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  • ActionAid Nigeria gets new board executives

    ActionAid Nigeria gets new board executives

    ActionAid Nigeria has announced Rabi Isma as the new Chairperson of its Board of Directors. 

    She succeeds Dr. Jummai Umar-Ajijola, who has held the position since 2018.

    Others are Dr. Macjohn Nwaobiala (Vice Chairman) and Oladele Afolabi (Treasurer).

    They are expected to bring new insights and strengthen the governance of ActionAid Nigeria as it continues its vital work in ending poverty and advocating for social justice.

    Outgoing chair Dr. Umar-Ajijola, at the General Assembly meeting in Abuja, said: “Today, I pass the baton to the next chair with confidence. I know that the values and principles that have guided us will continue to be the bedrock of ActionAid.”

    Rabi Isma is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in management, public administration, marketing, corporate governance, finance, and project management. 

    She holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, OSun State, a Post-graduate Diploma from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, and Master’s degrees from the University of Wales and the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Rabi is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School.

    Read Also: ActionAid Nigeria getsnew board executive

    Isma is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (UK), and a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (Nigeria), the Society for Human Resource Management (USA), and the Institute of Directors.

    Her professional journey includes senior roles at AIKI Consulting Limited, Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services (Etisalat Nigeria), the British Council, and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. Rabi also served as a Special Adviser to the Governor of Kano State.

    She currently serves on the Boards of Stanbic IBTC Bank, the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, ActionAid Nigeria, and a mentor for WIMBiz Programmes. She is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of BusinessDay and the National Executive Council of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF). Previously, she was on the board of LEAP Africa, a youth-focused organisation dedicated to developing transformative leaders for Africa.

    Nwaobiala has extensive expertise in human, material, and financial stewardship, he excels in public sector administration and policy advisory, leveraging a strong network and communication skills to advance the welfare of society’s vulnerable groups.

    Afolabi is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria with extensive experience across both private and public sectors. A published author, he is dedicated to operational excellence and enhancing organisational efficiency.

    ActionAid Nigeria, a social justice non-governmental organisation working to eradicate poverty and all forms of injustice in Nigeria.

  • ActionAid Nigeria getsnew board executive

    ActionAid Nigeria getsnew board executive

    ActionAid Nigeria Saturday  has announced Rabi Isma as the new Chairperson of its Board of Directors.

    Isma succeeds Dr. Jummai Umar-Ajijola, who has held the position since 2018.

    The election of the new board members was announced in a statement signed by ActionAid Communications Coordinator, Oluwakemi Akinremi-Segun.

    Rabi Isma is a highly accomplished professional with extensive experience in management, public administration, marketing, corporate governance, finance, and project management.

    She holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics from Obafemi Awolowo University, a postgraduate diploma from Ahmadu Bello University, and a Master’s degrees from the University of Wales and the University of Birmingham. Rabi is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School.

    Read Also: ActionAid launches good governance forum

    In addition to her impressive academic background, Rabi Isma is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (UK) and a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (Nigeria), the Society for Human Resource Management (USA), and the Institute of Directors. Her professional journey includes senior roles at AIKI Consulting Limited, Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services (Etisalat Nigeria), the British Council, and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. Rabi also served as a Special Adviser to the Governor of Kano State.

    Rabi Isma currently serves on the Boards of Stanbic IBTC Bank, the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, ActionAid Nigeria, and is a mentor for WIMBiz Programmes. She is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of BusinessDay and the National Executive Council of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF). Previously, she was on the board of LEAP Africa, a youth-focused organisation dedicated to developing transformative leaders for Africa.

    Joining the leadership team is Dr. Macjohn Onyekwere Nwaobiala, who brings a wealth of experience as Vice Chair. With extensive expertise in human, material, and financial stewardship, he excels in public sector administration and policy advisory, leveraging a strong network and communication skills to advance the welfare of society’s vulnerable groups.

