Three Batch ‘C’ members of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) in Niger State have been given the state Merit Honours Award.
The three honorees were Bamigbe Michael Semako, Ogujiuba Nancy and Daniel Nsibiet Emmanuel.
The state government also declared its commitment to support Corps members in their careers especially in skills acquisition and entrepreneurship.
The state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello who stated this at the passing-out parade of the 2014 Batch ‘C’ Corps members in the Bako Kontagora Stadium, Minna called on the corps members to contribute to nation building projects, adding that his administration is ready to support them.
The governor who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Shehu Umar Danyaya called on the passing out corp members to enroll in youths and women empowerment schemes in the state to enable them become creator of jobs.
The state NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Bolade Loto in her address said that out of the 2002 Corps members deployed to Niger state, three Corps members absconded from the scheme, seven had their service year extended while one corp member died during the course of the service year.
Congratulating the passing out corp members, Loto commended them for their various projects in their host communities urging them to explore the skills they have acquired during their training to excel in their future endeavors.
“To my outgoing Corps members, I say a big congratulation to you all. I sincerely look forward to your being successful entrepreneurs by virtue of the vigorous training you acquired through the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme during your service year.”
The recipients of the merit honors award were grateful for the recognition as they told the Nation that they appreciated the support of NYSC in the state and the state government towards actualising their dreams.
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yusuff Lasun has visited some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), asking them what their needs were and presenting them with some food items.
The lawmaker’s unannounced visit coincided with his birthday.
An associate of his said, “Given his philosophy that birthdays should not be about overt celebrations, but a time to feel the pulse of the less privileged, Lasun chose the occasion of his birthday to make a difference in the life of the people no matter how little his gesture. This time he chose to visit the IDP camp without notice just to make them know that they weren’t forgoten.
“The Deputy Speaker was abreast of the incalculable damage the misguided Boko Haram terrorists have visited on the innocent and law abiding citizens of the Northeast in particular. To show sense of empathy and responsibility, he decided that these down trodden people should be visited,” the associate who pleaded not to be named said.
Lasun’s visit to the IDP camp was very revealing because it afforded him firsthand knowledge of the level of untold hardship that has been the lot of these Nigerians. The visit also gave him an opportunity to know that the displaced persons are craving for a quick return to their original habitats destroyed by callous Boko Haram insurgents.
At the camp, the deputy speaker displayed his leadership qualities with a heart-to-heart discussion with the people, trying to find out first hand, their living condition and what they as citizens would want the government to do for them. He asked them of their needs in the short run, that can make them feel that they are part of the country and that Federal government has not forgotten them. By the time he was through, it was a sober and reflective Deputy Speaker, who promised to make a repeat visit to the camp with a view to addressing some of the fundamental problems confronting the people and also improve their standard of living.
Statistics made available by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre put the current figure at 1,538,982 which comprised of people temporarily living in camps and shelters provided spread across Borno, Gombe, Nasarawa, Adamawa and Federal capital territory among others. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara however put the figure at five million. The internally displaced persons who are mostly women and children still find it difficult to live normal lives despite efforts of government in times past with major problems confronting them including insufficient educational facilities, lack of means of livelihood to sustain them and need for adequate health facilities. Although Government in April established 10 temporary primary schools at IDP camps in Borno while the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has so far provided educational support for no less than 29,397 children. Though several other Non-Governmental Agencies (NGO) and individuals have also extended support to the IDPs but much still needs to be done to help the Children catch up with their Education. The present administration of President Mohammadu Buhari is however not relenting in making sure that the Boko Haram menace is brought to an end with the displaced people resettlled to their various communities and states.
