The Nation Newspaper

Tag: urged

  • Institute urged to develop national learning policy

    Members of the Nigerian Institute of Training and Development (NITAD) have been called upon to develop and introduce a national learning and development policy in order to bring about human capital development in the country.

    Mr. Johnson Olorunda Oluwasuji made the call while delivering a lecture entitled “Learning and Development as a Change Catalyst for National Development” at the 16th induction ceremony of the institute at the NECA House, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos on Wednesday.

    “The Nigerian Institute of Training and Development has highly intelligent professionals with wide relevant experience as members. They should utilize their knowledge and experience to come out with a policy aimed at the production of the human capital that will act as change catalysts for the development of the country,” Oluwasuji said.

    He said the NITAD members must work for the acceptance of the policy, adding that the appropriate body to deal with is the Federal Ministry of Education which would present it to the federal government for consideration and necessary action.

    The lecturer emphasized the importance of people as change catalysts and illustrated this with relevant quotes from great philosophers.

    He called for massive investment in the training and development of the country’s workforce in order to engender advancement in all spheres of human endeavour.

    He gave the history of national development plans in the country, starting from the colonial time and concluded that they were all failures because they did not achieve their objectives.

    He mentioned macro economy, polity, education, health, agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure as parameters used in evaluating national development and said the country had not achieved much in these areas.

    He mentioned Taiwan, Singapore, USA, Japan, China and some others as examples of countries that achieved national development in the strict sense of the term.

    He said “these countries have the following in place: massive investment in training and capacity development, investment in well-being, innovations in different fields and legal regime that protects human rights.

    He ultimately called on the inductees to approach training and development in a systematic or strategic manner in order to realize their objectives as successful members of the learning and development community.

    The First Vice-President of the institute, Rev. Tunde Salawu, who represented the President, Dr. Kayode Ogungbuyi, and the Second Vice-President, Mrs. J.I.K. Jolaoso, commended the lecturer for his insightful presentation and advised the inductees to utilize the knowledge gained and improve on it in their day-to-day activities.

  • Operators urged to invest in gas processing

    To make gas available, operators in the oil and gas industry have been urged to invest in gas processing facilities.

    The Chief Executive Officer, Seven Energy International Limited, Philip Iheanacho, made the call when he spoke with The Nation in Lagos.

    He said such investment is necessary given the dearth of the product, adding that it is responsible for the shut-in of several megawatts (MW) of electricity. He said many power plants have capacity to generate but no gas. He noted that some of the power plants might deteriorate if they are starved of gas and kept idle for so long.

    He said: “For us to meet the amount of gas required by the power sector there is urgent need for more investment in gas processing. I also feel concerned that some of the power plants may begin to depreciate in the next few years if we don’t get gas to run them in time. Once you are completing the construction of a gas plant there is need to introduce the gas and run machinery steadily.

    “There is possibility the power plants will deteriorate in few years because when you build a power plant some metallic particles are competing with it, which implies that you start supplying it with gas to enable it run on a continuous basis.”

    He said the immediate past government did well in setting a framework for gas. He gave them kudos in the power sector reform, noting that the changes would take time to materialise.

    He urged the government to work with stakeholders in the oil and gas sector who are interested in gas development and look at making gas projects more viable and bankable. There was also the need to look at optimising credit enhancement for power projects in order to encourage investment, he added.

    Iheanacho called on the government to look at facilitating access to gas market. “We should as a country be doing annual bid round for oil and gas acreages. It is not a big deal doing it on a regular basis because that will bring in those interested in investing in the sector.

    “If we have more valuable projects, we will have access to the banks. Government has to look at more innovative ways to attract capital by looking at innovative ways of creating more projects in the upstream sector,” he added.

    Iheanacho said there is huge potential in gas business in Nigeria because it has a huge population that needs energy, and also has abundant deposit of hydrocarbon resources.

    However, the infrastructure that will connect the population demand to the resources is still missing, he said, adding gas is fundamental to solving our power problem in Nigeria.

