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Nigerian Tribu.ne Wednesday. 18 Janua ry. 2012
C"',•.__iJllPll!ity N.e~s ,:'~:'.~=:;~::.m said . For Ins tance government should be able to peg the sa laries of elected a nd I)olltica l offi ce h o ld ers. because th e Idea of spending eigh t)' perCent of o ur annua l blldg~t on re("urrent expendi t ure Is highly unaeeeptabl e~ Agbekoya suggested that Il Is high Um e gO\'ernme nt pegged the minimum and maxi mum \Vages of elected and poli ll ca l oUlee h o ld ers. adding t h a i a 101 o f m oney was being ex pended on the salanu and allowances a t' the expcnse of t h e public Interest.
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Agbekoya appeals to govt for agric loan Yln.ka OIadoyl.nbo. Akurc li E Sou th - West fron illne farm ers g rou p . Agbekoya T Farmers Associa ti on . has called on government al a ll l~ve l s to Immedl a lely start the Implementation of agnc tra nsforma tion agenda by givi ng out funds to fanners In ord e r to p roduce m ore food for Nlgcrlans . The group also urged PreSident Goo dlu ck J on a than to listen to Ihe \'olce of t he people on lhe removal of fuel subsidy In the cou ntry. TIle call was contaIned In a re lease s ign ed by the National Pub li c ity Secrelary of the assocla· . t ion. Chie f Olat unjl Ba mldele. after an e me r· gency meeting of Its Nallona l Executive Com · mltlee . Accord ing to th e re lease . t he Pr esldcnt Ge n e r al of Agbekoya IWorldwlde]. C h id Kamorude e n Aremu Oklklola called on President Jona tha n tha t the removal of fuel sub Sidy s h o u ld be a gr adu al process or d one In ph ases after t h e govern m e nt must h ave put In place so m e pa lli a li ve m e a s ures Ihat will cushion Ih e effect of the remova l. -Agbekoya's position Is Ihal government
s hould tac kle cOrTUptlon In NNPC and wo rk seri ously to SlOp Im porta tion of fue l because Im poTlatlon of fu el bro u gh t about fuel s ubs idy re gime. Gove rnme nt mu st also fi x our refineries a nd lease th e m oul to prlva l e co m pa nI es 10 ma nage effectively . ¥Agbekoya IS aga inst the seiLing lip of a committee to manage Llle sa\'· Ings from fu el s ubsidy removal. add ing that an exa mple was Ihe eSlabIIsl.lment of P.T.F'. which
was a monumental wastesaid the group. The Agbekoya lameDled tha t maJOr1ly of Ih e people were hungry a nd a ngry b eca u se Ihe prices of food items had skyrOCke ted fh'e folds s in ce I h e a nn o un cem e n t of th e re mova l of s ubsidy. h said. - A bag of rice. now COSts N 12.000. a bag of ga ri N9.000. a mon g othe rs . -We are appea ling to Federal and S ta le Governmen l S to prov ide
funds to Agbekoya Fann e r s Associatio n and other fa rmers groups In the coun try. MAgbekoya Is unre lenl l n g at reslorl n g Nige rl a's Ag ri cu ltura l dignit y a n d a n Ylh lng Ihat will affec t food se c urit y. Agbek oya Is ready to tackle itO. Accord ing 10 Ok lk lola. the nrst point of security In life Is food security . Implorin g Ihe Federa l Government to lcad by exa mple. Th e group further
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cheiftain of th e Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) In IseJOrun Local Gouentment Area of Ekiti Stal e, Mr Bimbo Owolabl, addressi.ng m e mbe r'S of th e party in the area after a house-to-house campaign on t he coming local gouentment e lection In th e s late. Phoro; Sam Nwaoko.
.A,
Borno communities decry border closure r
that th e c:ios ure had crippl ed h is busIn ess. - I have lived In t h is Borno borde ri ng h R bl f town (o r more th a n 20 t e c pu Ic 0 years as a businessman. Cam eroon recently . .apea led ··to th e Federal I bu y goods from Nlgeria _ P Go\'ernment to resci nd a nd fake Ih e m 10 liS decision on the clo- Ca me roon wh ere I sell s ure of borc.iers In the th e m a nd m ake s m a ll a rea. pront. -Bul sin ce the elosu re The bo rde r s were of the border I have been closed following the d tCc-, '. ".,0' . ,. -ma· ' n a' ho m, I If · r ' ,,<0<1 . " a r at on 0 a Sla re ' ? . (lolng n othlng.~ '" emergency by Preslden,'_ Modu sa id that the Good luck Jonat h aQ' to contl'nucd closure of tl"je e unall altacks by Boko borders..tta'd made h im'.
