The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Abiodun okays constituency projects for 236 councillors

    Abiodun okays constituency projects for 236 councillors

    Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, has approved constituency projects for the 236 councillors.

    The approval, the governor said, is in fulfilment of his promise to ensure the councillors execute projects in their constituencies  as the closest to the people at the grassroots.

    Prince Abiodun made this known at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, when he received the jubilant councillors who were on ground to pass a vote of confidence in his administration and also thank him for paying their full furniture allowance.

    Governor Abiodun, who recently approved the full payment of furniture allowance to the 236 councillors, also promised to ensure the continuous empowerment of the councillors.

    “You have reminded me of my promise to you of your constituency project. Consider that done because you are the closest to the grassroots. You are the ones representing us at the grassroots. You will not be put to shame.”

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    “I am a promise keeping governor. Whatever promise I make to you, I will definitely keep it. I want to thank you for your very kind remarks for appreciating that I promised you I was going to pay your furniture allowances, and I remain the first governor that will pay furniture allowances to councillors 100 per cent.

    “I also promised that I was going to ensure you are sufficiently empowered. You are politicians. You must be empowered to continue to empower your constituencies  and I think I am trying,” he said.

    Abiodun also thanked the judiciary for upholding the rule of law and called on opposition members to stop running around to buy judgments and join his administration in moving the state to the next level.

    The Chairman, Ogun State Forum of Councillors, Olarenwaju Adeleye, thanked the governor for approving and paying their full furniture allowance.

  • Experts stress on modelling for economic development

    Experts stress on modelling for economic development

    A former Director General of Nigerian Institute for Social and Economic Research (NISER), Prof. Olu Ajakaiye, President of Nigeria Association of Macroeconomic Modellers (NAMM), Prof. Adeola Adenikinju, a petroleum economist, Prof. Akin Iwayemi and the Dean, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, University of Ibadan, Prof. Abiodun Folawewo have stressed the need for effective modelling, to make sound economic decisions and set the country on the trajectory of development.

    They spoke at the opening of a two-day hybrid conference organised by NAMM, held at the seminar room of Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics & Law (CPEEL), University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State.

    Iwayemi, Adenikinju, Philip Alegbe, Ajakaiye and Prof. Bernard Decaluwe, a Belgian scholar with Canadian residency, were given Fellowship of the association.

    Iwayemi, the chairman of the event, said shocks, both global and domestic, were not good for the country, adding that for the nation to develop like Singapore, it needed to increase its productivity and capacity.

    Read Also: Ogun partners UK govt on public transportation

    Ajakaiye, the guest speaker, said the first thing that should be done was to improve the productivity of Nigerian economy like that of Singapore.

    Adenikinju said optimum decision making must be grounded in models and evidence as done in developed economies.

    Folawewo said with right modelling, Nigeria could be developed like Singapore and even outshine it, adding that there was little or nothing the country could do without modelling.

    The Director of CPEEL, Prof. Olugbenga Falode, who called for a paradigm shift in the ways economists do their modelling, said, ”shocks do a lot of damage to systems, economic, political and others.

    The Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua, said no economy could immune itself from shocks, noting that the country needed to look on more diversification.

  • Soun of Ogbomosho: Court grants stay of execution to Oba Olaoye

    Soun of Ogbomosho: Court grants stay of execution to Oba Olaoye

    The Soun of Ogbomosho, Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye, will continue as the monarch of the town, as an Oyo State High Court sitting in Ogbomoso granted his application for stay of execution of nullification of his appointment as Soun of Ogbomosoland, while the determination of appeal is pending.

    This comes after Oba Olaoye’s appointment as the Soun was nullified by the court over procedural flaw in his nomination.

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    Issuing the order yesterday, the presiding judge, Justice Kareem Adedokun, directed all the parties to maintain status quo ante pending the hearing and determination of the appeal already filed by the defence of Oba Olaoye and Oyo State Government.

  • Comply with procurement law, NGO urges Ekiti Officials

    Comply with procurement law, NGO urges Ekiti Officials

    A non-governmental organization, Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) has charged ministries, departments and agencies of the Ekiti state government to ensure strict compliance with provisions of the procurement law.

    The Senior Program Advisor, Ife Olatunji-David gave the charge on Tuesday in Ado Ekiti, state capital during a five-day sub-national public procurement bootcamp organised by the centre in partnership with MacArthur Foundation.

