The Nation Newspaper

Tag: package

  • NSITF promises better package for workers

    The new management of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has pledged to introduce improved welfare packages that will boost staff productivity.

    The Head, Cooperate Affairs of NSITF, Aliu Zubairu, said the new Managing Director, Adebayo Somefun, gave the assurance when he assumed duties in Abuja.

    Somefun hinted that a review of the staff welfare package to keep them motivated was underway.

    The new helmsman, who spoke with the three new executive directors of the Fund at its corporate headquarters, assured the staff that the new management understood the essence of a motivated staff.

    He, therefore, assured that management would do everything within its powers to review their welfare packages, stressing that the team was fully prepared to move the organisation forward.

    The new executive directors are: Suleiman Tijani, Mrs. Kemi Nelson and Jasper Azuatalam.

    Thanking every member of staff for a wonderful job done, he stressed the need for teamwork, which was reflected in the resumption of management members simultaneously.

    Somefun urged the members of the staff to see the new management as a team that would take the organisation to the next level, while promising that the  team would not disappoint in ensuring that it left the Fund better than it met it.

    “I assure you that the new executive team has listening ears and our doors are always open for suggestions and ideas,” he said.

    Mrs Nelson said she had, in the past five years, sought an opportunity to be useful not only to herself, but to a lot of people, noting that her appointment was the answer to that prayer. She promised to give her best in ensuring she delivered on her new assignment.

    On his part, Tijani corroborated the position of the managing director, saying the new management would welcome ideas and suggestions and also needed collective efforts to move the Fund forward.

  • Agric Bank shut over unpaid package 

    A group, under the aegis of Niger Delta Israel-Trained Agricultural Group of Nigeria (NDITAGON), at the weekend shut down the Ughelli branch of the Bank of Agriculture (BON) in Ughelli North Local Government of Delta State, for non-payment of empowerment package to members.

    The youth are beneficiaries of the Advanced Agricultural Training, under the Niger Delta ISAC Israeli-Trained Agricultural Group of Nigeria.

    NDITAGON comprises beneficiaries of a training programme by the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta for youths from the nine states in the region.

    About 90 members of the group denied the bank’s customers access to the financial institution. The group said since their return from Israel, the promises the ministry made to empower them had not been fulfilled.

    Addressing reporters, the group’s spokesmen David Esiekpe and Bekeakpobo Fedekefe expressed disappointment at the ministry’s failure to fulfil its promise.

  • ‘Buhari’s social package not one-off scheme’

    ‘Buhari’s social package not one-off scheme’

    The social welfare intervention programme of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, for which N500 billion has been allocated in this year’s budget, is not a one-off scheme, the Vice President’s  spokesman, Laolu Akande, said yesterday.

    Akande, who is the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Publicity in the Office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, spoke in an interview with reporters in Abuja.

    He said the scheme “is a combination of several well-thought out programmes emphasising direct connections with the extremely poor, and the needy, among other categories of the masses of this country’’.

    A breakdown of the welfare programme is contained in the 2016- 2017 and 2018 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) submitted to the Senate for consideration and approval.

    According to the document, the Federal Government will collaborate with state governments to institute well-structured social welfare intervention programmes such as: School feeding programme initiative, conditional cash transfer to the most vulnerable and post-National Youth Service Corps grant.

    Under special intervention including cash transfer, home grown school feeding programme and micro credit loans (SMEs, market women etc), which is also covered by the social intervention programme, the government provided the sum of N300 billion for 2016, N339.05 for 2017, and N338.93 for 2018.

    According to the spokesman, the plan of the Buhari presidency is comprehensive and has taken into consideration some of the factors that led to the failure of past poverty alleviation schemes.

    “One of the major differences here is that the social intervention programme such as the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) would be a direct transfer of N5000 monthly to the extremely poor among us.

    “And this is a safety net that several advanced nations had put in place a long time in their history, and most often at times of economic challenges.”

    The SSA said that the money would be paid directly to the people concerned on the condition of school enrolment and immunization.

