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Lagos Records History In First State powered Rail System

Emmanuel Ukoh
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The official inauguration of the Lagos Blue Line Mass Transit by President Muhammadu Buhari marks the beginning of a new dawn in the actualization of the intermodal transportation promised by Lagos State government.

Lagos residents today watched electric-powered train in excitement as the State recorded another history in infrastructure delivery.

The moment also completed the President Buhari’s two-day working visit to Lagos for projects commissioning.

The President who performed the inaugural ride on the train with Governor Sanwo-Olu and other invited guests, was feasibly elated to the development in Lagos.

At the event, President Buhari supervised the signing of contract by Gov. Sanwo-Olu for the commencement of the project’s second phase, which will cover 14-kilometre stretch from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko.

 

Federal support

The completed tracks, spanning 13 kilometres in the first phase, extend from Mile 2 to Marina, covering five stations which was constructed by Lagos Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA) with the design to transport 250,000 passengers daily.

Sanwo-Olu said that since 1999, Lagos has not enjoyed the kind of support it is receiving from the President Buhari administration since 2015, stressing the enormous collaborations by the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said: “The socio-economic impacts of various projects we have commissioned during the President’s two-day visit bear testimony to the support and collaboration we have enjoyed from the APC-led Federal Government. Mr President, we are proud in Lagos to be associated with your national vision for infrastructural transformation.”

The Governor maintained that the Blue Line would be operational after the completion of 750 volt-ampere dedicated power supply source which was designed as Africa’s metro hub with a capacity to process 28,000 passengers per hour.

He however acknowledged the courage of his predecessor, former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, who started the Blue Line project despite opposition from the then central government.

 

John Randle Centre

Earlier, the President inaugurated the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History – a museum built by the Lagos State Government to promote cultural renaissance. The museum is sited in Onikan, an artistic neighbourhood steeped in the rich history of Lagos.

The John Randle Centre originally built in 1928, used to serve as a hub for cultural tourism, recreation and entertainment. Its reconstruction started in 2018.

Sanwo-Olu said the Centre fitted into the State’s overall objectives in Arts, Culture and Tourism as stipulated in the recently launched 20-year Arts and Tourism master plan towards making Lagos a tourism destination.

The Centre has an exhibition gallery, which chronicles the history of Yoruba, cultural evolution and journey from the race’s origins, through present day, to the future.

 

 

 

 

Emmanuel Ukoh

Agency Speaks On Capacity Building In Disaster Management

Oluwasola Akintonde
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The Director General of Federal Emergency Management Agency, (FEMA), in the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory Administration, Dr Abbas Idriss has stated that capacity building is a vital aspect of Disaster Management.

The FEMA DG stated this at the opening ceremony of the ongoing one week strategic Executive Seminar for Nigeria Emergency Management Stakeholders organize by the National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA), in Abuja.

Idris stressed that when the drivers of disaster management do not update their skills or not knowledgeable enough, then they will continue to do the wrong thing in a wrong direction.

He commended the tenacity of the Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Habib, for having keen interest in building the capacities of State Emergency Management Agencies, (SEMA).

In his words, ” I want to appreciate the Director General of NEMA for putting this executive seminar together for all the participants here. You will agree with me that capacity building is a very vital aspect of disaster management, if the drivers of disaster management can not update it and are not knowledgeable enough then we will continue to do a wrong thing in a wrong direction.

“I remember last year, we had the multi agency coordination training and this year we are having another training. This has shown that the Director General is really very interested in building the capacities of the State Emergency Management Agencies”.

” It is very important to note that all of us seated here are the drivers of disaster race production at our local level. We take disaster management to be bottom up and that is how it is suppose to be from the Local Emergency Management Committees to State Emergency Management Agencies then to National Emergency Management Agency. That is how it is supposed to be. But if we are not educated and we are not trained definitely we will be left with nothing but serious disaster affecting multiple number of people in our communities”, he added.

While appreciating the DG of National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA), for sustaining the seminar over the years, Dr Iddriss also appealed that going forward, the SEMAs should have more training in different aspect of disaster management.

According to him, ” I appeal on behalf of my colleagues that we need more training and capacity building. We thank you most sincerely for this and others that you have done”.

