Dr Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has rejoiced with Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, as he turns 68 on Aug. 8.

Buhari made his feelings known in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Friday.

The statement said the president joined the medical community, labour fraternity, the legislature where the celebrator served as Senator, and people of Anambra whom he served as governor, to salute Ngige for his meritorious stewardship to the community, state, country and humanity.

He wished him improved health, strength and sound mind.

President Buhari wished the minister well in all his endeavours as he continued to serve as conciliator-general between government and organised labour.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Okon Okon

Ministry of Communications has won the first, second and third prizes for the Public Service Innovation Challenge Award Competition, designed to improve service delivery.

The winners were grouped as; Sogunro Onyindamola, Iliya Abdulrahman for the first prize; Winsala Oluwaseun, Ebire Francis for the second prize and Zainab Saka, Tolulope Ibitoye for the third prize.

The winners, who are from the same ministry were awarded N3 million, N1.7 million and N1 million respectively while consolation prizes were given to other participants.

Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), who spoke at the occasion in Abuja said that organising such competition was in line with the Federal Civil Service Strategic and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP).

Yemi-Esan said that the initiative was part of the Federal Governments future service delivery, while appreciating participants for the exhibition of their skills during the competition,

The Federal Civil Service Innovation Challenge can be considered as a watershed event heralding a major milestone in our collective movement toward a more innovative public service that provides quality services.

I wish to also state that with the quality of presentations and interactions witnessed in the competition, I am in no doubt that the public sector as the largest service provider is not deficient of the capacity to deliver on its mandates, Yemi-Esan said.

She said the countries of the world, including Africa have realised the leverage on innovation for the provision of customerss public services.

The HOS said that the competition has equipped the participants with knowledge and presentation skills through innovative interactive tools, such as zoom, slack and Google slide,

She said the tools were deployed globally to address workflow challenges brought by COVID-19.

She, however, expressed optimism that Nigerian public servants would be productively utilizing the skills acquired during the exercise for self development and also able to surmount work challenges.

Mr Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing expressed delight over the initiative, saying it would go a long way to provide solutions to some key challenges in the sector.

Fashola, said that civil service was an ancient institution that decided what happens in any government in the world.

He, therefore, challenged the civil servants across board to ensure improving themselves to meet with the global knowledge to improve the public services.

Earlier in her opening remarks, Dr Magdalene Ajani, Permanent Secretary, Service Policies and Strategic Office, office of the HOCSF, described the initiative as means to gain new ideas to improve upon service delivery.

Ajani said that innovation was at the heart of the economic growth of any nation.

She added that the initiative informed the selection of innovation as one of the high impact of the eight priority areas of the 2017 to 2020 (FCSSIP), developed to improve better performance among public servants.

Ms Sogunro Onyindamola, one of the winners who spoke on behalf of other participants expressed gratitude to the federal government for the gesture, saying it would motivate civil servants more in their service delivery.

Source: NAN News

Fumigation

By Olajide Idowu

Osun Government has warned individuals and institutions against indiscriminate decontamination and fumigation of public places in the state.

Mr Sola Oladepo, Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, who gave the warning in a statement in Osogbo, said some are doing it in a bid to sanitise the environment against COVID-19 pandemic.

He directed owners and managements of private schools, tertiary institutions, hospitals, churches, mosques, police, banks, courts, and small and medium enterprises to contact Ministry of Environment for the decontamination of their premises in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

Oladepo also directed individuals to equally contact the ministry for the decontamination of their premises in line with WHO approved standard.

He explained that it was only the ministry of environment that was authorised to decontaminate in accordance with the WHO regulations,

The Commissioner said that all fumigated spaces would be given a certificate by the ministry.

He said that the decontamination exercise/service from the ministry would be at no cost to individuals and institutions requiring the service.

Source: NAN News

By Augusta Uchedinor

Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF) has launched a tele-medical line to support the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its drive to reach those with COVID-19 but unable to access designated isolation centres across the country.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, Mrs Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode made this known in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.

She stated that the project, named the MMF MedAssist Covid Partner Line, is part of efforts to provide relevant and necessary medical advice, as well as mental health support to those who may have been exposed to the virus across the 36 states of the federation.

Muhammed-Oyebode noted that the initiative would enhance healthcare delivery toward fighting the virus.

She added that COVID-19 unfortunately has redefined for us a new normal and as the rest of the world is entering the second wave of the virus, this initiative will offer virtual healthcare delivery in collaboration with public and private healthcare providers.

This is a response to the state and Federal Governments call for additional call centre support during the COVID-19 pandemic to support end-users and prevent health crisis.

