By Ijeoma Olorunfemi

The Nigerian Institution of Space Engineers (NISEng) on Tuesday inaugurated its sixth National Chairman, Dr George Okpanachi, and called for a specialised reconnaissance satellite to address national security.

The inauguration held concurrently with a One-day Public Lecture with the theme: Space Technology and National Security: Opportunities and Limitations in Abuja.

Prof. Lazarus Ojigi, Director, Mission Planning IT and Data Management of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), was the guest lecturer.

He said that space technology had become the driving force behind scientific, socio-economic, military and intelligence supremacy of developed nations of the world.

Ojigi said that national security was all about national safety with food security, economic, social, physical, energy, environmental, border, cyber securities as components.

A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications.

We must deploy specialised satellite, reconnaissance satellite that will assist the armed forces in detecting danger locations.

We need to invest in satellite infrastructure, ground segment infrastructure; you must not have satellite just to harvest information from satellites in the orbit.

Having the ground segment will help us to subscribe and optimise; you will have enough information for your security agencies and those information are encrypted for them to use.

We also need to develop our Inertia Navigation System (INS) and Guidance; that means that we must be able to detect where criminals are using global navigation techniques added to INS techniques, Ojigi said.

He added that the country needed to invest in infrastructure across Nigeria, train manpower and build a level of confidence with confidential security information.

He said that there was need to increase the number of communication satellites to improve surveillance.

Now we have one communication satellite and the proposal is to have three prototype to create an overlap to cover the whole world.

By that architecture, Nigeria will not only provide satellite signals but services in terms of telecommunications, internet and augmentation services to Africa and other parts of the world.

He further said that if the country could not provide three communication satellites, it could optimise the available one.

According to him, it is better to scale up the satellite asset and get better services.

Okpanachi, in his remarks, said he was going to galvanise relevant stakeholders in the space sector, the National Assembly, and agencies to get the needed support for NASRDA and Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited.

He expressed the hope that NISEng would advance to compete with other engineering bodies in the country in the future.

We will be paying courtesy visits to relevant agencies and letting them know that we have the capacity to deliver if given the necessary assistance particularly the funding aspect.

If we are well funded with the capacity and capability, it can help in tackling the security challenges and this includes having more satellites in space, synthetic aperture satellites, going into drones and cube satellites, he said.

Dr Sadiq Umar, the immediate past chairman of NISEng, encouraged the incumbent and his executive members to push for the institution to participate in the Group Dynamics competition for all Division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

He also called on the new helmsmen to as well ensure that the institution stood out.

Umar said that he was grateful that he enjoyed great support from the incumbent chairman as his vice and other past chairmen during his tenure from 2019 to 2020.

He, however, encouraged his colleagues and the space industry stakeholders to extend same support to Okpanachi to ensure the institution helped in developing robust space technology programmes in the country.

Rtd. Major Gen. Michael Agu, the pioneer chairman of NISEng, recalled that the institution had a Memorandum of Understanding with NASRDA on corporation and space activities.

According to Agu, same understanding and working relationship can be extended to the Defence Space Administration (DSA) and other stakeholders to ensure that issues on security are addressed.

Other goodwill messages included from the DSA, National Productivity Centre, NASRDA and other past chairmen of the institution, a who called for more funding for space programmes.

They also called for collaboration among space technology stakeholders to boost development in the sector. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Abbas Bamalli

The Academic Staff Union of Federal College of Education (FCE Technical) Bichi, in Kano State has commenced a one week warning strike.

The strike was over alleged poor learning environment in the college.

The Chairman, Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), FCE Technical Bichi branch, Mr Muhammad Salisu, announced their decision while briefing newsmen on Tuesday in Kano.

According to him, the one week industrial action was to compel the management of the school to address what it described as poor learning environment and prevailing insecurity conditions.

He further said that the action was also to draw the attention of government officials to hurriedly intervene in addressing the broken laboratories, halls and hostels to provide a conducive learning environment for the students.

According to him, the security outfit contracted by the college to provide security services are owed over six months allowance, leading to poor security situation on the campus.

He also alleged that offices were being burgled by yet to be identified criminals, adding that office equipment and personal belongings of the staff such as laptops were being stolen from offices.

He added that student hostels were also affected by the activities of criminals, saying that necessary and urgent measures needed to be taken to address the issue.

Salisu lamented that staff of the college were also owed a huge backlog of unpaid allowances, adding that the campus had remained unkempt in recent time.

According to the union leader, cleaners are not paid their entitlements, exposing the campus inhabitants to possible disease outbreak.

He further alleged that the management of the college have failed to respect their earlier agreement, warning that if their demands are not met at the end of the one week strike, the union would order its members to proceed on indefinite strike.

