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  • Anambra to pay accumulated leave allowances in November – Obiano

    Anambra to pay accumulated leave allowances in November – Obiano

    The Anambra Government says it will pay the accumulated arrears of leave allowances owed its workers in November, 2017.

    A statement made available in Awka on Tuesday stated that Gov. Willie Obiano made the promise at the inauguration of Queens Convent Secondary School, Ifite-Awka, in Awka South Local Government Area.

    “You will start receiving your leave allowances from Nov. 10, 2017. This is to enable you enjoy the Christmas celebration like other Nigerians,’’ he said.

    The governor further announced that every worker would receive a bag of rice among other benefits before the Christmas.

    “Next year, there will be general increment in salaries of Anambra workers. We are doing all these to promote the welfare of workers in the state,’’ he said.

    Obiano said that the first and second batch of promotion of workers in the state would soon be released.

    He said that teachers and other civil servants would equally get their due benefits alongside other workers.

    The governor said that he would not relent in his fight against malpractice and other social ills, which according to him, has crippled the education system.

    “The primary and secondary schools are basic foundations which determine the future of people and the society and we must get it right for our nation to develop,’’ he said.

    Obiano explained that the essence of handing over schools to missions in Anambra was to give proper orientation and re-orientation to the younger generation.

    He said that previous generations embraced corruption and impunity due to lack of proper orientation.

    “Mission schools will instill morals and effective standard of living. Those trained by missionaries have morally-defined characters that depict excellence and high level of virtue.

    “I will continue to provide every facility that will encourage learning,’’ the governor added.

    He appealed to private individuals to invest in education in order to sustain the tempo of learning in the state.

    The Anglican Bishop of Awka Diocese, Most Rev. Alexander Ibezim, said that the essence of establishing the school was to ensure proper moral upbringing of the youths.

    NAN

  • NEMA DG appeals to NASS to amend agency’s act

    NEMA DG appeals to NASS to amend agency’s act

    Mr Mustapha Maihaja, Director General, National Emergency Management Agency ( NEMA ), has appealed to the National Assembly to pass the bill seeking to amend the act establishing the Agency.

    He made the appeal in a statement signed by Mr Sani Datti, Head of Media and Public Relations, NEMA, on Monday in Abuja.

    Maihaja said that he was appealing for the amendment on the agency’s act in order to improve on the working conditions of the staff and enhance effective disaster management in the country.

    He was said to have made the appeal at the National Assembly when he led the management of the agency to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness in Abuja.

    Maihaja told the committee that the misunderstanding between the management and union had been resolved, saying that it was not the wish of the management to allow such matters to degenerate into strike action.

    The director-general added that some of the issues in the disputes could be properly handled with the amendment to the NEMA establishment Act.

    He appreciated the concerns of the Committee members and thanked the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige for intervening in resolving the issues.

    Datti said that the meeting was at the instance of the committee, which had invited the NEMA management and its staff union leaders to resolve the recent industrial disputes that resulted in a one day strike by the staff on Thursday.

    NAN

  • Litigations responsible for PDP’s ineffective opposition role – Dokpesi

    Litigations responsible for PDP’s ineffective opposition role – Dokpesi

    A Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) national chairmanship aspirant, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, has blamed the party’s inability to effectively perform as opposition on protracted litigation over its leadership since 2015.

    He stated this on Monday night when he led some members of his campaign organisation on a consultation to former Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina.

    We have heard severally from leaders and former heads of state that the PDP had not played proper role as opposition party.

    We had no chance and no opportunity, because we had been in court all through.

    It was not due to lack of competence or courage, but due to the fact that we had been in court processes,” Dokpesi said.

    He said that there was now a vacuum in the party and a need to put in place a duly elected National Working Committee in accordance with the provisions of its Constitution.

    He said that the committee must be headed by a man of courage, vision and integrity who had “paid his dues and demonstrated passion and commitment to the party´s advancement”.

