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FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2011
Briefly
My suspension from Ondo PDp, a pathetic ruse - Defence Minister
Slain corps members: Okogie calls for compensation HE Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie. has called on tl,e: Federa l Government to "speedily" compensate the fami lies of the me mbers of the National Youth Service COlP S who were ltilled in postelection violence in some parts of northern Nigeria . In a slatement by the Director. Cenlre for Medical Development. Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos. on Thursday. the cleric conde mned the dastardly act
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Sunday Aborisade, Akure HE Minister of Defence Mr. Adetokunbo Kayode , (SAN) ,onThursdaydescribed his alleged suspension from the On do State chapter of the Peoples De mocratic Party as "a pathetic ruse , ille ga l, unco nsti tutional nu ll and vo id and of no effect or
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consequence.
Kayode was suspe nded from th e pa rty on Wednesday
through a statement by the Chairman of the Party, Dr. Tayo Dairc, and Secretary, Mr. Olusola Oludipe . The party accused him of allegedly conniving with the ruling Labour Party in the state to rig the three elections in the state in favour of the LP with the use of military personnel. But Kayode in a state ment in Akure through his Personal Assistant, Dr. Banji Ajaka, alleged that the state chapter
of the party by the action had been taken over by a cabal who was working against the content and spirit of the constitution of the party. The statement noted that there had never been a time that the minister was called upon by the party to explain any of his actions both in his private and official capacity. Kayode also insisted that he had no regrets suppo rting President Goodluck Jonathan's decision to
conduct a free and fair election in 2011 as he had no apologies for delivering Ondo State to Jonathan at the presidential election . He said the soldiers that were deployed in the state for the election were not meant to intervene in the election but to maintain peace and ensure that the elections were held across the country witho ut rancor. He said, "This new distra ction was a calculated
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massacred, especiallymembers o f th e NYSC who were on national assignment.·' Okogie bore his mind on the situation where he reminded Nigerians of the sanctity of life , insisting that "there is no reason good enough to justify the wanton killing since God alone is the a uthor of life."
A)!inke House: to prevent disaster Re~ovation I
HE Chief Medical Director, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Prof. David Oke, said the renovation of Ayinke Maternity House, Ikeja, became necessary to prevent disaster. Oke told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Thursday that the maternity building, donated to the Lagos State Government in 1991 by the late Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony, had become structurally defective. "The partial demolition and reconstruction of the building is because it had become · ~tructurally defective and could have caused great havoc to patients and staff had it been len tha t way. "The builtling had become unsafe for anybody to stay in. therefore, a system was put in place by th~ . hospital management to reconstruct it in order to avert any catastrophe," he said.
PENGASSAN donates dormitory
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HEPublicRelationsOfficer, Pe troleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria. Comrade Adamu Umoru. has said that the ideal behind comradeship is a struggle to correct imbalance in the distribution of wealth in the society. Umoru represented the National President, Comrade Ba batunde Ogun at the Inauguration of a one-story
dormitory block donated by PENGASSAN MPN Branch ~' I'ild re n of Goodness · ~ j.t;1l 3 i1 l rarlDll 'Vl[ . .":"J :.\.:CI
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Calabar airport shut for two months Mudiaga Affe, Calabar
where innocent citizens were
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attempt by some d ead woods in the party (PDP) to further polarise it instead of joining hands at building a strong party for future elections." The minister, however, said he wou ld not be distracted from his desire to help build a formidable PDP in the State .
• L-R: Consul General of Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Guo Kun; Minister for State Power, Mr. Nuhu Wyah; Vice President Namadi Samba; and Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, during the inspection of the 750 Megawatts Olorunsogo Power Plant, in Ogun State ... on Thursday. Photo: Francis Faiola
Expert monitoring key to project implementation - Waziri Ade Adesomoju HE Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission , Mrs Farida on Thursday Waziri, advocated the setting up o f a think-thank of experts that
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would ensure an effective and efficient implementation of
government projects. Waziri, who made this call at a meeting with members of the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce in Lagos, said such body would monitor the implementation and advise government on policies to address the trend in which
projects did not impact the lives of the people. She said, "The present scenario of award of huge contracts without a corresponding positive impact on the economy does not suggest effective and efficient implementation,"
The EFCC boss also added that the body of experts when constituted, should have the power to recommend the sacking of any erring official. Waziri equally called for the downward review of the allowances and other perks of public office holders to make public offices unattractive.
