Recommendations
#EndSARS: Ondo panel recommends N755 million compensations for victims
A judicial panel of police brutality and other related matters has recommended about N755 million as compensations for petitioners. The Chairman of the panel, Salisu Sidiq, revealed this while submitting the committee’s reports and recommendations to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. The panel inaugurated on October 20, 2020, sought to address issues that led to #EndSARS protests in the state. Mr Sidiq said it received and heard 77 petitions, out of which 14 were criminal, and 63 were civil matters. He added, “Mr Governor sir, the panel, after careful consideration of its limitations in line with extant Supreme Court judgments on the powers of panels of inquiry to entertain res-judicata cases I suggest that it is high time a review is carried out on Section 84 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Ac...
NAFDAC alerts Nigerians on effects of hair products containing formaldehyde
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians against the use of hair smoothing products containing formaldehyde. The agency says the U.S Food and Drug Administration has informed it of the short and long-term effects of formaldehyde exposure in hair smoothing products. The alert, No: 006/2021 – Formaldehyde in Hair Smoothing Products, was signed by the Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, and issued to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday. It said most hair smoothing or straightening products release formaldehyde gas, a known human carcinogen, as classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, into the air during hair straightening or smoothing. According to the alert, when formaldehyde is re...
Tesla scrutinized by US Senate Democrats for autopilot misuse
Two Senate Democrats are urging federal regulators to take “corrective actions” against Tesla to prevent further misuse of the company’s advanced driver assist feature. The request comes in the aftermath of a fatal crash in which two men from Texas were killed after their Tesla Model S crashed with no one in the driver’s seat. In a letter sent to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Acting Administrator Steven Cliff, Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) implored the agency to determine the exact cause of this recent crash to “better inform” future legislation around advanced driver assist systems like Tesla’s Autopilot. “We strongly urge you to conduct a complete investigation into Saturday’s fatal Tesla vehicle crash and develop recommendations for improving a...
President Buhari approves appointment of 18 appeal court judges
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of 18 Justices of the Court of Appeal. Newsmen reported that the 18 candidates were recommended to Mr Buhari by the National Judicial Council (NJC) for appointment in March. NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, had in a statement on March 19, said the council’s interview committee made the decision recommending the candidates for appointment at its 94th meeting which held on March 17 and 18, under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad. The president approved the recommendations in a memo by his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, and addressed to the CJN. A copy of the memo titled, ‘Re: Appointment of eighteen (18) Justices of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria’ was circulated online on Thursday. Our corr...
NIMASA: SPOMO act improving Nigeria’s image
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) says the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act, is improving Nigeria’s image in its fight against piracy and sea robbery. Dr Bashir Jamoh, Director-General, NIMASA, said this in a statement on Sunday in Lagos. He said that the Act signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari in June, 2019 was to end piracy and sea robbery in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea. He made this known at the maiden edition of the Nigerian Admiralty Law Colloquium organised recently in Lagos by the agency, in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI). The colloquium had the theme, “Achieving Maritime Safety, Security and Shipping Development (TRIPODS) through Enforcement of Legislations and the Implementation of th...
Reports: Governments ‘gender blind’ to coronavirus’ ‘greater impact’ on women
Governments are putting women and girls at greater risk of the health and socio-economic impacts posed by the coronavirus pandemic, two global studies released Wednesday show. They called on leaders to prioritise gender equity in their response to the health crisis. Two studies, one from a global research partnership led by the Global Health 50/50 Project in London and another by the Center for Global Development (CGD) in Washington, were released Wednesday to coincide with World Health Day that highlight major failings by national governments to consider sex or gender in their COVID-19 policies. Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, several studies have pointed to the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women. Many women have shouldered a heftier burden taking on more unpa...
