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Tag: GOVT

  • Govt to Ihedioha: don’t cause crisis in Imo

    Govt to Ihedioha: don’t cause crisis in Imo

    The Imo State Government has warned former House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha to stop making unfounded allegations against Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    The government urged him to concentrate on his case before the Election Petitions Tribunal, instead of crying wolf where there was none.

    Ihedioha was the Imo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the April 11 election.

    The former lawmaker reportedly accused the Okorocha of diverting the state’s resources to acquire estates in and outside the country when the workers were owed salary arrears.

    But in a statement in Owerri, the state capital, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary Sam Onwuemeodo urged Ihedioha to stop disrupting the peace.

    The statement said: “Ihedioha is not the only Imo man or the only Nigerian who ran the governorship election and lost. Imo State cannot stop existing because he failed in an election. He should face his case at the Election Petitions Tribunal like other candidates in other states and stop talking as if he is still on election campaigns.

    “He should also stop insulting the governor as if he derives pleasure from doing so. He had run for the governorship and he has failed or refused to respect the governor on seat and the office.

    “It is also unfortunate that a man who had been in the House of Representatives for 12 years and Deputy Speaker of the same House for four years, and who is expected to know the efficacy of respecting political office, like that of the governor, was taking delight in abusing his governor without provocation.

    “Ihedioha’s party, the PDP, governed the state for 12 years and could not renovate one school and Imo people did not accuse them of stealing the state’s funds. He has the audacity to accuse a man who had done in four years what the PDP could not do in 12 years of stealing the state’s fund.”

  • No payment received, says govt

    No payment received, says govt

    The Ekiti State government has denied collecting N22billion from the Federal Government.

    In a statement yesterday by Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communications, Lere Olayinka, the government said: “The Ekiti State government is being owed  N12, 220,513,024.08 as at today.

    “Between 2004 and 2014, the government spent N15, 720,513,024.08 on construction and rehabilitation of federal roads, of which N3.5billion was refunded.”

    The government said N1.5 billion was refunded in November 2004 while N2 billion was refunded in December 2007.

    The statement added: “We wish to state the Ayodele Fayose-led government has not received any refund from the Federal Government.

    “In actual fact, till date, the total amount spent on federal roads is N15.7bilion and we wonder how the Federal Government could have paid Ekiti State N22billion when N15.7billion was spent and N3.5billion was refunded in 2004 and 2007, leaving N12.2billion unpaid.”

  • Teachers to govt: don’t kill staff schools

    Teachers to govt: don’t kill staff schools

    Will federal universities’ staff schools survive if the government stops their funding? This is the puzzle to which the workers are seeking an answer. To protect its members, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has taken up the fight for the government to continue funding the schools.

    The association’s chapters nationwide have taken to the streets in protest.  Tagging it a ploy to privatise the schools, they fear that it would lead to workers’ downsizing fee hike and hardship for the communities they serve.

     

    Effect on workers

    With the teachers on the same salary scale with universities’ non-academic staff, salary cuts, and or sack, would be inevitable if the plan sails through.  Some of the schools have no fewer than 100 workers, while fees charged on the average is less than N10,000 per term.

    Faulting the plan, Federal Universities Staff Schools Association of Nigeria, President  Rev Chidi Nwakpa said the government would be throwing into the labour market highly qualified people who are productive – unlike many civil servants.

    “You talked about the issue of the loss of jobs. All the dependants of those who will be affected would suffer. So I think it is a bad idea. The Federal Government should think about it and allow it. After all, how much is it? There are federal civil servants who are just there. They go to the office twice or thrice a month and still collect their salary. But these people are training the future generations of tomorrow. A lot of people that have passed through the staff schools are doctors, professors, lecturers and many other areas of life. Why must it be the staff schools that are singled out for this kind of punishment?

    Chairman of SSANU, University of Ibadan chapter, Comrade Wale Akinremi added that the job loss would not only affect the teachers but the quality of education in the schools.

    “If the school is run independently, it will lead to hike in fees and the staff strength will be downsized, which means that staff will be sacked and even the quality of education in the staff schools will be weak,” he said.

    Describing the plan to privatise the schools as unfair to the workers, Nwakpa explained that many staff school teachers were interviewed like lecturers but posted to the staff school.

