The Nation Newspaper

Tag: minister

  • Information Minister spurs Censors Board

    Information Minister spurs Censors Board

    Minister of Information, Mrs. Patricia Akwashiki, has encouraged the Director General of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Ms Patricia Bala and her team, to continue with their mandate of motion picture regulations irrespective of the challenges they may be having.

    Akwashiki, who visited the Abuja office of the Board last week, noted that her mission was to rub minds with the leadership of the NFVCB on the functions and activities of the organization, on behalf og President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Recalling her screen roles on the set of the popular TV serial, Village Headmaster, Akwashiki noted that Nollywood was an important part of the creative industry and charged the Board to see to the projection of a positive image for Nigeria through film.

    Earlier in her welcome remarks, the Bala intimated the Minister of the challenges of the NFVCB which included poor funding.

    The Minister and her entourage were then conducted round the facilities of the agency, including the film preview rooms where she acquainted herself with the processes of film censorship and verification.

  • FCT literacy level above 70%, says minister

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has achieved a literacy level above 70 percent and ranks among the highest in Nigeria.

    The FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed disclosed this at the just concluded 58th Annual National Congress of the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS).

    The Minister, who was represented at the occasion by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Engr. John Chukwu said, “This was solid dividend of investment in this sub-sector by the FCT Administration”.

    Mohammed remarked that the education sector in the Federal Capital Territory has enjoyed a priority position in its budgetary allocations under the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

    The Minister recalled that the greatest challenges his Administration had encountered on assumption of office was the unbearable high level of congestion in the classrooms due to the ever influx of people into the Territory.

    Mohammed, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the occasion, reiterated that his Administration confronted the problem through concerted programme of massive construction of more classrooms and establishment of new schools.

    His words: “In addition, to the provision of infrastructure, attention was paid to the procurement of instructional materials, as well as recruitment, promotion and development of teachers”.

    He revealed that in the wake of the Ebola scare last year in the country, the FCT Administration expended N100 million to safeguard its school children and teachers.

    While appreciating the corporation and understanding of the FCT ANCOPSS, he urged them to continue to ensure prudent management of available resources to make our schools a better place.

    Senator Mohammed also appreciated the National ANCOPSS under the leadership of Hajiya Fatima Abdulrahman for bringing its National Congress to Abuja, which has the theme “A good School Community Relationship; A Tool for Effective Implementation of the New Curriculum”.

    The FCT administration Secretary for Education, Mallam Kabir Usman also advised Principals of Secondary Schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and entire Nigeria to ensure a harmonious relationship with the communities where their schools are located.

    Usman said that the role of the community in the school administration structure is very important.

    According to him, in the FCT where school based management system is being implemented, the support of the communities have been actively sought and this has yielded positive results, saying that the success of the newly introduced trade subjects is also heavily hinged on the support of the community.

    The FCT president of ANCOPSS, Mohammed Ladan, said that in spite of the remarkable feats achieved by the FCTA in the education sectors, there is the need for recruitment of more teachers, completion of on-going projects some FCT Secondary Schools, also provision of computers to all junior and senior secondary schools in the FCT.

    “The minister should also consider the perimeter fencing of schools yet to be fenced in view of the current security challenges, also the appointment of Principals into key positions such as making them board Chairmen, Executive Secretaries, Advisers and Special Assistants.

    “The promoting of Principals to Grade Level 17 as it is the case in some states, the posting of well trained security men to all schools in the FCT, organising and sponsoring principals, vice principals and teachers to capacity building workshops within and outside the country, the provision of land for building FCT ANCOPSS headquarters and the provision of an 18 seater bus to ANCOPSS, as it is in the case in all the states of the federation,” he said.

    The National President of ANCOPSS, Fatima Abdulrahman also appealed to state and federal government to urgently address the persistent challenges bedeviling the educational system, particularly at the basic and post basic levels.

    Abdulrahman also highligted some of the major challenges facing the education sector, to include, inadequate number of teachers, inadequate science laboratory equipment and lack of trade subjects equipment, among others.

    She stressed the need for a more robust ICT and E-learning resources in Schools and the construction of new schools to meet the ever increasing population of children of school age.

  • Minister urges surveyors to embrace entrepreneurship

    Minister urges surveyors to embrace entrepreneurship

    Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Akon Etim Eyakenyi has urged  quantity surveyors in the country to brace up to the growing challenges of the profession.

    She said these challenges could only be addressed when surveyors’ embrace entrepreneurial revolution that meets with the global best practices.

    Represented by a Federal Controller in the Ministry, Mr. Abdulyekini Akara,  at Kano Federal Secretariat, she said there was  need for quantity surveyors to diversify beyond the professional firms.