Enugu completes 1,355 school projects in 17 LGAs
Enugu State Government under the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi said it has carried out 1,355 verifiable projects in various primary and secondary schools across the 17 Local Government Areas of the state, under the State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) and Post Primary Schools Management Board (PPSMB), in line with its vision to improve the learning condition of the students. The state government disclosed that besides recruiting over 7,030 primary and secondary school teachers, it also procured and distributed over 50,000 classroom furniture and other learning tools for school children and their teachers across the state. It revealed that it supplied and installed computers to 490 primary and secondary schools; science equipment to 151 secondary schools, and constr...
Katsina approves 5,000 hectares of land for ranching
The Katsina State Government has approved 5,000 hectares of arable farmland for ranching as part of efforts to curb the herders and farmers’ clashes in farming villages and communities across the state. Governor Aminu Bello Masari, who disclosed this during the 46th annual conference of the Nigerian Society for Animal Production held at the Federal University Dutsin-ma (FUDMA), Katsina, said ranching system will enable the children of herders to have qualitative education. He said that the only solution to the herdsmen and farmers crisis bedevilling some parts of the country is the establishment of ranches in the states, hence the provision of the 5,000 hectares of land. Masari, represented by his Special Adviser on Livestock and Grazing Reserve, Dr. Lawal Bagiwa, explained that apart from...
Court rules on suit over Olubadan’s seat
File Photo An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan, on Friday, dismissed a suit filed by the Seriki chieftaincy lineage seeking the nullification of the appointment of Oba Saliu Adetunji as the Olubadan of Ibadanland. Olalekan Fakunle, Rasheed Abinupagun, Gabriel Amao, all of Seriki line, had approached the court, challenging the appointment of Mr. Adetunji. They are also challenging the consistent occupation of the Olubadan throne by both the Balogun and Olubadan chieftaincy lines. While dismissing the case for lacking in merit, Justice Muniru Owolabi said that it was not the business of the court to promote the claimants to the position of Olubadan and other vacant positions in the Olubadan-in-Council. Justice Owolabi said that the 1959 Chieftaincy Declaration of Oyo State had regulate...
2023: PDP panel throws presidential tickets open
File Photo Amidst thinking from many stakeholders that North-East and South-East geo-political zones that have had the shortest stints at the Presidency, should be given special consideration, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) panel has thrown open the 2023 presidential ticket. The governor of Bauchi state and Chairman, PDP 2019 election review committee, Bala Mohammed, gave this recommendation on Wednesday while submitting the report of the committee to the party leadership. The Governor said: “In line with certain unwritten conventions of the nation’s history, many people think that, for fairness and equity, the North East and South East geo-political zones that have had the shortest stints at the Presidency, should be given special consideration, in choosing the presidential flagbearer...
Imo Assembly receives list of commissioner nominees
The Imo House of Assembly on Tuesday received a list of four nominees for ratification of their appointment as commissioners in the state Executive Council. The nomimees are Doris Uzoka, Bartholomew Okorochukwu, Boniface Nwogu and Uche Ohia. The Speaker, Paul Emeziem (APC-Onuimo), during plenary, read the names from a letter sent to the House by Governor Hope Uzodimma. The speaker referred the list of the nominees to a five-man ad-hoc committee, chaired by Obinna Okwara (APC-Nkwerre), for screening. He charged the committee to conclude the screening by Wednesday and report to the House. The House resolved to pass a vote of confidence on the governor for his “monumental achievements” in his one year in office. The motion was moved by Eddy Obinna (APC-Aboh Mbaise) who said the governor has p...
#EndSARS: Ekiti compensates first batch of police brutality survivors
The Ekiti State government will on Monday present monetary compensation to the first batch of police brutality survivors as recommended by the Judicial Panel of Inquiry into Allegations of Human Rights Violations Against the Defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad and Others. The panel was set up in the state following a directive issued by the Presidency to state governments to review allegations of human rights violations against members of the public by officials of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad. This was after youths took to the street with the #EndSARS campaign to protest against police brutality as allegedly committed by operatives of the defunct SARS. The panel set up in Ekiti is led by Retired Justice Cornelius Akintayo and comprises representatives of youth groups, civil socie...
