Politics
Reps Move To Protect Child Rights
The House of Representatives has begun the process of eradicating child destitution and child rights violations in the country with a public hearing to harvest stakeholders’ contributions for the process.
The event, which held in Abuja yesterday was carried out by the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation.
The hearing was on the motion, “Need to Eradicate Child Destitution and Remove Beggars from Nigerian Streets through Provision of Standardised Education System and Improved Livelihood”.
Declaring the event open, the Speaker of the House, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, recalled that in 2003, the Child Rights Act was assented to by President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The Speaker, however, said that unfortunately, 17 years later some 11 states had yet to enact the law to protect children in the states.
According to him, the Child Rights Act is the basis upon which the Nigerian child ought to be protected and its implementation meant a lot to the future of the Nigerian state.
Gbajabiamila said that in addition to the Child Rights Act, the Universal Basic Education Act was also to make provision for compulsory, free universal basic education for all children of primary and junior secondary school age in the country.
The lawmaker said that the Act further sought to provide punishment for parents who failed to comply with its provisions.
“It is for the reason of ensuring improved welfare and acting in the best interest of the Nigerian child that this motion was considered by the House in plenary.
“And, thereafter, the motion was referred to the Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation for today’s public hearing.
“This hearing, therefore, seeks to obtain and aggregate submissions from various stakeholders to assist the Legislature foster ways of protecting the rights of the child to education, basic needs and overall access to all they need to have a good life.
“The notion, canvassed by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) that about 13.2 million Nigerian children are out of school, is no doubt worrisome.
“It presents a clear picture of the 21st and 22nd Century Nigeria where a large part of the population or labour force may not be employable,” he said.
Gbajabiamila added that he was positive that the discussions that would ensue would be rich and contribute immensely in assisting the Legislature to intervene adequately.
He enjoined all the participants to consider the issue of child destitution as one that required urgent steps.
According to the Speaker, it is like a keg of gun powder waiting to explode; it requires urgent steps to tackle the obvious menace.
“At the end of the day, it is expected that we shall all come to consensus as to where we need to take further actions that will see us embracing those decisions that are in the
best interests of the child,” the speaker said.
The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Abdulahi Salem (APC- Sokoto), said that the public hearing was organised to further consider the plight of the street child.
He said that the hearing was organised in fulfilment of the legislative procedure that was required to assist in taking far-reaching and adequate resolutions on the issue of child destitution and street begging.
According to Salem, there is no gainsaying the fact that the twin issues of child destitution and street begging are those that have come to stare us right in the face today.
“This means that the quicker we find solutions to these problems, the better for our society.
“The fact that in addition to the legislative interventions taken to address these issues, this motion is coming at a time when it has become imperative to enforce all statutory provisions concerning the protection of the Nigerian child, including poverty reduction strategies.
“l thank the mover of the motion and pledge on behalf of my colleagues to restate our commitment toward poverty alleviation in the country,” he said.
Mr Salam Abdulrazak, Director, Community Development Sources and Special Projects, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), recommended Agro-training for the destitute.
He said that such training would go a long way to change the narrative and keep the destitute informed, while also providing education for them.
He said that the Federal and state governments could collaborate to provide land for the destitute to be engaged productively.
Abdulrazak noted that the NYSC was in a good position to implement such a programme as it was present in all local government areas with corps members to do the job.
Representatives of the National Bureau of Statistics, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), UBEC, and Alleviation Advocacy and Justice Institute participated.
Politics
Alia Denies Calling For Ganduje’s Resignation
Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, has denied calling for the resignation of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje.
This was contained in a press statement issued on Wednesday in Makurdi by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr Tersoo Kula.
The Tide source reports that the CPS was reacting to some media reports that the governor had called for the resignation of the APC national chairman.
Kula said the governor at no time called for the resignation of the APC national chairman.
He said the governor enjoyed a good relationship with the Ganduje-led leadership of the APC.
