Blog

ASUU
By Chinyere Nwachukwu
Lagos, Sept. 25, 2018 (NAN) The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says it will not back down in its efforts to sanitise the university system in the country, especially in the area of welfare of its members.

The National President of the union, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to him, no meaningful development will be achieved if government fails to put issues concerning education in the front burner for global reckoning and competitiveness.

The unionist said that government’s disposition to the development of education in the country, especially the university system, was becoming worrisome.

Ogunyemi said reneging on agreements government willfully entered into with ASUU had remained a major setback to the union’s efforts in taking the system to its deserved height.

“We are very saddened at the way government is handling the various agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it has entered into with us.

“We have remained focused and committed on our part to ensure that we keep our own side of the bargain, just as we have equally been patient.

“Now, in the face of all this, we still discover that government seems not bothered about what might happen, and that is why we are stating categorically that we will not hesitate to take necessary action to get government to understand us in our struggle to revitalise our universities.

“It is on this premise that we are calling on government to take immediate and active steps to restore the much needed sanity in our university system as well as the process of renegotiation with the union, to avert any possible act that could disrupt the academic calendar of Nigerian universities,’’ he said.

He said that just like the Nigeria Labour Congress, the union would not be held accountable for any action it may take, should government fail to do the needful.

According to him, the NLC had been calling on government to improve the wages of Nigerian workers, having reached several agreements with it, which he said, is similar to that of ASUU.”

He said that development of any country could only be achieved when the necessary things are put in place.

Meanwhile the Lagos zonal Coordinator of the ASUU, Prof. Olusiji Sowande, has called on well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on government to sincerely fulfill its promises.

He said this was to avoid another round of crisis in the country’s university system.

Sowande made the appeal at a news conference on Tuesday in Lagos, as part of efforts at sensitising the general public on the travails of members of the union.

“Our members are extremely agitated and are ready to use all legitimate means to compel government to do the needful.

“Our expectations, therefore, are that there will be an immediate reconstitution of the current government renegotiation team to allow for a less fixated chairman of the ASUU/Government renegotiation team and a speedy completion of the exercise,’’ he said. (NAN)
CCN/AAB/SOA
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Edited By Adeboye Ajayi/Oluwole Sogunle

Amaechi urges Shippers’ Councils to address issues affecting trade facilitation

Shippers
By Aisha Cole
Abuja, Sept. 25, 2018 (NAN) The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday urged African Shippers’ Councils to focus on the implementation of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFC), and issues relating to trade.

Amaechi made the call during the two-day Sub-Regional Workshop and Joint Standing Committee meeting with the theme: “Port Concession in West and Central Africa: Impact on Economies of Member States”, held in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), hosted the regional workshop in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

The workshop is organised by the Union of African Shippers’ Council (UASC) in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

According to him, the workshop will also support the sea-link project, which is key to the effective realisation of the sub-region’s maritime goal.

The minister said the ports were concessioned in 2006, which had increased cargo output, reducing vessel turn-around time, cargo dwell time and other ports metrics, adding that some countries in the sub-region had carried out similar reforms.

“I therefore call on the participants to thoroughly and expeditiously look into these matters with a view of advising governments of the member states on appropriate regulation and policy measures to realise these goals.

“On our ports, the Federal Government of Nigeria has made remarkable progress in the development of trade support infrastructure such as railways, roads and other facilities.

” We are establishing Inland Dry Ports (IDPs) and Truck Transit Parks (TTPs) in several locations across the country to bring shipping closer to service users in the hinterlands.

“President Muhammadu Buhari, in January 2018, commissioned the Kaduna IDP as port of origin and destination.

“The port is operational and Shippers in the North-West geo-political zone are taking advantage for their shipping needs,” Amaechi said.

He said that the Kaduna dry port was also targeted at providing transit goods through Nigerian seaports.

The minister said that the African Shippers’ Council regional meeting would provide the opportunity to re-appraise and proffer workable solutions on matters relating to freight rates.

He added that the meeting would look into port charges, transport costs and other issues affecting transportation of cargo in the region.

Amaechi noted that huge freight rates, arbitrary imposition of surcharges remain key issues, amounting to trade barriers hindering the development of international trade in West and Central Africa.