    Present at the five-day bootcamp were stakeholders in the procurement process including the officials of the Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement, Heads of MDA’s, Civil Society Organizations and media executives.

    Olatunji-David said procurement officers in the Ministries, Departments as well as Agencies have a responsibility to ensure compliance with regulatory procurement frameworks towards ensuring delivery of quality project.

    She lamented that several civil servants are not fully conversant with laid down processes in the award and execution of public contracts, hence, the urgent need for MDAs to understand the procurement laws.

    The Senior Program Advisor advocated transparency and accountability in the implementation of projects, saying such will enhance the trust and confidence of citizens in government.

    The group Senior Communication officer, Nnenna Eze said that the bootcamp was organised to sensitise the public on the procurement laws, transparency and accountability practices, monitoring and evaluation of public projects.

    She explained that the programme would give participants a better understanding and synergy in the procurement process and promote transparency and openness in public expenditure at the sub-national level.

    She called on citizens to take advantage of the Freedom of Information Act to get access information to public records and information especially on procurement and projects implementation.

    This, she, said will promote transparency and accountability, build public trust and improve public service because when governments realise that their activities are subject toscrutiny they become more circumspect.

    In her submission, a Director in the Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement, Mrs Bolanle Oladele stated that procurement processes have become more open and transparent since the state joined the Open Government Partnership.

    She noted that the state government has been running an open governance with the development of an institutionalised portal where all procurement processes were accessible to build public trust and confidence.

  • Church donates ICU to Alimosho General Hospital

    Church donates ICU to Alimosho General Hospital

    The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Region 36, Egbeda, Lagos State, has donated an intensive care unit (ICU) to the Alimosho General Hospital, Igando. The ICU is named after General Overseer of the RCCG and his wife, Pastor Enoch and Mrs. Folu Adeboye.

    Mrs. Adeboye, while opening the ICU at the weekend, described it as an attestation of God’s love being expressed through his children. She stressed the need for human beings to ‘think of others and what will benefit them’.

    The cleric, popularly called ‘Mummy G.O, also urged the people to be intentional about living healthy. “Health is more important than prosperity. We must desire good health and work towards a healthy living. We must also nurture our children in health so we don’t waste resources.

    “And to the donors of this centre, Daddy and I are proud of you and your efforts. We are joyful that our children are walking in the light. May heaven reward you abundantly,” she added.

    Pastor in charge of Region 36, Dele Jayeoba, said the church decided on the project because it has a culture of excellence in ensuring that its Corporate Social Responsibility projects (CSR) has great positive impacts on the society.

    “This is another win for Region 36. I want to believe this project will be used judiciously and more will come by the grace of God. “What we met was a shell of a building. Part of the roof and windows were off, so we did a complete renovation of the structure and equipped it with modern medical equipments needed in a standard ICU. We can only pray that patients brought in there would survive by the grace of God,” he said.

    Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Ayodapo Soyinka, thanked the Church for the grand gesture and promised that the facility will be maintained to the utmost standard. He also promised it will be expanded beyond its current status.

    According to Soyinka, the structure was a triage centre in the heat of COVID-19 which however became redundant after the phase passed.

    He said: “So we got permission from the Ministry of Health to repurpose the building and this is what became the ICU today. We decided on the ICU because none of the government health facilities in this axis has a functional ICU, and many times we have had to refer patients to LASUTH or LUTH.

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    “The church signified its interest in reinventing the place for us. They bought into our vision to transform the place to an ICU and here we are today. The church did the full renovation and brought in medical supplies needed for its full operation. So by first week in December, the ICU will become fully operational.

    “The ICU will also be run on a PPP arrangement. We have signed an agreement with a team of professionals who will be running the place, with a lot of volunteer work from our own staff, particularly from our anesthesia department. So I’m sure we will have enough personnel to run the place. And because it’s going to be semi-private run, I’m certain a high standard wil be maintained.”

    Soyinka listed equipment provided by the church to include  electric and manual beds, ventilators, six multiparameter monitors, infusion pumps, special mattresses for ICU, suction machines, oxygen concentrators, AED machine to rescue a patient experiencing cardiac arrest, and other consumables. He added that the oxygen is piped so there will be no need to move the cylinder around.

    The event was also attended by Chairman of the Lagos State Health Service Commission Dr. Atinuke Onayiga, and Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ola Olukoyede, who is also a pastor in the RCCG. He led the project team.

