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Tag: Nigerian news

  • FAAN, NiMet get international certification – Minister

    FAAN, NiMet get international certification – Minister

    Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN ) has received international certification for Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, from Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA ).

    The Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika while receiving the certification of FAAN and Nigerian Meteorological Agency ( NiMet ) in
Abuja on Tuesday, said both certificates were huge achievements toward security and safety in the aviation sector.

    He said that Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, was the first international Airport in Nigeria to meet the requirement by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and NCAA regulations.

    “This is indeed a huge achievement as far as we are concerned, Mr President had told us to secure this country and manage it, therefore, inline with his vision we align in building institutions and getting them to work well.
    “Because once that is achieved it means that we are managing the country well, strong institutions will definitely begets strong nation.

    The country had tried time and again to certify our airports in the past.

    “It is a global requirements by International Civil Aviation Organisation ( ICAO ) convention and Aerodrome requires that airports must be standardised.
    “Under different ownership, under different cultures and climates, under different conditions all over the world and they must be standardise and they must reflect certain minimum standard of safety and security.

    “This made it very paramount to ensure that our airports are certified.

    “We promised the nation that we will get these airports certified, today by the grace of God we have achieved that milestone,” he said.

    According to him, they are beginning to certify the airports with the Murtala Muhammed International Airport been the first to be certified by NCAA through ICAO standards.

    He said this certification borders on safety which is a huge achievement in making sure that the nation institutions are strong, dynamic, focused and sensitive.

    Sirika, however, commended the Ministry of Transportation for making the certification achievable and possible, stating that they hope to get certification for Nnamdi Nzikiwe airport before the end of the year.

    He said they would ensure that both international and domestic airports get certified which would increase the value, the insurance would be low, charges and ticket would be lower as a result of the certification.

    The Minister of State noted that the world will be at peace to know that Nigeria aviation is secured with flight operation being safe and secured within and outside the country.

    He said that Mr President and the National Council had approved the concessioning of four major airports in the country which are Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt.

    Sirika further said that Nigeria will host the International Civil Aviation Organisation World Aviation Forum taking place on the Nov. 20 to Nov. 22 in Abuja, which is the first time the forum will be held outside Canada.

    Speaking earlier, Managing Director of FAAN, Saleh Dunoma said FAAN has successfully completed the Aerodrome certification process of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

    He said that the Aerodrome certification is an international requirement with the primary objective to ensure that all international Airports meets international safety standards.

    “Aerodrome certification means ensuring the standardisation and harmonisation of airport service, facilities and procedures, as well as ensuring uniformity in safety.”

    He said that the drive toward certification of Nigeria airports was yielding positive result as Nigeria was implementing one of the critical safety targets.

    He said that Nigeria started the process of certification 11 years ago but due to several reasons they were unable to certify the airports until now.

    According to him, with the certification of the Murtala Muhammad Airport, they will concentrate on the Nmandi Nzikiwe international Airport in Abuja, then to other airport.

    He said FAAN was committed in the drive to get the aerodrome certification for all the airports in Nigeria.

    Dunoma said that the certification would be renewed after three years, which will be year 2020.

    Director for Western and Central Africa, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)

    Mr Sani Marshi, the Director-General of NiMet presented the International Standard Organisation (ISO) 2015 certification to the minister.

    He said that NiMet was the first in the continent to have been given the international certification in compliance with international best practices.

    He said that this is a huge achievement in the Nigerian aviation sector as Nigeria would become an example to other African countries.

    Mr Mam Sait Jallow, ICAO Regional Director for West and Central Africa, said that both certifications are two key standards related to safety as most of the aircraft accidents are due to issued related to runway safety and also weather conditions.

    “These are really key achievements which we wanted to witness and we won’t stop here because we are still in house and we have to climb on the roofs to publish what we have done.

    “Technically, we have just concluded phase four and as far as certification is concerned, we now need to publish aeronautical information to the world for them to know that the Murtala Mohammed Airport is now certified likewise NiMet,” Jallow said.

  • FG to supply quality seeds to farmers – Ogbeh

    FG to supply quality seeds to farmers – Ogbeh

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu. Ogbeh, says the ministry  is working with the Nigeria Security and Defense Corps ( NSCDC ) to ensure that quality seeds are supply to farmers by authorised seed dealers.

    Ogbeh made this known on Tuesday in Gwagwalada, FCT, at the Seed Fair and Farmers’ Field Day, organised by the National Agricultural Seed council ( NASC ).

