this juncture in Nigeria’s political history.

“I will only retire finally after Atiku is installed. Atiku is an intelligent leader and he is the only one who can be fair to the Ibos”, he said.

Speaking in the same vein, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and gubernatorial aspirant in Imo State, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha says that Atiku will bethe best president Nigeria will have in 2019.

Atiku, in company of a delegation led by the Director General of his presidential campaign organization and former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, visited Owerri for a meeting with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders in Imo State in continuation of his nationwide consultations.

While welcoming Atiku into the state, the former deputy Speaker noted that “Atiku is well prepared to be president of Nigeria and he remains the best president Nigeria will have in 2019.”

After a close door private meeting with Chief Iwuanyanwu, Atiku proceeded to the

News

President: Iwuanyanwu, Ihedioha back Atiku, as Saraki, Tambuwal mull interest PDP secretariat in Owerri where he met with the State Executive Council led by the state’s party chairman, Barrister Charles Ezekwem.

In his remarks, Atiku commended the warm welcome he and his entourage received from supporters in Imo State.

He said that his aspiration to become president in 2019 is borne out of his belief that Nigeria deserves a more competent leadership.

His words, “Today our country is at a critical condition. The economy is not working as expected and millions of jobs have been lost. There is so much division everywhere and we need a leadership that can unite the country.

“If I secure the ticket of our great party and subsequently elected president, I am ready to listen to and appreciate the feelings from every part of the country.

“These are the challenges we face today and I am very humbled by the

endorsement from leading party members from this state to my aspirations and I am even more determined in this mission to restore the country to prosperity and unity,” Atiku said.

In another development, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has been quoted as saying that he is actively considering running for the presidency in the 2019 elections, and that he has been consulting and actively considering it.

According to Bloomberg, a privately held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, Saraki revealed his intention to the media during an interview at his residence in Abuja.

Also, Governor of Sokoto state, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has disclosed that he has been under tremendous pressure to join the Presidential race for the 2019 elections.

He told youths and students who stormed the Governor’s office in Sokoto

to show appreciation on the involvement of youths in his administration that he was still making consultation because of his belief that leadership is a collective responsibility.

He said:” I’ve been under intense pressure from various quarters in Nigeria including leaders of the country and friends of Nigeria outside the country to seek the presidency.

“But leadership is a collective decision and I have never asked to be made a leader at any time in my life. So, my aspiration will be determined by my people and after that, I will make my political decision known in a matter of days.

“We supported Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 to become President unconditionally and we admit that Buhari has personal integrity but that’s not the only requirement for leadership.

“We are aware that the President is besotted by serious challenges of health

and is being held captive by a cabal that runs Nigeria for their personal interests.”

On the way forward for the country, Governor Tambuwal told the youths that the future for a greater Nigeria lies with the younger generation, assuring them of his commitments to the welfare and empowerment of this group.

He reminded them that they are the leaders of tomorrow and that tomorrow is today for them to make the right choice on who leads the country.

“Someone recently referred to me as “a boy”, which is really a compliment that puts me on the side of youths, who are the strength of our nation,” he said.

The Governor enjoined the youths and particularly students among them to make sure that they participate in the National Youth Service Scheme, as his government would not accept anyone who refused to undergo the national service to our fatherland.

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar (middle), and a delegation led by the Director General of his presidential campaign organization and former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, visited Owerri, for a meeting with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders in Imo State in continuation of his nationwide consultations, yesterday in Imo Stat.

Photo: Atiku Media

NASS fast tracks passage of N242bn election budget

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi, Musa Adamu & Christiana Ekpa

T

he Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, have commenced the process of reconvening National Assembly to consider and approve the N242 billion budget of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of 2019 general elections.

Apparently yielding to pressures from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, yesterday directed the chairmen of their respective committees on INEC to interface with the INEC leadership.

Purpose of the meeting was to enable the INEC boss defend the N242 billion proposals for the 2019 general election, and to enable the Senate and House INEC committees produce a report that would be considered by both chambers when the session is eventually reconvened to pass the budget request.

Speaking after the meeting well attended by both APC and PDP senators, the Chairman of Senate Committee on INEC, Nazif Suleiman, assured Nigerians that all the political brouhaha over the past weeks would soon come to an end, explaining that the interface between was a prerequisite for reconvening the parliament.

However, defending the budget, the INEC chairman, Mahmud Yakubu, said

…As Reps allege duplication of figures

the commission needed the lawmakers to approve the one hundred and eighty nine billion budget it requested, to ensure a hitch free 2019 general elections.

Responding on why the commission duplicated most of the budget items already budgeted for in the 2018 budget of the commission, the INEC chairman said this was because new issues emerged which needed to be taken care of by the commission.

He gave instance that the seven hundred and seventy seven (777) polling centers were no longer enough as there were congestions, hence they deeded to devolve by creating additional one thousand, four hundred and forty six additional centers, which according to him, require more logistics and materials.

He said further that after registration of voters, the register has to be displayed to enable the voters view it, which he said requires money to be printed. Yakubu added that the commission needed more money to print the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for newly registered voters, a process he said the commission has been engaged with over the last sixteen months.

He said also that the commission will buy generating sets to power the printers in the one hundred and twenty thousand polling units to print results after elections in the units. In addition,

the INEC boss disclosed that the commission has also made provision for a runoff if no clear winner emerges in the first balloting.

Also, during the question and answer session, the lawmakers queried the Commission’s boss on how the failure of the President to sign the 2010 Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill will affect the commission, to which he said the commission will use the existing Act to conduct the elections.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, yesterday queried the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, over the duplication of items provided for in the 2018 budget for the 2019 polls.

The committee chaired by Aisha Dukku (APC-Gombe) queried the rationale behind the huge budget proposal, observed that most of the subheads captured in the N189.2 billion were contained in the N45.5 billion approved budget for Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Total sum of N45.5 billion as proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari was approved by the National Assembly.

Checks by our correspondent showed that details of the INEC expenditure was given in the 2018 Appropriation Act signed into law by President Buhari.

In her remarks, Dukku reiterated

the House resolved to support towards issue of interest that will strengthen the nation’s electoral process and aid INEC in discharging its functions.

Aisha Dukku, chairperson, House Committee on Electoral Matters gave the assurance during the INEC budget presentation to members of the committee for the conduct of 2019 general elections.

She explained that” It is only by so doing that one can begin to unravel the intricacies of the entire range of issues involved and their interconnectedness.

“You will agree with me that for a government that promised change to its people, the foundation of this change ought to be evident in the way we plan our elections and electoral processes.

“The estimates should represent a true picture of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA)”, she said.

The lawmakers expressed concern over INEC’s previous budgets saying they were neither productive or ineffective because of poor planning.

“It is our prayer and hope that the present administration would address the issues with budgeting especially as regards to funding unlike the previous budgets that were not productive in the entire planning of elections Recall that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara met with the INEC on the budget of the commission.

It was believed that the House would reconvene to consider the budget on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Why delay in passage of our budget-INEC Also recall that the INEC boss had explained to Senators why the delay in the passage of the Electoral Act prevented the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from including the budget of 2019 elections in the 2018 appropriation last January.

Yakubu had said until legislative process is completed on the bill, the commission will be unable to estimate effectively the cost for the election.

“We can’t complete work on the election budget unless the national assembly has helped us to complete work on the electoral act,” he said.

“For instance, there is provision in the bill passed by the senate for two types of primaries; direct and indirect.

One party may opt for direct, another for indirect and both will have different cost implications.

“What are we going to do? We have to wait until the act is passed before we know the correct figure. I will appeal to the distinguished senators to expedite work on the electoral act so that we can have an idea of the figure.”

Mr. Yakubu noted that INEC has made three key improvements on the card readers for forthcoming elections.

“First, we are improving the processors of smart card readers so that it will be speedier. Secondly, we are increasing the windows where people press the fingers on election day.

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

PAGE 6

News

El-Rufai proposes N155bn budget of continuity to KDHA From Mohammed Ibrahim, Kaduna

K

aduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai yesterday proposed a budget of N155.8 billion to the State House of Assembly for 2019 fiscal year which made up of recurrent expenditure of N62.3 billion and capital expenditure of N93.5 billion.

The budget, tagged budget of continuity, allocates 42.8% to the social sector with 27.15% of the board budget allocated to the education sector.

The health sector gets 15.02% in line with the demands of United Nations’ agencies according to the governor.

Presenting the budget on the floor of the House of Assembly, Governor El-Rufai

said, “the proposed 2019 budget size is N155,865,339,539.77 with recurrent expenditure of N62,339,040,309.19 and capital expenditure of N93,526,299,230.58 representing 40% as recurrent expenditure and 60% as capital expenditure.

“The 2019 budget keeps faith with our commitment to human capital development through investments in the social sector, which takes 42.8% of the budget.

Social sector spending is mainly on education which is allocated 27.15% and health on which we propose to spend 15.02%.”

According to him, the key targets of the budget from fiscal perspective are, “ensuring the actualization of the development priorities of the government as articulated in the state

development plan and respective Sector Implementation Plans (SIPs) and maintaining a favourable proportion of capital to recurrent expenditure.”

“Ensuring adequate provision is made to complete 2018 projects in 2019; expanding the revenue generation capacity of the state; and maintaining a sustainable debt position in line with Federal Debt Management Office (FDMO) criteria.

“Mr. Speaker, we will strive to complete every single project we have started in each of our 23 local government areas, and to pay the contractors we have commissioned to work for us.

We will continue to cut the cost of government and ensure that our people are the ultimate beneficiaries of public resources,”

he said.

While assessing the performance of the 2018 budget, he explained that his administration was able to promote equality of opportunity to give ordinary people and their children a fair chance in life.

The speaker Abdullahi Aminu Shagali in his response lauded the state government for ensuring that Kaduna state is more sustainable.

“It is a tough time but our government has achieved a lot in making the state stronger and protecting the vulnerable. We assure you that we will commence work immediately to ensure passage of the bill in not too long time,”he said.

He also expressed satisfaction on the direction of the governor.

L-R: Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Police Command, Mr Zaki Ahmed; Deputy Commissioner of Police, Administration and Finance, Mr Cypril Okoro; and Public Relation Officer, Rivers State Police Command, Mr Nnamdi Omoni, during a news conference on the activities of the command in Port Harcourt, yesterday in Rivers State.

Photo: NAN

WHO, FG collaborate to protect over 150,000 population at risk of Yellow fever in Katsina

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

T

he Federal Government with the support of World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a reactive vaccination campaign in Danja local government area (LGA) of Katsina state in response to a recently identified outbreak of Yellow Fever.

The reactive vaccination campaign will protect 154,131 persons aged between 9 months to 45 years from this disease.

The news which was posted on WHO’s website, said the vaccination exercise to be implemented from 09 to 18 August 2018 complements government’s plan as guided by the Eliminate Yellow fever Epidemics (EYE) strategy by 2026, which was launched in April 2018 by the WHO Director

General in Abuja.

“Since September 2017, Nigeria is experiencing ongoing outbreak of yellow fever, an acute viral haemorrhagic disease, with confirmed cases reported in 22 LGAs across 11 states. From the onset of the outbreak, 2,400 suspected yellow fever cases including 47 deaths have been reported by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

“The campaign in Katsina is a reactive vaccination in response to confirmed Yellow fever case.

WHO is committed in continuing this effort and supporting Nigeria to better protect its population against this disease, ensure better health and well-being,” said Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu the WHO Country Representative (WR).

He stressed that “with one single injection, we can provide

life-long immunity against this disease at a cost of approximately one US dollar (US$1).” Dr Alemu however noted that ensuring availability of adequate vaccine supply to reach all those at-risk is a constant challenge.With the support of GAVI, WHO has therefore pledged a donation of 12 million doses of Yellow fever vaccines in 2018 and 19 Million in 2019 to Nigeria.

“The assistance from WHO will ensure that all persons aged 9 months to 45years will be vaccinated during ongoing campaign in Danja LGA, bringing the overall number of states where the vaccination drive has been implemented to 10 (Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Niger, Nasarawa, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Kogi, Kwara and Zamfara) and in IDPs camps in Borno state.”

WHO added that Yellow fever response in Nigeria led by the government is coordinated through the National Yellow fever Technical Coordinating Committee (NYFTCC) with participation by all partners.

On his part, the Director, Disease Control and Immunization at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr Dorothy Nwodo, recently confirmed the level of preparations for the reactive campaign saying, “all activities have been implemented as part of the pre-implementation to ensure quality implementation.

Supervisors, technical management support teams and Partners from the national level have been deployed to supervise the activity to ensure quality campaigns.”

Rotary announces US$96.5m to end polio

By Ovave Mercy Maria

R

otary Club yesterday announced nearly US$100 million in grants to support the global effort to end polio, a vaccine-preventable disease that once paralyzed hundreds of thousands of children each year.

The announcement came as Nigeria marks two years without any reported cases of wild poliovirus, following four reported cases in 2016.

According to Dr. Tunji Funsho Chairman of Rotary’s Nigeria Polio Plus Committee said ‘’We must remain vigilant about maintaining political and financial support to ensure strengthened immunization practices as we redouble our efforts toward ending polio in Nigeria and around the globe.”

He said concurrently, Pakistan has made strides in reducing reported cases of wild poliovirus, having lowered its case count from 306 in 2014 to only eight reported cases in 2017.

“Nigeria’s progress proves that halting the spread of wild poliovirus is possible,” said Aziz Memon, chair of Rotary’s Pakistan PolioPlus Committee. “Although we currently have a record low number of reported cases of polio in Pakistan, He further explained that ‘’we must remain vigilant about implementing the rapid response and surveillance protocols Rotary and its Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners have established and focus on accelerating our efforts toward eradicating polio.”

While significant strides have been made against the paralyzing disease, he said wild poliovirus is still a threat in parts of the world, with 10 cases in Afghanistan and three cases in Pakistan this year so far. As long as a single child has polio, all children are at risk, which underscores the need for ongoing funding and political commitment to eradication.

To support polio eradication efforts in countries where polio remains endemic, Rotary is allocating the majority of the funds announced yesterday to: Afghanistan ($22.9million), Pakistan ($21.7 million), and Nigeria ($16.1 million).

Further funding will support efforts to keep 12 vulnerable African countries polio-free: Cameroon ($98,600), Central African Republic ($394,400), Chad ($1.71 million), Democratic Republic of the Congo ($10.4 million), Guinea ($527,300), Madagascar ($690,000), Mali ($923,200), Niger ($85,300), Sierra Leone ($245,300), Somalia ($776,200), South Sudan ($3.5 million), and Sudan ($2.6 million).

Africa will also see $5.8 million in funding for surveillance activities and $467,800 for technical assistance.

Additional funding will go to Bangladesh ($504,200), Indonesia ($157,800), Myanmar ($197,200), and Nepal ($160,500), with an additional $96,300 funding surveillance in Southeast Asia. The remainder of the funding ($6.6 million) will go to the World Health Organization (WHO) for research activities.

PAGE 7

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

crime News Prophet in Police net over fake prophecies

By Osakhare Erese, Asaba

A

45 year old self acclaimed prophet identified as Bright Ossai in Asaba, Delta State is currently in the police net over his serial fake prophecies, and alleged ways of defrauding unsuspecting members of the public.

The Police Commissioner in the state who confirmed the arrest of the prophet through a petition anchored by some of his victims, told our reporter that “the police

is holding the prophet based on a petition against him and his fake prophecies, including ways of defrauding members of the public, he is currently being interrogated by police detectives at the State CID handling the petition”.

It was gathered that the suspect a member of a popular deliverance church in Asaba (Kings Chapel International Ministry) had allegedly duped many of the unsuspecting members of the church including hoodwinking them

into doing deliverance through him with litany of prophecies that were not true.

But the prophet in charge of the church, Prophet Godfrey Irevbude who spoke to our reporter said “we discovered he was denting the image of our church with fake prophecies, we resolved at the board meeting to write the police, and to look into his activities, he conducts deliverance without my knowledge, many of the fake prophecies he gave were never true.

I made him an official of the church, instead of doing what the bible says, he started prophesizing to peoples, even when my wife was pregnant, he said she will deliver a baby boy in the end, my wife delivered a baby girl, that was what I begged God for, we suspected him, instead he resolved to threat to my members’ lives including those he took money from, so we wrote the police to clean our names, he lies a lot”.

In a swift reaction, the suspect

at the police station, said: “I’m very sorry, it is the devils work, I waited to get rich, and be well known like other great men of God”.

Speaking further, the police boss said the suspect will be charged to court on completion of investigation.

Sources alleged that apart from his fake prophecies, he is randy among the female church members even under the nose of his wife, and for those who decline his love advance are allegedly sanctioned with frightened prophecies.

Benue Assembly Tussle: Court adjourns to August 24 From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

A

Makurdi High Court headed

by Justice Theresa Igoche has said that the interim orders restraining factional leaders of the Benue State House of Assembly subsist.

Justice Igoche said this yesterday at the resumed hearing of the case between Terkimbir Ikyange and Titus Uba and 22 others.

It would be recalled that both parties are claiming right to the Speaker position. Ikyange was impeached while the House went on recess and is challenging his removal at the court.

During the hearing, the issue of service and time required to response to court processes was strongly argued by counsel to both parties.

While lead counsel to Titus Uba and 22 others as well as Governor Samuel Ortom, said he was not ready to continue with the business of the day on account of service, Mamman Osuman, SAN counsel to Ikyange argued that the Motion on Notice brought by Ortom, Uba and 22 others was not ripe for hearing.

Ikyange’s counsels are also, raising a Preliminary Objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter.

Earlier in a ruling on the Exparte application seeking extension of time on the interim injunction and the preliminary objection raised by counsels to Ikyange and others, Justice Igoche held that though it is trite law that issues of jurisdiction must be entertained first whenever they are raised, especially in an action of Originating Summons, maintaining that it must be taken alongside the substantive suit.

Staff of the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation barricade the office main gate during a protest over alleged poor welfare and non-payment, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Four varsity students die in Benue auto crash From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

T

here was pandemonium at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (FUAM) after a bus reportedly crushed some students of the institution to death.

Peoples Daily learnt from a source in the university that the accident happened at the a north Core section of the institution close to the School of Agronomy at about 7:30am when a bus conveying some passengers had a tyre burst and rammed into a motorcycle carrying two (2) persons.

The two (2) students who were riding on the motorcycle were said to have died on the spot while others who were in the vehicle also sustained various degree of injuries.

According to the source, the deceased students had gone to write a test but had left their Identity cards at home. They were said to be rushing back home to get the identity cards after the lecturer in charge asked them to produce it before they could be allowed to write the test.

It was in the process of going back home to bring the Identity card that

they met their deaths.

The development was said to have sparked off crisis as aggrieved students, burnt down the bus and then protested to the University where they allegedly vandalized some property.

Unconfirmed reports also, has it that two more students also died from the accident after they were taken to the hospital bringing the number of deaths to four(4).

As a result of the incident, the Management of the institution had to immediately close down the school until further notice apparently to

forestall more crisis on campus.

In a statement signed by the Registrar and Secretary to Senate and Council, Mrs. Helen Nyitse said the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Richard Kimbir on behalf of Senate had approved that the students should proceed on mid semester break with immediate effect.

“By this notice, all students are expected to handover all University property in their possession and vacate the campus before 2pm yesterday 15th August, 2018 until further notice,” part of the statement said.

Delta reunites 400 “lost but found” children with families in one year From Osakhare Erese, Asaba

T

he Delta State Government said it has reunited no fewer than 400 “lost but found” children in the last one year with

their families across the state.

Mrs. Omatsola Williams, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Community and Social Development who spoke to our reporter in an interview in Asaba on

Wednesday, said: “within the last one year, there was hue and cry of lost children and officials of my ministry through the help of security agents swung into action, and we found no fewer than 400 “lost but found” kids,

and they were reunited with their families”.

She said that a total of 693 applications during the one year period under review were received by her ministry for children adoption,

out of which 136 children were released from the different approved orphanages to prospective adoptive parents, adding that the remaining applications were at various stages of the adoption process.

PAGE 8

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

News

Delta to embark on mapping of renewable energy sources

From Osakhare Erese, Asaba

T

he Delta State Ministry of Science and Technology has announced plans to embark on a comprehensive and detailed mapping of the renewable energy sources in Delta State.

The Commissioner for Science

and Technology, Mr. Bright Edejewhro, made this known on Wednesday while briefing the press on the activities and achievements of his ministry at the Ministry of Information, Asaba.

Edejewhro stated that the mapping had become necessary in order to find alternatives to

the conventional fossil energy, which he said, involved gas flaring and was of global environmental concern, saying it was very inimical to humans, the environment and the ecological system.

According to Edejewhro, fossil fuel had resulted in climate change with consequences such as rising

seal levels, heavy storms, flooding, high wind and shore line erosion, adding that climate change also negatively impact on the already limited hydroelectric power generation.

Reports, the Commissioner noted, revealed that the maximization of renewable energy

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo; Gov. Zamfara state, Hon. Abdula’aziz Yari Abubakar (left); Min. of Defence, Mansur Mohammed Dan Ali (right); flanked by the Dep. Gov. Zamfara state, Mallam Ibrahim Wakkala Muh’d Liman with pupils of Abubakar Tunau Model primary school and other FG & State government officials, during the Acting President’s Official Visit to Zamfara state on Tuesday in Gusau.

potentials for energy drive could bring to an end the current epileptic power situation in the country.

He blamed the poor power situation for poverty, underutilization of rural human resources, economic stagnation, under-performance of the industrial sector, low turnover, high level of illiteracy and increased migration.

“The essence of this project”, the commissioner said, “Is to come up with a state economic empowerment development strategy/feasibility study to analyze the areas of renewable energy resources towards the development of ‘a renewable energy resources data bank’ to help: unravel the abundant renewable energy sources prevalent in the state; induced investors and create a veriable platform for investment in renewable energy in the state and scale up investments renewable energy thereby maximizing potentials and reducing losses”.

He said that the scope of the exercise would encompass identification of all the renewable energy recourses in the different locations in Delta State and their viability, the different areas of concentration of the different sources and the degree of their availability and report on their sustainability.

Fire razes section of Ogwashi-Uku Poly computer dept From Osakhare Erese, Asaba

A

section of the Computer Department in Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku, was in the early hours of yesterday, set ablaze in what was suspected to be an arson attack.

The incident was reported to have occurred in the early hours of Wednesday and was discovered by some staff of the school when they reported for work in the morning, it was gathered that some of the computer sets were burnt alongside tables and chairs, while a section of the rooftop was also conflagrated, leaving the charred remains of the burnt items on the floor.

