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Rotary Club of Lagos reaffirms commitment to human capacity development

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The Rotary Club of Lagos has reaffirmed its commitment to uplifting the human race and continued support for the government in strengthening human capacity development. The club made the reaffirmation at its 2021-2022 President’s annual dinner on Saturday, February 12, where it gave a scorecard of its humanitarian projects executed in the 2021-2022 Rotary year.

The club started the Rotary year with projects in the areas of education, health enhancement, environmental sustainability, business support and empowerment among others. While nine major projects have so far been concluded, 11 others are still under execution. Some concluded projects include the cervical cancer vaccination programme at Lafiaji Secondary School Lagos Island; disbursement of one million naira micro-credit fund to 20 beneficiaries from Sandgrouse market and equipping the music workshop and kitchen of the Federal Nigeria Society for the Blind (FNSB) vocational training centre Oshodi.

Rtn  Babawale Agbeyangi, President, Rotary Club of Lagos with Rtn Omotunde Lawson, District Governor-elect, Rotary District 9110

Other completed projects are 10 days training workshop on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (S.T.E.A.M) robotics for teachers and students at Lafiaji Senior Secondary School Lagos Island; planting of 15 Queen’s palm tree at Dolphin High School, Lagos Island and disbursement of N50,000 each micro-credit fund to market women and men at Itamarun village, a community adopted by the Rotary Club of Lagos.

Also, the club visited and donated books to the Edward Blyden Memorial Primary School, Lafiaji, Lagos, and organised a talk on the importance of digital literacy for children as part of its efforts aimed at encouraging and promoting digital literacy. As part of its efforts aimed at encouraging literary skills among adults and traders, the Rotary Club of Lagos through its project, Education for Life, organised an adult literacy seminar for the market women and men at Sandgrouse.

Meanwhile, ongoing and upcoming projects of the club include, donation of 20 branded safety life jackets for waterways/terminals. This is in collaboration with the Lagos State Ferry Services, aimed at ensuring that commuters travel safely on the waterways.

Other projects in the pipeline include provision of 10 boreholes at Coker town, Ogun state, which will cost $86,000; reconstruction and renovation of the Sura Primary Healthcare Centre, which consist of a 10-bed maternity ward, labour room, kitchen, toilets and waiting area. This is expected to cost N50 million.

The Rotary Club, is also planning to embark on the reconstruction and renovation of a block of four classrooms to accommodate 200 students at Lafiaji Senior High School, which has been estimated to cost N20 million, while it has also concluded plan to provide a N10 million library and N3 million borehole at Lafiaji Senior High School on Lagos Island.

Speaking at the ceremony, President of the Club, Rotarian Babawale Agbeyangi, Group Managing Director/CEO of Cordros Capital Limited, said that if others follow the examples of the club in terms of services to humanity, most of the challenges in the society would have been resolved. “In Rotary, our immediate community is our priority. So what we have done this year is to focus on women and our target for the Rotary year is to give 300 women interest free loans. 90 percent of the people who have accessed our micro-credit this year are women,” Rotarian Agbeyangi explained.

“We started this 20 years ago, and this year, we doubled the amount of the microcredit-loan. Wherever you are from, as long as you are a woman and you are a trader, you can’t afford to access credit from the bank, Rotary Club of Lagos will support you,” he continued.

“This year, our Rotary International president, Shektar Mehta, said that we must focus on women and you know that all over the world, women are generally disadvantaged. So our focus is to help more women wherever and how we can do it,” he added.

Commending the club and the president, the chairman of the occasion, Elias Igbinakenrua, Managing Director/CEO of Globus Bank Limited, stated that the remarkable project executed and earmarked for execution sends a strong message that the Rotary Club of Lagos is a club of eminent personality“Rotarians are people that are organised; they time to pick out their members who buy into the vision. This journey started with the vision of one man, Paul Harris. From the gathering of friends to share ideas, it has become a true humanitarian service organisation, a huge one at that,” he said.

Igbinakenrua noted that with a remarkable milestone since the Club was chartered in 1961, it has undoubtedly made enviable impacts in the communities within and around their domain – Lagos and Ogun States.

 

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Fuel Subsidy Removal: FG, Labour Meeting Ends in Deadlock

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Talks between the Federal Government and organised labour over the removal of fuel subsidy ended in a deadlock on Wednesday as they failed to reach a consensus following the hike in petrol pump prices to over N700 from N195 per litre by oil marketers.

The hours-long meeting which was held at the Presidential Villa was to, among other things, prevent a labour crisis following the recent increase in the petrol pump price occasioned by the discontinuance of petroleum subsidy.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited said it had adjusted the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit to reflect the market realities. The agency, however, failed to state the new prices of petrol.

However, several retails outlets sold the product between 600 and N800 in Lagos, Abuja , Ogun and some other states.

The National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, pointed out that the hike in the cost of PMS would trigger galloping inflation in the country, stressing that some outlets in the South-East were currently dispensing the product at N1,200/l.

Ukadike stated, “Once NNPCL retail stations have adjusted their pumps to reflect the new price, there is nothing you can do about it; that is the new price. As I speak with you, all of them are now selling at the new prices. The situation is so bad, that somewhere in Ebonyi State our members informed us that it is now N1,200/litre.

