33m Nigerians defecate in open places – UNICEF

 The UNICEF says an estimated 33 million Nigerians still practice open defecation in different parts of the country.

Dr Suomi Sakai, UNICEF’s Country Representative and Chief Ambassador, said this at the commemoration of the World Sanitation Day on Tuesday in Abuja.

A man defecates in a canal at Oshodi. Photo by Akinbuli Oluwatobiloba

“The most worrisome of all the unsanitary practices is the high rate of open defecation practice in the country.

“It is estimated that about 33 million Nigerians defecate in the open, depositing about 1.7m tonnes of faeces into the environment annually,’’ she said.

Sakai said that the development had resulted in a high level of contamination of the environment in which garbage and faeces often find their way into water resources.

She stressed the need for awareness creation among the populace and the imperative of imbibing sanitary practices for improved health and socio-economic well-being of the citizenry.

The Chief Ambassador, however, commended the Federal Ministry of Environment for providing a viable platform for discussing and analysing environmental sanitation issues for sustainable development.

According to her, the occasion provides an opportunity for the review of commitment and support to improve the status of environmental sanitation in the country.

She said that the theme of the celebration which is “Cleanliness: Gateway to Healthy Living,’’ was timely and appropriate, considering the present poor environmental sanitation practices and its consequences on the life of the people.

She maintained that high morbidity and mortality rates in the country, prompted by cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery and typhoid, all sanitation-related diseases, were consequences of poor sanitation and hygiene practice.

“Children under five are the most vulnerable to the effects of poor sanitation and hygiene in the country.

“ It is estimated that that nearly 200,000 children under five years die annually due to diarrhoea while respiratory infections kill another 240,000 young children every year,’’ she added.

Sakai explained that improving the disposal of human excreta and stopping open defecation could reduce illnesses by 34 per cent, stressing that when combined with hand washing, the impact could be doubled.

The Country Representative recalled that the UN General Assembly had passed a resolution urging member countries to redouble efforts to close the sanitation gap.

She said that the resolution tagged, “Sustainable Sanitation: The Five-Year-Drive to 2015’’, would focus on mobilising political will as well as financial and technical resources for achieving the MDG sanitation target.

She said the resolution had also called for an end to open defecation.

Sakai called on the Federal Government to invest in the sanitation sector to improve the economic development of the country. (NAN)

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Rejection of Clark’s nominee brews rift with Jonathan

Fears of a possible rift between President Goodluck Jonathan and elder-statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, were being expressed yesterday, following the seeming rejection of Clark’s nominee to represent the South-South geopolitical zone in the federal cabinet.

As at yesterday, no nomination had been made but there were indications that Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State may have an upper hand on the issue. Clark, it was learnt, was meanwhile, being appeased by presidential aides with the offer of ambassadorial and other appointments in the new government.

Governor Amaechi, it was learnt, was favoured because of his new position as Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF. As chairman of the NGF, the governor is expected to be the link between the President and the nation’s powerful group of governors and is being favoured to produce the candidate for the zone.

The seeming inclination of the President is, however, raising apprehension among associates of Chief Clark and in the presidency over fears that some aides of the President may deliberately be aiming to cause a division between the Ijaw elder-statesman and the President.

Until now, the relationship between Clark and the President has been uneventful. That was despite the friction between Clark and the mainstream of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Delta State.

Associates of both men are, however, anxious of a possible deterioration in the once cordial relations if presidential minders are able to put a wedge between both men.

Pointers were also being made yesterday to the fact that former President Olusegun Obasanjo successfully positioned the two nominees from Ogun State and influenced the nomination of other nominees from some other states.

The desire between Clark and Amaechi to appoint the South-South nominee is believed to be a thorny issue for the President. Not only is Amaechi chairman of the Governors” Forum, he was also helpful in turning out some of the biggest votes for the President from the South-South.

Clark on his part was also instrumental behind the scene in mobilizing support for the President especially with his allies in the North in paving way for the President”s acceptance by the mainstream of the north before the election.

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Govt announces 10pm curfew for Abuja leisure joints

Beer parlours, drinking joints and pool centres in Abuja are now to close at 10pm every day including weekends, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) announced yesterday.

The decision of the FCTA, which was contained in a statement signed by Muhammad Hazat Sule, spokesperson of the ministry, also affects parks and gardens. Mr Sule said the administration of parks and gardens, cinema/film centre, disco/night clubs and other recreational centres in the Federal Capital Territory has also been reviewed.