Although it could not be confirmed the number of computer sets that were

burnt, a source in the school hinted that several computers were damaged as a result of the inferno.

It would be recalled that the Rector of the Polytechnic, Prof. Stella Chiemeke, recently introduced a computer-based mode for writing semester examinations in the school, contrary to the former pattern which was more of theory in nature than objectives which the innovation favoured.

Although protest from the students had initially greeted the computer-based mode of writing examination, findings indicate that the school authority had insisted on going ahead with it.

Investigation, however, showed that several students performed poorly in the last semester examination, something which some students who spoke to our

reporter attributed to the computer mode of writing examination as introduced by the school management.

“You know that some of the students are not so familiar with the operation of computers. This was what really affected the performance of the students. Besides, the new method of writing examination does not give students the possibility of expressing themselves. For me, it limits students, rather than enhancing them”, hinted a student who spoke but did not want to be named in the print.

Although the attempt to burn down the computer section of the school could not be immediately linked to writing examinations with the computer sets, findings, however, reveal that the school management chose to introduce the computer-based mode of writing

examination as a means of eliminating examination malpractice and other sundry practices that are related to examination writing.

Confirming the incident, a top police source in Ogwashi-Uku who did not want his name in the print said several of the computer sets were torched by the fire, describing it as unfortunate. “Even part of the rooftop was also affected.

Part of the window pens was also burnt”, revealed the police sources. He, however, maintained that while investigation is ongoing in the matter, no arrest had been made in connection with the incident.

However, the Rector of the Polytechnic, Prof.

Stella Chiemeke when contacted said “it is a sad moment, I cannot comment further until investigations are concluded.”

Okowa calls for steady efforts to check Nigeria’s housing deficit

K

iki Osinbajo, daughter of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and Afropop Alternative singer, Ric Hassani have been conferred with awards of Excellence by the Abuja Summer Festival for their contributions to Lifestyle and Entertainment.

The list was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja by the festival’s Founder, Chioma Onashakpor.

According to the list, ‘Style Temple’ Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ogugua Okonkwo, ‘The Solohan Company’ CEO,

Omojo Wada, ‘Good Hair’ CEO, Chioma Ikokwu, humanitarian Dora Enwere and actor, Uzee Usman also got awards.

Kiki, a fashion and beauty entrepreneur, was recognised for her innovation in creating affordable and healthy beauty products with the launch of her skincare line, ‘Konyin’.

Ric Hassani got an award for his musical prowess and doggedness as an alternative Afropop music artist, despite the marketing hurdles faced by singers of the genre in Nigeria.

Okonkwo earned an Excellence award for her contribution to female fashion in

Abuja as her firm ‘Style Temple’ is the most acclaimed in the FCT for style and practicability.

Enwere was recognised for her humanitarian work with females, especially her ongoing #ForYoungGirls project where she distributes soaps and sanitary pads to young girls in IDP camps.

Also, Ikokwu was awarded ‘Business Excellence (Female)’ for the contribution of her brand ‘Good Hair’ in the revitalisation of the Hair business in Nigeria.

Wada, who bagged the ‘Business Excellence (Male)’, earned the award for his

marketing acumen and quality production of lawyers’ wigs and gowns in Nigeria.

Actor and TV host Uzee Usman, who began his career in 2003, was awarded for his contribution to the Nigerian film industry, especially Kannywood.

NAN reports that the Abuja Summer Festival held its annual summer event on Aug. 11 with an outstanding performance from Ric Hassani.

The family focused event also featured performances from upcoming Abuja artists, fashion shows, children playground and a football tournament.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, august 16, 2018

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

T

he Director General (DG), Kogi State Agency for the Control of AIDS (KOSACA), Mr. Williams Shaibu has expressed commitment of the Kogi State government to ensure that the anti HIV stigma law is domesticated in the state before the end of 2018.

A statement issued yesterday by the Advocacy & Marketing Manager of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), Steve Aborisade, indicated that Mr. Shaibu made the disclosure at the HIV/AIDS Stigma Clinic organised by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), in Kaba, Kogi State, on Friday, August 10, 2018.

It added that the KOSACA DG also expressed the readiness of the agency to actively collaborate with AHF to convene an expanded stakeholders meeting which will

Page 9

News Kogi vows to domesticate anti HIV stigma law before end of 2018 urgently review and arrest the ugly trend of HIV stigmatisation in healthcare settings as revealed by participants at the Clinic.

“The HIV/AIDS AntiDiscrimination Act 2014 makes it illegal to discriminate against people based on their HIV status.

It also prohibits any employer, individual or organization from requiring a person to take an HIV test as a precondition for employment or access to services.”

On his part, Dr. Echey Ijezie, AHF Nigeria Country Program Director, said that ‘‘AHF Stigma Clinic arose from the need to

ensure that the law which protects the rights and dignity of people living with HIV, which came into effect in 2014, is made to have broad impact on HIV prevention and treatment services and importantly, to guarantee a more supportive environment that allows people living with HIV to carry on their lives as normally as possible.’’

The statement further said that testimonies shared during the Stigma Clinic suggest that much work is still needed to ensure that the rights of PLHIV are respected.

“The shades of reaction lend

credence to the fear of HIV/ AIDS still, which could be due to poor understanding of the disease process in the population, particularly among the healthcare providers.

According to Aborisade, stigma and discrimination experienced within the health sector represents one of the most inimical forms of institutional stigma, and tops recorded experiences of stigmatisation by individuals at the Stigma Clinic.

“Common discriminative acts among healthcare workers include: denial of treatment, or delivery

of poor quality treatment and counselling services, segregation at healthcare facilities and absolute lack of confidentiality.’’

Aborisade is of the opinion that stigma and discrimination are major obstacles to effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care in Nigeria.

According to him ‘‘Stigmatisation is driven by ignorance, fear, misinformation, and denial, and reinforced by our weak health systems and poor legal environment which ensures that hardly are anyone prosecuted for flouting the law’’.

Edo bank robbery: Double jeopardy for nagging housewife

By Osaigbovo Benin

A

Iguobaro,

housewife whose husband, Mr. Ukanah Ojo was allegedly killed when armed robbers invaded Igarra police station in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State has fled.

The police station and Keystone Bank at Igarra were last Week Thursday attacked by armed bandits, leaving no fewer than 12 persons dead in separate attacks which police confirmed six persons dead.

Mrs. Maimuna Ukanah was said to have fled her residence at Uffa quarters, off Enwan road, Igarra over fear of reprisal attack by grieving husband’s family who had asked her to take responsibility for her husband’s death.

Recall that the nagging housewife was said to have lodged a complaint against her husband over a minor disagreement between them which led to late Ukanah’s arrest along with a Commuter (now deceased) over incomplete vehicle particulars.

But the State Commissioner of police, Mr. Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, said the casualty figure include two Civilians and one police Inspector, Mr. Akhimien Otoika.

It was further gathered that a drinking bar and a provision shop belonging to Mrs. Mrs. Maimuna Ukanah had been razed by fire in connection with the incident.

A family source who crave for anonymity, told our Correspondent that “the family was on the verge of killing the woman before she disappeared.

Her own drinking bar had been destroyed.

“She murdered sleep by reporting her husband to police, if Ukanah was not detained in police custody, he (Ukanah) wouldn’t have died. We are not happy”, the source stated.

Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, has ordered the arrest of the police officer responsible for the arrest and detention of the slain Mr. Ukanah Ojo and another over incomplete vehicle particulars.

He disclosed this he paid a condolence visit on injured victims of the attacks at undisclosed hospital in the State.

Obaseki also promised to visit “the Inspector General of Police in Abuja to give us a special squad to help us eliminate these heinous

crimes” and pledged support for the families of those who died in the robbery and take care of the burial cost.

He however appealed to the two banks in the locality to reopen for business promising to beef up security for their operations.

He further revealed that he had held meetings with the governors of some of the neighbouring states on the need to form a border patrol team that will strengthen security in our communities.

Spokesman of Edo State police Command, DSP Chidi

Nwanbuzor, said explosives ordinates Device (EOD) police team has started to analyze the Close-circuit television cameras (CCTV) footage of the attacked on Keystone Bank at Igarra to facilitate the arrest of fleeing criminal gang.

L-R: Special Guest, Mrs Josephine Annenih; Former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Alhaja Sinat Ojikutu; Director General, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr Dakuku Peterside; Former Governor of Anambra State Mr Peter Obi and Convener, Yeye Adenike Shobajo, at the 2018 Public Relations Forum/CSR Awards and Exhibition, yesterday in Lagos. Photo: NAN

Niger Gov’t signs MOU with GIZ others From Minna

A

Yakubu

Mustapha,

s part of efforts to empower farmers and small entrepreneurs’ in Niger State, the German International Corporation (GIZ) has signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with two partner organizations African Youth in Empowerment in Agriculture and Industrial Development [AYEAID], Minna and Technology Incubation Centre, Minna.

The German International Corporation was led by Sina UtiWaziri while Malam Musa Salihu Bawa Bosso signed for AYEAID Minna and Alhaji Muhammad Awal Shuaibu signed for Technology

Incubation Centre,Minna as the partners are expected to help their beneficiaries explore avenues of improving their businesses and also guide new entrepreneurs to succeed.

Already some of the beneficiaries have undergone a training of trainers and coaches in March this year which was followed by a period of planning and promotion. In June this year both AYEAID and TIC have preselected almost 100 applicants who underwent Business Orientation coaching sessions.

The MOU is expected to in November this year graduate 30 potential enterprenuers who were selected for a pilot Start-Up Loop which is designed to provide

guidance,trainingand coaching in enterprenerial and managerial competencies which is a minimum of four months.

The beneficiaries have so far indicated more interest in venturing into agriculture with 53 percent while 43 percent are going into enterprenuer and other relevant sectors ti be gainfully employed.

The occasion chair bye Honorable Commissioner Commerce and industry, Hon. Mundi Muhammed. In his remark, he highlight that state has given two billion to incur age SME through central bank.

The GIZ has developed the SME Business training and coaching loop (SME Loop) in Sierra Leone in 2014 and has since piloted it

in Sierra Leone and Benin with encouraging results. In August 2017, GIZ SEDIN in Nigeria has successfully piloted the SME Loop course for existing MSMEs and start-ups in three states: Plateau, Ogun and Niger. One lesson learnt was that the SME Loop had to be adapted to the specific needs of start-up.

Sina Uti-Waziri, head of private sector development unit, GIZ/ SEDIN programme highlighted that start-up Business Training and Coaching Loop (Start-up Loop) is designed to provide guidance, training and coaching in entrepreneurial and managerial competencies, understanding the business environment and business planning for start-ups.

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

PAGE 10

News CITAD empowers over 200 youths on ICT, entrepreneurship training

By Eileen Ihemadu.

T

he Centre for Information Technology and Development(CITAD), on Tuesday held a business facilitation clinic themed “ Creating space for the development of young entrepreneurs”.

The partnership with Action Aid Nigeria was aimed at offering a face to face engagement with key government agencies, stakeholders and accomplished young entrepreneurs.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Information Technology and Development, Mr. Y Z. Yau, in his remark said the business facilitation clinic seeks to empower young innovators through networking, skills building, mentoring, and access to financing to develop startup solutions that will address their economic and development challenges.

“The idea behind this business clinic is to continually support digital rural startups in Nigeria in the area of providing education, training and information that will enhance their business management skills.

“CITAD and Action Aid Nigeria considers young people in the rural communities as central to economic and social advancement through sustained inclusive growth.”

“The Executive Director CITAD in partnership with Action Aid Nigeria decided that this year’s event should coincide with the International Youth Day 2018 theme “Safe Spaces for Youths” because the event will facilitate a dialogue on safe spaces between governments, UN agencies, academia, civil society, and most importantly youth groups.”

Mr Y.Z. Yau, made known that CITAD with the support of Action Aid Nigeria established five modern ICT centres in fifteen communities under the four selected area councils.

“The programme was under the project on “Digitalisation for Equitable Development in establishment of ICT centres in FCT-Abuja”, which ensured that two hundred and ten youths received training in digital skills, digital entrepreneurship skills, business management skills and business support clinic which held recently”.

Aisha Buhari receives World Leadership Prize

By Mercy Ovave

W

ife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari has been awarded with World Leadership Prize by Ajou University.

A statement issued yesterday by Suleiman Haruna, her Director of Information said event took place at the Dasan Hall of the University, Suwon, South Korea on Tuesday 14th August, 2018.

It added that she also had a multimedia center at the University named after her.

The World Leadership Prize, according to President of Ajou

University, Professor Hyungju Park, was instituted to acknowledge good leadership examples, such as that exhibited by wife of the President through her Future Assured Programme. Good leadership, he said is essential in securing the lives of common people, especially women and children.

Good leadership, he maintained, should be recognized worldwide so that it could rise up against the menace of bad leadership. He therefore believed that the award to Mrs. Buhari will encourage leaders to aspire to good leadership.

Professor Park said, the greatness of a nation lies in how much

people live secure and happy lives, quoting in reference, Mrs. Buhari’s mantra “if there is no corruption in governance and public life, there would be enough resources in any nation to meet the needs of the common people including women and children”.

Mrs. Buhari in her acceptance speech expressed appreciation to the University for finding her worthy of the World Leadership Prize and promised that the award will spur her to continue with her passion, not only in Nigeria but wherever she has opportunity.

She thanked the President of Nigeria, her husband for his support

in carrying out her humanitarian activities.

A multimedia hall was also named after Mrs. Buhari at the University.

The decision to name a Multimedia Hall after Aisha Buhari, as pointed out by Professor Han Ho, Dean of College of Humanities, followed recognition of her endeavor to protect human rights and educate people and the need to immortalize her name for the sake of posterity.

Dr. Hajo Sani, Senior Special Assistant to the President and Ambassador Aminu Dalhatu of South Korea expressed appreciation for the honour done to the wife of the President and to Nigeria by extension.

Cross section of staff members of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), during the sensitization programe by National Health Issuance Scheme (NHIS) at the Agency’s headquarters, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

SON, CORBON unite against building collapse

P

rof. Kabir Bala, Chairman, Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) said the council was seeking a partnership with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to stem building collapse in the country.

Bala made this known in Abuja when he led some officials of CORBON on a courtesy visit to the Director-General of SON, Mr Osita Aboloma.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the visit focused on prospects of partnership between SON and CORBON to institutionalise standards in the construction sector.

Bala called for high quality values at all levels by developing and implementing more technical standards for production processes.

The expert further called for monitoring and control for enforcement of quality of materials through establishment of material testing laboratories across the country.

“CORBON is desirous of partnering with SON in establishment and management Database of Physical Building Resources that will provide information on location and availability of standard materials to assist builders in accessing the right materials,” he said.

He urged SON to develop a system of issuance or withholding of certificates of quality for completed buildings as evidence of assurance that such buildings were built by competent professionals.

Bala, who is also a Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, further urged SON to promote the forthcoming 2018 Builders’ Congress that would focus on standardisation.

According to him, the council has developed a set of standards to enable a professional builder to effectively administer the construction processes within budget limits, time, and specified

quality.

“The set of standards termed Building Production Management Standards to ensure the success of building production process are segmented as construction, project quality management, health and safety programmes and construction methodology,” the chairman said.

He, however, said checking the infringement of standards will harness standards in building processes in Nigeria.

Responding, Aboloma expressed SON’s readiness to cooperate with CORBON, saying that environmental issues and resource management needed to be brought to the forefront.

Represented by a director, Mr Richard Agu, Aboloma noted that the cooperation of the two organisations many years ago had helped in tackling incidents of building collapse.

“In the upcoming financial year, we are having focus on building

collapse, we are happy to reconnect with CORBON after organising an event on building collapse in 2004.

“We are ready to facilitate the forthcoming 2018 Builders Congress to tackle substandard issues in the sector,” said Aboloma.

According to him, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is necessary with CORBON, noting that the new SON Act (2005) has given the organisation a lot of powers to achieve its mandate.

Contributing, Director of Operations, SON, Mr Felix Nyado, noted that all SON offices nationwide have laboratories for testing blocks to ensure standards.

He also advised CORBON to also key into membership and knowledge sharing with the International Standard Organisation to foster environmental sustainability through international best practice.

CORBON was established in 1989 by a decree to regulate the building technology profession in all its ramifications in Nigeria.

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

PAGE 11

Letter to the Editor

EDITORIAL The patient’s bill of rights

N

igeria published its first ever patient’s bill of rights July 31, 2018.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo launched it officially in Abuja , the nation’s capital. Wikipedia describes the patient’s bill of rights as “a list of guarantees” for anyone receiving medicalcare. It may be legally binding or nonbinding. Nigeria’s version of the bill of rights is the collaborative work of Nigerian Consumer Protection Council and the Federal Ministry of Health.

hold ourselves - professionals and patients - accountable to the rights that this document enunciates, and when we see others who should, but do not, we must insist that they do.” .

We, at Peoples Daily, welcome wholeheartedly the introduction of the patient’s bill of rights which, we understand, draws heavily on the 1999 Federal Constitution, the Consumer Protection Council Act, Freedom of Information Act, National Health Act and the Hippocratic The bill outlines 12 guarantees oath taken by healthcare in all. They include providers. If properly rights such as access to enforced, the bill is relevant information; capable of reducing, right to timely access if not eradicating to medical records; The bill outlines totally, the abuses transparent billing; perpetrated in our right to privacy, 12 guarantees in health institutions. clean healthcare all. They include These range from environment and rights such as lack of courtesy to to be treated with access to relevant patients, refusal respect. The rest are: to accept accident information; urgent care, reasonble victims, abandoning right to timely surgical wares in visitation, the right to decline care and to the patient’s body access to accept or decline to medical records; to insistence on participate in medical payments before transparent billing; treatment. Very often, research. right to privacy, these infractions lead While launching the clean healthcare to avoidable deaths. bill Vice President environment and The problem is that Osinbajo had this to say: “It will ensure that to be treated with most patients are not the increasing funding aware of their rights, respect that is coming into and so, are unable to healthcare in Nigeria translates seek legal redress. To obviate into a direct improvement in this problem, we suggest that the quality of the final output the Ministry of Health and the at what one might call the Consumer Protection Council ‘last mile’ phase of healthcare give the bill of rights of the delivery, the very personal patient the widest publicity arena of interaction between possible. The efficacy of the bill health personnel and the will depend on the awareness beneficiaries of the healthcare. of the patient such that he or Our aim must be to develop a she is able to insist on his or standard worthy of emulation, her righs. Another suggestion is by ensuring strict compliance that the bill be made actionable with and the enforcement of the through legislation enacted by Patient’s Bill of Rights. We must the National Assembly.

“

OUR MISSION

OUR PEOPLE

“To be the market place of ideas and the leading player in the industry by putting the people first, upholding the truth, maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards while delivering value to our stakeholders”

Chairman Malam Wada Maida, Oon, Fnge

Chief Operating Officer (Ag) Editor, Daily Hameed M. Bello Manager, administration Hassan Hammanyaji

OUR VISION

“To be a reputable, profitable, innovative and technologically reliant media company offering world class services and products”

S

How to curtail insecurity in FCT

ecurity as one of the major concerns of humanity whether at the individual,community,state or national level has always been a challenge that faces governments all over the world. Its importance is emphasized in the constitutions of countries all over the world as one of basic major functions of governments,Nigeria not an exception.

The importance of security is amplified vividly under section 14b of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended,which provides inter alia that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary responsibility and purpose of governments.Also section 24e of the same constitution provides that it shal also be the duty of citizens to render assistance to appropriate law enforcements Agencies in the maintenance of law and order.when we juxtaposed the provisions outlined by the constition above,we can see that the management and control of crime is a collective responsibity of both the government and its citizenry. [ The government has a responsibility in protecting the lives and property of its people and it can do this by workable and practical policies carefully and systematically conceptualized and propagated to achieve this objectives.

It therefore behoves of the FCT administration to develop this policies for the FCT which the people must key in to make the city safe and habitable.

The funding and implementations of this critical policies must be taken into account because this policies initiative will require Agencies,men and material that will carry out this objectives.

It is a fact that the jurisprudential value of law is predicated on its enforcement,hence thomas hobbes asserted that without the enforcement of the law so enacted,society will colapse.

The FCT is suppose to be an epi centre for what is obtainable in our country.It is a vivid reflection of what our overall society looks like.The laws of our country should always be implemented without fear or favour.The impressions we often creates that the law respects some certain class in the society creates more heineous crimes.

Security they say is the responsibility of all.we can never claim to have acheived as a government or community all our achievable security objectives if any part of our society is threatened security wise.Measures identified to solve security problems differ from country to countries,states to states,but government at all levels in our country must first acknowledge that constitutionally and morally its first responsibility is the security and welfare of its people.I must state here that the first measures needed to solve 50percent of our security problems is the welfare of the people.when the people see that its government is working and seem to be working for its overall interests and welfare,the people shal obey the laws of the country and also see that just as the governments has a responsibility,the led led also equal responsibility in acheiving the goal of securing the society.

A careful study and research on graffiti crimes such as burglary and drug related crimes prevalent in our society today

shows the crimes are behavioural related caused by poverty and deprivations.

The governments are hereby advised to incentivise and subsidize education in low income communities and to invest more in the skills development sector of education.The FCT administration must create and formulate laws quickly that will reform our criminal justice systems for better results.Todays prisons administration all over the world is not punitive based but reformatory.A situation were our prisons churn out more hardened criminal into the society after the expiration of their incarceratory period is also a dangerous security problem for the society.Governments at all level in the FCT must continue to finance the police force for the effective policing of the federal capital territory.

The police has an indispensable role to play in realization of the security dream of residents.The government should fund the logistic needs of the police.

As security is the major concern of everybody both at individual,community and family levels.It behoves on the governments at all level to always be proactive in the areas of crime detection and preventions.Todays security is the responsibility of everyone.technology have a major role to play in the areas of quick information gatherings and the response periods of security organisations.The government should as a deliberate policy invest heavily in the provision of these communication equipment for the use of our security forces.Today,it is also trite that our governments cannot employ all our needed security personnels.governments in the fct needs to assist also non governmental security outfits in the area of operational vehicles and materials to make their work easier.the government also needs to regulate the activities of this non governmental security outfits so that they would not be used for political and other personal reasons.The best measures implemented in helping the society to be secured is normally the human factor.The welfare of the people as pointed out by our constitution is also the responsibility of governments.

To reduce poverty and deprivation can also lead to reduction in cases of insecurity.The government in the fct must provide infrastructural incentives for the people.such infrastructural incentive must include,good and affordable schools,health facilities with subsidized drugs,agricultural imputs etc all targetted at poor families.Research have shown that 90percent of crimes reported to the law enforcement agents are carried out by poor and indigent children and adult.

