Category: News

Olawale Jokotoye

Gov. Dapo Abiodun of Ogun on Monday said  that his administration would stop at nothing to punish  cases of sexual violence and allied offences.

Abiodun said  this when he received  in his office an anti- sexual and gender-based rally led by his wife, Mrs Bamidele Abiodun.

The governor  assured the team  that all cases that affect the safety of women would not just be expeditiously tried, but culprits would be dealt with.

He added that the state government had charged its public prosecution team to ensure that all cases relating to violence against women were fast-tracked and offenders brought to book.

Abiodun said that the state government had also directed its Violence against Persons Prohibition Committee to ensure sensitisation and education  of the public on issues surrounding the illegal acts.

He also said that the state executive council including the state  Attorney-General had met to consider all issues pertaining  to the girl child, women deprivation and all other forms of abuses against women.

“On May 13, we set up a committee: the Violence against Persons Prohibition Committee.

“There is a law that was passed in 2017, but nothing happened.

“What we did was to sit down with our Attorney-General and the rest of our team and this committee was charged to look into all the issues that have to do with the girl child and all forms of  abuses against women.

“This, we did, even before the incident of the girl in Edo,” he said.

Abiodun described the walk staged by the high-profile women in the state as “profound and a move in the right direction”.

He assured them that violence against women in any form, either domestic violence or rape, would not be condoned in the state.

“It is very profound that this walk has further demonstrated our intolerance for violence against women in any form, and please note that we have already taken up the case of a lady who was recently raped in the state.

“The lady in question has suffered spinal cord injuries as a result of multiple rape incidences.

“The case of the  girl in Edo state is just one case of rape too many because we have a similar case in Ogun,” he said.

Earlier in her remarks, the First Lady, Mrs Bamidele  Abiodun, who  convened  the rally, called for collective condemnation against cases of violence against women.

“There is an urgent need to speak up against such heinous crime in the society,” she added.

She added that her office was working with the Violence against Persons Prohibition Committee to ensure an effective, comprehensive and coordinated response to cases of sexual and gender based violence in the state.

Mrs Abiodun also called for more involvement of men in national conversation on violence against women.

A notable Nollywood actress, Iyabo Ojo, who was part of the rally commended Mrs Abiodun for the initiative against rape and violence against women.

Martha Agas

Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau has congratulated the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Jos, Rev Dr Matthew Audu, on his 61st birthday.

In a congratulatory message issued on Monday in Jos by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Dr Makut Macham, the governor described the archbishop as an epitome of humility, selflessness and godliness.

“His Grace is a man that is well-loved for many reasons. He stands for truth and justice and always speaks for the poor while reaching out to them at every available opportunity.

“He continues to inspire us all with the word of God and also living an exemplary life,” he said.

He wished the archbishop God’s protection and good health, saying Plateau people, particularly Catholics, were happy to have him in the state as the Archbishop that succeeded Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama earlier in the year.

In a similar development, Lalong also congratulated Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, acting President, Court of Appeal, over her nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Senate for confirmation as substantive President, Court of Appeal.

Lalong had, on Sunday, during the thanksgiving service to mark the 2020 Democracy Day and his 5th year in office, asked Plateau people to pray for her confirmation.

He appreciated the President for the gesture and expressed optimism that with her pedigree, she was going to make the nation, Plateau state, her family and the judiciary proud.

The governor said that she would do so by upholding the tenets of justice, truth and integrity.

Raji Rasak

Parents have been advised to educate their children on all they need to know about sex education.

Mrs Oluwayemisi Ogunyemi, an  Assistant Director in the Lagos State Ministry of Education, gave the advice in Badagry on Monday during a virtual discussion organised by the Badagry Development Women Forum (BDWF).

Ogunyemi advised parents to always define every part of their  children’s body, particularly,  their private parts to  them so that children could  understand their importance.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the virtual topic is: “Impact of Mothers on Sexual Assault and Consent in Recent Times”.

Ogunyemi said more emphasis should be laid  on consent when educating the children on sex education at a young age.

“Let the children know that it is  ‘my body, my rules’.

“No one should have dominance over me or my body because of the cloths I wear, or the way I look or because I was born differently,” she said.

She advised that parents should learn how to communicate properly and be protective of their children.

