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Tag: FG

  • FG to pay N88b to civil war victims, clearance of unexploded bombs, IEDs

    ECOWAS Court adopts terms of settlement in three suits by victims

    The Federal Government has agreed to pay N88billion as compensation to 493 identified victims of the last civil war, demining and reconstructions of some communities ravaged by the war.

    The Fed Govt also agreed to construct one block of 10 classrooms for 50 communities currently barred from using their school facilities because of the presence of bombs and other post war relics

    These formed part of the terms of a settlement agreement entered into by the the Federal Government and the representatives of the affected communities spread across some states in the South-east, South-south and part of North-Central geo-political zones of the country.

    The states are Imo, Anambra, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Ebonyi, Abia, Enugu, Cross River and Benue

    The agreement was yesterday in Abuja by the Community Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as its judgment in one of the three suits filed by the victims, marked: ECW/CCJ/APP/06/2012; between Vincent Agu and 19 others v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) and 5 others.

    Parties to the suit also agreed that the terms of settlement shall operate as “full and final settlement of all claims” arising from the suit marked: ECW/CCJ/APP/06/2012 and two other suits filed on the same issue.

    The other suits covered by the agreement are: ECW/CCJ/APP/10/2014 (Dr. Sam Emeka Ukaegbu & 7 others v. President, FRN & 6 others) and ECW/CCJ/APP/11/2014 (Placid Ihekwoaba & 19 others v. President, FRN & 6 others).

    By the agreement, N50b of the N88b is for full and final compensation to the victims (for the physical injuries they suffered), their families and communities for having been deprived of the use of their farmlands since the cessation of the civil war hostilities in 1970 owing to the continued presence of mines and other post-war ordnances.

    The remaining N38b is for “the total demining and destruction, rebuilding of public buildings, mine centre activities, construction of classrooms, provision of prosthetics” and all other related items as listed in Schedule 4(2) of the terms of settlement.

    The amount, by the agreement, is to be paid by the FG within 45 days after the ECOWAS Court’s adoption of the agreement as its judgment in final resolution of the dispute between parties.

    Other terms contained in the agreement include that:

    *The Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) undertakes to mobilise the 4th and 5th respondents (RSB Holdings Nigeria Ltd and Deminers Concept Nig Ltd) back to complete the final phase of the on-going removal and destruction of post-war lethal materials, the firms, having satisfactorily carried out the first phase of the contract.

    Parties acknowledged that the firms were earlier engaged by the FG in 2009 for the first phase, during which they recovered and destroyed 17,000 bombs, while 1,317 are still being kept at the mine Action Centre, Owerri, Imo State.

    It was also acknowledged that during the first phase, 685 persons were selected and classified as survivors, out of which 493, including the applicants on record, were confirmed as victims of either landmines or other dangerous military ordnance including locally fabricated weapons, hence their entitlement to the compensation, including their families and communities.

    *That a special purpose vehicle, comprising of all the necessary stakeholders, shall be created for the implementation of the activities contained in Schedule 4(2) of the terms of settlement to ensure transparency.

    *That the FRN undertakes to set up, in the South east, the National Mine Action Centre in Owerri, Imo State and to ensure that every landmine, unexploded ordinance and explosive remnants of war discovered in the course of the job should be completely destroyed.

     

    *The FRN undertakes to rebuild and or rehabilitate all public/private buildings already identified in the enumerated exercise by the contractors herein, as having been affected by the war or used either as military facility of refugee camp during the war, as contained in Schedule 2 of this term of settlement.

     

    At the commencement of proceedings yesterday, lawyer to the applicants, Alex Williams told the court that after four years of negotiations, parties have finally agreed to some terms, which they filed before the court on October 24 this year.

     

    He said the business of the day was for the court to adopt the terms of settlement as its judgment in the case.

     

    Lawyers to the 1st, 2nd. 3rd and 6th respondents, Sola Egbeyinka and lawyer to the 4th and 5th respondents, Charles Uhegbu agreed with Williams to the effect that the business of the day was for the court to adopt the terms of settlement filed by parties.

     

    The terms of settlement was endorsed by all lawyers in the case and representatives of stakeholders and interested parties.

     

    Following the agreement by lawyers in the case that their terms of settlement be adopted, a three-man panel of the court led by Justice Friday Chijioke Nwoke adopted the terms of settlement as its judgment.

