Maritime Agency Plans Shutting Down Sub-Standard Training Institutions

August 1, 2016

Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside has announced the possibility of closing down sub standard maritime training institutions across the country.
The NIMASA bos said that the Agency is currently screening maritime institutions across the country and would accredit only the ones that can provide the maritime training required in line with global best practices.
The Director General spoke when he received the leadership of the Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association, led by the National President, Comrade (Engr.) Matthew Alalade at the Agency’s Headquarters in Lagos.
Dr. Peterside said that NIMASA is not in a position to recognise any Merchant Navy Association as that function falls under the purview of the National Assembly even as he made it clear that he is determined to ensure that the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003, also known as the Cabotage Act is implemented to the letter.
He said that proper regulation of the Cabotage Act is instrumental to the development of the maritime sector, adding that Nigerians must always be encouraged to be key players in the sector.
Dr. Peterside gave assurance that efforts are being made through the necessary legal framework, to check the abuse of waivers.
“We have not realized the full potential of the Cabotage Act but we have moved a step ahead. Just to be sure that we are committed to the full implementation of the Cabotage Act, issues relating to waiver abuse are currently being dealt with accordingly.”
He said that the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) would only be disbursed to people that would put it into use for which it is intended, saying that applicants must have the requisite criteria as beneficiaries.
“We will rigorously screen the applicants of the CVFF in order to ensure that the funds are disbursed to people who would use it for the purposes the funds are meant for.”
Earlier, the Association which decried the abuse of waivers in the implementation of the Cabotage Act, requested the Agency to find ways of reviewing the Act to pave the way for indigenous operators to be more involved in coastal and inland trade in Nigeria.
The Association also sought greater collaboration with NIMASA, especially in the areas of maritime regulatory decision making and human capacity building for the growth and development of the industry. [myad]

FG Extends Application For Recruitment Of 600,000 Nigerian Youths To August End

Greenbarge Reporters

August 1, 2016

Nigeria’s Federal Government has extended the deadline for the submission of applications for the N-Power online jobs and training for 600,000 young Nigerians to the end of August. applications has been extended till the end of August
The application process commenced on June 12th 2016 and was to close on Monday, July 25, 2016.
In a statement on Monday, the senior special assistant to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on media and publicity, Laolu Akande, said that the extension is in line with the government’s promise of empowering and uplifting young Nigerians by improving their livelihood and creating opportunities such as this.
“The Federal Government is providing an additional grace period for more young Nigerians to access the N-Power opportunity. The new deadline for the receipt of applications is now Wednesday, August 31, 2016.
The statement explained that N-Power is one of the initiatives of the N500 billion President Muhammadu Buhari’s Social Investment Programme designed to empower young Nigerians with life-long skills to find or create work.
“The N-Power programme is segmented into three: N-Power
Teachers Corps Agriculture & Health related jobs; N-Power Knowledge for ICT, N-Power Build for building services & artisanal training”
It said that N-Power is targeted at young Nigerians aged between 18 and 35 and is aimed at enlisting a total of 600,000 young Nigerians in phases, and under different sectors, in the largest capacity development and empowerment effort yet in the country.
“The Federal Government will continue to work with the State Governments through their respective focal persons on Social Investments to ensure that N-Power is diverse and inclusive.
“This extension presents an opportunity for persons who have not had the opportunity to apply to do so now. This will also allow those yet to complete the application process to ensure they see the process through as incomplete applications will not be processed.
“To apply, simply log on to www.npower.gov.ng and register for any one of the three sub-programmes.”
It asked the applicants to note that applications may be subject to other criteria which can be found on the N-Power website, saying that applicants who have any challenge with uploading supporting documents unto the Portal because of the size of the files, should attach such documents in a mail transmitted to support@npower.gov.ng
“After the Application portal closes, there will be a verification, testing and selection process before successful applicants are enlisted in phases as the specific programme design may necessitate.
“The Federal Government will publicise the selection criteria before the application process comes to a close.
“Modalities relating to the enlistment process will no longer commence today as earlier envisaged due to the demand for extension by many Nigerians from across several states.”
The statement made it clear that the government is committed to ensuring that through N-Power, young Nigerians will acquire the skills and knowledge to become the driving forces of Nigeria’s economic growth and social development. [myad]

