By Okeoghene Akubuike

The Federal Government has put in place skill acquisition and entrepreneurship training, for youths and women to combat desertification and improve livelihood of communities affected by it.

A statement signed by Mrs Pauline Sule, Head ,Press and Public Relations, National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) in Abuja on Monday, said the programme is carried out by the agency.

The statement said this became necessary following the devastating effects of desertification and land degradation caused partly by human activities in the country.

It quoted the Minister of Environment, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, who spoke at the flag-off ceremony in Kano, as saying the process of land degradation is driven largely by inappropriate land use and over exploitation of plants and water resources.

Abubakar said that behavioual change by the people could help revert the structure, hence the need to train the youths and women on various skills.

He said this would help transform unskilled hands into skilful, productive and efficient hands that have mastery of certain vocations.

The Minister said part of the mandate of the NAGGW is to improve the resilience of human and natural system in Sudo-Sahelian region of the country.

Another mandate is, facing challenges of climate change, land degradation, and desertification through sustainable ecosystem management and human capacity.

Abubakar said that it is in this regard that the agency has put in place five skills acquisition centres in Kano, Bauchi, Katsina, Sokoto and Yobe States, to train members of the affected communities in the 11 frontline states.

The 11 states are, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Yobe, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoto and Zamfara states.

Dr Bukar Hassan, Director- General (DG), NAGGW, urged the trainees to be attentive and make good utilisation of the training.

Hassan said 90 youths and women from Kano and Jigawa states have been selected for the training in Kano, while plans are in place for the training in the remaining nine states.

He added that each trainee will be given a starter pack to enable him begin the trade immediately without having to seek for initial capital.

The DG urged the beneficiaries to become masters of their own art, generate income, and ensure sustainable livelihood in their communities.

Source: NAN News

By Lizzy Okoji

The Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China has pledged to promote education exchange and cooperation between China and Nigeria, saying that this has always been its top priority.

Mr Zhao Yong, Deputy Ambassador of the Chinese Embassy in Abuja, made this known on Monday during the presentation ceremony of the China-Nigeria friendship award ceremony on Oct. 1 to outstanding secondary school students and teachers.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the award to the teachers and students in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is the third in the series.

The award of N10,000 in cash went to each of the 120 students across 10 schools in the FCT and N20,000 to each of 24 teachers from the 12 schools in the FCT.

The award which was earlier presented to employees of indigenous Chinese Companies in Nigeria and some students of the University of Abuja is in commemoration of Chinas National Day and Nigerias Independence.

Saying that education is top priority of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Zhao said education remains the cornerstone of a nations development.

Zhao said I hope all the beneficiaries will keep up the constant efforts and excel in your teaching or learning. I sincerely wish you all success in the future.

Speaking to NAN on the sidelines of the event, Mr Li Xuda, Director of the China Cultural Center in Abuja, said the future of a country is totally dependent on education, adding that there is the need to pay more attention to the education sector.

Also speaking, Alhaji Yahaya Muhammad, Chairman, FCT Secondary Education Board, appreciated the Chinese government for its unrelenting support to schools in the FCT and across the country.

Muhammad said the FCT Secondary School Education Board is happy celebrating 15 years of cooperation with the Chinese Embassy which has been of mutual benefit to the two parties.

He said that the partnership has further promoted cultural and educational exchanges between Nigeria and China, and has strengthened bilateral relations.

Mrs Fatima Baba. Director, Co-Curricular of the Board, said the Chinese Embassy has been of immense support to the growing educational sector in Nigeria and urged other Embassies to show their support.

One of the beneficiaries of the award, Ms Esther Okoye of the Government Secondary School, Asokoro, appreciated the Embassy for recognizing their efforts.

Okoye said the award will spur her to work harder and strive for more academic excellence.

Source: NAN News

World Bank

By FolasadeAkpan

The World Bank says the total external debt of Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI)-eligible countries climbed to 744 billion dollars in 2019, an increase of 9.5 per cent from the previous year.