     

     

     

  • FG confirms six fresh cases of monkey pox

    FG confirms six fresh cases of monkey pox

    The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has announced the laboratory confirmation of six additional cases among the suspected cases for Monkeypox. These include two cases each in Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom states, one in Enugu State and one in the Federal Capital Territory. With this, there are nine confirmed cases of Monkeypox in Nigeria.

    Announcing this in his office yesterday, Dr Ehanire noted that the investigations are ongoing to see if any of the new cases has a link with the Bayelsa cluster, where the outbreak started.

    He called for calm among members of the public, as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is working with all affected states to ensure case finding and adequate management.

    He added that as frightening as the manifestation of the ailment may seem, no fatality has been recorded to date. As at October 25, a total of 94 suspected cases have been reported from 11 states (Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Rivers) and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    He noted that the newly confirmed cases are patients already being managed by public health authorities and have been receiving appropriate clinical care since the onset of the illness.

    The Federal Ministry of Health, through the NCDC, is in close contact with all State Epidemiology Teams, as well as the health facilities providing clinical care to both suspected and confirmed cases. State Commissioners of Health have been advised to place all health care facilities and Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers on alert to ensure early case detection, reporting and effective treatment.

    A national-level Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) led by the NCDC with support from our development partners, is coordinating outbreak investigation and response across affected States. The EOC includes the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as experts from partner agencies. The EOC provides daily support to State Ministries of Health in active case finding, epidemiological investigation, contact tracing, case management, psychosocial support and risk communication.

    The NCDC has also deployed Rapid Response Teams to the four States with confirmed cases. Measures have been put in place to ensure proper investigation of all reported cases, effective sample collection and testing, as well as case management of all suspected and confirmed cases. Risk communication activities have been heightened to advise the public as well as healthcare workers on preventive measures. A nationwide communications campaign has begun, to inform Nigerians of key preventive measures to take to curtail the further spread of monkeypox.

    The NCDC has been working with poxvirus experts from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure that every available step is taken to trace how this outbreak may be spreading, and in understanding the links between case cluster, in order to prevent further spread.

  • UNFPA tasks FG on girl child education

    UNFPA tasks FG on girl child education

    The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has urged the Federal Government to invest more in the education of youths, especially the girl child, to enable them harness their potential and reap demographic dividends.

    Dr Natalia Kanem, the new Executive Director, UNFPA, made the call at a media briefing on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Kanem said that they deserved quality education and information to enable them make intelligent plans for their future.

    “Government should focus more on the education of the youths, especially the girl child because the girl child is a precious member of Nigerian society.

    “She has the potential to change the world when she is treated equally as the boys, as such, the girl child needs education; she needs to be protected and she needs to be informed.’’

    Read: Governor advocates girl-child empowerment

    The executive director said the organisation endorsed the efforts of Nigeria to bring education to every girl child in the country.

    “We should not shy away from giving correct information to young people; so, we need every young person to seek correct information not misinformation or misconception.

    “This means that parents, teachers, religious and traditional leaders as well as midwives in the communities must be informed to enable them become good sources of information for the young people,’’ she said.

    According to Kanem, education is the indicator for progress in the family because once the mother is educated, her family will be healthier than the family of an uneducated mother.

    She said that an educated mother would have a healthier family and as such the education of the girl child was a very important investment.

    “Women are half of the equation of the solution to most challenges of any country; that is also true here in Nigeria.

    “A well-equipped young woman who can support herself and contribute to the economy is part of the great equation that is going to make Nigeria great and strong,’’ she said.

    The executive director also said that demographic dividend was inseparable from family planning, of which women should be in-charge of.

    She, however, said that family planning should be completely voluntary.

    According to her, UNFPA in collaboration with partners will ensure that the right information and right services are available in the country for people to access. (NAN)

     

  • Ex-Reps candidate charges FG to adopt equity, fair play

     A former House of Representatives candidate, Hon. Collins Onyeama, on Sunday told the Federal Government to adopt equity, fairness and justice in its efforts at making Nigeria an African showpiece in nation building.

    Onyeama, a former President of the Umuahia Development Association in Baltimore, U.S., made the call while speaking with newsmen in Lagos.

    He spoke against the backdrop of the increasing spate of protests by some Nigerians in overseas countries, demonstrating against what they perceive as the marginalisation of their ethnic groups in Nigeria.

    Onyeama said that the Nigerian government and the political parties needed to address the fundamental issues tearing the nation apart, to give every Nigerian or group a sense of belonging.

    He, however, cautioned Nigerians in the Diaspora to be circumspect in voicing their anger on political developments at home.

