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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2022 — 7
:Vanguard News
:@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
10TH YEAR REMEMBRANCE PRAYER: From left, Otunba Edward Ibidapo; Mr. Koye Edu; Mrs. Toyin
Saraki; Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development,
Sen. Gbemisola Saraki, and Mrs. Tope Edu, during the 10th year remembrance prayer of Second Republic
Senate Leader, Dr. Olusola Saraki.
Kukah cautions supporters against dying
for politicians
By Juliet Umeh &
Ezra Ukanwa
THE CATHOLIC Bishop of
Sokoto Diocese, Matthew
Kukah, yesterday cautioned
loyalists of politicians not to kill
themselves in demonstrating
support for their candidates.
The cleric spoke against the
backdrop of the banter
exchanged by the presidential
candidates of All Progressive
Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu,
and Atiku Abubakar of Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, at the
Nnamdi Azikiwe International
Airport, Abuja, on Monday, amid
the verbal war between both of
them.
Atiku was on his way to Lagos
to deliver a lecture at the Lagos
Business School yesterday, while
Tinubu was apparently also on
his way to Jos for the APC’s
campaign rally when they
bumped into each other for the
unexpected meeting at the
airport.
Among those who were with
the two presidential candidates
were Senator Abdullahi Adamu,
National Chairman of the APC
and Mohammed Hayatudeen, a
PDP Presidential aspirant.
The video of the encounter
between the two men was posted
on Instagram by another former
presidential aspirant-turned
adviser to Atiku, Dele Momodu.
Vanguard reports that the
meeting between the two men
came within 24 hours after PDP
asked Tinubu to make his exit
from the presidential contest on
account of credibility issues
arising from the $460,000 he
forfeited to the US authorities on
account of an investigation into
a drug ring.
The meeting between Atiku
and Tinubu held despite the
repeated brickbats between some
of their most vociferous
supporters, notably Senator
Dino Melaye and Femi Fani-
Kayode who have gone personal
against each other.
Bur reacting to the banter
between both candidates in a
Channels Television' breakfast
programme, Sunrise Daily,
yesterday, Kukah noted that the
opposition politicians are friends
jostling for their piece of the
national cake and shouldn’t be
taken too seriously.
Kukah, who is the Convener
of the National Peace
Committee, said political fanatics
should learn a lesson from the
public exchange of pleasantries
between Tinubu and Atiku.
He said the message from the
banter was that political loyalists
of both frontline presidential
candidates for the 2023 election
•Describes politicians as friends struggling for
national cake •Tinubu, Atiku bump into selves
amid PDP, APC clash
should be wise, eschew violence
and not kill themselves for
people drinking from the same
pool.
“These politicians are
struggling and they’ve lived their
lives struggling for the national
cake which they will distribute
amongst themselves. It is
therefore in the interest of
ordinary Nigerians to know that
they have to vote to stay alive,”
the cleric said.
Kukah also said that
enthusiasts of politicians “must
understand that these politicians
know themselves” regardless of
their grandstanding and
posturing.
He, therefore, advised
supporters of candidates all over
the country to be “a bit more
restrained and wise”.
He said: “We, the ordinary
people, must figure out how to
manage our passion when it
comes to politics. Don’t take
seriously the grandstanding of
the politicians.
“All the things you see about
them abusing themselves or
quarreling, you will think they
will never shake hands. They are
very good friends, and many of
them drink from the same pool.
So, don’t go and kill yourself for
nothing. That is what that
message is all about.''
With about three months to
the next general elections,
political violence seems to be on
the increase, with some recorded
in parts of Zamfara
and Lagos states, spreading
fears about the safety of voters
at the polls in 2023.
Atiku was reportedly attacked
by hoodlums in Borno State last
Wednesday, as a rally of the
former vice president was also on
October 17, 2022, disrupted by
thugs in Kaduna.
ASUU begins protest against 'no work, no
pay' policy
By Adesina Wahab
LAGOS—MEMBERS of the
Academic Staff Union of
Universities, ASUU, yesterday
embarked on a protest to express
dissatisfaction with the
invocation of the 'no work, no
pay'policy of the Federal
Government.
Recall that the federal
government had said the
lecturers who were on strike for
eight months should be ready to
forfeit their salaries in accordance
with its ''no work, no pay'' policy.
Members of the union in
University of Lagos chapter, who
locked down the campus by
marching from the Julius Berger
Auditorium to the main gate, also
boycotted classes, as the day was
declared lecture-free.
