The Nation Newspaper

Tag: scheme

  • FUTO for Fulbright scheme

    The students of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) will be among those to benefit from the United States (US) Government Fulbright Scholarship Scheme just as the university authorities and the US government have entered into discussions on exchange programmes.

    Another team of US officials from the Public Affairs Section of the US Consulate in Lagos visited the university to offer skills for effective internal research to FUTO workers to improve their internet search experience.

    The Cultural Affairs Assistant, Mrs Chinenye Uwadileke, who represented the US Consulate, told the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chigozie Asiabaka that the Consulate intends to reach out to selected universities to take advantage of the education opportunities offered by the US government.

    She said besides the 400-Level students recommended for the programme, the scheme would also accommodate academics who intend to pursue their doctorate and post- doctorate degrees in the United States, as well as the FUTO International Secondary School.

    Prof Asiabaka thanked the US Consulate for choosing the university for the Fulbright scheme.

    He said his vision was to transform it into a world-class institution.

    Prior to the selection, Asiabaka said the university had established exchange programmes with the University of Georgia, Athens, USA, Dillard University, New Orleans, Louisiana State University, Barton Rogue and Wayne State University Detroit, USA.

     

  • Amosun’s wife flags off jobs scheme

    Amosun’s wife flags off jobs scheme

    Since the inception of the current administration in Ogun State, wife of the state governor Mrs. Olufunso Amosun has been a committed crusader for socio-economic empowerment of women of the state.

    In order to achieve her objectives, she has evolved several programmes that have impacted positively on the women, especially those at the grassroots. Most of these programmes are geared towards helping them to realise their potential.

    Recently, she embarked on a mission to rebuild Ogun State; a programme through which women gather themselves together for economic good.

    Therefore, on March 12, 2013, she flagged off an empowerment scheme for women of the state as part of the week-long activities marking the 2013 International Women’s Day celebration. The scheme was tagged Mission to Rebuild Ogun State (MITROS) Empowerment Initiative.

    The initiative boasts one of the largest groups of women in the state. It comprises over 10,000 members from all the 20 local government areas. It is a voluntary organisation responsible for propagating the ideas of the new dawn and maintenance of Ogun standard which the current administration is known for. The body was constituted by well-meaning citizens of the state in January 2012. Since then, they have been relentlessly supporting the administration of Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

    The objective of the initiative was to provide interest-free loan and commercial items for women to enable them to enhance their businesses. They are to repay the loan over a stipulated period of time.

    With the support of organisations like Dangote Group, Airtel Nigeria, WEMPCO, Lafarge Cement, May & Baker, Multitrex Nigeria Limited, Nigeria Bottling Company, and Glaxo SmithKline among others, Mrs Amosun was able to get sponsorship to the tune of N20 million.

    The women who are members of the MITROS were provided the opportunity to borrow money on interest-free rate payable within a stipulated time. This is aimed at making other women benefit from the loan facility to start up small-scale businesses.

    Mrs. Amosun described women as the bedrock of any successful society, adding that womenfolk should not be relegated to the background in the scheme of things. She pointed out that MITROS had become a formidable force to reckon with in the state, even as she added that the MITROS Empowerment Initiative was aimed at boosting the economic power of the beneficiaries and to uplift them in a bid to enable them to be self-sufficient and achieve their full potential, thereby increasing their skills and contributions towards economic success.

    She said: “We are using MITROS as a pilot body to empower women by providing them with a range of services and benefits. The scheme is meant to support the economic empowerment of women and discourage them from high-risk behaviours. It is a way of developing savings and micro-credit opportunities to support the empowerment of women. We are giving our women the opportunity to acquire micro-loans and build their own businesses devoid of any interest rate. This allows them to attain greater economic independence.”

  • Customs warns against abuse of ECOWAS scheme

    Customs warns against abuse of ECOWAS scheme

    The Nigeria Customs Service, Seme command has warned importers operating along the border areas to stop abusing the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).

