The Nation Newspaper

Tag: improved

  • President calls for improved economic relations with Argentina, Sri Lanka

    President calls for improved economic relations with Argentina, Sri Lanka

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday called for improved economic relations to deepen bilateral ties with Argentina and Sri Lanka.

    The President spoke in Abuja when he received letters of credence from the new Ambassador of Argentina to Nigeria, Mr. Gustavo Alejandro Dzugala, and the new High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Nigeria, Mr. Panagoda Don Prince Solomon Anura Liyanage.

    Jonathan met the envoys on different separate occurrance at the State House.

    The President noted that while Nigeria had good diplomatic ties with the countries, the economic relations needed to be strengthened.

    “The economic linkages are weak and we must do everything necessary to boost economic ties,” he said.

    Dzugala said Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was seeking improved relations with Nigeria and had approved the building of a permanent embassy in Abuja to show the commitment.

    He said a high-level trade delegation from Argentina would soon visit Nigeria.

    During his meeting with Liyanage, the President expressed appreciation to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for promising to support Nigeria’s quest for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

    Liyanage said the President of Sri Lanka looked forward to welcoming Dr Jonathan at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), to be hosted by Sri Lanka in November.

  • Jonathan’s rating has improved with power supply, says Presidency

    Jonathan’s rating has improved with power supply, says Presidency

    The Presidency has acknowledged “improvement” in power generation and distribution in certain parts of the country, as stated in the NOI opinion poll on President Goodluck Jonathan’s rating for July.

    Quoting the NOI report, the Presidency said 53 per cent of Nigerians sampled in the poll expressed satisfaction with Jonathan’s performance in the power sector.

    A statement yesterday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, cited respondents from the Northcentral, Northeast, Southeast and Southsouth geo-political zones. They said they have experienced “varying degrees of improvement” in the power supply compared to what obtained in the previous months.

    “While we acknowledge the positive indicators in the NOI’s survey with regards to the approval rating of Mr. President’s performance by the majority of Nigerians, we wish to assure that the President will not rest on his oars regarding the promise he made to Nigerians on the provision of uninterrupted power supply as a key component of the transformation agenda.

    “The present power improvement noticed and acknowledged in some parts of the country is due partly to the measures put in place by the government to reduce points of leakages and transmission failure as well as improve transmission capacity of power infrastructure.”

  • ICAN seeks improved financial skills

    ICAN seeks improved financial skills

    The Registrar/Chief Executive, Institute of Chartered Accountants Nigeria (ICAN), Olutoyin Adepate, has emphasised the need for improved skills among accounting experts to tackle money laundering and financial crimes.

    At the induction of new members of the Association of Accounting Technicans (AAT) in Lagos, Adepate said the promulgation of the Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism laws demanded specialised professional expertise to deal with emerging issues in the banking and economic environment.

    He said accounting technicians need to develop skills to assist the government in the crusade to curtail the growth of the practice. With the government making legislations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, Adepate urged accounting officers to ensure the soundness, integrity and stability of the financial system is not compromised.

    Adepate stressed the need for officers to acquaint themselves with international accounting standards to institutionalise greater transparency in financial reporting.

    The registrar said the world is moving to a single set of high quality accounting standards, ones that would make financial statements comparable around the world.

    He urged the young practitioners to get them selves equipped to respond to the changes.

  • Lions seek improved welfare for the poor

    President of Ikeja (Women) Lions Club, Aret Paul, has restated the club’s readiness to do everything within its available resources to improve the living condition of the needy, even as she sought more support for them.

    She spoke at the club’s monthly meeting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Saturday She notedthat the club had renewed its commitment to helping the needy in the society, including those with health challenges.

    She explained: “We at the Ikeja Lions Club are making efforts to attract more members who have the heart to serve humanity. But if you are looking at the financial aspect, you probably would not want to get involved. It is not about money, it is about the time and talent you can give to the service of humanity.”

    She maintained that Lions Club is particularly concerned about improving people’s welfare, adding: “We have embarked on a lot of community projects that members cannot handle alone, but we know that there are some individuals out there who can assist us to serve the society better.”

    She recalled some of the club’s humanitarian gestures: “We have done eye surgery for people with eye defects and have given glasses to over 2000 patients; most of them don’t have the money to manage these challenges.”

    Explaining further, she stressed that the club’s impact had not only been felt in Lagos but across some states in the country through its programme, Lions Across The Border.

    “We have visited motherless babies’ homes in many parts of Lagos, but this year, our core project is to build a Medical Centre in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, through the project, Lions Across The Border. This, we have been doing for years. The surgery operations I mentioned were also done in Asaba, Delta State,” she explained.

    Lion Paul stated that as an organisation that renders accounts, it would always embark on projects that the people can easily verify and commend. This, she added, would further strengthen the trust that had long existed between the club and people.

    Lion Funke Adebajo, a medical practitioner of note, who is vying for the position of 2nd Vice District Governor, District 404B, was there. She urged Nigerians to join Lions Club and other humanitarian bodies in order to complement government efforts at lifting the poor in the society.

  • Community calls for improved security after regent’s kidnap

    The government has been urged to strengthe n security in Akotogbo, a coastal community in Ondo State, owing to increasing activities of kidnappers.

    The appeal came following the kidnap of the Regent of the town, Chief Iwalewa Emoruwa.

    The Regent was kidnapped by some militants midnight on January 19, in his palace. He was found on January 26 near Ekenwa River in Edo State, through the efforts of the police and prominent indigenes of the town.

    The 65-year-old Regent, whose son is a member of the Ondo State House of Assembly, is recuperating in an undisclosed hospital after his release by his abductors.

