The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Anambra vows to arrest parents, guardians of child hawkers, beggars

    Anambra vows to arrest parents, guardians of child hawkers, beggars

    Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s government has vowed to arrest and prosecute parents and guardians of child hawkers and beggars.

    According to the government, this trend is unacceptable to us and we will stop at nothing in arresting the situation.

    The Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Mrs Ify Obinabo, gave the hint Saturday during the celebration of the International Day of Families.

    She said the measure would ensure the survival, development and protection of all the children in the state, as well as serve as deterrent to parents and guardians.

    According to Obinabo, “The rate of children hawking and begging on our streets, the rate of child sexual abuse, trafficking and maltreatment in the state, has become alarming.

    “The use of children for domestic labour, negligence and maltreatment on the part of parents and guardians, contradicts the tenets of the Child Rights law.

    “The ministry is ready to arrest and prosecute anyone – parents or guardians, who abuse the fundamental rights of children in the state

    “From next week, if we see any child hawking or begging on the street, that child will identify whoever engaged him or her and we will arrest the person.

    “Education and proper upbringing of our children is the only way to eradicate poverty and crime in our society.

    “These children need care, love, support and sense of belonging, not abuse or domestic labour,” the Commissioner said.

  • Ikpeazu charges children to shun cultism, other vices

    Ikpeazu charges children to shun cultism, other vices

    The Governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu has charged Abia children to shun cultism and other negative vices including use of drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as all forms of criminality.

    Ikpeazu in his message to mark the 2023 Children’s Day celebration described Abia Children as resilient, strong, brilliant and innovative.

    He assured them that their future remains bright and urged them to continue to toe the path of hardwork and honesty.

    Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, who is rounding up his 8 years as governor of the state expressed confident that successive administrations in the state would continue to prioritise the welfare of our children and young people through education and strong moral values.

    He also used the opportunity to thank Abia children for making the state proud during his time as governor through their sterling performances in external examinations like WAEC where Abia topped the national chart for several years under his watch.

    “As I take my exit as your governor in the next 2 days, all my Children in Abia should rest assured that I will continually keep them in my prayers for God to keep them and direct their paths as they grow into responsible adults that will bring pride and honor to themselves, their families, our state, Abia and our country, Nigeria,” the governor concludes.

  • Ignore petitions against Ayade group begs anti-graft agencies

    Ignore petitions against Ayade group begs anti-graft agencies

    A civil society organisation known as the Centre for Effective Leadership Development and Conciliation, CELDCON has urged anti-graft agencies to concentrate more on verifiable and meaningful petition rather than kill time on frivolous allegations that lack merit.

    This appeal came on the heels of correcting a misinformation and allegations leveled against the outgoing governor of Cross River State, Senator Ben Ayade by a group called Network Against Corruption and Human Trafficking over embezzlement of Five Hundred Billion Naira (500,000,000,000) as Cross River State governor.

    Shading more light to counter the allegation, the chairman of the group, Comrade Iso Edim Bassey explained

    “As published by Federal Allocation Committee, FAC, Cross River State’s monthly allocation is in the region of Two Billion (N2,000,000,000) and Two Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira (N2,500,000,000,) only and has been so for the past Eight years of Governor Ben Ayade’s existence in office.”

    “One billion, Six Hundred Million Naira (N1.6billion) is deducted at source immediately payment is made by the Federal Allocation Committee every month; which leaves the State with less than a Billion Naira to cope with.

    Where did “Network Against Corruption and Human Trafficking ” get their calculation or Allegation from? Mind you, salaries of civil and public servants are paid effectively.

    “Let’s assume that the said deduction for debts never took place, it therefore means that the State would have had/received the total of One Hundred and Ninety-two Billion Naira (192,000,000,000) for Eight years at Two Billion Naira (N2,000,000,000) only, monthly Federal Allocation or Two Hundred and Forty Billion Naira (N240,000,000,000) at Two Billion, Five Hundred Naira Million Naira (2,500,000,000) monthly Federal Allocation,” he analysed.

