27 Nigerian Tribune
~ IL/ ~路'~nd"y._'_7_J_"_n_'_,_20_1_1_________ _ _._.==----------------~---------------___ _ _
Communi
--..l
GOT NEWS FOR US?
...
~~~2!li ~~?!!'~~ed~~4. 9Y9a, s.~~~m.~E~~!D2? k~~~n?~~,uY~9.~ny R
ES ID ENTS of tbildan have slarted 10 react to a recent announcement by the Secretary 10 Dyo Stall! Governmenl(SSG), Alhilj i Oladeji, on behaH o f the stale governmen t th a t henceforth, all abandoned and stationary vehides on m a jor road s in the City would be towed away by gove rnme nt officials to government yards ilnd the own ers be com pelled to pay N50,OOO to ret rieve s uch vehides. Community News went round the ci ty to fee l the p ulse of members o f Ihe public about the new government order and learnt thai it was a wl!icome develorment in many quarte rs. All the areas vis ited within lbadan me tropolis had o ne ve hicl e o r the other abandoned on th e road and when interview were conducted with some residen ts of the affected areas, respo nd en ts ag reed th at enough was enough for the environmental nuissance crea ted by many o f the s tationilry o r abandoned vehicles o n majo r roads in the city. An au tom obile engi nee r ilt Mokola area o f Ibad ,In, Tun ji Ako red l! s.,id, the new order to arrest any abandoned vehicle ilnd Ihe penalty o f N50,OOO to retrie\'e s uch a veh icle by the owner wo uld help 10 maintain free now of vehicular tTilffi c on the popular f,.:lokolaSango roild in the citro According 10 him , ~ma n y of these abilnd oned vehicles ha ve become a s tationary refuse dump for residents of such areas, while many lunatics ha ve also converted them to place of rest. "nle5C iloondanl'd \ulides were nothing but nuis6ilnre rn the ruad," he sta!e:l. Traders at Agbeni markel, Ibadan, al!:o reU'ived the new order as a good ne ws. They said the market was 100 tight (or both molorists and pedestrians, stressi ng that the new la w wo uld help decongest the road network in the markel. At Dugbe area of Ibad an, shop owners and people wo rking in private o rgil nisa ti ons like banks lold Community News thill thollgh the road linking Molel!,' area nf the city
immed iate past gove rn~ men I in Dyo S till e, thu s making it a dual carriage, but some people were in the habi' of parking their vehicles on the newl y e;llpanded road thus making
movement. At Aleshinloyc Market, many traders said the new o rde r wou ld not aHcct the m because there is iI big parking s pace for vehicle owners in the markel. But
ruly News that those who wou ld fall victims of the new order are some buycrs and traders who often p;lTkcd their vehicles indi scrim in alel y on the roads leading 10 the mar-
areas of tbadan. For residents of AgodiGate area, those who spoke with Community Newscxplained that the state gove rnment would make money from the area be-
abandone~ veh.cles, ,both c~mmerc l at a nd private ;\'11110 UI th.e owners showinS any Signs to remove them.
Union bemoan high cost of food items
T
路Provision o fsuffideIlt refuse collectjon bin and vans by Ille govemmeIlt will go a Jong way in preventirlgenvironmental pollution and suaran1ee eRective waste management aaoss Ille counby.
Lawmaker tasks traditional rulers on promoting peace
A
LHAJI Milmman Sa ni, member representing Ka nkara Co ns tituen cy in the Katsi na House of Asse mbly, has u rged traditional rule rs to p romole peace in their domains. He told traditional rule rs at the palace o f th e District Head of Kankara, Al haji Muhamm a d LawaI, tha t thei r sole respo ns ibilit y w as to en 路 s ure peace in the ir domain s. Sa n i, who no ted that Iradit io nal rulers provided direction on all iss ues 10 their subjects, also urged them to assis t in promoting go\'e rnment policies. I-Ie co nd e mn e d the post -e lec ti o n vio le nce w hi ch occu rred in the area and wil rned the perpetrators against resorting to self help to settle g rie vances. The law ma ker pledged to pursue the exec uti o n of th e road projecls promised by Governor Ibrahim Sh ema, w hile assuring reside nls o f programmes aimed a t trans forming thei r lives.
