By Martha Agas

Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau, has said that the state Govt. has sacked 532 workers, over falsified documents following findings of investigation of a committee, on the verification and audit of staff strength.

The governor made the disclosure at the closing ceremony of Policy Retreat for the state Permanent Secetaries, on Tuesday at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies(NIPSS), Kuru near Jos.

He said that the huge manpower gaps that exist in the Plateau State civil service,would be addressed at end of committees asignment.

Already, about 532 names have been removed from Government payroll after an investigation using the Bank Verification Number (BVN) system, revealed inconsistencies in their records.

Some had falsified their ages or tampered with their records. Others could not appear to answer queries on such records.

We shall ensure that all of them are properly investigated and made to face appropriate sanctions. This exercise will be a continuous one, he said.

He said the retreat was organised to build the capacity of Permanent Secetaries, because they occupied a unique and critical role in administration, and to ensure their diligence as leaders of the workforce.

It is in realization of the fact that you need to invigorate your capacity for creativity, productivity and also strengthen ability for effective and robust service delivery, that I approved for this policy retreat to hold,

He said in order for them to effectively carry out their responsibility, their skills and competencies must be updated for understanding and managing change, reforms and new thinking, to align with the ethical values of the state governments vision.

This policy retreat was also carefully planned to expand your horizon through strategic thinking, improved competencies, and development of innovative ways, especially in this era of COVID-19 where many things have been affected.

We are today facing continuous decline in revenue from Federal Accounts Allocation Committee, which makes it very necessary to generate more revenue internally to meet the yearnings of the people.

This means that we must prioritise spending on areas that will yield revenues in all our Ministries Department and Agencies, and also block leakages in the system.

You have a very crucial role to play in this regard and you cannot afford to fail, he said.

He urged the participants to be proficient in Information Communication and Technology (ICT), while also mentoring all civil servants in utilizing ICT for carrying out their day-to-day schedules.

The governor said his administration was committed to training civil servants to facilitate update of their ICT skills, saying it would facilitate the implementation of e-governance.

He warned that he would not tolerate promotion of ethnicity, religion or politicising the civil service, pointing out that the act could ruin governance, truncate service delivery, professionalism and competence.

Lalong said that the state government would build a more robust relationship with the organised labour, to ensure that the existing industrial harmony is fortified.

Earlier in his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Jos Business School, Dr. Ezekiel Gomos, said the two day training comprised building their capacities on leadership imperatives and ethical issues.

Gomos, who is also the chairman, Plateau State Economic Advisory Council, said top government officials shared with participants, tools and skills such as public financial management strategies, and procuremet laws and processes.
to make them more effective as permanent secetaries.

In his remarks, the Head of the state civil service, Mr Sunday Hyat, said that Permanent Secetaries play vital role in the implementation of policies.

Hyat said the responsibility required continous update of skills and competencies on policy and programme implementation, to discharge the responsibility effectively.

He charged them to improve service delivery in their various Ministries, Departments and Agencies , to align with ethical values and policy thrust of the state government.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Chukwuemeka Opara

Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi has donated N5 million to victims of suspected gunmen attacks in a Benue village inhabited mainly by Izzi natives from Ebonyi.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that suspected gunmen on May 30 attacked the Nwori-Ndi Obasi Village in Ado Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue.

The attack, which left some persons dead and many wounded, was stopped from spilling over to the neighbouring Okwofuruike and Odoke Villages of Ebonyi LGA by a combined team of security agencies and Ebubeagu security outfit.

Umahi made the donation on Tuesday, while commiserating with the wounded victims, who were still receiving treatment at the Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.

He said the government had set up a committee, headed by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Chief Francis Nwifuru, to ensure adequate care for the victims.

The committee will ensure adequate feeding of the wounded persons and those displaced during the attack, including medical expenses and shelter.

I have directed the hospitals Chief Medical Director to do everything possible to stabilise and treat all the victims.

They will not leave the state in a hurry as we will ensure adequate security before they return to their homes, the governor said.

He urged the Benue Government to form a replica of the Ebubeagu security outfit to protect the people, saying that Ebonyi Government would be forced to do so, if Benue failed.

These are Ebonyi people paying their taxes in Benue and should not be abandoned.

We cannot ask security agencies from Ebonyi to protect the people in Benue but we will deploy our youths and the indigenes to protect them.

I want to restate that the incident did not occur in Ebonyi or within the buffer zone of the boundary with Benue.

The incident affected Ebonyi indigenes living in Benue for over 100 years and if they wish to belong to Ebonyi, the Benue people should allow them, Umahi said.

He described the attack as barbaric, saying it should be condemned by well-meaning Nigerians. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ikenna Osuoha

Mrs Florence Adeyemi, a septuagenarian and nutritionist, on Tuesday, urged older people to take milk to prevent osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is a medical condition in which bones become weak and stiff as the body constantly absorbs
and replaces bone tissue.

She made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on the occasion of World Milk
Day (WMD).

