NEWS",
Page' 10; THI'SDA)', V.ol. 16,No. 5855 ' ,
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Oyo ObasReject ~pt~tiQP~~:~hairmanship
TI
itiOnal rulers in Oyo State
rose from an emergency
meeting on, Wednesday and rejected Thesday's amendment of !he cOWlCil's enabling law which makes !he chainnanship rotational , The state 'lawmakers on Tuesday passed the biU which ' removed !heAlaafin ofOyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, as lIle permanent chairman of 'the Council of Obas and Chiefs while the state governor Adebayo AlaO-Akala signed the biU into law. The law sti pulates that the chairmanship position shall be
.Pensioners drag outgoing ""'" .,.\". GdV.)a,Q . ~9iir'tP"iJ.,}jr arrears . .,' (':'~':'~""" "';-,;.! ,;' ::;.',:'.~ .~': :{....;.~ . ~;::'~..~.,. .
From Tunde Sanni In lbadan
rotated hetween !he Olubadan of Ibadanland, Soun of Ogbomosoland anlj!he Alaafin of Oyo in that order, The council's ' deputy chairmanship also,lx;comes rotational among the Olugbon of OriIeIgbon, Eleruwa of Eruwa, Okere of Saki and Aseyin of iseyin in that order, Their tenure is expected to last two years. But a Communique issued at !he end of !heir meeting held at
lIle palace of,) \Iaa,fin >in ~ Oy6,,\: " g,iJfoil~hli1I;::iJready noted over Town oil ~e¥esda~; ~" !"'di: ~: ,; \O;¥,i~\i\a),emJrs ~!he said nonalruleISsaJd!hey,recelvootli~ .:",,,'<lil\eiiOnient. He explained that news with amazement:, ,- ,; ; ,..,': :tJie" AJaafin would address the In the corrii'ilurilque":reM ' on' -- ,errors 'noted in due time. !heir behalf bY.tI1e'vice<hairi'riaii ' Osungbade described the who is als{f)l1e 'Olugbpn orne- " ' amendment as an exercise in Igbon, Oba SamUel Osungbade" _ futility, pointing out that issues !he monarchs said ,!he,)wported ~Iating to lIlecouncil are already amendment cannot "",0 will not m court. stand the test of time," " He said that since the state Osungbade added that the government and !he state House ==',"", ..-. ==="""===~="";"""=.....
..
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of ,!he non'payment of their 'unpaid 142 per cent pension
arrears,
The pensioners are also asking of Assembl,y are parties to lIle !he court to compel !he governor court case, theywere not expectto implement !he six per cent and ed to resort to self-help as shown .'5 per cent circular on pension by the step th"y took on mcreases. Thesday.neral elecnons on therr Counsel to the government, victories, Salamat Muraina, pleaded for The development came on a time with the trial court to enable day pensioners in the state, mosther to respond to claims by !he Iyaged, stormed an Ibadan High pensioners. Court to witness !he cornmenceCounsel to the pensioners, ment of the suit ",,"y instituted Yusuf Anikulapo, however pleadagamst !he outgomg governor. The pensioners had drngged ed for accelernted hearing of !he Alao-Akala to !he court in protest matter. ,.,.,-;,,,,i"""-""'I'-~"""'~=-"~~~
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IMG: Killers of Corps Members Must Be Prosecuted
I
n order to pacify, to an extent, the families of the slain corps members in the post election violence in the Northern part of the country, Ihe !jaw Monitoring Group IMG has demanded that the Federnl Government prosecute the CUlprits according to the law, compensate the fam ilies and immortalise the deceased as national heros. While condemning Ihe indifferent approach towards the countless killings in tl,e north especially Jos by the government, IMG also called o n the National Assembly 10 re-evaluate the necessity of the scheme in indiscriminate posting ostensibly for national unity, In order to avoid any unwarranted death of corps member. the group proposed service in anets state of origin or scrnping of the programme. "We are saying no 10 this lawlessne ss and wickedness and urge Nigerians to use tl,e barbaric act against tl,e innocent corps members to fight for justice in our country if the
government refuses to act. "We are also calling for lIle review of the NYSC scheme in a way that all corps memhers must serve in their respective state of origin to avoid similar
By Surukly Okobi calamity in tl,e future. " NYSC members should he limited 10 their geo-political zones or the total scrnpping of the scheme , Enough is enough," the group declared. The group stated throu gh its
National
Coordinator,
Comrnde Joseph Evah, in a press conference held yesterday in Lagos that the Niger Deltans cou ld not celebrnte the victory of President Goodluck
