Drug scarcity hits Aso Rock clinic despite N3.87bn budget...Read It All On Tafia World

Punch Newspapers

 

Drugs

Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja

Despite the N3.87bn allocated to it in the 2016 Appropriation Act, lack of drugs and other essential medical items have crippled operations at the State House Medical Centre, The PUNCH has learnt.

The centre provides medical services to the President, Vice-President and their families, aides, members of staff of the State House and other entitled public servants.

It is also a training facility for house officers and other medical personnel.

Investigations by our correspondent showed that the centre located in Asokoro, a highbrow area of the Federal Capital Territory, is gradually becoming a shadow of its old self.

A cross-section of the centre’s patients told The PUNCH that patients were now being asked to go and buy drugs from outside as they were no longer available in the centre.

Most hit, it was further learnt, are patients with kidney problems who are currently undergoing dialysis in the facility.

Although, some of them are expected to be undergoing the dialysis at least twice a week, the centre’s management has been cancelling such exercise lately, therefore putting the lives of the patients at risk.

In some instances when they attend to them, the patients are made to come with some of the items the doctors will use for the exercise.

Our correspondent learnt that the centre’s management had resorted to sending text messages to patients on items they should bring for their treatment.

In one of such messages sent to a patient which is in The PUNCH’s possession, the management wrote, “Mr. XXX (names withheld), when u (sic) are coming for dialysis on Monday, buy IVF Normal Saline to be used for ur (sic) dialysis. The office doesn’t  have it. Buy like four pieces.”

Normal Saline IVF solution is used in the treatment, control, prevention and improvement of conditions such as low sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium levels as well as blood and fluid loss.

It improves the patients’ condition by maintaining proper fluid balance and keeping the tissues hydrated.

Another patient who spoke with our correspondent said he had a crisis recently because the centre cancelled his routine dialysis.

He said the centre’s management cancelled the session because of non-availability of bloodline.

He showed our correspondent a message sent to him on the cancellation.

The message read, “Gudevening (sic), we can’t dialize (sic) you tomorrow because we don’t have bloodline. When it is available, I will get back to you. Pls (sic) dialyse (sic) somewhere else. Thanks.”

The patient said the first time the session was cancelled, he was referred to a private hospital in Garki where he paid N20,000.

He added that when he could not afford the cost the second time, he was directed to another hospital in Wuse.

“As a result of the stress I passed through, by the time I returned home, I was very weak. My health situation deteriorated midnight and my people rushed me to the hospital. I was discharged about three days after,” he said.

Many other patients who spoke with our correspondent said the medical centre could no longer boast of “ordinary malaria drugs.”

“The clinic does not even have ordinary paracetamol. Paracetamol was included in the list of drugs they asked me to go and buy recently. Before now, they were giving us drugs.” another patient said.

The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, did not pick his calls when our correspondent attempted to get his reaction on Tuesday.

He also did not respond to a text message sent to him on the issue.

The Permanent Secretary, State House, Alhaji Jalal Arabi, had while defending the State House’s budget before the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-governmental Affairs, and members of the House of Representatives Committee on Special Duties disclosed that N3.2bn of the budget was earmarked for the upgrade of State House Clinic to a Centre of Excellence.

Arabi had said, “The budget for the State House Medical Centre included N3.219bn proposed for the completion of ongoing work as well as procurement of drugs and other medical equipment.

“The Medical Centre provides health care treatment for the President and Vice-President, their families as well as numerous civil servants working in the State House and across the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government and of course, with due respect, including parliamentarians and members of the legislature in addition to other notable dignitaries.

“Interestingly, Mr. Chairman, on a lighter note, not only those that have been captured here attend (the Medical Centre) there are poor of the poorest that attend because we receive reference from Gwagwalada, Garki, Wuse hospitals.

“So, if they come, we attend to them and interestingly too at no fee at all, we don’t charge.

“The anticipated improvement of the Medical Centre will propel it to serve as a Centre of Excellence and also reduce medical tourism.