    “We have the same qualifications as our colleagues in the university system. Some of us even have higher qualifications. We have those with Masters and PhD. We were all interviewed at the same time and then sent to the staff schools. We did not commit any crime to be posted to staff schools. The Federal Government should have a rethink. By the time they do that, there could be disharmony and problems and it would not be a good thing for our universities,” he said.

    Lending credence to Nwakpa’s claim, Deacon Mbu Moses Mbu, Deputy Head Master (Administration), University of Calabar (UNICAL) Staff School, said the staff schools are regarded as extensions of the universities and their workers should continue being treated as such.

    “The least teaching staff in this school has a first degree. We were employed same as those teaching in the university, because this school is an integral department of the University of Calabar. We are employed by NUC as our colleagues who are lecturers,” he said.

    When it came to how much staff school workers earn, many interviewed declined talking about their salaries.

    Volunteering some information, however, SSANU chairman, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) chapter, Comrade Ken Njoku, said teachers of the staff schools are engaged under the salary structure of universities on the same cadre of non academic members of staff.

    He said the condition of service of the teachers would no longer be the same if the Federal Government removes them from the management of the university structure.

    Giving specific figures, Mbu said salaries range between N84,000 and N300,000.

    “A first-degree holder who is a starter here is placed on CONTISS 7. If it is step one, I think it is a minimum of N84,000. Also, it depends on how long the person has been here and his level. The highest is CONTISS 13, who goes home with almost N300,000 everything put together,” he said.

    UNILAG SSANU Chairman Mr Adekola Adetomiwa added that salaries of the 82 teaching staff at the UNILAG Staff School range from N110,000 to N236,000 per month.

     

    Effect on fees/universities

    To sustain the kind of salaries they presently earn if privatised, Mbu said the staff schools would have to charge higher fees.

    “You can imagine how high fees would be if the school is privatized,” he said.

    However, increasing the fees would likely make it difficult for the schools to attract enough pupils given that they were set up to provide quality but affordable education for children of workers and members of the host communities of institutions.  Another factor is their location – faraway from city centres where many of the upwardly mobile who can afford the fees reside.

    Underscoring this point, Njoku said removing the schools from the universities would lead to fee hike beyond the reach of average university worker.

    “Now you know that most universities are separated from the city centres in many places. They are far from cities. And now you have these schools specially for them and the immediate environment where they are located and it is subsidized.

    “Talking about the schools running themselves would mean making education beyond the reach of parents, just like in the private schools where they charge a lot of money. If you say it should be independent, it would mean a hike in school fees and that would mean a lot of children would not have the opportunity of going to school. It would come at a high price,” he said.

    Save for a development levy of N5,000, Adetomiwa said children of the workers do not pay fees at the UNILAG Staff School. Outsiders pay N25,000 per term.  With privatisation, he said the fees would be unaffordable.

    He said: “The primary schools are funded by the federal government, 100 per cent, both in recurrent and capital expenditure. That is SSANU’s agreement with the government. But for the International School, UNILAG (ISL), the recurrent expenditure is borne by parents, according to our agreement with them, while the capital expenditure is funded by the government.

    “In secondary school, outsiders pay N150, 000, lecturers that have children pay N45,000 and retired staff members pay N125,000, which is 75 per cent of the school fees.

    “ISL can run on its own. But the Staff School is completely funded by the government. They do not pay any fees but the development levy of N5,000 for the staff with children there, while outsiders pay N25,000, each per term.

    “The issues to consider is that now, the staff are not really paying fees, but if the privitisation takes place, this benefit enjoyed by the staff would be eliminated and they would be paying the same amount as outsiders. That means that the staff school, which is the primary school, staffs would pay close to N30, 000.”

    Another argument the workers are putting up against the privatization of staff schools is that their role as demonstration laboratories for education faculties would end.

    Without such Federal Government funding, they would die, said UI SSANU chair, Akinremi.

    “No university staff schools can stand on its own. It was established by the university council to also serve as a laboratory for student of faculty of education,” he said.

    A senior member of staff of the UNILAG Staff School (names withheld), told The Nation that it would be a great loss to students studying education in the university.

