Featured
Coronavirus: Over 40 Health Workers Test Positive -FG …Mulls Local Vaccines For Prevention, Cure …CACOVID Strategises To Curb Community Spread …AS NCDC Ramps Up 10,000 Tests
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, yesterday, said that over 40 health workers in the country have tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19), as a result of exposure.
He stressed that it has become critically important for health workers to maintain a high index of suspicion and protect themselves adequately with personal protective equipment (PPE) in the line of duty.
Ehanire, who made this known at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 in Abuja, said that: “I applaud our health workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government will continue to provide you with the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) and I urge you to take all necessary precautions for your own safety.
“Please, do not treat any patient without using adequate PPE, frontline health workers must undertake refresher training on IPC at intervals.
“This advice became necessary due to the number of health workers who have tested positive, over 40 now, for COVID-19 or been quarantined, in the last two weeks due to exposure, and therefore not being able to contribute to the health sector effort. I urge you all to remain vigilant in the line of duty and maintain a high index of suspicion for COVID-19.
“We are still on hazard allowance for frontline health workers, as proposals have to be validated by the PTF. They also have to be validated by other authorities like the Minister of Finance, etc. Therefore, there are other processes that will take place before it is announced. It is a work in progress and will not be hidden.”
The minister decried the underutilisation of the ‘excess’ testing capacity of the country, explaining that even though Nigeria has the capacity to test 1,500 persons daily, daily testing still averages around 600.
According to him: “Today, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) laboratories have capacity to test 1,500 samples per day in 13 laboratories across the country. However, we are testing on average 600 samples per day because that is all the samples collected and sent for testing. This means that there is a certain underutilisation.
“Factors implicated in the process may include surveillance sample collection and mode of transportation, which can be improved to increase operational efficiency.
“In fact, we have excess capacity for the 13 laboratories that are functioning, but our own strategy is that of smart testing, that is, testing where you feel you will have yield. We have to be very careful about our reagents.
“We are also trying to use our resources as wisely as possible because we have an estimated population of 200million people, so we have to be ready to cater for all of them.
“This is where a little investment can help. The results of such intensification of efforts can be seen, especially in Lagos where improved logistic management increased sample collection and significantly reduced turnaround time.
“As we further increase our testing capacity and accredit more laboratories, an even more robust sample transportation infrastructure will be in place, to promptly convey samples to any of the 13 labs activated so far.
“Nigeria’s strategy is to admit all persons who test positive for Covid-19 into designated accredited treatment facilities to contain the spread of the virus and ensure prompt management to forestall complications.”
Also, the Federal Government has said that it will not rule out homegrown vaccine towards the prevention and cure of the Coronavirus (Covid-19).
The Minster of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said this while fielding questions from Journalists at the Presidential task force on Covid-19 daily press briefing against the backdrop of some countries coming up with locally manufactured vaccines for Covid-19.
Speaking on who was eligible to go a Covid-19 test, the minister said: “Nigerians living in an area that has clusters of people who have the disease are eligible to be tested for the virus.
“The structure of the response, is: Test, Treat, Trace and Isolate for Covid-19, the idea is to test people based on set criteria,” he said.
These, he said, are travel history, contacts or symptoms or clusters for the best prospects of high yield then; place those with positive test in treatment and isolation; trace all their contacts and quarantine them for 14 days.
“Today NCDC laboratories have capacity to test 1,500 samples per day in 13 laboratories across the country. However, we are testing on average of about 600 samples per day because that is all the samples collected and sent for testing.
“Factors implicated in the process may include surveillance, sample collection and mode of transportation, which can be improved to increase operational efficiency. This is where a little investment can help,” he said.
According to him, the results of such intensification of efforts can be seen especially in Lagos where improved logistic management increased sample collection and significantly reduced turn-around time.
Ehanire said that efforts were ongoing to further increase the testing capacity and accredit more laboratories.
“A robust sample transportation infrastructure in place, to promptly convey samples to any of the 13 laboratories activated so far.
“This mitigates the need for urgent establishment of a PCR laboratory, as well as the valuable time and personnel needed to prioritise case findings.
“The recommended global best practice is to admit all persons who test positive for Covid-19 into designated accredited treatment facilities to contain the spread of the virus and ensure prompt management of cases to avoid complications,” he said.
