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Tag: govt’s

  • NTI boss to govts: train Mathematics and Science teachers

    NTI boss to govts: train Mathematics and Science teachers

    Director General and Chief Executive of the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Dr. Aminu Ladan Sharehu, yesterday called on governments at all levels to be proactive to the issues of training and retraining of Mathematics and Science teachers.

    He also urged stakeholders to support the training and re-training of the Mathematics and Science teachers, rather than complain about their quality.

    Sharehu made the call, while declaring open a two-week training for Mathematics and Science teachers drawn from four states of the country.

    The training, which is the first Cohort of the third Cycle under the Strengthening Mathematics and Science Education (SMASE) project, drew participants from Nasarawa, Enugu, Osun and Ondo states.

    He said teachers had always been at the receiving end, whenever students performed woefully in Mathematics, stressing that he had not seen much efforts from stakeholders in supporting the teachers to improve in their profession.

    The NTI DG, while commending the Universal Basic Education Boards across the country, advocated for stronger collaboration for the sustenance of the SMASE project.

    He said state governments had not taken advantage of the professionalism and expertise of the NTI in the development of their teachers, saying “the institute is always and ever ready to partner states for the benefit of the country’s education sector.”

    The representative of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Joseph Aguiyi, challenged states to adhere strictly to SMASE guidelines in conducting their local trainings.

    Aguiyi, who is the SMASE National Coordinator, lauded the efforts of the NTI under the leadership of Dr. Sharehu in sustaining the project, after the Japan government had pulled out.

    He said the NTI DG’s effort at rapidly propelling the wheels of the SMASE training qualifies him to be honoured with what he called “SMASE Fellowship.”

    Similarly, NTI SMASE adviser, Prof. Emmanuel Odubunmi, lamented stakeholders’ failure to utilize opportunity given by the SMASE project to improve the quality of teaching and learning Science and Mathematics in Nigerian schools.

    He said the country would remain a dependant of finished products, if it could not develop its production sector.

    He noted that “it is only when there are good students of Science and Mathematics that the country becomes a producer of finished goods.”

    Chairperson of the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board, Miss Nneka Onuora, expressed the state readiness to always support the National Teachers’ Institute in the training and retraining of Mathematics and Science teachers.

    She said her state knew the importance of Science and Mathematics in the quest for national development, stressing that the state had taken steps to ensure the success of the SMASE project.

    NTI Principal Consultant on quality assurance, Professor Emeritus Thomas Kolawole Adeyanju, said “the answer to overcoming mass failure of Nigerian students in Mathematics is with the teachers.”

  • Unionists blame govts for continent’s woes

    Unionists blame govts for continent’s woes

    African leaders must take the blame for the various socio-economic challenges limiting the continent’s emergence as an economic giant, unionists have said.

    They spoke at the “Human and Trade Union Rights Network of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), African Region”, hosted by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Abuja.

    The two-day event, which drew participants from some African countries, noted that the insecurity challenge, though a universal issue, overwhelmed African countries due to greed and corruption of the leaders.

    NLC President Comrade Ayuba Wabba, in his opening address, noted that corruption was at the heart of the problems in Africa and Nigeria.

    “The problem of unemployment could not be isolated from the issue of insecurity, which has been a real threat to all of us, until recent time. There is no doubt that we are sitting on a time bomb when we look at the rate of migration across borders,” he warned.

    He condemned the government’s position on privatisation, warning that it was only abandoning her responsibility.

    He lamented that the government had mortgaged most of the achievements made by the past leaders who emerged just immediately after the nation’s independence.

  • Govt’s absence stalls Oritsejafor’s church’s suit

    Govt’s absence stalls Oritsejafor’s church’s suit

    The absence of the Lagos State government yesterday stalled a suit filed by the Word of Life Bible Church (WLBC) before a Lagos High Court, Igbosere, seeking to  restrain the state in respect of its property on Victoria Island.

    The church, owned by Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, sued the government to forestall moves to demolish or dispossess it of its property at Plot 21E, Abdulrahman Okene Close, Victoria Island Annex.

    Joined as defendants in the matter before Justice Deborah Oluwayemi are the attorney-general and commissioner for Justice; Ministry of Physical Planning; Lagos Building Control Agency, and Lagos Physical Planning Permit Authority.

