By Rukayat Adeyemi

The Managing Director, Family Homes Fund (FHF), Mr Femi Adewole, says the company is perfecting the necessary agreement to kickstart the Federal Government National Social Housing Programme (NSHP).

Adewole disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos on the sidelines of the inaugural Technical Committee meeting on Real Estate Regulation in Lagos.

The NSHP is the housing component of the President Muhammadu Buhari Economic Sustainability Plan to deliver affordable housing and millions of jobs for Nigerians.

Adewole told NAN that the enabling agreement to ensure the commencement of the programme had reached an advanced stage.

We expect that by the end of the week all the necessary enabling agreement for us to start funding the programme will have been completed .

You can expect to see a very accelerated start with a number of housing projects across all regions of the country .

The projects are already there, we have worked on them and know where they are, we are just awaiting funding, he said.

Adewole said the FHF was currently working with the state governments on the projects and would deliver 14,000 houses in the first tranche.

Adewole disclosed that 26 states across the federation had donated 2,500 hectares of land for the project.

He added that new states were embracing the scheme on daily basis.

We have had tremendous support in all of the states of the federation and have not had any state that hasnt keyed into the programme.

For some, it takes longer time because of their own internal process but we have had absolute commitment from all the 36 states of the federation .

Adewole promised that Nigerians earning as low as N30,000 which was the minimum wage would benefit from the programme as planned .

The NSHP will allow you own a home, as an individual or part of a cooperative with as low as two million naira only.

The programme is targeted at providing 300,000 low-income houses and creating 1.8 million jobs in the process across various geo-political zones of the country by 2024.

FHF has been appointed as the implementing agency to achieve these goals and had partnered with developers and direct financial institution that met its strategic objective. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Appointment

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the take-off of the National Senior Citizens Centre with Dr Emem Omokaro as Director-General and 12 members with immediate effect.

Malam Garba Shehu, the Presidents Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, confirmed this in a statement in Abuja on Monday.

According to the presidential aide, the approval is in line with Section 16 (2) (d) of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution as amended, which mandates the state to provide adequate social services and improve the quality of life of the elderly.

The National Senior Citizens Centre was passed into law as the National Senior Citizens Centre Act, 2017 to cater for the needs of senior citizens (70 years and above) in the country.

To realise this noble objective and ensure relevance and spread, persons of proven integrity from key ministries and organisations have been appointed into the centres Governing Board, Shehu added.

Consequently, he said the president had approved the appointment of retired AVM. M.A. Muhammad as Chairman of the Board, with Mansur Kuliya, representing the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development as member.

Dr Chris Osa Isokpunwu, representing Federal Ministry of Health; Mr Umar Abdullahi Utono, representing Federal Ministry of Works and Housing; and Dr John Olushola Magbadelo, representing Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity were also appointed as members.

Other members include: Mrs Bulus Friya Kimde, representing Federal Ministry of Women Affairs; Mr Sani Mustapha, representing Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) and Prof. Usman Ahmed, representing Geriatric Association of Nigeria.

Other members are Mrs Victoria Onu, representing Coalition of Societies for the Rights of Older Persons (CORSOPIN) and three other stakeholders namely Dr Dorothy Nwodo, Prof. Mohammed Namadi and Dr Emem Omokaro who also serves as Director General.

The president also approved the appointment of Ahmed Mustapha Habib as new Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to replace retired AVM Muhammad, now the Chairman of the National Senior Citizens Centre.

The appointments are for an initial period of four years, the statement revealed. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Suleiman Shehu

Suspected gunmen numbering about 12 on Sunday night invaded Alafia Estate in Orogun area of Ibadan, Oyo state, and carted away laptops, money and other valuables.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that the robbers were able to gain entry into the Estate through the recently dredged carnal linking Barika, Agbowo, and Orogun in Ibadan.

It was also reported that the robbers divided themselves into separate groups and simultaneously robbed Houses numbers 33, 31, 25 among others.

