Blog

NAN-H-12

ATM

Maiduguri, Sept. 18, 2016(NAN) The Nigerian Army on Sunday called on commercial banks to deploy Automated Teller Machines (ATM) to the military barracks in Maiduguri for the use of front line soldiers involved in the ongoing counter-insurgency operation in Borno.

Brig.Gen. Victor Ezugwu, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division, made the call while speaking at a Civil-Military Forum organised by the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri.

Ezugwu was reacting to criticisms by residents that soldiers often refused to join queues at the ATM points in the town.

He said that the army had written several letters to the banks for the deployment of ATM machines to the barracks without much success.

“We have been battling with the issue of lack of ATM in the barracks for the use of soldiers in the front line zone.

“I wrote letters to the banks over seven months ago for them to deploy the ATM at the Maimalari Cantonment for soldiers use, but there is no response yet,” he said.

Ezugwu said that the military was concerned about the development and urged the residents to intervene.

“I want to urge everybody here, especially traditional rulers, to help put pressure on the banks so that they can give us ATM at the barracks and allow you to use the ones in town.

“We are aware of the fact that everybody needs the ATM at one point or another,” he said.

“ A soldier carrying 12 ATM cards at a time must have brought his colleagues’ cards from the frontline to take money and send to their families all over Nigeria.

“We have areas where there is no network, it is only through the ATM that the soldiers can send money home to their families’ he said.

Ezugwu appealed for more understanding from the residents pending when the ATM would be provided by the banks at the barracks.(NAN)
ABI/YMU/AMY

NAN-S-1
League
By Ali Inuwa
Maiduguri, Sept. 18, 2016 (NAN) Ladan Bosso, Chief Coach of El-Kanemi Warriors Football Club of Maiduguri, says his team has always been winning at home because his players are unique.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a seventh minute goal by Ibrahim Mustapha on Saturday gave victory to the Maiduguri side against the visiting Heartland FC of Owerri.

The victory in the match at the El-Kanemi Sports Centre in Maiduguri, a rescheduled 2015/2016 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) week 35 match, was the hosts’ 12^th straight home win.

“I am happy with this victory. My team is made up of mainly unheralded boys who always strive hard to satisfy the home crowd.

“This is why we always win our matches at home without any doubts or cries of untoward acts,” he said.(NAN)
(Edited by Yahaya Isah and Controlled by Olawale Alabi)

NAN-H-4
Looters

By Tukur  Masanawa
Kano, Sept. 18, 2016 (NAN) Alhaji Yusuf Maitama-Sule, former Minister of National Guidance, has called for a ban on public officers convicted of looting public funds from partaking  in partisan politics and holding public office

Maitama-Sule told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Sunday that the ban should be backed by law passed by the National Assembly.

“But this will be possible when there is a law to back it and we hope the law will be enacted soon to support the idea,” he said.

He  noted that  the fear of the  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by public officers was now the beginning of wisdom.

“EFCC has done extremely well in the discharge of its responsibilities so far, as there are a lot of recovered looted funds now.

“But the biggest challenge for EFCC is that it can investigate but it does not have the power to spend money and utilise it for other purposes.

Maitama-Sule, who is also a former Nigeria’s  Permanent Representative to the United Nations, also called for  an enabling law  for the government to utilise the recovered looted funds to improve the living standard of Nigerians, especially the common man.

He suggested  the revitalisation  of education, agriculture and power sectors in order to give the nation’s moribund industries a new lease of life using the recovered funds.

The elder statesman commended President Muhammadu Buhari for tackling insurgency, especially in the North-East.

“We have to thank God Almighty for the peace that has since been restored in the country and we will continue to pray for its sustenance.

“No meaningful development can be achieved in any country without peace and even the ‘most diehard cynics” know that President Buhari has done well in terms of restoration of peace in the country,” he said.

