The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Federal government

  • Teachers to earn higher salaries than other workers -FG

    Teachers to earn higher salaries than other workers -FG

    The Federal Government Thursday said it is working on plans to ensure that teachers are paid salaries higher than other workers in Nigeria.

    The government said increase in the salaries of teachers would help to attract the best to the teaching profession.

    Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, disclosed this at the inauguration of Governing Councils of 21 Federal Colleges of Education.

    Adamu, who was represented by Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwukah, said the teaching profession had ceased to be “all-comers affairs.”

    He warned that teachers in Nigeria across all levels must register with the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) before the end of this year or risk being sent out of classrooms.

    Adamu said government has under studied Malaysia and came to realisation that the country got it right by first taking a critical look at teaching and teacher education.

    He noted that Malaysia in the quest for greatness had brought down its education sector and reorganised it for effective development of human resource in order to get to where the country is today.

    The minister said to start with, teachers in Malaysia were paid higher than other workers and that the federal government felt it was expedient to extrapolate that for implementation in Nigeria.

    He said: “What did they do? They brought the whole system down and ask what do you want us to do in education. Their planning was geared towards the development of human resources. In Malaysia, top percent of those who scored the highest in their equivalent of JAMB compete to be teachers.

    “If you are a teacher in Malaysia, you are to ranked than any other worker in the country. This is why you will find people with PhDs teaching in primary schools. Teachers are paid higher than any other person in Malaysia and we have made that recommendation and we are going to do that in Nigeria,” he said.

    Adamu, also lamented the dearth of quality teachers Nigeria, saying it was unfortunate that the noble call had not been able to attract the best and the brightest because of inadequacies in the system.

    He insisted that the current administration was ready to get it right with the cooperation of all stakeholders.

    He added that colleges of education have remained critical institutions‎ because they do not only produce teachers on which everything else is dependent, they also produce teachers at the basic level of education.

    He reminded members of the Governing Councils of the enormous task ahead of them saying their appointments, though part-time in nature, have come at a time when the country is recovering from recession and that the institutions have been without Governing Councils since 2015.

    Adamu, therefore, challenged the Governing Councils to come with policy direction that would assist in the effort to strengthen the quality of teachers produce by the institutions as well as how to generate funding for their various institutions.

    He urged them to avoid friction with the management of the colleges, saying there must be clear distinction between the management role of the institutions and the powers of the Governing Councils to enunciate policies and provide needed fillip for the implementation of those policies.

     

  • Nigeria to close five foreign missions

    Nigeria to close five foreign missions

    The Federal Government has approved the closure of five foreign missions and embassies, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama said.

    Onyeama told newsmen in Abuja on Thursday.

    The minister, who did not mention the embassies or missions, said the process for closure was underway and was also subject to the approval of the president.

    “We do not want to indicate the embassies that will be closed yet because we are in the process of submitting the proposals, the cost analysis and also the political analysis we did to the president.

    “When he sees that, he may or may not want to close some, so we have not yet reached the stage of closing some,” he said.

    The minister also reiterated that the closing missions abroad were “extremely expensive”.

    “The expense, costs of closing embassies is so high and prohibitive but in the long run it will more economical.”

    The minister, on April 10, told NAN the closure of Nigerian missions abroad is inevitable.

    He admitted that it is ex­pensive to close a country’s embassy but quickly added that in the long run the
    policy will be beneficial to Nigerians.

    Onyeama stressed that the reduction of Nigeria’s foreign missions remains on the agenda of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    Buhari had said at the inception of his administration that the Federal Government will reduce the number of missions to save cost.

    Nigeria currently has 119 foreign missions.

    Onyeama said: “The government is following up on that and we have sort of pre­pared the roadmap; we have started the implementation of that and made also recom­mendations in that context.

    “Paradoxically, closing missions is extremely expensive. At first sight it seems ob­vious that you close it you are saving cost but you will actually find that the cost of closing is almost prohibitive.

    “But in the long run it will be cheaper, but in the imme­diate and short term it is ex­pensive but we have started the process,” he said.

  • FG releases results of unity schools

    FG releases results of unity schools

    The Federal Government Thursday said it has released the result of this year’s National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) into Federal Unity schools.

    Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Husseini Adamu said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu gave the approval to National Examination Council (NECO) to release the results to the public for access in all the State Ministries of Education nationwide as well as NECO zonal offices.

    According to the statement, 80,421 candidates registered for the examination but only 77, 512 candidates actually sat for the examination.

    “The general analysis of the result shows that the highest score was 189 out of 200 scored by two candidates; Emeka-Egbuna Chinecherem C. and Onubogu Chinazom Joyce both from Anambra State, while the least score was 4 scored by 8 candidates.

    “Queens College, Yaba Lagos was one of the colleges with highest subscription of 5524, while the least subscribed college was FGGC, Monguno Borno State with only 21 candidates.

    “The result can be accessed on-line http://www.fmeinterview.com or through NECO zonal offices nationwide, to know whether a candidate is shortlisted for placement or not,” the statement said.

    The statement added that the placement exercise is scheduled to take place in July, 2017.

     

  • 174,000 N-power volunteers receiving stipends without delay – FG

    174,000 N-power volunteers receiving stipends without delay – FG

    At least 174,000 N-power volunteers in the Federal Government’s Social Intervention Programmes (SIPs) are being paid N30,000 monthly stipends without delay, a Presidency official has said.

    Mr Afolabi Imokhuede, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation, made this known in a chat with State House correspondents in his office in Abuja.

    According to Imokhuede, “As we speak right now, about 86 per cent of them really have been paid.

    “Now when I mean 86 per cent after physical verification, as at last count in end of April we had about 174,000 qualified, verified volunteers out of 200,000.

    “We are currently right now doing a final reconciliation with all the states and FCT just to ensure, because we also found out that there were few cases of computation error, a few cases of omission at the point of digitizing the physical master list.

    “The only ways we can know that; or some states get to know, is when these volunteers call the helpline or send e-mails complaining of non-payment.

    “We then say to them; you cannot be paid because our records show that you are absent from verification.’’

    The Presidential aide said the programme had been using focal persons, using N power coordinators in the states to act as the go-between the government and the volunteers to cross check their data.

    He added that the complaints about non-payment arose because some volunteers could not reconcile their entries at the time of application with the information they presented during the validation exercise.

    Imokhuede said most invalid verifications were caused by wrong Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) of the volunteers which could not be linked to the accounts they had submitted.

    He also said some women, who applied with their maiden names but submitted their BVNs with their husband’s surnames also had issues with the verification.

    He said a lot of them also applied in conformity with their certificates but a lot of such certificates were not in tandem with their BVN data.

    “All of those categories of volunteers always come out invalid.

    “What we did, which is important, is make payments through the technology platform recognising that NIBS, (Nigerian Interbank Settling System), is the custodian of all the BVN in Nigeria.

    “We brought in NIBS as a key stakeholder.

    “What we do on monthly basis is to send the records to NIBS which does the validation; and those who pass through the validation have no issues and get their payments,’’ he added.

    He said the verifications were to protect the volunteers from fraud or being short changed by those who assisted them in entering into the programme through corrupt cybercafés.

    The SSA said there were some few “no shows’’ who did not accept the appointment adding that the plan was for the states to pick the volunteers on their waiting list to fill in the vacancies.

    He said once the volunteers received their stipends regularly, the N-power paid the backlogs.

    He said no fewer than 43,000 volunteers received they backlogs about two weeks ago while another 16,000 was approved for payment last week.

    “What we intend to tell all our volunteers is to focus on getting your account updated and once done your backlog definitely would come through,’’ he advised.

    Imokhuede said the programme had also set up emergency measures for about another 15,000 who still battled with their invalid BVN by using the N-power call centres to call them to print their BVN in order to see their name as captured.

    He said the N-power intended to get the problem behind soon in order to begin the recruitment of new volunteers.

    He said the programme had a bill of about N6 billion and was processing the sixth month already.

    He said excluding those not captured; the programme had so far expended about N26 billion since inception.
    He also stated that about 17 volunteers in Taraba, who were discovered and suspended from the programme for fraud and absconding from their places of posting, would soon face prosecution.