The helpline, for which initial consultation and treatment will cost only N500, will allow callers to consult with medical professionals virtually, who will be able to prescribe necessary medication to forestall any escalation of symptoms.

She explained that the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, recently disclosed that many patients who tested positive with the coronavirus had refused to go to isolation centres and preferred self-medication, with some remaining untraceable, having left incorrect contact information.

About 75 per cent of those infected refused to present themselves for admission at isolation centres in Lagos State alone, making it imperative for MMF to come up with this support.

She announced a dedicated MedAssist Telemedicine Hotline 08180640000 poised to launch first in English and three main Nigerian languages of Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba and in the 36 states of the country.

She said additional local languages would be added as the service expands.

The CEO said the foundation was committed to improving the quality of life of Africans, adding that the reason informed the establishment of the response plan to COVID-19 pandemic.

The Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF) is a non-profit organisation, founded on the ideals of the late Gen. Murtala Muhammed, former Head of State of Nigeria (1975-76).

The foundation specifically focuses on engendering self-reliance, advocacy on issues that impact on ethics, equity, good governance and economic empowerment, encouraging business development, education and providing medium term disaster relief.

Source: NAN News

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

By Chijioke Okoronkwo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says there is room for innovative technology that will be suitable for use in the courtroom.

Osinbajos spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Friday in Abuja, said the vice president spoke at the virtual Townhall Meeting of the Law Students Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN).

The theme of the meeting is How to build the right mindset for a better Nigeria, post COVID-19.

The vice president said COVID-19 challenges could be a turning point for innovative thinking especially towards resolving the numerous challenges faced by humanity.

He said that of importance to lawyers or lawyers in the making were what the challenges meant for lawyers and where the opportunities lied.

And I think we have to think through this especially like yourselves who in the next couple of years will be out there in practice; a few examples will tell you that you are living in the most interesting period in the history of our profession.

So, the Supreme Court has recently endorsed virtual court proceedings; this means that there will be plenty of opportunities for new technologies adapted to the dynamics of the courtroom.

You can share documents on Zoom but for courtrooms and for practice; you need more nimble technology to tender documents or cross-examine a witness from a remote location on a bundle of documents.

So, Zoom will not be the best technology for court proceedings although it is being used now but it is not the best technology because sometimes you have a bundle of documents to tender and that may be difficult.

So, there is room there for innovative technology that will be suitable for use in the courtroom and I know that there are so many ideas that people are coming up with but there is plenty of room for thinking that through.

According to him, there is the need to think about what the new rules for protocols will be.

Osinbajo said that virtual court proceedings were not the same as in-person or live court proceedings.

When you are sitting in your office, conducting a case, the record-keeping will be totally a different issue; what will the protocols be for cross-examination, for making submissions?

How does the judge look at the question of demeanour? It is a bit more difficult to look at peoples demeanour when you are using virtual processes such as we are using today. So, we need to be able to define what the rules will be, he said.

He said there was a two-fold global crisis health crisis and economic crisis and the combined effects had resulted in possibly the greatest socio-economic crisis in recent history.

Osinbajo said that the Federal Government, faced with the prospect of unprecedented unemployment figures and business closures, had to get creative about solutions.

To build resilience into our economic growth structure and to take bigger and bolder steps in our approach to creating wealth and opportunity.

So, for about two months, at the direction of President Muhammadu Buhari, I led an inter-ministerial team mandated to look specifically at how to resolve some of the issues around the pandemic, its impact and draw up a response plan.

That response plan is what we call the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) and we have a committee called the Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC) which is to implement ESP and I also have the privilege of chairing this committee.

What we tried to do in the ESP was to design strategies that will save jobs and create new opportunities; and we looked at certain broad areas; we looked at mass housing and mass agriculture where we are focused on using local resources and innovation, he said.

The vice president tasked Law students to prepare themselves for the new world, aside their regular Law curriculum.

He urged them to educate themselves in new ideas, read widely, and take up the enormous resources available online on practically any field of human endeavour.

Osinbajo said that they must be intentional about understanding technology, information systems and artificial intelligence.

This sort of radical versatility is the new normal; you cannot be a lawyer such as we were.

You are in a completely new world, he said(NAN)

Source: NAN News

Court Symbol

Speaking earlier, Ccounsel to the artiste, Mohammed Yunusa said that his client was made to believe that the organisers of the concert had procured all the approval from the Federal Government.

The Chief State Counsel, Udeme Umana, said : the court also mandated him to publish an public apology to the Federal Government in a national daily of choice.

This will serve as a detterent to other Nigerians.

The Mafo crooner had on June 13, left Lagos for the Federal Capital Territory to perform at a concert held at the Jabi Lake Mall.