Maitam-Sule urged Nigerians to continue to support and show  understanding to the government in its determination  to restore sanity in the country. (NAN)
(Edited by Shittu Obassa and Abdullahi Yusuf)

MTM/OSA/AMY
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NAN-H-3

Spray

By Muhammed Bashir

Dutse, Sept. 18, 2016 (NAN) The Jigawa Government has commenced aerial spraying of pesticides to control Quela birds that ravaged rice and millet farmlands in seven local government areas of the state.

Alhaji Hamza Muhammad, the Special Assistant (SA) to the government on Community Development and Inclusion, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Dutse.

Muhammad said the local governments are; Auyo, Kirikasamma, Miga, Guri, Birniwa, Kaugama and Malammadori.

He said the exercise which commenced on Sept. 15, would end on Sept. 24.

The special assistant added that two jets were conducting the exercise.

According to him, the exercise is part of the government’s efforts to prevent the birds from further destroying crops cultivated by farmers in the affected areas.

Muhammad, therefore, called on people residing close to where the exercise was being conducted to avoid touching the birds with bare hands in order not to contract disease.

He also urged them to ensure that they covered drinking water, food and other edibles. (NAN)

MNB/AMY

Edited by Abdullahi Yusuf

NAN-H-48

Commission

Maiduguri, Sept. 17, 2016 (NAN) The Commander of “Operation Lafiya Dole’’, Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, on Saturday advocated the constitution of Truth and Reconciliation Commission to look at issues in the North-East.

Irabor made the call at the maiden Town Hall Meeting of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, in Maiduguri.

He said that with the commission, if established, would bring lasting peace in the region, devastated by the insurgency.

“For us in the Operation Lafiya Dole, we believe that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be necessary because, whether you like it or not, the psychological trauma the people went through is enormous.

“And, because of this and the nature of atrocities committed by the insurgents, which a number of them are our kits and kins, reconciliation is very necessary,” Irabor said.

He said that since the repentant insurgents and their relations were still part of the society, reconciliation was the only key if our quest for lasting solutions was anything to go by.

“The atrocities committed are so much, but that is not to say that at one point or the other, they will not return.

“They and their relations are part and parcel of the society, so, one day they will come back,” he added.

The commander, however, said that the final decision on the issue lay with the Federal Government.

“ For me, I feel that the commission will be necessary if we are to achieve the kind of peace we all want in the North-East.

“I am not speaking for the Federal Government,  but I know given the knowledge of peace-building that I have, one day the commission will be necessary,” he said.

He also promised that the military would reopen all the highways in the state in due course.

“The road linking Konduga-Bama and Banki border town will be reopened in due course.

“We have not re-opened it to commuters because there is still one or two things to be done,” Irabor explained.

He explained that the road was closed because of its proximity to the Sambisa forest, hideout of the insurgents.

“We are trying to rout all elements of terrorism in the forest; until that is done, the road will remain closed, but that will not be too long from now,” he said. (NAN)

ABI/YI/OPI

Edited by Yahaya Isah and Olisa Ifeajika

NAN-H-45

Erosion

BY MAUREEN OJINAKA-NWANOSIKE

Enugu, Sept. 17, 2016 (NAN) The Enugu State Government has appealed to the Federal Government to urgently intervene in the erosion threatening Enugu-Ngwo community, near Enugu metropolis.

Making the call while inspecting the erosion site on Saturday, the state’s Commissioner for Environment, Mr Fidel Ayogu, told newsmen that the gravity of the problem was enormous for the state government to handle alone.

Ayogu said that the appeal had become necessary as the menace was severely threatening 14 homes in the community.

“We are at the site on the instruction of Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to take a comprehensive survey of the erosion site for urgent palliative intervention since the menace had been in existence prior to the inception of the present administration.

“The incident requires the intervention of the Federal Government through the ecological fund or other related interventions for adequate control and management.

“The huge amount of money required to tackle the problem is not within the resources of the state government,’’ he said.