Finally,we expect the government in the fct to always create a symbiosic relationship with security agencies.The fct administration should do a lot more for the security agencies as such will go a long way in giving them the impression that the government takes their job seriously.The resident must also be in a position to provide security informations quickly to the law enforcement agencies to make their work easier.Security of one is sebdurity to all.

Jamila Musa wrote in from Abuja.

PAGE 12

Opinion

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

Inter religious harmony for national development

By Tufa Arasu

W

ith the economic downturn, infrastructural malaise and other challenges facing the country at this material time, religious disharmony has remained a difficult hurdle holding us back from collectively and constructively forging a path out of our unfortunate predicaments. Nigeria’s need for a religious rebirth should thus be seen as a goldmine that must be given the seriousness it deserves. Building a religiously intelligible society where religion shall not be used by those who see it as a potent tool for divide and rule is one of the effective answers to some of the maladies being experienced in this country. Though it may seem unattainable given the present realities, however, reverse is the case since once upon a time it was practiced in this country.

At this writer’s present age of above 40, there was a time in this country when religion was practiced for the sake of harmony. Back then, the two major religions co-existed with mutual respect in a national brotherhood where the prestige of an individual was weighed against how industrious and well-mannered they were within their communities. What did our fathers do right to have enjoyed this feat in national integration?

Let me here give a brief insight to what I mean by religious harmony and national integration during my childhood years. This writer recollects that as we were growing up, the only difference we knew that existed between Christians and Muslims in my community was that on Sundays, we must leave our Muslim friends for some hours in order to attend Church service while they eagerly await our return. Whereas on the part of our Muslims friends, they must proceed to their makarantan allo (today referred to as Islamiyya School) in the evenings thus making us suspend play time.

I recall that whenever we went to church and to Sunday school, our Muslim friends became time keepers, monitoring by the minute; awaiting our arrival. As for us Christians, sometimes even their Qur’anic school does not keep us apart because of its informal setting and we would hang around waiting for them to take their lessons so that we all rush home to continue playing together. It got to an extent that some of us could recite some Qur’anic verses simply from accompanying them and our parents were not scared of our being Islamized.

I also recall with nostalgia how during Christmas and the Eids, a stranger in our community will not be able to differentiate a Muslim child from a Christian’s among us. They

used to wear their newest cloths and we would all go out for Christmas outings jumping and playing innocently. It was the same during Sallah festivals.

In fact, we used to await religious festivities with an eagerness in order to wear new cloths and planning on where next to go for the celebrations.

Our advantage was that we had more religious festivals to enjoy and our parents did not stop us. Ramadan was one time we cherished because of the customary tashe that we used to engage in from the 10th of Ramadan. It is a night-time entertainment concert carried out mostly by children and few adults who visit people’s homes singing and dancing in return for cash. At the end of the tashe period, we would break our piggy bank and share out whatever amount we were able to raise.

How did we allow all this to change? How did we end up depriving our children the kind of childhood our parents allowed us to enjoy and instead raised them with fear, insecurity and mutual suspicion? Our societies have been torn apart by marauders wearing the garb of religious custodians. Unfortunately, many Nigerians fail to see them for what they really are; wicked opportunists; instead rush gullibly to their defense in the name of religious solidarity. We have turned the concept of religion into a rivalry and competition where the winner takes the glory. The question is, has there been a winner so far or losers with unquantifiable losses of lives and properties?

Is this what religion is supposed to represent?

From my modest understanding of logic of religion, it is supposed to be like a personal philosophy guiding adherents to a higher moral pedestal of existence such that, even in primitiveness, man shall enjoy self and community well-being; against beastly inclinations. Religion should be a fundamental ground for moral decency and national growth where man should be able to lift his fellow man up when he is down and not the other way round. This, in fact, is similar to that style of living we enjoyed during our childhood. This was the kind of religious teaching we received in the past because this is what the Prophets taught. And nothing has changed from the messages the Prophets bequeathed to the world except for the crooked misinterpretations by some of their misguided preachers who turned this doctrine on its head by promoting the direct opposite.

Truth is, most of our new generation preachers are nothing but shrewd communal politicians and business men who disguise as clerics to misguide and misuse the ignorant poor and desperate among their followers for the clerics’ egotistic

ends. By politicians here, I do not mean those who stand on the podium seeking for our votes.

Politicians here refer to those cowardly community leaders who mobilize irate youth to settle their personal, ethnic or commercial scores for them in the name of religion. Unfortunately, it is these same poor followers of theirs that suffer the most in the face of any form of violence. But for naivety of most of these followers, how many times have the families of these so called clerics suffered in the face of communal conflicts? Unless the poor and ignorant flocks among the people begin to search for the truth on their own instead of waiting to be fed with all sorts of gospel and da’awah from their politically disguised clerics, Nigeria may yet enjoy the benefits of a religiously harmonious society.

Government on its part should not fold its arm and leave religious practices without regulations.

This is foolhardy bearing in mind the level of damage this stance has caused the country so far. Indeed, government must step up effort to monitor and regulate religious activities including preaching, purchases, locations of physical structures and what are stored therein. While surfing the internet, I stumbled on an Indonesian religious regulatory document and found it both interesting and worth emulating.

The Indonesian constitutionally recognized religious regulation declaration took off with the establishment of a ministry of religious affairs way back in 1947 whose responsibility was to promote religious harmony in diversity. Since then, its boundaries have grown to include monitoring and restricting any volatile religious activity capable of inciting rivalry not to talk of violence. Some major steps taken to ensure this include a bill in 1965 on prevention of religious abuse or desecration.

This was followed by a directive from the office of the then head of government stipulating that invitations to join any religion should be extended only to those who were not already adherents of any particular religion be it Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism etc. To that effect and for the sake of national stability, government banned coaxing into conversion from one religion to another whether through distribution of pamphlets, money, clothes and newsletters whether on the streets or house to house of religious faithful with the intention of persuading religious conversion. Foreign aids to religious bodies were also regulated while government worked in tandem with NGOs in implementing its policies.

According to Prof Dede Rosyada, author of Harmony in Diversity: A Government Policy and Mutual Effort of Religious People in Indonesia,

“Government exists to deal with the issue of religious communities, not just to resolve conflicts between them, but rather to guide and direct all religious communities in Indonesia in other to appreciate their different beliefs.” Thus far, the author continued, this has helped to “develop and to maintain the cohesiveness of the Indonesian societies in order to advance the nation to align with other major nations in the world, and be advanced as other countries,” he observed. To date, religious harmony regulation in Indonesia remains dynamic enjoying regular reviews. In there is a vital lesson for Nigerians and their government, for whom religious diversity has so far been a curse; reduced to an appalling and lurid condition holding progress of the country to ransom.

For starters, ministry of education should see the need to introduce and pursue rigorously, a program of religious education, from an early stage in our educational curriculum up to advanced level: a program geared towards teaching religious respect and respect for one another. This is with the hope of disabusing the minds of children from any harmful religious indoctrination they may be receiving from their parents or religious clerics in addition to building trust for one another.

Indeed, appreciation must be shown towards the numerous interfaith agencies and NGOs who have been at the forefront of promoting religious harmony in the country. Some of these NGOs include the Clinton Foundation etc. Yet, there is still more that could be done towards engineering the principle of peaceful coexistence built on the essence of humanity of man to man while deemphasizing the type of religious dogmatism and bigotry that has brought us to where we are today.

One way of doing this is by keeping the people engaged in executing community development projects whereby members join hands in advancing the course of their societies through building social structures and maintaining same. Hopefully, this will give members of that community a sense of belonging as well as keeping them away from redundancy which avails them with excess time and energy that are mostly channeled into destructive activities. This should be followed by awarding of small grants for local initiatives to individuals who may have displayed commitment and productivity during such community development labors. The grants should come as a way of encouragement to them and those who may not have demonstrated any enthusiasm.

Arasu is Dean, Collective of Patriots (CoP), writing from Abuja.

Enhancing our productivity, cultivating our potentials

By Taiwo Odukoya

O

f the greatest challenges facing leadership the world over is raising the productive capacities of their people. Organisations and nations alike are in need of free minds and steady hands that can imagine solutions and implement them, faster than problems arise.

What great nations and organisations have done over centuries is to create and recreate a set of organising principles that allow for human productivity to flourish unfettered, and for the invention of new technologies that make our lives infinitely more productive.

Think of companies like Microsoft and Google, Samsung and Apple, whose entire revenue of $234bn for 2015 is two times bigger than Nigeria’s entire 2016 budget. Then think about the value companies like these bring to their host nations in terms of revenue, employment and a whole value chain of tangible and intrinsic gains. Now imagine what Nigeria can accomplish with over a hundred million people given wings to fly.

Outside a commodity like oil which is perpetually at the mercy of the vagaries of the market, Nigeria is a less than productive country. The 2015 WEF Global Competitiveness

Report ranks Nigeria 124th in the world out of 140 countries. We must turn the tide, and we must turn the tide now. How? 1. We must be deliberate about reorientation.

Our seriousness to inspire and aggregate the productivity of Nigerians into a potent economic, social, cultural and geopolitical force, ought to be evident in our commitment to revamping the educational sector, where the minds of millions of youths, potential geniuses and innovators, are currently being subjected to one of the most inept and outmoded educational systems in the world. We have to re-navigate our educational policy at every level to include vocational and entrepreneurial training, and this we have to do fast. Nigeria’s unemployment rate currently stands at 10.4 percent. Our universities are churning out more graduates than we are able to absorb, not to mention how ill equipped most of these young men and women are to handle the challenges of the 21st century business and work environment. As former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard aptly put it, “Our future growth relies on competitiveness and innovation, skills and productivity… and these in turn rely on the education of our people.”

2. An enabling environment is a prerequisite, whether at federal, state level and I daresay,

local government too. This would mean: a. Removal of bureaucratic encumbrance.

Those bottlenecks embedded in the constitution, which have become systemic impediments to doing business in Nigeria. In other words, the legislature must face up to the responsibility of streamlining most of the limiting laws that make doing business in Nigeria a tedious affair. b. Making access to funding, particularly for young people a lot easier, as it is in the developed world. This is a responsibility for the public and private sectors. In June 2016, the Mark and Chan Zuckerberg Foundation made a $24million investment in Andela, a tech start up co-founded by a 24 year old Nigerian, Iyin Aboyeji, with a major hub in Lagos. It is in young Nigerians like Iyin that the future of Nigeria rests and to millions like him in every sector, in every corner of the country, from Lagos to Aba to Kano. We will lose them to terrorists and degenerates who will recruit them for sinister purposes if we do not give their creative energies a productive outlet by making access to funds as easy as possible. Organisations like the Tony Elumelu Foundation who play a critical role in making funds accessible to young entrepreneurs must be encouraged. c. Giving infrastructure development its

priority of place – power, roads, standard airports, etc, are non-negotiable factors to fostering productivity. We cannot keep throwing money into infrastructural development with nothing to show for it. No matter how golden the intentions of the current government is, it will need the support of the legislature, the judiciary and Nigerians at large to make public infrastructure formidable enough to bear the weight of the dreams of millions of Nigerians. d. Dealing decisively with corruption. The truth is, none of these can work if corruption is allowed to run rampant as it has always been. Every attempt by past and successive governments to engender productivity has been stymied by corruption. This is why this time around we must collectively do our best to ensure an environment of transparency and accountability.

To get out of the current economic downturn and into a season of continued prosperity, to wean ourselves from the curse of the crude, it is to the irrepressible, ingenious Nigerian spirit, buried under the rubble of decades of struggles that we must turn.

NIGERIA HAS A FUTURE Taiwo Odukoya writes in from Lagos.

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

PAGE 13

Comment

Current challenges of education in Nigeria

By Aniekpeno John Inyang

E

ducation has been described in many quarters as not just a tool for an individual’s self-actualization but a powerful instrument of social change. Many developed countries in the world today have attributed their success stories to their faith in education. This goes a long way in proving how vital education is to any society. Nigeria as a country is regarded as one that is still developing and a lot of people believe that our transition to a state of be described as one of the most developed countries in the world is largely dependent on how much emphasis we lay on education. Education in today’s world has gone through a lot of changes to enable it cater for emerging demands and bring about life changing transformations.

Nigerian educational system is still growing but has encountered a lot of challenges. The essence of this paper is to take a look at the educational problems confronting Nigeria and how we can address some of those problems, but first we will take a look at the concept of education Dornell (2005) defined education as the process by which people develop their functional literacy and numeracy, knowledge and skills for productive activity. According to Peters (1989) education is a continuous process, which involves the transmission of societal accepted values, skills, attitude and virtue for proper development of an individual for positive contribution to his society.

Wikipedia defines Education as the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits.

Educational methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and directed research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of educators, but learners may also educate themselves.[1] Education can take place in formal or informal settings and any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks,

feels, or acts may be considered educational. The methodology of teaching is called pedagogy.

Prior to the arrival of western education in Nigeria, education has been informal majorly from the family and immediate society, where children are taught about culture, social activities and work. These educational activities made up for majority of what the upcoming ones learn.

The entrance of the Europeans into Nigeria brought along European western Education in the 1840s. In the western part of the country western education was encouraged by the Missionaries.

The Northern part of Nigeria, majorly populated by Muslims, western education was prohibited giving way to Islamic school that focused primarily on Islamic education.

Prior to Nigeria’s Independence, only two established Post Secondary Institution were available, Yaba Higher College (Now Yaba College of Technology founded in 1934) and the University of Ibadan, founded in 1948.

Post Independence brought about the major development of education in Nigeria, with increase in the number of primary, secondary schools, teachers college and Polytechnics and Universities.

The cost of Tertiary education is constantly on the increase and the educational system is in need of improvement and innovation to move it forward from the current state.

Education in Nigeria is usually said to have undergone four major periods which are: African Traditional Education: This is the period when education was purely informal and in the hands of Africans. Education in this era revolved around transmitting cultural values from one generation to another Missionary Education: this is when education was in the hands of Missionaries.

Education here was designed to help propagate the goals of spreading the word of God by the Missionaries

Colonial Education: Education under this period was in the hands of the European Colonial Masters. The aim of education was to train Nigerians to basically serve as Messengers and Petty workers.

Post-colonial Education: this period witnessed the taking over of education by Nigerians. Education was now designed to take care of the developmental needs of the Country.

Current Challenges Confronting the Development of Education in Nigeria and the Way Forward There are many issues currently bedeviling the development of Education in Nigeria, some of them are identified below along with their way forward: Lack of Adequate funding: there hasn’t been enough funding allocated to education in Nigeria and this has impeded the proper growth of education. Nigeria has never allocated the required sum for education as stipulated by the United Nations which is is 26% of annual budget.

The Government should as a matter of urgency allocate at least 26% of its total budget as stipulated by the United Nations to Education.

Poor teacher’s welfare: This is another major problem affecting the level of education in Nigeria. Poor salary and irregular payments of salaries, are the problems that teachers face in Nigeria.

Teachers’ salary must be increased to motivate them to do their work better Poor Educational Infrastructure: there is also the problem of the lack of adequate infrastructure needed to drive home the goals of education. Such things as stable electricity or a good health care system affects the growth and development of education.

The government should join hands with the public to provide adequate infrastructure needed by education.

Absence of properly trained Teachers: some persons who are engaged to teach are

not properly trained or have not gone through good teacher training institutions. This affects their productivity as teachers and impedes educational development in the country.

There must be a strong legislation against the act of employing persons who have not gone through proper teacher education. Anybody found doing that should be prosecuted by the courts of law Absence of Learner friendly environments: the right kind of environment that encourages easy learning is usually not made available to learners. Things like good teaching aids, sports centers, and good laboratories. This affects how much the learners are able to assimilate and the teacher’s productivity.

All persons must put all hands on deck to provide the right kind of environment needed by every learner to effectively learn.

Poorly Designed Curriculum: there is also the problem of poorly designed curriculum.

These are curriculums that are not able to meet up with the developmental needs of the country or do not involve the right kind of stakeholders in the educational sector.

The government should involve all stake holders in the educational sector such as teachers and educational administrators in the process of designing and implementing school curriculum.

Education in Nigeria is still developing and emerging. A lot has been achieved and even more can be achieved if only we can address some of the issues affecting the sector. Some of these issues have been discussed above and possible solutions have been proffered. As Nigerians we must do everything within our capability to put in place, the necessary things needed by education to grow, this is because education is the most trusted tool we can use to achieve our goals of national development.

Aniekpeno John Inyang is a Public Affairs Analyst.

Addressing challenges of hawking in major cities

By Uguru Uchechukwu Okanagba

O

ver the years, Nigerian children and young persons have been subjected to hawking and begging in the major cities of Nigeria, like Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt, etc, base on the untold hardship and life challenging situations they find themselves.

It burdens my heart that in a great country like Nigeria, there are numerous laws which if properly enforced, virtually all areas of human endeavour will be adequately and perfectly taken care of, but the bane is that majority of them are not being enforced. Virtually all the laws exist in theory and not in practice. This is because when a law is not enforced as at when due, the presumption is that such law does not exist in the first place.

In a democratic system of government like Nigeria, laws are meant to be enforced to the latter and not just to show that we have such laws like other countries which do not tamper with the full implementation of their laws.

Relying on the above premise and proposition, may I now x-ray why the problem of Nigeria is not making laws but the enforcement of the laws already made on the area of my interest for the purpose of this article.

The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) provides in section 1 (1) as follows: “This Constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria “ By section 1 (2) of the Constitution it provides: “the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed nor shall any person or group of persons take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitutions”.

Section 18 of the same Constitution further provides:

(1) Government shall direct its policy towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels.

(3)(a) Free, compulsory and universal primary education (b) Free University education.

In view of the sections mentioned supra, it is indisputable and unarguable that the authorities saddled with the responsibility of implementing our laws are living below the expectation reposed on them, even though they are constitutional obligated to implement laws.

It does not elude my memory that many gurus in constitutional law will not hesitate to put up justification of non-justiciability of section 18 of the Constitution cited above, owing to the fact that it falls within the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy, and therefore, one has no locus to ask for such right, hence it is within the objective principles which no court of law is allowed to adjudicate upon, on the ground that such provision is not actionable against the government.

This will not avail whoever that is relying on such justification because it is the overdependence of the fact that such right is not justiciable, even though, it is provided in the Constitution and evade responsibilities which ordinarily ought to be carried out, necessitated the National Assembly to in their wisdom enacted and ratified other laws to ensure that such artifice of executive lawlessness is not condoned.

Considering the intent and spirit of the Child Rights Act enacted by the National Assembly on 31st July, 2003 and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, ratified on 17th March, 1988, it will be obvious and glaring that the essence is to give effect to section 18 of the 1999 Constitution by palliating the hardship of children and young persons owing to their vulnerable nature.

It will not be out of place to bring out the salient sections and provisions that are to the effect that the right of children and young persons shall be considered paramount and shall not be treated with levity. Section 15 of the Child Rights Act provides: (1) “Every Child has the right to free, compulsory and universal basic education and it shall be the duty of the Government in Nigeria to provide such education.”

This provision is in pari materia and on all fours with section 18 of the Constitution.

Section 30 (2) of the same Child Rights Act also provides: (a) A child shall not be used for the purpose of begging for alms, guiding beggars, prostitution, domestic or sexual labour or for any unlawful or immoral purpose; (c) A child shall not be used for hawking of goods or services on main cities, streets, brothels or high ways; (d) A child shall not be used for any purpose that deprives the child of the opportunity to attend and remain in school as provided for under the compulsory, free universal basic education Act. In line with the provisions of the Child Rights Act, every lettered and unlettered people of this country shall not have any impediment in agreeing that there is an Act of the National Assembly that has graciously and judiciously outlined the rights of children and young persons and equally guaranteed the protection of such rights. It is not in doubt in view of the Act that every Nigerian child and young person has the right of education and not the right of hawking and begging on the high ways and in the streets during and after school hours on the ground of poor background.

It is highly regrettable and an eyesore that our great country Nigeria, the “giant of Africa”, is encompassed by teenagers hawking and begging in its major cities like Lagos, Abuja and Port-

Harcourt. These are children and young persons between the ages of fifteen to seventeen years, who ought to be taken care of if our laws are what they are meant to be. It is very worrisome that these children and young persons stays under heavy scorching of the Sun while their mates or counterparts are in Schools in order to make ends meet and our leaders did not consider such ugly situation worthy of being addressed. Under the sun or in the rain is more appropriate to the hawkers than the corps members who has it as their anthem, because it is the hawkers that are practicing it to the fullest!

This article will end up being hypothetical if I should end it without specifically mentioning some areas where the incidence is most common.

If one is traveling from eastern part of this country to Lagos, immediately you get to Beggar you will be welcomed with “Gala! Gala! Gala!”. From there down to Ojota and from Ojota to Ojuelegba, what you will be seeing are teenagers hawking gala, plantain chips and other things on the high ways.

The same thing applies to streets of Oshodi, Ajah, Mile 2, CMS, and Idumota, etc. vis-à-vis Abuja and Port-Harcourt areas which I cannot itemize because of its prolixity.

Many Governors and other authorities have condemned and blamed these teenagers for constituting nuisance in their States without taking any drastic or proactive measure to address the challenge in accordance with the Child Rights Act. Condemning or describing the act as disgusting alone has no bearing or positive effect whatsoever, until the right thing is done via the Act. Baning them from hawking without given a lasting solution to the problem by given them alternatives, just as the incumbent Governor of Lagos State is doing now, will not only orchestrate more harm than good but the crime rate shall be on the high level.

Barr. Uguru Uchechukwu Okanagba is a Public Affairs Analyst.

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

PAGE 14

PAGE 15

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

News

R-L: Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr. Bayo Onanuga welcoming the Executive Director, International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Mr. Dayo Aiyetan, during a visit of the delegation from ICIR to the NAN headquarters, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

Women say lack of care from husband bane of malnutrition Peaceful From: Femi Oyelola, kaduna

W

omen of Gimba community in Soba Local Government Area of Kaduna State have blamed high rate of malnutrition in the community on lack of adequate care from their husbands.

They stated this during a town hall meeting in the community on demand creation for nutritional health services organized by save the Children International (SCI) The women said that their husbands abandoned them the moment they became pregnant with no support, particularly in providing adequate nutritious food needed for healthy pregnancy.

One of them, Mrs Rahinatu Yakubu, particularly said that husbands should be held responsible for the disturbing number of malnourished children in the community.

She explained that it was the responsibility of husbands to care

and feed their family, but that on the contrary, the men became indifferent the moment their wives became pregnant with no form of care.

