By Vivian Emoni

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the revised National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) and National Climate Change Programmes for the country.

A statement by Mr Saghir el Mohammed, Director of Press in the Ministry of Environment, said that the approval was given at the FEC meeting, on Wednesday, in Abuja.

Speaking on the development, the Minister of Environment, Dr Muhammad Abubakar, explained that the new Policy document captured updates of emerging issues in the sector that were not captured in the previous policy.

These, according to him, included the inclusion of the Paris Agreement, signed by Mr President in 2015, and Gender mainstreaming, which was very relevant to the national response to climate change.

The new National Policy on Climate Change, with its programmatic plan of action, is expected to run through 2021-2030.

The objective of the new policy is to implement mitigation measures and promote low-carbon, high-growth economic development.

It will also strengthen adaptation towards a sustainable climate resilient development pathway.

The National Climate Change programmes document complements the National Policy by identifying measures and actions.

The measures and actions will be implemented in a programmatic manner to address most, if not all, of the challenges posed by climate change and climate vulnerability in the country, the minister said.

The Minister thanked the President for approving the policy document and for his unparalleled commitment to climate change issues and concerns that earned him global recognition. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Stanley Nwanosike

The Progressive Students Movement (PSM), an NGO, has hailed the Senate for passing a bill seeking to end discrimination between HND and BSc holders in the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Senate, on Wednesday, read for the third time and passed the bill.

The bill seeks to end discrimination between first degrees graduates from universities and Higher National Diploma (HND) holders from polytechnics in the country both on cadre and point of entry to all private and government establishments.

The President of PSM, Mr Bestman Okereafor, told NAN on Wednesday in Enugu that the bill was a welcome development.

According to Okereafor, it is a step in the right direction that will help strengthen the polytechnic system and end rush for theoretical-based education.

PSM strongly believes the said bill will greatly serve as motivation and morale booster for polytechnic graduates across the federation.

We heartily congratulate all polytechnic students and graduates in Nigeria, he said.

On proposed scrapping of the National Youth Service Scheme, the boss of PSM, which is a pan-Africa students movement, however, advised the Federal Government not to consider the proposal.

NYSC remains a major bridge builder, which enhances and upholds national unity aimed at further developing our beloved country with well trained academic manpower, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Kingsley Okoye

The Senate has passed the bill establishing the National Institute for Border Studies, Imeko in Ogun.

This followed the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND at plenary on Wednesday.

Presenting the report, a member of the Committee, Sen. Ayo Akinyelure (PDP- Ondo),said the institution would produce graduates with practical and theoretical knowledge in border management to reduce risks and challenges of existential threats facing the country.

Establishing the institute will reduce the ills around national borders and de-escalating chances of entrenching heinous criminal activities being perpetrated by men of the underworld, he said.

The Senate also passed the Orthopedic Hospital Management Board Act 2004 amendment bill.

This followed the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary).
Presenting the report, Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Yahaya Oloriegbe (APC- Kwara ) said the country was plagued with poverty and high rate of diseases.

He said Orthopedics such as musculoskeletal disorders, spine disease, cancers, tumours and congenital defects were afflicting many Nigerians without adequate care.

Orthopedics is a specialised area of medicine concerned with the musculoskeletal system responsible for many important functions including joint replacements, fractures, joint pains, sports injuries, arthritis and other injuries and conditions, Oloriegbe said.

He said that locating the Federal Orthopedic Hospital in Kuta, Niger, would ensure that healthcare got closer to residents of densely populated urban and rural communities at reduced costs.

The hospital will provide services like diagnosis and treatment from traumatic events such as accidental falls, car accidents, sports injuries and other emergencies. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ibrahim Kado

The North East centre of the National Assembly on the review of the 1999 Constitution in Yola, says it received 40 memoranda from groups and associations for consideration.

