Fire outbreak at Singer Market, Kano

By Bosede Olufunmi

The Federal Fire Service (FFS) said it would inaugurate fire stations within the markets across the country.

The Zonal Controller, FFS in charge of Kano and Jigawa, Assistant Controller General (ACG), Ahmed Garba-Karaye, stated this when he visited Singer Market to assess the level of damage caused by fire on Monday in Kano.

He said the service was committed to prevent and control fire.

According to him, investigation, Inspectorate and Enforcement (IIE) will inspect and ensure fire safety compliance in public buildings.

Rising cases of fire outbreaks in Kano market is as a result of high weather temperature and substandard electric appliances.

Excessive heat, fuel and oxygen as major catalysts of fire triangle and heat can trigger fire without the presence of fuel, kerosene or diesel, he said.

The Zonal Controller said shops should be well ventilated as congestion could also escalate heat and cause fire.

He urged market leaders to enlighten business owners through signs and announcements, the importance of switching off electric appliances before closing for business.

Garba-Karaye also called on philanthropists and wealthy individuals to contribute their quota, by providing firefighting equipment as part of their corporate social responsibilities.

He advised traders to always be at alert and conscious of fire. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Emmanuel Afonne/Idris Abdulrahman

Source: NAN News

Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) headquarters

By Chiazo Ogbolu

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has commended the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) for support in ensuring salaries of NPA members of staff were increased.

The Managing Director, NPA, Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday, noted that the salary of workers had been stagnated since 2008.

Bello-Koko stated this when he received a letter referenced MWUN/MD/NPA/RFC/23, dated March 6, signed by the Secretary General MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, expressing appreciation to management of the authority for the increment in the salary of its members.

The NPA boss said that breaking the jinx of salary stagnation suffered over a decade by the authoritys employees was made possible by the support of the MWUN.

He noted that the authority remained appreciative of the support by the union.

This critical support from MWUN has buoyed us to intensify our relentless drive toward continuous improvement in the welfare of our esteemed workers in ways not limited to monthly salary alone.

We are further delighted by the fact that our own Adeyanju is now the Deputy President of the NLC.

This gives us the necessary solidarity and backing to push for more benefits for our highly valued human resources, he said.

It would be recalled that the NPA managing director had in November 2022, been accompanied by Adeyanju to pay an advocacy visit to the headquarters of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to solicit the unions solidarity toward increase in NPA workers salaries. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Chioma Ugboma

Source: NAN News

Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya

By Sumaila Ogbaje

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, has urged officers and men of the Nigerian Army to remain professional and above board in their conducts during the March 18 elections.

Yahaya gave the directive at the opening of the 4th Career Planning and Management Seminar organised by the Army Headquarters Department of Military Secretary, on Tuesday in Abuja.

The Chief of Training (Army) Maj.-Gen. Sani Mohammed represented the COAS at the seminar with the theme, Efficient Human Resource Management: Imperatives for a Professional Nigerian Army in the 21st Century.

He said the seminar was organised to ensure efficient career planning to engender good leadership among officers.

This, he said, became very imperative in view of the involvement of the army in several operations.

According to him, significant changes in organisational and leadership have evolved globally, as such it is important for the military to improve approaches to career planning and human resource management.

This would ensure a balanced and rewarding career path for officers, he added.

Yahaya said the seminar was to create awareness and sensitise officers on new policies that might impact on their career and address other salient career planning issues for better understanding.

As members of the armed forces, we should be mindful of the need to adequately prepare officers to operate in joint environment.

And deploy them to positions where they can efficiently develop novel plans, processes, strategies to meet the changing nature of the battlespace.

Therefore, it is imperative that we maintain momentum while motivating our officers and men through an efficient and balanced career planning process, the COAS said.

He also emphasised the need for all army personnel to remain apolitical and professional.

The COAS said great efforts have been made to ensure that the conduct of our officers and men during the polls remains professional and above board.

I therefore urge you to uphold the highest professional conduct during this period.

In his remarks, the Military Secretary (Army), Maj.-Gen. Jamil Abdulsalam, said the annual seminar was to ensure efficient management of the careers of army officers.

Abdulsalam said the department had overtime, observed that most officers within the mid level cadre treated matters of career with levity, often leading to unpleasant consequences.

He said that upward trend, where annual evaluation reports from formations and units as well as course reports from most army training institutions fell short of realistic reportage, had been of great concern.

