The Nation Newspaper

Tag: FG

  • FG urges youths to make legitimate money on internet

    The Federal Government has urged youths in the country to exploit the internet to earn legitimate money and become self-reliant.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Adejoke Orelope-Adefilure stated this in Osogbo at a one-day digital training for 3,500 youths in Osun state.

    Orelope-Adefilure said the federal government would continue to encourage the youths to be self-reliant and economically independent through the provision of legitimate means.

    The one-day digital training with the theme “Diversifying the Nigerian Economy: Enabling Youths through Digital Skills Training” was organised by the office of the President for the youths in Osun.

    The training took place in 6 locations across Osun state with more than 3,500 youths drawn from all the local government areas of the state. The participants were taken through digital marketing and opportunities that abound for youths in the digital world.

    The Special Adviser to Governor of Osun State, Mr Rauf Aregbesola on Federal Matter, Honourable Yidiat Babalola said the essence of the training was to assist the youths to get jobs and become self-reliant. She said the youths would be able to use internet for empowerment after the training.

  • FG dissolves National Sports Federations

    FG dissolves National Sports Federations

    The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has announced the  dissolution of the boards of all National Sports Federations.

    The Youth and Sports Development Minister Barrister Solomon Dalung  who made the announcement  yesterday in Abuja also directed all Secretaries to take charge of their various Federations during the election process.

    The dissolution which is one of the milestones of the existing State of Emergency in the Sports Sector in the country, may not be unconnected with certain moves that seek to undermine the electoral process by Federations, some of which have started seeking  a six-month tenure extension.

    “In line with the Olympic Charter, all National Sports Federations are to serve for a period of 4 years. The federations  were inaugurated in May 2013, and by tradition, federations are dissolved after every Olympic Games. Therefore, their tenure has now come to an end.

    “To ensure a level playing ground and free and fair elections, where all shall be given equal opportunities to realize their ambition to contest the elections, the National Sports Federations are hereby dissolved from today May  5, 2017.

    Secretaries are to take charge and run the affairs of their various  federations during the process of the elections.”

    The election date has also been extended to June 13, 2017 while every other program for the electoral process will be adjusted to fit into the new election date. Further announcement on the new time table will be released in due course.

    Barrister Dalung recalled that one year ago, he called for the constitutions of all sports federations but only five complied till date. He stated that ahead of the forthcoming elections, guidelines  were approved by stakeholders and a process was put in place.

    He expressed his determination and commitment to a successful transition process of democratising the National Sports Federations and producing credible leadership to meet the yearnings and aspirations of sport-loving Nigerians.

    To this effect, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) will facilitate the electoral process.

    “As part of our commitment to a free and fair process, the Ministry requested the National Sports Federations to submit copies of their constitutions. Unfortunately, as at today,only 5 federations complied, leaving the Ministry and the NOC  with no other option than to organise the elections based strictly on the guidelines except those federations who submitted their constitutions and there are certain requirements of notice, of which in the spirit of free and fair elections will be exempted.”

    The Sports Minister has also directed the Ministry to consult widely with the NOC and recommend three credible names to constitute the electoral committee for scrutiny, confirmation and subsequent inauguration.

    He noted that the process of democratising the National Sports Federations, though historic is not free from challenges while harping on  the Ministry’s determination to deliver on its commitment.

    ” We shall make amendments and moderations of the transition programme as we progress and  if the occasion demands. However, the election is the only thing that is sacrosanct.”

  • FG begins pilot implementation of conditional cash transfer in Kogi

    FG begins pilot implementation of conditional cash transfer in Kogi

    THE Federal Government said it has earmarked six local government areas in Kogi State as pilot project for the implementation of its Conditional Cash Transfer of N5, 000 monthly per household. The National Coordinator, National Cash Transfer Project (NCTP), Office of the Vice President, Dr Temitope Sinkaye, made this known on Thursday at the inauguration of “100-Day Rapid Result Initiative (RRI)” workshop on Conditional Cash Transfer in Lokoja.

    He stated that the projects has two components, which include Base (Unconditional) Cash Transfer of N5,000 for the most vulnerables in which payment had already commenced in nine states, and Conditional Cash Transfer of additional N5,000 for households with children, pregnant women and school age children, among others.

