The Harbingerngr News

Lagos State Government, has insisted that the ban on commercial motorcycles, popularly called Okada , in 10 local government areas and 15 local council development areas in the state, remains . Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, disclosed this during an unscheduled monitoring of some restricted areas within the state, where large number of Okada riders had returned.  The affected LGAs include; Kosofe, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu, Mushin, Apapa, Ikeja, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Surulere and Eti-Osa, while the LCDAs are Ojodu, Onigbongbo, Lagos Island East, Yaba and Coker Aguda. With others at; Itire-Ikate, Eti-Osa West, Iru Victoria Island, Ikoyi-Obalende, Ikosi-Isheri, Agboyi-Ketu, Isolo, Ejigbo, Bariga and Odi-Olowo. Giwa said: “The position of the government on okada is very clear, there is no going back to consolidate on the achievements made so far in the decrease in accident and crime rates as well as the return of sanity to the communities within the ...

THE industrial peace in the  nation’s ports appears to be heading to the rocks as indications have emerged that the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, is planning to down tools and cripple ports activities nationwide over unresolved industrial issues. Among the pending industrial issues include the refusal of the International Oil Companies, IOCs, to comply with Marine Notice 106 and extant Stevedoring regulations, refusal to pay aged seafarers monthly pensions in spite of court ruling, refusal to restore registered onboard ship gangway security and Tally men (pooling system), absence of Collective Bargaining Agreement, CBA, in Shipping sub-sector and refusal to issue Seafarers identity documents, SID, to seafarers. Recall that MWUN had issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government and other concerned authorities effective Monday, March 6, to address the Union’s grievances, or face industrial unrest. However, fillers from the Union indicate that none of the issues has b...

*Says what you are paid should be equivalent to what another person doing the same job elsewhere is paid ORGANISED Labour is  demanding a  harmonized salary structure for contract workers in the nation’s Petroleum Industry to ensure equal pay for jobs done in the sector. This followed a motion on “Harmonization of Salary Structure for Contract Workers in the Oil Industry,” presented by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, at the 13th Quadrennial National Delegates' Conference , NDC, of NLC in Abuja. The motion was unanimously adopted by delegates at the NDC in Abuja. Earlier, NUPENG had pointed out that the “exploitative and precarious nature of employment in the Oil and Gas Industry by management is a thing of concern that needs to be addressed as it appears to be a policy that has come to stay with us for now.   “And if that is the case, how do we manage it effectively? It is in this light that NUPENG is advocating for a Harmonized Salary...

*Prince Adewale Adeyanju, Deputy President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, President of NLC, and Martins Uzoegwu, President of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, during NLC leaders' working visit to NUEE Secretariat, Lagos.  ONE of the most controversial bills the outgoing government of President Muhammad Buhari has been trying to push through the National Assembly, NASS, is the National Water Resources Bill. The bill has gone through some window-dressing and metamorphosis, coming out with thickening opposition from state governments, groups and individuals irrespective of the name given to it. In another major setback to the bill, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has rejected the bill, describing it as an evil that must be thrown away in its entirety. The rejection of the bill followed a motion presented by Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, AUPCTRE, at the 13th Quadrennial National Delegates Conference, NDC, of ...

Old and new subscribers to telecoms service provider, Globacom, will benefit from a new MiFi and Router offer which connects up-to 32 Wi-Fi-enabled devices including smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs and game consoles at once.  The offer gives subscribers FREE 60GB and 180 GB data upon purchase and activation of a MiFi and Router respectively According to the company in a statement yesterday, the devices ensure faster downloads, faster music and movie streaming, faster gaming experience and seamless video calls on various smart devices can be used by Students, corporate employees, small and medium scale businesses or by individual subscribers on the go seamlessly. "Nigerians can purchase the devices from any of our Gloworld one-stop shops or partner outlets.  All they need to do is insert a registered Glo SIM into the MiFi or Router device to access the free 60GB and 180 GB once the device is switched on." The company added that the new offer was introduced to give its...

