By Ella Anokam and Joan Nwagwu

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called for proactive measures to curb high rate of oil theft and pipeline vandalism to spur productions in Nigeria.

PENGASSAN President, Mr Festus Osifo, made the call on Wednesday, in Abuja at a news conference heralding its new Advocacy Programme with the theme Chasing Oil Thieves and Vandals out if Business.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PENGASSANs Awareness Campaign Programme which aims at highlighting evils of oil theft and pipeline vandalism will hold Thursday, Sept. 8, in various zonal locations of the association nationwide.

Osifo, who urged the government to take immediate action on the criminality, threatened that after the associations advocacy if no traceable progress was seen, it would be forced to withdraw its workforce.

He expressed worry that Nigeria had been struggling to meet over 1.8 million barrels per day production quota of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) due to challenges occasioned by oil thefts and pipelines vandalism.

He decried the fact that due to this real time challenges a lot of oil companies were shutting productions and folding operations because they lacked sustenance and could not pay salaries.

Our members are loosing jobs in the service companies. Agip has literally shut down productions , Addax petroleum shut down its OML 124 completely, Total OML 58 has challenges and shut too, while SPDC was one of the worst hit as at today.

This is the first time in years the crude oil price is hitting the roof and risen astrometrically and crossing hundred dollars per barrel in the international market.

When you shut in a single barrel, you shut in a hundred dollars, when you shut in 10,000 barrels, you shut in 10,000 multiple by a hundred dollars, he said.

On this note, he said the association, had earlier engaged the government including, captains of industry, security chiefs and agencies whereby it proffered some solutions to curb the menace.

The president, while listing some recommendations the association proffered to government said it requested for consequent management and advocated sanctions to be put in place for officials in charge.

According to him, the association also advocated the use of latest technologies for pipeline surveillance and control room monitoring being evolved globally especially, in Qatar and Saudi Arabia and others that.

He said it also advocated that three per cent assigned for host communities to be increased to five per cent while local chiefs should be empowered to monitor the channels before intended proactive measures.

He said it equally advised that security chiefs should hold the security officers sent to the creeks in Niger Delta accountable and anyone that derailed or compromised should be punished or sent to prison as deterrent.

According to him, the engagement overtime has not yielded any fruit or results rather the menace continue to bedevil the country.

After the advocacy rally, our Central Working Committee will appraise the situation after one or two months, if there is no substantial or traceable progress made, the association may be forced to withdraw its workforce from productions.

Government must wake up, we want to see tangible evidence and results. The rhetorics must stop. This is the time to practicalise the talks, government must develop muscle to tackle the menace, he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

=========
Edited by Isaac Aregbesola

Source: NAN News

By Naomi Sharang

A research finding by the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP) has indicated that financial support for youth employment programmes in the country is inadequate.

A researcher on the PEPs project, Dr Iyabo Olanrele, made this known at a validation workshop on the Empirical Review of Youth Employment Policies in Nigeria organised by PEP and held in Abuja on Wednesday.

Olanrele while stating that it was a known fact that unemployment had remained a major issue in the country added that there was need for government to fund such projects.

According to her, funding of youth employment programmes is necessary to take the teeming unemployed youths away from the streets.

The issue of financial support is perceived to be inadequate. All hands must be in deck to curb this, she said.

Other challenges to the programmes she said included insecurity which had made it difficult to implement some of the youths employment programmes in a large scale.

Olanrele also said that as a way of response to these issues, government had initiated policies and programmes including the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme and N-Power to curb the issue of unemployment

She said, Enormous resources were expended to make sure they are implemented. However, it is not yet known how these programmes have worked because of lack of systematic attempts to review the programmes to determine if they are effective.

According to her, to improve effectiveness of youth employment programmes, the issue of sustainability is important.

Sustainability systems need to be created into the programmes to ensure continuity, she said.

In his remarks, Deputy Director Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mr Michael Nwaogwu, described the youth as a very important group in Nigeria.

He said, They account for 46 per cent of the population but are unemployed.

According to recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), unemployment in Nigeria is as high as 33 per cent.

Unemployment among young people is even more serious. This situation could create a phenomena called demographic disaster.

He further said that efforts to address the ongoing insecurity must take into consideration the issues facing young people in the country.

Nwaogwu, however, said that the ministry had developed a new youth employment policy framework, Nigerian Youth Employment Action Plan (NIYEAP) to address the issue of unemployment.

Director of Labour in the Ministry of Labour and employment, Mrs Gloria Oghifo, called on other stakeholders to collaborate with the ministry to curb level of unemployment in the country.

She said government has a National Employment Policy aimed at addressing youth employment issues.

On his part, the Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Fadah, said that the corps was partnering the National Directorate for Employment (NDE) for the training of corps members in various skills.

Fadah who was represented by the Chief Agric Officer in the Corps, Mr Onarigu Abubakar, called on youths to engage in skills acquisition and entrepreneurial programmes to be self-employed after service.

Leader of the Nigerian Youth Parliament (NYP), North-west Caucus, Mr Aminu Usman, he called for the reorientation of youths to be actively engaged in meaningful ventures.

The youths in Nigeria are ready to be engaged and work for the country to see that the country develops.

Earlier, the Team Lead for the PEP project, Mr Sola Omoju said the vision of PEP was to bring together researchers and research institutions across the globe.

He said they are to build capacity and undertake research that provided contextualised solutions to key economic and social policy challenges in developing countries.

He added that Around the world, PEP had supported 314 research projects like this in 62 countries. In Nigeria, PEP has funded 22 projects.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Julius Toba-Jegede

Source: NAN News

By Stephen Adeleye

A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Connected Development, has advised women and youths in Kogi against selling their votes to the detriment of their future.

Amb. Hamzat Lawal, the Executive Director of the CSO, gave the advice when speaking with over 350 women at Upogoro/Odenku ward in Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State.

Lawal, an International Election Monitor, advised the women to get their Permanent Voters Card (PVC) and vote for credible candidates in 2023 elections.

He noted that the cash donation, distributed to the women, was to boost their petty trading as part of the efforts to improve the livelihoods of the people at the grassroots.

He explained that the empowerment was also part of the sensitisation of the grassroots against vote buying and selling.

According to him, the organisation was in the community to kick start a door-to-door, house-to-house and ward-to-ward sensitisation advocacy for the collection of PVC.

He described vote buying and selling as a great threat to the political development of Nigeria and urged the electorate to resist any attempt by money bags politicians to deceive them with items and money at the detriment of their future.

