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Army Chief Lauds S’East Govs’ Support In Fighting Insecurity
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt-. Gen., Taoreed Lagbaja, has lauded the South East Governors for their continuous support to its officers in the fight against insecurity in the region.
Lagbaja gave the commendation when he and his men paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State at the Government House, Enugu yesterday.
He said that the support to the security agencies had contributed to the peace in the zone.
The army chief said, “I am reassured that the support of the governor of Enugu State as well as other governors in the southeast through the efforts of our troops has created a stable, peaceful and enabling environment to the economy of the southeast”.
He said that following his assumption of office as Chief of Army Staff on June 23, 2023, he had taken out time to visit formations and units of Nigeria Army to access the deployment of troops across the country.
This, he said, was in a bid to address some challenges confronting the troops to improve their operational effectiveness.
“I want to start by apologising that I am just coming to Enugu six months after assumption of office Owing to the fact I am still there since the knowledge of the troops deployment to the security challenges in southeast zone.
“I arrived Enugu State this morning for operational visit to 82 Division, and the General Commanding Officer (GOC), Maj-Gen., Hassan Dada, had taken time to brief me on the operational situation and effort of the division to combat the threats.
“I want to appreciate his Excellency and the good people of Enugu State for the support you have provided to 82 Division, 103 battalion and other deployment we have across state,” he said.
According to him, through Mbah’s support, the troops were able to show presence in operation centres, conduct patrol and other operations to create stability and peaceful environment.
He promised that the headquarter would take steps to address and look into the areas the governor pointed out in a bid to expand the frontier of peace and stability in the State.
“I want also to pledge continued support of the formation and units of Nigeria Army through the effort of the Enugu State Government to ensure that peace reign in this state as well as thank his excellency and good people of the state for being host to our troops and their families.
“We will continue to remain loyal and worthy partners to you towards realising your wonderful plan for the people of the state by having our men on ground at Isi-Uzo Council Area as it is our desire to rid the area of criminal elements.
Responding, Mbah commended Lagabaja for the visit which he described as homecoming for him having served as GOC of 82 Division, Enugu.
The governor said when he assumed office on May 29, 2023, he executed a social pact by signing a social contract with the people of the state.
According to him, I promised them that Enugu will be one of the top three states in the country in terms of their GDP and that they are going to grow their economy from the current level of $4.4 billion to $30 billion.
“We also said to them that our mission is to make the state the premier destination for investment, living, tourism and business, adding that all these will not be achieved where there is insecurity.
“Private sector investment does not agree with insecurity. So, we immediately recognised that if we must keep to our pact of this bargain with Enugu people, we must address the challenges of insecurity frontally,” he said.
While acknowledging the tireless efforts, support and commitment of the army chief and his men in securing the state, the governor said, “Today we can proudly say that we are on the part of fulfilling those promises we made to our people.
”We can now boldly say that the so-called Monday’s sit-at-home have been bid goodbye in Enugu and we are going to continue to provide necessary support to sustain and improve on the state of security.
He, however, requested the chief of army staff to approve the setting up of an army barracks in Isi-Uzo Council Area of the state to help fight insecurity in the area.
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.
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.
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
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