FATHERS DAY: SOME FATHERS IN OSUN STATE LAMENTS DIFFICULTIES OVER RESPONSIBILITIES AT THE HOME FRONT

AS Nigerians celebrate this year’s Fathers’ Day, some fathers, who spoke to Sunday Tribune in Osogbo, Osun State, on Saturday lamented socio-economic difficulties they face in fulfilling their responsibilities as fathers.

Sizable number of them blamed their predicaments on poverty and the prevailing harsh economy of the country, which they claimed had been worsened by irregular payment of salaries to workers.

Mr Bimbo Olowookere said, “as a father, to take care of my family has been very difficult due to lack of funds. Everything have changed in the country. Payment of school fees and house rent have not been easy. Feeding the family has been difficult for me.

He continued, “with the situation on the ground, the government is not ready to assist fathers, more so as some of us, who are civil servants, are not getting our salaries as at when due. As a father, your family expect you to take care of them. Nowadays, taking care of the family financially is not easy.

The most important thing that affects us as fathers is the irregular payment of salary”. “Paying half salary to a father is not ideal because you have budgeted for a lot of things and at the end of the month, they give you half salary. That is major reason why things are difficult for us as fathers.

As a father, we face so many responsibilities from our family and family of our father and mother-in laws. Even, socially, we have responsibilities to take care of. I urge the government to come to our aid by paying our salaries and granting us soft loans of zero per cent interest,” Olowookere remarked.

An artisan, Mr Kazeem Adekunle, who is an artisan stated low patronage from customers has negatively affected his string of income, thus preventing him from playing his roles effectively as father in the house.

According to Adekunle, the bad economy has taken a toll on my work.We are not getting jobs from our customers again as we used to get. The complain almost everywhere is that lack of money. When your customers cannot feed well, how do you expect him give you jobs to do?

WHY WE LOST TO CROATIA - GERNOT ROHR

SPORTS:- FOOTBALL:

- Gernot Rohr says the Super Eagles mistakes cost them the match against Croatia

- The German coach also defends Mikel Obi performance against the Eastern Europeans

- The Super Eagles will be taking on Iceland on June, 22, in their next group D match Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has attributed Nigeria's 2-0 loss to Croatia in the opening match at Kaliningrad to too many mistakes.

The Eastern Europeans broke the deadlock in the first half as a Mario Mandzukic's header was unfortunately steered home by Oghenekaro Etebor.
Luka Modric converted a second half penalty to put the lead beyond the reach of the young Nigeria side.

In a post match interview, Rohr admitted his players were aware they made a lot of mistakes that cost them in the match. "We know we made some mistakes, too many important mistakes, and it is clear that we need to get better in order to move on," News Agency of Nigeria reports.

The German tactician also said that the entire team were disappointed with the result adding that the team need to show professionalism when taking set pieces.  "Our organization was good, that is clear just as the tactics were not wrong, but we need to be more professional in the way we take the set pieces. We need to be better before our next game," he added.

Rohr also said he was satisfied with the performance of Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi despite not delivering the goods for Nigeria. "Mikel since I took over have always been playing the way we deployed him to play, and this has yielded results for us.

"But, he couldn't have done better than he did today, because of the quality of those he was playing against. "He had Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona and Luka modric of Real Madrid playing against him, and they are of good quality and playing for clubs bigger than that of Mikel who plays in China. "So he really did well," he said.

Rohr also stressed Alex Iwobi substitution was a tactical one and not because he had a poor performance. "Iwobi deserved his starting place, based on his performances in the last few days. He only had big work to do with the full back, and this took too much out of him. "However, he did well and I don't think he shouldn't have started the game," he said.

The German technical adviser assured they will go back to the drawing board and his boys will have a better performance on June, 22, against Iceland. "We will improve because it is important for us. We have to get better in order to move forward," he said.

WHAT A SAD FRIDAY IN YABA, LAGOS, AS RESIDENTS CELEBRATE EID

Just as residents across the Lagos Mainland and other parts of Lagos State, Nigeria celebrates the auspicious occasion of Eid-il-Fitri, their counterparts in Onike, in Lagos Mainland, were thrown into panic and  confusion following a fire incident which occurred in the area on Friday, June 15, 2018.

According to the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) attached to the Lagos State Police Command, the incident occurred at No. 21 Akintunde Street off Onike round about, Yaba, Lagos Mainland, at about 12 noon.

The inferno razed parts of the building leaving occupants of the building to scamper for safety. Luckily, no life was lost in the incident.

According to eye witnesses on the scene,  a distress call was made to officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) who immediately mobilized to the scene.