A resident of the area, who preferred anonymity told NAN that the robbers came with POS and collected ATM cards of the victims and their Personal Identification Numbers (PIN).

The source said that one victim in House 33 sustained machete cuts on his left hand while the wife was said to have been beaten with machete.

They forcefully gained entrance into their victims apartments, moving boastfully and daring the residents to come out if they were up to the task.

At house 31, where at least twelve flats were robbed, the robbers forced their victims to use the POS which they brought, but when transfer failed due to poor network, they obtained the PIN and went away with the ATM cards.

One of the victims who pleaded anonymity said, When they came, they jumped into our house and shot into the air.

They entered around 12:45 and left around 1:45am for other buildings after collecting money.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Adewale Osifeso, confirmed the incident to NAN on Monday in a text message.

Osifeso said that a pistol, three cutlasses and bag containing SIM cards and male undergarments were recovered from the robbers.

A distress call was received on the early hours of Monday, May 31, at about 0300 hours by residents of Alafia Estate, Ojoo area of Ibadan.

A team of operational and intelligence policemen were swiftly deployed to the area. On sighting the Police, the hoodlums fled the scene after they were thoroughly resisted.

In the process a pistol was recovered along with three cutlasses and a bag containing both male undergarments and SIM cards, Osifeso said.

The PPRO said that efforts are ongoing to apprehend the culprits as well as crackdown their criminal chain. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Abujah Racheal

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says one person has been discharged on Sunday after recovering from COVID-19, bringing the total number of discharged cases to 156,558.

The NCDC confirmed the new recovery in its latest update, via its official website on Sunday.

It also reported 30 new additional COVID-19 infections in three states.

The agency said that the country also reported zero death linked to the disease in the past 24 hours.

It said that while the case count had continued to creep down throughout the week, adding it is getting closer to dropping below 30.

The agency said that the new additional case count included 26 cases in Lagos, Rivers 3 and Kwara 1.

It added that a multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), activated at Level 2, continued to coordinate the national response activities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the country has conducted over two million tests since the first case relating to the disease was announced on Feb. 27, 2020.

Meanwhile, the agency has urged Nigerians to adhere to all non-pharmaceutical preventive measures of COVID-19, adding that it will help to curb the spread in Nigeria.

Wash your hands with soap under running water.

Wear your face mask properly. Maintain a distance of two meters from the person next to you, it advised. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says Juventus, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have paralysed themselves with their commitment toEuropean Super League (ESL) plans.

Nine of the 12 rebel clubs who signed up to the breakaway competition, announced in April, have withdrawn from the proposals amid a huge external backlash.

Juve, Real Madrid and Barca alone continue to pursue the idea, insisting football is facing an inevitable downfall without reform.

UEFA launched disciplinary proceedings against those three clubs last week after previously agreeingreintegration measures with the other nine, who apologised for their part in the plot.

Refuting the suggestion that the ongoing power struggle could cripple the European game, Ceferin said:They [the three rebel clubs] paralysed themselves with the approach they took.

Its strange to read press releases that the three clubs out of thousands of clubs think their idea will save football and nobody else likes it.

Ceferin could offer no update on the disciplinary case as the committee involved is an independent body.

But he also questioned why Juve, Real Madrid and Barca would commit to next seasons UEFA Champions League even while persisting with plans for an alternative competition.

For me what is strange is that you publish you are still part of the Super League and then you send a letter applying to play in the UEFA Champions League.

So, you are in Super League but play UEFA Champions League. Its quite hard to understand what they mean, Ceferin said.

They should call us, send us a letter, ask for a meeting. They just sent some press releases saying they want to have a dialogue. Its quite a strange approach.

Its really hard to understand what they want. If they say Super League exists and nobody prevents them from playing European Super League, the three of you can play your Super League.

But they say they want to play UEFA Champions League as well at the same time.

We are not afraid of those things. If the courts decide one way or another we have to be honest and work for football, which those clubs are not. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

China is relaxing its family policy and allowing couples to have up to three children in future.

