Comrade Innocent Nduanya, an aspirant to the seat of the president, National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for assenting to the Not Too Young to Run bill.

Nduanya, who spoke with newsmen at the Youth House, Abuja urged the President to do more for the youths by appointing youths into his cabinet.

He said that the position of youth minister in Nigeria was occupied by somebody above 35 years.

The bill which was signed on Thursday was passed by the National Assembly in July 2017 to alter Sections 65, 106, 131, 177 of the Constitution to reduce the age qualification for president, from 40 to 30; House of Representatives membership, from 30 to 25 and State House of Assembly membership, from 30 to 25.

President Buhari, however, noted that the new bill did not tamper with the age qualifications for governor and the senate, which remained at 35.

Nduanya said President Buhari had achieved so much in the last three years but could have achieved far better if youths were appointed into various position in his cabinet.

Nigerian youths supported President Buhari and voted him massively in 2015 election but got less or nothing in terms of appointment in his cabinet.

80 per cent of the votes in 2015 came from the youths constituency but they were not reciprocated in terms of appointment.

I urge President Buhari and state governors to emulate the Anambra state, Willie Obiano, for his youth inclusiveness and support to the youth constituency.

The Anambra state Governor gave full support for the Not too Young to Run as he encouraged youths through various appointments in his cabinet

According to him, Anambra is the most peaceful state in Nigeria today because of the peaceful atmosphere created by the governor through provision of security and youth inclusiveness in governance.

The NYCN presidential hopeful said NYCN under his leadership would use the structure of the council in the 774 local governments in Nigeria to mobilise support for every aspiring youth 2019 general elections.

He urged youths to obtain their permanent voters card and utilise them wisely in the next election.

Ndunaya said that with voter education and awareness, Nigeria youths are capable of replicating the 150 million votes they cast in the recent Big Brother Naija in 2019 general election.

He appealed to Buhari to recall and assent to the Peace Corp of Nigeria bill as it was very dear to the teeming Nigerian youths.

Source: NAN

The United Labour Congress (ULC) on Friday told Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige, to explain his `double-speak on the planned new minimum wage, to avoid confusion on the issue.

On May 30, Ngige announced that the new National Minimum Wage would not be paid to workers by the end of September, contrary to a previous announcement by the Federal Government.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) labour correspondent reports that Ngiges announcement appears to have dampened the morale of workers, who have been expecting a new wage in September.

Nigeria currently operates a wage structure for civil servants, described as one of the lowest in the world, despite its position as Africas top oil-bearing nation.

Addressing newsmen in Lagos, the President of the ULC, Mr Joe Ajaero, told Ngige to clarify his statement to avoid creating tension among workers.

He said that the ministers statement that the wage would no longer be paid in September amounted to double-speak on the matter.

Ajaero described the ministers statement as unfortunate, saying that he should have consulted with members of the tripartite committee on the minimum wage before making an announcement on the wage.

We are not sure the stakeholders, who are members of the committee were consulted and this is undemocratic and lacks due process.

Our fear and worry is that the statement is laden with intentions.

Ajaero said there was need to be sensitive to the plight of Nigerian workers, who had been facing immense hardships over the years.

The labour leader said it would not be good for any government official to sabotage the interest of workers, vowing that the labour movement would not accept anything that would affect workers adversely.

He assured workers that labour would continue to put pressure on government to ensure that the committee submitted its report next month.

Source: NAN

A 45-year-old driver, Adekunle Ajayi, has appeared before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly stealing a Volkswagen bus valued at N800,000.

Ajayi, who resides at Ijegun area of Lagos, is facing a charge of stealing.

According to the prosecutor, Sgt. Godwin Awase, the accused committed the offence on April 17 at Igando, Lagos.

He said in court on Friday that the accused collected the bus based on hire purchase from the complainant, Mr Saheed Adelabe, to deliver a certain amount of money daily.

“The accused collected the bus from the complainant on a daily basis delivery but after some days, he called the complainant to inform him that the bus had been stolen.

“The complainant reported the case to the Police and the accused was arrested for questioning,’’ he said

Awase said that the offence contravened Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the section prescribes a three-year jail term for stealing.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

In her ruling, the Magistrate, Mrs F. F. George, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

She said the sureties should be gainfully employed and should show evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

The case was adjourned until June 6 for mention.