    Speaking with Newsextra in his office last week, the Area Controller, Comptroller Abdu Saleh Othman said the scheme was designed to encourage trade among West African countries and that it must not be abused by importers and their clearing agents.

    Othman warned that importers must not use the scheme to bring prohibited items into the country.

    He said the command is determined to ensure that smuggling and other forms of illegal economic activities along the Seme axis are prevented.

    The Comptroller said the efforts of the Comptroller General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi to curb illegal importation and boost economic activities along the border areas must be sustained.

    He said prohibited items coming to the country through the border would be seized and that the importer or their clearing agent would be arrested to face the music.

    The command’s revenue generation profile showed that the sum of N7, 986, 073, 939. 43kobo was collected last year as against the sum of N6, 243, 649, 157, 90kobo that was generated in 2011.

    The command recorded 480 seizures of various goods with duty paid value (DPV) of N227, 035, 726, 00kobo.

    The seized items included motor vehicles, frozen poultry products, used tyres, rice of different brands, textile material, and leather shoes among others.

  • Customs warns against abuse of ECOWAS scheme

    Customs warns against abuse of ECOWAS scheme

    The Nigeria Customs Service, Seme command has warned importers operating along the border areas to stop abusing the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).

    Speaking with Newsextra in his office last week, the Area Controller, Comptroller Abdu Saleh Othman said the scheme was designed to encourage trade among West African countries and that it must not be abused by importers and their clearing agents.

    Othman warned that importers must not use the scheme to bring prohibited items into the country.

    He said the command is determined to ensure that smuggling and other forms of illegal economic activities along the Seme axis are prevented.

    The Comptroller said the efforts of the Comptroller General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi to curb illegal importation and boost economic activities along the border areas must be sustained.

    He said prohibited items coming to the country through the border would be seized and that the importer or their clearing agent would be arrested to face the music.

    The command’s revenue generation profile showed that the sum of N7, 986, 073, 939. 43kobo was collected last year as against the sum of N6, 243, 649, 157, 90kobo that was generated in 2011.

    The command recorded 480 seizures of various goods with duty paid value (DPV) of N227, 035, 726, 00kobo.

    The seized items included motor vehicles, frozen poultry products, used tyres, rice of different brands, textile material, and leather shoes among others.

  • How agric scheme saved Fed Govt N25b, by minister

    The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development last year saved about N25 billion through its Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES), its minister Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina said at the weekend.

    Adesina spoke at a workshop on the implementation of this year’s farmers’ registration and GES delivery scheme in Abuja. The scheme was introduced by the ministry.

    In a statement, the Minister said: “Indirect targeting of farmers made it easy to divert funds, subsidised fertilisers, seeds and tractors meant for farmers to the open market where they were illegally sold at huge profits. As a result, tens of billions of Naira were spent every year to reach farmers with agricultural inputs but the level of utilisation of improved seeds and fertilisers remained very low.”

    “I am pleased to let you know that in 2012, fertiliser companies sold N 15 billion ($100 million) of fertilisers directly to farmers. Seed companies sold N1.5 billion ($10 million) to farmers, directly. The GES programme also saved government a lot of funds. Instead of the former blanket subsidy system, the GES involved direct contributions by the farmers, the Federal Government and state governments. Of the N15 billion spent on the programme in 2012, farmers contributed N 7.5 billion; state governments contributed N3.8 billion, while the Federal Government paid N5 Billion. GES is therefore a cost-sharing arrangement between the beneficiaries and the government. The GES scheme saved the Federal Government N25 billion in funds it would have needed to give fertiliser and seed contracts, as fertiliser companies and seed companies were also able to raise financing for their products from banks, through a guarantee facility for their loans issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance,” Adesina said.

    According to the Minister, his ministry ended the corruption of four decades in 90 days: “We took the government out of direct procurement and distribution of fertilisers. Today, seed and fertiliser companies sell their products directly to farmers, instead of to the government,” he said.