As a mobiliser working with grassroots, my simple message is that if politicians that are corrupt come to you to induce you with petty items, you should reject their offers.

Do not collect money rather vote on issues, listen to them and ask them salient questions about their ideas and what are their plans.

Vote for people you can hold accountable and people that can deliver dividend of democracy to improve your well being, Lawal advised.

Responding, the women leader, Mrs Bilkisu Ahmed, commended the organisation for the pre-campaign sensitisation and assured that women in the ward would heed to the advise of no selling of votes.

Also speaking, Mr Usman Abdulsalam, a youth leader, said they were impressed by the sensitisation.

He said that the meeting had opened their eyes to consequences of selling their votes, and assured that henceforth their votes will be based on capacity and antecedent of candidates. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Kamal Tayo Oropo/Isaac Aregbesola

Source: NAN News

By Stephen Adeleye

The Kogi Enterprise Development Agency (KEDA) on Wednesday, launched Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) programme toward boosting food production in the state.

KEDA Managing Director, Hajia Rekiyat Sanni, said during the launching of the OFSP that the training and empowerment programme for women and youths was organised in commemoration of the two years of operation of the agency.

Already more than 50,000 women and youths have been trained by the agency on various entrepreneurial schemes and programmes in the state.

Its our belief as an agency that the OFSP programme will go a long way not only to boost food production in Kogi and Nigeria, but will transform the lives of both women and youths.

The new variety of the potato will also help improve the peoples health and quality of life, giving its nutritional value to mankind, she said.

Sanni said that the vision of the agency was to enhance businesses of the people of Kogi, especially women in cooperative societies.

She said that the agency had been operating an open door policy.

She noted that 70 per cent of the beneficiaries of their programmes were women and urged beneficiaries to listen attentively to get all the value addition on the OFSP products and embrace it.

The State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who flagged-off the programme, congratulated the head and management of KEDA for the positive impacts they had recorded within two years of operation of the agency.

Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Afolashade Ayoade, Bello urged the beneficiaries to take the training very seriously as it would increase their socioeconomic wellbeing, the state and the nation at large.

The governor assured the agency of governments support to all its empowerment programmes, especially as the 70 per cent beneficiaries were women.

He urged the beneficiaries to put up a new effort to ensure they achieved the best of the OFSP programme to set a new record for products exportation.

Let us not repeat the error of Cocoa and Palm tree. Let us set a new record of ensuring that the OFSP will be produced to the maximum not just for Kogi but Nigeria at large and for exportation.

Let our focus be toward large scale production and exportation of the fleshy sweet potato, Bello said.

In their goodwill messages, the State Commissioners for Agriculture, Commerce

By Bridget Ikyado

A legal practitioner, Mr Joe Abaagu, has cautioned youths in the country against electoral violence, saying anyone caught will go to jail for two years without option of fine.

Abaagu who is the Acting Chairman, Justice, Development and Peace Commission of the Catholic Archdiocese, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

He said that the new Electoral Act has very strong provisions to tackle electoral violence, snatching of ballot boxes and destruction of election materials.

The current electoral act is very harsh on electoral violence.

For instance section 116 of the Act which deals with disorderly behaviour at political meetings punishes anybody who goes to disrupt a meeting with the punishment of either N500,000 as fine or 12 months imprisonment.

This is quite stiff compared with previous legislations.

Similarly, Section 125 of the Electoral Act also deals with disorderly conduct at elections and also punishes with the same amount of N500,000 or 12 months in prison.

Section 126 which deals with offenses on election day and especially Subsection 4 which deals with snatching or destroying electoral materials, punishes an offender with 24 months imprisonment without option of fine.

You will go straight to jail and your future will be destroyed, he added.

The legal practitioner, therefore, said the youths should not allow themselves to be used negatively by politicians during the 2023 elections.

He said they should rather demand from the politicians, details of how they intend to tackle the myriad of issues affecting the country.

My advice to the youths is to beware; politicians who love them will be finding solutions to their joblessness, their problems, seek permanent solutions to endless ASUU strike so that they can resume school and continue their education.

Politicians who love them would seek their quality education at all levels starting from the foundational levels all the way to the tertiary level.

Politicians who love them would be looking for things that will make them grow to be very useful and responsible citizens of the country, he added.

He, therefore, urged the youths not to waste their future on politicians who do not have anything valuable to add to their lives and the nation.

Abaagu said the youths should embrace the purpose of good governance and peaceful election.

You should demand from politicians to use their own children or their own wards as political thugs if they are in need of thuggery, rather than children who are poor in our society, the lawyer said.

To the politicians, Abaagu said they should campaign on issues affecting the country rather than try to exploit the nations fault lines for their selfish interests.

There are a lot of issues that we hope politicians will use in campaigning this time around.

There are issues of poverty, there are issues of our economy, there are issues of violence, there are issues of insecurity, there are so many things that the politicians can use in campaigning.

The citizens would welcome campaigns, based on issues, rather than hate speeches and campaign of calumny and derogation, and campaign seeking to divide the country on our fault lines of ethnicity, religion and the like, he said.

According to him, only politicians who lack issues to campaign on that go to these fault lines and begin to use them to malign the opponent.

This is where they bring in youth to fan embers of hatred, disunity and discord in the polity and making the youths become fawns for easy use on the chess board of politicians, Abaagu said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

=========
Edited by Maharazu Ahmed

Source: NAN News

By Deji Abdulwahab

The National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) has called on the IBB International Golf and Country Club to patronise Made-in-Nigeria products in its tournament to celebrate 62Nigeria Independence Anniversary.

The Director-General of NCAC, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, gave the advice when the Chairman, Independence Planning Committee of the Club, Dr Banjo Obaleye, paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja.

Runsewe pleaded with the committee to ensure that local materials were sewed for jackets for golfers who would participate in the tournament, adding that the committee should also focus on Nigerian cuisines.

According to him, this will not only promote arts and culture, but it will also enhance jobs creation and boost the economy.

Let me plead with you, because I dont know what your plans are. The jackets, if it is possible, we should use local materials.

Let me start by saying that Im happy that you are sewing the jackets in Nigeria so that our tailors will get jobs.

The materials, for instance, as you know me very well, I dont play golf with foreign materials. I use local materials to play golf.

I use to say that If there are over three million golf fans in Nigeria; if all of us should patronise our tailors, we will be adding value to them, NCAC boss said.

He said that the council would support the club in organising cultural exhibition to showcase the nations arts and crafts to the world.

