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Tag: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

  • Osinbajo receives briefings on Gambia

    Osinbajo receives briefings on Gambia

    • Meets cabinet members

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday started performing his role as the Acting President of Nigeria.

    President Muhammadu Buhari, before proceeding on 10 days medical vacation in the United Kingdom on Thursday had informed the National Assembly that Osinbajo will perform the duties of the President in his absence.

    Osinbajo, who was in Davos when the President left the country returned to Nigeria on Thursday night.

    After some engagements in Ibadan, Oyo State on Friday morning, Osinbajo returned to Abuja and perform some of his first functions as Acting President of Nigeria.

    According to posting on the Twitter handle of the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said that Osinbajo received updates on the situation in The Gambia.

    Osinbajo, he said, also received some cabinet members on Friday.

    The posting reads: “VP Osinbajo on return to Abuja receives update & briefings on the situation in Gambia & also briefings from a number of cabinet ministers.”

    [news_list display=”tag” tag=”Gambia” count=”7″ show_more=”on”]

  • Merit, not quota, makes nations great – Osinbajo

    Merit, not quota, makes nations great – Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has identified the importance of merit in giving reward and said that quota system was detrimental to the progress of any society.

    He said this in Abuja at the conferment of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) on two professors, Omowunmi Sadiq, an environmental scientist, and Tanure Ojaide, a poet and literary critic.

    According to him, the nation had placed quota before merit which “we know does not work’’ and called on leaders to make sacrifices and commit to a country run on merit, integrity, hard work justice and patriotism.

    “To build a new Nigeria, we need a new tribe of men and women of all ethnicities, of all faith committed to a country run on high values of merit ,  integrity, hard work, justice and love of country.

    “A tribe of men and women who are prepared to make the sacrifices and solve the constraints that are crucial to building a strong society.

    “Who are prepared to stick together, fight corruption side by side, insist on justice even when our friends and those of our tribes and faith are at the receiving end.

    “A tribe consisting of professionals, businessmen, politicians, religious leaders and all of those who believe that this new Nigeria is possible.

    “This requires a new way of thinking, a new leadership corps, a new tribe.

    “The challenge for us today is a challenge of finding a society where everyone especially those of us who lead in every aspect of leadership agrees that this country is worth fighting for, that this country can truly be great.

    “And the evidence we have seen today is that this country can truly be great and so may I just challenge us today that it is time to populate that new tribe.’’

    The vice president noted that the award recipients demonstrated that Nigeria was blessed with tremendous talent and that their writers, poets and scientist were world class.

    He, however, expressed surprise that the individual greatness of the citizens did not correlate with that of the nation.

    Osinbajo said the national predicament was the result of an elite failure to accept responsibility or privilege to shape the values of the society.

    “We must define clearly what is lofty, noble and deserving of honour and how these values can be sustained, preserved and enforced.

    “This is the burden of privilege so that it is for us to create the moral and philosophical premises for integrity in the public service, fidelity to the rule of law and the creation of meritocracy as a rule,’’ he said.

    Osinbajo commended the laureates for their intellectual accomplishments and said they would remain as mentors for the younger generations.

    Also speaking, the Chairman of the Merit Award Board, Prof. Moses Essien, said the award was designed to identify the nation’s best and brilliant persons and reward them, in order to continue serving as role models for the youth.

    Essien said that since its creation, the board had demonstrated that the nation had the best citizens who could compete with their peers in the globe.

    He said the awardees had also contributed to national discourse to make the nation great.

    Responding, Sadiq thanked the federal government for the award and gave the assurance that it would spur her for greater contributions toward national growth and humanity.

    She noted that the fact that the administration had focused attention on things that matter to the people sent a serious message to the rest of the world.

    She observed that her award showed that women had as much power in sciences and the academia as their male counterparts.

    Ojaide, a recipient of many international awards, on his part, hailed the organisers of the award for recognising intellectualism adding that the award was the most important in his life coming from his country.

    On the militancy in the Niger Delta region, Ojaide said the region was also known for producing good writers and scholars outside militancy.

    He appealed for fairness on the side of the Niger Delta people as well as the federal government to resolve the issues in the region.

    “I feel that by exposing the problems of the Niger Delta it should make others more sensitive to the problems.

    “At the same time, I want Niger Delta people to realise that they are part of the Nigerian federation and as such should cede some of the resources to the development of the entire country.

    “But the rest of the country should also be sensitive to your own problems,’’ he added.

  • Osinbajo presides over scanty FEC meeting

    Osinbajo presides over scanty FEC meeting

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday presided over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

    President Muhammadu Buhari is in Marrakech, Morocco attending the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), also known as COP-22.

    The FEC meeting was scantily attended by cabinet members.