    “This way, we are expanding school enrolment and also assuring physical well-being.

    “The home-grown school feeding programme will commence in public primary schools in 2016, providing adequate nutrition to school children, promoting local farming, boosting agriculture, and creating jobs and wealth locally.

    “We have experts working in the presidency, collaborating with experts from global bodies who together bring to bear international best practices working on how best to implement these programmes.”

    “I can tell you that no sooner than President Buhari resumed work, many of these experts have been meeting and planning on how best to implement these plans.

    “We are not talking here of something hurriedly put together or a programme where some consultants would take the huge chunk of the resources.”

    Akande also said that as part of the half a trillion Naira to be spent, there is in the budget proposals, a provision of no fewer than one million jobs in 2016, including 500,000 graduate-youths to be engaged as teachers.

    “There is another 500,000 non-graduate unemployed people who will be trained as artisans, making a total creation of about one million direct jobs.’’

    He added that the presidency was determined not to repeat the past failed efforts at alleviating poverty.

    “As the President disclosed during the budget speech, he has asked the vice president to coordinate the programmes and I can tell you that serious work is already apace,” Akande added.

    He reiterated that for the first time in Nigeria’s budget history, the Federal Government would be directly intervening in lifting people out of poverty through a series of measures already proposed totalling N500 billion, representing nearly nine per cent of the budget.

    “Through these measures and for the first time, the budget is paying attention to the problem of poverty in a proper and direct way,’’ he said.

    The spokesman added that another one million extremely poor and disabled Nigerians would also benefit from the first phase of the CCT Scheme proposed in the 2016 appropriation bill to enable them to live decently.

    “There will also be the provision of affordable, very low cost loans to market women and artisans to enable them enlarge and expand their trades,’’ he added.

  • Don seeks relief package for livestock industry

    As the livestock industry faces a critical situation with many farms nearing bankruptcy, a former Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, Prof Abiodun Adeloye, has called for increased government’s financial support package to save the industry.

    While the cost of animal feed has risen relentlessly, farmers said demand for poultry products has slowed down. As a result, many farmers are virtually bankrupt.

    He said livestock producers were feeling the pinch as prices of corn, soybeans and other livestock feed go higher.

    Livestock feeders are looking at severe losses never before experienced in the livestock sector.

    Adeloye urged the government to help struggling farmers cope with disease outbreaks, falling prices, and lack of resources.

    According to him, there is a need for a tripartite links between livestock farmers, feed suppliers and banks to help the livestock sector solve long-lasting problems such as increased input costs, unstable prices and outlet for their products.

    The livestock sector, mostly consisting of small-scale household farming, outdated techniques and a shortage of investment for farming, has been experiencing a difficult time as farmers struggle to access loans and attempt to conform to environmental protection regulations.

    Adeloye said financial shortages were a major problem for farms.

    He asked the banks to offer farmers loans with preferential interest rates.

    According to him, the livestock industry is critical to the economy because it provides food to Nigerians.

    He said demand for food would increase over the next decade due to population growth and increased business activity.

    He said the need for livestock would rise in keeping with the trend.

  • ‘Suspicious package’ found in Westfield mall

    Westfield Shopping Centre was evacuated after a suspicious package was found on tuesday.

    Staff and shoppers were told to leave the retail hub in Stratford with pictures posted on Twitter showing throngs of people waiting outside.

    Westfield is one of the country’s biggest shopping centres and the evacuation came days after Luton Airport was evacuated because of a bomb scare.

    The Metropolitan Police confirmed the evacuation but an hour after it the situation was “stood down”.

    Thousands of staff and shoppers were told to leave the retail hub in Stratford.

    A spokeswoman said: “The incident has now been stood down.

    “We were dealing with a suspicious package at the shopping centre. We were called at about 12.10pm.

    “The shopping centre was evacuated at about 13.45 and the incident was stood down at 14.54.

    “It is no longer deemed to be suspicious.”

    The Metropolitan Police later stood down the situation.

