Okorocha builds, commissions N48m skill acquisition centre in Abuja

Former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, last weekend commissioned a N48 million Skill Acquisition Centre he built at Karamajiji, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

Built under Rochas Care, an arm of Rochas Foundation, the Senator representing Imo West Senatorial District, claimed that it was a pet project by his children to empower the less privileged and downtrodden of the society.

While a total number of 31 participants from Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp graduated from tailoring, 15 Physically Challenged Persons from the Disabled colony trained on ICT, all at Karamajiji were empowered.

Speaking after commissioning the building, on what informed the basis for the project, Senator Okorocha explained: “This is Rochas Care programme, an arm of Rochas Foundation, a reach out and touch programme where we go to rural areas to uplift the lives of the downtrodden and the poor of the poor like Karamajiji.

“Today, we commissioned a skill acquisition centre built in their honour to train them in skills like computer, tailoring, salon, among others to empower them.

“We have realised that majority of our people live in the rural areas and somehow we are not area of the fact that we have many of them suffering there. Rochas Foundation is breaking the jinx by reaching out to these rural dwellers to touch the lives of the poor people.

“Coincidentally, the plan has been one for one month but within the period of planning, one of my son’s close ally and a son of my wife’s sister passed away. We decided to honour him by dedicating this skill acquisition programme building to him as Dozie Centre. However, the programme, primarily is about reaching out and touching lives and helping the poor and the less privileged in the society,” he said.

Asked if it has anything to do with 2023 presidential election, he said: “Well, it has nothing to do with politics or 2023 presidential aspiration. Rochas Foundation has been in existence before any presidential ambition. The foundation has existed for more than 25 years.

“We have also raised about 23,000 Nigerian children, empowering them with free education. It has nothing to do with politics but if politics is helping the poor it will be good if everybody plays it.

“As I said previously, it has nothing to do with 2023. Incidentally, these people may not even know what is happening and may not likely vote. What can a hungry person at the IDP do for anyone? We are here on humanitarian ground to help bring succour to the poor and the less privileged.

“It may be difficult to quantify in monetary terms what we have expended here. As I said before, we have over 23,000 children in our scholarship and we admit 2000 children to our different schools every year and that will give you an idea of what we spend.

“We have schools in Zaria, Jos, Kano, Adamawa, Calabar, Enugu, Owerri, Ibadan and many more states. In all the schools we have thousands of children going to school free. We provide accommodation, feeding and school uniforms. Teachers are paid and we have over 1000 teachers that we pay monthly in support of the Foundation.

“I never quantified what goes into it because more importantly, it is a spiritual thing. It is a covenant between me and my God, when I told God to bless me so that I can bless others, honour me so that I can honour others, give me so that I can share with those that don’t have because on my own, I can do nothing but can do all things through God that give me the strength,” he said.

Protesters have marched through the streets of several American cities in response to President Donald Trump’s ‘aggressive’ moves to challenge the outcome of the US presidential election.

In Minneapolis, New York, protesters blocked a freeway, prompting arrests.

In Portland, a large crowd gathered on the waterfront to protest Trump’s attempted interventions in the votes currently being counted.

About 150 pro-Trump protesters, some of them armed in Phoenix gathered outside the county recorder’s office where a closely watched count of votes that could help determine the outcome of the election was being conducted, New York Times reports.

Also some suspected supporters of the United States President, Donald Trump, said to be armed, protested at Maricopa County Election Department, Arizona, saying that Adrian Fontes, the county official who oversees elections in Maricopa County, was improperly failing to count some ballots, thereby, costing costing Trump votes in Arizona

The Federal Government has called on resuming Junior Secondary School (JSS) 3 and Senior Secondary School (SSS) 3 students that are yet to pay their third term school fees to do so without delay.

Schools were shut down across the country in March 2020 to guard against the spread of COVID-19, resulting in massive disruption of the normal third term’s academic activities.

But the Federal Government, which has 104 colleges (Unity Schools) spread across the country, said students in exit classes- JSS3 and SSS 3, who are expected to resume on Monday (today) will show evidence of school fees payment for the abridged term.

“A lot of issues have been raised, especially on whether or not students are to pay third term school fees, and whether JSS 3 will have to resume on Monday. The answer to both questions is yes.

“Resuming students are to pay their third term fees where they have not yet paid. JSS 3 students are also to resume in school as from Monday so they can do their revision preparatory to their exams. We have to make these clarifications quickly because Monday is the reopening date,” a terse statement by the Director of Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Ben Goong, said.

The Ministry had on Wednesday issued a statement in Abuja detailing various dates for earlier suspended national examinations.