According to her, attention should be focused on husbands to live up to their responsibilities by caring for their wives and provide the food needed for healthy pregnancy and development the baby.

“Malnutrition in our community begins right from the womb because our women do not get to eat well due to lack of care from the men.

“When it is time to deliver, we give birth to a malnourished child and the hospital become our second home in search of treatment.”

Another woman, Mrs Fatima Sule, said that all their husbands care about was marrying additional wives whenever they get little money.

“They have family that they don’t take good care of, but interested in marrying more wives and getting them pregnant only to abandoned them also when they become

pregnant.

“The moment you tell your husband that you are pregnant everything change in the house. He become unnecessarily angry all the time to prevent you from asking for money for food, “she said.

She also called on relevant stakeholders to talk to their men on the need to care and support their wives, pregnant or not, “it is their duty.”

The women equally appealed to government and other stakeholders to provide more drugs, beds and other facilities in the community’s health centre, adding that the facility was grossly understaffed.

Malam Musa Isah, the Nutrition Focal Person in the LGA, confirmed the high incident of malnutrition in the local government.

According to him, the number of malnourished children in the records of most health centres in the LGA doubled and in some cases tripled every week.

One of the community member, Malam Mohammed Hassan acknowledged that some of the men do not take proper care of their pregnant wives.

Hassan, said that due to poverty, not all men can afford to provide their wives fish, eggs or meat during pregnancy, but could however provide vegetables.

Malam Isah Ibrahim, Nutrition Advocacy Adviser with SCI explained that failure to properly feed pregnant women and adequate infant and young child feeding practices were the major causes of malnutrition among children under five years.

Ibrahim encouraged the women to embrace exclusive breastfeeding and provide adequate complementary feeding after the first six months.

He called on the husbands to support their wives by providing the necessary nutritious food to their pregnant wives for healthy pregnancy, delivery and uninterupted development of a child.

IPMAN shuts down Anambra over filling station demolition

P

etroleum marketers in Anambra have shut their filling stations in protest for the demolition of a member’s property by the state government.

The marketers, under the aegis of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), said a filling station belonging to Chipet Petroleum on Azikiwe Avenue, Fegge in Onitsha, was demolished by Anambra Government for alleged improper siting without compensation to the owner.

A Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who monitored the situation reports that there was total compliance in Awka as filling stations in the capital city were closed on Wednesday.

There was also panic buying of petroleum products on Tuesday night as customers scrambled in last minute rush to avoid being caught in the face off.

One of the marketers, who spoke to NAN anonymously, said the destroyed property

passed through all the legal and approval processes, including the Certificate of Occupancy (C 0f O).

He said all efforts through letters of conciliation to get Anambra Government to compensate the owner had met the brick wall.

The marketer said the Enugu Depot IPMAN, had decided to shut down operations of their members in Anambra in solidarity with Chipet Petroleum.

Chief Cletus Obiokafor, Chairman of petroleum dealers in

Anambra confirmed the protest by members, saying it was the decision of the Enugu Depot of IPMAN. Obiokafor said he could not say when the face off will end.

Reacting Mr C-Don Adinuba, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment in the state said efforts were on to resolve the impasse.

Adinuba said officials of government and the leadership of IPMAN would meet on the matter.

KCCN K-pop dance academy graduates 25 students

By Henrietta Lucy Attah

K

-Pop dance academy of the Korean Cultural Centre (KCCN) of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea has graduated 25 students from K-pop dance academy.

The dance academy was established to discover young talents.

The Centre, in a statement issued

by Director of the KCCN in Abuja, Han Sungrae, recalled that two k-POP dance instructors flew into the country from the Republic of Korea to

tutor the dancers.

The statement also said that the Korean instructors collaborated with other Nigerian instructors to promote cultural exchange.

Speaking after the dance competition, the winners commended

the KCCN for developing the talents of the young Nigerians.

They urged the government of the country to sustain the tempo and called on the Nigerian government to collaborate with the center to develop Nigerian talents.

Kingdoms panacea for peaceful nation, says Okowa

Osakhare Erese, Asaba

D

elta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has advocated for peaceful kingdoms which he said will translate to peaceful local government areas and snowball into a peaceful nation.

Speaking when the Pere of Kabowei Kingdom, HRM Shedrack Erebelu III led his Council of Chiefs to pay him a courtesy visit in Asaba on Wednesday, Governor Okowa emphasized the need for peace to be built from different kingdoms.

“If we succeed in keeping every kingdom and every local government peaceful, we will witness a lot of development,” the governor said.

He commended Erebelu III for sustaining peace in his kingdom and urged him to improve on the standard of living of his people.

He added, “I want to congratulate you ahead of your one year on the throne of your forefathers, I am very impressed with the way you comport yourself and carry on with the administration of your kingdom and I want to also, commend your council of chiefs for their support.”

“We are happy with your cooperation and I assure you that Patani local government and the Kabowei Kingdom will not be forgotten in our development programs; create a thinking group, like a pressure group for them to reach out to government and corporate organizations to get them to do things for you; that kind of group can help you to get things done,” he reiterated.

Erebelu III had said the visit to the governor was to thank him for his support to the Kabowei Kingdom in terms of development projects and regular visit to the kingdom.”

T

he founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has said the Senate President Bukola Saraki will win the 2019 presidential election if he grabs the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He, however, warned that the 2019 election will be tougher than that of 2015.

The cleric said he saw storms that period but was quick to add that the country would still survive the period.

He warned that the raging

Saraki will win 2019 presidential election, cleric predicts National Assembly crisis might lead to the collapse of democracy in Nigeria if not well handled.

Ayodele spoke on Wednesday in Ikere-Ekiti at an empowerment programme he organised in memory of his late father, Elder Olalekan Ayodele, who died 15 years ago.

He donated cash and foodstuff to hundreds of widows and orphans at the event which

he said was a means of giving them succour and a sense of belonging.

Ayodele also advised the Ekiti State Governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, to listen to the people for him to succeed in his administration.

He advised the All Progressives Congress to put its house in order in Osun State to achieve victory at the September 22 governorship

election.

On the National Assembly crisis, he said: “Whatever they are doing in the Senate or in government, that is their own problem.

“I have said that nobody can remove Saraki, I don’t know Saraki, I have not met Saraki and I don’t know (Godswill) Akpabio. The issue of Saraki, I am not interested because I am not a politician.

“Who is that politician that is not corrupt and who is that politician that does not steal money? Saraki is one of the anointed persons in this country. I don’t see Atiku going too far.

“I am not defending Saraki but if Saraki is removed, PDP will sink and if PDP wants to move forward and Saraki having the ticket, PDP will win.”

PDP demands release of Premium Times reporter

Ministers, during the Federal Executive Council Meeting (FEC), at the State House, yesterday in Abuja.

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

T

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for the immediate release of Premium Times Newspapers reporter, Samuel Ogundipe, who was arrested and detained by the police over a report.

The party also condemned the alleged denial of personal freedom and manhandling of the newspaper’s Editor-inChief, Musikilu Mojeed, and its education correspondent, Azeezat Adedigba by the police.

The party made the call in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan yesterday in Abuja.

The opposition party maintained that the continued detention of Mr. Ogundipe is against his fundamental right to freedom as enshrined in the 1999 constitution (as amended).

According to the statement, “The PDP insists that the incessant clampdown on journalists and media houses by the Muhammadu Buhariled All Progressives Congress (APC) administration is completely unacceptable in a democracy and only reminiscent of military Decree 4 of 1984 that empowers then dictatorial regime to arrest and detain journalists over reports considered to be against its interest.

“The PDP therefore calls on the general media and all lovers of democracy and free speech in the country to speak out against the unabating assault on the media by the APC administration as such poses a huge threat to our democracy and the rights of citizens in our country”, it said.

Niger Assembly member quits APC, loses seat From Minna

Yakubu

Mustapha,

T

he Niger state House of Assembly has yesterday declared the seat of the member representing Tafa Constituency, Honorable Danladi Iyah, vacant over his decision to quit the All Progressive Congress (APC).

The declaration was following a letter sent to the Assembly by the state Chairman of APC requesting

that the Assembly effect the consequences of the legislator’s defection, which was read during plenary on Wednesday.

The Chairman’s letter said that the reason proffered by the legislator was not tenable as it was personal and not constitutional.

The letter reads in part “I want the House of Assembly to effect the conditions of section 109 sub section 1(g) of the Nigeria constitution and declare the seat of the member representing Tafa

Constituency vacant. His reasons are not justifiable.”

In his letter written to the APC, the affected legislator did not state the party he intended to go to, but stated that his defection was due to hostilities he suffered as a member of the party.

While speaking on the floor during the deliberation, the member representing Borgu Constituency, Honorable Ahmed Abba, however agreed with the letter from the APC Chairman,

saying that the reasons for the defection is not in line with the Constitution of Nigeria, adding “declaring his seat vacant is the right thing to do.”

The member representing Bida Constituency, Honorable Haruna Mohammed, seconded the motion.

The Speaker, Honorable Ahmed Marafa, then declared the seat vacant and directed the Clerk of the Assembly, Abdullahi Kagara, to stop all financial dealings due to the member.

N22tr debt: Buhari, APC have wrecked Nigeria - PDP

By Lateef Ibrahim

T

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s poor understanding of current global economic dynamics and his cover of humongous corruption in his Presidency have completely wrecked the nation and directly responsible for the accumulated N22 trillion national debt burden.

In a statement by the National

Publicity Secretary of the Party, Kola Ologbondiya, the party said had President Buhari heed wise counsel from the PDP to allow competent hands to manage the nation’s economy and had he not continued to provide official cover for corruption in his Presidency, the nation would not have been in this current embarrassing economic situation.

“Since President Buhari assumed office and took control of our once robust economy, his administration

has not been able to articulate any germane policy to sustain, let alone grow the economy, but had instead, resorted to borrowing, while allowing his cronies and APC leaders to fritter away trillions of naira earned by the nation in the last three years.

“Why would the Buhari administration not accumulate debts when it has continued to cover up corrupt practices under its watch, including the alleged stealing of N9 trillion, through underhand oil

contracts in the NNPC and Ministry of Petroleum Resources as well as the alleged illegal lifting of crude oil worth N1.1 trillion by 18 unregistered companies to service APC interests, among others”, the party said in the statement.

Moreover, it said the Buhari Presidency has refused to explain the whereabouts of trillions of naira unremitted oil revenue, resulting in the deadlock at the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC).

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

POLITICS

Removing Saraki won’t reduce price of rice to N7,000 –Fayose

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi with agency report

E

kiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, on Wednesday wondered whether the impeachment of Bukola Saraki as Senate President would reduce the price of a bag of rice in the Nigerian market to N7,000.

Fayose shared his thoughts about the calls for the removal of Saraki via his verified Twitter handle, @ayofayose.

He wrote: “When a ruling party turns the removal of Senate President to its main agenda, the result is a heated polity. They are holding meetings upon meetings on Saraki’s impeachment as if removing the Senate President will reduce the price of rice to N7, 000 per bag that it was in 2015.

When a ruling party turns the removal of Senate President to its main agenda, the result is a heated polity. They are holding meetings upon meetings on Saraki’s impeachment as if removing the Senate President will reduce the price of rice to N7, 000 per bag that it was in 2015.

…As Saraki appoints Onaiwu liaison officer on State matters

S

enate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has appointed 59-year old Earl Osaro Onaiwu as Liaison Officer to the Senate President on State Matters.

A press release signed by the Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to Senate President, Yusuph Olaniyonu, states, “Onaiwu, an experienced politician and public administrator, will help to co-ordinate relationship between the Office of the Senate President and the various state governments across the country.”

2019: Buhari not against use of PVCs, Card Readers -Presidency

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he Presidency has said that President Muhammadu Buhari was not against the use of Permanent Voters’ Card (PVCs) and Card Readers for the conduct of the 2019 general election.

In a statement made available to newsmen by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, yesterday, the Presidency debunked the reports that Buhari withheld his assent to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 as passed by the National Assembly.

Setting the records straight, Shehu explaned “The Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was sent by the National Assembly to the Presidency at the end of June 2018, for assent.

Following extensive consideration, the Presidency engaged with the National Assembly to raise concerns regarding errors and inconsistencies found in the

•Says President not withholding assent to Electoral Act

submitted version. Following this, the National Assembly, on July 24, 2018, met to review and correct the Bill.

“The Bill was given, on July 24, 2018, a “clause by clause consideration” by the Senate.

“The Votes and Proceedings from the Senate on July 24, 2018, attest to this. The Senate resolved to rescind its decision on a number of clauses included in the version they had earlier sent for consideration by the President, and to reconsider these clauses.

“According to the Senate Votes and Proceedings of Tuesday July 24, 2018: “The Senate: … notes that in the course of final cleaning of the Bill as passed, some provisions were found to negate the essence of the amendment; [and] Resolves to: Rescind its decision on Clauses 3,5,8,11(2), 13(b), 14 (4), 15(3), 18,21,23,24,28,32 and 38 of the Bill as passed, and recommit same to Committee of the whole for

reconsideration and passage.”

“The re-considered Bill was passed by the Senate on July 24, 2018 the same day that plenary was adjourned to September 25, 2018. The revised Version of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018, with corrections by the National Assembly, and dated the 2nd of August, 2018, was received by the Presidency on the 3rd of August, 2018. The President has 30 days from the date of receipt, to assent to or decline the Bill. The Bill is therefore still under consideration by the Presidency.

“The allegations that the President declined assent to the Bill because of objections to the use of card readers are wild and baseless.

President Buhari did not and has never raised any objections to the use of Card Readers for elections in Nigeria.

On the contrary he has always been a passionate advocate for the use of PVCs and Card Readers in elections in

Nigeria, mindful of the role that Card Readers and PVCs played in the election that brought him into office. And he has repeatedly made this clear, and praised these technologies.”

He pointed out further that “None of these clauses reviewed and revised by the National Assembly in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 relates to the issue of electronic voting or to the use of Card Readers. The President also did not raise any objections whatsoever to the use of Card Readers, contrary to the stories being maliciously peddled by sections of the media and on the Internet.”

The Presidential spokesman recalled that the President had once acknowledged that the use of PVCs and Card Readers in the 2015 Presidential election gave him victory while hosting the Judiciary to the customary breaking of the Ramadan Fast in the Presidential Villa.

PAGE 17

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

POLITICS

ITF trains 150,000 entrepreneurs in achieve Buhari’s job creation agenda - DG

By Hafsat Abdullahi

T

he Director General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Joseph Ari, has said the agency was able to train over 150,000 Nigerians who are earning sustainable livelihoods as paid employees or entrepreneurs since its inception of its new policy plan

of ITF Reviewed Vision: Strategy for Mandate Actualization, designed to achieve President Muhammadu Buhari job creation agenda.

He made this known yesterday in a press conference held in Abuja to explain the activities and objectives of the Industrial Training Fund, where he said commenced in 2016 and

will end in 2022.

Ari explained that the achievement and development of ITF was as a result of expanding existing skills acquisition programmes and introducing new ideas, which he said they are working to fill up.

He said that the Fund provided its beneficiaries with start-up kit to enable them to

start their businesses upon graduation, unlike in the past were it depended on state governments to provide start-up kits for trainees.

According to him “The ITF in conjunction with the United Nations Industrial Development organization (UNIDO) conducted a national skill gap assessment in agri-

INEC Registration Officer, Shakirat Yussuf (left), attending to a potential voters before closing of the registration for Permanent Voters Card which ends on Friday at Ibadan North Local Government at Agodi, yesterday in Ibadan.

Photo: NAN

business and agro-allied, metal and solid minerals, oil and gas industry, construction, light manufacturing and services industry.

“The reports of the survey showed that there were vacancies which existed in several sectors of the economy despite unemployment but could not be filled by Nigerians due to lack of requisite skills or were filled by foreigners”.

He further explained that in order to address the contradiction of spiraling unemployment and President Muhammadu Buhari’s job creation drive, the management brought about some specific programmes such as National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), PostHarvest Techniques and Project Development, Women SKills Empowerement Programme (WOSEP), Designing and Garmet Making, poultry farming, Manure Production, Aqua-culture/Fish Farming amogst many.

He added that the ITF will commence a fresh training session for about 13,000 jobless Nigerians, but lamented that it is still a drop of water in the ocean, especially considering that training a nation is more than training a company.

How Gov Abubakar is changing the narratives of Bauchi - Commissioner From Ahmad Mohammed, Bauchi L-R: Chairman of the Occasion/Convener, Bring Back Our Girls, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili; Senior Pastor, House of Freedom Church, Dr Anthony Rapu; former Minister of Information, Mr Frank Iweke Jnr; and the Director-General, Nigeria International Movement, during the Summit of the Alternative session, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

Kaduna Assembly declares seats of ex-deputy Speaker, member vacant From Femi Oyelola with agency report

T

he Kaduna State House of Assembly on Wednesday declared the seats of the two lawmakers who defected from the All Progressives Congress to the People’s Democratic Party, vacant.

The two members whose

seats were declared vacant are the former Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. John Audu-Kwaturu, representing Kachia constituency; and the member representing Kudan constituency, Hon. Junaidu Yakubu.

They had claimed that they dumped the APC over what they described as “impunity” in the party.

However, the Speaker, Aminu Abdullahi Shaghali, said the reasons adduced by the lawmakers were not tenable since there was no crisis or rancour in the party at both the state and the national levels, hence the lawmakers had to vacate their seats.

The lawmaker representing Makera Constituency, Dahiru Liman, nominated Hon. Nuhu Goroh

Shadalafiya, Kagarko Constituency, as the new Deputy Speaker; and Hon. Ahmed Mohammed of Zaria Kewaye Constituency seconded the motion.

The new Deputy Speaker, until now, was Chairman, House Committee on Information.

He was immediately sworn in as the new Deputy Speaker.

PDP plans to rig Osun gov election, APC alleges

T

he All Progressives Congress has raised the alarm over what it alleged was an open declaration by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to rig the Osun governorship election.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, in Abuja on Wednesday, the APC said the PDP exposed its plans in a statement it issued on Tuesday.

Nabena alleged that the PDP

was prepared to deploy all “means, schemes, shenanigans in all ramification and magnitude to rig all coming elections, starting from the Osun State governorship election.”

According to Nabena, the PDP, in its statement, also “directed all its presidential aspirants to move all their political machinery into Osun state within this period.”

The APC said when it learnt of the “shocking disclosure,” it initially

doubted its veracity and dismissed it as one of the fake news in circulation, until further checks, backed by media reports, confirmed that the statement was indeed issued by the PDP National Spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan.

The APC spokesperson said, “PDP’s statement on Tuesday is particularly worrisome, because it coincided with the situation field report we received of the PDP cloning

Permanent Voters Cards for use in the Osun governorship election.

“The PDP’s now public rigging plans is a red flag that requires urgent probe by the Independent National Electoral Commission and relevant security agencies.

“We also call on well-meaning Nigerians and civil society organisations to speak out and resist the PDP’s retrogressive plan which threatens our democracy.”

Alhaji Ibrahim Umar Sade is the Bauchi State Commissioner of Information, in this interview with reporters in Bauchi, he explains how the government is changing the narratives of the state and other activities of the Government under the leadership of Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar.

Your party APC, has just won the Bauchi South Senatorial bye election, can you react to this?

Alhamdulillahi we first of all thank the Almighty Allah who in his infinite mercy on us the victory The just concluded Bauchi South senatorial bye election had manifested Governor Abubakar overwhelming grip on Bauchi Politics , my Governor is vindicated Bauchi People are people of APC and this clearly shows that People of Bauchi South senatorial district has spoken their mind , and it clearly shows that our People are satisfied with the effort of Governor Abubakar towards the development of the State , and he has repelled all the negatives against his administration, the election served as a litmus is a litmus test to APC and it as a resounding hope towards 2019 election ,

which by the grace of Allah Bauchi people will vote for APC and I believe our Governor will not fail the people of the state that gaves him their votes in order to better their living condition, our people understood the zeal and vision of our amiable governor to take development to all nooks and crannies of the state despite its lean resources.

But the opposition cry that the election was marred with irregularities?

What are they saying?

There is electoral malpractice, rigging, inducing voters with money which led to the cancelation of election in so many wards, even the electoral body said election was cancelled in many polling units?

Let me start with the opposition all this allegations are words of the losers , do you if the electoral body declare any of the complainants winner of this election under an y circumstances will they reject the result? The answer is capital now they lose they want to have a place to hang on in other to show to their supporters that they are still relevant, but to be candid People of Bauchi have spoken their mind and the election was conducted peacefully without any rancor their agents signed all the election result,

you journalist were at the headquarters of INEC when the returning officer invited all the representatives of the political parties to sign the final result submitted and all of them have signed , if they have any genuine complaints their agents, the election was peaceful free and fair, and thank God there is a Tribunal whoever is aggrieved and feel he cannot be patient he can challenge the election in court.

Some people accused the administration of not doing enough in the provision of infrastructure?

Who are these people are they people of Bauchi State or our Political opponents even blind people and hypocrites knows that there is a Silent revolution and putting Bauchi State on a proper path through rejuvenation of abandoned sectors. whenever you enter Bauchi You will know that you are enter a befitting State Capital because of the brand new dualisation of road networks across the city, before the coming of the administration we don’t have such roads in the state, The Governor during his electioneering campaign went to rural areas he understood the real problems of our people majority of them are peasant farmers , and they are looking for roads network to enable them

transport their farm produce to markets and the agitation of our people and their quest for development Governor gave priority to construct roads across the State as a result of that constructions of many roads was awarded in both urban and rural areas and government is making effort to open up these community to development through the provision of road networks to boost their socio economic development. And the Government gave priority to agriculture, education, Health care and addressing the problems of youths restiveness inherited from the previous administration, and a lot has been done to boost the economics of the state by resuscitating Bauchi Fertilizer Plant, Bauchi Furniture companies, Yankari game reserve and government has other points including, Prudent management of Bauchi State resources, blocking leakages in governance and above all jerking up the State IGR through the State Board of Internal revenue where there is a remarkable improvement in revenue generation of the state and blocking leakages that my governor did if left unblocked that will lead to financial embezzlement and mismanagement of state resources, just to mention a few but we are committee to reposition the state in all aspect of lives that’s the focus of the administration.