Nigerian Journalist Calls For Release Of Colleague, Detained By Cameroonian Authorities For Alleged Espionage

Greenbarge Reporters

August 1, 2016

A Nigerian journalist, Simon Ateba, who was arrested and detained by the Cameroonian authorities at the Minawao camp on 28 August 2015, having been accused of being a spy for Boko Haram, has called for the immediate release of a colleague, Mr. Ahmed Abba, who was similarly arrested and is now over one year in detention.
Ateba, who said he was arrested at the Minawao camp in Cameroon last August, detained for four agonizing days and accused of being a spy for Boko Haram, said that after his experience, “I will not wish it even to my sworn enemies to spend a day or night in one of those atrocious detention centres in Cameroon where many are dumped on baseless allegations or accusations.”
In a statement, Ateba said that he and Ahmed were doing a story on Nigerian refugees in Cameroon’s far north, but were picked up by the Cameroonian authorities.
“Mr. Ahmed Abba, a Nigerian journalist working with Radio France International, RFI,” he said, has been in detention in Cameroon since 30 July 2015 on suspicions that he is a spy, an accomplice or even a member of Boko Haram, the terrorist organisation that has killed more than 1300 people in Cameroon since 2013, displaced hundreds of thousands and left entire villages deserted.
“Since he was arrested in Maroua and moved to Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, Ahmed Abba has been detained in inhumane conditions, first without access to any lawyer, and then in tribunals that have no clear evidence against him.
“Amnesty International recently released a damning report about human rights violations by the Cameroonian authorities who in their bid to defeat Boko Haram, end up arresting, killing and detaining thousands of innocent people without solid evidence.
“Ahmed Abba in one year, has appeared in various tribunals four times without any clear evidence against the journalist who was only doing his job.
“It is not a crime for a journalist to have sources on all sides and it is not a crime to cultivate sources to tell a better story. If I can establish contact with anyone causing problems, I will gladly do that and ask the right questions to them.
“Journalism is not espionage as Cameroonian authorities have come to misguidedly understand.
“And since the journalist was arrested, Boko Haram has continued to kill. In fact, only yesterday as reported by reliable newspaper, LÓeil du Sahel, the terrorists who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in March last year and have since modelled their barbarism after the Middle East killers, went to kill a man right in his house.
“Daily attacks have continued and civilians have continued to pay the heavy price. I condemn terrorism and called on the multinational joint taskforce to continue to be ruthless towards the real terrorists but not innocent people who have nothing to do with suicide bombing or gun attacks.
“They should also not vent their anger on journalists like Ahmed Abba who are simply doing their job, the job of informing the world about things going on all over planet earth.
“Reporters without borders, like many other reputable international organisations, have said that accusations against Ahmed Abba and many other innocent people are simply fallacious, and I may an attempt by the authorities to show that they are working hard.
“I understand that with so many innocent people dying, there is a tendency to be hard on anyone who is suspected of having anything to do with it, but we must not confuse journalism with spying. They are two different things.
“I call on the authorities to release the poor man who may by now be sick and on the brink of dying having spent a year and a day in detention.
“I spent only four days, but the trauma of that agonising experience follows me every single day. IGod forbid, I spent a year in such dire conditions.
“Please release the man before he dies in detention, only to find out later that he was innocent.” [myad]

Modu Sheriff Disciplines Tony Anenih, Asks Him To Answer Query

Greenbarge Reporters

July 31, 2016

Factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has applied disciplinary measure against the former chairman of the board of trustees of the party, Chief Tony Anenih, whom he said must answer a query issued to him for alleged anti-party activities.

