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Tag: minister

  • Minister, NCC boss seek investment in ICT infrastructure

    Minister, NCC boss seek investment in ICT infrastructure

    Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama and Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Prof. Umar Dambatta have urged private sector operators to invest in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to bridge the country’s infrastructure deficit.

    Onyeama and Dambatta said unless the huge infrastructure deficit in Nigeria and Africa was addressed, achieving the Smart Africa Initiative would be difficult.

    They spoke on the sideline of Transform Africa Summit 2017, in Kigali, Rwanda.

    The focus of the summit was developing “smart cities”.

    The initiative, aims at leveraging technology solutions to improve efficiency of cities, has seen Rwanda rolling out a number of them such as WiFi in public areas, public transport vehicles as well as cashless payment systems in public transport.

    The initiative is backed by 11 African countries and more nations are expected to join.

    Onyeama maintained that lack of infrastructure was one of the impediments that must be addressed for Nigeria and Africa to develop smart cities.

    The minister, who stressed the need for investment in the ICT infrastructure to achieve the goal, said the Public Private Partnership (PPP) was essential to driving technology in Nigeria.

    He said: “As it was said, there is no one technology that is necessarily going to overcome some of these challenges of infrastructure.

    “What it just requires and, I think this is what came out clearly, is partnership among government, the private sector and the academia.

    “And together, these three can begin to put in place all the building blocks to have smart cities, including in Nigeria.”

    Onyeama said Nigeria succeeded in the communication sector as a result of PPP.

    He said Nigeria in the last 20 years was able to engage the private sector into providing phone lines to about 100 million people as against the 400,000 telephone lines that were there to serve 150 million people.

    Dambatta stated that inadequate infrastructure was the problem facing Nigeria’s ICT development.

    He was concerned that the Smart Africa initiative would not be realised without necessary infrastructure, such as sufficient electricity supply.

    “As a regulator, I experience some challenges of how we can drive the smart initiative. One major challenge is that of infrastructure.

    “Nigeria has about a population of 180 million, equals to the population of all the countries in the sub-Saharan Africa.

    “Without adequate electricity supply, Africa would remain a dark continent,” he said.

  • More Chibok girls to return in swap deal, says minister

    More Chibok girls to return in swap deal, says minister

    More Chibok schoolgirls are to be released soon in another swap deal with Boko Haram terrorists, Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development Aisha Alhassan said yesterday.

    The minister told reporters in Abuja that the recently released 82 girls were undergoing rehabilitation and reintegration in medical facilities in Abuja.

    “Negotiations are ongoing to exchange the remaining girls with Boko Haram detainees.  We can’t afford to keep them any longer,” she said.

    The minister, who condemned insinuations that the Federal Government had been shielding the parents and the media from having access to the girls, said there was  the need for the girls to be taken through a process to relieve them of the trauma of their captivity.

    Said the minister: “Most of them were having nightmares some days after they were released. We need to keep them away from the media for some time to avoid some questions that they might be asking them, we are not keeping or hiding them

    “We are not shielding the girls from their parents. The parents of the recently released 82 girls have already been contacted and they will be in Abuja any moment from now. Most of them live in villages very far from Chibok, so it will take some time before they can get to Abuja.”

    The 21 girls released last October by the terrorists are to return to school in September, the minister added.

    “The 21 girls initially said they won’t like to go back to school in Chibok but after the various rehabilitation and reintegration process they have gone through, they are now set to return to school in September; they are now fit and eager to go back to school.

    “The girls have gone through a lot of reintegration process that will make them fit to return to school. They are now medically fit, they have gone through various vocational skills, including ICT training; their parents are always in touch with them.

    “I always take them to movies and parks during weekend. They are now fit to return home but we must ensure that they forget all the traumatic experience they passed through while in the bush before they can go back to Chibok,” she said

    Presidential Media Adviser Garba Shehu also corroborated the return to school plan.

    “Government is preparing the girls to go back to school in September because they have lost so much academically.

    “It is not all the 103 so far released, but 21 of them,” he added.

    ”None of the girls released on Saturday will be returning to school in September as they are still undergoing medical and psychological treatment that should last two to three weeks”, the government’s Twitter feed stated.

    The minister added that the government was careful about who was granted access to the 24 girls who left captivity last year.

    “They are in Abuja taking part in a rehabilitation programme.

    “The parents of the Chibokgirls are free to visit them at any time. We will never prevent them from seeing their daughters,” a government tweet quoted Alhassan as saying.

