The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Federal Govt

  • Federal Govt to issue more international bonds

    Federal Govt to issue more international bonds

    The Federal Government plans to get out of recession by boosting revenue and cracking down on corruption, Finance Minister Mrs. Kemi Adeosun said yesterday. The government will also issue more international debt to pay for infrasturcture projects.

    The country is in its second year of recession, brought on by lower oil prices, which have slashed government revenues, weakened the currency and caused dollar shortages frustrating business and households.

    Adeosun said the aim was to get the non-oil sector of the economy which accounts for around 90 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to contribute to government revenues significantly.

    “Improving non-oil revenues is something we are working hard on. We are rolling out measures to get more people into the tax net.

    “We are getting out of recession because we are following the right type of policies. We are improving our revenues; we are improving our efficiencies in how we spend money.

    “We are investing in the infrastructure that is needed, power, rail, road, the big enablers of growing sustainable economies,” Adeosun told CNBC Television.

    She said liquidity on currency markets has been improving as the central bank has boosted dollar supply, thanks to recently rising oil prices. She added that government was harmonising fiscal, monetary and trade policies to get the economy growing again.

    However, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), worried about the currency effects on inflation, has so far resisted calls to lower interest rates to enable the government borrow cheaply to spend its way out of recession.

    Adeosun said the Federal Government plans to issue long-term debt on the international markets more regularly for infrastructure projects, taking advantage of the country’s debt to GDP ratio of 13 per cent. But the interest burden is rising due to low revenues.

  • Federal Govt grants MCSN licence to operate

    FOLLOWING an extensive investigation into the refusal of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to approve Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) as a collecting society, the Federal Government, through the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has directed the NCC, to “issue with immediate effect, an approval by way of license to the MCSN to operate as a collecting society for the purpose of the Copyright Act.”

    In the directive, the AGF stated that from his findings, he agrees with the resolutions of the National Assembly that; “the continued refusal to register the MCSN is casting the Commission as having compromised and pursuing only the interest of a particular section of the industry.”

    The directive further states; “In considering applications for grant of license under the Act and its regulations, the Commission should desist from giving consideration to extraneous matters.

    “The Copyright Act should be subject to review.”

    Following the findings, the AGF thereby invoked the power conferred on him by Section 50 of the Copyright Act and as the Chief Law Officer of the Republic directed the NCC to comply with his earlier directive to issue with immediate effect, an approval by way of licence to MCSN to operate as a collecting society.

    The Minister further directed the “NCC to withdraw any pending cases/appeals, criminal or otherwise instituted by the Commission in all courts.”

    When contacted for his reaction, the Chairman of MCSN, Orits Williki, stated that he was short of words. He further expressed gratitude to the Honourable Minister and the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

  • Federal Govt to resuscitate Ajaokuta Steel Company

    With the allocation of over N4 billion for the resuscitation of Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State, hope has risen for the completion of the moribund integrated steel plant tagged the “bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialisation.”

    The allocation was contained in the 2017 budget proposal presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    According to the breakdown, a total sum of N4,272,797,371 was appropriated, which is higher than the N3.9 billion budgeted for 2016.

    The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Fayemi Kayode, had reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to settle all litigations between it and Global Infra­structure Nigeria Ltd (GNIL), an Indian firm.

    A concession agreement between the Federal Government and GNIL for the management of the steel plant was terminated in 2008.

    Although, the Federal Government had accused the Indian firm of breaching the provisions of the concession agreement and asset stripping, the company had gone to the International Court of Arbitration in London, challenging the revocation of the agreement.

    The Federal Government’s commitment to settling all the litigations was because of expectations that the steel plant company would be the leading supplier of quality steel products in all the major economic sectors including construction, packaging and wire drawing/nail making industry.

    Apart from employment and technology transfer opportunities, a functional steel company was also expected to earn the country huge foreign exchange, provide the needed steel for the automotive industry, as well as aid government’s economic diversification efforts.

    Rather than do so, Nigeria has continued to spend an estimated $3.3 billion on steel importation annually, despite parading the record of having the second largest iron ore deposit in Africa. The project became a huge drain pipe and a campaign tool for successive administrations.

    A combina­tion of massive corruption and lack of necessary political will have continued to impede progress on the steel project since its inauguration in 1983.

    But according to the ministry’s budget, the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) got N3.8 billion, mainly for the generation of geological data, which hadn’t been updated recently.

    The National Metallurgical Development Centre, Jos got N821 million, the Metallurgical Training Institute, Onitsha got N722 million, while the Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences was allocated N472 million.

