The Nation Newspaper

Category: Abuja Review

  • RCCG donates classrooms to community school

    As part of its corporate social responsibility, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Province 8 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has donated a block of classrooms,  a staff office, desks and benches to natives of Gnami community along Bwari-Kaduna expressway.

    The rural community which has no functional school buildings was agog with excitement when pastorate of the church, led by the Pastor in the charge of the province, Pastor Olusegun Olujimi alongside members of the church visited the community to commission the amenities for immediate use.

    The occasion drew a mammoth crowd to the reserved village which has little or no federal presence in terms of infrastructure.

    In his speech, Pastor Olusegun Olujimi said that the gesture was all about fulfilling the scripture to do good and to add value to the lives of the people, adding that the donation was also in line with the mandate given to the church by its General Oversea, Pastor Enoch Adeboye to commence corporate responsibility activities in various communities.

    Pastor Olujimi said the aim is to alleviate the sufferings brought upon the masses by absence of basic infrastructure,saying that the church has a responsibility to build society and make it habitable for all.

    He noted that the gesture was equally part of activities to mark the second year anniversary of the province, thereby explained that the donation was done after due diligence had been carried out by a committee headed by retired Major General Chris Olukolade on expediency of the project.

    The clergyman noted that the Gnami community was chosen because of the urgent need for a school to facilitate learning by children of school age in the area.  The cleric stressed that much of the problem of insurgency are as a result of lack of education,saying that sound education is paramount for stability of the country.

    Village Head of Gnuma community, Alhaji Ibrahim Yeri and the Head Master of the LEA Primary School, Gnami, Yakubu Adamu, expressed gratitude to the church for the gesture, saying it is the first time the community would receive such a gift from a church.

  • Community clears refuse, bemoans lack of infrastructure

    In line with the seven-day ultimatum given by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mr. John Chukwu to all area councils chairmen to evacuate refuse in their domains, Kuje is wearing a new look after the exercise.

    Some residents of the council who spoke with journalists during the evacuation exercise,  praised the council’s environmental department for its continuous efforts in sanitising the area despite the challenges of infrastructures faced by the people.

    One of the residents,  Mr. Godwin Jacob, also commended the Permanent Secretary for the clean-up directive,  saying that despite the previous effort from the environmental department to clean up the area,  there were some areas that lacked proper cleaning. But that has been taken care of by the department during the clean-up exercise.

    Jacob,  who said that environmental sanitation has become a tradition in the area,  because of the effort been put in by the present head of department to ensure a clean and healthy environment, lamented that almost all the major feeder roads in the council have gone bad,  without the effort of the present administration to rehabilitate them.

    “However,  apart from the area of proper environmental sanitation,  we have not seen any adequate infrastructures on ground,  especially  good roads. The truth is that we have not felt the impact of this administration since it took over from the last administration, and we wonder what he is doing with the allocation that he is getting from the federal government, “ he said.

    The Head of Environmental department in the council,  Mr. Abdulrazak Abdulkarim who spoke with journalists attributed the problem of irregular sanitation exercise  by the council to funding,  saying that the leadership of the council is always committed to ensuring a clean and healthy environment for the people of Kuje to live in.

    Abdulkarim further called on the people of Kuje to imbibe the habit of proper waste disposal,  in order for it to be easy for evacuation when the environmental department wants to evacuate them to their permanent dump sites,  saying that when wastes are dumped indiscriminately,  they end up making the environment look unkempt and unhealthy.

    He further cautioned scavengers against spreading refuse on the roads when they are properly disposed,  explaining that most times when waste are properly disposed at designated dump sites,  scavengers are the ones that spread the refuse to the roads and make them constitute nuisance to residents.

  • Herdsmen told not to graze cattle in Abuja

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration has warned herdsmen grazing cattle in and around Abuja to desist forthwith or be prosecuted.

    FCT Permanent Secretary, John Chukwu gave the warning, explaining that improper grazing of cattle in the city centre and environs constitutes public nuisance and is hazardous to road users.