The Day is annually celebrated on June 1 around the globe to raise awareness about the importance of milk to healthy living.

It is also aimed at publicising activities connected with milk and the milk industry and this years theme and focus
is: sustainability in the dairy sector with messages on nutrition.

The nutritionist, therefore, urged older people to see milk as essential dairy required to keep healthy and stronger
bones necessary for longer life.

She added that milk is a good source of vitamin D and calcium, which older adults need to maintain bone strength, preserve muscle strength and prevent osteoporosis.

For some elderly persons, milk means more than nutrition. It has the potential to provide comfort in their old age otherwise called golden years.

Adeyemi, who described old age as a blessing, said milk was imperative in the nutritional maintenance of bones for elderly persons.

She emphasised the need for older persons to continue to eat right to enjoy their old age.

The nutritionist, who affirmed the medical benefits of milk to older persons, called on them to develop the habit of taking milk.

She said that some older persons who have no financial ability to afford the dairy required for calcium, needed government to help them with monthly stipends as done in other climes. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ginika Okoye

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has solicited the support of the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in recovering the landed properties of banks in liquidation with the territory.

A statement by Mr Bashir Nuhu, the Director, Communication and Public Affairs Department of the Corporation disclosed this on Tuesday.

Nuhu said the Chairman of the NDIC Board of Directors, Mrs Ronke Sokefun, made the appeal when the management of the board visited Malam Mohammed Bello, the FCT Minister in Abuja.

The statement quoted Sokefun, as saying that, the move was to enable the corporation to pay depositors of affected closed banks.

She said the corporation had faced bottlenecks in the full payment of trapped depositors funds as a result of the difficulty in recovering assets of banks in-liquidation.

According to her, the difficulties are due to poor documentation by the banks, revocation of title by authorities and litigations over the assets.

Some of these assets are located in the FCT so, the support of the Ministry in realising the properties would assist the corporation in the discharge of its mandate of deposit guarantee, she said.

It also quoted the Managing Director of the corporation, Mr Bello Hassan, as highlighting the roles of the NDIC and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in the management of banks assets.

Hassan said the NDIC as a liquidator focused on the assets of closed banks following revocation of their licences by the CBN while AMCON was involved with Non-Performing Loans of an existing bank.

The Minister, according to Nuhu, said the ministry was willing to assist the corporation in resolving issues around its properties and those of banks in-liquidation within the ambit of the law. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ijeoma Okigbo

Nigerias Ijeoma Okigbo has been selected as a participant in the maiden International Cricket Council (ICC) 100 per cent Cricket Future Leaders Programme.

Okigbo, ajournalist with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), was selected under the umbrella of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), an associate member of the ICC.

Musa Ehizoje, the NCF Public Relations Officer, disclosed this in statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said Okigbo, who is the founder of Girls Aspire Sports Initiative, an NGO, was recognised forusing cricket as a medium of empowering the Girl Child.

The journalist, alongside 39 other women across the globe, will be mentored on various leadership positions in cricket.

Forty women from 29 ICC member countries have been selected to be mentored as part of the ICC 100 per cent Cricket Future Leaders programme, designed to support emerging female talents in Cricket.

The programme which is part of the ICC long-term commitment to accelerate the growth of Womens Cricket and Women in Cricket, received an overwhelming response of over 300 applicants from 45 different countries.

The initial intake will be split into two batches and the programme, which is designed to address the low percentage of women in leadership positions in global Cricket.

It will build a pipeline of new female leaders in Cricket, the statement added.

Okigbo has been selected in batch 2 for this programme which is expected to kick off in November 2021.

Meanwhile, Girls Aspire, also won the ICC Best Female Cricket Initiative Award for Africa in 2020. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Zambia has approved five COVID-19 vaccines to be administered on citizens as a preventive measure against the pandemic, a government official said on Tuesday.

The vaccines include Chinas Sinopharm, Johnson

By Felicia Imohimi

In commemoration of the World Milk Day, the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) has called for the genetic improvement of indigenous cows to increase milk production.

The association made the call in a statement signed by it spokesperson, Dr Gloria Daminabo, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, in Abuja.

NAN reports that World Milk Day is commemorated annually on June 1 and the theme for 2021 is:
Sustainability in the Dairy Sector along with empowering the environment, nutrition and socio-economic growth.

It noted that Nigeria had the required resources, a large cattle population, large market for dairy products, farmers, adequate veterinarians and other experts, to improve the sector.

The association, however, decried the challenges faced by the dairy sector in the country ranging from poor production practices, low milk producing indigenous breeds and inadequate policies, accounting for the sectors underdevelopment.

It is important that these key production challenges be addressed to increase domestic milk production in sustainable ways.

There is also a critical need to engage veterinarians and other experts to successfully achieve this.

We need to do more in a partnership between the Federal, State governments and other value chain stakeholders to rapidly improve the dairy sector, the association said.

It assured of its continuous advocacy, professional roles and collaboration with all relevant stakeholders to promote sustainability in the sector, so as to combat food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty.