  • FUTA workers hail minister for suspending VC, registrar

    FUTA workers hail minister for suspending VC, registrar

    The workers of Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) yesterday hailed the suspension of the Vice Chancellor (VC), Prof. Adebiyi Daramola, by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu.

    The VC and the Registrar, Mrs. Modupe Ajayi, were suspended.

    The Chairman of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the university and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), ýDele Durojaiye, confirmed the suspension.

    He, however, said details had not been received.

    Daramola and the Bursar, Emmanuel Oresegun, had been taken to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged mismanagement of the institution’s funds.

    They ýwere granted bail by the Akure High Court.

    The reason why the registrar was suspended and not the bursar ýwith the VC remained unclear yesterday.

    The registrar is the secretary of the university council and her five-year tenure will end on May 31.

    Spokesman for the university Adebanjo Adegbenro said he had no ýinformation that the two principal officers were suspended by the minister.

    Non-teaching staff unions of the university called off their seven- month strike on Tuesday.

    They went on strike to protest the refusal of the Federal Government to sack Prof. Daramola despite his case with the EFCC.

    The workers vowed not to call off the strike until he stepped aside to clear himself of the allegations.

    The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUUý), FUTA chapter, insisted that the tenure of the vice chancellor had lapsedý.

    Durojaiye, acting on a verdict of the Industrial Court, recalled the workers to duty.

    He said the court had given an order that the striking workers should resume work within 24 hours.

    Durojaiye said the court ordered the university management to pay outstanding salaries within 24 hours, adding that those sacked should be reinstated.

    On the tenure of the vice chancellor, ASUU leadership said it ended on May 9.

  • Fed Govt’s capital projects releases hit N1.2tr in 2016, says minister

    Fed Govt’s capital projects releases hit N1.2tr in 2016, says minister

    The Federal Ministry of Finance said yesterday it released over N1.2 trillion for capital expenditure in the 2016 fiscal year.

    Details of the N1.2 trillion capital releases, the ministry said, are “in line with government’s increased focus on capital expenditure”.

    Power, Works  and  Housing received the largest allocation of N307,411,749,682,    followed by Defence and  Security, N171,900,597,013 and Transport and  Aviation, N143,121,925,241.

    Other sectors are Agriculture and Water Resources;  and Education and  Health.

    These sectors accounted for 62 per cent of the cash released.

    Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun said: “We have focused our capital spend on priority sectors to stimulate economic activities and job creation. Despite the challenges in 2016, the Federal Government was able to achieve fully cash-backed capital releases of N1.2 trillion, which is a reflection of our commitment to infrastructure development.”

    These capital releases exclude the capital element in releases to statutory agencies, such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Judiciary.”

    The government, the minister said: “Intends to attract private capital to complement government spending in these key areas”.

  • Minister faults reports on NDDC projects in Akwa Ibom

    The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani, has faulted reports on Niger Delta Development Commission’s (NDDC’s) projects in Akwa Ibom State.
    He dissociated himself from the reports.
    In an online statement yesterday, Usani described the reports as malicious.
    He said: “They (the reports) do not convey any coherent correlation between my views and the role of the current management, for the deeds that span more than one decade.
    “Whereas I expressed discontent for obvious observations of poor project execution during my visit to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, but there is no vestige of attributing the cause to the current management of NDDC.”
    The minister said he was aware his observation predated the current management of the Federal Government interventionist agency.
    He said the agency placed no burden of liability on the managing director of NDDC, adding that he made no committal pronouncement on claims of reporting certain unaccomplished projects as completed, because he never sighted any such documentary content of claims.
    Usani said: “It is reminiscent of simple reasoning to note that we cannot blame a five-month-old management of the deeds that span more than one decade.”
    A retiree, Chief Edet Nkpubre, said the allegation of abandoned NDDC projects was a cheap blackmail.

    Amu-Nnaji, said Nkpubre recalled that when NDDC’s managing director Nsima Ekere assumed office five months ago, he made it clear the he was going to ensure that all projects were completed.
    He said while Ekere was making efforts to correct the anomalies he met in the commission, residents of the region should give him time to address the problem of abandoned projects.

