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Tag: FG

  • We have not recorded any polio case in Nigeria since 2016 – FG

    We have not recorded any polio case in Nigeria since 2016 – FG

    The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says there has been no recent history of polio in Nigeria since August 2016.

    Dr Emmanuel Odu, the acting Executive Director, NPHCDA, who stated this while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Thursday, urged the public to report any case of child with fever and sudden weakness or paralysis of the limbs.

    Odu also called for effective use of available Primary Health Care services to forestall any possible outbreak of the disease.

    The acting executive secretary said the media briefing was to make clarifications on a report by some sections of the media on the suspected case of polio in Cross River state.

    He said NPHCDA had deployed its technical team and representatives of its development partners to the suspected community in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River, where a two-year old male child, suspected to have been infected was tested.

    “Features found on this child were not consistent with those of poliomyelitis.

    “A two year-old male child with a history of deformity, particularly a twisted right foot, which was observed at birth for which he was attended by a local bone-setter at the age of three weeks.

    “Meanwhile, he had been administered with six doses of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) already, in his course of life.

    “There was no recent history of fever as far as this particular instance was concerned.

    “And so physical assessment or examination revealed that the sign that suggest complications of polio virus infection were not present in this child.’’

    He urged the public to report cases of fever and sudden weakness or paralysis of the limbs in children.

    He said the Federal Government and its development partners would continue to implement immunisation and other primary healthcare services throughout the country.

    According to him, there is an active ongoing effort to quickly detect any child paralyzed by polio through effective nationwide surveillance system employed by the government and partners.

    He said: “We urge Nigerians to continue to contribute to the survival and development of the children by presenting them for vaccination.

    “We assure all Nigerians that our efforts have continued to yield results as we have not recorded any case of polio since August 2016.’’

    Recall that Channels television had reported a suspected case of Polio in Cross River State on Tuesday January 3.

    The case was vehemently rejected by the Director-General of the Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Betta Edu.

    Edu maintained that the state remained polio free.

  • Manufacturers want forex to boost production

    Manufacturers want forex to boost production

    The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Ogun Chapter, has urged the Federal Government to provide adequate foreign exchange for the real sector, to boost production in 2017.

    According to the MAN chairman, Mr. Wale Adegbite, the real sector is facing numerous challenges such like lack of sufficient dollar, higher interest rate and poor infrastructure that had hindered them from producing at the optimal level.

    Adegbite explained that instability of Naira and dollar was affecting most manufacturers from importing raw materials and machinery into the country.

    ”The ability of the Federal Government to provide adequate foreign exchange for manufacturers in 2017 would help the sector to produce at the optimal level,” he said.

    “This would create job opportunities for the unemployed youths and boost the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” he said.

    Adegbite, however, advised the Federal Government to also ensure lower interest rate as well as the provision of infrastructure, especially roads network to enhance the productivity of the real sector in 2017.

  • FG’s N5,000 payment to the poor, another empty promise‎ by APC – Fayose

    FG’s N5,000 payment to the poor, another empty promise‎ by APC – Fayose

     

    Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has discredited the Federal Government’s claim of the payment of N5,000 to indigent Nigerians, describing it as another empty promise by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

    He said: “A blind man will say it is when it gets into my mouth that I will say you are feeding me, not promises.”

    The governor, in a statement on Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, said there was no evidence of the payment in his state, which was one of the states the federal government claimed the exercise had started.

    Fayose said apparently, the states they claimed had started receiving the payment were APC-controlled states, knowing that the governors cannot come out to disprove the payment.

    The governor stated further that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by President Muhammadu Buhari should come to the reality that Nigerians were hungry and also angry and that they were no longer interested in empty promises.

    He also explained that the people had realized that the APC government only operated by deceit and that Nigerians were running out of patience.

    Fayose challenged the government to publish the number of people receiving it and their accounts

    He insisted that the economic policy of the federal government ahead of the 2019 elections was on how to entrench themselves in power and not on the welfare of Nigerians.

    He condemned the N2Bn to be spent on entertainment alone in the Villa in the 2017 budget.