  • FG procures of arms for Aviation Security personnel 

    FG procures of arms for Aviation Security personnel 

    The Federal Government Friday disclosed that it has commenced the procurement of arms for Aviation Security (AVSEC) personnel.

    The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika said this in Abuja during the graduation ceremony of 35 AVSEC personnel who underwent Counter Terrorism Training organised by the United Nations.

    The 35 graduands who are master trainers would train aviation security experts in two training centres that will be established in Lagos and Zaria.

    The training will afford them opportunity to deliver and sustain high standard of aviation security screening across Nigeria’s civil aviation infrastructure.

    On why they need to carry arms, the minister gave an instance where Turkish airline passengers took to the tarmac to protest their luggage that was left in Istanbul.

    On the carrying of arms by AVSEC personnel, Sirika said: “I wrote a memo to President Buhari and also informed members of the Council that I want to reorganise aviation security and make them arms bearing wing of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

    “The passengers took to the tarmac because we have a very weak and incapacitated Aviation security. AVSEC personnel’s mind and soul are strong enough but they have not been given the equipment that would support them to discharge their duties.

    “They will be civil, very harmless, they won’t interfere with any process, they would be at the background but they would be fully ready and alert to respond to any emergency at the airport.

    On the procurement of arms, Sirika said: “We have already commenced the process of procuring arms and we are putting structures in place.

    “You know it is not just about giving arms to personnel and it’s use, the personnel has to be selected, has to be the right person, he has to have the right psychology and he must master the arts and signs of use of weapons, he has to understand that he is a civil Force and learn to use arms at the right. It is not an easy thing but we will get it done”

    He also assured Nigerians, the UN, aviation communities and the world that the ministry would be alive to responsibilities.

    Speaking in a pre-recorded tape, the Director of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre, Dr. Jehangir Khan said the training demonstrates the willingness and the continued effort of Nigeria to battle terrorism and protect the people of Nigeria.

    On the essence of the training, he said: “it is designed to improve aviation security at all airports throughout Nigeria, through a more efficient security screening process for all passengers, in accordance with the international standards required by the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) and the European Union.

    “The project will contribute directly to the Nigerian Government’s overall counter-terrorism strategy by helping to mitigate the threat posed to civil aviation by terrorist organizations and their operatives.

    “It also contributes to the implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolution 2309 adopted on 22 September 2016, which calls on Member States to take all necessary efforts to improve and protect aviation security worldwide.”

  • Scientist wants FG to develop policies on food processing

    Scientist wants FG to develop policies on food processing

    Dr Sekinat Farinde, a food scientist at the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ibadan, has urged the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to develop policies on food processing and production.

    Farinde said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Ibadan that the Ministry should also articulate broadbase policies on Agricultural food preservation and marketing in Nigeria.

    She suggested that the policy on agricultural food processing and preservation should specifically focus on quality control and maintenance of standards along the agricultural value chain in relation to global market competition.

    This, she said, would help ensure adequate food security in the country.

    Farinde noted that in developing countries, such as Nigeria, food got lost due to poor production planning, premature harvesting, poor storage facilities, packaging, lack of infrastructure and processing facilities.

    According to her, good linkages and networking of stakeholders, adequate and appropriate processing technologies are important in reducing post harvest losses through food processing.

    She said that proper storage facilities, good packaging machines, were also very important for attaining high production quality and standard products for the international market.

    “Another good one is the use of modified atmospheric packaging: a way of extending the shelf life of fresh food products.

    “The technology substitutes the air inside a package with a protective gas mix; the gas in the package ensures that the product will stay fresh for as long as possible.

    “It is a modern method used for preservation of meat, sea foods, fruits and vegetables,” she said.

    The food scientist emphasised that “it is only through quality standard maintenance of our raw and processed food that we can have a safe and competitive market”.

    She added that quality standard maintenance of processed foods would provide enabling environment for wealth creation in the country.

  • ‘South-East not excluded from rail projects’

    ‘South-East not excluded from rail projects’

    The Federal Government Thursday said the South-East geo-political zone was not excluded from its  ongoing rail projects.

    The Federal Government also noted that its major rail projects are; Lagos to Calabar and  Lagos to Kano.