In the past 10 years, graduates of FCE Bichi were not issued with the mandatory teachers certificate by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, (TRCN), he said.

Contacted on the development, the management of the college said they were making arrangements to also brief the nedia on the issue. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Imelda Osayande

The Court of Appeal, Benin Division, on Tuesday, set aside the dissolution of the Edo State Law Review Commission for the past 13 years, over failure to follow due process.

The Commission was dissolved in 2008 by the administration of Gov. Adams Oshiomhole.

But the court, in a unanimous judgment, ordered that members of the Commission be reinstated and be allowed to complete their tenure, which should now run from March 25, 2021, the day the judgment was given, to August 25, 2025.

In the judgment delivered by the three-man panel and read by Justice Biobele Abraham Georgewill, with Justices Oyebisi Omoleye and Dr Fredrick Oho as members, the appellate court held that the Adams Oshiomhole-led administration did not follow the laid down procedure in dissolving the commission.

The appellants, in the suit No B/375/OS/2009, were identified as: Elder Jonathan Aghimien (SAN), T. E. Ogbeide-Ihama and Edward Aigbanbe, while the Governor of Edo State, the Attorney General and the State House of Assembly were the respondents.

NAN reports that the appellants challenged the ruling of Justice Nogi Aifuwa Imoukhuede of state High Court in which he dismissed the claims of the appellants for being statute barred.

In his ruling, Justice Georgewill declared that the dissolution of the Edo State Law Review Commission and consequent termination of the appointments of the Appellants on 24/11/2008, without due compliance with the provisions of the Revised Edition Law of Edo state 2001, by the 1st Respondent, the then Executive Governor of Edo state is null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

The court set aside the letter issued by the then Secretary to State Government (SSG) on behalf of the state governor, saying it was issued without compliance with the provisions of the Revised Edition Law of Edo State 2001.

He said: An order is hereby given reinstating the Appellants to their aforesaid position as Chairman and members of the Edo State Law Review Commission to serve out the remainder of their five-year tenure.

He added that and thereafter from the date of this judgment being 25/3/2021 to 25/8/2025 totalling five years in line with Section 7 (1) of the Revised Edition Law 2001 of Edo State, excluding the period from 24/11/2008 to 25/3/2021, unless the Appellants are removed in line with the provision of the Revised Edition law of Edo State of Nigeria 2001 (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Agbaje Gabriel

The Director General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Mansur Matazu, has become Nigerias Permanent Representative at the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

A statement signed by Mr Muntari Ibrahim, NiMets General Manager of Public Relations, on Tuesday in Abuja, said the appointment was in line with the provision of the General Regulations (Regulation 5a) of the WMO Basic Documents.

This is in line with provision of the General Regulations (Regulation 5a) of the World Meteorological Organisation Basic Documents No. 1 (WMO No 15) 2019 Edition.

This states that each member shall designate by written notification of the Secretary General, a Permanent Representative who shall be the Director of the Meteorological or Hydrometeorological services to act on technical matters for the member between the sessions of congress.

Subject to the approval of their respective government, Permanent Representative should be the normal channel of communication between the organisation and their respective countries, it said.

The statement further said the Permanent Representative would maintain contact with the competent authorities, government of their own countries on matters concerning the work of the organisation.

According to it, a letter of notification signed by Sen. Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation, on behalf of the Federal Government to the WMO, disclosed that Matazu had been designated as the Permanent Representative of Nigeria with the WMO.

Haven been appointed as the head of the meteorological services, he replaces Prof. Sani Abubakar Mashi, it added.

The statement said the WMO had acknowledged the move and reflected the changes on its community platform, including the WMO country profile data base.

The World Meteorological Agency is the United Nations specialised organisation whose mandate covered weather, climate and water resources. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Emmanuel Oloniruha

France, on Tuesday, announced that its volume of trade with Nigeria in year 2020 dropped to .3 billion dollars, from .5 billion in 2019, as a result of COVID-19.

The French Minister in charge of Foreign Trade and Attractiveness, Mr Frank Riester, disclosed this at a meeting he held with the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), in Abuja, as part of his two-day official visit to Nigeria.

We are optimistic of the future, when the crisis will be ending, because we have many companies that have settled here.We want a win-win partnership between our two countries.

We have 100 companies that are settled in Nigeria, representing 10,000 people working in these companies and we want to increase our investments in Nigeria, he said.

Riester added that the French Government wanted to help in the development of different states, by investing in both the private and public sectors, so as to deepen the relationship between the two countries.

He said that as the largest economy in Africa and the economic engine room of West Africa, Nigeria is indeed a major partner for France.

The minister said that the French Government was also putting in place measures that would allow more Nigerian companies to operate and invest in France.

