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Five Women Die Hourly Due To Low Health Budget

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Five Women Die Hourly Due To Low Health Budget

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By Obiejesi Kingsley

Health experts at a round-table in Abuja have made the shocking revelation that at least five women die across the country as a result of pregnancy related issue.

Concerned health practitioners, Civil Society groups as well as Non-governmental Organisations, who gathered over the weekend in Abuja to review the 2016 health budget, said about 576 women, out of every 100,000, die in Nigeria due to pregnancy related problems and asked for a significant improvement in the  2017 health budget.

The round-table was facilitated by the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health, PACFaH.

The total amount of money voted for Nigeria’s health sector in the 2016 budget stands at N257,382,151,746, according to the official website of the Budget office of the federation.

The amount represents just a little more than 4% of the entire 2016 budget, in a developing country like Nigeria which is battling myriads of diseases, including polio, malaria, tuberculosis among many others.

Nigeria is said to be the fourth worst country to get pregnant, and also ranks as one of the worst countries to be a child under the age of five.

Children under the age of five die in good numbers in Nigeria as a result of Malaria, Pneumonia and other such diseases.

All these challenges, experts at the roundtable event say, would be better handled if government lived up to its commitment of allocating at least 15 per cent of its yearly budget to improve the health sector as agreed by leaders of African Nations at the April 2001 meeting of African Union, AU, countries in Abuja.

They also want government to implement the National Health Act which stipulates that one percent of the consolidated revenue fund of the federal government be set aside to finance health initiatives in the country.

Participants at the event were also informed that come 2017, Nigeria faces an enormous funding gap for the countries routine immunization programme due to the fact that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, GAVI, will be graduating the country to another phase of the Vaccine support, meaning that Nigeria will be contributing more for provisions of vaccines than it did in 2016.

The development makes it even more necessary for the federal government to significantly improve the nation’s health budget so as to better cater for the health needs of the populace.

Countries in Africa, that are considered poorer than Nigeria, are keeping to the 15 percent budgetary allocation to their various health sectors, while Nigeria is yet to march even 5 percent.

Rwanda for instance, reportedly devoted 18 percent of its total 2016 budget to healthcare. Botswana budgeted 17.8% to health; Malawi, 17.1%, Zambia, 16.4% and Burkina Faso, 15.8%.

Many of these countries also perform better than Nigeria in the global Reproductive Maternal Newborn Adolescent Child Health, RMNACH, ratings.

“We (Nigeria) just claim big brother for nothing. What type of big brother are we?” queried one of the facilitators of the event.

“Right to health is a fundamental human right, guaranteed by Nigeria’s constitution. That government is not paying enough attention to healthcare is a crime, a suable offence,” he added.

In Nigeria, Bauchi state is the only state of the federation that marched the 15% budgetary requirement to the health sector in the 2016 budget; followed by Lagos state with 9% and with a projection of 11% in the 2017 budget.

The experts say things must change for the better as an unhealthy populace cannot contribute effectively to the growth of the Nation’s economy.

They urged Politicians to begin to take the issues of health seriously, asking citizens too to make health issues top on the agenda when politicians come canvassing for votes.

“They (politicians) must be made to understand that health is not just about electoral promises, it must be implemented with all seriousness, else there won’t be any economy in the first place,” said one of the health activists at the roundtable.

Appreciable progress has been made already with regards to the preparation of the 2017 Budget proposal by the Federal Executive Council, FEC.

Stakeholders in the health sector therefore wants President Muhammadu Buhari to muster the political will to fulfill the many promises he made to Nigerians during his campaigns.

The president, in his manifesto had promised to: reduce infant mortality and maternal mortality rates through provision of free ante-natal care for pregnant women, as well as babies and children up to school going age; improve life expectancy in the country by an additional 10 years on average; increase the number of physicians from 19 per 1000 population to 50 per 1000; increase the quality of all federal government owned hospitals to world class standard by 2019; ban medical tourism by our politicians from May 29, 2015; Create an Insurance Policy for our Journalists as the nation faces hard times and our Journalists face more dangers in the discharge of their investigative work, to educate Nigerians in their rights and responsibilities, among many others.