    According to him, quality seed is paramount to enhancing agricultural productivity as it contributes more than 50 per cent of increased crop productivity in the country.

    He said seed was very important to the sub-sector, and that any group or individuals engaged in selling adulterated seeds to farmers must face the fuĺ wrath of the law.

    “I am a victim of fake seeds. I am a farmer you all know. I sent my manager to a shop to buy seeds. He got a very nice packaged envelops and when we opened them, they were broken seeds from the market.

    “Over 70 per cent of people who have no business with seeds jump into the business and selling junk to farmers without getting certified by the seed council.”

    “We are going to open extension offices in every local government to monitor the quality of seeds being supplied to farmers.

    “We will compel agro companies to sell their seeds to authorised dealers. Farmers will be told if you buy seed from anybody else aside the authorised dealers, don’t blame us if you buy fake seeds from them.

    “And if they buy from authorized dealers and it turns out to be fake, report them to us. We will get police to arrest them, ” he said.

    According to him, the Federal Government ( FG ) through NASC has over the year engaged in regulating the activities of seed producing entities.

    He added that this was aimed at ensuring that enough quantities of improved quality seeds are available for farmers use across the country in any given time.

    He expressed regret for still owing seed companies that participated ai the 2014/2015 Growth Enhancement Support, GES, assuring part payment of the debts owed soon.

    “We will try our best to pay seed companies we are owing. Without good seed, agriculture is impossible. So we want them to keep supplying that is why we will try and pay the debts.”

    Dr Olusegun Ojo, the Director General, NASC, said that council has carried out sensitisation and campaign to educate the public in order to rid the market of fake and adulterated seeds.

    He added that through the enforcement and surveillance activities, some fake and adulterated seeds were confiscated at various markets across the country.

    “We organised a stakeholders workshop to develop a roadmap for efficient coordination of importation and marketing of vegetable seeds in the country.

    “Let me reiterate to member of the public that seed business is highly regulated and there are procedures and guidelines for engaging in seed production and marketing.

    “All intending groups and organisations going into seed business are hereby reminded that they must be duly accredited and licensed by the council.

    “The council is prepared to clamp down on any unauthorised groups or individuals engaging in illegal seed business by selling fake seeds to innocent farmers,” he said.

    Mr Richard Olafare, the President, Seed Entrepreneur Association of Nigeria ( SEEDAN ) urged the Federal government ( FG ) to fasten in the payment for seeds supplied under the GES scheme.

    He explained that recent efforts by the association to initiate the settlement of the outstanding debts should be accelerated to conclusion in order to avert the damage cause to the seed sector.

    “Members of SEEDAN are worried about the delay in the payment for the seeds supplied under the GES, exposing several seed companies to threats And embarrassment from various banks.

    “Some banks went as far as publishing list of so called defaulters seed companies in national newspapers. Some of our members are death with high blood pressure,” he said.

  • Niger to spend N1.2bn in 20 days on school feeding

    Niger to spend N1.2bn in 20 days on school feeding

    The Niger government says it will spend N1.2 billion in every 20 days of the  primary school feeding programme expected to kick off Sept. 25.

    Mrs. Afiniki Dauda, Special Adviser to Gov. Abubakar Bello on Empowerment and Social Protection, disclosed this on Tuesday in Minna, during the training of 150 food vendors and desk officers on food safety and hygiene.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training, tagged: “train the trainees”, was organised for selected vendors across the 25 local government areas, to prepare them for the feeding programme.

    Dauda said that the Federal Government would spend N70 per day, for every child involved in the feeding programme.

    “We have submitted a list of well over 800,000 pupils from 3,000 schools for the programme; its principal aim is to
    raise nutritional value among pupils and increase school enrollment,” she said.

    She said that 70,170 vendors had been captured for the programme, adding that their data had been submitted to the National Identity Management office for verification.

    The official said that government had set up a special monitoring and evaluation team consisting of desk officers, counselors, parents and teachers association to ensure its success.

    Dauda warned vendors and other officials against diverting food items meant for the pupils, saying that anyone caught would be prosecuted.

  • Only court can stop my governorship ambition – Ifeanyi Ubah

    Only court can stop my governorship ambition – Ifeanyi Ubah

    A governorship aspirant on Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) platform in the forthcoming poll in Anambra, Mr Ifeanyi Ubah, said only the court could stop his ambition.

    He alleged that the party’s primary election conducted to pick its candidate for the poll, was fraught with irregularities and that the party leadership had refused to address his complaints on it.