These efforts may have prompted Lasun into reiterating Government’s determination to end any form of terrorism in the country. In his personal and official capacity, the Deputy Speaker donated relief materials to the IDPs as parts of activities marking his 55th Birthday, while promising that the Government will leave no stone unturned to bring the ugly situation the IDP’s found themselves‘ to an end. He was particularly concerned about the education of the young Nigerians in the camps looking at the adverse consequences on the country if the children would be forced to lose two to four years without education. Though the viait was meant to mark his birthday and donate what he has to them, Lasun however promised-”I would want to make another visit here to see what are those things we can do to make your stay here comfortable, but the most important thing is to have peace up there so that you people can go back home particularly because it’s not good to be displaced and it’s not good to be affected by war. We only pray to Allah that God in his infinite mercies would protect all of us and will touch the hearts of those people who are perpetrating this ungodly act. As a Legislator, I affirm my readiness to work with the House of Representatives in advising the Executive arm of Government on the way forward especially the education of the displaced children. I am here today to give you hope that Federal Government is trying very hard to bring Boko Haram terrorism to an end and to make sure that as Nigerians we know that you are here and we know that we are going to continually strive to see how we can solve this problems. I want to identify with internally displaced people and that is why I have choosen this place to come and at least spend some time with you and extend a hand of fellowship an give a token out of what of God has given me. We would still come back here as legislators to see what we can do and in terms of advising the executive arm of government on the way to move forward particularly on the issue of IDP and particularly on the issue of Education. Education is important because if people have to stay a long time without going to school it means a lot to the future of Nigeria. These children are our future and even the fathers and the mothers that are here too, they are no longer working and they are no longer being able to provide for the families.
“I know government is at it and they are working at it very relentlessly and I know sooner than later all these problems will come to an end. I will only enjoin you to continuously talk to people so that they would have peace of mind to show them that we are not leaving them behind and that we are not going to neglect them”.
Part of the materials donated included food and other household items. The excited crowd was all grateful as the Deputy Speaker and his friends made their exit from the camp.
The Kwara State government is working out ways to resolve its financial crisis. The drastic reductions in the federal allocation to state governments as a result of sustained fall in crude oil prices in the global market has posed huge financial challenges to many states in the federation, Kwara being one of them.
Determined to overcome these challenges, the state governor Abdulfatah Ahmed signed into law the bill establishing the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS). The law empowers the agency to collect and manage revenue on behalf of the state government and its local councils.
Determined to expand the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) base of the state, Governor Ahmed gave the Service a target of N2 billion for the state every month, as against the monthly average of N700 million it currently generates.
This according to him would make the state less reliant on allocations from the federal government.
He said that the monthly federal allocation that comes to Kwara had dropped from N2.2 billion to N1.4 billion, adding that the monthly wage bill of the state is fluctuating between N2.7 billion and N2.8 billion.
The agency apart from its primary function of collection and management of revenue is also expected to promote policies and actions that will check and block all revenue leakages.
The agency is also expected to carry out constant checks and balances on finances of the various ministries, departments and agencies in the state, the governor charged.
Based on the the successes recorded by the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) and Ogun State Internal Revenue Service (OIRS), the state government recently invited the representatives of both agencies to share their experience in revenue collection and management with the officials of KWIRS.
It was gathered at the meeting, the officials of LIRS and OIRS shared the scope of their operations with their KWIRS counterparts.
They also talked about what they have been doing right that has helped revenue collection and tax administration in their respective states. KWIRS is expected to adopt e-payment for revenue collection as no cash payment will be allowed.
Curiously, the establishment of KWIRS has generated a lot of furore, as many Kwarans view it as a euphemism for another round of heavy tax burden on individuals and businesses.
The governor has dispelled such insinuations, saying that it was primarily set up to ensure efficiency in revenue collection and management.
Said he: ”The Kwara State Internal Revenue Service will not impose fresh taxes on individuals and businesses in the state. The agency is only authorised to assess and enforce payment of due taxes, levies, fees and charges in the state. KWIRS will make revenue collection and management more efficient.
“Given the reality of the present day where the country’s financial earnings from the sales of crude oil has depleted due to a sustained decline in world oil price, expanding IGR base of a state is one big deal that must be taken seriously to ensure the proper and effective running of the state. It is paramount for states to generate more funds to do more projects.
Against this background, Governor Ahmed has been meeting with various stakeholders in the state to solicit their collaboration and support for the state renewed IGR drive. The first set of people he met were the chairmen of local government councils in the state. There are sixteen local councils in the state and the largest of this council generates N200, 000 as its monthly revenue, it was discovered.
During the meeting, he charged the council chairmen on the need for them to increase revenue generation in their respective councils.