The Leader and lead facilitator of the Seminar, Director, Bournemouth University International Disaster Management, BUDMC, Dr Richard Gordon who explained that the institute was founded in 2001 and provides world-class training and technical assistance in disaster management in order to help reduce risks, build resilience and ensure rapid and sustainable recovery when disasters strike.

Dr Richard added that the team has years of experience working in the UK and Overseas assisting governments, ministries, NGOs and multi-national organisations with disaster and crisis preparedness, response and recovery.

He further explained that the Agency’s collaboration with the centre dates back to 2007, when the Nigeria “National Disaster Management Course” sponsored by the British High commission through BUDMC, at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji from the 29th October — 9th November with twenty (20) critical stakeholders participating.

 

 

Olusola Akintonde

Nigerian Singer Tems Gets Oscars Nomination

Oluwasola Akintonde
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Nigerian singer, Temilade Openiyi, has again made the country proud with her historic nomination in the 2023 Oscars for her contribution as a songwriter on ‘Lift Me Up’, one of the soundtracks on Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.

Tems, co-wrote “Lift Me Up” with global singer, Rihanna; music producer, Ludwig Göransson; and Black Panther’s director, Ryan Coogler.

The full list of nominations was released on Tuesday with multiverse sci-fi smash, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, topping the list with 11 nominations.

This was followed by Irish dark comedy, “The Banshees of Inisherin”, and World War I flick, “All Quiet on the Western Front”, at nine each.

 

 

Tribune/Olusola Akintonde

Kwara Governor Signs 2023 Budget Into Law

Emmanuel Ukoh
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The Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has signed the 2023 budget into law.

According to him, the fiscal document provides funding for completion of some ongoing projects and continuation of many of the administration’s impactful programmes.

The size of the budget is N188,845,603,561.00 — a few millions less than the N189,436,248,054.00 that the Governor had proposed in his November 30, 2022 budget presentation speech.

The budget has a capital component of N94,855,769,496.00 (50.2%) and a recurrent component of N77,626,089,869.96 (49.8%).

The Governor commended the House for their collaboration with the executive, saying such harmonious relationships help to deepen the delivery of democratic dividends to the people.

The Speaker of the House, Yakubu Danladi Salihu said the parliament properly scrutinized the budget and found it very important for continuous development of the state, especially completion of ongoing projects.

The budget signing was witnessed by some House of Assembly and cabinet members.

 

 

 

Emmanuel Ukoh

NEPC to reposition operational activities to promote export

Emmanuel Ukoh
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The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is set to reposition its operational activities to meet the needs of the exporting community.

The Executive Director/CEO of NEPC, Dr Ezra Yakusak disclosed this at NEPC 2023 work plan review and validation session recently in Abuja Nigeria’s capital.

He said, “This is sequel to the tremendous performance recorded in the non-oil export sector in 2022 in which the sector recorded a significant and highly impressive result of US$ 4.820 billion recorded for the year 2022 representing an increase of 39.91% over 2021.”

Dr Ezra noted that the session was targeted at aligning the Council’s operational activities with that of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, FMITI.

According to him “In line with the FMITI Ministerial Mandate (2020-2023) and the Medium-Term Development Plan (2020- 2025), two important reference materials that have over the past few years guided the implementations of the Council projects and activities and of which we are expected to align to, to support the diversification agenda of the Federal Government, the need to reposition our operational activities is desirable”.

Mr Yakusak while pointing out that Departments and outstation offices implemented projects at will without recourse to the work plan and allocation of resources noted that the practice has not only made tracking of projects difficult and unaccountable but grossly affected the impact assessment of such projects which do not align with set project implementation frameworks.

“While some of these projects that are expected to a have direct bearing on exporters at the grassroots, are being implemented by Departments at the Headquarters, the Regional and State Coordinating Offices are also implementing different projects outside the approved Work plan thereby making Monitoring and Evaluation of these projects difficult” he added.

Dr Ezra disclosed that the few structural changes in the Council departmental nomenclature and organogram as approved by the NEPC Board were in tune with global best practices and classifications and compliance with some recommendations of the International Trade Centre Benchmarking program for the NEPC.

 

 

 

 

Emmanuel Ukoh

Court Dismisses PDP’s Forgery Allegation Against Gombe State Governor

Mercy Chukwudiebere
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The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, has struck out a case brought before it by the the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its Governorship Candidate, Muhammed Jibrin Barde against Governor Muhammadu Yahaya.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and two others were included.