    “The staff school serves as a demonstration laboratory for students of the faculty of education, which is an integral part of their degree.  Hence, separating the schools from the universities would deter the system,” the source said.

     

    Effect on the schools: The NINLAN case study

    Njoku warns that if Federal Government’s plans sail through, many staff schools “most of the schools may be forced to close down”, arguing that they would not break even.

    Mr. Adibe Chukwudi, Principal of the National Institute of Nigerian Languages (NINLAN) Demonstration Secondary School, New Umuahia road, Aba, Abia State, understands what Njoku is talking about as his school is facing difficulties without government funding.

    Though owned by the Federal Government, NINLAN Staff School has been funded by the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the institute in the past 15 years, which is grossly inadequate.

    Speaking on behalf of the principal, Dr I. J Amajuoyi, the Vice principal of the school, said that the fees charged (N30, 000 as boarding fees and N35, 000 as tuition fees per term) is inadequate to cater for 54 teaching and 26 non-teaching staff on its pay roll.

    With the difficulties in running the school, he said it would be better the Federal Government continues funding staff school.  He also appealed to the government to take over funding of the school like in the past so it can expand facilities and pay better wages.

    He said: “I don’t subscribe to the running of the school through IGR because the IGR is not really carrying the school. For a very long time, we have been static.  There has not been any form of promotion. Some of the legitimate demands of the staff have not been met because we have always been told that the school doesn’t have money. If we say, let us increase the fees in such a way that it will carry some of our demands, most students will drop out.

    “Our members of staff have also developed themselves such that you have people with higher degrees, but what you are paid at the end of the month is not commensurate with the present qualification. If I should tell you my salary as a doctorate degree holder, you will be shocked.

    “To further tell you the need for federal government to take over this place, as it stands now, all of us; both old and new staff are placed on the same salary. The only difference for people like me that have put 19 years in this job with the ones newly employed is just one step with N2000:00 difference.

    “My school in particular has been looking forward to the federal government taking over the running of the school because severally we have talked to the Executive Director of the main institute to integrate the staff of the administration secondary school into the institute’s pay roll because presently, we are paid from the IGR the school generates.

    “Our school from the inception was part of the institute; we were pay rolled together until 2000 when we were separated from the institute with a separate salary structure being prepared for the secondary school and as years goes by, we seems to remain where we have been.

    “We have been lobbying and talking to the executive director to reintegrate us because some Demonstration staff schools like Michael Okpara, University of Uyo, UNN, UNEC amongst others have been integrated. So our case here is very different. So, we are championing for the taking over the running of the school by the federal government”.

    Head Teacher Lagos State University (LASU) Staff School Mrs Adeoloa Aribike, sees the government’s proposed action as a clarion call for universities staff school nationwide to resist what she fears might trickle down to state-owned universities if it eventually succeeds.

    “What is the problem they have with us (teachers), what crime have we committed?” Aribike asked rhetorically.

    “Is it not the same certificates that we have that people in other professions also have? We even have some of our colleagues doing their PhD yet prefer to stay put here. Now having put in many years into service, government suddenly woke up and said they should go. Does government want to be carrying corpses on the road?

    Aribike a foundational member of the 28-year-old school, thanked LASU management for paying the salary of workers whose population she said, currently stands at 31. “Management also places workers’ salary with the same salary structure of the university,” she added.

  • Govt urges Nigerians to plant trees

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Mrs Nana Mede,  has  urged Nigerians to imbibe the culture of tree planting, to ensure soil protection and food security.

    He made the call in Bwari, Abuja  while addressing participants in the tree planting campaign organised by the ministry to commemorate the World Desertification Day (WDD).

    The day is celebrated on June 17, every year.

    The theme for this year’s celebration is “Attainment of food security for all through sustainable systems” with the slogan “No such thing as free lunch, invest in healthy soils’’.

    She said since Nigeria was a party to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, it was imperative for the people to plant trees and establish orchards, to avoid land degradation.

    She, therefore, enjoined the participants to adopt tree planting as a habit, while assuring them of the ministry’s commitment to ensure soil protection for food security and sustainable environment.

    “Desertification stares us in the face; about 33 per cent of our land mass is affected by degradation; we are left with 57 per cent for sustainable living and development.

