The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • NGO lifts the less privileged

    NGO lifts the less privileged

    The Peace Corps of Nigeria is using the occasion of its 15th anniversary to reach the less privileged in the society.

    The group visited the Mother Theresa Orphanage Home in Gwarimpa, Abuja. The home was  presented with food items, toiletries and drinks.

    Amb. Dickson Akoh, National Commandant of the Peace Corps of Nigeria said that their visit to the orphanage was to express concern and feelings for the young ones that are being taken care of and also thank the management of the home for the good work of promoting the cause of humanity.

    Akoh added that, “No greater service can be greater than what Mother Theresa Orphanage is doing.

    “We are basically here in solidarity with the young children here and make them know that we also care for them by providing the little we have as a non governmental organisation for their upkeep.”

    He said that the group had chosen the Mother Theresa because it falls within where their national headquarters is located, adding that the various peace corps offices at various state levels paid similar visits to various orphanages within their states because it is a national celebration.

    Aboh used the opportunity to call on the National Assembly to come up with a legislation that will make employment opportunities and admission into tertiary institutions to be reserved for orphans in such homes, so that they can as well enjoy the benefits of being Nigerians like everyone else.

    He further advised other non governmental organisations, ministries especially that of women affairs and social development, including private individuals to do their best for them.

    Ahoh said: “Taking care of them should be a collective responsibility of the society at large and Nigerians need to see it like that. ”

    The founder of Mother Theresa Orphanage,Bolanle Dare, in her remark said: “the only way people can showcase what they are doing to improve humanity is by reaching out to the downtrodden and less privileged in our society, like the Peace Corps has done.”

    She advised other NGOs to emulate them by visiting the children and not just staying back and sending gift items.

    Other activities of anniversary included visits to prisons, a special Jumat prayer at the prayer ground in Gwarimpa and a thanksgiving service at Holy Cross Catholic Church Gwarimpa, where the group thanked God for His goodness.

  • NUJ panel to probe alleged blackmail, extortion

    The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has inaugurated a three-man committee to investigate allegations of blackmail and extortion levelled against Mallam Tukur Mamu, publisher of a Kaduna-based weekly magazine, Desert Herald, by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

    The FCTA recently accused Tukur of serial blackmail of the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed and an attempt to extort N15 million as gratification to discard a controversial book on alleged rot within the FCTA.

    The committee was inaugurated at a brief ceremony held at the national secretariat of the NUJ in Abuja by the union’s national President, Malam Garba Mohammed.

    The panel is chaired by a former Vice President of NUJ and a Deputy Director with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Mr. Gbenga Onayiga.

    The other two members of the committee are the Chairman of Kaduna State chapter of NUJ, Mallam Yusuf Idris and Mr. Akin Orimolade of the Daily Newswatch newspaper who will serve as secretary of the committee.

    Inaugurating the committee on, the NUJ President, Mallam Garba Mohammed urged the members to do a thorough job, stressing that the image and integrity of the union were at stake due to rampant unethical practices.

    He formally handed over the petitions and other documents received on the matter to the committee chairman, Onayiga.

    Speaking on behalf of the members, Onayiga assured the president and members that they would do a thorough job by discharging their duties dispassionately.

    He pledged to be neutral and fair to all the parties concerned. The event was attended by the Deputy President of the union, chairmen of 10 state chapters of the union and four vice presidents of the NUJ among others.

    For nearly two months there has been altercation between the FCTA and the Desert Herald Magazine following the latter’s claim to have written a 284-page book detailing alleged rot in the FCTA.

    Following repeated publication of the allegation in successive editions of the magazine and a particular national newspaper (Leadership), the FCTA recently wrote a petition to the NUJ and the Nigerian Guild of Editors calling on them to call the magazine to order and investigate an alleged attempt by its publisher, Mallam Tukur Mamu to extort N15 million from the FCT Minister Senator Bala Mohammed through his SA Media, Mr. Nosike Ogbuenyi.

     

  • Agency takes measures against flooding

    As part of effort to prevent flooding, the Department of Urban Affairs of Abuja Metropolitan Management Council said structures at flood- prone areas and under high tension wire will soon be demolished.

    The FCTA said many of the buildings close to the flood plains have already been  marked for demolition and clearing of drains has begun to allow free flow of water

    The Acting Directorof the department, Alhaji Liman Ibrahim disclosed this in Abuja at the flag-off of FCT flood awareness campaign.

    The one -week sensitisation campaign that would be carried out in all the six area councils may not be unconnected with the recent predictions by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

    Ibrahim stated that the sensitisation campaign was a wake-up call by all stakeholders to prepare for flood and adopt measures aimed at preventing, averting and containing flooding incidents.

