FG mulls education bond for public varsities
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by chijioke okoronkwo9 other notable nigerians who spoke on the occasion were governor of oyo state mr abiola ajimobi gen.- yakubu gowon the chancellor of the university and sultan of sokoto alhaji saad abubakar iii as well as the pro-chancellor joshua waklek1 buhari made the idea known at university of ibadan on saturday on the occasion of the institutions 2018 convocation and 70th foundation day ceremony1 laolu akande senior special assistant on media and publicity to the president office of the vice president in a statement on sunday in abuja said buhari who is visitor to the university was represented by the vice president. prof. yemi osinbajo1 buhari restated that education could not be left to government alone as none of the worlds leading universities depended wholly or even substantially on government funding1 he said that universities all over the world had evolved innovative means of financing and investment to meet their funding needs and become financially sustainable1 buhari added that one of the solutions that must be explored was the alumni network noting the university of ibadans vast alumni network by virtue of its age had a lot to offer1 amongst other options we are working on the details of an education infrastructure bond for public universities to involve raising money from the capital market to give a push to infrastructure in our universities1 our on-going talks with the academic staff union of universitiesasuu are a fallout of the chequered history of negotiations concluded in 2013 with government1 there is no question that asuu has a point. however we must seek to resolve it amicably and with minimum disruption to the academic calendar1 according to him given the radical changes that technology has brought to bear in both the challenges and opportunities in education the n-power employment scheme of the buhari administration provides a technology platform to train teachers1 the federal government is considering setting up an education bond to finance infrastructure in public universities president muhammadu buhari has said1 we have had the collaboration of the massachusetts institute of technology the oracle academy microsoft cisco academy and ibm1 how do we train teachers quickly and efficiently aside from traditional teacher training institutes which must be refitted to deal with new technology-driven pedagogy we must use technology platforms to train1 we have had a few eye openers in this regard when we launched our n-power programme1 we trained them and provided materials for continuous training using our open platform and each of them was provided with an electronic tablet which contains a lot of training and teaching materials for the large number who teach in schools in every local government in nigeria he said1 buhari said that in the next few years both teacher training and teaching would be largely driven by technology with university education especially scientific research made easy by virtual reality and artificial intelligence tools1 the president said that the current gaps in educational attainment in the country had made it clear that nigeria had to change both the substance of education its children received and the methods by which they are taught1 according to him the early stage investment in primary and secondary school education is key to becoming a knowledge-driven economy1 he said that federal governments policy was to develop and introduce steam education science education engineering arts and math curriculum in primary and secondary schools1 buhari said that the curriculum covered training in skills in cross disciplinary critical and creative thinking problem solving and digital technologies coding digital arts design thinking and robotics1 buhari noted that the n-power programme a technology driven employment and skills training programme had employed 500000 young men and women who were hired using a technology platform developed by young nigerians1

Osinbajo: I stand for fiscal federalism, stronger states, state police
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by chijioke okoronkwo9 owolabi said that the association was borne out of a vision of some young men eight of them who decided in 1978 to concretise their fledging relationship and dominance of social space into a sustainable institution1 osinbajo made this submission while delivering the 40th anniversary lecture of the association of friends on monday in lagos1 the theme of the lecture is restructuring and the nigerian federation1 he reiterated his stance that good governance was what nigeria needed rather than geographical restructuring1 i have been an advocate both in court and outside of fiscal federalism and stronger state governments1 i have argued in favour of state police for the simple reason that policing is a local function1 you simply cannot effectively police nigeria from abuja only recently i made a point that stronger more autonomous states would effectively eradicate poverty1 so i do not believe that geographical restructuring is an answer to nigerias socio-economic circumstances1 that would only result in greater administrative costs but there can be no doubt that we need deeper fiscal federalism and good governance1 he argued that state governments had enormous constitutional powers which they should harness to better their fortunes1 the vice president said that the supreme court held that states had a constitutional right to create local governments pursuant to section 8 of the constitution1 he said that the creation remained incomplete until the national assembly by resolution amended the existing list of local governments to capture the newly created councils1 osinbajo said further that the apex court ruled also that with respect to federal land the state had exclusive authority to grant authority tofor building or developmental control permits1 vice president prof. yemi osinbajo has restated that he is an advocate of fiscal federalism stronger state governments and state police1 osinbajo said that pursuant to the supreme court ruling lagos state government created by state law local government council development areaslcdas to activate the newly created local government councils until such a time the national assembly would complete the process1 he said that the lagos state government took the challenge which resulted in the state earning more internally generated revenueigr than 30 nigerian states put together1 osinbajo said it was wrong to mix up all the issues of good governance and diversificationof the economy with the argument on corruption1 good governance involves inter alia transparency and prudence in public finance1 it involves social justice investing in the poor jobs for young people which explains our school feeding programme providing a meal per day to over nine million pupils in 25 states today1 our n-power is now employing 500 000 graduates our tradermoni that will be giving microcredit to two million petty traders our conditional cash transfers giving monthly grants to over 400000 of the poorest in nigeria1 the plan is to cover over a million households1 he said that in arguing for good governance nigerias greatest problem was grand corruption1 the vice president described corruption as the unbelievable looting of the treasury by simply making huge cash withdrawals in local and foreign currenciesa travesty which president muhammadu buhari stopped1 according to him the restructuring nigeria needs is the restructuring of governance in such manner as to eliminate corruption and create an enabling environment for growth and investments in infrastructure education nutrition and better sanitation1 earlier in his address alhaji oluropo owolabi said that the topic of the lecture could not have come at a better time1 he said that in recent times restructuring had dominated the nations political discourse hence the choice of the vice president a professor of law for the lecture1 he said further that the supreme court ruled in favour of lagos state government as it struck down many provisions of the law that sought to give the federal government control over local government funding1