    Comply with procurement law, NGO urges Ekiti officials

    From Rasaq Ibrahim, Ado-Ekiti

    Anon-governmental organisation, Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), has urged ministries, departments and agencies of the Ekiti State government to ensure strict compliance with provisions of the procurement law.

     The Senior Programme Advisor, Ife Olatunji-David, spoke in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, during a five-day sub-national public procurement bootcamp organised by the centre in partnership with MacArthur Foundation.

     At the event were stakeholders in the procurement process, including the officials of the Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement, heads of MDA’s, civil society organisations and media executives.

     Olatunji-David said procurement officers in the MDAs have a responsibility to ensure compliance with regulatory procurement frameworks towards ensuring delivery of quality project.

     She lamented that several civil servants are not fully conversant with laid down processes in the award and execution of public contracts, hence, the urgent need for MDAs to understand the procurement laws.

     The Senior Programme Advisor advocated transparency and accountability in the implementation of projects, saying such will enhance the trust and confidence of citizens in government.

     The group Senior Communication officer, Nnenna Eze said that the bootcamp was organised to sensitise the public on the procurement laws, transparency and accountability practices, monitoring and evaluation of public projects.

     She explained that the programme would give participants a better understanding and synergy in the procurement process and promote transparency and openness in public expenditure at the sub-national level.

     She called on citizens to take advantage of the Freedom of Information Act to get access information to public records and information especially on procurement and projects implementation.

     This, she, said will promote transparency and accountability, build public trust and improve public service because when governments realise that their activities are subject toscrutiny they become more circumspect.

    In her submission, a Director in the Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement, Mrs Bolanle Oladele stated that procurement processes have become more open and transparent  since the state  joined the Open Government Partnership.

     She noted that the state government has been running an open governance with the development of an institutionalised portal where all procurement processes were accessible to build public trust and confidence.

  • Ogun partners UK govt on public transportation

    Ogun partners UK govt on public transportation

    Ogun State Government and the United Kingdom government  have partnered to  develop public transportation  infrastructure in the state.

    Representing the Ogun is the Ministry of Transportation while the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (UKFCDO) and the United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF) are counterpart partners.

    They met at the Ministry of Transportation head office in Abeokuta, with representatives present virtually and physically.

    Ogun Commissioner for Transportation Gbenga Dairo, an engineer, said:  “Our state is under pressure from rapid urbanization, particularly in the South, where unplanned urban development is being experienced due to the spill-over of the Lagos Mega City. The greater part of our urban population is now concentrated in this region, leading to a decrease in service provision, and infrastructure, and a lack of efficient transportation systems for the sprawling and scattered population. These issues are particularly evident along the Lagos-Ibadan corridor, resulting in inefficient, low-quality strip development alongside main arterial routes, including the A5 Lagos – Abeokuta Expressway, E1 Lagos – Ibadan Expressway, and A1 Ikorodu – Sagamu Road. contributing to increased congestion along these routes, ever-increasing journey times, and environmental degradation. From the onset of the administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun, public transportation has received the necessary critical evaluation to seek sustainable solutions and with this partnership, we are set to correct the errors of the past”.

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    The partnership will see the FCDO and UKNIAF providing necessary advisory to the MoT especially in the conceptualization, design, and execution of environment-friendly, sustainable modern transportation infrastructure to meet the rapidly growing needs of the population. This will involve introducing Bus Mass Transit equipment, operations, and infrastructure along the identified routes and corridors. These discussions, ongoing since 2020 were partly responsible for Ogun State being the first state in Nigeria to acquire and deploy converted CNG mass transit buses that were launched on Monday 30th October by Governor Dapo Abiodun.

    The state government had adopted alternative energy means of public transport as a critical component of the transport strategy well before the crises created by the removal of petrol subsidy by the federal government in May this year.

    Lead consultant to UKFCDO/UKNIAF, Mr. Kayode Khalidson revealed that as part of the working agreement, four highly skilled, locally sourced consultants will be embedded in the MoT to work with the ministry’s technocrats in a collaboration that is expected to ensure the achievement of set goals and objectives.

    This collaboration will eventually also lead to the establishment of a full-fledged Transport Authority that will oversee the implementation of the government’s transportation imperatives for Ogun State.

  • Don to Fed Govt: regulate herbal medicine sellers

    Don to Fed Govt: regulate herbal medicine sellers

    A Professor of Medical Biochemistry in the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Joseph Olagunju, has urged the Federal Government to monitor and regulate the activities of herbal medicine sellers.

    He also said government should enforce laws on advertising of herbal medicine to protect citizens.

