By Justina Auta

The Federal Government has called on authors and publishers to produce born accessible books to accommodate visually impaired persons.

The Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons With Disabilities (NCPWD), Mr James Lalu, gave the task at a news conference in Abuja.

Lalu spoke on the domestication (signing of the Copyright Act) and initiation of the the implementation process of the Marrakesh Treaty.

He noted the challenges faced by the blind, people with low vision and print disabled, calling for the production of books in worldwide accessible formats such as braille, audio, e-text and large print to address their challenges.

We cannot talk about inclusive education without providing learning materials in accessible formats. In our determination and commitment, we will make sure we make it accessible for the blind community, he said.

According to him, the commission has a mini printing press to produce any braille educational materials for free to ensure an inclusive environment for all persons regardless of their disabilities.

He said: We are inviting the public to make sure they use this printing press and every services they will get are absolutely free.

We call on all organisations that any programe that you are doing and will be inviting PWDs, make sure you provide them at an accessible formats because we are here at your service and will provide it for free.

He added that plans were on ground by the commission to revive the existing braille printing press in Lagos for the production and distribution of free braille school books for pupils in primary and secondary schools.

The Executive Secretary also called on prospective investors to establish braille printing press to carter to the needs of visually impaired persons.

We are calling on the general public, anyone interested in establishing a braille printing press, the NCPWD will provide appropriate license for the printing press.

And we will work closely with them to ensure that we maintain the standard and quality of documents to be produced to improve service delivery for our pupils to ensure education is accessible for disability community, the blind community.

Dr John Asein, the Director General, Nigerian Copyright Commission(NCC), stressed the need for accessible educational materials for visually impaired to reduce rates of blind beggars on the street.

When you tell blind children to leave the street and go to school, and they get to schools and dont find their own books in those schools, they will go back to the streets.

Books should be made available to everyone in the manner, way and platform that can be used to learn.

And for the blind, that means providing the books in accessible formats and copies, he said.

Asein added that as strategy to implement the Marrakesh Treaty, NCC would collaborate with other stakeholders to make the Copyright Act, other funded government books in braille and other accessible formats.

Everytime government sponsors or funds the production of any book, it will be available in accessible formats because tax payers include both the blind and the sighted, as the blind are part of this nation, so should reap from the national resource, he said.

Mr Adamu Ishiyaku, the National President, Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB), said the implementation of the National Copyright bill into law will ensure access to printed materials for visually impaired persons.

We urge all these partners to continue to partner with NAB and other stakeholders to ensure implementation of this act.

Particularly Section 26 of the National Copyright Law is successful and realistic for the visually impaired and otherwise print disabled, he said.

On his part, Mr David Okon, thevChairman, Education Committee for the Blind, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the copyright act and other policies affecting PWDs in Nigeria.

Okon, however, urged incoming governments to implement the Act to enable PWD gain necessary knowledge and literacy that will enable them contribute to national development.

He said: We should not go into retrospect, but we should progress. We are appealing that the new administration should take it up from there.

They should implement this act and other provisions that will make equality and equitability in the Nigerian society for PWDs. We want equal rights and equity.

Sightsavers Country Director, Dr Sunday Isiyaku, said the signing into law of the copyright act, 2022, and implementation of the Marrakesh treaty would promote greater cultural participation, education and social inclusion for PWDs.

Isiyaku, represented by Ms Esther Angulu, the Programme Manager, Social Inclusion, said: It is not enough for us to keep talking if we are not out there pushing and ensuring that this is done.

We will continue to support with the work NAB have started and also support to ensure that the bill is implemented.

He reiterated their commitment to partner stakeholders in promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of the society, including education, employment and community life. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Source: NAN News

By Bolanle Lawal

The Balm in Gilead Foundation for Sustainable Development (BIGIF) has called for 35 per cent affirmative action in political appointments at all levels of governance in Nigeria.

Its Executive Director, Ms Oluwatumininu Adedeji, made the call in the foundations request for 35 affirmative action in the political appointments in Ekiti, during a courtesy visit to Gov. Biodun Oyebanji.

