₦airaland Forum

You need appreciate God all the time

Is not bad madam! this season is very important to muslim faithful and maybe this is the time that his people need services more

doggedfighter:
At 99, it's a celebration of life.
He's lived his best life.

Someone is crying that he died after Ramadan is it a bad omen or what?

He die after ramadan

Mr Kanu where are you?

One Nigeria forever!

let the school remain closed forever!

Old useful soldier

Hope dey small

I got mine long time ago

Authorities of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, have confirmed one case of the coronavirus at the hospital. Prof. Anthony Igwegbe, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, disclosed this on Monday. Igwegbe said the patient was diagnosed with the virus following a test upon getting to the hospital. According to him, the test result was released on May 23.

He said the patient was immediately moved to one of the isolation centres in Anambra for treatment. “The patient was quickly moved from our isolation ward to the Anambra state Treatment Centre last night for care and treatment. “The patient, a male trader resident in Onitsha was admitted to the isolation ward following proper triage on his presentation on May 20. “Specimen for test was taken the following day and sent to Irrua,” he said.

Igwegbe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that a suspect was earlier taken in, but test sample was not taken before the patient died. “That was a probable case, the patient showed some symptoms but sample was not taken before the patient died. “So we have only one confirmed case of COVID-19 in NAUTH so far,” he said. The CMD added that all the necessary precautions were taken and all those that attended to the confirmed patient used Personal Protection Equipment.

He gave an assurance that the hospital would remain vigilant. (NAN)

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/nnamdi-azikiwe-varsity-hospital-records-first-case-of-covid-19-says-cmd.html

Nigeria a country with troubles!

Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in Ogun State has threatened showdown with Chinese quarry operators who allegedly treat Nigerian workers “like animals.” The NLC expressed worry that many quarries owned by Chinese companies in the state treat their workers badly in terms of condition of service and remuneration, deploying what they termed “use-and-dump tactics.”

The NLC State Chairman, Emmanuel Bankole spoke at the weekend during a meeting with representatives of the quarry owners at the NLC Secretariat, Abeokuta. The meeting which was facilitated by the State chapter of Nigeria Union of Mine Workers (NUMW) was attended by the Federal Comptroller of Labour, Comrade Anthony Olawoyin, the Federal Mining Officer, Bunmi Ayelabola, and the Chairman of the State NUMW, Comrade Fasiu Abiola.

According to the NLC Chairman, the quarry operators, apart from poor condition of service, have no adequate provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to protect workers from hazards. “Information at our disposal revealed that many quarries owned by the Chinese, operating in the State hire Nigerians for cheap labour. They hire and fire at will; they use Nigerians as casual workers.

“The NLC law says a company is only allowed to employ a worker as casual staff for six months, after which such worker must be made a staff; but these quarries employ Nigerians for more than 27 years as casual workers,” he said. Bankole alleged that many of the quarries do not allow their workers to unionise, saying “Unionisation is a fundamental human right that nobody and no employer can take away. If people are willing to unionise, you cannot take it away from them.

They are free to unionise, to join any union of their choice.” “The NLC shall take this no more, we are ready to contend with you (quarry owners). This is Nigeria and we will not allow anybody under any guise to come to Nigeria and use Nigerians anyhow they want. This is a country that is governed by rules and regulations. “This meeting is not to witch hunt anybody but we are doing this for our country.

It is because Nigeria is good, that they (Chinese) are here to do business. If Nigeria is not conducive, they will go back to their country. But this is our own country, and we have nowhere to go. This is why we owe it a duty to protect the weak,” Bankoke said. While responding, one of the representatives of the quarry operators, Fase Olukayode denied the allegations.

Olukayode, a consultant to CCECC quarry, a Chinese company said, “As far as we are concerned, these allegations are not true. For the quarries that I’m consulting for, we have union, we have union leaders on our sites and there is no way the union will be looking at the Chinese maltreating our people; this is not possible,” he said.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/chinese-quarry-operators-use-and-dump-nigerians-nlc-says.html

With the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, families across Nigeria are finding creative ways to celebrate Eid-il-fitr. Each year, Eid celebrations begin as soon as the moon is first sighted, marking the end of Ramadan and beginning of Shawwal, according to the Islamic Calendar.

