President Muhammadu Buhari alerted the Prime Minister of Sao Tome & Principe, Patrice Emery Trovoada, of the damage being done to the economies of some West African countries by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea. President Buhari said that pirates who take advantage of the present low level of security in the gulf were causing incalculable damage to the economies of countries in the region. The President who had a meeting with Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today stressed the need for the two countries to intensify their collaborative efforts with others to curtail piracy and insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea. The President said that with their shared strategic interest in the security of the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria and Sao Tome & Principe must work harder with other stakeholders to keep it safe. He assured the visiting Prime Minister that Nigeria will do all within its powers to enhance security in the Gulf. The two leaders agreed to sit down soon to review the activities of their Joint Development Authority with a view to making it more efficient and productive. The Prime Minister invited President Buhari to a meeting next year in his country to review the management of the Joint Development Authority. [myad]
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has criticized the governments of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, late Umar Musa Yar’adua and Dr. Goouck Jonathan of allowing poverty to grow in direct opposite to the sharp rise in the nation’s incomes in the last 16 years. Osinbajo said, at the ongoing 45th Annual Accounting Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) today in Abuja, that despite the fact that Nigeria recorded high oil prices, it had not translated into equal rise in the reduction of the number of poor people in the country. According to him, the steady rise in the GDP and foreign reserves during the last three presidencies of Obasanjo, Yar’adua and Jonathan have not improved employment generation, instead, it has been rising at the same time. This, Professor Osinbajo said, has showed clearly that such figures, including a rise in revenue by itself does not create jobs or had significantly put a dent to poverty levels in the country. The Vice President who spoke on “Repositioning Nigeria for Sustainable Development: From Rhetoric to Performance,” observed that there were seemingly good growth figures, but that such figures could be deceptive where the structure and quality of growth are not considered. “So why are most (of our people) poor despite rising revenues and GDP growth? Our main revenue earners, the extractive oil and gas economy, do not by themselves create many jobs.” He described the situation as an “irony of a top-down economic model, when the major revenue earner is extractive and the value chain is poorly developed.” Professor Osinbajo called for social sector investment in the people, education, job creation, national school feeding scheme, conditional cash transfer and reflating economies of the States which he said are the indices that would boost the economy. According to him, President Muhammadu Nuhari has already put some of these ideas in place, adding that they include the bailout package for the workers in the country, and some others that are currently being worked out. The Vice President reiterated that education is the basics for economic development, adding: “One of the most important interventions required in the education sector is capacity building to improve teacher quality. This programme is intended to drive teacher capacity development; boost basic education; attract talents to the teaching profession. Better educated population increase economic potential for productivity.” He said that the All Peoples Congress (APC) has made a commitment to provide one-meal-a day for all primary school students thereby creating jobs in agriculture, including poultry, catering and delivery services. The multiplier effects of the introduction of the scheme, he added, include 1.14 million new jobs; increased food production of up to 530,000 metric tonnes per/annum; attracting investor by investment of up to N980 billion. Professor Osinbajo also identified conditional cash transfer as another avenue for alleviating poverty, adding that the programme is intended to support the 25 million poorest households to incentivize vaccination, education and production. The multiplier effects of the introduction of the programme, he noted, would include: lifting millions out of poverty; putting millions into rural production; and boosting rural economy. The Vice President said that government needs to improve the power sector to have one-Stop Shop for approvals; innovation and fighting piracy; diversifies the economy in agriculture – self-sufficiency in rice and wheat (staples) production, manufacturing, entertainment and technology. On the power sector, he said that despite the challenges, there have been measurable improvements over the past three months, saying that the 26 percent increase in operational generation capacity from June to August 15, 2015 compared to January to May 2015; decreased in pipeline vandalism boosting gas supply and that a 10 percent reduction in transmission losses (June to July 2015 compared to January to May 2015); reduction in red tape to remove delays blocking the 450MW Azura-Edo IPP and the 500MW Exxon Mobil Qua-Iboe IPP; the imposition of a September 2015 deadline for the submission of the DisCos’ revised tariff trajectories. Earlier, the President of ICAN, Otunba Samuel Olufemi Deru, appreciated the Vice President for his commitment and being able to attend the programme in person. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has made it clear that he would end the incessant strike actions by various industrial unions which have crippled the nation’s productivity and resulted in man-hour loses. He said that his government will be committed to boosting national productivity, by among other things, taking all necessary actions that will bring the incessant strikes by workers in vital sectors of the Nigerian economy to an end. President Buhari, who spoke when he had a meeting with the permanent secretary and Directors of the Federal Ministry of Labour today, expressed worry over what he called endless strikes in Nigeria’s health sector which have contributed to the fall in the standard of health services. He directed the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Clement Illoh and Directors in the Ministry of Labour to liaise with other stakeholders and work out proposals for ending the recurring strikes in the health, education, transport, oil and gas, power and other critical sectors of the national economy. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was also present at the meeting, advised Dr. Illoh and his staff to make an input into the ongoing plans for the extension of welfare services to poor and disabled persons. Dr. Illoh had earlier attributed some of the recurrent strikes in the country to the inclination by some government officials to enter into agreements with financial implications without carrying the ministries of finance and labour along. He said that the ministry of labour has now introduced a Code of Conduct for Government Negotiators barring them from entering into agreements with financial implications without the consent of the President. [myad]
The Federal Ministry of Transport has constituted a committee that would be in charge of verifying all projects currently being executed by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). The committee, which has members drawn from the Federal Ministry of Transport, Federal Ministry of Works and the General Services Unit of NIMASA, is expected to carry out an evaluation of all projects currently being executed by NIMASA with a view to ascertaining their percentage completion in relation to funds already released. Speaking on the constitution of the committee, the Acting Director General of NIMASA Mr. Haruna Baba Jauro said the evaluation has become necessary given the limited resources available to the Agency which require the prioritization of projects execution so as to avoid the situation where projects are being abandoned. “We need to set our priorities right as far as project execution is concerned by strategically executing projects even in a phased manner so as to avoid a situation where projects that should have been very beneficial to the development of the maritime industry are abandoned due to poor planning”, the DG said. Jauro lauded the foresight of the Transport Ministry in including officers from the Federal Ministries of Transport and Works, adding that the move would ensure that the necessary experts are involved in the process of executing projects with a view to providing a report that will reflect the correct state of the projects. The committee which has two weeks within which to conclude its assignment and report to the ministry is expected to visit the project sites of the Nigeria Maritime University, NIMASA Shipyard and Dockyard, NIMASA Science and Technical College and permanent sites of the six Institutes of Maritime Studies in six Nigerian Universities amongst others. [myad]
Head of the regional office of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Arman Navasardyan, will tomorrow, September 3 will speak at the AUN Library at 5 p.m. on “Humanitarian Coordination Architecture and Importance in the Context of North East Nigeria.” He was invited by the American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Yola, capital of Adamawa state for its scheduled workshop on Humanitarian Assistance and Coordination. A statement from the office of the Executive Director of Communications and Public Relations of AUN, Mr. Daniel Okereke described Mr. Navasardyan as an expert with 20 years’ experience all over the world in disaster relief and emergency preparedness. “Most recently, Mr. Navasardyan, a citizen of Armenia, has led UN humanitarian efforts in South Sudan and Uganda. Prior to the UN, he worked for Oxfam, Care International, Médecins Sans Frontières, the Red Cross, and the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” The statement said that the American University of Nigeria, in partnership with the Adamawa Peace Initiative, has been at the forefront of the humanitarian response to the Boko Haram-created refugee crisis in northeast Nigeria. It recalled that only yesterday, the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID) announced an $801,000 grant to support AUN’s project to educate IDPs. It said that the group had earlier launched a One Billion Naira Insurgency Appeal Fund to raise money for humanitarian assistance to thousands of IDPs in the state. “Before his engagement in Nigeria, Mr. Navasardyan coordinated humanitarian sectors in the sovereign state of South Sudan, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Pakistan, Syria, and several other crisis-ridden countries. “He was working for Oxfam GB, Care International, Médecins Sans Frontières, and the Red Cross in his native Armenia and elsewhere,” the statement said. It said that Mr. Navasardyan holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Armenian State University of Economics, a diplomatic rank of Second Secretary from the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Federation, specializing in humanitarian diplomacy, and P-4 rank in the United Nations system. [myad]
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted the immediate past National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), bail but asked that he should deposit his passport and other relevant document with its registrar.
