By Gregg Mmaduakolam

A mini-lorry driver, Mr Suleiman Adams, on Thursday alleged that an official of Kubgbo Command of Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) brutalised him, while he was driving to Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the driver was coming from Nyanya when officials of the VIO blocked his vehicle with a pick-up van.

The driver told NAN that the officials ordered him to open the door of his vehicle which he did.

He said he inquired if his offence was because he entered into Abuja before 10 a.m.

Adams added that these same VIO officials had once stopped him and told him not to enter Abuja before 10 a.m.

As I stopped my vehicle one Haruna Husseni, an official of the VIO, slapped me just for no reason and dragged me to their office at Kugbo.

When we got to their office, Husseni again started to slap and kick me until I fell on the ground.

NAN also reports that during an interview with the alleged brutalised lorry driver, the Kugbo VIO commander, who witnessed the act, sent for police officers in Karu to arrest the NAN correspondent.

However, when the police officers came they refused to effect the arrest of the NAN correspondent, saying he was carrying out his lawful duty.(NAN)()

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Edited by Isaac Aregbesola

Source: NAN News

By Salisu Sani-Idris

A foremost customer experience expert, Mr Aliyu Ilias, has emerged as President of Chartered Institute of Customer Relationship Management (CICRM).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ilias is the author of Understanding Customer Experience in Africa, whose research in customer experience has impacted positively on different sectors of the economy.

Ilias, in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja, said that his elevation to the president of the institute followed the demise of the erstwhile president, Mr Henry Adegbuyi.

He expressed his determination to move the institute from provision of customer service to customer experience, adding that companies that came across the institute would be proactive and no longer reactive to customer-related issues.

I will develop a framework that fit Nigerian customer experience and initiate a special programme for government agencies to create a sector-based customer experience for each industry.

I will also create an indigenous customer analytics tools for every sector of the economy in the country, he said.

The new president stated that the institute had trained many Nigerians on best practices, adding that this had reflected in their profit base.

Ilias, who is the Managing Director of Customer Service Awards Ltd., said that the institute was responsible for promoting best practices in customer service standards.

NAN reports that the institute is a non-profit making international examining body providing high-quality, cost-effective, internationally-recognised customer service in Nigeria and beyond.

NAN also reports that the institute supports the professional capability of customer care practitioners and every other responsibility of engaging customers through gaining of knowledge, qualifications and continuing professional development programmes. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Wale Sadeeq

Source: NAN News

Audit

By Yunus Yusuf

Ikeja, July 21, 2022 (NAN) The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed the suspended Dana Air to begin operational audit before it can ensure return to flight operations.

The Communication Manager of the airline, Mr Kingsley Ezenwa, confirmed this in a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday.

Ezenwa explained that the audit was also an opportunity for the airline to reassure its guests, clients and partners that the airline remained safe and reliable.

The official said the airline had been fully cooperating with officials of the NCAA to ensure quick return to flight operations.

He said, We are pleased to announce that we have commenced the operational audit as advised by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

In this regard, we are fully cooperating with the NCAA to ensure our quick return to flight operations.

Operational Audits are regulatory and airlines are required to suspend their operations when the regulator calls for it.

So we are confident that having been successful in previous audits, we will come back even stronger and better.

Ezenwa said that as an airline, Dana Air was not insulated from the multiple challenges airlines and the aviation industry grapples with daily.

According to him, these include the recent skyrocketing cost of aviation fuel at N830/ltr, unavailability of forex, ground handling services, inflation, multiple taxation amongst other operational challenges.

He noted that, While this short stay off the market remains painful and heartbreaking for us.

Our customers, clients and partners, we remain very hopeful and very confident of our position.

Our offices will remain open to our travel partners, clients and our customer service will still be operational 24/7 as always to assist customers with necessary information.

Ezenwa said customers with unused tickets had also been advised to apply for refund by sending an email to: with their details, saying it would resolved in a timely manner.