    Although the matter was for Case Management Conference (CMC) yesterday, none of the defendants were present in court.

    He notified the court that he was yet to be served with the defendant’s statement of defence.

    Consequently, the court adjourned the case till June 15 for CMC.

    In its amended statement of claim filed by its lawyer, Kayode Bankole, the church asked for an order of perpetual injunction against the defendants to issue building development permits, since it has fulfilled all the steps expected, including payment of the required fees.

    It further prayed for an order compelling the government to refund N3.06 million, being money paid in excess for the issuance of a building development permit.

    The church stated that in 2003, it acquired the disputed land with Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) No. 68/68/199AR dated November 1991.

    It averred that its application for building plan approval was received and assessed for payment, which it promptly obliged.

    In March 2013, the claimant stated that it received a letter from the defendants, directing submission of certain documents to facilitate approval of building plan and payment of N4.5 million.

    It added that while waiting for the approval, the defendants posted another demolition notice on its fence, and without waiting for the expiration of the notice, demolished the building.

  • NGO urges govts, stakeholders on access to potable water

    WaterAid, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), in Abuja has called on governments and their developments partners to intensify their efforts to increase access to potable water.

    Its Advocacy and Partnership Manager , Mr Saheed Mustafa, said access to potable water would go a long way in reducing incidences of water-borne diseases.

    “Such diseases as diarrhea and other water-related ailments are preventable if people have access to clean sources of water,” he said.

    He said there was the need for governments to articulate and implement policies guiding the provision of water.

    He said the NGO was working on the provision of water schemes in small towns in six states.

    “We work in Nigeria in six states; we work in Bauchi, Plateau, Ekiti, Enugu, Jigawa and Benue states,” he said.

    Mustafa said the organisation was primarily established to assist in water and sanitation for rural dwellers worldwide.

    “He said: WaterAid is a charity organisation that is focused on promoting access to water and sanitation around the world.

    “We work with local partners, such as local governments, state governments and the Federal Government.

    “We also work with Civil Society Organisations; we work with media organisations and other key stakeholders, including communities that are supposed to be the main drivers of this intervention.

    “He said the NGO works with them to ensure that access to water and sanitation became universally assessable and at the right quality.

    “But more importantly, we try as much as possible to ensure that the technology is fit for purpose for the communities,” he said.

  • Govt’s revenue down 15% to N416b on oil price fall

    The Federal Government’s gross government revenue fell 15 per cent to N416 billion in January due to weaker oil prices, the Accountant General, Jonah Otunla said yesterday.

    “There was substantial loss of revenue due to a further drop in the prices of crude oil. Also, a 33 percent decrease in export volumes between  November and December 2014 translated to a loss of $159.88 million,” he said.

    Nigeria will distribute a total N500 billion to local, state and federal government for the month of January, including extra cash remitted from state oil company and from Value Added Tax, which is not counted as part of statutory revenue, Otunla said.

    The Senate Finance Committee had proposed cutting the oil price benchmark in the 2015 budget to $52 a barrel from its current $65.

    The upper house had debated the change proposed by the committee but had not yet reached a conclusion.

    The oil-price slump has adversely affected  the economy, with the naira recording  series of record lows against the dollar in the last three months, breaking through N200 to the greenback.

  • ‘Govt’s domestic borrowing to hit N2tr’

    AfrinvestWest AfricaPlcManaging Director  Ike Chioke, has predicted  increased domestic government borrowings of N2 trillion this year.

    In Afrinvest Research 2015 Outlook Report released last weekend, Chioke said the increased borrowing would occur against the backdrop of a significant drop in revenue (oil & non-oil) and anticipated reduction in capital expenditure.

    Chioke said the steep drop in oil prices have forced an exigent rethink of government revenues and discussions about the economy.

    “With a precipitous drop in crude prices to $48.0pb from more than $110.0pb in June last year, transition have been thrown overboard. As it stands, oil is expected to fund 52.8 per cent of government revenue implicit in the N3.6tr budget. If oil trades at its current prices or below $50pd for much of the year, the federal government would have to scale up its domestic and international borrowing programmes by at least another N1 trillion to fund its deficit,” he said.

