News

Aisha Saleh: How Lagos Crushes Its Promising Young

Published

3 years ago

February 5, 2020

The recent decision by the Lagos State Government to ban rather than regulate okada (commercial motorcyclers) and keke Marwa (tricycles), sounds posh, innit? Big city! Oho!

But beyond the urbanisation rhetoric is sprawling, gnawing poverty and misery left unaddressed: millions of people across Lagos whose survival depend on these sources of livelihood now have their basic existence threatened. And this is in addition to the neck-breaking inconvenience to millions of commuters who crisscross smaller road networks across the state every single second of every single day and utilize these modes of transport.

One of the millions of people directly impacted by the fall-out of this monstrous policy is our own Miss Aisha Saleh, the Glistening Genius we discovered in one of our Lagos communities. Fifteen year-old Aisha, academic genius, polyglot and child’s rights campaigner, whose refusal of an international passport by Immigration officers at the Ikoyi, Lagos passport office to attend an international children’s conference in Geneva last November as the guest of the United Nations and representative of our country, made some news.

Aisha’s dad, Saleh Mohammed is a keke Marwa driver. That’s the only thing he does for a living and from which he fends for Aisha and her brother Mohammed (their mum being dead since about a decade ago). Their dad has refused to remarry, dedicating his life to caring for the duo who stay with their grandmother in Monkey Village. Besides the educational scholarship from CEE-HOPE, the weight of feeding and every other thing rests on the fifty-something year-old. You can then imagine the impact on these kids and for millions of others like them across Lagos who are barely surviving a fragile economy- multifaceted impact.

Dear, so that’s how Lagos ‘nourishes’ its young, especially those sired by their perennially criminalized urban poor adults.

Clearly, government entities across the world make conscious efforts by their policies and body languages to project their poor-friendliness outlook and overall inclusiveness. But Nigeria, and especially Lagos State prides itself by how it terrorizes and pushes its most vulnerable into extinction. Check it up; it’s the biggest news that emanates from Lagos every single year: ban on this, ban on that and targeting the struggling poor, or shooting to death of slum dwellers in routine illegal and crude raids in the name of forced evictions. Count: Maroko. Makoko. Badia East. Otodo-Gbame etc. and just recently, Tarkwa Bay. All inhabited by millions of kids, school age kids, chased into homelessness, instability and damp directionlessness. And yet we are the country with the highest number of out of school kids. Common on, where is the sense in that?

Nothing wrong with aspiring to be a big city, but then, you have to have the big city reality: infrastructure, standards of living, employment rate and other indexes. And even then, in achieving that status, does it have to be overnight, and at what cost? How about consulting the potential victims of such sledge hammer policy for alternative livelihood engagements? What about bringing to life a non-existent welfare system?

And if you cannot improve the lot of your impoverished population, must you necessarily habitually crush and push them into further misery, actually, extinction? Does it actually make any sense that the country designated the ‘Poverty Capital of the World’ also has the worst anti-poor policies?

And what about child-friendliness? What about preserving the interrupted development of its vulnerable young population?

But then that’s what happens when the worst among us are thrusted the jagged reins of power.

No creative thinking. No empathy. No care for perceptions. No thoughts for sustainable development. Emptiness. Savagery.

That’s the tragic story of Nigeria.

A BIG SHAME ON YOU, LAGOS!

Abah, a journalist and child’s rights activist, is the founder of CEE-HOPE, a child’s right and development NGO

Latest

BSU Student Found Dead Days After Missing

Published

1 month ago

February 23, 2023

Oche Onu

A 300-level student of Benue State University (BSU), Erekaa Naomi Dooshima, has been found dead few days after she was declared missing.

On Tuesday, Ukan Kurugh, the Benue activist, raised the alarm over the whereabouts of the student.

In a post on his verified Facebook page, Kurugh said her identity card, phone, and blood-stained clothes were found in Markudi, the state capital.

“Missing person: A girl by name Erekaa Naomi Dooshima with her Facebook user name “Affection Erikz” is missing, her clothes stained with blood, her phone, identity card were found around Rahama clinic opposite medical school Makurdi. She is a 300-level mass communication student at the Benue State University,” he wrote.

