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As Nigerian Doctors Get 5000 Naira Hazard Allowance  Senators Grab 1.24 Million Newspaper Allowance

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Many medical doctors in Nigeria have applied for job positions with the Saudi Arabia ministry of health.

The recruitment exercise was organised by the ministry in conjunction with Successlink Consult in Ikeja, Lagos state capital, on Sunday.

The job offer was for consultants and specialists in all medical fields, excluding psychiatrists.

Among those present for the interview were medical consultants and doctors in various areas of specialisation.

The Cable gathered that each applicant paid N10,000 as the application fee after which medical certificates, means of identification, and other documents were tendered at the point of documentation.

After payment, the medical doctors were screened before a panel of Saudi Arabian personnel.

Speaking with The Cable, one of the applicants who specialises in hematology — a branch of medicine concerned with the study of blood, the blood-forming organs, and blood diseases — described the screening as the “shortest interview of my life”.

“I showed them my original documents before going in and also presented the duplicates which they took to the interviewers. After making the payment, I was taken inside for the interview. The interview lasted like one minute, I think it’s the shortest interview of my life,” he said.

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“I have been hearing about such recruitments for a while but I have never applied. This is my first time.”

This is not the first time Saudi Arabia will woo Nigerian medical doctors with job offers.

In March 2019, a similar exercise was held at a popular hotel in Lagos while another took place in Abuja.

At the time, Chris Ngige, minister of labour and productivity, had claimed that there is nothing wrong with doctors leaving Nigeria as the country has “more than enough” medical personnel.

“There are surplus in their country and we also have surplus in the medical profession in our country. I can tell you this. In my area, we have excess,” Ngige had said.

“Who said we don’t have enough doctors? We have more than enough. You can quote me. There is nothing wrong in them travelling out.”

But a fact check by The Cable revealed that the minister’s claim is false as WHO data showed that Nigeria is among the countries with a very poor doctor-to-patient ratio as of 2013 — which is the most recent data.

The latest recruitment exercise comes amid ongoing strike action by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

The doctors had commenced the strike on August 1 over “irregular payment of salaries”, among other issues.

Efforts by the house of representatives to mediate between the federal government and NARD ended in a deadlock.

Over the years, medical doctors have engaged in strike actions while agitating for improved welfare conditions and increased allocation to the health sector.

In April, resident doctors had embarked on a strike action to protest their poor remuneration and conditions of service.

Prior to the time, the doctors had engaged in a similar action in September 2020 amid rising COVID-19 cases.

The Cable had reported that a Nigerian doctor gets N5,000 as monthly hazard allowance while senators are paid 248 times higher (N1.24 million) to buy newspapers monthly.

This situation, among others, has forced many medical doctors to leave the country in search of greener pastures.

In 2018, research by Africa Check showed that at least 12 doctors leave Nigeria for the UK every week.

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Labour Party Mulls Expulsion of Its 2023 Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi

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The Labour Party has announced plans to expel its 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi over alleged “anti-party activities.”

The announcement came during a Channels TV interview on Tuesday with National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, who confirmed that a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting will be convened to recommend Obi’s expulsion, which would then be ratified at the party’s next convention.

“Secondly, let me make it very clear. We are convening a NEC meeting where he (Peter Obi) will be expelled,” Arabambi said.

“You know he was on suspension before, before he now went ahead to do the anti-party activities. You don’t go and join a political party and at the same time, you put your leg in another political party. He knows it is so constitutional for him to belong to two political parties at a time. They have been able to deceive him to their side and there he shall remain.

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“So, NEC meeting is going to be called shortly where Obi will be recommended for expulsion and that will now be confirmed finally at our convention in line with our constitution and in line with most political party constitution because when you want to expel an individual who is a member of your party but you know that is not doing things in tandem with your constitution, you go to NEC and you will recommend to expel him and now recommend the final expulsion to the convention.”

Arabambi further accused Obi of engaging in dual-party allegiances and aligning with what he described as “yahoo yahoo coalition.”

“So, Obi will be expelled from our party. He’s no longer a member of our party. It is not within his right to tell us that I’m still a member of the Labour Party and at the same time he will not be hobnobbing, you know, with what we call the yahoo yahoo coalition. We are not going to accept that.”

Peter Obi, who secured over 6.1 million votes, finishing third in the February 2023 presidential election under the Labour Party, together with Governor Alex Otti, are aligned with a faction of the Labour Party led by Senator Usman Nenadi.

In contrast, the faction to which Arabambi belongs is led by Julius Abure, who controls the official secretariat. This faction had earlier suspended Governor Otti, Senators Kingibe and Nwokocha, and others, citing anti-party conduct.

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2027 : “I Will No Longer Support Tinubu, Yoruba Traitors—Asari-Dokubo

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Alhaji Mujaheed Dokubo Asari

 

Former Niger Delta militant and leader of the defunct Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, has declared that he will no longer support Yoruba politicians because they have betrayed him and the Ijaw people.

In a video shared on social media platforms on Monday, Dokubo insisted that he is now politically aligned with politicians from Northern Nigeria because they are not traitors like their Yoruba counterparts.

The ex-militant accused Yoruba politicians and elite of turning against their long-standing allies from the Niger Delta after benefiting politically from them.

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“The Yorubas have betrayed us. After all we did, they turned their backs on us,” Dokubo said in the video.

Comtuinug, he stated that given recent political realignments and what he perceives as a lack of loyalty from the South-West, he feels more positioned to build strategic alliances with Northern leaders, who he claims have shown more consistency and respect.

“The past sacrifices made by the Ijaw for the southern solidarity were not reciprocated,” he noted.

He referenced political cooperation during previous elections and governance battles as moments where the Ijaw stood firm for the South, only to be left out in the cold.

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Hon. Abubakar Bichi donates 13 buses, 11 tractors to varsities, constituents

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Hon. Abubakar Kabir Bichi, the Member representing Bichi Federal Constituency and the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation facilitated the distribution of 13 Brand new 16-seater buses to universities and colleges of education in Kano and 11 tractors and combine harvesters to constituents.

Representatives from various higher institutions across Kano State attended the event of the distribution, which held on Monday, July 7 in Bichi town.

Hon. Abubakar Kabir Abubakar Bichi was represented at the event by the Chairman Education Committee, Dr. Habibu Usman Abdu, Senior Legislative Aides Sabo Ilyasu Saye, Zahraddeen Kabir as well as his other staff.

Beneficiary higher institutions of learning include Bayero University (BUK), which received 2 buses, Northwest university, Kano (2) two buses, Aliko Dangote Science university (2) two buses, FCE (T) Bichi (2) two buses, Yusuf Maitama Sule Federal University, (1) one bus, Ibrahim Ayagi College of Health Science Dawakin Tofa, Aminu Kano College of Islamic Legal Studies, (1) one bus, Kano Polytechnic Central Admin (1) one bus, Sa’adatu Rimi college of Education (1) one bus.

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However, eleven tractors and 4 combine harvesters to eleven wards and across Bichi Local Government Area.

Hon. Abubakar Kabir Abubakar Bichi said that the gesture aimed at easing transportation challenges on campuses and ensuring effective learning.

He added that the eleven tractors and combined harvesters improve and strengthen the farming system in the eleven wards in Bichi Local Government Area

The event highlighted Hon. Abubakar’s dedication to supporting the education sector through practical interventions aimed enhancing mobility and logistics within academic environments.

Such interventions especially on education and many others are the reason the Federal University, Kashere, Gombe state and the Federal University Dutsin-ma, Katsina conferred honorary doctorate degrees on Abubakar Kabir Bichi.

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