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Tag: Fed Govt

  • Why we cancelled U.S. military training, by Fed Govt

    Why we cancelled U.S. military training, by Fed Govt

    THE Federal Government explained yesterday that it pulled out of the final phase of United States (U.S.) training for Nigerian soldiers because it did not include the equipment component.

    It said it could not afford to withdraw the equipment needed for the training from the field because Nigerian soldiers were using it to fight insurgents in the Northeast.

    The Coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mr. Mike Omeri said this yesterday at the security briefing in Abuja.

    Omeri noted that it would not be wise for the government to pull out the equipment from the field and put it in Jaji for the training, while soldiers were out fighting insurgents.

    His words: “The training that is being mentioned is supposed to be in three phases. Two phases have been concluded. The next phase requires some logistical components and I don’t think it’s wise to take equipment from the field and keep them in Jaji for training, when our soldiers are out there needing the equipment.

    “The training that is being offered by the American government did not also come with the equipment component. So, if our soldiers need the same equipment, and you all know the status of our stock, we will not withdraw everything and go for training, when we have need for it on the field.”

    Omeri said Nigerian soldiers have concluded two phases of the training, adding that government would conclude the final phase once the equipments were available.

    According to him, other aspects of bilateral cooperation with the U.S. were “still ongoing and strong”.

  • ‘Fed Govt can’t exonerate self from Boko Haram’

    ‘Fed Govt can’t exonerate self from Boko Haram’

    A leader of the Shiite Muslim movement in Kano, Sheikh Muhammad Mahmoud Turi, has said the Federal Government cannot exonerate itself from the activities of Boko Haram.

    The Islamic cleric said the consistent operation of Boko Haram in the Northeast and other parts of the North indicated that the government and its agencies had a hand in its activities.

    Boko Haram has killed hundreds of people and rendered thousands homeless in the past three years.

    Turi, who addressed reporters at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Kano, also said his people would begin a six-day mass trekking from Kano to Zaria, as from December 7.

    The Muslim cleric said the activities were lined up to mark the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, son of Imam Ali, one of the companions of Prophet Mohammad (SAW).

    He said: “It is an open secret that the present government cannot exonerate itself from the mayhem that is happening in the country. It is so obvious that whatever may be the reason, nobody in the country can tell us that the government is not aware or has no hand in what is happening. The government is fully responsible, and there is no doubt about it.

    “If one is saying that the government is not Boko Haram, how did the soldiers get guns and killed us in Zaria? Are they not the Boko Haram? Who killed the three sons of our national leader in Zaria? In a broad daylight, the soldiers killed our people. Those children were university students and Boko Haram means education is a sin. So, the soldiers killed them for nothing sake! The soldiers are the Boko Haram.

    “I cannot agree with the Vice President (Namadi Sambo) or any other person who made such a presentation that the government can be exonerated from the activities of Boko Haram. Nobody anywhere in Nigeria can agree to that, except if that person is either afraid or he is a politician. You can never exonerate or differentiat the government from Boko Haram.”

  • NUPENG to Fed Govt: Call police to order

    NUPENG to Fed Govt: Call police to order

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has condemned the invasion of the National Assembly (NASS) by men of the Nigeria Police and Directorate of State Security Service (DSS) last week to prevent lawmakers from having access to their Chambers.

    The union said the Federal Government must call all the affected security agencies to order to avoid possible civil unrest in the country

    NUPENG’s National President, Comrade (Dr) Igwe Achese, who told newsmen in Lagos that President Goodluck Jonathan must call the Inspector General of Police to order to avert civil unrest in the country said: “We hope that this situation is not a re-enactment of the Shagari era where people’s freedom was trampled upon.”

    According to Achese, there is freedom of association in the Nigerian Constitution, and the Police duty is to protect the lives and property of Nigerians, including visitors to the country. “The action of the Police on NASS members on Thursday last week  is undemocratic, crude and unfair and has never happened in any part of the world where democracy is practised. The Police action portrays Nigeria in bad light before the international community and it also shows that the system is not working well,” he said.

  • Experts urge Fed Govt to improve health sector

    The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) has called on the Federal Government to invest in the health sector, even as they urged it to consolidate the gains of the fight against the deadly Ebola virus disease by strengthening medical laboratory infrastructure in the country.

    The association noted that if the government should show the same commitment it exhibited towards containing the deadly disease to the health sector, services in the health sector would improve.

    The President of AMLSN, Dr. Godswill Okara stated this at a briefing in Akure, the Ondo State capital during the association’s one-week Golden Jubilee Annual Scientific Conference. The theme of the conference was “Enhancing Health Care Practice through Science: the Key to the Cure.”