“May I also add that the State House Medical Centre, unlike other medical centres does not charge any fees for its services and hence does not generate any revenue for itself.

Olympics: Nigeria’s medal hopes dim as Brume, Oduduru falter...Read It All On Tafia World

Nigeria's Ese Brume competes in the Women's Long Jump Qualifying Round during the athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 16, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Adrian DENNIS

Nigeria’s quest for an Olympic medal continued on a woeful note in the early hours of Thursday after two of the country’s medal hopes, Ese Brume and Ejowvokoghene Oduduru, failed to soar at their separate events.

Brume, a track and field athlete who specialises in the long jump and holds the African junior record in the event, fell a distant fifth behind 30-year-old Tianna Bartoletta of the United State in the finals of the women’s long jump.

She could only muster a leap of 6.81m while Bartoletta won the event after jumping 7.17m.

Meanwhile, Ejowvokoghene Oduduru could not gather the speed and pace which took him to the semifinals of the 200m track event behind Usain Bolt after clocking 20.59sec, a notable time difference from the 20.34sec he ran in round one.

Gatlin out

American sprinter Justin Gatlin failed to qualify for the men’s 200m at the Olympics on Thursday.

Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, finished third in 20.13sec and missed out on one of the eight final berths for Fridays’s final.

FG orders massive importation of kerosene, say marketers...Read It All On Tafia World

Kerosene

Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja

In a bid to check the arbitrary increase in the pump price of kerosene, the Federal Government has placed an order for massive importation of the product, oil marketers have said.

According to them, the government has also ordered huge importation of Automated Gas Oil, popularly known as diesel. They further stated that with the increase in the supply of the United States dollars by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the price of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise called petrol, will not be hiked as earlier anticipated.

Last week, oil marketers had told The PUNCH exclusively that the actual cost of petrol should be N151.87 per litre.

They said the calculation was based on the ex-depot price of the commodity and the scarcity of forex.

To avert the hike, the government had met with the marketers last week and it was learnt that the CBN might intervene.

Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday during the inauguration of the Eastern Zonal Executive of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, the association’s Chairman, Board of Trustees, Mr. Abubakar Usman, said marketers would start getting large volumes of kerosene and diesel as the government had ordered for increased importation of the commodities.

He said, “There is something that I am going to tell you that shall make you happy. Very soon, the products, DPK (Dual Purpose Kerosene) and the AGO, will be in circulation under the leadership of Chinedu Okoronkwo. Those that are not aware are aware now. Sooner or later, I cannot say today or tomorrow, but very soon, the AGO will arrive. The DPK will also arrive in the country.”

I told IPMAN members that the current scarcity of kerosene would soon be a thing of the past as the product would circulate sufficiently when delivered.

He noted that upon arrival, no member would be required to lobby or bribe to secure allocation.

Usman said, “And when it arrives, each and every one of us will get his allocation. You don’t have to come to Abuja to give bribe looking for allocation of two or three trucks. Just go to your depot manager, go to your zonal chairman and you will get it. You don’t have to waste time going to Lagos or Abuja for the product.”

When asked to state the price the product will be sold when it arrived, Okoronkwo said, “It will be lesser than what the NNPC retail outlets will be selling.”

On the possible increase in the pump price of the PMS, he said that the move by the CBN to increase marketers’ access to foreign exchange would lead to price stability, adding that the intervention would warrant an appreciation of the naira.

He said, “Right now, you are aware that some Bureau De-Change operators have qualified to get the forex. And very soon, there will be forex in the system where people can now leverage. And if we have enough forex, it means that the price at which people are getting it now will drop.

“This will impact in every other business. Very soon, the CBN will release dollar and that will make the naira to appreciate. For marketers, importers and manufacturers, everything will come alive again.

“The IPMAN will also leverage this window to ensure that our products come at prices that members of this country will enjoy.”

NPS foils attempted jail break at Abakaliki prison...Read It On Tafia World

 

The Ebonyi Controller of Prisons, Mrs Adaobi Oputa, on Thursday confirmed that there was an attempted jail break at the Abakaliki Prison.

