The Nation Newspaper

Tag: FG

  • FG to partner private sector against hypertension

    The Federal Government has promised to partner the private sector in the efforts to fighting hypertension in the country.

    Consequently, the ministry of Health at the weekend said it will be working closely with local private drug manufacturer in making drugs available and affordable to Nigerians, specialty in anti-hypertensive drugs.

    This ministry noted that it is in line with the National Drug Policy (NDP) and Essential Medicines list (EML) policy.

    This partnership is under an innovative programme called FITGAH (Fight the Good Fight against Hypertension).

    In a presentation of the programme, in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Linus Awute, stated that Health Ministry is poised to support the laudable initiative as championed by Neimeth to ensure good health care delivery to Nigerians.

    Mr. Awute described the initiative as unique judging from its four-pronged strategy of: awareness creation, availability of anti-hypertensive drugs, affordability of anti-hypertensive medicines and action, which involves screening and administration of medicines.

    He further pledged to continue to partner with Neimeth because of the positive role played by the company during the Ebola scourge.

    Welcoming  guest to the occasion, the Director, Department of Food and Drugs Services, Mrs. G. M. O. Chukumah, informed that about 4.5 million Nigerians over the age of 15 are hypertensive adding that its prevalence is much in urban than rural communities.   She also reaffirmed that Neimeth’s intervention is to make drugs accessible, safe, qualitative and affordable to Nigerians.

    In his response, the MD/CEO Neimeth international pharmaceuticals plc, Pharmacist Ekunno Emmanuel said that Neimeth has decided to cut down 50% on the price of its anti- hypertensive drugs so as to make them affordable to the good people of Abuja in particular and Nigerians in general.

    He also announced that to ensure availability of its anti-hypertensive drugs and other family medicines, Neimeth is engaging in the free screening for hypertension and giving medications free for 2 months usage.

  • FG to review number of Nigerian foreign missions

    FG to review number of Nigerian foreign missions

    President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday that his administration would undertake a review of Nigerian foreign missions to determine those that were really essential.

    Buhari said this Abuja after being briefed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bulus Lolo.

    He said that a Presidential Committee would soon be constituted to carry out the review.

    According to the president, the review will determine the number of missions Nigeria needs to maintain abroad so that appropriate standards and quality can be maintained.

    The President said that there was no point in Nigeria operating missions all over the world “with dilapidated facilities and demoralised staff’’ when the need for some of the missions was questionable.

    “Let’s keep only what we can manage. We can’t afford much for now. There’s no point in pretending.’’

    The president also called for the record of former government officials and other persons still using diplomatic and official passports illegally, saying that his administration would take necessary action against them.

    “Something has to be done so that we can get back our respectability as a country.

    “Some people carry official passports and get involved in all sorts of negative acts. We need to do something about it,’’ the president said.

    Lolo had informed the president that the challenges facing the ministry included the absence of a Foreign Service Commission, poor funding of foreign missions, policy inconsistencies and training deficiencies, among others.

  • FG approves N400m for students on foreign scholarships

    FG approves N400m for students on foreign scholarships

    The Federal Government has approved N400 million for the payment of upkeep allowances of Nigerian students on foreign scholarships.

    The Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Hajia HIndatu Abdullahi, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.

    Abdullahi attributed the delay to non-release of capital allowance and the change in government which delayed the release of capital allocation for 2015.

    She explained that the upkeep allowance of the scholars did not come as over head allocation but capital allocation.

    According to her, the allowance payable to the scholars outside the country is from January to December and it is calculated and captured in the budget every year.

    She said that the plight of the students was being taken seriously, adding that “we just have an approval of about N400 million, we are now working with the Federal Ministry of Finance to obtain it.

    “After that, we will head to the Budget Office and the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure that the money is remitted as soon as possible to the missions.

    “In terms of the paper work, we have concluded; we want to pay something so that their hardship will be minimised.

    Abdullahi said the entitlements were being worked out from January to December, adding that in 2014, the students got all allowances for the year between July and August.

    “Whenever we receive capital allocation in the ministry, we work out the scholarship money and pay into CBN.

    “CBN will now remit same in line with the information we have given them; it will remit to embassies which will remit to the scholars.