Rep. Mohammed Monguno, Chief Whip, House of Representatives and Chairman of the Centre, said this when he spoke with newsmen at the end of the two day public hearing on Wednesday in Yola.

He assured that all memoranda would be submitted for consideration at the review of the constitution.

As representatives of the people, we assure all Nigerians that we are going to listen to them.

Whatever we are to submit to the generality of the house is going to be a replica of their wishes and aspirations of stakeholders we met in the cause of this public hearing.

We assure you on behalf of the National Assembly that all opinions expressed here will be looked into and at the end of the day, as much as possible will be reflected in the report we are going to submit for subsequent considerations by the various State Houses of Assembly, he said.

Monguno said the national assembly would amend the constitution based on the wishes and aspirations of the people as well as current realities in the country.

The constitution being an organic document is supposed to be changed in consonance with changing times so that it will reflect wishes and aspirations of the people, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the memoranda submitted included those containing request for states and local government creation as well demands for local government autonomy among others. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ismaila Chafe

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the sum of N9.2billion as premium to insurance companies that will manage the group life insurance for federal civil servants in the country.

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed revealed this when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the Council meeting which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said: On behalf of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, I will like to report that council today approved the award of contract for the appointment of insurance companies for group life assurance for federal government employees, public servants, para-military and the intelligence community for the year 2021-2022 in the sum of N9, 248. 995, 907.

This premium is for a period of 12 months.

This is part of the governments welfare programme for our public employees so that in case of death, they are assured that there would be compensation.

The minister revealed that the council also approved N18.1billion for development of infrastructure and Kano and Calabar Free Trade Zones, as well as the Textile and Garment Park in Lagos and the Special Economic Zone, LekkiLagos.

Mohammed said the approval was of critical importance to the infrastructure development plan of the country.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, who also addressed the correspondents on the outcome of the FEC meeting, said she presented the first quarter of 2021 GDP results and other performance indicators of the Nigerian economy to the Council.

According to her, the estimates and report show that Nigerian GDP has grown to 0.51% year-on-year in real terms in the First Quarter of 2021.

The minister revealed that the agricultural sector posted a strong growth at the rate of 2.28 per cent in the first quarter of 2021, compared to previous quarters.

Also, there is a further illustration that the slow, but gradual recovery process is indicative of the fact that business operations are returning to normal and that restrictions of movements and commercial activities have been relaxed after extended close-down in the year 2020.

Also, the agricultural sector posted a strong growth at the rate of 2.28 per cent in the first quarter of 2021, compared to previous quarters. This growth in agriculture signifies the resilience of the agricultural sector.

Also, the industry sector has recorded positive growth, even though a weak one, but the growth is a positive one and this marks the past quarter of growth over the past one year in the industry sector.

Services recorded a slight dip, but a small one at 0.39 per cent.

In addition to the economic activities and the reopening our businesses, growth was also boosted, in fact by increase in crude oil prices as well as increase in production in the first quarter of 2020.

We have seen this positive growth being contributed by not just the oil sector, but also by economic activities within the metal sector, the cement sector, electricity, telecommunications, food and beverages as well as human health and social services, she said.

The minister, however, stated that some sectors had recorded negative growth, saying such sectors included quarrying and other minerals, oil refinery, road transport, air transport, rail transport, education, as well as hospitality sectors.

On inflationary trends, Ahmed noted that throughout 2020 airline inflation had maintained an upward trend.

The minister also maintained that prices of food items might not come down as fast as the other aspects of inflation.

She said: For the first time in 19 months, inflation has shown a slight dip. Its a very slight dip, but its a positive point for us, we had indicated that our projection is that inflation will begin to flatten in the month of April 2021 and this is an indication.

So, subsequent periods we are looking at inflation beginning to trend downwards. Food inflation will not come down as fast as the other aspects of inflation.

But it is important to also see that the rate of food inflation also showed a slight dip and the rise in food index, which you will see if you check the detailed report, is driven by foods such as coffee, tea, cocoa, breads, cereals, soft drinks, milk, cheese, not basic food items like rice, maize and millet.