    Also joining is Oladele Afolabi, the new Board Treasurer, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria with extensive experience across both private and public sectors. A published author, he is dedicated to operational excellence and enhancing organisational efficiency.

    The new board, according to ActionAid is expected to bring new insight and vigour to ActionAid work in Nigeria.

    “Their elections are expected to bring new insights and strengthen the governance of ActionAid Nigeria as it continues its vital work in ending poverty and advocating for social justice,” Akinremi-Segun

  • ActionAid seeks more collaborations

    ActionAid seeks more collaborations

    ActionAid Nigeria has reiterated the need for social movements to collaborate for greater efficiency in social justice and equality.

    The agency took leaders of social movements on a workshop on importance of collaboration, and ways to ensure survival of social movements.

    Social Mobilisation Manager, Seun Akioye, described ActionAid as ‘a social justice organisation, which believes social justice can end poverty’.

    He said: “In the last 10 years, our plan has been on advocacy and awareness to provide infrastructure. We built hospitals, schools, and provided water and security; we have taken over the role of government.

    Read Also: ActionAid, others lift households affected by flood in Bayelsa State

    “And while we continue to advocate, we believe the coming together of Nigerians, to hold the government and public officials accountable, is the way to go. We believe we need to harness the power in collective, the power in people. We need to harness that power and make it work. That is the reason for this workshop.

    “In the next 10 years, we plan to lift five million out of poverty through collective mobilisation. We will give social movements training and technical assistance so we can make demands on government.

    “We believe our voice will be loud enough to send a message to officials to do right.”

    Akioye noted though human needs were insatiable, it was necessary and important to put policy makers on their toes.

    Lagos State Director of TakeitBack Movement, Sanya Olujuwon, described the training as ‘timely’. He stressed collaboration among social movements to build power to address systemic injustice.

  • Fed govt launches mobile app to boost ease of doing business

    The Federal Government through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) on Thursday launched a new Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Mobile App, Nigeria’s official public service feedback and complaints platform for business environment reforms.

    The web-based portal or platform will enable the PEBEC office resolve issues and complaints encountered by private sector operators with government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) within 72 hours of lodging same.

    President Muhammadu Buhari established thee PEBEC in July 2016 with the aim of eliminating the delays and restrictions that come with doing business in Nigeria thereby, making the country a place to start and grow a business.

    On May 18, 2017, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, signed the first executive order (EO1) to promote transparency and efficiency in the business environment. It was aimed at removing the hurdles that stand in the way of a bigger and more productive private sector.

    READ ALSO: Fed Govt launches school enrolment campaign

    The launch of the (EoDB) Mobile App in Lagos, on Thursday, was therefore, a step forward in the Federal Government’s resolve to make the business environment conducive and also boost domestic and foreign investments.

    At the unveiling of the web-based application, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, explained that while the EO1 was all on transparency and efficiency, the app is the other side of the coin, where the private

    sector gets to see what is going on from their end.

    She described the EoDB Mobile App as revolutionary, pointing out that Nigeria has never walked down this road before. “Collaboration has been the cornerstone of this initiative,” she said, adding that PEBEC engaged extensively with various stakeholders.

    While noting that the initiative was aimed at making sure that public and civil servants adhere to Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Oduwole said the PEBEC has spent a lot of time building capacity to ensure that feedbacks and complaints from the private sector are resolved within the 72 hours approved by the president. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, said the launch of the web-based app was in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to being a business enabler and facilitator. “It’s about energizing businesses and making the business environment conducive,” he said.

    He said the app, which is now available for download, is already on Goodle Store, while efforts are being made to also put it on Apple Play Store. He also assured that complaints made on the new app will be quickly resolved, urging users to download it on their mobile

    phones. The Director General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf, described the app as “A game changer and one of the best things to happen to this country.”

    He said although, the PEBEC office has been doing a lot, it’s still work in progress. “There is still a whole lot more to be done, despite a few progresses that have been made,” he said.

