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Tag: FG

FG ‘ll not regulate online publications — Minister

Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed pledged yesterday that the Federal Government would not regulate online publications in the country as the publishers are responsible enough to regulate themselves.

The minister, at a meeting in Lagos with online publishers in continuation of his ongoing consultation with key stakeholders in the information and culture sector, however, told them to maintain their credibility.

”If the online publications suffer credibility problems, they stand the risk of losing the confidence of their readers and the advertisers who provide the lifeblood for the publications’ survival,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said while the number of online publications is bound to grow in the days ahead, only the credible ones will continue to enjoy patronage, either from the readers or from the advertisers.

He said it was in the interest of government that online publications continue to grow in number ”because the more the number of such online publications, the easier it becomes to bridge the information gap between the government and the governed, and the easier it becomes for the government to carry the citizens along in the formulation and implementation of policies that touch on their lives”.

The minister promised that the Federal Government would patronize the online publications through adverts, saying: ”All we ask for, in return, is that you provide accurate information to the people and avoid sensationalism and partisanship.”

He sought the publishers’ support to ensure the success of the various campaigns that have either being launched or are about to be launched by the Federal Government.

”The National Security Awareness Campaign, aimed at rallying the support of Nigerians for the war on terror, is ongoing. Also, the National Sensitization Campaign against Corruption was formally launched in Abuja on Monday, and it is aimed at rallying Nigerians against the cankerworm of corruption which has eaten deep into the fabric of our society. We are also preparing to launch a National Re-orientation Campaign, which is tagged ‘Change Begins With Me’, to achieve a paradigm shift in the way we do things,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

Describing the war against corruption as one of the cardinal programmes of the Buhari administration, he said: ”Some have said the government is dwelling too much on the war against corruption to the detriment of other areas of governance. Our response to that is that indeed, there is nothing like dwelling too much on this war which is a war of survival for our nation.”

January 23, 2016
FG not after Ijaw people, says Presidency

The Presidency on Friday denied the claims that the Federal Government is harrassing and persecuting the Ijaw people.

An elder statesman from the region, Edwin Clark in an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari had accused the Federal Government of harassing the Ijaw people, citing the case of Government Tompolo.

An Ijaw Youth organization has also made similar claims.

Recent happenings in the region have also led to some Niger Delta militants taking up arms and bombing oil pipelines in the region.

Reacting to the claims on telephone with our correspondent on Friday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina said that the claims were false.

According to him, no group in the country is being targeted for harassment or persecution.

He said: “I’m yet to read that letter but I will just say it is Edwin Clark’s personal opinion. Anybody who is a follower of events in the country knows that this administration persecutes nobody.

“The administration is just asking all Nigerians to do the right thing and anybody that goes contrary to the law will answer irrespective of where that person comes from.

“So if anybody says a particular group is being targeted for attack or assault or persecution, right thinking Nigerians know that that is not true,” he stated.

January 22, 2016
FG to generate 2million jobs from ICT- Minister

The Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, has said that the Federal Government will create two million jobs from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. He said investors from China would be investing 15 billion dollars in the sector.

He spoke at the maiden Nigeria Communications retreat organized by the Federal Ministry of Communications, at International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan on Friday.

He said: “Information and Communication Technology today creates more jobs than oil and gas and that can further be enjoyed, as investors from China would be investing N15 billion dollars in the ICT sector in Nigeria. So, potential two million jobs will be made available through investments in the sector,” he said.

The minister also disclosed that 550 post offices in different Local Government Areas in the country would soon start engaging in financial services like internet services, call services apart from the traditional letter posting.

“The time has now come to fully embrace ICT to enhance our lives, to enhance transparency and good governance if we are to really fulfill the “change” mantra that Nigerians voted President Muhammadu Buhari to bring about,” he said.

Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, in his address urged stakeholders in the sector to evolve new ways that will take Nigeria out of the doldrums and re-launch its economy.

The governor observed that ICT was useful in virtually all aspects of human life, especially now that crude oil price was experiencing a free fall in the international market, thus impacting negatively on the nation’s economy.

Quoting the National Bureau of Statistics, Ajimobi said that ICT was a major contributor to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with 8.68 per cent, adding that the country was the largest ICT user in Africa, with over 94 million internet users.

Besides, he noted that ICT had created over 12 million jobs in the country in the last two years, stressing that it could create even more if necessary frameworks were put in place.

The governor, who cited the examples of United States of America, China and some Asian countries which, he said, had used ICT to re-launch their economies, pointed out that the time had come for Nigeria to transit from an agrarian economy to a knowledge-based one, with ICT serving as the driver.

“I like to call on all stakeholders to come together to device a realistic blueprint for growth and improvement in employment rate. America, China and many other Asian countries have used ICT to re-launch their countries and their economy,’’ he said.