  • Nwogu to Tinubu: Avoid over populated cabinet

    Nwogu to Tinubu: Avoid over populated cabinet

    The former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, has called on the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu to consider more technocrats for appointment in his cabinet members, and give priority to young people. He urged Tinubu give all his appointees a timeline for best performance. The former minister also advised the President-Elect to appoint the best hands to man ministries of Finance, Budget and Planning, Labour, as well as the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    Chief Wogu, who spoke with journalists in Abuja at the weekend, said Tinubu should appoint only his trusted allies among the ex-governors, rather than over-populate his cabinet with them. “He should go out and look for a mixture of experienced people, technocrats and very young people; and give them a timeline. That is my personal observation,” Nwogu said. Most importantly, he hinted that the incoming president must have a robust economic team, and focus on total reform of the oil subsidy regime, if he intends to turn around the ailing economy within a short time

    “In addition, he must have a robust economic team, he must hire the best hands for the Ministry of Finance, Budget and planning, Governor of the Central Bank and of course, the Ministry of Labour and Productivity. It is quite central and strategic to the national economy because a strike that is prolonged can bring down the economy.

    “In other countries, the Labour Minister is a key minister. After the Ministry of budget and planning, the next is Labour, because Labour is central to the economy of every nation. The workers are the people who get this revenue for the government. That should be his focus and total reform of the oil subsidy regime. It might be painful to both the Nigerian workers and all that; but if we are going to remove the subsidy on petrol, we should return the subsidy on diesel and kerosene and have a robust bus transportation system,” Wogu said.

    To quickly revive the economy and avoid incessant strikes, the former minister pointed out that Tinubu should build more refineries and encourage private owned ones like that of Aliko Dangote to be productive, adding that it was a shame that Nigeria is still importing fuel after almost 100 years of crude oil exploration in the country. Wogu pointed out that Nigeria has had a very corrupt subsidy regime in the oil sector, adding that the new government should address this knotty issue, and concentrate on gas, while diversifying our sources of revenue.

    “We have a better prospect outside oil. The new frontier is gas, and Nigeria has a lot of gas. Then other minerals like gold, and so many others are found in almost all the 36 states of the federation including FCT. So, what I will advise the incoming government to do is to diversify our sources of revenue,” he said.

    He expressed belief that the Tinubu presidency would perform well and surprise Nigeria if he surrounded himself with good hands. “I believe he will do very well, because he has a challenge. People will want to see if he can repeat the miracle of Lagos where he hired people who are even intellectually superior to him to run the system and he succeeded. That has always been his system when he was in Mobil Oil as a Treasurer and as an Accountant. So, I have much belief that he would do well despite the litigation,” he added.

  • Nothing must truncate May 29 handing-over, group tasks security agencies

    Nothing must truncate May 29 handing-over, group tasks security agencies

    Convener/National Coordinator of a socio-political organisation, Social Rehabilitation Gruppe (SRG), Dr. Marindoti Oludare, has tasked all security organs of government to work assiduously towards ensuring a hitch-free handing over of government to the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, come May 29.

    Oludare who gave the charge in a statement on Sunday, said the alarm raised by the Department of State Service (DSS) that some groups were plotting to instigate violence ahead of the May 29 handing-over should not be taken lightly.

    He traced the plot to truncate the Democratic process to losers in the presidential election, urging that they should be reined in.

    “It is with great concern that I have watched the post-election agitations and instigations in my dear country. I find most disturbing the decision of the losers of the election to resort to making reckless highly incendiary comments about the results of the last election in an attempt to truncate a peaceful transfer of power. I guess to them it is a case of “Kàkà ké-kuú ma jẹ sèsé, á fi sàwàdànù” (if the rat does not eat the pigeon pea, he will throw it away).

    “Maybe because they never participated in the fight for democracy, they are willing to let it die. Note worthy of them all was the odious claims being made by the Vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party on his channels TV interview.

    “These folks are so desperate that they do not mind impugning the judiciary in order to confuse their already confused followers. They know the end of this game, they know they have no case, this is an attempt to lift a page out of Donald Trump’s playbook by continuing an electoral fight for his own financial gains.

    I believe the losers should bear the loss and not further exploit their unassuming followers by formenting election denialism and propagating “the big lie” for his own financial gains; as this is callous, dastardly and unpatriotic, ” Oludare commented.

    He also described as an exercise in futility and spurious, allegations that a US court once indicted  Tinubu for a drug offence.

    “To dissect their phony allegations, their first prayer attempted to beat up a 30 years dead horse, it was a dud then and it is a dud now.”

  • Emir of Kano commissions 140-bed hospital in Cross River

    Emir of Kano commissions 140-bed hospital in Cross River

    The inauguration of legacy projects of Cross River state’s outgoing Governor, Professor Ben Ayade continued Saturday with the commissioning of the state of art 140- bed Obudu-German Specialist Hospital, by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero.

    The first class monarch said it was a self-fulfilling experience and honour for him to have traveled to Cross River to commission the hospital.