For the exhibition, I want to assure you that we will take charge of the entire 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

At the corridor of IBB Golf, we will make sure that every state is being represented.

If we dont do that for you, others will take over the space and sell Nigeria from the wrong angle which will not be of our interest, Runsewe said.

According to him, what IBB International Golf and Country Club was doing was a story awakening us to our consciousness of unity of our country.

If Oct. 1comes and goes without doing anything, I want to tell you the danger, all those embassies will say what is wrong with our country.

But, if there are activities going on, the negative stories can be overcome with positive ones which will make a lot of difference.

So, for me, IBB Golf Club has made an impact in developing and making Nigeria to be seen in the right angle, he said.

Earlier, Obaleye, who is also Vice Captain of the club, said the visit was to seek the NCAC support for the independence tournament, aimed at developing sports and tourism in the country.

Independence tournament is the biggest event in the history or calendar of the club every year.

This year is not going to be an exception. We are going to start with rider cobbler match play between Nigerian community and International community and a winner of that tournament will have a trophy.

Again, the winner of the overall tournament will have a jacket and we will equally prepare a jacket for past winner, he said.

Obaleye said that the club was planning to have exhibition of arts and culture aimed at showcasing Nigerias heritage.

He added that Korean Embassy has indicated interest to participate in the cultural exhibition.

According to him, IBB International Golf and Country Club is a premier club in Abuja and the major focus is to develop sports and tourism in Nigeria.

It is also aimed at showing our cultures to a very big global community.

The club has numerous national teams that represent the expatriate and local community, he said. (NAN)

Edited by Remi Koleoso/Bashir Rabe Mani

Source: NAN News

By George Odok
The Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) has handed over six completed erosion sites to the Cross River Government on behalf of the benefiting communities.

Dr Inyang Asibong, the Commissioner for International Development in Cross River, handed over the sites to Mr Timothy Akwaji, Head of Civil Service in the state on Wednesday in Calabar.

Asibong, also the Acting Project Coordinator of NEWMAP in the state, said NEWMAP was initiated to reduce vulnerability to soil erosion in targeted sub-catchment.

The completed sites that were handed over to the state government are Nyagasang, Ikot Anwatim, Ikot Ekpo, Atakpa, Lemna and Federal Agriculture.

The commissioner said that before NEWMAP intervention, the erosion had caused havoc and damage to the affected communities.

She said Cross River Government and NEWMAP sought to achieve sustainable land management by promoting innovative erosion techniques in view of the devastating effects of the erosion sites.

The project was not just launched into the sites, we carried out several stakeholders engagement with different groups comprising men, women and youths in a bid to make them part of the project implementation.

The project team identified project affected persons: these are persons affected in the course of carrying out civil intervention at the gully sites.

Compensation was paid then following survey of their property to enable them secure alternative accommodation.

The project provided succour to the community members whose sources of livelihood were also affected by training them on alternative sources of livelihood skills, she said.

Asibong said that grants were also provided for members of the affected communities to start some businesses such as poultry, fish farming, farming, tailoring and shoe making.

Having successfully completed work on the six sites, it is imperative for NEWMAP to handover the sites to the relevant stakeholders/end users for maintenance and sustainability, she said.

Speaking, the State Head of Civil Service, Akwaji, thanked the World Bank for providing the funds to the state government for the intervention.

He said that the release of the counterpart fund was also an indication of governments commitment towards ameliorating the plight of the people.

Awaji urged the benefiting community members to make good use of the projects by avoiding dumping of refuse along the drainage system and unnecessary excavation of soil.

Dr Francis Obo, who responded on behalf of the benefitting communities, thanked NEWMAP and the Cross River Government for the successful completion of the projects.(NAN)

Edited by Chidi Opara/Ismail Abdulaziz

Source: NAN News

By Muhyideen Jimoh

The All Nigerian Football Players Union (ANFPU), has called for better structure and sponsors for all tiers of football leagues in the country.

Abdul Sule, President of the Union told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the league remains the soul of football development in any country.

The ex -international who lamented the state of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), said in spite the abundance of talents, stressed the need to change the narrative.

There is need to urgently get sponsors for the league (NPFL), and how do you get sponsors? the League must have a proper structure.

The most important thing is the structure and the structure starts from the grassroots, we must have good facilities (pitches) and proper remuneration for our players and officials, he said.

He said the union would be working more closely with the clubs and League Management Company (LMC) to ensure better structure and welfare for players.

The former Stationery Stores FC player expressed optimism that once the right structures are put in place, the Nigerian league would be among the best in Africa.

The former Kogi United FC Chairman said, the Union had lined up series of workshops and seminars for former and active Nigerian footballers to enhance their capacity building and welfare.

He called on those looking for seats on the board of the next Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) board, to come up with policies that would fast-track the development of Nigerian football. (NAN)(www.nannnews.ng)

Edited by Jopseph Edeh

Source: NAN News

By Adeyemi Adeleye

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says about 21, 352 of 34,242 newly printed Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for new registrants are still uncollected in Lagos State, four months after release.

The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos State, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, disclosed this at the State Level CSO Engagement Visit organised by the Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF) powered by the EU-Support Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) in collaboration with INEC.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the engagement is: Womens Political Participation and Inclusion and 2023 General Elections.

Speaking, Agbaje, who decried the huge number of old and new PVCs lying fallow at INEC offices in the 20 local government areas, said the staggering amount of the PVCs belonged to women, being important stakeholders in elections.

Permanent Voter Card (PVC) is the sole instrument required from the Voter to participate in an election, it is an important eligibility instrument for voting without which no citizen would be allowed to partake in an election.

However, the total number of uncollected old PVCs in the state is 928,362 as at 5th Sept. 5, no doubt, the uncollected PVCs for women may be in the neighborhood of 436,451 (47 per cent).

Meanwhile, the total number of uncollected New PVCs is 21,352 out of 34,242 received PVCs, while the rest of the new PVCs for the 2021/22 registration exercise is being awaited.

The implication of this is that the commission is having a staggering number of PVCs that should be collected by the women and other eligible voters to enable them massively participate in the forthcoming 2033 general elections, Agbaje said.

According to him, it is imperative that women folk, particularly the Nigerian Women Trust Fund under the Gender Election Watch (GEW) and other stakeholders rise up to the challenge to ensure the PVCs are collected without further delay.

Agbaje, who expressed dissatisfaction over low number of women flag-bearers in the forthcoming general elections, said women needed support, encouragement and needed to be bold to fight like men to take leadership and political positions.