    The acting permanent secretary said that if there was any delay in the release of capital allocation, it would affect scholars’ upkeep allowances.

  • Buhari vows to end incessant strikes

    Buhari vows to end incessant strikes

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday expressed his administration’s commitment to boosting national productivity and taking all necessary actions to end incessant strikes by workers in vital sectors of the Nigerian economy.

    He made the declaration during a meeting with the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Onubuogo Clement Illoh and other officials from the ministry.

    Buhari said that he was particularly disturbed by the seemingly endless strikes in Nigeria’s health sector which have contributed to the fall in the standard of health services in the country.

    The President directed the Ministry’ officials to liaise with other stakeholders and quickly work out proposals for ending the recurring strikes in the health, education, transport, oil and gas, power and other critical sectors of the national economy.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was also present at the meeting, urged Dr. Illoh and his staff to make an input to ongoing plans for the extension of welfare services to poor and disabled persons.

    Dr. Illoh had earlier attributed some of the recurrent strikes in the country to the inclination of some government officials to enter into agreements with financial implications without carrying the Ministries of Finance and Labour along.

    He said that the Ministry of Labour has now introduced a Code of Conduct for Government Negotiators barring them from entering into agreements with financial implications without the consent of the President.

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Illoh said: “At the end of discussion, the president and vice president showed critical interest in three areas. First is the issue of national social insurance trust fund that has to do with social security and social welfare.

    “At the moment, the agency covers all sectors, both private and public, that is organization s employing five or more persons. You will also know that the ruling party has as its manifesto, the issue of providing social welfare. We have keyed into this.

    “The second area is incessant strikes and lockouts with special reference to health sector. We listed the causes of strikes and how we can quickly ameliorate this in all sectors. One way of doing that is to curb impunity.

    “And establish rule of law in the management of trade disputes. Towards this end the institution for the management of trade disputes will be strengthened. Institutions of conflict mediation, industrial arbitration panel up to the industrial court of Nigeria, there need for capacity development to be able to cope with the challenges associated with knowledge, technique and attitude and behavior because if you look at the causal factor responsible for strikes and lockouts.

    “It can be categorized into three individual. Some individuals have propensity for trouble making. There are policies that encourage strikes between management and workers and there are external factors.

    “For instance when Nigerians go on strike because of increase in prices of products, those are not directly related to work. These are factors outside working environment but bear great influence to industrial relations harmony.”

  • FG suspends Immigration boss for recruiting 1,000 workers ‘illegally’

    FG suspends Immigration boss for recruiting 1,000 workers ‘illegally’

    The Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Mr. David Parradang,was suspended   from work yesterday over   alleged  recruitment of  1,000 immigration officers by the organization in violation of due process, The Nation can reveal.

    Parradeng was sent home by the federal government  which  also directed the most senior Deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mr. Martin Kure Abeshi, to take over in an acting capacity.

    The  Director of Press, Ministry of Interior, Yusuf Isiaka Alhaji, confirmed the suspension  via a terse statement.

    He said: “The Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Mr. David Parradang, has been suspended from office with immediate effect.

    “Meanwhile, the Deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration Service, Mr. Martin Kure Abeshi, who is the most senior officer, has been directed to take over the affairs of the office.”

    However,investigation revealed that the suspension was in connection with alleged  “grave error” committed by the NIS in recruiting 1,000 officers.

    A source familiar with the development said  the affected officers  were hired through  a  committee instead of allowing the Customs and Immigration Board to do so.

    Said the presidency source: “The officers were recruited after President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration took over. When the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior drew his attention to the violation of due process, he claimed that there was an approval he got from ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

    “He also insisted that ex-President directed him to use a committee to conduct the recruitment instead of the Customs and Immigration Board. He completely sidelined the board.

    “And when the Permanent Secretary of the Interior Ministry asked him to withdraw the recruitment, he ignored the directive. He said he would  not reverse ex-President Jonathan’s instruction.

    “The Permanent Secretary officially reported the suspended CG to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “Instead of acting unilaterally, the President insisted on due process. He said the suspended CG should be queried. Upon rendering an unsatisfactory answer, Parradang was suspended.”