Amosun says not behind Oshiomholes alleged detention
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by chijioke okoronkwo9 gov. ibikunle amosun of ogun state has dismissed rumours that he and gov. rochas okorocha of imo are behind the alleged detention and grilling of all progressives congressapc national chairman adams oshiomhole1 oshiomhole was reportedly detained and questioned on nov. 4 by the department of state services dss over the fallout of the apc primaries1 speaking with state house correspondents after a closed-door meeting with president muhammadu buhari on thursday at the presidential villa amosun said he did not have such capacity1 i think you are giving me an oversight role1 i am not a security person so clearly that question will probably not be for me1 i dont hide under a finger and fight if there is need for me to put my views across you know by now i will do it1 the governor who sounded evasive said that all that needed to be said about the apc crisis had been said hence no need to sound like a broken gammaphone1 he said it was not true that he was having problem with the leadership of the party1 it would be realled that three apc governors okorocha amosun and abdulaziz yari of zamfara have been at loggerheads with oshiomhole over the outcome of the partys primaries1

Govt. introduces new education policy `Every Child Counts
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by chijioke okoronkwo9 osinbajo said he was proud of the way grange school had collaborated with his office in some of the important work it was doing at the learning centre in maiduguri1 a statement issued on wednesday by laolu akande senior special assistant to the vice president on media and publicity quoted prof. yemi osinbajo as saying this in lagos1 osinbajo spoke at the 60anniversary of grange school lagos on tuesday1 according to the vice president nigeria is africas most populous country and like the rest of the continent it is a nation of young people as half of its population is below the age of 201 he said that nigeria would be the third most populous country in the world by 2050 and would have a large youth population that could be a tremendous blessing for economic growth and prosperity1 osinbajo however said that the population could also be a problem especially ifnigeria did not plan well and in advance as extreme poverty further complicated the problem for a country like nigeria1 he said there was need to increase school enrolment which had increased in many cases by over 30 per cent in the last 2 years largely on account of our school feeding programme1 osinbajo said that to eradicate poverty nigerias education must equip the young to be productive as the federal government was working on far-reaching skills-basedcurriculum on science technology engineering arts and mathematics1 this is the curriculum for primary and secondary schools1 the core skills the programme will provide include 1 coding and computer programming 2 design thinking and computer generated imaging animation and graphics design 3 robotics networking and basic engineering applications1 the federal government introduced new education policy known as every child counts to encourage children enrolment in schools1 in fact the younger people are the easier it is for them to learn all of these technology skills1 so we think that to develop the kinds of young people who will be able to take on the kind of challenges of the 21stcentury and get the kind of work that the 21stcentury is producing already we simply have to change the way we teach and what we teach1 he said the federal government was working in collaboration with the massachusetts institute of technology mit oracle academy microsoft cisco academy and ibm1 according to him they are working with the federal government in developing the curriculum alongside the federal ministry of education and the respective states1 the vice president said that the immediate plan was to reach with this sort of education at least 2 million pupils in the first year1 the plan also envisions a new classroom structure that permits the cultivation expression and early adoption of skills that will function in the environment that is already being created the technology environment that is already being created1 the next question we asked is for whom do we plan the answer is quite straightforward it is the nigerian child1 not just the ones in the urban areas or the few that are privileged to afford decent schooling above the weakened standards of public schooling generally1 the real slogan for us is every child counts and that is the name of the policy which means we have democratised our vision of a qualitative and relevant education to reach every nigerian child1 every child counts ensures that all children especially the number reported to be out of school now and in those areas where children tend to drop out of school much faster all of them deserve to get a decent education all of them must be reached by this programme he said1 we have a programme called the n-power programme and about 3000 of them are currently being trained in animation skills and techniques and we found that people take so easily to learn some of these things1