The bank made this known in its International Debt Statistics 2021 released in Washington D.C. on Monday.

The report said that the figure was equivalent on average to one-third of the countries combined gross national income.

Lending from private creditors was the fastest-growing component of the external debt of DSSI-eligible borrowers, up five-fold since 2010.

Obligations to private creditors totaled 102 billion dollars at the end of 2019.

The debt stock of DSSI-eligible countries to official bilateral creditors composed mostly of Group of 20 (G-20) countries, reached 178 billion dollars in 2019 and accounted for 27 per cent of the long-term debt stock of low-income countries.
According to the report, this highlights an urgent need for creditors and borrowers alike to collaborate to stave off the growing risk of sovereign-debt crises triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It said that the pace of debt accumulation for these countries was nearly twice the rate of other low- and middle-income countries in 2019.

The report said that in response to an urgent need for greater debt transparency, this edition provided more detailed and disaggregated data on external debt than ever before in its nearly 70-year history.

According to it, details include breakdowns of what each borrowing country owes to official and private creditors in each creditor country and the expected month-by-month debt-service payments owed to them through 2021.

The World Bank said that before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising public debt levels were already a cause for concern, particularly in many of the worlds poorest countries as discussed in its Four Waves of Debt report published in December 2019.

Responding to a call from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the G20 endorsed the DSSI in April 2020 to help up to 73 of the poorest countries manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The debt stock of DSSI-eligible countries to official bilateral creditors, composed by mostly G-20 countries, reached 178 billion dollars in 2019 and accounted for 17 per cent of long-term net debt flows to low and middle-income countries.

Within the G-20 creditor group, there have been some important shifts characterised by a marked increase in lending by G-20 member countries that are themselves middle-income countries.

Citing China as an example, it said that though it was by far the largest creditor, it had seen its share of the combined debt owed to G-20 countries rise from 45 per cent in 2013 to 63 per cent at end-2019.

It said that over the same period, the share for Japan, the second largest G-20 creditor, had remained broadly the same at 15 per cent.

The bank said that the 2021 IDS data released also reflects progress made to increase coverage of complex debt instruments, given their rising prominence in the debt profiles of developing countries.

The central bank and currency swap arrangements that represent loans from other central banks also occur in low and middle-income countries.

The World Bank is working to ensure that these debt instruments are captured in the IDS dataset.

The report however said that increased debt transparency would help many low and middle-income countries assess and manage their external debt through the current crisis and work with policymakers toward sustainable debt levels and terms.

Mr David Malpass, the World Bank Group President said that achieving long-term debt sustainability would depend on a large-scale shift in the worlds approach to debt and investment transparency.

The time has come for a much more comprehensive approach to tackling the debt crisis facing the people in the poorest countries one that involves debt-service suspension as well as broader efforts such as debt-stock reduction and swifter debt-restructuring, grounded in greater debt transparency.

Carmen Reinhart, World Bank Chief Economist said debt enables governments to have extra resources they needed to invest in health systems, education, or infrastructure.

If you have a debt problem, all those ambitions suffer. That is why it is important to get the debt onto sustainable ground as quickly as possible. We cannot afford another lost decade.
The report, however said that greater debt transparency was critical to productive investment and debt sustainability.

It therefore called for full transparency of the terms of the existing and new debt and debt-like commitments of the governments of the poorest countries.

The Bank also urged creditors and debtors alike to embrace this transparency to facilitate analysis that would enable countries to identify sovereign-debt levels consistent with growth and poverty reduction.

The bank said that as one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, it was taking broad and fast action to help developing countries strengthen their pandemic response.

It is supporting public health interventions, working to ensure the flow of critical supplies and equipment and helping the private sector continue to operate and sustain jobs.

It expects to deploy up to 160 billion dollars in financial support over 15 months to help more than 100 countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses and bolster economic recovery.

It said this includes 50 billion dollars of new International Development Association (IDA) resources through grants and highly concessional loans.