    This is the  second  recruitment  scandal  under the administration of Parradang at the NIS.

    The first was the March  2014 death of  20  job applicants at NIS recruitment centres across the country.

    Over 700,000 people applied for advertised vacancies in the organization after paying N1000 each.

    However, pandemonium broke out at the recruitment centres  leaving  the 20 trampled upon.

    Neither Parradang nor the then Minister of Interior, Mr.Abba Moro, was sanctioned by the  Jonathan administration over the incident.

    Besides, the NIS is at the centre of the controversy surrounding the issuance of a Nigerian visa to  the Chief Imam of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Ahmed  Al-Assir, by  the Immigration Desk at the nation’s Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon .

    The federal government is said to be utterly embarrassed by the security breach.

    It was learnt that the said visa was issued in a fake Palestinian passport which ought to be detected by the Immigration Service.

    A top source said: “An interim report submitted by the Nigerian Embassy in Lebanon indicated that the visa was issued after the Immigration Service had cleared the ISIS chief.”

    Al-Assir was arrested on August 15 at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport in Lebanon on his way to Nigeria through Egypt.

    In spite of being on the watch-list of Lebanon’s security services since 2013, Al-Assir was detected, while holding a fake Palestinian passport with a Nigerian visa.

    Prior to his disguise, the Lebanese government had accused him of alleged involvement in the death of 17 Lebanese soldiers.

    He had also been sentenced to death in absentia by a Lebanese court.

    But how he managed  to obtain the  visa  has been creating ripple within the security circle.

  • Group urges FG to establish National Teacher Corps

    The leadership of the National Association Of Nigerian Colleges Of Education  Student (NANCES) yesterday called on the Federal Government to establish  a National Teachers Corps  proposed the by former Minister of Education, Prof. Chinwe Obaji.

    In a statement made available to The Nation in Abuja, the National President of the association, Com. Adediwura I. Adeshina, said: “We now call on NCCE not to relent on their action in making a good policy that will improve the lot of teachers in Nigeria.

    “We are using this medium to remind NCCE about the proposed National Teacher Corps policy suggested by Prof. Chinwe Obaji,  former minister of education in 2005.”

    The creation, according to the union leader, will give the National College of Education (NCE)  students the opportunity to participate in the National Youth Service  Corps programme and provide solution  to the problem of lack of teachers in the rural areas across the country.

    Speaking further, Adeshina said : “We urge NCCE to agree with us that there is no better  student that is supposed to go for the NYSC programme  than NCE students. This is because making NCE  graduates  to serve on the platform of the National Teacher Corps is the only solution to all educational problems in Nigeria.

    “NCE students are as important as medical students. If Nigeria will not allow medicine and surgery students to practice without completing their housemanship, they must make sure that NCE students go for National Teachers Corps before becoming a teacher, because “no nation can grow above its teachers”.

  • Our dream is to reposition health system — FG

    The Federal Government has said that its immediate target is to build a health sector that is capable of responding to any health challenge.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Linus Awute, disclosed this when he received 30 motorcycles donated by the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Director, Dr. Rui Gama Vaz, at the office of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Abuja.

    Awute assured Nigerians that the government is committed to achieving a strong and resilient health system capable of responding to any health emergency.

    He noted that support from partners and UN agencies would help significantly to move the health sector forward.

    While thanking the WHO for its gesture, said the world health body had been offering valuable support to the ministry.

    He went down memory lane, recalling the role that the WHO played last year during the period of the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria, describing it as highly commendable.

    The WHO Country Director, who was represented by the National Professional Officer, Health Emergencies, Dr. Ifeanyi Okudo, said the donation was to complement the efforts of the ministry in the areas of health surveillance and emergency response.

    Earlier, the permanent secretary led directors of the ministry on a facility inspection of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

    The National Coordinator, NCDC, Professor Abdulsalami Nasidi, assured the permanent secretary that the NCDC reference laboratory and administrative offices would be ready for commissioning before the end of September 2015.

    The permanent secretary was impressed with the level of work on the projects.

    He said when completed, they would be enduring legacies that would compare with state-of-the-art facilities in advanced countries.

