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Governor Jonah Jang who returned to Jos, Plateau state capital, today after a foreign trip, was greeted with the grisly news of the killing of over 20 persons in the state. This latest development comes barely 48 hours after a report of 33 civilians, including military and police personnel, among those killed by suspected herdsmen.
Today’s attack occurred in Mavo, the Wase local government area of the state, where the suspected Fulani militia struck in the early hours of the day, and carried out the killings.
A military source told SaharaReporters that over 20 people survived with bullet and machete wounds, while many houses were turned to rubble, and burnt to ashes.
The police and the military are yet to issue a statement regarding this latest spate of fresh killings. It has caused further tension in the entire local government, as hundreds of villagers have fled into other neighboring villages. Residents have told SaharaReporters that they are afraid of even further violence, with early morning attacks by the suspected gunmen likely.
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MINISTER of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, yesterday tackled critics of the 2014 budget, saying that the high recurrent was compounded by the pension burden and the 53 per cent federal government salaries increases of 2010.
Okonjo-Iweala has been under fire by some critics who accuse her of being responsible for the high recurrent budget, rising debt profile and inadequate provisions for the social sectors.
But her Special Adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu said in a statement in Abuja, yesterday, “though government is continuous and the Minister has no desire to shirk her responsibilities, the effort to personalize these issues on the basis of inaccurate information must be roundly refuted.”
Okonjo-Iweala
Okonjo-Iweala
According to him, “the first point made by some Senators is that she is responsible for the rising recurrent expenditure, which according to them rose “from 69 per cent in the 2013 budget to 76 percent in the 2014”. This is inaccurate.” He said the decline in the budget base is one of the factors responsible for the upsurge in the recurrent budget.
His words, “total expenditure of N4.64 trillion in the proposed 2014 is about a 7% decline from the 2013 budget level of N4.98tr. From a mathematical standpoint, this reduction in the budget base will result in a slight increase in the weight of the recurrent expenditure in the budget, which in absolute terms, has increased from 2013 levels”.
On the pensions factor he said “it is also important to note that the country is yet to fully absorb pension’s implications of the 2010 wage increases. Starting in 2013 budget, this Administration commenced tackling the payment of outstanding military pensions, and Budget 2014 will further address civilian pensions. We have been under pressure from many quarters, including Senators, to integrate the civilian component of pension, and doing so will further increase the recurrent budget.
Will the Senators blame Okonjo-Iweala for this”?The data of the recent of recurrent budget indicated as follows: 2006 -70.1 % , 2007-64%, 2008-71.4 %, 2009-67%, 2010-64.7 %, 2011-74.4%, 2012- 71.5%, 2013-67.5% and the current year-74 %,
He explained further that the government awarded salary increases of 53% in 2010 across the board to the public service, which increased the wage bill from N856.9 billion in 2009 to N1.36 trillion in 2010.
“At the time, finances were inadequate to back this award, and the government had to increase domestic borrowing significantly to cover the shortfall. This rise in government domestic borrowing, from N524 billion in 2009 to N1.36 trillion in 2010, is clearly the singular cause of the country’s rising domestic debt profile, from 14.83% of our Gross Domestic Product, GDP, in 2009 to 17.98% of GDP in 2010.”
Nwabuikwu contended that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was not in government when those events took place.
According to him, the President Goodluck Jonathan administration has focused on reversing this trend.
His words, “since 2011, various measures have been introduced, leading to a steady decline in recurrent expenditure from 74.4% in 2011, to 71.47% in 2012, and then to 67.5% in 2013 However, it is important to note that under the proposed 2014 budget, the recurrent expenditure will rise to 74%, for two reasons:
On the issue of excessive borrowing, Mr. Nwabuikwu said that domestic borrowing has reduced, from N852 billion in 2011 to N588 billion in 2013, a borrowing of N572 billion proposed in the 2014 budget.
“Furthermore, for the first time in the history of our domestic debt, the Finance Minister ensured the repayment of N75 billion of our domestic bonds. She further set up a sinking fund of N25 billion per annum to support the retirement of maturing bonds as above, rather than roll them over. This is directly contrary to the allegation that she is responsible for excessive borrowing within the economy”
He stated that a new strategy has been adopted with regard to foreign debts as external borrowing from multilateral finance organizations like the African Development Bank, China EXIM Bank, and the World Bank now come at “zero or very concessionary interest rates”
The spokesman said further, “while it is important for us to debate the budget, it is also behoves us not to misinform Nigerians, demonise individuals based on false information and mischaracterize the nature of budget development in the country. A large number of lies are being told against the budget by those who do not care about the impact of their falsehood on the economy and the image of the country.”
