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WE HAVE 4,500 SPACES FOR 4,000 HOUSE DOCTORS – HEALTH MINISTER

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WE HAVE 4,500 SPACES FOR 4,000 HOUSE DOCTORS – HEALTH MINISTER

The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has suggested that medical students who must proceed on houseman-ship as part of their training should not have any problem with placement.

The minister spoke at the Senate Plenary on Tuesday before the Committee of the Whole as he was summoned to explain the reasons for the poor state of healthcare infrastructure all over the country.

Senators had taken turns to ask the minister questions about the matter, and he had volunteered his answers.

One of such questions was raised by Senator Sam Egwu (PDP-Ebonyi North), who had asked the minister, “The area that worries me is that of the medical students who graduate from medical schools and have nowhere to do their houseman-ship. How do we make sure our medical students always get where to practice?”

Adewole replied, “We recognise the houseman-ship problem. The lifespan of the provisional license is two years. If after two years they do not get placement it will lapse. That is why we started central placement.

“We have 4,500 spaces and we produce about 4,000 house doctors every year. I’ve made a plea that if anyone of them has a problem with placement, they should contact us with the provision that they are not asking for placement in Lagos or Abuja.”

Meanwhile, Prof. Adewole has condemned what he described as the “uncontrolled manner” in which state governments have been erecting heath facilities in their respective domains.

“With respect to uncompleted buildings, the challenge we have is the uncontrolled manner in which we are putting up health institutions. People will wake up, start a building and call it a health facility.

“If we are not brought into it and you complete it, it will not work. Health institutions are not easy to manage; that is why the states are finding it difficult.

“My advice is to let us stop building new structures. At the last count, we had 30,000 places all over the country; what we want to do is make 10,000 work.

“If we have 10,000 working, we would reach 10,000 people in each ward, which would be a 100 million people. That would be a major feat.”

The minister warned that if state governments don’t heed his advice, “the FG would take over all health care infrastructures in Nigeria.”

He counselled the states to have a tertiary hospital and a general hospital in each local government.

Adewole also faulted the assertion that the nation’s tertiary hospitals don’t have enough specialists to treat patients.

“Our teaching hospitals are not lacking trained personnel. Where we have problems is with the states.

“The solution is for the states to engage people,” he declared.

REPS TO PASS A BILL CRIMINALISING USE OF POLYTHENE BAGS

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REPS TO PASS A BILL CRIMINALISING USE OF POLYTHENE BAGS

The House of Representatives has adopted a report on a bill seeking among other things, to prohibit the use, manufacture and importation of plastic bags for commercial and household packaging.

The report was adopted on Tuesday at the Committee of Whole presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Rep. Yusuf Lasun (APC-Osun). 

The bill seeks to address the harmful effects of plastic bags on the oceans, rivers, lakes, forests, wildlife as well as human beings when passed into law.

The bill which has been passed by the Senate was presented to the house by Rep. Mohammed Monguno (APC-Borno).

The report recommended that retailers of goods shall offer paper bags to customers at the point of sale in place of plastic bags or be guilty of an offence when the bill is passed into law.

It stated that a person who manufactures plastic bags for the purpose of selling would be guilty of an offence.

The report also stated that a person who imports plastic bag for sale or carryout bag is equally guilty of an offence.  

“Anybody person found guilty shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding N500,000 or a jail term not exceeding three years or both,” the bill recommended.

The report says that any organisation found guilty shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not more than N5 million.

Presenting the report, Monguno said that the bill seeks to relieve pressure on landfills and waste management.

He said that the use of plastic bags is rampant and that the bags were not biodegradable.

Monguno said that the bags stay in the environment for hundreds of years and affect arable land, water bodies and wildlife.

Lasun who presided over the meeting observed that the bill should create room for recycling of plastic bags.

He said that the bill as it stands, when passed would mean that plastic bags would not be seen again in the country.

The bill would now be listed for third reading on a later date after which it would be sent to the President for assent.