    According to Dokpesi, getting the right person for the position of the party´s next chairman is not about pampering, but about being firm and resolute.

    He pointed out that it was only people with track records and zeal to fight for the party that should be chosen for such position.

    He described as miscarriage of information claims that the party´s chairmanship position had been zoned to the South-West.

    The truth of the matter is that there was no meeting where the PDP as a party, decided that its chairmanship position should be zoned to the South-West.

    The Constitution of the PDP unequivocally states that zoning shall take place, but it shall take place in the North, South and East.

    It is cheap propaganda and mischief to state that there had been a zoning to the South-West, the aspirant said.

    He, however, added that preferences could be made because it was a family affair that should be devoid of any form of bitterness.

    Dokpesi, who is founder of Daar Communications, noted that the party was presently fighting against impunity, saying that some of its members took laws into their hands and had despised its Constitution by manipulating it.

    He said that it was unfortunate that such persons were being applauded and made heroes of the party, while others took advantage of the situation.

    He advocated direct primaries for the party in future, saying it would allow its financial members to vote and elect their candidates for elections and leaders.

    Dokpesi prayed that whoever emerged as next national chairman of the party would be committed to it and ready to take it through its challenges and return it to power in 2019.

    It is not just electing a chairman for the sake of electing him, but electing someone who is able to take us through the fire-lines and make sure that we regain power in 2019, he said.

    He pleaded with the former minister to rise to the occasion as one of the mothers of his campaign team to assume her role in the interest of the party and the country.

    In her remarks, the former minister said that Dokpesi was the right person to lead the PDP for many reasons, adding that she had known him since 1981 as a man of high integrity.

    If the PDP chairmanship position is something I can give on my own, I will give it to Dokpesi in front of everybody,” she said.

    Maina described Dokpesi as a man of selfless service who had committed his time and resources to the advancement of the PDP, adding that he was a bridge-builder who had friends across the country.

    She promised to galvanise support for the aspirant and ensure that he became the next national chairman of PDP “in the interest of the party and the country.

    She prayed God to grant him victory in the race because, according to her, he has done a lot for the party to deserve being its national chairman.

    I believe in your capabilities, because I know who you are and I believe that if you become our national chairman, we will all go to rest,” the former minister stressed.

    The PDP has scheduled its National Convention where new leaders will be elected to end the tenure of its National Caretaker Committee, which had been extended two times.

    NAN

  • 264m children worldwide are not in school – UNESCO

    264m children worldwide are not in school – UNESCO

    Some 264 million school-age children and young people worldwide were not in education in 2015, the United Nations culture and education agency UNESCO said on Tuesday.

    The agency, in a progress report on the UN’s development goals for education, said that after a decline in the early 2000s, out-of-school rates have started to stagnate.

    “Worldwide, there was a completion rate of 83 per cent for primary education, falling to 45 per cent for upper secondary schooling,’’ the agency said.

    The agency meanwhile quoted household survey data from 128 countries for the 2010 to 2015 period.

    There were 40 countries where fewer than one in four young people had completed secondary education, but only 14 where no less than 90 per cent had done so.

    UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova, however, called for more government accountability.

    The report noted that while 82 per cent of national constitutions mention a right to education, only 55 per cent of countries make that right enforceable in the courts.

    “Governments are the primary duty bearers for the right to education, yet this right is not justifiable or capable of being the basis for a court case in almost half of countries, and the primary course of action for those with a complaint is lost,’’ Bokova wrote.

    While calling for accountability at all levels, the report said accountability measures for schools needed to be flexible and carefully designed.

    “Schools may adjust to performance-based accountability systems in negative ways, gaming the system and avoiding sanctions to the exclusion of longer-term reforms,’’ the agency warned.

    NAN

  • SMEDAN to select 108 schools for entrepreneurship programme – D-G

    SMEDAN to select 108 schools for entrepreneurship programme – D-G

    The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency ( SMEDAN ) on Monday said 50 students from 108 schools across Nigeria would be selected for the National School Entrepreneurship Programme ( N-SEP ).