“It is imperative to clarify that at no point did Governor Alia assembled, attended and sent a representative or participated in any meeting to discuss the removal or call for resignation of Alhaji. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
“The Benue State governor remains firm in his support and allegiance to the leadership of the National Working Committee of the APC, under the leadership of Alhaji Ganduje.
“Furthermore, at no point, whether publicly or privately, has the governor advocated or expressed any desire for the resignation of the national party chairman”, he said.
He said the governor was focused on positively changing the fortunes of the state.
“He is alive to his responsibilities as the leader of APC in Benue State and is doing everything legitimate to reposition the party for future victories,” Kula said.
Politics
LP Re-Elects Abure As National Chairman
The embattled national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Julius Abure, has been re-elected for a second term by a unanimous affirmation of delegates despite the protests by the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The Chairman of the National Convention and Deputy Governor of Abia State, Mr. Ikechukwu Emetu declared him the winner during the party’s national convention that held in Nnewi, Anambra State, on Wednesday.
Other serving officers of the party were also returned unopposed.
Recall that the NLC had called for Abure’s resignation as party chairman and the immediate constitution of a caretaker transition committee to organize an all-inclusive national convention for the party.
Meanwhile, a factional chairman of the Labour Party in Anambra State, Mr Peter Okoye has boasted that the Nnewi national convention will not stand.
Describing the convention as a sham, Okoye said: “This is not a convention. We are on top of the matter. It’s purely illegal.
“There was no ward congress, no local government congress, no state congress, and now who and who are the elected delegates that are electing the National Working Committee, NWC, members?
“The NLC was not there, TUC was not there, the owners of the party and members of the NEC and BOT members were not there too. So, who is holding the convention?”
Politics
Suswam Blames External Forces For Problems In PDP
Former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is being undermined by external forces which have rendered the party ineffective as a viable opposition.
Senator Suswam stated this during a live television interview on Wednesday.
He lamented that the party had since after the 2023 general elections failed to live up to expectations of Nigerians as a viable opposition.
Senator Suswam, who blamed the current PDP leadership for the ineffective state of the largest opposition party in the country, said unless there is an overhaul of its leadership, the party would “go nowhere” because the current leadership has lost focus.
He said, “I think there are subterranean forces inferring in the party and they are determining what is going on in the party. And the leadership is acquiescing to it.
“Subterranean suggests that people are trying to control the party from the outside. They are controlling the party from the outside and they are keeping the party in a comatose state.”
The Benue senator accused the party of refusing to call a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to help resolve some of the issues arising in the party.
He regretted the inability of the party to resolve the fallout of the 2022 presidential primary election which saw a group of five governors work against the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
He added that the inability of the Iliya Damagum-led leadership to discipline erring party members worsened the situation.
Senator Suswam said it was wrong for the party not to have sanctioned the G-5 governors and their allies who openly declared that they would remain in the party and work against its interest.
“They were not sanctioned which made others become emboldened to act anyway they wanted. PDP has been weakened since then,” he said.
He said no serious organisation does that, stressing that, “A serious organisation would apply sanctions” based on the laid down rules as contained in its constitution.
He further accused the acting national chairman of the party, Ambassador Iliya Damagum, of occupying the position which belongs to the North-Central zone, following the removal of the substantive chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, who hails from the zone.
Amb. Damagum, who was the Deputy National Chairman (North), hails from the North-East zone but was, as permitted by the party’s constitution, made acting chairman after Ayu’s removal by a court order.
The party’s law provides that the deputy chairman from the same region as the chairman takes over in the event of the latter’s removal from office.
Senator Suswam further lamented that “PDP is comatose now, and nothing can happen now,” adding that it was regrettable that politicians are now preferring to hold talks with smaller parties and not the PDP.
Noting that the PDP was at the precipice, Senator Suswam said, “Until we provide that leadership, PDP will not be a viable platform. We need to overhaul the leadership of the party. There is no pretence about it, everybody in PDP knows it. Without discipline and reconciliation, the party goes nowhere.”
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