The concert was organized by Play Network Africa, Traffic Bar, and ElCarnival, and was sponsored by Glenfiddich.

Following public outrage, the FCT Minister shut down the mall and the Federal Government of Nigeria stopped the operation of the airline whose plane he chartered.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

COVID-19

By Oluwafunke Ishola

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi said 66,431 COVID-19 sample tests had been carried out since the inception of the pandemic.

Abayomi made the disclosure on his Twitter account while giving update on the COVID-19 for Aug.5.

He noted that 137 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed in the state out of a total of 930 COVID-19 tests conducted on the reported date.

The new cases bring the total number of confirmed #COVID19 infection in Lagos to 15,580, he said.

According to him, 2,238 of the confirmed cases have since been discharged from the states COVID-19 care centres following full recovery.

Abayomi added that 11,381 of the confirmed cases monitored in communities by the states COVID-19 response team have either fully recovered or positively responding to treatments.

83 of the cases are currently under isolation in public and private care centres.

1,683 active cases in communities are yet to turn up for admission in #COVID19Lagos care centres, he said.

He, however, noted that one COVID-19 related death was recorded on the reported day, increasing the states COVID-19 related mortality to 195. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Rotimi Amaechi

X-raying benefits of China transport infrastructure development loan to Nigeria

News analysis by Taiye Elebiyo-Edeni, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Nigerian transportation industry which comprises aviation, land (road and rail) and maritime subsectors has faced challenges of infrastructure deficit since independence and successive administrations have taken steps to address these challenges. Since assuming office on May 29, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari has taken giant strides to address these challenges across the transport sectors ranging from airport to rail.

The desire to address such challenges and boost economic activities in the country led to the negotiations between the government of China and Nigeria on getting funds to address the immediate transport challenges as well as to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

The first step taken by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, was to complete the abandoned 276 km Itakpe-Warri rail line linking Warri in Delta State to Ajaokuta, in Kogi State for transporting steel products and raw materials from the Delta Steel Company, Aladja which is now completed after it was abandoned for 35 years. So far 13 coaches and four locomotives have been deployed to the route for commencement of commercial activities.

The other project completed was the Abuja-Kaduna Modernisation rail line which was funded with the m China loan collected by the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2010 for infrastructural development in the country.

However, with the coming on board of Amaechi, the 187 km Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge line was completed on July 26, 2016 with four coaches, while 10 new coaches and two locomotives were added on Dec. 10, 2017. As at July, 2020 a total of 27 coaches, 7 locomotives have been deployed to the route to give the over 15,000 passengers the maximum comfort and safety needed; this has generated over 10,000 employment to youths through direct and indirect jobs.

So far, Engr. Fidet Okhiria, Nigeria Railway Corporation Managing Director said that the Abuja- Kaduna railway generated over 130 Million monthly revenue; with N90 million spent on running cost and payment of staff. As at 2019, train operations nationwide generated about N3.09 billion and we are targeting about N6 billion when the Lagos-Ibadan and Itakpe-Warri comes on board, he said.

Another China loan collected by the Ministry of Transportation was the 156 km Standard Gauge line for Lagos-Ibadan section with the train maximum speed of 150 km/h, which was agreed on Aug. 18, 2017 at .26bn because of the peculiar transport deficit in Lagos and the economic activities, high population and activities of the Apapa port.

Negotiating the loan was important to resolve some of the challenges faced by residents of Lagos. Having a rail line from Lagos to Ibadan passing through the Apapa port was to open up the economic viability of the place and reduce the high traffic and gridlock at the Apapa axis.

Owning to the countless deaths recorded at the Apapa axis due to accidents caused by heavy duty trucks, the Minister of Transportation engaged the train service to evacuate cargoes from the port and ease business for shippers. This laudable initiative cannot be achieved without the loan. So far, about four trains of 20 wagons move cargoes out of the port weekly, which would be increased when the Lagos-Ibadan is fully completed.

According to Amaechi, rail infrastructure is capital intensive and cannot be funded by any private company either in Nigeria or in any other part of the world, noting that China gives the lowest interest rate compared to other countries.

He also saw a need for Nigeria not to continue to be a dumping ground of technology, but to be able to maintain, repair and construct rolling stocks. In this regard, in 2019, the Kajola factory in Ogun State where locomotives, wagons and coaches would be constructed was established by the Chinese firms at no cost to Nigeria.

Also the Minister negotiated the establishment of the first Transport University in Africa by CCECC which would pave the way for domestication of railway engineering and general transportation sciences in Nigeria and thereby bridging the technology and skill gap in the railway. This was geared towards promoting development of indigenous capacity through technology acquisition and knowledge transfer for effective maintenance and operation of numerous railway infrastructure which is the first in Africa.