"Henceforth, all operators of the above mentioned venues of recreation have been directed to adhere to the following time limit for their operations. Parks and gardens that admit children are to close at 6pm daily, including weekends. cinema/film centres and disco/night clubs are to close at 10pm daily including weekends," he said.

The FCTA government also called on the operators of all the above mentioned centres to, apart from complying with the directive, also put in place adequate security within their premises.

"The entrance and exit points into such premises must be properly manned," the directive states.

Its officials said monitoring teams will be going round to ensure strict compliance.

This measure, according to the statement is necessitated by the need to ensure adequate security of lives and property in the Federal Capital Territory sequel to series of bombings in the city and threats by Boko Haram elements to carry out further attacks.

The group, at the weekend in Borno, killed 25 people at a drinking spot when its members threw explosives into the gathering.

An FCTA official said the directive is not unconnected to the recent tense security situation in the city. There has been four different bomb explosions that claimed several lives and property in Abuja, the most recent being the bombing of the Louis Edet House where the Police headquarters is located.

Other security measures also including stop and search exercise being conducted by the military and police officials in FCT.

Recently, the FCTA also directed security agencies to beef up security in and around Abuja. Security agencies, including the FCT Command of the Nigeria Police Force, the Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Commission as well as the FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services were asked to henceforth conduct stop and search operations on any vehicle in and around FCT.

Security has also been beefed up at several hotels in the city, including at high profile ones such as Transcorp Hilton.

The FCT spokesperson, Moshood Jimoh, tells NEXT in a telephone chat that he was aware of the FCTA order.

"I can assure that the police would enforce it," he said, adding that he cannot explain any reason why such order was issued.

"It is not from police," he said. "Why not contact FCTA for reasons behind it? Ours is to enforce," he said.

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Police ask Tokyo to prove 200 casualties claim

OYO State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Baba Adisa Bolanta, has dismissed claims by a wanted Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Alhaji Lateef Akinsola a.k.a Tokyo that over 200 people died as a result of bloody clashes between the factions of the union in the last two years.

He said at the headquarters of the police command, Eleyele that if the union leader was sure of his claims, he should prove it.

The CP said, “may be they were the ones who killed those people. So, they should give us the statistics of the people killed so far. The police station where those incidences were reported and then the medical or autopsy reports of those people killed, so that will greatly assist us”.

Tokyo, through his loyalists had claimed, while, submitting a memorandum to the Judicial Commission of Enquiry set up by Governor Ajimobi that over 200 people died in the heat of the crises.

He reiterated his determination to bring both Alhaji Lamidi Mukail aka Auxiliary and Tokyo to book for alleged atrocities and sleepless nights caused the people of the state.

He said “it is not just making noise on the pages of newspapers or on television and radio stations blackmailing themselves”.
He attributed the perceived frosty relationship between him and the governor to the handiwork of his enemies.

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Lightning kills 4 people, 9 cows in Bauchi

About four people and nine cows were yesterday killed by lightning which struck two communities in Bauchi State. It was gathered that the first incident, which occurred in Soro village, Ganjuwa Local Government Area, left two women and their two children dead.

Speaking to our correspondent yesterday, the husband of the deceased, Saidu Bello said his wives were grinding corn with their babies strapped to their backs when they were struck by lightning, which killed them immediately.

The area development officer of Ganjuwa East, Mohammed Dabo also confirmed the incident.

"When we heard about the tragic incident, we visited the house of the deceased and commiserated with the family because the man has only these two wives who lost their lives as a result of the lightning," Dabo said.

"We have written a letter to the Ganjuwa Local Government Area and the state government for immediate attention."

In another tragedy, a family of cattle rearers lost some of their herd when lightning which struck at Dungulbi village of Bauchi Local Government Area killed 9 cows which belonged to one Hardo Mohammed Musa.

Mr Muhammadu said he had sent his boys to take the animals, which numbered about 70, for grazing.

"Unfortunately they ran back home to inform me about the incident and by the time I got there, 9 out of the cows were lying dead," he said.

Safe boundaries

Meanwhile the state governor, Isa Yuguda has called on the National Boundary Commission (NBC) to provide social amenities to border communities along Bauchi and Jigawa states. He urged the commission to provide social amenities such as schools, roads and health centres to the border communities that lack such amenities.

He, however commended the commission for involving local government chairmen and the traditional rulers within affected areas in resolving boundary issues which he said had reduced boundary disputes.