Jonathan because "we were mourning the untimely death of these young patriols who were killed by agents of devil when they realised that the early results showed that our son Goodluck Jonathan was far ahead of other opponents." [n the same vein , Comrnde Evah has sent a wam ing signal to his kinsman- 'President Jonathan, that any attempt to spare tl,e killers or evade the compensation to the families wi ll be met with stiff legal battle in the court of law, " If the President fails to do the right thing (prosecute and compensate). we wi ll force him to do so through legal means which will be followed by series of protests around the country,"
·R·L: Deputy Lagos State, Princess Sarah Sosan; Permanent Secretary, Lagos Ministry of Education, Mrs. Omolara Erogbogbo and Chainnan, State Universa.' Basic Educab'on Board (SUBEB),Allraja Gbolalran Daodu, during a minister.ial press briefing o/lhe Deputy Gover~or and her last officio/job in tile ministry, held at Alallso Press Centre [keja .• Lagos ....yesterday PHOTO: Kohl Olasupo
NBA Condemns Election Violence in Delta
N
gerian Bar Associalion (NBA) has condemned the spate of vio lence that marred tl,e just concluded House of Assembly elections in Delta State.
The assoc ialion mel yesterday in Asaba, the state capital, and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (!NEC) to probe, cancel and
order rerun electi ons in the affected areas, The chairman of Asaba
Obi Seeks.'Increased Revenue to States
nambra State Governor, Mr, Peter Obi has concurred with the call by tl,e Lagos S tate Gove rnor, Babatunde Fas hola for increased allOCation to states and local government councils with a view to he lping states pay the new niinimum wage of N IB,OOO, Obi who expressed his agreement for increased revenue to the two liers of government with Fashola w hile speaking with journalists at hi s lodge in Awka yesterday said no state government was agains t the payment of the new minimum wage as accordi ng to him it was desirable and deserving of workers , But he said some states are complaining because of their lean resources whic h cannot pay it at the moment. He consequently reiterated the call for the review of the national revenue shari ng formula to give the states and · ..... local councils more revenue to , meet Iheir obligations , adding that certai n facilities hitl,erto ' maintained by the Federal Government w ith its hu ge resources are now privatised. His administration he said is poised to deliver on promises made to the people withi n hi s second lenure to e nsure that the
A
From Charles
Onyekllmuo in OnUst.. now has a conducive environment that is attracting high profile investors who are establishing facilities that will create employment while about 2,000 workers had been employed by the state government this year. He said he had written to the Federal Government to authorise him to provide
Independent Power supply and refund the state later. addi ng that it was part of the measure to boost industrial growth in the state. He also said tl>at his adminiSlll1tion would support MicroFinance banks , Bank of Industry and Agricullural Bank to lend money to farmers, small scale businesses and industrialists at not more tl'aJl 10 percent mterest rnte ,
From Victor Efei:l.omor inAsabo
branch of Ihe Association . Andrew Odum, a lawyer, who briefed journalists in Asaba yesterday said the violence that erupted in Ughelli South and Oshimili North Local Government Areas of the state call for investigations, According 10 him, since lives were lost in the process and a candidate narrow ly escaped heing killed , after she was shot
severally, the commission should swing into investigation to reslore the confidence the people had reposed on Prof. Attahiru Jega's led INEe. He said, "we condemn the spate o f violence which mar some Units, Wards ,and Local Government Areas in Delta State during d,e governorship and House of Assembly elections. where our observers noticed bare-face violence, killings, ballot snatching and stuffing, the gross electoral
Climate Change: Int'l Conference Begins
W
orn'ed by lIle effects of the
F rom Hammed Shittu
change our,altitude to lIle envi-
manipulations in Ebu and fuusa in Oshimili North cou ncil area." He lamented that despite the gross malprnctices in Oshimili North, the Returning Officer (RO) in the area went ahead to