Red Cross President Paints Grim Picture Of Niger Delta

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Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross
Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross

By Obiejesi Kingsley

President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, Peter Maurer, has painted a far-from-complimentary picture of the Niger Delta after paying a visit to the oil region on Sunday.

Maurer explained on his social media handle that he embarked on the trip “to listen to villagers explain how their lives have been hit by poverty and violence.”

It wasn’t very clear from Maurer’s posts which part of the Niger Delta he had visited, but pictures he posted showed it was a riverine community.

He stated that a large portion of the water bodies was very polluted and “full of rubbish and oil slicks”. It took “6 hours by boat to find water clean enough to fish.”

According to him, water from wells were “safe enough”.

He also pointed out a supposedly completed Millenium Development Goals, MDGs, project – a borehole – that is at best, a waste of resources.

He tweeted: “A #MDG “success story” in Niger Delta. Town generator: never got wired. Water plant: no electricity, so never worked! Box ticked.”

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Empty Health Centre as posted by the ICRC president

Maurer posted a picture of a health clinic in the area saying that there were no medicines and no medical personnel to cater for the people.

“This Niger Delta health clinic has no medicine. It’s abandoned. Staff are too scared to work here. So what are the sick and ill to do?” he queried.

The ICRC president later posted a picture of himself at a “Meeting (with) patients and orthopedic team at the only physical rehab centre” in the area.

There has been renewed surge in bombings and destruction of oil and gas facilities in the oil-rich Niger Delta from which flows the crude oil on which the Nigerian economy largely depend.

Citizens from the area have always complained of neglect by the Nigerian government despite the devastation that oil exploration activities had caused in the region.

They are calling for a restructuring of the country’s economy such that every state will be directly in control of natural resources in its domain.

However, analysts have also blamed the political elites from the Niger Delta region for not doing enough to cater for their people, despite a 13% derivative fund accruable to oil producing states from the federation account.

Chibok Girls: Minister Condemns Reckless Comments

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Chibok Girls: Minister Condemns Reckless Comments
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has urged public commentators and analysts to refrain from making “reckless” statements that could jeopardize the release of the remaining Chibok girls who are still in captivity.

The Minister made the appeal on Sunday in Abuja at the special thanksgiving Church Service and reunion of the 21 released Chibok girls with their families.

He said: “There are many reckless analysts and commentators who are not helping the situation. We still have many of our children in captivity.

“Therefore we have to be careful with the kind of comments that we make. We must not make comments that will make the release of these girls difficult or impossible.”

Mohammed said those who doubted the sincerity and commitment of the Buhari-administration to the safe release of the abducted Chibok girls have been disappointed.

He appealed for patience on the part of the parents whose daughters were yet to be rescued, assuring them that negotiations were ongoing.

“When the President said that the Boko Haram saga will not be closed until all the girls abducted have been released and reunited with their families safely, those who doubted did not believe us so we thank God this day has come,” he said.

“This is the beginning and we are very optimistic that very soon another batch bigger than this will be released. I want to assure you that these negotiations are ongoing even as we speak.”

Chairman of the Parents of the Abducted Chibok School Girls, Yakubu Nkeki, re-echoed the minister’s plea by appealing to the people to stop spreading rumours, particularly on the Social Media, that will put the lives of the girls at risk.

He debunked some reports alleging that 18 of the 21 free girls are pregnant even as he denied that the girls were radicalised by Boko Haram.

Nkeki thanked President Buhari for summoning the courage and the political will that eventually led to the release of the abducted girls.

Obanikoro Back In Nigeria

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Obanikoro Back In Nigeria
Musiliu Obanikoro
Musiliu Obanikoro

Embattled former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, is reportedly back in Nigeria, apparently to answer the allegations of corruption leveled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The former Lagos state governorship candidate is enmeshed in controversy since after serving his stint in the cabinet of former president Goodluck Jonathan.

Obanikoro was accused by the EFCC of awarding dubious contracts to his children, contracts that were never executed.