Part of the statement read: “The West African Examination Council (WAEC-SSCE) will start on the 17th of August, 2020 while the National Business and Technical Examination Board, (NABTEB) examinations will start on the 21st September and end by 15th October, 2020.

“Other details of the schedule indicate that the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) for SS3, conducted by NECO will start on the 5th of October and end on 18th of November, 2020.

“The Basic Education Certificate Examinations, (BECE) for JSS 3 also conducted by NECO, will start on the 24th of August and end on the 7th of September, 2020.

“Furthermore, the National Common Entrance Examination, (NCEE) which is a one-day NECO examination for intending applicants into Unity Colleges (JSS1) will run in-between the Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations i.e. on Saturday, 17th October, 2020.”

The federal government has directed all civil servants to undergo COVID-19 tests at THISDAY Dome in Abuja.

This newspaper reports that the government asked the workers to visit the Dome, which is one of the isolation centres for COVID-19 patients in Abuja.

In a circular on Friday, Evelyn Ngige, Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Officer, asked the workers to take advantage of the opportunity and get tested.

This tragedy is too much for us to bear –Families of 26 church youths who drowned in River Benue

Wailings from an inconsolable young lady in her 20s, Renance Vincent, moved many sympathisers to tears.

The lady’s younger siblings identified as triplets were among the 26 youths of the Evangelical Church Winning All who drowned in River Benue last Sunday.

Many sympathisers thronged the MOPOL 13 barracks located in Adeke, a suburb of Makurdi, Benue State capital, to condole with families of the victims.

It was a sad sight at Adeke at the time our correspondent visited the barracks on Monday. Residents, comprising women and children, were seen weeping and men wore sober looks, discussing the calamity involving children of policemen, many of whom were on special duty in the North-East.

The mourners took turns to visit some blocks in the barracks to console with the bereaved families.

At one of the flats, the unidentified mother of the triplets; namely Paul, Peter and Paulina, sat dejectedly on the floor of their living room, oblivious of the presence of many sympathisers including our correspondent.

The parlour was as quiet as a graveyard except for intermittent cries from mourners gathered outside and other affected families few blocks away.

The woman gazed at the ceiling occasionally, deeply lost in thought. The family in one of flats lost two children to the boat accident while another lost one of their two children.

At the extreme of the barracks is the flat where the family of a 29-year-old leader of the youth, Shedrak Sanni, lived and the Bulus family lives opposite the flat. The Bulus lost five family members; two children, a grandchild and two relatives.

During the cacophony of cries, our correspondent heard an unidentified resident in the barracks shouting, “I have lived here for the past 23 years and never heard that even a motorcycle brushed anyone not to talk of witnessing calamity of this magnitude.”

The voyage

Saturday PUNCH gathered that the church youths were travelling to an annual conference known as ‘New Life for All’ (Sabo Rai in Hausa parlance) when the boat they were in capsized and they all drowned.

Their destination was an island opposite Kwaghter called Ole-Gabu in the same Makurdi Local Government Area of the state and to get to the area, the youth had to cross the River Benue.

Our correspondent learnt that the youth leader arranged for a bigger boat which would convey them. But at the time they left the church and arrived at the River around 12:30pm that day, the boat operator had gone and they were left to seek alternative means of getting to their destination.

It was further learnt that they had to get a smaller boat and before they moved, one of them, according to reports, called to find out from one of the attendees already at the venue if the event was still on.

Saturday PUNCH further learnt that the caller was informed that the event was over and that they shouldn’t bother coming but upon informing others, they were said to have insisted on going. Sadly, on the way to the programme venue, the boat capsized midway around Ijaha community.

Ironically, some of the attendees returning from the programme saw the capsized boat and quickly alerted villagers at Ijaha community who formed a search party to find the bodies which had sunk into the water.


The grieving families

Renance is the eldest child of a policeman identified only as Supol Vincent who is on a special duty in Borno, Maiduguri. Renance lost her siblings who were triplets to the boat accident.

Her regret was that she couldn’t stop the trio from embarking on the journey.

She said amid flowing tears, “Paulina was a female while Paul and Peter were male. They were born in 2003.

“Paulina was committed to church activities. Some of her friends after service on Sunday saw her collecting N200 for the trip and told her not to attend. But she replied them that they wanted to stop her from serving God.

“Paul and Peter were learning tailoring and I thought that due to the nature of the work, they couldn’t attend practice. I told them that since they couldn’t attend rehearsals they wouldn’t cope. I asked them not to go. But Paul said they attended the practice and would go. If I had known, I would have insisted that they should not go.

