I May Die Before Running for Second Term, Nigerian Governor

 Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi has accused those he described as Abuja politicians of being responsible for promoting treachery and hatred in the state.

Mohammed also alleged that this is the same gang of federal appointees plotting his downfall by working with criminals to increase insecurity in Bauchi.

However, the governor said he cannot be harmed or brought down by such persons, adding that he will complete his days on earth as destined by God.

The governor disclosed this on Tuesday, July 13, when he launched the Kaura Economic Empowerment Programme (KEEP) for beneficiaries in Ganjuwa and Darazo local government areas of the state.

The governor said only God can decide how long he will live (Photo: Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed)

Believing that no one knows the future, Mohammed, in a post shared on Facebook, said he may not live long enough to run for a second term in office or even witness the next presidential election come 2023.

His words:

"By the grace of God, I have become governor with or without them and of course, I will live my time allotted to me by Allah. I may go for a second term, I may not even live to that time; I may go for the presidency, there is nothing they can do. I know what they are doing.

“Those Abuja politicians are not doing anything for us other than bringing mischief. I know some leaders of the state who are busy bringing criminals to the state. I will talk when the time comes. We will prove tough but certainly, we are not afraid of them.”

He, therefore, called on the people of the state to eschew rumour and embrace love, togetherness and mutual affection.

Poor record keeping, bane of FoI Act implementation -AGF

 

 

Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) has disclosed that poor record keeping and management were the major challenges preventing effective and efficient implementation of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act by public institutions.

He added that lack of willingness ‘in many quarters’ to accept the new information regime imposed by the FOI Act prevents its full implementation.

He stated that vigorous implementation of the Act is essential for Nigeria to make significant breakthrough in the enthronement of good governance.

Malami spoke yesterday in Abuja at an event organised by the ministry to commemorate 10 years of implementation of the Act in the country.

The theme of the event was, “A Decade of Implementing the Freedom of Information Act by Public Institutions and Developing Sustainable Strategies for Strengthening the FOI Act.”

The minister was represented by his Special Assistant on Cyber Crimes, Mr. Abiodun Aikomo.

“Section 29 of the Act places on the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice the responsibility and obligation to oversee compliance with the Act, especially by the MDAs

“As such, the Office of the Attorney-General had published regulations on implementation and reporting requirements under the FOI Act, 2011 for public institutions on January 29, 2012

“This was closely followed with the guidelines on the implementation issued on March 15, 2012 and the revised edition issued on February 27, 2013.”

The minister expressed concerns that the implementation of the Act had encountered several challenges among the different MDAs.

“Notwithstanding the laudable and noble objectives of the FOI Act and the regulations made pursuant thereto, there have been a lot of challenges towards the effective and efficient implementation of the Act by public institutions.

“Among such challenges are poor record keeping and management, lack of willingness in many quarters to accept the new information regime imposed by the FOI Act in Nigeria.”

The Head of FOI Unit in the Ministry, Mr. Ichibor Gowon, said that the unit had received 489 reports from 176 MDAs.

“In the first year of implementation in 2011, we received annual compliance report from 16 MDAs; in 2012, 32 MDAs submitted their reports; and in 2013, 51 submitted.

“For 2014, we got reports from 60 MDAs; 2015, we received reports from 44; in 2016, 54 MDAs submitted their reports; and in 2017, we had 73 reports.

“The number went down in 2018 where only 70 MDAs submitted their reports; but increased in 2019 with 89 MDAs bringing reports; and in 2020, we had reports from 73 MDAs.”

Mrs Ene Nwankpa of Right to Know, a civil society organisation, decried the slow implementation of the FOI Act, saying that it was discouraging.

“There has been a systemic process of denial in the implementation of the act in such a way that some MDAs acknowledge receipt of a request for information but will never act on it.

“We also discovered that some MDAs forward some requests to the Department of State Services and so we have DSS officials constantly stalking our offices or asking why we are demanding for certain information.”

Some of the MDAs present on the occasion, how, as well as outlining which departments or units should handle FOI requests.