So far, 30 major and minor stations have been constructed under this administration which has created more jobs; Abuja-Kaduna has nine rail stations, Lagos-Ibadan with 10 stations while Itakpe-Warri has 11 rail stations.

The total loan stock is .121bn which constitutes 3.94% of .3billion total public debt and was meant for infrastructure development in various sector of the economy made up of the National Public Security communication system project for .5million which is 100 per cent disbursed, Nigerian Railway Modification Project (Idu-Kaduna section) at million is 100 per cent disbursed and commercial operations has commenced.

Abuja Light Rail for million which is 100 per cent completed yet to commence commercial operations, ICT Infrastructure Backbone Project for million which is 100 per cent disbursed, Terminal Expansion Project for Abuja, Kano, Lagos and PortHarcourt Airports for million is 91 per cent disbursed while Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Project for million is 52 per cent disbursed.

However, Parboiled Rice Processing Plants Project for .6million nothing disbursed yet, Railway Modernisation Project for Lagos-Ibadan section for .26bn is 59 per cent disbursed while Nigeria Rehabilitation and upgrading of Abuja- Keffi Makurdi Road for .82m is 17 per cent disbursed. There is zero disbursement for the supply of rolling stocks and depot equipment of Abuja light rail project for million and Greater Abuja Water Supply for m.

Amaechi said that the rail project pending was the Ibadan to Kano, Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, then Lagos to Calabar which will ease business activities, decongest the road and open up more communities to infrastructure development with countless benefits.

All these projects when completed would turn around the Nigeria economy because even developed nations still seek financial assistance to achieve their development goals. With the right system and government in place, Amaechi said that 20 years was an ample time to repay every loan collected from the Chinese government.

Source: NAN News

Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transport

By Lucy Ogalue

Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) on Friday said it generated N3.09 billion in 2019 from train service operations nationwide.

Mr Fidet Okhiria, NRCs Managing Director in a statement signed by Mrs Taiye Elebiyo-Edeni, Media Assistant to the Minister of Transportation, said N1.5 billion of the sum came from the Abuja to Kaduna rail operations.

Okhiria said that the Abuja to Kaduna rail line generated about N130 million monthly in 2019 as against the N80 million generated in the previous year.

He further said that the money generated from the Abuja-Kaduna rail operations was used to service other stations in the Northern region, like the Maiduguri stations.

The Abuja- Kaduna railway generated over N130 million monthly revenue, with N90 million spent on running cost and payment of staff at the Maiduguri stations which could not operate for now due to insecurity in the State.

As at 2019, train operations nationwide generated about N3.09 billion and we are targeting about N6 billion when Lagos-Ibadan and Itakpe-Warri come on board, he said.

The NRC boss, however, noted that the onset of coronavirus pandemic in the country would affect the projected revenue for 2020.

With the reduction of passengers from 80 passengers to 40 passengers per coach, the revenue that would be generated for 2020 would definitely be affected. Except if the hourly train is properly implemented, he added.

Source: NAN News

By Abujah Racheal
The Presidential Task Force (PTF), on COVID-19 has approved gradual reopening of international flights and train services across the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), reports that this was part of the decisions reached at the end of the second extension of the second phase of eased lockdown.

Mr Boss Mustapha, the Chairman of PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), said this while speaking at the daily briefing of the PTF on Thursday in Abuja.

He said, Its important to ensure that restrictions are not completely relaxed in order to control transmission.

It is also important that at this Community Transmission Phase of the pandemic sub-national governments step up to take more responsibilities by owning the response.

To sustain gains already made, therefore, the PTF recommended to the President the retention of the current phase of the response with minor changes to address economic, socio-political and health concerns.

It is, however, important to inform you that the major changes being proposed are aimed at achieving the following:

Gradual re-opening of international air flights within established parameters;

Re-opening of rail transportation within established parameters.

Mustapha also granted permission to exit classes to resume ahead of examinations and allowing civil servants from Grade Level 12 to resume work, and also the opening of recreational parks for supervised exercises.

Also speaking, the Coordinator of PTF, Dr Sani Aliyu, said the PTF had communicated to the aviation ministry to begin processes of reopening international flights.

Aliyu also noted that one of the new requirements would be to ensure that international passengers arrived three hours before departure to ensure proper checks before takeoff.

He further stated that if all requirements from the aviation sector were made the resumption of international flights would be a matter of weeks and not months.

Answering a question from the media, the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, explained that the aviation sector was ready to open any moment.

Sirika also explained that international flights would open as soon as it was safe to operate as all efforts were being put in place to ensure the reopening in weeks and not in months.

Source: NAN News