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Tag: deployment

  • NAF explains deployment of sorties

    NAF explains deployment of sorties

    The Nigeria Air Force (NAF) said yesterday that it had not deployed 100 aircraft in the search for the abducted Dapchi schoolgirls.

    Its spokesman Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Olatokunbo Adesanya said in a statement that the number of sorties conducted by NAF while searching for the abducted girls does not “equate the number of aircraft deployed”.

    He said: “The attention of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has been drawn to a statement being circulated to the effect that 100 NAF aircraft had been deployed in search of the missing Dapchi girls.

    “While paying a courtesy call on the Executive Governor of Yobe State, in company of the Chief of the Air Staff, on 27 February 2018, “the National Security Adviser, Mohammed Monguno, indeed spoke about the number of sorties so far conducted by NAF aircraft in the course of searching for the missing girls within a stated period.

    “Obviously, the number of sorties does not equate the number of aircraft deployed,” he said.

    During his visit to Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam on Tuesday, NSA Babagana Munguno, said 20 aircraft already deployed had done 200 hours of sorties.

  • Minister orders relocation of security chief, deployment in schools

    Minister orders relocation of security chief, deployment in schools

    Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Dambazau yesterday directed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) boss Abdullahi Gana to relocate to the Northeast and liaise with the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole and  governors of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states.

    Dambazau said they should also ensure the deployment of their personnel in all schools in the liberated areas.

    The minister’s spokesman, Ehisienmen Osaigbovo, said the directive became necessary to forestall a re-occurrence of attacks on innocent school children.

    He said the government was making efforts at rescuing the Dapchi schoolgirls and other Boko Haram captives, with the commencement of 24 hours air surveillance by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).

    The minister also condemned recent clashes that resulted in loss of lives and property in Kajuru Local Government Areas of Kaduna State and urged security operatives to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to justice.

    Also yesterday, Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan urged parents not to withdraw their girls from schools as a result of the abduction.

    Lawan told reporters in Damaturu that parents needed to trust that the government was doing everything to secure all schools for a conducive learning environment.

    Acccording to him, a state like Yobe needed to double its efforts to encourage more of girl-child education both in western and Islamic education.

    “Parents should continue to trust us that we mean business.  That we are always thinking of how to ensure   that there is security for the schools, especially in states like ours where girl-child education needs to be promoted and encouraged.  We  have to do a lot more to secure the  schools,  especially the girls’ schools, so that parents have some comfort and sense of satisfaction that their children are properly protected. They shouldn’t withdraw their children from school or become discouraged and start developing lukewarm attitude towards education. Our girls need to be educated both in Islamic and western education. In fact, it’s a challenge for us to encourage these girls to be in school,” Lawan said.

    Yobe State Commissioner for Education Mohammed Alamin accused the media of sowing fear in the minds of parents with their reports on the Dapchi attack.

    Mohammed Lamin was quoted as saying in an  interview with BBC Hausa Service: “You, the media people, are responsible for this fear. You are scaring the parents with your reports; that is why some of them are even thinking of not sending their children to school again, not even about relocating them to other places.”

    The Senate leader gave a pass mark on the response of the Federal Government so far in trying to rescue the girls, but faulted the security arrangement at Dapchi before the attack.

    ”I want to say that I am satisfied with the attention given at the moment, but I wasn’t  satisfied with the security arrangement before the incident. After the Chibok girls’ abduction where over 200 girls were abducted and we are still struggling  to get some of them back, we should have had a better security arrangement around our schools especially the girls schools.

    “The President responded promptly and gave leadership by asking the military to move in and, of course, by sending a high-powered  delegation to the state.

  • IBB frightened by deployment of cash to ‘buy’ PDP chair

    IBB frightened by deployment of cash to ‘buy’ PDP chair

    Former military President Ibrahim Babangida yesterday warned against monetary inducement of delegates at Saturday’s Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) Convention.

    He urged delegates to learn from the defeat of the party in the 2015 election.

    Babangida’s intervention has heightened the tempo of the intrigues ahead of the election of national chairman.