    The Lagos – Calabar will traverse Lagos-Shagamu-Ore-Benin City-Sapele-Warri-Yenegoa with siding to Otuoke-Port Harcourt-Aba-Uyo-calabar and branch line from Benin City-Abudu-Onitsha including Onitsha rail bridge.

    The Lagos – Kano rail Project will traverse Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan-Oshogbo-Ilorin-Jebba-Minna-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano with branch line from Minna-Abuja and Abuja-Kaduna.

    This is contained in a statement in Abuja by the Director of Press of the ministry, Yetunde Sonaike.

    The Ministry also stated that the China Exim Bank loan would  be used to fund three  segments from the rail project.

    According to the statement: “Lagos-Ibadan: Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan with extension to Apapa Port Complex (Segment 2 of Lagos – Kano), Kano-Kaduna (Segment 3A of Lagos – Kano) and Calabar – Port Harcourt: Port Harcourt-Aba-Uyo-Calabar with extension to Onne Deep Sea Port (Segment 1 of the Coastal rail Line).

    “From the foregoing, it can be deduced that the Federal Government rail projects touches various sections of the country and therefore no section is or will be left out.

    “The Present Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari remain committed to serving the nation and determined to reviving the rail infrastructure thereby ensuring ease of movement of people and cargoes within the country.

    It added: “The rail project is aimed at fast- tracking economic diversification as well as optimizing the Federal Government change agenda in the transportation sector which will serve as an economic index for growth and development.”

  • Nigeria condemns mutiny in Cote D’Ivoire

    Nigeria condemns mutiny in Cote D’Ivoire

    …Urges restraint, seeks dialogue

     

    The Federal Government of Nigeria has condemned the recent developments in Cote d’Ivoire in which a small fraction of the country’s Armed Forces mutinied against the Government.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on media and publicity, Laolu Akande, said that Nigeria expressed strong and unflinching support for the Government of President Alhassan Ouattara and welcomed ongoing efforts at resolving the crisis.

    The Federal Government of Nigeria also urged the parties to the crisis to exercise maximum restraint remain calm and continue with dialogue and negotiations with the Government of President Ouattara.

    It urged the mutineers to return to their barracks and to refrain from any action capable of undermining the peace, security and democracy in the country.

    The Federal Government further urged the people of Cote d’Ivoire to remain steadfast in their support for the Government and to refrain from giving support to the mutineers in the overall interest of peace, tranquility, good order and prosperity of the country.

     

  • Nigerians are honourable, hard working people – FG

    Nigerians are honourable, hard working people – FG

    Nigerians are honourable and hard working people who are making remarkable contributions all over the world, the Federal Government said on Monday in New York.

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye, told the Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that only a handful of the citizens were deviants.

    Enikanolaiye lauded the giant strides Nigerians have made in all walks of life, commending their ingenuity, loyalty, patriotism and positive spirit wherever they were found.

    The permanent secretary said: “The vast majority of Nigerians abroad are doing very well, bringing honour and glory to our country.

    “However, we have few bad eggs and unfortunately, that’s what gets reported in many instances; so it is a case of ‘one bad apple spoils the barrel.

    “So Nigeria’s image has also suffered from some of the activities of few Nigerians who get involved in all sorts of criminalities abroad but they are very few.

    “Nevertheless, the silent majority of Nigerians are doing very well, doing the country proudly and we are proud of them.

    “So we would continue to work on that strength of Nigeria and Nigerians because it is about perception.

    “This is to make sure that what is being reported out there is positive for our country.”

    He said the Federal Government would continue to work so it could project what was  great and positive about Nigeria and ultimately change negative perceptions about our country.

    Enikanolaiye said Nigeria had always been a reliable and dependable ally on the global stage, particularly at the UN since its independence.

    According to him, the country is fully back on the global stage, particularly with the assumption of duty of its ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande.

    The permanent secretary described the Nigeria’s UN envoy, and other envoys recently posted to other multilateral organizations as “very distinguished personalities”.

    “Even though the permanent mission has been doing its best in keeping the Nigeria’s flag flying, we believe that Bande’s coming at this time would energize our efforts.

