‘Second Niger bridge may suffer serious setback’
The Controller, Federal Ministry of Works in Anambra State, Engr. Adeyemo Ajani, has said that the second Niger bridge may suffer serious setback if government does not intervene urgently in the crisis between the contractors and communities as well as workers.
Ajani, in an interview with Daily Trust, said work has stopped on the second Niger bridge and if there is no quick intervention, it might affect the scheduled date of completion.
According to him, work stopped at the site because communities are demanding for projects worth N500 millions, while workers are seeking promotion and increase in allowances.
The Controller added that the project does not have any issues in terms of funding, but that the communities are trying to delay its completion through their agitations and demands.
It would be recalled that some communities from Anambra and Delta states stopped work at the site, alleging that the project manager ‘‘has not given them their dues’’.
According to Ajani, ‘‘each community is demanding a project worth N50 million and by the time it is calculated, it will amount to N500million.
“Where can such money come from? Even the Works Tender Board cannot approve that kind of money. It is only government that can address it and that is why we are seeking its intervention”.
According to him, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the communities and the contractors are yet to be signed due to the demands. The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria has sacked 15 of its staff and reduced the rank of one lecturer over offences that range from sexual harassment to corruption and negligence of duty.
A list containing the names and personnel number of the affected staff exclusively obtained by Daily Trust yesterday showed that the affected staff were from different faculties and departments of the institution.
When contacted the Director of ABU’s Public Affairs, Dr. Sama’ila Shehu, confirmed the list, saying that the “action is a testimony to the fact that ABU doesn’t hesitate in taking disciplinary action against erring staff or student.”
According to the document, the dismissal of the erring staff was approved by the university’s Governing Council during its two separate meetings.
Our correspondent reports that a lecturer from the Department of Plant Science was sacked over sexual harassment of a female staff, while three lecturers from the Sociology department were sacked over alteration of result, extortion of students and illegal allocation of grades.
Two staff from Bursary unit were sacked over diversion of money and fraudulent reinstatement of staff on payroll.
Similarly, a lecturer in the Political Science department was demoted over loss of students’ scripts, an offence the university defined as “negligence of duty”.
Findings by Daily Trust revealed that the jobs of many lecturers are on the line, as investigations into their involvement in sexual harassment and other offences are still on-going.