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Support local farmers to boost food production, Tinubu tells Govs

President Bola Tinubu has urged state governors to support local farmers to boost food production and discourage all forms of rent-seeking that are associated with food importation.

The president made the declaration at a meeting with 36 state governors, attended by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the DSS, and some ministers at the State House in Abuja on Thursday, February 15.

He said: “My position at this meeting is that we must move aggressively and establish a committee to look critically at the issues raised, including the possibility of establishing state police.

”From Kano, we have read reports about large-scale hoarding of food in some warehouses. The National Security Adviser (NSA), the Inspector-General of Police, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services should coordinate very closely and ensure that security agencies in the states inspect such warehouses with follow-up action.

”We must ensure that speculators, hoarders, and rent seekers are not allowed to sabotage our efforts in ensuring the wide availability of food to all Nigerians.

Read Also: BREAKING: Tinubu, Govs in emergency meeting over insecurity, hardship

”What I will not do is set a price control board. I will not also approve the importation of food. We should be able to get ourselves out of the situation we found ourselves in because importation will allow rent seekers to perpetrate fraud and mismanagement at our collective expense. We would rather support farmers with schemes that will make them go to the farm and grow more food for everyone in the country.

”We must also look at the rapid but thoughtful implementation of our livestock development and management plans, including dairy farming and others.”

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for convening the meeting.

He also affirmed the governors’ commitment to partnering closely with the federal government.

February 15, 2024
Spend the money, don’t spend the people – Tinubu urges Govs

President Bola Tinubu has urged all state governors to spend the money and not the people.

The president said this in an emergency meeting with governors earlier today, Thursday, February 15, at the Council Chambers of the state House, Abuja.

One of the matters addressed during the meeting was the payment of salary arrears to civil servants and gratuities to retired workers.

Read Also: BREAKING: Tinubu, Govs in emergency meeting over insecurity, hardship

While addressing this issue, he pleaded with governors to ensure all salary arrears to workers, and gratuities to retired workers and pensioners are cleared as a way to put money into the hands of the people since states are now getting more monthly FAAC revenue.

The president said: “spend the money, don’t spend the people”

Details shortly…

February 15, 2024
Key takeaways from Tinubu’s meeting with state governors

President Bola Tinubu had an emergency meeting with governors of the federation earlier today, Thursday, February 15, at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja.

Vice President Kashim Shettima; the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chief Nyesom Wike; and Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun were also at the meeting, which commenced around 11:30 am.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the meeting as highlighted by special adviser to President Tinubu on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga:

1. On addressing insecurity which is also affecting farming and food production, President Tinubu made three key pronouncements.

A. More police personnel to be recruited to strengthen the force.

B. President Tinubu informed the governors that the federal government will work with them and the National Assembly towards putting in place a mechanism that will engender state police instead of the vigilantes that are being used in some states.

C. The president charged the governors to strengthen their Forest Rangers and arm them to keep all the forest safe from criminals.

D. Modalities for State Police and addressing security issues to be discussed further at National Economic Council.

2. On the rising cost of food: The President directed that the State Governments and Federal government should collaborate to increase local food production. The President advised against the idea of food importation and price control when local food producers should be encouraged to produce more food.

3. The President advised Governors to follow the example of Kano State in dealing with the hoarding of food for profiteering by commodities merchants. He directed the Inspector-General of Police, National Security Adviser, and Department of State Services to monitor warehouses hoarding food items across the country and stop profiteering by merchants.

4. The President charged Governors to pay attention to livestock development in their states and increase production most especially poultry and fishing products.

Read Also: BREAKING: Tinubu, Govs in emergency meeting over insecurity, hardship

5. The President pleaded with Governors to ensure all salary arrears to workers, and gratuities to retired workers and pensioners are cleared as a way to put money into the hands of the people since states are now getting more monthly FAAC revenue.

6. Spend the money, don’t spend the people, he urged the governors

7. President Tinubu implored Governors to create more economic opportunities for the youths in their states to keep them more productively engaged.

February 15, 2024
JUST IN: Tinubu approves appointment of nine CEOs in Ministry of Health

President Bola Tinubu has approved new appointments, as well as reappointments of the Board Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers for agencies under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

According to a statement issued on Thursday, February 15, by special adviser on media and publicity to the president, Ajuri Ngelale, the appointments and reappointments were done into eight of the agencies under the Health Ministry.

The statement said President Tinubu’s action was “in furtherance of his determination to bring world class standards to Nigerian public health administration and to manifest his commitment to deliver affordable and quality care to all Nigerians under governance and regulatory frameworks commensurate with international best practice.”