    “We are here to develop a framework for implementation of the conditional cash transfer which is the second component that is being funded by the World Bank, unlike the base cash transfer that is solely funded by the federal government. “Kogi was selected as pilot state for the 100-day to test run the implementation strategy, and two local government has been selected in each senatorial zone for the test run namely: Lokoja, Yagba West, Okehi, Ajaokuta, Ibaji and Dekina respectively. “At the end of the 100 day after the design and test running, if we are sure that this framework is good enough, then we will replicate it in other states of the federation.

  • FG to name, shame traffickers, says NAPTIP chief

    FG to name, shame traffickers, says NAPTIP chief

    The federal government has vowed to adopt the name and shame policy for those involved in trafficking.
    Director-General National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Julie Okah-Donli, said the policy will ensure there is no hiding place for culprits.
    Speaking in her maiden interaction with reporters at the headquarters of the agency in Abuja, Okah-Donli also appealed for extension of the whistle blowing policy to human trafficking.
    The whistle blowing policy, according to her, will succeed with human trafficking like it is with corruption.
    She said: “We will employ the name and shame policy to ensure that those who get involved do not have a hiding place anywhere across the globe.
    “We must do all to protect the lives and dignity of our next generation who are being destroyed now by criminally minded individuals.
    “It is a known fact that human trafficking has moved from the era of analogue and person-person recruitment of victims to a well-orchestrated criminal network that is designed to deceive even the very best operatives.”
    She assured the agency will nab “any human trafficker from the point of conceiving the idea to the point of exploitation.
    “Efforts shall be made to equip operatives of the agency to detect and proactively burst any human trafficking action form the bud.
    “The era of trading on our promising youths as commodities is over and all machinery must be put in place to ensure that our youths have a secure future.
    “We shall increase our surveillance and intelligence around the known endemic communities and villages coupled with a reloaded sensitization and public enlightenment campaign.”
    Okah-Donli stated the agency since inception has 3,407 cases and rescued 10, 685 victims with 321 convictions.

  • Club tasks FG on prison reforms

    Aviary Club of Nigeria, Ogun state chapter, a nongovernmental organisation has called on the federal government to give more attentions to the welfare of prison inmates across the country.

    Giving this advice at the weekend was president of the club, Mr. Gbenga Sowunmi.

    Sowunmi made this appeal when he led members of his executive on a courtesy call on Ibara Prison, Abeokuta, where they were received by Deputy Comptroller of Prison, Mr. Kolawole S.O, Assistant Comptroller of Prison, Mr. Atoyebi S.T, among other officers.

    While commending the federal government’s efforts at improving the conditions of inmate, he, however, urged that such efforts need to be scaled up for optimum results.

     

  • ASUU seeks FG’s commitment on 2009 agreement

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said it is optimistic that the Federal Government would implement the decisions of a new negotiation team on the 2009 agreements.

    The union’s National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, stated this on Friday in Lagos

    ASUU, in November 2016, staged one week warning strike over the non-implementation of agreement it signed with the federal government in 2009.

    The union was protesting the dwindling budgetary allocation to the education sector, from 11 per cent in 2015, to eight per cent in 2016.

    It also expressed regrets over the shortfall in the N1.3 trillion, earmarked for the revitalisation of Nigerian universities in 2013, by an arrears of N605 billion.

    The union equally decried poor welfare for members, among other demands.

    Ogunyemi said the union National Executive Committee on March 6, met with the negotiating team set up by the federal government, to look into the matter.

    He said, “We submitted a document to the Dr. Wale Babalakin-led negotiating team and we are told to give them some time to study the document and get back to us.

    “We hope to reconvene very soon and I think what has slowed down the process is the just concluded rehabilitation of the Abuja airport.

    “It is however expected that the negotiating team will extract our mandate from the federal government at the end of the whole thing.

    “The negotiating team should ensure that all agreements reached are implemented for the benefit of both parties, otherwise these new round of negotiation will not make any meaning.”

    NAN

  • Ijaw to FG: fish out Admiral Ikoli’s killers

    •‘His death is a big blow to us’

    Ijaw leaders have expressed anger over perceived silence of the Federal Government on the assassination of the Fleet Commander, Western Naval Command, Lagos, Rear Admiral Daniel Ikoli. Ikoli, who was also a member of the Presidential Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement (CADEP), was found dead in a mysterious circumstance in his apartment at Apapa, Lagos, about two weeks ago.

    The umbrella body of the Ijaw, the Ijaw National Congress (INC), described his death as a big blow and asked the Federal Government to investigate the circumstances surrounding his killing with a view to finding the perpetrators. The Chairman, INC, Central Zone, Chief Kennedy Odiowei, said the government should either set up a commission of inquiry to investigate his death or use its intelligence network to find his killers.