    Yusuf, who spoke during a panel discussion to discuss issues bordering on transparency and efficiency of service delivery in Nigeria, observed, for instance, that there is need for the World Bank to review the indicators for composition of the EoDB Index to reflect the reality of each country.

    He said countries vary in their peculiarities and challenges; that some of the indicators in the EoDB composition do not properly capture the critical variables in the Nigerian environment such as power, transportation and security.

    “We need to address all these other variables that are not on the list of the EoDB parameters,”

    Yusuf said, pointed out, for instance, that the present indicators are about construction permit, ease of starting business, credit, reforms, trading across borders, among others.

    The launch of the Mobile App was the high point of the Third Regulatory Convention organised by The Convention on Business Integrity/The Integrity Organisation in collaboration with ActionAid, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, LCCI and Business Day Newspapers.

    It was held in partnership with the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES) with the theme “Improving Transparency and Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.”

  • ActionAid to youths: shun electoral violence

    ActionAid Nigeria has urged youths to desist from  violence in the forthcoming election.

    It gave the advice at a five-day training held at Top Rank Hotel, Abuja.

    The event was aimed at educating youths on electoral violence, transparency, accountability and peace building.

    The training facilitator, Daniel Ankrah, said: “The youths should change the nomenclature of violence to peace, say no to vote buying, violent engagements and help the process with actions that will bring about sanctity.”

    He stated that youths should understand that Nigeria is blessed  with natural resources.

    “To achieve lasting peace in our country, it is important we all work together to condemn the violence that has claimed innocent lives in the country. We must break the cycle of impunity that fuels grievances on all sides, and so we must all call for effective law enforcement to arrest and prosecute criminal actors.

    “The youth must work together towards addressing the long-term drivers of conflict and tension across Nigeria. We advocate peace building by speaking out for peace. We can’t keep quiet and expect peace to reign. For all of us and that include young and old, our words matter. Our actions matter and we can all make a difference,” he added.

    According to him, youths have been tipped to be the leaders of tomorrow, yet tomorrow never see the light of today.

    Ankrah added: “What we have seen is recycling of leaders. It is worrisome to see that lives and properties are lost before, during and after the elections.’’

     

  • Increase tax revenue to fund education, Actionaid tasks govt

    The Country Director, Actionaid Nigeria, Mrs Ene Obi has urged federal and state governments to take decisive steps to increase the funds allocated to the education sector in order to improve the quality of education.

    Obi said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria  on Monday in Lagos on the sidelines of a workshop on Breaking Barriers for Girl’s Education.

    She tasked the governments to break the barriers to quality public education by improving tax revenue, particularly corporate tax, as a way of providing sustainable funding to the sector.

    She listed some of the barriers to public primary education as poor school infrastructure, violence and discrimination, failure to recruit and retain good quality teachers among others.

    “If states commit to finding resources to increase the size of their education budget for globally agreed targets, all children including the poorest and most marginalised will enjoy free, quality public education,” Obi said.

    Obi revealed that Actionaid had received 6.2 million dollars grant from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) to influence policy making and initiatives to increase the size and share of education budget.
    In addition, she said the project aimed at ensuring the public education system became more responsive to the needs of girls and marginalised children.

    NAN reports that about 10.5 million children are out of school in Nigeria, with the country investing only about seven per cent of its budget on education, short of the UNESCO 20 per cent benchmark.

    Experts observe that there is a link between the crumbling education service and evasion of tax by local and multinational companies in Nigeria.

    They note that money accruing from a proper tax regime can be useful in addressing infrastructure deficit in Nigeria’s education sector.

    Statistics obtained from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) show that out of the 450,000 limited liability companies operating in Nigeria, no fewer than 125,000 representing 27.7 per cent pay any form of taxes.

    Dr Charles Nwaobia, an education stakeholder, observed that the Education Tax Act indicated that government intended to have a sustainable education system funded through tax.