The appointment under the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) includes Board Chairperson, Dr. Mansur Kabir, and Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Moji Adeyeye.

National Blood Service Commission (NBSC) has as Board Chairperson: Prof. Abba Zubairu, and Chief Executive Officer is Dr. Saleh Yuguda.

In Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Board Chairperson is Prof. Afolabi Lesi while the Chief Executive Officer is Dr. Fatima Kyari.

Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) has as its Board Chairperson, Pharm. Wasilat Giwa and Pharm. Ibrahim Ahmed as Chief Executive Officer while under the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), Dr. Babajide Salako is Board Chairperson the Chief Executive Officer is Dr. Tosan Erhabor.

Moddibo Adama University Teaching Hospital, Yola (MAUTH) has as its Chief Medical Director / CEO, Prof. Adamu G. Bakari, and Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua (ISTH) Prof. Reuben Eifediyi as Chief Medical Director/CEO.

Furthermore, the statement said, as part of efforts to bolster the resiliency of Nigeria’s public health surveillance and security architecture, President also Tinubu approved the appointment of Dr. Olajide Idris as new Director General and Chief Executive Officer for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to assume office on February 19, 2024.

“Moreover, it is pertinent to note that President Tinubu has painstakingly considered the wealth of experience of each qualified and aforementioned Nigerian, who will be tasked with driving his Renewed Hope Agenda in the sector, some details of which include the following:

“New NCDC Director-General/CEO, Dr. Olajide Idris, received his MBBS degree from the University of Lagos’ College of Medicine, after which he obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the Ivy League’s Yale University in Connecticut, United States of America. He would go on to serve as the Commissioner of Health in Lagos State from 2007 to 2019, after serving as the Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Health from 1999 to 2007.

“New NBSC Chairperson, Prof. Abba Zubairu, PhD, has served as the Medical Director of the world-leading Mayo Clinic in the United States of America, following a long career in which he served as a Resident Doctor at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Hospital as a Post-Doctoral Fellow, and undertook a Clinical Fellowship at the Harvard Medical School’s Transfusion Medicine Programme during which he obtained a Master’s degree in Clinical Science at the same institution.

“New MDCN CEO, Dr. Fatima Kyari, PhD, is a renowned ophthalmologist and Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Medicine (FNAMed) who obtained an MBBS degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, after which she obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the University of London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before she obtained a Doctorate degree in Public Health from the same institution.

Read Also: BREAKING: Tinubu, Govs in emergency meeting over insecurity, hardship

“The President expects that the new leadership across this critical human development sector will substantially raise the standards of healthcare service delivery for the exclusive benefit of all strata of the Nigerian population as his administration is committed to implementing a whole-of-government approach to transforming the sector to enhance aggregate national quality of life and productivity.

“Owing to the high cost of historical underperformance in the sector, the President anticipates the immediate and effective implementation of new policy frameworks to reposition the sector under the able leadership of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate”, the statement said.

February 15, 2024
BREAKING: Tinubu, Govs in emergency meeting over insecurity, hardship

President Bola Tinubu is in an emergency meeting with Governors of the Federation at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja.

Vice President Kashim Shettima; the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FTC) Chief Nyesom Wike; and Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun are also at the meeting, which commenced around 11:30am.

Also it was not possible to lay hands on a copy of the meeting’s agenda, it was gathered that President Tinubu summoned the meeting in a bid to finding remedies to rising cost of food items, insecurity and other economic issues.

Read Also: Tinubu seeks Senate’s nod for reconstituted MPC members

Although Tinubu has directed his economic team including all relevant officials in the government to find a way to ameliorating the situation, the Special Presidential Committee on Emergency have been given approval to make available about 102,000 metric tons of assorted items including rice, maize and millet among others.

It was gathered the ongoing emergency meeting is expected to come out with the solution on how to mitigate the rising cost of food items, insecurity and other economic issues.

The situation has resulted in women and youth going to the streets protesting as well as increase in criminal activities with heightened tension in the polity.

Ekiti, Delta, Borno, Lagos, Kwara, Nasarawa and Edo Governors were some sighted entering the Council Chambers for the meeting.

Governors of Yobe, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Plateau, Kaduna, Sokoto, Niger, Taraba, Adamawa, Cross River, Ogun and Enugu were also spotted.

The emergency meeting, it was learnt, would be followed immediately with the monthly National Economic Council (NEC) meeting to be presided over by Vice President Shettima.