According to him, the shortcomings are further compounded by the involvement of the army in wide range of operations and the resultant dearth of officers for deployment to key areas.

All of these factors have significantly affected career planning and complicated the military human resource management approach of the Department of Military Secretary.

Customarily, the department conducts sensitisation visits to Nigerian army formations and training schools, including operational areas to enhance officers understanding of the requirements for career growth.

This forum offers a unique opportunity to have a convergence of seasoned resource persons and key players in the management of army officers careers to share experiences and update you on extant policies and provisions that may impact on your careers.

The seminar will feature packages that will expose participants to contemporary approaches to military human resource management with a view to improve career planning at all levels.

The issue of conduct and discipline, which remains a key consideration in the career planning process, as well as gender perspectives have been added to make the seminar wide-ranging, balanced and rich in context, he said. (NAN) ()

Edited by Maharazu Ahmed

Source: NAN News

By Ikenna Osuoha
Save Our Heritage Initiative (SOHI), an Abuja based NGO, has advised Nigerian politicians and voters to be peaceful and play the game of politics by the rules.

Ms May Ikokwu, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the group gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.

Ikokwu urged them not to allow their personal ambitions jeopardise the unity and peace of the country especially during the forthcoming governorship and state assembly elections .

She appealed to the political class not to exploit the countrys diversity negatively to advance their personal ambitions.

We should emphasise those things that unite us more than the ones that divide us.

Politics is a game that will come and go but Nigeria remains, so let us prioritize Nigerias unity and harmony above personal ambitions.

Clean politics is part of our heritage and a legacy that we should aspire to leave for the future generations, she advised.

The Culture Advocate who warned against political violence and animosity, said that it was alien to Nigerias indigenous political culture.

She urged politicians to close ranks among each other in accordance with Nigerias culture of brotherly love.

Ikokwu also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to restore confidence of the electorate by allowing votes count.

She explained that only transparent and credible election would truly reflect the will and wish of the people.

According to her, Nigeria should demonstrate their position as giant of Africa by conducting peaceful, credible gubernatorial elections.

Ikokwu however commended Nigerians for their commitment to stronger democratic process.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigerias Gubernatorial elections would be conducted on March 18. (NAN) www.nannews.ng

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Edited by Auwalu Birnin Kudu/Ekemini Ladejobi

Source: NAN News

By Thompson Yamput

The Hydro-Electricity Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) on Monday in Lokoja inaugurated its operational office in Kogi.

The office was donated to the commission by the Kogi Government to assist HYPPADEC to execute its assignment to the 10 flood proned local government areas in the state.

Inaugurating the facility, Representative of the commissions Governing Board, from Kogi, Alhaji Isa Ozi-Salami, described the occasion as laudable and heartwarming to the entire people of Kogi.

What were doing here today is facilitating capacity building and to enhance communication between the commission and the people of Kogi.

What HYPPADEC is doing across the six benefiting states across the country is serving humanity as many lives, particularly the poor masses, are being touched and uplifted.

Thanks be to God for the man behind the Commissions success story in the person of Alhaji Abubakar Yelwa, the Managing Director, who is a genius in service to humanity, he said.

Yelwa, in his speech, thanked Gov. Yahaya Bellos administration for providing the operational office for the commission, describing it as an encouraging gesture that can create the enabling environment for better service.

The HYPPADEC boss said that the commission would use the edifice for five years after which it was expected to build and move into its own permanent office.

As we appreciate this government for this gesture, as Oliver Twist, we are asking for a piece of land on which we can build our permanent office in the state.

In the area of health, we intend to carry out another round of medical outreach programmes for the benefiting 10 flood affected LGAs in the state immediately after the Ramadan fasting.

We have got approval from the governing board to provide electricity to over 200 communities in conjunction with the state government, he said.

Yelwa said that the commission would do more for the youths in the areas of empowerment, scholarship and capacity building as they are our future leaders and deserved to be assisted to fulfill their destiny.

Bello described HYPPADEC as a household name in Kogi considering the quantum of assistance it had rendered to the people of the state.

Represented by the State Environment Commissioner, Mr Victor Omofayle, the governor promised to continue to partner the commission to ensure that lives of people of Kogi were improved.

