By Daniel Tyokua
Aggrieved members of Apo Traders Association ( ATASS) have protested the delay by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to allocate a permanent site to them.
The traders on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest at the entrance gate of the Minister of FCT, demanding release of land lease agreement to them.
The protesters who carried placard with different inscriptions, said the FCT Administration had granted them a lease on a land proposed as a permanent site for the traders in 2015, but the Minister has refused to sign and formally release the agreement.
Chairman of the Association, Chief Chimezie Ifeh said the traders have spent more than N100m, in processing the land, held several meetings with relevant authorities, but there was positive result up till date.
Ifeh noted that the Association is suspicious of the moves of some staff of FCTA, who had made some strange demands and tried to distort the allocation.
He alleged that trading by the road corridors, as allowed by FCTA, as a temporary measure has been very hazardous to members of the Association.
The chairman called on the Minister to sign and release the agreement , before leaving office in few days time, in order to save the traders from untold hardship.
He also vowed that the traders will continue to engage with relevant stakeholders and also protest when necessary, until the administration fulfil its own bargain.
Secretary of the Association, Okhueleigbe Desmond, disclosed that many of their members have died from vehicle accidents on the ever busy Apo road, because they have no conducive place for their trades.
Desmond stated that the traders were tired of trading by the road corridors, and would want to relocate to their permanent site.
According to him, FCT Minister’s delay in signing and releasing the agreement was a big disservice to the traders and the economy.
Don’t give up on securing FCT, Minister charges security agencies
By Daniel Tyokua
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Muhammad Bello has charged security, traffic and environmental officials not to give up on securing the nation’s capital, Abuja.
He urged them to always be passionate and diligent in discharge of duties, as well as be bold to take tough decisions for the overall good of the people, especially during the period of transition to a new government.
Bello through his Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Ikharo Attah stated this during a valedictory session with the Traffic management team drawn from Police, FRSC, AEPB and Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS).
The minister had on September 19, 2019 instituted a free traffic at AYA-Nyanya -Axis and the Gwarinpa-Dutse Alhaji- Bwari road, commended them for working as a team under his stewardship in its effort to sanitise the Territory.
He noted that every single day, people keep pouring into Abuja, and their work as security, traffic and environmental managers get more complex, because as the city is growing, and traffic management is becoming more challenging, and traffic management is unending.
“Abuja is getting complex because people from Lagos, Port Harcourt, Edo, Kano, Keffi, Zamfara and Uyo are constantly moving down here, and we must constantly manage traffic as it is our work. The crowd coming into the city is not a bad omen, as people migrate to where they believed in, so traffic and crowd in a city shows that people believe that city is working.
“And traffic management is not rocket science. Every single day a new problem will rise that would require officials from FRSC, DRTS, Police, AEPB or even the Military to rush and solve. So, you must find that particular solution to it. That’s the truth.
“Despite the hectic nature of ensuring sanity in the capital city, you worked so hard, and it is not finished, and it will not be finished. Please don’t be afraid to take tough decisions in the nation’s capital traffic management system. Once you know that it is good, take them in the interest of the society.
“So, the Minister has asked me to tell you that even if we are going, please be committed to your work even within the transition period to when new Minister will come. Just be passionate and do your work diligently, and when the new Minister comes, support him or her as you have all supported us to all to Abuja, and it has been very memorable”, Attah quoted the Minister saying.
In his remark, Director in charge of of Enforcement at AEPB, Kaka Bello, noted that what the outgoing Bello-led FCTA did was laying a very good foundation towards sustenance of the operations they have carried out, and assured that they will keep the flame burning.
He said: “From our own part, we assured you that the bond of cordial relationship that has been established between all the agencies, we will try as much as possible to ensure it continues.
“We don’t see as ourselves as just mere workers, but more of family members that is why the bond is something else because we are always working together to achieve a common purpose in the city”.
The DPO in charge of Nyanya, Alhassan A. Majia, pointed out that the Minister through Attah, has brought the security agencies to work together in the discharge of their respective duties in the FCT.
“I have worked with four Ministers and about six Permanent Secretaries, so I have seen a lot things as a Police Officer and working with civil servants but I have never seen a wonderful person like you, and I have learnt to always be humble and carry out responsibility with passion and teamwork.
“You have shown the agencies that working together will be bring result. You made them to forget about their differences, as they are all working for the same government. And we have practised it, and seen the result in the society. Now, it gives us a lot of joy to work as a team”, he stressed.
FCTA plans crackdown on substandard health facilities
By Daniel Tyokua
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), said any health facility operating below the set standards will be sealed.
This followed the tour of health facilities by Private Health establishments registration and monitoring committee ( PHERMC) under the Department of FCT Medical and Diagnostics.
Addressing journalists , the Director Medical and Diagnostic, Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr Abubakar Ahmadu, who led the team said any facility found to be operating below the recommended standard or seen to render any service beyond the scope approved will be sealed.
He said inspection of facilities was to encourage standards as a requirement by PHERMC.
“Some facilities that were registered earlier are still maintaining the standard that we expect of them. But so far, we have had cause to seal the services of one particular facility, which was providing services beyond the scope of which it was registered.”
He said some facilities have provided optimum service according to the approval granted by PHERMC, some have been discovered to perform below par.
Ahmadu strongly warned that the administration will not hesitate to seal any facility that fails to provide optimum service to the residents of FCT.
“Well, all private health facilities within the FCT registered with PHERMC have clear cut services that they have been registered to carry out so it is our expectations that all these facilities abide by that and provide services within that scope. And going beyond that, they need to seek approval to go beyond so that the facility will be inspected, and we will be able to assess if such additional services can be accommodated.
“Well, we recognise that constraints occasioned by the economy presently so we are going to work towards ensuring that the services provided by these facilities we are inspecting are not far below expectation and if they do, we have to shut it down. But those that just have minimal things to address certainly can continue to provide services but once they go below standard, we have no choice but to seal those facilities. It is in the interest of the public that we’re doing all this.
“Once we see any facility that is operating below standard operating without qualified personnel. We are duty bound to shut them down, and we will shut them down.” He said
The team, which is divided into five groups, is expected to inspect not less than 200 health facilities within the next three days.
