Nation
THE STATES
FCT
The Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, has
called on ECOWAS to support efforts at improving education in Africa.
This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Aliyu Othman,
the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister, in Abuja on Tuesday.
The statement said that Rufa’I made this known at the
opening of the conference of ECOWAS Ministers of Education.
She noted that it was the desire of the Conference of Ministers
of Education of the African Union that education should receive a boost in line
with the AU Second Decade of Education Action Plan 2006-2015.
The minister called on the ECOWAS Ministers of Education to
popularise the tertiary education subsector as a means of developing the skills
required for the improvement in technological, health and research.
Gombe
The Gombe State Government has distributed 60 tonns of
improved seeds free to farmers to boost agricultural production in the state.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Dahiru
Buba-Biri, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) in Gombe on Tuesday.
“Apart from the support the Federal government gave to the
Growth Enhancement Scheme, the governor purchased 60 tonnes of improved seeds
which we distributed at highly subsidised rate,’’ he said.
Buba-Biri said the open pollinated maize was purchased from
Sebore Farms in Adamawa and distributed to farmers, adding that it collaborated
with the federal Government to provide improved seeds for cotton farmers.
“Collaboration is also being brokered by the State, Federal
Government and the private sector to give support to textiles as well as
exporters so that overall market for cotton will be open.
Jigawa
No fewer than seven persons were killed, while 12 others
were injured in floods that ravaged some communities in Kafin-Hausa Local
Government Area of Jigawa.
Alhaji Ahmad Zango, the Deputy Chairman of the local
government, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Kafin-Hausa
that 700 houses and many hectares of farmland were also destroyed by the flood.
Zango said that the casualties were recorded at various
collapsed buildings in the communities.
“Dozens of residential homes were destroyed by flood which
killed seven persons and injured 12 others.
“Farm produce, such as rice, maize, millet, sesame seeds and
beans, were also destroyed,” Zango added.
Jos
Governor Jonah Jang
of Plateau has charged political appointees in the state to deliver their wards
in the October 6 bye-election to the People Democratic Party (PDP) candidates
or resign.
The governor said this at a campaign rally for the Plateau
North senatorial as well as the house of assembly seats in Barkin Ladi on
Tuesday.
Our correspondent recalled that the seat became vacant
following the demise of Sen. Gyang Dantong and Mr Gyang Fulani, the majority
leader of the assembly.
“My commissioners, Special Advisers and Council Caretaker
Chairmen in the Plateau North senatorial district must ensure that they deliver
their wards in this bye-election or tender their resignation letters.
The governor said that the bye-election was so crucial to
PDP and would not tolerate any laxity on the part of the appointees.
Kano
The Federal Government has started the training of farmers
in Kano State to minimise the amount of dioxin emission into the atmosphere
from open burning sources.
Alhaji Mohamed Maleh, the project manager of Less Burnt for
Clean Earth, a project of the Federal Ministry of Environment, announced this
on Tuesday at a training workshop for farmers in the state.
Our correspondent reports that dioxins are by-products of
various industrial processes and are commonly regarded as highly toxic
compounds that are environmental pollutants.
Our source reports that the three-day training workshop on
alternative approach to open burning of agricultural residue/waste was
organised by the ministry in collaboration with UNDP and Global Environment
Facility.
Kebbi
The International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD)-supported Community Based Agricultural and Rural Development programme
(CBARDP) has reached 1.3 million rural dwellers in Kebbi, Katsina and Zamfara
States, an official said.
Ms Atsuko Toda, the IFAD country representative, made the
statement on Tuesday in Birnin Kebbi while addressing the wrap-up programme of
the FGN/IFAD supervision mission to the states.
She said 550,580 women, representing 41.5 per cent,
benefitted from the programme in the states.
She said 1,815 rural community groups also benefitted from
the programme while 543 community infrastructure were provided.
Toda said there was 200 per cent increase in rice
production, sorghum, recorded 94 per cent, while millet rose by 279 per cent.