He said “obviously, there is a need for us to significantly increase our revenue to further meet the yearnings of our people. I, therefore, challenge you to fashion out innovative means by which you can generate more revenue in your respective councils, as we have a responsibility to increase the quality of life of our people.”
Also, the governor met with Directors of Finance and Supplies (DFS) in all ministries within the state. At the meeting, it was gathered that the governor told the directors to brace up for the new challenges and work together with the state revenue agency in meeting its targets.
He also underscored the importance of civil servants to key-into the new scheme of tax administration in the state.
In another meeting with the heads and bursars of the state-owned tertiary institutions, Governor Ahmed was said to have urged authorities of the institutions to support the state government’s drive in expanding its revenue base.
He added that no form of blackmail and misinformation would deter his administration from implementing measures that would boost the state IGR.
His words: “While it is common for some people to resist change, the best interest of the people must prevail at all times. No form of blackmail and misinformation will deter our administration from implementing measures that will boost the Internally Generated Revenue of the State.” He has therefore directed all the nine state-owned tertiary institutions to open a single revenue accounts for fees and other payments in a pilot exercise that have been extended to all revenue generating agencies in the state.
He also instructed to close all other revenue accounts maintained in commercial banks across the state. The aim is to enable the government to monitor the management of the institutions’ finances.
The governor was said to have assured the institutions will continue to receive budgeted funds from the state government at the appropriate time and that the government only desire is to ensure efficiency in revenue generation and management, stressing that the State could only survive the current economic crisis in the country though an enhanced internally generated revenue system.
Governor Ahmed added that heads of tertiary institutions in the state have an opportunity to demonstrate their managerial skills as they migrate from inefficiency in revenue generation to levels of sufficiency.
He added that all ministries, departments and agencies are also barred from opening bank accounts or obtaining bank loans without authorization from the office of the Accountant-General.
Ahmed called on banks to key into the government’s new revenue drive and avoid any actions capable of contravening the new revenue law, saying the government will not hesitate to review.
Governor Ahmed also tasked traditional rulers in the state to help sensitise their subjects on the issue, describing traditional rulers as symbols of an institution that once thrived on taxation.
The governor noted that it was important that key stakeholders like the traditional institution assisted the state revenue generating agency in ensuring that the people of the state comply with the increased revenue generation drive by paying taxes.
“No society can develop and thrive without a robust system for collecting, managing and utilising tax renewed for collective benefit. Consequently, increasing our Internally Generated Revenue is the only way to reduce our dependence on unstable federal allocation”.
“We also need to raise the necessary funds for infrastructural development and empowering our people, especially the youths. I call on you to be at the forefront of our drive to raise revenue to build higher quality schools, more hospitals, better roads, ensure more reliable electricity and create an environment conducive to our people’s prosperity,” the governor said.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has announced a plan to set up an emergency management committee in each of the six area councils to immediately cater for vistims of insurgency.
Director Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Emergency Agency, Alhaji Abbas Idriss explained that officials of the local emergency would be the first responders.
Public Relations Officer, FCT Emergency Agency Josephine Mudasiru revealed this in a statement.
The statement quoted Idriss as saying that the first responders at the recent bomb blasts would have been officials of the local emergency agency if they had been set up by then.
She also stated,”Referring to the recent bomb blast in Kuje Area Council, the Director said that if the LEMCs had been in place they would have been the first people on the scene before the arrival of FEMA and other stakeholders.
“Alhaji Abbas Idris reiterated the importance of the local Emergency Committee in risk reduction; pointing out the fact that LEMCs are resident at the scene of disasters, they respond promptly thereby reducing the number of casualties against waiting for assistance from the city.
Operators of unregistered schools break the law, endanger pupils’ future, do not pay tax and are proving difficult to stop, reports JIDE BABALOLA
They are located in remote settings, run by half-baked teachers and cater to an endless string of helpless pupils. That is the picture of illegal schools in Federal Capital Territory (FCT). And there are over 1,000 of them, according to figures exclusively released to The Nation.
Operators of these fake facilities claim their activities are within their rights to self-sustenance.
“It is true that the authorities have been bothering us, trying to close our schools but we have a right to sustain our only means of livelihood,” one of them who sought anonymity told The Nation.