    He said that this practice has adverse effects on the environment and must not be allowed to continue, stressing that Abuja is the capital of Nigeria and the window in which the world sees the country.

    According to a statement issued by Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Sule, Chukwu said that all hands must be on deck to ensure the adequate maintenance of the Abuja environment in accordance with the change mantra of the Federal Government.

    The Permanent Secretary directed the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) to ensure full compliance; noting that Abuja city is not meant for cattle grazing because there are designated areas for such activities in the Abuja Master Plan.

    Meanwhile, the FCT Administration has frowned at the practice by some residents of the Federal Capital Territory hawking animals particularly rams on major streets of Gwarinpa II District, Abuja.

    Chukwu warned that the practice is also unacceptable because there are designated markets and areas for such activities.

    He instructed the AEPB to also ensure the immediate stoppage of such unwholesome practices by arresting and prosecuting defaulters in line with the Law.

  • A case for IDPs

    A case for IDPs

    Traumatised, homeless and sometimes malnourished, people displaced by the insurgency need urgent help, reports OLUGBENGA ADANIKIN

    A doctor, who attended to Adiza Umar, an infant at the Durumi camp of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said she would have died had she not had prompt medical attention.

    •Adiza and her mother.
    •Adiza and her mother.

    Little Adiza was diagnosed with malnutrition, a condition many IDPs face at their camps in various parts of the country.

    That is not the only concern. All of the displaced people nurse psychological wounds, having been forced from their homes and communities by Boko Haram fighters. Many watched their relatives, friends and neighbours hacked down by the invaders, and count themselves lucky to escape.

    But the escape has given them little comfort. They live in horrible conditions, lacking food, sleeping places and medication.

    That was why a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) which visited Durumi camp in Dagba, FCT, has called for health care centres to be built at the camps.

    The NGO alongside some philanthropists made the case for prompt intervention to meet medical needs of the homeless victims.

    Executive Director, TZY Foundation, Mr. Dayo Akindolani who spoke on their behalf during a visit to Dagba, Durumi IDP camp in Abuja said the NGO made it a point of duty to quickly intervene in the deteriorating health condition of an infant, Umar Adiza ýat the camp.

    Akindolani ýdisclosed that the case of Adiza was only one from many in several other IDP camps in the country, urging the government to rise to this responsibility.

    The baby was subsequently diagnosed for malnutrition at the Federal Staff Hospital, Abuja.

    A medical doctor in the paediatrics department of the hospital disclosed that but for the quick intervention of the foundation, little Hadiza would have died.

    The doctor said the effect of malnutrition could be synonymous to HIV as the body would have become vulnerable to accept any form of disease.

    The official who spoke based on anonymity stated that due to lack of food, the entire body immune system was rendered ineffective.

    “She was diagnosed of malnutrition. It is a serious disease that can be compared to HIV. It prevents immunity and paralyse the ýbody’s immunity system. That’s what malnutrition does.

    “This baby would have died if you have not brought her for treatment. All the infections have started reacting,” he said.

    He called for quick rehabilitation.

  • I’ll transform AMAC’

    The Secretary of the All Progressives Party (APC) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Hon. Abdulahi Candido has said his experience has equipped to transform the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) if he won the council poll coming up soon.

    Hon. Candido was speaking with reporters in Abuja in the run up to the election.

    He said experience matters in electing a leader, adding that he has served as ward councillor for five years, and also as supervisory councillor and secretary to the council chairman.

    “I have gathered enough experience in the municipality. If given the mandate, I have a three-point agenda that I intend to use the three years to focus on. One is education, which is very essential, the second one is infrastructures and the last is security.

    “We are all witnesses of what is happening in Nigeria today, the security aspect of the country, must not be left alone in the hands of the federal government. So every tier of government, mostly in the local government, needs to ensure that the people go to bed without fear of been terrorised. First amongst all the agenda is education.

    “Whether you are a native of the AMAC or not, I believe that everyone needs sound education for their kids. That is why we are going to give them, in order for them to be the future leaders of tomorrow. I have a lot of passion for education and all I need to do is haven looked at what used to happen, especially in the area of supporting students through scholarship and financial assistance.