“If anybody has any useful information about her, please contact the nearest police station or the university authority for immediate action.”

In a follow-up post, the activist said the student had been found dead.

Kurugh said the lady’s corpse was found in a fenced land in Markudi and was exhumed by police operatives.

“The corpse of this young lady by name Erekaa Naomi Dooshima I made a post about her missing yesterday has been found in a fenced land behind Bolek Filling State after medical school and is currently been exhumed by men of the Nigeria Police Force Makurdi Benue state,” he added.

The state police spokesperson, Sewuese Anene confirmed the development.

Anene, however, said there is an ongoing investigation to get more details on the incident.

“Yes, we recovered a lady’s corpse yesterday (Wednesday). But I don’t have much details about her at the moment,” she said.

Source: platformsafrica

Latest

SOUTH-WEST LP DEBUNK FAKE DEFECTION NEWS

Published

2 months ago

February 13, 2023

Oche Onu

South-West LP Debunk Fake News of Leaders Joining APC

PRESS RELEASE

The attention of the Labour Party of Nigeria especially the Ondo State Chapter has been drawn to a purported meeting/defection held at Adegbemile hall, Akure, today Monday 13th February 2023 at noon.
The meeting attended by about a few dozen people alledged that the entire Southwest Labour Party has been merged with the All Progressive Congress (APC) with effect from today. As expected, the meeting was chaired by an expelled Labour Party member, Mr. Banji Omotoso, who was the then caretaker state chairman in Ekiti state from 2017 to 2019.

The Ondo State Labour Party under the leadership of our able chairman Chief (Mrs.) Remilekun Ojo make bold to state as follows:

That the labour party of Nigeria in the Southwest and entire Nigeria remains one and an indivisible party.
That the entire Labour Party of Nigeria has never at anytime and will under no circumstances ever think of merging with any other Party, not even the All Progressives Congress (APC) that has brought untold hardship and suffering to the entire nation.
That the so-called Southwest coodinator Mr. Banji Omotoso was an expelled member of the party, who since January 2020 has ceased to have anything whatsoever to do with our great Party.
That the said Mr. Banji Omotoso was expelled for gross malfeasance and anti-party activities. Therefore he has no authority from any quarters to speak for or on behalf of the Labour Party in Ondo State.
That we strongly make it clear to the general public and well-meaning long-suffering citizens of Nigeria to disregard any information from the said Mr. Banji Omotoso who has since ceased to be our (LABOUR PARTY) member.

Thank you.

Signed ;
Chief (Mrs.) Remilekun Ojo
Ondo State Chairman

Latest

BREAKING: CBN Bows To Pressure, Increases Withdrawal Limit to 500k

Published

3 months ago

December 22, 2022

Oche Onu

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revised its cash withdrawal limit policy, stating that individuals and corporate organisations can now withdraw N500,000 and N5 million respectively within a week.

Platforms Africa reports that the apex bank announced this in a letter dated December 21 and signed by the CBN Director of Banking Supervision, Haruna Mustafa. The letter, which was made available to PlatformsAfrica, was addressed to all deposit money banks and other financial institutions.

“The maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawal across all channels by individuals and corporate organizations shall be N500,000.00 and N5,000,000.00 respectively,” the letter read.

Cash withdrawal above the limits shall be subject to a processing fee of 3 per cent and 5 per cent for individuals and corporate organisations respectively.

According to the CBN, the decision to revise the policy was based on feedback received from stakeholders.

Previously, individuals were constrained to N100,000 cash withdrawals weekly and N20,000 daily while corporate organisations were limited to weekly withdrawals of N500,000.

“Third-party cheques above N100,000 shall not be eligible for payment over-the-counter, while the extant limit of N10 million on clearing cheques still subsist,” the letter added.

The CBN said monthly returns on cash withdrawal transactions above the specified limits should be rendered to the banking supervision department, other financial institutions’ supervision and payments system management departments.