    Prof. Olagunju, who delivered the 92nd Inaugural Lecture of the institution titled ‘From Interferon to medicinal plants: The Adventure of a Biochemist’, warned the public on the adverse effects of herbal medicines despite having some curative properties.

    The don decried government’s inability to monitor activities of the sellers and advertisement of such products, lamented that the airwaves is full of misleading information about the efficacy of herbal remedies in treating all ailments without side effects.

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    Olagunju however said research has shown these natural products to contain high level of toxicity. “Hence, government needs to put necessary mechanisms in place to check their abuse,” he noted.

    The don also called for surveillance systems to monitor and evaluate adverse events arising from herbal therapies ‘which, for now, are either weak or non-existent’. 

    “There is the urgent need for government agencies charged with pharmacovigilance to effectively monitor safety of herbal products through research to identify the safest and most effective with tolerable side effects, and liaise with the appropriate agency of government to promote their rational usage,” he said.

  • ‘How CSOs contribute to West Africa development’

    ‘How CSOs contribute to West Africa development’

    The  West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), has launched a report which detailed the impact of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on the region’s economic, social, and political development.

    The report which was entitled:“Contribution of Civil Society Organisations to the economic, social, and political development of West Africa”, was launched last week with support from Ford Foundation.

    It ranked Nigeria top among other countries including Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Mali regarding the contributions of civil societies to the development of West Africa.

     Lecturer, University of Ghana and Lead Researcher of the study, Dr Solomon Amoah,  said it provided an avenue to explore how CSOs were contributing to economic  development in the region.

    According to him, indices of the study were developed in tandem  with the sustainable development goals.

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     He urged CSOs to be actively involved in national politics and support critical dialogues on policies.

    The report listed some of the challenges of civil societies as poor support from government and private sector, overdependence on donor funds, lack of technical expertise, low engagement,among others.

    The Executive Director of WACSI, Nana Afadzinu, described the report as an advocacy tool  to enable people know about the role of  CSOs in ensuring the growth and development of the region.

    On how  to improve CSOs, the report suggested adequate funding, capacity building, promoting participation in national and subnational dialogue, enabling civic spaces for proper operation,among others.

    Senior Programme Officer, Ford Foundation for West Africa, Mr. Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima, hailed civil societies for their important roles in society through their ideas which are catalyst for solving problems and ensuring development.

  • Lagos enhances land administration process

    Lagos enhances land administration process

    As part of the strategy to enhance seamless and integrated land administration processes, the Lagos State Government has introduced the ‘Aumentum’ Land Administration – Automation process.

     The Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Mr. Kamar Olowoshago, said this in a statement.

    Olowoshago explained that the Aumentum Solution as a digitized process, allows government to automate Land record management and facilitates the registration of property transactions in a more chronological, controlled and transparent manner.

    He pointed out that the digital invention simplifies the way the state government manages Land information and Property tax revenue.

    According to the Permanent Secretary, “the State Government has joined the league of global pacesetters  by  complying  with  a technology-

    driven Land administration process.”

     He affirmed that by deploying the Aumentum Land Administration solution as a reliable tool to customize and streamline its business workflow process,  the state is assured of higher productivity, enhanced revenue generation, security of documents, improved and smarter customer-service delivery.

    Stating that the Bureau has entrenched a culture of excellence with prompt technology-driven and efficient customer-centric service delivery, the Permanent Secretary acknowledged that ‘Land Administration in Lagos State has transversed over several decades and stages in its journey towards integrating technology that is all encompassing and sustainable.”

    He traced the trajectory from the implementation of the Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) in 2013 to the electronic Certificate of occupancy in 2014 and then to the integrated Land Administration- Automation process introduced in 2019. He noted that land administration in the state has evolved to provide unsurmountable standard in land management across the nation.

     He lauded the administration of Babajide Sanwo Olu for taking bold steps in this regard.

    “ Thanks to Mr. Governor, our processes  which were cumbersome and time consuming before the automation have now become more efficient and cost effective.

    “Formerly, directorates operated in silos  with operation of the open filling system which exposed documents to insecurity, forgery and other forms of  mismanagement,” he said. 

    Olowoshago further explained that  the transformation involves the  movement of files from the three main directorate repositories to the digitization project campus, preliminary sorting of files into government schemes and private properties, sorting of private property file into transaction files across 20 local government areas of the state, merging of ‘root title’ processing files with subsequent transaction as encumbered and unbinding of Titles and Deeds from registered volumes for chronological sorting.