Dasuki was charged to court today by the Department of State Security (DSS) on a one-count charge of illegal possession of firearms to which he pleaded not guilty.
His counsel, Joseph Daudu, had made an application for bail on self-recognition on the basis that the former NSA has served the country in a sensitive position, adding that he will abscond if granted bail, since his travel documents are with the DSS.
However, the trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola admitted Dasuki to bail pending the determination of the suit and ordered that his passport and any other document in the possession of any government agency be deposited with the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court.
Former Nigeria Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, has said that out of a population of 160 million Nigerians about 64 million suffer from some form of afflictions of mental illness.
The former minister is at such growing number of mental illness, stressing that these patients demand attention.
Nebo spoke as a Guest Lecturer at the second Public Lecture organised by the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu in collaboration with the West African College of Nursing. on the theme: “Psychiatric and Mental Health in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects.”\
The former minister said that so far the government has always been paying lip service to psychiatric and mental health care. Professor Nebo said whereas government had done much in the area of Primary Health Care, much is yet to be done in the area of psychiatric and mental health.
“I will confess that while government has built modern diagnostic centres, dialysis and ophthalmological centres, and constructed more than 710 Primary Health Care Centres throughout our political wards in Enugu State, we are only beginning to give priority towards optimising and modernising our psychiatric mental health institutions in the state to meet required demands. “Despite the efforts of all levels of government in the medical sector of our nation, Nigerians still grapple with many social challenges, including poverty, high level of unemployment and other social pressures. “The prevalence of these situations have been escalated by the fact that there is high level of poor knowledge and understanding of the malaise of mental health disorder and the positive treatments required by the growing population of mentally ill patients”, he stated. He identified causes of mental illness to include genetic composition, early development, neurological and psychological experiences and environmental stresses. He called for increased awareness on the treatment and management of mental disorder, adding: “the belief that many Nigerians seem to hold that mental disorder is a result of supernatural forces and, therefore, only responds to cure through traditional practices and supernatural incantations- must give way and face the realities of modern conditions, which in fact, produce the stresses that lead to different level of mental conditions.” He called for adequate funding for research and training of mental health manpower, stressing that “this will increase our output of psychiatric nurses and create more positions for residency training in psychiatric.” Nebo also called for community based mental health care services, total integration of the mental health care into the Primary Health Care System and periodic review of legislation governing the care of the mentally ill. Earlier, the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, Dr. Jojo Onwukwe said the institution was the only one of its kind, East of the Niger, with staff strength of 1000 workers, including eight consultants specialist psychiatrists, more than 400 psychiatric nurses and 27 resident doctors. Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi was represented at the event by his Commissioner for Special Duty, Mrs Rita Mba, while former Governor Sullivan Chime, represented by his son, Nnamdi Chime, was inducted into the institution’s hall of fame. [myad]
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that conditional cash transfers to the poorest segments of the society would energise the economies and create multiplier effects on the economy. He said: “Conditional Cash Transfers to the poorest segments, universal primary healthcare schemes, school feeding programs can energise local economies and create important multipliers in the economy.” Osinbajo spoke today in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire at the investiture of Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina as the new President of African Development Bank. He represented President Muhammadu Buhari. He made it clear that time has come for Africans to re-think some of the time-worn economic ideas and myths that have held its people and policy makers bound to only a few options. Professor Osinbajo called on Africans to develop uncommon creativity, innovation and change in charting the pathway for future growth and development of countries in the continent. The Vice President said that western economies, particularly the United States of America toed this path to emerge from its recent economic meltdown in 2008. According to him: “in 2008 