24
COMMUNITY NEWS
Nlgeri a D TrIbune Tuesday. 26 June 2012
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Windstorrn: Senator commends NEMA's prompt response in Kogi
S
ENATOR Nurudeen
Abateml ~ Usman.
representing Kagl Ccnlral5c.nBlorlal District has hailed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), underthe leadership of Muhammad
Sidi. for Ils quick response to his request for relief assistance to people affected by windstonn disaster. which occuITed on April 2. 2012111 Geregu and Adogo / Eganyt communi lies of Kogi
Slale. TIle two communities are In Ajaokuta Local Gov· crnmen! Area of the state, olle of the nve 10cal councils within the $enator·s constHuency. In a statement Issued
by Michael Jegede. his Special Assistant on medla, Abatcml-Usman said; MNEMA's prompt response to my call for urgent IntCn'cnllon In the stonn ravaged villages was a clear Indication of the
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agency's dedication to duty and by extension sensitivity to the plight of Nigerians. I urge the management of NEMA to sustain Lhls ran: spirit of dedication. On my part. I will leave no stone untumed in ensuring tllIlt I continue to speak for my people throughout my stay In the National ABsembi)' as a Senator.According to the slalemenlo a Idler from NEMA to the office of the Senator conveytng the Federal Government approval had indicated that -Based on lhe assessment carried out by the agency·s operaUon's office officials, lite following relief materials have been approved by the Federal Government as support for tile
affected persons : 600 bags of cement; 500 pieces of 2x3x12 planks: 500 plt:ce:5oC2x4xl2 plaJ1~ 600 bundles of roofing sheets; 50 ba8' of roofing nails: 50 packets of unc nails and 100 bagS of r1~ " It further noted that the materials, as supplied by NEMA, ....-ere at the week· end. dlstributed to the affected persons, who ex· pressed their profound graUtude to the Senator for making their pUght known to Ule Federal GovernmenL Govemmellt functionaries from Kogi Slale. NEMA offiCials and representatives of Senator Abateml-Usman led by Nuhu Oglnma. the Senior Legislative Aide ISLA) were part of Ule kick-off ceremony.
Flood takes over Gbagada General Hospital r " b LCDA'Inaugurates 6 ward 0 ff'Ices for EJIg 0 counc ors ls a common spectacle on in Aboru got drowned In the area recently. as a result oj flood. Photo: Ple
Ruule Awo.iYaD. La,o. ".pllca of what Is obtainable althe tate and federal levels. the 20 local gov· ernments and 37 local councils development
dated 10 establish these ofrlces In' their localtties I.ie said -The ere. &1101'1 of the ward offices by Bamlgbetan Is a right h di tI :~ePI~n :I~~g ;1Io:;c t~~
area of Lagos state Will soon creale consUtuency omces for elected counclllors. as a way of furthubrtnglnggovernance ~Ioser to the people at l,he grassroots and ulUmaldy, prOViding them With dividend of demoeracy. Speaker of \...ago9 Stale House of Assembly, Honourable Adeyeml IkufOrijl. disclosed thlS at Ule weekend, dunng hts
people to feel the Impact of democracy because democracy is about the '-"ple.-Thls IrutiaUveby B~-mlgbetan Is In line wlUl the agenda of the Lagos State House of Assembly and for this rea. son Ule council chairman
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EJI'gbo Local Councl Deve opment Area ofto commission sIX ward nces established by Kd1lnde Bamlgbetan, Ule council chairman. for elected counclllonJ In the LCDA.
deserves commendatlon.TIle speaker. while urgIng the elected councillors In EJlgbo not to allow the
';;,:::~,;:~';'~ U~! drain by m~:I.·"""'~-'6 6~ use of the offiees. enjoined
:1~~:iSe:~a~l~s~: ~~
the offlces as an opportuoity for them 10 enjoy true democracy as governance Hon . Ikurorljl. who has been brought to their was representedd at the door steps. oeculon by his eputy. He added that With the Honourable Kolawole TaIwo. submitted that . ward orrtces closer to the creation of the ward their homes. residents m do not need to get to the qlllces InnEJlgbo, . WhlCh coundl secretariat before Was lbe rst 0 Its kin d U t Lagos and Nigeria. get ng answers 0 Issues as worthy of emulation bothering their minds. yother councils In the -rbe ward omces cretale and to this exated arc not only for poll· nt. he slated that he tlclans but for all resldents to enable them ould facilitate the prohave direct Gnd unUmess of ensuring that lied access their + elect d re rcsentatlves -
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ak le spe cr. Earlier 10 his address. the council chairman. Kehlnde Samlgbetan, CJ(plalned thaI the ward of·
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ments and observations of the people dunng the last local government e1ecUons that many of them did not know the
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even know the c ru cial roles that cou ncillor.! as operators of the leglsla· Uve ann. played In the ef· fecUve and efficle.ot admlnlstraUo~ of Ule coun-
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cll. He added that many
of those who knew the counCillors and under· slood their roles complaine<! that they did not have access to Ulem. Bamtgbclan. wh11e appealing to the Lagos State House of Assembly to take ownership of the \n1UaUve byCflCOUl'llglngallcouncUs 1.0 make provision for this democraUc facility. dlsclosed thai In his over 24 years as a reporter of poU· Ucs. this was the flrst Ume and Ejlgbo LCDA was Ule first council to create consutuency offlces for lawmakers In Ulelr wards at Ule grass.rools In Nlgena .