    About N99 million was earmarked for Artisanal Mines and Registration Mineral Buying Centres.

  • Federal Govt pegs girls’ marriage age at 18

    Federal Govt pegs girls’ marriage age at 18

    •Six million girls married off at 15 last year, says minister

    TO end the prevalence of child marriage especially in the North, the Federal Government has pegged marriage age for girls at 18.
    Marrying off girls below the age will now be frowned at by the government, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said yesterday.
    Osinbajo gave the directive yesterday at the launch of a strategy document and campaign by the government against child marriage in Abuja.
    He blamed the increasing rate of child brides on poverty, saying there was an urgent need to tackle this issue.
    He assured Nigerians that the government would take concrete steps to ensure the compulsory education of girls.
    “There is a positive correlation between child marriage, poverty and Illiteracy. The states with the lowest level of illiteracy have the highest rate of child brides.
    “Nigeria has made fairly poor progress in ending child marriage, 24 states out of the 36 states have passed the Child’s Right Act, but implementation is yet to be done fully,” he said.
    The VP expressed regrets that there was no penalty for child marriage in the Constitution and urged the citizens to change their mindsets, especially as it concerns child marriage.
    “We must persuade all Nigerians to stop this through advocacy and more campaign against it. States without provisions for girl-child education should consider this and also enroll girls who dropped out of school due to early marriage,” he said.
    Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan said six million girls were married by the age of 15 in 2015, adding that child marriage is extremely prevalent in the northwest and northeast geo-political zones.
    According to her, northern girls account for the highest rates of early marriage in the world with an estimated 65 per cent of children married off below the age of 18years.
    “The detrimental consequences of child marriage on children, women, families, communities and nations at large are evident. There are always high maternal mortality and morbidity, illiteracy, lack of skills, unemployment, low income and wide spread misery among the victims of child marriage especially female victims,” she lamented.
    United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, who was represented at the launch in Abuja by Muhammed Malik, said 23 million Nigerian girls were married off before 18 years.
    The UN, Canadian government and other leading health organisations, he assured, were supporting the policy.
    “As United Nations (UN), we are proud to support Nigeria as the 16th country to move to end child marriage, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals that we have pledged to achieve by the year 2030,” he said.
    Speaker of the Children’s Parliament Oralgrandour Nweke, who represented the Nigerians children, called for the prosecution of parents who give out their children in marriage before 18 and appealed to parents and the society to encourage children achieve great heights to enable them add value to the society.

  • Federal Govt ‘spent $1b on kerosene subsidy in 2015’

    Federal Govt ‘spent $1b on kerosene subsidy in 2015’

    •Osinbajo decries low usage of cooking gas

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said yesterday that the Federal Government spent $1 billion on kerosene subsidy in 2015.
    He lamented about the low usage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas in Nigeria.
    He spoke at the ‘Domestic LPG Implementation Stakeholders Workshop in Abuja, organised by the Office of the Vice President, Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).
    The vice president noted that although Nigeria’s total domestic LPG grew from 50,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) to approximately 400,000 MTPA in 2015 due to NLNG’s intervention, Nigeria’s per capital consumption of 2.5 kilogrammes (KG), remains low compared to its peers in Africa.
    His words: “The low level of LPG consumption in Nigeria has resulted in heavy dependence on kerosene and firewood as primary domestic cooking fuels in majority of approximately 36 million Nigerian households.
    “This reliance on kerosene and firewood has substantial economic effect. Government has had to take in huge subsidies, with over $1 billion spent in 2015 on kerosene subsidy. A significantly high rate of deforestation continues to be recorded as over 95.76 million metric tonnes of firewood was used in 2015.”.
    Osinbajo said ironically, most of the LPG produced in Nigeria today is exported, declaring that despite the huge export and the fact that the consumption level is low, over 40 per cent of domestic consumption in 2015 was imported.
    He maintained that the huge importation of LPG for domestic consumption impacts negatively on the country’s foreign exchange outlay and limits domestic supply of LPG.
    The vice president added that LPG has considerable benefits, which include being more cost-effective and provides better health benefits than firewood and kerosene, both of which have been identified has the cause of more than 50 per cent of over 93,000 deaths.
    He highlighted the need to culminate all the various gas and LPG policies with the regulatory framework that would boost the business environment.
    He added that a successful implementation of the intervention strategies would require an investment of up to $25.2 billion over the next couple of years, adding that the investment would be used in providing infrastructure among others.
    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu said there was need to harmonise all the various gas and LPG policies with the regulatory framework that would boost the business environment.

