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Ondo governor suspends NURTW, RTEAN, orders unions to vacate motor parks
Ondo State Government has suspended both the National Union of Road transport workers, NURTW, and the Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria, RTEAN in the state. The Senior Special Assistant to the governor on special duties and strategy, Dr Doyin Odebowale, said that the suspension was with immediate effect. Odebowale attributed the suspension to recent leadership crisis within the two unions He directed the leadership of both unions to vacate motor parks across the eighteen local government areas of the state and to stop collecting dues from taxi drivers and other motorists across the state. Odebowale also directed taxi drivers to revert to the old price of N50 per drop across the state. He explained that new tickets would be purchased directly from the state government and no ...
Zamfara schoolgirls kidnap: President Buhari has failed Nigeria – Wole Soyinka
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka on Saturday said the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has failed Nigeria after terrorists abducted hundreds of school girls in Zamfara State. Soyinka spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Ogun award lecture and public presentation of ‘Chronicles of the happiest people on earth,’ the latest book authored by him. According to Soyinka, it is important for all to know that these were abnormal times, but that it seemed to him as times of shirking of responsibilities in key areas. “We cannot permit ourselves to accept the child hostage taking as a way of life, we just can not continue in this fashion, some thing drastic and meaningful has to take place and it has to be collective,” he said. Soyinka emphasised that ...
Wole Soyinka to Nigerians: Don’t accept child hostage taking as a way of life
Following the Friday abduction of over 300 school children in Jangebe in Zamfara State, Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Saturday warned Nigerians against accepting kidnapping of school children in parts of the north as a way of life. Soyinka who lamented that the government and security agencies have failed Nigerians, said he did not know what else to recommend as panacea to the nation’s “abnormal times.” The octogenarian playwright spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, at the ANA Ogun award lecture and public presentation of ‘Chronicles of the happiest people on earth,’ the latest book authored by him. The event was put together by the Association of Nigerian Authors, Ogun State chapter in collaboration with Abeokuta Club. The 524 page book was launched by foremost indigenous ...
NAFDAC busts alleged illegal maize flour production facility in Yobe
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has busted an alleged illegal maize flour production outfit in Potiskum town of Yobe. This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Nasiru Mato, Assistant Director, in charge of the North East Zonal office of the agency and issued in Abuja on Saturday. Mato said the facility which was using a single store space for processing of maize into flour came under regulatory scrutiny when a team of officials of the agency stormed the premises. He said the maize milling and packaging outfit was operating without adherence to set quality standards and good manufacturing practice.According to Mato, the operation is a gross violation of NAFDAC Act Cap No. 1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (2004), hence the sanction. He...
Cameroon police arrest ‘suspected homosexuals’ at AIDS centre
Police in Cameroon have arrested nine people on suspicion of homosexuality, most of them at an HIV/AIDS care centre, an LGBT rights lawyer said on Thursday. A police officer in the western town of Bafoussam, where the nine were detained on Tuesday and remained in custody two days later, said “we arrested them to verify whether they were homosexuals”. “By the end of the day, we will see, based on the evidence, whether some may be released and others referred to the prosecutor’s office,” which will decide whether to charge them, told AFP on condition of anonymity. Seven of those arrested were picked up at the headquarters of the Colibri association, whose main mission is the care of people infected with HIV/AIDS, according to lawyer Alice Nkom of the Association for the Defence of Homosexual...
Police charge Lekki tollgate protesters with ‘breaching public peace, coronavirus protocol’
The police in Lagos have charged 40 protesters arrested at the Lekki tollgate on Saturday to court, for breaching public peace. The arrested protesters include, Debo Adebayo, popularly known as Mr Macaroni, Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka, Damilare Adenola, Anjorin Joseph, Paul Terkuma and Anisere Sodiq. The protesters were charged at the Magistrate Court of Lagos State, Yaba. In the charge sheet obtained by newsmen, they were charged on three counts including failing to comply with the “Quarantine Law which prohibit any social gathering to avoid spreading and contacting of Coronavirus Disease”. The other charges are “breach of public peace, harassment, and causing unnecessary alarm to the public”. Newsmen earlier reported the arrest of the protesters and how they were manhandled by police officers. ...