    He said Nigerian scientists could not embark on research in order to develop vaccines just because the sector lacked proper concentration from the government, adding that the country has become preoccupied with importation of vaccines.

    “As the world grapples with the outbreak of Ebola Virus disease, medical laboratory scientists in Nigeria should rise to the occasion through research and vaccine development against the disease,” he said.

    Okara noted that it took the quick intervention of laboratory scientists to determine the cause of death of Patrick Sawyer, the index Ebola case in Nigeria.

    The AMLSN President said: “The doctrine of professional supremacy is as evil as the doctrine of racial supremacy. Professional understanding is not something that we will find ready-made; it must be created by the fact of contact.

    “We must commit ourselves positively and actively to the ideal of professional integration not only in the health sector, but also across all professional sectors in Nigeria.

    “The society and humanity which professionals are trained and licensed to serve will certainly be better served through such integration,” Dr. Okara said.

    He called on the Federal and state governments to establish departments of medical laboratory services in their ministries of health in order to give effect to the fight against ailments like Ebola and stimulate the development of vaccines against such diseases.

    “Unhealthy rivalry is unacceptable. The sky is big enough for stars. You do not need to pull down somebody in order to rise,” he said.

    In his remarks, Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, who was represented by his deputy, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, said his government was committed to improving medical laboratory services in the state.

    According to him, his administration has invested heavily in the provision of health care for the people, such as the mother and child hospitals.

     

     

     

  • Fed Govt to upgrade facilities

    Fed Govt to upgrade facilities

    The Minister of State for Education, Prof Viola Onwuliri, has said the Federal Government is committed to upgrading existing facilities in the nation’s universities to meet world-class standards.

    She noted that excellence in the education sector is one of the key components of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda.

    Speaking during inspection and inauguration of  Federal Government projects in tertiary institutions in Imo State, Onwuliri disclosed that government has spent more than N10 billion to upgrade infrastructures in Imo State University (IMSU) within three and half years of its administration.

    Onwuliri, who represented the Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim  Shekarau, said in less than one year, IMSU through TETFund projects had received over N4 billion for upgrading of  its Faculty of Law, Department of Engineering, as well as other infrastructure in the tertiary institution.

    She said as as part of intervention fund set aside for all universities, the Federal Government has just allocated N1.5 billion to IMSU for iconic projects, and another N1.6 billion worth of engineering equipment.

    “The Federal Government is determined to turn around faculties, increase capacity building and improve facilities in the nation’s universities,” she said.

    Onwuliri added that government had also disbursed N1 billion to Federal University of Technology Owerri, (FUTO) for the construction of science park in the university.

    She said the Federal Government has not discriminated against any institution be it federal or state in its funding, adding that some state institutions even receive more funding than federal.

  • Fed Govt urged to improve on renewable energy policies

    The Federal Government has been advised to improve on policies that will address  trade, production, distribution, consumption and investment in renewable energy and also energy efficiency.

    Prof Titilayo Kuku of the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University(OAU),  Ile-Ife, gave the advice at the Nigeria Photovoltaic Energy conference held in Lagos.

    He said  that the country is currently facing energy crisis and noted that the government should put in place market and fiscal policies that would promote green/renewable energy as well as promote open energy markets to remove legislative and commercial barriers to entry and engender transparent competition.

    According to him, with the current generated capacity of about 4,000 megawatts (MW) for a population of about 170 million, with energy per capita of 30 watts, the country is in dire state regarding energy sufficiency with the attendant consequences on all developmental indicators of employment, growth, production, cost of production, security, general wellbeing, among others.

    He stressed the need to explore alternative sources of power generation to close the wide gap between demand and supply of energy in Nigeria. He said that energy poverty in the country is acute with only 47 per cent of the populace having access to inadequate electricity and about 10 per cent of the population not connected to the grid.

    He noted that the majority of the people in the rural areas do not have access to electricity making most of them to use traditional biomass as source of energy.  Even in urban areas, 56 per cent of the population still uses firewood while 27 percent use kerosene as household energy.

    He said problems associated with current poor power supply include lack of investment in the energy sector by successive governments in the past, low level awareness of alternative options such as renewable energy solutions, and lack of access to finance. Also, lack of support by financial institutions to invest in clean energy options, low incentives and inadequate government policies to promote the development of renewable energy at the same level as conventional sources of electricity generation and oil and gas production, continuous subsidy of conventional fossil fuel by government as well as poor business environment for renewable energy, he said.

