One killing too many !! One dies, 20 sustain injuries in accident involving sports minister’s motorcade

An accident involving the motorcade of the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalong has led to the death of one person while 20 others sustained various degree of injuries.

Mr Sunday Jika, the Officer-in-Charge, Gombe State Marshal, a local security outfit, who was amongst the minister’s motorcade confirmed this to newsmen on Saturday in Gombe.

“We received the minister at the airport and on our way back to town a Peugeot 406 car entered the motorcade of the minister hitting the pilot car.

“The Peugeot car went ablaze. We were able to bring out three persons from the Peugeot car while the driver got burnt in the car.

“In the other bus among the minister’s motorcade, we also brought out people. All the injured persons have been taken to Gombe Specialist Hospital and Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe,” he said.

A NAN correspondent, who was at the Specialist Hospital and FTH, saw doctors attending to patients at the casualty department of the hospital.

When contacted, Dr Zainab Kaltungo, Deputy Medical Director FTH Gombe declined to comment.

Dr Godwin Omiko, Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, when contacted on phone, said he was yet to be briefed on the accident. - The Nation

Terrible !! Ganduje calls for population control, says 3m children out of school in Kano alone

Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state, says three million children are out of school in his state alone, stating the need to curb Africa’s population explosion.

Speaking at Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, UK, on Thursday, the governor said population explosion in Africa is a reality and education is not matching up with population growth.

“One important factor that divides the population of the world into two is education, whether the population will be an asset, depends on education, whether it will be a liability also depends on education,” Ganduje said.

“It seems we are comfortable with the population of Africa; that Africa will be highly populated and that would be an asset, and therefore we would conquer the world.

“The 10 most literate countries in Africa; Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, Sao Tome, Libya, Namibia, Mauritius, Cape Verde, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe — we all know that these are small countries.”

The governor, a University of Ibadan alumnus, who gave his thoughts on the theme of the event “Higher Education and Demographic Growth in Africa” said the continent needs to engage in plans to improve infrastructure for the future, and also cut population.

“The population of students in Kano state now is over three million; the population of those outside the school system is also over three million. So if we are talking about Africa, we can confidently say the level of literacy is inversely proportional to population. Are we safe?

“The way our discussion is going on, it seem that we are working on the assumption that literacy level will be directly proportional to literacy level. So, I think we better examine these issues very very seriously.

“We said Britain ha maintained a level of population for over how many years, and Nigeria, it is going further, and Africa, it is going further. But what are we doing? Since we don’t have the economy.

“Since the economy is weak, we will work on the infrastructural facilities no doubt, but we also have to control the other side. Otherwise, what is the meeting point?

“As we are now, we are complaining of lack of funds in other to improve the quality of education in Africa, and we have seen that the population will continue to increase, and we have not seen how our economy will continue to blossom, so I think we should examine the issue of population control in Africa.”

In Nigeria, over 10.5 million children are out of school, according to UNESCO — and this is the highest anywhere in the world.

At 198 million in 2018, the United Nations projects that Nigeria’s population will double by 2050, to be the third most populous nation in the world, after only India and China. - Cable Nigeria

Why most celebrities live fake lives – Saudi Balogun

Respected movie producer and actor, Saidi Balogun has blamed fans for the fake life most Nigerian celebrities are accused of living.

He stated that the only thing those in the movie industry owed fans was to always produce good works that address certain societal issues.

Balogun added that many entertainers, unable to withstand the subtle pressure, involved themselves in all sorts of unacceptable things just to keep up a good appearance.

He told Punch Newspaper: “It is always better to be yourself. I am myself, I don’t believe in the saying that you are addressed the way you are dressed. I believe that people should be judged based on their intellectual prowess and not by their appearance. I can ride okada from Lagos to Ibadan. I believe in doing what makes me happy.”

“The pressure people put on celebrities can push some of them to get involved in some deals that they are not supposed to do. They force them to live fake lives” Saidi Balogun added. - Daily Post

Fulani herdsmen killings in Benue : Gowon faults security agents, calls for investigation of Miyetti Allah

Former Nigerian Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd) on Saturday visited Benue state Governor Samuel Ortom in Makurdi, the State capital.

The Elder Statesman visited the state to commiserate with the government and people of the Benue over the killings in the state which he feared was taking a religious dimension.

Speaking to journalists at the Government House in Makurdi, Gen. Gowon expressed disappointment over the handling of security situation in the country, calling for immediate questioning of the leaders of Miyetti Allah.

He, however, commended Governor Ortom and the Benue State government for the way the issue was being handled.

He said “I think security agencies should invite and question the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore who had earlier threatened to unleash violence on Benue State.

“I was out of the country when two priests and 17 worshipers were killed in a church in the state during a morning mass. I extend my condolences to the government and people of the state.

“I am sad and worried at the religious dimension the killings is assuming, the authorities should redouble their effort to deal with the security situation because if that is not done, the country could descend into a religious war, with no one coming out victorious.

“For us to survive as a nation; we must learn to live together as one regardless of ethnicity or religion.”

Welcoming the elder statesman, Governor Ortom, represented by his Deputy, Engr Benson Abounu thanked him for coming to commiserate with them and lending his voice for the federal government to take decisive actions to end the violence.