So this is what we reported to Council today.

The Minister of Environment, Alhaji Muhammed Mahmud, told the correspondents that the Council approved a revised national policy on climate change.

According to him, the revised policy is aimed at a Nigeria that is sustainable environmentally.

Its implementation strategy is to be all encompassing. We have met with several MDAs, agencies and civil society organisations and even the media because this is something that requires all hands on deck as we are all potential polluters of environment causing climate change.

Eventually and ultimately the objective is to help Nigeria that is climate resilient and also gender sensitive in the future and that is the vision of this policy intellectuals because the world is moving towards carbon neutrality.

It is assumed that by the year 2015, we should have carbon neutrality.

Now is the time to get prepared for that so that is what the policy is all about to drive towards a Nigeria that is sustainable environmentally, he added. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ibironke Ariyo

The Women, Youth, Children and Crime Organisation, a non-governmental organisation, has solicited the support of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in checking drug abuse and trafficking.

Dr Farida Waziri, the founder of the organisation, made the plea during a courtesy visit to the NDLEAs headquarters on Wednesday in Abuja.

Waziri, a former EFCC boss, said the spectacular achievements of the NDLEA in the past four months were commendable.

It is incredible and commendable the way the chairman, retired Brig.- Gen. Buba Marwa, had transformed NDLEA and the war against drug abuse and trafficking.

We marvel at the intelligence, the ethos and the strategies driving the new NDLEA.

In the organisation, we appreciate these efforts and also find areas of interest in the wave of new development at NDLEA.

The first is the agencys advocacy drive, an area that could be of mutual benefit for NDLEA and one of our initiatives, Concerned Nigerian Women Against Drug Abuse.

The new leadership at NDLEA has challenged the society to rise against drug abuse and many groups and organisations have since hearkened to the call.

We do not want to be left behind; the organisation has interest in curbing drug abuse.

We have plans to organise a tell- your-story event to coincide with the 2021 International Day Against Drug Abuse.

The event intends to feature individuals such as reformed drug addicts, parents, children and young adults to give accounts of their past experiences with drug abuse.

We are ready to partner with NDLEA, because with the 2023 general elections approaching, the time is almost upon us, she said.

Responding, Marwa commended Waziri for setting up the organisation.

Marwa said that the country is facing drug abuse challenge.

We have stated and we still stand on it to conduct drug test for politicians, students and other government officials.

You cannot entrust the lives and property of Nigerians in the hands of people whose heads are not straight because of the use of drugs.

I want to use the opportunity to say that the mandate is on all Nigerians to face this challenge.

I want to also urge the organisation to adress stigmatisation issue, especially against women who have drug problem, knowing that they need help but because of the fear of stigmatisation.

Equally, parenting is very important. It has to start from the primary level. I am confident that we will soon get the better out of the scourge in the country he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Kingsley Okoye

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has congratulated Mustapha Isa on his re-election as President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).

Lawan said this in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Ola Awoniyi in Abuja on Wednesday .

He also congratulated other members of the executives of the guild who were either elected or re-elected on Tuesday by their fellow editors.

The peaceful and orderly manner of the elections are a good example of how professional bodies should conduct their affairs.

You therefore deserve plaudits for living up to the high expectations that society has of you as leaders of the fourth estate of the realm.

In that light, I enjoin you to always consider the higher national interest of unity, peace, justice and progress as you discharge your critical role of gate keeping in your various media organisations.

The Nigerian media have come a long way, therefore the editors cannot afford to fail in their responsibilities to the nation in this critical period of our national development, Lawan said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Emmanuella Anokam
The National Boundary Commission (NBC) says only boundaries of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are captured and properly defined in the Nigerian constitution.

The Director-General of the commission, Mr Adamu Adaji, disclosed this in Abuja at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum.

