[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, yesterday, promised to assist victims of last weekend’s fire disaster at Onitsha Drug Market, Bridge Head, Onitsha, Anambra State, whose goods and cash valued over N100 million were burnt to ashes.
This followed sympathy visit to the fire scene by the commissioners of Health, Dr. Joe Akabuike and his Commerce, Industry, Trade and Wealth Creation counterpart, Mrs. Amaka Ilobi, who were sent by the governor to assess the extent of damage.
The fire incident was suspected to have started from a faulty electrical installation in one of the shops and spread to six other shops before the timely intervention of fire fighters from Onitsha Main Market and Building Materials International Market at Ogidi which brought the situation under control.
One of the victims, Mr. Ebuka Chidubem Uzochukwu, was said to have lost about N7 million worth of goods as he reportedly took delivery of some goods a day before the inferno.
Another victim of the incident, Mr. Chidubem Uzochukwu, was also said to have lost about N2 million cash left in the safe of his shop, which he intended to use to pay for some goods on arrival in few days time before the incident, as well as goods worth N13 million.
Akabuike and Ilobi expressed their heart-felt sympathy over the losses, adding that they were sent by Governor Obiano to ascertain the extent of damage and how to prevent future occurrence.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Lagos State Government has advised the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to prepare for the coming changes in the state’s transportation sector. Lagos yellow buses Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, the Governor of Lagos State, gave the advice on Wednesday during the inauguration of the new NURTW state secretariat at Agege, Lagos. Ambode, represented by the Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, urged the union to key into the plan of the state government in order to be relevant to the new policy.
We support the chairman on his efforts to bring a new look to the union in Lagos State. “But development goes beyond edifice and building structures; there must be adequate preparation for new government policy on transportation by the union. “Government has no plan to leave anybody or union behind in its plan to make the state a mega city. “So, I appeal to the union to key into government’s plan and prepare for the coming changes in transportation sector in the state,” he said. Ambode commended the union for employing the youth in the society, and by so doing, helping to reduce crime in the society.
Alhaji Nojeem Yasin, the National President, NURTW, in his remarks, congratulated the state union on the Secretariat. He appealed to the members to give more support to the state union chairman, Mr Tajudeen Agbede. Yasin also thanked the Lagos State Government for its support to the union. Agbede, earlier in his speech, commended Ambode on the giant strides he had taken in the state. “The construction of several flyovers and new roads across the state have helped to reduce traffic congestion during the peak periods. “As partner in progress with the state government, we are always ready to contribute our quota to the success of the government,” he said.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Federal Government has declared Monday 25th, Tuesday 26th December 2017 and Monday 1st January 2018 as Public Holidays to mark Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year. Minister of Interior, Lt. General (Rtd) Abdulralman Dambazau who made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, enjoined the Christian faithful and all Nigerians to use the period in praying earnestly for the betterment and development of Nigeria.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Abubakar Magaji, the minister also called upon Nigerians to strengthen their resolve to maintain peace and unity in Nigeria.
Dambazau further urged all Nigerians, both at home and abroad, to support the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in its determination in improving the quality of life of Nigerians.
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has decried the current suffering and pains of Nigerians as a result of the persistent and unjustified fuel scarcity.
The Union frowned at the incessant fuel scarcity which has resulted to long queues, loss of man-hours and endless search for products.
NUPENG stated that the scarcity has further worsened the sufferings of its citizens through increase in transport fares, rising pricing of goods and services as we approach the Christmas festivities.
It called on the government to quickly address the situation instead of trading blames when the depots are dry.
The Union stated that it was a national shame and embarrassment for the citizens to celebrate the Christmas under this kind of atmosphere when Nigeria is the seventh largest producer of crude oil.
NUPENG reiterated the need for the federal government; Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC to tell the nation what is actually happening, as the two labour unions in the sector are not on strike.
It therefore called on the Federal government to implore the appropriate bodies to flood the nation with petroleum products as we enter the year 2018 as stop gap measure.