He said the airline sincerely apologised to all affected customers, clients and travel partners for the inconveniences caused and crave their understanding and patience in the cause of the audit. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Julius Toba-Jegede

Source: NAN News

By Stellamaris Ashinze

Google on Thursday highlighted the top trending personalities, music, movies, high profile deaths as well as sports that trended in the first half of 2022.

Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Communications and Public Relations Manager, Google West Africa, said in a statement that the first half of 2020 had been eventful with high profile deaths, politics, personalities among others.

Kola-Ogunlade said that such trends and search were as a results of happenings and events of interest that caught peoples attention.

He said the top three trending people in Nigeria in the first half of the year were , and .

The manager said that Peter Obi is a Nigerian businessman and politician who served as the governor of Anambra from 2006 to 2014.

Kola-Ogunlade said that Obi is currently the Labour Party nominee for President of Nigeria in the 2023 presidential election.

According to him, Vladimir Putin, Russias President also grabbed the attention of Nigerians in the first six months of 2022 as Russias invasion of Ukraine became topical across the globe.

Bianca Ojukwu, the widow of late Biafran warlord, Chukuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu also led search interest by Nigerians when she slapped Ebelechukwu, the wife of immediate past governor of Anambra , Chief Willie Obiano.

A second famous slap comes in at number five on the list of top trending people, after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars in March.

AFCON 2022 topped the list of most searched moments between January and June, Senegal beat Egypt in the final match of the African Cup of Nation (AFCON) football competition to emerge winner, he said.

According to him, the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has seen the majority of Nigerian students in public tertiary institutions.

The communication manager said that staying out of classes for five months was also a top moment that captured the interest of Nigerians online.

He said that top of the list of notable deaths was the death of popular Nigerian Gospel singer,.

According to him, she was allegedly killed by her husband in a case of domestic violence.

Kola-Ogunlade said that the death of another gospel singer, , was the second most searched death for Nigerians.

He said the song, , by Kizz Daniel, featuring Tekno was the number one trending song in the period under review.

The communication officer said that blood sisters, a Nigerian series on Netflx starring Nancy Isime and Ini Dima-Okojie topped the list of top trending movies and TV Series by Nigerians from January to June 2022.

Kola-Ogunlad said that , the veteran Nollywood actor who recently celebrated his 80th birthday led the list of top trending actors in Nigeria while s journey from Manchester City to Chelsea FC led him to be the number one trending sports personality in Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Search trends information is gleaned from data collated by Google based on what Nigerians have been searching for and asking Google. (NAN)()

Edited by Chioma Ugboma

Source: NAN News

By Bosede Olufunmi

Kano State government has restricted the movement of commercial tricycle operators, called Keke NAPEP, after 10:00 p.m with effective from Thursday, July 21.

This is contained in a statement issued by Nabilusi Abubakar, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Kano Road and Traffic Agency (KAROTA), on behalf of the Managing Director of the agency, Hon. Baffa Babba-Danagundi in Kano on Thursday.

According to the statement, Babba-Danagundi, said that arrangements had been made for alternative means of transportation during the affected hours for those on special duties and other travellers.

The MD, however, warned operators on strict compliance with the laid down traffic rules and regulations.

According to the statement, this is coming after the leadership of transport unions had reached an agreement with the state government to effect the decision on the ban until further notice to curb security challenges.

This decision was unanimously adopted at a security council meeting, where it became necessary to further safeguard the state from turning to security threats.

Anyone who violates the order without justification shall be prosecuted accordingly, the statement said.

Earlier, Ashiru Umar, the State Chairman, Kano Transportation Union, was at the agencys headquarters to express the readiness to abide by the state governments directive.

He lauded the decision to provide alternatives during the affected hours to ensure that those on special duties, travellers, patients and others on emergency without personal means of transportation get to their destinations.

He urged the general public to accord the union every necessary support for the safety of lives and property. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ayodeji Alabi/Julius Toba-Jegede

Source: NAN News

By Bridget Ikyado /Angela Atabo
Mr Dasuki Arabi, the Director General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms says issues around pensions and other entitlements of retirees would soon be a thing of the past.