    Gen. Babangida, in a statement through his media adviser Prince Kassim Afegbua, said: “In the countdown to the convention; as founding fathers and stakeholders, we need to collectively assure Nigerians and our teeming members that we have indeed learnt our bitter lessons.

    “ Following the defeat of the party in the 2015 election, it is incumbent upon us as leaders and stakeholders to use the opportunity of the convention to soberly reflect on the challenges confronting us, identify our flaws and seek plausible ways to correct them in order to come out stronger in subsequent elections.

    “An elective convention presents, as it were, a rare opportunity and veritable platform to elect in a holistic manner a credible, tested, down-to-earth and truly urbane candidate with enough stamina, distinguished character and national acceptability who is driven by incurable optimism and passion for a united Nigeria.”

    Giving the attributes he felt the chairman should possess, Gen. Babangida said: “At this point of our political history as a party, we need a National Chairman who is driven by uncommon initiatives, creativity in ideas and a rich content of character to lead and stabilise the party in line with the laudable ideals of the founding fathers of the party.

    “Such an individual must possess national recognition to be able to galvanise political opportunities and transform them into tangible outcomes in our democratic engagements.

    “When we were conceptualising the idea of the PDP at formation, we had in mind a party that offers platform for all Nigerians in their pursuit of legitimate political aspirations.

    “ In any democratic engagement, the people decide the outcome of elections through popular and inclusive participation.

    “The monetisation of our electoral process is disturbingly eroding that power which should ordinarily reside in the people.

    “In the last few days, I get frightened by the monetary consideration that is likely to dictate who emerges as the National Chairman of our great party rather than what the people truly want. The discussion is more on the side of heavy monetisation of the process and ultimate ‘procurement’ of the position of the Chairman by the highest bidder.

    “This approach, in my humble view, defeats the whole essence of participation, free choice and voting which are the essential attributes of any democracy without inducement and outright manipulation. I wish to plead that we tread on the path of caution and common sense, conscious of our recent history of avoidable political crisis.

    “At 76, and given the benefit of hindsight, my role both in context and content; is now more of advisory one to enhance any altruistic democratic process to elect credible leadership at various levels of representation.

    “Rather than de-monetise the electoral process to provide ample room for more citizens’ participation, the idea of monetising the process and trying to ‘procure’ party positions defeats merit, offends good conscience and blurs fair play.”

    He reeled out his expectations from the convention and why PDP leaders should learn from the party’s dismal outing in 2015 general elections.

    The statement said: “At this critical stage of our political secretions, we need men of stature, discipline, character and commendable conduct to breathe fresh air into our party and not persons whose political relevance is the product of naira and kobo bargain across the counter.

    “We need a National Chairman that would not bend to the vagaries of individual selfish interest but one who is strong enough to apply the rule of law without fear or favour. We must begin the process of interrogating processes that lead to outcomes and not just the outcomes.

    “We must interrogate our leadership recruitment process and encourage our delegates to exercise the power of their thumbs in making their preferred choice among the candidates.

    “On the strength of this, I wish to make a passionate appeal to our members, party leaders and the members of the Convention Committee to be fair and just to all, and allow the process to produce a National Chairman that would truly represent the conscience of the party.

    “I do subscribe to the idea that consensus building, collective bargaining and constructive engagement are some of the ingredients that nurture any democratic process; such ingredients should be given enough room to flourish in order to birth credible and truly representative leadership.

    “Our party, the PDP, must re-invent and re-enact itself on account of her recent history of factions and fractures. The new leadership must therefore be one that enjoys the confidence of the majority stakeholders and members in order to have a seamless transition.

    “To achieve this template, such a chairman must be the outcome of delegates’ election without manipulation and inducement.

    “One would have thought that after the 2015 dismal outing, followed by months of leadership tussles, individuals would have put to rest their selfish and egocentric interest and pursue goals and objectives that bear true testimony to the ideals of the founding fathers; but the sound bites of monetization of the process are utterly demoralizing and benumbing.

    “It is my strong belief therefore that leaders of the party irrespective of their political interest would allow reason and level playing field to prevail in the overall interest of the party. I wish the party a successful and peaceful convention on Saturday 9th December, 2017.”

