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So sad: FUTO community looses another soul

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What president Buhari told Nigerians on this democracy Day

ADDRESS BY MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 2018 DEMOCRACY DAY CELEBRATION, TUESDAY, 29TH MAY, 2018

My Dear Nigerians!

Today marks the 19th year of our nascent democracy and the 3rd Anniversary of this administration. I am thankful to Almighty God for bringing us thus far.  This administration came at a time that Nigerians needed Change, the Change we promised and the Change we continue to deliver. We have faced a lot of challenges on this journey and Nigerians have stood by us in achieving the three cardinal points of this administration namely; Security, Corruption and the Economy.

2.     The commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day is a celebration of freedom, a salute to the resilience and determination of Nigerians and a recommitment by Government to keep its promise to lead Nigeria into a new era of justice and prosperity.

3.     Public safety and security remains the primary duty of this Government. Before this Administration came into being 3 years ago, Boko Haram held large areas of land spanning several Local Governments in the North East.            

4.     Today, the capacity of the insurgents has been degraded leading to the re-establishment of authority of government and the release of captives including, happily, 106 Chibok and 104 Dapchi girls, and over 16,000 other persons held by the Boko Haram.

5.     In order to minimize the impact of the insurgency on Internally Displaced Persons, Government has established secure IDP Camps and has improved the mechanism for the distribution of basic aid, foods and essential commodities using various strategies in collaboration with local and international Organizations.

6.     Efforts are in process for resettlement of IDPs in their home communities by providing schools, hospitals, clinics, water and sanitation to facilitate a quick return to economic activities. Government is similarly implementing de-radicalization and rehabilitation programmes to facilitate sustainable peace and development.

7.     The unfortunate incidences of kidnappings, herdsmen and farmers clashes in several communities which have led to high number of fatalities and loss of properties across the country is being addressed and the identified culprits  and their sponsors shall be made to face the full wrath of the law. All the three tiers of Government are presently engaged with communities and religious organizations to restore peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

8.     I want to commend members of the Multinational Joint Task Force drawn from Niger, Benin, Chad, Cameroon and our own country in collaboration with the International Community who are assisting in the fight against insurgency in the North East. I also commend the gallantry of members of our Armed Forces and other security agencies that have continued to provide security for lives and properties across the country.  State and Local traditional authorities are helping with much needed intelligence in this fight against insurgency.

9.     This administration is pained over the grievous loss of lives and properties occasioned by the carnage of insurgency and other forms of criminality in the country. I wish to assure Nigerians that we will not rest until all criminal elements and their sponsors are brought to justice. Government is boosting the capacity of our security agencies through recruitment of more personnel, training and procurement of modern equipment, enhancement of intelligence gathering as well as boosting their morale in the face of daunting challenges.

10.   The Niger Delta Region has enjoyed relative peace through social inclusiveness and cooperation of the Elders and the good people of the region. Government is committed to implementing the comprehensive peace, security and development plan for the region. The environmental clean-up of the region which commenced with the launch in Bodo, Ogoni in June, 2016 is progressing satisfactorily. Furthermore farming assets are being revived and investors in cocoa and palm oil plantations are showing serious interest.

11.   The second primary object of this Administration is to fight corruption headlong. Like I have always said, if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will destroy the country. Three years into this Administration, Nigerians and the international community have begun to applaud our policies and determination to fight corruption. We are more than ever before determined to win this war, however hard the road is. I therefore appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to continue to support us in this fight.

12.   Various policy measures already put in place to stem the tide of corrupt practices are yielding remarkable results. Some of these key reform policies include:

a.  The Treasury Single Account (TSA) has realized Billions of Naira being saved from maintenance fee payable to banks.  N200 Billion has also been saved from elimination of ghost workers in public service.

b.  The Whistle-Blowing Policy has helped to recover over N500 Billion;

c.   The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit set up with a mandate to validate controls, assess risks, prune personnel costs, ensure compliance with Public Financial Management reforms has helped to identify and remove over 52,000 ghost workers from the Federal Government MDAs Payroll;

d.  The Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) aimed at expanding tax education and awareness has offered the opportunity for tax defaulters to regularise their status in order to enjoy the amnesty of forgiveness on overdue interest, penalties and the assurance of non-prosecution or subject to tax investigations.

e.     The Sovereign Wealth Fund project portfolio has been expanded with an injection of US$650 million so as to strengthen its investment in local infrastructure, power, health, re-construction of Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, East West Road (Section V) and the Mambilla Hydro-electric Power project as well as the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge.