Arabi made this known when he received officials of the National Association of Retired Para Military Officers, led by its President, Mr Musa Kayode on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to him, reforms have been initiated to change the system and adopt innovations to ensure that citizens get value out of the public service

As the agency responsible for reforms and as a member of the team responsible for payment of disengaged officers, we have been working tirelessly to ensure that anybody affected is paid his benefits.

It is just not fair that somebody worked for 20 to 25 years and was asked to go, yet you refused to pay his benefit, he said.

Arabi said that the delays in the payment of pensioners arose due to failure to stick to processes and procedures.

We have been trying as much as we can not only to address this problem but to cross this door finally because we cannot be handling this thing for years, we must have a timeline to conclude this, he added.

Arabi said government would ensure payments of retirees benefits were done correctly.

Unfortunately, some of them are deceased, some of their next of kin are gone, but it is their entitlement and we must pay them.

We had written to the Accountant-General of the Federation and other agencies for the same thing, for us to have a round table discussion.

We will also invite you and the media to see what the issues are and come up with the solutions.

We have written another to the accountant-general and we are hoping to hear from him soon. BPSR is not keeping money nor responsible for payment, we are only responsible for clearing staff, Arabi said.

Earlier, Kayode expressed happiness over the bureaus readiness to assist in handling discrepancies in retirees entitlements.

We had a lot of our officers who were downsized, there were some problems during screening and other pre-retirement exercises.

Our members want the issues resolved, he said.

He said that some of the retirees were being short-changed, while there were also issues of miscalculation of their entitlements. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Maharazu Ahmed/Grace Yussuf

Source: NAN News

By Kelechi Ogunleye
Ahmed Audi, Commandant General (CG), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has lauded personnel of the Corps for the display of professionalism during the July 16 governorship election in Osun.

The commendation is contained in a statement issued by NSCDC Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Olusola Odumosu, on Tuesday in Abuja.

Audi said the personnel demonstrated high level of discipline, gallantry, patriotism and commitment in the discharge of their duties during the election.

I congratulate you all for representing the Corps well and for being good ambassadors at the election.

Reports at my disposal indicates that none of you was found wanting for political partisanship, compromise, dereliction of duty, molestation, intimidation of voters, abuse of human rights and other forms of electoral offences.

I commend your level of professionalism and swift responses to pockets of disturbances during the exercise.

This helped to keep all observed and perceived security threats during the election under control.

You have done your part and I assure you that, all what is due to you will be given to you once we receive signal from the Federal Government, he said.

He added that their conduct contributed to the peaceful and rancour free environment which allowed the people of Osun to exercise their franchise.

The CG said that the peaceful conduct of the election was largely due to careful planning, strategic deployment and professional execution of the operational order of the Corps.

He also said there was effective synergy between the corps and other security agencies which resulted to orderly conduct of the election.

The NSCDC boss said that the corps would use the lessons learnt during the Osun election to improve its performance during the 2023 general elections.

The 2023 general elections will be more challenging, but we shall begin early preparations by embarking on training, workshops and sensitisation of personnel on international best practices during election.

We shall review our experience on the field and improve where necessary to be able to continue our deployment of the best strategy for promoting our nascent democracy, Audi said.

The CG encouraged Nigerians to support government to improve the economy and enhance political stability.

Nigerians should support governments efforts, abstain from violence, criminalities and all forms of nefarious activities challenging our corporate existence.

We all have the responsibility of watching over this nation together, let us continue to give credible information to security agencies, so we can always be ahead of the criminals, he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Maharazu Ahmed/Tayo Ikujuni

Source: NAN News

By Sumaila Ogbaje

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Dr Abubakar Kana, says the Federal Government has mapped up strategies and modalities to build a world-class Military Hospital to cater for the military personnel, veterans and their families.