Adedeji said that with the 35 per cent affirmative action the country would be able to get it right on Womens Political and Administrative Rights.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a letter titled: REQUEST FOR 35% AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS IN EKITI, was presented to the newly constituted political appointment committee in Ekiti.

A copy of the letter was also addressed to Gov. Biodun Oyebanji and other stakeholders in the political sector in the state.

Adedeji recalled that BIGIF had, through its campaign, secured the commitment of all candidates at the election to fully implement the Ekiti Women Agenda when elected, which Mr Governor, who was the then candidate of the ruling party, subscribed to.

She said: For our emerging democracy in Nigeria to be sustainable, all groups within the population must be actively involved in the governance process and their voices must be heard.

And, their experiences and expertise must be utilised for optimal growth and development of the country.

We must rise to break the bias that hitherto limit womens participation in politics and governance process.

The letter read in parts: In August 2022, BIGIF presented the Agenda to the transition committee on invitation and the Governor, in his inaugural speech, clearly committed to women empowerment, gender equality and inclusive governance.

Since inauguration, the Governor has not relented in the pursuit of his promises, particularly by enlisting qualified women into the service of the state through appointments.

We welcome the constitution of your committee as a single largest and right opportunity to achieve 35 per cent of political appointments for women in Ekiti.

In line with our mandate to promote womens rights, we are calling on the committee on political appointments to priotise and facilitate the reservation of a minimum of 35 per cent of political appointments in Ekiti State for women as the Governor has charged during the committees maiden meeting.

This is in consonance with the Governors electioneering and inauguration promises and to further implement the existing legal frameworks for gender equalit.

The executive director said that with this, Ekiti would further set an unprecedented feat, far ahead of other sub-national governments.

According to her, this is after recording another first in women political representation at the House of Assembly election of March 18 where Ekiti emerged with the highest number of female elected lawmakers in Nigeria.

NAN reports that BIGIF is a registered woman-led non-governmental organisation that focusses on enhancing healthy living and promoting the rights of women, youths and children.

It is also a frontline organisation in the advancement of human rights, promotion of women participation in politics and the fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Nigeria committed to partnering with the government for development. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng).

Edited by Remi Koleoso/ Olagoke Olatoye

Source: NAN News

By EricJames Ochigbo

Sir David Osunde Foundation, says no fewer than 1,500 Persons With Disability (PWD), drawn from across the country, will be empowered at its 31st Edition of Special Easter Monday celebration.

The Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Mr Ikem Uchegbulam, made this known at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday.

He said that there would be skills acquisition programmes, scholarships and support materials like wheelchairs and crutches among others for PWDs.

The chairman said that the aim is to impact them spiritually, materially and meet their basic welfare.

The six-hour event will hold on April 10 at the Holy Family Society National Pilgrimage Centre at Gosa, Sabin-Lugbe in Abuja at noon.

The event will begin with a mass, to be celebrated by the Arch Bishop of Abuja Diocese, Bishop Ignatious Kaigama, and John Cardinal John Onayiekan.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, is the guest of honour and Mrs Geogiana Ogbutor is Mother of the Day, he said.

The Organising Secretary, Mr Mallam Muazu, said that the foundation is not a Christian institution.

He said though Easter is a Christian event, the celebration cuts across all religions, saying that 90 per cent of the beneficiaries are Muslims.

Muazu said that what has kept the foundation going in the past 31 years was consistency, truthfulness and togetherness. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Vincent Obi

Source: NAN News

By Grace Alegba and Joan Odafe

The Lagos State Government on Thursday said that the proposed jetty project in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government (AOLG) area would create several opportunities when actualised.

The Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Dr Gaji Omobolaji, said this at a meeting with stakeholders on the proposed construction of a Barge Jetty and Stacking Bay at Beachland Estate in Amuwo-Odofin.

He said the Barge/ Container Terminal would improve connectivity, create jobs, enhance commerce, decongest existing ports, increase government revenue and boost infrastructure development in the area.

