The Nation Newspaper

Tag: N2b

  • Customs seizes goods worth N2b

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), through its Federal Operations  Unit (FOU) Zone A, Ikeja, said it has seized goods valued about N2 billion in the last six weeks.

    Its Controller, Aliyu Mohammed, who spoke to reporters in Lagos yesterday, said the seizures were made between February 6 and April 16 this year.

    The seizures include 113 units of exotic vehicles with duty paid value of N1,339,088,544 and other seizures valued at N610,470,320.

    Among the seizures were various smuggled and prohibited drugs without National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) number.

    He reiterated the Unit’s resolve to sustain the fight against illicit drug smuggling as a way of justifying recent World Customs Organisation (WCO) and NAFDAC Awards for his contributions to the fight against drug smuggling.

    “I am ready to do more in the fight against fake and unregistered drugs. The award given to me is serving as a motivation to continue in stopping the illegality of drug smuggling.

    ”Some of the smuggled drugs concealed with other goods do not have NAFDAC number and they are capable of destroying lives.

    “Our duty as Customs officers is not only to collect revenue and facilitate trade, we are working to save lives too. Those who are complaining about our presence on the roads are not sincere in their dealings.

    ”We make these seizures daily and we rely on intelligence to uncover what smugglers are hiding. On the allegations of harassment of smugglers by customs officers, our men work with information and endeavour not to inconvenience travelers while performing our duty.

    “Our warehouse is filled with rice seizures and more are being seized. We encourage Nigerians to patronise our high quality locally grown rice,” he said.

    The seized drugs are codeine syrup, diclofenac, paracetamol injection and Chest and Lung tablets

    Other seizures shown to journalists are trucks of rice valued at N190,961,320; 180 Jerry cans of 25 litre vegetable oil worth N1,440,000; 157 bales of used clothes valued at N9,420,000; frozen poultry products worth N1,400,000 and 265 pieces of used tyres worth N1,855,000.

    Also seized are 280 pieces of machetes and tomato paste worth N462,000 and N62,000 respectively.

  • F-SARS chief seeks N2b, apology from Wike

    THE Commander of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) in Rivers State, Mr. Akin Fakorede, an assistant commissioner of Police (ACP), is asking for N2 billion damages from the Rivers State government.

    He has given seven days’ ultimatum to the government to retract the libellous publications against him, and demanded an unreserved apology from the state government.

    Fakorede said the apology must be published on the front pages of national newspapers that carried the false advertisements.

    This, he said, should be published twice the number of times the advertisements ran in each newspaper.

    Fakorede’s lawyer, Ayodele Akintunde, in a 10-page letter, dated May 22, and addressed to Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Emma Aguma, yesterday in Port Harcourt, accused the state government of deliberately lying against his client.

    The F-SARS commander approached his lawyer after the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, authorised him to sue Governor Nyesom Wike and the government for the malicious, false and libellous publications against him, having been exonerated by the IGP of allegations levelled against him.

    Akintunde said: “The allegations that our client is an election rigger and an enemy of democracy, and that our client is recruiting, training and arming a special squad to rig the 2019 elections in Rivers State though violent means are totally false and baseless.

    “In the consequence, our client’s reputation has been seriously damaged and he has suffered considerable distress and embarrassment. We hereby demand that you retract the libelous publications contained in the national newspapers within seven days of the receipt of this letter and tender an unreserved apology to our client for the damage to his reputation and the distress and embarrassment caused him by the libelous publications.

    “The retraction and apology must be given as much publicity as your libelous advertisements and they must be inserted on the front pages of the same newspapers, in as large a type and in as prominent positions as your advertisements. The apology must also be printed/published twice the number of times your libelous advertisements were published in each of the national newspapers.

    “The Rivers State government must also give a written undertaking never again to publish any similar libel against our client in future.

    “Take notice that if you do not cause to be printed/published, a retraction and an unreserved apology, in the manner demanded within seven days of receipt of this letter, and pay an agreed amount as damages for the libel, we have our client’s instruction to commence legal action against the Rivers State government for N2 billion as damages for libel. You have been warned.”

    Fakorede’s lawyer faulted the government’s claim on the report of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the December 10 legislative rerun.

    He said: “The words contained in all the advertisements are clearly intended to disparage our client in his duties as an ACP in the Nigeria Police Force and particularly as the commander of F-SARS, Rivers State and expose him to hate, ridicule and contempt.