13.   The fight against corruption through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has resulted in recoveries of Billions of Naira, as well as forfeiture of various forms of assets. This alongside other efforts has improved Nigeria’s international image and regional cooperation.

14.   We have retained the services of one of the world’s leading assets tracing firms to investigate and trace assets globally. This is in addition to the exploitation of provisions of existing Treaties, Conventions as well as Bilateral Agreements with Multilateral bodies and Nations. Nigeria has also signed Mutual Legal Assistance Agreements to ensure that there is no hiding place for fugitives.

15.   This Administration has therefore focused on revamping the ailing economy it inherited in 2015.   In 2016, Government executed an expansionary budget and developed the Strategic Implementation Plan.  For the first time, 30% of the budget was earmarked for capital expenditure which represents an upward review when compared with the 2015 budget. The SIP was followed by the development of a comprehensive medium term plan – the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017 – 2020.

16.   The broad strategic objectives of the ERGP were to; Restore and sustain economic growth; Build a globally competitive economy; and Invest in our people.  The implementation of the ERGP has started yielding results. The National Bureau of Statistics reports that  the economy grew by 1.95% in 1st quarter 2018, which is a good performance when viewed against -0.91 in 1st quarter 2017 and -0.67% in 1st quarter 2016 respectively.

17.   Our foreign reserve has improved significantly to 47.5 billion USD as of May, 2018 as against 29.6 billion USD in 2015.  The inflationary rate has consistently declined every month since January, 2017.

18.   Recently, Government conducted Focus Labs in three key sectors of the Economy namely, Agriculture & Transport, Manufacturing and Processing as well as  Power and Gas. These have yielded significant prospects for investments and Job creation to the tune of US$ 22.5 billion with a potential for creating more than 500,000 jobs by 2020. These investment generation initiatives are expected to increase capital inflows in the form of foreign direct investment. There is a high prospect that the cumulative investments from this first phase of the Labs will hit US$39.2 billion by 2025.

19.   Under agriculture, Nigeria continues to pursue a strategic food security programme built around self-sufficiency and minimization of import dependency. As a result, rice importation from other countries has been cut down by 90% which has a direct impact on foreign reserves.

20.   The Social Investment Programmes (SIP) has been created as a means to graduating our citizens from poverty through capacity building, investment and direct support. The major strategic objective is to restore livelihood, economic opportunities and sustenance for the poor across the country. The SIP programmes and projects include:

a.              Home Grown School Feeding Programme - About 8.2 million pupils are currently being fed from 24 States of the Federation with over 75,000 Catering Staff engaged under the programme.

b.              The Conditional Cash Transfer has so far recorded over 297,000 caregivers and being trained by 2,495 Community Facilitators in 21 states. Less privileged Nigerians are now being paid N5,000 monthly stipend in 9 pilot States of Bauchi, Borno, Cross River, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Osun and Oyo. Eventually the scheme will cover all the 36 states of the federation including the FCT.

c.               Under the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme - About 264,269 loans had been disbursed to 4,822 societies in the 36 States and FCT, while another 370,635 are awaiting release of funds.

d.              N-Power Job creation Scheme - is targeted at providing jobs for unemployed young graduates and has so far recruited 200,000 youths while the next batch of 300,000 have been selected, verified and would soon be deployed across the 36 States and the FCT. Furthermore, 20,000 non-graduate volunteers have also been selected to kick off the N-Build programme in collaboration with the National Automotive Design and Development Council and the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria.

21.   In the area of power generation, Nigerians from all parts of the country continue to report better power supply and less use of generators. This underscores the effectiveness of the methodical plan to deliver incremental and uninterrupted power supply to our homes, markets, offices and factories.