THE United Nations Children's Fund,UNICEF, has disclosed that no fewer than 82,000 Nigerian women die yearly from pregnancy-related complications. The organisation said 225 women dies everyday from maternal mortality, seeking urgent action by authorities to halt the ugly development. UNICEF Chief of Health in Nigeria, Eduardo Celades, disclosed these in Lagos  at a Media Dialogue on COVID19 and Routine Immunization, hosted by UNICEF Nigeria. The new death rate arising from pregnancy-related complications doubled the figure released by the Federal Ministry of Health in March, 2022. Speaking at the media dialogue, UNICEF Chief of Health, Eduardo Celades, said " In the last few months and weeks,we got new data. The report is telling us that still, the number of women dying from pregnancy related causes is very high. About 82,000 are estimated to die every year from maternal mortality. "What we doing is to strengthen primary health care in the country. We hope that the data w...

Late Rachael and Victor Oloro. •Grandchildren survived — Police IT is still unbelievable that a 73-year-old grandmother would set the entire family members of her son ablaze on the excuse of being starved of food by the daughter-in-law.  This horrific incident happened in Apomu Community, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, and has thrown the community into mourning. The grandmother, who resides with her son in the same house, decided to terminate the lives of the entire family members, simply because they failed to give her food when due. She reportedly sprinkled petrol on the victims’ room and ignited a fire with a matchstick, while her son, Victor Oloro; his wife, Rachael, and their children, Toluwani and Blessing, were all in the house and deeply asleep in the wee hours of the fateful day.  The ensuing inferno did so much damage to the family members that the doctors at the Federal Medical Center, in Owo, could not salvage the situation when their neighbours rescued and rush...

THE Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has given reasons for the suspension of its planned nationwide indefinite strike over the scarcity of naira notes across the country. NLC had planned to begin an indefinite stay-at-home strike and picketing of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN headquarters, and its branches across the country from yesterday over the CBN's Currency Redesign policy that had inflicted pains on Nigerians and businesses. Leaders of NLC however suspended the planned industrial action after a meeting of its National Executive Council, NEC, meeting Tuesday. Giving reasons for the suspension, President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, in a statement,  informed that CBN engaged leaders of NLC twice before the seven day strike notice expired  where NLC "demanded that certain measures be taken to make cash available to all Nigerians. Some of these measures were our insistence on Saturday and Sunday full banking services until a healthy cash situation is restored and the expansion and d...

LAGOS State Government, yesterday, announced that bus fares on all regulated buses, like Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, Standard and First and Last Mile, FLM, shall revert to 100 per cent rate, with effect from Saturday, April 1.  Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on February 8, 2023, approved a 50 per cent slash in bus fares, following the cash crunch brought about by the recent currency swap.  But confirming the new rate, the Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, LAMATA, Abimbola Akinajo, said: "Following the Supreme Court and Federal Government's pronouncements on the use of old notes alongside the new notes and return of stability to the system, the 50 per cent rebate is, hereby, discontinued.  "Consequently, bus fares return to pre-50 per cent slash rate, effective Saturday, April 1, 2023." Meanwhile, a reliable source, who preferred anonymity, said that the governor arrived at the decision to revert to earlier rate, due to financial pressure...

....Says suspension of Ajayi, Omololu won’t stand LEADER of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere,  Reuben Fasoranti, has dissociated himself from the position taken at Isanya Ogbo, Ogun State, over the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the President-elect, saying that is not the Afenifere way. He also declared the removal and suspension of two Afenifere officials, Messrs Kole Omololu and Jare Ajayi, null and void.  Fasoranti, in a statement he personally signed, stated that being a law abiding organisation, Afenifere could not have asserted that someone, other than the person declared by the body duly authorised by the Constitution and other extant laws of the land, is the winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential election. Both Ajayi and Omololu were sacked for allegedly issuing unauthorised statements and constant denigration of the organisation. Efforts to get Pa Adebanjo to react proved abortive, as calls put across to him were unanswered. But distan...