He, however, sympathized with the people of the community on the ugly development, and assured them that the government would do all that would be required to ensure that the problem was tackled “for safety of lives and property’’.

Speaking, the Chairman of Enugu North Local Government Area, Mr Isaac Igwe, said that the enormity of the threat posed by the erosion was not something the local and state governments could handle alone.

“I am also joining to appeal to the Federal Government to come to the rescue of the people of the community,’’ Igwe said.

He lauded the prompt response of the governor in sending his commissioner and other top government functionaries to the site for proper evaluation of the menace.

On his part, Chairman of Enugu-Ngwo community, Chief Chris Ejike-Agu, said that the erosion started over 15 years ago and expressed confident that the present governor of the state would rescue them. (NAN)

OJI/KSN/OPI

Edited by Stanley Nwanosike and Olisa Ifeajika

NAN-H-43

Polio

By Aisha Ahmed

Garun Malam (Kano state), Sept. 17, 2016 (NAN) Authorities of Garun Malam Local Government Area of Kano State said no fewer than 40, 000 children below the age of five years would be immunized in ongoing exercise in the state.

The Primary Healthcare Coordinator of the area, Alhaji Tijjani Jafaru, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday, as immunisation commenced in the area.

The coordinator reaffirmed the commitment of the state and the local government’s commitment to polio eradication.

He urged residents of the area to ensure full immunization of their children, and advised them to desist from resisting it.

According to him, parents must complete their responsibility of providing their children with quality health care.

Jafaru said that the government was serious about eradicating diseases that affect children early in life and wondered why people in some areas were reluctant to avail themselves of the services. (NAN)

AAA/OPI/OPI

Edited by Olisa Ifeajika

NAN-H-26
Women
By Ehigimetor Igbaugba
Benin, Sept. 17, 2016 (NAN) The All Progressives Congress (APC), women leaders in Edo, have said that Mrs Betsy Obaseki, the wife of the party’s Governorship candidate, holds Edo women in high esteem.

At a news conference in Benin on Saturday, the women leaders described as sad, the falsehood being peddled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that Mrs Obaseki described Edo women as “prostitutes’’.

The APC women leaders said that the wife of the gubernatorial aspirant would never used derogatory words for Edo women.

They urged Edo women to discountenance the campaign of calumny mounted against the wife of the APC governorship candidate.

A former Executive Director, Edo State Poverty Alleviation, Mrs Evelyn Igbafe, who recently decamped to the PDP, had alleged that Mrs Obaseki described Edo women as prostitutes.

The remark pitched Mrs Obaseki against PDP women in the state.

Mrs Obaseki was alleged to have recently said that PDP’s 12 years of bad leadership forced Edo women into prostitution abroad.

In view of the alleged statement, Igbafe had at a news conference in Benin, on Wednesday, asked Mrs Obaseki to tender an unreserved apology within four days or face mass protest from Edo women.

The Edo APC Women Leader, Mrs Aisosa Amadasun, said it was quite disheartening that Igbafe who had penchant for “criss-crossing’’, parties decided to misinterpret the content of Mrs Obaseki’s remarks.

“What Mrs Obaseki said, which we all agreed with, was that the previous government of PDP, because of the way they destroyed the very fabric of our society, forced a lot of young women to travel abroad for greener pastures.

“If Evelyn Igbafe did not understand the write up, she should be blamed for that or she should have asked somebody to read it and explain to her.

“I personally wondered why she brought in the issue of prostitution.

“In 2007 she was in PDP, as soon as the Oshiomhole got his mandate in 2008; in 2009, Igbafe decamped to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN),” Amadasun said.

According to her, after that, in 2011, when we were preparing for re-election of Oshiomhole in 2012, again, she decamped to PDP.

“We won the election; Oshiomhole got 18 over 18 in all the local governments. As soon as we won that election, Igbafe again decamped back to APC.