T he lawmaker commended thl! governor ilnd the PDP Nationa1 Financial Sec re tary, Alhaji Tukur Mani, for their su pport to the community. Responding o n behillf of o ther trildiliona l rulAlhaji Lawai , e rs, p ledged that they would
s upport the governnl enl in the implementation of its policies. lawai also canvassed for the e(ficient use of Ihe w asle disposal ve hi cles recentl y di st ributed b y the sta le go\'ernmen t. In hi s remarks, Ihe Acling C hilirman o f
K..,nkaraLocaIGovemment, Alhaji Rabe Sukunluni, reiterated gO\'emment's commitment to ensuring development in all sectors. He urged residents to be law abiding w hile s upporting governmen t's programmes.
Arrest kids who drop refuse outside bins o v ERN 0 R Theodore 01'i of Abia Sta te las directed the Abia State Env iron menlal Protection Agency (ASEPA) to arrest lillie children who drop refuse on the noor instead of ins ide Ihe receptacle basins. Orji made Ihis known while handing over nine newly-acquired !nJcksbought by ihestate gm'l!JlllTOlt to as.-
G
sis! in Wastemallo1~and
dispooal in Abia " We ha ve empowered ASEPA to make sure that Ihey arrest all those little boys and girls whose paren!s sen d out to go an d drop reI use not in the refuse bins, bulon the floor very dose to the bins " If you wan t to drop you r refuse, please d rop it
GO"
rp
0V in the bin that is provided for it, not on the floor, so if we sec you dropping on the noor, you will be arrested and charged to court ." Orji s.1id that the slate gove rnme nt had placed orders for more refuse bins, pointing ou t that inadequate s upply of waste basillS had encouraged lJlany to dispose of refuse indiscriminately. He said that out of the nincvehicles,threewouldbe stationed in Umllahia, one in OhaIiil, while the remainins wouJd be in Aba, stressing thai Aba was given preferena!becauseoflhe volume of refuse it generated as the rommerclal nerve-centre of the stale. The governor advised
residents to bring out their refuse beh"een 5:00 p .m. and 6:00 a.m., noting tho'll ASEP A officials would remove them from between 6:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. H e appealed to the people to handle the vehides \'IIith ulmost care, as well as dispose their refuse properly, stressing that the ad ministTation was much aware Ihat dean environment was a prerequisite 10 good hl'illth and the enjoyment of dividends o f democracy. "Therefo re, it is with happi ness that J am presenting this to all Abians for t1e.mlo k nowu",t therevoI lution.lhe changeoftheface of Abia has started, it has commenced and there is no going back abou t that," he said .
.L_
HE Nigerian Farmers a nd Hunt ers Union, also known a s A gbekoya, has bemOilned the current rising cos t of food items in the country. The union made its fet'l ings known in a statement iss ued after Ihe union' s national executive meeting and signed by its Media Consultant, Chief Olahmji Hilmdele. The state ment wh ich was made available 10 newsmen in Ibadan, quoted Chie f Ka mo rud een Okik iolil, the Preside nt-General of the union, ilS frowning al the d ecl in e in ilgricul tural p ractice in the South West of the count ry. Okikio la, according to Ihe stil lement, att ribu ted the increil se in foodstuff prires to Ihe alleged lack of com mitment by the state governors in the region to the developmen t o f ag riculture. He claimed thilt th e state gove rnment s o n ly paid lip sen'ice to ag riculture and food prod uclion in the pilst 12 yeilr.;. "This has brought the region to its present sorry s ituation of food scarcity and price hike," the stiltement ildded. Okikiola ca lled on the new gove rnors of Oyo, Ogun and Osun stales to appo int persons knowledgeable in agriculture iss ues and comm itted as commissioners of agriculture in Ihei r respective states. "Agricul ture and food production is declining in the Soulh West, one of the reasons being thai persons who did not know an ything ilbout ilgriculture are appointed as commissioner.; of agricullureand naturill resources. " Agbekoya is so concerned because our people ilre hungry and 90 "" r cent ro fthemcannotafford路 lh tl!e J ~"'J squ are meal s beca use of the high cost of food items in the miHkel," the statemen! saic!:... _ __