    He said his company is engaged oil and gas exploration, development, production and distribution, and is committed to become a leading supplier of gas to the Nigerian domestic market for power consumption. We have built capacity to attract medium to long term investment funds from reputable international and local financial institutions that share in our optimism to harness Nigeria’s gas resources.

  • Practitioners urged to improve on practice

    Traditional Medicine practitioners have been urged to build more capacity in their area of practice. This, according to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, will develop the healthcare industry.

    Mrs Oyo-Ita believes there is the need for the country to build a critical mass of natural medicine experts to develop the healthcare industry, which will also build confidence in the sector.

    Mrs Oyo-Ita spoke at the graduation of Green Centre Academy (GCA) for Advanced Professional Practitioners/Students at the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in Lagos.

    Mrs Oyo-Ita, represented by the Director-General, Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), Mr Sam Etatuvie, said traditional medicine (TM) contribution to the healthcare system is tremendous.

    She said: “The Alma-Ata declaration of Primary Health Care (PHC) by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1978 witnessed a response from several countries to improve their traditional medicine use and regulation within the PHC model.”

    The perm sec said TM was bedevilid by problems, such as mode of administration, appropriate dosage forms and methods of preparation. Others are inadequate documentation, method of preservation, determination of potency and side effect of herbs.

    She said: “The ministry through her agencies is addressing the problems with appropriate intervention to evolve a traditional medicine system that is backed by certification, self-sustaining, affordable and acceptable data and can operate as an integral part of the country’s formal healthcare delivery system.”

    Oyo-Ita said this underscored the need for collaboration with the centre to achieve needed progress, adding: “In line with its mandate, the ministry has inaugurated a new science technology and innovation (ST&I) policy which its core mission is the evolution of a new Nigeria that harnesses, develops and utilises ST&I to build a large, strong, diversified, sustainable and competitive economy that guarantees a high standard of living and quality of life to its citizens.”

    She said her ministry would ensure that the capacity building is sustained to achieve the desired objectives.

    The perm sec enjoined the graduating practitioners/ students to apply the knowledge, skills and expertise gained for sustainable healthcare delivery system and socio-economic development of the country.

    Registrar, Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board (LSTMB), Dr Bodunrin Oluwa urged practitioners to work within the purview of the profession.

    According to him, no law enforcement agency would harass practitioners who know their limitation.

    He berated the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) for stifling the progress of traditional medicine (TM).

    “There is a lot going on at the moment. The majority of people who constitute MDCN should not have been there. There is going to be revolution against them in the future. How can MDCN control homeopathy, chiropratic and acupuncture, among others.”

    The registrar urged practitioners, especially those in Lagos to ensure they register with the appropriate agencies, especially LSTMB so as to carry on their profession legitimately.

    “Do not believe MDCN will get you registered,” Oluwa added.

    Programme Director, GCA, Dr Darlington Okafor said proper training of practitioners would ensure they gain appropriate skills for safe and effective practice devoid of ‘making bogus claims’.

    Our practice has been bastardised by charlatans, he added.

    Okafor encouraged practitioners to teach younger generations the art and science of their practice, and stop wrong assumptions. “Some practitioners in Kaduna State, for instance, erroneously thought that when they passed down their herbal knowledge to the younger generation, the leaves in the forest would disappear. But this is not so,” he said.

    Okafor urged them to forget about the “Dr” as an appellation and concentrate on using their knowledge to treat ailments.

    He said there are programmes at the centre that can enable them gain admission into the university for alternative and complementary medicine.

    “We are collaborating with Beijing Institute for Chinese Traditional Medicine (BICTM), Tianjin University of Sports, Tianjin, China and the National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NANTMP)”,  he said, adding that 15 people would be going to China for training.

  • Training experts urged to maintain professional integrity

    Training experts urged to maintain professional integrity

    Training and development practitioners in the country have been called upon to maintain professional integrity in their conduct and for continuity and hitch-free succession, they should coach and mentor their subordinates.