In the long run, it stressed that; the nation’s four refineries must be revamped to reduce the pressure on foreign exchange for importation of petroleum products from abroad.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he All Progressives Congress (APC) has discribed as baseless and ridiculous, the allegation by the People Democratic Party (PDP) that the ruling party was planing to use the approved $1 billion fund to prosecute its party’s presidential activities, ahead of 2019. The APC, however, said unlike the PDP that allegedly squandered $2Bn similar approval in excess while in government, the ruling party has as fundamental “the twin principle of accountability and probity.”
In a statement signed Monday in Abuja by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, it described PDP allegations as a case of “a serial killer who sees even a table knife as a murder weapon.”
“However, we can understand why it is easy for PDP to arrive at its ludicrous allegation. A similar approval in excess of $2 Billion was granted to the PDP government when they were in power. They knew what they did with the money. It is a classic case of a serial killer who sees even a table knife as a murder weapon. “The PDP presided over a government that made it possible for money meant for weapons to be diverted into paying marabouts and all manner of political jobbers ahead of the 2015 election. Therefore, the PDP thinks the same thing is about to happen. They have not realised that it is a new day and President Muhammadu Buhari will not play politics with money meant to protect the lives of innocent Nigerians or allow anyone to engage in such brigandage that Nigerians suffered under the PDP.
“We conclude by saying that we understand the pressure that the PDP is facing to justify its role as an opposition party, but they need to be reminded that opposition is not the same as opposing everything, including those things that are critical to national interest. We welcome PDP to play its part in ensuring that the money or any public money at all is used for the purpose for which it is intended. In this case, they can simply ensure that their eleven governors demand accountability for the money that they have joined in approving.
“The twin principle of accountability and probity are fundamental to APC. If the PDP in their latest reincarnation now consider these principles important, we are happy for them and we welcome them.
“It appears however that PDP’s interpretation of its role is to oppose everything even before they had the opportunity to understand it. They have remained embittered over what they thought APC did to them as an opposition party and are therefore seized by an obsession to revenge. In essence, they are primarily driven by vendetta rather than considered national interest.”
The ruling party said the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) that granted the approval has eleven (11) PDP Governors as its members in the meeting, wondering “how the Governors who are not members of our party would support the decision to approve funds that was ostensibly meant to fund another Party. In essence, the PDP is by this allegation accusing their Governors of disloyalty or suggesting that they were bewitched into supporting the decision. It is that ridiculous!”
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]WERRI—PROTESTERS against the policies of the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, have demanded that the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Chris Ezike, be redeployed after clashing with police. The protesters, who accused Okorocha of turning Imo State Government into a one-man affairs, also alleged that the governor had turned the state into a place, where citizens now lack freedom of speech in the face of oppression by the Okorocha-led government. Police The protesters under the auspices of Imo Peoples Action for Democracy, IPAD, which started at about 8am, on Monday, at Wethedral roundabout, Owerri, almost turned bloody, when the group had an encounter with the police in which their placards were seized and the police were said to have used teargas to dispatch some of them.
A former House of Representative member, Mr Uche Onyegucha, who was at the front line of the protest, said: “Imo State has turned into a one-man state, where citizens are not allowed to speak their minds when they are oppressed. “Nothing will stop us from doing the right thing. We are on a peaceful protest. “Imagine, it is Christmas and the government is demolishing virtually all the markets in the state, subjecting the people to extreme hardship and the governor wants the people to be happy. Look at suffering everywhere and one man and his family is enjoying our collective resources.”
“The Imo Peoples Action for Democracy, IPAD, wishes to inform the world that Imo State has unfortunately become a fascist state where freedom of expression and assembly is no longer guaranteed.” Also speaking, National President of Igbo National Council, Mr. Chilos Godsent said: “INC noted that the Governor of Imo State and the Imo State Commissioner of Police have launched, “Operation Show of Force” which saw over 100 heavily armed military men, 200 heavily armed police men, DSS, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps etc, patrolling major streets of Owerri. “Why the organizers of the rally were discussing with some of the Police, a team of Police men moved against the protesters and forcefully dispossessed us of our banners, placards, Anayo Rochas Okorocha statue, and other protest materials and also physically assaulted some leading members of the protest.