The permanent secretary, represented by Mr Lasisi Adedoyin, a Deputy Director, said the project being handled by Beachland Consilium Ltd was to develop a Barge/Bonded Container Terminal at Beachland Estate, Ibafon.

He said an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) had been conducted and the meeting was to seek the input and support of the community toward the project.

Omobolaji said the meeting was organised by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources to create awareness on the EIA report and encourage participation of the host community and the public on location of the project.

He said that the meeting was also to document concerns and observations of the communities and relevant stakeholders.

This is to assess the potential impacts of the project and to put in place measures to mitigate them as a way of ensuring that the project is implemented in a sustainable manner, he said.

The permanent secretary said the site is bordered to the west by Kirikiri Creek while to the south are Rhamaniya storage facility and Lagos Lagoon, and the project will occupy 342 hectares of land.

He said the project would ensure faster evacuation, storage, transfer of imports, exports and also act as an empty return holding bay for containers to/fro the Lagos Lagoon while also listing anticipated negative consequences.

The proposed Beachland barge terminal/integrated logistics park when operational will help minimise use of road transportation and decongest the existing Apapa roads by making use of inland waterways which offers faster delivery time to the various industrial and commercial hubs in Alaba, Tradefair complex and Agbara, he said.

The Chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Mr Valentine Buraimoh, said the terminal would boost development and help decongest the roads within the community.

Buraimoh, who was represented by the Chief of Staff of the Council, Mr Segun Idris, said the project would also help reduce security risks in the community.

It will reduce the congestion on our roads and the lifespan will be increased.

We are not happy with the issue of tank farm; so if there is another way to convey petrol to various fuelling stations, we are happy with it, he said.

Mr Ajasa Oluwa, a representative of the Oluwa family landowners of the area where the terminal will be situated said the project was a welcome development to the community.

He, however urged the ministry of environment to ensure that members of the community got a good representation when staff were being recruited during and after the project.

Oluwa also urged the ministry to put the traders along the route of the project into consideration, so they dont lose their source of livelihood.

Another member of the family, Mr Oyebowale Oluwa, said the family would welcome the terminal, as long as the ministry followed through all proper and legal steps necessary for the project. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Oluwole Sogunle

DD/Website

Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, has called on Christian faithful and Nigerians to take the opportunity of the Easter celebrations to pursue peace with one another.

Agba, in a goodwill message on Good Friday in Abuja, also urged Nigerians to love one another.

He pointed out that Christs love, which made Him surrender His life on the cross at Calvary for the remission of sin of man, was the essence of the season.

He said it was only in the atmosphere of peace and love, which the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ represented that we can unleash our creative potential for the development of our nation.

Agba urged Nigerians to focus more on issues that unite rather than divide us as a nation.

According to him, there is no limit to the amount of collective good that can accrue to a united nation. I urge us to be united in focus and in pupose.

I wish all of us a momentous Good Friday and celebratory Easter Sunday and Monday in the abundance of love, peace, and unity.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

DD/Website

Director-General, National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW), Dr Yusuf Maina-Bukar with the agencys staff members and friends, during his first anniversary in office in Abuja

Director-General, National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW), Dr Yusuf Maina-Bukar with the agencys staff members and friends, in Abuja on Monday.

By Abigael Joshua

The Director-General, National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW), Dr Yusuf Maina-Bukar, has pledged more commitments to afforestation activities to curb the challenges of climate change in Nigeria.

Maina-Bukar gave the pledge while addressing newsmen to mark his first anniversary in office, on Tuesday in Abuja.

Since the inception of the agency, afforestation and restoration activities have been at the heart of its activities.

We have, therefore, focused on implementing afforestation and reforestation activities as well as land restoration and sustainable land management practices, and we have made notable achievements, he said.

Maina-Bukar listed some of the achievements to include: establishment of shelter belts, woodlots, orchards and more recently, institutional planting, social forestry and farm forestry.

Others, he said, were marketable gardens and large-scale restoration of degraded lands to ameliorate the challenges of the environment in the affected communities.

