Lines of cars on heavy queues return to Kano filling stations on November 7, 2021, prompting some people to accuse the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) of intentionally creating an artificial scarcity.
Most filling stations have been nil with no sign of activities, while motorists move about looking for the fuel.
Reports indicate that speculation of a possible increase in fuel price by the Federal Government might have resulted in the scarcity.
A drug dealer who has been accused of trying to export illicit drugs to the United Kingdom and other countries, Okoli Collins, has been apprehended by men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
According to a statement signed by the agency’s Director (Media and Advocacy), Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, the suspect was once in November 2020 arrested after he was caught trying to export 15.700kgs of Methamphetamine to Australia.
He had also been involved in a series of attempts to export “78 parcels of Cannabis, concealed in black soap packs labelled as Dudu Osun, with a total weight of 12.250 kilograms heading to the UK.”
The statement added, “Further investigation also revealed that Okoli is the one behind the attempt to export 7.350kgs of Cannabis to the UK on Thursday, October 21, a consignment that was intercepted at NAHCO export shed of the MMIA.
“Curiously, a separate investigation by operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation of the agency, attached to courier companies have equally traced to Okoli two other attempts to export 47.7kgs of cannabis to the UK through courier firms after his agents arrested in the course of investigation named him as the owner of the consignments.”
Intro text we refine our methods of responsive web design, we’ve increasingly focused on measure and its relationship to how people read.
Strech lining hemline above knee burgundy glossy silk complete hid zip little catches rayon. Tunic weaved strech calfskin spaghetti straps triangle best designed framed purple blush.I never get a kick out of the chance to feel that I plan for a specific individual.
Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean. A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia. It is a paradisematic country, in which roasted parts of sentences fly into your mouth.
A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. Even the all-powerful Pointing has no control about the blind texts it is an almost unorthographic life One day however a small line of blind text by the name of Lorem Ipsum decided to leave for the far World of Grammar. The Big Oxmox advised her not to do so, because there were thousands of bad Commas, wild Question Marks and devious Semikoli, but the Little Blind Text didn’t listen.
On her way she met a copy. The copy warned the Little Blind Text, that where it came from it would have been rewritten a thousand times and everything that was left from its origin would be the word “and” and the Little Blind Text should turn around and return to its own, safe country.
A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine. I am so happy, my dear friend, so absorbed in the exquisite sense of mere tranquil existence, that I neglect my talents.
But nothing the copy said could convince her and so it didn’t take long until a few insidious Copy Writers ambushed her, made her drunk with Longe and Parole and dragged her into their agency, where they abused her for their projects again and again. And if she hasn’t been rewritten, then they are still using her.
A busy man keeps working while he waits. | Image: Unsplash
Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean. A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia.
A collection of textile samples lay spread out on the table – Samsa was a travelling salesman – and above it there hung a picture that he had recently cut out of an illustrated magazine and housed in a nice, gilded frame. It showed a lady fitted out with a fur hat and fur boa who sat upright, raising a heavy fur muff that covered the whole of her lower arm towards the viewer.
Gregor then turned to look out the window at the dull weather. Drops of rain could be heard hitting the pane, which made him feel quite sad. “How about if I sleep a little bit longer and forget all this nonsense”, he thought, but that was something he was unable to do because he was used to sleeping on his right, and in his present state couldn’t get into that position. However hard he threw himself onto his right, he always rolled back to where he was.
The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.
One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections.
A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. Even the all-powerful Pointing has no control about the blind texts it is an almost unorthographic life One day however a small line of blind text by the name of Lorem Ipsum decided to leave for the far World of Grammar. The Big Oxmox advised her not to do so, because there were thousands of bad Commas, wild Question Marks and devious Semikoli, but the Little Blind Text didn’t listen.
His room, a proper human room although a little too small, lay peacefully between its four familiar walls. A collection of textile samples lay spread out on the table – Samsa was a travelling salesman – and above it there hung a picture that he had recently cut out of an illustrated magazine and housed in a nice, gilded frame.
