The latest fuel scarcity, which surfaced in Lagos some days ago, took a turn for the worse yesterday, forcing commercial vehicle operators, who got the commodity to operate, to hike their fares by almost 100 per cent on some routes. Many people who could not afforded the increase in fares were stranded at bus stops. The fare from Oshodi to Toyota, Five Star, and Iyana Isolo bus stops that used to be N50 was raised to N100, while Oshodi to Mile 2 was raised to N200 or more. It used to be N100. Commenting on the ugly development, Ogar Thomas, a civil servant, said government should intervene and settle the scores between it and the marketers. “It is the commuters that are facing the problem. At the black market, a 10-litre fuel was sold for N2,700 – N3,000 instead of N870. Whatever is the problem, government should please help to resolve it now,” he pleaded. A commuter, Soje Tosho, from Mowe, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, in Ogun State, said there were long queues of vehicles at some of the filling stations along the expressway. The queues, he said, caused traffic hold-up on the highway. According to him, emergency sellers of fuel dotted the expressway, selling the product in jerry cans. “When the driver of the commercial bus I was traveling in, asked one of the sellers the price of a 10-litre jerry can, the young said it was N2,500. That translates to N250 per litre,” he said.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo on Saturday urged
Nigerians to support and cooperate with the
incoming administration for it to succeed.
Sambo made this call at the Muslim Students
Society of Nigeria (MSSN) Stakeholders
Conference, held at the Main Conference
Auditorium, National Mosque Complex, Abuja.
“Government as you are aware is a continuum
and with the coming of a new democratic
dispensation, it has ushered in a new
government, which will soon be inaugurated.
“I urge you to continue to give them maximum
support and cooperation ,to enable them
succeed,” he said.
He noted the contributions of the MSSN in
positively shaping the moral upbringing of the
Muslim youth.
According to him, the society has remained one
of the veritable tools for grooming youths to
becoming responsible future leaders, leading to
the emergence of outstanding and eminent
personalities.
He further noted with delight, that the MSSN had
continued to promote national unity and
harmony in the country.
The vice-president, therefore, assured of the
Federal Government’s support for the society and
all others with similar objectives.
Sambo stressed the need for the MSSN and the
entire Muslim Ummah, to propagate the true
message of Islam as encapsulated in the Qur’an,
Hadith and Sunnah, saying “The Message of
Islam is the Message of peace, hope, harmony,
goodwill and brotherhood.’’
While congratulating the MSSN for successfully
celebrating its 60th anniversary, having been
founded in 1954, Sambo, however, expressed
worry over the absence of a befitting national
monument as its headquarters.
“As a student member in my secondary and
university days, and now as stakeholder, I assure
you of my continued support in and outside
government, whenever the need arises,’’ he
assured.
Speaking at the occasion, the Minister of
Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau,
congratulated the leadership of the MSSN for
convening the conference, which he described as
“very important and timely.’’
He then advised the current leadership of the
MSSN, to create a register of all past leaders of the
society, from the national to local level.
In his remarks, the National President of the
MSSN, Mallam Sirajudeen Folayemi, stated that
the Stakeholders’ conference was convened to
enable past and present leaders of the
organization, brainstorm on repositioning it to
face modern challenges in Islamic propagation.
He congratulated the Federal Government for the
successes recorded in the fight against insurgent
and social vices.
Folayemi appealed to the government to bring to
justice, the killers of Prof. Mustapha Falaki, a
former national president of the organisation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
the Stakeholders conference is part of activities
marking the 60th anniversary of the organisation.