The ex-minister had been in the United States since after the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lost the 2015 general elections, and had said he was not going to return to the country, alleging that the government of the day was out to discredit and persecute him.

Obanikoro was also fingered in the Ekiti elections scandal which saw Governor Ayodele Fayose emerge winner over Kayode Fayemi, who is now Nigeria’s minister for Solid Minerals Development.

It is not clear when he intends to present himself before the EFCC, but his political associate, Demola Olarewaju, confirmed that Obanikoro was in the country, adding that he is currently in Abuja and could visit the EFCC headquarters on Monday.

Gov. Okorocha Urges Buhari To Heed Wife’s Advice

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Gov. Okorocha Urges Buhari To Heed Wife’s Advice
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Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to heed the advice of his wife, Aisha, and other Nigerians to rejig his cabinet.

The governor was on the entourage of the president on his latest official trip to Germany and while speaking to state house correspondents on their return, stated that there is need to bring in people who would help to actualise the vision of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for Nigeria.

President Buhari’s wife, Aisha, in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, last week implied that her husband was not totally in charge of his administration, warning that she might not support his re-election in 2019 if the president failed to shake up his cabinet.

Okorocha advised the president to harken to the voice of the people, saying: “Quite frankly, I am a governor and I know where the shoe pinches most. It is like somebody in the game and those who are outside seem to see more.

“So it’s natural. I think for any reason, if there is a clarion call on Mr. President to look into his cabinet and bring in more people, there is nothing wrong in taking note of the comments from Nigerians.

“If everyone keeps saying the same thing, there must be a sense in what they are saying,” the governor said.

He however added that though some people feel they were being overlooked or not properly recognized in the administration, everything will soon be sorted out as the President was committed to making things better.

He said: “Most people in the APC feel they are not carried along, so many people who worked for the party are complaining every day. They want appointment.

“The people in the south-east are saying that they have not been appointed, some people from the north east are saying they have not been appointed, even some people in the north-west where the president comes from.

“Some people at local government are saying they have not been remembered. So at what point do we draw this line. But there is always room for amendment,” he assured.

The Imo State governor who is also chairman of the APC governor’s forum dismissed the claims that president Buhari used the opportunity of the visit to seek medical attention in Germany.

“The president never went for any medical check-up. At least I was with him till 1 a.m. after dinner before I left him and he went to bed, and the following day I came out to see him in the morning,” Okorocha explained.

“He didn’t go to any hospital. The only hospital we went to was to see a military general who had an accident.

“I don’t know why in this part of the world people are only happy when someone is down. I think we also have to change our attitude.”

Okorocha added that “If Buhari succeeds, it is Nigeria that is succeeding, and if Nigeria fails it is not Buhari that is failing. So we just need to support him to succeed so that all of us can be happy.”

On the controversy generated by the president’s wife’s interview with the BBC and the comments of President Buhari, Governor Okorocha said “I think both the interview and the comment were taken out of context.”

“I can understand why the international community speaks on this matter because of human rights and all that is going on around the world,” he said.

Released Chibok Girls Reunite With Families

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Released Chibok Girls Reunite With Families

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The twenty one Chibok school girls who were recently released from the captivity of the Boko Haram terrorists were on Sunday reunited with their families and loved ones.

The reunion took place at the health facility of the Department of State Services, DSS in Abuja, where a thanksgiving church service was organized for the girls.

The atmosphere at the thanksgiving venue was quite emotional as tears of joy and relief freely flowed.

The parents also took turns to commend President Muhammdu Buhari and the Nigerian Military as well as other security agencies for their various roles in seeing to the safe return of the girls.

One of the rescued girls, Gloria Dame, in her testimony revealed that they had had to go without food, at some point in the forest, for more than a month.

Dame who spoke in Hausa said: “I did not know that a day like this will come that we will be dancing and giving thanks to God among people.

“For one month and 10 days, we stayed without food. I narrowly escaped bomb blast in the forest.

“We are praying to God to touch the heart of Boko Haram to repent and we are calling on Nigerians to pray and fast for the release of our remaining ones in captivity,” she stated.