    She spoke at a workshop organsied by the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) in collaboration with the Kano State government with The Professional As An Entrepreneur as its theme.

    She said: “The professional should begin to see himself as a business man, particularly in contemporary times of huge commercialisation.

    “He needs to free himself from every confinement of past tendencies and leverage into the new spirit of entrepreneurship. The drive for new spirit of entrepreneurship forms the bedrock of success stories in today’s business concerns.

    “The quest for new skills and competencies in management of business in the corporate world calls for total transformation of professional practices for sustainability.”

  • Minister, rice importers duty row grows

    Minister, rice importers duty row grows

    More factsemerged yesterday on the rice import duty waivers row between Agriculture and Rural Development Minister  Akinwunmi Adesina and some importers.

    Dr. Adesina may have contravened a presidential order by licensing unqualified importers to bring in rice, it was learnt. A source in the Presidency said  there was a presidential directive in May to give import licences to existing rice millers following a meeting among the Ministers of Trade and Investment; National Planning; Finance and Agriculture to that effect.

    The purpose of the directive, the source said, was to augment the shortfall in the local rice production capacity.

    Consequently, a letter dated July 8, 2014 from the office of the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, gave the directive to relevant government agencies and bodies, including the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; and Budget Office of the Federation.

    Others were Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; Federal Inland Revenue Service; Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Nigerian Export Promotion Council; Raw Materials Research and Development Council, Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service and Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission.

    The letter was titled: “Importation of Brown rice (H.S Code 1006.2000.00) and semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed (H.S Code 1006.3010.00) by investors with rice milling capacity and verifiable backward integration programme.”

    However, from May last year when the directive was received, nothing was done towards its implementation until December, when Adesina allegedly issued a licence to non-existing rice millers, an action that did not go down well with rice millers in the country.

    It was also revealed that the current spat between the Minister and major rice millers in the country was as a result of the breach of the presidential directive, as none of them was granted the import licence as directed by the Presidency.

    The matter got to its head when it was discovered that those who got the import licences began to seek the support of existing rice millers to buy-off their respective allocation, as the beneficiaries of the import licences lack capacity to undertake the task.

    Among other things, the Presidency official said going by the norm, there was no Inter-ministerial Committee formed as instructed by Mr. President to deliberate on the matter and issue the licences, adding that the quotas were issued unilaterally by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) at the minister’s discretion, allegedly to his favorites with no milling capacity, thus causing a huge reduction in allocations to existing millers.

    It equally alleged that the total quota allocation was not as per the supply gap of the product required as major stakeholders were not involved and that the quotas were issued retrospectively, which, as alleged, is against the legal framework of the nation.

    But the Minister has denied the allegations. He said some smart import companies tried to abuse the Federal Government’s rice production policy by importing huge quantities of the commodity in excess of their approved quotas.

    Adesina, who appeared before an Ad-hoc Committee of the House of Representatives in Abuja, told lawmakers that some importers did not only breach their quotas, but also failed to pay the duties for the excess imports.

    He said some of the affected importers are owing the Federal Government duties in excess of N36 billion. “Nigeria is not a Banana Republic; we have laws here and the laws must work. All duties and levies must be paid to the last kobo. Importers must pay the appropriate duties,” Adesina declared.

    Explaining that the policy was to cut imports and encourage local production of rice by allocating quotas to importers, he said the policy specified that any importer who chose to import more than its allotted quota, would pay 70 per cent of duties and levies to the Federal Government.

    The committee, which is investigating alleged “fraud” and evasion of import duties and levies, is chaired by the House Deputy Leader, Leo Ogor.

  • Buhari urged to appoint tested educationist as minister

    Buhari urged to appoint tested educationist as minister

    President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to appoint a seasoned educationist as the ministers of education to enable the government formulate an educational policy that would improve standard.

    He was also advised to ensure that professionals are employed as teachers in public and private schools.

    The proprietress of Oloruntele Integrity College, Meiran, Lagos, Mrs. Kehinde Oluwakemi Otuyemi, who spoke in Lagos on Monday while presenting a policy paper on the way forward in education, at the school’s appreciation day, decried the dwindling quality of education.

    Mrs  Otuyemi, a retired teacher, said it was regrettable that Nigerian schools do not rank among the best in the world and called for an urgent intervention to stop the trend.

    “I advise President- elect, Buhari, to appoint a tested educationist as the minister of education.  This is the only way the fall in the standard of education can be addressed. It is the only way forward.  Government should revert to the past when only trained teachers were employed in private and public schools.”

    Mrs. Otuyemi attributed the poor quality to poor teaching, over pampering by parents and indulgence in malpractices. She said that was why institutions produced half-baked graduates.