It showed a lady fitted out with a fur hat and fur boa who sat upright, raising a heavy fur muff that covered the whole of her lower arm towards the viewer. Gregor then turned to look out the window at the dull weather. Drops of rain could be heard hitting the pane, which made him feel quite sad.
The voting exercise of the Anambra State governorship election being conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been extended to tomorrow Sunday, “due to malfunctioning of the Bimodal Accreditation System (BVAS) to vote.”
Dr Nkwachukwu Orji, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for INEC in Anambra State, on Saturday in Awka made the announcement, in which he says the voting is extended by one hour.
He was quoted as saying, “In line with existing regulations and guidelines of the Commission, any intending voter who is on the queue by 4.00 pm shall be allowed to vote.
“The extension of time arose out of several field reports that voters have had problems with accreditation.
“The Commission is currently investigating the reason the accreditation devices, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), have worked perfectly in some Polling Units, but not in others.
“In cases of malfunction of the BVAS, the Presiding Officer must inform the voters and polling agents that accreditation and voting shall continue tomorrow or at another time determined by the Commission.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has denied claims that its staff took a selfie with a billionaire socialite and businessman, Obinna Iyiegbu, aka Obi Cubana.
This is in reaction to a picture trending online with the caption, “EFCC Crew poses for quick photograph with billionaire socialite and businessman Obi Cubana”.
In a statement released on Friday, November 5, 2021, by the commission’s head of media and publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, the anti-corruption agency considered the news of the photograph as fake.
“…at no time during his ongoing investigation, period in custody or release did Obi Cubana pose for photographs with EFCC staff,” part of the statement reads.
Proving the fakery of the alleged selfie, the agency quoted a popular security analyst, Uncle Deji, who traced the picture to October 2021, as against the claim that it was taken in the first week of November of the same year.
“This post is deliberately misleading, this picture was taken 7th October 2021 during a book launch of Colonel Chukwu Obasi at Nigerian Army Resource Centre in Abuja in which Obi Cubana attended as a guest,” the post reads.
The commission held and interrogated Obi Cubana between Monday 1st of November, 2021 and Thursday of the same week.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Friday morning via it’s official website has announced the new toll of Covid-19 cases recording two deaths and 87 new cases of in the country.
The NCDC website said 87 new infections on Thursday was as a result of the infectious decrease from the 209 infections reported of on Wednesday.
The Public Health Institute added that the new infections were recorded across seven states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Thursday.
“While the latest report includes zero cases from Delta, Edo, Sokoto and Taraba States. Taking the country’s total confirmed cases to 212,446. However, 204,047 of those infected have recovered while 2,902 have died.
“Aminu! I cannot travel to Afghanistan. I am afraid that the Taliban will kill me. I am not going anywhere and will rather die in Germany”.
These are the exact words by my friend and neighbour, Suroosh, who incidentally is from Afghanistan. According to him, going to Afghanistan is akin to signing his death warrant. Suroosh also narrated a gory tale about how a relative was hacked to death a few weeks ago by the Taliban just because he worked as a translator for the United States Embassy in Kabul.
This issue got me perplexed, and I became curious about why the Taliban wanted Surrosh dead. My neighbour revealed that he previously worked for an international non-governmental organisation in Kabul before moving to Germany for further studies. This alone puts him on target for elimination by the Taliban if he decides to visit Afghanistan.
I usually perform my Friday prayer at the Afghan mosque in my city here in Kiel. However, from my interaction with some Afghan nationals, I observed that feeling of hopelessness and agony. These people cannot go back to their country for fear of the unknown. Most of those I engaged in conversation with are afraid to go home for fear of being killed by religious zealots.
This article is not about the Taliban or Afghanistan; I want to draw our attention to the negative trend and how lack of proper understanding of Islamic tenets can lead to chaos and anarchy, resulting in mass suffering among the citizens. It should be noted that this discussion with my neighbour took place shortly after the Taliban took over the mantle of leadership in Afghanistan.
