The Nation Newspaper

Tag: comply

  • Comply with global standards, group urges exporters

    The Institute of Export Operations and Management Nigeria (IEOM) has advised agro   exporters to comply with global norms for quality and standards or lose their export market share to other countries.

    It said it was important to adopt best standards for goods and services because it is critical to promote agro exports and enhance participation of domestic industry into global value chains.

    Its Executive Secretary/CEO, Mr. Ofon Udofia, said situations are now prevalent in United States and Europe, where Nigerian producers are unable to meet mandatory obligations for standards, including the sanitary and phyto-sanitary.

    Also, agro exports suffer high rejection on account of pesticide residues, stating that there was need to fix processes.

    While there is a strong commitment from the government to promote exports of fresh and processed food products, and a strong willingness on part of the exporters and farmers to export, of late, he noted that Nigeria exports of food products are facing rejections and bans in key markets on grounds of lack of compliance with food safety and health standards.

    Produce such as beans have faced rejections and even bans in markets such as EU, due to issues such as presence of higher than approved levels of chemical residues, and pest and bacterial infestation.

    He said formulation of sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures are very important as Nigeria seeks more markets, adding that importing countries are increasing food safety standards which they expect exporters to respond more appropriately and efficiently to them.

    He insisted on a wide range of policy directions such as standard settings, conformity assessment, accreditation, SPS and technical regulations as well as awareness building, training and education.

    According to him, agric value chains should be drivers of standards, and participation in activities which requires uniform standards worldwide.

    He added that Nigeria needed to strengthen institutions and procedures to meet safety standards for exports to the EU, one of its main trading partners.

    Further, with growing consciousness about food safety and health standards even in the domestic market, he  stressed  that Nigeria  needs to focus on food safety and nutritious diet for its own consumers and this will enable to upgrade food safety and health standards from farm to the market.

  • UI, others comply

    Most of the universittes monitord by our reporters have complied with the strike call.

    The ASUU University of Ibadan chapter has inaugurated a monitoring committee to ensure effective prosecution of the strike.

    The committee headed by Prof. Gbenga Olujide, was empowered to ensure that no member of the union engaged in sabotage.

    ASUU chpter Chairman Dr Deji Omole told a congress that ASUU was pushed to the wall before taking the painful decision to embark on the strike after giving government sufficient time to attend to her demands without positive results.

    The university of Abuja will hold a meeting today to join  the strike

  • Dogara to Presidency: do more to comply with National Assembly’s resolutions

    Dogara to Presidency: do more to comply with National Assembly’s resolutions

    House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara yesterday described alleged apathy by the Executive to the resolutions of the National Assembly as not encouraging.

    He asked the Presidency to see the legislature as partner and implement the decisions of the lawmakers.

    He, however, said the All Progressives Congress (APC)-government has not failed Nigerians.

    The Speaker, who made the observations at an interactive session with journalists in Abuja, debunked insinuations that he was on political exile in the Federal Capital Territory because of a face-off with Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar.

    Dogara said the disagreement with the governor was not personal, but based on the fact that the governor has not lived up to his electoral promises.

    He said: “As to whether we are satisfied with the level of compliance with our resolutions, the answer is no. That is why in the last House, we established a committee known as the Committee on Legislative Compliance and the essence of that committee is to seek to compel compliance with resolutions of the legislature and the committee is working.

    “They have a record of the resolutions that have been complied with and resolutions that have not been complied with. And for those that have not complied with the resolutions of the National Assembly, what we are trying to do is to give the committee more bite.

    “So, it’s something we are aware of and doing everything possible to ensure that there is more compliance with the resolutions of the National Assembly through the instrumentality of that committee.

    “Also, I won’t call the role of the House of Representatives’ mediation as such, but I said our principle is cooperation with the Senate so that together, we can achieve more cooperation with the Executive. Where we will disagree, we will disagree. But in most areas, we should look for ways of cooperating more than fight.”

    Dogara offered an advice on how best to resolve issues that might come up between the two arms.

    He added: “We must always meet, talk to each other, reduce areas of conflict and where there are conflicts, we will overcome them.

    “Like I said, however, there will always be conflicts. But what distinguishes us as leaders is whether we overcome those conflicts or we are overcome by those conflicts, and that is what we cannot allow.