    He advised that before involving the private sector to provide energy services, strong polices, legislation and institutions should be put in place to regulate their activities

    Head of Renewables, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Imamuddeen Talba, said  that  key policies to drive the development of solar energy are being put in place. He said that the country is effectively harnessing solar energy resources to integrate them with other energy resources. The Commission is also promoting the use of efficient solar energy conversion technologies such as use of photovoltaic and concentrated solar panels for power generation. The nation is promoting solar energy generation for productive use and intensifying efforts to increase the percentage of solar energy in the present energy mix. He agreed that the country has enormous solar energy potential that is not currently exploited

    According to him, a number of challenges militate against grid-connected power sources, which include high cost of installation and wiring provided by utilities are high as well as large land area required for the projects. Connecting small, isolated villages to a grid can be expensive because of the necessary investment in transmission lines, poles, transformers, and other infrastructure adding that solar power come in relatively small size and are best connected to low voltage lines.

  • Fed. Govt to ITF: Create 2m jobs annually

    Fed. Govt to ITF: Create 2m jobs annually

    The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has been directed to train 2m workers annually in order to scale back the country’s woeful unemployment numbers. In a country of around 170m much more people are said to be jobless than those working.

    That was why the ITF, a human capital development unit of the Federal Government, has been asked to help tackle the jobs challenge.

    But, created over 30 years ago, the Fund has trained only 10 million workers. How then can it get 2m working in just one year?

    It is not such a problem, said its Director-General in Jos, Juliet Chukkas-Onaekon. At a forum with reporters in the Plateau State capital, she said, “ITF is Nigeria’s wheel of industry, and it will not see its new mandate to create 2 million jobs annually as insurmountable. Our new mandate is to train 2 million Nigerians annually. It is part of the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Development Plan (NIRDP) designed recently by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s administration. In this plan, the federal government has opened the door for new investors for the establishment of new industries. The dead industries will also be revived. If this feat could be achieved, the population of unemployed Nigerians in the Labour market will be reduced by half.

    She said, “Recently, car manufacturing industries have begun to come up in Nigeria; they now produce spare part for cars. They will expand from producing parts to manufacture a complete car in Nigeria. Then we will stop importing cars into this country because there would be a company that will manufacture cars here.

    “Through a research, ITF has realized that the smaller industries generate more employment than the bigger industries. Hence, the federal government has created Micro, Small and Medium scale Council of Nigeria (MSMES). This council will ensure that these small industries can be encouraged to create jobs for our youths. In addition to this, a job creation board has also been established and given a mandate to create 3 million jobs annually, while we in ITF train the skilled workers to fit into these industries.

    Dr. Chukkas-Onaekon stressed, “Nigerians will be surprised to know that a lot of our graduates looking for jobs today are not employable. Majority of them cannot even defend their acclaimed certificates. But ITF can make them employable through skill training. We shall identify these unemployed graduate across the country and train them in skills, they will get jobs once they acquire relevant skills. There are lots of job vacancies in Nigeria and abroad but there are few qualified applicants. There are vacancies begging for the right applicants to fill in this country, but our graduates cannot fit into theses vacancies because they are not skillful. That is where ITF comes in, we will bring these graduate back for skill training which last just few months and they will be qualified for these vacancies.

    “There are various sectors that require relevant skills for employment; we are going to train these graduates on specific skills. For instance, we will train some for our power sector, we will train some others for the telecom sector, others for the oil sector, some for agro-allied sector and some specifically for ICT and so on. By the time we do that, our industries will not suffer for lack of relevant skilled workers and Nigerian youth will not remain in the labor market any longer”

    She also said, “Now, we all know that there is oil deposit and exploration in Southsouth Nigeria; ITF will specifically train youths for that specific work. In Eastern Nigeria we have manufacturing industries, we will train some Nigerian youths needed for that. Some of the factors that militated against some industries in the past had to do with lack of skilled workers. But the current transformation agenda has been designed to have enough skilled workers for all industries in the country.

    Dr Chukkas-Onaekon who is a professional skill teacher, was currently elected the Chairman of two critical national committees in the field of skill training. She was elected chairperson of World Skills Nigeria. She was also elected chairperson of the National Mirror Technical Committee. The committee, which comprises   representatives from the Industrial Training Fund, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, University of Nigeria, Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Society for Human Resources Management, is expected to develop standards in all aspects of human resources practices in line with global standards.

    The World Skills Nigeria is a body vested with the responsibility of spear-heading and coordinating Nigeria’s participation in the world skills competition which is scheduled for Sao-Paulo, Brazil in 2014. The global competition will showcase the efforts of the country in skill training; it will also challenge Nigeria to peer review with other countries of the world in areas of man power development.