  • On Federal Govt’s 500,000 jobs initiative

    A 2015 World Bank statistics indicates that 100 million Nigerians live in destitution while a recent data from the same body confirms Nigeria as one of the five poorest nations in the world. The nation’s high unemployment rate is partly responsible for this frightening statistics and heart-breaking rating. That our country is in deep-rooted unemployment web is further confirmed by the highlights of the Unemployment and Underemployment Watch for first quarter of 2015. According to the report, a total of 17.7 million people between ages 15 and 65 either unemployed or underemployed in the labour force in the first quarter of 2015. The report further asserts that the number of unemployed people (861,110 people) in the first quarter 2015 was more than the number of employed people within the same period (504,596 persons).

    Similarly, official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics puts unemployment figure at about 20% (about 30million), but this number still did not include about 40million other Nigerian youths captured in World Bank statistics in 2009. By implication, it means that if Nigeria’s population is 140 million, then 50% of Nigerians are unemployed, or worse still, at least 71% of Nigerian youths are unemployed. This is particularly disturbing and counterproductive because at least 70% of the population of this country are youths.

    Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor and now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, once revealed that while the Nigerian economy grew at the rate of seven percent for the past six years, unemployment has actually doubled at same period. He submitted that security crisis and internal uprising across the country were products of chronic poverty and mounting joblessness. So, unemployment has grown to become a monster with many faces. Many have become victims of drug addiction, rape cases, kidnapping and other such criminal vices, no thanks to unbearable unemployment situation.

    No doubt, the Federal Government is aware of the enormity of the unemployment challenge.  This, perhaps, is the reason for its much touted 500,000 employment initiative for unemployed graduates. It is a remunerated volunteering programme of a two-year period that engages graduates in their direct communities, where they will assist in improving the shortfalls in the education, health and agriculture sectors. They will own tablets that contain essential information concerning their precise engagements and other such crucial information. They are also to be provided teaching, instructional and consultative solutions in four major focus areas namely basic education, agriculture extension services, public health and community education (civic and adult education). They would also be trained in skills that could enable them exit after two years to reasonably feasible opportunities. They are to be paid a monthly stipend of N30, 000.

    After initial hiccups, recent reports have it that the first 200,000 beneficiaries of the scheme would commence work by December 1. According to a statement from the Office of the Vice President, where the project is domiciled, of the 200,000 first set, 150,000 would be engaged in teaching, 30,000 would work in the agricultural sector while 20,000 would serve in healthcare delivery. Altogether, the scheme plans to engage and train 500,000 young unemployed graduates.

    Though, in practical terms, the programme is yet to take off, major stakeholders such as the Nigeria Labour Congress, Nigeria Union of Teachers and Students bodies have lauded the initiative. Organized Labour particularly hailed the efforts on the premise that any scheme that could offer a massive amount of youths employment opportunity is worth commending. While reacting to the plan, President, Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, Michael Alogba-Olukoya, extolled the project as “a right step in the right direction’’.

    Critics of the initiative have, however, called for caution concerning its prospect. To them, it is rather laughable that the federal government is exploiting the unemployment situation in the country to further enslave young Nigerians. They wonder why a scheme that pays young Nigerian a miserly N30, 000 per month should be celebrated, considering our current harsh economic condition in which those with improved pay merely grapple to survive.  How productive could a young graduate with a monthly pay of N30, 000 actually be in an inflation ridden economy?

    To critics of the project, the meagre N30, 000 pay packages for beneficiaries might further compound the employment woes of young Nigerians as prospective employers could follow suit by offering them peanuts.  Besides, critics also wonder whether it is morally rational for the federal government to take up 500,000 Nigerian graduates for a job that has little or no future prospect, taking into consideration its two year duration.  This, to detractors of the scheme does not really add up.

    Another grouse of critics against the scheme is the rationality of government (public sector) directly employing people in a country where the recurrent expenditure is often well above 70% of the budget, especially when considered that many states can presently not even pay those in their employ and the federal government is talking about borrowing from foreign sources to fund the budget. In the 21st century, it is a free market module economy that creates jobs not governments.