    “I believe that the little token they used to give them is nothing, simply because they concentrate on quantity, instead of quality. I am going to identify with the best hands amongst our young ones coming up, to support them financially, a good percentage of money would be budgeted to carter for the education of our children,” he said.

    He said that for infrastructures, any government that wants to come will promise heaven on earth, without fulfilling them, saying that he will conduct a feasibility studies on how they are going to affect the lives of the people, by putting infrastructures for the people.

    “It can be in terms of feeder roads, rural electrification, road networks, construction of water boreholes and even health centres. This are the areas that the government will not be hasty in taking decisions, but will find time to plan for them to be actualized. What we are going to give in the next three years, will be something the area council has never witnessed before and the people will be proud that they made the right choice,” he said

  • Coalition, NOA promote national unity

    Coalition, NOA promote national unity

    coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in partnership with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has started a campaign for national unity.

    The partnership aims at discouraging hate speeches and division of the country based on ethnicity, political ideologies, religion believes among others.

    National Coordinator, Social Welfare Network Initiative, Emmanuel Osemeka during a courtesy visit to The Nation Newspaper, Abuja Bureau emphasised that the unity of the nation cannot be compromised.

    He said it is important for every individual, corporate organisations, religious leaders among others to support in the campaign in order to restore the nations togetherness.

    “At present, about two villages in Benue State are completely sacked as a result of conflict between farmers and cattle rustlers. Boko Haram insurgency is still a major issue to battle while our country is splitting on political differences, religion and so on. So, we want to create this consciousness to stop the hate speeches and promote oneness, unity for all.”

    Among other partners in the project include Executive Director, Poverty and Associated Maladies Alleviation Initiatives (PAMAI), President, Mandate Health Empowerment Initiative (MHEI), Ameh Abba, Executive Director, Speakers’ Corner trust Nigeria, Ms. Marilyn Ogbebor and the Assistant Director, NOA, Mrs. Chinwe Ikaraocha.

    Osemeka added that the stop the hate campaign would re-orientate Nigerians and foster new attitudinal change to oneness. In her remarks, Ikaraocha disclosed that the frequent hate speeches

    have further affected unity of the country.

    She said the more hate speeches, the further the nation splits. However, she called for a change in attitude. The Deputy Editor, Nation’s Capital, Yomi Odunuga disclosed his readiness to partner in raising more awareness campaign.

    He urged them to be proactive in their approaches and remain focus.

  • Farmers seek commodity marketing board

    A group of farmers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has demanded the urgent set-up of a commodity marketing board.

    The farmers, who spoke during a meeting with the Programme Director of African Centre for Food, Agriculture and Sustainable Development (Afri-CASD), Bolaji Akindehinde in Abuja, said the board would help regulate arbitrary pricing of farm commodities.

    The farmers sought support of the Centre to further advocate necessity of the board to increase food production and promote large scale farming.

    They said it was inappropriate for farmers to be at the mercy of buyers among other end users before farm harvests are sold.

    A representative of the farmer, Mr. Sulieman Azeez said, “Farmers are suffering in this country. This is a country where the buyers fix the price for our farm produce. But if there is agriculture commodity marketing board, you cannot tell me you will buy my rice for N5 when everyone knows in the country that it is being regulated for sales for N10 across the country.

    “So it is bad for farmers not to have control over sales of their farm produce.”

    In his remarks, Akindehinde disclosed that the erstwhile Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina showed the zeal to setup the commodity board but little was heard thereafter.

    He said such agency would better lots of the farmers and boost the nation’s overall food production.

    Akindehinde cited an instance of South Africa, United States and some advanced countries which regulates and guarantee markets for farmers’ yields to prevent post-harvest losses.

    According to him, if the nation must be food secured, farmers who are responsible for this giant responsibility should be properly taken care of.

    Speaking on the Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the previous government, the farmers urged the present administration to continue with the agenda especially on the various value-chain programmes.