Adaji said that the boundaries of FCT-Kaduna, FCT-Niger, FCT-Kogi and FCT-Nasarawa were clearly defined in the constitution.

According to him, all other boundaries rely on documents which the commission got as per when they were division provinces which the commission tries to interpret.

But for others, we have tried using documents from archives with the Federal Government pronouncement and the cooperation of the state boundary committees to resolve them.

He disclosed that the commission had 86 interstate boundary disputes and had been able to resolve about 30 .

The director-general explained that some of these resolutions may not be wholly because some substantial part of it may have been resolved but there may be small segment still considered as grey areas that needed to be revisited.

He added that others being intervened on were not problematic in terms of no issues of crisis or fight but were only waiting to be properly defined and demarcated.

The cases of Kastina -Jigawa and Kano-Kastina boundaries have been resolved including few others which we intend to commence demarcation but few others are still pending, he noted.

In the case of international boundaries, he said that Nigeria-Benin Republic still had some grey areas and was still being attended to, while it was focused on making that of Nigeria-Niger boundary visible.

The Nigeria-Niger boundary is not all that contentious, we are trying to make it more visible by replacing those colonial pillars that are not up to standards with standard ones and introduce more intermediate ones.

We are cooperating very well under the auspices of the commission and its sister counterpart, the Niger Boundary Commission.

In the case of Nigeria-Cameroun boundary, we have gone far and have replaced 1,500 pillars so far trying to make the boundary more definitive and visible.

They are being handled in phases, comprising of Lots, we just concluded Lot five just last week.

It is remaining Lot six to be awarded by UN of which under its auspices, called Nigeria-Cameroon Mixed Commission the boundary is being managed, he said.

He, however, noted that there was a trust fund provided for the management and definition of the boundary being used to fund the contracts and placement of pillars.

According to him, the commission just concluded the replacement of over 300 pillars in the Lot five, and is making steady progress.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ikenna Uwadileke
The National Boundary Commission (NBC) says it is currently intervening in 86 interstate boundary disputes with the determination to create a peaceful atmosphere within the boundary corridors.

The Director-General of the Commission, Mr Adamu Adaji, made this known at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.

Adaji reiterated the commissions commitment to ensure a peaceful boundary regime among communities, states and between Nigeria and its neighbouring countries.

We have been intervening in them and we can say we have been able to resolve about 30 of these cases though in some cases not fully.

The resolutions may be partly, some grey areas are still pending and we will look into them as we make progress.

There are so many other boundaries that are still in dispute and we are trying our best to ensure that these disputes are reduced to the barest minimum by trying to resolve them as quickly as possible, he said.

Adaji listed boundaries between Abia and Cross River, Abia and Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Ebonyi, Benue and Taraba, Benue and Ebony, Ebonyi and Enugu, Anambra and Kogi, Anambra and Enugu, Anambra and Abia as flashpoints.

Some of them, we have made some progress and we are trying the much we can to see that these boundaries are resolved as quickly as possible.

We want to have peaceful boundary regime among the communities, states and good relationship between Nigeria and her neighbours.

We want people to nurture this idea of peaceful coexistence and appreciate what boundaries are meant for, he said.

While disclosing the commissions efforts to show limits through its integrated boundary management system, Adaji emphasised the need to demarcate the boundaries physically on ground to become visible.

According to him, definition and demarcation of these boundaries physically on ground is important so that it can be very visible.

Our vision is to ensure we have a very peaceful boundary regime to have people appreciating boundaries for what they are; there are near administrative arrangement to show limits.

Over the years, we have been trying to define these boundaries in such a way that it can be understood but for people to appreciate it properly, it has to be physically established on ground.

We have an integrated system of management of these boundaries and at the Federal level is the National Boundary Commission, boundary committees at the state and local government levels to determining the local government boundaries.

They should work in synergy towards establishing and determining our boundaries and resolving all boundary issues that may arise.