  • Presidency: military deployment in Southeast not invasion

    Presidency: military deployment in Southeast not invasion

    The Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Prosecution, Okoi Obono-Obla has described as uniformed the argument that the military deployment in the South-east amounted to an invasion of the region.

    He argued that the President, by authorising such a deployment, acted within his powers as provided in the Constitution and was bound to do so in the face of the threat to national security constituted by the activities of members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    Read:Army to launch Python Dance II in South East Friday

     

    Obobo-Obla, in a statement yesterday, cited Section 8 (1 – 3) of the Armed Forces Act to justify the deployment. He added that the decision of the Federal Government was also supported by the provision of Section 217 of the Constitution, which allows the use of the armed forces in the face of insurrection and in aid of civil authorities to restore order.

    He said: “It is axiomatic that Abia State constitutes part and parcel of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the President, Commander–in-Chief; President Muhammadu Buhari, has the power to deploy the Armed Forces to any part of the territory that constitutes the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to maintaining and securing public safety and public order.

    Also: IPOB: South East governors wade into agitations, initiate dialogue to end crisis

    “It follows that by Section 8 (3) of the Armed Forces Act, the President, in exercise of his powers to determine the operational use of the Armed Forces, direct that the deployment of any branch of the Armed Forces for the purpose of maintaining and securing public safety and public order.

    “This is precisely what the President did when he deployed the Armed Forces to the Abia State of Nigeria to maintain and secure public safety and public order. Put differently, the President can, in certain circumstances, deployed the Armed Forces of Nigeria to perform police duties.

    “Examples of the use of the Armed Forces to maintain law and order sometimes in this country abound; so why are detractors of the Federal Government suggesting that the deployment of the Armed Forces to Abia State or the South East region amounts to invasion?”

    Citing the provisions of Section 217 subsections 2 (a) (b) (c) of the Constitution, Obono-Obla argued that “grammatically or literarily or contextually the description or branding of the deployment of the Armed Forces of Nigeria to Abia State to maintain public safety and public order as invasion, in the face of threat by IPOB, is absolutely wrong.

    “The pertinent question is, what is an invasion?  An invasion is a military offensive in which large parts of combatants of one geo-political entity aggressively enter territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a territory, forcing the partition of a country,” Obono-Obla said.

  • IGP orders security deployment

    TO guarantee the safety of Nigerians during the Eid-el Kabir celebrations, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) yesterday directed massive deployment of security operatives across the country.

    Assistant Inspectors General (AIGs) of Police in charge of zones and Commissioners of Police (CPs) were specifically directed to ensure adequate police presence at all Eid praying grounds, recreation centres, public places, infrastructure and utilities throughout the holiday.

    A statement by the Force Headquarters’ spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), said the IGP ordered that ongoing raids of criminal hideouts, black and troubled spots be sustained across the country.

    He said: “The Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter Terrorism Units (CTU), Explosive Ordinance Department (EOD) and personnel of Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (CIID) have been deployed to the locations mentioned above.

    “Sustained surveillance and special attention will be paid to flash/vulnerable points and other identifiable hotspots to prevent criminalities during the Sallah celebration and beyond.

    “Similarly, the AIGs and CPs are also under  strict instruction of the IGP to meet with community elders, religious leaders and opinion leaders  to monitor and report the activities of undesirable elements in the society, who may want to  take  advantage of the public holidays to cause mischief and disturb public peace.

  • Buhari okays deployment of four Ambassadors-Designate

    Buhari okays deployment of four Ambassadors-Designate

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate deployment of four of the newly appointed Ambassadors-Designate.

    This was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina,

    The ambassadors-designate included Professor Tijjani Bande (Kebbi State), who is to proceed as Nigeria’s Ambassador/Representative to the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations Headquarters in New York; Itegboje Sunday Samson (Edo State) is to proceed as Nigeria’s Ambassador/Deputy Representative, Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations Headquarters in New York; Kadiri Ayinla Audu (Kwara State) will proceed as Nigeria’s Ambassador/Representative to the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations Offices in Geneva; Bankole A. Adeoye (Ogun State) to proceed as Nigeria’s Ambassador/Representative to the Embassy of Nigeria/Permanent Mission to the African Union in Addis Ababa.