From a negligible number when the FCT was created, they have grown like a malignant cancer, giving Education Secretariat’s Department of Quality Assurance a headache.
The Director of Quality Assurance, Mr. Ayuba Dudam said almost all such schools being operated in shanty areas have sub-standard teachers, including some found to be unable to spell ‘kettle’ and other simple English Language words.
•Mr Dudam
“They are so many,” Dudam said. “That is our headache in the FCT. The reason is this – so many people have the erroneous belief that the easiest business to run is a school. This is wrong because running a school is a highly technical and expensive undertaking. The regulations and standards required are very high and you must provide all necessary requirements.
“But because Abuja is such a cosmopolitan environment with people coming from all over the country into the city and its surrounding areas every day, so many want to quickly get into some business and several easily drift into having a school as a business. They believe that you can just start a school in your backyard or garage; some even start from their sitting rooms and they call it a school.
“When you go to them, especially in those remote areas far from the city, and you declare that they are sealed, they go away. But by the next day or a few weeks thereafter, they are back in business,” he said.
Altogether, there are 456 duly-registered and accredited basic and senior schools in the FCT. A basic school has nursery, primary and junior secondary components. The ones with secondary classes 1, 2 and 3 are senior secondary schools.
Just recently, the DQA brought in education experts for the assessment and accreditation of schools. The Accreditation Exercise precedes recommendation of schools for ministerial approval.
The Department of Quality Assurance has a statutory mandate of inspecting, evaluating and monitoring of all schools in the Federal Capital Territory, irrespective of whether they are basic schools or secondary schools, public or private schools. It also registers and accredit such schools, using an explicitly spelt out Guidelines which prospective school proprietors procure for N5, 000, along with the ‘Minimum Standards’ list which outlines the minimum standard for the establishment of schools anywhere in Nigeria
Part of what makes it difficult for some prospective schools to scale through the latest Accreditation Exercise is the high calibre of educationists involved in the screening process. There were three university professors and highly-experienced officials from the National Universities Commission, National Council for Colleges of Educations and other government education agencies. Their strict assessment covers the adequacy of infrastructures, quality of staffing, the standard of the curriculum and arrangements for extra-curricular and co-curricular activities.
According to Dudam: “We also assess the affective domains. The relationship of that school to the immediate community and other factors are also considered before recommendations are made. Each of these areas must be scored and a school must pass up to a certain standard, in order to qualify to be granted accreditation. You may get 70 percent in the area of having buildings, workshops and so on but if you get only 30 percent in the area of staffing, you have failed,” he explained.
It is exactly these set of hurdles that the owners of several unaccredited schools see as being more of pre-determined obstacles that prevent them from transiting into being ‘legal’ schools.
“The cost of land procurement, construction and payment for the kind of teachers they insist upon is difficult to meet,” a female ‘proprietor’ of one of the FCT’s unaccredited schools said while emphasising that economic challenges, prevailing poverty in the outskirts of Abuja and other challenges necessitate that their business should be allowed to continue.
Mr. Ayuba Dudam argued that the DQA cannot make such compromise.
“It is not just a matter of ‘garbage in, garbage out’ due to the reluctance of such schools to follow standard curriculum; it is just like having quack hospitals and it is deadly.
“Firstly, the right types of infrastructure are not there; the right kind of staff is never there, and; the curriculum is not correct. So, whatever they are doing there is wrong because over time, it is more like destruction instead of construction. Children ought to be taught but instead, they are being cheated,” he said.
Dire as the long-term effect of such schools are, to children’s long-term intellectual development, the FCT Education secretariat’s Department of Quality Assurance is handicapped by two major impediments. While it has a high number of well-qualified staff for the inspection of schools, it barely has vehicles to visit outlying areas outside the city. The rugged rural terrains farther from Abuja appear to be safe havens for operators of fake schools who charge daily or weekly payments to ‘teach’ children of poor parents who are mostly far from being literate enough to realize the difference between right and wrong-headed education.
