Blog

NAN-H-106
Pension
By Akeem Abas
Ibadan, Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) The Oyo State Government on Tuesday said N880 million had been approved for payment to pensioners in the state.

It also expressed displeasure at the 14-day ultimatum given to it by the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP).

This was contained in a statement issued in Ibadan by Mr Bimbo Kolade, the state’s Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters.

The state government, it said, had on Friday approved the release of the N880million to retired local government pensioners across the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NUP had on Monday issued the ultimatum to the Ministry of Local Government to address the payment of entitlements.

The union  called on the ministry to address the payment of gratuities and monthly pensions of retired primary school teachers and retired local government staff.

The NUP also said it may embark on picketing if the  demands of members were not met.

But the commissioner, in his statement, said funds for payment of the backlog of pension arrears were already approved.

He said the approval was given during the monthly Joint Account Allocation Committee meeting held with all the caretaker chairmen of local government councils in the state.

“Facts and figures I have with me from the Local Government Staff Pensions Board indicates that Governor Abiola Ajimobi has approved the sum of N880 million for the payment.

“The said amount is meant for the payment of arrears owed retired local government Primary School teachers and local government retirees,’’ he said in the statement.

The statement condemned the ultimatum given  by the state chapter of NUP, describing it as mischievous, baseless and unacceptable.

It said that the 14-day ultimatum was unnecessary as funds had already been approved for the purpose.

The statement assured local government retirees of the administration’s commitment to their welfare through prompt payment of their entitlements.

It implored them to ensure that they attended the ongoing verification exercise being carried out by the Pensions Board.

The statement said the verification exercise had assisted in discovering about 400 names of pensioners whose gratuities had data issues.

“We appeal to labour leaders in the state to always embrace dialogue rather than confrontation on the pages of newspaper,’’ it said. NAN)
TAA/OJO
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(Edited and controlled by Mufutau Ojo)

NAN-H-100

Wealth

By Victor Adeoti

Osogbo, Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) Gov .Rauf Aregbesola of Osun has expressed his administration’s commitment to improve the standard of living of the people of the state through wealth creation.

Aregbesola said this when he signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Growth and Employment in States 4th scheme (GEMS4) in Osogbo.on Tuesday.

He said the signing of MoU with GEMS4 would provide expansion of economic opportunities for the state.

The governor said his administration had been able to endure the harsh economic challenges in the country due to huge investments in human development.

He said the signing of MoU was to promote collaboration and cooperation with GEMS4 so as to provide global markets for local products.

Aregbesola added that investment in the human development was helping the the commerce and economy of state through wealth creation.

“A lot of people have been asking how we are surviving in spite of the economic challenges?

“But the answer is simple, we have made human development centre of our programmes and policies long before taking over the mantle of leadership.

“The investment of our people is paying off handsomely and this is what we want to consolidate with the MoU with GEMS4.

“The MoU will help us explore the opportunities previously unexplored for wealth creation, progress and development.”

In his remarks, Mr David Joiner, the GEMS4 Project Director in Nigeria, said the project would raised the production and earning of the poor in Osun,

Joiner said that some of the industries that would benefit from the MoU included the soap making industry, agro-processing industries, among others.

He added that the project was aimed at creating and sustaining 10,000 full time equivalent jobs and increased incomes for 500,000 people in the state.

“With signing of this MoU, we will hit the ground running, SMEs will benefit from the project and we believe that employment will be generated, up to 5,000 traditional soap makers in different parts of the state.

The GEMS4 is a Department For International Department-funded programme that will link and expand markets for unique wholesale and retail products from Osun into larger local and international markets.

Under this scheme, local producers of black soap, local delicacies, mat makers, and other petty producers are to be assisted to gain access to bigger markets for bigger economic opportunities. (NAN)

VE/OFN

Edited by Felix Nwadioha

ANA approves 3 new fellowships

NAN-H-105

Awards

By Ebere Agozie

Abuja, Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) The National Executive Council of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) has approved the award of three new fellowships, a statement signed by the association’s President, Malam Denja Abdullahi, has said.

Abdullahi said in the statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, that the three new fellowships would be given to three deserving writers at its 35th International Anniversary Convention scheduled to hold from Oct. 27 to Oct. 30, 2016, in Abuja.

He said that two of the awards  would go to Dr Wale Okediran and Prof Jerry Agada, both past presidents and members of the ANA National Advisory Council, and a post-humous award to the late Elechi Amadi.

“ The fellowship is to be conferred on them for their dedicated service to the association and  proven contributions to the development of Nigerian literature.