Kogi
Kogi Deputy Governor Yomi Awoniyi says the State Government
will acquire and distribute mobile toilets for the use of the 12,000 displaced
persons in the state.
This is contained in a statement by Mr Michael Abu, his
Press Secretary in Lokoja on Tuesday.
According to the statement, the state is worried about the
possibilities of an outbreak of epidemics in the flood victims’ camps.
The statement stated that the state Ministry of Health had
been empowered to prevent the outbreak of epidemics in the state, added that
the mobile toilets was part of measures to keep the camp clean from diseases.
It expressed the commitment of the State Government toward
tackling the effects of devastation caused by the floods in the state.
Kwara
The Federal Government will engage 1,500 workers through the
Integrated Irrigation Dam Project in Eyekonrin-Araromi, Kwara, an official has
said.
Alhaji Abubakar Aduagba, the Managing Director of the Lower
Niger River Basin Authority, Ilorin, announced this in Eyekonrin, Asa Local
Government Area during the National Good Governance Tour to the project on
Tuesday.
Aduagba explained that the construction of the dam started
in 2009 as constituency project of Mr Ayo Adeseun, a member of House of
Representatives, which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.
According to him, the 1.3 cubic metre dam will also provide
5,000 gallons of water per day for the people living in the area.
He also said that the National Directorate of Employment
(NDE) took advantage of the project to build structure in the area to train
graduates in farming and fishing.
Lagos
The president of the National Association of Nigerian
Traders (NANTS), Mr Ken Ukaoha, on Tuesday commended the Federal Government for
banning the importation of poultry products.
Ukaoha told our correspondent in Lagos that the ban had encouraged
the production and consumption of local breeds.
He said that there was remarkable success in wealth creation
for poultry farmers and those of several other items on the prohibition list.
He said through that policy more farmers had been productively
engaged.
Ukaoha stressed that with the increasing population in the
country, government should popularise local products.
The president, however, noted that the ban was not the best
way to achieve sustainability.
Mina
The management of Niger Tornadoes FC of Minna says it will
recruit a new technical adviser following the suspension of its technical
adviser, Mr Justine Tenge.
This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Suleiman Isah,
the club’s Media Officer, in Minna on Tuesday.
According to the statement, the indefinite suspension of
Tenge is still effective while the club is following the due process in
recruiting a new adviser.
The statement stated that 12 applications had been received,
noting that a committee would scrutinise and shortlist the successful
applicants for interview.
He said the club took the step because the national league
would start on October 28 and the new adviser would be expected to recruit and
groom players.
Nassawa
The Living Faith Church of Nigeria has donated a modern police
station worth N50 million to the Police Command in Nasarawa State.
The station is at Auta-Baleifi community, Karu Local
Government Area, Nasarawa State.
During the inauguration of the station on Tuesday, the
President of the church, Bishop David Oyedepo, said the gesture would assist
the police in fighting crime.
Oyedepo said “considering the prevailing security situation
in the country, the church thought it wise to assist the police in providing an
enabling environment for them to tackle crime and criminality bedeviling our
society.”
Represented by the Vice President of the church, Bishop
David Abiyoye, Oyedepo said the church donated the facility as part of its
contribution to national development and enhancement of security.
Ondo
Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu said on Tuesday that an ACN
government would cater more for the people of Ondo State if the party wins the
October 20 governorship election.
Tinubu made the promise in Ikare Akoko at the Mega Rally of
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for the poll.
He told the crowd that the wind of change blowing across the
South- West zone would come to the state “if ACN wins the governorship”
election.
Tinubu said the regional integration of the zone would not
be complete without Ondo State and called on the people to vote for the ACN
candidate, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu, to be part of that development.
He promised that the tomato factory in Ikare would be
sustained and made to produce at optimum capacity.