Source: NAN News

APC logo

By Emmanuel Mogbede

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has advised politicians not to see elections into public offices as a do or die affair.

Mai Mala Buni, Chairman, APC Caretaker and Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee gave the advice on Monday in Abuja, while briefing newsmen on the partys take on the just concluded Ondo State governorship election.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu, the Ondo State incumbent governor and APC candidate at the just concluded Oct. 10, gubernatorial poll won the election.

As it is said, one good turn deserves another.

Just like we congratulated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Edo election, we look forward to seeing PDP and the other political parties extend similar gesture to us in the spirit of good sportsmanship.

By so doing, we will make elections in Nigeria healthier and attractive, rather than making elections a do or die affair.

With the conclusion of the Ondo state governorship election, I sincerely express my gratitude to almighty God for the peaceful conduct of the election across the state, he said.

Buni noted that in spite of the fear of violence entertained in some quarters, the people of Ondo state conducted themselves peacefully to re-elect Gov. Akeredolu for another term.

He specially congratulated the people of Ondo state, saying the partys victory at the election was theirs.

Buni, who is also the governor of Yobe, thanked the electorate for renewing Akeredolus mandate for another term and for putting their trust in the APC, adding that they made the right choice.

Akeredolu values this trust and will not disappoint you, Buni stressed.

He expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osibanjo for their leadership roles and support to ensure that the APC emerged victorious at the election.

According to him, the guide and support of Buhari led the party to the path of success.

He added that the support and commitment of members of the Caretaker and Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee was immeasurable.

Buni expressed appreciation to the partys Ondo state reconciliation committee and the state National Campaign Council under the leadership of Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger and Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State.

The wonderful work of the two committees have contributed immensely to the success of the party in this election.

The efforts of the Ondo State Executive Committee, the Local Government and ward executives of the party, had greatly enriched our fortunes to win the election with less stress, he said.

Buni, however, added that the concept of team work being promoted by the caretaker committee should remain a strong pillar in the collective quest to build a strong, united and prosperous APC.

He, therefore, enjoined all stakeholders, party members and supporters to promote team work in their future endeavors for the partys success.

Buni noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, local and international election observers were professional and ethical in the discharge of their responsibilities during the election.

He expressed confidence that through genuine cooperation, the countys electioneering process could always be improved.

He commended other political parties and their candidates at the election, saying they put up a good fight.

I encourage us all to always maintain healthy competition in our quest to serve the people, Buni said.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

Dr Sani Aliyu

By Abujah Racheal

Air travellers intending to come into Nigeria will not be allowed to board aircraft without a Quick Response (QR) code certifying that they are COVID-19-free, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu, has said.

Dr. Aliyu, who made the pronouncement on Monday in Abuja, told newsmen that the step had become necessary to ease congestion on arrival at airports and to avoid the spread of infections.

He explained that with more than 4,000 passengers arriving in Lagos and Abuja on daily basis, the use of paper at the airports was not sustainable.

He added that with the online procedure, it would be easier to manage passenger flow, more so that Nigeria has increased the number of passengers that could fly into the country.

We have already increased the number of passengers that could fly into Lagos to 2,500 per day while that of Abuja has been increased to 1,600 a day.

We cannot continue to handle paper work with this number of passengers coming into Nigeria, he said.

Dr, Aliyu added that the online procedure to produce the QR certificate before proceeding to the airport would also reduce passengers stress on arrival at the terminal bindings.

The portal has three sections. The first section has to do with filling a straightforward questionnaire. The second step is to upload the COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) result that should be negative at the point of boarding.

At this stage you have two options, either to go ahead and pay or download your QR Code.

If you chose to download the temporary QR code, you can print it and board with it and pay on arrival in Nigeria.

Our strong recommendation is that if you do not want to spend too much time at the airport, print out the final QR Code. If you have the final QR Code it takes minutes to go through the airport protocol in Nigeria.

Since passengers filled questionnaire and PCR result can be seen online it is easy to check after seven days if a passenger tested positive and we can easily go back and check whether what we have on our system is genuine PCR result or not.