“Now we are preparing for another crucial election, again she decamped to PDP. Edo women are very happy that she has gone back to PDP.

“If you look at her antecedents, there is no party she belongs to that wins elections and we want to warn her that APC will not take her back because we are going to win this election.

“Anybody she supports never wins election and I feel sorry for the PDP.

“Please remember she is going to try and come to APC again; we will never accept her in APC.

“On Sept. 28, we are going to give PDP the final burial, ’’ the women leader said. (NAN)
ESI/AJA
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(Controlled by Adeleye Ajayi)

Buhari to sign Paris Agreement on Climate Change at UN General Assembly

NAN-H-40

Climate

By Isaac Aregbesola

Abuja, Sept. 17, 2016 (NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari would, during his participation in the 71st UN General Assembly, sign the Paris Treaty on Climate, Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, said at a news conference in New York.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Spokesman for the Nigerian Mission to the UN, Mr Akinremi Bolaji, and released in Abuja on Saturday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 195 countries adopted the first-ever universal, legally-binding global climate deal at the Paris climate conference (COP21) in December, 2015.

The agreement sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C. The agreement is due to enter into force in 2020.

The statement quoted the minister as saying that some of the world leaders, including President Barrack Obama of America and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, had already signed the Treaty.

Onyeama said that top on Nigerian UN agenda during the General Assembly was to engage African Union and other countries to work towards the reform of the United Nations.

He said that the leaders would also be engaged to be more democratic and responsive to the needs of the world.

“ In addition to the wave of change, Nigeria will like to propose to the UN body to create an agency dedicated for the youth,” Onyeama said.

The minister assured the international community that Nigeria would support a new UN Secretary-General that would be development and Africa-friendly as well as sympathetic to the course of Nigeria.

On investment, power and insecurity in Nigeria, he said that the Federal Government had established various security mechanisms to create attractive investment environment for would-be investors.

“With the fall in oil price, Nigeria is looking into diversification of its economy towards agriculture and solid minerals.

“It is expected that there will be a lot of investment opportunity for foreign investors during the US-Africa Business Forum, scheduled to take place next week in New York.

“Nigeria has been invited as one of the focal countries whose economies search light is beamed on,” he said.

He also said that Nigeria would host a high level side event on Climate Change, to showcase its efforts in the Ogoni clean-up.

This event, according to him, will come up after the president has signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The minister also addressed issues of poverty, migration, human rights, terrorism and security and on challenges in retrieving Abacha’s loot and other Nigeria’s assets stashed abroad.  (NAN)

IAA/OPI/OPI

Edited by Olisa Ifeajika

NAN-AE-1
Campaign
Dutse, Sept. 17, 2016 (NAN) The Jigawa Government has directed the authorities of the 27 Local Governments in the state to immediately commence activities to launch the 2016 tree planting campaign.

The Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Alhaji Ahmed Muhammad, gave the directive in Buji Local Government Area on Saturday at the launch of the tree planting campaign.

The Information Officer of the local government, Alhaji Ali Safiyanu, said in Dutse that the commissioner urged the people to plant trees on their farms and houses to curtail desert encroachment.

The Director, Agricultural Services in the ministry, Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmad represented the commissioner at the occasion.

Safiyanu said that the commissioner acknowledged tree planting as vital in preserving the environment.

He said that Alhaji Barau Abdullahi, the Commissioner for Environment
warned that the state government would not tolerate indiscriminate felling of trees, especially those by the road sides.

The commissioner was represented by the Director of Environment in the ministry, Alhaji Umar Idris.

The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the council, Alhaji Hashim Ahmad, promised to distribute free tree seedlings to the people to plant in their houses and farms.

The council would distribute 10,000 assorted tree seedlings to farmers and other interested individuals in the area for planting. (NAN)
MNB/ECN/AJA
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(Edited by Emmanuel Nwoye and controlled by Adeleye Ajayi)