  • Fed Govt inaugurates community service scheme

    •Says it ‘ll employ 320,000 unskilled, physically- challenged people

     

    The Federal Government has reassured that it was committed to delivering the dividends of the partial subsidy removal to Nigerians.

    Vice-President Namadi Sambo said this at the inauguration of a community service programme under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), which is designed to employ 320,000 unskilled youths, women and the physical-challenged annually.

    He said government has challenged members of the community service programme to take steps to meet the target set for 2012 deliverables for women and youth employment, as defined for the project.

    Sambo said the Goodluck Jonathan administration has evolved innovation to tackle employment.

    While noting that there is a global youth unemployment, he said the administration is not comfortable with a high number of unemployed youths, which he attributed to the failures of the past efforts to tackle the problem.

    He said: “Like every other nation, Nigeria, for decades, has been faced with a high unemployment rate among our youths. Since independence, several strategies and institutional mechanisms have been put in place to address unemployment and the attendant poverty among our youths. These efforts to solve unemployment and create wealth have not yielded the desired results given that we still face high rate of youth unemployment.

    “While unemployment, especially among the youth, is currently a global phenomenon, with about 50 per cent youth unemployment rate in several countries, it is not acceptable to this administration that a high percentage of our youths remain unemployed and underemployed. This is why our administration has evolved innovative methods of tackling unemployment.”

    Vice-President Sambo said the present effort under the SURE-P is to build partnership between the tiers of government on the one hand and across sectors on the other.

    He added: “It is imperative for us as a nation to appreciate that no one tier of government can address unemployment, hence the need to build stronger partnerships in this regard.

    “This administration remains committed to delivering the dividends of the partial oil subsidy removal to Nigerians. I urge you to take steps to meet the target set for 2012 deliverables for women and youth employment as defined for this project.”

    The Vice-President said: “Each sector in our national economy has a role to play in contributing to job creation. It is in this regard that an Inter-Ministerial Committee has been set up at the federal level to guide the implementation of the community services, women and youth employment component, and to strengthen linkages between sectors and among the relevant ministries, departments and agencies at the federal level.”

    He said: “State Implementation Committees (SICs) have been established in each state and the Federal Capital Territory, not only to guide the implementation at the state level, but to serve as a platform for strengthening partnerships with states and local governments on employment creation. In order to achieve this, SICs will have community participants, civil society organisations and federal MDAs as may be required from time to time.”

    Explaining further, he said the administration’s present efforts “is matching words with action.”

    Sambo explained that a major lesson emerging from the pilot scheme is the need to establish state-level structures to facilitate delivery while also ensuring that the guidelines are followed.

    “Consequently, having an institutional platform has become imperative, hence the constitution of these committees. We are here today for the inauguration of the SICs to be tasked with oversight and management of the programme across the country,” he added.

    He urged members of the SICs to help deliver on community expectations of the SURE-P programme.

    While noting that members of the committee were carefully selected to ensure that they were people of high integrity, Sambo tasked them to “live up to the expectations of government and justify the confidence reposed in them. I need not remind members that they have to be above board at all times. We are the examples Nigerians look up to and we cannot but reflect those expectations. Let me also stress that government will not tolerate any act of wrongdoing or corruption.”

     

  • Flood: MDGs to scale up cash transfer scheme

    THE Senior Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Dr. Precious Gbeneol, has said that conditional cash transfer scheme to cushion the effect of flood disaster in the country would be scaled up.

    Gbeneol spoke at the Saint Joseph flood camp in Aguleri, Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State on Friday, when she visited the state to sympathise with the victims.

    She was accompanied by Governor Obi and members of the state committee on flooding.

    Gbeneol presented relief materials worth over N7m to them, including 300 bags of rice, disinfectants, 200 cartons of tomatoes, milk, to mention but a few.

    She said that MDGs office also planned to reach out to more than 56,000 households across the country.

    Gbeneol announced that Anambra State was one of the states that would benefit from the conditional cash transfer scheme.