    According to him, “it is a wake-up call on our relevant stakeholders to take proactive measures towards preventing and tackling the incidence of flooding in the FCT, these measures include but not limited to clearance  of drains to allow for free flow of storm water, demolition of illegal structures built on flood as well as early warning system”.

    The sensitisation teams include officials from National Emergency Management Agency, Federal Fire Service, and Abuja Metropolitan Management Council.

    Part of the flood- prone areas visited includes Dutse Alhaji, Dutse Magaranta, and Kubwa all in Buhari Area Council.

     

  • Glo entertains Abuja youths

    It was a night to remember as telecommunication giant Glo held Abuja residents spellbound at the maiden edition of the Glo Slide and Bounce.

    The event, which took place at the expansive Thisday Dome, featured Nigeria’s finest artistes in concert.

    But for the dexterity of the anchorman, Okey Bakasi, the restless youths were almost set to abandon the show which was scheduled to start 7pm. His hilarious jokes and recharge card freebies helped to defuse tension.

    Eventually, at about 11pm, the concert started with the delectable Chi, whose youthfulness charmed the crowd. Next came Bezhiwa Idakula, otherwise known as Bez. His performance, tailored along Asa’s style, was refreshing for the crowd that has started warming up to the party.

    Waje and her sonorous voice stepped onto the stage with some cool tunes  before Naeto C climbed the stage to pull the roof down with one hit song after another. He gave Abuja a tip of what made him a top-rated music artiste in Nigeria. Being a showman, the youthful crowd did not only follow him round the hall as he climbed one table after the other to get closer to the crowd; they sand along with him.

    By this time, the crowd went wild when Burna Boy took to the stage. The Port Harcourt-based new sensation did not disappoint the crowd as he lived up to his rating. The crowd sang along with him too as he reeled out his hits.

    Omawumi took her turn and the energy she brought to the stage was electrifying. The Abuja youths did not disappoint her as the response showed that she was well appreciated.

    In the words of the Glo Divisional Director, North West),  Kemi Kaka, the idea behind the concert was not only to give back to the teeming customers of the telecom outfit but also to show appreciation to the youths from the federal capital city  and its environs.

    “As you can see, we have to control the crowd which was why we stated that it is strictly on invitation. The size of this crowd shows how much our brand is appreciated. The event mainly is to provide opportunity for our youths and so that is why we are also going to unlock one youth here”.

    The Minister of Culture, Duke Edem, who came in a little after midnight, expressed the appreciation of the government for the event while assuring that government is determined to provide the enabling platform for such events to take place around the country.

    “Government’s role is to provide the enabling environment for events like this to be sustained, going by the added value attached to it for our youths. As a government, we are encouraging other private sector players to emulate what Glo is doing,” he added.

    The masked one, Lagbaja and P Square also ensured that the show lived up to its billing with scintillating performances.

     

  • FCT slates media walk for sickle cell

    FCT slates media walk for sickle cell

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has expressed its readiness to sensitise residents on sickle cell anaemia this month.

    The Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr. Ademola Onakomaiya, said this at an interactive session with journalists in Abuja.

    He decried the stigma as well as sicklers’ lukewarm interest in sensitisation programmes.

    “I intend to call people with sickle cell disease, people that are genotipically challenged because it’s not their own doing , we have been doing a lot on that, we have been having loads of sensitisation programme with some NGOs and the department of public health.

    “We will enlighten them, empower them to know that this is you, you are better than the rest of us, you should explore your preventive strategy, don’t stress yourself, don’t do this emotionally. But because of the stigma associated with it, many people will not even want to come unless they have crisis, that is why it’s not that vibrant.

    “You know you empower people, when you empower them, they decide better. Prevention is better than cure.

    “We can have a media walk on sickle cell in July; it’s something that we can do. I tell people if we don’t do it, nobody will do it. Seventy per cent of our population is young. It’s for us to take charge of our country. It is for us to decide where we want to go”

    On bone marrow transplant as a cure for sickle cell anemia, he said, “You can have a bone marrow and die tomorrow and have sickle cell and live forever.”

    On the Karu District Hospital in FCT, the Secretary said it is expected to take off fully before the end of the year .

    The secretary said all the various equipments needed are already on ground.

    He said the contractors handling the construction of the hospital caused the delay,adding that the inability of the contractor to complete the job has brought untold hardship to residents of the area.

    The completion of the hospital, he further stressed, will reduce the problem of congestion in hospitals especially those in the city centre as well as the Asokoro and Nyanya General Hospitals.