    Onyeama, who contested in the 2015 general elections on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance to represent Umuahia North, said the current situation in Nigeria demanded the involvement of Nigerians at home and abroad.

    He argued that Nigerians in the Diaspora needed to understand developments at home better to be guided adequately before staging demonstrations in foreign countries.

    Quoting an 18th century philosopher, Samuel Adams, Onyeama declared that “the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude and perseverance, whether at home or abroad’’.

    Commenting on the Nnamdi Kanu saga, Onyeama stressed that caution was needed since nothing had been heard from Kanu or his parents since the development at Kanu’s country home in Umuahia.

    “I wish to lend my voice and objectivity, given my proximity to the unfolding events in Abia State. Nnamdi Kanu’s community, incidentally and ironically happens to be in my constituency.’’

    Onyeama pointed out that labeling the Indigenous People of Biafra movement a terrorist organisation would serve no useful purpose in resolving the underlying issues.

    According to him, classifying the group as a terrorist organisation will escalate an already tense and volatile situation and put the country on edge.

    Onyeama said that staging demonstrations would become necessary and effective when such actions were better articulated and thought over to underscore the need.

    On the clamour for restructuring, the community leader said that re-shaping Nigeria had become necessary to re-energize the nation for equity, peace and progress.

    “We must embrace the option of restructuring not secession because the current centralized system dominated by the north is not working for everyone as it should, particularly for people of the South-East.

    “Certainly, no ethnic group or geo-political zone has a birthright to domination or ownership of our institutions as a country.

    “Therefore, we must restructure because the current centralized system dominated by one ethnic group is not working for every Nigerian as it should,’’ Onyeama said. (NAN)

  • FG denies it wants to start issuing visas on arrival for Africans

    FG denies it wants to start issuing visas on arrival for Africans

    The federal government yesterday denied it has decided to start issuing visas on arrival for all Africans.

    The deputy chairman of the African Union, Kwesi Quartey, was reported to have broken the news in Addis Ababa in a Facebook post.

    He praised the action as a “laudable move towards Africa’s integration agenda.”

    The AU’s political affairs office said in a tweet that Nigeria announced the action at a retreat for permanent representatives.

    A spokeswoman for the AU chairperson, Ebba Kalondo, was also reported to have said they were waiting for details from Nigeria as the news was “announced verbally with no formal communication.”

    Contacted yesterday, Information Minister Lai Mohammed asked for time to confirm from the appropriate quarters.

    He later sent a text message that no such decision was in place.

    The AU has advocated for a “single African passport” that aims to improve intra-African trade and has called for “the abolishment of visa requirements for all African citizens in all African countries by 2018.”

    Africans need visas to travel to 55 percent of the continent, according to AU figures.

    According to the African Development Bank’s 2017 Africa Visa Openness Report, Africans can get a visa on arrival in just 24 percent of other African countries, while North Americans, for example, have easier travel access on the continent.

    “Free movement on the continent would entail the implementation of continent-wide visa-free regimes including issuance of visas at ports of entry for Africans,” the AU suggested in February.

    Already Ghana, Rwanda, Mauritius and the Seychelles issue visas on arrival to all African passport holders, the AU’s Quartey has said.

    In 2016, the electronic African Union Passport was launched and issued to heads of state and governments, with the goal of expanding it to citizens.

  • FG partners stakeholders for gemstones seminar

    FG partners stakeholders for gemstones seminar

    In a bid to further drive investment opportunities in the gemstones business, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, in partnership with African Gems and Jewellery and Seminar Limited, would be holding a two-day seminar on gemstones and exhibition of products and equipment in Abuja on  October 19 and 20.

    The programme is in collaboration with stakeholders in the mining sector including: Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN); Women In Mining (WIM); Gemologists and Jewellers Association of Nigeria (GJAN); International Coloured Gemstones Association (ICA); Gemstones Miners and Marketers Association of Nigeria (GMMAH); Faceters Guild of Nigeria (FGN); and Beaded Jewellery Designers of Nigeria (BJDAN).

    The wife of the Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, would deliver the keynote address at the event, with theme: Mines to Market.

    The two-day event is expected to bring together mining operators, policy makers, gemstones dealers from within and outside the country, artisans, manufacturers of jewellery equipment and  financial institutions to discuss and exhibit current global trends in the gemstones business.

     

  • PAN appeals to FG to adopt an egg a day strategy in IDPs’ diet

    PAN appeals to FG to adopt an egg a day strategy in IDPs’ diet

    The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has appealed to the Federal Government to incorporate “an egg a day’’ strategy in its feeding programmes for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and primary schools.