    “All the allegations contained in the publications, including the report of INEC, are false, malicious and completely unfounded. During the 2016 Rivers State rerun elections, our client never assaulted Mary Tunkayo, Dr. C. Odekpe or any INEC staff. This is clear from all the written statements obtained from the relevant INEC staff.”

  • N2b to fight hearing loss in Kwara, Kaduna, others

    N2b to fight hearing loss in Kwara, Kaduna, others

    Such is the threat of hearing loss in the country that a United States-based firm is tackling it in Kwara, Kaduna and three other states, reports ADEKUNLE JIMOH

    It may not have the same prominence as eye disorders but ear patients know how much their condition hurts. A sufferer once narrated how he could neither eat nor sleep nor concentrate until the specialists put him out of his torture. Ear ailments are also not a one-off. They are quite widespread. That is why a United States-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Starkey Foundation, wants to tackle it in five states of the federation. The states are Kwara, Kaduna, Lagos, Abia and Ogun states. The free healthcare outreach will cost about N2 billion.

    The programme is aimed at increasing access to hearing services. The free healthcare services are billed to take place in Ogun from June 16-20, Lagos (21- 23), Abia (7 July), Kaduna July 9 and Kwara (July 11). The foundation will also provide service and maintain hearing aids given to people living with hearing impairment at no cost.

    In a statement, Director of Global Health and Research for the Foundation, Dr. Luqman Lawal said that the foundation will carry out the medical outreach in partnership with the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, federal ministry of health, state governments, the academia and professionals in the field of ear and hearing care in Nigeria and NGO.

    The foundation said further that Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation would be responsible for the coordination of the logistics of the programme in Nigeria through partnerships with the federal ministry of health, state governments and local stakeholders within the country.

    Dr. Lawal noted that the World Health Organisation estimates that about 360 million people live with disabling hearing loss worldwide with 32 million of them being children and approximately 90% of people living with hearing loss reside in low resource settings with little to no access to ear and Hearing healthcare services.

    He said that a recent national survey of hearing impairment and deafness in Nigeria shows that approximately 8.5 million (five per cent) Nigerians have some form of hearing impairment.

    He said in the first year of the partnership; the Foundation will be serving approximately 3000 patients with the hope of increasing the number of patients served to about 15,000 or 20,000 annually, based on the success of the first year.

    He said “In low and middle-income countries, hearing aids have only 2.5 percent penetration rate (i.e. only 1 in 40 people that require hearing aids have access to and can afford it). It has also been estimated that 50 per cent of hearing loss is preventable through simple and effective public health approaches”.

    These impacts of hearing loss are not only on individuals but also on family members, communities and countries,” he said.

    Dr. Lawal said due to the wide access gap that disproportionately affects the low and middle- income countries and the consequent impacts, The Starkey Hearing Foundation was founded in 1984 by Mr. Bill Austin in the United Sates to address hearing challenges.

    He explained that the foundation has created and now operates community-based hearing healthcare programs in 52 low and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Pacific Asia and the Middle East.

     

  • Bello releases N2b to former office holders

    Bello releases N2b to former office holders

    The National Councilors Forum, Kogi State chapter, has hailed Governor Yahaya Bello over the release of N2 billion to clear salary arrears and severance package of past political appointees in the state.

    Bello has released N2 billion for payment to immediate past political office holders in the 21 local government councils.

    The money is a carry over from former Governor Idris Wada, as part payment of their salary and severance package.

    The Chairman of the National Councilors Forum, Musa Abdullahi Adakeke, expressed their relief over the clearance of salary and other entitlements when he led over 512 members on a ‘thank  you’ visit to the governor.

    Bello said his administration will continue to welcome all those that are ready to work with him, adding that every one in the state belong to his administration.

    He said that all former chairmen and secretary of local government councils have been paid part of their salary and severance package owed by the previous administration.

    According to the governor, his administration will do everything possible to take care of civil servants in the state, noting that virtually all genuine workers have been paid up till December.

    He presented an 18-seater bus to the forum, and promised to consider members into positions of his “New Direction” administration.

    Adakeke thanked the governor for releasing the money as part payment of their salary and severance package.

    He added: “We appreciate the dogged determination of the governor to transform the state in the area of infrastructure at the rural and urban cities. This will help in no small measures to engage a number of our youth on gainful employment, thereby reducing the incidences of crime in the state and its environs”.