    Other aspects of the process, he said, includes merging of titles with subsequent Deeds and pre-requisite merged files, encapsulated into property folders as authenticated by the Registrar of Titles, dispatch of authenticated property folders to Technical partners for Digitization and automation; and receipt of digitized, concluded property folders for archival in designated locations.

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    He added that to speed up the digitisation process, the Bureau engaged about a hundred ad-hoc Staff to discharge the enormous assignment of transforming manual documents which initially existed in disjointed silos into digital forms.

     “These team of highly talented and skilled youths have over time also assisted in actualizing the hybrid GO-LIVE to meet the dire need of our esteemed customers on stipulated timelines,” he said .

    Olowoshago  said that the herculean transformation of manual paper documentation and archival of records has over the period under review transited and metamorphosed into a digital workflow machine, encapsulating and streamlining Property documents for improved customer-service delivery experience and enhanced revenue generation.

    Appraising the relevance of adopting ‘Aumentum’ to Land Administration, the Permanent Secretary  further said that the new automation system which provides a powerful solution that can be  easily customized for any land- related business process has simultaneously transformed over 250 parcels of land in Lagos Metropolis with historical transactional records from paper forms through an herculean manual process to digital form, adding that the transaction turn-around time was shortened thereby reducing operational costs.

    Pointing  out some key features of the Automated business process, Olowoshago stated that the service which  can be accessed via: landonline.lagos.gov.ng is designed to provide a secure shopping cart experience with data analysis that will give customers opportunity to track application progress, make  comments and receive immediate feedbacks on complaints.

    “The introduction of the digital automated process has also encouraged collaboration and content- sharing within Government Agencies by the creation of a One-Stop-Shop enquiry to facilitate unhindered access and an end-to-end- Land Administration platform that is sustainable and productive thereby reducing the silos of information existing across Ministries, Departments and Agencies,” he said.

    While confirming that the technological leap is in compliance with Government’s Agenda of “Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy” the Permanent Secretary, emphasized that the new system will support the compartmentalisation of the Bureau business processes and reduce human interface.

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  • NOSL promotes STEM education

    NOSL promotes STEM education

    Female students have been urged to develop keen interest in science education if they want to compete favourably in the world of science, innovation and technology.

    The Deputy Director/Head of Strategy and Governance Department, Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Mrs. Gbemisola Kayode-Bolarinwa, stated this at a forum organised for female students of Queens College, Yaba, at the BonVoyage Hotel, Lagos, by the Natural Oilfield Services Limited at the weekend.

     Mrs Kayode-Bolarinwa speaking on the theme: The future is STEM, described Science subjects as the bedrock of the study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), said female students must take their place and compete with their male counterparts in the study of STEM.

     Mrs Kayode-Bolarinwa, commended the students for not only attending but exhibiting their robotic projects.

     She said: “With the advent of technology, STEM education offers a new mindset and skills valued in any job. A career in STEM promises a bright future, opens more academic avenues and long-term opportunities, and enhances sustainable knowledge for the girls.”

    She said STEM education offers a variety of exciting digital learning explorations that can help girl students put their skills into engagement with practical, and ready-to-use activities.

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     Chairperson, Nigeria Women in Information and Technology, Mrs Folake Etomi, said: “STEM education provides tremendous opportunities for profitable feat and prosperity. We need to empower girls in STEM. This initiative by NOSL for young girls will encourage and inspire them to pursue their interest in this domain and will help chase their dreams of becoming what they want to be in the future.”

     She commended NOSL for creting a forum to inspire girls to develop interest in STEM education. The company ensures that more female students venture into STEM fields, sparking breakthroughs in their professions and permeating every aspects to gain an edge in life.

     Among other dignitaries in attendance at the event included Mrs. Gbemisola Kayode-Bolarinwa, Deputy Director, Head of Strategy and Governance Department, Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Nigeria, Chairperson, Nigeria Women in Information and Technology, Mrs. Folake Etomi, Vice Chairperson, Nigeria Computer Society, Lagos Chapter and Programme Coordinator, Rise Up and Sparkle Initiative, Mrs. Funmilola Omojola, Vice Chairperson, Nigeria Women in Information and Technology, Executive Director, Nigeria Women in Information and Technology Mrs. Femi Abugo, –  Ms. Damilola Aremu and Secretary, Nigeria Women in Information and Technology Mrs. Edna Adeyemi.