    When in operation, the NC DC will also serve as the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Disease Control.

  • Rep want FG to rehabilitate bad roads

    The House of Representatives on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to immediately commence palliative measure to rehabilitate the bad portions of the Ikorodu-Shagamu and Ikorodu-Ijebu Ode roads.

    This followed a motion moved by Barrister Jimi Benson (APC – Ikorodu federal constituency) which was unanimously adopted. Benson said that the roads are in a pitiable condition and that motorists were passing through harrowing experience.

    The lawmaker said that the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) had abandoned the two inter-state roads in spite of several efforts to get the federal government to hearken to the yearnings of millions of road users over the years.

    He said that most sections of the international highways were failing thereby creating hurdles and gully-like potholes at various sections of the road. The legislator noted that the situation had resulted to vehicular break down, traffic gridlock and encourages driving against traffic which has brought untold hardships on car owners and commuters.

    According to Benson, “the Ikorodu-Shagamu and Ikorodu-Itokin-Ijebu-Ode highways connecting Lagos and Ogun State from two different angles are vital trunk ‘A’ roads that are of vital economic importance to the citizens of the two states in particular, and Nigerians who occasionally ply the roads in general.

    The roads constructed over forty years ago have been in deplorable state, efforts at rehabilitating them had been half-hearted and produced poor quality work; and this is one of the 17 roads and bridges across 15 states approved by the Federal Executive Council on December 3, 2014, at over N430.5billion with the assertion that N21 billion as at then was available to kick-start the projects.

  • Provide conducive atmosphere for new port order, Shippers’ Council urges FG

    Provide conducive atmosphere for new port order, Shippers’ Council urges FG

    The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC)  yesterday  urged the Federal Government to provide a more conducive atmosphere to achieve the new port order.

    The Executive Secretary of the NSC, Mr Hassan Bello, made the plea during a two-day training programme on effective media practice for maritime journalists with the theme, “A New Port Order: A New Maritime Media,’’  in Lagos.

    The new port order is designed  to ensure that the nation’s ports become as efficient as what could be obtained in other advanced countries.

    An efficient port order  discourages diversion of ships to neighbouring countries, increases vessel and cargo traffic and generates more revenue for government and service providers.

    Bello said the need for good maritime reports could not be over-emphasised because the media were among the change agents of operations in the industry.

    “If maritime reporters are performing their roles effectively, everybody in the sector will do the right thing at the appropriate time,” Bello said according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    “Maritime reporters need to upgrade their knowledge of the familiar trends in the industry and should report critically,’’ Bello said.

    He also said that for quick and positive results of the new port order, procedures should be carried out appropriately as being done globally.

    The NSC chief also  stressed   the need to introduce automation into the system, saying this would reduce delay in all chains of shipping until the consignments get to the owner.

    The Executive Secretary said there had been reduction in delay in shipping processes, adding that Nigerian ports need to be competitive to attract more shippers who would use them as preferred destinations.

    “Before we can achieve new port order, Nigerian ports must be efficient.

    “Nigeria has 860 km nautical miles with 26 terminal operators and the competition needs to be supervised,”  Bello said.

    He said there should be a moderator to checkmate the operations of the terminal operators as well as the shipping companies.

    Bello said there must be equilibrium in operations which would stimulate positive competition and efficiency in the port system.

  • Reps to FG: Reopen schools in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa

    The House of Representatives on Thursday directed the Federal Government to reopen schools closed in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States following the activities of the Boko Haram sect.

    The resolution was sequel to the passage of a motion sponsored on the floor of the House by Hon.  Asabe Vilita Bashir, representing Gwoza/Chibok Federal Constituency of Borno State.

    Bashir while arguing the motion titled: “Urgent Need For The Government To Relocate Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) From Schools in Borno State To Enable Schools Reopen,” said the Boko Haram insurgency had been going on since 2009 and that it overran 20 out of 27 local government councils in the state at its peak.

    According to her, millions of people lost their ancestral homes, their pride and identity due to the insurgency in the state.

    She said: “The government of Borno State had to resettle the internally displaced persons in schools, Hajj and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camps, an action that led to the closure of schools for over one year now, leaving the students to be idling away and exposed to social vices.”