    “About 20, 000 women suffer annually from respiratory diseases as a result of smoke they inhale from cooking with fire wood.

    “There is a need for us to take urgent steps to arrest this situation and the way forward is by tree planting.

    “We must adopt the habit of planting trees in our homes, farms, schools and places of work, to ensure the soil is enriched and protected for food security and sustainable environmental governance.

    “If we must cut down a tree, then we plant five trees as replacement.

    “As a way forward, the ministry will continue to provide the enabling environment for people to play their respective roles to ensure our that our environment continues to fulfil development objectives.”

    She said the establishment of plantation in Bwari was to showcase the seriousness the ministry attached to restoring communities and regions affected by land degradation.

    She further assured that the ministry would partner the Bwari community to sustain the tree planting campaign to combat land degradation.

    The Supervisory Councillor for Environment, Bwari Area Council, Mrs Fidelia Onyechalom, said bush burning by farmers was affecting tree planting as well as a major cause of land degradation in Bwari.

    Onyechalom, however, commended the ministry for choosing Bwari as a venue to mark this year’s WDD, adding that it would promote the much needed awareness on the importance of tree planting.

    She expressed delight that the council was chosen to host the programme.

    “We were faced with the problem of planting more trees because of the lack of orientation on the part of farmers who often practice bush burning to cultivate their farms.

    “We promise to take good care of the trees that will be planted today, to ensure they survive and that everyone benefit from them to mitigate harsh weather.”

    The high point of the event was tree planting by stakeholders, including military and para-military agencies and staff of the council.

    The WDD was declared by the UN General Assembly in December 1994, to create awareness and exchange information on ways to combat land degradation

     

  • Govt assures of early completion of Kano airport terminal

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Aviation, Mrs. Binta Bello, has promised that the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), which is building a new terminal at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, will complete the project on schedule.

    Speaking during an inspection of projects at the aiport, Mrs Bello said despite the slow pace of work on the terminal and others, they would be completed on time.

    She said: “The project manager at MAKIA has assured me that he will hand over the job in March next year. They will finish it; they have all the materials. If they, who are doing the work, say they will deliver by March, you have no cause to doubt them.

    “The only place where we had challenges was Lagos. They had the initial challenge of site. And when they overcame the challenge, they mobilised to site and work is in progress; at other sites, there have been no problems.”

    China’s Exim Bank  is funding the construction of the aiport terminals in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kano at $500 million.

    Meanwhile, indigenous contractors handling the projects at the Lagos, Kano, and Port Harcourt airports have stopped work due to lack of funds.

    Among the project sites the permanent secretary and her entourage visited, only a handful of artisans were seen idling away while their bosses were not in.

    Patmoz Nigeria Limited, which is  building the  Kano airport’s fire station, stopped work, saying it had exhausted its mobilisation fee.

    It was gathered that the contractor received payment for the work in October, last year.

    Similarly, Jameck West Africa, which constructs the general aviation terminal, said the project which is about 60 per cent completed, had been suspended due to non-availability of funds.

    Mrs Bello assured that the contractors would be mobilised to sites when funds are available.

    “As soon as we are able to mobilise funds, we will call them back to sites. They said they have not been paid; we will look at it and once funds are available, we will pay them,” she said.

    Last week, the Ministry of Aviation said inadequate funds were  stalling modelling at the international wings of the Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt airports.

    The projects include the Lagos Airport Power Contract, Protocol Lounge  and landscaping , Construction of departure and arrival halls at Port Harcourt Airport and others.

    The projects are part of the remodelling contracts awarded by the last administration.

    The  contractor: Messrs Mantrac  Nigeria Limited handling the Lagos Airport Power Project has vowed not to return to site until the government reimburses it for the work done so far.

    At the power house of the Lagos Airport issues on  gaps in funding arose, following complaints by the contractor: Messrs Mantrac Nigeria Limited, which suspended work on the airport Power Project  Contract,”  because it was being owed huge sums.

    An official of the company said  due to  paucity of funds, some generating plants were not working at the Lagos airport.

    The firm insisted that until the funds it channelled into the  contract is repaid, it would not return to site.

    At the new protocol lounge near the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB)  at the Lagos airport, where about 80 per cent of the work had been done, Mrs Bello  was told that the contractor was also being owed leading to the suspension of work.