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Adequate water intake and consumption of healthy meals are keys to preventing haemorrhoids or piles, an Abuja-based medical doctor, Dr Kingsley Umeh has said.
Umeh told said in Abuja on Thursday that most people did not get enough fibre in their diet, because they would not eat enough fresh vegetables and fruits.
According to Umeh, haemorrhoids are enlarged veins that have occurred in the rectum due to constant strains during bowel movements.
He added that it can be external and internal in outlook, thereby making the patient very uncomfortable.
“Diet, intake of plenty of water and reduction of salt intake are antidotes; salt leads to fluid retention which in turn causes your body to swell, including the blood vessels causing haemorrhoids
“Remember, most haemorrhoids can be avoided by maintaining a healthy lifestyle with lots of fibre-rich fruits and vegetables.”
Umeh explained that haemorrhoids could also be caused by sitting on the toilet for a long time, carrying heavy items, being overweight, having diarrhoea and constipation.
“Those ones that occur in the rectum are called internal haemorrhoids, while those which occur around the anus are called external haemorrhoids.”
He said that there could be the possibility that it would affect about 50 per cent of men before they reach the age of 50 years.
According to the doctor, symptoms are usually swollen, painful and bleeding rectum, causing a feeling of pressure.
“You might notice a streak of blood on the outside of your stool or on the toilet paper when you wipe your bottom or splashes of blood on the toilet bowl.”
Umeh said that there could also be a feeling of discomfort when cleaning up after passing stool, hence the need to avoid the use of toilet tissues.
He, however, advocated for the constant use of water for cleaning oneself.
Highlighting the causes of haemorrhoids in pregnancy, Umeh said that the process of childbirth and the increased pressure of the weight of the baby on the child in the anal area could trigger it.
He added that it dissolved naturally after delivery of the baby.
Umeh said that it was important for people to avoid straining while passing stool, as increased pressure on the rectum could lead to inflammation of the haemorrhoids.
He stated that people should be aware that they should pass stool immediately nature calls, not delaying it till some other time, as such could also make the stool to be hard.
Umeh said that most haemorrhoids were manageable, stressing that it was only in severe cases that surgery could be considered
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An FCT High Court on Thursday sentenced a 58-year-old Estate Agent, Omole Agboworin, to 15 months imprisonment for breach of contract and diversion of N8.3 million belonging to Federal Ministry of Education
Justice Abubakar Umar gave the sentence without option of fine.
The judge said in a criminal trial, the sole issue for determination was whether the prosecution proved a case against an accused beyond reasonable doubt.
Umar said the prosecution in this case had proved all the charges against the convict.
He said that the accused, through his confessional statement before the EFCC admitted that he was given the money to rent apartment for the Permanent Secretary of the ministry.
“The confessional statement indicated that the convict converted the money to his personal use,’’ he said.
Umar held that the convict breached the contract because he did not inform the Ministry about his intention to divert the money for his personal use.
“I am satisfied with the submission of the prosecution and it is on record that the convict had earlier jump bail during the trail and a bench warrant was issued against him.
“ He also failed to attend his trial three consecutive times. This lackadaisical attitude is uncalled for” he said
The judge convicted Agboworin based on the provisions of section 309 of the Penal Code which prescribed a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment. (NAN)
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Tension, yesterday, enveloped a popular school in Osun State, the Baptist High School, Iwo, as the students wore different dresses that suited their religious inclination to school.
The students, thereby, defiled the state government uniform specification recently introduced in all public secondary schools in the state as part of the schools reclassification programme.
Apart from the riotous outfits, the students also sang different religious songs while on the assembly for the morning devotion.
While the Christian students who wore white garments sang Christian songs, the Muslim students who appeared in veil sang Muslim songs.
Worried by the development, the school authority hurriedly sent the students to their various classrooms and informed the state Ministry of Education of the development.
Reacting, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akere said government was aware of the development and was making efforts to bring sanity back to the system.
He said officials of the state Ministry of Education have been drafted to the school to prevent further breakdown of law and order.
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