CBN LEAVES INTEREST RATE UNCHANGED AT 13.5 PERCENT

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CBN LEAVES INTEREST RATE UNCHANGED AT 13.5 PERCENT

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Tuesday resolved to retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), otherwise known as interest rate, at 13.5 per cent.

The MPR is the rate at which the CBN lends to commercial banks and often determines the cost of borrowing in the economy.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, announced this at the end of the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja.

Also retained were the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent and Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.

EX-AIDES SUE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS OVER N21.5M UNPAID SALARIES, ALLOWANCES

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EX-AIDES SUE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS OVER N21.5M UNPAID SALARIES, ALLOWANCES

Two former aides of Adebayo Shittu on Tuesday dragged the Communications minister before the National Industrial Court (NIC) in Abuja for allegedly owing them N21.5 million in salaries and allowances.

The plaintiffs are the former Personal Assistant to the minister, Razaq Olubodun, and Special Assistant on Media, Victor Oluwadamilare.

In their separate suits filed by their counsel, Adewale Lawal, the two prayed the court to order the minister to pay them the claim.

Mr Olubodun, in his suit numbered NICN/Abj/132/2019, is seeking to recover N9.8 million from Mr Shittu, being his salaries and allowances for 24 months. He said the federal government paid the money to the minister alongside his salaries.

Mr Oluwadamilare in his suit, NICN/Abj/133/2019, is claiming N11.7million, being his alleged outstanding salaries and allowances for 28 months.

He had also resigned over the dispute.

The two former aides are seeking a declaration of the court that the non-payment of full salaries and allowances for those periods was wrongful, illegal and unconstitutional.

They urged the court to order the minister to pay them according to the Federal Government directive for payment of aides to the Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The claimants are asking for an order on the defendant to pay N50million to each of them and to also pay them their full taxed costs of the prosecution of the suits.

They averred that by their letters of appointments as PA and SA respectively, they were informed that their monthly emolument would be in line with the existing practice for paying PA and SA to Hon. Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Though the claimants noted that the above-stated fact was indicated in the ‘paragraph 3′ of their letters of appointments dated 23rd Nov. 2015, the defendant “tried to make the salaries and allowances of PA and SA to Hon. Minister to look like his own personal affairs. The defendant tried to indicate this by an Internal Memo, seven months after the claimants’ appointments”.

While Mr Olubodun claimed to have received just N1m all through his period of service from the Minister, Mr Oluwadamilare said he was paid thrice to the tune of N2.3million in his 28 months of service under the Minister.

The claimants said a circular from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) dated July 27, 1999, indicated in paragraph 1a that the salaries of PAs and SAs to the Ministers are Grade Levels 12 and 16, step 4 respectively.

They accused the minister of applying “intimidation, harassment, draconian and Machiavellian approach” and threats to take them to court, to ensure they are frustrated.

The claimants said they had been subjected to sufferings, ridicule, and untold hardship as a result of the denial of their rights by the minister.

No date has been fixed for hearing of the case in which the two claimants presented 35 and 40 statements of facts, respectively.

It has also been gathered that over seven aides of the minister have also resigned due to issues bordering on nonpayment of salaries and allowances.

COOKING GAS CONSUMERS WILL NO LONGER OWN CYLINDERS – FG

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COOKING GAS CONSUMERS WILL NO LONGER OWN CYLINDERS – FG

The Federal Government, Tuesday, said it is coming up with a policy that would remove the ownership of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, cylinders from consumers.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum on LPG penetration in Abuja, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said the policy would require that the ownership of the cylinders rests strictly with the dealers and distributors, adding that this was part of strategy to deepen the penetration of LPG, also known as cooking gas and address issues of safety.

Kachikwu added that the Federal Government had reached an agreement with two original cylinder manufacturers to deliver 600,000 cylinders to LPG distributors on credit, with a pre-payment period of 18 months.

He stated that the Federal Government would in the next couple of days commence the clampdown of illegal roadside LPG dealers, while he directed all skid operators of LPG to immediately convert their outlets to micro distribution centres before the enforcement begins.