The minister said that some persons who have tested positive for Covid-19 in Nigeria, were not in any of the designated accredited isolation and treatment centres.
“This is a significant threat to public health and national security as the ministry cannot account for such persons and ascertain the containment of their infection.
“States are strongly encouraged to ensure that all persons who test positive for Covid-19 are admitted at the designated centres,” he noted.
He said that contact tracing was the key to containing the infection. As persons were confirmed positive for Covid-19, he said that the government must trace all contacts they had in the previous 14 days.
“This aims to arrest transmission by corralling positive cases and potential cases before further transmission occurs.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had finalised contact tracing guidelines with all states to actively aid case finding.
As of April, 23, 873 people in 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been confirmed to have Covid-19 from 9,522 tests.
The 91 additional confirmations are as follows: 74 in Lagos, five in Katsina, four in Ogun, two each in Delta and Edo, one each in Adamawa, Kwara, Oyo and FCT.
The NCDC said 197 persons have been successfully treated for Covid-19 and discharged home, while 28 deaths have sadly been recorded.
Meanwhile, as part of its plans to handover isolation centres it built for some states, the Private Sector-led Coalition Against Covid-19 (CACOVID) is to commence capacity development for Healthcare Personnel in the areas of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) to reduce community transmission.
The CACOVID said in Lagos that it would engage National Centre for Disease Control and other Resource Partners like CHAI, DRASA and others to define scope of work and training curriculum.
Speaking on behalf of Leaders of the coalition, Ms Zouera Youssoufou, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) disclosed that CACOVID would start implementing training for the healthcare personnel first across four states – Kano, Rivers, Enugu, and Borno and then extend to other states of the federation.
She stated that the coalition would tap into the expertise of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to organise a systematic training programme for all primary health workers to help reduce the rate of community transmission of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the country.
Youssoufou explained that the private sector group is to handover some isolation centres it has concluded building to the state governments and commence distribution of food stuffs to the vulnerable during the period of lockdown in Nigeria.
According to her, in order to curb community transmission and educate the medical personnel on proper handling of the Covid-19 cases, CACOVID would partner relevant agencies for capacity building and that in that regard the primary healthcare sector remained one of the top priorities of the coalition.
She said, “training of health workers is one of the most important things we need to do to help curb the spread of the virus within the community health care system. Giving them the tools, knowledge and understanding is critical to the fight against this pandemic.
“The training became necessary because the health workers need to know what to do when they encounter anyone with Coronavirus. Right now, we are working with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency to organise a systematic health care training programme for all primary health workers, such as nurses and doctors to properly train them on how to handle Covid-19 cases.”
She disclosed that CACOVID was also involved in the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to help the Federal Government’s effort in curbing the spread of the scourge.
“Right now, our priority is to be as effective as we can in helping to curtail this Covid-19 threat. We are working on more comprehensive health intervention, which is around improving the quality of our Primary Health Care system in Nigeria. We have had a very big conversation with the Primary Health Care Development Agency and we want them to do as much as they can to make sure the heath care sector is able to attend to people’s needs”, she added.
According to her, CACOVID has also been in the forefront of galvanizing individual entrepreneurs and corporate bodies to contribute to the Coalition.
Youssoufou reiterated that plans have been concluded to provide food relief packages for all the states in the federation, covering 5% of the population, or 1.7 million households in Nigeria.
She described this gesture as a palliative by the private sector operators to cushion the effects Covid-19 on the vulnerable during nationwide lockdown.
The agreed food package by CACOVID contains 10kg rice, 5kg Garri, 1 carton Pasta (20 packs), 1 carton noodles (40 packs), 5kg sugar and 1 Kg salt.
She added that the isolation centres, which are being set up by CACOVID, would be well equipped with beddings, medical equipment, Personal Protective Equipment and other necessary tools needed for the treatment of Coronavirus.
In a related development, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has revealed that till date, 10,000 persons have been tested for Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the country.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, who disclosed this at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, yesterday, in Abuja, urged people to stop playing the game of numbers by comparing Nigeria’s testing capacity with that of countries like South Africa, Ghana etc.
According to him, “We have a very good strategy around testing. Until recently, we had about 5,000 test but last week, we have moved from 5,000 to 10,000 tests. We are going to continue to scale up our testing rapidly. We have just got our first set of reagents for high throughput testing.