Also, the DQA lacks adequately effective legal muscle to back its regulatory mandate. Hence, illegal schools that have been closed several times keep coming back. It is no big surprise that whenever the authorities close the shanty schools, their defiant owners agree for a while, only to continue shortly afterwards, knowing that the department supervising them has to take its attention elsewhere, even while contending with severe logistic impediments that include very scanty financial allocations and lack of vehicles needed for inspection tours.
But Dudam who emphasised that officials of DQA in all the department’s seven zonal offices are quietly monitoring operators of hundreds of shanty schools, says all that is now about to change this month as innovative enforcement measures are about to begin. He says that shortage of resources and the need to stop the garbage ‘education’ being fed to children in the outskirts of Abuja city now necessitate measures that include pulling down structures being used for such illegal and sub-standard ‘teaching’
“Having looked left and right and found no way out and not wanting to be a toothless bulldog, we therefore decided that we should do more with the School Closures Committee that was approved by the immediate past minister of the FCT. It comprises all stakeholders/agencies in education in the FCT, the legal department, police, Development Control Department and others are involved.
“So, we decided to look inwards towards finding a lasting solution to this problem by using the Development Control department’s authority. The Department of Development Control is the organ of the FCT Administration that is saddled with the responsibility of monitoring and ensuring compliance with all development guidelines, largely, the Abuja Master Plan and the FCT Regional Development Plan as conceived by the founding fathers before 1979.
“They are part of our Schools Closure Committee and they have authority for effective enforcement of development control (including demolition of all illegal structures
Some of the victims said the demolition was hasty but the government insisted that due notice was served on illegal occupants of school land. BLESSING OLAIFA reports that the recovery left shop owners in pains.
•Scenes of the demolition
The victims of the second phase of the demolition plan were the unwelcome occupants of a Kaduna State school land. In the first phase, in the first 100 days of the Malam Nasir el-Rufai administration, 39 residential buildings were pulled down in the university town, Zaria. That exercise triggered panic and anguish. The government explained that the demolished buildings were illegally built on land allocated to public schools.
The second phase has caused probably just as much grief. The area targeted by the government bulldozers was a mini-printers’ paradise. Mr Ibe Emeka who owned three printing shops there, all of which were pulled down, said there were over 231 stalls to which no less than 1000 people laid claim, each shop having about five workers. Emeka reckoned that millions of naira was lost in the demolition.
What attracted them to the school in the first place? It must be its centrality, being in the Kaduna metropolis. Otherwise, the school, Government Secondary School, Doka, whose land they were accused of occupying illegally, has pretty little to offer. It is decrepit, its space grossly underutilised.
The printers and shop owners have been counting their losses since the demolition. They woke up to see government bulldozers around their shops.
The government had ordered everyone whose buildings were standing on land belonging to public schools to show proof why the buildings should be allowed to stand. Some of those who were afraid of being affected by the exercise went to court, trying to stop the exercise. But the bulldozers went to work again even when the case was pending in court. Some of the shop owners are of the view that they were not informed of the exercise, while some of them claimed to have received extension in their quit notice. The shop owners said they were not aware of any warning issued before the government bulldozer moved to the sight of the school premises.
Government officials insisted that warnings were issued in July. According to them, the warning issued in July covered all parts of the state where government lands have been illegally taken over by unauthorized persons.
The demolition at Government Secondary School, Doka, reportedly caught many residents and owners of shops unawares. The areas affected were Muri Road by Lagos Street, Lokoja Road, Gwari Road and Cameroun Road. All the shops were pulled down by the government bulldozer under the supervision of officials of the Kaduna State Urban Development Agency.
Emeka, whose three shops were demolished, said,
“We have over 1000 people affected by this development with millions of naira being lost on a daily basis. We were surprised beyond words when the government bulldozer moved here with government officials and security agents. It was shocking that a democratic government could act in a way that suggests that the people do not matter, or could one say it was because they have got what they wanted and we have to live with this for the next four years”.
He said that assuming the government had the best of intentions, the way and manner it carried out the demolition showed that the government no longer has feelings for the masses as hundreds of families are affected by the action of the government.
Emeka lamented that what happened showed that government can wake up any day and send people away from their homes and places where they are earning their legitimate income.