western economies faced with what Ben Bernanke (then Chairman of the US Reserve Bank) described as the “deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression” abandoned conventional free-market thinking and embraced State bankrolled stimulus plans to forestall the imminent collapse of their economies.” He said that the action the US took then proved once and for all that the monster called the economy cannot be allowed to prowl the streets with its free-wheeling, free market struts without the leash of a trainer. He stressed the need for African countries to embark on a new strategy in the face of daunting challenges even as he asked: “do African economies not require a different paradigm? How can trickle down paradigms work when half our populations are extremely poor? Do we not need some attention to social investment?” The Vice President however expressed optimism that the African Development Bank, given its recent achievements under the immediate past President, Donald Kaberuka, can greatly assist Africa to address some of its socio-economic problems. He said that under the new leadership of Dr. Adesina “the AfDB needs to redouble its efforts in addressing the needs of these fragile areas, through institutional support, emergency assistance, and bold pro-poor interventions in health, education and agriculture. Professor Osinbajo appealed to the new AfDB President to focus on how economic policy can produce economic empowerment for women, and all categories of the people who have become disempowered and whose voices are seldom reflected in the rhetoric of policy. The, new AfDB President, unfolded a 5-point agenda which he said would be given utmost priority in the next five years of his tenure. In the inaugural statement delivered after he had taken the oath of office, Dr. Adesina listed the priority areas as i) Light Up and Power Africa; ii) Feed Africa; iii) Integrate Africa; iv) Indusrialize Africa; and v) Improve quality of life for the people of Africa. Dr. Adesina spoke passionately about his commitment towards confronting the numerous challenges facing the continent, saying: “unlocking the potentials of Africa for Africans will be our goal at AfDB.” [myad]
Members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) have embraced the anti corruption crusade, pledging to fully support it when it becomes operational. Members of the ICAN who paid a courtesy visit on President Muhammadu Buhari today at the Presidential Villa, Abuja expressed happiness that the President has promised to engage their them in the anti corruption crusade. “It is therefore heartening and commendable that you are engaging our members and their firms in the anti-corruption crusade. “We pledge our collective and institutional support for your unparalleled commitment to build a caring, secured, politically united and economically prosperous nation that will be the pride of Africa.” The ICAN President, Otunba Samuel Olufemi Deru, praised what he called the renaissance of the nation’s value system and the reinvigoration of the war against corruption which are being witnessed under President Buhari’s leadership. “The values you hold dear – those of integrity, transparency and accountability – are the foundation of the accountancy profession. This was even as President Buhari called on them to support his administration’s efforts to restore greater probity, prudence, transparency and respect for financial regulations to the management of national resources. The President said that with declining prices of oil exports which remain the mainstay of the national economy, Nigeria must begin to properly manage its available resources or face developmental stagnation and decline. “You should help us to go back to the days of real accountability in the management of public funds. “The annual audits of government MDAs which your members undertake must be taken more seriously. People must be made to properly account for whatever government funds are entrusted to their supervision. “Let your audit reports on our MDAs be thoroughly, professionally and dispassionately done to ensure greater probity in the management of our national resources and sustainable development.”
Former Nigerian Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Chief Nduese Essien has lamented a situation where multinational oil companies are in flagrantly violating the country’s laws and exhibit monopolistic tendencies at the expense of the growth of Nigerians in oil businesses. Chief Essien who spoke in a paper he presented during a two-day workshop organized by Exxon Mobil for Journalists in Akwa Ibom State, said that the exploitation of Nigerian oil industry by the multinationals can never be condoned in other parts of the world. Chief Essien, who himself had started off as a journalist with the Nigerian Chronicles in the early 70s, wondered why journalists showed great apathy in reporting on the extent to which oil multinational companies adhered to the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act,2010. He asked journalists to strive to always stand on the side of professionalism and integrity in their responsibilities, adding that there were a lot to report in the oil industry.
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