“We thought the President would remove the subsidy through a seamless means because the source of this petrol is the NNPCL. They are the ones subsidising petroleum products, they are the people who use their revenue to subsidise this product.’’

The IPMAN spokesperson expressed worry over the rate of increase in inflation and hardship that would come as a result of the latest hike in petrol price.

“This hike in petrol price will definitely lead to galloping inflation and will worsen the hardship already being faced by the Nigerian masses. It is not something to cheer about. It came as a surprise and in the coming days, we will see the very harsh ripple effects,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Ukadike has called on the Federal Government and the NNPCL to give other marketers the opportunity to start importing petrol in order to create competition in the sector.

“The NNPCL is importing and has not given people the opportunity to join them in importing so as to see whether private sector operators can import the product cheaper or not. So there is no competition. In a deregulated regime, there must be competition, everyone with capacity should be allowed to import,” the IPMAN official stated.

When asked whether other marketers could resume imports since the government had finally deregulated petrol prices, Ukadike replied, “Marketers can import, but let me tell you some of the factors militating against this. The first is that there won’t be availability of dollars.

“You will source your dollar from the parallel market and if you are not careful in doing this, and you go into the importation of petroleum products, you might not ‘come out of it alive’ at the end of the day.

“So what we are saying is that those advantages that NNPCL has, should be shared with other major importers of petroleum products. If it is through crude buy-back, they should let us know so that independent players such as IPMAN members can come together and be able to use it in the buy-back model.’’

He added, “For independent marketers, the most important thing is that there should be availability of petroleum products, and the government should open up the space for importers and investors to come in.”

NNPCL, the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria for several years running, confirmed the hike in petrol price in a statement and a new pricing template released to marketers nationwide.

But the move has sparked a groundswell of anger across the nation with the Nigeria Labour Congress demanding an immediate reversal of the decision.

The union also said it would hold an emergency meeting on Friday on the fuel price increase which had triggered hoarding and scarcity across the country with attendant rise in transport fares, goods and services.

The fuel price hike by the oil firm is coming 72 hours after President Bola Tinubu declared in his inaugural address on Monday that the subsidy regime had ended.

To pacify the growing anger over the situation, the FG hastily summoned some labour leaders to a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday evening.

The meeting had in attendance the NLC President, Joe Ajaero and his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Festus Osifo, former NLC President and immediate past governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, Permanent Secretary, State House, Tijjani Umar, Head of Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, and others, however, ended in a deadlock as the labour and government teams failed to reach a consensus.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Joe Ajaero, said “As far as labour is concerned, we didn’t have a consensus in this meeting.”

He faulted the NNPCL over an official release published hours earlier reviewing the petrol pump price in its filling stations nationwide.

He said the move puts the labour unions in a difficult position on the negational table.

“That’s the principle of negotiation. You don’t put the partner, ask them to negotiate under gunpoint. The prayer of the NLC is that we go back to the status quo, negotiate, think of alternatives and all the effects and how to manage the effects this action is going to have on the people. If it is an action that must take off.

“The subsidy provision has been made up to the end of June. And before then, conscious people, labour management, and the government should be able to think of what will happen at the end of June. You don’t start it before the time,” Ajaero said.

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Breaking: Founder, DAAR Communications, Raymond Dokpesi is Dead

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By Eric Elezuo

The Founder of DAAR Communications, owners of the foremost radio and television stations in Nigeria, Raypower and African Independent Television (AIT), High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, is dead.

Reliable sources said the High Chief died while exercising on a treadmill on Monday afternoon.

The source said Dopkesi suffered a stroke some weeks ago.

Details soon…

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I Stand on Rule of Law, with Our Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, PDP, Says Dele Momodu

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By Eric Elezuo

Frontline journalist and Director of Strategic Communications of the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Council in the just concluded Presidential election, Chief Dele Momodu, had said that he remains a loyal member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and will always stand on the side of rule of law, and with the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Momodu made the revelations in a statement he signed himself, noting that the last election, which brought Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to power, was savagely manipulated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He praised the steps Atiku, and the presidential candidate of the Labour candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, have taken in seeking legal redress.

The statement in details:

I STAND ON RULE OF LAW

My position on the state of our country NIGERIA is simple and straightforward. I’m a loyal member of PDP who owes absolute allegiance to Nigeria and its Rule of Law. My political party PDP and others passionately hold the view that the last Presidential election was savagely manipulated by the ruling party APC and the cases are already in courts. Nothing will make me abandon my party on the altar of convenience and profit. Win or lose, I will continue to stand on this principle without any malice or prejudice against those who think otherwise. Democracy is a game of choice and I’m resolutely standing by our candidate, the former Vice President ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR (GCON) who has taken the honorable and peaceful step of going to court to seek redress. This is the only way we can deepen our hard earned Democracy. Sacrifice is not always convenient but painful.

I salute and respect The Wazirin Adamawa and others like my dear friend and Brother, former Governor Peter Obi, the Labor Party Presidential candidate, for promoting the best tenets of Democracy in Nigeria and I’m willing to encourage them rather than discourage their onerous quests…

CHIEF DELE MOMODU

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