    Expressing disappointment at the slow pace of work on the contract which was awarded in 2005, with a completion period of 84 weeks, he urged the company to work towards meeting up the deadline or have it revoked and given to a more serious contactor.

    According to him, four months is enough to complete the job insisting that the people of the area have suffered and that the FCT administration would not condone unserious approach towards important projects.

     

  • ‘Why govt can’t empower every Nigerian youth’

    The Federal Government has said inappropriate placement of youth-related programmes in some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and poor implementation of government policy are responsible for the challenges facing youth empowerment programmes.

    The Minister of Youth Development, Inuwa Abdulkadir who made the position of the Federal Government known at the ongoing Ministerial platform in Abuja, said  the  non-implementation of the National Youth Policy is part of challenges hindering the ministry from making progress in youth related matter.

    ”The National Youth Policy provides that there will an inter-ministerial council to be called the National Youth Development Council under the chairmanship of the President.

    “It will comprise all the chief executives of the core relevant ministries, to serve as forum and clearing house on all youth policy matters of national interest, this has not been implemented,” he said.

    Abdukadir also decried lack of cooperation of some state and local government authorities in the establishment of skill acquisition centers as stated in the national youth policy across the country.

    ”Problems associated with land allocation within areas where centres are to be built, as well as lack of appropriation for the ruining of the youth development centres and personnel,” he said.

    The minister who further mentioned insufficient and late release of funds as part of challenges militating against the ministry, however, recommended “the need to refurbish and upgrade the existing the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre (C&LTC) to meet up with its challenges and execute its mandates”.

    Abdulkadir maintained that in spite of challenges, the ministry would ensure “the completion of on-going national youth development centres in all the six geo-political zones of the country.

    ”Ensuring more young unemployed graduates are given required entrepreneurial, vocational and skills training in specialised vocation, so as to grow youth economy and thereby create wealth.

    ”Articulating integrating leadership and skill development modules in the training of youths as part of the ministry’s input in human capacity development for future leadership roles”.

    On the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the minister noted that “the implementation of the approved expansion of the administrative structure of the scheme has worked, as it has helped to drive the policies of the scheme, thereby enabling it to cope with the dynamics of youth mobilisation and management for national development and self-reliance”.

    He disclosed that “658 corps members were trained and empowered under the Millennium Development Goals to establish agro-enterprises and not less than 131, 659 corps members were given skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development training in the year 2012”.

    Consequently, the minister called for the “release of more funds to the NYSC scheme for the implementation of its core programmes and for the conduct of skill acquisition training/empowerment of corps members, as well as the establishment of Youth Development Fund in line with global best practices”.

  • FCT records drop in HIV/AIDS prevalence

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has recorded a 10 per cent drop in HIV/AIDS prevalence in the last two years, the FCT HIV/AIDS Programme Coordinator, Dr Yakubu Mohammed has said. The figure was 8.6 percent in 2010 and 7.5 in 2012.

    He said the programme may not have achieved peak performance over the period in terms of intervention on HIV/AIDS in the territory, it has made tremendous progress compared to two years ago. FCT is one of the high risk HIV burden areas in the country as identified by the National HIV Control programme.

    According the Coordinator, who made the disclosure while fielding questions from newsmen during a one-day FCT HIV/AIDS Stakeholders Consultative Meeting on Acceleration of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) Scale- Up in Abuja over the weekend, the reduction is due to a paradigm shift in addressing the challenge of the scourge by the FCT health sector response strategies.

    “What this means is that the prevalence is reducing; and we are committed to sustaining the success recorded so far, as what we want is that by the end of 2015, the HIV/AIDS prevalence in the FCT to be less than five percent

    “With the support of other key stakeholders in the fight against the scourge, we will come out with a blue print that will drive the process for the attainment of our target, for prevention of new cases of HIV/AIDS in the FCT.

    “We have made tremendous progress; and we are still making progress; and although we can’t really say that we have reached where we are expected to be, but we know that our performance has increased, and is still increasing over the period”, he said.

    Earlier in her remark, the Director, Public Health, Health and Human Services Secretariat (HHSS) of the FCTA, Dr Folasade Momoh, noted that given the peculiar HIV/AIDS epidemic profile of the nation characterised by high prevalence rate, high MTCT burden, low PMTCT and ART coverage, low retention rate of persons living with HIV, what is required is strong commitment, efficiency and accountability by all stakeholders, in order to accelerate the attainment of various Universal Access (UA) targets for the elimination of various PMTCT by 2015.