Chairman of Chibok local government council, Yaga Yarakawa, described the release of the girls as “historic”, adding that he knew the girls well before their abduction as he was in charge of their feeding which was sponsored by the Borno State Secondary Schools Feeding System.

“These are the real girls and you could see when their parents came; you see their joy, it manifest naturally,” he said.

“This is enough to tell you that it is a reality and anybody who says different things or is doubting, maybe the person has a different agenda altogether.”

He appealed to the government to put all necessary machinery in place to ensure the release of the other girls.

Also, Yakubu Nkeki, chairman of Abducted Chibok Girls’ Parents Association, thanked the president for the release of the girls.

She also said the claims that most of the girls were pregnant and some already had babies were not true.

“From the physical looks of the girls, it was obvious that they were not radicalised as claimed by some people,” he added.

Ministers of information and culture and that of Women Affairs, Lai Mohammed  and Aisha Alhassan, were also present at the thanksgiving service.

20 Die In Herdsmen Attack On Kaduna Community

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Suspected armed herdsmen attacked a community called Godogodo, a semi-urban settlement, in Jema’a Local Government Area, LGA, of Kaduna State between Saturday and Sunday, reportedly killing about 20.

The state police command confirmed the incident and people who escaped the carnage said the community was razed down and many people were injured.

Reports say the incident has further punctured the uneasy calm that exists between the majority Christian population of nearby Kafanchan, and the minority settler population of Hausa/Fulani Muslims in Godogodo.

The Interim Management Committee Chairman, of the local council, Humble Katuka, as part of efforts to bring the situation under control, on Sunday, announced a 24-hour curfew on the LGA.

Kafanchan is the Headquarters of Jema’a LGA, which lies about 250 kilometres South of Kaduna metropolis and also the commercial and socio-political hub of Southern Kaduna.

17 Customs Officers Sacked Over Certificate Forgery, Drug Addiction

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17 Customs Officers Sacked Over Certificate Forgery, Drug Addiction

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The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has dismissed 17 of its Junior Officers between January and September 2016, for various offences including drug addiction, certificate forgery, theft and absence from duty.

Spokesman of the service, Wale Adeniyi, in a statement issued on Sunday said that investigations into offences committed by Officers in the senior category were being concluded and any officer found guilty will face similar stiff penalties.

Adeniyi stated that disciplinary measures against the junior officers were taken after series of investigations and deliberations by the disciplinary committee and recommendations were made to the Customs management.

“This process is a continuation of the reform agenda the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) promised upon his assumption of office which emphasized discipline, good conduct and transparency,” the statement read.

Justice Ademola Writes CJN, Says AGF Behind His DSS Ordeal

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Justice Ademola Writes CJN, Says AGF Behind His DSS Ordeal
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Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmud Mohammed

Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who was one of the seven senior judges arrested by the Department of State Security, DSS, last weekend, has written a letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Mahmud Mohammed, explaining his ordeal at the hands of the DSS and pointing accusing fingers at the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Abubakar Malami, as being behind the whole saga.

Justice Ademola stated that he was being persecuted for granting bail to former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, as well as the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

Dasuki and Kanu are currently being held by the DSS on charges of corruption and treason respectively.

Ademola also said that there has been a long standing friction between himself and Malami, which he believes was also reason for the alleged persecution.

In a letter to the CJN, four days after the raid at his residence in Abuja, justice Ademola said he was assaulted during the midnight operation by SSS operatives.

Ademola stated that “The search of my residence was based on these allegations: “(i) Petition of Hon. Jenkins Duvie dated 4th of April 2016 to the National Judicial Council (NJC); (ii) Granting bail to Col. Sambo Dasuki and the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu. (iii) Using my office to secure my wife’s appointment as the Head of Civil Service Lagos State through Senator Bola Tinubu.”

Ademola stated that about 45 operatives of DSS stormed his residence and whisked him away in the dead of night, without telling him his offenses or presenting a warrant of arrest, adding that the Service connived with the AGF to use his decisions on the bench against him.

