Two burnt to death as bus catches fire in Lagos

FROM LEFT: GENERAL MANAGER, LAGOS STATE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AGENCY (LASEMA), MR MICHAEL AKINDE; DIRECTOR-GENERAL, SAFETY COMMISSION OF LASEMA, MR FAUD OKI, AND DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF DUTIES, MR OLUSEGUN MAGUS-DAVID, AT THE SCENE OF A COLLAPSED THREE STOREY-BUILDING, AT NO. 87, ODUNFA STREET, ON LAGOS ISLAND IN LAGOS ON WEDNESDAY

Two persons were yesterday  burnt to death after a commercial bus  caught fire at Maryland area of Lagos State. Five others sustained various degrees of injury in the incident.  The General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA),  Adesina Tiamiyu, confirmed the incident, saying he received a distress call  regarding a commercial bus that accidentally caught fire while on top speed at “Cane Village”, Maryland around 2.55pm .

Preliminary investigation conducted by the agency’s Emergency Response Team (ERT),  at the scene revealed that the commercial bus popularly known as danfo marked KTU 479 XQ  was coming from Yaba on top speed.

The driver  who was said to have lost control after hitting a jeep before it fell on its side and caught fire.

Five persons were rescued and attended to by a joint team of the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) and LASEMA paramedics.

The victims were later taken to the Trauma and Burns Centre, Gbagada,  for further treatment. Two other  passengers (females) who were burnt beyond recognition, were recovered by  LASEMA ERT and handed over to the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) for deposition at Mainland Hospital Morgue..

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Nigeria to miss WTF President’s Cup in Morocco

Nigeria will be conspicuously missing in the roll call of participating countries at the first World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) President’s Cup holding in Agadir, Morocco.

According to the Secretary General of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation, Oriss Taiwo, the paucity of funds, coupled with the economic recession across the country would not make it possible to make the trip.

Already, African superpowers in taekwondo – Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Mali and the Niger Republic have confirmed their participation in the three-day championship.

“I think I can confirm to you categorically that Nigeria will not be presenting a team for the championship although a team from Taraba was trying to make the trip and as it is I don’t think they can make it to Morocco. We are all aware of the economic recession across the country coupled with the paucity of funds, it will be impossible to participate in the tournament. Our focus will be on few tournaments this year because we must ensure we attend crucial competitions. Our target is to ensure we participate in the World Championship in June and other championships that will help to expose our players to international competitions,” Taiwo said.

This year, Nigerian athletes are yet to compete in any international tournament apart from the US Open that was attended by some athletes based in the United States.

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How Buhari’s government is fighting corruption

The Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption says Nigeria’s current administration is fighting corruption from all fronts in order to enhance the citizens’ lives.

The Executive Secretary of the Committee, Prof. Bolaji Owosanoye, made the remarks in New York at a workshop on “Illicit Financial Flows and Assets Recovery’ on Monday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was jointly organised by the Permanent Missions of Nigeria and Norway to the UN.

“Nigeria has taken a number of radical steps to affirm the commitment to fight illicit financial flows, diminish corruption and the responsible use of recovered assets.

“Some of the measures include the establishment of a very high-level Presidential Committee on Asset Recovery to address first, the Financial Action Task Force Recommendation 31 on Cooperation.

“This committee brings all the Heads of those agencies who have to deal with these issues, together.

“The government created an assets recovery account so that all the assets that are recovered by the country go into one account to remove the opacity of reconciliation that had dogged the country in the past and the report of re-looting of returned assets, so everything goes into one account.

“It introduced what we called the Treasury Single Account (TSA) because before, domestically, when government agencies and departments earned revenue, the law is that it must go into the consolidated revenue fund.

“But many agencies of government plead all manner of things including under-budgeting, under-funding; and they retain money that they earn in the course of their operations and spend it illegally without appropriation with the collusion of the banks.

“So government has enforced that regulation of what we call the Treasury Single Account; and it is the one that sustains the government in this very dire economic time.

Owosanoye said Nigeria is a leading voice against corruption given the unrelenting commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The presidential aide also explained how the Federal Government has managed the recovered funds and assets from public officials.

“It has established an inter-agency asset tracing team to centralise the management of recovered assets, prevent re-looting and mismanagement.

“Also, government created an asset recovery line item in the budget so that if we are able to recover asset both locally and internationally.

‘’Since you need the power of parliament to spend, you have put there that this budget, this statement of income and expenditure.

‘’This year I hope to be recover from PEPS (Politically Exposed Persons) within Nigeria or through bilateral negotiations and through legal proceedings from outside the country, the money will go for this purpose.

“So it’s created a line item so if recovered items are raised during the year, the money can be properly spent.

‘`Of course, that spending is subject to the oversight of the legislature, civil society and other international development partners.

‘`Recovered and returned assets are also applied to very clear projects.

‘’It’s in the government policy; exclusively to social investment programmes towards helping the government meet SDGs. This is the current government policy.”

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Why Obasanjo imprisoned me for eight years – Abacha’s aide, Bamaiyi

A former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi (rtd), has asserted that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo kept him incarcerated for eight years for fear of been overthrown.

Bamaiyi, who made the claim in his new book, “Vindication of A General”, said former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) told Obasanjo that he must handle Bamaiyi, else his government will be overthrown.

Following Abubakar’s disclosure to Obasanjo, the then National Security Adviser, Gen. Aliyu Gusau made it a duty to keep him locked up at all cost.

In Chapter 10, page 128 of his book, the former Army Chief wrote: “As soon as Obasanjo took over, Gen. Abubakar and some of his people told Obasanjo that if I were left free, I would overthrow Gen. Obasanjo’s government.

“This did not surprise me because while we were in service, General Abubakar set up a secret investigation of certain people during the Abacha rule. I had not been told although some soldiers in the army, like Sgt Rogers, were invited for investigation.

“When I had to replace my security officer, I asked for Capt. Najaja to replace Capt Bature, who was assigned to the USA. Gen. Abubakar said Najaja was being investigated. He realized his mistake and kept quiet. I did not bother myself about the investigation because I knew I was not involved in any criminal act.

“Abubakar’s committee completed its assignment and gave clean bills to all those questioned. When Obasanjo took over, some PDP big shots decided that based on the report, I had control of the Army and should be arrested. The government looked for avenues to arrest me.

“They started by checking Army accounts to see if I had stolen money. They spoke to the Director of Army Finance and Accounts, DAFA, Maj. Gen. Omosebi who told them he had never worked with an officer who believed in accountability like I did. They felt disappointed.

“The government wanted to take my personal house in Asokoro. The NSA, Gen. Gusau talked to Mr. Daboul, a friend of mine who had built the house for me. He told General Gusau of our agreement that I would pay for the house over 10 years. This saved my house.

“When everything failed, Obasanjo and his government decided to revisit their investigation. Col. JB Yakubu and Capt. Najaja were forced to implicate me. This gave the government the opportunity to start looking for me. I was following everything that was happening.
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