By Mustapha Sumaila
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the recent town hall meeting on national security in Kaduna was to address the nations security challenges and the call for secession.

Mohammed said this while fielding questions at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) flagship interview programme, NANForum, in Abuja.

NAN recalls that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Information and Culture had on April 8 convened the town hall meeting on national security.

Mohammed said apart from the security challenges being experienced in the country, the call for secession had become more pronounced and there was the need to take drastic measures to address it.

He also said that the town hall meeting was aimed at building elite consensus on the indispensability of the unity of the country, its security and peaceful coexistence.

Nigeria is facing security challenges, we have been battling with Boko Haram for 10 years, we have been battling with herdsmen -farmers clashes for about six years.

We have also been handling the issue of banditry, cultism and the likes but why we became concerned and felt we had to organise a town hall meeting was as a result of these security challenges.

The call for secession became more and more pronounced, at that point in time, we felt it was necessary to have a town hall meeting and see if we can build an elite consensus on indispensability of the unity, security and the peaceful coexistence of Nigeria.

When Nigeria has been on this kind of cross road, we have always tried to get elite consensus to agree on the unity of Nigeria, agree on its security and agree on the need for all of us to live together peacefully, he said.

The minister noted that though the last town hall meeting was the 18th his ministry had held since he came on board, the Kaduna forum on national security was unique.

He said the meeting was well attended by people from all walks of life with panelists drawn from the academia, private sector and civil society.

The minister added that the town hall meeting, which was robust, gave government the opportunity to hear from the other side of the society.

Another unique thing is the colour of the attendees in attendance; not just eight ministers, there were governors of Kaduna State and his deputy and governors of Zamfara and Ekiti sent representatives.

We had representatives of Miyyeti Allah, we had representatives of PANDEF, security chiefs were there, traditional rulers, bishops and Imams.

We also had women organisations and all major stakeholders that you will expect when discussing the issue of security and national unity, he said.

Mohammed said it was made clear from the beginning that the town hall meeting would not be a talk shop.

He stated that all discussants were tasked to come up with implementable resolutions, adding that stakeholders did not only highlight security challenges but also proffered solutions.

NAN recalls that the discussants at the event included Dr Jibrin Ibrahim, Prof. Saka Nuru, Ibukun Awosika, Prof. Chudi Uwazuruike and Prof. Kokunre Eghafona.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Mustapha Sumaila
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says he will on Thursday present the recommendations of the Kaduna town hall meeting on national security to the National Economic Council (NEC).

Mohammed disclosed this in Abuja while fielding questions at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) flagship interview programme, NANForum.

NAN recalls that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Information convened the town hall meeting on national security on April 8.

The town hall meeting, which drew participants from the academia, private sector and civil society, was to address the nations security challenges and the effect on national unity and cohesion.

The town hall meeting was themed: Setting Benchmarks for Enhanced Security and National Unity in Nigeria.

Speaking on the outcome of the town hall meeting, the minister said he would ensure that the resolutions were implemented.

According to him, the meeting came up with 10 resolutions to address insecurity as well as strengthen national unity and cohesion.

Mohammed also disclosed that there was consensus on the primacy of law and order in governing society.

He said all participants at the meeting agreed that people could agitate for political restructuring but not to accept the call for separation or secession.

The minister further quoted Prof. Ade Ajayi as saying that It will take more energy to break up Nigeria than to fix Nigeria and that if properly exploited, our diversity is actually a source of strength.

According to the minister, participants further recommended for the decentralisation and reformation of the judiciary through constitutional amendment.

He stated that it was also resolved that every level of government must ensure that every child of school age has compulsory and free primary education.

The minister further said that creation of state police was recommended and should be supported by the National Assembly and House of Assembly in states in order to assist governors in handling security challenges within their domains.

The minister added that traditional rulers were recommended to be given their age-long roles in governance.

He said traditional rulers in the past played key roles to maintain peace and security within their domains.

The minister also said one of the resolutions was to grant autonomy to local governments so they could have the means to secure and govern their areas.

Another interesting thing that was agreed upon was that under Nigerias constitution, Article 15, 3C has provision encouraging Nigerians to inter marry.

Christians are encouraged to marry Muslims, Itsekiri should marry Hausa, Yoruba should marry Igbo, when you have that kind of inter marriage, it becomes more difficult to break the country.

It was also agreed that the way we practise our animal husbandry is not sustainable and that we must establish ranches, grazing reserves with modern amenities like schools, veterinary clinics and watering holes, he said.

