Nation

Residents Bemoan Gridlock In Awka, Onitsha, Call Soludo For Solution

Published

3 years ago

March 11, 2022

A cross section of Anambra residents have appealed to Prof. Charles Soludo, the incoming governor of the state to tackle growing gridlock in Awka and Onitsha.
Respondents who spoke with The Tide source yesterday in Awka said that traffic situation in Awka, Nnewi and Onitsha was degenerating daily.
Mr Chris Chikelu said some locations in Awka have turned to nightmare for commuters, while blaming the problem on activities tricycle operators and revenue collectors collecting tolls from the operators.
“As motorists in Awka, places like Aroma junction, Kwata, Amawbia, Eke Awka roundabout and junction close to St. Peters Anglican Church, Amawbia among others have become gridlock flash points.
“Outside Awka, the same problem is there in several locations in Nnewi and Onitsha the commercial nerve centre of the state,” Chikelu said.
He blamed the problem on what he called rascally behaviour of tricycle operators.
Chikelu said that the incoming governor should look into the institutional rot that tends to encourage the growing traffic with a view to addressing it.
He said some of the tricycle operators have poor knowledge of traffic rules, but cause obstruction with impunity due to tolls they pay to revenue collectors.
Another respondent, Uchenna Okorafor, a commercial bus driver who plies Awka to Onitsha said addressing problem of gridlock in Awka and Onitsha would be appreciated as a gesture from Soludo.
“We are aware that outgoing governor, Willie Obiano has done his best, but the state is now becoming a very horrible place in terms of poor traffic control.
“Now that Obiano’s days are numbered, his successor, Soludo should sanitize the place before thinking of infrastructural provision, because some people now want to mess up the whole place.
“Let Soludo possibly look into the use of tricycles in some highly congested places like Onitsha main market axis, Upper Iweka, Ochanja market areas.
“He should also look at other densely populated locations in Awka and Nnewi,” Okorafor said.
Two others respondents Kenneth Okoye and Emma Ifesinachi said that some residents were already getting fed up with the growing incidence of gridlock in Awka and Onitsha.
“Since the recent hike in the price of petrol, you can often see vehicles abandoned at some locations that regularly record gridlock because the owner ran out of fuel or other challenges.
“If the situation persists after the inauguration of the next governor, I personally might consider relocating to Oji River town because issue of gridlock was why I left Lagos,” Okoye said.

Nation

Bizman Alleges Threat To Life …Seeks Police ,Govt’s Intervention

Published

38 mins ago

February 5, 2025

The Tide

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Delta Technology and Property Limited, Engr Stephen Nyegwa, has raised an alarm over attempt by some unknown men to eliminate him, alleging that his life is in serious danger.

Engr Nyegwa, therefore, called on the police and the Rivers State Government to save his life from the men of the underworld.

The Managing Director, who gave the indication in an interview in Port Harcourt, said the call has become necessary following several attacks on his life.

He narrated how he narrowly escaped death at two different occasions, and pointed accusing fingers to one Mike Oyaghiri, whom he accused of land grabbing, and allegedly working for one Eze Bekwele Attam.

The Rumuaghulo-born business merchant hinted that the first attempt on his life occurred at Eligbarada in Emohua Local Government Area,on his way to Zone 16 to honour an invitation by the AIG ,along the East- West Road, where he was allegedly double- crossed by a hilux van, allegedly owned by the said Mike Oyaghiri.

He revealed that he managed to escape through the assistance of the villagers, which resulted to the recovery of the attackers’ arms by the police.

Engr Nyegwa further disclosed that the second attempt took place a few days ago, at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, after returning from an invitation by the Zone 7, Abuja, an invitation, which he alleged the said Mike Oyaghiri refused to honour.

He alleged that on arrival at the airport, some unknown police officers accosted him, with the intention to arrest him, but that they were resisted by some policemen attached to him.

He, therefore,appealed to the police authorities and the Rivers State Government to intervene on the matter, to avoid the breakdown of law and order .