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

Page 19

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

Stock Watch: Wednesday, August 15, 2018 Low

OPEN Volume Close High

Symbol

CHANGE

Trades Low

0.42 0.42 0 0.42 0.42 ABCTRANS 0.00 9.95 9.95 0 10.05 10.05 ACCESS 0.10 4.00 4.01 0 4.00 4.10 AFRIPRUD -0.01 0.46 0.46 0 0.46 0.46 AGLEVENT 0.00 0.65 0.65 0 0.67 0.68 AIICO 0.02 4.50 4.50 50 4.50 4.50 AIRSERVICE 0.00 81.00 81.00 17 81.00 81.00 BETAGLAS 0.00 4.21 4.21 0 4.21 4.21 BOCGAS 0.00 11.50 11.15 0 11.50 11.50 CADBURY 0.35 34.50 34.50 0 34.50 34.50 CAP 0.00 0.27 0.27 0 0.27 0.27 CAPOIL 0.00 1.95 2.10 0 1.95 1.95 CAVERTON -0.15 23.00 23.00 0 23.00 23.00 CCNN 0.00 2.05 2.05 0 2.05 2.05 CHAMPION 0.00 2.22 2.46 0 2.46 2.46 CILEASING 0.00 27.00 27.00 0 27.00 27.00 CONOIL 0.00 1.55 1.50 0 1.65 1.65 CONTINSURE 0.15 5.52 5.70 0 5.52 5.52 CUSTODIAN -0.18 3.00 3.00 0 3.00 3.00 CUTIX 0.00 2.54 2.54 100 2.54 2.54 CWG 0.00 230.00 230.00 0 230.00 230.00 DANGCEM 0.00 9.30 9.30 0 9.30 9.30 DANGFLOUR 0.00 17.65 17.95 0 18.30 18.30 DANGSUGAR 0.35 1.23 1.29 0 1.25 1.27 DIAMONDBNK -0.04 0.23 0.23 0 0.23 0.23 DUNLOP 0.00 0.21 0.22 0 0.21 0.21 EQUITYASUR -0.01 6.50 6.50 0 6.50 6.50 ETERNA 0.00 20.60 20.60 0 20.60 20.60 ETI 0.00 4.55 4.55 30 4.55 4.55 ETRANZACT 0.00 9.25 10.25 0 9.25 10.20 FBNH -1.00 2.02 2.08 0 2.08 2.08 FCMB 0.00 1,000.00 980.00 201,000.00 1,000.00 FGS202011 20.00 1,000.00 980.00 30 1,000.00 1,000.00 FGS202013 20.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 40 1,000.00 1,000.00 FGS2020S3 0.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 20 1,000.00 1,000.00 FGS2020S5 0.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 21 1,000.00 1,000.00 FGS2020S9 0.00 1,028.05 1,031.57 0 1,028.05 1,029.00 FGSUK2024S1 -3.52 1.97 1.96 0 2.00 2.00 FIDELITYBK 0.04 6.15 6.15 0 6.15 6.15 FIDSON 0.00 0.41 0.41 0 0.41 0.41 FIRSTALUM 0.00 29.75 30.00 0 30.00 30.00 FLOURMILL 0.00 27.00 27.00 0 27.00 27.00 FO 0.00 0.20 0.20 0 0.20 0.20 FTNCOCOA 0.00 16.70 16.70 0 16.70 16.70 GLAXOSMITH 0.00 36.55 39.20 0 36.55 39.10 GUARANTY -2.65 97.00 97.00 0 97.00 97.00 GUINNESS 0.00 0.26 0.28 0 0.26 0.26 HMARKINS -0.02 1.91 1.94 0 1.91 1.91 HONYFLOUR -0.03 3.13 3.13 525 3.13 3.13 IKEJAHOTEL 0.00 36.00 37.50 0 41.00 41.00 INTBREW 3.50 0.63 0.64 0 0.63 0.64 JAIZBANK -0.01 0.32 0.33 0 0.36 0.36 JAPAULOIL 0.03 24.30 24.30 0 24.30 24.30 JBERGER 0.00 0.33 0.35 0 0.33 0.33 LASACO -0.02 0.94 0.94 0 0.94 0.94 LAWUNION 0.00 1.26 1.26 0 1.26 1.26 LEARNAFRCA 0.00 0.72 0.67 0 0.73 0.73 LINKASSURE 0.06 0.74 0.74 0 0.75 0.75 LIVESTOCK 0.01

Top Gainers Stock Close Gain CONTINSURE 1.65 0.15 PZ 16.90 1.50 INTBREW 41.00 3.50 JAPAULOIL 0.36 0.03 MCNICHOLS 0.72 0.06

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

OPEN Volume Close High

Symbol

CHANGE

Trades

2.55 2.55 0 2.55 2.55 MANSARD 0.00 0 2.25 2.26 0 2.25 2.25 MAYBAKER -0.01 0 0.34 0.36 0 0.34 0.34 MBENEFIT -0.02 0 0.72 0.66 0 0.72 0.72 MCNICHOLS 0.06 0 180.00 180.00 0 180.00 180.00 MOBIL 0.00 0 28.55 28.55 0 28.55 28.55 MRS 0.00 0 0.20 0.20 0 0.20 0.20 MULTIVERSE 0.00 0 3.99 3.99 0 3.99 3.99 NAHCO 0.00 0 20.00 20.00 0 20.00 20.00 NASCON 0.00 0 105.00 108.50 0 108.00 108.50 NB -0.50 0 6.30 6.30 12 6.30 6.30 NCR 0.00 0 0.47 0.47 0 0.49 0.49 NEIMETH 0.02 0 3.00 3.00 0 3.00 3.00 NEM 0.00 0 1,527.00 1,527.00 0 1,527.00 1,527.00 NESTLE 0.00 0 0.25 0.26 0 0.25 0.26 NIGERINS -0.01 0 6.55 6.55 25 6.55 6.55 NNFM 0.00 0 1.80 1.70 0 1.80 1.80 NPFMCRFBK 0.10 0 4.75 5.25 0 4.75 5.05 OANDO -0.50 0 83.00 85.00 0 83.00 85.00 OKOMUOIL -2.00 0 2.05 2.05 130 2.05 2.05 PORTPAINT 0.00 0 73.50 73.50 0 73.50 73.50 PRESCO 0.00 0 0.50 0.50 0 0.50 0.50 PRESTIGE 0.00 0 16.90 15.40 0 16.90 16.90 PZ 1.50 0 6.20 6.20 0 6.20 6.20 REDSTAREX 0.00 0 0.24 0.24 50 0.24 0.24 REGALINS 0.00 0 650.00 650.00 0 650.00 650.00 SEPLAT 0.00 0 0.60 0.62 0 0.62 0.62 SKYEBANK 0.00 0 0.29 0.27 0 0.29 0.29 SOVRENINS 0.02 0 47.50 47.55 0 47.50 47.50 STANBIC -0.05 0 110.05 111.58 200 110.05 110.05 STANBICETF30 -1.53 0 1.42 1.44 0 1.45 1.45 STERLNBANK 0.01 0 1.99 1.99 700 1.99 1.99 STUDPRESS 0.00 0 0.23 0.23 0 0.23 0.23 TANTALIZER 0.00 0 200.00 200.00 0 200.00 200.00 TOTAL 0.00 0 7.45 7.45 0 7.45 7.45 TRANSCOHOT 0.00 0 1.20 1.27 0 1.24 1.27 TRANSCORP -0.03 0 0.80 0.80 0 0.80 0.80 TRANSEXPR 0.00 0 0.88 0.88 186 0.88 0.88 TRIPPLEG 0.00 0 14.00 14.00 0 14.00 14.00 UACN 0.00 0 1.91 1.91 0 1.91 1.91 UAC-PROP 0.00 0 9.60 9.85 0 9.90 9.95 UBA 0.05 0 5.70 5.70 0 5.90 5.90 UBN 0.20 0 3.11 3.10 0 3.11 3.11 UCAP 0.01 0 0.20 0.20 0 0.20 0.20 UNIC 0.00 0 51.85 51.85 0 51.85 51.85 UNILEVER 0.00 0 0.27 0.29 0 0.27 0.27 UNIONDAC -0.02 0 0.94 0.94 0 0.94 0.94 UNITYBNK 0.00 0 2.55 2.55 0 2.55 2.55 UPL 0.00 0 4.59 4.78 10 4.59 4.59 VETBANK -0.19 0 8.71 8.92 10 8.71 8.71 VETGOODS -0.21 0 17.23 17.83 10 17.23 17.23 VETGRIF30 -0.60 0 18.69 19.28 10 18.69 18.69 VETINDETF -0.59 0 3.25 3.25 0 3.25 3.25 VITAFOAM 0.00 0 34.00 34.50 0 34.00 34.00 WAPCO -0.50 0 0.42 0.44 0 0.42 0.42 WAPIC -0.02 0 0.62 0.68 0 0.62 0.64 WEMABANK -0.06 0 23.75 23.80 0 23.95 24.00 ZENITHBANK 0.15 0 Copyright © 2018 NgTradeOnline

Top Losers Stock Close Loss FBNH 9.25 -1.00 OANDO 4.75 -0.50 WEMABANK 0.62 -0.06 CAVERTON 1.95 -0.15 HMARKINS 0.26 -0.02

Inflation Rate drops by 0.09% in July -NBS

By Etuka Sunday

N

ational Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday disclosed that the nation’s Inflation Rate has further declined to 11.14%.

A data released by the Bureau for the Month of July said, the consumer price index, (CPI) which measures inflation increased by 11.14 percent (yearon-year).

This is 0.09 percent points less than the rate recorded in June 2018 (11.23) percent and represents an eighteenth consecutive disinflation in headline inflation year on year.

NBS said, increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yielded the Headline index.

It said, on month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 1.13 percent in July 2018, down by 0.11 percent points from the rate recorded in June 2018 (1.24 percent).

This represents the firsttime month on month headline inflation has declined since February 2018.

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending July 2018 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 13.95 percent, showing 0.42 percent point from 14.37 percent recorded in June 2018.

The urban inflation rate eased by 11.66 percent (year-on-year) in July 2018 from 11.68 percent recorded in June 2018, while the

N90bn FGN Bond Auction oversubscribed -DMO

By Etuka Sunday

D

ebt Management Office (DMO) yesterday disclosed that the N90billion FGN Bond Auction for August 2018 was oversubscribed.

DMO said, the N90 billion Bonds were offered in three tenors – 5 years, 7 years and 10 years.

The Office in a statement said, the total subscriptions received from bidders at the Auction were above N100 billion.

It said, allotments were made to successful bidders at 14.39% for the 5-year, 14.60% for the 7-year and 14.69% for the 10-year Bond, which are consistent with the rates in the secondary market for the Bonds offered at the Auction.

The statement said, a total of N100.09 billion was allotted to competitive and non-competitive bidders at the Auction and the proceeds will provide additional financing for the implementation of the 2018 Appropriation Act.

rural inflation rate remained flat at 10.83 percent in July 2018 from 10.83 percent in June 2018.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.23 percent in July 2018, down by 0.01 from 1.24 percent recorded in June, while the rural index also rose by 1.18 percent in July 2018, down by 0.05 percent from the rate recorded in June 2018 (1.23) percent.

The corresponding twelvemonth year-on-year average

percentage change for the urban index is 14.33 percent in July 2018.

This is more less 14.71 percent reported in June 2018, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in July 2018 is 13.64 percent compared to 14.08 percent recorded in June 2018.

Meanwhile, on Kerosene, the Bureau said, average price per litre paid by consumers for National Household Kerosene decreased by -1.00% month-

onmonth and -1.29% year-onyear to N276.87 in July 2018 from N279.67 in June 2018.

States with the highest average price per litre of kerosene were Yobe (N310.00) , Nassarawa (N306.19), and Bayelsa (N304.72).

States with the lowest average price per litre of kerosene were Kogi (N238.89), Borno (N236.67) and Abia (N227.50) Similarly, average price per gallon paid by consumers for National

Household Kerosene decreased by -0.41% month-on-month and increased by 1.76% year-on-year to N1000.19 in July 2018 from N1004.29 in June 2018.

States with the highest average price per gallon of kerosene were Borno (N1130.00), Jigawa (N1115.38) & Bauchi (N1070.00).

States with the lowest average price per litre of kerosene were Rivers (N921.05), Delta (N900.73) and Oyo (N900.59).

L-R: Representative of Osun State Governor, Mr. Adekunle Ige; Director of Works, Trade and Investment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ogunsaya Adekunle; Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Agricultural and food Security, Mr. Remi Kolajo; and General Manager,Business Development, Strategy and Planning Unit, Sifax Group, Mr. Saheed Lasisi, during a strategic meeting with Foreign ambassadors in Nigeria on agricultural technology, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Nigeria Oil Industry to save $600m annually using Green Biocides -PTDF

By Etuka Sunday

P

etroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF)’s sponsored research has revealed how the use of green biocides would likely save the Nigerian oil and gas industry over $600million annually.

Speaking at the 2017/2018 PTDF Annual Oil and Gas Research Grant Competition Close-out Seminar yesterday in Abuja, the Researcher, Prof. Chuma Conlette Okoro said, his research which focused on the substitution of chemical biocides with green natural biocides such as cow urine will likely save the Nigerian oil and gas industry millions of dollars in foreign exchange and drastically reduce the persistent farmers/herders clashes in Nigeria through massive investments in ranching by oil and gas operators. “the major challenge we are having in the oil and gas industry today, is what we call microbial resistance to biocides, use to

fight corrotion in the oil and gas industry. That is what the global oil and gas industry have been battling over the years not only in Nigeria.

The panic now is that there’s alot of resistance to the major biocides, called THPS. There are alot of microbial resistance that is making THPS very ineffective in combating corrosion, now we are looking at the future of green biocides, we can actually sintesise it here in Nigeria without wasting our scarce foreign exchange. We are looking at the potency of the major raw materials for that green biocides. “if Cow urine becomes effective, it will achieve two things for Nigeria actually: Nigeria will save alot of money sourcing foreign exchange that’s the dollar. Secondly, we are hoping that oil and gas industry massively invest in ranching, to get the raw material you have to massively invest in ranching to get the Cow urine that’s the major raw material, and if that is done, it will solve the present crisis between farmers and herders over grazing, that is why we are so excited in

this research work. Using a natural biocides, we are saving about 75 percent of the original cost of managing Souring and Corrotion, and that savings translate to 600 million dollars as annually”, he said.

Elucidating on the possibility of solving farmers, herders clash he said, “For instance, let me give you a simple scenerio. The problem is that we don’t have ranches in Nigeria. In some countries like South Africa have alot of ranches, for instance if they are alot of ranches, people won’t be moving any cows across, because the cows will be isolated in a particular place, they can generate enough cow urine for the raw material we are talking of, so there won’t be any clash, you won’t be seeing cows moving up and down”, he said.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary, PTDF, Dr. Bello Aliyu Gusau said that the mandate of the Fund was not only restricted to Scholarship, but quit broad.

“The search aspect is made to focus essentially on home grown solutions to the basic challenges

and programs of the Nigerian oil and gas industry, as you have seen we have gathered quit eminent professionals supported by the PTDF to tackle such challenges. ”As you have seen they are about six areas we are dealing with today, there are more at the closal seminar will come up later but for the moment we are dealing among others some of the issues of the reservoir engineering, there is refining catalyst and quit alot of others.

“The one in kaduna is just about the refining catalyst and one of the researchers here come up with and one of the researchers has developed a zeolite catalyst for the purposes of import substitution and using 100 percent local materials, that is one of the issues we will be presented in the cause of this event”, he said.

PTDF said it spent an average of about N12 million for the local aspect of it per research circuit which will be for the period of two years but for the endowment which is about four years is average of 25 to 30 million naira for circuit.

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

Page 20

ENERGY

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

NNPC charges AKK Pipeline Project Financiers on timely delivery

By Etuka Sunday

G

roup Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru in Dubai, United Arab Emirates directed the Chinese Consortium and the NNPC Project Team on the AjaokutaKaduna-Kano (AKK) Pipeline Project to ensure timely finalization of the term sheet for the project’s contractor financing agreement.

The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu in a statement said, the Chinese consortium is made up of Bank of China and Sinosure.

Baru, who had to cut short his holy

pilgrimage trip to Saudi Arabia for a stopover in Dubai to meet with the Chinese consortium reiterated the need for both parties to ensure speedy conclusion on the details of the agreement towards its full execution during Mr. President’s state visit to China next month.

President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to attend the Forum of ChinaAfrica Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit holding from the 1st to 4th September, 2018 in the Chinese capital, Beijing. The AKK Project will be top on Mr. President’s agenda.

The NNPC had earlier clarified that the

execution of the AKK gas pipeline project is progressing under the original concept of 100 percent contractor financing model contrary to some media report of a possible resort to ‘’proceed of gas tariffs’’ as new means of funding because of purported collapse of negotiation with Chinese lenders.

The Corporation noted that the successful conclusion of the contractor financing terms would pave way for the historic ground-breaking ceremony which would take place after the conclusion of the front-end activities.

Already the Corporation had concluded

the vital Front End Engineering Design (FEED) and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report while work on the detailed engineering design is nearing conclusion.

Upon completion within a projected 24-month window, the NNPC stated that the AKK gas pipeline would enable connectivity between the East, West and North, which is currently non-existent.

It would also enable gas supply and utilization to key commercial centres in the Northern corridor of Nigeria with the attendant positive spin-off on power generation and industrial growth.

FG reconsitutes Board of NBET, makes Adeosun Chairman

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday emphasized the availability of enough gas for power generation noting that the recent drop in electricity generation was as a result of some factors outside its control.

The NNPC stated that as critical partners in the electricity generation matrix, it is willing to work with other stakeholder to resolve the temporary setback in line with the Federal Government’s aspiration for the power sector.

The nation’s power generation

Cholera: FCTA reactivates emergency centre

Residents doctors to shutdown FCT Hospitals Aug. 25 and Secretary Roland Aigbovo, yesterday, in Abuja.

The Association said that the looming strike, follows the failure of FCT Administration to repay obnoxious tax deduction from July salaries of staff among other demands.

It noted that it had on August 1, 2018, issued a-21day ultimatum effective from August 3 to FCT administration, calling on the Minister, Muhammad Bello to address the issue.

It listed other demands to include payment of first 28 days allowance of members effective

from 2011, as calculated without further delay.

Others included appropriate placement and payment of arrears to members who were successful in the 2016 promotion exercise.

“We totally reject the obnoxious and double taxation imposed on our members by FCTA management, which negates all scientific reasoning and Law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The appropriate tax should be done using the Joint Tax Board/Personal Income Tax

Act template and all excess deduction paid back.

“We will be compelled to proceed on an indefinite strike for the failure of the FCT administration to meet our demands on or before the expiration of the ultimatum which is August 24.

“Based on our investigations at the Health and Human Resources Service Secretariat, Federal Inland Revenue Services and FCT Inland Revenue Services.

“It was revealed that the obnoxious tax didn’t follow

T

Photo Caption: NNPC GMD, Dr. Maikanti Baru, in handshake with the consultant for the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) consortium, Dr. Safi Harb, after the meeting in Dubai. With them are some members of NNPC AKK Project Team.

We have enough Gas for Power Generation -NNPC

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Association of Resident Doctors from the Federal Capital Territory, Administration (FCTA) Chapter, has concluded arrangement to commence an indefinite strike on August 25.

This was revealed in a statement jointly signed by its President, Michael Olarewaju

the PITA template or other conventional means of taxation.

“We have earlier written the FCT Minister on the myriad of problems faced daily by our members regarding conditions of work and services delivery in FCTA. “This is largely due to poor remuneration in comparison with our contemporaries in other health institutions and Ministries, Departments and Agencies, both in the territory and other parts of the federation,” the statement stated.

By Stanley Onyekwere

T

he Federal Government has announced the reconstitution of the Board of Directors of Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET).

The Director, Information, Ministry of Finance, Hassan Dodo in a statement said, the reconstituted NBET Board, which has been ratified by the Acting President, Prof.

Yemi Osinbajo SAN, has the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun as Chairman.

The Director-General of Bureau of Public Enterprises is the Vice-Chairman of the Board and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing will serve as NonExecutive Director.

Other Non-Executive Directors in the NBET Board include Director-General of Debt Management Office (DMO); DirectorGeneral of Budget Office of the Federation and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON).

Dr. Marilyn Amobi, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NBET, is also a member of the reconstituted Board.

By Stanley Onyekwere

METRO

Page 21

dropped by 712MW on Monday 13th August, 2018, compared to the previous day’s generation as output from all the Hydro Power Plants and some gas-fired stations, including Egbin in Lagos, suffered decline.

The NNPC in a statement by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Ndu Ughamadu, informed that the drop in power generation could have been triggered mainly by the continuous rejection of load by the distribution companies (Discos) as a result of frequency management.

The Corporation said despite improved gas supply which picked

up after a temporary setback due to a hitch at one of its Joint Venture partners’ operated fields, the gas grid was still experiencing low offtake by the generating companies (Gencos) as a result of load rejection by the Discos.

It explained that the prevailing significant drop in power generation was mainly due to three factors namely: a reduction in power generation by the three Hydro Power Plants by 434MW due to frequency management issues arising from continuous rejection of load by the Discos; a drop in power generation by some gas fired power plants generation by 278MW mainly due to frequency management as a result

of rejection of load by Discos; and the shut-down of the Gbarain Power Plant due to a trip-off at the Alaoji/Owerri 132KV lines 1 and 2.

The NNPC further explained that power evacuation still remains a major challenge across the value chain with an average of 1800MW unutilized generation capacity weekly due to frequency management and line constraints.

“There is an urgent need to fix the challenges with power evacuation for significant improvement in power generation across the nation,” the Corporation stated.

he FCT Administration has activated an Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) to ensure effective management of cholera outbreak in some communities in the territory.

Director, Public Health, Health and Human Services Secretariat, FCTA, Dr Humphrey Okoroukwu, made this known to the press in Abuja.

Recall that seven deaths have so far been recorded from cholera outbreak in different communities of the FCT. It was gathered that the disease had claimed lives at Sauka, Mpape, Kubwa and Ushafa communities.

Okoroukwu explained that the activated EOC would be working on four pillars of surveillance, case management, laboratory and health promotion, education and community mobilisation.

According to him, officers from his department and those of area councils will work to ensure a robust surveillance to check the spread of the disease.

He said that there would henceforth be effective and more efficient laboratory system to hasten laboratory results.

He noted that health education and promotion would be enhanced to sensitise residents in every nook and cranny of the territory.

He said that though only one case had so far been confirmed positive to cholera from laboratory test carried out, but the cases fit in into the definition cases of cholera.

Lugbe timber Shade market after the demolished by men of FCT development control, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Apo: Imo/Abia Catholic faithful celebrate patron’s feast Day

By Ochiaka Ugwu

C

atholic faithful from Imo and Abia States of Saint Charles Lwanga Parish, Apo under the platform of Saint Dominic Catholic Community celebrated their Patron’s feast day and cultural dance presentation, yesterday in Abuja.