Tomorrow, I will meet some Nigeria companies that have already invested in France, as others are willing to invest in the country.

These companies will be invited to a specific meeting in Paris in June, where President Emmanuel Macron will welcome many companies all over the world, and some of the companies will be from Nigeria, because we want more Nigerian investments in France.

Riester added that the government was also putting in place policies that would encourage more Nigerian investment in France, while the French government was also willing to assist Nigeria to tackle insecurity.

The Chairman of the NGF, Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, commended the French government for its interest in Nigeria, especially in the states of the Federation.

Fayemi, represented by Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau, described the meeting, aimed at strengthening the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and France, as fruitful.

He said that the meeting sought ways of boosting Frances collaboration and investment in Nigeria, in particular with the state governments.

Speaking later in an interview with newsmen on the ongoing strike by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) who are protesting the non-implementation of financial autonomy for the nations judiciary, Lalong said that state governors were not against financial autonomy for the judiciary.

Lalong, who said that the governors were already consulting with JUSUN, added that the NGF would be meeting on Wednesday, to finalize the issue, as they did not need any Order 10, to implement financial autonomy for the judiciary, since they played key role in the passage of the financial autonomy legislation.

He, however, said that certain criteria had to be put in place, for financial autonomy for the judiciary to commence at the state level.

Lalong said that financial autonomy was not about finances, but to strengthen the institution.

You dont wake up one day and say you are doing financial autonomy, because a law is passed, there must be processes.

For instance, as a former Speaker, I will tell you that you cannot do financial autonomy until you establish a service commission. You must establish a state Allocation Committee. All these are steps towards autonomy.

You dont achieve autonomy in a day. We did it in the National Assembly, and there was no Order 10 for implementation. It took them stages. The federal government is aware.

Members of the National Assembly, who are Governors today were members who fought for the autonomy, so how can we be against the autonomy, Lalong asked. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Monday Ajogun

Team Delta on Tuesday towered above other participating states during the medals presentation ceremony for the golf competition at the 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) in Benin.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that players from 18 states participated in the competition, but Team Delta clinched five gold, one silver and three bronze medals.

Team Bayelsa claimed three gold, five silver and two bronze medals to place second, while Plateau won three gold, two silver and one bronze medals to place third on the table.

Addressing journalists shortly after presenting the medals to their winners, Edo Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, commended all participants for showing a strong zeal during the competition.

For us in Edo, we have the governor, Godwin Obaseki, as a golfer, myself the deputy governor a golfer, and the Secretary to Edo State Government, Osarodion Ogie, as a golfer too, he said.

Shaibu who is the festivals Local Organising Committee (LOC) Chairman added that hosting the festivals 20th edition would help to return sports to Edo the home of sports.

When we were given the hosting rights, we promised to set a template for other states willing to host the next edition, about how the festival should be hosted.

Now we have set a standard which any other state will copy, he said.

Source: NAN News

By Muhyideen Jimoh

Nigerian long jumper Ese Brume says her aim now is to win a Tokyo Olympics gold medal for Nigeria.

Brume told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Monday at the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) that she has been working hard towards this.

She said she wanted to replicate the feat of Chioma Ajunwa at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, where Ajunwa won Nigerias first-ever Olympic gold medal.

I have been training hard, and I am trusting God to get me a medal, and not just a medal but a gold medal.

Brume however disclosed that she was not the only one working hard.

Inam working towards this with my coaches and hopefully by the grace of God our hard work will not go to waste, she said.

The long jumper however urged the Federal Government to ensure adequate preparations for athletes for Nigeria to do well at the Olympics.

The reigning African women champion who was competing for Team Delta at the NSF said the festival was however a good build-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

She told NAN she has been preparing for the Olympics, even as she believed there was the need for government to intensify preparations for all Olympics-bound Nigerian athletes.

The Federal Government needs to create a better atmosphere for all Olympics-bound athletes. We also need better training facilities.

Apart from facilities we also need financial support so that we can take care of ourselves professionally for the Olympics, because some of us dont have the finance.

The support should not be just for athletes but our coaches as well. With this I can assure you that we will do well (at the Olympics), Brume said.

She said so far she had not gotten any financial support from the government towards her preparations for the Olympics.

Nothing has been given to me to support my preparations for the Olympics. I dont know about others (athletes), but I am hoping they (government) will do something soon, the Rio 2016 Olympics long jump finalist said.

The bronze medallist at the 2019 World Athletics Championships also called on relevant stakeholders to support Nigerian athletes as they intensify preparations for the Olympics.

Brume, a 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, also advised that a closed camp site with weather similar to Japan should be arranged for athletes as the Olympic draws closer.

