Lagos elders seek unemployment benefits for youths

 

The Lagos State Council of Elders has called on the government to consider payment of benefits to unemployed youths.

The council’s Chairman, Mr Tajudeen Olusi, made the call at the 8th Town Hall Meeting held in Eti-Osa Constituency on Thursday in Lagos.

The meeting was part of the Lagos State House of Assembly Constituency Stakeholders’ Meeting which held simultaneously in all the constituencies of the state.

It had as its theme, “Post COVID-19 Pandemic: The Challenges and Prospects”.

Olusi said: “In Britain for instance, the government gives allowances to those who do not have job, and when such people finally get employment, the government stops the allowances.

“In Nigeria, we should sit down and think of the possibility of having that system where the unemployed can be given allowances.

“It will require that all unemployed people should be registered; this will also help government in their planning to know the number of unemployed people in all local governments.

“With determination and devotion, we shall overcome.”

Olusi also called on every Nigerian, including those in leadership positions, to unite in the fight against corruption.

According to him, such commitment will begin with the individual.

“Corruption is in every aspect of our lives; let us come together and vow. Let us start from bribery.

“If every Nigeria vows not to offer bribes to anybody, including the policeman, bankers, among others, we will reduce the issue of corruption drastically,” Olusi said.

In his remarks, a resident of Eti-Osa, Mr Olusegun Awonusi, commended the efforts of the lawmaker representing the Constituency, Mr Gbolahan Yishawu, for meeting the needs of the people in his constituency.

“Yishawu has done so much for the community by putting smiles on faces of the widows, aged, middle-class and less-privileged.

“He has been an extraordinary leader, but due to the pandemic, things have been slow.

“He is a youth and understands what youths in the society are fighting for, which is something good and he keeps saying to the youths, ‘Let us do the right things,” Awonusi said.

- PM NEWS

Lagos lawmaker on #EndSARS: Most Nigerian youths are always high on drugs

 

Mojisola Alli-Macaulay, the lawmaker representing Amuwo Odofin constituency 1 at the Lagos state house of assembly, says most Nigerian youths are always high on drugs.

The lawmaker was speaking at a recent plenary session in the wake of looting of properties by hoodlums and other attendant crisis trailing the #EndSARS protests across the country.

Alli-Macaulay said there is an urgent need for the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to start orienting the youths and engage them meaningfully.

The lawmaker decried the level of social media misuse among Nigerian youths, adding that such informs her decision to regulate her children’s usage of the platform.

“The National Orientation Agency needs to get to work. We need to begin to orientate our young people. They need people who can talk to them from time to time,” she said.

“They are high on drugs all the time, most of them. They go to social media and say all sorts of things. I’m even scared to give my young children phones because I am scared of what they may see on social media. It is that bad.”

The lawmaker also condemned the looting of properties by hoodlums across the country, explaining that unemployment cannot be a justification for such actions.

“I schooled in the UK and I saw a lot of young people who were not employed but they didn’t become hoodlums. Why can’t we look inwards and look for solutions to our problems?” she added.

Her comment comes after Desmond Elliot, a Nigerian movie star cum politician, also advocated regulation of the social media, saying there would be no Nigeria in five years if the vices of social media are not tackled.

- THECABLE

Lagos: Man insists on return of lover pregnant for friend

There was a mild drama in Lagos as a man insisted that his girlfriend, now pregnant for a friend he accommodated, come back to him.

The incident occured Thursday night near Ikota Shopping Complex.

Eyewitnesses told DAILY POST that the jilted lover boy caused a scene that attracted security operatives.

The unidentified citizen, who resides in Obalende, narrated the matter as a crowd surrounded both parties.

In his recount, the man said earlier in the year, he provided shelter to his friend.

The complaint recalled that the pal discussed his situation and urgently needed a place to stay.

Soon after ease of the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, his girlfriend also needed accommodation and joined them.

The man disclosed that he was always out for work most part of weekdays.

Admitting that he introduced the lady to the friend as his sister, he said the duo moved out of his place without notification.

The man said he was worried and tried all he could to reach them to no avail.

It was later he discovered that the friend had impregnated his sweetheart hence their decision to flee.

The man said he finally traced the new couple to an area close to Thomas Estate in Ajah. However, despite the lady’s condition, the lover boy wants her back.

Speaking, the friend stated that the complainant should be blamed for hiding his relationship.

“It’s not my fault, you told me she’s your sister. Am I lying?”, he was quoted as saying.

It was gathered that the lady, in her twenties, remained quiet while the argument lasted.

While some blamed her for sleeping with the friend even while in an affair with their host, others told the man to take responsibility and accept his fate.

Still, he vowed not to leave without her and was losing control.

His violent behaviour was suppressed by security personnel.

They then dispersed everyone as the 8pm curfew approached.

- DAILY POST

Police Commissioner asks IPOB members to leave Rivers

 Rivers Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, has warned members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, to relocate from the State or risk the embarrassment of being treated as terrorists when apprehended.

Mukan said this in a statement on Thursday while declaring war against miscreants who attacked and looted public and private properties and burnt police stations in the state in the guise of #EndSARS protests recently.

The statement indicated that the police commissioner gave the warning after meeting with the Divisional Police Officers and head of departments of the tactical units in the command.

He also ordered the deployment of both intelligence and patrols teams across the command to ensure that looted items were recovered and the perpetrators arrested with immediate effect.