Mr Yuguda, however, stressed that there were still some grey areas that required more attention towards peaceful resolution of the disputes and called on the commission to continue to collaborate with the affected state governments and communities towards finding lasting solution to the lingering disputes.

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BRT violation: Dismissed soldier arraigned, granted bail

An Ikeja Magistrate Court, Lagos, yesterday, granted bail to the detained 32-year-old, Army Lance Corporal, Sunday Ayodeji, who was recently dismissed from service for alleged violation of the Bus Rapid Transit, BRT laws and engaging in civil disorder.

It will be recalled that Ayodeji, along with others still at large, last week Wednesday, clashed with policemen attached to the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit at Obanikoro area, along Ikorodu Road, while resisting arrest for driving his car on BRT lane against the law establishing the corridor.

Ayodeji was arraigned on a five-count charge. He pleaded guilty to the third count charge of driving on the BRT corridor, but not guilty to the other charges.

The dismissed soldier was brought in handcuffs to court in the taskforce’s SUV with the number plate CE 995 FST.

Part of the charges against him read: “That you, on June 23, 2011 at about 8:30am, along Ikorodu Road, Obanikoro, while driving your car, unlawfully assaulted one Utos Jirhevwe, a driver, attached to the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit and caused him serious harm on the head with iron chain and spanner and committed an offence contrary to, and punishable under Section 355 Criminal Code Law Cap. C17 Vol. II, Laws of Lagos State 2003 as amended.

“That you, on the said day, drove a car on the BRT corridor and committed an offence contrary to Section 2(4) BRT Regulation 2007 and punishable under Section 19 (1) of same regulation.

“That you on the said day, procured other soldiers to unlawfully assault one Corporal Yohanna Ishaku, a policeman deployed to the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Offences Unit and committed an offence contrary to, and punishable under Section 351 Criminal Code Law Cap.”

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Groups campaign against Okonjo-Iweala

IT emerged, yesterday, that powerful political and economic interest groups have mounted pressure to stop the re-emergence of erstwhile Finance Minister and current Managing Director of the World Bank, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in the emerging federal cabinet.

Claims of a whispering campaign against the appointment of Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala to the federal cabinet came against the background of reports that she had been dropped from the nomination list. Sources close to her traced what they identified as an attack against her to perceptions that patronage dealers in the corridors of power in the country would lose out if she is given the enlarged finance portfolio she is believed to be demanding.

A source close to her and privy to the developments equally confirmed on going talks between the ministerial nominee and Abuja on issues pertaining to a suitable working environment that would enable her discharge her vision for the Nigerian economy.

The source said: “The talk about dollar salary is a lie and is part of the campaign by those who do not want her in the country and we now know it. They do not want her because of the potential impact her presence could have on their economic interests.

“Remarkably, many people around her are not even keen on her returning to the cabinet, but she is a patriot who is committed to putting forward her best for Nigeria.”

Asked why she had not been presented, the source said: “She cannot just walk away from the World Bank considering her depth of involvement in the banks activities.

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Beware, gift items could be ladened with bombs – Army chief

 Against the backdrop of bomb explosions in the country by Boko Haram members, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Azubuike Ihejirika, has warned Nigerians to beware of gift items they receive during special or auspicious occasions as this could be avenues for terrorists to perpetrate their dastardly acts.

At a briefing, yesterday, Ihejirika explained that there were so many types of bomb or explosives that Nigerians were not aware of, which they should be cautious about. They include liquid bombs, several which can be put on gift items, parcel bombs and others.

The Army Chief noted that of the three bombs that were planted at the Bauchi Barrack Mammy Market, one of the bombs was a liquid bomb kept in a jerry can and left in the shop of a woman. Unknown to the woman, she thought it was kerosene that the owner forgot.

She subsequently carried the ‘jerry can of kerosene’ outside her shop and kept it somewhere far from the shop, where it eventually exploded. But for that singular act of the woman, the number of casualty in her shop would have been much”, the COAS said.

He then warned that Nigerians should not only be vigilant, they should ask questions when someone no matter how close is sending them on errands, as some people can innocently become couriers of explosive materials for terrorists without knowing. In particular, we should be wary of gift items.

 I know Nigerians like gifts a lot. Gift for birthdays, gift for marriages, gift for anniversary and even gift for churches. We should all be careful to avoid being caught unawares now.”

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