The court, in a ruling delivered by Justice Binta Nyako, dismissed the allegation that the Governor submitted forged documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in aid of his qualification.

The suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1301/2022, was brought before the court by PDP, Mohammed  Barde and Timothy Danlele.

Cited as 1st to 3rd defendants in the matter were the INEC, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Governor Yahaya, respectively.

Specifically, the plaintiffs, through their lawyer, Mr. Johnson Usman, alleged that “the Governor lied on oath in documents he presented before the INEC.”

However, both the APC and Governor Yahaya, through their lawyer, Mr. Marshall Abubakar, challenged the allegation and the competence of the suit, even as they urged the court to dismiss it for want of jurisdiction.

The defendants argued that “the PDP and its members lacked the locus standi to institute an action to challenge the nomination of candidate by another political party.”

According to the defendants, “only members of a party and its aspirants can challenge the outcome of a primary election or the nomination of a candidate.”

They argued that the plaintiffs failed to establish any reasonable cause of action, stressing that the suit had become statute barred since it was instituted after INEC published Governor Yahaya’s name as a candidate for the election.

In her ruling, Justice Nyako upheld the defendants’ preliminary objection and struck out the suit for want of competence.

 

 

Mercy Chukwudiebere

WHO Appeals for $2.54 Billion to Address 54 Global Health Emergencies

Mercy Chukwudiebere
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The World Health Organization is appealing for a record $2.54 billion to assist millions of people in 54 countries facing catastrophic health emergencies triggered by multiple man-made and natural disasters.

In launching the appeal, the WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus said the world is witnessing an unprecedented convergence of crises that demand an unprecedented response.

He said; “WHO is addressing an overwhelming number of intersecting health emergencies. These include climate change-related flooding in Pakistan, drought and acute hunger across the Sahel and in the greater Horn of Africa, health challenges sparked by the war in Ukraine, and the outbreaks of measles, cholera, and other killer diseases in dozens of countries.”

Tedros said; “The world cannot look away and hope these crises resolve themselves.

“With funding and urgent action, we can save lives, support recovery efforts, prevent the spread of diseases within countries and across borders, and help give communities the opportunity to rebuild for the future.”

WHO reports 80% of humanitarian needs globally are driven by conflict and around half of preventable maternal and child deaths occur in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings.

The African region faces the highest burden of public health emergencies globally. In 2022, the continent accounted for 64%  of all Grade 3, or most acute, emergencies globally.

Fiona Braka, health emergencies operations manager in WHO’s regional office for Africa, said “the continent has had to deal with conflicts and climate-driven humanitarian crises combined with new and recurrent outbreaks of diseases.”

Speaking from Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, she said dealing with these complex emergencies has not been easy. But she said “support provided by WHO and partners is proving to be beneficial in many ways.”

She noted that member states have been making progress in dealing with emergencies as they arise.

The 54 health crises WHO currently is assisting include 11 classified as Grade 3. They include seven African countries, along with Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.

 

 

VOA/ Mercy Chukwudiebere

PAN Urges Government To Support Poultry Farmers With Grants

Lateefat Ibrahim
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Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), FCT Chapter, has appealed to the government of Nigeria to assist poultry farmers with grants to stabilise their farms.

The Chairman, Mr Pius Aminu said this in Abuja
while speaking with the media, that such grants should be given to farmers directly, rather than through intermediaries.

Aminu, who described the sector as the highest employer of labour irrespective of one’s qualification, said that the sector had overtime, not received the needed attention and support from all tiers of government.

Cushion The Effect Of Fuel Hike

The chairman commended the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and CBN, for releasing maize to farmers to cushion the effect of price hike.

He said that the measure, to a certain extent, had cushioned the effect of some of the challenges currently affecting the industry.

Aminu, who described the quantity as grossly inadequate, said that other micro ingredients used for poultry feed production were not readily available in the country.

He identified non availability of the ingredients in the country as a contributing factor to the hike in feeds and poultry products in the country.
According to him, a lot of farms have closed down at the moment, and by extension it meant a lot of people have been sent back to seek employment.