February 15, 2024
Economic hardship: Prioritise payment of salaries – APC chieftain appeals to Tinubu

A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Ambassador Abayomi Nurain Mumuni has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to make prompt payment of salaries for workers a priority.

Mumuni noted that this is necessary in order to cushion the effect of the current economic challenges facing many Nigerians.

The APC chieftain while speaking, also appealed to Tinubu to immediately address the concerns of citizens on the prevailing hardship in the country.

He made the appeals in a statement issued on Wednesday, February 14, and made available to journalists by his media aide, Rasheed Abubakar.

Mumuni, who contested the gubernatorial election on the platform of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) in 2011 in Lagos state, also charged state governments to complement the federal government in rolling out measures that will make life more comfortable for the people.

He also tasked various law enforcement agencies in the country to fish out elements who are sabotaging the efforts of the federal government.

He said: “There is no doubt that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has the best of intentions for Nigeria. We have seen this firmly expressed in his bold decision to tackle the corrupt petrol subsidy regime among other economic policies.

“However, these policies have led to unintended consequences for the people, making life difficult and uncomfortable.

“Our citizens lament the biting hardship they face, most especially with the increasing prices of goods and services. I urge Mr. President to immediately address these concerns with appropriate measures.

“I recall that the President rolled out different measures to lessen the impact of these policies on people, but many of them are yet to be implemented. Relevant government ministries, departments and agencies or committees responsible for the implementation of these measures should ramp up their efforts.

“There should be nothing affecting the implementation of the N35,000 monthly palliative to federal workers. It’s part of measures that would cushion the hardship people are facing currently. The government should also accelerate efforts on the new minimum wage and the much-talked-about electric buses.

“The federal government and indeed all governments should make prompt payment of salaries a priority. The allocation to most of the states have increased recently. It’s my expectation that our governors will support the efforts of the federal government in lessening the hardship people are facing. The burden should not be left to the federal government alone. I commend state governments that have started in this direction. However, there is a need to do more for the people. The hardship is too much.

“Some persons have assumed themselves to be sacred cows who cannot be touched. They therefore engage in acts that undermine the genuine efforts of the government in sanitising the system. Our law enforcement agencies should go after this set of people. The government needs to start making samples of these people who feel they are untouchable in society.”

February 15, 2024
Tinubu to unveil National Values Charter
- NOA: Nigeria needs national culture
The Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issah Onilu, has said President Bola Tinubu will soon unveil a National Values Charter to showcase the nation’s value system and ethos.

He said the charter has two components: the Nigerian Promise and the Code of Conduct.

The NOA boss explained that each of the components stands on seven pillars, tagged: “Seven for Seven”.

Onilu said part of the seven strategies for the restoration of national values is the introduction of compulsory Nationalism Studies in schools – from primary to university level; the introduction of Citizens’ Brigade to replace the Boys’ Scouts and Girls’ Guard with 37,000 members at take-off across the country; and the creation of cartoons with local content.

The NOA boss said the agency would mount global campaigns to show to the world Nigeria’s positive smartness and confidence, promoting the nation’s values with the acronym: CLHEEAN, which stands for Crime, Lawlessness, Health, Education, Environment, Abuse, and Narcotics.

Read Also: Tinubu heads to Addis Ababa for AU Summit

He said the NOA would fine-tune its national system and reorder its priorities towards restoring the nation’s values.

Onilu said this while addressing reporters in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, as part of his two-day visit to the state’s office of the agency.

The NOA boss also said the agency was creating platforms for enlightenment, including the creation of a mobile App, opening of radio and television studios at the NAO headquarters to directly produce materials to be sent out.

“We must have a national culture based on values,” he said.

Onilu bemoaned the nation’s poor reward system, saying NOA was doing the best it could to “take oxygen from those misrepresenting us”.

He promised to encourage excellence and positive developments by giving letters of commendation to those doing the nation proud.
February 15, 2024
Tinubu seeks Senate’s nod for reconstituted MPC members
- SEC DG to serve in new panel
President Bola Tinubu yesterday requested the Senate to confirm members of the newly constituted Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in a major move to deepen the interface between fiscal and monetary policies.

In the letter from Tinubu addressed to Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and read on the floor at plenary, CBN Governor, Dr Olayemi Cardoso, was named as the chairman of the MPC.

