The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has congratulated Speaker, House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila, Ibrahim Hadejia and Gerge Akume as Chief of Staff (COS), Deputy Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) respectively.
Its Executive Director, Prof Ishaq Akintola, said Gbajabiamila’s suitability for the post is indubitable considering his 20 years legislative experience.
Akintola urged the appointees to work conscientiously.
The National Industrial Court sitting in Kano state has ordered the state government to reinstate sacked Chairman of the state Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado with immediate effect.
The court presided over by Justice Ebeye David Eseimo ruled that the removal of Rimingado from office as the state anti-corruption boss was “illegal, null and void.”
Rimingado was appointed the state anti-corruption commission’s head by the Abdullahi Ganduje administration which later sacked him over corruption allegations and illegal appointments of some of his staff.
Seeking redress, the sacked chairman dragged Kano State Government, the House of Assembly and Attorney General of the State to court challenging the legitimacy of his removal from office.
The court presided over by Justice Ebeye David Eseimo granted his three prayers against the defendants.
The judge ruled that the second defendant has no right to recommend the dismissal of the plaintiff without first hearing from the claimant.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have uncovered a large warehouse of illicit substance known as skunk at Iwe Forest in Iwe Commujity, Owan West local government area of Edo State.
The agency said yesterday that 231 jumbo bags of the psychotropic substance weighing over three tons (3,003kgs) were found in the warehouse and set ablaze.
NDLEA’s Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement yesterday, adding that the operation involved hundreds of well-armed NDLEA operatives.
He said the operation was carried out in the early hours of Tuesday, May 30, following intelligence that a wanted drug kingpin had stored tons of the illicit substance in the forest ready for distribution to other parts of the country.
Babafemi said the agency’s operatives also recovered over 76.9kgs of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, from four used vehicles in a container marked MSDU6686346 shipped from Canada.
He said the illicit substance was intercepted at the Port Harcourt ports complex, Onne, Rivers State, between June 1 and 2.
Babafemi said the substance was discovered during joint inspection of the shipment with officials of the Nigeria Customs Service.
He said the request for 100 percent examination of the shipment followed earlier intelligence received by the agency on the container.
In Kano State, Babafemi said operatives arrested two suspects, Ma’aruf Rabiu and Abubakar Mustapha on May 30, along Zaria-Kano road, with 260 blocks of cannabis weighing 139.4kg, while Auwal Ibrahim was nabbed with 38kg of the same substance the following day May 31, along Kaduna-Abuja road
“Same day, 35-year-old female suspect, Bilkisu Isiya, was arrested at Birnin Yero, Kaduna in possession of 5.6kg cannabis.
“In Borno state, two suspects: Abubakar Usman (aka Alhaji Mai Kero) and Adamu Yusuf were arrested at Bargu village, Shani LGA, on Saturday 3rd June with 165 blocks of skunk weighing 140.7kg. Their arrest was effected deep inside a fluid insurgents’ environment with military support.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has unveiled a new four-year programme focused on addressing challenges in the education and health sectors in the country.
The focus of the new country programme also included supporting Nigerian healthcare systems for children and women, promoting access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and increasing school enrolment.
The ‘New Country Programme 2023-2027 and the States of Implementation of the Child Rights Law (2003) in States’ were unveiled by Communication Specialist for UNICEF Nigeria, Geoffrey Njoku, at a two-day media dialogue held in Kano.
The workshop also looked at strengthening the implementation of the Children’s Act which is presently operating in thirty-four states in the country.
Njoku said the UN agency’s new programme was aimed at working further to guarantee the rights of every child in Nigeria to survive, thrive, learn, and be protected and develop their full potentials.
Njoku noted that the programme targeted children’s freedom from poverty and ensured they lived in a safe and sustainable climate and environment.
For example, in the education sector, UNICEF is hoping to attract 10 million more children to access formal or non-formal education, 4.8 million children access learning materials and 21 states scale up foundational literacy and numeracy.
