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Anti-Brain Drain Bill Can Not Work, It’s Like Killing Fly With Sledgehammer, I Won’t Support It — Chris Ngige

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Minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, has kicked against the bill seeking to mandate medical and dental practitioners to practice for five years in Nigeria before relocating abroad.

According to NAN, Ngige spoke to journalists after a federal executive council (FEC) meeting on Monday.

In April, Ganiyu Johnson, an All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker from Lagos, sponsored the bill seeking to amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 2004, to address the brain drain in the health sector.

On Monday, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) announced that it will commence a five-day warning strike on Wednesday, over the failure of the federal government to meet its demands.

The withdrawal of the anti-brain drain bill from the national assembly is one of the prominent demands of the association.

Speaking on the bill, Ngige described it as “unworkable” and “like killing a fly with a sledgehammer”.

He added that the proposed law did not have his support and urged the legislature to look for “other ways” to curb the brain drain.

“Nobody can say they (doctors) will not get a practising licence till after five years. It will run counter to the laws of the land that have established the progression in the practice of medicine,” the minister said.

“I am a medical doctor. When you graduate from the medical school, you go on one-year apprenticeship called housemanship or internship as the case maybe. After your internship, you are now given a full licence because prior to that, what you have is a provisional licence of registration with the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).

“So, after that intensive training, you were signed off by consultants and you became a fully qualified medical doctor to attend to human beings and to work without any supervision again. Supervision then is voluntary.

“Resident Doctors are those who have that full licence and they want to acquire post-graduate speciality and speciality is known like surgeons, gynaecologists, obstetrics, paediatrics and internal medicine or family medicine. So, they are doctors in training.

“The bill in the national assembly cannot stop anybody from getting a full licence. That bill is a private members’ bill.

“In the national assembly, they attend to private members’ bills and executive bills. Executive bills emanate from the government into the national assembly with the stamp of the executive.

“It is either sent by the attorney general of the federation or by the president but usually from the attorney general of the federation. So, it’s not an executive bill, it’s a private members bill.

“That bill is moved by the man from Lagos. So, members of his constituency can tell him this is worrying us. Can’t we check these doctors this way by you going to speak than put up a document?

“That document is as far as I am concerned, not workable. Ab initio, I don’t support it and I will never support it. Like I said before, it is like killing a fly with a sledgehammer.

“They should think of other ways if they are trying to check brain drain, there should be other ways.

“If a doctor has read on scholarship, you bond him, if a doctor has read on bursary, you can bond him. If a doctor is trained like we are doing now on little or nothing, which is like a scholarship again because N50,000 a session per medical student is nothing when their counterparts overseas pay seventy thousand pounds for a session.

“So, I don’t support that bill, but you can bond them if you want.”

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Ikorodu Teacher Arrested For Physically Abusing 3-Yr-Old Boy In Viral Video [SEE VIDEO]

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The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency has confirmed the arrest of a teacher following a viral video showing the suspect allegedly physically abusing a three-year-old boy at a school in Ikorodu.

The announcement was made in a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

The video, shared by Oyindamola, who identifies as #dammiedammie35, captured a female teacher slapping the child’s face.

The video was captioned, “Footage from Christ-Mitots School in Ikorodu, a teacher named Stella Nwadigo was witnessed mistreating and physically abusing a three-year-old boy, Abayomi Micheal.”

The footage has raised serious concerns about the safety and well-being of our little ones in school.”

Reacting to the incident, the Lagos DSVA issued a statement expressing gratitude to those who brought the video to their attention

The statement reads, “We appreciate everyone who brought the disturbing incident of a teacher who was recorded physically abusing a 3-year-old boy to our attention.

We are pleased to inform the public that the teacher in question has been arrested by Owutu FSU, and an investigation has commenced in earnest.

The agency reiterated the state government’s commitment to protecting children, emphasizing that schools must be safe and nurturing spaces.

The statement added, “Indeed, institutions of learning should be safe, warm, and protective environments for all children in their care.

The State Government remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of every child by enforcing strict regulations, holding offenders accountable, and working with stakeholders to promote a zero-tolerance policy for abuse in any form.”

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China Development Bank Approves $254m Loan For Kano-Kaduna Railway Project

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The China Development Bank (CDB) has provided a loan of $254.76 million for the construction of the Kano-Kaduna railway project in Nigeria.

In a statement on Tuesday, the bank stated that the funding aims to support the smooth advancement of the infrastructure project.

The CDB highlighted that the construction is being undertaken by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), with financial support from the bank.

“The Kano-Kaduna railway, with a total length of 203 kilometers, is a standard-gauge railway,” the statement reads.

“Once completed, it will provide direct rail connectivity between Kano, an important northern city in Nigeria, and the country’s capital Abuja, offering local residents a safe, efficient, and convenient mode of transportation.”

In addition to enhancing mobility, the bank mentioned that the project is expected to stimulate economic growth along the railway corridor, generating job opportunities and promoting related industries.

“The Kano-Kaduna railway project has been included in the list of practical cooperation projects for the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation,” the CDB added.

The bank stated that the construction is progressing smoothly and reiterated its commitment to collaborating closely with the Nigerian government to ensure the disbursement of funds and effective management of the next phases of the project.

On July 15, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari launched the construction of the Kano-Kaduna railway project.

The rail project is the third phase of the Lagos-Kano standard gauge railway modernization project.

The first phase (Abuja-Kaduna) and the second phase (Lagos-Ibadan) were inaugurated for commercial operations in July 2016 and June 2021, respectively.

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ICPC Files Money Laundering Charge Against El-Rufai’s Former Commissioner

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has charged Muhammad Sa’idu, a former commissioner during the administration of Nasir el-Rufai, ex-governor of Kaduna, to court over alleged “money laundering.”

The Kaduna police command arrested Sa’idu over a petition for alleged diversion of public funds.

Osuobeni Akponimisingha, the ICPC’s assistant legal officer, filed the case against the former commissioner on Tuesday at the federal high court in Kaduna.

Sa’idu served as the commissioner of local government affairs, chief of staff, and commissioner of finance during the administration of el-Rufai.

The ICPC dismissed an earlier claim that Sa’idu had been exonerated of all charges after 10 months of investigation.

The former commissioner is charged alongside Ibrahim Muktar, a staff in the ministry of finance.

According to the suit No. FHC/KD/IC/2025, the defendants are charged on a two-count charge of “money laundering.”

“Sometime in March 2022 or thereabouts, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, who at that time commissioner of finance, did accept cash payment of the sum of N155m from one Ibrahim Muktar exceeding the amount authorised by law, which sum you received in cash through proxy to wit: Muazu Abdu, your Special Assistant and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section2(a) and punishable under the Section 19(d) of the “Money Laundering(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022,” the charge sheet reads.

The ICPC also alleged that within the same period, Sa’idu “indirectly took control of the sum of N155m received in cash for and on behalf of you by one Muazu Abdul from Ibrahim Muktar, which he reasonably ought to have known, formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity to wit: corruption and you hereby committed an offence contrary to section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the “Money Laundering(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

The anti-graft agency noted that section 18(3) of the “Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022” states that “any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection(2) is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than four years but not more than fourteen years or a fine not less than five times the value of the proceeds of the crime or both.”

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