Senator Sheriff was, on Sunday, responding to a letter written by the secretary of the party’s caretaker committee, Senator Ben, Obi re-admitting Chief Anenih into the party’s Board of trustees.

Senator Obi had in the letter said: “with a view to finally clearing all issues relating to this matter and based on your request to meet with the current Caretaker Committee, and the agreed meeting which took place on July 13, 2016, the Committee Chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, wishes to thank you for appearing before it to finally clear all issues relating to this matter.

“Having heard from you, and made some consultations, the Caretaker Committee has reviewed the whole episode and decided to withdraw the said letter from and by the defunct National Working Committee.”

But in a statement signed by Hon. Bernard Mikko on behalf of Sheriff, the faction noted that the “National Working Committee (NWC) issued a query to Chief Tony Anenih in April 2015 as part of disciplinary procedures for his anti party activities in Imo State during the 2015 General elections in line with Article 57(4) of the PDP Constitution 2012 (as amended).

“Chief Anenih did not respond to the query but chose to tender a letter of resignation as BoT member. Up till date, the query remains unanswered and his resignation remains valid.

“Any effort to re-admit the chief will have to follow due process which is well known to all party members. If the chief is desirous of returning as member of the BoT, he should re-apply to the party, with his response to the pending query for consideration.

“Party members are hereby assured that no individual or group will be prejudiced in the enforcement of discipline and the application of the rule of law.” [myad]

Nigeria’s Budget Has Always Been Padded Since 2011 – Federal Lawmaker

Greenbarge Reporters

July 31, 2016

A member of Transparency Group, a pressure group in the Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Lawal Gumau, has confirmed that the lower legislative chamber has been engaged in the padding of Nigeria’s budget since 2011.

Representative Lawal Gumau, who was speaking on Sunrise Daily said: “since 2011 when I came, there was no year when there was no padding.

According to him, budget padding has been going on before the 7^th Assembly as members of the 6th Assembly had warned them that it will happen and “we started fighting it since then.

“After the budget is prepared from the committees, it goes to the Appropriation Committee and they will work on the budget and return it to the members in the chamber for everybody to see, read and agree on it. Padding does not come in up till that point.

“Immediately after the House has passed the budget, before they submit it to the President is when the padding (is effected).”

The lawmaker said: “members will not know that after they passed the budget, something (additional line projects) was inserted,” saying that such insertions were often made without the consent of the whole House.
Representative Gumau, however, made it clear that he is neither in support of either Speaker Yakubu Dogara or Representative Abdulmumini Jibrin, but that he is in support of the allegations made against the leadership of the House.

He said that what his group wants is for the allegations made by Jibrin to be investigated by the appropriate authorities.

“What is the Attorney General of the Federation doing; is he not the law officer? If there is a petition, can’t he investigate or give an order for an investigation to be carried out?

“We have EFCC, we have ICPC; we have the Nigeria Police. What are they doing that they cannot investigate? What we are saying is that the House opens this issue for an investigation.”

The lawmaker insisted that the internal mechanism of the House be jettisoned even as he said that this is the time the anti-graft agencies should rise up to their duties, arguing that they would not be seen as interfering with the business of the House.

He likened the situation to the trial of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, over alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Rules, insisting: “it is the same thing with padding. If the investigation takes place and it is convincingly explained to everybody in Nigeria that there was no padding, then we will rest our case.” [myad]

Kogi Governor Smells Conspiracy In July 30 Koton Karfe Jailbreak

Greenbarge Reporters

July 31, 2016

Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has alleged that the July 30 jailbreak in which 13 inmates of Koton Karfe, in Kogi state escaped from the prison, was a pure conspiracy between insiders and criminals.

“This particular attack in early hours of Saturday, July 30th 2016, seems to be a conspiracy between insiders and criminals who came to free the inmates.”