When The Nation visited the school, the buildings were old, unkempt and dilapidated. In fact weeds have taken over one of the abandoned staircases of the building. There was damaged school furniture packed inside classrooms, while students take lectures on one end inside the classrooms with cracked blackboards. The school has capacity to take 400-500 students, but the patronage is very poor. It was discovered that the shop owners and printers took advantage of the neglect of the school to help themselves. The school was not protected with perimeter fence to discourage would-be encroachers on the facility. It was gathered that local government officials also colluded with the businessmen to allocate small portions of land surrounding the school to entrepreneurs who are desperate to own shops in the city centre.
One of the entrepreneurs who is a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Malam Mohammed Nasir said the government did not give adequate notice regarding the exercise. According to him, a government that was elected by the people only a few months ago should not have made demolition of buildings and shops its priority.
“People are suffering in this part of the country. There are problems of unemployment, insecurity, armed robbery, kidnapping, etc, and the people that are directly linked with these problems are the youths. Yet a government that had barely spent four months in office is compounding the problems”, he lamented.
Malam Nasir said he was baffled that the el-Rufai government could not look at the far reaching implications of demolition peoples shops and houses at a period the country is plagued with inadequate shelter and poverty. He said it was unfortunate that the governor and his team were concern about the aesthestics of Kaduna city and its environs. He said it was painful that the government failed to carry people along taking into consideration the fact that the masses are also stakeholders in the country’s journey to development.
The Assistant Head Teacher of the school, Mr Leo Danjuma said the demolition of the shops was a welcome development. He said the school authority had complained over the years that the presence of the shops around the schools was making the environment not condusive for learning. But that their complaints were never taken serious.
He said, “We are happy that all the shops were demolished because once Power Holding Company of Nigeria takes light and the printers put on their electricity generators, the next thing we do is to close the school for the day because you cannot teach with the noise pollution of the atmosphere. We have been held hostage by these people for a long time. Thank God, we have a corrective regime and everybody will learn his or her lesson, including local government officials who allegedly allocated the land to them and have been collecting taxes from the shop owners and printers”.
Mr Danjuma called on the state government to expedite action on the complete rehabilitation of the school, saying whenever there is rainfall, the school closes for the day because the roofs are leaking and there are always fears that part of the building structures that have become weak might collapse. He said government should also look into the problems associated with the on-going verification exercise in the state as majority of teachers have not been paid in the past three months. He said morale is low among teachers and the situation is compounded by an unfriendly environment for teaching and learning.
The spokesman of the state government, Samuel Aruwan told journalists that the exercise was not a witch-hunt. He also dismissed insinuations that the state government was insensitive to the plight of the people, insisting that the efforts of the present administration were geared towards recovering all government lands that were illegally acquired. The Nation observed that most of the people affected by the demolition were printers and shops owners dealing in printing materials such as ink, papers, and plates. Others are business centres, and restaurants. Many of them were seen moving out whatever remained of their properties from the sight of the demolished shops. It was gathered that majority of them are non-indigenes and have been in the business for over 20 years.
Aruwan later circulated a statement saying the interim chairman of Kaduna North Local Government Area Alhaji G. A. Kurfi has been suspended and that “local government councils have no role in the land recovery process beyond gathering and forwarding information to the appropriate agencies”
The statement further said, “Recent actions undertaken within Kaduna North local government council under the direction of the interim chairman did not comply with the guidelines for the land recovery exercise.”
One of the printers who gave his name as Elder Oni said the government should have relocated them to printers village with modern facilities to work rather than throw them out of business. Elder Oni who said he is married with four children said government action would have negative impacts on his family as he would have to look for something to do or manage in another person’s shop within the area before he could attend to other pressing family challenges such as payment of school fees.
Elder Oni advised the government not only to consult widely before embarking on such mission, but also to provide alternative shops and accommodation for the people. He called on President Buhari to intervene regarding the approach of Governor El-Rufai to demolition of buildings and shops in Kaduna state. He appealed that government should not worsen their economic predicament with policy that would render them homeless or jobless.
Another opportunity has presented itself for Senate President Senator Bukola Saraki to make amends and respect President Muhammadu Buhari’s wish and that of their party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Towards bringing the desired change and moving the nation forward, President Buhari has submitted the first batch of 21 names of ministerial nominees to the Senate.