    “ITF has 32 Area Offices across the country which serves as training centers, but that is not enough, more Area offices has to be establish if we must train 2 million Nigeria annually. Even in Jos the ITF Headquarter, we need to improve on our training facilities.

    She said, “The ongoing transformation agenda of the federal government is such that will address all the factors that contributed to the failure of past industries. Factors like multiple taxation, inadequate power supply, lack of skills, security, access to credit facilities, lack of standard etc. Already, these factors are been addressed through infrastructural development, at least there are signs that power will improve and ITF is training more skill workers and so on. This government is actually learning from the past to create a better future for industrial development.

    For instance, “Issue of multiple taxation is scared a lot of industries, so many funny tax are been advanced by all arms of government, including touts. No industry can thrive under heavy and numerous taxation. Multiple taxation is weighing down the Small and Medium scale industries and will not be allowed in this current dispensation of new industrialization plans, because these small scale industries do more in job creation.”

  • No pay for striking health workers, says Fed Govt

    No pay for striking health workers, says Fed Govt

    The Federal Government has said all striking health workers under the umbrella of the National Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) will not be paid their salaries for the period they are on strike.

    In a circular signed by the Director, Department of Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, Dr Patience Osinubi, the government said the strike is illegal, adding that the executive officers of tertiary hospitals where the striking workers currently work should communicate the issue to the Accountant-General of the Federation for last month’s salaries to be deducted from their subsequent salaries.

    Osinubi said: “No work, no pay”, stressing that the EDs should commence the process of disciplinary action against those who embarked on illegal strike.

    She said the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has dissociated itself from the NUAHP.

    Osinubi said all staff of the hospitals should be notified that striking workers would not be paid for the period they abandoned their duty posts.

    Responding to the circular, NUAHP president said the Federal Government is responsible for the problem in the sector with its double standards.

    Faniran said no profession is bigger than the others, adding that all professions should be partners in progress.

    He blamed the Health Minister, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, for the discrimination as medical doctors are seen as the head of the health sector.

    He said some rulings by the National Industrial Court (NIC) which were in favour of the union, were never implemented by the government, hence the need to embark on the strike.

  • Fed Govt completes 37 dams

    Fed Govt completes 37 dams

    The Federal Government has completed the building of 37 large dams.

    The government also said that it has rehabilitated 10 dams while 149 dams are being built nationwide.

    The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe said in a statement by the Ministry’s Deputy Director (Press), Mrs. Boade Akinola.

    Mrs Ochekpe said the Ministry engaged in the building, operation and maintenance of dams nationwide to impound raw water for potable water supply, hydropower, irrigation, fishery development, flood control, tourism and recreation.

    She said: “The Ministry, in the last four years completed 37 large dams of various sizes, rehabilitated 10 dams, while the construction works on 149 dams of various capacities are on-going across the country.”

    The Minister said of the 37 completed dams, 16 were with hydropower potentials capable of generating 135.15 Megawatts of electricity.

    Ochekpe said that when the construction works of all the dams are completed, the water impounded in the nation’s dams would be increased by 3.6 billion cubic meters

    She said that some existing dams including the breached Goronyo Dam emergency spillway in Sokoto, Alau Dam in Borno, Tiga and Chalawa Gorge dams in Kano, Hadejia Barrage in Hadejia as well as other dams in many states have been rehabilitated for more optimal operation.

    Speaking on Kashimbila multipurpose dam, the Minister said that the dam was intended to control likely  flood from the imminent collapse of Lake Nyos upstream in Cameroon and it had recorded 87per cent completion status.

    She added that the procurement of the works on the proposed Datsin Hausa Dam that would address the issues of flooding as a result of uncontrolled releases of water from Lagdo Dam in Cameroon is currently under review.

  • Fed Govt, Kwara hail new mill

    Government efforts at generating employment for the people appear to be yielding dividends in Kwara State as a multi-billion naira rolling mill has been inaugurated in Ilorin, the state capital. The company which is expected to produce iron rods, nails and roofing sheets, among others,  was unveiled by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga who described the owners of the company as heroes.

    The Minister said: “Anyone in the country who is creating thousands of jobs is a hero. This company, Kamwire Industries Ltd today creates directly more than 3,000 jobs…It is a sector that is the backbone of any economic or industrial development in any nation. So this sector is a big sector and we have our own Nigeria leading that sector; our job as a government is to make sure that it succeeds. We are to create the enabling environment for the private sector to drive the economy.

