News

OPINION: Mass Murder On River Niger[Monday Lines]

Published

9 months ago

December 2, 2024

By Lasisi Olagunju

“As of today, the combined efforts of NEMA, Kogi State Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross have recovered 54 bodies. Unfortunately, there was no manifest for the boat, which makes it difficult to confirm the exact number of passengers. The journey took place at night, and none of the passengers had life jackets.” The Head of Operations of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Kogi State, Justin Uwazuruonye, told the above to newsmen on Saturday. He was speaking about last Friday’s boat accident involving about 200 women and labourers.

A folk poet says, “The young goat fled the slaughterers/ He took shelter among the butchers./ The couscous fled those who sprinkle sauce over it,/ It took shelter among those who eat it.” People who were running away from hunger and poverty in one place ended up buying death on the waterways at another end. That is what happened to the casualties of that accident, who were women on their way to a market in Niger State. Their boat sank into River Niger with all in it. Nigeria is still searching for the remains of many.

Like Wole Soyinka’s metal on concrete, reports of that accident on the Niger jarred the heart. We still do not know the exact number of those who sank with that sepulchral boat. What we know is that all of the dead had no names – they are just a number, nameless. People who have names – big names – don’t travel in deathly canoes; they don’t paddle coffins to their places of trade.

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Overcrowded boats are cemeteries in motion. Two hundred people crammed into a creaky bowl of wood is mass murder – or mass suicide. Many of the boats are old and decrepit; they are very well-known disasters waiting to happen. Yet, people pay to use them because they are the only affordable means of transportation available to those who use them.

We may not trust the authorities in big things, but in ‘small’ talks like how to save ourselves from recalcitrant death, we must listen. The Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) recently rolled out a safety protocol. Obey them. They say do not be lured into boarding wooden boats whose expiry dates are in the last century. They say do not travel on water without life vests. They say the flip side of not wearing life vests is wearing aprons of death.

Murderers are not just felons with swords and daggers. Operators of boats without care are killers. They maximize profit and overload boats. They use corner-corner creek routes and compromise safety; they offend the law and dodge regulators; they break rules and avoid water marshals. They run faster than their destinies and collide with tragedy. They mass-kill the helpless who trust them with their lives.

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How do we say enough is enough? Can we appeal to the big men from that axis of tragedy to intervene with their money? Is it not possible for the rich to replace every aged wooden boat with modern watercraft that won’t crack and perish under the weight of struggling children, women and labourers? Can the powerful channel monies currently being spent on buying wheelbarrows into buying life jackets for every household that must travel on water? Can radio and television stations in these areas and in other places mount a campaign against suicidal cruises on the waterways? Can we make this avoidable accident the very last on our waterways?

No one wants to die. The hundreds who have perished in boat accidents this year alone in that axis wanted to live. Over 100 died in October in Mokwa, Niger State; more than 40 died somewhere in Zamfara State in September. The latest casualties were on their way to farm work or to buy and sell in a market. They were looking for what to eat. May we not run from the house of hunger to the house of stupid death. May the souls of the dead Rest In Peace. May the living learn from the dead.

News

Shock As Adeleke Employs Roadside puff-puff Hawker As Govt House Chef

Published

3 hours ago

August 30, 2025

Editor

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, on Thursday shocked a female puff-puff seller during a rally in Osogbo by buying all her snacks with ₦50,000 and offering her employment as a chef at the Government House.

This happened when Osun public servants trooped out in their thousands in what they called an appreciation solidarity rally in support of the governor for his support and care since he took over state governance.

It was observed that the governor, who sat in the bus, had sighted the woman who was among the crowd cheering him.

He immediately beckoned to the woman carrying a plastic container filled with puff-puff on her head and asked how much it would cost to buy all the snacks.

The female hawker, who was visibly surprised and star-struck at the level of her proximity to the governor, found it difficult to even tell the governor how much she sold the snacks.