Senate asked to probe public hearing on medical council bill
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), the umbrella body of health workers in the country, has demanded that Senate probe the recent public hearing of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) Bill as it accused Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, of disenfranchising its members. JOHESU Chairman, Comrade Joy Bio Josiah flayed what he called “vindictive and discriminatory” attitude of Dr. Oloriegbe against other medical professional bodies as he gave his constituency, MDC and NMA more time to canvass their views on the contentious bill. “We challenge Oloriegbe and the NMA to produce video and audio evidence contrary to this. The point here is Oloriegbe does not understand the philosophy and basics of running Public Hearings because he pointedly domina...
Police: Wole Soyinka’s house not attacked
The Police in Ogun State on Wednesday refuted social media reports that the home of Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, located in the Kemta area of Abeokuta, the state capital, was attacked by suspected herdsmen The police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement said contrary to the reports, the incident was triggered by a stray cow sighted on Tuesday “within the vicinity of Soyinka’s home”. “The attention of Ogun State Police Command has been drawn to a video circulating on social media about a purported attack of Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka’s house by Fulani herdsmen and the command wishes to set the record straight,” Oyeyemi said. The police spokesperson said “one Kazeem, an indigene of Ijeun, who is into the cattle business, was informed by his cattle herder, Awalu Muhammed, tha...
Court remands man for ‘plotting’ to abduct wife
An Ilorin Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday ordered that Usman Abdulkareem, who allegedly conspired with a herbalist, friend to abduct his wife, be remanded in a correctional centre. The police charged Abdulkareem, a herbalist, Babatunde Mohammed and a friend, Fatai Adisa with two counts of criminal conspiracy and abduction, to commit culpable homicide, contrary to Section 97 and 274 of Penal Code Law. Magistrate Afusat Alege ordered that the defendants be remanded in Oke-Kura Correctional Centre, Ilorin. Alege adjourned the case until Feb.24, for further mention. The Prosecution Counsel, Sgt. Abubakar Issa, told the court that investigation conducted revealed that Abdulkareem was the one who called Mumeenat, his wife, on mobile phone and asked her to to meet him in the second defendant’ hou...
Appeal Court president implores female judges to be united
The Court of Appeal President, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, on Tuesday, harped on the need for female judges in the country to be united. She stressed that unity amongst female judges is crucial if they must succeed and excel in their career, adding that they are “despised specie”. She gave the charge when a delegate of the National Association of Women Judges in Nigeria (NAWJN) paid her a courtesy visit in Abuja. The delegation was led by the secretary of the association, Justice Esther Lolo of the Federal High Court in Kaduna. Welcoming her guests, the Appeal Court president, who lamented that there was disunity among female judges, said there was need for them to come together in order to be able to help those in need. Justice Dongban-Mensem, a former secretary of the association, rem...
Ex-President Obasanjo urges Nigerian youths to make it uncomfortable for old leaders to remain in government
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged youths to mobilise and make it uncomfortable for old leaders to remain in government. He stated this on Sunday during a virtual interview with academic and historian, Toyin Falola. Obasanjo, who was Nigeria’s president between 1999 and 2007 under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party, also apologised to youths, saying his generation had done a lot of wrongs in Nigeria but the youths can change the fortunes of the country by taking over leadership. Many Nigerians have lamented the persistent recycling of leaders since post-independence Nigeria till date as some leaders who ruled Nigeria during the military era have been in charge in the last 21 years since the country returned to democracy in 1999. Responding to a question by a youth during ...
Thomas Tuchel appointed new Chelsea manager
Chelsea have confirmed the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as the club’s new manager. The Blues moved swiftly to bring in the German following the decision to sack Frank Lampard on Monday. The 47-year-old will be charged with the task of reviving the fortunes of a side sat in ninth in the Premier League table, with Champions League qualification the likely target for the remainder of the season. Tuchel, who was sacked as coach of Paris Saint-Germain in December, has signed an 18-month contract, with the option of a further year in west London. His predecessor, Lampard, had been handed a three-year contract when the Blues legend was appointed Chelsea boss in the summer of 2019 following a season in charge of Championship side Derby County. When will Tuchel take charge of his first game? Tuchel...