    The Chairman of the Board of Governors, Deacon David Otuyemi, enjoined the Supervisory Unit of the Ministry of Education to be alive to its responsibility by paying unscheduled visits to private schools, to monitor their activities.

    He advised parents to visit their children during school hours to curb truancy, saying the incoming administration should prioritize education to enable the country attain technological advancement.

  • Ex-Oil Minister Etiebet accuses INEC of fraud

    Ex-Oil Minister Etiebet accuses INEC of fraud

    •APC chieftain challenges commission on Assembly polls results

    FORMER Minister of Petroleum Resources and Akwa Ibom All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain,  Chief Don Etiebet, yesterday accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of electoral fraud.

    Etiebet told reporters in his Abuja home that the governorship and House of Assembly elections never took place in Akwa Ibom on Saturday, but INEC announced results.

    He buttressed his claim by challenging the electoral umpire on why the results of the House of Assembly elections have not been announced more than three days after the supposed conclusion of the polls.

    The former minister, who gave graphic details of what transpired in the state during the governorship election, said he was not aware that the results for the House of Assembly elections had been released by the Commission.

    His words: “As I am talking to you now, Tuesday, the 14th day of April, 2015 at about 4.30pm, there has been no announcement of any result of the state House of Assembly results.

    “These ought to be the results to be announced first at the different state constituency headquarters, usually the local government areas INEC offices. But none took place there.

    “I can prove this from the experience in my local government where the Returning Officer said he was recalled to INEC office and would not be the one to announce the results in my local government.

    “The text of communication between him and I can attest to this and up till now, no result of the winner of the House of Assembly from my local government has been announced.

    “If the results of the House of Assembly elections which were supposed to be released at the local government level have not been announced three days after the election, where did they get the figures they announced for the governorship?

    “The fact that three days after the elections, results of the state House of Assembly elections have not been announced is an indication that election did not take place in the state. They just cooked up figures.

    They are working from top to bottom and that is why it is taking them a long time to announce the results because they have to work out how to distribute the figures they cooked up to the various local government and polling units.”

    Calling for the cancellation of the governorship election, Etiebet said: “This election must be cancelled and I wonder what more information and activity INEC wants to prove that the elections of 11th April, 2015 were not conducted according to the approved guideline and regulations”.

    He challenged the state chapter of the Commission Governor Godswill Akpabio to show the world the results of the various polling units and the House of Assembly results.

    The former minister stated: “They should tell us where and when they carried out the collation of the governorship election results before the announcement.

    “They should show the world any footage of  television recordings of the exercise in INEC headquarters or any other approved place for the collation and to say why there was no voting, no counting of ballots, no announcement and the pasting of the results at the polling units.”

    Expressing his anger about the role played by INEC officials in what he called the manipulation of the electoral process in his  state, Etiebet also challenged the commission to explain why there was no collation of the polling units’ results at ward centres and at the local government INEC headquarters.

    He said about 10pm on April 11, he led the APC governorship candidate, Obong Umanah Okon Umanah, his state agents and other elders of the APC to INEC headquarters in the state and saw the gates locked. Etiebet wondered why the INEC office should be locked on an Election Day.

    He asked: “Where did INEC get the scores that made up the governorship results from? The governorship score is supposed to be the summation of the 31 local government area results. But since these have not been announced till now, what is the efficacy of the governorship results announced?

    “INEC should not allow itself to be sucked into this scam for their integrity sake and so should be honourable enough to cancel the announced governorship result because there is no basis for that result.”

    Etiebet said he had alerted the security agents in the state that PDP agents planned to raze INEC office in Uyo to cover up the fraud of spurious results by destroying the ballot papers and pin it on the APC.

    The former minister urged the international community and local authorities to look into the deliberate and orchestrated human right violations of the Akpabio-led administration, which he said denied eligible voters their right to vote and in the killing of innocent voters.

  • Defection: Minister, Gbemi Saraki trade words

    National Planning Minister Dr. Abubakr Sulaiman and Senator Gbemisola Saraki yesterday traded words over the latter’s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The senator had on the eve of the presidential election directed her supporters to cast their votes for the APC.

    She later officially announced her defection to Kwara State APC.

    But yesterday, Dr. Sulaiman described the senator as a mole in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), adding that she defected because she lost out in the PDP governorship primaries.

    The minister, who spoke with reporters on the outcome of the governorship and state House of Assembly election, said: “Senator Gbemisola Saraki is not an issue to me. Kwarans have been talking about liberty; liberty from Saraki family. So, if Gbemisola goes back to her brother, it is the same thing.

    “Gbemisola has been a mole in the party. She was there to play a role and she has played that role and left.

    “Gbemi stood for primary election and lost. If she had won, would she have left? This is the message.”