22.   The country achieved 5, 222.3 MW representing the highest peak of power generated onto the national grid and delivered to customers in December, 2017. With new facilities, repairs and rehabilitations by Government and private investors, generation capability now exceeds 7,500 MW.

23.   This Administration is committed to lawful interventions to ensure the operators of the distribution business live up to expectations especially in the areas of distribution capacity, service delivery, collection efficiency, and metering to eliminate contentious estimated billing.

24.   The Transportation Sector continues to undergo a series of reforms in order to sustain the international best practices and ensure safety and security. The nation's major airports have witnessed reconstruction of runways, installation of navigational equipment and new international terminals due for commissioning in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Enugu. Bilateral Air Services Agreements between Nigeria and the Governments of other countries will significantly open up new flight routes.

25.   As a result of strict regulatory and compliance policies, Nigeria retained her Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category 1 status, after a routine international audit.  Recently, a new Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility with capacity for aircraft C-checks and other comprehensive levels of maintenance was established in Lagos. This would save the country an estimated $90m annually.

26.   Giant strides have been recorded over the past three years to improve road transport infrastructure in all geopolitical zones of the country.

27.   The Railway Sector has also received tremendous attention as this Administration is committed to the goal of linking all State capitals in the Federation by rail network to ease the movement of goods and passengers.

28.   The Education Sector especially at tertiary level has continued to witness expansion in order to improve access to higher education by millions of youths in Nigeria. Over the last three years, Government has approved the establishment of 1 new Federal Polytechnic, granted licenses for the establishment of 4 State and 14 private-owned Universities as well as 12 private Polytechnics.

29.   Government has also continued to support the implementation of various initiatives aimed at improving the quality of Basic Education delivery. Thus, it has ensured proper funding at the Basic Education level with the disbursement of N42.2 billion UBE Matching Grant to 26 States and the FCT, N851.5 million Special Education Grant disbursed to 23 States and private providers of Special Education and N2.2 billion Teachers Professional Development Fund to 33 States and the FCT.

30.   The Federal Government has continued to support fiscal sustainability at the sub-national governments through the implementation of the Budget Support Facility which was accompanied by the 22- point Fiscal Sustainability Plan. Thus, bailouts funds were made available to States to ease their fiscal challenges and other obligations including payment of salaries.

31.   In addition, a total of 73 Ecological Fund projects for the control of gully erosion in different communities across all geopolitical zones have been completed in the last three years and are undergoing commissioning while 53 other projects are ongoing. The execution of these projects has generated 357 skilled jobs and 1,350 unskilled jobs during this period.

32.   It is pertinent to also make mention of the immeasurable contributions of the Nigerian woman to national development and advancement of democracy, over the last three years. The government and people appreciate you all as mothers of our great country.

33.   My dear country men and women, as we all celebrate our democratic experience, let us resolve to avoid hatred and intolerance; we can only achieve our objectives in an atmosphere of harmony and peaceful co-existence.

34.   Finally, the up-coming months will usher us into another season of general elections. Let me use this opportunity to urge us all to conduct ourselves, our wards and our constituencies with the utmost sense of fairness, justice and peaceful co-existence such that we will have not only hitch free elections but also a credible and violence free process.

35. In few days to come, I will be joined by many promising young Nigerians to sign into law the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill

36.   I thank you for your attention.

37.   God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Why Buhari refuses to sign the the bill establishing Peace Corps of Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said that funding was chiefly the reason why he withheld his assent to the Peace Corps bill recently passed by the National Assembly.

He also stated that given a presidential assent to the bill would mean creating another security agency with a mandate already being performed by other existing law enforcement bodies in the country.

The President made his position known in a letter read by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara at Tuesday plenary.

The letter titled “Presidential decision to decline assent to Nigerian Peace Corps (Establishment) Bill, 2017 recently passed by the National Assembly read thus:

“Pursuant to Section 58 (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), I hereby convey to the House of Representatives, my decision, on 25th January, 2018 to decline presidential assent to the Nigerian Peace Corps (Establishment) bill, 2017 recently passed by the National Assembly.