    The SMEDAN Director-General, Alhaji Dikko Radda, disclosed this in Katsina at the opening ceremony of the training of both primary and secondary school teachers on the programme.

    Radda, represented by Mr Suleiman Tanimu, a SMEDAN Deputy Director, said the programme was being organised by the agency in collaboration with Students for Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship ( SAGE ), U.S.

    He said that the schools targeted for the pilot phase of the programme with the theme: “Mind Shift Entrepreneurship’’ are from Katsina, Bauchi, Kwara, Ondo, Ebonyi and Cross Rivers States.

    “Eighteen schools will be selected from each state, nine primary and nine secondary schools.

    “Among these nine schools, seven will be public schools, while the remaining two will be private.

    “Fifty students are expected to benefit from the programme from each school,’’ the SMEDAN director-general said.

    He said that the programme was aimed at providing access to functional entrepreneurship among students to eliminate unemployment among youths in the country.

    “We want to involve students at lower levels so that after graduation, they will not only become self-reliant but employers of labour.

    “Primary school pupils and secondary schools students are our targets, we want to catch them young,’’ Radda said.

    The director-general disclosed that the students would be taught how to set up businesses of their own after which they would come up with an idea to develop a business of their choice.

    He said that there would be a national competition, where the best students would be selected to represent the country at an international competition.

    The Commissioner for Education, Prof. Halimatu Idris said that the state government had spent a lot of money on skills acquisition programmes to make youths self-reliant.

    The commissioner, who was represented by Alhaji Tanimu Zubairu, urged participants to pay attention on the programmme and prepare to teach others what they learned.

    NAN

  • Edo Assembly directs EIRS boss to furnish house with financial details

    Edo Assembly directs EIRS boss to furnish house with financial details

    The Edo House of Assembly on Monday directed the Chairman, Edo Internal Revenue Service (EIRS), Mr Igbinidu Ineh, to provide it with financial details of the service, within two weeks.

    The Speaker, Adjoto Kabiru, gave the directive when Ineh presented the 2017 budget performance of the service to the House.

    Kabiru said the brief presented by the chairman was not detailed enough.

    “The Internal Revenue Service is purely a financial based agency, so you have to go back and prepare a more suitable brief and present to the House within two weeks,’’ he said.

    The House also received brief from the Commissioner for Justice, Yinka Omorogbe, who informed it that plans were underway to constitute a citizen rights centre in the state.

    Omorogbe said that the centre, if constituted, would serve as an alternative dispute resolution.

    Meanwhile, Kabiru has constituted two ad-hoc committees.

    The first committee, led by Chris Okaeben, (APC Oredo West) was mandated to visit industries ahead of the presentation and passage of 2018 budget.

    The second committee, led by Mr Roland Osoro, (APC Orihionmwon South) was mandated to carry out assessment of all ongoing projects in the state.

    The House committee Chairman on Health, Justin Okonoboh, (APC Igueben), was also directed to meet with all the heads of primary health care centres in the local government areas to review their state of existence.

    NAN

  • Officials pledge tight security during Kenya repeat polls

    Officials pledge tight security during Kenya repeat polls

    Officials said security apparatus in Kenya will be on high alert during the repeat presidential elections scheduled for Thursday in order to avert skirmishes that could disrupt the exercise.

    Acting Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government Fred Matiang’i made the pledge while speaking in Nairobi during a meeting with regional administrators to review security preparedness ahead of the repeat polls.

    Matiang’i said: “solid measures are already in place to ensure the voting exercise is conducted in a peaceful environment.

    “The government reassures the public that it will execute its mandate of providing security throughout the country to ensure the fresh presidential election takes place in an atmosphere devoid of fear, intimidation and violence.”

