We Cannot Ban ‘Agberos’ Because They Are Our Cousins, Brothers, Says Hamzat, Lagos Deputy Governor

Obafemi Hamzat

Obafemi Hamzat, deputy governor of Lagos State, has said that ‘Agberos’ cannot be banned in the state because they were “our brothers and cousins”.

‘Agberos’ in Lagos are notorious for charging taxes that are not remitted to the government, terrorising neighbourhoods, robbing passengers and rigging elections for corrupt politicians.

Obafemi Hamzat

Hamzat, while speaking with journalists to commemorate his 56th birthday in Lagos, said the National Union of Road Transport Workers to which the touts belong, had the same legitimacy and backing of the law as the Nigeria Medical Association.

He said, “We have all agreed that we live by the constitution and laws. The National Union of Road Transport Workers is actually a union recognised by law. I know some people say ban them, but the government must also be careful. When you just say arbitrarily ban them, what stops you from saying I want to ban the Nigerian Medical Association? Do you understand? There are times government and NMA have issues; does that mean they should be banned? They are expressing their opinion.

“They might be wrong or right but they have the right to express those opinions. And then remember these people (NURTW) are Nigerians; they are our brothers and cousins. So, one of the things we have been telling them is that if you are the chairman in Ajeromi and we see that there are all sorts of contraventions in Ajeromi, we will remove you as a chairman. We are not banning your union but it means you are incompetent.

“So, that is the outcome of one of the meetings we had with them, that if there’s an infraction in any of the areas due to the executive in that area, then it should be dissolved. And then you know we complain about our society, why people fight on the road; we have all gone around the world and it is only here we see people fighting on the road and tearing clothes off themselves, why? That has to change, but changing that does not mean banning them.

“It is to make sure we find the time and interact with them, and say, ‘look this is how it works’. Remember during former (Governor Bola Ahmed) Tinubu’s administration when we started BRT; it was a tug of war, but we took the union to Colombia to see how the union there metamorphosed into owning the BRT and so a lot of those blue buses at that time were owned by the union.

“We said, ‘See you can send your children to school by this; this is a job you can say you are proud of.’ Surprisingly they paid back the loans for the buses quickly. The same thing is happening in the abattoir (business); people say they don’t want the machines, some of our brothers said it is un-Islamic that they want to kill the cow themselves. So, we went to Kenya and Tanzania and we saw Muslims killing in an automated way, and so they agreed. So, it is a matter of engaging people and letting them see the reason they need to change their attitude. That is our way of doing things, not just say put them away.”

Politics

News

AddThis

Original Author

SaharaReporters, New York

Disable advertisements

from 24HRSNEWS
via 24HRSNEWS

from EDUPEDIA247https://ift.tt/33dtp1n
via EDUPEDIA

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P...

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis :...

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja. Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi...

EDUPEDIA247

Search This Blog