Oputa said that the situation had been brought under control.

She explained that the incident which occurred around 9. 30 a.m. on Thursday ensued when some inmates refused to comply with the early morning routine search of their cells.

She said, “Yes I can confirm that there was an incident at the Abakaliki prison this morning. This was as a result of some inmates refusing the routing search in their cells.

“But I can assure you that everything has been brought under control without any inmate escaping from the prison.”

She confirmed that some inmates tried to break one of the walls, adding that the situation was brought under control by the combined efforts of the armed squad of the prisons, the police and military personnel stationed at the prison.

The controller said that she had to call for reinforcement from the state police command to arrest the situation.

She said some inmates were injured in the process and were currently receiving treatment in the hospital.

She, however, denied that the riot was triggered by inmates protesting poor quality of food and welfare.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ebonyi Police Command, ASP George Okafor, who also confirmed the development, however, said information at his disposal was still very sketchy.

“Yes, we got information about the riot but I cannot make any categorical statement yet on the incident because we have very little information concerning the incident,” Okafor said.

The Abakaliki prisons that was built by the British Colonial Government to accommodate 300 inmates presently houses no fewer than 1000 inmates.

My message not for everybody — Adeboye...Read It All On Tafia World

Pastor E. Adeboye

Kayode Falade

Against the background of the criticisms that greeted one of his sermons at the yearly convention of the Redeem Christian Church of God, its General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has said his messages are not for everybody.

The social media was awash a couple of weeks ago on the sermon of Adeboye to the youth members of the church at the Redemption Camp where the message bordered on the choice of marriage partners.

The widely circulated footage had shown Adeboye telling the men not to marry a woman who could not cook or pray for a minimum of an hour.

In the same video, he warned the spinsters not to marry a man who had no job or who could not show concrete evidence of his means of livelihood.

But the world renowned preacher on his Facebook page on Tuesday , in apparent reaction to the criticisms, said his messages were not for everybody.

Adeboye said, “My message are not for everybody. So, I plead with you, ask God to speak to you specifically.”

BREAKING: Police seal off PDP convention venue...Read It All On Tafia World

 

PDP convention venue, Port Harcourt. Photo: Nairaland.

Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja
The Force headquarters said it has sealed off the Sharks Stadium in Port Harcourt, the venue of the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party.
It was learnt that policemen stormed the venue of the convention around 4am on Wednesday.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Donald Awunah, disclosed this during a programme on Channels Television titled, ‘Sunrise Daily’.
Awunah said the primary responsibility of the police was to protect life and prevent crisis. He added that due to the tension surrounding the convention and the conflicting court rulings, the police thought it best to seal off the venue.
He said, “The warring parties need to follow due process to end their crisis through the courts and as a law enforcement agency what do you do? You ensure that there is a superior court order. It is not about taking sides.
“If in the next one hour or two, we get another court order, we will take action. We are there for every Nigerian but when you are the first responder, you have to take action, you have to be proactive.”

Six-man gang nabbed in Ikoyi while sharing loot...Read It On Tafia World

Scene of the incident

Olaleye Aluko

Six suspected burglars have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command in the Ikoyi area of the state.

Our correspondent learnt that the suspects were sharing their loot when they were arrested by police operatives.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the men, identified as Friday Eze, Stanley Ejiofor, Femi Miracle, Raphael Ijoha, Emmanuel Omojuwa and Daniel Thomas, were arrested by men of the Ikoyi Police Division on Tuesday, August 9.

The police said the gang, which was notorious for breaking into houses and stealing valuables, had other members who escaped arrest.

Our correspondent learnt that around 10pm, the gang members allegedly burgled some houses on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, and drove away in a car to a junction in the area to share the loot.

A source said operatives, who were on patrol, observed the suspects sharing the stolen items in the car and arrested them.