Tinubu’s letter constituting the Monetary Policy Committee for the Central Bank of Nigeria, reads in part: “In accordance with the provisions of Section 12 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act 2007, I am pleased to present for confirmation by the Senate the appointments of the under-listed 12 persons as chairman and members of Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“Olayemi Cardoso, CBN governor, chairman; Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, CBN deputy governor, member, Bala M. Bello, CBN deputy Governor (member), Emem Usoro, CBN deputy governor (member), Philip Ikeazor, CBN deputy governor (member), Lamido Yuguda, DG Securities and Exchange Commission (member), Lydia Shehu Jafiya, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance (member), Muritala Sabo Sagagi, CBN director (member), Alloycius Uche Odu (member), Aku Pullen Odukemelu (member), Mustapha Akinwunmi (Member) and Bamidele A.G. Amuh (member).”

Akpabio referred the letter to the Senate Committee on Finance, Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions for further legislative action and to report back in one week.

Also, Tinubu nominated Dr. Kelechi Ohiri for appointments as the Director-General, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

The President also nominated Hon. Yomi Fasua to replace Hon. Kunle Sobukola, who was earlier confirmed by the Senate for appointment as Commissioner of the National Population Commission representing Ogun State.

He called on the Senate to consider and confirm the appointments.

Also, the letter seeking confirmation of appointment of Director General, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), reads: “In accordance with the provisions of Section 40, Subsection 1 of the National Health Insurance Authority Act 2022, I am pleased to present for confirmation by the Senate, the appointment of Dr. Kelechi Ohiri as Director-General, National Health Insurance Authority, NHIA.”

Read Also: Ibrahim distributes Tinubu’s palliatives

The request for confirmation was referred to the Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary), for further legislative action and to report back to the Senate within one week by Akpabio.

Besides, on his letter seeking the confirmation of appointment of a Commissioner, National Population Commission, Tinubu said:

“In accordance with the provisions of Section 154, Subsection 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), I am pleased to present for confirmation by the Senate the appointment of Honorable Yomi Fasua as Commissioner of the National Population Commission representing Ogun State.

“The Senate is invited to note that Honorable Yomi Fasua is to replace Honorable Kunle Sobukola who was earlier confirmed by the Senate, but is to vacate the position in order to take up his seat in the Ogun State House of Assembly, further to an order of the Court to Appeal, declaring him as the winner of the 18th March 2023 State Assembly election in Ikenne State Constituency.”

Akpabio, after reading the letter, referred the request to the Committee on National Population for more legislation action and to revert to the Senate within one week.
February 15, 2024
Tinubu heads to Addis Ababa for AU Summit

President Bola Tinubu yesterday departed Abuja for Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, to participate in the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government.

A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public, Ajuri Ngelale, reads: “President Bola Tinubu will, on Thursday, February 15, depart Abuja for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to participate in the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU).

“The theme of this year’s summit is: Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century: Building Resilient Education Systems for Increased Access to Inclusive, Lifelong, Quality, and Relevant Learning in Africa.

Read Also: President Tinubu and the vultures

“The President will join other African leaders in high-level meetings on institutional reforms of the African Union; peace and security; specific thematic issues, such as climate change, as well as modalities of participation and priorities of the continental body in the G20.

“On the margins of the summit, President Tinubu will also attend an extraordinary summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS in his capacity as the Chairman of the regional body.

“President Tinubu will be accompanied on the trip by some ministers and other top government officials, and he is expected to return to Abuja following the conclusion of the summit.”

February 15, 2024
BREAKING: Tinubu to commission Lagos red line project Feb 29

The Lagos State Red Line Rail project is set to be commissioned in a few weeks by President Bola Tinubu.

The governor of the state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, disclosed this on Wednesday, February 14, at the ‘Lagos Market Trader Money’ for 15,000 beneficiaries.

President Tinubu is expected to commission the project on February 29.

The Red Line project, which will link Oyingbo to Agbado, is expected to run on the federal government’s Lagos-Ibadan rail line.

Read Also: APC govs blast PDP, says Tinubu is working to revitalise economy

The rail project is being undertaken by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), an agency under the Ministry of Transportation.

The Lagos light rail network was flagged off by the Bola Tinubu administration in 2003.

The new rail line will provide a fast and efficient way for commuters to travel between different parts of the city. It is also expected to help reduce traffic congestion and pollution.

The Nation learnt the Red Line project will move more than 500,000 passengers daily, stretches over a distance of 27 Kilometres from Agbado to Oyingbo, with eight stations at Agbado, Iju, Agege, Ikeja, Oshodi, Mushin, Yaba, and terminates at Oyingbo.

Details shortly…

February 14, 2024