And usually, the day before the sighting of the moon are busiest with lots of shopping at the markets, hair dressers, barber’s shops busy and tailors busy to meet up with deadlines. “This coronavirus pandemic has really affected so many things.

“Even when the lockdown ended, I was practically begging my customers to come and sew their sallah clothes but they refused. “What I was getting was only people that wanted to mend their old clothes,” Mrs Collins, an Abuja-based tailor said.

She said Eid-il-fitr is usually the sallah where people sew clothes as the; “other Eid is for slaughtering ram, but I only sewed two new clothes this sallah.” Binta Bello, a hairdresser in Kaduna, said she only made hair for people residing in her compound and did not make any money from her trade this Eid celebration.

Also Zainab Ilya, a henna designer, told our correspondent she usually; “make designs for children in preparation for henna in Abuja,” but this year’s celebration was different because most of her customers refused to invite her for her services. “When I realized they weren’t calling, I called them to ask if I should go and make designs for them and they said I shouldn’t bother,” she lamented.

Shamsiyya Umar, a 19-year-old Ahmadu Bello University student, said normally she would go pick up her friends and attend Eid prayers, after which they visit more friends and have picnic together. “But this year, I only sent food to them and made video calls,” she said.

Yusuf Aliyu, a resident of Kaduna, told our correspondent he missed the Eid prayers and also having lunch with his extended family members. “Usually, we would exchange home visits or converge at our parents’ house with our children and our spouses since all our parents’ children are all married. “But this year, we only had to call every family and wished them Eid Mubarak,” he said.

“We also took photos of ourselves and sent to our group chat since we could not take the extended family photos we use to take in the past,” he said.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/covid-19-nigerians-find-new-ways-to-celebrate-eid-il-fitr.html

The Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria (APSON) has appealed to the federal government to assist its members in facilitating a revolving loan scheme at “highly reduced single rate with at least five-year interest free moratorium”.

APSON also requested for stimulus package for private schools teachers to enable them and their immediate families survive the economic hardship in the post COVID-19 era. This was contained in a letter addressed to the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu and jointly signed by the association’s president, Dr. Godly E. Opukeme; National Secretary, Alh. Abdur-rahman Marafa; and National Director of administration, Bishop Emmanuel Elakhe.

It said the plights of teachers in private schools, comprising secondary, primary and kindergarten, have been worsen by the inability of most proprietors to meet their financial obligations.

“Private teachers unlike their counterparts in public sector, who enjoy seamless allowances and monthly emoluments, have been subjected to public ridicule arising from the failure to pick up accumulated bills since the outbreak of the pandemic in February 2020,” it said. APSON noted that if the stimulus package request was considered and approved, it will help them to overcome the challenges as well as keeping their teachers in business, pay annual renewal fees, dues, rates and rent.

The association said the appeal became necessary in view of the disruptions and redundancies caused “by the coronavirus pandemic and indefinite closure of non-essential businesses, including private and public schools.

“Proprietors of private school owners are the second largest employer of labour in Nigeria’s private sector and we remain irrevocably committed to the Nigerian project,” it said. Last week, private school owners, under the auspices of National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), called for provision of educational grants by the federal government to cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic and to bail out the sub-sector from imminent collapse.

The NAPPS President, Chief Yomi Otubela, who gave an analysis of the impact of the pandemic on private education on Wednesday 20 May,2020, emphasised that the financial palliatives from the federal government will enable private schools to meet monthly obligations to their staff and remain afloat.

Making a case for the sub-sector, Otubela pointed out that the number of private schools in the country stood at 83,524 with 34,614,169 learners and 1.143 million teaching and non-teaching staff.