The Politburo of the Communist Party decided at a meeting in Beijing on Monday that such optimization of birth policies would help improve the population structure, in the country.

The official Xinhua news agency reported that this was against the backdrop of the unexpectedly massive decline in the birth rate and the rapid ageing of Chinese society due to COVID.

The decision came just three weeks after the publication of the latest census, which showed the worlds most populous country being threatened to shrink in a few years.

Experts cited the decades-old one-child policy, which was only abolished in 2015, as well as the high costs of housing and education as reasons.

Many Chinese have also become accustomed to having only one child, they said.

In the past 10 years, Chinas population has grown by only 0.53 per cent annually to just over 1.4 billion people the slowest pace in decades.

The one-child policy that had been in place since 1979 was abolished in 2015 and replaced by a two-child policy.

However, the turnaround had only led to a slight increase in births in 2016. Since then, the number has fallen every year. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

By George Odok

Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River has sacked four Commissioners in his cabinet and five Special Advisers.

The sack is contained in a statement by Ayades Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Christian Ita, on Monday in Calabar.

The sacked are Mr Asu Okang, who was the Commissioner for Information and Mr Donatus Etim who headed the Ministry of Climate Change.

Others are Mrs Rita Ayim, who was the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Mr Mike Usibe who was the Commissioner for New Cities Dvelopment.

The affected special advisers are; Mr Leo Inyambe, who was the Special Adviser on Security, Mr John Etim, Oil Palm Development and Mr Orok Duke, Special Adviser on Callywood, Mr Victor Okon and Mr Agbiji Mbeh-Agbiji.

Consequently, they are hereby directed to return government properties and vehicles in their care with immediate effect to the Chief of Staff to the governor.

The governor thanked them for their services to the state and wishes them well in their future endeavours, he stated. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

ByIkennaUwadileke,NewsAgencyofNigeria(NAN)

Rep. Awaji Inombek Abiante, a member of the House of Representatives recently sponsored a bill proposing that the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) be scrapped.

The scheme was established in 1973 after the Nigerian Civil War, designed to promoteReconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation.

The scheme was also set up to bridge ethnic and religious divisions in the country and to foster the spirit of nationalism.

It was mandatory at the initial stage for all graduates of tertiary institutions, but the age was later pegged at 30 years, while holders of National Certificate in Education (NCE) were excluded.

In spite the objectives of the NYSC, many Nigerians think it is high time that the scheme was scrapped, arguing that it has lost its relevance.

Nodoubt,Abiantessuggestiontoscraptheschemeisreinforcingthatargument,

thatthe NYSCsobjectives ought to be reviewedorupdatedtofitthecurrent realitiesofmodernNigeria.

Abiante,inhisexplanatorymemorandumoftheproposal, gave reasonstheNYSC should be scrapped.

He noted that incessant killings due to insecurity and frequent rejection of corps members by some public and private agencies as some of the reasons.

Accordingtothelawmaker,ThebillseekstorepealSection315(5)(a)oftheConstitutionoftheFederalRepublicofNigeria,1999,(asamended)onthefollowinggrounds:

Incessantkillingsofinnocentcorpsmembersinsomepartsofthecountryduetobanditry,religiousextremism,andethnicviolence.

Publicandprivateagencies/departmentsarenolongerrecruitingableandqualifiedNigerianyouths.

Theyrelyheavilyontheavailabilityofcorpsmemberswhoarenotbeingwellremuneratedandgetdiscardedwithimpunityattheendoftheirserviceyear,withoutanyhopeofbeinggainfullyemployed.

Duetoinsecurityacrossthecountry,theNationalYouthServiceCorpsmanagementnowgivesconsiderationtopostingcorpsmemberstotheirgeopoliticalzone.

Availablerecordshowsthatin2011,sevencorpsmemberswerekilledduringthepost-electionviolencethateruptedinsomepartsofthecountryafterthepresidentialelection.