    The Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), Lagos branch, Mr. Senbore Samuel Oluwatoyin, made the call, while delivering a lecture at the     special induction ceremony of the Nigerian Institute of Training and Development (NITAD) in Abuja.

    In the lecture, entitled ‘Coaching and Mentoring as a Tool for Organizational Training and Development ‘, Mr. Senbore defined coaching as facilitating another’s learning, performance development and ability to change.

    Coaching, according to him, is aimed at developing skill competence and improving performance in specific areas, adding that the goal of coaching is to increase awareness and the responsibility of the person being coached.

    He said: “Mentoring is advising, counselling and interacting with a person on how to behave and conduct himself daily to grow into becoming a leader in work place. A mentor is an experienced person who advises and helps someone with less experience to grow over a period of time.”

    Mr.  Senbore said: “ A good mentoring relationship is identified by willingness and capacity of both parties to ask questions and face challenges. It also stimulates employees at all levels within the organization.

    “It has more a wider-angled lens than coaching. Overall, the two give the employee the benefit of his or her years of experience and education. This experience is impacted in a way that the mentor helps to develop a mentee and the organization.”

    In his own contribution, Mallam Abdu Ganger said: ‘‘It is our conduct as trainers that would make our organizations regard us as  being serious.  The way we relate says a lot on how we value our profession. Trainers are no beggars and we should not beg,rather you impact knowledge, even if it entails giving the service without a fee’’.

    The First Vice President of the NITAD, Rev Tunde Salawu, said “the attitude to training is the war which the NITAD has been fighting.”

    Earlier, the President and Chairman of the Council of the NITAD, Dr. Kayode Ogungbuyi, represented by the First Vice President, Rev. Tunde Salawu, in his opening remark, enjoined the inductees to be good ambassadors of the institute and contribute their quota to its  growth and development

    The Second Vice President and Chairperson, Branch Development Committee of the NITAD, Mrs J.I.K. Jolaoso, represented  by the institute’s National Publicity Secretary /PRO, Mr. Soji Akinyemi, while receiving the new members into the fold, reminded them that “trainers have a pivotal role to play in the country, especially at this glooming time of the nation’s economy”.

  • Cocoa farmers urged to replant old farms with new variety

    Cocoa farmers have been advised to replace their old cocoa trees, which have reduced yields, with new ones to boost production.

    Mr Michael Afolabi, an Agriculture Extension Officer, gave the advice in an interview with the reporters on Friday at Usi in Ido/Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti.

    Afolabi said that replacement of the old trees would sustain the future of the cocoa industry and allow farmers to begin reaping high quantity and quality cocoa beans in few years of planting.

    He called on the Ministry of Agriculture in both state and Federal Ministries in the cocoa producing states to establish nurseries in every Local Government.

    This he said was to enable farmers have enough seedlings of the new variety to replant their old cocoa farms.

    Afolabi further appealed to government to introduce more incentives to support young Nigerians who want to venture into the cultivation of cocoa, saying such would motivate them to embrace farming.

    He said that urgent steps needed to be taken to attract more young people into cocoa farming, to replace aging farmers.

    He said that doing this would prevent drastic reduction in the production of cocoa in the country.

    Afolabi called on cocoa farmers to adhere strictly to the use of recommended chemicals on cocoa farms in order to reap high quality cocoa beans.

    He urged them to also spray cocoa trees with both insecticide and fungicide regularly to control pod diseases.

    The officer noted that allowing cocoa pods to over ripe would reduce quality and have negative effect on the value of the cocoa beans when dried.

    He appealed to farmers not to wait for too long before plucking ripe cocoa pods and allow the beans to ferment before drying them in the sun.

  • New govt urged to remove oil subsidy

    President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to remove subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise called petrol, bec ause a cabal is using it to exploit Nigerians.