    He said the tax imposed by the act was meant to fund the federal, states and local government educational institutions, including primary and secondary schools.

    “Two per cent shall be charged on the assessable profit of a company registered in Nigeria.

    “The Federal Board of Inland Revenue shall assess and collect from a company the tax imposed by this act.

    “Accordingly, the higher education shall receive 50 per cent, primary education 30 per cent; and secondary education shall receive 20 per cent of the total tax collected in any one year,” Nwaobia said, citing a portion of the act.

    Nwaobia said the number of companies that were taxed would determine the amount of money put into the education system.

  • ActionAid calls on all stakeholders to end inequality in Nigeria

    ActionAid calls on all stakeholders to end inequality in Nigeria

    An international nongovernmental organization, ActionAid, has called on all stakeholders to put measures in place to end challenges of inequality in Nigeria.

    Acting Country Director of the NGO, Mrs Funmilayo Oyefusi, made the call at a one-day dialogue on Inequality in Nigeria in Abuja, in Thursday. 

    She said Nigerians cannot wait for government at all levels to change their lives, saying rising inequality is an injustice to the world.

    Mrs. Oyefusi noted that inequality was promoted as a result of so much power in the elite, adding that there was need to say no to greed from a selected few.

    She said it was important for Nigeria to join the global audience to see that answers come from the elite, contending that they are part of those expanding inequality.

    Mrs. Oyefusi said: “The way to tackle inequality is to strengthen the power of you and I, the women, the young people, those living with disabilities, the power to fight inequality lies in our hands.”

    Speaking on the recently launched strategy, ‘Social Justice to End Poverty 2018-2023,’ the country director said it was a response to the deepening inequality of power, wealth, injustice and poverty in Nigeria.

    She added that the strategy would guide the organisation’s work in addressing injustice, exclusion, inequality, and its effect on Nigerians.

    She, however, called on all citizens to insist on good governance so as to reduce increasing gaps between the rich and the poor.

    The interim country director expressed hope that this would bring about access to economic opportunities, quality of life and improved development.

    Mr Babatunde Oluajo, Anti-corruption Advisor, Integrity Organisation, said citizens must begin to see that corruption affects the foundation of the society.

    Oluajo maintained that all citizens have a duty to be active toward holding government accountable.

    He said diversion of funds was promoting corruption and underdevelopment, thereby enhancing inequality and widening gap between the rich and the poor.

    “Corruption happens everyday, people must begin to see that not talking about corruption is a disservice; we must start engaging ourselves on how to move Nigeria forward,” he said. 

    According to a recently released report by Oxfam international, only one per cent of the world’s richest people hold 99 per cent of the global wealth.

    The report stressing the need for national governments to close the inequality gaps by reducing extreme wealth among the rich.

  • Actionaid moves to end herdsmen attacks

    Actionaid has developed a strategy to end incessant clash between Fulani herdsmen and residents of Okpakpata, with leaders of both parties reaching an agreement to that effect.

    The agreement spells out ways by which farmers and herdsmen can live and work together. The community designated a pathway for herds, but the matter of straying cattle into farmlands will be handled by the Community Action Response Team (CART).

    This community conflict prevention and resolution system is designed to neutralise tendencies of self-help in times of crisis.

    A popular herds businessman in Kogi State, hailed  the peace accord.

    “I am happy because we agreed to end the violent attacks in our communities. I have lost cows, my brothers and sisters. I have lost boys who take the cows around but now we need to forget the past and make peace,” he said.

    Leader of the Okpakpata community Simon Ikani said: “We have suffered so much in this crisis, we have lost so many people but we are glad that the Fulani agreed to the terms of the agreement. We pray that all the parties will abide by the agreement and live together in peace.”

    Actionaid’s Human Security in Conflict and Emergency Manager Gbenro Olajuyigbe said: “Our core objective for each community is to integrate a system and structure for preventing and resolving conflicts. We have seen it work in Kogi State, it can also work in other states with similar kind of conflicts.”