Despitetheseglaringproblems,thequestionastowhetherNYSChasoutliveditsusefulness is debatable.

AccordingtoMrsAutaPrecious,aparent,thesituationathandunderscoresthebeliefthatifnothingisdonedifferently,theNYSCwouldhaveachievedlessinunitingthenation,particularlyinrecenttimes.

Preciousqueriedtherationaleinpostingcorpsmemberstoplacesthatareunderheavysecuritythreats.

Accordingtoher,theschemewhichisdesignedtopromotenationalunityseemstohavelostitsobjective.

Doyounoticethatmanypeopledontwanttoserveinotherareasapartfromwheretheyareconversantwith?

ThesedaysyoucanschoolinAbujaandstillserveinthesamecitywhichwasneverthepracticeunlessinsomespecialcases.

NYSCwasdesignedtomovecorpsmemberstovariouspartsofthecountryoutsidetheirbasetounderstandandappreciateotherpeoplescultureandreligionandindoingsofosternationalunityandnationalintegration,shesaid.
MrsToluShalewa,ateacher,saidthattheschemeispromotingimmoralityamongsomecorpsmembersfollowingtheircontinuedrejectionbyprivateandgovernmentagencies.

Accordingtoher,thisimmoralityisheightenedbecausetheallowancetheyarepaidisnotenoughforhouserent,transportationandfeeding.

One of the corps members, Miss Olaedo Ugochukwu, urged the Federal Government to review and update the NYSC

UgochukwubelievesthatareviewedNYSCshouldfocusontrainingeverygraduateonself- defence,vocationalskillsandentrepreneurship.

Thismaybeforjustamonthortwoanditisimportanttoincreasecorpsmembersallowancesotheycanhavestart-upcapitalstoengageinmeaningfulventuresuponcompletionoftheservice.

Manygraduates, with start-up capitalwillbeginbusinesses anddevelopquickly,Ugochukwusaid.

Onthecontrary,MalamAbdulmajeedNuhu,acorpsmember,insiststhatNYSChasachieveditsobjectiveofpromotingnationalunity.

Theschemehasprovidedtheopportunityforalotofpeopletotraveltodifferentstatesandregionsandinteractedwithpeopleofdifferentethnicgroups.

Becauseofthisscheme,wehavelearnttounderstandotherpeopleswaysofdoingthings.

Though we dont celebrate it, but there are increasing inter ethnic marriages that one should have course to give credit to the NYSC.

IhavespentallmylifeintheWesternpartofNigeria,butafterbeingpostedtotheNorthfortheoneyearnationalservice,Ihavebeenabletotravelacrossdifferentstates.

Thishasprovidedaplatformtomeetandinteractwithvariouscalibreofpeoplefromvariousethnic groups,therebyexpandingmysocialnetwork.

WhatotherschemewillachievethisobjectiveifNYSCisscrapped,Nuhuqueried.

MsLoisJonathan,ajournalist,hailedNYCSscapacitytoexposeNigerianyouthstotheworkenvironment.

Alotofyouthswouldnothavehadanyworkexperienceifnotforthisscheme.

Beingpostedtodifferentplacesofprimaryassignmenthasmadethemmoreresponsible.

Theyareassigneddutiesandtheylearnworkethics,humanrelationshipanddisciplinewhichwillhelpthemevenafterservice.

NYSCisawayofempoweringtheyouthsaftergraduation.

Imagineaftergraduation,nojob,noworkexperience,noexposure,howcananaverageNigerianyouthcope?Buttheschemehasengagedtheseyouthsmeaningfullyforoneyear.

Theallowancemaynotbeenough,butsmartpeoplesavepartofit,gainworkexperience,exploreopportunitiesandexpandtheirnetworkduringtheperiod.

So,evenafterservice,theyhavewheretostartfrom,shesaid.

SheencouragedcorpsmemberstoexploretheskillacquisitionandentrepreneurdevelopmentschemeoftheNYSCtoempowerthemselves.