    Last month the UK terror threat was raised to “severe” meaning a terrorist attack is highly likely.

    After the evacuation people took to Twitter to post pictures and speculate about what caused it.

    Twitter user Miguel Ausina photographed people leaving Westfield and wrote: “Westfield Stratford being evacuated due to possible bomb scare.”

    Peter Jarvis added: “Westfield Stratford evacuated until further notice. Unknown hidden mystery device found.”

    Some of the pictures show thousands of people standing outside on the street, while police officers stand guard.

     

  • La Campagne Tropicana’s package

    La Campagne Tropicana’s package

    La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Lagos last Easter hosted a four-day package for guests of the Nigeria’s foremost holiday resort by inviting a group of musicians who came all the way from the United States of America [USA] taking up African names on the beach front.

    The group, Club Nouveau R&B-pop band members- made up of Jay King [Kolawole], Samuelle Prater [Seun] and Valerie Watson, put up a superlative performance to the delight of the several guests and people within the Ikegun environ.

    The Easter package, which was put together by Wanle Akinboboye, founder of the resort and the Tourism Ambassador of World Conference of Mayors for Africa, commended the management’s generosity for bringing the American group and Nigeria’s top acts.

    Apart from Club Nouveau that thrilled the crowd, Iyanya Mbuk [popularly known as Iyanya], in-house super star, Oluwatoyin Oluwaferanmi Akinola [Afe Onikoko], world’s known only female potter, Ibukun Ayoola, fondly called [Olo], and Anu Azigbu, both of Atunda Entertainment also performed.

    The Easter celebration was an unforgettable one for fun lovers.

    The package tagged “Easter and More” was a mixture of music, beach fun and culinary experience.

    Apart from the aforementioned, the beach offers opportunity for nature walk on the mangrove forest at the beach front.

    Like Akinboboye often says, “As our tradition, La Campagne will always offer exquisite experience”.

    He said: “The Easter festivities, which kicked off on Good Friday when the guests started arriving for the weekend of fun, ran through Monday for the main performance when Club Nouveau and Iyanya mounted the stage.

    “Activities for the first day included dance aerobic, swimming, canoeing, among other outdoor sporting activities. The atmosphere was a mini-carnival in which people paraded on the beach front and danced to good music.”

    Akinboboye, who is also the CEO of Atunda Entertainment, stated that Club Nouveau R&B was picked among the very many artists considered for the Easter celebration because the group possesses one of the most memorable, distinctive music ever heard in popular music with their hit song, Lean on me.

    One major aspect of the Club Nouveau group activities was their adoption of African [Yoruba] names, a function performed by His Royal Highness, Musiliu Habib Sanni, Bale of Ikegun in the Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State.

  • Ajimobi assures workers of improved welfare package

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi yesterday assured workers that their commitment to work would be “handsomely rewarded” this year.

    Ajimobi spoke at the Governor’s Office Car Park in Ibadan, the state capital, during an inter-religious prayer session marking the new working year.

    He said since he assumed office, he had subjected workers to series of challenges and created some stormy sessions to get the best out of them.

    Ajimobi said: “For you to have withstood the pressure we brought to bear on you, our close-marking approach and pyramid of checks and balances, be assured that this year will be a year of reward for you.

    “We have demanded a lot from you and you have given us what we wanted. For those of you who have survived the tsunami of change, which was aimed at instilling discipline in the system and making the civil service service-oriented, you will be adequately compensated.”

    The governor thanked God for the administration’s achievements last year and urged workers to be godly and more dedicated this year.

    He said his administration has great plans for them, adding that the government would build housing estates and arrange for mortgages for workers.

    Ajimobi urged religious leaders to continue to pray for his administration to deliver on its promises and improve the state.

    The Head of Service, Alhaji Tajudeen Aremu, urged civil servants to ensure the successful implementation of the government’s programmes.

    In their separate sermons, Rev. Francis Omolade and Prof. D. S. Noibi urged civil servants to discharge their duties with the fear of God and shun corruption.