NAN reports that since 2000, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) set aside June 1 as an annual World Milk Day, to celebrate the dairy sector and highlight the importance of milk products as a global food.

The main objective of the day was to make people aware of the importance of milk and dairy products in their lives.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

By George Odok
Speaker of Cross River House of Assembly Eteng Jonah-Williams has said that Gov. Ben Ayade was not respected and honoured by the hierarchy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Jonah-Williams, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Calabar, said that Ayades defection from the PDP to the APC was timely.

The Speaker, who represent Yakurr II State Constiturncy in the Assembly, told NAN that out of the 25 House of Assembly members in the state, APC has 18, while the PDP has seven.

Before the governor took the decision, he consulted widely and majority of the people told him that he needed to move to the APC.

While in PDP, the governor was not respected and given the honour he deserved by the hierarchy of the PDP as the leader of the party in the state.

So, there was need for him to move. The Governor has also stated clearly that he needed to align the state with the happenings in the centre for the interest of the state.

Cross River is known for always playing politics with the centre. Since 1999, former Governors Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke all played politics from the centre.

Ayade is the only governor from the state who has played opposition for six years now and he feels it is time to align with the centre for the benefit of the state, he said.

He recalled that during the last ward and chapter congresses of PDP in the state, the PDP national had to recognise a list of executive members who did not even contest for the positions at the ward and chapter level.

He said that such marginalisation of key stakeholders in the state by the PDP also informed their decision to defect with the governor to the APC.

As Speaker of Cross River House of Assembly, the ward list from my political ward that I have been winning elections with was neglected and a new list was constituted with members that I do not even know and nobody consulted me, he said.

According to the Speaker, the remaining two years period of Ayade will attract the needed development from the centre into the state.

He gave assurance that APC will win all the elective positions in the state in the 2023 general elections in view of the governors defection to the ruling party.

The Superhighway and the Deep Seaport will now be given utmost attention by the Federal Government and other things will also fall in place as well.

Gov. Ayade has spent six years in office, I will advice him to consolidate on the gains of his industrial revolution in the state by completing the projects and privatising them for the future.

The House of Assembly wants the industries that were initiated by Gov. Ayade to live beyond this administration.

On road infrastructure, I want to specially commend the governor on the construction of the Mfom-Obanliku dual carriageway and the ongoing East-West road in Boki local government area, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Solomon Asowata

Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has reiterated that prepaid meters are free under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP).

Mr Godwin Idemudia, General Manager, Corporate Communications, EKEDC in a statement issued on Tuesday in Lagos, advised customers to report any individual that demands any form of payment or gratification for meters.

Idemudia said the DisCo had received reports that some individuals had been demanding for payments for the acquisition of prepaid meters under NMMP.

We appeal to customers to report all cases of demand for money for the acquisition of prepaid meters to enable us investigate and ensure such staff faces the full extent of the law and serve as deterrent for other erring staff.

Meters are absolutely free and should not be paid for under the NMMP. Please report to us via our whistleblowing email- [email protected] or via our website-, he said.

Idemudia also noted that EKEDC would not tolerate any form of extortion, stressing that any customer who experiences such an act should immediately report to the company for necessary investigation and disciplinary action.

We have a robust process to enable us investigate and sanction any staff who is fingered in any act of extorting customers under the guise of offering a helping hand.

It is our duty to serve our customers and all payments should be made through our official channels, he said.

Idemudia assured customers who were yet to benefit from the mass metering programme to be patient as the company has ramped up its metering roll-out.

He also advised customers that were yet to apply to do so on the companys website viato get metered immediately without any charge.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government had on Oct. 30, 2020 inaugurated NMMP.

The programme is aimed at meeting the target of closing the metering gap in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry by December 2021.

It would assist in reducing collection losses, while at the same time increasing financial flows to achieve 100 per cent market remittance obligation of the DisCos.

NAN also reports that part of the objectives of the company, also include the elimination of arbitrary estimated billing, improving network monitoring capability, and provision of data for market administration and investment decision-making. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has charged the nations security and intelligence agencies to expedite efforts towards the recovery of the 200 children kidnapped from an Islamic school in Niger.

The president gave the order in a statement issued by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Monday.

According to the presidential aide, the president, who received briefing on the latest incident of school kidnapping, condemned the incident.

He urged all the agencies involved in the rescue operation to do their utmost in securing their immediate release.

He also directed that the concerned government agencies to extend possible support to the families of the kidnapped children.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Police Command in Niger had on Sunday confirmed the abduction of school children and some residents of Tegina in Rafi Local Government Area of the state.

Mr Adamu Usman, the Commissioner of Police in the state told NAN in Minna that the children were abducted from Salihu Tanko Islamiya School.

He also confirmed that the abductors killed one person in the process.

He explained that the incident occurred at about 3 p.m. when a large number of bandits on motorcycles attacked the town. (NAN)

Source: NAN News