    “So, we try to do that. The House will go to any length, talk to anybody in the Senate, in the Executive, so we can forge an atmosphere that is convenient to work with. So, it’s part of the work we do as leaders and as institutions of government, we should encourage more consultations, more dialogues, especially on issues.”

    Regarding the performance of the APC, Dogara said the government has not failed Nigerians.

    He said: “I wouldn’t say that we (APC government) have disappointed Nigerians. For you to come to that kind of conclusion, you’d have to take certain factors into consideration.

    “Now what was it that we met on ground? What is it that we have improved upon as a government? And what is it that we are seeking to do? I guess it is after looking at the whole gamut of these issues that you’ll be able to arrive at the decision whether we have disappointed Nigerians or not.

    “You can’t talk of disappointment in a nature that is a value judgment, because it depends on the expectation. It’s only having an expectation that you can be disappointed. For me, I can say that a lot has been achieved, even though unsung in most cases. In the context of our society, people want to see first class roads and hospitals. They want to see the tangibles, but nobody places value on the intangibles.

    “For us that come from the Northeast, even some of us that live and work in Abuja, remember how dire this issue of terrorism was. We were all living on the throes of violence. The Police Headquarters here was bombed, United Nations (UN) Mission here in Abuja was bombed, bombs exploded in Kaduna, Kano, Jos, in Nyanya as well. There was even threat of this mayhem being exported to the Southwest and other regions of this country. If you look at it, we have exited from that.”

  • 700 MDAs comply as TSA takes off

    Not less than 700 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government have complied with the directive on Treasury Single Account (TSA).

    By the policy, all MDAs are expected to keep a single account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The deadline for compliance expired last night but it was learnt that some agencies were having difficulties implementing the guidelines.

    Investigation revealed that the implementation guidelines for the TSA has been made available with MDAs instructed to access the document, but still don’t know where they stand on certain issues.

    One of the challenges facing MDAs with regular inflow and outflow “is the difficulty of junketing to the CBN every time to make lodgments or withdrawal of cash.”

    When contacted on the level of compliance by MDAs, spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) Mrs Kene Offie, told The Nation that all MDAs had till mid night (yesterday) for full compliance with the presidential directive and that the OAGF was working to tidy up its own end before the expiration of the deadline pleading: “people should give us some time to tidy things up”.

    On the challenges that some MDAs claim to be facing in complying with the directive. She declined to comment.

    Another official of the OAGF who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “all MDAs were expected to contribute to the final document of the implementation guidelines and already over 700 MDAs have complied with the directive to migrate to the TSA.” The official said there is a strong possibility that the implementation guideline will be made public soon.

    At the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) which generates revenue through its licensing activities, its Head of Media and Strategy Bisi Kazeem, said: “The government’s directive on TSA  has been complied with. The transition was very smooth.”

    However, bankers in Abuja were yesterday jittery and “waiting for clarification” from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on how to proceed today after expiration of deadline. A banker told The Nation that they were worried because they had not heard from the CBN and what the implication of the migration to the TSA would be for the banks.

     

  • Tankers, trucks comply with Lagos directive, move out of Apapa

    Tankers, trucks comply with Lagos directive, move out of Apapa

    Respite came for residents of Apapa who, for the past five weeks, had been groaning under the traffic nightmare caused by the indiscriminate parking of petroleum tankers and container trailers as the  motors have been moved away.

    The Lagos State Government had on Wednesday served the drivers a 48-hour ultimatum to move all trucks and tankers off from the Apapa Road. The deadline expired yesterday.

    Checks yesterday evening showed that 80 per cent of the vehicles have been moved out.

    There was easy flow of traffic approaching Apapa from Mile 2, as the traffic jam which was usually encountered from Alaba through Coconut, Tin Can and Liverpool has almost disappeared.

    Same goes for approaching Apapa from Iponri/Costain through the Ijora Causeway.

    The National Vice Chairman (Lagos zone) of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), Mr. Solomon Kilanko, said his members had been complying since Thursday.

    He said: “As drivers, we have informed the transport owners of the directive by the Lagos State government. Yesterday (Thursday), our leadership met with the national leadership of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), and we both agreed all our tankers must be moved out of Lagos.