The combined team of the RRS, LASEMA and Lagos State Fire Service, however, salvaged the situation after helping put out the fire.

See more photos from the scene below.

source: http://www.eyesoflagos.com/2018/06/black-friday-in-yaba-as-residents.html

TEARS FOR THE NIGERIAN CIVIL SERVANTS

A casual conversation with a civil servant acquaintance this past week brought home the grim and gloomy reality of the situation majority of those who work for state governments have found themselves.

The acquaintance, who works with a local government commission, said there are some local government workers who have not collected salaries in 12 months. He said in his case he has not been paid salary for seven months.

As I was trying to come to terms with people going to their workplace week in and week out over a period of one year, discharging their duties and carrying out their assigned responsibilities without the employer fulfilling his side of the agreement, it hit me that this was not just a localized problem but a national dilemma as many of the states in the country owe their workers several months of salary.

According to reports, no fewer than 12 states owe their workers between six months and 15 months in salary. Fifteen months without a salary! Does anyone care whether the workers live or die? For those married to bankers or federal civil servants or politicians or contractors or even traders, the worry is minimal as the spouse will rise to make up for the shortfall. But for those married to unemployed partners or other state civil servants or students, the woes are unimaginable! But does anyone care?

How do they cope? How do these workers manage to survive with the high cost of items in the country? How do they feed their children? How do they pay their wards’ school fees? How do they sustain their undergraduate children? How do they pay rent? How do they clothe their family members? For those of them with health conditions that require regular medication, how do they pay to sustain their health?

I imagine that many of the men will have abandoned their homes and seek refuge with older women or wealthy single women willing to pay for their service. I imagine that many of the women will have turned themselves to ladies of easy virtues just to keep their children fed and clothed. I imagine that many of the undergraduate children of these unfortunate civil servants will have resorted to allowing themselves keep older men warm or turn to crime to remain in school. I imagine that many of these civil servants will have mortgaged their dignity with friends and family for meager handouts.

BUT THERE WERE BAILOUTS TO THE STATES BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.? Since coming on stream, the Buhari administration has bailed out state governments thrice with the emphasis on using the funds for payment of salaries to civil servants to stimulate the economy. In 2015, the Federal Government offered bailout funds to the states from the revenue paid into the consolidated account by the Nigeria Liquefied Gas Limited. Then the FG, working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), took over the debts of the states so give reprieve to those of them with heavy debt burden. It then provided a window for the states to borrow as much as N10bn in total. Not long ago, the Federal Government also paid about N2.09 trillion to the states as refund for the London-Paris Club deductions.

But in spite of these interventions and the regular revenue from the federation account, a third of the states still owe their workers. However, many of the owing governors do not have any justification for this as they convert state funds to personal use. According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), one of the state governors, who collected the London-Paris Club, refund expended $3million on building a 100-room hotel in Lagos. Imagine a salary-owing governor spending over a billion naira on just one building when some of his workers cannot pay their rent and have to seek refuge with friends and relations. This act of fund diversion is a common denominator of state governors.

Now, what manner of governor will leave millions without food on their tables and clothes on their bodies and spend billions meant for them on a project meant for him? What manner of leader will not have compassion on the suffering masses but will only be concerned about milking and bilking the poor? What manner of person will not think twice about depleting the state coffers as long as his personal account is replete with funds? What manner of leader will run his state aground just to build his personal estate?

I weep for the unfortunate civil servants who have to run from pillar to post, putting up with insults just to keep body and soul together. I weep for their children who have to bear the brunt of misguided leadership. I weep for their spouses who have been subjected to sub-human existence. But much more, I weep for my country. What future awaits a nation whose leaders are only concerned about their Italian shoes, Brazilian belts, Swiss wristwatches, American cars, marble mansions and imported whores? I weep because I do not see a change in the pattern in the immediate future.

Great countries are not built on the greed of leaders but on their sacrifices for their people and thoughtfulness for the future. But who cares about the Nigerian people and the country’s future?

LATENESS OF OFFICIALS, MATERIALS MAR RIVERS LG POLL

The Rivers State’s local government poll was on Saturday marred by the late arrival of officials of the state Independent Electoral Commission and sensitive materials to polling units across the state, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

NAN noted that voter turnout was not too impressive as the exercise started at noon in some polling units instead of 8am.

At about 11.05am, some of the officials were seen setting up tables and arranging the materials for the exercise at units 2, 10, 11, 13 and 14 of Ward 2 in the Obio Akpor Local Government Area.

The situation was the same at Governor Nyesom Wike’s Unit 7, Ward 9, Rumuprikon, and in units 2, 4, 5, 19 and 26 in ward 10, also in Obio Akpor.

