Business
Good Governance: Amaechi Urges Training For LG Bosses
The Rivers State Government has called on the European Union to assist in the training of local government Chairmen and other strategic officers on good governance to enable the people at the grassroots get maximum value from local government administration.
Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi made the call Saturday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the European Union (EU) and the Rivers State Government at Government House, Port Harcourt.
The governor, who frowned at the performance of local government council chairmen in the state, said the state government was prepared to partner with the EU in the training of key officers on transparency so that the people at the grass roots could entrust the management of their resources and believe in the programmes of government.
“Very few of them are doing well”, the governor stressed, while restating the need to train the local government chief executives to appreciate the difference between public and private funds.
“We will be equally glad if you can train these people according to best practices in local governance”, he said, noting that governance at the grassroots level at the moment was like a place where loyalists gather to share the national cake.
Governor Amaechi, who signed the agreement on behalf of the state government, expressed delight at the interest of the European Union to partner in the development of the state, adding that he was hopeful that the synergy between both parties would provide succour for the people, especially in terms of development.
In his speech at the event, the representative of the European Union (EU), Mr Ramon Reigada said the Memorandum of Understanding would among other things encourage reforms and community participation in the Niger Delta states and urged the local and state governments to provide more service delivery in terms of basic infrastructures.
Mr Reigada, who is the Head of Rural, Social, Health, Water and Sanitation Unit of the EU in Nigeria, said the size of the micro-projects would be increased compared to the previous MPPs, noting that about 130 micro-projects will be financed in each state under the new scheme.
Earlier, the Minister of National Planning, Dr Shamsuddeen Usman said the EU interest in the development of the Niger Delta was aimed at creating visibility in the area, promote gender equality, accountability in local government areas and awareness creation on gender and human rights.
The Minister, who was represented by Mr Abiodun Taiwo also expressed optimism that the partnership between the National Planning Commission, the EU and the Rivers State Government will be of great benefit to the people.
The Nigerian stock market began the week on a negative note as banking and consumer goods stocks, among others, triggered a N19.49bn loss.
At the end of trading on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited , the NGX All-Share Index dropped by 0.09 per cent to end at 43,270.94 basis points, while the market capitalisation declined to N22.58tn.
Market activities were mixed as the total volume of shares traded decreased by 30.19 per cent while the value traded rose by 34.05 per cent.
A total of 213.13 million shares valued at N2.36bn were exchanged in 4,105 deals, compared to 305.32 million shares worth N3.58bn in 4,450 deals last Friday.
FCMB Group Plc topped the traded stocks in terms of volume, accounting for 27.43 per cent of the total volume of trades while Airtel Africa Plc emerged as the most traded stock by value, representing 28.81 per cent of the total value of trades on the exchange.
14 firms gained compared to 21 losers.
AIICO Insurance Plc was the biggest gainer for the day, topping the gainers’ chart with a price appreciation of 8.57 per cent to N0.76 per share.
It was followed by LivingTrust Mortgage Bank Plc with a rise of 7.95 per cent, ending the day at N0.95 per share.
Analysing by sectors, three of the five major indices closed lower, led by NGX Oil & Gas (-0.56 per cent), NGX Consumer Goods (-0.23 per cent) and NGX Banking (0.18 per cent).
But the insurance (0.82 per cent) and industrial goods (0.002 per cent) indices gained at the end of trading.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced the Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES), which provides undergraduates and graduates with a platform to access loans.
The TIES’ underlying aim is to provide access to capital for Nigerian undergraduates and graduates with innovative entrepreneurial and technological ideas from polytechnics and universities.
TIES intends to shift undergraduates and graduates away from white-collar job pursuits and towards a culture of entrepreneurship development for economic development and job creation.
In a national biennial entrepreneurship competition, the Developmental Component would be distributed in the form of awards to Nigerian polytechnics and universities.
The competition aims to increase undergraduates’ awareness and visibility of high-impact entrepreneurial/technological concepts, foster entrepreneurial talent hunts in Nigerian polytechnics and universities, and encourage commercially viable and transformative technologies.
Interested Nigerian polytechnics and universities shall apply to participate in the national biennial entrepreneurship competition on a dedicated online portal.
Outlining brief details of the project, potential impact and evidence of originality of project, CBN said it is an innovation for students entrepreneurs.
The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) has lauded the Federal Government and tax authorities on the giant strides made on fiscal policy decisions and tax administration measures initiated this year in the area of Finance Act 2021 and the introduction of TaxPromax solution.
President of the institute, Adesina Adedayo, who gave the commendation at the institute’s yearly award ceremony at the weekend in Lagos, assured the government and tax authorities of aligning with the measures and promised to provide professional thoughts and insights on ways through which they could achieve an efficient and effective Nigerian tax system.
Adedayo emphasised the need to address the database, adding that without knowing who the tax-payers are, there is no way they can take money from unknown tax-payers.
Database is the aspect we have been emphasising on as an institute and in doing this, there are so many of pockets of data we have. All the data must be harmonised to have a simple unique tax-payers identification number,” he said.
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