R
ESIOEN TS commun ities ~n
!::e~7 c7t~~~~~~;on I~~- ~~~ne~ me~~~:~-::,~c:!:m~~ nlUes told n ewsmen tha t
th e border closure had d h t Id cause t em u n 0 hardS hip. Th III I ~ commu; es n elude ankl a n Ngala In ~e B,a:n_~ a,nGd Ga mboruga a L.U\:3 ovemmcn t areas respectively. The respon dents sa id the closu re had a frec ted
hi s ca pit al
at~l
An o th e r r eS id e n t. Ma lam Yus tf Ibra him . ech oed Modu. say ing th a i his bu sl neses had Slo pped with the closure of the borders. -My Wife Is expecting a baby anyti me from now a nd the closest eqUipped hos pit a l to u s Is In Cam eroon . S he has been a tt e nd i n g a nte n a t al -
not kn ow wha t to d o." Mr Solomo n Iza. a n other reside nt. said he ma' n,.'n, . h om,.,
,w.
o n e In Nlge r1 a and the oth'e r across ll he border. -, h ave two wi ves. one a Nigerian living In the coun try \V hl le th e ot her one Is a Came roon ian 11'1Ing ac ross the border. ¥Wl th the s udde n closu re of' the border, II Is very diffic ult for m e 10 vis it my fa mily In Cam e roon . lu said lha t security
family In Cameroon . So me Ca m e roonian ff • e ntre preneu rs a eete by the border e!osure also expressed thei r unhappiness. w ltl1 Mrs Marla Joseph saylng lhat the action had affecled her b USiness. - Alth o u g h I am a Came rooni a n . I h ave relatives across the borde r. _I vl~i t ed them regu-
larly before the closure. I felt sad wh en , was turned back by the offie _ e rs at Ihe border . Joseph said . Presid e nt Jo n at h an had announced a state of emergency In 15 loca l council areas across nve s ta tes to ch e("kmate the activities of Boko Haram mil it ants. TIle nve affected cou n ell areas In Borno were Maldugurt. Jere . Gam boru - Nga la. Barna d BI
Suspected ritualists killecfin btokutu
SylVester Idowu. Wa TTt T WO of th e s u s p ec led ritua li s t s who escaped . las t T hu rsday eve nin g. a l Olokutll In Ughelll Sou th Local Governm ent Area of Delta State we r e tra c ked down al abo ut 4 .00 am . Frida y. anJ sci ablaze.
the ir means or II vell -
~!~~I~haet ~~:eo;~~~u~~ Th;;;~~::d:e~~~~~:I~
Mo h a mmed Modu. a 65-year old restdent of Bank!. explai ned
the border; now tha t the borders a re closed. I do
h~~l am
guards at tlte border h ad de nied him access 10 his
dr:!~:nt::~~~:c:~; ~!=e~~~I~C~~~g~.n~;;
discovered by a motoTC)'c ll s t, wh o ra Ised t h e
alann. on sighung three of them . acll ng like mad men . Only one of s upposed ritualis ts was caught a nd
In the nearby forest were and se t
=~~::e~e red
closed all wt potnLS.
-Nob ody s lep t In Otoku tu on Thursday. we were In sea rc h of the r ituali s ts b eca us e we know what happened he re In 2004. It was not until we fo und ou t where they we re hiding that people wen t to s leep. It Is not an e pisode we want 10 relive In our co mmunily. so
In day when Ihe s uspeCled ritualists who took refuge
wl\1 be killed If we sec h im," said a n ative.
set ablaze last 1l1ursday evening. as the two oth-
ersl.I:~:~~~:
t h e e ntire
COPlmunlly la unched a m a nhun t ro r them last Thu rsday night. as Liley
~~el;a~;~~uun~p:;~~~ ~~::;::°r1:~I~~~~~:
.Oro-Ago
commends Kwara govt ove~ bridge construction ,,
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Kwam S ta te govern ment fo r th e awa r d or' Oko bridge In OrO-Ago . Ifel odun l oca l Government Area of the state. S~ak lng In 1I0nn d u rIng the m th Oro-Ago Day celebra tion. at Oro-Ago. lhe Presltlenl of Oro-Ago Devl'lopmcn t Union. EIder Lanr~ Alashl. said the awa rd of contract for the b rldl-lc was In line with Ihe campaign promIse lladl' b y GO" erno r Abdlllf.nah Ahmed. E de r Alashl said that ha vi ng ihe governor at the helm of affairs In the stall' wah- an Indlca llon lhat the stale was on the coursl: of rapid de velo pm ent. li ~ said the prompt awa rd 0 1 Ihe cont ract wou ld not only e nhance easy tra nsporlallon of ram: produ ce from the area to Olner parts of the statr. but would also enham e thl: SOClo-politlcal acll \'IUes o f the e ntire Oro- ,\go community. n le com munity leader also commended the d fons of the Kwara state comm iSSione r for Works and h is perman ent secretary towards ensuring tha t work commenced on the hr1dgc. AJso. Elder Alashl. on be h alf of thc OrO-Ago communl lY. thanked the governor for a ppointing an Indigene of the to\\'f1 . Mr Segun Ablfar1n. as a Senior S pecial Assistant to the go\'ernor on 00mest Ic Mfalrs. assuring the !l0vernor of the un flinch ing support of the enUre OrO-Ago eom mu nl ty. On Ihe state of RCU rtt y In the community. he appealed to security agents and Ihe c hiefs in lhe lown to e nsure tho t the senln ty of lives and p roperty of the jJl'o plc were guara nteed .