A Labour Party agent for Unit 19, Ward 10, Mr Peter Chukwuemezu, said the situation was frustrating and a sign of insincerity in the process, adding that nobody gave reasons for the delay.

A voter in the unit, Mr Udom Ekporimo, told NAN that he and some other voters got to the ward at 8am and only policemen deployed to the unit joined them later.

A Peoples Democratic Party leader in Unit 26, Mr Lucky Nkoro, decried the late commencement of the election and attributed it to delayed sorting of materials at the council’s headquarters.

Similarly, a voter at Ward 14, Ogbunabali, Mrs Ann Chukwu, said it was a case of voters waiting for the election officials to report for duty.

She attributed the delay to inadequacies in the distribution of materials to the wards and units.

Earlier at Ward 10, Mile 4 area of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, some voters were seen waiting patiently for the officials and materials as of 10.50am. The exercise was however peaceful across the state.

Some youths in Port Harcourt, mostly above 18 years, converted some major streets in the city into football pitches while the election was ongoing.

Some of them told NAN that whether they voted or not, those who would win had already been selected.

One of them, who decline to identify himself, said “this election is just for formality; the only party that will win landslide is PDP, so, why bother going to vote? We want to use this opportunity to do our own exercise since the roads are fairly free of vehicles.”

The state police command banned vehicular movements between 7am and 4pm to ensure a credible exercise.

But it was observed that the order was also violated by some commercial motorcyclists, who operated freely.

At Oyigbo, a motorcyclist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NAN that he took the risk of defying the order to make money to cater for his family.

”Since there was no disturbance by the security agencies and there are passengers, I needed to make money to take care of my family,’’ he said.

The poll was boycotted by the All Progressives Congress due to its suit against it.

Also, another Labour Party agent for Unit 5, Ward 10 in Obio-Akpor, Mrs Grace Nicholas, said she was not satisfied with the conclusion of the election.

Nicholas said, “I am not satisfied as a polling unit agent for LP. I feel intimidated may be because I am woman.’’

She said the process started peacefully despite the fact that the electoral officials arrived late to the unit with the materials.

Besides, the commission’s Media and Publicity Officer, Mr Innocent Boma, told NAN that the election was peaceful because of adequate security and voters’ orderly conduct.

It was observed that the election was almost disrupted by a stormy rainfall in the afternoon, especially in Port Harcourt.

The rain started at 2.30pm with flashes of lightning, forcing voters at polling booths to run for shelter.

In Eleme area, only accredited voters at polling stands were seen casting their votes amid the downpour.

The state Governor, Nyesom Wike, said the council election in the 23 local government areas of the state was peaceful because the APC didn’t participate in the exercise.

Wike, who spoke after monitoring the local government elections in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor council area, said 66 out of 68 political parties participated in the exercise.

The governor hailed the state electoral commission for conducting credible poll across the state.

Wike also lauded security agencies for ensuring peaceful conduct of the poll by creating the right atmosphere for the exercise.

In the Ikwerre Local Government Area, a candidate of the PDP, Mr Samuel Nwanosike, described the exercise as peaceful. But the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, in a statement by his media team on Saturday, said the poll was fraught with “massive low turnout.”

Also, the APC in the state disagreed with Wike that the exercise was peaceful because the main opposition party boycotted it.

In his reaction, the state Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chris Finebone, said exercise was peaceful because thugs working for the PDP had nobody to shoot.

Finebone pointed out that the APC was not part of the LG poll because it decided to obey court orders, maintaining that there was no formidable opponent to the PDP during the exercise.

He said, “The governor is simply not saying the truth; he knows that it is the PDP that is in the habit of causing election violence.’’

Meanwhile, a journalist with a Port Harcourt-based radio station, Precious Ahiakwo, told our correspondent that she was beaten up by suspected political thugs of one of the parties that contested chairmanship in the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the state.

Ahiakwo lamented that the thugs noticed when she was trying to record where money was being shared to some party supporters and they descended on her.

Earlier, the Nigerian Army said soldiers would be on standby to forestall violence during the poll.

The Spokesman for the Nigerian Army 6 Division, Port Harcourt, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, told NAN that soldiers would be deployed at strategic points several kilometres away from polling centres.

He explained that the army was adopting that strategy because “we are not directly involved in the election and no soldier will be deployed for any election duty.’’