When contacted, the accused, Mike Oyaghiri denied all the allegations levelled against him, saying he had a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with Rumuagholu Community on land recovery which 30 percent of it will go to him.

He alleged that Engr Stephen Nyegwa’s late father was part of the Memorandum of Understanding, and urged the police to investigate to unravel the truth.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Police Command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said she was not aware of the matter, as she did not have such a report.

She, however, promised to find out, and get back to the press.

Nation

UNIZIK Lecturers Protest Non-Payment Of Salaries For Five Years

Published

6 days ago

January 30, 2025

The Tide

About 1,000 lecturers of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka have protested non-payment of their salaries after five years of employment.
The protesting lecturers said a total of 12 of their colleagues, who were employed at the same period have died while waiting to be paid their emoluments.
Wielding placards with inscriptions to tell their stories, the lecturers appealed for payment of their salaries, saying that the current economic hardship in the country bites more on them and their families.
One of the affected lecturers, Mr Ibezim Echezona, said, “Our members are dying and we have buried 12 members so far, the last one was this year and this is someone that we saw last December and today she is no more and that is to tell you what we are going through due to non payment of our salaries for five to six years now.
“This problem is in the hands of the university because the IPPIS is no more. We demand an explanation. They should tell us if it is Abuja or the school management that is holding our salaries.”
Another staff who works at the Center for Disabilities And Special Needs Research, Mr Chukwuebuka Emmanuel said since his employment in 2019, he has not received any remuneration, yet he has been delivering services.
Emmanuel, a blind staff said: “We were employed since 2019 and till date we have not received any salary and initially we were told that the problem is with the Integrated Payment and Personnel Information System IPPIS. Later the then Governing Council came on board and approved our payments and capturing, yet nothing came out of it.
“This has been affecting us generally not to talk of people with disabilities and it has not been easy as a family man taking care of his wife and children.
“If I remove my spectacle you can see that I am crying and we are owing our landlords and there is a limit at which the landlord can assist you and what do I tell my children when they demand school fees and other needs?
“We do not know those that are holding our salaries we do not know if it is the Federal government or the Ministry of Education or the University,” he said.

Nation

50% Telecom Tariff Hike: NLC Fixes Date For Nationwide Protest

Published

6 days ago

January 30, 2025

The Tide

Nigerian workers have announced February 4, 2025, as the date to embark on a nationwide protest against the 50 percent telecommunications services tariff hike in the country.
The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, disclosed this in a statement yesterday.
This comes as the Nigerian Communications Commission on January 20, 2025, announced the approval for telecom companies to hike services tariffs by 50 percent.
The approval has sparked a wide tide of rejection by Nigerians, including the NLC.
In an update to press home their opposition against the telecom tariff hike, the NLC vowed to shut down the country through a nationwide protest.
This is part of its mobilisation against the planned 50 percent telecom tariff hike.
The Tide’s source noted that the nationwide protest was agreed on at the National Admini-strative Council, NAC, of the labour union.
The protest aims at sounding a note of warning to the government that workers would resist the planned hike as it would worsen the poverty level across the country.
Recall that NLC had, on January 22, rejected the 50 percent telecommunication tariffs hike approved by the Federal Government through the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC.
The NLC said that the 50 percent tariff hike approval, at a time Nigerian workers and the masses are grappling with unprecedented economic hardship, is a clear assault on their welfare and an abandonment of the people to corporate fat cats.
“This decision, coming at a time when Nigerian workers and the masses are grappling with unprecedented economic hardship, is a clear assault on their welfare and an abandonment of the people to corporate fat cats,” the statement by NLC president, Joe Ajaero partly reads.
Earlier, Nigerians under the aegis of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers vowed to drag the Nigerian government and telcos to court over the 50 percent telecoms service tariff hike.
Meanwhile, the government had repeatedly justified the latest telecom tariff hike on rising inflation which stood at 34.80 percent in December.