He called on participants at the retreat to develop realistic strategies on how to use ICT, which he described as an imaginative and innovative sector, to create employment or to convert youths to employment generators.

“We are in the era of change. Ours is a government of change. Let us all come together to make ICT a change agent,’’ the governor said.

He added that this could be achieved by encouraging Nigerians through regular enlightenment on the benefits of information technology, as well as by fashioning out appropriate legal framework by the National Assembly to develop ICT.

Ajimobi also called for the repositioning of Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST), rather than crippling it, by aligning it with global development in ICT.

In his presentation, the Rwandan Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Kamanzi Stanislas, spoke on the evolution of ICT in his country since 2001, saying that his country had benefitted immensely from information technology.

He said that ICT had been applied in local transportation, automated passenger clearance system at airports, government command centre, robust electronic citizen registry, holding meetings without borders, running a paperless government, as well as offering all government services online.

He called for collaboration between Nigeria and Rwanda on ICT in order to improve on the bilateral relations and the economy of both countries.

In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications, Mr. Sonny Echono, said the essence of the retreat was to brainstorm on the development of the ICT sector which, he said, had generic effects on other sectors.

January 22, 2016
Lassa fever: FG launches emergency call centre

The Federal Government has launched a public call centre at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to serve the country on all public health emergencies.

While launching the call centre, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, reiterated the determination of the present administration to provide access to health care information that will keep diseases away from Nigeria.

He urged Nigerians to avail themselves of the opportunity provided by the centre to help government prevent diseases, especially the current Lassa fever outbreak.

The minister called on citizens who have symptoms of Lassa fever to call any of the 10 numbers 097000010—19 from anywhere in the country, and such would be directed to the appropriate state epidemiologist or referred to the nearest health facility.

The Minister also said where possible, patients could be picked up from their locations and taken to the nearest health facility.

He assured the public that anyone who uses the call facility will receive help.

January 22, 2016
FG vows to eradicate Lassa fever

The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adeboye on Wednesday assured that Lassa fever would be completely eradicated in the country this year.

He spoke to State House correspondents after witnessing the signing ceremony of the updated Abuja commitment on polio eradication at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The federal government, he said, had concluded arrangement to set up 10,000 primary health care centres across the 109 senatorial districts in the country to tackle the disease.

He said that the first 5000 centres would be established this year, starting with Fika community in Borno state where the disease was first discovered.

He said: “We inaugurated a Lassa fever eradication committee chaired by one of the foremost virologists in this country and we are committed to signing the obituary of the Lassa fever this year.

“What we want to do is put across some innovative funding mechanisms, ability to manage and put to use 10,000 primary health care centres across the country over the next two years. In the 100 days, we will flag off 110 of these centres. We will start with the one in Fika where we had this outbreak.

“We will do one per senatorial district of 109 to make 110 in 100 days. This year alone, we will do 5000,” he said.

On the current outbreak of lassa fever in the country, the Minister said that the country did not record a resurgence.

He however said that the disease was endemic in Nigeria, stressing that this would be the first time the government is being transparent about the disease.

He said: “We are not having a resurgence. What we had over the years is a situation which lassa is endemic in Nigeria. And as I said in numerous occasions, we have these outbreaks. In 2012, we had the highest. We have 1700 case and that declined. Last year, we had 441 cases.

“And what has happened is that for the first time in the history of the country, we are being transparent and open and we are telling the entire world what the situation is and that is what is different. We are also concerned. We want to find out why we are still having this lassa fever inspite of human and material resources that we have in this country,” he added.

He also denied that there were hidden cases in the past but decried what he called a culture of silence in handling the case.

“Not that they were hidden but they were never brought to public knowledge. There is also what we can consider to be culture of silence in some of our states. For example, we recognised Ebonyi State as one of the endemic states.

“And since the outbreak, Ebonyi has not recorded a single case or report a since case. We despatched our surveillance team to Ebonyi and we discovered five cases,” he said.

The Minister also debunked insinuations that the disease was being given less attention when compared with Ebola virus.

“We cannot win the battle against Lassa fever the same way we won the one against Ebola. Ebola happened to be a single importation to Nigeria.

“Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria. In 2012, we had upsurge in 26 states. So, it is there but I can assure you that with what we put in place this year, we will sign it off,” he said.

On polio, the Minister expressed happiness that no new case has been recorded in the last one year.

He said that the government will ensure availability of the vaccines to completely win the war in 2017.

“The good news about polio is that we have recorded a single case since last year and with what we have put in place, what we signed today, we will guarantee availability of vaccines. There will be no stock-out and we will assure that in less than 2 years, this country will be certified polio free,” he stated.

January 20, 2016
FG threatens to scrap NIMASA over massive fraud, indolence

The Federal Government Tuesday threatened scrap the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over massive fraud and indolence.