    They called on the governor to provide 5,000 All Progressives Congress’ membership cards to them and their supporters, and approve a date for their formal defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

  • ‘Abia poly’s N2b not mismanaged’

    The immediate past chairman of the governing council of Abia State Polytechnic Aba, Prince Christopher Enweremadu has said that the current chairman of the council did not get his facts right about the contentious N2 billion bank overdraft. Enweremadu, a former speaker of the state House of Assembly, said the new chairman’s allegation that the fund was mismanaged was not backed by facts and figures.

    Enweremadu said, “If the chairman had gone through the history of the polytechnic, he would have appreciated that when we came on board, the institution owed N1.1 billion to several banks and also seven months’ salary arrears to staff. After a careful review, my council agreed that the sum of N2 billion be taken as overdraft with an interest of N25 million and by this time no bank was willing to lend any money to the institution, which made us to go for a term loan’ with a lesser interest rate”.

    “When the N2 billion term loan came we had reduced the bank loan to N900 million and part of the agreement with First Bank was to buy over the loan which they did and tellers were issued to Abia Poly and by the time they took their bank charges, we had N1 billion left”.

    “Out of this amount, we had a running battle with the then rector on what to do with the remaining N1 billion, the then council insisted that the amount should be used to repay the loan through building hostels that would yield money, the management insisted on using it to pay salary arrears.”

    “The staff salary by them was N134 million monthly and from the N1 billion that was left, about six months’ salary was paid off, so the chairman saying that contracts were wrongfully awarded smirks of mischief”.

    “Only about N35 million was paid to a contractor, as most of the said contracts were awarded without any money to back them up, so the current chairman talking about mismanagement of funds when we left N210 million which he has not accounted for till date”.

    “It should be noted that since the N2 billion was gotten without the account being serviced, interest was being taken from the principal sum, so this is a case of kettle calling pot black, but this man took the sum of N26 million of the school fund to refurnish an office that

    has no problem”.

    “Here is a man who increased his sitting allowance from N64,000-N260,000 and goes there three times in a week to enable him claim the money from an institution with lean resources, if this not fraud and mismanagement, I wonder what it is”.

    “I want to advise him to address issues before the institution and stop chasing shadows”.

    “I want to appeal to Abia state government to take a critical look at the accounts books of the Polytechnic to know exactly what happened to the said N2 billion, as no bank gives loans to institutions to pay staff salary”.

    “By the time I left as the chairman of the governing council of the Abia Poly, we were able to reduce the backlog of salary arrears down to four months, but now the salary arrears have gone up to seven months which is the reason the staff are on strike.”

  • ExxonMobil, others spend N2b on education

    Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education has received a boost in 12 schools, thanks to ExxonMobil subsidiary- Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL), in production sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its co-venturer on the Erha North Phase 2 Project under their Community Assistance Programmes (CAPS).

    The firms endowed e-learning centres in the 12 schools in rural communities to boost e-learning and ICT knowledge at the grassroots.

    The e-learning centre and other educational initiatives under the CAPS, are valued at about N2 billion.

    While three e-learning centres were donated under the CAPS phase 3 of the project, nine e-learning facilities built under the phase 1 were recently donated to schools in Rivers, Osun and Anambra states.

    The nine schools included St. John’s Grammar School, Ile-Ife; Anglican Grammar School, Ile-Ife; Olode Grammar School, Olode; Anekwe Memorial Primary School, Abatete, Ado Girls Secondary School, Onitsha, All Saints Primary School, Onitsha, Onne Community Secondary School, Onne, Kalabari National College, Buguma and Community Primary School, Egendem.

    Each e-learning centre is equipped with 21 desktop computers, electronic learning management system with audio-visuals across a wide range of topics for pre-tertiary education, three-year internet service support and an inverter to provide 24-hour back-up power.

    In addition, the structures housing the e-learning centres were extensively renovated, while teachers were given extensive train-the-trainer instruction on Information and Communication Technology to enable them successfully impart knowledge on their pupils.

    The centres will not only be useful for experiential learning modules, 30 educational software and other e-learning aids, but the pupils will also learn Coding.

    In addition to e-learning centres, the firms have donated 22 science library modules to secondary schools in various states. Each library module per school contains 250 books on a diverse range of science-based topics, with the aim being to improve pupils’ performance in science-based subjects and stimulate their interest in pursuing STEM-related careers.

    ExxonMobil and its partners on the project had earlier, in 2015, donated e-learning facilities to three primary schools in Lagos State-Awoyaya Primary School, Victoria Island, Ansar-Ur-Deen Primary School, Ebute Metta and Obalende Primary School, Ikoyi.

    They also sponsored a Back-to-School that supplied school bags, exercise books, writing materials and other items to children in primary schools in 14 states and Abuja to facilitate their learning.