“Specifically, reasons for the decision to decline assent to this bill include among others:

“a. Security concerns regarding the proposed Nigerian Peace Corps being authorized to undertake activities currently being performed by extant security and law enforcement agencies; and

“b. Financial implications of funding the establishment and operations of the proposed Nigerian Peace Corps, given the scarce financial resources may pose serious challenges to the government.

“Please, accept, Right Honorable Speaker, the assurances of my highest consideration.”

Man bags jail term for circumcision

“The criminalisation of circumcision is a very grave measure that raises deep concern.”

“The Icelandic bill says the circumcision of young boys violates their rights and is incompatible with the United Nations convention on the rights of the child. It draws a parallel with female genital mutilation, already outlawed in most European countries.

“The bill says circumcisions are performed without anaesthesia, and claims the procedure is often carried out “in homes that are not sterile, and not by doctors but by religious leaders.

“There is a high risk of infections under such conditions that may lead to death.”

It acknowledges that while parents have the right to give religious guidance to their children, “such a right can never exceed the rights of the child”.

Boys who wish to be circumcised for religious or cultural reasons can do so when they reach an age at which they “understand what is involved in such an action”, it suggests.

How to check 2017 Npower list

Hurray! Npower has finally released the list of 2017 application. Some people seem to be having problems checking the website. SEB has made it simple for you. Click HERE to check your name using your phone number or BVN. Goodluck.

Npower sets to release 2017 application list

The federal government social program, Npower is set to release the 2017 application list. In a statement posted on their Facebook page, the list can be accessible on their website on Monday 20th November by 11:30 pm.

"We promised you that you would be the first to know and we have kept that promise.

From 11.30pm Monday, November 20th, 2017 applicants can check if they have been pre-selected for Physical Verification.

NPower NG remains committed to a fair and transparent process."

Latest on Zimbabwe Coup/Crisis

Thursday November 16

4.49am: Former Zanu-PF member Temba Mliswa says citizens in that country are happy that their lives have been placed in the hands of the military.

He said: “When the president of the country is no longer the president and there is a de facto president it brings instability. 

“As a result, you have the army, the last line of defence. From a constitutional point of view, the preamble of our Constitution has been very clear and it's important for people to understand that the army and war veterans have always been part of Zanu-PF. They are the founders of Zanu-PF.”
4.30am: Armed soldiers are checking every car in and out of the capital Harare.

A group of journalists claim an armoured personnel carrier with troops chased them when they realised they had been filming.

The Sky News team said they were convinced the troops might open fire, but luckily the shots did not come.

3.50am: Zimbabwe’s fragmented opposition has not publicly condemned the military move. 

Nelson Chamisa, the deputy head of the opposition MDC party, called for “peace, constitutionalism, democratisation, the rule of law and the sanctity of human life”.

2.55am: South African envoy to meet Robert Mugabe and the military.

Local media reported South Africa's defence and state security ministers, dispatched by President Jacob Zuma as regional envoys, arrived in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, on Wednesday night and were expected to meet both Mugabe and the military.

1.30am: Robert Mugabe “tarnished the jewel of Africa” after taking charge of a country left “over endowed for success" by British rule, Boris Johnson has claimed.

The Foreign Secretary has accused the President of allowing a corrupt elite to “pillage” the country’s natural resources leaving its residents poorer.

He said: "There is an educated population, plentiful wildlife and what were some of the best roads and railways in Africa. Throw all this together and you get a nation that is almost over endowed for success.

“Today, in one of Africa’s most fertile countries, many are close to starvation.”

Credit: express.co.uk

Benue Labour suspends strike

The organized labour in Benue State has suspended its one week old industrial action embarked upon by workers in the State.

National General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, announced the decision of the unions in a communiqué he presented to newsmen at the Benue Peoples House Makurdi.

He said the strike would be formally suspended tomorrow, Wednesday October 11, 2017 while government is expected to source for funds and pay two months salaries and pension arrears owed them between Thursday and Friday this week.

As part of measures to ensure regular and monthly payment of salaries and pensions, government has also agreed to exercise fiscal discipline, control its spending and mop up areas of leakages as well as explore ways of boosting her Internally Generated Revenue.