NYSChasitsflawsbutthebenefitsoutweighthem.Insteadofscrappingthescheme,theyshouldmodifyit,hestressed.

While most young Nigerians on social media appear to agree with Abiante, Youth and Sports Minister, Sunday Dares position is that the NYSC wont be scrapped.

TheNYSCschemeremainsoneofthegreatesttoolsfornationaldevelopmentforouryouths.ThecommitmentofthegovernmenttosustainingtheNYSCschemeremains.

Dynamicreformsandinitiativestowardscurrentrealitiesareongoing.Nigeriawillstandwithheryouths,Dare, whose ministry oversees the NYSC sharedonTwitter.

Similarly, Brig,-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, Director General of the NYSC says the scheme is critical to the unity of the country.

According to Ibrahim, the NYSC is not a waste of time, its relevance in integration and national cohesion must not be underestimated.

He said that the NYSC has been a useful tool for the socio-economic development of the country through the deployment of corps members outside their base.

Ibrahimaddedthatcorpsmemberscontributeinmanywaystothelivesofresidentsoftheirhostcommunities.

The bill to scrap the NYSC still has to go through two more readings in the Green Chamber and rounds of debates in the two chambers of the National Assembly.

The federal lawmakers should listen to the voices of Nigerians and do the needful. (NANFeatures)

Source: NAN News

By Emmanuel Afonne

The Centre for Research and Democratic Governance has expressed worry that the continuous zoning of the governorship seat in the Delta state is not paving the way for the best candidate to emerge.

Executive Director of the centre, Dr Akpesiri Eghwujovbo, said in a statement on Monday that only the party in power in the state had thrived on the foundations of zoning.

Eghwujovbo pointed out that zoning, going by the way the parties primary elections were conducted, is difficult to give the desired results.

Zoning as a concept often employed by many politicians in both its theoretical and practical categories, is a negative phenomenon that conveys the ideological notion of a hegemonic superstructure.

The very idea of zoning in Delta State therefore conflicts with its known assumed characterisation, as its content is attuned to the realisation of the objectives of a single individual.

It is never designed as a consensus of vested stakeholders who are equally more concerned for an upward mobile development of personnel and infrastructures of Delta State with Asaba as capital.

Construction of a maze of roads for the capital city as well as drainages which should naturally attract governmental intervention for a state capital that shares a similar geographical destiny with Lokoja, a city situated below the river level of the lower Niger, only began with the government of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

This obvious indifference to Asaba reflects the idiosyncratic attitude of what the zoning agenda is intended to accomplish, the statement quoted Eghwujovbo as saying.

He frowned at the situation where an ethnic group would continue to preach marginalization where such does not exist.

Ethnicity is the product of actions undertaken by ethnic groups as they shape and reshape their group definition.

It utilizes identity and culture as basic building blocks for both national and sub-national development.

What makes the issue of identity particularly acute, is that it touches not only on politics but also on economics and the organizational capacity for a self-generating and sustainable development from within.

So, more than anything else, ethnicity serves as a dynamic, constantly evolving property of both individual identity and group organization.

He called on those clamouring for zoning to desist from doing so as even the sitting Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa never emerged as a product of a 2015 PDP zoning as clamoured in some quarters. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Bosede Olunfunmi

The 2021 Biennial Convention of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has kicked off on Monday in Kano with about 300 delegates.

Malam Sule Yau-Sule, the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano.

Yau-Sule disclosed that more than 278 had so far registered as against 250 expected by the committee, adding that more participants were being expected before the end of the day.

People are happy with the peaceful atmosphere of the state, that is why the turn out is every impressive, he said.

According to him, the challenges they are facing now is over shooting of expectation and they are able to take care of it.

The LOC chairman described the theme of the convention: The media in COVID -19 Era: Challenges and Opportunities as very apt and timely, and urged media practitioners and journalists to make use of the presentation to their advantage.

NAN reports that the NGE convention would last from May 31 to June 2, 2021.

It is the first to be hosted in Kano. (NAN)

Source: NAN News