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Ondo State govt confirms two cases of cholera
The Ondo State Government has confirmed two cases of cholera in the state.
Banji Ajaka, Commissioner for Health, said the state has activated surveillance for immediate response to any cholera outbreak.
Amaka said the two cases of cholera were reported in Okitipupa LGA, adding that the situation has been curtailed by the rapid response team.
“The surveillance team was also strengthened with community informants and contact tracers trained and placed on stipends for eight months,” he said. “They have been deployed for active case searches in preparation for any reported cholera outbreak.”
The commissioner added that an emergency preparedness committee would be constituted to work on the provision of potable water, sanitation, and strengthening of the health institutions in the state.
He assured that the government would play its part by sensitising and creating awareness in the mass media and also through community engagement.
A section of Dangote Refinery is currently engulfed by fire.
Explosions were heard on Wednesday after a major fire outbreak at the refinery located at the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos State.
As of the time of filing this report, the Dangote group has yet to react to the fire outbreak.
Recall that Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote had disclosed that he fought and overcame a strong group of local and foreign mafia before establishing the $19 billion refinery.
Dangote said the mafia in the oil sector, who are stronger than those doing drugs, did everything they could to sabotage the refinery project.
Speaking at the Afreximbank annual meeting and AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum in the Bahamas recently, Dangote said he never anticipated that the resistance would be harsh.
Meanwhile, Anambra South Senator, Ifeanyi Ubah, recently said Danote’s refinery will lead to a reduction in the pump price of petroleum products.
Ubah said when oil refineries in Nigeria start operating at full capacity, the price of fuel will reduce.
By Saka Laaro Ilorin.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has clarified that its members do not relish going on strike, contrary to popular belief.
Speaking at Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, the institution’s ASUU chairman, Abdulganiyu Sheu Salau, expressed the union’s frustration with the federal government’s perceived hypocrisy.
According to Salau, the government’s actions have left the union with no choice but to embark on strikes to press home their demands.
He emphasized that ASUU is tired of the government’s failure to honor agreements and address the lingering issues in the nation’s education sector.
The union recalled that in 2009, the federal government reached an agreement with the ASUU on key issues bordering on conditions of service, funding and university autonomy without fulfilling the agreement.
“Members of ASUU are parents who have students in various Nigerian universities. Why would we want a case whereby our children are sent home? But we have to go on strike because we’ve reached out to government on several occasions and there was no response. We’ve gone through the normal doors and backdoors, but nothing has happened. And the last resort, as allowed by the law establishing universities, is to go on strike. Our members are being owed and some are leaving the country in droves for South Africa and England, for example.
“I want to say with all authorities that struggles and strike by the members of the union brought about some of the infrastructures we have today, especially, in this university. So, if we’ve not been struggling, Nigerian universities would have been down. We’re not strike mongers and we don’t always love to go on strike. We’re hardworking citizens. That’s why we’re sensitizing members of the general public, students, market women, stakeholders, etc about the situation. We don’t want to go on strike but we can’t be teaching in empty stomach. Our senior colleagues (professors) are earning just $300. What can we do with that?”, he asked rhetorically.
The union also criticised the federal government for non-implementation of UNESCO recommendations of a 26 per cent benchmark educational budget
for underdeveloped countries like Nigeria, as advocated by the union. Salau, who lamented low education budget in the country, said that successive Nigerian governments have allocated an average of 5 to 8% of their budgets to education over the last 10 years.
He also said that one of the contending issues is the funding for the Revitalisation of Public Universities based on the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2012, 2013, and the MoA of 2017.
Fire reportedly razes Dangote refinery effluent plant
Strike not a pleasant option for us – ASUU