  • Minister assures on completion of NYSC orientation camp

    ‘Without any doubt I believe that almost every person in this hall is a beneficiary of the NYSC scheme. The NYSC is one of the laudable projects established by past leadership of this country that has endured and continued to serve its purpose, for that I think we should be eternally grateful’

    In order to ameliorate the challenges being experienced at the FCT National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Kubwa due to overstretched facilities, the Federal Capital Territory Administration is doing all that is necessary to make the permanent orientation camp habitable in no distant time.

    The FCT Minister Malam Muhammad Bello disclosed this when the Director-General of the Corps paid him a courtesy call

    The Minister described the NYSC as a veritable instrument of nation-building that has benefitted the nation immensely by engendering unity and the spirit of selfless service among Nigerians.

    His words: “Without any doubt I believe that almost every person in this hall is a beneficiary of the NYSC scheme. The NYSC is one of the laudable projects established by past leadership of this country that has endured and continued to serve its purpose, for that I think we should be eternally grateful”.

    On the complaints about the congestion and the overstretched facilities at the Kubwa NYSC camp, the Minister said the FCT Administration has tried as much as possible to upgrade the facilities and make the camp habitable but lamented that the reality is that the facilities there are grossly over stretched and the ultimate solution is to move to the Permanent orientation Camp.

    According to a statement issued by the FCT, Chief Press Secretary, Cosmos Uzodinma, the minister said: ”There is no doubt that the Kubwa camp of the FCT NYSC obviously is now overstretched by a combination of factors: the urbanisation of Abuja itself is a factor because at the time when the camp was established it was considered to be out of town, very far and remote. But you can see now that the town has literally engulfed it. But more importantly the number of the NYSC Corps members has also increased beyond our imaginations”. The reality is that the facilities are grossly over stretched and there is nothing you can do. So ultimately the solution is for us to move to the Permanent orientation Camp”.

    Bello recalled that when he visited the FCT NYSC office about six weeks ago, he observed that the office space was not sufficient for the staff and therefore not conducive for the very important work they are doing.

    “From what I saw, I totally agree with you that the office is inadequate. So I think the best solution is to identify an office where you would be on your own and we would work and see if we can achieve that in 2017 or if not in the early part of next year”, the Minister said.

    The NYSC Director-General Brig. Gen. Suleiman Zakari Kazaure commended the FCT Administration for its commitment to providing a conducive environment for the NYSC.

    Kazaure thanked the Minister for the completion of the water reticulation project in the Kubwa camp as well as regular approval of fund for the feeding and welfare of corps members during camping among others.

    He appealed to the Minister for the allocation of a plot land to the agency for housing purposes to the staff as well as an official vehicle for its activities in the FCT.

     

  • Minister to end multiple taxations

    The Chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Abdullahi Candido has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to take the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise to the ward level.

    Candido pleaded that a lot of his constituents cannot afford to pay their way to the CVR locations, thereby missing out on the exercise. He made the call during the flag-off of the nationwide exercise by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission Professor Mahmud Yakubu.

    He said,” There are many people within AMAC who cannot afford to come to the Local Government office to get registered. Bringing it closer to them will ensure no one is disenfranchised.”

    The INEC chair gave the clearest indication that the commission will eventually take the registration exercise to the wards or polling units to avoid disenfranchising Nigerians who want to be a part of the process. he Chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Abdullahi Candido has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to take the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise to the ward level.

    Candido pleaded that a lot of his constituents cannot afford to pay their way to the CVR locations, thereby missing out on the exercise. He made the call during the flag-off of the nationwide exercise by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission Professor Mahmud Yakubu.

    He said,” There are many people within AMAC who cannot afford to come to the Local Government office to get registered. Bringing it closer to them will ensure no one is disenfranchised.”

    The INEC chair gave the clearest indication that the commission will eventually take the registration exercise to the wards or polling units to avoid disenfranchising Nigerians who want to be a part of the process.

  • Minister directs regular dam maintenance

    The FCT Minister Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has directed the FCT Water Board to regularly maintain the Pedan Dam in the highbrow area of Asokoro District, Abuja to ensure that raw water is made available all year round.

    The Minister gave this directive when he and the FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye paid an unscheduled visit to the site.

    The Pendan Dam has been constructed by the FCT Administration for flood and erosion control while the raw water in the Dam is used all year round for horticultural activities.

    The Dam usually supplies raw water for the watering of plants at the IBB Golf Course, Presidential Villa and the Abuja Plant Nursery as well as other horticultural activities in and around the Federal Capital City.

