23022018 - Confusion over Yobe girls; angry parents stone gov

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2018—13
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House C'ttee queries Transport Ministry, NIMASA
over Cabotage waivers
By Godwin Oritse
THE
House
Committee on
Marine Education and
Administration, yesterday,
queried the Federal
Ministry of Transportation
and the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety
Agency, NIMASA, over the
issuance of Cabotage
waivers, challenging them
to make available the
number of waivers so far
Alleged missing rice: Edo govt petitions
Police, calls for probe
By Simon Ebegbulem
BENIN—EDO State
Government
yesterday petitioned the
state Commissioner of
Police, Babatunde
Kokumo, asking him to
investigate the allegation
made by the state
Chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Chief
Dan Orbih, that the state
government diverted 4,721
bags of rice allegedly
meant for Internally
Displaced Persons, IDPs,
camp in the state.
The petition by Secretary
to Edo State Government,
Osarodion Ogie, said the
PDP chairman had in a
radio interview, “Falsely
and maliciously stated that
the Edo State Government
was involved in a criminal
conspiracy to divert 4,721
bags of rice released by the
Federal Government for
distribution to IDPs in the
state.”
Also, the All Progressives
Congress, APC, PDP in
the state has described the
allegation as diversionary.
The APC in a statement
by its Secretary, Lawrence
Okah, said that the
Obaseki-led administration
will “never divert what belongs
to the IDPs and the
PDP knows that. What they
are trying to do is to divert
the attention of Edo indigenes
and the general public
from the ongoing investigation
of most PDP leaders
in the state by the EFCC
as regards the looted funds
in the NNPC and the Ministry
of Works which they
squandered during the
2015 presidential election.
“Most of them have been
visiting the EFCC in the
past six months and very
soon they will be sent to jail
NLC flays arbitrary retirement of primary
school teachers in Bayelsa
By Samuel Oyadongha
& Emem Idio
Y ENAGOA—
CHAIRMAN of the
Nigeria Labour Congress,
NLC, Bayelsa State
Council, John Ndiomu, has
decried what he described
as the “indiscriminate
forced retirement” of some
primary school teachers in
the state.
Ndiomu stated this on an
approved.
Speaking at a
stakeholders’ meeting in
Warri, Delta State, the
Committee Chairman, Mr
Mohammed Bago, said
that the process of granting
waivers under Cabotage
has been shrouded in secrecy
.
Bago said the law establishing
the Cabotage provides
that waivers should
be granted through a process,
adding that that process
must be adhered to.
He said: “NIMASA and
the Ministry of
Transportation said they
have not granted waivers
to foreign operators in the
last six years or more. If they
haven’t, how are these
foreign operators operating
in Nigeria, to the detriment
of our indigenous
operators?
“My message therefore,
is that if NIMASA and the
Federal Ministry of
for their atrocities. So they
are only trying to malign the
the governor just to convey
wrong impression to the
public. Obaseki has spent
millions of naira in rehabilitating
both the IDPs and
Libya returnees and I wonder
how it will make sense
to anybody to feel he can
divert bags of rice meant for
IDPs.”
Meanwhile, the state
government in the petition,
said: “It is instructive to
note that in making these
allegations to the general
public, Orbih claimed that
he had facts and records to
back up his allegations.
“The purpose of this
occasion to mark the 40th
anniversary of the NLC
with the theme: Nigeria
Labour Congress:
Yesterday, Today and
Tomorrow, held at the
Nigeria Union of
Journalists, NUJ, Press
Centre, Yenagoa,
yesterday.
His words: “Some
teachers were retired from
the teaching service before
their due retirement age.
Transportation in treating
application for waivers
under Cabotage as
provided for in section 9 to
14 of the Cabotage law,
follow the requirement of
articles 3-8 of the Executive
Order, then the indigenous
operators will be better for
it.
“There will no more be
foreign ships scattered on
our waterways operating
without waivers."