They called on Nigerians to tell
FG that any attempt to casualise
lecturers would spell doom for the
university system and cripple it.
The Chairman, ASUU
UNILAG, Dr. Dele Ashiru, who
condemned the ‘pro-rata’
payment of October salary to his
members, accused the
government of an attempt to
reduce Nigerian scholars to
casual workers.
While noting that the protest
was to prevent any form of
academic crisis, Ashiru said:
"What the government did is
against the national labour law
and we are trying to avert the
resumption of another ASUU
strike.
“The action of the union by
suspending the strike was a
display of manifest trust in the
judiciary and other institutions
and organs of government to
always put national interest
above all other considerations.
This we believe as a union of
thinkers, intellectuals, and
patriots.
“Sadly, the treatment meted
out to ASUU by the government
has demonstrated they cannot
be trusted. As the union has
been using every means to
negotiate with the government
rather they keep deploring
weapons to frustrate us and keep
us in abject poverty.
"The government has starved
us,they have breached the
agreement entered since 2009,
the Nimi Briggs committee
recommendation which is
UNESCO standard. What the
union has requested is the
welfare of the lecturers, funding
of education and IPPIS.''
The Chairman of ASUU,
University of Ibadan chapter,
Prof. Ayoola Akinwole, said their
demand to the FG was for it to
meet the demands of ASUU by
first making full payment of
October salaries, paying the 8-
month salary arrears, adopting
the UTAS payment system,
increasing the net salary of
academic workers, and providing
adequate funding of tertiary
institutions, among others.
“If the government really cares
and is committed towards
advancing the education sector,
it would instantly meet the
demands of workers,'' he said.
The Co-ordinator of a civil
society group, Joint Action Front,
Abiodun Aremu, who
participated in the protest, said
the target of the government was
to cripple the education sector.
"The federal government
always gives excuses on why
they cannot fund education. But
the same administration has
spent billions of naira in other
issues and allowances for many
politicians.
"We completely disagree with
the president on funding of
tertiary education. The attempt
to commercialise education is
one of the reasons why the
government is fighting ASUU If
we allow a complete
commercialisation of education,
it will affect the children of
ordinary people as many working
class children will drop out of
school,'' he said.
Aremu said the unions would
join forces and declare mass
mobilisations and strike.
He added: . "We need to create
a common front for all those who
suffer under the current system.
We need to build a mass workers
political alternative because as
things stand, the ruling class will
continue to exploit and repress
any resistance.
''If the government is allowed
to get away with this attack on
ASUU, this will affect all other
workers in every sector of the
economy. What we need now
more than ever is unity of
working class against the antipoor
policies and attacks.”
Even Supreme Court can't stop Nigeria Air from flying
—FG
By Prince Okafor
THE FEDERAL Government
has said it would continue with
the proposed new national carrier,
Nigeria Air, amid ongoing suit
challenging the project.
It noted that aviation
stakeholders and unions had
sufficient time to participate in the
process but chose to engage in legal
suit to stall the project.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi
Sirika, during a stakeholders
appreciation forum for the
reconstruction of Lagos Airport
Runway 18L, disclosed that he
personally engaged indigenous
carriers to participate in the project.
He said: "I contacted Air Peace,
Azman Air and Max Air but they
turned down my invitation because
it was not formal.
"I do not see the possibility of
any court of competent jurisdiction
Kyari canvasses flexible energy
transition for Nigeria, others
THE GROUP Chief Executive
Officer of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Company Ltd, Mallam
Mele Kyari, has made case for
Nigeria to be given freedom to adopt
a more gradual and flexible
approach to energy transition.
Speaking yesterday, while
presenting a paper at the 40th
annual international conference
and exhibition of the Nigerian
Association of Petroleum
Explorationists, the NNPC boss,
who spoke on the topic, “Global
Energy Transition and the Future
of the Oil and Gas Industry:
Evolving Regulations, Emerging
Concepts, and Opportunities,” said
that rapid demographic change will
continue to drive up demand for
energy services across Africa in the
coming decades.
Kyari, who was represented by
the Executive Vice President,
Upstream, Engr. Adokiye
Tombomieye, said that oil demand
in Africa stood at an average of 4.36
million barrels per day in 2022.
He said that although Africa has
the world’s lowest levels of per capita
use of modern Energy, energy
demand is set to increase with
growth in population and incomes,
lamenting that 970 million Africans
lack access to clean cooking gas.