    “That is what we have done so far, and we need to do a little bit more…When you have crude oil and you export it, they pay you for that crude. But let us say they pay you $100 per barrel. You get that money and you are happy that you have gotten money; they take your crude oil, process it, create jobs in their economy; they add value to it and sell it back to you, and you take that $100 and more to buy that. How rich are you as a nation?”

    Aganga who was full of praise for the initiative, said, “when you have a different structure in the country where you still sell it at $100 per barrel to an investor in this country,  you sell it to that company and still make that money, that company processes it in this country, they create jobs in this country, they pay people their salary and factory people, the company pays corporate tax to the government; that is two other sources to revenue; they sell their products and above all, they sell it to the Nigerian people.

    “That is what makes sense and that is what makes economy grow. That is why we came with the industrial revolution. The good thing about this Kamwire is that it is also connected to SMES and creating jobs for other people, making its products to become raw materials for other industries and also creating job in those industries. He was telling me that he will supply raw materials to about 17 industries and more.

    “That is what tells me why it is so important. By the time we get to that level that we are going, we will be saving about $15bn per annum. I think your first phase, looking back is a project that will at least save us $4bn in our foreign reserves annually. And then you look at what it will cost us in the next 10 years, it will be $15bn. We will not be able to afford it as a nation and it will become a balance of payment deficit. That is why we came with the industrial revolution plan”.

    The minister stressed that despite Nigeria having about two million metric tons of iron ore reserves it spends $3.3 billion annually importing steel and iron into the country. He disclosed that the country has the second largest iron ore deposits in Africa and 12th largest in the world, adding that the way things are today, the country might end up spending $15 billion every year to import steel. He said that the President “has already set up a committee about how we can make sure that our industries especially in the real sector have access to affordable finance and the Bank of Industry is going to play a major role.

    We spend $3.3bn every year importing those items. In the next decade because of the way we are growing that $3.3bn will become $15bn. Today we have about minimum of $14bn committed to the petrochemical sector where its spread as I have just described to you; hopefully will be gained by 2017 or 2018, where we will be self sufficient and we would no longer need to import petroleum products in this country. Any country that relies entirely on exporting raw materials without having a strong industrial and related services sector will remain poor.

    We have made a mistake as a nation for decades thinking we are a rich nation exporting crude oil, thinking we have money. But we do not have money. I happened to be your former finance minister, so I know. We may have that competitive advantage but what makes us different is what you do with that competitive advantage. We are working on infrastructure and power already, with a lot of commitments going into the power sector. We are working on it and we would get there. It takes three years or there about from where you start.”

    Kwara State Commissioner for Industry and Solid Minerals Development, Alhaji Aliyu Lade, said the industries had impacted positively on the lives of many Kwarans in the area of job provision. He added that the industries had also contributed enormously on the state’s economic growth and development. The commissioner said “all these have been made possible through the frantic efforts of the present administration’s various positive industrial policies that created an enabling environment for the industries to thrive. Among the essential ingredients for industrial development by the state government is the 33KVA power sub-station at the Ganmo from which the Kam Industries have a dedicated line. We are all aware that electricity is one of the major components that is required by industrialists. The sub-station at Ganmo was put in place to boost electricity supply to industrialists in the state.

    In addition, the state government is in the process of setting up an industrial cluster where small companies that can provide services and inputs to the bigger companies like Kam Industries will be located. We are hereby seeking the Federal Government support in the setting up of the industrial cluster in the state.”

    Deputy Managing Director of the company, Alhaja Mariam B. Yusuf listed insecurity, unstable foreign currency earnings due to a monolithic economy, harsh political environment, force majeure and national comparative disadvantages as some of the challenges militating against smooth industrial operations in the country. She said: “We on our part have been grappling with these challenges particularly those peculiar to industry, astronomical and injurious interest rate, dearth of technical skills, inadequate energy supply and inadequate transportation network etc. We are determined to take the risks and forcefully revolutionise industrialization in our country Nigeria.”

    While saying that the cold steel rolling mill complex is the third in the country in terms of age, she but first of its kind in terms of machinery configurations and quality. She said “Cold steel rolling mill is the centre hook chain, holding together the upstream and downstream of steel industry.

    The complex comprises of HR slitting line, push-pull pickling line, cold rolling mill, trimming and rewinding line. Others are continuous galvanizing lines, colour coating, cut to length and profiling lines and many ancillary support machinery and service centres.

    The existence of the mill in the state has created employment opportunities and satellite investment opportunities for downstream companies to use the cold rolled sheets of the required gauge to produce products like galvanized roofing sheets, pipes, shovels, trowels, head pans etc. With a little addition of equipment, we can produce vehicle panel bodies here in Nigeria and a host of raw materials for many companies.”