“We know that the numbers are always thrown around comparing us with South Africa and Ghana, but we are not playing the game of numbers here, these are people’s lives – human beings. Before we test anyone, we go through a risk assessment to make sure it is appropriate to test the person.”
Concerning the situation in Kano State, the NCDC boss said: “We need time. We have reports that there have been deaths. Our first line of action is to verify if it is true and what will be our next line of action if that is the case.
“We have a team that is working with the government of Kano state to verify the incident and make sure that what is going on is actually what is being reported. Then, we will carry out control measures and see if it is an infectious disease, Covid-19, or something else.
“Unlike Lagos that has a gradual increase in cases, the cases are really increasing rapidly in Kano state. Kano state situation is not a very simple thing to manage. We are working with them to increase the organisational efficiency of response. Also, the treatment centre in Kano State has a capacity of about 300.”
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, in his address, added: “Every country has its own strategy to combat the Coronavirus. In Nigeria, we are not flattening the curve but we are pushing the curve to one side so that we have enough time to prepare our ‘not very strong’ health system.
“Also, in the beginning, we did not have enough re-agents, in fact, we carried-out our tests in South Africa. But two months down the line, we can carry out our own tests with the 13 existing NCDC laboratories across the country.
“Concerning the use of rapid test kits, the World Health Organisation (WHO), has not validated any of it. They believe that the results are not reliable but it probably gives you a direction. Therefore, there is not enough faith in rapid diagnostic test.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the World Health Organisation have redeployed 17 persons to Kano State to support the fight against Coronavirus in the state.
The National Coordinator, PTF, Dr. Sani Aliyu, said this during the daily Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 briefing in Abuja, yesterday.
According to him, additional lab equipment were sent to Kano, yesterday, though fumigation and disinfection of the Kano molecular laboratory continue “for the next few days.”
Aliyu said, “The PTF has directed and, in line with the directive, the NCDC has already redeployed at least 17 persons, including seven from the WHO, to Kano to deal with the current issues that have arisen.
“In addition, the director-general, NCDC has worked with the state emergency operating centre to reorganise the way it functions and a joint team, together with that from the state government, is currently investigating the concerns with regard to this.”
The PTF coordinator noted that some states continued to record a low level of testing.
“You will not have a case if you have never tested for it.
“We are encouraging the state emergency operating centres to actively look for cases in the community, especially those presenting symptoms consistent with Covid-19 or those who have unusual respiratory illnesses in hospitals and actively go out to test these people.
“This is the only way we can interrupt transmission. The earlier we do this, the better overall,” he said.
The Chairman of the PTF and Secretary the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, in his remarks, said the task force continued to monitor and modify its strategy in states as development unfolds.
He said, “Our assessment of the impact of the lockdown is still ongoing and I wish to confirm to you that the DG NCDC and the WHO representative have returned from their tour of nine states and their report will be received and evaluated, preparatory to making the appropriate recommendations.
“The situation in Kano is still being assessed and monitored closely.
“Based on preliminary findings, the PTF has directed the NCDC to send an enhanced support team, mobilise resources for contact tracing and immediately ensure necessary steps are taken, in conjunction with the state government, to contain the spread of the pandemic in Kano and stop the city from becoming the next epicentre.”
Letters
Ban On Christians Fellowship In Universities
If the story making the rounds on two Nigerian universities being sued for allegation of their ban on Christian fellowship in the campus is anything to go by, then Nigeria is in for another trouble.
According to the story, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Katsina State branch, in conjunction with an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF International), has instituted an action against two universities in Katsina State for indefinitely banning Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campuses.
The suit was said to have been filed against the two universities for violating the right to religious freedom by “indefinitely prohibiting” Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campus.
The Christian legal advocacy group further alleged that one of the universities enforced the ban by locking all worship and fellowship centre on university grounds, preventing Christian students and groups from accessing the facilities and banning them from meeting for worship and fellowship elsewhere on campus while their Muslim counterparts at both universities have been permitted to hold worship and fellowship meetings in university-constructed worship and meeting spaces.
Recall that in 2017, there was a news report on the outlaw of any other religious or tribal association on campus besides the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria by the authorities of the Umar Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina, Katsina State. A circular credited to the institution’s acting Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Sulaiman Kankara, which was later disowned by the university, contained the directive.
