The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Prof. Yemi Osinbajo

  • Presidency pleased with development in Kogi – Gov

    Presidency pleased with development in Kogi – Gov

    Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello on Wednesday urged the Senate to ensure the red chamber is made up of men of high calibre, integrity and good character to retain its high esteem.

    He spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The governor claimed that Senator Dino Melaye, who is representing Kogi West, was not fit for the Senate.

    He said: “You see, I would rather admonished Nigerians that when a child lacks proper parental care and home upbringing, he constitutes social menace in the society. And if the society does not take steps to check and correct such a child, they can turn into criminal and take into criminality then it will be left to government to check such criminality. And if government does not, such a child can cause a serious embarrassment. That is what is happening in Kogi State.

    Then talking of the Senate, let me rather admonish the Senate that that is an institution that is held in a very high esteem and I think the Senate and indeed the National Assembly is made up of men of high calibre and of high integrity and good character.

    “I think it is necessary that that wonderful House should as matter of urgency and as a matter of fact check any social deviant that exists within them before they could be adjudged birds of the same feather. I know they are not of the same feather.”

    But he said there is no crisis in the state, stressing that Kogi State is living in peace.

    “Projects are ongoing, we are all happy over there, salaries are being paid as at when due and we are making serious progress.” he added.

    On the claim by Melaye that the governor has earmarked N1 billion to remove him, Bello said: “That is figment of his imagination. The good people of Okunland and indeed West Senatorial District have learned from a bitter mistake of not taming and curbing that social deviant and they have decided to take lawful steps in recalling him.”

    He said he was in the Villa to brief the Acting President on the latest development in his state.

    “I came to brief the Acting President of development in my state. We all know Mr. President is taking a rest and the men at the helm of affairs needs to be periodically briefed. He is pleased with the development in Kogi State,” he stated.

  • Buhari’s wife restates need for unity among Nigerians

    Buhari’s wife restates need for unity among Nigerians

    The wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, has reiterated the need for unity and peaceful coexistence among Nigerians.

    Mrs. Buhari stated this in her tweeter handle on Friday after she attended the 2017 Ramadan lecture organised by the staff of Presidential villa community at the Banquet Hall, Abuja.

    She expressed appreciation for the turnout where Muslims and Christians participated in the programme and prayers.

    “It is important that we reiterate the importance of our unity by sharing our different values.

    “I appreciate His Excellency, the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo for chairing the Ramadan breakfast dinner,” she said.

  • Ogoni Clean-Up: UN begs Ogoni to be patient with FG over delay 

    Ogoni Clean-Up: UN begs Ogoni to be patient with FG over delay 

    …As UN team visits Ogoni land

     

    Six years after of the United Nations Environmental Programme report on Ogoniland, the United Nations has appealed to the people of Ogoni to exercise patience with the Federal Government of Nigeria over the delay in the commencement of the implementation process.

    The team of UN  made the plea Thursday at a contaminated site in Kwawa community, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, during a familiarization visit to ascertain the level of work on the cleanup of Ogoniland.

    It will be recalled that the Acting President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo had last year inaugurated committees that would facilitate the implementation, but till date the people of Ogoni are worried over the continuous delay in the implementation.

    Mr. Edward Kallou, the Resident Coordinator United Nations in Nigeria, who led the team to Ogoni land stated that the remediation process involved technical approaches that needed a lot of time to be achieved appropriately.

    Kallou, who disclosed that it was his first visit to Niger Delta region, noted that he was in the area to have firsthand information on the devastation and the level of work done.

    He noted that work was on going in the implementation process and urged the people of the area to the give the Federal Government a chance to be able to deliver a better result.

    Kallou said, “I am here  today on a familiarization visit on Ogoniland. I am here to have a better understanding on the impact of the oil spill and the progress that has been made in the implementation of the UNEP assessment of the devastation in the area.”

    “There are two conclusions I want to draw in my visit. This is a very technical investment; it is not a rural type of investment where you are going to see houses built within a short period of time. My appeal is patience, to ensure that the required technical needs are met and to ensure that at the end of the cleanup it is properly done.”

