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New Page 12 Tuesday (Use this)

Delay in signing budget portends more hardship-NANS

From Ibrahim Kabiru Sule

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has flayed the continued delay in signing the 2016 budget, saying there is no basis for President Muhammadu Buhari to continue withhold assent to the budget, thereby subjecting Nigerians to further hardships.

President of the association, Comrade Tijjani Usman, said on Sunday that the leadership of the student body had been constrained to react in an attempt to redeem the country from the present “excruciating poverty.”

Comrade Usman said: “For us at NANS we make bold to call on the executive to behave responsibly by doing the needful. They are fighting and arguing over huge amounts of money while the rest can barely survive. This must stop.”

He wondered why, instead of signing the document, President Buahri ordered that the document be sent back to the ministries for review.

“Since the beginning of this year, prices of major essential goods and services have continued to rise to a crescendo with no concrete step taken to reverse the illicit trend. You are all witnesses to the tremendous pains we are going through arising from fuel scarcity. Most Nigerians are now forced to relocate to filling stations to pass their nights in order to get fuel for their vehicles. The commodity is now sold at about 50% or more above the regulated pump price across the federation, including Abuja. Transportation costs have rised to an unimaginable level,” he said.

2m Nigerians living with cancer -Tejuosho

By Ismail Mudashir

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Olanrewaju A. Tejuoso, yesterday said two million Nigerians had been registered as living with cancer.

Speaking during a public hearing on the National Centre for Cancer Research and Treatment Bill, he said between 100,000 and 500,000 new cases were being registered annually.

He said cancer was the third commonest case of death in the country and had a huge impact on the national economy.

“It is confirmed that cancer destroys the wellbeing of a large percentage of our citizens and it is a public health problem that affects all categories of persons,” he said.

To address the challenge, he said the senate was proposing the establishment of the National Centre for Cancer Research and Treatment.

“The bill when passed will among other purposes, provide a holistic national strategy for dealing with cancer as a serious national health agenda and education of the general public, ” he said.

In his remarks, the president, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr Kayode Obembe, said the establishment of the centre would address some of the challenges cancer patients face in the country.

He said the centre should be affiliated with other international cancer agencies to tap from global technology on cancer treatment.

Also speaking, the chairman, National Consultative Committee on Cancer Control in Nigeria, Professor Durosinmi Etti, said the centre when established should be manned by people who are specialists in cancer treatment.

FG, UN hold workshop on SDGs target

By Ibrahim Kabiru Sule

The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Lagos and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), are organising a forum with the private sector on attainment of sustainable industrial development in Nigeria.

The workshop, slated for tomorrow at the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) office in Lagos, is in pursuance of the federal government and United Nations’ commitment to achieve sustainable development.

It will engage the organised private sector in discussing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a view to stimulating strategic alignment between private sector business plans and the SDGs.

According to a statement from the UN information office in Nigeria, the workshop intends to contribute to Goal 9: “Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.”

The workshop is expected to be addressed by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on SDGs, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire and the Resident Coordinator of the UN system in Nigeria, Ms Fatma Samoura.

Youth council cautions on Saraki

By Marytieno Udoh

The Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has advised the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the senate to exercise restraint on calls for the removal of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

The council in a statement signed by its president and secretary, Comrades Isah Abubakar and Michael Shekarau respectively, urged all Nigerians, particularly those calling for Saraki’s removal, to be patient and work for the overall development and success of the senate and the APC. The council reminded the senate, the APC and its supporters that the senate is a very important organ of any democracy and the emergence of Saraki as its president should be seen as an act of God which should not be challenged.

The statement added that what needs to be done is for all to reflect on why God chose Saraki at this time of the nation’s history. It observed that when the APC was campaigning for the 2015 election, it received massive support from Nigerians because of its slogan of change, but after its victory and inauguration, things began to fall apart.