  • Why CBN borrowers’ scheme may not outlive current administration – Action aid 

    Why CBN borrowers’ scheme may not outlive current administration – Action aid 

    An international organisation, Actionaid has expressed concerns on sustainability of the Anchor Borrowers Programne (ABP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) aimed to provide credit facilities for rural farmers.

    The Non-Governmental Organisation, during public unveiling of an assessment report of government expenditure to farmers, held in Abuja, he disclosed that small holder farmers still lack access to the loan support.

    ActionAID Nigeria Food and Agriculture Programme Advisor, Azubike Nwokoye said the Federal Government has remained major funder of the scheme due to little contribution from the formal banking sector.

    He explained that small holder farmers, largely made up of women were largely sidelined due to stringent requirements needed to access the credit.

    In the scorecard report, Nwokoye said a cumulative of 270,545 farmers got loan support from the Agriculture Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) from 2012 to 2016.

    The ABP was designed for small holder farmers across the country to provide credit, ready market or buyers, improved technologies as well as inputs such as extension services and technical supports. It is expected to create 1 million jobs in five years.

    “Currently, the government is heavily funding the ABP of the CBN with little contribution from the formal banking sector, thus sustainability is questionable.

    “The ABP program targets few strategic commodities which means many small holder farmers are still excluded.

    “Apart from what stakeholders hear over the radio, on television and read on the pages of print and electronic media, not much information can be accessed for analytical reasoning and assessment of the ABP’s activities and performance,” he said.

    The report further indicated that, “Smallholder farmers’ access to agricultural credit is biased for the male farmer. Even though, it is a known fact smallholder farmers in Nigeria are mostly women, their access to agricultural credit remains limits.”

    “Credit to small holder farmers have not imbibed the habit of banking because they only open accounts with banks when it is required of them to do so for credit transactions; besides the formal banking system is far from their communities,” he added.

    He recommended small holder farmers inclusion during programme initiation, especially interventions such as credit.

    The National Publicity Secretary of Women Farmers of Nigeria, Mrs. Olaleye Janeth raised the issue of marginalization in accessing the credit.

    She expressed worry on hijack of the credit by political farmers and stringent loan collaterals before they could access the credit support.

    However, Mrs. Janeth appealed to the federal government to restrategise the project implementation to ensure the support get to real farmers.

  • Nigeria still on the brink of famine – Actionaid

    Nigeria still on the brink of famine – Actionaid

    Actionaid warned on Tuesday that Nigeria is still on the brink of famine except Federal Government provides sustainable solution to communal crisis in the country.

    The agency also urged to address the farmers/herdsmen conflict in some parts of the country.

    The Country Director of ActionAid, Ojobo Atuluku, gave the warning at an event organized by the Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON) in Abuja.

    Though the federal government recently set up a committee to resolve the crisis and also commenced domestication of the Malabo Declaration, Atuluku said the north east is not the only region in the country facing security challenges.

    The Malabo Declaration seeks to reduce poverty rate through agriculture-led economic growth by 2025.

    The event was attended by women farmers from different parts of the country who demanded safety and inclusion of smallholder farmers in decision making regarding the nation’s agriculture and food security efforts.

    Atuluku said: “The conflict is there. Food has been affected; the conflict is not only in the northeast but among farmers and herdsmen across the country. So until government is able to resolve that, we will not achieve food security target we are aiming by 2025.

    “Targets are set, targets help us move towards the goals we set but if things don’t change we will not achieve it. It is another milestone that government has committed to. At a point of their commitment, citizens are happy but then things begin to drag.”

    Atuluku, who lauded efforts of the federal government towards repositioning the agriculture sector, said beyond conflicts and communal clashes, climate change impacts also affect the sector.

    “No matter the positive policies government has in place; it will not see the light of the day until we tackle these issues directly,” she added.