“Justice Mustapha Akanbi Foundation in Ilorin is to be installed as an honorary corporate member of the association for its support to the activities of the association.”

Abdullahi added that Sen. Shehu Sani would be installed as a patron of ANA.

According to him, the investiture of fellows, honorary corporate member and patron will be held at the awards dinner of the convention on Oct. 29.

He noted that ANA  Fellowships were last conferred in 2006 at the association’s 25th Convention in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

The news Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that previous ANA fellows include Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, John Pepper, Clark, Mabel Segun, Labo Yari and T. M. Aluko.

Others are Kole Omotoso, Femi Osofisan, Ken Saro Wiwa,  Odia Ofeimun, Abubakar Gimba, Mamman  Jiya Vatsa , Olusegun Obasanjo, Dora Akunyili and Olu Obafemi.  (NAN)

EPA/NKO/NKO

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Edited by Nkechi Okoronkwo

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NiMet predicts cloudy, rainy weather for Wednesday

NAN-AE-7

Weather

By Sumaila Ogbaje

Abuja, Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted cloudy weather conditions over the central states with chances of morning isolated thunderstorms over Jalingo, Yola, Lafia, Makurdi, Mambila, Abuja, Jos and environs on Wednesday.

The predictions are contained in NiMet’s Weather Outlook issued by the Central Forecast Office (CFO) on Tuesday in Abuja.

It added that there were prospects of localised thunderstorms over the high ground areas of the region in the evening and night hours with maximum temperatures of 28 to 33 degrees Celsius.

The agency also predicted that the southern states would experience cloudy morning with probability of localised rains over Lagos, Warri, Enugu and Awka, with maximum temperature of 29 to 32 degrees Celsius.

It also predicted localised thunderstorms/rain showers over Port Harcourt, Calabar, Uyo, Yenagoa, Benin, Oshogbo, Lagos, Abakaliki, Owerri, Awka and Enugu in the afternoon and evening hours.

NiMet predicted partly cloudy to cloudy conditions over the northern states with localised thunderstorms over Yelwa and Sokoto during the afternoon and evening and maximum temperatures of 32 to 37 degrees Celsius.

According to the prediction, continued inflow of moisture presents the likelihood of localised thunderstorms and rains over the central and southern cities.

“The extreme northern cities are expected to be relatively stable in the next 24 hours.’’ (NAN)
OYS/OU
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Edited by Obike Ukoh

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Speed Limiter: FRSC laments poor compliance in Edo

NAN-DS-7
Limiter
By Joy Odigie
Benin, Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) The Federal Road Safety Corps ( FRSC) in Edo has expressed disappointment over the poor compliance by fleet operators of the installation of Speed Limiter Device on their vehicles in the state.

The FRSC Edo Sector Commander in the state, Mr Samuel Odukoya, who made the remark during an interactive session with road users in Benin on Tuesday, put the compliance level at three per cent.

“The compliance with the installation of the device in commercial vehicles is very low in the state, hence the need for the stakeholders meeting to address the situation,” Odukoya said.

According to him, there is no going back on the enforcement of the device because of it was meant to ensure the safety of lives and property on the road.

“For now, we are carrying out advisory enforcement and giving enlightenment on the need to install the device on vehicles.

“But we want to stress that any fleet operator who fails or refuses to install speed limiting device on his vehicle is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction of a fine of N50,000,” he said.

However, some of the fleet operators appealed to the corps to further extend the Dec. 31 deadline for the enforcement, to enable them fully comply with the directive.

They raised the issue of bad roads, insecurity, high cost of the device and the present economic recession as some of the challenges hindering their ability to install the device. (NAN)
OOJ/KOO/AMY
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Edited by Kevin Okunzuwa and Abdullahi Yusuf

NAN-AE-8
Loan
Abuja, Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State on Tuesday said the state had set up special courts for the recovery of the N2 billion loans granted to farmers.

The N2 billion was distributed to farmers under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrowers’ scheme.

Ganduje made the disclosure at a news conference in Abuja after he had visited Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo to discuss developmental issues confronting the state.

He said “the anchor borrowers’ scheme is working very well; we got N2 billion loan from the CBN and we distributed same to actual farmers.

“To recover the money, however, we decided to set up special courts that will try those who may not want to pay back.

“That is the problem of a mega city; when you give money and people think that it is free money but business cannot be as usual.”

The governor added that the state government was doing very well in agriculture, “especially in dry season farming which it had invested so much.”