The over one million teaching and non-teaching staff, he said, work assiduously towards transforming the lives of the Nigerian children, pay taxes to the government and undertake other civic responsibilities in the country.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/private-schools-owners-seek-fgs-loan-stimulus-package.html

COVID-19 is real

This palliative better pass Abuja own

hmmm

Abacha do not stole Nigerian money - mr president.

Abacha's asset - Mallami

National Assembly and States Assemblies staff under the aegis of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria(PASAN) has raised alarm over alleged clandestine plot to truncate the implementation of the revised conditions of service being enjoyed by its members.

National President,Comrade Muhammed Usman in a statement disclosed that, a faceless group claiming to be a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) called “Next Level Due Process Group” allegedly made several frivolous allegations against the authority of the National Assembly.

He alleged that, their claims and allegations were published in one of the National Dailies on Monday,18th May,2020 calling for the stoppage of the conditions of service.

The PASAN National President said, the group displayed its ignorance to legislative norms when it claimed that the Regulation was a Bill which required assent by President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, the new conditions of service was their initiative muted through the 5th National Assembly Service Commission which was later presented to the 8th National Assembly and gazetted after it passed through the required due process. He however expressed concern that the new regulation is being opposed despite being in operation since May 2019 and being domesticated at the State Houses of Assembly.

According to him, the new condition of service is aimed at putting the Nigeria Parliamentary workers at par with international standard has no contending issues except agitation for its full implementation.

He disclosed that, the “Revised Condition of Service” is a product of a long time agitation which he said guarantees an independent and consolidated service as guaranteed by National Assembly Service Commission Act (2014).

The statement emphasised that, PASAN is committed to the service for Democracy and called on the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawal and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila for their prompt intervention on the issue.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/nass-staff-decry-plan-to-scuttle-revised-condition-of-service.html

The 18-year-old house wife, Salma Hassan, who allegedly stabbed her husband to death in Bauchi has confessed that she killed her husband in self defence after he made sexual advances 11 days into their marriage. She said she stabbed her husband because he was trying to rape her, adding that she didn’t know that sexual intercourse was part of the marital obligations.

Hassan disclosed this on Thursday when she was paraded by the police along with 21 other criminals including armed robbers and kidnappers. State Commissioner of Police, Philip Maku, who paraded the suspects at the Command Headquarters in Bauchi, said the alleged husband killer was arrested with a knife which she used to commit the crime at her home in Itas-Gadau local government area of the state.

“The husband, late Mohammed Mustapha was stabbed on the chest. “As a result, he sustained serious injury and was rushed to General hospital Itas–Gadau for treatment where he was certified dead.

“The suspect was arrested and has confessed to the crime. “Exhibit recovered from the suspect was one knife,” he said. In a brief chat with newsmen, Salma Hassan claimed that her husband was trying to defile her, stressing that she didn’t know that sex was part of marital obligations.

“On that day which is the eleventh day of our marriage, he approached me for sex, I refused him because I had never been involved in it before. “I thought he wanted to rape me but he got angry and was trying to force himself on me by beating me.

“I picked up a knife to scare him away but he kept coming and I didn’t know when I stabbed him with the knife in his chest. “I did not intend to killed him and I regret my action,” She added.

The police boss also disclosed that the command arrested a four-man kidnap syndicate over the alleged kidnap and killing of a 15-year old boy after collecting N5.5m ransom from his parents.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/i-didnt-know-sex-was-part-of-marital-obligations-alleged-18-yr-old-husband-killer.html

The Lagos State Executive Council yesterday approved the revision of the state’s 2020 budget from N1,168.6bn earlier approved by the state House of Assembly in December 2019 to N920.5bn.

The review was in response to the Coronavirus pandemic which has triggered global economic downturn. According to the state Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Sam Egube, the review represents 21 percent reduction in the previous estimate. While briefing newsmen at the state secretariat Alausa, the Commissioner explained that the COVID-19 pandemic has metamorphosed into economic pandemic which has necessitated the “reordering” of the budget.

