Former First Lady and wife of Immediate past President, Dame Patience Jonathan, has sent a protest letter to the Bayelsa State Police Command over the alleged illegal demolition of her property, Aridolf Resort Wellness and Spa located at the Okaka area of the State capital.
The demolitions carried out by State Government officials was led by the former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and the Chairman of the State Physical Planning and Development Board, Gideon Ekeowe.
The former Nigerian First Lady, in her protest letter to the Police, was demanding the arrest of Gideon Ekeowe, over what she alleged as abuse of office, criminal demolition and abuse of Court processes.
It was gathered yesterday that the demand for the arrest of Alabo Ekeowe was provoked by the Friday destruction of the fence of the Hotel without allowing the management of the hotel and the Police respond to the Court order arising from the Motion on Notice instituted by the Physical Planning Board.
Investigation revealed that while the Court ruled on the Motion on Notice on Monday, the Bayelsa Command which is expected to jointly implement received the copy in the morning of Friday but the officials of the Board demolished at about 3pm on Friday without the police.
The Law establishing the Board stated that such demolition could not be done without the police approval. It was gathered that though the demolished fence allegedly encroached the legal line in the state Physical Development Plan, the action of the Alabo Ekeowe-led Board is a “violation of court processes and abuse of office.”
A source within the Board confirmed to newsmen that the protest by the former First Lady was creating an uproar and the State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, seems to have washed away his hands from the action of the Physical Planning and Development Board.
It was learnt that such independent decision from Alabo Gideon Ekeowe has led to over 78 cases of illegal demolition against the board.
While some officials of the board claimed that the action of the Chairman was allegedly personal and borne out of past political angst held against the former First Family, others claimed it was based on misunderstanding.
It was also indicated that another property located in Otiotio which belong to the First Lady family was also allegedly demolished illegally.
Attempts to contact the Chairman of the Physical Planning and Development Board, however proved difficult as his phone was unanswered.
But officials close to Alabo Ekeowe denied knowledge of complaint from the former First Lady, declaring that the action of the officials of Physical Planning was backed by the ruling of the Physical Planning Tribunal Development tribunal headed by Justice Emmanuel Ogola (rtd).
“I’m not aware of any disagreement between Madam Jonathan and Alabo Ekeowe. And I don’t know if he is calling for his arrest. But all I know is that a Tribunal ruled against the property and it was executed.”
Nigeria moves to recertify truck drivers for foreign market
The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has said the exportation of drivers with required skills can be a major foreign exchange earner for Nigeria.
Executive Secretary of NBTE, Prof. Idris Bugaje, stated this, at the public presentation of Articulated Vehicle Driving Qualification under the Nigeria Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) in Abuja.
According to Bugaje, skills exports are now foreign exchange earners in many countries, adding that Nigeria should not be left behind.
He noted that as a fall out to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries, especially in Europe and North America had indicated gaps in availability of truck drivers. He therefore, said Nigerian youths must be trained and properly certified to seize the opportunities.
He said: “Truck drivers now have a chance to acquire certificates beyond the Drivers’ License Grade E, which would offer them work permits in Canada, UK and EU.
“Globalization and the new African free trade zone initiative are major drivers of this and if we don’t take advantage, our economy will suffer. Bangladesh in 2019 exported 2.5m skilled construction workers to the Middle East particularly Saudi Arabia. China, India and Morroco are other leading countries that export skills across the world.”
Bugaje added that skills have become the new global currency in employment and Nigerian vehicle driving training centres must take up this challenge.
He said the implementation of training on the National Occupation Standard (NOS) would assist in lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10years, which he said is the cardinal policy of the present administration.
The Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi said Nigeria must take advantage of its population by exporting skills to other countries, thereby reducing poverty and terrorism.
According to him, it is high time the country begins to copy developed countries by focusing more on skill acquisition rather than paper qualification.
He said: “We have a population of about 203million Nigerians and Europe is lacking drivers. We should start exporting skilled personnel. In developed countries, it is not all about paper qualification, but skill acquisition.”