    Reacting, Senator Saraki said: “The fact is that the minister, who claimed that he had done so much for the PDP is one of those who came and benefit from where they did not sow.

    “I think it is better for them, rather than be questioning why people left the party, to concentrate on why they are in the party and to do the best for their own party.

    “I did what is best to leave the party for Kwara and for Nigeria as we all know, as it is evident in the result of the last election that the country is about change. And like the PDP Chairman said at a time, ‘monkey dey work, baboon dey chop period’ is over.”

     

  • Minister greets governor-elect

    The Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Boni Haruna, yesterday congratulated Adamawa State Governor-elect Senator Jubrila Bindow of the All Progressives Congress  (APC) on his victory.

    The minister, hailing the peaceful conduct of the elections, praised stakeholders and the indigenes for comporting themselves before, during and after the polls.

    He said they demonstrated the deepening of democracy and the maturity of the electorate, especially against political upheavals.

  • Indigenous communities take minister to ICC

    Indigenous people of Dagbalo and Akpajenjiya communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have concluded arrangements to send a petition against the Minister of the territory, Senator Bala Mohammed to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague over what they described as inhuman and undemocratic treatment.

    Leader of Dagbalo community in Apo, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Rev. Danjuma Tanko who made this known to journalists at a press briefing in Abuja, expressed sadness over the continuous silent of the minister on the situation against the natives, saying that about five Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) have been consulted over the matter to make necessary arrangement to sue the minister to the ICC.

    Tanko said, as a result of selfishness, greed and corruptible means of acquiring wealth, the administration has cause an untold hardship to the communities, making reference to the incident that occurred about two years ago on July 30th 2013, when pick van fully loaded with armed soldiers invaded their communities and forced them out, demolishing their houses, farm lands, destroying their economic trees in one day.

    He said that the singular act of wickedness was perfected as a result of lucrative position the community occupied and the FCT administration’s interest made it easy to abuse the natives of the communities without human face to provide an alternative for the people.

    “It’s in the light of this embarrassing behaviour of our leaders, which made us to see the necessity of the rule of law and it should be allowed to be the protector of the common man. We are also calling for oversight probe of the FCT Minister, for him to account for all the money budgeted for six years in the of resettlement and compensation of Abuja indigenes,” he said.

    He also accused the minister of using forceful tactics to take over of their homes thereby causing hardship and death to natives of their communities, saying that the time has come to put a stop to the wickedness that the FCTA is inflicting on their communities.

    “Our major reason for taking the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed to the ICC is to make them account and pay for all the mal administration done to our people. What is the minister’s interest to acquire lands for himself, children and friend at the expense of the original owners.

    “I want to make it abundantly clear to Nigerians that Federal Government has never in any way acquired the Abuja land. What the FCT administration is doing is to use force to seize our land without any meaningful compensation and some the places suffering displacement includes, Maitaima, Karu, Nyanya, Kubwa, Jabi, Karmo, Gudu, Garki, Gwarinpa and several other communities,” he said.

    Tanko further called on the president not to appoint any person who is not an indigenes of Abuja as a Minister of the FCT, in order to avoid ressetlement catastrophe in future.

     

  • Minister to reshuffle Unity School principals, others

    Minister to reshuffle Unity School principals, others

    Principals, teachers and other non-academic members of staff of the Federal Government Colleges, also called Unity Schools, should brace up for redeployment as the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, has said that a major shakeup is coming soon.

    The Minister, who disclosed this in Abuja when she met with Principals of the 104 unity schools, added that the reshuffling exercise would be immediate.

    “For learning to be effective there must be changes.  Those who have stayed in a particular position will have to go elsewhere. Over staying of staff will not be encouraged,” she said.

    Prof Onwuliri also ordered the principals to submit the results of the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), as well as the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) of the schools in the last five years for appraisal.

    She also urged the principals to officially inform the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) of abandoned or completed projects in their schools.

    The Minister vowed to ensure that schools are not attacked before, during and after the forthcoming general elections, saying adequate measures have been taken to avoid crises.

    She said: “We have a lot of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and we are moving them to the government colleges. Our problems are that many of them could not fit into the system so we are doing extra job to further teach them.

    “We have been talking to the children, teachers, the states and it is part of what we are doing here today.  A lot of efforts are ongoing and many states are cooperating with us to ensure that the schools are safe before, during and after the elections.

     

    “President Goodluck Jonathan is doing a lot with the military to ensure that schools are safe during the election period. That is why some of the schools that had problems initially have been renovated and children have gone back to school. Our soldiers are winning the war against insurgency. We are not resting on our oars to ensure peace. I will meet with the PTA next week for further discussions.”