Sokoto
Most Rev. Hassan Kukah, the Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Sokoto
State, says the military administrations are responsible for the lack of
meaningful development in Nigeria.
Kukah told our correspondent in Sokoto on Tuesday that the
military only succeeded in destroying the solid foundation of the nation’s
democracy.
He said that other countries that had similar military
incursions in leadership had a different experience.
“But in our own case the greed of the military led to their
intervention which destroyed the foundation laid by the nation’s founding
fathers,’’ he said.
He explained that the Nigeria military had no capacity to
provide basic infrastructure to the governed for all the years they were in
power.
He said, “the greed of the military that led to the myriad
of military coups destroyed even the foundation of the military itself and this
truncated democracy in Nigeria.’’
Yola
Agricultural inputs worth more than N7 million were on
Tuesday in Yola distributed to 27 farmers’ groups from nine local government
areas of Adamawa.
Mr Chris Maxwell, the Project Manager of the Agricultural
Development Project ADP in Adamawa, gave the figure during the distribution of
the items.
Maxwell said that the inputs distributed were under the
community-based agriculture and rural development project.
He said, “Last year under the programme assorted
agricultural inputs worth N15 million were distributed, and similarly this
year, items worth more than N7 million will be distributed to farmers.
Nation
SIM-NIN: Subscribers Kick Against Today’s Deadline, Demand Extension
The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers has requested that the Nigerian Communications Commission extend the deadline scheduled for the disconnection of telephone lines not linked to National Identification Numbers beyond Friday, March 29, 2024.
The subscribers’ body argued that telco agents were failing to capture all necessary information needed for verification, just as it also cited difficulties in uploading the captured data on the National Identity Management Commission’s server.
The President of NATCOMS, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, told The Tide’s source last Wednesday that NCC needed to order telcos not to disconnect telephone lines, considering the ongoing difficulties faced by subscribers.
The telecom regulator had insisted that there would be no changes to the deadline for the next phase of disconnection
The disconnection process was rolled out in stages, with the second phase scheduled for March 29, 2024, following the initial phase that occurred on February 28, 2024.
The third phase is slated to commence on April 15, 2024, as previously announced.
Earlier, the Director of Public Publicity at the NCC, Reuben Mouka, told The PUNCH, “We issued a publication that you can refer to. We specified certain deadlines and stipulated that subscribers who do not comply with the directive would be barred. And that has not changed.”
The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers has requested that the Nigerian Communications Commission extend the deadline scheduled for the disconnection of telephone lines not linked to National Identification Numbers beyond Friday, March 29, 2024.
The subscribers’ body argued that telco agents were failing to capture all necessary information needed for verification, just as it also cited difficulties in uploading the captured data on the National Identity Management Commission’s server.
The President of NATCOMS, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, told the source on Wednesday that the NCC needed to order telcos not to disconnect telephone lines, considering the ongoing difficulties faced by subscribers.
The telecom regulator had insisted that there would be no changes to the deadline for the next phase of disconnection
The disconnection process was rolled out in stages, with the second phase scheduled for March 29, 2024, following the initial phase that occurred on February 28, 2024.
The third phase is slated to commence on April 15, 2024, as previously announced.
Earlier, the Director of Public Publicity at the NCC, Reuben Mouka, told the source, “We issued a publication that you can refer to. We specified certain deadlines and stipulated that subscribers who do not comply with the directive would be barred. And that has not changed.”
At the last deadline on February 28, 2024, about 40 million lines that were not linked to NIN were barred.
The NATCOM president said before the first deadline, subscribers had appealed to the NCC for a one-month extension.
However, the NCC explained that there was no issue as the process was designed to occur in phases.
According to the president, the Operator’s Consumer Centre stands as the primary location for consumers to complete their registration fully, with data provided there being verifiable.
However, the president noted that telecom agents were bypassing crucial information during the registration process, resulting in incomplete registrations of subscribers.
“For example, during interactions with telecom representatives, some agents fail to collect all required the information from subscribers.
