President Muhammadu Buhari is thinking of cutting down on Nigerian foreign missions and would be reduced only to those that are really essential.
Speaking after being briefed by the Permanent Secretary in the federal ministry of foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bulus Lolo, President Buhari said that a Presidential Committee will soon be established to carry out the review.
He said that the review will determine the number of essential missions Nigeria needs to maintain abroad so that appropriate standards and quality can be maintained.
The President said that there is no point for Nigeria to be operating missions all over the world “with dilapidated facilities and demoralized staff” when the need for some of the missions was questionable.
“Let’s keep only what we can manage. We can’t afford much for now. There’s no point in pretending.”
President Buhari asked Ambassador Lolo and other officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to submit the record of former government officials and other persons still using diplomatic and official passports illegally to hom,
He threatened that his administration will take necessary action against such people, adding: “something has to be done so that we can get back our respectability as a country. Some people carry official passports and get involved in all sorts of negative acts. We need to do something about it.”
Ambassador Lolo  told President Buhari that the challenges facing the Ministry included the absence of a Foreign Service Commission, poor funding of foreign missions, policy inconsistencies and training deficiencies, among others. [myad]

Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi has given assurance that though the state is ridden with unqualified teachers, that he would not sack any of them.
This is even as he directed that salaries of workers at both the state and local government levels be paid  before 20th of  September to enable workers send their children and wards  back to school.
The governor, who spoke when he received national Executive of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), led by the National President, Mr. Micheal Olukoya, at the Government House stressed that his administration would not embark on disengagement of teachers.
He nevertheless, frowned at the quality of some of the teachers whom he said are not qualified to teach.
He appealed to the teachers not to join the warning strike declared by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), even as he regretted that labour workers called on workers to go on strike after its leader had signed an agreement with government to accept the recommendations of the special salaries committee.
Governor Umahi said that henceforth, no agency of the state government would  be permitted to negotiate with the organized labour  in the state  led by a federal worker.
The governor said that in line with the recommendations of the Special Committee on Salaries,  there would no longer be a disparity between the salaries of state workers and their local government counterparts.
He promised to re-visit all issues of outstanding salaries of teachers at local government level arising from the recent increment of workers’ salaries, which he stated was politically-motivated.
Governor Umahi said that his administration would also re-visit the issue of the payment of Teachers Salary Structure when the economy of the state improved.
Meanwhile, the NLC leadership expressed disappointment over what it called discrimination against primary school teachers in the state in the process of implementing the 50 percent salary increase for workers in the state.
Olukoya regretted that primary school teachers were not paid when the government directed the payment of the outstanding September, 2011 salaries of workers who went on strike under the no-work-no pay policy of the past administration in the state.
This was even as the special Adviser to the governor on Labour Relations, Mrs Grace Chukwu, described as false, an
allegation by organised labour in the state,that one of  its members, Comrade  Emmanuel Mbam, was beaten to coma and rushed to hospital by a government monitoring team led by Sam Igwe.
“Mbam was not beaten; no body touched him; no body tortured him as was alleged  by organised labour that the man was beaten to coma and  that the man was in the hospital. He (Mbam) is here live to speak for himself.”
Mbam, who is the vice chairman of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria in Ebonyi state, said that he was in his office  ensuring  that no worker in his constituent came to work when the  government monitoring team arrived.
“I  was not beaten by any body. Rather,they were persuading me not to prevent workers from entering their offices. When I got calls from my labour leaders, I told them to remain calm that I am alive.” [myad]