    “The beneficiary communities or the affected areas are looking up to what are the critical outputs of this investment, but the project is on. It needs to be given time to ensure that the technical aspect of the work is done properly.

    “We need time to allow the experts on the ground to do the critical analysis that are required before an investment is done. My advice to the project coordinator to look at a diversified approach with a rural development focus within the project itself that can be delivered in a short term.”

    Meanwhile, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, the body in charge of the remediation process has said it had commenced fully the training of graduates who would work to achieve the project.

    The Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Dr. Malvin Dekil, said that over 12 people from different environmental related courses were been trained in different skills of remediation.

    He noted that there would be reassessment of impacted sites during the implementation proper as to capture the level of impact on the ground before a remediation plan is sketch for the area.

    He said, “We will take every site and capture the current contamination profile before we design a remediation plan for that area. We a will address that technically.”

     

  • Osinbajo lauds Ayade’s industrial drive

    Osinbajo lauds Ayade’s industrial drive

    The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday, commended, Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River for his effort to industrialise the State.

    Osinbajo said this while performing the ground-breaking ceremony of Ayade Industrial Park Calabar as part of his two-day working visit to the state.

    He described the park as an industrial hub in Nigeria and Africa.

    “It tells us of what the future holds for the people of this state. It is really going to be a major industrial hub in Africa, ‘’ he said.

    The acting president later performed the ground-breaking ceremony of Cross River Rice City Project and inaugurated the Calabar Garment Factory, all situated inside the park.

    Speaking, Gov. Ayade said his vision was to make the state the destination for investments in Africa.

    He solicited the support of the Federal Government in his quest to develop the state through numerous on-going projects.

    The acting President had earlier on arrival, visited the Palace of Obong of Calabar, Edidem Ekpo-Abasi Otu, where he called for peaceful co-existence among different ethnic nationalities in the country.

    He said that for Nigeria to progress, there was a need for unity among Nigerians adding that Nigeria is better and strong when they are united.

    He said: “Unity is very important. All of us should show love to one another: this will make us stronger.’’
    Responding, Obong, thanked the acting president for finding time to visit his palace and described the visit as historic.

    He called on Nigerian Leaders to always prioritize the welfare of the people, irrespective of their political affiliations.

    The Obong advocated the involvement of the Traditional Institutions in the governance of the country due to their closeness to the people at the grassroots.

    “The traditional institutions are closer to the people and they know better what the people need; therefore, I suggest that the traditional institutions should be more involved in government, ‘’ he said.

    The Acting President was later given a chieftaincy title in Efik tradition “Ada-idaha ke Efik Eburutu (a chief in Obong’s Council).

  • Pains of poverty hard to forget – Osinbajo

    Pains of poverty hard to forget – Osinbajo

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said the Social Investment Programmes (SIPs) being implemented by the Federal Government for the citizens are not favours but their right.

    He spoke at an event showcasing the achievements of the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP) of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration at the second anniversary of the administration at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.

    It was tagged: “A smile for every Nigerian”.

    Noting that the SIP is both a heart and a head programme, he said that it is heart because the pains of poverty cannot be ignored.

    He said: “I want to say to all of you that we do not consider the programme as a favour done to you. It is not. You deserve this programme because you are citizens of this country.

    “This country can provide and should provide all that is in need of help and we will do our very best to provide.”

    He noted that the President during the campaigns had kept on saying that everything must be done to get Nigerians out of poverty.

    Osinbajo said: “The programme is also a head or logical common sense issue. A country’s economic development is a function of the number living above poverty level, our levels of poverty are so alarming that clearly some fundamental interventions by government are necessary.

    “Often, our economic development plans and budgets assume a trickle down approach, namely that, if we put resources in promoting industry and commerce, jobs would eventually be created and the poorest will be reached.

    “The other premise is that GDP growth should translate to jobs. Both premises are flawed. First the trickle down model has proved far too slow to stem the tide of poverty in one of the fastest growing populations in the world.