The last time I checked, Nigeria is a democratic, circular state where every individual is free to practise any religion of her choice. Section 38 of the Nigerian constitution provides: “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”
It is therefore wrong for a public university to indulge in this discriminatory act. A university is supposed to be an intellectual environment where people should be allowed some level of freedom. There must be robust fellowship and inter-faith relationship. People must be able to relate with each other without any discrimination or stigmatisation.
Knowing how delicate issues on religion are in Nigeria, one hopes that the authorities of the institutions concerned should swiftly look into the report and retrace their steps. The court should be objective in deciding the case and give students of other religions some leverage of freedom. It must be stated that the judgment on this case should not be delayed to avoid any retaliation in other parts of the country.
We already have a lot of issues to deal with in the country. Adding a religious crisis to it could be disastrous. Any university established and funded by either the federal, state or local government, should have freedom of religion. Let there be no more trouble in the country, please.
Waheed Abiodun,
Victoria Street,
Port Harcourt Township.
The NIMC, NCC Partnership
Reports have it that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed that they have partnered to enhance seamless linkage of National Identification Number-SIM across the federation.
Both Commissions said that in recognising the significance of this initiative in enhancing security and improving service delivery, they were committed to improving processes and enhancing efficiency.
This is a welcome development. It has been worrisome why Nigerians should be made to go through the rigorous process of linking their National Identification Number (NIN) with their phone numbers every now and then. Some people who engage in online transactions have recorded some losses over the past few weeks as some internet providers barred their lines due to their inability to successfully do the linkage.
Two weeks ago, I went to a High Court for an official engagement and was shocked to see the number of people seeking to get court affidavits for the linkage of the NIN with the phone numbers so that their line will be unbarred.
It is therefore hoped that the NIMC, NCC partnership will remove all the bottlenecks surrounding the Nin, SIM linkage and make the process very seamless. It is also hoped that this will be the beginning of the process of proper identity management in the country and gradual collapse of all the various forms of identification – Drivers Licence, Voters Card, NIMC card. Bank cards etc into one identity card so that one would not have to be moving around with loads of identity cards.
Ebele Ubani,
Jabi, Abuja.
The Unwanted Strike
Just when the students of Nigeria public universities are rejoicing that there had been a no interruption in the universities’ academic calendar for sometiime, the news about the warning strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU), broke.
The Joint Action Committee of the two organisations had directed members to commence a seven day warning strike last week, following the federal government’s inability to pay their four months’ withheld salary.
I do not even understand why the government should allow labour unions to down tools before acting on their demands. Did President Bola Tinubu not direct that university workers that were on prolonged strike in 2022 and their salaries stopped by the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration after the invocation of “No Work, No Pay” policy, should be paid four months of the withheld salaries?
Have members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) not been paid in line with the president’s directive? Why were SSANU, NASU and unions concerned not paid? These bodies issued an ultimatum to the federal government. Why was there no effort to address their grievances within the window period?
It is said that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. So, the government, having paid ASUU, should also endeavour to settle SSANU and NASU so that there shall be no interruption in our academic calendar. We did no wrong by choosing public universities. Government, ASUU, SSANU, NASU and what have you should let us learn in peace and graduate at the record time like our colleagues in private universities, please.
IB Michael,
University of Port Harcourt,
Port Harcourt.
Letters
Obi Should Do More, Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage, Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
Obi Should Do More
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has continued to voice out his opinion on the happenings in the country. On the budget padding scandal currently rocking the upper chamber of the National Assembly, he has told the Senate to provide Nigerians with some explanations on the matter.
He said the claims and counter-claims over the alleged N3 Trillion which was alleged by Senator Abdul Ningi to have been padded into the 2024 budget, requires proper explanation as to what Nigerians must need to know regarding management of the nation’s, insisting that the suspension of Senator Ningi for three months does not address the issue.
The Labour party chieftain had also expressed his concern over the hunger in the country a few days ago. He raised the alarm that Nigerians were spending all their money on food.
It is commendable of Obi to have stood with the masses at this critical time in the nation’s history and be critical of negative happenings in the country and bad government policies. However, Obi should do more than just criticising. It is said that “a tree cannot make a forest”. Therefore, Obi should galvanise all the law makers both on the national and state levels to tow the same line with him, which should be seen as the position of the Labour Party.