IT'S POLITICIAN'S THUGS THAT KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE, LABEL KILLERS HERDSMEN – DEFENCE SPOKESMAN

Politicians’ thugs kill people, label killers herdsmen – Defence spokesman

The acting Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. John Agim, speaks on the allegation of military collusion with herdsmen in Taraba State and the killings in Zamfara, Kaduna and Benue, among other issues in this interview with OLALEYE ALUKO

The military has an ongoing operation, Whirl Stroke, which is supposed to tackle the violence in Taraba, Benue, Zamfara and Nasarawa states. What is the progress report of that operation?

The operation, which is still ongoing, is tackling the security challenges in those areas. At least for some time now, there has been a reduction in the security issues around that axis. Why the affected places are becoming calm is because of the operation in that area.

If you check, most of the security challenges and killings in those areas have reduced drastically. On a weekly basis and in fact on a daily basis, there are lots of strategies being put in place under this operation. The operation in these four states will not end until there is normalcy there.

The Taraba State Government has rejected the army panel report on the Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma’s allegation of military collusion with herdsmen, claiming it is not representative. What is the military’s reaction?

The panel report interviewed everyone it was supposed to interview. But it was unable to get comments from Lt. Gen. TY Danjuma (retd.). But the panel report was not for the Taraba State Government to agree with or not. Let me assure you that the military is being careful not to bring out a report that will be misinterpreted as political.

For instance, why is the state government rejecting the report? An exercise is ongoing in your state and you said you don’t like the commander of the operation because he told you that he could not be partisan?

The problem which the state government ( not only in Taraba) have with the military is that when the military came in, they thought the soldiers were coming to enforce their laws. Is that the military’s responsibility? If the military goes in and says it wants to enforce the state’s anti-grazing laws, then it means the military is doing the work of the state government. The military is not supposed to enforce those laws. So we told them we are coming to make sure that there is security.

It was also discovered that there were a lot of people carrying arms, including the herdsmen. So we said nobody should carry arms; anybody who carries arms shall be arrested. But they (the state governments) don’t want their own people to surrender their arms.

During this period, we also discovered that some politicians were using their thugs against another community within the same state, and they made it looked as if herdsmen were attacking the people. Some of these people were arrested.

For instance, in a local government area, there are two communities fighting against each other and we arrested some people with arms. We did not want to blow it up because it will be misinterpreted.

Some of the suspects arrested and stopped from carrying out that vandalism told us that some politicians sent them against another community to carry out those attacks. So the state government said they did not agree with the army panel, but they have not given any cogent reasons.

The army panel also included indigenes of that (Taraba) state. The retired general who headed the committee and the members of the panel are from that state; they have something at stake.

The military has no reason to collude with herdsmen because a good number of the troops serving in that operation are from that region. People should not play politics with security issues because if we do, it will not do anybody any good.

So, one of the problems of the state government was that they did not want the commanding officer in their area because he said, “I am not here to do your bidding. You cannot use the army to achieve political ends.” That is why the state is angry with him.

So we have a battalion in that state and many of the troops are also from that region. If we allow the military to dance to political tunes, it will be disastrous, because the military is the institution that is still holding the unity of this country.

In the ongoing Operation Whirl Stroke, is there synergy and cooperation between the military and the Taraba State Government to end this crisis?

Yes, in the operation, we have not had any issue with any authorities. In Benue State, we are looking at how the Internally Displaced Persons can start returning to their homes and villages.

What is the role of the military in the prosecution of the 163 suspects arrested in Benue, Taraba and other states?

It should not be our problem to follow up on prosecution. The military arrested suspects and we don’t have to follow up but we have to hand them to the agency which will carry out the prosecution. I was in Benue State about two weeks to inaugurate Operation Whirl Stroke and I discovered that herdsmen and others were still being prosecuted in Benue State.

Nobody should imagine that the police and the Department of State Services, who are saddled with the task of prosecution, will not do their work. We should not imagine it.

In one of the significant clashes where you said 35 herdsmen were killed in Benue by troops, did the military examine the corpses? Were you able to determine their nationality and tribe, at least to find out if they were indeed foreigners or Nigerians?

What will be the gain of the military doing that? What do we gain from where they are from? We know that some of these people (killers) are not Nigerians. It is when we arrest them alive that we can ask them the identities of their sponsors and how they got here.

We know that some of the attackers in the North-East are also not Nigerians. That has already been established. Some of the attackers were brought in because they thought they could make money.

Those who are recruited sometimes do it for money. You must have seen the video where hoodlums in Niger and Chad were begging to be recruited into the Boko Haram group and to come to Nigeria. So the issue is that some people, who are looking for something to do, are willing instruments in the hands of whoever wants to recruit them.

Sadly enough, our borders are porous and we have a large space where people can come in, where they can easily be recruited into criminalities.

How is the military tackling the disturbing cases of killings in Zamfara?