    The Director-General of PAN, Dr Onallo Akpa, made the appeal, while briefing newsmen on the commemoration of the World Egg Day in Abuja on Friday.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Egg Day is celebrated globally every Oct. 13 to help raise awareness of the benefits of eggs and their important role in life.

    The theme for this year’s edition is “Celebrate Eggs and It will Help Eliminate Hunger, Food Insecurity and Malnutrition’’.

    Read Also: Egg intake doesn’t cause heart attack – PAN

    Akpa said that adding eggs to the menu of IDPs and primary school pupils would facilitate the cognitive and mental development of children, while alleviating the issues of malnutrition.

    He also solicited the inclusion of eggs and its products in the feeding programmes put in place for soldiers on peacekeeping missions and inmates of Nigerian prisons.

    He said that the poultry industry had consistently contributed over 25 per cent of the agricultural sector’s input to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the national economy.

    Akpa underscored the need to develop the poultry industry because of the importance of poultry products, particularly eggs.

    “Eggs should be considered a priority food product that can be supplied to displaced persons at various locations or camps throughout the country.

    “To achieve the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the importance of poultry products, especially chicken and eggs, needs to be seriously considered.

    “Also, these poultry products contribute about 36.5 per cent of the protein intake of Nigerians,’’ he said.

    Mrs Sarah Abagai of the Department of Dietetics, National Hospital Abuja, said that eggs contained important nutrients like selenium, Vitamin A and E, folate, riboflavin, choline and lutein.

    Abagai said that eggs are the only source of accessible and easily affordable protein, adding that more researches had proved that eggs were not a cause of excessive cholesterol and heart disease in the body.

    “Now in the health sector, we are targeting the first 1,000 days of every child. We are trying to look at that as a critical window of opportunity to address malnutrition.

    “If you want to buy fish, one might cost N600, and if it is in kilogrammes; it costs between N1,000 and N1,300 per kilo; meat also costs about N1,300 and N1,400 per kilo.

    “A pregnant woman, who must not carry a stunted child, needs adequate protein from the time of pregnancy and this comes handy with `an egg a day’.

    “People need to disabuse their minds of the news floating around because more and more research findings are vindicating eggs from issues of cholesterol and heart diseases,’’ she said.

    The dietician, who noted that methods of consuming eggs depended on individual choices, said that excessive heating of oil during egg frying could be dangerous to the consumer.

    NAN reports that some of the farmers who spoke at the event complained of the high cost of producing eggs without any significant increase in egg prices.

  • As FG gives nod to Bakassi deep sea port

    SIR: Provisions of a deep seaport and a super highway for Cross Riverians were the twin signature projects which the governor of Cross River State, Senator Ben Ayade pledged to actualize for the state using all means possible during his inauguration in 2015.

    But two years on, the excitement which greeted this proposition waned, as strict bureaucratic requirements coupled with conspiracy in some quarters seemed to scuttle this noble venture. The combination of both and other sundry restrictions were the initial clogs in the wheel of the immediate take-off of this laudable project. The recent disclosure by the governor, that the federal government has appointed a transaction advisor for the project is the silver lining that gave a vista of actualization of that dream.

    The deep seaport in itself would not be complete without the evacuation corridor for the imports; this also necessitated the proposed 260km super highway. The proposed six-lane highway spans 162 miles across the length of the geographical space of the state from Bakassi in the south up to northern part of the state which borders with Benue State in the North-central. This $3.5 billion project represents a single most ambitious and audacious effort of any previous government in the state to frontally attack under-development bedeviling the state in order to liberate it from the shackle of poverty and backwardness.

    As promising as this twin vision of deep seaport and super highway appear to be, I have however come across many analysts who have penchant to serially disparage and deprecate these prospects. For instance, many have questioned the rationality of such initiative that is bound to gulp billions of dollars at the time of national austerity. Others have claimed the ubiquity of similar projects in such places like Tin Can Island, Apapa,  Lekki and Badagry in Lagos, the ongoing Ogun and Ondo joint deep seaport project in Olokola and the one at Ibaka in Akwa Ibom State.

    They premised their pessimism on the current under-utilization of existing ports facilities in the country due to insufficient cargo volumes outside the demesne of Lagos. It is reported that even the ports in Lagos have up to 50 – 60 percent capacity utilization while Warri, Port Harcourt and Calabar purportedly have about 25 percent.