We have fewer women than men going for elective positions (in 2023). It is not too good, we have to continue to improve through this kind of engagement so that in future elections, we will have more women coming out for elective positions, he added.

The INEC boss urged stakeholders to mobilise women for PVCs collection and encourage them to vote in the 2023 general elections, saying that INEC had taken a number of measures aimed at ensuring the smooth conduct of the general elections.

Agbaje said that the just-concluded Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) captured 12,298,944 out of which a total of 6,224,866 were female while male registrants were 6,074,078.

In her welcome remarks, Mrs Mufuliat Fijabi, the Chief of Executive Officer, NWTF, said the main objective of the engagement was to build synergy and cooperation between the group, INEC and other critical stakeholders like CSOs, religious and traditional leaders.

Fijabi said the engagement was to see how all stakeholders could work together to improve women political participation in the country.

There is need for more synergy in advocating for more women in leadership and political positions and the commitment to achieving this vision, Fijabi said.

On the overview of the project, Malliya Manu, the NWTF Programme Manager, said the EU was worried about the low participation of women in decision making processes in Nigeria, saying the project wanted to ensure increase in women representation.

Manu said that critical stakeholders like wives of governors, CSOs, religious and traditional leaders, INEC and others should step up games to bring in more women in politics.

According to her, average women participation in politics is 25 per cent globally, about 22 per cent in Africa and 4.8 per cent in Nigeria.

She said that Nigeria could not have a strong and balanced democracy because of marginalisation of women in politics, saying the just concluded political parties primaries had shown a decrease in women as flag-bearers.

Manu highlighted barriers against women to include lack of effective government will to implement international conventions, money politics and system of god-fatherism, exclusion of women in parties leadership positions as well as patronage-based political system.

Nigeria should be able to ensure 25 per cent of women representation in Africa. By 2027, we want to see more women being elected as candidates of political parties, she said.

Speaking, Mrs Victoria Eta-Messi, the Deputy Director, Gender Relations, Gender and Inclusivity Department, INEC, said the commission plans to enlighten stakeholders on the INEC gender policy, the objective of the policy and the implementation of the policy which is mandatory for the commission and other stakeholders in the electoral process.

Eta-Messi said that not much was achieved during the party primaries by women as many could not clinch tickets to contest the 2023 elections.

So, already, it is not very promising outlook with regard to women candidates. What we want to achieve now is to ensure and to see that many women turnout to vote.

Beyond 2023, we also hope that those lapses that were noticed for the 2023 general elections would have been bridged and all barriers would have been addressed and taken care of so that many more women will participate in the electoral space.

One of the stakeholders, Mrs Hilda Nwanekwu, Executive Director, Initiatives for Sustaining Gender Empowerment, stressed the need for more bonding among women to take over leadership and political positions.

Also, Dr Angela Daniel, Executive Director, Women Entrepreneur Association of Nigeria as well as STAGE for Women Development Initiative, decried that political parties had continued to refuse to admit women, urging stakeholders to give opportunity to women.

NAN reports that the event had in attendance, various women leaders advocating inclusion of women and People Living With Disabilities (PLWDs) in Nigeria. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Chioma Ugboma

Source: NAN News

By Muhammad Nasir Bashir

A 45-year-old housewife died while her husband sustained injuries in a building collapse in Gwaram Local Government Area of Jigawa.

Spokesman of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the state, CSC Adamu Shehu confirmed the incident in Dutse on Tuesday.

Shehu said the incident occurred on Sunday at about 11:30 p.m., as a result of heavy downpour recorded in the area.

One Talatu Shehu, aged 45, a housewife at Auyakawa quarters in Gwaram LGA lost her life as the building in which she was sleeping together with her husband collapsed.

The incident occurred on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022 at about 11:30 p.m., following a downpour which led to the collapsed of the building while the couple were asleep, he said.

He said the husband, Malam Shehu NaAllah, 60, survived the incident and referred to hospital for medical attention, while his wife, Talatu died in the rubble.

The spokesman added that the remains of the deceased had been released to her family for burial after she was certified dead by a medical doctor.

According to him, the rain which lasted for many hours caused havoc destroying several mud houses in the area.

Shehu said the commands disaster management personnel had evacuated residents whose houses were on the brink of collapse. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

==============
Edited by AbdulFatai Beki/Rabiu Sani-Ali

Source: NAN News

By Joshua Oladipo

Gov. Gboyega Oyetola of Osun, on Tuesday, inaugurated a 3.65 kilometre rehabilitated bridge in Gbongan, Ayedaade Local Government Area of the state

The newly rehabilitated bridge, Chief Bisi-Akande Trumpet Bridge was named after the former interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In his remarks, Oyetola said that the inauguration was in fulfillment of his commitment to the development of the ancient town and its people.

The governor appealed to all road users within and outside Gbongan not to engage in any act capable of undermining the newly-rehabilitated road.

The road we are inaugurating today witnessed massive deterioration due to diverted traffic to Gbongan township during the construction of Chief Adebisi Akande Trumpet Bridge at Gbongan Junction.

As a responsible and responsive Government, we rose to the occasion to fix it to improve the socioeconomic development of our people.

The rehabilitation of the road will no doubt improve the socioeconomic life of the people and the town in significant ways.

Besides further giving a facelift to the ancient town, it will also increase commercial and agricultural activities which the good people of Gbongan and environs are noted for.

It is our hope that the people of Gbongan and its environ shall take advantage of this road to improve on their businesses and the general social development of the area, he said.

Oyetola also said his administration would continue to provide services and projects to meet the needs of the people in the state.

It is our hope that you will continue to carry out your businesses and relate with one another in peace, to sustain our ranking as the most peaceful State in Nigeria.

As a government, we shall continue to do all in our power to secure the lives and property of the State and our people, he said.

Earlier, Mr Remi Omowaiye, Commissioner for Works, appreciated the people of Gbongan for their patience, support and loyalty during the rehabilitation period.

Also, Mr Adegboyega Famodun , the APC Chairman in Osun, commended the governor for fulfilling his campaign promises, despite the paucity of funds. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

===========
Edited by Victor Adeoti/Oluwole Sogunle

Source: NAN News

By Ginika Okoye/Favour Ukabiala

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has bagged the Federal Governments level five platinum level organisation award for outstanding performance in good governance and financial accountability.

The assessment was done by the Bureau of Public Service Reform (BPSR) from Sept. 2021 through the Bureaus Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) initiative.