    “It is a great honour for me and the entire people of Kano Emirate to be here in Cross River to Commission, not just this hospital but other projects of His Excellency.

    “Cross River is blessed to have Ayade as a son. His achievements are not talk shows, they are real. This hospital is one of his signature projects. I have been around the world and there is no difference between this hospital and the standard hospitals in Saudi Arabia and Europe. So I appeal to the management of this hospital to maintain the standard”, Ado Bayero stated.

    The hospital, according to Governor Ayade, was established by his administration in partnership with the Coscharis Group.

    The outgoing governor disclosed that the hospital was conceived to make Cross River the number destination for medical tourism in Nigeria.

    “Here, you have a situation where you have the best equipment, best facility and best personnel. With the ambience of Obudu Cattle Ranch and the serenity of the atmosphere, I can tell you that medical tourism will thrive here at Obudu-German hospital,” the governor said.

    Also speaking at the occasion, the Chairman of Coscharis Group, Dr Cosmas Maduka described the medical facility as second to none in Nigeria.

    He further stated that the Obudu-German hospital was comparable with any German hospital in the world.He eulogised Ayade as a visionary for conceiving the idea of the hospital in 2020 and bringing it to reality three years later.

    Maduka challenged skeptics to “please visit this hospital and see things for yourselves.”

    In her address, Cross River state Commissioner for Health, Dr Janet Ekpenyong said the hospital was a crystallisation of Governor Ayade’s desire for quality healthcare.

    describing him as a pro- health governor who has achieved unprecedented milestones in the sector.

    Speaking earlier, the acting medical director of the hospital, Dr Seun Fasuranti listed the modern medical equipment at the hospital as a 1.5 Tesla MRI, 128 Slice CT scan, 3D Mammogram, ENT treatment units, Mobile Xray, Dental Xray, digital X-ray, latest 3D/4D ultrasound machine, colour Doppler scan, echo, dialysers, robotic pharmacy, and pressure swing absorption oxygen plant among others.

    According to him, Obudu-German hospital also has three sophisticated modular theatres and other mini theatres.

    The hospital, Dr Fasuranti said, will run electronically with world-class electronic medical records.

  • Bagudu commissions 500 housing units, assures of bridging housing deficit

    Bagudu commissions 500 housing units, assures of bridging housing deficit

    • Khadijat Saidu, Birnin Kebbi

    Barely three days to exiting office, Kebbi State Governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, has commissioned 500 housing units in Birnin Kebbi, as part of efforts to bridge the housing deficit in the state.

    The housing units were built by his administration with the active collaboration of a private firm, Family Homes Funds Ltd, under a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

    Bagudu said at the epochal event to mark the twilight of his administration that the State Government had fully provided all the needed infrastructure at the estate.

    According to him, more than 1000 plots had since been allocated to different beneficiaries and assured that the incoming administration of the Governor-elect, Dr Nasiru Idris, Kauran Gwandu, would sustain the laudable project.

    “Government is a continuous process, government is work in progress.

    “We are still building on the foundation laid by the former governor of the state, Alhaji Sa’idu Nasamu Dakingari.

    “We are also being complemented by the various efforts of the Federal Government, as it is also building a housing estate.

    “Therefore, more will be done under the leadership of Kauran Gwandu and provide more houses for the citizens of the State,” the Kebbi State Governor said.

    He said the housing units would be distributed to the intended beneficiaries and commended all the stakeholders for working diligently towards the realisation of the project, adding that it would add to the aesthetics of the state capital.

    The State Commissioner for Lands, Alhaji Mamuda Warah, said 70 per cent of the houses of 350 would be sold to the civil servants on owner-occupier basis, with a payment period of fifteen years.

    In the same vein, 30 per cent or 150 houses would be sold to the members of the public on outright purchase, with an initial payment of 50 per cent, while the balance would be paid in two years.

    Warah said that each of the three bedroom houses costs N7 million, while each of the two bedroom houses costs N6 million.

    He said a N3.5 billion loan was secured for the project, while infrastructure like roads, water, electricity, recreational facilities, school, clinic and police post, among others, had been provided.

    Similarly, he said the process for the construction of additional 400 housing units had reached an advanced stage with the same form and under a PPP.

  • Armed Forces, Staff College end study tour of Cameroon

    Armed Forces, Staff College end study tour of Cameroon

    The Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji, Nigeria, between 13th and 20th of May 2023, visited the Republic of Cameroon for Africa Study Tour.

    The study tour is an important aspect of the College’s curriculum for the Senior Course, as it affords the students opportunity to conduct on-the-spot assessment of Cameroon in line with the theme of the study.