    Noibi acknowledged the accomplishments of the administration and hailed Ajimobi for running a government with a human face.

  • Osun deserves more from N17.6 billion flood package

    Osun deserves more from N17.6 billion flood package

    SIR: In the past few weeks, millions of Nigerians in about 25 states in this country have suffered from the deluge that destroyed their property and washed away their means of livelihood like farms. While there is still nothing serious to cheer in our response ability to emergency situation of such magnitude, the Federal Government has slightly roused itself from its accustomed lethargy and characteristic hesitation and has availed the affected states some succour in monetary terms.

    But even at that, this latest gesture has some question marks clearly hanging over it. I make bold to say that the FG is quite unfair to my state, Osun, in the paltry amount it gives to it. Considering the huge amount the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola committed to fighting flood in the state between 2011 and this year, I am of the opinion that Osun deserves special consideration.

    In his nationwide broadcast sometime ago, President Goodluck Jonathan announced the release of N17.6 billion as direct financial assistance to the affected states and some Federal Government agencies responsible for disaster management. The states were grouped into four categories: Oyo, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Delta, Bayelsa and Anambra come under category A; Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa, Taraba, Cross River, Edo, Lagos and Imo States fall under Category B; Kwara, Katsina, Gombe, Ogun, Ondo, Ebonyi, Abia and Rivers make the Category C; and Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Yobe, Enugu, Ekiti, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Borno and Federal Capital Territory are grouped into Category D. According to the President, N500 million goes to each of the states in Category A, N400 million to each of those in B; N300 million each for states in Category C, and each of those in the last group receives N250 million.

    This classification is based on the level of damage wrought in the states –Categories A and B are regarded as the worst hit, while those of the remaining two categories are considered as less affected.

    The seeming defect in the FG’s intervention has to do with the inclusion of Osun State into the last group. It is on record that prior to the assumption of office of Aregbesola, many towns in Osun were known to be terribly affected by floods. In fact, the government of Olagunsoye Oyinlola unbelievably saw the disaster as insoluble and so asked the affected people to learn to live with it. But not so with Aregbesola’s government. This government saw the plight of the people and got cracking without hanging fire. In the state capital for example, the government deployed both money and men in ensuring that the inhabitants were free from the nightmare of floods. Blocked canals, rivulets, drainages, rivers, and streams were thoroughly cleared for water to flow freely. The exercise was repeated a number of times. It was this effort that saved the state from being affected by the latest flood calamity.

    Therefore, if the FG wants to help states affected by flood, I think states like Osun that have shown seriousness in the use of resources to check disaster should have been considered for the biggest package. This is important when the facts that the state is not among the states whose allocations and internally generated revenues are on the high side. The FG would have successfully given the state a great encouragement if it had grouped it among the states with the fat package. I don’t think the government has demonstrated any serious sense of fairness to Osun. What it has done is to handsomely reward indolence and chastise industry. Encouraging states which are proactive in their response to issues bordering on the wellbeing of citizens has its way of inspiring healthy relationship between the centre and the federating units. Sincerely, I think Osun should have got more than it is given.

    • Bidemi Adegbite,

    Osogbo, Osun State

  • Foundation plans N100m package for flood victims

    The Dickens Sanomi Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, plans a N100 million fund for flood victims in Delta and Bayelsa states.

    In a statement in Abuja yesterday, the foundation said it would establish eight camps and provide relief materials, such as foods, beddings, clothing, toiletries and medicals.

    The statement reads: “On arrival, the team embarked on an on-the-spot assessment tour of the affected communities in Ughelli North and South, Isoko North and South, Patani, and Burutu Local Government Areas of Delta State; as well as Kolokuma/Opokuma, Yenegoa and Ogbia local Government Areas of Bayelsa State.

    “In our operations, we provided four 500-seater engine boat and five 18-seater speed boats at the Arhavwrien waterside. For the first four days; these boats were used to evacuate IDPs from all the riverine communities.”