    While calling on the federal government to put a proper economic team, beyond party line in place to salvage the economy of Nigeria, which he said was already on the floor as many businesses had been closed down.

    He appealed to the President not to allow Nigerians die before the so-called benefit and ‘change’ comes to bear on them.

    He explained that the “federal government’s N5,000 payment to the poor was designed in a way that the state governors are also involved because they are to clear and present prospective beneficiaries before payments are made.”

    Recall that the federal government in a statement on Monday said: “Funds for the commencement of the payments in four states were released last week to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) – the platform that hosts and validates payments for all government’s social intervention programmes. Funds for another set of five states to complete the first batch of nine states would follow soon.

    “Though the sequence for the payment of the money would be operationally managed by NIBSS, beneficiaries in Borno, Kwara and Bauchi States have started receiving the money. The other states in the first batch to commence the CCT payments are Cross Rivers, Niger, Kogi, Oyo, Ogun and Ekiti States.”

  • FG begins cash transfer of N5,000 to 1 million indigent Nigerians

    FG begins cash transfer of N5,000 to 1 million indigent Nigerians

     

    The Federal Government has commenced the payment of N5,000 under its Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme to one million indigent Nigerians.

    The programme is under the government’s s Social Investment Programmes (SIP), which earlier saw the payment of N30,000 monthly stipends to 200,000 youth under the N-Powere programme which began in December 2016 and the School Feeding programme.

    The commencement of the payment under the CCT was announced on Monday in a statement from the Office of the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo.

    The statement, signed by the Vice President’s spokesman Laolu Akande, on Monday said the first batch of payment would cover nine states.

    He said some of the beneficiaries had started receiving their payments as from Dec. 30, 2016.

    He said funds for the payments to beneficiaries in Borno, Kwara and Bauchi were released last week to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), the platform that hosts and validates payments for all government’s SIP.

    He added that the funds for another set, which include Cross Rivers, Niger, Kogi, Oyo, Ogun and Ekiti, would follow soon to complete the first batch of beneficiaries.

    Akande said the nine pilot states were chosen because they had an existing Social Register that successfully identified the most vulnerable and poorest Nigerians.

    He said the registers emerged through a tried and tested community based targeting (CBT) method working with the World Bank while other states were developing their Social Registers and would be included in subsequent phases.

    Akande said the Federal Government would actually commence community mobilization for the creation of the Register in more States to expand the scope and reach of the CCT across the country.

    He said that Plateau, Jigawa, Adamawa, Anambra, Benue, Enugu, Katsina & Taraba had so far complied with the stipulated framework provided and were set for the community based targeting method for the development of their Social Registers.

    According to him, those states would be followed by Delta, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Imo and Ogun.

    “All the funds approved for the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programmes, SIP, are domiciled with the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.

    “In addition, the payment information and processes for all beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s SIP are hosted at NIBSS, as the Consolidated Beneficiary Register.

    “It is to ensure and fortify efforts at authentication and verification, as well as for effective and efficient programme management.

    “With the commencement of the CCT, the Buhari administration is now implementing four of the Federal Government’s SIP,’’ the release added.

    The release added that the Buhari administration had commenced the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, (GEEP) where soft loans ranging from N10,000 to 100,000 have been designed for artisans, traders, market women among others.

    “Already, thousands of cooperatives, market women associations, farmers and enterprising youths, have been identified and registered for the purpose, on an ongoing basis.

    “The disbursement of the soft loans through the Bank of Industry started since Nov. 25.

    “At the last count, for the first phase, beneficiaries have been drawn from the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Delta, Imo, Kwara, Kano, Katsina, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Kogi,’’ he added.

    Akande said that the expectation and plan were that by month-end disbursements would have been made to 33,000 beneficiaries.

    Regarding the 200,000 beneficiaries of the N-Power programme he explained that about 50 per cent of the graduates had been physically verified and had started receiving their monthly stipends of N30,000.

    Akande announced that a second batch of 300,000 unemployed graduates would be selected early this year to make up the half a million target set by the Buhari administration.