Also, we will check the questionnaire to see if an intending passenger admitted that he or she had some symptoms prior to boarding. It is either that such passenger incubated the illness or picked up the virus on the way in or its possible that a wrong test was done, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Court symbol

By Imelda Osayande

The Edo Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Benin has received petitions from five political parties and their candidates, challenging the declaration of Gov. Godwin Obaseki as the rightful winner of the September 19 poll.

The Secretary of the tribunal, Mr Sunday Martins, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Monday.

Martins said that the 21-day window period for the submission of petitions ended on Saturday.

He, however, said that the bailiff had not succeeded in his efforts to personally serve Obaseki the court notice.

He said that the governor must be served personally because it is an originating process.

The political parties and their candidates included the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Mr Ukonga Frank, Allied Peoples Movement, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Mr. Agol Ebun, and Action Democratic Party (ADP), Mr Iboi Emmanuel.

All the petitions joined Obaseki, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as respondents.

The petition by ADP and its candidate had the governor, PDP, INEC and Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress as defendants.

Candidates of APP and AA petitions were challenging their unlawful exclusion from the ballot papers by INEC, after having been validly-nominated by their party, in line with the Electoral Act.

They were praying the tribunal to nullify the election and order a fresh poll to be conducted within 90 days.

They demanded that validly-nominated candidates should be included in the new ballot papers.

On their part, APM and NNPP were challenging the validity of Forms EC9 and CF001, reportedly submitted by Obaseki in respect of the 2020 and 2016 governorship polls in the state.

Also, ADP and Emmanuel were asking the tribunal to look at the list of Vice Chancellors (VC) of the University of Ibadan (UI), from 1947 to date, E-newspaper publication that announced the death of Prof. Tekena Tamuno, among other documents.

Emmanuel alleged in his petition that Tamuno, who was the VC of UI, from December 1975 to November 1979, could not have signed the certificate Obaseki allegedly presented to the APC for screening.

He also alleged that the purported university degree, which Obaseki claimed was issued by UI, had no date on it.

The ADP candidate therefore argued that Obaseki was not qualified to run for the poll, adding that votes credited to him were null and void and of no effect and value. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Oluwarotimi Akeredolu

By Akeem Abas

The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Oyo State Chapter, has congratulated Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on his re-election.

This is contained in a statement signed byits Chairman, Prince Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye, and made available to newsmen in Ibadan on Monday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Akeredolu, of theAll Progressives Congress (APC), was re-elected in Saturdays election for another term of four years.

He polled292,830 todefeat his closest rival, Eyitayo Jegede of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled195,791 votes.

Abass-Aleshinloye said that Akeredolus victory was well deserved, adding that it was a victory for the progressives.

He congratulated Mr Ade Adetimehin, the Ondo State APC Chairman, Lagos Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Chairman of the Campaign Committee, and all party faithful for putting their best to ensure a successful outing.

The ALGON boss said that the people of Ondo state had, through their votes, demonstrated their preference for continuity in transformative leadership and progressive governance, which Akeredolu represented.

It is my prayer that God will grant you wisdom, knowledge and the needed resources to attend to your campaign promises to the people, he said.

Abass-Aleshinloye also commended the partys hierarchy and stakeholders in Ondo state for closing up the ranks among them, irrespective of the rancour.

This singular act goes a long way in ensuring the historical victory for the party at the polls. This feat could only be achieved through the power of unity, he said.

He, therefore, called on party members in Oyo state to imbibe unity, perseverance and remain dedicated to the partys principles as well asideals for development.

The party, he said, could not afford to lag behind in future elections.

Abass-Aleshinloye said that such spirit of unity, dedication, perseverance and togetherness in the face of uncertainty gave the party the desired victory in the Ondo state governorship election. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Security agents

By Diana Omueza

Cleen Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has lauded the friendliness and approachability of the security agents deployed for election duty at the just conducted Ondo State governorship polls.