The reviewed budget is expected to be transmitted to the state House of Assembly for consideration and approval. The commissioner was however quick to allay fears of civil servants, assuring that the government would not sack any worker as the personnel cost remains the same. The state government which relies mostly on internally generated revenue expects a drop in revenue by 24 per cent due to the slow down in economic activities occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He gave the proposed breakdown of the revised budget as follows; the Total Budget Size is reduced by 21% from N1,168.562bn to N920.469bn with the Financing Deficit increasing slightly by 11% from N97.533bn to N108.005bn. Recurrent Expenditure (Debt and Non-Debt) declines by 10% from the initial N457.529bn to N411.608bn and Total Capital Expenditure is reduced by 28% from N711.033 to N508.861.

Egube explained that the first quarter of Y2020 recorded a budget performance of 56% (N163.2Bn); which is higher than the 68% (N148.3bn) recorded for the same period in 2019.

The Commissioner listed some of the factors that necessitated the budget review to include fall in crude oil prices “with deleterious effects on statutory allocation expectations, downward pressure of IGR, devaluation of the Naira and reduced public and private investment.”

Other factors he listed included increased inflation, decline in demand for goods and services and reduction in manufacturing activities, which he said portends lower GDP growth and Increased unemployment.

According to him, the state would also create a stabilization fund of one percent of yearly IGR to support the state during future emergencies.

The government as part of the stabilization drive would dedicate N620m on job initiatives and another N385m for digital skills initiatives, the Commissioner said, adding that there would be business environment reform and promotion of ease of doing business.

He explained that with the Strong Pandemic Response, the state government will engender food security and safety net mechanism, economic stimulus, and ensure public safety and wellbeing.

Source: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/covid-19-we-wont-sack-workers-lagos.html

Many state governors have announced the lifting of the ban earlier placed on places of worship as a way of mitigating the spread of COVID-19, Daily Trust reports.

The lifting of the ban is coming few days to the Eid-el Fitr celebrations during which millions of Muslims throng prayer grounds to mark the end of the Ramadan fast. It is also expected that Christian faithful in some states would resume services on Sunday.

The lifting of the ban has, therefore, heightened fears over breach of personal distancing requirements even as the federal government and experts on Thursday warned state government against relaxing restrictions and hasty reopening of worship places.

The President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Prof. Kalu Mosto Onuoha, said he does not support lifting the ban on religious gatherings as it exposes more people to infection especially where the rule of social distancing is not respected.

Also, ahead of the Eid-el Fitr celebration, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, yesterday cautioned that it is not yet time for public gathering as the nation battles the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, many state governments on Thursday expressed their readiness to allow worshippers resume normal activities in churches and mosques.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/govs-defy-experts-warning-lift-ban-on-worship-centres.html

It’s early morning, maybe 8 or 9 am and you’re in your car. You’re driving. Maybe you’re on your way to work. Maybe you’re taking your kids to school. The sun is already almost at its peak; and without a cloud in the sky you know it’s hot but you don’t really feel the heat because your air conditioner is on full blast. Traffic is barely moving, you’re all stuck in the early morning traffic jam. You sigh. You need something to help pass the time. Over there you spot someone selling newspapers. You roll your window down and beckon to the hawker. He runs over and you trade your money for his paper. You roll your window up and he quickly moves on to the next car. But as he moves on, you can’t help but remark to yourself how young he looks before your attention moves to the front page headline. He was 10 years old.

Now we zoom out a bit. We see many children, from 6 to 18 years old, going from car to car and running in between cars to take advantage of this captive audience to sell a variety of goods all before they’ve had their own breakfast.

No, you’re not in Nigeria. Or India. You’re in the United States (US), some time in the early 1900s.

In the US in the early 1900s, schools were available and even free for children; there were various social movements to remove children from the streets and factories and place them in schools. Local and state laws were passed to limit child labour and encourage school attendance. Yet child labour in the US persisted at scale well into the mid 1900s. Why? Because the economic conditions were in favour of child labour. These events in-turn triggered further education reforms and enforcement of truancy laws.