Kyari told the gathering that the
energy mix has become more
diverse, with Africa still dominated
by fossil fuel with hydropower
making the only meaningful
renewable energy contribution.
He said: “It is therefore our firm
position that fossil fuel will continue
to contribute more than 50 per cent
National security: FG impounds
over 20 unregistered couriers,
logistics operators in Lagos
By Juliet Umeh
FOLLOWING THE suspicion of
arms movement by unlicensed
courier and logistics operators, the
Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST,
yesterday, impounded 28
unlicensed and unregistered illegal
courier logistics operators in Lagos.
The operation which was led by
the head of the enforcement team,
Mr Banks Worimegbe, and the
Assistant General Manager,
Ethics, Complaint and Strategy,
CLRD, NIPOST, took place at
Maryland and on Victoria Island.
Speaking to Vanguard before the
commencement of the raid, the
General Manager, Courier and
Logistics Regulatory Department
of NIPOST, Mr Dotun Sonde,
expressed worries over all kinds of
unethical practices by some of the
operators, especially the
unlicensed ones.
Sonde, who stated that operating
without a license is a crime against
the state, said: "We have a bunch
will erect a road block to the
emergence of the national carrier.
"I have been very transparent in
the processes put in place to deliver
the national carrier. If anyone wants
to invest in a company, no one can
stop them from investing. You can
own a company 100 percent. If
anyone wants to invest, why not ?
We want foreign direct investment."
He said it was totally
unacceptable and unfair for
stakeholders to claim that they had
not been carried along on the
national carrier project, adding that
anybody who was parading such
information was working contrary
to the actualisation of the aviation
road map.
"Every information or document
pertaining to the project is domiciled
at the ministry of aviation and
Infrastructure Construction
Regulatory Commission which are
driving processes leading to the
national carrier," Sirika said.
On the demolition of structures
to the energy mix in Africa and
possibly the rest of the world.
“However, the most important
question for this strategic gathering
is around competitiveness of the
hydrocarbon sources compared to
renewal comparatives in terms of
cost, energy contents and
sustainability.
“Recent happenings in the
Russian-Ukraine crises have seen
the resurgence for the need of fossil
fuels and in some cases adverse
use of high-carbon generating
energy sources like coal, this also
points to the fact, that energy
transition implementation has to
be gradual.
“It is therefore imperative for the
industry, NAPE and key
stakeholders to rededicate
ourselves towards scaling above the
challenge posed by transition.
“One way to scale up is by
delivering the most advantaged
barrels to the world while paying
attention to environmental
sustainability through huge
investments in technology and
innovation.
“Nigeria and the rest of resource
dependents would require oil to
transit out of oil. However, we will
remain sensitive to the growing
global concerns relating to global
warming, climate change, and the
increased attention in national and
international public discourse
generally due to increasing
environmental concerns resulting
from the heightened concentration
of greenhouse gases (GHG), which
are associated mostly with fossil fuel
combustion.
of unlicensed and unregistered
illegal courier logistics operators
who are operating with impunity
without recourse to the dictate of
the law.
"Nigeria is not a lawless country,
there's a law in place that should
be respected and the law is actually
to create a peaceful environment
for humanity, for business to thrive.
"We have cases of loss of items,
undelivered items; they cannot
even trace the person because
they don't know that the person
doesn't have a license.
"Sometimes, some carry arms
and ammunition; some illicit drugs
because they are not licensed,
they won't keep to the ethics of
the business, some even carry
currency.
"These are faceless operators,
you cannot trace them because
they are not registered, so they go
out there to do evil, take
advantage of the gullible, ignorant
fellow Nigerians who feel that they
are in safe hands."
at Lagos airport, Sirika said there
was no going back on the project to
ensure Nigeria delivered State-ofthe-art
facilities that would
transform into an aerotropolis.
Nigeria, he said could not short
change itself on the global move to
deliver world class air transport
infrastructure as it's been done in
other developed countries, such as
United Arab Emirates, and
America, among others.
He said: "If I have my way, those
structures from the local airport to
Bristow will be demolished tomorrow
and pave way for the emergence of
a befitting airport city. Would you
not like to see shopping mall,
befitting car parks and other
support facilities like you find in
other parts of the world?"
Sirika said he would put measures
in place to sustain the
achievements in the aviation
industry during the Buhari
administration.