     

  • Kaduna-Abuja road: IG orders deployment of 350 personnel to provide security

    Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector-General of Police on Friday announced the deployment of 350 armed personnel to provide security along Kaduna- Abuja Highway.

    Mr Muazu Zubairu, Commissioner of Police in Niger disclosed this in an interview with reporters in Minna.

    He said that the deployment was to protect lives and property of road users and residents.

    Zubairu said that a comprehensive operational order was issued to commissioners of Police in Abuja, Kaduna and Niger commands, on securing motorists along the way.

    The commissioner said that police officers deployed were well equipped to tackle any form of security threat along the highway.

    “We are even ready to confront cattle rustling, kidnapping and activities of armed bandits especially in the North Central region.

    “The IGP stressed that police personnel nationwide have been mandated to flush out criminals and ensure their prompt prosecution,’’ he said.

    He solicited the support of Nigerians in the task of ridding the nation of criminals.

    “It is the civic responsibility of all citizens to provide adequate information to security agencies to track down and curtail all forms of criminal activities,” he said.

    He urged traditional rulers to mobilise their subjects to embark on community policing and remain security conscious, to reduce criminality.

  • 200,000 N-Power employees for verification before deployment

    The 200,000 graduates offered jobs by the Federal Government under the N-Power Volunteer Corps (NPVC) will face physical verification before deployment in their areas of service, the Presidency said yesterday.

    Over 90 per cent of them have been verified using the Bank Verification Number (BVN).

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Laolu Akande, warned that any untrue information submitted during the application process is a ground for disqualification.

    He said all states and the FCT through the focal persons appointed had received the list of the 200,000 employees. They are working on deploying beneficiaries in their places of assignment.

    He explained that by using the BVN which is one of the most viable means of identification in the country today, there is hardly a way anything fraudulent could sail through the process.

    “We are confident that the selection process, all the way through with the BVN, and physical verification at the points of deployment in the states and the local government areas, are both transparent and impossible to abhor ghost beneficiaries, or any kind of fraud,” he said.

    According to him, 93per cent of those selected have been screened through the BVN, with the commendable assistance of the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, NIBSS, and only authentic and verifiable beneficiaries will be paid the N30,000 monthly stipends starting December.

    He said: “Besides the BVN, there is going to be physical verification, through an in-built component in our selection system that requires that information submitted online during the application would have to be authenticated at the point of deployment across the country, including verification of academic credentials and residence status.

    “Claims about some applicants claiming to be residents of states would be dealt with if it turns out such claims are false. If an applicant cannot supply proof of residence, the selection is terminated.

    “There is a good chance that some applicants may have failed to complete the forms online accurately. Such errors are being reviewed and anyone found not to be resident in the Local government would be removed and replaced using the waiting list of applicants.

    “An important aspect of the application was that applicants were told in clear terms that any false information would be grounds for disqualification.” he added

  • TUC kicks against deployment of N5.3tr pension fund to infratsructure

    TUC kicks against deployment of N5.3tr pension fund to infratsructure

    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has kicked against calls by some National Assembly members to spend part of the N5.3 trillion pension funds on infrastructure.

    A statement by its President, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, explained that the Congress has made its position on the vexed issue very clear, adding that the pension scheme was informed by the need to tackle poverty and difficulties faced by retirees, and not to raise money for the provision of infrastructure or investment at the instance of the rich.

    “We also use this opportunity to reiterate that the 25 per cent of total contribution paid at first instance to workers on retirement is too small. Anything less than 50 per cent defeats the purpose of the scheme. As it stands today, many states claim inability to pay the national minimum wage of N18, 000, a sum that is itself barely enough to take the workers home talk less of paying the bills for his family’s shelter, upkeep and development,” Kaigama said.

    He argued that infrastructural development remained the duty of the government, adding that it is a key driver and a critical enabler of sustainable growth all over the world. According to him, infrastructure provides a unique avenue for the public and private sectors of the economy to thrive. It is also critical in attracting foreign investors.

