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Hardship: Lagos Assembly Asks Sanwo-Olu To Summon Stakeholders’ Meeting

Published

5 months ago

February 21, 2024

The Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday asked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to urgently summon a stakeholders’ meeting to address the current hardship experienced by residents of the state for the government to adopt sustainable solutions beyond palliatives.

The lawmakers noted that though the current economic situation pervades the entire Nigeria and is mostly global in outlook, Lagos State and its local governments must do more to ameliorate the suffering in the land.

The House also advised leaders and statesmen to join forces with the government and play persuasive roles instead of inciting the people against the government.

Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa said the situation called for a stakeholders’ meeting for the input of everyone including members of the National and state Assembly as well as local government chairmen.

“No doubt, there is a challenge before us as representatives of the people and it is the duty of all of us to proffer solutions.

“This is a situation that started long ago in Nigeria and was graduating. Unfortunately, we are facing this now. The dollar issue did not start now. The prices of food and how farmers had been prevented from going to farms as a result of insecurity did not start now.

“The most unfortunate thing about it has to do with the comments coming from some leaders of the country. Instead of using their wisdom to appeal to the people, they use their words to incite people against the government as if they have not been in the country before now.

“We cannot leave the Federal Government alone to proffer solutions to our problems. There is no ‘abracadabra’ about it.

“The immediate concern is to appeal to our people. Protests and violence will not solve anything but take us backwards. Nobody prayed for the current situation but we must work hand-in-hand to take us away from this mess.
It is not the president’s fault, neither is it the governor’s fault,” Dr. Obasa said while commending Governor Sanwo-Olu for recently starting the Trader Money programme through which 15,000 traders have benefitted.

The Speaker directed that the commissioners for agriculture and transportation, Ms. Ruth Abisola Olusanya and Oluwaseun Osiyemi, respectively as well as related parastatals and agencies be invited to brief the House on their plans to make life more comfortable for the people just as he urged serious sanctions against those who hoard dollars in the country.

“All this while, we have been talking about sports to take our youth off the streets as we have seen in other countries. Let us inject money into it and make it attractive so that they would be engaged. Our system of education must also be adjusted to emphasise what students can become on their own without seeking or applying for jobs.

“There is a need for orientation and sensitisation. There are a lot of complaints and negatives out there. The government should also embark on campaigns and orientation to make the people know the real situation and what is being done. The government’s voice must be louder than those who are hell-bent on destroying the country,” Dr. Obasa said while lamenting the current prices of cement and iron even when most of the materials are locally sourced.

Earlier speaking under ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance’, Hon. Segun Adebisi Ege representing Ojo Constituency 1 lamented the hardship rocking the state.

Ege also urged that Governor Sanwo-Olu be called upon to subsidise transportation and prices of food items in the state.

In his contribution, Deputy Majority Leader, Richard Adedamola Kasunmu, said there was a need for the government to bring out actionable plans to solve the economic problem in the country.

On his part, Hon. Adewale Temitope said the entire economic situation must be looked at holistically for a solution while Hon. Femi Saheed noted that other countries are facing the same situation with the price of a bag of rice over N120,000 in Cameroon and Ghana, is approximately N97,000. He emphasised the need to improve agriculture.

Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu stressed the need for the Lagos government to prioritise power while Nureni Akinsanya of Mushin Constituency 1 advocated for food banks in Lagos State to make residents buy at cheaper rates.

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Po!n, betting sites recorded 162m Nigerian visitors in June – Report

Published

1 hour ago

July 27, 2024

Admin

A report by global data and business intelligence platform, StatiSense, has revealed that more than 162 million Nigerians visited porn and betting websites in June 2024.

According to the platform’s most recent data, which lists the top ten websites that Nigerians saw on their mobile devices in June, a sizable percentage of this traffic visited websites with gambling and pornographic content.

A post on StatiSense’s official X page revealed that a variety of search engines, social media apps, and betting platforms were among the most popular websites.

Notably, two pornographic websites, Xvideos and Xnxx, came in second and sixth place respectively with a total of 80.18 million visits.

In addition, Nigerian mobile users visited sporting websites 176.83 million times. Of these, 83.1 million visits were allocated to sports betting sites Sportybet and Bet9ja, which secured third and fourth places on the list.

Google and Facebook were also among the sites that featured prominently in the report.

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Reps hail Wike, Tamuno over AICL’s improved revenue, infrastructure

Published

1 hour ago

July 27, 2024

Admin

Members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on FCT, led by Hon. Aliyu Muktar Betara have applauded the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike over ongoing infrastructural development projects across the nation’s capital city.

The lawmakers who spoke during an interactive session with the Group Managing Director of Abuja Investment Company Limited (AICL), Dr. Maureen Tamuno applauded her ingenuity towards improved revenue generation since her assumption of office.

While presenting her scorecard and strategy adopted in the turnaround of Abuja Investment Company Limited to the Committee, Dr. Tamuno disclosed that AICL only manages the district markets, not the entire markets across the territory.

According to her, Wuse Markets is owned 90 percent by the individuals who bought the shops while AICL owns 10 percent.

“For example, Wuse Market is owned 90 percent by the owners, we own 10 percent. What Abuja Management does for Wuse market is to manage the facility there through the toll taking which they do collect on our behalf and then they manage the facilities, they manage the refuse collections and they also work with the market association.”

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Tinubu serious in solving economic crisis — Wike

Published

1 hour ago

July 27, 2024

Admin

Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on Friday said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is serious in solving the economic crisis in the country.

Wike gave the assurance during the inspection of the ongoing construction of the 7.3 kilometers Gaba/Tokulo road in Bwari Area Council.

He pleaded with Abuja residents to give the present administration the needed support to deliver the dividends of democracy.

Addressing reporters during the inspection visit, the FCT Minister expressed satisfaction with the speed and quality of work on the road project and assured that it will be adequately funded to ensure its timely completion by December this year.

The Minister who revealed that the project was 40 percent complete, said about 70 percent of the contractual sum has been paid to the contractor by the FCT Administration and expressed confidence in the capacity of the contractor to deliver the project within the agreed schedule.

Wike further disclosed that the Gaba/Tokulo road, when completed, will not only enhance transportation in the rural parts of the FCT, but will also improve food security in the nation’s capital by providing access to the farmlands, as well as access to the markets.

He also stressed the commitment of the FCT Administration to providing infrastructure in the FCT Area Councils, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Wike said: “So many people have thought that we are only concentrating in the city. Yesterday, we were in Saburi, today we are in Bwari. Tomorrow, we will be in Kuje, so that people will understand that while we are doing in the city, we are also carrying out development in the satellite towns and the rural areas because by the Renewed Hope Agenda, development is not only to be concentrated within the city but also to take to the rural areas in order to improve the economy.

“Here is an agrarian area; without this road, how are they going to move their goods? And this is part of the problems we have in terms of food insecurity. People are talking about shortages of food, but if we don’t have means of transportation, that is also a problem.

“We are trying to solve that problem of transportation for farmers to be able to go and bring whatever they have produced for people to consume or to buy”.

Wike, while thanking the people of Bwari for their support for the government, also reiterated that President Tinubu was committed to addressing the economic problems of the country and called for their continued support.

He said: “We thank the people of Bwari and we want to also let them know that the government of President Tinubu is serious about solving the economic crisis we have. All we urge Nigerians is just to be patient.