NAN reports that youths from the 10 benefiting LGAs, who were in the venue with placards of various inscriptions of praises, honoured the managing director with an award for his outstanding performance. (NAN)
Edited by Gregg Mmaduakolam/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

DD/Website

By Sumaila Ogbaje

The Nigerian Army says its officers and men were firm and resolute in providing security support during the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

Nwachukwu dismissed smear campaign in the social media and other fora against some senior commanders and officers, as sheer mischief.

He said that the Armys firm and resolute stance in providing security support for the elections effectively curbed and prevented ill-intentioned groups from violently interfering with the process.

There is no doubt that Nigerians are excited at this responsible posture and the democratic opportunity it offered them.

However, some interest groups that were effectively prevented from hatching their nefarious plots to influence the course of the elections through violence, are understandably piqued by this assertiveness of the Nigerian army.

The Army spokesman said the Nigerian army was nationalistic in its make-up and organisation, drawing strength from the nations diversities as constitutionally conceived.

He explained that the responsibilities of the army in elections was to support primary law enforcement and election stakeholders, to ensure that Nigerians choose their leaders and representatives in a peaceful manner.

This goal, according to him, remains armys only focus and one it will continue to pursue, mindful that the average citizen expects nothing less from it.

Nwachukwu assured the public that any misconduct against any personnel would be responsibly investigated.

He added that any personnel found culpable would face appropriate disciplinary sanctions in accordance with established practices and extant laws.

Nwachukwu however warned that the Army would not allow the character and reputation of any senior officer, earned over three decades of meritorious service, to be destroyed by misguided elements through mere speculations.

The resort to the sentiments of ethnic and religious colourations would not also diminish the Nigerian armys resolve to carry on its roles professionally.

The Nigerian Army, therefore, urges all Nigerians to ignore the mischief being propagated by ill-intentioned individuals and groups and continue to go about their civic responsibilities without any fear of molestation.

We would continue to work with sister Services and other Security Agencies to meet all security-related expectations of citizens as enshrined in the laws of the Federation, he added. (NAN) ()

Edited by Maharazu Ahmed

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Source: NAN News

NLC President, Mr Joe Ajaero

By Joan Nwagwu

NLC plans to order workers to sit at home if in seven days the Federal Government fails to address current cash crunch.

Its President, Mr Joe Ajaero, made the declaration on Monday in Abuja at the end of an emergency meeting of the Central Working Committee of the NLC.

He noted that Nigerians had suffered enough from the cashless policy of the CBN.

The NLC is giving the Federal Government and agencies under it, including the CBN and other banking institutions seven working days to address the cash crunch.

If they fail to do so at the expiration of the seven working days, the Congress is directing all workers in the country to stay at home.

This is because it has become very difficult to access even one naira, especially by traders who do not have bank accounts.

We have also discovered that even when banks give out old currencies, they cannot be spent. Even when you take them back to the same banks, they do not accept them.

We have been frustrated to a level that we can no longer keep quiet, Ajaero said.

The NLC president also lamented difficulties being experienced at petrol stations.

At fuel stations where there is petrol, it sells for as much as N350 a litre in some parts of the country.

We will no longer be quiet about this issue of perennial fuel scarcity and arbitrary increase in prices, he said.

On the on-going state council elections of the NLC, Ajaero said some state governors were interfering with the process.

Some state governors now dictate to the NLC through the chairmen in those states, he said.

He alleged that a governor in one of the states in the Southeast openly campaigned that NLC members should vote for a particular candidate.

He explained that NLCs attempt to resist the approach was met with the manhandling of its officers by hoodlums engaged by the state government.

They disrupted our election in that state. Our state secretariat has been destroyed by thugs sent by the governor.

The thugs took over that place for three months. The state chairman of the NLC was driven out of the state, he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Alli Hakeem

Source: NAN News

Old naira notes

By Stephen Adeleye

The officials of Kogi Government and Stakeholders in the financial sectors, have sensitised Kogi residents on the need to accept the old naira notes in line with the Supreme Court judgment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Supreme Court on March 3, ruled that the new and old naira notes should co-exist as legal tender in Nigeria till Dec. 31.

Addressing a large crowd at the newly constructed Ganaja Flyover on Monday in Lokoja, the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, congratulated Nigerians on the Supreme Court judgment.

Fanwo said the people could now use both the old and new naira notes together till Dec. 31, 2023.

We have met with the banks and they have agreed that they will accept old naira notes as deposits.

So, we urge all commercial motorcycle riders, Keke riders and market men and women to accept the old naira notes.

The state government is grateful to the banks for their cooperation and commitment to the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

It is criminal to reject old naira notes after the judgment, Fanwo said.