He said, “They are notorious in the Ikoyi area for burglary. They don’t rob to avoid raising suspicion. They only wait for their target houses to be deserted before they strike.

“We were on a ‘stop-and-search’ in the area when we observed them sharing some goods inside a car around 10pm. When we arrested them and searched the car, we found four laptops, three purses, 13 mobile phones and four iPads. They confessed that they were returning from an operation. The six of them have been transferred to the Special Anti-Robery Squad, Ikeja.”

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, Eze, a father of two, said he went into burglary to make ends meet.

He said, “It was frustration that drove me into burglary. The situation was very critical for me and my family. I have a wife and two kids to cater to. I am not the gang leader. A friend brought all these men for the operation. We stole several laptops. I took two laptops and two iPads. I have gone for only two operations.

“I was formerly living in Lekki with my family. But when things became difficult, my in-laws took my wife and children to Ikorodu. I am the firstborn of my parents. My sisters have been sent out of school and I have to fund their studies.”

Another suspect, Thomas, said, “Friday (Eze) introduced me to the gang. We are friends. I do not rob; I only burgle houses. It was hard times that led me to this.”

The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said the suspects would be charged to court at the end of investigation.

“Members of the public should continue to cooperate with the police in tackling crimes in Lagos State. The suspects will be arraigned in court at the end of investigation,” he said.

Again, Buhari orders NNPC to search for oil in North...Read It All On Tafia World

President Muhammadu Buhari

Rasheed Bisiriyu, Okechukwu Nnodim, Peter Dada, Ovie Okpare, Godwin Isenyo and ’Femi Asu

For the second time in three weeks, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has received an express order from President Muhammadu Buhari to explore for oil in the North.

This time, the President directed the national oil firm to commence exploration activities in the Benue Trough. The Benue Trough is a major geological formation underlying a large part of Nigeria, extending about 1,000km North-East from the Bight of Benin to Lake Chad.

The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed the President’s directive on the oil expolration in the North while receiving a delegation from the Benue State Government at the corporation’s headquarters in Abuja.

About three weeks ago, the President had directed the corporation to speed up its prospect for oil in the region, specifically in the Chad Basin and Kolmani River, following the reported discovery of hydrocarbons by Shell in the area.

The 19 northern state governors are also fired up about the prospect of oil production in their domain as they have hired a British firm through the Northern Nigeria Development Company, which they jointly own, to carry out the exploration activities.

But energy analysts and several socio-cultural and other interest groups on Tuesday expressed divergent views on the pressure by the President on the NNPC as regards oil exploration in the North.

The NNPC GMD, in a statement from the corporation on Tuesday, said the new directive was in line with the current efforts to guarantee energy security of the country.

Baru said, “Very close home, we have exploration activities on the Frontier Basin, that is in the Chad; and there are some areas close to the Kolmani River where Shell has made indicative discovery of hydrocarbons and Mr. President has directed me to go into that area to further explore the magnitude and prospects of those finds.

“We are taking steps to get into those regions. We will reinvigorate the frontier exploration and see how they collaborate with the Northern Nigeria Development Company that is holding Block 809 where some of the finds have been found. We will also do the same at the Department of Petroleum Resources for the other blocks that have not been assigned, and work towards proving the prospects of that region.”

But the Ijaw Youth Council and Urhobo Monitoring and Development Group while reacting to the presidential directive said it was a good initiative but came at a wrong time.

The IYC, an umbrella body for the Ijaw youths worldwide, said that the timing for the directive was wrong because of the prevailing situation in the oil industry at the international market, which made such a venture economically unwise.

A statement signed by the spokesman for the group, Eric Omare, said one would have expected that President Buhari-led government should focus on diversifying the nation’s ailing economy, especially areas where the different regions had comparative advantage over the other.

“Ordinary, the IYC would be excited by not just a Presidential directive to explore for oil in any part of the North but discovery of oil in the North. This is so because we strongly believe that the struggle of the people of the Niger Delta region for equitable distribution of oil money would become a reality once oil is found in the North as well.”