    He said though the administration is still young but emphasised need for the coming Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to make the issue a core agenda.

    Akindehinde emphasised need to sustain the various value-chain programmes kicked by the previous administration.

    “If we must get it right by properly motivating our farmers, the agric sector should be accorded same attention given to the NNPC. Imagine that the sector has a department like the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Committee (PPPRC) and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) also performing a similar function in the agriculture sector farmers would do much more than expected,” he added.

    Among initiatives considered laudable is the electronic wallet (e-wallet), Growth Enhancement Support scheme (GES), subsidised mechanisation supports to farmers and private sectors involvement in the sector’s transformation.

  • FCT gives Area Council ultimatum on refuse 

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration has given the chairmen of the six Area Council one week deadline to clear all the heaps of refuse littering the area councils.

    FCT Permanent Secretary, John Chukwu expressed disappointment over the huge volume of waste in all the area councils and satellite towns.

    Chukwu who reminded them of the statutory responsibility of maintaining the environment, added that the ugly trend of heaps of garbage must immediately be reversed according to the change mantra of the Federal Government.

    Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary FCT, Muhammad Sule said this  in a press statement. He said  Chukwu gave the instruction during an emergency meeting on the state of environment in the Area Councils and Satellite Towns.

    He added: “Chukwu during the meeting expressed disappointment over the poor state of environment as well as the huge volume of waste in all the Area Councils.

    “The Permanent Secretary reminded the Council Chairmen of their statutory responsibilities of 100 per cent maintenance of the environment; stressing that cleanliness is next to godliness.

    “He reiterated that the ugly trend of heaps of garbage in all the Area Councils and Satellite Towns must immediately be reversed in line with the change mantra of the Federal Government.

    “Chukwu warned that the Chairmen are elected leaders; noting that Councils’ elections are around the corner and therefore the people are going to hold them accountable.

    “He insisted that enough is enough; saying that the Council Chairmen must sit up as this sorry state cannot be allowed to continue in the Territory.

    “The Permanent Secretary emphasised that Abuja is one of the most important places in the country, being the abode of Mr. President, members of the National Assembly, highest ranking judicial officers in the country as well as members of the diplomatic community; and therefore the window in which the world sees Nigeria.

    “All hands must be on deck to keep the environment of the entire 8,000 square kilometres of the Federal Capital Territory very clean to showcase the city to the world.”

  • NGO to raise $1b for jobs

    In Abuja-based Non-Governmental Organisation, Roots and Origin has launched a $1billion fund for the purpose of creating jobs.

    The organisation said that as part of its programmes, proceeds from the fund will be used to train unemployed youths pursuant to being self-employed.

    The goal, according to the initiator, Hajia Aisha Pacegi, is to help the country build local content.

    She said: “What we are doing is creating funds. This is where the $I billion challenge comes in. We hope to raise funds and create jobs at the community level through this programme.

    “It’s a global initiative, a profit NGO in the sense that it is from our proceeds that we will give back to society. So whatever you buy, we take a certain percentage towards training, empowerment programmes and helping build local content in the food industry, especially among those promoting healthy lifestyles through eating right.

    “Nigeria is lagging behind a bit with regard to the issue of local content. Take a look at Ghana and what they have been able to do with making their local agriculture produce of world standard. Ghana has many cooperatives, look at what they have done with shea butter. So, we will be among those who will work towards Nigeria handling the local content issue.”

    Pacegi further explained that the organisation is “all about giving and receiving”. It’s about us loving ourselves. Life itself is a gift that we must make proper use of. For me, the first rule in life in giving and receiving. And when we say we want people to learn how to receive, we aren’t talking just money or material things.

    “We are talking about receiving help with skill acquisition. So the minute you understand that loves from your source which is you creator, you will also know that you can give out love too. We will not just train people, we will also make them realise that whatever you need to succeed is right in you. Some people might say that the greatest achievement of man are things like computers or travel to space. But if we think deeply, it is actually mankind understanding the importance of the mind. Most the things we call great are ideas from the mind.”