    About ten ministers were in attendance when the meeting started on Wednesday.

    The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.

  • Osinbajo, Saraki, governors meet in Aso Rock

    Osinbajo, Saraki, governors meet in Aso Rock

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday met with the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and some state governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara was also part of the meeting.

    The governors at the closed-door meeting included Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello and Adamawa State Governor, Jubrilla Bindow.

    President Muhammadu Buhari left Abuja on Monday for Morocco to attend the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), also known as COP-22, in Marrakech.

    Before Buhari’s trip out of the country, Saraki had met with him three different times within one week over his request for approval to get $29.9 billion loan.

    The Senate had recently rejected Buhari’s approval request for the loan.

    It also described the 2017 to 2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) forwarded by President Buhari for approval as “empty.”

    The MTEF is yet to be approved by the Senate.

    At the end of the meeting with Osinbajo on Monday, Saraki simply told State House correspondents: “Am sure the VP will issue a statement. But nothing of great alarm. It’s all for good governance, inclusion and collaboration with all arms. The states are here, national assembly executives just came up with ideas on how to make things work even better, that’s all.”

    No official statement on the meeting has been issued at the time of filing this report.

  • FG invites Russian farmers to Nigeria

    FG invites Russian farmers to Nigeria

    …Osinbajo gives reasons for food importation reduction

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday invited Russian farmers to get involved in agricultural cultivation in Nigeria.

    He gave the invitation while receiving a Russian delegation led by the Russian Minister of Agriculture who is also the Co-Chair of the Nigeria-Russia Joint Commission, Mr. Alexander Tkachev at the State House, Abuja.

    He urged Russian farmers to invest in Nigeria, produce and export from here.

    According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said: “We are just 6 hours away from Europe by air. Vegetables, flour can be exported to Europe from here, even our local market here is a lot.”

    He said that one of the reasons for cutting down on food importation into the country was its significant pressure on dwindling Nigeria’s foreign earnings.

    “The oil prices have gone down tremendously and yet large amount of foreign exchange is used to purchase food abroad and we have large arable land for agriculture. It won’t make sense, if you don’t use the land,” he said.

    The Vice President and the delegation that included the Russian Ambassador in Nigeria, Ambassador Nikolay Udovichenko, Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Evgeny Gromyko and officials of Russian’s firm- United Company (Rusal) agreed that Nigeria and Russia should deepen the existing diplomatic relationship, especially economically.

    Osinbajo said: “There is a lot of money to be made if Russian technology in agriculture is deployed locally,”

    He also noted that there are better opportunities for economic cooperation between both countries.

    Speaking earlier, the Russian Agriculture Minister expressed his country’s willingness to enhance the existing trade relations with Nigeria.

    He said that the Nigeria-Russia trade volume as at the end of 2015 exceeded $300 million, but added that there are potentials for improvement in the years ahead.

  • FG rules out online application for poor, most vulnerable Nigerians

    FG rules out online application for poor, most vulnerable Nigerians

    …Selected 200,000 applicants on N-Power project awaiting BVN clearance

    The Federal Government on Thursday ruled out the need for the poorest and vulnerable Nigerians to apply online before they can benefit from the monthly N5,000 Conditional Cash Transfer.

    This was contained in a statement issued by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s media office.

    The statement was responding to some misleading reports in the media regarding the implementation of the N500 billion Social Investment Programmes of the Buhari administration.

    It reads: “While we understand the need for an ongoing public discussion of this unprecedented budgetary allocation in favor of the Nigerian people especially the poorest and the most vulnerable, it is not correct to claim any form of mismanagement or marginalization whatsoever.”

    “There has not been any disbursement from the allocated fund not to talk of any kind of mismanagement at all. While it is true that funds are being released for the social investment programmes, it is rather preposterous for now to say there is no evidence where the funds have gone to.

    “As an administration noted for its transparency, we intend to fully keep Nigerians posted on all financial expenditure in line with extant laws of the country.

    “Of the series of social investment programmes we have outlined, only the job creation scheme-N-Power requires an online registration from unemployed graduates and non-graduate youths.”

    But the statement justified the requirement for online registration for the hiring of 500,000 unemployed graduates.

    “It is important to explain, again, for the benefit of clarity, that the requirement for online application for the N-Power job scheme makes absolute sense considering that all together the Federal Government is planning to hire half a million unemployed Nigerian graduates.”

    “We are all witnesses to the calamity that occurred in the past when a manual effort was made to hire large number of Nigerian youths. It led to needless deaths and outright chaos.” It added

    On the allegation that Borno State is not online and the people of the state will be discriminated against in the N-Power process, the statement, said such a claim simply flies in the face of the fact.