downpour at the weekend. left the bagada General Hospital. Lagos State. taken over by nood. lite
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Emergency Ward. to en· able pauents and visitors to come uno the wards. However. about 10 paUenl!!. Includlng chUdren,
News Agency of Nigeria
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(N":N'Z':!~pond.nl ~~~:':cy~~hO'Plla", h vi I ed lh h ltal w 0 st e asp. at Ule weekend noted iliat Ule R e - - LI<:: ~-partm.nl • ............. Emergency Ward and tfle SllJltI,ca1 Unll we:re mosUy affected by the flooding. NAN reported that both staff and non-staff were
seen rolling up tbelJ"dolltIng while those with leather shoes held them on their hands to wade throug N~-~~ ~~-" U... t w:ovuU'OCU<;1.I...
some of the slafJ'ers were seeD with rain boots. gotng Into the Records Department to get paUents' mes while the paUents were asked to waU outside. Some cleaners were seen baUtng out water at the Surgical Unit, and
Ondo'Cnee R E' fanners call on govt to boost production armers I11 Ondo State ha ve called on the state government to boost nce production byprovtdlng n· nanclal assistance to them. The Chairman of the Rice Farmers AssoclaUon In the state. Mr Emmanuel Bukola made Ule call In an Interview wllIt the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN] in Akure at the weekend. Emmanuel said thai lhe farmers were nndlng It dlfflcult to finance Ulelr projects because of lhe huge finanCial requireI ed I n menl Invo v n ce productlon. ...""'mon.,aid thai
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s Istance In many areas. Bukola acknowledged that loans were being pro· vtded by the government but the conditions al · tached to securing tbe loans were dlfficull to be met by the farmers. "Majonty of the fann· ers cannot access the loans provided by the state government because we cannot get level 16 offlcers to stand as our guarantors as one of the condlUons attached.He. lIterefore. called on lite state government to look Into the malLer and assist the rarmers to pro· the farmers were poor. 11)'I Ing In villages and they duce rI~ In arge quaUty for Internal and CJ(ternal needed as- collsumP,"u.o.n.'.,-_ _ __
a farmer would require millions of naira to produce one hectare of nce. "We need government's nnanclal assistance: It may nOI necessarily be in lite area 0' g,.nllng us loans. It could be provision of high 8ub.,dy on 'ann Inputs like chemicals. fer-tUlser. equipment and others. ·-Already. we have formed ourselves Into about 50 groups. with each having between 10 and 15 members,· Bukola said. I-Ie said that most of
gov~rnment
-. Asta/TInIhe.RewrdsOeL who.......ue IO NAN' ~-condIUOI1 ..-. ~on of ananym.lly. said Ulatthe hospital had Io8t many pauenls' files to Ilood over the yeam. He added lhat the hospital's managc:ment had n<> ...........
to ~ to bufIdIng Iron Ok stands. to ~ Illes from
~drunagtdbyllood
Some visitors to the
hospllal\l itlOstxR,,1th lWi. expressed fear- conlnlctlng germs and watc:r-Ixmc dLs-
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eases lxau.J:!Iedlh!: "We don't even know when: this water Is cornIng from. I hope we do not oon-
tactgcnnsfromlt.~apaUc:nL
who was trytng to undergo cUnIca1 tests. saki. SpeakIng to NAN on the
~~ ~~;::plM:': . Peter Qrtaifo. disclosed that the Lagos State Govern·
menl was doing something about the 1IoodJng. AccordIng to 0r1aIf0. the kvd olthc buikIlng Is lower UWl the level cl the. nooo. hence there Is rtgular floodtngrlO1egourxi floor"ollhe hospital whene\'eI" It raInS. He: noted thai some new
~",en:1.JIXkr~ UOnlnvartlusdr:prartmel1tSoC the hospttal. ~ 11ml as 8CG1 a! . - . ~----' the old 'i,7illding ::;,Mi; puDeddawn. TIle old building cur-
renOy houses the male and female wards. ihe deJl\-ery ward General Out-PaUents . DcpartmenlandtheSurg1...:::..:O!:::::C--:::.:::C--'-ea.l OperatkmS UnJt..