MAN TEAMS WITH PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND TO ASSAULT WIFE

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MAN TEAMS WITH PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND TO ASSAULT WIFE

The Police on Tuesday arraigned Mr. Samson Awotidoye, 38; and Mrs. Toyin Ademola, 35, in an Ile-Ife Magistrates’ Court in Osun for allegedly assaulting his wife.

The Prosecutor, Inspector Monday Ojiezele, told the court that the defendants committed the offence in August 2016 around 11.30 am at Ajebamidele, Ile-Ife.

They were charged with three counts of conspiracy, illegal marriage and assault.

He added that Samson Awotidoye married Toyin Ademola while his legal wife, Victoria, was still alive.

The prosecutor said the defendants also assaulted Victoria.

He stated further that the offence contravened the provisions of sections 351, 370 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Osun, 2002.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty

The Defence Counsel, Mr. Yemi Ijalana, pleaded for the bail of his clients in most liberal term, and pledged that they will not jump bail, but would provide reliable sureties.

Magistrate Olukunle Owolawi admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N100,000 with one surety in like sum.

Owolawi ordered that the sureties must swear to affidavit of means as well as provide three recent passport photographs each.

The case was adjourned until June 28 for hearing.

Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Postal Service

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Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Postal Service

The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday started a two-week test transporting mail across three Southwestern states using self-driving trucks, a step forward in the effort to commercialise autonomous vehicle technology for hauling freight.

San Diego-based startup TuSimple said its self-driving trucks will begin hauling mail between USPS facilities in Phoenix and Dallas to see how the nascent technology might improve delivery times and costs. A safety driver will sit behind the wheel to intervene if necessary and an engineer will ride in the passenger seat.

If successful, it would mark an achievement for the autonomous driving industry and a possible solution to the driver shortage and regulatory constraints faced by freight haulers across the country.

The pilot program involves five round trips, each totalling more than 2,100 miles (3,380 km) or around 45 hours of driving. It is unclear whether self-driving mail delivery will continue after the two-week pilot.

“The work with TuSimple is our first initiative in autonomous long-haul transportation,” USPS spokeswoman Kim Frum said. “We are conducting research and testing as part of our efforts to operate a future class of vehicles which will incorporate new technology.”

TuSimple and the USPS declined to disclose the cost of the program, but Frum said no tax dollars were used and the agency relies on revenue from sales of postage and other products. TuSimple has raised $178 million in private financing, including from chipmaker Nvidia Corp and Chinese online media company Sina Corp.

The trucks will travel on major interstates and pass through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

“This run is really in the sweet spot of how we believe autonomous trucks will be used,” said TuSimple Chief Product Officer Chuck Price. “These long runs are beyond the range of a single human driver, which means today if they do this run they have to figure out how to cover it with multiple drivers in the vehicle.”

The goal is to eliminate the need for a driver, freeing shippers and freight-haulers from the constraints of a worsening driver shortage. The American Trucking Associations estimates a shortage of as many as 174,500 drivers by 2024, due to an aging workforce and the difficulty of attracting younger drivers.

A new safety law requiring truck drivers to electronically log their miles has further constrained how quickly and efficiently fleets can move goods.

TuSimple’s tie-up with the USPS marks an achievement for the fledgling self-driving truck industry, and follows Swedish company Einride’s entry into freight delivery using driverless electric trucks on a public road, announced last week.

The developments contrast with retrenching efforts by robotaxi companies such as General Motors Co unit Cruise, Uber Technologies Inc and startup Drive.ai, which have stumbled in building self-driving cars that can anticipate and respond to humans and navigate urban areas, an expensive and technologically challenging feat.

Price said self-driving trucks have advantages over passenger cars, including the relative ease of operating on interstates compared with city centres, which reduces mapping requirements and safety challenges involving pedestrians and bicyclists.

ABORTION-RIGHTS ACTIVISTS PROTEST NEW BAN AT SUPREME COURT

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ABORTION-RIGHTS ACTIVISTS PROTEST NEW BAN AT SUPREME COURT

U.S. abortion-rights campaigners, including several Democrats running for president in 2020, are set to rally in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday to protest new restrictions on abortion passed by legislatures in eight states.