The Freedom of Information Act came into operation on May 28, 2011 to enable the Nigerian public have access to certain government information in order to ensure transparency and accountability. Source NAN.

Euro 2020 Tournament: Top Scorer and Young Player Finally Emerged - Ronaldo,Messi Sets For Ballon d'Or

 

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Euro 2020 tournament has come to an end with Italy defeating England via 3-2 penalties to claim the title after it had ended 1-1 after 120 minutes.

It was excitement all through the competition with some of the biggest games in football history coming up as well as brilliant individual performances.

Euro 2020 came to an end on Sunday with Italy won their second European Championship. Despite Portugal's early exit from the tournament. Cristiano Ronaldo 

Ronaldo's recent accolade came only days after his arch-rival Lionel Messi also carted home the award during the Copa America. Photo: Getty Images.

 the Juventus star crowned winner of the tournament's Golden Boot award following his impressive goalscoring record.

Ronaldo found the back of the net five times in four matches that Portugal played before they were bundled out in the round of 16.

The 36-year-old remained at the summit of the goalscoring charts through the tournament, with only Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling coming close.  

Patrick Schick of the Czech Republic also came close to winning the award having also scored a similar number of goals as Ronaldo's.

However, Ronaldo boasts of an assist and bagged the prestigious award due to UEFA's criteria in handing out the prize.

Four of the Portuguese star's goals during the competition came from the penalty spot, with his only goal from open play coming during their 4-2 defeat to Germany.

And with Sterling and Kane failing to find the of the net during England's Euro final defeat to Italy, Ronaldo had to be crowned winner of the award.

Ronaldo's recent accolade came only days after his arch-rival Lionel Messi also carted home the award during the Copa America.

The six-time Ballon d'Or winner scored four goals and bagged an impressive five assists as he helped Argentina win the title.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates one of his goals. Photo: Tibor Illyes

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma won the player of the tournament award complimenting the solid defense of the Azzurri throughout the competition.

18-year-old Spanish star Pedri won the Euro 2020 young player of the tournament award as he was a key cog in Luis Enrique’s system, and barely put a foot wrong with his passing and tenacious displays.

Meanwhile, Leonardo Bonucci was the hero for Italy in their Euro 2020 triumph at Wembley Stadium after scoring the crucial goal that helped them stretch the game into extra time, and then penalties.

"More pasta! We need to eat more pasta!"After helping his side lift their second European Championship title, Bonucci rubbed the defeat on the English fans' faces after going to the camera to say as reported by Sport Bible.

The Italians stretch their unbeaten run to 34 games in all competitions after the triumph over Gareth Southgate's men in front of their home fans.   

The  England manager Gareth Southgate seems to be putting the Euro 2020 final match disappointment behind him stating that he hopes to lead the Three Lions to next year’s World Cup in Qatar.

The manager has spoken about his future when asked about extending his contract with the England national football team.

Sky Sports are reporting that FA CEO Mark Bullingham earlier hinted that the manager will be handed an extended contract which will keep him in job until 2024.   

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Taxi Drivers Protest Illegal VIO Charges

 

Commuters in the nation's capital, Abuja on Monday, July 12, woke up to a protest by a group of taxi drivers.

The  drivers took to the streets over what they described as alleged harassment and collection of illegal levies by officials of the Vehicle Inspection Office.

Taxi drivers gathered protest in Abuja. Photo credit: 24online/NurPhoto

The protesters who carried placards with various inscriptions gathered at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, called for an end to the VIO task force.

Union leaders according to them, are preventing taxi drivers from operating by stopping their vehicles and asking passengers to alight.

Earlier, Comrade Shehu Shugabi Yar'adua, the president of painted Abuja Taxi, revealed steps taken by the union to address the incessant cases of illegal drivers in the Federal Capital Territory. Comrade Yar'adua made the disclosure , as the union signed a partnership with a ride-hailing app soon to be launched in Abuja.