Fayemi in attendance as Osinbajo presides over NEC meeting
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by chijioke okoronkwo9 vice president prof. yemi osinbajo is presently presiding over the national economic council nec meeting at the presidential villa abuja1 the new governor of ekiti state dr kayode fayemi is among other state governors and deputy governors attending the meeting1 fayemi who was sworn in on tuesday became the cynosure of the meeting as he exchanged banters with other attendees while cameramen beamed on him1

Independence Day Service: Osinbajo invokes Gods blessings on Nigeria
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by chijioke okoronkwo9 there were also special renditions from the choir to spice up the service and rendition from the brigade band in honour of the nigerian air force pilot who died in an air mishap involving two jets rehearsing for independence parade1 osinbajo made these supplications at an interdenominational church service held at the national christian centre abuja as part of activities marking nigerias 58th independence celebration1 the first scripture reading at the service taken from exodus chapter 13 vs 8 to 13 was read by justice walter onnoghen chief justice of nigeria while the second reading taken from 1 corinthians chapter 12 vs 14 to 18 was read by former head of state retired gen. yakubu gowon1 the vice president who is also a pastor said that god deserved praises for preserving nigerians to witness another anniversary of their great nation1 this anniversary is an opportunity to bless our nation it is an opportunity to declare some blessings upon our nation and upon the people of our nation of all gathered here and everyone1 nigeria this 58 years of your independence will mark a great new beginning of peace of prosperity of abundance1 citing psalm 75 vs 6 to 7 osinbajo said that nigeria would be exalted1 nigeria you will be exalted you will excel you will rise beyond imaginations1 you will be a pride to africa and the world in the mighty name of jesus this is the season for your exaltation nigeria1 this is the season of your renewal the season of your restoration all that you have lost will be restored where you have failed you will succeed in the mighty name of jesus osinbajo prayed1 earlier in a sermon titled harnessing our diversity for national development pastor william kumuyi the general superintendent deeper life bible church worldwide cautioned nigerians against carrying an air of superiority toward one another1 kumuyi expressed regret that nigeria had not been able to achieve its full potential in spite of enormous human and material resources1 vice president prof. yemi osinbajo on sunday prayed fervently for nigeria and called down gods blessings for the nation and its citizens1 according to him every section of nigeria has a role to play in national development1 in the nation mutual support and encouragement sincere recognition and involvement of all well-meaning and qualified citizens are necessary to avoid wastage of lives and resources1 there is no disdain for one another no rivalry or unhealthy competition no false humility or fatal pride no inferiority or vain superiority no retaliatory indifference or reactionary independence1 we can we must and we have to put the past behind us to build a great nation for the present and coming generations1 interdependent interconnected interrelated we are on our way to national greatness we are unstoppable he said1 the general superintendent said that nigerians must put the past behind them in order to build a great nation for the present and the coming generations1 in a prayer on behalf of the group nigeria prays gowon prayed for unity good governance and for peaceful conduct of the 2019 elections1 mr boss mustapha the secretary to the government of the federation said that because of uncertainties nigeria had not been able to have a full-fledged independence day celebration since 20101 he thanked god for giving nigeria the enablement to celebrate in full its 58th independence anniversary1 service chiefs members of the federal executive council and nigerians from all walks of life attended the service1 also in the service were mrs victoria aguiyi ironsi wife of former head of state aguiyi-ironsi and dame beatrice ekwueme wife of former vice president alex ekwueme1 likening nigeria to the biblical corinth he said that it had not achieved greatness because of selfishness contentions and divisive tendencies1