The Operation Show of Force was launched to forcefully disperse and maim members of the Occupy Imo Peaceful Rally. “Consequent upon the above, the Igbo National Council rose from an emergency meeting this afternoon and have resolved as follows: “That INC has passed a vote of no confidence on Governor Anayo Rochas Okorocha and CP Chris Ezike – the Imo State Commissioner of Police. “That INC will launch Operation Rochas Must Go from January 2018. “That the Inspector General of Police, IGP, should immediately demote and redeploy CP Chris Ezike before he causes avoidable anarchy in Imo State.
” No opposition in Imo—Okorocha Reacting, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, said: “We want to inform the general public that Governor Rochas Okorocha or his Rescue Mission Administration does not have any opposition in the state. “The few elites, whose simple and compound interest is 2019 governorship in the state do not constitute any opposition in the proper sense of the word and so, they only operate in the social media.
“We want also to state clearly that no reasonable Imo man or woman can come out in protest against Governor Rochas Okorocha or his Administration because he has done for them what they never knew could be done by a government in the state.” “Why all these? Those who follow postings on the social media must have read what a faceless or non-existent group that called itself Imo Peoples Action for Democracy, with no fixed address had published threatening to occupy Imo from Monday December 18, 2017 to Sunday December 24, 2017 in protest for reasons best known to them.”
[dropcap]N[/dropcap]igerians have now resigned to their sad fate where the power sector is concerned. Privatisation of the power sector and the creation of the Distribution Companies, DISCOs, by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration have failed to provide the relief promised to the people.
Power generation and distribution remain uncertain today as they were on May 29, 2015. In 2015, power generation had hovered at about 6,000 megawatts. The Minister of Power, Mr Babatunde Fashola only recently announced that generation had increased to 6,800 megawatts. But in terms of actual transmission, it has never really risen above 4,000 megawatts at peak periods. Most of the time, Nigerians have to manage with as little as 1,500 megawatts due to multiple system challenges and the generally low capacity of our transmission system. So, from the standpoint of consumers very little has changed, except perhaps, for the worse.
The Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has on several occasions added weight to Fashola’s justification of the upward reviews of electricity tariffs. He believes that a “cost-effective tariff” is “the only way to service that core value chain”. He believes we need to keep “compensating the value chain – from generation down to distribution (through) a cost-effective tariff”. It is sad that the Federal Government is putting more emphasis on “cost-effective tariffs” rather than putting pressure on the electricity providers to expedite action in metering the power supplied to the people to ensure accountability and justify the existing tariffs. How can we persuade consumers to pay more for electricity on top of the “crazy billing” syndrome which comes on the back of estimated bills?
It is obvious that power providers are keen on sustaining their pricing impunity through the crazy billing regime. They have little interest in embracing massive provision of metres to their customers. That is unacceptable. We insist that all consumers must be provided with electricity metres. Let everyone know what they are paying per watt before we talk about upward tariff adjustment. The metres are not as scarce as the power providers make it seem. Several Nigerian companies are now manufacturing metres. They should be patronised to ensure that metres go round.
We also encourage the Federal Government to push ahead with efforts to collaborate with the World Bank to come up with a subsidy regime for the power sector, which, added to the tariffs paid by the consumers, will help in funding our electricity value chain. Placing undue emphasis on frequent increases in electricity tariffs and allowing the power providers to operate without providing metres to their customers is anti-people. The power-consuming public must be protected instead of being made to bear the brunt of failures by the government and the power providers.
[dropcap]B[/dropcap]oss of Innoson motors, Chief Innocent Chukwuma has been arrested by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for jumping bail. It took a reinforcement from the Enugu office of the EFCC to effect the arrest of Chief Chukwuma who mobilised thugs to prevent his arrest.