Presenting the award and report in Abuja on Tuesday, Mr Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), said the assessment was drawn from the Federal Governments commitment to ensure improved service delivery in the public service.

Mustapha, represented by Dr Habiba Lawal, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, congratulated the NDIC for accepting the assessment tool.

He enjoined all the federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to subject themselves to the assessment for improved performance and service delivery.

Dr Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, commended the NDIC for the achievements.

Ahmed, represented by Mr Stephen Okon, the Director, Home Finance of the ministry, said the appraisal should be constant to maintain the standards.

Analysing the SAT report, the Director-General of the BPSR, Dr Dasuki Arabi, said the Bureau assessed 10 pragmatic areas in the corporation.

Arabi said the areas assessed included performance management, strategic plan, budget, procurement, transparency and accountability, among others.

He said the corporation scored 93 per cent in the assessment for high quality work and hard work by the staff.

It is worthy of note that NDIC is the first and only agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning which has enthusiastically submitted itself to undergo the assessment.

The Bureau received a marching order in November, 2019 to deploy the tool in all MDAs.

This is an outstanding pace NDIC has set, our humble persuasion is for others to readily emulate it.

The introduction of SAT at this period to identify strengths and weaknesses of MDAs is a practical effort Public Service Institutions (PSIs) must key-in to if they must redeem their usefulness and relevance.

This tool, which has to its credit a United Nation Award, is among the best innovation emanating from the Bureau to rank, reposition and reengineer organisational performance for improved service delivery, he said.

He advised the corporation to collaborate more with other agencies of government for effective service delivery.

Mr Bello Hassan, the Managing Director of the NDIC, said the SAP initiative would continue to assist the Corporation in evaluating its responsiveness to current government policies.

Hassan said the award and report would spur the corporation into doing more to achieve its targets.

We were highly elated for been rated platinum level, but I think for us we have a culture of continuous process improvement, so we are going to look at the report closely most especially on the recommendations.

We are going to improve on our weaknesses identified so that when next we are assessed, we will do much better, Hassan said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the SAT report was presented to the corporation by the SGF. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

============
Edited by Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

Source: NAN News

By Tosin Kolade

The Federal Government, in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), has inaugurated a National Roadmap on Hand Hygiene for All.

The roadmap gives direction for collaborative efforts to implement the Sanitation and Hygiene programmes under the UN Sustainable Development Goal six.

At the public presentation on Tuesday in Abuja, Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu, said the Nigeria Roadmap identified strategic goals and opportunities for investments to improve hand hygiene.

Adamu said that it provided actions across the three pillars of political leadership, enabling environment and inclusive programming at scale to increase supply and demand.

The Roadmap has laid out a path for maximising upcoming opportunities in the implementation of hand hygiene in homes, schools, healthcare facilities, among others.

This Roadmap will further increase the awareness of Nigerians on the developing initiative for inclusive hand hygiene in all human context of existence in Nigeria.

Activities to realise these factors have been detailed to include short-term COVID-19 response needs to control the outbreak and medium-term activities to rebuild hand hygiene culture, he said.

Adamu said the long-term approach called for sustenance of hand hygiene culture, adding that the impact of adequate handwashing cut across the whole SDGs Agenda.

He said this has the potential to improve healthcare outcomes and subsequently increase the progress regarding equity, education, and WASH.

Also, Mr Emmanuel Awe, the Director, Water Quality Control and Sanitation, Ministry of Water Resources, said there was need for political leadership to build momentum in all tiers of government.

Awe said that strong enabling environment was crucial, as it would strengthen systems for financing and developing policies in a sustainable manner.

The UNICEF Deputy Representative, Ms Rushnan Murtaza, said the roadmap was a deliberate effort to guide the country in interventions that build on the efforts of government in curtailing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Murtaza said the benefits of hand hygiene in preventing the transmission of infectious diseases were crucial, as it had been proven to reduce deaths from respiratory and diarrhoea diseases in under-fives.

She said to facilitate the implementation of this Roadmap, UNICEF supported the Market Assessment of Hygiene Products and Services in Nigeria.

The report of this assessment is ready and will be widely circulated to facilitate efficient decision-making on sourcing hygiene products and services at all levels.

I understand that the Clean Nigeria Campaign at the National level has already incorporated the core strategies of the hand hygiene for All Roadmap into their campaign strategies, she said.

Murtaza urged all states and local government areas to key into the roadmap and integrate it with their state-specific open defecation free roadmaps.

Commenting, Dr Edwin Isotu-Edeh, WHO Representative, commended the efforts of the Federal Government in prioritising sanitation and hygiene through the campaign for hand hygiene.

There is a huge gap in accesss to handwashing services among households in the country as reflected in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Normal Routine Mapping report, as it stood at only 17 per cent.

There is need for behaviour change to inculcate handwashing as the first line of defense in breaking disease transmission, Isotu-Edeh said.

He called for mainstreaming the roadmap into all development policies and programmes.

According to him, this will help to improve access to basic and improved sanitation and hygiene services sustainably. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Chidinma Agu/Olagoke Olatoye

Source: NAN News

By Ngozi Njoku

A 37- year-old Uber driver, Chukwuemeka Benjamin, on Tuesday appeared before an Ogudu Magistrates Court, Lagos for allegedly stealing a Toyota Camry worth N1.7 million.

Benjamin who resides at Olatinji Street, Ojota, Lagos is charged with conspiracy and theft.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him by the police.

The prosecutor, Insp Donjour Perezi, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on Aug. 2, at Olatunji street, Ojota, Lagos.

According to him, the defendant conspired to steal a Toyota Camry car with registration No. SMK 03 WC valued N1.7 million and belonging to Chief Olubiyi Afolarin.

He said that the defendant who collected the car on hire purchase from the complainant, claimed to have parked the vehicle in front of his compound on Aug. 1, at around 8:30 p.m.

He came out to clean the car by 4:30 am to resume work only to find it missing, Perezi said.

The prosecutor said the offences contravened Sections 287 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The Magistrate, Mrs M.O Tanimola granted him bail in the sum of N300, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

She ordered that the sureties must be gainfully employed while one of them should be a blood relative of the defendant.

Ariyo also ordered that the sureties must show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

She adjourned the case until Oct. 14, for mention. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

==========
Edited by Nick Nicholas/Sadiya Hamza

Source: NAN News

The Russian army has lost more than 50,000 soldiers in more than six months of war in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian figures.