The states have been cooperating so far but not without some obstacles.

There are some uncooperative attitudes from time to time occasioned by the communities resistance to some of our activities because of their wrong perceptions of what boundaries really should be.

So, we try as much as possible to sensitise these communities through the state boundary committees and local government boundary committees for them to buy into our activities and appreciate the extent and essence of boundaries generally, he said.

Adaji said that the commission relied on instruments inherited from the colonial masters, records, gazettes, treaties, agreements, maps, chats, inscriptions among others to define the boundaries.

Where some of these instruments are deficient, we resort to the principle of ground to paper.

It is a principle we had to create whereby we go on ground and rely on the communities and the states to show us what is agreeable.

We take it from the ground and transfer it to paper, try to make recommendations, analysis and description for government to accept as a boundary between affected communities and states as the case may be, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Emmanuella Anokam
The National Boundary Commission (NBC) has called for synergy between the commission and the three tiers of government for effective resolution of boundary disputes across the country.

The Director-General of the commission, Mr Adamu Adaji, made the call in Abuja at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum.

Adaji said that the synergy was necessary to carry them along in the commissions activities and for them to acknowledge their roles at the national and state levels to avert crisis through timely resolution of boundary issues.

He said that the commission usually organised a zonal interactive session with the state boundary committees nationwide[g1] , adding that the sessions were very helpful as a result of ideas shared and suggestions made.

Adaji, who will soon mark one year in office, said he did not see his assumption of office as the D-G as different from his normal official work engagements, adding that he imbibed the policy of continuity.

There were some things I helped my predecessors to do when I was heading departments and I wish to commend them because they cooperated and gave me free hands and support.

Being at the helm of affairs, I immediately sought for the buy-in of states on our activities to distinguished the roles expected at the national boundary commission and state boundary committees, hence the zonal interactive session, he said.

He said that the committee had engaged in many activities including resolution of boundaries between countries and demarcation of several resolved boundaries as well as laying of pillars in some states.

The NBC boss said that boundary activities required a lot of finances, although the Federal Government had its priority lists which required considerable in funding.

It is not everything we want that will be given at once but we have had improvement in our financing; we can do with more.

We make estimates and government gives us assistance on funding based on availability of fund.

The Federal Government gives issues of boundary priority because boundary issues are security issues and the earlier we get the boundaries issues resolved and demarcated, it will prevent disputes fully.

We try to create a good trans-border cooperation with these communities in terms of management of these boundaries.

So, some of the boundaries are in the stages of management, stages of disputes resolution and physically definition and we try to be proactive while engaging the communities to prevent disputes, he said.

Speaking on how long it takes to resolve a typical boundary disputes, Adaji said that it involved cooperation, funding and some due processes which usually took a while.

We will firstly converge a joint meeting of officials to be held in one of the states affected for the affected states to air their views.

The processes to follow will be agreed at such meetings, followed by the task of searching of documents which is done in collaboration with the states involved.

These documents will be articulated and submitted to the commission.

Then the commission will call for a meeting whereby the documents are jointly scrutinised and studied for us to identify relevant documents to be packaged to the team of surveyors, geographers, lawyers and others because the commission is a multi-disciplinary agency.

These documents will be given to technical experts, who will interpret them first on available maps, then go on ground to test the documents physically after that; a roundtable for discussion and presentation of evidences will be held.

After that, we will report to the internal boundary trial committee, a statutory committee of the commission headed by the minister of works, as the chairman where the outcome of field investigations will be presented.

The surveyors sometimes will go back into the field to obtain more data if there are grey areas. And if one state fails to honour it, the work will be delayed, it may spill over to many years thereby truncating the process, he said.

The D-G said that inadequate funding for a particular period, insecurity and other factors might slow down boundary resolution process.

One cannot say how long a case may stay because of the processes involved but if it is going smoothly, it would be resolved in good time, the D-G said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News