The government said it might be forced to approach the National Assembly, to repeal the Act establishing NIMASA, if its management failed to justify the judicious utilisation of the huge resources at its disposal.

Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, stated this in Abuja when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Marine Transport to brief the committee on the activities of the agency.

Amaechi lamented that NIMASA had nothing to show for the N63billion revenue it generated in 2015.

He cited the instance of lack of equipment at the agency’s search and rescue unit meant to monitor movement of vessels and provide treatment for injured personnel.

He said, “Currently, the way NIMASA is, if you look at it very well, it was worse in the last administration.

“It was as if it was established just for the purpose of collecting money and nothing more. What we need to do is to ensure that NIMASA discharges its core responsibilities.

“If NIMASA failed to outsource its core responsibility then it has no business existing. If it is just to collect money from individuals, anybody can do that.

“We can hire a tax collector to collect money from maritime operators on behalf of Federal Ministry of transport.

“So it is either NIMASA sits up and carry out its own responsibility or we come to the National Assembly to repeal the Act setting it up and allow the department of marine security in the ministry of transportation to discharge the responsibility currently being discharged by NIMASA.

“We are not going ahead with the university project proposed by NIMASA because we have an institution in Oron, we have Nigeria Institute of Transport Technology, Zaria, and we have the Nigerian College of Aviation in Zaria which we could upgrade to a University status and NIMASA is proposing to build a new one.

“Who will attend the University? How many parents will allow their children to go to such place where it proposes to site the University? What is the aim of the University that we cannot achieve in Oron where they have all the necessary infrastructure.

“I don’t think we are proceeding with the university being proposed by NIMASA because it is a waste of resources, and unfortunately a lot of money had already been released for the University project hence there is no structure on ground but just the feasibility study.

“Whoever that is holding on to the money should better return it. The Chinese company contracted confirmed that only the feasibility study was in place.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan approved that the NIMASA University should be located at Okerenkoko, Warri South West Local Government.

On the need for the federal government to encourage individuals to buy vessels, Amaechi said the experience in the aviation industry is that such idea was brought up and about N300bn was released to encourage investors in the sector by the last administration.

He said that some people collected the money and ran out of the country

He said, “In fact there is a particular man who collected N32billion and left the country. I don’t think that the federal government needed to release N52bn to investors in the maritime industry.

“What we are considering is to facilitate a partnership arrangement between the operators and foreign investors in which case we can support Nigerians who had shown serious interest in the business with about 40 percent of the investment while their foreign partners bring 60 percent. That will assure us that we would recoup our investment.

“One of those who collected the aviation bailout who has done nothing with the money is working freely on the streets of Nigeria, his airline is dead and he did not even deem it fit to inform the ministry.

“I am protecting the maritime funds and we could only disburse it after we have seen the President, the foreign investors who will partner with the Nigerian investors that meet our guidelines. We have the N52bn in the Treasury Single Account (TSA) account of NIMASA.”

Amaech also explained that an arrangement had been put in place to ensure that the dollar revenue accruable to NIMASA are paid directly to the federation account in order to boost foreign exchange for the country.

January 19, 2016
FG clarifies N5,000 unemployment stipend

The Federal government said yesterday that it has no plan to pay N5000 to Unemployed Nigerians just to be indolent and unproductive, saying such payment will be made as allowances to those undergoing different skill acquisition programmes.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige who disclosed this in an interview with newsmen at the APC secretariat said no country can afford to pay stipend to her citizens to be indolent, adding that Nigeria will not be different.

The Minister however explained that while some people will be paid N5000 under the cash conversion scheme, some will also get N10000 while other may get more than N15,000 while in training.

He maintained that some people that will be given such stipend will go through different training and later get employed by either the state or federal government.

“We also have the programme on the commission cash transfer. Though even you the press has said it, we won’t pay N5000 for people to be indolent. No country in the world, would pay people to go home and sleep and collect cash, so Nigerian would not be an exception.

“We will pay some people N5000, we will pay some N10,000, and even for people in teacher conversion scheme, we will pay more than N10,000, N15,000 as stipend while in training, and then after the training, they are going to be employed by state government and the federal government in different institution.

“It is not a programme we shall run alone, the state governments are going to buy into it, they are going to synchronize with us, we are going to do it in synergy”

He also disclosed that the present administration has mapped out some poverty alleviating and employment generating programs for Nigerians which will be carried out by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Labour and Employment.

On the planned Skills Acquisition Scheme, Ngige said “The Ministry has specialists skills acquisition centres; we have seven like that base in the ministry under the commissioner of skills or directorate for skills.

“The NDE have over 120 centres scattered all over the country, we also have those that have been built by state government and we want to capture all of these into that scheme and then get people to the scheme; to be bricklayers, to be POP designers, builders, welders, electronics repairer and the one they called Mecha-tronic, repair of vehicles, automobile carpentry, painting and fabrication of all sorts.