Mohammed pledged to share the resolutions of the town hall meeting with all stakeholders as well as present a memo on them to the Federal Executive Council. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Chiazam George/Olive Ugochukwu/Okon Okon

The Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) has presented the first-ever Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that SOPs is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organisation to help workers carry out routine operations.

It is aimed to achieve efficiency, quality output and uniformity of performance while reducing miscommunication and failure to comply with industry regulations.

The HOS, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, while receiving the document on Tuesday in Abuja commended the AIG Chairman, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, for collaborating with her office for successful work on SOPs.

The development of the SOPs for the departments in the office of the HOCSF, entailed a thorough process aimed at assisting officers understand and document their business processes which is a fundamental prerequisite for digitalisation.

The processes leading to the development of the 26 SOPs manuals that are about to be formally handed over today were indeed rigorous, she said.

According to Yemi-Esan, the main objective of SOPs is to develop an effective system that complies with industry-specific regulations and standards to significantly reduce or avoid operational errors as well as unwanted work variations.

She said that SOPs would also ensure the repeatability and consistency of the performance of any type of process, helps employees to perform complicated tasks.

The HOS explained further that in the era of technological advancement and digitalisation, the civil service could not afford to lag behind or operate in isolation and could not continue to do things in the old order and expect new results.

She said HOCSF office had decided to take the lead and has gone further to approve the immediate Service-wide development of SOPs starting with four selected MDAs as a pilot.

These MDAs are Federal Civil Service Commission, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, State House and the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

To keep abreast, therefore, civil service must continue to be dynamic and innovative.

What we are witnessing here today, therefore, is a clear testament of our resolve to embrace new ways of doing things that promote the delivery of services in an effective and efficient, HOS explained.

Speaking earlier before making the presentation of the document, the AIG Chairman said that the initiative was not only important to HOCSF but also to AIG and the entire civil service sector of the country.

According to Aig-Imoukhuede, the Nigerian Federal Civil Service has taken one small step which will take the sector to a greater height.

The SOPs initiative, the AIG Chairman explained it was part of the efforts by the office of the HOCSF to reform the countrys public service. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Okon Okon

The National Coordinator SERVICOM, Mrs Nnenna Akajemeli, says the essence of governance can only be realised when effective and improved service is delivered to the people.

Akajemeli said this at a 2-day SERVICOM training of desk officers on Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative tagged, Charter Development/Review Workshop for OGP Pilots MDAs in Abuja.

SERVICOM is The Service Compact with all Nigerians

She said that the workshop objective was to strengthen SERVICOM efforts towards improvement in service delivery processes in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Akajemeli said the workshop also aimed at improving service delivery to citizens.

OGP came as a global coalition of reformers from government and civil society, working to make government more transparent, participatory/accountable by truly serving and empowering citizens.

Seven pilot ministries were carefully selected to kick-start the OGP initiative, this includes Ministry of Education, Transport, Agricultural and Rural Areas, Health, Power, Works and Housing and Aviation.

The essence of governance can only be realised when service truly served the people and so one singular tool that can bring about this improvement is the service charter, she said

According to her, part of what has been identified is that some of the organisations have not written proper service charters.

And, that is why we are here to train, to fill the gaps, identify training gaps to update our knowledge, to begin to get it done right.

And, that is what makes the difference between us developing nations and the developed nations, she said.

Akajemeli said that OGP was an initiative that presented a platform for co-creation, partnership and collaboration between governments (State Actors), Civil Society Organisations and the private sector (Non-State Actors), in achieving the OGP developmental process.

Mrs Obialunanma Nnaobi, one of the participants, at the training said that proper handling of public service delivery was critical to improving lives and livelihood.

According to her, proper handling of service delivery can help to achieve SERVICOM set goals.

OGP will be useful for agencies to proactively reach out to each other, aligning plans, processes and frameworks while carrying the public along, she said.

Also speaking, Mr Adamu Bashir, a Non-State Actor Co-Chairman, expressed appreciation to the management team of SERVICOM for its tremendous services to the nation.

Bashir tasked the participants at the workshop on the usage of the acquired knowledge at the end of the exercise to improve services to the nation and the citizenry.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that OGP is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from national and sub-national governments to promote open government, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies, to strengthen governance across the globe, Nigeria inclusive.

NAN also reports that the workshop attracted participants from CSOs, non-state actors and SERVICOM Desk Officers from the selected MDAs. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Kingsley Okoye

The Senate at the plenary on Wednesday approved a total of N1.678 trillion revenue target for the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) for the 2021 fiscal year.

