Nigeria News
Joe Obi: As Historic International Flight lands in Enugu
by Joe Obi
Akanu Ibiam Airport Enugu
“During my campaign for election as President in 2011, one of the promises I made to Nigerians was to bring about transformation of the national economy. This promise is being delivered in the South East Geo-political Zone through, amongst other key interventions; the transformational work going on not only here at Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, but also at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri”, President Jonathan declared on Saturday, May 18, 2013 during the Foundation Laying/Commissioning Ceremony of the remodeled Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.
Indeed, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda is getting full expression in the Aviation sector not only in the renewal of airport infrastructure, especially Terminal rehabilitation and upgrade, but also very poignantly for the people of the South East, as the first international flight operated by Ethiopian Airlines lands at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu today, August 24, 2013.
For the people of the land-locked region and it’s environs stretching to the South South and parts of the Middle Belt, it has been a long dream come true; almost like a Long Walk To Freedom. Although the Enugu airport had in fact borne the name ‘International’ since it was officially so designated on December 17, 2010 by then Acting President Jonathan, all hope of actually playing host to international flights had remained forlorn for the people of the region-until today, that is!
When the President rolled out his Transformation Agenda with promises of a new dawn, a lot of hopes were expectedly raised. Now those hopes have crystalized into reality for people from the South East zone who were assured that the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, would truly answer its name in the lifetime of the Jonathan Presidency. This is concrete proof that this President keeps promises once they are made.
This historic international flight, perhaps the first since after the Civil War, is both symbolic and revolutionary. It symbolizes the end of an era where an entire region was almost shut out from the rest of the world, literally speaking, to one where the same enclave is now open to a new and exciting world of endless possibilities. According to President Jonathan, “the South East Region of Nigeria, with this international airport, can confidently say to the world ‘we are open for business’! The region and it’s environs is indeed open for business. This inaugural flight is equally revolutionary as this singular development will certainly change the way of life of the inhabitants of the region, forever.
Before now, anyone residing in the zone and hoping to embark on international trip to other African, Asian, European and American countries had to suffer the agony of traveling to either Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abuja or Kano not out of choice but compulsion, to catch a flight. President Jonathan lamented this much at the same occasion when he stated thus:
“There was a very good reason for the decision to confer international status on this airport. As I am sure you all know, Enugu is the gateway to the South East Region, the home of entrepreneurship in Nigeria. With such a large number of enterprising people with a huge propensity to travel both within and outside the country pursuing various business interests, people of this region have always had to travel first, either to Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja or Kano in order to be able to travel out of the country on business trips.
” As business people, speed and time are of the essence. Thus the ability to travel directly to your destination abroad or as directly from your base as possible, increases the speed of your transactions by reducing the time you spend traveling to and from there. The same applies to goods procured abroad and air-freighted into the country for business purposes. The more directly imported goods can be air-freighted to the region for its businessmen and women, the faster their goods and products can get to the market”.
The President could not have said it more succinctly. Interestingly, all this lamentation and agony is over. Ethiopian airlines, taking full advantage of world-class infrastructure at the airport, has banished all that agony and misery to the trash can of history as a whole new experience unfolds.
For a people known for their industry and enterprise, the opportunities which this international airport offer for the socio-economic development of the region are huge and boundless. With a large population of international businessmen and entrepreneurs, the zone could not have asked for anything better. Gone are the days when businessmen from the zone would endlessly agonize how; having cargoed or ferried their goods from far-flung parts of the globe to either Lagos or Abuja, would face the fresh Herculean task of clearing and moving them, mostly by road to the South East. Additional expense had been incurred, goods and lives even lost in this highly perilous journey from Lagos and Abuja to the east. With Ethiopian airlines now offering direct international flights from Enugu to almost any destination in the globe, the world is truly in the pocket of the South East. A new dawn is here. The world has in fact come to the east!
That is not all, neither is it even scratching the surface. The multiplier effect of the value chain that would be created as businesses spring up in and around the airport and the city of Enugu beats every imagination. The commercial offerings would not only boost the economy of the zone but also create thousands of jobs. The hospitality industry in the area is sure to witness a resurgence and boom. Commerce, which is the major preoccupation of the peoples of this zone would begin to boom as the Onitsha and Ariaria International market, Aba begin to play host not only to the local folks, but also to a wider international business community. This is also not talking about the huge opportunity for easy export of manufactured and agricultural goods. The local manufacturer in the remotest part of Aba and Nnewi and the rural farmer in Arochukwu would be exposed to the international markets as flights take off and land in Enugu from all corners of the globe. The possibilities are indeed endless, with the airport amongst the 13 also designated as perishable cargo airports in the country.
The vision of Mr President could not have seen the light of day without the drive and boundless energy of the Minister, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah. Under her watch, the entire aviation sector in Nigeria has been transformed from the once neglected, rustic and decrepit landscape to sprawling, edifying and dignifying architectural show-pieces that compare favourably with airport terminals anywhere in the world. But as Oduah has consistently maintained, what we are witnessing today in Enugu is just the beginning; more and more landmarks are underway. From what we have seen so far, we have no reason to doubt her.
For Ethiopian airlines that placed the bet on Akanu Ibiam International airport, Enugu, we can only wish it to fly higher. Surely, it won’t be long before other international airlines followed the Ethiopian example. For now, we cannot but agree with Mr President that the South East region is indeed “Open to the world for Business”.
News Commentary on Jonathan Promise fulfilled was written by Joe Obi SA (Media) to the Hon. Minister of Aviation..
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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.
The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.
Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.
Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.
Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.
Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.
In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.
Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.
However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.
Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The market women, said to be from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.
Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.
A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.
Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole
The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.
Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.
He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid in January 2020.
‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.
She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.
He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.
The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.
Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.
He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’
He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.
Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.
Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend.
He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart.
Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.
The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”
The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad, saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts. This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them.
Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said.
Sourced From: Tribune
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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