    “We have started that and by this evening (yesterday), 80 per cent of our trucks are off the road. I believe by Sunday, the whole place would have been cleaned up and the remaining would be left with depot owners. We have also discussed with the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DEPPMAN) to inform us once the product is available for us to come and lift.”

    He said they had equally sent a circular to other chapters of the union for their members to stay away from Lagos for now since there’s no fuel to lift.

    On his part, the NARTO’s state Chairman, Mr Stephen Okafor, said all trucks belonging to his members would be moved out of the road by Sunday.

    He said any one caught by Sunday on the road “is on his own as everyone has been told to move out of the state”.

    Though the head of the Lagos State Task Force, Bayo Sulaiman, was not available for comments, the Lagos State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Hyginus Omeje, confirmed that the trailers had been moved out and sanity had returned to most places at Apapa.

    He said reports reaching him showed “most truck drivers have complied with the directive.”

    He said the security agencies would go round the area today to monitor compliance and further instruct any recalcitrant driver to move before Sunday.

     

     

  • Lagos to MAN: Comply with industries’ regulations

    Lagos to MAN: Comply with industries’ regulations

    The Lagos State Government has called on manufacturers to comply with the state’s industrial and environmental regulations.

    The General Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Rasheed A. Shabi made the appeal when he visited the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) as part of his sensitisation campaign on the need to adhere to the state’s industrial and environmental rules.

    He appealed to the leadership of the Association to impress it on all its members to embrace the state’s Industrial and Environmental Regulations, saying the Agency will be looking to see industries abide with existing regulations this year.

    Shabi said for this to be possible, MAN, as the umbrella body of all manufacturers, must be at the vanguard of helping to enforce appropriate practices on its members.

    The LASEPA Chief during the parley, reeled out some of the Agency’s expectation on Industrial and Environmental Regulation to include, free pollution emission; treatment of water waste discharge (effluent); and prompt payment of environmental charges.

    Others are patronage of the Agency’s accredited consultants; greening of the environment and convocation of environmental summit, earlier agreed to, stressing that the Agency is not out to make revenue, rather it is content at being a regulator of the state environment.

    He said the Agency, would decentralise its functions, as it would have officers in the three Senatorial Districts to oversee industrial and environmental compliance. He thus solicited the Association’s support in having a successful venture.

    Responding, MAN’s acting Director-General Mr. Rasheed Adegbenro, said the Association is gladdened by the Agency’s visit, assuring the government of his members’ readiness to partner LASEPA to successfully achieve its objectives.

    He told the gathering that MAN does advocate for self regulation from its members so as to make the job easier, assuring that LASEPA can count on MAN as a partners in progress.

     

  • Varsities urged to comply with NUC guidelines

    Varsities urged to comply with NUC guidelines

    The Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, (NUC), Prof Julius Okojie has called on Senates of Nigerian universities to ensure adequate compliance with all guidelines from NUC for the establishment of programmes and the establishment of department.

    He said the days of running programmes in unapproved centres without qualified academics are gone.

    “Departments and programmes should not be mounted as a means of creating empires for ourselves in the system. I have always warned my colleagues in the university that if we cannot regulate ourselves then we will leave our Senate to be regulated by politicians,” he added.

    Delivering the 18th convocation lecture of the Lagos State University (LASU) entitled: Quality Assurance and the Challenges of Mandate Delivery in Nigerian Universities, Okojie said some of the challenges affecting the delivery of quality mandate in Nigeria include funding, which affects the quality of teaching, learning and research facilities. He said the quantity and quality of learning resources to be provided to make a conducive environment is dependent of the volume of financial resource made available to the institution.

    Represented by Prof Adebisi Balogun, former VC of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Okojie said other problems are dilapidated physical infrastructure, inadequate manpower, student enrolment and access, leadership and governance.

    Defining quality assurance as the policies, systems, strategies and resources used by the institution to certify that its quality requirement and standards are being met, he said the job of a QA agency is to see that standards processes and policies are in place and carried out.

    Saying that some universities have developed their master plan and strategic plan with identified goals and action plan for 25 years, he asked if LASU has one.

    For efficient service delivery, he said the NUC encourages universities to have a SERVICOM unit, continually develop a system that seeks to improve the provision of service with emphasis on future results, develop statistical tools to understand sub-systems, uncover problems and identify processes for further improvement, and set goals for the measurement of results that will prevent future failures.