    The theme of Africa Study Tour 2023 was “Border Control and National Security in Africa”. The tour afforded the students opportunity to identify the strengths of Cameroon, as it relates to the theme with a view to drawing lessons for Nigeria. The team made up of 49 members comprising a director, chief instructors, directing and support staff as well as 37 students arrived at Nsimalen International Airport Yaoundé on 13 May 2023.

    The tour commenced on Monday 15 May 2023 with a courtesy call on the High Commissioner of Nigeria to Cameroon, His Excellency, Ambassador Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin CFR at the Nigeria High Commission Yaounde. His Excellency expressed delight and thanked the College for considering the Republic of Cameroon for this year’s study tour.

    The study tour focused on visits to relevant institutions in the Republic of Cameroon that helped address the theme and scope of study. Notably the institutions visited included the Office of the Cameroon Chief of Defence Staff, International War College Yaounde, Command and Staff College as well as the International School for Security Forces amongst others. The team was adequately briefed and interacted sufficiently during these visits.

  • I’m leaving more assets than liabilities for Benue – Ortom

    I’m leaving more assets than liabilities for Benue – Ortom

    • Signs additional two bills into law
    • Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

    The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, says he is leaving more assets than liabilities for the incoming administration.

    Governor Ortom stated this Friday, May 26th, 2023 in his address at the valedictory State Executive Council meeting at the Benue People’s House, Makurdi.

    Addressing members of the State Executive Council at the Council Chambers, Governor Ortom explained that the assets his administration was leaving behind outweigh liabilities.

    Governor Ortom maintained that although his administration was leaving behind arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities, he had prepared good grounds for the incoming administration to offset the arrears.

    Read Also : Ortom: Tinubu will do better

    According to him, “We are not leaving only debts but also credit that will accrue to the state”, stressing that Benue State will also benefit from the Stamp Duties refund, following negotiations by the Nigeria Governors Forum with the Federal Government on behalf of the 36 states to be inherited by the incoming administration.

    Ortom said he and members of the cabinet were exiting office but they would have the opportunity to work together in future endeavours.

    He charged the outgoing Executive Council members not to be discouraged by whatever difficulties they might have encountered in the course of service, adding that they should remain as one indivisible family.

    Meanwhile, Governor Ortom had on Thursday, May 25th, 2023 assented into law, two additional bills passed by the State House of Assembly.

    The two bills signed into law by the governor are: “A Law to Establish Benue State Widows Commission and to Prohibit Harmful Cultural Practices Against Widows, Protect them from Exploitative Acts, Punish Offenders and for Related Purposes.”

    The second bill assented to is: “A Law to Make Provision for the Maintenance of Former Governors of the State and their Deputies and for other Matters Connected thereto.”

    Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Titus Uba, who was represented by his deputy, Rt. Hon. Christopher Adaji, expressed optimism that laws passed by the 9th State Assembly will ease governance and enhance development in the state.

  • Foundation trains journalists on budget tracking

    Foundation trains journalists on budget tracking

    Forty journalists have been trained by the Daily Trust Foundation on Budget Tracking and Investigating Public Expenditure to increase transparency and accountability in governance.

    The training, which was sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, held in Ilorin, Kwara State, and had journalists from Niger, Benue, Plateau, Kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Abuja participating.

    A member of the Daily Trust Foundation Board of Trustees, Chief Isiaq Ajibola, tasked journalists to also beam searchlights on state budgets and not concentrate only on the national budget.

    He emphasised the need for journalists to ask questions about the budget, get the government to explain how the budget is spent and how it would be of benefit to the people.

    “In Nigeria, much attention is usually not paid to the state budget. Most governors escape with a lot regarding transparency in the implementation of the budget. It is also sad that in some states, some state budgets are not open to the public.”

    Read Also : Agency trains 60 LASU officials

    Ajibola expressed optimism that the training would help the journalists identify various aspects and processes of the budget and public expenditure.

    The Director of Daily Trust Foundation, Dr Theophilus Abbah, said the Foundation intends to train journalists in all regions on Budget Tracking and Investigating Public Expenditure, adding that it is pertinent for journalists to know the revenue and expenditure of governments and how to track them.

    The journalists were taken through the processes involved in preparing state budgets, the challenges and factors involved in budget implementation, the principles of budget tracking, and how journalists can access state budgets and auditor general’s annual reports.

    Other topics taught include Data Analysis and Interpretation, Understanding Nigeria’s Procurement Law, Requirements for Budget Implementation, and How to Investigate Budget and Public Expenditure.