He urged participants to collaborate in proffering lasting solutions toward tackling these arbitrary and unjustifiable costs.

The minister said that the meeting should consider issues arising from the implementation of International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Container Weighing Regime on Verified Gross Mass (VGM).

He said the meeting should be able to tackle issues bothering on cargo destined for landlocked countries, which had capacity to boost trade and realise seamless efficient trade in the sub-region.

The Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Alhaji Mai Buni, said the meeting would create room for effective and efficient trade and transportation for sustainable economic development in the sub-region.

Buni said that trade facilitation emerging as an important subject in the WTO and TFA came to force on Feb. 22, 2017.

He said that full implementation of TFA would reduce trade costs by much as 14.3 per cent: boosts global trade by up to $1.0 trillion annually with the biggest gains accruing to the poorest countries.

Buni said that the development of port and hinterland connectivity infrastructure were critical to the economic development of any country; be it coastal or landlocked.

According to him, in as much as the sub-region engage in global trade, it is Imperative that all necessary facilities and processes be systematically provided to enhance the supply chain and seamless operations to improve efficiency and competitiveness of the sub-region’s trade.

In his contribution, the Executive Secretary of the NSC, Mr Hassan Bello, said that the non- implementation of National Single Widow (NSW) had affected the ports efficiency.

Bello said that NSW was a trade electronic facilitation platform which would bring all port users and service providers together.

“NSW will eliminate inefficiencies, simplify documentations, provide transparency, short dwell time of cargo, cargo tracking note.

“These are all trade facilitation mechanisms which the Federal Ministry of Transportation is pursuing.

“Already there is a committee set up by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to look at the National Single Window, which consists of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and of which NSC is a member.

“It is going through procurement processes and it is hope that NSW processing would be concluded very soon. Sometime, cost could be as result of inefficiency.

“Full implementation of Single Window and Cargo Tracking Note will eliminate inefficiency in the port operations,” Bello said.

He said that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council was about to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with shipping companies which would reduce the cost of doing business by 35 per cent. (NSC)
AIC/AFA
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Edited by Felix Ajide