Confirming the arrest of the industrialist, EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren said Chukwuma was arrested at about 11am at his Savage Crescent, GRA Enugu residence today. “Chukwuma, rather than honoring invitation by the EFCC, mobilized six truck loads of thugs pretending to be staff of his company to his residence, where they manhandled EFCC operatives.
“It took reinforcement from the Enugu office of the EFCC to effect the arrest of the industrialist who is currently being grilled by a team of investigators,” Uwujaren said.
The EFFC added that Chukwuma’s arrest followed his refusal to honour invitation by the Commission having earlier jumped an administrative bail granted him in a case being investigated by the Capital Market and Insurance Fraud Unit of the Commission’s office in Lagos.
Chief Chukwuma is a Nigerian business magnate and investor. He is the founder and CEO of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing, Nigeria’s first indigenous automobile manufacturing company. He is also the Head of Ford Foundation in West Africa.
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have said that the Union is not responsible for the present shortage of petroleum products being experienced nationwide.
The Union stated that our members in the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of NUPENG are working and lifting products to the nooks and crannies of the country.
It therefore added that our members are not on strike and should not be blamed for the current scarcity of petroleum products in the country.
The Union blamed the policy makers of the country for not adhering to its calls for the urgent need to rehabilitate the nation four refineries to make them work optimally.
NUPENG stated that the cabals in the downstream sector are at work sabotaging all efforts to make products available through revamping our refineries. It added that the government must act fast to make petroleum products available especially during this yuletide period.
The Union also called for the setting up of a multi-agency task force to decongest the Apapa highway to the depots and Tincan Island ports so that tankers and trucks can go and load products and goods without hindering the construction work currently going on in the area.
[dropcap]G[/dropcap]ov. Okowa has warned his commissioners to always attend to enquiries on the state of their ministries when such are made by journalists.The warning came on the heels of a complaint by a journalist of the refusal of Commissioner for Transport, Mr Vincent Uduaghan, who declined comments on why the Macapolo buses bought by immediate past administration were non-functional.
Okowa noted that any commissioner or aide under him who declines comment from journalists on his administration was doing a disservice to his government and the state.“I don’t know why my commissioners should decline comments from journalists.“Any commissioner that stays away from the press is doing a disservice to this administration.
“When they are confronted, they should be able to check their books and respond accordingly.“It does not take much to relate to the press,” he admonished.Speaking further on the macapolo buses many of which have problems, Okowa said the buses would soon be placed on auction before the public, adding that some have been approved for sales
The Delta State Governor, Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa, on Monday, December 18 says he does not take sides with any groups or communities as far as the lingering crisis between Aladja and Ogbe-Ijoh communities is concerned.Governor Okowa who spoke at the 2017 Quarterly Media Interaction with members of the Delta State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists stated that his administration wants to get to the root and get a solution that will bring peace to the communities.
Governor Okowa noted that his administration has been proactive in handling and he issues which started over a long period of time.The governor disclosed that a “White Paper” on how to settle the crisis is ready just as he promised that government will deliberate on it in the next State Executive Committee’s Meeting.“I pray the White Paper settles the disputes. After that, We will take decisions.”
Governor Okowa who lamented that the youths in the two communities have lost their sense of reasoning also pointed out that the traditional rulers and elders are still very reliable.He, however, said,”The elders have lost control of the youths. I remember the house of the monarch in Udu was vandalized for seeking peace.”“I have no reason in taking sides with anybody.”
Governor Okowa also stated that there will be no “Ministry of Happiness” because Deltans are happy people.He noted that he has given instructions for the payment of the December salaries of Workers in the State, saying, “The State is supposed to have paid salaries since Friday last week but they give a gap of three days so that they don’t run into problems of crediting people twice. By tomorrow latest, workers will receive their salaries.”
.At the media chat with Governor Okowa was the SSG, Ovie Agas, the commissioner for information, Patrick Kuka among other aides and cabinet members.
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