    Malam Bello emphasized that the continuous maintenance would improve the services the Dam is rendering and elongates its lifespan.

    He reiterated that the Pedan Dam is a very important asset of Abuja that must be protected as aquatic activities can also be improved around the city via that facility.

    Taking the Minister and his entourage round the Dam, the FCT Director of Water Board, Mr. Hudu Bello, said the facility was constructed in line with the Abuja Master Plan to arrest water flood and channel same for horticultural activities in the City, thereby preserving the treated water from the Lower Usuma Dam meant for human consumption.

    The Director revealed that the Pedan Dam has a total volume of 5.8million cubic meter of water at peak period of raining season, which is transferred periodically to the Plant Nursery, IBB Golf Course as well as the Presidential Villa.

  • Minister directs reopening of Karu General Hospital

    Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Malam Muhammad Bello has directed that the 135-bed Karu General Hospital be opened for immediate use by the public.

    Bello, in company of the FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye, inspected the health facility in Karu, a suburb of Abuja.

    Up and running, the Karu General Hospital is expected to take enormous pressure off the Asokoro District Hospital, Nyanya General Hospital as well as Maitama District Hospital.

    The Karu General Hospital was initially a 225-bed facility built by the FCT Administration with 40% of the hospital leased to the Primus Super Specialty Hospital (an Indian Hospital) for management.

    According to a statement issued by the Deputy Director / Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Sule, the minister further directed that the hospital should immediately commence General Out Patent Department (GOPD) services, Antenatal services as well as the mortuary be opened to the public, in addition to the Behavioral Medicine Unit that had since been operational in the Hospital.

    The Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretariat, Mrs. Alice Odey-Achu and the Medical Director of the Karu General Hospital, Dr. Marcus Mamman led the Minister and his entourage round the entire secondary health facility.

    Meanwhile, the Minister paid an unscheduled visit to the Zuba Hospital where he instructed that the Hospital should commence operation by May 1, 2017.

    The Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretariat, Mrs. Alice Odey-Achu who led the Minister round the Zuba Hospital assured that the Secretariat is ready to commence operation on that appointed date.

    She reiterated that everything needed to enable the Hospital commence services is already on ground and that they are ready to hit the ground running.

  • Lab scientists to minister: reactivate central lab to fight meningitis

    Lab scientists to minister: reactivate central lab to fight meningitis

    Laboratory Scientists have urged the Minister Health, Pro Isaac Adewale to reactivate the Central Laboratory an Yaba, Lagos Mainland, in the wake of the cerebro-meningitis ravaging some parts of the country.

    The laboratory was noted in the past for the production of vaccines to prevent infectious mocro-organisms.

    Lagos State Chairman of Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (AMLSN) Comrade Adegoke Kehinde said the laboratory was redundant because people who make a for tune from vaccines importation.

    Medical laboratory scientists  he said,should, be involved in prompt laboratory examinations, which include identification of infectious agents and antibiotics susceptibility testing on such isolates to determine the best antibiotics to be used for treatment.

    This, Kehinde said, will help reduce the resistance to antibiotics in the country. He added that this will address the issue of antibiotics resistance, which the country is not immune against.

    Comrade Kehinde said the medical laboratory scientists should assert themselves by getting involved in prompt laboratory examinations, which include, identification of the infectious agents and antibiotics susceptibility testing on such isolates to determine the best antibiotics to be used for treatment. “These will go a long way in curbing the effect of antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, managing patients with the right antibiotics emanating from laboratory tests will bring about improved quality of care and reduced health care cost on patients,” he said.

    He said it was no longer news that anti-microbial resistance was a serious global health concern as it complicated treatment strategies and increased health-care costs. “Many factors have been identified as the causes of this menace, and these include indiscriminate use of antibiotics (medication without prescription), use of antibiotics without previous laboratory investigations to ascertain the exact antibiotics for the particular infection, people not completing or taking the full antibiotics dose within a specify period, inclusion of antibiotics in the livestock feeds, genetic mutations and environmental factors.  All these are contributing factors to the increase in antibiotics resistance in Nigeria,” he said.

    Kehinde called on the Federal, state governments, policy makers, and health care providers to work together with medical laboratory scientists to reduce the consequences of preventable problem on the Nigerian populace. “It is also good that the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) and Medical Directors (MDs) of various government hospitals implement the National Industrial Court (NIC) judgments in favour of Medlab Scientists nationwide for better delivery of health care services in Nigeria,” he said.