Nation
Flood: Niger Inaugurates N779m HYPPADEC 160 Housing Units
Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello, has inaugurated the N779million Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) 160 housing units for flood victims in the state.
Bello, at the inauguration ceremony in Mokwa and Edati Local Government Areas of the state Last Friday, stated that the victims in Muregi and Ketso communities would be the beneficiaries of the scheme.
Bello said, “the state government in conjunction with the local governments will setup a committee that will be saddled with the responsibility of relocating victims in the two communities as soon as this project is completed.
“Efforts like this will guarantee the safety of lives and properties in our communities.
“It is my hope that this project will be completed within the shortest possible time so that efforts will be made to relocate the flood victims in Muregi and Ketso,” he said.
The governor assured the people that the state government would provide access roads to the two communities to ease movement of goods and services in the areas.
According to him, the electrification project of the communities would soon be completed and inaugurated to boost socio-economic activities in the areas.
Also speaking , the Managing Director, HYPPADEC, Alhaji Abubakar Yelwa said that, “each of this housing units is estimated at the cost of N4,870,161.14.
“Following intensive needs assessment and professional survey by HYPPADEC, the commission decided to construct 120 housing units in Muregi town of Mokwa local government area and 40 housing units in Ketso village of Edati local government area.”
Yelwa said each of the housing unit has two bedrooms, one sitting room, one convenience, one kitchen and one veranda.
He said each housing unit shall occupy half of the plot size allocated to it, while the remaining half shall be left for future expansions.
The Managing Director said to ensure accessibility to the buildings and prevent flooding, the commission would construct access roads and earth drainages at the site.
He said the entire project would be carried out using efficient and sustainable construction materials, under the supervision of the commission’s Directorate of Engineering and Technical Services.
He said each of the housing unit would be occupied by persons that have been facing intermittent displacement as a result of floods and other ecological disasters.
Yelwa explained the choice of Muregi and Ketso for the project was predicated on the fact that the communities have suffered frequent flooding since 2015 adding that the project would be completed within three months as the contractor had been mobilised.
The Managing Director further lauded the state government, governing council and management of the commission for their support in realising the project.
On his part, the Chairman, State Council of Traditional Rulers, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar Etsu Nupe, promised the support of the traditional institution to enable the project succeed.
Earlier, Alhaji Abdullahi Muregi, Chairman Mokwa local government area, commended the state government and HYPPADEC for the gesture.
Muregi appealed to the state government to find a way of settling the crisis ravaging Zakagi community in council to prevent the loss of lives and properties.
It was gathered that the housing resettlement scheme would cover the six HYPPADEC states of Benue, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger and Plateau.
Recall that the HYPPADEC was established by an Act of the National Assembly in 2010 to address ecological challenges from the operations of hydroelectric dams.
Nation
OYO SUBEB Monitors 2nd Term Unified Exams
Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr Nureni Aderemi, has announced the commencement of the board’s monitoring of the second term unified examination in all public primary schools across Oyo State.
Adeniran made this known while inspecting schools in Ibadan North-East Local Government area of the state, Wednesday.
He said the motive behind the examination exercise was to ensure simultaneous participation of all schools in the examination process.
The chairman appealed to school head teachers to ensure adherence to the time-table given to them by the State Government.
He expressed satisfaction with the level of preparedness of schools and students describing it as ‘quite impresive’.
Adeniran, who said the conduct was smooth, added that efforts and arrangements put in place by the State Government in printing unified question-papers for all schools in the state would ensure better performance of pupils.
According to him, the introduction of a unified examination time-table and questions was to give better credence to the exercise.
He further commended the schools and pupils for their adherence to the examination instructions.
The board’s monitoring team visited schools in Ibadan North; Ibarapa; Ibadan North-West, Ibadan South-West and Ibadan South-East Local Government areas.
Nation
VC Advocates Grantsmanship As Condition For Promotion
Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin UNILORIN) Professor Wahab Egbewole, has advocated a restructure of the university system in Nigeria where grantsmanship will be recognised in promotion guidelines.
Egbewole made the suggestion when he received a team of facilitators of the Train The Trainers’ (TTT) workshop on ‘Research Proposal Writing and Grant Management’ in Ilorin, midweek.
Egbewole, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)), identified fundable research grants as one of the problems that researchers in Nigeria are battling with.
The Vice Chancellor lamented that some professors in Nigeria did not know how to write research proposals that can attract so much funding.
According to him, this is where the universities have to focus their attention, while expressing optimism that the workshop initiated by TETFund would facilitate the required enablers.
He, therefore, urged the organisers to put up some measurable indices to evaluate the success or otherwise of what has been invested in the training.
He also encouraged researchers to redirect their energy to publications that are impactful to the society and address local challenges instead of publications that are left to decay on the shelf.
The vice chancellor said that UNILORIN would also organise a similar workshop that would accommodate more staff.
Earlier, TETFund TTT team facilitator, Mr Nuhu Ogirima, said the significance of the workshop was to conduct a stepping down of knowledge earlier acquired by the facilitators on fundable research.
Ogirima explained that Nigeria is struggling among the developing nations because most of the policies of the government are not based on research from academia, which makes them unacceptable by the people.
He observed that there is no difference between academic writing, writing for promotion, writing to impact policy and writing to galvanise the economy.
“TETFund has taken a giant stride towards getting cutting edge research sponsored towards advancing the nation”, he said.
Nation
FG Begins Registration Of Medical Laboratories
The Federal Government has begun an online registration of medical laboratories in Nigeria to enhance service delivery.
The Registrar, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, Dr Tosan Erhabor, made this known in Abuja, recently at a meeting with stakeholders and the agency’s consultants on automation led by Prof. Effiong Akpan of the University of Calabar.
He called on stakeholders to avail themselves of the great opportunities offered by the new framework to enhance service delivery.
Erhabor said the registration would scale up efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, speed of service delivery, and data collation and management.
According to him, the purpose of the meeting was to enable stakeholders to witness firsthand and possibly critique the ongoing digitalisation of the medical laboratory registration process.
“This is the latest in the series of council processes to be moved from the manual to the digital platform.
“In spite of our meagre resources, the council has successfully transformed other processes including Licensure, Examination, Indexing, Accreditation Service, and External Quality Assurance and now the registration of medical laboratories”, he said.
Erhabor urged medical laboratory proprietors to continue working with the council to enhance service delivery.
He said proprietors would henceforth be able to register their laboratories seamlessly and from their preferred locations without the need to visit the council’s headquarters in Abuja.
“I am pleased to note that automation has raised our profile among stakeholders, and we must commend the consultants for a job well done”, he said.
Responding, Akpan lauded the council management for scaling up hitherto manual processes into the digital environment to enhance service delivery despite the prevailing economic challenges.
“My team and I are proud to be associated with the council and we encourage other agencies should emulate you in this respect”, he said.
Akpan expressed confidence that the stakeholders would also be proud of the council’s efforts.
Recall that in September 2022, the Federal Government threatened to shut down unregistered medical laboratories in the country.
The council was warned not to relent or rest on its oars in the discharge of its statutory duties.
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