Source: NAN

The police on Friday caught several large animals, including lions, tigers, a jaguar after they escaped from a zoo in the Eifel mountain range in western Germany on Friday.

A spokesman for the district of Bitburg-Pruem, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, said earlier in the day that two lions, two tigers and a jaguar were on the loose.

He said a bear had been shot.

The animals escaped from the Eifel Zoo in the municipality of Luenebach. Local residents were advised to stay in their homes and to call the police if they saw the animals.

A large search operation was carried out, involving the fire services, the police and veterinarians, the spokesman said.

A recent storm caused damage in some parts of the region, though it was unclear whether the animals escaped because of damage caused by the storm.

The district administration gave no further details, but said a press conference would be held on Friday afternoon in the city of Bitburg.

The Eifel Zoo in Luenebach is located in the west of Rhineland-Palatinate, about 50 kilometres north of Trier.

Large predators are among the main attractions at the zoo, which is home to about 60 different species, including Siberian tigers and African lions, on about 30 hectares of land.

The zoo was opened in 1972 and is a private family business.(dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN

The Shehu of Borno, Umar Ibn Garbai, on Friday agreed to lead UNICEFs cholera prevention campaign in the state to prevent an outbreak of the endemic and seasonal disease.

Speaking during an advocacy visit by Geoffrey Ijumba, UNICEF Chief Field Officer in Borno on Friday, the Shehu said that the emirate would collaborate with the fund towards eradicating this menace.

The United Nations has allocated US$2 million to support the response to a deadly cholera outbreak in Yobe State, North-east Nigeria, which is a neighbouring state to Borno.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, which was officially declared in four local government areas of Yobe in March, a total of 404 cases and 15 deaths have been reported, representing a 3.7 per cent case fatality rate.

The issues you raised regarding healthcare, nutrition, sanitation and hygiene, including education are very critical in a land facing humanitarian challenges.

I would personally work hard to record improvement to alleviate the suffering of our vulnerable people.

This is a task we must achieve in favour of children and for the future.

Traditional leaders in Borno would work hard to ensure that our people are aware of the dangers of cholera and how to prevent it, he said.

The royal father commended UNICEF for providing humanitarian and developmental assistance to children.

We always appreciate the good work UNICEF is doing over several years in Nigeria and the northeast in particular, especially during the conflict which posses a huge challenge to people particularly children and women, he added.

The Shehu regretted that children had lost a good part of their lives out of school due to the insurgency.

Earlier, Ijumba, commended the emirate for prioritising its support for women and children in all areas of UNICEFs activities in the state.

Ijumba said that his team was in the Shehus palace to seek for support in the campaign against Cholera outbreak, promote safe hygiene and school enrolment.

The specific issues that I would like to bring to your attention is that we are going into the rainy season.
And right now there has been instances of Cholera outbreak in some part of Borno.

We would like you, with the help of other traditional rulers, to sensitise the good people of the state to promote cleanliness, hygiene and good sanitation.

On our part, we will deploy a team of community mobilisers to conduct house to house sensitisation in every community to promote hygiene in preparation for the raining season.

We want to also make sure that water for drinking in Borno is properly stored and safe for drinking, he said.

He expressed his disappointment over the refusal of the people in the state to accept water chlorination.

We hope this time around, you will take a very strong message to them on the importance of water chlorination.

We will work together with the government, RUWASA and other partners to make sure that this is done, Ijumba said.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that water chlorination is the process of adding chlorine or hypochlorite to water.

The method is used to kill certain bacteria and other microbes in tap water as chlorine is highly toxic. (NAN)

Source: NAN

Comrade Obinna Nwaka, Director, Political and Democratic Matters, National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the Not Too Young to Run to Bill in to law.

Nwaka, in a statement on Friday in Abuja, said that by assenting to the bill, Buhari made history and demonstrated his commitment towards deepening democracy.

He, however, urged youths to take advantage of the bill and avoid abusing the privilege.

The bill which was signed on Thursday was passed by the National Assembly in July 2017 to alter Sections 65, 106, 131, 177 of the Constitution to reduce the age qualification for president, from 40 to 30; House of Representatives membership, from 30 to 25 and State House of Assembly membership, from 30 to 25.

Buhari, however, noted that the new bill did not tamper with the age qualifications for governor and the senate, which remained at 35.