    He noted that some states and  a member of Federal Ministries Depertments and Agencies are reported to be struggling to pay staff salaries. “We expect that more states are in financial difficulty than is apparent after the elections. Hence, if oil prices stay at this level, how will the new government of Nigeria post May 29 run the wheels of state? We expect that revenues from non-oil sources will not  materialise quickly enough to swiftly replace revenues lost to poor oil fortunes. Oddly enough, unattractive crude revenues present a great opportunity to diversify government revenues and most importantly, rein in the costs of governance and administration,” he said.

    Chioke said Nigeria famously spends an amount disproportionate to its economic importance on maintaining its elected officials in relative comfort and luxury.

    He said that 75 per cent of budget, recurrent expenditure is deterring Nigeria’s economic development.

    “What Nigeria has basically done over the last couple of years has been to use all of its oil revenues to pay the salaries of a few (less than 10.0 per cent of population). Hence, a new government may discover that to gain traction in governance, it has to bring down the cost of governance. This is inevitably linked to reducing the cost of maintaining the organs and machinery of government”.

    “Nigeria famously spends an amount disproportionate to its economic importance on maintaining its elected officials in relative comfort and luxury. Also, it would require that a new government takes the bull by the horn and address the perennial problem of a bloated civil service that is not as productive as its maintenance costs imply,” he advised.

    The proposed 2015 budget total expenditure of N4.4 trillion is 7.2 per cent lower than N4.7 trillion appropriated last year. He said the proposed reduction in expenditure will not be broad-based, as the cut will majorly be effected in the capital expenditure (N633.5 billion) component of the budget, while the Statutory Transfer (N411.8 billion), Debt Service (N943 billion) and Recurrent Expenditure (N2.6 trillion) components are all proposed to increase.

    “Capital expenditure is proposed to reduce by 43.4 per cent from the N1.1 trillion appropriated in Fiscal 2014 to N633.5 billion, while Non-Debt Recurrent Expenditure is proposed to increase six per cent over the 2014 appropriation to N2.6 trillion. In effect, the share of capital vote to total expenditure will reduce to 14.6 per cent from 23.8 per cent in Fiscal 2014,” he said.

     

  • ‘Bayelsa local govts were drainpipes’

    ‘Bayelsa local govts were drainpipes’

    There are controversies surrounding the local government reforms in Bayelsa State. The Chairman, Local Government Service Commission, Mr. Talford Ongolo, spoke to MIKE ODIEGWU.

    Genesis of the local government reforms

    When we came in, we had over 15,000 staff in the rural development areas and the eight local government areas popularly called the G8. Earlier before our inauguration, the governor because of his deep understanding of the problems besetting the various sectors had set up staff verification panels in all the eight local government areas. They studied the situation and the challenges and came up with various reports. The reports and revelations were mind-boggling.

     

    Removal of corrupt principal officers

    Some of these problems have been aptly captured. It was a springboard. It was revealed that the principal officers were part of the problem. So, when those that are supposed to implement your policies are part of the problems, you have to rethink, restrategise properly otherwise, you won’t succeed. So, government decided at that early stage that part of the reforms would begin with the principal officers. The principal officers were asked to go and beef up the capacity of the local government service commission. All of them without exception were redeployed.

    After they had been redeployed and asked to go on 30-day leave, because they were not even going on leave, a simple verification exercise was carried out in Yenagoa council alone and over N23million was recovered that first month. I went personally to receive the report. That report justifies the redeployment of principal officers.

     

    Non prosecution of removed officers

    This government is more inclined to looking forward. They are not out to punish people. The new principal officers were appointed in acting capacities because they have not attained that level of seniority to become substantive. As a former attorney-general, l have to insist we follow the law. The new principal officers were specially trained in ASCON for two weeks with myself and the permanent secretary present throughout the training programme. They wrote exams. They came back and took over in acting capacities. We want people with capacity to run the local government. Since, then we have been implementing other legs of the reform. We have sent them again for refresher courses.

     

    Biometrics

    We came up with the idea of biometrics. it was christened electro- diametric attendant register with automated payroll system. The simple explanation is that on the first day what the consultant first did was to carry out an enrollment exercise. Every staff in the local government system has to go there. They would take your enrollment details and the biometrics. After that, they started the clocking-in and clocking-out. So, everyday, you will go in the morning to clock-in and after the close of work, you will go back to clock-out.