I have always refrained from engaging in any discussion about the myriad of challenges bedevilling Northern Nigeria. However, I realised that one could not continue to maintain silence when it comes to issues about one’s homeland. I am compelled to write this because I am worried about the current security situation in the North, especially kidnapping and banditry. The issue at home has become critical that we need to do whatever it takes in one way or the other to change the narrative.
I have observed with keen interest and dismay the incessant verbal attacks and altercation among our people, particularly our youths, over religious issues in various social media platforms and offline. We attack one another and show hatred and bitterness to our fellow Muslims just because of sectarian differences. This has degenerated to the extent that people within a particular sect will be tagging others who do not believe in their doctrine as infidels.
The Islamic scholars from various sects are not left out in this altercation and dangerous trend. Some make uncomplimentary remarks against other scholars and sects during their preaching and sermon, which always elicit amusement rather than condemnation from their audience. This has become constant and worrisome that we must try as much as possible to propagate against this; otherwise, it will not augur well for our society if we all keep quiet and refuse to act.
Let me, first of all, clarify some issues. First, I am not an Islamic scholar, and I do not claim to have a vast knowledge of Islam. However, having been taught by Sunni Islamic scholars from Pakistan, India, and Egypt at the College of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Afikpo, Ebonyi State, I can distinguish between right and wrong in Islam. Our teachers (at Markaz) never taught us to discriminate against other sects or abuse people that do not believe in our doctrine. I still don’t understand why our people dissipate energy on religious arguments and trivial issues to the extent of cursing one another.
Today, the North is no longer secure and safe. People are being hacked to death in large numbers. Religious intolerance has become a significant challenge in our society. We derive joy in casting aspersion on people and mocking those who do not believe in our ideology. This got me wondering whether there is something wrong with us. Why should we be fighting one another over different doctrines and sects? Is Islam in Nigeria different from the one being practised in other saner climes and countries?
Are we not concerned with the number of out-of-school children, illiteracy, industrial stagnation, high unemployment and the raging inflation in the North? Are the incessant killings of hapless villagers perpetrated by marauders and bandits in our rural communities not enough to wake us up from our slumber? I am afraid that if we continue on this trajectory, we will wake up one day and discover that we have no place to call home because of what we have done to ourselves.
Afghanistan is in chaos and ruins today because of this religious rascality, and I am afraid the North is heading in that direction. Prayer alone without action cannot stop the calamity that may happen if we fail to take action. Therefore, it behoves us as individuals and groups to start a conversation and see how we can live in unity and harmony with our fellow Muslim brothers irrespective of their sect and ideology.
We should learn to accommodate people in our midst irrespective of the sect they belong to or the religion they practice. We should endeavour to voice out against Islamic preachers who abuse other sects or do not share their ideology. Tolerance should be our watchword and the only key to our progress and prosperity as a people. We need peace and security for us to grow as a nation. Silence is no longer a virtue. We cannot remain silent and continue to watch as spectators while our region degenerates into anarchy.
Aminu Mohammed is at the School of Sustainability, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, Germany. He can be reached via gravity23n@gmail.com.
There have been reports of attack by ISWAP fighters on a community hospital and telecommunication mast in the town of Mugumeri Local Government Area of Borno State on November 3, 2021.
It was gathered that the attackers stole some drugs and other medical consumables from the facility.
While the military exchanged gunfire with a group of the ISWAP fighters, the other group sneaked into the hospital to steal drugs, a refrigerator and some bedsheets, according to a source.
“They attacked the town from behind, burnt down Airtel mast and ransacked the hospital.
“They went away with drugs, a refrigerator and some bedsheets.”
Magumeri is about 40 kilometers away from Maiduguri, the state capital.
Borno Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum on Thursday disguised his convoy and visited some Government healthcare centres unannounced, during which he found some officials collecting between N8,000 to N10,000 from patients, whereas the services are meant to be provided free of charge.
Zulum summoned the State’s Commissioner of Health, Mrs. Juliana Bitrus, and asked her to join him in a 10-seater bus that is usually used for airport services. The Governor left the Government house around 1:30pm without any convoy and without siren, leaving everyone surprised and wondering. Not even the Health Commissioner knew the Governor’s plan.