In the communique, both government and the labour unions have agreed to dialogue on all issues affecting the welfare of workers and pensioners in the state.

As part of measures to ensure that Benue has a realistic and manageable wage bill, the Joint Technical Committee set up by the State and National Secretariat of NLC in its meeting of Monday, October 9th, 2017, "agreed that
both government and the unions in the State should continue to work together to ensure improved resource flow and management.

"In this regard, both parties agreed to work to ensure the completion of the work of the Committee currently chaired by the Deputy Governor."

Benue State Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Comrade Godwin Anya, his Trade Union Congress, TUC counterpart, Comrade Ordue  Tartenger and the chairman, Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, Comrade Philip Ter Nongu signed the communique on behalf of the organised labour.

On the part of government, the State Head of Service, Engineer George Ede and Commissioner for Finance, Hon. David Olofu signed the document.

Indigenous pay TV launched in Nigeria

The minister has congratulated the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Dr Bright Echefu, and his team for liberalising and breaking the monopoly of Pay TV in the country. “The important thing about what Echefu has done today is that he has redefined the pay per view television industry and from today that industry will never remain the same again. “What he has done is to democratise the media and entertainment industry and make it possible for even a peasant farmer to have access to the best entertainment and news in the world. “It is a great opportunity for me to be the one to unveil TStv because just like a Nigerian made history by crashing the cost of telephony in Nigeria, I am glad that another Nigerian is now coming forward to crash the cost of Pay TV,” he said. The minister commended the courage of the investor for coming from the Diaspora to invest in his country and for believing in the government’s seriousness about diversifying the economy. He said the company had also demonstrated that government alone could not do all things but needed the participation and synergy of the private sector. “I want to assure that this administration will continue to assist you and other investors in creating the enabling environment for businesses to grow,” he said. The minister said that the government was aware of the huge contributions of the creative industry to the nation’s economy and would continue to support the sector. However, he identified contents and the lack of objective audience measurement as major challenges that had retarded the growth of TV and advertising industries in the country. “With the liberalisation of the industry, content has become very key because content determines which channels are being watched and which are not. “Another major challenge is how to get an accurate measurement of which channel is being watched and which is not. “Kenya and South Africa are about one third of our population but they do much better in TV and radio advertisement than us because of their robust audience measurement,” he said. The minister announced that the National Broadcasting Commission and his ministry would organise a workshop on Nov. 28 to address the challenge of audience measurement. Earlier, Echefu said that TStv Africa, which had gone through a lot of challenges, was birth to liberalise PayTV in the country, make it affordable to every Nigerian with added values. He said for the first time, Nigerians could now enjoy Pay Per View because with TStv, “subscription runs as you watch and it has the facility to pause your subscription when you travel”. Echefu said that TStv for a start has 70 premium channels model with the cheapest pay-TV in Africa with maximum subscription fee of N3,000 only. He said as a fully Nigerian brand with consideration for the masses, TStv is not classified and it has a model that accommodate subscription as low as N200 as N500 for a period of time. The CEO said TStv came with PVR (Personal Video Recorder) Decoder which allowed viewers greater control over their viewing experience with functions like pause, rewind, forward, save and record of programmes of interest. Echefu said that once you subscribe to TStv, you will also get complimentary internet service, enabled Wi-Fi, as well as video calls and video conferencing services. “It has an array of amazing TV channels with premium entertainment, educative programmes that cut across all genres. “The genres included news, music, general entertainment, documentary, movies, religious, sports, health, kids, fashion and lifestyle that better define the uniqueness of Nigeria’s diverse culture and traditional values,” he said. The CEO said TStv which was modelled for Nigerians had come to stay, assuring that it would not fail and they would deliver on their promises. The guests at the ceremony were entertained with live performances by musicians and comedians. Among the dignitaries at the event were Gov. Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos represented by the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr Fola Adeyemi, and the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, MS Grace Gekpe. Others were the Director-General of National Orientation Agency, Dr Garba Abari; former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode; Nollywood actors including Emeka Ike. Adigwe Okafor, Zack Amata, Dr Opa Williams and Afeez Oyetoro aka Saka.

Source: NAN