On its part, the National President of the Urhobo Monitoring and Development Group, Kingsley Oberuruaria, posited that while the directive was good, it was a self-serving step to further annihilate the people of the region from benefitting from its God-given natural resources.

Oberuruaria explained that the desire of the President was to cut the region out of the country’s scheme of things once oil production fully came alive in that region while the Niger Delta, which had been feeding the nation, would forever be neglected.

The Niger Delta youth leader posited that such a presidential directive should be put into various ailing industries in the country such as the Delta Steel Company in Aladja, Delta State, which he said was capable of employing hundreds of thousands of unemployed Nigerian youths.

“I’m sure this directive was as a result of the prevailing crisis in the Niger Delta region. President Buhari has been looking for ways to cut off the region instead of being resolute to develop the region which has been neglected by every successive government,” he said.

But two prominent leaders of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Chief Sehinde Arogbofa and Yinka Odumakin, differed on the issue.

Arogbofa, who is the Secretary-General of the association, said it would be part of the way to restructure the country, which the association had been clamouring for.

He said, “There is nothing wrong if they find oil in the North. That is why we are calling for restructuring; if that is his (Buhari) own restructuring agenda, it is okay. We already have oil in the South and if he orders for prospect of oil in the North, there is nothing wrong in that .”

But the group’s spokesman, Odumakin, said it was a wasted effort. He recalled, “Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyde, the Secretary of State for the Colonies in a memorandum on Nigerian Constitutional Conference wrote in 1958: The North fears and dislikes the more educated Southerners and if they were not economically bound to the federation, they would be glad to be quit of it. What he stated has not changed much till date and this may explain the desperate search for oil in the North at a time oil is becoming worthless.”

Also, the President, Campaign for Democracy, Bako Usman, said the President was not getting good advice.

He said, “What is worth doing, they say, is worth doing well. We as a people need to acknowledge the fact that this government needs an effective economic direction. For now, most people around Mr. President on the pay roll of taxpayers money are just but ill Advisers.

The Pan-northern socio-cultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum, said it was not aware of the  Presidential pronouncement on oil exploration in the region.

The National Publicity Secretary of the forum, Muhammad Ibrahim, told one of our correspondents in Kaduna on Tuesday that he was not aware of Buhari’s order to the NNPC to prospect for oil in the region.

The Head of Energy Research, Ecobank Capital, Mr. Dolapo Oni, said the move must have been informed by the need to reduce the reliance on the Niger Delta and reduce the country’s vulnerability to attacks in the region.

He said, “But, at a time when we don’t have enough money to run the economy, even though oil servicing charges are a lot lesser now due to the drop in oil prices, it is still not the right time to dedicate a large amount of money to search for oil in the North.

“Ideally, the idea will be a concession and allow companies do whatever they need to do. If we want to do 2D and 3D seismic, we can do it, gather that data and allow oil companies to come and do their own search. But if we are dedicating the NNPC’s scarce resources to going beyond the 2D and 3D, I think it may not be the best of time.”

The Project Director, Uquo Gas Field Development, a joint venture project by Frontier Oil Limited and Seven Energy, Mr. Abdullahi Bukar, described the renewed efforts towards exploring for oil in the Benue Trough and Chad Basin as a very good development.

He said, “I hope that a well-thought-out policy will be put in place because anything that will increase Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves is very welcome.”

The Chief Executive Officer, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, said the discovery of oil in Niger Republic must have been a major boost for Nigeria to continue to prospect for oil in the Sahel region.

Describing the effort to diversify the nation’s oil and gas production as a good move, he said, “It depends on the level of resources being committed to it. I think it is something the government needs to be very circumspect in committing resources to it. It is very likely that what would be achieved in the Chad Basin will be marginal deposits. So, I don’t think the government is going to be too bullish in terms of the resources it is going to commit to such effort.”

The Director-General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, Prof. Akpan Ekpo, said, “There is nothing wrong in getting more oil. But my worry is the dependence on non-renewable resources without adding value to it.”