    “Secondly, most of the growth was on account of the oil sector, which is capital intensive but not labour intensive. So, while we were recording growth levels of seven per cent because of the high oil prices, unemployment figures grew.

    “In developing the APC manifesto and later our economic development plans, we knew that government had to directly intervene with a massive social investment programme that would tackle poverty and exclusion across the various spectra.”

    He added: “We have heard a lot about the programmes already, but I would like to emphasise some of what I am particularly proud of. First, is that we have shown that a massive programme can be initiated and managed on-line. The N-Power programme is the largest post-tertiary jobs programme in Africa. We now know that we can train large numbers electronically.

    “Secondly, we have demonstrated that a transparent process of employment is possible. All of these young men and women have testified that they knew nobody and paid nobody to get the jobs they now have.

    “Thirdly, we have achieved great success in our financial inclusion efforts by bringing in many, especially the extremely poor in the hinterlands into the formal banking system. Beneficiaries of the Conditional cash Transfer programme, home grown school feeding vendors and cooks, now have BVNs and bank accounts.

    “We have also demonstrated that electronic payment on such a huge scale, across the nation is possible. Most importantly, we have ensured that our programmes are in all states not just APC states, so much so that some of the governors in non-APC states even take credit for these Federal Government programmes.”

    “We know that our children in public schools many from poor homes do not really care about whether the food is from one political party or the other. Most of the testimonies you have heard today, it is clear that our programmes have just simply gone,” he said.

    He added that the N100 billion set aside for the Family Home Fund, a Social Housing Project under the SIPs, is a yearly contribution to the N1 trillion Social Housing fund.

    Osinbajo said “The largest in the history of the country. The World Bank and Africa Development Bank (AfDB) are contributors to the fund. The same fund will enable us to provide inexpensive mortgages for hundreds of thousands across the country. Already the project has started in 11 states.”

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, John Odigie-Oyegun, noted that the APC has contributed majorly in solidifying democracy in Nigeria in comparison with all administrations since 1999.

    Also speaking at the occasion, the Senate Minority Leader and former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Senator Goodwill Akpabio, endorsed the programme and hailed the Federal Government for achievements recorded so far.

  • Video: Osinbajo interacts with Garki traders

    Video: Osinbajo interacts with Garki traders

  • Obasanjo, Osinbajo to speak on 50 years after Biafra

    Obasanjo, Osinbajo to speak on 50 years after Biafra

    Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and seven other leaders will on Thursday speak at a conference on the Memory and Nation Building – Biafra: 50 Years After.

    At the one-day conference, which will hold at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja by 9am, Osinbajo is expected to deliver a keynote address.

    A statement by the Foundation listed other speakers as a former Permanent Secretary Information, Education & Industry, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, President General Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, and Professor John Stremlau of the University of Witwatersrand will serve as lead speakers. Honourable Chudi Offodile and Honourable Nkoyo Toyo will chair panel discussions and Professor Pat Utomi will serve as the Conference Moderator.

    The statement said: “The 50th anniversary of the declaration of the Republic of Biafra in 1967 offers an opportunity for sober reflection on a number of issues including lessons learned that may be useful in dealing with contemporary challenges confronting Nigeria.

    A Cultural Night will feature performance poetry and a screening of Afia Attack – the untold “survival stories of women during the civil war.

    “The Yar’Adua Foundation was established to honour the legacy of one of Nigeria’s foremost leaders.

    “The Foundation’s mission is to promote national unity, good governance and social justice by creating platforms to engage citizens, policy makers and stakeholders in national conversations that foster an inclusive and prosperous Nigeria.”

  • Osinbajo to explain Executive Orders

    Osinbajo to explain Executive Orders

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo will explain how the Executive Orders he signed last week on  boositing the economy will function when he meets on Wednesday with a cross-section of middle level and senior public and civil servants.

    Senior Special Assistant on Media to the acting President Laolu Akande said yesterday that The interactive session, he said, is part of measures to drive the reforms intended in the new executive orders signed last Thursday.