SEMINAR: From left: Mr Ade Adefeko, Corporate and Government Relations, OLAM Nigeria Limited;
Mrs Audrey Joe-Ezigbo, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Falcon Corporation Ltd; Mr Ini Ebong,
Group Executive, Treasury and Financial Institutions, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd; Dr Vincent Nwani,
Director, Research and Advocacy, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Wole Obayomi,
Partner and Head of Tax Regulatory and People Services, KPMG Nigeria at the KPMG Tax Breakfast
Seminar themed in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.
complaint is to formally
bring these weighty and
unsubstantiated allegations
to your attention and to
request a thorough
investigation with a view to
establishing the veracity or
otherwise of same.
“It is the contention of the
Edo State Government that
Orbih should be called to
provide evidence of the
serious crimes he has
accused the Edo State
Government of and to
furnish your command
with facts, details and proof
of the allegations he made
in the public domain.”
Labour will re-visit the
matter. I want to assure all
workers in Bayelsa that
nobody will intimidate
them and nobody will be
punished unjustly. There
must be collaboration
between the employer and
employees for the system to
work.
“We always adopt
dialogue and constitutional
means in resolving conflicts
and matters that border on
workers welfare."
Ademokun blames fuel price
hike on division in NLC
By Gabriel
Enogholase
B ENIN—EDO
State chairman of
Nigeria Labour
Congress, NLC, Mr.
Emmanuel Ademokun,
has attributed the rise in
the pump price of
petroleum products by the
Federal Government in
recent years to the
division within the labour
union.
He stated this yesterday
in Benin City, Edo State,
during the 40th
anniversary celebration of
the NLC, insisting that the
real player in the
petroleum sector utterly
backed out of the struggle
that could have brought
an end to the increase.
Dickson charges Bayelsa youths
to shun cultism, drug abuse
By Samuel
Oyadongha
Y ENAGOA—
GOVERNOR
Seriake Dickson of
Bayelsa State has called
on youths to shun
cultism and drug abuse.
He said that
indulging in such social
vices will only give them
temporary satisfaction
but eventually destroy
their lives.
According to him, the
youths who will make it
in life are those that cultivate
discipline, follow
established procedures
and take advantage of
opportunities that come
their way.
He stated this during
the graduation of a
training programme,
powered by the
Industrial Training
Preserve local languages,
Akwa Ibom dep gov urges FG
By Ugochukwu
Alaribe
AKWA Ibom State
Deputy Governor,
Mr. Moses Ekpo, has
called on the federal and
state governments to
introduce policies that will
help to preserve local
Nigerian languages.
Ekpo, who spoke at the
National Institute for
Nigerian Languages,
NINLAN, Aba, Abia
State during the
international mother
language day celebration
at the institution, noted
that the world faces the
danger of losing its
culture, tradition and
moral values without the
preservation of local
The occasion had in
attendance Professor Julius
Ihonvbere who represented
the state governor, Mr
Godwin Obaseki, Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of
Agriculture and Natural
Resources, Bashir Kadiri as
moderator, Dean of Faculty of
Arts, University of Benin,
Professor Eddy Erhagbe, as
the guest lecturer, labour
leaders and workers from
affiliated unions.
Ademokun said: “When a
house is divided against
itself, what do you expect to
get? It will not stand. But the
truth is that we are actually
on the issue in terms of the
increase in the price of fuel.
We know that the major
union in that field is an
affiliate of NLC, but they are
not part of the struggle now."
Fund, ITF, and the Bayelsa
State Government.
Dickson, who was represented
by his deputy, Rear
Admiral Gboribiogha Jonah
(retd), congratulated the
graduands for their perseverance,
dedication and
commitment to the training
programme, stressing that
they should maximize the
benefits of the training to
sustain themselves.
Also speaking, Mr. Peter
Agbo, Director of Corporate
Planning at ITF
Headquarters, who
represented the Director
General, said that the
training programme was a
collaborative effort between
the ITF and the Bayelsa
State Government which
was packaged as the National
Industrial Skills Development
Programme.
languages.
“As we already know,
languages are generally the
major tools for education,
communication, social integration
and business. Unfortunately,
despite this huge
advantage, our indigenous
languages have become endangered.
There is gradual
phasing out of indigenous
languages and the world
stands the risk of losing its
huge diversity potential such
as culture, tradition and a
monumental repertoire of arts
and moral values. There is a
need for the government to
see the local languages as an
issue of fundamental rights
and work towards its preservation."
C
M
Y
K