•Nigerians won't be intimidated into submission — LP  •DSS should go beyond announcement  — IPAC THE Department of State Services, DSS, has stated that a segment of the political class was preparing an interim administration in order to void the outcome of the just-concluded general elections. Spokesman for the DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, who disclosed this in a statement, said  the agency had identified some key players in the plot but did not give the names of the masterminds. The agency said the planners of the interim government had already held several meetings during which they weighed many options to actualize their plot, including sponsoring endless mass protests across Nigerian cities, securing a warrant to declare a state of emergency or a court injunction to stop the inauguration of the executive and the legislature at the federal and state levels. The statement read: “The DSS considers the plot, being pursued by these entrenched interests, as not only an aberrati...

 THE pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has sacked its National Publicity Secretary and National Organising Committee, Messrs Jare Ajayi and Kole Omololu, respectively, for allegedly issuing unauthorised statements and constant denigration of the organisation. A communiqué by its leader and Secretary General, Pa Ayo Adebanjo and Sola Ebiseni, respectively, has stated, after its monthly meeting, held at Isanya Ogbo, in Ogun State. Mr. Omololu recently issued a statement warning the Chairman of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Council of Elders,  Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, to stop insulting the Yoruba race. But the group, in the communiqué, however, said that "it received a message credited to Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu in a viral video allegedly indicting the Yoruba as political rascals on account of ethnic violence deployed by politicians of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State.” The communiqué reads: "On the analysis of the video and information at the disposal of Afeni...

THE House of Representatives, has urged the Federal Government to immortalise former Chief of General Staff, late Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya (retd). The call was sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance, sponsored by Mr. Kolapo Osunsanya. Diya passed on Sunday at the age of 78 years. Osunsanya, in his motion, described the Diya as a gallant soldier. Observing one-minute silence in honour of the deceased, the House later raised a 6-man delegation to be led by Deputy Majority leader, Mr Peter Akpatason and Mr Babajimi Benson to visit the deceased family in Lagos.

THE West African Examinations Council, WAEC ,  has said that it abandoned manual confirmation of results for digital because the former was seamless and timely. Recall that the body recently announced the suspension of manual confirmation of WAEC results. In a signed statement by the Ag. Head, Public Affairs, WAEC Nigeria, Moyosola Adesina, the examination body noted that digital confirmation of results could be made by individuals, and corporate organisations, among others, provided an authentic email address was given. The statement read:  : "The West African Examinations Council, WAEC, Nigeria is pleased to inform institutions, organizations, agencies, embassies, high commissions, and the general public that the council will no longer provide manual confirmation or stamping of certificates of candidates who sat the WASSCE from 1999 till date. ''The council has launched the WAEC Digital Certificate Platform for a seamless and timely mode of availing stakeholders of their...

Former Information and National Orientation Minister, Labaran Maku, said that many saw the ‘Obidient’ movement and the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as a joke. The LP presidential candidate took the nation by storm when he emerged as a third-force candidate, enjoyed huge followership and scored over six million votes, winning 12 states to finish third in the February 25 presidential election. Fielding questions on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, about the outcome of the 2023 elections yesterday, Maku admitted that opposition politicians never gave the LP candidate and his supporters a chance. He said:   “What happened in the presidential election as you could see was that there was this wave of young people, the ‘Obidients’ that we all took for granted and we were thinking Peter Obi was a joke. Where would he go? “So, both PDP and the APC, we were thinking this man does not have structure; he will not be able to do so much’...