    The officials of the contracting form dos not disclose the cost of the contract and how much the firm is owed.

    Besides, the permanent secretary was  informed that the contractor had suspended work until further payment was made contract for the landscaping of the surrounding was yet to be awarded.

    At  Port Harcourt International Airport , the contractor handling the construction of the departure and arrival halls of the airport, Messrs Inter Bau Construction Ltd said work on phase 1 (departure) was between 80-90 per cent completion while work on phase 2 (arrival) “is almost nil.”

    Chairman of the company, Sir Nath Okechukwu, said in an interview that the second phase of the project was awarded at the cost of N1.7 billion, adding that the last time he received payment for the work was in 2013.

    “In phase 1, we have done about 80-90 per cent and phase 2 is almost nil. In phase 1, our money got exhausted; we don’t have money, we have to suspend work. In phase 2, the total sum then was N1.7 billion, but it has gone up though we don’t know how much we are coming up with,’’ he said.

    “We hope very soon they will make some payments so that we may go back to work. The owner of the project has just finished inspection. When she gets back to Abuja then we will know what she is coming up with,” he said.

    He assured that “if money is made available, we will deliver the project(s) before the current administration marks its first 100 days in office.”

    In her remarks , the permanent secretary said her mission was to see the projects to know the stages of completion in relation to money spent on them so far.

    On funding of the projects inspected, Bello assured :” we will look at it and as soon as money is available, the contractors will be mobilized to site.”

    On the new terminals at the airports and the level of completion, Bello said: “Work is progressing very well.

    I am actually happy with what I have seen; I have seen the determination to improve infrastructure at the airports and we are taking what we have seen back to Abuja. I’ve been told they had some challenges during the take off of the projects.

    They have overcome most of them and they are working very hard to close the gaps created by man hours lost. I am satisfied with the work done so far; if they didn’t have initial challenges they would have gone further than where they are,” she said.

  • Repair Daleko Market road, traders urge govt

    Repair Daleko Market road, traders urge govt

    Traders and other users of the road leading to the popular Daleko Market at Isolo, Mushin, Lagos State, have urged government to fix it.

    They are claiming that the road deteriorates on a daily basis and is badly affecting their business among other activities.

    The repair of the road was said to have been abandoned last November, thereby worsening its condition.

    The pains occasioned by the condition of the road, the users claimed, have bred incessant traffic jam, flooding and accidents on a daily basis.

    Hoodlums, The Nation learnt, have capitalised on the situation of the road to extort money from vehicle owners while filling some of the potholes with sand.

    A trader, Femi Adebayo, said the bad state of the road is negatively affecting traders as customers have stopped coming towards this area.

    “Most of the time, traffic jam hinders customers from coming our way; they get stuck on the road and later go elsewhere to buy what they need, leaving us to stare at our goods all day,’ he said.’

    He added that the repair which began last year was abandoned, adding: “As you can see the road got worse than it was. We hope things gets better very soon so that our customers can come to us with ease to patronise us.”

    A resident, MrsAngela Chukwuma said: “Fuel tanker drivers know this road is bad and they still pass through it. Whenever they pass, they stagger all along and this poses fear in our hearts. A tanker fell across the road recently but we were lucky it had already emptied its contents before getting here. We might not be so lucky next time and we hope something could be done to help.’’

    Mr Diya Akin, another resident, blamed the poor state of the road on trucks and petrol tankers, saying: “They are the major cause to the bad state of this road and the traffic. We want the government to stop them from going through the road by creating another route for them and maybe the traffic and accident would reduce a bit.”

    A motorcyclist, Mr Jacob Oluwafunmilayo, said: “I am very sad about how much this road has affected my business. Normally, I carry rice and flour from this market with my motorcycle to various destinations, but since the condition of this road has worsened, we fall while riding and sometimes throw everything we carry inside the dirty water.

    “This worrisome situation has made our customers to neglect us and go with buses and other means. At the end of the day, I do nothing and take no penny home to my family.”

    Mr Chuks Anko, a commuter said: “I have several cars but coming here with any is impossible because the road has done so much damage to each of them. It took me thousands of naira to repair them. So, I had to buy my goods elsewhere instead of going through this bad road.”