    He said that the Acting President would be discussing in particular the executive orders on business environment and promoting “Made in Nigeria” products.

    He said that the Buhari administration would drive the new executive orders vigorously in its determination to significantly transform the business environment and how government business is done in the country.

    “These are the people who will be directly responsible for the attainment of the objectives of the executive orders, so the acting President wants an opportunity to talk with them directly and also hear from them.” he said

    Besides, as part of activities commemorating the Second year of the Buhari administration, Akande said on May 29, a presidential level Report Card event on the Social Investment Programmes of the Buhari presidency would be held at Aso Villa.

    “Here at this national event, we shall be updating Nigerians on the progress so far attained, how we are addressing some challenges and how President Buhari’s Social Investment Programmes would be significantly expanded going forward,” Akande noted.

    The SIPs are the N-Power, which selected and engaged 200,000 unemployed Nigerians graduates for a volunteer job programmers, the Conditional Cash Transfer being implemented now in 9 states, General Economic & Empowerment Programme, GEEP-a micro credit scheme that has given out almost 60,000 loans out already, and the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme, where 25 million meals have been served and over 1 million primary school pupils in at least seven states are being fed and over 11,000 cooks hired.

    Akande explained that Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir David Lawal and the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ayo Oke remained suspended.

    He said the outcome of the Investigation into issues raised against the two top government officials would be made available soon.

    He said Nigerians would be satisfied with the outcome of the investigation.

  • Progressive youths condemn Fayose’s alleged ‘Anti-People’ Policies’

    Progressive youths condemn Fayose’s alleged ‘Anti-People’ Policies’

    Youths in the progressive’s bloc under the aegis of Southwest Youths and Peoples Movement (SWYPM) Friday staged a protest in Ado-Ekiti against what they called “anti-people policies” of Governor Ayo
    Fayose.

    They described some of the policies of the Fayose administration as “retrogressive and inhuman which has inflicted hardship on the people of Ekiti.

    Carrying placards with various inscriptions, they marched through the streets in Ajilosun area of Ekiti State capital chanting solidarity songs. They said the cancellation of some populist policies of former
    Governor Kayode Fayemi by Fayose has brought untold suffering on the people.

    SWYPM National Coordinator, Taiwo Ajayi, said some of the policies of the Fayose government which has allegedly set Ekiti back include the scrapping of N5,000 social security allowances for 25,000 elderly
    people which he said has caused the death of over 2,946 beneficiaries.

    Ajayi also condemned the cancellation of 19 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), scrapping of Ekiti State Peace Corps, reduction of Ministries from 24 to 14, sacking of over 900 street sweepers employed
    by Fayemi, sacking of over 200 House of Assembly staff, denial of leave bonus to civil servants and non-payment of workers’ salaries despite receipt of federal allocations and other funds.

    The SWYPM boss criticized the execution of what he called money wasting ventures and projects by Fayose noting that the aborted airport project claimed the life of a plantation farmer whose land was
    taken over and his crops destroyed without prior negotiation or compensation.

    Expressing dismay with “massive hunger in Ekiti”, Ajayi claimed that Fayose’s stomach infrastructure policy has not brought relief to the people as “the random distribution of 5 kg bags of rice and two-week
    old layer chickens” cannot be compared with wealth or job creation programmes that can bring food to the table.

    The youths at a meeting before the street protest resolved to commence early mobilization of Ekiti youths and other stakeholders to ensure that a progressive government that will return Ekiti back to the good old days return.

    They also called on the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the National Assembly, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Police and other relevant agencies to intervene in the alleged victimization of innocent youths especially those who are active members of the defunct Buhari Campaign Organization in Ekiti.

    When contacted for his reaction to allegations of Southwest Youths and Peoples Progressive Movement during their protest, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Idowu Adelusi, promised to react later.

    Adelusi simply said: “We will react tomorrow “.

