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 on Tuesday 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 Ijeoma Olorunfemi

Transparency Advocacy for Development Initiative (TADI), a Civil Society Organisation, on Tuesday, cautioned against the attacks on the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami.

It said that they were capable of disrupting efforts by the ministry toward achieving a safe national data bank for the country.

The Executive Director of TADI, Mr Yomi David, said this in a statement issued in Abuja.

He described the allegationagainst the minister as a campaign of calumny aimed at tarnishing his image.

David recalled that there were unproved allegations from foreign intelligence report alleging that Pantami had supported Al Qaeda, Taliban terrorist groups, hence Boko-Haram.

We in TADI have related closely with the Minister even when he served in various government agencies which he headed and performed creditably well in the interest of peace, safety and development of Nigeria.

We find it worthy to march in solidarity and beseech the intelligence group to disassociate itself from relics of chauvinism.

These distractions are aimed at delaying our nations smooth progress to having accurate data, he said.

He said further that Pantami is a national asset and a target on him might have emanated from criminal elements both at home or in the Diaspora.

The allegations emanated from the collaboration of criminal elements affected by the ongoing compulsory linking of National Identification Number to Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards to mobile networks.

David noted that they were plans to frustrate his dexterous attempts and programmes to institutionalise a safe data bank aimed at addressing security challenges of our country with accurate database.

He added that the minister had initiated pragmatic and proactive measures toward curbing the trends of digital malfunctioning and insecure census system.

David also called on the international community to disregard such campaign of calumny aimed at tarnishing the image of the Minister.

He warned the actors to desist from such malicious attacks onthe minister in the nations interest.

Source: NAN News

By Joan Nwagwu

The Federal Governments meeting with the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), has been postponed.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, said this while addressing newsmen after members of the unions staged a workout from the meeting, slated for 3:00 p.m., on Tuesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the meeting between the Federal Government and the unions was called at the instance of the minister, following the industrial action embarked upon by the unions.

Ngige said the meeting was suspended to enable the Federal Governments negotiating team harmonise all issues from the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), reached at separate meetings with stakeholders.

There is no point rushing to have a meeting that will be fruitless.

The Judiciary, the governors forum, and even the Presidency are involved in this negotiation because the meeting held yesterday was at the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.

The arising documents are not yet properly harmonised. It will therefore not be fruitful to hold a negotiation where people speak from irreconcilable positions.

It would not help us and it would not help the unions either.

The reason is to ensure that the agreement reached at the end of our meeting here is put into action, with timeline for implementation.

So if we do not have a paper that is ready to go, then there will be no point for the talk shop, Ngige explained.

He, however, noted that members of the unions were impatient even when they were properly informed that he would not take long, he would round up the meeting he was having with the government team.

The minister listed members of the government team to include the Solicitor General of the Federation, Mr Dayo Apata, the Director General of Nigerian Governors Forum, Asishana-Bayo Okauru and the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Sen. Ita Enang.

He, however, said the meeting would continue at a date to be announced soon.

It is better done properly so that the governors can implement whatever agreement we enter into.

The governors hold the ace because they are sovereign in their respective states, though they are sub-nationals, they run the government of those states, he said.

The minister added that the Federal Government believed in autonomy, but utmost patriotism and tact had to be exercised in solving the issues in contention.

Today, fund management committees have been proposed and there is also executive Order 10. This means there is a problem and we must be very careful not to create more problems instead of solving them, he said.

Speaking with newsmen, JUSUN National Public Relations Officer, Mrs Koin Selepreye, said it was wrong for the minister to keep the workers for that long , when the invitation sent to them clearly stated that the meeting was for 3:00 p.m.

Selepreye said the union would always be available for meetings , but would not take it when the time fixed for such meetings was not respected.

Also, the National President of PASAN, Mr Mohammed Usman, described the treatment meted out to members of the union as unfair.

Usman said the workers respected time and would not accept being kept for a meeting which should be taken seriously, considering the importance of the issues at hand.

NAN reports that in spite of efforts by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr Peter Yarfa and Enang to prevail on the unions to return for the meeting, they, however, declined. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

Unity Bank Plc on Tuesday announced an asset base of N492.02 billion for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2020.

The bank in its audited result released by the Nigerian Exchange Ltd., said its total assets rose by 67.90 per cent when compared with N293.05 billion achieved in the comparative period of 2019.

The banks customer deposit portfolio grew by 34.4 per cent to N356.62 billion, up from N257.69 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2019.

The bank posted gross earnings of N42.71 billion compared with N44.59 billion recorded in the comparative period of 2019.

Profit after tax stood at N2.09 billion, while profit before tax closed at N2.22 billion during the year under review.

Its net operating income rose to N25.46 billion from N23.21 billion in the corresponding period of 2019, representing a 9.71 per cent increase.

This is even as the net interest income recorded a significant jump, as it rose by 7.60 per cent to N17.75 billion from N16.49 billion in the corresponding period of 2019.