He said steps have been taken to address the influx of alien drivers into Abuja which has heightened insecurity in the city, including the notorious 'one chance' operators.

Meanwhile, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has mandated the use of the National Identification Number (NIN) for the processing of driver’s license.

Stressing that there would be no waiver for anyone, Kazeem emphasised the need for a harmonised database of all citizens and described it as critical to resolving security challenges in the country.The agency made the announcement in a statement posted on its social media pages and signed by an Assistant Corps Marshal, Bisi Kazeem.

NAFDAC cautions Nigerians against sanitisers with Methanol

 

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has again cautioned Nigerians against the use of hand sanitizers especially Nutricional S, de R, L De C.V containing methanol.

The warning is contained in a public alert with No: 20/2021 tagged “Recall of Hand Sanitizers by DiBAR Nutricional due to the presence of Methanol(Wood alcohol).

The alert was signed by the Director General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, and made available in Abuja on Sunday.

She said that the agency had received information from US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) about the presence of methanol in hand sanitizers.

She added that information from FDA noted that Nutricional S,de R,L De C.V (Dibar) is recalling all Dibar Labs hand sanitizers, ProtectoRX hand sanitizers and Advance hand sanitizers due to the presence of methanol.

According to her, methanol, or wood alcohol, is a substance that can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested and can be life-threatening when ingested.

“Substantial methanol exposure can result in nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system or death.

“All persons using these products on their hands are at risk for methanol poisoning, young children who accidently ingest these products and adolescents and adults who drink these products as alcohol (ethanol) substitute, are most at risk.

“Methanol is not an acceptable ingredient for hand sanitizers and must not be used due to its toxicity,” she stressed.

Adeyeye therefore called on consumers, who have been exposed to hand sanitizer containing methanol and are experiencing symptoms, to seek immediate treatment for potential reversal of toxic effects of methanol poisoning.

According to her, the call is necessary at this time after the FDA analysis has found the product to contain methanol in lab testing.

Adeyeye stated that NAFDAC implores importers, distributors, retailers and consumers to exercise caution and vigilance to avoid the distribution, sale and use of methanol alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

She also called on healthcare providers and members of the public in possession of methanol alcohol-based hand sanitizers to discontinue sale and use or submit stock to the nearest NAFDAC office.

She said that healthcare professionals are encouraged to report any problem related to the use of any hand sanitizers to the nearest NAFDAC office, NAFDAC PRASCOR (20543 TOLL FREE from all networks).

According to her, Nigerians could also report any adverse effect through viapharmacovigilance@nafdac.gov.ng or via e reporting platform available on NAFDAC websites www.nafdac.gov.ng as well as Med Safety application available for download on Android and IOS. (Source NAN)

25-year-old Italy returnee earns her living as a vulcanizer

 

A young lady who returned to Nigerian from Europe now works in Edo state as a vulcanizer.

The lady identified as Becky Osarume Osagie who had got to Italy from Libya in 2015 returned to Nigeria in 2017.

Becky returned to the country in the year 2017 and engaged in the vulcanizing business after seeing it in a movie Photo Credit: BBC News Pidgin

Becky told BBC News Pidgin that an agent had helped her with the trip that cost him N400,000. She was consequently made to agree that upon arriving in Italy, she would work to pay back to the agent £35,000 (N17 million).

Becky stated that she endured the Libya road challenges and stayed in prison for two weeks with the hope of a better life in Italy but took it upon herself to return to Nigeria as the only work presented to her there was prostitution.

The young lady was said to have reported herself to police authorities in the Southern European country which fast-tracked her return to Nigeria.

Upon arriving in Nigeria in 2017, she sought an occupation to make ends meet with and took interest in vulcanizing after watching a popular Nollywood actress act the role in a movie.

Becky then resolved to get the skill and take it as an occupation. Despite her boyfriend calling it quits on their relationship because of the vulcanizing job, the hardworking lady has no regrets about it.

Nigerians were full of praises for Becky and thought her worthy of emulation to other ladies who are in the same situation.