    According to her, the HIV/AIDS epidemic situation in Nigeria still remains a major public health challenge of high magnitude, in spite of enormous resources government is committing to combat it at the national, state, and local government levels.

    She therefore urged all stakeholders collaborating with the secretariat to embrace its initiatives and vigorously pursue the course, in order to contribute towards the realisation of the set objectives; “and in turn reinforce our policy trust and facilitate our ownership and sustainability drive in FCT.”

  • Kogi, Kano urge FERMA to repair roads

    The Kogi and Kano states’ Road Maintenance Agencies asked the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency  to maintain their roads.

    Dr. Abubakar Adama and Mr. Abubakar Jibril, Managing Directors of Kogi State Road Maintenance Agency (KOGROMA) and Kano State Roads Maintenance Agency, respectively, made the appeal recently while leading delegations of officials of their agencies on study tour to FERMA’s headquarters in Abuja.

    They said their agencies were still in infancy, having just been created early this year by their respective state Houses of Assembly in line with the resolution of the National Council on Works held in Lagos last year

    They said their agencies look up to FERMA to assist them build their own technical and human resource capacities, having already established an enviable reputation for effectively maintaining the Federal roads network.

    FERMA’s Managing Director, Engineer Gabriel Amuchi however expressed the agency’s happiness at the establishment of the State Road Maintenance Agencies.

    He said Nigerian roads will be much better if all tiers of government established road maintenance mechanisms to drive routine and periodic maintenance of their networks.

    That way, he said, the situation where roads belonging to the Federal Government are serviceable while those belonging to other tiers are in poor condition would be eliminated.

    Amuchi further averred that state road maintenance agencies needed to learn from the experiences FERMA garnered over its 10-year history, especially measures and strategies adopted to achieve sustained maintenance of Federal roads.

    Among such measures are preventive maintenance and road surveillance programme, development of FERMA cold asphalt and establishment of production centres in different parts of the country, as well as effective monitoring and supervision of field operations by senior engineers and management to ensure set specifications are met.

    He also called for concerted efforts of all state road maintenance agencies enacted by law to press for the actualisation of the five percent fuel user’s charge 40 percent of which accrues to FERMA and 60 percent to the State road maintenance agenciesfor sustainable funding of maintenance of the entire national road network.

     

  • Abuja celebrates amnesty

    Tor a time, it looked as though nothing else mattered at the nation’s capital.

    The prestigious Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja, was filled to capacity. Guests who turned up late had to endure standing. Representatives of the Federal Government as well as staff of the Amnesty Programme were in high spirits. Beneficiaries of the programme could not be happier.

    Hard work, determination and hope paid off in the end. Youths of the Niger Delta who once bore arms against the Federal Government and its facilities lay down their weapons and forsook agitation. They embraced rehabilitation, choosing to acquire skills. Today, many of them are pilots, engineers, skilled farmers, among others.

    The event left no one in doubt that the celebrators, the Federal Government and erstwhile militants, now preferring to be addressed as ex-agitators, came to celebrate the success of what was once thought to be a hopeless situation.

    Hours before the celebration of the fourth anniversary of the Amnesty Proclamation and third year of the implementation of the Amnesty Programme, at the prestigious Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja, the expansive hall was filled to capacity.

    Almost half of the hall was occupied, not by the staff of Amnesty Programme office or civil servants but the beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme.

    The Ijaw National Congress (INC) was fully represented, and it almost looked like it was the INC that was being celebrated when the Chairman, Amnesty Programme, who doubles as the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku, took the podium and invited contributions from each member of the Congress to the ‘struggle’. He went from how the journey started back in their school days to the Kiama Declaration, to the protests borne out of sheer determination, to the arrests and down to the success of the day.

    The event began with Lawrence Pepple, Head of Reintegration Department, who took the guests through how disarmament began with 20,192 persons, through 6,166 for the second phase before ending with the third and final phase of 3,64216.

    In highlighting the positive side of the Federal Government’s programme, Kuku said the country is enjoying peace that has boosted the Nigerian economy, adding that crude oil production now hovers around 2,6 and 2.3.8 million barrels per day. The volume of savings, according to him, translates to about N33.4b per day. Ironically, he noted the country needed about N4 trillion for its national budget but the region was able to provide an estimated N6.3 trillion last year.

    Though he assured Nigerians that the youth will not return to militancy, Kuku took time to debunk insinuations that the reformed youths were involved in oil theft. He hinged his argument on the fact that Niger Deltans are too poor and technically disadvantaged to partake in the lucrative and highly technical illicit venture. He said the illegal trade was perpetrated by some highly placed Nigerians and their international collaborators, adding that the only Niger Delta indigenes that could be found in the circle would be manual labourers that have no real consequence on the illicit trade.