The statement reads thus: “The CP further warns members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra to relocate from the, state as machineries have been put in place to fish them out and deal with them as a terrorist group.

“Again, the CP, for the umpteenth time, wishes to reiterate emphatically that Rivers State is not an IPOB state and will deal decisively with any group that carries out activities under that guise or any guise whatsoever.

“IPOB has been outlawed by both the federal and state governments and to that extent it is non-existent anywhere else, including Rivers State.”

The CP, however, urged parents and guardians in the state to caution their children and wards to be law-abiding or face the full wrath of the law.

Meanwhile,  joint patrol by the Army and Police have continued Oyigbo where residents have been trapped indoors with mass arrests sporadic shootings.

The operation is sequel to alleged attack carried out by suspected members of IPOB  in which some police officers and soldiers were killed.

- PM NEWS

REVEALED: UK govt trained SARS operatives for four years

 

The United Kingdom government trained the operatives of the disbanded special anti-robbery squad (SARS) for four years, according to a top government official in Britain.

In a letter dated October 29, 2020, James Duddridge, UK minister for Africa, said the former operatives of SARS participated in a training “designed to improve human rights.”

The letter was addressed to Kate Osamor, a member of the UK parliament, who shared a copy via her Twitter handle.

Osamor had written the minister to confirm reported links the UK government had with SARS following a nationwide protest against the police unit over alleged abuse of human rights.

The protests were the peak of years-long agitation against the anti-robbery squad accused of excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and, in some cases, extrajudicial killings.

In the letter, Duddridge said the training programme ended in March 2020, adding that the UK remains committed to the respect for human rights in Nigeria.

The letter read: “Through our CSSF-funded Nigeria Policing Programme, which ended in March 2020, FSARS officers participated in training on amended Nigerian police guidance designed to improve human rights, training on public finance and community policing workshops.

“This was in support of our wider objectives to strengthen the capacity, accountability and responsiveness of the Nigerian Police Force.

“The Nigeria Policing Programme was part of our Society and Justice Reform Programme, which is working to help deliver a criminal justice system that better protects the human rights of all Nigerians.”

The UK minister cited the community-policing framework and improved relations with communities as some of the positive outcomes of the program

Osamor described the revelation by the minister as shocking and sought further clarification.

“Either the Government deliberately funded SARS units when they were known to have committed extra-judicial killings or it had no idea where that funding was going,” she wrote via her Twitter handle.

During the #EndSARS protests, Catriona Laing, British high commissioner to Nigeria, had called for accountability over alleged human rights violations reported against the anti-robbery squad.

- THECABLE

ASUU reveals why strike has not ended

 The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has blamed the Federal Government for frustrating efforts to resolve issues that resulted in the ongoing strike embarked upon by the lecturers.

ASUU National President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, stated this on Politics Today, a programme aired on Channels Television.

Ogunyemi claimed that the Federal Government has refused to take the necessary steps in addressing the strike action.

According to him, the delay in adopting ASUU’s preferred platform, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, is one of the major reasons the strike has not been suspended.

He said, “The strike is still on as a result of the FG not taking the necessary steps. We gave them two weeks to address our five points demands.

“We engaged the government but they were not forthcoming. They had a whole year to address those issues. They gave us positions that were not acceptable to our members.

“During our first meeting, we thought they were almost resolving the issues.

“What compounded the problem is the issue of IPPIS. We have said that it is a distraction. There is no university in the world that uses IPPIS.

“We have done three presentations of UTAS to the Minister of Education and his team, the leadership of the Senate and Office of the Accountant-General. They only agreed that UTAS is accepted in principles.

“We are almost getting UTAS approved but the government is saying that our members should first migrate to IPPIS before returning to UTAS. That makes no economic sense. The government has made it difficult for smooth negotiation. They said our members will be paid when they move to IPPIS.”

- DAILY POST

Arsonist attack: Over 250 production staff out of work – TVC’s CEO Hanlon

 Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Television Continental (TVC), Andrew Hanlon on Thursday said more than 250 production staff working in the building razed by arsonists, have been out of work since the incident occurred.

He spoke when Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his team, among which included the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Gboyega Soyannwo, and Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, paid condolence visit to management of the burnt station.

Hanlon took the governor round the main auditorium, which was the hub of the TV station’s operation. It was completely razed.

The auditorium housed three main studios, three control rooms, three master control rooms and central transmission laboratory said to have been equipped with the modern communication gadgets worth millions of dollars.

All left in the building were charred materials.

The TV station boss also added that over 500 direct employees of the station had been struggling to work in temporary accommodation put up by the company.

Hanlon said: “After the rioters invaded our premises and set the place on fire, some buildings in the premises survived. But the main transmission building is completely destroyed and it was the hub of our operations. The rioters cast fear and terror in the hearts of our employees when they broke in last week’s Wednesday morning.

“People’s hard work and huge investment that went down into the TV station were destroyed in a period of about an hour. The incident was really traumatising for all of us. The rioters left immense devastation. The entire interior of the building was destroyed. This is all that is left of our bubbling building, which was a centrepiece. Thankfully, no member of staff died in the incident.”

Hanlon said the immediate priority before the management of the TV station was to ensure that all direct employees were looked after, stressing that the means of livelihood of thousands of indirect workers attached to the brand had been threatened.

He said efforts were being taken to return TVC back to its full operations, promising that the station would bounce back stronger than it was.

The Governor was also shown a wreck of burnt vehicles belonging to the station and employees.

- PM NEWS