Fast-forward to 2020. You’re still stuck in traffic except now you’re in Nigeria (somewhere in the North) and you’re on your way back home from work. Your car is surrounded by young boys, with a few young girls peppered in, all hawking various products. A few attempt to wash your windshield. Amidst this throng of child hawkers, a small boy maybe about 6 years old pushes his way through and shoves a red empty plastic bowl forward. He looks directly at you and chants a prayer for you. “May God protect you. May God take you home safely”. And then he stands there silently and waits, bowl outstretched, never taking his eyes off you. You sit there, eyes facing forward. You know he’s there, you can see his silhoutte in your periphery and you can hear his prayers. But you can’t look at him. Because if you look at him, if you make eye contact, you will break and you will reach into your pocket and you will give him money. But you won’t do it because you don’t want to encourage “the Almajiri system”. Traffic moves and you inch forward. He moves on to the next car.

Nigeria’s “Almajiri system”, institutionalised largely in the North, has a long history that goes way back to before the British showed up to colonise the country. In the beginning, the system functioned as designed; to educate children locally on the Qur’an (similar to Sunday school for Christian kids). Then somewhere between the British showing up and today, the system has evolved (maybe devolved) into what we have now – a system that, to some, appears to be defunct and out of sync with the times and therefore requires reform. Since the 1990s, various efforts have been made to reform the system. We have attempted reform in the name of national security in order to stop Almajirai from being recruited into Boko Haram. We have attempted to reform in the name of poverty reduction. The recent COVID-19 crisis presents yet another opportunity to push reform in the name of national health. Each attempt at reform has made some progress but there is no sign that these efforts are poised to snowball into a massive movement.?

Remember the Almajiri child standing outside of your car window, red bowl outstretched? He was not abducted from his home in the village and forced into the Almajiri system. His parents or guardians voluntarily put him into the system. They were probably aware of the alternative – secular education – or maybe they were even presented with the option of integrated education where children get both secular and Qur’anic education. Maybe they were even aware that their child would end up begging for alms on the street. But they still chose to put him into the Almajiri system. What do they see that you don’t?

Do you see all those young men who are hustling to move food across our country from north to south, and Chinese products from south to north? What education system do you think produced them? The okada/machine/keke/motorcycle/going boys who take you from point A to point B for 50 or 100 Naira – what education system do you think produced them? Do you need to get your shoes or purse repaired? Do you need your clothes washed? All that farming we’re supposed to be doing now to bring back Nigeria’s agriculture sector? All that construction? All that work you don’t want to do and you don’t want your secular-educated kids to do but you’ll pay someone else to do…what system of education do you think produces those labourers? And yes, every now and again you’ll hear about an exceptional chief justice, a selfless doctor, an ethical businessman who had his foundation in the same system.

The Almajiri is a system out of which we get the hustlers that don’t have to wait for a godfather to hand them an office job. But maybe there is a way to still produce hustlers without going through the beggar phase.

The North will reach a tipping point where the economic environment will shift drastically and a different type of mass education system will be needed. That new system needs to take into account predictions about regional economic pressures. So what will the economic environment of the North look like 10 years from now? 20? 40? 80? I don’t know. But there is a brilliant economist in exile in Lagos who might know. So maybe Northern leaders should ask him. And then listen to him.

Human beings are generally resistant to change because change requires a lot of effort and it’s just easier to keep doing things the same old way, especially when that way seems to be working for you. But remember…before the Almajiri system, the North had a different system of education. Then the economic environment changed with the arrival of Muslim traders from the Arab world through North Africa. So the education system was modified to adopt the Almajiri system. It made economic sense. Then the British showed up. But I would argue that the arrival of the British did not change the economic conditions in the North the way it changed conditions in the South; the South faced more pressure to adopt secular education at scale. It made economic sense for them to do so.

To survive, the Almajiri system must change. But that change should be in accordance with what our economic environment demands. And maybe for a short time, the new system will have to straddle both the current environment and the coming one.

Rahmat Muhammad, PhD, Nigerian, American, Neuroscientist, Founder & CEO Triple-E Media Productions.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/do-economic-conditions-in-nigeria-favour-the-almajiri.html

hmmm