By Ismaila Chafe

The Federal Government is targeting April 2023 for the conduct of National Population Census.

The Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Nasir Isa-Kwarra, made this known at the end of the virtual meeting of the Council of State, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that thelast population and housing census in Nigeria took place in 2006.

The total population in Nigeria was estimated at 206.14 million people in 2020, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics.

According to the NPC boss, the national census will be held after the general election, slated for February and March 2023.

He disclosed that the commission would deploy high technology in the conduct of the national census.

Kwarra said: The National Population Commission is to conduct a Pilot Census in June this year, after the political parties primary elections.

It is very crucial to hold a census because it is a very important exercise for the nation.

This is because through census we generate the data that we use for policy making, for planning, for development, by the three tiers of government, and the private sector, they all need this.

If you are a private sector, youre producing something; certainly, you need to know the population of an area if you want to create a market there.

So, census data is very crucial, very important. Because, the data weve been using are just projections, estimation. And are sort of obsolete, we need the actual census data to use for our planning.

Gov. Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, who also briefed correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the Council of State, disclosed that President Buhari would meet security chiefs on Tuesday next week, over the current security situation in the country.

He said the meeting followed recommendations and comments by the Council of State.

He said the necessary measures would be taken to ensure that farmers across the country, to carry out their activities without any hindrance to boost food production across the country.

NAN reports that the 2006census placed Lagos State in the South as the second most populous state with 9.0 million people.

Overall, the 2006 census stated that the North had a higher population than the South.

NAN reports that according to the census results, the northern states account for 75 million people, while the southern states have 65 million population. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Emmanuel Mogbede

The United Nations Electoral Assistance Division (UNEAD) in Nigeria has advised the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to ensure that 2023 general election was peaceful and inclusive.

Mr Serge Kubwimana, UN Team Leader and Senior Political Affairs Officer, said this when he led a delegation of UNEAD on a visit to the APC national secretariat on Wednesday in Abuja.

Kubwinmana said the visit was to seek for collaboration with the APC toward a peaceful and inclusive electoral process.

He said that Nigeria had strong institutions and the ability to run its elections.

We are the UNEAD which is in Nigeria as a result of a request for electoral support for the UN to assess the overall context which the election will take place.

We are to see in what form we could potentially bring our small contribution to the 2023 elections.

We have conferred with the APC national secretary on behalf of the national chairman and we have done the same with other stakeholders such as INEC, government and civil society organisations, Kubwimana said.

He said the group had also met with other political parties, faith based organisations as well as the Inter-party Advisory Council toward ensuring a peaceful poll.

The APC National Secretary, Sen. Iyiola Omisore who received the delegation on behalf of Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, said the partys national chairman expressed appreciation for the visit. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Olawale Alabi

Igoche Mark, the President of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has promised para-basketball players that the federation would by next year put in place a para-basketball league in the country.

Mark, after watching a para-basketball game at the ongoing National Para Games in Abuja on Wednesday, said the NBBF board has a target of developing the basketball sport from the grass roots.

This is a promise, with an all-inclusive package that will include all players, irrespective of their physical challenge or situation.

We have promised basketball stakeholders, including players, officials and administrators, that the main goal of our board is grass roots development.

It is a development that will be all-inclusive, irrespective of the physical challenge anyone might be going through, he said.

The NBBF president said the federation would in due course make further pronouncements on the para-basketball league.

He then praised the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development for organising and hosting the National Para Games, saying it is a good omen for the overall development of sports.

I pray this will continue, Mark said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Source: NAN News

By Yakubu Uba

The International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP) has trained 75 law enforcement personnel on countering human trafficking and smuggling migrants in North East.

The participants were drawn from National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Yobe and Taraba States.

Project Team Lead, Rafael Molina, said this at the end of the three-day training exercise on Wednesday in Maiduguri.

He said the training was designed to strengthen the capacity of personnel in identifying migrant smuggling and human trafficking for successful investigation and prosecution of perpetrators.

Represented by Sani Dantuni, Technical Advisor, Criminal Investigation of the project, Molina said the exercise was part of the Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (A-TIPSOM) bieng implemented by FIIAPP with support of the European Union.

A-TIPSOM project is part of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) signed between the European Union and the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The overall objective of this project is contributing to the series of initiatives of the government of Nigeria towards decreasing the ratio of trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of migrants (SOM) at national and regional level, and between Nigeria and the EU, with specific emphasis on women and children.