    After the enrollment alone, people started protesting and even blocked the expressway. Government directed that those who didn’t enroll despite a long period of enlightenment campaign and publicity that their money should be paid into an unpaid salary account. So much was realised. We then went to the nitty-gritty of the matter. The records have justified government efforts. What we are implementing is that if you did not go to work any day, there is no way we can serve you query. People don’t go on a fishing expedition to serve queries. You are queried as you go to work. So, what we are doing now is that if you don’t go to work at all since we don’t know about your existence, we just pay that money into an unpaid salaries account. So, nobody will spend the money. These are the challenges we are having now.

     

    Promotion of workers

    In whatever we are doing, we like to carry Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) along. But it has not been easy. What we did was to organise a stakeholders’ conference where all of us including NULGE agreed on the biometrics. A communique was issued at the end of the conference and the NULGE President also signed it. Whatever we are doing now that NULGE is kicking against is in tandem with the resolutions of that conference.

    We also held another meeting in line with the conference resolution. We held a meeting of all the stakeholders. It was an extended stakeholders’ meeting. The meeting was concerning promotion because since 2008, there hasn’t been any promotion in the service. They told me that the reason was because the system was over-bloated with heavy staff strength and there was nowhere the councils can meet up with financial implications of promotions.

     

    Challenges of reforms

    But no human system can be perfect. There will be challenges here and there. As the challenges come up, we tackle them. People were just siphoning and packing money. One person would have 30 names in the payroll. If you are in an outstation since we are only dealing with workers at the local government headquarters, you are not affected so you are not to clock-in and clock-out for now. We have made it clear that we cannot ascribe to ourselves perfection. Any genuine case; if you know you are in an outstation and for any reason, your name did not appear, go and meet your principal officer and that is the routine. When people come, we clear them. People don’t want change. They just raise these small imperfections to a level to discredit the system. The consultants don’t prepare payrolls. The consultants, after taking records of the attendants, they generate a report. When they prepare these documents, they hand them over to the treasurers. The vouchers are now prepared by the treasury staff.

     

     

  • Administrative stalemate in Ondo local govts

    Local government, the third tier of government after Federal and State governments is going through trying time in Ondo State.

    As the government closest to the grassroots where the bulk of the populace reside, the constitution designed the local government to be independent of the other tiers but that has regrettably not been the case for some time now in the Sunshine state as the councils administration are more or less being run by the state government through state appointed caretaker chairmen.

    Not too long ago, the State House of Assembly again extended the tenure of caretaker chairmen in all the 18 local government areas of the state for another six months. The lawmakers gave the directive at their plenary sitting in Akure, the state capital.

    This is the fourth time the tenure of the caretaker chairmen would be extended by the assembly since the inception of the Dr Olusegun Mimiko administration.

    The Labour Party (LP) administration in the state has not conducted local government election in the almost five years due to protracted legal battle.

    The decision of Governor Mimiko on the legal tussle attracted scathing criticisms from observers who have roundly condemned the extension that has completely stalled developments in the councils.

    During the administration of late Dr. Olusegun Agagu, there was complete autonomy for local government chairmen to develop at their own pace as there was no interference from any quarters.

    The local government councils had executive chairmen, unlike in the past five years when council administrators have remained figure heads taking order from above.

    Gone are the days when council chairmen executed laudable projects even to the extent of tarring some kilometers of roads and met up with many other obligations with their meagre monthly allocations.

    Local Government elections have been on hold in the state following the suit filed in 2009 by the Association of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON) then headed by the former Chairman, Akure South Local Government Chairman, Mr Adedayo Omolafe against the state government.

    Mimiko dissolved the then Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) structure in the local government shortly after his victory at the Appeal Court, Benin, Edo State on February 23, 2009 which forced the council chairmen to seek legal redress which is still pending more than four years after.

    The present caretaker chairmen in the 18 local governments are mere stooges in the local councils, as they cannot take decisions on their own because they are tied to the apron of the State Executive Council hence the slow pace of development in the towns and villages.

    Apart from this, there is no peace among the workers of the local government councils under the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).

    The problem was the fall-out of its recent election won by Mr Bunmi Eniayewun who has not been allowed to resume work since, thereby paralysing all activities in NULGE and the local government councils.

