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Ondo Lawmakers Scamper for Safety as Snake Drops Into Chamber
The sitting of members of the Ondo State House of Assembly was, on Thursday, called off, as a result of the dilapidated condition of the Assembly building.
It was gathered that a big snake fell from the ceiling of the chamber on Wednesday while the lawmakers were about to start legislative business.
A source said on sighting the snake, the lawmakers hurriedly rushed out of the chamber.
The source said, “The Speaker, Mr Bamidele Oloyeloogun, and other lawmakers had proceedings sitting on Thursday, when the ceiling directly on top of his seat caved in and almost fell on the Speaker’s head.
“The weak ceiling also fell on the seat of the parliamentary workers at the Assembly who sat in front of the Speaker.”
According to another source, out of fear that another snake might fall into the chamber, the Assembly ended the session abruptly and adjourned its sitting indefinitely until repairs would be carried out on the Assembly complex.
Confirming the development, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Mr Gbenga Omole, lamented that the Assembly complex was dilapidated, which gave room for reptiles and termites to invade in the chamber.
He also confirmed that the complex was in a dilapidated state and needed urgent repairs, but noted that the Assembly did not have the financial capacity to carry out the repairs.
Omole stated, “Yesterday (Wednesday), when we were about to enter into plenary, a big snake ran out of the chamber, which disrupted our sitting, and we had to hurriedly leave the chamber.
“We were about to sit again today (Thursday) when the ceiling caved in directly where Mr Speaker was sitting; we were agitated and when we looked around, we saw the damage that termite had done to most of the wood work in the chamber.
“At that point, we had to adjourn the sitting. The chamber is no longer safe for legislative business and because of that, we decided to adjourn indefinitely. The House will be going on an indefinite recess.
“We need to intimate the state governor of this development and we have decided to meet him on this. Mr Governor is aware of the infrastructural decay here, because many things here are outdated and not too good for legislative business.
“As of now, the House has not been given the autonomy we are agitating for, because when this happens, we won’t need to consult the governor to fix things. You know how things are being run presently; every arm of government needs to look up to the executive to get things done.”
While appealing to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to rescue the Assembly complex, Omole said there was a lot of legislative business before the Assembly, which needed urgent attention.
“When I said we are going on recess, we will continue to come to our offices but sitting in that chamber is what is not going to happen. We have written to Mr Governor for him to know what is happening here,” the Assembly’s spokesman added.
He stated that the snake was later killed but insisted that there were more reptiles in the roof of the chamber.
He also lamented that whenever it rains, the whole chamber would be flooded.
The Punch
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Happiness is something everyone should strive for. The pleasure and joy that comes with a blissful mind is priceless and unimaginable. There are certain things that keeps the mind in a state of perpetual happiness, and they varies. To some, it entails having money, children, education, job, and fulfilling a vision, while to others, it means singing, getting married to a dream partner, traveling, cooking, among others. The list is endless. And if I may ask, what makes you happy?
Personally, I derive joy when I put smiles on people’s faces. I can confidently say, I can be too kind to a fault. Sometimes, when I have a heavy heart, to decongest my sad state of mind, I may decide to be a blessing to someone who is experiencing misfortune. This act makes me feel happy and whenever I complete the act, I do feel a sense of fulfillment like a heavy burden has left my body. Isn’t it true therefore, that one gets what they want faster when they assist other people to get what they desire.
Being happy is indeed a state of mind. Sometimes, we think other people can make us happy. Sometimes we tend to attach our happiness to our partners and friends instead of ourselves. There’s no doubt the people in our lives have a role to play in making us happy, but the big factor responsible for our happiness is our mindset and perspective to life.
