Television Nigerian

By Sylvanus Okpe

The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), on Tuesday, advised Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State not to reverse the ban on commercial motorcycles (Okada) and tricycles (Keke) which came into force Friday last week.

He, however, regretted the failure of thd state government to put measures in place to mitigate the pains of the masses that depend on these as their mode of transportation before the enforcement of the ban.

While faulting the timing, Sagay said the state government should have first cleared the buses which are still lying at the ports, put them on the roads before the announcement on the restrictions was made.

Sagay who lives and has his office in Lagos said though painful, the state government must have taken the decision in the interest of Lagosians as the Okada riders have constituted themselves to menace to other road users.

He said the state government must have considered the security of the state before embarking on the decision based on the nefarious activities of the Okada riders.

“The ban is right on principle. Lagos state government is not telling us everything. I always say that the government knows more than we do. It is not every information available to them they will reveal to members of the public. Lagos state government must have seen some danger signals which makes them act before it is too late. That is my impression on the ban”.

“But I blame them that they did not take little more time to prepare for the consequences. Now they are saying that they have about 600 buses at the ports, they should have cleared those buses first before initiating the ban”.

“ They are a government body, they can accelerate the clearance of the buses within a week, put them on the roads and then go ahead with what they want to do”.

“I support the ban on principle. Apart from what I do not know and I am sure it has to do with the security of Lagos state people. Apart from that, those Okada people are a threat to our existence. They don’t obey any law, they cross red lights”.

“On many occasions, I have had cause to complain to the Commissioner for Transport that Okada riders confront me every time on Eko bridge when I am going home. They are so indiscipline, dangerous and reckless in terms of the injuries and pain they cause”.

“They are riding against the traffic, threatening those of us who have the right of way. We have to move aside for them to rush through. As they are doing it, that encourages yellow buses (Danfo) and they too will join them in going against traffic”.

“Right now on Eko bridge, there is no division between the road that takes you into Lagos and the one that takes you out. They are using it as they like and it is so dangerous to other road users”.

“So, I think the ban is a good idea. Let us clear it and remove that danger from our existence. Maybe the timing was a bit abrupt, maybe they should have brought in alternative vehicles to cushion the effect but as far as I am concerned, there should be no going back.

“They should now rush to provide the alternative buses to cushion the pains of the people” Sagay advised.

By Bukola Olasanmi

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected a motion to evacuate Nigerians allegedly stranded in China following the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

According to lawmakers who voted massively against the motion raised by the spokesperson of the house, Benjamin Okezie, China has better facilities to handle the situation than Nigeria.

Despite efforts by the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila to calm the lawmakers and allow Mr Okezie to move his motion, the lawmakers denied him the opportunity.

Drama ensued when two other sponsors of the bill who were meant to support the motion, declined to second the motion to be moved.

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By Bukola Olasanmi

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the regime is handling the security of the country well.

Osinbajo spoke when he received clergymen from the north — the Arewa Pastors Forum for Peace — at the presidential villa, Abuja, on Monday.

In a statement by Laolu Akande, his spokesperson, the VP said the regime would recruit more troops and officers to increase the personnel of security agencies so as to curb security threats in the country.

He added that it was part of an “ongoing deliberate and comprehensive consolidation of the security situation in the country”.

“We are doing everything that needs to be done. We are handling security well, and as you know, including military deployment in diverse fields, like the Boko Haram in the Northeast, ” Osinbajo was quoted to have said.

“In fact, we have to now recruit more into the Army, and much faster than we ever did because we need men on the ground; resources also – to buy more arms, to buy more platforms.”

Osinbajo said though the security situation is challenging measures have been put in place to beef up the country’s security.

“At the last meeting of the National Security Council that was held on Thursday, we had discussions on how to beef up the military’s platforms. How do we beef up the numbers?’ How do we recruit more men and women into the Army? How do we collaborate more with local vigilante, the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) and all that? So, there is a lot going on in terms of trying to beef up security. The security situation is one that is very challenging,” he said.

“We are also looking at aspects of surveillance – how we can do more aerial surveillance using drones and electronic devices to improve surveillance.”

He assured Nigerians that the federal government is committed to finding solutions to the crisis in the north and in other parts of the country.

By Sylvanus Okpe

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has raised an alarm over the high poverty and unemployment level, economic and social malaise coupled with the World Bank report indicating that the country could be home to 87 million destitute.

He enjoined leaders to take the World Bank report on Nigeria seriously by improving on the productive sector as advised and save the country from descending permanently into the position of the poorest country in the world, warning that the country is currently sitting on a time bomb.

The Governor stated this on Monday when he hosted a delegation from Feed the Future Partnering for Innovation, a USAID Agri-Business Investment Activity led by the Deputy Chief of Party, Dr. Farouk Lawan.

He said, “Other people may dismiss the World Bank report but for me as one who is interested in the development of my state and country, I want us to take that report very seriously.

“Instead of criticizing it, lets begin to reassess what we have done, where we have failed and what we can do to improve on the productive sector of the country because we are fast becoming the poorest country in the world which is dangerous.

”As leaders of this country let’s help our people improve themselves and not be home to over 87million destitute as predicated because we can see that happening already.

“With recent developments nobody is safe, I cannot go out without encountering those who feel that except they get something or handout from me they would not carry on, and this is not peculiar to Benue.”

While expressing delight over the intervention of Feed the Future in his state Governor Ortom assured that his government would provide the enabling environment for organizations to exploit the rich agricultural value chain of the state.