In 2023, there was a revolution in the country. People of all walks of life, of various religions and tribes trouped out in support of the labour party because they believed in Mr Peter Obi. People saw the Labour Party as a needed alternative to the two most populous political parties, PDP and APC. Based on Obi’s personality and popularity, some people who ordinarily would not have won councillorship positions in their communities were elected into state and national assemblies. Many of them won the elections for free, spending no shi shi.
Painfully, after assuming the exalted positions, many of them, especially those in the national assembly seem to have forgotten the masses. It is now business as usual. Among the seven senators and 36 House of Representative members of the Labour Party in the National Assembly, which one of them has moved a strong motion about the hardship currently being faced by the masses and how to address it? How many of them stood by Senator Ningi on the budget padding revelation? What out the exotic cars distributed to them, how many of them advised that they should go for less expensive cars and the excess money channelled into developmental projects? It has become a case of one not talking while on the dining table, right?
Obi should be able to organise his party to form a formidable opposition and a party that does things differently, a party that stands with the people. If the labour party elected political office holders carry on the way they have done since they came into office, they will keep de-marketing their party, forgetting that 2027 is just around the corner.
Ngozi Omeje,
Umuahia, Abia State.
Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage
I have followed the discussion on the proposed new minimum wage with keen interest and I just hope the leadership of the organised labour will be firm enough to represent the workers and refuse to fall prey to the ploy to disunite them.
It is disheartening seeing workers come up with different amounts as the proposed minimum wage. While the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, demanded that South-West states should pay N794,000 the Trade Union Congress, TUC, asked for N447,000. Similarly, workers in the Federal Capital Territory demanded N709,000, while their counterparts in the North-West clamoured for N485,000.
This idea of singing in discordant tunes is not good for strong unionism. I recall my days as a civil servant in Ibadan, Oyo state. That was during the time of Adams Oshiomhole as the National President of the NLC. The labour union was a force to be reckoned with and whenever the workers barked, the government caught cold. The increase in workers’ wages was fought for as body. There was nothing like federal workers going to the left and the state workers going to the right. Of course then, in 2000, the TUC did not exist as a separate body. The entire workers spoke in unison.
Yes, the states did reserve the right to say whether they can pay the national minimum wage or not but the national body of the NLC was carried along in the negotiation. Please, the NLC and TUC should come together and present a common front in the new minimum wage quest and ensure that workers in the states also get a fair deal. If not, some of the greedy governors will continue to subject the workers to hardship.
Pa Micheal Adeniran,
Rumuogba Housing Estate, Port Harcourt.
Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
“Today, he’s responding to a remark by the Governor that has nothing to do with him. The opposition is urging the Senate president to be mindful of his utterances. How can he turn the burial of late Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son, such a sad moment, to a political attack?. It’s disappointing. That’s political recklessness taken too far. We, the opposition parties, won’t tolerate such utterances anymore if it continues.”
Above was the response of a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, unguarded remark on Gov. Siminalayi Fubara’s comment during the burial of the late Access Holdings Plc GCEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son last weekend.
It is hoped that Akpabio will heed to the advice and learn how to talk in public. Tracing his character as a public servant and political office holder in various capacities over the years, one would notice that the senate president lacks the act of public speaking and carriage.
Was it not recently that he announced that the clerk of the house had sent money to each of the senators’ personal account for their holiday enjoyment only to be called to other and he changed it to ”In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” What about the “honourable minister off your mic” shameful display.
Whoever wants to die seeking public/political office should go ahead but leave our dear governor alone.
Loveth Opusunju
Minima, Opobo, Rivers State.
Featured
Fubara Promises Rivers Support For Wigwe Varsity …Cautions Political Class On Power Tussle
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has promised the state government’s commitment to supporting Wigwe University.
Fubara disclosed this on Saturday after the funeral service of the late Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, in Isiokpo, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Wigwe, alongside his wife, Doreen, and son, Chizzy, died in a helicopter crash in California near the Nevada border, United States of America.
Also involved in the crash was the Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
The governor said, “I want to say our brother has finished his work, though short. We, as a government, will do everything with the Wigwe Foundation to immortalise one thing.
“It is not the bank, the bank might have a new identity, a new boss to run it, other ventures will also have their names; but one thing that has his name is Wigwe University.