Chairman of the community, Mazi Ugonna Onunkwo while briefing the press said the celebration was to commemorate their patron saint, Dominic which is being done every August 8, saying they have marked it

on 8, but had to do the region celebration on Sunday.

Speaking on the importance of the occasion, Maazi Onunkwo said the event was organized to raise money for the church building project which he said the community has contributed immensely to see that the project is progressing.

He said that since 2013, when the community came into being, it has became their ritual to always hunt for money every year to help in church project, informing that their provision of door to the church had awakened other communities to

do similar things for the growth of the parish.

A member of the community, Mrs. Tina Ndupu noted that apart from fund raising, there will be an outing ceremony for women group dance which she said will also be used to support the parish.

Speaking earlier in a homily, a visiting priest from Owerri Catholic Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Duru used the opportunity to admonish parishioners on the need to live Christ like life by always upholding the virtues of Christianity which is based on

love.

Duru who delivered his sermon in Igbo language stressed the need to worship God in spirit and in truth and to forgive brethren giving the fact that brotherly anger doesn’t reach the heart.

He tasked the Community to revive Igbo language instead of allowing it to die a natural death by teaching their children how to write, sing and talk in Igbo.

The highpoint of the event was the outing of women dancing group. Their beautiful costumes and performance excited all and sundry.

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

Page 22

world news

N international_peoplesdailyng@yahoo.com

Italy bridge: Grief and anger US suspends Consular Services in Abuja services for visa and American Citizen noting that scheduled visa and ACS

By Ochiaka Ugwu over collapse in Genoa Services in Abuja, but other offices applicants for Abuja will be contacted

T

he United States Embassy in Abuja has announced the suspension of its Consular Services indefinitely based on circumstances beyond their control.

This was contained in a statement released by the Information Office of the Public Affairs Section of the Embassy in Abuja.

According to the statement, “Due to reasons beyond our control, we are temporarily unable to provide regular

Work is still going on to try to find survivors

G

rief in Italy for the 39 victims of a collapsed motorway bridge in Genoa has been mixed with anger that such a vital structure could have simply given way.

Rescuers have little hope of finding more survivors underneath the Morandi bridge, where almost 40 vehicles fell 45m (148ft) in Tuesday’s collapse.

The cause is not yet known but there have been calls for the heads of the company operating the bridge to resign.

Survivors have also been recalling the horror of the bridge’s collapse.

What is the latest at the scene?

Hundreds of firefighters worked overnight with lifting gear, climbing equipment and sniffer dogs to try to locate more survivors. But an Italian Red Cross spokeswoman told the BBC’s Tim Willcox that only bodies had been found.

The local prefecture raised the death toll on Wednesday morning to 39, 37 of them identified. At least three children lost their lives.

The city’s authorities have declared two days of mourning.

There are 16 people being treated in hospital, 12 of them in a serious condition.

Some 440 people were evacuated from the area. Residents of housing blocks under one pillar were ready to move back, but were then told it was cracking and their homes were at risk.

The Morandi bridge, built in the 1960s, stands on the A10 toll motorway, an important conduit for goods traffic from local ports which also serves the Italian Riviera and south-east coast of France.

Who are the victims?

Families in their cars, people going to work, people going on holiday. It could take many more hours to find out exactly how many people died and identify them.

Counsellors are on hand at emergency centres to help relatives.

Some of the names of the victims have been appearing in Italian media.

Among the dead are a family of three - Roberto Robbiano, 44, Ersilia Piccinino, 41, and their young son Samuel.

What have survivors been saying?

One of the most compelling testimonies came from Davide Capello, 33, a former goalkeeper for Serie A side Cagliari.

His car fell 30m in the collapse but came to rest in a pocket between the columns and he survived.

“I was able to get out... I don’t know how my car wasn’t crushed. It seemed

like a scene from a film, it was the apocalypse,” he said.

Valentina Galbusera, 43, a doctor, told La Stampa: “The bridge fell in front of me, not even 20m away, I avoided the collapse by only a couple of seconds.

I felt the bridge was shaking and I tried to reverse. Then I got out of the car and started running.”

What has the official reaction been?

Wednesday brought an angry response to the collapse from Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli.

He called on the top management of Autostrade per L’Italia, which oversees maintenance, to resign, saying it had failed to meet its contractual obligations. He said he would seek to fine the company heavily and revoke its operational licence.

The company repeated that it had monitored the bridge quarterly, as required by the law.

The Genoa Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into possible negligent homicide. The head prosecutor blamed “human error”.

Were safety warnings ignored?

The state of the bridge and the responses to the collapse throw light on what has been a long-standing debate about Italian infrastructure.

This was the fifth bridge collapse in Italy in five years, according to Corriere Della Sera.

There have been previous reports and comments questioning how the Morandi bridge was built and how long it could last.

In December 2012, the Genoa city council discussed the state of the bridge at a public hearing into how to expand the local transport infrastructure. A local industry confederation official spoke of the collapse of the Morandi bridge “in 10 years”.

In 2016, structural engineer Antonio Brencich spoke of “errors in this bridge”.

The issue of transport in the area is now critical, given that the bridge was a major arterial route for an important port city.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said all infrastructure across the country will be double-checked.

What went wrong at Morandi?

It’s not yet clear. There was torrential rainfall at the time and one official said lightning strikes would have to be investigated.

A huge tower and sections of the bridge - measuring about 200m collapsed on to railway lines, a river and a warehouse.

The motorway operator said work to shore up the bridge’s foundation was being carried out at the time.

within the Embassy remain open.

“Please note that consular functions at the U.S. Consulate Lagos are not affected and will continue.

Until further notice, applicants are encouraged to contact the Consular Office in Lagos for immediate emergency travel’.

The statement urged prospective applicants to monitor Facebook and Webpage of the U.S. Embassy for updates on consular operations

for rescheduling.

“American citizens in northern Nigeria with emergency services needs should continue to contact the after-hours emergency number for Abuja at 09461-4000 and press “0” to go to the operator to request assistance. We regret the inconvenience this has caused to our applicants and hope to resume operations soon” the statement concluded.

Salih Khater has been named as the man being held by police Neighbours called him a quiet man who frequently visited an internet cafe and a nearby shisha lounge, both on Stratford Road.

Local resident Ahmed Abdi described him as a man who “never spoke to anybody”, and added: “I recognised his picture from the news and I was shocked.”

Having completed his secondary education in Sudan, he studied electrical engineering at university there before moving to the UK. He studied English as a second or foreign language at City College from 2010 to 2011, later studying a diploma in science at South and City College in Birmingham from 2014 to 2017.

More recently, Mr Khater studied accountancy at Coventry University from September 2017 to May this year, a spokesman for the university said.

He is no longer enrolled there.

What happened on Tuesday?

A number of witnesses said the car, which was travelling westbound in Parliament Square, appeared to deliberately hit members of the public as it swerved into the opposite lane.

Footage released by the BBC showed the moment of the crash. A police officer can be seen jumping over a barrier to get out of the way.

A passenger in the first car behind the cyclists said they had been “thrown everywhere” after being hit at what she estimated to be 25mph.

The car was driven to London from Birmingham the night before, arriving just after midnight on Tuesday.

It then spent nearly five hours in the Tottenham Court Road area before being driven around Westminster for more than 90 minutes before the crash.

Police have been able to trace

the route taken thanks to automatic number plate recognition cameras.

Mr Khater was detained at the scene \under the Terrorism Act and taken to a south London police station.

No-one else was in the car when it crashed and no weapons were found in it.

Police are treating it as a terrorrelated incident “given that this appears to be a deliberate act, the method, and this being an iconic site”, Scotland Yard’s head of counterterrorism Neil Basu said.

No other arrests have been made, Scotland Yard said.

What happens next?

Britain’s most senior police officer, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, said Westminster could be pedestrianised to stop vehicle attacks, calling them terrorists’ “weapon of choice”.

She said it was “a matter that will be discussed no doubt between parliamentary authorities, us, the intelligence agencies and indeed the local authorities and the mayor”.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he was also in favour of more security measures being introduced in Parliament Square and around London.

“I’m an advocate of partpedestrianising part of Parliament Square,” he told BBC Breakfast.

“Not only would it make Parliament Square more attractive, but there are clever technical ways to make Parliament and pedestrians and visitors safer as well.

“There are now very attractive small bollards in place which actually stop vehicles hitting pedestrians or buildings.”

British Transport Police said it was increasing patrols in England, Scotland and Wales and that its officers would be “highly visible on trains and at stations”.

Specialist officers skilled in recognising if “someone may be in an area for terrorist or other criminal purposes” have been deployed in Westminster, with uniformed and plain-clothed officers patrolling.

The prime minister’s spokesman said, as of the end of June 2018, there were 676 live investigations into potential terrorist plots. Since March 2017, 13 Islamist plots and four farright plots had been foiled, he added.

Westminster crash: Salih Khater named as suspect T he man arrested on suspicion of terror offences after a car crashed outside the Houses of Parliament has been named as Salih Khater by government sources.

The 29-year-old British citizen, originally from Sudan, has also been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, Met Police said on Wednesday.

He came to the UK as a refugee and was granted asylum, the BBC understands.

His brother described him as a “normal person” with no fanatical ideas, and no links to any religious group.

Abdullah Khater also said his family - who are originally from Darfur in Sudan - was in “a state of shock” over the incident.

Three people were injured after the car hit cyclists and pedestrians during Tuesday morning’s rush hour.

The silver Ford Fiesta then crashed into security barriers outside the Houses of Parliament just before 07:40 BST. A man and a woman were taken to hospital after the crash and later discharged, while another man was treated for minor injuries at the scene.

The suspect is not believed to have been known to MI5 or counterterrorism police, but is understood to have been known to local police.

He did not co-operate with officers after his arrest, Scotland Yard said.

The investigation team’s priority “continues to be to understand the motivation behind this incident”, a spokesman added.

Police have concluded searches of two properties in Birmingham and one in Nottingham, and are currently searching a third address in Birmingham.

What else is known about the suspect?

Mr Khater came to Britain in 2010 and successfully applied for UK citizenship in the past two years.

His brother said he had been planning a trip back home to see his family, having not seen them for some time.

Mr Khater is believed to have lived in a first-floor flat above a parade of shops in the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham until four months ago, when he moved to the city’s Highgate area.

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

e w s

F

Zimbabwe’s president opposes election challenge

Emmerson Mnangagwa won the election, narrowly avoiding a run-off

Z

imbabwe’s ruling party, Zanu-P,F has filed papers opposing the MDC Alliance’s challenge to the presidential election result, the state-run newspaper, the Herald, says.

Official results show that President Emmerson Mnangagwa won 50.8% of the vote compared to opposition MDC Alliance leader Neslon Chamisa’s 44.3%.

The MDC Alliance says the poll was marred by “mammoth theft and fraud”, but the electoral commission insists that there was “no skulduggery”.

Zanu-PF’s lawyers say the MDC Alliance challenge came too late as their papers were filed on Friday afternoon.

“We will show the court that Chamisa’s lawyers had until Friday 10 am [08:00 GMT] to file and serve their papers,” Zanu-PF lawyer Lewis Uriri is quoted by the Herald as saying.

Mr Mnangagwa has been hoping these elections would legitimise his rule after taking over amid a military intervention that saw Robert Mugabe resign in November as president after 37 years in power.

SA shock over death of ‘paedophile ring’ whistleblower

T

he publishers of a controversial book about an alleged South African apartheidera paedophile ring say they are shocked by the death of the title’s co-author – just one week after its publication.

Mark Minnie was found dead on Monday – and police believe he took his own life.

Tafelberg Publishers said they were last in touch with Mr Minnie on Sunday evening and that during the preceding week he had said “nothing to indicate he might harm himself”.

He was excited about the publication of the book and the disclosure of allegations which, according to him, had been covered up for 30 years.

He said that the book was ‘only the beginning’ of the process to have justice prevail for the victims whose stories are told in the book.”

The writer had also told the publishers he was looking forward to Cape Town’s Open Book Festival where he and his co-author Chris Steyn were due to discuss the book.

The Lost Boys of Bird Island details allegations that former minister Magnus Malan was part of a paedophile ring active during white-minority rule, which ended in 1994.

Mr Minnie, 58, was a former police officer who worked as a narcotics detective in 1980s.

He alleges that Mr Malan, who died in 2011, and others lured young boys to Bird Island in Algoa Bay close to Port Elizabeth where they were molested.

Police say a note was found on the scene where Mr Minnie’s body was discovered in Port Elizabeth. A firearm had been found lying next to him.

Source: BBC

r o m

Page 23

A

f r i c a

South Africa rhino poaching: ‘Bribes paid to

A

whistle-blower has told the BBC he was the middleman between rhino-horn smugglers and a court syndicate in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.

He alleges he took money given to a lawyer from rhino-horn kingpins and paid it to people within the judiciary.

The lawyer, Welcome Ngwenya, denies that he was involved in paying bribes.

But investigations, involving others informants, point to a court syndicate that could be keeping rhino killers beyond the reach of the law.

• South Africa is home to 80% of Africa’s population, but there are only about 25,000 rhinos left • About 1,000 are killed every year for their rhino horn • Most are destined for Asia where rhino horn is an ingredient in traditional medicine and herbal remedies • Rhino horns are made of keratin - the same substance as fingernails • But it is worth more by weight than cocaine, and so traffickers go to great lengths to smuggle it out of Africa.

Lie-detector test The middleman informant, who used the pseudonym “Fresh” after his favourite DJ, is now in hiding.

He passed a lie-detector test, and his affidavit has been cross-checked by police investigators who feel his accusations are “serious and need investigating”.

Fresh says he used to work for Mr Ngwenya, his uncle, and has described how he used to

Fresh describes cases in detail in which he names other magistrates, lawyers, and a prosecutor

About 7,000 rhinos have been poached in South Africa in the last decade another lawyer who acted for him, Mpume deliver bribes for him.

“I would give money to most of his friends Linda, refused to answer to the allegations of and most of his friends are magistrates, lawyers, bribery when confronted outside a courtroom.

Fresh alleges that at a meeting at which prosecutors,” he told the BBC. “If you want your case to be withdrawn or if he was present, his uncle, Ms Linda and the you want everything to just disappear you just presiding magistrate, Kwazi Shandu, agreed that money would be paid to prolong the case. go to him.”

He says he handed the money over to the Fresh’s most high-profile allegation involves suspected rhino-horn kingpin Dumisani Gwala. magistrate.

Mr Shandu strongly denies the allegations: He says Mr Ngwenya accepted money from Mr Gwala and paid it to a magistrate to affect the “Nobody has ever approached me for a bribe in my whole career of 30 years and I will never pay result of his case.

Mr Gwala was arrested with rhino horn and such a bribe.”

He ruled the case should be moved to a gun, but has pleaded not guilty to charges of dealing in protected wildlife parts - he and another court to be heard by another magistrate.

More than three years after being arrested and bailed, and following more than 20 court appearances, Mr Gwala’s trial has still not begun.

‘Pattern of racketeering’ In an affidavit, Fresh describes cases in detail in which he names other magistrates, lawyers, and prosecutors.

Many of their names, and others, also appear in a confidential report for the Magistrates’ Commission, seen by the BBC. It contains allegations against Eric Nzimande, the most senior magistrate in Suspected rhino-horn kingpin Dumisani KwaZulu-Natal, from one of his own acting magistrates, concerning payments being made Gwala’s trial is yet to start, three years for appointments. after his arrest

Schoolchildren drown after Sudan boat sinks

T

wenty-two children and a teacher have died in Sudan are a boat capsized about 750km (470 miles) north of the capital Khartoum.

The boat was crossing a flooded area near the River Nile.

Ab el-Khayr Adam Yunis, the headmaster of the Kenba High School, told the BBC’s Focus on Africa radio programme how the accident happened: The boat’s engine broke down after it hit a

tree trunk, the children panicked and leaned to one side and it capsized.

Those who died were mostly girls. One family lost five daughters, and another three families lost two children each, and two families lost three children each.”

The headmaster said the pupils used to go to school on foot, but over the last week had been using a boat to cross a distance of about 2.5km because of flooding after heavy rain.

He said he had difficulty reporting the

accident as the telephone network had been down because of the rains.

He said as soon as the phones started working they contacted all the big towns nearby - Abu Hamad, Karima and Ed-Damer – but after five hours were still waiting for help.

BBC Africa Sudan expert Mohanad Hashim says residents in the area, mostly from the Manaseer ethnic group, have long been raising concerns about the flooding blamed on the construction of a controversial dam.

Libyan bridge ‘was closed for safety reasons’

T

he designer of a bridge that collapsed on Tuesday in the Italian city of Genoa had also designed one in Libya, which was reportedly closed last year because of worries over its safety.

It is not yet clear what caused the collapse

of the motorway bridge, which was designed

by Riccardo Morandi, completed in 1967 and restructured in 2016.

His Wadi al-Kufi bridge straddles a valley about 20km (12 miles) from Libya’s eastern city of Bayda.

The Libyan Observer describes it as Africa’s second-highest bridge built between 1965 and 1972.

Morandi, an Italian civil engineer who died in 1989, used reinforced concrete in many of his projects.

London terror suspect ‘had planned Sudan holiday’

T

he brother of Salih Khater, the driver who rammed into a barrier outside the Houses of Parliament, in the UK capital, London, on Tuesday has described him as a “normal person” with no fanatical ideas and no links to any religious group.

Abdullah Khater told the BBC his brother had gone to the UK as a refugee from Sudan and

was granted asylum.

He said the family were in “a state of shock” and Salih had been planning to visit Sudan for next week’s Hajj holidays.

“Salih migrated to the UK soon after he’d graduated from university to improve the living conditions for himself and his family,” he said, adding that he was granted citizenship after

seven years.

Salih had studied electrical engineering at the Sudan University of Science and Technology.

The family is originally from Sudan’s eastern region of Darfur, but migrated years ago to Gezira state, an area south of the capital, Khartoum famous for its irrigation, where his father worked as a farmer.

PAGE 24

N

e w s

F

r o m

A SI A

Afghanistan Taliban withdraws protection for Red Cross

T

he Taliban says it will no longer allow safe passage to Red Cross staff working in Afghanistan.

The militants accuse the neutral humanitarian agency of failing to meet its obligations to help Taliban prisoners in a jail in Kabul.

The ICRC monitors detention conditions and provides medical aid. It scaled down its presence in Afghanistan last year after seven staff were killed.

The group told the BBC it was concerned by the Taliban’s move.

Separately on Thursday, a blast in a Shia Muslim area in western Kabul killed at least 25 people, the health ministry told the BBC. The Taliban denied it was responsible for the latest attack targeting civilians in the Afghan capital.

ICRC looking for solution Spokeswoman Andrea Catta Preta said the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) was in close contact with the Taliban following their announcement, and hoping to find a solution so the group’s humanitarian work could continue.

The ICRC treats all parties harmed by warfare humanely and does not take sides. It has in the past given first aid training to Taliban

The ICRC provided more than 21,000 prostheses and orthoses in 2017 Last October the group took the members. It operates in Taliban- in the capital Kabul were in a terrible controlled areas with guarantees state of health and that the ICRC “painful decision” to close two offices of safety and helps to repatriate would be responsible for whatever and scale down operations at a third bodies from both sides after fighting happened to them. Hundreds of in order to protect staff.

The move came after six between the militants and the fighters have been on hunger strike employees were shot dead in to demand better prison conditions.

Afghan army.

The ICRC has worked in northern Jowzjan province by In its statement on Monday, the Taliban said that many of its Afghanistan for 30 years and has suspected Islamic State group prisoners held in Pul-e-Charkhi jail more than 1,000 staff in the country. gunmen and a physiotherapist was

killed by a patient in Mazar-i-Sharif, also in the north.

Many other humanitarian organisations have pulled out of Afghanistan in recent years as Taliban and Islamic State group militants have stepped up attacks.

The Taliban’s announcement on the ICRC comes at a time when militants have been launching several deadly attacks across Afghanistan.

In the latest major assault, as many as 44 Afghan police and soldiers were killed at a military outpost in northern Baghlan province early on Wednesday.

Another attack in Shajoy district of southern Zabul province saw at least seven soldiers killed, the provincial governor said. Three civilians in a vehicle were also killed by a Taliban bomb in the same province.

Meanwhile, Taliban fighters have finally pulled out of the city of Ghazni, a strategic location on the highway leading south from Kabul.

The militants had stormed into the city last Friday, sparking a fiveday battle with government forces that left hundreds dead or wounded.

The UN has warned that up to 150 civilians may have been killed.

Israel reopens Gaza cargo crossing after calm

Caucher Birkar was born in Iran of Cambridge srael has fully reopened its cargo crossing with Gaza, saying it is in response to a period of relative calm.

Lorries carrying fuel and commercial goods passed through Kerem Shalom on Wednesday after weeks of restrictions.

The fishing zone off Gaza’s coast was also restored to 17km (nine nautical miles), having been reduced to 6km.

Kerem Shalom was closed for all but humanitarian deliveries in retaliation for cross-border incendiary kite and balloon attacks

by Palestinians.

Human rights groups said the move amounted to illegal collective punishment.

Kerem Shalom is the main lifeline for the two million people living in Gaza, and the territory’s economy is almost entirely dependent on it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman promised to use a “heavy hand” with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which dominates Gaza, when they imposed tighter restrictions on the

I

but now works at the University use of Kerem Shalom on 9 July.

They demanded Hamas stopped the launching of incendiary balloons and kites that have sparked hundreds of fires in southern Israel since April, burning more than 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of forest and farmland and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage.

However, the arson attacks did not stop and there have been several flare-ups in violence that have raised fears of a new war.

Last Wednesday night, militants fired more than 180 rockets and mortars into southern Israel, and the Israeli military carried out more than 150 air strikes on “military and strategic” targets in Gaza. The escalation left three Palestinians dead and seven civilians in Israel injured.

A truce mediated by Egypt and the UN reportedly took effect the following night, and there have been fewer reports of incendiary devices being launched since.

In a message posted in Arabic on Facebook on Wednesday morning, Mr Lieberman said he had decided to reopen Kerem

A barrage of rockets hit Sderot and other southern Israeli towns last Wednesday

A cultural centre that Israel said targeted Shalom and extend the fishing zone “as a clear message to the residents of the Gaza Strip: peace and quiet are worth it and violence is not”.

“The residents of Gaza have much to gain when the citizens of Israel enjoy peace and security, and much to lose when quiet is disturbed.”