“What is more intriguing in this whole episode is that I see it as a vendetta/revenge from the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN),” Ademola stated.

“Whilst I was in Kano between 2004-2008 as a Federal High Court judge, he was involved in a professional misconduct necessitating his arrest and detention by my order.

“However, with the intervention of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Kano Branch, the allegation of misconduct was later withdrawn by me.

“Consequently, the National Judicial Council,NJC, referred Abubakar Malami to the NBA Disciplinary Committee for disciplinary action.”

Ademola said the case cost  Malami his initial prospects of becoming a senior advocate of Nigeria.

“It was as a result of this he was denied the Rank of SAN by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee for a period of four years until when he produced a fake letter of apology, purportedly addressed to me.

“It was then he was conferred with the rank. Since the above incident, Abubakar Malami (SAN) has threatened to revenge and swore to do anything to bring me down,” the judge said.

Ademola denied the allegations against him, including charges that he was in possession of unlicensed firearms.

He provided details of how he was frightened after operatives arrived at his home in the middle of the night and how they conducted their operation before leaving the property in “shambles”.

“I saw about 45 masked officers of the State Security Services, all heavily armed pointing their guns at me,” he said.

“They flashed a document purported to be a search warrant and ordered me to sign a document claiming that they had already conducted a search downstairs.

“They also added that I was totally under their control today as I have always made orders against them,”. Ademola said.

Malami’s spokesman did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ request for comment on Saturday evening.

Ademola said operatives later presented him with a list of items that were found in his home which could be used as exhibits, but he initially declined to sign the paper.

“They threatened me if I did not sign it they would not leave me alone and whatever they did to me at that point would be recorded that I will not be alive to tell the story of what transpired between me and them that night.

“For fear and interest of my life, and unknown persons with masks on their faces, I collected the written items and signed the document,” Ademola said.

The judge said he has been putting up at a hotel in downtown Abuja and sought permission to proceed on leave during which he intended to pursue a remediation for alleged breach of his fundamental rights by the SSS.

“My Lord, with this infringement on my fundamental right, I seek for the leave to commence an action against the State Security Service to enforce my right that was breached,” Ademola said.

Police, Army Clash In Ebonyi State

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Police, Army Clash In Ebonyi State

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Violence was averted in Nkwagu, a town close to Abakiliki, the capital of Ebonyi State, on Saturday evening when some police officers clashed with soldiers from a nearby Army Cantonment.

The state police Public Relations Officer, George Okafor, confirmed the incident to newsmen on Sunday in Abakiliki.

He said the clash was unfortunate and efforts have been made by the two agencies to forestall such occurrences in future.

“The matter has been peacefully resolved and we urge the public not to panic over the development but be assured of their safety at all times,” he said.

The policeman declined to say whether any officer from the two security agencies sustained any injury in the clash.

However, a witness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, that trouble started when a police patrol team on road check requested for the identity cards and vehicle particulars of the army officers.

“The soldiers rode a tinted Toyota Camry car with registration number BWR 886 AE and a black Toyota Jeep with the inscription of ‘Bride’ used to convey a newly wedded couple.

“The soldiers, who were in their uniforms except one personnel, told the police team they were returning from a wedding and felt embarrassed by their request for the documents.

“At this point, one of the police officers stopped the soldiers from passing and the latter angrily fired sporadically into the air,” he said.

According to the witness, who is a security agent, the police officers then called their colleague in the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, on phone and immediately they stormed the scene and one of them reportedly slapped a soldier.

The witness added that the police who were more in number then took some of the soldiers to the command’s headquarters and confiscated their rifles.

“The soldiers who escaped from the scene, rushed to the cantonment and on their way, allegedly attacked some policemen near the cantonment and held them hostage,” the security agent told NAN.

The witness also said one of the police officers held by the soldiers was later released and he quickly rushed to the command to report that some officers were being held at the cantonment.

“This development almost affected the peace moves made by both security agencies but the situation eventually normalised following intervention by top echelon of both agencies,” the source added.

The army authorities were yet to react to NAN enquiries or make public their reaction over the development.

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