    However, my take on the job scheme is that though it doesn’t really represents a resourceful and holistic approach to tackling the excruciating unemployment miseries in the country, it, nevertheless, would help in relieving some of its beneficiaries, albeit temporarily, the pains and frustrations of  redundancy. Equally, the skill that some of them would acquire through the various training programmes, as being proposed, could open more and better opportunities for them in life. On the argument that the private sector should take initiative for job creation, as true as this is, the way things presently stand in our nation, the private sector might not be able to rise up to do that in the next five years. It is a common knowledge that most private ventures in the country have been downsizing in the past few months.

    Having said this, however, the federal government truly needs to do more than the 500,000 jobs approach if we are really serious about curtailing chronic unemployment in the country.  It must come up with inventive strategies that would enhance the thriving and expansion of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in the country. In an economy like ours, the growth and development of SMEs remain a major catalyst for economic resurgence and wealth creation.

    Also, all tiers of governments must give adequate attention to development of infrastructure. Weak infrastructure is inimical to job creation and economic growth. The government, especially, needs to do more in ensuring stable power supply. Small businesses will, no doubt, flourish with un-hindered power supply. Equally, multi-national firms that have closed down due to unstable power supply could come back if the power situation improves. This would not only bring up new jobs, but will certainly restore lost ones.

     

    • Ogunbiyi is of the Ministry of Information & strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

  • Federal Govt committed to job creation via TVE

    The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to job creation through entrereneurship.

    The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, spoke at the 30th convocation of the Yaba College of Education on Thursday last week.

    Adamu was represented by the Director Science and Technology, Mr Joel Samuel Ojo.

    He said:”Tertiary institutions have a fundamental role to play particularly in the area of manpower development, research and innovation as well as collaboration with the private sector.”

    He continued: “Conscious efforts must be made to research and source for local content that would enhance the manufacturing and production processes even in hyper competitive environment. Our tertiary institutions must therefore vigorously embrace the culture of research towards internalising the production process.”

    Adamu explained that the aforementioned could only be achieved by ensuring quality service delivery, training and retraining of workers, as well as relevant contribution of research work to the private sector for meaningful growth.

    He charged the graduating students to be worthy in character and learning.

    Adamu said: “Let me emphasise that education is not for development of knowledge and skills alone, but also for character building, discipline and morals.”

    Corroborating Adamu, the Rector, Dr Margaret Ladipo, urged the graduating students to rise to the current economic downturn by tapping into its entrepreneurial advantages.

    She said:”We have trained and equipped you with the requisite skills and knowledge to do this. Rise up to the challenge and contribute your worthy bit to the glory of the nation”.

    Meanwhile, Ayebiwo Motunrayo, a graduate of Textile Technology, emerged the overall graduating student with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.79.

    The 25 years old Ondo State valedictorian urged other students to strive for excellence as well be worthy in character and knowledge.

    She said: ‘We have been taught to strive for excellence in all we do. We have equally acquired the habit of adapting and excelling in difficult situations”.

    The school churned out 7102 graduands in Higher National Diploma (HND), and National Diploma (ND) across full and part time.

    At the HND level, 48 graduated with distinction, 573 with upper credit, 907 with lower credit and 346 with a pass.

    At the ND level, 168 graduands had distinction, 1,342 upper credit, while 2408,and 1082  had lower credit and  pass.

  • Federal Govt’s social safety net programme

    President Muhammadu Buhari took over the mantle of leadership of Nigeria on May 29, 2015, with a clear agenda to curb corruption, fight insecurity, reposition the economy and tackle the pervasive poverty in the land.

    These critical issues were central and dominant in his campaign promises as well as his compact with all Nigerians when he took the oath of office a little over a year ago.

    In keeping with his determination to immediately tackle the menace of insurgency and restore law and order in the North-eastern, he ordered the immediate relocation of the command and control centre of the Nigerian military to Maiduguri. Today, Boko Haram insurgency has continued to suffer crushing defeats in the hands of our gallant military. This is evident in the recovery of all territories hitherto captured by the insurgent group, including the Sambisa Forest, the epicentre of the battle. Also of triumphant significance is the liberation of thousands of victims that were held hostage by the insurgents, including Amina Ali, one of the over 200 Chibok School Girls abducted in 2014.  The freedom of Amina is a symbolic indication that all the abducted schools girls and others in the captivity of Boko Harm are on their journey to freedom.  From all sides, the Boko Haram walls are falling.

    On the fight against corruption, it is now clear to all that the fear of Buhari is the beginning of wisdom. The anti-corruption search-light is uncovering all rots and previous cans of worms, with the high and the mighty scurrying for cover. With presidential courage, commitment and consistency, some rotten eggs are being hurled into the dragnet, while many more are surrendering the national loot with sobering trepidation. Thanks to the President, the anti-corruption czar.

