Dear KFBers, we've got loads of exciting stories in the #Majorheadlineesyoumissedtoday.. Enjoy Reps propose six m...
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The House of Representatives is proposing a six months jail term for anyone caught jumping queues in public places. The bill which is currently on the floor of the house, scaled second reading yesterday June 1st.
According to the sponsor of the bill, Abubakar Amuda-Kannike (Kwara-APC), the bill if passed will ensure that Nigerians conduct themselves orderly in public places.
“The bill underscores the need to re-awaken a derailed national culture by proposing disciplinary measures to guide Nigerians in their daily behaviours. In our society today, out of total disregard for other persons, who strive to do the right thing by conducting themselves orderly in public places, a large number of Nigerians distort queues and go unpunished. The bill if passed shall provide a starting point of value and cultural re-orientation in Nigeria. The bill underscores the need to re-awaken the derailed national culture by proposing disciplinary measures to guide Nigerians in their daily behaviors. Any nation that is not organised cannot have rapid growth. We should be seen as organised people from point of entry but we have accepted that anything goes. Every school should have civic education in its curriculum to instil patriotism and orderliness in the country”he said
Another lawmaker, Sam Onuigbo who spoke in favor of the bill, said that it would among other things, ensure orderliness, equity, fairness and justice in the distribution of services in the country.
“It will be nice for us to be seen as orderly people from the point of entry into the country,” Onuigbo said.
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The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has given reasons why President Muhammadu Buhari shunned Nigerian hospitals and decided to travel to the United Kingdom to seek medical attention.
Mohammed spoke during a live radio programme titled, ‘Morning Crossfire’, on Nigeria Info Abuja 95.1FM, on Thursday.
An angry caller had criticised the All Progressives Congress-led government for going back on its promise to bar public officials from travelling abroad for medical treatment at the expense of taxpayers.
In his reaction, however, Mohammed said,
“My answer is very simple. Mr President is our father, he is the leader of the nation and I think he deserves the best in terms of medical treatment.”Responding to another question on why the Buhari government was flouting court orders regarding the release of some detained politically exposed persons, Mohammed said,
“If it is a court order and the order is not appealed, then you have flouted the order.A caller commended the Federal Government for its achievements but lamented the high cost of food prices, especially rice. Responding, the minister said,
“But if the order is appealed, then it is not a final order. Also, you have to balance national security with the rule of law. In the case of Ifeanyi Ubah, I think it is neither here nor there.”
“The truth of the matter is that in 2015, this government imported 580,000MT of rice. We cut it down to 58,000MT in 2016 and we have saved about $200m in the process.
“Yes, we understand the cost of rice is still high and we are going to intervene through price fixing by subsidising the cost of transportation.”
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Bird Flu Breaks Out In 7 States
The Federal Government on Friday alerted the public to the outbreak of Avian Influenza or Bird Flu in the FCT and seven states of the country.The Director of Veterinary and Pest Control Services, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Gideon Mshelbwala, stated this at a meeting with state Commissioners of Agriculture in Abuja on Friday.
Mshelbwala listed the states affected by the outbreak to include Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Nasarawa, Plateau, FCT and lastly Kaduna, which reported a case on May 30.
He said that the disease had spread across 26 states of the federation and the FCT since it started in 2008 affecting 800 farms in no fewer than 123 local government areas.
Mshelbwala, who said that there were no scientifically proven vaccines for bird flu, noted that the Federal Government was adopting quarantine, movement control, stamping out, decontamination and bio-security measures to curb the spread.
The director expressed regret over the poor bio-security practices by some poultry farmers, adding that it was the major reason for the continuous spread of the disease.
According to him, the Federal Government has paid over N674m in compensations to 269 farmers across the affected states.
“Our national action plan encourages proper regulation of the poultry industry and enforcement of annual registration of all actors along the poultry value chain including farmers, traders, egg merchants and feed millers.
“It also encourages the creation of veterinary extension services to facilitate the control and proper inspection of poultry and poultry products,’’ he said.
Mshelbwala said that the way forward to the containment of the disease was to ban importation of poultry and products, quarantine and bio-security measures, among others.
He, however, warned poultry farmers against illegal vaccination of birds, saying that it was a deadly alternative to the control of the disease.
NAN //