The banks gross loans portfolio increased by 92.9 per cent to N206.2 billion in the review period, from N106.9 billion in 2019.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mrs Tomi Somefun, said the results showed the resilience during times of uncertainties and ability to focus on key balance sheet items to maintain growth trajectory.

Consequently, for the year under review, the opportunities to create more quality assets for the business, thought to have sustainable impact, informed part of choices made.

And we have seen some encouraging market uptake in this regard, apart from the benefits to the enterprise bottom-line that have also started trickling in.

The bank deployed new products and augmentation supported by omni-channel, USSD promotions and other channels to enhance service delivery efficiency, drive income generation capacities and enhance steady balance sheet growth, Somefun said.

She said the bank would latch on targeted strategies to deploy significant investment in technology in order to ride the waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to him, the bank will focus on achieving major efficiency gains, deepening its retail footprints and penetrating identified cluster market segments, to tap into various youth markets.

The bank is also looking to consolidate the gains from its core business areas and niche in the agribusiness sector. The bank has solidly financed over one million farmers over the past three years.

These farmers cut across several primary crop production such as rice, maize, cotton, wheat, sorghum, etc coupled with their rich value chains.

We hope to continue to expand on this as we play our part in driving the countrys quest for self-sufficiency in food production, she added.

Similarly, Mr Usman Abdulqadir, Unity Bank, Executive Director, said the bank would change the narrative in the agriculture sector by focusing on younger farmers.

Abdulqadir said the bank would focus on younger farmers below 40 years with better knowledge of technology and best practices to boost yields.

He said the bank wanted to make the younger generation interested in agriculture, noting that 65 per cent of the nations population was within 18 and 35 years. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Abiodun Esan

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it plans to resume nationwide Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) on April 28 to allow eligible voters register, ahead of 2023 poll.

INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kwara, Malam Garba Attahiru-Madami made this known when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Ilorin.

He said those eligible to register as voters were Nigerians who attained the age of 18 and have not been registered before.

Attahiru-Madami said others included registered voters who wished to transfer their voting units to other locations, as well as voters whose Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) were damaged.

He said that voters who had their names wrongly spelt would be eligible to register to correct the error.

The CVR will close at the end of third quarter of 2022, Attahiru-Madami said.

The REC said as a build up to 2023 general elections, INEC would embark on field work in the 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state to assess the polling units.

He said the action was with the view expanding polling points to polling units to make them accessible to the people.

Attahiru-Madami said INEC was determined to address the problem of voter apathy by making polling units accessible to voters.

He said that since 1999 general elections, Nigeria has only recorded 35 per cent of voters participation, adding that Ghana recorded over 55 per cent in its last election.

According to him, INEC is ready to remove hindrances that bring apathy so as to record appreciable percentage of voters during election.

He listed such hindrances to include voters traveling long distance to polling units, inaccessible polling units, communal disputes and population growth.

Attahiru-Madami said Nigerias voters population has increased from 53 million in 1999 to 85 million in 2019 while polling units remained at 119, 973 since 1996.

Over the years, INEC has faced several challenges with regard to polling units as a result of population growth, expansion of towns and villages, demographic shift and growth of new settlements, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Mustapha Sumaila

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has generated N466.1 billion revenue in the first quarter of 2021.

The statistics obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) from the office of the Public Relations Officer of the service, Mr Joseph Attah on Tuesday, showed that the revenue was generated from January to March.

The data indicated that the NCS realised the highest revenue in March with N169.4 billion followed by January with N157.6 billion while the sum of N138.9 billion was generated in February.

The document showed that customs realised the highest revenue of N216.9 billion within the period under review from import duty.

According to the statistics, the import duty is followed by customs VAT which is N105.2 billion and non-federation accounts levies of about N55.5 billion.

The document showed that N50.8 billion was generated from federation account levies while N34.5 billion was gotten from excise duty as well as N2.8 billion from fees.

Similarly, the statistics revealed that within the period under review, the service made a seizure of different contraband goods valued at N1,996,145,258.

The document indicated that the customs confiscated 37,206 bags of imported rice from January to March. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Leonard Okachie

The Abia Police Command has confirmed Mondays attack on the Uzuakoli Divisional Police Station in Bende Local Government Area.

SP Godfrey Ogbonna, the Spokesman of the command told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia that the incident happened at about 3 am.

He said that no life was lost and that operatives at the command repelled the assailants and stopped them from gaining access to the armoury.

They used dynamite and rocket launcher to burn down the building, including private and official vehicles, tricycles and motorcycles parked on the premises, he said.

Ogbonna said that the command had commenced investigation into the attack. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Abujah Racheal

No fewer than 905 million COVID-19 shots have been administered worldwide, according to Our World in Data (OWID).

The OWID

It added there was already a stark gap between vaccination programmes in different countries, with some yet to report a single dose.

Some countries do not provide data for the number of people who have been partially or fully vaccinated.