    Ubah made this known at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, and said that he would continue with his aspiration until his complaints were addressed by the party.

    He said that he would approach the court to seek his right after exhausting all the internal mechanisms to address the issues as stipulated in PDP Constitution.

    He said that he had contacted party leaders, Board of Trustees members as well as appeared at the party’s primary election Appeal Panel, but that his concerns had not been addressed.

    “I will be going to court to seek redress; only the court will determine the party’s candidate or the party should come back to us and addresses the irregularities.

    “They know that the person they have chosen has no requisite to be the party’s candidate. It is their responsibility to right the wrong,’’ he said.

    Ubah, who is the Chairman of Capital Oil, said that he would pursue the legal angle on the matter for himself and other Nigerians that may also be treated in the same manner in future.

    “I am doing this not just because of me but because all the political parties will not act the same way PDP has done. If we continue to allow issues like this, people will continue to suffer over impunity.’’

    Ubah said that Mr Oseloka Obaze, who was declared winner of the primary election and upheld by the party’s Appeal Panel, did not emerge through a transparent, free and fair means, describing the primary as “a fraudulent exercise.”

    He said that he noticed some irregularities in the primary, including overnight change of delegates’ list, and alleged that the delegates used for the election were different from those on Certified True Copy list he obtained.

    He added that people that lodged the complaints at the primary election venue were chased away with tear gas.

    “They use that opportunity to smuggle in people. We have 326 wards in Anambra, and even if we had three delegates per wards, we will have 678 delegates, not 958.

    “Also in the party’s Constitution there is what we call statutory delegates who are over 400, they were all cut off.

    “What they did was that they gave black marks on the fingers of those they wanted in, and by the time they call you in and if you don’t have those marks they pushed you away.

    “All complaints on these issues were ignored.’’

    Ubah said that he remained the best candidate of PDP for the election in the state “because we are closer to the people, and have invested in the party and in the people’’.

    He accused former governor of the state, Mr Peter Obi and Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers of imposing an unpopular candidate on the delegates.

    “Sadly, an election which was supposed to provide a level-playing field for all seven aspirants cleared for the race turned to a dance of shame.

    “All these represent the greatest act of impunity bearing in mind the fact that the party had began to gain sympathy from Nigerians.’’

    On the allegation that he was hobnobbing with other political parties, Ubah said that as a business man, he was free to relate with any political party and the Federal Government.

  • NYSC mourns former DG

    NYSC mourns former DG

    The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps ( NYSC ), Brig.-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, has condoled with the family of a former director-general of the scheme, Yusuf Bomoi, who died on Monday in Abuja.

    Kazaure ,who paid a condolence visit to the family in Abuja on Tuesday along with top management staff of the NYSC, said the death of the former DG was a ‘rude shock’ to the scheme.

    He said although, the death of the ex-NYSC DG was the will of God, the overflowing grief from the family, friends and colleagues was a clear testimony of the footprints he left in the scheme.

    The director general assured the family of the late Bomoi of the scheme’s total and unflinching support at its time of grief.

    Kazaure, who described Bomoi as a pragmatic and inclusive leader, said his sense of innovation and compassionate disposition endeared him to the hearts of all.

    The director general said the death of Bomoi had left a big vacuum that would be hard to fill, adding that the scheme was, however, consoled by his exemplary life of service to God and humanity.

    “It was during Bomoi’s time as the director general of the NYSC that the scheme was able to move its directorate headquarters to the permanent site in Maitama, Abuja.

    “Bomoi made a lot of landmark achievements when he served as the director general of the scheme from 2004 to 2009.
    “The scheme will support the family members in every way possible so that his demise  would not weigh heavily on them,” Kazaure said.

    The director general said the scheme would hold a management meeting soon to conclude on plans to immortalise the late former director general.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bomoi, who died in Abuja after a brief illness, has been buried according to Islamic rites.

    NAN also recalls that Bomoi was the second ex-corps member to head the NYSC scheme; he was appointed the 13th director general of the NYSC on Oct. 29, 2004.

    He served in various capacities in the Nigerian military.

  • Police foils kidnap of two girls in Kaduna

    Police foils kidnap of two girls in Kaduna

    The Kaduna State Police Command on Tuesday said it had foiled an attempt to kidnap two girls in a village near Shika in Zaria Local Government area.

    The Command Public Relation Officer, ASP Muktar Aliyu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna, that the kidnappers numbering about 30 invaded the community on Sept. 18, at about 1:30 a.m.