    Kaigama said rather than appropriating the monies saved from workers’ contributions to perform the government’s responsibility of fixing roads, providing electricity and other social infrastructure, the funds should be utilised for projects that are of direct benefit to the retirees and other workers, such as fixing housing deficit. He said this must be done with rules for proper accountability in place.

    PenCom Director-General Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu has said the fund is consistently invested by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) strictly as prescribed by the law. She said the money was also not domiciled at the National Pension Commission (PenComs) account but at Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) as approved by the Pensions Act.

    These clarifications were made in Lagos during an interactive session with reporters. She regretted the misleading information by some persons on the status of the fund, saying that PFAs had played by the rule, and that no fraud with respect to management of the fund has been recorded.

    She added that the fund is protected arguing that there is no way it could be mismanaged or misappropriated under any guise. “We play by the rule and any PFA that invests outside the guideline will lose its operating license,” she said. She added that effort is being made to bring more Nigerians into the scheme through the Micro Pension Scheme now in the offing.

    According to Anohu-Amazu, the regulator has established a special function unit to drive the micro pension plan, which targets the low income earners as well as individuals. She said the commission has begun the sensitisation of service providers as well as the targeted workers in the informal sector with a view to creating the enabling environment to bring more people into the scheme.

    Anohu-Amazu noted that it would ensure that robust technological platform is put in place to drive the initiative, adding that special mobile phone applications that had been successfully implemented in some jurisdictions for financial transactions including provision of pension services to the self-employed and informal sector workers could be adopted to prop the plan.

    “It is evident that a robust technological platform that would support the provision of customer services is necessary to effectively and efficiently register, collect contributions, provide Retirement Savings Account support, pay benefits and provide financial advisory services to this class of workers.

    “Coincidently, special mobile phone applications had been successfully implemented in some jurisdictions for financial transactions including provision of pension services to the self-employed and informal sector workers. The success stories of these applications drive the confidence that similar platform can be designed and implemented in Nigeria,” she said.

    The PenCom chief attributed the growth in the funds to the security fence built to protect it from being diverted into personal use by managers of the funds.

    She said the commission had not and would not prevent the investing of pension assets in infrastructural development and other sectors, but that such investments must abide by the guidelines in the Pension Reform Act 2014.

  • Expert condemns wrong deployment of ICT

    A professor of Computer Science, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife Rotimi Adagunodo, has expressed displeasure at the wrong deployment of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), especially for plagiarism. This practice, Adagunduro alleged, is common among students in tertiary institutions nationwide.

    Adagunodo delivered the inaugural lecture of the School of Technology Lagos State Polytechnic Ikorodu with the theme: Information Communications Technology (ICT) for Changing the Quality of Research and Development.

    “It is not supposed to be like that” Adagunodo protested. ‘You are supposed to access the materials, read through them, digest them, and then induce from them instead of turning out document replete with incompatible and irrelevant data,” he said.

    “It is your responsibility as a researcher to decipher if the data you have before you is relevant, answers your research question or whether it can be contextualised,” he added.

    Adagunodo urged researchers to take advantage of professional software and packages in the conduct of their research and data processing, for accuracy and uniformity.

    He also urged governments to up their investment in research development and innovation, to ensure Nigeria’s full economic potential and development.

    He said policymakers should also de-emphasise reliance on resource-based economy and focus on knowledge-based economy through ICT, for greater prosperity.

    “Up till now, we cannot say we have entered into the group of developed nations because we still depend so much on oil.

    “We need to go back to research development and innovation, which can only be done in a knowledge-based or knowledge-driven environment. The deployment of ICT in Research, Development and Innovation (RDI); eventually, produces knowledge-based production system, and that is going to be the nucleus, the core of the knowledge-based economy.

    Earlier, the Rector, Mr Oluyinka Sogunro, said the lecture was timely, given the country’s current socio-economic challenges.

    “From Physics to Mathematics, to Medicine, scientific research is now impossible without the support of ICT facilities; and it provides the infrastructure for economic development,’’ Sogunro said.

    Dean, School of Technology Mr Olumide Metilelu also said:“The role of ICT in social and economic transformation cannot be over-emphasised, as it enables users to create access, manipulate and disseminate information particularly for changing the quality of research and development.’’