A vaccinated person refers to someone who has received at least one dose of a vaccine, and a fully vaccinated person has received all required doses of a vaccine, it said.

According to it, while vaccine doses remain relatively scarce globally, most countries have focused their early vaccination efforts on priority groups like the clinically vulnerable; people in their 60s, 70s and older; and front-line workers, like doctors and nurses.

It stated that there was also a striking divide between continents. Africa had the slowest vaccination rate of any continent, with some countries yet to start mass vaccination campaigns.

Less wealthy countries are relying on a vaccine-sharing arrangement called Covax, which aims to provide two billion doses by the end of the year.

83 per cent of shots that have gone into arms worldwide have been administered in high- and upper-middle-income countries.

Only 0.2 per cent of doses have been administered in low-income countries,
It stated.

It also stated that some countries may have started to administer doses, but have not yet reported data.

It noted that countries with no reported vaccinations either have not started a widespread vaccination campaign or were not regularly reporting data on the number of doses administered.

Doses administered are plotted on a log scale. Most of the vaccines currently in use require two doses for a patient to be fully vaccinated.

In February the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorised a one-shot vaccine by pharmaceutical giant, Johnson

By Mercy Omoike

The National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), has called for increased funding to cashew farmers to improve productivity of the crop.

The groups Secretary-General, Mr Sotonye Anga made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to him, cashew has high potential of profitability but the major challenge is the access to funds for startups, expansion processing and exports.

Cashew farming and processing is a lucrative business in Nigeria. It has been on even before Independence. It dates back to 1958.

For over five decades, cashew has turned out to be relevant in revenue generation, reduction of unemployment and a major contributor to Economic diversification.

Like every business, cashew has a lot of challenges. Across the cashew value chain, the major challenge is the access to finance.

Access to finance affects every aspect and the cashew business from farming to harvesting, processing and exports.

To commence cashew cultivation, you need long term financing. Short term loans cannot help the cashew farmer.

We also have the challenge of accessing funds, a lot of people that go into cashew business or want to extend their farms do not have access to finance.

We also need to address the high interest rates for cashew as it has to be single digit, Anga said.

The expert noted that the planting of cashew trees in Nigeria was originally to curb erosion owing to its complex root system.

According to him, cashew trade has expanded so much in recent times that it is being referred to as the Green Gold of agriculture in the country.

When cashew business started, it was primarily to checkmate erosion in the country. It was an answer for erosion because of its extensive root system. Its root system goes deep into the soil and compacts it.

Cashew tree becomes your first plan of defense against erosion. Curbing erosion was the major problem cashew came to solve.

Initially, we only consumed cashew as a fruit and we discarded the nuts. Finally, we got to understand that we could sell the nuts, hence the beginning of cashew nuts exports.

As the business became lucrative, more people started coming into the business, hence, its popularity as green gold of agriculture.

Anga also listed the benefits of cashew as he encouraged constant consumption of its nuts.

Cashew is low in sugar and rich in fibre, the fat in cashew is healthy and heart friendly. It contains copper and magnesium and is beneficial to human health.

According to him, people prefer cashew nuts to other nuts because of its benefits. It is the preferred nut, the expert said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By George Odok
University of Calabar (UNICAL) and the Cross River Ministry of International Development Cooperation are to collaborate in the areas of capacity building and partnership with relevant international partners and agencies.

Prof. Florence Obi, Unical Vice Chancellor, during a courtesy call on the Commissioner, Dr Inyang Asibong on Tuesday, said that the Ministry represents the state before international partners and donor agencies.

Obi stated that in view of the Ministrys partnership with international organisations and agencies, it was important for the University to collaborate with them and create a synergy for development.

According to her, the University has the needed manpower who can develop the capacity of staff of the ministry in the areas of report writing, budget presentation, research, project evaluation among others.

She told the Commissioner that the University has capable hands who were also handling international water projects.

The VC said that aside awarding certificates, the University was ready to partner with other vital sectors of the economy in critical areas of development.

We are here to seek a partnership with your ministry in the area of capacity building and to key into all your programmes so that the University can also benefit in the area of critical infrastructural development.

The Ministry of International Development Cooperation is the face of Cross River because of its sensitivity and collaboration with international organisations, development partners and agencies.

We want to enhance the relationship between the gown and the town; such relationship will yield fruitful result that will also affect the people of the state, she said.

The VC commended the Commissioner for all the grants and facilities that she has attracted to the state through the Ministry, adding that her choice to head the Ministry was timely.

Responding, Asibong congratulated Obi for her historic appointment as the first female VC of Unical, adding that her achievements in office within four months have been phenomenal.

She assured the VC that the Ministry would collaborate with the University in driving the needed development for the institution.

She outlined several projects that can be carried out in the university to include micro projects, cooperative ventures and farming.

She urged the university to nominate an institutional coordinator that would work with the Ministry and to also specify areas of partnership.

She said that would result in the raising of a Memorandum of Understanding between both parties.(NAN)

Source: NAN News