Mr Benson Olugbuo, the Executive Director of the foundation lauded the various security outfits in its preliminary report issued in Abuja on the conduct of security before, during and after the electoral process.

Olugbuo said that the foundation collaborated with the Police Service Commission (PSC) to observe the conducts of security under the Election Security Support Centre (ESSC) of the foundation.

He said that its observers reports showed that 57.1 per cent of the security personnel at the polling units were approachable and 66.7 per cent were impartial.

According to him, 93 per cent of the polling units across the state were safe and secured because of the friendliness, approachability and identifiable appearance of the security personnel.

According to the statistics generated through our observer reports, 93 per cent of security personnel arrived at the polling units across the state before 8:00a.m.

Eighty three per cent of the polling units across the state were protected by unarmed security personnel and on the aggregate, 95.2 per cent of the polling units had three or more security personnel.

We observed that 95.2 per cent of the security personnel were wearing easily identifiable name tags and were accessible to the electorate, he said.

Olugbuo, however, said that on the welfare of security the personnel abandoned the polling units at some point in search of food, leaving voters at the mercy of party agents.

This, he said, portrayed a wrong impression and brought to fore the issue of welfare of the officers which had been recurring and was discussed with the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) during a dialogue meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

Olugbuo commended the security agents who rose to the call of duty to prevent vote trading and called for the arrest, investigation and prosecution of party agents engaged in vote trading.

He also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the general conduct of the election but, however, raised concern about the poor functionality of most of the smart card readers.

We observed smart card reader malfunctioning. Voting was delayed in some units due to malfunctioning of the smart card readers.

Some were unable to authenticate voters and INEC officials refused to use manual accreditation insisting on following the laid down procedure which delayed the electoral process, he said.

He called on INEC to ensure improvement in the deployment of materials especially in the riverine communities and on the use of functional smart card readers.

Olugbuo said that the foundation would continue to observe the election and issue its post-election statements to detail more on the overall conduct of the security personnel deployed on election duty.

He urged INEC and the security agents at the collation centres to maintain the highest level of professionalism in their conduct by guarding against any form of compromise that could scuttle the entire democratic process.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

The Enugu state police command has arrested a yet to be identified man for allegedly killing his parents in Enugu State during an argument.

According to report, the tragic incident happened on Sunday, October 11, at Mkporogwu Iheakpu-Awka community in Igbo-eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State.

Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state.

By Muhammad Nur Tijani

Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has approved the redeployment of eight Permanent Secretaries and the appointment of four new ones in the state civil service.

Abba Anwar, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, gave this indication in a statement issued on Sunday in Kano.

According to him, the redeployed permanent secretaries are as follows

Balarabe Karaye, moved from the Ministry of Budget and Planning to Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Adamu Faragai, from Agriculture and Natural Resources to the Ministry of Environment.

Binta Bala was redeployed from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Auwalu Sanda, from the Ministry of Women Affairs to the Deputy Governors Office.

Amina Musa, from the Ministry of Science and Technology to the Ministry of Health.

Amina Aminu, from the Ministry of Water Resources to the Ministry of Women Affairs.

Hussaini Ganduje, from Ministry for Special Duties to the Ministry of Water Resources.

Abba Kailani was redeployed from the Establishment Directorate, Office of the Head of Service, to the Ministry of Rural and Community Development.

The newly appointed permanent secretaries are

Fatima Sarki, posted to Manpower Development, Office of Head of Service.

Umar Albasu, newly appointed Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Transport.

Kabiru Magami, newly appointed and posted to Ministry for Special Duties.

Abba Mustapha newly appointed and posted to the Ministry of Budget and Planning.

According to an official statement, Gov. Ganduje charged all the Permanent Secretaries to work harder and continue repositioning the civil service for better service delivery, emphasising that As the engine room of the state civil service, you are always expected to be up and doing.

The governor urged them to employ modern technology in discharging their responsibilities, charging them You must make sure that you comply with the global best practices. Use of IT is equally significant and necessary. (NAN)

Source: NAN News