Ogunyemi said that  mothers alone should not be left alone to care for their children   at home.

According to her, parenting is a collective responsibility, and I think that  the onus should not be on just the mothers.

“Both parents should as much as possible ensure they make themselves available to their children , not just physically, but also emotionally.

“But in a situation whereby the children are not particularly close to their fathers, I will encourage mothers to fill that vacuum and ensure that they educate their children properly.

“Make them know that no matter what happens, they can always have at least one person to confide in.

“I am fully aware that the society has put the bigger burden of raising the child on the mother,” she said.

She said that over the years, a greater per cent of African mothers were complacent about how they raised their male children, and that tradition was carried down from generation to generation.

“Some mothers never really hold their male children with the same level of accountability as their female children.

“Some do it unintentionally because that’s what they’re were taught to accept as the normal way of life.

“The typical African home focuses more on raising the girl-child in a certain manner such as teaching  er how to cook , how to dress decently and how to behave in order to score a good man and marry into a good home,” she said.

On the incessant cases of rape in the country, Ogunyemi said creating an atmosphere for victims to open up could be helpful.

“Until we begin to create a safe space for the victims to speak up, until we begin to advocate for capital punishment for rapists and their apologists, we might not see the end of this war.

“The poor lady that was raped and murdered in a church in Edo , a place that should be safe for all, what can we say she did wrong? What excuses can be given?

“This further buttresses my point that regardless of how decent or indecently dressed a lady is, she can still be raped.

“I believe that the earlier we begin to blame the rapists for the act, instead of blaming the victims; the earlier we teach our male children that you have no authority over anyone’s body, because you’re stronger or because you were born a male child, the better for the society,” she said.

Also,  David Chidozie, the Chief Executive Officer of Chidozie Global Network, said that the same energy channelled at training the girl-child should be channelled towards training the boy-child.

According to him, rape should not only be viewed as a female thing, saying that while she is the victim, the male is the culprit.

” The menfolk will be in a better position to fight rape, because they are in the centre of it; the men are the promoters of rape and should be called out to lead the advocacy,” he said.

Ismaila Chafe

The Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari on Monday hosted a meeting involving the leadership of the Governors’ Forum and some Ministers over the Executive Order 10, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Executive Order 10, which was recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, gives autonomy to State Legislature and the Judiciary.

The meeting, which was presided over by Prof. Gambari, was attended by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice , Abubakar Malami and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed while

the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi led the governors’ delegation to the meeting.

Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi and his Sokoto counterpart, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal accompanied Fayemi to the meeting.

Speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the closed door meeting, the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Fayemi, ruled out court action against the president for signing the Order, as being speculated in some quarters.

Fayemi disclosed that President Buhari had agreed to delay gazetting the Executive Order 10 after given a listening ear to the concerns raised by the governors on the modalities for the implementation of the Executive Order 10.

According to him, after listening to their concerns, about the constitutionality of the Executive Order, the president agreed that the gazetting of the order would be delayed.

He said: “We have a delegation of the governors’ Forum here to discuss some matters of fundamental importance to the nation and the President has asked that we meet with the Attorney General, the Chief of Staff and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning on the issue.

“It is an issue that has seized the interest of many of you in the media and a lot of people in the federation; it is about the autonomy of the State legislature and the judiciary.

“We have met with the President before now on it and the President was very pleased that for us as governors, we are all united in support of the autonomy of State judiciary and the legislature; that’s the position of the 36 governors of the federation.

“What is at issue is on the constitutionality of the modalities of what had been put in the Executive Order and the President was gracious enough to say okay, given your concerns about that we will delay the gazetting of the order and allow you meet with the Attorney General and the Minister of Finance out work out the modalities.”

He disclosed that the governors had since embarked on consultations with the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures, in order to work out an amicable resolution of the matter.

“In any case, we have been meeting at our level with the conference of Speakers.

“The Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum; Gov. Tambuwal of Sokoto State, was delegated as the Chair of a number of Governors who have gained legislative experience either because they were in the House of Representatives or they were Speakers of State Assemblies, or they were Senators.

“The committee has been meeting with a delegation of the Conference of Speakers, working out these modalities and we believe that all of that would be settled amicably without any resort to court.’’

Hassana Yakubu

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), on Monday in Kaduna, condemned the rampant cases of rape, especially  in the northern part of the country.

