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Jonathan Commissions Edo Civil Service Secretariat Complex, Says Nigeria Needs Politicians Like Obaseki

Published

1 year ago

June 12, 2024

Former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, has said Nigeria needs politicians like Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, who has the vision to groom intellectuals, bring about development to the people in his effort to enthrone good governance.

Jonathan spoke on Wednesday in Benin at the commissioning of the Edo State Civil Service Secretariat Complex in Benin City, which was renovated and completed by the Obaseki-led administration.

He said that while other state governments were finding it difficult to pay minimum wage, Obaseki had gone ahead to pay N70,000 minimum wage , which distinguished him from his colleagues as a performing governor.

Jonathan, who expressed satisfaction with the developmental projects embarked upon by the governor, said Obaseki is doing well in the state as his government has positively improved the welfare of the people, particularly the state workforce.

He also expressed dismay at manners some governors in the country were busy encouraging youths into criminal activities with a view to using them to win elections.

Jonathan, while encouraging them to become brains that would be an asset to the country, urged politicians and governors to emulate Obaseki, saying he has redefined the political system in the state by engaging brains to drive the process.

The former president said
before this time, civil servants were taking what could not take them home, but Obaseki has changed that in Edo by paying what is reasonable and that can take them home.

“In fact, if you go to some states, governors are busy encouraging criminals because of politics. The people who will rig elections for them, snatch boxes , carry knives and cutlass to pursue people. But Governor Obaseki is encouraging the Brains of Edo State.

“The brains don’t come from one political party. The brains come from all political parties. Obaseki is not supporting these brains because he wants to win an election, but because he wants to build a state.

“For you to build a state, you have to build the people. I have to sincerely appreciate that vision. Let me join the civil servants in Edo State to thank you for improving their welfare. Of course, before this time, civil servants have been going home with salaries that can not take them home. Now, you are paying them salaries that take them home,” Jonathan said.

On his part, Obaseki said the Civil Service Secretariat Complex was the first place he visited when he assumed office as the governor of the state.

He said that the complex was in a very sorry state, he promised to revamp it and make it conducive for workers to carry out their jobs in the belief that a conducive working environment would always lead to a workforce that can boost productivity.

Also speaking, the state Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa, thanked the state governor for revolutionizing and digitalizing the state civil service.

He stated that the governor has provided a conducive environment for the state workers to be effective in their day-to-day assignments.

Okungbowa said that the state is the only one paying its workers the highest minimum wage when other states are making excuses and can’t raise their own to that amount of money.

He added that the state is the only one that offers automatic employment to first-class graduates of Edo origin from any of the universities in the country.

Headline

NGO Says Starving Gaza Children Too Weak To Cry

Published

8 hours ago

August 27, 2025

Editor

The head of Save the Children described in horrific detail on Wednesday the slow agony of starving children in Gaza, saying they are so weak they do not even cry.

Addressing a Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the president of the international charity, Inger Ashing, said famine — declared by the UN last week to be happening in Gaza — is not just a dry technical term.

“When there is not enough food, children become acutely malnourished, and then they die slowly and painfully. This, in simple terms, is what famine is,” said Ashing.

She went on to describe what happens when children die of hunger over the course of several weeks, as the body first consumes its own fat to survive, and when that is gone, literally consumes itself as it eats muscles and vital organs.

“Yet our clinics are almost silent. Now, children do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony. They lie there, emaciated, quite literally wasting away,” said Ashing.

She insisted that aid groups have been warning loudly that famine was coming as Israel prevented food and other essentials from entering Gaza over the course of two years of war triggered by the Hamas attack of October 2023.

“Everyone in this room has a legal and moral responsibility to act to stop this atrocity,” said Ashing.

The United Nations officially declared famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming what it called the systematic obstruction of aid by Israel during more than 22 months of war.

A UN-backed hunger monitor called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative said famine was affecting 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory, including Gaza City.

The IPC projected that the famine would expand by the end of September to cover around two-thirds of Gaza.
AFP

Headline

Again, Russia Claims Another Village In Ukraine’s Region

Published

3 days ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

The Russian army Monday claimed to have captured another village in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, moving deeper into Ukrainian territory as peace efforts stall.

Russian forces are slowly but steadily gaining ground in costly battles for largely devastated areas in eastern and central Ukraine, normally with few inhabitants or intact buildings left.

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had seized the settlement of Zaporizke in the region, which Russian troops recently advanced into for the first time in the three-and-a-half-year offensive.

Kyiv denies that Russian troops have gained a foothold in the Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub.

After another push by US President Donald Trump to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, hopes for peace dimmed when Russia last week ruled out any immediate meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

The central region of Dnipropetrovsk has previously been largely spared from fighting that has ravaged swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, until Russia said its forces broke through in July.

Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea — that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.

Ukraine said Russia had launched over 100 drones Monday, killing a 37-year old civilian driver and wounding two people in the northeastern Sumy region.

Moscow said Kyiv had launched about two dozen drones targeting western Russia

Headline

US Comedian Reggie Carroll Shot Dead In Mississippi

Published

3 days ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

A United States comedian, Reginald “Reggie” Carroll, has been shot dead in Southaven, Mississippi.

The 52-year-old Carroll, widely known as the Knockout King of Comedy, was reportedly killed on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.

The Southaven Police Department confirmed the incident in a Facebook statement on Saturday.

“Southaven officers located one male victim suffering from gunshot wounds.

“The officers and medical personnel provided life saving techniques but the individual succumbed to his injuries,” the statement partly read.

The victim was later identified as Carroll, a Baltimore native.

Police said one suspect was arrested and charged with his murder.

“One male is in custody and has been charged with the murder of Reginald Carroll.

“Our thoughts are with the family of Mr. Carroll.

“Thank you to the community for their patience and understanding,” the department added.

The police further assured that there was no ongoing threat to residents, describing the case as “an isolated shooting.”

Carroll, who built his career in stand-up comedy, gained national recognition touring with Katt Williams and headlining his own showcase, Knockout Kings of Comedy.

He also featured in the 2000 edition of Showtime at the Apollo, appeared on the UPN sitcom The Parkers alongside Mo’Nique and Countess Vaughn, and starred in the 2022 television film Rent & Go.

In 2023, he produced the stand-up special Knockout Kings of Comedy.

The Southaven Police Department disclosed that an investigation into his death is ongoing.