What happened is that at the time we took over at the four states, there was a need to conduct a proper reconnaissance in those troubled areas. The next thing was that we wanted to strategise how to deploy the Special Forces operational in Taraba, Benue and Nasarawa to Zamfara also.

By the end of this (last) week, we will move the Special Forces to Zamfara. In an operation, you don’t just deploy troops and dump them in a place. You need to embark on reconnaissance, check what is on the ground and what equipment needed to be deployed. If not, the operation cannot be effective.

For instance, in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states, it was discovered that using only vehicles for patrol is not effective. So we had to deploy motorcycles also to access areas that are not motorable. And if the troops go to these places and the hoodlums enter the bushes, there is no way you can arrest them except you pursue them on motorcycles.

How many soldiers have you lost or that are injured in Operation Whirl Stroke?

I don’t have the number yet. But about three weeks ago when the troops encountered herdsmen in a Benue State, we killed about 35 herdsmen and we lost one soldier. Two soldiers were missing in action on that day but they have now been found alive.

Don’t you think there is also a need to focus on the Birnin-Gwari area of Kaduna State as there are reported kidnappings and killings in that area too?

The operation, which will take off in Zamfara State will monitor the situation in Birnin-Gwari. If you look at it, the bandits come into Birnin-Gwari from Zamfara.

The military have been so critical of the Amnesty International’s report of soldiers committing rape and sexual violations in Internally Displaced Persons camps in Borno State. Shouldn’t the military investigate its personnel instead of condemning the AI’s report?

We have investigated those claims. Last week, I was in Maiduguri, Borno State, where I asked journalist to enter the IDP camps with me to verify these allegations. To start with, the Nigerian Army is not just critical about the AI’s report; when you do something improper, and you repeat it over and over again, one begins to wonder what your intention is.

As a result of AI and other national and international human rights organisations’ reports, we don’t deploy soldiers in conflict areas without them undergoing training in human rights and laws in armed conflicts at Jaji, Kaduna State, where we have a peacekeeping centre handling those areas. We tell the troops that if you violate human rights, you will be punished. In Maiduguri, there is a court martial waiting for any soldier who commits any human rights abuses.

We also have the human rights desk in the Defence Headquarters, army headquarters and in the operational fields to ensure that all our activities conform to the international standard on human rights.

In the AI report under contention, did the organisation report anything that is new? No. it was the events of 2015 and 2016 brought forward and they packaged it as if these things just happened.

After we left Maiduguri, there is a group of IDP women under one movement who alleged again that we put words into their mouths to deny that they were raped. But I never did that.

I have challenged the journalists they should not wait for the military to take them to the IDPs camps. I have asked them to go there and carry out discreet investigations. We also went to the United Nations Children’s Fund; we went around the medical centres and hospitals around the IDP camps to confirm if there was any incident of rape involving soldiers. We didn’t find any.

In the IDPs camp we went, there are 35,199 people and from five local government areas. In the second camp we went, there were two LGAs, and 7,850 people and they all said nothing such as rape by soldiers.

But the female IDPs also alleged that some of their husbands were unjustly arrested and detained as Boko Haram suspects. Is this true?

The female group, under a movement, said they want about 1,000 suspected Boko Haram members, who are still undergoing screening and investigations, to be released. Do you know what that means?

If the women are asking for the release of suspected Boko Haram members who have not been properly screened, then that is a problem. It means they have sympathy for the insurgents. We have suspected terrorists who have been released after adequate screening and they are undergoing screening through Operation Safe Corridor in Gombe State.

We have other suspects who could not be released and had to be taken to Niger State for trial.

In Maiduguri, all hotels have been booked by many national and international organisations. You cannot get to Maiduguri and think you can easily check into any hotel. If you go to these places, you see payments made for up to a year in advance.

If they are getting international funds and they report that the Boko Haram war has ended, where will they get further funding?

The military is working towards ensuring that the war in the North-East ends. There are organisations that wish that the violence should continue so that they can sustain their economic interests.

WOMAN CRUSHED TO DEATH ON HER WAY TO MOSQUE. - GRAPHIC PHOTOS

Yesterday was indeed a sad day even as Muslims around the world marked the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

A Muslim woman was not so lucky afterall, as she got killed in an avoidable unfortunate circumstance. According to a report by one Musa Ahmed, the woman was killed after being hit by a speeding vehicle on her way to the mosque for Eid prayers.

She died on the spot as shocked passersby gathered and evacuated her corpses.

May her soul rest in peace.

Source; https://www.nationalhelm.co/2018/06/sallah-tragedy-woman-crushed-to-death-on-her-way-to-mosque-graphic-photos.html