The target included making 22 states use integrated data systems for education planning and 12 states with improved adequacy, efficiency and equity in education finance.
In the health sector, UNICEF’s objectives within the four years included health system strengthening, improved health leadership and governance, and affordability/universal health coverage.
The organisation said the new programme intended to increase vaccination coverage and reduce inequalities, boost vaccine logistics management, eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus, and sustain Nigeria’s polio-free status.
Governor of Kano State Abba Yusuf has warned criminals to stay away from the state, warning that his administration will not tolerate any activity that will breach the existing peace in the state.
Yusuf issued the warning while addressing 20 suspected criminals arrested for committing various crimes by the Kano Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) at its headquarters on Sunday.
He said: “My administration will not tolerate any act capable of disturbing the peaceful atmosphere in the state. May I also use this opportunity to warn criminals, especially phone snatchers and armed robbers, to stay off the state.
“We are ready to provide a peaceful atmosphere for our people to go about their legitimate businesses without threat to lives and properties.
“We are going to give all the necessary support to all security agencies to enable them to discharge their primary assignment diligently.”
The governor also warned the residents, especially youths, to desist from any form of political violence and thuggery.
Yusuf said that the state government has taken concrete security measures to enhance the peaceful atmosphere in the state.
He said that already the state government has set up mobile courts to ensure prompt prosecution of phone snatchers and other criminal elements in the state.
He lauded the efforts of the NSCDC for introducing various security measures that paved the way for the arrest of the 20 criminals within a very short period.
“We are going to support you to do more in arresting men of the underworld to enable residents to move on with their day-to-day activities without threat to lives and properties,” he said.
The NSCDC Corps Commandant, Mr Lawal Falala, had informed the governor earlier that 20 suspects were arrested for committing various crimes in the state in the last five days.
He said that eight suspects were arrested for various crimes ranging from vandalising armoured cables, phone snatching and theft of motorcycles.
He explained that 12 suspects were arrested in Sabon Gari, Fagge Local Government Area, for vandalising an armoured cable 7mms and phone snatching at Dorayi and Charanchi in Gwale Local Government Area.
He said the command had already taken proactive security measures to deal with any form of security threat in the state.
Falala assured that the command would continue to utilise the avenues of intelligence-led and community-based approach in enhancing the peaceful atmosphere.
Leaders of the Northcentral region have urged Senator Sani Musa, outgoing House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Ahmed Idris Wase, and the lawmaker representing Pankshin/Kanam/Kanke Federal Constituency of Plateau State, Yusuf Gagdi, to jettison their ambitions of heading the two chambers of the National Assembly.
Why Musa is campaigning for the position of Senate President, both Wase and Gagdi are lobbying for the position of the House Speaker.
The three lawmakers are from the region.
But following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s appointment of former Benue State governor and outgoing Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the leaders of the region asked the three lawmakers to withdraw from the race.
The appointment came few weeks after the Northcentral protested against the zoning of the Deputy Senate President and the Speaker’s positions to the Northwest.
One of the groups that protested the zoning arrangement was the North Central Progressive for Development (NCPFD).
But in a statement at the weekend, NCPFD’s Chairman Ibrahim Tajo said the reservation of the region had been addressed by President Tinubu with Akume’s appointment.
“To the glory of God, our zone now has two key figures in the government. Aside from the SGF, another prominent leader of our zone in the person of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State, has been the National Chairman of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the last 15 months.
“While Senator Adamu controls the affairs of our party through the instrumentality of the National Working Committee (NWC), our brand-new SGF is the engine room of Tinubu‘s administration. Thus, President Tinubu has wiped away our tears in the Northcentral…
“To whom much is given, much is expected. With this, we need to double our support to the President to enable him to deliver his pact with Nigerians as captured in the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“Since 1999, when the country returned to civil rule, six persons have been appointed as the SGF, none of them came from the Northcentral while the Northeast has produced four occupants of the office, namely: Babagana Kingibe, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, Babachir David Lawal, and the immediate past occupant of the office, Boss Mustapha.