At the core of the Nigerian component of the Great Green Wall initiative is reversing desertification, degradation of land and the mitigation of the effects of climate change in the 11 frontline communities, he said.

According to the director-general, the communities were in Borno, Yobe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa States.

He said that during his one year in office, the agency had been able to provide job opportunities for youths and women in rural communities, especially in the areas of training on land management technique and forest planting, among others.

The Acting Director, Department of Planning Policy and Coordination, NAGGW, Mrs Habibah Ibrahim, commended the director-general for his support to the staff members of the agency.

This has made our jobs easier and I urge him to continue to listen to us.

She also commended Maina-Bukar for his passion for the assignment before him, saying that this could help in driving the nations economy to success.

Mr Sotade Olayinka, Convener, Initiative for Ethics and Value Reorientation, a civil society organisation (CSO), lauded his organisations partnership with the agency, under the leadership of the director-general.

He urged the director-general to continue to operate an open door policy, assuring of more successes in his assignment. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Wale Sadeeq

Source: NAN News

Stakeholders during the execution of phase II 2022 salary inspection programme in Abuja

By Lucy Ogalue

The Federal Government has directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) implementing increases in salaries, allowances and fringe benefits without its approval to desist from such acts.

The Chairman, National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Mr Ekpo Nta, gave the warning at a Two-Day Training Workshop for Salaries Inspectors in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop is for the execution of the Phase II of the 2022 Salary Inspection Programme.

According to Nta, the commission over the years , through the salary inspection programmes, found out that some agencies are implementing unapproved salaries, allowances and fringe benefits.

I want to unambiguously, state that even where the establishment Acts of any fully funded, partially funded and self-funded federal agencies allow its board to determine its remuneration.

It can only do so after statutory input in line with Section 3(1) of the NSIWC Act 1999. This is irrespective of whether their establishment Act predates 1993 or not.

They are bound by our Act in the same way and manner that the Public Procurement Act 2007, the ICPC Act 2000, Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, etc upon enactment.

Whether pre-dating or post-dating their establishment Acts, apply to all federal government agencies.

The chairman said it was based on this that the federal government issued two circulars signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

He said the circular directed all MDAs to desist from implementing any increase without NSIWCs input, and after approvals by the government, such approvals must be conveyed by NSIWC.

The country will not accept fiscal indiscipline where the personnel budget and non-regular allowances of the overhead budgets for public service employees are not controlled and spiral out of control without a corresponding increase in productivity, especially in self-funded institutions.

This can be attributed to unregulated recruitment, implementation of the National Minimum Wage etc., Nta said.

The NSIWC boss reiterated that the commission had through this inspection and other activities saved the government over N400 billion yearly which would have been abused, wasted or misappropriated.

He said this years programme would cover agencies which had obtained approvals to implement new salaries, allowances and fringe benefits within the last six months.

He said they include the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and their parastatals and the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and their parastatals.

Nta urged the salary inspectors to enrich themselves during the workshop, go into the field and carry out the inspection with dedication and zero tolerance for compromise.

He warned that any inspector found acting contrary to set rules and regulations would be sanctioned appropriately for criminal breach of trust or unethical conduct.

He then solicited support and corporation of the selected agencies for the success of the exercise which was a statutory requirement. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Maureen Atuonwu

Source: NAN News

Chief Odunayo Ategbero

By Emmanuel Oloniruha

The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) has advised people contemplating interim national government in Nigeria to bury the thought.

Its National Chairman, Chief Odunayo Ategbero, said the idea of an interim national government was completely alien to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended).

Ategbero condemned the alleged plot by some groups he described as desperate politicians to instigate, mobilise and promote the interim national government after the just-concluded 2023 presidential election.

It is important at this juncture to appreciate the infallibility of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) which does not contemplate any such arrangement in the political space.

It is the view of the BOT of ALGON that Feb. 25s presidential and National Assembly Elections outcome is sacrosanct as announced by INEC, he stated.

