By Muhammad Nasir

Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Wednesday donated N500 million to support the Sokoto State Government in rebuilding the Sokoto Central Market ravaged by fire on Tuesday morning.

Wike who visited the scene of the market inferno barely 24 hours after the disaster, expressed shock and dismay over the incident.

Gov. Aminu Tambuwal’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Malam Muhammad Bello, disclosed this in a statement in Sokoto on Wednesday.

The Rivers governor said part of the donation was to also support the victims of the inferno.

He noted that whatever affected Sokoto state concerned Rivers, adding that his administration would ensure that the affected market was reconstructed and made functional.

Earlier, Tambuwal, while conducting Wike round the fire disaster scene, explained that the market had 16,000 shops out of which at least 60 per cent were affected by the fire.

He said when the fire broke out the relevant state government agencies and those of the Federal Government within thestate were mobilised to control it.

After inspecting the scene, Wike and his entourage also paid a courtesy visit to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar in his palace.

He condoled with the state government, the Sultanate Council and the people over the death of the state Commissioner for Home Affairs, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abubakar, the younger brother of the Sultan.

In his response, Abubakar, who noted the age-long relationship between Sokoto and Rivers, expressed gratitude to the governor for his visit and support to the state

He commended Tambuwal for his prudent management of the state resources, a performance which fetched it a World Bank grant under the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability And Sustainability (SFTAS) programme. (NAN)

By Chijioke Okoronkwo

The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council( PEBEC), chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has received the Cost of Compliance Report, which exposes major pitfalls in operations of some Federal Government regulatory agencies.

Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the council resolved that heads of the affected Federal Government regulatory agencies be presented with the outcome of the recent survey.

The Cost of Compliance Report was presented to the PEBEC at its first virtual meeting of the year on Tuesday.

The report revealed persistent corruption, duplicity of functions, poor service orientation, and several anti-business dispositions in some of the regulatory agencies.

Osinbajo directed that heads of such government regulatory agencies involved should be presented with the outcomes, while interaction should take place regarding some of the worrying disclosures in the report of the survey conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).

The vice president said the report revealed human issues that were not unavoidable.

He acknowledged the important roles regulatory agencies played in ensuring that businesses thrived seamlessly.

According to him, doing otherwise will only jeopardise the government’s efforts in creating conducive business environment.

“If the environment on account of regulatory authorities is so difficult or expensive, such that people are discouraged or it doesn’t make sense for people to do business, then we are shooting ourselves in the foot in a manner we can only blame ourselves.

“These are human issues and we must do something very serious about these issues.

“I am in full support of holding our chief executive officers to account because they, in turn, must hold their staff to account.

“If there is systemic corruption, bribery and extortion, and nobody is held to account, there is a problem.”

Osinbajo said that Federal Government’s plans in growing the economy and changing the lives and livelihood of Nigerians for the better, was largely dependent on the business environment in which they operated.

He said that every plan around sustaining economic growth, improving job creation and opportunities, making life better for the citizens, among others depended entirely on the environment in which people have to do business.

“It determines whether they will invest their resources, expand their businesses, and it just determines practically everything,” he said.

Others present at the PEBEC meeting included Niyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment and Vice Chairman of PEBEC and Hajia Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

Mr Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation,  Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior and Clem Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning participated in the meeting.

Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Sen. Aishatu Ahmed, representing the National Assembly, among other top government officials and representatives from PwC were also at the meeting.

Members of PEBEC also condoled with Oduwole on the death of her father, former Vice-Chancellor of the Lagos State University, Prof. Afolabi Olumide.

Adebayo, who spoke on behalf of PEBEC, prayed that God would grant the PEBEC secretary and the entire family the fortitude to bear the loss. (NAN)

By Femi Ogunshola

The Delta State Government says talent development drive will improve the economy and build future leaders.

Mr Ogusbaba Ogude, Senior Special Assistant on Talent Development to Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa, made this known in a statement issued to journalists on Tuesday in Abuja.

Ogude said that Okowa was restructuring the economy of the state for future progress and sustainability through talent drive.

According to him, Okowa was also securing the future of the youth in Delta through talent development.

Ogude said the inability of the youth to discover, develop and display their talents was one of the major reasons for crimes and youth restiveness across the country.