The screening of the first batch of nominees is expected to begin at the red-carpet chamber headed by Saraki today.
Two previous wishes of the party did not see the light of day in the 8th Senate.
The first was the ‘James Bond’ style adopted by Saraki to emerge the Senate President in June against the wish of his party.
His party then had wanted Senator Ahmed Lawan to emerge the Senate President.
But with the support of the senators of the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the wish of APC was truncated in June in the Senate, which paved way for PDP to also produce the Deputy Senate President in the person of Ike Ekweremadu.
As if that was not enough, the second wish of the APC was also blocked after Saraki emerged the Senate President.
The APC’s candidates for the principal offices in the Senate did not get the positions.
The Senate, under Saraki, rather settled for other candidates different from the wish of his party.
Reflecting on practices under Saraki’s predecessor, Senator David Mark of the PDP, he did not fail at anytime to protect the interest of his party in such past elections and appointments.
Some ministerial nominees, who were seen as less qualified for the job in some quarters, eventually got the Senate confirmation then.
With due respect to the immediate past Minister of Women Affairs, Zainab Maina, the roles she had previously played in the PDP mainly paved the way for her to be a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In the past two weeks, Saraki, no doubt, has been romancing with the number one and number two citizens of this country.
His presence has been more felt in the last fourteen days in the Presidential Villa than all the past months of his tenure as Senate President.
Nigerians, for the first time, had the honour of seeing Saraki attend an official function of Nigeria’s 55th independence anniversary celebration at the Presidential Villa on 1st of October.
On the same day, he visited the seat of power the second time by having a private meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in his office after the ceremony.
To mend the fences further, Saraki for the first time also led principal officers of the Senate along with Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and House leadership for a meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa last Wednesday night.
It is hoped that all these new moves will be in the short and long term interest of the party in power and the nation.
A test case for Saraki to prove his new love for his party is the screening of ministerial nominees scheduled to start today.
Supporting his party will not necessarily mean working against the progress of his country.
Given that the nominees are qualified for the ministerial job, the ball is now in Saraki’s court to ensure level playing ground for all the nominees and also prevent unnecessary politics on the floor of the Senate to discredit anyone of them.
The focus should be on whether they have what it takes to bring about the desired CHANGE of the APC for the development and benefit of Nigerians.
Saraki cannot afford to fail his party and the nation this time around.
After floods devastated farmlands in Sokoto State, the Aminu Tambuwal administration has revealed its plan to irrigate farms in the dry season in order to mitigate the effects of the disaster and ensure enough food for the state.
The government also said it will distribute subsidised farm inputs such as fertilisers and seedlings to cushion the effect of the floods.
Many parts of the state were flooded, leaving farmers lamenting their losses.
The state government’s latest response to the disaster was made known Governor Tambuwal’s spokesman, Imamý Imam following a visit to the governor by the state’s farmers.
Tambuwal equally said his administration will sink tube-wells for the farmers, build more dams and water silos, noting that irrigation farming requires more water than other inputs.
“This proactive action is aimed at supplementing these hugeý losses to avert food shortages this year and beyond,’’ he stressed.
After expressing their disappointment over the absence of an indigenous ministerial nominee for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), some youths have requested President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that a qualified and committed person is appointed to run the Territory.
The youths under the auspices of Original Inhabitants Youths Empowerment Organisation appealed to President Buhari to choose a truly committed, detribalised and focused Minister of the FCT who will implement the recommendations of various committees set up to address the grievances of the indigenous people.
Their President, Isaac David said, “Appointments into political offices at national level are regulated by the 1999 Constitution section 14 and by the Federal Character Establishment Act of 1997. The Act requires that appointments into political and other offices should be given to candidates who are indigenous to the FCT and the States of Nigeria.”
The FCT indigenes said they have for long expected a leader they can trust and who can make promises and keep them, a man who will build bridges of trust and mutual understanding across the country.
Also the chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Hon. Micah Jiba appealed to President Buhari to consider indigenes of Abuja when appointing his Ministers that will form his cabinet.
Jiba who also is the President of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) made this known following the expectations of Nigerians that his cabinet would be formed in October, since he has submitted some names to the National Assembly.