This is done through direct support to NPF, NIS, NAPTIP and the civil society organisations represented by the Network against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL), he said.

Also speaking, Orakwue Arinze, NAPTIPs Director of Training and Manpower Development, said human trafficking portends economic and security implications in Nigeria if not contain effectively.

He said the training would not only reposition the officers but also ensure synergy among the various law enforcement agencies in the fight against human trafficking. (NAN)(www.nanneww.ng)

Source: NAN News

By stephen.adeleyep

The Unified Northern Nigeria Youths Forum in the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged youths in Kogi to intensify the call on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Gov. Godwin Emefiele, to contest for presidency in 2023 general elections.

The convener of the group, Mr Mohammed Danlami, spoke at a news conference on Wednesday in Lokoja.

He said that the northern youth group was on a clarion call because they realised that the unity of the country is non negotiable.

He decried the divisive ambition of some selfish northern politicians to disrupt the existing presidential zoning arrangement between the north and south.

Danlami noted that the country had passed through many challenges, saying what has been keeping us together as a country is the brotherhood we shared.

We have supported regular politicians long enough without tangible results, let us try something different to support a technocrat.

He, therefore, enjoined all youths in Kogi and all other stakeholders to join them in the call for Emefiele to contest.

Also speaking, Mr Aliyu Sani, the spokesperson of the group, said: The consensus card seems to be playing out well and now that the 2023 general elections approach us, the techniques and magic of the consensus card must employed once more for APC to retain power.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: NAN News

By Deborah Coker

A presidential aspirant on the platform of the PDP, Mr Peter Obi, said on Wednesday that poor leadership was responsible for the plethora of problems plaguing Nigeria.

Speaking when he paid a courtesy visit on chieftains of the PDP in Benin on Wednesday, Obi lamented what he described as an apparent floundering of the ship of state, blaming the problem on poor leadership.

He said that Nigeria needed a president with visible capacity to pilot the ship of state, noting that only men of integrity should be given a chance to serve Nigeria at the highest level in the new political dispensation expected in 2023.

The former governor of Anambra also lamented what he characterized as the huge number of people living in poverty in the country, describing the situation as worrisome.

We have high unemployment today and the worst problem a country can have is to have young people in their productive age doing nothing, saying that there is collapse in our health, education and security sectors.

2023 election will be a game-changer, so we need to elect people with capacity and competence to drive our country and I know I have the capacity and competence to drive the country.

Obi also criticized the debt profile of the country, saying that Nigeria as a country was borrowing for consumption, which should not be.

He argued that that the 2023 elections should not be about an aspirant coming from any particular geo-graphical zone in the country but someone with capacity.

Dont vote in people who will keep sharing the future of our children because the nation is now sharing the future of our children and eventually there will be nothing left to share.

We cant bequeath anarchy on our children but a future. We must build a better place. We must make it work, if not we will end up being refugees.

The presidential aspirant urged the delegates to change the crisis situation in the country by voting in competent candidate with proven track-record to drive the country.

We must pull our children out of poverty. Do not look at what you will get today, look at the future of our children as you vote.

Let us go out and build a better Nigerian nation.

On whether he would step down for another candidate, Obi said that such issue was not yet decided but that PDP aspirants would always work together as one family.

We are not going to quarrel over it but pray that in the end the best person to do the work will emerge.

Explaining how he would achieve success using social and economic reforms, said that he does not believe in 100 days celebrations, saying that nations were never built within 100 days.

I can assure you that we will put in place policies that will strictly be implemented and start pulling people out of poverty from year one.

We will not borrow money for consumption but for production.

On the contentious issue of zoning, Obi said that he would stand by whatever arrangement put in place by the PDP so long as it is fair and equitable and shows love and inclusiveness for every geo-political zone. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: NAN News

A bill for an Act to Establish Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Gwarzo, Kano State, for medical administration and for other related matters has passed second reading in the House of Representatives.

The bill introduced by Rep. Musa Garo (APC-Kano) on Wednesday had passed first reading in the plenary on March 24.

Leading the debate, Garo said the bill sought to provide a legal framework for the establishment of the centre to develop and offer health services for the needs of the members of his constituency and the state at large.

According to him, Gwarzo LocalGovernment Area in Kano State is in dire need of this proposed medical facility, saying that residents currently witness short fall in their medical needs.

The bill seeks to equip, maintain and operate the medical centre so as to provide facilities for diagnosis, curative and rehabilitative services.