    In a related development, a trailer lost control while struggling to avoid potholes at the bad portion of the Daleko Junction.

  • Govt earns N735b in April, 35% higher than March

    Govt earns N735b in April, 35% higher than March

    Federally-collected revenue in April was estimated at N735.07 billion, showing an increase of 35.8 per cent above the receipts in the preceding month, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Economic Report for April, said.

    The report, released at the weekend, indicated that the figure was lower than the receipts in the corresponding period of 2014 by 8.4 per cent.

    However, at N286.24 billion, oil receipts (gross), which constituted 38.9 per cent of total revenue, was lower than the receipts in the preceding month and the corresponding period of 2014, by 21.5 and 54 per cent.

    The apex bank said the fall in oil receipts relative to the level in the preceding month, was attributed to the decline in revenue from crude oil and gas exports, occasioned by the drop in the prices of crude oil in the international market.

    Non-oil receipts which stood at N448.83 billion or 61.1 per cent of the total, was 154.1 and 150.4 per cent higher than the receipts in the preceding month and the corresponding month of 2014, respectively.

    The development reflected, largely, the rise in receipts the Federal Government independent revenue. “Federal Government estimated retained revenue in April 2015 was N452.38 billion, while total estimated expenditure was N155.52 billion. Thus, the fiscal operations of the Federal Government resulted in an estimated surplus of N296.86 billion,” it said.

    According to the CBN, crude oil export was estimated at 1.46 million barrels per day (mbd) or 43.80 million barrels during the month. The average price of Nigeria’s reference crude, the Bonny Light (370 API), was estimated at US$59.55 per barrel, indicating an increase of 3.7 per cent above the level in the preceding month.

    The end-period headline inflation rate (year-on-year), in April 2015, was 8.7 per cent, compared with 8.5 per cent in the preceding month. Inflation rate on a 12-month moving average basis remained at 8.2 per cent, same as in the preceding month.

    Foreign exchange inflow and outflow through the CBN in April 2015 was $2.88 billion and $2.55 billion, respectively, and resulted in a net inflow of $0.33 billion. Foreign exchange sales by the CBN to the authorised dealers amounted to $2.39 billion, showing a decline of 14.9 per cent below the level in the preceding month.

    Relative to the level in the preceding month, the average naira exchange rate against the dollar appreciated at both the bureau-de-change and interbank segments of the market. Non-oil export receipts declined by 51.3 per cent below the level in the preceding month. The development was attributed, largely, to the significant decline in export earnings from the minerals sector.

    Also, world crude oil output last April was estimated at an average of 94.10 million barrels per day (mbd), while demand was at 92.50 million barrels per day (mbd), compared with 93.99 and 91.91 mbd supplied and demanded, respectively, in the preceding month.

     

  • Govt gets wake-up call on N11.6b LNG cash

    The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has urged the Federal Government to recover all revenues due to  Nigeria and expedite action on the implementation of recommendations made by the independent Auditors in the Annual Reports of the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in the past 10 years.

    In a letter signed by the non-governmental organisation’s (NGO’s) Executive Director,  Auwal Ibrahim Musa, the centre noted the reminder credited to the NEITI Secretariat which alleged that about $11.6 billion (N2.32 trillion), outstanding total dividends arising from loans and interest repayments from Federal Government’s investment in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), among others, is yet to be remitted into the nation’s coffers. It said the revenue is, therefore, unavailable to finance development.

    Musa said: “CISLAC observes that this figure, if verified, is more than 50 per cent of the total expenditure in the 2015 annual budget. It will also be about 10 per cent more than the allocation for recurrent expenditure, 75 per cent of the provision for capital allocation and about 65 per cent of the fiscal deficit in the annual national budget for the 2015 fiscal year.

    “We reiterate that this state of affairs has resulted because of lack of political will by previous administrations to implement remedial action emanating from recommendations from previous NEITI audit reports, which had been reinforced by the reports of several probe panels and committees.

    We recall that one of the President’s promises during the campaigns was to implement the recommendations from the NEITI reports and believe that the time to start is now. We are aware that lack of political will is what has long hindered the ability of the Inter-ministerial Task Team (IMTT) and the Board of the NEITI to implement these recommendations, block leakages and recover unremitted funds,” he said.

