Connect with us

News

You can’t stop wedding of 100 girls, ex-Niger commissioner tells minister

Published

on

 

Jonathan Vatsa, a former commissioner for information and culture in Niger state, says the proposed wedding of 100 girls in the state will go on despite public outcry.

 

Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, the speaker of the Niger state house of assembly, had dissociated himself from the wedding after Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, minister of women affairs, threatened to sue him.

 

The minister said the development was unacceptable, arguing that the girls should be in school or learning vocational skills.

 

Sarkindaji, who had provided financial support and was billed to host the event on May 24, withdrew his involvement.

 

The speaker said it was at the discretion of the girls’ parents and traditional leaders to proceed as they deemed fit.

 

Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Vatsa, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), advised Kennedy-Ohanenye not to go into “issues that she knows nothing about”.

 

He said the minister knew nothing about the situation of the girls and should have done due diligence before issuing threats.

READ  TRANS–BORDER ROBBERY SYNDICATE BUSTED: We take stolen cars to Benin Republic and return them as Tokunbo– Suspects

 

“No amount of threat of court action can stop these parents from giving out their daughters in marriage after receiving the necessary supports,” Vatsa said.

 

“The minister should have done her investigation first to know if these girls have attained the age of marriage by law or if they were being forced into marriage before going to the air to threaten the speaker, who is merely offering assistance.

“You cannot just sit in an air-conditioned office in Abuja and be threatening people without knowing what these orphans are going through after losing their parents to insecurity and those whose parents cannot afford their marriage expenses even though they have attained the age for marriage.

 

“Does the minister have any plans for people whom she has never seen or known about their plight, or is she trying to encourage prostitution in the area?

 

“You don’t play politics by interfering with the people’s culture and tradition; more so that these girls have suitors who want to marry them.

READ  CWAI hails NSCDC's agro-rangers, mining marshals initiatives

 

“I am sure the speaker, being a trained lawyer, is not afraid of going to court. The speaker is not giving the girls out in marriage but just rendering support to the families, and there is no law in Nigeria that forbids someone from giving assistance towards marriage. That is why I said the minister is fighting a lost battle.”

 

Vatsa said banditry activities across 12 LGAs of the state have produced over 5,000 orphans, widows, and widowers.

 

He urged the minister to visit Niger and “see the sufferings of these orphans, the majority of whom are girls.”.

 

He urged Sarkindaji not to succumb to any threat, as “the people will feel disappointed if you withdraw your support for them”.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending News

JUST IN: NSIB locates wreckage of crashed helicopter in Port Harcourt

Published

on

By

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) says its search and recovery teams have successfully located the wreckage of the ditched Sikorsky SK76 helicopter.

In a statement on Thursday, Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji, NSIB’s director of public affairs and family assistance, said the wreckage was identified during recovery dives conducted on Wednesday night.

Details later…

READ  Five cops feared dead in fresh attack on Enugu Police Division
Continue Reading

News

Don’t Patronise Fake Oil And Gas Bodies, NUPENG Cautions

Published

on

By

 

The leadership of our Union has identified fraudulent advertisements from individuals falsely claiming to represent a dubious association of Transporters and Oil and Gas Marketers.

The association urge the public and government institutions to be vigilant against these unscrupulous figures, who seek to exploit the current economic landscape following the removal of fuel subsidies. The Union reaffirms its support for recognized associations in the industry and urges all stakeholders to reject these miscreants and their deceptive practices.

The open letter below:

The attention of the leadership of our great Union has been drawn to some advertisements on news media of some unscrupulous and dangerous individuals claiming to be members of one amorphous association they claim is both Transporters and Marketers of the Oil and Gas at the same time, and we wish to state that this association is nothing but assemblage of failed Rent Seekers in the Subsidy Regime and Irredeemable Smugglers of Petroleum Products disguising as businessmen and women.

READ  Nigerians to pay more for electricity as FG hikes tariff

 

The general public and government institutions are hereby warned and strongly . advised to be very wary of these individuals who are desperately seeking ways and means to continue to exploit Nigerians and collecting rents in other manners since the current administration removed subsidy from petroleum products and make
smuggling unprofitable for them.

 

The leadership of our great Union recognizes National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) as the legitimate umbrella body of Transporters in the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry and Employers of Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD) of which our Union has Collective Bargaining Agreement with on behalf of Petroleum Tankers Drivers.

We also recognize Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) as well as Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) as legitimate marketers of Oil and Gas products. These are associations of Marketers that are well known and respected in the downstream sector of the Nigeria oil and gas industry.

READ  TRANS–BORDER ROBBERY SYNDICATE BUSTED: We take stolen cars to Benin Republic and return them as Tokunbo– Suspects

There is also no ambiguity in the fact that the Nigeria Labour laws only recognize Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) as the umbrella bodies
for oil and gas Workers in Nigeria. These are the two organizations that represent and protect the job interests of the Nigeria oil and gas workers including Petroleum lanker Drivers (PTD) as prescribed in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Niger
AFFILIATED TO THE NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS (NLC) & Industrial Global Union
Ref:
SUPPORT OUR DREAM

GAS WORKERS

We implore all well-meaning Nigerians and government officials whose names these Usurpers and Rent Seekers are dropping to urgently disregard any invitation from them and publicly denounce them because they are purely mischief-makers, names Droppers and unscrupulous business individuals that can sell their families and country for money and are unfortunately part of those that plunge the country into the current economic woes and hardship that the country is currently battling and struggling with. Following numerous failed attempts to coerce our Union into collecting money for them at various petroleum depots, they have now resorted to these names-calling and cheap blackmail to further their insidious rent-seeking schemes.

READ  Oil theft: Navy arrests 10 suspects, vessel with 7,000 barrels of crude oil in A'Ibom

Our Solidarity remains Constant for the Union makes us strong!!!

Continue Reading

News

Finally, Joseph Wayas, ex-senate president, to be buried November 30 — three years after his death

Published

on

By

 

November 30 has been fixed for the burial of former Senate President Joseph Wayas, who died three years ago.

 

Wayas, who served as senate president from October 1, 1979, to December 31, 1983, died on November 30, 2021, at a London hospital after a protracted illness. He was 80 years old.

 

On July 10, his remains arrived in Nigeria after several controversies that followed the repatriation of his corpse.

 

Speaking on Thursday at a press briefing in Calabar, the capital of Cross River, Dorn-Cklaimz Enamhe, secretary of the central planning committee for Wayas’ burial, thanked Bassey Otu, governor of the state, and other individuals for repatriating Wayas’ body.

 

Enamhe noted that the committee, in collaboration with other authorities in Nigeria and the Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom (UK), worked together to ascertain the authenticity of the body.

 

He also appreciated the media for constantly reminding the nation that the body of the former senate president was yet to be buried.

READ  Tinubu to return to Abuja Sunday after China, UK trips

 

“Unfortunately, the body has been kept this long due to issues and disagreement among members of his family,” he said.

 

“We had to wait for these issues to be resolved, and as of today, they have been resolved; that is why we are going ahead with the burial.”

 

Nsa Gil, the chief press secretary to the governor of Cross River, added that the funeral would be held at the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar and later at the deceased’s hometown in Bassang, Obanliku LGA.

 

Senate President Godswill Akpabio and many other dignitaries are expected to attend the burial.

 

Continue Reading

Trending News