From left, Godwin Emefiele (2nd), Christ Ngige, Joe Ajaero and others. THE Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has suspended its planned nationwide indefinite strike and picketing of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, offices across the country over the scarcity of naira notes. It had planned to begin the nationwide sit-at-home indefinite strike from today (Wednesday, March 29) and picketing of CBN headquarters and its state offices across the country over the cash crunch that had brought untold hardships to Nigerians and businesses.   At the end of its National Executive Council, NEC, meeting yesterday, leaders of NLC, however, gave the CBN two weeks to normalise the money supply nationwide, especially in the rural areas.  NLC in a resolution  disclosed that the NEC-in-session after extensive discussions, reviewed the undercurrents of the current cash crunch across the length and breadth of Nigeria.  According to NLC’s NEC, the scarcity of cash is a consequence of the CBN’s cu...

Umar Damagum (left) and Iyorchia Ayu. ...as acting chairman, the PDP crisis worsens I’m taking office to fulfill all righteousness — Damagum; NWC to meet, review developments today; Ayu behaved like a village headmaster  — Bode George; Accept your reign has ended, Wike mocks Ayu Stakeholders in the  main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who want the National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, to quit the position, have succeeded, at least in the interim. He will cease to function as national chairman until the court says otherwise. A Benue High Court on Monday ordered Ayu to stop parading himself as national chairman of the PDP pending  determination of the suit before it. The National Working Committee, NWC of the PDP, acting on the order, yesterday, confirmed its Deputy National Chairman (North), Amb. Umar Illiya Damagum, as acting national chairman after Ayu, stepped aside in deference to the court order. The PDP NWC took the decision at an emergency meeting, yesterd...

A Nigerian, Solomon Okpe, has been sentenced to four years in an American jail for taking part in online scams that targeted United States citizens and banks, leading up to $1 million in losses to the victims. The 31-year-old was handed the prison term after being extradited from Malaysia, where he was arrested, to the US to stand trial. The US Department of Justice, while announcing the sentence, said Okpe and his accomplices “devised and executed business email compromise (BEC), work-from-home, check-cashing, romance, and credit card scams” between 2011 and 2017 According to Infosecurity magazine, targeted victims include individuals, banks and businesses in the US and other countries, which were subjected to email phishing attacks aimed at stealing login credentials and “other sensitive information.” The DoJ described the scams as “intended to cause more than $1 million in losses to US victims,” although it was not clear if the cyber-fraud gang achieved this nefarious goal. Financia...

THREE persons have been killed by cultists, who unleashed terror in Bariga community, Lagos State. The cultists, who went on the rampage on Monday, hacked one Lekan Omoekun to death on Kajola Street in Bariga area of Lagos, while avenging the killing of their colleague by a rival group. The community was thrown into chaos as residents scampered for safety when the cultists invaded the area around 3p.m., on Monday, trailing Lekan Omoekun to the scene, where he was hacked to death. Vanguard gathered that the late Lekan Omoekun was a younger brother to a suspected hit man of Aiye group, who shot and killed a member of Eye, identified as Moses alias Loworo at Tapa Street on March 16. It was also gathered that two other members of Aiye were hacked to death in the community earlier that day before Omoekun was killed by the same group. One Kudus, a resident in the community, said in a bid to avenge their colleague’s death, they trailed the younger brother to the Aiye hit man to Idi Aba, Kajo...

Awana Gaidam THE chief bomb maker and a high ranking member of the Boko Haram Terrorist Group, Awana Gaidam has been killed by his own Improvised Explosive Device, IED. The 39 year-old bomb maker, apart from his high status in the command structure of the Boko Haram terrorists, was one of their capable hands involved in the making of IEDs. Awana was believed to be responsible for plotting many IEDs attacks on troops of Operation Hadin Kai during fighting patrols, along major highways between Maiduguri to Damboa, Bama to Pulka and Bita as well as Banki to Darajamal general area. Intelligence sources disclosed that the bomb struck his vehicle along Njumia and Arra in the Sambisa forest general area on March 27, killing him instantly. The sources disclosed that Awana had planted bombs in strategic positions to fortify his camp within the Sambisa forest but little did he know that his plot to kill soldiers and derail military operations in the general area would only come back to claim his...