    It was alleged that the state government was interested in the said election, but failed to have its candidate emerge, hence the crack in the rank of the local government workers.

    This led to the formation of a splinter group ‘Association of Local Government Workers (AOLW) led by Mr Isaac Fasina that eventually pulled out of its parent Union, NULGE.

    All the aggrieved members who were against the emergence of the new NULGE boss refused to pay their check off dues being used to run the affairs of the association.

    Unfortunately, Eniayewu and some top officials at the local government councils are on interdiction for about seven months now instead of the constitutional three months over allegation of fraud in the local government councils.

    This according to sources was the fall out of the screening exercise conducted in the local councils by the state government which eventually led to the disengagement of over 10,000 described as ‘ghost workers’

    When The Nation visited NULGE secretariat, opposite Ilesa Garage, Akure, the whole building was desolate, tables and chairs were dusty, an indication of long holidays.

    The embattled chairman, Eniayewu in a chat urged the appropriate body to come out with its findings on the probe to bail him out of his present predicament stressing that he was not guilty of the allegation leveled against him.

    He denied committing any fraud, lamenting that the interdiction placed on him should not be more than three months, but now going to seven months when he has been placed on half month salary without committing any offence.

    Many observers who spoke with our reporter decried the situation at the local government councils in the state, stressing that reasonable number of local government have not received their salaries in the past three or four months.

    According to them, the on-going Christmas and New Year festive period will be bleak for majority of council workers in the state.

     

  • Govt’s N300m Nollywood fund ready for disbursement

    Govt’s N300m Nollywood fund ready for disbursement

    THE N300 million capacity building fund for the Nigerian film industry is ready for disbursement to qualified practitioners.

    Its website will be launched and activated as from noon today. The website is www.projectactnollywood.com.ng.

    A statement by Paul Nwabuikwu, the Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, said this “signals the commencement of the fund, as corporate and individual practitioners in various aspects of movie craft and production can apply for various specified grants under the fund to boost their skills and capacity”.

    The statement added: “The Capacity Building Fund, which was announced recently as the first part of the N3 billion support fund for Nollywood, was pledged by President Goodluck Jonathan.”

    The fund, it added, is the first in a series of initiatives planned under Project ACT Nollywood, comprising two components.

    The first is a Training Fund of N150 million dedicated to training and skill acquisition for Nollywood practitioners in all competencies along the value chain of Nigeria’s movie industry.

    These, the statement noted, include “scriptwriting, directing, production and production design, special effects, lighting, sound, HD techniques, acting, cinematography, make-up, editing, etc.”

    The second component is the Capacity Development Fund, which is also worth N150 million.

    This will come as grants to existing Nigerian-owned private institutes, which offer training courses, programmes and technical certification in the movie industry.

    It could also be used to upgrade existing facilities, procure equipment and develop internal capacity to offer a set of courses/training programmess, which address key skills gap.

  • 2012 FEDERATION CUP VICTORY: Heartland want govt’s recognition

    2012 FEDERATION CUP VICTORY: Heartland want govt’s recognition

    2012 Federation Cup winners, Heartland of Owerri have beckoned on the Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha to give the team a befitting reception after doing the state proud in the competition for the second consecutive season.

    The Naze Millionaires won the coveted cup for Imo State for the first first time in almost three decades in 2011 when they defeated Enyimba of Aba 1-0 and made it a double in August this year after a nail-biting 2-1 victory over Lobi Stars in Lagos.

    About three months after their heroics at the Teslim Balogun Stadium a source very close to the team told SportingLife that there is disquiet among the players on why it has taken the Imo government such a long time to properly reward them for doing the state proud.

    The source informed that though the players were grateful to the Imo government for offsetting most of the arrears of their last season’s signing-on fees, judging by what the players passed through during the campaign for the 2012 Federation Cup which they braved the odds to win, the Okorocha-led government should have done something to make them happy.

    Though Heartland’s form deepened so badly in the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) last season owing to dispute over signing-on fees arrears which culminated in an industrial action for more than two occasions, the club will still stage a comeback to Africa after the feat in the Federation Cup which returned the club to the 2013 CAF Confederations Cup competition again.

    The Owerri-based side ended the NPL season in the 8th position but are well poised to better that performance this term having retained the core of the players with the club last season and also with some statement-making signings too already.