He assured that the state government would monitor the compliance strictly.

Also speaking, the State Security Adviser, Cmdr. Jerry Omodara (rtd.) harped on the need for residents to cooperate with the state government in its bids to ease the current financial strains occasioned by the current cash policy.

Omodara said his office would work with security agencies to ensure compliance.

In his remarks, Mr Idris Asiru, the Kogi Commissioner for Finance and Budget Planning, said the banks were already accepting old naira notes as deposits.

Asiru urged the people to take advantage of the cooperation of the banks.

He said that he had already gotten the commitment of the banks to load their ATMs with old and new naira notes to ease the cash scarcity in the state.

The representatives of the major banks in Lokoja also assured the people of the readiness of the banks to accept old naira notes as deposits.

They said the directive took effect from Monday morning, urging customers to freely accept the old naira notes.

NAN reports that the sensitisation train visited all transport unions, fuel stations and major markets in Lokoja.

The stakeholders assured Kogi people of sustained sensitisation on radio and other media of communication. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Chioma Ugboma

Source: NAN News

National Sports for Judiciary

By Fabian Ekeruche

The Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sanitise the judiciary by removing corrupt judges reinstated by the National Judicial Council.

This is contained in a statement by CSNAC Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, on Sunday in Lagos.

Suraju said that the reinstatement of Justices Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, James Agbadu-Fishim and Nasir Yinusa was a sabotage on the war against corruption in the judicial system.

He said that Ofili-Ajumogobia was arrested and investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged corrupt practices and abuse of office.

The President approved her dismissal from public service, but the National Judicial Council reportedly reinstated her as a Judge of the Federal High Court despite her dismissal not being overturned by any court in Nigeria.

Similarly, the National Judicial Council also reinstated Justice Agbadu-Fishim as a judge despite his arrest and investigation by the EFCC for alleged corruption and subversion of justice.

The National Judicial Council had recommended his dismissal to the President for judicial misconduct, but later decided to reinstate him as a judge of the Council.

Despite previously indicting him for gross misconduct and recommending his retirement to the President, the Council had placed Justice Nasir Yinusa on suspension, pending the approval of the recommendation, but surprised many by reinstating him, the statement said.

According to the coalition, the Judicial Council has no legal right to reinstate judges who were previously indicted for misconduct.

The coalition added that the Council had overstepped its bounds by ignoring the recommendations to retire the judges, but rather proceeded with their reinstatement.

The President is required by law to accept or reject the recommendations made by the Council, and that the Council does not have the power to unilaterally reinstate judges who have been indicted for misconduct, Suraju said.

He noted that the coalition had written to the President to approve the retirement of Justice Nasir Yinusa on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council and direct the Council to reverse the illegal reinstatement of Mrs Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia and Mr. James Agbadu-Fishim as judicial officers in Nigeria.

He added that copies of the letters were sent to the Vice President and Attorney General of the Federation. (NAN) ()

Edited by Abdulfatai Beki/Vincent Obi

Source: NAN News

By Sumaila Ogbaje

Former Chief of Army Staff retired Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has congratulated Nigerians on the election of Sen. Bola Tinubu as the President-elect, saying his victory was a clear reflection of the will of the people.

Buratai, who is the immediate past Nigerian Ambassador to Benin Republic and a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), made the call in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

He also called on Nigerians to vote all APC candidates in the March 18 Governorship and House of Assembly Elections across the country.

Buratai commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the leadership of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu for presiding over an election in a country with the largest democracy in the African continent.

According to him, it is a job well planned and professionally executed.

He stated that the vote of all Nigerians had the power to make a difference and consolidate on the wise choice made during the presidential election.

At this juncture, I say with all sense of responsibility that our collective future is assured under the renewed hope vision and mission of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

I believe the President-elect is a man of capacity, empathy, vision, and all that it takes to lead Nigeria to the promised land.

Therefore, I encourage all Nigerians to vote for the APC in the forthcoming governorship elections at the states levels so that the APC can have a majority at all levels.

Do not be part of the minority opposition as we already have the APC at the Centre.

Continuity has been achieved at the Federal level with the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the President-Elect from the APC.

Therefore, for effective policy implementation, progress security and development of our country, also vote APC at the states levels. Nigeria shall be great by the Grace of God, he said. (NAN) ()

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Edited by Sadiya Hamza

Source: NAN News