    At the economic front, the battle is no less fierce. From the background of decades of economic misdirection, made worse by a social system that institutionalized corruption and riddled our common wealth in the vault of oil, the Buhari administration has ignited a conflagration in all directions. The plummeting prices of petroleum products at the international market, with the crippling effects on our foreign exchange earnings, have made economic diversification a national imperative. Here again, the President is brazing the trail in agriculture, agro-allied industries,  solid minerals, mining and mineral prospecting, culture and tourism and several other sectors. The productive base of the economy has been unlocked to ventilate the economy and provide entry visa for Nigerian made products into the international market.

    While working hard to reposition Nigeria for accelerated growth and development, this administration is not unaware of the challenges of poverty and unemployment in the land and the need to evolve measures tocushion the effects of the social squalor of the vast majority of our people. Accordingly, the Federal Government has rolled out a comprehensive Social Safety Net Programme, to address unemployment and better the condition of living of the extremely poor and vulnerable Nigerians.

    It is pertinent to point out that the sum of N500 billion has already been approved in the 2016 Appropriation Act to finance this social intervention programme. Specific schemes under this programme include the creation of 500,000 teaching assistance for qualified teachers for a period of 12 to 24 months in the first instance; the training of 100,000 artisans and the provision of soft loans for them to commence business activities; and conditional cash transfer which is intended to pay the sum of N5,000.00 to one million Nigerians across the country. Others are micro-credit scheme for more than 1.5 million Nigerians and N50,000 education support grant for 100,000 students in tertiary institutions who are undergoing courses in Science Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Education.

    Another key component of this programme is the National Home Grown School Feeding Scheme targeted at 24 million pupils in 18 pilot states in 2016. The food for the programme, which will run till 2020 would be sourced from local farmers and prepared by qualified caterers within the host communities. This is to benefit the pupils, the farmers and the local communities alike. It is projected that this scheme would create 1.4 million jobs for community caterers, support caterers and small house-hold farmers across Nigeria.

    The overall objectives of this programme are to reduce poverty and unemployment, empower the people economically, encourage school enrolment, build capacity, equip the less educated people with the skills to be self-employed and promote scholarship in the areas of science Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Education.

    Indeed, there is no doubt that these policy measures would go a long way in making life more tolerable to ordinary Nigerians who constitute a larger percentage of the population. For the first time, the less privileged Nigerians at the grassroots shall begin to feel the impact of governance directly.

    As the Federal Government commences full implementation of this programme, all hands must be on deck to ensure that it meets the desired objective of empowering the indigent members of our society. The programme must be massively publicized to raise public awareness on its various components so that the targeted Nigerians can benefit from it.

    The process of enrolment into these schemes should be open, transparent and not subjected to the manipulation of some unscrupulous members of our society. Accordingly, government should note that those who have criticized this project as a white elephant programme and have sentenced it to death even before arrival would do everything possible to scuttle it.  All measures must be deployed to counter their devices.

    The political class must ensure that this programme is not hijacked for political patronage or to fill personal pockets. It is a programme meant for the poor and those who would sit on the welfare of the poor shall certainly have their judgment.

    The masses must police the implementation of this programme to ensure that due process is followed. This is why the idea of Grievance Redress System is a welcome innovation that would facilitate speedy report and redress on issues that may violate due process in the implementation of the scheme. This is where the grassroots reach and capacity of the National Orientation Agency is very critical. The agency should be empowered and strengthened to mount intensive public education campaign on the programme, as well as drive its implementation at the grassroots, to ensure that it is carried out to specification.

    The freedom of Information Act empowers all Nigerians to ask questions or demand explanation on issues that appear hazy to them. Nigerians must rely on the provisions of this Act to keep under close watch, the activities of all those that are saddled with the implementation of this programme. It is by so doing that the laudable vision and intentions of government in embarking on this programme are not subverted by a few self-serving Nigerians.