“Our father is on special duty in Maiduguri and our mother returned to Makurdi on Sunday after two months, only to find out that her children went on a journey and didn’t return.”

On how she heard news about the accident, Renance said, “Around 4pm that Sunday, a sister named Ellen called me to ask if my siblings had returned. Then, I thought I heard a voice which sounded like Paulina’s outside, so I told her that they had returned. It was when the conversation ended that I called Paulina and no one answered. I went outside to check and discovered that nobody was there.

“It was later I heard someone say the youth who went for the programme were involved in a boat accident. That was when I started calling the phones of my siblings. The phones rang out.”

Renance who was visibly heartbroken said Paulina who was in SS 11 planned going to the Nigerian Defence Academy after secondary school while Paul and Peter, though learning tailoring and in SS1, loved football. She added that the incident was too much for her family to bear.

For Lamido Sanni, younger brother of Shedrak, he described his elder brother’s death as shocking to his family and an act of God.

Lamido said his last discussion with Shedrak that Sunday was to know if he could use his motorcycle because he wanted to go somewhere.

He added, “He told me that I could use it as he would be attending the programme. Shedrak became the eldest child in our family when we lost the first child sometime ago and now, he too is no more.

“He completed the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps scheme last year and was teaching at a school. He was the leader of the youth group in the church.”

On how he heard of the tragedy, Lamido said he was at 72 Battalion when someone called him to ask if his brother had returned home.

Lamido stated, “It was a friend who called me on the phone to ask if my brother was back from the trip and I said he had yet to return home. He told me to call my brother’s phone because he heard that a boat capsized.

“I tried his phone four times and it rang but nobody picked it. I also called the phone of another person I knew they were together, the person’s phone rang but there was no response too.

“Immediately, I went to the Marine Police at the river and told them that there was a boat accident on the river and they should help to search for the victims.

“To my surprise, the policemen just looked at me and said what did I want them to do. Infact, I wanted to make trouble with them but I sensed it would not help. I had to run to the river to see if I could get local divers to help. By the time I got there, I saw many people and what was left was to pray for divine intervention.”

Lamido, who said that they were from Taraba State, hinted that their father was currently serving at the Kaduna State Police Command.

John Bulus, an Assistant Pastor with the ECWA, Adeke chapter, Makurdi, is a member of the Bulus family who lost five persons to the boat calamity.

He noted that God always revealed things, adding that he couldn’t say why things were different regarding the incident.

The cleric said, “Five members of the family were involved in the accident; Dogara Bulus and Mary Bulus were my siblings, Precious Kalbari was a niece, Mary Ibrahim and Saadutu Kalbari were our relations.

“I was at a prayer meeting when I missed my mother’s call and when I returned the call, she asked me if I heard that my siblings who went for a programme did not get to the place.

“I did not believe it, so I called other people and was told the same thing. I quickly gathered some of my friends committed to God’s work and we went to the river. When we got there, we prayed. Normally, when things are to happen, I always hear from God. But on this, I heard nothing. This tragedy is too much for us.”

He added that their father, Etsu Bulus, is a police inspector serving in Zamfara State.

The Secretary, District Church Council of ECWA in Makurdi, Rev. Benjamin Dooga, who led the district pastors to commiserate with families of the victims, told journalists that as sad as the incident was, the church had surrendered to the will of the all-knowing God.

He noted that 26 members of the church were involved in the incident.

The cleric said, “When they learnt that the boat they arranged for the journey had left and one of them called and was told that the conference was over, they shouldn’t have gone. But they still went to arrange for a small boat and decided to go. It was those returning from the conference that saw the capsized boat and made contact.

“The church as believers in Jesus believes God is Supreme and no human can question his authority. Since we are humans, we cannot understand what happened but He understands.

“Pastors of EWCA within Makurdi have come to identify with the affected families. We should all know that this world is nothing so people should come back to God because we don’t know when we will leave the earth. We should live our lives as if we are going to die tomorrow.”

As the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis continues to plague Nigerians, subscribers to DStv and GOtv have taken to social media to reject and protest the latest increase in tariff.

The announcement of the tariff increase was recently circulated to subscribers via text messages and many Nigerians have lamented about the increase, calling both companies “inhumane” and “insensitive”.

Verifications from the DStv site showed that Premium subscribers, who have been paying N15,800 should prepare to pay N16,200; Compact Plus subscribers will now pay N10, 925 instead of N10,650 while those on Compact will pay N6,975 as against the previous N6,800.