“The Southeast and the Southsouth had produced one occupant of the office in the persons of Anyim Pius Anyim and Ufot Ekaette, respectively. This is the first time that the position has been given to us.
“For our three brothers who are in the race for the National Assembly leadership, it is time for them to withdraw from the race, in line with the decision of the President and our party. Don’t rock the boat. We have been rewarded,” the statement said.
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to declare a state of emergency in the Health sector.
In a communiqué issued at the weekend by its President Emeka Orji after a seven-day conference, NARD urged the Federal Government to urgently address the brain drain plaguing the Health sector.
The association also asked the Federal Government to provide palliatives to cushion the effect of petrol subsidy removal.
The doctors said the funds from the subsidy “should be put into meaningful investments” to better the lives of all Nigerians.
Also, Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat said medical colleges in Nigeria must develop the capacity to train more doctors to bridge the brain drain gap in the sector.
Hamzat spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos while reacting to the issue of the brain drain among medical experts in the country.
He said since many medical practitioners had decided to leave Nigeria for other developed countries, it had become necessary for the country to increase its capacity to produce more doctors to serve the nation.
The deputy governor said human migration was inevitable, adding that people moved around the world all the time.
“Human migration is normal. People would leave, and people would come. But as a country, we can train more doctors.
“I am not against the brain drain of medical doctors. But what we need is to create a pipeline to train more doctors instead of complaining that medical personnel are leaving the country.
“If we train 5,000 doctors yearly, let us increase the numbers to 15,000. By doing so, the country benefits,” he said.
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the health sector to address the menacing brain drain.
It noted that while most doctors are competent and patriotic, the poor working environment, welfare, insecurity, among others, pushed many to seek greener pastures abroad.
The union insisted on at least a 200 per cent increment in the basic salary of its members, with the additional allowances, as contained in the letter it sent to the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health on July 7, 2022.
The NARD expressed shock over the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products, following the removal of subsidy, saying this would propel an increased inflation rate and cost of living.
The union urged the government to put measures in place to cushion the effect of subsidy removal on poor Nigerians.
The doctors expressed their concern in a statement they issued after their union’s ordinary general meeting in Lagos.
The statement by NARD President, Dr. Emeka Orji, reads: “We call on the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to, as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency in the Nigerian health sector as the era of paying lip service to the monster called ‘brain drain’ should be over.
“We urge the government to set up a high-powered panel to review and harmonise the reports from the former President Obasanjo Health Agenda for Nigeria Committee and the former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo-led Health Sector Reform Committee in order to generate a plan of action in the Health sector for the President Tinubu-led administration.
“We insist on the demand for at least 200 per cent increment in the CONMESS salary structure and the associated allowances, as contained in our letter to the government, dated July 7, 2022. We have resolved to give the new government some time to quickly resolve this issue which is at the root of the current spate of massive brain drain in the sector.”
NARD added: “We call on Governors Adedapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Alex Otti of Abia State, Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara State and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to urgently look into the situation in the Health sector in their states since these are capable of breaking down the industrial peace in their states.
“We call on the management of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and the Lagos State Governor to discontinue the demand for bench fees as this contravenes the decision of the National Council on Establishment to abolish the fees.
“We call on the West African Colleges of Surgeons and Physicians to immediately discontinue the practice of charging our members using parallel market exchange rates.
“We call on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to stop the downgrading of the membership certificate as this is not the practice in sister African countries that share the same certificate.”
Nigeria has moved up among the countries with blocked funds belonging to foreign countries operating flights into and out of its territory, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said at the weekend.
With foreign carriers unable to repatriate over $812.2 million out of the country as proceeds of ticket sales, Nigeria is ahead of Bangladesh with $214.1 million, Algeria with $196.3 million, Pakistan with $188.2 million, and Lebanon with $141.2 million.