Club sensitise members to benefits of Bee therapy
By Usman Aliyu
Therapy
Ilorin, Sept. 25, 2018 (NAN) Dr Badmus Idowu, a Specialist at Bee Therapy Clinic Biological Garden, Kwara College of Education, Ilorin, has identified Bee therapy as antidotes and solution to most ailment affecting human beings.
Idowu made the claim at a sensitisation lecture organised by the Ilorin Metropolitan Lion Club for its members on Tuesday in Ilorin.
The Bee therapist, who claimed to have been in the business for 15 years, said he had used the therapy to cure more than 100 ailments without re-occurrence.
On a belief that Bee is poisonous, he explained that Bees could only kill if they bite and used in overdose or mishandled by an untrained person in the field.
Idowu further enlightened members on the uses of Bee venom and other products from Bee.
He noted that the acosposor point meant for injecting patients with Bee therapy involved ideological techniques and boost immune system when well placed.
The Kenya Nairobi trained specialist said: “The cure sometimes is determined with the time in which the ailment is been in place.
“If someone is 20 years and above, the number of Bee that can strike such person before he/she could die will be 500.
“But if the person is below 20 years of age, 100 Bees can strike and kill such person.’’
He further asserted that Bee was used at the College of Education Ilorin to treat any type of ailments and viruses affecting human existence.
Such ailments, he said, included diabetics, ulcer, hypertension, eye problem, heart attack, stroke, infertility cases and brain related problems.
Others, according to him, are pain, aches, malignant, Neurons challenges and cardiovascular cerebral vascular.
“We have treated and admitted no fewer than 11,000 male and female patients in our clinics and some of them today are leaving better life,” he said.
The President of Ilorin Metropolitan Lions Club, Hajia Hassanat Hakeera, told NAN after the lecture that the specialist was invited to sensitise the public on the importance and advantage of Bee therapy to our system.
Hakeera said she was once a patient in the Clinic and had actually referred many people there.
She explained that she never had any negative encounter with the therapy prompting her to invite a professional for the lecture. (NAN)
AUO/GOM/MST
Edited by Gregory Mmaduakolam/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Adolescent women majority of people living with HIV – WHO
By Yashim Katurak
Women
Abuja, Sept. 25, 2018 (NAN) The World Health Organisation (WHO) says women, especially adolescents between 15 and 24 years, represent the majority of people living with HIV globally.
According to a report on ‘Women and Health’ released on its website on Tuesday, the organisation said that globally, adolescent girls and young women account for two out of three new HIV infections.
The report said that an estimated 18 per cent of girls are sexually abused at some point in their childhood as against eight per cent for boys.
It said that adolescent girls experienced a greater risk of sexual abuse and face harmful practices such as child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The report said that majority of girls who became sexually active during their adolescent years were often coerced or forced to have sex including other forms of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
The organisation said that each year, about 15 million girls were married before the age of 18 years, adding that globally, one in three women in their lifetime were likely to experience physical or sexual violence.
The organisation attributed the root cause of these inequitable health outcomes for women and girls to gender equality.
“Globally, adolescent girls and young women account for two out of three new HIV infections. In certain cultures, gender-based discrimination disadvantages girls through sex-selective abortion and female infanticide.
“Women and girls in areas of conflict and displacement suffer disproportionately as a result of disruption of health systems, exacerbation of barriers to healthcare, and use of rape and other forms of violence as weapons of war.
“About 16 million girls aged 15 to 19 years and one million girls under 15 years give birth every year with an estimated three million unsafe abortions taking place globally every year among this age group.
“Every day, approximately 830 women die from preventable causes relating to pregnancy and childbirth and in households and communities, women are the primary sources of care giving.
“In 2016, global life expectancy at birth was 74.2 years for females and 69.8 years for males.
“Although the figure shows that women live longer than men, women experience more morbidity and use healthcare services more than men especially linked to reproductive health needs,” the report read in part.
WHO said that women contribute more to health than any other sector and must therefore be recognised and valued for their contribution, saying that this can be done by addressing gender biases and inequalities in the health and social workforce.
The organisation pledged to continue to work assiduously to improve women’s health by strengthening access to and delivery of health services.
According to the report, this includes sexual and reproductive health issues such as maternal care, access to integrated services for HIV and tuberculosis, preventing GBV, cancer, diabetes and other diseases.
The organisation said that it was working with member states to help strengthen the capacity of the health system and of healthcare providers to respond to violence against women and sexual abuse of children and adolescents.
WHO said it would achieve this by implementing the Global plan of action on strengthening the role of the health system to address violence in particular against women, girls and children. (NAN)
KRY/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Nigeria advocates African Standby Force, Security Fund
By Isaac Aregbesola
Security
New York, Sept. 25, 2018 (NAN) Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama says Nigeria has pushed for the take-off of African Standby Force (STF) to be deployed in times of crisis in various parts of the continent.
Onyeama said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after the African Union (AU) Security Council meeting at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA.
The minister said that Nigeria also stressed the need for AU to find African solutions to African problems rather than depending on external interventions.
Nigeria, he said, urged the organisation to have the African Security Fund to have the capacity to intervene in the conflict on the continent instead of relying on external partners.
According to him, the meeting is a review of security situation of the continent and what needs to be done, noting that one of the challenges of the AU is funding.
“Nigeria acknowledged a lot of what has been done because the aspiration of the African countries in the agenda for 2063 is silencing the gun by the year 2020.
“So African leaders have committed themselves that by 2020 all the crisis should end and also that there should be African solution to African problem.
“I talk about steps to take to achieve the goal of African solution to African problem; one of the points that I made was the importance of having African standby force in place,’’ said the minister.
According to him, this will be a force that will be rapid deployment force to go to wherever part of the continent that there are security issues.
He noted that at the moment AU was a bit too dependent on the outside partners for security on the continent and had to wake up in funding its operation.
“We talked about our support also for the African Security Fund set up and for member states to contribute to that fund for countries in the AU to have the capacity to intervene in the conflicts and not just wait for the external support.
“As we are seeing now the UN is not willing to intervene in a number of the conflicts on the continent.
“And, we now see that other non-African countries that are supporting us are now reducing the funding so we have to find our own solution and we offer some form of advice,” he said.
He noted that the UN was only supportive at present in some of the areas of conflicts on the continent but not the one that involves terrorism.
“The UN Secretary General is supportive of the idea of greater direct UN support of funding but is not having at the moment.
“So the Africa Union has to devise innovative strategies in raising the funding to addressing some of the security challenges on the continent especially ones that are terrorism related.
“So this is basically members of Security Council of the AU coming together to review what the organisation has been doing and what more to be done; we work about greater cooperation,” he said. (NAN)
IAA/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola
Photo caption: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama with South African Delegation advisors, Mr Ntshing Ndumiso and Mr Charles Nqakula at the AU Security Council meeting/UNGA 73rd in New York.