    There are still many who do not see market prospects in deep seaport ventures in Nigeria, they do not understand the comparative advantage Cross River has over other states in such projects. Take for instance, the strategic geographical position of the state and its propinquity to the land-locked states in the northern flank of the country. The proposed super highway would reduce the risk and the distance involved in transporting goods from Lagos ports up north; thus making Bakassi port a preferred business destination that would be patronized even by neighbouring countries that border northern part of the country.

    Another prospect as announced by the governor is that vessels conveying goods into the country would not go back empty as there would be agricultural produce for export. There is no doubt that these business prospects and projects would radically revolutionize and galvanize its economic potentialities that would industrialize the state.

    Now with the appointment of the transaction adviser for the project, the governor has assured that reclamation work would commence soon while the actual work is expected to follow suit still within the year. We hope that this response from the president is an indication that all encumbrances that hitherto held back the project have been resolved. It is our belief that this would also have positive implications for the proper take-off of the suspended work on the super highway. Issues about environmental impact assessment, preservation of biodiversity, proper compensation of the affected communities and others should be amicably handled to avoid any further delay.

     

    • Itaobong Etim,

    Calabar.

  • FG foot-dragging on new minimum wage – NLC

    The Vice-President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Solomon Adelegan, said on Wednesday the Federal Government was foot-dragging on negotiating a new minimum wage for workers.

    Adelegan said in Lagos that negotiating a new wage for workers was long overdue.

    He said: “The agreement on new minimum wage as posited by the NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, is long overdue because the former document signed by the government and labour is renewable after every fifth year.

    “As I speak now, we are in the seventh year, meaning it is overdue for review and we have sent letters to the appropriate quarters for the negotiation to commence but there is no word from government.

    “We have done our part since about four months ago when we presented our recommendation but government has yet to commence its own process.

    “We want to let the government know that our patience is running out on this issue. On our part, there are many options open to us.”

    Adelegan said there might not be a decent workforce if the workers were working under duress, engendered by poverty as a result of poor remuneration.

    “The position of the NLC is simple, when we talk about decent workforce, there should be a commensurate pay to drive them.

    “Nigerian workers are working under unfavourable conditions. How long will it take government’s team to engage labour if they are serious with the negotiation?

    “We are calling on government to expedite action on the new minimum wage without delay because the present pay being received now is a shame, considering the current economic hardship.

    “The impact of recession as claimed by the government is only felt by the workers,’’ the NLC official added.

    NAN

  • FG to arrest operators selling sub-standard seeds to farmers

    FG to arrest operators selling sub-standard seeds to farmers

    The Federal Government (FG) will henceforth arrest operators of companies which sell fake and sub-standard seeds to farmers, Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, says.

    The minister made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.

    Ogbeh regretted that continuous use of poor and sub-standard seeds and poor agronomic practices were the reasons for poor yields experienced by farmers.

    He added that “seed companies must know that if they sell anything fake and the farmer plants it and we discover that it is not genuine, they can be arrested.”

    He said the government would establish extension offices and train 10 officers from each local government areas across the country to teach farmers to sound agronomy practices.

    “We will have input suppliers or agro-dealers in every local government council; we will advertise for the private sector to come and open centres where farmers can get seeds, chemicals, fertilisers, tractors and other equipment.

    “We are asking council areas to help us before we start building. Once that is done, every farmer will know where to buy seeds.

    “These input dealers will link up with seed companies and research institutes, take seeds from them and sell to farmers.”

    According to him, it is important for extension officers to show farmers how to plant seeds.

    “There is also the need for them to educate farmers on the kind of fertiliser to apply, how to irrigate where irrigation is necessary and the kind of pest control chemicals to use.

    “There is no reason why farmers should fail to have a good harvest.

    “We just have to get away from hunger as quickly as possible; we have to move away from this anxiety about whether we can feed ourselves or not.”

    Ogbeh said Federal Government would also engage the various seed research institutes and Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T) to engage in large-scale production of improved seeds and training of seed breeders.

    The minister, who announced that Federal Government would not adopt Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in its agriculture policies, for now, noted that engaging in hybrid and improved seeds production was the only option.

    He said “Nigerians are not yet comfortable with GMO seeds. We are using high breed seeds. There may be future for GMOs, but debates are still on.

    “Europeans are not comfortable with that; Americans and Brazilians have no quarrels with that and they are doing very well.

    “And someday, maybe we will resolve it but Nigerians are extremely sensitive about GMOs, so I rather be on the side of Nigerians for now.

    “ FG will not adopt GMOs in agriculture policies for now, but we are watching to see if we can one day take a position on whether we are going GMO or not.”