    She added that MDG will collaborate with Obi and the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) to mobilise health resources as a precautionary measure in view of the health hazards that could follow the situation.

    Obi said that he would shock the people of Anambra State when the flood recedes.

    He assured his administration will speedily rehabilitate all those affected by the flood, promising to also involve civil society groups in the programme.

     

  • 35 lawyers to boost model police scheme

    With the first barch of 35 lawyers, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) M.D. Abubakar has kickstarted the Model Police Station Scheme (MRSS) aimed at improving policing.

    The pilot scheme started in the Isokoko Police Station at Agege, a Lagos suburb, where the IGP is test running the project.

    The lawyers drawn from seven law firms, were presented to the media during the launch of the Legal Advice Scheme by the Justice For All (JFA) and the Department for International Development (DFID) at Isokoko.

    The lawyers are expected to partner with the police to ensure that the MRSS at Isokoko becomes effective. They are expected to routinely visit the station to monitor and document how police officers treat suspects and other visitors.

    The initiators said that the scheme would improve community policing and eradicate abuses of suspects, rights at police stations when it takes off in all police formations nationwide. JFA’s project consultant Tony Cross, said that the Legal Advice scheme would boost residents’ confidence to report crime in their communities.

    He said: “The Legal Advice scheme will have lawyers from seven law firms and each law firm will send five lawyers to partner with police officers at the Isokoko Police Station to ensure that the MPSS.

    “The lawyers will randomly visit the station in a routine day and night to monitor the suspects, cell and to document what they observe. The aim is to make sure that police officers act in accordance with the law.

    “Also we have printed these rights in leaflets in five different languages so that the suspects will have access to them. The scheme also provides the suspects with free legal services from the lawyers.”

    Speaking on behalf of lawyers, Segun Oyewale said for the scheme to work, the government should provide logistics, equipment and better packages for the police boost their morale.

    Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Community Policing Mr Lawal Ado, who represented the IGP, said the police would provide the enabling environment for the scheme to work.

  • Rethinking pension scheme

    Rethinking pension scheme

    Governments all over the world get involved in pension matters in the form of laying down the legal framework, pension funds management and regulation of pension schemes. The Nigerian Government is not left behind. It has overhauled the legal framework for pension administration in Nigeria by promulgating the Pension Reform Act 2004 (PRA 2004). The PRA 2004 was passed into Law on June 23, 2004 by the National Assembly and assented to by President Obasanjo on June 25, 2004.  The PRA 2004 embodies the policies of the Nigerian government to solve the pension problem in Nigeria, both in the short and the long run.

    The thrust of the reforms has been in the direction of making the schemes contributory, thus the name Contributory Pension Scheme. Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) defines pension entitlements in relation to stated contributions of the employer and the employee. The CPS is funded in the sense that the contributions and the returns from the investment of such funds provide the resources for meeting the pension obligations. It also aims to bring pension funds under private-sector management.

    A summary of PRA 2004 as contained in Schedule 3 of the Act says PRA 2004  “seeks to establish Contributory Pension Scheme for employees in the Public Service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory and private sectors in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” The objectives of the PRA’04, as stated in Section 2 of the Act, are to: Ensure that every person who worked either in the public service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory or the private sector receives his entitlement as and when due; Assist improvident individuals by ensuring that they save in order to cater for their livelihood during old age; and Establish a uniform set of rules, regulations and standards for administration and payment of retirement benefits for the public service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory and the private sector.

    The essential provisions of the new pension scheme designed to achieve the above objectives include mandatory coverage of all employees in organisations employing five or more persons in both the private and public sectors of the economy; employers and employees each contribute to the pension fund a minimum of 7.5 per cent of total emolument of the employee; an employer shall maintain a life insurance policy for each employee for a minimum of three times the annual total emolument of the employee and, in the event of the death of an employee, his entitlements under the life insurance policy shall be paid into his Retirement Savings Account (RSA).