FEC okays $64.2m for Escravos power project
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by chijioke okoronkwo9 shehu said that the council also approved the construction of five security water front patrol boats for the nigerian ports authority in marina lagos for coastline security1 dr ibe kachikwu the minister of state for petroleum resources disclosed this while briefing state house correspondents after fec meeting presided over by the vice president prof. yemi osinbajo in the presidential villa1 escravos which hosts two major transnational oil companies shell and chevron is located in warri south local government area of delta state communities therein include ugborodu ogidigben jala madagho and ajidubu1 kachikwu said that previously the escravos lagos pipeline system elps was stopped because communities raised concerns over moving 50 per cent of gas required when the immediate community did not have power supply1 the minister said that the project was consequently stalled for a very long time1 today we approached the council to approve 64235644 million dollars to fund two lots1 one is for the supply of power itself which is building the plant all the engineering services required to do that and also distributing the power within the series of communities affected1 the federal executive council fec on wednesday approved 64.2 million dollars for power supply project to communities within escravos area of delta state1 we believe that with this power will be provided to the immediate communities for a period of four-five years and it will become a permanent structure1 because in the absence of that we are going to use generators which will cost over n18 million every month to manage just to provide light in those areas so as to enable the more important contract of the elps to take place he said1 earlier malam garba shehu the senior special assistant to the president media and publicity said that fec had given three approvals to the economic and financial crimes commission efcc1 according to him the first is a n500 million contract awarded to julius berger for the provision of facilities and maintenance services for the new 10-storey building1 they also got approval for the procurement of 700 computers 100 laptops and 25 laser printers at about n449 million1 the third one to efcc is the purchase of 15 utility vehicles they are expanding and they need a lot more vehicular support for their operations1 the vehicles are being bought from local assemblies in line with the policy of the administration he said1 the council was gracious enough to approve that to two specific companiesfec approved it in two different lots one for 51 million dollars and the other one for 13 million dollars1

Jubilation at Utako market as Osinbajo inaugurates TraderMoni
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by chijioke okoronkwo9 tradermoni is a federal governments initiative aimed at providing two million petty traders across the country with collateral-free loans before the end of the year4 tradermoni which had lagos abia and kano as its pilots states would be inaugurated across the country2 the ecstatic traders cheered and hailed as the vice president went from stall to stall having one-on-one conversations with the sellers2 addressing the crowd osinbajo who spoke partly in pidgin english said that with tradermoni petty traders would be empowered2 there was jubilation at utako market abujaon thursday as the vice president prof. yemi osinbajo inaugurated the tradermoni scheme2 we give n10000 if pay back in six months then you get n15000 if you pay back you get n200002 we want to encourage petty traders so that they will have enough money to do their businesses we have done one before for the bigger traders that one is government enterprise and empowerment programmegeep n100000 to 1200002 if you do well with the n10000 n15000 n20000 then we can increase it everyone can benefit from this the president himself has said he wants to make sure that those who are selling in the marketselling pepper sugarcane tomato get the money2 so when you are given the money we urge you to make sure you pay back there is no interest you just take it and you pay back in six months i want all of us to make sure we register so that we can be given the money he said2 the small small traders no be big traders na small small traders we wan give money make them able to sell well have more money to sell2

Jubilation at Utako market as Osinbajo inaugurates TraderMoni
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by chijioke okoronkwo9 tradermoni is a federal governments initiative aimed at providing two million petty traders across the country with collateral-free loans before the end of the year4 tradermoni which had lagos abia and kano as its pilots states would be inaugurated across the country2 the ecstatic traders cheered and hailed as the vice president went from stall to stall having one-on-one conversations with the sellers2 addressing the crowd osinbajo who spoke partly in pidgin english said that with tradermoni petty traders would be empowered2 there was jubilation at utako market abujaon thursday as the vice president prof. yemi osinbajo inaugurated the tradermoni scheme2 we give n10000 if pay back in six months then you get n15000 if you pay back you get n200002 we want to encourage petty traders so that they will have enough money to do their businesses we have done one before for the bigger traders that one is government enterprise and empowerment programmegeep n100000 to 1200002 if you do well with the n10000 n15000 n20000 then we can increase it everyone can benefit from this the president himself has said he wants to make sure that those who are selling in the marketselling pepper sugarcane tomato get the money2 so when you are given the money we urge you to make sure you pay back there is no interest you just take it and you pay back in six months i want all of us to make sure we register so that we can be given the money he said2 the small small traders no be big traders na small small traders we wan give money make them able to sell well have more money to sell2