    “This is for us to re-engage more effectively with the UN in a manner that Nigeria’s voice would be better heard in a manner that would show Nigeria’s role as a responsible and active player.”

    Enikanolaiye had earlier addressed the UN Security Council’s open debate on “Women and peace and security: Sexual violence in conflict” where he assured the international community of Federal Government’s commitment to bring back the girls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists.

    He had also met with the UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, who he described as “a worthy ambassador of Nigeria” and expressed optimism that she would make Nigeria and Africa proud

  • Foreign Direct Investments will increase in Nigeria – Umana

    Foreign Direct Investments will increase in Nigeria – Umana

    Managing Director, Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, Mr Umana Umana, has expressed optimism that the nation’s economy will be boosted through Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs).

    Umana told newsmen in Abuja on Sunday that the agency had been repositioned to promote and sustain FDIs within the zones.

    According to him, the agency has been repositioned to be a revenue earner because the challenges affecting it have been addressed.

    He stated that the free zones had the responsibility to provide the right environment in terms of ensuring that existing incentives in their domains were known to investors.

    Umana explained that the authority’s new disposition stemmed from a management retreat, where a roadmap to deal with foundational issues of the agency was initiated.

    “Within the roadmap are issues on how to promote and sustain FDIs within our zones, providing the right environment in terms of ensuring that existing incentives in the zones are known to investors.

    “We are able to do that and have also produced a brochure to help potential investors have documented records of what we offer and their obligations.

    “I want to state that the incentives we offer compete well with that offered by other free trade zones globally.

    “Since I took over, we have taken steps to look at operational deficiencies such as the period it takes to renew licenses,” he said.

    Umana said that before assumed office in September, 2016, it took about 14 days to renew licenses, but that the process had been reduced to three days under him.

    “If our investors meet the requirements for the renewal of licenses, which include payment of renewal fees and submission of annual returns among others, they will have their licenses renewed within 48 hours.

    “I believe that the agency has gone a long way to promote the ‘Ease of Doing Business Policy’ of the Federal Government,’’ he said.

    He explained that some of the foundational issues he met had to do with capacity of staff to deliver on the core mandate of attracting FDIs and promoting economic development.

    “After we addressed that, we had stakeholders meeting with all the other agencies of government that operate within the zone – Customs, Immigration, the NPA, and of course, the investors.

    “We had a roundtable and made our commitments to improve on service delivery and assured that it would no longer be business as usual because we needed to improve on the Ease of Doing Business.

    ”I also discovered when I took over that the authority didn’t have operational presence even in Nigeria. It was barely visible and not known even by Nigerians.

    “We have now made it known to Nigerians and its values to fast-track development because Nigerians will benefit from increase in employment and transfer of technology,” he explained.

    Umana said that over the next four years, the agency would grow FDI by over 40 per cent and upscale its strength and capacity to play its role as a regulator to players in the free zone.

    “We are also looking at how to establish new zones in partnership with the private sector.

    “Onne is a good example of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) that has worked.

    “I have presented it at global events as one of the free trade zones that are based on the PPP model that has worked.

    “It is also based on a cluster model because its activities are centered on oil and gas.

    “It has given the Federal Government through the NPA over two billion dollars revenue between 2010 and 2016.

    “The tool of the free zones as a strategy to drive investment and development has been used successfully in Dubai and Malaysia.

    “There is a budget of N43 billion in 2017 for six special economic zones and this goes to underscore the importance the government is now according the free zones as economic tool.’’

    He said that though the economic downturn had impacted on the activities in the zones, the prospects were bright.

    Umana disclosed that there were threats from countries like Mozambique, which was creating real incentives for oil and gas investments.

    “The attraction of investment is not a domestic affair; it is an international one because investors have options to choose from.

    “Nigeria is just one of the options; that is why we are trying to work hard to put our free trade zones before the world with good incentives.

    “This is because if people don’t know about what you have, they won’t come around.

    “We are trying to market our free trade zones as we recently did at the last World Free Trade Zones Convention in Doha.

    “Nigeria has a very strong market due to our population; we must be taken serious as a destination for investors who are looking at free trade zones around the world.’’