    He said: “When the police was informed we acted instantly and engaged them in gun battle and forced them to run into the bush without accomplishing their mission.

    “A policeman, however, sustained gunshot wound during the attack and is now receiving treatment at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika.

    “Also, the father of the girls, Malam Mustapha Gali, died on Tuesday morning from the injuries he sustained when the kidnappers invaded his house.

    “The two girls sustained no injury and are now with their mother.

    “No arrest has been made yet, but we are on the trail of the suspects, and wish to assure the general public that they will be arrested and prosecuted.”

    Aliyu restated the command’s commitment to rid the state of criminals and appealed for more useful information from residents.

  • Kaduna resident doctors to begin strike

    Kaduna resident doctors to begin strike

    The Association of Residents Doctors in Kaduna State, said on Tuesday that its members would proceed on an indefinite strike from Oct. 2.

    President of the association, Dr Joseph Natsah-Jokshan, who made the announcement at a press briefing in Kaduna, said a 21-day strike notice had been forwarded to the government after a congress meeting of the association on Sept. 9.

    He said the ultimatum was to compel the government to implement the 2011 agreement it entered with the association.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the agreement was on funding, equipping and staffing of hospitals, salary payment, residency training, and implementation of corrected Consolidated Medical Salary Structure among others.

    The NARD president explained that doctors in the state were overstretched, with doctor/population ratio at one to 4,000, as against 600 recommended by the World Health Organization( WHO ).

    “The situation is even worse as one move to rural areas. It is therefore requisite that measures should be put in place to correct this.

    “We are aware of government’s efforts to recruit about 100 doctors into the current workforce and that is highly commendable, but infrastructure and doctors welfare must also be addressed.

    “Currently, Kaduna State has the lowest remuneration among other states in the North West zone and in spite of this, some of our colleagues are owed up to 10 months salary.

    “As a result many doctors have left to other states with better prospect, which further compounded the issues, particularly in rural areas where most of the General Hospitals have only two doctors.

    “This has resulted in a lot of quackery, as most patients are forced to seek medical care elsewhere, with detrimental outcomes and needless loss of lives,” he said.

    On infrastructure, Natsah-Jokshan claimed that the state government has no single intensive care unit in any of its hospitals, while services at accident and emergency units were abysmal due to lack of necessary tools including oxygen.

    “Our struggle was because we have a responsibility to care for the lives of people, but we can only achieve that with effective and efficient health care delivery system.”

  • Niger floods leave thousands homeless

    Niger floods leave thousands homeless

    The Interior Ministry in Niger said flooding had killed at least 56 people since the rainy season began in the country in June and left over 185,000 homeless.

    In one of the world’s poorest countries, where most houses are made of earth or mud, the flood destroyed thousands of homes.

    One of the flood victims, Mahamane Soumana, said his home and farm had been completely flooded for the past two months.

    Soumana, who stood ankle-deep in mud, hesitatingly throwing a net in his home’s flooded yard in Banga Bana district, in Niamey, his two houses collapsed with the rain.

    “I‘m a rice farmer, not a fisherman, but my field has been completely flooded for the past two months. So, I fish in my courtyard.

    “I used to have two houses, both of which collapsed with the rain.

    “But, now I have nothing to house or feed my family other than fish,” he told Thomson Reuters Foundation as he tried to untangle a couple of small fish from his net.

    Soumana’s situation is far from uncommon. For Nigeriens unable to afford cement homes, each rainy season increasingly brings a dangerous ordeal, local experts say.

    According to Katiellou Gaptia, Head of Meteorology at Niger’s Met Office, climate change in the Sahel is creating warmer conditions where the atmosphere can hold more moisture, often increasing the volume of rainfall.

    “This year’s rain is just extraordinary. In Niger ( niamey ) alone, the season’s rainfall has increased by 84 percent since 2010,” he said.

    Gabagoura, a village northwest of Niamey, is one of the worst affected areas by the recent floods.

    On the median strip of the main road, mats and foam mattresses dry on guardrails.

    Around them, piles of wood and straw are all that are left of more than 290 homes that collapsed at the end of August, leaving 1,200 people homeless.

    Village chief, Adamou Saley, walks towards a massive silk-cotton tree, under which 15 people have taken shelter.

    “Look at this misery, total desolation,” he said, looking around at the remnants of homes.

    Saley said Gabagoura village had indeed been warned by the Niger state government on television and radio.

