The Management of Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri led by Engr. Dr Chidiebere Michael Arimanwa, has banned students from driving their vehicles into the campus, due to reckless driving by which caused two near-fatal accidents in the last one week.
According to a release signed by B.O. Dara on behalf of the Registrar, after an emergency management meeting Friday, only the polytechnic staff would be allowed to drive into the campus, after proper identification, either with their identification cards or letter of identification from the Registrar.
In the same vein, management has also banned the use of departmental uniforms or customized T-shirts on campus as a mark of identity.This has become necessary after it was observed that some strange people take advantage of the use of departmental uniforms to fly strange colors.
Students are, therefore, encouraged to continue to dress decently and corporately on campus and Academic Heads of Departments are enjoined to enforce this directive or be held responsible for acts of students’ violation.
A non- partisan advocacy, the Economic Sustenance Group (ESG) has urged leaders in the Niger-Delta and other oil producing communities to support the Armed Forces of Nigeria in the fight against crude oil thieves in the region.
The group said available scientific facts suggest that aside enormous economic loss to the country as a result of crude oil theft, their nefarious activities have also led to environmental challenges, such as the soot in Rivers state.
ESG in a press release signed by its President and Secretary Okoro Anselem and Baba Usman respectively, while commending the Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor for his recent operational visit to troops of Joint Task Force South South Operation Delta Safe, hailed him for warning personnel against oil theft.
ESG said the visit will further strengthen the troops and send a message that the Armed Forces is determined to protect the oil and gas installations within the South South geopolitical zone with the best of their abilities.
The group also commended the present leadership of the Armed Forces immediately on assumption held a meeting with the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Mele Kyari to discuss the security challenges being encountered in the execution of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas pipeline project and other oil installations across the country.
“Leaders of the Niger-Delta region should as a matter of urgency intensify support and cooperation with the Armed Forces of Nigeria to deal with this nefarious activity that has caused the people serious health challenges.
“We can’t continue to neglect the soot problem in Port-Harcourt and environs. The health implications cannot be overemphasized.
“The recent visit to the region by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. LEO Irabor is a pointer that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is determined to decisively deal with the situation.
“Similarly, the country is losing revenue that would have been channelled into economic development.
“Now is the time for us to come together, restore and preserve the Environment for the health of our brothers and sisters in oil producing communities,” the statement read.
The Anambra state governor-elect, Prof Charles Chukuma Soludo, has said that drug barons, internet scammers and other criminals were flocking into politics as the next easy alternative due to noose tightened globally on other criminal enterprises.
The former governor of the Central Bank, however charged professionals joining politics to make a difference.
Speaking at the weekend in Abuja, while delivering his keynote address at the 2021 pioneer class convocation, Soludo challenged the graduating students of School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) to deliberately mainstream volunteerism for the service of political leadership in Africa and Nigeria.
Soludo charged the graduands to show honesty and their knowledge to have a new Nigeria, to create the change that would lead to having a new Nigeria.
“There is almost a sense of nostalgia, recalling the mission and accomplishments of our founding fathers, especially as we contemplate the world without oil.
“Much of the existing social order is founded on competition for, and distribution of rents, oil and the easy money that came with it destroyed the social fabric and the elite created new institutions and political structures to maximise their gains.
“As the noose tightened globally on other rentiers/criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking or internet scamming, many of the barons flocked into politics as the next easy alternative.
“Politics has become big business. Appointment or election into public office is seen largely as an opportunity to ‘eat’ rather than a call to selfless service,” he said.
Soludo added that a classic feature of the political environment is that corruption has become part of the “culture”, with little incentive for honesty.
“Fixing politics requires talents and skills. But these won’t be enough. It won’t happen by lone wolves working in silos.
“It requires new developmental organisations –organisations/teams of believers, driven by defined ideology, purpose and character.”
Speaking also, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, Founder of SPPG, charged the graduands to embrace leadership skills that would transform the society.
“The society must be contested for and you should pioneer the space for that leadership.”
She said the school would be replicated in across six other African countries as a way of liberating Africa out of extractive colonialism.
Vice-Chancellor, Alero Ayida-Otobo, SPPG, urged the graduands towards having an unquenchable thirst to raise standards while kicking injustice, religious intolerance and lawlessness out of the country.
Speaker of the House Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila, Saturday, charged health workers to maintain the culture of due diligence in patient’s management within the confine of ethical and legal perspective.
Speaker Gbajabiamila made the call while declaring opening a 3-day training programme for health workers themed; “Bio-Ethics and medical law,” in Jos, the Plateau state.
Represented by his Aaviser on health matters, Doctor Femi Aworinde, the speaker said with the advent of Covid-19, reports of negligence have escalated with many health workers abdicating their responsibilities out of fear of contracting the virus.
“This has tremendously affected the quality of care provided and has predictably resulted in increased morbidity rates in our hospitals, mostly as a result of medical conditions other than the covid-19 disease,” he said.
Gbajabiamila said the training is aimed at, “restarting the culture of due diligence in patient’s management and ensuring that health professionals leave with a refreshed understanding of the ethical and legal perspective to practice.”
In his remark, the minister of health, Doctor Osagie Ehanire, represented by the acting Medical Director of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Doctor Pokop Bipwada, while appreciating the Speaker, said the initiative was a complementary and collaborative approached aim at strengthening the health care system.
Also speaking, President of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Professor Innocent Ujah, said Gbajabiamila is greatly concerned about the health sector in the country.
“He has positive passion for healthcare delivery in this country and we need to support him” he said.
The NMA President decried high level of brain drained in the Nigerian’s health sector.
“Last month about 100 consultants have to leave this country for greener pastures,” he said.
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state has directed the management of the State Health Insurance Scheme to commence the registration of all journalists in the state.
According to the governor, the policy covers primary and secondary health care.
“Registered journalists under the scheme would be eligible to access health care at both public and private hospitals in the state. A card would be issued to individual journalists at the point of registration… And this card also covers for certain members of the journalist family,” he said.
The special adviser on media projects to the governor, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, disclosed this during the inauguration of the newly elected executive members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Edo state.
All members of the exco were re-elected for a second term of three years.
The re-elected executives were: Mrs. Nefishetu Yakubu (chairman), Gabriel Enogholase (vice-chairman), Osaigbovo Iguobaro (secretary) and Patrick Ahanor (assistant secretary).
Others were: Idris Momoh (treasurer), Barnabas Uzosike (financial secretary) and Francis Onoiribholo (auditor).
Continuing on the health insurance, Crusoe said: “With the health insurance card, you (journalists) can work in hospitals and get their treatment almost free. The essence of building a hospital is to give people access to health care… and that is what Governor Obaseki is doing.”
Crusoe also dismissed insinuations that the ongoing reconstruction of the 100 years old Central Hospital buildings in Benin City had been earmarked for Motor Park.
“The facility is no longer much of a hospital because most of the structures have decayed. As a government, we don’t think it’s wise to keep derelict infrastructure for sentiment so that people will not be angry.”
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