With the invasion now 195 days old, 50,150 Russian soldiers had been killed, the Ukrainian general staff announced on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian army claimed to have already destroyed 2,077 tanks, 4,484 armored vehicles, 236 aircraft and 207 helicopters.

There was no independent confirmation of the figures.

The British Ministry of Defence, on the other hand, estimated that only about 25,000 Russian soldiers had been killed.

Russia itself had not given any information on its own casualties for a long time.

Last Friday, the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk put their losses since the start of the invasion at just more than 2,900 dead.

In contrast, according to the rarely released Kiev figures on their own losses, there were about 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed and 7,000 missing, they said.

Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February and had since taken control of large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.

The United Nations had so far, registered more than 5,700 civilians killed, but, like Kiev, assumes a much higher number of civilian casualties.

The Donetsk separatists last quoted a figure of around 870 civilian deaths in their area.

The British Ministry of Defence also said that a shortage of reconnaissance drones is increasingly complicating the operations of Russias troops in Ukraine.

The British government had regularly published intelligence information on the course of the war.

Moscow accused London of a targeted disinformation campaign. (dpa/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

===========
Edited by Ummul Idris/Chioma Ugboma

Source: NAN News

By Jessica Dogo

The United States National Security Agencys (NSA) Cyber Command Centre, says Public-Private Partnership (PPP), is the solution to protecting critical infrastructure worldwide.

Ms. Morgan Adamski, U.S. Director of NSAs Cybersecurity Command Center, said this during a three-week Cybersecurity Virtual Reporting Tour, on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ongoing program was organised by Foreign Press Centers (FPC).

Morgan, who spoke on the brief titled: The Pivotal Importance of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Cooperation in Strengthening Security, said that the focus of the centre was in threefold.

She said the threefold includes creating a forum to build a more comprehensive picture of the cyber threat landscape, protecting small to medium-sized and large companies that produce critical technologies for the U.S. military.

Morgan stated the last fold to be directly countering maligned influence on emerging technology standards such as fifth generation, sixth generation and cloud security, accordingly.

She said: As we are here to discuss today, PPPs are not just nice to have, they are the solution to protect critical infrastructure worldwide.

The focus of the Cybersecurity Collaboration Center is threefold: first and foremost, creating a forum to build a more comprehensive picture of the cyber threat landscape.

Protecting small to medium-sized and large companies that produce critical technologies for the U.S. military, which we call the Defense Industrial Base, against nation-state threats.

And directly countering maligned influence on emerging technology standards such as 5G, 6G, and cloud security.

She, however, said that PPP should not be about seeking the mechanism or the platform for sharing, but should always be about its outcome that drives the format for the most successful collaboration.

It is never about the mechanism or the platform for sharing in PPP. It should always be about the outcome that drives the format for the most successful collaboration.

At the federal level, a collaborative approach is the cornerstone of our efforts.

We leverage on the unique authorities of federal, civilian, law enforcement, military, and intelligence agencies, and further integrate their operations.

At the operational level, we have found that the secret to collaboration between the U.S. Government and the private sector is empowering the art of conversation, she said.

The Director said analysts were needed to discuss, share information and analyse as they work through a problem or trying to understand a threat.

She said no agency or center had the capacity to collaborate with any organisation in the defense of data and systems against adversarial activity, adding that a distributed approach should be taken to a diverse and agile threat.

We need analysts to talk to each other, sharing information and analysis as they are working through a problem or trying to understand a threat.

That is when we discover new things, talk about alternatives analysis, and build the best mitigation guidance for all.

No single agency or center has the capacity or the authority to collaborate with every organisation necessary to defend our data and systems against adversarial activity.

Instead, we must take a network and distributed approach to a diverse and agile threat, Morgan said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani

Source: NAN News

By Salisu Sani-Idris

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has revealed plans to rehabilitate Kuje General Hospital to improve infrastructure and enhance healthcare delivery in the hospital.

Director-General of the FCT Hospital Management Board, Dr Mohammed Kawu, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen shortly after inspecting facilities in the hospital, on Tuesday in Kuje Area Council.

Kawu stated that the board was working assiduously with the FCT Mandate Secretary for Health and Human Services Secretariat, the Permanent Secretary and the Minister of State to reform services in all general hospitals in the territory.

He also said that the FCT Administration at the higher level was thinking of building bigger hospitals to ensure that there was more than one hospital in each Area Council.

There is also a plan to rehabilitate this hospital, you can see it is looking old, rehabilitation may be much longer, so, we will ensure that we do something very soon.

This is a small facility that was built for a smaller population. Population explosion in FCT is unprecedented, because of so many factors that we all know, he said.

Kawu said that the number of patients that were accessing services in the facility was far higher than the number expected.

But, from what we have seen so far, the condition of the hospital is not as bad as has been portrayed.

We have entered all the wards, the toilets are clean, there is water, electricity supply, and staff are there.

The few people we asked said they were satisfied with the services offered to them, but there is room for improvement, Kawu said.

The D-G also disclosed that the FCT Administration was trying to revitalise its Drugs Revolving Fund to ensure the provision of 90 per cent of drugs in all health facilities in the nations capital.

He assured that the board would engage the FCT Health Insurance Scheme (FHIS)to improve its services, adding that health insurance was a system where services were paid for.

So, if it is beyond what you are supposed to access, you cannot access more than that but we will still engage the FCT Health Insurance Scheme.

Since I was appointed as the Director-General of the Federal Capital Territory Hospital Management Board, I have been going round hospitals in the territory.

I went to Abaji, Kwali and Karshi General Hospitals and I visited Kuje General Hospital alone to see what has been going on and I was not very satisfied, so, I effected a change of leadership in Aug. , I appointed a new Medical Director and new management.

So, I just came round to see if there is an improvement and I can tell you that Im very happy with the improvement that I have noticed.

However, that is not to say there is no room for further improvement and we are doing a lots of things with the FCT Mandate Secretary for Health Secretariat, the FCT Permanent Secretary, the Minister of State to do a lot of reforms, Kawu said.

He stated that the drugs revolving fund needs to be revitalised so that all the drugs that are needed in all the hospitals were provided.

Kawu called on the public to always engage the government properly on issues arising from any complaint they have or whatever they observe about the operation of hospitals in the territory.

He added: There is Medical Director and management of all hospitals, there is Director-General of FCT Hospital Management Board and the Secretary for Health and Human Services Secretariat who is like a Commissioner for Health, the FCT Permanent Secretary, the FCT Minister and the Minister of State.