Osun election re-run: Group urges political parties to shun violence

Election

By Victor Adeoti

Osogbo, Sept. 25, 2018 (NAN) Ahead of Sept. 27 re-run governorship election in Osun, an election monitoring group, Kimpact Initiative Development (KID), has appealed to political stakeholders to shun violence before, during and after the poll.

Mr Bukola Idowu, the KID Executive Director, made the appeal during a press conference on Tuesday in Osogbo.

Idowu said that no development could take place in an atmosphere devoid of peace.

He urged the youth not to allow themselves to be used as thugs during the election.

“We implore all youth to please avoid being instruments to violence in any part of the state, as peace for one is peace for all.

“We request that all candidates involved in the re-run election must bear in mind their promise of ensuring a peaceful atmosphere for all, irrespective of their personal political ambitions.

“We remind the governorship candidates of the peace pledge they all signed and their promise to ensure all their followers are not going to be instruments of violence,” he said.

Idowu also appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to avoid any act that could jeopardise peace in the state.

“We request that the INEC, as the electoral umpire, remains impartial, fair, while ensuring justice in the discharge of their roles during the re-run election.

“Any act to the contrary can jeopardise the peace in the state,” he said.

Idowu also commended security operatives for ensuring orderliness and displaying high sense of professionalism during the election proper. (NAN)

VE/KTO/SOA

Edited by Kamal Tayo Oropo/Oluwole Sogunle

PVCs

By Maureen Ojinaka

Enugu, Sept. 25, 2018 (NAN) A socio-political group, Southern Nigeria Peoples Mandate (SNPM), has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to open additional centres for the collection of Permanent Voters’ Card (PVCs) nationwide.

News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) recalls that INEC had recently announced that it had about 12 million uncollected PVCs in its state and council offices nationwide, which included 36 states and Federal Capital Territory.

The President of SNPM, Mr Augustine Chukwudum, told NAN in Enugu on Tuesday, that INEC must devise a flexible, but yet secured means of reaching to millions of Nigerians still having their cards in its offices nationwide.

He said that, with the large turn out of voters in Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, it is clear that more Nigerians have confidence in the electoral process.

“We are calling on INEC to make available about 12 million PVCs that have not been collected to all the polling unit across the country so that those who have not gotten theirs will get it easily.

“How do you expect people who live 25 kilometres from the local government council headquarters to get their PVCs,’’he queried.

He noted that the huge figure of 12 million voters, which is large enough to clearly decide any election, is not a thing to be ignored.

“That is why INEC must do the right thing so that electorates will not be disenfranchised,” he said. (NAN)
OJI/KOLE//MTM

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Edited by Remi Koleoso/Tukur Muntari.

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FHA urges allottees, residents of estates to imbibe maintenance culture

By Ella Anokam
Maintenance
Abuja, Sept. 25, 2018 (NAN) The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) has called on allottees, residents and managers of estates across the federation to imbibe maintenance culture.

Mr Mohammed Al-Amin, Managing Director of FHA, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

Al-Amin decried lack of maintenance culture in its various estates by residents and allottees in the estates across the country.

“ We have a young population that is growing by the day, if we maintain our estates very well, we will be building to add to the stock of supply housing and thereby making houses more available.

“ Maintenance culture is very important because it helps to elongate the duration of a house.

”If a housing project is designed to last 200 years, if you maintain it appropriately, then it will reach that 200 years that it is designed for.

“But if you do not maintain it properly, then before you know it after five or six years, it will start to dilapidate.