    It added: “Almost 15,000 Nigerians from Borno State applied in the first application series of N-Power schemes online.

    “It is also not tenable to argue that people in Maiduguri for instance which today plays hosts to tonnes of international NGOs cannot apply online or are denied internet access.”

    The statement disclosed that the selection process for the first batch of 200,000 Nigerians to be engaged in the N-Power process has now been completed, and that their official engagement is now awaiting the completion of BVN verification so that they would be paid directly.

    On how the selection was done, the statement said “Presidency officials collaborated actively with the Ministries of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Health and other government agencies all through the process. There were no foreign consultants involved, nor is one needed.”

    It added that selection of the first 200,000, were based on three criteria including 40% selected based on the number of applications per state, a special mark-up for the 6 states of the Northeast and a discretionary addition for states with low numbers of applicants.

  • It was great honour handing staff of office to Oba — Oshiomhole

    It was great honour handing staff of office to Oba — Oshiomhole

    The Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole has said that it was a big privilege for him to present the staff of office to an Oba of Benin.
    The governor made the statement when he addressed State House correspondents shortly after he paid a thank you visit to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
    Recall that the historic coronation of Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Ewuare II took place in Benin on Thursday with Nigerians and people of other cultures in attendance.
    “On my part, I felt very privileged.
    “In my eight years of stewardship in Edo State that assignment of having to hand over the staff of office to the Oba of Benin is the most singular important event that God has given me the privilege to preside,’’ Oshiomhole said.
    He said that the first time in the 1930s when Oba Akenzua ascended the throne that same staff of office was presented by the Queen of England when the country was under British colonial rule.
    He added that in a recent time, the other time the staff was handed to an Oba was in the 1980s through a military governor who was not an Edo indigene.
    “This is the first time an Edo man, full-blood son of the soil, decked in Edo costume, presented the most important staff of office to the man we all celebrate as the Oba of Benin,’’ he said.
    Oshiomhole said that the attendance to the event by the Sultan of Sokoto,Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III and a host of other traditional rulers from across the country, was “extremely significant’’.
    He said the Sultan was not only of Sokoto but the head of the Islamic Council in the country and was at the ceremony as the utmost religious leader in Nigeria.
    “To have the Caliphate across the Niger, extending that hand of fellowship and brotherhood and bringing the Durbar from the Caliphate to Benin to celebrate the coronation of the Oba was historic.
    “Those royal handshakes and bonds not only speak to history that had existed before the political amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria.
    “It shows that our people, regardless of those interventions by the British authority, that the bonds have always been there and that even today those responsible for our tradition are doing their part to sustain those bonds.’’
    He said this was so important at this time that the political class was preaching to primordial sentiments in a manner that threatened the country’s unity when they were frustrated.
    “I think that royal handshake and bonding shows that at that level of leadership, Nigeria is one and we are committed to one and indivisible Nigeria and those royal fathers have led us by example,’’ he added.
    The governor observed that one of the weaknesses of our country “`is that we don’t celebrate our tradition.
    “What was unique was that the Oba observed all the cultural rites in the installation, including the most tedious of trekking certain distance to his palace.’’
    He said that the exercise was to enable the monarch to place himself in the position of the common man in order to administer the domain well.
    “Seeking for those traditions was extremely important because if you do not understand the pains the people under you go through you can’t have empathy and cannot do justice to them.’’
    The governor commended the Bini people for behaving in a mature and orderly manner during the coronation of the Oba in spite of the large crowd.
    He said the disposition of the Bini and the attendance of many from across the divide elevated Edo to an uncommon height adding that it could not have been better than that.

  • Osinbajo: Varsities must support Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade

    Osinbajo: Varsities must support Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade

    …Says anti-corruption fight will touch every sector

     

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has urged universities and other tertiary institutions in the country to key in to the anti-corruption crusade of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    He said the tertiary institutions are well placed as moulders of the future generations to spearhead a national orientation against corruption which he described as a cankerworm as too endemic to be overlooked.

    Osinbajo who stated this on Friday at the 4th Convocation of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) stressed that no sector of the Nigerian society will be spared in the fight against corruption.

    The Vice President called on the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature to join hands together to fight graft to a standstill adding that the leadership of the law profession to which he (Osinbajo) and ABUAD Founder/Chancellor, Chief Afe Babalola belong should support the Federal Government in the anti-corruption war.

    A total of 912 ABUAD students graduated with 61 bagging First Class Honours. Ariyibi Olawale Emmanuel, from the Geology Department who scored 5.00 CGPA to emerge as the best graduating student won a cash prize of N1 million from the Founder.

    President, Central State University, Wilberforce Island, Ohio, United States, Prof. Cynthia Jackson-Hammond; President, Coscharis Group, Mr. Cosmas Maduka and Ibadan-based industrialist, Chief Raymond Zard were conferred with honorary doctorate degrees at the convocation.