He said the government was now dealing directly with farmers and not vendors, thus making it possible for it to know the concerns of farmers in terms of improved seedlings, fertilizer, and other inputs.

Ganduje said his administration had also provided enabling environment for farmers to work by providing them with farm inputs.

“I gave them (farmers) over N100 million for them to get improved seeds and we bought seeds for wheat and rice,’’ he said.

He said he paid a visit to Osinbajo to discuss issues, especially youth unemployment and efforts the administration was making so far and the kind of attention Kano State needed as a mega city.

“I am here because Kano is a mega city with some peculiar problems of security and unemployment.

“The message of hope is that the Federal Government will look into those problems.

“You know our market was burnt and billions of Naira was lost and so I think something will come out of it.’’

On the arrest of some judges in the country and the recommendation for the sack of a judge from Kano, the governor said “what is happening now is a welcome development.”

According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari was serious about fighting corruption and that aspect (of arrests) is a note of caution.

“The state government is behind him (Buhari), and in fact the state government has established an anti-corruption outfit which is working very hard to complement Federal Government’s efforts.”

Ganduje said he was in support of the trial of the Kano judge and others implicated in corruption, stressing that “if the court finds him or them guilty worthy to be jailed, that is okay.’’ (NAN)
DCU/AOM/HA
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(Edited by Abdullahi Mohammed/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu)

NAN-HE-26
Protest
By Mohammed Lawal
Zaria (Kaduna State), Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Tuesday disrupted business transactions at the First Bank of Nigeria, Zaria main branch, Kaduna State over alleged missing registration fees paid by some students.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that over 1,000 students of Federal College of Education (FCE), Zaria, stormed the premises and claimed that they paid their registration fees at the bank in Sabongari area of the town.

Addressing newsmen shortly after a meeting with the  bank’s branch management and the police,  NANS  National President, Mr Aruna Kadiri, said: “Over a period of time, students of FCE have been paying their registration fees at First Bank.

“I don’t know what happened but according them, over 1,128 students paid their school fees in the bank but it didn’t reflect in TSA account.

“The students said `this is our teller and this is the remittance; let’s resolve this issue but the bank refused’; that’s why I’ve come down here to ask the bank,” he said.

He lamented that the bank had claimed in a publication that the students did not pay the money and “that’s why we come with the tellers to ask the bank where these tellers were generated?”.

He said that the meeting with the management and the police resolved that business should continue.

“However, they have finally accepted. We are here since morning and the bank has been shut down since morning. Now we have all agreed.

“We have finally agreed that the students should come with their tellers to the bank and the bank should rectify them.”

However, sources at the bank said a principal suspect in the matter, who worked with the bank, resigned his appointment before the alarm blew.

The management of the college, through its Registrar, Dr Jibril Lawal and the Bursar, Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Uwais,  said it had established an investigation committee.

However, the case was reported to the Police Area Command in Zaria.

When contacted, the Head of Corporate Affairs of the bank in Lagos, Mr Babatunde Lasaki, told NAN that the headquarters was informed of what was going on in its Zaria branch.

He said since the matter was already with the police, the students should have allowed the police to carry out their responsibilities.

“Remember, everybody has the right to demonstrate but we have asked the branch to be calm and let the police know about it so that they can restore law and order.”

He said the bank sympathised with the affected students and appealed for calm so that the matter could be resolved amicably.

“Both students and the bank branch should cooperate with the police for smooth and amicable resolution of the matter,” Lasaki said.(NAN)
KLM/IA
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(Edited by Idris Abdulrahman)

NAN-H-104
Journalism
By Kabir Muhammad
Abuja, Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) Dr Babatope Ajakaiye, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Federal Capital Terrory, says journalism is a beggarly profession.

Ajakaiye made the remark at the 2016 Press Week of Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

“I am not proud to be a journalist. I want you to de-emphasis your membership of the NUJ which is optional, they are beggars’’, he emphasised.

The permanent secretary lampooned publishers that gave awards to politicians as a means of survival.

He said he had no regrets for not identifying with the profession throughout his career as Information Officer.

Ajakaiye warned information officers in the FCTA to distance themselves from journalists if they were preparing for leadership positions.

He called on the national leadership of NUJ to close down media organisations who failed to pay journalists.

“You are first, civil servants and information officers, and you must prepare for leadership. I look forward to the time when NUJ will fight newspaper publishers that do not pay salaries.

“I want to see the NUJ telling publishers who emphasise awards to make money, that this is not the practice of the profession’’, Ajakaiye said.

