Business
TUC Lauds Court Ruling On FRSC Number Plates
The Trade Union Con
gress of Nigeria (TUC), Rivers State Chapter, has lauded the judgment of the Federal High Court in Lagos that held that it was unconstitutional for the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to impose new number plates on motorists across the country.
Speaking to The Tide in Port Harcourt on Thursday, the union’s Chairman, Comrade Chika Onuegbu, said the union condemns the rising level of impunity among government agencies and their heads.
Onuegbu said these government agencies and their heads are only interested in subjecting Nigerians to all manner of unnecessary fees and pain solely for the sake of enriching their personal pockets.
The union boss appealed to the FRSC to focus on road safety throughout the country rather than the commission looking for avenues to extort money from road users.
Also, some motorists in Port Harcourt, on Friday commended the nullification of the introduction of new number plates by the FRSC.
The motorists in separate interviews said the judgement would save motorists from exploitation by the commission.
A motorists, Mr Rowland Brown, told The Tide that the “Judgment is the best thing that has happened to an average citizen of Nigeria.
He said “it is unimaginable that as hard as things are in the country today, an organisation could force one to part with one’s hard-earned money.”
Brown said the reason advanced by the commission for introducing the number plate was not tenable.
Another motorist, Mr Solomon Gua, said the judgment is one of the ways to stop the high level of impunity in the country, especially the introduction of the new number plate.
He described the judgement as a victory for the rule of law and a step in the right direction.
Mr Iwari Walter, also a motorist, said the judgment would deter other government agencies from taking laws into their hands.
He said, “imagine the legislative arm of government was not involved in the introduction of the new number plate, it was not backed by law.”
Walter added that nobody or organisation should be allowed to take any decision without due regard to the law of the land.
It would be recalled that a Federal High Court in Lagos presided over by Justice James Tsobo had held on March 26, that it was unconstitutional for the FRSC to impose new number plates on motorists.
The court said, the measure is not covered by any law in the country.
Philip Okparaji
Stakeholders are expected to converge in Lagos today to take a look at the Nigeria’s preparedness to maximize the gains of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Tide learnt that stakeholders will be converging at the instance of a popular online newspaper, Primetime Reporters, to assess the progress made so far by the Federal Government through the National Action Committee on AfCFTA agreement.
The event which is the Third Annual Lecture and Awards of the online medium has as its theme: “Assessing Nigeria’s Preparedness to Maximize the Gains of AfCFTA.”
The event will also witness conferment of awards on eight eminent Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in various fields of human endeavours.
The Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of Primetime Reporters, Mr. Saint Augustine Nwadinamuo, made this known in a statement made available to The Tide in Lagos on Monday.
According to him, the event will hold at the National Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos beginning from 10.00am.
Nwadinamuo said that the event would be chaired by a renowned legal practitioner, Barr. Osuala Emmanuel Nwagbara of the Maritime and Commercial Law Partners, Lagos, while the Director General, Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr. Muda Yusuf, would be the lead paper presenter.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has arrested a leader of a deadly 419 syndicate, Abayomi Kamaldeen Alaka (a.k.a Awise) over an alleged attempt to swindle an innocent Nigerian of N250 million.
The Tide learnt that the syndicate operates from a shrine at Ashipa Town, near Abeokuta, Ogun State.
According to a statement made available to The Tide in Lagos on Sunday, by the EFCC, Awise’s arrest followed a petition by his victim, Juliet Bright who lost N250m to the fraudster after she was tricked to provide money for sacrifices and invocations to heal her of an ailment.
The statement said Bright was introduced to Alaka by one Akinola Bukola Augustina (a.ka. Iya Osun) whom she met on Facebook in the course of her search for solutions to her health challenge.
What drew her to Augustina was the latter’s post under the name, Osunbukola Olamitutu Spriritual Healing Centre.
Once Bright contacted Augustina, the latter promised to heal her if she could pay N16 million.
The victim paid the money through an Access Bank account belonging to one Mohammed Sani, who later turned out to be a Bureau De Change Operator.
After paying the money without receiving healing, Augustina transferred the victim to other members of the syndicate, notably Awise.
Bright revealed that she met Awise at his shrine in Ashipa Town and was hypnotized and subsequently transferred various sum through bank accounts and in cash to the suspect and his syndicate members, until she lost N250 million to them.
Despite all the monies collected from her, her health conditions has never improved.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
An expert in Quarantine Agriculture, Dr Vincent Ozuru, has advised Nigerian farmers to give more attention to growing plants produce that could be exported.
He said that plant like the hibiscus, popularly known as Zobo is on high demand in some countries around the world, today.
Ozuru who gave the advice while speaking to aviation correspondents at Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, noted that some plants produce, particularly hibiscus, had yielded huge revenue to the Federal Government through export.
According to him, Nigeria exported about 1,983 containers of hibiscus to Mexico alone in 2017 and earned $35 million within nine months of that year.
The agricultural quarantine expert explained that the export of the plant had a setback as a result of storage pest discovered by the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service in some consignments.
“The issue has now been taken care of and the export is resuming again, and all matters have been resolved with the stakeholders across the value chain.
“Mexico is the largest importer of Nigerian hibiscus, and our farmers should brace up to the challenge.
“The good news is that Nigeria has a vast growing belt in hibiscus, and the harvest is available all year round.
“We need to take advantage of this opportunity to earn foreign exchange for ourselves and for the country at large, even with the commitment of the present administration to diversify the economy”, he said.
Ozuru called on Nigerian farmers to show more commitment to the growing of export produce and also endeavor to get ready information on it in order to increase their income.
By: Corlins Walter
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