IATA’s Director General and Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh, who announced this at the annual general meeting (AGM and World Transport Summit of the world’s airline body in Istanbul, Turkey, warned that rapidly rising levels of blocked funds constitute a threat to airlines’ connectivity in the affected markets.
The industry’s blocked funds, Walsh said, increased by 47 per cent to $2.27 billion in April 2023, up from $1.55 billion in April 2022.
As it stands, the IATA boss said the top five countries that account for 68.0 per cent of blocked funds include Nigeria with the highest trapped funds of $812.2 million; Bangladesh with $214.1 million; Algeria with $196.3 million; Pakistan with $188.2 million; and Lebanon having $141.2 million.
He said: “Airlines cannot continue to offer services in markets where they are unable to repatriate the revenues arising from their commercial activities in those markets.
“Governments need to work with industry to resolve this situation so airlines can continue to provide the connectivity that is vital to driving economic activity and job creation.”
Walsh urged governments to abide by international agreements and treaty obligations to enable airlines to repatriate the funds arising from the sale of tickets, cargo space, and other activities.
The Chairman of the Senate Services Committee and Leader of the Northcentral Senate Caucus, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, yesterday congratulated outgoing House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, immediate past Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George former Akume, and Senator Ibrahim Hadejia on their appointments as the Chief of Staff to the President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), and Deputy Chief of Staff to the President.
In a statement by his Media Assistant, Leader of the Senate caucus, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, expressed optimism that Gbajabiamila will leverage his wealth of experience as a six-term elected legislator and Speaker of the House of Representatives to make a significant impact in his new role.
The caucus described Akume’s appointment as a testament to his loyalty to the party, unwavering commitment to serving Nigerians, and ability to drive positive change in the new government.
It wished the appointees a successful and impactful tenure in their new positions.
Besides, the Northcentral Senate Caucus hailed President Tinubu for his visionary leadership in appointing these exceptional individuals and entrusting them with these critical responsibilities.
Musa expressed optimism that under Tinubu’s leadership, Nigeria will continue to grow and prosper with Renewed Hope.
Also, House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Ahmed Idris Wase has said the appointments of Gbajabiamila and Akume are well deserved.
President Tinubu announced the appointments of both men at the weekend.
In a statement yesterday, Wase congratulated the new appointees, saying the appointments were timely and appropriate.
The deputy speaker, who is among the front runners for the position of the House Speaker, said the duo have contributed significantly to President Tinubu’s election victory.
He enjoined them to build on the policies that have defined them as good administrators while sustaining the programmes and developmental agenda of the President.
Wase hailed the President for the appointments and expressed his redness to continue to work with them to turn around the fortunes of our Nigeria.
Also, the senator representing Lagos East, Adetokunbo Abiru, has congratulated Gbajabiamila on his appointment as the Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The senator sent his felicitations to the outgoing Speaker in a congratulatory message yesterday on behalf of himself, his wife, Feyisola, and the people of his senatorial district.
“Your wealth of experience as a seasoned legal practitioner with global exposure, as well as your sterling accomplishments as an erudite legislator, have undoubtedly contributed to this great feat,” Abiru wrote in the message to Gbajabiamila.
Also, a top contender for the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives and Chairman House Committee on Appropriation, Muktar Betara Aliyu, described Gbajabiamila as a true democrat.
Betara, who represents Biu/Bayo/Shani/Kwaya Kusar Federal Constituency of Borno State, said: “Mmy earnest desire is to work with the Chief of Staff, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, to bring about the desired Renewed Hope Nigerians clamour for.
“I am indeed glad that my President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, as a democrat, will also work with the Legislature to provide dividends of democracy to the populace.
“For me, the choice of Gbajabiamila will work in harmony with the Legislature and the country at large, irrespective of tribe and religion to bring about the dividends of democracy the people yearn for.”