He described as unfortunate a situation where most journalists were not paid at the end of the month.

Malam Muhammad Bello, Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), charged journalists to be change agents.

The minister called for synergy between government and the media, adding that the role of the media as a change agent cannot be over-emphasised.

He said such synergy was necessary to tackle most of the challenges of governance in the country.

He added that strong media advocacy was required to bring about cultural orientation amongst the people and the enthronement of the desired change.

(NAN)

KM/EEM/IEA

Edited by Emmanuel Mogbede/Idahosa Asowata
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NAN-DS-6
Security
By Modupe Seriboh
Ibadan, Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, on Tuesday, said that the institution could lead the way in tackling the myriads of challenges confronting African states.

Olayinka spoke at the opening of a three-day conference organised by the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies of the university.

The theme of the conference is “ Nigeria’s New Security Threats: Patterns, Implications and Management.’’

The vice chancellor said that the university remains focused on advancing academic leadership that could provide solutions to the problems confronting African states and Nigeria in particular.

Nigeria, he said, was confronted with several challenges that require urgent and pragmatic approaches, adding that scholars, through research, were expected to provide the lead way to finding solutions.

He said that the university was noted for its contributions to solving many challenges facing the country in the past through some of its researches.

Olayinka cited some of the new security challenges threatening the peace and corporate existence of the Nigerian state as the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East Zone and the re-emergence of militancy in the Niger Delta region.

Others, he said, included the prevalence of kidnapping in the South-East Zone and the South-South as well as the conflict between farmers and herders.

“I am glad that these and many more are what this conference intends to provide scholarly solutions to.

“The attendant human security implications are hunger, thirst and desperate need for safety and security.

“We must remember that it is in the quest to destroy knowledge that Boko Haram has killed thousands and displaced millions as either IDPs or refugees.

“I sincerely look forward to this conference providing documented policy framework that can help mitigate future occurrence of some of the situations dragging African states to situations of uncertainty and high security, ” he said. (NAN)
MAM/OJO
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(Edited and controlled by Mufutau Ojo)

Osinbajo stresses need for accountability among professionals

NAN-H-94

Accountability

By Donald Ugwu

Abuja, Oct. 11, 2016(NAN) The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday in Abuja stressed the need for professionals to be accountable in order to move the nation forward.

Osinbajo, who spoke when he declared open the 46^th Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) conference, also said that public and private officials should be held accountable for their actions.

According to him, everything we consider as a problem in our nation today is probably related to the concept of accountability, accountability in the profession, government and commerce.

Osinbajo noted that a lot of people say that here in Nigeria we have all manners of great ideas adding “since we got into government, I found out that there is practically nothing that has not been written or researched about.’’

He, however, observed that unfortunately such write ups lay somewhere unutilised.

“People are actually having new ideas but the main problem is getting things done especially in government.

“Part of the reasons that it is difficult to get things done is because public officials are hardly ever held to account.

“In most private organisations, there is some performance measurements, some way of measuring performance, and it is the way of measuring performance that ensures promotion.

“That is not always the case in government; so it is possible for you to set targets and for those targets not to be met,’’ he said.

Osinbajo said that one of the key things the administration was trying to achieve was to create an enabling environment for ease of doing business.

He said that President Muhammadu Buhari had set targets on the ease of doing business programme.

He noted that the critical thing was that government was collaborating with the private sector “and in particular we have invited some private sector consultants who are working with us.’’

He said agencies created to promote business should be able to at the end of three months declare how many small businesses they facilitated their approvals or helped to come on board.

“Holding the public officer to account is going to be a key way of ensuring that we are able to bring development,’’ Osinbajo declared.

He said that in the administration of justice, sometimes the processes were so slow, noting that the implication was that it slowed down business and discouraged investments.

“The administration of justice is a public resource, court is a public resource, judges, lawyers must be held to account,’’ he said.

Turning to the ICAN members, the VP added that accountants are supposed to be liable for financial statements they make and financial advises they give.

“There are several situations we have seen in the country where banks have been certified over time as being reasonably fit.

“Of course there are all manners of argument but what matters is that we certify them only to the extent of what they have shown us.

“But if we are to scrutinise what had been done, many accountants would be found wanting in not being careful enough to make some other financial statements than the financial judgments they make.

Osinbajo recalled that some accounting firms abroad that failed in their disclosures were met with closures and abandonment.

He, therefore, urged the Nigerian professionals to live above board as everyone depended on expert advice in many activities.(NAN)
DCU/OU
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Edited by Obike Ukoh

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