    The Executive Vice Chairman of Broron Oil  and Gas Ltd, Lekki, Lagos, Chief Henry Ojogho, who spoke in Lagos yesterday, said Nigerians have been under siege since 1985 when the General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida regime took over the mantle of leadership.

    He said: “A cabal is exploiting our country under the guise of subsidy. A lot of money has been stolen through subsidy from 1985 to date.

    “I enjoin the Buhari administration to recover the stolen funds and use them to revive the economy. The new government should probe the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    “Fraudulent people in the corporation are exploiting us through the so-called subsidy. They wrecked our refineries and put in place subsidy to exploit us.”

    Ojogho, whose company is into offshore and subsea engineering, said the refineries should be repaired to enable them produce at optimum capacity.

    He said after “three months of this government in office, there shouldn’t be need for us to import petroleum products again.”

    According to him, the local content division of the oil industry should be sanitized and overhauled by the Buhari administration, to ensure a level-playing field.

    His words: “If the NNPC wants the local content to function, it has to do more work. Operation in the local content is selective. We see no reason why Broron Oil and Gas Ltd’s vessels should be lying idle. It is not ideal for our vessels to be lying idle. Nigerians, who have vessels, should be given preference. The people at the NNPC are using foreign vessels, instead of ours. This is wrong.

    “They grabbed my job and gave it to a foreign company. This is unfair. Many things are wrong with the bid system. NNPC should deal with the right people. Government should seek our opinion to ensure the development of the oil industry.”

  • Delta APC members urged to work as a team

    Delta APC members urged to work as a team

    Delta Good Governance Group (DGGG) has called on the members of the Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to ensure that the current efforts of its founding leaders at ensuring that the party is rancour-free are not undermined by personal interest.

    Briefing newsmen yesterday in Asaba, DGGG National Coordinator, Mr. Ignatius Nkemchor, warned against making unilateral decisions on  behalf of the party, noting that such could be detrimental to the needed intra-party cohesion.

    His words: ‘’Our leaders across the senatorial districts have worked tirelessly to ensure that the party exists in Delta State. That fact should not be forgotten. We all know the history of the APC in the state and how our party elders ensured that the party was built into reality from the scratch.

    “Their wisdom of coming together prevented rancour among candidates for the governorship election and saw the emergence of O’tega Emerhor as the flagbearer for the APC in the governorship election.

    ‘’The party is not anyone’s property, therefore the recognised structures of the party across the state must work in tandem with the state working committee on every issue.

    “The collective interest of the fold should be paramount in our relationship and actions in order not have counterproductive results. Instructively, we insist on our position that the incoming APC administration would only need to consult the leadership should there be need for such.’’

     

  • Buhari urged to review fertiliser prices

    The   incoming administration of General  Muhammadu Buhari  (retd) has  been urged  to consider  the downward review of fertiliser price.

    The Deputy Director, Department of General Administration, Agricultural and Rural Management Training  Institute (ARMTI), Dr Ademola Adeyemo, said the soaring price of fertiliser, despite  government subsidy on the commodity,  is  a major cause of concern which is not helping  the  interest of small farmers.

    With the government setting into motion an action plan, he  urged  the  government  to look into the inherent problems  and address them.

    According  to  him , farmers  are  facing   high input prices, urging   government  to  check  the trend  as it was becoming   a real threat to agricultural production and food security.

    He  also  urged   the  incoming  administration  to provide a anational policy on agriculture.

    This ,he  noted,  would be  a welcome development, noting that farmers would know the position of government at a glance.The government would  invest in  growth,and farmers would have   access to knowledge and technology, enhancing farmers’ ability to tackle animal and plant health. and secure food chains, protecting key environmental assets.

    He  said the agric  sector  needs  a plan to reverse long- term decline and raised the hope of self-sufficiency.

    He   suggested that government  should   focus on providing the physical and institutional infrastructure necessary for private small traders to blossom and compete with one another to offer the best prices, quality and service to farmers and consumers.