He disclosed that though the killings have reduced due to the change of tactics by the military who upgraded their operation in the state from “exercise cat race” to “operation whirl stroke,” the threat is not over yet as killings still go on in many places.” - Daily Post

Why 2018 budget will increase poverty in Nigeria – SPN

The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) has said that the 2018 budget will further impoverish Nigerians and favour only a few privileged individuals in the country.

The party in a statement signed by Comrade Abiodun Bamigboye, its Acting National Chairman and Comrade Chinedu Bosah, National Secretary, a copy of which was made available to DAILY POST on Friday added that the budget which includes servicing of debt to the tune of N2.01 trillion has clearly shown that President Muhmmadu Buhari-led government prioritizes the interest of a few creditors, most of whom are members of the ruling class.

The party in the statement titled “2018 Federal budget will consolidate poverty and increase wealth of a privileged few, SPN demands huge investment on social services and basic infrastructure under a democratic control” added that “The 2018 budget has all the hallmarks of a capitalist budget in a time of mounting crisis. It is a budget of poverty consolidation and enrichment of a few privileged persons”.

SPN maintained that, “We do not see the rational for servicing of debt to the tune of N2.01 trillion, an amount that equals the amount allocated to Education (N661 billion), Health (N356 billion), Agriculture and Rural Development (N203 billion), Water Resources (N155 billion), Power, Works and Housing (N715 billion) put together. What this clearly shows is that the Buhari-led government prioritizes the interest of a few creditors, most of whom are members of the ruling class, far and above the obligations to the Nigerian working masses.

“The 2018 Budget is not fundamentally different from previous ones. The only constant thing about budgets in the last five years is the steady increment in the volume of budget as well as debt servicing. Capital expenditure nosedived in 2016 from N601 billion allocated in 2015 to mere N173.1 billion which was actually spent. However, in the same year 2016 debt servicing recorded N1.3 trillion up from N1 trillion in 2015. Hence, the budgets for social services like education and health have recorded paltry allocations”.

The party expressed concern that successive governments have plunged Nigeria’s economy into needless debt.

“It is obvious that governments at all levels have continually plunged the Nigeria economy into needless debt as a means of largely acquiring more public funds to themselves, resulting in increasing debt servicing. Besides, the Nigerian working masses do not feel any positive impact of these loans considering the fact that the loans are largely mismanaged and looted. The most ridiculous is government constantly and mostly borrowing money from the privileged few and imperialist institutions through financial instruments like treasury bills only to pay back one of the highest interest rates in the world and, to make matters worse, the loans are mostly not invested on anything tangible. The government through the CBN gives loans to the commercial banks only to borrow the same money at a more profitable rate is round stripping and stealing. Inflation in Nigeria is mostly influenced by cost push and not demand push considering the fact that Nigeria is mostly an import nation with a weak currency, weak purchasing power, lacking basic infrastructure, high cost of credit currently hovering 20% etc.

“A government that claims to bring about change should pay more attention to social services and massive job creation but typically of the capitalist government, less attention are paid to the challenges confronting the people. SPN is opposed to the provocatively high allocation to the National Assembly (N139.5), Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government (N112 billion), Office of the National Security Adviser to the Federal Government (N123billion) and the jumbo salaries and allowances for political office holders in the executive, legislators, agencies etc., put at over N500 billion. SPN government will reduce the allocation to the National Assembly by at least 80% and same for Office of Secretary to the FG and Security adviser to the FG and thereby saving about N300 billion that will be channelled into education, health etc.

“In the same way, the reduction of jumbo salaries and allowances to the average wage and allowances of civil servant will save at least another N300billion. SPN will pay back loans that were utilized in the interest of the people but will not service or pay loans owed to looters while some of the loans will be re-negotiated. SPN is opposed to Tax amnesty of N87.8 billion BUT favours making the rich and the big companies to pay more tax and hereby raising additional revenue from corporate income tax from N658 billion to at least N1 trillion. Massive investment in social infrastructure and industrialization under a democratic control of the working people will drastically reduce the cost of doing business and consequently attract more small and medium scale businesses.

“The Buhari government and the entire ruling elite are not thinking about industrialization let alone planning towards it, the government confuses foreign investment with industrialization. Attracting foreign Investment will not industrialise the economy, at best the foreign investors will cherry pick and exploit the opportunities to make the most profits. Only massive investments in key sectors like education, integrated transportation, rural development, modern agriculture, healthcare, steel etc., in a planned manner can industrialise and create jobs on a massive scale. The essence of industrializing the economy is to produce and carry out services faster, better and efficiently with the aim of improving the quality of life. This also means producing small tools and big machines including automated ones in Nigeria to enable the economy’s productivity increase and thereby raise living standards.

The party while urging the ruling class to wake up from their slumber to have a transparent government concluded that the task of achieving sustainable economic progress can only be carried out by the working masses themselves.

“The task of achieving sustainable economic progress can only be carried out by the working masses through nationalized planned economy under transparent and democratic control and management by the working people themselves. This is what the SPN will work to achieve by building a movement of Nigerian working people and the poor that can transform the country”. - Daily Post