     

  • Telecoms: NLC to partner with FG to halt out-sourcing of jobs

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says it will collaborate with the Federal Government to stop out-sourcing of jobs in the telecom sector, among others.

    Mr. Ayuba Wabba, the NLC President, said this in a statement made available to (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

    “In this New Year, we shall work with the relevant arms and agencies of government to checkmate and halt the practices of multinational corporations especially in the Telecommunication, and Oil and Gas Sectors,

    “who are adding to the economic crisis in the country by their new habit of out-scouring of jobs Nigerians can do to new destinations in Asia, especially Dubai and India,’’ he said.

    He said there were reports that Ericsson Nigeria, local subsidiary of the Global Telecommunication Solution Provider, had disengaged all Nigerian staff in its Network Operating Centres and transferred its operation to India.

    Wabba noted that Ericsson Nigeria had in the last few years managed the MTN Network from among its Nigerian staff.

    “Now, in the name of off-shoring, Indian workers are being brought to understudy their Nigerian counterparts, and thereafter these jobs monitoring MTN and other Telecommunication Networks are then transferred to India.

    “These have huge implications for our national security, in addition to the fact that jobs that Nigerians are competent in are being moved out of the country.

    “As the unfolding cyber controversy between the USA and Russia is unfolding, with the network operating centers moved out of the country.

    “We can be easily shut out from the rest of the world without our being able to do anything about it,’’ Wabba said.

    However, the labour leader said the experience over Boko Haram and the SIM registration controversy with MTN clearly illustrates the inherent danger to Nigerian’s national security interest of the move by these multinationals.

    He said that HUAWEI, a telecommunication giant, was responsible for managing about 75 percent of network operating centers such as Etisalat, Airtel, part of GLO and part of MTN network operating centers in Nigeria.

    “They have also commenced the knowledge transfer from Nigerian engineers to their Indian counterparts preparatory to also moving their operations to India.

    “We will work with the relevant committees of the National Assembly, ministries and agencies to protect our national interest.

    “We will be leading national campaigns against these practices in the Telecom and Oil and Gas sectors in this New Year,’’ he assured.

    Wabba said that the affected multinationals must be made to understand that they would not be allowed uninhibited access to making millions of dollars off Nigeria as a nation without contributing to creating jobs.

    He said that there must be costs to every multinational decision to take the livelihood of Nigerian workers to other shores.

    “We need the understanding, support and cooperation of government and its agencies in this fight to keep these jobs in the country,’’ he said.

  • FG tackling recession with available resources – Minister

    The Minister of Defence, retired Brig.-Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali, says the Federal Government is responding to the economic recession through the use of all available resources in the country.

    Dan-Ali made the assertion at the inauguration of the 207 Quick Response Group of the Nigerian Air force (NAF) in Gusau on Friday.

    The minister said government was prepared to use resources from any part of the country.

    He also said that government was committed to deploying resources toward the productive sector to revive the nation’s economy and reduce unemployment.

    Dan-Ali assured of the federal government’s commitment toward the capacity building of the armed forces.

    According to him, it is in the light of this that nine additional Air Force units were established across the country.

    He said that the new Airforce bases were located in Owerri, Ekiti, Katsina, Bauchi, Jos, Ilesha, Yola and Zamfara, and with the headquarters in Bauchi.

    Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadiq, said the establishment of the additional air force bases was due to the increasing security challenges not only in Zamfara but the nation as a whole.

    He said the Nigerian army had been doing everything possible to put the situation under control.

    Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara said the event was coming at the right time when bandits and other security challenges were facing not only the state but the entire region.

    He commended the federal government’s efforts to restore peace to the region and assured of the state government’s commitment toward providing the necessary support.

  • FG begins payment of N30,000 stipend to N-Power beneficiaries

    The Federal Government has started the payment of the N30, 000 monthly stipends for beneficiaries of the N-Power scheme -the job creation programme of the Buhari presidency.

    The N-Power programme is designed to engage the teeming and massive numbers of unemployed Nigerian graduates from tertiary institutions across the country.

    The Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity,Office of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, disclosed this in an interview on Friday, stating that “ all successfully verified beneficiaries who have provided bank accounts are being processed for payment.’’