"The jumbo salaries and allowances presently earned by ceriain politicians cannot be justified and must be discontinued," she said. She opined that abuse of public trust by senior public officials constituted a major drawback to the development of the nation. She highlighted the success recorded by the EFCC since its establishment, saying the effort of the commission in fighting corruption in the country had boosted the nation's economy and reversed the poor image of the country as a nation of fraudsters.
Netherlands, varsity partner on agric Chukwudl Akasike, Port Harcourt ~E
Government of 1 Netherlands said it has conduded arrangement to partner with the Rivers State University of Science and Technology in agriculture research to boost food production and employment in the state. The Ambassador and Permanent Representative in ECOWAS for the Netherlands, Mr. Bert Ronhaar, said this during his visit to the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Barineme Fakae, in Port Harcourt. Ronhaar explained that the Dutch government
had committed €2m to support a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency and the
university. The Dutch envoy pointed out that the fund was part of the Dutchgovernmentoontribution towards cassava production and fisheryprogramme initiated by RSSDA and RSUST valued at€7.8m. Ronhaar said, "The Dutch government is financing part of this programme with €2m as part of the overall investment initiative, which is about €7 .8m. I have been discussing with a university in Netherlands, where we can increase the cooperation
in the field of research and education. 'This is because agriculture is a major sector for the Rivers State Government and also for the Dutch gouernment in its policy for the development cooperation and investment promotion to support food self sufficiency. 'The Dutch government is working on improving cassava
production in Nigeria, in West Africa and other parts of subSahara Africa where the soil conditions are favourable . For us to get agriculture on the ground in sub-Sahara Africa, we need to motivate our younger generation to see the advantage of working in agriculture."
Waziri added that the commission had been able to recover assets in excess of $9bn in the last six years. She said, the anti-graft agency was able to achieve the feat through the vigorous prosecution and conviction of advance fee fraud kingpin , politically exposed persons and bank executives indicted for grand corruption and money laundering. She attributed the success recorded in the just concluded general polls to the public awareness effort of the commission on corruption through its Anti-Corruption Revolution Campaign. ANCOR, which she said was a publidcivil society partnership initiative, was designed to help the people take ownership of the a ntigraft campaign. As pari of measures to consoUdate the commission's effort to fight corruption in the country, Waziri advocated for a slight shift in the antigraft strategy to indude the use of unconventional and extraordinary methods. She said, "The corrupt are currently taking advantage of the slow legal process by stalling trials. A system of fast tracking and limiting the time frame for starting and concluding corruption cases must be instituted."
HE Margaret Ekpo Internationa l Airport in Calabar, Cross River State, has bee n shut down for two months to effect repairs on the runways. White an officiat of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria ma intained that th e airport was closed to enable the management to fix the runway, a source told our correspondent that the closure might not be unconnected with ongoing aviation security projections at the nation's airports following the killing of Osama Bin Laden . The source said, "The dosure is in tandem with the Federal Governm ent joining other nations of the world to tighten security at the nation's airports to avert any reprisal attack from the Islamic world or the alQaeda's fundamentalists ." The General Manager, Public Nfairs of FAAN, Mr. Akin Olukunle, who confirmed the closure, said the maintenance would last from May 7 to July 8 . "It is being shut down strictly for the maintenance of the runway which is long overdue," he said. However, dispelling rumours that it was shut down because of re prisal attacks following the killing o f Bin Laden , the Public Relations Officer of the Calabar Airport, Mrs. Hoanya Uyu, said the repair of the runway was not a factor of the security beef-up at the nation' s airports.
She said the security of the airport would continue
to be a thing of concern to the management in view of its proximity to other neighbouring countries.
"Our airport is always secure; we do not need the killing of Osama Bin Laden to fortify or secure our airport. We are always o n red alert and the surfacing of the runway is just the normal routine maintenance of the airport," she added . Uyu described the runway upgrade as necessary to enhance greater productivity of the airport and appealed to users of the airport to exercise some patience until the project was completed.