Kana, in a statement on Wednesday said that part of steps taken to achieve the plans was the move to reform the military health services in Nigeria.

He said the ministry had also put together a workshop for all stakeholders to discuss the roadmap toward achieving the anticipated reformation.

According to him, the workshop which is billed to hold in Abuja on Thursday, will be chaired by the Minister of Defence, retired Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi.

The Chief of Defence Staff and Service Chiefs, as well as the US Ambassador to Nigeria and strategic health partners will be in attendance, he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: NAN News

By Glory Abuh-Adejoh

The National Industrial Court on Wednesday awarded a driver, Sunday Onyemara, N500,000 in general damages for the wrongful termination of his employment.

Delivering judgment, Justice Zaynab Bashir, also declared that the termination of the claimants employment dated Oct. 31,2019, from Wheels Services Ltd., was wrongful.

The court in addition held that the firm did not state the truth with regards to the allegation of Onyemaras abdication of duty.

The court further said that the firm also failed to accord the claimant the right to fair hearing before terminating his employment.

From facts, the claimant had submitted that he was employed by the firm as a driver and sometime in September 2019 he was arrested with one of his colleagues over alleged misconduct and the matter was subsequently investigated by the police.

He added that the police report exonerated him from the misconduct allegation but the firm terminated his appointment while the police investigation was ongoing.

He therefore urged the court to grant the reliefs he sought.

In defence, Wheels Services Ltd., averred that the claimants employment was terminated in compliance with the terms and conditions governing the his employment.

The defendant in addition averred that the claimant was directed to liaise with the accounting department to reconcile his account for full payment of all his entitlements.

The firm in addition submitted that it was not its duty to investigate crimes but that because the activity of claimant contravened the provisions of the terms of employment, they could validly terminate his employment.

The defendant closed its case by urging the court to dismiss the case in its entirety.

The court after evaluating the submissions of both parties held that the moment a reason was given for employment termination, it must be justified by the employer and nothing was placed before the court to show the intermediate action taken by the defendant to hear from the claimant whether what was gathered about him was true or false.

In the instant case, the haste with which the defendant dismissed the claimant from employment without verification of the information reaching them from the claimants work station is made more apparent by the fact that the defendant posited that the claimant abdicated his duty for over a month, the judge ruled

The court however declined the claimants other reliefs for lacking merit. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Sadiya Hamza

Source: NAN News

By Yakubu Uba

The North East Development Commission (NEDC) on Wednesday presented state-of-the-art equipment to the 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital, Maiduguri.

The equipment comprised five-part haemotology analyser, high frequency mobile X-Ray machine, full-automatic analyser, V100 spectrophometre and electrolyte analyser.

The Managing Director of NEDC, Mr Mohammed Alkali, said at the event that the commission was committed to interventions in healthcare system in the North East.

Alkali lauded the military for efforts in restoring peace and normalcy to the region.

He also assured the military of the commissions support in its de-radicalisation programme.

In his remarks, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Sadiya Umar-Faroukalso lauded the military for sacrifices to the nation.

The minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Nasir Gwarzo.

She gave the assurance that the commission would sustain its support for the military.

What you are doing is not saving lives but also shaping the country.

Make the best use of the equipment to save lives. A lot more will come, the minister said.

In an address of welcome, the Commander of the hospital, Lt. Col. Adeniyi Ogunsakin, listed some donations to the hospital from the commission to include an ambulance.

Ogunsakin thanked the commission for support, saying that the equipment would help to improve the hospitals performance.

The General Officer Commanding 7 Division, Maj.-Gen. Waidi Shuaibu, and the Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai in North East, Maj.-Gen. Christopher Musa, also lauded the commission for sustained support.

They gave the assurance that the facilities would be properly used.

We will ensure maintenance for maximum benefit, Musa said.

The highpoint of the occasion was tour of the hospital and interactions of the personalities with wounded soldiers who were receiving treatment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the commission had earlier made a similar donation to the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital and University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ijeoma Popoola

Source: NAN News