    The programme targeted schools attended by children of low income earners and its beneficiaries included Children in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in some states in the Northern geo-political zones of the country who were ecstatic when presented with their Back-to-School items in their various locations.

    The projects were well received by the benefitting communities.

    The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, during a visit by ExxonMobil officials prior to the inauguration of projects in Ile-Ife, thanked the firm and its partners for the investment and urged other corporate organisations to emulate them.

     

  • Ganduje splashes N2b on scholarships

    Kano State Government has spent over N2 billion to off-set the back-log of students’ scholarship inherited from the immediate-past administration of Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.

    Speaking to reporters in his office on the issue, the state Commissioner for Information, Mallam Muhammad Garba, said the amount encompasses allowances, upkeep and tuition fees of students of Kano State origin studying both at home and abroad.

    Garba said the Ganduje administration discovered discrepancies in the payment process of the scholarship scheme spear-headed by the immediate-past administration,

    “As a responsible and responsive government that believes in prudent management of public fund, we are fine-tuning the process. I must also assure you that this government will ensure that our students, who were sent out to study, will not suffer; and they will come back home happy, so that they will also make their immediate families, Kano State and Nigeria happy,” he said.

    He added that Ganduje’s administration remains committed to ensuring that Kano indigenes get qualitative education.

    “In the scholarship programme, you must believe me that the Ganduje administration has shown more concern than any other administration in the history of Kano.

    “Already, payment of outstanding liabilities inherited since 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 academic sessions for students of Kano State indigenes in public universities and tertiary institutions within the country have been approved.

    “It is also important to inform you that the total number of these students is 54, 862; and the total amount of money for the payment is N677, 589 million.

    “These students are studying in all Nigerian universities. This N677, 589 million has been approved and payment has already commenced,” he said.

    Ganduje also said about 100 students are undergoing extensive training on auto-mobile at the prestigious Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) training centre based in Kaduna.

    “They are going to graduate at the end of this month, and government will empower them with tools and working capital. This administration has spent about N80 million so far for the one-year training.

    “This administration has concluded plans to empower about 5000 youths into marketing Diamond Yellow account in MTN Close User Group. This is in partnership with a company called SSCL/MTN. After the training, MTN would make these 5000 youths agents of the company; MTN would be giving them products monthly between N50, 000 and N100, 000, and whatever they sold, they will have their commission. This is basically going to make them self-reliant.

    “The government has also decided to facilitate the formation of the Nigerian Peace Corps. We are projecting to train about 2000 youths to engage in the Peace Corps, hoping that the corps will formally be integrated into the Ministry of Interior because the Bill has passed Second Reading,” he said.

     

  • Kogi, CBN sign N2b MoU for agriculture

    Kogi State government  has signed a N2 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for agriculture.

    Governor Idris Wada said this at the opening of a four-day-training for cashew farmers in Anyigba, Dekina Local Government Area.

    He said the government has provided the will for farmers to succeed, adding that the N2 billion would be spread across agricultural areas where the state had comparative advantage.

    Wada, who was represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Zacchaeus Atte, said N300 million would be voted for cashew farmers.

    The President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Mr. Tola Fasheru, urged  the  governments to provide incentives for cashew farmers.

    In  another  vein, Faseru, said   Nigerian cashew is becoming one of the best in the world as it  reached consistently 51Lbs and 52Lbs/ 80kg, with nut count around 180-185 per kg as the intensive training in good farming practices, harvest and post harvest handling practices  conducted for farmers and local buying agents and  produce inspection officers are beginning to pay off.

    According  to him,  efforts are also being put in place to provide infrastructure such  as storage facilities and drying platforms for  farmers.

    Faseru  noted  that  farmers are being trained on how they can conduct quality test for their cashew particularly with respect to moisture,out turn and the nut count. All of these, he  added,  are geared towards achieving increased cashew productivity and quality.

    Currently, he  noted   that  the  annual production for the raw cashew nuts is put at 125,000 metric tonnes valued at N24 billion  ($160,000,000).

    He  said the  sector has the potential for an annual output of about $2 billion  within the next five years.

    Already at the moment, he  said   the cashew industry  provides livelihood for over 300,000 families directly employing over 600,000 people.

    He  noted  that  efforts are ongoing to increase the level of processing and value addition to  cashew nuts and cashew apple for  local consumption and export to the international market.

    Faseru  said  an increase in the volume of the cashew being produced would impact directly on the jobs being created and this would in turn impact positively on the economy of the cashew producing states.