He noted that insecurity would be reduced in the state with the efforts of Okowa to assist the youth in harnessing their God-given talents.

Ogude also noted that talent development would help the youth to occupy top positions in other sectors, especially in entertainment and sports industries.

He urged the youth to take advantage of various programmes organised by his office to secure their future.

Ogude said in spite of COVID-19 challenges, 2021 would be a great and productive year for all Delta youth.

“The major problem that we faced over the years was as result of our inability to discover our talents and put them to work,’’ he said.

By Leo Okachie

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Abia has recued 13-year-old Uduak Willy, a house help who reportedly jumped down from a two-storey building to evade punishment for alleged pilfering.

The State Commandant of the corps, Mr Vincent Ogu, said this on Tuesday in his office in Umuahia, while briefing newsmen about the incident which happened on January 8 at No. 204 Niger Stone on Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway (near Ariaria Market, Aba), where Willy lived with a businessman, Emeka Igwe and his wife, Aniekan.

Ogu said the girl took the desperate action after she was accused of stealing N500 from the house and allegedly subjected to serious beating by Igwe and his wife.

The commandant said that Igwe, along with his mother-in-law, 50-year-old Christiana Godwin, were “arrested for their alleged involvement in child-trafficking, child-labour, domestic violence and attempted murder.”

He said that the command was alerted about the ugly incident by the Speacial Adviser to the Governor on Teenage Matters, Mrs Chinemenma Umesaka.

“When I got the disturbing information on the ordeal of the girl from Umesaka, I quickly mobilised my men and ordered them to rescue the victim and arrest the perpetrators of the dastardly and inhuman act against the minor,” he said.

He expressed delight that Igwe was eventually lured out from his hiding and arrested by the Aba Divisional Officer, SP Uche Uduma, to face justice for his action.

Ogu said that the command later took the victim to the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, where she underwent a series of tests, including chest X-Ray, Abdomen Ultrasound and C.T Scan for the head, to ascertain if she suffered any internal injuries.

Also, the governor’s aide, who condemned the ill-treatment meted to the girl, said the incident was made public via the social media.

She said that the Wife of the Governor, Mrs Nkechi Ikpeazu, drew her attention to the online video and directed her to take the issue up with the NSCDC, in order to rescue the girl and bring the suspects to book.

She alleged that the suspect relocated out of Abia and went into hiding on the heels of the incident and turned down her request to handover the girl to her office for appropriate medicare.

Narrating her ordeal to newsmen, the victim, who said that she came to live with Igwe’s family in November, denied stealing the money.

She also denied being pushed down by Igwe as alleged in the social media, saying that she took to her heels from the house and jumped down from the building to escape further beating.

Igwe and his wife admitted beating her as a measure to make her admit stealing the money but denied pushing her down from the building.

Igwe also denied going into hiding, saying that he took the girl to a clinic for treatment immediately after the incident.

The girl was said to have been brought to the couple from Ododo in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom by Igwe’s mother-in-law through the help of one Mbakara.

The commandant, however, said the circumstances surrounding the process of her coming to Abia suggested “she might have been a victim of child trafficking.”

Meanwhile, he said the matter would be handed over to the appropriate agency for diligent prosecution at the end of the investigations.

He admonished couples to always treat their house helps with love and like their own children, saying, “let us do unto others as we would want them to do unto us.”

He promised that the command would continue to collaborate with relevant agencies in Abia in the fight against child abuse, child trafficking, illegal adoption, child labour and molestation.

By Abiodun Lawal

Gov. Dapo Abiodun of Ogun on Tuesday banned fuel tankers and other articulated vehicles from plying flyover bridges in the state.

Abiodun announced this decision during his assessment visit to the scene of tanker explosion, which occurred on Monday in Abeokuta, claiming three lives with many others injured.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that five vehicles and two motorcycles were burnt in the incident that happened around IBB Boulevards in Abeokuta on Tuesday morning.

The governor also vowed that stiffer punishment would be meted out to any tanker driver found culpable.

According to him, the ban is meant to safeguard lives and property of the citizens in view of recent explosions in different parts of the state.

The governor, however, confirmed death of three persons in the Tuesday’s tanker explosion, while six others sustained varying degrees of injuries.