Many of the restrictions are intended to draw legal challenges, which religious conservatives hope will lead the nation’s top court to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell and Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, are among the presidential candidates expected to speak at Tuesday’s rally, according to media accounts.

The rally is one of scores being organised by the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and other civil rights group in what they are describing as a Stop Abortion Bans Day of Action.

Some of the new laws passed by Republican state legislatures amount to the tightest restrictions on abortion seen in the United States in decades. Alabama passed an outright ban last week, including for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, unless the woman’s life is in danger.

Other states, including Ohio and Georgia, have banned abortions absent a medical emergency after six weeks of pregnancy or after the fetus’s heartbeat can be detected, which can occur before a woman even realizes she is pregnant.

Those laws are in defiance of the Roe v. Wade ruling, which affords a woman the right to an abortion up to the moment the fetus would be viable outside the womb, which is usually placed at about seven months, or 28 weeks, but may occur earlier.

The bans have been championed by conservatives, many of them Christian, who say foetuses should have rights comparable to those of infants and view abortion as tantamount to murder. The Supreme Court now has a 5-4 conservative majority following two judicial appointments by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Civil rights groups are suing to overturn the bans as eroding a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and say they endanger women who seek riskier illegal or homespun means to terminate a pregnancy.

MAY 29: POLICE UNCOVERS PLANS TO DISRUPT INAUGURATION

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MAY 29: POLICE UNCOVERS PLANS TO DISRUPT INAUGURATION

Ogun State Police Command has raised the alarm over the alleged plan by some unknown people to disrupt the May 29 handover ceremony in the state.

The Police urged the people of the state to put any form of rallies and procession against Chieftaincy and land matters on hold.

The Police said they were in possession of an intelligence report that showed that “some unscrupulous elements are scheming to foment trouble across the state with a view to disrupting the inauguration of the new administration scheduled for 29th May 2019.

The Police said this in a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, on Tuesday in Abeokuta, the state capital.

According to the PPRO, Rallies, processions, and assemblies in public places are being orchestrated by these enemies of peace supposedly to resolve chieftaincy and land-related matters rather than approaching the Court to seek justice.

He said, “All of these are aimed at heating up the State before the inauguration.

“In view of this, the command has put in place a robust security arrangement aimed at checkmating such trouble makers and other criminally-minded persons, including miscreants and disgruntled elements.

“The special units of the command namely SARS, PMF, STS, anti-kidnapping as well as DPOs and Area Commanders have been placed on red alert with specific instruction to closely monitor these misguided elements and respond swiftly to any distress calls and disturbance of public peace.”

Oyeyemi said further that the commissioner of Police, Bashir Makama, has ordered twenty-four-hour surveillance patrols across the length and breadth of the State.

REPS PASS BILL ENDING HND-B.SC DICHOTOMY

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REPS PASS BILL ENDING HND-B.SC DICHOTOMY

The House of Representatives has, on Tuesday, passed a bill which abolished the existing dichotomy between Polytechnic Higher National Diploma and the Bachelor of Science degree awarded by the Nigerian universities.

The legislation, which was sponsored by Ali Isa and Edward Pwajok from Gombe and Plateau States respectively, was passed for second reading since April 2017.

It seeks to end perceived discrimination against polytechnic graduates and remove the challenges being faced by HND holders, especially those in the public service.

While leading the debate for the bill to pass second reading, Pwajok said research he carried out on both certificates, showed that the discrimination had no moral justification.

He said that the unfortunate situation would make the international community to look down on the status of educational institutions in the country.

The lawmaker said that it was unfortunate that such discrimination existed in a critical sector required for national development, regretting that there was a lot of segregation at employment level.

According to him, those with first degree are placed on Grade Level 8, while those with HND are placed on Grade Level 6 or 7.

He said that in some organisations, degree holders were paid N100, 000 at entry level, while their counterparts with HND were paid N70, 000.

The lawmaker said in other countries, technical experts were paid higher than administrators, adding that “the reverse is the case in the country’’.

He said that if the private sector must develop, proper recognition must be given to polytechnics and similar institutions in the country.

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