It also approved a total expenditure of N257 billion for the service, including retained earnings for its ongoing projects for the year as proposed by the Senate Committee on Customs Excise and Tariffs.

The approval followed the consideration and adoption of the report of the senate committee after the President of Senate, Ahmad Lawan, put it to voice vote.

Presenting the report, the Chairman of the committee, Sen.Francis Alimikhena (APC-Edo) said the NCS had proposed a revenue target of N1.46 trillion.

Alimikhena said the revenue target comprised N1.267 trillion for the Federation Account and N197.996 billion for non-Federation Account.

He said the committee however deemed the target inadequate, taking cognisance of the recently signed Finance Act 2021, and expansion of excisable items.

The committee chairman listed other excisable items as carbonated drinks in addition to tariff review on vehicles and re-opening of the border, among others.

Alimikhena added that aother reason for the increase in the target was the increase on the Central Bank of Nigeria official rate of the Naira to Dollar.

He said: This means the collectable duty of every import will increase in naira term than when the rate was N381 to one dollar.

All these will significantly increase the revenue target of the NCS in 2021 budget year.

In view of the fore-going not captured in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF 2020), the committee hereby increases the NCS revenue target from N1.46 trillion to N1.678 trillion.

He said the cost of collection was pegged at 1. 7 per cent, while the Value Added Tax (VAT) was pegged at 2.2 per cent.

According to him, the proposed expenditure of N257 billion including retained earning for ongoing projects for the 2021 financial year was approved by the committee.

Before the approval Sens. Bala IbnNala (APC-Kebbi) and Sam Egwu (PDP-Ebonyi )sought clarifications on the budgeted revenue of N180 million for funmigation and N2 billion provision as incentive for retiring officials.

Source: NAN News

By Edith Ike-Eboh

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it has increased daily supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol across the country from 550 trucks to 1,661 trucks.

The corporation disclosed this in a statement issued bythe Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Obateru said that the aim was to combat the fuel queues in some parts of the country.

He quoted the Managing Director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Mr. Musa Lawan, as saying that there were about two billion litres of PMS in strategic depots across the country.

He said that the supply would keep the nation well for two months if no drop of fuel was imported in that period.

We have embarked on massive load out. Today, we trucked out 1,661 trucks from all depots across the country.

Reports reaching us show that they have already started arriving at the filling stations. We believe that this would ease out the queues, he said.

Lawan disclosed that a 24-hour situation monitoring committee had been set up to track movements of trucks from the depots to the various filling stations across the country.

He said that the queues would thin out in the next few days.

The PPMC boss explained that the disruption in the distribution chain was caused by the strike embarked upon by the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) over compensation.

He assured the public that with the suspension of the strike,normalcy would soon return to the filling stations.

It would be recalled that the corporations intervention on Monday led to the suspension of the strike by the PTD for one week. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Fatima Mohammed-Lawal

The Kwara Government on Tuesday began the induction of 129 health workers recently recruited into the state cvil service.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the induction ceremony was held at the General Hospital, Ilorin.

Dr Saad Aluko, the Director-General of Kwara State Hospital Management Board, said the move was a step meant to improve patient-to-health giver ratio and better medical service delivery in the state.

We have recruited at least 90 nurses, 19 doctors and at least 20 other allied workers.

All together, we are recruiting into primary and secondary health facilities and the number will keep increasing, he said.

According to him, the government saw the need for us to improve healthcare services in the state and repair more hospitals.

So, our services have been increasing. People are having more confidence in our services and this has increased patients patronage, he said.

Aluko, who commended the strides of the Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaqs administration in the sector, urged the new health workers to deliver on their mandate which is to save lives.

Essentially, every single individual appointed into the service has family members who access healthcare in our hospitals.

So, as you start working with us, you are also serving your people.We all know the attitude of public institutions when it comes to nursing care, he said.

Aluko urged the people to have more confidence in the state health institutions, adding that the health care givers will be reoriented to be more humane in their service delivery.

He advised the inductees to be ambassadors of the state government, urging them to be of best behaviour at all times.

You are to let patients know that they are valued and important and as tax payers they deserve the best treatment. So, we will take you through the ethics and standard we expect in the state, he said.

Mrs Florence Adeniran, the state Director of Nursing Services, reminded the inductees that they were employed to enhance healthcare delivery in the state.

We expect them to perform well because structures are already on ground. But without structures and without human resources, nothing can happen.

Now that the state government is employing doctors, nurses and other health workers, we hope healthcare services and healthcare system are going to improve, she said.