    Other provisions of the PRA 2004 Act include that the employer and employee contributions shall be tax-deductible expenses in the calculation of income tax liabilities; every employee shall maintain an RSA in his name with any pension fund administrator (PFA) of his choice into which will be paid his pension fund contributions and accrued incomes from investments thereof; PFAs, licensed by the PenCom, are the only institutions to manage pension funds as from the commencement of the Act.; Pension funds and assets are to be held only by pension fund custodians (PFCs) licensed by the PenCom;  the PFA chooses a PFC to which the employer’s and the employee’s contributions are remitted by the employer to the exclusive order of the PFA.

    Under the new pension scheme, it is expected that all incomes earned from investments of pension funds are to be placed to the credit of individual RSA holders after deducting clearly defined and reasonable fees, charges, costs and expenses of transactions made by the PFA and no withdrawals shall be made from the balance standing to the credit of the RSA of an employee except on his retirement or on attaining the age of 50 years (whichever is later) and such withdrawal can be for programmed monthly or quarterly withdrawal calculated on the basis of an expected life span or for the purchase of an annuity for life from a life insurance company licensed by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) with monthly or quarterly payments.

    For public service employees transiting to the new pension scheme, their rights to retirement benefits shall be recognized in the form of an amount acknowledged through the issuance of a bond to be known as Federal Government Retirement Bonds (FGRB) respectively, in favour of individual employees if they have an unfunded pension scheme and Public servants with a funded scheme converting to the new pension system shall have their RSA credited with any funds to which each employee is entitled and, in the event of insufficiency, the shortfall shall immediately become a debt of the relevant employer and be treated with same priority as salaries owed.

    It was also noted that existing pension schemes in the private sector, which resemble the scheme envisaged in PRA’04 would continue to exist; otherwise they would be modified to comply with the PRA 2004. The PRA2004 requires all pension schemes in the private sector to be fully funded. The Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) shall cease to take contributions from workers with the commencement of PRA 2004 and shall make arrangements to transfer funds contributed and any attributable income thereof not required for the purpose of administering minimum pension as determined by PenCom, to their RSA accounts.  All pension funds and assets held and managed by NSITF shall be transferred to a custodian, as from the commencement of the Act and Pension funds and assets can only be invested in certain specified instruments. PenCom shall also undertake yearly inspection, examination or investigation of PFAs, PFCs, or the Pension Department to determine whether or not they are discharging their functions as set out in the PRA 2004.

    The benefits of the new pension scheme are enormous. Banks could witness enormous deposit growth from placement of pension funds in fixed deposits and from more regular payment of pension entitlements of existing pensioners. Also, the range of instruments on which pension funds can be invested means that the PRA’04 would boost the demand for saving products developed by banks. The new pension scheme is expected to generate N60 billion in contributions every year, it is expected that the growing and stabl mandatory purchase of life insurance policies by employers for their workforce.  In a few years time, when people begin to retire under the new pension system, the use of accumulated funds in individual RSAs to purchase annuities from insurance companies would also provide another major elixir for insurance business in Nigeria. It is appropriate at this time of expanding opportunities for insurance business that consolidation is taking place in the industry to foster well-capitalized and liquid insurance companies that could settle claims promptly.

    Stock broking firms stand to profit from the higher business volumes which the increased transactions on retirement bonds, corporate bonds and equities consequent upon the higher capital market operations that increased pension funds would engender. Similarly, mortgage and property development firms would experience greater profitable long-term opportunities for their real estates and commercial property development schemes as an increased build-up of pension funds forces pension fund managers to seek more and safer inflation-proof outlets for their funds by investing in these schemes.

    The challenge in Nigerian economy is that government has been financing infrastructure. In most part of the world, pension funds, because they are long term investment vehicles are the best source of investment for infrastructure like power, airport or road. The new pension scheme is a platform that can allow the private sector to take a lead and the government to provide a mechanism that would allow public/private partnerships to finance critical national infrastructure.