Let me share a practical example. One day, while I was in college, I was having a decent conversation with a friend of mine, and he said to me, ‘Henry, have you ever thought of having a girlfriend’? He touted me saying, you know you are one of the handsome guys in college and ladies love you so much. I was curious to know why he asked such a question so I asked, why do I need a girlfriend? He said they will make me happy. I said, that’s interesting to know. I asked him, so are you telling me, the simple reason you are happy is because you have a girlfriend? He said not really. I said to him, happiness is an inside job. As a matter of fact, I showed him a book by John Powell titled, Happiness is an inside job, which I was reading at the said time.
I further told him that ladies don’t make men happy, rather they complement their happiness, and vice versa. The mistake most people make is focusing their joy on human beings, and when they are disappointed, they begin to lament. True happiness should be vested in causes not material things. Material things are important, no doubt, but they are not as important as causes, especially as it relates to happiness.
Did you know that there’s a spiritual connection between happiness and success? Yes, this is so true because when one is happy, there’s a certain level of joy, satisfaction and energy that comes to them. The energy makes them passionate about a cause, and when one is passionate about a cause, they will be consistent in pushing the brand which will ultimately attract opportunities.
The importance of happiness cannot be overemphasized. When one is genuinely happy, he will not be stressed while working. That explains why it’s always good to love the job you do, and when you love what you do, what you do will ultimately love you, and this will attract opportunities.
Overtime, I have seen that people, who love what they do produce a certain level of results more than those who just do the job they are paid to do. Experience has shown that when people are adequately compensated for the work they do, they tend to do it with joy and when a work is done with a job, the result tends to be different.
Whenever I need a certain level of work, I always look for those who are gifted and talented in that craft before I explore the option of those who are intelligent and skillful. This is because someone who is talented or gifted in a particular craft has a form of blessings or anointing, which can produce a glowing effect on the work. I call such effects the spirituality of success because it has more impact than anyone who has acquired the skill or studied the art in school, or from a form of training.
The question we need to ask is how can one attract opportunities? The first step in attracting opportunities is by being happy. Nobody likes to be associated with an angry mind. There’ a rule of thumb that says, when you smile at someone, they are bound to smile back even if they are into witchcraft. Nobody likes to give a job to an angry person.
The connectivity of happiness and success was aptly captured by Dr. Yomi Garnett. According to him, “Those who attain true success are those who derive joy and happiness as they invest their time and energy in worthwhile pursuits. This is hardly surprising, for true success is not merely a destination, but a journey. If a journey is truly worthwhile, should it not also be pleasurable”?
How true can this statement be? True joy comes when one’s passion, vocation and profession are in alignment. Imagine the joy and fun that one will get when getting paid for having fun. The feeling and experience are, indeed, priceless.
It’s unfortunate that many people don’t understand that there’s a spiritual effect in whatever one does. For example, someone who is called to be a lawyer will do an expectational job as a lawyer, he won’t struggle to read, comprehend or even attract favour from clients, judges and fellow attorneys. In fact, the universe will conspire to work for him because he will attract opportunities due to the happiness he invests in himself. Now contrast that with someone who studied law just because he likes the name or because his parents influenced him to become a lawyer. The same principle is applicable to other professions, vocations and skill related jobs.
In conclusion, if you want to attract opportunities and blessings into your life, consider being happy, don’t attach your happiness to anyone, rather focus on a noble cause which will bring joy and impact in the lives of people. When you do so, you will subconsciously attract blessings into your life.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, has explained why security details attached to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mojisola Meranda, were withdrawn, noting that the aides have since been restored.
The Lagos Police boss, while confirming the withdrawal of four policemen attached to Meranda, blamed the withdrawal on the audit of all policemen attached to VIPs in the state.
He also claimed that it was not Meranda’s security aides who were withdrawn and that those of other VIPs were also withdrawn during the audit.
CP Jimoh also insisted that the audit is not peculiar to the Lagos State Police Command, adding that it also happened in other states of the country.
He said, “Lagos with a population of about 20 million persons have 18,000 police personnel. This is grossly inadequate for a state like Lagos which is centre of excellence.