Head of the Nigeria Civil Service, Mr. Danladi I. Kifasi has revealed how President Muhammadu Buhari has managed to continued to rule Nigeria for more than three months now without ministers but leaned heavily on civil service.
“In the absence of Ministers,” Kifasi said today at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, “Mr President has helped to restore the confidence of the civil service by leaning on that institution for support in piloting the affairs of the nation.
“Mr. President, I wish to, on behalf of the Public Service of Nigeria, pledge our unalloyed loyalty and commitment to your government in its determination to bring about positive and sustainable change in the affairs of our dear country.”
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation spoke at the formal launching of the Public Service Capacity Building Programme
Kifasi said that the Programmes have been designed to change positively the quality of the Public Service in Nigeria which he said, is a demonstration of the present Administration’s determination to bequeath to the Nation a more virile, committed and service-driven Public Service.
He recalled that in his Inaugural Speech as Head of the Civil Service of the Federation on 18th August 2014, he has set out a number of strategic priorities that he intended to focus on during his tenure.
They included, he said, elimination of corruption through enhancement of transparency in the conduct of Government business, improving the operation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and putting in place, a robust Performance Management System in the public service.
It also included strengthening Leadership and Succession Planning, enhancing the capacity of civil servants to discharge their core functions, including changing the curriculum, training approach and critical thinking capacity of Civil Servants and restoring discipline, entrenching a new work culture and restoring professionalism.
“In the 12 months since my inauguration, we have made substantial progress on all these strategic priorities. We have taken steps to activate the dormant Human Resources modules in IPPIS, enforce full compliance with the contract and ensure value for money for government by plugging loopholes for corruption.
“We have worked with the National Planning Commission, the Federal Civil Service Commission and the Bureau of Public Service Reforms to develop a new, robust, Performance Management System that we will shortly be piloting. We have taken steps to reduce the cost of governance and restore discipline by restricting foreign travel and promoting local training.
“We have also concluded plans to reintroduce Manpower Budget Defence, linked to approved Manning Levels, to reduce arbitrariness in recruitment and ensure prudence in the use of personnel budgets.”
Kifasi stressed that the launching of the programme was in furtherance of the vision to reposition the Public Service by focusing on building its capacity and enhancing leadership at all levels.
“It is in fulfillment of this vision, that my Office developed two distinctive and strategic Capacity Building Programmes, the Structured Mandatory Assessment-Based Training Programme (SMAT-P) and the Leadership Enhancement And Development Programme (LEAD-P). “The overall objective of the Capacity Building Programmes is to address the twin challenges of capacity and leadership deficit in the Public Service today.
“While LEAD-P is a completely new innovation, SMAT-P builds on previous capacity building programmes developed by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. The point of departure of SMAT-P from previous programmes is that it is structured, mandatory and assessment-based. It has been strategically packaged to be a continuous, coherent, coordinated and sustainable approach for effective capacity building for Public Servants, based on local and international best practice. It emphasizes the areas of competencies and service delivery capability critical for the delivery of government policies and programmes.
“Of the many challenges the Public Service faces, effective leadership has rightly been identified as one of the most critical. If addressed along with other crucial issues, effective leadership would help to re-invigorate the Service on the path to high performance. The Leadership Enhancement and Development Programme is one of the elements of the new Leadership Development Framework for the Federal Civil Service. LEAD-P will help to identify potential leaders at the various levels in the service, nurture developing leaders and enhance the capacity and capability of existing leaders. Its main objective is to build a crop of trustworthy, dependable and competent leaders at all levels who will deliver results in critical positions and lead the Service to achieve its goals. “The LEAD-P Curriculum, which has been developed to global standards, is suitable for both the Public Service and the Private Sector.”
The Head of Civil Service said that the decision to restrict foreign training and promote home-grown capacity development is what has made SMAT-P and LAED-P possible, adding that the programmes are funded primarily from the training budgets of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies and delivered mainly by Nigerian Management Development Institutes.  “This means that resources that could have been lost to foreign training institutions have been used to develop and strengthen Nigerian training institutions. A number of Ministries, Departments and Agencies have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to capacity development by investing in their staff to attend this inaugural phase of SMAT-P.
“They are the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Ecological Fund Office of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, The Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Information and the Bureau of Public Service Reforms. I enjoin other MDAs to emulate these forward-looking MDAs by investing in building the capacity of their own staff.”
Kifasi said that in the development of SMAT-P and LEAD-P, his office was conscious of the fact that the Federal Civil Service of Nigeria, like many Civil Services around the world, is the entity that implements the policies and programmes of the Federal Government.
He noted that the pace and magnitude of growth and development of the country are, to a large extent, dependent on the capacity of the Public Service, saying that while the Public Service has served the country creditably, “we must admit that in recent times, it has come under public scrutiny for failing to meet public expectations, especially with regards to service delivery.  It is the quest for excellent public service delivery that has spurred us to develop a strategic approach to building the capacity of the Public Servants through training and retraining programmes designed to enhance competence and professionalism.
“Consequently, the public launch of the Capacity Building Programmes is happening at an auspicious time when the Federal Government of Nigeria, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, is determined to reform the Public Service to make it more dynamic, transparent, accountable, effective and efficient in implementing Government policies and programmes. “The urgency and determination with which the Government desires to bring about positive change in the Public Service, should galvanize every Public Servant to demonstrate unparalleled commitment to their duties.” [myad]

President Muhammadu Buhari has challenged Nigerians to put him to questions if at the end of September he has not named ministers to form his cabinet at the federal level.
He told newsmen today in Aburi, Ghana during a joint press conference with President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana: “after I was sworn-in, I said I will have my cabinet in September. I expect that Nigerians should ask me questions after the 30th of September if I do not do so.”
President Buhari said while responding to a question that the Nigerian military, in close collaboration with the Multi-National Joint Task Force, has recorded remarkable progress in the fight against Boko Haram since he assumed office as President.
“The first thing I did after I came into office was to reorganize the military and clear orders were given to them in terms of retraining, re-equipping and redeployment of troops.
“In the northeast, the military is gaining ground and Boko Haram has been limited to the Sambisa forest.
“Internally Displaced Persons are gradually moving back home and they are being reintegrated into their respective communities.”
On the declaration of assets, the President affirmed that it was a constitutional requirement that all public office holders in Nigeria should declare their assets before and after their term in office.
“I recall that in 1975 when late Murtala Mohammed became the Head of State, we were lined up – governors, ministers, members of the Supreme Military Council.  Officials of Ministry of Justice were brought and every individual was made to declare his assets.
“All Heads of States and Government, governors, ministers, permanent secretaries have to declare their assets because it is a constitutional requirement.
“I have declared my assets four times. When I was governor in 1975, I declared. After being Minister of Petroleum and as a member of Supreme Military Council, I declared. When I was Head of State and now as a President, I have also declared.”
Earlier, President Mahama said he and President Buhari had fruitful discussions on how to enhance bilateral relations and improve regional security.
President Mahama said that Nigeria and Ghana will soon begin the process of reviving their joint commission for cooperation.
The Ghanaian President added that both leaders also agreed to encourage closer cooperation between the intelligence and anti-graft agencies of both countries.
He thanked President Buhari for his visit and assured him of Ghana’s support and cooperation with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism. [myad]