So, if there are issues that we think are not going well, the best thing to do is to approach one of those authorities and lay your complaint.

The D-G disclosed that the board would provide a new anesthetic machine at Kuje general hospital as soon as possible.

On his part, the Medical Director of Kuje General Hospital, Dr Olufemi Oshideko, commended the FCTA for the provision of equipment, hospital delivery beds, blood bank and other facilities to the hospital since he assumed office.

Oshideko, however, said that the main challenge of the hospital was inadequate electricity supply and manpower, saying, we spend so much money on diesel and the issue of manpower, the brain drain is real.

Whether it is nurses, pharmacists and doctors, we still appeal to the FCT Hospital Management Board to bring in more staff to our facility so that we can serve the public better.

Earlier, Some patients who were at the hospital to seek medical care complained over non- availability of drugs above N500 for FHIS.

Mr Austine Okoro and Mrs Sarah Afolabi, who narrated their ordeals to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the hospital, decried huge out -of- pocket spending on drugs meant to be given at 90 per cent subsided rates to enrollees.

The duo appealed to the FCTA Health Secretariat to look into the matter. (NAN)

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani

Source: NAN News

By Rotimi Ijikanmi

The Federal Government says the worst is over with regards to the daunting security challenges in the country, adding that terrorists, bandits and their cohorts will never hold sway anywhere in the country.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, gave the assurance on Monday in Abuja at a media briefing he jointly addressed with some of his colleagues.

Others are Ministers of Defence retired Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi, Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and Police Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Dingyadi, as well as the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor.

Mohammed said the security challenges the country had faced were daunting and ranged from terrorism to banditry, kidnapping, separatist violence, crude oil theft, armed robbery and sundry crimes.

He added that the challenges were undoubtedly the greatest to the peace and security of the country since the 1967 to 1970 civil war.

It is the kind of challenge that would have overwhelmed many nations, but thanks to the purposeful leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Today, we are here to tell you that while we may not be there yet, our military and other security agencies have succeeded and are succeeding in substantially restoring security across the nation.

We can say, I want to repeat, that the worst is over and peace and security are gradually returning to the land.

Please dont misunderstand or misrepresent this assertion because we may still witness isolated cases of security challenges here and there, but it will not be on the scale that we have witnessed in the past, he assured.

The minister said the successes recorded was sequel to the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to the military to crush those terrorising the citizens and there should be no hiding place for them.

He thanked the President for his purposeful leadership as well as the military for their ability to rise to the occasion.

Mohammed also commended the media for their watchdog role and called on them to endeavour to give a big part to the successes being recorded by the security agencies.

Speaking in the same vein, Aregbesola said the security challenges the country faced mostly preceded the President Buharis administration.

He equally commended the security agencies for rising to the challenges and for largely degrading the groups and persons constituting the threats.

What we face now mostly are flashes of cowardly attacks from the rumps of groups that have been routed in one location, moving to another to give the false impression that they are still strong.

Our ultimate goal is to eliminate them altogether and restore total and lasting peace over every inch of Nigerian soil.

We have been doing this and will continue to do so through the operations of the four agencies under the Ministry, he said.

The Minister of Defence who gave accounts of the military operations across the country said they were achieving greater results through synchronised ground and air bombardments of the terrorists.

We have been forcing many of them, including Commanders to surrender in droves, with members of their families.

Areas where terrorists hitherto had some freedom of action are being cleared, socio-economic life is gradually returning to most parts of the North East.

Erstwhile Internally Displaced Persons are now returning to their ancestral homes to start life all over, in dignity, under safer and more secure environment, Magashi said.

Specifically, the minister said in the past four weeks, more than 3,407 Boko Haram Terrorists including members of their families have surrendered.

Additionally, he said 66 terrorists were neutralized including one of the key ISWAP Commanders, Modu Chaka Bem Bem and 20 of his fighters, while 55 were rrested and 52 civilians rescued.

He said troops recovered large quantities of ammunition and illicit drugs while the surrendered and arrested terrorists have been subjected to profiling and the relevant legal processes.

Magashi said for the first time, no single incidence of piracy was recorded in the countrys waters in one full year.

He said in the past four weeks, several illegal oil refining sites, consisting of 493 dugout pits, 512 storage tanks, 413 cooking ovens and 59 wooden boats were destroyed.

Additionally, he said several weapons, vehicles, vessels and equipment were recovered.

The minister said about 25,800 barrels of crude oil, 3,200 liters of Premium Motor Spirit and 2,000 liters of Dual Purpose Kerosene were recovered during various operations while 21 pipeline vandals were arrested. (NAN)

=================

Edited by Maharazu Ahmed

Source: NAN News

By Chijioke Okoronkwo, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

When the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) was established in 1992, it significantly raised Nigerias hope of leapfrogging industrial development via innovation and reverse engineering.

NASENIs mandate include, inter alia: To conduct developmental work in the areas of manufacturing, coordinating the proliferation of technologies developed either within or outside of its centres including patents obtained.

Transfer of technologies developed in the areas of spares, components and system engineering to entrepreneurs for the production of goods and services.

The Chief Executive Officer of NASENI, Prof. Mohammed Haruna, recently appraised the activities of the agency saying it was making multisectoral impact in the country.

Haruna said that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed NASENI to produce more solar cells to boost the alternative power sources in the country.

He said that the president also directed the implementation of modular irrigation project and the production of more farm implements, to boost agricultural activities.

The president is impressed that NASENI is delivering on its mandate. I gave him the usual quarterly briefing and he is happy with what we have done in this quarter.

Therefore, he has directed us to do more, particularly in the modular irrigation project that we are commencing from Adamawa, the solar cells production and also agricultural implements.

On the power sector, the NASENI boss said that the agency had been able to impact on the power sector, leading to the establishment of a factory in Karshi, Abuja.

According to him, the factory has the capacity to produce 7.5 megawatts of solar energy.

Through our research and development activities in solar, it is so successful that through local innovations we now have a factory, 7.5 megawatts capacity limited liability company.

The company is 100 per cent owned by government in Karshi-Abuja, producing solar modules of highest quality.

These modules are installed in many places, we have dealers who buy these and distribute and we participate in installations in private and government buildings.

7.5 megawatts cannot meet the needs of the nation and that is not making the price of solar power affordable because the cells used are imported.

Solar cells are products of silicon and silicon is obtained from silica, which is nothing other than the sand that we have abandoned, he said.