“If a subscriber cannot provide certain details, agents often leave the registration incomplete. Consequently, these incomplete registrations are deemed unverifiable,” he said.
Further, Ogunbanjo noted that NIMC also shares responsibility in this process.
He said the challenges often arise when telecom companies attempt to upload collected data on NIMC’s server, owing to network issues.
“These network difficulties, beyond the control of subscribers, hinder the timely completion of the registration process,” he said.
“NIMC’s inadequate network infrastructure exacerbates the problem. While they intend to accept data uploads, technical issues prevent them from doing so effectively.
“We urge the NCC to address NIMC’s shortcomings, improve their services, and acknowledge that meeting the deadline will be challenging given the current issues,” the president added.
NIMC is a statutory Nigerian organisation that operates the country’s national identity management systems.
NIMC’s enrollment figures as of December 31, 2023, stand at over 104.16 million unique records.
About 530,345 Nigerians in Diaspora have gotten NINs. 59.12 million male and 45.04 million female Nigerians have NINs.
When The PUNCH reached out to NIMC for comments on technical glitches, the Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke, clarifies that the commission’s server has consistently remained operational, debunking reports suggesting otherwise.
He emphasizes that the NIMC’s services are fully functional and accessible to all users
“Our server has never been down. You can go to the various NIN centres and confirm.
Adegoke further explained the process for subscribers to link their NIN to their SIM cards,
“These individuals only need to submit their NIN and complete the verification process through their respective telcos providers.
He encouraged those who have not yet obtained their NIN to visit any NIMC centre for enrollment.
Adegoke assured Nigerians that upon enrollment, individuals can expect their NIN to be available within three hours.
However, for those requiring corrections, such as rectifying date of birth errors, the process may take up to 72 hours.
Last week, the National Identity Management Commission and the NCC issued a joint statement unveiling a strategic partnership aimed at simplifying the NIN-SIM linkage procedures for telecommunications subscribers nationwide.
Both agencies reaffirmed their dedication to enhancing the processes involved and improving efficiency regarding the NIN and SIM card linkage initiative.
They acknowledge the importance of this initiative in bolstering security measures and enhancing service delivery across the country.
The SIM-NIN linkage initiative is a crucial step towards improving the integrity of subscriber data and enhancing security measures within the telecommunications industry.
The NIN-SIM linkage policy was initially introduced by the Nigerian government in December 2020. This directive requires all telephone line users in Nigeria to associate their SIM cards with their NIN.
In December of the previous year, the NCC issued a directive stipulating that all telecommunications operators in Nigeria, including major providers like MTN, Airtel, and Globacom, among others, must enforce complete network barring on all phone lines for which subscribers have not provided their NINs by February 28, 2024.
Barely two weeks ago, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project issued a warning to take legal action against the NCC if it does not revoke the directive instructing network providers to block the phone lines of individuals who have not linked their SIM cards to their NINs.
Nation
Reps Query N15bn Payment To Remita
The House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee has queried the N15billion payment made to Remita from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for two years.
This is just as the committee accused the Central Bank of Nigeria and commercial banks of complicity in the sharing of the N15billion remittance.
The committee’s Chairman, Bamidele Salam, made the allegation at the resumed investigative hearing on revenue leakages in Abuja yesterday.
Remita is a payment solution that helps individuals and businesses make and receive payments, pay bills, and manage their finances.
The round table: Delta Bloodbath: Senate Meets Service Chiefs As Troops Comb Creeks.
Salam said that the Remita payment from the OAGF from 2016 to 2018 was questionable, adding that the OAGF paid the money without agreement or contract.
“The money is an illegal payment. There was no budget provision. So, where did they source the money from?” the chairman queried.
“If someone pays N150,000 as a Remita, you will pay 7.5 per cent Value-Added Tax in addition to it.
Salam said that the Remita payment from the OAGF from 2016 to 2018 was questionable, adding that the OAGF paid the money without agreement or contract.
“Ordinarily, that whole sum of VAT ought to go to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, but what they are doing in this transaction is that they will now add that VAT to the N150.000.
“They will add it up, gather the money together, and take it to the CBN,” he claimed.
He said, “System Spec and Remitta, both collecting revenue for the Federal Government, will share 50 per cent, while the banks and the CBN will also have their share.”
He said that by the time the committee finished its reconciliation, “I am very sure that hundreds of billions of naira will be the VAT component that was not remitted to FIRS.”
Salam stated that each bank ought to take the money and directly remit it to FIRS.
“Now, Remita is saying that each of those collecting the money will come and calculate the money that has been shared into shreds. Now, how do we track this kind of money? “he asked.
The Director, Banking Services, CBN, Mr.Ahmed Abdullahi, said it was necessary to source for an alternative way of remitting revenue, adding that Remita and System Spec were selected because they had been rendering similar services to banks.
The Chief Accountant, Treasury Single Account Department, Oyewole Adewale, representing the Accountant-General of the Federation, accused the CBN of not honouring its letters to reconcile the revenue accrued to the country through the Treasury Single Account.
He noted that the OAGF had developed a system where all revenue generated by the Ministries of Departments and Agencies of Government could now be monitored with little or no interference.
The Director, Remita Payment Services Ltd, Aderemi Atanda, while reading the summary of the TSA collection record, maintained that 10, 20, and 50 per cent were shared among CBN, commercial banks, and Remitta respectively.
Collections, he noted, often vary, saying, “In 2015.
Nation
Nigeria Needs Community-Driven Police, Not State Police -Shekarau
Former Governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, has said that the country needs to adopt community-driven police rather than establish state police.
Shekarau noted that it would be more effective in addressing the current security challenges in the country.
The former minister of education spoke in Akure at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) during the launch of a book titled ‘The Psychology of Growing Old: A Personal Experience for both Young and Old,’ written by Sehinde Arogbafa.
Shekarau argued that community police would be better controlled than state police as well as devoid of political and religious leaders’ influence.
He the involvement of communities in state policing would enhance trust, cooperation, and collaboration between the police and the citizens.
Shekarau argued that community police would be better controlled than state police as well as devoid of political and religious leaders’ influence.
He the involvement of communities in state policing would enhance trust, cooperation, and collaboration between the police and the citizens.
“I’ve been an advocate of community policing. It is different from what is being paraded as state police. Community policing means community watch.
“There is hardly any community in Nigeria that does not have what we call the vigilante group. All we need to do is the government should organise them, the government should own is up, and the government should promulgate a law.
“If I may give you an example of Kano, I’m sure you must have had experience with the Hisbah Guards; that is community watch. We set up a committee of 12 elders in every ward to do the selection of 20 responsible and respected young men for the Hisbah Guards. And we recruited them and mandated that the local government take charge of them. We’re paying them allowances. And they know everybody in the community.
“Within one to two years in Kano State, ask anybody; we don’t have any vices, no drugs, nothing in all the communities because that is community watch.
“We have over 10,000 Hisbah Guards in Kano; I did not nominate a single one; not a single party leader nominated one. It was all the elders in the community. The government created a law; we didn’t leave it in a vacuum. The number one assignment of the Hisbah Guards was to support and complement the work of all the Nigerian armed forces and the police. And they were working with them peacefully.
“Ask anybody in Kano today, and they will tell you that people prefer to report their cases to the Hisbah Guards office rather than even the police stations or even going to court. What we need in Nigeria is community watch, not just when you ask a state to create 2000 to 3000 state police bombarded by party thugs, and you will find out that you are going back to the same intimidation. There will be abuses by political leaders.
“But if you allow the communities to select with the backing of the government, the government will pay them all their allowances, provide vehicles for them, and support them, and there is a chain of command from the state to the local governments, to the wards, and even to the villages.
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