  • SERAP to Osinbajo: Reject wasteful spendings by NASS

    SERAP to Osinbajo: Reject wasteful spendings by NASS

    The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to put pressure on the leadership of the National Assembly to cut its proposed budget for 2017.

    It described the proposed spending of NASS on the number of expensive official vehicles, legislative aides, travels and transportation, souvenirs, and photocopiers as “wasteful and unnecessary “.

    The organisation urged the acting President to “assent to the budget only if it truly reflects national development priorities, and not serve as a tool to satisfy the lifestyle of our lawmakers.

    “To allow public funds to be spent as proposed by the National Assembly would disproportionately affect the socially and economically vulnerable and push them deeper into poverty and deprivation”, it stated.

    It said in its letter dated May 15, 2017, and signed by SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni and addressed to the acting President, “In a country where many of our general hospitals cannot provide emergency treatment, and at a time public funds are needed to improve these facilities, it is retrogressive to spend these funds to provide exotic cars for our lawmakers or fund needless travels.

    “Such funds ought to be meaningfully spent to provide clean water, build classrooms, provide materials, train teachers and pay outstanding workers’ salaries.”

    SERAP in the letter copied to Professor Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights stated further, “the more public funds that are spent to buy expensive vehicles for our lawmakers rather than servicing the new vehicles bought last year the less resources that will be available to make sure that Nigerians enjoy the right to an adequate standard of living and the rights to health, housing, food and education.”

    The letter reads in part: “When read together, the obligations under the Covenant to take steps to achieve economic and social rights progressively according to the country’s national resources implicitly forbid spending on such apparently wasteful projects. We are concerned that of the N125 billion proposed by the National Assembly in the 2017 budget, N6.4bn is to purchase official vehicles; N1.6bn to insure the vehicles; N777m to buy photocopiers; N55.623m to buy souvenirs; N807m to fuel generators; N11bn for travels and transportation; N9bn to pay legislative aides, and N750m for medical supplies.

    SERAP believes that the presidency now has the chance to show that the 2017 budget would not prioritise wasteful spending by the National Assembly over and above urgent national development priorities, and the need to improve Nigerians’ access to basic necessities such as interrupted electricity supply, quality education, affordable healthcare, clean water, good roads, as well as pay outstanding workers’ salaries across the country.

    “SERAP urges you and the presidency to require the National Assembly to justify the wave of fresh spending on several of the items purchased last year, and many of which will presumably remain in good condition.

    “SERAP also urges you to persuade the leadership of the National Assembly to henceforth adopt and use human rights budgeting as a tool of tracking Nigeria’s accountability toward economic, social and cultural rights. SERAP believes that a budget is a fundamental government tool for national development priorities and should not be a shopping list to satisfy the taste of high-ranking public officials and parliamentarians.

    “SERAP believes that the proposed spending of public funds by the National Assembly suggests that the leadership does not conceive of national budget as a blueprint for social and economic policy priorities.

    “SERAP believes that by cutting the proposed spending by the National Assembly, the presidency would be working to address and mitigate the negative effects of economic recession and crisis in the country on Nigerians living in poverty in particular and the socially and economically vulnerable in general.

    “SERAP notes that Nigeria is a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Covenant guarantees to all Nigerians legally enforceable economic, social and cultural rights such as the rights to food, health, and education. The enjoyment of these rights requires a major commitment of resources from key branches of government particularly the executive and legislature for example through the instrumentality of the budget.

    “When interpreted as prescribed by Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the Covenant will impose clear duties on your government to make national budgets comply with realising these economic, social and cultural rights. Therefore, international human rights law requires the government to use the country’s economic resources to fulfil economic, social and cultural rights. Clearly, economic resources of Nigeria are managed by fiscal policies, thus providing a direct link with the national budget.”

    “The lack of enjoyment of these human rights would increase poverty and hunger, which in turn would threaten the right to life and health of many socially and economically vulnerable, including women and children. These groups of people are bearing the brunt and feeling the impacts of the economic crisis on their standards of living, their jobs and their homes,” it added.