He said this informed the presidents approval for the agency to obtain the facility from China in order to achieve 100 per cent made in Nigeria products.

When that is done, solar power supply will be affordable because the most expensive component is the cells, he said.

On security, Haruna said that a unit of the agency, the Nigerian Machine Tools Osogbo, Osun, also produces protective wares for security men.

He said that the company was also in the process of assembling armoured personnel carriers, in collaboration with Azerbaijan and Indonesia.

The Nigerian Machine Tools Osogbo has been doing a lot in the production of protective wares; anti-ballistic helmets, and other bullet proof vests and boots among others.

With NASENIs collaboration with Indonesia and Azerbaijan, we have trained people on how to assemble armoured personnel carriers as well as produce certain components of the carrier, he said.

Haruna also said that NASENI had trained Nigerians for mass production of helicopters.

He said that two helicopters successfully produced, were awaiting accreditation by the Nigerian Aviation Authority before it could start flying.

The helicopter project of NASENI is a technology we copied from Belgium and also from Indonesia.

We imported after training staff on all aspects of it, from design to production to assembly, repairs and maintenance.

After they qualified, including pilots, we assembled two helicopters, which we bought CKD from these places and assemble it with a view of producing the parts by part, to have a wholly or fully made in Nigeria helicopter.

Now, these helicopters in the helipad and hanger, were developed in our site in Karishi where our solar manufacturing plant is.

He, said, however, that for expansion, the president had approved the projects to be relocated to Nigeria Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna, because of the already developed facilities there in order not to reinvent the wheel.

Haruna said that the agency moulded what companies like Innoson needed in the production of spare parts in commercial quantity.

However, if there is a unique car, in which only one item of the spare part is needed, instead of mass production, we do produce it because we have facility to recycle scrap metal and molten iron ductile iron even alloys and use it with our moulds to give us the shape and size of any component and machine appropriately, because we use computer aided manufacturing and design.

Haruna also revealed that the agency produced laboratory equipment for science students in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across the country.

On agriculture, he said that the president had approved N24 billion for NASENI for the execution of a smart modular irrigation project.

More so, Haruna said the statutory one percent of the federation account meant to be drawn for its running was dedicated to execution of some priority projects that had been approved by government.

The application of these funds is in some priority projects approved by government; the capital components include payment of 15 per cent of the local counterpart funding for three key projects in the power sector; the development and production of solar cells locally; development and production of electric power transformers and the third one is high voltage testing laboratory.

Now, these are projects with 85 per cent funding support from China, which is part of what is approved and being implemented in the 2021/2022 Borrowing Plan.

That is number one and in that, out of the 48.79 million dollars representing 15 per cent of what Nigeria is paying as the 15 per cent counterpart funding based on the money remitted to NASENI in the first and third quarters, 23.9 million dollars had been remitted in these two quarters.

He said that the other areas of application of the fund included the development and domestication of technologies NASENI had acquired from a partnering organisation in Italy, de Lorenzo.

According to Haruna, the partnership with de Lorenzo is the production of technical science laboratory equipment for primary schools, secondary schools and tertiary institutions.

The third component is the development of skills development centres in six geopolitical zones.

For now, one each per zone; the fourth component of application of this fund is in the development of three out of 12 new centres approved by the president for different states of the federation and of course, continue research and development, reverse engineering and assembly of some military equipment in collaboration with two different private companies.

The companies are the Nigeria Machine Tools Limited, Oshogbo and PROFORCE, manufacturer of some military hardware, based in Ogun, and of course, completion of the remodeled NASENI headquarters, he said.

According to him, the funds have been applied to priority areas.

The NASENI boss said that President Buhari was impressed with the agency and had urged it to do more particularly in the modular irrigation projects, the solar cells production and also other agricultural implements.

Deserving no less attention, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was excited that Nigeria had all it required to manufacture wide range of products locally.

We are set to manufacture our own vehicles, clean energy trucks and cars, and we are on course to manufacturing our own weapons, armoured mobile platforms and aircraft; we have all it takes.

But I believe that MSME in technology and manufacturing, especially in the clean energy or green economy, deserves special mention.

I am convinced that this sector will be crucial in global industrial development in the coming years and will leapfrog Nigeria to economic prosperity, Osinbajo said.

Osinbajo acknowledged the ingenuity of some of the innovators as they defined the future in terms of clean energy automobiles and precision engineering.

No doubt, the challenge of leapfrogging industrialisation is hinged not only on harnessing local talents, but exploiting requisite know-how externally.

In a tech-savvy world, techies say Nigerian scholars and researchers must show more interest in artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and mechatronics in order to catch up with the rest of the world.(NANFeatures)

Source: NAN News

By Chinenye Offor

The House of Representatives Committee on Commerce has lauded the trajectory of positive results by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

The commendation is contained in a statement issued by CACs Head of Media unit, Mr Rasheed Mahe, on Monday in Abuja.

Mahe said the Mr Femi Fakaye-led House of Representatives committee on commerce, commended the commissions leadership led by its Registrar-General(R-G), Alhaji Garba Abubakar, at its headquarters to wrap up its oversight visit.

FakayecommendedAbubakar for keeping the agency afloat and turning things around in accordance with his pledge to the National Assembly.

According to Fakaye, the commission has been breathing fresh air since Abubakar assumed office as the R-G.

Heurged the R-G to take steps to maintain the achievements for economic growth, adding that CAC was one of the vital organs that gave life to the Nigerian economy.

Other members of the committee, however,charged the commission to review and revisit certain areas of its operations that needed improvement.

They lauded the commissionscreation of sustained public awareness on its activities and achievements with special emphasis on the rudiments of ensuring successful online registration of companies.

The R-G, in his response, expressed his commitment to sustain and improve on the gains so far recorded.

Abubakar, who described the year 2020 as the best year for the commission in terms of revenue generation and remittance.

He complained that slash in fees was negatively affecting some of its operations.

Abubakar said that the commission was able to surmount most of its challenges and achieved set targets, as well as objectives, because of its dedicated and committed staffers.

According to him, the CAC willcontinue to ensure improvement of its workforce through the provision of adequate work tools, conducive working environment.

The CAC boss also promised to sustain routine training and retraining of members of staff within the available resources.

Abubakar said that the commission was on the verge of deploying a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution to beef up its customer service in line with global best practices.

Highlight of the visit was the guided facility tour of the Status Unit, Special Projects Unitand the Server room. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

====================
Edited by Kevin Okunzuwa/ Bashir rabe Mani

Source: NAN News