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King Jaja, Alapu-In-Council Receive Rivers PDP Guber Candidate In Opobo …Say Fubara’s Emergence Represents Riverine Communities’ Yearnings
The Chairman of Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers and Amanyanabo of Opobo Kingdom, King Dandeson Douglas Jaja, alongside the Alapu-In-Council, last Saturday, received the Rivers State gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 general election, Sir Siminialayi Fubara in Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.
While receiving the candidate, King Jaja said Fubara’s emergence represents the long yearnings of the riverine communities to produce the governor of the state since creation, and prayed that God perfects his victory at the elections.
The Amanyanabo noted that the kingdom would not take the opportunity of his emergence for granted as he expressed the undying gratitude of his kingdom to Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, who supported the emergence of their son as the candidate of the ruling party.
He urged his people to leave no stone unturned in supporting Fubara to victory in 2023.
Speaking earlier, the PDP flag bearer, Sir Siminialayi Fubara,had told the Amanyanabo and the Council of Chiefs that his visit was to intimate them of his emergence as the gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in the 2023 elections, and to seek their blessings as their son.
He said he considered it proper to do this before party campaigns commence, especially in seeking their prayers and blessings.
Fubara noted that his victory at the primary was not by his effort but grace of God at work, and enjoined the kingdom to join him in applauding Governor Nyesom Wike for supporting his emergence.
He further commended the governor for his developmental strides in Opobo and across the state.
The standard bearer visited the Amanyanabo and Alapu-In-Council along with party stalwarts and elders of Opobo/Nkoro extraction.
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NASU, SSANU Begin Seven-Day Warning Strike, Today
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU), has directed members to commence on a seven day warning strike from today.
The directive indicates that there will be complete blackout in all the universities, water treatment plants and clinics will be shutdown, while those involved in the proposed matriculations in some universities are to stay away from any activities.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had recently directed that university workers that were on prolonged strike in 2022 and their salaries stopped by the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration after the invocation of “No work, no pay” policy, should be paid four months of the withheld salaries.
While the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), members have since been paid, the non-teaching staff comprising SSANU, NASU and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), are yet to receive any payment.
To express their dismay, SSANU and NASU through JAC, issued an ultimatum to the government, but the ultimatum expired without any action from government.
The two unions thereafter, gave a seven day warning strike notice to commence on March 18 if the government failed to attend to their demand.
In a statement on Friday March 15, JAC of the two unions lamented that the government had remained adamant to the strike notice and therefore directed that the warning strike should commence today.
A statement signed by Prince Peters Adeyemi, General Secretary of NASU and Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, SSANU President, explained that all the notices to the relevant government officials have produced no positive results.
The statement titled, “Commencement of a 7-day warning strike,” read: “The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of NASU and SSANU has inundated the Federal Government with the need to pay the withheld 4 months’ salaries of our members in the Federal Universities and Inter-University Centres as done for our Academic counterpart to no avail.
“As a matter of fact, the attention of Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President and Prof. Tahir Mamman, SAN, OON, the Honourable Minister of Education was called to this injustice and unfair treatment of our members in our letter referenced JAC/NS/VOL.II/277 dated 13th February, 2024 and to also inform them to resolve the issue positively before it leads to unnecessary upheaval in our University Sector.
“In a similar vein, a press release was issued on 1st March, 2024 and the Federal Government was given 7-days ultimatum to do the needful in respect of the payment of the withheld 4 months’ salaries but nothing was done on same.
“Having waited patiently for the ultimatum to expire without positive response to our demand by Government, this is to direct our members in the Universities and Inter- University Centres throughout the country to commence a 7-day warning strike effective Monday, 18th March, 2024 in the first instance.
“Please note that the 7-day warning strike should be comprehensive and total as no concession should be given in any guise.
“Your strict compliance and adherence to this directive is mandatory for all NASU and SSANU branches in the Universities and Inter-University Centres.”
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NHRC Blames Nigeria’s Policing System For Abduction Of School Children
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has attributed the incessant kidnappings in the country including the recent abduction of 286 students and teachers from two schools in Kaduna to the failure of the federal policing system in Nigeria.
The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Anthony Ojukwu, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ dialogue on state police organised by the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre in Abuja.
Recall that bandits invaded the Kuriga area of the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State on March 7, shooting indiscriminately at people before whisking away the victims.
The incident has since triggered a national outrage, with Jama’atu Nasril Islam, Amnesty International, the Parents-Teachers Association of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Teachers, and the House of Representatives condemning the attack.
But Ojukwu emphasised that such disaster could have been averted if the nation had not prioritised protection of the elite and affluent in society at the expense of the masses.
He also drummed support for the introduction of state police to tackle banditry and general insecurity ravaging the country.
He said, “Insecurity in this country is a result of bad governance; there is no argument about that. However, do we have to wait until there is good governance? Even in societies where you have good governance, they don’t joke with the issue of security.
“We are at a crossroads where every aspect of our life as Nigerians is not working. For me, the greatest attraction was the issue of state police tackling insecurities.
“We have so many complaints about the federal police. Look at the origin; it started from being something the colonial master introduced to force us to pay taxes. So ab initio, it was formed to protect the authorities.
“When we now got our independence, there was no concerted effort to re-orientate the Nigerian police. That was the issue. These guys are just protecting the elite, particularly the executive and legislature. Governors have a convoy of 1,000 policemen leaving the rest of us unprotected.”
Speaking on the abduction of the pupils, Ojukwu said, “That is why you can go on a road that stretches about 10 kilometres and you won’t see one single policeman. That is also why you can come into a secondary school and take away 282 students.
“Do you even know what 282 students look like? If you want to bring in luxury buses, you will need about three or four of them to pack them. And if you decide to use motorcycles, you need about 200 to lift these children.
“How did these people go about it without being noticed? Well, I am not a data analyst. But from what I heard, the number of policemen guarding all these rich individuals is far more than the ones left to look after the rest of us.”
A professor of Criminology and Sociology of Law at the University of Jos, Etannibi Alemika, however, disagreed with the call for state police.
Alemika wondered why Nigerians should be talking about deploying police at the state level when it was obvious their functions would be hijacked by the governors and influential figures within the domains.
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NJC Raises Alarm Over Plot To Defraud Retired Judges
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has raised an alarm over alleged plot to defraud retired judicial officers across the federation.
The Council, in a statement it made available to newsmen, yesterday, decried that fraudsters have been bombarding retired judges with phone calls, demanding various sums of money to help them fast track the payment of their retirement benefits.
While dissociating itself from such arrangement, the legal body urged retired judicial officers in the country to be wary and not fall victim to the scammers.
The statement, which was signed by the Director of Information at the NJC, Soji Oye, read, “The attention of the National Judicial Council has been drawn to the incessant phone calls being made to retired Judicial Officers by some unscrupulous individuals demanding payments to fast track the processing of their retirement benefits.
“The National Judicial Council by this medium, informs retired Judicial Officers and members of the public to disregard such phone calls as NJC would never demand money from any Judicial Officer to fast track the payment of his retirement benefit.
“The public is hereby advised to be wary of and report such calls to the Pension Department of the Council for appropriate action.”
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