     

    • Dr. Adewole is Director, Public Education and Mass Mobilization at the National Orientation Agency, Abuja.
  • Federal Govt threatens banks for sacking workers

    Federal Govt threatens banks for sacking workers

    Banks yesterday got a marching order from the Federal Government to pull the brakes on the retrenchment of workers or face sanctions.
    Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige said the government will no longer tolerate banks flouting its directive not to sack workers.
    As reports of sack of workers by banks hit town last week Ngige urged them to roll back the action. But some banks went ahead to lay off workers.
    Speaking in Geneva, Switzerland where he attended an International Labour Congress (ILO) meeting, Dr. Ngige said no worker should be treated like a slave in his own country and thrown out of job by employers of labour without following the due process.
    The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) had said the power to hire and fire does not rest with the government,  but Ngige said if the banks failed to comply with the directive to maintain the status quo, the government knowing what to do. He added: “Afterall, the banks have licences that are issued by the government.”
    The minister said apart from the banks, telecommunication companies were breaching the labour laws by denying their workers the opportunity to unionise.
    The minister said banks laying off workers were not following the due process and that the government had evidence that they failed to comply with the principle of collective bargaining.
    He vowed to protect workers, saying: “We want them to maintain the status quo because they are not the only ones suffering the economic downturn in the country. But everything must be done with a human face. As far as I’m Minister of Labour, I will protect Nigerian workers.”
    In a statement he released before his trip, Ngige also said: “NECA as representatives of organised private sector is protecting the interest of their members. They are one leg of the tripod and nothing stops them from having their own opinion. They are the section that protects the private investors. They are also employers, but the people I am talking to are also employers. The bank chairmen, managing directors and boards and I also talk to unions.
    “In that particular government order, I ask the unions also not to picket the banks because they had mobilised to do that. It is the job of government to ensure a peaceful milieu on both sides and that is why I gave the directive.
    “From our investigation and from preliminary reports available to us, the banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions are all laying off workers.
    “Any bank worker you remove from work has about 10 family members to take care of and we will not allow them to put them into the pool of the unemployed. It must be negotiated. We did that in the oil industry and we succeeded.
    “In the oil industry, there is collective agreement continuously. Even if you want to lay off workers, there is a procedure for declaring redundancy. You must follow the process. Section 20 of the labour says it.
    “You must call the unions and discuss with them. You don’t just wake up and treat them as if they are slaves in their own country, throw them into the unemployment market and expect government to keep quiet. We will know what to do if they continue like that. After all, the banks have licences given by government.”
    At least three banks have laid off close to 1.500 employees in the last one week. Some other banks are believed to be warming up
    Those that have sacked employees are Skye bank (175), Diamond Bank (200) and Ecobank 1(040).

  • Federal Govt’s relief materials for Gombe IDPs

    Federal Govt’s relief materials for Gombe IDPs

    After severely hurting Boko Haram’s operations, the federal government’s next task has been rebuilding destroyed communities and resettling displaced persons. One of its latest efforts in this regard was sending food and other items to the IDPs in Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State.

    The aid was routed through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

    Alhaji Abubakar Kari, who represented the SGF, presented the materials, making it clear that the donation would be periodic.

    The relief materials distributed included mattresses, bags of grains, 10 litres of vegetable oil, cartons of pasta, sugar, salt, buckets, mosquito nets and clothes for 100 families under a pilot programme that would soon be extended to the entire IDPs scattered across the six northern states.

    “This intervention we are presenting here today is short-term temporary measures that will come in from time to time in order to alleviate their suffering,” Kari said.

    He added that their visit was not only for donation but to also monitor their welfare and further assured the IDPs in the northeast that the Federal Government feels their pains and will soon embark on relocating them back to their various communities which have been destroyed the insurgents.

    “We are here to visit the IDPs in Yamaltu/Deba local government to see to their conditions and to also assure them that government feels their pains, that government is doing everything possible to ensure they are comfortable in the meantime. We are also here to assure and tell them that their communities are being rebuilt and that in no distant future, they will be relocated back home to your respective communities,” he told the newsmen.

    Chairman of the Internally Displaced Persons in Yamaltu-Deba local government, Alhaji Bulama Galadima Damboa who stays in Deba town with his two wives, sixteen children and an aged mother expressed his burning desires and that of most other IDPs to return back home.

    Galadima who said his eight-bedroom home was completely destroyed by the insurgents two yeas ago but managed to escape with his family and bullet wounds in his body, cried out that the issue of house rent a serious challenge for them and appealed to Nigerians for assistance.

    He appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for stepping in to assist them with calls on him for more assistance so that the gesture would extend to the entire five hundred registered IDPs in the local government area.

    He also called for speedy efforts in rebuilding their communities; and while acknowledging that the reconstruction initiative was good, Galadima also advocated for a situation where certain percentage of the total cost of reconstructing each family’s house would be given to the owner to rebuild by himself.

    ”We are very much happy with this assistance. But some of us, especially the farmers seriously want to go back home.”