    “But, the village was spared the brunt of flooding last year, so people thought they would be safe.

    “Some still tried to build drainage gutters around their homes, but even they collapsed,” said the village chief.

    He said that the government and several non-governmental organisations had sent food and supplies and that some flood victims had moved into the village’s two schools.

    “But some people are still left on the streets. School is set to start again in early October, which may mean those sheltering in schools will need to find a new place to stay.

    “If we don’t get any more help I don’t know what will happen to those currently living in the school,” Saley said.

    He expressed apprehension over more predicted rainfall, saying “80 per cent of us are without homes. If it rains again, we’ll lose the entire village.’’

    Hadjara Yacouba’s house was entirely destroyed by the rains.

    She said “we have nothing, not even a tent.

    “I am a widow with 17 children, and we have lost everything.’’

    “Before the start of the rainy season, the government advised people living in flood-prone areas to leave their homes.

    “But few heeded the advice because they refused to abandon their homes or had nowhere else to go,’’ said Boubacar Sidikou, Secretary-General for Niger’s Ministry of Humanitarian Action and Disaster Management.

    “As soon as we have the funds to prepare the shelter sites we will do so.

    “We believe the shelters will allow us to temporarily house all those currently left in schools,” Sidikou said, without specifying how many people the sites could accommodate.

    Fatima Alher, who heads a project mapping flood-prone zones in Niamey, thinks national and local efforts to prepare for flooding were not enough.

    “To date, we’ve not had an efficient system to alert the entire population.

    “Flood survivors we spoke to said they weren’t properly informed of what was happening,” she said.

    Today, efforts to rebuild flood-stricken areas are not progressing fast enough, residents complained.

    Officials at the Ministry of Humanitarian Action and Disaster Management said they had identified four potential shelter areas in Niamey, but had yet to set them up due to lack of funds.

  • NSCDC sets up special squad for Bama

    NSCDC sets up special squad for Bama

    The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has set up a special squad to boost security operations in Bama community of Borno.

    Spokesman of the Corps, Mr Emmanuel Okeh, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, said the squad was codenamed Special Bama Squad (SBS).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bama was declared an “Islamic Caliphate’’ by Boko Haram terrorists, who captured it along with Gwoza in 2014.

    But Nigerian troops reclaimed the community in 2015, and reconstruction works are ongoing in areas destroyed by the terrorists.

    Okeh stated that the Commandant-General (CG) of the NSCDC, Mr Abdullahi Gana, announced the squad while addressing members of management, and zonal and state commandants of the agency in Abuja.

    He quoted the CG as saying that the move was in compliance with a recent directive by the Federal Government to security agencies to beef up their presence in the North-East.

    The government, according to him, specifically directed the Army, NSCDC and the Police to provide 1,500 personnel each to Bama.

    They were mandated to receive the Emir of Bama and other returning IDPs, in addition to providing adequate protection for the civil populace of the community.

    “The Special Bama Squad is an additional number of personnel who will carry out round-the-clock patrols in all the nooks and crannies of Bama community and its suburbs.

    “They have been mandated to synergise with other security agencies in the Bama axis,’’ Gana said.

  • Oil rises to $56 as Middle East producers stick to cuts

    Oil rises to $56 as Middle East producers stick to cuts

    Oil prices traded close to five-month highs on Tuesday after fresh data showed key Middle Eastern producers continued to cut supply in line with an OPEC-led deal aimed at ending crude glut.

    A weaker U.S. dollar also lent support to greenback-denominated commodities like oil, traders said.

    Benchmark Brent crude futures were up towards a five-month high of 55.99 dollars.

    U.S. West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) crude futures were up 44 cents at 50.35 dollars per barrel.

    Sentiment has been buoyed since last week when the International Energy Agency lifted its 2017 demand outlook and OPEC estimated the world would need more of its crude next year.

    OPEC’s second-biggest producer Iraq said on Tuesday it had cut output by about 260,000 barrels per day (bpd), exceeding cuts agreed under the OPEC-led pact.

    This comes a day after official export data showed Saudi Arabian July crude exports dropped to the lowest in three years, highlighting its own compliance with output restrictions.

    However, rising crude prices have encouraged drilling in U.S. shale oil regions.

    The U.S. government said on Monday it expected shale output to rise for a 10th straight month in October.

    Traders also closely watched the progress of Hurricane Maria in the Caribbean.

    Although it remains far from the U.S. oil production heartland in the Gulf of Mexico, it could dampen oil demand and disrupt maritime trading routes