He said, “We believe that President Buhari is truly for everybody, because he has been tested and trusted as a former Head of States and presently the President of Nigeria. So, I believe that he has everybody in mind and he will carry all of us along, because we the indigenes of Abuja want to contribute our quota in his administration.
“After Katsina and Daura, the next place he can call his home is Abuja and I believe that he has the original inhabitants of the FCT at heart and he will not allow the people to be marginalised in his administration, making sure that he considers the FCT indigenes his ministerial appointments.
“Indigenes of the FCT see the emergence of President Buhari as a divine intervention from God to save the indigenes from the prolonged marginalisation. I believe that President Muhammadu Buhari will live up to the expectations of Nigerians and make everyone experience the good things that have eluded this country for a very long time.
“Nigerians should continue to pray for this administration, so that God will make it to succeed and end the insurgency that is threatening the peace and unity of this country. Also, in doing that, we all should be vigilant and look out for any suspicious movement within our environments and report it to the appropriate security agencies,” he said.
The public service reform in Niger State which pruned the number of permanent secretaries from 54 to 25, has caused a lot of agitation, especially in Niger East Senatorial Zone where the people feel they were, unfairly, the hardest hit.
The people of the zone have now demanded a more inclusive reform to address what they called the lopsided rationalisation in the recent public service reform. They said the redeployment of Permanent Secretaries in the state did not favour the zone, a remarkable departure from the fate of the zone in previous purges.
Despite the protests, the state government has insisted that only technocrats will be appointed into the State Executive Council.
The Chairman of Niger East Peoples’ Forum, Mr. George Koce, a lawyer who represents the elders, said the redistribution of Permanent Secretaries favoured Niger North and Niger South, while neglecting Niger East. Giving the statistics, Koce said before the reform, Niger South Senatorial District had 26 Permanent Secretaries, Niger East 17, Niger North 11 but after the reform, Niger South Senatorial District had 14 Permanent Secretaries, Niger East 4, Niger North 7.
“It is clear that the redistribution of Permanent Secretaries favored Niger North and South against Niger East Senatorial Districts. Evidently, of the 25 Permanent Secretaries retained, only 4 come from Niger East Senatorial District, with one local government area in Niger South Senatorial District having 6.mRecent development in the redeployment of the Permanent Secretaries is unfair, unjust and smacks of brazen impunity. This is totally unacceptable. This smacks a delibrate agenda for the isolation of Niger East Senatorial District from the Niger state APC administration. The goodwill of the people of Niger East Senatorial District should not be taken for granted”, Koce emphasized.
Calling on the state government to use the previous zonal political template used by previous administration to achieve a balanced representation, the spokesman for the Elders appealed that subsequent appointments and deployments should be much more rationally considered.
He said the APC administration in Niger state must be seen to make, effect and sustain positive change based on fair play, justice and equity.
The Chairman who lamented that all steps taken by the zone to make the state government address the issue at stake have yielded no positive response called on the state House of Assembly to address the imbalance in the recent appointment of Permanent Secretaries to safeguard future imbalance. Youths under the aegis of Gbegnu Boknu Yakwo Youth Associationý took their grievances to the Niger state government House in Minna carrying placards with inscriptions like ‘Enough is Enough’, ‘Give us the real change’, ‘We want good change’ and others. The youths who expressed dissatisfaction with the appointments said it was not in line with the principles of equity and fairness among the people of the State calling on Governor Bello to correct the irregularities in the appointment of officers into various positions.
The Chairman of the group, Comrade Danjuma Paiko said, “We, the people of Niger East Senatorial District (Zone B) have not been treated well despite the large number of votes gotten from the zone during the 2015 general elections. We call on the State government to as a matter of urgency consider the plight of Zone B to re-address all these anomalies before the local government elections.”
Paiko called on the governor to reverse the apparent lopsided rationalisation.
The government has maintained its stand that only technocrats would be appointed as the government was looking for people who will deliver quality service to the people.
The Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Dr. Ibraheem Dooba said, “In terms of representation, everybody will be well represented but some appointments are done to de-emphasise politics, especially that of the SSG. Only technocrats will be appointed,” he added.