“So, it is important to have good maintenance culture in order to achieve the longevity of the projects, ‘’ he said.

Al-Amin, however, said that maintenance culture had two faces, which include the responsibility that was needed by the citizens and also the one that rest squarely on the managers.

He added that no matter how high level of maintenance the managers of estate houses would want to achieve; without cooperation from stakeholders, there would be no headway.

“If the citizens, residents are not interested or cooperating, definitely you will not get what is required of you.

“So, the cooperation of stakeholders, particularly the allottees and residents of estates is very important and key in maintenance culture.

“The managers must also be up and doing no matter how the residents and the stakeholders in the estates are interested to maintaining their facilities, utility and services.

“If the managers are not up and doing, they will not achieve it,‘’ Al-Amin said.

He also noted that the FHA was enhancing its services by retraining staff in order to attain the highest level of standard based on the International Best Practices.

The Managing Director, therefore, called for the cooperation of Nigerians in safeguarding the master plans of the estates across the country.

“If a particular location is earmarked for road, please no matter how dear that place is for whatever you want to do with it, please leave it for a road.

He said that any undeveloped area in the estates, had a purpose either for environmental protection, emergency purposes or for greenery and other uses.

Al-Amin maintained that building on designated open spaces was wrong, urging the residents of estates to assist in maintaining the drains provided by government in the estates.

“If there is huge or heavy amount of garbage in the drains, if you cannot do it as a responsible citizen, please inform the nearest FHA office and we would come immediately and do it,” he added.

“So, it is a collaboration between different sectors of the society but definitely, it is more cost effective to imbibe the maintenance culture than to be building without maintaining it,” he said.
(NAN)
ELLA/JEO/AFA
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Edited by Janefrances Oraka/Felix Ajide

Revenue

By Zubairu Idris

Katsina, Sept. 25, 2018 (NAN) The Kaduna/Katsina Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has generated N852 million as revenue for the month of August 2018.

The command’s Comptroller, Mr Oyeleke Abdulrazak, disclosed this on Monday in Katsina while addressing a news conference.

He said that the amount had surpassed the monthly target of N342 million given to the command.

Abdulrazak also said that the command had made 81 seizures with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N32.7 million during the period under review.

He said that the seizures include 606 bags of foreign rice, 239 bags of foreign sugar and 73 bales of second-hand clothes.

Others are 327 jerry cans of vegetable oil, 28 vehicles, one truck and two motorcycles.

Abdulrazak attributed the successes recorded to the efforts of the intelligence unit of the command and cooperation qfrom other security agencies.

He urged the public to desist from smuggling activities, pointing out that the command was ready to assist the public to go about with their legal businesses.(NAN)
ZI/GOM/MTM
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Edited by Gregory Mmaduakolam/Tukur Muntari.

Normalcy returns to LASUTH after 14-day strike
By Lydia Ngwakwe
LASUTH
Lagos, Sept. 25, 2018 (NAN) Normalcy has returned to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), following the suspension of the 14-day strike by the Association of Resident Doctors (NARDs), the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
A NAN reporter who visited the hospital reports that doctors are attending to patients who visited.
NAN recalls that the association on Sept. 5 embarked on strike following what they described as acute shortage of resident doctors and house officers in the teaching hospital.
Dr Salami Ajibade, the association’s President, told NAN that the 55 house officers employed by the Lagos State Government would not be enough to attend to the large number of patients who patronise the hospital daily.
“We have three requests; we requested for 80 House Officers, we requested for Resident Doctors and government has only approved 55 house officers.
“They have promised that before the end of December they would add 25 more to make it 80.
“So 55 have resumed, we expect 25 more to resume before the end of December,’’ Ajibade said.
He lamented that the house officers were interns who would just work for one year, adding that at the end of their term, they will leave and another set will resume.
He said this was what the hospital had been experiencing for the past three years.
Ajibade said: “So our requests now is that as 55 have been employed now, before December, government should give us a template that will state when it will be employing the remaining 25 house officers within the year.’’
He urged patients and the general public to understand with them (doctors), saying that the strike is for and about the teeming population that came to LASUTH for treatment. (NAN)
LED/EEI/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola