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Tag: Yakubu Dogara

NNPC partners WAEC, others over science development

In its bid to grow the country’s educational sector, especial in terms of science and technology, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Tuesday, said it has entered a partnership with the West African Examination Council (WAEC), the Junior Engineering Technical Society, (JETS), and the Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN).

The corporation’s Group Managing Director (GMD), Maikanti Baru disclosed this at the grand finale of the 2017 National Quiz Competition.

According to him, the NNPC prizes education dearly and was working with its partners to ensure that the best standard of its competition is maintained.

He stated that it was in realisation of the importance of science and technology that the NNPC decided to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, STEM, education as a key element of its Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, strategy, adding that there was the driving force behind its establishment of the quiz competition.

He said: “In this respect, our arc tilts towards Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, STEM, branches of knowledge, given the great roles they play in nation-building.

“For a reason, STEM education creates critical thinkers, increases science literacy, and enables the next generation of innovators. Innovation is the pillars of any progressive economy.”

Baru said the 2017 edition is the 16th in the competition’s history, stating that this edition had been expanded from the previous editions, while the prizes has been improved upon also.

He noted that the 2017 edition took place in all the 774 local government areas of the country and also featured in states in the North-East, that were affected by insurgency.

His words: “Beginning from this year, the corporation will be providing a one-off educational grant of N100,000 each for all state winners of the competition. This means that everybody on this podium today, regardless of his or her final position is assured of N100,000 from the NNPC to help defray the costs of their tertiary education.

“For the overall winner of the competition, a scholarship award of N300,000 will be granted per session, while the second and third place winners will receive a scholarship award of N250,000 and N200,000 respectively per session for the duration of their tertiary education.”

Baru added that the prizes are redeemable by the winners upon presentation of evidence of their admission into tertiary institutions whenever it may be.

Also speaking, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, commended the NNPC for its contributions to the growth of the Nigerian educational sector, stating also that the competition is unifying and bonding, in the fact that it was conducted across all the states and local governments in the country.

Kachikwu assured the finalists that the competition present a veritable opportunity for them to further brighten their future.

He called on the governors of the various finalists to make contact and mentor them as this would help them in their future endeavours.

Speaking in the same vein, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, also commended the NNPC for taking educational development as a crucial part of its CSR programme and also for its sustenance of the programme for 17 years.

He stated that the NNPC’s contribution to education, especially for STEM becomes critical going by the fact that the country still has a lot to do in deepening science and technology.

He expressed the support of the National Assembly in the progress of the contestants and students in general.

November 14, 2017
Dogara to the Nigerian military: Focus more on intelligence gathering

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said that for the Nigerian security forces to surmount the many security challenges confronting the country, they must change tactics and focus more on comprehensive intelligence gathering and inter-agency information sharing.

He said inter-agency information sharing has become imperative considering daily threat to humanity by the advancement of technology and agents of violence.

While he commended the Nigeria military for the sustenance of the nation’s democracy, the Speaker however said there is more to do by the security forces by ensuring the survival of the nation’s democracy and rescue it from the seemingly intractable spate of kidnapping and other forms of criminality.

Dogara spoke in Abuja Monday at the annual conference for Nigerian Defence Attaches organised by the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), where he noted that since democracy thrives only when lives are secure, maintenance of law and order becomes the most important function in any society.

He said: “I believe that if we succeed in gathering effective and reliable intelligence that can be interpreted, we will always be ahead of the terrorists, of the kidnappers, and of all those who are threatening our peaceful coexistence.

“I have always maintained that terrorism is a global problem, and therefore, no single nation, no one nation should be left alone to deal with it.

“And I believe that the best way we can go about it is what we are doing here; in conferences like this, building networks, effective networks, engaging with ourselves, sharing experience, that is the only way we can be ahead.

“The most important thing in Nigeria right now, even though we are practicing democracy, is not the institution of the presidency, it is not the legislature, it is not even the judiciary but it is law and order and national security in the sense that when there is no peace and order, there can’t be a nation and we must have Nigeria first before we can talk about a Nigerian president, a Nigerian legislature and even the judiciary.

“I want to commend the military for putting together this function and to say that being aware of our role as the first institution of our democracy, we will do everything within the confines of our powers and within available national resources, to see that we appropriate more for the peace, order and good governance of this country, because any nation which fails to invest in security will diminish.

“It has happened, examples are replete, so we will not fail to invest in security”.

Saying that the contribution of the military to the development of the country’s democracy cannot be overemphasized, Dogara implored the security forces not to be deterred.

“I want to, on behalf of members of the National Assembly and indeed, Nigerians, thank the military for the work you are doing.

“The 21st century in particular where the entire humanity is threatened by the advancement of technology and by the threat of violence.

“Whenever violence occurs you will see a reverse in the social order. As a matter of fact, violence even destroys civilisations.

“I have always used the theatre of conflict in Nigeria, the North-East, as an example. Virtually everything we have achieved in that region, especially in the three states that are most affected, is completely gone.

“So, what should be our response to violence because this is a generation that is called upon to defeat violence, otherwise, violence will defeat us and reverse our civilisation as it has happened in the North-East.

“In most cases, I pity the military because they are always called upon at the 11th hour. In fact, sometimes at the 12th hour when everything has snowballed, crisis have happened, and casualties, that is when they are called upon,” he added.

November 13, 2017
Security threats: Dogara tasks military on reliable intelligence

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara on Monday challenged the military on the need to gather Security threats to tackle emerging security threats in the country.

Dogara threw the challenge while speaking at the opening of a five-day conference organised by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) for the nation’s Defence Advisers and Attaches.

“I believe that if we succeed in gathering reliable intelligence that can be interpreted, we will always be ahead of the terrorists, kidnappers and all those who are threatening our peaceful co-existence,’’ the Speaker said.

He described the armed forces as the most important institution in the country presently as they were the ones always relied and called upon to address emerging internal security threats.

“The most important thing in Nigeria right now, though we practice democracy, it is not the presidency, legislature or judiciary, but law and order and national security.

“When there is no peace, law and order, there can’t be a nation. We must have Nigeria first before we talk about the Nigerian president, legislature and even the judiciary.

“I know that we are in an era, the 21st century in particular, where the entire humanity is threatened by advances in science and technology and by the threat of violence.

“Anywhere violence occurs, you will see the reversal of so many things. As a matter of fact, violence even destroys civilisation.

The Speaker described terrorism as a global problem which no nation should be allowed to tackle alone, adding that the best way to go about it was to engage and share intelligence and experiences.

Dogara promised that the National Assembly would always “appropriate more’’ for the military to achieve peace, noting that any nation which failed to invest in security would “diminish.’’

“We will not fail to invest in security,’’ he added.

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, who was the special guest at the occasion, noted that defence diplomacy had become increasingly part of counter terrorism operations.

Dan-Ali said that this was necessary as government seek to consolidate on its achievement and sustain the counter insurgency operations against the Boko Haram terrorists.

He, therefore, charged the defence advisers and attaches to strengthen that effort, as well as in the area of containing subsequent levels of asymmetric warfare in the nation.

“The importance of diplomatic relations with global players in consolidating efforts to sustain the level of achievement gained in our counter terrorism operations cannot be over emphasised.

“Accordingly, the role of diplomacy in counter terrorism strategy cannot be underestimated.

“It is therefore necessary to mention the propensity of using the traditional hard power measures in unconventional warfare or our fight against violent activities of non-state actors.

Read Also: Gowon, Dogara task Northern Christians on unity, love

“Nevertheless, bilateral or multilateral diplomacy has become the most important soft power tool in countering terrorism,’’ he said.

Earlier, the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Air Vice Marshal M.S. Usman, said that the objective of the conference was to develop the defence advisers and attaches to become “more functional in national defence.

“From now on, our defence advisers and attaches will play more significant role in our quest to make game changing improvements to the strategic and operational tone of our counter terrorism operations.

“Defence diplomacy is key to our appreciation of the seismic shift that are happening at a fast pace around the Lake Chad and Sahel areas, as well as across North Africa and Middle East.

“This is because events there would determine to a large extent the operation dynamics of our own engagement,’’ Usman said.

The opening of the conference was attended by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris among other head of security agencies.

The theme of the conference was “Consolidating the gains of counter terrorism operations in Nigeria through Defence Diplomacy.’’

November 13, 2017
Gowon, Dogara task Northern Christians on unity, love

Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (retd) and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara on Saturday tasked Northern Christians to close rank for unity and love, to be able to speak with one voice on issues affecting their collective wellbeings in the country.

Gowon spoke in Kaduna while officially inaugurating Congress of Northern Nigeria Christians (CNNC).

Several delegates from the 19 northern States as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) graced the occassion, with Katsina State known for Muslim dominated State, pulling the highest number of Christian delegates on the occasion.

However, the former Head of State who was the Chairman of the occasion cautioned the founders of the CNNC not to clash with Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in addressing issues concerning Christians in the zone.

“We must work as one, tolerate one another and unite for common interest because without unity among ourselves, we cannot achieve anything and move forward”.Gowon said.

In his goodwill message, the Honourable Speaker expressed worry over lack of unity of purpose among Northern Christians.

He decried a situation whereby emphasised is laid on different denominations and church each Christian belong, instead of striving hard to work in unison irrespective of denominational differences.

“The problem among christians in the north is lack of unity. Where is the love for God and humanity to make others serve God in us. The highest enemy of church and christian is disobedience”. Dogara said.

This was even as he promised to support the CNNC to achieve its aims and objectives, adding that christians should learn to forgive one another in order to enjoy God’s blessings.

“To the founders of the CNNC, you should pray for the church, the country and the leadership”, he added.

Earlier, interim Chairman of the Congress, Adamu Baikie disclosed that the purpose of the Congress was not informed by any pre-conceived notion but by a desire to serve as a basis to call for the unity of the christains in Northern Nigeria in coformity with the injuction of scripture which says, “That they all may be one”

According to him, “We are also committed to creating awareness among northern nigeria christains to stand firm against every form of violence, discrimination, and intimidation being meted out to any citizen of this country, above all, work towards the unity and indivisibilty of the nigerian state.”

Adamu Baiki who revealed that the congress is not a political organisation nor is it a front for any political party revealed that “We shall also resist any attempt to clandestinely use the platform of the congress to promote the political interests of any individual or group of individuals”

“We are not unmindful of the fact that there are other organisations or religious associations that abound in the country, the north in particular. We have no desire to whatsoever to undermine their efforts or obliterate their very existence”

The chairman noted that the emergence of Christain Traditional Rulers today is a heart warming experience which has surpased their knowledge and expectations.

“Many of us have lived in ignorance of the wide spread existence of Christain Traditional Rulers. We give glory to God for His bountiful endowment and we pray that your numbers will increase in appreciably form from now onwards”, he said.

November 11, 2017
Angry Oyo-Ita confronts Kyari in FEC over leaked memo

The Head of Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, showed her anger on Wednesday when she reacted in a very unusual manner at the Council Chambers apparently over her leaked memo to President Muhammadu Buhari.

This happened before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council ( FEC ) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Her angry reaction was witnessed by all those who were in the Council Chambers for the swearing-in of the new Secretary to the Government or the Federation, Boss Mustapha, and the launch of the 2018 armed forces emblem.

Many Council members were also in the hall for the Federal Executive Council meeting.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Chief of Staff to the President Abba Kyari were seen questioning Oyo-Ita, shortly before the commencement of the event which started at 10:55am.

Oyo-Ita, who has never lost her cool in the public, was seen angrily gesticulating while trying to make her point in what was obviously a heated argument with Kyari.

The Head of Service went back to her seat and then rose again and headed straight to Osinbajo, who also engaged her in a tête-a-tete over the issue.

The National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, later joined the conversation after which the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation was seen calming the Head of Service.

She was later asked to return to her seat by the Deputy Chief of Staff Femi Ipaye, when it was now obvious all eyes were fixed on them.

The drama, which lasted about 10 minutes, was witnessed by Senate President Bukola Saraki, House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Chief of justice of the federation, Walter Onnoghen, the Governor of Adamawa, Jibrila Bindu, All Progressives Congress National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun, chief of defence staff, service chiefs, Inspector General of Police and other heads of paramilitary service among others.

A national daily had quoted Oyo-Ita, in the leaked memo, as saying that Buhari was aware of the reinstatement of the former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina.

Oyo-Ita was also quoted to have stated that she had warned the president against the controversial recall of the embattled former pension boss.

President Buhari had ordered last week the immediate disengagement of former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdullahi Abdulrasheed Maina.

Maina was in 2013 recommended for dismissal by the Federal Civil Service Commission following a recommendation by the Office of the Head of Service.

In 2012, Maina was accused of leading a massive pension fraud scheme amounting to more than N100 billion.

He was drafted by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2010 to sanitize a corrupt pension system.

November 1, 2017
Buhari meets Tinubu, Saraki, Dogara, Yari, Oyegun in Aso Rock

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met with some top leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the State House, Abuja.

Those he met briefly with included the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.

Also at the meeting are the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari and the National Chairman of the APC, John Odigie-Oyegun.

At the end of the meeting, they declined to speak on the purpose of the meeting.

As soon as the meeting ended, the President and the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu also started another meeting around 3:28p.m

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

October 30, 2017
Photo News: Buhari hosts leadership of NASS to dinner

L-R: President Buhari with Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Senior Special Assistants Nass Matters Senator Eta Enang as he hosts Leadership of National Assembly to Dinner at the State House Residence on 26th Oct 2017.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday night received Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and 18 other lawmakers to a dinner

President Buhari, Vice President Osinbajo and members of the National Assembly during the dinner on Thursday night.

October 27, 2017
Cancelled Dinner: Buhari apologises to lawmakers

President Muhammadu Buhari has apologised to the leadership of the National Assembly over the cancellation of the planned dinner for the lawmakers in the State House.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the President was to host the lawmakers to dinner at the new Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, by 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.

He, however, met behind closed doors at his official residence with the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara with the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and some presidential aides in attendance.

Related Post: DINNER: Saraki, Dogara angered by Aso Rock security checks

Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, told State House correspondents on Thursday night that the President offered the apology after the closed-door meeting with the Senate President and the Speaker.

President Buhari with L-R: Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Senior Special Assistants Nass Matters Senator Eta Enang as he hosts Leadership of National Assembly to Dinner at the State House Residence on 26th Oct 2017.

He said the President rescheduled the dinner with the lawmakers for Oct. 31.

NAN reliably learnt that the Thursday’s planned dinner failed to hold due to a misunderstanding between security officials at the main gate of the Aso Rock and the lawmakers.

According to sources, the lawmakers were asked to come down from the bus conveying them to the Villa in order to be issued visitor’s tags, but they were said to have turned back.

The President was to use the opportunity of the dinner to discuss some national issues including the approved draft 2018 budget.

The draft budget was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on October 26.

October 27, 2017
DINNER: Saraki, Dogara angered by Aso Rock security checks

The planned dinner by President Muhammadu Buhari the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and some principal officers of the National Assembly failed to hold last night.

The dinner was slated for the new Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja by 8:30 PM.

However, Senate President Bukola Saraki and the entourage were said to have disagreed with security officials at the pilot gate.

According to sources, the lawmakers were asked to come down from the bus conveying them so as to be issued visitors’ tags.

Not comfortable with the screening, the lawmakers were said to have turned back.

October 26, 2017
Buhari apologizes to lawmakers

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday night apologized to the leadership of the National Assembly over the mixup that led to their embarrassment by the security personnel in the Villa.

The President met with both the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara at his official residence

At the meeting were President Yemi Osinabjo, Senator Ita Enang and Hon. Baraji Kawu.

The President instructed the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari to collect the names of all the principal officers of both houses and bring them for clearance so that they will be issued Villa tags.

The dinner has been rescheduled for Tuesday evening.

Saraki said that they had fruitful discussions with the President.

According to him, they were informed that the issue that led to the embarrassment has been resolved.

He said that a bigger meeting with the entire leadership of the National Assembly will be held in the next few days

October 26, 2017