Dr Femi Johnson, the Director of Medical Services at the Health Management Board, said nothing was more laudable than the government recruiting medical professionals into the service.

He observed that since the beginning of the present administration one of the key areas that the government has prioritisedis the health sector.

At General Hospital Ilorin, there are several places under renovation. Currently, we are planning for Cardio-renal unit at the hospital.

We have also secured approval for postgraduate programme for doctors in family medicine and obstetrics and gynaecology, he said.

Johnson added that the governor has also thought it wise to expand the ophthalmology services in the state.

Kwara state is known in this region for success in ophthalmic care and government is riding on that to continue to dictate the pace by expanding those services, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Segun Giwa

Sunshine Queens Football Club of Akure on Tuesday in Ijebu-Ode defeated Edo Queens of Benin 2-1 at the 2020/2021 Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) Premiership Super Six.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Delta Queens had defeated Edo Queens 2-1, while Sunshine Queens drew 1-1 with Bayelsa Queens on Match Day 1 of the competition.

In the Match Day 2 fixture played at the main bowl of the Dipo Dina Stadium, midfielder Suliat Abideen gave Sunshine Queens the lead in the seventh minute.

She scored with a brilliant free-kick from 25 yards out.

Elizabeth Zirike responded for Edo Queens by scoring against her former club with a strike from outside the area to make the scoreline 1-1.

However, Sunshine Queens did not allow Edo Queens enjoy the moment for long with a goal by Abigail Sunday from Aminat Yakubus low cross in the 22nd minute.

It was Sundays second goal of the competition.

The game, in spite of so much intensity in the second half, could not produce any other goal and the game ended 2-1 in favour of Sunshine Queens.

Sunshine Queens Head Coach, Wemimo Mathew, later said she was happy with the result and the performance of her players.

Mathew said her tactics were gradually paying off and it was an improvement from the first match of the competition.

I am happy. It is a normal thing that any other team feels when they get three points. Our tactics are working gradually, but there are other areas we still need to work on, she said.

On her part, the Edo Queens Head Coach, Stanley Osaze, said losing their second game of the competition was not the result his team wanted.

Two losses from two games is not a good thing, and the team are not happy. The girls are not happy and the management is not happy.

In football, some time you play well and you just lose. But we are going to work on doing better in the next game and see what happens, he said.

NAN reports that Sunshine Queens now have four points from two matches, while Edo Queens are yet to pick a point. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Following are the Match Day 5 fixtures in the 2020/2021 CAF Confederation Cup competitions group phase, to be played on Wednesday and Thursday:

Group A

Wednesday - Johannesburg - Orlando Pirates (South Africa) vs ES Setif (Algeria)
Thursday - Benina - Ahly Benghazi (Libya) vs Enyimba International (Nigeria)

Group B

Wednesday Lusaka - NAPSA Stars (Zambia) vs RS Berkane (Morocco)
Wednesday Garoua - Coton Sport (Cameroon) vs JS Kabylie (Algeria)

Group C

Wednesday Thies ASC Jaraaf (Senegal) vs Etiole du Sahel (Tunisia)
Wednesday - Porto Novo - Salitas (Burkina Faso) vs CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)

Group D

Wednesday Dar es Salaam - Namungo (Tanzania) vs Raja (Morocco)
Wednesday Ndola - Nkana (Zambia) vs Pyramids (Egypt).

(NAN)

Source: NAN News

Tehran is not interested in a step-by-step plan to achieve results in the current nuclear talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna, a government spokesman, Ali Rabiei said at a weekly news conference on Tuesday.

We are not interested in such method to achieve results in Vienna talks, said Rabiei as reported by semi-official Mehr news agency.

The spokesman also urged the U.S. government to return to its commitments under the Iran nuclear deal.

Iran will also verify it in a short time, then it will return to its commitments immediately, Rabiei added.

Regarding Irans recent production of 60-per cent enriched uranium, he said that 60-per cent enrichment in Natanz nuclear site proved Irans technical ability to respond to any act of sabotage against its nuclear facilities.

Vicious acts cannot undermine Irans scientific progress in the peaceful nuclear industry, he added.

Similarly, Irans nuclear negotiators also rejected step-by-step plans or an interim agreement, Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is only talking about the final step in lifting the oppressive sanctions against the Iranian nation, and rumors such as step-by-step plans or an interim agreement are baseless, said Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who led the Iranian delegation to the Vienna talks. (Xinhua/NAN)

Source: NAN News