    “Oil theft is highly technical and capital intensive and there is no way you can find Niger Delta youths involved in it. These products are transported in vessels; no Niger Delta indigene has a vessel. Also, it is a supply and demand thing, meaning that if there is no demand, there won’t be supply. In other words, there must be international collaborators involved, Niger Delta youths don’t have such connections. In addition, where would Niger Delta youths have the resources to pay for demurrage running to months in many instances? Peasants can’t engage in such business and majority of Niger Delta youths are peasants,” he said

    He, however, assured that the menace would soon be a thing of the past as President Goodluck Jonathan has taken up the issue with his colleagues around the world. ”It is an international crime of demand and supply but the President is dealing with it because highly placed people in and out of Nigeria are involved, not our Niger Delta youths”.

    Kuku presented 22 trained pilots and instructors who graduated from the African Union Aviation Academy. All of them have been certified as CLPs (Commercial Licensed Pilots) including a 20-year-old Favour Odozor, who is the youngest pilot in the country. She was also presented alongside her colleagues. Fifteen out of 40 ex-militants who became gainfully employed after their formal training by the Amnesty Office were also in the hall as well as 25 ex-militants that also completed their Masters Degrees in various disciplines in the United Kingdom. Several trained ex-militants that have been offered formal employment in the private sector were also invited for the event.

    ”Four years on, the Amnesty Proclamation has generally met the desired goal, which is the stabilisation of security conditions in strategic Niger Delta. A total of 30,000 persons were enlisted in the Amnesty Programme. Of this number, 14,000 have been deployed to universities as well as vocational training centres both within and outside the country. Over 11,700 have graduated in various fields and several of them have been employed including 10 with the Nigerian Army and six with the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), 40 with the Century Energy Group, five with SAP Drilling Oil and Gas Ltd and 30 with the Proclad Group, Dubai, UAE,” Kuku said.

    The Presidential aide also reiterated government resolve to terminate the programme by 2015. He said though there is no going back on the exit date of 2015 for the Programme, Kuku however disclosed that the Amensty office would  complete the training of all enrolled ex-militants. ”Beneficiaries who are pursuing long-term educational programmes shall duly hand over existing Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) who are statutorily empowered to oversee scholarship and training programmes of the Federal Government”.

    Kulu said the Federal Government will pay a N65,000 monthly allowance to 30,000 ex-militants for the provision of critical infrastructure and impactful development projects in the region as contained in the Amnesty Proclamation to help stimulate economic growth of the region.

     

  • Group seeks end to youth association feud

    THE Coalition of Youth for National Development (CYND) has described the fragmentation of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) as unhealthy and inimical to the development of youths.

    The group, therefore, urged the various factions to drop their ambitions in the interest of the Nigerian youths and national development.

    In a communique signed by its National Coordinator, Mustapha Aliyu, after its meeting in Abuja, noted that the best interest of the teeming Nigerian youths should be paramount in the minds of the various factional leaders.

    It reads in part: “The much desired transformation and development of the country’s teeming youths population can never been achieved under an acrimonious atmosphere.

    “The CYND is urging all the parties in the council to embrace peace so that youths can make great progress. There is no way the youth of Nigeria can benefit from the positive development going on currently in the country under an atmosphere of war and crisis.

    “It is time all aggrieved parties in the crisis sheathe their swords and support the leadership that has emerged.

    “We must at this time show we are the next generation leaders and that we are ready to lead when we are called upon. This present ugly situation can never help our cause it is time to let go all our differences and embrace one another in the interest of youth development.

    “We cannot continue like this if we are to be taken serious by the society. We must show commitment, sincerity and passion as youth leaders to move our country forward and this is the time to do it”.

    The group, however, advised the incumbent executive to focus on its primary assignment of advancing the interests of the Nigerian youths as well as working with and carrying along other groups.

    “In the same vein, CYND, appealed to the new National President of the NYC, Yakubu Shemda to reach out to the aggrieved to support his very good intentions of moving the country’s youths forward.

    “The president must show that he is the true youth leader that has led Nigerian youths in the past by reaching out to the others to work for the common interest of the youth.

    “The challenge confronting Nigerian youths will be better addressed with a united team and he must offer the leadership with his transformative agenda to improve the fortunes of Nigerian youths.

    “This is the time to mobilise all segment of the youth population to stand and be counted in our quest to reinvent our nation and ensure the youth take their place in furthering a better Nigeria.

    “It is believed that Shemda can achieve a lot if he is totally supported by all youths.