“We will do everything within our power to make sure the dream will continue to live just as he has planned it.”
Fubara questioned the mourners as to why they kept chasing worldly desires, stressing the significance of impacting lives rather than struggling for power.
“This one has to do with the political class, what is all these struggle all about? You want to kill, you want to bury, what is it all about?
“This is a man who was not a politician, he made his money through our investments, he had the world in his palm financially, he controlled even the political classes; but today, with all the power financially couldn’t control life. Is it not enough to ask ourselves why are we struggling? Why are we not making an impact on the lives of our people?” he queried.
Dignitaries present at the funeral service include the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria , Sanusi Lamido; Governors Alex Otti (Abia) Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Babajide Sawwo-Olu (Lagos).
Other dignitaries are former governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Peter Obi (Anambra), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Bukola Saraki (Kwarra), and James Ibori (Delta), among others.
-
Education3 days ago
Old Students Plan N1bn Rehabilitation For Ekiti School
-
News3 days ago
Police Mourn Six Slain Officers, Declare Six Others Missing In Delta
-
Rivers1 day ago
HYPREP Completes Six Water Projects, Three Booster Stations In Ogoniland
-
News1 day ago
Fubara Dissolves Sanitation Task Force, Appoints Interim Head
-
Politics3 days ago
Osun PDP Alleges Plot To Arrest Govt, Party Officials
-
News3 days ago
Nigeria Scales Global Aviation Safety, Security Audit
-
News1 day ago
The European Union (EU) says it will end its five-year Agents for Citizen-Driven Transformation (ACT) programme aimed at enhancing the capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria, on April 14. Mr Damilare Babalola, the National Programme Manager, ACT, said this on Tuesday at a brief event in Port Harcourt. Babalola said that the conclusion of the programme would automatically mean an end for the 21 CSOs based in Rivers. He stated that the EU-funded programme, valued at 13.1 million euros, was executed by the British Council across 10 states, with a presence in the 36 states of the federation. “The programmes’ goals are to assist CSOs in becoming more credible, accountable and effective agents of change, for sustainable development in Nigeria. “The implementation focussed on providing capacity-building skills, referred to as capacity development support to CSOs, to enhance their effectiveness. “Additionally, it aimed to evaluate the regulatory environment for CSOs and promote strategic coordination among them and other key stakeholders in terms of collaboration and advocate, for appropriate legislation and regulations,” he explained. Babalola identified the benefitting states as Adamawa, Borno, Edo, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). “The ACT programme commenced in 2019 and will officially conclude on April 14, marking the end of five-years of active implementation in the country. “Rivers was among the states where we initiated the programme during our phase two launch in 2020, and we are here to formally close the ACT programme in the state. “ACT has addressed significant challenges affecting the effectiveness and impact of civil societies, especially in creating an enabling regulatory environment,” he added. He expressed confidence that in spite of ACT’s departure from the country, civil society groups have gained sufficient capacity to effectively carry out their responsibilities in their respective focus areas within the communities. The programme manager noted that 273 CSOs benefitted from the programme across the country, with 233 CSOs receiving capacity-building training and 40 others trained to enhance regulatory conditions. In his remark, ACT Rivers Focal Person, Mr Temple Oraeki, emphasised the importance of CSOs collaborating with the state government and international donor agencies to advance their programmes and projects within the communities. “The 21 CSOs, comprising of eight community-based organisations and three network coalitions in Rivers, now serve as our ambassadors, equipped to make positive impact in society. “Therefore, we are leaving behind organisations that are credible partners for the government and international donor agencies to execute their programmes in communities,” he said. Gov. Siminialayi Fubara of Rivers, expressed the state’s readiness to engage with CSOs to implement government policies and programmes in the various communities where they operate. Represented by Diokuma Ismael, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Fubara lauded the EU and British Council for their interventions in the state. “The success of the ACT programme has undoubtedly enhanced the value of civil society organisations in the state and nationwide. “We are prepared to partner with the CSOs that have impacted communities, once all necessary documentations are concluded. “However, it is crucial for CSOs to adhere to proper regulations, to enable the government to identify with them for sustainable development,” he said. Fubara urged the civil society groups to align with the state government’s policy to drive positive change in the communities.
-
Politics1 day ago
Senate Hails Kuriga Students Rescue, Says Military Overstretched