    He said the Ijaw held the slain general in high esteem adding that the killers must be fished out and made to face the wrath of the law. Odiowei said: “It was a big blow to the Ijaw nation because he was one of the sons we we held in very high esteem.

    We are very sad. We want the Federal Government to investigate the immediate cause of the death of General Ikoli. We have heard many controversies surrounding his death. “We were not there and cannot ascertain the actual thing that happened.

    But we don’t want this matter to be swept under the carpet. The INC and the Ijaw Nation want the government to properly investigate this matter and come out with the perpetrators. “The Government should set up a panel of inquiry or investigate through their intelligent network to unmask the identities of persons responsible for this murder.

    The killers must face the wrath of the law. “We don’t have enough people in the military. We have been shortchanged by the state. Even in the quota system, the north always hijack the process and use their names to fill the quotas. So, the few ones we have we don’t want to lose any of them”. Mr. Abiodun, leader of Edo Amnesty phase 3, said Ijaw youths and Niger Delta youths in general are not happy with the murder, adding that report that said he shot himself was to cover up those who committed the heinous crime.

    “For me, there is no way he can kill himself, that is the main reason why most of us are not happy over the drama. Don’t forget he is an Ijaw man and nobody can kill an Ijaw son and go free. On his part, Comrade Victor Ben Tari, President Eye for Niger Delta said his organization is planning to sue the Federal government and the Nigerian Navy over the murder of Rear Admiral Daniel Teikumo Ikoli.

    He said by next week, “We are going to gather on this issue; because our brother is not a mad man, and never exhibited any sign of a man who is abnormal; we are going to issue an ultimatum to that effect. “We are calling on Federal government to expose the killers or attract our anger. “Let me expose some of our agenda, we are going to order the Federal government to investigate the suspicious killing of our Ijaw man. We also want the federal government to involve Niger Delta leaders in the investigation of the death of our brother.

    This is our position, that was why we want to hold meeting by next week.” Comrade Bristol-Alagbariya Emmanuel, former Ijaw Youth leader and National President/CEO Ijaw Young Entrepreneurs and Investors Network Worldwide said nothing has been done to apprehend the murderers of the naval officer. “Till date nothing has been done in that regard.

    We talk about marginalization, consciously by the wisdom of those who designed the constitution; they designed it in such a way that there must be equity and equal participation so that it will create position and patriotism. People will want to commit themselves into Nigerian projects. “But as it stands today it is an unfortunate situation that a military man, an Ijaw son of such a cadre could be murdered in his house.

    And supposedly he should be staying in the barracks or even if he is staying in his house, that house ought to be adequately protected and secured. “He was promoted recently, he is yet to enjoy his privileges and contribute his own quota to Nigerian government before he was murdered.

    And till date there is no statement from the president to condemn the act despite the fact that Nigeria has invested so much money training him. “Despite the fact that he is an Ijaw man, it sends a negative precedents that nothing has been done till now, he is just or been left to his family and kinsmen and probably one or two investigations going on which the public is not aware of.

    The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) also joined other Ijaw voices to call for a thorough and wide-reaching investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Rear Admiral Teikumo Ikoli. President of the IYC, Eric Omare, in a brief reaction to the development, also demanded that the IYC be allowed to be part of the investigating team, adding that all Ijaw youths are demanding justice in the matter.

    “My demand on behalf of the Ijaw Youth Council is for the federal government to carry out a detail investigation to unravel the cause of the death and bring to justice those responsible for the cause of the death. “We also demand that the family and representatives of the IYC should be part and parcel of the investigation team.

    This death must not be swept under the carpet under any circumstances. Justice must be done”, he said.

  • FG shifts SGF’s retreat for SSGs

    FG shifts SGF’s retreat for SSGs

    The Federal Government on Friday announced indefinite postponement of the 2017 annual retreat proposed for the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) with Secretaries to State Governments.

    The postponement came 48 hours after the SGF, Babachir David Lawal, was suspended over contracts awarded under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE).

    A statement by the Director (Press) in the Office of the SGF, Bolaji Adebiyi, however did not give any reason for the postponement.

    The statement titled “Retreat of SGF with SSGs postponed” reads: “The annual retreat of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation with Secretaries to State Governments scheduled to hold in Yola, Adamawa State, from April 23 to 25, 2017 has been postponed.

    “A new date will be communicated to all participants and invited guests in due course.