Surprisingly, Adeleke handed her a bundle of ₦50,000 to the cheers of the crowd.

The lucky woman knelt down in appreciation of the governor’s generosity.

Excited onlookers quickly rushed to share the snacks in the plastic already purchased by the governor.

The governor invited the vendor inside the vehicle where one of his officials questioned her academic background, and she revealed that she holds a Nigerian Certificate in Education.

Adeleke further asked about the dishes she could prepare and instructed his aides to take her contact details for employment as a chef in the Government House.

Confirming the development, the Commissioner II at the Osun State Civil Service Commission, Olaniyan Taofeek, shared the video on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “The moment Gov. Adeleke turned the life of a puff-puff seller into a Government House chef.”

A Special Assistant to the Governor on Digital Media, Oni Gbenga Lawrence, also corroborated the incident in a post on X, stating: “Moment Governor Ademola Adeleke turned the life of a puff-puff seller to Government Chef… not only ₦50k but he invited her into his car and employed her as chef in the Government House.”

The Guardian correspondent, who was at the scene of the welcome rally, made efforts to interview the lucky vendor, but they did not yield as she was not allowed to alight from the bus throughout the event.
(The Guardian)

News

Katsina Govt Revokes Licenses Of All Private, Community Schools

Published

4 hours ago

August 30, 2025

Editor

The Katsina State Government has withdrawn the operating licenses of all private and community schools in the state, with effect from August 13, 2025.

The announcement came through a circular issued by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and signed by Commissioner Hajiya Zainab Musa-Musawa.

The ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Malam Sani Danjuma, released the document in Katsina on Saturday.

According to the circular, the move is part of the government’s effort to strengthen quality assurance and standardization within the education sector.

“The withdrawal of licenses is aimed at ensuring that schools operate in line with approved standards and provide quality education to students,” Danjuma said.

The circular also outlined a review of fees for license application, registration, and annual renewal.

“Owners of affected schools are required to obtain fresh licenses by submitting proof of payment to the ministry on or before September 30, 2025.”

The statement also added that school operators have been warned not to increase tuition or other charges without government approval.

The ministry further promised to issue additional guidelines soon, including categorization of schools and the revised fee structure.

News

JUST IN: Oldest Missionary To Nigeria, Ruth Elton, Is Dead

Published

5 hours ago

August 30, 2025

Editor

British-born Nigerian missionary, Ruth Elton, reputed to be the oldest missionary has passed on at the age of 91.

Ruth Elton, born 7 September 1933, was a British-born Nigerian missionary whose lifelong dedication to faith, healing, and revival left an indelible mark on communities across western and central Nigeria.

It was learnt that Elton died on Saturday at Sharon compound, Alafia Bamin Quarters in Ilesa, Osun State.

She was the only daughter of Pa Elton and her remains have been deposited at the mortuary.

Ruth Elton, daughter of Sydney Granville Elton (Pa Elton), who is referred to as one of the founding fathers of Pentecostalism in Nigeria, had approached a Kaduna court and nationalised as a Nigerian.

At old age and despite the happenings in Nigeria, she still held in high esteem her father’s prophecies that although Nigeria could be known globally for corruption, it would only for a while as new dawn would beckon when the country would be known worldwide for righteousness and prosperity.

Elton moved to Nigeria in 1937 with her parents and served as a Christian missionary across Egbe, Okene, Koton Karfe, and other parts of Kogi, Ondo, Oyo, and Osun States.

A naturalised Nigerian, having renounced her British citizenship in the 1970s, she embraced the country completely and became fluent in Ebira and Yoruba.

Elton, who remained single, believed that she had made a true mark in the country and apart from her missionary work, she saw her efforts in taming infant mortality, especially in Okene, Kogi State as a generational impact.

Relating her experience on infant mortality in the country, Elton recently noted that many newborn babies had passed on due to lack of proper care and hygiene, adding that the practice of force-feeding babies contributed to the challenges, especially in the face of poor awareness.