To construct, equip, maintain and operate the centre with proper staff, technicians, doctors and nurses.

To operate such clinics, out-patient departments, laboratories, research or experimental stations like other institutions for the efficient functioning of the medical centre.

To provide the general policies and guidelines relating to major expansion programmes of the medical centre and provide facilities for the training of medical students of associate institutions, he said.

Garo said if established, it would not only bridge the gap in the non-existence of health institutions in Gwarzo, but would also provide neighbouring states with health security.

The lawmaker therefore urged the house to consider it crucial and imperative for the bill to be considered for second reading.

In his ruling, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Rep. Ahmed Wase (APC-Plateau) referred the bill to the relevant committees in the house for further legislative actions.

Source: NAN News

By Salisu Sani-Idris

An Islamic organisation, Nurul Yaqeen Islamic Foundation, has distributed food items worth N7.5 million to over 1,000 needy widows, the less privileged and vulnerable groups in the nations capital.

Briefing newsmen at the venue of the distribution of the items on Wednesday, in Abuja, Director of the foundation, Imam Yahya Al-Yolawi, said it was meant to alleviate the sufferings of the poor during the breaking of their fast.

He added that the objective of the gesture was to put smiles on the faces of the less privileged most especially in this trying moment occasioned by hard economic realities.

According to him, many Muslims who fast think of what to eat or drink during breakfast.

The motive is also to teach other Muslims to give more charity to the poor in this Holy month of Ramadan.

When we give more charity it will go a long way in helping others and reduce the crime rate in the society. Like the saying goes, a hungry man is an angry person.

The current security challenges facing the country has to do with poverty and hunger. If somebody doesnt have what to eat, he can easily cause chaos.

A hungry man can be used to create trouble and social unrest in the society, he said.

Also, the Chairman, Federal Capital Territory, League of Imams, Sheikh Tajudeen Adigun, said providing food for the needy was one of the teachings of the noble Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon) that should be emulated.

To the wealthy, Allah had given them a key to paradise by assisting those in need. Allah did not create us equally, financially some are more buoyant than others.

Its Allahs decree that some are going to be rich and some are going to be poor and that is why Islam encourages all the time that those who have should give those who are lacking.

So, I will encourage those who are rich to use the key in their positions to open paradise to themselves by feeding those who are lacking.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Malam Abdulrafiu Salisu, a cleaner, thanked the leadership of the foundation and those who had contributed directly or indirectly to ensure that the food items were shared for them. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: NAN News

By Oluwafunke Ishola

The International Facility Management Association of Nigeria says assent of the National Public Buildings Maintenance Policy will positively impact the sustainability of governments infrastructure projects.

The President of the Chapter, Mr Segun Adebayo, said this in a statement on Monday in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Muhammadu Buhari on April 6 assented the Executive Order 11 on National Public Buildings Maintenance Policy.

The executive order now ties maintenance of the Federal Government owned buildings directly to the economy and would ensure that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), operate a functional maintenance department.

It also prescribed that they make necessary procurement in line with the responsibilities.

Adebayo, who commended the government for the assent, noted that the policy was long overdue as it would optimise the enormous investment in public infrastructure.

He said that with the action, the professional management and maintenance of governments assets was assured and guaranteed.

Our association is committed to collaborating with the Federal Government through the relevant ministry to provide required capacity building and knowledge development.

This is even as we earnestly look forward to the implementation of the provisions of the new order through the setting up of the maintenance department in MDAs.

As an association, we have been advocating the integration of sustainable practices into the built environment and this has started yielding the desired results, he said.

He also commended the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, for the feat, noting that his efforts in the ministry had yielded phenomenal results. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Funmilayo Adeyemi

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Sen. Jibrin Barau, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for establishing one of the three newly-approved Federal Polytechnics in Kano State.

Barau, who represents Kano North Senatorial District -APC, was reacting to the establishment of the newly-established polytechnics, in Abuja on Tuesday.

He expressed faith that the new Polytechnic would expand access to education for the people of the State.

The senator pledged the cooperation of the state government and people of the state with the Federal Government to ensure the smooth take-off of the new polytechnic in October.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government had in a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Education, Ben Goong, announced the approval of three new federal polytechnics by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The three federal polytechnics will be situated in Abia, Delta and Kano states.

The establishment of the new polytechnics was in line with Buharis determination to make tertiary education more accessible.

The new institutions, which will bring to 36, the number of Federal Polytechnics in the country, will commence academic activities in October 2022.

Source: NAN News