Ategbero added that what was important now was moving forward after the elections.

The President-Elect remains Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

Nigeria has had a successful election even as it is acknowledged that there are some obvious infractions which should be left for the courts to adjudicate upon.

The Election Tribunal offers a legitimate opportunity for losers to contest their claim, he said.

Ategbero urged Nigerians to be law-abiding and to be steadfast in nurturing Nigerias nascent democracy in spite of unguarded utterances laden with inflamed emotions.

The BOT also condemns the heightened desperation by some Nigerians weaponising the victory with religious and ethnic sentiments for mere political and selfish gains.

We call on all Nigerians to trust the democratic process against all subterfuge and not to be used by traducers and purveyors of trouble in the interest of more than 200 million Nigerians.

An appeal is hereby made to the Department of State Service for immediate arrest and prosecution of these groups of desperate citizens fanning the embers of interim national government, Ategbero stated. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Alli Hakeem

DD/Website

By Olayinka Owolewa

The Chairman of the Governing Council of Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), Terfa Ityav, has reiterated the commitment of the body to keep up with its development plan.

Speaking during a four-day visit to Kwara on Wednesday, Ityav said that the policy thrust of the commission includes education, agriculture, entrepreneurship, health, infrastructure and security.

We are in Kwara State to inspect and verify some of the projects that are being done by the commission which are in line with our two to five years plan, he said.

The chairman lauded the efforts of the management committee of the commission for the execution of projects with direct bearing on the host communities.

Kwara is the third state after Kebbi and Niger that we are visiting to assess the level of work done by the management committee.

We give a vote of confidence to them because projects that have been shown on papers are actually existing, he said.

Ityav said that the commission would keep improving on the standard of its projects where lapses are noticed.

He said that the commission would consider some of the requests from communities in consonant with its budgetary allocation and capacity.

We have received a lot of requests from communities and we will consider them under our development plan, budgetary allocation and capacity, he said.

The Managing Director of HYPPADEC, Alhaji Abubakar Yelwa, disclosed that the visit to the communities was to ascertain the level of projects compliance with their design and specifications.

Projects executed so far have met the aspirations of the communities and I assure you that the commission will not relent in its efforts to ensure that the right quality of projects is delivered, Yelwa said.

The working visit saw the members of the governing council and management staff of HYPPADEC paying courtesy visits to traditional rulers in Edu, Patigi and Moro local government areas of the state where projects are monitored and handed over to the host communities.

HYPPADEC has constructed schools, drainages, solar powered street lights, conducted medical outreach and distributed motorcycles to aid the security network of the communities in Kwara state within its two years of inauguration.

It was established by an Act of the National Assembly to address ecological challenges from the operations of Hydroelectric Dams.

Its operations is carried out in six states; Benue, Kwara, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau and Kogi comprising 56 local governments, 229 political wards and 1085 communities.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz

DD/Website

By Bridget Ikyado

The Archbishop of Abuja Arch-Dioceses, His Grace Ignatius Kaigama, says those who saw the recent presidential elections as a referendum between Christians and Muslims or the North and the South have badly missed the point.

Kaigama made this known while delivering a sermon at the 2023 Chrism Mass celebration on Tuesday in Abuja.

The Chrism Mass is a religious service held in certain Christian denominations, such as Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism.

It is usually celebrated each year on Maundy Thursday or on another day of Holy Week.

Some of those seeking power in Nigeria are so notoriously narcissistic and myopic.

They only see the interests of theirs or their narrow political constituencies.

Such a view is the most divisive understanding of the Nigerian political reality, he said.

Referring to a bible passage (1 Timothy 3:2), Kaigama said a leader must be sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money, like Judas who betrayed Jesus.

We should search our hearts to see our infidelities, falsehoods, hypocrisies, the good intentions betrayed, promises broken and resolutions unfulfilled, he said

The Archbishop prayed for all priests, political leaders and for all the lovely citizen of Nigeria that they may enjoy peace now and eternal reward after.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Sadiya Hamza

Source: NAN News