    According to the presidential media aide, “some beneficiaries will receive their first stipends today -December 30.’’

    Mr Akande said the process of payment would continue after the New Year Public holiday, urging beneficiaries of subsequent batch of the scheme to take seriously their virtual training.

    “Already, close to 50% of the 200,000 unemployed graduates selected in the first batch of N-Power job program have now been verified and being processed for December stipends’ payment.

    “This process will continue and some will receive their stipends after the New Year public holiday, starting from Tuesday, 3rd of January.

    “ N-Power Volunteer Corps members are encouraged to take their virtual training seriously over this period,’’ Mr Akande said. Mr

    Laolu also encouraged states who had yet to conclude the physical verification process to do so, “as that would enable the N-Power beneficiaries in those states to draw from its benefits & empowerment offers.’’

    The unemployed graduates selected for the N-POWER programme are given assignments that will help to address issues in schools, hospitals and other areas in communities across the country.

    A total of 150,000 out of the 200,000 selected in the first phase of the scheme would be deployed as support teachers to help address shortage of teachers in schools at the basic and secondary levels.

    Another 30, 000 graduates would work as extension workers in various communities which will expectedly aid the government’s diversification agenda.

    In strengthening community health services in line with the agenda of the Buhari administration, 20,000 graduates would be deployed as community health aides, under the first phase of the programme.

    The Federal Government is overseeing the programme by way of providing the funding but the project is going to be implemented in the states by the state governments.

  • SERAP drags FG to UN over Southern Kaduna killings

    SERAP drags FG to UN over Southern Kaduna killings

    Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has petitioned Ms. Agnes CALLAMARD, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, urging her to “prevail on the Nigerian authorities to halt further killings of innocent citizens in Southern Kaduna, and to urgently investigation recent allegations of killings of over 800 citizens mostly women, children and the elderly in that part of the country by suspected herdsmen, and to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice, and to provide reparations to victims”

    The organization also asked Ms. CALLAMARD to “request to visit Nigeria to conduct fact-finding mission into the circumstances surrounding the killings.”

    In the petition dated 30 December 2016 and signed by SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni the organization expressed “concern that the killings of citizens in Southern Kaduna of Nigeria amount to serious violations of the rights to life; to security of the human person; to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being; and right to property guaranteed by not only the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) but also the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.”

    The petition reads in part: “SERAP contends that Nigerian authorities have failed and/or neglected to respect these human rights and to exercise due diligence to ensure that these rights are not violated by private individuals such as herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators. Nigerian government should therefore be held to account for failing or neglecting to guarantee and protect the rights of the people in Southern Kaduna, regardless of whether such violations are directly or indirectly attributable to the state or its officials.”

    “SERAP is concerned that the Nigerian government has failed and/or neglected to create an environment in Southern Kaduna to end the unlawful killings by failing to move their legal and institutional machinery towards the actual realisation of these rights. It is in fact the failure by the government to take adequate measures to prevent the violence which has contributed to the increasing number of victims.”

    “SERAP believes that the killings would not have taken place if the Nigerian authorities have taken measures to prevent their happening and to address persistent impunity of those responsible for the violations and abuses. The lack of accountability for the attacks by herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators across the country has continued to create a culture of impunity which clearly is not compatible with the rule of law in a democratic society.”

    “According to the leadership of the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan in Kaduna State, a total of 808 people were killed in 53 villages across the four local governments areas in the state ridden by crisis. The church leaders also said that 57 people were injured; farm produce estimated at N5.5 billion were also destroyed, and a total of 1,422 houses and 16 churches were burnt during the attacks. The affected communities are spread across Kaura, Sanga, Jama’a and Kauru Local Government Areas where there had been persistent attacks on communities by gunmen believed to be Fulani herdsmen.”