    The community has called for the establishment of a naval base and a marine police station in Akotogbo to ensure security at Safarogbo/Arogbo/Ijuosun and Siloko in Edo State as well as Koko/Sapele/Warri in Delta State.

    In a statement by the Akotogbo Development Association, the community also called on Governor Olusegun Mimiko and the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Dikko Abubakar, as well as the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Dele Ezeoba, to utilise the marine police and the naval base in the area to keep the place secure

    The community blamed the upsurge of criminal activities in the area on the activities of various groups of militants, the cosmopolitan nature of the area and the inter-connectivity of the towns in the Niger Delta.

    In a release signed by the association’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. John Igbekele, he said: “The Federal Government should ensure that all border towns on the Atlantic Ocean are properly policed. We should have marine police and naval patrol boats on the Siloko-Safalogbo, Arogbo/Agadagba and Koko-Warri areas to ensure peace and security in the said communities.”

  • ‘Improved telecoms services’ll expand mobile banking’

    FBN Capital has said one of the major gains of the planned introduction of mobile number portability in the first quarter of this year would be an improved service quality, which will translate to expansion in mobile banking service.

    The firm noted that the holiday period had brought unseasonal complaints about the service provided by the mobile operators. It added that there’s correlation between poor services arguing that consumers may have more than one handset to increase their chances of making a successful call.

    It said: “The complaints are not new: the NCC (industry regulator) fined the four main operators a total of N1.17billion in mid-2012 for failure to meet its key performance indicators.”

    The firm said the operators are reported to have invested massively on network upgrade with the market leader, MTN, spending a whopping US$1.4billion last year alone, and Airtel US$600 million since acquiring the operations of Zain.

    “Help for the consumer may be at hand with the arrival of mobile number portability, which both the operators and the regulator anticipate in Q1 2013. The industry argues that service will improve when consumers can more easily swap providers.

    “The broader positives of an improved service are numerous. It would help the rapid expansion of mobile banking, which is in its infancy in Nigeria.

    “Another beneficiary would be the FGN’s plan to distribute 10 million mobiles to farmers this year so that they are informed on the availability and price of fertiliser and other input,” FBN noted in its recent report.

    According to FBN capital research on market shares of the telcos, MTN has 42.5 per cent, while Globacom followed with 20.7 per cent. Airtel has 19.7 per cent, Etisalat; 13.4 per cent while others, including the code division multiple access (CDMA) and fixed line operators shared the remaining 3.7 per cent.

  • Ajimobi assures workers of improved welfare package

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi yesterday assured workers that their commitment to work would be “handsomely rewarded” this year.

    Ajimobi spoke at the Governor’s Office Car Park in Ibadan, the state capital, during an inter-religious prayer session marking the new working year.

    He said since he assumed office, he had subjected workers to series of challenges and created some stormy sessions to get the best out of them.

    Ajimobi said: “For you to have withstood the pressure we brought to bear on you, our close-marking approach and pyramid of checks and balances, be assured that this year will be a year of reward for you.

    “We have demanded a lot from you and you have given us what we wanted. For those of you who have survived the tsunami of change, which was aimed at instilling discipline in the system and making the civil service service-oriented, you will be adequately compensated.”

    The governor thanked God for the administration’s achievements last year and urged workers to be godly and more dedicated this year.

    He said his administration has great plans for them, adding that the government would build housing estates and arrange for mortgages for workers.

    Ajimobi urged religious leaders to continue to pray for his administration to deliver on its promises and improve the state.

    The Head of Service, Alhaji Tajudeen Aremu, urged civil servants to ensure the successful implementation of the government’s programmes.

    In their separate sermons, Rev. Francis Omolade and Prof. D. S. Noibi urged civil servants to discharge their duties with the fear of God and shun corruption.

    Noibi acknowledged the accomplishments of the administration and hailed Ajimobi for running a government with a human face.

  • Jonathan promises improved seedlings for displaced Benue farmers

    Jonathan promises improved seedlings for displaced Benue farmers

    President Goodluck Jonathan has said the Federal Government would distribute a variety of improved seedlings to farmers displaced by flood in Benue.

    The President spoke in Makurdi yesterday while on an assessment tour of the flooded areas in Benue.

    He said funds for the purchase of the seedlings would be released to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture by the coming week

    to enable the displaced farmers get back to their farms as quickly as possible.

    The president regretted that some of the seedlings that were distributed to farmers failed to produce the desired yields because they were incompatible with the soil texture

    He, however, assured that the seedlings to be purchased would be of such high quality that their yield would not be in doubt.

    Jonathan said the calamity might turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Nigeria.

    He also assured that the Federal Government was committed to ensuring that the sufferings of the displaced persons were ameliorated.

    The president said it was in furtherance of that objective that the Federal Government set up a technical committee to carry out an assessment of the damages caused by the flood across the country.

    He said the Federal Ministry of Health has been directed to carry out fumigation of all flooded areas in the country to mitigate the effects of disease outbreak.

    Jonathan said the government fully identifies with the pains of the victims but assured that proactive measures to prevent a re-occurrence the flood had been taken.

    He said one of such steps would be the construction of dams, where necessary.

    He also said the government would fast track the completion of the Kashimvilla dam as a means of accommodating the flood waters.

    The president commended donors both local and international for their assistance in addressing some of the basic challenges of the displaced persons.

    Governor Gabriel Suswam commended the Federal Government for its prompt response in tackling the flood crisis.

    He also assured President Jonathan that the N500 Million grant in aid of the flood victims would be strictly utilised for that purpose.