“A farm of 10,000 birds, the minimum number of workers you have is 10; so if that farm closes down, that means 10 people have been sent to labour market not to talk of farms with thousands of birds and above.
“Poultry sector is the only sector that does not require any qualification, skills, all you need is to show interest, passion and you are employed, trained in few months and the next thing you have source of livelihood,”


“What we consider basically in poultry is experience, not certificate or qualification. So, everybody is qualified to work in poultry sector,” he said.

The chairman urged the government to give priority to the sector through funding, to reduce unemployment rate, poverty rate and ensure food security of the country.

NAN/Lateefah Ibrahim

Amazon Launches Subscription Prescription Drug Service

Mercy Chukwudiebere
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Amazon is adding a prescription drug discount programme to its growing healthcare business.

The retail giant said on Tuesday that it would launch RxPass, a subscription service for customers who have Prime memberships.

It said “people will pay $5 a month to fill as many prescriptions as they need from a list of about 50 generic medications, which are generally cheaper versions of brand-name drugs.”

The company said the flat fee could cover a list of medications like the antibiotic amoxicillin and the anti-inflammatory drug naproxen. Sildenafil also made the list. It’s used to treat erectile dysfunction under the brand name Viagra and also treats a form of high blood pressure.

Amazon said Prime members who participate in the programme can get discounts of up to 80% off generic medications and 40% off brand-name drugs at more than 60,000 pharmacies around the U.S.

“Most health insurance programmes are accepted,” the company noted.

 

 

Mercy Chukwudiebere

Niger State Governor Reaffirms Commitment To Tackle Security Challenges

Oluwasola Akintonde
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Niger State Governor in North Central Nigeria, Abubakar Bello, has reaffirmed that his administration will continue to respond to the challenges of Insecurity across the State adequately.

The Governor who observed that security situation is dynamic, said his administration is always on it toes in responding to security issues anytime.

The Niger State Governor who stated this during the flag-off in Suleja for Niger East Senatorial District (Zone B) in the State, called on the people to be more vigilant and expressed optimism that the 2023 elections will be successful.

“Security is dynamic. Every day we are faced with different types of challenges. We try to respond to the challenges when they happen. No one can tell when and where it will happen.

“We have to be on our toes and going into elections, we have to be more vigilant and even the locals. I do not doubt in my mind that elections will come and go without hitches”. The governor said.

He further called on the people to vote for the party’s candidates at all levels to consolidate the achievements of the present administration.

While commending the success of the rally, The Governor said the party has credible candidates that would form a formidable team to improve on the successes recorded by the present administration.

The Senator representing the Niger East Senatorial District, Mohammed Musa, who is seeking re-election, urged the people to vote for all APC candidates, assuring that the National Assembly members from the zone will work collectively to ensure rapid development of the zone.

According to him, “We have done very well. We have realized some shortcomings and we are going to do better”.

He called on the people to be patient, and vigilant as well as ensure that they run issue-based campaigns devoid of violence.

Also speaking, the APC gubernatorial candidate, Mohammed Umar Bago canvassed for votes for all APC candidates and promised to carry women and youths along.

Earlier, the state APC Chairman, Haliru Zakari, and the Director General (DG) campaign, Sen. Sani Musa also enjoined the people to vote for the Party as they assured them of good representation.

APC Deputy Chairman, North Central, Muazu Rijau presented the party flags to the candidates of zone B.

Governor Sani Bello later received the former chairman of Shiroro local government, Adamu Gogo, and his teeming supporters who defected from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to the APC.

Meanwhile, the Governor had led the APC Zone B candidates and other Party stalwarts in the state to the Palace of Emir of Zazzau Suleja, Mallam Awwal Ibrahim to seek his royal blessings, support, and advice.

He told the Emir that the candidates of APC for the zone and the entire state were credible to propel development in the State.

He added that the traditional authority and the government must work together to end insecurity, stating that the APC gubernatorial candidate can strengthen traditional institutions as he is also from a royal lineage.

The Governor according to his spokesperson Mary Berje, further used the opportunity to sympathize with the emir over the death of the District head of Lambata in the Gurara local government area, following an attack on the deceased by some youths in the community.

He however explained that the investigation was ongoing and assured that justice will be served.

The Emir of Suleja, while thanking the Governor for the visit, extended his royal blessings and reminded all the candidates that power comes from God, hence they should rely on him for victory.

 

 

Olusola Akintonde

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