Mr Lieberman accused the leadership of Hamas of using civilians “as live ammunition and as human shields” and warned: “If

ENVIRONMENT

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

was being used by Hamas was Hamas turns to violence again, we will respond immediately and in a much more severe manner than before.”

More than 160 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the end of March - most during protests along the GazaIsrael border at which thousands have expressed their support for the declared right of Palestinian refugees to return to their ancestral homes in what is now Israel.

One Israeli soldier has been shot dead by a Palestinian sniper during the same period.

The BBC’s Yolande Knell in Gaza says the reopening of Kerem Shalom crossing has raised hopes that Egypt and the United Nations could be getting closer to negotiating a more comprehensive truce between Israel and Hamas that would prevent another escalation and ease the severe economic hardship in Gaza.

On Tuesday, Israel’s finance minister confirmed a report that Mr Netanyahu had secretly met Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt in May. The two men are believed to have discussed the terms for a ceasefire, the easing of the blockade of Gaza, and the rebuilding of its infrastructure.

Israel and Egypt imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Gaza when Hamas reinforced its power over the territory in 2007 by ousting its rivals, a year after winning legislative elections. The two countries say the blockade is for self-defence.

In a separate development on Tuesday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said that it might not be able to open schools for more than half a million children in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon this month because it had run out of money to pay their 22,000 teachers.

Unrwa officials said the decision

by US - which has long been the agency’s largest single donor to withhold $305m (£240m) of funding this year was the main cause of the financial crisis. The Trump administration has said it will withhold funds until Unrwa makes unspecified “reforms”.

Source: BBC

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

PAGE 25

NEMA, NCRMIDP mark 2018 World Humanitarian Day in style

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

T

he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in collaboration with National Commission for Refugees, Migrant and Internally Displaced Persons with support of the United Nation Systems in Nigeria said it marking the 2018 World Humanitarian Day (WHD) in grand style in

Nigeria.

This was contained in a statement signed by Sani Datti, on behalf of the Media Subcommittee; said Sunday 19th August 2018 will be the World Humanitarian Day (WHD).

The statement explained that this year’s theme is “Not a Target”, which shows that same was with that of last year to sustain

the momentum and rally support for people living with humanitarian crises as well as pay tribute to the aid workers who help them.

This year’s World Humanitarian Day (WHD) marks the fifteenth anniversary since the attacks on the Canal Hotel in Baghad, Iraq, which killed 22 people including the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de

Mello. In 2008, the United Nations General adopted a resolution designing 19th August every year as the World Humanitarian Day. As Nigeria joins other countries to observe this Day, the series of activities designed to bring together humanitarian workers to reflect on their significance includes, roadwalk, social media awareness among others.

Global Health Organization Congratulates Bloomberg Philanthropies for $20m tobacco investment

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

T

he Global health organization Vital Strategies congratulates Bloomberg Philanthropies on the launch of its new $20 million global tobacco industry watchdog, STOP (Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products).

A statement signed by Senior Communications Advisor Policy, Advocacy and Communication, Tracey Johnston said STOP will be powered by a consortium of three leading anti-tobacco groups, with Vital Strategies joining with its sister organization, the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) as a sub-grantee. STOP will use innovative research methods to expose industry attempts to derail tobacco control policies. It will also counter the industry’s efforts to hook a new generation of smokers, with a special focus on 16 emerging markets where the consortium has strong relationships with governments and civil society.

“Bloomberg Philanthropies’ investment is a game-changer,” said José Luis Castro, CEO and President of Vital Strategies and Executive Director of The International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. “The tobacco industry spends billions of dollars every year to drive its—often hidden—agenda to mislead consumers, journalists and policymakers”.

Johnston explained that “This investment will allow health advocates bringing innovation and proven strategies to expose industry wrongdoings on a global scale. Vital Strategies and The Union are honored to be a part of an effort that will bring rapid progress against the world’s leading preventable killer—tobacco use— and expose the unethical business practices that drive seven million tobacco-related deaths every year.”

“In addition to The Union and Vital Strategies’ participation as one of the partners, the other organizations who won the global competition to form this watchdog group are the Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) at the University of Bath and the Centre for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC).

Each organization has deep global and in-country experience in research, analysis, monitoring and advocacy, as well as media strategies that increase support for tobacco control policies”.

The statement maintained that STOP partners will draw from cutting-edge research, technology and media experience to cut off the tobacco industry’s influence around the world.

Over the three-year term of STOP’s engagement, the group will encourage whistleblowers to report on misdeeds, publish exposé reports, employ “big data,” crowd sourcing methods, and mobile apps, to amplify and maximize STOP’s impact.

Existing tools such as the University of Bath’s Tobacco tactics website, and the Tobacco Atlas published by Vital Strategies and the American Cancer Society will jump- start these efforts.

STOP will support World Health Organization’s work to reduce tobacco use, including the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). It will specifically challenge the industry’s efforts to influence government policy in contravention of Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC.

José Luis Castro, CEO and President of Vital Strategies and Executive Director of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease

The Many antics of Big Tobacco Industries

By Olu’Seun Esan

It’s no longer a hidden fact that Tobacco is the only industry that produces things that fetch them huge profits and at the same time damage the health and ultimately kill their consumers; simply put ‘Tobacco companies kill their best customers’. For an example, Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known cancer-causing (carcinogenic) compounds and 400 other toxins. These cigarette ingredients include nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and DDT. It is important to add that Nicotine is highly addictive. DDT as another of the composition is ‘Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane’, it is a colourless, tasteless, and almost odourless crystalline chemical compound, originally developed as an insecticide, and ultimately becoming infamous for its environmental impacts. These are some of the compounds that are being inhaled by smokers and unfortunately, inadvertently by people in the neighbourhood of smokers and passers-by who inhale tobacco smoke exhaled by smokers or released by the burning sticks. For this reason the MPOWER, apolicy package for tobacco control ratified by the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control have the first three components as Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies, Protect people from tobacco smoke and Offer help to quit tobacco use. This underscore the dangers imminent in tobacco smoke and tobacco use in General.

Another product, Shisha, which is unfortunately the recent trending addiction in vogue among the elitist urban population in Nigeria is neither harmless for consumption nor for public health. Tobacco is tobacco, no matter what. Shisha is often soaked in molasses or honey and mixed with fruit, but it still contains cancer-causing chemicals and nicotine. Findings revealed that Composition of tobacco smoke in shisha is variable and not well standardized. It is evident that smoke emerge from water pipe

contain numerous toxicants known to cause cancer.

Levels of carbon monoxide, ‘carboxyhemoglobbin’ were higher among shisha smokers than cigarette smokers or nonsmokers. Also, analysis of mainstream aerosol found that shisha smoke contains significant amount of nicotine, tar and heavy metals. In a standard heavy protocol of 100 puffs of 3 seconds, 2:25 mg of nicotine and 242 mg of nicotine free dry particulate were obtained.

Along these, high level of arsenic, chromium and lead were found in shisha smoke. Hookah, shisha, narghile, goza, and hubble-bubble, to name a few are inventions of the tobacco industries to further advance their trade; for more variant of their products, for more customers and more sales. Some countries in Africa has placed outright ban on shisha and it is very commendable.

The Tobacco industries have consistently used colour branding to stimulate the interest of consumers. The use of colour yellow, red and gold colours by some brand of tobacco products are strategic; such that mere seeing an item branded with that particular shades of colours without even inscribing the name, people can easily decipher which brand of tobacco/cigarette is associated with that item.

A recent research in Nigeria by the Nigeria Tobacco Control Research Group identified branded kiosk as a deliberate marketing strategy

by Tobacco companies to target youths who are known to be attracted to bright colours. It was concluded that colour has a strong influence on the way objects are recognized and identified.

The colour yellow adopted by a popular tobacco company is known to promote anxiety and attract impulsiveness in buyers. For example several researchers have established that, silver and gold colours can be used to convey status and prestige, particularly for “premium” brands according to Richard Pollay.

Other researchers maintained that Red packages and logos can convey excitement, strength, wealth, and power, while pastel colours are associated with freshness, innocence, and

relaxation and are more common among brands that appeal to females. Clearly, the visual design of cigarette packaging conveys brand identity and information about the product to consumers and has a way of appealing to the unsuspecting public. Research has documented that visual design of products has influence on consumers’ perceptions and consumption behaviours; colour is particularly influential.

Tobacco companies were among the earliest companies to identify and implement effective, integrated marketing strategies; cigarettes and other tobacco products have long been among the most heavily marketed consumer products in the United States; and it follows similar trend everywhere in the world. The Tobacco industry’s over the years deployed subtle ways crafting of information.

A central feature of this strategy has been to use misleading brand descriptors. Words such as “light” and “mild” were ostensibly used in the past to denote flavour and taste, but “light” and “mild” brands were promoted in advertisements as “less harmful”. Another example is “slims” descriptors on packs promote beliefs about smoking and weight control—an important factor in smoking behaviour among young women.

It is subtly associated with increased brand appeal and reinforcing beliefs that smoking is associated with thinness. Since the ban on advertisement on mass media the Tobacco industries chose to lead anti-tobacco messages, thus keeping tobacco and its product consistently being discussed in public space. Such industrysponsored programs that purport to decrease smoking among teens may be ineffective in doing so and may, in fact, enhance the tarnished image of the tobacco industries. Most times, Big Tobacco’s media campaign, actually glamorize a smoker’s lifestyle by making tobacco use appear “adult.” Some studies suggest these ads effectively encourage teens to smoke Olu’Seun Esan, Writes from the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) oesan@ntcang.org

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

26

Feature

How electric vehicles are moving into the fast lane

CLASSIFIED PUBLIC NOTICE

NNAMDI ANYIKA KENNETH (DIRECTOR )

F

rom battery-powered delivery trucks and rickshaws, to Formula E racing cars, electric vehicles are entering the mainstream. But will a lack of investment in charging infrastructure hold the market back?

In 2015 single mum Sushila Devi was struggling to make ends meet and didn’t even have the money to send her three kids to school.

However, thanks to low-cost electric vehicle technology, the 30-year-old from the state of Bihar, North East India found a solution.

With a loan from a local charity, she bought an e-rickshaw - a type of taxi powered by a threewheeled electric scooter - and started carrying passengers in her hometown of Bodh Gaya.

The town, famed as the place Buddha is said to have obtained enlightenment, is popular with tourists and worshippers who make up most of her customers.

Now, she earns 10,000 to 12,000 rupees a month (£110-£135; $145-$175) and 20,000 rupees in peak season - enough to send her two oldest children to a nearby school, she says.

Shamsul Akhtar of Karuna-Shechen, the charity that provided the loan, says e-rickshaws could create thousands of new jobs for underprivileged women like Ms Devi, while encouraging environmentally friendly transport .

Firstly, they cost just 38,000 rupees to run per year - “about half as much as running an older petrol-powered rickshaw”, he says.

They’re also popular with regulators. Bodh Gaya now only allows e-rickshaws, not their more polluting cousins, within 5km of the town’s ornate temples.

Rapid growth From rickshaws to buses, cars to delivery lorries, electric vehicles are going mainstream and not just in the richer developed nations.

“We’re about to cross four million electric vehicles on the road globally some time in August,” says Colin McKerracher, head of advanced transport at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Of course, that’s only a sliver of the total number of vehicles on the road, but it’s steeply up from just 500,000 in 2014.

He expects even more growth by the mid2020s, when electric vehicles “will cost the same as ones powered by internal combustion engines”, posing a huge challenge to petrol vehicles.

In the meantime, government subsidies are helping to bring down the costs. For example, China - which accounts for half of global electric auto sales - has exempted electric vehicles from purchase taxes since 2014.

Better batteries The batteries that power electric vehicles are also improving, says Erik Terjesen, senior strategy director at Massachusetts battery startup Ionic Materials.

His is one of a number of firms working on building larger capacity batteries than today’s lithium ion ones. Using more lithium “much increases” battery capacity, he says, but it also makes batteries less stable posing a fire risk.

Instead, researchers like him are trying to replace this liquid electrolyte with solid materials such as silicon, to make safer “solid state” batteries that hold more charge.

BMW is one carmaker looking at the tech. It plans to release an electric vehicle with a silicon anode within five years, and says it will have a 30% larger range than current models.

Meanwhile, prices for a rechargeable lithium ion battery fell below $200 per kilowatt-hour this year for the first time, says Sarwant Singh, head of the transport team at consultancy Frost & Sullivan. That’s down from $750 in 2010.

“The forecast is they’ll fall below $100 in the next five years,” says Mr Singh. “[Then] they become really attractive, and below $80, you’re really killing the gasoline engine.”

Formula 1 performance?

In the range they permit, today’s electric car batteries are “much closer to what we know from a petrol engine”, says Nicolas Griebner, head of product at Mini UK.

OBIYO JOHN (SECRETARY )

PUBLIC NOTICE

KNOWLEDGE MILL INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION. CAC/IT/NO 32543

Brands such as Tesla have brought electric cars into the mainstream

Battery performance is improving

PUBLIC NOTICE

WINDING UP GNC INTERNATIONAL PRESS LTD THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990 (AS AMENDED ) PRIVATE COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES. SPECIAL RESOLUTION TO WIND UP GNC INTERNATIONAL PRESS LTD AT AN EXRA-ORDINARY MEETING OF THE COMPANY HELD ON THE 5TH DAY OF JULY 2018. AT 9, OKEHO STREET, IJESHA SURULERE, LAGOS STATE, THE FOLLOWING SPECIAL RESOLUTION (OF WHICH SPECIAL NOTICE WAS GIVEN) WAS PROPOSED AND DULY PASSED. “THAT THE COMPANY BY WOUND UP VOLUNTARILY AND THAT AKINHAMI BABATUNDE & Co. OF AREA 10 BORNO STREET, GARKI, ABUJA. BE AND ARE HEREBY APPOINTED LIQUIDATORS OF THE COMPANY FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUCH WINDING -UP”.

DATED 5TH DAY OF JULY 2018.

Less polluting e-rickshaws are popular with Indian regulators

“We’re not there yet, no question, but we are a lot closer than we used to be,” he says.

There is now an electric-powered car racing championship - Formula E - where 10 teams from around the world compete.

In its first four years, “drivers raced for 50 minutes, and halfway through the race had to get out of one car and jump into another,” says Formula E spokesman Sam Mallinson.

But new, bigger batteries mean from next season they won’t need to.

Formula 1 vehicles still travel at much faster speeds reaching 240mph. However, the next generation of Formula E cars could travel as fast as 186mph, say experts - up from about 140mph currently.

There are also new design possibilities with electric cars, because their engines take up less space, says Mark Preston, head of China’s Techeetah Formula E Team. “[When designing] an electric car from scratch, you do the architecture differently than if you were basing your vehicle on an internal

“

The batteries that power electric vehicles are also improving, says Erik Terjesen, senior strategy director at Massachusetts battery start-up Ionic Materials.

His is one of a number of firms working on building larger capacity batteries than today’s lithium ion ones. Using more lithium “much increases” battery capacity, he says, but it also makes batteries less stable posing a fire risk.

PAGE 27

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

combustion car,” he says.

One Chinese electrical vehicle start-up, Nanjing-based Byton, is putting the finishing touches to a car with a 125cm (4.1ft) wide digital screen in front, which can be divided into different windows.

Byton spokesman Oliver Strohbach says the “very big” screen and better connectivity will let drivers hold digital meetings while they are stuck in road traffic, and have “something meaningful” to do while commuting.

More Technology of Business The company is owned by Chinese auto manufacturer Future Mobility Corporation but has a design studio in Munich and a tech hub in Silicon Valley, California.

Like other Chinese electric car companies - Nio and SF Motors being examples - it is positioning itself to be a key player in what it believes will be a huge global market.

“Everyone is basically starting from the same line in this competition, and China sees this as an opportunity,” says Dr Xinyu Chen, a Harvard academic who studies energy and pollution in China.

However, the electric vehicle market faces barriers to growth. One is that while charging stations have improved - the newest can charge a car to 80% in 10 to 15 minutes - there are cripplingly few of them.

China has 215,000 charging stations and poles, the most of any country, but it’s a fraction of its target of 4.8 million by 2020. India has 350, compared to the estimated 800 to 1,000 the Delhi region alone could require.

Similarly, few countries’ energy grids are prepared for a scenario in which millions of citizens recharge their car batteries at peak times, such as in the early evening or at weekends.

Solving such problems will require investment, but there are questions over who should pay. “The model of who will build, own, and operate charging stations - carmakers or oil companies - remains unclear,” says Dr Chen.

None of this worries Ms Devi much over in Bodh Gaya. She will soon have to pay her third child’s school fees so plans to expand her business. She says she wants to save enough money to buy another e-rickshaw and rent it to other drivers, so she can make the money she needs.

Source: BBC

ONE NATION SOCIAL CLUB OF NIGERIA, ABUJA THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1.AGU HENRY - CHAIRMAN 2.ONYEKA OKOYE 3.OFFOR CHINONSO - SECRETARY 4.AGU COLLINS 5.JOSEPH NWAIGWE 6.OBIORA UDEH THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : 1.TO PROMOTE FRIENDLY CO-EXISTENCE AND MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP AMONGST MEMBERS. 2.TO ENGENDER SPIRIT OF ONENESS , COMPANIONSHIP AND COMRADESHIP AMONGST MEMBERS AND OTHER ALLIED CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 3.TO FOSTER BROTHERLY UNDERSTANDING AND COOPERATION AMONGST MEMBERS AND THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILIES. 4.TO SERVE AS A FORUM FOR DISCUSSING MATTERS AFFECTING THE PROGRESS OF MEMBERS, WELLBEING OF MEMBERS AND THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILIES AND TO LOOK AFTER MEMBERS’ WELFARE, RENDER ASSISTANCE IN THEIR DISTRESS. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : BARR. IKECHUKWU ONYIMBA, LLB, BL,PCM(NIM) (RESCUE ATTORNEYS, ABUJA ) 09093087264 & 08034684456.

PUBLIC NOTICE

CHRIST DIVINE EVANGELICAL BIBLE CHURCH

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. UDO BASSEY JOHN(CHAIRMAN).

2. EFFIONG ANIEFIOK EMMANUEL. 3. SUNDAY NSIKAK AKPAN..

4. EMMANUEL SAVIOUR EFFIONG THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : 1.To promote fellowship among believers 2.To propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ by all scriptural means.

3.To encourage and promote the worship of God. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY EMMANUEL SAVIOUR EFFIONG.

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

NEW CHANCE GLOBAL INITIATIVE

DAYSPRING SALVATION GLOBAL OUTREACH

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. DR. AKALA AIYEMIDARA OYEWOLE - CHAIRMAN 2. MRS. BOYEJO OLAJUMOKE OLABISI VICE CHAIRMAN 3. BARR. KINGSON EZECHI AHANEKU - SECRETARY 4. MR IDOWU SUNDAY ABIODUN ASST. SECRETARY 5. MRS UMEANA CAROLINE OMOYEMI FIN. SECRETARY 6. BARR. OGUNMODEDE BENJAMIN OLUDARE -MEMBER 7. MRS AKINGBADE FUNMILAYO KEHINDE - MEMBER 8. MR. AKAKA GBENGA TAIWO MEMBER THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1. To facilitate projects and activities that will empower and help neglected widows and persons living with disabilities in Nigeria.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. ADEWOYE SEGUN SAMUEL 2. IBITOYE BOLUWAJI ODUNAYO 3. ABESIN OLUWASEUN OLADELE 4. AGBOOLA OLUSANMI BEN. THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1. To preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : OLALEKAN OLADAPO ESQ. SOLICITOR.

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

THE WILL OF THE FATHER’S HELPERS FOUNDATION INT’L

AFRICAN CITIZENS DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

God's Foundation grace gospel ministry

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR CHANGE OF TRUSTEES UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE OLD TRUSTEES ARE : 1. ANTHONY NWOKE 2. NGOZI THERESA IGWE 3. MARTIN ANURUMIBE- REMOVED THE NEW TRUSTEE : 1. OLUCHUKWU NWACHUKWU THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.TO PROMOTE EDUCATION. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS CHANGES SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. MR UDEOLISA CLETUS CHIBUZO PRESIDENT 2. OKEKE OBIAGELI SECRETARY 3. MR WALTER CHIDOZIE 4. MRS. OKPALAJI ADAOBI .V. 5. MRS UDEOLISA FLORENCE N. 6. BARR CHUKWUNONYERE IKENNA CLINTON THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1. TO CATER FOR THE WELFARE OF THE MEMBERS. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR CHANGE OF TRUSTEES/AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTION THAT THE ABOVE NAMED FOUNDATION IS DESIROUS OF EFFECTING THE FOLLOWING CHANGES TO THE FOUNDATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1.MR DELE ADEOIU SMITH - RETAINED 2.MR FRANCIS FOLA AJAYI - REMOVED 3.MRS IDERA AJAYI-SMITH - REMOVED 4.CHIEF MRS MARIAM JAGUN - REMOVED 5.BELLO BENEDICTA ADEOLA - NEWLY APPOINTED 6.AKINPELU OLUJOBA SIMEON - NEWLY APPOINTED 7.FAMADE PHILIP OLUSEGUN - NEWLY APPOINTED 8.AJAYI - SMITH EDWARD ABIODUN - NEWLY APPOINTED (B) THAT THE WHOLE OF THE CONSTITUTION BE AMENDED. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS APPLICATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR CHANGE OF TRUSTEES/AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTION THAT THE ABOVE NAMED FOUNDATION IS DESIROUS OF EFFECTING THE FOLLOWING CHANGES TO THE FOUNDATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

INITIATIVE FOR RESPONSIBLE CITIZENSHIP

CONCERNED DELTANS FOR DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

World of life and faith prophetic ministry international

This is to notify the general public that the above named, has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission, for registration under part 'C' of companies and Allied Matters Act. 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. pastor Augustine Barewa 2. Prof Shehu Usman Adamu 3. Barr. Onus Eugene 4. Faith Barewa 5. Idongesit Ede THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE: To engage, orientate, teach, and inspire Africans on good character, virtues, democratic values and civic morality that underpins the social cohesion and economic prosperity of advanced economies Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

Signed: Secretary

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1.REV.DR MICHAEL IKPIRE G.OVERSEER. 2.MR FELIX ODUEME, 3.MR SAMSON NANA. 4.PST MRS Justina IKPIRE. 5.STELLA OSAGIAGBON. aims To preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ANY OBJECTION TO THIS APPLICATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : Barr Albright

This is to notify the general public that the above named, has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission, for registration under part 'C' of companies and Allied Matters Act. 1990.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED MINISTRY HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.SOLOMON DANIEL - CHAIRMAN 2. ORHUERAKPOR SUNDAY OGHENEVWOGAGA-SECRETARY.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. umezu mezu Nonyerem 2. mezu chidinma sylvia 3. james christina iroma 4. ihejieto, ihechi chidoozie

THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE: To foster peace through development initiative

THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1. TO PREACH THE GOSPEL .

Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

Signed: Secretary

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: barrister vivian mmdubuike 08054128188

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

PAGE 28

CLASSIFIED PIUS

loss of document

loss of document

I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS PIUS AUGUSTINE AGBO. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS PIUS AUGUSTINE EDOKA. Date of birth 1st August 1975. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

I, formerly known as Rukayya Aminu now wish to be known and addressed as Rukayya Sadiq Ahmad. All former documents remain valid. Authorities concerned and the general public should please take note.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC OF THE LOSS OF ORIGINAL LETTER OFF OFFER IN RESPECT OF BLOCK 153, FLAT 4, KARU ABUJA WITH FILE NO. 30164 ISSUED BY FCDA DATED 15TH JULY 2005 AND OTHER RECEIPTS, BELONGING TO MRS MONISOLA. S. ADEJAYAN. ALL EFFORTS MADE TO TRACE THE SAID DOCUMENT HAVE PROVED ABORTIVE. PLEASE IF FOUND CONTACT THE NEAREST POLICE STATION OR CALL BARR NDUBUISI ON 07039860886.ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

This is to inform the general public that Mr. Julius Uma Kalu Emetu c/o of NTIMA CHAMBER, Block47/48, 321 Road, Gwarinpa-Abuja report the loss of Original Right of Occupancy, Recertification and Re Issuance of C of O Acknowledgement dated 08/01/05 with file number GO214 and new file number AB10322 in respect of plot number 156 Kpaduma District, Abuja, along with the receipt for 're-certification, registration of power of Attorney and Acceptance of offer of Grant are missing. All efforts made to trace the missing documents proofed abortive. If found, please return to the nearest police station. All Authority concerned, FCDA and the general public take note.

loss of document

OBI

FATIMA

space for sale

I formerly known as NANOSI MAUREEN CHINAGOROM now wish to be known and addressed as OBI MAUREEN CHINAGOROM. All former documents remain valid.

Authorities concerned and the general public should please take note.

I FORMERLY KNOWN AS FATIMA MUSA BUT NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS NASIBA DAHIRU. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

Rukayya

HEALTH

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

PAGE 29

Health benefits of walnuts that you didn’t know about W

alnuts are nutritious may be an understatement, they are superfood! And to an extent that it’s been 50 years that scientists and experts have an annual conference at the University of California just to discuss latest benefits that walnut has for you! They are a must-have in your diet.

From boosting your mood to improving your brain and from keeping your heart healthy to a healthy gut, what is it that they can’t do! Well, we don’t know that but what we do know is that there are some science-backed benefits that will reinforce the power of this humble nut.

Reduces the risk of certain cancers: Walnuts not only reduces the risk of prostate cancer, but breast cancer as well. In one study, mice were given to eat 68g of whole walnuts (equivalent to humans) for 18 weeks and it was seen that the mice had noteworthy smaller and slower-growing prostate tumours those who ate same amount of fats from other sources. The whole walnut diet decreased the prostate cancer growth by 30 to 40 per cent. In another study on mice, the human equivalent of just two handfuls of walnuts every day slashed the breast cancer risk in half and slowed the growth of tumour by 50 percent.

Promotes heart health: Walnuts contain the l-arginine, the amino acid that has multiple vascular benefits to people with heart disease, or those who

have higher chances of heart disease due to multiple cardiac risk factors. Plantbased omega-3 fat alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is another anti-inflammatory that may prevent the formation of pathological blood clots. One research showed that people who eat a diet high in ALA have a reduced risk of coronary heart disease.

Works on age-related deterioration: Presence of some rare and powerful antioxidants in walnuts combat free radicals and help in controlling ageing.

Antioxidants such as quinone juglone, the tannin tellimagrandin, and the flavonol morin scavenge radical elements in your body. Multiple researches have shown that walnut polyphenols may help prevent chemically-induced liver damage.

Controls weight gain: Adding walnuts to your diet can help you to maintain your ideal weight over time. In a review of 31 trials, it was noted that people whose diets included extra nuts or nuts substituted for other foods lost about

1.4 extra pounds and half an inch from their waistline. Eating walnuts is also associated with increased fullness after just three days.

Improved reproductive health in men: One of the lesser-known, and may be the best for men, benefits of walnut is its positive impact on male reproductive health. For men who consumed a Western-style diet, adding 75 grams of walnuts daily significantly improved sperm quality, including vitality and motility.

Babies in strollers can be exposed to pollution than adults

B

abies in prams can be exposed to up to 60 percent more pollution than their parents, causing potential damage to their frontal lobe and impacting on their cognitive abilities and brain development.

In a study published by the Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE) at the University of Surrey in the Environment International journal, researchers examined more than 160 references to highlight the factors concerning the pollution exposure of babies in prams and associated mitigation strategies.

GCARE researchers also investigated different types of prams based on their height, width, and whether they seat one child or two to assess if this impacted on pollution exposure levels. They found that infants in prams breathe in more polluted air since they are positioned between 0.55m and 0.85m above ground level and vehicle exhaust pipes usually sit within 1m above road level. This

increases in-pram babies’ vulnerability to being exposed to more pollution than adults.

The study suggests a range of mitigation actions, including ‘active’ solutions such as controlling emissions of road vehicles, and ‘passive’ actions such as roadside hedges between vehicles and pedestrians. The researchers also suggested technological solutions that can help to create a clean air zone around the child’s breathing area as another effective mean. They concluded that a mixture of innovative technological solutions, community activism, and exposure-centric policies that encourage authorities to tackle traffic congestion are needed as they are seen to be the key to a lasting solution to the problem.

The review also notes other measures such as carpooling, using public transportation to reduce traffic levels, improving technologies, and community collaborations with industry could make a real difference to improving air quality

for children.

According to UNICEF, 17 million children across the world who are less than a year old live in regions where air pollution levels exceed World Health Organisation recommended guidelines. Children from poor economic backgrounds are most at risk of these dangerous levels of pollution because of a lack of nutrition, access to health care, and exposure to tobacco smoke.

Professor Prashant Kumar, who is a Chair in Air Quality and Health and the Founding Director of the Global Centre for Clean Air Research, said: “We know that infants breathe in higher amounts of airborne particles relative to their lung size and body weight compared to adults. What we have proven here is that the height most children travel at while in a pram doubles the likelihood of negative impacts from air pollution when compared to an adult. When you also consider how vulnerable they are because of their tissues, immune

systems, and brain development at this early stage of their life, it is extremely worrying that they are being exposed to these dangerous levels of pollution.

“Our past research motivated us to set-up the MAPE (Mitigation of Air Pollution Exposure to young children) project that aims to develop targeted mitigation strategies and solutions. We are working together with industrial partners to develop innovative technological solutions and giving this aspect a special attention in our on-going living lab activities, including community and stakeholders’ engagement, part of our another in-progress project, iSCAPE. “With the multitude of evidence we set out in this review, it is important that everyone across the country begin a full and frank conversation about pollution and the impact it has on our most vulnerable -- from parents and community leaders, to government officials and industry.”

Source: sciencedaily.com

PEOPLES DAILY

Sports

Page

30

sports@peoplesdailyng.com, SMS- 08142929046

wednesday, august 16, 2018

Footballer stakeholders urge Osinbajo to order DSS out of NFF secretariat

PAGE 31

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, august 16, 2018

S

p

T

he Nigerian winger/wing-back victor mosses has announced his decision yesterday having had a few months to reflect on the country’s World Cup campaign to retired.

Nigeria were eliminated at the group stage in Russia after a late Marcos Rojo winner saw Argentina beat them 2-1 in their third and final match. Moses scored his country’s equaliser in that game.

Earlier in his international career, he played an important role as the Super Eagles won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and made it to the last 16 of the 2014 World Cup. “I have experienced some of the best moments of my life wearing the Super Eagles shirt and have memories with me that will last a lifetime. Nothing will ever compete to what it felt like to represent Nigeria on behalf of our country.

“However I feel that now is the right time to step away in order to be able to focus fully on club career and my young family as well as to allow the next generation of Super Eagles stars the opportunity to step up and to flourish.

“We are blessed as a nation to have so many exciting young players coming through and now is their time.

“I have already spoken to the manager by telephone and would like to say thank you to him and his staff, the NFF and all of my teammates for all of their support over the years.

“Most importantly I would like to say thank you to the Nigerian people for believing in me and supporting me over the years. It’s meant the world to me and my family and I will always be a proud Nigerian supporting the team.

Falcons

By Albert Akota

N

A

group representing retired and active footballers yesterday in Abuja urged the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, to order an immediate withdrawal of security men from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Secretariat.

The group was led by Harrison Jalla, President of the National Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF), as well as Victor Baribote, a former Second VicePresident of NFF. It argued that the presence of men of the Department of State Security (DSS) at the Glass House at Wuse Zone 7 in Abuja was inimical to football development.

During a peaceful protest at the NFF Secretariat, just before the gates leading to

the Glass House, the group described the development as a violation of the rule of law.

The protesters carride placards with inscriptions such as “Nigeria is a creation of law, DSS should obey the laws of the land’’ and “FG, sack DSS Director of Operations’’.

Other placards bore inscriptions such as “Osinbajo, direct DSS to follow rule of law, our laws are being disobeyed’’ and “Tell DSS to obey rule of law’’.

Addressing sports journalists thereafter, Jalla noted that the continued presence of DSS in the NFF Secretariat was an affront on the Nigeria Constitution.

Jalla restated the call for ther withdrawal of DSS personnel, saying it was time to uphold the tenets of the country’s law, and warning that failure to do so could

lead to “anarchy’’.

“There will be anarchy if by tomorrow (Thursday) they (DSS personnel) don’t leave here,’’ he said.

The former player of the defunct Bendel United Football Club of Benin also said Tuesday’s warning by world football governing body FIFA on the NFF leadership crisis was insulting.

“Nigeria is a sovereign nation, and it deserves a lot of respect. So, FIFA should be mindful of whatever directive it is giving,’’ he said.

Also speaking to journalists, Baribote said he was at a loss as to why a creation of the Nigerian law like the DSS could be instrumental to the violation of law.

Baribote said that the DSS which was not above the law was duty bound to

comply with a court order.

“It is shameful that a creation of law like the DSS is violating the law. It is supposed to comply with the order of the Supreme Court which is the highest court in Nigeria,” he said.

Baribote also averred that FIFA has no right to step into the NFF leadership crisis, saying it was a matter to be resolved among football stakeholders in the country.

The DSS had occupied the Glass House since July 23 when it chased out the Chris Giwa-led faction of the NFF. The security outfit had said it was acting on a presidential directive.

The Giwa-led executive committee had on July 2 taken over the Glass House, saying it was in compliance with a court order.

Moses retires from international football at 27 to focus on Chelsea

Page 30

t

Moses retires from international football at 27 to focus on Chelsea

Victor Moses

Falconets will reach Women’s U-20 World Cup final- Danjuma believes

Ahmed Musa in celebration

r

igeria coach Christopher Danjuma has backed his team to reach the final of the ongoing

Women’s U-20 World Cup in France.

The Falconets claimed a dramatic 1-1 draw with China on Monday, a result

which secured qualification for the quarterfinals as runners-up in Group D behind Germany.

Danjuma now believes his team has the character and strength to reach a third final after the feats of 2010 and 2014.

Nigeria will face Group C winners Spain in Concarneu on Thursday for a place in the final four, and Danjuma is backing the African side to make more history.

“Our ambition is to enjoy reaching another final. We want to be in the final, and the records are in our favour to do so after

we did so in 2010 and 2014.

And this is now 2018,” said the Falconets coach.

“It was a hard fought game thanks to the great character and mentality of my players. You could also say we were lucky, but everything has an element of favour.

“You can work hard, but you also need some luck. The best wishes of Nigerians also helped us and we are grateful to God.” The other quarterfinal match-ups are France v North Korea, England v Netherlands and Germany v Japan.

Enyimba will win in Bamako, says Benjamin

Reeve Frosler of Bidvest Wits is challenged by Francis Benjamin of Enyimba

E

nyimba defender Benjamin Francis says the Nigerian side is determined to win

their CAF Confederation Cup match away to Mali’s Djoliba this coming weekend.

The People’s Elephant find themselves in third place in Group C of the continental competition, with six points from four matches. They succumbed 2-0 away to leaders Williamsville AC of Ivory Coast at the end of July.

This coming Sunday they will take to the Stade Modibo Keita in Bamako to battle last-placed Djoliba.

“Games between Enyimba and West African teams are always difficult,” Francis told Football Live. “For us, we want to go to Bamako and

win.

“We want to improve our points haul so it is important we go all out and get a win. We said to ourselves we were going to win [our] remaining games in the group.”

Group C is the most open in the competition this year, with just three points covering the four teams as they head into the penultimate round of matches this weekend. The other group game sees Congo side CARA Brazzaville host Williamsville.

Kevin de Bruyne suffers knee injury in training

Kevin de Bruyne was Manchester City’s player of the season in 2017-18

M

anchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne is having tests on a right knee injury suffered in training on Wednesday.

City said the extent of the injury suffered by the 27-year-old Belgium midfielder is “not yet known”.

In 2016, he missed 12 games after injuring his right knee during an EFL Cup semi-final victory over Everton.

De Bruyne was City’s player of the season last term, scoring 12 goals and providing 21 assists as his side won the Premier League and EFL Cup.

City, who began their title defence with a 2-0 victory at Arsenal, next play Huddersfield at home on Sunday.

They then face matches away to Wolves and at home to Newcastle before an international break.

Their fifth match of the season is at home to Fulham on 15 September, with their first Champions League group game to take place on 18 or 19 September.

City broke several records in 2017-18, including reaching 100 points, winning 32 matches and scoring 106 goals.

QUOTABLE QUOTE “We believe in government of the people, for the people and by the people but the conservatives believe in government of sharing. We say Nigerian money belongs to Nigerians. We say Nigerians must be given development. We believe in investing in the people. But they believe in sharing and looting the money.”

. . . putting the people first

Thursday, august 16, 2018

SPORTS latest

Kevin de Bruyne: Man City midfielder suffers knee injury in training

M

anchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne is having tests on a right knee injury suffered in training on Wednesday.

City said the extent of the injury suffered by the 27-year-old Belgium midfielder is “not yet known”.

In 2016, he missed 12 games after injuring his right knee during an EFL Cup semi-final victory over Everton.

De Bruyne was City’s player of the season last term, scoring 12 goals and providing 21 assists as his side won the Premier League and EFL Cup. City, who began their title defence with a 2-0 victory at Arsenal, next play Huddersfield at home on Sunday.

They then face matches away to Wolves and at home to Newcastle before an international break.

Their fifth match of the season is at home to Fulham on 15 September, with their first Champions League group game to take place on 18 or 19 September.

City broke several records in 2017-18, including reaching 100 points, winning 32 matches and scoring 106 goals.

Speaking to BBC Sport in a wide-ranging interview to be broadcast during Football Focus on Saturday (12:00 BST on BBC One), De Bruyne said City “will never have a season like last year” as they attempt to become the first Premier League champions since 2009 to retain the title.

After City published news of De Bruyne’s injury, the player was pictured wearing a brace around his knee and walking with the aid of crutches at the premiere of an Amazon documentary series that follows the club throughout last season.

Taye Taiwo and Oduamadi

Advert: business: news: lagos:

—Senator Bola Ahmad Tinubu, while formally receiving Senator Godswill Akpabio to All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday

The immoral majority (I) ‘The political machine works because it is a united minority acting against a divided majority’ –Will Durant

I

n the thick of the June Twelve annulment brouhaha General Babangida had announced that he was, after all, ‘stepping aside’.

And many said that ‘stepping aside’ was his political transition’s tragic denouement -that after all the transition procrastination and in spite of even the annulment, for him it still had to come to such mournful anticlimax. And so the annulment of June 12 many said, was now like an ‘own goal’ ending a timeless leather game of deception. From having repeatedly shifted the transition’s goal post, the great IBB had at last dribbled himself out of power. And you wondered, since he was still to leave office anyway, why might he not reconsider the annulment of June 12, validate the election and hand over to the winner, MKO Abiola? So that that way both ‘bloody civilians’ and their jackbooted military oppressors would nobly have been reconciled. But no. In pacification of the ego of esprit de corps, Babangida chose rather he would hand over to an unelected kinsman of Abiola, the famed UAC mogul Ernest Shonekan, under a contraption called ‘Interim National Government’ created, many said, to sing the Nunc dimittis or the funeral dirge if you will of June twelve. Ironically Shonekan who was to be the ‘Head Of The Interim National Government’, was conceded only the authority of a ‘Head of State’ but not the powers of the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, C-IN-C. As a matter of fact a special one-page Decree had been promulgated and circulated to that effect. A shadowy, often bleakly bespectacled de facto 2IC and alter ego of IBB, General Sani Abacha was to stay back as Commander-InChief, C-IN-C of the Armed Forces, and essentially so as to secure the contrived diarchical interregnum which also had the mandate, any time in the future, to conduct another election. But Shonekan would not only lack the power to command the armed forces, he was also not to have the complement of a cabinet with the nomenclature all federal cabinets in both modern democracies and even in aberrant military dictatorships, were always known by: rather than ‘ministers’ they were to be called ‘Secretaries’.

So that in place of a ‘Ministerial Cabinet’, Shonekan was to have a ‘Secretarial’ one; nominated and constituted for him by the departing IBB, to function ‘in-loco-ministrum’.

In family law, a ‘guardian’ is said to act in-loco-parentis (or ‘in the position of a biological parent’). And so in-loco-ministrum was my own

0806 564 8620 0704 385 9705 0814 292 9046 08074420617

THURSDAY Column WITH Mohammed Adamu (08035892325 sms only)

dankande2@gmail.com creation for Shonekan’s ‘Secretaries’ who essentially were to function and operate as though they were Ministers. The idea perhaps was to create a lame ‘government’ and not allow it have a sense of possessing the essential attributes of a government.

And just when this anti-Jun twelve contrivance was about to be constituted, one quiet, lowkey weekend at the Villa, General Babangida ran into some of our members, -namely of the State House Press Corps- and as it was often the case, this time also the ‘democrat’ – rather than the soldier in him- got the better of his sense of camaraderie.

And he would ‘generously’ extend to us a conditional offer of one slot of a ‘Secretary’ in that soon-tobe-constituted Interim National Government. The caveat was that whoever we were presenting must be elected through the due democratic process. Such irony, you would say; that the man who had just brazenly subverted the electoral will of an entire nation, annulling the freest and fairest election ever, would be recommending to us, ‘watchdogs of the society’, the virtue of applying the due democratic process in the squaring of every little ‘bone’ and every ‘brown envelop’. And in fairness to IBB’s conditional offer, it did remind us, journalists especially, that the democracy that we were crusading for the nation should not only place a demand on politicians to abide by the due democratic process in partisan politics alone; but that even as minuscule as a 53-member professional fraternity like ours may be required to live up to the demand of the democratic process.

Unfortunately, in spite of its inherent democratic moral instruction, IBB’s offer to us would soon become the proverbial apple of discord, rending us apart along sectional and tribal fault lines. It soon proved to us that Nigerians were as swiftly schismatic

“

at the realm of national politics as they can also easily be at the minutest levels of professional groupings that arrogate the right to interrogate others.

By the way, IBB’s offer would later turn out to be a ‘Greek gift’ -to the prospective beneficiary that is. But first how was it an ‘apple of discord’? NTA’s then State House Chief Correspondent, the famous Sola Atere had indicated his interest to vie for the offer. But then there was a snag. He was a non-participating member. He had never identified with the Corps.

Let alone attend its meetings. But I was one of few members who appreciated the fact that Atere had too much on his professional plate to afford to be an active member of the Corps. He was in fact on the permanent list of the President’s domestic and international travels; and so he traveled en-suite with IBB in the Presidential Jet. Not a great number of us representing major organizations, were on the rotational list and we traveled third class by commercial airlines -often with the President’s advance team of protocol and security personnel. There were minor assignments we could afford to miss once in a while. Atere had to cover and report every presidential movement. And so he was locked up always in NTA’s Mini State House Studio editing or programming –so much that many of our colleagues interpreted his non-participation in the activities of the Corp to mean a disdain for it. Yet, even those of us who appreciated his busy schedule still believed that it was not sufficient justification not to occasionally identify with Corps.

And now that Atere was interested in the offer made to us through the very body he was believed to have scant regard for, the argument arose whether he was a bona fide member of the Corps,

And just when this anti-Jun twelve contrivance was about to be constituted, one quiet, lowkey weekend at the Villa, General Babangida ran into some of our members, -namely of the State House Press Corps- and as it was often the case, this time also the ‘democrat’ –rather than the soldier in him- got the better of his sense of camaraderie

and if so, whether he was entitled to contest the offer. Again I was one of few members who had no difficulty admitting that technically he was one of us; because I believed –and still do- that the qualification for being a ‘State House Correspondent’ is superior to, and predates the criterion for membership of the ‘State House Press Corps’. You are automatically a member of the Corps if you are accredited as a Correspondent to cover the State House. And so accreditation to cover the State House and not fidelity to an in-house fraternity known only to us, was the key. And so since IBB’s offer was made not to us as individuals, but to a body that preexisted our individual membership, I thought that Atere was justified like any one of us to vie for IBB’s offer.

It was how those who supported him treacherously went about it, (in much the same way Saraki did to grab the Senate Presidency) that is the bird’s eye view by which I intend to espouse the concepts of ‘minorities’ and ‘majorities’ in a democracy.

To be concluded Re-‘OSHIOMHOLE’s PLEASANT HERESIES’ +2348053429696:“Thanks for the series on Oshiomhole which was lucid and cogent! The direct participation by registered voters in APC primaries is the intrinsic essence of progressivism.

Bravo to the new Chairman for its introduction! Sovereignty resides with the ruled -John Locke’s second treatise on ‘government’. Oyegun should keep quiet because timidity, irresolution and lack of courage and vision is responsible for the current poor state of the APC. He allowed Saraki and Dogara to grow wings when immediate expulsion from the party could’ve been the correct, bold, assertive response to their duplicity in grabbing power illegally” –Nnoli, Aba.

DAN GAYE

Saraki will win 2019 presidential election, cleric predicts

Prophecy of business?

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234 814 292 9046. Cell: +234 802 443 2099; 803 7007 759. e-mail: contact@peoplesdailyng.com; pmlnewseditor@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141