Governor Yahaya Bello, who led the Kogi State Commissioner of Police, the Director, Department of State Services and top security officials of the state to the scene of the incidence shortly after the jailbreak, made it clear that those who were involved would be fished out and dealt with.

This was even as he sought the collaboration with the Federal Government, which he called upon to set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the jailbreak.

The visibly angry Governor Bello, did not meet any senior prison officials on duty when he visited the prison and was not allowed into the prison yard.

The Governor vowed to use all means available at his disposal to unearth the mystery behind the jailbreak, more so as the incident happened at 3 am, while security was only beefed up around the prison at 5.30 am.

The July 30 jailbreak brought to three times, there had been jailbreak at the Koton Karfe Federal Prisons in recent time. The first was 2013, the second one was 2014 and then the latest.

According to information offered by some junior officers, who begged not to be mentioned, the inmates made some remarkable marks on the inside walls, from where they scaled to freedom with the help of blankets.

It would be recalled that some suspected kidnappers in army uniform were sent to Koton Karfe Federal Prison on Friday to be brought to court by September 1, 2016.

It is still unclear if the escapees include those particular set of suspects. [myad]

Fifth Columnists Have Invaded APC, Atiku Alerts Leadership

Greenbarge Reporters

July 31, 2016

Former Vice President and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), has raised an alarm about what he called the fifth columnists that have invaded and are out to disintegrate the party.
Atiku Abubakar said that the fifth columnists are trying desperately to cause disunity within the party and called for caution.

The former President who was reacting to a newspaper report alleging that he has formed a new political platform on which he will run for President in 2019, with Ondo State Governor Segun Mimiko as his running mate, described the report as a load of hogwash.

He said that the aim of those fueling the trouble is to portray him as being disloyal to President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC leadership.

In a statement by his Media Adviser, Mazi Paul Ibe, the former Vice President said that the report bears all the features of a political hatchet job, planted by his opponents who have desperately tried to invent events in order to draw a wedge between him and Buhari on the one hand and APC leadership as a whole. [myad]

Group Says UN Resumption Of Humanitarian Missions In Northeast Is Blow To Boko Haram

Greenbarge Reporters

July 31, 2016

The Buhari Media Support Group (BMSG), has described the resumption of humanitarian missions in the North East by the United Nations and its agencies after the Boko Haram attack in Borno state as a big blow to the insurgents.
A statement in Abuja by the Chairman of the Group, Malam Mohammed Labbo and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, said that the UN decision to resume its laudable humanitarian missions in the Northeast Nigeria is “timely and reassuring for the thousands of the victims of terrorism that were displaced by the Boko Haram attacks.”
The group said that with the UN decision to resume its humanitarian missions in the Northeast, the Boko Haram bandits have been denied the opportunity to claim propaganda victory which they had wanted to achieve by waylaying a UN humanitarian convoy.
“The Boko Haram bandits have been significantly crippled in terms of operational military capabilities.”
The Group said that Boko Haram insurgents attacks on soft targets, including a UN humanitarian mission, is a desperate, last ditch effort to prove that they are still strong, after facing irreversible setbacks.
The Group therefore commended the UN for not playing into the hands of the Boko Haram militants who are desperate to prove that they are still in charge, despite the heavy and irrecoverable losses they have suffered at the hands of the Nigerian armed forces.
According to BMSG, the UN decision to resume its humanitarian missions in the Northeast “was a major defeat for the terrorist propaganda objectives, and this decision would boost the morale of Nigeria’s counterterrorism forces who have conducted this war with dedication, patriotism and remarkable gallantry.”
The Group also commended the sacrifices of Nigeria’s counterterrorism forces, and called on Nigerians to continue to pray for their success against the Boko Haram militants. [myad]