panel to uDll1vel the circumstances that triggered the violence. cancel the affected areas. which he lisled to include Aviam and Otor-Owe, both in Isoko axis of the s tate and Ogume. in Ndokwa West, and
announce the results. While the association commended the new INEC under Prof. Jega, it called o n the commission to constitute a probe-
order a rerun. The assoc iation also congralulaled tl,e Nigeria press for whal it described as "objective reporting of the elections,"
Falana, NAMA Suit for June 9
N
edernl High Co urt , Alausa, /keja , Lagos on Wednesday fIXed June 9, 011 for ruling o n the N500m damage suit instituted by popular human rights lawyer, Femi Falana against Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) for violating his fundamental human ri ghts on December 17 . 2010. Justice Steven Adal, fIXed the date after NAMA's lawyer; Mr. Adeyinka Aderemi urged the court to dismiss the suit in its preliminary objection because of lack of territorial jurisdiction and loclis stalldi. Falana had dragged the agency before the court claiming that it endangered his life and that of 43 others who were o n board an Aril< aircraft which was prevented by the agency from landing at Benin airport in
climatic changes across African countries an international conf~rence on the issue has colnmenced in 1I0rin, KwarnState capital with a calIon stakeholders in the region to coUabornte together towands addressing the matter for making
in I liJrin
ronment Vis-a-VIS how we use and consume energy. how we
the nearest future . Oloyede also noted that the overreaching message posed to us by the climate change is that we must be ready for change, According to him. " when we
dispose waste, and how we take care of our surroundiJ)g our development wiU be sustainable, addlOg that we WIll not be enjoying today to destroy our tomonrow,"
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Aluko: Privatisation Kills Education
Addressing the participants at tl,e 2nd joint International Confere nce he ld tagged "Climate C hange and Sustainable Development" organised by the University of 1I0rin and University of Cape Coasl (UCC), Ghana at tl,e Main Auditorium of the University in 1I0ri n. the Vice Chancellor of tl,e host university, Professor [shaq Oloyede said that, the conference became imperative so as to
A
former Economic Adviser and relined university don , Professor Sam Aluko has blamed tl,e decadence and abysmal performances of stu-
dents in national examinations on the privatisation of the education sector. He gave the condemnation. just as the stale governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi also lamented tl,e decay and the fallen stan-
From Toba Suleimall in Ado-Ekiti
unlumed to reverse the trend and make it a major catalyst for Ihe transformation for tl,e state , The summit, the frrst of its ki nd since the assumption of the present government in the state, was the theme "Enhancing Functional and Sustainable Education in Ekiti State."
ised by the state government , held ?t the Bishop Abiodun Adetiloye Hall, Trade Fair Complex, Ado-Ekiti , he further blan,ed Nigerian governments for hearkening to the adv ice of
the international agencies on the outright privatisation of the education sector Prof. , Aluko. who presided over the summit. also identified incessant industrial action in
By Akilltunde Akin wale December 2010, Falana had claimed Ihat he was to attend lIle funernl of Late Clam Oshiomole, wife of Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomole in Benin o n December 17, 20 I 0 and the plane he boarded was denied landing at the Benin airport because NAMA closed tl,e airport against Ihem at the arrival of Pres ident Good luck JonaU,an 's plane to the airport , ' He said NAMA's order to shut the airport against them endangered his life and that of olhers violating his fundamental human rights to li fe because tl,e Arik Flight Numher 6658 conveying them had 10 hover in the air for about 35minutes before they were nown back to Lagos, Falana, represented by his lawyer. Mr, Mr. Solomon Kehinde. had s ubsequently asked the court to declare ">at NAMA's act of sh utting the airport because of a Very Important Personality infringed o n his fundamental human rights , He had also asked the court to
give an order restraining the regulatory b9dy from shutting the airport because of any VIP, TIle human rights lawyer also
wants the court to award a sum of N500m damages against the respondent for infringing on his
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