Connect with us

News

Perm Sec Cautions Against Forests Depletion

Published

on

Nigeria loses up to 1.36

per cent of its forests annually, according to Mr Ayotunde Oyeniyi, the Permanent Secretary, Kwara State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Oyeniyi said this in a statement issued after the inauguration of the Fadama Community Forest Management Committee yesterday in Ilorin.

“Nigeria is losing as much as 1. 36 per cent of its forests annually and if the trend is allowed to continue, there will be no forest left in Nigeria by the close of the century”, the statement, quoted him as saying.

As panacea for the depletion of the forest, he said that the Kwara Government had embarked on the planting of more than 112 hectares of forest trees.

He said that the feat had endeared the state to the World Bank-Supported Critical Ecosystem Management Project under Fadama III.

He said under the scheme, 663 farmers in the state had established personal fruit tree plantations at Ajase-Ipo Watershed in Irepodun local government area of the state.

“Research has proved that one hectare of well managed forests has the potential to remove as much as 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually”, the permanent secretary said.

He called for the protection of existing forests and the establishment of new ones through massive tree planting by government at all levels.

Meanwhile, the Wife of the Katsina State Governor, Hajiya Fatima Shema, has urged stakeholders in forest preservation and afforestation to assist the government to resuscitate the Rugu forest Reserves.

Hajiya Shema made the call in Katsina yesterday at a meeting with officials of her NGO, Service to Humanity Foundation and the participating local governments bordering the forest.

She said that the call became imperative in view of the fact that the forest was in serious need of rehabilitation.

According to her, concerted efforts have been made toward resuscitating the forest, including tree planting and fencing of the planted trees to protect them and nurture them to maturity.

She said: “stakeholders should adopt a working plan to ensure the survival of the planted trees as well as to protect the forest reserves.’’

In his remarks, Alhaji Aminu Safana, the Special Adviser to the state governor on environment, said that the government would support the NGO to achieve its aims and objectives.

He commended the efforts of founder and the organisation in complementing the activities of his department in forest preservation and environmental protection.

The meeting attracted representatives of the state Ministry of Agriculture and acting chairmen of the local governments bordering the Rugu Forest Reserves, among others.

The Rugu Forest Reserves, popularly called ‘Daji Rugu’, is one of the major forest reserves in the northern part of the country.

Continue Reading

News

FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

Published

on

The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.

Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.

He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.

“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.

He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.

“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.

 “We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.

“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.

He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.

Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.

He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.

Continue Reading

News

FAAC Disburses N2.225trn For August, Highest In Nigeria

Published

on

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.

This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.

The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.

Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.

The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.

From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.

From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.

Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.

From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.

Continue Reading

News

KenPoly Governing Council Decries Inadequate Power Supply, Poor Infrastructure On Campus

Published

on

The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.

The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.

The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the  Polytechnic, recently.

Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.

He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.

This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly,  Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.

The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.

Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.

He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.

The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.

Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.

 

Chinedu Wosu

Continue Reading

Trending