FCT Minister Embraces E-Government Scheme

Greenbarge Reporters

July 31, 2016

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has expressed the desire of his government to partner with Galaxy Backbone to facilitate work on the National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructural project.
The Project is aimed at linking all Federal Government Ministries, Agencies and Parastatals to ICT network, thereby providing a platform for e-government.
The Minister, who received in audience, the Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone, Engineer Yusuf Kazaure, in his office in Abuja, said that the partnership would enable the FCT administration to benefit immensely from the scheme.
“We would strengthen the partnership with your organization because it’s all part of a national network that is going to be of immense benefit to all.”
Muhammad Bello, who described the FCT as one of the important beneficiaries of the scheme said, the Territory already has infrastructure on ground for some of the components, such as
telecommunication ducts. He said that all Ministries, Agencies and Departments across board will be linked to enhance the smooth running of government.
“Taking into account that in the FCT, you don’t probably need to break a lot of ground and do a lot of physical activity because the infrastructure for duct is already there, we will partner with your team to make sure that it is deployed properly.”
The minister said that adequate maintenance and security would be provided for the entire duct system to ensure that unscrupulous elements do not unduly tamper them with.
According to him, due to the number of organizations, both public and private that are involved in the system, there is the need for each organization to be properly indexed, identified and coded, so that they are protected and easily sorted in the event that there is need for maintenance.
The minister appealed to Galaxy Backbone to ensure that the FCTA is allocated enough data for its activities, adding that the company should find time to look at its systems and to
enhance what is available, based on the existing infrastructure before the national one is deployed.
Earlier, the Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone, Engineer Yusuf Kazaure said that the scheme is aimed at ensuring transparency, better collaboration and cost effectiveness of running government.
The scheme, he added, is also meant to create a platform that is suitable for e-government, adding: “we have a robust relationship with the FCT Administration.
“We provide significant amount of service to different departments and offices. However, we seek the opportunity to strengthen the partnership further to ensure that the gains we have made are not eroded based on issues we may not be aware of. So we seek this opportunity to collect
positive feedback to enable us enhance the quality of our service delivery.” [myad]

Buhari Stops Production Of Souvenirs For Seminars, Conferences

Greenbarge Reporters

July 31, 2016

As part of the measure to cut cost in running of government, President Muhammadu Buhari has stopped the production, procurement and distribution of souvenirs such as bags, T-shirts, face-caps and others at events and activities such as Conferences, Workshops and Seminars organized and funded by Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
A statement by the Director of Information, Salisu Na’Inna Dambatta said that President Buhari’s approval for the stoppage of any form of souvenirs followed recommendations by the Efficiency Unit of the Federal Ministry of Finance, and that it has been conveyed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Ministers of Finance and Budget and National Planning. The decision was transmitted to the relevant government institutions by the Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari, for implementation.
The statement said that the directive took into account, the fact that in a period of lean financial resources in the face of huge national infrastructural deficit, wasteful and unnecessary expenditure on overheads such as souvenirs and conference bags are luxuries that the government must eliminate to release funds for infrastructure and services, such as health and education that would have direct positive impact on the wellbeing of the citizenry and promote economic development.
The Presidential directive, the statement added, also contained specific guidelines that would reduce the cost of printing Invitation Cards, Programme of events, Brochures, Folders and Note Pads.
“Among the guidelines are that they should be in black and white and limited to only one page and in the case of Brochures they should be streamlined to contain only essential information.
“Similarly, the directive has banned the printing of unnecessary publications and books of short shelf life which have no real value to the concerned public institutions or the citizens.
“While noting the need for the citizenry and other interested parties to be aware of the initiatives, activities and programmes being implemented by the government, the MDAs were directed to save costs by uploading such publications on their websites which have the added benefit of wider visibility, and print only limited number of hard copies of such publications.”
It would be recalled that the Efficiency Unit was established by the present administration to promote fiscal prudence on overhead expenditure thereby releasing resources for the development of vital national infrastructure. [myad]

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