“The audit will help us to know those on illegal duty, those who are where they are not supposed to be. Once the audit is completed, we start to reassign them to Divisions and Post to help in policing the state effectively.”
Continuing, the CP added that the audit is a statutory laid-down procedure of the police, which is not limited to the state command alone.
“Periodic audit of police personnel attached to eminent personalities and groups is a police statutory laid down procedure which is not limited to Lagos State Police Command alone, this is to ensure that the police personnel are accounted for including their firearms and other police crime fighting equipment in their possession.
“To further ensure that they are on their duty posts and the firearms and equipment under their custody is not misused. As we speak, other police state commands in the Country are carrying out similar audits of Police personnel hitch-free and without any problem.
“The exercise will equally avail the Command the opportunity to discover where police personnel are posted without approval and or those that are on illegal duties and unapproved duty posts, so that we can withdraw those on unapproved duty posts, those with invalid approval and those on illegal duty and redeploy them to Police Posts, Stations, Divisions and Area Commands to provide security and safety for all Lagosians.
“It is important to underscore the facts that Lagos State, the Centre of Excellence with more than Twenty million population but with a strength of police personnel of less than 18,000 in total need more personnel to be at the police posts, police stations, divisions for the safety and adequate protection of lives and property of everyone in Lagos State.
“The ongoing police personnel audit in the Lagos State Command is done in absolutely public interest and not with any other considerations, except for the safety of all in the State. As I speak with you, the audit of the police personnel attached to Hon. Mojisola Meranda has been completed and the four armed personnel attached to her from the Lagos State Police Command have been returned back to her for her protection.
“It is pertinent to also state that the ongoing police personnel audit has been on for several days now and prominent personalities and individuals have been complying with the process. The exercise once again is not aimed or targeted at any individual,” the CP added.
“However, for those whose police personnel are still undergoing the audit process with the Command, the outcome of the audit will enable the next line of action to be taken. Let me sound a note of warning that prominent persons/individuals without valid approval, Police deployment to them will be withdrawn throughout the State.
“The Special Protection Units Department at the Force Headquarters have been mandated to provide security coverage for every Nigerian needing police protection in the country, and will henceforth provide deployment of police personnel for guard duties and personnel protection, will be centrally done throughout the country at the Force Headquarters,” the Lagos CP added.
Security aides attached to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon Mojisola Meranda, has allegedly been withdrawn while it was also alleged that the security aides of the embattled and impeached Speaker, Hon Mudashiru Obasa, has been restored.
The move, according to source, is part of the pressure being mounted on Meranda to resign her speakership position.
A reports by The Punch onThursday said security details attached to the speaker including police officers have been withdrawn.
On online platform, The Whistler, reported seeing videos of Meranda going into the assembly for official assignment without any of her security aides, except civilian aides.
The paper added that the identity of whoever authorised the withdrawn is still unknown just as a source close to the Speaker confirmed the development.
“The source told the paper, ‘All the Speaker’s security aides have been withdrawn. All the security aides attached to the House of Assembly have also been withdrawn.’
The paper further noted as follows:
The source further lamented that, “the speaker is now vulnerable.”
The removal of Meranda may not be unconnected to the move by a mediating team including Chief Bisi Akande and Aremo Olusegun Osoba, former governors of Osun and Ogun states respectively to ease the embattled speaker out of office and restore normalcy in the assembly which is sharply divided over the influence of the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and President Bola Tinubu.
The meditating panel reportedly met last Sunday with key stakeholders at the House including members of the Governance Advisory Council at the Governor’s Lodge in Marina in their bid to resolve the political impasse.
Various reports from the meeting said the panel recommended the resignation of Mudashiru Obasa and that Meranda should also step down for a new lawmaker from Lagos West to take the mantle of the House leadership.
Meanwhile, the Obasa camp confirmed that all his aides have now been restored.
“They have restored all Obasa’s security aides as of this morning,” the source said.