“We are going to do it, teach people, give them certification, because many people do not know that Ministry of Labour is the only place that can certified tradesmen. This skills acquisition centres are in grades, we have grade A certification, Grade B, Grade C, D and E Certification, they all still exist.

“So we want to get back our youths, capture them, teach them to use their hands, and when they used their hands, they can earn money by employing themselves. If you get a bricklayer, or a painter today, you cannot pay less than N5000 for a daily job.

“If somebody is able to work 20 days in a month for N5000, he already has N100,000. But, today it is a sad story that Togolese, Ghannians, people from Benin Republic, people from Niger Republic that do all these skilled job for us.

“80 percent of workers in that specialize category in construction site all over Nigeria, be it in Abuja, in Lagos or in Onitsha, they come from outside, and we don’t know that little drops of water, form ocean, the money or the naira they are paid is repatriated to their country and all of them will come at the end of the day to put pressure on naira in the foreign exchange market.

“So we have decided that we have to train our own youths, let them use their hinds to fend for themselves. We will also want to advance some of them into entrepreneurship. If you are very good, we can open a place for you and give you money through the Bank of Industry and SMEDAN and then you move to the next stage where a number of youth will work with you.”

January 16, 2016
Board tasks religious leaders on polio immunisation

The Kano State Primary Health Care Management Board has urged religious leaders to support government efforts in achieving routine immunisation in the state.

The Executive Secretary of the board, Dr Muhammad Nasir, made the call in a statement on Thursday in Kano after the Forum of Religious Focal Persons on Immunisation visited him.

It said that the call was necessary to enable government to provide qualitative healthcare services to the citizenry.

It attributed the success recorded in polio immunisation in the state to the strong commitment of religious leaders in the state.

“The board is proud to be in collaboration with Imams to woo the public to come to terms with the reality on the importance of immunisation.

“The recent delisting of Nigeria from the list of polio endemic countries by the United Nations was a great feat attained with an immense contribution of our religious leaders,’’ it said.

The statement therefore urged them to continue to enlighten parents on the dangers associated with noncompliance to immunisation.

It said that the board has adopted the policy of inclusiveness in approach to issues of polio eradication to give stakeholders opportunity to complement government effort in the fight against the disease.

The statement also quoted the Chairman of the forum and Chief Imam of Hotoro Mosque, Sheikh Hadi Ibrahim, pledging to support the board to achieve the desired result in polio immunisation in the state.

January 14, 2016
Lawyer urges FG to motivate Armed Forces

A legal practitioner, Mr Spurgeon Attaine, has urged the Federal Government to come up with policies that will motivate the country’s armed forces to always give their best for the nation.

Attaine was speaking against the backdrop of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, celebrated on Jan. 15.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday that the country’s fallen heroes should be adequately remunerated to boost the morale of the officers and men of the armed forces still in active service.

“If you celebrate past heroes very well and then the families of past heroes are adequately taken care of, it will become incentive.

“It will give them some kind of positive feeling; it will motivate the other officers, who are still in service and even encourage those yet to join the armed forces to do the country proud.

“These people have laid down their lives in the past for the survival of our country, since independence in 1960.

“A lot of Nigerians died during the civil war, yet our country is not celebrating these people enough.

“It is not enough for the country to roll out drums on every Jan. 15 and begin to deliver speeches that are not backed by action.

“From now on let us look forward; the country should spell out what each officer stands to gain in the event of falling on the battle field; what the family will have as benefit and how they will be catered for.

“These are the issues that should always agitate the mind of the Federal Government.’’

Attaine also called on corporate organisations, the state and local governments to assist the Federal Government in boosting the welfare of the families of fallen heroes.

“The state governments of this country should not leave this to the Federal Government alone.

“The state and local governments should contribute their quota by way of setting aside an amount of money for the upkeep of the families of these fallen heroes.

January 14, 2016
FG to begin probe of persons involved in 2015 election violence

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) will soon be inviting top Nigerians, among others, who were alleged to be involved in the 2015 general election violence.

NHRC Executive Secretary, Prof. Bem Amgwe ,who disclosed this in Abuja when the Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER) led by the Executive Director, Frank Tietie, protested to his office on the Bayelsa rerun, said those invited would be asked about their roles in the violence.

Amgwe said the commission had set up a special investigation panel to investigate all those persons who were alleged to have made hate comments capable of destroying the country.

“We will continue to consider you and your organization as partners in progress and we will ensure that rights of Nigerians are respected,”Amgwe said.

He vowed that any military officers found wanting during the forthcoming Bayelsa rerun election would be punished, according to law.

The NHRC boss said the commission would be in Bayelsa to monitor the election and conduct of security agencies.

January 9, 2016