    “The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation regrets any inconveniencies.”

  • FG misfired in Benue

    SIR: The security problems that presently besets Benue State is not about Terwase “Ghana” Akwaza; it is all about killer Fulbe tribesmen who roam the rural areas at will, kill at will, sack communities at will, and occupy these communities at will.

    The Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Yusuf Buratai, has even informed Nigerians that these killers are foreigners from Niger, Chad, Mali, Northern Cameroon, Central African Republic, etc. It is so sad to read a cynical angle into the “swinging action” that the Federal Government has mandated the Nigeria Air Force and other security outfits to do in Benue State. Expending all those resources to go after Mr. Akwaza (who, in all likelihood, is hiding in Abuja because that is where the Tivs love to repair to) is futile whereas the simple solution lay in the adoption of the practice of cattle ranching, necessarily located in the vast open lands of Northern Nigeria especially at the geological province called the Sokoto Basin.

     

    • Sunday Adole Jonah

    FUT, Minna, Niger State.

  • FG mum on currency swap agreement one year after

    Indications are that the federal government may have jettisoned the currency swap agreement between Nigeria and China as the policy initiative is yet to be implemented one year after the deal was signed.

    President Muhammadu Buhari last year travelled with a high-level government delegation to China, during which the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), the world’s biggest lender, and Nigeria’s central bank signed a deal on yuan transactions.

    The agreement was reached following a meeting between Buhari and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

    But exactly one year after the agreement was signed, nothing much has been heard about it ever since.

    The Nation findings revealed that the policy has been put on hold indefinitely as there are plans to hold talks with the Chinese government to straighten a few loose ends.

    Our correspondent further gathered that the apex bank which is saddled with the responsibility of implementing the policy is awaiting directives from the government.

    One of those worried that the currency swap deal may have flopped is Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON).

    Speaking in an interview with The Nation over the weekend, he expressed dismay that the policy may have been sacrificed in the altar of political expediency.

    “I don’t think the policy has achieved its aims and objectives. I have a feeling that the policy has been kept in the cupboard and l don’t know why. And you know the expectation was that this was going to be the alternative choice to the dollar. But honestly, l don’t know what really happened as to why the policy has not seen the light of day,” he lamented.

    Pressed further, he said: “It’s something l think the federal government and the CBN should as a matter of urgency look into as part of the options now to reduce dollar demand to revisit that agreement and relationship so that we can have a lesser pressure on the dollar and that will really help to strengthen the naira. It’s surprising that nothing has been done to it one year after that agreement had been signed.”

    He reiterated that if the policy is pursued to its logical conclusion, it will reduce pressure in dollar demand as well as enhance the value of the naira. “If you look at it, our trade relationship is even moving from Europe to China. A lot of people now go to China for business imports. People have stopped going to Europe, America and UK. In terms of our trade relationship in China, the idea of introducing Yuan as a second currency instead of dollar is germane and something that we should consider seriously in order to strengthen that bond.”

    However, in the view of Prof. Jonathan Aremu, renowned economist and professor of International Economic Relations at the Covenant University, the currency swap initiative has not miscarried in anyway. Waxing philosophical, he said: “There’s nothing wrong in planning but even if you plan and then the planning is not going the way you want it, if there are conditions that can make it work, one should be able to look at the options to effect the necessary changes.”

    Expatiating, he said: “That the thing did not pick up does not mean that it’s a failure. No. I agree that the Chinese economy is expanding and a lot of developing economies are benefitting and it’s therefore a very wise thing to be able to trade directly with them by converting our naira to yuan because it’s going to be a lot cheaper rather than using the intervening currencies of Euro, dollar or pounds sterling. But what l’m suggesting is that since they have not perfected the arrangements to get it started, l think the federal government need to work on it further.”

    While emphasising that the major reason for the delay, may have been due to change of the policy environment, he however impressed on the apex bank on the need to perfect all the necessary arrangements so that the currency swap can takeoff despite the policy environment.

    “It’s not that they went to China just on a pilgrimage and then nothing happened. That they did not say anything about it doesn’t mean that it has died. What l’m saying is that the prevailing circumstances at the time the agreement was struck has changed relatively and substantially. As such, there may be a need to go back to the drawing board and then look at what can be adjusted to accommodate the emerging changes so that when the thing starts, it’s going to be something that is sustainable. That’s the way l look at it.”

    Contacted, the CBN Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okoroafor didn’t pick his calls and neither replied sms sent to his mobile phone.