He said the injured, who were badly burnt, had been taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Idi-Aba, and the state Hospital, Ijaye, both in Abeokuta.

“We have gone a step further by inviting burn specialists from Lagos to attend to those that have 80 to 90 per cent burnt which requires special attention.

“The specialists have since arrived Abeokuta. They will make a determination whether we are to transfer those with burns to burn centre in Lagos.

“I will discuss with the state Ministry of Transportation, we will begin the enforcement of ensuring that tankers plying our roads are well checked to see if they are road worthy or not.

“We will put measures in place to reduce this kind of occurrence, part of that is to include that taker drivers should not operate on our overhead bridges anymore.

“If their ability to control their vehicles a times now become a hazard to other road users, we think it is important to declare that tankers are not allowed on our overhead bridges anymore.

“We will put in place a very tick fine for any tanker driver found on any of these bridges.

“This, among other measures will be rolled out in the next one day or two days,” the declared. (NAN)

By Stanley Nwanosike

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) destroyed more than 2,000 substandard cooking gas cylinders fabricated in Onitsha and its environs on Tuesday.

Supervising the destruction in Enugu, Mr Obinna Manafa, the Director, Inspectorate and Compliance Directorate of SON, said that the agency seized the substandard cooking gas cylinders in 2018.

Manafa said the unsafe cylinders were fabricated by roadside welders.

“These roadside welders do not have the capacity and capability to produce standard gas cylinders and they do not even know what standard cylinders production is all about.

“If you look at these fake cylinders, you would observe that they were just cutting metals, joining and welding them together.

“So, these are potential bombs.

“When we got information about them through our intelligence unit, we went to the locations and confiscated everything,” he said.

The director said SON would never allow substandard cylinders to get into homes since they had the capacity to destroy houses and lives.

“Explosion of a cylinder can pull down a building and cause unimaginable havoc. It is very dangerous,’’ he said.

Manafa added that he could not quantify the amount involved in the fabrication of the cylinders.

“It is all cut and join work, which monetary value cannot be easily ascertained,” he said.

The director urged cylinders manufacturers to manufacture cylinders that comply with NIS 69 standard. NIS 69 is the globally accepted standard for cylinders.

“Whenever anybody wants to import cylinders, they should come to SON. SON will give the importer proper guidance.

“For end users, when you want to buy made-in-Nigeria gas cylinders ensure a MAN-CAP logo is on the product.

“If you want to buy imported cylinder, look out for the SON product registration number on the cylinder,” Manafa stressed. (NAN)

By Muhammad Nasir

The Kebbi government, on Tuesday, donated N30 million to victims of the fire incident at the Shehu Shagari Modern Market, Sokoto.

Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi announced the donation when he visited the scene of the incident to sympathise with victims of the fire disaster.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that part of the market was, on Tuesday, destroyed by an early morning inferno.

Bagudu said that his visit was to sympathise with the government and people of Sokoto State, noting that the fire incident was a great concern to Kebbi government.

Responding, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal thanked his Kebbi counterpart, saying that the donation was a testimony to the cordial relationship and brotherhood between the two states.

Tambuwal said that so far, no life had been lost as a result of the fire incident, adding that fire-fighting equipment belonging to both the state and the Federal Government were at the scene of the incident to put out the fire.

He appreciated security agencies in the state for their support in controlling the situation and appealed to the people of the state to remain calm, as everything was under control. (NAN)

By Aisha Ahmed
The Kano state government has directed all civil servants to stay at home from Tuesday, until further notice, following the increase in cases of COVID-19 in the country.

The directive is contained in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information, Mr Muhammad Garba.

The state government also imposed a fresh ban on the activities of viewing and event centres across the state.

Garba, however, explained that workers on essential services such as healthcare service providers, fire service, water board, teaching staff, security guards and the media were exempted from the order.

The commissioner reaffirmed government’s commitment to work with relevant stakeholders, including Islamic scholars and traditional rulers to ensure compliance with the COVID-19 Protocols.

The state government further warned that security agents would not hesitate to take stern measures to ensure compliance with the directive.

NAN reports the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said that Kano recorded 26 new cases on Monday, bringing the total to 2,617.

The centre also said that Kano reported 70 deaths while 2,214 cases were discharged.