    SERAP therefore urged Ms. CALLAMARD to prevail on the Nigerian authorities to:

    Take measures to urgently secure the right to life, right to security and dignity of the human person and right to property of citizens in Southern Kaduna, and to prevent further attacks and killings by herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators

    Carry out an effective investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killings and to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice, and to provide reparations to victims

    Provide a framework of security for the protection of life, and to protect the lives of those individuals at risk from unlawful attacks in Southern Kaduna

    Provide for an effective remedy and reparation for the victims

  • New dawn as FG begins free medical services for deprived Nigerians

    New dawn as FG begins free medical services for deprived Nigerians

    Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has said that the federal government has begun free healthcare services to deprived Nigerians living with certain medical conditions that require major surgeries, but are unable to seek healthcare services due to the cost.

    He added that Nigerians needing medical attentions should visit any Federal Teaching Hospital or medical centre for free treatment.

    The directive was given in line with the operations of the Rapid Response Initiative (RRI), which was inaugurated earlier this year to perform not less than 10,000 free surgeries on poor Nigerians.

    Adewole gave the directive, on Thursday, during a media interactive session at the just concluded Kuchigoro Primary Healthcare Centre, Abuja.

    “The only qualification you have is that you must be poor and we’ll do those surgeries that really put people in discomfort, myomectomy cleft lips, even VVF, many of these are being handled across the country in about 46 specialist centres,” he said.

    Conducting a tour round the Kuchigoro health facility, the minister disclosed that about N550 million had been earmarked for the revitalization of the first phase of primary health care centres, adding that the project was important to the Federal Government as it strives to tackle maternal and child mortality in the country.

  • FG will release calendar of festivals across country in 2017 – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said on Thursday the Federal Government would in the new year release a calendar of festivals across the country.

    Mohammed made this known in Offa, Kwara State at the 2016 Edition of the ”Íjakadi Festival”, a traditional wrestling event, which started in the 14th century.

    The minister said that the aim was to attract tourists and enable them plan their trips around the festivals.

    “We believe that this is one of the best ways to attract global visitors to our festivals and help to make them viable entities,” he said.

    The minister, represented by Mr Raphael Arulogun, General Manager of NTA Ilorin, said the government was also working with the private sector to make major festivals attractive to domestic and foreign tourists.

    He said the government also planned to leapfrog the major events to the top cadre of global festivals, adding that the starting point would be to train the managers of the festivals.

    ”As you may be aware, the training of festival managers is contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that we signed with the British Council.

    “Also included in another MoU, which we signed with the Tony Elumelu Foundation, is the need to ensure that festivals like Ijakadi are not just a mere jamboree but also a source of economic empowerment for the people.

    “It will help to inject foreign exchange into the economy and create jobs, especially for the communities in which such festivals are situated,” the minister said.

    Mohammed said the beneficiaries of the partnership with the private sector would include major festivals like the Abuja Carnival.

    He said the training would bring out their full potentials and become household names like the Edinburgh International Festivals, the Rio Carnival in Brazil and the Notting Hill Festival in London.

    ”Our ultimate aim is to ensure that our festivals are among the top 20 festivals in the world,” he said.

    The minister lauded Offa Descendants Union (ODU) , the organiser of the ”Ijakadi Festival” for reviving and sustaining the age-long event.

    He said the festival “reinforces the community’s tradition of strength and determination and addresses the notion of equality among all the indigenes of Offa.”

    Kwara Governor, Abdulfatai Ahmed also commended the organiser for reviving Ijakadi Festival, adding that it will go a long way in uniting the community.

    The governor, represented by the Commissioner for Environment, Otunba Taiwo Joseph, said the state would partner with the community to make the festival a tourist attraction.

    The National President of ODU, Alhaji Najeemdeen Yasin, said the Offa community is known with a popular slogan “Ijakadi Loro Offa’, meaning Ijakadi is the tradition of the Offa people.

    “This slogan does not translate to the ordinary meaning that the Offa people are pugnacious or that they fight for no cause, rather it depicts the struggle to achieve or excel.

    “Offa people are always on top of whatever challenges that confront them and they fight and find solutions to such problems.

    “This concept is now demonstrated in two wrestlers trying to defeat each other,’’ Yasin said.

    According to him, the festival is a forum to bring the sons and daughters of Offa together to work for the progress and development of the community.