The Cyprus-based Nigerian athlete remains one of Nigerias best medal hopes at the Tokyo Olympics.

NAN reports that the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics will now hold from July 23 to Aug. 8.

Source: NAN News

By Olawale Alabi

Defending champions Delta on Tuesday won more gold medals to gain an unassailable lead and put a gap between them and the rest at the 20th National Sports Festival (NSF).

Team Delta took their tally to a total of 298 medals, comprising 124 gold, 91 silver and 83 bronze, to maintain their lead and mathematically emerge champions of the festival.

What this means is that, with just a few events to be decided and on the festivals penultimate day, Team Delta have retained their title again.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this is based on the medals table released by the festivals Games Services Unit as at 4:33 p.m. on Tuesday.

Hosts Edo, Deltas nearest challengers, will now need to win 21 gold medals at least to upstage them.

The hosts presently have 103 gold, 97 silver and 85 bronze for a total of 285 medals.

Bayelsa are a distant third with 48 gold, 42 silver and 49 bronze for a total of 139 medals, while Rivers are in fourth place.

They have 27 gold, 27 silver and 47 bronze for a total of 101 medals, ahead of Lagos in fifth place with 22 gold, 27 silver and 43 bronze medals.

Akwa Ibom are in sixth place with 77 medals, made up of 17 gold, 21 silver and 39 bronze, edging Oyo state into seventh place with just a two-medal advantage.

Oyo state are with 17 gold, 19 silver and 28 bronze for a total of 64 medals.

In eighth position are Ogun with 13 gold, 14 silver and 31 bronze for a total of 58 medals, while Kano state are ninth.

They have 11 gold, 16 silver and 29 bronze for a total of 56 medals.

Plateau are 10th with eight gold, nine silver and 15 bronze for a total of 32 medals.

Abia, Imo, Cross River, FCT, Ondo state, Anambra, Kwara, Nasarawa state, Kaduna state and Bauchi state occupy the 11th to 20th positions in that order.

Niger, Ebonyi, Enugu state, Ekiti, Borno, Osun, Gombe state, Zamfara, Yobe, Katsina state, Kebbi, Kogi, Adamawa, Sokoto state, Benue and Taraba also occupy the 21st to 36th positions respectively.

Jigawa bring up the rear with no medal won after 10 days of competition.

NAN reports that the festival which got underway with the arrival of athletes and officials on April 2 got into competition mode on April 6.

The festival tagged Edo 2029 will officially end on Wednesday, with all participants scheduled to depart on Thursday.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Muhammad Nur Tijani

Kano Pillars Football Club have agreed to sign on Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa for the rest of the season.

Idris Malikawa, the clubs Media Officer, in a statement on Tuesday in Kano disclosed that the clubs chairman, Surajo Shuaibu, announced the deal.

Shuaibu said the club management has agreed to sign Ahmed Musa for the rest of the 2020/2021 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season.

He said the club agreed to sign the player after consultations with him and the League Management Company (LMC) which stands as mediator of the deal, the Media Officer said.

He added that Kano Pillars received a letter in that respect from the LMC, signed by its Chief Operating Officer (COO), Salihu Abubakar.

It stated that the club would take on Musa as an Elite Player of the league for the seasons second half.

The Kano Pillars family are welcoming Musa back home because he is our own and we wish him the best of luck, Malikawa states.

He added that the contract allows Musa to leave anytime he gets a new club of his choice.

After necessary documentation, the player will be unveiled by Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje before the commencement of the leagues second stanza, the Media Officer said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ijeoma Okigbo

The Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) on Tuesday in Benin unveiled a new multi-purpose facility at the Iyoba College cricket pitch.

The unveiling was done on the sidelines of the 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) which ends on Wednesday.

Uyi Akpata, VicePresident of the federation, said the facility was one of the best in the country.

He added that the objective of putting it in place was to ensure that the pitch would be a cricket hub for girls.

Just barely two years ago, we started exploring this ground (Iyoba cricket pitch). Now we have arguably one of the best pitches in Nigeria.

This pitch will be set out as a mark of objective of making it a centre of excellence for girls.

So, when we came here (Benin) three months ago, during the under-17 championship in January, we felt that we needed to have this dressing room facility.

And I must say that other than the Tafawa Balewa Square In Lagos and perhaps the University of Port Harcourt, there is no other facility like this in the country.

We are glad that God has given us the opportunity, but we will continue to do the best for female cricket in Edo.

I assure that next time you come here Iyoba will have turf wicket. So, a few friends are joining PETS Foundation to see this happen, he said.

Akpata also lauded his wife for her dedication to ensuring the Iyoba turf wicket came to light.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that PETS Foundation is one of NCFs partners.(NAN)

Source: NAN News