    He said security apparatus have intensified vigilance to prevent chaos before, during and after the repeat polls that have triggered anxiety in some parts of the country.

    At the same time, Matiang’i warned that stern action will be taken on any individual or political groups intending to disrupt the repeat polls.

    He said that security personnel will guard election officials who will preside over the voting exercise to ensure they are not harmed.

    “The government will also ensure that Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission  officials have adequate security to conduct the fresh presidential election without interference from any quarters,” Matiang’i said .

    The repeat polls that have been boycotted by the main opposition National Super Alliance have elicited a mixture of anxiety and fear in the country.

    While the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta insisted that elections must be held on schedule, his opposition rival Raila Odinga has told his supporters to keep off the polling booths.

    The two political heavyweights have taken hardline positions as the country gears up for repeat presidential polls as ordered by the Supreme Court, which invalidated the ones, held on Aug. 8 citing irregularities.

    Security officials said monitoring of areas identified as volatile has intensified to prevent eruption of chaos during the repeat polls.

    Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet revealed that besides mapping hot spots, the national government has also deployed adequate security officers to maintain law and order during Thursday’s repeat presidential elections.

    NAN

  • Court charges man with attempted murder

    Court charges man with attempted murder

    A 32-year-old man, who allegedly attempted to kill a woman with broken bottle, was on Monday brought before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

    The accused, David Abel, is facing a three-count charge bordering on attempted murder and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.

    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    The Prosecutor, Insp. Babatope Julius, had told the court that the accused committed the offences on Oct. 8, at noon at No. 3, Ago-Owu St., Shogunle, Oshodi, Lagos.

    Julius said the accused tortured a woman, Mrs Funke Giwa, with broken bottles over a false allegation that she killed one Rasaq Bello.

    “Abel had tortured Giwa because she was accused of killing one Rasaq Bello which eventually proved to be false. His act also caused fear in the neighbourhood, leading to the alert of the police,” he said.

    The offences contravened Sections 44(4), 230(b) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015(Revised).

    The Chief Magistrate, Mrs M.O. Olajuwon, granted the accused N100,000 bail with two sureties in like sum.
    Further hearing in the case has been fixed for Nov. 13.

    NAN

  • Kebbi to construct four stadia

    Kebbi to construct four stadia

    Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi has promised to construct four modern stadia in the four emirate councils of the state to boost sports development and unity among youths.

    The four stadia will be constructed in the Gwandu, Argungu, Zuru and Yauri emirate councils.

    The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Abubakar Muazu, said on Monday in Birnin Kebbi that the promise was made at the Argungu emirate ward football competition.

    “The provision of the stadia is part of efforts to improve on the state’s participation in zonal, national and international competitions as well as enhance peaceful coexistence,’’ Muazu said in a statement.

    It added that the governor urged groups and organisations to sponsor competitions to encourage the government to implement policies that would improve sports development.

    NAN

     

  • Kwara Election: Cleric warns youths against violence, hooliganism

    Kwara Election: Cleric warns youths against violence, hooliganism

    Pastor Segun Olawale of Divine Favour Chapel, Ilorin, has warned youths against violence and hooliganism in the Nov. 18 Local government election in Kwara state.

    Olawale, who gave the warning in Ilorin on Monday while speaking said that youths must say no to violence as election draws near.

    He said youths must not allow themselves to be use as thugs to scatter polling units during election.

    The cleric also advised them to shun violence and be disciplined

    “Youths must be seen as symbol of peace. They should go out to use their thumb to elect their favourite representatives instead of being lure into violence by politicians.

    “Youths must not turn themselves to violence tool. Politicians don’t worth sacrificing life for.  Pursue your dream and shun violence, “he said.

    The cleric, however, advised politicians to accept whatever may be the outcome of the election.

    “Politics should not be a do or die affair as thought by many politicians. We must learn to accept defeat and work together for the growth of the society, “the pastor said.

     According to the state electoral timetable, the election would hold on November 18.

    NAN