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Minister Wants Home-Grown Poverty Ranking Mechanism

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Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed, has called for the adoption of a home-grown poverty ranking mechanism that would suit Nigeria.
At an interactive forum on statistical basis for targeting the poor and vulnerable in Abuja, Ahmed said that each yardstick for measurement has its peculiar challenges.
“Poverty ranking is not new across the world, different countries have adopted different methods to rank poverty and each has its own value as well as its own challenges.
“As a country, we must agree on which mechanism works better for us considering our peculiar circumstances.
“Today we shall be listening to the presentations that will highlight the different mechanisms of poverty ranking.
“We should also be looking at how to benchmark and what method we will decide to adopt that is acceptable by at least a majority of us.
“Statistically based ranking must be transparent in administration.
“That is one of the key things we must be looking out for today.
The minister said the forum would proffer solution to most of the ills of past interventions and also provide the key to unlocking the needs of social interventions in the country.
Ahmed said that Nigeria needs a uniform poverty ranking platform that would eliminate the use of different benchmarks for different interventions.
She said that various stakeholders were carefully selected for the task due their political and technical expertise.
“We can only succeed as agencies of government and development partners if we harmonise our efforts and work together.
“We must stop confusing our systems with conflicting approaches.
‘’We must speak and work towards a single register and harmonised mechanism and also adopt a ranking mechanism.
“So that, irrespective of what the implementation is, the intervention of the outcome will be the same and will be positive.’’
Similarly, the World Bank Country Director, Mr Rachid Benmessaoud, said the Bank would continue its assistance in reducing poverty in Nigeria.
The director, who was represented by Prof. Foluso Ogunmadewa, said the government was providing robust measures to confront economic growth challenges.
He said the bank’s partnership with Nigeria to build social interventions had been successful both at the state and federal levels.
The bank official added that the adoption of an acceptable mechanism for poverty ranking was a welcome development.

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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24 hours ago

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September 22, 2025

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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September 22, 2025

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) 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, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
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.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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24 hours ago

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September 22, 2025

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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