Earlier Dr. Lawan said after the last Business Finance and Investment Summit held in the state, and given the governor’s insistence on capacity building and training for Benue farmers, 100 farmer groups were engaged for training in micro-enterprise fundamentals and leadership.

“This is important because we know that farmers may be in groups but they lack that group cohesion and financial literacy skills which are basic requirements by financial institutions that they consider to extend credit to the farmers.

“So by next week, we will commence the training of an additional 100 farmers. Recall that during that last summit, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority of Nigeria, SMEDAN was there and we agreed to collaborate with them to support farmers in Benue state.

“As part of that partnership we have agreed to train farmers in Benue state on those specifics which will enable them to access credit facilities of between N500,000 and N10million from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

That partnership has commenced and we will continue to do that for the benefit of Benue state,” Dr. Lawan said.

By Bukola Olasanmi

One of the nation’s anti-graft agencies, the ICPC, has announced that 376,631 applications were received to fill 220 available positions it is offering.

In a statement made available on its official Twitter handle, the commission maintained that only applicants with specialised skills and required disciplines as listed in its offer will be considered.

These include: Accountancy, Law, Economics, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Forensic, Computer Science, Statistics/Mathematics, Mass Communications, Sociology, Quantity Surveying, Architecture, Engineering, Procurement and Forensics.

Also according to the statement, the shortlisted applicants will be subjected to an online assessment test, a computer-based aptitude test, and a written assessment test “which will qualify them for an oral interview and other stages of assessment”

ICPC said no applications for the positions of assistant directors will be considered as the 2020 budgetary allocation approved for the commission (after the recruitment advertisement had been placed) does not provide for this.

It said the online assessment test will cover the remaining advertised six job levels, and will be administered over a specific period to assess candidates’ IQ and Logical Reasoning.

By Sylvanus Okpe

A human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, disclosed on Monday that he knows a former governor in one of the South-West states who had a killer squad that helped him to eliminate his political opponents.

Falana, while speaking at the University of Ibadan, further revealed that the former governor’s killer squad was headed by a police officer, who was the Chief Security Officer to the then-governor.

He said one of those killed by the killer squad was “a World Bank expert,” but he did not name the former governor in question.

Falana noted that one of the arguments against the creation of state police was that governors would use them to hunt their political opponents.

He, however, maintained that state police remained the solution to Nigeria’s insecurity problem.

He suggested how state police should be structured to insulate them against abuse by state governors.

A statement on Monday said Falana delivered the maiden Memorial Public Lecture in honour of late Prof. Olumuyiwa Awe at the Trechard Hall, UI.

He said, “Many citizens are opposed to the creation of state police for the fear that it may be used to haunt political opponents of some state governors. I know a state governor in the South-West who once had a killer squad headed by his Chief Security Officer, a police officer.

“One of the unarmed citizens mowed down by the illegal squad was a World Bank expert. All efforts to prosecute the suspects, who were indicted in several killings of unarmed citizens by the squad, have been frustrated by the state government.

The story is the same in a few other states in the country. To that extent the fear of the possible manipulation of state police is genuine.

“To avoid a situation whereby abuse of police powers is decentralised any security service established by state governments should be democratically controlled.

The service will be founded by the state governments and superintended by an independent state police council of five members. The members of the council should be accredited representatives of the state government, labour, women, youths and the business community.

“The service will police the state and see to the enforcement of all the laws enacted by the House of Assembly. The success of the civilian Joint Task Force in the counter-insurgency operations in Borno State has proved that the best way to police a country is to recruit, train and equip young men and women to operate in their own communities.

“The colonial practice of posting police personnel to operate outside their states of regions was meant to suppress and intimidate colonial subjects by strangers. It is a practice which has become counter-productive in a post-colonial state. Every police officer should operate in their community, speak the local language and mix freely with the people.”

By Bukola Olasanmi

A condemned Maryam Sanda sentenced to death by hanging for killing her husband at the weekend said that plans were afoot to approach the Court of Appeal to nullify the judgment.

A member of Sanda’s legal team who preferred anonymity made the disclosure.

Justice Yusuf Halilu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had given her the maximum sentence for killing her husband, Mr. Bilyaminu Bello.

However, some women and civil rights activists have condemned the death penalty, describing it as unacceptable.

But another activist and co-convener of #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) movement, Mrs. Aisha Yesufu, welcomed the death penalty, saying that it was not only an adequate punishment but also that justice had been served in the case.

The federal government had arraigned her on a two-count charge bordering on murder.

In the judgment delivered, the trial judge held that there was circumstantial evidence coupled with the defendant’s statement to the police that she “fatally” stabbed her husband to death in Abuja on November 19, 2017.

The judge while stating that the offence for which the defendant was convicted was based on Section 221 of the Penal Code imposed the maximum sentence.

“It has been said that thou shall not kill. Whoever kills in cold blood shall die in cold blood,” the judge said, adding: “Maryam Sanda should reap what she has sown. It is blood for blood.”

However, reacting to the judgment, one of the lawyers, who spoke off the record, said they would go on appeal against the judgment.

“She has a constitutional right of appeal and definitely she has to exercise it,” he said, adding: “We will definitely appeal the judgment.”

Sanda killed her husband on November 19, 2017, through multiple stabbing.

She was arraigned alongside three other persons, including her mother and brother.

However, the others were discharged because the prosecution was unable to link them to the charges.

The late Bello is a son of a former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Haliru Bello.