    Musa called on the Federal Government to empower and strengthen the IMTT to effectively carry out its mandate. He added that it might also be necessary to review the NETI Act 2007 to strengthen sanction mechanisms, which are presently weak and probably empower the NEITI Board or some other independent body to enforce more stringent sanctions on erring stakeholders outside of the usually politicized and sluggish Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

    “CISLAC is aware of the ability and willingness of the NEITI to provide necessary information to assist the Federal Government in recovering these funds and therefore, there will be no need to invest precious time and resources in setting up of any more superfluous Panels to conduct any fresh probes and investigations, he said.

    He urged the government to expedite action on the recovery of all the monies due to the coffers of the Nigerian people and channel them into people oriented development as a way of ushering in the change that citizens voted for and in fulfilment of campaign promises to the teeming population of highly expectant Nigerians.

    He also urged government to demonstrate the commitment to address the cancer of corruption that has undermined Nigerians’ collective desire for development and good life.

  • Aregbesola to workers: I share your pains

    •Govt to pay before June 30

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has appealed to workers to be calm, saying the salaries will be paid before June 30. He said his government was not immune to their pains.

    He spoke when the Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Jonathan Richardson, visited him at the Government House in Osogbo.

    Aregbesola said: “I want to appeal to workers to be calm as their period of hardship caused by the delay in the payment of salaries will be solved very soon. We are with them in their pains, we are not immune to any of their pains.

    “I have not received any salary ever since I became governor. I urge workers to take heart, in no distant time, at least, before the end of this month, we will all put this terrible experience behind us.”

    The governor said the state is eager to partner with Australia for the benefit that will come to the state and the country.

    He noted that apart from gold and other resources, the state has a large deposit of gemstones.

    Aregbesola added that the mining licence that the state gave to an Australian company was small compared to the mineral deposit that the state is blessed with.

    He said: “We have a lot of potentials in mining, agriculture and technology. As important as mining and agriculture are, acquisition of knowledge is quite important to development.

    “We look forward to the contribution of countries like yours. Whether we like it or not, a society without skilled people will soon fizzle out. We are eager to partner with Australia for the benefits that will both come to us. We are struggling hard to develop our state on every facet.”

    The high commissioner said his country is ready to offer necessary assistance to develop the economy.

    Richardson commended the people for the peaceful transition, saying the negative view of Nigeria to foreigners is due to lack of information.

    He stressed that Australia is ready to partner with Osun because of the state potentials in tourism, agriculture, mining, among other areas.

    “We think we have a lot to offer in mining, agriculture, tourism. We are happy to inform your government on how we can help in some of the areas.”

  • Govt empowers Itsekiri fishermen co-operatives

    The Federal Government has empowered Itsekiri Fishermen Co-operatives in the Niger Delta with 24 Yamaha outboard Marine boat Engines, Fishing Nets, Floats and Marine ropes.

    Presenting the equipment and input to the representative of the Olu of Warri and the facilitator of the government support, Mrs Rita Lori Ogbebor at the ministry’s Store in Sheda, Abuja, the Deputy Director, Artisenal Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,  Mr. Olusegun Babatunde, stated that the gesture was in line with government effort at increasing local production of fishes with an additional 200,000metric tonnes in Nigeria.

    Babatunde said artisanal fishing has contributed to the 80 per cent  of fishes produced locally in Nigeria, saying the inputs would provide employment opportunities to the Itsekiri Youths and helped them in contributing their quota to the fisheries sector in the country.

    He said the government has designed a programme that is targeted at 27 selected states that are engaged in artisanal fishing with focus on 200 fishermen per state. According to him, such fishermen are expected to benefit from the empowerment drive in form of fishing inputs like boats and canoes, as a way of support and not subsidy from government.

    Receiving the fishing inputs on behalf of the Itsekiri Fishermen Co-operatives, Mrs  Ogbebor, thanked the Federal Government for empowering the youth in the region, saying the gesture would reduce restiveness in the Niger Delta.

    Mrs Ogbebor stated that government gesture would also address some of the grievances in the Niger-Delta region and pleaded for more assistance in swamp rice production and piggery. She said such assistance could be in the area of equipment for rice processing, harvesting and polishing.