Nwaka said that the president had during the 2018 Democracy Celebration live broadcast gave the assurance to accent the bill in order to assuage the yearnings and agitation of the youths.

The Nigerian youths both at home and in the Diaspora commend Mr President for giving us sense of belonging in ensuring he constitutionally empowers the youths in politics to enhance proper inclusiveness in governance and decision making.

While commending the president for assenting the bill which indeed will politically empower Nigerian youths, we also implore him to ensure he accent bills that will economically empowers the youths to avoid over reliance on Politics.

We commend Nigeria Youths for their patience, peaceful protests, coordination and resilience; we sincerely appreciate both the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly for supporting the bill.

We urge Nigeria Youths not to sell their mandates or abuse the privilege but to take advantage of the bill to develop themselves and contribute their own quota to development, he said.

Source: NAN

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has urged Nigerian youths to support President Muhammadu Buharis administration for betterment of Nigeria.

Ogunwusi gave the advice when he received a presidential aspirant of Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), Hon. Fela Durotoye, on Thursday at his palace in Ile-Ife.

The Royal Majesty praised President Buhari for prioritising youth vanguard; as an exemplary good leader that loves youths; and for planning for brighter future for young ones.

No wonder he assented to the bill Not- too-young -to -run that will secure the future for the youths, he said.

The Royal father charged the younger ones to come out for leadership position and support the elderly ones so as to take the country beyond.

Ooni lauded the aspirant for being courageous enough to indicate interest to contest and advised him to be orderly as all eyes were set on him.

You have shown the value of the culture by taking the right step to pay homage to the first stool created by God, confirmed sitting on as ordained by God.

God is not a man that will lie, He has remained faithful from the inception of the world. God has endowed the contestant with spirit of humility and should keep it up, he stated.

Ogunwusi eulogised the youths for upholding the pillars of peace, love and unity of the country.

He advised that it was time they gear up and fight for their future.

Nigeria youths have been sleeping, but I believe your coming out will reawaken and gear them for more commitment, he expressed.

Earlier, Durotoye appreciated the Ooni for his fatherly role since his assertion to the throne.

Durotoye said that youths across the country and in the diaspora were proud of the royal father.

We have learnt a lot from your exemplary leadership style which motivated me to contest for the post of President in other to deliver my colleagues from captivity.

Source: NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari had dinner with Africas richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and other members of the business community on Thursday night.

The dinner held at the State House in Abuja to break the Ramadan fast.

President Buhari thanked Nigerians for their continuous support to his administration.

He said he was particularly happy with the performance of the agriculture sector in the past two years.

Dangote Foundation had on Wednesday donated 150 patrol cars to the Nigerian police.

The Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who received the cars said the gesture would boost security infrastructure.

I want to congratulate the Inspector General of Police on this latest donation of 150 cars. I think this is going to be a great boost to our efforts at keeping security all over the country.

I would also like to call on others, especially major corporate organisations that whatever cooperation and collaboration we can get from them will be greatly appreciated.

We wish they could follow the very great example that has been set today by Dangote Group and Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

According to the vice president, besides the positive donation, the government and the people of Nigeria have benefitted greatly from the corporate social responsibility of Dangote Group.

Osinbajo recalled that the group was responsible for the building of 54km Obajana-Kabba Road, several health centres in Benue, Ogun and other parts of the country, as well as schools.

He said government was aware of the micro credit scheme the foundation gave to no fewer than 40,000 citizens, noting that the patrol vehicles were directed at security of the country.

Osinbajo thanks Aliko Dangote for the huge donation to help the

Source: NAN

A senior North Korean official will on Friday hand over a letter from the countrys leader Kim Jong Un to U.S. President Donald Trump.

This is in a rare visit to the White House as the two sides try to put a derailed summit meeting back on track

Trump hopes to meet Kim in Singapore on June 12 and pressure him to give up his nuclear weapons, although he conceded on Thursday that might require more rounds of direct negotiations.

Id like to see it done in one meeting, Trump told Reuters. But often times thats not the way deals work.

Theres a very good chance that it wont be done in one meeting or two meetings or three meetings. But itll get done at some point. he added

Leading the delegation to the White House on Friday is Kim Yong Chol, a close aide of Kim Jong Un.

Source:

Source: NAN