    Apart from sales of your products, she explained that the organistion intends to raise fund by “doing a lot of merchandising. If you look at it from the perspective that we already have good products, we can merchandise them at the global level. There are seven billion people in the world, imagine that we can use good merchandising to sell as much one billion times. We don’t have to wait for government to do this or that. We can be the one to bring about change.”

    Speaking on challenges envisage and how she intend to go around it, Hajia Pacegi said “this a process that we have started. We don’t plan to be an overnight success. We are in for the long haul and like you rightly noted, we have business plan. What we are now concerned with ensuring that our subconscious doesn’t tell us we cannot succeed on this enterprise. Talking about challenges, I know that we have a lot to do with regard to changing people’s mindsets from one of doubt to that that believes that they can succeed that we all can be part of the success story we are trying to write in our NGO.

    “We are not going to exporting just Nigerian goods. We will be marketing and merchandising brands so that way we will get into the global trade. We now live a global village where people trade online. Today, you can buy something online in Australia and it is sent to you here in Nigeria. Yes, I understand your worry about how we are going to sell. We have plans for that. What I am more concerned about is how we can get the right people to be involved.”

    Explaining further on the modalities to be adopted, Pacegi said “we will be doing more of merchandising. What we will be packaging are healthy food items we eat here in Nigeria. We will be telling the world how they can eat right to remain healthy.

    “We have set a one billion dollar target and we believe that we can achieve it. Growing up as kids, we read a lot of inspirational books and we developed the right mindset which has helped us achieve our dreams and we believe that it will also help us do great things with this idea. We have an idea of a bucket list which we and our partners will look at from time to time, to see if we have achieved these things.  We can do a lot with marketing made in Nigeria products.

    The world is returning to the natural things and we have hundreds of plants in Nigeria that is world will marvel at. We have plants that can prevent and treat diseases. There is so many things that God blessed us with. But we want to use made in America and China, rather than selling our own naturally given plants and food.”

  • Daring the President

    It would have been unimaginable for anyone to disobey or delay in complying with the directive of the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari, who was the Head of State in 1984.

    His wrath will even be more for any Ministry, Department and Agency (MDA) that flout such directive then.

    But today because of the democratic environment of President Buhari’s administration, some MDAs have hesitated in complying with a dully issued directive of the government.

    To block corrupt loopholes exploited by some politicians and civil servants to beat the system, President Buhari in a circular dated August 7, 2015 directed the payment of all Federal Government revenue into a Treasury Single Account (TSA).

    But either for their dubious reasons to continue to siphon government revenue to private pockets or just stalling to see if the government will relax the directive as time goes on, some MDAs refused to obey the circular one month after it was issued.

    President Buhari, who was irked by the refusal of the MDAs to comply with the directive, on last Monday, last week issued one week deadline for all the MDAs to comply with the directive.

    They are all expected to comply with the directive latest by today or face sanctions from the government.

    A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, reads: “President Muhammadu Buhari has set a deadline of Tuesday, September 15, 2015 for full compliance with his directive that all revenue due to the Federal Government or any of its agencies must be paid into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) or designated accounts maintained and operated in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), except otherwise expressly approved.

    “A circular issued to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Danladi Kifasi, urged the MDAs to ensure strict compliance with the deadline to avoid sanctions.

    “The circular – HCSF/428/S.1/125 of September 4, 2015 – noted that a number of MDAs were yet to comply with Circular Ref. No. HCSF/428/S.1/120 of August 7, 2015 which conveyed President Buhari’s original directive on the payment of all Federal Government revenue into a Treasury Single Account.

    “In this regard, His Excellency, Mr. President has directed that all MDAs are to comply with the instructions on the Treasury Single Account (TSA) unfailingly by Tuesday, September 15, 2015.

    “Heads of MDAs and other arms of Government are enjoined to give this Circular the widest circulation and ensure strict compliance to avoid sanctions,” it stated.

    This is just a wake-up call for all Nigerians, especially in the civil service, to queue behind the anti-corruption drive of the President as Nigeria, in the long-run, will be better for it.