Zulum headed straight to the newly established and fully equipped primary healthcare centre at Gwange II ward in Maiduguri and found that some workers were collecting between N8,000 to N10,000 before diagnosing and treating patients of common ailments like Malaria.
“The staff we met here (at Gwange II, PHC) confirmed that they use to collect between N8,000 to N10,000 from patients to treat malaria. In fact they have turned this Government health centre to a private hospital, and this is why the centre has been deserted by people who mostly do not have the money to access services here. The workers just collect money and put it in their pockets”, unhappy Zulum said.
The Governor directed the Borno State Primary Healthcare Agency to thoroughly investigate, identify all the culprits and take appropriate disciplinary actions.
Zulum was also sad that the same primary healthcare centre had only one medical staff on ground to attend to patients, despite having 29 health workers on Government pay roll.
“You can imagine that at 2:00pm, this primary healthcare centre we built and fully equipped is empty (because of extortion and without medical staff). This level of impunity cannot be tolerated. The earlier we address it, the better for all of us” Zulum queried.
The Governor proceeded to a similar primary healthcare centre at Gwange I, but that was a pleasant experience.
Zulum found medical workers on ground attending to patients without extorting them.
The Governor was happy and he commended the staff for being good people.
The Governor has since formed the habit of showing up at odd hours including midnights at hospitals and early mornings at schools, for on the spot assessment of essential public services.
There are times Zulum extends his unannounced visits to schools, public offices and healthcare centres in Local Government Areas, some of them requiring him to drive hours from Maiduguri, the Borno capital.
The Zulum administration has constructed over 75 primary healthcare centers, built and renovated dozens of general hospitals and employed close to 600 medical workers of different categories, and is also building houses for doctors and nurses to inspire good medical services to citizens.
Indeed, the collapse of a 21-story building under construction in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State on Monday, November 1, 2021, is unfortunate. Unfortunately, this sad incident occurs in almost every region of Nigeria without proper investigation to determine the actual courses of action and adequate solutions to prevent future occurrences.
The Council for Regulations of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) is the body empowered to regulate and control the practice of the engineering profession in all its aspects and ramifications. Perhaps someone needs to ask this pertinent question. Is the body complying with its mandates in the country? If so, then where did we get it wrong? And again, is the government at all levels helping the body to enforce its mandates? Or it’s just unprofessional to allow them to execute such magnitude projects. Tragically, in the process, structural collapses lead to the loss of innocent lives and properties, costing billions of Naira.
Most of the time, clients find it challenging to pay professionals’ fees for contracts to be executed according to international world best practices. Yet, beyond the shadow of a doubt, engineering preaches the gospel of truth and scientific honesty.
In this unfortunate development in Ikoyi, a proper investigation needs to be carried out, and the perpetrators must be punished according to their share of incompetence and negligence. Even though there are reports that the company handling the said structural design and supervision, “Prowess Engineering limited” wrote a letter and withdrew their structural consultancy services, citing the fact that they didn’t share the same vision with the client on account of how the project was being handled; it couldn’t guarantee the integrity of the building since specifics were not followed, which are cardinal principles of engineering.
This barbaric practice cannot be allowed to continue in Nigeria. The system must be sanitised. We can’t continue endangering the lives of innocent people due to sheer negligence. Enough is enough. Governments and regulatory bodies must rise to their responsibilities in safeguarding the lives of our people.
However, this is where the employees’ compensation act (ECA) is very cardinal. The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund established vide decree No. 73 of 1999 is a scheme designed to provide compensation to employees who suffer from accidents at work or sustain injuries or disabilities. Not only that, but it also provides compensation to the next-of-kin who dies in the course of work. Sadly, most people aren’t aware of it. The most beautiful aspect of this scheme is that it covers even self-employed people. Had our labourers on site joined the scheme, it would have covered them. At least it would have alienated the suffering of most injured workers on our construction site.
We need to do things right for us to leave a good legacy for the unborn generation.
Tajuddeen Ahmad Tijjani writes from Galadima Mahmoud Street, Kasuwar kaji Azare, Bauchi State.