Also, customers on Confam bouquet will pay N4,615 against N4,500, while those on Yanga will from June 1 be made to pay N2,565, against the N2,500 previous payment. Those on Padi bouquet will pay addition N50 to put the price at N1,850.

A subscriber with the Twitter handle @Dara_Ernal said: ‘It is obvious that Dstv don’t care about Nigerians if they can just increase tariff at this very moment #WeRejectDstvIncrease’

The same handler went on to tweet: ‘It doesn’t make sense for DStv to increase tariff in this difficult period #WeRejectDstvIncrease’

Another customer with the handle, @ayo_olah wrote: ‘So from 1st of June we will be paying high tariffs on Gotv/Dstv! This is inhuman for them to do this in this difficult period #WeRejectDstvIncrease’

A handler, @MasterEedris lamented saying: ‘When we thought DSTV will have sense and reduce their prices, next thing boom they wantu increase price at this difficult time #WeRejectDstvIncrease’

@Sire__Gift said: ‘A brand that cares for the masses should either reduce tariffs or let tariffs be but should never increase them in this hard time #WeRejectDstvIncrease https:///oAqQNCRnOz’

These online protests began in the late hours of Saturday and Nigerians have continued to call on the government and regulatory bodies to help overturn this increase.

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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama’s move to patronise local carriers for the evacuation of Nigerians abroad has suffered a setback.

The Canadian government had denied a local airline, Air Peace, landing right to evacuate Nigerian citizens in Ottawa on the ground that it has no license to undertake commercial flight to that country.

Mr Onyeama confirmed the development on Thursday at the daily media briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

He however said his ministry was hopeful that the Canadian government would reverse its decision.

He revealed that the Nigerian High Commissioner in Canada had opened discussion with his host government for it to have a rethink.

He said: “The question on evacuation of Nigerians from Canada and the news that the Canadian government had denied landing right to the Nigerian carrier that was supposed to undertake the evacuation.

“Indeed, the Canadian government denied landing right on the grounds that this particular carrier, the Nigerian carrier, doesn’t have license to undertake commercial flight to that country.

“Our High Commissioner in Canada is engaging with the Canadian government on this issue and we are hopeful that we can have the decision reversed. The argument that it is being put forward, which is a strong argument is that this isn’t a regular commercial flight to Canada to take passengers. But this is an emergency flight and there is a difference between the two.

“So, the negotiations are ongoing and we hope that there will be a positive result.”

Kano Loses 12 Prominent Persons In 10 Hours

Kano State has continued to witness a rise in unusual deaths as over 12 persons were confirmed dead on Saturday. The deceased include professors, a newspaper editor, and other professionals.

They were buried at different cemeteries within and outside the metropolis.

Within the past eight days of lockdown in the state, no fewer than 20 persons have died from undisclosed ailments.

Eyewitnesses and undertakers at cemeteries in the state said an unspecified number of people had died and were buried over the past few days.

Among the prominent persons that died in Kano on Saturday were Prof Ibrahim Ayagi, Dr Musa Umar Gwarzo, Alhaji Dahiru Rabiu (former Grand Khadi), Musa Tijjani (Editor of Triumph Newspaper) and Adamu Isyaku Dal, who was a former Executive Secretary of the State Universal Basic Education Board.

Others are Alhaji Salisu Lado, Hajiya Shamsiyya Mustapha, Hajiyaj Nene Umma, Alhaji Garba Sarki Fagge, Dr Nasiru Maikano Bichi, Secretary Student Affairs, North West University, Prof Aliyu Umar Dikko of Physiology Department, Bayero University Kano, and Ado Gwanja’s mother, among others.

The spate of deaths in the state has continued to instil fear and confusion among people living in the state.

A dweller, Tijjani Abdullahi, who spoke to our correspondent, called on the state government to investigate the increasing number of deaths in the city in order to address the possible cause of the deaths.

“The state government has concentrated on the fight against coronavirus while people are dying of other ailments in silence. Some even suspected that the people are dying of coronavirus without being detected.”

According to him, most of the recent deaths have been attributed to high blood pressure, malaria, ulcer and even hunger, adding that the dearth of medical doctors to attend to patients in hospitals across the state has become worrisome.

Some people in the state have continued to express concern over the increase in the number of deaths since the state government imposed a total lockdown on the state as a result of the rising cases of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje on Wednesday denied that there was any strange death in the state, saying, “There is nothing to show that there is unusual frequency of deaths in Kano State.”

The Kano State Taskforce Committee on COVID-19 said the number of confirmed cases was 74 as of Saturday.

The Coordinator of the taskforce committee, Dr Tijjani Hussaini, told our correspondent in Kano on Saturday.