    Osinbajo showered encomiums on ABUAD Founder for his stand against corruption which saw to the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the emergence of Hon. Justice Emmanuel Ayoola as its first Chairman.

    The Vice President said: “My learned senior, Chief Afe Babalola, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, appeared in a famous case in 2001 appeared for the Federal Government in which he said that corruption is the greatest hindrance to our development.

    “I have great respect for Chief Afe Babalola because of his stand against corruption. Sometimes in 2001, Chief Babalola argued the case for the establishment of Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) where he let the court realized that corruption is the greatest problem of our nation.

    “What we need is serious reorientation. That is why ABUAD is a great university because it teaches learning, character and morality. So, value reorientation is a key weapon to fight corruption.

    “That was why the present federal government is intervening, because if we refuse every facet of the country will fail.  We must act fast and deal with the situation as quickly as possible.”

    He noted that what is happening in the country, especially the high level of poverty in the system and many other menaces bedeviling the country, was a direct consequences of corruption that has permeated every sector of the economy.

    Responding to Governor Ayo Fayose’s request for an airport in Ekiti State, Osinbajo said the Fountain of Knowledge deserves such a project noting considering its importance to an institution like ABUAD.

    Osinbajo added: “Ekiti State deserves an airport but I have discussed what we need in return  with His Excellency (Fayose).

    “The Federal government we continue to give support to every project that will fast-track development in each of the states of the federation. We know how important is this airport to Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti(ABUAD).”

    Offering some advice to the graduating students, Osinbajo urged them to learn skills that will enhance their value and also develop and maintain integrity.

    He said: “You must appreciate that this is the age of multi-tasking and multi-skilling is crucial today. One must today learn to be a master of himself and you must be technology savvy in whatever you choose to do.

    “Talent is nothing if you are not diligent; integrity is important because lack of integrity may come back to haunt you because you may need the recommendation of somebody.”

    Osinbajo stated he never had misgiving for Babalola’s competence to run an all-inclusive university, on the strength of his achievements as the Pro Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos between 2001 and 2008.

    Fayose advocated the inclusion of the Ekiti Airport in the 2017 Appropriation Bill saying the project will be in the overall interest of the people of the state.

    The governor urged the federal government to replicate all the good virtues ABUAD represents in the federal universities, describing the only private university in the state as a reference point  to other universities not only in the country, but in Africa at large.

     

  • FG promises education, employment for 21 Chibok girls

    FG promises education, employment for 21 Chibok girls

    The Federal Government on Thursday promised to facilitate education and employment of the 21 Chibok girls released by Boko Haram.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo made the promise when he visited the girls in Abuja.

    According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo also told the girls that President Muhammadu Buhari was very excited with their release from captivity.

    He said: “Welcome back girls. I am sure you know that the whole country has been waiting for you to come back, all these many months, the whole country has been waiting that one day we will see you again and we are very happy to see you back!

    “We are going to bring your parents; your parents will be coming here to join you. You can’t immediately be taken out of here because we need to be sure that you are in very good health.

    “I am sure you are going to be very well taken care of. We have provided very good accommodation for you where you will stay where you will sleep and your parents will come and meet you there also.

    “We are also going to see to it that everything that you require going forward, perhaps your education, those who need to go back to school, those who need to find employment, we are going to make sure that we make all the provisions for you.” He added

    He said that the Federal Government is very committed to their rescue and welfare.

    “The president in particular, has asked me to tell you, how excited he is. When you were away, he kept saying that if it were his daughter he wouldn’t even know what to do.

    “So we are all very excited that you are here. We are all happy that God has preserved your lives and brought you back.

    “We know that very soon all will be well and I am sure that when you meet with your parents they will be very excited to meet you,” he said.

    The Vice President told the girls that the government has already contacted their parents who will soon join them.

    “So we are all looking forward to how you are going to settle in very nicely. The doctors have all the kinds of treatment that you will need, so you are all welcome back and we are all very excited to see,”  he stated.

    The Vice President had earlier prayed for the girls.

    The names of the 21 girls, according to another statement, included Mary Usman Bulama, Jummai John, Blessing Abana, Luggwa Sanda, Comfort Habila, Maryam Basheer, Comfort Amos, Glory Mainta, Saratu Emmanuel.

    Others include Deborah Ja’afaru (whose baby’s name is Bukar Amos), Rahab Ibrahim, Helen Musa, Maryamu Lawan, Rebecca Ibrahim, Asabe Goni, Deborah Andrawus, Agnes Gapani, Saratu Markus, Glory Dama, Pindah Nuhu and Rebecca Mallam.