The condemnation was contained  in a statement issued by Mr Emmanuel Yawe, the National Publicity Secretary of the forum.

Yawe described the rising cases of rape as “alarming.”

“Daily, we read with horror in the newspapers, social media or hear on the electronic media horrific cases of rape; sometimes of under- aged girls as young as two years,” he said.

According to him, these acts are ungodly to all religions being practised in the north;  Islam, Christianity and African.

“ACF calls on parents, guardians, young girls, school managers, religious leaders to take note of this dangerous trend and protect these innocent girls from this abuse and barbarism.

” Sadly, sometimes these criminal acts are performed by those whom the girls look up to for protection, like fathers and other close family members,” he said.

He also called on law enforcement agencies to be more proactive in protecting girls and women.

“The judicial system must also review its processes and strengthen them to protect the girl-child.

“We regret to observe that as it is now, the girl-child in the northern part of Nigeria has become an endangered specie because of rampant cases of rape.

“Sometimes, the rapists go to the extent of killing their victims. This is a sad development that must stopped,” he said.

Joan Nwagwu

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for actions geared toward promoting public health and safety by regulating, detecting, preventing and managing food borne risks all over the world.

Mr Ayuba Wabba, NLC President made the call in a statement on Monday in Abuja to celebrate the 2020 World Food Safety Day (WFSD).

The theme of the 2020 commemoration is, “Food Safety is Everyone’s Business”.

Wabba said the call for action was imperative to promote public health and safety.

“This global event, being marked for the second consecutive year, is aimed at raising public awareness on the need to protect food sources from contamination arising from unsafe production, storage, processing, retailing and consumption.

“The theme of this year’s commemoration “Food Safety is Everyone’s Business” buttresses the link between food safety and public safety.

“The suspected origin of the current novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from a food market in Wuhan, China, is a very good example of the relationship between food safety and public safety.

“As it is popularly said, “we are what we eat”. It is therefore important for governments all over the world to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with unhealthy food sources.

“It is noteworthy that the Chinese government is taking this matter very seriously as it has reviewed its laws on food safety and consumption going as far as removing some food items from the menu,” Wabba said.

He noted that as it has been proved from the epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic, one unsafe food in any part of the world could be the source of sickness, deaths and massive global socio-economic dislocation and widespread misery.

The NLC president further said that in the global fight to protect food sources, it was important to reach consensus through empirical scientific evidence on a list of harmful agrochemicals and food additives.

He also said it was important to work concertedly and in synergy to eliminate such toxins from the global food chain.

He said that the measure has become crucial given the increasing link between harmful pesticides, herbicides, in-organic fertiliser and additives with some terminal illnesses in human beings.

According to him, this will go a long way to promote global food security, economic prosperity, tourism and sustainable development.

“It is important to develop and enforce global standards that will promote food safety from farm to the table.

“These standards should be structured in a way that it promotes job addition and income preservation.

“Perhaps, a good direction to look at might be the promotion of wholesome organic farming and incentivizing the value chain, both knowledge and material, to make organic farming practicable, scalable and profitable,” he said.

The labour leader added that the role of increased organising of agricultural workers and robust cooperation between the social partners in facilitating these goals cannot be over-emphasised.

“This is because food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers, agricultural workers and consumers of agricultural products, ” he said.

Ayodeji Alabi
The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Akure branch, on Monday donated N500,000 to Ondo State Government to cushion the effects of recent dynamite explosion.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a truck conveying dynamite exploded on March 28, at Eleyewo Community on Akure-Owo Highway in Akure North Local Government of the state.

NAN also reports that the incident destroyed schools, roads, several houses, place of worship and public buildings in the community.

The society Chairman, Dr Christianah Ijagbemi, presented the cheque to Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, in Akure.

Ijagbemi urged the state government to purchase building materials for timely return of the victims to their daily routine.

She also pledged some professional services, aside the preliminary assessment carried out by the society at the blast site.

Earlier, Akeredolu commended the engineers for the support to cushion the impact of the explosion on the community.

The governor also pledged to include the engineers in the indigenous contractors to complement the engineering section from the state ministry.

He commended personnel in the state Ministry of Works
for their efforts to assiduously improve the state infrastructure.