  • President-elect urged to provide enabling environment for companies

    President-elect urged to provide enabling environment for companies

    The President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) has been urged to create the enabling environment for small-medium enterprises to grow by giving them access to proper funding through interest-free loan, tax waivers or rebate as a way of fast-tracking economic development of the country.

    The incoming President was also admonished to concentrate more on the power sector to encourage the SME, and also ensure proper industrialization of all major sectors of the economy, particularly the pharmaceutical industry in order to grow the economy.

    Speaking on the Buhari-Presidency in a statement in Lagos, Mr. Godwin Ezeoke, Chief Executive officer, Goche Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, said the easiest way to grow the pharmaceutical industry is by providing interest-free loan, tax waiver or rebate and low import duties on pharmaceutical products and equipment which will give Nigerians free access to affordable generic products to improve on the health needs of Nigerians and promote economic growth.

    On promotion of the health sector, the Goche CEO, called on the incoming government to pay more attention to establishing specialist hospitals with modern technology as available elsewhere in the world to cater for the health needs of Nigerians at home which will also reduce capital fight to foreign lands.

    Mr. Ezeoke pointed out that Nigerians are full of great expectations from the Buhari presidency and therefore urged the incoming administration to assist potential industrialists in the pharmaceuticals health and food processing sectors of the economy to promote massive employment generation in the sectors, leading to fast economic growth.

    He explained that encouraging generous economic measures with easy access to proper funding through tax waivers or rebate and low-interest loan facilities to industrialists will encourage growth of the middle class and reduce the widening gap between the super-rich and the low income earners which the outgoing administration had not paid much attention to.

    The industrialist also advised the incoming President to place high priority on security, particularly as a retired general  to guarantee proper security of lives and property of the citizenry.

  • Airlines urged to upgrade facilities to boost agro cargo

    Airlines have been urged   to upgrade facilities to  promote  agricultural exports  and  boost  regional trade.

    Deputy Director,Department of General Administration, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute(ARMTI),Dr  Ademola Adeyemo,   said  improving  facilities at  the   airports  to boost  export  of   commodities   would  help  Nigerians  explore  trade opportunities in the United States, Europe and others.

    He  said   runway and cargo handling facilities needed to be  expanded to start export of fresh produce.

    As agricultural cargo constitutes  a large per cent  of  the nation’s  export  tonnage, Adeyemo said  the industry requires improvement in infrastructure to cope  with increasing  volume  of trade.

    He   said  exporters  are  confronting  logistics  challenges which increase  transactions cost.

    Outside the airports, he  said  the  farmers producing  for export suffer  harvest losses and  deficiencies in the irrigation systems.

    While the government  is making efforts   to modernise   local food production for domestic consumption, the  expert  added  that  upgrading the  production chain  to be  export-oriented on the other hand will help  the nation  earn  more   foreign exchange.

    He   futher  urged   the  government  to set   up  export promotion  desks across  airports   as well as   extend customs clearance facilities to boost overall exports  activities.

    Such   desks, according  to him,   would help   government  agencies  and  exporters  provid to resolve issues within minimum time frame.

    As  the  government’s long-term economic plan  is to ensure a truly national recovery, Adeyemo   noted that this could  be  achieved   more quickly if  energies   were  directed  towards  boosting  export drive.

    To aid  this, he said  most  airports  should be equipped  to  offer  agro cargo services, including  perishable fruits refrigerated terminals.

    One  mode  of transportation the government  should improve is the railways which he said still  suffers from lack of maintenance.

    He added   that  improving  the railways    will  guarantee  cheaper and safer transportation of agro commodities , especially with the introduction of refrigerating facilities.

    On the  road   network, Adeyemo  said  it  requires large investments to allow efficient land transportation.

    He  reiterated  that the   government   will do  more  to  promote  export by providing good infrastructure and full facilitation, urging  for   focus on roads,sea ports and  power  to  improve  delivery schedule of exports.

    He called  on the  government   to  drew a road map for inclusive growth and competitive exports.